From Real to Realm

“VAL!”

Someone was yelling at her. They sounded worried about something.

“Get Cera to her! NOW!”

Val slowly opened her eyes. “What’s going on?”

No one was next to her.

“Fuck, it’s hot…”

Her left eye squeezed shut as warm liquid ran into it. She brought her hand up to her face and touched that side of her head. She brought her hand back down in front of her face. Blood stained her glove.

“I—I’m bleeding?”

Val’s heart started racing.

She looked down at herself. She was wearing her armor, but it had many gashes. Not to mention it was covered in something black and coarse to the touch.

BOOM!

Val looked up just in time to see a very tall figure slam a sword against the ground. Her vision was too blurry to make out much detail, but she could see smaller people moving around it.

“Val!”

The sudden appearance of Cera and Lynesia next to her caught her off guard. The two of them slid to a stop before dropping to their knees.

“Stay still,” Cera said, hands already glowing.

Val shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.

“Val, where are we?” Lynesia asked, eyes watery. “Do you know where we are?”

The question sounded so odd. She could tell they were in the dungeon, but beyond that, her head was swimming.

“We’re in the dungeon, right?”

She looked back at the tall figure, tilting her head. Suddenly, it all came back.

“Oh fuck!”

Immediately, she tried standing up, but the girls held her down.

“Stay still!” Cera yelled, adding pressure to Val’s leg, which caused her to wince. “Your right leg is broken!”

“Fuck that hurts! Can you heal it?”

Cera’s glowing hands were pressed to Val’s leg. “I can, but I need a little time.”

Val glanced back across the arena. “Hold on for just a little bit, guys.”

Back across the arena, Cyrus pulled his sword free and was about to rush into the battle. However, someone suddenly grabbed his shoulder, stopping him.

“Not yet,” Lyon said, shaking his head.

Cyrus looked at him, dumbfounded. “What do you mean, not yet? Val just got launched, and Amarisse has taken a hit too!”

“That’s to be expected when fighting a boss. I’d be more surprised if no one got hurt.”

Cyrus snorted, yanking his shoulder free. “If anyone else gets hurt, I’m going.”

Lyon sighed. “I’m in charge for a reason. You’ll go in if I give the order.”

He glanced at where Val had come to a stop. “Something tells me she won’t stay down for long.”

Whoosh!

“Watch out!”

The Ashen King swung his swords together, hoping to hit Mina as she danced around to his right. With ease, she fell low to the ground, letting them pass overhead. Splintered wood and embers filled the air as multiple trees were shattered from the attack.

Out of nowhere, Celina came rushing forward from behind Amarisse and Cain. Their channeler, Tessa, wasn’t far behind her.

“Sorry for the wait,” she said, panting. “That ash really messed up her eyes. I had to be careful.”

Cain nodded, visor still hiding his expression.

“That’s alright,” Amarisse said, also panting. “Val is currently being healed. Our mage and channeler are with her.”

Tessa looked over. “Should I go help?”

The next thing she knew, she was shoved to the side as Cain put his body in the way of an attack. He grunted with the hit, but couldn’t hold his ground as the attack was pushing him along. He yelled, not willing to break so easily.

“I’ve got you!” Amarisse yelled, slamming herself against him as well.

The two of them dug their heels into the rough stone. It wasn’t enough to halt the attack altogether, but it worked in slowing it down enough to leave the King open.

Celina rushed forward, jumping into the air. When she reached her apex, she slammed her shortsword deep into his chest. Then, using her other free hand, began slashing wherever she could with her dagger.

Braun wasted no time in getting involved as well. He was already stabbing and slashing at anything that looked exposed. The movements were very chaotic, but that seemed to fit his type of fighting style.

The Ashen King was taking damage, and he knew this. However, when he went to pull his sword away from Cain and Amarisse, he couldn’t. His eyes flared a bit brighter when he looked at them.

“Not letting you get away that easily!” Amarisse yelled, a big grin across her face.

Both she and Cain were holding onto the sword, refusing to let go until they absolutely needed to. For an entity with no vocal or facial cues, they could tell it pissed him off.

“Don’t forget about me!” Mina yelled, using her daggers to scale the King’s back.

Within a few seconds, she reached his shoulders. Without waiting, she slammed both daggers into the sides of his neck. Instead of leaving them, she tried to pull them out and slam them again. However, the Ashen King must have had enough of being swarmed like that.

With no warning, a cloud of ash filled the area around him again. It wasn’t as large as the opening cloud of ash, but it was enough to conceal him and anyone close to him. A few seconds later, Celina and Mina were launched out of the ash cloud, landing hard in different spots. As for Braun, somehow he’d had the forethought to back off the moment the ash appeared. As for Amarisse and Cain, they felt the entire weight of the sword when it was dropped to the ground.

