Edge Online: A New Frontier

In the beginning, there was only light from beyond, the moon gleamed from the endless night sky. From the countless eyes above, two-person seemingly running through an unending maze below. Then came along a gentle sensation of breezing blows. There was tenderness of fabric envelope a delicate skin. The feeling of a living, young adult. It had to be. Tiring young voices of a man echoed in the endless cave way. He sprinted out for his life and looked around; his movement drops and bend to touch his knees. The man named was "Hiruko" and had his face half-covered with black clothing; his eyes glittered with royal light blue-ish pupils flickered to look at his surroundings. Moonlight shone through the hole above the ceiling and gave away a glimpse of his appearance. Fine short grey-ish silver hair. White eyebrows, a sharp nose and a prominent dulled smile that you could only imagine behind his clothing mask. Wearing a militaristic black jacket with a hood that laid on his back neck; mixed with a little bit of white aspect of fabric for the sake of clothing design. He walked a bit more to see the moon from above of the open ceiling of the cave; the hole consists of thirty to forty meters long from the surface he was standing in and to the edge of the skies. It was the same as the Grand Canyon. Hiruko yet grips his right hand holding the shaft of his dagger as he took out an exhausting breath. He suddenly evaded some veins that latched out to grab him and pointed at the other pathway of the cave. "Ryuu, take the left turn on that tunnel!" "Okay, I'm on it," Ryuu look to his side towards the cave hole. He respond to Hiruko, pointing his sword towards an empty wind below his waist. The sword glistens bright silver as the blood drips from it. The other man named "Ryuu" that slowly comes out from the slight darkness; had short and golden colored hair. Yellow-ish eyes align with his nice charming pale face. On this trail of an endless path, tiring footsteps, numb fingers with cold residing on it. Lodging in the cavern feels like an eternity of searching for hidden treasures. Yet, they need to find a way out. Through and through, on every single room in their way. A path that seemingly blocking their escape. A couple or more... No, the cavern had been playing with them all along. "...Umm, are we lost?" "Hmm... I don't know what to say about that but I felt something strange in this place, Ryuu." "What... you do?" Instead of providing a possible explanation, Hiruko prepared himself for an assault as for him the system alerted his screen with an immense number of predators surrounding their position. The mini-map is full of red dots. [Misty Nest Cavern] was a large dungeon. However, the ancient cave within the area was meant to be the worst place to be cornered like a rat. Ruins and some debris scattered from left to right. Dead bodies can be found as the rotten corpses reeks and mix with the humid air within their range. It was a difficult place to fight in... Checking the mini-map seems to be a death sentence engraved on a stone. Yet, Hiruko doesn't hesitate to fight for his survival with his friend Ryuu. Casting a skill for an hour of being inside on this mazey dungeon drained their mana almost barely. Barely... A couple of skills shall end their will to continue the fight. Of course, the skill had always been coded with a countdown. Every game had it. Hiruko turns pale as he vanishes on site like a blurry photo that fades away slowly as time goes on. Activating a skill and dashed into a whispering breath of wind resulting in a group of snarling red-eyed Salamanders perished in an instant swift. [Aerial Dash], an offensive skill that could go right through multiple enemies but limited in numbers as it can dash straight in a direction like walking on the wind, was one of the most common yet basic skills for Assassins. Even before he activated the skill, the large-sized Salamanders stared at them as they cried out for a short time then died. Visualizing the skill rather than speaking nor activating on such ritual of words is no longer the new-fashioned way of MMORPGs. Since re-cast time was in effect, the icon had lost all its color and was slowly refilling like an ancient hourglass. Hiruko wouldn't be able to use that skill again until the icon had regained its natural glow. It can't be the only skill he has. Nevertheless, he had multiple skills in reserve. "Rush it, Ryuu, through this path!" "Right, I'm coming!" In another point of view, Ryuu is a dual wielder or as we called it "Master Swordsman" He can always rely on him in a needed time. But on this point, Hiruko letting Ryuu conserve and regain mana. As the Master Swordsman are highly mana spender. They consume mana faster besides the Mage class. "Better to run faster or else I might use you as bait!" "Heh... I take that as a compliment" Hiruko grins as he smiled back at him. Salamanders are slightly unorganized and allow them to escape the trial. The fancy noble-like dress up sprinting down the endless void of the cavern, slashing his swords from every angle, was Ryuu. He was average in height with natural short hair and charming