The Grand Duelist

Joseph couldn't help but curse when he found that his vision was greatly reduced.

This meant that he could only rely on his other senses when it came to sensing incoming attacks from his enemies.

But wait, something was strange.

Why couldn't he hear any enemies?

Apart from the heavy breathing of the two young women beside him. Joseph couldn't find anything foreign within the cave.

"What is this? Why is it so dark?" Nina mumbled in confusion.

"Did you read the system notifications?" Joseph asked.

"I did, but what I want to ask is what's going on. I don't remember being inside such a dark environment when I last came here recently." Nina replied and Joseph's eyebrows raised.

"What do you mean? You don't remember entering a dark environment when you entered this cave last time?"

"Yeah, I remember that I can still see where the enemies are back then. But now, it's really dark..." Nina whispered and Joseph's frown intensified.

What does Nina's sentence mean? Seeing that there's a discrepancy between what she remembered, and what was reality. Joseph glanced at Rika who also nodded her head and said.

"I think our memories are altered..."

"Our memories are altered?" Nina's figure trembled in shock.

Joseph nodded his head and explained: "There's a huge difference between what you both of you remember and the reality right now. Not only that. You can't remember exactly what happened at the moment when both you died the last time you two came here..."

"In that case, there could only be one thing that's happening... Something inside this cave is manipulating the memories of everyone..." Joseph swept his gaze at the two and Nina squealed in a sharp voice before tightly hugging him.

"Wait, wait, wait, what the hell are you doing?!"

"I'm scared... Stop talking, please! You are making it sound like as if we are dealing with ghosts..." Nina buried her head into Joseph's waist and Joseph lightly laughed before replying in a teasing manner.

"Well, if your definition of a ghost is someone that cannot be seen with the naked eye. Then, we really are dealing with a ghost..."

"Eeeek!" Nina screamed once again and she ran towards the exit of the cave.

"Hey, come back here! The ghost could be there!"

"Eeek!" Nina cried out and hurriedly took a U-Turn and returned to Joseph's embrace.

"Hahaha!" Joseph laughed out loud when he saw all of these happening, while Nina silently vowed: "I swear that once we get out of here, I will definitely make you remove all of your memories about what happened today!"

Rika merely chuckled at the side before she stared at Joseph and said: "But why would they alter the memories of everyone? Why is that necessary for their goals?"

Joseph stared at Rika and found that her serious, yet curious expression looked quite cute.

Actually, Rika looked like the type of girl that shouldn't be exploited but protected. That was why Joseph refrained from teasing her.

But of course, her sister. Nina looked to be the opposite of Rika so, she became the target of Joseph's teasing.

"I can't answer that question since I do not know their goals. But one thing is for sure... The one behind this is altering the memories of players so that those players would keep on returning here..."

Rika made a confused expression for a moment before she nodded her head in understanding.

She then smiled at Joseph, indicating that she understood what he was saying.

Nina, on the other hand, looked puzzled and surprised. She glanced at the two and when she found that they didn't have the intention to further explain. She cried out: "Stop teasing me, you two! Tell me what is going on! Don't keep it to yourselves!" She puffed her cheeks in annoyance and this time.

Rika didn't just chuckle. She also laughed out loud...

"Hahaha!"

"Well, Little Nina... This is what's going on..." Joseph made an expression as if he was looking at an adorable little girl, and Rika's laughter intensified into bell-like laughter as Nina glared at Joseph and struck his waist.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Haist... I was trying to explain it to you properly..." Joseph held his waist in pain and Nina's anger intensified when she heard what Joseph said.

"Then why are you looking at me as if I am a little child?"

When Nina said these. The two froze as if time stopped for them. After a moment of silence, Joseph and Rika stared at Nina as if they were looking at a ghost as Nina mumbled in confusion.

"What is going on with you two..." She whispered in anxiety and uncertainty.

