《The sun and the moon; a tale of two protagonists》 Chapter 1 Chapter one Two women stood in contest near the edge of a cliff. Having seen movies before, they both knew this situation would turn into an obvious punch line but neither wanted to give the other the satisfaction of retreating first. ¡°Well, aren''t you the naughty one? Making off with our loot just like a thieving cat.¡± Spoke a haughty woman as she laughed but her eyes were doing anything but. She glared back at the little ''thief¡¯ who had stolen something not quite valuable but also not worthless. ¡°Now then, if you would be so kind, please return that ring back to us,¡± she ordered from on high as she flicked back her long, lustrous black hair. Her eyes were like ruby gems that glimmered powerfully through the sunlight. If one were to pick a word to describe her, ¡®noblewoman¡¯ might be the first thing that came to mind. Her attire was somewhere between formal ball gown and wizard¡¯s robe; they had a rich texture like they were crafted from extremely expensive material but also possessed the flexibility necessary for practical combat manoeuvres. ¡°I refuse. In the first place, why do I have to oblige with your command even though we''re not in the same party? I spotted that wyvern first and even got in the first shot. You guys were the ones that came in and stole the kill,¡± retaliated another woman dressed in a monochromatic maid uniform. Her hair was a smooth caramel brown tied up into a ponytail, and her sharp face was accentuated by her piercing azure gaze. However, there was a unique focal point to this person, that being the completely automated silver arm. At a single glance one might divine that her history might be something like ¡®she lost her arm fighting a powerful enemy and had it replaced with a silver augmentation¡¯. At the very least, that was probably the kind of theme she was going for. She snickered back as if to provoke the noblewoman. ¡°Silence that filthy, lying mouth of yours! I''ve had enough of you recently. This territory is clearly being managed by our guild, yet a rat like you comes in and operates without our permission. So who''s really at fault here?¡± The noble woman retorted. As she had claimed, it was true that the piece of land they were fighting on had been managed by her guild, therefore it could be argued that all monster drops belonged to them. Of course, that was only if the maid acknowledged the noblewoman¡¯s rulership of the land. The fact of the matter was, she didn¡¯t care for all this talk about land ownership and whatnot- this wasn¡¯t a legal session- this was a game, and she was only trying to have fun. None of this ¡®ownership¡¯ crap had anything do with her because it was a ¡®system¡¯ devised by the larger guilds so they could avoid disputes. It was never implemented by the game makers. The only ones who benefited were those within large guilds, and the ones who enjoyed playing solo or in smaller guilds were completely screwed over by this ¡®agreement¡¯. Which was why the maid made it her business to raid in the guild¡¯s territory; she did it to piss them off intentionally. ¡°None of the smaller guilds or solo player base has acknowledged this farce,¡± replied the maid as she summoned a thin short sword and a miniaturized heater shield the size of her forearm. Despite their pale and unimpressive appearance, they were of the highest class of equipment in the game and had some arguably overpowered abilities. Of course this advantage was neutralized by the fact her opponent also possessed equipment of the same standard. Her opponent conjured a mighty and ornate metallic staff. A glamorous crimson jewel complimenting the colour of her eyes sat at the top of the staff. She pointed the tip towards the maid in a threatening motion and scowled. ¡°I tire of repeating myself. Return. The. Ring.¡± Her eyes were completely serious.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°If you think you can take it, go ahead,¡± the maid retaliated with a condescending smirk. ¡°Fine,¡± the noble woman shook her head and suddenly blasted a large, blazing ball of flames at the maid. ¡°I''ll just take it off your charred remains!¡± The maid charged straight into the oncoming inferno and with precision and speed cleft it in two halves. Pushed by her momentum, this time she charged towards the noblewoman while wearing her hostility like a coat. ¡°Wha¡­?!¡± The noble woman shrieked back in surprise. She knew ¡®attack negation¡¯ was a thing in this game but it was an extremely difficult move to pull off. One needed not only to take the exact timing correct, but also take into consideration the latency of the servers as well as identifying the key attack frames. Basically, it shouldn¡¯t have been possible for normal players unless they were extremely luck or playing on a zero latency server. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s annoying!¡± she reflexively conjured a defensive spell to block the obvious attack. A holographic orange wall of hexagonal grids formed before her to intercept the maid¡¯s sword. ¡°Tch,¡± the maid clicked her tongue as her sword was repelled by the force of that defensive wall. ¡°Fine, let''s try this again,¡± she muttered as her figure suddenly vanished into thin air. ¡°Camouflage, is it?