《Eye of Adventure》 Chapter 1 “Arthur Rain” Chapter 1 Arthur Rain[/b] What was the first creation that people called a game? No one will ever know and that is because there is no simple definition of a word game, and even if someone managed to define this word, how could someone point out what was the first game in history. Its similar question to how human kind came to be? or what is the meaning of life?. Because we cannot see what happened in the past we can only speculate about this question. Even if something like time machine appeared, there is just no way to find the answer for sure. What was the first game in history? In the first place, it doesnt really matter what the first game was. New games and new ideas are definitely much more interesting than something that could be called the first game. That is at least my hope. -so you are saying that this is different from all others games that are out right now? -yes. -a confident answer but you should know that every developer says the same thing but the games they release are still not much different from any others. Nowadays its hard to come up with anything original so we rarely see anything unique. Sure, the new Virtual Reality Gear created by your company was a mile stone in VR development but still, new games that came out for this platform just had better graphic. In the end however, they followed the same pattern. -if you already mentioned this subject then, let me just say that the development of our VR technology was indeed a great success. Still it wasnt my final goal but rather just a first step in it. As for the games that come out for it, I would say that even though some of them were really good, they still didnt reach the full potential of what VR game con be. -hold on a second. If that wasnt your final goal then what was it and how it makes your new game different from others? -first of all, I should correct you and all the viewers. What we made is not a game. If we were to do that, the game would probably turn out just as you said. There would be one or two new original aspects in it but the core of the game would be something that we all already know. Thats why we did not create a game, what we created was an artificial intelligence. -an AI is fairly common nowadays. I dont see your point. -wait and listen to the end then. The artificial intelligence that we made was incredibly complicated in its creation and for that we needed a lot of money. That was the main reason that we had to release our VR gear that early. -so you are saying that all this money that you earned was just a side effect? You become one of top five richest people of the world. -yes, our capsules made me rich, but being rich, as much as appealing it is, had never been my main objective. Some people say that there are many things that are more important than money. Some people say otherwise. My opinion is that in the end, if you have money its easier to get those other things. And even if there are things that you cant get with money, its always better to have them, right? -yes but lets return to the topic. Tell us something about that AI and how is it related to the game you will release. -our AI has the skills of the greatest people in our company, as well as my vision of creation. -vision of creation? What do you mean by that? -its that this AI is like a copy of me. Both ideas and abilities. Well its probably better than me as its not just my abilities. The important thing is that it doesnt have human limitations. -so it is not the company, but AI that created this game? -you can think like that but only half of your statement is correct. Our AI can create incredible things in matter of seconds. Typical game with 100 hours gameplay normally takes it a week. But image what would happen if we gave it a year. The AI has been working on this project for two years already and even now it is still developing the game as we speak, adding new stuff. Thats why second half of you statement is incorrect, AI did not simply created the game, it created a new world. While reviewing an old interview with creator of VR, Arthur Rain was waiting for his own VR platform. Even though it was two years since release of new world Arthur didnt try it before. It was not because he didnt have money, or because he was not convinced of this new technology. It was nothing like that. The reason was slightly more complicated. Even though he was only 19, many things already happen in his life that changed him. Arthur used to be a normal boy who was going to school, played with friends and enjoyed his everyday life. His father was a surgeon in a local hospital and his mother was a kindergarten teacher. He had, what some might call, an easy, normal life. He would go to the collage, get a stable job, and live without greater concerns. That was the general plan at least, but that was not to be. One day before Christmas when he was 14, his family went to meet his grandfather who lived in small village in the Eastern Mountains. It was already pitch black outside. The snow was falling from the sky, and the temperature was way below zero. His father was driving the car. It was his hometown, so he knew the road like the back of his hand, and also he rode this way many times. But he couldnt know that the road sign, which should help in driving those hills was broken. Because he couldnt see it, he didnt manage to stay on the road on the corner, and car fell off the cliff. It was a five meter fall to the ground from the road. Arthurs mother died the instant car hit the ground. Still she managed to soften Arthurs damage, as she held him in arms and shielded him from the impact. His father, while greatly wounded, survived the impact. In his last moments he took Arthur out of the car, and called his father, Arthurs grandfather, to whom they were driving. -hey son, where are you now? Its dangerous to talk while driving a car. Here is not your petty city. In his last moment Arthurs father managed to say two things. -cliffsave Arthur. And those were the last words of Arthurs father. At that time, Arthur thought that he will die as well. No, he even thought that he should die, together with his parents. But that did not happen. Two hours after the accident, still lying in the snow, Arthur watched his parents dead bodies. For someone his age, it was the most terrible sight that anyone could think off. He was covered in snow, and freezing, already unable to move. But then suddenly something fell from the same cliff that the car fell from. It was then that Arthurs grandfather arrived. -Son! Are you here?... After he saw the burned car, he knew what has happen. He recalled his son last words, and then yelled. -Arthur!! At that moment Arthur was already buried in snow, but the moment he heard the voice, he put strength in his arm and tried to move. It wasnt much. He barely moved some snow that covered him but that was enough for his grandfather. The moment he heard a small sound of moving snow, he knew where Arthur was and after that he saved him. After the accident Arthur started to live with his grandfather, but he was not the same as before, he didnt talk much, and stayed in his room for most of the time. His grandfather was sad as well. His only son just died, and the closest member of his family he had left, was left in deep grief. The grandfather didnt have idea of what to do. He was a martial artist. He spend most of his time training himself in order become strong. With the old logic, man must always seek to become stronger than he was before. Once he signed up to take part in sports competition in various martial arts, he didnt care about rewards, but he wanted to fight against strong opponents. Long story short, it all ended up with him winning many gold medals in all categories he chosen. After that he began to train others. He met his wife, had a child, but still he never forgotten about his training. But in a situation like this he didnt know what to do to help his grandson. One day his grandson come and asked. -grandpa, why do you always train yourself, isnt it tiring for you? -you see Arthur, man always need to train himself, you never know when you will need to be strong. -this, is stupid! Dad also trained himself, but it didnt matter when when we fell from the cliff! He died, just like mom! -you may look at it this way, but you could look at it another way. -? -your father managed to take you out of the car before the fire started and he even managed to call me, that is more than enough for a person who was on death bed. Also if I didnt train myself how could I find and save you there. Roads were impassable. The only thing I could do was run on my foot. -but he died and I still live. How fair is that? Grandfather was sad upon hearing those words, but still he continued. -thats normal for a little kid like you. You trembled in fear unable to do anything, against the hardest opponent that you can find, life. But remember this Arthur, you have strength within you. You are my grandson after all. As you said, you are the only one that was saved, the only one that survived, make use of this life that was given to you. Repay in the fullest everything that you think is in your debt and if you ever find someone to save, save them. Strong words, which shouldnt be told to the child, but that was the words that he thought Arthur needed. The time went on. For a five year Arthur was living with his grandfather. He was going to school, but he didnt make friends. He could talk with anyone, but at the same time, he couldnt open his heart to anyone. People in his class were his classmates and acquaintances, but they were not his friends. Most of his free time, Arthur spent on training. His grandfather taught him many things, hand to hand combat, white weapon combat and ways to be strong. Arthur thought that it may help him in repeating his debt that he always felt he had. His grandfather also taught him numberless useless things, but people learn so many useless things in their life, that few more doesnt make a difference. Five years have passed and Arthur finished his high school. At that time his grandfather said. -it is time that you start your new life. -what do you mean by that grandpa? -you know, start living on your own. Find some meaning in life. Well, that may be a little too hard for you right now. In any case, for now just do what you want and enjoy yourself. -enjoy myself, hmm Strange as it may be Arthur Rain didnt have many things he enjoyed or anything that made him really happy. He couldnt feel any excitement from normal things, or enjoy his everyday life anymore. -how I am supposed to find this joy of life? For a note, I dont want to hear another useless theory of yours. -everyone needs to find it on their own, as for everyone its a different thing. Still I will try to point you in the right direction. Think about what brought you joy before you know, you started living here? -before? Arthur thought for a moment then answered. -well, it wasnt anything big but as far as I can remember I used to play one game called Light in the Citadel. -a game, ha? So what was so good about it? -that game was an MMORPG. It was a game where you controlled your avatar and did many things. There were endless numbers of quests, dungeons, events and battlegrounds, and many others. There also were many people that were playing it. The interaction with them was the best. I was in guild and even though I was young, I could speak with other people no matter what age they had, and they still respected me. Now, its all about VR and stuff, but back then, Light in the Citadel was best game that was out there, and we, I mean me and my guild were the first one to complete the last content the titled Citadel itself, it was great! -oh, its rare for you to be so enthusiastic about anything. -it is just a childs memory nothing more. -wrong! Holding the child within you is very important in life, thanks to that you can become happy. I always follow the rule do the things that younger me wouldnt be ashamed of. -yes, you and your endless number of rules, do you really keep track of them? -they are all in my head. I dont need to write them down, but back to the topic. You should use that that last reminder of your happy childhood. You know Arthur, recently I somehow heard about game or what it was called, not a game, they said it was a new world. Well whatever, it at least sounded appealing, and it was even one of my students that recommended it. Not even one but few. I think you should try it as well. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Arthur was familiar with the so called new world. Back in the day while playing with his guildmates they often talked about this topic. VR was in its day zero but everyone knew that at some point MMORPGs like Light in the Citadel would be replaced with new genre VRMMORPG. There already were some of them out back them. Although they were lacking in many aspects, they showed a great potential. Then the capsule was released, made by a Kristopher Horvitz and his company Space Electronics, it was the breakthrough of VR. The capsule they invented provided full immersion where it was like you were took out from your body and was transported to completely different world. At the beginning, there were only few, small productions that came out for that platform, but everyone who tried it, recognized that the holy grail of gaming is finally here. Then the Christmas came. Arthur didnt keep good track about it afterwards. Still it was impossible no not hear few news here and there, and in the end VR developed just like he once imagined. Following grandfather suggestion, Arthur started to life on his own. He went back to his old house where he once lived with his parents. Previously, his plan was to sign up to collage but he didnt really know what he wanted to do in the future. In the end, he decided to take a break from studying for a year and try to do something with his life. He had a lot of money left by his parents so at least that wasnt a problem. Still, even though he had money, he didnt plan to spend it in vain. In the first place there wasnt anything that he really wanted so he would have no idea on what he should spend it on. I might as well try it. Its not like I have anything better to do. Arthur thought to himself. First however he tried login to his old account in Light of the Citadel. Even though he did not exactly remember the password when he saw the login screen his fingers moved on the keyboard on their own. The moment Arthur saw his character he said out loudly. -long time no see, Arata. Arata was the name of his game character. Naturally Arata did not reply. Surprised that it was still there, Arthur clicked on a guild icon and checked if there is anything worth reading in it. In there, there was only one message from Guild Leader. [To all members of WhiteSuns. It was a great time to play with all of you. In the end, we did end up as the best guild in the game after all. Those who thought that we couldnt do it (Zaky noob) were wrong. As it is my last message to you as a Guild Leader, I must say that it was an honor to play with you guys. Especially you core members that were with us from the beginning to the end. Now, new adventures await us, I hope that we find ourselves and play together again in the new world. Guild Leader WolfStark ] Good old Wolf, I miss his long speeches, he was excellent guild leader and the most reliable tank ever. Arthur though after seeing this message and then he ordered the VR capsule. While he was waiting for it, he decided to look up informations about new world. He typed the name of the game in google, but the number of sites that pop up was abnormal. It really is popular. He thought and checked first website where he opened link described as basic information. There was an article. [Basic information. Hello there, although it is impossible that you dont know anything about the games, I will write as if you didnt have any gaming experience at all. First of all and the most important thing, its not the game its a new world, watch this interview if you think differently [LINK]. Now that this is out of hand, lets start. Kristopher Horvitz is a genius who created VR capsules and artificial copy of himself which can work at great speed. Thanks to that the new world was created. Its main focus is just like in old MMOs gather level, become stronger, do adventures. The best thing about it is that VR capsules are using full immersion which takes us the players to another world. I think there are 3 main reasons as to why people enter new world. First one, the original reason, for the sake of the game. Which is awesome, but about it in other section. Second reason would be just to explore and see things. It may be simple, but just walking around inside new world is in itself worth every penny. And lastly, keep in mind that in-game time works different, one hour equals five that inside of the game, nothing else have a feature like this. At first it was created as a feature for the sake of people that didnt have much time to play, so anyone could enjoy the game, but what came up as side effect? Think about it, five hours equals one. It means you have 5x more time at no cost. Some even says thanks to that, the human lifespan has become five times longer than it was before. I personally think that they are not entirely wrong in this statement. It turned out that studying or working in capsule is fairly common. Mr. Horvitz made special place for those who wanted to do things unrelated to the game. If you only want to use capsule for extra 5x hours you can create a special character. More technical information can be found on official website of Space Electronics. There is also a tutorial as how to make that special character because normally that option does not appear. Here is the link to the tutorial. [LINK] The last thing to add would be that the game is always developed by AI, so there is always new content to do. You dont need to download anything, everything take place on their server. That is all for technical information if you are interested about more technical information click this [LINK]. Now lets talk about the game. 1. Creating your character a) Races. When the game was released, there were only three races to choose from. Human, Elves, Dwarfs. The most standard set that is found in almost every fantasy setting that was ever created. Right now however thanks to hard effort of players, after two years, there are additional two races that were unlocked to choose from. Each race has a different starting location and different advantages and disadvantages, but they are all balanced. I also heard about unique races which one can unlock just for himself, during for example unique quests, but as always you cant truly confirm it, nor can you deny it. b) Gender Male/Female, you cant choose one, its has to be the same as you are in real life. Personally I am happy that its this way, at least you can be sure that if female say she is female its true. Stats are the same for both genders. c) Look and nicknames There are two ways to decide how your character will look like. First one is, just like in real life option. It is what it says. You look the same as in real life. This option is only available for Human race though. The other option is the character look will be decided as you enter the game randomly. Advice, its not randomly at all. As the character is created you brain is scanned and the appearance that will fit your character will be bestowed upon you. Its very common that even in this option, your avatar will turn out to look similar to you. But here is an advice, if you manage to have a strong image of how you would want to look like there is a high chance that it will be just that. Just focus on the image in the last stage of character creation. Also later in game there are things that change your look, so dont be disheartened. Another important thing, there is only one character per person, people cant have multiple characters. Nickname can be chosen the way you want as long as its something normal. For example nicknames like Superflyingfiredchicken2039 will not be available. Nickname will serve as your name in the new world, so for your own good, system doesnt allow you to choose anything stupid. You are also unable to use any vulgarism. Also know that repeating nicknames are allowed, so yes, it means that you can be that hundredth Legolas. d) Class If you are familiar with MMORPG genre you think that there should be information about classes now. Well the new world is different in this aspect. Let me just inform you that as the present there are about 2000 different known classes, they are similar to each other but there are about 2000 the last time I checked. Many classes are not publicly known so it may be even more, Im sure there is. Also as always not every class was discovered so far. The saying something is not yet unlocked/discovered/known is fairly common, so get used to it. Everyone get their classes assigned by system depending on your first month of play. There are also special items or circumstances that let you change the class later on but you probably wont ever see it as its extremely rare. Dont count on that. 2. First Month of play. First Month of play is very important, if possible I advise that you prepare 6 days of free time and play nonstop. Thanks to that you will be able to fully experience the first 30 days of play and get a good class for yourself. In the first month you will be exploring one large city of your race. You cant go outside that city, but no worries, the process of exploring should take much more than a month so its not a problem, you will find things to do. Advice, dont sightsee but get on with adventure. If you want to know what to do to get which class, you can find information for it on this website. But here is a warning. If you have information about the class and way to get it, the class will be locked for you, so it is much better to try your chances, use your luck and go as green headed as possible. People say that class is a gamble and its quite random. It may seem that way but if you use your head and try to come up with something you wont regret it. Its definitely better than looking for tutorials as they will just make it impossible to get. 3. Communication, interaction with NPC and interface: To enter interface menu you need to cross two fingers in one hand. Thats all, menu is fairly accessible and has many instruction on first usage so will easily understand it when you see it. Interaction with NPC is verbal one, meaning you just talk with them. You will get surprised at how well developed NPCs are. NPCs are often more humanlike than normal players. You will have problem with distinguishing them. To check if person is an NPC summon menu, NPC will have a small green dot above their head when menu is open. Other than verbal communication, you can also send letters from towns cities and castles, but there is no in game chat, whispers or guild channels. You can only speak with those you can see. With this you should have a basic knowledge about the game. The rest is up to you. Basic information was created by Marti] So much and he didnt really touch anything. Arthur thought to himself, and that was just basic information. At least the technical information had all he needed. Five hours equals one hmm That was the most important thing Arthur found out. But how much can something like that affect human life? Four days have passed and VR capsule finally arrived. Maybe it will change something. Arthur Rain thought to himself and entered the capsule. The game started. Arthur found himself flying in the sky, underneath him there was endless, enormous world, which he was going to explore. He could not see the end of it. And then a big sign appeared right before him and what was written on it was. [Welcome to the eye of Adventure] http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=2978 (If anyone have problems with the dialogue (which doesn''t follow usual standard then here is a helpful link) EOA dialogue explanation. Chapter 2 “Strange haired Arata” Chapter 2 Strange haired Arata [New player detected] [Initialization of beginner stage] [Teleporting now] Arthur Rain appeared in a small room office. Second ago he was floating in the sky but out of sudden now he was sitting in a chair. Before him was a large old fashioned television in which some program started. In that program a figure of old man with gray hair and gray beard appeared. Wearing a brown suit it was Kristopher Horvitz. He began his speech. -hello there, my name is Kristopher Horvitz. You may already know me as a genius who created VR and this game eye of Adventure. You may also know me as person who likes to sleep and slack off at work. Well, find me a person who says that he doesnt like to slack off at work and sleep. What you found him? Sorry to disappoint you but he is lying. Right now, you must probably be thinking, where is the skip button option? Hahaha, you dont have to rush yourself, it wont take long. You may think that I just wasted a minute of your life but thats not true it was only 12 seconds. Strange, isnt it? Anyway the reason you are watching this video is that you just for the first time full immersed yourself into EOA. If you are not familiar with the term, it is from eye of Adventure the name of this very game, and no, the thing that letter e is in small letter is not a mistake. But EOA is all in caps lock yeee! You also may think that this is just some old video that is released because I want to be more famous Old man stooped for a moment and then went on. -all my money and my fame, it doesnt matter to me, the thing that I always wanted didnt exist. I couldnt find it. I couldnt buy it, and thats why I decided to create it. This world, this world of swords, might and magic. The world of adventure. The world which I always seen in my dreams, but I couldnt see it with my eyes yet I knew that it was waiting all this time to be discovered. Many people share my dream and I am happy that I could help them fulfill it, well thats what I was saying on TV and interviews, but in truth the most important thing was that I could fulfill my own dream. Some says that you should find a meaning in life and do something so the world becomes a better place, but I could not do this, my wish was always high in the skies, but I took my childhood dream and make it alive, that is the effect of all my creations, everything was leading to this. Right now, I plan to spend the rest of my time to live in this new world that was my dream for so long, hope that you will like it as well. Now then, to end my speech I just wanted to add. Although you may think that soon you will become best player in this world I will only say this -good luck with that, but I will pown you, muahahahahaha. Evil laugh is the best way to end this, oh yea you wont know that its me but I will kill you so many times that you will come to hate this world, muahahahahaha. The clip on the old fashioned TV ended, Arthur was taken back. That is the creator of a game who wants people to play it? Technically the true creator of EOA was an AI but everyone referred to Mr. Horvitz as a creator. [Initialization of character creation process] [Teleporting now] Arthur was once again teleported to other room. This time it was a simple white room with no chair to sit on. There was only a big screen there floating in the air. [Welcome to the character creation process. Please enjoy our highly developed character creation system. The number of choices that you can make is 2 or 3 depending on your first choice, congratulations! After you finish, there is a small quiz awaiting you. Please answer every question carefully and truly.] The letters appeared on the screen but at the same time they were voiced out by an artificial sounding voice. [Gender detected: Male] [Please choose one of the races. Note that there are 5 races unlocked, Human, Dwarf, Elf, Mils, Quantin. Number of still locked races right now is 23, in next year 5 more races will be available to unlock, further development is still unknown.] -can I get any more information about races? [No, muahahahahaha] I think I know who wrote that. [Sorry about my inner evil laugh, that how I was programed. Once again, no information is given to any new players, all I can tell you are that every race is balanced, choose the one you want.] Well in case like that, I should go standard. Standard is the best option. First off all I dont know anything about Mils or Quantin. Elves always have it hard in fantasy world, they were always somewhat lacking in many respects. The only good thing about them is that they were often long lived but that doesnt matter in a game. Dwarfs are famous as well, but everyone laugh at their height, yes standard is the right option. -human please. [Are you sure that you want to choose that race?] -yes. [Many players chose humans as their race, it is fairly common, they think standard will be the best, well it is a safe choice, but I have to say that those who chose human are boring, they dont have the vision.] This is the most annoying character creation ever, and I only have chosen the race so far. [The looks in your life are very important. The same goes for EOA, so you want to create the most awesome looking avatar ever. Know this, that as a human you have one additional option in character creation making it one option available.] It is a good thing that I read basic tutorial as it wouldnt be good to read all those stupid messages without it. [Do you want to choose your real life look as a look in EOA?] -no. [Those that didnt choose their real look are surely ugly, but dont worry you ugly person, as not everything that shine is gold not every person that is pretty is good.] Yes, really annoying. [Your look will be randomly selected please choose your nickname] Arthur didnt thought about it much. -Arata. [Your nickname is Arata correct, not Ararol, Rata, Art, Rat] -yes. [Rat it is then] -noooo! [Name of new adventurer Arata. Nickname that was created in 60% thanks to letter A. Congratulation on your creativity!] [Now before you enter the new world answer following questions. Note that they are important and werent made so that character creation was longer, they may have impact on the start of game so answer them truly. If you try to lie you will be struck by lightning. Muahahahahaha.] Character creation process was definitely made by thing with that guys character. [First question: how did you come up with your nickname?] -it was a nickname that used in the pass, and I like it, I dont really remember where I heard it first, character in book or movie maybe. [Congratulation you have answered truly without a lie. Sometime answer I dont know or I dont remember, is the right answer. Question two: what is your experience in VR, VRMMO or MMO genre in general?] -it is my first full dive into VR so my experience is experience is nonexistent, without saying that it also means that I dont have any VRMMO experience. As for MMO genre, five years ago I used to play Light in the Citadel I had the same nickname there as well. [Question two follow up: What was the guild name in which you were in?] Strange, question but fine lets just get over with it quickly -WhiteSuns. [Congratulation you have answered truly without a lie.] [Question three: what is your knowledge about this game, list out which website you look up before you entered a game, what you read about. What you heard about. This is last and the most important question, it also helps to keep the balance of game for newcomers.] I wonder how someone who had heard too much about it has to say, well in my case it different. -Two days ago I read one article called basic information. It had some information about character creation, so all your messages werent as annoying as they could be. There was some technical information. Gameplay wasnt touched practically at all. Author wrote that it would be best if I didnt have any information what so ever so I stopped there. [Congratulation you have answered truly without a lie.] [Conclusion] [You are a person who lived in a jungle without any information about the world, or at least in some remote area. Surely there were no people around. You may also be enemy of VR who was somehow convinced to start it or you are an 80 years old grandma.] [Congratulation nothing is locked for you, you are free to take up any route that destiny has in offer for you. Seek it out.] Finally [With this character creation is over, no more programed interaction like that will happen again, also there wont be any evil laughs or poor jokes of creator so rest assured. Once again welcome to the eye of Adventure] [The game starting in 54321] When in eye of Adventure new adventurers were appearing one after another, their actions were always quite similar. First, they dont move but just stay in place with their jaw dropped. Some try to pinch themself as if they wanted to check if they are not dreaming. More adventurers one by one appeared at the main square. EOA had it grand premiere two years ago, but its main bloom wasnt that long ago. Before many people were afraid that they couldnt play this game as it was said to be very hard and demanding. It required from a person various abilities to do well. Also there was no tutorial what so ever, if you try to read anything about the game you always find information, it is better that you dont know. The saying was that if you had any information about the game it became harder, and most important things were locked for a period of one month, which was the game starting point but also really important period of time. Lets say for example that you wanted to become sword fighter or a mage. You want to get a class related to it. You read what should your choices be when making the adventure, where to go and what to do. You logged in, do everything that you were supposed to do but at the end of the month you ended up with profession like Gardener, Beggar or a Fisherman. Why? Because the path that you took was already locked for you. eye of Adventure was known for its desire to make people feel bad, and laugh at them with evil laugh of Horvitz. Because profession was really important the guys in Space Electronics made one and only step for people who played the game. But it was not good hearted at all. You had to get to 100th lvl and then you could reset back to level one and start the game again. More things would be locked, but you might get better class. Although it was designed to help, its still quite problematic, so unless someone has really bad class they wouldn''t do it. Thats why, anyone who ask their friends for something before starting the game is kindly answered. -for your own good, dont ask that question again. Nevertheless the first minutes of every player were always the same. First you stand and see if you can control your new body, then look around for about five to fifteenth minutes, then you run to the mirror to see how you look like. When you finally get used to everything you start to wonder, what I am supposed to do?. The game does not give you any instructions. In the end everyone end up going in random direction. Especially people who didnt have any gaming experience were lost. Most people, who played any RPG before, come up with simple logic. -If I want to be a warrior I should do some training with sword or something like that. -If I want to be a mage I have to go to library and read some books. -If I want to be an archer I should go and train with bow. -If I want to be a healer I should go to find chapel, temple or other shrine. Truth to be told that logical thinking and following that route you often ended up in good normal class. But people without gaming experience had a hard time coming up with anything. Right now most of new players were people like that; they didnt know what to do and even though nothing was locked for them, they would end up with class like Carpenter. But on this very day, someone appeared, the one who had once experience the pinnacle of MMOs on the highest level possible and his name was Arata. Just looking around is worth every penny, I have to agree on that Those were Aratas first though as he looked around. He appeared on the big central square just like every player who choose human race at start and the medieval city was around him. Well thats to be expected, as this game ceased to exist Light in the Citadel. He once again, Arata went back in thought to time when he was playing this game. He ended up in the best guild even though he was ten years old when he joined. For the whole duration of the guild he was its youngest player but still he was one of those who created it. He was invited by dwarf warrior named Wolfstark after Arata showed his skills in one of the dungeons. At first, he hid his age but after some time he revealed it. Although people were not happy about being beaten by a kid, he stayed in the guild. It was friendly a guild with great atmosphere and kin-hearted Guildmaster, so long as he had skill and didnt annoy everyone, there was no problem. Well its not a time to think about the past, I have to give it all in the first month, profession is everything. As he thought that he was about to run in random direction but was stopped by someone. -hey, you! How did you do that?... At first he didnt know it was about him so he started the run but when he did that he heard. -hey wait! Me? Arata stooped, turned around and saw that people were staring at him. What did I do already? It sometimes happened that he did this or that without thinking and got in trouble. One small fellow run to him and asked. -so how did you do that? -no idea what you are about. I just logged in. It wasnt me. I didnt do anything. -first month no information, right? -yep. By the way, could you tell me why some people are now looking in my direction, I think there are many better sights to look at. -haha, thats funny I thought that you managed to hack the system somehow, but it looks like you are just some lucky fellow. Lucky hmm There was a time when Arata felt that he had luck. For example, for a test at school he learned only 5 question because he spent whole day playing with his friends outdoors, then at night he went with guildmates to the dungeon. Next day was the test and out of 5 questions that he had learned three of them appeared on test and other two didnt require any knowledge in the first place and could be done with try and error method. He considered himself lucky at that time, but his luck run out one day and a bad thing happen. -so can you tell me why I am so lucky? -sure, just look in the mirror. Arata looked at the mirror and saw himself for the first time in this world. Much similar to me in real he thought to himself. In fact in real life he was better than average looking and had athletic body, all thanks to hellish training that his grandfather bestowed upon him. Arata himself looked much like Arthur Rain. Both in height and body build. Same was with the face and his blue eyes. Arata chose the random option as choosing the same as real life sounded fishy but he ended up looking just like that. Still there was one big difference and it was his hair. Just as he looked at it he said. -long time no see, Arata. His hair looked exactly like those of original Arata. His hair was not long but also not short but what was probably catching the attention was the color, or rather the fact that his hair were in two colors. One was his original color black. Actually his hairstyle was also the same as in real. Still the upper part of his hair was white as if someone were to paint it in white paint. Combination of white and black was something that one didnt see very often in real life. In Light in the Citadel, Arata spend a lot of time and money so his character looked like that but it seemed like here he got it as a default. {[(picture of hair concept below in the comments)]} Such a win. He thought to himself. No wonder I am attention grabber. Although when I was designing it, it was only for a game. I never planned to have them like that in real. Well, I am still in a game, so its not real. No matter how I look at it they look strange. Ah well I will get used to it. Its not like I can change it anyway. -well I think that the secret is to eat vegetables and drink a lot of water, anyway I dont have time right now, see ya. As he said that Arata ran of the central plaza. Now where is training station? Following a logic -if I train with sword I will have warrior class Arata went around looking for some training place or something similar to it. After running around for an hour without a success he recalled old rule of MMOs. If you are looking for something ask the guard. He already passed few of them so finding one wasnt that hard. He came to one guard that was patrolling the road and asked. -excuse me, could you help me find training arena? -ah hello there, you must be new to town, why do you look for training arena, might I ask? -I wanted to train my sword skills a little. -ah so you wish to become swordsman it is indeed wise to train sword in order to become one, but you are looking for a wrong place. -what should I look for then? -let me explain training arena is a place where new recruits or people without much experience fight each other, if you manage to win in future it may be that you will find yourself becoming a swordsman, but firstly you need to visit training center and speak with instructor. -I understand, so where can I find training center? -oh you have to walk this way by the wall for about 20 minutes The guard pointed in direction to his right. -there you should spot large round building. That is a training arena. Just next to it is the training center. He should just tell me where training arena is then, well I wondered around for an hour already, few seconds wont cost me much. -thank you for your help. -not a problem its one of guard duty, but you look like decent fellow, so could I ask you to bring this to instructor. [ You have been asked to do a job. Guardsman request Guardsman who was on patrol asked you to bring a letter to the instructor at training center. Message wasnt that important as he could give it to you, the person who he just met. Reward: Instructor opinion of you will increase. ] -I am going that way so thats no problem. [ You have accepted the job ] -great, when you are at it, tell the instructor that Joseph has send you so he could pass one some of his skills to you. Good luck on your road, I am now returning to my duty. As the guard walked of Arata crossed his fingers and looked at him. Menu options pop out and he could see small green dot over guardsmans head. For a moment I thought that was real person. Now for the first time he looked on the menu. It was rather simple. He clicked on quests and jobs icon. Then message appeared. [Welcome to quest and jobs section. It is here that you can view your quests and jobs. Difference about them is simple jobs are easy to get but you can only have one of them at the time. You already have a job, if you want to take another one you have to complete it first or discard this one. Note that discarded jobs are unavailable to those who discard them. Jobs are mostly running errands or hunting monsters. Quests on the other hand are much more difficult to find and complete. All of them have their ranks from ten to zero, where level zero means the hardest of kind. Rank ten is easy compared to level 9 but still not many people can complete it with ease. Remember that finding the quest itself is not an easy task.] They hide quests? This game is really not user friendly Arata went to training center. -another tournament will begin in an hour! Those who want to participate, this is the last call! In twenty minutes we are closing and you wont be able to sign up anymore! As Arata reached the arena, there were many people around it. He also heard a man that was announcing something about the tournament. Oh yes guard was saying something about that too. Well, I think that first I should see the combat system. Tournaments can wait for later. He went up the hill and found a man standing near the gate to the training center. It was the instructor. He was a man of great build but old in age. -hello there, are you the instructor of this center? -oh yea I am, whats brings you here? -I want to train here, and learn about the ways of the sword. But first, I have a message for you. [ You have completed Guardsman request ] [ You have leveled up by 10% ] -yes, yes good old Joseph, he had no talent for a sword, but under my training he managed to become a guard. Although, it took him some time. Instructor responded after he received the message. -I think that he is suitable to be a guard. -now yes, but back in the day, haha! You should see him. But you came here because you wanted to train is that correct? -yes. -I already see that you will do much better than Joseph, you have that look in your eyes. Anyway do you have any experience with sword? -only a little, never really fought against anyone. Arata was trained by his grandfather so it was not entirely true but in this game, he indeed never fought against anyone and had no idea how combat system worked. -well most of newcomers are like that, dont worry. But it is strange. I thought that you had a lot of experience. Normally I can easily guess how much skill one has. -well my grandfather once taught me how to hold a sword. -thats a good grandfather you have there, he knows the world. Anyway you seem like a good fellow and I dont need to test your honesty as you brought me this letter. I will train you but first I need to see what you can do. -I am to fight against someone? Arata asked and in a second he regretted this words. -hmm, I thought that you should attack that dummy over there but if you want to fight, so be it. Go to the arena, sign up for the tournament and do some fighting, this will be killing two birds with the same arrow. First you will gain experience in tournament, second you will understand the rules. You wont win as there are some of my students there, but it will be a good opportunity to see your skills. After that we will begin training according to your performance. [ You have been asked to do a job Arenas Black Horse Instructor in training center proposed that you should take part in tournament even though you dont know how to hold a stick. But he believes that you capable of incredible things. He also thinks that he has a good eye for people, so you should not disappoint him. Minimum: survive 5 minutes in the first fight. Reward: Accordingly to your performance general opinion of you will increase. Failure: Instructor opinion about you will decrease. Refusal: Instructor will take you for a coward and wont train you. ] Ah, no other way, that to do it Seeing the instruction on the job, Arata was left with no choice. -I am always up to the challenge [ You have accepted the job. ] -excellent I was right about you. Now, lets go, I will show you a way. There were around twenty players near the arena. Some of them were talking with each other, other were resting before the battle. -five minutes till the deadline! So far we have fifteen participants, one more and we will have a full set, does anyone want to join? The same man as earlier was still looking for more people. At the same time, there were few people that were talking. -do you know that this guy over there, he already has level 7. -Level 7! Then what is he doing here? -he was one of the finalists in last tournament and then he only had level 5, he must have been leveling up like crazy to ding 2 levels in just five days. -well, with someone like that in the game, there is no reason to participle then. As I said we shouldnt even think about tournament. Why did we even join? -you want to have fighting profession right? -well, now that I think about it, I may be not cut out for this. -dont worry all you need to do is ding up some levels and you will be fine. Its the same for everyone. No one here has a lot of experience in fighting. Everyone is a newbie. -well thats true I guess. Then maybe next time we will have chance. -thats a positive thinking. -hey look at this guy! He is coming with instructor. -with instructor? Ah poor guy, as far as I heard, instructor only comes with player to the arena when he gives a job called Arenas Black Horse. -and what is a job about? -it is for those who came to him right before tournament starts, he sometimes ask them to fight in arena without any training. -I would decline right away, how does that guy intends to fight? -the problem is that if you decline this job, you wont receive help from instructor later on. You wont even be let inside the training hall. -ah, unlucky fellow, but hey look at him he got himself a nice avatar. -that may be result of this. You have luck in one thing, and then you have no luck in other. -but man how he got such avatar, look at the hair. -I hear that if you have strong image in your head you can somehow change your look. -thats not true, it is randomly created. -Its not random, it gives you an avatar that suits your character. -so you are saying that those hair suit anyone? -well it doesnt matter, let us see how he gets beaten up, I will feel better if I see this fellow on the ground. -his tactic may be, oh please, please, let me survive 5 minutes. -anyway lets go and watch the guy with level 7 maybe we will learn something. He went with me all the way down here and didnt left until I signed up. Bastard. Arata thought to himself. In the first place, MMOs are a game of level, the person with higher level mostly wins, skill is only important when both fighters are around the same level. But most important thing is I dont even know the combat system! I cant win even if I am against level one. Wait there is still some time. Lets ask instructor for some tips. Arata went up to instructor who was about to leave him. -do you have any fast advice for a new guy, like me? -all you have to do is believe in yourself and in your training. With all your strength attack your opponent, and fight to last breath. Dont worry you wont die, you will just be a little beaten up, but its still better than being beaten up by me, I always say to my students that the failure is much more rewarding than victory. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. How can I believe in training if I didnt have any! -and how the tournament works? -well although it is called tournament its nothing grand and take place once every week. Those who wants to take sword path needs to at least win it once. The more time you attend the higher chances you will get to secure a win. It is also a good passing point for those who are not meant to be a swordsman. Its better to figure it out now, rather than later. -and the rules? -you are placed in the ring with your opponent, both of you gets a wooden sword. The one that stands at the end wins and goes to the next round. Winning tournament is nothing more than being the last man standing. -thats simple enough. -see, dont worry and do your best I believe in you. There is no need to worry, it will be normal if I get beaten by those who are level 4 or higher. I think I could put up a fight against someone who has level 3 somehow. I wonder what levels do others guys have. -excuse me, could you tell me what is an average level for participants? Arata went and asked first better person. -newbie, right? -yes today is my first time in VR. -thats some progress on your part if you are here already on the first day. -I have some MMO experience. -in my case I arrived here at day 10. Before I logged in I didnt play any RPG before, I was more of RTS gamer. -the only RTS that I played was Meteor Fall. -thats some old classic but lets talk about EOA. At first, I didnt even think about trying this game but everyone was saying how great it was and that its a new world, so I thought I will give it a try. I saved some money and ordered the capsule. -well, mine arrived just this morning so I know how you felt. -so when I first logged in, and went through this terrible character creation. -yea right? Who normally does things like that, you should make people want to play a game, not scary them away. -it is short at least, so you can somehow survive it. Anyway at first I had no idea what to do, I walked around the town and looked around. I get few jobs so that I could buy some food. -you eat here? -oh you still dont know, well it is a right thing to do, I mean coming here without any information. Let me tell you then, eating here is just as important as in real life, if you dont eat you will just simply die of hunger. -I will have to think about it later, what happens when you die? -I heard that you lose 10% of your current level and you cant log back for two days. -doesnt seem that bad. -yes right now you wont lose much but consider level 100 for example, dying means -10 levels. So, yes dying is bad. Also with 2 days of break this world will move +10 days, that on the other hand doesnt do much to high level players, but consider our position. If you or I were to die, our precious time of first month would decrease resulting in useless profession I have forgotten about that. -anyway, after I managed to save some money I thought to myself that I should do something meaningful so that my class wont turn out to be bad. Then I wandered around did some things here and there and on the tenth day I came here. Fighting in tournament felt meaningful so I decided to participle. I trained under instructor for 8 days and now I try my best in tournament. I still have 12 days left so its not so bad. -back to my question what is average level for this tournament? -normally its 4, but this time its 5, thanks to that fellow over there who is level 7. I am level five myself, what about you? -eh, level seven? I hope I wont get him in the first round. As I said I play this game for about 2 hours so as you can guess its level one. -why do you even try then? Its stupid, -I know its stupid. -ah it was, how was it called? Instructors job for the unluckiest? -yep. -dont worry you should be able to survive those 5 minutes, just focus on defense and dodging. -thanks for advice. Soon enough the tournament began. -The time has come for our weekly tournament! Who will become the winner, and prove himself as a swordsman! The number of participants today is 16! The roster is over there. Maxus and Roller have an opening match, go inside the arena and fight for your honor! Arata was now sitting on the balcony for participants. Its a good thing that I am in the sixth fight I can at least look at others people battles and learn something about fighting system. The first fight was about to begin. Oh, that guy who is level seven. -fight! The commentator shouted and the battle started and ended, in a span of one minute. Yea I learned much. Levels in MMO are the thing. Fight was too one sided. Roller the player on the left, right away attacked Maxus who had level 7. Maxus took the blow, he didnt even try to block or dodge at all, he just took the shoot and before other person moved he launched a counter attack. He landed two hits one after another and the fight was finished with Roller on the ground. Five minutes! Dont attack, focus on defending. Thats the plan that Arata come up with right away. The rest of the fights went in similar way. Even if they werent that much one sided, the person with higher level mostly won. When fighters were at about the same level, the one with better luck was the winner. -that was a fight! Now the next battle Rock versus Arata!!! I must say it is very brave of participant Arata to come here today, as I heard he just arrived in our city, will he became the black horse of the tournament, look forward to it. Said the commentator, there were some reaction from the stadium. -ah guy with that job again, unlucky fellow, -it will end even faster than the first fight, -maybe the opponent will give him those five minutes, -doesnt look like it, its Rock after all he is level 4, and he is not kind-hearted guy. -well lets just see how fast it will go. Arata heard all comments. The fight is already over! Level 4? Why!? Well, I will just have to try my best. Lets see how much real fighting experience helps in this game. Arata went to pick up the wooden sword from person who was giving it out and asked. -excuse me, could I get two swords instead of one? -why do you need two? Dont you know that its easier to fight with one? -I have somewhat more experience with two. His grandfather though him how to fight barehanded and with swords and few other weapons, it was all on basic level but unexpectedly Arata had somehow some talent in sword fighting, so he focused on that. In the end, two swords were his best fighting style. -you can have it, hey you, you want two as well? -hahaha, two swords? Do you know that controlling two swords is impossible for normal people. It may look cool in movies but even though we are in game without real skills you wont be able to do a thing. His opponent laugh at him, Arata answered. -well, I am just level one newbie who started a game two hours ago, cut me a slack. -haha, dont worry I will go easy on you. You need those 5 minutes right? I will give you at least that. Just dont give up right away when you lay on the floor. -I already accepted this quest so I will try to do everything I can on my own. -do what you want then, and its not a quest but a job. -eh, who was the one that called it a job, I dont understand it. -quests are things that are epic, have story, and brings changes, Jobs are well, to simply put it, annoying things that you are forced to do to get gold. But enough chitchat. Let us start already! After saying that, Rock rushed at Arata with his sword. How it was again, -in fight, first attack is the most important, always be the one that attacks first. Not that one. -when someone is rushing at you blindly, dodge his attack and counter it. As Rock slashed his sword at Arata, Arata took only small step to the back. The sword slashed down right before him all the way to the ground. Arata wouldnt say it was a good slash. Rock was frozen after Arata avoided his blow. what the hell? his face was saying. Second later he received two shots from Aratas swords. Rock hp went down by less than 10%, seeing this Rock again rushed towards him. There also is -If you fight the opponent that is stronger than you use his power against him. This time Rock attacked from the right Use his power against him? Good luck with that, dodge! Arata crouched avoiding enemys horizontal attack. Rock went in circle after his attack though as he didnt control the power of his swing. -never show your back to your opponent, unless they are twenty of them surrounding you. Second remark was not needed but I see your back Rook. Instead of attacking him with sword, Arata kicked him into back and Rock fell on the ground belly first, Rock couldnt do anything at this point. Arata stood on him and started his series of attack. Even though every attack took less than 5% of health, in a minute the fight ended. -we have the unexpected winner, our black horse, Arata! [ You have leveled up by 90% ] [ You have gained a level, current level 2] [ You have fulfilled a minimum of Arenas Black Horse job.] [ You have moved to second round of the tournament] It looks like that as long as I dont get hit its not that bad, although my opponent was just idiot who rushed at me. Well for now, at least I completed the job. Also DING! When Arata returned to his seat, everywhere he heard. -hey who is this guy, did you see that? -maybe it someone who resent his level to get better profession? -no one sane would give up 100 levels. -some did, but I dont think that is the case, I think that this is some kind of hacker. -why did you say that? -did you ever see someone who fights like that. There must be some kind of trick, or cheat. -I dont think so, as you know this game is well protected. -there is always a way around, that first dodge you seen what I seen. -no I think it must be some player who reset level after all. Also look at his hair isnt it strange, It doesnt looks like something that one can have at level one. -hair is one thing but his skills, in the first place did you ever heard about someone who uses two weapons to fight. -many have tried. The only person that I heard of that used two weapons, two two-handed axes to be precise was Spike form WhiteSuns. -yes but it is more about brute force of those axes, but one of three dwarfs of WhiteSuns is one thing, but guy with level one is another. -there should be more players as well, anyway lets observe him and see what he can do, maybe it was simply a luck. Arata observed rest of the fights until it was his new round. He came up with a theory. Fighting system in this game is combination of old MMO level system but it also involves skill of the player. I had some teaching so I should manage. On the other hand if someone like my grandfather were to enter this game, I think he could defeat even strongest player out here with max level while being level one. It would just take him a year as the damage output would be low and enemys HP high. He also saw another important thing. Those guys here dont have any experience in fighting at all. Some doesnt even have a basic knowledge about MMO. Thats why. There is no way that I will let those noobs beat me! -In the next fight our black horse Arata will fight against veteran Mario! It is already his fourth time in the tournament, how will he mange against newcomer! The commentator announced Aratas second fight. -you might have won the first fight but you wont win this time, after last fight I leveled up to level 6, Aratas opponent said to him while they waited for starting gong. -you know that there is no way that I will lose to someone that have tried 3 times already and failed. -ha, you have some confidence for a newbie. -yes. I am rather sure that I wont lose to anyone here His opponent was taken back, seeing this fighting spirit, Arata attacked just on the signal. After rush and two hits on his enemy who didnt even react he started. -let me show you why I have such confidence, oh you great veteran. First of all you are full of openings, here look at this Arata pierced forward with his sword at his opponent neck. -see in the real would you would be already dead -What is happening Mario face was clearly saying this, he was already in state of panic and probably did not hear Aratas words. -right, remember to take notes so you can learn something. Second, the way you hold your sword is pathetic. Look with just one swing it flies like that. Arata swing with his left sword at Marios hands and sword indeed felt from his hand. -now, now, pick it up Mario went and picked up his sword while Arata was patiently waiting. But after picking it up he started rushing at Arata. -now another advice, suicidal attacks dont work most of the time First slash, second slash, Arata dodged it all. Then he started again. -If you keep on doing it I will do this After he dodged another of Mario attack he went for foot with his sword. It gave marvelous effect. Mario tripped and fell right on his own sword and ended up killing himself. -we have a first death! Our tournament is finally getting into higher gear, the winner Black Horse Arata! [You have leveled up by 30%] I hope that failure is indeed better teacher than success, because you need the greatest teacher that is out there. His opponent died but it was a game, after two days he could return and try again, although it was possible that his first month of play just ended. Aratas next battle went even easier than previous one, his opponent was only level 4, and got a fast beating. Aratas level went up by another 10%. He was still at level two. -and now the finals that we all been waiting for, on the left side we have Maxus! Last week Maxus also reached the finals even though it was his first time. I have heard that many people didnt want to sign up today only because they knew that he will take part in the fights. However on the other side we have the black horse of this tournament, against all odd he survived right to the end. His strange hair and battle skills will long be remembered! On the right side we have Arata! -You might have some skills but this is a game, and in games the stronger player wins. Stronger player hmm back in the day when he was playing Light in the Citadel, level didnt mean much. Everyone dinged max level eventually so what did it mean? To be the best, what player needed was a time and skill, those who had both become the best. On the tribunes there were many excited viewers. -its finally the final Maxus versus Arata. -it could be easily predicted that it would end like that. -a great battle between two strong players. There was also laugh of the old man that heard that. That was an instructor. -hahaha. Great battle? Two strong players? I wonder about that. -what do you mean by that instructor? -wait and see child, wait and see. Right before the battle, Maxus continued. -you stay silent, are you perhaps afraid to fight against level 8? I also have some skill, last time I went to the finals and that was when my level was not that big. -eh, I will waste my words on you but so be it. You keep talking about how your level is higher than mine, what so great about it? You played for a longer time, yet you try to show off to me who just started You better remember this lesson well in this game level is not everything. Arata rushed at his opponent and attacked him. Clean attack on the chest. Maxus did not block he did the same in his first match and tried to catch Aratas sword. But this time he just took another two shoots on hand. Maxus changed his tactic and attacked with sword. His downward swing was easily dodged and countered. Seeing as it doesnt work, he decided to change the tactic. Maxus changed his stance, holding his sword just like baseball player holding his bat, even though he was getting hits he said. -in real life I am the baseball player, 4th batter is my position. Let me show you some of my skill as well. He swung the sword and then made a powerful blow. Seeing it, Arata instead of dodging decided to take it head on. -use the strength of your opponent. Swords clashed, all the momentum of powerful swing was taken by Arata swords, they lunched backwards, but Arata made use of that force, he made pirouette and returned the power to its owner. Effect was tremendous it made Maxus fly up a little and thrown him two meters to the right, although his hp was only on 50% he could no longer move, he was now lying on the ground unconscious. [ You have level up by 60%] [ You have gained a level, current level 3] -We have winner, all shout to Arata! [ You have completed job Arenas Black Horse Against all odds you won the tournament which was supposed to be only your first training ground. Many people will remember this day your sword skills and your strange hair. Reward: Instructor opinion about you has increased. He will teach you his unique skill and also give you special gift.] [ You have leveled up by 100%] [ You have gained a level, current level 4] [ You have managed to win weekly arena. You are now on the path to warrior profession, keep up the good work.] After the fight Arata went back to training center where Instructor was waiting. -hey there lad, see I was right about you. Instructor said first with a grin. -guess you were. I wasnt sure at first but in the end it wasnt that hard. -ah, it was nice to see someones skills that were so refreshing. In truth there is no much that I can teach you. -you surely have something to your slaves. At least teach me basic of combat system. -oh I will, but there isnt much to it, and here I promised you good training. -you dont have to, as you saw many others needs you more. -mans word must always be kept and I thought of something. Back in the days I was known by name lighting speed, it was thanks to my best skill that I got that name. It increases greatly your movement speed by far making you move like lighting. I will teach you how to do this [ You have learned new skill ] [ Skill name: Lighting speed For short period of time increase your speed by 100%. Useful when you want to dash to your opponent, run away from him, or make dodge at the speed of light. Coldown: half an hour. Cost: 100 stamina at use, for first 7 seconds. You can keep it up for longer but it cost 50 stamina/second. Current level of skill 1(0%) As you increase its level, speed will increase and duration will be longer] Thats a reward that you should get from something like this. Although Arata didnt know, this skill was very rare and useful, as it was a movement skill. In the future it may even become his best skill. Well for now I have 144 stamina so I dont think that it will be very useful. At the current point in time he could use it once. -now as for basic combat information, its really easy, Its combination of strength and skill, you have skill but you lack the strength but dont worry as you do various things you will become stronger NPC cant just say level up. That was Aratas thoughts although it was entirely true. -there are many skills that help you fight. Attack skills, defense skills, magic skills, movement skills. Every skill that you can use is a great boost to your abilities. Some of them are passive like for example sword mastery, others require use of stamina or mana, like lightning speed. Most skills you will get from your profession. Thats why profession is really important you may use swords to fight but without a profession it will be great hardship to be even close to those who have it. -so I should focus on getting good profession right? -not exactly, how can you focus on something that you cant change, profession is like destiny we do not choose it. What about all previous gamers who wanted warrior profession and come here to fight in this tournament? -well do you have any advice as what to do now? -for now increase your overall strength, you see that dummy over there attack him with all might for three hours and you wont be disappointed. -I dont have any weapon on me now. -oh yes, I forgotten about the most important thing, here is one sword that you won in the tournament [Copper sword. Damage 1-4. Beginners weapon for those who won the tournament. First weapon of many future fighters.] Its always something for the start. -I know that this sword may offend someone with your skills, but I saw that you use rare style of two swords, so you need the two of them, now here is the real thing. [First sword of Lighting speed Damage 5-10 Strength +2 Agility +3 Stamina +100 Requirements lighting speed ability. Lighting speed was once known for his incredible speed on the battlefield. This is his first iron sword that he used. Its your duty to bring honor to this sword once again. ] -thank you. After that Arata started his training on dummy. I just need to hit it for three hours and I will get some extra bonus? Easy enough. After that, I logging out so I can get something to eat. Arata was hitting the dummy with both his new swords. It wasnt a new experience for him as he already did something similar in his grandfather training. It was one of the most basic ones but it was very good, especially for beginners to get the feel of the swords. Well Arata didnt really need to do that now but he thought that there might be some extra bonus for doing it. First sword of lighting speed is the thing, and it even increases my overall abilities, to the point where its overpowered. The other, well its a sword at least. Still I didnt think about it before but should I go for dual wield? Its not like I have to but I am best in this style I guess, so why not? After three hour a message appeared. [You have completed basic training.] Well that would be all as for hitting those dummies but why I didnt get anything for that? Three hours waste but whatever, its sometimes is good to just hit some dummies to clean your mind. Anyway, time to eat something, then I will think of what to do next. Arata though crossed his fingers and clicked logout button. After Arthur ate dinner he logged back to the game. Arata appeared at the entrance of training center in the place from where he logged out from but then, second later, he fell to the ground as his legs couldnt support his weigh. He was laying there and the first thought that appeared in his mind was. I am hungry! How did that happen he didnt know. After all he just ate dinner. But then, Arata recalled words of one player that he spoke with. -if you dont eat you will just simply die of hunger. Remember not to die, thats important. But what can I do now, looks like I cant even move. Right now Arata had a status, never eaten anything in his life. For some time he was laying there thinking of what to do. His ideas were try to crawl somewhere, or beg for food someone who pass by. Both options didnt sound appealing but Arata had to do something. Just as he was about to start crawling someone walked next to him and dropped some bread near him. He heard gentle voice of some girl. -here eat this, thanks to that you should get enough time to find a job and make money for eating, dont thank me I was in the same shoes once There are some good people in this word. Hearing this Arata thought like that. Then he tried to say thanks but he was laying head first to the ground and didnt have strength to say anything. -I am in rush so I am going now, good luck! The girl ran away after saying that. Arata tried to look at his savior. He only saw her back. She was wearing long gray-white cloak and she had long light-blue hair tied into a ponytail. He didnt see more as she ran to the streets and disappeared behind some buildings. Arata didnt reflect on that as there was only one thing he could think of right now. Time to eat! He wolfed down the bread. Hunger is indeed best spice out there. Right now that simple bread tasted like 5-star cuisine. The bread disappeared in the second and then Arata though. I am hungry. At least this time he could move. He got up from the ground and slowly moved with his primitive instincts of smell. Instead of a normal job, food comes first. For now I need to find some kind of restaurant and work for them and as a payment I will receive food, yes thats a best way of action. Although Arata didnt have any knowledge about VRMMO he had an instinct of a gamer, which helped him to make good decisions. Still it didnt work this time although it was not because his idea was wrong. Just as he found some kind of restaurant, two kids, boy and girl run to him asking for help. -please help momo, she cant get down! -sorry I dont have time I need to eat something first Arata replayed with low hungry voice, but after that, both kids started to cry. To that Arata couldnt leave them alone anymore. -okay, okay, I understand. But what is momo anyway? -she is our cat. She is on that tree come quickly Kids catch Aratas hand and run with him around the restaurant. Although he didnt see it from the street as he entered the small garden he saw it. Thats some freaking huge tree. -quickly momo is afraid of height! If she is afraid of height why did she claim up in the first place? Arata started climbing the tree. It was hard for him as he had not much strength left, after all he was barely moving, still he climbed nevertheless. Why cant I resist when someone ask for help. Follow some common sense dammit! Each time he grabbed a branch he felt like fainting. Still he managed to reach the place where the cat was. -come here buddy. Just as Arata cached the orange cat he lost his balance and fell to the ground, from about 4 meters. Game over. This was Aratas final thoughts as he landed on ground. Well he managed to save the cat at least. [ You have fainted. ] [ Note: Logging out right now will result in dying. ] ? ? http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=2979 Chapter 3 “Wizard’s clue” Chapter 3 Wizards clue Helping others is definitely a noble thing to do. Sometimes however, you pay heavy price for it. At worst, it can even lead to your death. This time however, that did not happen. Not knowing how much time have passed, Arata woken up in bed. After opening his eyes he saw unfamiliar to him room. It was a small room and apart from the bed on which he was laying there was just a wardrobe and small table next to the bed. On his right there was a window and from which the sun was coming inside the room while enlightening it. So where did I end up again? The last thing he remembered was falling down from the tree. Still quickly stopped thinking of what happened as on the table he saw an object of his desire. Not believing, Arata rubbed his eyes but the image did not disappear. What was before him was. -FOOD!!!! He screamed and wolf down the food that was placed at the table next to his bed. Even though he was very hungry and any food would taste like 5-star cuisine, he found out that this food was really good. Actually, Arata has never eaten something this good before. As he was eating, the door opened up and high muscular men with a a small black beard came in. -hahaha, I see that you are well now, after seeing you eating like that. Good, good, I was worried for a second, it is you third day after all. -munch, munch? -yes, yes, first finish eating then respond, do you want some more?... After the man asked Arata just nodded. -you were paid up front, so there is no problem, Hey, Mary bring some more food More food arrived and as Arata was continuing with eating, man started talking. -ah, I am yet to introduce myself. My name is Marco, I was once a traveler, fighter and cook. After living many years with the life on the edge, I now settled down and currently I am the owner of this restaurant. Anyway could you tell me your name as well? -Arata. -so Arata, the moment that you came here or was rather dragged was hilarious. The girl had it rough. -what girl? -I thought that it was your friend, I dont know her. Anyway, she dragged you to my restaurant, booked you a room, and then run away in hurry. At first I thought that you were dead but that was not the case as your stomach started to grumble. Well I picked you up after that and left you in this bed. That was three days ago and now you are awake. -well thank you. -dont thank me, thanks the girl. -sure but I dont know her. -me neither but it doesnt matter to me as long as I get paid, but anyway how did you end up like this? -well I was looking for the food, then the cat, and then I fell from the tree. Arata tried to explain as fast as possible to not lose the time of eating. -haha, you are interesting fellow. Well I didnt understand a thing except that you were hungry. Anyway what do you plan to do next? I see that you have two swords with you, are you going to training center? -I was there already, for now I dont have plans. Something like finding a job so I wont die of hunger is my top priority right now. -ah, one day without eating is not a true hunger. Once when I was traveling with my comrades, we were on Ostrich desert, and didnt have anything to eat or drink. -I have to remember to avoid desserts then. How did you survive? -naturally, thanks to my ability to cook. -but you just said that you didnt have anything to eat. -yes, there was nothing but cactuses. -so what did you cook? -those cactuses and parts of our leather clothes. -what!? -yes it tasted hideously, but it could be eaten, and thanks to that we survived. Cooking ability is best ability out there. With it you can survive everywhere. -seems like it. -anyway if you are looking for work you can start with me, I will give you a fair price, and if you want I can teach you some basic cooking as well. Well, cooking was always good ability to have. In MMOs it usually gives good stats on high level. I was going to earn the money right now anyway so getting some skills while doing so cant be bad. -thanks for the offer I will gladly accept it. With that, for five days Arata lived and worked in Marcos restaurant. He mostly did chores, cleaning, washing the dishes, throwing out rubbish. But he earned enough, so wouldnt have to worry about the food till the end of month. He also leveled up cooking ability quite a bit and what was important it was for free. [ Cooking skill Only those who know hunger know how important ability to cook is. Cooking is one of fundamental abilities for everyone yet it is strange that so few try to study it. Cooking ability allows you to cook various things. The higher is your ability the better food is. High level food increases some abilities for short period of time. You may also cook without this skill but there will be no stats bonuses. Current level of skill 3(67%) ] Arata was about to move out and Marco has come to say his farewell. -well Arata, it was nice to have you do all the labors here but I know that you have to answer your call of adventure. Try to remember the things that I taught you. Find me again when you become better and show me your skills. -thanks Marco, I will, till the next time. -till the next time, Arata. As Arata moved a little he checked his inventory for the first time. [Welcome to the inventory menu. You can see all items that you currently have as well as your current gold in here. Items that are hidden inside your bag cant be summoned instantly in case of battle. Its good idea to have things equipped just in case.] Okay, lets see what is there. [Current money: 1 gold 87 silvers 35 copper] [Item list: 1 x Beginner Clothing (e) 1 x Copper Sword (e) 1 x First Sword of Lighting Speed (e) 20 x Bread 20 x Rice 10 x Marcos special flavoring 1 x Wizard orb ] Okay with this I wont faint any time soon, but what is this? Arata spotted strange item that he shouldnt have and summoned information about this. [ Wizard orb (Quest item) Starts vision from Wizard. ] There is nothing to think about, lets just use it. [You have started the quest Wizards Clue ??? Rank of quest 10 Reward unknown] When Arata used the item he started to hear a voice of someone. It was a deep voice of someone who already lived his years. -I dont have time for everyone, so I will keep it short. You have caught my interest young Arata, not only you defeat your opponents in the tournament but you also tried to teach them how to fight during it. Even though you were hungry, you helped those kids with their cat. Also you have strange hair, yes its probably mostly because of that I even contact you. Its been a while since I saw someone so interesting but as I said I dont have time for everyone, still if you manage to find me, you wont be disappointed. Here is your clue to my whereabouts, try to solve this riddle. [There are three paths, one leads to Heaven, other leads to Hell and one leads to the Wizard. Each of them contains two informations. The ones on the path to Heaven hold the truth, the ones on the path to Hell are lies, and ones on the path to Wizard can be both truths and lies. Find out which path is which, when you are ready to answer, use this orb.] [Localizations of first clues: Instructor in training center. Spice Merchant from the south in market district. Old man who likes to feed birds in the park.] Oh a quest, it is indeed different from all those stupid jobs so far. Lets see, I am not very good at riddles but what a better thing to do than do a quest? Its an essence of RPGs after all and I already did my part for my class. For now I have to gather the clues. Arata started to run around the city. The only one who was easy to find was instructor from training center. -hey there Arata, did you come to visit old man? -actually yes, do you have clue for me? Arata asked right away without wasting any second. -clue what is it, a guessing game? -so you dont know anything about it? -sorry I dont. Maybe I forgotten something, but I dont have problems with memory. Instructor doesnt seem like someone who would lie. Still the location of the clue was him. -are there any other instructors in this training center? -no, there is no need for others, I am enough, but what is it that you seek? -hmm a latter perhaps? A clue? Something about the paths. Probably Aratas explanation wasnt helpful. -I teach the path of sword, but I dont know what you are looking for, and as for the letter, look my pockets are . -something is wrong? Instructor took out a small letter from this pocket. On the front there was a note Give it to a man with strange hair. -well, its looks like my pockets were not empty, and your hair is strange enough I guess, here. Instructor passed on the letter to Arata. Arata right away opened it and started reading. [This is the path to heaven. Next clue from this path is in Library. Ask for the book of Robin Mallow.] After that, Arata was running around to find the other clues. It took him four days to gather them all even with the help of the guards. One reason for it was because the city was quite big still it took so long mostly because the old man who likes to feed the birds was not coming to the park every day. This city is big, and why there is no map in this game? Thats were Aratas thoughts after he finally managed to gather all informations. Anyway what is with this quest? I am running around for four days and the most important part is yet to be completed. In all others games that Arata play so far, quests were much simpler, and you could always check the internet if you had the trouble but here you could not. If not for the guards it would take forever to find all those people. Okay, how is my time so far? One day in the arena, three days of being unconscious, five days of work with Marco and now thats the fourth day that I am wasting my time on this quest. So out of 30 days I still have 17 to go. Well its not that I have any other thing to do, as I still cant go anywhere until I get profession. I could level up a little as well but I dont want to do any of those stupid jobs anymore. In the end, Arata was happy that he got a quest, and the thing that it was so different than any other quest was interesting. On the side note even though it should be his greatest concern right now, he didnt worry about his profession that much as he already won the tournament. Lets see all the clues once again. He summoned his menu and opened note panel where he wrote down all information [ A:Instructor-Library, B:Merchant-Main Gate, C:Old man-Chapel A: This is the path to Heaven, The Wizard is living underground. B: The Wizard is waiting for his student. The Wizard is living within the Tower. C: The Wizard is living near the lake. This is a path to Heaven] Okay, so as far as I thought up, the path that I should choose is - Long silence. Lets think about it again, what if the first path is the path to Heaven? No lets focus on something else first, how could wizard live underground in the first place? Path B should be heavens path as Wizards normally live in some towers, and he might just wait for some student. On the other hand he didnt sound like person who would like to have students. And how about path C? Wizard lives near the lake? Well, he did sound like a person who appreciates good view and solitude. Yes, house in remote place where no one bothers him would probably be to his liking - Another long silence. But in the first place he should be in this city if I have this quest on the first month and I didnt see any lakes with houses next to it. There are no lakes here at all. Hmm, just to be sure I should check it with guard. -lakes? There arent any. Are you sure nothing happened to your head. When was the last time you look in the mirror, your hair looks really weird. Ignoring guards other comments Arata confirmed that there werent any lakes in this city. So first C is a lie so this is not a path to heaven, it makes second C lie as well as path to heaven is a path with only truths. C has two lies which make it Hell path or path to a Wizard but Hell sounds more reasonable. If there were two paths with only lies there would be no path to Wizard. With this settled how B goes? It is possible that Wizard live in the tower but I cant know if he has a student and also path A. If wizard lives underground then he cant live in the Tower and if I say the second A is truth then there are two truth as its a path to Heaven, making it path B the path to the Wizard. On the other hand If I say that path B is path to the heaven, Wizard will be living in the tower and not underground making it A with one lie which would automatically make two lies, making it path A path to Hell. But I already have path to Hell. Path B must be path to Wizard as there is both, lie and something I cant know. With path A being heaven it works out nicely. On the other hand if B is path to heaven then A is second path to hell which wont work. But is C really path to hell? Arata thought about it for another half an hour but nothing better come to his mind. Even though he was not 100% sure, he used the orb. [-your answer?] -path with instructor is the path to Heaven, Merchant is the path to Wizard, and Old Man is the path to Hell. After that Arata again heard a voice in his mind. -haha, it took you a while but at least you are right, okay next challenge. -hey, hold on a minute! What next challenge? Didnt I earn a right to visit you already? Remember, its you who were interested in me, not the other way around. -hmm well, there is nothing wrong with what you said but I am bored lately, my student went on a mission and still didnt come back. Wait did I forget about something? ... Nah it wasnt important if I dont remember, anyway I decided that I will play around with you a little more. -didnt you play around enough? -no but fine I will give you a chance, if you answer this question you wont have to take another challenge. Its not a riddle or something that would test your knowledge. It doesnt have a defined positive answer or rather it has multiple positive answers and you just have to name one. It is just a simple question. -okay I am ready. -so answer to me, what is it that you need to do so badly? You have five seconds. -well, I need to, I need to Five seconds passed quickly and Arata didnt think of anything in that time. -haha, you lost. See you had a good time as well, why dont we play some more. Dont worry. There wont be anything intellectual things this time. You had so hard time with this riddle that your head would explode if you had to take something with minimum difficulty. -hey! -okay, here is the challenge, find and climb one of the highest thing in this city, also try not to fall this time. -okay, I will manage with it quickly. So what is that thing? -you have to find it by yourself, where would be the fun if I just told you. The connection with Wizard was lost. Without any more information, once again Arata started running around in random directions. The city was huge and it was hard to point out which was the highest thing in the city. There were also some hills witch make some buildings look higher from afar. Also it wasnt just a highest thing in the city but one of the highest things in the city. It was not defined so fining it a hard way would be the only way to do it. Arata decided that he would just climb one high building and after that he would look from there for something that was higher than his position. Because he was slacking off as it was really annoying thing to do and also he often stopped on the way after founding something interesting, it took him three days until he found the right place. The large chapel, right in the center of the city. And the highest place was gigantic cross right above the entrance. It seemed similar to a simple Christian cross but it had one more line crossing with others. The moment he saw it from up close the message appeared that he founded the right building. Now that I think about it I should start from here. Although Arata found the location that he needed to climb up there was one small problem. There were some special guards around the chapel and they would probably not be very happy about him climbing that cross. Arata walked to one of them and started the conversation. -hello there, nice day isnt it? -good morning citizen, if you have come to make a donation talk with priestess Patrice, she should be inside the chapel. -ah yes, I will do that later, but first, I wanted to ask few questions? -my duty is to guard this chapel but as you can see no one is making any riot right now, so you can ask away and I will answer. -you seems to have a nice armor much different from all others guards of the city. -thats natural as we are the paladins in the service of our goddess Ellsa. Paladin? Eh this will be hard. -another question what would happen if someone tried to climb at top of that cross? -haha funny, dont worry that wont happen before he could even try we would stop him. -yes, yes that was a stupid question, wasnt it? -if you are interesting in climbing, I heard a rumor that there is some strange person who climbed many buildings in the city in past few days, but dont worry we will defend our sacred cross against him. -oh he would be stupid to even try. -now that I think about it what were they saying about him? His look was rather distinctive. Lets see, oh yes, he had two swords on right side just like you and not to offend you a strange hair just like you The guard stopped for a moment but Arata already started running. -hey wait!... While running he could hear shouts behind him. -Brothers! Catch that man! Now or never. Arata didnt waste any minute and turned to the direction of the chapel. [ Lighting speed activated ] With double speed he managed to get at the top roof without any need of climbing. He simply ran up the wall. Still, his skill ended right after he got at top of the chapel so Arata started to climb the cross the normal way. When Arata got at the top of the cross he looked down for a moment and there he could see many people staring at him. They were both players who just started the game, and also way too many angry paladins. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Arata stopped looking in that direction anymore as maybe if he stopped looking down the whole situation will resolve by itself. He looked around and from the top of the cross he saw the gorgeous view of the whole city and orange setting sun in the west as it was hiding behind the mountains. Paladins will kill me the moment I go down but it was worth it. The thoughts of dying soon didnt allow Arata to fully enjoy the view. Then while he was sitting there the orb that he got from the quest started to shine. And soon the voice of Wizard entered his mind. -beautiful, isnt it. -worth every penny. Arata answered. -okay, with that being done no more games, it is time that you come to me. I will now tell you where to find me. Do you see the large building with a green roof in the south part of the city. -the one with clock tower next to it? -yes exactly that one, go there at night and the light will show you the way. -is this another riddle? -I promise its not, you will know what I meant when you get there. -if you say so, for now I will enjoy the view. But could you help me a little? -if you want to ask me about something, do it when we talk. -I dont think that it can wait. -hmm? -you see where I am, right? Of course I look through the orb that I gave you. The main reason that you had to climb here was that I could enjoy the view. -then look down for a second because I cant anymore. -afraid of height hmm, dont worry it just look bad but keep your head cool and you should get down as easily as you got up. -not that, look more carefully. -hmm, oh, that. -yes. -well I think I can give you advice then. -what advice? -look out for the hammer! Unfortunately that warning was too late. Arata got hit by hammer of justice. It was a skill used by paladins. They could enchant their hammers with holy energy and throw it at their opponent. Those who got hit usually had a problem with moving for a little while afterwards. And if player on low level got hit, he would be out in a second. Still because its main purpose was to stun the opponent rather than kill him Arata managed to survive the blow. Still right now Arata started falling from the highest point in the whole city, death was what surely awaited him. He also couldnt do anything as the hammer of justice did its job, although even if Arata could move it would not be helpful. However Arata suddenly started to slow down and then just before he was going to hit the ground where the paladins were waiting he disappeared in flash. Well, at least that was how it looked from the outside. Unable to do anything Arata landed on the ground in more remote area where no one was walking around. He was surprised by the voices that he heard. -he, teleported? -hey who was that? Then commander of paladins said in strong voice. -it was not the teleport, rather combination of two spells. He was stunned for sure after he got hit by the hammer, but in the middle I dont know how but his stun status ended and he casted slow fall, spell that slow you down when you fall. Its very useful in remote area. Then as he was near the ground he casted another spell that made him invisible. Thats some rare magic that he had in his slave, but the most surprising is that he managed to do that after getting hit by my hammer. It is better that we dont follow him anymore. There is no need to wage a war against someone this powerful just because of small prank. -hey, hey did you hear, even commander of paladins from Ellsa didnt want to follow this guy. -you heard him. He must be some high level player to do things like that. -he should have at least level 200. -he might be even one of the top, wow we saw a legend. -he deceived us by walking around in beginner clothes but that must be it. -well you saw his hair right, thats some unique customization. All those glorified comments were directed to the person who was lying on the ground and couldnt move at all. At least I am alive somehow. Arata focused on the most important fact as he saw that the paladins returned to their duty and didnt search for him. -hahaha, you see their faces. Teleport? That would be even better but you are too far from me at the moment so I didnt do it as it might have been unstable. I never was that good in teleportation, especially when it came to teleporting others. Anyway be happy, you have become famous. - . -well then. You should lie down for a moment and enjoy the dirty road. I see that you took quite liking to it seeing that you dont want to get up. Anyway because you may have lost some of resent memories from the previous impact remember, light will show the way. Five hours have past it was already dark outside Arata was still lying on the ground. In moments like this I cant even log out. After getting hit by the hammer of justice he couldnt move so he also couldnt cross his fingers to summon a menu and press log out bottom. But this game is really evil. There was information that there will be no more stupid jokes and evil laughter but I dont think that was the truth. That was true, the game was cruel and hard but what is a better thing that overcoming challenges? After another twenty minutes Arata was finally ready able to move. The night should last for at least five hours. I have to find the Wizard before that. Afterwards it took him less than two hours before Arata reached his destination, after all that running and climbing, he already was familiar with the structure of city pretty well, also he knew could easily see the landmark the big clock tower that marked his way. Arata already climbed this tower before so he was especially familiar with this area. Light will show you a way hmm. It looks like it was another riddle after all. Those were Aratas thought when he arrived at the destination and didnt see any clue as to what that could mean. Still he was wrong this time, as the orb he got for this quest started to shine and small beam of light showed a direction. It also shined up on the wall which made a note. [-see, its not a riddle.] After he saw it he once again heard the voice of the Wizard. -hmm it was going to be the end but you made me wait for so long and I was bored. So, maybe another challenge? What is wrong with this NPC? Arata was already at the end of tolerance with this quest. -Oh I know, I know another riddle: This time there are two paths and two wizards apprentice. One of them always lie another one always says the truth. One path leads to Wizard, and another one leads to certain death, you can ask only one question to one apprentice to find out which path you should take, so what is your question? -didnt you copy this riddle from somewhere else? Arata was sure that he heard it somewhere already. He even knew the answer to it but he had enough of playing around for today. -of course I did, you dont deserve any great riddle of mine me, if you wanted to get a better one you should avoid the hammer and made it on time. Fine no more riddles but there is also that ritual that you must complete first. -I dont want any riddles or rituals. No! I am done. I dont care anymore. You are too damn annoying to deal with, have a nice day, bye, bye. I hope we wont see each other again. -wait dont go. Fine no more riddles, the entrance is just around the corner. You simply have to pull the torch. -torch? -yes torch, secret passage, cool isnt? After you pull the torch you will see the staircase that will lead downward. You just have to go down the stairs, I am already waiting for you there in the first room. -you truly are living underground arent you? -it was on the path to heaven after all. Arata did as instructed and he has finally found the wizard. [You have completed the quest Wizards clue As annoying as he might be, he is really powerful so try not to angry him. Should you desire you can begin magic training. Reward: You can begin magic training, which may decide what profession you receive.] [You have level up by 100%] [You have gained level, current level 5] [Achievement: Feel proud as you completed your first quest. You may think that it is only rank 10 but so far 60% of player population still didnt complete even one.] -oh you are finally here, took you long enough. So, you want to learn a secret of magic but I wont teach you anything, muhahahaha! The wizard looked like a definition of wizard himself, He was tall slim, had a long gray beard and big pointed hat. He was also wearing a long dark blue robe. -quest completed, time to go, bye. Arata wasnt interested in magic that much, he already thought that he secured a warrior profession and didnt want to somehow ended up as mage. It wasnt that he had anything against mages, well maybe now he did after meeting this Wizard but after fighting in the arena against other players and finding out how useful his actual skills were in this world, it would be a shame to not use them. Also if he was ever to tell his grandfather that he is fighting by shooting some spells at his opponents from afar, his grandfather may actually disinherit him. -wait, wait! Whats wrong with you, dont you want to learn magic? Wizards attitude changed right away after seeing that Arata was ready to go. -not really and Im going now. -no, no wait, wait! Forget the magic training, I wanted to ask you something! -well, you may want to ask but I dont want to answer. I am already quite annoyed that after this whole quest I got a reward that is useless to me. -hmm then how about this, I will give you two gold coins. At that moment Arata turned around and sit down one the chair right away. -now we are talking but ten gold coins, paid up front, no cheating. -I am but a poor magician, will 5 do? -ten. -last offer 7 gold coins. -and here I thought that you wanted to talk with me, was nice knowing you. No, wait it wasnt nice, I dont want to hear from you again. -okay, okay. Ten gold coins here. But know you will regret it one day. -nice doing business with you. I have no idea how this game work, but you can a bargain with NPC, that is something. -but you surely dont want to learn about magic at all? Wizard asked once again. -will it change my profession to a mage? -oh that is what you are worried about. Dont worry about profession you will get what is written there for you. You shouldnt worry about the future in the first place. -so far I nearly died few times already, so I am quite worry. -but you are immortal adventurer, whats there to worry about. Anyway we wont do that much I just wanted to know if you have some talent for magic. -and why is that? -for my studies of course. -okay fine, so what I need to do? Arata decided that finding out how magic at least works would be useful as well. Even though he himself wasnt planning on using magic his opponents might. -for now just move this orb with your mind. Wizard took out an orb similar to the one he gave Arata and put it on the table. - Arata didnt say anything to Wizards explanation. -go on I will watch. -you really want me to get out, dont you? -??? ah yes first I should explain how its work. Oh I am sorry I didnt mean to, I just forgotten Crazy old madman with memory problems, ah so that is the definition of Wizard. Wizard started explaining. -listen and remember it well. Magic is an expression of the thought. There are many skills of course and all but all first came from the image in your head. -I dont get it. -ah so you wanted a peasant version, oh no problem Arata had really enough but he listened. -magic can be divided into two categories, one is simple skills, easy to master and easily useable in battle, you think of something you did before and boom big fireball, tornado and things like that. But all that came from pure magic which is as I said expression of the thoughts. You should be honored to hear about it as I am one of few masters of it, its not a common knowledge. Anyway its work like this, you think of something and can do pretty much everything, as long as your image is strong enough that is. Thats the hardest part. -so how should I move the ball? -hmm, try to imagine a small cloud is underneath it and move it. -cloud underneath it? Wizards explanation wasnt too helpful. Five minutes passed and then another five. Arata gave up. -looks like I dont have talent, so can I go now? -hmm, looks like cloud must been too hard for the first time. I have another idea, though. Try to image additional hand which comes out from your body. It should be easier to control it since its connected to you -might as well give it a try, but somehow I dont see it. Arata tried again then the ball started to move a little on the table. Then after a minute or so for a few second it was hanging in the air. -well not bad, see you do have some talent. -its quite funny thing. But did anyone really managed to do it with cloud? Arata asked as even with the hand it wasnt easy. -my resent apprentice managed to do it That must have been someone with talent for that. -oh no, I forgotten! But then suddenly the Wizard froze. -age does it to people. I am not surprised. Arata answered sarcastically. -ah my poor apprentice, she worked so hard and she will fail Wizards started a monologue but then. -well the world is unfair anyway and its no longer my problem. It looked like, in the end, Wizard wasnt really troubled by it. In the first place if he was troubled he wouldnt have forgotten about it and play numberous games with Arata. -what you are talking about? Arata ended up asking little interested. -well, its been almost a month since I found her. I was scanning the city as I like to do it from time to time and then I saw a girl dying out of hunger right next to entrance to my hideout and because I have kin heart and couldnt just look away, I took her in. -I dont think that you have kin heart but go on. Arata remarked. There already were lies in Wizards story. -well after few days she woke up. When she found out that I am a Wizard her eyes started to shine and she asked me if I can teach her. I normally dont take apprentice, actually I didnt have any before her, but as I said I have kin heart. -or rather you cant say no when girl ask you to do something. -well one way or another I asked her to take the test, and she lifted up the ball on her first try with the cloud method. In five seconds after she started the orb begin to move, and after half a minute it was already in the air floating steadily So its only me who doesnt know how to do that. Even though Arata managed to lift up the orb with the hand method, it was barely for a second and the floating couldnt be called steady either. -as I said you cant choose your profession but, if you do various things, you may somehow affect it. Also the way she ended up in my place is also somehow destined. So after she passed the test with impressive result like that, I gave her some jobs that would make her closer to magician class just as she wanted. She did most of those jobs nicely as well. After some time I decided to put her to the final test and sent her on the mission. It was about the same time when my hideout ended up sparkling everywhere. I knew that he giving someone training for free was fishy. -and what was a mission about? -well she had to find few things that I hidden in city, but . -yes? -umm . -its your fault isnt it? Arata didnt know what it was about but he knew who the culprit was. -maybe. -rather surely, okay what did you do? -Arata answer me this, did you enjoyed your challenges so far? Wizard asked to which Arata bluntly answered. -no. Although Arata did enjoy parts of it, his answer was clear. -but they were at least easy, right? -easy? You call it easy? A commander of paladin order ended up using a hammer of justice on me. Is that your definition of word easy? -well at least she shouldnt fight anything. Probablythat was the plan at least, now I am not completely sure? -so you made her go on impossible quest to find something. The clues are not even nearly enough to find it and she will fight against something that will one-shot her right? -wow! Your talent as a magician is great, you can already read my mind? -no I just had the similar experience in past few days. -but you managed somehow didnt you. -hammer of justice man. Arata had the strongest argument. -okay, okay I know that I did wrong, but for that reason I asked you to come in the first place. -I dont really see any connection with me coming here though. -well its rather simple I want to help her, but I cant do it directly, so in my stead you will do it. [ Quest Wizard apprentice Wizard feels bad about what he had done to his apprentice so he found an adventurer to help his apprentice. Help the apprentice in unreasonable task that Wizard prepared. Reward: Magic cloak of your choice. There are three versions with different stats. You can punch Wizard in the face three times. This reward doesnt have to be executed, right away. Rank of quest 9. ] Rank of the quest was 9 which was pretty high. Normally you would need a party of 5 players to complete it. Although rank didnt mean that you need to have high level, if you get the quest it was meant for your level although it might be impossible for solo players but usually you wouldnt get a notice that you need a party. Still, Arata could not give up reward, and replayed. -I will gladly punch you in the face. I mean I will help that apprentice. [You have accepted the quest] -oh that great, to find her I could give you another riddle, but we are short on time. Give me your orb for a second. Arata throw it to him. Wizard caught it and after few second the orb started to shine and the light was pointing in the direction from where Arata came in from. -I will now explain the details but after that, just follow the light. http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=2980 Chapter 4 “Anari” Chapter 4 Anari Normally MMORPG were type of the game where you could become who you always wanted. You could fight with swords, cast magic, fire the bow. That was always the appeal of games like that. So when players found out that they couldnt choose their class at the beginning of EOA, they were outraged about it. Many send letters of complaint to the Space Electronics, but the changes were never made. One day there was a response from Mr. Horvitz in one of his interview. -Mr. Horvitz why did you choose such a strategy, you cant choose class? There is not tutorial or any instructions? Things are often blocked and also hidden quests? Some people even think that there arent any quests at all. -haha, I get asked that a lot so I have prepared answer for this question. First of all, you keep talking its game its a game, when its not, well lets leave it at that, after some time people will understand. At least, those with the traces of intelligence. -that not very kin of you to say that. Many people also said that they didnt like your attitude at character creating process. -I had a lot of fun filming that you know, but apart from that movie, I didnt do anything. -the following messages sounded like continuation though. -the whole game is made by AI, so no I didnt do it, you cant blame me, also I have to make it clear. Our company doesnt have direct access to the game code so any letters of complaint that ask us to change something are simply ignored. Dont send it to us! -wait, you dont have access to game code? -yes thats why no one knows what this game will lead to. All we can do is simply explore the world like all other gamers. Well we can communicate with AI if there will be a necessity but we dont do it too often and we dont want to spoil the fun for ourselves. Things would be locked for us after all. -but that means that you cant answer any questions about the game, is it right? -I cant be sure for 100% but the AI have my vision of creation so I can somehow give you my analysis on the situation. -thats the best that we can get, so why did the game turn out like this? -its simple, AI wanted to create unique world where nothing is given to the player. Players have to fight their way out on their own to reach anything. -you say that, but isnt there too many random things in it. -you have to trust me on this one but wait and see, the game is out for about a two weeks, many still are in first month period and some just gotten their profession. -exactly that, so many people are outraged about profession system. They get it at random at the end of the mouth and cant do anything about it. They cant even get another try. -I think that class system here is the most awesome thing out there, at least from the things that we found out so far. -tell it to people who gotten Gardener or Painter as their profession, they dont like it. Especially, after they couldnt affect it at all. -thats not true, class isnt random at all, its all depends on destiny of player. And every profession has its uses, its not like they are useless. -isnt destiny also random generated? -I also kept hearing things like destiny and that you cant affect at all. But that is not true. I am not sure how it exactly works but your whole first month gameplay affect it, every single little action in fact. -what sort of actions? -think about it on your own and you will find the answer, I wont tell you as it would spoil the fun. But I can tell you that there are many various classes, and it would be hard to list them all even after many years. -isnt in normal classed like warrior, mage, rogue? -yes and no. It looks like classes are based on known archetypes but each of them is different, also I can say for sure that there are some unique classes as well. I can say for sure because I got one myself. Hahaha. -we dont have much time left so could you tell us about quests. -I dont know much about them, it may be that there isnt any as you said, but if the note says that they exist they should. When someone finds it and share his discovery only then we will know. -thanks for your time Mr. Horvitz. -ah no problem, I just got killed so I can spare a day. To everyone! Dont ask me on any other day to do anything! I AM BUSY! Interviews like that didnt encourage new people that wanted to try out eye of Adventure. Most of them, thought just like Alice. No way, no way, no way! Alice had a little interested in MMO since some time now, but she never played one. As for the interest, it was thanks to her childhood friend whom she had. She always used to run after him and play around with him when they were little. They had always a lot of fun playing together with other kids but she knew that the biggest smile appeared on his face only when he was talking with others about his adventures in the game. It was strange for her, but she didnt judge it as she couldnt understand it. In the end, it didnt matter to her much. At that time she didnt ever think that she would ever play a computer game. But one day her friends house suddenly become dark and she couldnt find him anymore. When she asked her parents about him, they only told her that he moved out. That was strange for her as her friend never mention anything like that. He also didnt say goodbye or anything. He just disappeared suddenly and that was it. Maybe he didnt though of us as friends. She thought one day and started to cry. Time went one and one day she decided to find him. But how could she found someone only based on name and place he used to live. She again asked her parents but they didnt tell her much. Then she started to ask in school but there werent many people who knew him as she moved to high school already. Then she started to ask their neighbors. Sure, they answered her question but there was a small problem with their answers. -ah that kid, I heard that his family moved to another Country, Portugal was it, or Spain, I am pretty sure that it was the Spain. That didnt help her much, so she continued with others. -ah, the one that always helped me with shopping bags, that was a good kid, he moved to Carmans, yes thats the city south of here, two hours by train and you will reach it. That story would bring her hope but as far as she knew, her friend wasnt a person who would help old people with their bags. He once told her his theory. -Old people, I dont know why but they always pretend to be weak, and always look for help. But dont be fooled, the older they are the higher level they have, so they are strong. My grandpas level is over nine thousand! He can chop tree in one hit, and then lift it up without any problems. She didnt understand much from this sentence, but her friend would never help someone who is old. Pretty much everyone said different thing about him and his current placement. He moved to the other country, or just another city, some even said that he flew up to the space. People like to tell fairy-tales, also if that were to be true, he would boast about it. Even though she decided to take every answer seriously and analyses it. She also got some strange responses as if people were trying to hide something, once conversation went like this. -so you remember him? -ah yes, the one that you were always playing with, it was refreshing to see young kids like that. Although I dont know what was he doing at night but he was always yawning. I remember that once he and his friends destroyed one of my windows when they played baseball, but what is your childhood if you dont destroy one or two windows from time to time. I did the same and its a precious memory. -then do you know what happen to him, where is he now? -better leave it be, nothing good will come out if you find out. Alice continued her search, she started to call some of her others childhood friends, and asked them about him. And it was one of those conversations that gave her idea. -ah Alice, its been a while, -yes it was Jimmy, so do you know where he went, or how can I contact him? -sorry, I have no idea, I also looked for him for a while but I gave up. -so its impossible to find him? -well thats how it goes. Normally you cant find someone based on the name only. But dont you have other information as well. -what information? -what would Arthur do no matter what, in this world? -I dont know. Emm play games? -exactly. -and how does it help in any way? -if you cant find him in real life, why dont you find him in game? There is one super hard one out right now and knowing him, he would surely be playing it. -but how can I find someone in game, isnt it even harder than my current search? -normally it would be impossible to find someone, but finding him may not. -why is that? -I used to talk with him about games all the time and I know that he was overpowered if you know what I mean. -I dont. -well, it means that he was one of the best and that was before, when he was young. I wonder how good he is now. -I still cant see your point. -all you need to do is log into the game and find the strongest player thats all. But, well forget about it. It is bad idea after all. -why is that bad idea? -you see, that game is a little different, and its definitely not for someone like you. -its just a game, I will manage somehow. -yes good luck with that, I will send you a link with some informations about this game so decide after seeing it first, I have to go now so, bye Alice. She watched the videos send to her by Jimmy and then decided. No way, no way, no way! She didnt play many computer games before but this game didnt have a good opinion. All the comments were about it being hard and somewhat evil in its root. [What were they thinking when they made it!] [Common you cant even choose your class!] [No wonder that AI made it. Looks like computers really wants to exterminate human race, Matrix was not a lie.] Especially interviews with creator were really repulsive. Knowing all this she decided to give up on Jimmys idea that was not really realistic anyway. Time went on. But as it went on, some way or another, that game become incredibly popular, and not only with gamers but with average people as well. There were even television programs about it. Everyone was talking about eye of Adventure or its different name a new world. Most of Alices friends were playing it already and were talking about it nonstop. Instead of normal meetings they would meet up in the game. That was partly because of incredible feature one hour here equals five in the game. How did it work Alice did not know but it sounded incredible. As the exams were near, she asked her parents to buy her capsule so she had more time to study. Thanks to that she had so much time that she aced all of them. Then the holidays came and she decided try the game out. If it will be hard I will just give up, nothing more. With this though in mind, Alice started the game. Anari was her name. She was running around the city of beginners. She was already tired of it as she was running for so long already. Not knowing where to go or where is the place she was looking for? She ran and ran and ran. Few times she gave up on the way but after some rest, she would start running once again. Why was she running? Well it all started from being hungry and fainting. As many people before her and many after her, Anari appeared on the central square of beginners city nearly a month ago. She didnt have any ideas of what she was supposed to do, so in the end she walked in random direction in hope of finding anything. For the time, she decided to explore city as it was new sight for her. Even though walking around and doing nothing may not be that interesting, sights that she could see were pretty enough for to enjoy her trip. Time went on and she decided to eat something but not there, but in the real world. She logged out for a moment and returned about two hours later. To her surprise she couldnt move anymore as she got a status called, never ate anything in your life. It seemed like she will die at her first day of play. Well she expected that she will die at some point but at least not in this way. Still she didnt end up dying. Sure she fainted but after some time she woke up on the floor of someones house. Although now she knew that it shouldnt be called a house. -why there is so many death from hunger in this city I will never understand. Anyway I see that you are better now. There is the door, go ahead I dont have time for other people. That was a deep voice of an aged man. She looked up at him and to her surprise she found out that he was a Wizard. It wasnt hard to recognize him he looked as wizardly as possible. Tall, slim with big pointed hat. He was also wearing a dark blue robe. Seeing him Anaris eyes started to shine and she quickly said. -please teach me some magic! At first Wizard was against it, but when she looked at him with her deer eyes he gave up. It turned out that she managed actually managed to do anything the Wizard asked her to do, so she was quite happy about it. Still, he was always saying the same thing. -you cant choose your profession, its like destiny. Even though Wizard kept on repeating that Anari was sure that if she follow Wizard instructions she should be fine. For 12 days she was doing various things in his laboratory. She was lifting up crystal balls with her mind, making them disappear, or even setting them on fire although in that process many other things that belonged to the Wizard got burned as well. For the most of the time she was asked to read magic books, as Wizard said. -you need knowledge in order to cast spells. Some way or another she leveled up to level 6. After that the Wizard called her to him and asked. -it is time to put you to the true test. I want to give you three challenges that will test your abilities. But one question before that, do you like riddles? -hmm only the good ones. I dont like if they are boring and easy. -good. If you are that eager wait for another two hours, I will prepare something amazing. After another five hours Wizard came back. -its not easy to come up with good riddles but here I made them somehow. Riddles were strong point of Anari. She liked them and solved them from time to time, so task in which she had to solve them appeared to be interesting. It was her fifteen day of playing the game yet most of her time she spend it in one place, the Wizards hideout. It was a good opportunity to explore the city a little more. Good opportunity of course, how stupid I was. She was now reflecting on this day. Her task required her to find three magical items. The first task asked her to read the page of text and based on that point out where the first item was hidden. The item was cloak of magi as it was described. It did look like interesting challenge at first but after reading the text twice she had no idea where to look. The text itself was strange and somehow unbelievable. It was literally a litany that praised the Wizard and his deeds. Her previously good opinion about him was ruined thanks to that. In the end she could not point specific location but she listed down all possible locations based on the text. There were three main places. The big mountain where Wizard fought against a dragon, but there was no mountains in the city so she decided that it was not it. The other was a temple where the Wizard was received reward for fighting against demons army. Anari though that this could symbolize a big chapel with big cross on it which she saw the first day she arrived, but after looking inside it, she could not find anything there. Then the last place was the place called coliseum where Wizard with single hand and with closed eyes defeated hundred men without use of magic. As stupid and unbelievable the story was, that was her only clue as to location of the item. Anari found out that there is training arena somewhere in the city. Unfortunately, she had no idea where to find it. After four days of search when she was resting and about to give up, she heard two players talking. -did you see todays Tournament? -not really, I logged two days ago, what is that tournament you are talking about? -you came here without any information did you? -well, I heard that its better that way. -I heard it as well, but anyway the tournament is where you fight against other players, I heard that you can win a sword or something. -wow, I thought that getting item before you get profession is impossible. -well people say that if you win that tournament you can get sword and even fighting profession later. -why did you tell me now? I cant do this now. -dont worry its only a rumor and things you hear in game doesnt count to the lockout. I also dont know for sure but its worth a try given the rumors. Even if you dont get the profession from it you will always be one step before the other beginners as you will have some fighting experience. -so, what was special about todays tournament? -well I took my chances and tried even though I knew that I have no chance. I am level 3 and there was a guy with level 7, but there is a lot of experience to get if you take part in it so I signed up regardless. Although I lost my first fight I still got 50% of my level. -wow, thats awesome. I have to level up and take part in it as well. -normally its given that a player with higher level will be the winner, but that was not the case this time. -what happened? -there appeared a guy who had level 1. Everyone laugh at him at first because he had to take part in the tournament on level like that. -was he that retarded to even try? -no just unlucky, there is some strange job that forces you to take part in the tournament even though you dont have any explanation on how combat system works. -yep unlucky indeed. Its better if I dont go there when the tournament is ongoing. Anyway what happen to him? -he won the tournament. -what!? -exactly, its rare to see something like that from a newcomer, he managed to beat every opponent and didnt take even a single hit from them. -but what about the guy with level 7? -he fight with him in the finals, but even in that fight he won without much trouble. Especially the last move of newcomer was something that you only see in movies. -its unfortunately, that I didnt see it, but my choice foods come first was right, I think. -haha, so many dies out of hunger on their first day. Anyway let me show you the way to the arena so we can train for next tournament, that guy shouldnt return anymore and I heard that guy on the level 7 will ends his first month in two days so he wont be there either. -in that case I will win the next one. -haha, I wont let you. Watching them Anari though. It must be nice to play with friends. So far she didnt tell anyone that she started to play but she decided to do that when she get a class. She always could make new friends here but she wasnt very good at that. Most of the friends she had right now were her classmates or from childhood where she was mostly introduced to her by her lost friend. Because she needed to find the arena so she followed those two. She reached the arena thanks to that tactic and decided to look for the cloak. When she was looking around training center for some time a strange old man come to here. -welcome child, I am instructor here. If you want, I could teach you the way of the sword but I think that its not very suitable for you. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Words like way of the sword rather scared her. How could she fight against anything in the first place, that was simply scary for her. Magic where you stay away from monsters seemed better in her eyes but if possible she would want to avoid fighting at all. -ah no, no, no, I dont want to, I just looking for something. -what is it? I might help you. She didnt know how to ask about magic cloak that was possibly here, and she didnt want to sound strange so she asked. -did any mage ever fought in this arena? -mage you say? Not many, also as I remember it is said that they are intelligent people who would knew that its better to avoid places like that, but when I was a kid there was one arrogant Wizard who decided to take part in the fight. Back then people knew how to fight, its not like today, where they just swing their sword randomly and pray that they hit something. Although today I had pleasure of seeing someone with skill so its not like everyone lost their touch. -yes I heard about it, but what about the Wizard. -well, he decided to take part in tournament, but he said it would be unfair for him to fight against someone as he was strong and defeated a dragon or something. Yes I am on the right track, just like in the tale. -so what did he do? -he said he wont use magic and asked someone to tie one of his hands. No way, those tales were true, Master I once again have good view on you. -so he single-handed defeated one hundred men, right? -hahahaha, you know I remember that he had the same delusion as you. He was even screaming things like give me a hundred!. - . -in the end he was beaten or rather he beat himself in ten seconds. As soon as the fight started he tried to attack his opponent. However his opponent just moved out of the way. But the Wizard continued with his attack blindly swinging in the air. He didnt knew how to use a sword, so he eventually beaten himself with it and couldnt move for a while. I will never have good view on you Master, ever again. -thanks for the tale, but have you heard anything about magic cloak which is supposed to be here. -I see that you are more interested in magic rather than sword fighting. You should look for different place in this case. Although there is another legend that is told here that have connection to magic. -what is it about? -if you enter the training grounds but your destiny lies elsewhere, you will be granted a clue that will lead you to your proper path. -well I will try it out, thank you for help. Anari had a nice talk with instructor, although she was a little tense, nevertheless she decided. If this isnt the place I give up. It already took her a lot of time and Anari usually ended up giving up easily. Still in a moment she thought that it would be better if this werent the place but as she entered the training ground a gray-white cloak appeared in the air out of nowhere and fallen right onto her. [Cloak of magi Intelligence +4 Magic +2 Mana +100 Cloak of magi. Bestowed to those who found their path, but got lost on their way. There is message written on it. Swords are scary, even though you think that they should be on your side they turn on you and suddenly take control over your hand. Then they attack you. Better follow this advice and never get close to them. The great Wizard. Level Required 3 Armor type Cloth] She jumped in joy as she found it. Her first item, which she end after all this hard work. She equipped it shortly. It was a simple gray cape, but it changed her look a lot and now she stand out even more from the crowd as apart from her, every player was wearing the same clothing only different in color. It was not only the cape that made her stood out though. When she first log in, many people asked her how she got somewhat unique avatar. She looked at mirror and found out that she have long light blue hair tied into ponytail. In reality her hair wasnt that long as it was troublesome to take care of. Also naturally in reality there is no way to have blue hair, she had them light bronze. It seemed strange at first but she did start to like her new hair, it was somehow unique. Back in the day she once wanted to dye her hair but her parents wouldnt let her and now she was happy that they didnt as it would be stupid to do it in real. Having hair like that also had its disadvantages as many people stared at her and wanted to ask about it. Anari mostly ran away when that happened. Now with cloak added to it everyone will want to ask how to get it, but for now she didnt think about it as she was proud of herself for completing Wizards task. Now, new challenge. She started to read the second challenge. She was instructed to do this only after she managed to complete the first one. The challenge this time wasnt the riddle but something else. [Good work I knew you could do it. For a note every story that was written on that page is of course about great me and is 100% true. I wanted to share with you some of my best memories] Best memories? Rather memories of painful defeat and unfulfilled dreams. [Now the second challenge is before you. Unfortunately this time its not the riddle because I had a bad day, but dont worry the third one is marvelous] First one was not a riddle either if I have to say. [Look forward to it, but firstly you have to complete this challenge first, as its a must for a mage. As you know any magic is mostly based on elements of nature, there are many exception but lets ignore them for a moment. I gave you a ring when you left for your quest, equip it and fill it with power of your choice. You can only fill it with up to 6 different elements, good luck] [Quest Master of riddles, moved to next stage Fill the empty ring with power. Rank of quest 10 ] So the 6 elements that the task is about should be four elements of nature, Fire, Water, Earth and Wind plus additional elements of light and darkness. As how to fill it, it cant be easy and it looks like its another riddle this time as well. But it also doesnt look that hard, I just need to find representation of each element and do something with the ring. She felt that a new wind is blowing in her sails as she solved this instantly. All thats left was to find something that would be suitable for representation of elements. Anari was leaving the training center already equipped in her new item the gray cloak. Although it took her some time before she managed to equip it properly. She had absolutely no experience with menu system. When she left the training center Anari spotted someone who was lying on the ground not so far from its entrance. The person was laying head down first to the ground and his stomach was rambling. Waaa! I am not that bad at this game, after all. I even have quest to become magician and this cloak. Those were her thought at first but she immediately remembered that not so long ago she was lying on the ground and dying out of hunger exactly the same way. Eh who I am kidding I was the same position just a while ago also my quest, cloak its all luck. Look on the bright side and be proud of yourself. Every time Anari tried to do that her logic always went in negative thinking. Still she decided to help the man, even if she was afraid to go near him. While walking next to his body she dropped some bread that she bought thanks to the money that Wizard gave her. After that she just said that she needed to go and ran away as fast as she could before man even reacted. Ah, I cant even talk with a person who cant even move Once again depressing thoughts kick in. but next time I find someone like this I will. With that determination she went on with her challenge. She didnt know how much time it will take her so she decided that she should speed up a little. From that moment on she was running all the way up to right now although at first it didnt go well. How did I end up here again? Anari came back to the training center half an hour later after circling around in the city. It happened simply because she got lost again. She at least found out that the person who was lying on the ground was no longer there. At least he managed to survive, or did he die because I wasnt helpful enough? It cant be helped. Now which way I should go this time. As she was about to decide two small children come to her crying. -miss, miss help! She wasnt afraid of children at least so she tried to be good grown up in their eyes and answered. -how can I help you? Kids started to saying things that made no sense. -there was a tree and momo was trapped. -so we asked a man for help. -but when he reached momo he fell from tree. -and now he is dead. -no he is not. -yes he is. -anyway please help! She had no idea what they were about but she said. -leave it to me. Kids leaded her behind some restaurant. Behind that restaurant there was a big tree, and underneath it, some strange looking creature and a orange cat siting on it. It turned out that the strange looking creature was a man with strange black-white hair. Hmm a corpse, maybe its some detective quest where you need to find the culprit. First clue, white paint on the head. She liked detective stories, so view of someones corpse lead her to thinking. Wait a moment thats a real corpse! Not a film a real corpse! Just as she was about to scream for help she remembered something. Ah thats not a real world. One could forget about it when game was as immersive as that, and NPC were sometimes more human than some of real humans. So a detective story it is then, first I need to ask the witnesses. -okay you two can you tell me what exactly happened? Little slowly this time. The two of them told her a story about how their cat ended up on the tree and couldnt come down. They were looking for help but no one wanted to help them. Then they found someone who was walking slowly without hurry, someone who looked like he had a lot of free time. They asked him to come. He didnt want to do this at first but eventually they made him climb the tree. They saw that he had some problems with that even though he looked like he was in a good shape. Then as he finally climbed to where the cat was he fell down. After that they started to look for someone else that would help that man. So the kids are the culprit, they made this guy climb the tree and he simply fall down from it. Case close, shouldnt I get some experience? Nothing of that sort happened though. Ah yes its still unknown why does he have white paint on his hair. Then she hear loud rumble which came from the direction of the man. -see, see, he does live. Said the boy. Anari looked at the man and that reminded her of someone whom she just met half an hour ago. -isnt it the same person that was lying next to training center? She said out loudly. -you are talking about training center miss, next to the arena? I was on todays fights, there was one guy who used two swords and won the tournament without getting hit even once. I decided that when I grow up I will look up to him and follow his steps. I also liked his style he had somewhat unique hair, black-white hair. The two that I followed before said something about guy like that as well. -he must be some great person to inspire young kids like you. -yes, he was like a hero. As Anari heard that she looked once again at the man who was lying next to the tree and then she thought of something. -isnt he your hero then? Boy walked up to the man and started. -aaaaa, its him, how I didnt see it before. So thats mean thats mean! -what does it mean? -mmm, after he won the tournament he must have been very tired, we asked him to climb a tree and he fell. He was too good for his own good. Even though he was tired after the fight he tried to help them. She thought at first but then. Wait, after the fight?? Strange, when I made it to training center it was already long after any fights. But I saw him there as well, it when I started second part of the challenge! I throw him some bread and ran away. It was probably after that when kids found him She stopped for a second and reached final conclusion. Wawa! The kids are not the culprit! I am the culprit! I gave him some food he eaten it but it wasnt enough so he fell from the tree. It turned out to be a detective history where the culprit was the detective. The mystery was solved but Anari still didnt get any experience for it. After that she tried to wake him up, but that didnt work, so she decided to move him to a nearby restaurant. She had a lot of problems while doing so. There was absolutely no way that she could lift him up in the first place. But one way or another she somehow managed to drag him there. She wanted to explain everything to the manager but when she saw that he was somewhat big and muscular man she got scared and said on one breath. -this is my friend who fell from a tree, so I took him here, here is a payment, take care of him, I am in hurry, bye! Manager couldnt even say a word as she talked as fast as possible and ran away the moment she finished. Then a message appeared before her. [Ring filled with power Remaining elements 5] -how? She said in a low voice but could not find the answer, one way or another she moved on to find other powers. The second challenge went quickly after that. As tricky as it may sound, filling ring with elements turned out to be quite easy. Too fill it with fire. She needed to put it into fireplace for a minute. Too fill it with water she needed to drown it in the bucked filled with water. To fill it with earth, she needed to bury it for some time underground. Then filling it with wind wasnt as obvious as the rest, but with some luck she found out that the only thing that she needed to do is reach out her hand into the air and keep it on in windy alley. All that didnt took her more than two days, she also logged out at one time. As for the last element she chose to fill the ring with holy energy, main reason was because she didnt have an idea how to fill it with energy of darkness. Her idea was to walk around some dark places but she would prefer to avoid places like that. Also the light element was easy to figure out. Ho to the chapel and ask a priestess for blessing. Although she had to make a donation for the church, she got what she wanted. After she left the chapel and made her way to some place that there were not that many people around. She realized something. I have been playing practically nonstop since the start. Yes the game cached her attention to the fullness. She also didnt have much to do as the holiday just started. How I am on time again? First day plus thirteen days in Wizard laboratory. Four days on first task, Two days on the second, and another half of today. This leaves me nine and half a days for the last challenge. It shouldnt take more than first challenge I hope so lets assume it will take four. When I done with it I will log out and wait till the end of the month. That was her original plan, but then she started to read about the last challenge. [This challenge showed you the most basic enchanting, to create a magical item you need to fill it with power. Of course that was just slightly demonstration as the ring was specially designed for gathering energy. Normally its not that easy and require a lot of training. Look at the ring and see what became of it, dont have big hope as it was filled by you who had no idea about enchanting is in the first place. Be happy if its changed a color at least. When you are ready start searching for the last item.] Before she moved out she took out the ring from her pocked. To her surprise instead of once dead crystal in it was filled with strange orange light within it. It was so beautiful that Anari stopped moving for a second. Then she checked its stats. [Ring of Kindness Elemental magic +2 Holy magic +10 Mana +500 True kindness is a thing that one cant create just because one wanted. It is your good character that can create it. Only those who help others without hope for reward can really be called kind.] [Achievement: Be the first one to get specific magical item. Note: no one before you had an item like this.] She didnt know what to think about it, but it at least solved her previous surprise where number of elements somehow went down to 5. True kindness? That over statement. Especially when it was my fault that he fell down in the first place. Her logic always prevented her for feeling good about herself although she did feel good about something else. The first one to get it. She found out that being the first one to do something felt really good at that moment she started to truly love this game, she wanted to be the first one in something else again. -Time to finish the last challenge. Anari began to read the last instructions. [The last challenge is a tricky one. Because you wanted hard riddle I made one. Its took me a while so be thankful for it. Also I made it especially for you. Its not just a riddle but a double riddle, great isnt it? Okay the first riddle is more of a puzzle than a riddle but I personally think that there is little difference between riddles and puzzles, pointing out the differences would be hard, it depends on the culture, elves would say its the same thing. Anyway, you have four pages with pictures on it, every picture symbolize an object. To create a riddle you need to take first letters of the pictures and combine it together. How to choose the pictures I cannot say because it would spoil all the fun, think of it on your own. Each page will represent one sentence. Four sentences create a riddle that will lead you to the last item, for a note its a magical staff. With all those items gathered I am sure that you will end up in magical profession. I am leaving this city soon, I wasnt playing to stay to long anyway and someone is waiting for me so dont look for me afterwards. Thats all I could do for you, good luck in your travel and farewell.] Even though he was just a character in a game he also was a good person at heart, he helped me a lot even though at first he always said how he dont like to interfere with people that much. In the end despite everything, I am really grateful to him. Anari really thought about the Wizard that way just then, if he didnt help her she would probably die at least once out of hunger at the start, but now thanks to him she was on her last mission to hopefully get a good profession. As she took out the pages with pictures a message came out. [Quest Master of riddles moved to the last stage Warring: based on the changes made by Wizard and time that you have left, rank of the quest went up. Rank of the quest 9] And Anari soon found out why rank of the quest changed so much. http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=2981 Chapter 5 “End of the month” _5.1 Chapter 5 End of the month Normally in MMORPG your avatar is always running. You usually dont walk around like in normal life because it would simply take too much time. When you control a character with the keyboard you dont get tired. Running option is always ON. There are some special cases when people walk because they want to role-play, however when someone look at them from afar, that someone would found it strange and have a good laugh. VRMMORPG is different though. Just like in real life you normally dont run around unless you are jogging and try to keep yourself in fit. You usually wear some sport clothes if you do that, so at least it doesnt look that strange. Of course in this case there are exceptions as well, but if someone starts to run around in suit, he will look really suspicious. In some cases even police may try to stop that person. In VRMMO you control your body just like in real life. Players and especially beginners are somewhat embarrassed to run without a reason and instead they simply walk. Also they mostly dont know where to go in the first place. If you are going to get lost anyway, there is no need to run. Of course in this case there also are some exceptions as well. One of those exceptions was Arata. For a nearly full month he already ran so many times, that his walking period compared to that was no existing. Just like yesterday and the day before he is running through the avenues of the beginners city. Although there is also a small difference compared the others days. For the first time he really knows exactly, which way he should go. -follow the light, follow the light, it so nice to have a quest like that, the reward is great, and there are no tricks, oh how long has it been? He was actually singing it out loudly, when he was running. He was following the light that came out from the orb that he held in his hand. Arata was on the quest that he received at this very night. Although the person that gave it to him said it was urgent, sleep was way more important for Arata, he already skipped a night before and this time there was no force that would make him move from the bed. After nine hours of sleep, he woke up. Now refreshed he could run all day long. Even if he wasnt really sure about this quest, he couldnt resist the offer of reward that awaited him. How did quest with rank 9 ended up in the city full of beginners I dont know but reward like this will tempt anyone. Normally it would require a full balanced party to do the quest of level 9, but Arata somehow managed to get all the informations that were required to complete it from a quest giver. He had no idea how the quest system and NPCs worked but questgiver who feels bad about his deeds and decide to help the person who he gave a quest is unthinkable. At least for a normal game, which EOA was not. Lucky, I found a bug. That was the only reasonable explanation for him and he didnt pray any further than this. After all it was to his advantage. It didnt take more than two hours when he finally spotted as the light for the first time started to point up upwards instead of straight. It pointed in direction of the tree. It was somewhat suspicions but Arata moved underneath it but that was his mistake. -Wawa, waaaaaaaa! He heard some strange sounds and look up. Then he heard sound of breaking branches but he couldnt see much from the point where he was as green leafs blocked his view. With another sound of breaking branches suddenly something jumped out from the tree and attacked him. Unable to react fast enough Arata got hit. He was on the ground in one shot. He also got short stunning effect and his HP decreased by 20%. Ambush! I knew that something was going to come up with this quest. Even now something was crushing him. But then that something stood up and started to talk. -I alive! Wawa, I thought will be dead for sure. Waaaa! My health is still 100%. Looks like nothing will happen if you fall from that height. The creature turned out to be a person, a girl in fact. She had long and unrealistic blue hair and somewhat pleasant face to watch. She was also wearing gray-white cloak, which was uncommon for a player in this city, because everyone just like Arata were wearing the same thing, the beginner clothing. They differed in color but were mostly the same. NPC or player? She doesnt look like a player but she said HP just now, lets check. As he crossed his fingers and checked the girls status. The girl on the other hand moved to the place where Aratas magical orb that he got from the Wizard what lying. She picked it up and looked at it with interest. Then she spotted Arata. Normally when you run into someone you at least tell the second person Im sorry or are you alright? if it was a strong hit. Falling on someone from a tree could be added to that category. That was at least what Arata thought. He slowly got up and started looking at the girl and waited for an apology. The girl on the other hand. -wawaaaa! She made some weird noises again and started to run away at her top speed. What just happened? Arata thought to himself but he didnt think much about it as he had other things to do right now. You never know what to except. But it wasnt an ambush its seems. Now then where is the orb? Arata couldnt find it in his hand nor did it lie anywhere near. -a... Then he started to run in the direction where girl just went. He soon spotted her as she was resting from the run, he also spotted that she had his orb in her hand. So her target was the orb. He thought that he found out her reason why she attacked him. As he was getting closer he shouted. -thief I found you! At that moment the thief started to run in panic. But as he was getting closer to her he heard something that sounded very strange to him. -waaaa! Why are you following me!? -dont play with me thief! He replayed. -why do you call me a thief? -you prefer the assassin then? Indeed you ambushed me first. -I dont know what you are talking about, I am a good person. -a good person doesnt attack people and stole their things. -I didnt steal anything! You play innocent dont you, but there is no way anyone would fall for that especially when. -so why do you have stolen object in your hand? The girl looked at her hand and told him another obvious lie. -I just picked it up, I didnt steal it. -then why are you running? The person who runs, always have something on conscience. -because you are chasing me! Where is logic in that? No never mind, I dont want to waste time on that. -in that case, on the three, both of us stops, you give me back my item and we walk off like nothing have happened, ok? -okay! She answered him still running on full speed. They were no more than one meter apart from each other. -one two three!... On signal Arata slowed down, but the girl did not and once again the distance increased. Okay, I tricked myself with this one. But now I had enough. [Lighting speed activated] With double speed he again catch up to her in seconds. He jumped at her and brought her to the ground. As soon as he did that girl dropped the orb. Arata got up and picked it up right away. Then he looked at the thief. It was somewhat strange sight for him as the girl was lying on the ground holding her hands around her knees. Wait, wait, wait, wait! She ambushed me, stolen my item and ran away. Then she broken the promise to stop and now she is making it like I am the bad guy. -hey, no one will fall for that As he said that again looked at her face, it was a little wet near eyes. Then he remembered something that his grandfather told him once. -no matter what, the man who makes a girl cry, is a trash. But I didnt do anything! His logic was screaming like that, however his eyes were showing him a girl who was lying on the ground trembling in fear of him right now. Arata decided to do something about it. -hey look, I know that you did many things but I forgive you, no hard feelings okay, you can walk off and I wont do anything to you That sentence didnt help much so he tried again. -nothing is going happen to you. Hey, hey, you hear me? Dont worry next time your ambush will go better. I know this orb looks expensive but its a quest item you cant sell it or use it. That didnt help either. Arata tried different approach. -okay what do you say, I will give one gold coin for your effort. After that he finally got an answer from her. -why would you give money to someone you attacked? -I didnt do anything, no maybe I did and I have a memory lost. -waaa scary person with memory lost. -as if that would happen! Anyway what is your point of view then? He asked her because her actions were strange. He didnt expect an answer, but to his surprise she started to talk. A lot at that. -I was climbing the tree for my own reasons then something blinded me. I lost my footing and fall down from a tree. Although I thought that I will die at first it turned out that my health didnt go down at all. Then I spotted interesting object on the ground that looked like a crystal ball. I picked it up and wanted to look for its owner. Then suddenly a strange person came out from nowhere, like from the underground. So I decided to run away, but then that strange person started to chase me. He was really fast and he finally caught up. He jumped at me and brought me to the ground. After that he started to say things like I stole something from him and now he wants to torture me even though I didnt do anything. I sit down in fear knowing that I cant run away and now I am waiting for my demise. Waaaaaaa!...Oh yes, the strange person is you. That story was somewhat different from what Arata had seen but regardless. -why do you call me a strange person and talk about me in third person view, no never mind that. Just forget it but I have an advice for you. -yes? -dont run if you dont have a reason for it. It looks suspicious. At least have a clear reason for it no some fairy tales. Anyway, good bye I dont have time for you. As he said that he looked at his orb, and now he realized it didnt shine anymore like it before and Arata quickly arrived at conclusion. -orb broke noooooooo my reward!.. Arata said loudly. Of course he wasnt talking about the item that he would get. He would get rid of it eventually as his level went up, but about the second reward which was far more precious. -I knew it. It was too easy for a quest like that. Follow the light he said, but how I am supposed to do that now? Arata was talking it out loudly and he forgotten about the person right before him. The girl was looking at the orb with great interest. She must finally feel some guilt about her deeds He thought when he saw her. Then he heard. -your orb broke? ... The girl asked him And whose fault is that? He didnt say out it loudly. -strange its look good to me. The girl repeated. -unfortunately it broke, well it happens from time to time, just leave me and go somewhere else. Arata didnt feel like hearing her apology. -no, no its looks like it can still work. -how can you say anything about it? Its a magical orb I got from a Wizard, not some random decoration. -no, no, I think it can work again, you said it you had it from some Wizard? Well I am not 100% sure but if you bring it back to him he should be able to repair it. -thats the only case of action I guess, but how do you anything about it? -lately I used to deal with similar things. The orb that you have right now is not broken its just out of power so to say. If someone fills it with some magic it should work once again without problems. -well thanks for advice at least Although if it werent for you, it would still work. -seems like you will get some magical profession. -haha, right now I am on my quest to become a mage She said proudly but soon after got depressed and added. -or rather was. -you completed it already? Well good job. -no I didnt, Its impossible for me. Wawa and my time runs short. People have their problems as well I guess. -well dont give up. Anyway about the orb do you think that I can fill it with power myself? Arata asked. -you have magic abilities? -I did lift up some things with my mind, but thats all. Still, I should give it a try once at least It wont hurt giving it a try. And so, Arata started to do various things in order to fill orb with power. Firstly he put it both of his hands closed his eyes. He tried to image the orb filled with power, as he recalled Wizards words about magic. -magic is an expression of a thought. But that didnt work in the least so Arata started to use others methods, a verbal ones. -magic. Fill this orb with your power so it shines again in the time of night! Of course it didnt work either. But Arata didnt give up just yet and started trying different approach. -the time has come to vanquish forces of evil with the power of light!... -the light that guide the way, your help is needed once more! -show me the path!... He tried different sentences and in different possess. He held it up, in left hand then in other. Even put it on the head with thought magic comes from mind so it should have shorter way from here. After this one didnt work, he putted it on the ground kneel before it with head down and said. -god, your servant asks for help, fill this orb with might None of that worked but he didnt give up just yet. Watching his behavior the girl tried not to laugh too loudly. Arata completely forgotten about her already because given her pervious behavior he thought she would run away the moment she have an occasion. Arata had no reserves and kept coming with new solutions. -that didnt work as well, I knew god doesnt exist. But I am long away from giving up He put down his swords so they didnt disrupt him, picked up the orb in his hands, moved both of them to the right side and started. -Ka-me-ha-me-haaaaaaaaaaa! At the moment of haaaa he pushed his hands forward, and forced the orb to fly in the air. It hit and stopped on nearby fence. And at that moment he heard loud laugh. -hahahahahahahahahaha, no more, no more, please I cant take more than that, the previous ones I could somehow hold but sorry this one is just too much Arata realized that the girl was still there although he was sure that she walked away long ago, she was having a good laugh after he embarrassed himself with his quotes. -hahaha, and you were asking why I call you strange person, no, no that should go on youtube. I cant wait to tell my friends about it. I am not strange, was what Arata wanted to say but he recall that he just demonstrated kamehameha before her. The girl continued. -no wonder your hair looks like that, this game indeed takes someone personality to it, hahahaha Says the person with blue hair. -wait strange hair, strange hair?? She then looked at him with puzzled face and she continued to do so. She was doing it without blinking for half a minute already. Do I have something on face or what? Two minutes have passed and she was still locked on him. First she laughs at me, then she stare at me. My hair must indeed look weird. Anyway she should say something at least. -hey, are you there? No response. He waved his hand next to her eyes but then she said. -what are you doing? -never mind I was thinking that you disconnected. -hmm? -you stopped moving for a second. -ah that, well I was just thinking that I know you from somewhere but well I dont know any strange people like you. -its not really nice of you to say that. Anyway as stupid as it was, I was seriously trying to come up with idea which would repair the orb. -but kamehameha? How old are you? The girl laughed at him again. -you are never too old to do that, also fusion dance. -ah! I want to see that too! Go try it. -how would fusion dance work when kamehameha did not? Arata was completely serious saying this sentence. -no, none of them have any chances of working but it would be interesting to watch. -I trying my best and not giving up and you laugh at me, thanks. -wawa, sorry. -your sorry doesnt make me feel any better. I just got a new idea. Maybe I should just use famous magical word like, hocus pocus or abracadabra. -hahaha, oh please do it! Do it! -and a second ago you were saying sorry. -wawa, sorry. -I dont believe in your sorry, anyway if you are so intelligent why you dont try yourself. -sure I can give it a try but no promises She took the orb from him and continued. -dont give your hopes up, but I will try my best. Look the magic itself is an expression of a thought. Basic magic I mean, the one you dont need spell books and stuff I somewhere heard something familiar to that. -you simply think off something and boom it happens. Of course it is much easier to use spells from spell book, they are also usually much stronger but with basic magic you can do anything you want. Thats the theory at least. Still with basic magic I can for example fill this orb with power. You cant fill it by shooting fireballs at it. You would need a specific spell for it, if it even exists At least it looks like she knows what she is doing. -lets see oh there is some spell casted within it, you want to have it activated again, right? The girl asked, it seemed like the orb was in a good shape after all. -if you can. -well I dont have confidence. Also its hard to cast anything without a magical profession for it. -so you cant do it? -hmm, normally it would be impossible but thankfully its a light spell. -and what does it change? -I have somewhat good magic boost in holy spells. And its nothing that strong in the first place. Just a light that shows direction. Oh such useful thing, where can I get one of those? I lost my way so many times. In truth she lost her way every time so far. But she didnt say that. -so what about this boost? Arata asked her then she crossed hers fingers. She took out the magic ring from her inventory. It looked somehow unique with orange light within the crystal. She put it on her finger and stated. -yes with this I can do this! In second a strong light emanated from the orb as it started to shine again, then to Aratas surprise it started to point out at the face of the girl that was holding it. She closed he eyes because light was too intense and started to talk. -wawa, strange it location is locked on me now, did I fail? No I was sure it was right, and here I thought that I would look cool if I repaired it. Sorry, you have to go to that magician after all. There is no way to repair it anymore even if you find someone knowledgeable on it. The spell needs to be recasted a new. Arata however didnt listen to her and started to think. Hmm now that I think about it the light acted strange before I meet her and pointed up. That direction was a tree. She also said that something blinded her so she fall from there. She also knows a lot about magic so she would classify as Wizards apprentice. And what she said also fits the Wizards story. But I already checked it once at the start. Arata once again crossed his fingers to summon the menu. Yep, there is nothing green above her head meaning she is a player. But then Arata realized something. Oh. I didnt think about that. Arata finally realized that he had one wrong assumption about the quest in the first place. In his experience normal quest often involved finding someone on the map and helping them in their task but it always involved NPC so every player could do the quest when they wanted to. But in this game there were quest that involved other players. Before he didnt even took a possibility that it can happen. To make himself sure he thought about something else. After all this game is evil creation which doesnt want its players to have fun when completing the quest. Anyway with that said he finally found the Wizards apprentice now all thats left is completing a quest. -finally I found you. Arata said out loudly. -who did you found? I am little distracted by the light so I cant see. -you. -yes who it that you? -the wizards apprentice. -wa there is another wizards apprentice here? In that case I think I should go as you found the person you were looking for? -no, you are that person. -me? -yes. -waaaaaa! I knew it, you want to do bad things to me, I thought that you are strange but good person but you were hunting me waaaaa! Please spare me I didnt do anything! Anyone help me! -the person who says that they didnt do anything, are the ones that usually are in the wrong. -waaaa! -stop with that strange sound and listen, I came to help. -so you came to help someone to catch me, even though you are helping someone, when the person you are trying to help is bad you are doing bad things as well. The misunderstanding continued. -so you are finally admitting that you are a bad person. -what are you saying I am good person. -ones that say that they are good persons are mostly the bad one. No, lets stop with that. Anyway what is wrong with your logical thinking? -nothing is wrong, although. -although what? -well, I always somewhat picture out the worst possible scenario, especially when a strange person is hunting me down with magical orb so he can sell me for money. -I see. Your logic isnt working even on the basic level. Look I have quest in which I have to help wizards apprentice, she should have hard time with a riddle right now because her stupid master did some stupid things and she ended up with some stupid riddle that she cant solve on her own. If this doesnt ring a bell then I out of here. When he said that the girl came up to him catch his left hand using her two hands lifted it up and started to speak really, really fast. It was somewhat hard to understand. -waaaaa, you are good strange person after all, after all, the boy called you a hero, a hero came to help me, waaaaa! And I was about to give up, eight days passed without any success. When started I didnt care about my profession, but now I want to be a mage, help me become a mage, I want have more items, be the first one in something. I am sorry for my rudeness and that I laughed at your quotes when you fought even in face of certain defeat. Just as the boy says the hero. Hero please help me, I dont have much time left, and have no idea of what to do! Arata had many questions to ask about what she just said. -slow down for a moment, because I have no idea what are you talking about. -yes hero. Somehow she became really obedient out of sudden. -okay, firstly, why do you started to call me hero out of sudden? No never mind, just dont do that. -why? Heroes are good people who help others in need. Vanquish evil, and bring smile to the children. -just dont. -okay, I understand hero. -looks like you didnt understand. -but I needs to somehow call you right, I think hero is much better than good strange person. -well this good strange person is also annoying. But hero just doesnt suit me in my core. Anyway normally when you started talking with someone introduce yourself, I am Arata, you? -Im A . -Name is just a mean to identify someone. No matter how its sounds I dont care. -Thats cold. -You can even give a false one. Also in game you shouldnt just give away your real name, left and right, use your nickname. -waaa! Thats true I also heard from a friend that its better to use nickname. -you have intelligent friends so follow their advices, anyway what is your name. -my name is Anari, nice to meet you. Anari? Whats name is that? Arata didnt say that. But wait a second. -hey, you just wanted to introduce yourself with a name that starts whit A as well. You didnt do something as stupid as making the nickname the same as real name, did you? -no, no, my friend once told me that its better to use different name. Although, I wanted to use my real name. Thanks good for that friend. People who use their real name in game are considered. To not offend anyone, talented in a specific way. Or they just really like their names and cant stand being called differently. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. -okay anyway Anari. -yes!? -cherish that friends of yours and follow his advice. -I will, although I didnt see him for a while. -dont worry you will find him soon enough. -waaa! I knew it. You are a good strange hero after all. -dont combine it! It now became even worse. -I will remember not to. Anari answered quickly although Arata was not convinced by that lie. -by the way. Do you know you have personality difference? -I dont. -yes you do, I experienced it changed 4 times already. -hmm? -at first you started to run like crazy, thats one. Then you cried like a baby, thats a second. Then you were somewhat normal although I not sure about it completely. Then you went into crying mode after you repaired a light, but then the forth one which is right now, you became so bold that you came just right next to my face and still hold my hand. To your information as good as it feels, as a man I have my limit, so could you please stop doing that? She then stopped for a second looked at her hands that were clinging to his then at his face which were no more than 20 centimeters from hers. As soon as she realized she started to make a strange sound. -wawawawa Then she tried to quickly jump back but it didnt go and he fell to the ground. -wawawa, sorry I didnt mean it. -ah just dont go into wawawa mode again. She stood up, and answered previous question. -its not like I have different personality. Its just. -yes? -its just that I get nervous when I talk to someone who I dont know, my imagination comes up with different bad scenarios and it somewhat happens. -somewhat happens doesnt explain it very much. -wawa, well sometimes, I explain it as being shy. No, no, no, thats definitely not being shy. -just to be sure. You can talk with me normally now? -yes you are good strange person after all. -Anari. -yes? -what was my name again it looks like I forgotten. -wawawa. -its Arata write it down somewhere and stop using strange person! -okay I will try saying it out loudly so I remember, Arata, Arata, Arata, Arata. It doesnt feel bad saying it out. Arata, Arata, Arata. -stop it already. -why? Its a good method to remember someones name. Arata, Arata, Arata. He didnt want to admit but he was just embarrassed hearing his name spoken by a girl so many times, to make her stop he started. -anyway lets sit somewhere and solve your quest. -yes ARATA!... They found a bench where girl told him her story, as she had problems at start, then as she nearly died from hunger and about her training under the Wizard and his challenges. She missed out few points, for example how did she get her ring but Arata didnt pray into her story at all. In fact he didnt pay much attention until she started about the current challenge. -so the challenge has two phases. In first you need to find out what is the riddle which you need to solve in the second phase. You analyze four pages of pictures, and create a sentence. Each page symbolizes one sentence. You have to choose right pictures take first letter from words that symbolize them and combine them together. She explained to him -sounds easy enough, so where do you have a problem? Arata asked although he already knew what the problem was. -whats the problem? Well take a look at this She showed him the pages. Each of them indeed had many pictures at them, the problem was the number. How did he fit in so many in there? Those were Aratas thoughts when he saw it, there was about three to four hundred pictures at each page. Poor girl was presented with impossible task. When Arata was looking at the picture Anari started. -I have confidence with riddles, so I said go ahead and give me a hard one. But this one is just impossible. Is it even a riddle in the first place? Anyway, I give up, I surrender. There is no way that someone would solve it, never ever wawever! Listing to this Arata thought to himself. She finally shows some reason. But then he looked at her and said. -dont worry leave it to me, I will solve it in no time, I already see the pattern. The girl stopped for a second and looked at him surprised. Even though he said that he would help she didnt have much hope, after all she spend eight days on it already. She tried to come up with numerous solutions, but none of them worked, but he already knew the pattern after seeing it for few seconds. There were over three hundred pictures clumped together. She counted it few times. Arata had no idea what the pattern was but he simply wanted to show off. While pretending to look at the pages he asked. -so how much time do you have left? -tomorrow is my 30th day. -you logged in on morning? Midday? Evening? -it was around 2 pm. -I see, well that should be enough to complete this one. -what! What! You really did solve it? Anari could not believe him. -who do you take me for? -wawa! Of course you are Arata, a good strange person who helps those in need. -seems you really like the second part so leave it at that, anyway when you know the pattern it is rather easy to solve. -I see, so its like that. By the way what is the pattern? Anari asked. Naturally Arata had no idea what that pattern was, if one even existed so he answered. -you said that tomorrow is the last day so we dont have time for that. I will just give you solution. -no problem, solution is fine. Although she probably wanted to know how to solve a puzzle which she couldnt complete for 8 days, solution was far more important. -okay firstly I need to put pages in order so it sounds right. Arata said that but the placement was done randomly. -I am ready. It turns out that second riddle is rather easy. Listen Arata started telling the riddle. -Its a place where are trees but that is not the forest. Its a place where is water but its not the lake. Its a place filled with bricks but its not a building. Go there when darkness overcome light. After he said that Anari jumped at him hugged him and started to cry, during that she also was saying. -waaaa! Arata, you are indeed a hero that brings the hope to those in need. It really sound like a riddle and its easy to solve. Arata are you a genius or something? You did it in minute when I tried for 8 days and already given up. Waaaaaaaaaaaa! Looks like that waaaa can be used in many different circumstances. -you are too close again. And the quest is not yet done. He ended up pushing her away. -yes, you are right. Even though we know the place, we still may not find it in time. -what are you talking about? Didnt you understand the riddle? -no its easy and I even went to city park once already. There are trees, there is a fountain, and the pavements are made of bricks. The last sentence symbolizes that we need to get there at night. That means we only have about 12 hours to find it. -12 hours is a long time, we have much time. -what are you saying!? If we are unlucky we might even dont get there at all. -dont worry I was there before so I know exactly where it is also if somehow we got lost we can just follow the golden rule. -oh you know the way! Thats great! As expected of genius Arata. But what is that golden rule you were talking about? And then it struck him. No it cant be, but I better ask just in case -Anari, what are the games that you played before? -you mean computer games? A few I must say. My favorite one was where you control yellow circle with mouth. It was eating others small circles and there were ghosts that were chasing it. It was a hard game but I managed to pass two levels. I knew it! Although the game she played is pacman? Thats some old classic. -please dont say anything anymore. Another question, how did you find the locations of all things that you needed to visit so far? Like chapel from second challenge? -ah thats not really complicated, you just have to run. -run where? -everywhere whats better solution? Thinking about it doesnt help much so you just run in random direction. - . Arata also was running in random direction at the start, he also was running at random when he was looking for a highest place in the city but apart from that he just followed the golden rule. -anyway you say things like golden rule and stuff, you seems like someone who knows many things about the games. Can you teach me something as we have free time? -sorry but no. -why? You said we have much time, dont we? -listen it would be easier to explain you how to solve this puzzle than to teach you about the games. Arata would also have to solve that puzzle first but it still would be much easier than a task that she was asking him to do. -but I want to play this game. You look like experienced person, so I thought that you could. -no, please dont ask me about it, I am not very good teacher. -fine, if you dont want thats okay. But at least tell me what the golden rule is? -okay write it down and repeat before going to sleep. -yes? -when you are lost, just ask the guards That was the golden rule of MMO when you were looking for something in the city. You could also look it up on the net but guards were the fastest option available. -okay, now you know how to find the place you should be okay on your own. -no wait! I still dont understand that golden rule! -for now just repeat it in your mind until you understand it. -it will take time before I will understand it fully, waaa dont go! -oh, you were thinking that I am going to leave you on your own? -you wont? -yes I will. -wa, waaaaa! -wait till I finish. I didnt mean right now, but later. -when is that later? -as I said, my quest is to help you complete your quest, although based on what you told me about the previous quest, there should be no problem and I should just wait till you reach the park and grab your item, but I worried about something so I will go with you. Yes he was worried about something. Although riddle itself was impossible to complete that shouldnt make the quest rise up to rank of 9. He didnt know much about ranking system, but his quest which was ranked at 10 involved getting hit by hammer of justice. -you are worried about me. Waaa, that so nice, but I am grown up already. -it doesnt look like it to me and who would be worried about you? Arata answered sarcastically but he received quite a normal answer. -my father and mother at least. - . The talk paused for a moment there. Arata was looking at his past, his parents were no more. The most natural thing like their unconditional love and help seemed dissent. His grandfather although he was the only support he had after parents death, couldnt replace them even if he wanted, and he didnt even try as he said many times that nothing can bring back the dead. Anari at the moment paused as well, as she fell a strange atmosphere coming out from her helper. She just sat there and waited until he is done. And Arata indeed was soon as he said. -okay the way to the park in the worst case scenario shouldnt take more than 2 hours, so I will teach you a new rule that I came up just for this game. Arata was back the same as before in no time, he even wanted to teach her something even though he said that he wont do it. -really!? What is it? -it is a simple rule. If you are hungry be sure to eat in the game before eating in the real life. -waaa, its a great rule! You should patent it! -it is just a simple idea no need overstatement it. -thats not true there are so many corpses, I mean players who are lying at the ground just because they choose different order. -on my first day I ended up nearly dying of hunger twice. -I know you did. -how can you know that? This statement seemed strange for him. Although anything the girl said so far was strange in a way. -em you wouldnt come up with a rule if you didnt have that experience. Her explanation was also not really convincing but Arata didnt even try to pry into it. -whatever, the plan for now is this, we go eat something then we log out for about 6-7 hours in-game time if you remember thats a little less than two hours. After that we go to complete your quest. How is it sounds, good? -okay, but why do you need two hours to eat something. -to prepare the food you need about one hour, additional one hour is for various things, if you think that its too long to take a shower, or something. -you can cook? Waaaa! -cooking is an essence of life. It can help you even in the dessert where there are only cactuses and clothes to eat. -haha, see you are strange person. Anyway can I ask you something? -what is it? -can you tell me how old you are? -normally you shouldnt ask questions about real life the person you just meet in a game. Thats an unwritten rule. -I will learn all the rules later but I am curious you look young but you prepare meals for yourself so you cant be that young. Although the show that you showed me before says that you cant be that old either. -okay, its not like I care about saying it that much. I just finished high school little more than a week ago, try to count from there. -no way same age as me! -yes, that is impossible. -but I also finished it this year. -sorry but I cant believe in such obvious lie. Anyway lets go I know a good restaurant around and I am tired of dry bread. -wait I am telling you that I am 19 as well. -yes, yes, of course. Arata knew only one restaurant around the city. It was the place where he worked for five days and learned some cooking skills. This time however, he wanted to go there as a customer. Previously he would need to ask the guard for the direction but this time he already knew his way around. He still didnt know where to find everything but he could at least find places where he went before. Also thanks to view from height places he somewhat had image of the city structure. It wasnt far so it didnt take more than 5 minutes to get there but right as he wanted to enter Anari stopped him. -I dont like this place, can we go somewhere else. -what, you have been here before? -somewhat, anyway another place! Marco, you have a bad reputation or something? Arata thought but he still wanted to go here. -dont worry although the manager looks like he looks, he is a good guy who helped me when I was in need. I should at least help his business. Also his skills at cooking are tremendous. I say that even though I only ate leftovers. -but. -no buts, lets go. And they went inside. Arata was holding Anaris arm. He did that because it looked as she would run away next moment that he would let it out. They moved to the main desk where Marco was siting when he seen Arata he smiled and started. -hahaha, who do I see, isnt it Arata? What happened, let me guess, you are already broke and come back for more work? No problem I can always use additional pair of hands and you already have experience. -long time no see Marco, no I am not broke, at least yet, we came to eat something. -hey Arata, you know