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The head of a snake, with two curved horns attached to the side.

Yellow, red or green sclera with black vertical pupils.

Vibrant scales with every color that nature had to offer.

That was what I saw on the computer screen.

Here…

When the first of the Imugi, Grade-2, the vestigial dragon lifted its head, my head cried out in pain.

The size of a small island, surfacing. My body froze, akin to watching a hurricane or a landslide.

The ocean surged as others small islands surfaced; other Imugis.

And one of them roared.

It sent me screaming to the floor, clutching my ears.

And with that roar, the Imugi summoned clouds. Immense clouds, blacking out the sun and immediately turning what was a sun-shone day into one of pitch darkness; an artificial night brought by its Core ability: [Weather Man].

Rain fell in a torrential downpour, and I fought to stay upright. It's weight crushed me to the floor.

And the cosmic-scale sized serpentine bodies began to clash against one another.

Each hit, another vibration that sent countless tsunamis towards the furthest corners of the world.

Each hit, another thump that threatened to still my heart from the sheer bass-thrum of its quake.

Each hit, another mind-rending vision of planet-breaking monsters twisting, writhing, gnashing–

Blood fell freely from my eyes.

They felt full. Bloated. A pimple about to burst. Too much pressure.

Acting quick, I grabbed the bridge of my nose and blew as hard as I can. Blood, snot and other disgusting mana-infused-brain-matter shot out. I hoped it wasn't real brain. Just a metaphor.

Just as quickly as it had come, the rain had waned; just a soft drizzle.

Lightning flashed.

Clouds swirled above, creating a miniature black-hole like visage; crying out to all others in the ocean.

Here lay the great Imugis.

Mating.

And today; one of them would ascend.

The birth of a Dragon.

Grade-S.

I had to get out of here.

But I had no idea where the ship was. My eyes searched, but the ocean had been engulfed in a furious storm. Waves struggled against one another in futility, as tidal waves hundreds of feet high soared high enough to crash down with enough force to level an entire city; an entire island. Monsters surfaced, desperate to get away –even oceanic monsters were being drowned in the sheer mass panic ensued by the movements of the Imugis.

Eventually, my eyes tracked movements among the waves.

The boat righted itself, surfing right beneath the crashing waves; like a freaking surfing board.

It looked so small.

I couldn't even make out the individual people on it.

It was so far.

I took a step towards the boat, then stopped.

…Could I make it?

In this raging storm?

My mind tracked a path. Desperately looking at the dizzying combination of eldritch-like images of the snake-bodies that curved out of the ocean; looking at each body slam and imagining being squeezed into skeletal mush.

Jumping on top of those larger-than-life monsters, trying to trek it across this ocean…

"Stop."

A voice behind me.

I turned.

Arione Popindale.

Grade-2 Mage.

He began to float off the floor.

The tall elf's expression was marred with blood pooling in his eyes, turning into tiny droplets and levitating around his face from the ambient mana he began to give off. His body worked like a magnet, attracting the fiercest of the storm winds around us and they twisted around him, whirling and spinning; lifting him higher and higher and higher. Until he was ten feet above the ground.

His usual beautiful elf features twisted into hate.

Lightning flashed behind him.

Slowly, the winds around him caught fire.

I couldn't remember the last time I had seen Arione with a staff, instead of using the knock-off handseals he'd adopted.

The Player-Elf carried a gnarled oak staff, almost as tall as he was.

He waved it and weaved mana, warping reality to his will.

｢ Arione Popindale casts [Virgil's Guidance] ｣

A tiny firelight flashed above his head. A wisp of sorts.

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And I felt it.

An instant heat, that began to start from the center of my body; right around the lower half of my stomach. A pooling sensation of fire, that started with pleasant warmth, then hot and an uncomfortable pain that burned.

