[Entering instance: Tears of Spring]
A feeling of weightlessness took hold of Ash as the green light shimmered and enveloped him.
Then... darkness.
Ash threw his head forward, pulling it free from the ground it had sunk into the moment [Focus] ended.
’Argh...’
Panting, he whipped his head left and right, only to see that his attacker was nowhere in sight.
’Did that bastard plan this?’
Perhaps. Perhaps not.
Either way, Ash now found himself in an ’instance.’
Sitting on the back of his tunic, which was mostly intact since the front had suffered most of the damage, Ash looked for any immediate threats.
’The hell...’
He was standing in a field of snow, with mountains far off in the distance and nothing else in sight.
Nothing else but a single set of footprints.
Based on his educated guess, this was what most RPGs would label as a ’dungeon’ — a trial players could attempt for levels and rewards.
’But I wasn’t prepared in the slightest.’
Furthermore, his body was in shambles.
Scratch marks littered his forearms, while gaping holes marred his heel and tail, and his stamina was at rock bottom.
’My HP is under 15%...’
Not to mention, two of his starter weapons had been destroyed, and he only had two arrows remaining.
Thankfully, the game had a passive healing function. But with the severity of his wounds, Ash surmised it would take quite some time to heal.
Time Ash wasn’t sure he had in this foreign world’s foreign world.
And he wasn’t sure the system function could mend wounds of this degree at all...
’In any case...’
In games, dungeons usually had a set path or clear condition.
’Figuring that out is probably the first step.’
Though that task didn’t seem too difficult, as he had two options in that regard: walk aimlessly or follow the footprints.
Obviously, he was going to follow the footprints, but...
’Do I wait to heal, or begin now?’
Closing his eyes, Ash fell into thought for a few moments before sighing.
"There are limits even I shouldn’t test."
’And there are some things I should mull over.’
Summoning the pike from his inventory, Ash lowered it onto the powdery snow.
As long as he gripped it, it didn’t sink even slightly — it didn’t even add any weight because it was technically on the ground — allowing Ash to sit on it while he returned to his thoughts.
’Their health and mana bars have gone grey...’
Despite the distance between Ash and the others earlier, the party function had continued to work properly. The others hadn’t gotten injured, but their mana had been dropping, showing they’d been testing out their skills some more.
But now, all eight bars were grey and frozen, with the bottom ones indicating MP no longer moving up or down.
There wasn’t much use for such information at the moment. However, information was information.
No harm in taking note of the phenomenon.
’It does not seem entering an instance drags in all party members.’
Beyond parties...
’My glitch...’
Ash had found a new weakness he wasn’t particularly fond of.
While it seemed fine for him to assimilate with air and dust particles that entered his body, solid structures were a different story. His flesh would mesh with the object...
Which was a problem for obvious reasons.
Though, in an odd twist, Ash was thankful he’d found this out while falling. Had he remained stuck, he wouldn’t have been able to rip himself free and would have been left open to attack.
But being ripped free had hurt like hell.
’It’s going to be an issue here...’
Or maybe not.
There were some things Ash desperately needed to test.
Like what would happen if he used [Focus] while in contact with water or snow. What about different gases?
These were human experiments that might cost him a great deal of pain, but experiments he’d have to perform nonetheless.
As for the final thing he had to be wary of when considering his glitch...
’I need a new outfit.’
The entire front of his tunic was open, revealing his chest to the elements. The air looked chilling and damning — a cold he’d have to brave whenever he activated [Focus].
Sitting on the pike, Ash scanned the snowy tundra again, noting nothing out of the ordinary for the moment. Ash’s healing had begun, but it was painfully slow. Thankfully, the sun was still high in the sky; thoug he would like to start moving before it began to set.
Seeing that he was safe, Ash’s mind drifted to the next pressing matter...
’That bastard hunter.’
As he thought of the creature that had rendered him into such a state, Ash formed a faint smile.
’I look forward to my reunion with it.’
It had been a savage battle in which they both used everything they had — Ash even resorting to his teeth. And during their clash, Ash could sense that his enemy was stronger, but not immensely so.
Meaning, the gap was still small enough to close through skill alone.
Yet Ash hadn’t been able to close that rift entirely, only tighten it.
That realization overjoyed the man many would describe as insane if they’d seen his actions.
It had been a long time since he’d been rivaled in a battle of wits within a game. Sure, Ash had lost many fights in Mythic Dominion, including some one-on-ones, but those defeats were due to insurmountable advantages his opponents had already gained from farming his teammates. No mechanics or smart play could overcome such a gap in stats.
’But you were different... so different!’
The creature had assessed every factor of the situation and nearly defeated Ash, despite lacking an overwhelming strength gap.
Ash had seen his own playstyle reflected in this foreign beast.
’And if it’s anything like me...’
Maybe it hadn’t known what would happen if Ash entered the green portal, but...
’Our fight is anything but over.’
Clenching his fist around the shaft of the pike, Ash looked toward the sky.
He’d also learned something much more important than the promise of continuing their battle: there were non-playable races inhabiting this world.
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