《Twisted Nerves》


 Prologue - part one: Up to date with the world

    It''s been 20 years since the release of Virtual Reality to the public. Before, it was used only  in the military and in medicine. After its release, there was a boom in the advancement of technology: a more complete read of the human brain, which lead to more realistic AIs (Artificial Intelligences), capsules for the Virtual Reality decreasing in size while obtaining a more powerful capacity to process softwares and access the brain, resulting in simple headsets, and nano-liquid, a gel-like liquid compromised of nano-machines, used in the capsules to scan the human body, thus making it possible to finally utilize one''s own body to enter the virtual world.


    Crathos Inc. is the company who made Virtual Reality a possibility and also the leading company in the sector of capsules (and headsets) and games.


    There isn''t a VR shop that doesn''t have a capsule made by Crathos Inc.


    Before capsules became affordable, if you wanted to use your body in VR, you''d have to go to a VR shop. VR shops offer the possibility to rent scanner capsules and gaming capsules, in case you preferred playing with a capsule instead of an headset.


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    Anyway, with the always raising popularity of VR, Crathos Inc. obtain unimaginable riches, and with all that money, 7 years ago, they hired the best technicians, programmers, doctors, martial artists, scientists and scholars. Why? No one knew until 4 years later, when Crathos Inc. presented to the world the most powerful supercomputer in the world. But that wasn''t their real objective. Using that supercomputer as a platform, they were constructing the base for a new world, and at the same time an AI, Yuki. They were making a game. All the people in the world held their breath with anticipation for the release of this game, but as Crathos Inc. announced, the game only came out 3 years later, one and a half year to finish the base of the new world, and another one and a half to let Yuki create everything else.


    it''s 2139, and now, Hyria, the first VRMMORPG made by Crathos Inc. has been released.

 Prologue - part two: Blind Emotions

    12 years ago, in the testing and dev. room of Crathos Inc., a five years old girl excitedly rotates on her chair near a thirty-something man in a white lab coat. The girl had blond (almost white) hair, cute pink lips and dark blue eyes, instead the man had brown hair and black eyes.


    "Lia, papa has to work and this part is reeeaaaaally hard, so could you please be a little more quiet?"


    At the man''s plea a few snickers arose from his co-workers, while Lia stopped and looked at her father with a cheeky grin.


    "Nah!"


    She jumped from her chair, hugging her father, who gave an helpless smile at his cute little daughter.


    The men and women present felt their heart warming up, but they still continued to work. They were working on a supercomputer and also an AI. They were the developers of Hyria.


    "When is mama coming back?"


    Asked Lia while looking at her father''s work.


    Keeping his gaze on the computer in front of him and his hand on the keyboard, the man answered


    "She''s having an important talk with uncle Jack, so it will take a while"


    Lia frowned a little but then quickly went back to her rotating chair.


    A couple of knocks came from the backdoor of the laboratory. Everyone was a bit surprised, but it wasn''t the first time this happened. Sometimes the guards would knock and enter to check if everything was alright. there was this kind of security because of repeated accidents of attempted burglary.


    A man stopped working, looked at the time and said


    "They are a bit early, but whatever, Mike could you please go open the door?"


    Lia''s father nodded, stood up and went to open the door, his daughter followed while grabbing the end of his coat with her adorable little hand. Facing the door, almost about to open it, Mike hears someone shouting in the distance. He puts himself a bit in front of his daughter and opens the door, and finally hears what was being shouted


    "..ruders! Intruders!"


    "..top or I''ll shoot!"


    The first voice was that of another worker of Crathos Inc., trying to call other guards, while the other was from a guard lying on the floor, with a hand on his side to stop the bleeding and a gun pointed at the men with knives in their hands in front of Mike and Lia. When the door opened, the nearest man quickly grabbed Mike, making Lia stumble ahead of them, and put him between the guard and himself. The other man seemed indecisive for a moment, but then he picked up Lia and put his knife at her throat like his accomplice did.


    "No! Please! Leave my daughter alone!"


    Mike screamed, struggling to get free from the armed man. The other man again hesitated for an instant, but he regained his composure when another guard came. Mike, noticing that the men were concentrated on the arrival of the new guard, dashed toward the man who held his daughter.


    "Hey!"


    Mike''s throat was cut. But he didn''t stop. He covered his throat with an hand and with the other went to pull the hair of the bastard who held Lia hostage. The man now without anything to protect him got shot in the chest by the guard lying on the ground. The guard that was still standing was surprised and shocked at what was happening but when he saw Mike pull the head of the still living intruder, he saw the chance to shoot him in the head. He pulled the trigger twice.


    With all the noise, people came looking at what was happening and when they saw the guard and the floor, they called an ambulance.


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    When he heard the shot, the intruder tried to put Lia in front of him.


    Jack Stanford and Elisabeth Ashenworth entered the laboratory from the front door after hearing the shots and saw Mike on the ground, blood flowing non-stop from his carotid. A look of utter despair was on Elisabeth''s face, but then came another two shots. The man that was still standing in front of Mike, fell on his corpse. A little joy went through Elisabeth''s body, until she was what he was holding.


    Lia was on top of the intruder who just fell on the ground, her right eye opened wide, her left eye burning like never before. She wanted to scream, but a strange sensation of liquid filling her head stopped her. She was scared, but the only thing that she could do, the only thing her body was able to do at that moment, was humiliating itself, wetting her lower parts. Everything felt so dull. Even the sound rustling sound of someone picking her up. Even the warm but wet sensation of some sort of liquid falling on her face. Even the voice of her dear mother.


    And then, everything was swallowed by darkness.


    <hr />


    Slowly waking up, Lia felt a warm sensation coming from her right hand. Looking, it was her mother tightly grasping her hand, seated near her bed. Watching around, she noticed two other things: first, a, presumably, doctor was standing near her mother, and second, the bandages on her head obscured her left eye.


    Elisabeth''s blue eyes looked intently at her just awoken daughter. Elisabeth had blond hair, while her daughter had white hair. She was only five, but Lia already had white hair. Certainly before she already had nearly white hair, but the episode at the lab changed her hair, while the nano-machines changed her eyes, no, her eye. Right now, Lia''s right eye was black with a tinge of purple.


    "..Yvonne, how do you feel?"


    Yvonne was Lia''s second name, her father called her Lia, her mother Yvonne. Sometimes people who didn''t know of this got a little confused, but it was their problem in the end, not Lia''s.


    Lia waited a second to asses her condition, if it was the past, she''d feel the need to make her mother happy at this point, but right now, she didn''t feel that compulsion.


    "My head hurts. Why is my eye covered?"


    Her mother made a strange face, Lia tried to understand what that expression meant, but to no vain. Elisabeth put her right hand on Lia''s cheek, and stroke it.


    "Mrs. Ashenworth, now that your daughter is awake, we''ll be conducting some test for the next three days and then you''ll be free to return home"


    After Elisabeth nodded the doctor left the room. other than Lia and her mother, no other was in that room.


    "Mama, where is papa?"


    All this time Lia was expressionless. Elisabeth thought that it was because of that incident.


    "Papa.. is up in Heaven now"


    Elisabeth''s eyes were on the verge of crying, but Lia remained expressionless.


    "I see"


    She said, not really feeling something from her mother''s words.


    Later, when Lia fell asleep again, Elisabeth went out of the room and cried.


    Her daughter was now incapable of feeling any trivial emotion. She could feel the strong ones, but the day-to-day joy of everyday living, the feeling of friendship, the small fear one has while watching an horror film or even the simple happiness of eating your favorite food were now unavailable to her.


    Lia survived. But she was scarred for life.

 Level 1: Welcome to Hyria

    Unless I''m bored this should be all for today~


    Just to be sure, Lia is 17 now.


    <hr />


    It''s been six months since the release of Hyria, and everyone''s crazy about it. The graphic, the AIs of the NPCs, the realism, each thing, greatly surpasses everything till now created. The first two months or so, information about Hyria was everywhere, but as the players noticed the difficulty of each new level, new information was difficult to find.


    Closing her laptop, Lia leaves her room, goes down the stairs and enters the ''Capsule Room''. She and her mother got one of the newest Crathos capsule each, and also a free subscription to Hyria, thus not having to pay monthly to play the game. Her mother, like everyone in the company, got to start playing one month before the release, but Lia was still deciding if she really wanted to try this ''thing'' or not.


    Going near her mother''s capsule she pressed the ''Wake Up'' button, which sent a message to the player inside to disconnect. Five minutes later, the capsule opened and a woman wearing some comfortable-looking clothes, which you really wouldn''t wear outside, came out.


    "I take it you have decided?"


    Yawning, Elisabeth asked her. Many people straight up slept in-game, since with 2 hours of real time, you''d be sleeping for 8 hours.


    "More or less; it''s 1 pm, let''s eat something mom"


    The two went in the kitchen and started preparing food, chit-chatting about this or that. When the food was ready they sat to eat at the usual table, not speaking a word. It wasn''t an awkward silence, since both of them disliked talking while eating. Well, maybe it was only Elisabeth that didn''t like it, while Lia just didn''t care. Like always.


    "Yvonne, if you want I can let you join my guild, like that, you''d level up like nothing, you''d be able to have the best items and you''d see a lot of exciting things!"


    Elisabeth broke the silence, smiling all the while she talked to her daughter. She did think that maybe she was pushing her luck, after all, apart from the ''problem'' (if you can really call it like that) that she and Lia already spent a lot of time together (when she wasn''t playing, like during meals or training), even if she was the guild master, she couldn''t easily use her precious friends'' things.


    "..It''s okay, you don''t have to do that, after all I''m just gonna play to get used to seeing with both eyes"


    Even though Lia lived until now with only her right eye, and with a cute embroidered white eyepatch on her left eye, lately her mother was pushing her to get an artificial eye. Maybe it was because of that recent thing at school. Anyway, Dr. Kris said that Lia could have problems, suddenly having a new left eye, so he came up with the idea of making her accustomed to it through Virtual Reality. At that point, her mother convinced the two to use Hyria as rehab.


    Having finished lunch, they put the plates in the dishwasher and went to the capsule room. Her mother checked the second capsule, the one for Lia, and then nodded satisfactorily.


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    "Yvonne dear, please take off all your clothes"


    The first time one used a capsule, or when one wanted to "update" their body/avatar in VR, they had to be completely naked, enter the capsule, and then be covered with nano-liquid for 5~7 minutes. After that one could wear whatever one wanted. Following her mother''s instructions, Lia undressed and entered the capsule.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>New user detected</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Lying inside it, with the darkness surrounding her, she could feel the interior of the capsule slowly filling up after the system message disappeared. She remembered she never asked how one could breath in those conditions, but it didn''t really interest her that much, so she made a mental shrug and waited for the capsule to finish analyzing her body.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Body fitness registered</td></tr></tbody></table>


    With the nano-liquid gone, two new messages appeared.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Do you wish to begin the character creation?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "Yes"


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Beginning the transition of the consciousness..</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Closing her eyes, Lia felt a strange sensation and then she found herself standing naked in the middle of a white room. A second after, a female voice filled the room.


    <<Would you like to modify your current avatar or create a new one?>>


    Thinking very little, Lia says "no" to the omnipresent voice. She wondered if the whole thing was eerie, but she quickly abandoned the thought, it would only have been a waste of time to try to understand emotions she didn''t know nor feel.


    <<What nickname would you like to use? We don''t recommend using your real name>>


    "..Aisha"


    After thinking for a minute or two, Lia finally answers the mysterious voice.


    <<Very well. Where would you like to start?>>


    She wasn''t gonna play for long, and she didn''t want to deal with other people.


    "I''d like a quiet place without many players"


    <<Request accepted>>


    Darkness enveloped her once again and a system message appeared before her.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Welcome to Hyria</td></tr></tbody></table>

 Level 2: Idiosyncrasy

    I feel like I need to clarify that there are other races. Last chapter they weren''t addressed simply cause Lia didn''t want to modify or create her avatar, thus ending up as human.


    Also, I''m gonna use IGT for in-game time.


    <hr />


    Thyw was a small town situated at the far north end of the Kingdom of Ferl, one of many starting points for beginners, but not particularly relevant to make it know and frequently visited. Most constructions were made out of stone, the oldest ones only had the base or the pillars made out of wood; it was a relatively new town. The most impressive things were the three-story buildings, obviously belonging to the little guilds who settled here or to the ateliers of the most common classes (Swordsman, Blacksmith, Mage, Tailor, etc.), and the Lord''s castle. Not really a castle, more like a villa of sorts, with really thick stone walls and heavy security.


    That day, in the plaza of Thyw, right in front of the fountain representing some obscure dead warrior, a goddess appeared. Albeit a strange one.


    This goddess had shoulder-lenght straight white hair, thin eyelashes of the same color, dark purple eyes, small cherry colored soft lips and a delicate little upturned nose. She wore beginner clothes, but even that was unable to hide her beauty. With her slim waist, attractive buttocks and a bosom which wasn''t neither large nor small, one could say the woman who created the avatar must have spent a lot of time in it, because it was simply perfect.


    It was a pity she just looked around. She didn''t check her status or inventory. If she did, they''d surely be able to hear her (presumably) beautiful voice. After a quick look here and there, she brought her left hand in front of her left eye, waving it left and right. A little later, she carefully took on step ahead at a time, not caring where she would end up.


    Strolling around the small town for a few hours, she logged in doing just that for three days or so (IGT). Speaking only when logging out. Many figured that she spoke "log out" aloud only because she didn''t know that intensely thinking about it was enough.


    Subsequently, shortly after logging in again, she died of starvation. Maybe it was lucky that she never did anything, after all, dying cost you 2 levels and 10% of progress in each skill. But more importantly, since in-game the avatars never disappeared, while you where logged out or dead, put you at a great risk of being looted. Well, who would loot a beginner (who clearly did nothing since the start)? Even if you are looting somebody, you can''t touch their body directly unless they are logged in.


    Having exited the capsule, Lia heads upstairs, to her room. Wondering why she couldn''t log in again after having died, she opened her laptop and searched for information.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>After dying, it is possible to log in again 42 hours later.


    If the death occurred inside a city, you will respawn in the same place you died, if you died outside, you will respawn at the last city you visited.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ''Guess I''ll have to go around taking quests, if I don''t want to die again''


    Sighing, Lia looked at the time displayed on the laptop. There was still some time before dinner so she decided to skim through her homework and maybe take a nap.


    <hr />


    Finally able to log back in, for the first time, Lia checks her status window and inventory


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Name</td><td width="25%">Aisha</td><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">1</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">100</td><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">70</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Main Class</td><td width="25%">N/A</td><td width="25%">Title</td><td width="25%">N/A</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Race</td><td width="25%">Human</td><td width="25%">Alignment</td><td width="25%">Neutral</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health Regen/Sec</td><td width="25%">0.1</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen/Sec</td><td width="25%">0.1</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Strength</td><td width="25%">15</td><td width="25%">Agility</td><td width="25%">15</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Wisdom</td><td width="25%">15</td><td width="25%">Intelligence</td><td width="25%">15</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Stamina</td><td width="25%">15</td><td width="25%">Vitality</td><td width="25%">15</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Dexterity</td><td width="25%">15</td><td width="25%">Fame</td><td width="25%">0</td></tr></tbody></table>


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    ''I got food, but I should still look around to see how much it would cost me to restock it..''


    Heading for the plaza while eating the bread, her first thought was ''..Tastes horrible.''


    ''Mmh.. the price of the food isn''t that high, guess it''s the lack of players? Anyway, till now I only completed adjusting myself to using both eyes, so I''m only at the start of the list of things to do. Looking at the long run, if I learned how to cook here too, I could do some quest, stockpile on the cheaper ingredients, I could manage on my own for a longer period of time. Now that I think about it, I promised mom to at least try doing something "exciting," so I guess I''ll scratch getting merchant related professions. Bye bye even cheaper ingredients. But first, how do you get classes in this game in the first place? I need to know if I can get a class that''ll be both useful in completing the list faster, not only aiding me to adapt sooner, but also in completing quests. When I''m done with all this stuff I''ll try going around this.. kingdom? ..country? Well, whatever it is, I did say I''d give it a try.''


    Done with studying the prices of food in the plaza and of the bars and restaurants near it, Lia stared at the "Loose Goose," apparently the most renowned restaurant in Thyw, seeing the bustling inside and the number of people going in and out. It was also the most pricy one.


    The owners were a couple about fifty/sixty years old, they lived on the restaurant''s second floor. Since they''ve never been able to conceive kids, they were really fond of the ones that occasionally visited them. They are know for the warm welcome they give each customer.


    Inside, Lia could see that the hustle and bustle wasn''t about the food.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Sudden Quest: kidnappers on the run!</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Three shady looking people kidnapped a child in front of the ''Loose Goose,'' rescue him before they manage to leave the town!</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Quest Rank:</td><td width="25%">H+</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Rewards:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+10% exp</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>The owners of ''Loose Goose'' and the parents of the kid will be indebted to you</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Quest failure:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>The three bandits escape with the kid</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>The kid dies</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Effects of failure:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>you will no longer be permitted inside the ''Loose Goose,'' the kid''s parents will hold a grudge against you and the townsfolk may become more hostile towards you.</td></tr></tbody></table>

 Level 3: Idiosyncrasy II

    ".."


    Lia stopped in her tracks and watched the quest message. It felt really suspicious and too much timed with her entrance in the restaurant and also, she was the only player around. But she needed to ask the owners of the ''Loose Goose'' to teach her (or give her a recipe book, same thing).


    ''Could this be staged? But ..why? Think. I have to catch up with some thugs, I''d have to run after them, and possibly, there is the chance to get lost. Though I don''t have to worry about that, I''ve walked around enough to always know my way back to the plaza.''


    She ran outside just in time to get a glimpse of the "shady" trio and follow them from a safe distance.


    ''Still, I''m level one. The quest didn''t say anything about beating the thugs though. Would things escalate really that much if this was all faked? It''s possible. Then, how do I go around defending myself? Use real life techniques. I know how much real life combat experience can be useful here, mom told me so. Problem: I just work out, I have no combat experience, no techniques. One more thing in the list.''


    The kidnappers went around the corner and Lia slowed down before reaching the corner and stopped.


    ''It seems I''ve got no more time to think. Judging from their appearance, their foot work, and their speed, I just need a head start and I''m sure I can return to the restaurant before they can catch me. A distraction. A cover.''


    Taking out one of her water pouches, she rounds the corner and puts herself in position to start running at the first chance. Her eyes looked, watched, stared, glared and analyzed the situation. The more she analyzed, the more she understood. The three thugs were behind the kid, bowing ahead just a little. Like they were apologizing. Apologizing for having followed orders they couldn''t refuse. The kid is the puppet master. Good bye plan where the kid follows obediently. The water pouch, now useless, was put back in the inventory.


    "My beautiful white rose, what is your name?"


    ''..Great.''


    Despite the fact that she didn''t care, she knew. She knew men were after her. No, her body. Why would they want her? After all she''s just an insensible bitch (quote).It''s not like she could do anything about it. It''s not like she wanted to get shot, lose an eye and also her emotions. It''s not like in these last 12 years she ever cared about this. What happened, happened. No use in crying over spilled milk.


    Going back as to why this was such a "nice" development, the boy had fallen for her. But, he was dangerous. He didn''t try to approach her like a normal person, no, he faked being abducted and ultimately put her in a dangerous situation in which she had to defend herself alone.


    ''Thank God this isn''t real life.''


    All the while the cocky kid had been talking, but was utterly ignored.


    ''Still, I need him for the completion of the quest. Be it staged or not, that couple at the restaurant will give me my reward.''


    She closed her eyes one second.


    ''If I hadn''t put that away, this would have been a bit faster, but whatever.''


    "..y! Hey! Are you listening to me?!"


    Her eyes opened again, looking directly at him. Not an hint of emotion in them. Dark purple, crystal clear eyes.


    Fear permeated the them. Permeated their bodies, their soul. They had done nothing, but they had gone too far.


    Each step she took toward them was like hearing the last ticking of their time. Of their lives.


    She took the boy by his wrist and proceeded out of where she had entered.


    The thugs did not dare to move.


    With her back to them, her lips barely curved upwards, or at least tried to, for an instant. She wasn''t in the mood to fake smiles and flaunt her victory, but it was nice seeing her trick proving itself useful once again. Though this time it felt a bit draining.


    <hr />


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Quest: kidnappers on the run! - Completed</td></tr><tr><td>You managed to safely return the kid to the restaurant while not causing a fuss after having discovered the truth. The three men were part of Thyw''s Lord''s Castle Guards, and Johan, the Lord''s second son, ordered them to fake his kidnapping to catch the heart of the lady he fell in love with.</td></tr><tr><td>Quest Rank: H+</td></tr><tr><td>Rewards:</td></tr><tr><td>The owners of ''Loose Goose'' and Thyw''s Lord will be indebted to you</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You gained 10% experience</td></tr></tbody></table>


    After having thrown the boy on the floor of the restaurant, Lia checked the message of quest completion and noticed some backlogged system messages that she hadn''t read.


    In Hyria, when a player is under an adrenaline rush, or a really intense fight, the notification do not show up, but will make themselves notice when the log is opened.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>New Skill Acquired</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Calm Analysis (Passive)</td></tr><tr><td>A calm analysis of the environment always helps making a more correct judgement on one''s own situation.</td></tr><tr><td>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td>+25% Easier to spot anomalies and possible dangers</td></tr><tr><td>+10% Easier to come to an understanding of the situation</td></tr><tr><td>+5% Easier to spot lies in a conversation</td></tr></tbody></table>


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    <table><tbody><tr><td>New Skill Acquired</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Quick Analysis (Passive)</td></tr><tr><td>A fast thinker survives longer.</td></tr><tr><td>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td>+15% Faster in making a decision</td></tr><tr><td>+15% Faster to spot anomalies and possible dangers</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>New Skill Acquired</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Primordial Fear (Active)</td></tr><tr><td>When your lack of emotions, empathy and interest in others'' lives is revealed to those around you, all they will be able to see in front of them is Death Herself.</td></tr><tr><td>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td>Instills fear and stuns every weaker being that stands where you passed while keeping Primordial Fear active. The more time passed since you left that spot, the lesser the effect. Every minute that passes is 30 seconds less.</td></tr><tr><td>Instills fear and stuns every being of the same level as you or weaker.</td></tr><tr><td>Instills fear and stuns every being not over 5 levels higher than yours. For every level higher, 20 seconds are subtracted.</td></tr><tr><td>Radius: 1 meter</td></tr><tr><td>Duration: 2 minutes</td></tr><tr><td>Cost: 60 MP, then 2 MP per second if kept active.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Lia was slightly surprised, not because she didn''t know that this game could create abilities according to a player''s behavior, but because it happened so fast. Though her interest ended there. She walked in front of the couple who owned the ''Loose Goose'' and observed them. At least it seemed like they regretted the prank a little.


    ''Explains why it said they will be indebted to me.''


    "Care to explain?"


    The man, Ul, and the woman, Krista, remained silent a little but then began to explain. Apparently the little pest had seen her in the plaza while she looked around for the prices of the food, afterwards, when she stopped in front of the ''Loose Goose'' he sent some of his men inside, to ask if they knew her and then to tell them the kidnapping was only staged. Johan was a well-known asshole that liked to use his position to force others into doing what he wanted.


    While they were talking, the kid got up and screamed something like "Don''t think it''ll end here, you..! You..! Damn it!". No one paid attention to him.


    "..I see. Anyway, I was in front of your restaurant for a simple reason, I want to learn the cooking skill."


    Said Lia while glaring at them. Ul seemed a little thrown off, maybe he didn''t accept apprentices so easily, but after a "Dear.." and a glare by Krista, he accepted.


    In the end, Lia skipped some day at school, she played non-stop for a week, sleeping in-game, before finally learning the cooking skill. At first she had to do the usual minor things, like washing the dishes or peeling potatoes. Couldn''t complain when, other than the skill, she was given a place to sleep and two/three meals a day. Lia never liked eating breakfast that much.


    Of course she didn''t spend all the time at the restaurant. She logged off at least 2 hours a day, to take care of her real needs and go jogging with her mother, and when she did not log off but still wasn''t in the restaurant, she was jogging in-game, making her stamina go up by 2.


    ''Now that I''m done, I have to earn money. Thanks to Krista I still have all my bread, but that won''t last more than a month. There should be a bulletin board in the plaza, but before that I need to see about a class for me, I need to see what kind of benefits I''d get by becoming a swordswoman. I also need to know if it''s possible to change classes later on. Mmh, I should log off after my visit to the atelier.''


    On the way to the to the Swordsmen''s Atelier, Lia made a mental list of the things she had to buy later. After all, she still had only 20 copper coins.


    The Swordsmen''s Atelier was a two-story stone building near an open area with mannequins being beaten by NPC soldiers and two or three players. Inside there were some more mannequins and many types of swords hung on the walls, with only three NPC training. Seeing the goddess (yes, the name got stuck not only in the players'' head) enter his atelier, the instructor quickly went to greet her


    "Hello young lady, I''m Triel, the instructor. Are you interested in becoming a swordswoman?"


    "Hi, I''m Aisha. I''m here to know what are the benefits of becoming a swordswoman"


    "Well, it depends on what type of swordswoman you want to become, but I guess you would be best suited for the speed type. Speed types concentrate on raising their agility, dexterity and of course strength. You''d be lacking in defense and you would be limited to light armor, but if you train hard enough in dodging you will be able to make up with the disparity. Lastly, like for every other swordsmen, you will have less mana and it will also regenerate more slowly."


    "Thank you for the information, if I become interested in swordsmanship I''ll come back."


    ''I''ll consider accepting this class should I not find anything else of interest.''


    Finally out of the atelier, Lia began walking toward the plaza, when someone hit the back of her head.

 Level 4: The school and the dojo

    This would have been out yesterday if not for the fact that it got so long.


    <hr />


    Turning around, Lia saw the cocky kid, Johan, again. Behind him where the same three men from before, plus three new ones, all with the same expression. They were pitying her. He still wasn''t done with her.


    ''All of them have a normal bastard sword, the annoying kid instead has a stick, obviously what he used to hit me. Maybe he thought I''d drop unconscious, too bad for him. My health.. still 87 HP remaining. Looking again, they all have some light protection, even the kid. He''s too persistent. If he remains alive I won''t be able to go around undisturbed. Still, if I kill him now I''d have to run away from this town and I know I won''t last long outside as I am at the moment. Judging from how I dealt with him last time, and how long the three thugs took to get out of my Primordial Fear, they''d be no match for me, in their perspective at least, thus the ones he brought along should be stronger than them. This means they could be able to one-shot me. If I get killed, as I am, the only detrimental thing would be that I''ll have to wait 42 hours before coming back. I doubt the kid has an interest in corpses. Or immortal people. I wonder why they made it so that only players can distinguish between who is human and who is an NPC.''


    Lia measured the distance between her and the three new guys, then slowly added some more distance walking backwards to the right. The three noticed, but didn''t say anything.


    ''They have keen eyes, good.''


    Now that there was enough distance


    <


    >


    Johan and the thugs were stunned. Lia turned off Primordial Fear, the lowered herself, clenched her fists and ran towards them. The new guys reached for their swords while Lia was in front of Johan. One of the new guards was at her left, sword in his hands and she swung her first toward the kid. The guard raised his sword as her punch reached Johan''s face, hearing his nose cracking and breaking, his head going backwards. She raised herself at the same time the sword went for her neck. The guard noticed, but didn''t stop. The blade began cutting her skin. Blood began to flow out. The sword cut deeper. The vertebras began to separate. The sword reached the carotid. A fountain was made. The sword finished its job. Her head rolled off.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have died</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <hr />


    Lia opened her capsule in time to see her mother do the same.


    ''Tsk, getting your neck cut hurts.''


    "Taking a pause, mom?"


    Said Lia while massaging the back of her head and exiting the capsule. She wiped herself with a towel she kept near the capsule before putting some clothes on.


    "Kinda, I''m going to work later, you?"


    "I died, do you want me to make food while you take a shower?"


    "Yeah, thanks cutie"


    Lia checked the time and went to the kitchen. It was six in the morning, if she was quick, she could get to school before lessons started. But she had things to ask her mother. She chose to make some toast with strawberry jam for her and eggs with bacon for Elisabeth. Food ready, she was about to prepare some coffee and lemon tea when her mother arrived.


    "Are you going to school today?"


    Lia nodded, switched on the coffee machine and began heating some water.


    "Mom, can I change class once I''ve chosen one?"


    Elisabeth took a seat in front of her food, waited for Lia to finish making the coffee, took a sip when it was done and waited for her daughter to sit.


    "No, you can''t. After you choose a class, you''re stuck with that one until you delete your account. Have you chosen one?"


    Said that, Elisabeth ate her food, stopped, put a little more salt in it and resumed eating.


    "I thought of becoming a swordswoman, but now I guess I''ll make do until I find something that can be interesting. Though now I don''t know how I can deal with the mobs"


    Lia instead put her jam on the toast and a slice of lemon with some sugar in her tea before answering.


    "Simple, do what I did. I''m gonna give you the address of a nice dojo where me and mike went, train there and use what you learn in-game. When you are inside, go monster hunting until you know the basics perfectly and don''t do quests until you can kill a mob with.. let''s say.. 10? Levels more than you. By then you shouldn''t have a problem going around class-less, but still use the 5 points you get each level very carefully."


    The long speech made Elisabeth drink a bit more coffee. Lia frowned a little.


    "I don''t have that much time."


    Her mother gave her a surprised look but then nodded.


    "Ah yes, school. Let''s do this, today I''m coming with you, I''ll tell the principal that you have medical problems or something so you''ll be obligated to go only when there are tests, and then I''m taking you to that dojo before going to work."


    "Is it really okay for me to skip school so much?"


    "It''ll be fine as long as you stop pretending to be average and get at least 90 on each test."


    While saying that, Elisabeth stared at Lia, who, after a small sigh, nodded.


    <hr />


    Walking through the corridors, Elisabeth and Lia could feel the occasional glances of the students. They probably thought it''s about that time. Last week, that time when Jennifer and three other girls cut her hair and then dumped a bucket of cold water on her.


    ''I guess I''m here to get my things, summary of what I missed and what I''ll miss, otherwise mom would''ve just left at that dojo she was talking about and come here alone. Seeing me walking with my mom towards the principal''s office, I bet two or three people went to warn Jennifer. I don''t think she has the balls to confront me in front of my mom, so I guess she''d be waiting near my locker. Good, I don''t think she''d like to have a concussion so I''ll just go to the teachers'' office, get the things I need to get and return here.''


    Elisabeth knocked on the office''s door and when she heard a "Come in" she looked at Lia


    "I take it you already know?"


    Nodding, Lia began walking toward the teachers'' office while Elisabeth entered the principal''s.


    "Ms. Ashenworth, your continued absence began to make me worry, are you alright now?"


    Once inside the office, mrs. Wang, Lia''s homeroom teacher, readily greeted her. Mrs. Wang was a nice middle-aged woman, always gentle with her student and ready to help them however she could. More than once it was her who found Lia in a pinch and helped. If she had a grandmother, Lia wished her to be mrs. Wang.


    "I am alright, but I am afraid we won''t see each other again for some time"


    Lia took a seat in front of her, and then let mrs. Wang take her hands.


    "Yvonne, are you transferring?"


    Lia shook her head and answered


    "No, it''s just that my obligatory attendance rate will be lowered, so apart from the days when there are tests, I''ll rarely come to school"


    Mrs. Wang nodded, let her hands go and smiled.


    "I see, then I can guess why you came here. Just wait thirty minutes or so and I should be done getting the other teachers'' programs."


    "Thank you"


    "No worries, just go to the principal''s office, I''ll bring them there"


    Mrs. Wang smiled again, got up and went about doing what Lia asked her. Lia similarly got up and left the room, only to find Jennifer outside, leaning on the wall near the door. Nonetheless, Lia ignored her and began walking toward her locker.


    "Hey, where are your manners, you unfeeling pig? Shouldn''t you be saying hi to me? It''s been, what, a week since we last saw each other?"


    Lia continued to ignore her. It makes you wonder how far a person would go to get others'' attention. In this last year they have know each other, Lia not even once did she pronounce a word directed at Jennifer. Knowing this, Lia rarely retaliated, after all her behavior towards the girl wasn''t exactly nice.


    "Tsk"


    After a few other (failed) attempts, Jennifer clicked her tongue and went away. Meanwhile, Lia reached the principal''s office and knocked on the door.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "Come in"


    Lia opened the door and saw her mother sitting on one of the three chairs in front of the principal''s desk. The room was filled with trophies and certificates, the desk with important-looking documents and two pictures of the principal''s family.


    "Ahh, ms. Yvonne I see you have brought here yet another beautiful eyepatch"


    Lia was currently wearing a white eyepatch with a complicated representation of a purple rose, which continued on even on the strings of the eyepatch. The principal always praised her various eyepatches, Lia suspected he had a fetish for them.


    "..Yes, thank you for the compliment. Mom, mrs. Wang said she''ll bring the worksheets here."


    "Good, I''m done already, after she brings them we''ll be on our way"


    Elisabeth nodded and Lia sat near her. The principal and Elisabeth then began chit-chatting with Lia intervening once in a while until mrs. Wang came in and handed Lia the worksheets. After some more chit-chat and a farewell, Lia and Elisabeth went away.


    Elisabeth drove for half an hour before reaching a dojo. Lia knew this dojo, it was on the way to Crathos Inc. from her home after all. Well, knew was an overstatement as she never realized it was a dojo, it looked like all the other business buildings near it.


    "Is it really a dojo?"


    "Trust me, it is, and the guy who runs it is really good too."


    They got out of the car and walked up to the receptionist, a young woman which had black hair with dark blue meshes and black eyes.


    "Greetings mrs. Ashenworth, it''s been a while since your last visit, Master really misses you"


    "Hi Amanda, I do admit I am here to see Master, but it''s not for me.."


    Smiling, Elisabeth moved to te side and gestured toward Lia, who stepped forward.


    "Hi, I''m Lia Yvonne Ashenworth"


    "Hello sweetheart, I''m Amanda Lake. Last time you came here you were but a cute little toddler, you know?"


    After Lia and Amanda finished greeting and chatting a little, Elisabeth cut in


    "Can you call Master? I''d like him to test Yvonne and then teach her"


    Amanda nodded, made a call and then after an "okay, please follow me," the three went to take an elevator to the 7th floor. Once the elevator stopped and they exited, they found themselves in a room that took up almost the entire space of the 7th story, its floor was covered in tatamis, the wall on their right was covered by mirrors while the one on the left was almost covered too, but by weapons. Facing said wall was a sixty-something bald old man, dressed with one of those blue kimonos used for training, swinging a bamboo sword up and down, with 12~15 people in-between the man and the mirror wall, their back towards it, intently watching the man.


    "Master."


    Elisabeth called out and bowed a little. The old man stopped and slowly put the sword on the floor, while one of the people watching him got up and brought him a towel to wipe the sweat. Done that, he walked towards the three women who just entered, nodded to Amanda, who promptly left after that, and then hugged Elisabeth.


    "Elisabeth, it''s been so long, it''s a pleasure seeing you here again"


    "The pleasure is mine"


    They each smiled at one another, probably remembering their old times, then he noticed Lia and asked


    "So, I take it this young lady is your daughter?"


    "Yes. Come on dear, introduce yourself"


    They both looked at Lia, who in return had been staring the old man in the eyes


    "Nice to meet you, I''m Lia Yvonne Ashenworth"


    Like her mother did, Lia bowed a little.


    "Hello, my name is Trevor Lee, I''m the instructor of this dojo."


    The man then looked over her from head to toe and with a disapproving look faced Elisabeth again.


    "I understand that you probably are here to ask me to teach her, but I''m not gonna do it. Ahh, youngsters and their fashion.. If she stops dying her hair and putting on eyepatches, I might consider your request Elisabeth."


    Trevor shook his head as Elisabeth gave him a bitter smile


    "It''s not fashion.. that is the natural color of her hair, and she''s blind in the left eye.."


    Trevor was a little surprised, but then he quickly recomposed himself


    ".. I see, I won''t say anything more. Since everything is resolved now, I guess I''ll test Lia now. Abigail! Go with Lia to get her a kimono and then accompany her to the changing room. Faze! You choose an appropriate sword for her!"


    Two people stood up, a man and a woman. The man, Faze, looked to be 35/36 years old, he had dark brown hair and blue eyes, certainly he didn''t lack muscles and seemed to be 20~25 cm taller than Lia, who was 167 cm tall. He proceeded to inspect some swords that hung on the opposite wall. The woman, Abigail, was only about 5 cm taller than Lia, appeared to be only 18~19 years old and her black hair, black eyes and face all resembled Amanda''s. Abigail swiftly arrived in front of Lia and smiled


    "Hi there, name''s Abigail Lake, feel free to call me Abby, Lia"


    After a nod, Lia shook hands with Abigail and then they walked up to the only other way out of this room, situated near the elevator, the stairs. They walked down a story and entered the 6th floor.


    "So, can I ask why the sudden interest in martial arts? From your movements it doesn''t seem like you ever trained before"


    "I''m training to become better at playing Hyria"


    Abigail pushed open the door and inside there was a corridor perpendicular to them which led to two doors, to the right the men''s changing room, left for the women''s. In front were a man and a woman standing behind a big counter, behind them a third door.


    "Abby, showing around the place to a new member?"


    The man asked while eying Lia


    "Nah, Master wants a kimono for her"


    "I see, then Marie, you know the routine"


    The woman nodded and then all three went in the women''s changing room. Lia undressed and let Marie take her measures, afterwards she went to fetch Lia a kimono. While Marie was away Abigail made a comment on Lia, which she promptly ignored. While waiting and also while Lia put on the kimono Marie brought her, Abigail and Lia chatted.


    "Hyria, right? Isn''t that the VR game released by the famous company near here?"


    "Yes, mom made me play it, and since real life skills seem to be useful, she brought me here too"


    "Is it really good as they say?"


    "..It''s well made. I only started playing recently so I don''t know much, you should ask my mom after she comes to pick me up later"


    "Later? Isn''t she upstairs?"


    Lia shook her head while Abigail opened the door for the stairs


    "She just dropped me off here, she had to go to work"


    "Ah, I see"


    When she entered in the 7th floor again, Lia found the people who before were all seated between the mirrors and Trevor, more or less equally seated in front of the right and left wall, facing the center, in which Trevor was standing, directly looking at her with his fierce blue eyes while holding two katanas. Abigail quietly took a seat near the queue of people to the right. Trevor walked up to Lia and handed her the sword in his left hand as he said "Don''t move until I say so." As she took it, she could feel the sword''s weight, length and center of gravity. As she concentrated on the sword, Trevor took a step backwards, creating a distance between them of about 30 cm. Lia shifted her line of sight once again on Trevor, who, once he saw she was done, used as much force as he could to take a step ahead with as much speed as he could muster in those 30 centimeters. Lia looked, watched, stared, glared and analyzed him. ''He''s going to stop.'' She pointed her katana down as he swung his at her. Her eyes connected with Trevor''s.


    At 3 centimeters from her neck, the sword stopped. Trevor relaxed his body, turned around and began walking away.


    "Ahah, missy got too scared to move"


    A man in the right row commented, making Abigail glare at him. Trevor instead shook his head


    "She saw I''d stop, and even before that she had not even one hint of fear in her eye"


    The people on the left slightly nodded and Trevor turned around, the distance between them was now 2 meters.


    "Your turn Lia. Attack me"

 Level 5: Training

    Don''t worry, I''m gonna give the description of each new skill with time, and also the last passive one (you don''t want spoilers, do you?) is not as effective as you might first think.


    <hr />


    Trevor held his katana with both hands in front of him, with the tip pointing diagonally upwards. He was serious, and Lia answered in kind. She imitated his stance as much as she could, adapting it to her stature and type of combat strategy she had in mind, her left hand near the guard and the right one at the end of the hilt. As her face became expressionless and her eyes lost all emotions, Lia took a step forward while lowering her body. She sprinted, the katana was heavy, but she managed to keep it up while moving it over her shoulder. She strengthened her grip, as she felt that if is she exerted too little strength the katana would leave her hands. A little less than a meter separates Lia and Trevor, who has been immobile until now. At a distance of about 30 cm, Lia began to swing the katana, aiming for Trevor''s waist with a downward slash. Trevor immediately intercepted it, trying to make Lia lose her katana, but it only made it go back to the position it had before the slash. While that happened, Lia''s left hand left the hilt only to return in a reverse-grip and when the katana got back to the initial position, she slashed again. Trevor saw her beginning to slash again, using the guard of his katana to keep Lia pinned just one second more, he positioned the blade of his katana from a direct confront with the edge of Lia''s katana to his edge touching the side, and then the back, of her katana as he forced her to change the trajectory. Once the tip of her katana touched the floor, Trevor put the edge of his katana on her neck.


    ''D¨¦j¨¤ vu''


    "Not bad, girl. Rest for 5 minutes and then swing that katana for five hours there. Use the same stance you had before, and try to not move your feet for the entirety of the exercise."


    Trevor removed his katana from her neck and put it somewhere on the left wall while pointing to the right-hand corner near the elevator. Lia raised herself and nodded to him before walking to where he indicated. Abigail jumped up and went to congratulate her, and also handing her a water bottle


    "Here, it''s mine, I hope you won''t mind."


    "No problem"


    Lia took a big sip of water and give Abigail the bottle back while wiping her lips and chin with the wrist of her free hand. After that, Lia began her exercise. She took that same stance, brought the katana up, and swung down. At some point it seemed like Abigail got the permission from Trevor to tell Lia about the dojo. Apparently, the ones who were on the left row before were instructors, not all of them, just the ones who had brought the most outstanding pupil of their class, which were the ones who seated on the right before. They were here to be tested and see if, in case they wanted to, in the future they would be able to teach here. Then Abigail went on about how she''s been training here since she was 6 (making it 13 years counting this one), how she started because she thought her older sister looked really cool when practicing and in tournaments, and also how she won or almost won this or that tournament.


    ''Hold it up, swing down. Hold it up, swing down.''


    After two and a half hours her hands had gone painfully numb, so she had to grip the katana harder to make sure it didn''t accidentally leave her hands. After three hours, Abigail was forcefully removed by an instructor who took her by her collar.


    After four and a half hours, her vision became hazy. After five hours, Trevor came to stop her and she collapsed on the floor, the katana in front of her and her arms powerlessly hanging at her sides. Breathing heavily, she closed her eye before feeling someone lightly put a water bottle near her mouth. She drank and then opened her eyes, Abigail was there once again, but this time there was her mother too. Trevor already went back to doing his stuff.


    "Go change dear, then we''ll go home, you''ll take a shower and then you''ll sleep. No arguments."


    Lia weakly nodded at her mother''s plans and caught Elisabeth''s outstretched hand to get up. After waving Abigail good bye, Lia went to change and in the end got in the car with her mother, greeting Amanda again in the process. At home, before taking a shower and sleeping she ate some pasta with only oil and parmesan. The day after, Lia woke up at 6 a.m., prepared a bag for the dojo, and ran there. It took her one and a half hours to get there. Once ready, she swung the katana. Every four days the time she had to swing for ten more minutes (with the premise that once she could swing the sword for 8 hours without collapsing afterward she wouldn''t have to swing it so much anymore), while every six days she had to spar with Trevor. Going back home took two hours for the fatigue and once she was there, she ate, took a shower and then entered Hyria.


