DRAGON: First Link

23.0: Enemy

"Chio-san!! Woiiii!!" a pretty loud voice, pati na rin ang pagtawag sa username ko, made my team turn.

"Mikaela-chan, you're as loud as usual." I grinned as she dashed and gave me a tight hug. "And still full of energy, I noticed."

"Che, you're still old Hime-san, too, you know?" she pouted and looked at Sky and R1n. "Sky-kun!! R1n-san!! Hishaburi!!"

"Hishaburi, hime-sama." the two bowed.

"Ah, Mika, let me introduce to you, my guys for today's match." She nodded good-naturedly as I introduced Pr3sh and Cr1ng. "So, how about your guys?"

"Oh right. Spectrum!!" She called, at may lalaking lumapit. "I want you guys to meet Spectrum. He's my support for this match. The other three are mercs, but they're all defenders, and they don't want too much exposure."

"By Spectrum, you mean—"

"Hai. It's been a while, Kanzaki-hime-sama." The guy gave me a grin.

"What the actual fu—Bowler? Seriously?"

"Hai. Milady here insisted I play this game, and so here I am. We look forward for today's match, hime-sama."

"Uh-huh, I want a team that precisely fits the plan, y'know?" sumabad si Mika.

"A team that fits the plan, huh?" I mused. "You still didn't change, Mika-chan."

"Hmph. And I presume your plans aren't a bit foolproof?" She answered back. There was that unmistakable tension in the air.

"You still lost every single match we had, though."

"Aargh, ma-ki-ne!!" Mika grabbed Spectrum and stomped towards the other entrance. "I'm gonna beat your sorry ass now, Chio-san!!!"

"The usual brat." I said as I waved at the silently apologizing Spectrum. I then looked at my teammates. "You guys ready?"

"Uh, yeah!!" Sabay na sabi ni Pr3sh at Cr1ng. "Such Japanese. Much nosebleed. Wow."

"Yep, you're ready." I laughed at the doge comment. "Come on now, Mikaela Miku might be just a spoiled brat, but trust me when I say this: Her perfectly fitted plans are always on spot."

"Meaning?"

"She always, always, almost wins."

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"Ladies and gentlemen, you might want to start preps. Five minutes until battle time."

"For the first wave, we'll just see how things go on. Dodge while you can, attack while you can. Assume a simple defensive position, Sky, Cr1ng. Pr3sh, you'll be needed on offensive. I'd be behind for support. And R1n—" I looked at our evangelist and grinned. "Do your thing."

"Ah, yeah." R1n replied, fumbling with her thumb. "Good luck, have fun."

"You don't have to be that nervous, R1n."

"Nah, nah, it's just that." R1n looked up the sky. "This isn't who I am."

"And this isn't the real world." Sky commented casually. "Forget the meek girl for now. DRAGON has given us the chance to be someone we wanted to be; it'd be unwise to let go of that chance." He stood up and looked up at the game-timer. The next time he looked at R1n, he added, grinning, "Evangelist."

"Whoa, I never knew you were good with words, Sky." I laughed and equipped my wrench.

"Yeah, you seem to look like the dense type." Sabi Pr3sh with his dual-shield ready.

"Especially when you argued with Ryd." Ani Cr1ng, swishing her staff in a circular manner.

"Oh come on!! It worked anyway." Sky scratched his head, and looked at R1n for support.

"The Creator struck first." She was chanting. Great clouds formed above us. As the timer counted down to zero, Lightning went down at the other camp, and the first 3 kills have been confirmed. As we tried to get a hint of what's going on. The first-blood said, "Well, thank God, for the first three kills."

"It worked." Ang nasabi ko.

"Heck, it worked." Sky joined me.

"Oh yeah, it worked."

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"What the actual fu was that!?" I gasped. Every spectator was awed by the spectacle in front of them. Instant kill at about a second after the fight started? What's wrong with this humans!?

"Simple, really." Joichiro commented beside me. "R1n's working her magic."

Somehow, Joichiro found out where Boxhead and her present crew are. It was pretty stupid of me too, actually. Nung matapos na siyang i-confirm sa guild ay alam na daw niya kung nasaan ang mga nawawala naming kasama. I asked him how, and all he did was open his map and pointed at 5 blinking dots at Recal's Octagon arena.

"Huh?"

"Her class isn't bound by the simple skill system of this game, right?" As I nodded to his question, he added. "Range. Damage. Even cooldown. None of that is applicable on R1n's ability. We can confidently say that she has the most versatile class in whole DRAGON after Anynomous."

"How do you know so much?" I gaped at him

"Oh, you know. The casual visitors in Monocle and Diocle brings news with them. Even those from Saviors' Point came there looking for food." He shrugged me off.

Another cheer burst forth from the crowd made me look at the arena again. Now there's a 5 to 3 kill-swap, in favor of the Boxhead group, and courtesy of R1n.

"Carry method." Joichiro, again, casually commented. "Where you let the carry take all the kills."

"How could that be useful here?"

"Ah no, that's just habit in Chio's side." He chuckled. "Do you know what the DOTA 2 players call R1n?"

"Surprise me." I said as another kill count flashed. He chuckled again.

"KS Queen."