《The Ultimate Supporter》 Prolouge: Crying Rain The sun had fallen as dark clouds overtook the sky. At first they cried, slamming down trees with their hands before tears ran down their faces and water fell upon the earth. In the midst of the crying clouds was three figures running, two chasing after one. Although the two chasing could be seen mouthing something, their screams were muffled behind the loud cries of the sky. Two bright balls of lights suddenly appeared behind the one running asshe stopped stiff in hertracks, blinded by the brightness that came out of nowhere. One of the chasers saw this and leaped as fast ashe could to push the frozen one away, however it was too late. Their fates were already decided. A vehicle began to take shape in the chaotic rain as it skidded on the slippery road, slamming into the two bodies. A boy flew forward as a girl rolled over the car before falling into a clear puddle. The vehicle eventually reached to a stop as it slammed into a tall light pole. In the eye of the hurricane stood another girl, whowore the same face as the girl who just got hit by fate. The girl stood very still, not even breathing as she walked up and looked down at the other girl, who was almost drowning in the puddle. The girl did not make a sound, nor did she breathe, as shestared down at the lifeless body. Something wet rolled down her face, but it could have been the heavy tears of the sky that was collecting in her long dark strands of hair. No one knew for sure. From across the road, where a lonely bench sat protected from the rain by a plastic roof, stood a tall man. The man had pulled out his cellular device and called for help when his gaze landed on the girl standing. He kept his eyes on her to make sure she wasn¡¯t going to try anything funny. ¡°911, what¡¯s your emergency?¡±a female voice asked from over his phone. ¡°There¡¯s been a car crash here,¡± he quickly replied, ¡°two students were hit by a car, and the car had slammed into a light pole,¡± he gave as much information as he could.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Where is this accident sir?¡±the female asked. The man opened his mouth, his vocal cords ready to give the answer before promptly stopping. He noticed a slight change in the girl¡¯s expression. He walked forward a couple of steps before squinting. When he did, he saw the picture more clearly through the distracting droplets of rain falling between the two. It was as if time had stopped at that moment as he saw her expression. Each droplet of rain frozen in space and time. The ends of her lips curled up before her lips parted revealing straight, square pearls. The next thing that happened, was something even the man was not sure he had seen properly as the girl¡¯s mouth moved in what seemed like slow motion. Fi-na-lly. The man¡¯s jaw dropped. It was as if he was witnessing something he shouldn¡¯t have. It was as if he had committed a sin watching her utter that word, that he had shared her burden, that he was part of something he could never back out of. Just when he thought that, the girl had looked up. They locked eyes and he noticed how emotionless her eyes were. It was as if someone had carved out every single inch of emotion she had in her and had thrown it away. ¡°Sir? Hello sir! Are you still there?¡± the voice called out through the phone. Time started to tick again as the raindrops hit the concrete road, splitting into a million pieces. ¡°Ah yes, the address, uh,¡± the man moved his head to look around his surroundings when he noticed a tall, grand building he recognized, ¡°we are near Sky Wall Private Academy!¡± he answered. ¡°Sky Wall Private Academy sir?¡± ¡°Yes, Sky Wall Private Academy.¡± ¡°Yes, please stay there, an ambulance is headed your way,¡± the voice said. ¡°Yes,¡± The man replied as he looked back up. When he did, he noticed the sky had cleared, the dark clouds disappearing as if they never there. If it weren¡¯t for the puddles and the wet pavement then nobody would¡¯ve been able to tell that it had just been raining seconds before. He looked back at the accident to see the girl who was standing had also vanished as if she was never there in the first place. If it weren¡¯t for her vivid expression and eyes, then the man himself may have never remembered she was also there. Chapter 1: Urine Colored Petals Mona opened her eyes revealing light brown, almost orange, clouded marbles. She glanced at her alarm clock which read 9:53 a.m. If this had been any other day she would have just closed her eyes and fallen back to dreamland, however, that day was different. She sat up and smacked her alarm off. Next to her alarm was a picture frame that was placed down, hiding the people it held. Mona slid her thin fingers over the cold, smooth wooden edge before picking it back up. When the picture frame stood up, it revealed a cracked face, with a girl smiling plastered behind it. Mona ran her finger over the valleys on the glass, her eyes had a distant look as if she was anywhere but in that room of hers. A long time passed before Mona retracted her hand back. ¡°Good morning Mina,¡± she said, her voice had a trace of sadness underneath it. She took in a deep breath before pulling her long dark hair up and securing it into a bun. She headed to the bathroom, her long legs striding through the air. She turned the faucet on and waited for the temperature to rise. While she waited, she stared into the mirror at her own face, observing each and every feature. Her oval face shape, big eyes, small nose, and pink tinted lips. She hated it, all of it, for it reminded her of her own sin. ¡°We still look the same Mina¡­ even though two years had already passed,¡± she muttered before splashing water all over the mirror to blur her own image. After she was done getting ready, she pulled on a dark hoodie, and a pair of old worn out jeans. She pulled her hood up to cover herself. After that, she shoved her keys and wallet in one pocket, slipped on some old sandals, and left her apartment. She walked for a few minutes, turning a few blocks, trying her best not to run into anyone. It was a school day so that meant that there were not a lot of people around, but she still wanted to be careful as some could have been skipping. After a few more minutes, she stopped in front of a rundown building with a huge sign that read ¡°Lorey¡¯s Flower Shop¡±. She swallowed hard before wrapping her fingers around the cold metal handle and entering the shop. A bell chimed as she walked in and a woman popped up from behind the cashier. ¡°Welcome to Lorey¡¯s Flower Shop! If you have any questions regarding anything, please feel free to ask me,¡± the girl beamed a smile at her, freckles dancing across her cheeks. Mona just gave the girl a small nod as she looked around the room. She knew what she wanted as her eyes searched the room, and it didn¡¯t take long before they landed on the bright urine colored petals of the flower she was looking for. She walked up to the flower and checked the label, even though she already knew what it said. ¡°Sunflowers, it represents loyalty, adoration, and longevity,¡± she mumbled. She reached out to grab a few and as she did, an image of two girls running around in a field rushed through her head. She paused for a moment, her eyebrows curled down as if she had just been pricked with a thorn. She bit on her lip before breathing in through her nose and continued to reach for the dead flowers in front of her. After she bought two bouquets of the flowers, she left the store and headed towards her true destination. Mona walked under the roof of the bus stop that witnessed everything that happened two years ago. That fateful day, when she lost her other half. She pulled the sleeve of her sweater up and looked down at the time. It was just a couple of minutes before noon, a couple of minutes before the bus came. She crouched down and placed one of the bouquets down on the ground. She stared at it with lifeless eyes. ¡°How are you doing up there Mina? Are you well? Are you¡­ still angry? I¡­ you know¡­ I miss you¡­ surprising right? You know¡­ I¡­ I¡­¡± Mona put her head down as she felt a tear making its way down her face. Her shoulders shook from a numbing coldness from deep within her. ¡°Hey!¡± a low voice called out from behind her. Mona jumped, startled for a moment, before quickly wiping her tears away. She stood up and looked behind her to see a tall man with brown cropped hair approaching her. An identification badge hung around his neck. Mona caught sight of the golden emblem on the badge that had three doves soaring in the sky. Her eyes darted to the ground as she hung her head down, her grip on the bouquet grew tighter. ¡°Are you alright?¡± the man asked. Mona quickly nodded her head and turned her back to the stranger. ¡°That¡¯s good. I saw you crouching and thought that maybe you were feeling sick. It¡¯s go- wait¡­¡± the man stopped speaking. Mona frowned as she could feel the man scanning her. She then felt a hand on her shoulder.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Ah,¡± she let out a quiet yelp as the man turned her around. ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re a student aren¡¯t you?¡± The man said as he gently grabbed onto the top part of her arms. Mona furiously shook her head. ¡°No, you¡¯re wrong. I¡¯m not a student,¡± she said as she tried to shake off his grip. ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me, young lady. I¡¯m a teacher, and I can tell that you¡¯re a student skipping class right now! Tell me where you go to school.¡± ¡°I¡¯m telling you that I¡¯m not a student! If you don¡¯t let go of me, I¡¯m going to scream,¡± Mona argued. ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me student! Why are students these days so irresponsible?! Let¡¯s go to the police station together. If you¡¯re not a student, then you would go right?¡± the man said as he grabbed her thin wrist and started to pull her towards the police station. ¡°I¡¯m telling you that I¡¯m not, now let go of m-¡± Mona¡¯s voice was disrupted by the bus that had stopped, waiting to pick up passengers. Mona turned to see the huge green vehicle waiting there. Her eyes grew big. ¡°No, I have to go,¡± she muttered as she stopped firmly in her tracks and pulled her wrist back. She saw the man stumble forward but she did not care as she turned on her heels, and ran to the entrance of the bus. ¡°Ah! Student!¡± she heard the man yelled. The bus door opened and she took a step up, however, she felt fingers wrap themselves around her arm and pull her back. Her body turned 180 degrees and she looked up to find herself just a few inches away from the man¡¯s face. She noticed his frustrated, mesmerizing, dark eyes, his tall nose, his thin lips, and his chiseled face. Time seemed to stop for a few seconds as the two of them looked into each other eyes as if they had known each other for a long time. She felt her arm lay against his hard chest and she felt his minty breath on her face. She wanted to go, wanted to move, wanted to get away but his eyes seemed to suck her into them. It made her want to cry and scream out loud, like that day the accident had happened. That day exactly two years ago where her whole life shattered into a million pieces. That day where she betrayed her own self. Then she saw the man¡¯s expression soften. She felt that those dark black holes were familiar to her somehow, yet she couldn¡¯t remember how. She did not know. ¡°Are you getting on?¡± she heard the bus driver asked, annoyed. Time had finally started to move again. Mona looked down at the arm the man had gripped and with all her strength, she pushed him back. ¡°Wah!¡± the man cried as he stumbled backward. Mona backed away from him, but not before she felt his finger brush against the ridge of her nose, tearing off her face mask. She closed her eyes tightly, flinching, before opening them again to see the man on the ground looking at her, shocked. She spared no time as she turned her head away to hide her face and continued to climb onto the bus. ¡°He¡¯s not getting on. Let¡¯s go!¡± she quickly said as she scanned her bus card. The bus driver rolled his eyes before shutting the door close. Mona peered out the window to see the man snap out of his state of mind and stand up his hand motioning for her to come back, his lips mouthing something. She made no attempt to go back as his figure got smaller and smaller. Mona let out a sigh of relief before sliding into a seat. She set her head onto the cool glass window and closed her eyes. She remembered a boy, a boy who would talk to her every day two years ago. She remembered his grin. She remembered his touch, and she remembered his lips. ¡°Elliot¡­¡± the name rolled off her tongue ever so gently as a tear strolled down her pale cheeks. When Mona got off the bus she was standing in front of a huge white building. She took in a deep breath before tightening her grip on the bouquet. She walked confidently inside. She avoided the nurses and made her way to the third floor. She kept walking, each footstep heavier than the previous one, but she knew she had to do this. Mona only stopped when she reached a door that read 307. She collected herself, trying to gather up all the courage she had. ¡°You can do this Mona. Don¡¯t be scared, you can do this,¡± she muttered to herself. She looked down at the metal handlebar. Her heart shook beneath her chest as she reached out and slid the door away. When the door opened, it was as if she had stepped into another world. The wind blew from inside the room and landed on her face. Mona breathed in and she could smell a familiar scent, one she had missed so much. She made her way slowly into the room as the door slid closed behind her. She walked passed the bathroom, and through a window, she could see the bright blue sky outside. When she turned her head, she saw a beautiful boy laying on a bed. The boy looked to be about her age. She walked up to him and stared at his face. The sunlight from outside highlighted the deep hollows of his cheek, and his hair had grown past his forehead, almost touching his eyebrows. Mona set her hand on his cheek, before tracing his jawline, to his neck, and his chest. She then laced her fingers through his freezing ones as she planted a kiss on his forehead. ¡°Elliot¡­ I miss you. When are you¡­ going to return?¡± she asked. Tears began to swell in her eyes, and it did not take long for them to travel down her face. She breathed him in, cherishing this rare moment they had together. After a long moment, she backed away. She took her bouquet of sunflowers and placed them inside a small vase that laid on top of a drawer. Mona then brushed her fingers across his cheek one last time, before leaving. Chapter 2: Favorite Meal Mona stepped inside her apartment and was about to slide off her shoes when she noticed a pair of red heels that sat untidily next to her multiple pairs of shoes. Before she could process anything else, a loud high pitched voice came from in front of her. ¡°Mona!¡± the voice cheered. Mona grimaced before looking up. She saw a beautiful, curvaceous woman standing in front of her with a ladle in one hand. The woman smiled before tucking a piece of her curly brown hair back. ¡°Aunt Lorey. What are you doing here?¡± Mona asked as she slid off her sandals. The woman frowned before grabbing Mona¡¯s wrist and gently pulling her to the kitchen. ¡°What do you mean what am I doing here?! I¡¯m here because someone here doesn¡¯t know how to feed herself,¡± her aunt said as she pushed Mona down onto a chair. Mona¡¯s eyes traveled down to the various dishes of food that sat on the table, still steaming from just being cooked. She felt a tug in her stomach as saliva gathered at her throat. ¡°It¡­ doesn¡¯t look that bad,¡± she muttered as she picked up the ladle, and started to ladle some soup into her bowl. Her aunt smile as she rubbed her shoulders before taking her seat, across from Mona. Mona kept her eyes down as they started to eat. ¡°But, where did you come from? You¡¯re not wearing your uniform so it doesn¡¯t seem like you came from school,¡± her aunt asked. Mona froze for a second. ¡°Uh¡­ I didn¡¯t feel well today so I didn¡¯t go to school,¡± Mona answered quietly. ¡°Where did you go then?¡± ¡°Just¡­ I went around for some air.¡± ¡°Air?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Mona finished her bowl and got up from her seat. She placed the ceramic into the sink and began washing it. Her aunt quickly popped up next to her. ¡°Wash mine too, please! I mean, I did cook for you anyways.¡± her aunt gave her a nudge and smiled. Mona chuckled back and nodded her head. Her aunt laughed before going to the living room. After Mona finished, she went into the living room also. She looked to see her aunt packing up. ¡°Are you leaving already?¡± Mona asked, feeling a bit empty inside. Her aunt looked up and gave her a nod.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Yea, there are some things that I still need to take care of at the shop,¡± her aunt gave her a sad smile. ¡°Ah¡­ well, you better get going then. Thanks for the meal,¡± Mona brought her hands back and looked down. Her aunt saw this and let out a sigh. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my dear. I want to stay too,¡± her aunt walked up and wrapped her arms around Mona¡¯s thin body. Mona breathed in sharply, surprised at the sudden affection. Her aunt then pulled away and patted her on the head. ¡°Tell you what, the next time I come, I will make your favorite.¡± ¡°My favorite?¡± Mona raised an eyebrow. ¡°Yes, your favorite. Spaghetti with meatballs!¡± her aunt beamed. One of Mona¡¯s eyes twitched for just a split second before she beamed back a smile and nodded. Her aunt let out a sigh of relief before grabbing her bag. ¡°I will get going then,¡± her aunt turned to leave. She didn¡¯t walk far before stopping. ¡°Oh yes, I almost forgot!¡± she exclaimed and walked back to Mona. ¡°Where is it?¡± she looked up as one of her hands entered her purse, searching for something. Mona tilted her head,curious. Her aunt frowned for a moment before brightening up. ¡°Got it!¡± she pulled out a smallCD case from inside her bag, ¡°here, for you,¡± she handed it to Mona. ¡°What is it?¡± Mona asked as she took the cd case in between her fingers. ¡°It¡¯s the new game by Cloud Climbing Company called Road Builders. It¡¯s been out for three months now, and everyone is into it¡­ well everyone except for you, my dear,¡± her aunt answered back. Mona scanned the cover and it read Road Builder: The Best New VRMMORPG Game of 2116. The hand not holding the CD clenched itself into a hard fist. ¡°... why are you giving me this?¡± she looked up at her aunt and smiled nervously, ¡°I do-¡± ¡°Because I thought that you would have fun with it! You see¡­ when Mina was alive she really enjoyed VRMMORPG games. Only a couple of people knew she was Daisy, the strongest player in Shining Armour¡­ there was an uproar when she deleted the character¡­ and soon afterward¡­ you know,¡± her aunt let out a sigh. Mona bit on her lip. She knew it all, she knew it all too well. ¡°Anyways, give it a try and tell me if you like. I started playing recently too so maybe we can play together sometimes,¡± her aunt rubbed her shoulder. Mona nodded her head. ¡°Alright then. I will give it a try later,¡± Mona simply said. Her aunt smiled walking towards the door. She pulled on the door handle but stopped before exiting. ¡°Ah,¡± her aunt looked back, ¡°I almost forgot to tell you the most important part about that game. Do you know why they chose the name Road Builder?¡± Mona shook her head, ¡°it¡¯s because the game is about building your own road, becoming the person you want to be. Hehe! I know it¡¯s a little cheesy, but it¡¯s a good message right?¡± her aunt beamed. Mona thought for a moment before nodding her head and smiled. She then watched as her aunt waved goodbye to her and left her apartment. When the door closed the smile disappeared from her face as she stared lifelessly towards the door. ¡°But aunty¡­ spaghetti with meatballs isn¡¯t my favorite food¡­ it is hers,¡± she muttered. Only silence heard her in that apartment, and only silence replied back. Chapter 3: Alive Mona picked up the VR helmet and set it on her bed. She stared at it for a long time contemplating whether she wanted to play the new game or not. After a while, she let out a sigh andpushed a button on the top of the white helmet. A slot opened up and revealed a small disc reading Shining Armour. She pulled out the disc and threw it on her drawer. Afterward, she put the new disc inside the helmet and closed the cover. She plugged the helmet in and it lit up. A whistling sound came from the helmet and she waited for the lights on the side of the helmet to turn green. When it did she pulled it over her head and laid down on the bed. She breathed in deeply before pushing a button on the side and closing her eyes. Mona opened her eyes again and she was surrounded in a white space. ¡°Welcome to Road Builder,¡± a female voice rang out from behind her and she turned around. She looked up to see a woman floating in the sky with long flowing pink hair and honeydew colored eyes. ¡°My name is Sarah, and I will be your guide today into creating your very own Road Builder character. Before we start, may I ask you a question, miss?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Mona quietly said. ¡°Have you read the instruction manual, or have you played any other games produced by our company before?¡± ¡°... no,¡± Mona lied. ¡°I see. I will try my best to help you today miss. Let¡¯s get started,¡± Sarah waved her hand and a screen filled with letters popped up in front of Mona, ¡°please enter a name for your character,¡± Sarah smiled. Mona¡¯s tongue felt dry, and her finger trembled as she pressed down on the letters. When she was done she tapped on the finish button at the bottom of the screen. Mona hugged herself as the guide looked over the information. Her hands shook and her heart began to poundfaster. ¡°Just for confirmation, young lady, you want your name to be Ferti, pronounced as in FUR-TUH and spelled F-E-R-T-I?¡± Sarah slowly said. Mona nodded her head. ¡°That¡¯s great miss, the name has not been taken yet and is still available. Next, we will move on to creating your avatar,¡± Sarah waved her hand again and another screen appeared in front of Mona, ¡°in Road Builder,there are a total of 56 races, with 21 being available. Please choos-¡± ¡°Human. I would like to be a human,¡± Mona answered as she continued to shiver. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am¡­ you have been registered as a human. Next, we will decide on your gender. Ple-¡± ¡°Female. I would like to stay as a female.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am¡­ you have been registered as a female. The next step is determining your appearance,¡± Sarah slowly waved her hand down and a green light appeared, scanning Mona from her head to her toes. ¡°Due to mobility restrictions, you will not be able to change your height or tremendously change your body size. Other than these, you may change whatever you wish too,¡± a figure of Mona appeared in front of her. Mona flinched for a second, scared. It took her a moment to calm down as she reached her fingers up to the avatar¡¯s eyes. She pinched them, making her big eyes smaller. She pulled the center of its face back, making her small nose a little taller. Then she stretched some places, and pushed some of her face together, making her oval face more angular. She also made the two lumps on her chest smaller, until they were almost flat. She had found them an inconvenience in real life, and wished to play without them. After that, she chopped off the avatar¡¯s long locks of hair until it looked like a boy cut. Though afterward, the avatar did not look like her anymore, it still resembled that of an above average looking female. Actually, due to the short hair and flat chest, she resembled more of an above average looking male. ¡°I¡¯m done,¡± Mona said as she backed away from the avatar. ¡°Will this be all miss?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Alright then¡­ your avatar has been registered into the system. The next thing we will determine is the first three skills you will have when you enter the game. In Road Builder, a person may have up to ten skills, not including the primary three they are given in the beginning. The three skills that are chosen first will be stronger than the other skills that are selected later by 75%. If one wishes to gain more skills, then they must reach mastery in one of their skills. Once, they reach mastery in one of their skills, a new slot for skills will be open. Skills can be obtained through quests, NPC teaching, player teaching, or at rare occasions, player earned. Each skill also has its own skill tree, specialty, and etc. For more information please visit the Road Builder website. For now, look over the list of skill and select three that you would like to have right away.¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Mona glanced at the skills. She had already made up in her mind three skills she wanted but looked at the others just in case. "Do these skills affect you later on when you choose a class?" Mona asked. "No. These skills are just common skills that anyone with any class can learn if they so wish to." "How come each avatar is limited to ten skills until they master a skill?" "This is so each avatar does not get overloaded with information and cause the player to start buffering, or not streaming correctly. Also, this was decided so that limitations could be set so that each person will choose their skills wisely." "If you learn a skill but no longer wish to want it, can you get rid of it and open up another slot?" "Yes. If you wish to delete a skill you may do so in your skills menu, however, you may not be able to relearn the skill you have deleted until three months have passed in real time, and you will also have to start from the beginning." ¡°I see," Mona nodded as she scrolled up and down the skills menu, "Are these all the skills available in Road Builder?¡± Mona asked as she looked up. Sarah raised her eyebrows, surprised for a second. ¡°N-no. These are all the skills that can be earned through learning from an NPC, player, or quest. Player earned skills are not listed as player earned skills differentiate from person to person.¡± ¡°Is it possible for me to look over the skill tree of the skills listed here?¡± ¡°Yes. By clicking on a skill you can look over its skill tree,¡± Sarah answered. Mona nodded as she scrolled back to the top of the list and clicked on the first skill. For the next two hours, Mona went through each skill. She memorized each skill and their skill tree. She also asked a lot of questions to Sarah pertaining about the skills. ¡°I¡¯m ready to choose now,¡± Mona said as if she wasn¡¯t ready in the first place. By now the trembling and shaking in her hands had increased, but she ignored it. Her pale face had also grown red over the period of time. ¡°Well then miss, what are the three primary skills you want to start out with?¡± Sarah asked. ¡°I choose the healing skill, alchemy skill, and the identification skill.¡± ¡°Are the healing skill, alchemy skill, and the identification skill your final choice?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Alright then¡­ these skills have been registered onto your avatar. Now, one final thing before you can go and pla-¡± ¡°Do I get to add points to my character¡¯s skills, such as intelligence, agility, and etc? And also, do I get to choose where to spawn first?¡± Mona quickly asked. ¡°No, miss. Character skills and first spawning point will be randomized by the system. Also, when you first spawn you will have to stay in your spawn town for the first two months.¡± ¡°What is the time ratio for in-game and in real life?¡± ¡°It is a four to one ratio. Four hours in the game is just one hour in real life.¡± ¡°I see¡­ thank you. Please continue.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am. Now, the last thing we require for all our players to do is to set a goal for themselves. When they accomplish this goal we will give them a reward. Goals such as ¡®my goal is to eat food in the game¡¯ or ¡®my goal is to reach level 2¡¯ are allowed, however, the rewards for these goals will not be that great. Goals that are harder to achieve will receive a much better reward, so we encourage you to set a goal you can work hard towards.¡± Sarah said. Mona stood there, her body has stopped shaking as she stared at Sarah with no expression. ¡°... do I have to set a goal?¡± Mona asked quietly. ¡°Yes, if you do not then you will not be allow to play Road Builder.¡± ¡°...why? Why do we have to set a goal?¡± ¡°This game is about inspiring people to work hard towards something that they wish to achieve. Don¡¯t you have something you wish to achieve too ma¡¯am?¡± ¡°... I¡­ do.¡± ¡°What is your goal then ma¡¯am?¡± ¡°My goal¡­ my goal is to become the ultimate supporter,¡± feelings rushed back into Mona¡¯s eyes as she balled her hands, hard, ¡°I want to help others succeed. I don¡¯t need to be the main character. I want other people to be the main character,¡± Mona yelled as tears began to stream down her face, ¡°I just¡­ I just want to feel needed again,¡± Mona sniffled. Sarah looked at her with a soft expression on her face. ¡°Is ¡®I want to become the ultimate supporter¡¯ your final choice?¡± Sarah asked. Mona bit on her lip as tears continued to stream down her face. She slowly nodded her head. ¡°Alright then¡­ this goal has been registered onto your avatar. You will soon spawn into a town and began your journey. Tutorials will be available from NPCs once you starte the game,¡± Sarah smiled, her eyes illuminating warmth to Mona. Mona nodded her head understanding as she wiped away the tears. A blue circle appeared around her as numbers counting down from ten appeared in front of her. 10¡­ 9¡­ 8¡­ ¡°By the way miss,¡± Sarah said. 7¡­ 6¡­ ¡°Yes?¡± 5¡­ 4¡­ ¡°I am sure you will achieve that goal, and to guarantee that, I give you my blessings.¡± 3¡­ ¡°What?¡± 2¡­ ¡°Enjoy your time in Road Builder.¡± 1¡­ - Ferti opened her eyes and to see a bunch of people walking around her. Some of them were wearing beginners clothing, while others were wearing grand armors. She could hear music playing the in the background. She looked around her to see buildings of all sizes. She began to shake. The corner of her lips went up, and her eyes turned into crescent moons. She let out a loud laugh as tears stream down her face. People stopped to stare at her, before giving her a weird look and continuing on their way. ¡°Hahaha! Yes! Hahaha! Yes! I¡¯m back! I¡¯m back!¡± she screamed at the top of her lungs as she jumped up and down. She grabbed her hands together, stopping the shake as she smiled. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ back,¡± she breathed. And for the first time in a long time, she felt alive, truly alive. Chapter 4: Public Library After causing a minor commotion, Ferti started to head to the kingdom¡¯s public library to gather information. There was a map that appeared at the top right corner of her view that had the city¡¯s layout on it. From that she also figured out that she had spawned in a kingdom call Meleheim. She felt a bit embarrassed because of the commotion, but at the same time, she did not care. Adrenaline was pumping in her blood and she needed a way to get it out. ¡°Okay, first things first, my status. Status menu, open!¡± she quietly muttered. A blue screen appeared in front of her.
