The world flashed by in a rain of multi colored lights as Mathew logged in. He quickly closed his eyes trying to shut out the feeling of vertigo that swept over him while moving through the tunnel. He had learned, during his last visit to "The World", that if he closed his eyes he no longer felt sick. It was the brightly colored lights that left him with the sensation of freefall so as long as he couldn't see them he wasn't left with the intense feeling of vertigo. In this case, what he didn't see couldn't hurt him.

The sound of the soft chime of the golden rings signaled Gwydion's arrival in the water city of Mac Anu, Root Town of the delta server. He stretched his virtual muscles, placing his spear across his shoulders, and yawned taking a few steps forward, away from the chaos gate.

It felt good to finally be back. It had been a very long weekend back in the real world. One of the waitresses, at the restaurant he worked at, had flaked off and left his boss in a tight spot. Jeff, Mathew's boss, was quite possibly the nicest guy Mathew had ever known, and one of the greatest bosses too, so Mathew had volunteered to pull a double shift over the weekend filling in for the absent waitress.

He had never really gotten a chance to relax that weekend because every spare minute he had, had gone into working on an English lit paper, which was due on Friday. This in itself wasn't so bad except that the paper was on Canterbury Tales, a book that threatened to put him to sleep with every second page. Several times he had caught himself starring longingly out the window at the bright sunshine but had forced himself to stay in and work on the paper. It was a relief to be back in "The World", where things like work and English literature were no longer an issue.

He gazed from the top of the stone steps down onto the main street and over the water to the buildings on the far side of the river. Every thing was just as he remembered it, not that he had expected it to change suddenly in four days. The only difference was the sky. The sun had begun to set, turning the horizon into a bright collage of reds, oranges, and yellows. The cityscape was framed with a glowing halo of twilight making it look like the buildings had caught fire. It was a disquieting, but vivid, image that took Gwydion's breath away.

Something at the back of Gwydion's mind was bothering him. It started out as an itch, but began growing into a feeling of general uneasiness as he stood at the top of the stone steps. At first he didn't know what it was that was bothering him and it was driving him mad trying to figure it out. Slowly it dawned on him, it was the people.

The last time he had visited Mac Anu the streets had been a bustle with people. Now the city seemed almost dead as not even half the players he had seen before, walked the streets. He could still see players, walking together in cliques or buying goods at the shops, but no one seemed to be loitering or laughing. The city had lost its energy, its soul, and Gwydion found himself mourning the loss.

Wondering what had caused the drastic change in the city, he descended the steps. The only difference he noticed, as he made his way towards the river, were the strange PC's. They were dressed in highly polished half plate with a mat blue cross painted across their breastplates. Each one wore a helm that covered their heads, making them look identical, as it hid their features and left only their mouth and chin exposed. They all stood at attention with their wickedly curved halberds held in their right hands.

Everywhere Gwydion looked he could see at least two of them. Two stood at the entrance to each ally and backstreet. Two stood at either side of the bridge. Two stood at the entryway of each shop and two stood on either side of the stairs.

As Gwydion descended down the flight of steps he studied one of the strange looking longarms. Through the eye slits on the helmet Gwydion could see the man's eyes darting back and forth as if looking for something, or someone. Feeling Gwydion's gaze on him the longarm locked eyes with Gwydion and glared hard as he studied him. Gwydion, for his part, smiled and gave a little wave, which only made the man become all the more grim.

Gwydion was about to head down to take a look at the goods in the weapon shop when the sound of hard leather slapping against stone caught his attention. He turned to see a young girl burst forth from an ally at a full sprint, her leather sandals making their sharp cracking noise with each foot fall. She was dressed like a Wavemaster, with a somewhat plain blue dress that she had hiked up to her knees with one hand so that she could run faster. The other hand seemed to be clutching something protectively against her chest. A mass of golden curls fell out from beneath an olive green cap, which didn't match her outfit, and tumbled in cascades over her shoulders down to the small of her back. Unfortunately Gwydion wasn't the only one who noticed her.

