🌷"Sometimes the real enemy isn't the strongest one… just needed to notice." 🌷
Finally, the first step of the dungeon began with the scary sound of a monster...
The name of the enemy was displayed at the top of the screen, which was (Mirror Crawler).
That enemy looked like a spider. Its color was a mix of purple and black, and there was something like a stone embedded in parts of its back.
Special Ability:
It creates fake copies of itself when attacked. Only one is real — the rest are illusions.
Shakti and Sophia saw the enemy from a distance and saw that it was coming closer and closer.
Shakti ran towards the enemy so confidently. He didn't have any plans or idea about the enemy.
Sophia typed in the chat section,
"Hey Shakti, don't rush. At least first try to figure out the enemy!"
in a hurry. But she was late.
Sophia's character was supportive, so she didn't go in front. She stood back and was ready to provide buffs and heals for Shakti's character.
He turned on the first skill of Ruler, the shield got activated, and he released his first hit.
As soon as the first attack hit the enemy, 4–5 duplicates of that enemy immediately showed up.
Shakti had no choice to go back because self-respect was more important to him... He showed confidence, now he would have to pay for it.
Shakti didn't care about whatever would happen in the future because he knew that they both had advantages. Two kingdom rulers were no joke. All seven rulers were the strongest among all.
Shakti was thinking what to do, even though the enemy's attack was barely able to leave a scratch on him because of his shield.
Sophia was doing long-range attacks from behind, healing Shakti continuously. She was thinking in her mind,
"My God, this boy.... What can I say."
"I just want the mission to be completed."
Shakti kept striking the enemy again and again, but the enemy's HP was not going down even a little.
Sophia:
Shakti, what should we do? Think about how to defeat this enemy....
Shakti:
"I was thinking the same thing."
Shakti's confidence was fading slowly. He was completely exhausted from repeatedly hitting the copies.
His hands also started to ache because he kept hitting non-stop while also dodging the enemy's attacks.
Sophia was noticing the enemy and its copies from behind for the past few minutes.
After a while, she saw something shiny behind one of them. She wasn't sure, so she started looking at the other enemies in the same spot.
She looked behind each one. Sophia's brain was hooked, and she began to understand the mechanism...
Sophia said,
"Hey Shakti, I think I figured out something."
"Shall we try it? But I am not sure."
Shakti:
"Sure, let's try ittttt. What are we waiting for?"
Shakti's face lit up with hope. He thought, "Maybe Sophia has a better idea. My inner soul says that it will work."
Sophia:
"Okay....."
"Can you see a shiny thing like me that's on the back of that enemy, which was in the second row, the left-side one?"
Shakti looked at each copy carefully again while blocking attacks.
They were moving everywhere. Some were running, some crawling fast, and some were on the wall.
Shakti:
"It is really hard for me to focus."
Then he saw it.
"Wahhhhh! Yeah, you are absolutely right, I see something shining on the back of it!" Shakti was so happy. Finally, they were able to do something.
Sophia:
"Sigh! Thank God I was right. Now think of something. Maybe use your burst attack. It will help for sure."
Shakti:
"That must be the real one! Others are fake!"
The one on the wall jumped towards Shakti.
Somehow, he couldn't dodge it.
Shakti got another hint and was shocked.
"So fake ones, their damage isn't much effective. Why did I not realize it earlier?"
"Yes!" Sophia said. "The others are only there to confuse us!"
The moment he realized, he stopped attacking blindly. He stared at them in focus.
But the real one was moving slowly… staying a bit behind.
And one stone on its back was shining a little.
Shakti:
"Yeah, that one! Second row, left!"
Shakti smiled.
"Now I understand."
His burst skill was already full, and he ran straight forward.
Two fake spiders came in front of him to protect the real one.
He avoided them and kept running towards the real one.
The Mirror Crawler tried to escape.
Shakti jumped and released his burst straight at the glowing stone.
CRACK!
For the first time, the enemy HP bar went down.
Sophia got excited:
"Yes! That's the real one!"
Suddenly all fake spiders turned towards him and attacked together.
Sophia typed,
"Hey, watch out, and use the shield!"
Shakti activated his Ruler shield again.
Sophia came closer to him. She used her burst too. Instantly all their characters got full HP, and buffs were activated.
The real one tried to run again.
Shakti:
"Sophia, keep their eyes on you. Let me follow the real one."
Sophia:
"Okay, Roger that, Sir."
She quickly activated all the spells from behind.
Sophia:
"Now it's time for the final touch. Finish it!"
Shakti didn't think too much this time.
No ego. No rushing.
He listened to Sophia.
"My heals are on. Do it first before the buff timer goes away," she said.
At the same time, Shakti hit from the front.
BOOM!
There was a sound of something breaking. Perhaps the stone broke.
All the copies disappeared instantly.
The enemy's HP bar touched the bottom, and then its body turned into light and vanished.
Shakti stood there. His hands were shaking too much. He put down his phone.
"My soul is almost gone…" he said.
Sophia smiled and said,
"Hahaha, next time don't rush like that without any information."
Shakti scratched his head and said,
"Yeah… that was my fault. I won't do that next time."
A message appeared in front of them:
Floor 1 Cleared — Trial of Awareness Completed
Shakti smiled at Sophia.
"Thanks… If you had not noticed that shiny stone, we wouldn't have been able to finish it."
Sophia said,
"It's fine. It happens sometimes. Just figure out the enemy from the next floor"
To be continued.....