the prices of the meals here, dont you? You should also know that I dont give any discounts. -yes, I know the prices and I also know that they are worth it. -hahaha, thats what I like to hear, and who is the young lady and why are you holding her like that? -ah about that, look how funny it is. Arata left the grip and as he suspected Anari started to run away. [Lighting Speed Activated] After two seconds Arata run after her catch her again and then they moved to table. Arata and Marcos conversation turned into shouts. Arata started. -its all because you have shady reputation, normally she wouldnt run like that! Well she did the same a while ago so it maybe it is normal for her. -I dont have any shady reputation, I am an honest merchant! And that girl! Never saw her before! At that moment Anari somehow stopped her urge to run. -yes definitely, anyway two special of the day please. -specials!? But it will be three gold coins in total. Do you really have that kind of money? Even though they knew each other or maybe because they knew each other Marco did not believe in Aratas funds. -yes I do, here. Arata showed him three gold coins that he wheedled from a Wizard and that was all confirmation that Marco. They were already seated and waiting for a meal. Then Arata started. -just you wait and you will eat the heavens. -is it really that good? She finally said something. -yes it is, so far you ate only bread in this game right? -why should I eat anything else when this keeps me from hunger? -well its the same as in real world, why do you eat something else than rice for example? You dont think about it but normally you eat different things right? -no one normal would eat same every day. At least no one sane, still I dont see connections. -then listen. Eating here and in real is practically the same. So why would eating something delicious here have no meaning? -waaa! I never thought about it like that. -just wait for Marcos special, and you will think that anything that you ate so far tasted like dry bread. -emmm does it make you fat? -you care about things like that? -every woman does! -well here is another advantage of eating in the game. You can eat all delicious things, fat things, with sugar and all, and you wont get even one gram from it. -wawawa, sweet, sweet good thing. Anari started to drool after hearing that. -anyway lets change a topic, because I got hungry just speaking about food. -me too. -I can see it clearly when you are drooling like that. -wawaaaa She quickly hid her face and soon after it returned to normal. -so what do you want to talk about? She then asked. - well nothing, I just didnt wanted to talk about the food is all. -in that case think of something. -hey thats not so easy, oh but I do have one question for you. -as long as it not something erotic I can answer it. -hey for whom do you take me? -you are Arata, a good strange hero who help those in need but also like to force girls to go to strange places. -the last part got longer. -never mind that. What is the question? -I do mind that eh as for the question, I take that you never played any game like EOA before. -no I didnt, how did you know? -somehow I could tell, anyway why did you started to play this game out of sudden? -well, it because its popular and I just finished high school so I have a lot of time, I guess. -that a rather sallow reason. -right, I also looking for strongest player here! -strongest player? And why would you look for someone like that? No never mind, I will just get another stupid answer. -but I have reason for that! -yes, yes for sure, anyway another question. Are you really 19? -yes. -I dont believe it. -why? -you just, lets say that you somehow doesnt feel like grown up person at all. -how come? -normally grown up person doesnt run away at the sight of strangers. -its not my fault, they are strangers after all. -all your friends were once strangers so no never mind. He didnt really have a right to say anything about human relationship. For a past 5 years he didnt make any close friend after all. He also burned out all bridges with his old friends. -Arata. -yes? -in that case why did you started to play this game? It was now Anari who asked him that. -you could at least think of your own question. -but I also want to know. -nothing to deep I think, just to enjoy myself. For a long time he didnt really had anything that was brought him much enjoyment but when he entered his avatar body, he somehow left all his worries in the real body and actually enjoyed himself few times. So far playing brought him much enjoyment. -and you say that I am sallow. -well you started your first game only because it was popular. -isnt it the same for you? -if we are talking about this game then yes but if you want to know the tale of a young boy that picked up his first game and entered the world of might and magic, went on many adventures and achieved the greatest I can talk about it all day. -hahaha! Anari ended up laughing at his answer. -whats so funny, isnt it natural to be enthusiastic about your hobby? -no not that I just remembered someone who said exactly the same thing, you are just like him. -ha, dont compare me to some low existence. -yes, yes exactly the same. At that moment Marco come with the meal, he also joined their conversation. Both Arata and Anari hunted down the meal as they couldnt resist the smell. When they were eating Marco started. -oh looks like the young lady feels better now, she also doesnt run anymore. -sorry about that, and please call me Anari, young lady sound weird. -no problem, anyway what are you two up to? -Arata is helping me with a quest. Anari answer to him. -ah a quest, what is it? -the hardest part is already done, I had to solve a riddle, but I had huge problems with it, and couldnt solve it for 8 days but Arata solved it in matters of second. -oh that something and what was the riddle? I somewhat solved many of them on my adventures. Sometimes it was even life and death situation. -yes, Marco and his adventures on which he did everything. If you think that you are good then take a look at this. Arata gave him four papers with the pictures on it that earlier on he received from Anari. Marco looked at it and said. -ah a Morgorian riddle its been a while since I saw one. So Anari who gave it to you? -my teacher, he is a Wizard. -okay I see, knowing this, I can solve it. Lets see, it goes something like place with trees and bricks and water but no lake, no forest, no burin building. Yes building. Ah the last page is saying that you should go there at night, as for the riddle itself, its a place within the town, yes? Yes it must be, after all you two dont have a profession yet, so there is only one possible place, its a park. The riddle is saying go to the park at night. Whaaaaaaaaaaat!!!!! How!! But those pictures have no sense. Even the person who created it said so. That was Aratas reaction, Anari on the other hand. -waaaaa, you are good at it. Mr. Marco you said the same thing that Arata. -well, there is always only one good solution to riddle. Otherwise its a bad riddle. -and how does one solve it? -why didnt you ask Arata? He solved it as well. -I asked but he didnt want to answer. -ohh I see that you are not showing off Arata, I have more respect for you now. In truth Arata just had no idea how to solve it what so ever but it looked like Marco misunderstood. -listen Anari, to solve Morgorian riddle you only need one information, and that is who made the riddle. If you know that, all you have to do is select the items from paper that are connected to that person and wuala. See here is the staff, magic ring, orb, book everything is here. You may not know how everything is called but you should discover the concept of the riddle itself. Normally when you find out the riddle the answer is rather easy, because its often hard to create riddle with use of a pictures. -wawa, that is indeed true here is the word place, here is tree and here is the forest. -see, easy as pie, but if you want to have a full riddle you should use a paper and write everything down. Its hard to do it just with naked eye. -waaa! Arata gave me full riddle without paper. -oh really? Arata I didnt know that you like riddles so much and are so good at it. I have one that is super hard, I couldnt solve it myself and now that I found out the answer from someone, I cant do it anymore, want to give it a try? -somehow I dont want to see another riddle for a long time. Arata just answered. He was completely not interested in that. They both finished eating. The food itself was just so overwhelming in its taste so that anyone could describe it. They both agreed to return before two/seven hours pass and then go to the park. /*** The chapter is not over as it had to be devined in two. Move to the next part. ***/ http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=2982 Chapter 5 “End of the month” _5.2 /***Continuation of chapter 5 ***/ Nearly two hours has passed in the real world, and the seven passed inside eye of Adventure. During this time Arthur made himself something to eat and then he took a short nap on the bed, after that he logged back. She is not here was Aratas first thoughts as he appeared on the chair. He walked up to Marco who was sitting at the main receptionist desk. Marco just looked at him, said that he will be back in the second and walked to the kitchen. Then he returned with a book. -hey Arata, I decided to give you some of my recipes. -emm where is the catch? Its not like you to give something for free. Arata was suspicious of him right away. -you see even though you are a beginner just like the swarm of people on the streets, you decided to spend your hard earned money to buy some of my food. I also like you, so I thought why shouldnt I help the little guy in his adventure and give him something. It seemed however that Marcos intentions were pure. -well thanks it will come in handy. -it probably will. Anyway, shouldnt you two be going to the park right now? Its two hours by foot from here. Well, I guess the night is long so there is no need to hurry. -well as you can see, she is not here. -Anari? But she is here, all right. -somehow I dont see her. -thats because she is sleeping. Marco explained. -like, here? -yes, after you two left, she soon came back and asked for a place where she could sleep, so I told her to use the guest room, you know the one where you were staying in. -ah and here I thought that she went without me and I could finally have time for myself. -if you want free time for yourself, dont go around playing hero. Listen to this advice Arata and remember it well. It may feel good at first but in the long run playing a hero is just not worth it. Trust me, I speaking from experience. -I am not playing a hero. -it look different that to me. -its a quest with really good reward. Never mind I dont need to make excuses to you. So, when will she wake up? -she said to wake her up when you come. -then what are you waiting for? Go and do that. -I dont feel like it, you do it. Arata didnt feel like doing it either. - but she asked you to do it. -hmm? -dont lazy off and go. -hahaha, you cant even enter the room of sleeping girl, what brave adventurer you are? Marco laughed at him. -sure I can. -so what are you waiting for? -she asked you to do it. -hahaha! After that Marco went to wake her up. Both of them come back about ten minutes later. -ah, Arata good morning. -rather evening. Anyway why did you sleep in here? -well I did logged out and went to eat a dinner, but after Marcos cuisine it felt somewhat lacking so I ate it fast and not that much, but then I felt a little tired because I didnt sleep that much lately because of the quest. But if I went to sleep in real life I would end up being late, so I decided to sleep here. Marco was so kind that he led me a bed, waa I had good sleep. -anyway we wasted enough time lets go. See you Marco. -ah wait! Bye Mr. Marco. Arata started to run right away when they left the restaurant. -hey Arata! Anari called out to him right away with question. -yes? -why are we running? -isnt it obvious, to be faster. And its dark already. -but we dont have to run, the night is long, isnt it natural for people to walk? -not here. -wa? -in game you can run all you want, as long as want, why shouldnt we run then? -but you get tired after running. Also if I run around, then people will think that I am crazy person. -you are a little crazy thats the fact. It wont change anything. -wawa. -didnt you want to learn how to play? -yes did, so will you teach me!? Anari looked at him with anticipation. -no, but another small advice wont hurt. Listen well, if you want to be good you need to be fast, and if you want to be fast, you must run. -ah another theory of Arata, I need to write it down. -anyway you dont need to run always, but if for example now, you just sleep for an hour and have some positive energy do it, why not. -Arata what to do if I sleep for 5 hours? Because of time here is 5x I had a long good sleep. Sleeping here gives you additional time for sleep, I didnt think about it. Still its unfair that I only get short nap when she had a good long dream. -when you had five hours its time to run a Marathon. After that he speeded up even more. Anari had some problems catching up, and even though it was a game, she was out of breath in a second. -Arata, wait I cant run anymore! -what are you talking about its a game, also if you have strength to talk then you have strength to run. You said you had five hours long sleep after all. -sometimes sleeping make you even more tired. -less talking, more running then, you will woke up. And so they managed to reach the park in record time of 32 minutes. They stopped near the entrance to the park. The whole park was surrounded by both fence and buildings and there were three entrances in total. However right now the entrance turned out to be closed. -hey Arata how can you run for 30 minutes and then stand like nothing happened? Anari ended up asking. -its a game after all. Although in real life, Arata could run a marathon and would still be okay. -no, no, no, I am in the same game as well yet I so tired after that, not to mention breathing problems. -yet you still talk. Anyway running is rather simple its all about breathing. -breathing? -yes if you breath in the right rhythm you wont get tired and can run for as long as you want. They both looked at the gate that was stopping them from entering. -Arata. -yes? -the gate is close. Anari gave him an obvious remark. -I can see it clearly myself. -what do we do? We get over the fence? -I didnt expect a good idea from you but first we need some information. -what information? And from whom? -okay Anari, its time for test. Question one. What is the golden rule of MMOs when you dont know what to do? -wawawa, let me take out the notes. -tell me it from memory, its doesnt need to be perfect. -then, when you are lost, ask the guards. It seemed like Anari did not forget about this one. -good, question number two. Who is that guy with halberd who is standing over there? Arata pointed in the direction of guy with the halberd. He was wearing the same uniform as any other guard in the city and luckily he did not belong to the special guards, -he looks like a guard. Anari once again answered the question. -excellent you are doing great. Now third and last question what should be your course of action right now? Remember, you want to know something and he is a guard. -wawa I should run away? Anaris answer was not something Arata expected or maybe in a way he did. -why your option is always running away? -its a safe choice. -wrong you failed the test. -but I answered two of three it should be 66% at least. -passing grade is from 100%, now because you failed you need to take make up exam. -okay! This time I ready, whats the question? -I am happy that you are so eager. So your make-up test is as follows. You have to ask the guard why the park is closed. Also ask if we can come in because we have important matters to attend to, can you do that? -no way, no way, no way. -dont give up before you even start anything. -but he looks scary. -people who look scary arent always bad. -most of them are. -can you give me an example. -villains in movie. Arata didnt want to even try to comment on that. -in that case, cops are good guys right? -well they are. -okay. You see guards are like that, they walk around and patrol the city, when they see someone bad they catch him. You could say that guards are medieval cops and you said that cops are good guys. So, time is running short, go ask him no excuses anymore! -wawa. Anari came back after 10 minutes although her face was now pale. -so how is it? Arata asked seeing her like this. He already assumed that her reason for making that face is stupid and there is nothing to worry about. -looks like its over, I wont become mage after all. Anari said depressed. -why is that? No wait tell me the guards version word to word. Arata preferred to avoid the girls hallucination so he went to the point. Anari started explaining. -well somehow he turned out to be a good person. He even wanted to take me home because it was dark. -see a medieval cop. He found a lost child on the road and wanted to take it home. -what child? -just continue. -I asked him why the park is closed and if we can come in for a while, because we have important business to attend to. Anari continued the explanation. -well, you didnt have to copy my question word to word. But anyway what did he told you? -he told me that if its really important we can come in but advised to wait till the morning. -and why is that? After Arata asked that Anari panicked. -there is monster there Arata! A true monster! He comes up at night and attacks anyone that he finds! There is absolutely no way, no way, no way that I will go there! -and so once again why are you scared? Anari you do realize that the whole game is mostly about fighting monsters in the first place, right? Arata was not affected at all. -wawawa. Why do we have to fight anything? -well, because its the biggest joy of the games like that. -where is a joy in that? -you know, you have to overcome you fear and stuff, you become better person on the way. You learn how to deal with different situations. Normally in games you sometimes fight even before you talk to any NPC. Arata tried his best but it was hard to explain it to someone like Anari. -I did know that fighting is main element of this game, but how can I fight anything? Without any instruction or any advices. I heard that in games like this you at least get some kind of tutorial. -in normal cases yes but you should know that this game is not normal. -but isnt it super popular? -as the times goes most of the games become boring and are thrown up to shelf, the only game that can survive that period are the game that are hard and make player fight against new harder things every day. -but they normally should have tutorials right? Why this one doesnt have it. -I can only guess. -guesses are okay. -this game doesnt have a tutorial nor does it allow any knowledge because of one thing. -and the thing is? -this game shouldnt be called hard. This game is simply evil in its roots. Arata answered with his conclusion he had about EOA so far. -but people enjoy it and its popular even with new players, it cant be evil! -oh, you finally have some positive thinking Anari. You are surely right. The park will definitely be filled with bunnies and flowers. Lets go and see them right away! -wawawa. They finally entered the park. The gate was not closed in any way so they just opened it normally. Arata had to hold Anaris cloak so she dont try to run. It was dark and the only light was that of the moon. Even though scared, Anari started to talk again. -Arata. -yes? -I heard that when you go to hunt monsters you create party. It seemed that she heard at least that. -its more effective that way, so what about it? -are we in party right now? -thats a good question. I dont know. -how you normally check it? -in MMO you normally have interface that shows everything so its easy, but I am not very knowledgeable about VR. -how so? How do you know so much about it then? Anari was slightly surprised as any question she had right now Arata could easily answer and his actions were always right. -most of my informations are from normal MMO, but I think that I read somewhere about VRMMO interface as well. -shouldnt we come to this game without any information? -information only about this game. Not games in general. If they would block based on general information about games, only new born babies would come to this game clean. -but I dont have any general information either. -well, I still didnt rule out the possibility that you newborn baby so. -you shouldnt speak like that to a girl! -yes, sorry but that wawa is just well its hard to describe it. Anyway, parties in VR, if I remember correctly are created automatically. -automatically? -yes, you go around with someone with mindset that you are in party and its works. There should be party status somewhere. -ah its in the menu, we are in party. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. It seemed like Anari already founded it before. -good, now try to be quiet till we finish. Arata was already slightly annoyed by his companion. -but I scared and talking is relaxing. -but talking also create unnecessary noise, and unnecessary noise brings monsters and as thrilled I am to fight one, I can do that all day long after I get my hands on profession. -Arata, you dont have a profession yet? -no I am the same as you, I still a beginner. Actually, I am a week behind you. -waaa, I was sure that you had one! Anari was really surprised by that. -hmm, now that I think about it, did you meet anyone who already had a profession, a player, not an NPC. -hmmm no, I didnt meet that many players anyway. What about you? -same. Well I didnt speak with that many people either but it looks like the city of beginners is for beginners indeed. Arata arrived at conclusion. -what do you mean? -I mean that after we are done with our first month and get the profession, we will be transported somewhere to the place, where real fun begins. -what really fun? -you know Arata made an evil grin. -there will be armies of monsters to defeat of course, there also should be many rogue players who just like to kill someone for fun. PVP should probably bloom in games like this. -wawawa. Can we talk about it later, when we are out of the place where armies of monsters can really come out at any moment? -what you are still scared? -of course I am! -then, you shouldnt be. -easy for you to say! -you shouldnt be, you wont die. - . -and its rather I wont let you die. -Arata? -I wont let die anyone who ask for help, or even people that dont, as long as it seems that someone needs help I will help them, you are also included Anari so cheer up. Arata didnt try to show off, nor did he try to sound cool. It was strong convictions that as long as he would be there, he wouldnt let anyone die in vain. He would rather sacrifice himself than once again, be the only one to survive. Anari also saw that his words were not only for her, but for himself as well. They sounded strange in her ears, like some kind of oath. But she somewhat knew that as long as Arata was with her, she would be able to relax even in dragons lair. As they were getting to the center of the park, meaning a large fountain in the middle that was surrounded by trees, Arata and Anari spotted some light in the distance. As they moved close, it turned out that it was a silver staff that they were looking for, its crystal shined with a blue light at the top of it. -look Arata there is the staff. Waaaa! It shines so beautiful. Wait a second, I will go get it. Anari was excited to find the last item she was looking and finally after eight days complete her last task. On the other hand, Arata the moment he saw it, his thoughts were. Too easy! His gamer instincts were screaming at him. We still didnt encounter any monsters although we are right in the middle of place like this. This place is really screaming monsters in the dark will came out at you in the second! But item is right before us. Hmm, maybe there arent any monsters after all. I spent a night in this park already, didnt I? Yes I was watching the stars after I finally found the old man. Hmm maybe there arent any monsters after all but I will just look around and be ready just in case. Arata decided but then as Anari was about to pick up the staff, some old memories hit him again and he shouted. -Anari wait, dont pick it up! Its a trap! It was already too late as she did picked it up. Soon after, he could see two red dots in the darkness, right behind Anari. Shit! [Lighting speed activated] Arata didnt waste a second and started to run at full speed to her. Behind her the enemy already attacked. The monster was more than a meter away from her, when Arata we less than two. Thanks to power of lighting speed, Arata got to her first and managed to push off Anari from the line of attack, but when he did that he got in way of attack instead. The monster turned out to be a wolf, but not your everyday normal wolf from any RPG, it had red eyes somewhat dark fur and around him one could see some black aura which was pitcher than darkness of night. With just one of his attack, the wolf tore off Aratas left arm and his HP decreased to 21%. Arata also got a bleeding effect which reduced 5% of HP every minute. -Arata!! Anari screamed when she saw what happened. She was in lying position after Arata pushed her to the ground. -not time for screams Anari, you got five minutes, five minute to run away from this place. It may be even less so go now! -Arata! -now! -Arata. -li . At that moment the wolf attacked again, Arata already had a sword in his right hand that was left. He managed to dodge wolfs second attack and even counter it landing a hit on the beast. It didnt have much effect on the wolf though as it didnt even take 1% of its health. -Arata! -Anari listen, the sand is running short, you have to go! Another wolfs attack, it was faster than a last time and surprised Arata a little so he dodged it by fast roll on the ground. -Arata what is your level? -its really not a time for questions! In this moment Arata made a single step to the left and avoided wolfs charge, at the same time he stick out his sword and slashed at wolfs fur. Still the black aura that was covering the wolf was not broken by that slash. -Arata! Right now, I am level 6 and you cant be much higher than me, but that beast have level 40, I can see it as I summoned menu. What do you want to do against it! 40 shit! was Aratas thoughts when he dogged and countered another attack. No wonder my attacks doesnt even glance him. I thought that with good dodges I could defeat anything that would come up in first month and then focus on my class abilities but He dodged another one of wolfs attack. If he still had his left hand right now, it would be bitten of this time. Even though he got hit because he protected Anari that did not change much in a long run. Two minutes have passed and his HP was at 11% already. -Anari I know that its nice to see me struggle here but its really time to go! This time however Arata didnt get the response anymore. He already dodged so many of wolfs attack that it would be unthinkable for a normal person to survive that. He also landed numberous hit but the effect of his attacks was nonexistent. Time is running low in one minute I will be left with 1% of health, so even stronger wind will be able to kill me. Anari stays frozen. Well, at least I give her a chance to escape. And it was just when I said that I wont let her die. Haha, Marco was right in a long run playing a hero is not best option. Well, there is nothing that I can do now, despite my numberous attacks I didnt even take 3% of his health. Seems like this quest was impossible in the first place. -impossible quest? Arata ended up saying it out loud as those thoughts hit him. There is nothing like impossible quest, every quest has a solution, what did I miss? The Wizard said that there will be no fighting, well he was lying, but he also gave me an orb of light Orb of light yes thats the answer. This wolf has somehow dark energy emitting from him, light to counter the darkness, thats simple answer. Arata was dodging left and right wolfs attacks. It wasnt as hard for him as before as he already knew his patterns. He was even switching to position that would made the wolf charge at him so he could easily dodge its strike and counter with his sword. Although he stopped doing that as it brought no effect. After another dodge Arata once again shouted. -Anari, take out the orb! The orb of light! - . Unfortunately there were no more responses from her still. That didnt work at all, well with that said there is no way to complete this quest, my party member got disconnected. And I dont think I would be able to make that orb shoot at the wolf. -hahaha. Arata laughed on his thoughts but then he remembered something, an old scene, the final battle in the Light in the citadel. They were fighting for a worlds first that time, but during the last boss, five members got disconnected and they had to continue fight without them. At that moment most of the guild members just wanted to die, and try again in full squad. After all at that moment Aratas guild was two bosses ahead of second guild. Still Aratas guild did not wipe that time but defeated the boss and became unquestionable best guild in the game. The main reason they did not wipe that time was all thanks to speech from normally calm guild leader. -get your asses up, dont wine and max dps! Two tanks got disconnected? So what! I will manage it alone. Two dps and one healer got disconnected, who cares you just try harder and click those damn buttons! I am doing a job of three, so you all should be able to add 10% more of you. If you think that its impossible, that there is no way to do it, just create that way on your own! Normally calm and reasonable, for him to say things like that was like a thunder that make every member play to best of their ability. If there is no way then make one yourself. Ah, it would be nice to have some super powers to use at the moment like this, but this isnt a movie. Arata once again tried to analyze the situation. Sword wont work thats for sure. Even if it does minimal damage because I got hit at the start I wont stay on feet that long. The only other thing is magic but I am not good at it and Anari is useless in the first place. I shouldnt even consider her. Anyway its not like I have time to think about it. Bad ideas are better than no ideas and the only bad idea I have is magic. So lets bet all on that, the member of white suns does not lose. -we are those who believe in victory -we are those who have entered the citadel -we are those who found the flame -we are those who used it to conquer evil as our swords were shining with it bright light! Those quotes were created by one of the guild members when Aratas guild finished last content and become the best guild in the game. Arata used it to help him use his imagination and create a light from nothing, in his mind he was now holding his old sword from previous game which was enchanted by the light of the citadel. -magic is an expression of the thought said the Wizard, right now Arata had an clean image of red-white light which was emitting from his sword in each direction. And as the image finally became clear in his mind, the sword of lighting speed followed and also started to shine with the same light. And now it was Arata who attacked the wolf. With his remaining hand over from the head he used his shining sword to attack the wolf. When he got close enough he slashed downward. For the first time Aratas attack was not blocked of by the dark aura. That aura completely scattered after it got in contact with Aratas sword and with that the sword of lighting speed went through wolfs head right between two red eyes. The wolf fall to the ground in one hit. [You have leveled up by 330%] [You have gained level, current level 8] [New items collected check the inventory] [You have completed the quest Wizard Apprentice Note that to get a reward you need to go to wizard before the next day ends.] [You have leveled up by 100%] [You have gained level, current level 9] Arata ended up gaining little over four levels from a single fight but right now that didnt matter to Arata that much and he didnt even look at the messages that appeared before him. -hahahaha! Arata dropped the sword which stopped shining and started to laugh. -Arata? -oh Anari you are back, were you in toilet or something? Never mind that, I managed it somehow. By the way you said you were looking for a strongest player? Look no more as here I am hahahahahahaha! Arata went with ecstasy after defeating his opponent and lost his mind a little, he was really happy. He managed to create a way when it looked impossible. On his own, just like in the old day. He also kept his oath that he made. Today he was the winner, and felt like he could do anything, although that did not last for long. [You have die] [Its a first time that you die so here is an explanation. You cant log back for another 2 days. 10 days in the EOA time. Your overall level will be reduced by 10% Situation note: In cases that you have died in the city of beginners and you dont have more than 10 day left of gameplay, you will be granted five extra hours when you log back to receive profession.] ? http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=2983 Chapter 6 “A new day” Chapter 6 A new day After a long night, the sun finally started to shine and the light has overcome the darkness. Anari was walking the alley, still reflecting on what happened yesterday. It all started when she tried to climb a tree. She came up with that idea after she heard about someone else that was climbing various buildings but also other things in the city. The rumor said that it was a person who wanted to get Assassin class so he imitated a character from some game who was known for his climbing and jumping ability. Naturally Anari didnt want to get that class, but she somehow came up with an idea that if she climbs the tree then maybe a refreshing thought will come to her mind, which would help her with her quest. In the end, she failed at climbing the tree but she somehow succeeded with her quest. She didnt do it without a help though. The person that helped her introduced himself as Arata. She have met him before and even helped him a little, but this time it was he who helped her. Without him, she would probably still struggle with so called Morgorian Riddle or what was also quite likely, gave up already. The person that helped her had a great knowledge about the game although he shouldnt have any information about it. He claimed that its just a common sense to behave like that but Anari thought differently. He had many different sides within him She thought now. The bright, usual side. The other silly side on which she could laugh at. The intelligent side, when he tried to solve everything with reason. She also felt that he had somewhat dark side as well, the one that he wouldnt want to talk about and didnt want other people to see. He also had a brave side within him. He said to her that, she wont die as long as he is near. Normally one would think that he wanted to show off, but Anari knew that wasnt it, especially because she saw his serious face when he said that. There was also one incredible side in him, the one that he showed during his fight against the wolf. At that moment Anari couldnt move at all, but nothing happened to her as she was protected by him. Even though in first moment of the fight, he already was on losing position, as he lost his arm while he was protecting her, Arata stayed calm and fought to give her time to run away. The scenes as he was dodging and countering wolfs attack were like in the movies. It wasnt that he was super-fast or something, but rather every move that he made had a reason in mind. Well, he was quite fast as well if she thought about it. When wolf speeded up he just rolled away, stood up and prepared for a next attack. Even though his attacks had no effect on the beast, he did not give up until the end. He hoped that she would eventually start to run, but she did not do it and she nearly wasted all his effort. I am so stupid. She thought to herself, but wasnt it normal that she behave like that. Normally the VRMMO slowly but steady prepared players to somehow face against the monsters, sometimes those monsters doesnt resemble monsters at all, in EOA however, they got thrown into dire situation without any explanation. To Anari, it was rather strange that Arata stayed calm instead. When she was lying on her knees unable to do anything, he had fought an impossible fight. What was more, he even managed to win. At one moment he lifted his sword with his one hand which he had left. Then he recited some kind of poem, that she didnt remember, nor did she really understand. But some way or another his sword started to shine with a great bright red-white light, and with that light he destroyed the wolf in one attack. Ah, there was another side in him as well. Last side appeared after he won his fight. It was a little crazy side but also very pure. He was shouting, he was laughing and he was smiling, but in different way than before. It was pure smile of a child who just got a Christmass present from for Santa Claus. After that he died. Anari was shocked at that moment and stayed in park for another two hours without a moving and continued to cry, but with time she realized that her helper didnt die for real, that she was still in the game. After all, no matter what, the worst thing that can happen was just her returning to her room in the real world and that was the same for other players as well. Even though that is just a game I froze in fear and couldnt do anything. At least in her defense one can say that EOA is just as realistic as reality itself. Inexperienced players were all just like that. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.For Arata it probably wasnt a big deal dying one or twice as long as he enjoyed himself, even at the start of the fight he said that she had no more than 5 minutes to run away, and just as those 5 minutes have pass, he died. This meant that from the very start, he had no chance at living. But he fought never the less until his very last seconds. Those were Anaris thoughts, although Arata did care about dying very much. Even ignoring his loss of level and time of play during the first month of play the worst thing was that it hurt his pride as a gamer. But normally you wouldnt risk yourself for someone else, especially when he could run away without a problem at all. Waaa, he was indeed good strange person after all. Although that wasnt really the case as if Arata started to run and lost the sight of the beast even for a second, he would die instantly. Well she didnt know that. Anari recalled the moment when she first meet him. There was a boy who called him a hero and she also somewhat thought of him the same way. Anari finally reached the chapel and without getting lost on that. When she was still in the park, she got a message that told her something along the lines. The time has come for your profession to be chosen. It also said that the process will take place in the chapel so she should make her way there. She entered the place as she was holding her staff in right hand. She wore beautiful orange ring on her left hand middle finger and she also wore long grey-white cloak. After she entered a chapel one of the priestess came to her and showed her the way to the altar. After passing through a hallway they arrived there. The room with the altar could be described as very white. The walls were white, the floor was white and the celling was also white. The altar was also white and it was covered by white table cloth. There was nothing on the altar itself and the room seemed quite empty. There were no paintings on the walls. There also wasnt a single window there. Still somehow the room was really bright. As instructed Anari moved to the middle of the room and only then, she saw that there was someone else inside it as well. She didnt saw him before simply because that person was small. Still it seemed like behind the altar there was some kind of box on which the man was standing. It was old, small and fat person who was wearing a white-red robe. He was also wearing the high hat in the same colors. That was an Archbishop. When she entered, he started the talk. -as many before you and many after you, you too have come here to see your destiny. Destiny is an interesting thing. Some says that its a fate and unchanged road that everyone must follow. Others say that destiny doesnt even exist and they on their own make their own choices in life. Some says that profession is just like destiny and its written down in the blood. Others say that profession is granted only based on your actions and decisions alone. I think that both of have some truth within them, but its not a time to be philosophical, is it? So are you ready to find out what is there for you? -yes. -I see that you do not have any doubts. Goddess Elssa answer my call and enlight the one that came here! The chapel became somewhat brighter and from white it now became more yellow. Then the room was filled with warm but strong woman voice. -Anari, I saw your path and I know many things about you. You may have not unlocked yet your powers but you have a talent of rare magi. You will command the forces of the elements. As your heart is pure, and kind, you wont be ever able to use the power of darkness, however the light will become your strongest weapon. Remember even though you may be afraid dont panic and have faith in your power. I hereby bestow upon you the title The White Wizard. Walk proud as its been ages since the last White Wizard have appeared. I grant you this book. I hope it will help you understand your own powers [Achievement: You got unique Profession of rank 2] [You have completed the first trial, and now that you have a profession your true journey will finally begin.] -I wish you luck on your future journey and farewell The White Wizard Anari. Arata, when next time we meet and I am sure we will I wont be hindrance to you anymore. With that promise in her heart Anari disappears with a flash of light. http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3040 Chapter 7 “Those who live and those who die” Chapter 7 Those who live and those who die Such anticlimactic ending. were Arthurs thoughts while doing his morning exercises. Yesterday, he had an amazing experience, in another world. He defeated a monster after impossible fight. Back in the day, something like wolf with red eyes wouldnt matter to him that much. He would simply kill it and move one to kill another one and then another one, endlessly until the quest was done. But that was not VRMMORPG but the game that he played on the computer. VR experience was much different than the game images that he saw on the screen. Pain in his arm, look of his enemy, moves he did, everything was so real. Although it was obvious that pain was reduced. Because if it were not, he would probably passed out on the spot if his arm was really tore off by wolf. Still, it did hurt. But how did they do something like that? It was unbelievable after all, the fight was so realistic. Also as for the game itself, it was incredibly well made and unique in its creation. NPCs were just like normal people. It was hard to spot a difference. The world was vast and so far Arata explored only one city. It was true that a man hand wouldnt be able to create it. There were even quests that were made especially for him, and only possible in very specific circumstances. He had a quest where he had to help some other player because the crazy questgiver made a blonder on his job. That was unbelievable for a game. No wonder people call it a new world. The worst thing for Arata right now was that he still couldnt get any informations about the game. Arata did not know from which moment the locking based on information he got still mattered but he wanted to play it save. He definitely didnt want to end up as some gardener. Profession system is also rather strange. He thought like that from the very beginning. From the moment that he first read basic information article. The profession was said that it is based on your actions, but how do they want to calculate that if everything happens so spontaneously. Well as long as I dont end up as a healer I wont complain. Healers were very important part of every group, as if not the most important. But they usually lacked combat abilities, and their job was often considered boring by everyone but healers themselves. Arthur wasnt very worried about his profession in the first place. On day one, he won swordsman tournament so he was sure that he should get some melee fighting class. It would be good if I can use two swords. He had somewhat faith in his fighting style with dual swords. Back in the day when he was training under his grandfather that was his most favorite style. Although grandfather wanted to teach him material arts more, the Arthurs soul always chose bamboo blades. Back then, only during the training with them he could feel any joy at all. He also often had to fight against strongest monster in history, his grandfather. Luckily, there also were grandfathers trainers so its not like he was always losing. Number of disciples always stayed above 50. In last year after four years Arthur was even in top 10. Most of the disciples trained for tournaments, where Arthur trained without specific reason in mind. Should he find that reason he would become even better. As to why he originally started it was his grandfather idea, as this was the thing, that he knew the best. There someone else who was Arthurs age who was also taking part in training. Similar to Arthur she didnt do it for tournament but for a different reason. Grandfather wanted them to be friends but Arthur didnt even think about doing so. The other party hated his attitude so they become rather opposite of friends. Fighting against each other often didnt help their friendship either. Still with her and all other disciples even if Arthur didnt have specific reason he at least took his training seriously and his best style was top notch. I never thought that I will actually end up using it in game. The combat system was somewhat more skill based than any other game he played. If you had any fighting experience before it was really helpful. Of course on higher level most of the players already become used to the fight as well. The more they played the more their skills become higher. After all they were fighting all day long. Originally first VR machines were made for soldiers so they can train without the risks. Then as everything that was made for army at first, it became spread across the world later. In EOA those with fighting abilities had tremendous advantage at their side. Arata already confirmed that. Having a fighting experience really makes it unfair. I wonder how its balanced. Was another thought of his. Well even so, skills wont help you if you dont have high level, and good head, its always comes to that. He recalled once again as he somehow managed to defeat 40 leveled wolf. It wasnt thanks to his fighting skills but rather the solution that he made. All he needed to do is use the light. He received the orb of light after all. It should be obvious. Also no matter how evil the game was, quest in starting location wouldnt require you to have high level or do anything too skillful in the first place. That was because no one would be able to do it and the quest itself would become useless. Still his fighting experience at least gave him a time to think up the solution. There was also a chance that the quest was created so people die on it, never to complete it. As Arthur was running on the sideway, he passed by someone whom he found familiar. He felt like he seen that person somewhere before. He immediately recalled his useless companion that he spend his previous day with. Both of them were awfully familiar. Still it was not about it, as it was not in the game that she met this person, but in real life, long time ago. Still he didnt try to bother to stop. If he didnt remember her name anyway there was little connection with her. Also Arthur didnt plan to get too friendly with anyone in the first place. Especially with someone who could ask questions that Arthur didnt want to hear. After he passed by her like nothing, he heard the voice. -Arthur, are you Arthur!? He looked back and took another glance at her. A girl, slim, lower in height than him. She had a brown hair and somewhat child face. She was looking directly at him. Its not good to stop during training, 2 more kilometers before breakfast are left. As he was about to take off, the girl stopped him. -no, Arthur wait! You are Arthur right!? Now Arata had to stop now as it would be unkindly to just continue ignoring her. He stopped about four meters away from her and answered. -yes my name is Arthur, do we know each other? Girl walked toward him and closed the distance. -you see I just moved here few days ago so I dont really know many people here. He started explaining. -but, but. The girl started to wave and didnt know what to say. Seeing this Arthur decided that he shouldnt play dumb anymore and just go over it quickly. -well, you must know me from the time when I was a child. I used to live here back in the day. Right away all worry from girls face disappeared. Then she asked one of the questions that Arthur didnt want to hear, although it was still not on the main list. -yes! So you know who I am? - Arthur at least tried to recall her. With that he would be able to finish the conversation much faster. Lets see. Hmm, someone whom I used to know, and a girl at that. I used to play around with everyone around this area so she must be the one of them. She looks younger than me. Hmm was there really someone like that?? Well, even if there was, I was always bad with names. What were the names of a girl that I knew? He started to ponder even more. Amanda? No it isnt from that time, and this name only brings me the chills. In the first place, my memory of that time is rather bad, well I at least can remember the stats of items that I had. Wait! There was someone that I used to talk about games a lot. I think that Jimmy was the name, yes definitely good old Jimmy. Arata once again looked at the girl. She doesnt look like Jimmy to me. -so have you recalled already? Its nothing uncommon to forget someones name and I already wasted enough time. Arthur turned in a way where he was planning to go. -sorry, I dont really remember you, so who were you again? -wawawaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Why does she cry out of sudden!? Now, I cant even run away. Grandpa always said that the man who make girl cry is a trash even if its not his fault. Arthur thought like that but it was his fault that the girl started to cry. -wait, wait, I remember you, I remember you, just not the name! The girl rubbed her eyes then once again she looked at Arthur. -really? -really, really! We used to play together all the time after all. With this she returned to normal. Safe! I still have no idea who she is but saying things like we used to play together is a safe choice. -it is cold of you that you dont remember my name Arthur. -it is a nice of you, that you remember mine. Its been more than five years already? Anyway can you remind me what your name is? -its A Dont tell me it will be really Amanda. I know that its not that Amanda but it would be funny. Maybe I should have make a random guess. -ah not that its Alice. Wait, did she just use a fake name? Not that it matter but. -hey? -hmm? -why did you change it in the middle of sentence? Is that your real name? If she lied to him it would be really good thing as Arthur could just walk away with no regrets but girl right away explained. -no, no, yes, yes. Waaa. My name is Alice, I just somewhat wanted to use my name from a game. That brought little smile on Arthurs face. Yes jackpot! She is playing some game, I can turn it into nice talk about present rather than the past and she wont find out that I dont know her. -oh you dont look like someone who plays games much. -ah I started it not so long ago. I am still a beginner, not like you. Hmmm, she indeed knows something about me but did I really talk with some girls about games? I dont recall that happening. Arthur was still trying to recall her but without any success. -what is the game that you play maybe I know it? He gave up on trying to recall it and went on with his tactic. -its called eye of Adventure, Arthur do you play it as well? Ah, poor girl, her first game turned out to be this evil thing. -I do actually. -hey, can you give me some advices? No wait! I didnt want to talk about that. Arthur where have you been? Why didnt you say anything? And so the question that he didnt want to hear the most appeared. Well, he was excepting it but hoped that he will be wrong. And here it was going so nicely. Eh, I could explain her that I moved to grandpa but if I talk about the past she will find out that I dont know her, which equals her crying again. Its time to use my silver tongue to escape from that. -you know, stuff happened? -what stuff? It didnt work! Where my silver tongue is when I need it? It turned out that Arthurs silver tongue never existed. -tell me! Tell me, I want to know. The girl was not making it easy for him. Its better for you that you dont know. Arthur thought that it would be rather better for him, that she doesnt know. There wouldnt be any follow up questions and looks of pity that he didnt want to experience, ever again. -anyway about the game, its great isnt it? Its much more immersive than anything that I played before. -yes you are right, its so cool! I have so much fun playing it. -me too. Okay, I managed somehow. -anyway now that you are here we can talk about it but first tell me why did you moved out without saying anything? It didnt work again! Okay time for strategic retreat. -hey look we can talk about it another time, you said that you wanted some advice didnt you, I dont have much time right now so it should be more useful to you. -okay if you say so. I can wait a little longer. Anyway I glad I can see you again. -yes me too. Arthur lied without a second of thought. He definitely wasnt glad rather he didnt want to see her ever again. Its not solved but as long as I can avoid her in future there will be no problems. -so what great advice do you have? -hmm firstly, how far in game you are now. -yesterday I fought against beast that had level 40. To fight against something like that she also must somewhere around this. She might actually know more about this game than me. -and your class? The girl answered proudly. -I am a wizard. Not bad. She got normal sounding class in that game. Maybe its not really that bad if someone like her can get a class like that. -so, are you in some guild or have some friends who you play with? -not really. So far I mostly played alone. Also my friends from school have higher level than me because they started much earlier so I need to catch up to them first. -hmm, it will be rather hard to play with them if they have higher level already Maybe you should use the opportunity to meet new people. Its even a better idea than playing with someone you know. -really, why is that? -in games. Who you are, doesnt matter much and you can easily make friends with for example person who is older than you by 20 years. -but why does it make better than playing with friends? -in real life most of your friends are same age that you right? -yes mostly. -see, thats because in real life people take into consideration things like look, age, position but in the games those things doesnt matter. Everyone is there to enjoy the game. The inner is what matters. -I never thought about it like that. -see also when you play you can meet people from all around the world. On the other hand you can meet with normal friends all the time here. -that is also true. -just think, did you meet someone that you wouldnt have a chance to meet without use of the game? -I did meet someone! He was a good person! -see, the game brings people together. -waaa, you sure know much Arthur. Just as planned. -sure I do, anyway the best advice I can give you right now is that you should join a guild. -join a guild? Emm what is a guild? -its not like you can understand it fully without being in one but in simple terms its a group of people who plays together. Arata explained it as easy to understand as he could. -so, its like friends in a game? -more or less. Of course many people in a guild are friends but I dont think its a right word. How to say it? Comrades in arms? Yes, that would be the best word to describe it. -wawa, it does sound good. -doesnt it? -so which guild should I join? -it is a hard question to answer, finding a good guild is rather hard. -any advices? -hmm, you said you have friend in that game already right? Is he in any guild already? -no, he is not. -well, if he was in some, you could just join his guild but if that is not the case then you should at least try joining the same guild together. It should be much easier for you than joining on your own. -waa its a great idea, I will make him join as well Sorry man, you will soon have a hard time dealing with her. Arthur thought to himself, but he didnt know that the karma for his actions will come soon. -so what guild should I choose? -well its hard to tell if the guild wont disband next day you enter it or if there is some unpleasant atmosphere within it. Well, the best thing you can do is look at the people who are in it and how they seem to you. If they are skilled or not. If they are easy to talk to and in general if you like them. But the most important would be the guild leader. -em who is guild leader? -lets see how to explain the role of guild leader. Guild leader as the name suggests is a leader of the guild and most important person in it. If he sucks, the guild will most likely suck as well. Simple as that. He should be a person whom people gather around, in general he should be kind and calm but sometimes he has to tell everyone that they suck and his grandmother is better than them. -waaa! Guild leader is a scary person? -that was just an example of a guild leader that I used to know. Anyway, he cant beat around the bush when someone is doing what he is not supposed to do. He should just yell at them but in a motivate way, so they started to do their job. He should always say what he wants to say and dont care what people might think of it. -I dont think that I am cut to be guild leader. -what, you want to be a guild leader? -no, no please continue. -then other good characteristic of the guild leader should be that he is knowledgeable about the game. How everything works in general so he can make good decisions. -so are you a guild leader? -haha me a guild leader, good joke. -but you are knowledgeable about the game. -wait till I finish. Some says that guild leader should be the best player in the guild, but it is not the case. Guild leader should be skilled but he doesnt need to be the best, although there are many cases where he is. More important is however, that he have to know everyone ability so he can make the best judgment during unexpected situations. -everyone abilities? -yes how they play? What is their style? Or even if someone in the guild is sick today and it will affect their play. -that much!? -well for low level guilds its not that important. But in good ones he should know what he can except from everyone, so he can ask them for 120% of it in times of need. -waa, guild leader is really important. -Im not done yet. -is there more? -yes, the things I said are more or less things that person can learn with time and yes, he would become a good guild leader but if we are talking about true guild leader of highest grade, he has to have a gift for it. -a gift? Like what? -a gift of leadership. If you find someone who has this gift and is respected by other members go ahead and join his guild. -waaa Arthur that was really deep. Arthur shared his theory about good guild leader. He actually talked for more time that he thought but when he started to remember all that he couldnt just stop. Still now that he finished. Okay time to escape. -well Alice, it was nice talking to you but I still have two kilometers to finish, see you some other time. Like never. -Arthur? -yes? -do you really remember me? Out of sudden, she asked him that question gain. Wait did she found out? But my act was perfect! No I can still turn it around. -of course I do, how I could forget my beautiful friend Alice. Some says that flattery can do miracles. -okay, now I am sure that you dont! Doing something out of character wasnt the best decision. Even if he changed no matter what, Arthur wasnt someone who complemented others. -what, no I do remember ask me something. Then while trying to repair the damage, Arthur digged his hole even more. Noooo that was a bad move! -I know that you dont remember, but have it your way. Here is a question, how did my hair look back when we were kids. What! Such specific question? No this is a game over for me. All thats left is luck. -well they were the same as now? -see you dont remember, you are a bad person Arthur, and I even looked around for you! She said to him in little higher and angry voice. -you were looking for me? -I was! But no more, I dont care anymore. People who forget their childhood friends are bad people. -but I am not a bad person. Oo. -someone told me recently that the ones who say that are bad ones! -it happens sometimes, you forget this or that. Its been five years after all. Arata tried to explain himself. -oh I understand, you just simply forgotten. Well, you didnt think of us as friends anyway. Now that I think about it, you did leave without a word. Looks like I now know why you did that! At that moment she touched his old wound. He tried to hold it and said in the low but somewhat angry voice. -dont even think that you know why. -sure I know, I asked around, your father got proposition to become director of one hospital, so you had moved to another city, I am not angry about that, but you should at least say good bye. And also you shouldnt forget your friends because they will feel bad if you meet them on the street and you wont know who they are! Alice continued to talk but Arthur reached his limit. At first he tried to just get over it quickly but he couldnt hold it anymore. He completely stopped to care about the girl whom he forgotten and started. -fine say what you want! Yes I dont remember you! You are right! I didnt care about you at all! Thats why when I moved out, I said goodbye only to those whom, I considered friends! You were just some random person who didnt matter at all! Dont try to talk to me again! Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Because she opened his old wound Arthur just said whatever he thought would hurt her, anything that would make her go away and never talk to him again. He then rushed away and continued his training but in truth he just ran away. Just like he always did. Somewhere in the wind he heard Alices last sentence. -Arthur, you didnt tell anyone about your move. Arthur run and run. First he was only planning to run for another two kilometers and then eat the breakfast, but now it was already afternoon and he still run. He just sometimes did that. The main reason why he liked his training was because he could forget about the world, about his thoughts. This time however it didnt want to leave him. He was tired already but he wanted to run until he is out of breath, lose all his strength and fall to the ground. That time finally came and then he finally realized what is he doing, he suddenly stopped, and said to himself. -if I go like that I will soon ends up like in the game, unable to move, haha what a grown up I am. Trying to hurt someone just for my one satisfaction. Just like she said, I am a bad person. But as he said that he recalled someones voice inside him, one of them were that of a player who he helped not so long ago. -you are Arata, a good strange hero who help those in need but also like to force girls into strange places. And then he recalled another two voices from deepest ends of memory. One was his and the other was. -Ali, Ali, Ali, why are you such a crybaby, Ali? -but they will laugh at me! -who will? -everyone! -no they wont. -you cant know that! -true but there will be at least one person who wont laugh at your beautiful braids. So its not everyone. -who? -me. -waaaaaaa! Arthur, so you are a good person, after all. -you ever thought differently? -wawa. He at least found out the answer to the question he couldnt answer few hours before. Now he somewhat remembered a little girl with two braids that used to run after him. Not that it matters! Even though he remembered, it didnt change much. As for him, old days where he was making friends and playing around was a thing of the past. He thought he can no longer go back to those. Making friends and playing with them. He tried it in his grandfathers city and it didnt felt good at all. It was rather painful seeing so many people living their lives without the care in this world. Thats why he kept everyone at distance so no one would hurt him, and that was the reason why he decided to play the game. Like he just said to the girl. In that world it didnt matter who you are and what happened to you, people dont care about that in the game. What you want to show, is shown, nothing more, nothing less. That meant no background. No painful questions. No strange looks of pity from those who found out that he lost his parents. There was nothing like that. Just a world of swords, might and magic. Arthur finally reached his house and then dropped dead on the bed. The next day he woke up at afternoon. A new fresh day. He made himself a breakfast or rather a dinner. He passed on running as yesterday he already did a week norm that he had now. When Arthur threw away the garbage he checked his mail even though he didnt except to find anything. But to his surprise, he found something inside it. Clean white envelop without any address written on it. Inside was only a short note which said. [I thank you for advice about the game, I will definitely find good guild. I hope that you can give me another in the future as well.] Arthur already decided to avoid the one that wrote it and didnt plan to change that decision. He would rather not get too close to anyone if possible, as he knew that it would only hurt him in the end, he knew that from experience. As long as his past followed him he couldnt simply bring himself to do that. [The time has come for your profession to be chosen. Soon your true adventure will begin. But before that make your way to the chapel and see what destiny lies before you.] As Arata appeared in the world he got this message right away. At least they tell me where to go but before that, I still have something important left to do. Arata made his way to a clock tower in east part of the city but as he reached the place where he wanted to go, but he found out that the secret passage did not open anymore. -hey, you useless Wizard, open the door! He shouted as he reached the place. -hey! There was no response no matter how much Arata shouted. Even though he was annoying, he cant just ignore people who come to pick up their rewards. Let me see the quest again, I sure that I got it complete when I defeated the wolf. Did it change into failure because I died? Arata crossed his fingers and summon quest menu. There were two quests complete. One was named The Wizards clue and the second one The Wizards Apprentice. Both of them are green so whats the problem? Should I read the quest again? [Quest Wizard apprentice (Completed) Wizard felt bad about what he had done to his apprentice so he found adventurer to help her. You have helped his apprentice and complete the quest. Reward: Magic cloak of your choice. There are three versions with different stats You can punch Wizard in the face three times. (You did not reach the Wizard in one day so he ran away without giving you anything.) Rank of quest 9. ] -WHAT! Arata shouted surprised, where is logic in this. Shouldnt quest reward people for their work. He should at least be notified about it. Then Arata recalled that when he killed the wolf many messages appeared before him but he didnt try to read them at all. All my effort for nothing! Well its always like that. He thought to himself, it wasnt the first time that he lost an item. Item is a one thing, I would change it anyway but the other reward. Mark my words! The next time I meet you, you damn useless crazy Wizard I will have my revenge. Most of Aratas motivation towards the quest was from a simple pleasure of slapping Wizard in face. But he had to keep it in him for now. With luck he will find him again someday and it will not be a simple slap at that time. Well, time to go to the chapel. He decided that but as he was walking he thought about something. Is there a chance to see old messages? They appear only for few seconds so there should be. Arata looked through a menu one more time and then he found what he was looking for. They messages were listed in order of date. The first one at the top was about going to the chapel, then about respawn position, then the one that was saying that he had died. Here it is, lets see you have gained level 9, although it should decrease somewhat after I died. Arata check his stats. Yep it went back to 8, I didnt lost much considered that I went up from level 5 at that moment. Rather than losing in the end, I gained 3 levels. Okay, what were the other messages? Oh, there it is. He saw the message that said that he only have one day to receive his reward. At least I got the experience, but it was only one level, how does it work it was Rank 9. Experience from quests in EOA was usually low that was because you should get experience during the quest not at the end of it. Usually quest gave only one level but no one cared about it much. The reward is important not experience, it was common knowledge. But if you dont get the reward, what was the meaning of quest in the first place? The others messages mention getting items and dinging level 8. Looks like hunting wolfs is much better option than doing quests. The wolf was high level after all, and normally someone wouldnt kill it on level 5 but that was special creature that took tremendous damage from holy attacks. If it wouldnt be like that no one would be able to kill it their first month of play. Thats how Arata thought at least. Well lets see what items I got, knowing my luck its some kind of wolfs meat. Well meat wouldnt be that bad. I could skill up my cooking skills a little. Arata checked his inventory. The wolfs meat was indeed there but there was also another somewhat black icon. [ Coat of night Strength +10 Agility +15 Movement speed +1 Health +200 Stamina +100 Armor +200 No level required The coat of night is made for those who hide in the shadow. Type: Leather Rare item: drop rate (13%), only from quest related monster] Hahaha, there is some justice in this world after all, Arata though as he saw that, the mood in which he was turned completely with just a single glance. His effort finally paid off, and even though he wanted to have sword fighting class, he was planning to use light armor that didnt slow down his movements. In normal games it didnt matter. If you could wear heavy armor you should do it, but Arata saw that in this game dodging is much more important than having a high defense, so its better to have a light armor. All beginners start in the same set of armor which is different only in color. It shouldnt be called armor in the first place but rather simple clothing. They dont have anything else than this beginning equipment. Getting a weapon on the first month was already a large feat. So when Arata entered the main square with two swords at his right side and black long coat of night which continued all the way to the ground everyone looked at him in instant. -hey who is that guy? -I dont know but he looks somewhat high level. -thats probably it. I never heard that items like that can drop here. -how do you know, shouldnt you come here without any information? -everyone is saying that but think about it, even if something is locked you still have advantage against other players. -how come? You are locked, you cant use that information. -haha, listen and learn, if you come here with information about some class that class will get locked. I can say that its true because I got some of them locked right now. -see, I was right. -here is a trick though. I only looked up information about the classes that I didnt want. Also I got a grand picture of how the class system works and I dont have to worry about getting the professions that suck. Soon enough the clever guy ended up as butler but for now, he was sure of his plan. -so what can you tell about that guy? -I tell you high level, thats all. -lame he came to show off in the first city, but now that I think about it I didnt see anyone else here. -strange. I didnt see anyone either. But now we had, its not a problem anyway. Anyway, I need to think up the plan for my class. Arata became somewhat a celebrity in the square when people seen him, he was the only one that stood out from the crown. Well his hair alone was enough to get this effect. Everyone was looking at him some were talking. Look while you can, because I will leave you behind in dust. Arata was at least sure of his knowledge about the games. Even though he was on a break, he already proved that old skill never dies, and they were waiting for five years just to be used again. At some point when he was half way through the square, which was the biggest place in the city, three girls come to him and asked. -hey what is your level? -you look somewhat strong do you have any advices? -what is your profession? -want to play together? Arata didnt stop nor did he change his directions and planned to ignore them. Still the girls were following him. So because he had enough time he decided to tell them one important thing before entering the chapel. -note it down, because its most important thing in this game. With this advice your chances of survival in first few days will increase by 100%. -wow thanks! So what is it? -eat when you are hungry. Unfortunately, they didnt understand him and looked somewhat surprised. They were excepting some great advice but soon enough they would find out how precious would be that advice would be should they listened to it. Arata finally entered the chapel as he did that one of the priestess that was inside it spoke to him. -are you there to seek your destiny? -nah, I just came to find out what is my profession, thats all. -profession is also destiny, but it doesnt matter what you believe, you have come to the right place. Come with me, I will show you the way. She showed him a way but at some point Arata had to jump to the side and hide behind one pillar. -good morning priestess, what are you doing here? Said a tall and muscular man in silver plate armor. -I am showing the way to adventurer that has come here, commander. The priestess answered. -ah another one that thinks that with a profession they will become somewhat stronger. Hahaha, kids those days never learn. -I think that this one shows great promise, commander. -a great promise you say? But where is he anyway. I dont see him. -maybe he went inside already, but I will wait just in case. -right, continue with your duty. -yes commander. When the big Paladin went away Arata come back to the priestess. -sorry, I lost the way. -that is why I am here, to show the way. -yes thanks for a good work. -but you just lost a chance to speak with commander of our order because of that. He is a great man and would definitely be happy to meet you. Yep, he would be definitely be happy. Especially if he found out that I am the one he was trying to catch the other day. Few days back Arata climbed the cross of this very chapel, and Paladins werent happy that someone desecrated their holy place. -anyway, which way is it now? -just follow me. They reached the white room with an altar inside it altar. Inside that room there was an old, small and fat old man in white-red clothing. Looks like someone important, an Archbishop? Arata could recognize a NPC like him in one glance, as they always looked the same in the game. But what is wrong with this room. Its seems like developers forgot to finish this part. If Arata saw this room in any other game he would thought that it was not finished, still this time it probably was not the case, especially when it seemed that every player would have to visit this room at least once. The Archbishop started. -as many before you and many will after you, you too have come here to see your destiny They really like word destiny in this game. -destiny is an interesting thing. Some says that its a fate and unchanged road that everyone must follow. Others think that destiny doesnt even exist and they on their own make their way in life. I heard something like that already, who was it? Ah yes the training Instructor. This guy stole his quotes. -Some says that profession is just like destiny, its written down in the blood. Others say that profession is granted only based on your actions They really should add a skip button when NPC wants to harp about something. It would save a lot of time. -I think that both opinions have some truth within them, but its not a time to be philosophical is it? So are you ready to find out what is there for you. Finally! -yes, I am ready. -I see that you do not have any doubts. Goddess Elssa answer my call and enlight the one that came here. What, they are still not done yet? The interior become somewhat brighter rather than white, the room turned yellow. Then it was filled with warm but strong woman voice. -Arata, I saw your path and I know many things about you Another long talk, just give me the class. Also skip button for the win!! -but I also something unusual about you, your different life And now what is she about again? - you were once the champion of light and savior of many people. You still have some abilities from your past self Hey, hey, hey, did they hack my account to get this information. Ah, I finally know what those questions were for. -you have won the swordsman tournament on your first day so you are born warrior Good, warrior class it is then. -you have also managed to use strong magic to enchant your weapon to fight against enemy. You have used some ancient spell that you have known from your previous life. They have a sentence even for something as unregularly as that, hey wait I wont end up as Paladin class for that, will I? -but I see that the Paladin way is not for you, and for your own safety I wont say why. Safe. My trip at the top of that cross finally paid of -I hereby award you with double class as your talents are not only in sword but also in magic. Your main title is The Twilight Swordsman you have a dark side within you that make you strong but you should look for your own light as only that can enlight your heart. Your other title is Sword Enchanter you will be able to use magic that will help you fight against the enemy, it has many useful skills but remember that the magic is the expression of the thought with strong image you can use stronger magic than even greatest Wizard. Dual class is very unique so you should fell proud. Here are the books that will help you understand your powers better. But its not over yet as I still have something I want to reward you about Additional reward? I already happy enough that I have a dual class, I dont need anything anymore, what I will get a third class or what, wasnt the whole thing only about the profession. Or maybe I will get my quest reward because I still didnt get it. That would be nice. -even though you may have dark side within you, you are righteous and help those in need, I am little upset about your attitude towards the church so I cant change your title No no no, the twilight swordsman even though little silly sound good to me. I think a simple swordsman would do. Also she came up with that name on the spot when she saw color of my coat, didnt she? I am sure of it. -but as I said, I saw your path, you didnt think twice about defending the others, and that are the qualities of servant of Justice So its a paladin after all, Nooo! My dual class! - many have tried to do the same as you and died in vain, but you have defended the one that you swore to protect Its not like I swore anything. I just wanted to punch Wizard in the face. Right, I can swear that I will do this one day for sure! - although you died in the end, your sacrifice was not in vain, you have found the way in the time of need I wouldnt have to do that if that idiot didnt pick up the staff in the first place, free treasure always equals trap. - but if you did only that I wouldnt give you this reward as I would need better proof that you deserve it Better proof? Lets see what else did I do, solving the crazy Wizard puzzle probably wont count if she needs a proof. - you also helped normal people without a hope for reward. You didnt turn your eyes when kids asked you for help, even when normal person in your condition would just walk away Was there something like that? Ah yes, those kids and the cat momo, now that I think about it. It was really stupid trying to climb a tree when I could barely move. I should eat something before that at least. But the strangest thing though is how did I remember thats cat name? I am so bad with remembering others name. -and so I hereby give you an ability that will help you if you want to continue that road. [New Skill Acquired] [Sacrifice Many die without achieving anything. For the whole life, people struggle against the fate to change that. Some people try to achieve something with their death, but it still mostly ends up meaningless. Sacrifice doesnt mean anything if you die and after your death the comrades that you tried to save, die as well. True sacrifice can be only achieved when you succeed in your goal. Passive effect: Dying does not reduce your level.] -with that the ceremony is completed [Achievement: You got dual profession] [Achievement: You got unique Profession of rank 2] [Achievement: You got rare Profession of rank 4] [You have completed the first trial, and now that you have a profession your true journey will finally begin] -I wish you luck on your future journey and I hope that one day someone will find the light within you just as you have found it in that Citadel. Farewell the twilight swordsman Arata. In this moment Arata disappeared from the chapel in flash of light, he would no longer be able to come back to this city. It was a special city only for those who were looking for their path. But Arata already found his and with his new title he was send to where new adventures awaited him. New people and new places but also people who he already knew and places that would fell familiar to him. He was send away to a new world. http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3041 Chapter 8 “Flowers, bunnies and a bear.” Chapter 8 Flowers, bunnies and a bear. It is fairly normal for MMORPG game to focus on fight against monsters. It was very easy to put it into fantasy setting with swords, magic and all other stuff. eye of Adventure wasnt different in this regard, even so it became popular not only in hardcore gamers but with normal people as well. They mainly explored save location or meet with people who they couldnt meet in real life. But in the end, EOA was mainly focuses on standard model with fighting monsters and having adventures. Currently because EOA was so popular, highest level players were recognized as somewhat celebrities. Many people knew their name and envied them. There were even TV shows that were purely about EOA and they also were popular. On the internet you could find numerous number of website about it, although the higher the level the harder it was to gain information as players didnt like to pass them around for nothing. The highest level players were first generation as experts liked to call them. They were the ones that started the game the moment it came out. Most of them were hardcore gamers that heard about the challenge and came there from others game. They found out, that the game was exactly what they were looking for. Hard and challenging game that gives one a lot of freedom. Everyone found something interesting to do. The fact that they couldnt even get close to final content was even more exciting. But was there even final content to begin with? The game was always developed by AI it was never ending story for people to experience. Although at some point getting even one level was a hell of trouble and it was also very risky for anyone who tried. The middle level for players right now would be around 140. That meant that if they died they would lost more than 14 levels, so everyone was very careful not to die, which made their progress slowly. People who passed 200 lvl were considered high level and skilled. People with level 250 and more were the ones that would be considered best in the game. There was also legend about phantom player who passed level 300 but it was as mentioned it was only a legend that was never confirmed. Only the person itself could see their own level. Thats why, it was hard to tell someones level and if he is higher than you or not. It somewhat reduced random PVP fights as people would worry that the person they attacked could be higher than then, which would result in their crushing defeat. Of course there were still some that didnt think that way and not knowing someones strength was making it even more exciting. But players who now fight against monsters on high levels were mostly all normal gamers, most without any fighting experience to begin with. So how did they manage to climb so far and develop their skill? For each of them it was hard and painful road but it began for everyone in a similar way. Even in this game there is a tutorial phase where you learn fighting basics. At least the game called it tutorial but people used a different term and it was The forest of hell. Just as any other player Arata appeared somewhere in in that forest and just as any player he received a message. [Welcome to fighting tutorial of eye of Adventure Yes you are finally going to do some fighting as you successfully managed to get your class. As you may noticed the city of beginners is indeed as it says the city for beginners. You can think of it as theory part, now its time to see how much you have learned. It shouldnt be hard for you as even if you die once, twice or endless number of times, worry not, you will always have another chance. The best way to learn is to learn on your own mistakes. Upon completion you will be granted a map that will show you the path to city. You can always try your luck and find the way on your own, but if you are capable of that, the challenge will be easy for you so why dont you just do the challenge? That would be introductory, now the challenge. This forest is filled with many different but easy to deal with monsters, upon killing any off them you will be granted points, your goal is to get 150 points. Each monster gives different amount of points however. Here is their standing. -Bunnies are +1 point. -Foxes are +3 point. -Dears are +5 point. -Humanoid Normal Flowers are +7 points. -Humanoid Flowers with Fruit are +15 points. -Bears are + 250 points. Any other kills will award you with +10 points. See all you really need to do is kill one bear. Isnt it great? You can also kill 150 bunnies if you feel like it. Each tactic is good as long as you get those points. Sometimes you may fail and die but it is all learning experience so you should be grateful for this opportunity. Dying of course means losing 10% of your overall level but it also reset your score point to 0, isnt it great? You may even end up back to level one, but worry not. During the whole game you can go back all the way to level one anyway and with this tutorial we make sure that you are ready for anything. Of course we wont explain combat system you have to use the things that you have learned in the city of beginners. We also wont provide any weapon so if you didnt get any well, bare hands also have their advantages. Oh, if you didnt look up the skills yet, check the book that you just received. I am sure that you are already dying to go out there and gather your points so go! Let the fighting tutorial begin!] Aaa, another long explanation so in the end, I just need to kill one bear and go on with it. That was Arata thoughts as he read the message. If the game was designed for anyone to pass it, he would surely be done with it in not time. Killings small little bunnies was definitely not his way. What if there is achievement for it? Well I never cared about achievement in the first place. Achievement for killings 150 bunnies shouldnt be called achievement in the first place but surprisingly it did really exist. There was at least reminder to check your skills first, first the twilight swordsman tree. Arata summoned the book and started to read. -Class name. The Twilight Swordsman. Class granted to bla bla bla He skipped few pages as he had somewhat enough of hearing useless chatter already. -there it is. The Twilight Swordsman is sword focused class Really I wouldnt have known. -his skills are mostly passive which increases ones stats, but he also has many useful skills that make tremendous damage. He also has skills that are useful in avoiding enemys attacks or helps to chase enemy. His defense is focused on dodging and parrying rather than blocking or taking the hit, so normally you shouldnt wear equipment which is hard to move in, but rather good comfortable ones. As for stats your main focus should be on Agility and Strength. Preferred weapon, two one handed sword. New skills will be granted as you reach new levels, you can learn them from this very book. Skill book is however limited and in in time you will have to search for them on your own. Remember that you can always get other skills that are not only based on your class. Arata read it all loudly so he could understand it better. In the other words this is a perfect class for me. After all profession was chosen to fit every player even if they didnt think that it fits them. Arata had nearly five years of training in different combat arts so he was one of few who know what fitted him. Now for skill there shouldnt be many on my level [ New skills learned ] [ Black Dash You move through your enemy making him take 130% weapon damage. You can also move through the space with it. Both have range of five meters. Can damage multiple targets. Skill cost: 120 stamina Coldown: none Current skill level 1(0%) ] [ Strike By using more stamina you make 130% weapon damage to your opponent. It is a simple strike that every warrior has. Skill cost: 15 stamina Coldown: none Current skill level 1(0%)] Unless I have to increase my damage suddenly I dont think that second skill is that useful, but lets test first skill. [Black dash] As he used his skill Arata became a little transparent and flied 5 meters forward, he even made it through one tree and while doing so he left marks after swords attacks on it. Thats useful but just like lighting speed, it take too much stamina. So I shouldnt use it carelessly. But with time I should be able to use it more often as my stamina will increase. In the end, warriors always are more focused on basics rather than skills. It was true warrior classes were always more about using your weapon to do damage. They had some skills sure but the most important was always weapon. Wizards in comparison were based mostly on their spells. They used them as long as their mana would allow them, then they would regenerate it and fight once again. Now the second book -sword enchanters blablabla they blablabla oh there it is. Sword Enchanter is a magician type class but it focus on weapons rather than magic. It enchants one weapon so it made more additional damage. It can change physical damage of sword to the one of the elements which is very useful in cases of resist and magic creatures. Their high level skills can enchant weapon of every party member making them great buffers. They can also send out their energy out of the swords in form of arc. It also allows one to learn magic spells which non-magical class couldnt learn. As for stats your main focus should be on Wisdom, Agility and Strength. Preferable weapons, swords. New skills will be granted as you reach new levels, you can learn them from this very book. Skill book however are limited and in in time you will have to search for them on your own. Remember that you can always get skills that are not only based on your class. Its a little blank compared to the last one but lets see the skills [ New skills learned ] [Sword enchant You enchant your weapon with power of elements making them doing additional damage. Depending on element of enchant your damage will increase against opponent who have bad resistance against it. Skill cost: 50 mana Coldown: None Current level skill 1(0%) ] [Sword slash. You release power inside your weapon making a cutting arc across the field. Turn off all enchants. Skill cost: All mana. Coldown: none Current level skill 1(0%)] Skill that eats all mana? Lets test it [Sword enchant: Ice] [Sword slash] Arata first enchanted his weapon then used a skill. As he used ice element before, the blue cut arc was released from his sword. It destroyed nearby trees that were 6 meters from him and froze the broken parts. Range skill for sword? Awesome! Just like in the movies where samurais are cutting someone with wind. There is also cool effect. With all skills checked and tested, Arata started his search for the bear. -bear, bear, bear, where are you? Well he didnt though that the challenge would give him the bear, right away. Nevertheless he tried. By first 5 minutes the only creatures that he saw were one small white bunny, and one deer in the distance. No bears so far, I have to keep looking. Then at some point Arata spotted a strange looking Plant. Creature of stems with white flower on top of it. It was slowly moving through the forest. Well, until I find the bear I might as well kill those. He unsheathed his swords and moved to attack the plant. It didnt take much effort. One dodge of plants leaf and three fast attacks from his swords and the flower goes down. Easy. But it didnt end up yet, as flower fallen to the ground, it shot out spikes out of its body. They were rather fast and hard to spot on so Arata health decreased by 7%. Happens. Arata moved on with his search for the bear. He didnt found the bear so far but he found another three plant looking creatures. I might as well hunt for those flowers. It may be even faster than finding a bear. Arata rushed to cut them down. This time, the flowers used their leafs much quicker and they spread their steams in order to stop him. He didnt have clean way to attack them so he stopped and started to cut through them. But every time he cut one of steams, other flower would shot a spike at him. He got hit by first one but when Arata found out about this attack, he become more careful and dodged the rest. Still he couldnt get through the steam. Rushing in wont work, needs different approach. He then moved forward again and as the first leaf was about to hit him. [Black Dash] He went pass through everything that was in his way, leaving nothing behind. As skill ended he reached the place where flowers were and then cut them down. -this skill is useful indeed. But as he said that, once again he got hit buy spikes that come out from bodies of dead flowers. -ah their ability is annoying but apart from that, looks like there is nothing to worry about. Then once again Arata moved to look for other monsters, especially the bear. But as the time went on, he couldnt find even flowers anymore. No, I wont start killings bunnies. There is no way that I will do that. In comparison to bears, there were many bunnies jumping around, but Arata didnt even look at them. But as the time went on he started looking at them. They look yummy. Arata started to get hungry. No bears meant that he couldnt complete the challenge. Time passed again the sun started to set down. But then Arata found another flower. It was different from others instead of white flowers he had them blue and also he had yellow fruit in the middle. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Doesnt look too much different to me. Lets see how better he is. Arata thought that because that flower was for more points he would be at least better than previous ones, however the truth was rather disappointing. Died in one strike, after all, its a challenge that everyone needs to complete I guess. Arata after all had fighting experience, good items and profession of rank 2 and double class. Other players could even come here at level one without anything, even bread to eat, and this challenge was a must to continue their way on. But then out of sudden while standing there, Arata got multiple hits from spikes from every direction, and in seconds his HP went down to 50%. -what the? Arata was now surrounded from every direction by many yellow flowers. Just like the three before, they spread around their stems. But this time there was so many of them that you couldnt see through the green. In few moments they created a stems jungle. Trap, no good. The leafs were coming from every direction and from time to time another spikes were flying his way. Arata dodged some, but some he could not as the place in where he could move was reduced once again, he also got hit by some leaf attacks. His hp was now at 18%. Need to get out of here fast. He thought that and again and used his black dash to escape. But this time, he ended trapped inside the stems as its range wasnt enough. -another one! He then used another one with its help he moved in the range of flowers but he still was plotted in steams. -another one! [Not enough stamina] -shit! Arata then tried to cut thorough but he couldnt move much. At least the flowers couldnt attack him as well as most of their attacks were planted at the ends of stems. Arata couldnt move and was trying to come up with something. No good, I need another dash, what is my stamina regeneration again? There was some regeneration but it was rather slow, same as mana. What other skills I have? Guess I only have this. [Sword enchant: flame] With no more choice Arata used his last card. [Sword slash] Right away he released flame from his sword. The stems around his arms started to get burn just like everything else, giving him ability to move. At the moment he could move a hand the leaf strike was coming at him, but he parried it down. He was blocking the attacks that were coming at him from the middle where he once was. -time to go. The fire burned out an exit and Arata managed to get out. -aaaaa! I am burning, who turned on friendly fire? Normally in games you cant hurt yourself by your own skills, here however it was different. Arata started to roll around the ground to put down the flames. Fire quickly left him alone without making much damage. Now then, there are enough flowers to get to 150 points. He thought to himself after looking at the group that just attacked him. Arata already spent many hours on the challenge without finding enough flowers or a bear. He surely wouldnt pass the opportunity to finish the challenge in one go. Time to run. However he chose differently, he probably wanted a challenge and have a fight against the bear. Rule number one, when you are one hit away from death, run! Well that could be another reason why he didnt fight them. Aratas hp was at the last margin under 10%, although flowers were rather weak, in group they were extremely dangerous, especially with their great skill that could trap someone inside the jungle of stems. Before he underestimated the flowers and now he didnt plan to do the same. Running away wasnt easy either as flowers kept shooting with spikes, but Arata managed to avoid them. After finally running away from the flowers, hungry, without much health, stamina or mana, Arata decided that it is a time for a break and replenishment. Arata didnt have any skills that healed him, and even if he did, he wouldnt have mana to use them. He decided that it is a time for his cooking skills to shine. Normal bread that he had left didnt increase health regeneration much so it wasnt good. He needed something better. In the first place food was limited way to regenerate health as you could only use it when you are hungry. I wont look for any bunnies right now so its time to use wolfs meat. He got some wolf meat from black wolf back in the beginners city. The meat also had expire date, so it was best to make use of it now. It was already a night time when Arata set up the fire. He didnt have any tools here so he could only roast the meat and use some spices that he got back when he was working for Marco. The meat turned out great and the smell spread out in every direction. Arata ate the meat and his hp went back to 100%. His stamina and mana was still half way done but it didnt mattered that much as long as he doesnt end up trapped in stems again. I should get done with the challenge quickly but lying down for a moment isnt bad idea. Arata spread his legs on the ground and watch the fire burn. Some time has passed and then, Arata heard rustling in nearby bushes, and also a voice. -is anyone here? I smelled some nice food andaaaaaaaaa! That person was sent flaying into the area of Aratas campfire. Before that person died, Arata heard his last words. -not again. What the! -raaaaaaaar! Then Arata heard the roar of some beast it. He got kill in one shot. Arata looked at person dead body that had only one wound but it tore out a large part of his flesh. Well. He must have a low level or something. Its a perfect opportunity just as I regenerated myself and was going to look for him anyway. And then the bear come out from the bushes. The moment for which Arata was waiting has finally come. I could think about that earlier. The bait is the most basic thing during a hunt. -raaaaar! The bear roared again and started to charge at Arata. It was a simple charge that was to strike with a head and push Arata back. Arata read it all and was playing to counter attack after a fast dodge that he was so confident in. The plan was going right as the dodge was done correctly but as Arata was about to strike he got pushed back by bears back leg. Arata lost 30% of health in this confrontation without landing one hit on his opponent. But Arata didnt stop because of this. He charged at bear and attacked him. But the bear was rather fast for his size, and dodged it to the right by jump, after that he countered by rushing at Arata again. Arata made desperation roll to avoid it. But just when he tried to pull himself back from the ground the bear once attacked without giving a chance to catch breath. He stroke with his front left paw sending Arata flying. What is wrong with that bear!? Then Arata decided to attack with skills, first he enchanted his weapon and then. [Lighting speed activated] With double speed he rushed on the bear. This time bear didnt dodge but just once again stroke with paws. First paw countered double sword attack and the second once again send Arata flying. The bear outclassed Arata completely despite Arata using skills. Aratas hp was at 23% right now and the bear was still untouched. Its time for strategic retreat. Arata started to run but just as he did that the bear started to rush after him. -aaaaaaaaaa! With desperate shout Arata dodged bears charge. As the bear turned around again he jumped at Arata who dodged it by rolling around. Bear was much faster than Arata in the first place, so it was hard for Arata to run away. Arata decided to be sneaky and climb up the tree. Try to get me here you, whaaaaa! The bear went up after him up to the tree without much problem. He was even getting up faster than Arata. What is wrong with this bear!? Arata step on one of the branches and jumped to another tree thinking that he might run away thanks to that but few seconds later the bear did the same thing. No! Leave me alone! Arata jumped down from a tree on the ground instantly rolling to the left as the bear landed on the spot where he was second before. -aaaaa! Once again Arata was on the ground running and dodging the bear attacks. It didnt look good. The bear continued to use even more surprise attacks than before. At first Arata planned to just find the bear, kill it, get the points and complete the challenge. Well, he did finally found the bear. But the only thing he was fighting right now werent points but his life. While fleeing in panic from the bear, Arata spotted a cave. Arata decided to enter it as he didnt have a plan as to how to loose still closing in bear. The running speed of bear at that point was not as fast as before, it seemed like he was getting slightly tired. Now, Arata didnt have to dodge another charge every ten seconds, but only every 30 seconds. It was a great improvement. When Arata entered the cave he quickly realized that it wasnt his best idea. There was no place to dodge and in the middle of the cave there was yet another bear, this one was little darker in color than the one that was now blocking the entrance. Good thing I saved it. Arata still had stamina for one black dash so he used it to pass by the entrance where the bear stood. As he used a skill the bear took 10% of his health. Not bad compared to dark wolf, After all black wolf was level 40 and the bear was in theory for beginners. But that wont help me, run!!! Thankfully, the bear from the cave didnt give Arata the chase. After another 5 minutes of fleeing in panic, Arata was trying to come up with idea. Running doesnt work at all, shouldnt mobs have some agro range where they stop running after the player? The bear didnt look like he was about to give up any time soon. So, the monsters are more like normal beings that could in theory exist in world, so how to deal with a bear? Some says that feinting death is a good idea but I think using that trick will result in real death so I am not trying to that. Why does he even trying to hunt me, the other bear didnt even stand up. Then Arata recalled the moment of his first encounter with the bear. For whole day I was looking for a bear but couldnt find one then at night he comes. Ah yes! The bait, he came because of the smell. So he wants to eat me, great. The bear was still chasing him. He is a little slower than before maybe I can fight him this time. Arata thought that and he once again looked at the bear. That reminded him of his previous experience so he immediately threw away that idea. Its not like I am in better condition, anyway my instincts are screaming only one thing right now. RUN!!!!!. But he was already running for some time now and it didnt helped. He first encountered the bear at night, now it was already bright. Other ways to deal with bear? Give him something he wants and then run away? He wants to eat me, means he is hungry, no wait he didnt eat the other player after he killed him. That means he want something else, or at least he doesnt eat humans. Anyway I have to give him something else to eat. Arata took out rest of the wolf meat from the menu and threw it at the face of the bear. The idea worked and the bear stopped to eat what was given to him. Arata use this chance and managed to run away. -ha, ha, ha, ha. Arata was tired after the long desperate run, and decided to take the rest. He didnt have anything that would replenish his hp anymore so he had to wait before it was it acceptable level from default regeneration. After that he moved on with the challenge. He didnt plan to fight any more bears again though. He spend three days hunting foxes, deers and flowers but only the ones that were in max in group of three. Arata also didnt attack the ones with a fruit as he was afraid of more traps. He focused on weak monsters and played it safe. Still, throughout the whole challenge Arata didnt kill even a single bunny. Arata was also unhappy that he couldnt beat the bear. Before he thought that he could achieve anything he wanted in this game with his previous experience, at least on low levels. Being proved wrong was a huge blow to him. But Arata wasnt stupid and did not challenge the bear again. The so called tutorial, referred by players as Forest of hell. It was the lesson that one could not forget and it melted normal people into warriors who could at least face against simple monsters without fear and because they experienced the death so many times, dying one more time was no more anything special to them. It was also a lesson that greed and overconfidence does not pay off. The bear was made especially for those who were arrogant and highly sure of their abilities, so they could have their lesson as well. As Arata finally reached 150 points. New message appeared and a map that showed the way to the small village called Loris. It was the first city where player of human race would usually go after arriving in the new world. http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3042 Chapter 9 “He who commands the flame.” _9.1 Chapter 9 He who commands the flame. Arata finally managed to get out from the forest and made his way to village called Loris. According to the map that he got it would take him two more hours to get there. Although calling it a map was somewhat wrong as it was just a piece of paper with a single road marked on it that he needed to take. Nevertheless it was going to take two hours so Arata was simply walking looking around the landscape. Open field. Yea, that is the best. He was enjoying the view. Forest was behind him. Mountains were on the left and on the right. He wasnt walking by the road but by area a little off from it. He was planning to exp up a little before entering the city. Right now had level 12, he got them from fighting inside the forest and also he got additional bonus one level after gathering 150 points. So far, leveling was way slower than in the games he had played before. Arata once got max level in one of games just in 3 days. For a note it was a nolife marathon in which he was competing against few other people. To be fair they picked a random MMO that none of them played and competed in this unreasonable challenge. At that time Arata ended up second although the first person was a true monster as he got the highest level in just two days. Anyway, just like any other game even in EOA exping up was easier on low level and later on it could only get worse. On the other hand, right now Arata could finally hunt some monsters, which was the main experience source of MMOs. It was sometimes just better to kill every monster in sight than doing quest that required of you to go there and back again. Many quests involved killing monsters in the first place, just like the challenge that he just completed. Arata thought that his level was too low right now as he couldnt defeat the main creature which gave maximum number of points. It still haunted him. I wasted too much time on that girl and even ended up dying. Sure, one wolf gave 3 levels but I could exp up in different way in that city, then I would be able to kill that crazy bear somehow!! Arata thought to himself, but he didnt know that sole surviving the encounter with the bear was great achievement itself. Most of the players that happened to find him ended up dead. There were few lucky guys like Arata who managed to stay alive but that was really small number even after two years of play. Like always there were legends about people who killed the bear but everyone that encountered that creature thought that it was surely a lie. So Arata decided to hunt some monsters to level up. In comparison to the forest the open field didnt gave space for monsters to hide so it was easy to find them. The monsters that were around on the field were mostly boars, and not some monstrous big ones but small, normal sized blue colored boars. Arata managed to kill one without a problem but he was rather dissatisfied with the reward. Not even 1% of level? What level are those guys? He then checked it by summoning the menu. The boars levels were in range from 2 to 6, and the closer to the city the lower it went. Is this some low leveling area or something? What is the purpose of the forest trial if this is what you get after completing it? Arata had some hard time during the tutorial so he thought that the next thing should be at least on the same level. Still, he forgot that there are people that got killed so many times. Their level would be reduced to level three or even less. Those people in the end would end up killing 150 bunnies to get out. Arata gave up idea of leveling up on boars. He slew few more boars to get some of their meat and continued his way to the village. He was walking on the road right now. There was no reason to go through the grass as it could only slow his progress. He also didnt want to get lost. It was a long walk, but it didnt annoy him that he had to walk such a distance. He also didnt even run which was unusual for him. Yes that how the RPG world should be like, huge areas that take time to get through. Making travels like that is the biggest difference so far in compression to normal games. Normally games didnt force players into long exploration where you didnt have to do anything but walk. In VR however, one could finally feel like he was really traveling through true fantasy world. Previously Arata found that experience only in fantasy books where one would travel from one place to another for realistic time of many days, months or even years. Normal games couldnt give that experience but EOA could. As he was getting closer to the village, Arata spotted some players that were fighting against the boars, to his surprise it were parties of people fighting against a single boar at the time and they still had some problems. Ah, thats explains the reason why boars are here. He finally understood the reason why the whole field was filled up with them. The beginners that were trying to fight them looked like they never played the game before. They still wore beginner equipment, some of them had knifes others were using some long sticks as their weapon. Well, the hardship is a best lesson for them, anyway how did they get out from the forest in the first place? Wait, did I just saw a party of six running away from a single boar. Common! The so called new generation of players that were entering the game right now didnt have fighting experience like Arata. Many of them didnt even play games in the first place. They just started eye of Adventure because of its extreme popularity, they didnt know what stats meant, what MMORPG is about, or what they should be doing. Well, no one really knew what they should be doing in the first place as everything was hidden, but if you played other RPGs and MMOs similar to EOA you would have at least a grand picture of it. Also if someone already played different VRMMORPG their ability would be on whole different level compared to others. First month has passed, so players that Arata saw should read something about the game first. But if they never play many games before they didnt have tendency to do that. Anyway, the point is that people who were afraid of simple boar were really common. I wonder what classes they have. Every one of them looks the same so I cant tell. It was hard to tell by their look as they didnt have anything that would help to recognize them. Normally someone could somehow tell the player class by look. At least their archetype. For example if you look at Arata you will soon find out that he is swordsman as he has swords equipped. But when it came to people who fought against boars on this field right now, they were all wearing the same thing and fought with similar weapons. If those things they used could even be called that. As Arata was walking by the road he once again felt the eyes of nearby players. Maybe I should hide my items for the time being, I dont like those glares. Arata thought to himself, but this time the looks were somewhat suspicious. Then soon enough the group of nine people that was hunting the boars with somewhat success, come and stopped Arata. One of them, the plain looking fellow started. -hey, I think I know you from somewhere. What is this about? I didnt engage with many players so far. And definitely no some boar hunters -sorry I dont remember you, good luck with your hunting. Arata planned to walk pass them as he didnt want to waste his time but then he was stopped. -wait, I didnt say we know each other. Its just that I heard something about you? Fine. -was it in the city of beginners? -maybe it was, when did you finish your first month? -few days ago or so? -then its not it, I am here for pass two months already. Two months and you still need a party of nine for a boar? Pity. This group was hunting the groups of boars and not just a single one so it wasnt that dramatic. In comparison to others, they were good. -then you must be mistaken. -no, I sure it was about the guy with black and white hair just like yours. -maybe it became a trend. -wait a second, I will ask my party members. Dont waste my time. Go hunt some more boars so maybe after a year you will be able to fight against them alone. As Arata thought that, the party was talking to themselves, they looked at him once, twice and then their eyes started to shine. Then their leader come back and said. -sorry, we dont have anything against you but you will come with us. What the hell? Why does he want me to go somewhere? And why does he sound like bandit from third rate movie? Ahh that? He thinks that he can steal my equipment. Eh pity, they dont even know that that they cant steal it. -no I think I wont. Arata answered. Although Arata himself didnt know how this system worked. Still because he didnt lost anything after his last death he assumed that there wasnt anything like item drop that would come with dying. -well The guy send looked back to his teammates. -as I said we dont have anything against you but that gold will allow us to buy some good weapons. MEN ATTACK! -wrong choice. The party of nine attacked Arata, but he already saw how they fought against the boars so he knew that he wouldnt have much trouble even with this number. The party had somewhat high spirit compared to the time when they were fighting against the boars, but they should learn that attacking someone wasnt best idea if you didnt knew their strength. Two of them were about to hit Arata. [Black dash activated] He went through them and both of the attackers died on spot. -aaaaa, I didnt want to do that. Arata said as he saw the corpses, they died in one shoot so they must have been low level or low health after their hunt. -Jonny, Freed noooo! Its a time for revenge! One of them shouted. -you should have run after this demonstration, I wouldnt have chase you. Another guy tried to jump at him with a stick. This time Arata just tried to parry it but as he did that, attacker lost his balance and landed on the ground behind him. Arata didnt bother to attack him. Really where people like them come from? How could they just fall by themselves? Arata didnt know. He also didnt know that those players werent the worst out there. Right now there was endless number of new beginners who were dying every day in the forest. Not to mention those who were dying out of hunger in the city of beginners. Other attackers came. This time there were three of them. Two with knifes one with stick. Just as Arata was about to go against them he felt that something hold his leg. -good work Maroll! Maroll was a man that a second ago landed on the ground, he didnt get hit by Arata so he still lived and catch Aratas leg with both of his arms. Thats what you got for not finishing them off. The three lunched their attacks but they were simply parried by Arata. He had two swords and it was easy to counter three unorganized attacks with knifes and sticks. As he parried them and they went behind him Arata quickly turned around and slashed their backs. They felt to the ground right away. They didnt die in one shot but now they were frozen by pain. The pain itself was reduced by system but still it hurt when you were having such wound on the back. The same went for Maroll as Arata slashed of his hands because he didnt want to let it down. -Alex, Karol, lets go with our combo attack! The guy with whom Arata was talking with before shouted to two of his friends but those two werent willingly to follow his command. -no way! Did you see what he just did? -yes Forty, forget the gold and lets us run away! It looked like Forty was the name of the leader. -Alex is right, in the first place how could we hope to win against a person with bounty of 10 gold? -exactly, it was your stupid idea Forty. Deal with it, we are running. The two called Alex and Karol started to run away leaving dust behind. The leader Forty was also going to do that but he was stopped by Arata, as he stood in his way. -please spare me, I didnt want to Forty knell down on his knees and started to beg. -I just a simple fisherman, it wasnt my idea to attack you. He continued. -hey, hey, hey you could come up with better lie. -I just no one, I just someone who happened to join the wrong group at the wrong time. -wasnt it your group? They were listening to your orders. Arata stated the obvious fact but Forty did not give up. -no, no. I wasnt, I joined in this morning, please dont kill me. -why do you ask me to spare you if you didnt do anything? -ah! see as you just said, I didnt do anything, so I can go already, right? -no. -nooo! Please dont, what did I do to you? -well you stopped me on the road, and then attacked me with your friends. Do I need to add anything? Despite killing few players and nearly killing few others, Arata was quite calm and completely unaffected by it. He didnt feel any different than while killing the boars earlier on. -did I do something like that? Hmm, I dont remember, I have bad memory. Forty was not playing dumb. -some says that nothing is better for a memory than a little feel of pain. Arata had no mercy though although he was now playing around. If he really had no mercy then there would be much more corpses around. -no no no, I sure that you simply heard it wrong. Nothing like that happened. After hearing something like this, Arata gave up though and went to the main point. -so what about the gold? During the fight he caught conversation about some gold. He didnt know what it was about but gold means money and one never can have enough money. -what gold? Gold doesnt matter, who was the one that said that people needs gold in the first place, he must have been- -shut up and tell me about the gold! -but I dont have any gold. -well, it is obvious just by looking. Not your gold. -then whose gold? -you tell me. You were shouting about the gold that you would get for your weapons. -ah that gold. My party members must have been stupid that they wanted to attack the person with bounty of 10 gold on their head. Hahaha. -but they said that it was your idea. -my idea? No, no, I cant even hurt a bee. But man, you are worth of that reward you slashed my comrades very nicely. -shouldnt you worry about them a little. -as I said I joined the party just this morning we didnt know each other well. Telling so many obvious lies was a talent in a way. -then you have really good memory then. You already remembered all of their names. Arata pointed it out. -thats one of good quality that I got. Your good quality isnt lying for sure. -anyway what is that thing with the bounty? Arata finally asked. He really had no idea what it was about. His only assumption would be that it is because of his playing around with religious object. There could be some zealots that would start hunting him down from now on. Although that couldnt be true. -oh you dont know, then listen Forty started explaining. -three days ago we went to Loris to get some food for me and my boys You just said that you meet them this morning Arata didnt want to say anything else and just quickly get over it. -so as we visited the city we also went to the center to look around, you never know what you might find in the center of Loris Looks like a good place to start looking for informations. At first Arata was also planning to look around the net the moment he finished with city of beginners, but because he died right before the end, he decided that he will play for now and check it later. -at the center we found many interesting things for example there is a tent in which a sorceress can tell your future. It was good idea to pay 50 silvers to know what will happen If you knew what would happen then you wouldnt have attack me. It seemed that that sorceress was not that very useful. -there are few options to choose from, right now, tomorrow or even year after or general questions like when I die or what will happen of my cat. It is really popular with girls as they can ask about their relationship. I dont have a girlfriend so I didnt ask about that though. Why I am not surprised about that fact, well its not like I ever had one either. -just tell me about the bounty. Arata stopped him for a moment because Forty was going of topic. -ah yes the bounty. Well technically it isnt really a bounty. Well there are bounties in this game as I read on internet but I dont know about them too much. It seemed like the zealots will not be appearing after all. -then what was it? Arata asked. -listen to the rest of the story. We wasted a little of our money that we got from hunting so we checked the jobs board. Before that board we meet a man that was looking for a person with two swords and black-white hair, which meant he was looking for you. He said that anyone that would bring you to him would receive 10 gold. And with 10 gold coins you can buy many things, I tell you that. Do you know how hard it is to get ten gold? All you need to do is swindle one Wizard. Still who would be looking for me? -anyway what can you tell me about this guy? -ah he was hard to forget. He was wearing full plate armor that you dont see around here. He also had dark red hair. I hate to admit but he was handsome looking as well, to the point where you would envy him or fall in love with him if you are - -no! -well with a strange hair like that one might never know In this moment Arata had an urge to slice Forty up. -anyway that guy was looking for you and he said that for trouble of bringing you to him someone can receive 10 gold. He must have some high level if he can give away 10 gold just like that, his armor also showed it. -but why is someone like that searching for me? I dont know him. -no idea but he was looking for a man with strange hair just like yours and I didnt see anyone else with a hair like that. How did you make it so it looks like that anyway? -it was on default. -default? Well, I heard that look is based on your so called inner self, I wonder what is mess up with you to get a hair like that This time, Arata unsheathe his sword a little. -no, no I sure that you are great fellow, and the hair looks totally awesome as well not even a little weird. Fortys opinion changed in a second. So easy to manipulate, fear is greatest tool for it after all. -well it was nice but I have to go. Arata cut it short. -what, you wont kill me? -what? You want to get killed? -oh no mister, you said you have to go so go, my humble self is just wasting your time. You finally are saying something intelligent. Arata ignored Forty and walked in the direction of the village. Why is someone looking for me? No in the first place no one with high level can know me I just got out from beginners city. It must be some other guy, as rare as it may be black-white hair arent that unusual. Okay, maybe they are but there should be at least a one other person with them. Also it was three days ago so whoever it may have been he shouldnt be here anymore. Arata entered the city or rather a big village of Loris. It was a nice looking village, with wooded wall all around it. Arata entered through an open gate. It was actually just a rectangular construction made out of woods. Two pillars on the left and right side and at the top there was another line that connected those two. Inside the buildings werent as big as in city of beginners also they were more clamped together. Loris had a nice atmosphere of small peaceful village that would be found at the beginning of every adventure game. Yes exploration is great, its a shame that I will move out from here so soon but there is just nothing for me here. I cant waste time on boars for sure. Arata was walking the alley. There were many people around here, most of them in the same clothes although there were few exceptions here and there. If not for my coat I would ended up in this crazy fashion as well. It wasnt a fashion but everyone wore beginner equipments. Some had a sword or a bow, but mostly some sticks, brooms or knifes as their weapon. Still one thing that caught Aratas eyes was that there wasnt anyone that would look like a mage or priest or any class that would use magic. Given that it was fantasy based world, Arata expected more of those. The must have all slacked in the beginner city if they didnt get any equipment. Now they just have to pay for it, easy to figure. Well not many have fought against 40th level dark wolf to have a chance to get coat like Aratas one. First of all, I should do some shopping. Arata visited few shops but didnt found anything useful. He bought some food but items around were all of low quality and high prices. At least it seemed like that to Arata as he couldnt compare it to anything. When he asked one of the sellers he only got an answer. -the prices are high because the need is high. I dont know where did you all come from but lately there is like three times more visitors than before. Well the game is popular and the holiday started that may one of the reasons. Arata continued with shopping. He soon found a blacksmith shop or rather blacksmith forge or maybe even combination of both. It caught Aratas eye from afar as the smoke was coming out from the chimney. Also he knew right away that it was a forge as it had a signboard over the entrance. After Arata entered his attention was caught with walls that were filled with armors, shields and weapons. Then as he moved closer he saw display. It was actually few tables and desks arranged in a horseshoe shape. The display was filled with smaller weapons like knifes but there were also pieces of armor like gloves and boots. There was also a normal looking shopkeeper who was standing at the other side of the room from where Arata entered. The wall behind him on the left had an entrance probably to the forge part of this building. Then on the right side of the wall there were stairs that leaded upward to the second floor. -welcome customer, what would you like? Sword, mace, axe we have everything. If you are looking for an armor master Rodriges can make one especially for your size. The shopkeeper greeted Arata before he could even look around. -no, no, I was rather looking at the weapons. Arata answered. -but, you wont find a better armor in this town. -no, I dont think I would look for heavy armor. -hmm, I thought every swordsman should look for one. -yes, but heavy armor makes one slower. -ah so agility type you are. Speed rather than defense, many are too scared to even think like that and buy the most durable thing we have on display. -some have different styles. -truth to be told most of them doesnt have style that all. They just swing their weapons like flails. It is a shame that fine crafts of master Rodriges are going to their hands but coin is hard to get these days, so we cant be peaky. -true. -anyway you are looking for weapon but we also have light armor for sale you should look at it. -might as well. Arata checked the items that were on sale. Most of them werent that good but he found something to his liking. -this brown set here how much is it? -ah this one, you have a nice eye. Its 2 gold. I know its high but its really good equipment that I sell you. Not bad, considering that I have 4 gold right now. There was one another thing that Arata got from his mad quest apart from his coat. It was money that he swindled from the Wizard. -okay, I will take it. After seeing the stats Arata decided to buy it. Considering its level this item was good, especially in comparison to other items that were on the sale. -great, let me see your size. Hmm unfortunately we dont have it on shop right now. It seemed like Arata wont be able to buy it though. -its a shame, show me the swords then. Arata answered. -you dont want to look at anything else? -not really, everything else isnt much better from things that I have right now. Anyway they are also, a little you know. -hmm? Shopkeeper reacted as if he didnt know. -you know they look like they were made from garbage not to offend anyone. -customer. I see that you are not a simple fellow like those clones. Somehow the shopkeeper attitude changed. -what clones? -you know, those that wear same clothes. Just look at the streets. Before I thought that you are like them as you too are wearing the same things but I was wrong. After all you have this nice black coat. -well, people have their wrong assumptions. -no I disgraced myself as a shopkeeper what would master Rodriges told me if he saw me now. -he would tell you to stop wasting the time of customer and sell him the goods! While they were talking a large man come from back of the shop with blacksmith clothes which were brown pants, orange shirt and large purple apron on top of them, although after many usages it became somewhat black. In that aprons pocket Arata could see a small hammer, but not a hammer that would be used to kill monsters but a blacksmith hammer. Naturally it wasnt hard to tell that the man that just entered was already mentioned master Rodriges. Rodrigez said to the shopkeeper. -Marty, just go and make yourself a tea or something I will deal with this customer. -but master you said that you hate to deal with customers. -only the bad ones, but this one looks better. -as you wish I leaving the shop to you then. -dont go anywhere for too long I still have the order of 10 swords for tomorrow! -yes Master. I will be back in a second. I will also bring some more materials. The shopkeeper Marty left and blacksmith Rodrigez looked at Arata. -so you are the shrimp that said my crafts are made from garbage, ha? The blacksmith was two heads higher than even though Arata who around 180 himself. -you have nice way of dealing with customers in this shop. -its not a shop, its a blacksmith working place. -so why are you selling things? -naturally because its better to sell it this way, higher profit, no middleman. Blacksmiths answer was really reasonable. -then, did you come here to recommend something for me? -nah, just go away, I am just taking a break and I will go back to the work soon. -sure, go back to work and I will snitch everything that you had on display. Arata joked around. -hahaha. -still, as a blacksmith you should do better job than this. Arata pointed at the display. -I not just a blacksmith. I am master of every craft. I expertise in many things, leatherwork, tailoring, weapon crafting, plate smithing, everything you ask I can create. -you should focus on one thing so your goods have some quality to them. -quality? Ha! I see that you can recognize this garbage over there All I needed to do was to check the stats and read the description. Although each item said made by skillful blacksmith. -it is true that they are of bad quality but people still buy them. Blacksmith continued. -you shouldnt waste materials even if people buy them. -materials, what materials? Those are made from rubbish that Marty brings here. Blacksmith finally explain why the goods were so bad. -Marty? -yes the one that just left. Marty is my nephew and helps me with the shop. But lately we had some problems. -what, people werent buying enough? -the opposite, people are buying everything. Just look around our little village. So many people, where did they all come from? I have no idea. Its the same as 10 years ago. -10 years ago? -yes ten years ago there were just as many people that came out of nowhere just like now Ten years, ten years? Ah that was when the game was released. Two years times five. -its thanks to that time that I have my working place right now. Back them I was still a beginner who just finished the apprenticeship from the master that taught me. But just like nowadays, everyone wanted weapon and armor and there werent many blacksmiths in this village so I made weapons and armors all day and sold them without problems. Although, I must say that it was slightly different, I mean the people were different. Back then the people knew if a weapon was worth their money so I did my best to bring out weapons with best quality and with best materials. I earned much at that time and later on build this very forge with my own hands. Ah those were the times. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. The blacksmith told the story of his youth. Although he wasnt that old even now. His hair was still dark brown without a sign of a white hair appearing. -so you lost your touch after those years? -nah, I am much more skilled right now. But the customers dont have idea about the goods and I dont have time to make everything very good as orders keep coming. Also the biggest problem, materials. As I said, Marty is gathering rubbish from the streets and I make them into armor. Idiots are buying it anyway and are even happy that its cheap. -thats not nice of you. -people want their armor so I am giving it to them, and if they cant tell the difference its their fault. -well thats true. -you finally see my point He robs people and they even thank him for it, such a great job. Then blacksmith finally asked. -anyway, you wanted to buy something, right? -nah, I will pass on third handed stuff. -haha dont worry, for people like you I have something special in stock. And I will even give you a discount. -a man thats robs everyone in this city gives a discount, I think its time to go. -I said dont worry, here look on this. [ Black clothes of agility +4 Strength +12 Agility +50 Stamina +150 Health +50 Armor +10 Dodge Made by master craftsman who knew what was he doing and have great experience. They allow user to dance on the battlefield, without restrictions. Thanks to craftsman skills additional stat was added. Required level 10. Armor Type: Leather-Mail] Hmm, coat of night has better stats but this thing is good and they are different types. Arata thought and said. -do you have different color? Arata was already black enough, and wanted a little change. -there is, but its a little worse. Material was too old for that craft so I had to make few adjustment and stats went down a little. Rule of gamer, stats are everything, forget the look. -this one it is then. Arata had to give up. -haha, dont worry I have an eye for fashion as its important in my position as a crafter. It will suit you nicely, people who will see you will think that you are the dark swordsman or something? Although given your strange hair you cant be called that. Hmm hmm, do I know any profession that would suit your look? Oh I know, long time ago when I was a kid I once read about a profession called the twilight swordsman. Twilight is a time of the day right before it gets dark, meaning its nearly dark but in truth not so right now, that name fits you perfectly. If you want you can even start telling people that you are twilight swordsman to hide away your real class. In that case I would really be telling my class out. -still no one with some knowledge will believe you as for me I learned that a profession like that exist from a legend of someone who lived three hundred years ago. Until I see a living thing it will remain a legend to me. A legend told to small kid who once dreamed about being a warrior. The legend said that its rank is that of 2. -you know something about those ranks? Arata was surprised hearing something about ranks that appeared only in achievement window from NPC. -well what I know is that the higher the rank the harder it is to found someone with one. For example twilight swordsman with rank two is only a legend and you probably wont see one during your lifetime. -and what about rank one? Arata was interested in finding out what were the best classes that he could get. -I dont know, rank one is even greater legend or rather a myth. Calling its a legend is wrong as legends at least have some truth in them when myths dont. Still if you really want to hear about it, then I can tell you those myths? Still what I will say are mostly fairy tales. I will tell you from the start. Its really not worth your time. You should ask some scholar about them if you are that interested. Well Arata was not interested in fairy tales. -if its like that then I will pass, anyway how much for the clothes? -well I already said that you will get a discount so it will be 5 gold. -way too much. -I know my craft and I already give you a discount. -okay tell me when you sell it to someone here for five gold, bye. He will stop me in second and go down with price. Its a good tactic against the sellers. -wait And the blacksmith did stop him. Haha worked -I see what you are trying to pull off so I will just tell you two things. If you are trying to bargain with an experienced merchant try to not do it in such obvious way. - . Arata was caught red handed. -also usually you work something out only if the prices are unreasonable otherwise it wont work. Given my impression on the people I can tell if someone will know if they are robbed or not. I gave you a fair price. But anyway the second thing It seemed like the blacksmith wasnt really angry on what Arata did, after all trying to bargain was a normal thing, although Aratas way might not be really polite. -do you really want to get out and become one of the clones? And now it was Rodrigez turn to show Arata how one should bargain. -clones? This word struck Arata right away. -yes clone. You will look just like everyone else, like all those idiots who buy this rubbish from my shop. -but I didnt buy anything. -ah yes, you will look like the guys who cant even afford to buy this rubbish and hunt for boars in parties of twenty, no I should rather say in raids. Arata now recalled Forty and his group and then he give up. Blacksmith Rodrigez showed him a difference in merchant skills and his arguments were too powerful. -I have only 4,78 gold will this do? Arata asked with pleading look. -haha, I see that you are finally honest, dont worry I will save your image and sell it for that price. -ah, thank you very much. -dont thank me. You will have to return those 22 silvers later on. -. Arata equipped his new equipment. -hahaha, its suits you! Dark clothes suit me? Thats depressing. I am not going to the funeral. Well unless I die and it will be mine funeral then. -ah, I happy that one of my craft wasnt wasted. Blacksmith Rodrigez said with a smile. He really must mean that. At that moment Marty come back to the shop with 2 meters long rusty piece of metal. -master Rodrigez, look at what I found! He said excited. -good job Marty, I can make two swords and one halberd from it, just bring that broken broom from the basement. He really is using every piece of junk that he has. -oh customer I see that you bought some clothes. Its good that we reduced the number of clones even if only by one. -yea sure. I am completely out of money. -anyway customer you wanted a weapon as well, right? Marty reminded Arata of his original goal as he himself already forgotten about it. -you wanted a weapon as well, kid? Blacksmith asked as well. -that was the original plan. -dont trouble yourself you wont find better weapon than the one you have on the hand right now. -I dont think that it will be hard to find anything better than my sword. -what are you talking about? I see that you have sword which went though many battles but is still in good form. -no, no, I talking about the copper one. -why do you need two? -heard about dual wield? -of course I heard but no one uses it nowadays its too hard for people to coordinate two swords at once. Well usually they cant coordinate even one. -well I can coordinate two. -haha now you are just like from legends of twilight swordsman, it is said that they use dual sword style as well. -hahaha. Arata laughed awkwardly. But then the blacksmith asked. -wait a second, what is your class? -well, its a warrior of some sort. Arata answered with prepared answer. He was not going to give away his class around so he thought that he will simply say warrior or melee fighter or simply a swordsman. -the full title. Blacksmith was not satisfied with that answer though. -master its not nice to ask that of a person. Marty interrupted him but the blacksmith continued. -silent kid, I talking with him. So whats the name of profession? -I would rather not reveal it. -your secret is safe with me, and you can also win the blacksmith favor. Remember who just went down by 22 silvers just now. Eh, never mind. -fine, its twilight swordsman. -haha I knew it, can you prove it? -sure here is my book of class. The cover was saying The Twilight Swordsman skill book. -ah a real twilight swordsman, never thought that I will see the day. Blacksmith said out loudly. -well with that my debt is clear right? -I will keep my word. Forget about those 22 silvers So when did you get your class? -less than week ago. -a week ago. Fresh blood then. Just titled twilight swordsman comes to my forge and I cant sell him a sword, pity. -you can always give me a sword. -ah, thats against my number one rule, Marty tell him the rule. -never give anything to anyone who doesnt pay under any circumstances. Shopkeeper Marty recited the rule. Good rule to follow, especially for shops. Although people might hate you. Blacksmith Rodrigez continued. -anyway you wouldnt want any of the swords that I have on the stock right now. They are all created from the pieces like the one that Marty brought just now. -I think anything is a better than copper one. Arata replied. -true but I wont sell any junk to the twilight swordsman whose profession is of rank 2. Is it true that its a rank of 2? -yes. So when will you have anything better than this? -anything better? In three weeks there should be a new delivery but I still wont sell it to you. -so where can I get a sword then? Even though he didnt have money right now, Arata was already looking towards the future. -here. -but you said you wont sell me any. -no, I will craft one for you. You just need to bring me the material. -em okay, so where is the material? Arata liked where it was going and there was absolutely no reason to refuse. But then. -master, he cant go there. Twilight swordsman or not, the beginner is still the beginner. No matter what he would need higher level for this. Did that NPC just said level? -do you know what a level is? For Arata it was strange that NPC mentioned level but Rodrigez without worry answered. -of course we know, who doesnt. Level is an advice that shows where you should go and from where you should stay away. Many consider that level is strength itself but its a lie. Anyway everyone knows about the levels. There is no reason to go into it. -so where can I get those materials? Arata asked again. It may even turn into the quest if I am lucky, even if it dont, I still will get good reward alright. Still blacksmith Rodrigez changed his mind out of sudden. -no Marty is right, rank 2 or not, you cant go there right now. -if you think that I wont manage then maybe you should see how I fight first. -its not about that. The place that I am talking about is high deep inside the mountains. There you can find a black ore. -black ore? -yes, black ore. I thought that I will make you sword from it. For someone like twilight swordsman it will be a perfect weapon, on the other hand anyone else without that title the sword will be unusable. Class related item, must to get. After hearing all that there was nothing that would stop Arata right now. -in this case I will definitely get that ore. -dont underestimate level difference, you shrimp! But then the blacksmith shouted at him. What with that shrimp again its you who is just too big. -I understand I will be extra careful. Arata answered. -no you dont understand and thats the problem. In the place which I talk about there are monsters on level 60 or so. Boss could be even 100. There is no way that shrimp like you who is what, level 12 can go there. 100!? Maybe I should pass this one for now. -how do you know my level? -ha you might have some items but you said that you got your profession week ago so you cant be higher than this He is somewhat knowledge about it. -so here is the deal, when you are strong enough come back and then we will talk. [You have been asked to do a quest] [Black Sword (prequest) Every swordsman needs a sword, as for swordsman a sword is like his lifeline. You found a skilled smith with knowledge of making a weapon that would only answer the call of twilight swordsman. Still he doesnt want to see you dead so he will not ask you to go and bring him the material. You need to level up first before he tells you the details. Return to him when you get stronger.(Level 30 at minimum required, recommended level 70) Rank of the quest 9 Restriction: Class quest for twilight swordsman] -I will return soon. [You have accepted the quest] -just dont forget about it. I am also looking forward to it. Its been a while since I created a true piece of art. As for the costs I know you are broke so when you will be on the mission you will also bring me some spare materials from it as well. Blacksmith Rodrigez said that and then he returned to his forge through the passage at the left side of the wall. Arata also left the blacksmith workshop. I am broke. He thought to himself as he continued through the streets. In MMOs the money was really important, but you shouldnt pile them up, money has worth only if you spend them, and whats a better way than to spend it on equipment. I wanted a sword at first but blacksmith swindled me into buying armor and now I will have to deal with this. He looked at his copper sword that he won in the tournament. Many players would kill for a sword like that in the place where he was now, but to him it looked plain in comparison to sword of lighting speed that he got from instructor. I need money! Arata then thought back to Forty and his party. They also didnt have money for weapons so they attacked him. Maybe, I should look for person with black-white as well. With this small joke Arata decided that it is time to visit the centrum that he heard about, mainly the job board. Although in comparison to the city of beginners he wanted to find something that involved killing monsters. Work in Marcos restaurant wasnt bad and he actually learned to cook there a little but still, Arata was playing an RPG with fantasy setting, he was not doing it to work at the kitchen sink. The center of Loris was as if there was a festival going on. Many people set up different stands that were doing various things. Some sold food others were about playing festival like games, there was also rumored fortune telling tent and a long line before it. In a way it seemed like a small amusement park as well. Well festivals were just like that although, this situation was everyday thing. I dont have money anyway so I wont even look around. With that though, Arata skipped all attractions and moved to job board. He saw many informations on it about the jobs that needed to be done. They werent only made by NPC. [Buying boar meat. Bucher.] [Buying boar leather. Marty from Forge] Looks like there are quite a lot jobs for boars, but I hope there is something else. [Painter looking for party to hunt boars.] HAHA a painter, good one He laugh at that, but some people did end up in special classes. [Party looking for tank for Stoneground dungeon, minimum level 15] Oh there is a dungeon at level 15 already, its fast. I thought that I wouldnt see one until at least level 40 or something. Stoneground? That doesnt tell me much, is there any information about place with monsters for my level? Unfortunately Arata didnt find information like that. Arata was reading the board once again to see if he didnt miss anything. He found three jobs that he could take care of and get some money on the hand and he was deciding which one to choose. But while he was doing that a fuss started nearby. The players moved away a little and started to talk to each other. -hey its him right? -yes the one that was recruiting the other day, I thought that they moved out already. -never mind just look at him. -yes its not everyday sight to be seen. Arata also moved through the crowd and looked what was the fuss about. At the entrance to the plaza he saw two people who really stood out from the crowd. After seeing them, Arata never again would thought that he can stand out from the crowd. One of them was female elf, but something was different from normal image of elf. Normally when you think about the elf you picture a human with pointy ears and long light colored hair. Well, she did have pointy ears and was tall and slim. Her figure was of an elf for sure. She even had a large green bow on back, green clothes that elves normally would wear but she had long dark-brown hair which wasnt common for elves that often had them blonde or white. She was also, very gifted by nature when it came to the chest. If she had entered the plaza alone, most of people would definitely be looking at her. It was probably the first time that players could see someone of elven race. She also had a mature beauty that would pick everyones interest. However next to her walked another person and it was him that made everyone hold their breath. He wore full plate armor grey-red armor. The plate parts were grey and cloth parts were red. His armor looked like someone took it out from fantasy tale about the mightiest hero of continent and put it right on the guy. But the most surpassing was not the armor. The man had the handsome face which half of worlds population would envy and second half would fall in love with. Then there was also that childish smile which he had on his face when he was talking with his elf friend. His hair was dark shade of red which was the same as that of his armor. He also had unusual color of eyes, they were also dark red. He emanated some kind of grand image that drawn people in and at the same time it would make it difficult to approach. People became quiet at two of them entered the square so it was possible for Arata to listen to their conversation. -Gerald! Give it up, there are no people like that in this city. -but its a mage Kelly, a mage, a mage, a mage. The one that was sulking was a man in armor, it was even more strange sight than before people saw him. The elf replied to his sulking. -I know you want a mage, but not everything is as easy as you think. -sure it is. We find that person and boom our mage joins, simple as that. -you are already calling her ours in the first place why didnt just use that tongue of yours to convince her? -well, I tried but she was kept saying no. -and did it ever stop you? -not that I remember. -see, so what is the problem? -obviously it would be better if she joins on her own rather than after I convince her. Everyone will be happy then, not just me. See! I am thinking of those things as well. -you say that but you already convinced her enough and now you are just holding back. Right now, you just need to add a single word and it will be done. -as I said, I want everyone to be happy. When everyone is happy everything always works out better. Also Kelly, you know, I was always weak when it came to girls. -and you think I will believe that? Both of them stopped at the middle of the center and continued. -hahaha. The man just laughed to elf last remark. -no forget it, I wont get serious with you, it just isnt worth it. -Kelly, Kelly, Kelly dont worry, all we need to do is just to find that guy and all our problems will disappear. -but we have been on it for 5 days already! Gerald 5 days. -yes those five days werent really fruitful, dont you think? But everything will work out in the end. -do you still remember why we came here in the first place? -of course, its my grand plan after all. -so why are we going around in circles for 5 days? -because its a mage Kelly, a mage, a mage, a mage. Didnt you listen to me before? -but Loki already went with his group and we do what? -dont worry, Loki will come back soon enough. His group will die rather fast given the statistics. Well I didnt see them so maybe someone will manage. Given that its already been five days since we saw him it seems quite promising. -why do we even bother to invite people if they will die anyway? -because if they survive they will be the ones we look for. -but no one survives! Also your mage will die as well if she is going with you. -you never know that Kelly. -no I do. In the first place, she doesnt know left from right, how did she even end up as mage in the first place? -it doesnt matter how, what matter is that she did end up as a mage, so she might have a hidden talent and I already caught a glance of it. -okay I understand that mages are hard to find those days. -you finally see my point. Anyway if what I think is correct- -yes you are correct and? Even though the man was not sure, the elf cut in his speech and confirmed it even if she herself did not know what the man was talking about. -if it really is correct then we will train her and in time she will be our strongest mage. -if that girl becomes our strongest mage I somehow dont see our guild future very much. -ah, thats because you dont know her profession. -okay fine what does she have? -well its a secret but I can tell you at least that its ranked higher than yours Kelly. -she has rank higher than 3!? How? -strange things happen in the world, dont you agree? -anyway Gerald, its not like she will join anyway. Give it up already. -but its a mage Kelly, a mage, a mage, a mage! -yes I am hearing it for a past four days. But it doesnt change the fact that she wont join. -what are you saying, she was really happy when we offered her to join, wasnt she? -happy? I remember that she started running the moment you started walking in her direction. -hahaha, it was fun in its own way. We sure played around. -for me it looked like you were hunting a frightened deer. -its our precious mage after all. -I dont know how you do it but no matter who they are, people always eat from your hand. So how did you convince her? -actually it was quite easy. She said that she was looking for a guild herself. But I must say add that I was really captive by her speech about guild leader that he told me back then. -yes, with that talk she made you make a promise to her. -ah, it was a really grand speech. I decided that I want to be a leader like that. The man ignored elfs last comment. -I dont think you can. -sure I can! -anyway because of that talk you went easy on her and made that stupid promise. The elf repeated herself, as she was sure that her companion was not listening. -it didnt look that stupid and Kelly. -I know its a mage. -exactly. I am glad you finally understand. -five days Gerald. -well the deal looked rather easy at first and it was promising to us as well. -well finding her friend in this village didnt look that hard at first. -exactly but if he is not in this village then its slightly more problematic. -slightly? We looked for him for 5 days already Gerald, you even gave out the reward for his head. -not his head, I just said that the one that brings him here will get 10 gold. -but it sounded like you wanted people to hunt him down for you. -its better than just looking by ourselves. -no, no, no Loki was right about the whole thing from the start. Remember he went ahead the second he heard about the deal. -no, Loki just wanted to test his group faster. There were some inpatient members in it as he explained. -he is just simply following our plan that we made but you simply ignored it even though it was mostly your idea and you start to look for some imaginable person because some newbie told you so. -but its a mage Kelly. -mage with delusions, you still remembered her friends description. -well people sometimes have unusual hair while their characters is made, look at yourself a white-elf who is not blonde, even heard about something like that. -said the person with red hair. -but you know that I have the same hair in real life so dont say that its unnatural. -yes you are one of those who choose option just like real life, where is the fun in that? -well, even if you choose random you still ends up somewhat similar, what would be the reason why you dont have light colored hair despite being an elf. -okay our hair is one thing. But that guy is different. -our mage also have interesting hair color dont you agree? -I can understand blue color somehow. But what she said about that guy is impossible. -but its a mage Kelly. -mage or not, hair like that is impossible without use of high level dye. -but she said that it looked natural. -no Gerald it cant look natural at all eh oh, look see over there! That guy in the black The elf pointed a finger in Aratas direction. -do you think that something like that can be natural? Then the man also looked at him. The moment that happened, Arata got chills just from his gaze even though his face was not angry or anything and he simply looked at him. Still Arata felt that he could die any second the moment he get closer to that guy. The man continued. -now that I see hair like that up close, it may be true that colors like that to be impossible on default. -you finally see my point. The elf answered relieved. -in that case I just thought of a great idea. We simply find the guy with black hair and dye his hair with some white paint so it looks just like that guys head. -that might be the only choice. -okay, you go find the dye and I will find someone with black hair who is also a good actor. -but the white dye is cost a lot, you know and its impossible to get it here in this part of the world. -just get some white paint and that will do for now. -hey Gerald. -hmm? -cant we just use that guy over there? -well he looks like the person we are looking for after all, and we wont have to bother with paint if he already has a hair like that. -by the way, in the first place isnt that a guy we are looking for? -I was waiting for a moment you will say it Kelly Arata recalled that someone wanted to get his head, and it was the man from Fortys description. Not only that, he also just heard it himself. I think that its time to run! That was what his instincts were screaming to him. But just as Arata was finally about to do that, the elf and the man in gray-red armor appeared right before him. The elf was about the same height as him and the knight was higher by about 5 centimeters, and from close he also looked little older than Arata by around one to three years. -hi there, my name is Gerald, you are coming with us to the training dungeon so I can see you up close. If you show any promise I will let you enter our soon to be created guild. Oh and this is Kelly. Are you ready? Great. LETS GO! The man just said those words and started to run back to the entrance then the elf spoke to Arata. -for now just come with us, also give up running away, you cant refuse that man. Then the elf started to run after the man soon after. -what the ? Said Arata but no one was here to listen anymore. Still one way or another, he also started to run after them without giving it much thought, as it was the most natural thing to do. //**This chapter is far from over. Continue to _9.2**// http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3043 Chapter 9 “He who commands the flame.” _9.2 //** Continuation of chapter 9. (From 9.1) **// Arata ran after them and they soon left the city. They didnt go anywhere far though as they soon stopped on small hill where some other players were waiting. The man who introduced himself as Gerald run on the top the hill and shouted. -everyone, your glorious leader have returned! How can he call himself glorious? thought Arata seeing this scene. -you may have waited long but with this I can see your resolve. You there, mage, what was your name again? -Anari. -Anari, I have found the person you asked for and kept my promise so you are joining us on adve . -Waaaaaaaaaaaa Arata! It looked like the mentioned mage was the person whom Arata knew well. Anari got up the instant she saw him and started to run in his direction. What is she doing here? -hey Anari been a wh- Arata couldnt finish as he was hugged to the ground by Anari. -waaaa, Arata been so long, I was looking for you! -ye been like what few days, anyway get off. -no, because you will run away How did she know I wanted to do that? -anyway Arata you are coming as well, right? She then asked although Arata had no idea what it was about. -where and why should I go anywhere with you? I dont have any quests to help you anymore. -but arent we friends? -shouldnt friends know something about each other, do you know anything about me? -of course I know, you are my friend after all. -sole name doesnt count. -but I know a lot. You are Arata, the good strange person who helps other in needs and even defend them against monsters when they cry in park unable to move. You also force girls into strange places, and ask them to do this and that. -HAHAHAHA After hearing this the man come to them laughing. -I see that you are interesting fellow. Your name is Arata correct? -yes. -Arata, come with us it will be fun! Anari still pressed him about something but they she was stopped by the man to whom she referred as leader. -my good Anari, dont worry he will come, leave it to me. -yes leader! Who is this guy that Anari is listening to him? I couldnt get her to listen even though I tried so hard. -anyway Arata, once again I introduce myself. My name is Gerald. I am, for now lets just say leader of this very group. Gerald introduced himself once again. -in that case I am Arata, a simple fellow who prefers to be left alone Arata also introduced himself in most possible friendly way he could. -but I dont see it happening so what do you want from me? -straight to the point, I see. In that case I will be quick, right now I am looking for members to my guild and this is the training ground which will decide if you can join or not. -I see, well, I am not interested in guilds right now so I will be going now. Arata tried to normally refuse the offer but. -refusal is not acceptable. If you want, you can write the letter of complaint and I will read it carefully and then ignore it. Gerald added. -but I really dont want to go. -of course you want to go. -no I dont. -yes you do. -no I dont. -yes you do. After about five minutes elf called Kelly come to Arata and told him to ear. -give it up he can do it all day. -no I dont -yes you do. The two continued this exchange though. After about 10 minutes though Arata gave up. -okay I want to go. -see I knew it the moment I saw you. Anyway in the test we are going split in two groups of 6 and go to a dungeon. Gerald continued like last 15 minutes didnt happened. -dungeon? Well, its normal for party to go to dungeon but why are you calling it a test? -groups will be leaded by Kelly and me, and we will look at how you guys are doing, those who managed to stay alive to the end and show some promise will join the guild. -sorry but as I said dont want to join the guild right now. Arata really didnt plan to join guild any time soon, at least until he get some decent levels. He would leave low level guild the second he ding his level so what was the point. But just as Arata refused that, Anari jumped into conversation. -join the guild Arata, I want to join with you. Then the elf Kelly added. -Anari, dont worry, if Gerald will want Arata in his guild, Arata cant say anything about it. -is it true Leader!? -hahaha Anari you should be worry about getting in first yourself. Anyway, Arata said that he wants to come with us so I can wait for his application until we are done with the test Who said that I want to go? -but you two interrupted my grand speech with your touching reunion so I need to start it again. What touchy reunion? Gerald once again run at top at the hill and started. -everyone, your glorious le- -okay my group! Lets just ignore that man and go already! This time Kelly was the one that shouted. Five people that were also there got up and followed her. At that moment Gerald shouted to her. -KELLY, how could you!? -FIVE DAYS GERALD, FIVE DAYS! After that Gerald gathered another three members from a hill and started. -okay unfortunately my mood was just ruined so you will have to wait to another day to hear my grand speech again. At least, I wish I was in other group without this guy. Arata looked to the way where Kelly group just went. Anari talked to him. -Arata, isnt it great that we are in the same group. -ye sure. He answered without energy, at that moment Gerald interrupted him. -where is your energy Arata? Be happy! Adventure awaits! -ye sure. -ah I know, did you perhaps wanted to go with Kelly instead? Looks like he at least knows how much I dont want to go with him. -is it true Arata? He asked again once again. -yes, it would be much more enjoyable to be in another group. At that remark Gerald made his way to Anari. -I am sorry Anari. -about what leader? -looks like you lost your chance. -what chance? -you know. Hooking up with Arata. -but I am not trying to hook up with him we just meet each the other day. -oh it is good then, your heart wont be broken. -why would it broke? -you see Arata over there as he is now looking sadly in the distance. -yes, he looks somewhat unhappy. -it is because he fall in love on first sight with Kelly and now she left him behind alone. -Arata fell in love in Kelly? How did it happen? -oh it is quite simple if you want to know. -what is it, tell me!? -well it depends on the guys, for example I dont care about something like that but it looks like Arata likes girls that are gifted by nature in certain areas. -waaa? -in short, big boobs. I saw he was looking at Kelly for the whole time that I was speaking with him and he was not looking at the face. -but, but Arata is a good person he wouldnt care about something like that. -you may think that but his actions speak differently go ask him to find out for sure. As Arata was thinking about how to get away from this situation suddenly Anari come up to him crying. -waaaaa, Arata it is true isnt it! Ah, what is it again with her? -what happened? What is true? -is it true that you wanted to go with Kelly group? What does this have anything to do with her? Well, other group looked like normal group for a dungeon, compared to this one which will surely end up as time waste. -yes I would prefer to go with her. -waaaaa, and I thought you were good person! -did I ever make anything to be called a bad person? Arata still had no idea what she was about but he asked. -but, but! -what? -the leader said that you wanted to go with Kelly because you like big boobs, is it true Arata? What, what is wrong with her? I already had enough dealing with her in beginners city. Give me a break! -and why do you just believe everything he says. -so you dont like big boobs? How can I answer a question like that? -well about that, emm- -waaaaaaaaaa! No fuck it, I am done. I will lose my sanity if I have to deal with those two people at the same time. Arata make his way to where Gerald was having a good laugh. -hahaha, isnt it funny to see her like that? Hey Arata how do you think? -bulling others is funny to you? -but I didnt say any lie, did I? -so why is she crying over there? -isnt it because of your preference? I dont care about his level anymore. Arata had enough and he decided to do something really stupid, his instincts were screaming to him right now to not do it but Arata already decided. -Gerald, fight with me, if I win you wont ever get close to me again, simply just leave me alone! I dont really care about your guild, it will disband soon anyway. -and if you lose? -it wont happen but in that case I will put up with everything that you ask. I will even join your guild if I have to. -hahahahahaha. Gerald bursted into his childish laughs again. -what so funny? -nothing its just you are so easy to provoke, anyway I accept your terms but wait a second. HEY ANARI! Be happy again and come here for a moment! Geralds request was really unreasonable but somehow Anari soon came right away and she was not wawawing anymore. -Anari what I just said was a joke. -hmm, really? -yes, anyway you know Arata better then me dont you? Isnt he the good strange hero that helped you? -ah! You are right Leader! How could I fall for it, I am so stupid, why did I take it seriously, Arata is a good person, after all. Arata sorry I was tricked. Well, I somehow always get tricked easy. Anari bowed in Arata direction and right now she was following Geralds request be happy. -by the way Anari, Arata just challenged me to a duel and said that he will do what I ask of him if he losses. That means he will be coming with us so cheer for me, okay. So he really wanted to provoke me, and I fell right into it. It was not good day for Arata. First he was outplayed by blacksmith Rodrigez and now this. -fight? But leader will you be okay? Anari asked when she finished apologizing. -oh, you worry about me Anari? Thats sweet but didnt you want Arata to join as well, with this he wont be able to refuse anymore. -but Arata is really, really strong! What if you lose! -you seem to have big faith in him. It would be good if he really were that strong. But anyway, it shouldnt take long, just wait and see. Geralds eyes started to shine a little when he said that, he was really confident in his words. Arata once again got chills. I going to die, arent I? No lets stop thinking like that. Sure I got provoked, but now that it came to this, I will wipe away that smile from his face. He looks confident so I need to attack fast and do some damage before he realize that this fight isnt going to be walk in the park. Arata prepared a plan, sheath out his weapons and looked at Gerald and then he said. -dont you plan to equip a weapon as well? -no, that isnt really the best idea. We dont want to wait ten days for your respawn after all. -ha, dont use it as excuse after you lose. [Sword enchant: Thunder] [Sword slash] Arata without a second thought enchanted his weapons with electric energy and sent it in arc against the Gerald who just stood there. It was a perfect surprise attack but the energy stopped on some invisible wall one meter before Gerald and disappeared soon after. My strongest skill that eats all mana, just like that? Arata could not believe his eyes for a moment. -haha, Arata I thought you were a swordsman, and here you attack me with magic. I thought that it would work as he was relaxed and just as he said he shouldnt except range attack from me but why didnt have any effect? -and I thought that you were some kind of knight, wearing that armor of yours. And here you stop it with some magical invisible wall, what class are you? -well my class is a little special but it has nothing to do with this barrier, Sword enchanter. By the way, its rude to ask anyone about their classes its like asking what your weaknesses are. After one look he knows what class I have? But thats also in a way good, I can surprise him with that. Arata had a double class so now that his enemy somehow found out one. He shouldnt expect skills from his other class. Even though I have just one other skill, if I use it in right moment, when he lets his guard down then. [Lighting speed activated] Arata rushed with double speed forward. -oh, a movement technique, I didnt know that sword enchanters had something like that. After reaching him, Arata made a swing with his sword, but that attack was simply caught in Geralds left hand. -I think I saw it before, lighting speed isnt it? Thats a rare technique to have, because of unbelievable challenge one must complete. Well nowadays its probably easier to complete it than it was back in the day. Second swing, Gerald dodged it to the left, and then he passed by Arata on Aratas left and hit with his hand in the back of Aratas head making Arata lost his balance and feel down. Not yet. Arata stood up from the ground and rushed again this time using only his fighting style. Gerald was dodging it left and right and kept talking. -hahaha, I like you already, it was good idea to turn off the barrier. Its refreshing to see a low level player like you. You must have some real fighting experience didnt you? You definitely didnt learn it here in such short time. Your style is so good that its definitely not something someone just improvised. Actually I dont know that many people who would be able to stand against you in pure swordsmanship, if you just had some more speed to back it up, still everything will come in time. Still you prove that my idea about this whole thing was correct after all. Anyway Arata, are you ready to finally end it? While Gerald was talking Arata was waiting for one moment. Now! [Black dash] After another of Geralds dodge Arata used his skill and was about to go through Geralds body and at least make a single hit on him as so far he didnt manage to do it. Black dash, the skill saved him many times in the forest. It was also the only skill that managed to hurt the bear. Arata thought that with this, he had a good chance to make Gerald lose his smile. From the very start he knew that he didnt have much chance on winning in the first place based on level difference, but he planned to at least have that one hit on him, for his overconfidence and previous jokes. But as he was about to hit him, Geralds hand started to shine a little in red light and he managed to catch Aratas throat and bring him to the ground. -so, are you done yet? Gerald asked in friendly voice while keeping Arata from moving. In this moment there was nothing else that Arata could do. -okay you won, happy? Arata admitted the defeat. In this moment, Gerald released his grip and laughed. -hahaha, yes I am incredibly happy. Ah, Kelly should have seen it. If she did, she wouldnt complain about those 5 days of wait ever again Ah, I cant even hate him, when he laughs like that. Even though Arata got annoyed by about every fifth word that Gerald said to him, in comparison to Anari, couldnt have any bad feelings for this guy. -anyway, Arata you are not disappointed now, are you? Suddenly Gerald asked a question like that. -what do you mean? -you dont have to hide it. From the very moment you thought that we are some small guild that was recruiting newbies who just started to play, so you didnt even thought about joining us at all. -no, I really dont look for guild right now but well if I am playing this game I would rather play it seriously because if I dont, there is less fun in it. So yes it was just like you said. For someone who already experienced pinnacle of gaming, playing casually was not fun anymore. That was actually a demise of many best gamers that reached a point in life while they couldnt dedicate enough time to playing the game. People like that either played seriously or did not play at all. -hahaha, I really like your attitude. Actually if this duel did not change your mind I had a lot more in store to show but I see that you understood everything way before we even started that duel. Still, you have to pass the test just like everyone else as it would be unfair. For now I will tell you just this. If you manage to past this test, you surely wont regret that. -well, I can take it for leveling guild at least. -leveling guild haha. Well in the first place our guild still doesnt even exist so its not even a leveling guild yet. It seemed like Gerald was not someone who would take an offense. -how many members do you gathered so far? Arata ended up asking. -for now its me, Kelly and one more guy called Loki. -from the look of it its not even a guild, not with this number at least. It does barely classify as a group. -thats why we are looking for new members but we will talk about it on our way to the dungeon. EVERYONE! Its time to move out! Anari run up to Arata and started. -Arata, you lost? She asked as if she really didnt believe that. -and why are you so surprised about that? -Arata is strong after all. -not strong enough it seems. -then why did you start the fight even though you knew that you dont have much chance, leader is high level after all. If he was only high level I would have hit him. At least with black dash at the end but from the very first moment he saw right through me and he was not using any spells either. -well . -leader is a good person. But Anyway, Arata you should ask for a rematch I am sure that you can win next time. Did she just watch the same fight that I just fought? I got owned and pretty badly I must add. Arata was not looking for excuses and he completely knew what happened. -ye, ye, next time. Gerald heard them and starts to walk next to them. -hey Arata, did I just heard wrong or you want another round? -no thank you. -leader, you might have won this time but Arata still hasnt showed all that he got. Anari on the other hand was convinced of her words. Arata did not know where that confidence came from though. -haha, its good that you have a faith in him. -no only that, Arata has super technique that can kill level 40 monster in one shoot, I even saw him doing that once. -wow really Arata? No if its like that we must continue our fight. I might have ended it too early. Show me that technique. Gerald asked excited. -Anari that was just a lucky one time move, dont think that I can pull that out anytime I want. -but Arata, you did it like it was the most natural thing to do, you even had a poem for it, although I dont remember how it went. -a poem? Technique that you cant use? You used the basic magic, didnt you Arata? Now it all makes more sense, no wonder that you got double class Gerald arrived in conclusion in like a second. How does he know everything? -but even after doing all that you ended up dying, pity I must say. If you didnt die you would easily end up with class of rank one Gerald said convinced of his words. I knew that death cost me a lot! Damn it! And Arata somehow took his words for granted. -but I guess rank one is not all gold that shines so in fact having rank two is better in many way. Gerald commented. -what? Do you happen to have rank one class? -I wonder about that, do I look like I have it. You shouldnt assume someones strength based on the rank of their classes He definitely has it. Arata completely ignored what Gerald just said and arrived at this conclusion. -speaking of classes you two really suit each other. Gerald continued. What he is on again? -could you stop that already? -what you are embarrass? Hey Anari, you might have a chance after all. Anari didnt answer to that. But Gerald didnt ended it just there and started to sing. -Arata and Anari were sitting on the tree where they were- -what are you a child? Arata quickly interrupted him. -sure I am. Being a child is an awesome thing. You can do anything you want and dont care about consequences. Gerald answered. - . -Anyway when I said that you suit each other I was telling what I was thinking thats all. -hey Anari say something to that because I already have enough. -emm Arata, I know that you helped me and I really like you but we dont know each other for too long so for now we should stay a friends. Also, I already have someone important to me, so I cant. Hey, hey, hey what are you saying here? No! I already know what is coming next. -hahaha, Arata you get dumped. -I cant get dumped when I didnt do anything. -dont worry Arata there are many fish in the sea. You can always try with Kelly, and for a record she doesnt have boyfriend right now. -you seem to know for sure. You two know each other from real? -well, we did meet in real few times yes. As for starting the guild, we started it two months ago, real time. -so for two months you couldnt find anyone? -Arata, you should understand that, what I want is not just a simple guild like you can find at every corner. -so what do you want to make? Arata asked. -I want to make the guild that will rival all others, will stay united under any circumstances. The guild that can become No.1. -you have ambition for sure, well, in this case maybe I will stay in the guild after all. -hahaha first you will have to pass the test. Anyway we will soon get there. -right, about that test? The players that pass the test are free to join right? But wouldnt it be better to look at higher level, rather than in first village? Arata asked as it seemed to him somewhat strange. -well sure, at first we were looking for players within our level range but we couldnt find anyone that would fit the strongest guild. Well I do have few people in mind but they wont be easily convinced to join if the guild doesnt even exist. -so you decided to look for good players on lower levels to create the base. -looks like you know how it goes. -Arata, why finding players on low levels help to make a strong guild? Isnt it better to gather high level players? Anari interrupted them with yet another newbie question. -its rather simple. On high level good players are already in guilds so its hard to find someone that can be of any use. Then if you found someone they probably have their reason for not being in a guild so its a lost cause anyway. Thats why, you look for people with low levels who are capable. You help them level up and you have a good loyal members for future. Thats what you are trying to pull out isnt it, leader? -ah Arata, you finally called me a leader, ah I love the sound of it. Gerald answered. -as you can see Anari, he is trying to change the subject because what I just told was the truth and he is manipulating us. -but isnt its natural to stay in the guild that you have joined, right? Anari answered. -thats a good girl, you already show a lot of promise. -waaa! I do shows promise, Arata did you hear that, I show promise! -Gerald mind for a second. Arata started to whisper with Gerald away from Anaris hearing. -you do know what Anari can do, right? -naturally I do. -no, I dont think so, you just said that she shows promise. -well I didnt saw her fight directly but I heard her story from the forest. Hmm, I wonder how did she pass it? It wasnt that easy and given that she was already in this village few days ago, she did it on the first try. -okay, what did she tell you? -well she got the same challenge that everyone, the one with 150 points. -if you tell me that she killed a bear I leaving right now. There is no way that you would believe it right? Arata stated it right away. -hahaha nothing so extreme. But Arata you found the bear. How did it go? -well, I survived somehow. Arata summarized it quickly. His voice told the story though. -ah, that bear is really broken. I remember when I was fighting him, when I started playing this game. Ah how long ago it was, old good times, good memories. Arata was not sure if memories concerning that bear could be called good by anyone. -you also fought against him? -you could say that but it was rather he just hit me three times and I was dead, even my class didnt save me. No, no, no that bear is not to be killed by anyone. I wouldnt want to fight it even now. -you would overpower him with your level today. -you are probably right but you never know what that bear can have in his sleeves. Anyway, Anari didnt fight against the bear as she didnt find him. But she also didnt attack plants because she said that she cant simply destroy flowers, she also didnt attack deer, foxes or bunnies because she said that they look cute. -so what did she hunted for, was there anything else? -remember, there was additional note about the other things that could be killed and would give 10 points, right? This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.