Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

"What happened?" Jeewok asked, confused, after Kaizen had extinguished the fireball. "Why did you disable your ability?"

Ignoring the young swordsman's question, Kaizen looked at Korgrak and asked:

"How and why is there a human here?"

The leader of the Metal Dragons looked as shocked as Kaizen, who was wide-eyed. They were both sure that no one could have followed them to the entrance of the Secret Garden, and they were also sure that the place was locked until they opened it. Moreover, even if someone had obtained another Peacemaker Orb by killing another Centaur Druid, that still wouldn't explain how there was a person in the dungeon they found after killing hundreds of monsters. If it was a player, that player would either have been very lucky to have avoided all the monsters at the entrance, or too unlucky to have crossed Korgrak and Kaizen's path at the same time.

After Kaizen's question, Korgrak slowly turned her face to him and answered:

"I have no idea, but we must investigate." She stepped forward and cautiously approached the figure at the end of the hall.

Everyone else followed her, and Anfrid illuminated their path with his staff. A few steps later, they heard a metallic sound, like the dragging of chains, and then a dry cough.

*Coof! Coof!*

The coughing sound echoed loudly, hitting the stone walls and reverberating.

The figure at the end of the corridor moved a little, but it was still too far away for them to see who it was. They moved forward cautiously, but fast enough not to be surprised by the parallel corridors. When they got close enough to see, they were surprised to see that it was a middle-aged man, ragged and wounded, dragging a chain on one of his legs. He appeared to be in great pain and panting, looking as if he hadn't eaten or drunk for days, and was tied to the ground with chains.

This sight surprised everyone, because they expected everything, monsters, a corpse, a ghost, but they did not expect a man.

"Hi, are you okay?" Korgrak asked, holding out his hand to help the man up.

Kaizen looked at the man and immediately remembered the scene of Alina chained to the ground. This made him feel compassionate.

The man looked up, his eyes unfocused, and looked at the group, his lips trembling. "P-please help me. I have been held captive by these creatures for weeks. I can't take it anymore."

"Creatures? What creatures?" Jeewok asked, his face contorted in confusion.

Suddenly, the man looked up at the ceiling, causing everyone else to do the same, and they could see that there were dozens of eyes on the wall above the chained mystery man, watching him intently.

Kaizen, who was at the front of the group next to Korgrak, reached out his arm and pushed everyone back. The rest of the group exchanged worried glances, knowing that they had to help the man, but they didn't know what that group of eyes was.

[Activating Class Skill <Analyzing Eye>].

[Creature: Watcher

Level: 50 | Attribute: Darkness | Nature: Mutantplease visit

HP: 300 | MP: 300

Attack: 97 | Defense: 15 | Speed: 35

Strength: 100 | Wisdom: 149 | Resistance: 10

Resistance to the spells of: Stun and Blind].

Kaizen could hardly believe it. Each of those creatures on top of the man was level 50, and although they were weak in defense, if they attacked, they would be a big problem.

Korgrak, standing next to Kaizen, narrowed her eyes as she studied the guards. She frowned at the group and said in a low voice, "Ugh... This creature is called a Watcher, and he is a threat, but we must help this man. He might be important for us to unlock some mission or give some item. He is all we can find in this place, this can only be the answer. Let's attack the Guardian together and free him from his chains.

At that moment, Psyker realized once and for all that he was not the only one with the ability to read monster stat screens. He was not the only player with <Analyzer Eye>.

Agreeing with Korgrak that they needed to help this man, the group prepared for battle. They spread out in a defensive and aggressive formation at the same time, with Klaus and Salles in the vanguard, Jeewok and Korgrak in the middle, and Anfrid in the rear, providing group support and keeping the lights on for the entire group. When they got close enough and Salles bent down to cut the chains with his sword, one of the eyes moved down the wall to the ground, creating arms of darkness to prevent Salles from touching the chains. However, the movement of this creature was strange, as it didn't attack, it just stood between the sword and the chains.

Kaizen's eyes widened. Something told him that this was not right, that something strange was happening. His instincts warned him and he couldn't tell the reason, and when Kaizen turned his face away, he noticed on Korgrak's face without the mask that she felt the same.

So Korgrak moved forward, and just as he was about to tell Salles to back off, he became angry with the Watcher and forced his sword forward, killing the creature easily and breaking the chains at almost the same time.

Immediately, all the other Guardians began to separate, moving through the walls, ceiling and floor. The corridor was covered with all these mysterious, piercing eyes. Then they began to blink, and with each blink, the players felt a shockwave pass through their bodies, paralyzing them.

Kaizen, his body aching, looked forward at that moment and saw a smile appear on the decrepit man's face.

...

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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