As the headaches overwhelmed Mike, he collapsed to the ground. The pain dug deeper and deeper into him, but after a few seconds, it suddenly stopped completely. Mike slowly moved his head from side to side and exhaled. The headaches were truly gone.

Suddenly, that blue humanlike thing shot up from the ground. At first it was only a puddle of water, but in the next moment it rose upward. It glowed blue so brightly that nothing could be seen. No eyes, no face, nothing at all.

Mike asked, slightly angry, "What do you want, and who are you?"

"My personal assistance wants to return."

"Return? And personal assistance? What the…"

Suddenly, the blue being lunged forward and struck Mike directly. He was knocked to the ground by the impact. It felt as if the blue being had entered into Mike himself.

"What just happened?"

As if in response, a system window appeared in Mike's vision.

"Personal assistance will be unlocked if you fight it. Start fight?"

"Yes."

As always, one fight after another. Mike exhaled and prepared himself. He equipped his sword. It felt powerful and proud in his hand, shadows crawling over the blade like twisting vines.

The blue being appeared beneath Mike. The ground beneath him turned blue, and a piece of it burst upward. With a fast attack from below, the creature jumped out of the ground. Mike stepped aside and narrowly avoided the strike.

"What is this supposed to be? I thought you were my personal assistance?"

The blue being raised its hands as if it did not know either. Then it lowered its left hand and raised only the right. Suddenly, two blue shards formed on the right side. They hovered briefly, then shot straight toward Mike, leaving a powerful blue aura behind them.

This did not scare Mike. He raised his sword and, with a strong and precise strike, destroyed one shard instantly on impact. It exploded into many smaller blue fragments. The second shard flew toward Mike and hit him in the shoulder.

Mike's eyes widened. Why did he feel no pain?

Suddenly, a shadow flashed and lightning crackled through the cave. The shard fell to the ground, lost its glow, and became stuck in the solid cave floor.

"Oh right," Mike said. "First attacks always get blocked."

It really was a practical ability that Mike had gained.

Mike grinned. Suddenly, the blue being drew a sword. It formed in the air. First the hilt appeared and slid into the being's hand. Then the blade emerged more and more, until finally it ignited in devouring blue flames.

Mike raised his sword and prepared himself. This time, he intended to kill it and strike first.

Mike jumped toward the being and thrust his sword straight at its face, but it never hit. The blue being sank into the ground and avoided the attack. Suddenly, it emerged beneath Mike again. Mike managed to step aside, but the sword was longer than he expected. The blue being managed to slash Mike's face, and a little blood ran down his cheek. It was not too bad.

"You are more annoying than I thought," Mike said in an irritated tone.

Then both of them charged at each other. Their blades crashed together and made the cave glow.

Clang. Clang.

With every strike, Mike poured more strength into his attacks. It was clear that the blue being was having more and more difficulty blocking Mike's blows. It was pushed back step by step, seeing no escape except sinking back into the ground.

That was exactly Mike's plan.

As the blue being began to sink again, Mike quickly placed his sword into his inventory. He grabbed the blue being by the shoulder and yanked it upward, then hurled it into the air and jumped after it. Fast strikes followed, one after another, until Mike landed the final blow. He shattered the face of the blue being.

It flickered red and blue, again and again, then turned blue once more. It stopped moving.

"Personal assistance unlocked."

"Hello?" Mike asked carefully, always ready to dodge.

The glowing blue humanoid waved. "Hello, Mike."

"Okay, I need a name for you. Let me think."

Mike thought for a moment. Then a simple name came to him.

"Blade."

Mike looked at the creature and grinned. "Yeah, Blade somehow fits."

The blue creature did not move.

"Alright, then I am Blade. What should I do, Mike? Attack, observe, or do you want to talk?"

Mike thought for a moment. He knew Hero was still outside, and Ice was lying unconscious. He needed to take care of that first.

"Watch over her," Mike said, pointing at the sleeping Ice on the ground.