Four of the Guardsmen, upon seeing her, broke into an all out run to try and head her off in her mad dash towards the chaos gate. Her eyes were wide with horror as she glanced over her shoulder at her pursuers. She tried running harder but it was obvious to Gwydion who was going to win the race even before they had gone a few steps.

One of the men in armor shoved the girl roughly from behind, knocking her off balance while his companion dived for her, grabbed her around the middle, and pulled her to the ground. The other two caught up with the first two a few moments after the tackle and proceeded to hold her down while the one that had originally pushed her pried something from her hands.

"Those bastards," Gwydion growled. He had no idea what was going on, but he didn't like it, not one bit. Those men were twice her size and apparently far more capable. They had no right treating her like that. She didn't even have a weapon!

Gwydion took a step forward with every intention of kicking at least one of the guards off of her but a firm hand on his shoulder held him in place. Gwydion, startled, twisted his head around to look over his shoulder at the man restraining him. He was surprised to find the bald man with the beard standing directly behind him with a stern look on his face. It was the same swords master he had seen with the axeman the previous day.

"Don't get involved," the man with the dark beard warned, his voice pitched low enough so that only Gwydion could hear him. "This isn't your fight."

"Like hell it isn't," Gwydion growled back. "What they're doing isn't right. Who the hell do they think they are?"

"They're the Knight's of War," the swordsman told him sternly. "They are the CC corporation's anti hacker task force in The World. If you step in you're only going to get yourself deleted."

"Ronald!"

The girl's scream brought Gwydion's attention back to the scene that was playing out at the base of the stone stairs. One of the knights was holding up a small white Grunty that was struggling to get away and bawling its eyes out. The knight grabbed it firmly by it front two legs, and gripped the hind two with his other hand. He hefted the small animal, upside down, high above his head so that the other guards could see it. Two small birds wings sprouted from the Grunty's back and were flapping madly in a vain attempt to escape.

"It's been hacked," one of the guards commented with a sneer at the girl. "It is hereby declared an illegal animal and is to be scheduled for immediate deletion."

"No!" the girl screamed as she kicked one of the knights in the groin. The man doubled over in pain letting go of her. She grabbed a rock with her free hand and slammed it into the second soldiers helm, knocking him off her other arm. Free, she rolled to her feet and made a mad grab for her Grunty. A gauntleted hand connected with her face as the only uninjured and unoccupied soldier back handed her.

She collapsed back to the hard stone of the street clutching her face. The Grunty struggled all the harder to get free as he made fierce snarling noises at the man who had just struck his owner. Once again Gwydion tried to intervene but the gauntleted hand on his shoulder still held him firmly rooted in place.

"What's this?" The guard who had smacked her, took a step towards her and ripped the hat, which had been knocked off kilter by his blow, from her head.

She reflexively tried to cover her head with her hands but it was already too late, the guard had already seen what she was trying to hide. The guard nodded to his other two companions, who had recovered from the girls assault, and then towards the girl. Both men grabbed an arm and twisted it violently behind her back. She cried out in pain as they hoisted her back to a standing position. Now Gwydion could plainly see what she had been trying to cover. Two orange cat ears stood out prominently on the top of her head.

"You have been found in violation of the users agreement with the CC corporation that all players must agree to before first creating their characters for The World, stating that no user may modify The World, or any characters within The World without express release from the CC corporation. Your character is hereby declared Illegal and will be deleted at our earliest convenience," the Knight of War declared. Gwydion got the feeling that this show was more for the benefit of the onlookers than for the girl.

"They're nothing but glorified bullies," Gwydion shouted as he struggled to get free of the swordsman's iron grip. The guardsman who had delivered the proclamation glared stoically at Gwydion and gripped the haft of his halberd tightly. His eyes flashed dangerously within his helmet and Gwydion knew that he didn't have a chance against the knight. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to try.

