We’re all alone in this desolate dungeon, it’s just the three of us.

The axe-wielding lightning user yells out while arcs of electricity begin flowing off of his body.

“You two are really asking for it!!!”

I keep my bright red blade pointed at his head staring the man straight in the eyes. The hooded figure has him cornered from behind with his daggers at the ready.

I release an attack. With a swift and powerful swing of my blade, I release a wind-powered slash of dark fire magic straight at him.

With a rigid movement of his axe and an explosion of lightning, this monster of a man turns the trajectory of my attack to narrowly twist his body out of the way.

In doing so, it leaves him open from behind. The hooded man darts in with overwhelming speed. I hear the faint sound of blades slicing flesh, then see the axe-wielder fall to his knees coughing up blood while the rogue pulls a dagger from his side.

The mystery man grins at me and darts backward putting away his daggers while reaching into his item box as the lightning mage yells out again releasing arcs of dark yellow energy.

I produce another fiery slash of magic sending it hurdling at him.

He grits his teeth and raises his axe to block my attack.

The wave of fire makes contact with his weapon making a loud clang almost like metal on metal.

He barely fends off the crescent of dark magic as he’s pushed 3m backward attempting to stand to his feet.

“ARRGHHH! THIS IS IT YOU RUNT!”

I watch him explode with anger as he manages to deflect my attack off track once again narrowly avoiding death.

His bloodshot eyes meet mine as he sends a bolt of electricity at me.

There’s no blocking these attacks… I must endure it.

My vision is filled with yellow light and I’m hit with an immense wave of lightning once again. It burns my skin and leaves my insides sizzling, but I keep running forward.

*CLANGGG*

With a yell, I jump towards him to clash sword against axe.

My dark red aura filled with flames collides with his yellow static energy.

We’re at a stand still.

Both of us push forward with all our might. I release wave after wave of intimidation while erupting into flames.

He holds his ground while shocking me to my core.

We both let out yells as neither of us wants to lose this brawl.

Again, I hear faint footsteps in the distance.

Then a whistling sound…

My eyes are locked on my opponent, so I can’t keep an eye on the rogue. It seems like he’s made his move.

The lighting user lets out a final shock wave as I release another enormous display of flames. I fall to my knees. After taking 3 full-on attacks, My HP is nearly 0. I look up at my opponent while reaching for an HP potion.

He’s burnt to a crisp as well. The slash from earlier did a lot of damage, the dagger to the side was a good hit too, and my excess fire residue from our clash couldn’t have made it any easier on him.

One more solid attack from either of us, and the other would be finished.

I cough up another mouthful of blood and bring the HP potion to my lips as he lifts his axe high in the air.

The axe wielder lets out a yell while releasing a final lightning-axe combo. Then… Moments before his blade comes down on me, I watch a glowing white arrow pierce through the side of his head.

The lightning mage’s eyes widen as a white light flashes and he disappears into nothingness before the arrow can even make it through to the other side.

I’m left half kneeling on the ground in shock. I gulp down the rest of my HP potion to twist my head toward the direction that glowing arrow came from.

The rogue’s low and clear voice rings out again.

“Good fight, you set up the perfect shot.”

I see the hooded man standing 20m away holding a bow with another white glowing arrow loaded.

He grins as I look at him in awe.

“Uh- No prob. You know… I could have handled him!”

He laughs.

“Ya know what, I think you could have. I just wanted in on the fun too!”

I grit my teeth and walk over to him still covered in a dark red aura of flames. I point my glowing blade at his head.

“What do you want? Why’d you even help me in the first place?”:

The cloaked man puts his bow down and the arrow disappears. He puts one hand up in the air to pull the hood off his head.

It reveals him to be a young tan-skinned man with short silver hair. His eyes are very light blue, and he wears a pair of thin black dangling earrings.

He smiles at me again while placing both hands in the air.

“Woah there. I just watched you sacrifice yourself for your teammates so I came to enjoy the show. It’s not that deep.”

My eyes and lips tighten for a moment, then he continues.

“My name is Arie. Nice to meet you.”

I stare into his light blue eyes for a moment, then lower my sword.

“I’m Jay.”

He puts out his right hand.

I stare at it for a moment, then take a step forward to shake it.

“Nice to meet you too. That’s a neat bow by the way, and the arrows are… interesting as well. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”

We both let out a light sigh of relief as the tension lessens. He picks up the bow and summons an arrow pointing it off into the distance, then lets it soar.

