The silence was stretched taut as a bowstring. The Warrior, who seemed to be the party leader, smirked when he saw Sylva, a creature that looked small and anything but ferocious.
"What's a little sapling going to do? Get out of the way!" he roared, deciding to use action to assert his dominance.
The giant battle-axe in his hand swung up, carving a powerful arc through the air as it chopped down directly at Sylva. He wasn't aiming at Yanaki; this was an attack meant as a show of force, to crush the "familiar's" resistance and make its master tremble.
But he was mistaken.
Yanaki gave no command, but the instinct of a Protector was ingrained in every fiber of Sylva's being.
THUD!
Sylva raised its wooden buckler. The battle-axe collided with the shield, creating a deep, heavy sound. A powerful shockwave rippled outwards. The wooden shield cracked slightly, but it held firm, completely absorbing the force of the blow. Only a small damage number appeared above Sylva's head.
The Warrior, Borg, was stunned. His full-power swing was only enough to slightly crack the wooden shield of what looked like a newbie's monster?
Before he could pull his axe back, Yanaki issued a mental command. "Sylva, bind him!"
Sylva stomped its foot on the ground. From the earth beneath Borg's feet, verdant vines, as tough as steel, suddenly shot up, wrapping tightly around his armored legs. Borg lost his balance, and though he struggled, he was held fast in place.
[Target 'Borg' has been [Bound] for 2 seconds!]
"What the hell is this?" Borg roared, both furious and shocked. He turned to his teammates. "You bitch! Kill them all for me!"
The female Mage named Rina acted at once. Her hands began to trace complex magic circles as a much larger fireball than her previous ones started to form.
Yanaki knew she couldn't let Rina finish her spell. Ranged attacks were her party's current weakness.
"Elara, distract her!"
Elara understood. She was no longer a weak spirit. Her form shot forward like a cold wind, flying straight towards Rina. She couldn't deal physical damage, but she could do something no enemy would expect: fly right through the Mage.
"Ah!" Rina let out a shrill scream. A bone-deep chill suddenly washed over her as Elara passed through, as if she'd been plunged into ice water. Her concentration was completely shattered, and the fireball she was forming dissipated into nothing.
Meanwhile, the Rogue tried to take advantage of the chaos. He darted aside, intending to circle around Sylva and attack Yanaki. But Yanaki was prepared. She moved quickly, maintaining her distance and using the trunk of the Willow of Memories itself as a barrier. She scooped up a rock from the ground and threw it hard at the Rogue.
The rock didn't deal any damage, but it forced the Rogue to halt and dodge, completely breaking his rhythm.
In less than ten seconds, the situation had been completely reversed. Borg's party of three was in disarray: their tank was rooted, their mage was in shock and had lost her spell, and their assassin couldn't reach his target. They had utterly lost the initiative.
Borg finally tore through the vines with brute force. He panted heavily, looking at Yanaki with an entirely different expression. The scorn was gone, replaced by wariness and a hint of apprehension.
Yanaki chose this exact moment to speak. Her voice was cold and steady, without a trace of a tremor.
"What do you want? A fight here benefits no one. This floor holds countless dangers we don't know about. Wasting resources and stamina over mere suspicion is foolish."
She paused for a second, then delivered a psychological blow, subtly nodding towards the vast ruined city. "Besides, we're not the only ones this land has 'accepted'."
The vague statement had an immediate effect. In a place as eerie as Erathos, the fear of the unknown was greater than the enemy in front of them. The Rogue was the first to back away.
"Let it go, Borg. The kid's right. We don't know anything about her or that ghost. We still have the main quest. Let's go."
The Mage, Rina, still rubbing her arm from Elara's chill, nodded vigorously in agreement.
Borg gritted his teeth. His pride as a party leader was stung, but he wasn't a fool. He saw Sylva was already preparing to stomp its foot again. He shot Yanaki a fiery glare.
"Just you wait. It won't be so easy next time."
With that, he turned, leading his teammates away as they vanished behind the ruins.
Only when they were gone did Yanaki finally let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. Her hands were trembling slightly. It was a dangerous gamble, but she had won.
She looked back at her companions. Sylva stood steadfast, its shield bearing only a small crack. Elara floated beside her, tired but with a determined look in her eyes.
They had survived their first confrontation with other players. They had proven they were a team.
Yanaki looked at her party, then towards the path to the [Shard of Courage] that Borg's group had taken. She realized that in the Wishing Tower, the most fearsome monsters sometimes had health bars and names displayed above their heads, and the strongest alliances weren't just formed for conquest, but for survival.