The blue being nodded and sank into the ground, guarding Ice.

Relieved, Mike could now go talk to Hero. He wanted to know how everything had happened. With that, Mike headed outside.

Mike jolted when he saw Hero. He was in the middle of a fight. It was an ambush.

Fifteen goblins with swords and shields rushed at him. Hero was covered in wounds and held only Ryolos's sword. More and more injuries were added to his body. Hero was finished. He could not hold on much longer.

The goblins prepared for a final strike.

Suddenly, Mike stormed into the group of goblins. All the swords struck him at once, but they could not harm him, because it was the first attack of the fight.

Mike grabbed the unconscious Hero and leaped out of the group of goblins with him. He laid Hero down a short distance away and turned back toward the goblins.

They all stared at Mike. One of them even threw his sword at him. Mike did not see it as a threat, so it was time to test something. Last time, everything had happened far too fast.

"Alright."

Mike briefly closed his eyes.

"Thirty shadows have been summoned."

From the ground, thirty shadow creatures rose. Mike pointed calmly at the group of goblins, and the shadow beings immediately understood their mission. They rushed at the goblins.

Mike only watched as everything was torn apart. The goblins had no chance at all. The final result was fifteen dead goblins and twenty seven living shadows.

Mike was not sure what the shadows truly were. They were definitely not alive, but perhaps something else entirely.

"Good. Go back."

Immediately obeying the command, the beings sank into the ground and returned to their world.

Mike looked at Hero. He was awake now, confused, trying to understand where he was.

Mike walked over to him and asked what had happened.

Hero answered weakly and in pain. "We were fighting the cloud. It seemed to be infected by a parasite, and it took control of Selin. She suddenly attacked me again and again. I had no choice."

Hero's voice trembled as he spoke the last sentence.

Mike closed his eyes. "She would have wanted it that way."

Mike admitted to himself that it was not the best thing to say, but he said it anyway.

Suddenly, Hero pointed toward the cave entrance. It was Ice.

"Where is Selin?" she asked immediately. Apparently, she had noticed that Selin was not in the cave and not with them anymore.

Mike stopped and looked at Ice. "She fell in battle."

Ice dropped to her knees.

Mike said nothing more. He healed Hero without saying a word. He still remembered exactly how it had happened with Trix and Ryolos. Those were terrible days.

But they survived them, so Mike assumed they would survive this as well. He decided to leave Ice alone for now and not speak to her immediately.

Mike showed Hero the powerful cloud fragment of Cloudless. Hero did not speak. He simply stared at the horizon.

Mike realized that both of them were completely somewhere else in their minds, so he stayed silent.

Of course, Mike was sad that Selin had died, but.... still.... she ...was ....only.... an.... NPC, right? Nothing important.

Suddenly, Mike's head began to hurt.

No. No.

He would never think something like that. She had been a good friend.

What kind of thought was that?

Mike felt ashamed.

He felt terrible. That thought had appeared out of nowhere, and he could not control it. He was deeply sorry.

Mike knew she was an NPC, but that did not matter to anyone. She had been something special. He liked her, yet he could not understand how that thought had entered his mind at all.

Ashamed of himself, Mike did not speak for a long time. No one else did either.

The sky above them turned black as night fell. To be honest, they did not know where to go, so they stayed near the cave. Still, Mike had an idea of what the next step should be.

The Cloud of Joy had been mentioned. Most likely, it was their next target. Mike thought about where they could get more information. Probably from the next village, or from friendly beings they could talk to. Yes, that was it. They could gather information there.

So they would have to explore.

Mike suggested that they continue exploring in the morning. Hero and Ice said nothing, so Mike assumed they agreed.

Time passed quickly. The night was over. No one had spoken, but Mike finally broke the silence.

"Shall we head out and explore?"

Hero nodded. Ice remained silent.

Mike stood up and looked in a direction. They had come from the right, so they would go left and search for signs of life.

Hopefully friendly ones.

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