Death. Hitori thought as he flew down the never-ending valley. What would happen if he died the second time? Nothing much, he would lose all of the experience points he had gained on the Ax Stone Bridge floor and will have to, probably, clear the whole dungeon again.
What difference would it make if he died for the second time? None. But then yet, why did Hitori feel as if this was the end? He did not want to die knowing that he would be respawned soon.
Hitori shook the thoughts away and spun in the air. He still could not see the end of the deep valley so he thought he still had time.
"Ice–" he stopped. That would cost him an infinite amount of mana which means, he would have to use his precious cultivated mana, that was out of the question.
Hitori dropped the idea of creating an ice wall at the bottom of the valley to somehow reduce the impact and find a way to head back to the next floor.
The end was still not visible so Hitori enjoyed his flight. You do not get to enjoy a free fall from an infinite height. Hitori spread his arms to let the air move him on its will.
Hitori was still in combat, at least that is what his screen showed when he tried to log out from the game. But guess they do not allow you to log out in the middle of your free fall.
After a few seconds, Hitori was able to see the end of the valley. There was nothing but rocks and stones that had blood marks on them.
When he got closer, Hitori saw the heads of two minotaurs he and his team had killed on the bridge.
The head of a minotaur was detached when it smashed against the rock. Another minotaur's body was broken into two when it fell on a blunt but pointed rock.
The bodies lay there lifelessly, blood flowed from their bodies through the rocks like a red river.
Now that Hitori was close to the bottom, his heart picked up the pace. Hitori pinched his eyes to close them shut tight.
When Hitori spread his arms and legs, he slowed down a little. He thought it was because he became a parachute-like thing. His acceleration reduced.
'It does, dumbfuck! It does!' Hitori closed his eyes and remembered what Kamiya had said to him on the Goblin King's floor.
'No, Hitori… believe me. Sometimes, we feel real pain in the game.' Sometimes, the pain feels real. Hitori was feared the pain… not the death.
The distance between him and the bottom closed in. Hitori was fully prepared to take a full-blown hit on his head.
"Will I feel the pain Kiku-san felt when she died?" The question lingered in his head when suddenly, he felt all of his muscles being pulled back.
He came to a sudden stop and a strong wave of force greeted his face and other body muscles. This was something Hitori thought he would feel on landing.
Hitori took heavy breaths, "have I… fallen?" He slowly opened his eyes to see a pair of big rocks calling for him.
No. He still had not fallen yet. Hitori ignored his racing heart and turned his head around. Only darkness was visible as if the ax bridge had vanished.
Then Hitori looked down at the bottom once again. He looked around him. He was floating, he realized. He was levitating!
"Kamiya…" Hitori still could not see anyone at the top, heck, he could not even see the top.
Hitori felt his body move. He jerked his head down, his body moved once again. Not down but up. And eventually, Hitori was going back to the top floor.
Hitori's heart slowed down but he still could not get over the fear of an instant-death situation.
"Try harder, Kamiya, you have got this." Hitori heard Reon's voice when he was pulled closer to the edge of the bridge.
Hitori heard Kamiya grunt, "I- I am trying…" Kamiya gave his wand a jerk and Hitori's body left its spot.
Hitori saw the whole world revolving around as he made another arc in the air and fell to the other side of the bridge.
"Eep!" Reon shirked.
Hitori fell on the bridge and rolled along with Kamiya due to the momentum and that took Reon down with them.
Before Hitori or Kamiya could even say anything, everything blacked out.
[you have entered the sixth floor of the Clone Dungeon]
And with a flash, the trio appeared on the sixth floor.
"You fine?" Kamiya asked Hitori. He got up and helped Hitori and Reon with a hand.
"Hm. thanks." Hitori nodded. He did not know what else to say. In his nine years of experience in gaming and four years of experience in duo gaming, a situation like this never appeared.
Most of the games were MMORPG games so no chance of performing such a stunt to save your partner.
In the VRMMORPG games he played with a partner and if a life-threatening situation has arisen, the partner would either fail in saving Hitori or die before Hitori.
But Kamiya was different. He felt different. Hitori felt so, so compatible when he fight Fierce with him and even now he feels that their compatibility is better than any partners' compatibility.
"Thank god!" Reon got up and sighed, "we are off the bridge!" she rolled her eyes.
"Thanks, Kamiya. I thought I was dead when I slipped off the edge…" Hitori smiled at Kamiya.
"I thought so too!" Reon jumped, "even when Kamiya used the levitation magic he was not able to lift you off immediately."
Hitori frowned and glanced at Kamiya from Reon.
"Yeah, I actually… am low on mana. Maybe that was why I had trouble controlling your falling body."
"At first, he made no contact with your body," Reon continued, "but then Kamiya slowed your body and finally stopped you."
"Ah… I was about to smash my face." Hitori giggled awkwardly.
"Man… what luck." Kamiya scoffed.
"Yeah… luck…" They all exchanged glances before hearing a low rumbling sound.
[Duergars have been spawned]
Their joy did not last another second.
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