Aria sat down at her table. Opening her laptop, she pressed the 'On' button. Next she clicked on the 'Orc Wars' icon, her current favourite MMORPG game. The pretty teenage girl smiled in anticipation. Let's see if she could beat one of Jace's records today. Jace was her mentor in the game. She had practiced diligently to hone her 'Assassin Skills' and believed it was time to put her Skills to the test.

The Goth girl hummed along with the catchy opening theme as Orc Wars' started its game introduction. She was more than familiar with the bright flashing colours, enchanting sceneries and gorgeous avatars. After all, she had been playing the popular trending game for a few months already.

"Owwww!" she gave a small cry of surprise as small sharp claws dug into her bare legs for purchase. She was only wearing black shorts and a comfortable white T-shirt with a pirate's flag printed on it. Aria had not noticed when her fluffy black cat slinked off her bed and jumped onto her lap. The little kitten was growing up fast. It had been only a few weeks that Grandfather Jared had given her the naughty ball of fur for her birthday.

"Naughty Night! You shouldn't jump on me like that ..." her voice trailed off when the half-grown cat looked at her with his big glossy eyes. "Don't look at me like that. You know I can't scold you properly when you do."

"Meow."

"Awwww, Night, you are just too cute," she gave up and stroked the dark silken fur. Night purred and settled on her lap. This was the best place to take a nap. It was nice, warm and he could smell her; the scent which he had come to associate with snacks, pats and love.

"Good boy. Now, go to sleep so I can concentrate on wiping out Jace's record. O'kay?"

Night purred but did not bother to lift his head. He was so sleepy and her lap was so nice and warm.

The screen darkened as the Game's introduction ended only to brighten again displaying the main menu. Without hesitation, Aria logged-in.

Nyx, Assassin, Level 65

Health 100 per cent, Energy 100 per cent

A beautiful slim female figure appeared on screen. The assassin was typically dressed in a sexy leather outfit, her long dark hair tied into a ponytail. Wisps of hair fell artistically from either side of her face framing her flawless features. She was armed too; double short swords hung on her back, throwing blades adorned her hips and a knife hidden in her right boot.

Nyx was ready.

"Where was it again?" Aria muttered to herself as she searched dungeon coordinates. "Aha! Found it!" she exclaimed triumphantly a moment later.

Dungeon 64 : Glass House

Aria checked the Leaderboard for Lazarus' name. Lazarus was Jace's avatar. She wanted to know the minimum time in order to be beat his score, her intention this time was just to outdo him not to be number one. She stared unbelievingly at the screen. His name was right at the very top.

"Rats ..."

Leaderboard High score

Lazarus, 2 minutes 24 seconds. 30/30 minions Killed. 3/3 secondary Bosses killed. 'Enraged' Final Boss Killed.

Record held for 74 days.

Aris's kohl lined eyes widened. He had cleared the dungeon with a perfect score and eliminated the final Boss in less than three minutes? And he had not just killed the Boss; he had managed to taunt the Boss into 'Enraging' before killing it. That meant more Experience Points (XP Points) and better grade dropped Items when the monster was terminated. This was going to be harder than she thought.

Lazarus' prestige and fame as one of the five Gatekeepers in Orc Wars was well-known. Jace was an excellent Player. His genuine love for the Game manifested in the ways he continuously improved his gameplay. He constantly experimented with innovative and ingenious combinations and usage of ingame Skills, Research and strategies. His avatar "Lazarus" deserved to be one of the main 'faces' of Orc Wars. His first place in this dungeon and numerous others only proved it.

Although Jace was her mentor in the game, she had no obligation to preserve his high score, right? Right! She answered herself. She cracked her fingers to loosen them and entered the Dungeon.

The Dungeon was an indoor one. It was a large maze-like glass house that smelled of rotting vegetation and death. The Assassin wrinkled her pert nose and went into battle mode arming herself with her twin swords.

Weak streams of sunlight filtered through the moss stained glass roof making everything look greenish. The place was filled with vegetation of all sizes, mostly overgrown flora which would have looked normal if they were not so large she thought as she recognised a houseplant or two.

Nyx tensed, head snapping around as she heard a loud sinister hissing sound.

"Hissss, shisssss ..."

"What the hell? A snake plant!"

Her forehead wrinkled in confusion for a second before she slashed at the elongating leaves reaching for her. It seemed that the game creators had used normal everyday houseplants and turned them into literal vicious monsters. She smiled, no problem.

Nyx heard more hissing and adjusted her fighting stance. A few more patterned leaves attacked simultaneously from the shadows for her. They now resembled green swords and seemed intent on cutting her with their sharp edges. Better to eliminate the danger at its source, she thought. The Assassin jumped up avoiding the aggressive leaves easily. She ran into the shadows towards the loud hissing sounds slashing and hacking. Green leaves and sap flew in all directions.

Suddenly Nyx stopped and quickly covered her eyes. In the middle of the bed of snake plants was a 'Medusa's Head'. She was not taking any chances. The game creators were known to be quite twisted in their imagination. The Medusa's Head waved its snakelike foliage agitatedly whilst hissing at the intruder. Its angry hisses were cut off when Nyx somersaulted over it her twin blades neatly severing its stem.

But it was too late; the manic hissing of the Snake Plants and the Medusa's Head had alerted the other plants in the dungeon.

Nyx drew in a sharp breath as pain exploded in her right arm. A 'Flaming Sword' had ejected out of its bed of zebra patterned leaves. The red flower had managed to sear her arm as it flew past her. She tried to back track out of the converging plants. More bright red 'flaming swords' were attacking her. There were too many now for her to handle alone. She should have treaded more cautiously in the beginning of the challenge instead of charging into the shadows but her desire to beat Lazarus' time had made her hasty. Now she was paying for her mistake.

"Aaarrgghhh!" she cried in frustration as 'Devil's Ivy' vines slithered towards her from nowhere to secure her ankles. She slashed and hacked expertly disposing of the green rope like plant but to no avail. More kept creeping up on her.

The Assassin concentrated, focusing her Skills and Speed to survive more aggressive plants. Her defensive stance only led her to fall into the specially designed dungeon trap, herding her steps from danger to danger until there was no way out.

Forget the Leaderboard, she had to survive this. Dying here would be too embarrassing.

The room's quiet was broken only by the frenzied tapping of the keyboard as Aria's avatar battled for her life. She played almost in a trance unaware of her surroundings. Her mind was focused solely on cutting down the attacking vines and dodging all sorts of dangerous flowers, spores and nettles targeting her.

After an intense seven minute battle, Nyx died a fiery death in the dungeon's third floor. The second mini Boss, a three headed 'Venus Flytrap' hybrid had snapped at her, biting off her leg as the surrounding plants converged mercilessly on her.

She had managed to kill most of the trivial minion plants that were guarding the mini Bosses. The Assassin had used several melee weapons to clear plant infested floors freeing herself from one-on-one time wasters but in the end, she had succumbed to the aggressive indoor jungle.

Aria leaned back in her swivel chair sighing loudly. She was surprised that Night was still sleeping soundly curled up on her lap. His peaceful and relaxed posture contrasted with her wildly pounding heart due to her recent demise.

"I'll practice on this dungeon first. Then I'll go on to the others!"

Aria thought for a while coming up with a practical strategy. Jace always said Orc Wars was not all action. The game also needed strategy and tactics. She would memorise the dungeon layout and familiarise herself with the various dangers lurking inside first then work on her time.

"Again!!"

Enthusiastically, she guided Nyx to the Dungeon's entrance. This time she was ready.