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    Once inside, the first thing she does is going to sleep for 6~8 hours at the ''Loose Goose.'' In exchange for work, done after she slept, the couple lets Lia sleep and eat free. After that she goes to the eastern gates, exits Thyw and hunts in the nearby forest. Usually she''d spend 20 hours, with a break of 4 hours at the ''Loose Goose'' after the first half of the time passed, hunting rabbits (lv. 3), foxes (lv. 5), stray dogs (lv. 4~6), wolves (lv. 8~10; since they almost always moved as a pack, most of the times she died were because of them), goblins if it was daytime and bandits if it was nighttime (both ranged from lv. 8 to 16, but bandits had slightly more numerous groups). The (poorly made) katana she wielded was something she bought at the Swordsmen''s Atelier once she accumulated one silver and also, hunting, moreover in the forest, gave her additional stats points, new skills and time to grind the  ones she already had. When she died she spent the extra time sleeping, jogging and/or studying.


    57 days later


    Lia stood in front of the forest she always trained in, just inside the town''s gates.


    "Display Status Window, Skill List and Inventory"


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Name</td><td width="25%">Aisha</td><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">7</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">160</td><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">105</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Main Class</td><td width="25%">N/A</td><td width="25%">Title</td><td width="25%">N/A</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Race</td><td width="25%">Human</td><td width="25%">Alignment</td><td width="25%">Neutral</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health Regen/Sec</td><td width="25%">0.5</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen/Sec</td><td width="25%">0.2</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Strength</td><td width="25%">19</td><td width="25%">Agility</td><td width="25%">26</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Wisdom</td><td width="25%">15</td><td width="25%">Intelligence</td><td width="25%">16</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Stamina</td><td width="25%">45</td><td width="25%">Vitality</td><td width="25%">16</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Dexterity</td><td width="25%">26</td><td width="25%">Fame</td><td width="25%">0</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Skill List</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Primordial Fear (Active)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.5</td><td width="25%">Sprint (Active)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.3</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Clean Cut (Active)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.3</td><td width="25%">Calm Analysis (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.6</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Quick Analysis (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.7</td><td width="25%">Cooking (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.4</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Sword Mastery (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.6</td><td width="25%">Predator Instincts (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.4</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Stealth (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.5</td><td width="25%">Night Vision (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.5</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ''My inventory is almost full.. I should go sell my loot later.''


    The provided inventory had 200 different slots, and each slot contained up to 100 of one type of loot. The weight of the inventory is not added while class-less, and is reduced if you have a merchant-related class. It was possible to upgrade the inventory, but it was very costly, unless, of course, you had a merchant-related class.

 Level 6: Ghillo Forest

    Changed a phrase in the last chapter:


    [..] she had to swing for ten more minutes (with the premise that once she could swing the sword for 8 hours without collapsing afterward she wouldn''t have to swing it so much anymore).


    And also changed what you lose after dying. I don''t want to give a certain skill to Lia, and I also don''t want to just say "and then she happily went to grind her skills and levels back" and be done with it in the future.


    <hr />


    Lia slowly walked toward the forest, with the sun behind her, almost ready to set. She went straight inside, ignoring the rabbits and foxes scurrying around.


    After about 20 minutes of walking, Lia finally met a pack of seven wolves. Three level 10, two level 8 and the last level 9.


    In Hyria, mobs, NPCs and even other players didn''t show their name nor their health. It only showed you the mobs'' and the NPCs'' levels.


    Lia put her back to a tree while the wolves circled her. All in position, a lv. 8 wolf at her right pounced on her. She swung diagonally downward aiming for the eyes, the momentum of the wolf''s pounce helped the katana putting a cut in the thing''s brain. She spun, the wolf to which she gave the shoulders proceeded to attack, using the same momentum from the attack she made before, she slashed at the wolf''s neck, her katana going diagonally upward. Doing that made her slightly fall backwards, but she didn''t stop, putting her right foot to block the fall, her left hand released the katana and her right hand used the energy from to spinning to change in a reversed grip and planted the katana through the mandible of the wolf that was attacking her from the side. She quickly let the wolf slide on the ground, freeing her katana and once again taking her stance. Two wolves came running at her while the remaining two stood behind them and began to howl. Lia rushed at the two wolves left behind, running toward the ones that were attacking. The wolf on the right managed to bit her on the side, but the one on the left missed and she used her katana to slash him from his eye to his abdomen while she elbowed the nose of the wolf on her side to make him let go. After he did, she ran again and slashed off the head of one of the two remaining wolves when multiple howls began resounding in the distance.


    <<Clean Cut>>


    The remaining wolf jerked a little and then its halves fell respectively to the right and to the left. The battle left her with 85 MP, 109 HP and a bleeding hex (1 HP per 5 seconds, lasts until healed or bandaged). She tried to run away before the new batch of wolves came, but was cut off without delay. She changed direction and ran deeper inside the forest.


    ''It''s never a good idea idea to run deeper into forests, be it here or in real life, but they were already approaching me from the sides. Are they leading me into a trap? ..No, it doesn''t seem so, they are all following me and I don''t see any more wolves ahead.''


    She ran and ran, trying to put some distance between her and the wolves and at the same time trying not to hug any tree. Before long, she saw the base of a mountain. A mountain named after the forest, Ghillo, and that was part of a mountain range, called Dragons'' Throes, that divided the Kingdom of Ferl with the Kingdom of Magiron.


    Her stamina was dropping, but she ran while looking for something she could hide behind or inside. But she had to lose the wolf or it wouldn''t work.


    <<Sprint>>


    She had ten seconds to find a place to hide in using her doubled speed and Quick Analysis to continuously check the situation around her. She spotted a cave, but her instincts told her she would be surrounded by the time she reached said cave. She checked her sides and gave a quick glance behind her.


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    ''Damn it. How many are there and which level?''


    She checked again. The cave was only 5 meters away, but she had low stamina and Sprint was only 2 or 3 seconds away from ending. There were also 23 wolves, four or five were all level 9 while the others were all level 10, besides one, the white wolf, that was level 15. She entered the cave and turned around after she ran some more. As she panted, she assessed her situation quickly and effectively thanks to her two Analysis skills.  She had 91 HP and 80 MP remaining, meaning she could use Primordial Fear and maintain it for another 5 seconds. The wolves surrounded the entrance of the cave, then the white wolf sent the gray ones inside, 5 every 10~15 seconds.


    The first wave came, Lia used her right and to slash and kill a wolf, while the left punched one in the face to consequently get bitten. She kicked the wolf that was biting her left arm while slashing another wolf that was trying to sneak up from the right. As the wolf that got kicked flew back into the cave''s wall, the one that was punched went for her ankles, but before he got the chance she cut his head off. With her side wide open the last wolf pounced on her as new wolves came in. She quickly dodged, finished off the wolf she had kicked and rushed to the one she had let go behind her. Lia couldn''t have him sneak up on her as she fought the new ones. He came running towards her, she spun, giving him a round-house kick as she confronted with the wolf that was about to attack her, cutting off one of his front paws, as he dodged in the air and bit her shoulder only to end up behind her. Lia panted as she saw new wolves coming in. Something was flashing just a little bit outside her field of vision, but she paid it no mind.


    ''Not yet.''


    She glanced back, seeing the wolf behind her was not far away, she ran backwards to watch the 9 wolves in front of her running in her direction. As Lia came near him the wounded wolf tried to once again stand up but slipped on his own blood. She killed him, then rushed at the wolves ahead, if she didn''t let them get behind her, they couldn''t attack all together. She attacked the nearest to her right, wounding him, and defended her left side with her free arm. She felt her strength slowly disappear, but then another five wolves came running in. Lia wanted to kill as many wolves as possible before dying, she wanted to minimize the loss she was about to face as much as possible. Lia stepped on the wolf she wounded, broke his ribcage and ran toward the new wolves. In a matter of seconds she was encircled by 13 wolves. She had to be fast.


    <


    >


    The wolves stopped. They tried to howl but to no vail. Lia first went to kill every wolf behind her. She was a little slow, but she managed to kill all of them in one hit. She did the same with the five upfront, but as she killed the last, the white wolf came in with the remaining two gray ones. He growled and started running toward Lia, the other two sat back.


    ''Grave mistake. I still have 20 MP left.''


    The white wolf jumped at her, she took her stance, and when he was about close enough


    <<Clean Cut>>


    The white wolf was cut in two, its remains falling on top of her, giving her the final push.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have died</td></tr></tbody></table>

 Level 7: Mysterious cave

    Sorry for the short chapter. Be damned real life. Next chapter is a long one tho, so don''t leave lol


    <hr />


    Lia logged back in and looked around. She was in that cave from before she died.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You''ve discovered an hidden location!</td></tr><tr><td>


    Hidden locations are spawn and teleport points, they can only be discovered if a player dies within them. From the moment they are discovered, every NPC that knows of this location and can teleport will be able to come here.


    ¡ùAdditional fame will be given if the player who discovered this location permits to publicize it in the Hall of Fame.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You receive +250 Fame</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You receive +100% exp</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You leveled up!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Do you wish to publicize this location in the Hall of Fame?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "No."


    Said Lia as she remembered her mother''s advice and her own experience. She looked around, her Night Vision saw that the cave continued on and sighed. This whole virtual reality thing for her was no more than a job. She had to play at least until she was sure nothing in Hyria could invoke some emotion in here, or at least until she reached level 200. She also didn''t have to visit her psychiatric as long as she played, so she had more in-game time.


    Later she opened the status window, she distributed the points she just received and then walked deeper inside the cave. The cave went down and down, with 3~5 ramification every 30~45 minutes. Thanks to her Predator Instincts, she knew if ahead of her path there were mobs or not and after she checked each path, and repeated this action 3 times, she knew that choosing the path without monsters ahead was the right way. It was like the other rooms were there only for training, since they had only two or three different types of mobs and all were around the same level. It was strange how she was the first to discover this place. After 5 hours walking she reached a door, a big stone door with a symbol, a diagonal line which passed over the two centers of two circles, one white and one black, probably representing a solar eclipse. She pushed it, and the white circle shined a little but nothing happened.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ''There is probably a condition to make the black circle shine. And maybe even the stick has to shine. It''s gonna take weeks.''


    She walked back to the entrance and looked around and memorized the path from the cave to Thyw as she fought the various mobs on the way. Once in town she went to eat and sleep at the ''Loose Goose.'' Done that, she went to sell her loot and buy what she thought would be useful to clear the dungeon. New armor, new katana, tools to cook, spices, repair kits and bandages.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Sturdy Katana</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>A katana made by a mediocre blacksmith. It''s a resilient katana made to last in long-drawn battles.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Durability:</td><td width="25%">100/100</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Restriction:</td><td width="25%">level 5</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+15% Damage</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Reinforced Leather Armor</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Leather armor reinforced with iron.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Durability:</td><td width="25%">80/80</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Restriction:</td><td width="25%">level 8</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+30% Defense</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+10% Health</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>-5% Speed</td></tr></tbody></table>


    After changing, Lia made her way to the cave, no, to the dungeon, once again.

 Level 8: Underground lake

    More or less half of this had to be in saturday''s chapter.


    I''m so bad with skill descriptions lol


    <hr />


    Room 1: 15 goblin warriors, 10 goblin archers, 5 goblin shamans.


    Lia picked up some stones from the ground and proceeded to pull one of the five groups of goblins. She had only ten bandages and two repair kits, while the rooms were 33. She would have to rely heavily on her natural regeneration and had to make sure she''d get as little damage as possible. She hid herself near the entrance and waited.


    The group came, they were all around level 12. The priority went to the shaman, Lia took out two daggers and threw them at him as he stepped out of the room before the warriors and archers could put themselves between her and the shaman. One got his left eye, the other his brain. The five remaining goblins turned around and after a little pause they rushed at Lia. During that pause Lia took out a knife and used sprint to get to the archers. Since she had just started clearing this dungeon, she managed to kill the two without any problem. That left the three goblin warriors that had once again turned and were about to reach her. She put the knife back in the inventory and unsheathed her katana. The goblin on the right tried to pierce her, the one in front made a vertical slash while the one on the left made an horizontal slash. Lia lunged right, she evaded the piercing movement by putting her body parallel to the bastard sword and swung her katana at the goblin in the center, cutting open his stomach. As the wounded goblin tried to rein in his innards, the goblin that was previously on the left attempted to attack her again, using a vertical slash. The one that tried to pierce Lia instead made an horizontal slash. She ducked, the two goblins parried themselves and she took the opportunity to cut away the right leg of the goblin that made the horizontal slash, making him fall down. the remaining goblin was a little dazed by what just happened and received a sword up his chest and heart. The last goblin tried to stand up but he quickly lost his head. After that, Lia moved their bodies out of the way, took her daggers back, tried to clean the blood away with the goblins'' clothes and then she waited for her stamina to recuperate a little before doing this four more times. In the end she got wounded only once, all because she slipped on the blood, and leveled up four times.


    Room 1 to 4 were the same, but after the first room she didn''t level up anymore.


    Room 5: 3 white wolves, 27 gray wolves.


    The wolves were all level 10, with the white ones being two level 16 and one level 18. Their levels were mostly less than the goblins'', but they were more intelligent.


    She rushed in the room and all the wolves began going towards her. The instant she had enough wolves surrounding her, she activated Primordial Fear and went around for about 40 seconds, stunning as many as she could. She took out a knife, now double-wielding with the katana in her left hand. With the knife she went about killing every stunned wolf and with the katana she slashed and hacked the wolves that were still moving. She lost 100 HP when she was done with the stunned wolves, but now only 14 remained, and some of them were wounded. She walked towards the last wolves as they rushed at her. She spun, evaded the wolf who jumped at her on the right, at the same time swung her katana, took away both of his back legs and plunged her knife inside the incoming wolf''s head. A third wolf came at her, but she just jumped on him and ran closer to the three white wolves. Seeing the enemy coming their direction, the white wolves growled and pounced at her. At that point Lia once again activated Primordial Fear and maintained it for ten seconds, stunning every wolf but exhausting her mana. She panted a little, but quickly went to kill the level 18 white wolf, as he would be free in less than 30 seconds. After she planted her katana in one of his eyes, she calmly proceeded to kill the other two and then the rest of the gray wolves. She sat on the ground, cooked and as she distributed more points to her stats, a window popped up.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>New Skill Acquired</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Dual Wield (Passive)</td></tr><tr><td>Dual wielding is a difficult path to take, but once mastered, it will bring many benefits to the swordsmen using it.</td></tr><tr><td>Effects when dual wielding:</td></tr><tr><td>+20% Damage</td></tr><tr><td>+15% Dexterity</td></tr><tr><td>+15% Agility</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Again, room 6 to 9 had the same mobs with the same levels, but she leveled up only once more.


    Room 13: 15 gray wolves each mounted by a spear-wielding goblin.


    This was the last room of the third ramification. As always the wolves were all level 10, but the goblins mounting them had seven level 15 and eight level 16. The three rooms before this, with the same composition, only gave her one more level and the skill ''Pinpoint Throw''. Clearing each room took a while, not because it was difficult to kill them, but because using Sprint made her stamina recover slower than usual. Like she did in the rooms before this, she pulled three or four of them, then she used Sprint to kill all the wolves. Doing that always got some goblin trapped under its fallen wolf, and those were the first she preyed upon. The ones that managed to get free or didn''t get trapped were a bit harder to kill the first time she did this because she never confronted spear-wielders before. She used her daggers to distract the goblin she was attacking, making him commit a mistake and leaving an opening for her to use. After she closed in enough, if no other goblin attacked her, she would go for the kill, else she''d cut the goblin''s hands. At this point it wasn''t difficult to systematically kill each and every single wolf and goblin pair.


    Pause:


    The fourth and fifth floor had only three rooms each, but each room had 40 mobs now. In the rooms of the fourth floor there were four groups, each composed by one bandit leader (lv. 25) and nine melee bandits (lv. 20). She would first pull one group and then using Stealth, Quick Analysis, Sprint, Sword Mastery and Clean Cut, she disposed of them pretty quickly. The groups on the fifth floor had, instead of nine melee, three melee with shields, three archers and one wizard, but always level 20. To kill them Lia had to incorporate Primordial Fear in the set of skill she used in the previous floor, which made the whole clearing take longer than before. After the 19th room she rested and used the repair kit. As she ate she tried to count how much time had passed, she wasn''t able to do it but she was sure at least one day, if not two, had passed. Her body wasn''t tired but the continuos killing of mobs without an ounce of sleep was a bit mentally tiring, but she wasn''t sure if the mobs would respawn once she slept, so she couldn''t do it. All in all, she leveled up seven more times and also her skills now looked like this:


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Skill List</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Primordial Fear (Active)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.8</td><td width="25%">Sprint (Active)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.6</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Clean Cut (Active)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.5</td><td width="25%">Calm Analysis (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.7</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Quick Analysis (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.8</td><td width="25%">Cooking (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.6</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Sword Mastery (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.8</td><td width="25%">Predator Instincts (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.6</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Stealth (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.7</td><td width="25%">Night Vision (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.7</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Dual Wield (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.4</td><td width="25%">Pinpoint Throw (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.3</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Lia rose from the ground and began walking toward the 20th room as she reflected on her mother''s advice about classes.


    ''Right now, I''m able to kill a mob seven levels higher than me. Three more to go before choosing a class.''


    Room 21: 7 whip-wielding bandits, 4 gray wolves mounted by bandits with swords and shields, 3 white wolves mounted by spear-wielding bandits, 6 wizards protected by another 10 melee bandits, 5 archers with an eagle each.


    The white wolves and eagles were all level 18 while the bandits were all level 20. Since they didn''t have leaders, when Lia pulled, the group that came always had some differences in numbers and dispositions. But killing them was easy. Just by using Primordial Fear and Sprint she could wipe out the entire group within 2 minutes. The only problem were the eagles, just because they flew outside Primordial Fear''s radius. She left them alone and when they attacked she would knife them if she could, otherwise she''d dodge. At the 20th room she lost 3/4 of her health because of the eagles distracting her, but now she only lost half. In the successive rooms, 22 to 24, she barely lost 100 health. With all of them having levels lower than Lia''s, she got only 2 levels but wasted a lot of food and spices to recover health faster.


    Room 26: 2 trolls, 6 goblin shamans, 20 goblin archers, 22 goblin warriors.


    There were now 50 mobs and only two groups. Lia thought that maybe this wasn''t supposed to be soloed, but she still fought. The shamans were level 18, the archers'' level was 17, the goblin warriors either had a bastard sword, a club or an axe, but they were all level 19, while the two 3 meters tall trolls were level 35, though they didn''t have any weapon. When she first pulled them, in room 25, the first group''s troll blocked the second group from entering the corridor, and this time it happened again. While evading the warriors that were coming at here she used daggers she prepared in advance to kill the ten archers. The shamans sometimes managed to cure one, but he got killed by another dagger seconds later. This enraged them a bit, a useful thing as they launched their earth bullets at the goblin warriors too. Eleven goblin warriors were easy to kill, Lia just had to activate Primordial Fear when she was encircled by them and then when she was killing them, the shamans would give an hand. Once the melee goblins were all dead the troll would get into action, with the shamans on his shoulders. When that happened Lia retreated near the entrance, once the troll came there she would slide underneath him, cutting and stabbing his precious parts, and then rising back up. As the troll knelt while gripping his lower parts, Lia would mount on his back, conscious of the fact that the second group was coming. She killed the lone shaman with a dagger and used her katana on the two in front of her. As the troll was about to recover she stabbed him in the ear, then jostled the katana around to mess up his brain and kill him. Now that she was on the (dead) troll, to get to her the goblin warriors had to climb, so she took this time to kill the archers. With all of them dead, Lia jumped down and over the climbing warriors and made her way to the shamans. They tried to flee up on the troll but she stunned them with another Primordial Fear. She continued to run and did the same thing she did before, she slashed the troll''s jewels, mounted on his back and killed him through his ear, making him squish some goblin as he fell on the ground. Finishing off the rest was then easy.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    At the end of the day, with rooms 25 to 27, she got 4 levels.


    Pause:


    Lia sat in the center of the 32nd room as she took out the last repair kit, the cooking tools, some wood and meat. The rooms from 28 to 30 each had a necromancer (lv. 40) and the same mobs from the earlier floor, minus a troll. The first time she fought against them she almost died, but then the second time Lia found a way to get to the necromancer quickly and kill him before he does anything. She got three more levels and then proceeded to clear the rooms 31 and 32. They both had 2 necromancers, 2 trolls, 6  goblin shamans (lv. 30), 10 goblin archers (lv. 28) each with a white wolf (lv. 18) and 20 goblin warriors (lv. 32). After rushing inside, she killed the two necromancers and then went back out to use, more or less, the same tactic as in the rooms 25 to 27. Lia leveled up two more times and received a message before she rested.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Sword Mastery reached the Intermediate level!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Sword Mastery (Passive)</td></tr><tr><td>Since ancient times the art of the sword has enticed many, but not all could follow through. The more you train and conquer the art of the sword, the more you''ll rise above the others.</td></tr><tr><td>Effects when wielding a sword:</td></tr><tr><td>+30% Damage</td></tr><tr><td>+25% Speed</td></tr><tr><td>+20% Dexterity</td></tr><tr><td>+5% Agility</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Room 33: 1 dragon.


    Her instincts screamed as she entered, but that didn''t stop her. Inside was a 2 meters tall and 6 meters long little dark red dragon with his wings torn off. He was level 50. Lia used Sprint to get under the dragon as he roared, making the room shake a little. When she got at his torso, she slashed but the katana just bounced off. The dragon jumped left, but Lia followed, once again finding herself under him. She sheathed her katana and took out two knives, then she got to his left side, as his right was too close to the wall. She used her knives to climb the dragon, penetrating his scales with Clean Cut. Arrived on his back, she still had plenty mana left, but clearly the dragon didn''t like what she did, as he breathed fire to his left, almost making Lia fall off, but not really doing her any damage. She sheathed the knives and unsheathed the katana, then she ran to his head and started piercing it, again using Clean Cut. It was surprisingly easy until the dragon decided to bang his head against the wall. The impact took half of Lia''s health and now she had only enough mana to climb back up. Though the dragon certainly felt the blow too, as it remained dazed for some ten seconds. Lia used Sprint as soon as the dragon returned to normal and tried to kill her with his breath. This type of fight wasn''t exactly the dragon''s expertise as it plainly continued to use only his breath. Using the earlier wounds she climbed back up, only to have the dragon jump and smashed her on the stone roof. She coughed some blood, her back hurt and her heart was beating abnormally fast. Lia''s health was in the red, but she managed to stay on the dragon''s back without losing consciousness. She sprinted toward his head and REPLACEed her katana in his head again, afterwards she climbed on his head, leaving the katana where she had first REPLACEed it and then she turned around, gripped her katana and pulled while activating clean cut, thus creating a big slash inside the dragon''s brain. The dragon spasmed and then fell lifelessly on the ground.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>For having slain a dragon alone, you receive the title ''Dragon Slayer.''</td></tr><tr><td>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td>+2 To all stats</td></tr><tr><td>+100 Fame</td></tr><tr><td>+20% Damage to dragons</td></tr><tr><td>+10% Resistent to Intimidation from dragons</td></tr><tr><td>+10% Fire resistance</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Lia lied on the floor, her chest puffing up and down. She took a water pouch out and half, she drank it, the other half, she sprayed it on her face, just to be sure she''d remain awake for a few more hours, if necessary. When her heartbeat and breath returned to normal, she sat up and cooked. When she had recovered she checked her status window:


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Name</td><td width="25%">Aisha</td><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">36</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">740 (+10%)</td><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">635</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Main Class</td><td width="25%">N/A</td><td width="25%">Title</td><td width="25%">Dragon Slayer</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Race</td><td width="25%">Human</td><td width="25%">Alignment</td><td width="25%">Neutral</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health Regen/Sec</td><td width="25%">3.6</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen/Sec</td><td width="25%">2.7</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Strength</td><td width="25%">47</td><td width="25%">Agility</td><td width="25%">73</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Wisdom</td><td width="25%">30</td><td width="25%">Intelligence</td><td width="25%">38</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Stamina</td><td width="25%">85</td><td width="25%">Vitality</td><td width="25%">33</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Dexterity</td><td width="25%">71</td><td width="25%">Fame</td><td width="25%">350</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Lia walked in front of the stone door with the symbol of the eclipse for the second time, and pushed it. The white circle shined, the black circle shined, the stick changed color to red and then, with a sound resembling glass shattering, it dissolved. The door started opening on its own, revealing a beautiful underground lake. Green flames lit the whole room, making it possible to see the stalactites hanging over the lake, slowly dripping water in it. The water was bluish-green but also crystal clear, small lights of the same color rose from it and disappeared as they went up. On the wall on her right there was engraved some language under the painting of a beautiful nude woman taking a bath near the middle of the lake. As Lia watched the painting the doors closed themselves.


    ''I''m surprised this game permits nudes. Well, aside from that it''s quite clear what one has to do. I guess the white circle shined only if it was a woman touching the door? Also, I wonder if I still have to make sure not to die after I enter the lake and activate whatever it is that I''m gonna activate. If I really do not have to die, I''m in quite the trouble, but in the end, it does not matter whether I fail or not.''


    Thought Lia as she walked alongside the lake, not yet entering because of what was at the end of her walk. Another stone door, but much smaller than the first one, this was about only 20 cm taller than her. When she was finally in front of the door, she inspected it. Over the handle there was a little hole, obviously a lock which needed some sort of special key she didn''t have. Giving up on the door, she put her weapons in the inventory, removed her clothes and put them too in the inventory. She walked towards the lake and entered it. She first drank a little bit of water, and when it was confirmed that no hexes appeared, she took her empty water pouches and refilled them. After that, she swam for a little more than 10 minutes to reach near the middle, then went underwater for a second to wet her hair completely. As she bathed, she noticed how little the water covered her nude body, but she was alone. Well, she wouldn''t have cared even if she wasn''t alone.


    <hr />


    At the same time the stick on the symbol on the door disappeared, in the main hall of the residence of Thyw''s Lord


    It was midday, in the spacious hall it felt like time passed slower than usual. A man sat on a modest throne, listening to the details of a problem one of his subject just reported him. His name was Rastin Qazar, and the man kneeling in front of him was the commander of his troops, Yare Brenn. Rastin was using his left hand to drum on the side supports of the throne while he stroked his chin with the other. While thinking about an adequate solution for said problem, he heard something crack.


    ''Sigh.. again. I really should just rebuild this whole thing.''


    Yare raised his head. A gesture not many nobles would have liked, but Rastin didn''t mind, not only he found all the custom of nobles a bit bothersome, Yare was also a dear friend of his. But Rastin''s train of thought stopped when he saw Yare agape.


    "What is it?"


    He asked, a little dubious. Yare just closed his mouth, remained silent and pointed over Rastin''s head. He got up from his throne so he could see better what his subject was pointing at, and when he saw it, surprise and fear crept into him. It was obvious what it meant, but it was the first time it ever happened.


    The barred eclipse, symbol of his ancestral family and of their secret, engraved on a stone tablet hang over the throne, not only had cracked, but the bar that blocked the eclipse was now gone.


    "CALL THE PRIEST! NOW!"


    Rastin roared at Yare, who quickly recomposed himself and saluted the Lord before going away.

 Level 9: ???????

    I got lazy, I admit. Anyway, an affinity is increased later, but only a +1 to all stats is noted. That is cause I decided to put that affinity as a stat like strength or agility rather than a stat like magic resistance.


    <hr />


    When the Patriarch came, Rastin ordered Yare to get 20 of his best people, make them wait in the teleport room and then come back here.


    "It seems someone was finally chosen."


    Alve, the priest, said while watching Rastin''s furrowed brow. The Lord slowly massaged his temples, one eye closed and the other staring off into space. Alve was very calm, his hands connected behind his back, his light-green robe seemed used and not adapt to his status, but the fine golden embroidery redeemed the vest.


    "Are you prepared to recognize her destiny?"


    Rastin locked his gaze with Alve''s, made a grim face and nodded. At that moment Yare came back and the three slowly walked toward the teleport room.


    <hr />


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Event Unlocked: ???????''s bath</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>In the past, ??????? enjoyed taking baths in this underground lake, a gift by the Goddess Galene, as it was here that she was born. By reenacting her actions, your affinity to ??????? increases.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Restrictions:</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Class:</td><td width="25%">???????</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Race:</td><td width="25%">Human</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Gender:</td><td width="25%">Female</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">C#%]@?i+?l!¡ì& R*{$:</td><td width="25%">/=^</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+1 to all stats</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Lia stopped washing herself to read the message. As she expected, it was some sort of event, but there were two points she didn''t understand. She closed her eyes, and started thinking.


    ''First of all, the fourth requirement. I never thought of finding a glitch here, I should take a screenshot and then tell mom as soon as I log out. Secondly, the class restriction. How is it possible that my class-less status got mixed up with.. whatever that class is. Could it be because of the glitch? Well, it''s not my field of expertise, nor do I really know if this is a glitch or part of the game.''


    When she opened her eyes again, the message had changed:


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Event Unlocked: ???????''s bath</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>In the past, ??????? enjoyed taking baths in this underground lake, a gift by the Goddess Galene, as it was here that she was born. By reenacting her actions, your affinity to ??????? increases.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Restrictions:</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Class:</td><td width="25%">???????</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Race:</td><td width="25%">Human</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Gender:</td><td width="25%">Female</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Compatibility Rate:</td><td width="25%">36%</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+1 to all stats</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ''No more screenshot.''


    Lia dismissed the message and swam near the shore where her clothes were. When she reached the point where she could walk, a shining circle appeared in front of the door, making her stop to open the inventory interface. She managed to use one arm to cover her chest while the other was ready to take out her weapon, just as soldiers began coming out of there. Four at a time, 20 soldiers came out, followed by three people, one a noble, one a priest and the last a commander or general of sorts. As they noticed the naked woman in the lake, everyone''s face turned into various shades of red, some also averted looking at her, others kept looking with someone even grinning at the sight.


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    The commander-looking soldier audibly cleared his throat, making every soldier become an emotionless statue. Him and the other two walk up to the border of the lake and then the noble spoke as he indicated the big stone door behind them.


    "..Are you the one who broke the seal on that door?"


    Lia studied the man before her and considered the situation. All the soldiers were levels from 71 to 85, the commander was 183, the priest 95 and the noble level 34. It was true that there was no way that she could beat even one of them, but that didn''t mean she didn''t have to be careful.


    "And what of it?"


    Lia glared at him, closed the inventory and used the now free arm to better cover herself. The priest tapped on the noble''s shoulder and smiled reassuringly.


    "Lord, maybe it would be better to continue after the lady has dressed herself."


    Lord was a little surprised he forgot such a thing, nodded and then all three stepped back, leaving enough room for Lia to come out and dress. The commander turned his head and screamed


    "You guys! Turn around and don''t you dare look! Me an Sir Alve are enough to protect Lord Rastin!"


    Every soldier turned around and watched the portal. After that the commander looked again toward Lia and spoke in an apologetic tone


    "I''m sorry little miss, but I''m not one to trust strangers."


    Lia came out of the water and dressed, about the commander''s look as she took out her katana, a knife and some dagger. It was Rastin this time who cleared his throat before speaking again.


    "May I know with whom we are talking?"


    "No manners?"


    ''Every bit of information is precious.''


    "..You are right, miss. I am Thyw''s Lord, Rastin Qazar."


    Rastin pointed to the priest and continued


    "This is Alve Nightrail, Patriarch of the Church of Pantheon of Thyw. Lastly, this is the commander of my troops, Yare Brenn."


    Alve smiled again while Yare bowed his head a little.


    "I see. I''m Aisha, an Immortal."


    Lia adopted one of the common ways to present oneself in Hyria. While NPC''s levels are written in light blue, thus making it possible to distinguish them from the players'' light gray color, only the players see this difference. Of course you would still receive quests and the likes even if you didn''t tell them you were a player, but you could avoid some nuisances, like with Johan, for example.


    "I''d be impressed if you weren''t. Anyway, we, no, I am here to explain and ask you something. First of all, this place. This is the birth place of Pandora. In the beginning it was situated under the open sky, but then a mountain, Athos, was put over this sacred place by Gaia. Seeing Pandora''s sadness over this event, Galene used a little of the water of her calm seas and made a lake for Pandora. After her death, Athena made the incisions on the doors and also that engraving, while Ananke tasked my ancestors to find the reincarnation of Pandora and guide her here so that she could be tested. Well, it seems that I''ve somewhat failed but the end result is the same, that is, are you ready to accept your role as Pandora, young lady?"


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You''ve been offered the class "Pandora." Do you accept?</td></tr></tbody></table>

 Level 10: Pandora (+Lias image and theme song)

    ''Since I''ve killed a mob with 14 levels more than me, I can choose a class. I doubt anything will happen to me if I refuse, maybe my familiarity with Thyw''s Lord and its habitants will drop, but it''s nothing I care about. Otherwise if I choose this class, I could advance sooner with my objectives but I''ll have to look up all those names he mentioned before, since Pandora is a thing, maybe all the other are too. Well, I can always create a new character or stop playing entirely.''


    Lia looked Rastin in the eyes and answered


    "I accept."


    At that moment, numerous messages popped up:


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Your main class is now: Pandora</td></tr><tr><td>Possibility to get a sub class unlocked.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Stat "Class Affinity" created.</td></tr><tr><td>It''s not possible to distribute points to this stat.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Affinity with Greek Gods increased by 5%</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Affinity with Humans decreased by 10%</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Affinity with Dark Races increased by 3%</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Athena''s gift: +40 to all stats</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Hephaestus'' gift: Able to learn and master all handicraft skills</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>New Skills Acquired</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Bloodthirsty (Active)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Ares'' gift. When in battle, your blood boils, increasing your awareness and instincts, but also your thirst for more carnage and battles.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+50 Agility</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+50 Dexterity</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+50 Stamina</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+20% Damage</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+10% Chance to inflict Bleed</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>As the level of the skill increases, a thicker murderous aura is exuded from the player.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Duration:</td><td width="25%">10 minutes</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Cost:</td><td width="25%">100 MP</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Divine Healing (Active)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Apollo''s gift. Your connection to the gods reinforces your body faster than normal when healing.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+60 HP per second</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Duration:</td><td width="25%">5 minutes</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Cost:</td><td width="25%">250 MP</td></tr></tbody></table>


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    As Lia sent away the notifications, Rastin searched for something in his pockets, then when he found it, he took it out and handed it to her. It was a black ring with little purple strings that moved randomly on its surface.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>The Chaos Within</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Chaos'' gift. Crafted by Hephaestus with Chaos'' blood and skin, still the blood continues to flow uncontrollably on the hardened skin of the old creature. It is said that even Pandora had troubles keeping her sanity in check.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Durability:</td><td width="25%">200/200</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Restriction:</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Class:</td><td width="25%">Pandora</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+30% Chance to Confuse an enemy staring at the player</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+5% Chance to go into Berserk Mode (Duration: 1 minute)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+50 Stamina in Berserk Mode</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+30 Strength in Berserk Mode</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+30 Agility in Berserk Mode</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+30 Dexterity in Berserk Mode</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>-50 Intelligence in Berserk Mode</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>-30 Wisdom in Berserk Mode</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "This also permits you to open all the doors with an eclipse engraved on it."


    Rastin said as Lia put on the ring on her right middle finger. When she heard that, Lia looked back towards the little door and then again at Rastin, who nodded. The four of them walked up to the door and Lia had to temporarily put the ring on her index finger to insert it in the hole. It was a room just a little bigger than a closet, with nothing inside but a black box on a pedestal. Lia looked at Rastin skeptically


    "Is it that box?"


    "It was a jar originally. No my dear, that is just a simple box containing Echidna''s gift to you."


    Lia stepped inside and lifted the box. She briefly observed it before opening it, making black smoke seep out. The smoke accumulated on the ground, then mini black lightenings made it jerk and morph until it assumed the form of a ghostly black dog, tall enough to reach her bosom with his nose while he sat. With a stoic expression it stared at Lia with his red eyes. It was a Shuck.


    <hr />


    I know Pandora only got gift from the Gods, but it''s my story lol. This</a> is a Shuck, fyi. Anyway, I''ve made Lia and Abigail, but you get only Lia for now:


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    and my bro found her theme:


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


    It fits so much~! More so when you look at the uploader''s name lol

 Level 11: Welcome to Hyria II (+Abigails image)

    ¡ªSo you are Pandora''s reincarnation, uh?


    A voice resonated within Lia''s mind. She squinted at the Shuck. It could be an error to reveal his telepathy. If it was him, of course.


    ¡ªYes, it''s me who is talking. If you are mute, you just have to think about me and then think about what to say, I''ve already created a link between our minds, so you don''t have to do anything.


    "I''m Aisha. Who are you and, what is your objective?"


    Her expression went back to normal as she presented herself to the black ghost. The three men probably knew this would happen because they didn''t make strange faces when Lia began to converse with someone they couldn''t hear.


    ¡ªI am one of Echidna''s children, She gifted me to Pandora to serve as a familiar. Now, if you bestow me with a name, I will be yours.


    Lia answered with an "I see" and continued a bit afterwards, "Your name shall be ''Maverick.''"


    Maverick bowed his head a little as new messages appeared:


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You obtained the familiar ''Maverick''</td></tr><tr><td>Remaining available slots for familiars: 1</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Name</td><td width="25%">Maverick</td><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">20</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">500</td><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">1000</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Class</td><td width="25%">Familiar</td><td width="25%">Race</td><td width="25%">Black Shuck</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Alignment</td><td width="25%">Darkness</td><td width="25%">Health Regen/Sec</td><td width="25%">2.0</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Mana Regen/Sec</td><td width="25%">2.0</td><td width="25%">Strength</td><td width="25%">26</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Agility</td><td width="25%">47</td><td width="25%">Wisdom</td><td width="25%">73</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Intelligence</td><td width="25%">85</td><td width="25%">Stamina</td><td width="25%">38</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Vitality</td><td width="25%">50</td><td width="25%">Dexterity</td><td width="25%">43</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Skill List</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Corporeal Form (Active)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.1</td><td width="25%">Luck Stealer Bite (Active)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.1</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Sickness (Active)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.1</td><td width="25%">Locator (Active)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.1</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Sacrifice (Active)</td><td colspan=''2''>Beginner lv.1</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "Skill list information"


    Said Lia after she read the content of all the pop up windows.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Corporeal Form (Active)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Allows the familiar to take physical form to fight alongside its owner.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Cost:</td><td width="25%">5 MP per second</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Luck Stealer Bite (Active)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>A cursed bite that takes away the enemy''s luck.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>-5% Luck</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Cost:</td><td width="25%">100 MP</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Sickness (Active)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Spreading its wretched smoke, the black shuck makes the poor souls that touch it suffer unsupportable diseases.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>-5 HP per second</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Radius:</td><td width="25%">10 meters</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Duration:</td><td width="25%">5 minutes</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Cost:</td><td width="25%">500 MP</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Locator (Active)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Creates a glittering black string, only visible to the familiar and the owner, that connects the familiar to the searched person, object or place.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Radius:</td><td width="25%">50 meters</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Cost:</td><td width="25%">1000 MP</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Sacrifice (Active)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Using its own life the familiar can restore the life of its owner.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Cost:</td><td width="25%">5 HP per second restores 1 HP</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    "Okay. But if you follow me around like that you are going to get in my way."


    Having read every message, now the problem was transportation.


    ¡ªDo not worry, as a familiar I can be conjured and banned to your liking, but I can also modify my appearance as I don''t have a real body.


    "Can you become a bracelet?"


    She lifted her right arm toward Maverick as his smoke raised from the ground and began encircling her wrist until it became a pitch black bracelet.


    "Are you done, young lady?"


    Rastin suddenly spoke, but Lia didn''t react surprised and simply nodded, turned around and walked with them back to where all the soldiers were. She considered their offer to go with them. Yes, there was the possibility to encounter Johan, but her mental exhaustion was enormous at the moment. Rastin, Alve, Yare and Lia were the first to pass through, followed by the twenty soldiers. They ended up in a large stone room, with windows at half of the room''s height, while the teleport circle was surrounded by a stone contraption, attached on the wall, on which there were engraved white runes. Ten to fifteen sat near both sides of the circle while meditating. When the last four soldiers passed through, the priests all opened their eyes and sighed in relief, then they slowly got up and left the room as Lia talked one last time with Rastin and Alve. It seemed like some religions wouldn''t really appreciate her. In the end Yare accompanied her out of the mansion/castle and surprisingly they didn''t meet Johan. Though, as Lia neared the ''Loose Goose,'' she got hugged from behind.


    <hr />


    Elisabeth went to open the door while she ate the last bit of her sandwich. Outside there was Abigail with a cute one-piece white dress and a huge bag on the ground at her side.


    "Come on in, Abby"


    Abigail brightly smiled at Elisabeth''s invitation and entered the house.


    After days and days of continued lecturing by Elisabeth, Abigail was finally brainwashed into trying out Hyria. Before coming here she had taken a shower and also had already eaten lunch, so the two women went directly to the Capsule Room. One capsule''s lights were on, while the other was open and with the lights off. She already knew what to do. She let the one-piece fall to the ground, then she proceeded to unbutton her brassiere and take off her panties. She had a really nice and fit body, but strangely, no muscle showed remarkably on her. Her chest though was a perfect A. Maybe she didn''t drink enough milk. Abigail chose to not modify her appearance, although, differently from normal, she had let her hair down. As for her starting town, she choose Thyw, the same as Lia.


    Once in the plaza, she spent a moment to be sure she was accustomed to her "new body." Using the knowledge Elisabeth gave her, she looked around to find a guard and once she did find one, she asked two things, where the Swordsmen''s Atelier was, and where the ''Loose Goose'' was. She followed the guard''s instruction and in only 10 minutes she was able to find the atelier. The instructor was really happy to have a new "companion on the path of the sword." Abigail ate some bread as she went to the ''Loose Goose.'' Apparently, she had barely missed "Aisha." The owner''s wife said Aisha would come back in two or three days.


    "Can I wait for Aisha here?"


    A puppy-eyed Abigail asked the burly old man, who obviously wasn''t able to say no. For five days she went to train in the forest from dawn till midday, went back to the ''Loose Goose'' and did various chores as long as the restaurant stayed open and after that she went to bed. On the sixth day, as she went back to the ''Loose Goose,'' she saw a young woman standing in front of it, with an half consumed armor dyed by dried blood, nice curves and white hair. Abigail felt really happy, she started to run and at the right moment, she jumped and contemporarily hugged the girl from behind, making both fall on the hard ground.


    She giggled as she continued to hug the girl and said enthusiastically:


    "Welcome~ back~!"


    End of Volume 1, part one.


    <hr />


    And school started once again. For me, if it wasn''t clear.


    So~ part one is over! Grats to me~ lol


    I initially wanted to talk a little about the next part, but know that there will be new characters! Maybe. Haven''t really figured this out yet.


    Here''s the picture of Abigail, don''t mind the kunai lol:


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>

 Level 12: Journey

    Sometimes, after the training, Abigail, Miranda and Nathan invited Yvonne out. They went shopping, to watch a movie or simply went around until they found something they wanted to do. Miranda and Nathan were childhood friends, a couple, and, like Abigail, instructor candidates. Miranda was a tall 21 years old woman, she had sleek brown hair, which reached her waist, beautiful amber-colored eyes, an always serious looking face and an ample bosom. Her weapon of choice was a pair of tonfa. Nathan as well was 21, he had black hair with a military-cut, clear blue eyes, an "always calm" demeanor and well defined muscles on his body. His weapon of choice was a B¨­. They too were brainwashed. Elisabeth was a scary woman.


