"Hold the line!" he ordered.

His team engaged the skeletons.

Spells flew through the air.

Steel clashed with bone.

From where they stood, Mike and Lily could see everything clearly.

"They're handling the first wave," Lily said.

"For now," Mike replied.

The Skeleton Death Mage floated higher, its staff glowing brighter.

Dark symbols formed in the air.

Mike raised his brow seeing the pattern.

"That spell… that's his signature skill"

A thick cloud of black mist spread across the battlefield.

Several players coughed and staggered.

"Status effect AOE Domain type skill," Mike said quietly. "Land of Decay."

Marcus shouted orders, trying to keep control.

"Don't panic! Stay together!"

One of the backliners screamed as skeletons broke through the formation.

"That's a famous skill," Lily said while watching the fight. "I've heard there are even groups that farm this boss just to get it."

Marcus's group looked disoriented for a moment, but they quickly recovered and tightened their formation again.

"Hm," Mike said. "That skill is called Land of Decay. It's a powerful rare-rank skill."

Lily looked at him, listening.

"It can apply up to ten different debuffs to targets inside the area," Mike continued. "Every minute you stay in it, another debuff activates. But it burns a huge amount of mana. Even Rank 1 awakeners or even Mages can only keep it active for about a minute before running out."

He paused, eyes still on the battlefield.

"It's flashy and strong crowd control, but in practice, only undead can maintain it for long. They have way more mana."

Lily glanced at him.

"You've done your homework."

Mike nodded.

"I checked everything about this dungeon when you called me."

Lily smiled and nodded as well.

At that moment, Marcus raised his sword high.

"Holy Santuary—activate!"

A powerful golden light burst out from his body.

A large glowing circle spread across the ground, pushing back the dark mist.

"This is my domain!" Marcus shouted.

Mike narrowed his eyes.

"Holy Domain."

Golden light filled the area around Marcus and his team. Inside the domain, skeletons burned slowly, and the team's movements became faster and steadier.

Lily's eyes widened.

"He also have a domain skill too?"

"Yeah," Mike said. "Same type as Land of Decay. Domain skills override the battlefield."

The dark mist from the Death Mage clashed with the holy light.

Black and gold pressed against each other, neither fully overpowering the other.

Marcus's team regained control.

Their attacks became sharper.

Their formation stabilized.

"He timed it well," Lily said.

Mike nodded.

"He had to. If he waited any longer, his backline would've collapsed."

"I envy him now," Mike said quietly. He had awakened as an E-rank Knight, and seeing an S-rank Holy Knight in action really made him feel the difference.

Lily nodded.

"Yeah… I also want an S-rank class," she said.

In front of them, Marcus was completely dominating the fight.

He moved through the battlefield with confidence, swinging his mace again and again.

Every hit smashed skeletons apart, holy light burning through bone and dark magic.

Skeleton warriors rushed him, only to be knocked back or shattered in seconds.

Even the elite skeletons couldn't stand against him for long.

One by one, the weaker skeletons were beaten down until only stronger undead remained.

Lily watched closely.

"He's strong… really strong."

Mike agreed.

"Let's go before I get more depressed," he said.

Lily nodded, and the two of them moved to a different area of the dungeon.

They focused only on farming experience, fighting smaller groups of undead and avoiding dangerous zones.

Time passed quickly.

Only when a soft beep sounded—signaling that their three hours were over—did they stop.

Light surrounded them, and the next moment, they were outside the dungeon.

They sat down nearby and began eating to recover their stamina.

Lily looked at Mike.

"What's your level now?"

Mike checked his status.

"It's 81. What about you?"

Lily smiled.

"Mine is 97."

Mike raised an eyebrow.

"That's high. You leveled up a lot in Origin World."

Lily nodded.

"Yeah. I spent most of my time grinding there."

She stretched her arms slightly.

"It's easier to level when you know where to farm."

Mike smiled faintly.

"Looks like I still have some catching up to do."

Lily laughed softly.

"You'll get there."

"By the way… you can have this."

Suddenly, she took out a skill book from her inventory and handed it to Mike.

"This is…?" Mike looked at the skill book carefully.

Epic Rank Skill: Lion's Roar

"I wanted to give it to you before we entered the dungeon," Lily said. "But it was hard. If you had turned out to be much stronger than me, I wouldn't have."

Mike raised an eyebrow.

"Are you calling me weak?"

Lily smiled.

"Of course. You're lower level than me, and your class rank is lower too. I'm just stating facts."

Mike stared at her.

"If we hadn't been friends for so long, I'd really think you were mocking me."

She pushed the skill book into his hand.

"You know I'd never do that."

Mike sighed.

"Yeah. That's why we're still talking."

She nodded.

"Still," Mike said, "even if my beautiful childhood best friend is stronger than me, I can't just take this."

He took something out of his inventory and placed it on the table.

It was an Epic Rank staff—a Black Mithril Staff.

One of the weapons he had obtained before the Death Knight stopped him.

Lily's eyes widened.

"An Epic rank staff?!"

She froze for a moment.

"No, I can't accept this."

But her eyes clearly betrayed her excitement.

"Then have your skill book back," Mike said calmly, reaching for the Lion's Roar skill book.

Lily looked at him, sighed, and picked up the staff instead.

"Fine. I'm taking it," she said.

"but where did you get it from?" She asked holding the staff.

Mike smiled.

"Don't worry. I didn't sign any slave contract."

He tapped on his shirt turning it into Black Knight set for a moment "As you can see they match, I found it in the same ruin where I found my Knight set."

******

A/N: Hello guys!

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