“Yeah, it’s a unique skill actually. And- well, It’s a legendary grade.”

He winks.

I raise an eyebrow, then use Inspect and Appraisal.

[Lv. 300]

Active Items:

[Cloak of Swiftness] +60% Speed +60% Agility

[Lesser Demon’s Dagger Set] +40% Strength +40% Agility

[Enchanted Ring of Defense] +55% Defense

[Enchanted Ring of Magic] +55% Mental Strength

[Enchanted Ranger’s Bow] +400 Strength +400 Speed

[Earrings of Alignment]

[Rodrigo’s Silver Bracelet]

Active Skills:

Dagger Mastery

Spirit Archer [Legendary Grade]

I reply.

“A unique skill huh? And a legendary grade? That means… what exactly?”

He smirks, then crosses his arms.

“Let me join your party.”

“Hey! Wait a minute- I asked you a question!”

“You have a unique skill too right? Or at least a special grade of some sort. I know for a fact that wasn’t regular fire magic.”

I eye him carefully.

“I-uhm… It’s mostly my blade. It has a fire aspect buff.”

I lift up my sword, hoping he’ll believe my bluff. The real reason my flames are so special is because they’re powered by half a dozen skills at once…

He examines it carefully, then rolls his eyes.

“Figures, I got my hopes up for nothing. Anyways, let me join your party.”

“Hey, I-“

“You need a ranged hunter, I’ve seen you all fight.”

I gulp.

“You’ve got a point.”

“….”

“Hey- when did you see us all fight?!”

He grins.

“See? I’m great at stealth missions too. What do ya say? Add me as a temporary member, come on!”

I pause for a moment to think.

“Fine. There’s only two more floors anyways.”

He smiles and turns towards the back of the dungeon.

“Great! Let’s get going!”

His entire demeanor has drastically changed. Moments ago he was a dark and dreadful stealth rogue, now he’s grinning cheerfully with heavy footsteps.

I don’t fully trust the guy… but he’s strong. It’s better to ally with him now than to be pointless enemies.

“I guess- Yeah, let’s get going.”

We walk side by side deeper into the dungeon.

I use enemy detection to locate my team. They’re roughly 600m away, straight ahead. Arie speaks up as we pick up the pace.

“Did you guys find any monsters in this dungeon?”

I shake my head.

“Unfortunately, no. Odd right?”

He nods.

“Very.”

We continue onward.

I keep a distance between us and continue gripping my sword to be ready for battle at any moment, but the tan-skinned bow wielder just continues to merrily half-skip along side me.

I don’t sense any hostility, and he did kind of save my life. I would have been fine, but he definitely helped me out….

I let out a sigh as the faint sight of 4 hunters comes into view in the distance.

They stop moving and draw their weapons. I reply by pointing my sword in the air and shooting off a ball of flames to show them it’s me.

I watch the swords drop, then a flash of blue light comes running at me, it stops 30m away.

Maria stands before us covered head to toe in a thin layer of Ice with squinted eyes.

“WHO IS THIS GUY!?”

I grin and point to the bow-carrying rogue with an open palm.

“Maria, meet Arie. Arie, this is Maria.”

He grins.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Maria lifts her sword.

“Okay, and…? Again. Who is this guy?!”

We slowly walk over to her as I speak up again.

“He helped me out with the battle earlier. He’s just tagging along for now.”

“You sure about this jay?”

“I’m sure.”

“Hmmph. Okay.”

Maria lets her sword down as we walked past. She lets out a sigh, then looks me in the eyes.

“I’m glad you’re okay Jay. I- I mean I knew you would be, but ya know…”

I let out a chuckle and smile as she turns to walk with us.

“Good to see you again too.”

The rest of our team members arrive soon after.

The three of them stand in a line sharing similar confused expressions while eyeing the tan rogue up and down.

I nod to all of them, then look over to the hooded man.

“This is Bruce, Nessa, and Abby.”

He nods.

“Guys, this is Arie. He’ll be our temporary ranged fighter. He may turn out to be a solid ally, so keep an open mind.”

They all nod hesitantly, but Bruce breaks the awkward silence with a thud from his hammer hitting the ground.

“Jay, if you think he’s a good fit, it works for me!”

I smile.

“Great. It’s settled. Arie, welcome to the team.”

The six of us head off to the dungeon’s boss room. As we travel forward, the small talk continues. The others begin to lighten up to Arie a bit.

He’s an interesting character… only time will tell how he fits in with the crew.