"We should explore," Mike said after thinking for a moment.
The golden knight nodded and repeated Mike's words. "Okay, I agree with that," he said with a slight grin. His knights knelt in front of him and waited for his command. Then he spoke again and turned once more to Ice.
"Is that okay for you? Do you want to stay here?"
Mike looked the knight deep in the eyes and thought to himself, "Let the wolves eat you."
Ice nodded in understanding and tried to answer normally again. She tried to speak.
"It is okay," she managed to say. It was a start, even if it came out very shakily.
Then Mike turned to Ice and the golden knight.
"So, she is a healer, which means she has no combat skills right now."
The golden knight suddenly dropped to one knee.
"My goddess, it is all right. We fit together so well, healer and fighter, do we not?"
Mike had almost had enough. For a second he felt like slitting the golden knight's throat from behind, but he managed to hold himself back and only rolled his eyes.
The golden knight stood up again and so did his knights. Then he spoke in a serious tone.
"Good, let us go. Do you want to come with us?"
Ice quickly shook her head no and sat down on the nearest wooden bench.
Mike went over to Ice and nodded to her.
"Six knights will stay here with you, okay? Go, protect her," he ordered.
The knights nodded and positioned themselves behind and in front of the bench.
Then the golden knight nodded to his remaining knights, there were quite a lot of them, and to Mike.
"Let us go, that way," the golden knight said, and they picked up speed.
They ran so fast that Mike did not want to admit he could not keep up. He pushed himself twice as hard. It was early morning and the sun was just about to rise above the horizon. The orange rays of sunlight colored the world in a warm orange tone and gave a small strength boost.
After walking through the jungle for a while, they stopped. They had come across a structure, a temple.
Mike stopped and touched the dark gray stone.
"A temple?"
"Could be," the golden knight answered.
They stepped inside. It was in a cave, but it was clear this was not just a normal cave. A structure of this world or made by other players
Mike was the first to step inside. The knights and the golden knight stayed back and waited at the entrance.
"Do you not want to come insi…"
Mike froze. Thirty knights suddenly stood in front of him.
"Now Mike, this is my ability. I can split myself into up to a hundred soldiers. Bad for you," the golden knight said.
"Bad for me?" Mike asked, but suddenly stones began to rain down.
"Argh, wait…"
The cave entrance was sealed by rocks because the golden knight had kicked something.
"Why You miserable dog, do not touch Ice," Mike shouted back.
But he only heard a disgusting laugh. Then it went silent and Mike heard the knights marching away. Their armor rattled and from the sound he could tell how fast they were.
"No, Ice. I have to get out of here, fast."
Mike turned away from the sealed entrance and looked toward the center of the cave. The cave itself was fairly small, luckily not gigantic.
In the middle stood a shrine. It was completely black. Something lay inside it.
Mike went closer and saw what it was. A small black dagger.
Mike thought about whether he should take it, then decided to do it. He grabbed the dagger and lifted it up.
"Hm, nothing happened."
Mike looked at the black dagger, studying it carefully from top to bottom.
(description: a small black dagger, apparently meant for the child of the shadows. There is a rumor that the shrines of the shadow become active when the child of the shadows is nearby. The dagger can cut quickly and fits well in the hand.)
"Hm, not bad actually."
He turned it in his hand and slashed through the air a few times.
Suddenly, without any warning sound or anything like that, the entrance gave way. The huge boulder that had blocked it was cut in two. Mike spun around and saw three figures: a mage with a staff, a warrior with a greatsword, and a dog.
The mage was very, very young, probably still a child. The warrior was a bit older than Mike, around his late twenties.
The mage started shouting,"Oh hello, man in the cave,"and she waved.
The warrior looked Mike in the eyes and moved his mouth.
"So, my daughter and I are looking for a small village. It is called Dasum."
"They are looking for Dasum?"
"Yes."
How was Mike supposed to explain to them that this was a level? Did they have no idea at all
"Well, you cannot go there anymore. And did you say this is your daughter?"
"Yes."
"We woke up here when we v..."
Mike cut him off."No, never say that."
The girl flinched when Mike yelled. The warrior looked confused but stayed quiet. The poor two really had no idea.
"All right, just stay quiet, okay I will help you as soon as I have finished something myself. We have to fight."
Mike tried to recruit the two of them for the fight against the Silent Knights.
The girl shouted,"Oh yes, fighting. Dad, can we?"
"Sure, we have to level up anyway, right, Trix?"
He grinned.
Mike pointed in the direction they needed to go, and they started running.
While they ran, Mike thought about how the attack would go. They would be expecting him somehow, and even if not, the golden knight's strength surpassed Mike's by far. And another thing, were they even still at the camp
After a while Mike stopped his bad train of thought, and what happened next was something he would not have expected even in his strangest dreams.