"Ice."
Mike stared at her wide eyed and pulled her into a hug. For a moment he could not process it. It was Ice. She was really standing in front of him. After a long hugging session, Mike let go and turned a little away, smiling almost directly into her face.
"Ice, I am so glad to see you."
Ice smiled back, took Mike's hand in hers and said,
"Me too, Mike. You have probably seen it already, Level 2 is open. We can leave Dasum. Come on, let's not waste any time."
Mike could not stop smiling and just nodded in agreement. Ice did not let go of his hand as they started walking toward the border of Dasum. Until now, that had been the point where no one could go any farther. Well, that was how it had been days ago. Now they could walk through the white wall.
Mike and Ice stood in front of it and waited for a moment. Ice turned to Mike and said,
"Come on, let's see what it is."
Ice jumped into the white wall like thing, and it swallowed her. She was completely gone. Before Mike dared to put one foot in, he thought for a second about what might be waiting for him on the other side.
"What will Level 2 be? Hopefully not a lava biome."
Mike took a deep breath and stepped in. It went very fast. He blinked once and already found himself next to Ice again.
But Ice was staring in amazement.
"M- Mike, look at that."
Ice pointed at the jungle landscape in front of them. It looked like some kind of jungle mixed with mountains, but the huge trees were what you noticed first. They were unbelievably tall; you could not even see the tops.
Ice nudged Mike and pointed at a tiger like creature she had spotted.
"So this level is not peaceful, huh?" Mike said to Ice and studied the creature.
It had large gray horns that stuck up high, black fur, and the head of a tiger. It looked majestic, but also dangerous, and the second part proved true right away, because it started sprinting toward them with a not so friendly look on its face.
Mike stepped in front of Ice and planned to show his power immediately, but which one He could only use Admin Strike again after nine more bosses. He had to trust in his strength as a new admin. That was very risky, since Mike did not even remotely understand his new powers yet, but he had no other choice, because Ice was simply a bad fighter.
"Ice, stay back. I will handle this."
Mike still had his hyper scale equipped. Since he knew how strong and tough this armor was, he already worried less. When the beast jumped, claws aimed at Mike, he reacted fast and dodged backward. Up close it looked even more bloodthirsty. It must not have eaten in a very long time.
The impact of its claws on the ground created a cloud of dust that completely hid the creature. Mike stood protectively in front of Ice and waited for the attack from the shadows, and then it happened.
The creature shot out of the dusty cloud toward Mike, mouth wide open.
Mike instinctively raised his arms, but it did not help much, because suddenly the mouth snapped shut again and the tiger ran at Mike with its head lowered.
"What Why?"
Mike only understood when it was almost too late.
"The horns!" Ice screamed.
Mike looked at Ice, and a few seconds later two long horns were jutting out of him. They had pierced his stomach. It hurt, of course, but somehow Mike was still full of motivation and did not even think about losing. That was because his health bar did not show anything at all. Really, it showed nothing, an empty bar with no numbers.
"What the...?"
Mike looked into the tiger's eyes and saw the eyes of a poor animal that just wanted to eat. It was only interested in killing them because it had not eaten in a very long time.
Mike grabbed it by the head, ready to end it now, but before he could do anything he heard Ice's voice. She sounded worried and scared.
Mike looked over at her and froze. There were five more shadow like tigers.
"Shit, they must have snuck up on us."
The tiger in Mike's grip suddenly tore free and pushed the horns deeper into his stomach. That really hurt now, but it was not enough. The other five tigers turned away from Ice and now wanted to attack Mike as well.
"Argh... smart animals, they go for one," Mike groaned in a sarcastic tone. Not the best time for that.
Mike had no idea what to do anymore and just let it happen. What was supposed to change now Anyway, a lot.
Ice watched in shock and was just about to run forward and do something, probably without even thinking, when suddenly three fast shadows appeared. They looked human. They rushed past and quickly beheaded all the black shadow tigers. One of the three also pulled the horns out of Mike.
Now Mike recognized the others. They were knights, all wearing gray armor and armed with swords. Mike realized at once what they were, a guild.
Ice was in shock and did not register anything at first. Mike, on the other hand, nodded and said,
"Thanks. Without you it would probably have been over."
The knights only nodded and lined up, as if they had been waiting for Mike and Ice.
Mike saw the frightened Ice and walked slowly over to her.
"Hey, it is all good now, Ice."
She was still shaking, but now her legs finally started to move again, and she walked forward.
Mike shrugged and followed her.
The knights stayed in front of them, and Mike and Ice simply followed, since on their own they would have been pretty lost.
Mike had received the loot from the tiger, a shard of its horn. It could be forged into a dagger, but what interested Mike more was how to craft it. He also still had the fang of the legendary spider.
Lost in his thoughts, Mike did not even notice that they had already reached the camp. There were about ten tents in a row, and at the front stood a sign. Something had been scratched into it:
(Silent Knights)