¡± The noblewoman knew this ability. It was the bread and butter of all assassin players. In the first place, she had been in a disadvantageous situation as the natural counter to her mage class was the burst damage potential from the assassins. If she couldn''t predict where this maid was going to attack from, she would be taken down in an instant. ¡°Did the devs still not patch that broken 100 to 0 combo yet?¡± She gritted her teeth as she erected her defensive barrier on all sides. However, the problem is that these defensive walls had a time limit and once it vanished she still needed another second or so to reapply it. While it certainly wasn''t a big gap and online games often had latency to deal with, the maid had enough skill to successfully negate her previous attack even with all that. She would definitely have enough skill to exploit the brief second her shield went down to attack. The noblewoman clenched her fist as she let out a deep sigh. ¡°I didn''t want to have to use this on someone like you, but you have my respect for putting me up against a wall,¡± she complimented as she pointed her staff towards the sky. Dark clouds gathered ahead and sparks of lightning flew across the skies. The maid then emerged from her invisibility. Her eyes widened expression soured in disbelief, ¡°that bitch!¡± she shouted. ¡°You were whining about a 100 to 0 combo and you''re going to use that?! Talk about hypocrisy!¡± The maid gathered herself and prepared for a way out. ¡°God dammit! Naraka!¡± she shouted as four shadowy arms sprouted from her back. They didn¡¯t possess a fixed, solid shape and seemed as though they could easily be changed from one shape to another on a whim. The four shadowy hands morphed into the same short sword the maid was holding. ¡°This is it,¡± the noblewoman snickered with a touch of villainy. ¡°If you return that ring then I¡¯d be more than happy to call off ¡®Gehenna¡¯.¡± ¡°Pfft, you think I''m scared of that? Please, give me some credit.¡± ¡°Wha¡­ you think you can negate an ultimate as well?!¡± ¡°With Naraka¡­ possibly? I mean, hey, why do you care? If I die then just take back the ring.¡± ¡°Fine, whatever. Die then!¡± The noble woman thrust down her staff and as if on command the sky rained fire. Their surrounding environments also started full catch fire and the heat intensified every few seconds. Gehenna was that kind of ability, the power to bring about the end of the world¡­ well, that had been the flavour text, but in truth it only scorched a small but sizable part of the map. There were various other secondary effects but that was unimportant currently. The maid took a deep breath as she tightened the grip of all of her short sword and aimed her four extra shadow limbs. She crouched down as if to wind up her body. And in the next moment, she jumped up with frightening speed and power. The ground trembled as she vaulted off of it like a trampoline and rushed into the eye of the storm. At that moment, the two players¡¯ visions darkened¡­ Chapter 2 Chapter two [Liliana De Garreau] ¡°Oi, wake up already!¡± a frustrated voice called out to me, and then suddenly the left side of my face began to burn and sting. It was then I noticed I was just slapped¡­ exactly who had the galls to slap a face as pretty as mine? They must be a demon; Satan himself¡­ no wait, I bet it was that condescending maid! ¡°Ugh¡­ huh?¡± opening my eyes I was greeted by the unpleasant face of my arch nemesis. Her eyes were a marvellous deep blue and glimmered like a diamond left out in the sun. However, no matter how spectacular they were, when it was attached to that unfortunate nut case even diamonds can lose their value. For some reason she let out a disappointed sigh. I sat up and scanned my surroundings. It took a moment for my brain to register what was going on but I was definitely outside, more specifically I was in the middle of a vast and mostly empty plain. Above me was the infinite expanse of a great blue sky and all around was a green sea of grass accompanied by some trees here and there. ¡°Where am I?¡± I asked. Or rather, why was I here when, according to my latest memory, I should¡¯ve been at the ¡®Dread-ghast Cliffs¡¯. Right, I was fighting this maid for the ring she stole from my guild¡¯s loot... ¡°I can¡¯t be a 100%, but this place is probably ¡®Evergreen Pasture¡¯,¡± she told me while crossing her arms thinking deeply to herself. ¡°Evergreen Pasture¡­¡± I repeated. The name sounded familiar, but it was seemed like a place I haven¡¯t heard of in a long time. The answer teased me as it danced at the cusp of my tongue. Actually, there was quite a nostalgic feel coming from this place. It was kind of like if you returned to your childhood home and your grandparents were welcoming you. Something to that effect. ¡°Don¡¯t you remember?¡± she asked me while shaking her head in disappointment. ¡°Wh- what is it? Are you saying you know where this is?¡± ¡°Of course I do. It¡¯s the tutorial field the game brings all new characters to after creation. Rather, the real question is how you don¡¯t remember this.¡± ¡°Ah!¡± then it clicked in my head. She was right; this was indeed the place we started off at. ¡°But... why are we here? Weren¡¯t we at the Dread-ghast Cliffs just a moment ago?