The swordsman twisted Gwydion around within his firm grip, as if Gwydion weighed no more than a rag doll. Before Gwydion could get a word out the warrior punched him forcefully in the stomach. The world began to fade to black and stars flashed before his eyes as Gwydion struggled to maintain a hold on consciousness. It took a consistent effort to finally drag air back into his lungs and breathe evenly.

He wasn't sure how much time passed before the burning sensation in his lungs passed but when he was finally able to look around without seeing tracers there was no sign of the girl or her Grunty. Gwydion didn't remember falling but he found himself on his knees half doubled over with his hands holding his gut. The swordsman was standing in front of him with his arms crossed over his broad chest and looking stern, like some sort of displeased statue.

"You bastard," Gwydion croaked. The man just watched him with that same stern expression. Rocks showed more emotion, he though sourly. He looked away and spat to clear his throut, before saying, "It wasn't right."

"Doesn't matter if it was right or not," The swordsman told him. "They have the law on their side so they can police The World any way they like."

Gwydion shot a furious glare up at the man. "That wasn't justice," Gwydion told him. He struggled, grasping for something to back up his statement, but words failed him. "I don't know what that was, but it sure as hell wasn't right."

"I never said anything about justice," the swordsman replied. "I said they had the law on their side. Justice rarely has anything to do with the law... but you're right, it wasn't right."

"So then why didn't you do anything," Gwydion shot back at him. "If you agree with me why didn't you try to stop them, why did you hold me back, damn it?"

"You're not listening to me, boy," the swordsman said, not offering him a hand up. "They have the law on their side. They are the law. They hunt down hackers and delete them. That's their job, and they are sanctioned by the CC Corporation. Neither of us stood a chance against them and you know it! Now quit whining and stand up."

Gwydion winced, the warrior was right and he knew it. The only thing that picking a fight with those knights would have gotten him was deleted. This knowledge did nothing to soothe his anger, it only left a sour taste in his mouth.

He slowly climbed to his feet using his spear as an aid. He glanced up at the swordsmaster and asked with a half smirk half grimace, "Did you really have to hit me so hard?"

"You tell me," was his only response.

Seeing that Gwydion was back on his feet, the warrior turned on his boot heel and began walking off towards the courtyard that held the chaos gate. Gwydion watched the man as he strode up the street taking the steeps two at a time, his hand resting on the pommel of his wide bladed sword as if he was just waiting for the chance to draw it. With his chiseled features and corded muscles he looked like a moving mountain, an unstoppable force. Gwydion could attest to the man's strength, and if a man like that didn't stand a chance against the Knights of War than Gwydion certainly couldn't stand up to them.

The bearded swordsman turned at the top of the stairs and shouted down the street to Gwydion, "There's more than one way to fight an opponent. Not all of them involve your fists. Think before you try tackling a problem head on." With that he turned and walked out of Gwydion's sight.

What was that supposed to mean, Gwydion thought, rubbing his stomach. He shook his head and began walking towards the chaos gate. He had had enough of Mac Anu for now, at least in its present state, and with the combination of the weekends events and the scene that had just occurred he was fixing to bust a couple of heads before calling it a night.

He walked slowly up the steps to the chaos gate and stepped forward to activate the portal. The guards standing on either side of the gate crossed their halberds cutting him off.

Gwydion glared first at one and then at the other getting ready to yell at them. He noticed the way they caught each others attention out of the corner of their eyes and gave a slight nod. Gwydion paused. They were just waiting for him to say something stupid. They were looking for an excuse to mop the floor with him. Well, he wasn't going to give them the satisfaction.

After a moment both guards seemed to sag a little with disappointment as they realized that Gwydion wasn't going to start a fight. "Name and business," the guard on the right grunted.