Status Menu
Name: Ferti Health: 200/200
Level: 1 Mana 268/268
Race: Human Fire Resistance:5% Light Resistance:3%
Gender: Female Wind Resistance:5% Dark Resistance:2%
Class: N/A Water Resistance:5% Goal:To become the ultimate supporter.
Title: N/A Earth Resistance:5% Goal status:Incomplete
Attack: 12 Intelligence: 25
Defense: 8 Wisdom: 12
Strength: 10 Leadership: 2
Agility: 7 Charisma: 21
Fame: 0 Luck: 33
Stamina: 20 Charm: 35
¡°So that was the blessing she was talking about. Not bad,¡± Ferti said to herself as she touched her chin. It kind of botheredher that her health was so low, but her mana made up for what she lacked. She calculated that the most average a beginner can get was 280/280 health and 184/184 mana, so she knew that she was above average, yet below average at the same time. It didn¡¯t bother though, for she could easily raise up her strength in the game, also raising up her health bar. ¡°Next is my inventory. Status menu close. Inventory box, open!¡± Ferti looked in her inventory box to see she had ten bread buns, a leather canteen, and two silver coins. Her beginner¡¯s attire, a loose white long sleeve shirt, brown trousers, and brown boots were also in there. ¡°Two silver coins? Wow!¡± Ferti cheered. People usually start out with just 20 copper coins, so this was a huge benefit to her. ¡°This guide¡­ was she an NPC¡­ or¡­ well whatever, anyways thanks,¡± Ferti smiled as she closed her inventory box and continue on her way. Ferti soon reached the library. The building was small compared to the other buildings around it and looked a bit run down. She opened the front door and went inside. There she saw an orange haired woman with a smile on her face behind the desk. ¡°Hello, adventurer! How may I help you?¡± the woman asked. ¡°I would like to use the kingdom¡¯s library.¡± ¡°O-oh, really?¡± the woman jumped back, surprised. Ferti tilted her head. ¡°Why are you so surprised? Isn¡¯t this the kingdom¡¯s public library? Don¡¯t people come here to use your library?¡± ¡°Uh, well,¡± the woman stammered, ¡°the kingdom¡¯s public library is not a favorite place for most adventurer¡­ this place used to be bigger and more grand,¡± a dreamy look appeared in the woman¡¯s eyes, ¡°but because of the decrease in members¡­ it now looks like this. Most of the adventurers who come in just want to seek Lord Flory¡¯s guidance.¡± ¡°Lord Flory?¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Do you not know who Lord Flory is, adventurer?¡± ¡°Sadly, no. I¡¯ve just recently started my journey as an adventure and because of that, I do not have much information on people yet. Mind to enlighten me, older sister?¡± Ferti smiled. The woman blushed as she darted her eyes away. ¡°What do you mean older sister? Just call me by my name, Elisa¡± the woman smiled shyly, ¡°and of course I can tell you. This is where people come for information anyways.¡± ¡°Thank you then, Elisa. I¡¯m Ferti,¡± Ferti smirked at Elisa, causing Elisa to blush even more. ¡°Ferti¡­ anyways, Lord Flory is one of the wisest people in our kingdom of Meleheim. He also has a lot of connections with other lords, so a lot of adventures are trying to seek him out and gain his friendship. Lord Flory hasn¡¯t accepted any invitations for a meeting yet though, and his grandson has quite a character.¡± ¡°His grandson?¡± ¡°Yes. His grandson¡¯s name is Floy and if anyone wants to meet with Lord Flory, then they have to go through him first. Floy is stubborn though, and has requested ridiculous things from the people who wanted to meet his grandfather so many have given up.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Ferti touched her chin. ¡°What kind of things did he request?¡± Elisa looked and then she started counting on her fingers. ¡°Well¡­ for one of the groups he requested them to count how many times the word ¡®I¡¯ came up in all the books of the library. In another group he asked them to count how many books were in the library, however, each day they came back, he would change the library formation so they would lose count of the books. For another one he had them count how many wo-¡± ¡°Okay, okay, Elisa! I understand you can stop now,¡± Ferti let out a laugh. Elisa¡¯s face turned beet red before she cleared her throat. ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be. You did nothing wrong,¡± Ferti smiled, ¡°now then, how can I gain access to the town¡¯s library?¡± ¡°Uh, yes. It¡¯s nothing hard, all we require of you is to sign up with us and get a library card. The membership fee will be 20 copper coins. It used to be cheaper when we were bigger, but because of the reduction in size, we have to raise the price to keep the library running. Plus, just for you, I will give a discount of 5 copper coins bringing the total to only 15 copper coins,¡± Elisa said the last part quietly. ¡°Thank you,Elisa,¡± Elisa¡¯s name glided of Ferti¡¯s tongue as she handed over a silver coin. Elisa took it and gave Ferti her change back along with a membership card. ¡°You are now officially a Meleheim library member. To enter, please scan your library card on the door to your right. Afterward, the door will unlock and you can enter. There are three floors available for members, each floor pertains to the rank of each member. The higher floor the member is allowed to enter, the higher their rank for the library. For more questions please ask the assistant on the second-floor call Floy. Welcome, and enjoy your stay,¡± Elisa gave Ferti a little curtsy. Ferti gave Elisa a bow back. Elisa gave her a shy smile before looking away. Ferti made her way to the door and placed her membership card on a slot on top of the doorknob. She then heard a click and opened the door, revealing a set of stairs. She took off her membership card as she went upstairs. ¡°People most likely don¡¯t come here because they can find more information on game forums. Sad that they do that instead of enjoying the sweet company of history all around them,¡± Ferti mumbled. It didn¡¯t take long for her to reach the top. There were two doors, one in front of her and another one to the side. She looked at the one to the side, and there was another slot on the doorknob. She shrugged her shoulders as she turned the knob of the door in front of her. When she stepped inside she felt a great energy hit her. It was an exciting, yet calming feeling at the same time. She glanced at the huge rows of books aligned on bookshelves. In the center of the room was a couple of round tables and chairs. She closed her eyes and took in a huge sniff, inviting the calming smell of paper inside of her. Her nerves seemed to calm down as a smile appeared on her face and she headed to the front desk. A young boy wearing glasses, with green eyes and hair looked up from his book. She immediately knew that this was Floy, the one that Elisa was talking about by the aura he gave off. When he saw her he rolled his eyes and looked back down. ¡°How may I help you?¡± he asked slowly, sounding a bit annoyed. ¡°Hello there. I would like to read books based on the kingdom¡¯s history. Could you please tell me where they are located?¡± Ferti said. One of the Floy¡¯s eyebrow went up as he lowered the book and looked up at Ferti. ¡°Pardon me adventurer, what did you just say?¡± Floy asked. ¡°I would like to read books based on the kingdom¡¯s history. Could you please tell me where they are located?¡± Ferti repeated herself. ¡°I see,¡± Floy scanned Ferti from head to toe, ¡°anyways, all the books based on our kingdom¡¯s history is located on the shelf, to the far left. It is listed chronologically in ascending order from top to bottom,¡± Floy turned back his book. ¡°Thank you,¡± Ferti gave Floy a small bow before heading to the back of the library. Ferti reached her hand up to the book on the uppermost left-hand corner. She pulled it out. She brushed the dust off the book as she read the title. ¡°Chronicles of Meleheim: Volume 1. The Beginning,¡± she read aloud. She let out a sigh. ¡°Let¡¯s get started,¡± Ferti opened the book up, and brought her thumb down on the pages, flipping them at a very fast pace. She absorbed everything in that book. In about two minutes, she placed the book back up and grabbed the second volume. After about four game hours went by, Ferti went back up to the desk where Floy was still reading his book. ¡°Are those 42 books the only ones about kingdom Meleheim¡¯s history?¡± Ferti asked. Floy peered up from his book. ¡°Have you finished reading them already?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°All of them?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ how many times did the word ¡®battle¡¯ show up?¡± ¡°283 times if you include the word from the title of volume 31. If you exclude it then the total comes to 282 times.¡± Ferti answered, nonchalant. ¡°I see¡­ anyways, yes, those are all the books we have on Meleheim kingdom. If you are interested in history, you might want to check out the books located next to those books. They have information on the other kingdoms, and villages surrounding Meleheim kingdom.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright. I have already finished those books too,¡± Ferti answered. ¡°Like I sa-¡± Floy choked on his sentence as what Ferti said registered into his head. ¡°Wh-wha-what?! You already finished all those books?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°No wa- I mean, how many times did the ¡®Inquisition of the Serenburgs¡¯ get mentioned in all those books?¡± ¡°58 times.¡± ¡°What about ¡®The Massacre of Dunestown¡¯?¡± ¡°12 times.¡± ¡°Legacy of the Hero Acerbus?¡± ¡°127 times,¡± Ferti replied to each question without hesitating. Floy sat there with staring at her, disbelief written all over his face. There was also a hint of fear behind that disbelief, and Ferti could see it, however, she said nothing as she wanted to play along with his game. Chapter 5: The Herb Garden ¡°U-uh, alright then,¡± Floy cleared his throat, ¡°what can I help you with¡­ adventurer Ferti?¡± ¡°Please give me access to the next history books.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure that there are more books pertaining to the history of this kingdom.¡± ¡°What makes you think that?¡± ¡°Well according to records, Meleheim kingdom was founded approximately 1700 years ago by its first king, Malek Yorukan. The current year right now is 2116. The books on the shelves stopped documenting events after the year 1616. There is about 500 years worth of information missing, however, knowing how detailed those other books were¡­ I believe there are more volumes to indicate what has been going on,¡± Ferti responded. Floy¡¯s jaw dropped, but he quickly picked it back up and composed himself. ¡°Well I¡¯m sorry, but you cannot have access to those books,¡± Floy closed his book and set it down. Ferti tilted her head, confused. ¡°How come?¡± ¡°Those books are located on the second floor, and only members who have earned it will have access to the second-floor library. You, at the current moment, is just a new member.¡± Floy said without a care as he placed the book in a box that sat on the desk. Ferti bit on her thumb, thinking for a moment before looking back up. ¡°How do I earn the honor to go up to the second floor then?¡± ¡°There are two ways to gain access to the second floor. The first is to be a loyal member here for two years.¡± ¡°Two years?!¡± Ferti blurted out. She would have to play the game for over half a year to be able to accomplish that. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the other way?¡± ¡°Well, the other way is to read all the books here in the library. After that, you have to take a test and if you pass the test, you will gain access to not only the second floor but also the third floor, depending on your score.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ I understand. Thank you for your information,¡± Ferti gave Floy a bow and then headed back to where she was earlier. She glanced over the books she just read and then looked around the library. ¡°To read all the books in this place¡­ would probably take me around 12 days in the game world, and three days in real life if I did it all in one take¡­ I can do it,¡± Ferti mumbled to herself. ¡°Status menu, open.¡±
Status Menu
Name: Ferti Health: 305/305
Level: 2 Mana 397/397
Race: Human Fire Resistance:5% Light Resistance:3%
Gender: Female Wind Resistance:5% Dark Resistance:2%
Class: N/A Water Resistance:5% Goal:To become the ultimate supporter.
Title: N/A Earth Resistance:5% Goal status:Incomplete
Attack: 12 Intelligence: 37
Defense: 11 Wisdom: 18
Strength: 17 Leadership: 2
Agility: 7 Charisma: 21
Fame: 0 Luck: 33
Stamina: 20 Charm: 35
From reading 120 books she ended up gaining 12 intelligence points, and six wisdom points. She also went up a level, gaining ten skill points, where she distributed into strength and defense. She knew that this trend wasn¡¯t going to stay forever, so she had to decide carefully while she could still level up rapidly. It was going to be harder later in the game to gain skill points so easily. If she wanted to accomplish her goal, then she would need a huge bar of mana for spells and other things. The most difficult things to level up also were the intelligence and wisdom skills for they took a lot of time. Reading books was probably the easiest way, however, it consumed the most time so people tried to look for another way. As Ferti continued to stand there thinking, she heard Floy clearing his throat. She turned around to see him standing behind her, gesturing towards the door. ¡°The public library will close soon. If you wish to check out a book then please do so within the next ten minutes. A newcomer is allowed to check three books out at a time with a span of a month. If the book is not returned within a month, then the person who checked out the book will receive a fine,¡± Floy informed, bored. Ferti raised an eyebrow. ¡°What hours do the library run on?¡± she asked. Floy let out a sigh. ¡°We are open from eight a.m. to eight p.m. every weekday. On weekends we are only open from eight a.m. to four p.m.¡± Floy replied. Ferti nodded her head understanding. ¡°I see¡­ just give me a moment to pick out three books then I will be on my way. Thank you,¡± she gave Floy a small bow. Floy rolled his eyes before returning to his desk. Ferti scanned the room looking for books. She squinted her eyes until they landed on a big red book. She raised an eyebrow as she made her way to it. She pulled it out, feeling its rough cover. ¡°Collection of Legends and Tales Throughout The Genard Continent,¡± she read out loud. From a previous book that she just read, she knew that there was a total of twelve continents in Road Builder. The Genard Continent was the continent that Meleheim was located in. She bit her lip, thinking for a bit before nodding. She picked up some more books next to the one she just got. They were all books based on legends and tales. She walked up to the front desk and set her books down in front of Floy. Floy glanced up, before pulling a worn out book from underneath the desk. ¡°Books on tales and legends¡­ are you a child?¡± Floy said with an underlying mocking tone as he documented the books on a log under Ferti¡¯s name. Ferti smiled. ¡°You never know. Things like these may come in handy in the future,¡± Ferti picked up her books and inserted them into her inventory. ¡°Now, please excuse me. I will be back soon,¡± Ferti gave Floy a bow as she left the library. Ferti opened her map as she searched for her next destination. She bit on the nail of her thumb as two places stood out to her. ¡°The Herb Garden, or The Alchemist Center?¡± she muttered to herself. ¡°Well¡­ I already had the alchemy skill due to being able to choose three skills from the game setup. That is a huge step already, considering how in S.A they had every player begin with no skills at all¡­ I would still need to learn more about herbs so I can make potions later¡­ guess it¡¯s The Herb Garden then,¡± she nodded her head and began heading to The Herb Garden. Along the way to her destination, she had pulled out one of her books and began flipping the pages as she did earlier. She would occasionally glance at her map to make sure she was going the right way, but other than that, she did not look up in front of her. ¡°Hello ladies and gentlemen!¡± a voice yelled out ahead of her. She looked up to see a blue haired man, wearing an extravagant armor smiling, ¡°The Blue Thunder Guild is currently looking for new members to join. If you are interested then line up and face one of our clan¡¯s best player. If you are chosen, you will immediately receive an Orange grade weapon or armor of your choice!¡± his voice roared. People stopped in their tracks when they heard this.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Woah! An orange grade attire?! Maybe I should check it out,¡± someone muttered. ¡°Orange grade attire! Ugh¡­ too bad I will probably never make it in,¡± another one chimed. A line soon formed and a crowd of players had huddled up to watch who would make it in. Ferti let out a sigh as she now had to make a trip around the circle to get to The Herb Garden. She kept her ears open for information though, as she walked around the crowd. ¡°I heard that no one has actually seen whom the Blue Thunder Guild leader is!¡± ¡°Well whoever they are, they must be amazing! They managed to lead all the members through Black Widow¡¯s dungeon and managed to get the best time!¡± ¡°Wow¡­ I want to join Blue Thunder Guild also¡­ sucks that I¡¯m so low leveled.¡± The chattering among the crowd was endless, however, the line begged to differ. Some of the people who went up to challenge got beat down in just a couple moves, which discouraged others and they left the line. Ferti ignored them as she finally made her way around, with her book still out. It didn¡¯t take her long to reach The Herb Garden then. She had finished the thick red book and placed it back into her inventory as she walked in. When she entered the room, the smell of medicine entered her nose. It was a refreshing smell to her as she took in a huge whiff. She looked up to see a man dozing off at the front desk. She walked up to him and cleared her throat. The man woke up and shook his head. ¡°Bru-brah-rah-rah- Excuse me, uh, how may I help you?¡± The man looked up and smiled. ¡°I would like to learn the skills necessary to grow herbs,¡± Ferti said. ¡°Huh? Uh, yes. Uhh¡­wha- no- wa-uh¡­ yea. Admissions fee! Admissions fee please,¡± The man put his hand out. ¡°How much is it?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ er¡­ yea¡­ you think. You pay what you think,¡± the man nodded his head and looked at her with a stern face. Ferti bit on her the nail of her thumb, a bit confused. She didn¡¯t know if the price she paid would trigger a benefit or a downfall to her. Usually the price to learn a skill would be 10 to 30 coppers for a normal skill such as this, however, she thought about what the benefits would be if she paid a higher price. She knew she had to choose carefully. ¡°Excuse me.¡± ¡°Uh, huh? Yea?¡± ¡°Is it alright if I look around first?¡± Ferti asked. The man looked at her with a blank expression. ¡°Uh¡­ er¡­ yea. Go ahead.¡± he said. Ferti gave him a bow and started to look around the shop. She stopped in front of each plant and gazed down at it. ¡°Identify!¡± she whispered. A blue box popped up in front of her.
Fail to identify object!
¡°Identify!¡± she whispered again. She didn¡¯t give up.
Fail to identify object!
Fail to identify object!
Fail to identify object!
Fail to identify object!
Fail to identify object!
Object identified! Name: Green Grass Class: Blue Class These grass are found just on the outskirts of Meleheim Kingdom. Green Grass is a useful herb that can be used to cure wounds.
Ferti saw the description popped up, but it didn¡¯t matter to her as she kept going on. ¡°Re-identify!¡± She said this time.
Object identified! Name: Green Grass Class: Blue Class These grass are found just on the outskirts of Meleheim Kingdom. Green Grass is a useful herb that can be used to cure wounds.
Object identified! Name: Green Grass Class: Blue Class These grass are found just on the outskirts of Meleheim Kingdom. Green Grass is a useful herb that can be used to cure wounds.
Object identified! Name: Green Grass Class: Blue Class These grass are found just on the outskirts of Meleheim Kingdom. Green Grass is a useful herb that can be used to cure wounds.
Object identified! Name: Green Grass Class: Blue Class These grass are found just on the outskirts of Meleheim Kingdom. Green Grass is a useful herb that can be used to cure wounds.
Object identified! Name: Green Grass Class: Blue Class These grass are found just on the outskirts of Meleheim Kingdom. Green Grass is a useful herb that can be used to cure wounds.
Object identified! New Information obtained! Name: Green Grass Class: Blue Class These grass are found just on the outskirts of Meleheim Kingdom. Green Grass is a useful herb that can be used to cure wounds, however, when mixed with Red Grass, it can become a toxic poison. Be cautious with use!
Ferti smirked when she saw the new information. ¡°So the game mechanics here are similar to the game mechanics in S.A.¡± she mumbled to herself. She smiled, learning something new, as she continued going around to each plant and doing the same thing. She stayed in The Herbal Garden for countless hours just going to each plant and identifying them, and each time she heard a bing, she smiled. Bing!
Level Up! Identification Skill Level: Beginner 3
Ferti smiled at her results. She knew that to raise up the identification skill, one needed to identify things that were useful. Anyone can just upgrade their identification skill by randomly identifying objects on the ground, however the experience it gave was little to none, and it did not help in the long run. If someone kept using identify on rocks, then, of course, they would level up, but the quality of their skill would not as they would not be able to identify more complex items. It took a long time, but Ferti was finally done analyzing the plants. She stretched her arms as she stood up straight. The problem with the pay was still on her mind, but she did not know what she had to do. She sat down on one of the barrels that laid against the wall as she thought about what to do. ¡°What could they possibly want? Hmm¡­¡± she mumbled to herself as she stroked her chin. Just as she was thinking the bell to the shop ranged. She looked up to see a man wearing a majestic blue robe, engraved with elaborate patterns, stroll in. The hood of the robe was pulled over his head to hide his face as his tall stature continued striding into the shop. The man was holding a small bag, and he placed it carefully on the desk. The clerk from behind stood up immediately, and the once dumb look on his face was now faded. Ferti squinted her eyes as she stared at the clerk¡¯s lips, opening and closing. ¡°Is¡­ this¡­ment?¡± Ferti mumbled to herself as she bit the nail of her thumb. She saw the man nod. The clerk opened the bag slightly, and his eyes bulged before he closed the bag. The clerk looked up from his position and Ferti quickly averted her eyes as she feigned interest in the herb next to her. ¡°Ey you!¡± she heard the clerk call out. She turned her head. ¡°Yes?¡± she answered innocently. ¡°Go home! Come back soon! Shop close!¡± the clerk quickly shooed her out, waving his hand towards the door. Ferti sighed. ¡°Alright then, I will come back another day. Thank you!¡± Ferti gave the man a bow. As she bent back up she meticulously observed the man in the majestic robe. From his attire, she knew he was an experienced player. She nodded her head before turning on her heels and exiting the store. Ferti stood outside the shop as she opened her menu screen. She saw the date and time in the game and also saw the date and time in real life. She yawned as she touched the tapped on the options toolbar. ¡°It¡¯s getting late¡­ I should also go to school tomorrow,¡± she yawned again before tapping the logout button. - Mona opened her eyes. The sunlight that had illuminated her room earlier was gone, and she would¡¯ve been surrounded in complete darkness if not for the light on her alarm clock. She slid off the VR helmet and turned it off, before setting it on the ground. After that, she glanced at her alarm clock to see the frame still standing proudly. She pushed the wretched thing faced down again and laid down on her bed. From the corner of her eye, she caught the sight of her once normal youth. The soft linen fabric hung up on the corner of her room. She caught the checkered patterned blue skirt and blue tie. Then she caught the golden badge that laid on the breast of the jacket that had three doves diving to their own deaths. She closed her round eyes to make the image disappear, before drifting off into her unpredictable slumber. Chapter 6: The Alchemist Center Mona pulled on her black uniform jacket. She fixed the blue checkered necktie in place. She threw on her nearly empty backpack and headed out the door. It didn¡¯t take long for her to reach the school, but by the time she got there, it was completely empty outside. The gate had closed and the clock read nine o¡¯clock. She pressed a white button on the side of the gate. A sound rung out. After a while, she saw a man in a blue uniform walking towards her. ¡°Don¡¯t you know that school starts at eight thirty, what are you doing here at nine?¡± the old man scolded her as he unlocked the gate to let her in. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said, her voice void of any emotions. ¡°Anyways head to the office first before you head to your class. You know the way, right?¡± the man pulled the gate door back. Mona nodded her head as she stepped onto the school grounds. She let out a sigh. ¡°Should I just go back?¡± she muttered to herself. ¡°What are you still doing standing there miss? Are you not going to class?¡± the old man frowned. Mona let out another sigh. ¡°No, I will get going now. Thank you as always,¡± Mona gave the old man a small bow before she began heading towards the office. After she signed herself in she headed toward the classroom. Her eyes were hazy she walked through the halls. The sunlight traveled through the windows and shined half of her face, but the shadows on the other half seemed to be more prominent. When she reached her classroom door, she stood outside for a moment before reaching down and grabbing the handle. ¡°Mona Silvers?¡± a male voice called out. ¡°Present,¡± Mona said as she slid the door open. She looked up and her eyes met familiar dark ones. She bit her lips and averted her eyes. ¡°Ahhh¡­ so you are Mona¡­¡± the man said as he walked up towards her. He held out his hand. ¡°Nice to meet you, student. I am Mr. Ferk, your homeroom and literature teacher., Mona glanced down at his hand but didn¡¯t take it, ¡°No handshake? That¡¯s alright,¡± Mr. Ferk pulled his hand back, ¡°your seat is the empty one right there. Go ahead,¡± Mr. Ferk gestured his arm out towards the seat. Mona made her way towards her desk. She could feel all the student¡¯s eyes in the room were on her. She didn¡¯t care. She placed her backpack on her desk. After that, she placed her head on it, covering her face with her hair. ¡°Now then, I know some of you guys are nervous for this test but please try to do your best,¡± Mr. Ferk said and she felt all the eyes move away from her, ¡°after a short introduction of what and what not to do during the test, you guys can get started. Oh, and I almost forgot, please pass this back to our lovely student who decided to join us today,¡± Mr. Ferk said. Mona sighed as she pulled her head up. She pulled a pen out from her backpack before setting it on the ground. She then took the paper from the student in front of her. ¡°Do you need a pencil student?¡± Mr. Ferk asked when he saw her utensil. Mona didn¡¯t answer. ¡°No? Alright then. Anyways, let me get started¡­¡± After three hours of test taking the bell finally rung, indicating it was lunchtime. Mr. Ferk collected all the tests. Afterward, he left the classroom. Some students got up and started heading towards the lunch room while others stayed behind. Mona got up from her desk. She slung her backpack over her shoulder. ¡°Time to go home now,¡± she muttered as she started heading out. Before she could exit the room three girls suddenly blocked her way. She looked up to see the leader of the group standing there lookingup at her. ¡°Where are you going now? Home?¡± the blonde haired girl asked. Mona stared down at them. ¡°Wherever I go does not concern you,does it?¡± her words were ice cold. ¡°Of course it does.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I am worried about you Mona. If Mina was here she wo-¡± ¡°But she¡¯s not!¡± Mona¡¯s voice rose. The girl¡¯s concerned blue eyes now changed into conflicted ones. ¡°Hey! You don¡¯t need to yell at her! Natalie is just concerned for you!¡± one of the girls yelled. ¡°Yeah! Natalie, why do you even bother? She¡¯s just a rich spoiled brat,¡± the other one said. ¡°Did I ask for her concern?¡± Mona glared at them and they looked away, "well I didn¡¯t, so stop bothering me from now on,¡± Mona pushed Natalie aside as she walked through them. She sped walked down the hall trying to get home as fast as she could. ¡°Hey! Mona!¡± Natalie cried out from behind her. She ignored it. Mona opened the school door and turned to head towards the gate. Instead, her face landed into someone''s hard chest. She backed away and looked up to see Mr. Ferk. She glanced down before moving to the side. She continued to go on her way. Before she could get far, she felt fingers wrap themselves around her wrist. She stopped. ¡°Where are you going?¡± she heard Mr. Ferk asked. She turned to look at him. He looked down at her with an eyebrow raised. She pulled her hand back. ¡°Out to eat, sir,¡± she replied. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°You¡¯re coming back, right?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Mona looked him straight in the eyes, ¡°I go to wherever I wish to, sir. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me,¡± Mona turned away and kept walking. ¡°Where do you wish to go?¡± she heard Mr. Ferk from behind her. ¡°Anywhere but here,¡± she mumbled to herself before breaking off into a sprint. Mona reached her home within minutes. She threw her backpack on the ground and scrambled out of her uniform. She whipped the checkered pattern skirt onto the ground and stomped on it. She dug her heel into it. ¡°Mina¡­ Mina¡­ Mina! Even when you¡¯re gone¡­ you¡¯re still here, tormenting me!¡± she let out a scream. Hot tears ran down her face before she sunk to her knees. ¡°Please leave¡­ leave for good and do not return,¡± she muttered hopelessly. She clenched her fist. After a while, her anger faded and she grew tired. Her torso fell lifelessly to the ground and she closed her eyes. When she woke, she felt a gnawing pain in her stomach. The sun had gone down and her apartment was now completely dark. She ignored the pain in her stomach as she headed towards her room. Her eyes traveled around the dark room before they landed on the helmet lying on the floor. She bit her lip and her heartbeat quickened. She bent down and picked up the helmet before laying on the bed. - Ferti opened her eyes to find herself in front of The Herb Garden. She smiled before stretching her arms up. Afterward, she stared at The Herb Garden, thinking about whether she should enter it or not. ¡°Well, I still don¡¯t know what to do about the admissions fee so¡­ I guess I would stop by later when I know. Let¡¯s head back to the library,¡± she mumbled to herself. Ferti entered the library and set the three books on the desk in front of Floy. Floy peeked up from behind his book. ¡°Are you done with them?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Ferti answered. She glanced around the library before setting her hand on the desk. ¡°Say, which way would you recommend I read all these books. The left to the right side, or the right to the left side?¡± she asked. ¡°Start from the middle, then make your way out,¡± Floy said, uninterested. Ferti nodded. ¡°Thank you,¡± she bowed before making her way to the center of the library. --- Ten game hours passed when Floy came by Ferti. Ferti was on her last book in the middle section. The middle section was going to be the fastest section for the shelves were not that tall. The sides were going to be much more difficult as they went as high as the ceiling. ¡°The library will be closing soon,¡± Floy said before turning on his heels and walking back. Ferti shut her book close and placed it back on the shelf. She then headed towards the left side and got on the ladder. She climbed up to the ceiling and grabbed the first three books on the most upper left side. Afterward, she slid down the ladder and headed towards the desk. She set the books she picked on the desk. ¡°I would like to check these out,¡± she said. Floy nodded his head as he marked the books down in his inventory. Ferti left the library and checked her map. ¡°Yesterday I went to The Herb Garden, so today I guess I should head to The Alchemist Center,¡± she mumbled to herself. She pulled out one of the books she grabbed and started reading through it as she made her way to The Alchemist Center. She held the book with one hand and with the other she pulled out her bread bun and started to nibble on it. When she reached The Alchemist Center, she put her book back into her inventory. She finished her bread and headed inside. ¡°Welcome to The Alchemist Center!¡± a cute young lady who was standing next to the door said. Unlike The Herb Garden, The Alchemist Center was bustling with life. There were ten stalls with a staff member in each, and in front of them was a line of people. Ferti jumped in a line and pulled out another book as she waited. It took a long time but she finally reached the front. She put her book away. ¡°Welcome adventurer. How may I help you?¡± the lady at the stall said with a smile. ¡°I already have alchemy registered as a skill. Where would I go from here?¡± Ferti said as she leaned on the desk and placed her head on her hand. She stared at the staff member with loving eyes as her lips were slightly curled upwards. The staff member blushed and looked away before answering. ¡°Since you already have alchemy as a registered skill then all you need to do now is purchase your alchemy tools and ingredients to experience with,¡± she replied. ¡°Where would I go for those and how much would they cost?¡± ¡°You may head upstairs for them and prices will range depending on who you are buying it from,¡± the woman batted her eyelashes. Ferti gave her a smile as she pulled herself up. ¡°Thank you, my lady. May we meet next time,¡± she bowed. The staff gave her a shy smile and nodded her head. Ferti stepped away from the counter and started to head upstairs. The strong smells of different ingredients hit her nose first as she opened the door to the second floor. There were tables everywhere with alchemy tools laid out on them. Many of the merchants and blacksmiths were telling novice alchemists to buy the tools they were selling. Ferti decided to look over the tools by starting with the table closest to the entrance first. When she walked up to the table the merchant''s face lit up. ¡°Well hello there!¡± the merchant discreetly looked her up and down before smiling, ¡°we are selling new products today at a low price! These to your left was made with top quality for novices, sir. For only 40 coppers you can get the whole alchemist set which includes an alchemy pot, potion bottles, a beginners guide book and a variety of herbs. If you only want to buy the pot, then that will be 30 coppers. If your first pot doesn¡¯t work out too well, come back and we will give you another one for free! ¡° the merchant gestured at the items he just said. Ferti scanned over the items. The pot was shiny and seemed to be a high-grade item, however, it gave off a dark hue for Ferti because of her identification skill. The bottles and bundle of herbs didn¡¯t look bad either, and the deal with the book seemed like a plus. Ferti glanced around the room and realized why this man¡¯s stall looked so fancy. It seemed that he was leading in his sales from the exquisite signs and tablecloths at his table. Unlike the other tables that were separated by having a table especially for just an item, this one was selling everything at once. Beginners who are eager to start experimenting would just purchase what he gave and ran off not even bothering to look at the other tables. Ferti looked at the items and whispered a word. ¡°Identify!¡±
Object Identified! Name: Basic Alchemy Pot Durability: 4/4 This pot was made with cheap scrap metals and may not last a very long time due to its weak durability but is good for as a temporary pot. Grade: Black
Object Identified! Name: Potion Bottles Bottles to store potions, however, they were not constructed very well and could crack easily depending on which type of potion is stored.
