MMORPG: Surviving a Death Game with a Glitched System

Upon hearing the mutt utter that damnable phrase, Ash locked in.

No matter who it was or what he thought of them, he always sought to shatter another’s expectations. To rise above whatever their meager minds conceived him capable of.

Inside his head, the wolf rasped:

"Not going to ask where I went?"

Ash stepped forward.

"I don’t particularly care."

With this new effect around him, he could move with much greater ease. Yet, he still couldn’t run, or else the droplets wouldn’t freeze in time.

The princess, about fifteen paces ahead of him, stayed locked in her duel with the voracious monster.

Her shield had a large dent in its face and was marred by numerous claw marks. Her sword remained nearly pristine, but the beast stayed too close for her to properly swing it.

Whenever she knocked it back, it immediately sprang forward and latched onto the shield like a rabid dog.

The only reason the princess had managed to hold out without taking any meaningful blows was her peculiar defensive maneuver. She would unsummon the shield and roll past the beast, causing it to whirl after her and jerk to a halt when the chains binding it snapped taut.

Once she resummoned the ornate shield, the process repeated.

Still.

"It’s yet to use a visible ability other than the droplets."

"Hmm... Can you not sense mana fluctuations?"

"No... I wasn’t aware such a thing was even possible. But I assume—"

"Yes, I am insinuating it is using another ability of sorts. From what I’ve gathered, it seems to be shifting its weight from heavy to light."

’So that’s why it’s so fast.’

’And why its first attack was so devastating...’

The Seal Guardian nearly latched onto the princess’s arm, but she summoned a tiny water spout beneath her foot and used it like a springboard to vault over the beast.

The princess landed near Ash, but the moment her boots touched the floor, she shivered and sprang away.

’Hmm...’

’She felt it, though I haven’t used [Focus].’

The effect extended beyond the environment.

Amid the soft clinking of frozen droplets colliding around him, Ash glared at the beast, which had spun around and now found a new opponent standing before it.

"Alright, bastard."

The Seal Guardian’s eyes lit up with murderous fanaticism as it launched itself skyward, then plunged toward Ash with one claw extended to seize his head.

"Greeaagh!"

Not wanting to chance it by blindly trusting the wolf’s word, Ash slashed his dagger up into the path of the strike.

The steel tips of its claws crashed against the edge of [Scrawler’s Fang], causing a wide crack to split through the center of the white blade.

But the block served its purpose. The Guardian’s descent stopped cold, and its suddenly motionless body succumbed to gravity.

Disoriented by the abrupt shift, the beast could do little as the princess rushed in from its flank and hewed her broadsword into its shoulder.

It screamed in Ash’s voice:

"Youuu!"

The Dragonkin Champion gritted his teeth, then drove his bare fist into the face of the fallen Seal Guardian.

"Don’t dare use my voice, mongrel."

As expected, the attack phased right through, but it confirmed the wolf’s words.

Writhing beneath them, the lanky humanoid stretched its maw wide and spewed a stream of green goop toward the princess, forcing her to retreat.

’Nasty.’

It scrambled upright on all four limbs, moving like a Seal Scrawler as it hurtled toward Ash.

Ash stepped directly into the Seal Guardian’s charge. This time, he let his armor absorb the blow.

Its claw scraped across his chest with a muted crack, but Ash saw no visible damage to the sleek armor.

The princess capitalized on the instant its momentum stalled and brought her broadsword down again. Her blade nearly split its skull, but the Guardian twisted aside at the last moment, and the strike carved deeply into its opposite shoulder instead.

The princess called out:

"Perfect! Keep it up!"

’Quiet.’

Ash felt there was nothing more useless in life than praise — though he was not nearly aware of his own hypocrisy. He kept the reprimand to himself for now.

With blood pouring from both ruined shoulders, the Seal Guardian shrieked and sprang backward. It seized the chain tethering it to the wall and thrashed violently, whipping the loose links across the water-covered floor.

"Gyrewah! Greaayeah!"

The princess wasted no time surging forward to press the attack, even tossing her shield aside to wield her broadsword with both hands.

Coating the blade in a thin film of water with [Surge], the princess began winding up the attack which had nearly crushed the scales of the Spire Serpent.

Though this time, Ash could sense she’d put much more power into this attack.

The water film churned and exploded as she arced her blade down into the writhing creature.

Finally reacting and quitting its fit, the Seal Guardian met the blade’s edge with its right claw.

The power of the princess’ strike was too great.

The broadsword shattered several of its nails before cleaving into its palm. The blade continued downward, nearly splitting the leathery hand in two as both sides peeled apart.

Suddenly, it screamed again. But this one was much lower and deeper.

"Grrreeeeaaah!"

The Seal Guardian swung wildly toward the princess, forcing her back.

As she jumped away, it curled itself into a ball and lay motionless on the floor.

"I see..."

Ash looked at his shoulder.

"Huh? What is it?"

"Just watch."

’I seriously hate this puppy.’

A moment later, the wolf’s words revealed what it had sensed.

All of the water in the area, including the frozen droplets and what the princess had produced with [Surge], began to flow toward the Seal Guardian in steady streams.

The streams spiraled together around its curled body, gradually coalescing into a solid ball of water.

With the droplets circling the arena gone, Ash could now move freely.

On the other hand...

The water ball collapsed to the ground.

When the Seal Guardian emerged, it possessed renewed vitality and even seemed a little stronger.

"Phase two, huh."

The princess, sensing danger, jumped away.

Turning her head toward Ash as she landed, she asked:

"What did you say?"

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