Shadows.
The closer something is to the ground, the darker and clearer the shadow is.
In the swamp, where the sun shines, but is filled with mangrove trees, the shadows are sparse.
But, a professional player can always spot the change in the surroundings.
Plus, a shadow that becomes darker and clearer as time goes means that something is falling.
Sparks flew as Kalem used his staff to fend off one of the Toxic Chimps, and Randolph did so too.
The sonorous sound reverberated, yet no death happened.
The Chimp just vanished through the thick miasma below their knees.
"Since when did the fog got this deep?"
"Focus, Randolph."
After the brief exchange, the shrill voices stopped for a moment.
"Enter the dome now, while they are nowhere!"
"Y-Yes, Sir!"
The earth began to shake. Boulders gathered as the Earth Dome started to form.
"Dancel, Cast a Cleanse in case--"
Tap!
Soft, yet it managed to get his attention.
"Hey, am I hallucinating? Or are those cherries?"
"What? This is a mangrove swamp, there are no cherries in here."
"Then what are those?"
Kalem's hand rested on his shoulder.
He turned around to look at Kalem, only to see him looking above him.
That's when he noticed the surrounding getting darker.
And when he looked up, his eyes went wide.
"Shit."
He muttered under his breath.
Kalem exhaled in exasperation.
The sight made a shiver crawl up to his spine.
Hundreds of Toxic Chimps are now falling down from the trees.
Each of them carried an air of hostility, baring their fangs against the ones that invaded their territory.
"Disgusting bastards."
Randolph pulled his blade back, and created a space for him to maneuver, while Kalem stood behind him.
"I'll leave the ones I missed to you."
"I have something else on my end too."
As they stood there, back to back, they watched as the Chimps fall down.
"Now!"
With a shout, the two started to attack.
Randolph swung his sword fast and created a sword wave that swept almost all of the Chimps that were falling down in front of him.
But, that's just the beginning.
"Iai - Third Form..."
He held his sword inside the scabbard as he lowered his body, bowing down slightly.
Light tendrils then started to flow up from his feet to his body in a visible rate, until it covered all of it.
"...Stargazer."
Schliick!
He appeared a distance away from where he started, but he is still in the same position.
The only difference is, now, he is putting back the sword inside the scabard.
When the hilt of the sword hit the mouth of the scabard, the sound of tiny pebbles and large rocks happened behind him.
He stood up, and a "rock" landed behind him, and rolled a few moments before he saw the carnage he did.
He smiled triumphantly.
These "rocks" were the body parts of all the Chimps he killed, and the "pebbles" were the blood they have.
He turned around, only to see Kalem using his magic to raze all his enemies to the ground.
But, that wa just the beginning.
Red cherries appeared on the fog again.
This time around, they are much denser.
"Holy cow."
KYAAAA!
The shrill voices followed, and the sky was covered with the Toxic Chimps.
Without a hitch, Randolph lowered his body again, and jumped.
"Iai - Fourth Form.."
He swung the blade from the scabard and let out an amazing amount of energy.
The energies then formed an elongated form.
White scales covered the long body, and with his energy, he swung it down.
"...Dragon."
The dragon ascended the heaven and swirled its body once, before it descended down, and killing everything in its path.
Kalem, who doesn't want to be outdone, created put his hands together, and created a magic circle.
Fire pillars started to rise up, as they burned to the ground any chimp that came close.
Five minutes have passed, and the second wave was finished.
However, the trial just started.
Now, denser chimps happened.
But, they are not normal compared to the ones earlier.
This time, they formed groups of five.
And every group has a shielder, two melee attacker chimp, a mage chimp, and an archer chimp.
This combination is unheard of, as they are almost all attackers.
But Randolph and Kalem knew otherwise.
They know that they are weak enough to survive.
But they also know they are strong enough to give damage.
As they fell down, the dragon and the fire pillars did its job, but because of the shielder chimps, the attackers were safe for the time being, making them able to attack once.
Attacks came down to Kalem and Randolph, but they killed them almost instantly.
As they were fighting against the chimps, Kalem noticed something.
The number of the Chimps were dense enough, but the attacks they were getting is so light that he shrugged them off.
Although he still has the fire pillars, and the dragon is still killing them, something still doesn't add up.
Until he heard a noise that wretched his heart.
Stones crumbling, earth being hit.
The Earth Dome.
When he realized it, the fourth wave happened.
This time, the composition is better.
Seven Chimps - a shielder, a spear wielder, a sword wielder, an assassin, a mage, an archer, and a supposed to be healer.
But, that's not all.
They have four groups of seven, and each group changes their backlines into something else.
One group has a buffer, one group has a debuffer, and another group has a bombardier.
"RANDOLPH!"
Randolph, who was also made aware of the circumstances cannot shake off the chimps on his tail.
He even met more groups while trying to get to the dome.
Kalem, who was arrived first was so overwhelmed by the numbers. The fire pillars were not killing them at all.
The healers were doing their jobs masterfully.
KYAAAAAA!
Despair ran through their spine as another wave came down.