face, seductive eyes, and he and Hiruko had known each other for a couple of months. They met each other once in the real world and strengthen their friendship. "Hmm... Can you keep up if I use one of my skills?" Hiruko adds up. The guy who has always been the fastest when it comes to dangers and darted out like an insect into a needle hole was Hiruko. Yet, his appearance was always hidden on his shady-looking jacket but this time he showed his face to breathe freely. He never shows himself to others except for Ryuu, his friend. "...Hey!" Ryuu, who had been the ideal type for girls without a doubt. A look of prince, his clothes splash like a glitter of priceless reaction with his friendly aura overwhelming his personality. His charming look tells everything who he really is, such a troublemaker. Hiruko's class was an Assassin. One of the six main classes, Assassin were undeniably good and can be applied in many different types of roles although, they are specialized in close combat and able to use many different lethal to life-threatening skill sets. Regardless of their position, they can also assist and muster support items. Being an assassin doesn't mean they can always survive in any battle they put themselves in, their physical and magic defence are too low and weak to be considered as life-saving. Since Hiruko armor and types of clothes are always been cheap, let alone the stats can be provided from it, assassin class are the most unfortunate when it comes to the set of armors and clothes. However, Ryuu had better armor equipment than him. Hiruko high "DPS" or damage-per-second suffice with everything. All he had was a hooded dark colored-jacket which looked a bit shady and gave an aura of a murderer's outfit also below it was fine-looking trousers and a pair of shoes. Although Hiruko was a stealthy front guard player with weak defence value, it wasn't a good idea to take on all of the enemies by himself independently. That being said, considering the enemy ranged attack and some other classes that can counterfeit his own, it was too risky for him to take the battles for a longer period of time. The best solution he had in mind is to hide in the shadows and attack in a swift opening while keeping a wary eye for a possible ambush. As their escape went into peace, [Misty Nest Cavern] was rumored to be called the "Killer's Den." Many players go there perhaps a party of players died there multiple times, it was not the monsters within it but the place will exhaust you until you are unable to fight. Hiruko and Ryuu were not at the same level at that time. Hiruko was level 70 and Ryuu is level 25. The highest rank possible was level 60 and level 61-70 is accessible and also called the "Guardian Level." Most of the monster inside the said cavern was level 30 and below at most. In a questionable point of view, both of them can grind levels separately if so they believe it to be. Farming XP is an easy thing to do with monster requisite for their levels. Being on the battlefield doesn't mean you can survive at all costs, however, sometimes you can die in the field of action and never can be seen again. That was reality in battles but inside the game was a different matter to take note of. Survival is the most stupid thing you bet on. Even, in reality. Games are games, you can't take a plaything so seriously unless you do so in purpose and action to be done. Playing for an hour or so, exhaust their both strength and mana even they can use their characters as their own body, use the skills, and being clever how to fight in combat will not save them from the possibility of losing something precious. Standing there so firmly as the body stiffened in action of battling such hideous creatures, survival is the only thing they can secure for a living. "Light! Up ahead!" "Alright!" His face seems tired, Ryuu quickly checked the direction they are going in. Their bodies might be an adventurer of sword and magic, but they didn't still master the skills and get used to it. For Hiruko, It was like visualizing the skills but it will take time to be an expertise for it. However, even if it had a poor reputation in life with the average gamer, Hiruko doesn't care about it at least he can play a game. Although the enemy had already stopped following them both. From the edge of the cavern in the direction of the light. A barren land draws their attention. It was a safe place with a white smoked mist and dead shadowy trees around them. "Hell yeah! We got out safe!" "..." Of course, his friend Ryuu wasn't the type to hang around on silence and sadness. Ryuu was quite a charmer and a joker himself. "Was that the last of the fun things, Hiru?" "..." All this was now part of the "New World" both of them experiencing now especially Hiruko. The one who knows the game than any other. "We took out a lot of them." Hiruko responded with a nod in the end. "Not bad, those skills come in handy," Ryuu added. "I don't see any enemies in this area. It's probably a good idea to keep an eye out, though." Even as Hiruko surveyed his surroundings, alert for signs of movement, he let his senses run back to the day everything had occurred.