Object Identified! Name: An Alchemy Beginner¡¯s Guidebook This guidebook contains basic alchemy recipes that novice alchemists can follow.
Object Identified! Name: Bag of Herbs This bag contains a variety of herbs, however also contains many weeds along with the herbs.
Ferti bit on her lips as she saw the descriptions. The only thing that was worth getting was the guidebook, for she could obtain potion bottles somewhere else for a lower price. She looked up and smiled at the merchant. ¡°Is it alright if I look at the guidebook for just a moment?¡± she asked. The merchant nodded his head. ¡°Of course, feel free to look through the things here.¡± he picked up the book and handed it to her. Ferti took it and flipped through the pages within seconds. She pretended to continue analyzing the book for a bit longer before handing it back. ¡°Thank you,¡± she said. She picked up the other items and feigned interest as she analyzed them. ¡°This pot is very well made,¡± she said. ¡°Yes! It was made by a very skilled blacksmith! You wouldn¡¯t be able to get this anywhere else,¡± The merchant looked at her with a bright smile. ¡°So what do you think? Would you like to purchase the set?¡± he said as if he had caught her with his bait. She smiled but shook her head. ¡°I would like to look around just to explore my options. If I can¡¯t find anything else then I would come back here,¡± she smiled. ¡°Are you sure? When you come back the price might change,¡± the merchant said.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Even if it changes, since I like it so much I might just buy it if I can¡¯t find anything else I like,¡± Ferti walked away from the stall leaving the merchant there with a hopeful look on his face. Ferti walked up to the next stall that seemed to specialize in pots. The salesman there did not even bother to look up from his book as he stayed seated, cross-legged, behind the table. ¡°Welcome,¡± he muttered. Ferti didn¡¯t mind as she glanced over the pots. Compared to the pot that she saw just now, these pots were dull in color and were not shiny. There was a total of 15 pots. They all seemed to be made equally the same as none of the pots seemed better than the other as their hue was not as dark. Again, Ferti whispered, ¡°Identify.¡±
Object Identified! Name: Beginner¡¯s Alchemy Pot Durability: 25/25 This alchemy pot was made for beginner alchemists. It has great durability and may last for a long time if taken good care of. Grade: Purple
Ferti nodded her head in acknowledgment. She glanced around the room to see the other pots seemed to be higher level. She knew that in S.A. people needed to be a certain level to use certain tools. Judging with at the attire of the people at the other stalls they seemed to be much higher level than her in alchemist. She judged it was the same in this game. ¡°How much are you selling these pots for?¡± she asked. The salesman finally peeked up from his book as he looked at her. He glanced at her up and down, before going back to his book. ¡°75 coppers,¡± the salesman replied. Ferti wasn¡¯t shocked at the price but rather agreed with it. She pulled 75 coppers out from her inventory and set it on the table. ¡°Here¡¯s the money for the purchase,¡± she said. The man let out a quiet groan as he set his book down and stood up. He had huge shoulders with bulging olive muscles, and he towered over Ferti. He yawned as he picked up the coins. Afterward, he started shoving a pot into a big brown bag. Ferti was ready to accept the bag when he continued to pack more pots. Ferti eyes grew wide. ¡°Excuse me, sir, what are you doing?¡± she asked. ¡°Didn¡¯t you ask how much I¡¯m selling the pots for? I told you I¡¯m selling all of them for 75 coppers,¡± the man replied, nonchalant. Ferti frowned before realizing she had been tricked. She could have just bought one for five copper coins. ¡°Excuse me sir, but can I get my money back and just take one?¡± she asked. ¡°No refunds,¡± the man said as he continued shoving the pots into the bag. ¡°But si-¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Howe-¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Wha-¡± ¡°I said no and no means no! Now take your pots and scram!¡± the man glared at Ferti as he handed Ferti the bag. Ferti could only sigh as she took the bag and stuffed it into her inventory. She squinted her eyes at him as she watched him set out another table of pots. She crinkled her nose before walking away. As she walked past the tables with pots she saw the salespeople giggle at the sight of her. She ignored them as she headed towards the potion bottle area. She stopped in front of the first stall as it seemed they had the most simple bottles. The bottles from other merchants seemed to be higher grade as they gave off a brighter colored hue to them. She wondered what the difference was, but she pushed it aside for the future. The girl behind the table giggled as she saw Ferti approach her. ¡°Welcome! Hehe!¡± she said, still giggling. At this moment Ferti looked up and met her eyes, and her giggling stopped. It was replaced with a slight shyness. ¡°Hello,¡± Ferti replied with a smile, noticing her shyness. She moved side to side as she twirled a piece of her blonde hair. ¡°Looks like you got tricked by Yachtis,¡± she smiled back. ¡°Yachtis?¡± ¡°The man who sold you the pots.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ yeah, I guess I lucked out. If I knew I could¡¯ve bought one for five coppers then I would¡¯ve just took one,¡± Ferti bit on her lip as she nodded. The girl shook her head. ¡°Don¡¯t think like that. Just the fact that you got past Trinc is a good sign. That man sells things at too high a price and the things he sells aren¡¯t even good! The only ones who go to his stores are stupid novices that don¡¯t realize he¡¯s cheating them out,¡± the girl narrowed her eyes towards the direction of the first table Ferti was at. Ferti let out a small laugh. ¡°I guess... but if he''s like that then how come he''s all the way at the front?¡±Ferti asked. "That''s cause he paid the most money for that spot that none of us were willing to pay for." "Ohh..." Ferti said. The girl nodded her head and changed her gaze towards Yachtis. ¡°I feel bad for Yachtis though¡­ he¡¯s only doing that because he has a quest to accomplish,¡± the girl let out a sad sigh. Ferti raised an eyebrow. ¡°A quest?¡± ¡°Mmhmm. His quest is to sell all 5,000 pots that a merchant gave him in one day. If he doesn¡¯t sell 5,000 by the next day then his inventory gets restore back to 5,000 pots. He thought about just selling it to someone for 1 copper coin, but if the merchant doesn¡¯t break even then he also fails his quest. At first, nobody would buy because the price was too high so he lowered it as much as he could. People then begin to buy them, however, Trinc soon came afterward and started his stall. Nobody really goes to his store anymore because they think Trinc has the better pots and besides, only beginners need his pots,¡± the girl said as she stared down at her fingernails. She let out a sigh before looking back up at Ferti. ¡°Anyways, how may I help you sir?¡± she gave Ferti a bright smile. Ferti smiled back. ¡°I¡¯m interested in buying some potion bottles. If you don¡¯t mind can you tell me the difference between yours and the ones being sold over there?¡± Ferti asked. ¡°Sure. The ones I¡¯m selling are just basic potion bottles that can be contained at any temperature. The ones being sold over there have are potion bottles that can keep the potion fresh. The fresher the potion, the more effective it is. Some of them are also special bottles that give special effects if the potion is left in it for a longer duration,¡± the girl responded. Ferti nodded understanding. ¡°I see¡­¡± she mumbled. She then looked down at the potion bottles in front of her and again whispered, ¡°Identify.¡±
Object Identified! Name: Potion Bottles Bottles to store potions or other miscellaneous items. Made well, and will not break easily.
Ferti nodded her head in approval. ¡°How much is one of these?¡± she made sure to ask the right question this time. The girl giggled. ¡°One is two copper coins and a bunch of ten is 18 copper coins.¡± the girl said. ¡°I¡¯ll take 20,¡± Ferti said as she handed over her silver coin. She had only64 copper coins left. The girl looked at her surprised for a moment before taking the silver coin, giving back her change, and then giving her the bottles. ¡°A-anyways, if you are looking for herbs to try out, I recommend the lady with the pink pigtails over there. Her name¡¯s Elizabat. Her herbs are good quality.¡± the girl said. ¡°Thank you,¡± Ferti gave her a bow before striding towards the merchant she just mentioned. When she arrived the merchant looked at her with disinterested eyes. ¡°What do you want?¡± she snarled. Ferti smiled as she looked at her. She glanced at the herbs lying on the table and knew that each of them was mentioned in the beginner¡¯s guidebook. She identified them just in case, but like the other girl had mentioned the herbs here were all good quality. ¡°If I take a bundle of each herb here, how much would it cost?¡± she asked. ¡°40 coppers in total,¡± Elizabat replied. Ferti thought about it for a bit. ¡°Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re making it¡¯s a bit too expensive?¡± Ferti asked. If she had purchased these herbs at The Herb Garden it would have cost her less, but The Herb Garden does not have some of the herbs that Elizabat had. ¡°Take it or leave it, I don¡¯t bargain!¡± Elizabat hissed. Ferti cocked her head as she thought about what to do next. ¡°Elizabat!¡± she heard a voice call out. Ferti looked up to see dark hair man walk up behind Elizabat. ¡°If you keep doing that then we won¡¯t be able to sell anything!¡± the man complained. ¡°Hmmph!¡± Elizabat turned her head away. The man walked in front to greet Ferti. ¡°Hello, there dear customer! You''re interested in buying each bundle here?¡± he said with a friendly smile on his face. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Now, what do you think would be a fair price for each bundle of herbs here?¡± he asked, cupping his hands together. ¡°25 coppers,¡± Ferti replied.A sweat bead trickled down the man¡¯s face as the once friendly smile was now forced. ¡°And why do you think so sir?¡± ¡°These herbs over here, although it is good quality it can be easily found. The herbs on this side are a bit harder to find, but there is abundant of them when found. If I bought the ones that were available here that¡¯s also available at The Herb Garden, then the price would only be around seven coppers. The other ones I can just look for later, besides in total, all this will cost only about 15 coppers. You guys will be able to profit at least 10 coppers from the price I just gave,¡± Ferti replied. Elizabat looked at her with a complicated expression while the man looked at her with his mouth hanging down. ¡°Wow! You know so much from just being a beginner. Since that¡¯s the case, how about 30 copper coins instead?¡± he said while giving her two thumbs up. ¡°26.¡± ¡°How about 29?¡¯ ¡°26.¡± ¡°How about 28?¡± ¡°26,¡± Ferti was stubborn in her answer. The man also looked frustrated as he suddenly took in a deep breath. ¡°Alright then, 26 it is. Hold on and let me get you your herbs,¡± the man forced a smile and started to pack her herb bundles into a bag. Ferti handed over the 26 copper coins as she received the bag. ¡°Thank you and have a good day our dear customer!¡± the man said. Elizabat said nothing as she darted her eyes away. Ferti just gave them a quick bow and thanks. Afterward, she purchased a mortar for 10 copper coins and left The Alchemist Center. - It was already night time in the game. Ferti walked around the town until she found herself a secluded spot near a stream on the outskirts of town. She was near the gate, but she couldn¡¯t leave the town yet. The two months in the game were not over yet. Ferti slung the brown bag with all the alchemy pots on the ground. She let out a groan before stretching her back. ¡°Inventory,¡± she said. Her inventory box appeared in front of her. Luckily in this game item stacking was available. This meant that Ferti could stack items that were the same on top of each other which took fewer slots. She had placed her mortar and potion bottles into the inventory box but did not put her alchemy pots or herbs in yet. She wanted to look over the items herself. She plopped herself on the ground. ¡°Let¡¯s get started.¡± she started to shove her pots into an inventory slot. ¡°Two¡­ five¡­ fourteenth¡­¡± Ferti was putting her fifteenth pot in when the pot suddenly hit the inventory box and wouldn¡¯t go in. She frowned. She tried again, thinking maybe the system had a bug to it, but the pot again would not go in. ¡°Huh? What¡¯s going on?¡± she tried again, but like before the pot could not be stacked on top of the others. She frowned as she stared down at the pot. ¡°What¡¯s this? Identify!¡±
Object Identified! Name: Beginner¡¯s Alchemy Pot Durability: 25/25 This alchemy pot was made for beginner alchemists. It has great durability and may last for a long time if taken good care of. Grade: Purple
¡°It says the same thing¡­ maybe¡­ identify.¡±
Object Identified! Name: Beginner¡¯s Alchemy Pot Durability: 25/25 This alchemy pot was made for beginner alchemists. It has great durability and may last for a long time if taken good care of. Grade: Purple
Object Identified! Name: Beginner¡¯s Alchemy Pot Durability: 25/25 This alchemy pot was made for beginner alchemists. It has great durability and may last for a long time if taken good care of. Grade: Purple
Object Identified! New information obtained! Name: Douran¡¯s Alchemy Pot Durability: 134/200 This alchemy pot was made for Douran. Grade: ????
Ferti frowned. ¡°What? Douran? Hmm¡­ identify!¡±
Object Identified! Name: Douran¡¯s Alchemy Pot Durability: 134/200 This alchemy pot was made for Douran. Grade: ????
Object Identified! Name: Douran¡¯s Alchemy Pot Durability: 134/200 This alchemy pot was made for Douran. Grade: ????
Object Identified! Name: Douran¡¯s Alchemy Pot Durability: 134/200 This alchemy pot was made for Douran. Grade: ????
Object Identified! New information obtained! Name: Douran¡¯s Alchemy Pot Durability: 134/200 Level: ??? This alchemy pot was made for Douran. Douran was an alchemist who lived many years ago. He left behind many alchemy recipes, however, he was hunted by nobles and kings for his skills. One day he disappeared and left this pot behind. This pot has veil magic cast on it to hide its powers. Potions or pills made in this pot will be of higher quality. Not only this¡­ Grade: ????
Ferti stared at the information and tried swiping the screen up to see if there was anything else written on it. She got nothing. She tried again.
Object Identified! Name: Douran¡¯s Alchemy Pot Durability: 134/200 Level: ??? This alchemy pot was made for Douran. Douran was an alchemist who lived many years ago. He left behind many alchemy recipes, however he was also hunted by nobles and kings for his skills. One day he disappeared and left this pot behind. This pot has veil magic cast on it to hide its powers. Potions or pills made in this pot will be higher quality. Not only this¡­ Grade: ????
Object Identified! Name: Douran¡¯s Alchemy Pot Durability: 134/200 Level: ??? This alchemy pot was made for Douran. Douran was an alchemist who lived many years ago. He left behind many alchemy recipes, however he was also hunted by nobles and kings for his skills. One day he disappeared and left this pot behind. This pot has veil magic cast on it to hide its powers. Potions or pills made in this pot will be higher quality. Not only this¡­ Grade: ????
Object Identified! Name: Douran¡¯s Alchemy Pot Durability: 134/200 Level: ??? This alchemy pot was made for Douran. Douran was an alchemist who lived many years ago. He left behind many alchemy recipes, however he was also hunted by nobles and kings for his skills. One day he disappeared and left this pot behind. This pot has veil magic cast on it to hide its powers. Potions or pills made in this pot will be higher quality. Not only this¡­ Grade: ????
After trying for a while and not getting any more information Ferti gave up. She let out a sigh before crinkling her eyebrows. She stared at the other pot in front of her. She bit her lips, wondering what to do before. ¡°Should I just¡­ use it?¡± she asked herself. She shrugged her shoulders as she found no harm in trying. She recalled a recipe that she had read earlier. She filled the pot with some water from the stream and selected the herbs and placed them inside the pot. ¡°Now then, skills menu,¡± her skills menu popped up in front of her. She tapped on her alchemist skill and saw the sub-skills beneath her main skill. She hovered her hands above the pot. ¡°Mix and heat!¡± she said. The bowl beneath her started to bubble as the ingredients started to swirl around in the pot. After it was at the right temperature she chanted another spell. ¡°Brew,¡± she said and then moved her hand away as she watched the liquid boil less violently than before. She stared at it and touched her chin before another idea popped up in her head. She pulled out an ordinary pot from her inventory and did the same thing. The only difference between the recipes now was just the pots. Afterward, she pulled out a book and waited. - After about an hour passed the pots stopped brewing and Ferti put her book away.
Level Up! AlchemistSkill Level: Beginner 2
She pulled out her potion bottles and transferred the potions into the bottles. She looked at the two potions. ¡°Identify,¡± she said.
Object Identified! Name: Health potion Thispotion can restore up to 50 HP. Grade: Low
Object Identified! Name:Health potion Thispotion can restore up to 100 HP. Grade: Normal
"Ooooh..." Ferti said as she looked at the two different descriptions in front of her.One side of her mouth curled upwards as a new plan formulated in her head. She pulled out all of her herbs and pots. She lined each of them up in front of her and prepared a potion from each one. After she was done she pulled out another book and waited. - Ferti rounded up all the supplies in her inventory and started to head back to the center of town. In the center of the town stood two water fountains. One was for ordinary water while the other had Healing water. Healing water was water that would bring one''s health or mana bar back to full. The only thing was that Healing water would not work outside the safe zone and one would have to pay money to the kingdom government to use it. Each payment that a person had to make was different also depending on the level the person was at. "Status menu, open," Ferti said.
Status Menu
Name: Ferti Health: 370/370
Level: 3 Mana 8/424
Race: Human Fire Resistance:5% Light Resistance:3%
Gender: Female Wind Resistance:5% Dark Resistance:2%
Class: N/A Water Resistance:5% Goal:To become the ultimate supporter.
Title: N/A Earth Resistance:5% Goal status:Incomplete
Attack: 12 Intelligence: 40
Defense: 11 Wisdom: 18
Strength: 18 Leadership: 2
Agility: 8 Charisma: 21
Fame: 0 Luck: 33
Stamina: 20 Charm: 35
From making all those potions her mana bar ended up almost completely drained. Ferti went up to a soldier and paid him eight copper coins. Fourwas for her to take a drink and the other four was for her to store it in her potion bottle. After she was done, she headed towards the opposite direction to the other side of the outskirts of town. This side had a lot more forestry than the other side. She kept walking and walking until she reached the end of the town where there was a brick fence blocking her off from the other side of the world. She reached her hand out and touched the cold rectangle block. Her lips tremble as a cloud fogged her eyes. "How... nostalgic..." her voice was barely audible. She continued to stare at the brick wall for a long moment before taking a deep breath and turning away. She looked out in front of her to see nature surrounding her. She smiled, however, the smile did not meet her eyes. "I got eight hours until the library opens again. I can do this!" she encouraged herself as she took a step forward. Her eyes were still a bit foggy, but it seems as if most of the fog started to fade away, letting her true self show from behind the windows. Chapter 7: Old Friend Ferti scanned the area and looked for any herbs that she could spot. Due to her not having any skills that could help spot herbs, she had to look carefully. "There it is!" she ran over to a small patch of green herbs. At first glance, the small patch of herbs resembled weeds and could be overlooked by many people, however upon closer inspection one could see the smoothness of the herbs compared to weeds. She started to carefully remove the herb, making sure she did not pull out the roots so that the herbs could regrow. "But this... is not good enough..." she let out a sigh due to the normal quality of the herb but continued on with the job. - Ferti had been wondering this whole time how much to pay the clerk at The Herb Garden so that she could learn how to grow herbs. She didn''t really know what he wanted but just as she was wondering she stumbled upon a short story in the book she was reading. In the short story, it tells a tale of a boy whose older brother is dying. The boy''s older brother is known as a prodigy while the boy is known for being below average and he gets ridiculed a lot. Despite this, the boy loves the older brother and is willing to do anything for him to live. No doctor or healer in the town can save the brother from his deadly disease and the boy is losing hope. Just when he is about to give up he hears a story about this old witch who lives in the woods and about how she can cure any disease that exists. He goes to visit that witch and the witch asks him what he can give her in exchange for his brother''s life. The boy empties his pockets and gave the witch what little money he had. The witch takes the money and hands him a small potion bottle from her shelf. The boy runs back home and feeds his brother the potion and the brother gets better immediately. Shortly, however, the brother grows sick again. The boy is confused and he runs back to the witch. The witch tells him that the witch only gave him as much as he gave her. After understanding the situation the brother asks what the witch wants in return and after hearing her answer he nods. She gives him another potion and he runs back and gives it to his brother. This time the disease does not return. After a year the boy returns to the witch with a knife in his hand. He gives her the knife and lies on her table uttering the last words he would ever speak. His last words were that the better one should continue to live in the end. - Ferti came up with a payment after reading the story. She decided to look for the best herbs that she could and turn that in as her payment instead. It was the only thing that seemed to make sense after she thought about it. - After about four hours of collecting some basic herbs, Ferti was tired and she sat down under a tree to rest. She looked over the inventory box of her herbs and she noticed that she had not found anything extraordinary. She had ventured pretty far out, but everything she had found has either been average, or below average. "Should I just give one of these, or should I continue to find some better ones?" she talked to herself, a habit when she''s thinking. She bit on the nail of her thumb. Her eyebrows knitted together and she didn''t know what to do. She glanced across from her to see a dark blue flower resting in a bed of white lilies. The bed of flowers was below her as the tree she was under, was on a small hill. She smiled at the beautiful scenery before her. After resting for a while, she got up and continued searching. - Ferti arrived at the library five minutes before it opened. She didn''t find any more different herbs so she gave up on it for now. Her first priority was finishing all the books so she would be able to move on to the upper floors. She entered the library and went upstairs. After returning her books, instead of going to where she left off she decided to head to the plants'' section. She knew that she wouldn''t be able to learn the skill of harvesting herbs or any other plants but she wanted to read more about it to gain more knowledge. The good thing about VRMMORPGs made by Cloud Climbing Company is that each game is extremely detailed. Everything has a story just like the real world despite everyone being NPCs and whatnot. The library in the game is a great place that people can take advantage of but people don''t really like using it because they can just find the answer if they search it up on the forums. Ferti was different because she enjoyed these details and didn''t like relying heavily on forums because she felt it took away concepts of the games she could''ve figured out by herself. Not only that but also because the books contained information that forums online didn''t have. As Ferti continued to read through the books looking for better clues a screen suddenly appeared in front of her.