Joseph who had the shock of his life nodded his head and said: "You managed to understand what I was implying underneath my words?"

Rika nodded her head in agreement before saying: "This is the first time that Sis understood hidden meanings behind amicable words from other people, apart from those bad people that wanted to do something bad to us so this is quite a surprise..."

She made a long sentence this time, making it known that she thoroughly felt shocked about what happened...

But Joseph shrugged and mumbled: "I mean, it's pretty obvious. I called her Little after all."

Rika chuckled once again.

"Knock it off... you two!" Nina screamed in anger and both of her palms found the foreheads of the two as sharp slapping sounds echoed within the darkness.

Then what echoed after the slap, were the despairing and pained scream of the two...

"So, what I am saying is that the one behind all of these altering memories scenario is making sure that everyone would return to the cave... Since the affected ones are the players, this could only mean that the return of the players is necessary for that bastard's goals..."

"In that case, shouldn't he just let those players die instead of altering their memories? I mean, those players will just return with vengeance, so why would he alter their memories? That's just a waste of time." Nina replied in confusion.

Rika and Joseph stared at each other before lightly laughing as Joseph further explained: "If you saw something scary in a certain place. Would you return to that place?"

Nina instantly replied: "Of course not! Why would I return?"

"Exactly..." Joseph pointed it out to her.

Nina froze for a moment before she cried out: "Ah!"

"Finally, you got it..." Joseph deeply sighed and the three of them could finally continue their journey now that the confusion about what's happening became clear to the three.

A low growl came from the darkness. The three instantly turned alert.

"This is bad, I can't see anything and the echoes that's happening with every movement that we do is disrupting my hearing..." Joseph thought to himself. He took a stance with his sword while the two sisters behind him revealed their weapons.

Nina protected his rear, while Rika stood at the center between Joseph and Nina. Rika silently chanted, preparing a spell for an incoming enemy.

Footsteps rang out and Joseph screamed: "Behind!"

He turned to look behind him and found that Nina was already ready. Before Joseph could even finish his scream, an arrow flew and struck the attacker that was revealed to be a wolf clad in darkness. It didn't even manage to open its jaws and scream before its life disappeared.

"It's surrounded by dark energy... Damn it, is everything in here corrupted by darkness?" Joseph cursed.

Before the wolf died, he saw that the wolf had a level that was at least ten times higher than him.

A quest given in a Beginner Village shouldn't possess that much difficulty.

But a monster that has a level, ten times higher than an absolute beginner at the game? That difference was despairing.

Not only that, the wolves even had the energy of darkness surrounding them. Joseph got to know about the energy of darkness when he fought a particular NPC at the Festival of Battles. That NPC had dozens of Crowd Control attacks which made him quite memorable for Joseph.

"Good shot, Nina!" Joseph cried out in praise, while Rika finally completed the preparation for her spell.

"Luminous!"

A ball of light exploded overhead. It briefly revealed everything around them, but it only lasted for an instant before it disappeared under the influence of the dark energy in the surroundings.

"Damn it, did you see that?" Joseph stared at his comrades and the two nodded their heads with a serious expression on their faces.

Right before the light from [Luminous] disappeared. All three of them saw countless pairs of red eyes floating around. Joseph gulped a mouthful of saliva, fear surged in his heart.

If those wolves attacked the three of them at once, then they would undoubtedly die.

After all, Joseph was just at Level 1. In short, his stats were at the lowest and his weapon and armor were worse than garbage.

"What should we do? Can we even escape?" Joseph's insecurity when it comes to dealing against dangerous situations appeared as he asked in a somewhat hoarse voice.

"How about we try? Rika, can you throw something at that dark wall-like thingy barring the exit?" Nina gestured behind them and Rika nodded her head.

Nina stood in front of Rika with her bow en garde. Whenever a Magician chanted, most if not all aggro of the surrounding monsters would be focused on them since they'd be perceived as a threat by the monsters.