"Gwydion, sir." Gwydion opened his eyes wide with a mock look of innocence. "I was going to go to Bursting Passed Over Twin Hills to take out my aggravations on some monsters and earn some experience." And the whole time I'll be thinking of you, Gwydion added to himself. "Is that alright, sir?"

The guards eyes narrowed and Gwydion could see him wondering behind those eyes whether or not Gwydion was trying to be insulting. Gwydion kept his face well schooled not even cracking a smile until finally one guard nodded to the other and they uncrossed their weapon.

"Alright, you're free to go," the other guard said grudgingly. "But if you see a hacker, or anything out of the ordinary, gate out immediately and report it back to us."

Gwydion stepped forward, activating the portal. Golden light spread from the gate to cover the ground and an intricate ribbon of golden light flashed into being to spin around the gate in the opposite direction of the gate's rotation.

"Bursting Passed Over Twin Hills."

The golden rings appeared and swallowed him. Once again he found himself falling down the light filled tunnel, so he closed his eyes and waited.

Gwydion opened his eyes as the hum of the golden rings filled the air. Blue lights flashed before his eyes like a rain of sparks before sputtering out as the final ring touched down. He stretched again cracking his neck to either side. A soft breeze set the tall grass into a rhythmic motion. A soft hiss filled the air as the stalks rubbed together. The wind tussled his unruly chestnut hair playfully and he closed his eyes just enjoying the sensation. He opened them again to watch as the last rays of twilight disappeared over the horizon exposing him to a brilliant sea of stars that stretched from horizon to horizon.

A sharp raking pain across his back caused the breath to leave his lungs sharply. He stumbled forward and spun around to find three black scimitars glinting in the failing light of the setting sun. They hovered above the ground as if held by some unseen hand and brandished themselves menacingly, and they weren't alone. Something that looked like a flower with an attitude problem was with them. He had been gated in right on top of a magic portal.

Angry at having been caught off guard, among other things, he simply reacted without thinking. "GAN ZOT" he shouted calling upon the raging power of the earth and directing it solely at the flower with vicious teeth. The earth roiled and erupted beneath the flower in a series of stone columns, each one higher and sharper than the last. When the columns crumbled and fell away, the magic that had animated them dissipating, there was no sign of the flower.

The scimitars flashed and sliced at Gwydion as he recovered from the use of the magic. He cursed himself for a fool, feeling the bite of their cold steel which left searing pain in the form of blood stained slashes. He had left himself wide open because he had reacted before thinking.

Lacking SP, and not wanting to make the same mistake twice, Gwydion gripped his spear in both hands and waited for the swords to make their move. Blades flashed in the silver moonlight and Gwydion attempted to parry using his spears haft to knock away the attacking blades. They moved with a speed greater than his own and more than once he felt the bite of their sharp edges through his leather coat. The blades lashed out for a final time without reaching their target as Gwydion spun sideways around their lunge bringing his spears haft down across all three blades, smashing them into the ground. The central one exploded as the steel blade shattered while the other two fell to the ground, lifeless. Slowly they all faded from sight.

Kicking himself for not paying attention Gwydion held his hand aloft and called out "Repth". The warmth of the spell spread through his system as the cuts and scrapes disappeared from his skin and his clothes mended themselves.

Gwydion flopped down, with his legs spread eagled, on the ground resting his spear across his lap. He leaned back on the palms of his hands and gave a heavy sigh. His mind turned to fancy as he waited for his SP to regenerate. The fight had reminded him of another encounter not to long ago, in a flesh filled chamber, with another set of dark blades. He shook his head with a wry smirk and gave another sigh.

The reason that he had logged in that evening wasn't just because he needed to get rid of some aggravations. He had become involved in some one else's problems and had promised to back Taod up if and whenever he needed it. He owed it to the sword master to get better in order to give the help that he had promised. He had the sneaking suspicion that Taod NynE hadn't seen the last of those assassins. The next time Taod met them, Gwydion was going to be prepared.

