Door 87 opened with the same dramatic tension as a scene from a horror movie. Some trainees later claimed they heard a distant cry or scream. This caused the group to stand idly looking at each other…unsure what to do next.
Arthos took advantage of group's hesitation to enter through the door first, followed by Wain close by. The rest of the group snapped out of their trance and proceeded to entire through the door as well.
The room was much smaller than the previous "main room"…but it had the same basic look. Steel and metal walls, polished floors, and high ceilings. Like a room you would see in an army base, where protype weapons are tested.
!ALERT!
[Quest - "Trial by Fire, part 1" updated]
[Trial by Fire, part 1 – access your Inventory and equip a weapon]
In the Inventory screen, Arthos now saw three options. A sword, a staff, and a bow. After a brief pause, he decided to equip the sword. Looking around the room, it was evident most of the other trainees thought the same thing. Of the ten, five equipped swords, one equipped a bow, and four did not equip anything.
!ALERT!
[Quest - "Trial by Fire, part 1" updated]
[Trial by Fire, part 1 – work in teams to defeat the training robots]
As soon as Arthos finished reading the quest update, ten humanoid robots emerged from the floor. They each had the shape of a human body, stood at 6 feet tall, and each had equipped a sword on the right hand and a shield of the left.
'Why start us off by defeating robots? Don't most games start you off by defeating weak monsters or mobs? That is strange…but whatever…just stay calm and focus.' Arthos thought to himself.
"Take THIS!" A boy yield as he charged straight at the nearest robot.
Unfortunately, the boy underestimated the robots' defensive capabilities. It blocked the sword strike with the shield and countered with a powerful right-handed blow.
The boy unable to defend or dodge took the sword strike directly on the chest. He let out a small yelp of pain and collapsed to the floor. The avatar appeared unharmed, yet it remained lying on the floor as if frozen…almost as if the boy's avatar had been "deactivated".
While a group of three trainees launched a coordinated attack against the robots, Arthos took a second to analyze their movements and attacks. A nearby robot targeted Arthos, it raised its right arm high and delivered a powerful downward strike. Arthos, however, had seen this attack previously while watching the group of 3-trainees. By sheer instinct, he blocked the attack pushing the blow away and countered with a diagonal slash.
CLING!
Arthos's slash hit the robot diagonally across the chest. His heart thumped loud in his chest while his stomach felt hollow. This was his first fight in an avatar…and it felt so real.
Unfortunately, Arthos's attack was delivered too clumsy and untrained to defeat the robot. The system display showed that the attack had reduced the robot's HP by half. A follow-up attack or powerful blow would be needed to defeat it. The sword was surprisingly heavier than Arthos imagined…just one swing was enough to make his arms and core muscles feel warm with the strain.
'Fatigue will be an issue if I drag this out…I need to end this fast.' Arthos thought as he prepared to strike diagonally at the robot. It blocked the strike with its shield, and to Arthos' surprise, it shoved him backwards violently with a shield strike.
Staggering from the shield strike, Arthos noticed a second robot thrusting towards him…there was not enough time to dodge the thrust. Arthos closed his eyes expecting to be defeated.
CLANG!
Arthos opened his eyes and was amazed to see Wain standing by his side. His arms and legs were trembling and his breath was heavy with adrenaline and exertion.
Wain shouted, "Hey! I got this! You take the other one…I got this one!"
The two launched their attack, shouting and screaming as they swung their swords…too clumsy and too awkward to be called "fighting". It was more like a school brawl…50% desperation and the other 50% adrenaline.
Arthos managed to stagger the robot with a flurry of attack, he saw his opening and prepared to finish it. Just then he felt his avatar freeze in mid-strike…like when playing a MMORPG and your internet freezes…that kind of freeze.
!ALERT!
[Unstable Internet Connection]
Unable to move his avatar, Arthos felt a sharp painful stab through his chest. He let out a loud groan right before his vision went dark. His last memory was hearing a THUMP sound, which he imagined was his avatar's body hitting the ground.
!ALERT!
[Quest - "Trial by Fire, part 1" updated]
[Trial by Fire, part 1 – completed]