《Shut-in Another World》 Chapter 1- In a desolate field, a young man stood on his lonesome, in his hand he wielded a longsword, he wore bright red armor with a golden trim, his hair was shoulder length and it was a bright blonde, his eyes opened to reveal a set of bright blue eyes as blue as the sky. He had a smile on his face, suddenly the sound of thundering footsteps could be heard, mere yards from him was a huge horde of monsters, all different shapes and sizes armed to the teeth. The horde was coming right for him, "So, who''ll be my first victim?" with that the lone warrior rushed at the horde of monsters, the sound of battle echoed in the desolate area, the roars of slain monsters could be heard in droves ad the lone warrior proceeded to cut them all down. Soon after many minuets had passed, the lone warrior stood alone amidst the dozens upon dozens of bodies of monsters. His sword was covered with the blood of monsters, as was his armor, on his face there was a few specks as well the lone warrior look upon his handiwork and smiled, "Seems like you were no challenge at all" the warrior sheathed his sword and started walking through the dozens of chopped up monsters. The warrior arrived in town, all eyes were on him, "Hey that''s him" he heard whispered as he walked down the town street "The Crimson Warrior" he heard his nickname whispered, at that he smiled and chuckled to himself as he continued on his way. He finally came to his destination, the Adventures Guild hall, he walked inside and was greeted by silence, whenever he walked into a room this was what happened, all eyes in the guild hall were on him, more likely then that his blood reddened armor. He chuckled and walked over to the front desk, he was greeted by a young elf girl with long blonde hair and emerald green eyes, her long pointy ears twitched a bit be she spoke, "Yes, what can I do for you?" she spoke in a soft tone, the warrior smiled "I''ve come to turn in a quest" he held out a poster with writing on it, the elf girl took the poster and inspected it, as she read she nodded "I see" she took out a stamp from a drawer and placed it on top the counter, "Your name?" the warrior smirked "Gawain, The Crimson Knight" the elf girl nodded. "Gawain The Crimson Knight" she repeated his name "I hereby announce that you have cleared ''The Monster Army Quest''" a few shocked gasps could be heard mixed with chatter between others "He cleared that quest!?" gasped a shocked adventurer. "Man, no ones been able to clear that quest, not even a party of four could" said another "Yeah, but he cleared it, and from the looks of it, by himself" came another. Another adventurer clicked his tounge, "How good is this guy?" Gawain just stood at the front desk hearing each and every word was being said, he smirked that''s when the elf girl took the stamp in hand and stamped down on the poster Gawain had handed her. After she lifted it off a huge ''Cleared'' was marked across it, she put the stamp away and took the stamped poster in hand, "Now, take this over to the cashier to receive your reward, thank you" Gawain nodded. He took the poster back and walked over to the cashier desk. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It was the middle of the night, in a small city, in a small single bedroom apartment, a light from a computer screen could be seen, the figure of a person could be seen, the clicking of a mouse could be heard, as well as some chuckling. The figure illuminated by the light of the computer screen is revealed to be a young teenage girl with a pair of headphones on her head, she had unkempt long black hair, her brown eyes were glued to the computer screen, she was wearing a white tank top with the straps falling off her shoulders. She had no pants on and her pure white panties could be seen, she shifted her legs to get comfortable, she smiled as her eyes looked over her computer screen "Wow, that reward was bigger then I thought" a few clicks on the mouse could be heard, "Lets see what I got.." the girl clicked the mouse and her eyes went back and forth reading something. She giggled to herself, "Wow, this is some really good stuff" a good look around the girls room revealed tons and tons of posters of games tacked on her wall, but one in particular was tacked right above where her computer was, it showed a picture of a knight, a mage, a assassin, a rouge, and many other RPG based characters. The title of the game, ''The Elder Tales'' was written across the poster in big bold golden letters, the girl looked up at the poster and smiled and looked back down at her computer screen. The very game the poster above advertised was the one she was playing, "There that should do it" she smiled happily, she had just finished configuring her character with the stuff she had just received from a quest she had just finished. She looked over her character and chuckled happily, "Now, Gawain The Crimson Knight, will be unstoppable" on the girls screen showed the image of a young man with shoulder length blonde hair, and bright blue eyes, wearing red armor with a cold trim, wielding a longsword. "Alright, lets tackle another quest shall we" the girl chuckled she stretched, he tank top rode up and showed her flat stomach, which growled, the girl giggled "Right after I get something to eat" she took off her headphones and placed them on her desk and she walked out her room. She was hit by bright lights which blinded her, "Oh, nii-san must be home" the girl walked down the hallway her arm shielding her eyes from the bright light, she walked into the living room and saw a briefcase on the coffee table. By the door was a pair of men''s black dress shoes, on the sofa was a dark grey suit coat and tie, the girl heard a sound in the kitchen and smiled, she walked right into the kitchen where a man with short spikey black hair was busy making what looked like to be a plate off food. He was tall and lean, but through his white collared shirt some muscle could be seen, the girl giggled as she tiptoed towards the man, "Welcome home.." she started the man jolted upon hearing her and began to turn around, but before he could fully face the girl he was grabbed in a tight hug, he could feel the girls breasts press into his back "Kazu-niisan!" the girl giggled. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. The man went rigged and turned his head, his brown eyes focusing onto the girl "Airi, how many times have I told you not to do that?" the girl giggled "I can''t help myself!" the man sighed, his name was Kazu Yoshimi, and the girl hugging him really tightly was him little sister Airi Yoshimi, "Airi, can you let me go, I want to eat if you don''t mind" a disappointed groan came from Airi, "Alright" Kazu felt the pressure on his back vanish as Airi left him go. With that he fully turned around but, when he saw how Airi was dressed his face went red, "Airi! How many times have I told you about dressing like that!" Airi gave a confused look,"What''s wrong with what I have on?" Kazu blushed he could see bits of his younger sister that he shouldn''t be seeing. "Well, for one thing it''s indecent" Airi gave a pouting face, "But, I like dressing like this" Kazu grumbled "That''s not the point here" he mumbled Airi tilted her head, "What was that?" Kazu gasped and went into a fluster "No..nothing" he took a deep breath to settle himself down, "Anyway, I want you to start dressing decently from now on" Airi pouted. Kazu gave a serious look, Airi stopped pouting, "Alright, I''ll try" she said with a sad look in her eyes Kazu felt bad, he put his hand on Airi head and rubbed back and forth "Thanks Airi, that makes nii-san happy" the sad look in Airi''s eyes turned to happiness and she smiled and giggled at that moment both siblings stomach growled, they looked at each other and laughed "Guess your hungry too?" Airi nodded "Well, shall we eat together?" a huge bright smile showed on Airi''s face. She nodded vigorously, in mere seconds both sibling were sitting at the kitchen table, both scarfing down food, in between a few bites Kazu resumed talking with Airi, "So, let me guess, you were up gaming weren''t you?" Airi nodded as she swallowed a spoonful of food, Kazu sighed "Have you been playing ever since I left this morning?" Airi nodded as she readied another spoonful of food, Kazu groaned "Didn''t I tell you to cut back on the gaming?" Airi swallowed her food and gave a sad look and nodded. Kazu saw the sad look in Airi''s eyes, he sighed, he was always weak to her sad eyes, "Look, I''m just looking out for your health okay?" Airi gave a nod, she understood where her brother was coming from, "Okay, I''ll try to cut down my time playing" Kazu smiled "That''s a good girl" he went back to eating. After the two finished eating, and the dishes were washed, the two sibling sat on the sofa in the living room "So, what did Gawain The Crimson Knight do today?" a smile came to Airi''s face, "Today he slew a whole army of monsters by himself!" Airi started to wave her arms like she was swinging a sword "Wow, that''s really amazing, taking out a whole army by himself" Airi nodded and giggled. A few minuets went by as Airi gave a detailed summary of how Gawain slew the whole army of monsters, giving him the whole play by play, "That''s really amazing, Gawain''s really strong isn''t he?" Airi giggled at her brother compliment with that he yawned, "Well, as much as I''d like to hear more" he yawned once more. "I kind of, want to get some sleep" Airi had a dejected look on her face, Kazu chuckled "Don''t worry, I listen to the rest tomorrow morning" Airi smiled and nodded Kazu smiled back a rose off the sofa. "Goodnight Kazu-niisan" Kazu smiled "G''night Airi" and he started walking off but he suddenly stopped "Airi?" he called, Airi looked at her older brother "What?" Kazu scratched his face a bit nervous, "What is it nii-san?" Kazu took in a breath, "Do, you think.." he paused "Do, you think it''s time you go back to school?" Airi''s eyes went wide, she looked down at the ground and shook her head. Kazu sighed, "I see" he looked at Airi sitting on the sofa, looking down at the hardwood floor in a dejected manner, "She must still be troubled about what happened" he mumbled to himself, "Sorry, g''night, make sure you get to bed" Airi gave a nod, he then walked off to his room. Airi sat on the sofa for a while longer, "How could Kazu-nii ask me about going back.." Airi hugged herself and started to tremble remembering what had happened at school, she started to pant hard, this always happened when she remembered it and there was only one thing she could do, with that she got up from the sofa and quickly headed to her room. She closed the door behind her, she took shallow breaths and her body was shaking like a leaf, she eyed her computer screen and the ''The Elder Tales'' poster right above it, she smiled a bit, she walked over to her computer desk and sat down, she put her headphones back on top her head, her hand rested on top the mouse, slowly Airi started to stop shaking, and her breathing seemed to go back to normal. This game, was the only thing that calmed her down when she got like this, she took one deep breathe and re-immersed herself into the game, yet at that moment, Airi had no idea that she was going to become more in twined with ''The Elder Tales'' then she already was.[Ch.1 END] Chapter 2 As the light peered through the curtains of Airi''s room the sound of firoucious typing and clicking could be heard, "Come on, come on, almost got it!" she rapidly clicked her mouse and then from her headphones came a victory tone, scrolled across her screen was the word ''Victory'', Airi let out a sigh of relief as she lowered herself in her chair. "Man, I didn''t think that boss battle would take so long" Airi stretched and sighed, she smiled happily and her hand went staright back to the mouse and keyboard "Alright, now I''ve just got to get back to town to turn the quest in" with that the clicking resumed. As Airi was focused on her game her door slowly opened and Kazu stepped in, he was dressed for work in his suit and tie he sighed when he saw Airi sitting in front her computer clicking away instead of in bed. "Didn''t I tell her to go to bed?" he walked in further and stopped behind Airi, his face went red, she was still underdressed, "And she''s still dressed like that" he swallowed hard, he cleared his throat. He was about to tap on Airi''s shoulder when he caught a glimpse of her computer screen, he saw that Airi was locked into a battle with what looked like a giant pig that stood on two leg holding a huge twin sided axe, Kazu stood and watched in amazment at how fast Airi clicked her mouse and how fast her finger trailed along her keyboard. It seemed to be mere seconds and the pig creature was defeated, Airi smiled and sighed, Kazu knew that Airi was good at the game but seeing her just then made him chuckle a bit "She really acts like her old self when she plays this game" Kazu found himself mesmerized by Airi''s playing. When he saw the time on her computer clock he finally remembered why he had come into her room in the first place, with that he tapped Airi''s shoulder which made her turn around she gave a smile when she saw it was him. She did a quick turn back to her computer, clicks on her mouse could be heard as she paused the game, she then drapped her headphones around her neck and turned back around, "Hey Kazu-nii, What are you doing in here?" Kazu sighed "I came to check to see if you were in bed" he looked at her computer then back at her, "But, I see you didn''t go to sleep at all" Airi gave a pouting face "Sorry nii-san, I had an attack last night.." Kazu felt a jolt go through him, "I see.." a somber look crossed his face. As Kazu looked at Airi he caught a glimpse of her breasts, his face flushed with red, "So, is there anything else?" the red in Kazu''s face vanished and he smiled, "Yeah, I''m heading off to work" Airi gave a confused look, "I thought you didn''t go in until seven?" Kazu sighed "I just got a call from my boss, there''s a big project coming up and he needs me to come in earlier" Airi gave a sad look, "So, does that mean I won''t be able to spend time with you?" Kazu felt a twist in his heart. "No, sorry, doesn''t look like it" Airi gave a sad leadened sigh, she gave a weak smile "Will you be home at the usual time?" Kazu sighed, "I don''t know Airi" Airi''s sad face grew even sadder, "Don''t worry, if I get some time I''ll come check on you, how''s that?" Airi''s face seemed to brighten a bit. She nodded "That''s okay" Kazu smiled, he patted Airi on the head, "Alright then, I''m off, I''ll try to come check on you " Airi nodded, "Bye nii-san, have a good day at work" Kazu nodded and started walking off and Airi started turning back to her computer but, Kazu stopped before he walked out Airi''s room "Airi" he called, Airi turned and looked back at him, "Yeah,what is it?" Kazu had a stern look on his face "Could you try to get some sleep while I''m gone?" Airi could see the concerned look in Kazu''s eyes. She nodded "I will, if I can do one more quest beforehand" Kazu sighed "Now Airi you should really get some sleep, staying up like this isn''t healthy" Airi pouted, Kazu could feel his stern spirit waining, he groaned, "Alright, one more quest, but not a long one" Airi grumbled a bit, but she could see that Kazu wasn''t going to budge on the subject so she nodded, "Alright" Kazu smiled "Good, well bye" he waved as he started to wal out "Bye" Airi waved. She watched as her door was closed once again, she heard Kazu''s footsteps echo as he made his way down the hall to the front door she heard the front door open and then close, that told her Kazu was on his way to work, she grumbled a second time and turned to her computer, she put her headphones back on her ears and unpaused the game. "Alright, I can do one more quest" she started thinking of a short quest that she could do while she fought another monster, "I got it,a retrival quest should be nice and quick" she chuckled "I might even be able to do a few of them if I finish them quickly" she nodded to herself. After she finished off the battle with the random encountered monster she made her way to town. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As Gawain made his way down the street like always he had eyes on him, he heard whispers from others and he smiled, he saw the Adventurer''s Guild sign come into view, he casually walked in and was again greeted with silence and multiple pairs of eyes on him, he made his way to the front desk where the elf girl was standing and waiting. The elf girl bowed and her ears twitched before she spoke, "What can I do for you?" Gawain rustles in his pack and pulled out a poster and handed it to the elf girl "I''d like to turn in a quest" he heard a whisper come from behind him "Another one, that''s the fifth one!" another whisper fallowed the first "I wonder which one it was now?" the elf girl took the poster from him. "Okay, what is your name?" Gawain smirked "Gawain, The Crimson Knight" the elf girl nodded she read the poster and she reached for the desk drawer, she pulled out the stamp, "Gawain, The Crimson Knight, I hereby annouce that you''ve cleared ''The Demon Kings Son'' quest" with that she stamped down on the poster. Gawain could here a few gasps from behind him, "That''s the quest he did!?" he heard someone say, "That was a really high level quest right?" another said "Yeah, and the boss is suppose to be over Level 125!" some shocked gasps came through, "Over 125! Then if he cleared the quest how high is his Level?" Gawain smiled to himself as he heard the conversations between those behind him. The elf girl handed the stamped poster back to Gawain, a big red ''Cleared'' stamped across it, he smirked "Now, please take that to the cashier to receive your reward" Gawain nodded and made his way over to the chashiers desk. He turned in the stamped poster and got his rewards, "Can''t wait to see what I got" he mumbled to himself with a smile on his face. "Alright" he then walked right back over to the front desk, the elf girls ears twitched, "Is there something else you need?" Gawain nodded "Yes, I like to accept another quest please" some shocked gasps could be heard "He''s taking on a another quest!?" a low murmur began, "Wonder what he''ll pick?" he heard someone say, "You think it''ll be another high level quest?" Gawain chuckled. "I''d like a retreival quest please" he heard some shocked gasps, elf girl nodded, she opened another drawer and from out of it she pulled out several posters all with requests one them, she placed them ontop the conunter in a line, "Go ahead, choose one you like" Gawain nodded, he the started to read over them, the first five didn''t seem all that exciting, but he suddenly came to one that caught his eyes. The discrption was ''Please retrive my precious heriloom, I lost it in a cave where some very strong monsters dwell'' Gawain smiled and he picked the poster up, "I''ll take this one" the elf girl nodded and took the poster from Gawain and read over it, "Okay, I understand you wish to take on ''Heriloom in Death Cave'' quest, is that correct?" Gawain nodded, he hear some gasps once more. "Death Cave!? Isn''t that place filled with high level monsters?" he heard a nervous chuckle "This guy, he even chooses high level retrival quests" the elf girls ears twitched, "Are you sure?" Gawain nodded, "Alright then, here, come back with this once the quest is finished" she handed the poster to Gawain who nodded and put it in his pack. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. He then bowed to he elf girl and turned and started heading out, it took several hours for Gawain to travel from town to the area where the Death Cave was, when he got there he stopped right outside the mouth of the cave, "Alright, let''s see how prepared I am" with that he started going through his supplies, after throughly checking what he had he smiled, "That should be good enough" he patted his pack. He looked at the mouth of the cave, the inside was so dark he could barely see deep inside, "Alright, lets get going shall we?" with that he stepped inside the cave, he put his lantern on and started to navagate the bending paths of the cave, as he walked he took the quest poster out, he read over it, "Let''s see, it says it should be in a room where a really strong boss monster is" Gawain smirked. He folded the poster and put it away, he then took out a map, "Lets see" he looked over the map which showed the layout of the whole cave, he saw a area that seemed to be larger the the rest, "That must be the place" guided by the map he made his way to the specific location. After what seemed like hours of walking he finally came to the large open area, he looked around and chuckled "This does look like the place a boss monster would be" he walked in further before he could walk further inside a huge mass came falling from the roof of the cave, Gawain smiled, he was staring face to face with a huge bat like creature, it''s big red eyes were locked on him and its mouth house several rows of sharp teeth that had sliava dripping from them. It let out a mighty roar at Gawain, "Looks like you want a fight" with that Gawain put away his map and quickly drew his sword, he pointed it at the huge monster, "Well come on then" the massive bat creature rushed at Gawain. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Airi fidgeted in her chair, furious clicks could be heard from her mouse, "Come on, come on" she mumbled "Cross Slash!" she grumbled in annoyance "Ah! Poisoned!" more clicks came from her mouse, "Triple Cross Slash!" Airi licked her lips, "Come on, Flame Sword Edge!" she shrieked a bit, "Ah! low heatlth! High Potion go!" soon her room was abuzz with nothing but clicks from her mouse. She shifted in her chair once more, "Cross Slash! Cross Slash! Cross Slash!" she giggled "Just a bit more HP left!" she clicked her mouse "Triple Cross Slash!!" then suddenly a huge grin came across her face, on her computer screen the word ''Victory'' glowed in bright red letters, she let out a sigh of relief. She sat back in her chair staring at her screen, "That was the closes battle I ever had" she let out a breath "Those guys at the Guild were right, the monsters in this place are really strong" Airi spotted her comuter clock, a sad look came across her face "I wonder what Kazu-nii is doing right now?" she turned her head to look at her door. It had just been a few hours ago that Kazu had left for work, it was lonely being alone in the apartment, Airi looked back to her computer and decided it was time to continue on, "Alright, lets find the heirloom and get back to town" she clicked her mouse and went back to her game. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gawain let out a sigh of relief, he looked upon the unmoving body of the massive bat crature, his sword was covered in it''s blood, he had some scrathes and some of the creatures blood on him and his armor, he sheathed his sword and sighed once more "Finally, though I gotta admit, it almost had me" Gawain hadn''t expected the creature to poison him twice. "Now, lets get to finding that heirloom" he started to walk around the huge room looking for a sign of anything that remotley looked like a lost heirloom, "Where is this thing?" he grumbled as he continued to look behind some rocks. As he searched something caught his eye, "What is that?" he reached his hand towards the object which was revealed to be a shiny blue stone that shined like a gemstone, "I''ve never seen something like this before?" he studied the strange stone closer. He was mesmerized by how beautiful the stone was, "Is this some kind of rare gem that can be found here?" Gawain looked around. He didn''t see any sign that there were anymore stones like the one he held, "Have I found something really amazing?" as he started at the stone suddenly he started to hear a noise, he looked around the huge room "What is that sound?" he reached for his sword, "Is it more monsters?" he scanned the room waiting to see a monster or two run in. The noise started to get louder and louder, the louder it got the more it hurt Gawain''s ears "Where is...it coming from?" he said through gritted teeth, that''s when the stone he held in his hand started to glow really bright "What the!?" he gasped at that moment he realized that the sound he was hearing was coming from the stone itself "What is going on!?" he shouted the the whole room was enveloped in light. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Airi grumbled in annoyance, "Where is this thing?" she was getting frustarted she couldn''t find the heirloom she was looking for, "Is it even in this room?" then as she looked behind a group of rocks she saw something, she raised an eyebrow, "Is that it?" she clicked her mouse, on her computer screen an image of a shining blue stone was shown. "What is this, this doesn''t seem to be what I''m looking for?" she studied the blue stone, she cocked her head to the side "Is this some kind of new gemstone?" as Airi tried to make heads or tails of what she was looking at she started to notice that she could here an almost high pitched whine coming from her headphones. Her eyes darted to her headphones, "What''s that noise, are my headphone acting up?" steadily the noise started to grow louder and louder, Airi winced as the sound started to hurt her ears, "Agh! What is this!?" she gritted her teeth. Then suddenly, her computer screen started to glow brightly, "What the hell!?" Airi was then strickin with a massive headache, she grabbed her head, "What''s going on!" then in that split second Airi felt as though something had slipped, everything went dark. When Airi opened her eyes she was greeted with an unfamillar sight, "What the?" above her Airi could see what looked to be huge rocks hanging from her ceiling, "Why are those there?" Airi tried to sit up but she struggled to do so, "Why can''t I get up?" she glanced down and her eyes went wide, she was no longer wearing the clothes she had on, now, she was wearing a full suit of armor that was red with a golden trim. Airi panicked, "This can''t be.." she didn''t want to believe her eyes, "This, This is Gawain''s armor!?" a confused look crossed her face "Why am I wearing Gawain''s armor!?" was she dreaming, she had to right, but, she was having a hard time believeing it when she could feel the weight of the armor, that ment it was real. She then noticed that she was feeling pain, that was also something that didn''t happen when you were dreaming. Airi became hysterical, it was true, somehow she had become Gawain! Airi tried to rationalize how something like this was possible, that''s when she spotted the same blue stone that showed up on her computer screen sitting in Gawain''s or, she should say, her hands, yet, it wasn''t shining like it had been before. "Is this what caused this?" then a realization came to Airi, is she was really her character Gawain, she looked over and her face grew shocked, she saw the huge bat like creature that she had just beaten in her game laying motionless a few feet from her. Airi shuddered, "No way..." she mumbled that''s when is slowly started to sink into her brain, somehow, she was now inside ''The Elder Tales'' game. [Ch.2 END] Chapter 3 Airi layed there on the cold stoney floor of the cave, still trying to wrap her mind around her current situation which wasn''t anymore clearer then before "How is this possible?" she looked around at her surroundings, without a doubt she was actually in ''The Elder Tales'' but, what she couldn''t wrap her mind around was how and why she was inside a game. "I''ve got to get out of here first" while she was more occupied with figuring out how she found herself in her current situation she figured if she was in ''The Elder Tales'' game, then laying on a cold floor of a cave that housed many strong monsters that would come across her, and Airi felt if what was going on was real then she couldn''t let any monsters find her. "Alright, time to get out of here" with that she tried to get up of the ground but, try as she might she couldn''t even lift herself off the ground she grumbled in annoyance "Come on, why can''t I move?" she felt should be able to move around since she was Gawain but, why wasn''t she able to get up. Once again Airi tried to get up, again, she barely rose a inch, she panted heavily and groaned "Why is this armor so heavy for me yet, Gawain can move around so easily in it?" Airi again attempted to get up but gave up immediatley when she saw no progress at all, she sighed in frustration. "Alright, seems like I have a problem" now Airi had to figure out a way that she could be able to move, there was no way she was going to be able to get up and walk out of the cave with such heavy armor "Come on Airi, think" she searched through he brain for a plan, suddenly she smirked as an idea came to mind, with that she looked at her empty left hand she then started to try to move it. After a bit of forcefulness her arm started to move,she chuckled "Good, now if I could just reach my pack" the sound of the metal of her armour scrapped against the stone floor of the cave, the sound echoed throughout the cave Airi hoped the sound wouldn''t attract a monster, is it did, she''d be no match at all. Slowly, Airi''s heavy arm got closer and closer to her pack at her side, when she saw her hand touch it she gave a smile "Alright, now, just have to open it" her fingers started to rise slowly to the clasp the kept her pack closed, Airi was sweating at this point, never in her life had she had to keep something so heavy lifted for so long, that would teach her for not keep in shape. Soon though, Airi finally put her hand on the clasp of her pack she gave an accomplished chuckle and she let out a sigh of relief when she heard the clasp come undone, her arm quickly dropped back to the ground with a thud, Airi panted hard, she now had to initiate phase two of her plan, "Got to, get the potion" she said through panted breaths when she got control of her breathing Airi went back to work. She had to move her arm again, she took in a breath, "Alright, you can do this Airi" she encouraged herself, like before her arm started to move slowly the metal scrapping against the stone, Airi would ocassianly look to see if a monster had come in, when she saw nothing she focused on her arm. Slowly but surely, she reached her now open pack, "Alright, gotta pull it out" she panted, her heavy hand went into the pack, the sound of the metal hitting what seemed to sound like glass bottles could be heard Airi didn''t have time to pull each flask of potion out one by one, so in one sweeping motion she pulled out a handful of potion flasks. The glass clinked when it hit the stone floor of the cave, are chuckled and looked at the potions she had managed to grab she clicked her tounge, none of the ones she had pulled out were the one she needed, she panted heavily and waited until she got her breath under control once more "Second try" she mumbled with that she once again moved her hand into the opened pack. She heard the metal clink against several flasks, she smirked and once again in one single motion she pulled her hand out, the flasks clinked when the hit the stone floor, Airi looked and a huge grin appeared on her face. Among the second hand of potion flasks she had pulled out was the one she needed, she eyed a flask with a yellow liquid in it, "Now, I just have to grab it, and drink it" Airi could tell her arm was dead tired from having to move and lift the heavy armor that was on it but, Airi had to bare it, she needed to get out of the cave at all costs. Airi reached for the flask, slowly her hand came over it, she then wrapped her hand around it, she then sighed in relief, she had the potion in her hand, now all she had to do was somehow lift it to her mouth and drink it. Airi then tried to lift her arm up, it took quiet a bit of effort to get her arm to lift off the ground, she smiled but she couldn''t stop there, now her daunting task was lifing her heavy arm to where her hand with the potion could be at her mouth. It didn''t budge at first, but after a little perserverance Airi found herelf bringing her arm up, the potion her hand held getting closer "Just a bit more" the potion slowly got closer and closer to her mouth, Airi could feel the aches and pains in her arm. She had to ignore it, the potion was just mere inches away from her mouth, after what seemed to be hours of getting the potion to her mouth Airi saw the flask was right above her mouth, she chuckled she now had to uncork the flask, she raised her head slowly off the ground, she put her mouth on the cork and she bit down on it, she let her head drop back down and that caused the cork to come out the flask. Airi''s eyes went wide, she quickly spit out the cork and started slurping up the potion that was flowing out from the flask, the potion tasted terrible, but she had to endure it as several drops of the potion were left in the flask when the last of it dripped into her mouth she closed it and swallowed the potion down. Airi let her arm fall to the ground, the potion flask clinked on the ground as it rolled freely from her hand, at first nothing happened, then all at once Airi felt a tingling sensation, slowly she started to feel the weight of the armor vanish she chuckled to herelf, when she felt no weight from the armor she was finally able to sit up from off the cave floor. Airi sighed in relief, "Finally, thank god for Weightless Potions" Airi coughed as the aftertaste of the potion came up, "Agh, that was nasty" how could Gawain drink these things she thought, Airi quickly chnaged her thought of mind, now that she could move she had to get moving out of the cave taking no time Airi slowly stood up from off the ground. At that moment she noticed something, "Wait, why am I so short, I made Gawain tall" this wasn''t Gawain''s height at all, it actualy felt more like, a sudden shocked experssion came on Airi''s face, "Mine..." she mumbled she wasn''t Gawain''s height at all, she was her acutal height, "What the hell''s going on!?" as Airi moved she felt alot of weight in the back of her head. She turned her head and her mouth went wide, "Why is Gawain''s hair so long!" Airi knew Gawain better then she did herself, she knew Gawain''s hair stopped at his shoulders yet now his blonde hair was down to his waist, and his hair was nice and straight but now, it was all a mess, as several strands of hair were out of place. Soon Airi realized that she recognized the hair, she was once again shocked "This is my hair!" sure, her hair was black but, there was no doubt in her mind that the long blonde messy hair Gawain had now was hers. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Her height, and her hair, why did Gawain have that, Airi was even more confused then she had started out, it wasn''t that she had somehow ended up becoming Gawain in truth she was Gawain! There was no sign of the tall, shoulder length blonde she had created she was her character. Before Airi could make heads or tails of her new perdicament she heard what sounded like a hiss come from behind her, she looked and saw that a monster had wandered into the room while she wasn''t looking. The monster was a huge black snake with golden yellow eyes locked onto her, it opened it''s mouth and revealed as set of white fangs that dripped with what looked like venom, Airi shuddered "Crap.." she cursed under her breath. Airi and the massive snake stared each other down, not one of them made a move, to Airi the snake looked like it would lunge right at her if she made the slighest movement, she clicked her tounge, she had to get out of the cave, and fast, the Weightless Potion wouldn''t last forever. "Come on, think Airi" she started to think hard, but it was difficult when she had a huge snake glaring at her the whole time, what could she do, she needed to find someway to turn the snakes attention away from her so she could make a run for it. Absentmindely, Airi took a small step and her foot tapped a potion flask she had left on the ground the glass clinked as it rolled along the stone floor, Airi cursed under her breath, and she heard the snake hiss really loudly and it started coming towards her. Airi felt like she was done for, but then a sudden realization came to mind, she had noticed that the snake didn''t move while she didn''t but when the snake heard the potion flask roll across the stone floor it reacted. As the snake got closer Airi also noticed that the snakes golden yellow eyes had a glaze over them, "It''s blind!" that''s why the snake reacted to the potion flask, it reacted to the noise. With that, a idea formed in Airi''s head, a way to get the snakes attention elsewhere, "So, you react to sound do you?" she smirked. Slowly, she reached down to the potion flasks scattered at her feet, she grabbed the nearest one and slowly stood back up straight, "I''m over here you asshole!" she shouted then in one solid motion she threw the potion flask at the left wall of the cave room, the flask shattered against the stone and fell to the ground. The snakes head turned to where the flasks had impacted the wall, it hissed loudly and it started to slither towards it, Airi pumped her fist, when the snake was a good distance away Airi felt like it was time to make a run for it. She readied herself to start running until she realized that she was missing something, sudden realization showed on her face "Gawain''s sword!" she gasped the snake stopped dry upon hearing her, it turned it''s head back at her, Airi crused, the snake turned and started coming back towards her hissing. Panicked, Airi frantically looked around for Gawain''s sword, she finally spotted it a few inches away from where she stood, "How''d it get over there!?" she said under her breath so not to make the snake come towards her faster. There was no doubt in her mind that she was going to need Gawain''s sword if she wanted to get out of the cave alive, Airi then quickly came up with a plan of action, with that she made a dash towards the sword but, in the process she picked up another potion flask, the snake upon hearing her armor clink as she ran hissed loudly and started moving faster. Airi looked behind her, the snake was making a mad dash for her, she then looked and saw that she had gotten really close to the sword, she smiled she picked up her pace and as she did so did the snake, as she ran she reached down and as she neared the sword she took hold of the pommel of the sword, thank goodness the Weightless Potion was still in effect, Airi stopped dry after she had the sword in hand. She saw the snake coming towards her, "I''m over here asshole!" she shouted and like she had done before she tossed the potion flask at the cave room wall,and like the first time it caught the snakes attention, it looked to where the flask hit the wall and hissed again, it then headed in the direction of the flask. Airi sheathed the sword and when she saw the snake was a good distance away, she made a mad dash to the enterance of the cave room, as she made her way through the opening she heard the snake hiss once more, she knew for a fact that meant it was coming after her, Airi panted as she started to run faster, "I gotta get out of here!" she cried as she ran hearing the snake hissing behind her made her more scared then a startled cat. "I don''t want to be snake food!" she cried as she started to run faster, if she survived this ordeal, and was somehow able to get back home she was going to start getting back into shape. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In a the forest area outside of Death Cave, a young man walked down the dirt path, he was constantly looking down at a map and back at the path, "Is this the right way?" the young man grumbled, he scrathed his head which housed a set of dark brown spikey hair that went in many different directions, behind his head a ponytail stopped at his neckline, he was fairly tall and lean, he wore what looked like to be a blue longtaile coat with a white cotton shirt underneath. That was matched with what looked like black leather pants, and brown boots, strapped across his front was a large black belt, and it seemed to be what was keeping the sword strapped to his back from falling. The young man grumbled in annoyance, "Did I go the wrong way?" he looked down at his map suddenly though, he heard what sounded like a scream come from further ahead of him, "Sounds like someones in trouble!" with that the young man quickly put his map away, "The quest can wait, someones in trouble!" he then rushed off in the direction her heard the scream come from. [Ch.3 END] Chapter 4-Part 1 Airi screamed as she ran down the dirt path away from Death Cave, she looked back behind her and sure enough the black snake from the cave was still right behind her giving chase, Airi snapped her head forward this was crazy, in Elder Tales the monsters wouldn''t fallow you out of their respective dungeon yet, the same black snake she had encountered in Death Cave was currently still chasing her . "Why the hell is it still after me!?" she heard the snake hiss loudly behind her she screamed and she kicked it into another gear "Go away! Go away! Go away!" she shouted and pleaded but, she knew that pleading wasn''t going to stop the huge snake from catching her and possible eating her. "I wish I was back home!" she shouted which was fallowed by a hiss from the huge snake. Airi continued to run as fast as she could and as long as her legs would allow her, she started to pant heavily, and sweat dripped from her face, never in her life had she had to run so much, but her life was at stake she needed to keep going. In despiration Airi called out, "Is anyone there!" she heard no response, again she called out "Someone help me! I''m being chased by a monster!" she heard a hiss come from the snake she let out a scared cry. Once more she called out, "Someone! Anyone! I don''t want to die!" as Airi finsihed her words she heard finally, a response "Don''t worry! I''m coming!" came a male voice Airi smiled, finally someone had heard her,she was going to be saved. After she heard the response Airi caught a glimpse of a male figure running towards her. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the young man ran up the path after hearing what he felt was a scream he heard someone call out, "Is anyone there!?" he heard, he raised an eyebrow "A girl?" a girl was in troubled, he then heard the same voice call out a second time, "Someone help me! I''m being chased by a monster!" then fallowing that he heard what sounded like a hiss. The young man gritted his teeth, he picked up his pace "Please, let me make it in time!" just then he heard the same voice call out a third time, "Someone! Anyone! I don''t want to die!" the young man could sense the fear in the girls voice, "Don''t worry! I''m coming!" he shouted back. As the young man came up a hill in the path he saw a glimmer of red enter his vision, then he saw the figure of a person running his way a face riddled with fear, "Wait, a guy?" the young man had a confused look on his face, he had clearly heard a girl screaming yet he was seeing a man, wearing red armor with a gold trim, with long mess blonde hair, tears leaking from his blue eyes. The blonde smiled upon seeing the young man, he raised his arm and waved "Hey! Help me please!" the young man clicked his tounge, gender didn''t matter, someone in front of him was in danger, he had no choice but to help. "Don''t worry! I''ll save you!" the fear on the blondes face seemed to subside a bit, the young man was dead set on saving the blonde running towards him, but then he heard a hiss come from behind the blonde, he looked and his eyes went wide as he saw a huge black snake right behind the blonde. Now his face contorted in fear, "That''s what chasing him!?" he cried once more he heard the huge snake hiss, fear shot throught him, and unconciously he did a quick about face and started running away back the way he came. "Hey! Wait come back! Don''t leave me to the mercy of this thing!" the blonde called out but, fear had taken hold of the young man and he wasn''t listening at all. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Airi couldn''t belive it when she finally heard a response come back, hope returned to her heart "I''m going to be saved!" she smiled that''s when she saw a figure come into view, it was a guy, he had spikey dark brown hair that went in several directions, bobbing up and down in the back of his head was a ponytail. He was wearing what looked like to be a blue longtailed coat with a white cotton shirt underneath, he had on a pair of black leather pants and brown boots, Airi also noticed the large black belt starpped to his front and she could tell is was what was keeping the sword he had strapped to his back. Airi smiled upon seeing the guy running towards her, she raised her arm and waved at him "Hey! Help me please!" she called, the guy responded "Don''t worry! I''ll save you!" Airi smiled a bit brighter hearing the guys words. But then she heard a hiss behind her, she didn''t look back but she saw the guy running towards her look behind her, Airi felt a sense of dred fall upon her "No, no, please don''t do what I think your going to do!" as Airi feared, the guys face showed fear, he had seen what was chasing her, Airi saw the guy quickly turn around and start running back the way he had came, "God damnit!" she shouted as the guy ran away from her, "Hey! Wait come back! Don''t leave me to the mercy of this thing!" she called the guy didn''t react he just kept on running. Airi clicked her tounge in annoyance, "You son of a bitch!" she shouted, Airi felt like a complete idiot, she had thought that the guy running towards her was going to save her but there he was, running away like a scared rabbit. She heard the snake hiss behind her, "If I catch you I''m going to kill you!" she shouted hoping the coward would hear her. Airi groaned, if she wasn''t going to be saved she had to get away on her own, a lightbulb went off in her head, she quickly reached for her pack, "Come on, come on" she rummaged through her pack a smirk appeared in the corner of her mouth. "There it is!" she pulled her hand out her pack and in her hand was a potion vial with a green liquid in it, she uncorked the vial and put it to her lips she gulped the potion down quickly. She tossed the empty vial away, "Come on work!" she begged then, just like with the Weightless Potion she had drank before she felt a tingling sensation go through her, she smirked as she felt he speed increase. "Thank god for Max Speed!" she cheered as she started to run even faster, as Airi ran she soon saw the guy she had thought was going to save her come into view, she clicked her tounge. "Hey you jackass!" she saw the guy look at her with a look of surprise "Thanks alot for saving me back there you prick!" she shouted. Then at that moment, all at once Airi felt suddenly heavy, her eyes went wide, "Oh shit!" all the weight of the armor and sword she had was coming back, that only meant one thing, "The Weightless Potion wore off!" with that outburst the heaviness of both the armor and sword caused Airi to lean forward and start falling. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. And with the effect of her going so fast while falling, she flew down the dirt path, the guy running in front of her cried out as she collided with him, the two of them started to tumble down the path together. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The young man panted as he ran down the dirt path, then sudden realization came to his mind, "I just left that guy to die!" he looked back hoping to see the blonde but in his panicked state he''d ran further ahead then he thought. The young man clicked his tounge in anger, he was ashamed of himself, someone had called out to him for help, he promised he''d help, but here he was running away like a coward just because the monster chasing the blonde was really menacing. The young man wanted to turn back around, he wanted to go back and help the blonde guy, but his body wasn''t with his mind and didn''t heed him one bit. "Why did I do something like that!" the young man guilted himself, he''d left someone to die, "I''m nothing but scum" his face grew dark, but then his ears were filled with the sound of someone yelling. "Hey you jackass!" the young man recognized the voice immediatley, it was the blonde guy without a doubt, he looked and sure enough he saw the blonde haired guy clad in red armor running towards him at an almost godlike speed. At first he was surprised but, he was also relieved to see the blonde guy was still alive, that made the guilt he felt vanish but it returned when the blonde guy shouted, "Thanks alot for saving me back there you prick!" the young man sighed. He wasn''t going to be forgiven that easily but then he saw the blonde guys eyes go wide in surprise, "What''s the matter with him?" that''s when he saw a look of realization on the blonde guys face. He saw the blonde guy start to lean forward, he then heard him shout "The Weightless Potion wore off!" the young man gasped in surprise. All at once, he saw the blonde guy fall forward, combined with the speed at which he was running made him fly right down to the young man, with no time to react the young man could do nothing but allow the blonde to plow right into him. He immediatley felt the weight of the blonde armor against him, and the two of them started tumbling down the dirt path together, they tumbled for what seemed like hours, the snake was still in pursuit, they didn''t come to a stop until the came to a huge drop in the path. When they reached it the weight of the blondes armor caused them to be pinned to the ground, they heard the massive snake hiss as it came towards them, the young man started to trash about trying to wedge himself free from out under the blondes heavy body. But it was difficult with one arm as his other was pinned under the blonde body which he couldn''t wrench free with all his might. The young man stared directly at the huge snake coming their way, "We''re going to die!" he cried he than began to cry and beg and pray, here he was, stuck underneath another man, not able to move or run away, about to become lunch for a giant snake. In between his crying he heard the blonde shout, "Would you stop crying like a girl!" the young mans eyes snapped to the blonde who was loking at him with a pissed and annoyed look on his face. "Look, we can make it out of here but, your going to have to listen to my exact instructions!" the young man didn''t respond, but when he heard the snake hiss again and saw it was mere feet from reaching them he nodded vigarously. The blonde smirked, "Alright, here''s the plan" the young man listened closley. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Airi and the coward rolled down the dirt path together, Airi saw a big drop in the path coming up fast, "Oh shit!" she cursed the two of them fell fast to the ground, the coward was pinned under Airi and was trying to free himself. He had become frantic, "Damn, I can''t move, the Weightless Potion stopped working" she clicked her tounge she heard the snake hiss which signaled to her that the snake was closing in on them. "Damn, come on think" Airi had a difficult time thinking with the snake hissing and the coward pinned under her shouting and yelling and crying like a madman, she reach her limit when she heard him cry out "We''re going to die!" he then began to babble to himself. Annoyed, Airi shouted "Would you stop crying like a girl!" the young mans brown eyes snapped to her, at that moment she saw that one of the cowards arms was free, an idea formed in her head. "Look, we can make it out of here but, your going to have to listen to my exact instructions!" the coward didn''t answer at first, but when he heard the snake hiss and looked over and looked right back he nodded vigorously. Airi smirked, "Alright, here''s the plan!" the coward listened intently, "With your free arm, I want you to reach into my pack" the coward nodded, he quickly reached his free arm to Airi''s pack, "Good, next pull out the vial with the yellow potion in it" the coward nodded, he rummaged around Airi''s pack. Under preassure the first few times the coward pulled out the wrong vial, but he grinned like an idiot when he finally pulled the vial with the yellow potion inside it. Airi gave a grin right back, "Good, now, I want you to hold it up to my mouth" the cowards nodded and slowly the potion vial was lifted to her mouth, Airi smirked she gripped the cork tightly with her teeth and she pulled it out spitting the cork out quickly, she opened her mouth and allowed the potion to flow into her mouth. When it was all gone Airi swallowed, once more the nasty taste lingered, but soon she felt the tingling sensation again, she smiled and laughed when she felt the heaviness of the armor and sword vanish, the coward seemed to be surprised by all this. When Airi felt no weight she hopped off the coward and he jumped up immediatley after, "Thanks" Airi gave a smile the coward chuckled, "No problem" they both jumped when the heard the snake hiss. "I think we should get out of here" Airi proposed the coward agreed and Airi was set to run but, at that moment she felt the Max Speed potion ware off, she cursed under her breath. The snake hissed again, and the Airi bolted and the coward fallowed suit. [Ch.4 Part 1 END] Chapter 4- Part 2 The young man and the blonde in red armor ran as fast as they could down the dirt path, they had been running down what seemed like for hours on end, their pants were in unison, the two of them had sweat dripping off their face to the ground behind them a telltale hiss pierced their ears, "Why won''t this thing leave us alone!" the blonde cried the young man was curious too, "That''s what I want to know! What did you do to this thing to get it so mad!?" the blonde looked over with a shocked look. "What!? You acussing me of doing something!?" the blonde scowled, "Well, it was chasing ''you'' if I reacall!" he scowled back, the blonde grumbled angrily, "Don''t pin this on me! I was minding my own business! I didn''t do anything to it!" the young man sighed, "Alright, sorry, and sorry for kinda ditching you back there" he gave a sorryful look. The blonde grumbled in annoyance, "You think a simple sorry, is going to make up for almost leaving me to my certain death!" the young man sighed, "Yeah, your right I shouldn''t really be forgiven for that should I?" the youn boy gave a solemd face. The blonde sighed, "Okay, don''t look like that will you, I forgive you" the young mans face light up with a smile, "Really, thanks!" he chuckled, "But, that doesn''t mean I''m not going to kick your ass if we survive this!" the young man gave a exsaperated sigh, a hiss came to their ears, they both looked back and saw that the snake was closing in on them. "He doesn''t know when to give up does he?" the blonde nodded "Is there a way we cane shake it?" the blonde shook his head, "No, it reacts to sound, it''ll fallow us no matter what we do" a grim look came to the young mans face, "You mean we have no way of ditching this thing!?" the blonde didn''t answer the young man hung his head. Suddenly, his head shot up with a look of shock and realization, "What?" called the blonde the young man looked over "I forgot the towns directly ahead!" the blonde gave a confused look "The town?" the young man nodded "Yeah, it''s populated by tons of people! If this thing keeps fallowing us we''ll bring it right into town!" he had a grim and angry look on his face "And there''s no telling how much damage a thing like that could do" the blonde had a more confused look. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Airi couldn''t belive what she was hearing, this player was talking about a monster getting into town, in Elder Tales, a monster couldn''t go into any towns at all, there was no way what this player was saying was true, there was no way, she was in a game, yet. She looked at the supposed players face, she could see the seriousness in the players face, that what he had said was true, Airi shook her head, "No, that can''t be" Airi was having trouble wrapping her head around her whole situation more then she had been before, she thought she was in the game, yet in her short time nothing akin to what happens in the game had happened. A monster had continued chasing her out of it''s dungeon area, and now this ''player'' was saying that this very monster could get into a town, things that didn''t happen in the Elder Tales game. Now, Airi was split between two thoughts, One was this was still a game, and Two, that somehow, in some freaky way, this world she was in that was simmilar to Elder Tales, was real and not some game. But, what was stopping Airi from believing the second one, was that amongst the things she seen, all of them belong in the Elder Tales Game, "Which one is it?" Airi thought to herself, "Is this just still a game, or is it, real?" as Airi was in deep thought the ''player'' called out. "Hey! Are you listening to me!?" Airi snapped her attention to the ''player'', "Sorry, what?" the ''player'' gave a disgruntled grumble, "I said we have to do something about this monster before we guide it right to town!" the lingering thought came back, the thought that what was going on was real, and not some game anymore. Airi''s mind was a warzone, she couldn''t think straight, Airi shook her head, she had to clear her mind,she had to create some order, she took in a deep breath and exhaled, she let her thoughts drift away, "Alright, if this is real, then I can''t allow people to die because of me" she mumbled to herself. She looked at the ''player'', "Your right, we have to stop it, but how, that monster lived in Death Cave, thats were some really strong monsters live" the ''player'' looked deep in thought for about a few seconds, "It doesn''t matter, we have to stop this thing here" Airi nodded "Alright, what''s the plan?" the ''player'' smirked, "We stand and fight right here!" as he finished those words, the ''player'' stopped dry, he turned around and in one swift motion he pulled the sword out from behind him and pointed it at the charging snake that was hissing wildly. Airi stopped in her tracks and was shocked, the equipment the ''player'' had didn''t seem to be all that special, it all looked to be like beginner level equipment there was no way this ''player'' was serious about taking this possibly high level monster with such lowly equipment, with that Airi gripped her sword tightly and drew it, and joined the ''players'' side pointing her sword with his right at the advancing snake. "Look,I''ll tell you right now" Airi looked at the ''player'', he had a serious look on his face "I''m scared as hell right now, but, there''s no way I''m letting this thing get to town" he got into a fighting stance that Airi recognized, the stance was akin to the Swordsman class. Airi smirked, to think she''d meet a ''player'' using the same class as her, the snake hissed, Airi foucused, she got into her battle stance, ready to fight off the monster, all be it hoping that her thought of this being real was simply false. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The young man looked over at the blonde who had gone into a battle stance, he chuckled a bit he couldn''t belive it, the blonde was just like him, a Swordsman, he heard the snake hiss, he refoucused on the snake, he was ready, the snake was getting closer and closer. When it got in striking distance the young man smirked, he decided to take the first move, "Here I go!" he cried as he ran towards the snake "What are you doing you idiot!" the blonde called out in shock. The snake stopped dry, it focused on the young man running towards it, his sword pointed at itself, it let out a mighty hiss and started slithering towards him, the snake lunged at him, the young man jumped and the snake almost grabbed his leg in its fanged mouth. The young man cried out as he came back down, he extended the blade of his sword over the snakes head,he was hoping he could cut its head off in one fluid motion but, just before his blade touched the scales of the snake it pulled its head back. The young man cursed, his sword cut into the dirt, he heard the snake hiss, it lunged at him again, the young man was able to jumped back out of the way just in the nick of time "That was close" he smirked nervously, "I got to be careful here" the snake was fast. The snake flicked its forked tounge at the young man, a low hiss came from it''s closed mouth "Shit, I pissed it off" he stepped back a bit, the young man needed a plan or her was done for. "Come on, think, what do I know about the enemy?" the young man searched his thoughts, suddenly he heard the blonde shout "It reacts to sound remember!" the young man looked back at the blonde, he smirked, that''s right, the snake reacted to sound, he grinned "I can work with that" he then reached for his pack at his side. He slowly opened it, he slowly pulled out three long silver needle like object, each one had a bell attached through a hole at the ends, "Alright, lets go" with that he ran at the snake once more. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Airi watched as the ''player'' and the monster snake was intangled in battle, she saw the shining silver objects in the ''players'' hand "What are those?" Airi had never seen such an item in the game before, was it some sort of new weapons pack update? She watched as the ''player'' ran straight at the snake, she saw him grip one of the silver needles, "What is he going to do with those?" Airi''s question was answered when she saw the ''player'' toss the needle in his hand. It stuck into the dirt of the path, then came a jingle, "A bell?" Airi squinted her eyes, and sure enough she saw a small sliver bell attached by a string on the needle, it gave out a small jingling noise. "How''s that going to-" before Airi could finish her thought she saw the snake react to the sound of the bell, it lunged at where the needle was. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Airi smirked, "He''s using sound to get the snakes attention off of him" Airi was impressed to see someone come up with a plan just like hers with the snakes attention drawn away from him the ''player'' slashed down with his sword but, the sound of the sword swinging in the air alerted the snake to the ''players'' oncoming attack. It immediatley snapped its attention back to the ''player'' it lunged right at him, Airi was sure there was no way the ''player'' could avoid the attack in time, but, she saw him smirk and toss another bell needle, again the snakes attention was drawn to the needle. The ''player'' took advantage of the situation and did an upwards slash, this time it connected with the snakes skin, it let out a bloody hiss as the ''players'' sword cut deep into its skin, blood flowed from the open gash the snake hissed sparatically. The ''player'' pulled his sword out of the snake and back off, the snakes blood flowed down his clean blade, "That''s one hit" he chuckled. Airi was in shock, before she had felt that because of the ''players'' begginer level looking euipment, that he wasn''t going to be able to land an attack on what looked to be a probably wasa high level monster in the game yet, she had seen it happen. The ''players'' sword sticking into the snakes body, dragging a deep cut up its body, "How is this possible?" Airi stared at the ''players'' blood soaked sword, how was what seemed to be a low level ''player'' right now at this very moment actually standing a chance against a monster that was probably a higher level then himself. Also, paired with the flowing blood that was no doubt all too real, Airi''s mind started to drift, could it really be true, was this world a real version of Elder Tales. Airi continued to watch at the ''player'', kept up his fight with the snake, in its anger for being wounded the snake lunged out in anger but, with how much blood it was loosing from the gaping wound on its undersection made it move a but slower. The ''player'' was able to move out of the way, he smirked "I don''t think I''m going to need this last one" he put the last bell needle he had back in his pack, "Now, I guess it''s time I get serious" with that he cripped his sword with two hands. "Here I go!" he shouted he brought his sword down and it left a huge cut on the snakes back, it hissed loudly in pain, blood oozed out from the cut. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Heh, just a small knick", the cut was too shallow, the young man held his sword up, keeping it trained on the snake which was hissing in anger and pain, it looked at the young man he chuckled, "Come on, come get some more" the snake lunged at him, again with the blood it was losing the snake didn''t strike as fast. The young man stepped out of the way, he locked his eyes on the snakes neckline, he smirked he brought his sword down it chopped into the snakes neck, it hissed in pain, the young man tried to push the blade of his sword through the snakes neck but, it''s skin was too thick. The snake shook violently, it caused the young mans sword to become disloged from it''s body and also in the process sent him flying, he caught himself and landed on his feet "Damn, its got tough skin" he smirked, "But, I can cut it" with that he rushed back at the snake. The snake was still occupied with the pain it was feeling in its neck, it didn''t notice the young man coming towards it before it was too late, the young man brought his sword down on the same cut he had put on its neck, it hissed in pain,that''s when the young man started to repeatedley chop down on the snakes neck, with each chop his sword went deeper and deeper. Then after a few good, powerful chops, the young mans sword went fully through the snakes neck, the snakes head fell to the ground with a thud, blood spurted out of the hole where its head use to be. It splashed the young man, covering him in snake blood, "Ugh, I just washed this!" he said looking his clothes over the snakes headles body fell to the ground blood flowed out from the body onto the ground. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Airi''s mouth went wide in shock, she still couldn''t believe what she had just seen, the ''player'' whom she assumed was really low level, had just cut the head off the massive snake that must have been at least around level fifty or possibly even sixity like it was a low level common monster spawn. And he stood there, soaked in snakes blood, complaining about his clothes being soaked in blood, "Just, whats going on?" she asked herself, how was it possible, a low level ''player'' beating a possibly high level monster. The blood soaked ''player'' looked over at her, "Well, seems like that''s over" he smirked, Airi stuttered "Ye-yeah, seems like it" she looked at the massive snakes headless body, then at it''s cut off head. As she looked at it, she could have sworn she saw movement, she stared at the cut off head a bit longer, then it happened, the cut off head started to move, Airi''s eyes went wide, it was crawling towards the unaware ''player'' she shouted "Look out!" the ''player'' although surprised reacted. He looked and saw the snakes cut off head moving towards him, he jumped back "Woah,looks like someones not done yet" he then casualy walked over to the moving head, he pointed the tip of his blade at the snake heads eyeball, "Seeya" he then jammed his sword down into the snakes head eye, blood spurted from the crushed eye. The sword came free from the snakes eye socket with a wet slosh, the ''player'' didn''t sheathed his sword until he confirmed the snakes head wasn''t going to start moving again. He swipped the blood off his sword and put it away, he then walked over to Airi who was a bit disturbed having someone soaked in blood walking towards her, "Well, looks like you handled that" she chuckled nervously. The ''player'' chuckled "Thanks, I thought that for sure I wasn''t going to be able to kill it, but, thanks to your clue earlier I was able to come up with a plan" he rubbed the back of his head and gave a victorioud smile, "D-Don''t mention it" Airi gave a nervous smile. The ''player'' gave a confused look, "What''s wrong with you?" Airi scratched her face, "Uhm, It''s kinda unsettleing talking while your covered in snakes blood" the ''player'' looked down at himself. He chuckled, "I guess so" Airi chuckled "You now, looking at you, I thought you''d stand no chance against that monster" the ''player'' gave a depressed look, "I really looked like that to you?" Airi nodded, the ''player'' sighed "Sorry! I know your really strong after seeing you kill that snake!" Airi reassrued the ''player''. The ''player'' smirked, "Thanks" then he had a look of realization on his face, "Oh yeah, whats your name by the way?" now it was Airi''s turn to come to a realization, she had no idea who the ''player'' in front of her was. She then looked over his head, but, her eyes went wide in shock, the names of players were always right above their head yet, above the ''player'' in front of her''s head, there was no name at all, just a blank space. "What the hell, where''s his name?" she stared above his head for quite a bit, "Uhm, is something wrong?" came the ''players'' voice Airi looked back down at the ''player'' "No!" her hands shot up, she chuckled nervously, "Uhm, whats your name?" the ''player'' smiled. "My name Garret, Garret The Swift" he extended his hand to Airi "What''s yours?" Airi smiled and extended her hand. "My names Ai-" she paused she almost gave her real name, she cleared her throat,thinking she was still in the game she tried her best to sound like a guy, "My..My names Gawain, Gawain The Crimson Knight" the two shook hands. The ''player'' who identified himself as Garret smirked, "Nice to meet you Gawain" Airi smirked, her crude try at a guys voice fooled Garret, "You''ve not doubt heard about me haven''t you?" Airi chuckled as best she could like a guy. Garret gave a confused look, "Uhm, no not really, this is the first time I''ve ever heard your name" Airi stared blankly at Garret for a bit, she then cried out in shock "What!?" [Ch.4 Part 2 END] Chapter 4- Part 3 Airi stared at Garret with on open mouth, she was in shock, she had just heard Garret say he never heard her characters name, was he a new player, that''s all she could come up with as to why Garret didn''t know who Gawain was. "What?" Garret gave a nervous look, "Should I know your name?" Airi gathered herself, she coughed, she tried her hand at a male voice again, "Yes, you should, theres no one in this land that doesn''t know me!" Garret sighed. "Sorry, I''ve only been in the world for three weeks, I don''t know about any famous warriors" Airi was about retort when what Garret said hit her, "Wait, did you just say you''ve only been in the world for three weeks?" Garret nodded "Yeah, why?" Airi was curious "What did you mean by that?" it took Garret a bit to realize what Airi was asking, when he did he gave an understanding hum. "In this world, people appear out of thin air" Airi''s eyes went wide, "What do you mean they just appear?" Garret scratched his head, searching for the right explanation, when he found one he started talking "Well, at certain times or days a new person appears in the world" Airi was still not understanding but she let Garret continue. "These people appear in a flash of light, we belive that the reason it happens is because thats how the gods create life" Airi was mistified, people, appearing out of thin air, that wasn''t something that happened. "You really expect me to believe that?" Garret gave a confused look "But it''s true, isn''t that how you got here?" Airi went silent, it was then she remebered the shining blue stone she had found while she was playing the game, it was after the bright shining light from her computer screen that she found herself laying on that cold cave floor. Airi was at a loss, she had come to this world in a flash of light, just like Garret had said the people living in it appeared, Airi''s head started to spin, was her worst fear actually true, was she in a real world. Airi looked around, everywhere she looked she saw nothing but Elder Tales the game, yet with all that happened Airi''s started to drift to the latter option, "No, it can''t be possible" she mumbled, it wasn''t possible that she was in a actual real honest to god world that was just very simmilar to the Elder Tales game, "This can''t be happening" she mumbled. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Garret watched as Gawain looked around with a confused look on his face, Garret could here him mumbling something but he couldn''t clearly make out what he was saying, "Hey, you okay?" he walked over to Gawain and placed his hand on his armored shoulder Gawain looked over with a scared expression on his face. "Woah, you okay, you look like you''ve just seen a Banshee" Gawain had a pale look to his face, he started panting hard, "Woah! Calm down!" Garret placed his other hand on Gawain''s shoulder. He rocked Gawain back and forth, "Come on! Calm down!" Gawain panted heavily, Garret clicked his tounge, Gawain wasn''t responding at all, it was like he was in another world. "Snap out of it!" Garret raised his hand off Gawain''s shoulder and in one fluid motion slapped him across the face, Gawain slowly looked back with a dejected look, he touched where Garret had just slapped him, Garret smirked "Looks like that got your attention" Gawain stared at Garret in silence. "Why did you just do that?" Gawain scowled, "It''s the only thing I thought would get you to come back" realization came to Gawain''s face, he took in a breath, "Better?" Gawain took another breath after that his normal look came back. Gawain nodded, "Yeah,thanks" Garret chuckled "Good, now, what was that all about?" Gawain took a pause before answering. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Airi started to freak out and hyperventalate she suddenly felt a strong force against her face, she could feel the weight of something on her cheek, her head turned and the weight left her cheek, she looked back and locked eyes with Garret, he had his hand raised, and Airi felt a tingling sensation on her cheek. She gave a dejected look, she touched her cheek and it stung, she finally came to a conclusion as to what had happned, Garret had just slapped her, "Why did you just do that?" she scolwed at him. "It''s the only thing I thought would get you to come back" at first Airi was confused, then she came to a realization, she must have started having a panic attack, Garret must have slapped her to calm her down, that move was something Airi only saw in games and movies, to have it happen to her made her feel weird. Airi could see the concerned look on Garret''s face, she took in a breath, "Better?" Garret asked, Airi took a second breath. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Airi nodded, "Yeah, thanks" Garret gave a hearty chuckle, "Good, now what was that all about?" Airi took a moment to think, how was she going to explain what had happened with her, she then came to an idea, "Sorry to scare you like that, I guess I was having trouble wrapping my head around the whole, appearing out of thin air part" Garret sighed, "I know, it took me some time to get accustomed to that when I was first told" Garret saw the red hand print on Airi''s face. He gave an apologetic smile, "Sorry about hitting you so hard" Airi touched her bruning cheek, "It''s okay, you did it for a good reason" Garret gave a releived smile. It was then Garret had a confused look on his face, "What?" Airi gave the same confused look back, Garret seemed to be looking Airi over, "You, Your much shorter then I thought you were" Airi gasped. "I guess it was the angle you were running, it must have made you look taller" Garret chuckled, Airi started to panic on the inside, still having the mind set she was in a game world she felt it would be bad if it her true gender was found out. Airi chuckled along with Garret, "I guess it''s the armor, it must make me look taller from a distance" Garret nodded "Yeah, that might be true too" the two laughed like idots for a while. Suddenly, Airi''s nose was assulted by a foul smell, "Ugh, what stinks?" Garret had a look on his face that said he was smelling the same thing, "Your right, what the hell stinks so bad?" the two started to sniff around. Airi noticed that the smell was coming from right in front of her, she looked and the only thing in front of her was Garret, who saw her staring at him. "What?" Airi gave a hum, she then took in a big wiff from Garret, she almost puked when the nausious smell entered her nose. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Garret saw Gawain recoil after smelling him, Gawain started to cough, "What?" Gawain wreched himsef free from Garret, he held his nose closed, "Garret, it''s you, you smell like crap" Garret gave a confused look, "Me? Really?" he raised his arm up and smelt himself, he almost retched on the spot, Gawain was right, he smelt like crap. It was then he realizaed he was still covered in snakes blood, "Oh, this must be the cause" he looked over his bloodied clothes, Gawain gave an agreeing nod, "I guess I should go wash off" Garret chuckled "Yeah, you should" Garret took his map out. He looked over it, "Ah, looks like around heres a big spring we could head to" he heard Gawain gasp, "What do you mean ''we''?" Garret looked over "You don''t want to come with me?" Gawain nodded, Garret gave a disappointed look "Really? You sure you don''t want to come with me?" Gawain nodded again, "I have my own things to do" Garret sighed "Yeah, I guess you do" he chuckled "Sorry, I should have thought better" Gawain nodded "Well, it was nice meeting you" Garret extended his hand. Gawain smirked and extended his hand, "Likewise, thanks for helping me I guess" Garret chuckled, "You still going to hold that over me?" Gawain nodded "You know it" the two laughed "Seeya Garret" Gawain let go of Garrets hand. "Yeah, seeya Gawain, I hope we meet each other again" Gawain nodded and started to walk away. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Airi said her goodbyes to Garret a thought occurd to her, the only reason she was able to move at all now was because of the second Weightless Potion she had drank, if she was on her own and the potion wore off and a monster appeared while she wasn''t able to move. Airi shuddered, she''d be finished, she looked back at Garret who was studying his map, "Well, he doesn''t seem to be all that bad of a guy" Airi figured it be better to travel with someone rather then alone. She turned back to face Garret, "You know" Garret looked at her "What?" Airi smiled "I changed my mind, I think I will go with you" Garret smiled, "Really?" Airi nodded "Alright, come on I''ll lead the way!" Garret chuckled and started walking off looking down at the map. Airi couldn''t help but smile, she then fallowed behind Garret as he lead the way to the supposed spring, all the while her thoughts started to drift, where in the hell was she, was she really in a real world, or was she in a game world that was all too real? [Ch.4 Part 3 END] Chapter 5 Airi fallowed behind Garret who was looking up and down repeatedley at his map as they made there way through the dense woods, Airi had wanted to argue with Garret that he was going the wrong way as she had taken out her map while he wasn''t looking and found they were way off track, but, Garret''s pride wasn''t allowing him to accept her advice. "Does this guy even know how to read a map?" Airi sighed she was in a time crunch, she had to get somewhere safe before the Weightless Potion wore off again but, Garret''s sense of direction was the last thing on Airi''s mind, what was eating at her as of the moment was where she was. She was still trying to wrap her mind around everything, first, in a blinding flash of light she finds herself laying in Gawain''s place on a cave floor that she had just been running around in the game. Then, she''s chased by a monster that shouldn''t have been able to leave its area, and she was chased through a scenery that looked identical to Elder Tales her mind drifted to this world she was in being a game yet, outling effects were making her think otherwise, with her meeting Garret. The guy had no idea who Gawain was, everyone in Elder Tales knew about Gawain, even if they were new yet, Garret honestly looked like he had never heard Gawain''s name before then, when Garret took down what should have been a high level monster in Elder Tales like it was a nothing, despite him having such crappy equipment. But, the big kicker, was when Garret told her that people appear in the world in a flash of light, that was how she had come to be where she was,that blue shining stone she had found in her game, that must have had something to do with her being where she was. With that thought in mind, Airi pulled the stone out from her pack, while she had been running from the snake she had jammed it there so she didn''t lose it. Airi held the stone up to the light, unlike before, the stone didn''t shine at all, it now looked like just an oddly colored rock, Airi sighed, she let her arm come back down with a solem look she eyed the stone. "Where have you sent me?" Airi stared at the stone in silence, thats when she heard Garret call out to her, "Hey, what''s that you''ve got there?" Airi looked at Garret whose eyes were locked onto the blue stone in her hand. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Garret looked down at his map for what must have been the fifteenth time, he sighed, "Am I even going the right way?" he scratched his head, he looked back at Gawain who seemed to be deep in thought. Garret hoped that Gawain wasn''t getting impatient with him, he wanted to make up for leaving Gawain behind like he had when the snake was chasing him, he looked back at his map "Should we turn back, or should we go straight?" Garret cried in frustration. Why was he so bad at reading maps, as Garret kept walking and looking at his map he could here Gawain mumbling to himself, "Is he talking about me?" Garret couldn''t really make out what Gawain was saying. He stopped when he heard Gawain rummaging around in his pack, paying it no mind he resumed walking he didn''t hear Gawain mumbling anymore, did something else have his attention, then when he heard Gawain say "Where have you sent me?", his curiousity was peeked, what had Gawain taken out his pack. Slowly, Garret looked back his eyes locked onto a blue stone Gawain held in his hand, "What is that?" Garret eyed the stone for a while, he looked at Gawain and noticed the sad look he had on his face as he looked at the blue stone. "Does that stone hold some value to him?" Garret had never seen a stone like Gawain held before, "It, couldn''t hurt to ask, right?" Garret''s curiosity had taken over him he called out to Gawain, "Hey, what''s that you''ve got there?" Gawain looked at him, when he saw Garret was eyeing the blue stone he held a shocked look came to his face. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Crap!" Airi swore under her breath, Garret was eyeing the blue stone with a curious look in them, she hoped he didn''t think it was some kind of valuable treasure, she tried to hide it slowly, an apologetic look came to Garret''s face. "Oh, sorry, maybe I shouldn''t be asking something like that" Airi shook her head, Garret didn''t seem to be the type of person to rob her just because of a blue stone that looked somewhat valuable. She smiled, "Not at all, I just found this back in Death Cave" Garret gave a intrigued look, "Really, in Death Cave? I''ve never seen a stone like that before" Airi gave a hum, "So, you''ve never seen one like it either?" Garret nodded. Airi looked down at the stone, if the people of the world have never seen it before, who could tell her what it was, and how it was able to bring her into this world "Do you think maybe that''s why the snake came after you?" Airi shook her head, "No, I had found this way before I came across that snake" she looked hard at the stone. "But,it was more shiny then this" Garret gave an intrigued hum, "It was shiny?" Airi nodded, "Yeah, it shined like a ray of sunlight" Garret looked with intrigue at the stone as Airi held it up. "Wow, I''d really like to see that" Airi wished that as well, it was when the stone was shiny that caused her to be brought to this world, to somehow become Gawain, again her thoughts drifted to what she had been thinking on before. Wheather or not she was in a game, or that she was in a real world, just then, a rustling came from around them, Airi and Garret stopped dry, something was around them, the both of them could feel eyes on them. Garret slowly put away his map, he then drew his sword, Airi put the blue stone back into her pack and she too pulled her sword out, Airi went back to back with Garret, "What do you think it could be?" Airi''s eyes darted back and forth looking for any sign of movement Garret was doing the same, "Don''t know, monsters, bandits?" Airi froze. Bandits, how could Airi forget about them, she dealt with many of them in Elder Tales but, that was when she was behind a screen of a computer now, she was smack dap in the middle of the action, realization set in, Airi looked down at her sword, she had no idea how to fight with a sword at all. The rustling started up again, Airi could swear she heard what was human footsteps running around, she eyed Garret who seemed to have come to the same realization as her, Garret clicked his tounge "Bandits, what crappy luck" Garret took in a breath "Get ready Gawain, they''ll strike when you least expect it" Airi swallowed hard, she tried her damndest not to let Garret see the scared look on her face, she nodded, sweat started to drip down her face "God help me" she pleaded. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Garret focused his attention on the noises he was hearing, his eyes darted left and right, up and down, watching and waiting to see where his enemy was going to come from, he had his sword at the ready gripped tightly in his hands, suddenly, all the noises stopped, it was quiet for a second. Then all at once, the sound of someone leaping into the air came to Garrets ears, "Here they come!" he shouted with that three people armed with twin blades appeared, two set themselves on Garret while one set on Airi, "Move!" Garret shouted he dodged out the way of the two bandits on hims attack. Gawain gasped, he narrowly dodged a swipe from the bandit on him. The bandits set upon their marks, "You okay over there Gawain?" Garret kept his eyes on the bandits in front of him, "Ye-yeah, I''m good" came Gawain''s nervous response. Garret chanced a look, he saw Gawain and the bandit attacking him staring each other down, in that split second with his attention elsewhere the two bandits rushed at him, Garret cursed under his breath and in the knick of time he held his sword up and was able to block the bandits blades. With some force he was able to push the two bandits back, Garret clicked his tounge, he couldn''t let his eyes wonder, he just had to hope and pray that Gawain could hold his own, "Alright, come on then" Garret jestered.The two bandits rushed at him. They split, one came from the left, one from the right, they were coming in fast Garret moved out the way and the bandits collided with each other he chuckled, "You''ll have to do better then that!" the two bandits picked themselves up and went back on the attack. One came close, Garret swung his sword but the bandit ducked and the blade flew over the bandits head, the bandit brought the point of his blade up tryng to pierce Garret in the throat. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Garret fell back, the blade narrowly missed his jugular, he sighed in relief but he couldn''t relax, the second bandit came from behind him, Garret''s reaction time was slow, he was able to move out of the way before getting a blade stuck in his back but, he wasn''t able to avoid getting a huge cut going from his tailbone up to his right shoulder. Garret''s back stung but he grinned and bared the pain, he readied himself, the two bandits were on him again, Garret had to focus the bandits started to fight seriously, he watched them with his eyes. They were dashing around, trying to confuse Garret, thinking Garret had been fooled they set on him, Garret smirked, he had figured where they where coming from, he glanced behind him and a bandit was coming up behind him. Garret sidesteped out the way, Garret brought his sword down, the blade cut through the bandits extended arm, the bandit screamed in pain as his arm fell to the ground and blood spurted out from the open hole where it had been. The bandit dropped his other blade and held his bleeding arm, he fell to the ground crying out in pain, he tried to stop the bleeding but nothing was stopping it, right there the bandit bled to death. The bandits own blood pooled around him, the other bandit had stopped dry and stared at his comrade laying dead on the ground, he looked angrily at Garret and rushed at him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Airi panted heavily, the bandit that attacked her was running around, Airi had to hand it to herself, she was doing pretty well, she hadn''t died yet, but, she felt some of the attacks she blocked was just pure luck. "Where is he coming from?" Airi''s eyes darted around trying to fallow the bandits movements, Airi heard footsteps coming from the side, she turned and she saw the bandit coming right at her both his blades pointed at her. Airi swung her sword, somehow her wild swing connected with the bandits blades and knocked them away, Airi smiled but because she didn''t fallow up with another attack the bandit jumped back. He started running around again, Airi''s eyes had a hard time fallowing the bandit "Where are you coming from now?", Airi listened for the bandits footsteps, it was a skill she had picked up while playing Elder Tales, she would listen for Kazu''s footsteps coming towards her room when she was gaming instead of being in bed. Airi''s ears twitched, "There!" she turned right and saw the bandit coming towards her, she readied herself to be able to block the oncoming attack then, a scream rang out, Airi concluded it was a mans scream. The bandit stopped dry as did Airi, she saw the bandit looking over to his right, curious Airi looked over as well, her eyes went wide, the scene that she saw was Garret cutting a bandits arms off, the limb falling to the ground,the gush of blood coming from the gaping hole. Airi almost retched, the bandit fell to the ground holding his arm and screaming in pain, Airi watched with a sick stomach as the bandit bled to death right in front of her eyes, she stared at the bandits unmoving body for a bit, she saw the other bandit that was on Garret rush at him. Seeing Airi''s attention was elsehwere, the bandit on her took advantage and rushed at her as well, she heard his footsteps and with a delayed reaction she was able to bring her sword up just in time to block the bandits blade. The bandit overpowered Airi, he had started to push her back the bandit smirked, Airi felt her heart beating like drum in her chest, this bandit was going to kill her, she was going to die, she started to hyperventalate. She didn''t want to die, she couldn''t die, she had to live, she had to get home, she had to see Kazu again, she wanted to be in her own room once more, sitting in front of a computer monitor. The bandit must have sensed the fear coming from Airi, he started to laugh, Airi started to panic, her eyes started to go wide, the bandit was forcing her back even more. Just then,another scream rang out, the bandit and Airi looked over and saw Garret''s standing in front of the other bandit he was fighting,his sword was plunged into the bandits gut, blood leaked along his sword and dripped to the ground in small drops. Garret pulled his sword out from the bandits gut and blood spilled out and flowed onto the ground, the bandits face went pale, he started to gag, he held the hole in his stomach blood leaking over his hand. He dropped to his knees and fell forward, Airi shuddered, seeing so much blood before her eyes, people killed in front of her, made her brain go haywire. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Garret pulled his sword out from the bandits gut, and watched him fall to the ground and die he heard Gawain cry out, at first he thought that Gawain had been injured somehow, but when he looked he saw that Gawain had a fearful look on his face. Gawain was hysterical, he was crying out things that Garret couldn''t really understand, Garret saw the bandit taking advantage of the situation and started to advance towards Gawain. "Gawain! Look out!" Garret ran over, the bandit raised his hand, the point of his blade started to come down, Garret hoped he would make it in time. At that moment, Gawain thrusted his sword at the bandit, the bandit was to late to stop himself, his momentum had doomed him, Gawain''s sword pierced through him. Garret stopped, he felt relieved, but his relief faded, as Gawain started to scream when he saw he had stuck his sword through the bandit, he started to thrash around, that caused the sword stuck in the bandit to move around. The bandit screamed out in pain, "Gawain! calm down!" Gawain didn''t seem to here Garret at all, Gawain screamed more and more "Gawain! Gawain!" Garret clicked his tounge, he couldn''t get through to Gawain. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Airi screamed at the top of her lungs, she had just stabbed someone, she had just killed a living being, the screams of the bandit rang in her ears, blood dribbled from the bandits mouth, blood spurted from the bandits body where Airi had stuck him with her sword. Airi shuddered, she could see the life leaving the bandits eyes, "I''m sorry, I''m sorry, I''m sorry!" she cried as she kept on apologizing to the bandit for killing him. Airi saw the moment the light left the bandits eyes, his screams ceased as did his movements,his blade fell to the ground, Airi''s breathing was sparatic, she was staring at the body of a person she had just killed. "Gawain!" she heard from behind her, she looked back and saw Garret looking at her with a concerned face, teary eyed and scared Airi stared at Garret. Airi sniffled, "I.. I..I killed him..." she looked back at the lifeless body of the bandit hanging on her sword, "I killed him..." she shuddered, "I killed someone..." Airi looked at her sword and saw the blood flowing down it. "I killed..." Garret placed a hand on Airi''s armored hand. Airi looked over at him, "Look, it''s not your fault, he was going to kill you, you were defending yourself" Airi sniffled, "But, I still killed him" Garret sighed. "This is how the world works Gawain, it''s kill, or be killed" Airi went silent, this was the world she was in, that was when Airi finally accepted that she wasn''t in a game at all, she finally realized after she had just taken someone elses life, and watched the life leave their eyes, that the place she was in was real and not some game. "It''s real..." Airi mumbled Garret gave a puzzled look, "This world is real.." she mumbled, "It''s not a game at all...".[Ch.5 END] Chapter 6 Airi trembled, her mind was stuck on one thing, the fact that she had just killed a person and that the world she was in was a real one "It''s real...Oh god, its real" she mumbled as she slowly started to lose her mind, she wanted to go home, she wanted to be back in her room clicking away as she stared at her computer screen, she wanted to be there when Kazu walked in from work. At that thought Airi paused, Kazu, what would her brother do once he came home and saw Airi was gone, would he figure out she was in another world or, would he assume she just vanished while he was gone. Airi''s head was a jumbled mess of worries and dredful thoughts, she hadn''t noticed but she started to mumble like a crazy person which unerved Garret who was stading there next to her watching her fall to pieces. Garret placed both hands on Airi''s shoulders, he turned her around making her let go of her sword handel to where she was facing him, the dead bandits body fell to the ground "Gawain! Come back man!" Garret shook her a bit, Airi just looked at Garret like a zombie, Garret clicked his tounge "Come on! Gawain! Snap out of it!" Airi didn''t respond, she was too wrapped up in her thought and was tuning Garret out. Garret grumbled as Airi kept on mumbling to herself, "Gawain! Gawian!" Garret kept calling out, he''d would shake Airi from time to time but, dispite his efforts Airi wasn''t snapping out of it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Garret was at a loss, he had no idea what to do to get Gawain out of the state he was in "Come on, snap out of it Gawain!" Garret shook Gawain for what had been the tenth time yet, Gawain just kept on mumbling incoherently with the look of complete fear on his face. Garret tried to listen to what Gawain was mumbling about the whole time but, he couldn''t make heads or tails of what he was saying, it all sounded like the mublings of a crazy person. Garret was at his wits end, if he couldn''t shake Gawain out of his crazed state there was only one thing left for him to do, he raised his hand off of Gawain''s shoulder "Snap out of it Godamnit!" Garret let his arm fly. His hand smacked across Gawain''s face with a loud smack, Garret noticed that stopped Gawain from mumbling but didn''t take him out of his crazed state with that he raised his other arm and procedded to give another hard slap across Gawain''s face. Gawain went silent, he still wasn''t completley out of it, he sighed he slapped Gawain a third time across the face still, Gawain stayed the same, "I can do this all day!" repeatedly Garret slapped Gawain across the face, he wasn''t going to stop until Gawain went back to normal. "Come on, come back man!" Garret''s hands were hurting, but Gawain still wasn''t back to normal he had to keep going, "Gawain!!" Garret shouted. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Airi was lost in her thoughts, she could hear Garret shouting Gawain''s name, probably to snap her back to reality but, with all what was going through her mind, that seemed impossible to her, as reality for her now, was being in a world where giant monsters roamed and death could be right around the corner. If Airi was behind a monitor and a mouse she woudln''t be so scared and hopeless, but she didn''t have those, she wasn''t sitting saftely behind a monitor no, now she was beyond the monitor. Airi was scared, she was in a place where the first wrong step she took would mean her death, as Airi continued to be wrapped in her thoughts she started to feel a stinging sensation coming from her cheeks. "Why does my face hurt so much?" she wondered then as she started to feel the stinging grow stronger she could swear she felt a force against her cheeks, whenever she felt the force on her cheeks the stinging would get worse. "What the hells going on?" slowly, Airi started to come back from her thoughts, each time she felt the stinging sensation grow stronger she would come back more and more, after a while she started to here a sound, she could instantly tell what it was, it was the sound of flesh hitting flesh. As Airi slowly came to, her eyes focused on Garret who was gritting his teeth "Garret?" Airi wondered what Garret was doing, but she was answered when she saw his extended arm come from the side and connect with the left side of her face. "Ow!" Airi cried she came to the realization that the stinging sensation on her face she was feeling, was Garret slapping her. She then could hear Garret calling out Gawain''s name, then another slap came across her face, "Has he been doing this the whole time?" Airi eyes Garret and watched as his hand went across her face once more. Airi''s cheeks were on fire, "Snap out of it Gawain!" she heard Garret shout, Airi was impressed, Garret could have left her when she went into her crazed state yet, there he was, slapping her across the face to get to come back to. Airi chuckled, to think there would be a person who would do something like that, to slap the crazy out of a crazy person with that, Airi decided that she shouldn''t think her being in this unkown world was just a death sentence. She had played a game for months that was just like the world she was in, there was no reason for her to be scared of it, yes, she could die, but it was a world she knew, and she knew how to survive in it, as Garret was winding up for another slap Airi shot her arm out and stopped him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Garret was prepared to slap Gawain for what would have been the nineteenth time,he saw Gawain''s arm shoot up and grab his arm stopping him, Garret smirked, "Gawain, you back?" Garret waited a bit, slowly Gawain smiled, "Yeah, I''m back" Garret chuckled "Thank god" Gawain released Garret''s arm and took a deep calming breath, "Good to have you back" Gawain nodded "Thanks for bringing me back" Garret grinned. Gawain winced in pain, his hand held his reddened cheeks, he took in a pained breath "Man, you could have held back a bit" Gawain rubbed his cheeks gingerly Garret chuckled and scratched the back of his head "Well, I thought that the harder I''d hit you the faster you''d come back" Gawain sighed. "So, what caused that little episode?" Gawain looked hard at Garret who was curious as to why killing a bandit had made Gawain break down, "Well..." Gawain started, "I''ve never, killed another human before" the realization sunk into Garret, "I''ve only killed monsters before, I''ve never had to kill humans before" Garret could see where Gawain was coming from.It had taken him a few days after killing his first human opponent to sleep soudnly at night, "I know what you mean, it''s hard to get over, taking a human life" Garret looked at the bodies of the two bandits he had killed. It still got to him, killing other humans, killing the snake was easy because it was a monster but, the bandits, they must have had families, friends, lives, and he had taken all of that from them by killing them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Airi hated to lie, but, she had to give Garret an explanation, it wasn''t like she could tell Garret that she was panicing over being stuck in another world and was scared of dying, then she would get more questions that she''d have to answer, and who was to know if Garret would belive her if she told his the truth, that she was from another world, and that the blue stone she had earlier was what brought her here. Airi saw the solem look in Garret''s eyes as he looked at the bodies of the dead bandits he had killed, "I see, he''s no different then me" Airi looked at the bandit she had killed he was laying on the ground, her sword sticking out of him, she felt bad abut what she had done. But, she remebered what Garret had said, the bandit was going to kill her, and she had to kill him so he didn''t kill her, that she shouldn''t feel bad for defending herself. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Airi gave a shuddering sigh, she walked over to the bandits lifeless body, she stared at the body for a bit, taking in the sight what a dead human body looked like, know that along her way in this new world it was possible she was going to see more. Airi eyed her sword, she reached her hand down and gripped the handel, she took another breath, slowly, she started to pull her sword out of the bandits body. She could hear the crunch of flesh as she pulled the blade out, she covered her mouth as the sounds she was hearing was sickening but, she persevered, and slowly but surely she pulled her sword free of the bandits body. She smiled, but her smile soon vanished when a jet of blood hit her in the face, the blood was warm, it dripped down her face and onto the ground, Airi fought against her stomach. She heard Garret walk over, she turned and he almost busted out laughing when he saw the blood all over her face, "I''m glad you find it funny" she grumbled angrily "Sorry, after the seriousness we had to see you with blood splattered in you face" Garret snorted. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gawain grumbled, Garret was trying his hardest to not laugh at Gawain, "Well, looks like it''s not just me that needs to wash off" Garret could swear he heard a chuckle form Gawain, "Yeah, guess your right" Gawain sheated his sword, "Should we be on our way then?" Garret nodded he rustled in his bag and took out his map "Fallow me" he chuckled. Garret stared walking off looking down at the map as he did, "Lead the way" Gawain chuckled as he fallowed behind, the two walked for what seemed like hours until Garret finally started fallowing the right path. In a matter on minuets the two finally arrived at their destination, when the arrived Garret was the first one to walk in he looked down at his map and back up, "Looks like this is the place" Gawain stepped up beside him and looked around. A aweinspired gasp came from Gawain, "Wow, this place is amazing" Garret nodded in agreement "Well, lets get cleaned up shall we?" he folded his map and put it away, "Yeah, we should" Gawain agreed with that Garret started to strip his clothes off. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Airi went red in the face as she stared at Garret as he slowly took his clothes off, he first took his sword off his back and placed it on the ground, he threw off his blue coat next to his sword he then started to unbutton his withe collard shirt. Airi threw her hands over her eyes, "What the hell are you doing!?" she cried Garret looked over, "What to you mean, I''m taking my clothes off" Airi grumbled "I can see that! I mean why here!" Garret raised an eyebrow "What''s the matter with me taking my clothes off here, were both guys right?" Airi gasped. How could she have forgotten that Garret thought she was a guy, "Uhm, well, I uh.." Airi stuttered "What''s wrong with you man?" Airi grumbled she took her hands off her eyes but when she did her face flushed more. Garret was now standning shirtless in front of her, Airi could see his well defined muscles, he was a bit more bilt then her brother but not much, but Airi didn''t have the time to admire, she freaked out, this was the first time in her life she had a boy who looked to be around her age or wasn''t Kazu, standing shirtless in front of her. She stuttered, her words weren''t coherent, "Come on, what''s the hold up?" Airi looked up from Garret''s body and focused on his face "What?" she said absentmindedly "What''s the hold up? Don''t you want to clean that blood off of you?" Airi chuckled. "Oh yeah, I was going to do that" Airi chuckled nervously, "Then why aren''t you taking that armor off?" Airi froze "Uhm, well you see..." Garret gave a skeptical look, Airi''s eyes fell back to Garrets body "Come on, if you don''t wash that blood off you''ll smell like crap" with that Garret proceeded to take his pants off. Airi went red in the face, "I''m going to go wash off over there!" she shouted, she then started running off away from the stripping Garret "Well, alright" came Garrets reply, Airi stopped after she felt she had run at least a good distance away. She looked back to see if Garret could see her,she sighed in relief when she saw no sign of him, "Man, that was a close one" just then the image of Garret shirtless came to her mind. It caused her to go red in the face, Airi let out a girly shriek "What was that jerk thinking!" she stomped the ground in frustration she then sighed, "But,it''s my fault for pretending to be a guy" as Airi stood there she started to smell something bad. She sniffed, she almost retched, it was her, the blood and sweat had mixed together and had made her stink the worst she ever had "Ugh, man I reek" Airi looked around to see if anyone was around. When she saw sign of no one she started to take the armor she had on off, it was difficult at first, taking off armor was a bit harder then slipping off a shirt, she got the pauldrons off and dropped them to the ground. "Good thing the Weightless Potion hasn''t run out yet" she remarked, she then took of the gauntlets and placed them by the pauldrons, she then sat down and pulled the boots off and put them together with the rest. She stood back up and went for the greaves, she reached for the clasps on the back and undid them she took the left one off first then the right, she added them to the pile of armor she had taken off. All that was left now was the cuirass, she found the straps keeping it together at the sides she undid them and slowly she pulled the curiass over her head, Airi almost let out a loud shriek but, she held herself back, "What the hell?" she mumbled "Why am I totally naked?" Airi looked down at her bare body. Airi knew that she had made Gawain ware chainmail under his armor yet, "It''s not here!" that''s when Airi remebered something, only male characters could wear chainmail in Elder Tales, Airi sighed, was this the only thing that was consistant with the