“He’s going into his second phase!” Amarisse yelled, backing off with Cain.

The ash cloud lingered for a bit longer before slowly beginning to dissipate. Slowly, the Ashen King’s change in appearance and stance was revealed. Little bursts of flame were constantly licking up his obsidian plate armor. A visual distortion from the sheer increase of heat around him was making his appearance a bit blurry now as well. Aside from all of that, he was holding only one blade, poised directly in front of him, waiting.

“Definitely second phase,” Cyrus said. “Do we go in now?”

Lyon shook his head. “Doesn’t look like they’ll need us.”

When Cyrus gave him a confused look, Lyon pointed at something.

Val slid in place next to Amarisse and Cain. “Sorry for the wait.”

Amarisse looked at her, surprised. “Are you okay?”

Val nodded, her blood-stained white hair brushing across her face. “I’m good.”

Val was still bleeding from her forehead and some cuts along her arms. However, her broken leg had been healed, allowing her to get back into the fight. Lynesia and Cera rushed over, taking their place next to Tessa and Madeline.

“Is Val okay?” Madeline asked, glancing at Val.

“She didn’t let me heal everything,” Cera said, panting. “But I healed the worst of it. She didn’t want me to drain my mana on cuts and bruises.”

Tessa chuckled. “Sounds like Braun.”

“We need to force an opening again,” Amarisse said, glancing at Cain. “If we can do that, hopefully we can get some more hits in.”

Mina and Celina were back on their feet, but not with the majority of the group. Instead, they were on either flank of the Ashen King. They had some space, but were waiting for the most opportune moment to attack again. Neither was willing to risk being caught right now.

“Let’s do this,” Cain said, flipping his visor back down.

Together with Amarisse, the two of them pushed forward, closing the distance. The Ashen King’s magma eyes stayed locked to them as they approached. As soon as they were within range, he planted his lead foot down, hard. Then, in the same beat, he raised his sword high in the air.

Mina realized his target first, digging her heels into the ground and rushing around his back. Celina was only a split-second slower in her realization, but now the two of them were rapidly rushing his exposed back and legs.

The King brought the sword down with force, aiming for the two tanks who had held his sword earlier. When Val and Braun were sure of his target, the two of them quickly pushed off, arcing on either side, hoping to get in close before he could recover.

As Val moved, she felt the hot air lessen at the same time a shimmering barrier of magic snapped over her body. With the extra protection, she was even more determined to get in close. Her target was the glowing core. The Ashen King reminded her of the golem she fought for her test. If she were lucky, removing or destroying the core was going to kill him.

Just before the sword slammed down, Amarisse and Cain pushed off each other. As they did so, they raised their shields and braced for the incoming shockwave. A shimmering wave of magic covered their bodies one after the other just before the slam.

BOOM!

Ash, soot, and rock were launched into the air when the Ashen King’s sword finally slammed against the ground. Before he could react, multiple arrows and purple bolts of magic pelted his face and chest again. A few got close to his eyes, forcing him to use one hand to block the second volley.

With his hand blocking his face, Braun moved in. Just like earlier, he started swinging with wild abandon, trying to practically gut the Ashen King before he could react. However, after the first few attacks, the king took a quick step back just in time to parry one of Braun’s attacks on the backstep. The parry broke one of Braun’s swords, scattering splintered iron across the ground. Before Braun could react, the King brought his sword down in a diagonal attack.

“BRAUN!”

Celina watched as her friend was launched by the attack. As he skipped across the ground, he lost his grip on his swords before finally slamming into an outcropping. Celina immediately pushed forward, not wanting to give the King any time to relax. However, before she could reach him, he kicked back with his foot. Luckily for her, she brought her sword and dagger up in time to take the brunt of the attack. It still didn’t stop her from being launched further into the arena away from everyone else.

“Fuck!” Val yelled, finally getting in close. “You’ll pay for that, asshole!”

With the kick and swing of his sword, he was opened up perfectly for her. His core was right there, nothing in the way of her attack. Val planted, hard, then rotated her whole body as she jumped into the air. With as much strength as she could muster, she slammed her halberd onto the Ashen King’s core. When the attack landed, she could see a thick crack spider across the surface as she chipped a few chunks free.

It wasn’t enough to take him down, yet. However, her hunch was proven right when the Ashen King reacted violently to the hit. Immediately, he covered his core with one arm, head flicking to lock onto her position. Val backed off, but the King was hot on her heels, swinging his free arm in a wide arc. It wasn’t an attack with the sword; it was a simple punch.

The next thing she knew, someone slammed into her, knocking her out of the way. The last thing she saw was someone in steel plate shudder with the attack, then get launched over her. Cain had put himself between her and the attack, and now he paid the price as his body slammed along the ground in a completely different direction from Braun and Celina.

Val launched to her feet, ready. They could beat him, but now they were down three people.

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