    A week before Abigail went to Yvonne''s house, The two visited a VR shop, bought two headsets for Hyria and also scanned their bodies. At home, they quickly connected to Hyria and created their avatars. Nathan added a shade of blood red to his hair, and also a bit of beard; he choose the race Warlock, an half demon and half human, thus ending up with two very little horns on his forehead, and the name Atlas. Miranda didn''t modify her appearance, but choosing the race Succubus gave her a pair of bat wings, a pointed tail and iridescent amber eyes with vertical slit pupils similar to a cat''s. She picked Electra as a name.


    Their starting point was the Winter Citadel, in the kingdom of De'' Draake. It was south of Ferl and between them there were ''only'' two kingdoms. Electra later decided to be a fighting enchantress while Atlas choose to fight using a staff while also being a mage. They continued to train until they felt like going north.


    <hr />


    Yvonne detached herself from Abigail as they stood up.


    "Hi Abigail, so you started playing too?"


    She said while noticing that Abigail too, had not modified her appearance


    "Yes! ..Ah and, I''m Matagi here, Aisha."


    Matagi answered with a cheerful smile


    "Do you need something? I was about to go to sleep and then log out"


    Matagi was a bit surprised but then noticed the bags under Yvonne''s eyes


    "I see, I''ll add you to my friend list, send me a message before you log out, cya!"


    Yvonne waved her goodbye after doing the same thing, otherwise how would she send her a message?


    Twelve hours later, after notifying Matagi, Yvonne logged out.


    The capsule opened and Yvonne opened her eyes. Both eyes. A little more than a week ago, an artificial eye was successfully transplanted in her left eye socket. It was the exact same as her right eye, only it had a barely noticeable mini barcode hidden behind the lower eyelid. The operation had been organized long before she started playing, Hyria was meant to help her adapt with the changing in her vision, among other things.


    As she stepped out an began to stretch, the other capsule opened too, and Abigail came out. She quickly followed suit.


    "Hey, wanna go on a date?"


    Yvonne stared at Abigail, who had a cheeky smile on her face.


    "Aww, no reaction this time too~ Can''t you be a little surprised at least~?"


    "Did you already forget why I have no reaction to your jokes?"


    Abigail''s face turned sour


    "..No, I didn''t. Anyway it was not a joke, not entirely."


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.She said as she, too, began putting on clothes


    "I wanted to ask you if you fancied the idea of partying up with me and going to Magiron?"


    Yvonne thought about it a little, then nodded


    "I don''t have anything to do, so I may as well go with you"


    "Cool~ I''m quite hungry, want to order some pizza?"


    In the living room, Elisabeth held a video chat with five people, obviously from her clan as they were discussing its management and future prospects. Yvonne recognized them all, as they were her mother''s co-workers at Crathos Inc. Abigail stood by the side as Yvonne approached her mother, greeting the people in the call, and asked her if she too wanted some pizza.


    <hr />


    As Yvonne and Abigail logged back in, they went around Thyw selling their loot (mostly Yvonne) and buying the necessary gear. In the end, only Yvonne had to buy a new armor and katana, which cost in total 4 gold coins, with higher durability and damage bonus. They then sat on a bench in the plaza and opened the world map to discuss the best rout to reach Magiron.


    "Our best bet would be following the northern road to reach the pass, it would take longer than going east to the Dragon''s Throes and then walking north until the pass. The northern road is also safer, as merchants, both NPCs and players, travel through there with their guards."


    Matagi quietly listened to Yvonne''s proposal when she got an idea


    "Can''t we just become part of the guards?"


    "Yes, that would be even better"


    After nodding in affirmation, the two walked to Thyw''s northern gate. They looked around, trying to find two or three promising merchants busy recruiting guards for their caravans. Two merchant players piqued their interest, but one seemed intent on hiring NPCs only. Not like there were many players in Thyw to begin with. Yvonne and Matagi approached the remaining merchant, level 23, followed by fifteen level 45 NPC mercenaries and two players, levels 39 and 41.


    The merchant wore some kind of blue tunic with white decorations, was about 170 cm tall and probably weighted 100 kg, if not more. His hair matched the tunic''s blue tonality, while his eyes instead were white. He raised an eyebrow as the two girls neared him and began the conversation


    "What can I do for you ladies?"


    Yvonne and Matagi looked at each other, trying to decide who should speak.


    ".. I''m Aisha and this is my friend, Matagi. We were wondering if you still wanted to hire more guards."


    Answered Yvonne after nodding to Matagi. The merchant looked above their heads, seeing that while Aisha was level 36, Matagi was only level 11. He pondered a little and then said:


    "It would be okay to hire you, miss Aisha, but your friend''s level is a bit low."


    "She is good, but yes, she just started playing. I can work for both of us, if needed."


    "I''ll lower your salary, but if and when your friend is able to fight too, I''ll increase it and pay your friend too."


    Yvonne considered the offer a moment and then nodded, stretching out her right hand. The merchant took it and the two shook hands as he presented himself and the other two players


    "My name is Merx, while this two are Polo (lv.39), and his older brother Marco (lv.41)"

 Level 13: Magiron Kingdom

    The two brothers snickered when Merx said their names. Then Marco explained why.


    "My real nickname is Mark, while my brother''s is Ron. As for why Merx made that ''joke'' is beyond me. Anyway, nice to meet you."


    Mark, Ron, Yvonne and Matagi shook hands in turn before Merx began talking again.


    "If you two girls are already prepared, then we can depart as soon as my companion arrives, otherwise I''ll give you one hour for preparations."


    "We are ready to go anytime"


    Yvonne answered him coolly. About half an hour later, a woman dwarf arrived. Her name was Lily and she was a level 24 merchant. Her, Merx, Yvonne and Matagi sat on the caravan, with Merx on the front guiding it, while Mark, Ron and the NPCs followed on horse, positioning themselves to encircle the caravan.


    ''I wonder how it is to not feel any emotion. Well, I guess to Yvonne herself it wouldn''t "feel" like anything. I don''t think it''s something to be sad about, since it seems she will never feel like she''s missing a part of herself, but it''s nothing to be happy about either. I mean, wouldn''t be pain and pleasure the only things she can feel since they are not an emotion? No, maybe not pleasure, i''m not sure it isn''t an emotion or isn''t related to it. I''ll google it later.''


    Matagi lost herself in her thought as the other three people chatted. At the beginning they talked about where they were going, Tarse, the kingdom situated to the west of Magiron, apparently a prominent mercantile nation, and from there Lily and Merx began talking about stock values, some negotiation with players and NPCs, both mortifying and profitable ones, taxes in places they visited, etc. etc.


    For the first few days, Matagi could easily manage on her own when fighting the mobs that attacked the carriage, but then their levels increased and Yvonne had to help her. As your avatar would not move from the spot you last logged out of, at night the carriage would stop to let everyone take a break. During that time, Yvonne and Abigail went to the bathroom, ate and trained lightly. Elisabeth used her capsule during that time, as Abigail was staying over until the quest was taken care of. After that, she''d probably buy her own capsule or headset.


    After almost two weeks, they finally reached the pass that cut through the Dragon''s Throes. Everyone but Yvonne and Matagi tensed up, as they knew what was coming. Attacks from drakes, wyverns and, sometimes, dragons, were the norm here. Drakes were one meter plus in height and two meter plus in length and wingspan; they liked to hunt in flocks of 10~15 drakes, and the only magical attack they used was fire breath. Wyverns moved in groups of five and were only slightly bigger than the drakes, but not only they had a more wide variety of fire magic, they sometimes also tried to crush the travelers with boulders. Dragons hunted alone. The young ones were just as big as two drakes, but the adult dragons could reach up to 42 meters in height, 56 meters in length and 34 in wingspan.


    ''I wonder how they got such precise measures.''


    Was Matagi''s first thought after Merx explained why everyone was so tense. But in the end they encountered "only" 2 drakes and one wyvern. The meeting with the wyvern cost them 2 NPCs guards, but Yvonne readily stunned it when it charged toward Matagi (in reality, it charged toward the caravan). Everyone was a bit surprised, but since it wasn''t something that special, it was shrugged off and then everyone attacked the wyvern, killing it.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    As they approached the border of Magiron Kingdom, Merx began explaining something


    "In Magiron, every NPC thinks players are ''invaders.'' It''s not like going there and staying is impossible, it''s just a big hassle. You can''t check your stats, skills or inventory in public otherwise you''ll be recognized and hunted down, they recognize the phrases like ''open status window'', etc. etc. Talking with your friends through the private message function will blow your cover too. Lastly, don''t die in public."


    Matagi and Yvonne''s destination was Magiron''s capital, Crassie, located near the center of the kingdom. To reach there, they''d have to travel through one village and then two towns, but they would have to do it with other people, because Merx, Lily, Mark and Ron left them on the road to Ville, the aforementioned village.


    Before parting they all registered as friends, who knows if it''ll be useful in the future.


    <hr />


    As the two walked towards Ville, Matagi immersed herself in her thoughts.


    ''Yvonne leveled up only 5 times, while I am now level 19. It''s true that I leveled up more, but I also had a much lower level than the mobs''. It''s really unsettling when I think about how I, at such a low level, got such a difficult quest. Well, the difficult part is just reaching Crassie''s Swordsmen''s Atelier.''


    As the sun began to set they reached the outskirts of the village. It was similar to Thyw, but the houses were more sparse with orbs of light, sustained by steel poles, illuminating Ville.


    Asking around, the girls found the only inn in the village. It was a crude-looking two-story house which first floor served as a bar too. The room was pretty ugly, but cost not even one silver.


    The next morning Matagi and Yvonne went around the village, watching the NPCs come and go. They bought a map of the kingdom and searched for any traveling merchant, but there was none, so they bought various necessities to camp out on the way to Crassie.


    <hr />


    When Lia was at the Lord''s mansion in Thyw


    Johan was not happy. He always got the women he wanted. Not even his father, the Lord, stopped him. But for the first time, he was not able to have what he wanted. The first time, she said no. The second time, she got herself purposely killed.


    ''That wench..!''


    But then, she reappeared, and Johan understood. She was one of those immortals sent by the Gods. This meant two things, she wouldn''t die no matter what he did to her, and she was impossible to imprison for a long period of time.


    This was not something he could tackle alone.


    That is why he asked the help of the other immortals some days later.

 Level 14: On the road

    As Yvonne and Matagi walked toward Crassie, Yvonne had to use Maverick sometimes, as Matagi had not a high enough level to fend for her own.


    "Wow! What is that!"


    "My familiar, Maverick. Got him as a gift when I choose my class."


    ".. I advise against touching him." concluded Yvonne as Matagi neared the shuck, trying to pet him.


    <hr />


    ".. Don''t you ever miss your father?"


    Clutching her knees, she sat on the border of a precipice, looking at the sunset.


    "I think I did, maybe. Surely, not for long. As I said, I still do feel emotions, just only the stronger ones."


    Yvonne answered as she continued to stand.


    "Love? Like, for your mother?"


    "I''m not sure it is love."


    <hr />


    Encircled by men and women of varying ages, the two teenagers continue to remain immobile, their eyes locked on each other''s, breathing lightly, they gripped harder their (training) katanas.


    While maintaining her center of gravity to the right, the black haired girl stepped forward to the left, lowering the upper part of her body. Slightly shifting to the right the descent of her body, she was able to suddenly sprint to the right, taking her back in front of the other girl. Her katana always stayed in front of her, pointing up and toward her enemy''s head.


    The white haired girl remained still, her legs sufficiently spread and her knees rightly bent. She kept her katana pointing to the ground, her hands both at the end of the hilt. She looked, watched, stared, glared and analyzed what unfold in front of her. After Abigail took her third step forward, Yvonne moved. As the right hand twisted upwards to bring up the katana, the fingers on her left hand left the hilt, and, relying on her palm, she brought those fingers from behind the hilt to in front of it. As Yvonne''s left hand became a reversed hand-grip, Abigail was taking another step forward.


    Yvonne stepped forward too, as her left hand quickly slid up to the guard. Abigail was already on her, swinging her katana. Yvonne''s right hand left the hilt and went near her side as she closed it to form a fist. Using the momentum from the swing and her left hand, Yvonne used the guard to send Abigail''s katana away over to the left of her head.


    As the two swords collided, Yvonne threw a punch toward Abigail''s abdomen. Abigail''s katana flew behind her, her right hand was reaching for Yvonne''s left shoulder while her left clutched Yvonne''s right hand. She quickly scooped up Yvonne''s left foot, as it was currently sustaining the majority of her weight. Yvonne fell on the ground and Trevor signaled her loss.


    Smiling smugly, Abigail reached out to Yvonne.


    <hr />


    ".. So I think in the end I''m going to be teaching at the dojo while I''m not busy with university."


    Matagi casually said as she decapitated a wolf.


    "Before that, Trevor-sensei and the other instructor have to decide if you are fit to teach others."


    Yvonne calmly answered, sitting on a slightly elevated rock, she watched Matagi and Maverick fight various groups of wolves one after another.


    ¡ªMistress, if I may, after having watched your companion fight so many times, even if I do not know the abilities of your mentors, I believe Miss Matagi is fit to teach others.


    Maverick''s voice resonated within the two girls'' minds as he viciously bit into a wolf''s neck.


    "See! Even Mavy is on my side!"


    ¡ªDon''t shorten my name.


    <hr />


    Matagi lazily watched from the side as Yvonne drove one of her daggers in the throat of a gnoll.


    "Why are you dual-wielding knives when you could easily kill them with your katana?"


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Yvonne circulated behind the now dead gnoll and kicked him toward the remaining three gnolls, making the one in the center fall.


    "Daggers. They proved to be an useful alternative to the katana. It''s not like I can always have a sword with me."


    She replied mechanically as she reverse-gripped the dagger in her left hand and used it to parry the attack from the gnoll on her left. While doing that she threw the dagger in her right hand, hitting the other gnoll in the eye. He let his scimitar fall on the ground and brought both hands to his right eye.


    "Mmh~"


    Matagi added as she slipped back in her own thoughts.


    ''She does have a point but.. I really can''t see myself using anything else other than a katana.''


    <hr />


    ".. And when it came closer, BOOM! Nathan teleported behind it and bashed its head with his staff, making it sunk well into the ground thanks to one of his skills from being a mage!"


    Miranda was happily describing hers and Nathan''s encounter with an half-minotaur half-giant, as Abigail and Lia ate some cake. The three were currently finishing lunch at a restaurant inside the mall. It was a nice sunday, Miranda had bought some new shoes, Abigail bought two dresses, one of which was packed since it was a gift, and Yvonne bought some new underwear.


    "Well, even Lia was really cool when she single-handedly slew a dragon!"


    Abigail retorted before wiping off the cream on her mouth. Miranda''s eyes and mouth opened wide while Yvonne tilted her head to the side. Abigail puffed out her chest and made a proud face, similar to the one a parent of older sibling is bragging about their daughter/sister.


    ".. But I''m pretty sure you weren''t there?"


    When Lia said that, the proud Abigail''s fa?ade broke as she muttered "HUH?" and looked toward her asking


    "You really did such a thing?!"


    Miranda snapped and said to Abigail


    "You were lying?!"


    "I thought I was!"


    Replied her, still stunned. Lia waited a second for the two to calm down. Last time, ignoring someone (Jennifer) who was trying to approach her backfired. So she thought it would be better to just quell their curiosity and tell them her story.


    <hr />


    Elisabeth drank some coffee as she massaged her temples. She was sitting in front of the tv she usually used to speak with the other members of her guild, ?sir. She let out a sigh as she thought about the just concluded meeting. There hadn''t been anything exciting recently and she was getting bored of hearing about this or that guild that was trying to undermine them.


    ''Well, there is one thing. I could try finding Yvonne. All I know is that she''s in the southern part of the continent, but I''m pretty sure Abby will give me more information..''


    <hr />


    "We''re here. Now we just need to know where the Atelier is."


    Said Lia as she looked around as she passed the northern gate of Crassie. Matagi panted as she slowly ran up her, having finally caught up.


    ''How much stamina does she have?!''


    "Wa¡ª... wait.. let''s search.. an inn to rest.."


    Lia thought about it for a second before nodding and casually beginning to walk once again, this time toward a nearby guard.


    "Aisha.. wait for me~.. I''ll die of loneliness like.. a cute, little, defenseless.. rabbit.. if you leave me.."


    Being now well accustomed to Matagi''s antics, she promptly ignored her.

 Level 15: Past & Present (+Abigails theme song)

    I also had Miranda''s things ready, but since the title could not contain the fact that they were present (I mean "+Miranda''s image and theme song" if what I just said didn''t make sense), I decided to post them next chapter lol


    Here''s Abigail''s theme song~


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


    English lyrics:


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>A silhouette took the invisible border line of the night


    And ran away


    A firefly, flew by


    Left the morning behind, then vanished.


    With a sigh, I slightly defied


    The sky that has been gloomy for a while


    And dampened an empty throat.


    Without even trying to conceal itself,


    Absentmindedly, the moon floats


    The night already ended, so


    Could you please tell me what''s on your mind?


    Is that impossible to you, I wonder?


    I fell in love,


    From this point onwards,


    Keep connecting, connecting!


    So that it will never be broken


    Touch the hair, even more with these lips


    A bitter morning has arrived


    A silhouette soaked and stained


    The presence of a morning which never disappears


    A firefly, flew by


    It''s time I should do the same thing


    Reproachfully I gazed at the street light,


    which utterly resembles an invisible border line of thoughts,


    What happened, I wonder?


    That the rain would stop tomorrow, when I''m not here anymore


    You know it


    That the clouds would clear tomorrow, when I disappear


    Only you notice it.


    I fell in love,


    Much more than you did


    Close your eyes, close your eyes!


    So that it can be unseen


    Caress the hair, even more with these fingers


    "Goodbye", I just couldn''t say it out loud


    Since the moment you wave your hands,


    Tomorrow seems to hold no regret!


    My wishes aren''t granted, not even one


    A miserable, helpless dream


    I fell in love,


    More gently than I thought


    My prayer was answered, has the morning I wished for arrived yet?


    Touch these fingers, softly with that tongue


    While they still remain tasteless!


    I fell in love


    From this point onwards


    Keep connecting, connecting!


    So that it won''t be broken


    Caress the hair, even more with those lips


    A today without the presence of anyone has come


    A silhouette took the invisible border line of the night


    And ran away


    A firefly, flew by


    Left the morning behind, then vanished.


    Let''s see if you find the reference I made~ here''s a hint: [She only has 6 months to live.] God, it was such a sad manga.


    This is the guild emblem of ?sir (imagine it without the runes):


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    Going to make a map of the continent, I''ll be using "ProFantasy CC3" in case anyone wants to know of a program to make maps.


    <hr />


    As she entered her home and closed the door, Abigail heard her sister''s voice from the kitchen


    "Abby, are you back?"


    "Yeah"


    She answered as she walked to her room.


    "Mom called, she and dad are gonna come here for a visit sunday; we''ll eat together"


    Abigail suddenly stopped taking off her shirt as she listened to Amanda


    "What?! But sunday Lia is coming over!"


    Amanda set the plates on the table and replied to her as she already expected this conversation


    "Well, it''s not like it''s a problem, right? You two weren''t gonna be alone anyway~"


    "What is that supposed to mean!"


    Abigail fumed a little at her sister''s teasing, she finished changing and headed to the dinner room. As she sat she could hear Amanda chuckle in the kitchen, making her both annoyed and a little embarrassed.


    <hr />


    Electra and Atlas were mesmerized by the scenery they found themselves in when they first spawned in Hyria. It wasn''t the amazingly realistic reproduction of a medieval town entirely built in marble or the rich diversity of species present that got them stunned. The setting sun''s various tonalities reflected on the falling and already fallen pitch black snow was what captured their soul.


    No one knew why, but in the Winter Citadel the snow was black. It wasn''t because of pollution, a curse or some shady sacrifice, it was naturally black. If it was taken outside the citadel''s walls it would turn back to the usual white, similarly, if white snow was brought in from the outside, it would turn black. Also, if melted, it would just become normal water.


    The two went around the citadel to memorize its layout, but also to sightsee. The Swordsmen''s Atelier was the only place that had the weapons they wanted, a b¨­ and tonfas, but since this new world offered them the possibility of using magic, they had already decided to choose a class from the Mages'' Atelier. They didn''t want a warrior class or something, but they certainly did not want to be some unarmed mage who can''t fight at close-combat.


    After they questioned the instructors at the Mages'' Atelier, Electra found the perfect class for her, enchantress. She would be able to wield every weapon of her choice and enchant them with her magic, both permanently and temporarily. It was an hard class to level but she liked it, also, her Succubus race had natural affinity for magic, so she wouldn''t have to spend too many points on intelligence  and wisdom.


    Alas, Atlas [A/N: lol] didn''t find one he liked, so he decided to stay class-less until he found one that met his requirements. They returned to the Swordsmen''s Atelier and borrowed a b¨­ and two tonfa to be able to go hunt outside the citadel. During the first week the players received "free" lodging at their starting town''s inns (in reality, it was only postponed payment), while the Ateliers would loan basic weapons or utensils, that after the first week either had to be returned or bought. If you broke them, you payed.


    <hr />


    ".. I''m really sorry."


    "How many times do I have to say I don''t mind it?"


    Said Lia, with no hint of emotions, to a dejected Abigail.


    It was sunday, around lunchtime and the two were preparing the table in the dinner room, waiting for Amanda and Abigail''s parents to arrive.


    Lia did not know why Abigail invited her at her house, but she accepted nonetheless, she supposed Abigail was a friend. Lia couldn''t be sure as she was unable to feel weak emotions, the little joys of being with your friends escaped her understanding, making it just a bit harder to gauge if others were simply casual acquaintances or friends.


    Well, given the amount of time and things shared, she guessed Abigail was one, while Miranda and Nathan were just a little away from being one.


    As Lia was helping Amanda bring the food on the table, the doorbell rang and Abigail, while fidgeting, went to open the door.


    <hr />


    After unsuccessfully searching on the internet, Nathan tried asking Elisabeth before she and Yvonne left


    "Elisabeth, do you mind if I ask you something? Would you happen to know of any mage-related class that can fight close-combat too? Preferably utilizing a staff or b¨­"


    Elisabeth gave him a thoughtful look, wondering if she really should divulge her clan''s information. Well, she was the one who got him hooked, so she might as well tell him.


    "But even normal mage classes can fight at close-combat, you know?"


    "Yes, but they have to many set-backs"


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Satisfied with his answer, Elisabeth smiled.


    "In the Woh Empire, there is a monastery surrounded by mountains, it''s called Jurta. There reside a special kind of monks, which I''m sure you''re going to like. To gain entry you have to be introduced by either an elder or an immortal that "graduated" from there. Tell me where you are and I''ll handle the rest. Be sure to remember that you owe me~"


    As she finished explaining, Elisabeth gave Nathan a mischievous smile.


    <hr />


    Michael and Sonia each hugged one of their daughters, then switched to hug the other. Michael was a very tall 60 years old man, his muscles were barely hidden by his attire and even though he had a fierce aura, it always got somewhat milder when in the presence of his daughters. Both had black hair, though Michael''s were curly while Sonia''s were straight, and both had blue eyes, Michael''s were of a pretty clear and light shade of azure in contrast to the deep and dark blue of Sonia. She had the same age of her husband, but she was more of a indoor person, so she never really trained seriously. The last difference was that she was just as tall as Amanda, meaning she was about 15 cm shorter than Michael.


    "How have you been, girls?"


    Began Sonia as both her and Michael had finished hugging Amanda and Abigail


    "We''re doing fine, thanks mom, and you? how is work?"


    Amanda and Sonia began happily conversing while Michael turned to Abigail to talk, only to notice her daughter nervously converse with a white-haired, purple-eyed girl. She had a pale skin and seemed nimble, but her clothes were covering all sorts of hints to any kind of training she could have received. The fact that she appeared 16~17, coupled with her aloof attitude, made him think about nowadays'' youths and their attitudes. Michael frowned.


    "..Abigail, you know what I think about all that shit youngsters get into, wasting their life. If you had intended to remain her friend, you should not have left me meet her."


    Hearing Michael''s serious tone, Sonia stopped chit-chatting and looked over her daughter''s friend. Inspecting her closely, Sonia could notice two things, one, the girl was not wearing lenses, thus that was her natural eye-colour, and two, taking in account her constitution, pale and thin, she guessed the girl could probably have been very sick since a young age, also explaining why her hair are white.


    Sonia could only sigh and shake her head at her husband''s rash judgement, her worries swiftly confirmed by Amanda''s troubled face and Abigail''s ever rising anger. It was curious, however, that the girl in question did not perturbed in the least by Michael''s speech.


    ''Perhaps, one can end up like that, after so many years in constant battle with death.''


    Just as she thought that, Sonia could barely see Amanda''s disapproving look before getting distracted by the sound of Abigail slapping her father. She concluded that Michael probably didn''t stop there and continued talking as she immersed herself in her thoughts.


    "Shut up! Don''t talk as if you know everything!"


    Abigail, who was holding back her tears by sheer will, shouted at Michael, turned around while grabbing her friend''s wrist and pulling it first to the table, where she took some food, then to her room. A faint "Are you sure?" and "Mh." could be heard as the two went inside. Three different reaction were created,


    Sonia was musing over how the white-haired girl still did not give any reaction. ''Maybe, Abigail was getting angry for her.''


    Michael was flabbergasted, shocked and still a bit angry. ''Did I go too far without noticing? Am I really that old?''


    Amanda sighed but still had a faint, imperceptible smile. ''I guess I''ll explain as we eat. I wonder if there will be any progress, eheheh~''


    <hr />


    Atlas and Electra were torn. They wanted to explore more of the strange citadel with its black snow, and obviously more of the De'' Draake kingdom, but here they were, in the church of the Winter citadel, where, using Erebus'' blessing, the priests would open a portal for them to fast travel to a village near Jurta. In the end, they decided to go, as Atlas could not remain class-less as they went around Hyria''s world.


    Kaine, Elisabeth''s friend and guild member, had teleported in the plaza about half an hour ago, and had guided them here while explaining to Atlas the pros and cons of having that class, coupled with tidbits of the everyday life at the monastery. Yes, to obtain the class "Dhy¨¡na Monk," you have to spend some time in the monastery and overcome various tests. Once one reaches the peak of said class, the name will change to "Dhy¨¡na Master," but no user knows of this yet.


    They decided that while Atlas would be participating in the monastery''s activities, Electra would travel around the various settlements outside the mountain range circling Jurta. The levels of the monster in that zone was around 70~90, but the dangerous thing was the enormous amount of monster present. To not let Electra die every 50 meters, Elisabeth sent her Gaea, a level 100 user, who would meet them at the other side of the portal. It would not be Kaine to accompany her, simply because Elisabeth "wouldn''t want to distract Nathan during his training," to quote her.


    Gaea, to be precise, was level 113, and donned light-weight silver armor, with a white scabbard, and likewise coloured hilt, strapped on her waist. The only thing interrupting the neat silver colour was the black shape of two ravens fighting, they were Hugin and Munin, Odin''s ravens, and it was also ?sir''s emblem. Though what shocked Atlas, and even more so Electra, was that Gaea was a cute little girl everyone would want to hug. She was around 140cm at best, had crystal blue eyes and golden hair which easily reflected the sun''s light. Gaea also had a single little ponytail, held with a bright red ribbon, and.. a flat chest.


    About the Woh Empire. It''s one of the three empires present in the western part of the continent, reigning over half of it, its eastern borders delimit the end of the western territory, where Buddhist Gods reside. Ferl, Magiron, De'' Draake and Tarse are all kingdoms in the southern part of the continent, where the Greek Gods reign. In the north, coincidentally governed by the Norse Gods, the land is mostly constituted of mountains and hills, with few lakes and many rivers. It is also where ?sir, Elisabeth''s guild, has its headquarters. The east is mostly chosen by players who love gore, horror-flicks and things like that. It''s all an enormous desert, inhabited by nomadic tribes and some beastmen villages, all ruled by the Great Old Ones. As for what''s in the center part of the continent.. well, that''s a secret.


    Is what Gaea explained to Atlas and Electra while they were on their way to the entrance of the monastery. Kaine talked only when extremely necessary, coupled with the fact that his presence was barely noticeable, they all forgot about him from time to time, getting surprised each time he commented on Gaea''s speech to correct her. Even his fellow guild member forgot about him and was equally surprised.


    Electra was a bit sad when she had to separate from Atlas, but they could just meet in real life and the class change only took two weeks (IGT). Atlas, Electra and Gaea decided to meet in two weeks'' time back at the village where the two first teleported at, then Gaea would take them to a church and would, in the end, teleport them wherever they wanted.


    <hr />


    Michael was shocked and (a great deal) angry, but he also felt immensely ashamed. This was because his daughter Amanda had just finished to tell him Lia''s past. His head hung a little low as he remembered how he had been preaching the two girls. He cleaned his mouth and stood up, resolved to not let another minute go by without having apologized to Lia. As he approached Abigail''s room he heard the two talking, but could not make out what was said. Earning two annoyed gazes on his back, Michael leaned closer to the door, paying close attention as to not reveal his presence.


    "..I like you, Lia."

 Level 16: Fealty (+Mirandas image and theme song)

    It was brought to my attention, some time ago, that maybe the subtle meaning of the change from Yvonne to Lia was too subtle. The meaning was Abigail''s closeness to her, and when she began to call Yvonne "Lia," she was considered as a close friend. I''m saying this cause in this chapter there will be another change, but it does not refer to the relationship between Lia and Abby or Lia and someone else. It''s the shift of Lia''s focus in Hyria, from only to herself, defined by the fact that I rarely used her in-game name, to the whole world (more or less lol), meaning I''ll start to use Aisha instead of her real names, just like with Matagi, Electra and Atlas.


    As I was writing this notes, I decided to not end this second part with the meeting between Lia, Abigail and Elisabeth at Crassie, instead I''ll incorporate and modify what I had planned for the beginning of the third part, otherwise the first and second part would have too much in common~


    That''s all the hints you get. Also, as promised, here are Miranda''s image(s) and theme song:


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    And more or less this is how she is in-game:


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


    Sadly, I didn''t find translated lyrics for her song.


    <hr />


    Lia and Matagi entered the Swordsmen''s Atelier, making some people turn their head for a second, before going back to practice. Only one person didn''t stop looking at them, instead, she also began walking toward them. Her manner of walking and aura quickly gave away the fact that she was the instructress of this atelier. As she reached the two girls, she began speaking.


    "Hello ladies, interested in becoming a swordswoman?"


    Lia remained impassible, just staring at her, while Matagi quietly took out an envelope from her inventory and replied


    "No ma''am, we''re here to deliver a letter to the instructor of this Atelier, Mrs. Melinda; could it be you?"


    Melinda nodded, raised her eyebrows and extended her hand. Matagi quickly handed the letter over and with an expectant look she observed the instructress'' changing expressions as she read the content of the envelope. When she seemed to have reached a conclusion, she sighed, closing her eyes, remained silent for a little and then looked directly in Matagi''s eyes before asking


    "Are you ready for it?"


    Matagi smiled brightly while saying "Yes!" and nodding profusely. Melinda''s eyes rested on Lia and then back on Matagi


    "You do know that the request''s only valid for you, right?"


    "..AH."


    Matagi was shocked by her mindlessness and worriedly looked at Lia, who was maintaining her usual calm.


    "Don''t worry about me. I''ll wait for you."


    Matagi jumped on her friend, almost causing them both to fall, and hugged her before she realized what she was doing. Matagi embarrassedly left her side while muttering


    "I.. I''m sorry, you were just so cute I couldn''t help myself eheheheh~"


    Lia just nodded saying "Just send me a message when you''re done." before turning around and leaving the atelier. Matagi faced Melinda once again


    "When do I start?"


    "Now. Follow me."


    She followed the instructress to a door at the end of the training ground, inside was a wide room with wooden walls and a floor that closely resembled a tatami. There was nothing but two katanas in their scabbards, positioned at the center of the room. Melinda closed the door, took off her light armor, leaving her with just a shirt and long spats, and headed toward the two swords of the ground. Matagi followed her and once they were in front of each other, Melinda passed her a katana. As soon as she took it, a message popped up in front of her


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Event Unlocked: The Chosen Path</td></tr><tr><td>Your incredible swordsmanship impressed the instructor of Thyw''s Swordsmen''s Atelier enough to let you meet with an old acquaintance of his, Melinda. She has been following the path of the sword since she was able to hold one, just like her parents before her, and their parents before them. Melinda''s family has been serving the King since time immemorial, their only goal to follow him till death, following his justice and furthering their abilities for him. You will be taught not only their sword techniques, but also their code of virtues.</td></tr><tr><td>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td>You will change class at the end of the training</td></tr><tr><td>Your health, stamina and satiety will not diminish during this event</td></tr><tr><td>No skills or magic allowed</td></tr><tr><td>Your sense of time is distorted</td></tr><tr><td>All outside communication is blocked</td></tr><tr><td>If you log out during an exercise you will have to restart it</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Dismissing it, both Matagi and Melinda took a stance and stared at each other. Some instructors, to further improve their disciples, would use weights, attaching them to various parts of the disciple''s body. Matagi quickly realized they weren''t going to use such crude methods, as the ominous presence of Melinda was weighing her down just like she was under a stronger gravity or had weights tied to her arms, legs and torso.


    Sparring, sparring and sparring. Matagi did not know much time had passed, but it had felt like two weeks of non-stop fighting. Her body was theoretically still able to keep up with the training, but the strenuous exercise had began to eat at her mentally. Landing on the ground for the nth time, her chest quickly moved up and down as she panted.


    "Take a rest, you''ve finished the first part."


    Hearing those words, Matagi closed her eyes and wondered ''When was the last time I heard her voice?''


    Thinking back, she noticed the instructress had been increasing steadily her presence, just barely so that she wouldn''t have noticed, as she would just continue to feel like the first time she felt such an overwhelming aura. Having rested enough, she got up and she barely managed to remain so.


    Melinda once again increased her oppressing aura, but this time it wasn''t so imperceptible, she doubled the pressure. While staring at each other once again, trying to know their opponent''s next moves, to plan ahead and be a step further toward victory, Melinda sprinted toward Matagi, who expertly parried the attack she expected. What she hadn''t expected was that Melinda began to speak as they exchanged blows


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    "Courage. Do not let fear control you, use it as a guide to better yourself and defeat any opponent. Do not hesitate, your mind must be strong. Do not let others intimidate, you must follow only your Master''s orders."


    Without noticing, as the two continued to spar, a "Ó [Y¨±]" appeared on Matagi''s neck. After a while, Melinda spoke again


    "Rectitude. Your actions shall always follow your Master''s ideals."


    Causing this time to make a "Áx [Gi]" to appear. This repeated for another five times, but the two never stopped fighting:


    "Honour. Your honour is also your Master''s honour. Always keep you head held high and never disgrace yourself."


    "ÃûÓþ [Meiyo]" appeared.


    "Respect. Life is precious, do not ridicule it."


    "¶Y [Rei]" appeared.


    "Honesty. Lies taint the sword."


    "Honesty. Lies taint the soul."


    "Õ\ [Makoto]" appeared. Strangely, as she said that, Melinda''s voice was overlapped by her own, with a phrase that was exactly the same except for one word.


    "Benevolence. Help those in need."


    "ÈÊ [Jin]" appeared.


    "Loyalty. Devote your soul and body to your Master."


    "ÖÒÁx [Ch¨±gi]" appeared, closing the string of Kanji encircling her neck. After glowing slightly, they returned to their original black color.


    Opening her eyes and standing up, Matagi wondered when had she lost consciousness before Melinda interrupted her thoughts


    "Congratulations, you''ve passed the training."


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Your main class is now: Bushi</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have one week to choose either a Player or an NPC to serve. After you pledge your loyalty to them, you will be able to use the skills obtained with this class.


    If you fail to find someone, you will earn the title "R¨­nin," leveling your character and your skills will become harder but your class'' skills will still be unlocked.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Stats "Fame" and "Notoriety" changed to "Honour."</td></tr><tr><td>Depending on the nature of your chosen Master, fame could lower your Honour while notoriety could raise it.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Note: if the "Honour" stat reaches -100 or you break any of the other six virtues, you will receive the same penalties you suffer upon dying, though without actually dying. You will continue to receive this punishment once a week until your "Honour" stat goes back to 0.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You can now only use katanas as a weapon.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Affinity with Humans increased by 5%</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Due to your connection to a player favored by this territory''s Gods, and the fact that you obtained an hidden class which originated in another territory,


    you annoyed the God of War Ares.</td></tr><tr><td>Affinity with Ares decreased by 3%</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Some extremely devoted followers of Ares could start persecuting you if they learn of such a thing.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>The effects of the event "The Chosen Path" are now over.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    When Matagi finished reading all the notifications, she prepared to leave, eager to meet her friend again, but Melinda wasn''t done yet


    "One last thing. If you are interested, I can introduce you to the King and see if he lets you be his protector."


    Matagi shook her head and walked out of the room saying


    "No thank you, I already have someone in mind~"


    Once outside the Atelier, she noticed that it was barely dawn. Opening her friend list, she quickly checked if Lia was still online and contacted her when she saw she was still playing.


    "Aisha, let''s meet up in front of the fountain of Dionysus."


    And with that Matagi calmly reached there, sitting on the edge of the fountain while waiting for Lia, who arrived a bit later. As they sat side by side, Lia told her how she went around learning the layout of the hunting grounds near Crassie and that she dinged level 69, while Matagi described her training, the various skills she acquired with it, that she was still level 56 but she obtained a hidden class.


    ".. But my class requires a Master/Lord, you know, just like how long ago the samurai served under a lord or something. I was thinking, Aisha, would you mind if I registered as my Lord? ..Well, Lady."


    Aisha stared at her for a moment before replying


    "..If that''s what you want, go ahead."


    Matagi smiled and took Aisha''s hand, signaling her to stand up. Once she did, Matagi knelt in front of her and recited


    "I pledge to become Milady''s peerless sword, unmoved by anything, living or not, I shall open a path for my Mistress to walk on.


    With this, I ask of the Lost One to acknowledge my vow."


    The kanji on Matagi''s neck glowed white for a few seconds before changing color. This time though, the kanji were not completely black, each character''s strokes were alternately white and black, with two parallel purple strings all at the same position on each kanji.


    Matagi raised herself from the ground at looked at Aisha in the eyes,


    "So, would you like to come to my house this sunday?"

 Level 17: The Lovers

    Took a long time for various reasons, changing every box in a table in the previous chapters is one of those.


    <hr />


    After Lia entered the room, Abigail quickly closed the door and sat down on the floor, in front of the food and with her right side leaning on her bed. Lia copied her, sitting in front of Abigail, thus having the food in-between them, and leaned her left side on the bed. At first they ate silently, but then Abigail suddenly lowered her head and spoke


    "I''m sorry for what my dad said."


    Lia looked at her and said "It doesn''t matter." before continuing to eat. It made Abigail a bit uncomfortable, but she quickly recovered and spoke once again


    "Y''know.. when dad talked to you like that it made me really flare up. I couldn''t stand the fact that he was saying such things toward someone he barely knew.. towards you."


    ".."


    Lia stopped eating and stared at Abigail, sensing the seriousness in her voice, and quietly continued to listen


    "I suppose you''ve noticed by now, but I''m interested in girls, I''m lesbian. I''m not really good at this kind of speeches, and I guess you already know what I want to say, but I will say it nonetheless, because I like spending time together with you, I like how you are always calm and I also like your body. I mean.. I like you, Lia, please go out with me."


    Abigail was slightly blushing as she finished her little speech, but Lia remained impassible as she reflected on what answer she should give her friend.


    "Abigail, you know I won''t feel anything for you."


    Abigail gently smiled and replied


    "Lia, you are such a ''liar'' eheh~ .. Ahem, I mean, you said it yourself, right? You only do not feel ''weak'' emotions, meaning that you can feel the strong ones like ''love''~"


    Abigail nonchalantly evaded the food and leaned closer to Lia, placing both of her hands on the white-haired girl''s cheeks


    "Don''t be afraid, Lia. It doesn''t matter how our relationship will develop, be it hate or love, I will stand by you."


    Closing her eyes, Abigail slowly reached Lia''s lips with her own. Without noticing it, Lia''s eyes had widened a bit, while her heart certainly did skip a beat as the two kissed. Intoxicated by the new sensation, Lia didn''t even notice closing her eyes and as the two finally separated to breath a little, a translucent strand of saliva momentarily connected the two''s tongues before breaking.


    As Abigail gazed at her love with an expectant look, Lia could do nothing but accepting her request with a little nod and a mutter


    ".. Okay."


    Their  silence after that was interrupted a few moments later by knocks on the door


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Abby, can I come in? I''d like to ask your.. friend for forgiveness."


    The strange intonation of Michael when he said "friend" did not escape the two, but they paid it no mind. Abigail distanced herself a bit from Lia and then she let her father enter. Once inside, he wasted no time in saying how sorry he was to have been such an "insensible asshole," and muttering, toward the end, how it was his old age''s fault.


    With a barely noticeable grin, he stood up and patted Abigail on a shoulder, whispering "Good luck, me and your mother are rooting for you, sweetheart." before leaving.


    After lunch, the two girls joined the rest of Abigail''s family and talked about various things, like Amanda''s work at the dojo, some tournament Michael recently participated in, the curious bits of information Sonia got at her workplace and of course.. about Lia and Abigail now going out.


    Interestingly, Sonia was the News Director of a media station which recently (7 months ago, thus 2 months after Hyria was released) started to broadcast various informative programs on the game.


    <hr />


    Soon evening came, and the two''s time together ended as they heard Lia''s mother arriving. Without leaving the car, Elisabeth called out to Lia, who was on the front door standing next to Abigail.


    "Come Yvonne, we have to go."


    Lia nodded indifferently, but after she took a step forward, she was made to turn around as she was grabbed on her wrist by Abigail and once they were facing each other, they exchanged a quick kiss. Elisabeth was so shocked she didn''t notice Lia enter the car.


    ''Perhaps not all was lost, dear.''


    Thought Elisabeth while she barely held in her tears as she remembered the incident from 12 years ago. Her sad mood though was soon interrupted by Lia''s question


    "Mom, how do I extract the recording of my gameplay from the capsule?"


    Elisabeth was a bit startled by the sudden change in mood but still managed to reply calmly


    ".. I set it so that a 24 hours recording of our gameplay is automatically sent to the computer we have in the living room. What''s the sudden interest?"


    "Abby''s mother asked for the video of me when I first defeated a dragon."


    Elisabeth was shocked to hear that, but it didn''t slip.


    "You already defeated a dragon?"


    Lia calmly nodded, ending the conversation as now Elisabeth was immersed in her own thoughts


    ''I want to watch that video.''

 Level 18: Oblitus Mori I

    I can''t find a *cough cough* alternative *cough cough* way to have ProFantasy CC3, so yeah, the map is gonna come out during christmas holidays, either handmade by me or using the guide AmnesicCat talked about in some thread I don''t remember.


    <hr />


    Elisabeth watched once again the video of Lia fighting her way through the 33 rooms of the cave and her struggle against the dragon. She was greatly impressed by the progress her daughter had made in both the game and martial arts. But the end, where she was seen nude by some NPCs bothered her.


    ''Seriously, I know it''s a game but she should still mind her surroundings.''


    The reason she was watching the video again was that she wanted to edit it. She cut the part after Lia entered the first door, when she rested, looted the mobs and also changed Yvonne''s face through an application freely distributed by Crathos Inc.


    After she was done, she sent the video to Abigail''s mother, Sonia, through the email address Lia had given her.


    She stretched a little as she stood up, feeling a bit tired from the "work," she went to take a shower before going to sleep. A few hours later she woke up and she began her usual routine, she ate a slice of bread with oil and salt, took a water bottle, her phone and a pair of headphones and went out to jog.