¡± The place I was referring to was an endgame location just outside of the final boss¡¯ instanced dungeon. It was a map crawling with high-level monsters where even veteran players could often find themselves caught off guard if they weren¡¯t suitably prepared. The only reply she gave me was an unconcerned shrug. Of course it was; this snarky woman and I never saw eye to eye since we first met a few months ago. I tried to play fair and be cordial, but nope, she refused to listen to a word I tell her and she just goes off rampaging through our territory without permission. For a while I decided to just leave her be, ¡®maybe she¡¯ll get tired of it soon¡¯, I naively thought at the time, but when her frequent raids never ceased my guild mates came complaining to me. This incident with the stolen ring was the final straw. ¡°More importantly, have you checked your status screen?¡± ¡°My stat screen?¡± When I opened up my status screen at her suggestion, what I saw was nothing short of a tragedy. ¡°What in the...?!¡± I shouted almost as though I were in agony. Absolutely nothing; all my stats had been reset; my skills, my level and my stats had all been dropped down to a fresh character state. It was as though I had just created my character, and considering we were at the Evergreen Pastures, that may not have been a bad comparison to make.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Liliana De Garreau (No active title) Level: 1 (Flame Mage) HP: 150/150 MP: 200/200 Strength: 10 Constitution: 10 Dexterity: 10 Magic: 30 Spirit: 20 Proficiency: 20 Physical Attack: 10 ~ 10 Magic Attack: 20 ~ 40 Ailment Resistance: 11% Physical Defence: 10% Magical Defence: 11% Critical Hit Chance: 11% Critical Damage: 1.5x ¡°What the hell is this?!¡± my voice echoed all throughout the wide open pasture. ¡°What happened to my stats? My skills?! Wait...¡± a cold sweat rushed down my spine as I cautiously opened my inventory. ¡°No, no, no... Don¡¯t tell me... don¡¯t tell me all my stuff is... huh?¡± however, contrary to my worst nightmares, all my equipment, money and miscellaneous items and such were intact. While it still didn¡¯t take the sting away from losing my carefully assigned stats and skills, I could at least let out a massive sigh of relief. It was a much greater pain to raid through all those difficult dungeons than it was to level up from 1 to 200. ¡°Okay, okay... fair enough, all is not lost,¡± I calmed myself down. I scrolled through the holographic window that was my skill menu and despaired as I saw a nearly blank screen. However, at the end there was one thing that popped up. [Skill Inheritance: Please select one skill to be carried over] ¡°What¡¯s this... skill inheritance?¡± ¡°Possibly a glitch. Possibly a new update. Who can really say?¡± she shrugged once more. ¡°However, I suggest you quickly pick a skill to be carried over before the message disappears or something.¡± ¡°Did you pick one as well?¡± ¡°Obviously,¡± she answered so matter-of-factly. ¡°What¡¯d you pick?¡± ¡°Do you think this is a high-school girls¡¯ gathering or something? Why do I have to tell you?¡± I could feel my face sour up at her stuck up attitude. Who did she think she was talking to me like that? I was only trying to make friendly conversation but clearly she doesn¡¯t get it. I bet she¡¯s the kind of person that doesn¡¯t have many friends in real life. ¡°Hmph! Fine, be like that, you frigid woman!¡± She let out a lengthy sigh before finally telling me. ¡°I chose ¡®Naraka¡¯. You¡¯d be an idiot to choose anything other than your class¡¯ ultimate skill.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± I scrolled down the list of potential skills and at the very end there it was: ¡®Gehenna¡¯, the Flame Mage¡¯s ultimate spell. It had several effects: first was summoning a hail of flames from the sky and burning both the environment and enemy players, all my flame-attribute spells also did 200% of their total damage while Gehenna was active, and finally my character became flame itself and all damage was redirected from my HP to MP. Oh, and at the end there was a giant meteor that crashed down onto my location and destroyed everything still standing- barring me obviously. Of course, the drawback of using this spell was that it consumed a ton of MP, but most mages could handle it with the appropriate enchantments. ¡°Just so you know, you won¡¯t inherit the complete skill,¡± she told me as she activated her Assassin class ultimate skill, ¡®Naraka¡¯. Only a single shadowy arm appeared from her back, and even then it didn¡¯t look as menacing as I previously saw it. I¡¯ve never played as an Assassin so I could only go off what others have told me, but apparently it was a skill that multiplied the user¡¯s attack by the number of arms. At max-rank, Naraka could summon four additional arms, making every single attack of hers do 500% ~ 600% damage- depending on if the player used dual weaponry or utilized a shield. It was a purely offensive ability and had nothing else. ¡°It¡¯s not even the most basic form of the ultimate,¡± she shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s sub-basic. Still, it¡¯s better than not having it.¡± ¡°I see,¡± I nodded and tried to activate Gehenna. Usually it¡¯d be accompanied by a tempest and a sea of flames falling from the skies, but there was nothing. There were small sparks of flame emanating out of my body, and the area around me became hotter, but nothing else. The only effect that had been carried over was my ability to turn into flames and redirect damage to my MP. The original Gehenna would also reduce the damage massively before deducting my MP, but I feel like this incomplete version won¡¯t do that. ¡°It really is gutted... but as you said, better than nothing.¡± ¡°Now then, there is one more problem,¡± said the frigid maid. ¡°We can¡¯t log out.¡± Chapter 3 Chapter three [Sherry Airgetlamh] ¡°Hah? What do you mean we can¡¯t log out?¡± asked the bird-brained noblewoman wannabe. She had this dumb expression on her face suggesting that she couldn¡¯t understand simple English. A depressing sigh was forced out of my throat as I realized I might be spending any length of time with this person due to this situation. ¡°I mean we literally cannot log out of the game,¡± I repeated. The game utilized an entirely virtualized interface known as ¡®full-immersion¡¯ technology, so we couldn¡¯t just hard reset our computers or force any log outs while inside the game. The noblewoman cosplayer double took as she quickly checked through the menu options and turned pale when she found out it was all true. Does she always wear her expression like a coat? Such a dumb face. No, I get that objectively most people would call her cute, but to me she appeared just like a dumb kid playing make-believe. Besides, think of it this way, since all player characters were created, it¡¯d be weirder for them not be end up looking cool, or pretty, or cute, or whatever. Well, admittedly I probably had a similar expression to her when I first realized it as well, but this really is a serious problem. To make matters even worse the ¡®submit a ticket¡¯ button to report issues and glitches has been disabled as well. I hovered over it but it was a greyed button and nothing happened. ¡°Wh-wh-wh-what should we do?!¡± shouted the noblewoman, her eyes spinning around like crazy and sweat dripping like a waterfall. ¡°That¡¯s right! I could contact my guild and¡­¡± as she tried doing that her voice trailed off and that''s when her expression seriously became blank. It was actually kind of scary. ¡°What''s wrong?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­ gone. My guild list is¡­ blank.¡± I never had a guild so that was the norm for me. Though, I can kind of see why she was so panicked right now. She was the type that most enjoyed it while playing with friends, well, that¡¯s probably the correct way to play an MMORPG to begin with. That said, I did have a moderate friend¡¯s list, but¡­ ¡°as expected, even the friend¡¯s list is empty.¡± ¡°Just what is going on?¡± ¡°Be that as I may, how long are you going to dress like that?¡± I asked. What she was wearing was the level 1 starter outfit which offered no defensive or offensive bonuses. It was a ragged grey shirt and skirt- very dull and unimpressive. She even had a crude wooden staff that might as well have just been a branch she picked off from a tree, lying to her side which she probably didn¡¯t notice. ¡°Eh? Eh?! What is this?! Why am I wearing something like this?!¡± ¡°I was wearing the same thing when I woke up. I don¡¯t want to think of it like this, but it could be that our characters were reset. That is, except for our inventory for some reason.¡± She wasn¡¯t listening at all, and I presumed she was searching through her inventory for something more suitable to wear. ¡°Oh no! These are all level 200 equipments! It¡¯s not letting me wear them!¡± she sounded genuinely distressed. Incidentally level 200 was the cap, although I did hear of a patch that would increase it soon. I wonder if it was this patch... ¡°What about your previous gear? The ones you would''ve worn when levelling up?¡± ¡°I scraped them for spare parts when I was levelling up my alchemy sub-profession,¡± she replied while shedding tears of regret. I won¡¯t lie, that got a bit of a kick from me seeing her so down. Whoops, my ¡®S¡¯ is showing. In any case, that wasn¡¯t all that odd considering there was no real point to keeping low-level equipment other than for novelty or sentimental purposes. Well, if you had alternative characters they could inherit it as well, but looking at her she¡¯s probably the type that only ever played one character forever. ¡°B-but wait, how come you have all your equipment?¡± she seemed mortified.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I don¡¯t, the clothes I¡¯m wearing now,¡± which was a maid outfit, ¡°is just a cash item skin. They don¡¯t provide any combat benefits and is just for appearance¡¯s sake.¡± This game was mostly free-to-play with an exorbitant- almost exploitative- cash shop that sold many vanity items. Admittedly, I spent quite a bit of money in them but my flavour-of-the-month right now was this cute, black and white maid outfit. Skins go on top of regular equipment, so we could doll up however we wanted while maintaining our original statistics. It was actually hilarious to see a maid uniform tank a hit from a sledgehammer. ¡°Oh¡­ Then what should I do¡­?¡± she hung her head and murmured. She was like a puppy searching for her lost owner, and if I just closed my eyes and visualize it I could see small, dropping dog ears and an unenthusiastic tail. ¡°Haaa¡­¡± I let out a sigh and retrieved several items from my inventory. ¡°Here, take these,¡± I told her as I tossed several full sets of magician class equipment including the staff. Equipment is usually swapped out every ten levels for better ones, but I had a habit of changing them out every twenty levels because it was much less tedious that way. These equipments were from levels 1 to 180- she should have her own endgame equipment anyway. There were nine sets in total and all fully upgraded and enchanted with the best runes. Basically, they were the best possible gear to wear at each twenty levels. Her reaction was a bit funny. She had a face as though she had just seen a ghost. ¡°Wh-why are you giving me these? Or rather, why do you even have magician equipment?¡± she asked but still took them since she had no other option to accept my charity. Well, I wasn¡¯t using them now and if we¡¯re going to be stuck in this situation for a while I¡¯d rather have her be at least somewhat useful. Besides, this makes me seem like a bigger person that she was, doesn¡¯t it? ¡°Why do I have them? Because I have alts. Don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°No¡­ I¡¯ve only ever played with this character.¡± Yeah, I figured as much. ¡°Uwaaa¡­ that¡¯s actually pretty amazing. How can you stand playing one character for years on end? I¡¯d go insane.¡± ¡°Hmph! It¡¯s called dedication!¡± she replied with a smug face as if to tell me she¡¯s beaten me at something. I suppose I shouldn¡¯t judge other people''s play style; if they wanted to play one character forever that¡¯s none of my business. To be fair, she probably knew more about her main class than I did since I hopped between many characters. In a way it was ¡®depth vs. variety¡¯, though I think variety is just a tad bit more useful, but feelings on that topic vary between person to person. ¡°Anyway,¡± she called out to me with a genuinely soft smile- I didn¡¯t think the game could pull off such detailed textures. ¡°Thanks for the equipment. You¡¯re a much kinder person than I thought.¡± Even though I didn¡¯t want to admit it, my face heated up at that moment. ¡°R-right¡­ yeah, it¡¯d be a pain if you became useless because you didn¡¯t have the proper equipment.¡± ¡°Ah? What¡¯s this?¡± she had a condescending smirk as she poked the side of my cheeks. ¡°You¡¯re all red. Don¡¯t tell me you''ve fallen for me? Fufufu, sorry but I¡¯m a straight batter.¡± ¡°Enough! I don¡¯t swing that way either!¡± I knocked her hand away from me. She snickered to herself and then extended her hand. ¡°I¡¯m ¡®Liliana De Garreau¡¯, though that¡¯s just my character¡¯s name. I know we don¡¯t exactly have the best history with each other, but I hope we can still get along.¡± When she said proper stuff like that and wasn¡¯t role-playing as an obnoxious noblewoman she could be fairly likeable... I thought fleetingly. I reached out and hesitantly accepted her hand. ¡°My name is ¡®Sherry¡¯. Sherry Airgetlamh. Likewise, it is merely the name of my character.¡± Airgetlamh translated to ¡®silver arm¡¯ because of my obvious silver right arm, and as for why Sherry¡­ well, it was my favourite drink. ¡°In any case, it''s no use sitting around here and wondering what¡¯s going on. For now we should try going to the nearest town,¡± I suggested. As we were about to leave we heard the sound of light footsteps coming from our left. ¡°Hmm?¡± turning to the source I noticed two goblins curiously approaching us. They were a sickly, pale green and drooled from their large, disgusting mouths. They were about the size of children, but the most disturbing part about them was their thin, bony arms which creeped me out. ¡°Eww,¡± I reflexive gagged. ¡°That does remind me, goblins are supposed to roam these pastures,¡± Liliana commented as if she remembered something nostalgic. I mean, sure, there was that one quest that had us flushing out a goblin lair, which was one of our very first quests, so I can sort of understand, but they were still goblins¡­ ¡°Disgusting,¡± I dismissed as I conjured up small throwing knives into my hand I tossed them half-heartedly. The daggers flew straight into their ugly faces and they screeched real loudly, almost too loudly to the point it almost seemed like it could burst my ear drums. After a few seconds the goblins collapsed into the floor and started bleeding out¡­ wait, bleeding out? ¡°That was a waste of time,¡± Liliana sighed and started to walk away, but I grabbed the back collar of her shirt and stopped her. ¡°Ooof, kuh¡­! What are you doing?! Are you trying to choke me?!¡± I pointed towards the two goblin corpses that had yet to disappear. ¡°Hey, those goblin corpses are still there.¡± ¡°Huh? What are you daydreaming about? All corpses should disappear after a... few... seconds?¡± her words trailed off as she stared at the dead goblins. Chapter 4 Chapter four ¡°Hmm? Hey, do you smell that?¡± asked Liliana as she tightly clenched her nose shut with her fingers while making a sour face. This was strange because, although the game utilized a virtual interface, ¡®smell¡¯ was not part of the game. ¡°Yeah¡­ smells like not showering for years,¡± Sherry retorted. However, for her the strangest part was still the fact that these corpses didn¡¯t disappear. The smell could still be written off as a bug or test feature from the new patch, but the persistent body effect would probably never happen. The reason for that was because the game had a rating limit and excessive violence would get the company in legal trouble. Bug or not, the developers would¡¯ve taken precautions against such a thing. Just as an experiment, Sherry summoned more of her throwing knives and flung it at the goblins once more. The corpse was nudged by the inertia as though it were a real corpse and not just a bunch of pixels and codes. That was the final straw, because even if the persistent corpse was an unlikely glitch, there were no way the developers coded in the corpse to be an object that could be interacted with. Once an enemy was killed their bodies were supposed to have become intangible. ¡°Hey, what are you doing?¡± asked Liliana. ¡°That goblin corpse moved.¡± ¡°Yeah? So what?¡± ¡°Corpses are supposed to be intangible. In the first place they¡¯re set to disappear after a couple of seconds, but it¡¯s been minutes and it¡¯s still there.¡± ¡°It is strange¡­¡± she nodded. ¡°But there¡¯s nothing we can do about it. Unless you plan on loitering around a smelly goblin corpse all day to study it, we should regroup at the nearest city and discuss what our plans will be moving forward.¡± Sherry thought to herself for a moment. It was true that nothing would probably come out of looking at a goblin corpse all day, but she was worried about what the implications of this could be. The biggest question being what happens to players if they died? Alas, the answers remained elusive, and like Liliana suggested, it may be better to reach the nearest city before doing anything else. ¡°The nearest city to Evergreen Pasture would be the starting town, ¡®Northlight¡¯.¡± After character creation, the players were plopped down onto this relatively safe field with weak monsters to get a feel for how their characters can move. Once they were satisfied they were then lead through a small forest to acquaint players with the combat system, then finally the Northlight would be right in front of them. So far things have turned out exactly the same as the tutorial. ¡°If we keep going north from here there¡¯ll be a small forest, and past that should be Northlight.¡± Sherry explained in case Liliana had forgotten. ¡°I remember that part. If I recall correctly weren¡¯t we supposed to fight a giant timber wolf as part of the tutorial quest in that forest?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s how it¡¯s supposed to pan out anyway. If it indeed works like that then we can at least determine that this¡­ ¡®sitiuation¡¯ is following the scripted events.¡± Sherry nodded. ¡°Great, let¡¯s go?¡± Liliana shouted with a hint of excitement as she led the way. The forest separating Evergreen Pasture and Northlight was indeed a small one. Yet, on their way they had run in several goblins and other minute monsters that were taken out with extreme ease. ¡°To think even goblins would attack us en masse,¡± sighed Liliana. There was a system in the game that prevented monsters whose level was too low from attacking higher levelled players. According to the game¡¯s ¡®lore codex¡¯ monsters could instinctively tell when they were outclassed. This effect only took place if the monsters were below 30 levels of the player. That said, there were still monsters that were naturally aggressive and would attack regardless of level difference. Field bosses and every monster within Raid Dungeons were also exempt from this rule.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Stop complaining. At least you¡¯re getting the chance to practice your lower level spells,¡± Sherry retorted with a sigh. ¡°I bet you haven¡¯t used ¡®flare cannon¡¯ in years.¡± ¡°How rude! I''ve used it a few times when I was bored!¡± ¡°Whatever. Keep your eyes open, this is the place where the giant timber wolf is scripted to spawn.¡± Aside from the scripted boss encounter, it truly was an unimpressive forest. Goblins, horned rabbits and giant wasps were the extent of the spawn and were taken out in a single hit. Yet, as they continued through the forest they came across a large clearing. ¡°This is it,¡± Sherry warned and stopped Liliana. ¡°Considering even fresh characters are supposed to beat the giant timber wolf, there isn¡¯t anything we should be afraid of. However, the system has been a bit screwy so we should be on guard just in case.¡± ¡°I guess you have a point,¡± Liliana agreed as she took out the beginner¡¯s wooden staff she previously received from Sherry. It was a thin brown staff with branches of glowing leaves at the tip. Even for a complete novice ranked item it was fairly powerful with all sorts of useful enchantments, the most useful being the +300% MP recovery speed. Suddenly, they could hear several footsteps approaching their position. Sherry made a perplexed expression as she noted, ¡°those aren¡¯t the sound of wolf footsteps. Sounds like¡­ people.¡± ¡°Is someone coming? Was there ever an event like that?¡± ¡°No,¡± she responded as she summoned her throwing daggers. At that moment, three human figures emerged from the forest. Two men and one woman they were dressed in a style typical of adventurers usually depicted in other works of fiction; the manly guardian, ditzy female cleric, and the aloof archer. ¡°Stand behind me!