Game’s Dogma

Drake Yau was oblivious to the fact that so many players had entered the tower, his mind solely focused on completing the current trial.

“Trial cleared, floor raised by one. Current floor: 2. You may proceed to the next trial.”

Along with the system’s voice, the scene before them reverted to the platform from before the trial. They were now at the staircase on the other end instead of the platform itself.

The two hurried up the stairs and soon arrived at the next platform where countless tiles of images surrounded them once more. This time, however, the “Fire” tile was greyed out.

Guess you can’t do the same trial twice.

Draco Yau then decided on doing the “Ice” trial. As the bearer of the Cryoflame style, he feared no heat or cold and was unharmed by flame and ice, so he naturally went with “Fire” and “Ice” for the first two trials. Dakki didn’t have much to say either; with Drako Yau clearing the way, all she had to do was follow his lead.

Instead of running across lava, the Trial of Ice took place on a glacier where countless inverted icicles shot out from the ground. Spots of light would indicate on the ground where the icicles would strike a second before they struck, and the players’ task was to evade all icicles within the time limit.

The trial was neither too hard nor easy. For players of their calibre, Drako Yau and Dakki most certainly had the agility and reflexes to deal with the icicles. They completed the trial without much trouble and were granted a rise of one floor.

Just when the two were walking up the stairs to the third floor, Drako Yau suddenly felt a hunch. He abruptly grabbed Dakki, turned around, and ran down the stairs.

Boom!

The deafening boom of an explosion bombarded their ears as an arrow struck the stair they were about to step on before exploding. Drako Yau heard a buzz and his face fell immediately. He hurriedly hauled Dakki into a bridal carry, but that was all he could do.

A flash of purple cut through the smoke from the explosion and struck Drako Yau’s shoulder. There were no explosions or massive booms, yet the flash hurt way more than the explosive arrow. Drako Yau felt his head boiling and was about to burst any moment. A gaping hole also appeared on his left shoulder.

A mental and physical attack!

Drako Yau could only roll down the stairs in a sorry figure.

Atop the stairs, Hau Ngai lowered his longbow. Chau Yu gazed down the stairs with a complicated look which faded together with the purple aura on his eyes.

“Hau Ngai, stay and keep him pinned down. The others will follow me.”

Soon, Tripurity, Handsome Scholar, and Chau Yu disappeared without a trace, leaving behind Hau Ngai with his bow pointed at the staircase. He’d shoot to kill at the sight of anyone.

“You alright?” Dakki broke free from Drako Yau’s embrace and asked in panic upon seeing the hole in his shoulder.

“I’m fine,” Drako Yau said calmly as he chugged down a bottle of potion.

The mental invasion triggered his Cryoflame style and was quickly annihilated. Although the purple flash tore through his Feral Rage armour, it dealt no damage to Tattered Armour. Like a pebble tossed into the pond, the flash made no impact at all and dissipated.

Drako Yau activated Frost Form. He felt a sharp gaze from above the stairs, as if someone was pointing a sharp blade at him. It didn’t take much to realise that Hau Ngai was guarding the stairs from that terrible feeling he felt.

“Someone’s guarding the stairs to stop us from moving on.” Drako Yau pointed up the stairs and stood up.

After achieving initial accomplishments with Cryoflame style, he had been modifying its uses, including sensory and physical enhancements. Flame Form’s principle was infusing the power of flames into his limbs for enhancement, but this method would harm the body to some extent, which was why both forms had a time limit. Still, the process of damaging and repairing his body had strengthened him.

This was somewhat similar to an ancient martial art called “Muay Thai”. As an art that utilised many strikes with the knees and elbows, some practitioners induced microfractures in their bones and allowed recovery for bone conditioning, making those bones sturdier.

Drako Yau’s body, tempered by Flame Form, didn’t take very long to recover from the injury he just sustained. However, his chestplate was heavily damaged from the purple flash and was rendered useless. The Feral Rage set effect was also disabled and could only be activated again after repairing the chestplate.

Losing the set effect on the second floor was a heavy blow for him. Although he had Cryoflame, items in the game were still relevant, especially when he was up against Chau Yu who had a mysterious cultivation style and Handsome Scholar who had an inheritance.

“Buff me, let’s go.”

Drako Yau charged up the stairs before finishing his sentence. The first Holy Ground was a critical turning point in this event that he couldn’t afford any mishaps. Sparks and mist stormed the stairs, turning into a dragon of mist that coiled up the stairs.

Hau Ngai immediately fell back the moment he noticed the mist dragon. As the most powerful ranger in the game, he was prideful but not arrogant. He never slacked off with preparations against potential enemies, especially Mask who was identified as a major threat by his guild master.

Hau Ngai was particularly wary of one thing: Mask’s speed. Having a class that was weak at melee combat, he was very bothered by the opponent’s speed. Mask was particularly adept at that department to compensate for his lack of ranged attacks. In that case, he couldn’t let Mask close the distance—it’d be over the moment they engaged in melee combat.

Hau Ngai appeared to have lost the advantage of defending a choke point, but he was no warrior in the first place. As a ranger, skirmishing was his forte. He drew his bow and let loose an arrow as he retreated.

The arrow bolted through the air with a gush and enlarged several tens of times. A transparent flow of air coiled around the arrow, as if the concept of space was non-existent.

Level 35 Ranger skill, Sun Shot!

Drako Yau was met with a colossal arrow the moment he stepped onto the platform. However, this was well-anticipated due to Frost Form. Mist twined into a tornado; he buffed his legs with Flame Form and evaded the arrow with a spin.

Hau Ngai never expected to take out Drako Yau with a single attack either. He was particularly cautious when up against Mask, so he immediately knelt on the ground and drew his bow after firing Sun Shot, charging the shot. The notched arrow shone an intense purple glow.

Drako Yau frowned. He knew the eight basic classes on the back of his hand, so he could guess what the next attack would be just from the skill’s starting motion.

For every 1000, then 2000, then another 2000 Likes on all chapters (1000 -> 3000 -> 5000), there will be bonus chapters! Register an account on Penana and start Liking now for more chapters!

Join our discord server: here!