｢Arione Popwindale casts [Memories of Hell: First Circle - Limbo] ｣

｢You have entered a Special Field: Memories of Hell: First Circle - Limbo ｣

｢ Field Effect - Memories of Hell: First Circle - Limbo is now active ｣

｢ Field Effect - Memories of Hell: First Circle - Limbo: You take constant fire damage｣

｢ Field Effect - Memories of Hell: First Circle - Limbo: -15% Flame Resistance｣

｢ Field Effect - Memories of Hell: First Circle - Limbo: A Random Ability, Skill or Spell is Sealed ｣

｢ Field Effect - Memories of Hell: First Circle - Limbo: [Artisan of Battle] has been Sealed! ｣

Flames rose. Arms made of fire, clutching at the Imugi's scales. For a moment, I took my eyes off Arione to look at the monster's expression, once again caught in a dizzying myriad of reality-doubting confusion. There was no point. If the monster bore down the full weight of its attention on us, we'd bear it.

Burning-souls moaned, half-rising out of the scales. Rain sizzled.

He waved his staff again.

｢Arione Popwindale upgrades [Memories of Hell: First Circle - Limbo] ｣

｢You have entered a Special Field: Memories of Hell: Second Circle - Lust ｣

｢ Field Effect - Memories of Hell: Second Circle - Lust is now active ｣

｢ Field Effect - Memories of Hell: Second Circle - Lust: You take constant poison damage ｣

｢ Field Effect - Memories of Hell: Second Circle - Lust: -15% Poison Resistance ｣

｢ Field Effect - Memories of Hell: Second Circle - Lust: You receive a random negative status ｣

｢ Field Effect - Memories of Hell: Second Circle - Lust: You receive [Slow]! ｣

The flaming bodies were joined by green ones. I watched as a poisonous body and flame body collided, hugging each other in a death vice. It plopped out of existence in a brilliant display; a splash of poison that hissed and bubbled, followed by wreaths of fire that failed to scorch the Imugi scale we were standing on.

｢[Arcane Masochism] cancels [Slow]! ｣

…

｢ Lock Slaveborn's [Physical] stat is too low ｣

｢ Maximum Buff Capacity reached｣

It was followed by a sharp pounding pain that gripped my lungs. Making it hard for me to breathe.

"You're not going to stop me?"

I ground my heel and spat to the side.

"...No." I said, picking up [Snow Scream]. [King's Guard] snapped [Lunar Shield] into orbit.

"I hate you, you know."

"I don't." I replied.

Ethereal chains made of mana snapped out of my wrist. Matching manacles locked tight around his wrist and mine. He didn't resist. There was no getting rid of [Share the Load].

I reached inside my [Dimension Ring] and took out the [Weapon Mod] I procured way earlier on this adventure. A Water-type [Weapon Mod]. I sheated it over [Snow Scream]; Water and Ice elemental damage synergy humming with lethal potential.

"Don't lie. You hate me."

"I'm not lying." I bent my legs, bringing my shield and sword into position. The first thing I ever learned from Arrosh Bloodedge, the Master of my Sword.

"Then?"

"I have feel nothing for dead men."

His eyes hardened. Sheer loathing.

The flames circling him picked up speed, turning to streaks of red that resembled Skaris' short-ranged lasers. But I knew that any one of those flames could leave me with a third-degree burn that could potentially leave me crippled.

I'm immune to magic. But the MSS world isn't so kind to make an unbeatable build.

All elemental-type spells carry mixed damage. A fire-type spell carries both magic damage, and elemental damage. The proportion heavily leans towards magic, of course, but that's not the point. The point is that elemental damage exists in a spell and can be exploited.

That's why Cores that give you complete immunity to physical damage and magic damage exist. But there are always, always, always work arounds.

And Arione had just set the stage.

The clouds provided me cover…

…But his [Special Field] effect would make sure that his spells would still pack a punch.

The battle began.

I surged forward with a burst of speed, lowering my body and running across the Imugi's terrestrial scale the size of a large town. The world blurred, my [Hearing] homing in on the shrieking sound of superheated fire missiles headed my way.

Channeling [Aura] into [Snow Scream], I cut down the first missile before it skewered my forehead.

My sword screamed, quite like its namesake. The missile imploded, Arione's supernova-esque flaming missiles meeting my sub-zero Aura. The air warped and I messed up my balance, side-stepping. Arione waved his staff again and again, sending arrows and arrows of flames at me.

One of the flaming hands clutched my ankle, burning it.