Gwydion had been created as an escape, a way to get away from reality and just have some fun. But already he was beginning to feel the mantle of responsibility being flung around his shoulders. It was impossible to be care free, he realized, The World wasn't separate from reality, it was an extension of it. Social interaction was the same as it was in the real world. Everyone still had the same expectations of you, upon meeting you, as they did in the real world. People still carried around their problems, dragging their day to day baggage into the game. Hell there was even bastards like the Knights of War running around. It was only a matter of time before he got bogged down with responsibilities and problems here too.

A smile formed across his face and he shook his head at himself. God, just listen to yourself, he thought. You whine and complain and get all worked up because you don't want other people to drag you down with their problems, but you're the one who likes to help. You're the one who decided to take on that responsibility because you wanted to do it and not because others are forcing you to. If you don't want to do something, don't. If you do, then have some fun while you're doing it, you're only here because you want to be. Now, like the old swordsman said, quit your whining and stand up.

Gwydion rose to his feet and reached into his pouch. He searched around for a few moments until he found what he was looking for and pulled out a small green orb. The sphere was made of glass and had a cork stopper in the top of it. A soft light seemed to be coming from somewhere within it. Gwydion uncorked the fairy orb and hundreds of tiny golden lights sped off in every direction, mapping out the field. Within seconds they returned. They flew in formation, changing color to better represent the field, with yellow dots marking where the magic portals were.

Gwydion studied the map for a moment trying to get himself oriented and noting where the dungeon was. He was a little disappointed to find that there appeared to be only eight magic portals. Hopefully there will be more enemies in the dungeon, he thought before heading off towards the nearest gate.

Gwydion found the gate on the other side of a small grove of trees. The portal's brilliant light shone through the bows making the trees leaves appear golden in the dark gloom of the night. He circled around the grove, keeping his distance and when he was ready he cleared the edge of the wood.

The portal, immediately sensing his presence, began to collapse in on itself with the arcane scrollwork spinning madly around it. It burst into a brilliant light that lit the field around him and left him partially blind. He quickly raised a hand to direct his magic, pointing at the center of where the portal had collapsed and shouted, "JUK ROM", the only area effect spell he knew. He listened to the sound of the wind as it hissed around its targets, but he had to wait for his vision to re-adjust before he could actually see his enemies.

In the dimness of the starlit night he could just make out the shadows of two flower-like monsters, the same as the ones he had encountered upon his arrival. They both appeared somewhat ragged from his attack but he couldn't accurately tell the extent of the damage he had inflicted. At any rate, it would be several seconds before he could do anything with his SP again so he grasped his spear in a two fisted grip and waited for the monsters to come to him.

Tracers still flashed across his field of vision as he circled right of his enemies. He wanted to deal with them one at a time. The first one to reach him ran at him on spindly legs made from tap roots, gnashing sharply pointed petals that resembled teeth. It's head snaked out, its sharp teeth sinking into the exposed flesh of Gwydion's arm, as he hadn't bothered to roll his sleeve down yet. The bite was painful but it only became worse when he jumped back leaving a small bit of him self behind with the flower monster.

He glanced down at the cookie cutter wound on his arm and back at his opponent. He had let the thing get to close to him. He wouldn't make the same mistake again. He thrust out with his spear using the full length of the pole arm to keep his opponent at bay. It ducked and weaved as he stabbed at it repeatedly. The whole time, its companion was getting closer. Gwydion did a short jab, feinting left as quick as he could, he then brought the spear back and struck right, spearing the flower square in the center of it's flowery head.

Gwydion didn't have a chance to really congratulate himself as the second monster had circled around him to attack from the rear. Its stem was poised back, like a serpent, ready to strike. Knowing that he lacked the time to clear his spear and stab at his opponent he ripped the blade sideways through the head of the blossoming monster, still impaled on the tip. He swung the blade in a wide arc, ducking low and trailing petals as it cut through the air. The monster's head sprung forward as the sharp blade of his weapon sliced through the stem, severing it neatly, and sending the head of the monster spinning to the ground.