¡± shouted the guardian. He was a buff fellow- the muscle on muscle kind- and easily twice the size of an ordinary man. He covered himself in thick plate armour that made one wonder how he could even run with all that weight on him. After allowing his teammates to take refuge behind him, he drew his massive pavise- which was easily as big as him- forward and prepared himself. ¡°Hey, shouldn¡¯t we help them?¡± Liliana asked. It had seemed that the three adventurers hadn¡¯t noticed the two who were standing a bit farther away. ¡°No, let¡¯s just watch for a moment,¡± replied Sherry. The tutorial mission to take down the giant timber wolf wasn¡¯t a group event, so there shouldn¡¯t have been anyone else there, yet somehow things were proceeding off script. ¡®Are they players?¡¯ she wondered, ¡®or maybe NPCs?¡¯ The way they acted, their haggard breaths, sweat dripping down their faces, everything seemed too vivid and improvised to be mere NPCs. There was also a part of Sherry that was curious as to what would happen to these people if they died and they were really other player characters. ¡°But...¡± Liliana seemed more concerned but ultimately decided to heed Sherry¡¯s words and stood back. The ground started to tremble, first subtly and after a few seconds one could really feel the impact of the weight behind those footsteps. They weren¡¯t the sounds of other people. No, this undoubtedly belonged to the giant timber wolf. Like a hungry beast, the enormous wolf erupted from the sea of trees bearing its drooling fangs. Its fur was like fine steel threads with numerous traces of scars all over its body. It stared down towards the three adventurers with crazed eyes like it was looking down at nothing but a pile of meat. ¡°Awooooo!¡± its howl echoed through the forest as it prepared to charge like a bull. Using its colossal body it smashed into the guardian¡¯s pavise and completely bent it in half as though it were a piece of cardboard. The three adventurers were flung back, and the hungry giant wolf approached the guardian and opened its mouth ready to eat. ¡°Sherry!¡± Liliana shouted. ¡°We have to help them!¡± Sherry held her tongue. She wanted to watch what would happen; she needed to understand if what happened to the goblins would also happen to these ¡®humans¡¯ as well. Her face soured as her eyes were drawn like moths to a morbid fire. ¡°Sherry!¡± Liliana called out to her one more time. Had Liliana not been there, she would¡¯ve most definitely let these adventurers get eaten. It shocked even herself to know that there was this part of her which valued knowledge more than human life and morality. There were articles written about mad scientists that conducted cruel and immoral experiments for the sake of procuring research data, and when she read them she always scoffed. ¡®I¡¯d never do that,¡¯ she comforted herself, but perhaps she wasn¡¯t so different from those people. ¡°But...¡± she put up one last defence. ¡°Sherry! We have to go in!¡± ¡°Tch, dammit! Fine, we¡¯re killing it! Liliana, launch a Flare Cannon!¡± Chapter 5 Chapter five ¡°Grrrr,¡± growled the giant timber wolf. ¡°Roland!¡± shouted the female cleric. When she attempted to rush over to the guardian, she was held back by the archer. ¡°What are you doing, Albert?! Let me go, Roland¡¯s in danger!¡± ¡°If you go now you¡¯ll only get killed,¡± he told her. Though his face was emotionless, or rather, inexpressive, it wasn¡¯t as though he was willing to sacrifice his own teammate. The stoic archer drew his weapon, a metallic compound bow, from his back and readied his shot. The various mechanical parts whizzed and clinked as the bowstring reached its maximum draw. The arrow gleamed with a greenish tinge as it was launched from the bow. As if guided by the god of the winds, the arrow flew straight into the giant wolf¡¯s right eye. It let out a pained bestial roar as it retracted its mouth away from the guardian. Taking this opportunity the guardian attempted to retreat, but instead the wolf recovered quicker than anticipated and pinned him down with its leg. It was clearly maddened by these human¡¯s attempt to stop it that it wouldn¡¯t have been odd if it started to expel fire. ¡°It didn¡¯t work?¡± the archer was shocked, ¡°shit!¡± He readied another shot but he wouldn¡¯t make it in time. Still, he prayed for a miracle to happen¡­ then, at that moment a flurry of flames came crashing into the side of the great wolf and created a massive explosive dust cloud. The steel-like fur of the wolf worked against it as it acted to absorb more of the heat. It staggered back as but did not fall as it planted its feet back into the ground. Following the sudden explosive inferno, a maid with a silver arm appeared toting an unremarkable short sword in one hand and an arm-sized heater shield in the other. Her movements were quick, almost like she was dancing, and she swiftly slashed at the side of the beast. Unexpectedly, that regular looking short sword managed to draw the blood of the colossal wolf and forced it to retreat even more ground. The maid pointed her sword towards the giant wolf. ¡°Hmph, the key to fighting