143. Breaking Free (I)

(Snow’s View)

With quick steps, they climbed up the circling stairs. Eventually, they arrived back on the main floor.

Snow knew the ways around the bottom floor as the castle dungeon was below the entrance that they came from. She would not have expected in the beginning, because the door was hidden away behind tall bookshelves.

She blew past the hidden traps and even made it through the second area, where she noticed dead bodies of the gargoyles still present, telling her that the monsters were slain by her group ahead.

“Who did this?” One of the Players named Olgom asked with shock. Olgom was one of the remaining sub-leaders for the RedVelvet guild. He had short black hair, a bit short compared to Snow, but the strength he had was astronomically stronger than the rest of the people who were with her. Even the weapon he had in his hand was a battle-ax that he found in one of the rooms.

So far, they didn’t understand what was going on. Their guild was disbanded in the middle of their year as they were stuck in the dungeon for a long period. The whereabouts of their leader and vice leader were unknown, disheartening many of their guildmates as many had thought they were abandoned.

They didn’t expect there to be someone else running around destroying gargoyles as they spoke. Everyone knew that the castle was cursed.

“It’s the Gold Phoenix guild,” Snow said with pride. Even though she was with them for a short period, she couldn’t help but feel pleased with their performance.

“They’re here?!” Olgom said with alarm. He thought that Snow had come in alone.”

“You didn’t actually think I just popped into this castle by myself, did you?” Snow asked she placed her hand on her hips, taking a good look at him. She wasn’t that good, yet.

“Well, kind of?” Olgom said bashfully.

Snow shook her head, “They came with me.”

“You contracted them out?” Olgom had asked. It was a known fact that Snow sent out missions to many of the Players, mainly because most of the high-end missions come from her.

“No,” Snow said, “They are my guildmates.”

“Guildmates?!” Olgom burst out loud, shocked to hear such information. The other Players turned towards the two, curiously wondering what they were talking about. “NPC can join?!”  He then caught himself, realizing that he called her NPC. “Sorry, Saintess. I just thought you aren’t allowed to join because you are a field manager for the Dragon Express.”

Snow waved her hand, not really minding what he had said. Yes, she felt uncomfortable being called an NPC, but she knew that the Players had a knack for calling the Natives NPC every time. At first, she thought it was because they didn’t know what to call them, but the magical society got used to it and just thought it was another mental issue that the Player’s had.

“Yes. I can join a guild. I am not completely tied down to the Dragon Express company.” Snow reassured him. “It’s like my second job, and the connection that the guild brings is useful.”

“I see.” Olgom said deep in thought. He rubbed his chin, thinking about the new information that he had learned.

It took a moment for Olgom to answer, “Do you think I can join?” He asked a bit slower than before as if he was catching himself from a slip up from his random thoughts.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Yes, why not?” Snow had casually stated, having more people join wasn’t a bad idea. Plus, the RedVelvet guild had many amazing Players that the Gold Phoenix couldn’t get their hands on.

From the fights that they have gone through, she had seen their powers and skills. She knew that they would benefit the guild.

Olgom broke in a small short happy dance that brought a few chuckled from everyone. The others came and asked her as well, becoming a long line. It was as if they were all individually asking if they could join her specifically, and right after, they would get excited over something that she didn’t fully understand.

“I got an invite to join Gold Phoenix.” One of the Players gaped, staring off into space, which Snow wondered if the Players were mentally sane. The others shook their heads, understanding what their friends were going through.

“It’s one of the top guilds after Heavenly guild,” another said. “After our guild collapsed, joining either Heavenly or Gold Phoenix was my next step, but who knew that we would get this heaven-sent chance.”

The Players all agreed.

“Not only that,” the Player snuck a glance towards Snow, who was busily saying the same thing like a broken machine. “Snow’s in the guild. Did you check the guild status and  notifications?”

“Yea, there are only a few people who can invite players, and it’s the leaders and Snow. She has a position as a guild advisor and all, but her level is insane.”

Their whispers grew louder, bringing more attention to the other players who joined around them.

“Look, there is even Holcom, the destroyer and holy crap isn’t that the 10th ranked assassin, Alfonso?”

“The list of top Players in the guild is insane, compared to the other guilds, I think a good eleven out of twenty of the top players are in this guild.”

The others shook their head, mumbling amongst each other dazed at what they were reading.

Snow finally finished, a bit light-headed from asking the same question, she listened in on the Players rants. She knew that there were strong Players in the Gold Phoenix guild, but she just found out the Players had kept their own source of ranking for themselves.

So far, in total, they were about a good one hundred Players that had decided to join. She had taken a moment to write down their names, and even jot a few notes down to remember their skills and strong points that she unconsciously did. She put away the notes in her storage.

“Saintess,” Olgom called her out there.

“Yes?”

“Do you think we would be able to get out of this place, alive?”

Snow was silent. She couldn’t read the future, but she didn’t want to douse their hopes. “We have too.” She said. “Or, we will all die.”

This was the truth.

“Understood. I’ll make sure to keep the others going until we meet up with the main force.”

“Thanks, Olgom.” Snow reached over and patted him on the shoulder. “Let’s go.”

It didn’t take long for them to come to a fork halfway. Snow couldn’t tell which way her guild had gone through, so she rummaged through her pocket, pulling out a coin to flip. With a flick of her hands, she caught the coin in midair, landing on heads.

“We’ll go left.” Snow said, moving forward—her hand on the hilt of her sword.

Walking endlessly through the hallway, they came upon another room. Compared to the rooms that they had come from, bloodied up with dead gargoyles was filled with monsters.

A battle ensued as they stormed in, Snow leading the charge. At first, Snow was ruthless and quick. Swinging her sword at the monsters that tried to overcome her with numbers. Her feet danced on the stone floor, moving out of harm's way as they swooped in from the ceiling.

Whenever she dodged, her sword would follow right after, cutting off their wings or slicing them with magic. She darted around like a rabbit.

The fight was quick and efficient, putting out the gargoyles without too much trouble. Snow's focus was intense, allowing her to become a beast of her own. Even the Players followed behind her, throwing spells and attacking the monsters with the weapons that they had.

It didn’t take long for everyone to wrap up their fights and moved through the next location.

They walked through many rooms that had a large number of monsters that pushed the Players to their limits. Their frail bodies were thrown around to stay alive, and a large number of times, Snow had single-handedly kept them alive with her healing magic. If it wasn’t for her, they would have all died.

Sometimes, she wondered if the Players were purposely throwing their life into danger, because of how easily they would run to the front and get injured. She had to quickly wrap them up with healing energy while fighting head-on with the other monsters.

The Players were growing in levels, slowly but surely getting stronger with each room that they had entered. Their special Player’s circumstances come into play, allowing their injured body to heal bit by bit every time they level.

Sometimes Snow was jealous of this unique game-like features that they had, but at the same time, she knew that there were certain circumstances of the Player’s ability that separate them from the Natives.

She saw stark differences from the natural skills that the Native’s had, which outclassed the Players, but the Players' strength and growth outpaced the Natives. Snow tried her best to push away such thoughts and focused on what she can do. There were already so many stress factors since the dungeon's appearance, she didn’t want to add an extra layer of jealousy, among others.

The fighting became easier, allowing her to focus on her talent of magical control and attacks. She noticed a set pattern that the gargoyles had, which allowed her to slay them much more quickly.

Eventually, they came upon the stairs to the third floor. Snow stopped in front of the entrance, taking a good look. There were no lights as darkness welcomed them more than before, giving her an uncomfortable feeling.

Taking the first step, a sudden chill ran up and down her spine.