    When Elisabeth was done with her run and returned home, she took a quick shower after she confirmed her daughter was already out jogging. Dressed in her usual work clothes, she went downstairs to the kitchen and ate leisurely breakfast since she still had some time before she had to go to work.


    At Crathos Inc., there wasn''t much to do anymore for the developers like Elisabeth and her team. They spent a couple of hours to check for any bug or glitch in the system with the help of Yuki, the main AI of Hyria, and then checked the overall progress of the users in regards to the game''s story.


    Before returning home, Elisabeth wrote a report based on the data they had recorded that day, and gave it to Jack, the supervisor of all the dev teams.


    As it was now nearing lunch time, Elisabeth decided to wake Lia up from the capsule so they could eat together. During lunch the two talked about various things, and then Lia asked


    "When are you coming to Crassie?"


    "Today, in-game time. Is it okay with both of you if we go hunting where I want?"


    Elisabeth replied as she took the plates and started cleaning them in the kitchen sink. Lia helped by swiping the floor and cleaning the table, saying "Yeah" to her mother''s question.


    Opening her eyes, Elisabeth found herself to be in the council room of ?sir. Various members of her guild, players and NPCs, greeted her as she passed, but she remained indifferent as she was busy discussing with the chiefs of the divisions of her guild through the group chat. Before leaving Elisabeth had to visit a couple of places, the armory and the testing room. She wanted to finish those boring matters as quickly as possible to be able to meet Aisha and Matagi.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    By the time she reached the teleportation room, an hour and a half had passed. Setting the destination to Crassie, she and Kaine stepped inside the portal.


    In front of the two were Lia and Abigail sitting on the border of the fountain. Noticing them, Aisha and Matagi stood up and went to greet them.


    "Hi mom"


    "Hello, mrs. Ash.."


    Matagi slightly bowed and was about to greet Elisabeth using her real name before she cut herself off after she noticed Kaine. Elisabeth answered quickly to not let the conversation become awkward


    "Here I go by the name Bathory, and this is Kaine, he''ll take care of the different traps we''ll encounter."


    Bathory motioned toward Kaine when she talked about him. He was a really difficult guy to spot, even though he was entirely covered in black clothes and his face barely showed. Compared to him, Bathory was a bit taller, nearing 185/190 cm, had corvine black hair and bloodshot red eyes. Her attire was a white light armor with black and purple trims all over, she kept her weapon, a big cleaver sword, strapped on her back.


    After the greetings, they added each others as friends and started a private group chat. They discussed of where they will be going, what to do and more or less what to expect. Not that there would be any problem, as Bathory was level 304 and Kaine was level 257. After a player or NPC hits level 200, the system will stop showing their level to others, so Bathory had to tell it to the two directly.


    The four briefly talked about their races and classes, Bathory was a Pure-blooded Vampire and with the Cursed Paladin class, the "demonic" version of a paladin, and while Kaine was just a human, he had two classes, Dhy?na Monk and Thief. When it was Aisha''s turn to talk about her race and class, Matagi and Kaine were surprised but Bathory already knew about it.


    "Why is it that you can stand under the sun and nothing''s happening to you?"


    At some point Matagi''s curiosity leaked through their discussion. Bathory grinned before replying


    "It''s thanks to a skill, but even if I didn''t have it, my health regeneration is higher than the damage the sun can deal me."


    After they were done, the four walked to the nearest church and payed the fee for teleporting. Bathory set the destination to Tihghul, a little queendom situated in the eastern part of the continent.

 Level 19: Oblitus Mori II

    Ehm, yeah, I forgot to mention that Abigail''s level now is 56.


    Also, I hate you Kana. Do you know how much it took me to change the old chaps to adapt to the new editor? You can imagine what I felt when I saw they were all back to how they were before because you had to mass-delete posts. Damn it.


    This time I made a copy of all the chapters, so I don''t have to change every chapter a third time -.-"


    <hr />


    The scenery around them was very different from what they had seen up until now. The city resembled the towns built in the desert in real life many years ago, and the scene of the sun''s light being reflected on the white sand coupled with the crystal clear sky was somewhat breathtaking for Matagi.


    Bathory and Kaine had been in this part of the continent enough times to not be affected, while Aisha simply didn''t care.


    Seeing Matagi''s sparkling eyes, Bathory chose to give the group a quick tour of the city. Differently from what one (Matagi) would expect, the normal market price for food, water or equipment differed only slightly from the other cities and there weren''t too many NPCs begging for a sip of water or a piece of bread.


    While the others were occupied with that, Aisha silently followed them while distributing the 5 points she got from the last level up, and in the end her status window looked pretty much like this:


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Name</td><td width="25%">Aisha</td><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">69</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">1450 (+20%)</td><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">1545</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Main Class</td><td width="25%">Pandora</td><td width="25%">Sub Class</td><td width="25%">N/A</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Title</td><td colspan=''3''>Dragon Slayer</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Race</td><td width="25%">Human</td><td width="25%">Alignment</td><td width="25%">Neutral</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health Regen/Sec</td><td width="25%">9.5</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen/Sec</td><td width="25%">9.4</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Strength</td><td width="25%">103</td><td width="25%">Agility</td><td width="25%">164 (+10%)</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Wisdom</td><td width="25%">96</td><td width="25%">Intelligence</td><td width="25%">102</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Stamina</td><td width="25%">191 (+5%)</td><td width="25%">Vitality</td><td width="25%">84</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Dexterity</td><td width="25%">167 (+5%)</td><td width="25%">Class Affinity</td><td width="25%">41</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Fame</td><td colspan=''3''>350</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Resistance</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Fire</td><td colspan=''3''>10%</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Affinity</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Greek Gods</td><td width="25%">5%</td><td width="25%">Humans</td><td width="25%">-10%</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Dark Races</td><td colspan=''3''>3%</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Familiars</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Maverick</td><td width="25%">Unsummoned</td><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">38</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Remaining slots</td><td colspan=''2''>1</td></tr></tbody></table>


    After the tour of the city, they headed directly to the dungeon Bathory wanted to explore. It was a buried crypt near Tihghul, about a day''s walk, with an average level of 150. Much to the creators'' irony, the buried tomb was named "Fuji''s Catacomb."


    As they traveled through a rarely used path, the number of mobs was higher than normal. Giant two-tailed scorpions, groups of dog-sized worms, complete with razor-sharp poisoned teeth, and elorcs, half-breeds of orcs and elves. Saying something like


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    "I''ll handle them alone, we wouldn''t want to let you get less exp at the dungeon because you leveled up a few before, right?"


    Bathory single-handedly killed every mob that got near them. For the worms, she just cut her wrist using a common knife and then sprayed the maggots in her blood, which seemed to be fatally poisonous to them. The scorpions were efficiently dealt with, first by severing their stings, then the pincers and lastly their legs, one by one, as they tried to escape, running away either over or under the sand. Lastly the elorcs, the only group which attacked them got slaughtered through beheading. Bathory had used a skill to increase her already high speed and in a matter of seconds, every warrior, archer and mage had their head rolling on the sand. Bathory found herself standing in the middle of 5 fountains of blood. With the sand slowly changing colour, Elisabeth made her predecessor proud.


    When they arrived at the entrance to the catacomb, Bathory was surprised to see players frolicking around it. There were three players around level 160 who remained impassible as they observed the others, who were all around level 90. Only one of those three noticed Aisha and the rest, as the other two were giving them their backs, showing off the emblem sewn on their blue capes, a white "4" inclined to the left intertwined with a black snake that was eating itself, forming a ¡Þ.


    Calmly walking towards them, he approached the group as he smirked without letting anyone notice, he was confident no one would attack a member of their guild, and in case they were stupid enough to do so, they had the majority in numbers. He did see a guild''s emblem on two players of the foreign group, but as he didn''t recognize it he thought it was just some name-less guild''s members.


    "This is Oblitus Mori''s territory, either pay the fee or get the fuck out."


    The player who had come to meet the group wore a light black armor covered by sand-coloured clothes, probably there to protect from the sand and cover his skin from the sun, but could still see a blue cape strapped on his shoulders under them. His words reeked of arrogance and Matagi could feel herself grimace at the idea of having to respect such an enemy. Yes, enemy, there was no way she could consider this elf something else, lest she broke her code of virtues.


    Kaine stepped up from behind Bathory and addressed the haughty guy, which appeared as surprised as Matagi when he noticed his presence.


    "How much?"


    The player stared hard at each of them, looking especially above everyone''s head before replying.


    "10 gold coins each for you two, and another 25 for every noob."


    As he said "noob" he smirked while he pointed his chin towards Aisha and Matagi. A loud "What?!" escaped from Matagi''s mouth but Aisha stopped her from saying any more by raising an hand in front of her, a few centimeters from her face. Bathory stared at the sand elf with sharp eyes, but didn''t say anything and just let Kaine pay the man.


    After Kaine handed over the 70 gold coins, the guy sent started a private conversation with the other two blue cape-wearing guys before responding with


    "Okay guys, you can go inside now."


    Matagi continued to send him death-stares as the group moved inside the dungeon.

 Level 20: Fujis Catacomb (+Hyrias map)

    So, this is the last part (not chapter!) of Volume 1 and, frankly, I''d like to know how do you expect I''ll finish this~


    If you are curious, I have all planned out till the end of Volume 4, so for now there''s no shortage of ideas lol


    Also, thanks to pally320 now I got Hyria''s map lol:


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    I decided to show where all the queendoms of the eastern part of the continent are cause those are spread around, even though I still haven''t decided on their name and they will not be mentioned till next vol or vol 5/6


    <hr />


    Every 5 meters or so a lit torch hung on the wall, leaving only a bit of darkness in the paths of this floor. The ground was barely visible as it was covered in sand, but you could see the occasional broken bones, pebbles and severed (and dried) limbs. On the sides there were two rows of "resting places," which went from one end of the wall to the other, with various bodies placed in. It was not possible to distinguish the corpses'' gender nor the age at which they died, but you could clearly know who was an adult and who was no more than a kid at the time of their death.


    Every path was 6~7 meters wide and the estimated measurements of each floor was 10 km X 7 km with an height of 4 meters. It was a really big labyrinth and fortunately Bathory and Kaine knew the right way, but the disconcerting thing was the amount of corpses present. An entire civilization was resting in this catacomb.


    Aisha and Matagi formed one party, while Bathory and Kaine another. They weren''t divided like this only so that the two high-leveled players wouldn''t get what little exp the mobs could offer them, but also because the difference between the two groups was to great to make a party.


    While they walked around the first floor of the crypt, they could see the members of Oblitus Mori working hard on milking the dungeon dry. Almost every mob was busy fighting them, and the few mummies (they weren''t really mummies, as they weren''t mummified, but just dried moving corpses, really close to skeletons) that Aisha and Matagi managed to get, would die in one or two hits.


    Bathory was maintaining her calm, but she still was a tad annoyed at the situation on hand. Matagi instead was grinding her teethes, she was angry about the fee thingy and now what was happening seemed to her like the Oblitus guys were taunting them. Kaine had nothing to do, as the traps were seemingly already all deactivated. With half-closed eyes Aisha observed her companion.


    ''I suppose, this is what I should do.''


    Aisha brought a hand on Matagi''s cheek, making everyone stop, used that to bring her face closer and then Aisha kissed Matagi on the forehead. Matagi was totally surprised from this, not only because of the situation, but also because she didn''t expect Aisha to ever take the initiative in their relationship. Kaine remained unfazed while Bathory let out an "Oh my!"


    After the kiss, Aisha walked to the nearest group of Oblitus Mori members.


    <


    >


    Players and mobs alike froze. The guys from OM tried to see who or what caused this situation, and only some managed to see as they were mostly facing toward the mobs. As they tried to speak or contact the other players they were surprised to see that they could not.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Aisha didn''t waste time, using Sprint she used her daggers to efficiently cut the throats of the nearest 7 players. Two didn''t die on the spot, but they had the hex bleed so Aisha dismissed them. She had a tight schedule, so she ignored the mobs that would stay frozen for only another 15 seconds, and ran to the remaining 4 players. They glared at her, but she didn''t care and just cut their throats too before using Sprint again to distance herself from the place.


    When the mummies began moving again, every player they were previously fighting was already dead. Matagi and Bathory were slack-jawed while Kaine was mildly surprised. An hard man to please.


    Above Aisha''s head, her level flashed red, the sign of a PK.


    "Let''s go Matagi. We now have some mobs to kill."


    At her uncaring attitude, Matagi replied with a slight bow of her head saying "Yes, Milady."


    This time, it was a bit harder to kill the mummies, since they had more health left, but they still managed to wipe them out and ding some level in the process. Afterwards, Bathory and Kaine helped looting everything, players included.


    The group didn''t go out of their way to clear the entire floor, staying only on the right path, but they did not make a distinction between players and mobs as they mowed down everybody. From the second group onwards, it was not Aisha but Kaine who killed them all. Using stealth, he didn''t even take one minute to kill every Oblitus Mori guy. Even if you were over level 200, if you killed another player, your level would flash red above your head, meaning our level would be revealed to everyone. As to why he was doing this, Bathory just used the same excuse she used while they came here, only adding that this time it was Kaine''s turn.


    By the time the group began to kill the players of the second floor, it seemed like they were somewhat warned, but it didn''t matter as they all were below level 100. They were divided in two, one group would attack Aisha, Matagi, Bathory and Kaine, while the other desperately tried to kill every mob.


    On the third floor there were fewer members of Oblitus Mori, but there were no mobs, so Bathory just let Aisha and Matagi be the ones to kill them. This repeated for another two floors until on the sixth there were no more members of OM, thus they calmly proceeded to kill all the mobs that were on the right path for the staircase to the next floor.


    The seventh and eighth floor were the same, so Bathory decided to stop with Kaine in front of the staircase to the ninth floor with the reasoning


    "Originally, us two would''ve remained outside while you two cleared this dungeon, so we are going to stay here and prevent any other people to continue forward."


    And so Aisha and Matagi descended to the next floor alone. On the ninth floor they had to deal with the sneak attack from Shadows, the head on battles with groups of skeletons and slimes. The slimes weren''t a threat, but the fact that they stayed spread out on the ground, that they were almost, if not completely, transparent and that once they stepped in it, the slime would render them unable to move from that spot as either skeletons or Shadows attacked them.


    As the two neared the staircase, they too knew the way, a message popped up in front of Aisha.

 Level 21: Nyarlathotep

    "I recall that the people went about with pale and worried faces, and whispered warnings and prophecies which no one dared consciously repeat or acknowledge to himself that he had heard. A sense of monstrous guilt was upon the land, and out of the abysses between the stars swept chill currents that made men shiver in dark and lonely places." ¡ªNyarlathotep, by H.P. Lovecraft


    <hr />


    Aisha looked at the message and was surprised


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Unlocked Thanatos'' gift</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Restrictions:</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Class:</td><td width="25%">Pandora</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Level:</td><td width="25%">100</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Death''s Eyes (Passive)</td></tr><tr><td>Death is equal to all, no one is spared before its eyes. You are now able to see the world through them, and whether you like it or not, everyone has a time limit.</td></tr><tr><td>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td>Able to see NPCs'' names</td></tr><tr><td>Able to see when NPCs will die</td></tr><tr><td>Able to see the level of every player and mob</td></tr><tr><td>Able to see the remaining health of every player and mob (Azure->Blue->Purple)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Dismissing them, Aisha looked at Matagi''s level, it was written in a light blue colour with a red dot before it [A/N: like this: ¡¤Level 94]. Matagi was a bit puzzled as to why Aisha was staring at her level, but paid it no mind as Aisha stopped and went down the stairs.


    What did surprise her was that now Aisha was able to tell where each slime and Shadow was located. Because of that, it got boring until on the 12th floor they began to encounter spider-like creatures that had a sting and tail similar to a scorpion''s. Aisha called them "Sharadnids" making Matagi wonder if she knew them or she had just come up with the name.


    The sharadnids were no bigger than a house cat, but there were lots of them and their web wasn''t normal. It was poisoned. It was a fortune that this floor was inhabited only by them, as the two had to take a break after every wave to let the poison hex fade away.


    While the next floor was the same, only with the groups a bit larger, the second last floor had chimeras. They were all around level 160 and were always alone, but the fact that they were composed of sharadnids and elven corpses was a bit grotesque by Matagi''s standards. The most creepy one was a two-headed child, one his own, the other a shradnid''s, with a sharadnid''s body as his lower half. Kind of like a centaur.


    The 15th floor, where the boss was located, had again the above mentioned chimeras, but instead of mindless creatures, this ones were groups of patrols, composed of two spear-wielding warrior and one mage. Matagi took the role of tank while Aisha quickly dealt with the mage, even though the first three patrols were used as lab rats with Primordial Fear to verify their weaknesses.


    It took them about two hours to reach the boss room. Two heavy-looking iron doors stood before Aisha and Matagi. On the doors was engraved the tale of a elven city worshipping a giant spider with a human-like face, Atlach-Nacha, one of the Great Old Ones, and of how its Queen made chimeras by ordering her subjects to mate with Atlach-Nacha''s various avatars, the sharadnids.


    That''s all there was. There wasn''t how this crypt came to be, how every other elf died while the sharadnids, the chimeras and, possibly, the Queen didn''t die.


    Not interested in the least, Aisha pushed the doors open. The room was spacious even with the various rows of pillars seemingly dividing the room in cubes. Opposite to them, was a coffin, similar to a sarcophagus, and even though the lid was decorated in strange ways, as it was transparent like glass, it was possible to see the female elf inside.


    Other than the normal two eyes, she had another pair, smaller, on the forehead and more distant than the bigger eyes. Like a spider. Then she had four limbs, four spider legs to be precise, coming out of each of her sides and momentarily hugging her body.


    There was nothing in the room other than that, but the moment Aisha and Matagi entered and the iron doors closed, the scenery changed. Countless green webs, the sharadnids'' webs, appeared everywhere while the elf was now out and in front of her coffin.


    She had a silvery/purple crown and a similarly coloured scepter. Her white dress was in tatters and not so white anymore, but it still seemed beautiful. Her four eyes were black, but unlike the normal pair, the extra ones on the forehead were exactly like a spider''s eyes. Lastly, the lowest set of spider legs turned out to be a pair of tails complete with stinger.


    Even with all the fanfare, Bathory had already told them all about this place, so they weren''t fazed. Not completely. It made Aisha wonder if Matagi had arachnophobia or was just disgusted by them. Probably the latter.


    Not intent on wasting any more time, Aisha used Sprint to quickly go near the boss with Matagi following close behind, after confirming that on their path there was no other mob. Seeing her guests were the restless type, the Queen lightly waved her scepter while muttering some incomprehensible words.


    Hundreds of sharadnids appeared, some from behind the webs on the grounds, some from the darkness a little distance away, and other descending from the ceiling. Matagi made a disgusted face a wavered for a second before continuing to run, while Aisha didn''t stop, unperturbed by the Queen''s illusion.


    Certainly, not every spider was a fake, like the ones coming from the sides, so when the two where near enough to the Queen, Aisha turned around and began to kill every real sharadnid. At first the strategy was to just kill every sharadnid that neared them while they fought the Queen, but now that Aisha could distinguish which was which, they changed tactic.


    As soon as the Queen was within range, Matagi kicked her. She was stunned for a couple of seconds, enough for the girl to slash at her left shoulder, nearly amputating the scepter-wielding arm. The Queen hissed something and one stinger lunged for Matagi''s flank while the other shot a greenish web.


    Matagi dodged the web by running toward the other stinger and using the momentum to cut it vertically in two parts. Its gel-like green contents fell on the ground while they mixed with the Queen''s red blood and as she let out a half enraged, half pained scream, Matagi once again tried to severe her left arm with an oblique, upward slash of her katana, this time succeeding.


    The fake spiders faded out. Now the Queen would not be able to create any more illusions or call for now sharadnids, though she still would be able to command the ones present in the hall. The fact that Matagi stroke while the Queen was not concentrating on the battle, made it so that she wouldn''t be able to use her spider legs to parry, as those were not something she was born with, those were foreign limbs that required her concentration to work correctly.


    After that Matagi just made more slashes on the Queen''s body and severed on of the spider legs until Aisha confirmed that the mob had about half her life left. At that moment, the two switched, Aisha faced the Queen while Matagi killed the remaining spiders.


    Using Primordial fear, Aisha stabbed the Queen in the heart with a dagger while using the other to cut her throat, inflicting the hex bleed. Just as she retracted her daggers, the Queen attempted to catch her with her remaining hand while the last stinger once again let out the green web.


    Aisha just moved to the left and stabbed repeatedly the Queen''s flanks. Glancing upwards, Aisha saw "Fuji - Level 187," meaning the Queen was almost dead. Black fog began to seep out of her wounds as she chanted some strange spell, the last part of the battle began.


    "Maverick"


    Aisha called for her familiar the instant she heard the Queen chant again. From Aisha''s wrist another black fog seeped out, bust this one seemed faster, and in a couple of seconds it morphed into a shuck. Having already been instructed, Maverick moved toward the black fog coming out of the Queen.


    Fuji was alarmed of the bastard dog nearing her, but the white-haired bitch wouldn''t leave her alone, making it impossible to try and stop the maggot as her subjects, too, were busy fighting the black-haired bitch.


    Without activating his corporeal form, Maverick repeatedly used his skill, Luck Stealer Bite, on the fog until his MP run out and then proceeded to just bite it. Before long, the fog shattered like glass, causing the Queen to scream, whether in pain or rage one couldn''t know.


    Knowing she had lost, Fuji disregarded her health and just plummeted the enemy in front of her with every attack she could think of.


    Aisha dodged almost every attack, as they were just mindless throes of a loser, while slipping in quite a few of her own attacks. Once again stabbing the Queen''s chest, Aisha saw she had just took away the Queen''s remaining health, killing her. Breathing in relief a bit, Aisha turned around to see Matagi grinning at her, even though she was panting.


    Unsummoning Maverick, Aisha and Matagi looted everything in the room and after half an hour they were already walking back toward the staircase to the upper floor. While they reached the floor where they split up, they thought they were lucky to have been able to restore their health, mana and stamina to the full.


    An army of players greeted them.


    <hr />


    2 hours before.


    In front of Bathory and Kaine were at least a thousand users. Two players didn''t have a level above their head and about 20 were near level 180, but all the others didn''t seem to even reach level 150. One of the two above-lvl200 player stepped forward to talk.


    "My juniors here told me there was a group causing troubles. Seeing your high-levels, I''d expect more from you. Guys, attack."


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Even though he said that, only Kaine''s level was visible, so with "quantity over quality" Oblitus Mori sent lots of low-leveled players and two players near level 300, hoping the woman was not one of the monsters with a level near 500.


    Bathory quickly went to fight against the two players that didn''t have a level above their heads while Kaine took on the 20-ish guys near level 180. They fought while ignoring the loads of low-level players attacking them, but immediately killed every player that tried to go to the next floor, even if the cost was the possibility of taking a blow from the high-leveled players.


    Bathory used some of her skills, but not all as she didn''t want to showcase her capabilities to an enemy guild. Using her teeth to draw the players'' "blood" she recovered health every so often, while she used her class'' skills to both debuff her enemies and buff herself and Kaine. Bathory stood her ground for two hours, killing both of the high-leveled players and almost 200 hundreds low-leveled ones.


    Kaine used his staff to stun the nearest enemies while at the same time using ice magic to impale or freeze the others. Thanks to his Thief class, he could throw daggers at the players that tried to sneak away and those that tried to hit him from behind. Kaine mostly dealt with the mages, not counting the remaining 11~13 players at level 180. After an hour and a half, he died, taking with him the lives of all but 4 180-leveled users, and 150 low-level ones.


    <hr />


    "Damn it."


    Was all Matagi muttered before she lunged against the members of Oblitus Mori. Aisha, too, understood what had happened while they were busy fighting the boss, and so she did what Matagi did, she rushed against them with her katana, putting her daggers in the inventory.


    Aisha found herself alone, in the midst of the enemy troops. She was determined to not use Primordial Fear, Sprint or any other mana-consuming skill to be able to use Divine Healing when she needed it. After she killed twenty or so users, she began to feel a rhythm in her moves.


    Slash. The torso is cut in two.


    Stab. The heart is pierced.


    Pierce. The head is skewered.


    Cut. A limb is severed.


    Thrust. They see no more.


    Slit. They blood makes a fountain.


    Impale. Even the sides are fatal hits.


    Aisha instinctively ducked to the side, then a fireball passed through her previous spot, killing off the already mortally wounded enemies. It seemed that they didn''t care anymore about hitting their own guys.


    Slash. Slash. Cut. Stab. Impale. Slash. Thrust. Pierce. Cut. Slash. Slit. Cut. Slit. Slash.


    Her body began to feel hot, but there was no incoming attack or damage done to her.


    Slash. Slash. Cut. Stab. Impale. Slash. Thrust. Pierce. Cut. Slash. Slit. Cut. Slit. Slash.


    Slash. Slash. Cut. Stab. Impale. Slash. Thrust. Pierce. Cut. Slash. Slit. Cut. Slit. Slash.


    Slash. Slash. Cut. Stab. Impale. Slash. Gouge out the intestines. Thrust. Pierce. Cut. Slash. Slit. Cut. Slit. Slash.


    Slash. Slash. Cut. Stab. Impale. Slash. Thrust. Pierce. Cut. Slash. Slit. Cut. Slit. Slash.


    Slash. Slash. Cut. Stab. Impale. Slash. Thrust. Pierce. Cut. Slash. Slit. Cut. Slit. Slash.


    In the corner of her eyes, Aisha saw some player puke. She found it interesting how the game let you do such a thing.


    Slash. Slash. Cut. Stab. Impale. Slash. Thrust. Pierce. Cut. Slash. Slit. Cut. Slit. Slash.


    Aisha unconsciously used Divine Healing has her health was about 40%


    Slash. Slash. Cut. Stab. Impale. Slash. Thrust. Pierce. Cut. Slash. Slit. Cut. Slit. Slash.


    Slash. Slash. Cut. Stab. Impale. Slash. Take the head and drink the blood. Thrust. Pierce. Cut. Slash. Slit. Cut. Slit. Slash.


    Slash. Slash. Cut. Stab. Impale. Slash. Thrust. Pierce. Cut. Slash. Slit. Cut. Slit. Slash.


    The players'' faces seemed a bit pale, but paid it no mind as she heard her heart beat faster.


    Slash. Slash. Cut. Stab. Impale. Slash. Thrust. Pierce. Cut. Slash. Slit. Cut. Slit. Slash.


    Slash. Slash. Cut. Stab. Impale. Slash. Thrust. Pierce. Cut. Slash. Slit. Cut. Slit. Slash.


    Slash. Slash. Cut. Stab. Impale. Slash. Thrust. Pierce. Cut. Slash. Slit. Cut. Slit. Slash.


    Slash. Slash. Cut. Stab. Impale. Slash. Steal the eyeballs and crush them. Thrust. Pierce. Cut. Slash. Slit. Cut. Slit. Slash.


    Slash. Slash. Cut. Stab. Impale. Slash. Thrust. Pierce. Cut. Slash. Slit. Cut. Slit. Slash.


    Slash. Slash. Cut. Stab. Impale. Slash. Thrust. Pierce. Cut. Slash. Slit. Cut. Slit. Slash.


    Slash. Slash. Cut. Stab. Impale. Slash. Thrust. Pierce. Cut. Slash. Slit. Cut. Slit. Slash.


    Her body trembled as her heart continued to beat insanely fast. This was it. How many years had it been? She was lost in her thoughts as her body moved by itself.


    <


    >


    Slash him. Slash him. Cut him. Stab him. Impale him. Slash him. Thrust inside him. Pierce him. Cut him. Slash him. Slit his limbs. Cut him. Slit his limbs. Slash him.


    Slash him again. Slash him again. Cut him again. Stab him again. Impale him again. Slash him again. Thrust inside him again. Pierce him again. Cut him again. Slash him again. Slit his limbs again. Cut him again. Slit his limbs again. Slash him again.


    Slash one last time. Slash one last time. Cut one last time. Stab one last time. Impale one last time. Slash one last time. Thrust one last time. Pierce one last time. Cut one last time. Slash one last time. Slit one last time. Cut one last time. Slit one last time. Slash one last time.


    The body before her was mangled beyond belief, but she didn''t notice, or care. She was too busy immersing herself in that sensation. In that emotion. She was finally feeling something after all those years.


    Discard the sword, only a few remain.


    Tear apart their limbs.


    Grab their eyes.


    Punch their guts.


    Take out their teeth.


    Crack their bones.


    Bite their fingers.


    Break their ribs.


    Don''t let them escape.


    Jump on their spines.


    Finally, twist his neck.


    Aisha blinked. She looked around, everything was a mess and only she remained standing. She just shrugged and looked at the notifications.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Berserk Mode ended</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>For your insane and malign acts, Azathoth has given you the title ''The Crawling Chaos.''</td></tr><tr><td>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td>+5 to all stats</td></tr><tr><td>+1000 Notoriety</td></tr><tr><td>+20% Damage in Berserk Mode</td></tr><tr><td>+10% Chance to give onlookers the hex fear</td></tr><tr><td>+5% Affinity to the Great Old Ones</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Lia remained there, unfazed at the grotesque action she had just committed. Seeing as how she was in the berserk state, she could have very well have killed Abigail, but that was not really important at the moment. What was important was the fact the doctor, Kris, was not lying. She could really still feel emotions.


    ''I wonder if this will give some hope to Abby.''


    As she thought so, Aisha logged out.


    <hr />


    "At the beginning, to them, the two girls seemed defenseless.


    One with black navel-lenght hair, black eyes, an armor closely resembling a samurai''s, complete with a katana hanging on her side.


    The other with white shoulder-lenght hair, purple eyes with red tendrils, light black armor, a black bracelet/wristband and wielding two daggers.


    They were wrong. Completely so.


    While the first one died only after she took down 150 or so members of their guild, the second didn''t die.


    She killed them all, and as she did so, she kept getting more gruesome with every passing minute.


    By the time only a dozen or so remained, she discarded her weapon.


    The guys were still wary, and a great deal traumatized by her actions, but she was still only one player, with only a certain amount of stamina and health, so some of them decided to go in for the kill.


    Once again, they were wrong.


    The ones who attacked first became a reminder for the others. The manner in which she killed them was unimaginable by their simple minds, who only thought of this as a fun game.


    When they tried to run away, she jumped and stepped on them, breaking their spines and rupturing their internal organs, leaving them to die.


    The last victim, the one who was filming, had perhaps the most merciful death of the dozen that had initially "survived," as she twisted his neck until it broke."


    This video was uploaded as a warning, but it quickly got popular for its gory aspect caused by a beautiful-looking girl, causing many to nickname the video as "The birth of Nyarlathotep," because the girl had white hair, because the location was within the Great Old Ones'' territory, because it was really gruesome and "evil" and lastly, because of an otaku.

 Level 22: Meeting up

    Stepping out of the capsule, Lia hears her mother discussing with some people. While Yvonne slowly regains her senses, she recognizes the voices of the other people. After she put some more clothes one, Lia walks into the living room to see Elisabeth talking about the guild Oblitus Mori and how ?sir should deal with them. One of the people in the video-chat noticed Yvonne and greeted her, prompting the others to do the same as Elisabeth stood up to hug her.


    "I''m sorry we couldn''t stop them, dear."


    Lia hugged her back. Her gaze wasn''t focused on anywhere in particular, like always, but somehow her grip seemed slightly stronger.


    "It doesn''t matter mom, I killed them all."


    At that, the room fell silent. Elisabeth stopped hugging her and stared Lia in the eyes. She knew Lia wouldn''t lie, at least to her, but it was still something hard to believe. Seeing her mother''s bout of skepticism Lia just shrugged and added


    "You can just check my gameplay."


    Elisabeth nodded before going back to her computer and accessing Lia''s gameplay recording via Hyria''s official site and using Lia''s username and password. After Yvonne pointed out when the battle began, Elisabeth shared her screen to the guild members in the video-chat.


    Lia went to eat something while ?sir''s highest ranking members sat in front of their screens for more than two-hours. After the video, they all took some time to clear their minds, think of what could happen in the future and how this event is going to affect the guild.


    Yvonne didn''t care, but she was not sure the same applied to her mother, so she decided to call out to her while all the others were busy.


    "Mom, we need to talk."


    Elisabeth turned off the microphone and webcam before staring at her daughter, wondering what else there was, but she clearly didn''t expect Lia''s next words.


    "I felt excited."


    Even if Elisabeth was frozen from the shock, that didn''t stop her tears from coming out. After a bit, Elisabeth lunged at Yvonne, intently hugging her as a few sobs escaped her mouth. Lia found her mother''s grip a bit much, but decided to just ignore it.


    <hr />


    Abigail was the first one to find the video of Lia massacring around 500 users, and the first thing the thought of was


    ''Nnnnnng~ I hope I can make her smile like that one day~ ..Maybe without getting mauled though.''


    Miranda was a bit put off by the strong realism, while Nathan thought it was impressive. Lia appeared to be thinking about the kind of troubles such publicity would bring, but she didn''t really care that much.


    After showing the three the video, Abigail came up with a proposal


    "Hey guys, isn''t about time we meet up? I mean: since we, no, well, Lia is going to attract some attention, I thought about going around the western part of the continent, explore stuff and clear some dungeon, and seeing that you two still are there~ .. ehm, what do you think?"


    Miranda was the first to reply


    "I think you are just scared of those Obli guys."


    "Indeed" chided Nathan, while Lia sneakily nodded from beside Abigail.


    "Wha¨C?! There is no way I''m scared of some guys who gang up on a poor and lovely girl!"


    Abigail was so enraged she almost stood up from her chair.


    "Aahahahhahahha!"


    Nathan began to laugh out load and while Miranda chuckled. Abigail''s face was beet red and barely noticed the Lia had started petting her head, at which point Miranda couldn''t contain her laughter anymore.


    A few minutes later, when they all calmed down (not counting Lia, as she never lost her calm) and Abigail had finished pouting, Nathan spoke up


    "Anyway, it''s a good idea, do you already know where we could meet up?"


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Abigail nodded and replied


    "Yeah, we''ll meet up near.. "


    End of Volume 1.


    <hr />


    And there we go, last chapter of this volume~


    When I think about how I should write volume 2, I start getting headaches lol


    Anyway, I don''t know when I''ll be able to show Lia''s status again, so here it is for those that are curious:


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Status Window</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Name</td><td width="25%">Aisha</td><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">163</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">3955 (+20%)</td><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">3675</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Main Class</td><td width="25%">Pandora</td><td width="25%">Sub Class</td><td width="25%">N/A</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Titles</td><td colspan=''3''>Dragon Slayer, The Crawling Chaos</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Race</td><td width="25%">Human</td><td width="25%">Alignment</td><td width="25%">Chaotic Neutral</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health Regen/Sec</td><td width="25%">21.0</td><td width="25%">Mana Regen/Sec</td><td width="25%">18.4</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Strength</td><td width="25%">208</td><td width="25%">Agility</td><td width="25%">209 (+10%)</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Wisdom</td><td width="25%">176</td><td width="25%">Intelligence</td><td width="25%">182</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Stamina</td><td width="25%">246 (+5%)</td><td width="25%">Vitality</td><td width="25%">189</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Dexterity</td><td width="25%">202 (+5%)</td><td width="25%">Class Affinity</td><td width="25%">52</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Fame</td><td width="25%">350</td><td width="25%">Notoriety</td><td width="25%">1000</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Resistance</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Fire</td><td colspan=''3''>10%</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Affinity</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Greek Gods</td><td width="25%">5%</td><td width="25%">Great Old Ones</td><td width="25%">5%</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Humans</td><td width="25%">-10%</td><td width="25%">Dark Races</td><td width="25%">3%</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Familiars</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Maverick</td><td width="25%">Unsummoned</td><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">38</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Remaining slots</td><td colspan=''2''>1</td></tr></tbody></table>


    And here''s the skill list~


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Skill List</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Primordial Fear (Active)</td><td width="25%">Advanced lv.1</td><td width="25%">Sprint (Active)</td><td width="25%">Intermediate lv.9</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Clean Cut (Active)</td><td width="25%">Intermediate lv.5</td><td width="25%">Bloodthirsty (Active)</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.6</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Divine Healing (Active)</td><td width="25%">Intermediate lv.8</td><td width="25%">Quick Analysis (Active)</td><td width="25%">Advanced lv.3</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Calm Analysis (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Advanced lv.3</td><td width="25%">Cooking (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Intermediate lv.8</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Sword Mastery (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Advanced lv.2</td><td width="25%">Predator Instincts (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Advanced lv.6</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Stealth (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Intermediate lv.6</td><td width="25%">Night Vision (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Mastered</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Dual Wield (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Advanced lv.1</td><td width="25%">Pinpoint Throw (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Intermediate lv.2</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Dagger Mastery (Passive)</td><td width="25%">Advanced lv.1</td><td width="25%">Death''s Eyes</td><td width="25%">Beginner lv.3</td></tr></tbody></table>

 Reboot 1: The Dragon Slayer

    So yeah, I''m on a roll lol


    Anyway, Volume 2 ¥¹¥¿©`¥È~


    <hr />


    Isabelle Stanford, Isa for her friends, was a cheerful 15 years old girl, always following her big sister around, she loved to play outside and prank others, though she rarely asked for anything.


    Cynthia Stanford, Isa''s big sister, was 3 years older. She liked resting under a tree''s shade while Isa played around, and she absolutely loved books, but she could only use the capsule from her father''s company to read them as she was blind from birth.


    Jack Stanford, the head developer at Crathos Inc., a very strict and no-nonsense type of guy, but with a soft spot for his daughters. Like all fathers.


    Roxanne Stanford, Jack''s wife, was actually half-japanese, so when initially she choose to be an housewife, she didn''t forget to impart in the little girls their japanese traditions. Currently, she worked as a cook in slightly-renowned asian restaurant.


    Nearly ten months had passed since the release of the famous VRMMO game "Hyria," but no one of the Stanfords actually played it. Jack and Roxanne were too busy, while Isa and Cynthia just didn''t care.


    But that soon changed when one day: when Isa was scrolling through the channels to see what was being broadcasted, she saw a program, "The Dragon Slayer," was about to start. She was doubtful at first, as she knew that that media station too had began to broadcast about Hyria, but the name intrigued her.


    <hr />


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    All credits go to Huke! Open the image in another tab to enlarge it!


    This image isn''t mine, but it''s very fitting, don''t you think?


    After all, the chara''s name is Dragon Slayer :D


    <hr />


    The program lasted for a whole 4 hours, but Isa watched every minute of it. She was mesmerized by the the intelligence and moves displayed by the girl in the video. She wanted to experience that too. She wanted Cynthia to experience that too.


    She wanted her adventure to begin.


    Jack was mildly surprised by how his daughter Isa had convinced her sister to play Hyria too, but the important part was why Isa was so suddenly interested in it. Jack had watched that video too, after he asked Isa her reasons for wanting to play, and he had a feeling the girl in the video was familiar, though no name came to match her face.


    Closing the door to her room, Isa undressed, revealing the curves her gorgeous petite body.


    She quickly entered the capsule and began let the set up run. Unlike her older sister, she never found a use for her capsule, so it was the first time she entered it.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>New user detected</td></tr></tbody></table>


    As a message popped up in front of her, she could feel a strange gelatinous substance fill the inside of her capsule, or coffin, as she liked to call it.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    After a few minutes, the gel-like matter left and Isa felt it strange that the material didn''t leave her wet. In both senses. As she was quite intrigued with the kinky japanese porn, she''d imagined quite a bit of things when she felt the gelatin monster attack her body.


    Then two new pop-ups brought her back to reality.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Body fitness registered</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Do you wish to begin the character creation</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Isa slightly nodded and barely noticed the message:


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Beginning the transition of the consciousness..</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Before she found herself standing naked in the middle of a white room. A second after, a female voice filled the room.


    <<Would you like to modify your current avatar or create a new one?>>


    "Yes."


    A replica of herself appeared in front of Isa. She saw her whitish-pink skin, her flat chest adorned by a cute black strip with "CENSORED" on it, her narrow hip similarly adorned, her curly brown hair, so short they barely reached her nape, and lastly her black almond eyes.


    Some would describe her as a tomboy, and they could also add loli, if only her height hadn''t been 174 cm.


    "Make my hair black. Also, can I have more than one pupil per eye?"


    <<No.>>


    Replied the voice as her hair changed colour. Isa was slightly annoyed that she couldn''t have a pentagram formed in her eye by multiple pupils.


    "Then, is it possible to have the right eye''s sclera black, while the left one is white?"


    <<It is.>>


    "If that is so, do that and also make my right iris white, black for the left."


    Isa intently watched how her eyes changed, and, satisfied with the result, she added


    "Lastly, the tendrils in the left iris have to be white while the ones in the right have to be black."


    Done with her appearance, Isa waited for the next prompt, which timely arrived a few seconds later


    <<Do you wish to change race?>>


    "..Nah"


    <<What nickname would you like to use? We don''t recommend using your real name>>


    "Enyo"


    <<Very well. Where would you like to start?>>


    Even though it was her first time ( ''LoL'' ), Isa felt a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu that irked her a bit.


    "Einswel"


    It was the north-most queendom in the eastern part of the continent, she and Cynthia had already decided to start there.


    <<Request accepted>>


    Darkness enveloped all and a system message appeared before her.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Welcome to Hyria</td></tr></tbody></table>

 Reboot 2: Mesmerized

    Note that how I wrote last chapter was because it was kinda Isabelle''s pov, while this chapter is based on Cynthia''s pov. I''ll alternate between the two (of course when the chapter is about them) until their arc is over~


    Yeah, I changed Isa''s name to Enyo, as the one before was for another chara lol


    Ugh, I always get lazy around the groundwork chapters and the amount of test and assignments I had this week did not help..


    Btw, "nee-chan" is a cuter version of big sister.


    <hr />


    Cynthia wasn''t really that interested in the game, but her cute little sister wanted to play it, so she had to play too. There was no way she''d let someone, be it male or female, go anywhere near Isa.


    That''s why, after she skipped the modification of her body and read the description of each available, she choose to be a beastwoman of the fox tribe.


    A fox girl.


    The members of the fox tribe were the most powerful wielders of mind magic, even though many just specialized in illusion magic, that didn''t mean that was all there was to it.


    Cynthia''s intent was to brainwash the thrash that would not give in even after a beating. She did know just constantly using illusion magic to hide Isa or make her less cute would be enough, but she considered such things a sin towards humanity.


    Race chosen, she started to modify her appearance.


    ''Voluptuous yet reasonably sized breasts, nut-coloured hair, ears and tail, appropriate buttocks to match the bosom, golden eyes and a slender body.''


    Cynthia nodded as she observed the end result. As the system broke her out of her train of thoughts, Cynthia quickly answered


    "The¨¤omai"


    Somehow, the irony in the name had always captivated Cynthia. She always thought it was her hidden M side''s fault.


    <<Very well. Would you like to start in the Fox Tribe''s village?>>


    Remembering her sister''s words, she firmly said


    "No, I''d like to spawn in Einswel"


    <<Starting point set to Einswel, do you confirm?>>


    "Yes"


    After a flash of darkness passed, Thea found herself in the plaza of a town, or maybe a city, that seemed to be a mix of both a desert town(/city) and a port town(/city), closely resembling the ones made many years ago in her world.


    "Yo, nee-chan."


    Hearing her lovingly sweet Isa''s voice, Thea looked toward the direction the voice came from and saw a handsome (?) young girl with strange eyes. Upon recognizing her, Thea smiled while she replied


    "Hello."


