Chapter 3: 3. Friends and foes
He heard the clang of metal on metal, like a gong, just as the shockwave of the impact traveled through his sword and up his limb. A jolt of pain shot up his arm.
"Run! We need to run!" a voice behind him yelled, but another adventurer reacted instantly.
"No! We can't leave him!" he protested.
Xu Lei heard some commotion from the crowd, but he had no time to look back. He was busy fending off two skeletons, while more of them emerged from the dark corridor.
Suddenly, a blast of air hit one of them and sent it flying into the other undead, knocking them both down.
A hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.
"Come! We need to run!" the same voice urged him again.
He turned his head and saw a blond-haired man in his early twenties wearing a leather jacket and wielding a mace in his other hand.
He nodded, unable to speak.
Together, they joined the rest of the adventurers who were desperately making their way forward.
"There are more ahead!" someone from the frontlines screamed.
"In here! There is a door! We can try here!" a young woman with a torch said.
She found a large wooden door in one of the corridor walls and opened it quickly, revealing more darkness beyond. Her torch barely lit up the space ahead, but she could see some spider webs stretching in the corners, forming thick white veils.
She hesitated, not sure if she should go in, but the decision was made for her.
The rest of the adventurers pushed her in, forcing her to stumble forward into what turned out to be a large empty room.
There was another door on the other side.
Soon the entrance was closed, as the whole group trapped themselves inside. After a short breather filled with anxiety and silence, a chilling sound of claws scraping against wood could be heard in the room.
"We can't stay here! They will eventually break through this door," a man said nervously.
A groan of pain answered him. This made Xu Lei realize that some people were wounded.
The young woman, who found this temporary shelter for them, also noticed that, and immediately approached the nearest injured person. "I have Life element, I'll heal you," she said, putting away her weapon and placing her free hand over the wound on the man's shoulder.
Her palm flashed with pale green light, and the bleeding stopped as the wound started to slowly close.
"We need to regroup, then use bait to let us escape. Then we run straight to the end of the dungeon. That's what we have to do to finish this trial! We don't need to fight those skeletons," said a tall slim man with an athletic build hidden underneath a sturdy leather armor.
His broad shoulders and bare arms revealed his physique.
"They are attracted to him. We can use him as bait," he continued, gesturing with his sword menacingly.
Xu Lei felt the adrenaline surge in his veins once again. He took a deep breath, as if his body was preparing itself to fight to the death. An unexpected automatic reaction, since he knew this was only a game world, so the danger was illusory.
"You are an absolute idiot!" the blonde man next to Xu Lei argued. "I saw you pushing him. Are you trying to sabotage us all? This man has a light element. He is a perfect weapon to fight those skeletons, and you know this as well as we all do. Why would we sacrifice him? You want to throw away your weapon before the duel even started?" he snorted, expressing his disapproval of the ridiculous idea.
"We don't leave anybody behind," Rolan said, pushing his way to stand next to Xu Lei and his new blond-haired friend.
"But if we don't have to fight to achieve our goal, it's maybe worth at least considering the idea, is it not? This is only the first of three trials we will have to go through. We should play it smart," a brunette with curls said.
A few other people agreed quietly, creating some murmur.
"I disagree!" the healer said, not even looking away from her work. "The statue said this trial will test our resolve. Are we so weak that we want to sacrifice one of ours, immediately after starting the trial? Where is our resolve?" she asked.
Now Xu Lei had a better opportunity to look at her. She seemed to be a teenager, about to enter her twenties. She had short brown hair and green eyes. She was very beautiful.
Her question stirred many of the adventurers, as they suddenly began nodding and some even moved to stand closer to Xu Lei.
"Then it's settled!" Rolan quickly said, to use the opportunity the girl created. "We will protect our sword and push through the undead."
A bunch of voices agreed with him.
"I have wind element. I can push away the enemies from you. I will protect you as a shield, so use your element to strike down the enemies," the blonde man whispered to Xu Lei, then he headed towards the opposite door.
Xu Lei caught his arm before he left. "What's your name?" he asked.
"I'm Dan," he heard in response.
"Xu Lei. Thank you for what you did before, and now as well," he told him, smiling a little bit.
Dan nodded, then resumed his walk towards the door. A few more joined him, and they all slowly opened the pathway. Just enough to peek into the darkness on the other side.
"There are no skeletons on this side. We can try going this way," someone whispered loud enough for the rest of the people to hear.
Shortly after, the whole group assembled. Xu Lei found himself with Rolan and Dan by his side, and the girl right next to them.
"I'm Alice. I'll assist," she said briefly.
A moment later, the exit was opened again, this time properly, and the adventurers poured into the corridor, moving quickly.
The torches at the front line provided enough light for them to see where they were going. It seemed like there were no skeletons around. At least at first, because soon, as they reached the first cross-section, they spotted them lurking in the darkness.
The undead charged at the adventurers as soon as they saw the light, but without sufficient numbers, they failed to pierce their way through the front lines. Unfortunately, the noise was enough to alert more and more of them. Moments later, the whole path ahead was blocked by their ranks.
"Make space for our sword! He will carve the path for us!" Dan yelled.
The adventurers listened to the call, and in no time Xu Lei found himself swinging his sword at the pressing skeletons. With Rolan by his side, protecting him relentlessly, and Dan providing additional protection with his air element - pushing away any enemy who got too close with bursts of wind - they were able to slowly make their way through the ranks.
Unfortunately, that was the only good news, as from the backlines the screams of those who got wounded by the skeletons, chasing them from behind, could be heard more and more. Xu Lei ignored them, knowing that there was nothing he could do for those people anyway.
Instead, he focused on swinging his sword and using the light element to cut through the bones like a hot knife through butter.
With each moment passing, he felt his hand getting weaker and weaker, but then a spark of light appeared in the tunnel. A swirling blue sphere.
"There is a portal!" Dan yelled as he spotted it too. "Push through the exit! We are almost there!"
With a surge of new energy produced by the good news, the whole group mustered enough strength to continue, even despite the fact that Xu Lei's lost the energy to continue using his element just a few seconds later. Eventually, they reached the portal and all stumbled through, like water through a hole, with the horde of skeletons following them relentlessly, which plugged the portal.
Thankfully they were unable to cross through to continue their chase.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone