Kanjori

Chapter 10 : The Berserker

The moment my skin was punctured by the stinger of the white scorpion played over and over again in my mind.

The pain I felt. My inability to continue fighting. Lily, Damian, and Gideon's faces flashed by quickly, each drenched with sweat. Then I heard Gideon calling my name. He kept calling and calling, and I ran towards the sound of his voice. The further I ran, the brighter my surroundings became.

Then I woke up.

My vision slowly returned to me as I continued to hear Gideon call my name.

"Oh thank God, Rin are you okay?! You were squirming around and you had us both worried!" Gideon exclaimed.

I sat up and looked over to my left and saw Damian lying down. "Is Damian okay?!" I asked.

"Yes he is, there's no need to worry, he just seems to be very tired, as expected from someone who's body isn't 100% ready to use Berserker Mode for prolonged periods of time." Lily replied.

"Berserker Mode?" I asked while adjusting myself.

"Yes, it seems like Damian is one of the few players who were lucky enough to spawn in with a subclass. When one used berserker mode, their overall strength and speed increases, and their attacks become more harsh and animalistic. There are other subclasses in game, but I'm surprised to have been able to meet someone who actually has such a power."

Gideon chimes in, "The crazy part about it is the fact that so little is known about the subclasses because the game is so brand new. This just gives me more reason to dislike that stupid Demon kid. He's always acting so cool when he battles and you guys give him all the attention."

I looked over at Damian and smiled. Just like in real life, people looked up to him and were jealous of him. He always doubted himself and his abilities, but it seems like here in the world of Kanjori, he doesn't have a single care in the world. If there's anything I know about him, it's the fact that he always puts in extra effort when he's enjoying something, so he must be enjoying his experience in this game.

"Rin, you know you were out for a day?" Lily asked while offering me a sandwich.

My eyes widened as I remembered that I was poisoned and paralyzed near the end of our battle with the mini boss.

"What ended up happening?" I asked as I took the sandwich and began to eat.

"Well, after both you and Damian passed out, Gideon picked you two up and we used a teleportation crystal to return back to the camp. However, when we got back, the camp was destroyed. Somebody must've been out looking for us and we got lucky enough to return when nobody was here. We rebuilt the camp and stayed here because if they already checked here, it's very unlikely they'll come back."

"It must've been Krueger and his nasty goons." I replied.

"Yeah, and there's no way we would've been able to fight all of them given the fact that not only were we tired, but you two were out of commission."

"Enough of the negatives!" Gideon said, "Let's look at the bright side. Rin is a total badass and I would love to worship her, we got the key to the boss room, Lily looked like a beautiful angel every time she fired an arrow, and I fought and defeated two of the four scorpions."

"You're really weird ya know, you didn't beat those scorpion by yourself, and you completely ignored the crazy stuff Damian did!" I said while hitting him.

"Damian didn't do a single thing, he was in my shadow as I, the knight in shining armor swooped in and defeated all the bad guys! Either way, why are you so defensive of him anyway? Do you like him?"

"Why would you think that?!"

"W-Well Rin, he is kind of right.. not only are you defensive of him, he also seems to only be nice to you.." Lily added quietly.

I shook my head and smiled. "Damian is my best friend in the real world that's all. We've been through so much together, and in this world it's no different".

"Heh, well we all know, a shoulder to cry on becomes a d-" I punched Gideon in the face before he could finish the sentence while Lily laughed.

She cleared her throat and her face became serious. "Well, we might as well use this resting period to come up with a plan for the boss fight".

Gideon and I nodded in agreement. "We can fill Damian in on the plan later, but for the boss battle, things will need to be a little bit different. After seeing Damian in action, it looks like when he's at base, he's on par with me at base in terms of power. He excels in speed and dexterity, and I believe both him and Rin should both fight together and serve as   the primary attackers. I will serve a somewhat similar role as I did in the mini boss battle and focus mainly on doing damage here and there. From the intel I've received, no mobs spawn during the boss fight so it'll be a lot easier to just face it head on. Gideon, you will also be playing the same role you did last time and focus on defending Damian and Rin from any large scale attacks."

Gideon balled his hands up into a fist and looked down at the sand. He closed his eyes and smiled then said "Alright".

Being honest, fighting the mini boss head on was nerve wracking. It being my first time wasn't helping either. But with Damian by my side, there's no way I can be afraid. "We're definitely going to win!" I shouted after throwing my fist in the air.