I heard myself grunt in pain and kick the fire-soul away. The lore behind Arione's spell was that he was summoning a portion of the hells itself. It just felt like the devs were inspired by that one videogame. I tossed the stray souls aside.

As the missiles headed towards me in an endless barrage of heat-packed blades, I slammed my palm on the ground and darkness submerged the world. A world that only I could see in.

Arione wasn't like the others. He was experienced enough to react calmly. An inexperienced mage might try to cast [Light], not knowing that it'd be snuffed out. Instead he calmly lifted himself into the air and gathered his next spell.

｢Arione Popwindale casts [Fireball] ｣

A ball of flame, ten feet wide in every direction.

[Lingering Darkness] blinds the senses. So that one cannot see where I am.

Arione chose to blow everything up in a fifty-foot radius.

It slammed into the Imugi's scale with extreme prejudice.

Acting on pure instinct, I knelt and willed the [Lunar Shield] to pivot in front of me. Tucking my limbs in, I stabbed [Snow Scream] into the ground length-wise between me and the shield.

"....UUUUUUUAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

I screamed as the explosion rocked the scale, the flame and poison souls following in a series of chain reactions, moans of impending doom that ended in a spray of flaming explosions and poisonous gas. My heel rocked back from the recoil of the explosion, while the freezing cold of my [Aura] did its best to keep the burns from melting the skin off my face, arms and legs.

Now I understood Arrosh's strange stance against the Mage. Making his body smaller, decreasing surface area.

...Teaching me even in the heat of battle.

The endless streams of fire subsided.

Without a second to lose, Arione began preparing the flaming-spears. They began to rotate in place. Dozens of levitating fire-javelins, each of them spitting from the rain that fell all around his.

｢Arione Popwindale casts [Fire Phalanx] ｣

Before he could cast his spell, I made my move first.

Dipping into my own shadow then shooting out from the shadow underneath him.

The Elf-Mage simply pivoted towards me, the spears turning to face me.

｢ Lock Slaveborn casts [Hateful Wound]｣

Arione's lean body bent over as blood exploded out of his ribs, soaking his expensive velvety-cloak and robes. He screamed, pain lost to the thunder that reverberated through the heavens just then. Staggered, the fire-type mana he gathered began to spiral out of control, snuffed out by the rain.

[Snow Scream] cut cleanly through the soles of his boots, lacerating the bottom of his foot.

The Elven-Mage quickly recovered, seizing control of the storm-winds around him.

And for one dizzying second, I was caught there.

I began to rise.

His face turned ugly.

"FALL!" The air around him snapped into focus and then multiplied a hundredfold and sending me towards the ground.

The ground rose up to meet me.

A fifty foot drop.

Even if I lived, I'd break a bone or two. [Defense] don't do shit against [Fall] damage, which counts as environmental damage.

Don't ask me. That's how the fucking Devs designed it.

Forty.

Thirty.

Twenty.

Five.

I fell head first into the ground.

And slipping straight into the shadows, using [Shadow Blink].

A utilization of this Core ability like this was only possible because I was a living being in MSS. Something that wouldn't be possible in the videogame. It's not like there's an option asking you, [You are falling, would you like to slip into your Shadows?]

I exploded out of the same shadow, flying up to him.

He raised his hand, flames spinning around his hands.

But I had my spell ready at the tip of my sword: [Fireball]. Swinging it, I sent the ball of flame sailing towards the Mage, nowhere large as his was. He sneered, moving his staff and hand in a twisting motion and seizing control of the spell. The fireball spun around him in a pendulum motion and came hurtling itself back to me.

And in mid-air, I used [Lingering Darkness].

Shadows stretched out of my body, engulfing everything with the color of night. A microsecond of activation, another microsecond of hesitation, another microsecond that was filled with a flash of insight. The sound of a crow crying out accompanying the droplets of water that pierced the dark.

I used [Shadow Blink] inside [Lingering Darkness].

And appeared right behind Arione.

My arm flickered out with unnatural speed, heading straight towards his neck.

"Obvious."

I barely heard him.

His back was to me, but next to his stomach on the side…

And the head of his staff poking out.

｢ Arione Popindale casts [Disintegration Ray] ｣

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