New Skill obtained! Player earned skill! Name: Bookworm Skills: -Able to go through a book that you have once already in this skills archive -Able to recall information learned from book faster -Able to apply knowledge and information learned from book when you learn a new skill pertaining to those knowledge -Able to read books faster -Able to buy books at a cheaper price. -Cheaper payment fee when joining a library Level: 1
New title earned! Title: Walking Encyclopedia
She cringed at the title before going to her stats menu and disabling it so that other players would not be able to see it. "What kind of skill is this anyway?" she questioned before going back to her book. - After finishing the plant section and not learning much from the herbs around the outskirts of Meleheim kingdom, she went back to where she had left off previously. The books she was on now was books about textile and she figured that they would come in handy in the future. She pushed a book back onto the shelf and grabbed the next book on the list. This book felt different as the cover was made of leather and it looked worn out. An eyebrow went up when she saw the title of the book. It readThe Adventures of an Adventurous Adventurer: Volume 8. "Puha... Haha?" she said as she read the author''s name out loud. She let out a sigh as she flipped open the book. "The designers sure got lazy with this one," she muttered as she flipped to the first page figuring that they had misplaced this book in the wrong section. The first page looked like a page entry from a journal. Unlike Ferti''s usual method of flipping through pages quickly because she was able to read everything faster that way, she stopped and read this one like how a normal person would read. - Dear Journal, I have finally reached Meleheim kingdom in my search to find the rare herb call Hocus Po Hosuc Posuc. This is the newest quest because of a nobleman whose daughter is passing away soon. He hopes to give her just a few moments of complete painlessness from her disease so they can just have one more talk. Apparently, this herb can help as it is a strong hallu painkiller that makes one feels no pain at all. The only place that this herb has been found is in Meleheim kingdom by our grandpa Ma Muha Haha. Grandpa dated in his journal that he had found it in Meleheim but being my stupid self, I accidentally dropped grandpa''s journal into the water before I could finish reading the entry. All the handwriting is now bla blurry and it''s going to take me a while to make out anything again until I find someone who has a spell to help me. I hope to find this before she passes away. Sincerely, P.H. - Ferti bit her lip as flipped to the next page, curiosity peeking through her eyes. - Dear Journal, I have searched almost everywhere but I can''t seem to find this damn herb. Grandpa mention something blac blue and white and something about tail first and something about fi- something but I can''t seem to find it at all. I looked everywhere where''s there''s blue and white. If I can''t find it soon I''m afraid that the nobleman''s daughter is going to pass before they can spend any time together. I will continue to look for it. Sincerely, P.H. - "Blue and white?" Ferti thought about this for a while. "Didn''t I see something blue and white earlier? What was it?" she bit the nail of her thumb as she searched through her memories. A small image appeared in her head and the lightbulb turned on. "The flowers!" she snapped her fingers. She smiled as she looked back down and turned the page of the book. - Dear Journal, It was too late. I have failed the quest this time and the nobleman''s daughter had passed away. The guilt weighs upon my heart and I will make sure to take this to heart. I can''t believe that I could''ve given them a moment together if I had only not dropped grandpa''s journal into the water. It''s been a sad day but I will go look for another quest to fulfill. For this one life, I could have given a better quality of life to, I will continue to work hard for 100 more people. Sincerely, P.H. - "Maybe... just maybe..." Ferti slid down the ladder that she was on and walked as fast as she could to Floy. She slammed the book on the table, her face flushed red. "I would like to check this out!" her words ran out of her mouth. Floy set his book down and picked up the book. "Ah... this piece of trash? If you want I can just sell it to you. I''ve been meaning to throw away some of these useless books we have around here anywa-" "How much?!" Ferti didn''t wait for him to finish. Floy eyes widened at her before he cleared his throat. "Uh... 10 coppers?" Floy said. Ferti was about to say yes until she thought about it for a moment. She realized that if Floy realized this book wasn''t actually useless and that she was willing to buy it so ecstatically, that Floy would realize something was up and wouldn''t sell it. "10 coppers for trash? Don''t you think you''re ripping me off too much here?" Ferti crossed her arms and shook her head. Floy narrowed his green eyes at her. "Really? Are you sure you''re not willing to buy it? Maybe this book has something very important that you need?" Floy probed, "If not, why would you be checking this out?" "I think you''re misunderstanding my intentions," Ferti said back. "Oh really now? You seemed veryenthusiastic about this book," Floy waved the book back and forth. "That''s cause I have an appointment and I need to leave soon so I wanted to check out this book before I left. I do want to be able to enter the upper floors as soon as I can. Don''t you see me here everyday reading?" Ferti shrugged. Floy looked at her with doubt in his eyes. "But you usually check out three books. How come you''re just checking out one today then?" "Well, that''s cause this one seems to be a harder read." "Really?" "Of course. Now then, if you''re not going to sell the book to me then can you just check it out for me now? I don''t want to be late for my appointment," Ferti began tapping her foot. Floy narrowed his eyes at her again before "How much you willing to pay for this?" "At most,five coppers. At least,two coppers." "Why not just one copper?" "Well, I do think pretty highly of the library and books. Buying a book for just one copper doesn''t seem right to me," Ferti shook her head. Floy handed her the book. "Four, and it''s yours." "Yes sir," Ferti said as she grabbed the book and dropped four coppers into his small hand. Afterward, she gave him a small bow and ran out of the library. - She panted as she reached the area where the bed of flowers was. She looked around to see no players in sight. It seemed like not many liked to venture out this side of the kingdom much. She pumped her fists happily before standing straight up. The bed of flowers was quite big as she began to take a step towards the blue flower. "Sorry. Forgive me," she uttered as she stepped on the white lilies beneath her. She looked up to see the blue flower just within reach. She didn''t really understand what was going on but she felt like she was doing the right thing. She was just a couple steps away when she put her foot out and placed it onto the ground. The only thing was, she didn''t land on the ground as her body stepped onto nothing and she began falling. "Wah!" she let out a small yelp as she instinctively reached out to grab anything around her. Her fingers couldn''t reach anything but it wasn''t long until she felt her behind hit something hard. "Unf!" she let out a grunt.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
-25 HP
"Ahhh..." she groaned as she slowly stood up. She rubbed her behind as she glanced around.
CAVE: You are the first to discover Snib''s Crib! Rewards: - +50 fame -Everyday for one week you will gain 2x EXP and item drops here -Rarest items will drop from killing the first monster of each type here -Continuous kills will drop common items WARNING: THIS IS NOT PART OF THE SAFE ZONE! YOU ARE NOT IN THE SAFE ZONE ANYMORE! YOU WILL DIE IF YOUR HEALTH REACHES 0!
"Hmm... nice?" she wondered. She wasn''t sure whether this was a good thing or a bad thing for she was so low level at the moment that anything could kill her. There was darkness mostly all around her except for where she stood. She looked up and saw acircleof light beaming down from above her. She could still faintly make out the lilies as if they were just holograms up there. "Where is this?" she questioned as she continued to look around. From under a circle of light, she spotted a bush of some kind. She squinted her eyes and saw some faint purple splattered here and there. Her face brightened up as her pearly whites showed and she started to run towards the bush. "Identify!" she said as she bent down in front of the bush.
Fail to identify object!
Fail to identify object!
Object identified! Name:Hosuc Posuc Class:Yellow Class These grass are found in the Snib''s Crib. They are used as a painkiller and also have other potential uses. They are rare to find. Beware! If a bush of Hosuc Posuc is around then a Snib is also nearby.
"A snib?" Ferti frowned as she looked at the description. "Heeeekkeee!" she felt shivers run up her back as she heard a loud hiss from behind her. She turned around to see a huge monster towering over her that resembled a king cobra. The monster bared his sharp fangs at her and she saw the purple venom from the tips of his teeth. Ferti knew that she was not going to survive an attack from the monster in front of her. "Identify!" she yelled as he whipped himself towards her.
Fail to identify monster!
"What the fu-" she couldn''t even finish her sentence as she felt sharp teeth sank into her back. She felt herself being lifted and then slammed down back onto the ground. She had never felt so grateful that VRMMORPGs had decreased the pains sensors 1/100 compared to how they would really feel.
CRITICAL HIT! -327 HP
YOU''VE BEEN POISONED! -6 HP / 1 SEC
"Ugh." she groaned as she lifted her head up. She only had 18 HP left and she was going to die within three seconds. She rolled over and looked up. "Iden...tify." she croaked out.
Fail to identify monster!
"Oh myfu-" lights flashed around her before her screen went black.
You have just died and is banned to enter the game for the next two hours.
- Mona pulled the helmetoff herself. She placed the helmet back down on the ground and groaned. "Why does this always happen?" sheasked herself. She let out another groan before the corners of her lips went up and out came a laugh. At first, it was quiet, then it grew louder and louder until she had a hard time breathing. She wrapped her slender arms around her flat stomach and rolled about on her bed. Tears began to form at the corner of her big eyes. She''s never felt so happy in so long. She thought she had killed this feeling and that it would never resurrect itself again for a sinner like her but there she was, laughing. She was a small child again wrapped in the arms of the sound of her laughter. After finally calming down she laid on her side. There was a gnawing and scratching in her stomach but she ignored it. "Sleep for dinner... doesn''t sound too bad," she said as she closed her eyes. - When she awoke, the scratching in her stomach had turned flow blown into a vicious tiger roaring loud and tearing her insides apart. She sat up and her head started to spin. It took her a moment to regain her composure. She glanced at the clock and it was already one in the afternoon. She had slept for ten hours. She yawned as she got up and got ready. - Mona reached the front of the line at the fast food MacDonos. "Hello there! What can I get for you?" the girl in front of her beamed. Mona squinted up at the menu as she yawned. "Um... can I get five MacChick burgers, five Simple Cheezeburgers, two large fries, and a large drink?" she asked. "Will that be for here, or to go?" the girl said, trying control the muscles on her face. "For here please," Mona said. "Alright. That will be $16.84," the girl said. Mona handed her the money and then sat herself down in a booth. She leaned her head back onto the seat as she continued to yawn. "Snib. Snib. Snib. Snib. Snib," she chanted quietly trying to formulate a plan in her head, "I need to go over that journal entry again. I was too excited that I didn''t really memorize anything. Damn me," Mona continued to whisperto herself. "What should I d-" she felt a hand grab her shoulder. "Mina?!" a voice called out. The name shattered her thoughts as her eyes began traveling up. "It''s you, right?" her eyes met with clear brown ones. The boy in front of her had a cheerful smile on his face, yet his face did not register into her head. She brushed his hand off her. "I''m sorry. I''m not Mina," she scowled as she turned her head away. "Don''t be like this Mina! We haven''t seen each other in so long, you can''t just pretend you don''t know me anymore!" the boy said as he took a seat across from her.Mona looked up and glared at him. She started to get up. "Hey! What''re you doing?" the boy said as he grabbed her hand. She felt the warmness of his big hand on her cold ones and she snatched her hand away. "If you''re going to sit here then I''m going to move." she hissed back. The boy also got up from his seat as she turned away. "Hey! It''s me," he said loudly, "it''s Matthew Ludeiberg, remember? Back from Youth Elementary?!" Mona froze in her track. That hollow feeling inside of her just grew more empty and she couldn''t feel anything around her anymore. The music playing in the restaurant, the people''s chatter, and the man''s voice. She couldn''t hear any of them anymore. She could only hear two girls'' voicesplay in her head. ~ "If we do this then everything will be alright!" "Really? You''ll do that for me?" "Of course! We''re sisters aren''t we?" "Thank you! You''re the best!" "You''re the best!" "You''re the best!" "You''re the best!" "...the best!" "...the best!" "...best!" ... ... ... ... ... ... ... "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?! HOW?!" ~ "Mina?" Matthew''s voice rang in her head. She felt her body being turned around as if she weighed nothing. The world started to spin around her. Her long legs gave way as she felt herself plummeting. Her eyelids, without her permission, started to lower themselves. "Mina?! Mina?!" his voice sounded so muffled to her as if he was behind a door. Her pink lips parted, uttering just a small, desperate noise. "Sorry." - "... nu...tion...ake...soon..." "...ure...right...nde...and..." Mona could hear voices speaking, however, she could not wake. She was too exhausted for everything around her. Her body kept her asleep. - Her eyes fluttered open and she felt that the tiger''s paw viciously clawing at her stomach. She sat up and looked around her. She was lying in a king-sized bed. She looked to the side to see a door and then turned her head to the other side to see a huge window. The window was opened halfway and she felt a breeze blow against her, carrying her long locks back. The sun touched her pale skin and she closed her eyes to enjoy the warmth. It has been a while since she felt so much peace in the real world. "You''re up!" a familiar voice called out to her. Her still water was disturbed as she turned her head to see Matthew standing there holding a metal tray with food on it. Matthew flashed a smile at her and began to walk toward her. "Where am I?" Mona asked. "My apartment," he replied. "Did you bring me here?" "Well... I didn''t really have much of a choice," Matthew set the tray down on the overbed table, "you literally fainted in my arms, and I couldn''t just leave you atMacDonosnow, could I?" he pushed the table in front of Mona. Mona looked down to see steaming chicken soup, mashed potatoes,and peaches. "You could''ve just left me there. You had no obligation to do any of this," as she said this, she felt the tiger wagging its tail at the food. "No, I couldn''t have. Why would I do that to somebody?! C''mon Mina, you know I''m not a person like that," Matthew shook his head. Mona felt the tiger disappear and creep back into the jungle. She bit her bottom lip and pushed the table away. "No. I wouldn''t know that," her words were deadly sharp and cold as she looked up into Matthew''s eyes, "I''m not Mina so I wouldn''t know any of that." Matthew looked down at her confused. "Huh? What are you talk..." he stopped mid-sentence before his brown eyesturned softer as he gazed down at her, "Mo...na?" his voice was gentle. Mona glared at him before looking away. "That''s right. I''m Mona," she said. "Where''s Mi-" "She''s dead." "What?!" Matthew exclaimed. "It''s been two years already. I''m surprised you haven''t heard the news," Mona looked down andstared at the soft blue blanket laying over her thighs. "How?!" Matthew asked, his eyes big from shock. "It was a traffic incident, I heard." "Traffic incident? Where?" "In front of the academy." "But... how... this couldn''t be..."Matthew eyebrows knitted together. Mona pulled the blanket off of her and slid her legs out. "You''re disappointed aren''t you, that I''m not the twin you are looking for," her tone was ice cold. He looked at her and shook his head. "No! I''m no-" "You don''t need to lie. You wouldn''t be the first one. A lot of people before you were already disappointed... disappointed that it was me who lived," Mona stood up. "No. It''s not liketha-" "I''m leaving," Mona walked passed him. "Wait!" she felt fingers wrap around her arm and felt herself being pulled back. Mona looked up and her eyes turned into knives as she glared at him. "Let go," she demanded. His grip weakened before he pulled away. "At least eat something before you go," he said looking at her with a gaze that embraced her in warmth. She ignored it. "I do not need you to take care of me. I''m not like how I was back then anymore," Mona turned on her heels and started to head back out the door. She didn''t get very far as she ran into something, no someone. "Ah," she let out aquiet yelp as she felt herself falling backward. She didn''t fall very far as she then felt a strong hand on the curve of her back. Her eyes traveled up to meet dark blue eyes. The eyes were like whirlpools as they sucked her into them deeper and deeper. She felt herself getting trappedand she averted her eyes. "Are you okay?" a low voice asked. It snapped her back to reality as she pushed herself off of him. "Sorry," she quickly said as she looked down to see his long legs. She pressed her lips together before looking back up to see his face as he towered a head taller than her. His face was round and so were his eyes. His nose stood tallonthe center of his face and his thin lips rested below them. "I brought the water bottle, Mat," he said as he raised his hand up, holding a water bottle. "Thanksman, but I don''t think we''re gonna need it anymore." "Why?" the man asked. "Uh, well..." "Cause I''m leavingnow," Mona informed as she walked back up to him, "and if you''ll excuse me," she looked up at him. He looked at her with a confused before he smiled awkwardly, revealing the indents in his cheeks. "Um... are you not hungry?" he asked. "I''m not," the tiger roared out loud in protest and she bit her lip as her face flushed red. The man let out a soft boyish laugh as he looked at her. "Are you sure?" "Yes," the tiger roared again and this time she felt like killing herself, "now, if you''ll excuse me," she walked passed him. "Wait," she felt his warm hand grab her, "do you have money? Do you know where you are? Do know where you are going?" she heard him say. She stared at his hand wrapped around her wrist. She didn''t know why, but she hesitated to pull. "I will be fine by myself," she said as she pulled her arm back. "No, you are my guest now and I want to make sure you get home safe," he replied. Mona stared into his eyes. They were clear and still just like an undisturbed pond. She felt as if she could almost see pass them into his soul but she looked down. "Fine," she gave up. She was tired and the tiger was not getting any happier. She sat down at their dinner table and Matthew had set the foodfromthe bed in front of her. She looked at Matthew as he sat across from her and gave a small smile. He was exactly the same as he was years before. A heavy rock weighed down in her conscious as she looked down. She tried kicking it away but she only hurt herself more as the rock continued to stand there glaring a hole through her face. "Here," the man said. Mona looked up to see him handing her a spoon. She took it, her cold hands brushing against his warm ones. The man sat down next to Matthew and smiled at her. "Ah right, I haven''t introduced myself yet. Nice to meet you my name is Noah," he reached his arm out from across the table. Mona stared at his extended hand before wiping her hand on her pants and grabbing it. "NIce to meet you... I''m Mona," she replied as she felt his grip on her hand. It was only for a moment but she felt her whole bodywarm up before they parted again. "Mona, huh? Interesting name," he nodded his head. Mona looked at both of them to see nothing laid out in front of them. "Aren''t you two going to eat?" she asked. "Oh, we already ate earlier atMacDonos." "I see... thank you for the meal," she said as her spoon dug into the soft mash potatoes. Matthew looked relieved as his lips curled upwards. "It''s all homemade so I hope it''s to your tastes," Noah said. "You don''t need to worry though, Noah''s a pretty good cook," Matthew said with a smug. Mona nodded at the two as she put the spoon in her mouth. The potatoes melted on her tongue as she closed her eyes to enjoy the creamy taste and texture. It was as if as a beast unleashed inside of her as she continued to gobble down the food. She heard the other two chuckle but she didn''t care as she continued to eat. After she was done she placed her spoon down. "...thank... you..." she expressed her gratitude quietly. Matthew smiled at her before getting up from his chair. "Let me take you home," he offered. "You say that as if you are going to be the one driving," Noah stood up and shoved him with his elbow, "lemme go get my keys and we can head out," he left. Mona kept her head hung low as she felt her conscious staring down at her. "When did you move here?" she asked as she saw boxes laying around the apartment. "Just a couple days ago," Matthew replied. "Are you and Noah related?" "No, just roommates. We met through a mutual friend and just kind of clicked so we decided to move here together. He''s going to the med university around here and I''m transferring to Sky Wall Academy." "Sky Wall Academy..." Mona frowned as she thought about the school. She let out a sigh and turned her head to see a VR helmet lying on the living room table. "Do you... play VR games?" she looked at Matthew. Matthew''s eyebrows went up before he gave her a smile and nodded her head. "Yes, I do!" "What about Noah?" "Sadly, that one doesn''t. He''s our age but he''s already in med school so he spends most of his time just studying. Do you play any VR games?" "No," she lied, "Mina was the one who enjoyed them." "Ahh... I see," Matthew let out a nervous laugh. The haunting silence returned as the two didn''t know what else to say. "Ok, let''s go!" Noah returned to the kitchen. Mona stood up from her seat and nodded her head. - The drive was only about five minutes as Noah pulled up toan apartment building. "Thank you," Mona said as she opened the door. "No problem!" Noah turned his head to face her, "Remember to take care of yourself too Mona. Your body is like a car and without fuel, it will start to dysfunction until it stops working. We wouldn''t want that happening now, would we?" he flashed her a smile. Mona nodded her head at his remark. "I understand... and Matthew? "Yes?" Matthew peeked out from the passenger seat. "May I speak to you for a moment?" she asked. She watched as Matthew looked at Noah before opening his door and stepping out. The two of them stood at the entrance ofthe apartment building. Mona leaned her back onto the wall as she placed her hands in her pocket. "I''m sorry... for earlier," she apologized. "No, no, that was my fault. I assumed you were somebody who you were not... it''s understandable," Matthew replied. "No. It''s not understandable at all. I shouldn''t have acted the way I did. I''m sorry." "It''s alright. I''m sorry too, for mistaking you for your sister," Matthew gave her a sad smile. Mona looked at him and pressed her lips together. "Thank you... it''s been a while since I ate suchgood food," she said after a moment. "No, it''s alright. If you want we could do it more ofte- no let''s do it more often! Since I know where you live now I can always come to say hi with Noah!" he suggested cheerfully. "No. We shouldn''t meet anymore," her voice was cold. "Huh? Why?" "I don''t want to meet anymore." "...huh? Wha-" "You should get going now. Noah''s still waiting for you," she nodded her head towards the direction of the car. "But Mona, why?! It''s been so long since we''ve seen each othe-" "But I was not the one you wanted to see. The one you wanted to see was her, and she''s gone now! I won''t be her replacement for you, Noah!" she yelled. He looked devastated, his chin trembled as if he was looking for words to say. "Bu-" "No. No buts or anything. I don''t want to meet anymore and the next time we meet don''t say anything to me and continue on your way," Mona yelled, "now go! Go!" Matthew''s eyes were shattered as his head hung low and he turned around. He was within an arms reach of the car when he turned back to face her. "When I learned you weren''t Mina... I was happy too," he said before opening the car door and getting in. Mona''s body froze as she watched them drive off into the distance. A single tear slipped from her eye as her lips fell downwards. "Goodbye old friend," she said, barely audible. Her body felt cold to the very core as she wiped her tear away. She turned on her heel and began walking away from that apartment complex, to her real one. Chapter 8: Party Request Mona kicked her shoes off, threw her jacket onto the couch, and ran to her room. She bit her lip before laying on her bed and pulling the VR helmet on. "Hurry, hurry," she whispered as she pushed the button to the side. - Ferti opened her eyes and she was now back inMeleheimkingdom standing next to the water fountain. She breathed in a deep breath before brushing her short hair back with her fingers. She balled her fists and bit her lip before calming down. "All right," she told herself, "to the library first," she started to head to the library with big strides and a smile on her face. She reached the library and sat at the bottom of the ladder where she had left off the previous day. She opened the diary and reread the contents inside of it. - Dear Journal, I have searched almost everywhere but I can''t seem to find this damn herb. Grandpa mention somethingblacblue and white and something about tail first and something about fi- something but I can''t seem to find it at all. I looked everywhere where''s there''s blue and white. If I can''t find it soon I''m afraid that the nobleman''s daughter is going to pass before they can spend any time together. I will continue to look for it. Sincerely, P.H. - "Hmm... doesn''t say anything on how I can defeat it," she mumbled to herself. She chewed on the nail of her thumb as she shut the book closed and stood up from where she was sitting. "Hmm..." she thought to herself for a while, "Snake-like features... venom from fangs... dark places...I''ve... read something about this..." she clenched her fist and closed her eyes trying to think. She heard a system notification noise and opened her eyes to see a blue screen in front of her.
Searching... found: -Snake-likefeatures -Venom from fangs -Dark places Crusaniblutia: a creature who existed about three centuries ago. They onceroamed the land ofMeleheimkingdom and harm many people in their paths. A skilled swordsman and magician found the weakness to them and managed to chase them away from humans. Now, they are thought to be extinct as no one has seen one ever again. From the bookTales of Lost Creatures:Meleheim.
"Oh... so this is what this skill does," Ferti nodded her head. She smiled as she thought of something else.
Searching... found: Crusanibluita weakness: Crusanibluitas'' love dark places and only come out during the night. They are weak to fire and light magic. Theyalsohave very quick regeneration abilities soto kill one, one must freeze the Crusaniblutia first and then shatter its body into pieces. If this is not done then the Crusanibulita will regenerate and come back even more vicious.Be cautious if you run into one as they are very agile and their venom is potent!
"Oooh... nice!" shemumbled to herself. Even though Ferti had a good memory and was able to memorize a lot of things, it did take her some time to make correlation if the wording was different because then she would have to think what she read and try to see if anything related to the subject she was thinking about. "Fire, light, and ice magic... also gonna need a warrior for combat..." Ferti made note of things. After she made sure she knew what she wanted she checked out some books and left the library. She stood in the center of the city as she sat on a fountain. Her eyes gazed through all the players, observing each and every one of them. "Not that one... not that one... that..."Ferti''seagle eyes lit up as she saw a male player walkabout. He was alone and seemed to be deep in thought as he continued to look over items people were selling. Hisattire was not a beginner''s gear, however, they didn''t look to be the gear of one that had already left the kingdom. She smiled as she got up from where she was sitting. She approached him as he stood by a nearby booth looking over the items. She placed her hand on his shoulder and he turned to look at her. His eyes were a deep green as they looked at her confused, his blue hair was messy. "Yes?" he asked. "Do you have a group you''re currently traveling with?'' she asked back. "Uh, no." "Then do you want to group up with me?" she said with a sweet smile. He scanned her up and down before shrugging her hand off his shoulder. "No thank you, man. I want to group up with another girl, not another guy," he turned his back to her as he went back to looking at the items. Ferti laughed internally, not offended at all because she didn''t expect him to agree anyway. "That''s the only reason you don''t want to group up with me?" "No thanks, man. You look like you literally just started playing and I can leave the safety of the kingdom in a week. Kind of don''t want to group with someone who''s gonna be stuck in here while I could be out there doing whatever I want." "C''mon man," Ferti moved so that she would be in his view, "just give it a try. Besides," she moved closer to him, "I know a place right here where we can start hunting early," she whispered. The man''s eyebrow went up before he looked up. He looked intoFerti''seyes as if he could tell whether she was lying or not. "Dude, you''re lying," he said, yet a trace of doubt could be heard in his voice. "Really, man? Do you think I would be lying if I know we can''t even leave the safety zone yet?" "Where''s the proof?" he asked. Ferti was waiting for this question. "Records," she said. A blue screen appeared in front of her and she slid it around so the man could see. "There''s the proof," she said. "Huh? What are you talkingbout?" "Dude, look, I died yesterday. If that''s not a red flag, then I don''t know what is," she whispered as she raised her hands up in the air. The man''s eyes grew. "Uh, wait.Youdied? In the safe zone?" "Yes." "I thought you couldn''tdiein a safe zone?!" "Well,technicallyit''s not a safe zone. It''s more like... a hunting ground," Ferti clarified. The man started looking interested as a small glint formed in his eyes. Ferti smiled because she knew he took the bait."Group up with me and then I can show you," she offered again. The man stroked his chin. "... why me?" the man narrowed his eyes at her. Ferti rolled her eyes as she placed her arms wide out. "Dude, look at me! I''m anoob, barely just started! Not only that, but I''m not a warrior so I need someone who canfight to go with me." "...sounds reasonable. What are your skills?" "Look, you grouping ornah? If you ain''t I''m leaving," Ferti began to turn around and she felt his hand on her shoulder. "Alright! Alright! I''ll group, kay? Let''s go somewhere else to talk about this," hesaid carefully andscanned the area around them, "Follow me, I know a place," he started walking away. Ferti let out a small sigh of relief before following the man. - The man brought Ferti a house near the outskirts of the town. The inside of the house was rather shabby, and poor. The word house did not seem to fit the description as the building was more like a shed. "Welcome to my place," the man said as he sat down on an old chair. An old roundtable sat in front of him which he placed his hands on. "Your place? You bought this?" Ferti asked as she took a seat across from him. "Not really. I had to do a quest and somehow the quest ended up with me inheriting this house and the land behind this house." "Oooh... nice..." Ferti nodded her head. "Anyways, let''s get down to business," the man put his hand out, "nice to meet ya, I''mDspects," a blue screen appeared in front of Ferti.
Player name:Dspect(Dee-spects) Gender: Male Class: Fighter/Warrior Level: 12 Title: Spearman
"Ooooou... level 12 already? By the time most people leave they are only level ten." "Yea. I''ve been training... pretty hard." "That''s good. Nice to meet ya too, I''mFerti," Ferti said as she took his hand. She also showed him her blue screen however she had her gender hidden.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!
Player Name: Ferti (Fer-tuh) Gender:N/A Class: N/A Level: 3 Title: N/A
"Hmm... you really are a noobie aren''t you?"Dspectssaid as he let go ofFerti''shand. "Yea." "What''s up with your gender and title?" "Oh, just my preference to leave them blank." "I understand the title, but gender?" "Yea, anyways," Ferti changed the topic as the screen disappeared fromDspects, "we need to recruit one more person with us if we want to go for it." "One more person?" "Yea. We need a mage to go with us because it requires some mage spells to be able to defeat the monsters we gonna be facing." "What kind ofmagic we talking about here?" "Anall-rounderwould be the best choice," Ferti answered. She watched asDspectsthought about something for a bit before nodding his head. "I know someone who can help us," he looked at her and nodded his head. "Someone? Who?" "Just someone." "As long asthey''re good with magic." "Aight. Now then, can you tell me the plan and what we are gonna face?"Dspectsasked. "First," Ferti swiped a blue screen across toDspects, "accept to join my party."
Party Request: Details: Needs a warrior, and a mage. Benefits: 2x EXP with one who discovered Snib''s Crib Rules: Everything will be divided as agreed upon the whole group Leader: Ferti (until another is assigned) Termination contract: Cannot tell others about where "hunting ground" is or leave party within the next two weeks. Failure to do so will result in the following penalty(s): -Payinformat(Ferti)20 gold coins, coins earned will automatically go to Ferti until debt is paid If it is found that Ferti is telling lies, or giving false information, the following penalty(s) will be: -Owes each party member 50 gold coins
Accept theinvitation? Yes or No
Each game nowadays had their own system to deal with others who wanted to play unfairly. The party contract was one of them. Dspectslooked at the conditions up and down before nodding his head. "Sounds fair," he agreed as he clicked yes. Ferti was surprised at how fast he accepted. She thought he would''ve retaliated more. "Now tell me your skills." "Well, since I just began, I have the alchemy skill, identification skill, and healing skill. You?" "I just started a few weeks ago inrealtime, but as you can tell from my class I am skilled in a wide variety of things. Most of my skills involve weapons to fight with, and others make me move faster or predict the enemy''s movement easier. I can also just work with my fists though." "Oooh... not bad. Well then, welcome to the partyDspects... although it just consists of me,buteventually, I hope to gather more people. Anyways, fornow, let''s go get the magic user you are talking about. We need to do some training before we can go to the ''hunting ground'' after all," Ferti said.Dspectsnodded his head. "Let''s go." - Ferti stood there in the Alchemist center as her eyebrows knitted together. "When yousaid a good magic user... you meant her?" Fertiquestioned as she looked atElizabat. "Huh? Doyo- ah right, you have the alchemy skill... haha...ha..."Dspectslet out an empty laugh as the two approached the booth together. "What do you want?!"Elizabatsnarled as she sawDspects. "You''re still asfiestyas ever aren''t you, Batty,"Dspects teased. "If you aren''t going to buy anything, then leave." "Ouch. A bit harsh here,"Dspectsfeigned a painful face as Ferti stood there and made a face at him, "Anyways, is Foggy here?" "Someonecallme?" a voice called out from behind them. Ferti turned around to see the salesclerkwho sold her the herbs walking towards them with a wooden basket. "Oh, hey!"Dspectswaved his hand at Foggy. "Let''s have a chat, man!" "What do you need?" Foggy asked as he set the basket on the booth table.Dspectsleaned in closer to Foggy. "Wanna gohunting?" he whispered. Foggy looked at him withwhat the heck eyesbefore shaking his head. "Dude, we can''t yet." "Dude, yes we can." "How?" "Through him,"Dspectspointed a finger at Ferti. Ferti felt as if she was some kind of merchandise as she gave them an awkward smile. "Hi... again?" she let out an awkward laugh. "Oh, you from yesterday!" Foggy recognized her. Ferti gave them a quickhead bow. Foggy looked at her confused. "How''s he gonna help? He looks like he just started playing the game." "He did just start playing the game recently, but he''s already found a hunting ground, right in this kingdom!" "Stop lying, man. We can''t hunt or go dungeon exploring until after this month is up. Why do you think Eliza and I have been sticking around here selling herbs?" "Foggy,"Dspectsleaned in so his mouth was right next to Foggy''s ear, "he died. I saw it on his records," his voice was barely audible. Foggy''s eyes grew just likeDspectsdid. "Wha-"Dspectscovered his mouth to stop his surprised yell. "Shh shh shh!" he quickly hushed him. Foggy nodded his head as he swallowed. "C''mon, Foggy, I''ve already seen it. You just got to agree to party with us and everything will be fine. We''ll even agree to have Batty join in the party." Foggy looked at him, his eyes sparkling.Dspectsmoved his hand away from Foggy''s mouth, to reveal a grin on Foggy''s face. Ferti narrowed his eyes atDspectsbut decided not to say anything. "You''re not lying to me are you, DD?" "No man. I''m dead serious,"Dspectslooked into his eyes. They stared at each other long enough that Ferti thought they were about to lean in and kiss. After a moment, Foggy finally looked away and nodded his head. "Aight man, I''m in. Let''s start cleaning up here, Eliza," Foggy said.Elizabathad been listening to the conversation all along so she knew what was going on. She gaveDspectsa glare but proceeded to do what Foggy told her to do. - The four of them sat insideDspectssmall shed, no house, around the coffee table. Ferti slid them the party request and they had accepted. All that was left was to plan out some things before they could head to the Snib''s Crib. "All right," Ferti looked atElizabat, "what kind of spells can you use?'' she asked. Ferti waited butElizabatjust looked at her weirdly. "Uh, excuse me," Foggy chimed in from the side, "I''m actually the magic user here. Eliza''s a tank." "Huh?" Ferti raised an eyebrow before looking atDspects.Dspectsjust shrugged his shoulders and shecombed her fingers through her hair before letting out a sigh. "Sorry, my bad. Anyways, Foggy what kind of spells can you use?" "Well, I can usemostlyall of them." "So, like fire, light, ice, etcetera.?" "Basically." "What''s your affinity?" "Well... you see I''m not specialized or working in one particular affinity so... I''m kind of below average for all of them." "Ah..." Ferti moved her gaze to giveDspectsa look. "Whuutt?!" heblinked innocently, "you just said you wanted an all-rounder!" Ferti let out another sigh and nodded her head. He was right. That was all she said. She looked back up and gave them a smile. "Well before we go into the dungeon, let us take a day or two to practice first. Does anyone here have a knife?" "I do,"Dspectspulled out his knife. "Great. Now please cut yourself." "Huh?" "Please cut yourself." "Uh..." "If we gonna go to the dungeon then I need to level up my healing abilities somehow, so I''m gonna need to practice some of my healing skills." "Why?" "You''re not supposed to die in the safe zone from other characters killing you, but you can self-harm as long as you don''t kill yourself intentionally. That''s how alchemists can test how what kind of potions they make if they are unsure of its abilities. Now please, cut yourself," Ferti ordered. "Huh? Uh, why me? Get the tank to do it,"Dspectsslid the knife over toElizabat.Elizabatlooked down at it and picked it up. She sliced her palm with it and didn''t even wince. Ferti stood there frozen shock for a couple seconds at her. "Heal me,"Elizabatordered. Ferti pulled herself together and nodded her head. "On it," she said as she cast the healing spell. After that, she pulled out some herbs and passed them to Foggy andDspec, "since you don''t want to cutyourselves, then eat this." "Uh, this is poison..." Foggy said nervously as he pointed at the herb. "I need to learn anit-poison so I can save you guys later. Just trust me and do this," she said with a calm voice. "Err..." Foggy glanced atDspectswho glanced back at him. Ferti narrowed her eyes at the two. She placed her hands back on the herbs. "I mean you don''t have to if you don''t want to. I don''t want to force you guys to do anything, just that the creatures we are gonna face is... deadly poisonous... to say the least," she said as she started to slide the herbs back. They placed their hands over hers to stop her from moving the herbs away. "We''ll... do it..." they both gave up in the end. Ferti gave them a small smile of gratitude as she watchedElizabatcut herself again. - After a while of constant pain for the other members and Ferti leveling up to level 5, they decided to call it a day. "Meet back here tomorrow so I can talk about the plans and tell you guys more about what we should do," Ferti told them. They all nodded their heads, tired, before everyone logged off. - Mona pulled the helmet off her head and opened her eyes. She was again in her cover of darkness, her alarm clock the only illuminating light. Her lips felt dry and she got up to go to the kitchen for a glass of water. When she walked into the kitchen she saw another illuminated light that she hadn''t seen a long time. On her old landline telephone laid amessage on the screen that readonenew message. She walked over to it and pressed the voicemail button. After that, she made her way to the refrigerator to get a glass of water. "One new message," the female robotic voice said, "recorded atsix thirty-four p.m..." she downed her water and was about to stuff the water bottle into the fridge. "...hey honey," she froze as she heard the all too familiar soft voice, "we''re going to have a family dinner this weekend atKumuldas. We would love it if you could join us, hun. Stay safe. Go to school. We... miss you. Hope to see you there!" "...end ofmessage," the robotic voice took over. Mona stood there next to the open fridge, unsure of what to do. She just stared blankly into space. After a moment of complete silence, she returned to her bedroom. She switched the light on and grabbed a marker from her desk. She walked up to her calendar that was only filled with test dates. She filled in the blank spot for the weekend. The more letters she drew to remind herself of the appointment, the more and more life seemed to drizzle out of her eyes. By the end, her eyes were lifeless. She returned the marker to its place before crawling under the covers. She drew the blanket over herself as if she was trying to hide from a big monster. Her eyes were tightly shut, a part of her wishing that the weekend would never come. - BANG! BANG! BANG! Mona peeked out from under her covers, her eyes tired. "What the heck?" she mumbled, her voice hoarse from just waking up. She laid her head back down to go back to sleep but then she heard it again. BANG! BANG! BANG! "Go away! I''m not buying anything!" she yelled from her room. BANG! BANG! BANG! "Go away!" she yelled again. BANG! BANG! BANG! "Oh my fucking goodness!" she swore as she got up from her bed. She looked at her clock and it read six thirty a.m. She had only slept four hours. She rubbed one of her eyes as she glared at the door in front of her. She unlocked it and swung it open. "What do you fucking want?!" she yelled. She looked in front of her to see her teacher standing there looking at her with huge eyes. "Um, excuse me?" he asked, a bit baffled at her. She narrowed her eyes at him. "What are you doing here, Mr. Ferk?" she asked with a tinge oftoxic in her tone. "You haven''t been attending school lately, or at all, so I just wanted to check up on you." "Oh, I didn''t know teachers did this kind of thing," Mona hissed. "Well some of us do," Mr. Ferk said, "and you don''t seem sick today. How about you come to school with me?" "No thank you. I''m not feeling so well," she started to close the door. Before she could, Mr. Ferk put his hand on the door. She looked up at him. "Shouldn''t you be going now?" "I''m saying you should start coming to school for your own good." "What?" "I got invited to go out and eat with your family this weekend at Kumuldas. They wanted to know how you were doing in school," he informed. She paused as she stared at the ground. "And?" she asked. "Do you want me to tell them the truth?" "What truth?" "That you haven''t been attending school at all." "Say whatever you want to say then," she looked back up at him, "I don''t care." "Really?" "Yes. I don''t care. Now leave me alone," she started to pull back the door again. "Wait," he pulled the door back, "just come this week. If you come to school this whole week, then I would liefor you," he offered. She looked at him with doubt in her eyes. "Why?" "Just because." "Just because?" "Yes, now get ready and come out. I''ll wait for you here." "And if I don''t come?" "You... are you really going to disappoint your adopted parents who sent you to this prestigious school?" he asked. Her face flushed red. "Ho-" "Don''t disappoint them. They took care of you when your real parents abandoned you," his voice was filled with emotions as he told her this. Mona looked up at him beforeshe bit her lip. After amoment she let out a sigh. "I understand... I''ll be out in a moment," she couldn''t help but agree. Mr. Ferk gave her a small smile and nodded his head. "I''ll be waiting," Mr. Ferk said as he pulled his hand back. She closed the door and walked back to her room. Her eyes traveled up her uniform and she balled her hand into a fist, before getting ready. Chapter 9: The Dead are Dead For the first time since her sister died, Mona finally entered the empty classroom ahead of everyone else. She sucked in a deep breath before walking over to her seat. She plopped her body down and put her heavy mind on her arms. "Did you do the homework?" Mr. Ferk''s voice pierced the moment of peace in her head. She looked up and glared at him. "There''s no need to the homework as long as I do well on tests and exams," she answered before shoving her face back into her arms. "It''s your senior year already," she heard his voice grow louder, "don''t you think you should take school more seriously?" she felt something hit her head. She peeked back out from her cave and looked up to see him place a packet on her desk. "What is this?" "Your future planning worksheets." "...don''t need it," Mona pushed the packet onto the ground. "Hey!" she heard Mr. Ferk yelled, "this is a serious thing that you sho-" "I don''t need it!" she said with a stern voice. Mr. Ferk didn''t seem to say anything at all, and what she heard next was just a moment of silence. After a while, she heard him sigh before she heard his steps move further away from her. She balled her fists as she tried to fall asleep. "Good morning, Mr. Ferk!" a familiar voice perched out. Mona knew whose voice this was without even looking up. "Good morning, Natalie," she heard Mr. Ferk said back. A moment later, she heard Natalie giggle. Mona could tell Natalie saw her as she heard a small gasp. Mona ignored her as she squeezed her eyes shut.She heard Natalie walk out of the room as she went to her own classroom. - The bell rang indicating that the school day was over. Mona finally picked her head up as she stretched her arms and yawned. Throughout the day when she was awake, she could feel the stares and murmurs of people talking about her. She just continued to ignore them as she knew they wouldn''t bother her even if they wanted to. She stood up from her seat and swung her backpack on. She was ready to leave. People continued to chatter around her as they all started to pack their textbooks away and they started to leave. Mona was waiting for all of them to clear out so that she could walk out with ease. "Mona," she heard a deep voice call out to her. The room suddenly fell silent as she looked up to see a boy standing at the doorway. His face was a face that was well liked by anyone.The boy had light brown hair, and his green eyes seemed to pierce through her as he looked at her. She looked away before they made eye contact as she tried to go out the back door. Before she could reach the back door she felt someone grab onto her arm. "Did you not hear me call you?" hejerked her back and she looked up into his angry eyes. She glared at him as she yanked her arm away. "What do you want?" she hissed. His eyes burned back at her. "Why are you back here pretending to be a good student?" he hissed back. "Woah... didn''t know the newprince of the drama club was so free that he would be interested in such an ordinary student like me," Mona mocked him. "Mona!" "What?!" "You..." he bit his lip, "you''re an eyesore. Leave." "I do what I want," Monasnarled at him.A small crowd of about ten peoplejust stood there and watched the two as they continued to argue. The drama club was a huge thing at this academy, and people in the drama club were always remarked as being the best students there. "You... you slut! You don''t deserve to be here! Mina should be alive! Wh-" "Liam!" Natalie yelled as walked up to them. She grabbed onto the boy''s arm. "Stop," she begged, "you shouldn''t be here doing thi-" "No," Liam pulled his arm back, "I should be here doing this... for her... and for him," his eyes teared up. Mona let out a small laugh. "Doing this for the dead... the dead are dead. Why are you still so passionate over someone who''s nevergoing totalk to you again?" she laughed, "she''s dead already, so let her stay dead,"one side of her lip went up as her eyes looked at Liam with a sparkle in them, yet behind that sparkle was atinge of loneliness. "You!" Liam pushed Natalie away as he grabbed onto Mona''s collar. "How dare yo-" "Haha!" Mona let out another laugh before he could finish, "look, you can''t even control your anger... how did you manage to take Elliot''s spot if you can''t even act with dignity?" "Don''t you dare say his name!" a tear stroll down his face as he pulled Mona closer to him, "a mouth as dirty as yours, does not deserve to say his name!" he hissed. "What''s going on here?" a voice of authority broke the tension in between them. Mona looked behind Liam to see Mr. Ferk walking towards them. She felt Liam''s grip pull away as she took a step back. "Nothing sir," Liam wiped away his tear before Mr. Ferk could notice as he smiled, "just wanted to say hi to someone I haven''t seen in a long time." Mona watched as Mr. Ferk looked at the two of them with suspicion. "Really?" "Yes, sir. Right, Natalie?" Liam nudged Natalie. "Y-yes, sir," she quickly said. Mona looked away as she turned and walked out of the exit. "Mona," Mr. Ferk called out to her. "I''m going home," she yelled back. "See you tomorrow," he heard him say. She didn''t say anything back as she continued on her way. - Ferti went to the library first as she saw her party list and the other members were not on yet. She continued to read where she had left off. After about finishing five books, she saw Floy walking towards her. She peeked up behind her book but didn''t say a word as she waited for him to speak. After a moment, the little boy opened his mouth. "Adventurer," his tone was oddly kind and serious at the same time. Ferti set her book down as she stood up from where she was sitting. "Yes?" "Why are you so attached to the library?" "Pardon me?" Ferti furrowed her eyebrows. "I have seen many adventurers come and go. Some would read, but eventually give up due to the effort, while others would just come here in order to benefit from my grandfather, yet you, you seem different." "What do you mean?" "What are you here for?" Floy asked. Ferti thought about it for a bit, before a distant look appeared in her eyes. "Someone once told me that knowledge is power and that those without knowledge are powerless. They will continue to stay in the dark until they learn the truth.I am only here because I seek knowledge in order to make myself more powerful. There is no other reason than this," Ferti replied. Floy looked atthe groundfor a while before nodding his head. "I see," he said as he looked to be deep in thought. "Why the sudden question?" Ferti asked. Floy looked up at her. "I have been keeping track on you because you have... amazed me, to be honest," the ends of Floy''s lips curled up, "I thought that you would give up after I told you about the requirements to have access to the next floor but you didn''t. Instead, you continued to read, and your memorization skills are quite impressive." "Is that all?" Ferti asked as she sensed something was not quite right. Floy looked at her and gave her a sad smile. "Finish the task at hand first, adventurer, and then we will talk more," he said before turning around and walking back to his desk. Ferti cocked her head confused, but just shrugged her shoulders as she continued to read - Ferti was back in Dspect''s house as they all sat around the roundtable. She rushed to the place when she saw that each of them were online. She had been trying to think up of battle strategies but figured that things would be pretty much useless unless she gets to see their skills of fighting firsthand. "What are we gonna do now?" Dspects asked. "First, we head to the Training Hall," Ferti replied. "Why?" Foggy asked.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "We need to make sure we have some form of teamwork first if we want to survive. If not, then we are all going to die within like the first... thirty seconds? Maybe less?" "What?! Are the monsters that strong?" "Well... they did wipe me out in like one hit so for you guys... maybefour hits would do." "... dam..." Dspects muttered. "Let''s go then," Elizabat finally spoke up, "we''re wasting too much time doing nothing here," she got up from her seat. The two guys groaned as they nodded. Ferti just shrugged her shoulder as the four of them made their way to the Training Hall. - The Training Hall was free to use to anyone as it was paid by taxes in the kingdom of Meleheim. Despite this, not many people utilized the Training Hall anymore as Road Builder had been out for a while now and their levels were too high. Ferti and her party walked into the empty room. "Welcome to the Training Hall," the desk clerk said as he gave them a big smile. Ferti gave him a small bow before she led her party to an empty training room. "Alright guys," Ferti said as she closed the door to the training room, "show me what y''all got in store." "Umm... aight I guess," Dspects said as a spear appeared in his hand.He walked up to a dummy and breathed in for a moment before he brought his spear back and thrust it toward the dummy. He continued to slash and turned, showing off some fancy footwork. "Stop! Stop!" Ferti yelled out. Dspects paused as he looked over at her with confused eyes. "Whaaat?!" he yelled back. "You are wasting too much stamina on unnecessary moves," Ferti shook her head, "just keep your footwork simple and your thrusts strong." "But if I do it like this then I look much cooler and also the attacks are a bit stronger." "Yea, but if you do it like that then you''re gonna burn out in like... an hour," Ferti said as she calculated it in her head. "Hmm... but can''t we just hunt for an hour and then come back out and rest?" Dspects asked. "Actually," Ferti said this as calmly as she could, "I... haven''t exactly found the escape route yet." "What?!" Dspects and Foggy yelled as Elizabat just stood there, not even reacting to her words. "Yea... like, I know how to get there... but I don''t know how to get out, soooo... yea..." she said as she scratched the back of her head. Dspects let out a groan before nodding his head. "Okay... let''s... keep practicing then," he could only say. Ferti gave them an apologetic smile as they continued to train that day. The party just continued to train that day to build up their abilities. Ferti decided that they would go to Snib''s Crib the following day and they all agreed to meet at Dspects house again before they all logged off. - Mona pulled the helmet off her head. She looked at the battery light to see it blinking red. She got up from her bed and went to plug it in. She yawned as she stretched her arms up before sitting on her bed. She pulled out her laptop and set it on her lap. She took a deep breath before opening it and signing in. Her wallpaper showed three single daisies in a field but she ignored it as she went onto theRoad Builderforums. She wanted to research strategies to dealing with snake-like creatures. After researching for a while her eyelids grew heavy. She swayed back and forth as her hand continued to click on the mouse. Not before long she fell to her side as her head landed on her pillow. - Two identical, little girls sat in a field together, each holding a lily in their hands. "Do you think they will find out?" one of them asked. "No. Listen here! Since we know we have power, but since they don''t know they don''t have power. Don''t worry! No one will find out," the other one laughed. "Bu-" "No buts, Mona! We have already started so we have to finish it!" "Mina!" "Shh... I won''t listen to you anymore... besides you were the one who wanted help in the first place." "But I didn''t know you would come up with this plan!" "Don''t worry," Mina looked around, checking to see if there was anyone in sight, "it will... be our secret," she whispered before giggling. Mona also giggled as she looked at her older sister. "Hehe! It''s fun!" Mona smiled brightly. "Right?! Hehe..." the two of them continued to giggle to each other. - BANG! BANG! BANG! Mona opened her eyes to the loud noise. She combed her hair back with her fingers as she sat up. She looked at her now dead laptop and groaned as she put it on the ground. "Mona! Come out! Let''s go to school!" she heard Mr. Ferk''s muffled voice behind the door. She rolled her eyes as she plugged her laptop in and walked into the bathroom. After getting ready she went to open the door. "Mona! Co-" she opened the door and saw Mr. Ferk standing there smiling. "You came!" he beamed a smile at her. She rolled her eyes again as closed her door and walked past him. - She walked into the empty classroom and stood by her desk. She bit her lips as she placed her nearly empty backpack on it. "Not sitting down?" she heard Mr. Ferk ask. She side-eyed him before turning her back to him and walking out the back door. "Hey!" "I''ll be back," she said nonchalantly before continuing on her way. She heard Mr. Ferk sigh behind her but she didn''t care. She took a few turns before taking the stairs down to the first floor. After walking for a while, she finally reached the place she wanted to be. She looked at the two huge doors in front of her and pressed her lips together. "It''s too early... no one should be here yet... right?" she mumbled to herself as she put her hand on the handle. She pushed it down and pulled the door open. She walked inside. She looked around her as the big auditorium room was dimly lit. Her eyes had a trace of nostalgia as she looked around the grand place. Her eyes traveled to the brightest place in the auditorium, the stage. She took in a deep breath as she walked up to the stage. When she reached the bottom of the stage she stood still.Her breath was steady as a small smile started to form. Her eyes twinkled. Her hand reached out to touch the stage. It was as if she was meeting a lover that she hadn''t seen in years, the way she was so carefully reaching her hand out. "Who''s there?" a voice called out from behind her. The twinkle in her eyes shattered apart as she drew her hand back. Her lips went back to a straight line as she turned back. "Who''re you?" the voice asked again. Mona watched as a male figure started to take shape as the lights started to hit him. "Who''re you?" Mona asked back but just as the words left her mouth she saw his face. Those clear brown eyes looked at her confused. "M-Mona?" Matthew stuttered out, "y-you go here?" Mona avoided his eyes as she looked away. "Yea. I do." "Wah! It''s fate." ~ "It''s fate." ~ She heard a female voice say in her head. She bit her lips before walking past Matthew to the exit door. "Wait!" she heard Matthew say but she didn''t care as she continued. "Hey! Hold up, Mona!" he ran in front of her and stopped. She paused, not wanting to run into him before looking up. "Do not talk me. You heard what I said before, so listen to it," she hissed. She looked at his confused eyes. "But... why?" he breathed out. "At this school I am n-" "What is our new scriptwriter doing with a slut over here?" Mona turned her head to see Liam walking towards the two. "Huh? Slut?" Matthew asked. "Do not to talk to her, Mat. That filthy piece of shit will ruin you," Liam snarled. "What? Wha-" "He''s right. So, don''t talk to me anymore," she agreed as she started to head towards the stairs. Before she could go to the stairs Liam gripped onto her arm with force. "Stop coming to school. It''s starting to smell like shit," Liamhissed. "I guess your sense of smell is getting better because it''s always smelt like shit," Mona hissed back as she pushed him and pulled her arm back. She glared at him before turning away and walking back to her class. Once she got back to class she stormed to her desk. "You''re back!" Mr. Ferk said but she ignored him as she plopped down on her chair and buried her head into her arms. She closed her eyes tightly and waited for sleep to overcome her. - The two little identical girls were now older as they stood in the classroom. One of them had her back turned to the other as she stared out the window. The other one stared at the girl''s back with a conflicted red face. "Mona! Why are you doing this? Why?!" she screamed. Mona turned around to face her older sister. Her face was devoid of any feelings as she looked into her sister''s eyes. "Mina... let me have him," she said, "he belongs to me. It was me who gave him the umbrella that day! He loves you because he thinks you were me! It wasn''t you, so... let him go... because... because he''s mine!" "What? Why are you acting like this? Why?!" "Because I love him! So let. me. have. him." "I... I can''t do that. I already gave you s-" "Why?! You are the star of the show, and everyone here loves you! You have everything! Why can''t you just give him up to me?! I want him! I. want. him!" Mona screamed as she walked closer to Mina. "Stop!" Mina screamed back. "He already knows that you were the one who gave him the umbrella that day... but he still chose me, so... he''s mine!" "Wh-what? You are lying!" "No. I''m not lying. If you don''t believe me then ask him yourself. He loves me for me... let''s stop. Let''s stop this little secret of ours now... I''m tired... let''s go back to being loving sisters, okay?" Mina said as she stroked Mona''s face. Mona furrowed her eyebrows before looking up and glaring at her. She shook her head. "No... I can''t. I want him. He''s mine." "Mona!" "You''re dirty! That man made you dirty! You don''t deserve him!" Mona screamed. Mina''s gentle eyes suddenly grew with fury as she lifted her hand up and struck Mona''s cheek. Mona fell to the ground as she let out a yelp. "Y-you!" tears streamed down Mina''s face, "who... who do you think I did that for?!" she yelled. Mona looked up and glared at Mina. She picked herself up from the ground and gave her a wicked smile. "Do you think he will still love you after he learns about the truth?" she asked. Mina looked at her. "You wouldn''t d-" "I would. That''s how much I want him. I will tell him," Mona threatened, "didn''t you say that you would rather die than let him find out? Go die. If you die, he will never know. If you don''t want to die, then let me have him," Mona threatened. She looked at Mina''s shocked face before letting out a laugh. "Should I go tell him right now? I should, shouldn''t I?" Mona started to walk away but Mina reached out to grab her before she could get far. "Stop!" "No! I won''t stop until I have him. So you... you stop!" "Do you really want me to die that much?!" "Yes! Die! If you die, then everything will be so much better!" Mona yelled. Mina looked at her with hopeless eyes. "Mona w-" "Stop. I don''t want to hear it. You either listen to what I say, orhe will know," Mona glared at her, "I won''t say this a second time," she said before pulling her hand out of Mina''s grasp. She started to walk out the classroom. She stopped by the door and turned back to see Mina fall to the ground, her back shaking. - "No!" Mona yelled as she stood up from her chair. Sweat ran down her face as she saw Mr. Ferk standing there looking at her shocked. She looked around her to see all the seats were empty. "Nightmare?" Mr. Ferk asked. She looked at him, her face a bit flushed and shook her head. "No," she said, "nothing at all," she slung her backpack on. "Then what wa-" "It was nothing!" Mona raised her voice, "forget about it." Mr. Ferk just shrugged his shoulders. "Alright then. I will," Mr. Ferk said as he handed her a packet, "homework. Have it done by tomorrow." Mona looked at the packet and grabbed it out of his hand. "Yea," she said as she walked out of the classroom. "Mona!" she turned around to see Matthew running towards her. She glared at him and turned around to leave. It was too late as he caught up to her. "Where are... you going?" he panted out. "I told you to not to talk to m-" before she could finish she felt his hand on her shoulder as he turned her around. "I don''t have time, so here," he picked up her free hand and shoved a piece of folded paper into it, "call me if you ever need anything. Bye!" he waved to her before running back the way he came. Mona looked at his figure get smaller and smaller until he turned a corner. She looked at the paper, annoyed, and was going to throw it on the ground when she stopped. She let out a sigh before stuffing it into her uniform pocket and then heading home. - Ferti and her party met at Dspects house again. They all looked at her and nodded their heads. She nodded her head too as she took in a deep breath. "Let''s go," she said as she started leading them to Snib''s Crib. Chapter 10: Freezing ice! Burning fire! The party reached the edge of where the flowers ended. Ferti took in a deep breath before turning back to look at her teammates. "Alright guys," she swallowed hard, "we''re gonna walk towards that blue flower, and when we do, we are gonna fall." "Fall?!" Dspects exclaimed. "Yes, fall." "Fallintowhere?" "Snib''s Crib." "Huh... oh yea... makes sense," Dspects nodded head as if he had understood everything the whole time. Ferti rolled her eyes before she led her party closer to the blue flower.They walked and when she was a step behind the spot where she last fell she stopped. "Alright," she took a deep breath in, "brace yourself," she warned them as she took a step further. She clenched her teeth ready for the fall, but it never came as her foot stepped onto another patch of lilies. "Huh?" she looked down, confused. She stomped her feet on the ground but nothing happened. "Uh... so... what''s going on?" Dpsects asked. Ferti blinked furiously, also confused. "Umm..." she bit her lip, "I''m... not sure..." she cocked her head. "Hey! Did you lie to us?!" she heard Dspects yelled before pulling on her shoulder and turning her around. "Woah!" Ferti lost her balanced at the sudden movement as she started to stumble backward. She grabbed on Dspects hand as she fell, but saw that he also lost his balance as he started to fall down on top of her. She readied herself for the ground but she couldn''t feel it as she just continued plummeting downwards. "AAAHHH!!" both her and Dspects yelled out. She felt the wind run past her face before she felt a stinging pressure on her back and behind. The landing knocked both the air out of them as they just let out a small groan.