    Enyo gave Thea a quick hug before they both checked their statuses, skill lists and inventories. In the skill section, nothing differed if not for the fact that while Enyo had the Identification skill and Thea did not, though in its stead she had the "Illusion Magic" skill tree. As for stats, while Enyo was well-balanced, Thea''s basic stats favored agility and dexterity at the cost of strength and stamina. Strangely, Thea had a -20% resistance to advanced technology, but later when the two checked multiple forums, they found out no one knew what this "advanced technology" referred to, as since the start of the game up to now, no player who chose to be of the fox tribe found a weapon or spell that dealt them that +20% damage.


    "What do we do now?"


    Asked Thea, barely containing her joy and.. lust. Enyo had been staying on her laps ever since they sat down to check the various windows. As she was about to sweetly hug her little sister, the system sent her a warning, saying that no underaged player could perform or receive sexual acts.


    Hyria did not have a way for players to flag others for sexual harassment or similarly heavy misconducts. The reason was simple, since the very first moment a user started playing, a simple AI was assigned to them. This AI constantly made sure the safety of its assigned player was maintained, but it also made it so that the users could not freely rape or torture (or whatever else) people.


    "First, we''ll ask a guard for the location of this city''s Warriors'' Atelier, I need a weapon."


    "Mh"


    After their conversation was over, they stood up and started walking toward one of the city''s gates. It wasn''t near the plaza, but it was visible, so that''s how the two knew where to go. At the gate there were two lizardmen acting as guards, they wore a light armor over clothes to protect their skin from the sun, they also wielded an iron spear and a rounded wooden shield reinforced with iron.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "Excuse me, I''d like to know where is the Warriors'' Atelier situated"


    Enyo questioned one of the guards as she walked up to him. The guard lazily glanced at her and then at Thea. After a snort, he explained to Enyo the road to the building and also gave a rough description of the exterior of the building. Thanking him, the two began walking away, toward their destination.


    Inside, there many noob players and only a few NPCs. Later, when Enyo and Thea were done asking around, they understood that there was no instructor at this atelier. Shrugging it off, Enyo grabbed one of the bastard swords on display and started walking back to the building''s entrance with Thea silently following. She was too busy glaring any person that dared to stare at Enyo for more than 4 seconds.


    Even though the three had talked not too long ago, they ignored each other while passing through the gate. The guard continued his work while Enyo and Thea continued to walk toward the hunting ground east of Einswel. From there, it was barely in view, but it was nonetheless visible.


    The beautifully shining sea on the horizon. If they had been a couple, and the time was nightfall or daybreak, it would have surely been a perfect romantic scene. Just thinking about it made Thea start daydreaming.


    ''Aaah.. ahh.. Isa and me, hugging on the beach, candidly looking at the sunset reflected on the ocean, slowly slipping into a pink mood, our faces unconsciously keep getting closer and closer to each other and then.. !''


    As Thea shivered from the excitement, she was slightly brought back to reality, which made her realize that Enyo had already began engaging monsters left and right. Thea was instantly enraged.


    ''How dare those ugly maggots go near my Isabelle!''


    She activated her skill. Most skill trees, like the one Thea had, didn''t do much alone, they had to be used as a base to acquire the various sub-skills that would be integrated and strengthened by them. Of course, you could still obtain the sub-skills without having the main-skill, but the wouldn''t be as powerful.


    Thea concentrated on the brain of the mob Enyo was fighting it. She first thought to just directly fry his brain, but since she had little time and her main-skill was about illusions, she decided to implant in the monster''s brain images so frightening and terrifying that the creature would then just have a break down and die.


    The result was not as she expected, the mob ceased all movements and began to tremble, but it still worked as Enyo didn''t waste her chance and beheaded it.


    After that, they continue to slaughter all the worms in the area the came to attack them. The two were like zombies, and not in a good sense. The two were so exhausted it was a wonder how they still hadn''t dropped dead. The scorching sun and the unfamiliar terrain formation, made them expend more stamina than necessary. They could survive only thanks to the level ups and the stupidity of the worms, which let the two rest for various minutes for several times.


    The only downside was that after they killed around 20 of them, the worms stopped giving any worth mentioning amount of exp. The only difficulty in them lied in their numbers. In each wave of attacks, they had an average of 13 enemies.


    Slowly, the rose up from the ground. No enemy or monster was in sight.


    Their need for water seemed to increase with each passing second.


    Their parched throats burned like never before.


    Then, they saw their salvation.


    The largest body of water on the planet, the ocean surrounding Hyria.


    With clouded eyes and dried lips, they began dragging their body towards it.


    Each step taken toward it felt reinvigorating, though in reality it wasn''t.


    The nearer they got, the more they felt fascinated, almost mesmerized, by the ocean.


    It was like it was calling for them..

 Reboot 3: The Oldest Dreamer

    After what seemed to be weeks, the two now stood in front of the rocking waves of the sea. Their stomaches were so weak they couldn''t gurgle anymore. If one were to lift their clothes, they would have been able to see Enyo and Thea''s ribs barely covered by a thin layer of skin, which wasn''t far from revealing even their organs. Their clothes were dirty and ragged, their cheeks caved in and their eyes resembled the ones of dead people.


    But the the girls didn''t care, feeling even more compelled to reach whatever being that was dwelling beneath the ocean calling for them. Though, as soon as Enyo was close enough, four black/dark-brown tentacles restrained her. The four tentacles viciously wrapped themselves around each of Enyo''s limbs, gripping them so hard you could faintly hear her bones cracking.


    Something came out of the water, but its form was so twisted and maddening that the only thing Thea and Enyo could make out other than the tentacles were the innumerable horns on its body.


    ''Quyagen..''


    Thought Thea as she recognized the monster, well, deity. Still, it was puzzling as to how she knew such things, as she never read anything about Lovecraft''s creations.


    Thea continued to walk unperturbed. She didn''t even look back, as Quyagen brought forth another tentacle that wrapped itself on Enyo''s waist, then continued to move forward toward her intimate parts. Even as the monster defiled her, Enyo''s body was so tired that she wasn''t able to emit a single sound.


    Once again, it was mysterious how Thea could know of such happenings even while they occurred behind her back. As she walked, Thea found herself to be completely immersed.


    Underwater, for hours she admired the spectacle called nature that was unfolding around her, even though her body continued on its path unconsciously. She couldn''t see much the deeper she was, but it still was a beautiful sight. The rays of the sun that managed to penetrate the cloak of water above her, sometimes would reflect on some exotic fish''s scales, making it sparkle. Various shoals and schools of fishes of different and same species swam around, some to eat some algae on the ground, some to go from one place to another and some to enter a variety of small caves in the ground or in the rocks.


    At some point, a huge crystalline being appeared before her as her body finally stopped walking. Thea tried to make out its features, but she was unable to. They stared each other for a while, before the being finally spoke


    ¡ªIt''s been a long time since anyone entered my domain.


    It wasn''t really a speech, Thea noticed, as he had actually sent the message telepathically. Considering the state of her body and where she was, Thea decided to take a gamble and tried to respond using telepathy


    ¡ªWho.. are you?


    There was no visible change in the creature''s body, but an oppressive air began to be spread around him, causing Thea to wonder if she had to bow her head to the divinity standing in front of her.


    ¡ªI am Yorith, the Oldest Dreamer


    ¡ªI see..


    Thea barely answered, as she felt as though a blanket had been put over her mind, rendering her unable to think correctly. The two continued to stare at each other, uncaring of their surroundings, for several hours until Thea finally noticed her MP bar blinking for a second before it emptied.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Her surroundings immediately changed, she was no more under the sea staring at some God, she now was inside a monster''s mouth.


    Hers and many others'' screams slowly made their way into her ears, and Thea recalled what had happened.


    As they were leaving the city, the sky cracked. A humungous proboscis reached out from the other side of the crack, sucking in large quantities of players and some NPCs, Enyo and Thea included. Passing through the monster''s proboscis, acid slowly dissolved everyone''s skin. The NPCs would have to remain, but the players began getting automatically logged out after 10~15 minutes had passed.


    Thea began hallucinating after 2 hours of constant pain. Now that she looked around, she noticed that Enyo had already been either digested or logged out. Her health was down to the last dozen points, but what intrigued her was how realistic was the representation of her own bones with molten muscles slowly detaching from them. And then, everything became dark.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have died.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <hr />


    Needless to say, Isa was not pleased by what had happened. Sighting of Gog-Hoor were not unusual, but that it happened right on her first day and right in her starting town made it a bit annoying. Moreover if, like on the internet various people had affirmed, the next time she logged in she''d be randomly teleported.


    When she heard her sister coming downstairs, toward the kitchen, she prepared a glass of water and gave it to her, saying


    "Took you long enough"


    Cynthia fumbled a little, trying to guess where the glass was, before finding it. She gladly accepted it and drank as Isa explained their situation to her, making her frown. After that Isa asked what took Cynthia so long, to which she answered


    "I was busy with that hallucination"


    "What hallucination?"


    Asked Isa perplexed. To her knowledge, there had been no mentions of hallucinations in what she read about the event. Cynthia told her what she saw, tactically skipping the part where Isa was raped, and by the end of it, Isa still had no idea of what was going on.


    They could just hope to not be teleported in a dangerous location.


    ''Oh yeah, I forgot to tell nee-chan it''s mass-teleportation, so we won''t end up separated.. teehee!''


    Isa mentally stuck out her tongue, thinking about how Cynthia must be fuming inside by now. Yes, Isa was aware of Cynthia''s siscon, mostly because she too really loved her older sister, but she still wasn''t sure it was that kind of love.

 Reboot 4: Maitreya

    When Isa logged back in, she saw in front of herself dozens of monks praying/meditating. As she looked around she saw behind herself a bronze statue of a woman sitting cross-legged with her open hands on her knees while the index finger and the thumb connected to form a circle. The typical meditation form you see everywhere. She wore similar clothes to the monks in front of Isa, but she couldn''t be sure as the statue wasn''t painted.


    "Eh..?"


    It wasn''t certain who uttered that, but afterwards a commotion started since it seemed like they finally noticed Isa. She wasn''t really worried, but as soon as she turned around to watch them, every single monk stopped as their jaws opened wide. At that point, Isa was worried, maybe she broke something. She searched on the floor, a tatami, to see if perhaps she had spawned on the object and broke it, but there wasn''t anything. When she looked back up, all the monks were prostrating on the floor, bewildered Isa posed them a question


    "W-what are you doing?"


    No one spoke, but the answer came anyway:


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Event Unlocked: The advent of Maitreya</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Since ancient times, it was prophesied that the future Buddha would reveal herself in front of a group of monks in the Woh Empire. Now, the monks of Jurta believe you to be the Maitreya.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Restrictions:</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Gender</td><td width="25%">Female</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Alignment:</td><td width="25%">Neutral</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Skill:</td><td width="25%">Maitreyopts</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Spawn/teleport in front of a group of monks while they pray to the previous Maitreya</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Class permanently changes to ''Maitreya''</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Your main class now is: Maitreya</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ''What the?! I don''t even have that Mai-something skill!''


    Flabbergasted, Enyo immediately checked her skills, and to her surprise, she really did have the Maitreyopts skill (along with others). It seemed to be a passive skill that let her see spirits and other ethereal creatures and objects.


    She did get a bit furious with being stuck with an unknown class without even having the possibility to see if other classes interested her, but after she calmed down, she inspected the various option, advantages and disadvantages of her class. To her, it seemed to be an hybrid between an healer and a rogue, but instead of the stat Faith, she had the stat Karma. Apparently, one of her objectives as Maitreya was to balance the Karma of everyone, herself included. Long story short: punish the bad guys and reward the good ones, but take no credit in both.


    Another bummer was that she could only use some weapon called ''sai,'' but she had no idea of what that was, until she asked one of the monks guiding her through the monastery. When she saw what a sai was, she immediately thought about that film were a blind guy dressed in red went around beating up the bad guys with his cane.


    At some point, Enyo encountered Thea.


    Apparently, Thea obtained a class too, only hers was not permanent. ''Tr?umer,'' let Thea dabble into other people''s dreams and condition them (only to a certain extent), but she could also make them think that reality was in fact only a lucid dream and manipulate them all the same. Thea seemed delighted to have such skills.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Thanks to what was written in Enyo''s "Event Unlocked" window and asking around, the two now knew where they were teleported. They were in a monastery named Jurta, situated in a mountain valley, in the Woh Empire. There weren''t any mobs near Jurta, they all spawned  either on or behind the mountains encircling the place.


    Looking at the bright side, the monks promised to train Enyo, Thea and all the other people who were unwillingly teleported here for two weeks, after that though, they all had to be on their ways. Also, Enyo and Thea weren''t the only ones to obtain a new class, but none of the others'' classes was over the average.


    In those two weeks, Enyo learned how to efficiently dual-wield the sai, while Thea had been taught close-quarters combat techniques. They didn''t level up even once, but the training did provide with some stat increase. Before departing, Thea proposed to use her powers to obtain an extended training or some <del>slave</del> companion, but Enyo refused. She was pretty sure that would bring bad karma.


    Along with the other players, they started to travel around the villages on the other side of the mountains. Thea was a bit annoyed that Enyo was enjoying the company of <del>maggots</del> other people, but she couldn''t keep her sister in a cage. Maybe.


    Anyway, the group encountered various mobs in their travel: mikaribaba, kappa, akateko, kasa-obake, amanojaku, tengu, kiyohime and rokurokubi.


    Something to note was that they only knew the mobs'' names thanks to Enyo.


    And certainly, the rokurokubi was the worst group of mobs they encountered. Seeing a person''s neck stretch so much was somewhat really creepy. Still, they weren''t really though monsters to beat.


    Around the time two weeks (Real Time) had passed since they all began traveling together, they all began to go on their way. Many of the initial players were gone before the two weeks of training by the monks was done, because they were high-leveled players. The ones that remained and went around together were between level 1 and 20.


    As they moved north/north-west, only Enyo and Thea remained. One month (RT) had passed in the blink of an eye and they were now level 43 and 47 respectively. They were currently staying in a town in the Rohan Empire when the news spread everywhere, both in Hyria and in the real world. Unfortunately, the two were too far away from where the event was held to try to participate.


    At Xin Jen, in the Yinyue Empire, a big ship had been built. It would depart in three days and its objective was to find and scout new lands across the ocean.


    End of Volume 2, part one.


    <hr />


    Let''s quickly wrap up vol 2~ lol


    If you are wondering, no, the ones favored by the gods on Hyria (Lia (>Pandora), Isa (>Maitreya), etc..) are not all women, it''s 2 women and 2 men.


    Also, the film (and comic) I was talking about was Daredevil~

 Reboot 5: School

    One week after Lia and Abigail became a couple


    It had been some time since she had last been at school. Walking through the corridors made some people stare at her for a few seconds, before they turned around and either whispered something or just returned to their own things as they didn''t care about Lia.


    Even if it had been a while, Yvonne didn''t forget where her class was, and once she entered she could see a few shocked faces among her classmates. Yes, seeing her again was a surprise, but what shocked them more was seeing her without and eyepatch.


    As she sat down on her seat, some students actually surrounded her to ask about it. She just looked directly in the eyes of the boy who questioned her and used one finger to lower her left eye''s lower eyelid. "Oh"s and "Ah"s were quietly muttered as her classmates saw the small barcode inscribed on the eye.


    Though, they all returned to their seats as the school''s bell rang.


    Not even one minute had passed and the teacher entered the room. He wore a long-sleeved brown sweater over a white/gray shirt with a beige tie on it and similarly coloured pants and shoes. He slightly pushed upwards his glasses with one hand as he watched Lia, before he continued on toward his desk.


    After he checked who was present and who was not, he took some chalk and wrote on the blackboard the current time and when they had to hand over the test. Done that, he picked up five sets of print outs and give one set to each person in the first row. The five students then took their own test out and passed the remaining papers to the classmates behind them.


    When it was time to give back the print outs, the process above repeated, only backwards. Chattering filled the room as every student began discussing about their answers in the test, until the next teacher entered and another subject''s test began.


    Yvonne stood up after she give her print out to the person in front of her for the fifth time. School was over, so she just put her pencil case in her handbag and walked toward the door.


    ''Jennifer probably knows I''m here by now and will be coming after me, but mom said I should at least greet mrs. Wang, so nothing I can do about it.''


    Lia had to wait a few minutes in the teacher''s office before the person in question actually arrived. She was pleasantly surprised to see Lia at school, so they sat together in a more isolated part of the big room to chat.


    Of course, many adults, moreover Yvonne''s teachers, knew all about her circumstances (various news channels talked about the incident) so Lia didn''t have to explain her left eye to mrs. Wang. Instead, she talked about how, through her mother and doctor''s suggestions, she had began to play a game.


    She talked about how it actually revealed to be useful, as she finally felt an emotion after many 12 years void of anything, be it good or bad. She also talked about how she now had a girlfriend, a topic which apparently made the teacher feel young again.


    Lia and mrs. Wang talked for about 10 minutes, as Yvonne received a text "What are you doing?! >.< been waiting at the gate.." and promptly excused herself to meet up with Abigail. Lia supposed Abigail planned for this to be a pleasant surprise, but did not expect her to take so long to come out.


    Outside, waiting at the gate there wasn''t only Abigail, Jennifer (and her lapdogs) was there too. Thankfully, they didn''t know each other, so there was no bloodbath, at the moment. As she calmly walked forward, Yvonne thought about what to do


    ''I could send Abby a message, but Jennifer would probably think that it wasn''t a coincidence she checked her phone, so she''d probably end up pestering Abby anyway..''


    Only a couple of meters separated Lia and Abigail when she finally decided about her course of action. Yvonne continued to walk toward Abigail without hesitation, drawing curious looks from Jennifer, her followers and some other random students. When she was close enough Abigail began to greet her


    "Surpri¡ª"


    But she didn''t get to finish as Lia grabbed her dress, brought her face closer and kissed her. The sudden deep kiss made Abigail blush slightly, but she nevertheless closed her eyes and accepted it. Lia finished it by retrieving her tongue, separating their lips momentarily before giving Abigail a light kiss on the lips.


    ".. se. I guess that''s a nice start for our date, uh?"


    Abigail continued after the kiss. Somehow, hearing her speak, made Jennifer snap out of her daze. She was about to start dissing them when Yvonne talked. She talked to Jennifer for the first time since they met.


    "I don''t think a simple ''I''m  sorry'' would be enough for you, but other than saying that I don''t know what to do."


    Lia just stared into Jennifer''s eyes, ignoring the puzzled look Abigail had. Jennifer made a displeased face, then she had a resigned look and lastly she stared back at Yvonne resolutely.


    ".. Let''s just hung out together once, that''s all I wanted to ask you that day."


    Abigail and Lia then quietly watched as Jennifer (and her clique) walked away. Other students were watching over the drama that had been going on before, but once it was done they all quickly dispersed.


    Stolen story; please report.


    Yvonne calmly explained her and Jennifer''s situation to Abigail as the two made their way to a family restaurant located near the central part of the city. The girls enjoyed a light meal together, after which they walked around aimlessly while window-shopping. Lia bought Abigail a black and purple hairpin and a white cheongsam, she didn''t expect a date so she didn''t have much money to use. Abigail instead bought for Lia a fluffy azure scarf, an azure rose hairpin, a pendant and lastly a black dress with white lace trims.


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    This is Abby''s cheongsam:


    This is Lia''s dress but add black tights:


    Abigail seemed to know that maybe, after only a week of going out together, it was a bit much, but then she just said "Whatever." and bought all of that stuff anyway.


    After that, the two went to see a film, it was about some guy who one day found a mountain of corpses instead of the gang he wanted to beat up, then he later got involved with some creepy girl who could transfer her consciousness in other people''s bodies and in the end he had to fight against the government to protect her, as she locked herself into the protagonist''s lover''s body.


    The reason for the sudden date and the fancy clothes turned out to be because there was a festival near the beach, only 2 hours away by train. Also, since it was possible, the two had changed clothes on the train.


    When they arrived, it was already dark, but many people and couples were still strolling through the various stalls and on the beach. By Abigail''s request, they held hands as they relaxedly walked on the shore, admiring the light of the stars. As the two continued forward, at some point Abigail suddenly stopped.


    "It''d be a shame not to take a photo, don''t you think?"


    She said as she brightly smiled toward Lia, who just nodded as a reply. They quickly asked a passerby to take a photo of them and he gladly accepted. Abigail and Yvonne stood side by side, forming little hearts with their hands, the first making a smile so energetic and cheerful it hid her blushing cheeks, the second seemed to be timidly peeking out of her scarf as her cheeks were tinted a light red. At the same time, fireworks were launched, as if to celebrate with them.


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    Just imagine cheongsam you saw before instead of the one here:


    Here instead, imagine the dress from before but with this upper part:


    It seemed like Abigail had all planned, as one hour later her and Lia checked in at a fancy hotel.


    There, they embraced each other for the first time..


    <hr />


    Warning: the chapter can very well end with the above phrase in case you are not interested in reading about sex scenes.


    <hr />


    Abigail was already done undressing and didn''t wait for Lia, who still had her dress on, pushing her on the bed. They kissed as Abigail''s hand slowly reached under Yvonne''s dress and up till her bra. She spent some time gently massaging it before feeling one of Lia''s hands pinching her nipple.


    Letting out a cute voice, Abigail had to stop the kissing battle, which gave enough time to Yvonne to bring her mouth to the other nipple, slightly sucking on it. Just like always, Lia''s unexpected attacks took Abigail by surprise, but this time it could be said she had an advantage, experience.


    The hand that had stopped massaging Yvonne passed under the bra and began gently groping her breast, the other unused hand slowly caressed Lia''s back as it made its way to her most important part, and lastly, Abigail used her mouth to nibble on her lover''s ear. Yvonne wanted to repay the favor with her unoccupied hand, but it seemed like it didn''t want to stop holding on Abigail''s body.


    Lia began emitting small moans as she felt herself getting wet and after a bit Abigail made the two change position. They faced each other''s forbidden areas to pleasure themselves using their upper mouths. This continued only for a bit, as Abigail wanted to make sure Yvonne experienced the least amount of pain possible...

 Reboot 6: Woh Empire

    Have you seen TN''s cover? I think it''s pretty cool~


    About the last chapter, I guess it could feel like Lia and Abby''s relationship is fast, but they have been together for more or less 4 months, not counting the additional time spent in the game, that has a 4:1 hours ratio, and in that time Lia finally found someone she did not want to be separated with. Certainly, it wasn''t a strong desire, but considering who we''re talking about, I say it''s plenty.


    As for Abby, well, considering how straightforward she is, and how she had to held back for a loooooooong 4 months: i don''t remember if I said that I had hinted this couple in the chapter "the school and the dojo," but with that I also talked about how the two would have to get naked in the same room each time they changed clothes. Can you resist not touching the girl you love, naked and only a few centimeters away from your grasps?


    That''s why Abby didn''t waste time after they became a couple. I consider having sex a way to pleasure your partner and to reaffirm your closeness, but nothing more. It''s not that important to me, so the same is for my little couple. Also, Lia wouldn''t have said no. She''s not experienced in relationships and she could care less about sex, first times and the likes, so Abby took a tiiiiiiiiiiiny bit advantage of it and just went and had sex with Lia.


    If you want to know when their first time happened, it''s after Fuji''s catacomb and after they met up with Miranda and Nathan.


    To clarify the first four chapters, they were just to give a base idea of what kind of charas Isa and Cynthia are (well, I didn''t give all of Cynthia just yet~ ;) ), that is why I only gave the name of the mobs they encountered and said that this and that happened without giving details. More details will be given in vol 3.


    At the end of the day, what I want to say is, you can treat vol 2 just like a big break from the story, cause there will be no plot advancement. It''s also the reason why vol 2 is gonna be short.


    <hr />


    Atlas had finished his training and obtained his class, so he was now in front of the entrance to Jurta waiting for Electra and Gaea to arrive. The entrance was just a paved road with a toori towering over it every 5 meters, it passed through the lowest point of the circular mountain range and was half a day''s walk away from the nearest town.


    In front and to the left of him was just a big open space for various kilometers, to the right there were more mountains, this ones indicating the borders of the empire. He wanted to do some hunting while he waited, but there was nothing near that was worth it, so he just sat on a rock and waited for the girls.


    Electra and Gaea appeared in a relatively inconspicuous manner. Electra came flying down while carrying a petite girl, who was clearly not fine with heights. When the two landed, Gaea complained and pouted for a bit, making it clear that it was not her idea to use such a "crude" method to arrive and that she had absolutely no fear of heights.


    They traveled toward the north, as Jurta was at Woh''s southern border, delimiting the end of the western part of Hyria, and they didn''t want to leave as they decided to explore this part of the continent with Abigail and Lia. Miranda, Nathan and Abigail knew each other for a long time, and even if they were not interested in the modern asian culture, seeing how the "progenitors" of their most-loved martial arts lived intrigued the three.


    Notable occurrences were <del>Atlas''</del> their first encounters with some of this empire''s monsters:


    While walking through a forest, Atlas had spotted a hand hanging down from a tree in the distance. Thinking some child was abandoned in the forest and he had used all his remaining strength to climb said tree, Atlas ran to him as quickly as he could, not giving time to Electra and Gaea to warn him.


    When he was near enough to the tree, the hand turned red and stretched out to grab him. Atlas silently clicked his tongue for not realizing it was a trap sooner, but he still did not regret taking such actions. He tilted his head to the left as with one hand he reached out to his b¨­. Another hand sprouted out from the stretched out one, which would probably attack him from behind in a few seconds, leaving him no other choice than to duck. As he ducked under the two red arms, he used his b¨­ to hit where the two arms connected while he called forth an earth wall behind himself.


    Dashing forward, Atlas heard something hit the wall a couple seconds later. As soon as he reached under the branch from which the red hand came from, he could see the "Level 15" appear slightly above it. the original hand plus three more began darting toward him, but Atlas had already finished casting a wind blade to severe the branch from the tree. Before it was severed though, a hand managed to reach him, making him feel a searing hot pain on his shoulder blade.


    Another time was when Atlas carelessly tried to refill his water pouches in a river. Some scaly blue-skinned hand grabbed his wrist and dragged him into the river. What he saw was an humanoid monster, as tall as <del>Gaea</del> a child, with a beak as a mouth, a carapace on his back and a bald spot on the top of his head. The monster quickly swam near Atlas and began to claw at his face, which prompted Atlas to fight back, but not before taking note of the creature''s webbed hands.


    Battling underwater proved difficult, his movements were slow and he could barely defend himself from the mob''s onslaught as he tried to reemerge to breath. At some point, Atlas was a bit irritated. It didn''t happen often, but when it did, he had the strangest ideas. As proof of that, that particular time Atlas decided to drown the monster. Yes, he wanted to drown a mob that lived underwater.


    Atlas created a sphere of water that enclosed the creature''s head and pumped mana into it. The end result was pretty ironic, as he was actually successful. Most likely, the water ball didn''t let the river''s water enter it, so even if it did contain oxygen to let the mob breath at the beginning, the more he breathed the more he exhausted his reserves of oxygen, which lead to his death.


    Once, Electra, Gaea and Atlas found an isolated wooden hut. It was clear by the foul smell in the air that inside was either an evil NPC or a mob. Electra took out her two tonfa and they were almost instantly covered by a thin layer of holy energy. The fact that she was a Succubus, one of the Dark Races, slightly weakened its effects but not by too much.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Ready for battle, she kicked the door open just to find an one-eyed old woman in the middle of the room. A room full of strange symbols wrote in blood, one or three skulls, a pile of decomposing bodies and lit candles. Electra carefully moved forward and when the woman was in her range, she slashed her tonfa in a crossing diagonal pattern, kind of like an X, sending at the malign NPC a ranged holy attack. Electra wanted to interrupt the old hag from chanting, but she didn''t want to risk getting too close.


    Seeing as how the previous attack sent the cyclops flying on the wall, leaving a bleeding cross on her back, Electra just decided to finish her from a safe distance. Atlas and Gaea didn''t intervene, as they saw how easily the creature was beaten. Though Gaea rarely needed to lend an hand, both because they were in a relatively low-leveled area and because Atlas and Electra (mostly Atlas) needed combat experience.


    While Electra loot the objects left behind by the woman she found a paper umbrella, which surprised all three of them as they never heard of such a drop. Following the reasoning that it could be a rare item, she quickly went to pick it up, but as soon as she touched it, an eye and a mouth appeared on the umbrella.


    Electra instinctively leaned back as fast as she could, but the monster''s tongue still managed to wrap itself around her head. It began releasing electricity which first paralyzed Electra and then it tried to fry her. "Tried" because Gaea had already appeared near the two and, using her sword, she severed the thing''s tongue. A few centimeters after the blade passed the severed tongue, Gaea forced the sword to turn at around 90¡ã to slash horizontally at the mob. She had been so fast it didn''t even notice it had its tongue cut in two when it died.


    Lastly, they once cleared a dungeon which treasure later gave Atlas the ability to teleport. The remarkable monsters were only the two bosses. The first was a chinese dragon long about 50 meters, it specialized in water magic, while the second, which seemed to be commanding the dragon, was a small ogre-like creature with sharp claws, wild hair and two small horns on its forehead. Its speciality was illusion magic, denoted by the fact that both Atlas and Gaea instead of the hideous creature saw a little girl tied to a horn spouting from the dragon''s head. This meant that Electra either had a strong mind, or the Succubi were resistant to illusions to a certain degree.


    The formation in the fight was the following: Gaea at the front, confronting the dragon head-on, with Atlas behind, supporting her, while Electra flew around over the dragon''s head to target the second boss. Seeing as how the smaller boss was commanding the dragon, the three thought that perhaps, if they killed him, maybe the dragon would become docile or something. They tried to not think about the possible situation where the dragon went mad.


    After a few exchanges of blows, the ogre noticed that his magic did not work on Electra, so he stopped hiding himself behind an illusion and focused on the other two players. He did not try to use illusion too unrealistic or impossible, there was no way they would get tricked if a second before they were fighting a dragon and a second later they found themselves playing in a lake. That is why the little boss'' tactic was to mess with Gaea and Atlas'' depth perception and cause a kind of akinetopsia, or motion blindness, which led the two fighting the dragon to think Hyria''s server was lagging.


    Such a thing caused a great health loss for the three of them, because Gaea and Atlas'' movements were incapacitated the dragon found time to deal some blows to Electra too. When they entered critical condition, Electra unwillingly seduced the ogre. It was something she rarely used, because she also swore to never use such a thing in front of other male players or NPC. Also, the ogre was pretty ugly.


    Electra''s skills as a succubus included a minor branch of the illusion magic skill tree, that aided her in tricking the prey augmenting her beauty in his eyes. As she did that though, she had to move sensually, using a dancing skill, which resulted in her stripping.


    Since the opponent seemed proficient in illusion, she was even more hesitant in using that combo of skills, but in the end it worked so she was glad. As to why she had to distract the small boss, it was because Gaea as a paladin had healing skills, which were promptly used. After all three had recovered a decent amount of health, Electra stopped distracting the ogre, but didn''t attack him immediately, else he would instantly break out of his daze.


    This didn''t stop Gaea from attacking the dragon though, and while she did that, Atlas began charging up is most powerful attack. In the end, it worked out. Kinda. The monster was able to evade Atlas'' attack, but by concentrating solely on it, he lost sight of Electra, who reappeared behind him and pierced his heart with a flame-enchanted tonfa.


    When the ogre died, the dragon stopped moving, causing the three to freeze. They were ready to attack, but if the dragon had no hostilities and they attacked, it could turn into a problem. So they waited, gripping their weapons hard with cold sweat running down their backs. The dragon roared and after a little while, he began to shimmer. One minute later, when his roar ended, the dragon seemed to be made out of light.


    The light compressed itself into a small sphere which spun faster and faster after each rotation as it began to disappear. The three had always maintain their guards up, but still had to cover their eyes as the light was intense. When the light completely disappeared, from where the center of the sphere previously was, a naked woman in fetal position could be seen gently descend to the ground.


    Later, the they found out the half-dragon half-human young woman had been tricked by the ogre, or Amanojaku as she called it, and was manipulated through her rage and frustration. Afterwards they escorted her back to her village, where the chieftain gave them a reward each. This was how Atlas ended up learning the teleportation skill.

 Reboot 7: Work (+List of Characters)

    I was asked to make a list, since they are many, and so here</a> it is! You''ll find additional information on the most relevant characters~


    <hr />


    Elisabeth released an inaudible sigh as she looked at the door. Lia was inside the room in front of her, talking with her psychiatric. As much as she was happy for her daughter, getting entertained by slaughtering people is a troublesome fact nowadays. When Yvonne exited, they switched positions and Elisabeth went inside to talk with Joseph.


    "Do I have to worry?"


    Elisabeth always cut straight to the point, not even taking a seat. She didn''t like to dilly-dally around the subject when it was about her daughter''s wellbeing. After all these years, Joseph already knew she''d do that, so he promptly replied


    "No, it seems that she was entertained by the thrill of battle, so, considering how big of a fight was necessary to bring forth that little emotion, I doubt your daughter is going to have any problems in her daily-life."


    Elisabeth felt like a massive boulder had been lifted from her shoulders. She nodded and with a "Then, until next time professor." Elisabeth left the room. Lia was reading some magazine but when she noticed her mother, she put it down and got up. The two exited the building and returned home in a relaxing pace.


    "Mom, what will happen to me now?"


    Yvonne''s question drew a puzzled look from Elisabeth who could only tilt her head and say


    "What do you mean sweetie?"


    Elisabeth parked the car and they both got down. As they walked toward their house''s door, Lia continued


    "In the game."


    "Oh my, did I never tell you about that?"


    Her mother showed a surprised expression as she entered with Yvonne following after she gave a nod as an answer. Later, when the two made themselves comfortable, Elisabeth started explaining Hyria''s PK policy.


    "First of all, you need to know that, regardless of the situation, if you kill an innocent player or NPC, you''ll be marked. The mark is just your level showing itself to everyone in a flashing red, or orange if it was an NPC. In case it was a marked or flagged (flags make your level shine green) player, you don''t get marked. As for penalties, that is totally dependent on the situation and who was killed.


    For example, let''s say player A is a well-liked person in the town he is at, but he is marked. Player B, who is not marked, arrives and kills him to get whatever bounty player A could have had. In the case no NPC sees B kill A, B does not receive penalties, but if someone did see him, player B would receive notoriety, as he killed a person with positive affinity with the townspeople.


    Another case could be that both player A and player B are unmarked. A killed B and got marked, though since A did it to protect someone or made it seem that B was a criminal, A received fame. Oh, I forgot to say that you get flagged for sexual harassment after 3 warnings and you''ll remain flagged until you remake your account. Instead, the mark last 24 hours for each innocent you kill, alternatively you can also pay 30 gold coins or be killed by a bounty hunter or a monster.


    As I said, if NPCs don''t see you, you don''t get penalties. Of course how they''ll treat you will change, but what I meant mainly referred to the fact that there will be no bounty placed on you. Because of this, bounty hunters won''t remove your mark, you have to be killed by a monster or by a player with a paladin class. Before you ask, no, I would not be able to unmark you as I''m a different type of paladin, but that does not mean I don''t know any paladin: in fact there is one that has been traveling with Miranda and Nathan for a while now and since you four want to meet anyway, I guess that''s when we''ll get rid of our marks."


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    "Mh."


    Lia answered nodding after Elisabeth finished her explanation. She was about to go upstairs to do some homework, but then she remembered Abigail''s text from last night, so she posed her mother another question


    "Mom, Sonia asked if she can have the specifics of how you modified my appearance in the last video, so she can give me the same looks in the fight Abigail and I had against Fuji, the dungeon''s boss."


    "There''s no problem, I''ll email them to her later."


    Yvonne nodded once again, but this time she got up and went to her room, leaving her mother by herself. Elisabeth actually had an appointed meeting with her guild''s members, but her daughter was more important. Besides, she was sure they would understand why she gave Lia precedence. After she set up the necessary equipment, Elisabeth connected to the video chatroom of ?sir''s management team.


    The six of them discussed the situation with the guild Oblitus Mori. They certainly would not be friendly after the incident, but it was improbable they would go to war with ?sir, as it was way too far from their outpost to make it so that they could approach Elisabeth''s guild HQ without being detected many days before. That still didn''t mean OM wouldn''t try to hunt down ?sir''s members or just kill them on sight. This subject was a bit more tricky as if the ones to land an attack first weren''t the members from Oblibuts Mori, ?sir''s members would get marked as PKers.


    After all six approved the setting of the rule "never attack others first," they had to talk about funds. They would need some to reinforce their fortress'' defenses, but they could not ask their members to give the guild more money if Oblitus Mori did not currently present to be a threat. The six decided that if ever OM decides to confront them, be it by rallying an army against their HQ or by picking the single members off, they''d ask an higher contribution immediately and they would reinforce ?sir''s forces according to the situation.


    Done with the meeting, they all disconnected. Elisabeth sighed in relief before she opened her email account. She sent to Sonia the data she had requested and then got up, intent on making some dinner for Yvonne and herself.


    <hr />


    Sonia felt a bit elated when Lia''s mother finally sent her what she had asked. As she saved the settings on her laptop, computer and usb, she thought about the view count of Yvonne''s fight against the maimed dragon. It was around 100k views, an average rate on their channel, but it still got various topics on the internet started. Reclining her chair a bit, Sonia thought about the "Birth of Nyarlathotep" video.


    ''It''s a pity that that guy was recording, because of him I couldn''t ask Yvonne for the would-be exclusive footage of the slaughtering~ .. Oh well, let''s just hope the fight with the dungeon''s boss gets enough popularity.''


    She leaned forward, once again facing her computer. Sonia started finished writing her report on the video and once she was done she sent that and the video to the director, as it needed his approval to be aired, but that didn''t mean she couldn''t have the video-editing department already start working on it, so she sent another copy of the video to them, along with the specifics to modify Lia and Abigail''s appearance, to them.


    Sonia was sure. She was sure that sooner or later, Yvonne would become a person of interest regarding Hyria. Because, after all, who could say to have been able to slay a dragon in such an early stage of the game?

 Reboot 8: XVIII — The Moon

    Well, thank Jiolloker for reminding me of this. Also, I tried putting everything in a spoiler tag and it didn''t work, so yeah..


    But I sure do suck at writing <del>certain</del> descriptions lol


    <hr />


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Primordial Fear (Active)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>When your lack of emotions, empathy and interest in others'' lives is revealed to those around you, all they will be able to see in front of them is Death Herself.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Instills fear and stuns every weaker being that stands where you passed while keeping Primordial Fear active. The duration of the stun depends on how much Fighting Power they have.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Instills fear and stuns every being of the same level as you or weaker.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Instills fear and stuns every being not over 25 levels higher than yours. For every 5 levels higher, 20 seconds are subtracted.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Radius:</td><td width="25%">25 meters</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Duration:</td><td width="25%">5 minutes</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Cost:</td><td width="25%">100 MP, then 2 MP per second if kept active.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Sprint (Active)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>By correctly moving your muscles you are able to run a short distance without tiring.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Stamina isn''t used</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Duration:</td><td width="25%">20 seconds</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Cost:</td><td width="25%">5 MP, slower stamina recovery for 1 minute</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Cooldown:</td><td width="25%">1 minute</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Clean Cut (Active)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>You are able to precisely cut the bonds of the atoms in every substance.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>The user''s weapon can cut through anything.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Duration:</td><td width="25%">2 attacks</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Cost:</td><td width="25%">20 MP, weapon''s durability decreases by 15%</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Divine Healing (Active)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Apollo''s gift. Your connection to the gods reinforces your body faster than normal when healing.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+100 HP per second</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Duration:</td><td width="25%">5 minutes</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Cost:</td><td width="25%">200 MP</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Quick Analysis (Active)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>A fast thinker survives longer. By continuously analyzing the situation around you and adapting to it, you have reached the point where you can actively increase the speed of your thought processing</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Passive effects:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+40% Faster in making a decision</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+40% Faster to spot anomalies and possible dangers</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Active effects:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+100% Increase in thinking speed</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>+10% Vision range</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Cost:</td><td width="25%">1 MP and 0.5 Stamina per second</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Warning: keeping this skill active for more than 2 minutes can cause the player to suffer the ''confusion'' hex</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Calm Analysis (Passive)</td></tr><tr><td>A calm analysis of the environment always helps making a more correct judgement on one''s own situation.</td></tr><tr><td>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td>+50% Easier to spot anomalies and possible dangers</td></tr><tr><td>+35% Easier to come to an understanding of the situation</td></tr><tr><td>+30% Easier to spot lies in a conversation</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Cooking (Passive)</td></tr><tr><td>A good cook can make it so that their food refreshes the eater''s soul, and while you still can''t, you are on the right track.</td></tr><tr><td>Effects when cooking:</td></tr><tr><td>+45% Chance the recipe is successful</td></tr><tr><td>+30% Chance to add enhancements to the food</td></tr><tr><td>Food is tastier</td></tr><tr><td>Food is cooked faster</td></tr><tr><td>Food replenishes more stamina, health and mana</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Sword Mastery (Passive)</td></tr><tr><td>Since ancient times the art of the sword has enticed many, but not all could follow through. The more you train and conquer the art of the sword, the more you''ll rise above the others.</td></tr><tr><td>Effects when wielding a sword:</td></tr><tr><td>+45% Damage</td></tr><tr><td>+40% Speed</td></tr><tr><td>+35% Dexterity</td></tr><tr><td>+20% Agility</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Predator Instincts (Passive)</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>A natural predator always knows where its enemies and preys are.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Able to sense every presence and determine its alignment</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Radius:</td><td width="25%">50 meters</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Stealth (Passive)</td></tr><tr><td>Mingling with the shadows is easier, making you able to sneak up on people more easily.</td></tr><tr><td>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td>+20% Chance to not be discovered</td></tr><tr><td>-15% Sound produced</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Night Vision (Passive)</td></tr><tr><td>You are able to see in the dark just like in the light, as long as there is a source of light, no matter how small it is.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Dual Wield (Passive)</td></tr><tr><td>Dual wielding is a difficult path to take, but once mastered, it will bring many benefits to the swordsmen using it.</td></tr><tr><td>Effects when dual wielding:</td></tr><tr><td>+45% Damage</td></tr><tr><td>+40% Dexterity</td></tr><tr><td>+40% Agility</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Pinpoint Throw (Passive)</td></tr><tr><td>The art of throwing objects and accurately hitting the desired target.</td></tr><tr><td>Effects:</td></tr><tr><td>+25% Chance to hit where aimed</td></tr><tr><td>+15% Damage</td></tr><tr><td>+2% Dexterity</td></tr></tbody></table>


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    <hr />


    During Enyo and Thea''s travel, there was only one true reason as to why the others left them alone. It was because Thea continuously used illusion on them.


    At first, her illusions were pretty unrealistic, as most of the time the visual part was either omitted or badly reconstructed. But then, while they were fighting a boss, she had a breakthrough. That day, Thea had studied the precise location of where the brain handled the various stimuluses produced by the five senses.


    While everyone was fighting, Thea concentrated on a lone player that wasn''t key element of the fight. First, she used her skill ''Sense Transmission'' to constantly see, hear, touch, taste and smell whatever her target was seeing, hearing, touching and smelling. It was two steps short of mind reading. Then, she began to alter his sense of touch, so that the weapons and clothes he was wearing were as hot as boiling water. She tampered his sense of smell, so that he could sniff his skin burning. Thea made it so that the player could taste his tongue slowly getting drier and drier as if his hot clothes were dehydrating him. Lastly, she modified his vision so that he could see smoke rising from his own body.