"Repth" Gwydion called, raising a hand. A warm light surrounded him as a cold sensation numbed the burning pain around his wound. He watched as the wound healed itself over in the space of a few moments. As the glow faded he ran a hand through his tangled matt of hair and took a deep breath to calm the rapid pace of his heart.

He had better learn to rely more on his characters strengths, and a longarm's strength lay in his ability to attack from range. Other opponents may be faster or stronger but the longarm had the extended reach to keep them from getting close enough to use them. Gwydion looked down at the faded wound. He should never have let the monster get close enough to strike.

Keeping what he had learned in mind, Gwydion proceeded to clear the other magic portals and was slightly disappointed to find that they all contained only a handful of low level monsters. How was he supposed to practice if he didn't at least have opposition that could offer up resistance? Mostly it was the flower like monsters that gated in with one or two of those flying knives every once and a while to try and make things interesting.

Gwydion always attacked first, with the spell "Juk Rom", just as they emerged from the portal and were packed close together in a tight little group. After the winds died down and he recovered from the use of his magic he let the monsters come to him. He would circle his enemies keeping his distance and retreating back a couple of paces when they got too close, the whole time stabbing at them with the tip of his spear. After the initial barrage of his magic a few quick jabs from his was enough to finish them off. After the fight he would give himself a once over and cast "Repth" if he really needed it and then wait for his SP to regenerate before moving on.

After he finished his battle with the set of monsters that appeared out of the last magic portal, Gwydion collapsed to the ground and lay in the grassy field, sprawled on his back. He stared up at the starry night sky not recognizing any of the constellations that had fascinated him in his youth.

Gwydion picked a tall stalk of grass, from the ground, and placed it between his teeth. As he gazed at the tiny specks of distant light, his mind wandered back to the last time he had been out on a clear night, away from the city lights. Mat's mom had had a thing for stars and during the summer months, when he was still barely knee high to her, she would grab a blanket and they would go and sit out in the field behind their house. She used to trace a finger across the heavens to point out the constellations to him and tell him all the stories that were connected with them, like the story of Ursa who had bore the son of Zeus who, to protect them both from the jealous rage of his wife, had turned them into bears. Or how the horse Pegasus was born from the ocean with wings on his back.

His favorites were the stories though, were those of the heroes. Like Perseus who had done battle with Medusa and later rescued a princess from a giant sea serpent, or Hercules who labored through many hard trials to please his stepmother Hera. One time, after listening to his mother with wrappped attention, he had sat up and told his mom, with no uncertainty, "one day I'm going to kill all the monsters and rescue a princess so that everybody can live happily ever after". His mother had laughed and told him that she was sure, one day, he would.

He shook his head and stood, not really wanting to leave his contented seat, but realizing that he couldn't just sit there all night. His SP and health were restored to full and it was time to continue his training expedition. Off in the distance, to the East, he could see the blocky outline of the dungeon against the speckled nights sky. He wasn't sure if there were any princesses down there, but he could sure kill all the monsters. He set off at a run across the open plains with a wide grin on his face.

Several times during his head long rush across the open field he passed tall, stone windmills either alone or in groups of two or three. He paused long enough to inspect them for a moment before continuing on. Cast in shadow it was hard to make out any details except that the sails appeared to be made, roughly, from some sort of leather, or hide, stretched over a wooden frame. The exterior of the buildings seemed to be carved from the same weathered stone that made up the buildings in Mac Anu.

As he wandered around the windmill, Gwydion was startled when he suddenly heard a bouncing noise, like the sound of a ball hitting a wall, accompanied by a proclamation that he couldn't quite make out. He immediately gripped his spear tighter as his eyes began scouring every shadow for sign of an ambush. He had been caught off guard once, he wasn't going to have it happen again. Gwydion, crept slowly forwards, following the wall around the base of the windmill.