-35 HP
Ferti narrowed her eyes at the screen that just appeared. "35?" she blurted out before feeling the weight on top of her. She raised her head to see Dspects still groaning on top of her and she gave him a small glare. She watched as he shook his head and had his hand on his head muttering, "That was so scary! Oh my goodness!Oh myGod! Oh my Buddha! Oh my Allah! Oh myScience! Oh m-" "Are ya fucking done yet?!" Ferti yelled at him and he flinched, startled, before turning her head and looking at her. He gave her an embarrassed smile, his cheeks flushed a tomato red. "Uh... yea?" he replied. "Then can you get off?!" "Huh?" Dspects looked at her face before looking down at her bodyand then looking at her face again before jumping off of her, "Ah! My bad! Sorry!" he apologized. Ferti let out a sigh before standing up and patting the dirt off her clothes. "Ahhh!" she heard yelling from above her and looked up to see the other party members coming down. She moved to the side avoiding them as she watchedElizabat land on her feet, bending her knees. In Elizabat''s armswas Foggy, who was carried princess style, ashe wrapped his arms around Elizabat''s neck. Foggy panted as he tried to calm himself down. "Wee oh woo!" Dspects suddenly whistled and Ferti let out a small chuckle. "Ah!" Foggy let out an embarrassed yell before jumping out of Elizabat''s arms. His face flushed red as he gave out a nervous laugh. Elizabat justhmphed and crossed her arms. "So how''d it feel buddy?" Dspects elbowed Foggy. "How''d it feel to be in the arms of the one that yo-" "So what''s the plan?" Foggy yelled out as one of his hands had balled into a fist and hit Dspects''s... little brother. "AuaUAGHuouuuuu!" Dspects let out a cry before dropping to the ground his hand over his crotch. Ferti let out a small cough that also had a mix of a laugh with it. "You motherfucker! How da AHH! IT BURNS! Ah... I... I trusted you man... trust..." Dspects let out a small whimper as small teardrops escaped his eyes. Ferti just chuckled before clearing her throat. "Well, first of all, we are here to accomplish two things... make that three. The first is to obviously level up. The second is to get those herbs right over there," Ferti pointed to the Hosuc Posuc that shone underneath a ray of sunlight, "the third is to find an exit. Also, remember what I taught you guys about the snibs, Foggy''s gotta ice them first before we can actually kill them. If we fail then we will meet up at Dspect''s place after the banned time. Alright?" "Aight! Sounds good!" Foggy gave thumbs up as he let out an empty laugh. "How do we know where the snibs are going to appear?" Elizabat asked. "Last time, they appeared when I went near that bush of Hosuc Posuc. Before we head toward the Hoscu Posucherbs, to which I assumed have stronger snibs guarding it, let''s wander around in the dark for a while to get the weaker snibs so we can level up." "Aight, let''s get started then," Foggy nodded his head in agreement. Dspects quietly wiped his tears away as he pulled out his spear. "Take the lead, Batty," he sniffled. Elizabat put on her silver gloves as she started to walk toward the darkness with Dspects behind her. Ferti just chuckled as she followed Dspects with Foggy taking the rear. It would''ve been better to have another fighter take the rear end but since they couldn''t find another trustworthy person to put in their party, they just decided to have Foggy take the rear end so that Ferti can still be protected and heal them. - Not before long they ran into a snakelike creature that was half the size of the one she first encountered. They bear many similarities such as having the same yellow scales with brown patterns on it, and having venom dripping from its fangs, however, this one''s eyes were grey whereas the other one''s was a deep black. "Identify!" Ferti said.
Monster Identified! Name: Grey-eyed Snib Level: Low leveled A snib is a creature that has evolved from its great ancestor a Crusaniblutia.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"Elizabat, be careful of its fangs. Dspects, try to hit the same spot more than once so that it does more damage. Foggy chant the spells to boosts Elizabat''s defense and Dspects speed," Ferti ordered. "Heekee!" the snake hissed at them. Elizabat immediately took charge as she rushed forward so that the snake''s aggro would be focused on her. Ferti distanced herself so that her low level wouldn''t make the snake switch targets. Foggy step forward and started to chant his magic as Dspects started to sneak attack the snake from its tail. "Roger," Dspects and Foggy replied as Elizabat just gave a slight nod of her head. Ferti stayed back to observe the situation and also kept her attention on the area around them to make sure that other snibs weren''t coming. Due to the fact that she was playing a support role since her class hasn''t been determined yet, the stats of her group members also appeared in big screens before her. For other classes, the group members stats would just be up at a corner or where the player set them to be normal. She swiped Elizabat''s screen so that it was in the middle because Elizabat was taking the most damage and she needed to take care of her the most. When she noticed Elizabat got poisoned she quickly used anti-poison.
Anti-poison failed!
"Tsk!" she clicked her tongue and tried again.
Anti-poison failed!
Anti-poison failed!
She pressed her lips together and she tried once more.
Anti-poison succeeded!
"Finally!" she let out a sigh of relief. She looked at Elizabat''s health bar to see it almost half depleted and she quickly healed her. "Foggy, start chanting your ice spell! Dspects, try aiming for other spots to see if that does more damage! Elizabat, just keep doing what you''re doing," she ordered. Foggy took a step back as he started chanting his ice spell which was going to take some time. Ferti took a step toward him just in case an enemy came so she can aggro them away. She watched Dspects aim at other places which started to irritate the snib because it turned it''s attention to Dspects. Dspects sidestepped as the snib jumped out at him. He managed to get out of the way in time, but who knew that the snib would actually whip its tail at him, causing him to fly back a few steps before staggering to a stop. "Elizabat take back the aggro before Dspects gets even more hurt. Dspects move away, your defense won''t be able to handle the snib''s hits for long," Ferti ordered. Dspects immediately withdrew a distance away as Elizabat charged in front of the snib. "Foggy, ya ready yet?" "Just give me 20 more seconds!" "Alright, Dspects try to keep your distance as you attack. Elizabat be careful to not get poisoned as my anti-poison skill is still a bit too low leveled and I have to try a few times before it works. Heal!" Ferti chanted and a green light glowed from Dspects as his health bar went back up. "Alright, I''m ready! Freezing ice!" Foggy chanted as an enchanted circle appeared in front of him. A light blue ball of light flashed through the circle before hitting the snib. The ball of light slowly spread as the snib tried to wriggle away, but before it could its whole body turned into a long ice sculpture. Dspects wiped off the sweat trailing down his forehead as he relaxed his arms. "Whew! That was... more difficult than I thought it was going to be," Dspects commented as they all walked up to the ice sculpture. "So... this is the hard part. I know that we are supposed to shatter its body, but I''m not sure how it''s supposed to be done... and we need to figure it out before the ice spell wears off," Ferti bit on the nail of her thumb. Foggy gave her a strange look before pressing his fingers on his forehead. "Hmmm..." he mumbled. "Let''s just smashed the freaking thing!" Dspectspierced it with his spear. His spear hit the ice before the pressure came back to him and he fell back a step. "Woah! What the heck? This thing''s as hard as a freakin rock!" Dspects tried again only to fail in vain. Elizabat also walked up to it and punched it with her fist but that also did nothing to the snib. "Light and fire... Foggy try enchanting yourfire spell onto it," Ferti suggested as she remembered that Crusaniblutias were weak to fire and light. "On it," Foggy nodded his head. Dspects let out a small yawn as he pulled his canteen out for a drink. "Don''t relax too much. We might get ambushed around here," Ferti warned as she continued to look around them. Dspects lazily nodded his head as hegulped down his water and then shoved his canteen away. "Yea yea, I know," he waved his hand back and forth. "You almost done, Foggy?" "Yea, just ten more seconds." "Alright, let''s all take a step back just in case," Ferti moved away and so did Dspects. Foggy couldn''t move back because he was still chanting the spell so Elizabat moved in front of him to protect him instead. "Burning fire!" Foggy chanted. An enchanted circle appeared in front of him again as a red ball of light hit the iced snib. The ice on the snib started to gradually melt before the snake-like creature fell to the ground. Everyone was quiet as they watched the scene. The snib didn''t seem to be moving as it continued to lay there lifelessly. "Is it... dead?" Dspects whispered. "Err... if it is... then where are our drops?" Foggy whispered back. "It''s... not dead...." Ferti could only reply, "the body is supposed to shatter... I think... but they are evolved now so I''m not sure either..." "Maybe it just needs the final blow?" Dspects took a step forward. When he did that Ferti saw the snib start twitching. The snib''s eyelids then suddenly flew upwards as the grey eyes were now glowing red. "Oh shit..." Ferti felt the ends of her hair stand up, "run!" she yelled as she started to dash away. "Huh?" Dspects could only mutter before a deafening screech filled the air. "HEEEKKEEEE!"the snib hissed. Out of nowhere, there appeared to be glowing balls of red lights from the darkness that surrounded them. Ferti didn''t run really far when she heard a small yelp and then a screen appeared in front of her.
Party member Dspects has just died!
Party member Elizabat has just died!
"Wait for me!" she heard a cry of help behind her and turned her head to see Foggy running toward her with tears flowing out of his eyes. Behind him were hoards and hoards of snibs hissing ferociously. She heard a hissing in front of her and turned her head back to see the first snib she saw when she first entered this game glaring its black eyes at her. She froze in her tracks as she knew there was no way out. She felt her knees grow weak as the snib bared its fangs at her, which was three times the size of the snib that they were fighting. "I...dentify..." she weakly said.
Monster Identified! Name:The Black Eyed King Level: High leveled The king of all snibs in Snib''s Crib.
"Haha... ha... ha..." Ferti only let out an empty laugh before the king snib flew down at her and wrapped its teeth around her body. She closed her eyes and just accepted her fates. It only took a couple seconds before another screen flashed in front of her.
You have just died and is banned to enter the game for the next two hours.
- Mona pulled off her VR helmet before letting out a long sigh. "Why was I so stupid? Why would I suggest fire magic before light magic especially since the snib was just iced... ahhh!" she cried out as shook her head. She let out another sigh as she stared at her ceiling and her lips slowly curled up. She let out a small laugh as she felt the excitement in her heart pound even faster. "Just you wait you snibs... I''m gonna get all of you!" she declared before she sprung up on her bed and grabbed her laptop to see if there was any more information on the forums. - After an hour of lurking on the forums, she didn''t find anything too special. She rubbed her stomach as she closed her laptop. She got up from her bed and headed to the kitchen to grab something to fill up her empty insides. A song suddenly chimed within her apartment and her eyebrows rose as she turned her head to the door. "Aunt Lorey?" she questioned as she walked up to her door. The only people who had ever visited her were Mr. Ferk and her aunt. She looked through the peephole. The peephole was blocked and she let out a small chuckle as she knew her aunt liked playing tricks like these. She opened her door and her eyes widened as she saw the person behind it. She was expecting to see her aunt''s lively smile but she was met with shocked blue eyes, short brown tousled hair, and a brown bag which emitted of a delicious scent. "Mo... na?" the person asked. Chapter 11: Looking Hella Fine "Noah!" a voice screamed from the room beside them, "Wrong room, dude!" "Uh... my bad," Noah took a step back and said. Mona started to close her door as she retreated into her cave. "Wait!" Noah slammed his hand on her door. She frowned. "What do you want?" her tone came out harsher than she meant and she let out a soft cough afterward. "Do yo-" "Why you so slow, man?" another man suddenly popped up and wrapped his arms around Noah''s shoulder. The man''s brown eyes suddenly turned to look at Mona and when he saw her his eyes widened. A smug smile appeared on his face as he gave Mona a wink. "Well hello there, neighbor! Didn''t know that I had such a good looking neighbor this whole time," the man smiled at her. Mona scowled at him as she brought her long cardigan closer to her body. Since she had come back, she just had on a red tank and grey shorts on. She threw on a knee-length cardigan before she went to open the door and not much else because she didn''t expect to see Noah there. "Derrick!" Noah elbowed his friend before he gave Mona an apologetic smile, "sorry about that, Mona. This guy here is an idiot." "Woah! You know this girl and didn''t introduce?!" Derrick looked hurt as he pulled his arm back, "come on man! You can''t just hog all the good looking girls to yourself! Isn''t hot college chicks at school good enough for you?" "Shut up, Derrick!" Noah''s face flushed red before he pushed Derrick off of him. "Duuude. Sharing is caring!" Derrick said as he pushed his yellow glasses closer to his face. Mona rolled her eyes as she proceeded to close the door again. "Wait!" Noah interrupted her again as he placed his hand on the door. She frowned at his hand before her eyes trail to his face. He let out a nervous laugh. "Do you... live here?" he asked. "If you don''t get your hand off the door, I''m calling the cops," Mona simply replied. "You do, don''t you?" Noah ignored her threat, "then why? Why did you lie to Matthew?" she could see her sour reflection through Noah''s dark blue eyes. "Why do you want to know? I don''t think we have a close enough relationship for me to say anything to you," Mona hissed. "Woah lady, why so much hostility?" Derrick frowned as he stepped in front of Noah, as if to defend his friend. "Your friend is here is not my friend. Why should I waste my efforts to be nice to a stranger?" "G-girl!" Derrick pointed a finger at her, "what''s her name Noah? Was it Monica?" Derrick looked back at Noah. "Derrick," Noah tried to pull him back. "No wait, it was Mona wasn''t it? Oh yeah, that girl," Derrick nodded like something clicked in his head as he turned back and looked at Mona, "listen here, Mona, if it weren''t for my friend here, you probably wouldn''t even be here right now. He was nice enough to feed you and care for you and this is how you show your thanks?!" "I didn''t ask him to." "W-what?" Derrick asked as if he didn''t understand her. "I said, I didn''t ask him to. He did it because he wanted to. Did I point a gun to his head and tell him to? I didn''t now, did I? Now, if you creeps are done then move out of the way," Mona pulled her door shut. After a second of thought, she opened it again to see hope in Noah''s eyes. "And, don''t tell your roommate I live here... or else, I will file a report. You wouldn''t want that on your records now would you, medical boy?" Mona sneered before she slammed her door shut. She heard an angry yell from outside as she bolted her door. "What an unbelievably rude bitch!" Derrick screamed. "Derrick! Stop! Let''s just go," Noah''s muffled voice came through and Mona felt a tinge of guilt as she walked away from her door. She bit her lip for a moment before shaking her head. She ate a small dinner, chewing slowly as if to waste time. Afterward, she washed her dishes and ran back. She pulled her VR helmet back on and laid on the bed. - Ferti ran to Dspects house as she was respawned near the water fountains. When she got there, the rest of the group was there already as they died before her. Dspects glared at her as he sat on the chair crossing his arms. Foggy just looked at her as if he had been wronged as Elizabat stood behind him without an expression on her face. ¡°Wonderful job there, man. Yea, just ice the damn monster and fucking burn it afterward to melt the ice. Real smart idea you had there!¡± Dspectsjabbed at her. She gave them an apologetic smile. ¡°Sorry guys, I wasn¡¯t really thinking there I guess,¡± she strode over and pulled out a chair for herself. "I can''t believe you just left me behind like that!" Foggy pouted. "My bad, man," Ferti crossed her fingers together before setting them down on the table, "anyways, let''s review. So now we know that um... using fire after ice won''t work out so well. I suggest that we use light magic next," Ferti explained. "Why?" Dspects frowned and asked. "I had been reading up on these creatures and I found that they are weak to ice, fire, and light magic." "What?!" Dspects exclaimed, "dude I tried searching these creatures up and got absolutely no info on them. How''d you find any info?" "Yea, I didn''t get anything either," Foggy chimed in. "Uh... maybe you guys are just not looking in the right places," Ferti shrugged her shoulders. "Then where have you been looking? Cuz the official forums of Road Builder ain''t got shit," Dspects raised an eyebrow. "In the public library," Ferti simply answered. "The... what?" "The public library in town."Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "Like the library in your city?" Foggy asked, confused. "No, the public library in the kingdom. The Meleheim public library," Ferti explained. "Ohhh," Foggy nodded and Dspects just gave her a weird look. "What?" she asked him. "Huh? Oh... nothing," Dspects replied and shrugged his shoulders, "just that I didn''t think people actually read the books in the library." "I recommend you do it sometimes. It''s could come in handy one day when you go hunting," Ferti said. Dspects just shrugged his shoulders again. Ferti ignored him as she turned her attention to Foggy. "What''s your cooldown time for your ice and light spell? I could see your stats earlier when we were fighting so I know that your ice spell takes about 2 minutes to chant and light magic takes about three minutes but I forgot to look at the cooldown time," Ferti asked. "Let me check," Foggy said before he summoned his status menu, "my ice magic take about 40 seconds to cooldown while my light magic takes about 60 seconds," he answered. Ferti clicked her tongue before cocking her head. "We are going to shorten that time down. If we go by that time then it will take us forever to hunt and the effects for being the first one to discover Snib''s Crib will be over in five real-world days which means we only have 480 game hours left in order to make use of that benefit..." Ferti furrowed her brows before biting her lip. "We can just buy some items to bring down his cooldown time or enchanting time," Elizabat suggested. "Yea, but we don''t really have money and not only that but to buy an item that will bring down his cooldown time like that might cost quite a bit," Dspects commented. Ferti touched her chin before an idea came to her. "I am a noobie here so help me guys," she said as she laced her fingers together and looked at them with hopeful eyes, "how much are potions in this game?" "Potions? Why, do you have any?" Foggy questioned. "I do. One of the three skills I selected was the Alchemist skill so I tried making potions the other night." "Oh yea. I forgot you bought herbs from us. Anyways, your potion probably won''t sell for much since you only joined the game. Assuming that you made any successful potions then it probably is a poor grade potion and those only go for about 20 coppers." "Ohh... how about low and normal grade potions?" "Low goes for about 50 coppers and normal grade potions go for about a silver. Beginners and intermediate gamers really like normal grade potions as they restore a lot of health. They also tend to buy from other players as the Alchemist Center sells them for about three silvers a bottle." "Hmm... I see. How much do you think an item to bring down your cooldown time will cost?" "Hmm... probably aroundten silver coins if we want a good one? Those items are quite expensive because many magicusers need them and they are a bit rare... but it''s going to be hard to get one even if we fork all our money together. I only have about one silver coin and 80 copper coins. Elizabat has about two silver coin and 70 copper coins. Dspects is usually broke and you are new so you probably don''t have a lot either. With just mine and Elizabat''s money we will only have four silver coins and 50 copper coins." "Hey man, at least I have a house," Dspects retorted. "How many coins you got there then?" Foggy asked. Dspect let out a cough as he ignored Foggy''s question. "Anyways, even if we sell your poor grade potions we won''t get a lot. We minus well just take what we can get," Dspects offered. The ends of Ferti''s lips curled up as she pulled out potion bottles from her inventory. "I have two normal grade potions and 17 low grade potions. With this we can make about 10 silvers and 50 coppers according to what you just said," Ferti calculated. Foggy''s and Dspects jaw dropped to the floor as Elizabat''s eyes widened for the first time since Ferti had met. "D-d-dude!" Dspects stammered out, excited, "where the hell did ya get all these?" "Yours truly made them," Ferti brush some imaginary dust off her shoulders. "What?!" both Foggy and Elizabat yelled out at the same time. "No need to so surprised. I am the firstone who found Snib''s Crib after all," Ferti shrugged her shoulders like it was no big deal. "Hey, hey, get off your high horse there, dude! You looking real ugly right now," Dspects shook his head at her. "Really? Cause I think I''m looking hella fine right now," Ferti let out a taunting laugh. "Damn... I can''t even say anything... but oh I so want to punch you right now," Dspects cracked his knuckles. "Well calm down there, man. Anyways, let''s sell these things off real quick and then get back to hunting. I''m going to leave the sale to you two, Foggy and Elizabat. Dspects, you can go around the stores to see a couple of items we can buy to lower Foggy''s cooldown time. I''m going to run some errands. Just DM me when you guys are done," Ferti ordered. "Huh? You''re leaving the sale to us?" Foggy was still a bit flabbergasted. "Yeah. You guys have a stall in the Alchemist Center so you guys can try to advertise there. Try to raise the price a bit but don''t lower it at any cost. Going by what you said earlier, potions do seem quite important in this kingdom." "You don''t want to be there with us and let people know you made them?" Foggy frowned, clearly confused. "Just say you got it from a supplier. It''s too troublesome for me right now. Also, if people saw me and you guys told them I made it they might start suspecting something suspicious is going on since I''m a newbie." "But something suspicious is going on if you can make these as a newbie," Dspects blurted out, "you hacking the game or something, man?" "Calm down, man. If I really did hack the game then I wouldn''t make myself still be a newb right now. It''s all because I racked up points reading at the library and put them in my intelligence stat," Ferti explained. "Ohhh. Okay," Foggy nodded his head, understanding. "By the way, can you guys give me some of your herbs so I can make more?" "Uhh... about that. We kind of can''t because each herb we sell we only take about 20% profit. 40% goes to renting the stall from the Alchemist Center. The rest goes toward our supplier who is usually out of town and gives quests out to newbies who needs them." "Oooh... alright, that''s cool," Ferti didn''tmind. "Why do I have to be the one going around looking for items?" Dspects complained. "Because you''re kind of useless right now and that''s all you can do at the moment. Anyways, I''ll be heading out first. See you guys later," Ferti winked at them before leaving the shed. She heard Dspects cuss after her a few time and let out a laugh as she imagined his pissed off face in her head. - Ferti was back at the library and hacking away at books she hadn''t touched yet. "You''re back?" Floy looked down at her as she sat on the ground reading the books from the lowest shelf. "Yes. Did you miss me?" Ferti teased. "A little," Floy answered and she almost choked on her spit as she widened her eyes at him. He just gave her a childish smile before walking up to her. "What have you been up to?" he asked. "Just been trying to make some friends," Ferti answered. "Ohh...I see... anyways,I have a present for you," Floy pulled something out of his sleeve and handed it to her. Ferti put down her book as she looked at the item in his hand. She saw a small green box that had the letter F engraved onto it. There were also intricate designs on the side of the box which seemed to resemble some sort of spell.
Hidden Quest Found! Title: ??? Description: ??? Rank: ??? Rewards: ??? If you accept this box fromFloy then you will be triggering a hidden quest. Would you like to proceed?
Accept the box? Yes or No
Ferti stared at the screen in front of her and her eyes grew in shock. She looked up at Floy and Floy looked back down at her with taunting eyes. "This is?" she tried sounding him out. "Do you want it, adventurer?" Floy answered her question with another question. Thoughts raced through Ferti''s head as she thought about all the risk that could come with this. She knew that each player can only take up to four quests and the time it takes to complete a quest vary. This quest could help her grow exponentially or just be easy and give her some points. In the worst case, all it would do was just take up one space in her quests slots. She licked her lips as her heartbeat increased. It started with a slow jog before turning into a full on sprint to where she could hear her own heartbeat. Her eyes brightened as she reached out and grabbed the box in front of her. "Then, thank you," she smiled as she took the box.
You have just accepted a hidden quest!
Chapter 12: Majestic Blue Robe
Hidden Quest Title: Recollection of History Description: ??? Rank: SSS Rewards: ???
Ferti glanced over the screen before looking down at the green box. "It''s pretty," she commented as she ran her fingers over the design to realize that it was painted in gold. "Of course... it''s important. Keep it safe. I''m going to go now," Floy turned to walk away. "Wait! Aren''t you going to tell me what this is first?" Ferti asked before he could go any further. He looked back at her with gentle eyes. For a second, it seemed as if he was way older than how his appearance deemed him to be. "Didn''t I tell you to finish the task at hand first, and then we will talk?" Floy reminded. Ferti couldn''t say anything back and just nodded her head. Floy gave her a smile before leaving her alone. She looked back down at the box and frowned. "Identify," she whispered.
Fail to identify object!
"What?!" Ferti let out, "fail... how?" she touched her chin before trying again.
Fail to identify object!
"Hmm..." she tried again and again only to fail. After a while, she gave up and shoved the box into her inventory, before returning to her reading. She spent about two game hours reading before she heard a ranging sound.
Player Foggy is trying to contact you.
Would you like to pick up the call? Yes or No Additional options: -Block -Silence -Ignore
"Yes," Ferti answered. The next moment she heard Foggy''s voice. "Hello?" he called out. "Did yall finish selling the potions?" Ferti asked. "Oh, yeah man! We made some big bucks doing so. Elizabat and I were able to rack up about 15 silver coins because players were fighting over them!" "15?!" Ferti didn''t expect for the potions to sell so well. "Yeah. We just called Dspects and he told us he found an item that seemed to fit the bill. I''ll send you the location right now," Foggy went silent for a moment before Ferti heard a gentle beep. She opened up her map to see a red dot marked on it. "He found a shop on the outskirts of town?" "I was shook too. Anyways, Elizabat and I are heading there right now. Do you want to meet up with us and get there together?" Foggy asked. "It''s alright. I''ll just see you guys there," Ferti answered. They said their goodbyes before she stood up and dusted off her pants. She put the books back to where they belonged and bowed to Floy as she left the library. - Ferti was just a few blocks away from the shop when she saw a figure wearing a majestic blue hood. She felt this figure was familiar as she stopped in her tracks to observe him.She saw him speaking to another NPC and focued her attention on the NPC''s lips. "Is it... true? These... precious... herbs..." she mumbled to herself. The figure nodded his head and the NPC smiled at him before handing him a bag. Ferti wasn''t usually curious about other people''s issues but for some reason, her eyes stayed glued to this blue-robed figure. She watched the figure took the bag and bow at the NPC. "No... thank you... Wolf... fang.... Wolffang?" Ferti felt time stopped as she stared at the figure. ~ "Why did you choose that name for your avatar?" a young girl asked. "Because people tell me I look like a wolf. Also, look at these," the young boy flashed the girl a smile, "aren''t my fangs cute?" he showed off. The young girl giggled before poking his cheek. "Cute," she agreed, "very cute, Elliot," she pinched his soft cheek. "Mina," a voice broke into their conversation as another girl with the same face as the other approached them. "Oh, Mona! How long have you been here?" Mina asked. Mona looked up at Mina and just gave her a smile. "I got here just now," she answered. "Oh... well what are you doing? Come join us!" Mina invited as she scoochedcloser to Elliot so that Mona could take the seat next to her. Mona paused for a second before nodding and sitting next to Mina. ~ The memory flashed by in less than a second as Ferti she felt her heart palpitate. The NPC had already left and the figure was leaving too before Ferti finally got back to her senses. "No, Elliot!" sheran after the figure. The figure had walked into the alley and she ran in after he did. She looked around the alley to see that the figure disappeared. Her eyes darted everywhere before she ran deeper into the alley. "Elliot... please," she whispered to herself. She ran out the other end of the alley only to see a row of houses in front of her. She turned around desperately trying to find the figure that just disappeared. She let out an a hopeless breath before falling to her knees.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "He''s gone... no... it couldn''t have been him in the first place... it could''ve been someone else with the same name... what am I doing?" her vision grew blurry as she clenched her teeth in order not to let out a cry. Her shoulders trembled for a moment as the top part of her sleeves were now wet.
PlayerDspects is trying to contact you.
Would you like to pick up the call? Yes or No Additional options: -Block -Silence -Ignore
She wiped her tears away before clearing her voice and accepting the call. "Where are you, man? We''ve been waiting for fifteen minutes!" Dspects scolded. Ferti took a deep breath before standing up from the ground. "I''m sorry," she apologized, "I just... got a bit distracted. I''ll be there soon." "Hmm... okay, well hurry up! We''ll be waiting," Dspects closed the call after he said that. Ferti stood still for a second before she looked around her to see the sunset. The blue and purples blended harmoniously with the red and orange. It reminded her of a day she wished she could relive once more but knew that she could never return to that day. She felt a sense of peace as she seemed to accept something. "I''m Ferti... I''m... a supporter," she seemed to be reminding herself of something, "I''m... just a supporter," she mumbled one last time. - Ferti reached the shop to see the rest of her party members there. Dspects gave her an irritated look ashis arms were crossed and he repeatedly tapped his foot on the ground. "Sorry, sorry!" she jogged up to them, "I got a bit distracted and went to check some things out instead," she gave them an apologetic smile. Dspects narrowed his eyes at her. "It''s fine. No need to worry," Foggy comforted, "let''s go check out this item out now. Lead the way Dee," Foggy nudged Dspects. Dspectslet out an irritated grunt but proceeded to guide them into the shop. Ferti looked around to find that this shop was a small accessory shop. She glanced around to see jewels embedded into earrings, necklaces, and different types of accessories she had never seen before. She nodded her head at the unique designs. "This one," she heard Dspects say. She looked up to see him pointing at a thingoldenring which had a purple gem in the middle of it. "I looked through most of the shops and this one has the best description to suit our causes," Dspects said proudly. Ferti looked at the simple ring and nodded her head. "Identify," she said before she read the description.
Object Identified! Name:Gold Ring with Purple Gem Creator:Butterdry Grade:Blue Effects: -Lowers cooldown time by 15% +2 Charisma +2 Intelligence Conditions:Must be level 5 or higher to equip Description:This ring was created by Butterdry.
"Nice," she nodded her head in approval. She glanced at the description tag that was put up to see that it basically said the same thing, except it had a price. "12 silvers... not bad." "It''s a bit expensive," Foggy disagreed. "It''s fine, isn''t it? We did earn 15 silvers after all," Ferti countered. "But... that was your money. I feel bad," Foggy pouted. "It''s fine. It''s not like it''s only for your benefit. It''s all for the party''s benefit so we should just think of it as an investment. Money comes and goes anyway but time can disappear just like that. We should do what we can with the time we have. This party is important to me too as it''s my first party so I want us to be successful," Ferti said nonchalantly as she continued to observe the ring, "besides, I chose you guys to come with me. I should be the one taking care of you guys."
Leadership +10! Charisma +5! Charm +3!
A screen suddenly popped up in front of her. She widened her eyes for a second before turning to see the rest of her party members looking at her with a gentle gaze. She felt a shiver run up her back before she let out a light cough. "Anyways, let''s purchase this and head back to the crib before it gets too late," Ferti said as she approached the counter, "excuse me. I would like to purchase an item," she flashed a handsome smile toward the female clerk. The female clerk gave her a shy smile back as the clerk''shoney colored eyes looked away. Ferti could tell that this clerk was a player. She scanned the clerk''s cute appearance as the clerk had her pink hair braided down her back, and was wearing a simple blue dress. "Oh... which one would you like to purchase?" the clerk asked. "The golden ring with a purple gem over there," Ferti pointed behind her. The clerk''s eyes brightened up as she saw the ring she was pointing to. "Y-you want that one?" "Yes," Ferti answered once more. The ends of the clerk''s lips went up so much it was as if her mouth was going to tear. She walked over and picked the ring up. She placed it in a small exquisite box before placing it on the counter. "It will be seven silvers," she looked proud of herself. "Just seven?" Ferti asked for clarification. "Un. It''s the second ring I made here and the first to be purchased by a customer. That being so, I will give you a small discount," the clerk winked at her. Ferti smiled, satisfied at the transaction as she nodded her head. She looked back at Foggy and Foggy rushed up to her. He placed the seven silvers on the counter as his excited eyes were stuck on the box. "Thank you for the generous discount. If you don''t mind, may I have the honor of knowing your name?" Ferti handed her hand out. The clerk''s face blushed a soft red before she put her small hand in Ferti''s hand. "My name is... Butterdry," she replied. Ferti kissed the back of her hand before looking up at her with warmth flowing out of her eyes. "My name is Ferti. If I need any more equipment in the future, would you mind if I return here?" Ferti asked, her voice low and mellow. "O-of course. Please return here whenever you can," Butterdry''s eyes fluttered showing off her long eyelashes. Ferti smiled as she let go of her hand.
+10 Charisma +5 Charm
"Then, may we meet again, Butterdry," FertirolledButterdry''s name off her tongue ever so smoothly and saw Butterdry''s face flush red before she exited the shop. As the door closed behind them she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Dspects looking at her with a strong intent in his eyes. He put both his hands on her shoulder and she tried to back away but she couldn''t. She looked into his eyes trying to search for why she was stopped but Dspects seemed to be glaring a hole through her skull. "Master," Dspects yelled out before clapping his hands together, "please teach me your skills!"
+5 Leadership! +10 Charm!
Ferti jaw dropped slightly as she couldn''t believe how many points she was getting from this group. She didn''t understand why this group was relying so much on her to be a leader in the first place, as she was playing a supporter role. "Master! Please! Teach me your ways!" Dspects got on his knees and bowed to her, "I... I... I want to pick up girls like you do, Master!" Dspects suddenly declared. "Stop!" Ferti backed away from the imbecile. "Please, Master! Teach your disciple the ways to woo a woman!" Dspects kowtowed. Ferti looked over to Foggy and Elizabat for help. Instead, she saw them avoiding her gaze as they pretended they didn''t know the two. "Stop!" Ferti''s face flushed red as she took a step back. She noticed people whispering and looked around to see some players staring at them. "Master! Please! Accept me as your disciple!" Dspects kowtowed again. "I-I... I have to leave now. See you guys tomorrow," Ferti stammered out. "Master!" Dspects let out a desperate cry as he reached out to grab her. She quickly logged out of the gamebefore he could touch her. - Mona pulled off her VR helmet and combed her hair back with her fingers. She felt the ends of her hair rising on her neck and trembled for a moment. "What a persistent man," she shivered before pulling her blanket over herself, "I hope he gets over it soon," she shook her head as she laid down her bed. She turned to her side and let out a small breath as she thought about that figure in the majestic blue robe. "Wolffang..." her voice was barely audible before she closed her eyes. She heard a soft voice in her head calling out a name as she slept. "Mina... Mina..." Chapter 13: Repent for Sins Mona opened the door and saw Mr. Ferk''s fist hovering in the air. "Ooh... hi?" Mr. Ferk greeted. Mona rolled her eyes before closing her door and locking it. She ignored him as she brushed past his shoulder. She started to walk down the stairs and she saw her neighbor. She looked up saw him glare at her in disgust and she looked away. Mr. Ferk caught up to her as they both walked side to side to school together. When they reached the classroom, she threw her empty bag on the desk before leaving the room. "I''ll be back," she announced to Mr. Ferk as she headed to the cafeteria. The tiger was furious as it scratched at the insides of her stomach, demanding food or else it would consume her. She rubbed her stomach and furrowed her brows as she picked up her speed. She reached the cafeteria and looked around to see that it was relatively empty. She grabbed a breakfast sandwich and milk before paying for it. She found herself a quiet spot at a corner of the lunchroom. She opened the milk carton first and took a swig to quench her thirst before paying attention to the sandwich. She opened the sandwich and took in a whiff. The tiger wagged it''s tail as it licked its lips. She brought the sandwich closer to her, ready to take a bite before it was knocked out of her hand. She watched the sandwich roll onto the ground before seeing a pale hand with frighteningly long pink nails in front of her. "Oops! My bad," the owner of the hand mocked with her ear piercing high-pitched voice. Mona looked up to see a girl with pink hair and purple highlights staring down at her. The tiger in her roared in retaliation but soon ran away when it felt Mona''s dark presence. "Why are you looking at me like that? I said it was my bad," the girl taunted.Mona ignored her and picked up the dirty sandwich. "Yea, it was her bad," a blue-haired girl chimed behind the pink-haired girl. "That''s right. It was an accident. No need to look so ugly," a green-haired girl also chimed. "Is saying my bad an apology, Cecilia?" Mona stood up and her eyes shot daggers into thepink-haired girl''s green eyes. "Of course it is," Cecilia put a hand on her hip as one end of her lips lifted up, "why? Are you upset?" the girl chuckled. "No... if it was really an accident then it''s alright," Mona picked up her milk carton and proceeded to leave but was stopped by the blue-haired girl as the blue-haired walked in front of her. "Why don''t you greet us also?" she asked. "My bad. I don''t know your names." "Then, for your information, my name is Sadie and she is Ally. Remember it, Mina knockoff," Sadie ordered. Cecilia and Ally let out a laugh as Sadie gave them a proud smile. Mona felt a rush of heat run through her as she balled a fist. She looked at Sadie and gave her a small smile. "Please... move. I have to go back to class before the bell rings," she tried to remain calm. She looked behind Sadie to see that students were starting to pool into the cafeteria and she didn''t want to attract attention. "Why? This is a public space. I can stand anywhere I want. Who are you to tell me what to do,Mina knockoff?" Sadie didn''t move. Mona took in a deep breath before trying again. "I don''t want to be late. Please move," shepolitely said. "What if we don''t? What are you going to do?" Cecilia took a step toward her and set a hand on her shoulder as she leaned into her ear, "without your sister here, you are completely nothing. Why don''t you just get the fuck out already,Mina''s bitch?" Cecilia hissed. Mona couldn''t hold it in any longer as she shoved the dirty sandwich in her hand into Cecilia''s face as she pushed her back. Cecilia let out a yelp before staggering backward. Mona didn''t end it there as she threw the milk carton at Sadie, spilling the milk all over Sadie''s uniquely designed, self altered uniform. Sadie let out a yelp also as she tried to brush the milk off of her. "My bad, Powerpoff girls" Mona looked at them with menacing eyes, "it wastrulyan unfortunate accident." "You fucking bitch!" Cecilia yelled as she wiped cheese off her face. "Why are you yelling like that? It was an accident. No need to sound so ugly," Mona threw their words back at them. "You''re really looking for a fight!" Cecilia launched at her with her long nails. Before Mona could even dodge she saw a figure appear in front of her. "Oy! Oy! Please calm down!" she heard Matthew say and looked in front of him to see him grabbing Cecilia''s wrists. "Ma... Matthew?" Cecilia face flushed red before she pulled away, "I... I... it''s all her fault. She threw the sandwich at me first," Cecilia immediately shifted the blame toward her. "That''s right. She also threw the milk at me!" Sadie continued to chime in.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "But, you ladies don''t need to fight over something like this. It won''t be good if it ruins your appearance or reputation," Matthew said quietly. The Powerpoff girls looked behind them to see a gathering had appeared. Their faces turned red before Cecilia cleared her throat. "Let''s go," she quickly spat out as they all left together. Matthew let out a sigh before turning around to face Mona. "Are you alright?" he asked as he looked Mona up and down with concern. Mona didn''t know how to react as she just walked past him and started to head to her class. "Mona," Matthew called out and she felt fingers wrap around her arm. "Let me go!" Mona whipped his arm off and looked up to see his hurt expression. His lost brown eyes looked back at her as his lips drooped down. Guilt stabbed her chest but she ignored it as she sped walk away. She reached her classroom and sat down at her seat, burying her head into her arms. "Just three more days... just three more days of this," she muttered to comfort herself. - After school ended, Mona stayed behind for a bit so everyone could leave. Once the halls were empty, she got up to leave the classroom but was stopped by Liam as he narrowed his eyes at her. She looked behind him to see Cecilia and her group looking back at her with mocking eyes. "What do you want?" her voice was cold enough to freeze up an entire room as she questioned Liam. "Apologize," Liam demanded. "Apologize? For what?" "For pushing the sandwich into Cel''s face and throwing milk at Sadie," Liam sounded as if he barely had any patience within him. "I already did. I said it was my bad," Mona retorted. "Is saying my bad an apology?" "According to them it is, that''s why I said it. I''m not a rude enough bitch to just ruin someone''s meal and not apologize properly," Mona fired back as she kept her eyes on the trio. The trio didn''t seem fazed at all by her. "You fucking bitch," Liam hissed as he grabbed her by her collar, "I have had enough of your shit. Why do you keep showing your face around here? Get out. Get the fuck out!" the hand that Liam grabbed her collar with, trembled. "It was just because you were living under Mina''s shadow that everyone tolerated you but now that she''s gone, no one is going to put up with your fucking shit anymore!" his eyes burned with fury. Mona let out a chuckle. "Wow... just because you canacta bit, you really think you are the new prince around here? Let me also tell you something, Liam Nast, you are the shittiest actor I have ever watched perform. You can never overcome Elliot in this lifetime. If I had lived in Mina''s shadow then you will forever live in Elliot''s," Mona smirked. Liam''s entire face turnedblack as he pushed her back and she fell down. "Don''t fucking spew out shit, you bitch!" he stomped toward her. "Liam!" Natalie ran toward him to hold him back, "stop! If you get suspended then how are we going to compete in the next competition?" "I don''t care. Get off me, Natalie! I''m going to teach that little bitch a lesson. She''s the reason Mina and Elliot weren''t able to perform with us before they got into that accident. She spread those fucking pictures that caused them to get suspended. She''s the fucking reason why everything went downhill!" Liam yelled out.Mona felt every word Liam said stabbed her. She bit her lip for a moment before standing up. "You don''t know anything," her voice was scarily monotoned, so monotoned it seem as if she wasn''t even a living thing speaking, "you don''t who the real Mina is. You don''t know who the person who performed on stage with you was. You... don''t know how anything... you don''t fucking know how much I..." Mona stopped herself from continuing as she pressed her lips together. She looked up to meet Liam''s angry eyes. "Give me just this week. After this week, then you can have your peaceful days of me not being here back," Mona changed the subject, "I... wouldn''t return here either if Ihad a choice," she said, however even she didn''t know how much truth or lie was in that sentence. Liam seemed to have calmed down as he gently pushed Natalie off. "If you weren''t Mina''s sister... if you didn''t have Mina''s face... I probably would have... killed you, myself..." Liam stated before turning around and walking away. Mona felt a cold wave wash over her body as she stared at his retreating back. His words echoed in her head and she felt her insides had disappeared, leaving behind only a thin layer of a human shell behind. She didn''t know how she did but she eventually returned to her apartment. Her legs gave way when she reached the living room as her vision grew blurry. Tears trailed out of her empty eyes and landed on the cold wooden tiled floor. ~ A girl wearing awhite scarf burst into the room to see another girl with the same face stroking ablackscarf. "Why did you do that? Why did you put these photos up?!" the white scarf girl yelled as she threw pieces of paper toward the other girl. The papers landed on the ground to reveal a girl kissing a boy on the cheek, both of them holding a can of beer. The girl stroking theblack scarf pulled it on as she looked up at the white scarf girl. "I have no other choice... you wouldn''t listen to me," theblack scarf girl said, "you wanted to take away my happiness... so I had to take yours away first," theblack scarf girl smiled at thewhite scarf girl. "Y... you..." "You should have listened to me. You should''ve stayed still. If you didn''t force me... I wouldn''t have made this choice. It''s all your fault that everything has fallen like this. It''s completely your fault!" the black scarf girl yelled. "You... I..." "You... shouldn''t have forced... me... you shouldn''t have," tears fell down the girl''s pale face, "you shouldn''t have..." the white scarf girl looked at the other girl in the face and shook her head. "We shouldn''t have... we should''ve never started this stupid secret..." "But we did," the black scarf girl interrupted, "it''s fate. Our fate. The day we started doing that... it was our fate... and you have to accept it just as I accepted mine. I''m thankful... really thankful. If it wasn''t because of you we might''ve never escaped that wretched life... but that doesn''t mean that I will give you everything... the things I want, I have to have. So... please... please, Mina... please give it to me," the black scarf girl begged, "please... give it to me..." ~ Mona opened her eyes to see that she had fallen asleep for two hours already. The tiger had returned full force as she grimaced at the pain before dragging her body to the fridge. She heated up some prepacked frozen food and shoved it down her throat. After the tiger calmed down, she let out a small sigh before dragging herself to her room. She glanced down at the VR helmet and smiled. "At least I still have you..." she bent down and picked it up. She laid down on her bed and pulled the VR helmet on before closing her eyes. "In this way... I can still repent... for my sins," she muttered before logging into the game. Chapter 14: Friend Request Ferti looked around to see that she was in front of the shop where she had logged off. She checked her friend''s list to see that only Dspects was the only one logged in. Her heart skipped a beat out of fear and nervousness but before she could do anything else, she heard a ranging noise.
PlayerDspects is trying to contact you.