"Unod bukog, unod bukod, kaluy-an ang kalag sa mga demonyong naa sa impyerno..." Rika started chanting.

Joseph suppressed the fear and insecurity in his heart as he took a stance and faced the incoming wolves ahead.

His usage of [Slice], [Thrust], and [Slash] were decent for he had plenty of experience fighting against enemies that were far stronger than him. But that experience was under the condition that his enemies came to him, one by one. Not in droves like what the wolves were doing.

In addition to fighting dozens of enemies at once, Joseph was also currently shivering in fear of the unknown. Of course, this was hidden behind his facade.

Joseph kept on slicing and slashing, yet his enemies never disappeared. His [Rusty Beginner Sword] was too weak along with his armor.

Joseph's health plummeted by a fourth in just a few seconds of combat.

If this continued, Joseph would surely die in just a few minutes.

No amount of dodging could save him from his enemies that were far too many for him to handle.

"Hurry up..." Joseph silently prayed. He couldn't even glance at Rika.

"Damn it, how many monsters are here? This really doesn't make sense." Nina inwardly cursed, a green light appeared around her arm as she sent arrows after arrows in a cone in front of her.

"Fireball!" Rika cried out and a ball of fire materialized in the air above the three. She gestured and it flew towards the dark energy blocking their way out of the cave.

But when it struck that energy. The Fireball instantly disappeared as if it was a stone dropped into a vast ocean.

"What?" Rika looked incredulous, while Joseph clicked his tongue and said.

"There's no time to waste, Rika! Assist us here or everything's over!"

Rika momentarily froze after hearing Joseph's words, but she still turned around and started chanting. Of course, the moment she started chanting. The monsters looked like they were Taunted by Rika as they all rushed at her in a frenzy.

"Rika!" Nina screamed and she hurriedly loaded an arrow and shot towards a wolf that was already in mid-pounce towards Rika.

Peok!

The wolf rolled on the ground upon being hit and it disappeared into light crystals. But Nina didn't expect that a wolf was hiding behind the wolf that she shot. Because of that, she didn't manage to stop the second wolf who was now on his way towards Rika.

"Stay away from her!" Joseph shouted and a sharp sound whistled by as a sword flew and struck that wolf on its neck, the wolf's trajectory changed after being struck and this gave Nina enough time to nock an arrow on her bow and finish the wolf that rolled on the ground in pain.

[You discarded your weapon.]

[After five minutes, you will lose ownership of the [Rusty Beginner Sword].

Joseph still had his hand, assuming the ending pose when he discarded his weapon in an effort to save Rika from the wolf and let her end her chant.

At the moment that the wolf turned into light crystals and disappeared into nothingness. Rika smiled at Joseph and said.

"Thank you..."

She had completed her chant...

She swept her gaze around her as if confirming the number of her enemies before whispering into the air: "Blizzard."

Wang!

The Magician Class exerted strong spells that had great influence in a wide area. A sky-bluish curtain fell and everything around Rika abruptly slowed down. Some even directly froze under the influence of Blizzard.

Nina hurriedly moved and she attacked the wolves frozen in a case of ice around her. Everything shattered after every attack that she unleashed.

Under Joseph and Nina's fierce attacks, they finally cleared the wolves around them.

[Your level has risen...]

[Your level has risen...]

[Your level has risen...]

[Your level has risen...]

[Your level has risen...]

Joseph found that he was now Level 5 and he now had the qualifications to access more skills under the Mercenary Skill Tree. But before Joseph could even distribute his stat points and acquire the skills that he wanted. A system notification appeared in front of them.

[You acquired the Wrath of Voliwolf.]

[A Hidden BOSS has appeared!]

"Roaaaaaar!"

Before Joseph's mind registered what was happening. A loud roar filled with anger exploded like a bomb inside the cave where all three of them stood.

Afterward, a monster that looked like the incarnation of a Great Demon appeared right before their eyes...