game. Airi groaned, she put the curiass down and made her way to the water, she stepped her foot in slowly, the water was cool Airi smiled she the stepped into the water and waded through until she stopped in the middle. Airi sighed in contempt, she let her body relax in the cold water, "Ahh, this is nice" she mumbled Airi then got started washing herself, she cleaned the bandits blood off her face when she felt that all of it was washed off she focused on her hair. There was some blood stuck in some strands of her hair, she took a deep breath and held it, she the dove under the water for a few seconds she stayed under, she shot back up and exhaled, she then started wringing her hand through her hair. Airi giggled when she saw her reflection in the water, her hair was nice and straight and wasn''t a mess, seeing herself like this brought her back to times where she kept her apperance up. A frown came to Airi''s face, she stopped weaving her hands through her hair, she giggled sadly. Just then, as Airi sulked, she heard footsteps coming in her direction, she snapped out of her funk and looked to where the footsteps were coming from, "Who could it be?" just then Airi remebered something crucel, she looked down, her face went red, she eyed her sword and armor sitting on the bank. Airi clicked her tounge, the footsteps were coming closer at a fast pace, there was no time for her to run and grab her stuff and be able to slip it back on, Airi could only sit in the water covering herself up with her arms and wait as the footsteps came closer and closer. Then as the footsteps reached where she was Airi''s face burned with red, her mouth went agape as she couldn''t believe who it was, "Garret!" she shouted, Garret looked over and looked Airi up and down, he blushed. [Ch.6 END] Chapter 7 Garret folded his clothes neatly together alongside his sword on the ground, he stood nude and smiled "Alright, lets get cleaned up shall we" with that he made his way to the water he then remebered that Gawain had rushed off somewhere else "Maybe I''ll go join him" with that Garret walked off in the direction where Gawain had gone. As Garret walked he cold hear the sounds of someone moving around in the water "Must be Gawain, he must have gone in already" Garret took a quick wiff of himself and he almost retched at the smell of snakes blood and sweat mixed together. "Agh, Gawain was right, I smell like crap" all of a sudden Garret could swear he heard a giggle come from the direction he was heading. "That sounds like, a girl?" Garret listened closely, and sure enough he heard another giggle the was really feminine Garret was confused, why was he hearing a girls giggle. The only one that should be here was Gawain, with curiousity in his head Garret walked faster when he saw Gawain''s armor piled together on the bank he knew he was in the right place "Alright, he must be here then" at that moment Garret heard a gasp of shock coming from the water, he looked and what he saw caused him to go red in the face. As he stared at what was before him he mumbled incoherently, what he was looking at was what most men wish they could see, a naked girl, bathing in a spring, Garret was at a loss, the girl he was looking at was beautiful. Garret looked her over, she had bright blue eyes that were looking right at him, her face was red with embarassment, Garret''s eyes wondered down, he saw the girl was covering her chest, the girls chest wasn''t very big but they it was a moderate size for a girl who he assumed to be around his age. Garret swallowed hard, the scene before him was one he only dreamed of happening, Garret decided to pinch himself to see if he wasn''t dreaming when he shouted in pain he knew he was awake, and that meant the naked girl before him was real. His face flushed with red, Garret and the girl just stared at each other not saying a word, then he remebered something, he looked at the red armor laying in a pile on the bank next to him, the armor that belonged to Gawain, he looked back at the girl. His face contorted in shock and surprise, how didn''t he notice it before, the girl had blue eyes, Gawain had blue eyes, Gawain had long messy blonde hair, the girl had long straight blonde hair the same length as Gawain''s, and Gawain''s red armor was sitting on the bank. Garret did about three double takes, looking from the pile of red armor and back at the girl in the water, "Ga..Gawain? Gawain is that you?" a shriek came from the girl which gave Garret his answer. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Airi was red with embarassment, here she was naked, only covered by water, with a naked Garret looking right at her his face red, he could see his face grow a shocked experssion at the sight of her, she blushed when she saw that he was looking her over, she even saw him pinch himself. "Please, don''t figure out I''m Gawain" but, Airi''s please went unanswered as Garret had already spotted her armor laying on the bank, Airi cursed under her breath when Garret looked back at her with a look of surprise on his face. Airi started to scream mentaly, Garret looked back at her armor then back at her about three times, then came the question Airi was dreading, "Ga..Gawain? Gawain is that you?" Garret stuttered, Airi let out a shriek, Garret''s face showed that''s all he needed to confirm his question. Airi sighed, this was all beause of her carelessness, she knew now she couldn''t sidestep her way out of this, with that she rose out of the water, she could see Garret''s face grow red the more she came out the water. She looked hard at Garret who was standing there waiting, Airi took a breath, she was about to talk like a guy but, she figured that wouldn''t help at all she decided to use her real voice "Hey Garret" she chuckled nervously. Airi could see that Garret was internally screaming, "Uhm, Garret you okay?" Airi waved a hand to bring his foucus back, Garret shook his head "Ga..Gawain..its really you?" Airi sighed and nodded "Yeah, its me" Garret let out a shocked gasp. "Gawain! Your a girl!" Airi nodded "Yep, I''m a girl, sorry for decieving you this whole time" Garret was speechless. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Garret was at a loss he stared at Gawain, he thought Gawain was a guy because of his armor yet, there he was or should he say she was, standing in the water of the spring, covering her body the best she could, that only made Garret''s face grow hot and red. Garret chuckled, it all made sense now, why he heard a girls scream before he met Gawain being chased by the snake, and why Gawain was much shorter when he saw him up close it was that Gawain was a girl. He scrathced his cheek, he chuckled nervously, "Well, I, I see, so your actually a girl" Garret caught himself lookig at Gawain''s chest, he looked away quick, "Uhm, your not going to kill me now are you?" Garret shivered "What? Why would I do that?" came Gawain''s response "Oh, I don''t know, I''ve heard tales of girls that dressed and acted like men, and when their identity was found out they killed the person who did" he heard a girlish giggle come from Gawain. "Calm down Garret, I''m not going to kill you, besides, it''s my fault for not coming clean about my true gender" Garret felt a wave of relief wash over him. Garret coughed nervously, "Well, thanks, you know, this is a real shock to the brain" Gawain chuckled "I know, look I''ll give you an explanation later" Garret didn''t look back at Gawain but he nodded "Alright, well then, I''m going to go over there now" with that Garret walked away, all be it a bit oddly. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ When Airi saw that Garret had walked out of sight she sighed deeply, she lowered herself back into the water, "Great, now I have to give him a explantion for this" Airi shouted in frustration, what was she going to do now. What was she going to tell Garret, again she couldn''t tell him the real truth, theres no way he''d believe her, "Come on Airi, think" Airi sat in the spring water and thought hard on what she could tell Garret the reason she hid her gender. Then a thought came to mind, "Backstory" Airi whispered the word, a smile came to her face, she could use the backstory she had created for Gawain just slightly altered. Airi then set upon rehersing what she was going to say, once she had it down pat she decided it was time to get out of the water, Airi rose out the water and walked over to the bank. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Airi lifted herself out the spring and walked over to her pile of armor, when she bent down to pick it up she found that the armor weighted a ton, she fell back as she tried to lift her curiass she rubbed her behind and groaned. The weight of the curiass could only mean one thing, while she had been washing off the Weightless Potion had worn off, "Great" she grumbled, now what she going to do, she had no more Weightless Potions on hand, and she needed something to ware she couldn''t go and talk to Garret buck naked. Airi then spotted her pack, "Maybe I have something in here" Airi open her pack and rummaged through it, she stopped when her hand went over something, she pulled the object out, she looked hard at what she had in her hand it was a brown leather tunic, around the collar were white strings to close the collar. Airi recognized the tunic, it was one of the rewards she had gotten from her first dozen quests. "Am I glad all my Elder Quest stuff is here" Airi placed the tunic down, it was nice and all, but it didn''t look very protective she then rummaged through her pack once more, this time she pulled out what looked to be a white robe, "I''m not big on magic" she placed the robe with the tunic. Airi contiued to go through her pack, after several minuets she had a huge pile of different clothes and armor next to her she sighed, "Why can''t I find anything good?" Airi went back to looking then she pulled out something that caught her eye. It was a red sleeveless leather jacket looking piece of clothing, it was thick like the tunic but soft to the touch, she placed the jacket to the side and reached in her pack and pulled out a white collard shirt. The shirt was soft to the touch and it felt almost like it had a warmth to it, it had a feather design going down from the collar the design had a red tint to it. Airi started to get excited, she placed the shirt with the jacket and reached back into her pack. Airi pulled out a pair of black gloves, the gloves felt like they had been made by a master craftsman as the leather was so soft and course that Airi thought they were made of fur, the stiching they had was seamless, not a stitch was out of place. She added that with the other thing she pulled out, the next thing she pulled out was a pair of black leather pants just like the gloves she had pulled out they were made masterfully as well. Without hesitation Airi placed it with the other things, the very last thing Airi pulled out was a pair of dark brown boots, the toes had a metal plate on the front, the was a zipper on the sides of the boots. On the front a red jewel was affixed to the boot inside a socket that was melded to the leather of the boots Airi smiled she looked at the pile of amazing clothing she had pulled out "This is all amazing". Airi had never really gotten to look through all what she had gotten as rewards for her quests she had finsished, she never knew she had such amazing looking armor, Airi then looked to the red armor laying on the ground in a pile. The red armor was Gawain''s symbol, everyone in Elder Tales knew him just by his armor, Airi felt bad but, the armor wouldn''t do her any good if she couldn''t move in it. With a heavy heart, Airi decided it was time to change Gawain''s armor. Airi gathered the equipment she had pulled out, she took a bit of time to get it all on but when she did she looked herself over. "Wow, this all goes together so well" Airi had put the soft as feathers whit shirt on and ontop that she put the sleeveless red jacket. She left the jacket open enough to where the feather decal on the white shirt could be seen, she pulled on the black gloves to make sure they were fitted comfertably on her hands. She had tucked the back of the white shirt inside the black leather a pants, the front flowed down out from under her jacket. The black leather pants were a bit tight, it squeezed Airi''s thighs and buttox, the leather pants made her curves pop out more, Airi looked down at the dark brown boots and tapped her foot on the ground. The red jems attached to the leather shined when a ray of light hit them Airi smiled "Alright, I''m all suited up" Airi then took one last look at the red armor laying on the ground, she felt a bit sad, she had decided that she had to leave the red armor where it was as there was no way for her to pick it up and put it in her pack. "I''m sorry, you served me well when this was all a game, but now" she took a breath "I no longer have use for you in this world" Airi stood still and just stared at the armor. After that Airi decided it was time to go meet Garret, she bowed to the red armor, she took hold of her new sword, while she was dressing Airi figured the sword that Gawain used was too heavy for her so in midst of that she went through her pack until she pulled out a weapon that she could hold up. What she had pulled out was a sword with a slim blade, the gaurd was gold and int the shape of a flower, the handel was covered in a dark red gemstone, and coming off the pommel was a long red string looped through a ring attached to it. The sword was light in Airi''s hands, it was like the sword had no weight to it at all she sheated the new sword at her side a medium sized leather strap went around her waist and it was what kept the sword sheat from falling to the ground. Airi was now ready, she had new equipment, she had a new weapon, her pack was affixted to the left side of her waist, she was prepared, she was prepared to start making her way around this world she was in but first, she had to go and tell Garret the story she had rehearsed for hours on end "Alright, lets do this" with that Airi made her way to find Garret. [Ch. 7 END] Chapter 8 Garret stood in place, he was dressed and he had his arms crossed in front of him he tapped his foot nervously and imptiently, he was waiting for Gawain to come around. Garret still couldn''t get over the dicovery he had made, Gawain, was a girl, a really beautiful girl, a mental image of Gawain came into his head, her supple body, her bright blue eyes, that beautiful long flowing blonde hair Gawain could feal his face getting hot. He shook his head, "Great, how am I going to handlel talking with him now?" Garret scrathed his head in frustration "I mean her!" Garret didn''t know how to refer to Gawain at all. This whole time she had him believeing she was a guy, but now that he found out she was a she, he had no idea how to act around her just then, he heard footsteps coming towards him. He looked and his eyes went wide, coming towards him was Gawain. Right away, Garret noticed the change in Gawain''s armor, she was now wearing a red sleveless jacket, under that was a white collard shirt with a feather design coming from the neck, the front end of the shirt was flowling out from under the jacket, she had on a pair of black leather gloves and a pair of black leather pants, on her feet were a pair of dark brown boots. On the boots there were red gemstones affixed in sockets that was melded with the leather of the boots. He could hardly believe it, Gawain looked really good, her figure was now clearly visible and Garret noticed how much it showed now, when he found her bathing he didn''t really see her figure that good but now he did, he was mesmerized by her bright blue eyes that were looking right at him, her long blonde hair was straight, and it swayed side to side behind her as she walked. "Man, she''s really beautiful" Garret swallowed hard, he pictured Gawain in the red armor she had been wearing the whole time they were together, he looked Gawain over once more, he coudln''t get over how much one small armor change had changed how Gawain looked. Garret was so preoccupied with looking Gawain over that he didn''t notice that she had stopped in front of him. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Airi sighed, Garret was just standing there looking at her, a blank look on his face, she looked at herself "I guess the change is more then he could handel" she looked back at him and still, he had that dumb look on his face. Airi grumbled, "Garret! Hey! Garret! You in there!?" Airi waved her hand in his face, upon hearing his name called Garret''s head shook, he looked at Airi with a confused look "What?" Airi facepalmed. It took Garret some time before he realized what was going on, "Gawain! Uh, hey, nice to see you" Airi chuckled Garret blushed in embarassment, he looked away and the looked back "You look really good" Airi smiled and looked over herself "Really, this stuff really does suit me that well doesn''t it ?" Airi did a turn, her back was to Garret. Garret''s eyes were immediatley drawn to Airi''s butt, as the leather pants made it''s shape pop out more, Garret swallowed hard, "That, is an understament" he mumbled Airi looked at him "What''s that?" Garret looked up in a fluster, "I..I uh..nothing!" Garret looked away his face was turning redder by the second. Airi giggled, she turned back around, "Alright, now" Garret could hear the seriousness in Airi''s voice which made him look back the two eyed each other, "I did say that I''d tell you the reason for hiding my gender" Garret nodded "Okay, here it goes" Airi took in a breath. She had her lines memorized, "For starters, I was born in a village that produced many strong warriors" Garret nodded and continued to listen "I was born into a really poor family, my family wasn''t respected that well because warriors from my family didn''t produce alot of results" Airi continued. "One day, I decided that I''d become a warrior that would make people respect my family" as Airi told her altered Gawain''s backstory she could see that Garret was buying into it, again, she hated that she had to lie like this, "So, I started training, it was hard since I was a girl but, I wanted to get my families reputation up" Airi gave a sad look. "But, the other kids in the village, they teased my for it" Airi could see the concerned look in Garret''s eyes, she felt a bit guilty his eyes were making her rethink the whole thing but, she had already commited to it. Airi cleared her throat, "They kept telling me, that since I was from a weak family, and beacause I was a girl, I''d never amount to anything, and I''d bring more shame to my family" Airi went on. "I believed them at first, but then, a warrior clad in red armor came to the village, he was super strong and amazingly skilled" Airi smiled "Everyone in the village clamored around him, but, not me, I was busy sulking" her story continued. "I then decided to train to clear my mind, while I did that I hadn''t noticed the warrior in red armor had come and was watching me" Airi looked at Garret, he seemed to be really invested in Airi''s story, she continued "When I had finished, he came over to me, I was surprised, why was a really strong warrior talking to me, he asked my name, I told him" Airi didn''t stop. "That''s when he showed me something I''ll never forget, he told me his true gender" a look of shocked realization came to Garret''s face, "Yeah, the warrior in red armor was also a girl, I was shocked as well, to think a warrior as strong as that was a girl" . "She told me, she had trained long and hard to get where she was, and that I reminded her of herself, I broke down and told her everything" Airi chuckled "After that, she told me, that anybody can become a strong warrior, it didn''t matter weather you were male or female" Airi smiled. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "I was in awe, she was telling me that I could be a strong warrior like her", "She told me to keep training, and that if I did, I''d see results, and to not let anyone tell me different", "I took those words to heart, and so after meeting her I trained hard", "Each and everyday, the kids in the village still picked on me but, I didn''t let that stop me". "Then, when I was old enough I decided to leave the village and go out into the world and make a name for myself", "I left hoping, that tales of my feats would reach the village, and the kids that put me down would think better of me and my family", Airi frowned, "But, I had no idea how hard it was going to be, I had no idea it was hard for a female warrior to be regarded as serious", "Everyone made fun of me, all the other warriors belittled me, I wasn''t taken seriously". "After a few days on my own, I was thinking of giving up and heading back home a failure", "But then, I remebered the woman in red armor, and that gave me an idea", "I used some money I had saved up, I asked to have a suit of red armor made for me". "When I got it, I started acting like a guy, I let my girlish apperance vanish, I even took on a male name, Gawain", "I felt, that if I acted like a guy I''d be taken seriously", "And I was, after acting like a guy I started getting the respect I wanted", "It was amazing", Airi looked at Garret he was really absorbed in her lie. "So, that''s the reason why, I acted like a guy when I met you, I didn''t want someone to figure out my ture gender" Airi gave a sad look, "I didn''t want all that I had worked for to be ruined" Airi looked away for dramatic effect. Airi then waited for Garret to say something, for several gruling minuets Garret didn''t answer, then he spoke "I see, you''ve had it rough haven''t you?" Airi looked back with a smile, Garret had bought the whole thing. "Yeah, and I''m still really sorry, for deciving you like that" Garret shook his head, "No, I understand where you where coming from" Garret smiled "If I was in your place, I''d do the same thing you did" Airi smiled "Thanks Garret" that caused Garret to blush and turn his head. "So, how is it you were able to fight?" Airi gave a confused look, "What do you mean? Garret looked back and scratched his cheek, "Well, remeber, when we fell running from the snake, you coudln''t get up because the armor you had on was too heavy" Airi froze. How could she have forgotten about that, she started to get nervous, "Uhm, well" Airi looked away, she thought hard on an explanation to Garret''s question, a lightbulb went off in her head "Weightless Potions" Airi looked back at Garret, "I''d drink about two Weightless Potions everyday" Garret nodded. "I see, that''s why you had one in your pack" Airi was glad she had cleared another question, "But, now that I used the last one, I don''t have any way to keep wearing that armor" a lightbulb went off in Garret''s head, "That''s right, where is that armor?" Airi pointed to where she had come from. "I decided to leave it where it was, I felt it wouldn''t serve me any purpose now" Garret nodded "I see, I guess your right" Garret then noticed the new sword at Airi''s side, "You''ve also got a new sword I see" Airi looked down at the sword at her side and touched the pommel. She looked over and smiled at Garret "Yeah, I was able to use the sword I had before thanks to the Weightless Potion''s as well" Airi smiled. "Now, I''ll be able to protect myself better, and fight without using potions" Garret smiled "I see" Garret was then hung up on one last thing, "You said you took up the name Gawain, right?" Airi gave a confused and nervous look. "Yeah, I did why do you ask?" Garret rubbed the back of his head, "If Gawain isn''t your real name, what is it?" Airi cursed, her own words were coming back to bite her, she sighed, "I guess I have no choice, my real name, is Airi" with that Airi walked closer to Garret. She extended her hand to him, "Let me reintroduce myself, my name is Airi, it''s nice to meet you Garret" Garret looked at her extended hand and then back at her, he smiled and took hold of her hand "Nice to meet you as well, Airi" Airi nodded. Garret let go of her hand, Airi pulled her hand back "Well, it was nice meeting you Garret" Garret gave a confused look, "What do you mean?" Airi cocked her head to the side "I mean that this is where we part ways" it took a while for Airi''s words to sink into Garret''s brain. "You mean were splitting up?" Airi nodded "Well, yeah, you have something you need to do and so do I" it was then Airi remebered the reason she was even in this world, it was while she was rehersing her lines for what she was going to tell Garret, she had decided that she was going to travel around this world and try to find any clue as to a way she could get back home. Garret just stared at Airi, he was too shocked to say anything, he didn''t want Airi to leave, something was telling him not to let her leave and go off on her own, "Uhm, can I come with you!" the words just shot out of his mouth. Garret''s face went red, it was Airi''s turn to stare at Garret in disbelief, she had no idea what to say to him, and he looked like he was serious about what he had said, Airi was no at a crossroad, she now had to decide if she was going to let Garret come with her, or break his heart and refuse to let him join her, Airi sighed it was just new problem after another ever since she came to this world. [Ch.8 END] Chapter 9 Garret waited with bated breath, he wanted to hear Gawain, no Airi''s, answer to his question, but, Airi just was standing there a look of shock and disbelief on her face, "Uhm, Wow, I see" she mumbled she looked away from Garret whose heart was pounding in his chest it agonized him the longer he had to wait for a response. He saw Airi start to think, his hope was fading, what if she decided against him going with her because she thought he was being a creep. It was true that she and Garret had only been with each other for about two hours and in that time they hadn''t really learned all that much about each other, he could see that be another reason as well, Garret was just hoping deep down, that ''Yes'' would come out her mouth. He heard Airi hum in thought, she was thinking long and hard about this, Garret couldn''t take it any longer, "So, what do you say? Can I come with you?" Airi gave a quizzical hum, "I don''t know Garret, are you sure you want to fallow a girl you barely know? Garret''s face fell with a twinge of sadness, "I mean, I did deceive you all this time" Garret clicked his tounge, "I told you, I''m okay with that, I said I''d do the same if I was in your place!" Airi gave a skeptical hum. Garret clenched his fists, "I still don''t know Garret, I think you should do what you want" the corner of Garret''s mouth drooped, Airi thought he was going to crack and give up on going with her when, suddenly, Garret did something that took her by surprise. Garret got down on his knees, he then bowed his head to Airi, "Please! Let me come along with you! I can be of help! Please! Let me come with you Airi!", Airi stared at the bowing Garret in shocked disbelief. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Airi couldn''t believe what she was seeing, Garret was kneeling on the ground, bowing his head to her, and practically begging with all his might for her to say yes, Airi was amazed, she had no idea Garret would go so far just to travel with her, it almost made her feel bad, seeing Garret in such a demining position. Airi grumbled, she couldn''t take it, instead of her breaking Garret, it was Garret who broke her, Airi sighed "Lift your head Garret", Garret''s head slowly rose and his eyes locked on Airi, she could see a small smirk on his face. Airi grumbled, Garret had the look of a dog waiting for its master to give it a treat, "Yes?" Garret smirked wider, Airi grumbled angrily "Alright, you can come with me" Garret gave a bright smiled, he pumped his fist into the air, "Yes! she said yes!" Garret paused. He had shouted that out loud, Airi was just staring at him, Garret went red in the face. He lowered his arm, "Thanks" he said as he looked away, Airi sighed "Your welcome, now, could you please, stop kneeling!" Garret gasped, he quickly stood back up "Uhm, thanks again" Airi smiled, Garret looked back at Airi but, his face flushed red when he saw her smile, "So, we should be on our way then" Garret then started to walk off, "Wait just a minuet!" Airi called out, Garret looked back at her. "What is it?" Airi walked over to Garret, "If you and I are going to be traveling together, I wanna lay down some rules" Garret raised an eyebrow, "Rules?" Airi nodded "Yep!" Garret grumbled, Airi scowled "If you don''t agree to these rules I won''t let you come with me" Garret froze, that was something he didn''t want, he nodded "Okay, what are your rules?" Airi gave a smirk. She held up her hand, and put up one finger, "Rule one, Pull your own weight" Garret nodded, Airi held up another finger, "Rule two, When we do quests, the one who did the most work gets the rewards" Garret nodded, Airi held up a third finger, "Rule three, when its just the two of us you can call me by my real name, but if were around people you call me Gawain" Garret raised an eyebrow. "What? Why can''t I call you by your real name in front of people?" Airi grumbled, "We can''t have people finding out I''m a girl" Airi put her hands to her sides, "If people would find out I''m a girl, I won''t be taken seriously again" Airi gave a sad look for dramatic effect. Garret caved, he sighed, "Alright" he had agreed but, he didn''t like it. Airi smiled, she then held her three fingers back up and added a fourth. "Rule four, and this is the one you must make sure to fallow no matter what" Garret gave a puzzled look, he nodded, "Alright, Rule four, is for you, to never, ever, fall in love with me" Garret''s face went red, "L...Love?" he mumbled "What do you mean? Why? " Airi gave a icy look, "Because, love is something that can hurt people worse then any weapon" Garret saw the look in Airi''s eyes, he felt like there was a big reason behind this fourth rule, but, seeing the way Airi''s face looked, he didn''t want to pry so, he just nodded. Airi''s icy look vanished, and she gave a warm smile, "Alright, that''s all the rules you need to fallow" Garret nodded, it was a bit off putting to Garret how Airi''s expression changed so quickly, but, he put that thought in the back of his head. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Several minutes later, Garret and Airi were walking down the dirt path the had been running from the huge snake just mere hours ago, they were heading to the town they almost brought the snake to, Garret was silently fallowing behind Airi she had taken charge and was leading the way, she quietly looked down at her map, Garret had to say, Airi was a better map reader then he was, unlike him she didn''t seem to lose her way like he did. But, Garret was no longer thinking about Airi''s navigational skills, as he was bewitched by Airi''s butt, the pants she had on drew focus to it, it swayed back and forth as Airi walked, Garret swallowed hard, was she trying to seduce him? Just then a quandary popped into his head, why had Airi make it a rule for him not to fall in lover with her no matter what? And why when she gave that icy cold look when she gave her reason, that got Garret wondering, what had happened to Airi to where she would look and say something like that. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Garret couldn''t believe how many mystery''s surrounded the girl walking in front of him, she had pretended to be a guy, that freak out she had, what she had said, something about the world being real, and not some game, and lastly, there was the whole icy demeanor when it came to that fourth rule. Garret smiled, he felt that traveling with this girl full of mystery''s and secrets, simply named Airi, was going to be more amazing then he had thought. It didn''t take long for them to reach the town, Garret was amazed how fast they arrived with Airi leading the way, if it were him leading the way they would have gone far off course Garret had to hand it to Airi, she was a better navigator then him but, as they walked down the road Garret noticed dozens of pairs of eyes looking their way, at first he thought they were looking at him but soon, he realized they were looking at Airi. Among those staring was a number of other men, the had a lustful smirk on their face as they watched Airi walk by, Garret grumbled in anger, for some odd reason he hated seeing these other men staring at Airi like they were. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Airi could hear Garret grumbling lowly behind her, she peeked back at him and saw his head turning several different ways, he had a territorial look to his face, Airi decided to see what he was looking at, she let out a small gasp when she saw that a lot of men were staring at her as she walked down the rode. She then looked back at Garret, she grumbled "Garret! Stop that!" she shouted under her breath, Garret looked at her "What?" Airi growled in annoyance, "Stop staring at those guys like your about to kill them!" Garret''s face filled with surprise. He grumbled, "But Airi they-" Airi cut Garret off with a growl of anger, Garret sighed, "But Gawain, they''re all staring at you" Airi sighed "I know Garret, I saw" Garret scowled, "If you know then why are you so calm!" Airi looked at Garret with a glare. "Because, I don''t want to get into it with any of those guys!" Garret sighed, he looked at some of the guys that lined the side of the road, they all looked like that either one of them could kill both Airi and Garret by themselves, Garret agreed with Airi''s notion, he neither didn''t want to have an altercation with any of them as well. But still, deep down, Garret didn''t like the idea of all these men staring at Airi, Garret caught sight of a lone man, he saw him look Airi up and down he even licked his lips and let out a lustful chuckle, Garret locked his eyes on the guy who caught sight of him, Garret''s eyes must have been shouting ''What the fuck do you think your looking at?''. The guy must have got the message as he looked away, Garret chuckled in triumph, Airi heard him "What did I tell you!" Airi raised her leg and with the sole of her boots hit Garret in the shin, Garret groaned "Sorry, that guy just got on my nerves" Airi grumbled, the air between the two of them was tense, Garret sighed, he felt it was a good idea to change the mood, "So, where are we going?" he put his arms behind his head. Airi sighed, "Well, we''re going to go to the Adventures Guild hall for starters" Garret raised an eyebrow, "Why are we going there?" Airi grumbled, this is why she was against having Garret come with her, he asked too many questions for his own good. "Well, I was going to ask for information and, maybe accept some requests" Garret nodded, the realization sunk in, "Oh crap! I didn''t finish that request I took!" Garret had forgotten all about the quest he had been on before he met Airi and saved her from the huge snake chasing her. Airi sighed, "That''s why I said you had something to do when you were begging to come with me" Garret sighed in disappointment, "You should go and finish that request" Garret looked at Airi, she still was against him traveling with her. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Garret wanted to go and complete the request, but, he eyed the guys eyeing Airi at the roadside, he grumbled to himself, there was no way he was going to leave Airi alone, not now, Garret shook his head, "No, It''s fine, I''m going to stick with you" Airi grumbled, "Suit yourself" she looked away in a huff. There it was again, another of the mystery''s surrounding Airi, why was she so against him traveling with her, what was Airi''s goal? She said she was going to the Adventurer''s Guild hall for information but, information on what? That''s when Garret remembered the blue stone Airi had shown him, the one she said she found in Death Cave. He had never seen a stone like that before in his time in the world, he never heard anyone talking about a stone such as that, plus, Airi had looked at the stone with a melancholy look on her face, Airi wasn''t telling Garret something, and he felt it was something really big she was keeping from him. Garret had no idea what it was, but now, he knew more then ever that if he wanted to find out the truth, he''d have to stick to Airi like glue. [END]