Would you like to pick up the call? Yes or No Additional options: -Block -Silence -Ignore
A part of her was tempted to ignore the call but she mustered up her reasoning before answering the call. "Hello," she said. "Master! This is your loyal disciple, Dspects!" Dspects energetic voice came through. Ferti choked on her spit as she let out a cough. "Master? Master?! Master, are you alright? Do you need me to purchase some health potions for you? Please let your loyal disciple know!" Dspects called out. Ferti pulled the canteen out of her inventory and chugged some water before wiping her mouth dry. "Aren''t you embarrassed of yourself? Why do you keep acting this way and calling me master??!" Ferti didn''t know how to act in front of Dspects anymore. She couldn''t take this sudden rush of respect that was forced upon her. "Master... to learn the art of wooing a woman... your loyal disciple is willing to throw away his pride... his dignity... his responsibilities... his own fam-" "Okay, let''s stop there!" Ferti couldn''t take this anymore, "listen... I can''t really be your master." "Huh? Why?! Is it because I''m too stupid? Or ugly? Or annoying? Or trashy? Please don''t give up on me like this, master!" Dspects cried out. "N-no... it''s none of that... it''s just... I''m a natural," Ferti tried to make something up to avoid this awkward situation, "I... I don''t know how to teach you something that comes naturally to me," she wasn''t really lying at the same time. She, herself, is afemale so she knows whatfemales liked to hear. It''s not like she could just tell Dspects to change his sex to learn what a woman wants and then change it again to... wait... a thought suddenly came to her. "Master! Please! Help your loyal disciple out here! I''ve been single for 19 years already! I don''t want to be single for the next 81 years." "Next 81 years? You''re trying to live until 100?" Ferti got sidetracked. "You''re missing the point here, master!" "Dspects," Ferti interrupted Dspects before she lost her train of thought again, "have you ever... tried playing as a... female character before?" "Huh? W-why?" "Answer the question, my loyal disciple," Ferti demanded. "No, master. Your loyal disciple has never played as a female character before," Dspects immediately responded. "Then... I recommend you try it out." "Hah?! M-master! What do you mean? How am I suppose to woo girls if I play as a girl?" "Dspects, think about it. If you want to woo a girl then you need to put yourself in a girl''s shoes first. What kind of words do they want to hear? What kind of actions do they like? If you are able to decipher these, then wooing a girl will be easy peasy!" Ferti felt like her explanation was pretty well sounded. "Hmm... listening to master, this loyal disciple understands... however this loyal disciple will refuse master''s advice and ask master to give adifferent advice," Dspects rejected. Ferti''s jaw drop out of shock before she narrowed her eyes. "Why?" "Although this loyal disciple is willing to give up his pride... his dignity... his responsibilities... and even his own family... this one cannot give up this one''s own manhood in order to learn how to woo girls. Please bestow upon this loyal disciple a different teaching," Dspects tone was sincere yet Ferti found it oddly annoying. "Hmph. Not willing to take my good advice, go find another master to teach you to woo girls. I have nothing else to teach you!" Ferti declared. "Ma-master!" "Don''t call me that. I never accepted you as a disciple. Now, where is Foggy and Elizabat? We should start hunting soon," she ignored him. There was a moment of silence over the call before Dspects let out a sigh. "Foggy is... having some IRL problems so he said he will be logging in later today. Elizabat went to keep him some company first and will also log in when he feels better," Dspects replied, dejected. Ferti furrowed her brows before nodding her head. "I see... you guys all know each other IRL?" she couldn''t help asking. "Huh? Oh, yea. We''ve been friends for a while. You''re the only one we don''t know IRL," Dspects answered. Ferti felt a sense of loneliness but decided not to dwell on it. "Nice. Well just DM me when they get on. I''ll be at the public library," Ferti was going to end the call when Dspects voice came through again. "Wait! How am I suppose to DM you if you''re going to log off?" he asked, confused. "Log off? What do you mean log off?" "Aren''t you going to the public library?" "... dude, I meant the public library in the freaking game!" "Ohh... I forget that you use that shit, I mean, that resource. Well, catch ya later!" Dspects ended the call before Ferti could reprimand him. Ferti had a bitter taste in her mouth but she ignored it as she started jogging toward the library. -This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. She walked toward the place she left off reading a book on to see a man standing there. The man had short pink buzzed cut hair and purple eyes, which contrasted strongly with his big eyes and square shaped jaw shape. Hewas reading a book, which just so coincidently happened to be the book that Ferti left off on. He pressed his thin lips together as a mountain of worries appeared on his forehead. Ferti frowned but walked up to the shelf he was standing in front of. She peeked at the title of his book and remembered that she had been reading volumes about insects that inhibited this game world. She felt a bit uncomfortable just skipping a volume so she waited for the man to finish, thinking that he would just look over the book quickly before returning it on the shelf. She was wrong. She waited around for a while but the man kept flipping pages back and forth as if he was searching for something but couldn''t find it. On his forehead, the mountains grew bigger and the valleys sunk deeper. Ferti couldn''t help but tapped her foot. She narrowed her eyes at the man hoping that if she saw what she was doing he would hurry up, but to no avail, as she did not get a response. After waiting for an hour, her patience had run dry as she walked up to him and cleared her throat. The man didn''t seem to have heard as he was too focused on the book. Ferti controlled her urge to roll her eyes before clearing her throat loud enough to sound like a trumpet. The man jumped before looking up at her. She stared back, waiting for him to say something first. "Sorry... I''m busy right now. If you want to talk about joining the guild, do it another time," the man blurted out, giving her a disdain look. Ferti frowned before giving him a confused smile. "Sorry, sir, um... I''m not here to talk about joining... your guild," Ferti assumed he was most likely talking about his guild. "Then... can I help you with something?"he asked. "That book," Ferti got straight to the point, "can I borrow it for a bit?" "This book?" the man pointed to the book he was holding. Ferti pushed the urge to yell out ''what other book am I talking about'' as she just gave a small smile and nodded. "Oh... sorry man, I''m still reading it," the man refused. Ferti bit her lip before forcing a smile on her face. "Just for a moment, please, sir" Ferti didn''t give up. "Uh..." the man looked conflicted as his eyes darted around, "I''m so-" "Just for a moment, please, sir" Ferti''s smile grew bigger. The man let out a small sigh before he handed over the book. "Then please hur-" he stopped speaking as Ferti flipped through the pages. After two minutes, she handed the book back to the man who stared at her with all the orifices on his face fully open. "Thank you," she gave him a smile before picking out the next ten volumes off the shelf and walking away. "W-wait!" the man behind her stammered as he walked up to her, "wh-what just happened?" he asked, flabbergasted. Ferti raised an eyebrow as she set the books down on a table before turning to look at him. "Pardon me, sir?" she cocked her head to the side. "Wh-what just happened? You just flipped through the book... did you even read it?" he asked. "Of course, sir. That''s why I returned it to you, sir," Ferti replied. "A-are you serious?" "Of course," she answered honestly. He kept eyeing her as if he didn''t believe her. "... are you an NPC?" he doubted. Ferti looked at him in disbelief for a moment before closing her eyes and rolling them under her lids. When she opened them again she just gave him a small smile. "What do you think? Do you think I''m an NPC?" she asked back. "Err... no?" he answered. "No?" "Um... no." "No?" "No. No. For sure, no," he said firmly. "Okay then. Now if you''ll excuse me," Ferti gestured toward the stack of books she brought to the table. The man looked at her with his big eyes before looking at the books, and then back at her. "Yea... yea," he nodded his head before walking away. Ferti thought that he would walk back to the bookshelves as she was ready to let out a long sigh but instead, he just took a seat diagonally across from her. She wrinkled her brows together a bit annoyed for the only reason she moved to the table, was because he was by the bookshelves but decided to ignore him. She picked up the next volume and started to read. She felt his intense stare which made her reading pace a bit slower, but she just turned away so she wasn''t facing him. "Out of sight, out of mind," she muttered to herself as she continued reading. After about twenty or so minutes, she finished reading all the books. She picked the mall up and reshelved them before moving on the next book. She heard footsteps from behind her and turned around to see the man suspiciously staring at her. "Um... can I help you with something?" she felt obligated to ask by the look he was giving her. "Can I... ask for your help... I''m sorry I never got your name. My name is Rozay," he held out his hand. Ferti shook his hand and gave him an awkward smile. "I''m Ferti," she replied as she let go of his hand. "Uh," the man seemed confused again as he looked at her weirdly, "do you... know me?" "Umm... am I supposed to?" "Oooh... no wonder... nevermind... that makes everything better. Are you new to the game?" "Why?" "Just..." the man looked her up and down, "so you are new..." he commented. Ferti felt a chill run up her back before taking a step back. "Hey man, can I as-"
PlayerDspects is trying to contact you.
Would you like to pick up the call? Yes or No Additional options: -Block -Silence -Ignore
Ferti heard a ranging and saw the screen popped up in front of her. "Excuse me," she stepped aside as she answered the call. "Master, you picked up!" Dspects cheerful voice came through. "I am not your master. Are Foggy and Elizabat on now?" "Yes, master. We are all meeting up at your loyal disciple''s house before going there." "I am not your master, and I''ll get there as fast as I can." "Of course, master. Master, do you need me to get you any refreshments or something before we go? If you want I can also buy you some new gear? What abou-" Ferti hung up before Dspects could continue. She turned back to Rozay and saw him staring back at her. "Um, well I kind of have to go now," she announced. "Oh... that''s not a problem," Rozay responded. She nodded her head and was going to say her goodbyes when another screen appeared in front of her.
Friend Request: Player, Rozay (Row-zay), has sent you a friend request.
Accept the friend request? Yes or No Additional options: -Block -Ignore
"Just DM when you are done," he said, as if they''ve known each other for a while. "Uhh..." she didn''t know how to respond to this stranger. "Don''t worry man. I''ll pay you good for the favor," Rozay said as if he expected this. Ferti looked at his equipment to notice that they seemed pretty expensivebefore accepting his friend request. "Alright," she nodded, "well then, see you around." "Mhmm. See you around," he gave her a wave as she walked out of the library. - Ferti walked into Dspects home to see the group huddled around the table. "Master, you''re here!" Dspect waved to her. "I am not your master," she pulled out a chair and sat down, "wassup, you two?" she asked Foggy and Elizabat. Elizabat didn''t reply as usual, while Foggy just gave her a shrug. "Well... are yall ready to hunt?" she changed the question. They both gave her a small nod. "Master, your loyal disciple is also ready to hunt." "I am not your master," she repeated again. "But ma-" "I am not your master. Shall we get going?" she looked at the other two. Elizabat stood up from her seat and so did Foggy. She also stood up before looking at Dspects, to see Dspects looking at her with teary eyes. "Master! You are harsher than those girls that resemble thorns. Pretty but spiteful," he sounded as if he had been treated unfairly. "Wow... I''m impressed you can use the word spiteful in a conversation," Ferti stroked her chin. "Master!" Dspects cried out. Ferti thought about what Dspects just said about the roses and then thought about the man she had seen in the library with a similar name. "Hey," she suddenly blurted out, "do you guys know how Rozay is?" the room was silent for a moment before Dspects flew off his chair and stared at her with disbelief. "Dude! Do you even play Road Builder? How the fuck do you not know how Rozay is?!" he asked. Ferti felt attacked by his outburst and took a step back. "Well, then who the hell is he?" "He''s the second in command of the Pink Clouds Guild, one of the top ten guilds on Road Builder! We can only dream of getting to even talk to him," Dspects looked up in awe. "Ohh... really?" Ferti pulled up her friend request and allowed the others access to see, "because he just sent me a friend request and I accepted." Chapter 15: Blue Light Ferti watched as Dspects squinted at the screen before backing away and shaking his head. "Nah, man. Must be a fake," he brushed it off, "must be a game with a similar name." "Really?" Ferti looked at the screen in front of her.
Friends (4):
Dspects (Dee-Spects) Foggy (Foggy) Elizabat (Ee-liz-uh-bat) Rozay (Row-zay) (To see more information please click on the player''s name)
She pressed on Rozay''s name to see his information.
Player name:Rozay (Row-zay) Gender: Male Class: Fighter/Brawler Level: 78 Title:RagingRight Hander
"Hmm... is level 78 pretty high?" she asked. "At the moment, yes, for this game was just launched recently. Not many people have reached passed the double digits," Foggy answered. "Ah... well whatever. Let''s get going," shrugged her shoulders. The others agreed as they started heading toward the hunting ground. When they reached the bed of flowers, the group let out a sigh as they realized they had to fall down again. "Hey Batty, can you carry me down this time? I think Foggy can handle himself," Dspects blinked innocently at Elizabat. Elizabat face contorted indispleasure as she backed away and held onto Foggy''s arm. "Disgusting," she muttered quite loudly. Ferti held in her laugh as she carefully walked in front of them. As she navigated the area she noticed Dspect stuck right behind her like glue. She turned around and narrowed her eyes at him. He gave her a small smile and she could tell exactly what he wanted to do. "Why don''t you walk in front?" she suggested. "Uh, no thank you. You know the way better than I do. Go right ahead," Dspects gestured his hand out. She glared at him before pushing him back. "Well then please keep your distance from me. I don''t want to be someone''s cushion again," she called him out. His eyes widened and cheeks blushed as he got caught red-handed. "O-of course I won''t do anything like that. I''m not that big of a jerk," he commented and gestured for her to walk ahead. She kept her eyes on him as she walked over the bed of flowers. They had almost reached the blue flowers already when she paused. She looked down before taking in a deep breath. "Here goes nothing," she took a step forward. Her feet landed right on some white flowers and she frowned. "Did it change again?" she asked as she looked back at the group. "Oops," she heard before seeing Dspects push her and his body falling toward her. She had no time to react as she fell backward. Just like before, there was no ground where she thought there was ground. "You bitch!" she cursed as she saw Dspects falling toward her with a proud smile on his face. "Sorry!" he yelled back but clearly didn''t look very sorry. She wanted to curse even more but before she could, her back hit the floor and knocked the air out of her.She barely took a breath before Dspects hit her from the front and that breath left as fast as it came.
-35 HP
"Asshole!" she pushed Dspects off of her. "You are the best master and leader anyone could ever have," Dspects helped pulled her up from the ground and started patting the dust off of her clothes. "Ahhh!" they heard Foggy screaming out before they saw Elizabat land not too far from them. "Aww, look at them go at it again... why don''t I have a relationship like that?" Dspects sighed. "Shut up," Elizabat snarled before she set Foggy down. Foggy gave her a thankful nod as he cleared his throat, his face red. "Alright, you guys ready for round two?" Dspects asked as he wrapped an arm around Foggy. "Well ready or not, it''s coming up right behind you," Ferti answered as she pointed behind him to a snib creeping upon them. "Identify," she noticed the snib''s darker eye color.
Monster Identified! Name: Dark Grey-eyed Snib Level:Mid leveled A snib is a creature that has evolved from its great ancestor a Crusaniblutia.
"Agh!" Dspect yelped before Elizabat started to run toward the snib to concentrate its aggro to her. "This one''s stronger than the other one we faced! Be careful," she warned the group. Ferti went up and pulled Foggy out of Dspects grasp as she moved them back. "Start chanting, Foggy," Ferti ordered, "go and help Elizabat, Dspects." "Yes, master!" Dspects pulled out his spear and charged toward the snib. Ferti observed their surroundings to see that the snib they were fighting was the only snib they were fighting. After confirming they only had one enemy, Ferti checked her teammates'' health. She saw Elizabat had taken quite some damage and she quickly healed her. She looked up to see Dspects struggling as the snib''s aggro shifted toward him. He took a tail whip and let out a grunt but kept attacking with his spear. "Back up, Dspects! I just healed Elizabat, she can take the aggro now!" she ordered. "Yes, master!" he moved back as Elizabat went in front of him. His health was depleting rapidly due to poison and Ferti quickly cast Anti-Poison.
Anti-poison failed!
"Come on," she tried again after waiting for the ten-second cooldown.
Anti-poisonsucceeded!
"Nice!" she praised herself before also casting her healing spell on Dspects. "How long you have left, Foggy?" she asked. "It hasn''t been that long since I started, I need another minute or so," Foggy replied. "Okay! Go do some more damage, Dspects," she ordered. "Yes, master!" Dspects charged in with a swift speed. He landed a critical hit on the snib''s abdomen and the snib let out a shriek. Elizabat took this time to land another strike. The snib grew angry as it charged toward them. It landed a critical hit on Elizabat as she flew back toward Ferti. Ferti eyes widened as she saw Elizabat''s health bar deplete over three-fourths of its total. "Take its aggro, Dspects!" Ferti yelled as she bent down to assists Elizabat, "heal," she chanted. Elizabat furrowed her brows in pain as she let out a cough. Her health went just below the halfway point and Ferti quickly healed her again, putting Elizabat''s bar just barely past the halfway point. Ferti noticed her bar dropping and realized that she also got poisoned when she took that critical hit. "Uh, I know you''re trying to help Batty but... I um... kind ofneedsomeassistance over here!" Dspects requested, his voice shaking as the snib blocked his attack and he bounced back. "Just hold on for a bit longer!" Ferti instructed. "O-okay. I''ll try my best! Agh!" Dspects took a hit but clench his teeth and continued to fight back. Ferti cast heal again before casting anti-poison on Elizabat.
Anti-poison failed!
"Ughh!" she let out as she tried again.
Anti-poison failed!
Anti-poison failed!
Anti-poison failed!
Her mana bar was depleting just as fast as Elizabat''s health bar was depleting. Shekept having to go back and forth between the two spells as anti-poison kept failing.
Anti-poison succeeded!
"Fucking finally," she stared at her almost empty mana bar. "Help!" Dspects yelled desperately as he took another attack and his health bar went past the halfway point. Sweat trickled down his forehead as he turned again to attack but before he could the snib snarled its teeth at him, paralyzing his movements with its eyes. Ferti realized she couldn''t heal him because she didn''t have any mana left and then she pushed Elizabat aside because she could only do one thing. "Ah, fuck!" Ferti sprung up and ran toward Dspects. She pushed the paralyzed Dspects out of the way as the snib whipped its tail. She took the hit straight on as she flew to the side and landed on the ground.
CRITICAL HIT!Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. -148 HP
She winced in pain and put her hands over her stomach. "Watch out!" Elizabat warned. She looked up to see the snib''s aggro concentrated on her. "Shit," she scrambled to get up as Elizabat ran toward her to try to take the snib''s aggro away from her. "Heekee!" the snib ignored Elizabat as it chased after her. "Foggy! Hurry!" Ferti cried out as she ran toward them as fast as she could. Due to her nervousness, her leg ended up tripping over the other and she fell to the ground. "Careful!" Elizabat tried to increase her speed. "Master!" Dspects finally broke out of his paralyzation. Ferti turned to see the snib''s sharp tail coming straight at her. "No..." she whimpered. "It''s ready!" Foggy announced, "Freezing ice!" he chanted as the enchanted circle appeared in front of him. The light blue ice ball hit the snib accurately on the throat as the ice spread to freeze its whole body. Ferti felt a cold sweat trickled down her face as the snib''s tail was millimeters away from her face. "Whew!" Dspects let out a breath, "that was a close one," he sank to the floor. "Good job... Foggy. This time... instead of your fire spell... try your light spell," Ferti said in between pants. She kept an eyeout at their surroundings to make sure no other snib was coming near them. "On it," Foggy started to chant his light spell. Elizabatbent down to help Ferti. "You okay?" she asked as she held her hand out. Ferti nodded her head as she took Elizabat''s hand. Elizabat pulled her up and she let out a sigh. "Hey, Batty. How about some help over here too?" Dspects blew a kiss to her. Elizabat scowled as she looked at him. "Disgusting," she commented before turning her back away. "Ugh, you''re so mean. My heart," Dspects pretended to clutch his heart in pain. "Shut up and get over here," Ferti said as they headed toward Foggy. Dspects let out an unsatisfied sound but complied as they huddled around Foggy. "I think we should look for an exit after this. We should make some more preparations," Ferti commented.
"Sounds good to me," Dspects agreed. Elizabat just nodded her head as she kept her focus on Foggy. "These snibs are still too strong for us. We should gather some herbs and whatnot so I can create some potions first," Ferti started to make plans. "Sounds good, master. You almost done yet, man?" Dspects asked as he poked Foggy. Foggy nodded. "I''m done! Soaring light!" he chanted. A ball of white light hit the snib before disappearing. The party waited for something to happen and nothing was going on. "Uh? Wh...at?" Dspects raised an eyebrow. "Um... I''m not sure either," Ferti touched her chin. "Hit it?" Foggy suggested. Dspects started to walk toward the snib but abruptly stopped when the ice on the snib started cracking. He took a step back before running back and hiding behind Elizabat. "It''s going to unfreeze again isn''t it?! I thought you knew your shit, man! You don''t know anything! You''re not worthy of being my master!" Dspects trembled as he insulted Ferti. Ferti didn''t seem to be paying attention as she took a step near the snib. "What''re you doing?" Foggy reached out and pulled on her shoulder. "It''s different," she squinted her eyes at the snib, "the animations for this cracking... isn''t it different? Doesn''t it look like there''s light coming through the ice?" Ferti pointed to the snib as she could see that the ice seemed somewhat illuminated from within by some sort of light. "Huh?" Foggy stepped forward with her. After a moment, the cracks grew larger and light spewed out from beneath it. Whatever was the snib was now gone, as ice particles flew around them.
You have level up!
You have level up!
You have level up!
You have level up!
You have level up!
You have level up!
She was bombarded with screens appearing in front of her. She watched as her health and mana bar was restored to full due to the level-ups.
You have gain 60 skill points!
"Wow!" Dspects exclaimed from behind her, "I just went up two levels!" he did a small victory dance. Ferti didn''t mind him as she went to observe the drops. There were a few scales, four potions, three fangs, a silver spear, and a grey cloak. "Identify," she looked over the items.
Item Identified! Name: Snib Scales Grade: Green These scales can be used to help craft clothing or can be accessories for weapons which can help boost stats.
Item Identified! Name: Snib Poison Grade: Orange This is a rare bottle of snib poison. Use with caution!
Item Identified! Name: Snib Fangs Grade: Orange These are rare snib fangs. Use with caution!
ItemIdentified! Name:Traveler''sSpear Creator:??? Grade:Red Effects: Can occasionally poison enemies +25 attack Conditions:Must be level11 or higher to equip Description:???
ItemIdentified! Name:Traveler''s Cloak Creator:??? Grade:Red Effects: 50% higher chance of not getting poisoned 50% higher chance of not getting paralyzed from monster moves +15 defense Conditions:Must be level 9 or higher to equip Description:???
"Hmm," she rubbed her chin before picking up the items, "this cloak help protects someone from getting poison and paralyze by 50%. It also helps add 15 points to your defense. Who wants it first?" she turned toward the group. "Well I guess I ca-" Dspects started. "You take it. You''re weak and we need you to heal us so you can''t be getting poisoned or paralyzed," Elizabatinterrupted. "I agree," Foggy nodded his head. "Ha... ha... yea... you can... have it," Dspects seemed reluctant but gave in to the other two''s opinion. Ferti didn''t complain as she pulled it on herself. "Here," she handed the spear over to Dspects, "you''re the only one here who can use a spear." "Woohoo!" he cheered as he took the spear. He swung it around and practiced some stabbing movements before smiling, "heck yeah!" "You two can take the rest of the loot" she handedthe rest of the loot to Foggy. "Thanks," Foggy took the loot and stuffed it into his inventory. "Alright, just give me a moment to input in my skill points," Ferti pulled up her status menu and started to fiddle around. The others all nodded as they started to do the same. Ferti poured half her points into agility, and then distributed the others to defense, strength, and stamina. She stared at her status screen and nodded her head.
Status Menu
Name: Ferti Health: 405/405
Level: 9 Mana 424/424
Race: Human Fire Resistance:5% Light Resistance:3%
Gender: Female Wind Resistance:5% Dark Resistance:2%
Class: N/A Water Resistance:5% Goal:To become the ultimate supporter.
Title: N/A Earth Resistance:5% Goal status:Incomplete
Attack: 12 Intelligence: 40
Defense: 16 Wisdom: 18
Strength: 23 Leadership: 17
Agility: 38 Charisma: 36
Fame: 50 Luck: 33
Stamina: 25 Charm: 53
"Looks good," she felt satisfied with her choice. She decided to pour half her points into agility as she was probably going to need that to run away from monsters to hide behind other members. She upgraded her stamina to help in her running away and also increased her health bar along with the strength attribute. Her defense needed to be higher as one hit from the snib took away more than a third of her health. She didn''t want to die in three hits. She stared at the other members to see all their health bar above 600points already. Elizabat''s was especially high with it being in the 900 which was understandable as she was a tank. "What do you guys want to do now? Should we keep hunting?" Ferti asked, "or should we find a way out so we can prepare ourselves for tomorrow?" "I think finding an exit is important because if we don''t, how are we going to be able to get out of here?" Foggy commented. "I agree," Elizabat said. "Alright. Let''s look for a way out first and then we can come back tomorrow to hunt again," Ferti also liked the idea. The party went to search around for a bit. They ended up with quite a bit of loot as they were able to kill the grey-eyed snibs they encountered. If they encounter any dark grey-eyed snibs they would run away as they didn''t have confidence in themselves. One of the grey-eyed snib dropped a pair of fighting gloves which they gave to Elizabat. Another dropped a necklace which helped reduce spell casting time which they gave to Foggy. After wandering around for a couple of hours in the dark and still not finding an exit, they gave up as they plopped down to the ground. They were all tired. Their health and mana bars were also close to empty. "Where the heck is the freaking exit here?" Dspects groaned in pain. "Don''t tell me... the only way to return to the village is to die?" Foggy asked in horror as he shook his head furiously. Elizabat patted his head to Ferti let out a deep sigh. "I mean... technically we can log out... but that means when we log back in we will be here and we won''t know if there are any snibs here or not..." Ferti pulled on her short hair in frustration. "Uggghhhhh! Can''t you think of anything, master?" Dspects pleaded. "Oh, so now I''m your master again? Didn''t you say I was unworthy earlier?" Ferti snapped back. "Uh... you heard me? Haha... um, I mean, if you can''t find a way back then you really are unworthy!" Dspects fired back. Ferti narrowed her eyes at him before turning away. She pulled out Puha Haha''s journal and flipped back to the entry pages. She turned the pages back and forth. There was nothing else in the entries and she was going to give up when she rubbed the pages too hard. The one page suddenly flipped up, revealing another page. Ferti''s eyes widened as she noticed the flap. "There''s... two pages?" she whispered to herself. She slowly picked the pages apart as they seemed to be stuck on each other probably by accidentally getting the book wet. - Dear Journal, Grandpa''s pages dried a bit. I had a magician use repair in it in hopes that it might do something. Only some of the writing could be recover, sadly. One thing I was able toraread was, "You can only return the way that you came. Look for the light to lead you back." I hope that I can use this somehow when I manage to find the locca location. According to grandpa, there seemed to be something else that happened during his journey there. He was only able to find the hidden location due to a traveler leading him to it. I''m surprised. I thought grandpa had found it by himself. The traveler also told him to waterproof his journal but grandpa didn''t feel the need to. It would''ve been nice if grandpa had done that. Maybe I should do that sometimes too? Anyways, I will keep searching until I find the location of this secret herb. Puha Haha will never give up! Sincerely, P.H. - "You can only return the way that you came. Look for the light to lead you back?" Ferti furrowed her brows as she looked up. She narrowed her eyes, observing the lights that came shining down into the darkness. For a while, she didn''t see anything, but out of nowhere, she noticed that one of the lights seemed to be a different shade. It was as if it had an additional blue hue to it. "Oyyyy! You have any ideas left or are we just going to have to fight here?" Dspects asked. "Shhh," she shushed him as she got up and moved closer to the slightly blue light. She walked into the light. She felt as if her body had shed all its weight as she started to get lifted into the air. "Woaahh!" Dspects exclaimed. "It''s the exit!" Ferti laughed out loud in joy, "come guys," she waved her hand over. Her party members ran over as they entered the light one by one. They all hovered up before appearing at the edge of the flowerbed. Ferti jumped up and down in excitement and the others followed suit. "Finally, the torture is over!" Dspects yelled out. "Okay guys. I''ll see you guys here tomorrow. I''m going to go exchange some of our loot at the general store for some money so I can get some herbs and brew some potions for us," Ferti updated them. "Sounds good. I''m going to go get better equipment with my gold," Dspects smiled. "Elizabat and I have to go set up our stall so come buy from us when you''re ready," Foggy said to Ferti. "Sounds good. We can meet up tomorrow at Dspects again to come here," Ferti planned. The rest agree as they split their ways. Ferti returned to the library to check out some books as she got distracted by that weird man and forgot to. "You''re back?" Floy asked as she walked inside. "Yes. I forgot to check out some books. Here are the ones that I checked out before," Ferti placed them on the desk. Floy gave her a small smile as he took the books and returned them. "You look like you''re in a good mood?" Ferti pointed out. "Go away," Floy retorted back. Ferti complied as she headed back to the insect section when she saw the pink-haired man still standing there paging through another book. He noticed her presence as he broke away from the book and looked up. "Oh, you''re back?" he asked, "are you busy now? If not, want to earn some extra gold?" Ferti raised an eyebrow as she looked him up and down. "Earn gold how?" she asked. "Easy," he smiled, "just follow me."