Infinite Storm

Chapter 5

After finding out the meaning of the poem, the Knights of Destiny returned to the city to buy lots of potions. They knew that they would need a large supply if they were to stand a chance against the first Lord, and especially its three guardians, which both of them just knew about.

They packed up their inventories with tons of potions, then left and headed east, the Shadow Tiger waiting upon their arrival.

The weather was cold, and a cool breeze blew past Cliff, sending chills down his spine. As they ventured deeper to the east, the temperature dropped down and soon Cliff found himself in an ice tundra, snowy hills standing out high ahead of him.

He scouted around, desperately looking for the Tiger's den. He recalled it to be somewhere near the mountains, but things were different this time. The hills ahead were covered with dense fog and the blizzard made it even harder to see. They wandered around in the cold, but still there were no results.

Soon nightfall approached. The stars above twinkled brightly in the moonlit sky. Thankfully, the fog had cleared, although the blizzard was still there.

Raven checked the time. "11:42," she read. "There's just around 18 more minutes till Tuesday. Should we go back next week?"

"No," Cliff insisted. "We've come this far and it'll be stupid to go back. I believe we are almost there."

"But we can't really see anything in this blizzard. And we need some shelter."

"Stop complaining."

"What? I was just being concerned."

"No, seriously, stop." Cliff pointed towards an opening which might have been a cave.

"Great, shelter." Raven ran to the cave.

"Wait, don't!" Cliff warned, but Raven had already set foot into the cave.

Soon after the entrance began to get closed by a metal door. Cliff barely made it by sliding through a little gap just before the cave was shut tight.

The cave was void of light. Raven couldn't even see her own hand.

"Is this a trap?" Raven inquired.

"Okay, first light the place up so that it'll be easier to look around."

Raven scanned her inventories to look for something that can brighten the place up.

"Two torchlights would do," she muttered. The torchlights were planted to the ground, and it radiated light which was just enough for the two to see the interior of the cave.

The cave was not that big. The distance between the sealed entrance and the other end was just the length of a primary school classroom. There seemed to be no way out.

Cliff walked to the other end and touched the wall with his fingers to check if there were to be some sort of trigger to open the entrance. He ran his fingers to the left and right, and felt something.

"You know," Raven said, "I have a feeling that this could actually be the Tiger's den."

Click!

Cliff had pushed a portion of a wall and somewhere near the entrance three holes formed on the ground.

"You should have said that earlier!" Cliff exclaimed.

From the three holes popped out three young tiger cubs, which glared at the two with their red eyes.

~Infinite Storm~

Their bodies were made of pure black shadows and they seemed to emit a kind of evil and dark energy which intimidated the two players.

"For it shall release its three young beasts," Cliff recalled. "The last line of the poem. We need to defeat them before the real Tiger appears."

The three cubs launched together, claws extended, aiming for the two intruders. Cliff dodged but Raven did not have time to react. One cub scratched her, dropping down her HP. Cliff charged towards that cub and jabbed it, only to make it furious. The three opponents all charged at him at the same time. Cliff managed to slash the first two, but the third landed a bite on his shoulder.

"Cliff, are you alright?" Raven asked with concern.

"I'm okay, but they're too strong. We should have made a plan," he replied as he stabbed one of the cubs. "Wait, what do you think happens when the time reaches 12?"

Raven slashed at the opponent. "Good question. Maybe they'll disappear?"

"Great. Then we'll leave. We were too unprepared. What time is it now?"

Raven took a quick glance. "11:57. Three more minute!"

"Okay, that's how long we need to hold them off."

Just at that moment, the three cubs all jumped back.

"Be careful," Cliff warned, "I think they're doing a special skill."

The young tigers began to multiply, from three to six, then to twelve, and before Cliff realized it, he and Raven were already surrounded by dozens of them.

All of them leaped towards the two at the same time. They took a lot of damage, their HP dropping all the way to yellow. However, Cliff had slashed quite several of them, and they immediately shattered into a million pieces.

"Raven, the clones are weak. Just keep stabbing them. It's almost time."

The remaining tigers charged for the second time. Dozens were killed, but in return the two player's HP dropped to red.

For the third time, they began to charge. Cliff knew that if he gets hit again, he would probably drop to zero HP. Time was his only hope. The tigers dashed at the players with unbelievable speed. Raven and Cliff both raised their weapons, preparing for the worst.

But just when they were merely inches from the players, the cubs vanished into thin air. They didn't shatter into pieces like when monsters usually get defeated, but instead they just disappeared out of sight.

Raven checked the time again. "12:00. It's Tuesday already."

The sealed entrance started to open up, and light from outside illuminated the cave.

"I didn't expect those guardians to be that strong. It was never meant to be defeated by only two people," Cliff said. "We have to go back to the city and return here by next week. We'll use that time to formulate a strategy. Raven, could you mark this location on the map?"

"Okay."

Cliff walked out through the entrance, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw that they were nowhere. Literally. The cave was floating in the air and when he looked down, it was a bottomless pit. Who knows what awaits down there?

"Cliff, we've got a problem," Raven told him. "We're nowhere on the map."

"I noticed that."

"But how?"

"Hmm. This can be the only the possibility. Look, I think that this cave does not exist in the map unless it's Monday. In other words, this cave might remain in this place for the rest of the week. Only then will we be able to return."

"A week in this empty place?"

"Yes. But you brought food and drinks right? So there's no problem."

"That's not the problem. The problem is what will happen when it's Monday?"

"I do not quite understand that."

"I mean, the tigers just now, they didn't die yet, did they? They just vanished, and I'm guessing that when Monday comes, they too will immediately spawn here and fight us."

"But we can heal while we're here, right?"

"If we can heal, then there's a huge possibility that they too can heal. And what's worse, we're stuck in this place. We can't contact anyone and gather any reinforcements. It's just me and you. We'll have to defeat them and the boss with only the two of us."