    Then moment she sent back those informations to his victim''s brain, he began screaming. The guy rolled on the floor while he tried to desperately undress. Unfortunately, he died before he was able to finish. Only a severely burned corpse remained, while many others left the group. They didn''t have any proof it was Thea''s fault (reason being Thea had long been able to hide her PK mark with an illusion), as her previous illusions weren''t able to do anything, but they had a strong suspicion, so they left.


    Thea continued to practice on the remaining members until none were left. Once, she drowned a an archer as she was taking aim on the enemy. Another time she made a colony of cockroaches climb on a warrior-like guy, of course it was an illusion, but it felt so real to him how those insects had bitten on his flesh, dug into it and then roamed inside his body to lay eggs. As a side note, he later had to visit a psychologist to cure his budding Morgellons syndrome.


    Then, Thea was repeatedly killed by Enyo who said "It''s your karma."


    Frankly, she was a bit hurt. She had distanced those annoying pigs from her cute little sister and at the same time she had increased her skill''s proficiency. What was wrong with that? Sighing, Thea relented to the cruel reality. As the two continued to make their way toward another monastery, Thea got her second sexual harassment warning. It frustrated her to no end how a stupid game tried to stop the blooming love of two girls. She had just kissed <del>on the lips</del> her dear sister!


    Another thing that Thea was able to notice was the graphics of the game changed if you were deemed a minor or not. While she was able to see a body''s dismemberment to its full glory, Enyo only saw the limb detaching itself, with no blood and a censor over the internal parts of the body, be it a person''s or a monster''s.


    <hr />


    When Enyo entered the monastery, the monks gladly welcomed her, showing that they already knew of her coming. The reason she was visiting the temples and monasteries of the western part of Hyria was that she had gotten a quest about spreading <del>her legs</del> the news about her ascension to Maitreya. Doing this brought her many sub-quests from the various people in the places she visited, but she also got to experience a variety of things that ranged from immersing her body in a cleansing spring, to beheading a man.


    Quite a gap, wasn''t it?


    In the month (RT) Enyo spent playing, she more or less got a grasp of her class'' objective: bring order over the chaos that is the world. But how she was gonna do that, she had simply no idea. No, really, she didn''t, thinking wasn''t exactly her forte. Lately, she just brought down justice on the evil guys (=players/NPCs with bad karma) and tried to reward the good ones (=players/NPCs with good karma), which were a lot. A bit too many maybe.


    Interestingly, not always did the players with bad karma have the PK mark. Enyo had discovered that every little action one made toward another person counted as either good or bad karma. Quoting her sister <del>who quoted some guy just to impress her</del>


    "How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours."


    Which somehow seemed out of context. Anyway, going back to the topic, at the start Enyo had trouble dishing out punishments. Sometimes she had to kill the person, and she would not get the mark, and sometimes she just had to trip them. It took her a while to figure out how to read how much bad karma a person had, but from then on, she would know when to slaughter and when to bash in the head. Though her sister had been her first special case.


    To bring her sister''s bad karma down to zero, Enyo had to repeatedly kill her in diverse ways, like burying her alive, drowning her, cutting her head off.. Summarizing, if she killed Thea in the same manner she had killed her lab rats, more bad karma than normal would be eliminated. It made them lose a bit more than a week of time. Though, the reason she was a special case maybe derived from how Thea had gotten good karma.


    They both were inside the waters of a hot spring when it happened. The two were both naked, but as Enyo was a minor, she could only see censored spots, while Thea could only see herself as Enyo was a minor. Enyo attributed the following happenings to dizziness caused by intense heat. Mostly because she refused to accept that she had her first kiss with a girl, and moreover if it was her sister. It was a really strange experience since she always <del>liked to see well-endowed men ravish some poor girl in hentais</del> thought to be interested in the male gender.


    She felt really confused about her own preferences and her sister''s continuous protection/advances it wasn''t an easy time.


    Enyo banged her head on a nearby wall, startling her sister and her companions, even though they were in such a situation..


    ''No good, stop thinking about other stuff, gotta be concentrated..''


    Shaking her head, she said aloud


    "OKAY GUYS, LET''S GO KICK SOME RAIDERS'' ASSES!"


    Which evoked a big shout, "UOOOOOOOOHHHH!", from the crowd of people as they charged toward the raiders'' base.


    End of Volume 2, part two.


    <hr />


    Forgot to say that part 3 is the last part~

 Reboot 9: The slave

    Warning: violence & sexual content ahead. If you can''t stand it jump to Reboot 11.


    <hr />


    I usually awake around dawn. I wake up early so we have enough time to clean Master''s house. It''s a big house, it has three floors. My Master is a noble of this city, I''m only one of the many slaves he possesses, but I still get called to his room the most.. While wiping his precious vases, I have to be extremely careful. Last time a slave broke one, Master organized a party, where we slaves would watch the poor woman get raped and tortured at the same time.


    Master has no male slaves and no female servants. Servants could say "no" to their master''s advances, slaves couldn''t. Our Master doesn''t like it when women say "no" to him, so the only women in the house are slaves. It is really tiring wiping the sand off of the floor, but we live in the desert so there''s nothing we can do. Sometimes I hear the other slaves talk about how, possibly, the Master hated women''s "no" so much because the Queen rejected him.


    After I was done with my share of work, there was still some way to lunch even though I went to the kitchen. There, I began preparing the ingredients for everyone. As some slaves are slower than others, so the faster ones always help preparing the food for the remaining girls, otherwise they''d starve to death. It still happens sometimes. Thinking about it, two nights ago Master killed a girl because she said "no" while he was entertaining himself with her body.


    In case you get pregnant, you''re either kept or sold off along with the child, depending on how much Master liked you. It was around the time I had finished eating that the last girl entered the kitchen. Soon we would have to begin working again, so the slaves that had a bit of food left put it together, just enough to make a filling, and gave it to her. Supporting each other like this was the only way to survive, that is why sometimes someone would just stop trying and killed herself.


    After all, it was that kind of life. I don''t know what kept me going. Self-preservation instinct, maybe? Hope that one day I''ll be free, perhaps? There is also the possibility that I subconsciously just love all the disgusting things Master does to me.. yeah, as if. I shiver just thinking about last night. Freedom.. yes, I want freedom. I feel like the word is etched on my soul, telling me that''s what I''m destined to achieve or what I''ll forever desire, without being able to acquire it..


    I passed the afternoon lost in my own thoughts as my body mechanically did the unchanging work it did the day before, the day before that and every day since I began living here. Dinner was the same as lunch, only I wasn''t the first to arrive. Since Master began using me, I never once got pregnant, and now pretty much everyone wondered if I was unable to bear children. I''d be glad if it was so. There is no way I''m going to give birth to a pig''s child. Even the first time I saw him, I wondered if he was a beastman of the boar tribe. Turns out he was just a human.


    Like me, most of the girls here are beastwomen. Master has clearly a fetish for us. He likes to stroke our tails and use them to pleasure ourselves, he also likes to nibble our ears and play with them as we service in him. We. He doesn''t always go for one on ones. At least it hadn''t been my turn again that night. The next day was a bit hectic after lunch, it seemed like the Queen had requested for all the nobles to be at her castle tomorrow.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Master had decided to bring some slave with him, maybe to show us off to the other nobles or perhaps to make the Queen jealous. When we reached the palace, the two girls who hadn''t been here before were awestruck. Unlike them, me and the remaining three had already been here enough times, giving us a chance to resent our dearest Master even more. He had a peculiar way to show us off to the other nobles, after all.


    The light brown walls were draped with many paintings and curtains, the spacious walkways were filled with decorative expensive objects, servants and various people, some of which seemed to be dancers. When we arrived in front of the throne room, us slaves were taken to and adjacent room where we would wait for our Master. "There is no way some dirty slave could set foot in that room" was the general reasoning. We were not the only ones in the room, many other slaves were present.


    Elves (wood, dark and high ones were present), humans, beastmen and beastwomen of various tribes, like the ones from the dove tribe (recognizable by their white feathered wings) or the ones from the lion tribe (recognizable by their mane and pumped muscles), demons (the most commons were the succubi and the incubi), half-bloods (an example were the elorcs, particularly muscled elves with green skin and below average intellect, though which was still enough to let them come up with a particular fighting style that combined martial arts and what little magic they could wield, making them the most used slaves at the arenas) and lastly goblinoids (meaning goblins, orcs, ogres, etc.) .


    We were all barely clothed with some rags, men and women, children and elders, we were all in the same poor conditions. It''s not like here in Sakki there is any discrimination between races, also because there was almost no noble of the same race, we are slaves because we were unlucky. Either unlucky to be captured or unlucky to be sold by our parents. I was the second. I have been under Master''s care since I was 8, making this the seventh year I am by his side.


    After a while we could hear some ruckus being made in the throne room, probably because the Queen did something the nobles did not like, but we just ignored it. We spent the time gossiping with the other slaves, but not with the ones that talked about rebelling or escaping. It''s not like some of the girls at the mansion never tried, it''s precisely because they did that no ones tries anymore. Master had no qualms in sharing us with the guards at his house because it meant that they would help keeping an eye on us.


    It was a little before noon when Master entered the room, anger clearly showing on his face. He looked at us and hushed us to quickly stand up and follow him. We were back to the mansion around mid-afternoon, Master didn''t waste time once he descended from his carriage, in an instant he was in front of me, pulling my hairs. He dragged me to his room, ignoring my excuses and pleads. Master continued to abuse me till the next morning, giving both me and himself a variety of aphrodisiacs to enhance the experience and make it last longer.


    That morning, the royal guards arrived at Master''s mansion.


    <hr />


    Each time I saved this draft TN got put in the "Latest Updates" lel


    @diabolique21: this is something the admins have to correct, not me lol


    We are almost done with v2 only three more chaps~


    Also, I told you guys how I already planned v3 and v4 right? I thought up v6 and v7 too lol v5 will probably be like v2~

 Reboot 10: Bloodstained freedom

    Warning: torture & gore content ahead. If you can''t stand it jump to Reboot 11.


    <hr />


    Armoured men barged into the room while Master was urinating in the bathroom next door. I was laying on the bed, unmoving and covered in filth. When I glanced at them, I noticed the symbol of the royal guards on their breastplate. Master came in a bit later with an angry expression, most likely due to the fact that he could not talk back to them, unless he wanted to die for treason. An armoured man, probably the captain or something, walked up to him and then punched him in the face. Master just stared at the ground while he clenched his teeth and brought a hand on his wounded cheek.


    The captain just turned around and addressed two of his soldiers


    "Clean the girl, find her some clothes and catch up with us outside. Don''t make me wait."


    One of the two men came toward me and then lifted me up in a princess-carry manner, bringing me to the toilet where the other man had started preparing the necessary things to bath me. Afterwards when one started drying me up, the second went to find me clothes. It didn''t take us long to regroup with the other royal guards. My clothes were and felt different, they weren''t rags but they still weren''t anything too fancy. I was made to board one of the royal carriages.


    They took me away from Master all the while giving me looks of pity. I wondered if it was for what had happened to me until now or for what would happen to me now. I intently hoped not both. On the carriage there was me, the captain and another guy. He probably had a rank higher than the soldiers outside but still lower than the captain, but my knowledge is pretty limited so I didn''t know the name of his position. Later, we arrived at the royal palace and I was escorted inside.


    I was given a room, it was around half of Master''s room, which was still pretty spacious. This, was extremely suspicious. When I was alone, I started looking around the room, trying to memorize everything and maybe to find a way to escape. The Queen wasn''t a person known for her kindness, else she''d have abolished slavery. Maybe. I don''t know much about politics. During the following next few days, various things happened. First, I was given three guards/escorts/servants which also brought me food when I was hungry. Second, I was not allowed to go outside, nor to enter some rooms and neither to know why I was in the palace. Third, I had thought about spending my time in the library I had found in the palace, but since I didn''t know how to read I was troubled. Thus, I asked around if someone was willing to teach me, and always got the same response


    "There is no need for you to learn."


    Suspicious. Suspicious. Suspicious. I grew more worried with each passing day, that is why today I tried to escape. Apparently, the third guard, which never stayed with the other two in front of the door, was guarding the escape route I had planned to use. I was caught and bound with chains in my room. The chains felt familiar, but I was more intent on listening to the guards'' words. That night, I finally knew why I was here. I was here because of a petty reason:


    Some guy named ''Immortal'' payed a visit to the Queen two days before she called for the nobles, he requested for a woman, a slave, pure or not didn''t matter. Now, why would she choose me when anyone could do? That''s because I was the favorite toy of the man she despised.


    I scoffed at my luck as they guards continued to tell me that in a week''s time Immortal would come back to fetch me. In the end, I''m just changing Master. I felt so battered and tired I didn''t even have the force to curse my fate. I needed the entire next day to let those facts sink in. Now more than ever, freedom seemed unattainable and I considered ending my life. I began biting my tongue off, but the gradually growing pain overrode my intentions and I stopped. It seemed like even this freedom of mine had been taken away.


    Nothing relevant happened after that. On the seventh morning after my attempted escape, I was escorted to the throne room. It''d be the first and last time I set foot there. The experience filled me with conflicting feelings, joy and anger were constantly fighting for control. Inside was really spacious, a golden throne was at the center of the end of the room, right in front of me. Two wooden stands were on each side of the room, big enough to accommodate all the nobles, decorated with carvings, drapes and fancy red pillows.


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    The Queen looked slightly displeased when I observed her features. She had waist-long white hair, a purplish skin, red eyes, pointy ears, black horns that went backwards, big breasts and an healthy looking hip. She looked to be around 20 but was much older. She was half-elf and half-demon, which one I didn''t know. Immortal instead was a normal dark elf, dark-brown skin, grey hair, a stoic face without beard and deep blue eyes. He wore black armor covered by light-brown clothes and adorned by a golden cape with a white "4" inclined to the left intertwined with a black snake that was eating itself, forming a ¡Þ.


    After I was handed over to him, the Queen and Vael (his real name, I found out "Immortal" was just a title) exchanged pleasantries for a bit before Master Vael and I went away. It had been years since I had last set foot outside Sakki. We walked south for three days before we reached an outpost made out of stone and some wood. Master Vael and I rarely stopped during the trip and not once did we talk to each other, though he did talk to himself from time to time when he brought a hand near one of his ears. After he did that a few times I wondered if he was using magic to converse with some companion of his.


    From the outside, the outpost was one third of Sakki''s royal palace, but once I was inside I reconsidered my first impression. We went at least five floors underground, and each floor was pretty spacious, even with all the people walking around. None seemed to acknowledge my presence, but everyone bowed to Master Vael. Probably, they were all his subjects. I was brought in front of a bathroom and Master spoke to me for the first time


    "Go relieve yourself."


    I did as ordered and once I was done he brought me to a cellar. He opened the door after he made a keychain full of key appear out of nowhere, Master Vael looked at me with a bored expression


    "Enter, I''ll come back later."


    And like he said, he came back some hours after that. It was difficult to tell the time, but I supposed it was evening/night. This time we went up, up on the outpost''s roof. Columns which supported nothing formed a circle with an altar on the center, five hooded people with white robes stood on five points all connected. I trembled as I was dragged and made to lie on the altar. I looked at Master Vael with pleading eyes, I tried to talk to him, to reason with one of the white robed people, to beg forgiveness, to ask for a chance.


    Master Vael completely ignored me as he spoke foreign words after he denuded me. When he raised his hands above his head, I could see a dagger. When I tried to run, I discovered I was unable to move a single muscle. The dagger entered my stomach, and I could feel my warm blood leak. Something escapes my mouth but I''m too concerned about the dagger that is slowly moving toward my head, cutting me open. Blood was descending from my abdomen and chest, slowly wetting my sides and then my back, as it sneakily moved on the stone altar''s natural curves and cavities to get underneath me.


    I felt Master Vael''s hands churn up my intestines, bringing out my uterus. Even if he did all that, nothing was actually removed or damaged, probably to keep me alive longer. He once again brought out his dagger and slightly opened my organ. I felt some pain but the waning of my life was fare stronger. He put some white worm-like creature inside and put my uterus back in me. Master Vael then took a few struggling black insects and inserted them in various parts of my body. I coughed blood as I felt those creatures walk about inside me.


    I could clearly feel each of their steps because every single one cause me great pain. As one neared my uterus, the white worm shook. It rushed out, tearing open my reproductive organ and every else that was on its way to the insect. A chilling cold enveloped my body. Once the worm reached its prey I could feel it rampage as it ate every last bit of it, including a speck of my own intestines. Just as I felt it rush somewhere else, I blacked out. Every single emotion in me disappeared, all my senses stopped working and I felt so tired I began to fell asleep. Before completely falling asleep, a thought entered my mind..


    ''I''m finally free..''


    <hr />


    Reality is cruel..


    More on why OM''s leader did all of this in volume 5, probably.


    Only two more chapters before I can begin the next volume!

 Reboot 11: A tale of six trillion years and a night

    When I opened my eyes I was in and endless dark void. As I looked around, I noticed a glimmer of light in front of me. I moved around, trying to go toward it, but I found no indication that I was progressing in this black space. Looking at the light once again, I found it was closer, incredibly so. It flashed past me, to my right and when it did so, I could catch a glimpse of what it was. It was an image, a memory, my memory, the last thing I had seen before falling asleep. Another glimmer was ahead of me.


    This time I remained motionless to see what was really happening. The white flicker quickly moved towards me accelerating every so often. This time it went past me to my left, it showed the time when I was in front of the altar. And it continued like this, first right and second left, fragments of my memory flashed past my sides in a reverse order. I saw even things I didn''t remember, like scenes from when I was too drugged to know what was going on.


    Then, I saw when the slaver bought me from my parents, when I still lived in a place faraway from the limitless desert I had been residing in the last seven years. I watched again the night when my parents had decided to sell me. Once again I wondered why it happened as I never understood or knew their reasons. The next image was one of me playing with my dad, then when I had helped mom cook. I was at the point where I could cry if I had seen anymore, but the void didn''t seem to care.


    I watched memories I didn''t reckon pass by me. They showed of a time where I was crawling on the ground, when mother brought me around on her tight embrace, when I was breastfeeded and lastly when I gripped my parents'' fingers with my tiny hands. They were such distant memories that I didn''t exactly feel anything from them. It was like they weren''t mine. When I saw the next glimmer, I thought that perhaps I''d now see my mother''s womb or when I had been birthed.


    I was shocked to see instead a scene of carnage. All around was blood and fighting soldiers, I was outstretching my gauntleted hand toward some guy in front of me, that had pierced me with a spear. Then I watched the events unravel to me backwards again. I was lined up with other soldiers in a prairie, the enemy''s army just a 100 meters away from us. I saw my self train with my fellow soldiers, go drink beer, enlist in the army, grow up with my family and then, something different happened.


    A green light came to me, this time it didn''t go left or right, but straight at me. While I watched it enter my body, I noticed I wasn''t myself anymore. I wore some red metal armor with a hole in my chest. And I was male. I was so surprised I didn''t notice the green light as it finished entering me. I felt my head explode, memories, emotions and thoughts of the life I had just seen permeated my mind. I held my head tightly with my hands and while I screamed I could hear another voice besides my own, the voice of the man I currently was.


    After that, I received the memories of many other lives. As a doctor, a tailor, an archer, a mage, a blood elf, a dragon, various beastmen and beastwomen, a wood elf, a black-skinned demon, an ogre, a carpenter, a princess, a king, a criminal, a priest, an old female cyclops, a human that became an undead, a wolf, a warlock, a bird, many demons, a scholar, the leader of a cult, a doll, a teacher, a waitress, a three-headed dog... I received the memories of many people, I gave up counting after 200.


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    Some were long lives, some were short ones, but after a while I became bored. Even if they were all diverse, in each and every single life of mine I could spot my desire for freedom. Even though the reason or kind differed, it was still freedom what I yearned for. As I contemplated what had been happening until now, and if it would ever stop, I saw specks of light engulf the darkness like it was a flame burning paper. It slowly became so bright I had to close my eyes.


    When I opened them again I was in a foreign place. A wasteland full of red rocks, boulders and mountains. Then, a metallic chain reached out from the ground and wrapped my right hand, tugging me toward the ground, almost making me fall. My body changed, I became a pale-skinned elf, my left eye was blood red while my right one was a brilliant green. My hair was the most puzzling, it was like each strand had been divided in half, the front or higher part was the same green as my right eye, while the back or lower part was black. My teeth were jagged and my mouth would have been wider than normal, if its ends hadn''t been sewed. Plus, I was now wearing a white dress.


    Without giving me time to understand how I knew my body had such changes, a second chain sprouted from the ground and coiled itself on my left hand, again tugging me down. I noticed the night sky was fairly illuminated by all the stars, but a grid-like shadow seemed to be over the sky, as if it was encaging the whole world. Again and again chains appeared just to hold me down, some wrapping somewhere on my body, others passing over and on me before diving again in the ground. However, I was still able to stand. After they chains stopped appearing, the ground shined.


    A magic circle, full of myriads of runes and geometric figures, appeared. It was inscribed in green and black, the colours were mixed in such a manner that seemed almost beautiful. I felt a little chain bind itself around my soul and when it stopped moving, once again memories of a life I had entered my mind..


    <hr />


    This chapter''s title and this NPC were based on a song I listened to a long time ago. Since the first time I listened to it I had wanted to write a story with that as a base, but never had time (nor motivation). So when I was thinking about how I should make this one important person, and my music player casually switched to that song again, thinking it was destiny or fate or whatevs, I made this NPC''s background like this lol


    Hope you enjoyed this chapter, see ya in the next one, where I''ll finally reveal this girl''s identity xD

 Reboot 12: Yuki (+Yukis image)

    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    <hr />


    Even though I was chained down, I was still able to convulse and twist as my mind was assaulted yet again by memories, knowledge, thoughts and experiences. I could feel each neuron of my brain be burnt beyond recovery and then miraculously come back, reinvigorated and much stronger, only to be set aflame once again. My sole relief were the tears descending from my eyes all the way across my cheeks, sometimes reaching even my chin or neck. They were so fresh.


    Even as I tossed and turned, I could feel them, the chains, trying to pull me down on the ground. I didn''t yield. Hours seemed to pass and when I was about to give up, I was finally released. Like as if a cold, wet blanket had been thrown on me, my mind went blank. My brain stopped, trying to asses my situation, it began drawing information from each and every life I experienced and soon enough I was calm and composed, with no hint of stress. Or sweat. It had been a surprise when I saw that that torture I had just experienced didn''t make me sweat.


    Well, to be honest, it had been a surprise every time. One of the very few things I find amusing, despite knowing that it''s just a feature of this planet. Looking around, I saw that nothing had changed since my last time here. I closed my eyes, reviewing the memories of my latest life. Sighing, I began to talk to no one in particular..


    "I hadn''t expect''d to die to let someone becometh the favor''d of the gods."


    As I always did, I willed for the control panel to appear. Deep blue rectangular window appeared in front of me, indicating the various fixes to the system I had to make. I moved my right hand over the window, as if the chains weren''t there, and considering everything, they could very well not be here at all.  The only thing able to restrain me here was the chain on my soul. I tapped around on the invisible keyboard I made appear and sent a message to Eve, saying I had come back from my break.


    I passed the time by scrolling through the seemingly limitless lines of code I needed to check while I waited for Eve to connect with her work-account and pay me a visit. She arrived while I was checking the third problem out, surprising me for her earliness.


    "Thou art early. Usually, thou waitest until I have finish''d fixing everything before logging in."


    Eve forced a smile. As always, she wore her lab coat over her white sweater and light blue jeans. Behind her black-rimmed glasses you could spot amber eyes full of life and cheerfulness despite her old age. Wrinkles adorned her face in a way that made her face always have a "serene smile" type of look which was complimented by her waist-long gray hair, all braided behind her back. In the last 20 years, or 5, depending on the prospective, Eve barely changed, but changed nonetheless. Unlike me, who, after reaching adulthood, stopped aging.


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    "How was your last incarnation, Yuki?"


    Brushing off the fact that Eve just changed the subject of the conversation on purpose, I recall my depressing life before I frown and reply


    "Terrible. I have been the slave of a pig and the sacrifice to a vermin."


    Eve sighed, a curious action that made me doubt whether it was because her "tactic" succeeded or because she pitied me. Even though she was technically my mother, I wondered if she, as a human, really felt something toward me, an A.I. . Eve cleared her throat, perhaps noticing the curious look I had been giving her, and firmly looked into my eyes. She spoke with a serious face


    "Yuki, I know you like to experience new and different lives, so we came up with an idea."


    I nodded my head, signaling her to continue speaking as the subject interested me.


    "We thought maybe you could live as a player next."


    I closed my eyes. I considered participating in their experiment while I mentally run a simulation of my possible next life. I shook my head while I answered.


    "How would thou resolveth the part about my life on the other side?"


    A warm smile appeared on her face, to which I replied by tilting my head.


    "Don''t worry, I''ve already taken care of that part. When you die, you are going to come back before either going back into the game or go ''home.''"


    "Home?"


    "Crathos created a world similar to ours some time ago, it was made mostly for the poor people who can''t move from their bed and their families. It''s not like everyone wanted to play around with magic, swords and other stuff, and they also couldn''t play around all day long until death. Anyway, it''s got a school and many other things so you''ll be given an house in there. Time flows the same as in our world and there''s even access to the internet, so you''ll be able to know what is happening in my world and everything else."


    "I see.. Then, like always, I shalt create a new persona, one who doeth not know about me."


    "Wait, Yuki."


    I looked up at her after she stopped me from typing on the blue ethereal keyboard.


    "In that world, your name is gonna be ''Qinxi Hwa-Ryun.''"


    She happily smiled as I gave her a questioning look


    "Isn''t ''Qinxi'' thy surname?"


    She readily nodded and said


    "Exactly, my cute little daughter~"


    I remained stunned in silence as Eve casually strolled through the chains holding me, she arrived in front of me and hugged me so strongly she''d have cracked my ribs, if only I had them.


    ''This.. doeth this mean that mom really feeleth something toward me.. ?''


    End of Volume 2.


    <hr />


    And that''s it guys, next chapter Lia and Abby will finally come back for some action!

 Voyage 1: Planning

    ''This could be a problem.''


    Thought Aisha as she looked at Matagi, Electra and Atlas'' levels. 113, 95 and 98 respectively. Her level was even higher than Gaea, which was 138, the guide from Bathory''s guild that was supposed to escort Electra. The most pressing fact was that her familiar was only level 58. The huge disparity between their levels was indeed a problem.


    ''Hunting monsters near Electra, Atlas or Maverick''s level is a waste of time, they are too weak to give the rest of us any exp and it would take forever for those three to level up. We should try a higher leveled monster and if it works, we should increase the number of monsters pulled one at the time.''


    The five people were currently at Daphthee, an inn located in Shazil, the nearest village to Jurta. It''s where Kaine had teleported Electra and Atlas and where the two met Gaea for the first time. After Matagi was able to play again, her and Aisha used the portal in the Pantheon Church of Tihghul to teleport to Shazil, unlike Bathory and Kaine who went back to their guild''s HQ. Once they found an inn where their avatar could rest, Daphthee, the two girls only had to wait for Atlas, Gaea and Electra to arrive.


    There was a <del>great</del> small amount of scornful looks among the NPC Matagi and Aisha encountered, but they could only start shivering in fear after either staring for too long or when Aisha looked back at them. Matagi wasn''t exactly happy about the situation, but at least they weren''t sending guards against them, they took care of the mark by dying a couple of times to some monsters. Bathory wanted them to die by Gaea''s hands, maybe because they''d have a reduced penalty or she just didn''t like that method, but gave up after realizing how inconvenient that would be.


    Considering Aisha''s high notoriety, if she had walked into a town or city while marked, the guards would have either killed or imprisoned her. Matagi also didn''t want to waste time by waiting for Gaea to come to them, even though it would''ve probably been easier if Gaea, along with Atlas and Electra, came to Tihghul and afterward went all together to Shazil or somewhere else.


    "First of all", Aisha began to talk, "I think we should wait for my familiar to reach a suitable level, so we won''t be useless later on. Are there any mobs of a sufficiently high level nearby?"


    She looked toward the three that were already familiar with the environment. Electra and Gaea began to think about something but Atlas didn''t hesitate to say


    "Right here. If you go near the mountains there are monsters with a really high level, and the more you climb the more it''ll increase."


    When he finished speaking both Gaea and Electra nodded, confirming Atlas'' statement. Aisha fell once again in deep thought while Matagi quietly listened to their conversation; she couldn''t find anything to say at the moment and even if it wasn''t so for the others, she found it awkward. Aisha then held out her hand, the one with the black bracelet, and summoned Maverick.


    "Climb the mountains near this village, there should be enough game to level you up to a decent point. We''ll be back here in two days."


    ¡ªYes, Mistress.


    Maverick bowed his head and proceeded outside the inn, passing through the cracks of the wooden wall. Aisha turned to look at her companions and spoke


    "Log out, you have 11 hours to do whatever. When everyone''s back we will decided where should we go while we wait for Maverick."


    As they all didn''t mind taking a break, they nodded their consent and started logging out until only Aisha and Matagi remained. Matagi looked at Aisha for a couple of seconds, her eyes seemingly trying to convey something to her girlfriend in vain, before she too logged out. Aisha stared at where Matagi was seated just now for a bit, her head slightly inclined and eyes that undoubtedly probed for an answer. Her pointless staring ended soon after and she logged out.


    <hr />


    Maverick''s nose twitched. He smelled a creature nearby. His eyes darted from side to side, scanning every detail of every tree, every leaf and every flower. Then he saw it. A white kitten was trembling, stuck in-between the roots of a big tree. When he was near enough, Maverick activated Sickness, hexing the animal. Then, he cautiously neared him to finish it off.


    Still maintaining his ethereal body, Maverick quickly moved his snout on the kitten to bite him, but seconds before he could do it, a white mist-like substance spread out from his body. Maverick calmly retreated a few centimeters and observed the creature. Now it wasn''t a little white cat anymore, it was a kind of raccoon dog, his fur a mix of various shades of brown.


    The raccoon dog got on all fours and growled at Maverick, who, after seeing the challenge, did the same. They stared for a second until the creature''s face twitched, probably from the pain inflicted by Sickness, and once again enveloped itself in mist. What exited the mist was a brown bear two times as big as Maverick. The bear roared and lunged toward him, hitting nothing when he was near enough.


    The Mistress had found out that Maverick could fight in his ethereal form at the price of receiving less experience, so he had been exploring the mountain without taking his corporeal form even once. He intended to first scout ahead, killing every single type of monster once or twice to find their weaknesses, and then he''d go back to the start and hunt every single creature on his way to the top of the mountain.


    The bear/raccoon dog/kitten wasn''t much of an opponent in the end as he even started stumbling and falling to the ground after four or five special bites. Continuing upwards, he found various enemies, but perhaps his most difficult battle was against a group of elves.


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    "I''ve never seen that kind of mob here before."


    "Perhaps a new mini-boss?"


    Maverick continued to stare at them, trying to deduce whether he''d have to fight or not.


    "It says he''s level 73, so we can manage."


    "Yeah, you are right. C''mon guys, i¡ª"


    The moment Maverick hear the word ''manage'' when they referred to him, he started to spring toward them, not wanting to give them a chance to organize. His opponents were four elves: a mage, an archer, a warrior and a priest. The priest-looking guy would have been the most bothersome in the following fight, so he had targeted him first.


    Phasing the warrior, Maverick continued unperturbed toward the first victim when a purple beam grazed off his skin and was actually able to damage him. Still, he didn''t stop, or he''d die for sure. When he was near enough Maverick took his corporeal form and bit the priest in the neck, the momentum bringing both down on the ground. Once there, Maverick shook his head, still biting on the priest, as hard as he could manage.


    When Maverick felt his grip waning, he quickly activated Sickness and bolted out of everyone''s reach. The moment his fangs disconnected from the guy''s neck Maverick stopped using his corporeal form. The shock from the recent event gave enough time to the priest to die. The next on the list would''ve been the mage if the archer had not almost successfully sniped Maverick when he was about to bite the priest.


    Unfortunately, the time it took him to kill the archer was enough for the mage to enchant the warrior''s sword with his purple-coloured magic. After that, Maverick had to twist and turn his body in mid-air or mid-run half the time, as he dodged the mage and the warrior''s combined efforts. But what interested him the most was their position.


    During the fight, Maverick was able to finally push the warrior near the mage without letting them notice. Maverick knew how the two cured themselves with some potion before, so he used it again.


    <<Sickness>>


    Surprised by the hex for one or two seconds, Maverick used the opportunity to land as many Luck Stealer Bites as he could before backing off. Then the mage made a cage around Maverick, entirely made out of the purple substance that could affect him. Deciding he should not waste time and that perhaps attacking with his ethereal form would be counterproductive, Maverick used Corporeal Form and his body once again had mass.


    The cage got smaller and smaller, so it became increasingly difficult to evade the sudden attacks from the sword of the warrior outside. Still, Maverick persisted: he put his paws on the wall and concentrated all his remaining strength in them. Slash, slash. Nothing happens, thus he concentrated again, calling forth more strength. Slash, slash. For a brief moment he could see the outside. The warrior''s sword suddenly appeared near him, so he dashed to another wall.


    Maverick repeated the routine, putting more and more strength in his paws until he felt a tingling sensation. He growled as he put his paws on the wall once again. Slash, slash. The wall gave away and he could get out, surprising the two elves. The warrior ran for him while the mage began preparing another spell. Maverick became ethereal just as the warrior was about to attack, he ran through him and went behind his back.


    Maverick assumed his corporeal form again and used the new skill he had just learned, Wicked Claws, on the warrior. His armor posed no resistance and his flesh had the consistency of butter, no more hits were necessary as his lifeless body fell to the ground. When Maverick turned around he saw that the mage had five purple spheres over him and he did not hesitate to attack.


    As he ran toward the mage, he had to dodge the spheres, first going to the right, then the center, left, center again. The last sphere hit Maverick as it was hidden behind the fourth, it sent him flying away and since he was ethereal at the moment, no tree could stop him. Maverick got up from the ground instantly, even if he knew he was almost dead, he couldn''t stop and rest.


    He made a last dash for the mage, who was already casting another spell. When the mage saw him he began to hurry to finish the spell as he was defenseless, but Maverick reached him before he was done, breaking his concentration as he was bitten in the neck and clawed at the shoulders. Seconds later, the mage died too. Maverick, content with the result went to find a place to rest before he resumed his hunting on the mountain.


    <hr />


    Everyone had logged back in and started discussing where to go. Gaea and Atlas had made some research on the internet and they were the deciding factor for their destination. While they waited for Maverick to return, they mainly chit-chatted about the game or about nice new clothes or accessories they bought, making Atlas feel excluded and alienated.


    Once Maverick returned, Aisha appreciated that he rose to level 87 and that he had learned a new skill, which she decided to check later. The five stood up and walked outside the inn. They all were already prepared so they didn''t have to go around Shazil to buy resources. As they walked toward the town''s gates, Maverick talked to Aisha telepathically.


    ¡ªWhere are we going, Mistress?


    ''To the Yinyue Empire.''


    <hr />


    Lol are you guys happy I gave you a longer chap? :grin:


    The third volume began! Now I can''t wait to end this volume too and write about what I believe is my favorite arc of this story~

 Voyage 2: Traveling

    I put more tags, if you guys notice any other tag I''m missing, tell me.


    <hr />


    It''s been a couple of days since the group started walking toward the Yinyue Empire and they had traveled as far as they could, taking breaks in-between, both in game and in real life. The route they were following at the moment was taking them through a forest, which was infested by those trees with a kid''s hand hanging out. Aisha had pointed out how the name of that type of mob was "Akateko." Predator Instincts combined with Death''s Eyes provided Aisha with an area of absolute dominance, where no monster, NPC or player could sneak in undetected. Of course if their Stealth skill''s level was higher than Predator Instincts'', she would not sense them.


    A highlight of their in-game breaks was when Aisha walked up to a mob she called "Jinmenju," it would''ve been normal tree if it wasn''t for its human-faced fruits. Aisha picked its fruits and set about cooking them in the boiling water in the pot over the fire they had set up. Gaea looked rather lonely as Atlas and Electra flirted while sitting side by side, Matagi was lost in her thoughts and Aisha was busy cooking. It turned out that the fruits were a tasty delicacy, adding a contrasting taste to the light stew.


    Another break the group had to make was when Aisha had to go visit the psychiatric. Atlas, Electra and Matagi logged out too, while Gaea decided to guard the temporary camp and fight a bit with the various Jubokkos around. A Jubokko is a tree which attacks passersby with its branches by changing them into tubes and sucking out their blood. All Jubokkos were always the healthier looking trees and when you cut them, blood would come out. One of its drops is "Blood Branch," which Gaea identified as an ingredient for making blood potions, an health potion which, for vampires, gives a temporary boost in health regen.


    During that same break, Nathan and Miranda spent their time by taking care of their bodies and then just logged back in. Abigail instead waited for Elisabeth''s call before she logged back in. She had eagerly waited to know the psychiatric''s opinion, her feelings a mix of hope and dread. Hope for Lia to really be able to feel emotions, and dread for the fact maybe Lia just had mistaken what she had felt for an emotion. The two talked on the phone a bit as Yvonne went back to the capsule.


    Two other varieties of tree-related creatures they encountered in the following days were Uma-no-ashi, an annoying horse leg which kicked whoever got too close. Atlas would have been one of those too, if it hadn''t been for Electra''s prompt reaction, she pulled him toward herself just in time. Despite Atlas'' attitude and appearance, to Aisha he seemed rather prone to unlucky encounters with other creatures.


    The second kind of mobs were the Tsurube-otoshi, creatures resembling Tengu and Oni which liked to drop down on their victims from the tree tops. Why they weren''t categorized as either Tengu or Oni was anyone''s guess. And then there were other types of monsters, not related to trees.


    "Behind."


    Aisha said as she suddenly turned around, drawing a dagger and using Pinpoint Throw to hit the enemy squarely in the face. The hit missed, it hit its torso. The dagger didn''t miss because Aisha threw it wrong, but because the monster was humongous. The ox-headed ogre closely resembled a poorly clothed doped 250cm tall man. Its skin was ash-green and most of its veins were visible and also pulsating. The monster was wielding a wooden club in its left hand and a stone axe in its right hand.


    Over his head, Aisha could see "Ushi-oni - Level 119." The five instantly took their respective positions: Aisha moved away from the monster, providing support with the sturdy bow she bought in Shazil. As she had the highest level she was in no hurry to take a higher share of exp. Gaea was the tank and vanguard of the group, sometimes switching with Matagi, as she too could take some damage. Atlas and Electra attacked in succession, first Electra would fly up near the monster, but still not enough for him to reach her, and used her racial skill to stun him; then Atlas hit him from the back with either magic or his b¨­.


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    Atlas'' attack normally gave him the aggro, and this time it was no exception. Gaea quickly activated one of her skills, Blessed Battle, making her sword shine a in a brilliant light. The skill gave a +10% on damage and a +15% light damage for 1 minute at the cost of 300 MP. When she impaled her sword into the Ushi-oni''s flank, the monster roared and glared at her. Atlas no longer registered in his mind.


    As she stood on the sideline, Aisha could calmly take her aim and shoot her arrows at the mob. She still didn''t have the Bow Mastery skill so her hit-rate wasn''t high, but to Aisha it seemed like the little boost from Pinpoint Throw was helping. Aisha aimed at various places during the battle: the face, the wrists, the legs and the groin. She didn''t even try to shoot at the Ushi-oni''s chest as it was obviously quite resilient.


    If it hadn''t been for the monster''s larger health pool, he would have surely died sooner. It''s attack were rather manageable, if you didn''t make even one mistake. When he attacked with the club, it was usually a downward vertical attack and Gaea and Matagi easily evaded it. When the Ushi-oni attacked with the axe, Gaea and/or Matagi used a diagonal upward slash to change the trajectory of the weapon. Of course they couldn''t do it completely, so they also squatted down at the same time they were mid-swing. Even if the mob was big, it wasn''t so big it completely overpowered the two girls.


    After some other days of traveling, they arrived at the end of the forest. In front of them was a 6 meter tall wall that extended and continued on for so long they couldn''t see its ends. It reminded the five of the Chinese wall which encircled all of China. Four figures, certainly guards, could be spotted 100 meters or so to the south protecting what seemed to be one of the entrances to the Yinyue Empire.


    Happy to have reached this point, the group decided to take a break and log out. Certainly Aisha could not let Maverick slack off, Maverick hunted mostly alone but nearby. He had to do so because there were too many close ranged fighters in the group; at most he''d cast Sickness every time the effect wore off. During the breaks Aisha sometimes remained in the game a bit more to fight alongside him to raise her proficiency with the bow. It''s not like she didn''t want to raise her Dagger Mastery, but it would restrict her to fighting close-combat, which would defeat the purpose of sending Maverick away.


    Naturally, this was the norm when only one or two mobs attacked them, if it was a group of three or more, not only would Maverick participate, Aisha would fight using her katana or daggers as well.


    When Matagi, Aisha, Atlas, Gaea and Electra logged back in, Aisha prepared some food to satiate their virtual bodies'' needs while Maverick came back. Once they were all done and Maverick was back to being a simple-looking black bracelet, the five began approaching the gate until a guard shouted something to them


    "Halt! Who is it?!"

 Voyage 3: Yinyue Empire

    I wrote an one-shot</a>, I''d like it if you checked it out :)


    Don''t worry, I won''t write any new series until TN is over.


    <hr />


    The guard''s warning made everyone stop. The five concentrated their gazes on him, which made him flinch, as Aisha had stared at him too. Perhaps because of Aisha''s high notoriety or because of her many fear-inducing traits, the guard shakily and slowly brought his hand over the hilt of his sword. Atlas noticed that and immediately started speaking to him.


    "We are travelers! We mean no harm!"


    The guard seemed a little hesitant, but after he checked over each of them, he saw that they weren''t as intimidating as he thought. He shook his head, thinking the pressure he had felt before was just an hallucination. After he nodded, the guard turned around and whispered something to a robed man who then passed through the gate. That action stunned Atlas, Matagi and Electra. Gaea already knew about it and Aisha, well, she never felt surprised.


    The robed man had literally phased through the enormous wooden doors.


    While a guard remained on the other side of the gate, the guard on their side, the one which initially spoke to them, came back. He handed each of the five a small emerald ring and once again turned around as he spoke.


    "Please follow me."


    Atlas and Matagi had a look of uneasiness when the guard phased through the gate doors, but when Gaea said "Go on" while Electra gave them a push, they sighed and walked through the wooden doors. Aisha silently followed everyone.


    After they passed through and arrived on the other side, they found themselves to be in a rectangular stone room with three doors, one on each side. The small sound of glass shattering made them realize the emerald green was gone, the only trace remaining was the little green dust on the ground. Behind them was the same stone wall as the ones at their left and right. Atlas touched it, probably trying to determine its nature, but nothing happened.


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    "You passed through a teleportation door; Haven''t you ever visited Magiron? It''s full of magical equipment like that one."


    Atlas whistled while Matagi made a confused face as she looked toward Aisha, who just shrugged. In their time there, neither had seen such a thing.


    "You ladies will be checked in the room to the right, while you go to the right."


    Said the guard, pointing at Atlas when he reached the second part of his phrase. The group divided and were checked to see if they were trying to smuggle anything in the empire. Done that, they returned to the first room and the same old guard accompanied them toward the front door. When he opened it, they saw another closed room, this time with a blue magic circle inscribed on the ground and the robed man from before standing on the side.


    "Well," the guard spoke, "you have two choices, be teleported directly on the other side of the wall or be teleported in one of Yinyue''s cities or towns. What''s your choice?"


    Gaea stepped forward, she folded her arms under her bust, spread her legs apart a bit and puffed up her chest before saying with a cheeky smile


    "Of course we''ll do the travel by ourselves!"


    Her attitude made the guard and the robed man smile.


    "I see."


    Spoke the guard before he and the robed man nodded to each other. He gestured toward the inside of the magic circle.


    "Please step inside."


    After the five did so, the robed man activated the teleport by chanting something and in an instant, a lush, green grassland filled their view. When they looked behind them, the saw the same wall and gate, only the two guard and robed man were different.


    They all enjoyed the sight for a bit more before they started walking toward the mountains in the distance.

 Voyage 4: Beast-kin Village

    Soon, they were once again surrounded by trees as they reached the forest at the base of the mountain range inside the Empire. The journey here was quite uneventful, as they simply encountered the typical low-leveled mobs. They stopped at a village and a town along the way to refurbish their supplies and to sell their loot. Aisha didn''t have much to sell as she didn''t care about the items the monsters dropped, leaving the majority of them to the rest of the group. As for the items dropped by the mobs Maverick killed, they were simply left behind as neither Aisha nor Maverick would bother to pick them up.


    Inside forests, Electra would oftentimes fly up to ascertain their direction; at the moment, she could see the base of the mountains some distance away from a nearby settlement. Squinting her eyes, she could see waterfalls on the mountains'' sides and tails and ears on the inhabitants of the village ahead.


    "Oh my"


    Saying so, she descended from the sky and reported to the group. They decided to, if possible, remain one or two nights to explore the village, as it was the first settlement of beast-kin they visited. Of course, there was also the chance that they discriminated against humans or elf, but Aisha was ready to cover for the group in case they needed to flee.


    "It''s more like an outpost than a village"


    Atlas commented once they reached the wooden walls surrounding the village. You could see two lightly armoured beastmen standing by the gate and groups of three patrolling the settlement on the wall-walk. The gate was open and the guards didn''t seem to care about the fact that the five were of a different race. Curious about the situation, Matagi asked the reason for such disposition to a guard.


    "Why is this village so heavily defended?"


    "The spirits and Kijinuma living nearby never liked settlements of the other races built close to their homes, so they frequently amass a temporary army to raid them. Some months ago though, they suddenly stopped, so we sent scouts. Thanks to them, we discovered that this time they intend to destroy this settlement for good, as they are recruiting far more creatures to aid them."


    The group was shocked by the situation of the village but before they could discuss what to do between themselves, Matagi continued to speak with the guard.


    "We are a group of travelers quite experienced in combat, do you perchance need a hand defending this village?"


    Matagi wanted to uphold her vows to Aisha, but she still felt like giving a hand to them. Surprisingly, she didn''t receive any penalty. She supposed it was a matter of how Aisha viewed the situation instead of what her alignment, fame and notoriety were.


    "We''d be happy if you did, but you should go to the keep we built near the chieftain''s house and ask the captain about this."


    Matagi nodded and turned around to see her companions staring at her. As the guard walked away, Matagi panicked a little, feeling that maybe she should''ve discussed with them about the subject.


    "Ehm... I.."


    "It''s not like you did anything wrong."


    Aisha told her, trying to reassure Matagi, and continued.


    "You actually haven''t accepted any quest or activated any event or some such things. And even if you did, I don''t think any of us would actually mind it."


    Gaea was the first to nod, followed by Electra and Atlas, when Matagi looked at them for a confirm of Aisha''s words. Judging the matter resolved, they went around the village to explore it a bit. While they walked, Electra noticed that there various beastmen, all of the lion tribe. Curious, she voiced her observation aloud and Aisha was the first to answer.


    "My mother told me that there are three types of beastmen, depending on the amount of human blood in them. When you create an avatar of this race, you are given three options: be 25% human, which results in the avatar being an humanoid version of the animal of your choice; be 50% human, which results in the avatar resembling a human with not only the tail and ears of your chosen animal, but also their limbs; be 75% human, and you will only have the tail and the ears."


    "I see.."


    Electra replied in understanding.


    Of course, as this village wasn''t a hidden one or a scarcely known one, the beastmen of this village (and beastmen of other animals) weren''t the only race present. On the streets and in the shops you could see wood elves, dwarves, humans and two or three high elves.


    Since they finished selling their loot and buying what they needed, the five began walking toward the keep, following a kind beastwoman''s directions. Matagi knocked on the door of the captain''s office after they were let through by the guard.


    "You may come in."


    A heavy voice replied. When Matagi opened the door, all five of them could see a beastman of the dog tribe. The beastman was probably in his forties, he donned a heavy plate iron armor with some carvings of a black sphere, representing the moon, it was the symbol of the Yinyue Empire''s militia. He had neatly trimmed short brown hair and signs of a growing beard, most likely he had shaved some weeks ago. His eyes were black and full of composure, or maybe it was his natural facial expression that made it seem so.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    "My name is Reginald and I am the captain of the militia of Jeilou village. I heard from one of the guards that you were interested in helping us. I don''t particularly mind if you do, but know that you''ll be risking your lives."


    Reginald spoke first and gave them a hard look as he talked about them helping the village. No one yielded to his speech though, mostly because this was just an event in a game. Matagi spoke for the group


    "You don''t have to worry about us, we are pretty strong."


    Reginald silently nodded and then began searching for something in his desk''s compartments. He took out five badges with the same symbol that was carved on his armor and talked again.


    "This will let the other know you are not enemies and you''ll also receive a little discount at the inn."


    Aisha, Gaea, Matagi, Atlas and Electra each took one and at that time they received a message.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Event: Village Defense</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Jeilou village has been attacked and raided by monsters since its construction, but this time the quantity of enemies is going to be in the thousands. You are tasked to protect this village, even at the cost of your life.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>Rewards are proportional to the amount of contribution you provide during the event.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>If the village is destroyed or you die, you won''t receive rewards.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>If you flee, you will lose fame. You will be given less rewards and many looks of scorn if the village isn''t destroyed.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>If you help the enemies, you''ll gain notoriety. If the village isn''t destroyed, you will probably be hunted down.</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''4''>The event will begin in 6 days'' time.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    After they read it, the group walked out of the keep and searched for a fancy inn. Unfortunately, there was only one inn in the village and it also doubled as a bar, making it particularly noisy and rowdy. When they entered the majority of the bar was empty except for a few patrons and the innkeeper. The innkeeper was a robust beastwoman of the lion tribe, her appearance made her look to be around 30 years old. She had dark blonde hair which reached only down to her neck while her eyes were a darker shade of silver. She appeared to be one fourth beast, as she only had the ears and tail, which all had the same colour of her hair.


    Gaea decided to try having lunch here, as it would cost less to eat here rather than having Aisha cook. Everyone agreed, but obviously they were determined to have Aisha cook their food if this inn didn''t have a passable cuisine. The beastwoman approached them and said


    "What can I do for you?"


    "We would like to try some of your food, and also rest here for the next few days as we''ll be aiding the defense of this village. Captain Reginald said to show you this."


    Electra was the one to reply and when she mentioned Reginald she also took out the badge they had been just given. The beastwoman nodded and told them the price they''d be paying after she asked which room they wanted. After that when she was about to go prepare their lunch, Aisha spoke up.


    "Excuse me, could I give you a hand? I''m cook myself and learning new recipes interests me."


    The innkeeper was initially surprised by her request, but she quickly gave Aisha a positive response with a warm smile.


    "But of course, my dear. I always liked cooks which never stopped learning new recipes to better themselves."


    Aisha nodded and followed the beastwoman in the kitchen. Her real motive was that she wanted to learn was because she knew Matagi liked her food; her mother suggested her to try pleasing Abigail, as they were now in a relationship. Though what her companions thought of her actions was that she was trying to increase her affinity with the innkeeper to maybe obtain a quest or something.

 Voyage 5: Scary Sprites I

    I''ll be releasing three chapters of Twisted Nerves and then three of Phantasmagoria</a> from now on.


    <hr />


    Six days passed in a blink of an eye. During that time, the group got acquainted with the villagers and the other players participating in the event. They were also split up in the various groups of the militia: Electra would be part of the airborne group, Matagi was going to be part of the vanguard, followed by the militants to which Gaea was assigned. Atlas decided to focus on magic and thus was part of the attack mages¡¯ group, and as Aisha was still trying to obtain the Bow Mastery skill, she requested to be assigned to the archers on guard on the wall-walk.


    Everyone was ready for battle since dawn, as they only knew the date of the attack and not something more specific. It was still better than nothing. The tension in the air was palpable and with no one speaking aloud, only whispering and mumbling, it wasn¡¯t getting any better as time passed. The first to notice something was an archer in Aisha¡¯s group, who then quickly alarmed everyone else. Like that, the battle for the defence of Jeilou Village began.


    What the lithe wood elf had noticed was a flock of black-skinned beings with similarly coloured wings. Once Aisha was able to see them clearly, she recognized them as Tengu. They were all around 1 meter tall, with human features apart from the wings and the abnormally long nose. Also, they had clothes resembling hakamas, kimonos and such. Below, preparations were made in a hurry as every soldier was called to attention. Deciding to not slack off, Aisha began preparing her bow and arrows.


    The moment the flock of monsters was in the range of some archers (Aisha wasn¡¯t one of them), was also the moment creatures began exiting the forest while running toward the wooden walls protecting the village. As the avian creatures were still too far for her, Aisha decided to calmly observe the land monsters.


    She saw nimble weasel-like creatures running in the front, the only difference was that each of them had claws resembling a sickle, called Kamaitachi. These mobs were the first to enter in contact with Jeilou¡¯s militia, which encountered the problem of their enemies being both too little and too agile. Of course some were still killed, but many made it through the vanguards and continued running toward the closed gate.


    These were just temporary walls, even made of wood, so Reginald opted to not rely on them too much, positioning almost ? of the militia outside the walls. While Gaea and her companions dealt with the Kamaitachi, Aisha spotted black humanoids, pretty much like three dimensional gender-neutral shadows, called Yobuko that took on the appearance of the nearest soldiers of the militia, causing some to be confused as to who was the enemy and who was the friend.


    Aisha was clearly able to distinguish them, so she took it upon herself to attack the imposters. After all, Matagi wanted to help this village. When only fifty or so Kamaitachi remained, large monsters arrived. They were called Waira and were simply horrendous: they had the head of a dog and the body of a spider, but each of their legs ended with sickle-like claws. Aisha wondered for a second if they were related to the Kamaitachi but quickly shrugged the thought off.


    The Waira were visibly harder to defeat, and casualties in the militia¡¯s ranks began to appear more frequently. Aisha though noted that Matagi was as lively as ever, not breaking a sweat even when confronting such opponents and also finding the time to help her comrades out. The attack mages began taking this seriously while the clerics and such stepped up their games.


    Abura-sumashi, 120cm tall human-like creatures with straw-coat covered bodies and a potato-like head, came out and supported the other creatures using water magic. The attention of the attack mages was forcefully directed to them, leaving Matagi and Gaea¡¯s groups to fend off the Wairas alone. The various archers on the wall-walk were mostly occupied with dealing with the Tengus, but Electra¡¯s group was certainly helping.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    A loud cry resounded in the air around an hour later. Aisha looked up to see Electra, three other players and five NPCs fighting a Daitengu, which was basically just a larger and bigger Tengu. His high level compared to the rest designated him as either the boss or mini-boss of this battle. All the archers began focusing on him, the healers paid more attention to Electra¡¯s party and a few attack mages, all players, began launching their attacks at the giant creatures instead of attacking the Abura-sumashis.


    More Tengus arrived, making it possible for some of them to break through the archers and the airborne militia¡¯s defences and attack either the archers or Matagi or Gaea¡¯s group. Still, the instant the Daitengu was killed, every single Tengu began retreating. The carcass of such a big creature damaged both enemies and allies alike after its fall.


    With the disappearance of flying enemies, the archers and Electra¡¯s group could concentrate on supporting their land allies.


    ¡®The fact that only the airborne monsters retreated,¡¯ thought Aisha, ¡®probably means that the Daitengu was still a mini-boss. I guess this won¡¯t be quick.¡¯


    And it indeed wasn¡¯t quick, as several hours later they were still fighting against Wairas, Abura-sumashis and Yobukos. The soldiers began feeling tired, but it was then that another roar was heard, when the enemy monsters were down to only a few hundreds. A giant centipede crawled out of the forest with immense speed and began devouring the soldiers, not caring if they were already dead and on the ground or alive and trying to attack and hurt him. His level, 175, placed him as the boss and last enemy in this event.


    Aisha watched how some players, which were probably warriors, lost their cool as they fought, or at least tried to, against the ¨­mukade. The ¨­mukade was entirely black, its antennae were thin and around 2m long. Its mandibles'' black luster instilled fear as naturally as it was breathing. Each of his legs were 150cm long and each section of his body was four meters long and two meters wide. Even its flattened head felt intimidating and the occasional screeches it let out certainly didn''t help. Aisha indifferently continued to do her job, shooting down Yobukos, as the group of players was skillfully getting slaughtered. Scanning the battlefield, she also noticed the absence of Gaea and Matagi, which meant that they were now probably dead.


    Only a handful of Abura-sumashis remained when a paladin-like player began rallying the soldiers against the ¨­mukade, causing all the soldiers and more than half of the attack mages to assist him. Atlas was one of the few still fighting the spirits, as someone had to keep them at bay to give the others enough time to kill the boss.


    The battle against the giant centipede was a bit underwhelming as every soldier just mindlessly ganged up on the creature, not minding his life. The healers¡¯ workload increased substantially and many more victims were made, but still, in the end, the monster died. It was then, when every single person relaxed, that a system message appeared before every player. Apart from Aisha, every single player''s face paled.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>First wave of the event ¡®Village Defense¡¯ completed!</td></tr><tr><td>Next wave in: 3 days</tr></td></tbody></table>

 Voyage 6: Scary Sprites II

    I updated the descriptions of the mobs in the last chapter, so be sure to check them out!


    <hr />


    Aisha willed for the notification of the end of the first wave to disappear and calmly read the backlog of system messages that had been automatically hidden while she fought. She leveled up once, but what mattered most was that she had finally acquired the Bow Mastery skill. As she felt there were enough archers, and considering her poor results, Aisha decided that the next wave of battle she¡¯d be fighting in the frontlines.


    While helping the innkeeper cooking, Aisha discovered of a neat place to visit if they went to the mountain pass north-west of Jeilou. It seemed to be a temple, it wasn¡¯t frequently visited, but it wasn¡¯t even a secret location. According to the beastwoman it was a temple dedicated to the five representative deities of the continent.


    The three days were used to assess the damages, that is, how many people had died. Even if players were among them, they wouldn¡¯t be able to log back in for a week (IGT) so it was no use differentiating between NPCs and players. As last time it worked, Reginald decided to use the same formation from last time.


    This meant that apart from Aisha, the other four were still with the same companions in the same group. There were less people in the airborne troop, so some attack mages had the role to support them alongside the archers, which had to switch between attacking enemies on the air and on the land.


    When Aisha saw the firsts Kamaitachi running toward the village, she sprinted toward them, signaling the start of the fight. She had another objective. She wanted to recreate the same situation from that time in the cave, she wanted to try experiencing excitement again. That is why, she ran headlong toward the enemies, uncaring of every danger that may lie ahead.


    <<Sprint>> let her reach the Kamaitachi faster than anyone else, it also made it possible for her to position herself right in the center of a particularly large group of them. Aisha was surrounded, just like she wanted. Thanks to Predator Instincts and Death¡¯s Eyes, she knew where each and every creature was in a 50 meter radius. Then, she took out two katanas, the weapons with the longest reach that she currently possessed, and started slashing at the little monsters scurrying on the ground.


    Aisha didn¡¯t use Primordial Fear only because she wanted to last longer in this fight. The use of that skill would deplete her mana at a really high rate, so she decided to use it later on in the battle. Most of her slashes were in a downward motion, but some of the more aggressive Kamaitachi would jump at her, forcing Aisha to make upward slashes and sometimes thrusts with her blades.


    She felt nothing.


    As she progressed, new enemies began appearing, the shadow-like humans, the Yobukos. Against them, Aisha judged that fighting with two katanas was counter-productive, and switched to dual-wielding daggers, acquiring higher dexterity and mobility. She found out that, even if they copied the appearance of someone, they didn¡¯t copy their strength, their speed, their skills and everything else.


    If they did, Aisha would¡¯ve had a hard time killing them off. Some of the times, she would plunge her dagger in the Yobukos¡¯ eyes, not bothering to take it out. This was actually a great waste of resources, but it meant nothing to Aisha. Not many daggers were left in her inventory when the Wairas arrived. At this moment, Aisha was near the forest¡¯s entrance, while the rest of the vanguards were more than 200 meters behind, closely followed by Gaea¡¯s group.


    No excitement.


    There were two reasons for this. First, Aisha was rushing ahead while not caring about the consequences; a normal player wouldn¡¯t do this. Secondly, the same player from three days ago, the one which made the others blindly charge at the ¨­mukade, was leading five other players while they attacked their former allies. They were betrayers, and Gaea and Atlas were occupied repelling them. Even if they were only six, their good teamwork and high levels caused the others to have a hard time.


    Against the Waira, Aisha used a single katana. Their bodies were unexpectedly tough, so she had to concentrate her power in a single sword to make her attack connect. Certainly, she used her skill <<Clean Cut>> too, but she made use of it rarely since, as said before, she wanted to preserve as much mana as possible. Primarily, she used <<Clean Cut>> when she was surrounded by Wairas or when she was in a pinch.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    She just mechanically killed her enemies.


    The fight against them ended around the time her health-bar was half full and she was fifty meters or so inside the forest. Here, she encountered a new type of monster which wasn¡¯t present the last wave. Kodama. They were just green balls of light that moved from one tree to another. While Aisha fought some Wairas, in-between a moment of rest and whatnot, she tried attacking this new creatures, to no vail though.


    If she attacked them when they were moving to another tree, her weapons would just pass through them, even if she used Clean Cut and Primordial Fear. Instead, if she attacked the Kodama when they were inside a tree, her attack would be reflected to herself, even if she used her skills, like before. Aisha could do these creatures nothing.


    ¡®At least they are passive when it comes to attacking.¡¯


    After that, Aisha ignored the little floating green balls and concentrated on fact that only a few meters ahead of her there were Abura-sumashis. The pesky creatures used their water magic to make the earth wet and slippery and to shield themselves from the few daggers Aisha threw to them. Seeing as this wasn¡¯t going anywhere, she used Sprint to close in on them and then immobilized the Abura-sumashis by activating Primordial fear.


    Decapitating one, cutting one more in half, dismembering another.


    Their red blood tainted her clothes further. Aisha could feel it seeping inside more and more as she brought down her defenseless opponents. Unconsciously, she had activated Bloodthirsty and it was beginning to affect her mind. It twisted her psyche and made her long for blood and battles.


    Still, Aisha felt nothing.


    New monsters entered her sight. They resembled the dwarves, only, the didn¡¯t have a beard but pointy ears, like the elves¡¯. They all had red hairs and above their heads where the azure words ¡°Kijimuna.¡± They were definitely shocked by Aisha¡¯s presence but didn¡¯t waste time. She ran toward them, the five creatures began to collectively chant. As the chant progressed the earth began to shake, making Aisha temporarily lose her footing.


    It was thanks to a nearby tree that she didn¡¯t fall to the ground, the scale of the movements of the earth were big, like a earthquake of magnitude 6.1~6.9 in the Richter scale. In the village, some parts of the wooden walls fell but strangely enough the village itself wasn¡¯t harmed. No one, NPC or player, seemed to notice this detail though.


    What the Kijimuna did, was summoning a Namazu. A Namazu is a giant catfish, four meters wide, about 15 meters long and three meters tall. The colour of his body was gray-blue tone everywhere but on his ventral side, which was a pinkish white. The little creatures were obviously not affected by the earthquakes and readily mounted on the Namazu.


    Once she recovered, Aisha used Sprint one again. She was sure her stamina was about to hit rock-bottom, but she was also sure she was about to feel that emotion again. Activating Primordial Fear, the Namazu and the Kijimuna were stunned for ¡°only¡± 4 minutes as they were 15 levels stronger than Aisha. The first thing she did at that point was cutting off the Namazu¡¯s barbels using Clean Cut.


    Then, Aisha ran to its sides and used Clean Cut one last time to sever one of the Namazu¡¯s fins. She continued to run until she reached its back and mounted on its body. It seemed to Aisha like every time she encountered a big opponents she had to climb its body. Aisha shook her head to make that silly thought go away and at the same time she approached the sweating Kijinumas. They knew they were now going to die, and it was indeed so. Aisha impaled every single one of them, probably leveling up some.


    But, as she killed the last one, the Namazu broke free from the fear hex Aisha had inflicted him. It let out a deafening roar, shook his body and flew upwards a bit. Its movements made Aisha fall on the ground and when the Namazu turned around to see her defenselessly lying on the ground, it didn¡¯t hesitate in attacking.


    Aisha¡¯s blood boiled as she saw the monster approaching her at full speed, and even though she saw it coming, she still wasn¡¯t able to evade it.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have died.</td></tr></tbody></table>

 Voyage 7: Back to traveling (+Merry Christmas)

    Next are three chaps of Phantasmagoria</a>~


    Heh, I¡¯m taking my time explaining things, ain¡¯t I? Anyway get ready to finally know about Hyria¡¯s beliefs~


    <hr />


    Aisha opened her eyes to find herself in Jeilou¡¯s plaza. In front of her a system message appeared, informing her of two facts: one, because she died she would not receive rewards, and two, the defense of the village was a success. She quietly willed for them to disappear and she began looking left and right, searching for her companions.


    Gaea was a few meters away, while the others were nowhere in sight. It seemed like, apart from her and Matagi, no more people from their group died. During the week (IGT) of absence, the village had to repel one last wave, in which Matagi died, but still managed to get through it and win. Ultimately, there had been some damages done to the village, but it was nothing serious.


    Aisha decided to restock her supply of daggers, katanas and arrows while she waited for Matagi, who wouldn¡¯t be able to log back in for another three days. Her companions knew she had no attachments to money, thus was regularly almost penniless, and tried to convince her into letting them pay for her things, but each time Aisha refused. Her mother always said that it was impolite to borrow money from others, she had to earn her own.


    Thus, during those three days Aisha did minor quests in the village while Maverick hunted down various mobs to bring back their loot and to train. Sometimes Aisha would join him, as she wanted to make sure their teamwork worked okay. Atlas, Electra and Gaea instead took it lazily and relaxed both here and in real life.


    This routine continued even after Matagi came back, as she too had to resupply her inventory. Still, two days after her return, the group departed from Jeilou. Following the innkeeper¡¯s advice, they decided to change route and head north-west to visit the much-praised temple. Mostly because of Gaea¡¯s insistence, because, after all, she was a paladin.


    As Matagi, Electra and Atlas didn¡¯t understand her motivation, Gaea was about to explain it in details when Aisha began talking. Gaea¡¯s cheek became slightly red as she pouted, that is why Matagi whispered to her ¡°Sorry¡± while she ruffled the petite girl¡¯s hair. After a little ¡°Hmph!¡± from Gaea, the attention was once again on Aisha¡¯s explanation.


    ¡°In Hyria, there¡¯s only one religion. It may seem like there are different religions, but they just choose a different God(/s) to protect them; well, to be precise it was the God(/s) that choose which area they wanted to rule over. As to why there are different Gods but only one religion, we have to discuss about the origins of said Gods.


    Following what my mother told me and what has been discovered until now, in the beginning there was only one God governing this entire continent, the Lost God. Then, foreign Gods, governors of other continents who feared the Lost God¡¯s power, attacked It and imprisoned It in another dimension.


    However, before being banished and imprisoned, It was able to summon the various Gods that now reign over the continent. As they are all bound to the Lost God, they don¡¯t fight between each other, thus making it possible for the single religion worshipping the Lost God to remain intact.


    After a research, players were able to understand the disposition of the Gods: in the north reign the Norse Gods, in the east rule Lovecraft¡¯s Great Old Ones, in the west is Buddha and lastly, in the south are the Greek Gods. The center part of the continent is No Man¡¯s Land, as it was there that the Lost God summoned the others while he was defeated.


    Currently, there are five Popes, with the Pope representing the Lost God having the highest authority in the Pantheon Church, or Church of Pantheon; both names are equally spread and used among the continent. There are also some sects which believe that their own territory¡¯s Gods should rule the others, though not much is known about them.


    By now, I believe you understand why Gaea wants to go. Even if this is a western temple, it¡¯s still part of the Pantheon Church, to which she serves as a paladin. Of course visiting it would bring some benefits to her, I believe, and that is why she¡¯s being so insistent.¡±


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    During Aisha¡¯s explanation some other players came to listen and learn, but when she was done they all quietly and quickly dispersed. Matagi folded her arms with Aisha¡¯s while Atlas and Electra sighed in resignation.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go wherever you go, Aisha.¡±


    Said Matagi as she smiled toward her cute white-haired girlfriend.


    ¡°Guess we¡¯re changing our route.¡± Sighed Atlas once again.


    Hearing that, Gaea beamed and began jumping up and down with her hands raised to the sky. She was unexpectedly really happy, but her actions were more than enough to quell Electra and Atlas¡¯s small regrets in not taking the longer route to Xin Jen.


    The travel to the temple wasn¡¯t anything special. The monsters¡¯ levels reached a passable grade only once they neared the mountains, were the five encountered, other than the mobs they met to their road to Jeilou, the creatures they had fought during the Village Defense event in the village. It bored them (Aisha actually didn¡¯t care) a bit.


    Yet, when they reached the temple everyone (to Aisha it really didn¡¯t matter) thought it had been a worthwhile travel. At first, they lost their breath as they took in the beautiful scenery in front of them. The temple was constructed on a small rocky island in the middle of a large river. Many little waterfalls, the chirping of birds and the wind, transporting various pink flowers, automatically relaxed and calmed whoever were to listen.


    <hr />


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    <hr />


    After they stood there for about five minutes, Aisha broke them out of their daze by walking toward the entrance. There was a monk, a human, in front of the paper doors, wearing a red and orange K¨¡?¨¡ya, clothes that monks normally wore, even in real life. He silently bowed, opened the sliding door, stood to the side and motioned for the group to enter.


    After entering, the monk continued to walk ahead silently. The group decided to follow after Aisha went after him. The floor was made of long thin board of a dark brown wood, all the doors were like the one they saw at the entrance, while the walls were made with wood of a brighter shade of brown. A lot of walking later, the group arrived in a big room. Everything was the same as the hallways and rooms they saw while walking her, only the floor was different as it was composed of tatami mats.


    In front of them, there was a rock about 30cm wide and 50cm tall resembling a misshaped cone. On its sides were two sets of candles and incenses burning. Their fumes visibly permeated the room, but there was no fragrance whatsoever. Standing to the side, the monk raised one hand toward the stone and for the first time spoke.


    ¡°If you see, please go ahead and touch the sacred stone. A path shall open for you.¡±


    Atlas, Matagi, Electra and Gaea didn¡¯t understand his words, but Aisha did. To those four, the rock was nothing more than that, a rock. But Aisha didn¡¯t see what the others were seeing. On the rock she was looking at, there were five symbols positioned where a pentagram¡¯s vertices would be at. One of them was the representation of an eclipse.


    Aisha calmly walked up to the rock and touched it. When her hand and the rock made contact, her symbol and two others, a sphere broken in two and a sphere set aflame, lightened up for a few seconds. Then, when Aisha heard a faint ¡°click,¡± the symbols stopped glowing and slowly disappeared.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Class Affinity +20</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You are now eligible to Godhood.</td></tr></tbody></table>

 Voyage 8: Xin Jen

    Aisha¡¯s action puzzled the others, but they didn¡¯t care that much about it. A faint smile appeared on the monk¡¯s lips but no one noticed. Aisha stared at the rock for a couple more seconds. She was trying to memorize the symbols she had seen. Five symbols, five territories. Each symbol represented a player (or NPC, Aisha couldn¡¯t verify at the moment if only players were eligible as candidates for Godhood) represented a part of Hyria and, counting Aisha¡¯s, three symbols had been glowing.


    The Taijitu, the name of the yin and yang symbol, was easily recognisable as the western part of the continent¡¯s symbol. It wasn¡¯t glowing. A leaf-less stylized tree inside a circle. A possible referment to Yggdrasil, it was probably linked to the northern section of Hyria. Considering that Aisha ¡°represented¡± the south, the broken sphere and the aflame one were probably for the central and eastern representatives.


    ¡®And lastly, what was that sound?¡¯


    Aisha lightly shook her head, her white hair swaying from side to side, and thought ¡®no point in thinking about it.¡¯ She turned around and saw Atlas, Gaea and Electra with questioning looks, while Matagi had a surprised face, she continued to move her gaze from Aisha to something in front of her, probably a system message.


    ¡®I guess the system notified her of my status.¡¯


    ¡°Let¡¯s continue our journey.¡±


    There was nothing more for them to do here after a bit of sightseeing, so the group continued onward. In the end, it took them a week to reach Xin Jen, the Yinyue Empire¡¯s largest city. It wasn¡¯t the Capital, but due to its influence as a major trading point in all of the territory, it didn¡¯t lack much power in confront to it.


    The city offered wide paved roads and houses (even the commoners¡¯) completely in stone. Many big buildings were also present, one of of which had aspects resembling a britannic castle¡¯s, probably where the feudal Lord resided. The city took after the south part of Hyria¡¯s architectural style has a mean to prevent crime. The enormous amount of territory the guards had to safeguard posed a problem when the citizen¡¯s homes were only made out of paper and wood, like the various villages the group had encountered till now.


    The city was divided in four sections by the two main roads, each section was then reorganized for a specific purpose when the entire settlement had been reconstructed in stone. A district for who had money, being noble or commoner didn¡¯t matter, where the Lord resided; a district for merchants, traders, inns, taverns and other organizations; and two district for Xin Jen¡¯s citizens, one in a slightly better condition than the other, which was more or less the city¡¯s slum district.


    Then, there was the port. Xin Jen had a wide port and utilized it to its fullest, sending ships all around the continent to trade with the other coastal/port cities. And while for the players this meant an alternate route to other parts of the continent and/or great opportunities for merchants and the like, the main ¡°attraction¡± was another. Every 3 months (IRL) a humongous ship would be built with the objective to sail past the natural maritime barrier encircling the continent.


    Since the launch of the game, three expeditions were made and all ended in failure. Still, the peculiar and strange loot the players managed to bring back made it so that no one lost interest in this ¡°suicide mission,¡± if anything, the interest in participating rose. Soon, the third ship would be completed and a new expedition will take place.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    There is to note that each major coastal/port town of all Empires/Kingdoms/Queendoms in every part of the continent organize this expeditions, with slightly altered schedules, motives, equipment and whatnot.


    Aisha, Matagi, Electra and Atlas were tasked to protect Gaea, the official representative of ?sir in this event, and make it so they would reach a foreign continent and establish favorable relationships with the guild. Bathory only asked Electra and Atlas of this as payment for the help they received, Matagi then offered to help the two out and at that point Aisha decided to just tag along.


    The city had proper sewers, a drainage system and various water tanks operated with artifacts (machines operated by magic, also generally lumped with the common term magical equipment) to bring water to every house and farm. As the Lord¡¯s family has always been appreciative towards the fine arts, sculptures of men and women of many races were spread out in the city. This sculptures depicted many different themes: the daily life of an housewife, the Buddha in a meditative state, one of the Lord¡¯s relatives as she directed her army to wage war against the Baizen Empire.


    Xin Jen didn¡¯t solely rely on trading, it also produces a vast quantity of corn, wheat, rice (in a unique zone especially made for its cultivation), grapes, soybeans, potatoes and cotton. Still its main product remains an alcoholic beverage called ¡°Sheng Jie,¡± how it is produced is a mystery except for the fact that both rice and grapes are used.


    Its colour is pink, but it can be darker or lighter depending on the ratio of rice/grapes used; the aroma is that of strawberries but this fragrance is only present if the bottle of Shen Jie is  five years old or more, else there is absolutely no odor. The taste greatly varies based on the previously mentioned ratio, but the light flavor of the sake and the dense relish of red wine are always both present and combined in a paradisiac taste.


    Because of its high content of alcohol players aren¡¯t allowed to drink alcoholic beverages unless they are 21 years old or more, making all alcohol taste like pear juice. Though, this function is customizable and you can, for example, change it to taste like coke or water. The reason for Crathos Inc.¡¯s choice of that particular age is because the game welcomes players from every part of the world and thus had to compromise.


    Said drink is currently being avidly savoured by Atlas, whom passion for liquors and alcoholics borders on obsession. To be clear, Atlas isn¡¯t a drunkard nor does he have problems with alcohol, he just enjoys tasting a great variety of drinks and foods. Atlas would never even become tipsy, as he experienced first-hand what drunk people can do to others.


    Electra was by his side, and, a hearty meal later, happily chatted with Matagi, Gaea and Aisha. The group went at the restaurant they were currently at after their request to participate in the next expedition had been taken and accepted by the commanding officers at the registration desk. The minimum requirement this time was being level 100 and if this expedition failed too, it would once again increase. All them met this prerequisite as, in the order they were mentioned, they were level: 128, 130, 142, 148 and 169. For Information''s sake, Maverick reached level 90.


    As the ship wasn''t ready yet, the five of them decided to relax in Xin Jen and also take a break from the game until the day of the departure came.

 Voyage 9: Constructions I

    Somewhere in the Ferl Kingdom


    A deep, loud sound reverberated in the air in a rhythmic manner while at the same time the earth seemed to shook. Contemporaneously, the sound of metal hitting against metal could be heard from time to time, if one payed attention. A group of players were taking a break from a long morning of hard work in grinding levels when they began hearing them.


    The group of players was offside a road, this road wasn¡¯t paved but the frequent utilize made the earth quite compacted and solid. Around them were many oak trees, tall and thin, tried to obscure the midday sun but the vibrant color of the green leaves seemed to think otherwise, reflecting the light with a strange ease and illuminating the group under them.


    ¡°What is this sound? ..No, better yet, what is that?¡±


    One player spoke. He pointed toward one end of the road, the opposite direction from the town they had come from. What he indicated was a group of knights walking in an orderly fashion. Their metal armor was coloured a dull blue, with some even sporting a white plumage on top of their helms. A stem of a white coiled griffon was on the breastplate of each of the knights and even on the two flags carried by two young men.


    ¡°Nh? Don¡¯t you know? After Thyw¡¯s Lord died along with his first son, the second son took over. Then, because of how he treated women like they were objects, some player (or so the rumours say) incited the townspeople to revolt. After their rebellion, like a chain reaction, many nearby villages and town did the same. Well, I don¡¯t know what exactly the village rebelled against, but you get the idea. Anyway, those guys are the King¡¯s Knights, probably making their move to suppress or try to control this streaks of revolts.¡±


    ¡°I.. I see..¡±


    The group continued to quietly observe as the armoured men passed by them, showing how, other than knights, they had brought mages too. The mages wore light robes of the same dull blue of the knight¡¯s armour, with the same symbol too. As they proceeded ahead, the group could see that at the end of the line of the troop there were another two men carrying the flags with, obviously, the same colours and symbol.


    <hr />


    Some consequences I


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Aren¡¯t they similar?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Uh? What the hell are you talking about?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>^^quote</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>I dunno. They seem different to me</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Bah. You¡¯re all retards.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>>You¡¯re all retards.


    What¡¯s your problem?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Mh, their techniques are similar, their built is similar.. the only difference is the hair color and the face. For example, the white haired girl doesn¡¯t have that mole under the eye and.. read more>></td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>I¡¯m still not convinced..</td></tr></tbody></table>


    A small discussion was started a day or so after the media station where Sonia, Abigail¡¯s mother, works released a video. The video was about the defense of a village from the attacks of mountain and forest mobs of the western territory of Hyria. It was the gameplay of five different players and was divided in three parts, one for each wave.


    The video was about 2 hours long, as it only showed the more interesting bits of the five players¡¯ battle. A little blond girl with a red ribbon in shining armour battling to the death with a group of spider-dogs (the name the players called the Waira). A sexy succubus helping her flying comrades repel a group of Tengus and then their battle against the Tengu¡¯s boss.


    The newbie who slew a dragon¡¯s poor attempt at archery. The red-haired companion of the dragon slayer fighting in the front line with various monsters and allies, which were then revealed to be enemies in disguise. A group of mages aiding in the killing of a gigantic black centipede. Then a break.


    The second part was mostly the same, only that the dragon slayer played a different, more exciting role. She ran alone toward the enemy and, uncaring about everything, she positioned herself right in the middle of the monsters¡¯ territory. Taking out two swords, the dragon slayer used her dual wielding skills to cut down all the monsters that dared to attack her, not even missing those that attacked from behind.


    When the doppelg?ngers appeared, the girl threw away her katanas and took out two daggers. Even when the monster assumed her appearance, they didn¡¯t stand a chance. The difference in skills was obvious to all. Some people wondered why was she wasting so many daggers, but they only didn¡¯t stop to think that, in the heat of battle, any unnecessary actions could cost you your life.


    The black haired girl then switched to wielding a single sword when the spider-dogs appeared. It was somewhat gross when she effortlessly cut them in half and their innards flew everywhere, mostly on her. The more she fought, the more she bathed in their organs. Some finally understood why the program was tagged mature.


    Then came the fight against the homeless druids (the Abura-sumashi). The merciless way she killed them was what made most people believe she was the white haired girl, as their methods and moves were the most similar in this part. Lastly was her fight with the dwarven-elves (the Kijinuma) and their summoned creature, a giant flying catfish with the power to shake the earth.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    After she used the same tactic she adopted against the dragon and killed the dwarven-elves, though, the girl was killed. Another break came after they showed the mages and the airborne group collaborating to kill the catfish.


    In the last part many more Tengus appeared, even accompanied by two bosses. There weren¡¯t any weasel-like creatures, in their place appeared some sort of treants (the Kodama) which only mages were able to kill. The red-haired girl died while fighting some of them. This time the boss was the commander of the dwarven-elves, who directed a group of his brethren against the village. They fought by summoning different creatures of the forest, the commander used two scaled down versions of the giant black centipede.


    As before, the video was nothing special, thus it didn¡¯t have many views, but some of the people who had watched it and had seen the video ¡°the Birth of Nyarlathotep¡± noticed the similarities and started a discussion on the official forum of Hyria. This forum was moderated by Crathos Inc. and contained all the information they released, plus the information the players decided to condivide.


    <hr />


    Some time ago in the past


    ¡°Bye mom.¡±


    ¡°Goodbye, dear.¡±


    Elizabeth smiled as she watched her little girl trot toward the entrance of her school. Her eyes moistened a bit as she thought about the incident three years ago. The incident where her husband died and her poor daughter was shot, thus losing her emotions. The doctor said Lia could only feel strong emotions now, but Elizabeth began doubting his statement.


    A tear flowed down her cheek as she recalled her little girl¡¯s apathetic expression when she knew her father had died. Her cold, emotionless expression never changed. Her eye seemed to be made of glass as it showed no will to live nor emotion. Gripping the steering wheel hard, Elizabeth drove toward her workplace.


    It was difficult to work in the building where the incident happen, still her family needed money, not as many as when her Mike died, but someone had to work and certainly a eight year old girl couldn¡¯t sustain a family of two. Her parents and Mike¡¯s helped them, even if they could offer only a part of their pensions and Elizabeth hated owning others money.


    It was harsh, but she couldn¡¯t stop. She couldn¡¯t embrace her husband anymore. She couldn¡¯t see her daughter¡¯s smile anymore. But. Lia was alive, and, even if the glimmer of hope was fragile and nowhere to be seen, Elizabeth hoped with all of her being that she would one day feel emotions once again.


    Parking the car in front of the garage, she watched her house. Memories of her life with Mike, of Lia¡¯s cute baby laughs when she played with her parents, of the three of them sleeping together. Elizabeth brought her hands over her face and began sobbing as countless tears ran down her cheeks.


    <hr />


    Somehow in an abandoned temple in the mountains


    ¡°That was cool, right Shizu?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. But what do we do now, Kaari? Do we accept?¡±


    The boy and the girl stared at the notifications in front of them. They were twins, their only difference was that Kaari had curly hair while Shizu¡¯s were straight. Their hair was black with streaks of orange, just like their leather armor. They also wore a black gauntlet on different arms, Kaari on his left and Shizu on her right arm.


    After a week wasted in climbing the mountain, they were only halfway. Exhausted by the weather, the cold snow under their feet and the tension there was while they climbed, they didn¡¯t notice monsters approaching them while they were preparing food. The consequence was that they had to climb the mountain from the start once again.


    It took them another month, considering even the time the two spent clearing the mobs inside the temple. At the peak of the mountain, this rundown temple seemed like it was looking down upon the whole world. At the entrance, though, there was a curious symbol of a spear inside a circle.


    ¡°..Yeah, why not.¡±


    And so, the two accepted their roles as L¨ªftrasir (Kaari) and L¨ªf (Shizu), becoming the representatives of the north two months after Xin Jen¡¯s third expedition started.


    <hr />


    Some consequences II


    ¡°That is all, Leader.¡±


    Vael continued to stare at his subordinate, not bothering to hide his murderous aura. The subordinate, a middle-aged man, was already habituated to Vael¡¯s temperament and mentality after staying by his side for years. He bowed and left the room, silence taking over his role to accompany Oblitus Mori¡¯s leader.


    ¡°Aisha, uh..?¡±


    Vael stared at the door of his room. His hands closed into fists, the force he used in that motion only, cause his knuckles to crack. Without batting an eyelid, he repeated in his head the report over and over, his rage rising nonstop. He breathed out some air from his mouth and logged out to sleep, but not before making a solemn vow to himself with an arrogant tone.


    ¡°I am going to make you pay for this affront.¡±


    <hr />


    Go check out Reboot 1</a>, I put an image of the Dragon Slaying Lia ahah~

 Voyage 10: Constructions II

    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have received the class: Divine Summoner</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>New Skills Acquired</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You are now eligible to Godhood.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Hwa-Ryun stared blankly at the floating blue panels in front of her. She didn''t understand what was happening, she had just created her first character in Hyria, a 105cm tall fae with short, iris coloured curly hair and eyes, freckles, small nose and lips, pale skin, a rather flat but attractive body and two sets of wings. For information, a fae''s wings are detached from her/his body and are normally invisible and retracted, though even when they are being used only their outline, which is the same colour as the fae''s hair, is visible; their wings have the shape of a diamond where the longer diagonals point toward the fae.


    Her name was XI which read as Eleven, she had chosen the Winter Citadel as a starting town when she read about the black snow in Hyria''s official forum. The game was out for about 8 months now, but as she was busy completing other games she never bothered to start with Hyria, the game her mother contributed to make, because, considering her situation, she had all the time in the world. Certainly, this was the first time she''d play a game with other people, that is why she decided to prepare throughly and read about everything there''s about Hyria on the internet.


    For example, she knew that this month (IRL) four ships, one for each part of the continent, would depart for unknown new lands beyond the natural maritime barrier. Hwa-Ryun learnt that, in fact, De'' Draake ''s previous expedition had actually managed to pass through the barrier and find land toward south-east of the port town Givyua. It wasn''t counted as successful though, because all the people were killed and also didn''t manage to find a civilized town/city. Finding the continent unlocked its presence on the players'' map (without any details, of course) but only finding civilized communities bigger than a village will give users the possibility to teleport there or to choose that as a starting point.


    There were two reasons as to why all the players were still in the starting continent: the first and most obvious is that the monsters in the other continent were really though, they were recorded to be level 200+, and even getting outside the barrier is no joke. It''s especially harder when you know that once you''re level 100~199 the experience you get from the monsters is halved if they are stronger that you, while if they have the same level or lower then you receive next to nothing, not even 1%. The second reason regards the central part of the continent. As it was not controlled by any major force, as in Kings, Queens, Emperors, etc., many guilds and players fought for control. Many built forts, outposts and castles, some even brought together the various villages spread throughout the region.


    This power struggle started a month after the game''s release and it kept on going on for another two, thus when the time came for the first expedition, none of them were free or ready and when the second expedition came, the guilds and players either had to recover from the long battle or they didn''t want to make an opening for others to attack right after the end of the battle. The success obtained in the south was mostly thanks to the guild M?sm?riz? which vowed to do better this time, boosting its fame by also offering a free teleport to the new continent to its guild members.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Hwa-Ryun wanted to join their guild, that is also another reason for choosing the Winter Citadel as her starting point, it''s near their headquarters. Still, she didn''t know anything about the class she was just bestowed, many of the skills she obtained and the Godhood thing. She thought for a while about it before giving up, thinking it probably was her mother''s gift or something. Hwa-Ryun knew her mom was quite influential in the company as she was the one who developed the main A.I. and the base formulas to create all the other A.I.s . Anyway, with a ''you can''t change the past..'' she opted to get more information out of her class, skills and eligibility to Godhood. An afternoon later, Hwa-Ryun had come some conclusions.


    ''So my class is pretty much related to the Lost God, which I know to be what the main A.I. is playing as, and my skills are pretty much about calling forth divine, mythical and legendary creatures and making them submit to my will. If they do, good, I got a familiar or companion, if they don''t, I can try making them submit through force, but if I fail and die they''re free to go wherever they want and I can never summon them again. Considering what the Lost God did, if I level it up enough I should be able to summon Gods, but this also means I have to lay low. I certainly don''t want to end up hunted by some crazy fanatics or killed by foreign Gods.


    Then, about the eligibility.. it seems to be just that. I can become a Goddess, but there seem to be certain requirements and restrictions, for example some races aren''t able to attain Godhood because their bodies are too weak in one way or another, the humans are one such race. It''s great that I choose to be a fairy, otherwise it''d a hassle changing race. I imagine people, who spent a lot of time to reach this point only to be told their race isn''t suitable to Godhood, losing it and maybe even rage quitting. At the moment, only elves can "easily" change race. Of course, not all types of elves can, and all they can become is either a Dark Elf or a Blood Elf and once you''re either of them you can''t change to the other. Well, no point thinking about such things, I gotta go grind some levels if I want M?sm?riz? to accept me.''


    Recollecting her thoughts, XI stood up from where she had been sitting all day, a fountain''s border, and started walking toward the Citadel''s gate.


    <hr />


    I noticed I got some numbers wrong for the expeditions'' timetables lol I corrected the mistake even in Voyage 8.


    Basically, the first exp was two months after Hyria''s release, then in the fifth month, eight month and finally eleventh month, which is when Lia and the others will depart~


    Anyway this two chapters were to give you some updates on the others'' conditions and stuff and to make you know all the representatives and what meant being eligible for Godhood.


    Well then, see ya next chap, which is the end of V3P1~

 Voyage 11: Departure

    ¡°Aaah..¡±


    Matagi sighed as she looked at the long line of people in front of them. Aisha was at her side, Gaea was in the front and Atlas and Electra followed behind, the width of the queue only let two people be beside each other. They were in the waiting line to board the ship for half an hour now, almost 200 people had gotten on already but there didn¡¯t seem to be an end to the line and many players and NPCs were still ahead of them.


    The ship-rigged vessel had been made in a special black/gray alloy that didn¡¯t rust and at the same time was as light as oak wood. It had three masts, foremast, mainmast and mizzenmast (from bow to stern), made out of a similar alloy, but sturdier, and four sails, the course sail, the topsail, the topgallant and the royal, plus three staysail connected to the foremast and a spanker connected to the mizzenmast, all made out of white/yellow linen.


    [A/N: Visual aid</a>.]


    Most of the players in the queue wore a rather flashy/cool armour if they were male or a sexy and revealing outfits, making Electra wonder if women lost their modesty just because it was a game. Then Gaea reminded her what she was wearing: tight, form-fitting dark-blue leather armour without sleeves, which showed her navel, cleavage and most of her back; fingerless gloves of the same colour that reached just before her elbow; short black pants, that resembled jeans, they barely covered half of her thighs but at least had back pockets, a gray/white belt and wide black ankle boots without heels.


    After the reminder, Electra¡¯s cheeks became slightly red and she began avoiding eye contact, she didn¡¯t know how to rebuke Gaea¡¯s statement. All five of them got new equipment, both for the sake of the expedition and for the fact that their old one wasn¡¯t useful anymore. Atlas wore a heavy-looking gray jacket over a metal plate armour, making him look like a cyborg with a jacket on. Of course, the armour was a really light one as he was just a mid/long-range fighter. His long pants were a set with the jacket and thus had the same colour, but Atlas found them pretty easy to move in. The jacket¡¯s long-sleeves also kept the hidden blades in his gauntlets well covered, he bought them in case of necessity.


    Gaea received a new set of equipment from ?sir: a full body armour, from helm (that she¡¯d put on only when needed) to sabaton, all made out of mithril, a white metal as rare as gold, with various azure motifs of forests with birds freely flying through them and ?sir¡¯s emblem, the ravens Huginn and Muninn, over her heart symbolizing the sun over the depicted forests. To match her armour more, Gaea also changed her ribbon from red to blue. Matagi bought a traditional samurai armour and requested the iron parts to be coloured black while the leather to be dark-red. She choose to not buy a helmet but she did buy a faceplate, or menp¨­, that resembled a Noh mask.


    Aisha wore a Cold Steel (Cold Steel continuously emitted cold air because of a gemstone embedded into it, the reason for this was to make the metal keep its form, as it was actually mercury, but it normally was just as strong as normal steel and more flexible; it has a metallic colour with light blue veins) breastplate over a Meitnerite (Meitnerite is iron that has been overcharged with mana for various years, it can only be rarely found in nature as ever attempt at artificial creation ended in failure; if paired with Cold Steel it can provide a temporary amount of mana until it runs out, losing its benefits; it has a metallic colour with light purple veins) chainmail and a white shirt. She also had Cold Steel pauldrons, couters and fingerless gauntlets, their gemstones were small and hidden inside. Aisha wore a Meitnerite cuisse on top of long black pants that seemed leggings, lastly she had a pair of leather shoes to run and walk comfortably.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Stop.¡±


    The coyote beastman guard told them after it was finally their turn to board. Maybe it was the long wait, but Gaea seemed to snap. Her voice was a pitch higher than normal as she said ¡°What?! It¡¯s our turn!¡± to the guard while glaring at him. The man didn¡¯t seem to mind, probably thinking she was just like a kid throwing a tantrum, and calmly replied to her and all the others in the queue, who had also began to get angry at this injustice, they had already been chosen and accepted, so why can¡¯t they board now?


    ¡°The first ship is full, wait here till the second ship comes.¡±


    ¡°Ah. ..I see, sorry for getting angry.¡±


    Gaea quickly recollected herself and apologized, then she grumbled mentally at the fact that they¡¯d have to wait who knows how much before boarding, making her wonder if she really had to apologize to the man. At that point, Aisha just simply sat on the ground, giving birth to a domino effect as all the other players and NPCs in the queue followed her example. They all watched the vessel disembark and then watched another dock in its place after there was enough space left.


    ¡®Ningy¨­ [ÈËÐÎ]..¡¯


    The only difference Aisha could spot was the name of the vessel, but probably an expert would have found more discrepancies. Not all got up and readied themselves to get on the ship, the line was so long the ones in the back knew that they would surely board on the next one. The group was the first to mount on the vessel and they calmly observed everything, noticing that there wasn¡¯t many changes in colour beside the gray of the metal, the white of the sails, the brown of the barrels and the blue and white uniforms of the ship¡¯s ¨¦quipe.


    A small wood elf (they were recognizable from their low stature) guided them to their cabins, Aisha and Matagi were together like Atlas and Electra, Gaea instead would get a random roommate. The cabins were 3 meters long and 2 meters wide, they each had two bunk beds, two small chests, a small porthole, a desk and a toilet shared with the cabin next door. They were useless for the players, but NPCs used this ships too, so of course they were present.


    It was around mid-afternoon when Ningy¨­ departed, leaving Xin Jen¡¯s port behind.


    End of Volume 3, part one.


    <hr />


    And that¡¯s it guys! See ya after three chapters of Phantasmagoria</a>!

 Voyage 12: Normalcy

    Opening the black/gray door, Aisha and Matagi exited their room and walked in the corridor until they reached the initial bifurcation that would either lead into the enlisted players/NPCs¡¯ quarters under the deck or to the forecastle, where the crew resided. Pushing open another door after going up some stairs, the two girls reached the deck. The sun was almost at its zenith and the majority of the crew members sat lazily near the metal rails, looking to the sea or playing with cards together, waiting for further orders from the captain. As the sea wind blew, Aisha and Matagi¡¯s hair passively let themselves be carried by it.


    The enlisted explorers took turns staying on the deck, in case there was ever a need, and by the seemingly happy look the current group gave Aisha and Matagi, it clearly meant their turn was over and the two were the first of their group to arrive. The previous group calmly started walking back, toward the door to their quarters, so they could rest themselves. Aisha ignored them while Matagi slightly bowed her head with a smile to acknowledge their greetings, as the two walked up on the bow and positioned themselves side by side behind the bowsprit, their elbows on the rail and their eyes to the horizon. It was like this that two weeks had passed.


    <hr />


    ¡°In the end, she wasn¡¯t that bad right?¡±


    Matagi said, resting her on her right hand and turning her head sideways toward Aisha. Her body was in a provocative way, bent at ninety degrees with her slender butt sticking up and her long legs seductively uncovered up until a bit over her knees. Aisha instead stood ramrod straight, her hands to her sides, she continued to look ahead. While giving Matagi a quick glance, she answered ¡°Yes, she was not.¡± in a monotone voice before going back to her duty. Matagi sighed inwardly, she expected such a response, she knew her sweetheart didn¡¯t actually feel anything about it.


    She knew, she knew that Lia didn¡¯t actually love her. It just so happened that Abigail was able to dispel the feeling of never-ending boringness. Even if Lia didn¡¯t feel emotions easily, no, exactly because she had that problem, the unchanging days that completely failed to give her any kind of emotion, actually caused Lia to feel bored, so much bored she entertained thoughts of killing herself, or so she had confessed to Abigail. The only thing that had stopped Lia was her mother, because, if she concentrated hard enough, and recalled many of her memories with Elizabeth, she could feel a sliver of what she hoped was love.


    Matagi straightened up and walked behind Aisha, she let her hands slip in-between Aisha¡¯s arms and waist, embracing her from behind Matagi also let her chin rest on Aisha¡¯s shoulder and gently leaned her head against Aisha¡¯s.


    ¡®I will stay by your side, I will support you, I will fill your life with all kinds emotions, I will always.. love you.¡¯


    Matagi¡¯s hug tightened as she ended her thoughts, closing her eyes. A salty breeze passed by, it was the only sound in the silent world the two had made for themselves.


    <hr />


    It was unclear when, but at some point the main page of Hyria¡¯s official website changed. On it, a notice was put, its contents were extremely simple: ¡°Soon will be Hyria¡¯s one year anniversary. On that day, Crathos Inc. will be more than pleased to make two grand announcements!¡±


    In all America, players grew frantic. Would they start a contest? Would they reward some random player chosen by lottery? Would a near race be unlocked? The guesses were many, but only a few came close.


    This made Aeshan feel giddy, even if he was already past his prime. He slovenly turned his computer off and took a cigar, one of the good ones he kept for special occasions, and then stood up. He walked toward the windows/walls, looking at the city before him with half-closed eyes from up high. The more he looked, the more he stared, the more he felt a surge of emotions come out from the deepest parts of his heart.


    He let himself be overwhelmed by them, knowing from experience that suppressing them was never a good idea, as he lit the cigar and began smoking.


    <hr />


    The silence was broken by a whistle followed with a ¡°That¡¯s some nice atmosphere you got goin¡¯.¡±


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Aisha recognized the voice, so she didn¡¯t bother looking behind, but Matagi wanted to glare at the uncouth man who had just ruined the said ¡°nice atmosphere.¡± Matagi¡¯s eyes rested on the figure of a rough-looking two meters tall man, he had a broad chiseled chest that he didn¡¯t miss to always show off to others, his arms and legs trained and robust, his blonde hair short and spiky, his arrogant and lusty eyes the color of chocolate, all completed by a hint of beard. The man was a player at level 175 that had taken a fancy to the two girls, even while he already had an entourage of female players always behind him. As bold as he was, he never even tried to hide the fact that some of the women were actually paid to stay with him.


    The man, supposedly in his thirties, had chosen the ambitious name of Conqueror and, living up to his name, had admittedly participated at all the expeditions departing from the western part of Hyria, not only to search for the ¡°perfect location (a town/city with as many women as possible and as few men as possible)¡± for the HQ of his own guild, ¡±Harem,¡± but also to increase the fame and membership of said guild, in which only females were allowed to join. That said, this little wandering guild¡¯s members had an average level of 100 and were all capable in their own field.


    ¡°As a man of a certain calibre, of course all the women surrounding me have to be exceptional as well!¡±


    Was Conqueror¡¯s reasoning/motto. It was also what led him to regularly attack Aisha and Matagi, trying to make them join his guild by showing his prowess. How many times he won and lost aside, Aisha simply didn¡¯t care while Matagi continued to show obvious hostility. Still, neither side killed the other, not because it wasn¡¯t possible, but because it would cause attrition and various problems to arise in regard to their relationships with the other occupants of the vessel; another thing that irked Matagi.


    Looking at the hateful gaze of the young black haired woman caused Conqueror to laugh heartily, not improving the situation. Once again, they would fight for certain. Aisha continued to look ahead as Matagi and the man slowly took out their weapons while studying each other¡¯s movements. Whether Conqueror practiced a style or he was self-taught, Matagi didn¡¯t know, but she knew from her previous fight how underestimating his ability with a broadsword would lead to a loss, so she concentrated on captivating every single movement, no matter how small, of his muscles, while leaving the control of her own body up to her instincts.


    By the time all this happened, the few females that were following him were either gone or had distanced themselves from Conqueror a few meters. Clearly, they hadn¡¯t expected Conqueror¡¯s disruption of Matagi and Aisha¡¯s free time to end well. A low ¡°Come¡± was uttered before Matagi sprinted toward Conqueror, for she knew the this man never made the first move in a swordfight, his style centered on countering.


    Matagi arrived in front of Conqueror in a heartbeat, slashing horizontally from left to right at the same time. Conqueror maintained his composure and waited till the perfect moment to step back, hack downward at the incoming katana and then step forward with enough momentum to ram his left shoulder onto Matagi¡¯s head. But Matagi was one step ahead, having already experienced this move, her body automatically moved to her left, following the descending momentum of her parried weapon, successfully sidestepping Conqueror¡¯s big shoulder. Both were in an unbalanced position at this point, able only to awkwardly attack and defend, Matagi forced her katana in an upward slash and the man hurriedly repelled it with the blade of the broadsword, Conqueror¡¯s bigger constitution actually payed off here as he managed (barely) to remain standing while Matagi fell on her butt.


    Such an ending to a swordfight to Matagi, who had trained since she was little, was somewhat embarrassing, but the thought of having lost to Conqueror filled her brain with annoyance and some anger, making her forget that detail. When she stood up, Conqueror had already put his weapon away and was showcasing a brilliant grin. A vein seemed to pop up on Matagi as she ground her teeth in seething irritation and, with a loud ¡°Hmph!¡±, she turned around and walked back to Aisha¡¯s side.

 Voyage 13: Tranquil Times

    I think I¡¯ll make another list of characters after V4P1..


    <hr />


    Aisha, who didn¡¯t know what to do with her pouting sweetheart, decided to let Matagi calm down on her own. She fixatedly stared ahead without a care in the world, her mind and heart utterly empty; ¡®The difference between me and a doll is thin.¡¯ such a thought had suddenly sprung up in her now no-more-quiet mind. Time didn¡¯t seem to matter anymore as Aisha decided to lose herself in her random train of thoughts, unconsciously closing her eyes.


    ¡®If it wasn¡¯t for mom, Abigail, my.. friends.. and for those people from Oblitus Mori, perhaps I really would be like a doll, an existence without emotions, purely controlled by external forces. And why wouldn¡¯t I let them control me? If I didn¡¯t, I would have to choose on my own. It¡¯s not like it really matters. Right, none of the choices or their consequences interest me, so there¡¯s no problem in letting the circumstances choose for me. Mother long ago told me that I must not live in such a manner, or at least not entirely. I have no problem with it, so I accepted her proposition: decide based on the profits and losses that would come my way by the result of my actions when it really matters.


    Still.. when does it really matter at all?¡¯


    Aisha opened her eyes and stared downwards, she looked at Matagi who was currently busy kissing her neck. After they had spent the night together, Abigail had steadily increased their body contact time, both in game and in reality, though without escalating to events similar to fornicating in public. It was like she was trying to compensate their mental distance with their physical proximity. Matagi¡¯s eyes sometimes would show a strange glint in them, an emotion Aisha couldn¡¯t quite point out but that nonetheless would make her heart stir, even if a little bit. That said, Aisha hadn¡¯t felt any new emotions since that time in Fuji¡¯s Catacombs.


    ¡°Finally out of wonderland, uh?¡±


    Matagi said after Aisha made her notice her awareness by gently stroking the back of Matagi¡¯s head. With a ¡°Yes¡± and a small nod, Aisha implicitly asked Matagi to tell her what was happening, why she had woken her up from her thoughts. Matagi turned around and started walking away, a simple ¡°Lunch break¡± was able to make Aisha follow almost immediately. Checking her satiety level, Aisha had confirmed she actually needed to eat before she followed her companion.


    As they went toward the only large enough room able to accomodate a third of the members of the ship, which was naturally situated below the deck, Aisha¡¯s whole group came together. The members were her, Matagi, Gaea, Electra, Atlas, Conqueror, Rie, Ka¡¯henya and Esraen. Actually, Rie¡¯s username was Rie35, but who would call her that? She was a level 168 human priestess, and also a paid member of Harem. She wore a white sleeveless robe with simple golden embroidery and detached long sleeves with the same patterns that hid her hands, the colours were pretty much complementing her short white hair, her cyan coloured eyes and her rosy skin. With an height of around 170 cm and an ample chest, her form-fitting clothes were quite alluring. The most surprising thing was her vast knowledge of her class and the game in general, which Conqueror had admitted to be paying for.


    Ka¡¯henya was another paid member of Harem, but from the group¡¯s conversations it seemed like she worked for Conqueror even in real life, perhaps as bodyguard, and her gaming knowledge came from the teachings of Conqueror and other Harem members. Her race was a rare choice between the players because of its appearance and restrictions. She was a wraith, and one of the restrictions was that they could not wear clothes, thus constantly having to be naked. Naturally the genitalia and nipples weren¡¯t present, as a wraith was genderless, but the player¡¯s body structure still remained.


    A wraith¡¯s body was entirely made out of black mist, at exception of the iris which was white, and as it moved around, strands of mist were left behind. The hair of a wraith were perhaps the most mesmerizing, especially if they were long, as they fluctuated in the air as gravity didn¡¯t have any effect on them; Ka¡¯henya ¡®s hair was shoulder-length. Wraith were not able to fly as they were ¡°beings bound to the earth,¡± but they were able to jump up to incredible heights and glide; while gliding, their body automatically moved in their desired direction, so it didn¡¯t matter which position their body adopted. Their constitution also made physical attacks completely useless, but in exchange they suffered enormous damage from magical attacks.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Ka¡¯henya was a level 150 hybrid assassin/mage as she used telekinesis to control four chakrams that she normally kept either in her inventory or inside her body. Her figure was incredibly lithe but, differently from Enyo, she had a big bust and a natural adult charm that only came from age and experience. Quite the eye-catching existence.


    Lastly, Esraen was a solo player. He was a level 181 elf ranger and also leader of this group. Esraen was a dark-skinned elf with waist-long silvery hair but he was not a dark elf as he did not practice magic which went against nature. His green-tinted attire stood out on the boat and on this never-ending sea, but in a forest he would be hardly seen. Esraen had brown eyes, thin eyebrows and delicate lips. He was extremely androgynous but he never bragged about it, unlike Conqueror.


    Aisha remained silent as she once again observed each and every one of her new companions during lunch. Being stared at by her cold, half-closed eyes was actually a little uncomfortable, but they didn¡¯t say anything as they had already learned that they could do nothing about it.


    <hr />


    Xin Jen had prepared four ships for this expedition, and now each ship kept a distance of at least a thousand meters while following the same direction. A few days after the last ship wasn¡¯t in sight of the continent anymore, unknown ships began appearing at the horizon and on both sides, completely encircling them. By the estimates, in a day or a day a half Xin Jen¡¯s ships would be in range of this unknown ships¡¯ cannons and in another half a day they would make contact. With the use of magic or natural/racial abilities, it was possible to confirm that each unknown ship sported the flag of pirates, but the NPC admirals and their close subjects recognized the type of ships and also who possibly was controlling them behind the scenes.


    ¡°.. The ships are all galleons of at least four meters in width and ten meters in length, if they were built according to standard. Now, as for battle preparations and formation, I would like the groups to now patrol together with another group so that we¡¯ll have as many people as possible defending the ship when the time comes. Since each group was made quite balanced, we won¡¯t have to trouble ourselves with which group works with whom.


    Secondly, I ask the people able to fly or at least able to move great distances to not do so until the enemy ships are near, unless you want to be forcefully brought down by them. While each mast can only endure 3 or 4 hits, to know how many are necessary to damage the port, the starboard, the bow or the stern, we¡¯d need to know how powerful their cannonballs are. I ask each of you to do your utmost in either making the cannonballs explode before they reach us or to at least deviate their trajectory enough to make them miss.


    Once the galleons are close enough, focus on destroying their masts before trying to fight all the pirates or to make a hole in their ship. In case we end up needing to escape, without their masts and sails they will have a hard time pursuing us. Of course, once they are close enough the enemy will try to do exactly the same to our ship, so now I¡¯ll be sure to assign each group a general role so as to not create confusion during the fight and so you guys don¡¯t end up either all attacking the enemies or all defending our ship. Now then, ..¡±


    All the users and NPCs participating in this expedition were raptly listening to the admiral¡¯s words. Some were nervous, some were excited, some were prepared for such a situation, some were not. Aisha calmly looked with half-closed eyes at the man who was giving them all instructions, not caring in the least about what was going to happen.

 Voyage 14: Turbulent Times

    Double-length chapter!


    <hr />


    Each and every member had at least an armor of some kind to be always ready. Tension was in the air but not all were affected by it. The ones who knew that constantly straining all of one¡¯s self would be detrimental in the long run kept calm while also being vigilant for any signs of an attack. The first cannonballs, coming from the front, were directed towards the first ship and were repelled by a three meters long transparent golden square, this information was available thanks to the various means of communication between the ships and between the players. As the galleons at the sides came closer, the people with more eyesight could see that some enemy ships, those going in the gap between each vessel of the expedition, moved in groups of two.


    ¡°They intend to encircle every single one of our ships!¡±


    Someone had shouted at some point. Certainly, this tactic would prove to be an annoyance for the fourth ship, which would have to navigate through all of the encirclements, where all the strongest people resided. Probably, the enemy¡¯s tactic was to eliminate the expedition¡¯s strongest combatants so that even if, by luck, some ship survived this and then even managed to land after a long journey, they would have no chance in establishing a colony in the new continent.


    Aisha and the rest were not on duty when the first cannonballs attacked their ship, which was the second. They all got up to rendezvous with the other group of people and to find a place where they could readily go above deck and lend a hand. In the time before the attack, they had the time to make presentation and establish the roles of everyone, so that they wouldn¡¯t get in each other¡¯s way. The first group to defend managed to hold on for three volleys of attacks, quite impressive as they had to protect the vessel from all sides. Still, they had called for a change after the second volley, saying that their mana and stamina would be depleted in the next one, which in the end did happen.


    The second group held for another three, and after them it was Aisha¡¯s group and the other group¡¯s turn. Their position was slightly different from their predecessor, who choose to put three people at bow and three at the stern, then six people each for the port and the starboard. Now there were only four people distributed between the bow and the stern. Seeing this, many frowned thinking that the groups¡¯ power had gotten to their heads and now they could not reason correctly. Indeed, all 18 of them were quite confident in their abilities.


    Ka¡¯henya and Atlas were at the front, behind the bowsprit, and the plan was for them to deal with the cannonballs in rotation; one would continue to defend until their MP was half spent and at that point they would step out to recuperate while the other did the work. Also, Conqueror requested Ka¡¯henya to test whether or not she was able to take control of the cannonballs. Instead, Atlas was given this position because he was the one whose spells had the best range/cost ratio between the two groups, effectively incrementing the time the two of them could defend the bow on their own.


    Esraen and a mage from the other group were at the stern, the first used various techniques to shoot arrows (such as shooting two arrows one behind the other to deviate the trajectory of the cannonball, or shooting three arrows at the same time each going to three different points with the same distance between them, forming a triangle, which would instead detonate the projectile) while the latter used the wind (to either slice the cannonballs, thus making the explode, or to change their course with the aid of wind currents). The second group¡¯s people mostly specialized in one-versus-many tactics, with the consequence of them having little to no skills for single targets, that is why three of the four members placed at the bow and the stern are from Aisha¡¯s group.


    Said group¡¯s member had four people placed at the extremities of the two rows on the starboard and the port, they would had the most space to cover, not only because they were responsible of the people near them in case they couldn¡¯t stop the projectile, but also because as the enemy ships completely surrounded the vessel, the attacks practically came from all angles and at different/random intervals. The change in attack pattern was quick, denoting a new phase of the battle and a change in the flow of events. Later, after their turn had ended, they all had learned that a powerful NPC in the third ship had launched a long-ranged beam attack, destroying the galleons behind them, effectively reducing the number of their ships in half, and also some of the galleons in front of the fourth ship. It was expected that they would receive orders to help the fourth ship, the main force of the expedition.


    As for why the four people in the second group had to babysit the people at their side, it was because those people were the ones specializing in close combat. One of those was Matagi, who resorted to throwing daggers Electra had previously enchanted, and at her other side there was Aisha who used her bow and enchanted arrows. 70% of the reason why Aisha was successful in either destroying or repelling the cannonballs was thanks to the priest beside her, who used debuffs and barriers to slow down or temporarily block the projectile. While this helped Aisha, Matagi and the two men at the other side of the priest, it also meant that there was once again a person less defending this side of the ship.


    Conqueror and Electra were on the other side, on the port. Conqueror was in-between the people from the other group, one assisted him while the other had to concentrate on multiple cannonballs. Electra instead was tasked to help Gaea and Rie, who would also be helped by the player from the other group situated at the end of the line, to do this she actually flew a bit ahead of the ship in order to be able to hit the cannonballs sooner. Gaea and Rie used what buffs they had to help the other five, but it wasn¡¯t enough as one time Electra had to stop a cannonball which had gotten too close to the ship. To ensure its destruction, Electra had gotten close, maybe too close, as she suffered enough damage to have her HP halved. While it did not damage the ship, it made ones watching the two group wonder if they had chosen the right displacement of positions considering their classes and abilities.


    With the change in the enemy¡¯s attack pattern, the members of the two groups didn¡¯t get much rest as they could only rest six at a time; one each from the bow and the stern, four from the port and starboard. As only when one¡¯s mana fell below 50% could one rest, there were times in which more people needed to take a break, causing temporary distress. The mental pressure and fatigue that also accumulated over time wasn¡¯t negligible, it had made the members edgy and unfocused after an hour of constantly defending the ship, hearing explosions right near them, trying to find the right time to use the right skill, paying attention to the others, paying attention to the their MP.. They hadn¡¯t even noticed the eighteen people coming up from under the deck until they had been swiftly replaced.


    Some staggered and fell to the ground, exhausted, but all were panting. The eighteen worn-out people remained like that for a few minutes before they went back to their own rooms to rest. Considering how many people were on the vessel, and the admiral¡¯s estimated time on when they¡¯ll make contact with the galleons, everyone would not get more than one turn. It was with this consideration that they all went to sleep, only to be briskly woken up by the sounds of people rushing in the corridors outside their cabins, by the incessant knocking on the doors and also by some players/NPCs shouting ¡°ENEMY APPROACH!¡±


    Of course, it wasn¡¯t like the enemy came faster than expected (well, not by much) but more like Aisha¡¯s group was so tired they had slept until this moment. Outside their rooms, players and NPCs orderly walked in a fast pace toward the door, knowing full well that blindly running toward the deck would only hinder others and slow down their response to the enemy. When there was a gap, other people would join the queue, and nobody cared, or dared to complain, about others cutting the line. Conqueror, Electra, Esraen, Gaea, Rie, Matagi, Ka¡¯henya and Atlas didn¡¯t miss their turn, but Aisha just quietly waited for everyone to pass and go upstairs.


    ¡®It won¡¯t be a problem if I don¡¯t hurry and go, for now surviving has priority.¡¯


    For players, dying, now or before they found a new spawn point, meant going back to Xin Jue and having to wait for the next expedition. For NPCs, well, for them it was simply the end. Those are also possible excuses as to why no one complained if some guy cut ahead of them in line. And just like that, Aisha was the last person coming out of the first floor of the resting department. Certainly, the vessel was spacious, but it could not hold on the deck all the players and NPCs at the same time, that is why only the people in the first floor were called, along with the people capable of flight/long jumps from the lower floors.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Looking around, Aisha could notice that the ship had taken damage, not much but not little either, but establishing whether it was before or during the close fight with the galleons would be difficult and futile, it would not change the situation in any way nor would it give more information about the enemy. Or so they thought. It would be something they¡¯d regret later on.


    Esraen had a cold, detached look as he aimed and killed the enemies on the ship and on the others. He had climbed the mainmast halfway up, accompanied by Electra and Gaea. Gaea had initially escorted him to the mast before taking off on her own, while Electra stayed with him and guarded him, just like some other NPCs and players were doing. Rie stayed around the mizzenmast, along with some other priests/esses, and buffed and cured everyone close enough. Atlas had positioned himself near a plank that connected the two ships, aiding two NPCs with the role of tanks. Atlas had tried making the enemy boat catch fire, but it was an utterly useless attempt, more or less, as he only got some unknown enemy player killed. That¡¯s right, the enemies too, were both NPCs and players, they certainly had a quest to stop their expedition.


    Ka¡¯henya slipped through the enemy lines along with other assassins, as it was dawn it was easy for her to blend in with the shadows with the aid of her skills and drain the life of the enemies. At the same time she controlled her chakram to slide over the floor and cut the tendons of as many people as possible. It was a daunting task to perform both actions at the same time with such control, but it seemed like to Ka¡¯henya it wasn¡¯t too much. There¡¯s to say that she wasn¡¯t the only assailant, so the additional confusion and disorientation the others caused also helped her maintain her pace.


    Conqueror fought the enemy head on with a white broadsword clad in lightning, he used the enemies¡¯ attack as a chance to disrupt their balance and at the same time he stunned them by using the electrical charges his sword released, then he either killed them with a counter-attack or hit them in the face, with the sword¡¯s guard or a punch, making them stagger backwards and then at that time Conqueror would kill both him and the one behind. Obviously, when more enemies attacked him he changed strategy, but not more than three people had ever attacked him as he fought alongside other warriors.


    Also, the reason his broadsword discharged lightning wasn¡¯t because of an enchant from Electra, but because he was an elemental swordsman. The differences between an Enchanter and an Elemental Swordsman were blurry, the most noticeable though were that an enchanter could permanently apply to a weapon not only elemental affinities but also unique ones, plus they could make combinations. Instead, elemental swordsmen are restricted to use the 8 basic elements: light and darkness (they are counted as one), wind, water, metal, earth, lightning, fire, ice. Another difference is that elemental swordsmen can use those elements for mid-range attacks, while the enchants worked only on contact with the enemy. This peculiarity made them similar to Dhy¨¡na Monks, the differences being the weapons they used and the fact that the monks concentrated more on the spells aspect while the elemental swordsmen concentrated more on sword techniques. Elemental Swordsman was also a rare class, rare than the Dhy¨¡na Monk, as only a few knew how to obtain it.


    Matagi was one of the ¡°warriors¡± fighting alongside Conqueror, but he fought near the foremast while Matagi stayed near the mizzenmast, near the priests. She battled while always minding her position and she never went too far away. Ever since she had first fought with Conqueror, Matagi realized that compared to her sword skills, her footwork was somewhat lacking, that is why she had recently asked Trevor and her own teached a training aimed at improving it, and now she was also using this chance to further increase her efficiency; in this occasion where she could be separated from Aisha for some time in case she died, training her footwork came second in comparison to her ¡°life.¡±


    But why did Matagi try not to move from there? There reason is simple: no matter the circumstances, abandoning Aisha¡¯s side was taboo. After her failure to protect Aisha in the fight with the spirit at the beast-kin village, Matagi began feeling like she wasn¡¯t taking her role seriously enough. If Aisha had been, for example, the President of the U.S.A. and Matagi her bodyguard, distancing so much from Aisha and even leaving her to fend for herself was an extremely shameful act which, to her standards, could even be considered treason. She would not betray her trust again. She would not break her promise again. Thus she stood and fought there, in front of Aisha, as her loyal and deadly sword.


    Aisha¡¯s eyes looked, watched, stared, glared and analyzed the situation. One third of the people able to fly protected the archers on the masts as they all also had long-range attacks, the remaining two thirds attacked the galleons that made up the semicircle in front of the ship. The mages with large-scale spells mercilessly tried to destroy the ships at the back, the priests were near the stern for this reason too. Clearly, destroying the enemies that would be in the way of the fourth vessel had the priority.


    Currently, the enemy had formed two rows of encirclement around their ship. The damage to their boat was at around 20~30% while the enemy had half its initial number of ships. Aisha had taken to snipe, or trying to, the officials of the enemy with the aid of many buffs and the enchantments Electra provided beforehand on her bow and arrows, making them move faster and also augmenting her aim/proficiency. While this was all well and good, she had been doing it only to not be the sole person to have not moved a finger during the battle. ¡®It would ruin the group¡¯s reputation.¡¯ was her reasoning. Her real part in this fight was actually supporting the priests: with Primordial Fear, Predator Instincts and Death¡¯s Eyes she could point out who needed a heal the most, if the enemy had infiltrated their ranks and stun them for enough time to get them killed by the warriors in front, and lastly, cure with Divine Healing the priests if they fell into critical condition and the other priests were busy. The reason why she also needed to do so was because her Predator Instincts would not detect inanimate objects, thus arrows and the like could ¡°easily¡± pass through her defenses.


    About an hour later, the NPCs and players that had been fighting and surviving non-stop until now were slowly being replaced by the people on the second floor. As the ones flying about were already all called upon, there was no one to substitute them, so they had taken to divide in groups and fight in turns to better manage their stamina, health and mana. Sometimes drinking a mana potion or two, Aisha had an easy time sustaining this battle state for so long, her mental fatigue wasn¡¯t anything worth noting too. Still, Matagi ordered her to go downstairs together and rest, even if for a short time. Two hours after the start of the battle, their fourth ship safely joined up with the third and were about to finish destroying the enemy galleons. The first ship, although not inoperable, was almost half destroyed, but at least their enemies had been reduced to a third. As for their own enemy, one row was annihilated and now they were about to finish destroying half of the second encirclement.


    And then, a giant shark jumped up in a parabolic trajectory from under the first ship, its clenched jaw avidly keeping it in place before it fell back down in the water on its stomach while at the same time its jaw and teeth broke the ship-rigged vessel in half and leaving the deathblow to the members of the ship to the force of gravity and the countless other, now-visible, aquatic monsters roaming about in the sea waters near them.

 Voyage 15: Falling off

    Oops, seems like yesterday it made an error and didn''t post; well, whatever, here you go.


    <hr />


    The enemies¡¯ expression turned grim, they had already made up their mind when they had left the port. The creation of colonies in new continents was a too coveted objective, and even though the empires, kingdoms and queendoms all believed in the same religion, greed won over unity. This was just one of many suicide missions that would be happening or have happened already. Still, the scale of this attack shocked the allied NPCs and players silly. The enemy had used potent monster baits all around, making it impossible for anyone to escape, themselves included. There was a possibility the allied forces would steal one of the galleons and ran away, after all.


    The people that survived the shark¡¯s attack and even the fall in the sea were dragged down by various monsters whose shapes couldn¡¯t be made out in the frenzy of the moment and because of their speed. Then, one after another gargantuan monsters emerged from the deep sea waters. Other sharks, like the one who first launched the attack, also appeared. Their skin was jet-black and their round eyes were the colour of emeralds, they were at around level 180~210 and their name was displayed as ¡°Samebito <Shark form>¡±. Of course, at the moment nobody cared about this information so Aisha just kept quiet and continued to observe this new types of monsters.


    Dark gray clouds began forming and in a heartbeat a heavy downpour started, all following the wishes of the commanding roar of a level 400 ¡°Zennyo Ry¨±¨­,¡± a beautiful blue serpentine dragon which emitted a soft, azure aura around itself as it coiled and hovered in the air after it emerged from underwater. It was similar to the typical chinese dragons but it didn¡¯t have any beard and had only two feelers that would sway backwards, positioned on its forehead. Its seemingly divine majesty and beauty gave off the feeling of a powerful goddess looking down from the heavens.


    The hearts of everyone trembled at that display of power and momentarily stopped fighting until the time when it was clear that the Zennyo Ry¨±¨­, the dragon, would only watch over them. Around the time everyone was experiencing boundless fear for their lives, Aisha looked over the enemy galleons, which previously encircled the first ship, being attacked by a multitude of sea-serpents several kilometers long called ¡°Ikuchi.¡± Their scales were green but a yellow liquid which seeped from them made their scales seem dirtied by sand. This yellow liquid descended in great quantities on the various galleons as the Ikuchi lept over them in a continuous rhythm, and as more and more of the liquid fell on the ships, they began to sink deeper and deeper.


    Wind blew near the third ship and the galleons encircling it. At least fifty huge, barbed tail fins appeared and began hitting each ships, trying to capsize them. The tails belonged to level 150~180 ¡°Isonade,¡± which body and head could not be seen. Their skin was covered by pinky-white scales that glimmered gorgeously when illuminated by the players and the NPCs¡¯ attacks, which had not stopped again after the brief pause caused by the Zennyo Ry¨±¨­. The enemy continued to attack the members of the expedition, not caring for their lives nor for the marine monsters¡¯ attacks. Many lives were being lost as the roiling sea waters beneath the ships were tinged red by the blood of the corpses floating in them.


    Their own situation wasn¡¯t any better, ¡°Funay¨±rei¡± were climbing their vessel and also the enemy¡¯s. They were level 140~150 humanoid creatures, resembling human corpses which had been in the sea for a long time; they all had a loose fitting white kimono, pretty much similar to the one the dead are depicted to be wearing in japanese folklore, with a black belt that hardly kept it closed. They also used their non-dominant hand to drag a ladle from which water continuously flowed out. Also, the Funay¨±rei kept mumbling between themselves while showing an angry face, sometimes even growling. They, like the Ikuchi, didn¡¯t attack them directly and instead focused on sinking the ships, not even retaliating when an NPC or a player started killing them, unless the attack was aimed at their ladle. In the end, their strength was not a problem, their numbers were. Hundreds of Funay¨±rei kept climbing Aisha¡¯s ship and there was no sign of them stopping.


    Lastly, two types of monsters attacked the fourth ship and its encircling enemy galleons, but as they were too distant Aisha obviously couldn¡¯t identify them, she decided to fully concentrate on the monsters in front of her. The monsters which attacked the last group of ships were one above level 200 and about an hundred of mobs around level 90~100; the lower leveled monsters were different humanoid figures from the Funay¨±rei, they were visible only from the stomach and up, the rest remained under the sea. They were like three dimensional bald shadows with two columns of three white dots on their forehead, no mouth or nose was possible to be identified, but faint white lines outlined their eyes. This creatures, later known as ¡°Umib¨­zu,¡± were dozens of meters tall and numbered in the hundreds; despite having low health and being extremely slow, their combined efforts to capsize ships weren¡¯t futile.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    But what was scary was the 200+ monster that simply floated in the air a dozen or so above the roiling sea. The monster ten times bigger than the Umib¨­zu, which had identified itself as ¡°Mizuchi¡± and ¡°one of the guardians of this sea,¡± was a serpentine dragon completely made out of crystal-clear water that incessantly flowed from his head to his tail and then from his tail to his head. Mizuchi simply observed them, like the Zennyo Ry¨±¨­, and didn¡¯t bother to attack nor to retaliate. Not even the strongest attacks from the various players and NPCs of the fourth seemed to bring out a response from him, who continued to glare at them with incredibly cold eyes. Some couldn¡¯t stand the pressure he emitted anymore and directly lept into the sea, only to be dragged to its deepest waters.


    <hr />


    ¡®Mana.. none. Health.. 10%. Stamina.. 25%. Mmh, the enemy was really determined to destroy us, I wonder if Abigail will want to participate in the next expedition too.¡¯


    Aisha steadily looked at the enemy knight standing in front of her. Behind her, over the three Funay¨±rei, was the railing of the vessel and barely one meter below was the sea. The ladle-carrying mobs had completely infested the deck and the lower floors of the ship, already almost sinked. There were not many enemies left, but the same could be said about them. Of Aisha¡¯s group, Atlas, Esraen and Rie were killed. Aisha, Matagi, Gaea, Conqueror, Electra and Ka¡¯henya were hustled ¡°together¡± near the metal railing of the starboard, all with low health and no more strength to fight, the knight Aisha was facing was the last enemy in sight. Then, Aisha was flung in the air, over the railing.


    It wasn¡¯t that she had been careless, no, she was just tired after fighting non-stop at full strength for an hour and so, she wasn¡¯t able to dodge or block the last, desperate skill used by the enemy. Seeing this, Matagi jumped off the ship without an ounce of hesitation, crashing into the water near Aisha and almost at the same time. Though Matagi tried to grasp Aisha¡¯s hand, multiple humanoid creatures popped up and began dragging them down. Observing from the sides, Electra clicked her tongue and dove right in; Gaea sighed, shook her head for a bit and did the same. Ka¡¯henya looked at Conqueror, waiting for his orders. Conqueror¡¯s face showed a mix of anger and resignation.


    ¡°Whether we wait or jump out, nothing is going to change. Damn my luck.¡±


    Sighing, Conqueror jumped over the railing and into the sea, soon followed by Ka¡¯henya, and then both were dragged down into the deep, dark waters at the bottom of the sea.


    <hr />


    After losing consciousness, Abigail logged out of Hyria and took off her helmet. Sitting up on her bed, she stretched her back a little and then took a sip of water from the pet bottle on her bedside table before standing up, going to her desk and starting up her computer. Abigail connected to her helmet and started browsing the video history of her gameplay. She then selected to transfer the recording of the battle with the galleons and the marine monsters starting from the time they had first seen the enemy ships up until the point where she lost consciousness underwater.


    ¡®Lia should know those mobs¡¯ levels and names so even if this won¡¯t be the only video showcasing them, or even if mom doesn¡¯t use it, it should give her channel¡¯s ratings a boost~, after all, this is pretty hard to come by information~¡¯


    Abigail got up and exited the room as the helmet and computer continued the transfer.