Chapter 51

                                    

                                          
Severance leaned against the rocky wall, arms folded across his chest. Though there were other players in the area, no one tried to talk to him. He was grateful for that.
He watched the fog shift and swirl over the ground, quietly grinding his teeth. His jaw tinged in discomfort, a sign that he'd been doing far too much grinding lately.
There was a flash of light and a low shooom as a person appeared outside the dungeon.
Severance lifted his head and recognized Legacy. The Cryomancer looked awful. He was missing one of the sleeves on his now-purple robe. Egg had dried on his face and in his hair, and a noodle hung limply over one of his shoulders.
Legacy spotted him and quietly walked over to join him. The Cryomancer wore a tiny frown, though he didn't say a word. He only folded his hands behind his back and stood motionlessly.
A gentle breeze rustled between them, carrying the scent of rotting garbage. Both of them wrinkled their noses, but neither addressed it.
"So," Severance hesitantly said. The silence felt heavy, like it would crush him unless it was broken. "Did you die, too?"
As soon as he spoke, he regretted it. What a dumb question! Of course the guy died. Why else would he be out here?
Legacy turned his head to look at Severance. He said nothing. There was just that quiet regard which Severance interpreted as Are you stupid?
Another person popped into existence. She was very short and immediately showed the entire world the inside of her mouth as she yawned. Severance narrowed his eyes.
This was the source of his misery. This, right here. He wanted to lift a hand and point right at her, and let her know just exactly what she had done. Of course, he didn't do either of those things. He just averted his eyes and ground his teeth.
"Oh, hey guys!" Wertwert24 came over to join them. Her armor appeared battered, though she herself didn't appear too out of sorts. In fact, compared to them, she looked quite clean and fresh.
"So close," she sighed. She plopped down on the ground, sitting by their feet without a care.
Her words made Severance deflate. We really were so close, he thought. And then I messed up. 
How could the rest of his team deal with The Brain on their own? Their health wasn't infinite. They were going to fail and it was his fault.
Light flashed, and the final two members of their team materialized outside the dungeon. To Severance's surprise, Dappppp was wearing a huge grin.
That wasn't the expression someone who'd just failed to finish a dungeon should wear. In fact, Dappppp looked positively triumphant. The Rainblade bounded over the second he spotted them.
"Guys! We did it! We actually did it!"
"Of course." Wertwert24 looked up from where she sat. She kicked out her feet and leaned back against Severance's legs. Severance immediately moved away, but she wasn't even phased. Scooting her butt over, she leaned against Legacy instead.
The Cryomancer tilted his head to look at her. He exhaled gently, before he too stepped away. Wertwert24 grumbled a complaint as she fell over, though it was only half-hearted. Rather than find someone else to lean against, she just rolled onto her side so she could look up at them.
Severance didn't notice. He was busy staring at Dappppp. "You beat the Boss?"
"Yep," Dappppp grinned proudly. "It was down to me and Wellon and we were practically dead, but so was The Brain! Just took a couple more whacks and we finished him off. Not bad, huh?"