wolves is to not show fear,¡± she said. It was likely advice directed at the guardian who attentively nodded. As expected, even he felt a lot of pressure when his pavis was bent like cheap cardboard. It would¡¯ve been unreasonable for him not to lose his cool after that, but that was why the wolf knew it could easily take them on. The wolf growled back, but as the maid said, it did not dare approach while she had such a fierce and unmoving aura about her. Suddenly, she let out a scoff and spit something out from her mouth. The mysterious object flew quicker than the eye could see and stabbed the wolf''s face. On closer inspection it was a dart. ¡°Spider venom,¡± she casually explained. The great beast roared once more as it made a frenzied charge for the maid¡¯s petite stature, but while she was indeed small, she was also very swift and ran circles around it. When she got into an advantageous position she delivered a lightning kick to its face and unbelievably it was pushed back. ¡°What the?!¡± exclaimed the guardian in surprise. He best understood the wolf¡¯s strength as he had previously wrestled against it, and he knew it wasn¡¯t something that could be casually kicked back like this. Either this maid had some ungodly strength or something else was going on. It was at that moment he realized something about the wolf. Its eyes were less crazed than before and even its legs were shaking. ¡°Is this the work of the venom?¡± he wondered.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°I see!¡± followed the cleric. ¡°But it¡¯s still standing tall!¡± ¡°We¡¯ll assist you!¡± the archer drew back his bow to ready another shot. However he was quickly denied that opportunity. ¡°I don¡¯t need your help. Just sit back and enjoy the show,¡± said the maid as she readied her blade for another strike. The wolf, struggling to stand somehow managed oriented itself into an assault posture. It was ready to pounce on her. ¡°Heh,¡± the maid chuckled as she taunted it, ¡°come try,¡± she motioned the wolf to attack. Successfully falling for her taunt the wolf lunged at her face first with its gaping mouth wide open to tear into her tiny body. The maid, without fear and with complete mastery of her own body moved just a bit to the side and managed to avoid the entire attack with very little effort. She used this moment to counter and slash at the beast¡¯s face as she past it. It drew more blood and even tumbled over for a few seconds before picking itself up. As amazing as the maid¡¯s skill were this wolf was pretty impressive in its own right. The wolf let out a low, spiteful whimper towards its opponent when it realized winning might be impossible. ¡°Shall we end it?¡± asked the maid towards the wolf as she approached closer. As if to respond to her challenge, the wolf barked loudly. ¡°Liliana, use ¡®Flame Burst¡¯!¡± she suddenly called towards someone. ¡°Eh? Are you sure? If I do that won¡¯t you be caught in the¡­¡± another figure emerged from the back. This time she looked like a noblewoman. She possessed long black hair and carried herself with a haughty aura. She had very womanly proportions and even in the midst of a life-and-death battle, all three of the adventurers, including the cleric girl, had their eyes glued to her beauty. ¡°It¡¯s fine, just do it.¡± ¡°Hmph, I don¡¯t really like taking orders from you but¡­ don¡¯t come whining back to me if you find that my flames are a bit hotter than you expected.¡± ¡°Stop yapping and do it already!¡± ¡°F-fine!¡± contrary to her appearance, this noblewoman herself was a complete monster. She pointed her stick-like staff and launched a massive ball of flames bigger than herself towards both the maid and the wolf. ¡°Something like this I can easily dodge with my ¡®mirage step¡¯,¡± muttered the maid as she too charged straight for the wolf. Taking it as a challenge- or perhaps ¡®chicken run¡¯ was more appropriate for this scenario- the lumbering wolf leaped up for a final clash. However, before they could even cross their attacks, the maid suddenly disappeared and all that was left was the wolf jumping straight into a gargantuan ball of flames. The result was a flash of brilliance rivalling the light of day, as well as heat intense enough to char the nearby trees. As the dust and smog cleared a gigantic figure stood. Its fur had been charred back and half of its body was damaged beyond repair, yet with shaky legs the giant timber wolf remained standing. ¡°What the hell is that wolf?!¡± asked the cleric. ¡°It¡¯s dead,¡± replied the maid as she appeared on top of it. Her short sword swung down at the immobile wolf and a silvery crescent light shot forward to slash at it. If the previous attack was the power of the sun, this could poetically be referred to as the power of the moon. The silver light rushed through the wolf¡¯s body dead centre. Though it was not sliced in half, it eventually collapsed onto its side and bled out. ¡°Haaah¡­ If you were going to use ¡®mirage step¡¯, then at least tell me,¡± complained the noble-looking woman. ¡°Did you really think you could kill me that easily?¡± the maid shook her head and let out a sigh of disappointment. ¡°Well, whatever. There are more important things to do,¡± she said as she turned her gaze towards the three flabbergasted adventurers.