The sound continued along with the proclamation as he advanced. He followed the noise until he could finally make out what the voice was saying. "Mandragora," it repeated. Gwydion crept stealthfully forward until he found the source of the noise. A strange, man like, plant stood on the other side of a large boulder that protruded from the ground next to the windmill. Maybe stood was the wrong word since it seemed to be rooted in place. Its head came up to about Gwydion's calf and every few moments it bounced as if trying to leap from the ground, but being firmly entrenched it didn't move from the spot where it was rooted.

Gwydion studied the strange creature for several moments before deciding that the thing didn't look all that dangerous. Just to be safe he kept a firm grip on his spear as he stepped out into the moonlight. "Mandragora," it said giving a little bounce. Gwydion squinted at it. It obviously saw him but it didn't seem to be able to move. He reached out with his spear and gave it a gentle poke. "Mandragora," it called out again.

Gwydion looked around at the darkness of the empty plain, wondering if some one was playing some sort of strange joke on him. There was no one to be seen. He turned his attention back to the weird plant when it shouted out, "Mandragora", again. It didn't seem to be able to harm him so he saw no point in attacking it. Instead he just turned his back on the plant and continued on his way to the dungeon resolving to ask some one about it on the BBS.

Two torches lit the stairway that led down into the dungeon. Gwydion stopped at the top of the stairs that descended down into the darkness of the dungeons entrance. With the large grey blocks and the lichen growing between the cracks in the mortar, the dungeon looked to him like a crypt. The four stone columns at each point around the entrance, and the orange designs that were painted on the walls only added to the appearance. He shook his head once again marveling at the detail the programmers had put into the game.

Gripping the haft of his spear tightly, he descended into the dungeon to find a wide stone hallway with lamps hung from pegs on the wall, providing the only light for the dungeon. Strange blue designs had ben pained onto the brown stone blocks that made up the floor. The designs were some what geometric in shape consisting of thick lines drawn at angles and long sweeping curves. If they were supposed to mean anything, Gwydion wasn't sure what it was.

As he made his way deeper into the dungeon, he found crescent shaped rooms with huge pools of molten rock that reeked of sulfur and ash. Some chambers had what appeared to be cells, with wrought iron bars. The occupants long since dead, their flesh rotted away. He even ran across a room that held a raised stone altar, decorated with chiseled lines, and full suits of armor, gripping the hilts of broad swords and standing at attention, flanking it on either side.

Every second room or so brought him face to face with the golden glow of another magic portal. He had to change tactics some what as the close confines of the dungeon kept him from retreating back to keep his distance. He instead rushed his opponents after casting his initial spell and tried to spear them as fast as possible. Of course this change in tactics also saw him using his recovery magic a lot more, as monsters were apt to hit him from behind or surround him while he dealt with one of them. The going was slow as he took the time to fully regenerate his SP before moving on.

It wasn't until he descended the stairs to the second level that things started to get really interesting. He had just left the hallway from the stairs when he entered a large square room with a high ceiling. A single magic portal spun silently in the center of the room. Feeling confident Gwydion strode forwards to the edge of the gate's detection range and watched as it collapsed. As the light flashed, signaling the arrival of the monsters, Gydion directed his magic towards the center, where most enemies appear. The razor leaves appeared amongst a tempestuous wind catching all three emerging monsters in it's circumference.

When the winds died down Gwydion was shocked to see two types of enemies he had yet to encounter on this level. One was a knight in full plate that he had encountered before with Taod NynE, but the other two he had never seen before. They appeared to be large moths with a wingspan as wide as his spear was tall. None of them appeared to be grievously injured by his magic.

Gwydion was still recovering from the use of his magic as the knight charged forward raising its sword across its body for a back handed swing. Gwydion watched eyes wide with the realization that the knight was going to reach him before he had a chance to fully recover. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the sword wielding monster began his swing. There was no time to parry the blow so he threw himself backwards and fell. In mid fall the sword whistled straight through his field of vision, the tip just barely missing the bridge of his nose.

He hit the ground with a woof, as his breath was jarred from his lungs. He had just barely avoided complete decapitation from the blow, but now he wasn't in a better position, sitting on his rump. The swordsman raised its sword high overhead aiming to cleave Gwydion in two. As soon as he saw his opponent start moving he gripped his spear with both hands around the butt end and swung it hard, in a baseball swing, at the monsters knee cap. The spear impacted and the sound of metal hitting metal rang out across the room. The monsters legs gave out from underneath it sending it crashing to the floor with a loud clattering. Gwydion, quick as he could, leapt to his feet and, gripping the haft one hand over the other, stabbed the spear down at the swordsman, who had just managed to roll onto its back. The spear pierced through the monsters helm and only stopped when it stuck solid stone floor on the other side.

Gwydion could feel adrenalin rushing through his system as his heart beat out a rhythm in his ears. He grinned ear to ear. Now this was the kind of fight he was looking for. He watched as the body of the armor wearing monster unraveled into nothingness. Leaving him with his spear point down to the ground.

A searing pain erupted across his back followed by a sharp crack. His instincts forced him to leap forwards as he tried to turn to see his attacker. Two more fresh lances of pair slashed at his exposed right arm. The two moths had circled around him during his fight with the swords man and were now attacking him with their whip like proboscis. Gwydion winced feeling the sting of their attack and lanced out trying to stab the nearest one. The spear bounced off its chirtenous exoskeleton and Gwydion was forced to give ground as another flurry of whip like attacks left red welts across his exposed flesh.

Although the attacks individually did little in the way of damage they were fast and stung something fierce. Gwydion backed up quickly trying to keep his distance from his attackers. Taking a deep breath he jumped forwards at the moth on the left and shouted, "Triple..." as he activated his weapon skill. His body began to move faster as it performed a series of pre-arranged motions. First stabbing low, bending over one knee and extending the other foot forward, then leaping up into the air twisting at the waist. His spear spun quickly in one hand, each revolution ripping a line up the monsters abdomen as the spears blade cleaved through its chirtinous skin. Finally at the height of the jump the spear came to rest pointing straight up high overhead. He gripped the haft with two hands and shouted, "...Doom", bringing the blade down and cleaved the moth monster's head in twain.

Still breathing hard Gwydion recovered from the attack. He felt the sting as the second monster, showing no mercy, lashed at him. Gwydion grimaced a smirk as he turned his head to look up at his attacker. "You just give me one second to get back some more SP and you're next." As soon as he recovered he leapt backwards and ran to stay away from the moths vicious barrage. As soon as he had enough SP he called upon his weapon skill again leaping to the attack. The second moth monster faired no better than it's compatriot and it hit the ground still trying to fly without a wing. After a moment it too disappeared as its code unraveled.

The going was even slower as he cleared the second level of the dungeon as he often drained his SP completely during his battles with the higher powered monsters and had to wait before casting Repth on himself, and then it took even longer for his SP to regenerate. But he didn't mind the wait between fights. He was actually having fun. The harder the battle the more fun he had. He was almost sad when he had finally searched out every last room and reached the Gott statue.

The Gott statue hovered underneath a small shrine just behind its treasure chest. A golden ring, much like the ones that transported him as he gated in and out, spun around the shrine. The statue resembled a humanoid lizard with horns, perhaps some form of demon, clutching a huge tree like club under one arm and steadied with the other, with several spikes protruding down from the end. Gwydion stepped forward and opened the chest to retrieve his rightful prize. He watched as the glow faded from around the Gott, and the statue crashed to the ground.

Gwydion wandered the halls of the dungeon back towards the enterance, double checking that he had left nothing alive deep with in its dark bowels. When he was sure there was nothing left for him to do he made his way to the surface. He paused a moment to fetch a piece of grass that he placed between his teeth before glancing up at the stars and gating out.