-well I didnt found anything else there. Anyway what did she kill? Arata got quite interested. -well, she called them bandits. Gerald answered with slightly awkward voice. -bandits? Were there any bandits? -in theory there shouldnt be and thats leaves one explanation. - oh that I didnt think about this one. -no one normally thinks like that. She just killed or rather roasted down 15 other players that were trying to complete the challenge. -roasted? -you know mages have their spells, she was spamming fireballs left and right and people died when they go caught in it simple as that. Gerald explained what tactic Anari used. -good thing I wasnt there. -hahaha, you would manage somehow but she completed the forest challenge without dying, that some achievement. I for example completed it only after 3 deaths. -you died 3 times? -well, in my defense it was because I was trying win against the bear as I usually dont give up that easily. -ah, thats explain a lot, -I thought that there might be some trick to him and decided to face him again and again. But let me tell you. No there isnt any trick, that bear is just broken. Anyway, returning to the topic, even though Anari sure is quite bad right now, she can do things if she tries hard and has a special way of thinking. -yes special is a right word here. -also I would say its easier to teach someone how to play than find someone with high ranking class like her. But most importantly she has a special talent that can bloom so no. I didnt invite her just because of her class. At that moment Anari interrupted them. -hey what are you talking about there I want to listen too. -nothing really. Arata answered. -yes that was nothing Anari. Arata just needed someone to tell his sorrows after you dumped him thats all. Gerald had no mercy on Arata though. -Arata sorry, I didnt think that you will be so sad about that, maybe I should think about it a little more. -no you dont. -but you were sad, werent you? Even though we are friends I hurt you, I am sorry. -dont be fooled again Anari, its just another plot of his. -is it true leader? -of course not, Arata was just saying how he was thinking about you all the time after you separated, how he couldnt forget the girl from that time and how happy he is as he finally see you again. He really didnt have mercy. -waaaa, Arata is that true? I really didnt know. -hey can you stop it, she is taking it way too serious. -hahaha, never mind him Anari, he is just shy. We also talked about how great the day is today. -we did that? Arata first asked. -why is it great? Then Anari asked. -today I finally found someone who I would want in my guild, two people to be exact. They have interesting personalities and good classes. I found two golden eggs, The Twilight Swordsman and The White Wizard. I never thought it will go this well. So he did know my other class name as well wait! -Anari, you have a class called the White Wizard? -yes! Haha, Arata do you finally see me in better light!? She asked excited. -no I just thought that the White Wizard sounded too cool for you and you will disgrace that title. -wawa . -hahaha, dont worry Anari just pass the test and join my guild, then I will teach you how to play. Oh, You dont know what you are getting into. -you said earlier that our classes suit each other, but isnt our classes complete the opposite? Anari asked. -opposite attract each other after all. I will let you say what you want. Its just a game anyway. There is no way that I would end up in relationship in the first place. And she is like completely opposite from the type that I could like. And even if I found someone I like, in the end, it would only create problems. For past five years Arata didnt even have anyone who he could call close friend. That was mostly because of how he thought. He could only see disadvantages and problems with it. What problem? someone might ask. Problem, that someone would open his old wounds. Wounds that closed down but did not heal. The game was his way to escape so he doesnt have to think about the pass. He wouldnt think about ruining his safe place by something so trivial like Geralds jokes. Although there was someone that was seriously thinking about what he Gerald just said. So far the only one that she thought that she could like was her childhood friend so she looked for him. But few days ago, she found out that he is back and even spoken with him. But he ended up forgetting about her completely. They ended up in quarrel and didnt talk again. She tried to make a contact but it didnt bring any fruit, and now she was afraid to even speak with him again. Things could go even worse after all. Now she found someone else. Even though she didnt know him in real life, he was her friend who said that he would protect her if there was a need. He was a person who even if annoyed, would listen to her worries. He was also a person that she still didnt know much about, but she was thinking about what would happen if they become closer than now? She didnt plan to do anything about it though. She could not forget about her childhood friend. In the first place the only reason that she was interested in Arata was that he was somewhat similar to him. When she thought about it like that, it would be unfair for Arata to be treated as replacement for her friend. Thats why, no matter what would happen it was impossible for her to truly like him that way. She just decided to enjoy the game with her new friends for now and maybe in a future find a way to regain her lost friendship with her childhood friend. The group was already walking for 5 hours and yet they still did not arrived at their destination. -hey Gerald! - . -hey! The Arata was already little annoyed by the long walk. At first Gerald told them that its not so far from town, but now that so much time passed. In addition to that, the one that was responsible for his journey once again ignored him. -leader, Arata was calling you. -did he? I didnt hear anyone calling me. Gerald played dumb. - . -anyway Arata wanted something? Gerald asked as he really did not hear anything. I am not good at dealing with him. -firstly could you stop ignoring me, when I call you? -you were calling me? I didnt hear anyone saying Leader, apart from Anari a second ago. -your name is Gerald right? -yes but call me leader, you already called me that once. -no. -why!? -because this way it sounds cool, so its annoying to call you that. -Arata you should be more respectful if you want to join my guild. Call me Leader or I wont let you join! -Gerald, Gerald, Gerald. -now, you were asking for it, okay you can go, I wont let you join the guild. -perfect, fine by me. Bye everyone, it was nice knowing you guys, although I didnt talk to you three. Success. Arata started to walk away, at that moment Anari moved after him and asked. -hey, Arata you are not coming? -Anari sorry, but it looks like I failed the test, its really hard test after all. I simply couldnt do it. Take care. Then Anari went crying to Gerald. -waaaa, Leader! What did you do! -what did I do? Lets see, I sent him away because he didnt want to call me leader. -but Leader! -yes? -no one except me is calling you a Leader, so why you sent Arata away if you want to have him in your guild? -idiot. Its not decided yet, same goes for you. First you guys need to pass the test, also know that even if you pass I still can make a judgment to not invite you. -but does test involve calling you a leader? Anyway Arata went the other way already. -but I want to be called a leader, booooooo! Gerald sometimes acted like a child. Anari was still persuading him. -but you also want to have strong guild dont you? And you told Arata to go away? Where will you find someone better for your guild? -ah Anari you simply dont understand the jokes. -but Arata is already 50 meters away from us. Arata was not wasting any minute. -he is good at joking too. But did you forget what he said? -there is no time for it! At that moment Gerald said something louder so Arata could hear him. -Arata said that he will do anything I ask of him if he loses the duel! I asked him to come with us for the test! And precipice in it, to the end! And you should know that he isnt someone who broke his promises! Aaaaa, I it was such good opportunity. Arata went back to the group and right away started. -lets talk about this agreement. -but you were the one that come with it. Now you want to change it? -no I just want to add some rules. -rules, fine lets listen to them. Gerald was really easygoing. -first, this only apply to the current exploration nothing more. -ah, you were worried that I will force you to enter a guild with this, dont worry. The duel was not fair in the first place so I can comply with it, and its not like I have to force on you anything else, just come with us for dungeon is enough. You will want or maybe even already want to join anyway No way! I finally won, against this this guy, I have finally won! -But before that I have one condition -you have to call me a Leader! I want to be called a leader! And so Aratas victory did not happen. -why do you want to be called Leader in the first place? -the leader should be called leader dont you think? Its something I decided, -the elf didnt call you Leader at all. -ah she will learn one day. Anyway you have to call me a Leader and you three too. He called the three other people that were walking with them. They answered. -yes! I still didnt even talk with them. I should find out what they can do at least. Arata walked to three of them and spoke. -hey there, I thought that as we are going to be in party for this dungeon we should at least talk to each other once. The three of them were surprised and happy at the same time, one of them answered. -well we already know each other quite well, thats why we separated ourselves. Also we had good topic to talk about. -good topic like what? -what three gamers like us can talk about when they meet if not about the games. -and here I was wasting time when I could find out something useful. Arata answered. -we talked about many things. Anyway you wanted something? -not really I just bored. -then its the same as us. We are walking already for 5 hours. The other one speak. -I never heard about dungeons located here. -wait you have been in dungeons already? Arata asked surprised. -I was in one. -Me too, the one called Stoneground -can you tell me where it is? Arata finally had an occasion to find out something that would be actually useful. -you werent there before? Sure, we can tell you but it will be easier to check the net. It easier to understand the way, so you will find it quicker. -the best thing to do though is just to find a group that is going there in Loris. Once you go there you will know the way. The other one suggested. -well I was planning to check the net before moving out but just as I arrived in town I somehow ended up here. -normally players are checking the information is the first thing one do after first month. -it was my plan but I somehow didnt do it. -well sometimes you just cant stop playing. -so I wanted to ask. Why you guys want to join the guild of this guy? Arata pointed the finger at the person walking right next to him and asked the question. -hey who are you calling this guy, call me a leader! -sorry, but somehow I just cant do it, you know its like this word is blocked for you. -call me a leader! -anyway its not nice to spy on someones talk, go away! -but it looked interesting so I came. I bored as well. Gerald was saying what he wanted without care. -precisely, we are bored as well how long it is to the dungeon? -hmm, one, two, three, no was it four Another four hours? -about forty minutes. Gerald finally answered. -what with this precise answer? -anyway continue the talk. I want to listen what you guys talk about. -hey . Arata thought that it was rather hard to have a talk with this guy around but the three didnt think that, and started. -anyway Leader, will you really let us join if we survive the dungeon. -well thats what the test is about after all. But I will be watching so dont try to cheat. -yes Leader! What a strange bunch. Arata couldnt fully understand them and asked. -anyway why do you guys want to join so hard? -you dont know? Joining a guild with high level player in it has many benefits. -like? -information at least. Also guild name to hide behind. They seemed serious but Arata was not convinced. -information well sure, but cant you just check the net? -of course if you check the net, you will get many informations, but internet doesnt have all things that there out there. -you just didnt look good enough then. -no, its because that there arent that many of them. -what are you saying? I found like million pages on search page. I didnt check them though. -yes but information on those are lacking, and everyone else is already using it so for example if you find information about dungeon like stoneground and spread it around, everyone will be going there right? -well thats normal as everyone wants their items. Wait you are telling me that dungeons are joined together? Arata asked as he found it strange. -yes normally in games you have different space for every group but here there is nothing like that, everyone enters the same spot and hunt in the same dungeon. The other added. -still the dungeons are big so many groups can enter. Anyway information is not that easy to get, for two reasons. First the game developers dont give you any information at all as they simply dont have any. Everything you can hear from them is only their speculations. And the second, people doesnt want others to know their secrets that they worked so hard to find . -well thats normal. -in this game every single information is on value of gold, thats also the main reason that media about it are so popular. -media? -there are few programs about it. You should watch at least the one called weekly EOA, their informations are of high caliber. They also sometimes show a film from adventures of high level players, those are always something to look forward to. -the game is really popular. -of course it is, just look at this world. One of three that was speaking spread his hands around. -but it means that there is information after all. Arata pointed it out. -well there are always people that give something away if they dont need it anymore. Thats where it comes from mostly. Still joining the guild with high level players is the best option for us. -hey Arata you should look and learn from them, you would know what is good for you. Gerald commented. -I dont think that you look like person who would give away his information easily and definitely not for free. -well, thats true but for my guild I will do anything. Remember the words that I will say, there are many merits from joining my guild. -Leader! The three looked at him with admiration. Arata didnt get fooled by this lie. -but first you need to past the test. Well you could say that test itself is good information so you didnt waste your 5 days for nothing. Gerald added. -how hard is that test anyway? Arata asked because he also got interested. I will probably be able to anything he can ask from low level player and after I pass I will tell him, no thank you. Ah I cant wait for this moment. Arata was still jumping between wanting to join and not wanting to join. That was because every time he finally thought like joining, he would get annoyed by Gerald again and once again Arata wouldnt feel like joining anymore. -ah, it shouldnt be that hard, I even changed it a little especially for you guys. Gerald answered. I have a bad feeling about it. -you change it? But we are still completing the dungeon, are we? One of the three asked. -we are nearly there, so its a good opportunity to talk about it. Hey Anari come here for a moment! Gerald called out to the slow walking mage at the back. -what is it leader? Anari quickly run up to them after being called. -I will now explain the test so listen. Lets see test actually starts the moment I see someone on the street that doesnt look like clone. Then I talk with them for a moment, if they dont have some stupid profession and I like them, they mostly end up going to the test. -and how do you know someones profession? Arata asked. -naturally I ask everyone nicely and people answer, right guys? Gerald looked at other three and Anari. -well we did answer him because it looked like we can gain something from it. One of the three answered. Greed is everywhere. -well in this part of test there can be some exceptions but I mostly gather people from the streets of Loris and offer them the place in my guild if they pass the rest of the test. -everyone is chosen by you? -Loki is choosing people for test on his own as its easier if we are doing it separately. -Loki, that other member of guild? -yes. Anyway after finding enough people, I assign them to my group or Kellys one and we go to dungeon to see what people we found are really made off. -but does something like that really show if someone is suited for your soon to be strongest guild? -its a good question, I wonder that myself. The whole idea with inviting promising low level players didnt went exactly like I planned so far. -it is the first time you do it so you cant judge it now. At that moment the three interrupted Arata. -first time? No, he is doing it for some time already. One of them said. -didnt you say something like you started your search just recently five days or something? Arata asked. -no, five days have passed since our last test and before that there were already three other turns. Gerald explained. -so you are already on it for some time. -not really, each turn normally ends up rather fast. Second turn for example didnt take more than one day for each group. -then this test is easy if you say that you can complete it so fast. Arata was somewhat disappointed. -no, it ended like that because everyone died on first pack so all we did was go to dungeon and then I had to alone come back again all the way. The disappointment disappeared instantly though. -first pack? Well it happens sometimes? Anyway how many people have passed so far? -I already mentioned the current members of our guild so right now we have zero new members that passed the test. Gerald said proudly, although what he said should not be said in that way. -zero! No way! I saw the last group some of they looked strong. Said one of three. -last group? Yes, it wasnt that bad last time. Still, not good enough. Now that I think about it I should more carefully pick up the players. Gerald answered. Rather you came up with some stupid idea for your test, and no one can pass it. -so you changed the test so it is easier? I cant say its worst option considering that you want to find someone who can pass the test. -Leader thought about us and made it easier. Once again we are surprised by his kindness. -waaaa! Leader is it true? The three and Anari were already eating from Geralds hand. -hahaha, maybe I should tell you guys first where we went last time. Kelly group went there this time as well anyway you all have less than level 20 just like the previous groups. We will simply go to dungeon that would suit your level and see how it goes. Thats simple, although I not convinced its a good way to search for really good people. Well, I am at level 12 right now so if they went for level 20 with party of 12 it might create some problems. Arata quickly analyzed information, one of three asked. -so what was the level of dungeon? -it was only 27, but no one could complete it. Strange, isnt it? Hearing this information the three bursted. -hey I am at 17! How can I do a dungeon for level 27? -me too, I am level 19 and there is no way that anyone could complete it with level like that. 17, 19 better than me at least but they said that they were on dungeon so its normal. But doing dungeon for 27th level out of sudden? Isnt it stupid to even think about it? One shot and you die. Then one of the three said with a smile. -so Leader you changed it to something easier so we can pass right? To that Gerald answered and crushed his hopes. -not really, this time we are going to different dungeon because I got bored of the view on the way to the previous dungeon. Anyway dont worry. The challenge itself doesnt really change much. Its only 30th level dungeon now. If you were going to die at 27th level dungeon then three level difference wont mean much. 30th level!! What does he expect from us? Sure I somehow defeated wolf at level 40 but it was only because it was a specific monster. Also dungeons always have better enemies than those on the field. And if this isnt enough there is a boss at the end, who can be up to level 60 in this case. Arata knew that Gerald had crazy ideas but that was rather too much to ask. Although, Arata didnt say anything he looked a little unsure about the whole thing. The three on the other hand started their lament. -there is no way, Leader! -its impossible! -the dungeon called Stoneguard that I went to was for my level and I still died twice before I completed it! Gerald answered to them unsatisfied by their complains. -aaaaa, dont give up before you even start. I dont want any miracles from you, well at least not just yet. -but leader its really impossible! -yes, you do ask for miracle! -what you guys are scared? Gerald asked while fainting surprise. The three answered together. -YES! It was rather normal even if it was a game dying is hurting as hell. Even Arata didnt want to end up dying if he could help it. He already experienced it once. It wasnt the best feeling. He also felt really strange and sick after coming out from capsule after that happened. Strangely enough, in comparison to everyone surprise Anari wasnt scare at all. In the meantime the three continued. -leader we dont want to die! -aaaaa! What men are you? Here look at our mage, she isnt scared at all. Learn from her! Gerald pointed at Anari while saying that. -wow she really isnt! The three then looked at Anari with surprise. Strange, why isnt she going wawawa?. Gerald also expected a different reaction from her although he was glad it turned out like this. But it was so strange that he had to ask her where her confidence coming from? -hey Anari you dont care about dying? -em no, why would I? -ah yes, just to clarify things, I am here just to watch how you guys do. I wont be helping or interfering at all. We are doing this by ourselves? No, thats game over. Ah, its good that I have my sacrifice skill so I wont lose levels. Two days arent that bad. I will finally check the internet for information. Arata also gave up as he heard Gerald remark. He wasnt scared, he was simply realistic. -I am not scared and I somehow knew that leader wont join us. Previous group died on first pack after all if you helped them that would not happen. But anyway, I wont die for sure. Anari strongly denied that she isnt scared or have any doubts about losing. Even Gerald was surprised by it. -oh, you have that much confidence in you skill? Ah, such brave mage I did found. -no, I am not brave. Also I am rather a beginner who doesnt know left from right. I can use only two spells out of six that I have. Looks like she knows where she stands. -so why are you saying that you wont die? Gerald finally asked. -its because Arata will defend me for sure. Anari smiled without a worry, and then everyone looked at Arata with suspicious glance. Arata quickly asked. -how did you come up with that? -but you said that I wont die if I am close to you. You are also good strange person and I can trust you. Gerald burst into laughter. -hahaha, Arata you said that you didnt care before. But now I see that you are a fast player. Good work! Gerald showed him the thumb. Idiot. -oh we finally arrived so I will annoy you about it later. But for now, you should get started with this test. At least we have finally reached this point. //** This chapter is still far from over. Continue to part _9.3 **// http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3044 Chapter 9 “He who commands the flame.” _9.3 //** Continuation of chpater 9. (From 9.2) **// Gerald walked to the entrance stopped before it and started. -welcome to the first grand trial in Cobolis Cave! Now, APPLAUSE! Clap, clap, clap. Anari was the only one that clapped as everyone else did not know how to respond to that so they remain passive. -thank you Anari, you got + 2 point to passing grade. The first grand trial in Cobolis Cave will test your ability and see if you are worth of being in soon to be strongest guild in history of EOA Well, he definitely has ambitions. -be happy as it is the first time that trial is taking place here, so you will be the pioneers of it. The trial has simple rules. Survive to the end and show the world that you can conquer it. Remember that even if you complete the challenge you still may not be invited to guild but I dont think that something like that could happen Yes, everyone will probably die in first hour. -the trail begins now! For a note, I wont disturb you until the test is finished. I will be just a silent observer and you wont even notice my presence. For a note, that also means that when you guys will be dying I wont do a thing. Anyway the test begins now! Ah and so it started. Arata didnt have much motivation. Moment he heard about level difference he knew how it will probably look like. The other three had the same opinion, but there was one who carefree said. -lets go everyone! The test already started. Looking at her, Arata also got somewhat motivated. I am worried about losing? Its not like me. Whatever happens will happen, anyway game without the challenge is not a game. Let me see how far can I go with level 12 on level 30th dungeon? -I hope you wont freeze this time, Anari. -I wont! I am a great White Wizard now. -the wizard who knows how to use only two spells even though she has six of them. -wawa, so you heard that part. Anyway I will depend on you to take the front. -just dont get in my way. The three, looked at them not knowing what to do. They eventually followed. And Gerald. -hahaha. Only laughed. They have entered the cave that marked the beginning of the dungeon. At first, it was just one long dark tunnel. Wide enough for two people to walk next to each other. After walking through it they soon reached the huge opening. -waaaa, so pretty There was a light coming in from one big hole. The effect was spectacular as it spread through whole cave. There was also a small brook of water going through the middle of the cave and the light reflected on it. As for the cave itself, it was in gray color of rocks. Then there also were some strange creatures in the middle. -look! Arata, what are they doing here? Anari pointed at them. -its a dungeon after all. -and what are they? They didnt look like any creature known in real world. But they were known to Arata. -simple kobolds. -kobolds? -yes kobolds, but somewhat bigger or rather four times bigger than usual kobolds. He made reference based on other games where kobolds were rather weak thin creatures that were fighting to defend their life and their candles. If the kobolds here were similar to those it would be good. Those Arata saw however were two meters in high and their arms were thick. The three catch up soon as well, as they looked around and saw kobolds they shouted. -aaaa, mutated kobolds! -quickly check their level! One of them summoned menu and checked. -two are on 28 and one on 30. So what do we do? Aaaaa, it doesnt look good. Mutated kobolds had more than double Aratas level. It really didnt look good following the common sense, still nevertheless Arata asked the three. -hey, you three? -yes? -do you plan to fight them or simply run away? It would be good to know before I go in. -we will probably be going soon but what about you? You are really going to fight them? Are you crazy? What level are you? -twelve. -twelve?! Really? I was sure that you were higher. -exactly, by look of your gear and how you fought in that duel, no way that you are 12. They didnt believe him and they couldnt check it on their own. -haha, Arata you are still at level 12. You are lower than me. Anari ended up laughing at him. -and whose fault is that? Arata got a little annoyed by that comment. -emm you didnt have time to play? -no I happened to die because of someones stupid quest. -waaa, Im sorry! Anyway Arata what are we going to do? What to do? Well I cant do anything else than trying to fight them to my best ability. But still, I guess some tactic wont hurt. -okay so for start those three are useless Arata pointed at other three. -so lets simply ignore them. -hey thats not nice to say. You are level 12 what can you do? -wouldnt it be better with more people? Anari asked. She also completely ignored incoming comment from one of the three. -yes, but if they are like this then they will only get in a way. There is no point. -but they dont look useless they also said that they completed a dungeon. -a normal dungeon. Well, thats show that they are better than your average boar hunter but definitely not good enough for 30 lvl dungeon. -but I am also not good enough for it. -dont worry. I know perfectly how useless you are. - . -but at least you are not afraid like them right? -you will protect me after all. I still have no idea where her confidence in me coming from, well its good if she doesnt get scared like last time. -yes, believe in that and you will be fine, whatever happens dont be afraid, because if you are afraid you wont be able to do a thing. Like the last time. -sorry. -if you fear your opponent then you already lose. This is something that I was taught and its really true. Anyway as enemies have higher level than us we must take every advantage that we can, first of all buffs. Anari, do you have some buffs? As a mage you should have. -emm, what are buffs? Arata face palmed himself with his left hand. Yes, I forgot that she is complete newbie. -okay, check your spell book and see if something increases some stat for given time. Or no wait. Just read all your spells loudly so I can hear them. You cant go into the fight without knowing them. In the meantime I will make some food. -waaaa, you can cook Arata. -it wont give much stats but its always better than nothing, also its better to fight on full belly. You focus on learning your spells. Twenty minutes have passed, this time Arata made grilled boar meat with vegetables that he bought in village. Even with Marcos spice it still didnt give much stats, +2 ones main stat, to be exact. Ingredients were from low level area and Aratas cooking skills were low as well. Sole fact that it gave any stat at all was a great thing. -waaaa, Aratas so yummy. -less saying, more eating. They ate it fast. -didnt really believe that you can cook Arata. You dont seem like cook to me. -everyone knows how to make food for themselves, dont they? Its an essence of survival. -I can make a sandwich or something small but not full flagged meal. Carefree people who never experienced hunger. If you want to learn how to cook you first need get hungry. This was a quote that Marco thought him. -anyway did you read your spells? -yes I have six of them now I think now I can use the all. -and why couldnt you use earlier? -because, because. -yes? -I was in dark forest alone. Bandits were around me so I didnt have time for it. I just learn first ones that I read and used it on them. There werent bandits in that forest, you know. Arata really didnt want to touch that subject. -anyway what does your spells do? -the first one is the fireball that I already knew. It is . -next! Arata didnt need to hear an explanation of how fireball worked. -the other one is something called frost bolt. -okay, ignore that spell for now, next. -why should I ignore it? -dont ask questions, just tell me the spells and follow what I say. -the one called mana shield, its creates a magic bubble that will protect me against attacks and reduce my mana instead. -okay, use it when I tell you or when enemy is close to you but that will not happen today and if it happens you are dead anyway, next. -the once called the blessing. It increases someones main stat by 5% for an hour. -okay Anari, this is the buff spell that I mentioned before. Use it now and try to reuse it every time the duration wears of which is one hour in this case. -I dont think I will remember about it in an hour. -I dont expect it from you in the first place so I will remind you if forget about it. Still good players shouldnt need to be reminded of keeping up their buffs so try on your own to not forget about it. It doesnt even have to be exactly each hour. You can cast it again every 50 minutes or so as well. -okay I will try hard! First I need to note it down. Anari did have a real notebook right now and did end up noting everything down. Then she casted the buff spell. Crystal in Anaris staff shined for a second and white light appeared on Arata and Anari for a second. -okay next! -spell called frost freeze. It colds down atmosphere making it harder to move and even stops people with ice. But it might work on allies as well. -okay Anari, listen well. This spell, dont even think about using it! -why? It seems useful. -just no, and I am not looking for opinions from you I already can see that the only person that would get caught by that spell would be me. -now what is your last sixth spell? -the last spell uses much more mana then previous one. Its called Light of dawn. I didnt understand this part so listen. Light of dawn. Spell that help you allies and attack your enemies. AOE type which catch everything around you. The allies are healed, and the enemies are blinded and take damage. Ah, its nice to be a mage, you use one spell and everything around you dies. Did I go for a wrong class? -anyway how many times can you use it? -its eat half of my mana so two times. -okay Anari, listen carefully now as I will tell you our main tactic. -I listening. But firstly, what does AOE means? -it means area of effect. Try to remember it. Its an attack that damage many enemies at once that are in given area. Although it can also mean a support spell that help your allies in a given area. Anari there are many things that you need to know if you want be a good player . -yes, yes? -but I dont want to explain them to you as it would take forever, it would be also really painful experience for me, so I will tell just few things that I want you all the way while we complete this dungeon or die during it. -but I want to learn! -did I ever tell you that I will teach you how to play? -em yes. -no I didnt, dont lie. Anyway just listen to this. First, dont you dare attack until I start the fight. Wait at least five to ten seconds. -why? -because it would be hard for me to gather agro from everyone. I am not tank. -agro? Tank? Arata I am already lost. -as I said you dont need to understand everything, just dont attack until I start. Second, as your attack, you should just focus on your fireball spell because I heard you have experience with them already. If some monster starts to run at you use the mana shield although I will keep them at bay so something like that shouldnt happen. -reliable as always. -and lastly dont use Light of dawn unless I tell you to do so. -okay, but what about other spells? -I already explained the buff spell to you so remember to keep it up and rest would do more harm to us than good so dont use them. -okay. -to sum up everything I want you do to do, just use your fireballs and fire it in the area where I fight. -so I need to just support you from behind and fireball at your position right? Wow, she really understood. Arata still had doubts if she actually does anything useful though. He actually expected her to blow up herself with her own fireball. Still for him it would have been a blessing. -well thats the gist of it, you ready? -yes I will do my best. Now, lets see how far can we go with this. [Sword enchant: Wind] Arata started to run into kobolds direction and the first battle was about to begin. When he was close enough, the kobolds picked up their weapons from the ground. They were pickaxes. Those pickaxes were more of mining tools than fighting weapons but still, the looked dangerous in the hands of those large monkeys. Kobolds looked at Arata ominously. When he got in a distance of six meters they also started to move in his direction. For now, I need to learn their patterns. As they were 5 meters from each other one kobold in front jumped high in the air and started to fall down in Arata direction. Arata just continued forward to the other two. The jumping one after landing ended up with pickaxe in the ground and couldnt get it out. The other two lunched their attack from overhead downward on Arata, but Arata simply keep on running forward and they also ended up with their weapons in the ground as well. Compared to bear they are rather slow, well if I got hit by those pickaxes I will die on the spot in one shot but dodging those guys shouldnt be that hard. Then he spotted that both of them had some problems with moving their weapons out from the ground. I definitely can use this. Arata moved to their backs and from behind slashed them with his swords few times. Still kobolds hp went down only by little. It will take forever, and my left hand weapon is a crap. The copper sword didnt do enough damage to reduce opponent hp even by 1%. The other one did 5%. Well its more than I expected anyway, must be my stat bonuses. Arata had three good items equipped right now which werent really at beginner level and boosted his stats quite well. He also had buffs which helped as well. Not to mention class of rank two and four. The kobolds once again attacked him, but Arata dodged it with ease and countered. After that he looked to see if the other kobold the jumping one is coming, but to his surprise Arata saw that the three that came with him for this trial were fighting against that kobold. Well fighting is a big word. They simply picked up kobolds attention and now were running in circles away from him around the cave and that kobold was running after them. They catch his agro. -run! One of them screamed as they continued to run. Oh, I just found a use for them. But what is Anari doing? I know I cant expect much from her but did I really waste my breath on explaining everything? Arata give fast glance in Anari direction as so far she still didnt attack. But after he looked back, he had to make a desperation roll to the left so he can dodge a surprise attack. Pickaxes landed at his spot few seconds later but that wasnt a reason to for desperation escape. The reason was rather the barrage of fireballs that was coming his direction, it hit the kobolds making some damage to them. There were about 5 of those fireballs casted at the same time, so they did even more damage than all Aratas attacks so far. Mages have it easy they just shot spells at things and opponents die. But why is she shooting at me!? The fireballs did indeed land on kobolds but they were more like flying towards Arata rather than his enemies. Well, she is just starting, and probably doesnt know how to aim, it went in right direction at least so she should get used to it soon I hope. As fight continued the fireballs indeed become more accurate. But it only made it harder for Arata. I have another enemy at my back. At some point, despite large level difference the fight became easy for Arata. Apart from random fireballs that were coming at him, he could easily dodge kobolds attack as they were rather slow. At some point he looked at how the other three were doing. They continued to do more and more laps around the cave. But then one of them tripped and fell to the ground. The kobold that was chasing him lunched his jump attack. Well its not like I have to help him, but. [Lighting speed activated] In instant Arata ran towards to the one that fell. There Arata dragged him a little out from the area of the attack so he doesnt get hit. -ah thank you, I will leave rest to you. -what are you saying? Keep running! -no, no, no, we were just about to get out from here. -keep running! Arata shouted at him and guy started to run again, the kobold went after him completely passing by Arata. It seems like he already had another prey on his mind and decided to leave Arata to his breathen. Arata stood there for a second and saw as the fireballs came at him yet again, despite the fact that all enemies were nowhere near him as of now. Arata moved out their line of attack and they crushed into the wall. No really, why is she attacking me!? Arata could really not understand that girl. After all there were limits to how bad someone could be. Still this one was not limited by anything in her bad plays. The two kobolds that he fought were still a little behind as he used lighting speed to get there. When they were close they lunched jump attack. So if you move away they use this jump. Arata move away from their landing position and knowing that they will have stuck their weapons into the ground instantly as they land. When that happened Arata made multiple attacks on one. In combination to another few fireballs the first kobold was soon dead. The second one followed soon after as Arata fought against only one enemy at that time. He could now do much more damage without worrying about attacks from another one. Also instead of moving away upon attacks, he now moved to flank the enemy and attack him from there. Second kobold died as well without problems. Only one left. Well it isnt that bad. But its just the first pack so its not the time to relax yet. Arata then moved to the place where three were fighting against last kobold. Why that kobold still had full HP? Arata did not know. Maybe I should tell them what to do as well. They would have a better use. Using the fact that kobold wasnt lock on him and Arata attacked him few times before he even turned around. After that, it went similar to previous fight. [You have leveled up by 120%] [You have gained a level current level 13] At least they give some good exp. That was indeed quite a lot. One level after one fight was huge. It was also divided by two as Arata was in group with Anari. He didnt invite the rest three as they said that they are not going to fight. And even though they decided to join in the end, Arata still didnt plan to give them any of his exp. -we are alive! -we defeated the pack of 30 lvl monsters! -yee! -who defeated it? The three were happy but Arata stopped their cheers of glory. -well of course it was your victory. -ah really, but dont you guys feel pathetic when you cant be of any use? Arata commented on them. -we are sorry but we cant fight like you, we would die on first or second strike and we dont have range class to do what Anari does. -well, I have a range class but I dont have the bow which I could use to activate my skills. Archer without a bow sad. Still even after depressing information like that, Arata didnt send them away. -anyway you can come with us and look around but I wont give you any of experience from kobolds. -dont worry we are not taking anything that we dont deserve. -I see that you are honorable gamers at least. -we are not ninjas who take things which arent theirs. -well, you wont have ability to take items in the first place. -you are right. Anyway I think we should leave and exp up a little somewhere else, as you said, we wont be of any use anyway. They realized that there was no reason for them to stay, but Arata didnt want to let them go that easily. -but dont you want to see the dungeon at least? -it hurts our pride to not do anything in the fight and just look from afar. We will return to stoneground and exp up there before returning. -so if you could do something meaningful you would stay, right? Arata asked with pure intentions. -sure but what can the three of us do? At that moment Arata grinned a little, well it was an evil grin. His plan that involved getting their help without giving them any of his experience worked. Hahaha all experience is mine. Well, he was already in group with Anari so not all but even though she was just as clueless and useless as the rest, she at least did some damage so it didnt matter if she was in the group or not, she would get experience anyway. If two people that are not from party fight against one mob, experience is divided based on their contribution. -I will find some use for you when I see the next pack. You will gain precious information about the dungeon and when you come back here later with new party you will have an easy time. -thank you, you are a good fellow -oh, you dont have to thank me, They are even happy about it. Then out of sudden, Anari appeared in the flash out of nowhere on Aratas left. Arata on instinct jumped to the right while unexpected light appeared and pointed his sword in that direction. -hey Arata, I reached level 15 and now I have new spell called Blink. Cool, isnt it? Aaaaa mages always have best skills, I want teleport as well! -good for you, Anari. Use it to teleport away instead of mana shield if something comes at you. Arata made a fast adjustment although he was still irritated. -but its have a long coldown so I wont be able to use it for another half an hour. -why did you use it then? -because it sounded fun. Suddenly warping in place that is 100 meters away from you that is. Eh well testing the skill is also important and it would be rather unbalanced if she could blink all day long without the coldown. -never mind, lets us continue. They entered one of three tunnels that were in this cave. First tunnel was the way they come from and apart from that there were two other new paths. Arata choose the left one as it was closer to where they stood. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Its not like I can tell which way is better so the closer is better. If you dont know something, just trust you luck and go to the closest route. Arata was experienced in RPGs dungeons so he knew this simple logic. Gerald was silently walking after them in distance. He already yawed few times as the fight took rather long. It was hard to burn down the health of kobolds with Aratas level after all. Gerald looked with interest at first but with time, it went the same pattern so he got bored. Still, he didnt plan to say anything and interrupt participants in any way. He told them after all that he was there only as observer. At some point Arata and others completely forgotten about him. They reached another open space to fight. It was a little darker than last time as less light were coming in but it was still bright enough to see everything. This time there were four kobolds instead of three. -four this time, so Arata what do you want us to do? The three asked with a little worry. -I will explain in second, first Anari! -yes? -answer me this question please. What was the target of your spells in the last fight? -of course as you said. I shoot them at your position. I had some problems doing it as you were moving so fast but I managed somehow. So she really was shooting at me. Arata tried his best to calm down. He couldnt let this creature disturb his calmness. -so Anari why did you fire it at me? -didnt you tell me that enemies will be around you so I should just shoot at you. -and you never thought for a second that it was strange that you have to attack me? -well, it did sound strange when you first told me to do so, but I thought that you have some plan and also that I shouldnt ask any questions. I was not sure but in the fight it went alright so I just continued without worry. - . -anyway did you saw my barrage of fireballs, its my own idea. The monsters are thought so it is better to use my spells in series rather than just one. But you know it is really hard to pull that off as its not just casting your spells normally. Its even harder as I need to aim at you with them. Still I managed to do all that. See I am a great wizard! Shooting barrage of fireballs using simple fireball spell indeed looks hard, but again why is she shooting at me? No never mind, its easier to just -good job Anari. -waaa! I got complemented by Arata! -anyway this time shoot the enemies that are around me instead of me, okay? -it should be much easier to attack those big monkeys. -they are kobolds. -so attack the monkeys that you are attacking, sounds easy enough, I will do it! That solves one problem. Hopefully. Arata still had a bad feeling about it. Last time he also thought he explained it the right way. -now, you three. -YES! -you wanted to be useful so I prepared you a task that only you can pull off. But first, I have to ask again do you accept? Remember there is no turning back as I dont want any surprises. -we can even die doing it! -thats the spirit! In the first place we all can die any second in this dungeon as it is for high levels, but its a simple task I prepared for you and if you do it right you wont die. Also the task doesnt require you to have high level so you dont have to worry about anything. -okay I accept. -me too. -and me. Haha, got you. Arata made the last pact with his new acquired slaves teammates. -great, here is what you need to do. Each of you will pull one of kobolds and run around the cave with them so I can focus on finishing the remaining kobold, one at the time. You did a great job in last fight so you are the best for this job. Arata explained the plan simply and quickly but the three didnt like the idea. -but if we get hit we will die, wont we? One of them asked. -just make it so you wont and you will be fine, they are slow anyway. -I dont think that its that simple. Maybe we should give up. -dont worry if something happen I will save you like last time I saved you Archer. -my name is Steven and my profession isnt archer. -you said that you dont have bow, so I thought you have an archer class. -well its not exactly an Archer. -well lets leave it at that. I will call you Archer for now as I have bad memory to names. Anyway you all already agreed that you are going to do it. There is no turning back now, we dont have full day and dungeon is still far away from being complete. Even though chances were low, their levels were low and their skills were low, Arata didnt think about losing at all. If I doing it, I might as well do it seriously. There will be more experience for me thanks to that, and they said that level is hard to get. If you think about it, what is a better way than exping on too high level dungeon if you can do it? -Arata, we are going to complete whole dungeon, right? As excepted of good strange hero. Motivation is also important so I will leave it at that. Hearing Anari the three lost their fear and looked with admiration on Arata. -he is good man. -yes even though we cant do anything, he let us stay here. -and he said that he will help us if needed. -the girl is also calling him a hero. -just look at him and look how he fights. -yeee, The Twilight Swordsman title is not for nothing. -yep and not only it looks good with his coat floating everywhere during the fight but its also effective. -he even saying that he can clean whole dungeon no problem. -it is an honor to play with someone like him. They saw him in different light. From the moment he fought in the duel they knew that he is skilled but now they saw him as someone who cares for their life and want to show them the dungeon and how to beat it, even though he didnt need to do it. Naturally they couldnt be more wrong in that statement as all Arata thought about was how to use them without him losing anything. He would gladly sacrifice their lives to make his fight easier. -anyway you two take care of the two on the back. Go get in the position already! Archer, you take the left one from the front line. -got it. Their motivation was at highest gear right now. They forgot their fear and moved as commanded. They are not as bad if they arent scared, they follow my command nicely, as suspected from experienced gamers. Arata thought like that and then looked with disappointment at the girl behind him who just fired fireballs at him nonstop. And so another fight began. Arata was the first to start as he didnt want anything to go wrong. He instructed the others that the moment kobolds start to move, they have to throw at them their weapons and make some damage so kobolds will follow them. Normally you dont use your only melee weapon as throwing weapon but they didnt have anything else and didnt need weapon later on anyway as they were going to just run around. Rather it would only slow them down. The pull went nicely and they did their job as instructed. Arata could see that they werent doing it for the first time. Even if it was their first time in EOA they must have do it in other games as well. It was common tactic. Split enemies in different regions so its easier to focus only on one. The three seemed to know at least that as they managed somehow, although as soon as two and half meters in height monsters started to head their way, they once again started to run away in panic. Still even then, they all were running clockwise so they dont run into each other. Although Arata didnt mention it, they manage to conduct it on their own. -good job! Arata shouted to them as he was about to start the fight. They did the thing he asked them for after all. Despite the fact that it still looked as if they were simply running once again and learned nothing. -aaaaaaa! If this were a normal dungeon I wouldnt mind them as a party. After Arata saw players that were fighting boars, he didnt have much expectation from other people on his levels. The game was skill based. Normal players didnt know left from right so they couldnt fight like Arata in melee range. Fight against higher level creatures was impossible for them but those three would do well at normal level dungeons. Those were Aratas thoughts. Their classes werent bad either and they had gaming experience which will definitely help them to be better in the future once they come up with their own style of fighting. Arata started his fight against the kobold. He was the same as previous ones so it wasnt that hard, especially when there was only kobold at the time. Kobold strikes. Arata dodges. Counter. If kobold uses attack that will make his pickaxe stuck in ground, Arata would made series of attacks with his swords on him. The health was going down much faster than before, especially with heavy artillery from behind. Anari was sending waves of attacks one after another and to Aratas surprise they werent meant for him. He still could get hit by some so he still needed to check his backs but fireballs were mostly coming for the kobold this time. 5 minutes and first one was dead. After that Arata went to get one that was running around. One by one fall in similar manner. After 30 minutes the whole fight was done. Arata dinged level 15 on this one, new message appeared. [You have leveled up by 140%] [You have gained a level, Current level 15] [New skills available] Perfect maybe I will get something as useful as black dash. Although he was happy to gain more skills he didnt plan use them left and right. So far he used only Sword enchant and lighting speed to help the one from the three that he called archer. Arata wanted to save mana for emergency. [Leap You can jump as high as the three meters up. The range increases as you level up this skill. This ability cant be used while wearing heavy armor. Cost: 150 Stamina. Coldown: none Skill level 1(0%)] Three meters, ah games are awesome after all. Well, it can be useful later on but not really in close off battles like here, I was hoping for something of twilight swordsman tree but it looks rather common. So far Arata had only one skill which was specific for his class and that was skill called black dash. Others were rather common warrior skills. And now the sword enchanter, passive ability that allows you to save enchant after using sword slash? Eh, I wanted teleport! Anari interrupted his thoughts. -Arata should we take a break? She asked. -two fights and you already want a break? -but they were running for the whole time. The three were lying on the ground after they run for their life for 30 minutes. But Arata didnt know any mercy. -hey, why are you tired!? Running doesnt take stamina you know. Running is the same as holding a button in game you shouldnt get tired from that. -but this is VR its different. Archer complained. -I doing the fighting here and I am still not tired and you lazy your asses are on the ground already, move! We are not spending here the whole week. So far Arata was disappointed in their progress. Sure it was high level dungeon but so far they managed to clean only two packs of monsters and over an hour have already passed since they first entered. -but the dungeons take that much time in this game, right guys? -yea the Stoneground took my group five days to complete. Finding the way was the hard part as well. Then we found the last boss and somehow killed it after few tries. -bosses are that easy? Arata was surprised by what they said. -no they are hard as hell. They have unique abilities and their level is way higher than that of other monsters in the dungeon. -so how did you defeated it? -we combined three parties that also were hunting there and we somehow managed it. Anyway it took 5 days together and it was just a normal dungeon. Arata heard what Archer said and gathered some information but still continued. -nonsense, the ones that are saying 5 days for dungeon is normal are just lazy newbies who never played a game before. You are not lazy newbies, are you? -of course not, we had many experience in other games before. -so how long did it take to clean a dungeon in those? -one would take an 1 hour other 4 hours, mostly in that range. The highest level content however, took much more. -see 1-4 hours and we already spent nearly 2 hours here. -but as we said, it takes more time in this game. -and as I said it only a remark from lazy newbies! Prepare for next battle! If Arata is doing it, he is doing it seriously, although rushing is not a good thing he didnt want to spend here unreasonable amount of time. They soon reached another cave where another 4 kobolds were standing. Fight went with the same pattern and Arata reached 16th level. The others were now tired as hell. Arata was as well as he needed to keep 100% focus all the time to pull off everything without getting hit even once. They only have to run around and they cant do even that. Hmm, I guess that after at least two fights break wont be bad idea. He still didnt plan to take break though. -Arata how long till we are done? Anari asked. She looked tired as well as for the whole time she was doing her best in shooting out the fireballs. -dont worry, break will be when needed. -but I think its needed now. -lets move on! Once again they took the closest route. They reached another cave but this time it looked a little different. At the opposite side of the cave there was a huge door instead of other tunnels. Although there were many other tunnels as well, about one hundred of them in fact. They were much smaller compared to previous ones though. They were all around the cave. The celling was also way higher than previously around 8 meters or so. Door itself was 7 meters height. In the middle of the cave there was already familiar looking kobolds but this time there were eight of them. -looks like boss room is behind those door. Archer commented. -wow we got lucky that we found it this fast. And then the other one. -well there are more enemies but this is the last time we will have to run. Arata, we should take a break after all, we found the gate so quickly and there shouldnt be problem with time. We might even do it in 4 hours like you wanted. Archer added. -well its nice to have beginner luck in finding the boss room but I dont want to fight boss just yet. Arata answered to their happy remarks. -why not? When you kill it we can finally get out from here. Getting out of there and seeing the way to the boss was the threes objective but for Arata there was different one. He wanted experience and levels. He soon thought up a plan that would allow him for it. -hey guys you want to see the boss, right? -that what we are staying here for. -but you also dont want to die and loss your experience. -of course we dont. You know how hard it is to get even one level here also dying is . -even if its just a game I always feel strange after it. Its definitely not healthy. It looked like they also experienced it few times. Arata continued -you see if we go to the boss now some of you might die. But I thought up a plan as how to prevent that. -ah, you are always thinking about us first! Their admiration was already on highest level so they couldnt see his real motive, Anari was the same. Well the fact that they would die if they went for a boss was the truth though. Even fighting those eight right now would not be easy. -Arata is a strange good hero after all, just listen to him and we will all return safety. Having her saying that is the best argument that I could ask for. -for now you guys stay here and have a break, I will look around and see what lies in other routes. -maybe we should call you a hero as well. -no, no, Arata is fine. Arata went back and checked three ways that they didnt choose before. All other ways were similar to previous caves. Also Arata didnt limit himself only to first three. He could easily reach other caves if he simple went around the cave next to the wall. That way he didnt pull kobolds that were staying in the middle. Although it took him some time he managed to check most of the caves. Some were smaller and had more kobolds in it so he didnt try to pass through those. After that he prepared the best route in which number of kobolds was from lowest to highest. He went back to the party which was now waiting back in third cave. -okay guys I found the least dangerous locations so lets go. In the end they went around the whole dungeon and cleared every kobold that they could find and even with breaks which longest lasted 30 minutes, they hunted nonstop at Arata command for 8 hours. As the time went on fights become easier for Arata as his level was getting higher and higher. The enemies stayed the same and he already saw everything that there was too see from them. Nothing could surprise him anymore. At level 20, from one fight Arata didnt receive one level anymore but nevertheless its still was going up like crazy compared to normal exping. After those eight hours Arata and Anari were both at level 28. The last pack has been slain. The last fight was really easy as the difference in levels was no more. For some time now, Arata didnt even asked the three to run around anymore but instead he just rushed in alone and slaughtered everything in his way. -okay guys! That was the last room. The moment Arata said that the four of his comrades collapsed on the floor. They breathed hard for some time now. Last pack wasnt the only one that Arata slashed down by himself. He tried to convince others to do their job but at some point he decided that its just better to ignore them and solo it instead. They still had to follow him though as they didnt want to be left alone and die after all that hard work. But now they could finally lie down. -finally over! -I cant believe it, we can sleep? -pinch me because I think its a dream. Anari was already sleeping on the ground the moment she heard the words last room. But it was not the last room. Arata said right away. -you are right it is a dream so wake up, its time for boss! -you want to fight a boss right now? No, this is a time for break! Long break! =Long break! Long break! The three protested. Maybe I indeed rushed it a little too much. Still wouldnt it be better to finish the boss first then have the break for as long as you want? Arata was also little irritated, even though he got so many levels he still didnt get many skills when Anari got tons of them and she didnt forget to mention all of them. Well they were mostly the same attack like fireball just with different element to it but still the only skill that Arata got was passive which improved his sword enchant, Arata didnt even read it when he read the word passive. Still, in the end he decided that it might be good time for break. -okay we are having a break. I guess I am tired as well. -hey that monster said that he is tired! -careful now! We dont want to get fooled, again. At some point they realized that they are dragged around and that Arata doesnt care about them in the least and was just using them for his own goals. -now he saying that he is tired but just in two minutes it will be like -you said that you want to be useful. So be a man and keep up your world. Even Anari changed her opinion on Arata a little. She added to her every so long description of him that he is S and M at the same time which she turned into CSM- combined sadist and masochist. -its different this time. Arata tried to explain and calm them down. -you said the same thing four hours ago. -and two hours ago. -and five hours ago. It didnt work though. -I might have said that once or twice. -you said that after each cave! -no this time we have a long break! First we take short nap for two hours you can also just lay and rest, then At the moment Arata said word nap they were already asleep. They decided that even if he was lying to them if they fall asleep fast there will be nothing he can do. I should go sleep as well. I guess. Before Arata did that though, he set up an option in the menu that would wake him up after two hours no matter what. It was great option especially when you planned something. Although nothing stopped you from continuing to sleeping after waking up once. Arata lay down and was going to sleep. But before he went to sleep however, he heard that others had sleep talking habit. -kobolds incoming be ready! -this way you beast! Even in sleep, the three were still running away from kobolds. Then Arata heard that Anari also has that habit. -Arata, dont! We cant dont force me Hey what is her dream about? -no I cant say that, Arata is doing his best and fight them alone, I cant give up if he still wants to go It looked like Anari also dreamed about things that just happened today. During last thirty minutes, Arata had to kill everything alone but two hours before, after the three were out of use, Anari still stayed and shoot her fireballs, although they lost on accuracy and number. In the end, she also stopped helping and last three groups were on Aratas head. -no why is it happening? I cant stop here. He will think again that I am useless again. But I really cant keep it up. Arata felt slightly bad now as he heard what Anaris thoughts were. In those 8 hours he turned into machine with one function installed which was kobold killing. If kobold uses this move, he would attack him three times then move to the left then another slash. If kobold uses this move he would move behind him but after that move kobold could use this move so he could attack him only once. The patterns were in his head and Arata didnt look at his party member condition at all so it ended up like that. Still Arata wouldnt apologize. He just ignored what Anari just said and went to sleep. //** This chapter is nearly over. Continue to part _9.4 **// http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3045 Chapter 9 “He who commands the flame.” _9.4 //** Continuation of chapter 9. (From 9.3) **// Two hours have passed and Arata was forced out of sleep. He felt even worse than before as everything was hurting him from lying on the rocks. Well, he at least got rid of anxiety. Time to wake up the others. -hey wake up its time for the boss fight! They didnt set up their timer so they were in dead sleep. Arata wanted to tell them to set it up but they fell asleep way too fast. Well I just have to use traditional way. He started with Anari. He got close to her, touched her arm and shake it. -Anari, wake up! She didnt wake up and what was worse, Arata was catch by her when he got too close. She started to hug him in sleep like stuffed toy. -Usagi! Her sleep talking habit showed once again. -Anari let me go! Arata tried but couldnt get out from her grasp. -Usagi, you can talk? Waaaa! You are a magical bunny who came to look for golden egg? -stop it! -no? Then why did you come here? -Anari let me go, stop your stupid dream! Aratas yells didnt wake her up though and Anari stayed in her dream land. -Usagi, I cant let you go, I will help you so dont worry. What dream does she have right now? -I must go, let me go Anari! -no I cant, you will die there Usagi, why do you need to go!? Hmm her dreams are changing depending on what I say. Arata saw this strange occurrence and thought of something. -Anari, Usagi has a grand dream you cant stop him, because if you will, he will never forgive you. It is his dream that he had for his whole life. -waaa! Is it true Usagi? I never knew but now I understand. I cant stop you. Go and do what you have to do. But promise to return one day! At that moment Arata managed to get out from her grasp. I need a different method to wake them. This one is way too dangerous. I guess it is time to use my ultimate weapon. Arata set up the fire and started to cook something. The others already ate his cooking but it was only as far as making something fast, just for the sake of buff. This time Arata decided to take more time. He was making a curry that he found in Marcos cooking book. He checked pages with low level ingredients and found something that he could make with things he had left in inventory. The low level ingredients part started with a note. [Low level ingredients are not bad. Its definitely better than having no ingredients at all.] And he decided for curry because he thought that it would be the easiest thing with ingredients at hand. [Curry is best thing to make if all you have are some random ingredients. Putting everything into pot should give good effect but to make best use of it follow the instruction.] There was a list that written what could be thrown, when should it be thrown and what should be avoided. [You probably dont have normal rice at hand. In that case use rice bread. Throw it into the boiling water and after 7 minutes take it out and dry it.] Everything was easy to follow and explained well so half an hour after waking up, smell of curry started to fill the area. With this effect, the others, one after another started to wake up. -aaaaa, it hurts. -sleeping on the rocks was not the best idea after all. -hey Arata what are you cooking? It worked like magic. Still, the last person didnt wake up instead she started do slaver herself in sleep. -its nothing special a simple curry? -curry you can make curry in this game? -well, its the same as making it in real life. -where did you get the materials? -most of it, are leftovers from boars, and some other stuff that I bought in the city. But the only other thing that I have left now is bread so lets eat and go for the last cave. -I wouldnt mind sleeping for longer but I dont want to sleep on those rocks. Archer commented. Thats why I didnt want to do sleeping break in the first place. -you are right. We should just finish this dungeon quickly and go back. The other one commented. -we also should wake up our little sorceress and start eating. And the third one. -true! Sleeping on rocks doesnt help much in the first place, after you rest a little. Arata, you should wake her up. Archer pointed on Anari. -I tried but it didnt go well. You guys also didnt wake at the right time either. -we were tired after all. But we rested now although instead everything hurts from sleeping on the rocks. -its a game, ignore the pain. Arata made a merciless comment. -no, no, no, you cant just simply ignore the pain and move like everything is okay. -pain is just a signal to your brain that something is wrong with your body. But you dont have to worry about it here as it is a game. You also should be prepared for it. Getting hit is the element of this game as well. -well thats true. We cant give up after one hit, right guys? -yea. Anyway, its time to eat Aratas food. Arata stopped them. -its still five minutes to go and we still have to wait for someone. He pointed at Anari. -doesnt look like she will wake any time soon, anyway how long did we sleep? -three hours. -its definitely not enough but I will pass rocks. We should wake her up. -as I said, I already tried but it was too dangerous to do it normal way. But with my ultimate weapon, the effect is three out of four. And I am sure fourth one will soon follow. -what effect? -just look. Arata took a spoon and moved it right before Anaris nose. First she started to droll even more. The effectiveness of this method is great. Anari soon opened her eyes and swallowed the spoon without realizing what was happen. -mmmmm. -see, it works like magic. Arata told the rest. Anari looked around herself with spoon still in her mouth. Everyone was looking at her. After ten seconds she said. -Arata? -yes? -what are we doing here? Where is Usagi? Arata didnt even try to comment on that. -ah, it was only a dream so I was sleeping. Anyway good morning everyone, or good evening? What time is it? -no idea, anyway we still have boss do fight, so get up. -waaaa! I had a good sleep and also beautiful dream. She commented while standing up. -how could you have good sleep on those rock? -rocks? Ah that. I used levitation so I didnt sleep directly on them. It was rather like sleeping on the clouds. That how I imagined it at least. I never slept on clouds. -you got levitation spell now? Arata slowly started to regret that he didnt decide to roll for a mage. With his knowledge of RPG system getting that profession wouldnt be hard. -no, I just used basic magic. It was the same as lifting up the orbs in masters laboratory. I just needed to use it on myself. -and you were keeping it for three hours? -no I did another trick, I just casted it so it last as long as I am sleeping. She really knows how to use it well. Arata also tried to play around with basic magic a little but apart from that one time in the park his results werent worth mentioning. -anyway its time to eat. You have your spoon already. -I do where? -in your mouth. -waaa, how did it ended up here? -hey Arata! One of the three called him. -was there this strange message on the wall earlier. -what strange message? -here look. Archer pointed to the eastern wall. On it they could see a red letters which were making a sentence. Leave something for me! If you do, I wont force you to call me leader. -what is it, some secret quest or something. -rather hungry player. But why does it look like dying message? At some point Arata just fought against every kobold he found without any thoughts at all. He didnt even look at his teammates anymore. He just commanded them to do this or that. When they gave up he just ignored that and fought alone. He completely forgotten Gerald was walking after them. I havent seen him for a while. Right now he also couldnt see him but based on the message he should be near. Anyway I have finally won. That was the victory that Arata couldnt grasp before. But even Gerald couldnt win against his stomach. Arata prepared additional serving and started to eat. Maybe I should focus on getting ingredients for cooking rather than leveling. He wanted to check out other recipes of Marco, so far he didnt use them much but every time he did, the effect was just way too different. It was still nowhere Marcos level but while using his recipes, food was at least three times better than what he could make normally. After they ate, his comrades make remark. -Arata if you serve us another one like this one. I dont mind running for another five hours or so. -rather should forget about the caves and simply become a cook. If you can sell this stuff you will become rich. -hahaha, I count on you on the boss then. At some point the additional serving also disappeared but Arata didnt notice when it happened. It just at some point wasnt there anymore. Anari stopped to eat and looked at the wooden plate. -Arata? -what is it? Anyway if you want to ask for something, do it in a when we walk They started to walk back to the cave with huge doors and numberous caves. The doors had to lead to boss room as all other places in the dungeon were already checked. -anyway, what did you want Anari, you didnt like the food? -no, it was like my moms. -so what is it? -yes, my question, Arata I want to ask something. Who are you? Thats really strange question. -you know already know, dont you. For you, I just another random normal player that you meet in the game. Hopefully we will avoid meeting in the future. -nothing more. -no, no, no, you are not normal by any means. -what do you mean by that? -you are just too perfect! -ha? -yes too perfect. You know how to fight. You know how to cook- -I just had a good recipe book that all. -recipe book is another thing. You getting it is also incredible in a way. And even though, even though your hair looks strange at first, together with your clothing you look cool. So where is normal in that? That sounds strange. Dont tell me! Did Geralds jokes really get into her head. I should straight it up. The quicker, the better. -what are you doing now? Confessing your love? Just for a record I dont plan to have girlfriend right now. And you are not my type! You are actually as far from my type as possible. -I am not conf, I am not confessing, I just jealous of you. Idiot! Well I guess it was not it. Arata was really relived at that. Even if he didnt care much about her he didnt want to hurt anyone for no reason and as far as he knew rejecting someone made them at least sad. As long as Arata didnt get over the problem he wouldnt be able to be friends with anyone. Being more than friends would be even more impossible as he would not be able to answer anyone feelings. Even though five years have passed he still didnt get over it. Although he was much better now than before, he was still way different in comparison to him from before the accident. Its not that he lost his emotions. And there are no people who truly want to isolate themselves from world but Arata was simply scared of getting close to someone. What would happen if he had to go through the same thing once again and lose someone important to him? Arata concluded that having no one important will prevent that from happening. Arata continued. -there is nothing special about it. If you want to know how to fight you need to sign up for some classes and someone will teach you. Cooking is the same thing. Anyway if your life had been similar to mine you would probably end up like this. Lets just say that I had to grow up faster than normal people. -what kind of life had you? -ANARI! Arata said her name in somewhat lauder voice but right away go back to his usual manner. He decided to stop this conversation as fast as possible. -didnt I already tell you that you shouldnt ask people about their real life. -only three times. -please remember it. Anyway if you really want play this game. Visit some website and learn some basic rules about games in overall, can you do that? -yes, when we finished here, I will do my best to learn. -great, we should be done in no time They have reached the cave with huge doors. -okay guys. For now we still have those eight kobolds waiting. I could just rush in and take them down fast but I think that something might happen if we kill them so its better to reserve strength. -how do you know that? Anari asked. -experience. Anyway Anari dont waste your mana either and let me finish them alone. -I have to just stand? No I want to fight as well! -ah how you changed in this one day. Anyway I said that you shouldnt waste your mana so dont do it. Also I am completely ignoring your opinion so even if you say something it wont change my decisions. -dont ignore me! -you three pull six kobolds, from the back. Arata ignored her comment and continued. -we are going to take two of them each? -good, you know the math. -but how should we do that? One was hard enough. -dont worry I will finish my two fast and start killing those that hunt you in no time. Its just that I dont want all of them to jump at me together. You have experience in it already so you should survive without problem. -if you say so. -buffs! Ready! Go! Everything went with the plan and Arata had only two kobolds to fight for now. One of them used jump attack and was flying on Arata. Arata already seen it so many times already and could only smile when he saw that. When kobolds were using that attack, they couldnt get out their pickaxes for some time. Now as Arata level reached 28 and he still had his good gear he could kill off kobolds before kobold could even get their weapons out. So when kobold landed Arata made series of slashes and kobold was dead even before the second one arrived. The other one came at him and swing his pickaxe from the low angle. Arata also knew this move very well. Yesterday he would just dodge it to the left and slashed off kobold hand but today he wasnt using patterns anymore. Fighting is not a series of moves that you use at the right time. Well maybe sometimes it is but the fighting in games is about enjoyment. Thinking like that, Arata didnt dodge the strike but catch the weapon as it was coming at him. Holding it he flew over kobolds head. When he was at highest point he jumped off and made a wound that started at the head and ended at the second end of body. Kobold died in one strike. -hahaha. Arata laugh and moved on for next one. From the very start, tactic with running around was very effective against kobolds as they were slow. After doing it numerous of times even if this time they had to take care of two, the three didnt have any problems. At some point they just circled around while looking at Aratas fights. This time as well he did another crazy thing and two kobolds were already dead. Then he started to hunt those that they ran away from. It was very easy for him to attack enemies that werent focused on him. Arata got behind one kobold and make a series of slashes. Right now most of the kobolds were dead with just that. Soon, every kobold fell to the ground. -Arata its too easy for you, isnt it? -I just used to it, that all. -but it looks like we have to open the doors on our own. Nothing happened The moment Archer said that the big doors began to open or rather were opened by something. -or maybe no. The thing that opened them was a big seven meters in height kobold. If they didnt kill so many kobolds in a cave for the whole day they couldnt have known that it was kobold. They would rather think that it some kind of black Gojilla. The boss fight was about to begin but then instead of a loud roar of the giant, the room was filled with somewhat weak voice that was coming from a top of black kobolds head. -kakaka, you have fought bravely but its over now. It was hard to see him from afar but that was the first monster that talked rather than attacking right away, so Arata wanted to see how talking with mobs worked and he replayed. -say what you want but you dont have a chance, so just give up, come down from your high horse and let us kill you. Or what, you will use this big clown to fight us? -kakaka, you will regret those word, but my pet isnt for the likes of you and kings do not fight against plebeians. I want to look at despair of those who invaded my cave The kobolds king lifted his arms and started. -hear me my collages, hear me my brethren! Those people have come to destroy our home! They already slayed some of our kind and now they want to take our candles! This cannot be left unpunished! Dont take them lightly but do not be afraid! The time has come to show them the pride of kobolds and the might of candles! ATTACK! After that speech from every small hole that was around in this cave, the creatures started to swarm out. They looked much more similar to the speaking one. They were one meter high, had thin arms. They were also wearing the brown trousers. Everyone had a small candle at the top of their heads. They looked like true kobolds, not some mutated ones. -hey, they look rather weak. -yea normal kobolds arent that bad. The three commented. This is bad. -hey, go to the middle everyone! Arata shouted. -what is Arata? With guys like that even we can fight them. Archer commented. -cant you see that this is way worse than seven meters high black one or anything before. -what are you saying? You will kill them all in one shot. -that number? The kobolds kept coming, there were about one hundred small holes and every ten seconds or so new series of kobolds appeared which meant every ten seconds additional 100 kobolds appeared. -hey Arata what are we going to do? Archer asked when he realized what Arata wanted to tell them. -there are way too many! Said other one. I could probably fight them all day long one by one but others will die in short time. I cant fight while defending them at the same time. Even if I could minimize the damage, this is just way too much and in the end I would die as well. Even if I abandon them, the chances of me winning are still low. What to do? No ideas pop in Aratas mind. The numbers were too big and after that, he still would have to defeat the seven meters high one. Maybe I can somehow take him out and the rest will go away. Lets see his level. Arata checked giants level the number next to it was saying 70. Okay, I need another idea. -Arata shouldnt we get started? I am already playing for so long so I should go and eat dinner. My mom will get angry at me if I dont come soon. Anari interrupted him. Oh I forgot about second part of my plan, where we were to logout for a while. Now that she said that, I think even though my mind says that I okay, my real body might end up starving. No, this is not time to think about that. -Anari, I trying to come up with a plan. -but do we even need a plan? We have already high level right? Remember yesterday, you were saying nonstop She started to imitate his voice which gave hilarious effect. -who needs plan? Just go and slay everything that comes. It seems like my words. I dont even remember when I said that though. Arata said that during their hunt when the three gave up. Arata was just slaying everything as it came. He gave up plan with three running around. -well I dont think that it will work this time. -why? The enemies look weak even to me. They are slow and small. -but the number. -but before you said Anari once again imitated him. -the more the better I will just kill them faster, one hit and three will fall at once, more experience. -I dont remember saying that. -waaa, Arata scary. You dont remember what you were saying yesterday, do you have memory loss? In that case you should go to hospital. -Anari just be quiet! Okay. Arata had long enough dealing with her carefree attitude but she didnt stop. -looks like it must have been hard to sleep on those rocks. You are in really bad mood today. But lets finish it quickly so you can go and sleep in real bed. Hey, hey, hey, what does she mean by lets finish it quickly? Fight can last I dont even know how long. Anyway I need a plan. Arata was trying to think of something but Anari already had a plan. -go Arata! Kill them all! I forgot that she thinks that I can do anything but I also have my limits. -Anari what do you want me to do here, there is already like what, thousands of them? -just kill them in one blow and go for big one. Well it even sounds like tactic but. -like I can do that! Arata made an obvious remark and even ended up shouting. His composure was finally broken. -but Arata is strong and all. -listen Anari, no matter how good one is, swords are simply not long enough to kill them all in one blow. -but if we are talking about Arata then you can do it. -I said there are some limits! I am not as invincible as you think! I told you that I am normal player. The only thing I can do is kill them one after another but in the process of it, you all will die. With me probably soon following when I wont be able to swing my sword anymore. Hearing that the three froze for a second but then just casually said. -well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. -true it not like we can join that guy guild in the first place if he except players to do something likes clearing 30 level high dungeons. -dont worry, Arata its not your fault. -yes, yes, you did so good that its a shame that you will fail now as well. -I even feel sorry for you a little. You had great chances. -anyway we wont forget you and your meal. -yes the meal is the one thing that we definitely wont forget. -you guys . Arata ordered them to do the worst jobs and made them run away from psychopathic mutated kobolds but he still liked them and thought that they arent that bad. He wanted at least show them last boss battle which he promised to do. -Arata I decided that after this I will focus on improving my skills rather than my level, do you have any advice? Archer asked Arata for his expertise as the small kobolds were slowly coming near them. Arata decided that it would be unfair to try and fight alone at this point, so he decided to just share others fate. He also didnt want to fight for hours and suddenly die the moment he losses focus for a second. He also didnt really know how he would fight against that giant. In the end it was just not worth the trouble. -I think the best thing to learn at start is movement and dodging. Learn how to make small but fast steps. If you are fighting new enemy try to learn their attack patterns first. If you do that it will be easier to dodge. I think it will be good idea to just pull one mob and do dodging all day long to train it, or simply find someone who will train with you. Arata started giving them advices. -thanks thats some great advise. What about the attack? -attack comes later, for now focus on defense, when you are good enough on defense the offense comes easily. You can always use skills but the best idea is to learn how to cut with sword from each direction. From every angle. Still, if you learn how to dodge first, you can have many opportunities to attack so you dont have to learn second part so fast. It might not seem like it but most of the monsters in this game arent that fast. Well at least the ones that I found so far. -I will remember that. Archer answered. -me too, hey Steven we could train together? -okay, Mark lets meet again near jobs board after coming back to life. Gerry, you are coming with us? -sure I am, we will be as good as Arata one day. -so two days from now we meet in Loris and go for training. You guys are good on time? -no problem. -me too! That was the beginning of three person friendship that lasted to the day they grew old. So their names were Steven, Mark and Gerry. They introduced at some point but Arata didnt care to remember their names. But now in his last moments, he decided that it would be just rude to not know their names. Anari looked at the scene where four men were hugging as if they wont see each other ever again. What are they doing? were her thoughts. She already had been playing for three days nonstop which is 15 hours in real so she wanted to wrap it up quickly. -I dont know what you guys are doing but I really need to go soon so can you stop this? Here she is again. Arata was annoyed by her comment. -I already told you that no can do. Also dont interrupt us, they asked for some advice so I giving it to them. -from when did you start give someone advices? You didnt want to teach me anything. -I did teach you enough. -I want to know more. -no. -why!? -because, it would be a pain to do so. Those guys here have experience you dont, so if I just tell them few things the effect will be enormous. With you it would take years, no decades. -but I also want to be good! -some things are simply not meant to be. -Arata meanie! Anyway, you can teach them later. We should start the fight already. -have you forgotten that we will die in a second its starts and I dont think that I will see them again so this is the last chance for giving them advice. And so Anari finally understood. -so you cant do anything in this fight, you were not joking? -yes I wasnt, anyway you wasted too much time. Well guys it was nice knowing you. Remember defense comes first. -yea, thanks Arata. -wawa. Oh looks like wawa has come back again, well no can do, I could save one person by running away but that is not fair to the others. -wawa! So Arata is not cyborg? Cyborg who can do anything and is perfect in every way So thats what she was thinking about me? But then Arata heard something unexpected. -Arata dont worry I will take care of it. -ha? Arata stopped and the three did the same as she said it without worry. She was just standing there without a second of doubt. The kobolds were already two meters away from them and were marching slowly. Anari lifted up her staff it started to shine. -Light of Dawn! She just said that and the yellow-white light started coming out from her as epicentrum. Soon, it spread all around the cave and the small kobolds started to fall, one by one as it reached them. The big black kobold used his hands to block the king kobold who was sitting at the top of him. He blocked the light. He was blinded for a few seconds. Soon enough, black kobold and the one at the top of his head were the only ones that survived. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The three and Arata looked at Anari with surprise. Soon enough, the three started to dance happy that the will stay alive. They were really carefree people. Arata reaction was a little different though. Mages and their overpowered skills. Nerf!!!! Her annoyance with that girl become evens more. Anari was the most happy one, she did something that oh so powerful in her thinking Arata could not. But their joy ended soon enough as new kobolds started to come out. The king kobold said again. -kakaka, my armies are endless. You are only delaying the inevitable. What? We have to kill another army? Well, with Anari skill we can do it but isnt it stupid? They are moving so slow that we can even get bored, anyway first I need to know something. Despite his annoyance Arata once again focused on the fight. -Anari how many times can you use it again? -that spell? Em, firstly Arata please say that I am not useless. -how many times! -waaa. Its eat a half of mana but I didnt fire any fireballs after break so I can use it once more. One more, so if another wave come, we can kill it one more time, but it doesnt look like it will end there. I need to come up with good tactic. What would a normal group do if they didnt have overpowered AOE skills? They fight endlessly? Nah I dont think so. -Arata give it up we should use that spell to run away, this boss is impossible. Steven aka archer advised but Arata just answered. -there is no such thing as impossible, especially in games. There are no impossible quests, no impossible dungeons and no impossible bosses. There are only bad players. Thats all. -you say that but in the first place we are at high level dungeon and we are fighting the boss with only five people. For the record we are useless against him and Anari can only use that light spell once. Simply we just came here unprepared. If you go unprepared for hard encounter then you lose. It is also simple as that. -no, you are wrong. If we didnt have a chance in the first place we wouldnt have come this far. No, we wouldnt even come to this dungeon. -so you trust Leader out of sudden? Its simple that he just wanted to have some fun. No other group has ever completed his test as well. -no, he is just looking for players to his guild. -you say that but he wont find anyone with impossible challenge as that. -no he is looking exactly for people who see that its not impossible challenge. He looks for the ones that will find a way in situations like this. Thats the quality of players from best guild. - . The three didnt say back anything to it, and Arata was not waiting for their answer and started running at the giant kobold. While doing so shouted. -Anari! When those kobolds get close again, just use that spell. Leave the giant one to me. After you do that you can run if you want. -we wont run! With this reassurance Arata speeded up. As he was getting closer to giant he heard the kobold again. -kakaka, you want to fight me and my pet. You cant even deal with the small ones, what do you except to do here? He already said that his army is endless so there is no point in fighting against the small ones. In the first place they arent even meant to be fought. They are just distraction from a real target. Same thing is with the big one. All I really need to do is kill the talking one. The only problem is how will I reach him? As Arata was coming closer and closer. Then the giant crouched. What is he giving him to me? Yea, as if that could happen. As predicted giant soon stood back up but now he was holding one big hammer in his hands. With that hammer he launched an attack at Arata. To avoid it Arata ran one meter to the left and it still was close call. Then the giant took up his weapon and started to move in Aratas direction. His feet could easily crush Arata without resistance. -aaaa. Arata tried his best not to get crushed and managed to run through under him. But when he looked back to his enemy the hammer was already coming his way. Arata was unable to dodge it normally it was too sudden. He used skill to save himself. [Black dash] Hammer landed on him and from afar it looked like Arata was crushed underneath it but that didnt happen and he went through it and soon appeared out from the hammer. I didnt think that he can attack like that. What was that anyway? Attack from behind, based on luck? That was too fast for a giant to turn around and lunch an attack. Arata was already behind the door unable to see how much time he had left so he needed to hurry. He started thinking up the plan. Anyway I need to get up there. With leap ability, I can jump up three meters. I didnt test it yet but if its say three meters its better be those three meters. The rest of the distance I will have to climb somehow and then quickly kill of the talking kobold at the top. Arata started to run at the giant once again. He dodged his hammer again and after being one meter away from him Arata used leap to jump at giants body. Still, while Arata was still in the air, the giant dropped his hammer and thrown a punch at him. For the giant it was like hitting a fly. Arata only managed to cross his swords in his defense but as expected that didnt help much. Arata was send flying back all the way to the wall, which hit hard. -auaaaaa! Then after the hit, Arata bounced off it and fell down to the floor. In second, his situation changed from hard to hopeless. Ignore the pain and go on. Arata said it once to others but when the time came, naturally he couldnt do it. At least he survived somehow with 24% of health remaining. The problem was however that he couldnt move so well. Running was definitely not an option but he somehow managed to stand up. Auaaaa, that hurt, I wonder how something like this hurts in real. No rather in real you would die on a spot. Still, even though I am still alive its over now. I cant even dodge his stupid hammer anymore In normal games you can do everything you want as long as some hp is left. You can even go around with 1% hp remaining for a long time if you play well. In EOA however once you get hit hard, its hit hard. It wasnt that that all attacks were so strong that one would die right away but many times they made person unable to fight anymore. Simplest example would be that if you get your hand cut off its given that your fighting power will go down. well that plan didnt work, happens. How could I know that he can switch from hammer to punch in one second? He should take more care of his weapon. While Arata was thinking that, the giant started to move at him once again. Aaa he is already making another swing over from the head. Oh, maybe I should have tried to catch his hammer and go up there that way just like I did once before on the last pack. Arata thought of a new idea. He did that move for fun once but it looked like it could work here. Although whatever it was a good idea or not, couldnt be proven till it was tested. The previous plan also seemed good and it ended with Arata hitting the wall. I should have thought about it earlier. There is no way to pull it off now. It would be hard even in normal circumstances. Anyway the hammer is already coming so Sor When Arata already gave up the light entered the room in which he was from direction of the door. That light stopped the giants attack. He dropped the hammer and hid his master with one hand and his eyes with other. It took a second for Arata to realize his is not dead yet. Looks like I have some more time. The light that blinded the giant reached Arata as well, he was healed by it back to 50% and his hands started to work like before he met the wall. Still, he couldnt move like he wanted. Even if his HP went back in percentage, his real damage did not disappear completely. Still it was good enough for him to stand on the ground normally and even walk. Ah yes, her overpowered skill can heal allies as well. But still it was not enough. Well, if with that skill, she could replace a healer then this game would be too unbalanced. Hmm the giant will soon pick his hammer and attack me again so no that it changes much. Wait! Thats it! Arata started to walk in hammer direction. [Lighting speed activated] Even though that skill increased his speed by 100% the walking was still not as fast as run even though he was moving faster. [Leap] Arata jumped up and landed on the hammer. There he started to look for something to hold onto. But he didnt have that much time as the giant was about to stop defending his eyes. Arata quickly decided that for now all he can do is to trust his luck and hided on the hammer without holding anything. He was wearing black in the first place so all he needed to do is to hide his hair. From afar, one shouldnt even recognize that he is there. The king kobold spoke. -kakaka, the hammer must have crushed him a second ago, he couldnt run Minion! Grab the hammer and lets go for others, it already took too much time already. Yes grab the hammer and hold it delicatelyaaaaa! -aaaaaaaaaa! The giant didnt have delicately in the first place so he just grabbed it and pulled it up with full force. Just as he wanted, Arata reached the top in instant like but second after that happened he was shoot out in the air without a chance to jump onto giants body. In this moment, he finally could see the king kobold that was sitting on the top of the giant. Arata flied slightly above him. There wont be a better chance [Sword enchant: wind] [Sword slash] The sword released invisible arc that few seconds later chopped off the head of talking kobold. Arata was always keeping his mana for emergency where he had to use that skill. He didnt use it even once during this dungeon yet. This skill was his last card to play. And as to why he changed element to wind it was because he didnt want to leave any chances. Giant cant block it if he cant see it. Whenever Anari used her light spell, giant always focused on keeping his master safe. The king kobold wasnt that different in look from the small kobolds that came out in hordes from small caves. The difference was that he was wearing more expensive clothing and his candle that he had on his head was in the shape of crown. The only problem in killing king kobold was that the giant was defending him. Giant shouldnt be able to defend him from attack that was lunched from this range in the first place but its better to be safe than sorry Still, now I must say. Ah! Its so nice to fly! Arata was still in the air after he got lunched up by the hammer and flied out from the boss room to the cave. Ah, it does remind me of the time after I got hit by paladins hammer of justice. At that time I was also in the air like this, unable to move. At that time, he couldnt move at all and the distance was even greater. He could consider that this time it wasnt that bad in comparison. Anari and the three were already celebrating victory. The small kobolds stopped coming. Sure after the last light of dawn few kobolds did come out from the caves but they soon turned back and hid in them again. -haha I knew that Arata could do it. -right, he is a hero after all. -but where is he now? -no idea, knowing him he probably wants to kill the big one as well. -haha, thats so like him. Anari laughed as the three were talking. -hey, did you hear something? -now that you said that. I did hear something coming from the top. Hey look, I found Arata Steven aka Archer, pointed up to the sky. -he is flying? Mark asked. -well, its Arata after all. I wont get surprised by anything he does. Gerry commented. -true but why is he screaming? -he must want us to see him. He is probably showing off. -well he could also be falling to his death right now but like that could happen. Its Arata after all. Anari looked at small black dot in the distance, and located Arata. -wawaaa Arata! She soon ran into direction where he was likely going to fall. In the meantime back in the sky. Might as well enjoy the flight as long as it lasts, its not like that Wizard can help me again. Hmm I need to come up with counter measures for falling down from such heights later on, it happens too often! I wonder what would happen if I used black dash second before falling? Well, I cant test it now as I dont have any stamina to use it but maybe some other day. Despite the situation Arata was not really concerned. He did his job already and defeated the last boss. No one could ask him anything more from him. But as he was gaining more and more speed before crushing at some point he somehow started to slow down. Oh, what is happening? -Arata! The voice was coming from the ground. No way, Anari? Well, she said that with basic magic she can make thing fly. And she even managed to keep it up for three hours while sleeping. I must say that she really is good at it, maybe I should ask her for advice on this whole basic magic thing Arata thought like that for a second but then after imagining it. No, I will never do that. Arata made a promise to himself that he will never break. There are few things in life that man cant do no matter what. Arata slowed down even more and right now was 3 meters from the ground. Hmm maybe, she has some uses after all. Next time I will try to But then Arata started to speed up once again. It looked like it was good that he didnt finish his the praise. -aaaaaaaaaa! Lucky Arata managed survived the crushing. He had 50% of hp after last light of dawn spell. After landing it was. 3%, by hair. -Arata! Anari run up to him. -aua, Anari, please kill me. The falling damage hurts too much. His lucky survival was not really good thing for him though. Now he felt all aftereffect of his fight. -dont say that. Didnt you once say Anari once again imitated him. -just ignore the pain and move on The stupidest thing I ever said in my life. -you know, I tried to help but my mana run out after two light of dawn so I couldnt slow you down for too long. Anari continued. -wuahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! While Anari was talking suddenly the cave was filled with a loud roar. -what was that? She asked and looked in the direction from where the shout came from. Unfortunately, it seemed that the giant kobold was still up for more. Killing the king kobold didnt get rid of giant kobold as Arata suspected, or rather hoped. Well. Looks like EOA isnt called an evil game for no reason. -hey Anari! Do you remember the time when I told you to run away in the park and you didnt do it? -yes, I couldnt forget that. -great, then this time follow what I say. -yes, I will follow what you say. -then. Run and dont look back! There was little else they could do now. Arata was definitely in no shape for the fight and there was no healer in this group. In the first place, arent we crazy to go for a dungeon without a healer? To Aratas surprise after he asked her to run Anari simply answered. -no! -why? -because I also remember how bad I felt being the only one left alive. I am not running anymore! -Anari, this is not time for your slacking. Start running already! -no! This time I will defend you. I am not afraid of anything now. Anari finally showed some bravely. Arata would rather call it stupidity though. -, okay, let me just tell you something before you try. -an advice? -just listen. First of all, he is 70 lvl boss giant class monster. He has seven meters in height at that. -wawa. Anari answered in low voice her bravely disappeared in the instant. -he also have big hammer that is even bigger than he is. -wawa. And the voice got even lower. -also, you dont have any mana and mage without mana is useless. It would be impossible for you even if you had it. -wawa, but you said that nothing in games is impossible. -okay, keep listening. You know, in during my fight against this giant its not like I made huge mistake, I wasnt careless either. I just somehow ended up crushing into the wall after getting hit by his punch once. So do you still want to fight it? -okay! We are running! Arata successfully convinced her. -you run! I cant move anymore. -then, I will help you out. -I dont believe you can. -I will at least try. I am not running alone. -then you will die as well. Run by yourself! -why do you always saying things like that! Dont you care about yourself even a little bit? Why do you always want to sacrifice yourself? -yes, I dont care about myself. So leave me alone. Even though Arata said that, Anari still didnt stop even for a moment. -then you should! I am not leaving you behind! She yelled back at him! It was the first time he saw her angry. Still her tries at helping him didnt bear much fruit and the giant was already moving in their direction. Anari managed somehow bring Arata to siting position but that was all. -see there is no way you can do it. -this time your opinions are ignored Arata! It all looked hopeless but then the help arrived just in time. -we will help as well. The three Steven, Mark and Gerry have come to the rescue. -Arata, leave it to us! We are best in the world at running away from mutated kobolds! Steven aka Archer sounded confident the problem was however that this time the kobold was slightly bigger. The three picked Arata up and start running away. During it they were yelling to each other. -run! We are going to survive it! -there is no way that we will die here! -its our time to shine! They were running all clumped together while holding Arata in the air, Anari was right behind them, she was not helping as if she tried she would probably just get in the way. Few meters behind her was the giant kobold who somehow turned from black color into red. Before he was only walking slowly but this time he was running or rather jumping from leg to leg. -enrage! Arata couldnt move right now so he just informed everyone that they should hurry. In some games there was a timer that was called enrage timer. If people spend too much time fighting, the monster would become much stronger. Enrage also appeared when players did something that they shouldnt. For example boss fight involve fighting few enemies at once, as you kill one, the others become enraged and stronger so the fight wont get easier. -run faster! Even though Arata told them to run faster they were already doing their best so they didnt speed up. The giant will be in range in a second. -guys! Arata shouted to them again. -we are giving our 100% already! -I know. Anyway, when I say, go right, you all go right okay!? -what? -just turn right on the signal! The giant was already in their range and was swinging his hammer. -RIGHT! Arata shouted and the party moved right dodging the hammer in a process. After it landed on the ground the force on the ground was so big that they were lifted up into air. -good! Now continue to the exit but remember we still have at least one hammer to dodge. -we might be able to go in one go. -no, we are still too far and the giant can lunch his attacks one after another. And why the hell are you standing! Start running! They stopped after dodging the hammer but now, once again at full speed were running to the exit. Another attack started coming their way. -LEFT! They dodged another hammer attack this time without stopping and now they had free way to the exit. The three started so shout in joy still running. -we did it! -we are the best! -yuhhhuuuu! Ah, I really didnt count on surviving this fight. Even Arata was relived after hearing giants roar he really didnt see the chances of him surviving. But then moment they were about to run into the tunnel and leave this cave something unexpected happened. They all bounced off from what should be an exit and landed on the ground. What the? It was as if the tunnel before them was only a painting. -aaaa I forgot! Steven shouted when they were all lying on the ground in stack. -Archer what is it? Arata asked him. -boss rooms are closed after more than 5 minutes passes. In stoneground there were the doors but because here there are no doors, so some kind of force field appeared. And so, their situation, once again become hopeless. I knew it was all for nothing. I should though about that. Most of the games follows similar pattern. - . Arata was on top of everyone else when Anari was right on the button. Even if she was pressed down with weight she asked. -Arata, cant you do something like that thing in park? -Anari, I already said that I am not as great as in your delusions. The one who is always saved is me Arata answered to her and started thinking. I was the one that was always saved by others, by mom, dad and grandpa. Grandpa told me to play this game so I did just that, as I didnt have other ideas as what I should do. For a moment I even thought that at least in this world, I could save people with my skills and knowledge, but it ended up the same way as always. I cant do a single thing, I cant save a single person, no, I cant even save myself. -sorry Anari, looks like its me who was useless all along. Arata said that and tears started to come out from his eyes. Everyone was really surprised as the one that was telling them that this is just a game and they shouldnt take it too seriously started to cry. -Ara Anari tried to say something but she didnt know what to say. The hammer was already flying and was bringing them to certain death. Each time its always like this. But the hammer didnt kill them. The hammer somehow stopped in the air and the loud sound as if it hit another metal could be heard. And then they cave was willed with familiar voice. -dont be so hard on yourself Arata. In the air where hammer stopped a small red flame could be seen. It soon exploded and turned into a person. -leader! Anari shouted as he saw him. The person in red-gray armor holding his fire like shield against the kobolds hammer. The shield itself was a piece of art. Rather than a shield it could be called living fire. In the midair, Gerald used his left free hand and pushed the hammer back. It went over kobold head and ended up behind him. At the same time giant kobold lost his balance and landed on the butt. Gerald landed like nothing two meters away from where the party was lying. -Leader, you were here? Anari asked. -I am an observer of the test after all. I was here from the very start. But it looks like the test was indeed a little too extreme if our Twilight Swordsman started to cry during it. Hey Arata, you okay? -Arata tried his best to save us bu. -stop! Im fine! Arata interrupted her. -but you . -Im fine! Arata clearly wasnt fine or at least he was nothing like usual. -Anari, leave him be. Anyway you guys have passed the test as you killed the last boss so I am not doing anything against the rules by helping you right now. In the first place there are no specific rules and its me who sets the rules. -we did kill the last boss? But the giant is still here, ah leader watch out! The giant kobold managed to stand back and swigged his hammer at the new enemy that appeared before him. But the hammer simply bounced of invisible wall and the kobold went back to previous position. -waaa. Anari grasped at the look of it. Gerald continued without even looking back at the giant. -yes you killed the last boss, the only thing that is left is his minion, As far as I remember, defeating last boss always meant clearing whole dungeon. Even if something was left. -I dont know the rules but isnt it a little forced? Anari answered. -its good excuse, not that I need one. Even if you didnt kill that boss I probably would still give you passing grade. But guys, how long do you plan to crush down our poor little mage? Gerald lifted his hand and everyone from the stack all fly up covered in yellow flash. All of them were soon standing fully healed, although Arata didnt look too good right now. Anari was worry. -leader Arata is. -he said that he is fine, so leave it be. -but. -no buts. Anyway, we are now going outside and take at least four hours real time break. After that, we are going back to Loris. If you need a longer break and cant come back after four hours tell me about it beforehand. -leader, we cant go back until the giant is here. -what giant? Ah this little guy, he doesnt look like giant to me. Does it matter if he is here or not? We could leave if we want to without doing anything to him. -but there is barrier how could we just leave? -I guess, I will leave this lesson for some other time. In this case I clean him up so dont forget to pick up the loot afterwards. -but leader, will you be okay? -haha Anari what do you think of me? -emm leader have really interesting personality but I its really hard describe it, so many things around you are mystery. -no, I meant, how strong do you think I am. Although your answer was also interesting so lets leave it at that. Anyway, you can start running to pick up the loot. -?? Anari didnt understand this sentence. In Geralds hands a sword appeared. It wasnt normal sword, nor was it anything that Anari or Arata have seen before. It was rather big sword but not as big to be used in two hands. There were three red lines going through its silver blade which started to burn in the crimson flame. The hilt was also in also in shape of flames. A small red dot appeared over kobolds head. Soon enough Gerald was already there and with his burning sword. With, single strike he went through kobolds body and then appeared under him. Kobold was already died after that attack but he didnt even manage to fall to the ground. After the cut the flames consumed him and burned him down completely. Only gray ashes remained of him and they floated in the air. http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3122 Chapter 10 “Guild” Chapter 10 Guild The night was over and through the window the sunlight has entered the Alices room. Although she did not wake up from her bed but from an object called Virtual Reality Capsule. She spent in it, her whole day but she wasnt really that tired. Staying in VRC was just like sleeping. Even if you were working hard inside the game you real body was resting. Alice changed her clothes and went down to the kitchen. -good morning, mom. She said as she entered the room. Unfortunately, Alices mom was not in the best mood right now. -Alice! We need to talk. -what is it? Also is there any breakfast? Anari answered while yawning without realizing her mothers mood. -here. -thanks. -Alice, I know that you have holiday right now and doesnt have much to do but how can you play a game for the whole week!? Ooo. After this one sentence Alice know that it was time to get scolded, still she tried to avoid that. -that is its not simple game mom. -yes, yes, I heard of advertising. What is happing it this world is beyond my understanding. -see, dad also plays it all day so whats the problem? -no! He is working with it, not playing. Alice you cant just spend your whole day and night playing games, sleep normally at least! -but if I sleep in the game I can sleep five times longer. -that talk again. Somehow I dont believe it works like normal sleep. That talk about having more time also doesnt seem real. -but its true mom. For me as I entered the capsule and now returned, 4 days have passed. Alices mom somehow didnt believe it but soon she said. -maybe I should try as well. -you will see my point, but this isnt an easy game. -and since when did you become expert in the games? -no, no I am not an expert. I beginner as well, I am rather useless in fact. Alice quickly explained herself. -I see. Still, speaking about the games, you know that your friend is back. But then suddenly her mom changed the subject. - . Alice did already meet that friend once. Still, even though she wanted to see him for so long, somehow it didnt go the way she wanted. Even with her usual negative thinking, she never thought of a scenario in which he first completely forget about her and then tell her that he doesnt want to see her again. -I remember when you were little. You were always running after him but at the end of the day he would always bring you back as if you were his little sister. Thanks to that I didnt have to worry too much that you will get lost or something will happen to you while you were outside Her mother continued. Little sister eh -anyway I saw him while he was jogging around the town. He even remembered me and said good morning, good kid She remembers my mom yet he doesnt remember me. What her mother told her depressed her even more. -anyway Alice, why dont you go and great him as well? -em I already seen him. -is that so and here I thought that you didnt even know about it, because you played all this time. - . Alice once again remembered of the time her friend got angry at her and said that he doesnt want to talk with her ever again. She knew that something was wrong as he also mentioned that he told others where he went, which was clearly lie. Alice asked almost everyone about him and no one knew a thing. She couldnt understand it. Maybe she just didnt understand people as good as she thought. In similar way, she couldnt understand her new friend Arata. -mom, do you know why Arthur has moved out? Alice once again tried to ask her mom again. -Anari, dont pray in other people business. You are his friend right? Although he said that she isnt his friend anymore, Alice couldnt just forget about him and act like they never knew each other. -shouldnt I know if I am his friend? -if he doesnt want to talk about it just leave it alone, people have things that they dont want to talk about It would be good if I knew it before. were Alices thought but even if her mom told her this before she probably would still ask. -anyway Alice, what are you going to do now? -em in three hours I go back to the game. -but you just finished! Her mom wasnt very happy with her answer. -I promise my friends that I will be back. - Her mom took a large breath and continued. -okay, I understand Alice, that thing is popular right now, I understand, I understand. Play to your heart concern. -really? -but under one condition. -yes what is it? -you have to do something healthy outside as well. I dont know what exactly but you cant spend all your time in home. Join some sport club or something. -but I am not good at any sports. I cant do that. -yes it wouldnt be a good idea I guess. In that case imitate your friend and lets say every three days go jogging for an hour or so, anyone can run after all, if you do that I wont complain anymore. -wawa, an hour! There is no way I can run for that long. I will be at my limits after five minutes. -well, I am not expecting you to run all that time. When you get tired slow down and walk till you can run again. Anyway, its for your own good. You can start up after eating. -fine, I accept. But I will start tomorrow. Bye. -hey! Alice ran back to her room at the first floor. Then she went to take a shower. After that she still had some time before agreed time so she lay on the bed. Then she recalled recent events. After she reached the village Loris, she decided to follow her friends advice and look for the guild. Well, she didnt know where to look or how to look for it. Still, she didnt give up and continued through the village. The moment she reached the center of the village a man in red-grey armor started to started moving in her direction. The moment he did that Alice got scared and started to run away as fast as possible. Still her worst worry appeared to be true and the mans target was her. She couldnt run away from him no matter how hard she tried although the man didnt try to stop her and was just running next to her and was continually talking ignoring the fact that she was running away. After some time Alice decided that it time to give up and listen to the man. He once again introduced himself. His name was Gerald but because he wanted to be called a leader she did call him that. He explained to her that he is looking for people to his guild. Alice wanted to join a guild so it was surprisingly lucky on her part but as she heard about the test that she would needed to pass she explained that she is a beginner and have no chances at all to complete it. To that the man asked her, how she ended up with white wizard profession. Alice was little surprised that he knew her class but there probably was some way to do it and she simply didnt know that way yet. She then told him about her adventure in the city of beginners and that her class was all thanks to the luck and the person that helped her. Still, Gerald didnt want to give up after hearing all that as he said that her class is really rare. He said that it would be easier to teach her how to play rather than finding someone else with that class, although she still had to go for that test. Following her friends advice, Alice asked Gerald if the person that helped her can join as well. To that he only answered that he can give him the same test but he wont invite anyone simply because he was asked to do so. Her friend had to normally pass the test like everyone else or rather like no one else because no one managed to do it yet. Still, Alice didnt worry about that as she had faith in Aratas ability. Still the problem was that she had no way to contact him. To that Gerald just said -leave it to me. Although it took some time, after four days Gerald come back with her friend Arata. After that, they traveled to the place where the test was going to be held. During the journey Arata and Gerald keep arguing with each other nonstop. Before they even started to walk, there was already duel between them. It was funny for her seeing Arata struggle so much as it was unusual for him. The problem was that Gerald didnt stop just on Arata. He also bullied her, saying things like she and Arata fit each other. Its not like I want to go out with him! That was the truth. Alice didnt think about him in that way. She never had a boyfriend before and the only one that she ever considered dating would be her friend Arthur. But even so, after their last meeting Alice somehow lost her trust in men. Of course she was interested in Arata and wanted to continually play with him as he was the first person she had met it the game, and she already had few great adventures with him. Still, saying interested in doesnt mean interested in romantic way. He likes the big boobs anyway, idiot! At some point she found out about his fetish and even though Alice was trying to drink a glass of milk everyday it didnt help her much. After few hours of walk they reached the dungeon and the trial began. During it, Arata was the same as always, prepared for everything, doing impossible feats one after another. Alice just followed his instruction and gave her best at shooting fireballs. From the very start to the very end of challenge following Aratas command, her party was defeating one group after another. Then they finally managed to reach the last boss. He couldnt deal with masses of kobolds so he also has flaws! When they fought the last boss, Arata decided to give up at some point and Anari saved the day but that didnt looked like he couldnt manage alone. Arata always thought of the plan in which she and the other three that were with them didnt die. If he was alone, he would probably manage it somehow. Thats how it looked to her. Even though Alice could kill off armies of kobolds using only one skill, wining didnt even consider killing them in the first place. Once again Alice reminded herself of her uselessness. Arata spotted that difference and alone went to fight with gigantic kobold. She didnt see what he was doing there but one way or another, Arata has slain the main boss and the small kobolds stooped coming. With that she and her party already celebrated the victory but that was not enough as even though the main boss was dead, his minion giant kobold was still alive. Because Arata couldnt move, he told her and the rest that they should run away. Alice didnt want to be the only one to survive after Arata did everything by himself so together with other party members they tried to at least help him escape. It was going good but as it turned out, one cant escape the boss fight so there was nothing left that they could do. At that moment something really unusual happened. Arata apologized to them. It was very strange for Arata to do something like that but even more surprising was that he started to cry as well. Even before, he was already acting weird. Anari wanted to tell him that its not true and he did more than anyone would ask him for, but somehow she felt that her words wont reach him. That no matter what she says it will have absolutely no effect and that she wouldnt be able to help him. However there appeared the words that stop Aratas tears. It were a simple words that come from Gerald as he rescued them from unavoidable death. -dont be so hard on yourself Arata such simple words but I couldnt say them. Even though it was simple, Alice also knew that it was not only the words that were needed but the way that Gerald said them. Sure they didnt make Arata go back to his unusual self but he at least stopped crying and gave responses if someone said something to him. After that Gerald mascaraed giant kobold, and they went outside. With his instruction she went for a break which was ending 10 minutes from now. Alice couldnt wait anymore to ask Arata what happen so she decided to log in and wait for him there. Anari appeared at the entrance to the dungeon. She looked around and spotted that everyone except Arata was already there. The three were doing a mock fight and Gerald was lying on the grass looking at the night sky. Anari went to him. As he spotted her, he picked up himself from the ground and said. -our mage has returned, time to go! The three stopped their fight and started to move in direction of Loris. Gerald started to move the same way. Anari didnt know what happening as Arata was not here. He must have run somewhere and dont want to join the guild because I am here. She quickly come up with the most depressing explanation to herself and run after Gerald and asked. -leader, where is Arata? -he said that he will go ahead and log out in the village as he has to do something afterwards. Gerald answered normally. -he didnt run? -hahaha, how could I let our twilight swordsman run away? -and what about the guild? -naturally he passed the test. I asked him to join and he accepted. -really!? Anari did not expect things to go so easily. -you should rather worry about yourself first. -wawa. -say, how did you do on your test? -wawa. -the other three for example didnt kill even a single kobold and when I asked them this question they said that they dont deserve to join the soon to be strongest guild and dont want to be accepted because Arata did all the job by himself. So what you have to say Anari? Gerald was not making it easy for her. -well. I did kill some kobold but all I ever did was just following Arata instruction, I am useless. -well, its good that you see where you stand. Still you actually did better than I expected. I was convinced that you will die at some point. Anyway, just like I said, when we return to Loris I will teach you all you need to know so you wont be useless anymore. Hopefully. You should be happy that you have unique class like that. -waaa! Thank you Leader. -ah, dont think you will become better over the night, it will be long and time consuming process and when you reach a certain level it will be all up to you if you can move from there. -I will do my best. Emmm what about the other three, did you invite them as well? -well, I am not that good, but they showed some promise and wanted to train so I told them that they should seek me out when they get better and then I will give them another chance. Although I have completely no idea when it would be possible. Well I dont know what I will be doing in few years from now. -so, leader what are we going to do now? As a guild we should be doing something, right? -well, as you know our guild right now has only five people. Me, Loki, Kelly and our two newest members, you and Arata. Although its size nearly doubled from what it was yesterday, its definitely not enough. So following the plan, I will continue with search for new members. -maybe there will be someone in another group? -I dont know about Lokis group as he is searching for his members. But in Kellys one, they all should die rather fast. -then, why are you even testing them if you already know that they have no chance? Anari asked the question. -its not 100% accurate that they will fail. And the more groups we test the higher chance that someone will survive. Its not like you can fully understand someone without seeing them in action. Everyone has their own way of doing things. -I dont think that any group can do anything on dungeon like this if they dont have another Arata. -hahaha, that also may be true. Still, I dont plan on changing the test, unless I get bored of the view again. -but you wont find anyone that way. -once again we are looking for good players It seemed that Gerald was not lowering the difficulty of the test even if it meant not finding anyone else. -anyway Anari, what do you think about Arata? He asked her a question. -what you want to bully me again? -ah, the thing that I said that you suit, each other? Didnt I already say I was joking. -please dont do it anymore. -okay, okay. Anyway, I want you to tell me what you think about him as a player. What are his good points what are his bad points. -hmm, what can I say? He is perfect player, isnt he? He might have lost with the giant but he killed the last boss in the process. Anari answered right away. -perfect player, hmm? -you disagree Leader? -no, it is true that he is suitable for the strongest guild, I wouldnt be surprised if he was in one once before. I mean in other game as in this game there was never a guild that could be called the strongest. -what is exactly strongest guild? -its a guild that is considered the strongest by most players. Its not like there are some guild tournaments where each guild fight each other. And even if there were, not all guilds would join it. Good guilds would rather not join because public fights would reveal their abilities. In the end, peoples opinion is the factor of deciding which guild is the strongest. -see, Arata is strong if he was in strongest guild. -true, but everyone that have been in a guild like that has one big flaw. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.-what flaw? If they are best how can they have any problems? -well, explaining it will be easy as Arata is perfect example for it. You saw it as well. From the very beginning he decided that Steven, Mark and Gerry are useless and you were just someone who he could use as additional damage. -its true that I was doing just that. -so you see what I am talking about. The greatest problem of so called best players. They consider others useless and do everything on their own. This sometimes brings serve consequences. Like when Arata was trying to come up with idea how to fight hordes of kobolds. Even for a second he didnt think that he could use his party member with AOE spell. -yes, he did even start to say good bye to everyone. -Anari, you once told me the qualities of good guild Leader, I still remember that speech it was great. -well, it was something that my friend told me about. -so how do you think Arata did as party leader? After Gerald asked that question Anari pondered for few seconds and answered. - not so well. -so you finally see my point. Sure the main thing you should focus on is your own abilities but at the same time you shouldnt ignore people that are with you. There are times when you need to do something alone but there are also times when you cant do anything unless you get some help. Anari, what do you think the best teamwork would be? -em I dont know? Everyone relying on each other? Anari answered with the first thing that came to her mind. -you really think like that? Gerald answered, slightly disappointed in her answer. -waa! I dont really know. How can I? I am just a newbie But then he smiled seeing her reaction. -what would be the good teamwork then Leader? -hmm if you are asking for my opinion then listen. This will be your first lesson. I would say that teamwork is the exact opposite of what you just said. Rather than relying on others you should focus on things that you can do and expect others to do the same. I will do my job and you will do yours, if you wont manage to cope with it then I will beat the crap out of you the next time I see you. Helping each other, sure it may sound good and may even sound like thing you should do while doing things with others, still I rather think that this is simply an excuse for those who are not good enough. In times where true teamwork is needed, you dont have the time to worry about others. You just have to trust them with your back. -waaaaaaaaa! Anari was completely overwhelmed by what Gerald just said. -anyway, returning to the current matter. For the time being, dont go anywhere with Arata as you are now Anari, especially alone. First learn how to play at least on the most basic levels. Otherwise he will completely ignore you if you party with him in the future. -yes, I will work hard till I wont be useless! -now, one more thing. -hmm? -what are you going to do when you meet Arata? -ah, I want to ask him why he was depressed. - Gerald once again looked at her with slight disappointment then he asked. -really? -yes I want to know. -Anari, you are cruel girl you know. Gerald commented on her plans. -how can you say that? I am just worried about him. -okay, let me tell you something before that. What will you do if he tells you something that you are not able to do anything about? Something you wont even be able understand. Like some scary event B. -event B whats that about? Anyway, I will understand it somehow. -think! Someone like Arata wouldnt cry if the reason was not something serious. This time Gerald was also somewhat more serious. -you know something leader? You talked to him about it? -Anari, how could I speak with him about it when we only know each other for a day or so? Even if I knew him for years, I dont think that I would touch that topic. -why? -that is because I want our twilight swordsmen to stay in my guild. Anyway Anari, remember this well, you shouldnt ask questions for which you are not prepared to hear answer for. Mom also told me similar thing. Maybe its really not best idea to do that. Alice finally understood. -okay, I wont pry into his business. -good, just act normal. He should return to his usual self by now. -how can you tell? -stuff like that come suddenly but also quickly disappears. In most cases that is. -I dont get it. -well its not like you can understand that. Anyway there is no need to worry about Arata Now then, I said everything I wanted to say or even more so we should speed up a little. Hey guys we are running from now on! The three were talking before but stopped and answered him. -no problem we will be able to start our training faster. The party started to run. Anari decided to not ask Arata about what happened, at least for now. On the way Anari talked with the three. -its sad that you cant join. -dont say that. -yea we will join soon enough. -Mark is right. Also even though we failed the test it was a great experience. We now know what a true VR-player should be like. -its not like we had a chance on passing anyway, its a miracle that we didnt die. -I see, by the way I wanted to ask you something? Anari asked. -what is it? -why are you still with us? You dont have to follow us anymore do you? To this question, they bursted into laughter and then answered. -because we dont know the way back. Now that I think about it I also dont know the way. They run after Gerald through the plain. He summoned some kind of small fire above them so they could see the way. With time they reached the hill from where they took off from. At the hill there was campfire burning. Kelly was sitting next to it on the one side and Arata was sleeping next to it on the other side. As they reached the place Kelly started to complain. -Gerald where have you been? -naturally, with my group on the test. -yes but what took you so long? No, before that, what does it mean that everyone survived!? What test did you give them!? You said that you changed it. Wasnt it too easy? -ah yes, wait for a second Kelly Gerald stopped her and for the last time spoke with the three. -Steven! Mark! Gerry! I expect you to come back and show your true colors in future. -yes leader! -dismissed! With that the three left the hill and went in the direction of the village. Kelly was even more furious now. -hey Gerald! Dont send them away. They survived right. We wont find anyone better! My group died on first pack once again! -hahaha. -its not something to laugh about So what did you do that everyone survived. You cheated in some way didnt you!? Isnt he the leader here? Anari thought to herself, seeing as Gerald is scolded at. -no, no, dont worry my group went to that dungeon with kobolds that I mentioned to you once. -that place? Well it is even harder than usual place And then Kellys tone has changed. -so we really have new members? She asked. -yes, isnt it great. -and here I thought that this was pointless. Still its not like we are that much closer to original goal. -dont be like that its time to celebrate, Yuhuuu!!!! With loud shut of joy Gerald woken up sleeping Arata. -hey, cant you see that someone is sleeping here. -oh Arata, I thought that you would run away already and I would never see you again. Despite what Gerald said earlier, it seemed like he wasnt sure of Arata staying in the guild. -I will stick around for a while. After all, that test was annoying so I want my reward. -hahaha, glad to hear. Ah right, Anari give him that sword that dropped from last boss. Anari picked up the loot from talking kobold after Gerald slew the big one. There was a sword and magic cloak. It was better than her previous item so she equipped it. Now she was going around in color of blue rather than gray. -here Arata. Aratas eyes shined a little when he saw the sword he quickly changed his previous weapon and equipped this one. Then he asked. -thanks! So Gerald do you have any plans for a guild, right now? -call me leader! -sure I can do that, but I will never give you any of my cooking again. Arata is back to normal. Just like before he was battling with Gerald nonstop although it was different this time. -blackmailing is bad thing Arata. -nothing is bad as long as it works. -fine I give up for now. Why does no one want to call me a leader? But I swear that one day everyone will do so. You hear me Kelly! -no can do Gerald. Kelly answered him from across the fire. Arata asked again. -so, you have any plans? -well, for now we will be gathering more members. And by we, I mean me, Kelly and Loki. We are going to continue our search. Now that I think about it I dont see him here. Kelly, where is Loki? Gerald asked. -I dont know, even if he came back knowing him, he went with another group already while we were away. -fine I will message him later. -but this game doesnt have any message system? Anari made this remark but Gerald only answered. -no I have his phone number. Right, you two give me your mail address and phone number as well so I can contact you anytime I want. Anyway Arata you are free to do what you want. If you want to exp up somewhere to kill the time, I can tell you about good exping spot. -maybe later. For now I want to do a quest. Arata answered. -you found a quest here? Is there any quest in this village? -its a class quest for a weapon. -well not bad, normal quest are rare, and finding a class quest is even harder. -well I somehow ended up finding it. -be sure to complete it. Class quest give special reward. Like items that level up so they can be used anytime. From class quests you can get new abilities for your class. And getting good skills is the most important thing to look for. -but you have the skill book, abilities appear as you level up. Dont they? -sure but the best skills are from quests. If you want truly good skill you need to work hard for it. You have to sacrificing numbers of hours and numbers of level in order to complete those quests but trust me it is worth it. Anyway if you ever find unique quest, focus on that as rewards from them are far more important than leveling up. That is at least after 100th level. -you probably know better. But for now I have my quest for sword so I going for it tomorrow morning. Anari you are coming? Anari was little surprised that Arata asked her. I want to come but. -no, for now, leader is going to teach me how to play. -hahaha, Anari if you want to go, then go. Gerald said that but Anari knew that for now, she should focus on basic rather than be useless again and get in Aratas way. -no, no I want to learn. -looks like you will have to go alone Arata. Gerald commented. -I will manage somehow, but it may take a while. -well, we are staying here until we find additional members so . -you have eternity. Kelly cut into Geralds talk. -Kelly, dont say it like that! After we finally have found someone I am sure that now that luck is on our side new members will pop up one after another before we know it. -and how are we going to find them? Kelly asked him in return. -of course, the same way we did before. -as you can see Arata, you can go and come back in few years. -haha its seems like it. Gerald good luck with boar hunters. Arata was back to normal or rather it was first time that Anari saw him casualty laughing. -its not funny Arata. I also have to deal with them. Kelly commented. -then forget it and go for quest with me. Strange to see Arata have a talk like this. -sorry Arata, I would leave this guy alone but I cant do it while Loki is doing his best. -hey Kelly! You mean by you can leave me? Anari looked at the situation and couldnt understand what was happening at all. She decided to ask Arata about it. -hey Arata. -hmm? -why are you so strange now? -what do you mean by strange? -you know, you laughing your best even though you didnt look best before. -ah you mean that, Well everyone would be sad if after killing last boss, you gets owned by its minion and have to be saved by this guy. No, especially, after being saved by this guy. -but before you were always fighting with Leader! How can you speak suddenly to Kelly like that? Also you would never invite me to go on a quest together. Anari was sure at least of the last statement. At that moment Arata answered with simple word. -arent we members of the same guild. -haaaa? -Anari relax, I dont try to steal him from you. Kelly made additional remark and Gerald followed. -Kelly even if you dont, Arata already has fallen for your boobs. -Gerald isnt it you the one that is talking about the boobs all the time. Arata commented. -well here you got it wrong Arata, Gerald is an eternal kid who wont ever look at the girl. -hahaha. Even if I dont, I can still do this! Gerald jumped at Kelly but she simply avoided him and he landed on the ground. Arata laugh at that. -Gerald, look like your charm doesnt work on her. Arata commented -at least I have charm. Arata should I let you a hair dye so you wont scare children when they see you. -said the apple head. -what you want to fight again? -if we fought, it wouldnt even be called a fight. It would be rather me making a juice. And so, both of them started a fist fight. Is this the same Arata I know? Anari could not understand what was happening. -first time in the guild? Kelly come to her and asked. Anari was still worried. -what are they doing? Shouldnt we stop them? -why? They will punch each other for a while and then give up. -I never though, that Arata could be like that. -you know when he came back, I talked with him for a moment. -and what did you talk about? -well it was a simple greeting between two members of same guild. He told me that rest of you will be coming back shortly. Then he asked if I going anywhere right now and when I answered that I dont he just went to sleep. -see isnt it strange as well? -no I didnt find it strange at all. -but its Arata! He wouldnt just go to sleep next to stranger. You didnt talk with him much before did you? Wait, did you? Now that I think about it when we took off for the test he somehow looked the way where you went. -hahaha, I must tell him, that I dont look for a younger guy. Anyway you say that he was down for a while. -he wasnt just down. He even cried for a moment and even after that he was a still depressed but now he is back to usual or rather unusual. She looked as Arata made a punch at Geralds face and at the same time was punched by him. -cried? Must be something serious, anyway Anari you shouldnt pry too much into it? -you know that you are the third person that is telling me it today. -in games when someone do something unusual, the best thing to do is simply ignore it and wait till he get better. -but shouldnt we help instead? -no, at least until they ask you for it. Its the same in real life. Anari did you ever pry too deep in someone elses business? -well once. -and how did it ended? -wawa, my friend yelled at me and said that he doesnt want to talk with me ever again. -auch. You see how it can end, well you got the extreme version there but its better just to wait and wait until they told you about it themselves. -but Arata is still acting strange, what should we do? -he looks normal to me. You dont have fist fight with someone when you have something on your mind. -exactly that! Arata isnt someone who would start a fight because someone told him that he have strange hair, especially with leader. -you find it strange, even if Arata already has explained it to you. -explained? I dont understand? What did he said? -we the members of the same guild. Anari still did not understand what that mean, still she felt like she wants to understand. But it will still take her a lot of time, as after all it was her first night with her new guild. //**Note. The following chapters might be a little confusing in which order to read them as they are named 11. Part one. 12. 13. Part two The order on reading them is quite simple. Go by numbers! That will always be the correct way of reading **// http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=2347 Chapter 11 “Keys to the past. Part one” _11.1 Chapter 11 Keys to the past. Part one -just be like you used to. While lying on the grass, Arata recalled the words of Gerald which he heard after the guild test. The situation that happened during the test made Arata once again recall his past and that made him depressed enough to cry. The last time it actually happen was quite long time ago though. It was as if the act of crying was blocked in his mind. He did become sad from time to time but crying was not possible for him. Still, it happened this time. After that fight, Arata thought that he should stop playing EOA. If the game was going to have an effect like this on him, Arata couldnt say its enjoyable anymore. Still just to be fair, he decided to tell Gerald that he cant join his guild. But that talk went in a little different direction. -hey Gerald, I dont feel like playing anymore. -ah, and here I thought that you had something interesting to say. -I am not joking. -I expect you not. Still you will have to give me a good reason for it, its not like you are bored because of the game. Right? -I just dont want to play anymore thats all. I cant. -is that your reason for crying? That comment made Arata little angry. -you know what. I dont care what you think of that. You dont know anything about me. -hahaha, sure I dont and its not like I want to know anyway. -eh, you are annoying as always. Anyway I just wanted to say it to you to be fair, good bye. -Arata, dont act childish. Right now, you act like you are the only one that had a harsh life in the whole world. But surprise! You dont. If you want other examples of misfortune the easiest way would be to google Children in Africa. - . -you are taking this too serious Arata. Well if something is troubling you, you can always run away from it, just like you are doing right now but Arata, dont run forever as one day it will hit you. And if it hits you unprepared, it will hit hard. Arata didnt know what to say to this, but there was one question that he always wanted to find answer to. -but what if I cant do it anymore, if it already hit me? -well after taking a blow you have to get back on your feet. -but when you do that, you are already changed. -people changes every day, but in a way they dont change. Their core always stays the same. -I am not sure its true. I have changed. -if you dont mind listening to me and wait a little more before once again running away from the problem, I can change that opinion. Arata decided that there was nothing bad in hearing it. -fine you can try. -examples are best way to explain something and you are great example for what I just said. -but I told you that I changed. -okay, for the meantime event A is the name of the experience that changed you. -dont call it event A! -fine, event B then. So, once upon a time there was a boy called Arata. Arata liked to play video games so he played them. He enjoyed them, was serious about them and was good at them. But then big bad event B happened and he stopped playing them. After event B, Arata lived a sad life where he was always depressed. He didnt talk much and decided that its better if he dont get too close to anyone as they might find out about event B and pity him for it. Also he was afraid of event B repeating itself. Time went on and event B became more distant and distant. Arata somehow managed to keep on living with it but his life become different from before event B has happened so he tried to repair that. Someone advised him that he should try doing things that made him happy in the past. After searching his thought Arata found out that old Arata liked to play video games. So new Arata also tried to play them. And so, he once again enjoyed them, was serious about them and was good at them. Even mighty event B couldnt change that. See, the core stayed the same. Then returning to event B. Event B was a bad thing but Arata wont ever try to forget about event B as its important part of his life. Still, Arata didnt change because of event B, he just experienced event B. Thats all there is to it. The only question that remains is will event B stop Arata from life that he should have? - . -Arata you are just overthinking things. Just be like you used to be. Dont let the event B destroy you. And if you even think that event B is too strong, just google children in Africa. Seriously it will help. - . -anyway I advise that you take a stroll to Loris instead of logging out now and never returning. Look through the eyes of old Arata once again and then decide what you want to do. I will simply hope that I will see you on that hill again. -Gerald, I will join your guild. Those were the only words that Arata managed to say to him at that time. After them Gerald logged out with a smile. After that, Arata went through the fields and decided that no more will he thinks about himself as someone special. No more, will he let it hunt his life and no more will he try to fight it. It was finally the time to accept the past and move on with his life. Even if he could not do it right away, from now on he would try. Five years, for five years I couldnt find the answer to my worries but this guy just said few words and broke the barrier that was on me since my parents die. They die and I lived, so I thought that I cant just enjoy life that I have to find some kind of purpose. With some oaths that I will rescue everyone that needs rescuing. Like some kind of hero from a tragic tale, but what would my parents think if they saw me? They could even blame themselves like it was their fault, but it wasnt anyone fault, just accident that happens somewhere in the world every day. So no more. With new resolve, Arata decided to repair everything that he could, and for start he decided that he should just simply and truly enjoy himself and he will try to open up to people. With thoughts like that he decided to face the new day from now onwards. -can someone tell me what are you guys doing? Dont you remember that we have job to do. Unfamiliar voice appeared on the hill. Arata get up to sitting position as he thought it may be someone speaking to him but it was not the case. The person that came had a black leather elegant armor which looked like suit. He also had yellow hair little longer than those of Arata. He was standing next to where Gerald was sleeping. -ah Loki, its been a while. Gerald answered to him and started to block his face with hands. -yes, its been a while! After answering, Gerald got kicked hard by this visitor. The kick was strong enough to make Gerald take off from the ground, make spin in the air and then fly ten meters away to the button of the hill. After that the new visitor pointed his finger at Arata and asked Kelly who also wake up. -new member? -yes, he passed the test yesterday. Kelly answered to him, also ignoring what just happened. -oh thank god, I thought that we will never leave this place. The visitor walked to Arata who stood up and then introduced himself. -hi, my name is Loki and I also in this soon to be founded guild. You are? -I am Arata, joined yesterday. -its really great that someone passed this test. Anyway even though our guild leader is like this Loki pointed at Gerald who was still lying on the ground head first with his legs up in the air. -we are really trying to be the best guild so, dont mind. He said to Arata and shook his hand. Then he asked Kelly again. -the mage, what was her name again? Anari, passed the test? -yes she is sleeping right three. Anari also started to get up. Although Loki was a little too formal at first he become relaxed and asked seeing the situation. -you had a party or something? Everyone is sleeping and now wakes up looking like zombie? He even joked around. -hey Loki, who is it over there? Kelly asked about another person that came with Loki as Loki did not come alone. She was wearing yellow-white robe and same as Loki had a yellow hair. Well her hair was more of golden in color rather then Lokis blond. They were much longer as they reached behind her shoulders. They were also really fluffy. She was looking at everyone with curious expression and didnt know where to step in. When Arata first saw her, he stopped at her face for a while and when their blue eyes meet he felt if he got hypnotized by them and simply couldnt look away. Both he and she had the same eye color. When Arata realized what he is doing he quickly lowered his gaze but when he looked back few seconds later her gaze was somehow still on him. Loki tried to answer Kellys question. -ah this is our new memb He wanted to say member but he couldnt even finish that sentence as someone rushed towards the girl right away and started to talk. -welcome, I am the leader of this soon to be guild and my name is Gerald The moment Gerald heard words our new m he pick himself up ran ten meters back and before Loki could finish the word member he was already handshaking her. -this is our archer Kelly, this is our mage Anari, and this is our swordsman Arata. You already know Loki, anyway be happy as you joined soon to be greatest guild that ever existed in this game. Ah right the most important thing. Rule number one of this guild, you have to call me Leader! It is really important part so dont forg . At that moment Loki kicked Gerald to the ground with his high kick and Gerald once again meet the grass. -I know that you are happy but let her speak something first Ah, it would be nice if he was there when I first meet Gerald. When Arata first time meet Gerald, something similar happened but back then there was no one to stop him. -you can start now. Loki added and the girl moved closer waved her hand and introduced herself. -morning everyone. My name is Kotori and I am a healer. What else should I say? I like good players and generally ignore the weak ones. The games I used to play before EOA are Light in the Citadel and RagnarVR in both of them I was also playing a healer so I experienced and pretty good myself. But I must say that your test was simply cruel. Sorry for being arrogant and hope we get along. After this introduction Gerald picked himself from the ground walked towards Loki and putted his right hand on Lokis arm. Few drops of tears appeared in his eyes and he started. -Loki, I dont know what did you do, and how did you do it, but you are the man. -Gerald, stop embarrassing yourself in front of our new members. Kelly said to him that but Gerald responded. -but its a healer Kelly, a healer, a healer, a healer. -yes, yes. Anyway Loki what took you so long? Kelly asked him and Loki started explaining his absence. -hmm, how to explain it? Well lets start from the beginning. The other party members, even that I choose them myself didnt do too good at dpsing and it was going really slow, especially at the beginning. Well they also werent good at defending either or generally they werent good in anything. Still they didnt die because when they got hit, they were healed back by Kotori. I must say that it was a torture for them, imagine an endless slaughter in which they cant die even if they wanted to. With that, about an hour after the start, two guys run away as they said that they couldnt take it anymore. I was not surprised. After that the party continued in three, but then again when Kotori got to level 20, she got a new spell that allowed her to somehow continue on her own, so she let other two die and continued alone. -its not my fault that they were useless. They didnt deserve the experience. Kotori added to explanation. Loki continued. -as you know it can take some time for a healer to kill anything on their own, so every pack took a lot of time. Then after every pack it also took some time to regenerate mana. Kotori didnt have much things that would help her regenerate her mana and she quickly run out from things she had, so in the end it took her 6 days to clean everything in the dungeon except a boss. -well its hard to kill a boss as a healer. Kotori once again added explanation. -I thought so as well so I changed the test a little and kill it myself so she could get some items out from it. -that test is unfair in the first place, if you get bad group as a healer there is no much you can do. Story went quickly to the end. -anyway, Gerald we have three new members now but we are continuing the search, right? Loki asked. -yes, we need at least two more but lets find four more and have ten people in guild. Ten is a solid number. Ten also sounds important. -but four more will take some time. -dont say that. The luck is finally on our side, we have two people with profession of rank 2 and one of rank 3. If we are lucky we might even get rank 1, hahaha. -em, how does he know my rank, Loki did you told him already? Kotori asked surprised by the fact that Gerald knew her rank. -no, no, he is just like that. Also you still didnt tell me your class so I couldnt tell him even if I wanted to. -well, you didnt ask for classes but for positions. -yep, I still dont know exactly what your class is named and it doesnt really matter but look at this. Hey Gerald, what class does she have? Loki asked him. -its obvious that she is moonlight priestess. -its only obvious to you. -how does he know!? Exactly, how does he know? Arata also was wondering that. Loki only answered. -as I said he is like that. Well you can regard it as him understanding this game a lot. Anyway, I am going to the village to look for new members to my team Kotori, once again. Congratulations on passing the test and joining our soon to be guild. You can do what you want from now on, although I would suggest resting a bit. And you two! Loki pointed his finger at Gerald and Kelly. -get to work already! With that said he started walking in the direction of Loris. Kelly stood up as well. -well Gerald, we should get to it too. Kelly said, but Gerald was not in mood for it. -I had enough. Looking for players is so tiresome, lets skip it for today. I dont except finding forth person in the row. -dont slack off and come! -alright, alright! Ah, Anari come with me, I will start teaching you as we look for new members. -yes. And so Gerald, Kelly and Anari also went in direction of Loris and were soon gone. Arata and Kotori were the only left behind. Arata didnt feel that confident staying alone with her, especially after what he did earlier, so he just said politely. -well, I also have something to do so I will be going. But also, I hope we get along in the future. After hearing what happened on the other test, it was important to get on her good side. -wait. But just as he was going to leave, Kotori stopped him. -you need something? Arata gave natural response. -the moment Leader told me your name I somehow cant stop thinking about it. No even before he said that, it was the moment I first saw you. I dont know how this question will sound but, are you that Arata? The question indeed sounded strange. -that Arata? That doesnt tell me much. -then, did you play the game called Light in the Citadel? She asked him a different question. -yes I did, you also said that you played it, right? Arata did catch it in her introduction hearing the nostalgic name of that game. -yes, but I was only a beginner, at that time I was 10 after all. I mean when the game came out. -so now you are 17. Arata knew the date of release well so he quickly calculated it. -yes but anyway, you are that Arata right? Your hair also looks exactly like it looked back in LTC. -well I did end up with the same hair here somehow. Anyway do you know me? Did we meet somewhere or played together? Arata asked casually but to that, Kotoris reaction was surprising. -I knew it! I never expected that but a living legend is in the same guild with me. No, who cares about that, he is now standing right before me! -living legend? You are now making fun of me? Arata did not know what to make of that so he asked. To that however Kotori waved her hands signaling NO and said something that Arata really did never expect to hear. -no, no I am your fan. Right now, Arata didnt know what to say to this especially when there was no hint of her joking or playing a prank on him. Arata considered that she either must be a really good actor or really meant that so he just repeat last word in question sound. -fan? -yes! You know, I really get into the games that I play, so the youngest player and best dps of WhiteSuns no, the whole LTC is well known to me. Well, without bragging, its fact that I was best dps, at least from all melee classes but -still saying things like living legend? Arata was still convinced that she was making fun of him. -you know, I even had printed picture of your avatar over my bed. Thats why I could recognize you right away. -you should probably choose better people for something like that, and if you are a fan of our guild, shouldnt you print Wolfstark instead? -the Leader? Sure he was main star but you, a person who was like what 12 could be in that guild and best dps at that. Its incredible. And its better to have young person as their idol, right? I always wanted to send you a message but I didnt know what to write. -well its good that I could inspire you and now you can even complete the test for this guild so it was really good inspiration I would say. -you not only inspired me, now that I think about it you are my first love. Okay, I definitely need to get out of here. The biggest worry Arata had right now that there was still no signal of her playing around or lying. And it was easy to say that Arata was both not used to situations like this and had no idea what to do. -you really shouldnt have said that. -why shouldnt I? Wait are you embarrass? -of course not. -well, you are legendary Arata after all. I am sure that girls are confessing their love to you left and right every day. In what world does she live? -I dont think that there many people like you. -no there are, I was part of Aratas fanclub back in the day, so there should be few Aratas fanclub? Okay, now I know that she is definitely joking. There was a limit to how much Arata could believe her. -anyway, why did you stop playing out of sudden? I know that the game was already dying as the last content was clear, but it became huge topic on forums. I wont even try to tell you what happened in our club but there were a lot of tears. It was said that only leader of guild knew what the true reason was. Hmm, if I meet her yesterday I would end this conversation now. But new Arata wont let it hunt him. -leader is the only one who knows as I told him and he promised not to tell anyone. I really told him the true reason when he called me. Ah, he was a good man, who would listen to anything. Now that I think about it, after that talk I started to go to school again. Kotori didnt mind that Arata wanted to hide it. Rather than wanting to really know she just wanted to enjoy conversation. -well not knowing is also fine. I could come up with my own version. -and what would they be? -here is my favorite. Aliens took you and asked you to control one of their robots whose control was like LTC. With that robot you fought and defeat evil aliens. Now that galactic is safe you returned in new glory. -hahahaha. Arata couldnt hold it and bursted into laugher. Not only she switched from topic that he didnt want to talk about but also smoothly changed it into joke. He really appraised it. -I glad you like it. The last sentence I came up on the spot. But it works doesnt it? But you just said that you have something to take care of. What is it? Or is it some other secret? -no, nothing of that sort. I have a quest which I picked up two days ago, so I planned to complete it now. -oh quest! Can I go with you? She didnt hold back on asking. Well if she managed to clean whole dungeon on her own, she should know how to play and what is most important, she is also a healer. Then she is also easy to talk to so there wont be problem with communication. And its just when I wanted to open to people so I dont really mind. -you dont have any plans? Arata asked her. -Loki said that it will take some time before we move from here so I got left out with nothing to do. I planned to take a break for now but I cant pass opportunity to go on quest with legendary Arata. -could you cut the legendary part, please. -but it would be against the rules of our club. -you are still in that club? -no but I might consider regaining my membership. -still, you asked if I feel embarrassed and I do when you speak like that so Arata is fine. -okay then Arata! Kotori said his name with a smile of ten thousand suns. Her face became even brighter than her golden hair. Arata stopped moving for a second seeing this beautiful picture before him. His mind was left blank and maybe he should consider not cutting that legendary part after all. At least then he could joke it out. Arata got back to the earth some time later. -I still have some shopping to do before it so you can take break. -shopping? I will come with you. And so, the story of Arata and Kotori party began. They together went to Loris and their first destination was the forge. -welcome customers! Look around and choose anything you need. We have a long rage of goods that will suit anyone. The shopkeeper immediately said that when he heard the sound of opening doors and saw them entering. -hey Marty, its me. -oh Arata, you are back so fast, did you come here to buy a sword? -no here I am about the quest. Where is Rodrigez? -master Rodrigez is working right now. Yesterday I found large piece of plow in very good condition so there was no time to waste. -hey Arata what are we doing here? You dont want to buy any of that crap, do you? Its look to me as it was made from garbage. Kotori asked him when she looked around the shop. She could recognize bad items from afar even without checking their stats. -well they look like that because they were made from garbage, right Marty? -Arata, dont tell other customers about it. They will be more happy not knowing what they buy. -it was you who just mentioned a rusty piece of plow a second ago. It wont matter what I say anymore. Also I dont feel like you can cheat her. -hey what with this suspicious shop! You sell rubbish and tell customers that it is some great good! You swindlers! Kotori was not going to be quiet about it. -but customers like what they buy so there is shouldnt be a problem. Marty answered. -there is a problem! Well if you think there is no problem then She stopped for a moment and then continued -I can tell anyone about it right? Lets see what will happen if I put a message on that board in the city center. -no! Anything but this! Poor Marty. -hmm in this case I might somehow close my eyes on it. That is if you give me some items for free. -ITEMS FOR FREE! Looks like he heard it. Soon after the shout the blacksmith Rodrigez come from his work place. He looked around and said. -Marty what is it again? You didnt give any items for free, did you? -I wouldnt have broken number one rule of the shop, its just that the customer. Marty pointed at Kotori. -hey, you golden shrimp what was that talk about! Blacksmith said to her while trying to sound scary. He likes to call everyone shrimp. Still, Kotori wasnt scared even for a second by his posture and quickly answered. -I said that I want something for free or should I make a message on that board after all. Everyone will know that the gear here is made from rubbish and your business will be ruined! -well, anyone can do what they want. Rodrigez didnt care about her treats though. -Master! -Marty, people who buy this crap doesnt even know what information board is, and even if they knew, they wont believe it. Some may ask you about it but you just have to deny it then and it will work out. -but the image of the shop! -like I care about it, anyway tell that shrimp that if she does what she wants to do, we wont sell her anything, and it will be her problem as she wont get anything better than what we have in this shop. And Marty! Never forget our number one rule, nothing is for free. -yes master! -I dont want any of your crap anyway! Kotori interrupted them. -hey Kotori not everything here is bad. If you are nicer they will offer you really good items that are not on the usual sale. Anyway I am not here for items. I am here for quest so be quiet for a minute Arata tried to calm her and then he called Rodrigez. -hey its me. I came for a quest! -ah Arata? Ah if its isnt our twilight swordsman. What, you came to buy a sword, you are quick at earning money but I told you I wont sell it to you. -you are a twilight swordsman Arata? Kotori found out Aratas profession. -later He waved his hand before her and continued. -no I come for a quest. -but didnt I already told you that you need to get stronger for it. -I already have level 30 so it should be enough. After the boss fight Arata dinged level 30 which was the minimum required for the quest. -18 levels in three days, Arata what were you doing? Ah this is. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Rodrigez spotted the weapon that Arata got from kobold den. Its stats were similar to the one he got from instructor which was surprising considering that it required level 30 to equip, when instructor sword was from first area beginners city. -I see where you went. All I can say is as expected of twilight swordsman. But you really want to go for this quest already? I would still suggest leveling up a little. -I will manage somehow, I also have help. -hahaha, this golden shrimp? She doesnt look like she will be of much use. -hey who are you calling shrimp! It is just you who are too big. Ah she went ahead and said it. Kotori would not stay quiet at Rodrigezs remarks. -hahaha, at least she can talk back. Anyway if you really want to go I will tell you the details [You have completed the prequest Black Sword] - as I said before, the place where you want to go is deep within the mountains to the east. If you look from the main gate to the left, you can see three big mountains right? You will have to reach the center one. There you need to find an entrance to old mine, it may be under snow for all know, but it should be there somewhere. Right, even though I say mine, dont except much as its out of use for a long time already. There shouldnt be more than one single cave open as it collapsed some time ago. -can you be more specific about the entrance? -it should be somewhere at higher level of mountain, I dont know where exactly. Anyway when you enter the mine, look for the black ore, dig it and bring it to me, then I will make you a sword. Sounds easy right? But remember that the weather there is bad and there are strong monsters. You also might encounter boss class one. [Quest: Black Sword. Every swordsman needs a sword, as for swordsman a sword is like his lifeline. You found a skilled smith with knowledge of making a weapon that would only answer the call of twilight swordsman. The smith told you where to find the black ore from which the sword will be created. Go find it and bring it back to him. Rank of the quest 9 Restriction: Class quest for twilight swordsman.] -if I encounter him, I will just have to manage it somehow. Anyway, I will be back shortly. -wait a minute Arata. Kotori stopped him. -what is it Kotori? Arata answered but Kotori turned to Rodrigez. -hey you! Do you have any quest for moonlight priestess? -ha! Even if I did, I wouldnt tell a shrimp like you. -as I thought you are Kotori give him a hard glance with her blue eyes. Arata didnt want to see what will happen so he stopped her. Although given her look he couldnt find that really threatening. -stop it Kotori! Rodrigez you really dont have a quest for her? -Arata I not into magic that much. -see, he is usel- -do you know anyone who could have a quest for her? -maybe I do but I dont want to tell her. -see! Kotori you should be nicer to him. Arata didnt have to tell her that as Kotori changed her attitude right away. -Arata how did you know that there is quest for me? I heard that there arent any quests in this town. I also looked for them myself. -I heard that too but I found mine so there could be one for you as well, and if I am not mistaken it will be the same place. Anyway ask him nicely to help you. When Arata asked her, Kotori bowed before Rodrigez right away. Her golden hair went down her face. -Master blacksmith! I am sorry that I offended you and ask for forgiveness, please tell me about the quest. She has good manners when she wants to. Although Rodrigez was not really convinced he didnt create problems and joked. -hahaha, looks like you taught her nicely Arata. Know my mercy you golden shrimp. Listen to this, not many people know about it but the person who is doing fortune telling in village has a talent in making magical items and in general she used to be a sorceress. Go to her and she should probably have what you need. First ask her to do some fortune telling for you and when she is done, ask about the mountains. You should get your quest then. Anyway Arata take care of yourself and of this golden shrimp, as it wont be a walk in the park. I look forward to the ore that you bring me as its been a while since I created a piece of art. Dont forget to bring some extra ore as well as otherwise you will have to pay for it. I cant break our number one rule. -I will remember about that. See you soon. Arata and Kotori left the forge. The moment they did Kotori said. -ah, five minutes in the village in presence of legendary Arata and I already have a quest. -you dont have it yet. Well, you will get it soon though. -but its a quest Arata! They are super rare, arent they? I didnt find any quest so far. They are so hidden to the point where you start wondering if they even exist and here I finally got one. But then once again that is what you can except from legendary Arata. -ah cut the legendary part already. -but its my first quest! And its also in this city. I spend like three days searching for information about quests in Loris when I arrived here. Everyone said that there are no quests at all and people should focus on hunting and easy jobs to learn the ropes. -informations on the internet are not always true. -but I also asked people here. Players, npc, everyone! Even Loki said that he doesnt remember any quests here and told me to look for it in other location but here I enter with legendary Arata into one shop, boom! I have a quest. She was really excited about it. In comparison, when Arata got his first quest he was rather annoyed. The reason for that was probably because of its questgiver. -well its a class quest maybe not everyone can have it. -I heard that quests have strange requirements in the first place. Thats why its hard to get one. But we shouldnt worry about that now. Lets go get it. -later. First I need to do some shopping, its on the way. -what are you going to buy in this town? There is nothing worth any coin, I looked around. Not that I had much gold at that time. -ingredients. Arata went around the market, Kotori was following him. He bought different cooking materials as they were leaving the market Kotori asked. -why are you buying those things? You shouldnt waste money like that. -I will remind you those words when we will be on the break. -I dont really understand but sure, anyway to the center! Adventure awaits! They then moved to the center of village and soon found fortune telling stall. Still they soon encountered one problem. -this line is long. Kotori grasped as she saw the line. Arata was already excepting it as he saw it before. Kotori was probably the same. -I heard it is somewhat popular. Arata said to her. -hey Arata, cant we just simply beat everyone so we can be first in the line? She has some extreme ideas but this line is really long so doing it may be a good option. But. -I dont think you can just attack players in town. Isnt it safe area? -I dont know, does this game have any safe area in the first place? -even if it doesnt, the NPCs will come at us. -then, we can beat them as well. -but you wont be able to get your quest if you start a ruckus, after all that NPC wants to get the gold from those people who came to her. -ehh then we have to stand in this line? -no other choice. -well it may not really be that bad idea. Somehow her attitude changed somehow at the last minute. They moved to the end of the line and waited. After about two minutes of silence. Arata felt some strange feeling in his arm. When he looked, Kotori was already hugging him. He was not sure what to say, or if he should say anything at all as he didnt exactly mind it but he decided to ask. -hey what are you doing? -look around! Few people are doing the same thing so I wanted to do it as well. -thats not the reason. They look like they know each other for long. From real I mean. Most of people in line were beginners so they wouldnt have time to get to know anyone to this level. Also starting playing with friends is also natural. Well those that do that were probably more than friends. -Arata whats the worry? -you are too open. Well its fine when its me but if you did something like that to someone else, that person might misunderstand. -I am not like that to everyone, actually I never did this before but somehow I wanted to do it right now. I cant? Once again Arata was hit by the smile of ten thousand suns. With the way she asked, he couldnt do anything at this point. -do what you want. -yey. They stayed there for 30 minutes already yet the line decreased only by little, there was still at least 20 other in line before them. At some point Arata spotted that many people are looking at the start of the line, he didnt know what fuss was about, so he also leaned the head and saw familiar sight. It was Gerald moving around with Anari following him. He was asking people questions. -hi there my name is Gerald and I looking for people to my guild, can you tell me something about your class and experience in game so far. He stopped near one of the group that stayed in the line and asked them. He soon heard the answer. -guild cool, I wont tell you my class but I have a won tournament in beginners city on my second try and I passed the forest with only two deaths. -we also cleaned the dungeon once already. My class is a green ranger. Passed the test on third try as well, in the city of beginners I was mostly shooting arrows at target in training center, so my class was rather given. Here look, at the bow that I got from stoneground. Those two guys didnt look that bad but Gerald only answered. -sorry to join my guild we have special test and I dont think that guys with rank 8 and 11 can do there anything, I would only waste your time. How does he do it!? Gerald then moved on through the line at the same time he was speaking. Still he was doing it with his eyes half closed. It seemed like he was really bored. -so for mage class its really important to take note of your mana, mages without mana are useless, try to He was teaching Anari and at the same time looking for members, he told her one sentence and suddenly cut it. -hi there my name is Gerald and I looking for people to my guild, can you tell me something about your class and experience in game so far. He found another pray in the line. -I am sorry, I am planning to join my brothers guild. Arata heard the voice of girl. Arata didnt see her but he could tell that she was young. -will your brothers guild become strongest guild in history of strongest guilds? -in history? Really? Really? Her voice grasped. Gerald continued. -of course do I look like a person who can lie. How can he say that to people with straight face? -my brother play it only for fun as he is always working and dont have time. He usually doesnt spend more than two hours playing. He cant have strongest guild. -okay, tell me why did you started to play? -my brother told me that this is incredible fun to play game, that there are castles and you can do numberless things. I also wanted to play with my brother because he doesnt live in our house anymore, he moved out. There is no way that you can turn it around now. -hey Arata what are you looking at something interesting? Let me see too. Kotori asked him while still hugging his arm. -nothing really. Arata went back to looking at the scene. Hahaha, fell the defeat, you cant use your childish way against the child. Arata wanted to see Gerald fail but that didnt happened. -hey, what would your brother think if you were in strongest guild? -hmm, he would probably be happy I think, he would think that its thanks to him that I could get there, as he recommended me to play. -you want your brother to be happy dont you? -yes, he did a lot for me. -see you are happy if your brother is happy such great logic. So tell me about your experience. -emm, what should I tell? -for example how you passed the forest test or how did you get your items? -items, I got from good grandpa in the previous city. -good grandpa? -I was helping him with his injured dog. Grandpa was a good person he helped me when I didnt have money for food so I tried to repay my debt. The dog was his guide as he was blind so he had problems with him injured. I was taking care of the dog and grandpa. Hopefully the dog is now healed so it is fine. Hey, hey, hey, does this have anything to do with MMO in the first place. -oh you are good kid In a second he will tell her, sorry I have to go. She cant have good class after something like that. - anyway, how did you complete the challenge. Give it up Gerald. -ah I found a friend there who helped me. -oh, what kind of friend? Gerald asked her with interest. Isnt that challenge for only for one person. I didnt even consider grouping up. But maybe thats how you need to defeat the bear. The challenge was only for solo players. Groups were not allowed. You could find other players but if both of them tried to kill something together they wouldnt get points. Although they could in group of two pull two flowers at the same time and finish them off separately. -Borri! The girl said the name of her friend. Borri? Who would name himself Borri? -ah what a cute name. You gave it to him? Gerald answer was somewhat strange. -yes when I found him, I was a little scared but Borri defended me from evil plants and I was not scared anymore. From that time Borri is traveling with me. -ah I see. Anyway I see that you are in the line so when you get your fortune telling, wait for me next to information board, you know where it is? -yes, I was there before. -good I will be in the center for some time now anyway so you can also just catch up to me. See you later Gerald started to walk again but Arata was not convinced in his choice. Hey, hey, what are you doing, she will die on first pack no matter how you look at it. You could at least ask about this Borri guy, flowers arent that easy. -so you try to always have at least some mana left just in case you need to retreat Gerald continued his teaching in the place he left it before. -use spells that eat low amount of mana. The ones that cost a lot, use only in special circumstances, it is your secret weapon. -like the light of dawn, when I used it kill all the kobolds around us? -something like that. You should also mind spells that have long coldown and dont use strong spells against weak en Gerald stopped once again and spotted Arata, he quickly run to him, -hi there my name is Gerald and I looking for people to my guild, can you tell me something about your class and experience in game so far. -hi Arata. Anari followed him. Looks like Gerald didnt recognized him at first. -whats up, Anari learning hard? -yes. -Anari, dont interrupt me when I scout players. -but its Arata. Gerald finally take closer look at who he was talking to as before his eyes were half close. He was probably walking around and said the same words to anyone who was not a clone without even looking directly at them -Arata? Shouldnt you be doing quest right now? I thought that you looked somewhat similar but I didnt think that its you. Gerald explained himself. -you shouldnt forget your guild mates, what leader are you? -naturally, the most glorious leader of all time. Anyway you said that the first thing in the morning you are going for the quest, so I didnt even consider that I will find you staying in the line for some fortune telling. You really believe it that staff? Well, its actually surprisingly accurate but who would waste their time in this line. Also is that? Gerald looked at Kotori who was still hugging Arata arm. -wow its really her! Jesus! Arata you really are fast player. Gerald was more surprised than Arata himself. -it somehow ended up this way. Hey Kotori, say something and explain how it happened? Arata didnt even try to say anything to resolve misunderstanding so he just told Kotori to explain herself. Well, he also didnt exactly know why she did that. But her explanation didnt explain anything. -its simple. Arata is my first love so I wanted to hug him. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Because she was so open and serious while saying it, Gerald lost his interest. He probably wanted to play around a little and pick on Arata but he found out that he cant so he lost his interest. -you are really fast player Arata. But its not my place to step it, if something you have my blessing. Now I have to continue my search so I will be going. I just dont care what everyone things anymore. -hey Gerald, about your search. Why do you invite people who dont have any chance of passing? Arata stopped Gerald and asked. -what are you saying? This time I am looking carefully for them. I figured out that the test can be done only by specific people and the whole group must be strong. -so why are you inviting some kids for it? -what kids? Ah, the one before, she may be kid but her class is also rare, so maybe she will do it, after all she got Borri. -so you are taking Borri as well? -strange question of course Borri is coming, he is traveling with her after all. -but you didnt see Borri before, so how can you invite him just like that? -hey Arata, you said that you saw Borri as well, didnt you? Gerald made a strange question. -I dont remember anyone called Borri. What is with that name anyway? -hahaha, you dont know what Borri is, do you? Its a bear. The bear, from the forest. That girl is some kind of beast controller, I still not sure of her class its one of the two, beast master or animal summoner. I would take my chances on the second one as we cant see Borri here, but he can also wait for her somewhere so I wont cross out the first option yet. -dont you know everyone class by one look? -hahaha, thats impossible, I need some information first, still five minutes talk and I rather sure of someone profession by them How? -well I dont really plan to invite her. She wants to play with her brother after all, and I cant convince her out of it. Well, maybe I can but I dont want to do that. Still I want to see Borri in action again and I need whole group to be strong so she will be a nice asset. Anyway, good luck on your date What date? -So Anari take care of your mana and dont use strong spells against weak enemies also dont use them when they are on low health, its called overkill when you use something too strong to kill opponent whom you could kill with something less costly. Gerald moved on and continued his talk, still Anari stayed back and looked at Arata and Kotori. Gerald soon shouted back. -hey Anari follow and listen! And take memos! We dont have time for sightseeing. -but. -come or wait. Another preys spotted. Hi there, my name is Gerald and I looking for people to my guild can you . Gerald soon targeted another prey. Because of that Anari gathered some time she stayed and asked. -hey Arata, why are you going on date with Kotori? -who is she Arata? Your girlfriend? If yes then I sorry, well I should have known that legendary Arata would have girlfriend. Kotori stopped hugging him the moment. What is it love comedy? No I would rather call it a drama. -no, no, she is not my girlfriend, she is in our guild, -ah yes Anari the mage, nice to meet you, I am Kotori. -yes nice to meet you too, anyway why did you say that Arata is your first love? -hmm, because its true. So are you interested in Arata as well? -no I am not! We dont suit each other at all. This strong deny somehow hurts. -ah so you like him but know that it wont work so you give up. Is that right? Kotori was merciless though. Although Arata expected some wawa come into the play that didnt happen. -no, but half is true, it wont work and it probably wont work with you either. I dont know what happened but looks like she changed somehow. Kotori wasnt bothered by it and joked. -well thats probably true. Such low creature like me cant hold a candle to legendary Arata after all. -legendary Arata, what is that? Anari right away got interested in that name. She was also good at creating strange names for him. -Kotori, stop with legendary Arata already! Anari you should go, Gerald waiting. -no, no he found a big group this time so it can take a while. -Kotori, dont call yourself low creature. You passed our guild test after all. You are good. Arata ignored that comment and switched to Kotori when he failed with first one. -but compared to legendary Arata who am? -I really want to know about legendary Arata! Anari didnt give up but Arata had enough. -shut up Anari. Anyway Kotori I let you hug on my arm for half an hour so dont make it look like I have bad taste. You are not low creature so please stop with legendary part. -no, no, you are just kind guy who would let anyone do that, so you dont hurt their feelings. Kotori simply said that but then Anari went it. -thats not true! When I tried something similar he quickly ran away. Arata why did you let Kotori hug you without complaining? And then she asked him this question -well its because. -yes!? Hmm, why did I? Well yesterday I made great progress in my life and wanted to change a little, but it still doesnt explain it. Lets see -hey, what is he doing? Anari whispered to Kotori. -he is trying probably trying to come up with an excuse. Kotori somehow could read him. Arata was in thoughts for 15 seconds now and even started to mumble to himself loudly as he was trying hard to come up with something. -hmm no this doesnt even sound like me. Well its still better than I saw your smile which emanated more light than ten thousands suns so I couldnt just say no. The other version, you said that you like me and it turns out I am weak against direct approach and things like first love. No, thats definitely no not an option. Ah, how did I end up like that? Hmm, complementing her beautiful hair would also be strange so this is also no, no, ah I dont have much time so this will have to do. Arata worked hard to create reasonable explanation but he started to say thing out loudly as he was trying too hard. He was really green in situations like this. Both Anari and Kotori become really red and stared at him. Anari had no idea that her friend Arata could ever create thoughts like that. Leader you were wrong, Arata went crazy! were her thoughts. Before Gerald told her that Arata is as good as he can be and she shouldnt worry about him but what she just saw was even more surpassing than him crying at the end of their test. Kotoris face became red for lets say a different reason. Arata finally come up with an answer. -well isnt it natural for a guy to want a hug from a pretty girl. Hear me Kotori. You are pretty, so dont say you are low creature anymore. Yes, saying that she is pretty when she really is and probably heard it million times isnt that much and she will have higher morale on our quest. It was the perfect answer. Arata looked at Kotori then at Anari they were somewhat quiet. He soon started. -anyway Anari, good luck on your studies. -yes Arata, good luck to you as well. -you mean the quest? Well its for high level but we shouldnt have any problems. Right Kotori? She still did not say anything. - . -I have my lecture now so I better return to it. Anyway once again, good luck Arata. Anari went back to Gerald who was just finished questioning other group. That was strange even for someone as her. Anyway the line decreased at least we should soon get. -hey Kotori it will be soon our turn. - . -hey! Can you hear me? Kotori unfroze and returned to her normal yet even more smiling face. Arata was stunned by it once more. -yes! We will get it soon. -why are you grinning so much? No one told you before that you are pretty? Ah, this world is full of cowards if they cant tell what is on their minds. -hahaha, yes it is, it really is. She is really cheerful. Arata turned his head again to see her face again. But man, how can someone have a smile like that is beyond me, like ten thousand suns. I become poet at some point. Gerald said that peoples core doesnt change. Its not 100% true but from time to time something do change. Something starts and something ends. As people grow up they also change, well in most cases. Can I also change? Yet again he looked at Kotori, she was still somewhat different. Is she different now or what, or I am different. Its not like I really like her, right? Hahaha, theres no way, although isnt it normal to be interested in those things in my age. Even so Arata fought inside his own mind. I will not succumb to simple desires like that! Kotori is right. I am legendary Arata who can find joy only on the battlefield and by becoming the strongest, muahahahahahaha nothing can change that. Arata found an answer that he was comfortable with. //**This chapter is not over. Continue to _11.2**// http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3124 Chapter 11 “Keys to the past. Part one” _11.2 //** Continuation of chapter 11. (From 11.1) **// Time passed and now they were at the front of the line. Before they entered Kotori asked. -hey Arata what should we ask about? -well, about the quest I guess. -not that. The future. Blacksmith said that we should first ask for something before we can talk about the quest. Arata didnt give it much thought. He didnt believe in it anyway. -ask what you want. It is your quest, after all. -okay. They entered the dark tent. A woman in purple robe was waiting inside. A scarf was hiding her face. There was a table on which a magical silver orb was shining. There were three chairs on opposite of woman so they sited on two of them. Kotori on middle one, Arata on left one. The woman spoke. -welcome. You have come here to find out what awaits you in the future. What exactly do you want to know? What will happen today, tomorrow, next year or the year after. I will use my magical orb to see what lies ahead. So what is it that you want to know? -thenis it possible that I and Arata become lovers in future? Arata is this guy. Kotori asked without worry. That was something that Arata should expect leaving the question in Kotoris hands but in truth he didnt thought that she will really ask something like that. -hey Kotori! -Arata, you said that I am pretty, so take responsibility. You dont hate me, do you? -of course not. Why would I? -see, there is no problem. -I think there is problem but fine do what you want. -hahaha Arata, I already heard the sounds of your heart already. You cant hide it from me. -I dont know what you think you heard but you probably got it wrong. -yes, yes When she is like that I cant stop her. -so, tell us, tell us. -I see that you are already close enough, maybe you want another question? -no, this one is fine. The orb started to shine when the woman started to wave her hands around it. -I see that there is a path for you two to be happy together After she said that, Kotori become happier right away. Arata really couldnt understand if she really is serious or not. He really did not know what to do in this situation. Hey this fortune telling will only make it harder. That woman just says what Kotori wants. The fortuneteller continued. -but it is not an easy path so I cant tell you for sure. -what is it then? Didnt you say that you can see the future? Kotori asked. -future is an endless possibility my dear. Yes, endless possibility. With that, she can say what she wants and when she is wrong its because of endless possibility. -so for what reason do we even ask you about it? -ah, you wont waste your money. Many have asked about the future or how will they die. When I tell them how it will happen they can avoid it. -but I didnt ask about that. -you asked about your chances with the young man over there, yes Hello I can hear you. -I take it you want to be lovers? -hmm, maybe, hey Arata you want to start going out? How can she say a thing like that is beyond me? What does she expect to hear? Does she thinks that I will say -sure no problem lets get old together it wouldnt be that bad scenario though. Wait! Dont even start thinking like that! She is just playing around. -Kotori you really should stop saying it like its not a big deal. You say thing this to any person that you just meet? -of course not but if its legendary Arata then Anyway you are not the one to talk. I am sure that you also thought that it wouldnt be bad. - . -you also let me ask what I want I cant win against her. Arata gave up and decided to not say anything anymore. Because so far it didnt go as he planned. -please continue. Kotori asked and the woman continued. -if that is what you seek you must know that its not an easy way. He has darkness in his heart which he just accepted after many years of running This is not the first time that this game uses information like that, do they spy on players or what. -but its not an easy thing and the darkness will stay in him whatever he wants or not Its not I can be like it never happened. But with my new resolve I wont let it, control me anymore. Nor will I get sad just because someone is talking about it. Although this game should study human rights. People have their privacy. But I will let her say what she wants. -if you can become his light that will brighten that darkness in him, you will be on the path you seek. You should be able to easily understand that darkness as you experiencing the same darkness as well- -stop. Suddenly Kotori said in the low voice that only Arata could hear, he looked at her who started to shiver and her ever so smiling face was a little pale. The strangest thing was that it all happened in the instant. Second ago she was happy while playing around. Kotori? -But you who still cant deal with it yourself, how do you think you can- -STOP! When the woman tried to continue Arata interrupted her loudly. -darkness in heart as if I had something like that, and Kotori definitely doesnt have it. Right Kotori? Kotori regain her usual self with Aratas words. -Arata you were right, this fortune telling is stupid. Hey, you can stop now. I dont want to ask anymore. No matter the fate, I wont let it influence me. The orb stopped to shine and woman answered. -I see that you already understand each other really well. You dont need love advice from an old woman like me. I wouldnt say I understand her? I just saw that Kotori didnt want to listen to it so I stopped it. I also didnt like when that woman was scanning my brain. Maybe Kotori also had some unpleasant experience. Woman talked about some darkness in her as well. Still at least, I for one should know the best that I shouldnt ask her about it. Who am I to ask her that? Anyway she is cheerful, happy and already back to her usual self so I will leave it be. Kotori continued with their main objective. -anyway we didnt come here for fortune telling in the first place. -why did you come then? Didnt you read the sign? -I heard that you are someone who can create magic items, and I was wondering if you could make something specific for moonlight priestess. Yes, same as always, give me the quest and do it fast!. -you heard something like that? Ah it must have been Rodrigez from the forge, and here I told him to not say it to anyone. Well, he must have his reasons. Well its not a big secret as I told him when I was drunk. What. Are they drinking buddies? -so, can you make something? -I can and in reward that you found out about me I will make you something. Problem is I lack the material for it, and you wanted a specific item for your profession, correct? -yes, normal things wont do. Normal player would be happy with anything but not Kotori. -in that case I will tell you about the place where you can get a material for it. Deep in eastern mountains is a place where people once mined ore from. But one day the place was invaded by monsters and no one goes there anymore. The road was destroyed, and everything was buried under the snow. As for the mine, most of it is not accessible anymore, but the back entrance can still be used. Through it, you will reach the old magazine. Be careful though as its now a den of monstrous beast. I have to ask you to slay that beast and find a magical golden stone it has. It will serve as material. I am sure that the beast has it in its belly. With it, I can create an item for you. I can make you whatever you want but we will talk about it when you get it material. -about the item, what is it? -anything you wish. But just so you know I am best at accessories and material isnt that big in the first place so consider it while thinking what you want me to make. -great I will come up with something. Anyway, can you tell us how to find the entrance? -as I said the entrance is on the mountain. Explaining the route would be rather hard because you never have been there before. I didnt get better explanation on my quest either, so we cant expect anything from her. Arata thought that but Kotori didnt give up. -but its a large mountain, right? How are we supposed to find an entrance? It will take us too long and monsters will be lurking around at every step. Help us! As always, give me, give me, give me. -I understand your worry I also wouldnt want to experience that. In that case, here take this. Its magical compass that will show you the way to the cave. It can show the way to any location I set it on. Just please dont lose it and return it, when you come back. -ah, thank you very much. Those NPC are really something, its the same as when I once cheated wizard out of gold. Speaking of Wizard, I still have to set scores with him. Just you wait till I find you! Arata and Kotori left the tent and walked to exit of the village but when they were about to leave Kotori spotted familiar person and run up to him. -hey, Loki! -ah Kotori, you are already after the break? -no, I didnt go for a break. -but didnt you play nonstop since beginning of test or even before that? Its not healthy. -but you are the same, arent you? -no I had many breaks and it was not me who was fighting all that time. But whatever, do what you want. You dont need me to babysit you. Arata come as well and asked. -how the search going? -you are here as well, Arata Loki answered. -how the search is going you ask? Too put it simply, bad as usual. Its not that easy to find good players after all. And we need not only good players but great ones. Full group of them in fact. -then, how did you select those guys who were with me? -dont say that Kotori, they werent bad. At least they could do something. You should see the first party that I got. They died instantly without trying to fight back. Well, I wasnt the one to choose that time. -you didnt? -Gerald said that he will get all people for the test and I just need to wait so I let him do that one time. Well, its true he has an eye for people but his criteria were simply too low. Lets just say that from that time on, I choose my own party. Although, my second party died quickly all the same, so I cant say that I did better. Anyway now every time I try to find better people that group before but with given time of one day, its hard. -but Gerald stayed in Loris for 5 days last time so why do you look for people only in one day. Arata interrupted. -it was a onetime thing as he was looking for Anaris friend because he wanted a mage to join the guild. Wasnt that you Arata? -yes. -see he had a reason for staying five days, and thanks to that we have two new members. -so shouldnt you look longer as well? Arata asked the obvious question. -if I was sure that it would help in finding people I would do that but its better to just go as many times as possible. Also looking for new people is frustrating even for me. I want to get over with it quickly. It would be way too painful to do this, say two-three days in a row. -well, good luck with a search. -ah, if only luck was enough we would be done in no time. -dont worry Loki you have an eye for people. You found me after all. Kotori tried to cheer him up -even if I have eye for people, if there are no people to find, I cant find anyone, can I? Thats another reason to look for only one day. If you look two days in the row you wont find many new people which you didnt find the first day, but if you look one day go for training for three day and return the mix will be little bigger. -thats true, anyway we should go. See you later. -wait a second Arata. Hey Loki! I found a quest in this village. Kotori bragged to him. -wow, good job, how did you find it? -ah that was easy. All you need to do is be in the presence of legendary Arata and you can find it in no time. -Kotori we only found it because I got my quest before. -so you two have different quest? Loki asked. -yes, its two different class quest, but to same place. Kotori explained. -class quests are even harder to find that normal ones. Also even though you two have this quest it doesnt matter that every class here does. Anyway where do you have to go? -the mountains to the east. Kotori answered happy but Loki become little worried. -mountains to the east? You didnt have enough of our guild test and now want to go there? Lokis comment was not really encouraging. Then he also added. -sorry but I must tell you that you wont be able to make it as you are now. -you worry too much Loki, me and Arata will be okay. -no, no, thats not it, I trust that you can defeat monsters, and if you kill enough of them, you level will get higher, then you plan to go for boss right? -well that was the plan. I did the same on the test. Arata answered. -if you think about it rationally, you will find that this is most natural response. But ignoring high level monsters, there is a different wall that you need to break through. Arata didnt see any other problems with quest than high level. Even if he couldnt deal with all monsters yet, he could ding few levels somewhere else and try again. Hearing something about different obstacle, he had to ask. -what different wall? You say that we should go somewhere else right now and exp up? -if you have really problem with monsters then you can do it but thats not what I was about. Anyway you talked to me so this shouldnt be the problem anymore. -ah Loki you are coming with us? Kotori asked. -no. In truth, because we are in the same guild I should go and help, especially when you have a class quest to complete but as you know I busy here. You will have to do it on your own but here take this. Loki took out two rings with blue crystal with it. -those are? -equip it [Ring of Frost Frost Resist: +80 %. Ring made by skilled jewelcrafter called Maya. Made from the heart of the mountain, Islos. The crafter made it so people can survive the most dangerous spells of frost mage. Very useful in bad weather condition. Level required None] -going to the mountain without frost resistance gear is not the best idea. Your moves will become slower and not only because there is snow up to your waist but also because you will get a negative statuses. Loki explained. -you can sick in this game? -sure you can and when you are going to the mountains there is 100% chances for it to happen. Frost gear is a must. Even with frost gear you will still probably get sick. -so whats the reason for the frost resistance gear in the first place? -you wont get a status that wont allow you to move, but just a small cold. Well, that is of course as long as you dont do anything stupid dont try to swim in a lake there as its one way ticked to getting worse status you can Who sane would do that? -anyway without frost resistance gear, even spending five minutes deep in mountains brings the same effect for most people. -shouldnt we buy some warm clothes then? Kotori asked but Arata understood the situation. -it may help us but dont forget that we still have monsters to defeat. Rings are the best thing that we could get. -thats why I gave them to you. Anyway, good luck with your quest, if you die once, level up and try again. If you still have problems after that. Come back to village and when we finish with recruiting we will go with bigger party. That looked like solid plan. -Loki you should be the leader of the Guild. You look like you could manage it better than Gerald. Arata come up with interesting idea. -you think so? Well I could be a leader of some guild, I think you could be one as well. But we are not some guild but soon to be strongest guild, right? You will understand one day why Gerald is our best candidate for the leader. -no I already do. Arata answered to him. -I see Anyway I leave Kotori in your care. -its not like she needs to be in anyone care. -thats also true. For now I will continue my search, although I dont see many chances today Hmm, maybe I should add new criteria? You must find the quest in city with no quests. With those words Loki spotted one group that came to the Loris and started asking them questions. It looked like he looking in this place because there were people who were both entering and leaving Loris. -Loki is a good guy isnt he? Kotori said to him. -the most normal person in our guild I would say. Arata answered with what he thought as so far, no one else than Loki could be considered normal in this guild. -hahaha, you didnt see how he fights, you wouldnt call him normal then Still from Kotori comment it looked like it was also a false image. -anyway should we go now? They walked through the gate and left Loris. To take off right now was Aratas original plan but there was something he couldnt overlook. -wait a second, Kotori. He said to her after they walked away from the gate. -yes? -you know how long it will take to get to the mountains, complete the quest and return after it? -well, we dont have to rush. It will take them some time to find anyone who can pass the test. And the leader said that they want to find 4 people at that. We have plenty of time. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.-I am not about that. I am saying that when we start it would be best if we just end it in one go. I mean without logging out. -well thats rather natural as if we log out for too long, mobs will respawn. -exactly but Loki just said that you played without a break for like what two real time days. -but its better to sleep here right? As we get more time. Playing in capsule is similar to sleep so I dont get tired in real world. I already used to it as I played other VR before. -but its not very healthy you know. -dont worry I go to gym regularly so its not a problem. Its normal for VR-gamers to do that. Anyway I can still go on. -at least you should eat something you will end up as skeleton. -but arent slim girls more popular? And I dont have to worry about my look that much. For your information I used the default option of looking like in normal life so my moves would be more natural. Do you still have some complains? After hearing that Arata was dumb fooled and only after ten seconds he asked again for confirmation. -really! Its not avatar? -yep. She answered with a smile. Its somehow hard to believe but I guess this evil game would not be able to generate a look like that. Still, why does someone like her play games ever since she was 10 years old? Well games were just as popular as they are now but still. -anyway you really dont need a break? Why do you insist on going, right now? Arata asked returning to the topic. -well, a break would be good but you said that you planned to go for the quest first thing in the morning and you already wasted enough time for me and I dont like to be in someones way. Ah, thats why. She should consider herself a little bit more. Its a good thing we talked to Loki. -if you want a break say it. We are not on some stupid test anymore. We need to be in best condition for it. -okay, okay. So we are doing two hours standard break? -no, no, we are not going for a simple break. It will be more like we will meet tomorrow. Now that I think about it, I also only logged out only for two hours and didnt do my running routine, I planned to do it when I reach the mountains but we are doing it now. -a whole day, what do you need it for? -I dont need it. But you do. Anyway lets move over to that tree first so we can log from there. How much do time you need? -I dont need any, decide on your own. -in that case, 14 hours. -14 hours? But! -its for your own good. Kotori was finally convinced and stopped fighting his decision. Instead. -Arata. -hmm? -thanks. She said that to him in an unusual tone, with slightly different look than usual. -well its natural to have a break isnt it? -its not about the break, but about before. I just wanted to thank you before I log off She was a little different than usual while saying it. -see you in 14 hours. She didnt give him the time to reply and waved her hand and then logged out. She could at least explain what she meant. Arata also followed her footstep. -aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Coming out from the capsule Arthur had a long yawn. Anari once said that playing is this game is like normal sleeping but I think thats only counts if you do sleep in game. After the guilds test, Arthur took small break. He eat something and washed himself but that was all that was. No sleeping. On test, he was pushing himself nonstop so he got tired from it. Sleeping in game was the same as in real life but if you dont do it there, it doesnt mean anything. He slept two hours on hard rocks during the test. Then during the night before Loki and Kotori came he also didnt get too much sleep either. So after he went to the toilet, he soon fell on the bed. In the end, traditional sleep was the best thing after all. This was the first night of Arthur that he had actually had a dream since a long time ago. Normally all he could see was a nightmare about what happen to his family, but he finally more or less get over it and stopped thinking negatively. In his dream, Arthur observed the girl with long golden hair. The girl was about ten years old. She was playing in a garden with her brother and sister, she was really happy while doing so. Arthur was immersed in her smile. There were also two adults who were sitting on the bench near them. The first one was a man in glasses and black hair who was wearing white shirt and jeans. Next to him there was a woman with the same golden hair as the girl. It was a picture of a happy family. Unfortunately the dream didnt end well as the girl stopped smiling at some point. Her siblings and the woman disappeared as well. The scenery changed from the garden to the closed of dark room. The man with glasses was now wearing a black suit and was asking the girl to come with him, but when he tried to reach out her hand, the girl ran away from him. The rest of the dream was her continually running on the road as the world behind her was getting darker and darker. She was running away. She was running away from the darkness. The next day Arthur woke up at 10. He slept for full 8 hours which was unusual for him, but he was tired from the guild test. He also for the first time in a long time had a dream although he didnt remember much of it. Dreams didnt mean anything to him but it was just interesting to see them once in a while. Arthur got up, went to the bathroom and did usual things one do in bathroom. He went to the kitchen. He found out that there isnt anything to make dinner from so after eating the breakfast he decided to go to the shop. Cooking skills of Arthur werent on very high level. Normally he would buy something that was already prepared. He would just heat it up and eat. Boiled pasta with sauce from a jar was his highest level dish, but this time he came up with crazy idea. He decided to make curry with normal fresh ingredients. He got this idea after making curry in the game where he used Marcos cooking book to make it. The book was well written as it was like real cooking book so Arthur just decide to try it out in real world, even if it would probably end up bad. Marco told him that if he wants to learn cooking, he needed to cook and no matter what turns out from his efforts, he had to eat it. He explained this logic that if you remember how bad something tasted, you will try you hardest next time, so you dont have to eat it the same horrible thing again. Still, Arthur had some faith in Marcos curry. The instruction wasnt just saying do this or use that but rather it gave explanation as to why you should do it this or that way. After buying everything he thought he would need for curry as well as some instant soup in case of disaster, Arthur went back to his home as he didnt really have anything else planned. On his way back however something unexpected happened and he spotted a girl lying without movement on the ground. Looks like she log out before eating and after coming back, she is like this. Ah old times. Those were Arthur first thought but he realized. HEY! This isnt a game! He ran to the person who was lying on the ground. When he got closer Arthur realized that he knew this person. He even spoke once with her although it didnt end well as he released his anger on her when she asked about his parents. Arthur wasnt sure if he is ready to talk with this girl again. But yesterday he decided that he wont run away anymore so he called out to her. -Ali, are you okay? The girl name was Alice but Arthur used to call her differently in the past. She was one of his friends back in the day. He didnt remember her last time he meet her. But now he remembered. Although right now Arthur didnt consider her to be his friend because he thought that he didnt deserve it after what he has done. The girl get up very fast hearing this name that she didnt hear for more than five years already, she looked at Arthur who was standing before her. She didnt know what to say, but Arthur knew exactly what to say. -Ali, I am really sorry for everything. That I yelled at you last time, that I didnt remember you, and that I didnt tell you anything when I left this town. I had my reasons which I didnt want to reveal but I can tell you them right now if you are willing to hear them. Arthur was ready to tell her about what happened to his parents. He decided to repair what could be repaired. He wouldnt tell everyone about that but he could at least tell it to Ali. -Arthur The girl said his name but didnt pry any further. -no I dont need to know, and I also sorry that I asked about it. I shouldnt. I wont ask you about your reasons as I dont have right to know about them. My mom said that I shouldnt ask you about it but if you ever decided to tell me, then I will listen to it, but it wont change the fact that I am your friend. Grandpa told me that the best way to apologize is to just to apologize and say everything that you have on mind. She told me that she doesnt want to know, but if I really decided not to run anymore I have to say it. -but I will tell you nevertheless. During Christmas, five years ago, when I was visiting my grandfather. An accident occurred in which my parents died and I was the only that survived. Even though he decided that he wont let it bother him, he couldnt just say it without any effect of this. Alice seeing this tried to stop him. -Arthur you really dont have to. But he wanted to continue. -let me finish, after that, I started to live with my grandfather in different town thats why I wasnt here anymore. I was in despair for a long time, then I somehow stand back on my feet but I was still not over it. Its rather normal as my parents died. For last five years I kept everyone away from me so I dont get close to anyone and dont lose anyone that I care about. I didnt want to go through the same thing once again. I also didnt want anyone to pity me, that is why, I didnt want to tell anyone about it. -Arthur, I didnt know. -anyway Ali, dont worry about me anymore as right now, I really fine. I cant take back what happened but there are other people that had worse experience than me so I cant cry about my life forever. If you still think that you should pity me try to google children in Africa and you will see that my problems are not that big. Alice was hearing Arthurs true thoughts and found out that he didnt try to be strong. He really was strong to hold his head high and speak it without reserve. He was like the old Arthur always speaking what he wanted and doing crazy thing and also yawning. -hahaha, children in Africa what is it? -recently someone told me that. Anyway why were you lying on the ground? Arthur closed the case as there was no need to say anything else. -my mom shooed me out of the house. -what!? -she told me that I play games all day and didnt kept my promise to run around for an hour so she shooed me out and said that I wont be able to come back until I run for five hours to repent. So I started to run but after half an hour I didnt have any strength so I somehow ended up collapsing to the ground, now I waiting until more time passes, so I can return to home. -why dont you just sit somewhere? Instead of lying on the sidewalk? -I am too hungry to move right now, I cant help it. People and their problems, but I think I can help her. I will also have one tester for my curry. -you can come to my house I was about to make dinner. -really? -you used to come to my house many times in the past so you can do it today as well. They walked together to Arthur house. Inside they moved to the kitchen where Arthur started to prepare curry. -Arthur what are you making? -curry. -you can make curry, waaaa! I cant really do anything myself. -in that case I have advice for you. Dont tell it to guys because they want to have a wife who will cook dinners for them. -then maybe you will teach me how to cook. -its not like I good at it myself. Ask your mom. She was good at it if I remember correctly. -she is, but you are making curry right now, and you do it without cookbook. That means you are good. -I didnt tell you yet but you are going to be my test rat. -waa? -I never cooked curry before so you are going to taste it. If you survive then it will be proved to be eatable. -ehemaybe I should go already. -hahaha, dont worry Ali. -easy for you to say. Anyway you just said that guys dont like girls who cant cook, but what about you? You were always game freak, you think any girl will like someone who play games all day long? -its not me who was shooed out from the house because I played too much. -wawa. But its really immersive game. Like a real thing. Also what should I be doing? Its holidays after all, and even if it wouldnt be holidays. I used the capsule to study as I got 5x more time in it. -see playing games is normal nowadays. -games in general are still the same as they used to be, but VR and eye of Adventure have good opinion. There are television programs and endless number of websites about it. The good players are even invited to those programs. I watch once how one big guild went on a quest it had such high viewership. -oh, I didnt watch anything like that. What was the quest about? Arata was rather ignorant about what others were doing and he didnt want spoilers. Playing on your own and finding things out on your own was much better. -it was a big battle but I cant tell you much about it as I didnt really understand it. To me it looked like fantasy movie. But the thing I understood is that that was one of the top guilds and this was the first time that someone completed a quest of rank 4 so those were the big news. After the quest even new race was unlocked. Quest of rank 4 on air? -see you are probably already as big game freak just like me. -no I am nowhere close to you. Right! I have some news. Following your advice I joined a guild. -well good for you. -its still a small guild but there are good people in it. Right now our guild leader is teaching me how to play. -I see, its a good guild leader then. Someone who can take their time and teach people from the very basis is rare. In comparison my guild leader would just put people to impossible trial and ignore everyone who didnt pass it. -ah right, I also wanted to ask how are you doing in the game, you are strong right? Alice asked him. Well I just started but -I started it a bit late so I am a little behind but soon I will become the best player, the fans are waiting. -fans? Haha. -dont laugh at it. I recently found out that I had a fan club in the previous game that I played. -ah, its good to have dreams like that. Arthur thought like it will sound like a good joke but because Alice took is seriously he just make a fool of himself. -of course its not like I believe it either! Anyway the food will be ready soon so you better prepare yourself. If you dont turn green after it, I will call it a success. -wawa. Arthur took out the rice placed it on the plates and after that he took out the curry and putted it on the rice. Somehow it didnt look poisonous at all. -the time has come, Ali. If anything happen I will call for ambulance. -maybe its not best idea. -you are hungry, right? Even if its bad, the hunger is the best spice in the world so go on. Unwillingly Alice tried the food. Oh, she didnt pass out on the spot so its eatable, she didnt make a strange face either. -Arthur, you were lying. -ha? About what? -it was strange that you didnt use cooking book, you must have made it a million times, and perfected it. -no I didnt. -so how did it end up this good? I saw that you used normal ingredients, no some already made just to heat up. Also frozen food doesnt taste like that. Still not believing what she is saying, Arthur tried as well. -hey its really good. -dont play dumb! -I am not playing dumb. -so how did you learn make it? -you wont believe it but I learned it in EOA. Arata tried to explain himself. He also did not except this result. -in EOA? -yes, in the city of beginners I worked for a guy who had restaurant and earned some money. This recipe is also from him. Today I came up with crazy idea that I could use this recipe in the real world as well. Well its not as good as it was in the game but sill edible. -ah, who said that you wont learn anything if you play games all day. -let us finish it first. They finished one plate then second plate, and then sited in the chair. After 10 minutes of siting Arthur stood up and said. -okay, Ali its time to go. -where are you going Arthur? -for my training and you are coming as well. You still have some laps and you cant complain about being hungry now. -but. -here is an advice, while you run, you shouldnt think too hard on it but simply get out from your house and simply run. Time is running short, lets go Ali! -okay I am going. After the dinner Arthur and Alice started to run together around. As Alice was slower than Arthur, she couldnt keep up, but still she tried her best to catch up to him. It was like the picture from the past where she used to run after him every day. http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3125 Chapter 12 “The girl with golden hair” Chapter 12 The girl with golden hair -dad, I going the gym! -be careful on the way Lia. The girl with long golden hair said good bye to her father and walked out from her house. After a long sleep, she decided to go to the gym. It was not that she was doing any sport seriously but rather it was just a simple exercise that would keep her body in good condition. She was doing it regularly for many years now. She might have skipped here and there but she always returned to it. She was doing her best at it but she didnt do it for herself. She just wanted to look good before her father so he didnt have to worry about her health. Because, he had to worry about all other things that she was doing. Those who didnt know her would look at her and thought that she was normal girl, raised in good family. They would think that she is a hope of modern society, where people her age are destroyed by their environment. Still, those who really knew her also knew very well that this was definitely not true. Normal girls dont play games all the time since they were 10 years old and that was the case for Lia. Even if with birth of VR, the games and especially eye of Adventure become popular so now it happened more often, the time when Lia stared to play was way before the popularity boom of games began or even before VR was accessible to normal people. Thats why those who knew her would call her a game maniac although she was rather proud of that title. When normal girls would put posters of famous singers and actors on their walls, she would put ingame avatars of players from best guilds from the game she played. As soon as Lia reached the gym, she started to run on treadmill just as she always used to. She was in especially good mood today as she got somewhat lucky in her new game. When holiday started Lia decided to switch the game that she was playing so far, to other game that was called often called a new world. She decided to do that mainly because compared to her previous game RagnarVR, the new one eye of Adventure was considered hardest of all and best developed VR game of all VR games that were available. In games, Lia was always looking for a challenge despite the fact that many times she couldnt complete them. Still, this time with a new game, she decided to step on the highest level of play. Having experience in MMORPG and VRMMORPG she was doing great job in EOA. Even without information, based on her experience she could somewhat choose her class the way she wanted. Although not everything went the way she planned and in City of beginners many unexpected things happened. Lia wanted to be a healer for two reasons. First, healers were always needed in group so she could easily found parties for dungeons. Second, she already had a lot of experience playing as a healer so this should help her get to the top. After first month, she continued her play. She passed the forest trial without any problems and went to Loris. From there on, she decided to go for the dungeon right away. Healers have it easier in search for groups because as long as they can keep party alive, no one will complain about their level. Lia ended up finding the party quite fast as when she started looking for a group there were at least four groups that were looking for the healer at that time. The dungeon she went to was called Stoneground and monsters in it werent that hard as she suspected and her group was doing okay. Still it was going way too slow for Lia. Thats why she gave up on her party after two hours by saying that something came up and she doesnt have any more time to play with them. So many newbies. Thinking like that, she decided that for now she should just focus on hunting alone, at least until she find some people that wont annoy her by their sole presence. Having to deal with newbies who never played a MMO game before was not something she could do. Still hunting alone as a healer was not that easy and also rather slow, so after Lia got to level 15 she decided to look for a party once again, and this time she was going to choose the players on her own or at least check the party she join with care. She went back to the Loris and looked around the information board. Unfortunately there werent any good groups there and when she considered looking for it herself she gave up after half an hour. No choice but to continue the hunt alone or maybe I should try to do dungeon on my own. I read that some people can do it. If I want to be at the top, I should be able to do it as well. With this resolve she decided to try her best in the dungeon. She thought that as long as mobs wont one shot her, she should be fine somehow. She already saw them before and they didnt look that strong to her. Still, in the end she did not went back to stoneground again. Just as she was passing the eastern gate of Loris, someone stopped her. He was a man with blonde hair similar to her. Although. Her hair was more of gold than blond and his were much lighter so the color was different. The man wore expensive looking black leather which actually looked similar to a suit. Lia didnt think that items like that even existed in the fantasy setting games but it turned out that they did. -hi there, do you mind if I take a minute of your time. The man didnt look like ordinary person so she didnt mind. She also thought that she should ask him if he doesnt want to go to the dungeon together, as in the end the idea of soling it wasnt that appealing. -no, I dont mind. By the way, I was looking for a party to a dungeon and you look stronger than anyone else here so do you want to join? Lia was not wasting any time. -and here I thought that I am scouting you. -scouting? She didnt understand right away. -one question before that. Do you think that you are skilled enough to do impossible challenge? Something that normal players wouldnt be able to do. She didnt know what the man was talking about but she answered. -I am not normal player, I am planning to be on the top one day, and impossible challenges are not impossible to me. The man looked at her once again then he said. -sorry, but to be honest you dont look like it. Lia got angry at that remark. -what are you saying that I dont look like it!? I will be the best healer in this game in the near future, no best player! I also plan on joining strongest guild out there. Lia did not like to be underestimated because of her look. Well in other games it didnt happened but even simply by reveling that she was a girl, it already leaded to it. And in this game where she took her real life look, it was even worse. Well, she did except it to happen but she also knew that it was the best option to choose if she wanted to be comfortable in her avatars body. She once tried to play as a large two meters in height green troll in another game but she was actually falling to the ground every five steps or so. Since then, her avatars in VR were always of similar height that she had. In EOA however the avatar would look either like you or you would go for random and going for random was not really safe choice. Especially when you couldnt redo your character. -I see that you have big ambition at least. Well look can be deceiving after all. Anyway if you want to join soon to be strongest guild, here is your chance, pass the challenge and you wont regret it. The man answered. It looked like he didnt have any ill intentions by what he said earlier but he was simply honest. For Lia who knew what the real strongest guilds are like, what the man said didnt seem real at all. The guy who just looked around for people in low-level area was talking about having strongest guild? However he did say it seriously and he didnt look like someone who would just joke about things like that. He also looked tired for some reason. Probably because he spend so much time on scouting and it didnt go so well. -even if your guild wont become strongest I can stay there for the time being. So whats the test? To that the man honestly answered. -too put it simply, its hell. After that Lia went for the challenge. The name of that man that invited her was Loki and just as he said, the challenge was hell. She had to complete the dungeon which was for level two times higher than hers and even though her party members were way better than ones in her previous group, they werent that talented either. The first pack was the hardest. She had to do her best in healing as her useless team was taking tons of damage, but she managed somehow. But every pack would take a long break after it to replenish mana so it was really annoying. However, the experience was great and after few packs she got to level 20. Compared to normal hunting that she did before, it was 100x times faster. At level 20 she got a new spell which created magical electric shield in the air. If a monster hit that shield, he would take damage. It also defended her from hits. At that point Lia decided that it is just better to continue alone instead of wasting her mana on her team. That wasnt the fastest way but the most profitable for her. Two of her party members already gave up earlier, which meant that she just had to get rid of other two so she simply let them die. Still, it wasnt easy to kill a whole pack for her as she first thought it will. She chose the best tactic. Run around and shoot enemies from afar and when they come close enough defend yourself with shield. The tactic might look bad from the outside but it was effective and it was common MMO tactic for range called kiting. It took her few days to kill every monster within the dungeon still it was fast leveling. The only thing that was left was a boss. But when she saw him, the creature five meters in height with hands in size of small cars, she quickly gave up. She at least dinged up to 32th level so it wasnt wasted time. She decide that from now on, she will go to dungeons with little higher level that hers and kill mobs in it, as it was good method to level up and when she level up she will then look for a good guild. She soon found Loki who was sitting at one of the chairs in one of previous rooms. He was looking up the celling while smoking the cigarette. Lia started talking to him. -its not healthy to smoke you know. She said to him first. -its a game so I dont have to care about it, anyway Kotori did you finally finished it? I didnt say that there is any time limit but there are some people waiting for me. -yes about that sorry, I give up. -you do what!? Lokis first reaction was a surprise but then he continued calmly. -at first, I was considering that you might die few times before, for example when you started to fight alone. But then I just thought that you will be fine, right until the end as you were doing a good job. I also considered that you wont want to join our guild after completing the challenge, but after 5 days you say that you give up? That is something I didnt except. -emm, maybe it wasnt the best idea to let those two die. I could manage to heal them when they would fight the boss. She knew where she did a mistake still she didnt really regret that decision though as it was unfair for her to boost them. -yea, that was cruel of you, but I cant really blame you, sorry for picking bad team. Unfortunately there werent any better people out there. Still, I think you did well enough. Actually you did the best out of all participants we had so far so I will give you a passing grade. As I said, you dont have to join the guild only because you passed a test, although it would be good if you did. For now, let me give you a reward for your trouble. -reward!? What is it!? -you probably could use some items from that boss so I will kill him for you. When we are on our way back you can ask me any questions about the guild if you have any. Give me the answer if you are joining or not before we reach Loris. Following Loki to the boss room again, Lia already was interested in joining the guild even if only for a short period of time as finding good party without it was tiresome and if the guild had a test like this then the players in it should be good. But then after the boss fight she decided that she will stay in this guild for long time. Where people like him are coming from? Completely different from anything I saw before. Lia though that when she was remembering Lokis fight. He didnt use any weapons nor did he use magic. What Loki did was actually really simple. He run up to the boss dodged one swing, kicked him in his belly, jumped five meters up to the face and finished him of with another kick. The second kick made the boss fly and crush into the wall, while damaging it a lot. Loki landed without breaking the sweat as if the whole thing was a playtime for him and Lia did believe it to be true as while he did all that he didnt take his hands out from his pockets. Lia heard that there is endless number of professions that suit player but profession which werent even close to any MMO she played or known was incredible. How did he end up with it, she didnt know. After the boss Lia got a nice present which was her new robe. White and gold colored not only if fit the image of healer but also it fit her really well. Even before they leave the dungeon, without asking one question she joined the guild. Ah I still have two more hours. She now looked at the clock while running. She had to go back to playing soon as she was going for a quest with another guild member that she met. Lia really couldnt wait for it. A great adventure that she always yearned for. But not only that. This time she was going with Arata. Having an adventure with legendary Arata after joining a good guild what luck I have. Just as she was thinking that an old man that she knew, came to her. He was one of the coaches that worked in the gym. He was also the one that once taught her how to use all the equipment inside the gym. If she wanted to ask something or get advice on training, he would be the one to ask. -Lia, its good that you are working hard, but you should inform people if you are going to extend your stay. -but I still have half an hour. -ah so thats why you didnt say anything. -hmm? -you probably dont know it but the clock got broken two days ago. Right now it is 13:30 so its already one hour pass of what you said. -its now 13:30!? Lia asked hopping it was not the truth. -yes it is. But I see that you want to stay longer, right? Its not a problem I will sign it down. 13:30 so its means I dont have two more hours but only 30 minutes. So it means! How did that happened? When she woke up after sleeping Lia didnt check the time and assumed that she had enough time. She went to sleep on usual hour and she also was usually waking up at the same hour every day. But she didnt know that she was that tired after the test so it was a long good sleep. Playing EOA somehow destroyed her time balance. There was also the fact that Lia was way too excited before going to sleep by what happened to her in the game. -no! I need to go, bye! She quickly changed herself, left the gym and run to the bus station. To get to the gym she usually used the bus. 20 minutes of ride. When she arrived at bus station she checked the time for next ride. -40 minutes!? The last one was 10 minutes ago! Unfortunately it looked like her luck today wasnt as strong as she thought. Or maybe she already used it all. No, what should I do? There is no way that he will wait for me that long, he will get angry and eventually go on his own. I need to get there faster! Lia took out the cell phone and called her dad. -dad can you give me a ride!? -I can but cant you just take a bus. Its a nice weather today so why dont you just run like you sometimes do. -I dont have time for that! Its a matter of death and live! Dad, please! -hahaha, when you say that, its always about the games. -you have to come! -fine, I will. You are at the bus station near the gym right? I will be there in 20 minutes. -drive on red lights and break speed limits but be faster! -hahaha, I will see you in 20 minutes. Ah, if I could at least call him, it wouldnt be so bad. She wanted to call Arata and tell him that she will be late but of course she didnt know his phone number. Waiting at the bus stop was a torture for her. It also felt like hours despite the fact that just after 22 minutes her dad came already. -what took so long!? -ah a postman came and I needed to sign something. Anyway if you are in hurry you should get in already. -hurry dad! It took another 17 minutes to get back, together with leaving the gym and entering the capsule it become already 14:25, which meant she was 25 minutes late on promised time, which in game time was . -two hours Kotori was welcomed by this remark. -how can you be late by two hours? -sorry. She quickly apologized to the man that was standing before her. His name was Arata and he was the member of her new guild. But she also knew him as someone who was once the best young player in the game that she used to play. She was even his fan. As strange as it might sound, she really was. -Kotori, if you needed more time you should have say so. -no, I just lost the track of time and it ended like that. Anyway Arata, give me your phone number. -ha? You are already back to this, even though you just got here? When she recognized that he is the one that she once had a poster over her bed, she decided to play around a little. She thought it would help her get along with him in the future. Also she said that she liked good players and she really meant it. Although, she didnt plan anything serious of course, she just wanted to play around. Well, at least, at the beginning. It turned out that Arata is really good guy, more than she though. She also heard him saying some embarrassing thing about her which she never expected to hear. He didnt plan to say them and he still probably didnt know that she heard him but she did. Arata also helped her when she heard words which she didnt want to hear. Words that made her remember something that she buried deep in darkness corner of her mind. With all those things happening one after another, right now, she wasnt sure anymore if she was still joking and playing around or not. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. -well, do I want your cellphone for that reason too. But the main reason is that I couldnt tell you that I will be late. I knew that I will be late for about one hour already. -if you knew that you will be late, you could try to not be late. -sorry, I lost a track of time and when I realized it was already too late. Remember the gym that I told you about. I went there but the clock was broken and I didnt know the time. There were no busses available. -you dont need to tell me details. Anyway if you really need it then sure no problem its 506682876 -506682876 I could make a note about it and use it later but let me just call you to be sure, you log out as well. -right now? -yes. The two of them once again disappeared under the tree. -hey Arata its you? -yea you got it right. Lets go back. -wait, I want to talk on the phone with you. -why? No never mind lets just log in. We can talk there. -but on the phone its different! -see you there! Soon enough they appeared under the same tree once again. -Arata your voice is the same as here. -its natural, isnt it? Your voice is the same as well. -no, in last game I played voice communicator changed voice somehow especially when you played different race. -I see. Anyway its time to go, you are okay with running? -lets walk for ten minutes, I was in hurry just a while ago and that was after a gym where I run few kilometers. -I also run few kilometers before it, in normal environment. -dad said that its better to run in gym as its safer, although I often run back from the gym after the training. -I see. But sure we can walk for now. -sorry for slowing you down so much. Kotori didnt want to slow down for that reason though. -dont worry about that. We have much time and its not like I have anything important to do after this quest. -yea, even if we take the break for whole week they still wont be done with recruiting. -hahaha, I feel you. -anyway Arata how did your test go? The reason why she wanted to walk for now was simply to talk with him as while running it probably would be harder. -how it went? Its hard to tell. Well, I did manage to kill the last boss in the end. -oh, as expected of legendary Arata, I gave up on mine, looks like I still have a long way to go. -dont be so hard on yourself. Also even though we defeated the boss, the minion still nearly killed us and Gerald had to save us. -I see, so even you had a problem in it. -it simply that after I got hit by that minion once I couldnt move too well and then I fly for like half a minute in sky and landed on the ground with 5% hp remaining so yes I had problems. -why were you flying? -the main boss was riding his seven meters high minion so I had to get to him somehow. Seven meters? Good, I didnt have monster like that. -you were in different dungeon that me? -yes we ended up in dungeon for level 30 instead of 28. Not like it made huge difference. And how did yours test? -mine was dungeon for level 29 but it was hell. My party members were useless and I had to do everything alone. I let them die at some point because I couldnt stand them anymore. -well, my test went the same. Although I found some purpose for my party and in the end, they even tried to save me when I couldnt move. -sure, its good to have party no matter how useless they are but they would just take your exp. -no I had all experience there was and they didnt get any exp as I didnt invite them to party. -thats not very nice of you. -says the person that killed her own group. Mine were even happy that they can see the dungeon. I might have been a little unfair to them At least to last two who were trying their best and didnt give up. -so what did you used them for? Kotori asked. -their job was pulling mobs and run with them around so I can focus on less number of targets. -hahaha. Good idea. Ah right, I also wanted to ask, how did you fought against those monsters when you had such low level. In my case I was running around and shooting my spells at them meaning I was simply kiting them. But you couldnt do something like that as melee. -I see you had a good tactic for a caster. In my case I just fought them straight on. Straight on? -but wouldnt you just die if you do that? Like in one hit? -I will have to continue on doing the same again when we get to the mountains so you can watch how I dealt with them then. Anyway its time to run so dont fall behind. -haha, you are talking to a person who is going to the gym for over 6 years already. You should be the one that have to worry. -oh, you sure are sure of yourself. Want to do a penalty game? The loser have to do one thing that other ask no matter what it was. -okay but you will regret it. Arata and Kotori made the most stupid thing they could do which was waste all their strength on race that was 20 kilometers long. After four kilometer. Even if its legendary Arata I will definitely not lose, ah what should I make him do? I also wonder what he would ask of me. He came up with that idea, so he should have something in mind. Eight kilometers. I still can keep up. Twelve kilometers. How can he move so fast, he is already so far. Sixteen kilometers. -Arata! Wait! I give up! You win! Wait for me! Arata slowed down and together they run last four kilometers. How did that happen!? I lost! -this is what you got for being overconfident. Arata was happily decelerating his victory when they arrived at the edge of some forest. -you are legendary Arata after all, I should have thought about it more before I agreed. Anyway lets get to it right away so what do you want me to do? -hmm. -sure the debt said everything but have some reserve. Well he is not bad guy so I dont have to worry much. -its not like I have any secret desires but I have a perfect task for you. -oh, what is it? -smile. - Kotori first didnt get it. -smile, thats the task? -yes. I didnt expect that. Wow. He really must like it that much. He even said so nice things about it. Well, its good that he didnt have ideas for the task like I had. And if it makes him happy, then sure. -like this. Kotori showed him her usual cheerful smile that she shown him yesterday. Arata was stopped for a moment. He really likes it! Was what Kotori thought but soon Arata said. -well its as great as it was yesterday but isnt a little forced and somehow different What does he mean different? -ah you can forget about it. You probably think its strange to ask something like that but you didnt smile today so I just said it for a change of mood. -well its hard to smile and run at the same time. -true, anyway lets go on with the quest, the mountain awaits us. Kotori and Arata started to move up to the mountains. Right now they were in coniferous forest with spiky trees. It was thick and hard to see anything too far. Also the sun was nearly down as well so no much light was coming here. It the forest, they carefully looked around to spot any enemies. Kotori started. -hey Arata wouldnt it be better to start at morning. You know, we would have more light, better visibility. -my plan was to find out what enemy we face here and train with their attacks patterns. Then we wouldnt have problem at night. But a small problem accrued and we somehow got here two hours late. -sorry. -well we can wait for the sun but we already wasted enough time so we will have to manage somehow. We wont go to the mountains anyway until we get some decent level, thats for sure. Lets look for some monsters inside this forest. -anyway, what plan do you propose to fight them? -well first we need to know what we will fight. Then we will create some basic fight tactic. We are in the forest so it should be some animal type monsters. -well we had a trial in the forest already so we have some experience, and on guild test we already fought high level enemies. It shouldnt be that hard. -I am not that sure. For me at least, animal type is far worse than humanoid type. Its harder to read their attack patterns as I am not used to fight them. Well, for now I just hope we wont meet any bears. -why is it harder? Normally in games any type has about the same strength. Its not like it changes much when they are on same level. -say, what you would do if the dungeon you were in werent against humanoid but for example some kind of dogs? -dogs at least dont have weapons. -you said that you used hit and run tactic. How will it do against dogs that are faster than humans? Well he has a point here. -but it doesnt matter to you if you if you are going head on, right? I still have no idea how are you going to do that thought. -its big difference as I have higher experience in fighting against humans. Ah be quiet for a second. Arata started to look around then looked in one direction to the right. Kotori spotted that exactly from opposite site a gray wolf jumped at him. -Arata, watch out! [Golden shield] She instantly summoned an electric gold shield in between the place that Arata was standing and the wolf was attacking him. Wolf hit the shield but it didnt stop him at all and continued to fly at his direction with fangs ready to tear the flesh but Arata was already as wolfs right side and was countering with his sword. With rotation he dodged wolfs attack and landed a hit. What was that? Some spinning attack skill? -Kotori no time to look around, at least one more is here [Holy bolt] Kotori spotted another wolf that was getting close to her. She attacked him with her holy bolt but it didnt do much as wolf was way higher with level than her. As he was coming close, Kotori summoned the same shield what she used before but just as before it didnt have any effect. Wolf was getting close and was already meter away from her. What to do, another shield? Just as she tried to do that Arata ran at unbelievable speed to her. He caught her in his arms and moved her away from the attack. -dont block it. They have higher level, you forgotten? -sorry. Watch out, they are coming close. Kotori looked as the wolves soon followed after them. Arata quickly jumped on one of the tree, three meters up in height. Now Kotori knew for sure that he used a skill. At the top of one large branch he said. -anyway for now just stay on the top. -I can fight as well you know. That was just a little miss on my part. -you are a healer so your job is to support, isnt it? Its definitely not tanking mobs. You can damage them from here if you have enough mana to spare. -even so my spells dont have big effect. -sure they have, whole 3% health from a shied hit isnt bad, its the same as my swords. Anyway you do your best and I will do mine. -but they are fast and all. You will get hit if you go down there. -if that happens you will heal me up right? I will believe in you. -right, no matter what I will heal you up from any damage so fight without worry. Arata jumped down and engaged wolfs. Kotori was full prepared to cast her best healing spells the moment he would need them. She just hoped that he wont get one-shooted. It looked like every wolfs attack could kill him in one go so it was really nervous for her as healer. But in the end Arata didnt get one-shooted, or rather he didnt get hit even once. He danced with wolves, dodging their attacks and countering them every time they jumped at him. How is he doing it? No its not a time to get distracted, he still can be hit any time. Kotori was drawn to his fighting style but still kept her guard. Arata was dodging wolfs attack left and right. Even when third wolf came, and then fourth one, it didnt changed much as they still attacked one at the time. What is the level of this wolfs? Kotori crossed her fingers and checked their levels. 55 he will really get one-shooted if he get hit! But it doesnt look like it is going to happen any time soon. Kotori continued to observe Aratas fight. He was like a wind, fighting against five wolves without fear. Wow. Emmm, all I can say is thats legendary Arata for you. But shouldnt he be just a good gamer that used his keyboard to control his character? Arata was continually fighting against wolfs, their hp didnt get down too much but it was steady falling down. Even if its VRMMO and not normal MMO, Arata is still the best no matter what. I think I have to take out my poster out of the closet again. Maybe I should make a new one? Still now that I think about it what use healer has, when people dont get hit? I have to start doing something else that just gazing at him. After Kotori realized that she is standing on the branch, doing nothing but looking at Arata, she started to use her attack spells on wolves. She had two of them, holy bolt and golden electric shield. Her others spells which she still didnt used were healing centered and right now, she really didnt need to use them. She still observed Arata in case she would need to heal him but he switched to dpsing. Because it was hard to hit fast moving wolfs with the holy bolt she focused on summoning shields in their way as it was a better option. It took them a while to finish and it became dark, even Aratas movement become somewhat slower at the end but already having experience in it, he didnt get hit until the last wolf was defeated. Five wolfs with levels which were 25 more than them was a great boost, every wolf gave nearly half experience needed for level so they both dinged two levels after the fight. [You have leveled up by 240%] [You have gained level. Current level 34] I will put it on you tube. With a title. Legendary Arata is back or maybe legendary Arata fighting against wolves. No, I have a better idea it should be called, how to play VR games, people could use this reference. The VR capsule had a storage disk on which it saved last month of adventures so if someone wanted to show someone their experience they could save it on the computer and do with it what they wanted. Kotori decided that she will definitely save the adventure that she is having right now. Having all wolfs defeated Arata called Kotori down. -hey Kotori, we are done, you can get down now. -are you sure? -its dark so I am not, but nothing is attacking us right now so its not like they are around the corner. Kotori get down and went to where Arata was standing. She didnt even know where to start. But when it came to saying anything she simply said. -Arata I love you. -he, dont joke like that. -no I really mean it, you are the best guy I even know, and you are everything that I would like my boyfriend to be. - . When she putted it like that Arata did not know how to answer. -hey say something. Girl just confessed to you. -you are just saying it, anyway didnt you hear that decisions like that shouldnt be made on rush Well, I knew that he wont take it seriously. Its strange to say it to a person who you just meet. But still. -hey Kotori, you will find someone who you will really love one day But Arata I really think I love you. I already said that what else should I say? While normally she had no restrain in speaking her mind, this time the words she wanted to say did not come out. -hey, say something, its getting strange here Strange, he must think that I am strange. Well everyone calling me a game maniac and strange girl after all, ever since -Kotori Arata tried to say something but when he saw Kotori face turning from usual into the one she started to make, he didnt know what to say. -hey Kotori! What happened!? Arata didnt except to see reaction like that so he shouted. For a moment he thought that it was his fault as he might somehow hurt her feelings, he definitely didnt have experience in being confessed but that wasnt a face of rejected girl would made. It was face of despair. Kotoris eyes lost their light. Then she fall down on knees and she was kneeling on the ground without moving, with blank expression. She didnt react to anything that Arata was trying to say, and for most part he was saying her name. ha? After five minutes some of her senses returned to her. -Kotori! Kotori! -Arata? -yes its me Kotori! Without saying anything else she quickly summoned menu and disappeared from that world. Lia get out from the capsule and jumped on her bed. Soon after, her phone started to ring. She looked at who it was. The name that appeared was legendary Arata. No, he must want know what had happen he will ask, no I cant tell anyone. She didnt want anyone to know about her past, even small touch could break her down. She definitely couldnt tell anyone about it. Even thinking about it was too painful for her. Her mind often cut her out from reality as self-defense system when those thoughts appeared in her head. When that happened and when she regained her mind later on, most of the time she found herself back in her bed. She ignored the phone but after ten minutes the ring has sounded again. Hearing the phone over and over again, her dad came to Lias room. Normally when phone was calling no stop it meant that his daughter Lia was inside the capsule and forgot to turn it off. But this time he found her lying on the bed. He seemed down for a second but soon enough, he came near the bed and put his hand or her head. But he didnt say anything. Then he looked at the ringing phone. He was really surprised to see the name that appeared there. He once heard her daughter telling him about someone whom she called legendary Arata, but that was like 5, 6 years ago. Nevertheless he picked up the phone and turned it off. Although it took him more time that it usually should have for someone to click on single button. http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3126 Chapter 13 “Keys to the past. Part two.” _13.1 Chapter 13 Keys to the past. Part two. Wait, dodge, counter. Wait, dodge, counter. How long I am doing it? An hour or so? Arata was fighting the last wolf. He defeated four of them already. This one appeared the last, so he was still at 20 %. It took some time, but its much faster ever since those things started to appear. Arata looked as wolf was starting to run at him. The moment he did that one, two, three gold shields appeared in the way. It didnt stop the wolf but every shield did damage anytime wolf ran through them and three shields combined slowed down the wolf quite nicely. Arata once again dodged the wolf attack and countered with one of his sword. The wolf hp went down to 8%. How great dps I am when healer is making more than me? Arata thought to himself. No matter how one looked at it Aratas classes were that of dps. Meaning that his main specialty should be making as much damage as possible. In comparison healers job was to keep up the health of people and tanks job was to focus the enemy attacks on them as they specialized in high defense and would take less damage than anyone else which would make healers job much easier. Well to my defense I have to dodge attacks so I am not dps right now but rather tank. But its time to finish it. At the end of fight Arata decided to attack on his own, instead of doing the same thing over and over again. He rushed on the wolf that didnt have his old speed anymore. Mobs were same as players in that case. After a long fight they slow down and became weaker, well in most cases at least. Arata running next to it slashed the wolf one time making it go down to 5% with last of his strength, wolf jumped at Arata. Arata only set his swords in right position and wolf jumped right on it and the swords pierced through its head. Finally, well I will have to repeat the same process many times so it still long way to go. But it should be easier from now on. [You have leveled up by 250%] [You have gained level. Current level 32] Each wolf for 50% nice, oh an item as well [Wolfs ring Agility +14 Movement speed +1 Hunting their pray wolfs use speed rather than strength to defeat theirs enemies. This ring is representation of their power. Level Required 50] Looks like it will take some wolves to equip wolfs ring. Arata joked to himself but he got a good item which fitted his class. Arata looked around and didnt spot any more wolves, every wolf in close range probably come to fight already so there was no more of them anywhere near. Arata called Kotori who was on one of the trees. -hey Kotori! We are done you can go back. Even so its good to have someone on the back doing damage for you, and when its healer its even better, at higher level I wont have to be that careful and take some risks. -are you sure? She answered from the top. -its dark so I am not, but nothing is attacking us right now so its not like they are around the corner. Kotori jumped down and get to where Arata was standing. Ah she is looking at me like that again, well I am somehow used to it, especially its always the same after the fight, she will ask how I do it and where I learn it, well I can answer that. Arata was waiting for a question that everyone asked after they seen him in battle but he wasnt prepared for what he heard. -Arata I love you. Because Kotori shooted him with something like that. wow, I didnt except that Anyway she is the same as always, I also teased her a little with having her smile for me. Looks like it only added oil to fire. -hey dont joke like that. -no I really mean it, you are the best guy I even know, and you are everything that I would like my boyfriend to be. - One day I wont be able to take it anymore, really I will just say sure lets grow old together and have happy life Like I could say that! Anyway she is just teasing me again. -hey say something. Girl just confessed to you. Ah I stopped for a second again. I am really not good with stuff like that. -you are just saying it, anyway didnt you hear that decisions like that shouldnt be made on rush Arata tried to answer reasonably so she stop playing around as there were still many levels to get but somehow Kotori didnt answer him. -hey Kotori, you will find someone who you will really love one day The silence continued when he tried to add this. -hey say something because its getting strange Its really getting strange. Grandpa once told me that you can easily impress woman with fighting ability. I took it for a joke that time but maybe it works? Anyway, I decided that I wont succumb to temptation already. Someone like me who couldnt make a single friend for last five years shouldnt be even thinking about going out with someone. Anyway I should say something fitting. -Kotori Arata tried to say something fitting but when he saw Kotori face turning from usual into the one she started to make, he didnt know what to say. -hey Kotori! What happened!? Arata didnt except to see reaction like that. For a moment he thought that it was his fault as he might somehow hurt her feelings, he definitely didnt have experience in being confessed still that wasnt a face of rejected girl would made. It was face of despair. Kotoris eyes lost their light. Then she fall down on knees and she was kneeling on the ground without moving, with blank expression. She didnt react to anything that Arata was trying to say, and for most part he was saying her name. That look. In Kotoris face Arata somewhat saw his own reflection. He also had dead eyes like that. Especially, in first year after the accident in which his parents died. There are no words that I can say to her right now. Without knowing the truth everything I say wont have any effect. I also cant ask about the truth. I struggled with my problem for so long, how can I repair someones life when I still repairing mine? Nevertheless I have to somehow get her back to normal. -Kotori its fine. Arata didnt get response right away but he kept trying. He started to repeat her name. -Kotori! Kotori! -Arata? -yes its me Kotori. Okay now is the important part, I have to Still, Kotori didnt say anything else and disappeared from the world. -shit! Arata cursed at his incompetence even if though he didnt have any way to stop her. She must be thinking that I find her strange right now or even worse that I pity her for the reason that I dont even know. I must at least tell her that its not true. But how? She just disappeared without saying anything. She will probably come back after some time but it will be too late at that point. I somehow feel that if I wait too long, we wont see each other again. Now, what other options do I have? Wait! I still have her phone number. Arata logged out immediately. Getting out from capsule Arthur quickly picked up his cell phone and located name Kotori in it. He tried to call her right away but there was no answer. I know that its hard to pick it up but you have to do it Kotori. Dont worry about anything and trust in a person that you said that you like. Arthur decided to call once every 10 minutes as long as it took. Then after the third call he received a SMS, the sender was Kotori. [Good evening You must be Lias good friend if you call her for the third time already, even though you probably know that she wont pick up. I will call you later to tell you about the situation if you are willing to listen that is. Lias father.] At least someone is there for her. Knowing that she is not alone calmed Arata greatly. Still this message, I can answer the call but I dont plan to ask what happened. After about half an hour Arthurs phone ring again this time it was a number that he didnt know. -hello. Is this the person called legendary Arata? She must have a nice dad if he can say out loud that name perfectly normal without laughing. -Kotori called me that few times but cut the legendary part please and Arata is just a nickname from the game. My real name is Arthur Rain. -I see. You must know her from a game if you call her Kotori. Most of her friends are from games anyway so I am not surprised. Her real name is Lia Stafford and I am Jorge Stafford, her father. I wanted to ask you something. How long do you know Lia? -around two days. -hmm, strange, I am sure that I once heard her talking about legendary Arata back when she was twelve or eleven. Anyway back to the matter. Did you saw what happened to her? The question her dad asked signaled that it was not a one-time thing. -yes I did. In message you wrote that you will tell me what was the reason for it, but I dont think you should do that. Arthur wanted to right away get it straight. -ah, its only natural that you dont want to hear about someones worries especially if you know her only for two days. -no, thats not it. How long you know someone doesnt have anything to do with it, and we somehow did end up getting along on the way. It was mostly hers openness that allowed it. She can even joke saying that she loves me. -hmm, thats rather strange, she never was that opened to anyone. Well she is like that, because . -as I said I dont want to know. She wanted to be seen as open person who can say things like that openly so I will respect it and see her as she wanted to be seen. After hearing that Mr. Stafford stopped for a moment and then continued. -I see that you are good friend indeed. That should be fine, treat her like nothing has happened. -I am afraid that I cant do that, either. -but you just said. -dont get me wrong Mr. Stafford. Its not that I dont care what happened to her so I dont want to know. If I knew I could somehow help but if you tell me about it, I definitely wont be able to help her. Thats why I will wait, until she decided to tell me herself. -but that may never happen. -its possible but if she want help, she needs to ask for it. As long as she is running away, no one can help her. Also, I am not sure if I could help her anyway, even if she asks me for it. -thats true, but at least, I see that you understand her. -I dont know what happened to her but lets say that I also once had that look on my face. So I can understand what she might be going through. -that look well, I had it too. Anyway, she should come back in about an hour. Normally it doesnt take her longer than that so just wait for her. -thanks Mr. Stafford. -now before we finish our talk there is one more thing. -oh, and what is it? -if you touch my daughter you wont escape with your life, - . -hahaha, I just wanted to say it once. It was nice talking with you. Goodbye, legendary Arata. - . The talk ended without Arata saying a word back to it. Well for now I should just go eat something then wait for Kotori inside EOA. Arthur did just that and returned to a capsule. Arata appeared back in the forest it was already dark. Before there was some light from setting sun but now he couldnt see as much as before. Now then, what should I do? I could just wait but I dont want to stay doing nothing. Good thing that I am at least sure that she will come back. Even if she doesnt want to come back Mr. Stafford should push her to do it. Oh! I got an idea, why dont I just exp up a little? I will just take few wolfs and bring them down to low health and when Kotori comes back I will kill them. It will be an experience present for change of mood. With this idea he searched for wolfs, it didnt took him more than 2 minutes to find group of three. Perfect, three is just the number I needed as I am little tired after last fight already. Dodging for more than hour is really stressful and hard, still its the best way to exp. He pulled them to the place where he fought last time and started a fight again. Without Kotori it was going much slower than before but even so after some time, health points of wolfs were like 52%, 56%, 64%. As he once again dodged another attack and slashed the one with 52% his health went below a half. At that moment that wolf howled to now visible moon. In previous fight the same thing already happened. It brought up the wolves number three, four and five but when fourth and fifth wolf did the same, no more wolves came. It could only mean that there were no other wolves in range. Howl all you want. We already cleaned most of wolves around here. Arata thought like that and indeed, the howl didnt bring one or two wolves. This time, it was about ten of them. Also even thought it was bad enough, the biggest problem was not them. -a Arata couldnt say anything when he saw a wolf or rather a dread wolf coming from the trees. He was different than others. He was two times larger than them, his fur instead of gray or brown was completely white his eyes were red and from his fangs and jaw dropped the red blood. Arata also spotted something familiar in him. He had a dark aura emanating around him which looked exactly like aura that he once saw from the wolf in beginners city when he was helping Anari with her quest. But this time wolf was white and two times bigger and -80 level! Arata checked his level although it might have been better if he didnt. Right now he himself was 32 so it was 48 levels of difference. Luckily for Arata the white wolf didnt attack him the moment he saw him. But the other ten wolves did and he already had another three at his left and right side. Okay, as long as this guy doesnt come I should somehow manage. Arata thought optimistically but sole presence of white wolf was enough to make other wolves fight better. It was not that they were faster now but they started working together. Two from the front and two from the back together rushed at Arata who was standing on the middle. [Black dash] There was no choice and he decided to use skill to escape, at the same moment damaging two wolfs that were coming from the back. Both of them were now around 50%. Arata turned back to where wolves were coming from. Few wolves were coming at him. He managed to dodge them and make some damage while doing so, but he once again became surrounded from all sides. Arata decided that this time instead of waiting for them, he rushed in the direction with the least amount of them. That seemed as good idea at first but there was a reason why he didnt do it previous fight, and back then it was only five of them. As soon as Arata started to run, every wolf seeing his back rushed at him all at once. Arata run up towards one wolf and jumped over him while slashing him with two swords but while he glanced at what was behind him he saw that he will soon meet his end. [Black dash] Arata went through most of the wolves doing them some damage which made most of them 95%. That was good idea but it wasnt something that he could do nonstop as his stamina would run out. If only I could regain my stamina faster. He thought to himself. With endless stamina he would just black dash all day long and kill them all. But that was of course not the case so he couldnt do that. Once again he stood in a place having every wolf before him. Need to find better place to fight I cant have full surround like this. Good tactic to fight multiple enemies is to get them to one chock point and defeat them one by one. Other good tactic was using mass AOE spell which would damage them all at once. Arata couldnt do either of them. First required high defense and ability to block attacks but Aratas defense was focused on dodging. Well, it was not like a tank class would survive assault from pack of wolves with his level. Second one, sure he had his black dash, he could also use sword slash as AOE but in the first place he was much lower level than wolves there wouldnt be enough damage before fuel runs out. But then Arata come up with good idea. I will just climb the tree. The wolves couldnt get Kotori when she was on it so maybe I will get some time regain stamina. With this tactic it will sure take even more time than it already takes to kill even one wolf but its definitely better than dying. [Leap] Using leap Arata jumped on one of the tree. Lets see right now I still have 20% stamina left, so I should wait for at least 80%. It was a solid plan to fight only while having stamina to use his skills. Unfortunately it didnt work. Arata heard a loud howl coming from direction of white wolf and as soon as it ended Arata was falling from the tree into masses of wolfs. Short stun effect!? When Arata regained control, he kicked the trunk of the tree and landed in save for second area. As soon as he landed wolfs would attack him again. There is only one choice now. The only thing that Arata could do now was to stand and fight. He used last of his stamina to use lighting speed and found a location from which he wouldnt get attacked from every direction. There was a wall of trees that were clump together there which wolves shouldnt be able to go through. There Arata decided to fight near it so the wolves couldnt attack him from that angle. Still they could do it from all others. When one wolf came, he had no problem and could counter. When two wolves came, he just focused on avoiding damage. When three wolves came, he had had a lot of trouble and was making a desperate roll on the ground and get up as fast after it as he could. If four wolves were to come he would have small chances of survival. But somehow thanks to the tree wall he found, there were no more four pronged attacks like the one at the start. Arata managed to keep it up for about 10 minutes. Even if wolves health was not going down by much, he also managed to keep his heath high as well. But then. The three wolves came and he made roll on the ground to avoid their attacks. In this high group they were practically just lunching like rockets straight and when Arata dodged they were back in the circle allowing another one to do the same. After dodging three wolves Arata had to get up but then right away another group of three have come and the rules were broken. When Arata was avoiding their attacks, his leg got clean hit from third wolfs claw. Arata hp instantly went down by 40% and even though it wasnt that much, he could no longer continue as before. Getting hit is one thing but having reduced ability to move and feeling the pain in the leg was another. He forced himself back on the feet but it hurt really badly. He even stopped for a second and was too slow to dodge attack from a single wolf. He got hit in arm going down to 32%. I cant give up! Ignoring the pain he continued for another 3 minutes but when the three wolfs attacked again and he jumped to the ground, he couldnt stand up fast enough afterwards. With no choice as another wolf was coming, Arata just blocked his claw with his weapon. But blocking attack from enemy who was way higher than you couldnt be considered full block. Aratas hp went down to 26%. The same wolf continued. Second attack the hp went to 16%, and then to 5%. Still, for some time now Arata knew from the start that it will end up like that eventually. But he kept struggling until the end with only one thought in his mind. Kotori. What will she do when she returns and wont find him there? Or even worse, what will she do if she finds his body lying in some dark corner without inch of life. Because Arata didnt have any chances of winning anymore, he was just thinking of what will happen. Will she be sad, or will she laugh at me? Will she think that its her fault? That would be probably the worst. She can also think that I just didnt care about her and went exping on my own. Second part is not entirely wrong but I didnt want to exp just for myself. When wolf was lunching another attack Arata already knew that he was done for. But then, unexpectedly wolf stopped his attack and moved back. Aratas body started to shine and second later he was surrounded by pillar of moonlight. Any of other wolves didnt even come close when he was surrounded by it. He heard a voice coming from the top of tree. -what are you sleeping for! The fans are waiting! It was a girl in a long white cloak with gold parts on it. But those parts looked blank as they just faded compared to her golden hair. Kotori was holding a shining orb in her hand it was shining in the same light as what surrounded Arata. Aratas health, stamina but also confidence went back to 100%. Having been restored to max and after getting a buff called Song of stars which increased his overall stats and abilities by 15% Arata said to wolves. -you heard the lady. I cant keep the fans waiting. As if commanded by those words, the moonlight pillar disappeared and wolves once again started their attacks. When one wolf came, Arata slashed him five times. When two wolves came, each of them got slashed twice. When three wolves were came each of them got slashed once. Ignoring minor injuries which he got from blocks or small miss steps, Arata was slashing wolves left and right. He could do this and he didnt worry about his health as he had best assistance that he could ever ask for. One on the left, two on the right He was now completely immersed in the battle. Arata rushed to the wolf to the left. He blocked his attack with left sword and slashed him by second sword. Knowing that others two are at his back he made a backflip and attacked them from midair. Two on the left. He turned faced their way and countered their fangs with his sword making a thrust inside their mouth with other and drawing an arc while slashing their flesh off. Normal wolves or rather anything in normal world would die if it happened to them but wolves HP went down only by 5%. But that was not over as another slash was coming after this attack. When the first wolf fall, other wolves changed their charge and run tactic and slowly came closer to Arata. That didnt scare Arata nor did it change anything. Rather from that moment Arata was slashing them even faster and more accurate. Having no room to move wolves attacks couldnt be that fast. Their biggest strength the speed was gone. But because they clamp up to Arata, he took one bite after another. Just like him they also began to make more damage. Still, Arata was quickly healed up by Kotori while wolves wounds would stay and even if their HP was going down slowly, cutting of their legs did a lot. Kotori wasnt using her shields anymore. She was cleanly focused on healing. Arata HP was jumping back and forth like crazy but it never went below 40%. Despite numerous hits, Arata was fighting like he didnt feel any pain and every time he was healed made him fight even less defensive. The best defense is offence. -come! I will kill you all! In this berserk mode, Arata quickly deployed most of wolves and when their HP was low enough he started to use black dash to maximize the damage. After 20 minutes only 5 wolves were left and their health was lower than 10%. -I can feel your experience points. Come! Even though full in HP, Aratas body was covered in blood. But he did not care about that. But then when he was about to finish the rest of wolves the white wolf finally made his move. Time for the main dish. Arata was sure of his victory, for him there was simply no other option. He rushed at white wolf. To that the wolf howled to the moon loudly. Arata got stunned for a second but that didnt do much to him but. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. -aaaaa! Kotori fell from the tree and landed on the ground. That was at least what Arata heard. [Lighting Speed] Arata in the flash get to where Kotori was now lying. Her eyes were close and she wasnt moving, but Arata didnt have time to check on her, as the 6 wolfs with the white one leading them rushed to him. Because he didnt want to fight here and Kotori looked fine but just unconscious, he rushed back to face them on. First the small ones. [Black dash activated] [Black dash activated] Double use of this skill cleaned the remaining 5 wolfs and only the white one was left. Although. His HP even after getting hit by Aratas Black dash didnt change at all. But Arata didnt care about things like levels or hp right now and shouted to him. -hey you! Yes, you white doggie. Come closer and I will punish you for what you did! Having seen Kotori fall from the tree because of this wolf howl, Arata didnt care if he had to hit him thousand time or ten thousand times. He would fight for as long as it took. Fighting against 80 level boss-class monster, Arata couldnt afford for any mistakes but the moment the white wolf attacked, Arata was not ready for that speed. White wolf hit him with head and Arata was send flaying two meters back and hit the tree. Right away wolf was getting ready for another shoot, but it was Arata who get up quicker and rushed first. He got before his fangs. When wolf attacked, Arata jumped to the right and slashed the wolf before he even finished his attack. After that exchange Arata was at wolfs back. After two slashes one from each sword Arata got hit by surprise attack by wolfs back left leg. Arata HP was already at 10%. Realistically speaking it wasnt really good and even though he did not feel like it, Arata was one hit from dying. -Arata! You can do it! His body was once again shining in moonlight and he quickly recovered back. No time to slacking now! The moonlight soon faded, after few seconds and Arata attacked by wolf again, but this time Arata could somehow dodge it without extremes. He now moved faster as his stats were now increased by 30% thanks to the buff called Song of stars. It was now stacked to two, but. The better the skill the more it costs she probably doesnt have mana for one more. Arata continued his fight with white wolf. The buff was really helpful and right now, wolfs strength didnt feel that overwhelming anymore. Arata was fighting him without taking any more damage. But there was another problem as no matter how many times he hit him it didnt give any effect. No use, its the same like that time. I wonder if its because his level is too big or normal attacks just doesnt just work? Its either of this but I need to try holy attack. -Kotori try shooting those holy bolts that you used before! Arata shouted and Kotori did just that. By that attack wolfs HP went down by 0,5% which was about 15x better than Aratas normal attack. Arata saw some hope but Kotori quickly shouted back. -no use! My mana will run out before he goes down to 70% and if I over agro you and he starts attacking me its over. Hmm, maybe I could defend her somehow but it will be hard to do that. Also when the buff fades I wouldnt be able to defend even myself and those 20 minutes will not be enough as her mana will need to replenish. No, the only answer lies is that move. Arata already tried to repeat that move few times. The spell he once used to defeat a wolf with a dark aura like this one. But no matter how many times he tried, it never worked, not even once. But this time Arata somehow knew that it will work 100%. He would not waste this moment. There were too many things riding on it. Pointing both of his swords to the front in direction of the white wolf he started to chant magic words that were bringing the image of the past. And in comparison to all other times his image was clear like never before. -We are those that believe in victory -We are those who have entered the citadel -We are those who found the flame -We are those who used it to conquer evil! As our swords were shining with it red light! Wolf started to attack once more. Arata prepared to counter it. When wolf was in close range Arata rotated on his right leg and during that step, both of his swords started to shine. The spin dodge was at the same time attack and shining swords hit the wolf right away. Having experienced the shock of the attack white wolf jumped back and howled. His hp went down by 20%. -there you are. Come its time to pay for your sins. With the swords which were emanating red-white light, Arata rushed at the white wolf. Wolf used his fastest attack which surprised Arata at start, the head hit. But having seeing it once, Arata jumped up and stomped on the head with his left leg. From there he made huge number of slashes. Arata ran on the wolf and during it he destroyed all of wolfs leg muscles. Although Arata could finish him off the wolf at that point as he had only HP 11% left, Arata jumped down. The wolf already movement nearly stopped and he fall to the ground. Arata bursted. -that what you get for attacking my girl, you piece of shit! He shouted that loudly than he slowly come front of the wolf. His left sword stopped to shine but the one in the right, the sword of lighting speed started to shine even stronger. Arata sheathed back the left sword and using two hands with his last hit, Arata slashed off white wolf head. [You have leveled up by 1000%] [You have gained a level, current level 42] [You have unlocked new skills] [New item collected] [Ring of moonlight Increases overall abilities by 5% Those who seek the light not always look for it during the day. Sometimes only the light of the moon can show you the way. The power in the ring is for those who understand that way and are the true masters of stars and universe. Epic Class Item Class specific: Moonlight _ Level Required: None ] Arata was looking at the ring that he now held in hands. He couldnt use that item but he couldnt think of anything else that he would want more than this. -Arata, what was that? Kotori wanted to ask about his last skill that he used as well as about his last words which he shouted. But Arata said. -Kotori. -hmm? -here. Arata gave her the ring as he putted it on her finger. -why are you giving me a ring? Its really beautiful. But does it have a meaning? You do know that giving ring to girl is not something you normally do, right? She was little embarrass while saying it but it looked like the fight that she experienced just now wiped previous events from her mind and she was back to her usual playful self. -you can interpret it the way you want. I glad that you are back. Arata didnt think much about what to say. He was just honest. -glad to be back. In that moment, Arata could see two times of day at the same time. The night with the full moon emanating at her finger and the brightest sun in universe in form of her smile. Still Arata could not anticipate that look for very long. As After few moments later despite having his health at 100% he passed out from blood loss. The next day Arata woke up finding himself on some glade. Seeing the unfamiliar scenery he quickly he looked around and analyzed the situation. How did I end up here? I dont remember. -good morning, Arata. Kotori welcomed him. She was sitting on one log not so far from him while eating rice bread. This bread was the most common way to fulfill the hunger in the game so every adventurer had some of it. -yea, good morning Kotori, where are we? Arata answered. -you dont remember? Well you passed out right after the fight after all. -it couldnt be helped, there were wolves and other stuff anyway where are we? -I dragged you out of the forest but we are not that far from it. Look Kotori pointed down the hill. There was indeed a coniferous forest with spiky trees. -this place looked like slightly better place to sleep so I chose it. Anyway I just started eating, want some? -who would want to eat this? -well, I know its bad but it doesnt matter what it is right? Its just a game after all. And the bread is cheap and there are others things to buy. -I never thought that you would say its just a game. -hehe. -anyway I am not eating it. You also shouldnt. I will prepare something myself so just wait for it. -ah yes I remember, you were buying some stuff. But you dont look like someone that can cook Arata. -I can follow a recipe book. It was true that Aratas experience in cooking was still low. -you found a recipe book here? No, before that. How does even cooking work in this game? I never tried it. -it works same as everything. That means the same as in real world. -you know I once played a game in which they said the same thing. Unfortunately the truth was far from reality. Anyway shouldnt we start killing wolves again? We are like what two, three days behind already? Sure it was mostly my fault but I want to make up for it from now on. Let us not waste any time! -but the time invested in cooking is never a wasted time. -ehh. -if you cant wait then help me so it doesnt take too much time then. -but you really want to cook in the game? -its really worth it. -I dont think that it will taste anywhere near the real thing but sure I can help. So what do you want me to do? -peal those vegetables while I will check the book. Arata instructed her but Kotori had a different definition of help. -you want me, master of cooking art to peal you vegetables? -you are master of cooking art? Arata asked surprised. For someone to call themselves master of cooking art they would have a great confidence in their skill. -I definitely better than you. Give me that. She then run up to him and took [Marcos cook book] from Aratas hands. But then when she started reading her attitude changed a little. -hey Arata, where did you get that? -in beginners city. I worked there in one restaurant to earn some money. The chief from there gave it to me. -you know, those recipes dont look that bad. They are well written. Its like real cooking book, I wonder what would happen if I made that in the real world. -I tried cooking one of those in real and it turned out quite good. -really? They must have used some real recipes to create it then. There are actually many things in here that I already prepared once or at least heard about but there are also some strange things that I never seen before. -so you really know about cooking? -its natural for a girl isnt it? Heard about a woman who cant cook? Well, its true that nowadays there are many that cant but if you want to survive in world you must know how to fill your belly. I didnt know that cooking system is like this. In previous VR I played the food had the same taste no matter what you eaten or how hard you tried on cooking. They probably didnt have time or money to create better system. Well, it was also one of the first VRMMO after all so everything wasnt perfect. It was good enough for me to play for those years. MMORPG aspects were on high level. -focusing on main element was good call. Anyway if master of cooking art wants to take lead, go ahead. But before you choose anything look at ingredients I have. -I already know what to look for, something with wolfs meat. -well, we have many of that in stock. -no I talking about white wolfs meat, it dropped yesterday and its says that its rare ingredient. -if its unique ingredients its at the end of book. -at the end you say? Lets see, oh there is something. Stew of moon. A weird name. Recipe looks good overall but there is also note with tells about origin of the meal. Its quite interesting so listen. While we were going through snowy mountains and we didnt have anything to eat the only way to survive was to hunt. One day we found a white wolf. He was three times bigger than any other wolf in the area. The fight against him took us two hours as the beast was really resilient but there is nothing that could stop us, the hungry man. The wolfs meat looked like any other meat so I made a stew out from it. But it turned out that those who ate it will become a little stronger. I named it stew of moon as the fight and a feast took place at night when everyone was freezing to death yet still looked at the sky with full moon which emanated over our heads. Its also better name that stew from white wolfs meat and unique food deserves a unique name. Kotori ended up reading Marcos story. -its so like him to make useless notes like that -he probably wanted to remember the moment. The story also wasnt that bad. Anyway it looks like this stew is made just like normal stew but with use of white wolfs meat so I dont need it anymore. Kotori threw the book back to Arata. -need some help? -no, you can lie down and wait, you had a hard time yesterday after all. -then I will take you on your offer. Arata return to lying on the grass once more. After some time Kotori asked a question, or rather asked for a question. -hey Arata, do you want to ask me something? -hmm, not really. Ah maybe one. You didnt do anything strange to me when I was sleeping, didnt you? Like writing something on my face? I dont have a mirror so I cant check it. Kotori was rather surprised and at the same time amused by his answer but then just answered. -haha, no I didnt, after I dragged you here I also soon went to sleep as well. -I see and where were you sleeping? -of course, next to you. Somehow I should have known that. Wait does that mean that I will be hunted by her father now? Even if he was probably hopefully joking, it wasnt funny. -you sure are open. Like always. Arata commented. -only to you, anyway I dont have to worry anymore. -worry? About what? -about you. -me? -you know, I already know that you like me so I dont have to worry. But sorry Arata, I cant get married yet, my dad wont let me, but thanks for the ring, I will cherish it, and one day we can do that. Really? No really!! At first Arata didnt know what to say or if he should say anything at all but he soon returned to the earth. -wait, wait, wait, how did that idea come to your mind again? -you gave me ring and said that I can think what I want. Its not bad image to think of it as engagement ring so I will think about it like that. Well, I technically said that but still. Arata could not deny it now. -you really have crazy ideas. -why you are so reserved Arata? Yesterday you were so angry when I fell from the tree you wanted to kill that wolf so bad, you even cursed which is unusual for you. - . -I also heard a line my girl somewhere along the lines. - . -anyway Arata you cant hide it forever or rather you already cant hide it, so just give up. -I cant hide it? -wait, you think you are a good liar? Then surprise, no, you are not, especially in this matter. Legendary Arata or not you are someone who has absolutely no experience with girls. Am I right? -it doesnt look like you have any experience either. -sure I dont but I am at least open about it. -too much open if I had to say. -its definitely way better than denying everything when in truth you thinking, wait I will recite your words. She has a smile which is brighter than ten thousand suns and I really like her golden hair. No I must stop its too embarrassing for me to say it. Lets just say she is pretty and make it sound like cheap complement. At first Kotori became really red but then just joked around. -well its my thoughts but I didnt say that Ah, I shouldnt have to say that loudly. -Arata when you try too hard at thinking, your inner thoughts just comes out from your mouth, so give it up already. Anyway its great that you think like that, even if those are really embarrassing things you say. You are so pure Arata. -I am not. -second ago you confirmed that its your thoughts. Arata run out of the arguments. -fine I give up, I like you. -see its way better to be honest. So we are now a couple. -couple? -yes couple, well its in a game for now but in future we have to meet together in real as well. But as I said its better if its in a long future than shorter as my dad has a collection of weapons in our garage and may not be too happy about the whole thing So he wasnt joking. -hahaha, dont worry he will definitely like you and I was just joking anyway. If you want you can meet him right away. -lets leave it for a different occasion. By the way Kotori, should we do anything special now? As you already figured, I have no experience in this at all, so I dont really know what couples do. -thats a good question but I also dont know. But shouldnt we just do what we normally do and it will work out somehow? -its an easy going way of thinking. -shouldnt love be like that. I mean you dont have to worry about it as it is one of most natural things for humans. So it should work on its own. I somehow ended up with a girlfriend. Ah who I try to kidding I should just start shouting from joy! Its not like I ever made a features of perfect girl list but if I had to describe it in one word it would simply be Kotori and also -now that I think about it I liked her from the start. Arata got too excited once again and say it loudly. -and you say that I am open. Well your way is way more poetic than mine. Thats for sure. Kotori heard that but Arata was no longer embarrassed. -I have a soul of an artist within me. -rather than saying that, Arata get up the food is ready. And I can already tell that after you eat it, your love points will become max. -what are love points? -hehe Kotori gave him a bowl with stew, and he started to eat. After finishing eating he took another serving and another. He could not even tell her that its good as he would have to stop eating to do that and it was too hard for him to do that in that moment. -glad you like it. -Kotori. Arata said her name while staring in the distance without blinking. -yes? -I think it wont work out after all. -ah, why you are back to it again? As I said just be honest. -no its just that a low creature like me cant be with great Kotori who have mastered the cooking arts. -hahaha, dont worry you are legendary Arata after all. But speaking of legendary Arata, I still didnt ask about it. -hmm? -Arata, what VRMMO did you play after you quit Light in the Citadel? -I didnt play any. eye of Adventure is my first VR game. I didnt even touch other things. Why do you ask? -you really didnt play any other VR game? -for quite long time I didnt play any games at all. -but you didnt play any yet you fight like that! It looked like Kotori finally asked the question that Arata was expecting for some time. But rather than simply asking that question. -so that version was the truth! -I am lost a little right now. -you know after you disappeared without notice, we created many versions of yours disappearance. -we? -you know, me and others from your fanclub. Anyway there was a version where you decided to train in mountains as VRMMOs were about to become trend and you foresee that the true gamer must know how to fight. -well, its not entirely wrong. Some of trainings that I have were in mountains. But if you ask about my fighting style I learned it in real world from my grandpa. Ah that was true hell training. Compared to that, our guild trial or yesterdays fight was a walk in park. -I see. But it must be nice to know your grandparents. Mine were dead before I was even born. So your grandpa is . Wait, you call him grandpa, its so cute! Kotori teased him a little. -something wrong with that! -no, no, anyway your grandpa is a sword master or something? -well something like that, anyway the basis I know are from there and combined with avatar that doesnt have many of human limitations. I can fight like this. That was what he answered, although the truth was that Arata didnt do anything in the game yet that he couldnt do in real life as well. Except for the game skills that is. -so Arata, do you live near some mountains? -I used to when I was living with grandpa. -and your parents? You didnt live with them? Telling her about it now, isnt best idea as she might just once again remember her memories, right now she is back to usual self and I dont want to touch the thing, at least not yet. -stuff happened, anyway right now I living on my own. What about you. -me? Ah no, I still live in my family home. Its you who is abnormal to live alone the moment you finish school. -thats true as well, anyway we should get going. Exp awaits. -one more thing. -Kotori how long is it already since we started? -dont worry, at least our adventure is longer, anyway your class is twilight swordsman right? -yes, what about it? -so as a fighter how can you use spells? -I have a second class so I can. -you have double class? -yea thanks to that I can use spells, although because my main profession is a swordsman the second is only a small boost. -small boost? You killed that wolf in seconds when my attacks took like 0,5% of his health. -he was vulnerable to light thats why. -my attacks were also of that type, thats why I ask how much damage your skill makes? Unfortunately Arata could not answer that question. -I dont know, also its not normal skill but basic magic. -basic magic? -you dont know about it? -its my first time hearing that term. Arata thought that it was something taught to any magic oriented profession but it looked like it was not the case. The truth was however that the concept of basic magic was not vastly known, and people who were skilled in it were not many. -I will try to explain but dont expect much. In theory basic magic is a way to make anything that you can think up. Although it mostly ends up bad and it mostly doesnt work and not everyone can do it. But it is very useful in right hands. -you have right hands for it? -no, the chances that something will work for me are like one in a million. Its rather hard to have clean image in your head and actually make it happen. -so that was why you were chanting something to make it somewhat like a spell, right? But your words I think I heard them somewhere. -if you followed my guild, then on our website there was a poem posted for some time. -ah yes, it was from there! But I didnt think that its a good poem. -well no one really ever did but somehow it stayed. Anyway this time no more questions, lets go. -one more question. -, ok what is it. -do you like me? -I already answered that, and wasnt you super sure? -answer again. -yes I like you. -hehe, lets go Arata, we wasted a lot of time already, there are many levels to ding! Kotori happily started to run. What do I have with her? And soon, Arata followed. //**This chapter is far from over. Continue to _13.2**// http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3127 Chapter 13 “Keys to the past. Part two.” _13.2 //** Continuation of chapter 13. (From 13.1) **// They soon found some wolves to kill. -need a lift to the tree? -no, today I am on ground as well. -hey! -dont worry about me and go get them Arata rushed at pair of wolves, and attack them in usual manner. Wait, dodge, counter, wait, dodge, counter But as he was doing just that right over from the top a pillar of fire landed on one of wolfs which he just dodged. In panic Arata jumped off to the ground and soon second wolf followed him but he was stopped on the golden electric shield. -hahahaha. Kotori laughed from afar. Arata quickly get up and continued the fight. Two wolfs didnt take too much time now as Aratas level was at 42 level, which was only 13 lower than of wolves. Also today Kotori was showing off her ability as dps. Arata once again went on defense. Her shields could hold down wolves now and it looked like she also got new spell. Five minutes and wolves were dead. [You have leveled up by 68%] [You have gained a level, Current level 43] -hey Kotori say something before you do that. -Arata you could get hit at that time you know. -and whose fault is that? -I was only doing what I should, which is damaging wolfs. -it was scary when right next to me a pillar of flame comes down. -it wouldnt have hit you. -I talking about the first one, why you used it so suddenly -just testing new spells, anyway you got anything good? -I forgotten about new ones, let me check. Arata looked through his spell books. [Stream of night. Nothing is better than a simple strike, but if strike has a value of x what would happen if instead you could make 12 of them. When you use stream of night twelve-hit combo will be lunched at the enemy. Cost: 300 Stamina. Coldown: 5min] [Sword enchant: Shield You can enchant your weapons so they can withstand strongest attacks. Parrying will no longer reduce your health no matter what damage it blocks. Be wary as if you dont have force to withstood attack you will be pushed back regardless. Cost: 100 mana Coldown: None] -how is it? Kotori asked. -not bad, but in comparison to magic class, melee doesnt really on spells and skills, but rather on pure swordsmanship. -its a balance, if you could use your skills all day long, it would be too easy. Although I dont think that I get that many new skills often either. Adding this new one, I have only three that can be used in attacking and rest is focused on healing. Although healing works more like a single spell in which the more mana you use the more healing you do. Then there is that healing spell I used yesterday but it eats tons of mana, and then lastly would be the buff spell that increases you hp points. -I see, anyway we still have to kill many more wolves so lets get going. They then found more wolves and killed them off, it took them an hour to ding to 45th level, mostly because finding the wolves wasnt that easy anymore, level 46 took even more as it was another two hours. [You have leveled up by 15%] -one wolf is now for 5%. Arata remark it after killing another three wolfs. -its normal to be like that. Normally dinging one level takes half a day. And here we only need 20 wolves for one level. -before they gave 50%, and now its five. Arata complained. -at least they are going down fast now. -yes but the problem is we have to find them and there are not that many left. -all we can do is run around and kill what we find. -in the mountains there should be some better creatures. Maybe we should go there already? -I think that we should stick to wolfs for now. They are still nearly ten levels above us. -if they werent, they would die in four no three slashes. Maybe we should just go to the mine and get done with quest already. Arata changed his plan a little. -werent we going to hunt in mountains after this? -boss will have some super high level anyway even if we exp up we wont get close that level. -say that after we are done with wolves. Arata why are slacking now? Get to going. -but its already boring. Couldnt at least another white wolf come? -he looked like some super rare monster to me and it even drop a class item for me so I dont think that he will appear again anytime soon. But arent you already accustomed to leveling up. It always takes time. And I must say our levels are going really fast. Before when I was going from level 12 to 15 it took more than now. -I wonder what happens on higher level, it probably will be even worse than that. Ah, I cant wait to ding the max level, wait, is there any max level in this game in the first place? -hmm, there isnt or at least no one got it so far. But if you want to talk about higher level stuff get there first, I dont really know that much. -hey isnt this game out for 2 years already. Why no one hit max yet? -I read somewhere that best players are around 250 level or so and like in last three months that average didnt move up at all. Well stuff like that got me interested in this game in the first place. -maybe they simply got tired of exping. -no, as far as I know its rather hard to exp up at that point. Monsters are strong. Also there are no masochists like us who would try to attack any monsters that are 30 level higher than them. Its also impossible on that level. -someone must have try that. Its a good method. Definitely better than farming a million monsters just to get one level. -you forgotten that if they do that and die, they will lose like what, 25 levels? This 10% is scarier the higher you get. -good thing that I dont have to worry about that. -why you dont have to worry about that? -trade secret, anyway on high level I will just continue like this. -even with trade secrets, you will still simply die. Higher level monsters dont only have higher stats but are overall much better. Even some ninjas like you will have problems. -I will worry about it when I get there, and judging on how fast it goes it will take a while. Ah, I just spotted another group of wolves. -then we should get them. Till the end of day they hunted for wolves and managed to ding up to 50th level each. It was a first time that during the night in that forest no even single wolf howled to the moon. There just werent many of them left and they were afraid to reveal their position. They had some intelligence. Dinging a level like 50, Arata thought that he will get some new spells but it was not the case. -how could they betray 50 level mark!? -hey Arata, look my new spell. Kotori summoned a circle of flying water. -what does it do? -another healing spell run through it and your health will be restored although you will get wet. But it doesnt take much mana and there is another use to it. -what another use? -you know if you are full in water and you run into electric shield you will get a great effect, dont you think? -so you will be healing enemies? -no you cant heal enemies with it. Anyway we should go for the rest. -full day of hunting and we dinged less number of levels level than in one big fight yesterday. -happens. And one big fight wasnt easy remember? -but we managed somehow, anyway I am hungry. -me too, time to eat then sleep and tomorrow we go for mountains. Kotori prepared a strange meal called Vlight from Marcos cooking book. As it was done and Arata saw it he asked. -hey what is this thing? -no idea, thats why I choose it. But I sure it will be good. -why? Marco could just write down some recipe for fun so I get food poisoned. -dont worry, if he gave you his cookbook, he wouldnt have do that. Also I was the one that made it so there is no way that it will taste bad. -you really sure of yourself. -if you are good at something, you can be confident about it. The only time that my food tasted bad was when someone was helping me and we didnt know what other was doing. We ended up putting too much salt and paper and forgot to put the most important ingredient because of miscommunication. -well, lets taste it. Arata took a first bite. -so how is it? -a taste that I didnt feel before. Its good of course but at the same time never eating something similar, its strange. -really? Let me taste it as well Kotori also took a first bite. -wow, what is it? I still remember everything that I put to pot. How did it turn out like this!? -maybe its a special food that can only be made in game. -there is only one way to find out. I will make it in real later and have my dad try it first. -better save then sorry? -its not like I would blindly follow recipe without thinking and make some poison. -you sure? I wouldnt be that confident in my case. -this recipe is solid so it will work. Anyway its really cool to eat something with new taste. Something that you never tasted before that is. They soon finished it and Arata lay down on the grass, soon Kotori went down next to him. -hey? -what? -you plan to sleep here? -of course, its natural after all. -how is it natural? -we are couple. -yes, but shouldnt it be like sleeping together is after mirage or something. -Arata, in what times do you live? Or what you are some hardcore catholic? -not really, you are? -no, I am atheist. I dont believe in god, and even if he exists, he doesnt care about us at all. Why should I follow him and pry to him every day if it doesnt change anything. -well if you think about it. You will soon find out that the story with god is a little suspicious. -a kind way to say it. Also all those prayers sound more like some fanatic babbling. -still if you cut away all those babblings there are some reason in what they say. -I guess but isnt it just common sense. Anyway lets not talk about stuff like that. God doesnt care about us and we dont care about him. Let us go to sleep. -but you are still there. -ah yes, I should get closer. She soon got so close that she touched Aratas arm. -make me a pillow. -pillow? -open your arm and I put there my head. Fine if that makes her happy. He soon did just that and Kotori went between his arm and torso. -like this? He didnt receive answer as she went asleep right away. Feeling her warm he once again realizes that they were true couple. What would old me thinks when he saw that? The one who kept everyone at distance. Well, all I can tell him is. Wait and when you get here, you will understand. The next day they woke up together and continued their exping but this time they have moved to the mountains. After walking for some distance the snow started to fall down from the sky. Also the cold didnt disappear even with the use magical frost resistance rings. -its cold! No, not just cold. Its freezing! Walking and at the same time shaking Kotori said the same thing once again. -its not that bad, good thing we have those rings. -who care about the rings! What with you anyway Arata? You walk like its nothing. -its not as cold as it could be. And those rings reduce effect pretty nicely. If you ever survived in true mountains you would understand. -I am normal! Achu Kotori made a sound which could easily say that she has a cold. -aaah, I have sickness status. -Its unavoidable after all. -If we had warm clothes it would be avoidable. We should have thought about that. -at least we wont catch hard cold. -Loki said that but somehow it doesnt seem real, small ring preventing from getting cold? Also I already have a cold. Does this thing even work? -a small cold is unavoidable after all. Arata didnt have any effect of cold though. -and where are the monsters? We have to exp up quickly and get out of here. No. Lets ignore the monsters and for boss. Now! -but bosses are hard. -its different from what you said yesterday. Arata you want to what fight here until I freeze here to death. -not that. -monsters here are on level 60 so it wont give us much more than wolves. Anyway there are no monsters here. If you still want to exp up we are better go back and play with wolves again. -okay, we can go for boss right away, its not like 50 level difference and 40 level difference make any significant difference. -you said difference to many times in that sentence, but that also true. We just have to come up with idea for him Achu. -so the plan is this. We move to the entrance if we find anything on the way we kill it. One two levels wont hurt. -they wont help either, but sure. They continued to go through the snowy fields. In time they could saw some monsters. They were big and white like a snow so they were hard to see from afar, founding them Kotori shouted. -look Arata, polar bears, lets warm up fighting them! Now she was excited when she saw them but Arata. -I think I pass on bears. He had somewhat bad experience with bears that left a traumatic feeling in him. -what are you saying? Lets go! -Kotori. Arata couldnt stop her ash she used her holy fire to pull one of those. -you see 10% on one shot, it will go fast. -it isnt always that easy. Soon where once was one snow bear. Bear after bear appeared out of nowhere. Aaa, thats how it always go in unexplored places. -Arata good luck. I will damage from afar. -hey! 6 bears moved his way. It was not that great number. Hope they are not like that one. Arata started to fight. To his surprise they werent that fast like wolves and not even close to the forest bear. Now that Arata thought about it the forest bear was even stronger than the white wolf from yesterday. Arata was not sure if it was some kind of bug that a creature like that was in that forest. Still the polar bears given their speed should be easy to avoid but. They all come and I dont have space to move When wolfs were fighting in somewhat funny hit and run way, the bears were get close and attack the target. To get away from them Arata needed to use black dash. They at least take 7% from one attack Continuing the fight Arata switched his Sword enchant to shield as he couldnt dodge in snow and blocking was way more effective, although he didnt have many chances to do it as they kept attacking him from every side and he soon needed to run. Most of dps was made by Kotori summoning her holy fire from the sky and shooting holy bolts. She also had to heal Arata much more as he kept taking damage. After the fight they dinged one level but the bears didnt give that much more experience compered to wolves fight against them was even harder. At least for Arata. After the fight Kotori complained. -hey Arata, why are you slacking? -I not slacking, I doing what I can. -I didnt see many of your dodges today. -they are impossible in snow. -excuses. Still the experience was also low. We should really just get to the boss. -I dont like it here either. But there can be problem if we cant damage the boss normally. Arata didnt want to experience another white wolf that seemed immortal at some point. -no, bosses works a little different. We can damage them normally but they have a lot of hp, so it doesnt look like they take much. -I heard that for bosses you need three groups. -but didnt you defeat one boss alone? -there was a boss and there was his minion, the minion was the problem. -that white wolf was also some kind of boss-class monster and you killed it. If we have any problems you can just use that poem again and we will defeat it for sure. -I said that impossible. -you used it once you can do it again, I believe in you. -you should try it instead, then. -its not good to use something for the first time on the boss fight. I need to train it first. -we will just dps it normally then. Which way it is? -this way! The magical compass that Kotori got from the fortune teller was showing the way. They continue to move through snow. On a way they found another bear but they didnt attack him and it looked like the bear didnt feel like fighting either. After some time, they arrived at the point where the only way up, was a small cliff passage. There was foothold only for one person at the time. Arata asked. -we have to go that way? -its what the compass says. Well, if we fall its only two meters down. Thinking that you will fall from there at least once or twice was normal given how the way looked before them. -now its two but as we continue it will grow larger. -it shouldnt be that much Achu. -you really caught a cold. -yes, thats why we should hurry so we can get away from here as soon as possible Achu. Arata lead the way. -okay I will go first. They continue by the cliff sometime unsteady and Kotori nearly fall one time after she sneezed. But now the half of the way was behind them. But also they would have to fall down by three meters at this point. -Arata, are we there yet? Kotori asked the ultimate question. -I still cant see the ending, but there is something on the way not that far. -what is it? -I cant see because of the snow, lets keep moving. As they continued to move they could see what the strange thing was. It was a person. Walking the same path but he was going down and they were going up and it would be hard to pass each other. He wore a long brown coat similar to Aratas one but his also had a hood which covered his head to the point where his face was not visable. As Arata saw that he is a player he shouted to him. -you are going down right? How long is it to the top? If it longer way than down. We can make you a way. But it would be nice of you, if we could go up first. Also if you are going down, jumping from here shouldnt be a problem for you. - . The man did not answer but instead he pushed his hand in the direction where Arata and Kotori were standing. As when he did that, they were pushed down the cliff by some unviable force. -hey you! The man in brown coat ignored them and continued to go along his path. Kotori and Arata were going to soon meet the ground. They would survive four meters fall and Kotori would heal them up no problem but they would have to start over again. It turned out that the ground beneath them was not a solid hard ground but an ice lake. When they landed on its surface the ice broke and they both fall inside the water. Arata and Kotori knew how to swim so drowning was not a problem and they quickly made it back to the top. They get out from water and Arata started right away. -come Kotori! We can still get him. We have to teach him some good manners! He was ready to pursuit the person that made them fall but soon Kotori stooped him. -Arata, are you crazy?! We are soak, right in the middle of snowy mountains. -we cant just leave him alone for what he did. -Arata, leave it! Achu, achu. We have to find a place to hide Achu. Arata right away give up seeing Kotori coughing even more. -sorry for that. I think there was a cave somewhere, so that should do. -achu, achu. Lead on. They soon found the cave and as they entered it, they found some wood inside as if someone has camped there not too long ago, but there was a huge problem. -achu, Arata, I dont think I can stand anymore. Also my sickness status is really bad right now. -Kotori you okay? Anyway we should get off our clothes for now. -no need, in game the clothes get dry on their own so we dont have to, achu. We also dont have anything to change into achu, so achu. -Kotori? -Arata, catch me. While saying that, Kotori started to fall down. Arata run up and catch her in his arms. -Kotori, your body is burning. -the status says high fever achu. Standing is impossible until its ends. I can still move my hand though. Arata quickly carried her deeper into the cave and laid her on ground. -Kotori just lay down for now. Rather, you should just log out until the cold is gone. -logging out wont help. I have to eventually get over it so if I log back I would be back in same position. They shouldnt make it so realistic, hehe achu. Arata was in pain seeing her like this but soon he tried to cheer her on. -Kotori we once again slacking instead of doing the quest, why does it always end up this way. -its always because of me. -you said that. Well it happens to everyone and like we said at the beginning there is no time to rush. -yes but there is this cold now. Then there was my being late and there was Not good, she cant go back to it now. - and there was after our fight with first pack of wolves Arata didnt except this and didnt know what to say. -Arata you still remember that moment? Arata did remember than moment quite clearly as it was impossible to forget and because of that he decided to change the subject right away. -yes I remember, anyway I will start to make something that is good against the cold. -Arata dont worry, I can talk about this. This time however it was different. -you wont freak out and ignore my calls? -hehe, that also did happen, didnt it? But I have a reason for that. Reason that you want to keep inside you as you are scared to think about it. -everyone has something like that, dont worry about it. -Arata, dont dodge the subject as its already hard enough for me Arata you are nice, you know. When I come back you didnt even ask for any explanation, but you also didnt behave like it never happened it was like you just accepted that part of me That was my plan. - when we first meet I behave like I did, because once I promised to myself that I would do just that if I were to meet you. -you mean, all that hugging and first love thing? -yes that. First love isnt a lie though. Many girls fall in love in their idols you know. -still they grow up from it after some time. -I was the same way in that regard. Its true that at first when I met you here I was simply playing around around but as we continued our journey together I started to like you as a person. You turn out to be just like I thought. Not only that, you are way better than I imagined. -what do you mean? -the only thing that I thought before was that you would be strong and a good player but I never really thought deeply about your personality. But you turned out to be a really good person. -well, thank you. -but not only that, in time of need, you always know what to do. -you talking about extreme situations in our fights? -not that, I was talking about my extreme situations. -yours? -yes, the first time was when you stopped the fortune telling as you saw me shiver. The second when I logged out and returned. You didnt ask for anything and the last time which is now. -but I didnt do anything just now. -no you were just trying to avoid the subject because you were worried about me. About what might happen if I start to tell you about it. -its hard to talk about your painful experience after all. You are afraid what a person would think about it. If he will pity you, but the worse is that speaking about it makes you remember the thing itself and you dont want to do that. -see! Exactly this! You just understand everything without me saying a word. And thats why I want to tell you. Because I know that you will listen and it wont change anything between us. Looks like she really wants to share it with me. -I will listen to your story. -thank you. I am also telling you about it as I want your help in something but for now the story You know the cold like I am having now is really bad experience that happens to everyone. You get weak. You cant move property. When you try to stand, your head is spinning. Your nose is plugged and eating is also hard. All you can really do is lie in the bed and wait till it ends. But you know a cold like that once saved my live This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Saved her life? -when I was ten, my family was planning a vacation near the sea. But two days before we could go, I catch a cold and had a high fever just like now. We couldnt cancel our reservation anymore. Because, it would be a waste as to not go, my father decided that he would stay with me in the house and my mother, brother and sister would go for vacation. -those things arent cheap after all. -that was what my dad was telling me when I was crying that its unfair that I am the only that cant go. My mom and siblings went to the sea and had great vacations I have seen the photos. But but they never returned. Kotori face draw darker as she said that. -hey Kotori maybe you should. -no, I decided to tell you. I can do that. They have never returned, you should know what that mean. As I said the cold saved my life that day and my dads as well as he was staying in house with me. But my mother, brother and sister they all died. Kotori who was already red because of the fever and had a weak voice but now she started to cry. -Kotori thats enough already, I already understand. -see, you are too nice Arata, but I want to finish it. After they died, I didnt even go to the funeral as I couldnt face the truth. From time to time I still cant face the truth and it ends up like it did in the forest. My mind just gets blocked. To escape from the truth I started to play games and thats how it is for 7 years already. -but if you can talk about it, you are doing great. -I am not a kid anymore. I wont cry all night in the bed. But normally I dont talk or even think about it much as, you understand why. But I thought that I should at least tell you, you would know it eventually anyway. Also sharing it with you makes me feel better. -I didnt plan to ask it until you decide to tell me. -I know but now I wanted to tell you this. Also you would find out eventually, for example if you came to my house, my dad would tell you about it even if you didnt want to know. Of course if you were to survive first. - . -hehe. -and when will I go to your house? -at least, when you will come to ask for my hand. -yes that. -hehe achu. But we have to meet much sooner. Should it be in my house be prepared for attack from my dad the moment you come. You should bring a sword or two if you have any. - . -so lets return to the topic. I told you it because the faster the better but I also want your help in the matter. -well, I will do anything. -you know, I didnt went to the funeral, right? But not only that, I also never visited my mothers grave. -you didnt visit her? -even though I can talk about it now, I still can break any moment and go blank like that time. I dont really know why, but one times it happen other it dont but whenever I tried to go to the cemetery where my mother is buried it was always like this. - . -I want to visit my mother but I simply cant. That is why I will try to do it again in two months on my mothers dead anniversary and at that time I wanted you to come with me? You will have to, you know, gather all the parts that will scatter after I break and glue them together. I dont know if I manage to do that. -couldnt your father do that? -I already tried many times to go with him but I always failed. -but what difference would that be with me. -with you I can go into deep dark forest and fight against a pack of hungry wolves. With you, I can climb the highest mountain, drown in ice-lake and freeze to death. With you, I can stay in this cave unable to move with high fever yet feel save in all those situations. -you are overestimating me again. -but the most important thing is that you fully understand me. I think that I can say it without worry now. After hearing those words Arata also felt that she will understand him. For the first time in his life he really wanted to share his past with someone. -Kotori, remember that time when I told you that I live alone. The truth is that similar to your mother death, both of my parents died as well. - . -they died when I was 14 and thats also the reason that I disappeared from the game. I wasnt kidnaped by UFO and I didnt go to train in mountains to get ready for VR games. Well I did have some training in mountains but thats another matter. The reason I can understand you is because all I need to do is remember what would I like to hear or what I wanted the people to act around me. It may be some cheating but now that I said that, I also feel that you understand me and I can tell you about everything. -here, I was looking for your support when you alone need it the most. -I already received my support from my grandpa and as you can see I stand hard on my legs. I am not running away anymore. -running away hmm? I think I was doing it for this whole time. -thats not true. You want to try, you want to visit your mother grave, and you could overcome your fear and told me about it. -but there was no fear in telling you. And me wanting to try? Its more like I have to. If I stay like I am now, I dont know what may happen one day. I am not as strong as you. -I also not as strong as you think. I only like that right now because of all the support that I had. From my grandfather and other people. I also wouldnt be able to share it with just anyone but I am happy that I could tell you this. -only ones that share the pain can truly understand each other. You know Arata, I feel like it was destined for us to be together. -even if its wasnt, we will be together no matter what happen and I will not allow it to end. -hehe, your poetic spirit shows once again -you said that being honest is the best. -I did, I really did. They stayed in the cave together for 5 days until Kotori cold was completely gone. The moment she could move again, it was two days after first getting there, she wanted to go right away but Arata didnt let her. There was no arguing about it as they spend those 5 days speaking to each other about their various experiences. Even it was just a normal talk those days were one of best days of their life. They talked about how they lived, how the school was and mostly what games they played and why they liked it. Kotori enjoyed the most stories about Aratas adventures in Light in the Citadel from which she had known him. When there was no trail of cold anymore they log out making it additional two days in game time. After 7 days they once again were ready to continue their adventure. It was finally the time to finish the quest. -okay Kotori its time to finish it! After getting out of the cave and moving through the snow Arata was high spirits. -Arata, the time to finish it long passed. -its not our fault that someone threw us down from the cliff into an ice lake. -if you would be nicer to him, he maybe wouldnt do that. -nicer? I was nice and all but boom and he does something like that. -happens. Players with high level, doesnt care about players low levels. -still one day, I will find that guy and he will pay. -you know, that finding someone without any informations about that person impossible. Give it up. -not happening. Have you already forgotten why we were in the cave in the first place? -first three days because I got sick, the other two because you were overprotective. -as you said five days of illness, -it wasnt that bad, at least we could have long talks. -we can have them anytime and without having you being sick. Anyway its not like I will look for him. As you said we dont have any trace but if I ever find him, there will be justice! The man in the brown cloak with some kind of force push skill, I dont know how much it will help but I will remember this. -Arata, focus on getting through this cliff for now. Dont fall and this time try not to upset anyone. They reached the cliff once more and went through it, this time without any complications. -finally some progress, hey Kotori which way is it now? -still up. -by the way, shouldnt there be some monsters here? -even monsters wouldnt get out during freeze storm. Ah, its cold again. -its just a small breeze, dont you like snow? -I used to like snow but the older you get the more annoying its become. -the quest was telling that there should be monsters and then boss but somehow none of those are here -its not like NPC has to tell us the truth. They probably dont know themselves. Its also a first village. -still there already was a wolf like the white one and some crazy player who throws people into lakes. I wouldnt be surprise if some true monster were to come out now. Like an ice dragon. -the biggest monster here is the cold. Also the rank of quest is only 9 so it shouldnt encounter anything like that. -quests are difficult; trust me. But you are right there shouldnt be any dragons. Anyway something like 100 level boss monster would easily appear in the dungeon. Still we are not in dungeon but only exploring the mountain. -on the fields the number of monsters is rather small compared to dungeon where you can easily find them. -dungeon is after all a lair of monsters. Its more natural to have monsters in dungeons then on the fields. -its natural for fantasy world from book. But not for a game. Normally they put a monster in every corner. -looks like its different here. Anyway still up? -yes, but its not as high as before we should be getting close. -still, something wont go as planned I sure of it. -many things already didnt go as planned so if something else goes wrong it will do little difference. We definitely cant complete the quest in planned time. -we didnt have any planned time to begin with. Although I thought we will be done by now. Still I dont really regret that it is taking so long. -me too. They continued their travel through the snow and soon found the entrance but there was a problem. -Arata. -hmm? -the compass shows that this is the place. Look, it starts to spin around when I move here. -maybe it broke. -but if I move back then it starts to point to that direction again. -if this is the place then where is the entrance? -I think that those two pillars mark the entrance. The stood next to two wooden pillars which were covered half under the snow. The way between them was frozen however so it didnt even look like entrance to anything. Arata poke it few times with sword and said. -solid ice. -we have to break through. -how? -I dont know try hitting it with sword. -I already did that. -try harder. Arata did just that. His sword went through the ice but then it stopped inside. -it doesnt want to come out, now. -try harder. After putting more strength, Arata pulled it out but he landed on the ground in the process. -this wont work. -well I have another idea. We have to melt it. -great, you have your holy fire spell so good luck. -but I can only shot it from the top and as you can see there is no space to fire from the top. We have to find some wood and start a fire. -no, to do that we would have to go all the way down again, we would have to use another day. -have better ideas? -I will melt it. [Sword enchant: flame] [Sword slash] Enchanting his sword with fire and realizing it at the ice wall it quickly melted down. -it was only one meter long so it went fast. -hey Arata why dont you use that skill more often, you didnt even use it at all before. It would be helpful. Or is it another super magic? -no its not and I didnt use it because I dont want to use it, its eat all my mana in one go. Well not like I have any mana spells to begin with, but I keep it as a last resource in case of emergency. -its good to have an AS in the sleeve. Anyway lets get to the boss. -hey, now we should to wait for my mana to come back. -we already wasted too much time. Lets go! -but we are going to fight the boss. Be more serious. Arata still remembered the encounter with the wall during his fight with giant boss from kobolds den. Kotori was too optimistic. -we will manage somehow, oh look he is already here After passing now unblocked tunnel, they entered the huge cave 30 meters in space and 10 meters high in the middle. The whole cave was in white snow, blue ice and gray rocks. At the opposite side of cave a monster was sleeping. -look at those horns. -he is not as big as I thought what about the level? Seeing a three meters in high white-grey monster with horns in comparison to big giant kobold he didnt look that terrifying. -93. -so its lower than a quest givers said. -its still high enough, anyway what is it? -he is big and have white fur and those horns, probably based on yetis that I saw in other game. Anyway as always I go in first and you support from behind. -well that works. The ground is also solid so you cant complain that you wont be able to dodge his attacks anymore. -as long as he is not incredibly fast. -good luck. They started to move towards the beast. When they reached the half of the distance the yeti woke up and started to run towards them. He is not that fast at all. Seeing the yeti running toward their position Arata started to run into him as well. Kotori slowed down to stay at the back. As Arata was about five meters afar, the yeti made a small jump and started to roll in his direction. Wow. Arata jumped right and dodged it but it continued to roll at Kotori who also jumped to the right to avoid it. As yeti passed both of them he stopped and prepared another roll. Once again they moved out of his way after which Yeti changed his action and started to run at Arata. Here it comes. Attacking from the top with his fists, he attacked Arata who was jumping left and right to avoid them. The attacks werent small so he couldnt dodge them in normal way. Aratas dodge style worked well on small enemies for attack on the big ones he needed to make bigger moves, jumps and thing. Still in this case it was just seeing the attack and use fast movements to avoid them, even if his perfect small dodges couldnt be used, Arata was still master of dodging. Also the yetis attacks werent that fast compared to few monsters Arata already fought so he could manage. After every dodge Arata launched attacks at Yetis hands, the damage was about 0,5% but that was rather big considering that all he needed to do is lunch 200 hits. Kotori was firing at the same time so 1% was done by both of them. At 10% yeti moved his head down and breathed a blue breath. Seeing it Arata tried to jump back but he didnt do it in time and soon become an ice sculpture. Yeti was trying to attack with his horn right away but frost effect wore off faster than expected and Arata dodged it, although he didnt have to as yetis hands were stopped by water-electric shield combo. No need to panic. As Arata thought that and was going to attack the yeti once more the yeti once again breathed. Not this time Arata stopped the charge and jumped back but yetis breath this time was long range AOE attack which was a strong ice wind that pushed Arata back two meters and to the ground, Kotori also was pushed down. But yetis attack werent doing much damage as both Arata and Kotori had 80% frost resist. Also with Kotori on his back, to Arata, his HP was always full as anytime he looked at it, it really was. After knocking back with breath Yeti started to roll again. Time to use skills Instead of dodging Arata just went through yeti one and second time with black dash. He had to use some stamina anyway and as long as he had enough to spare it was a good moment to do that. The fight continued and as Yeti reached 80% of his HP, he used his froze breath combo once again. Same as before, Arata got frozen and unfrozen quickly enough to dodge it. Same at 70% and 60%. Now they were soon reaching 50%. Okay this time I will dodge it! So far Arata got frozen every time by the breath. And even if this skill didnt do much to him, he wanted to avoid it at least once. But when yeti reached 50% instead of doing the usual thing he ran to the middle of the cave and started to jump around. As he was doing it, the ice pillars from the ceiling of the cave started to fall on the ground. -Kotori watch out! -dont worry about me. As Arata was trying to dodge everything Kotori was just standing there with her magic shield over the head. Seeing this Arata started to slash down incoming pillars. Soon they ended but. -hey Arata where is the yeti? -shouldnt it be in the middle. Oh He is not there anymore. -over there, Arata watch out. A really fast pillar was coming his way from strange direction. It was not falling with gravity. When Arata spotted it he didnt have enough time to dodge, Still Kotori helped him and attack it was blocked by her golden shield. -thanks, anyway this one was faster than before. -look over there. Kotori was pointing up to the ceiling where Yeti was right now. He was holding one pillar so he didnt fall down while ripping another one from the ceiling. He was ready to thrown it. -hey! -looks like a second phase to me Kotori answered seeing yeti movements. It was common in games to have change of boss patterns at some point. -Arata another one is coming! Arata sliced the incoming pillar in half as it came near them. This time it was pointed at Kotori, Arata run up to her and defended her. -you dont have to do that I have my shields. Anyway what are we going to do? -he is 6 meters away from us all we can do is attack with range abilities. -Arata, do you have range abilities? -only one that eats all my mana. Unfortunately I dont have any mana right now because someone didnt want to wait for me to regain it. So good luck. -I have to fight alone? -do you see another way? -no but it will take forever you know. I am the healer. -its still better than never. Anyway the boss doesnt have that much health and resistance. I will block the pillars so just focus on attacking. -there should be some mechanic that will make him come down. -while you attack him I will try to come up with one. Although, I dont have any idea so far. Still, I dont think you will have to finish all of his HP on your own, he should come down at some point. -ah . Kotori started to fire up with her holy bolt. Still It was going bad the bolts often missed the target. -hey Kotori you are okay on mana? -holy bolts dont take too much. My regeneration is now higher than the usage of them. But its hard to aim at him as he is moving as well. Also long range is rather hard to cast so it take more time. -if its going like that, he might have run out of pillars first. -hehe. The yeti didnt run out of pillars but after an hour he went down by 40%, at that moment he went back. -took you long enough. -I am a healer remember! It looked like Kotori build up the frustration while trying to get the Yeti to come down. -anyway he is back so its time to speed up a little. Arata rushed at yeti which once again started to roll around. Having waited for one hour Arata stamina was full so he used black dash every time to attack while defending at the same time. After 5 series of rolls Yeti was back to hand combat. At 30% he once again used his frost breath combo about which Arata already forgotten about as its been an hour since he saw it last time so he once again got cough. Then the time has come for 20%. Not this time. [Lighting speed activated] Making a fast move around the beast, he got at his back. Arata once tried the black dash through that breath but he was still frozen regardless so he now knew that he needed to avoid it completely. [Stream of night.] Using his skill for a first time Arata made 12 fast strikes that normally he wouldnt be able to make so fast. With that Yetis HP went down fast and with another minute he was at 10%. At this moment he once again ran to the middle. -Arata is he going to do that again? -one additional hour, no way! Arata ran after him and as Yeti was jumping to bring down the pillars Arata timed it correctly and jumped at him. [Leap] Slashing him in midair Yeti landed on the ground and didnt move for some time. While he was lying Arata and Kotori made as much damage as possible and after 8 seconds Yeti had 4%. As Yeti stood up it started to run up to the ceiling. Arata black dashed him one more and his hp went down to 3% but he once again was in the top. -Arata I have to do it again? -its only 3% now but I can help this time. After waiting for an hour his mana regenerated as well. [Sword enchant: wind] [Sword slash] Arata lunched an arc of wind at yeti who was couldnt dodge it as it was invisible. As attack reached him, the yetis hp went down to 0 and ended up being sliced up in two. Both pieces fall to the ground right after. [You have leveled up by 250%] [You have gained a level current level 53] -no items!? What boss is it? Kotori did you get anything? -only that quest item. Its only says that its pretty gold crafting material. -ah yes, I have to mine ore myself. Arata moved to the place where Yeti was once sleeping. He already knew where to look for the ore as he had an hour to look around. [Black ore gathered.] While he was at it he gathered some other ore as well to pay of the greedy blacksmith. Even though it was a quest, Rodrigez still followed his shop rules and wouldnt make that weapon for free. -ah finally with this the quest is over. Arata commented. -but the boss was rather disappointing. Well there were few interesting mechanics but I expected more. In comparison, the white wolf was much harder. -was this yeti even a boss? It didnt drop anything. Giant Kobold was also much harder. -looks like quests monsters work different way than the ones in a dungeon. -maybe he was sleeping for too long and didnt have enough exercise. Arata joked around. -he was trapped inside here after all. But even so, maybe he really was too lazy. -you know this is a strange game after all and we dont know how it works. Also its not like anyone could do that quest so it deserved its rank. -the hardest part would be surviving in the cold. -that as well, but Yeti wasnt as easy as I dont know, wolfs, or bears. And without our rings after he freeze me, he would crush me in one hit. -no he wouldnt, I would block it before it hit you. -I see you were prepared as always. Anyway its time to go back to Loris. -ah, our little adventure is finally coming to an end. Its sad as we wont be together alone anymore but at the same time its good that we finally managed to finish it. -dont worry we will have another one soon enough. -we also cant just go playing around like that all the time. We have a guild after all. -I wonder how scouting went. -they had a lot of time so maybe they found someone. Kotori was optimistic. -Gerald said that he is looking for 4 more. -somehow I am sure that he didnt found them all. -you know that I think the same. -for now lets just go back but this time we dont have to run. With the end of their quest Arata and Kotori walked back down the mountain and then all the way to Loris to receive their rewards. It was time to meet up with their guild and see what happened with it during their absence. http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3177 Chapter 14 “Refrain” _14.1 Chapter 14 Refrain Loris is the first village for a human race in this vast world and each day thousands of adventurers pass through it. This is the starting point but after that, nothing is certain. What awaits you farther depends only on you and your fate. You are finally given a freedom of choice. You can go anyway you want but should you choose the wrong way, you will die and come back this village, once again. After the fight with the yeti in the eastern mountains, it took 3 days for Arata and Kotori to come back to Loris. Upon their arrival, they decided that it will be faster to complete their quest separately as they needed to go to separated places. Kotori went to fortune telling tent to return her quest and Arata is now entering the blacksmith workshop to return his. -here is the shield that you ordered, customer. -ah, its a great piece indeed. -master Rodrigez was very happy that you decided to leave it in his hands. He doesnt usually have much chance to use good materials in his work as of late as we are always low on good materials. -looking at the wares on the display, it must be true. -ah, sir Mage. Dont say it out loudly. -sure, sure. Anyway I wanted to ask, why do you hide all good stuff and have those things in open? -master Rodrigez doesnt want to sell good things to people who cant see the difference between garbage and art. After entering the forge-shop, Arata saw how shopkeeper Marty was dealing with two customers. One of them bought a large round metal shield and just changed it with his previous wooden one. He was a large muscular dark-skinned man. Adding to that, he was bald. He wore a heavy armor which also was probably bought in this place as well. The second customer was a man in brown-red robe, height similar to Arata, dark brown hair and slightly mean look. -its your choice I guess. Anyway, do you have any items for a mage class? We still have some gold left. -but we dont. -shh! It looked like the bigger guy wanted to say something but he was interrupted by his mage companion. -of course master Rodrigez is a true master of craft, he can make everything out of nothing. -well, I need something that is at least as good as this shield, so its better be made not from nothing. -the material that you have brought for the shield was of high quality and unfortunately master doesnt make items like that every day but dont worry, currently we have something of this quality on stock right now. -great! Show it to me. -of course, I will just get it oya? You will have to wait a minute! Arata? Please come in. Marty spotted that Arata was waiting for him near the entrance and decided to call to him. -hey Marty, I see that business is good as always. -those are great crafts of master Rodrigez we are selling after all but Arata, did you perhaps brought the material? -I did, so when you finish with them, call Rodrigez for me. -ah yes I will finish, right away Marty then looked at his two customers. -customers it was nice doing business with you, please come again, sometime. And he decided to finish it, really quickly. -hey, you were going to show me the items! The mage bursted out as Marty decided to tell them of. Normally shopkeepers shouldnt send away the customers but it looked like Marty was instructed by Rodrigez to make Aratas case the priority when he comes back and Marty always followed his instruction. -the shop is closed for today, please come back tomorrow. He once again kindly informed them. Although, it is rather quite hard to be kind, while throwing someone out of the shop. -its 10 am! Who normally closes their shop at this hour? Naturally the mage customer was not happy. -you are probably right but the situation is not normal so I ask you to leave. Master Rodrigez has an important business with the man over there and he said that the moment he comes back, the shop is closing. Come back some other time, preferably in two days. -but I dont even speak with the blacksmith so it doesnt matter if he has business or not. I am speaking with you. -he said that he has to focus on his work so pesky customers in the shop must not be present. -fine! Odin we are going! I always hated this shop anyway! Mage said to his friend. -Zen, relax it happens, we can come back later. -no, I dont care anymore. We are leaving this place soon. I can new buy things in the next city. What shop is it anyway? They are closing because someone entered the shop. Hey you, its your fault isnt it? Dont disturb other people game! The mage looked at Arata and decided that it was his fault. Then he shouted at him. Well, in a way it was Arata doing that the shop was going to be closed but Arata never was the one to listen so he right away spoke back. -but you dont want to buy thing here anymore, so where is your problem? -even if I dont, you have angered the wrong guy in this town. And here I thought that I will have a quiet morning, -yes, yes, whatever, so can you leave already. -no, I think that you are the one that will go! Even though he was looked like a mage, the man drove a sword and charged at Arata in melee. Is this someone with melee class that had a mage item drop and decided to wear it? Arata drew one of his swords as well and he parried the first attack. The mage on the other hand using in his free hand summoned a small fireball and throw it quickly at Arata from close range while shouting. -take that! [Lighting speed activated.] Having no normal means to avoid it, Arata used a skill and dodged it last second by moving a little to the right. Mages arm was now out in the open and Arata slashed it with sword. Mage however managed to pull it back right away and Aratas first attack missed. Still with other sword Arata pierced right into the mage. His attack was parry out by opponent sword but without second of delay Arata made another strike. After that, the mage disappeared in blue-purple flash before Aratas sword hit him. He used teleport ability and was now on other side of room from where he first charged. There he spoke to his friend. -hey Odin did you see that. He dodged my surprise fireball. Hahaha! I have been waiting for this. Someone who can put up a fight. Still, I will be done just in a second, no worry. Time to bring out the big guns. He is sure of himself. Just wait till I beat you up. Arata was preparing to rush in mage direction when mage was seemed like he was going to prepare as he was now holding his sword up to the celling but then. -auuua His bigger friend chopped the Mages head with his hand. -hey! What are you doing? You want to get beaten too! -Zen, I dont care if you want to fight with him but dont ruin the shop. The warrior pointed at the shelf that was burning from mages previous attack. Marty was now putting it out with a blanked. Mage was undisturbed by the situation though. -oh, well it happens from time to time. But sure, we can move out. Hey, you! Lets go outside! I will show you something good before you die! The mage once again shouted to Arata but once again. He got hit by his friend once again and then he got lectured. -first, help with the fire, you are the one that caused it. Then tell sorry to the shopkeeper and we are going. -but what about my fight!! Although his look would suggest otherwise. The two meters in height dark-skinned and bald warrior was calm and collected. Especially, when he was going next to his friend who would start a fight with anyone without good reason. The warrior turned to Arata and said. -I sorry for his actions, he is always like that. -hey Odin! What do you mean by always like that? Dont you know that you need to beat one or two players once in a while for a sport? Otherwise you will lose your touch in PVP! -ye, ye. For now just put the fire down and we are going. We made enough trouble already. -why you can never stop nagging, but fine I get it The mage summoned a small cloud over the shelf. The water poured down and it stopped the fire. -we wasted enough time here anyway, lets go! The two of them finally left the shop. Arata sheathed his swords back and walked up to Marty who was standing next to half-burned shelf. -sorry, that it turned out like that. Arata said to the shopkeeper. -dont worry, it does happens from time to time. Also I see that nothing was destroyed. Marty commented. -no, no, those items cant be sold now. Arata did not believe him fully though. Especially when some of those items shouldnt be sold in the first place. -no, I rather think that they will now sell even more. All I need to do is tell customers that its an armor that survived dragons breath This shop really has no mercy on their customers. One could be sure of one thing. Marty was really talented shopkeeper. -anyway I should call master Rodrigez now. I will return in just a minute. Marty went up the stairs that were on the right side of the wall that was on opposite side of the entrance. It seemed like Rodrigez was not in his usual forge because Marty did not go to the left opening in the wall. After about ten minutes he and Rodrigez were coming down. -hey. If it isnt our twilight swordsman. I see that you are well. Rodrigez welcomed him with this. -so this is where you were. It was strange that you didnt come faster. -I have been working on the shield for whole night and was taking a break till now. Ah, but it was a good night. To work on a piece like that. But I see that the main dish has finally arrived. Looking at black ore that Arata brought Rodrigez smiled. -it took a while but here it is. So how long will it take to make this sword? -one, two days maybe, it may be even three days, I will work my hardest on this one, but before that, what preference do you have? -preference? -you know what type of sword. The strong type or the fast one. Something in between? I can make anything. Hmm a type of sword? I dont really know what would be best, maybe I should just leave it to him. Yea, thats probably the best. -I think it will be better if you decide. You are the master blacksmith here right. -haha, great. With this, I can make the greatest piece of art. And I hate to work under anybody instructions. Ah, one more thing, did you bring the extra ore that I asked you for or do we talk about the prices? Rodrigez was not forgetting his shops number one rule. -I did, I did. -good, leave it with Marty then. As for the sword, I will start with it right away and it should be completed soon, look forward to it. Taking all black ores from Aratas hand Rodrigez went to his workplace. [Quest: Black Sword (Completed) After gathering the material you have brought it skilled blacksmith. Come back to him soon to get your reward.] [You have leveled up by 100%] [You have gained a level, Current level 54] The remaining ore that Arata got at the same time as the black ore was given to Marty as instructed. Strangely enough that ore was also labeled as quest items so even if Arata wanted to keep it he would probably not be able to use it. -hey Marty, do you have anything that for level 50 in this shop? Arata decided to ask as he had some gold left. -sorry Arata, the shop is closed, come back another time. Eh? I cant buy anything too? Well, I dont think that there would be anything too high level in this city anyway. Marty was really following Rodrigez instructions to the last bits. -okay, until next time. Arata left the place as there was nothing for him to do there. Okay, what should I do now? Kotori have to probably wait in the line as her quest giver is much more popular than this shop. She told me to come to her when I finish but I will pass on waiting in the line. We are going to that hill when we both finish so for now I will just go shopping. Arata decided to restock his supplies and sell things that he looted during his quest but as he was doing the shopping he was found by familiar person. -wa! Arata, you are back. It was a figure in a blue cloak with light blue ponytail. -hey Anari, how its going? -better than I thought it will. Anyway Arata how was the quest? What level do you have now? Right now I have 47 as for five day I was leveling up. But you must have like 80 level right now, right? -well its not that easy to level up you know, anyway werent you learning how to play when I was leaving? -ah yes now I know much more than previously. Leader decided that I should go to level up as well. Practice is more important than theory he said that rather than learning anything new I should now focus on the fundamentals I already learned to later on build on them. Anyway, we went to that great leveling place and there I got all those levels. -you went with Gerald to hunt for monsters? -no, leader is busy still with the search, I went with two new members who joined. -oh, so he managed to find someone after all For some time Arata thought that this search might have turned out to be fruitless but somehow it was not the case. -apart from those two, did he found anyone else? Although Arata was sure that it was not the case he asked. -no, it wasnt him. Loki found them, and those two are all that were found, despite having 5 series of tests while you were gone. Five series, five people each, means 25 people. Well I think that 8% passing rate is still incredibly good. -well its good that they found someone at least. So, if they found two that means they are half way done, right? After all, the plan was four. -well, that was a plan but Loki convinced leader that eight or nine will also be enough for now. It looked like they already were at their limits in this search. -but from what I counted, we do have eight already. Why do they still looking? Previously there were 6 members but now with two more there are 8. -leader still had faith that he will find someone. On the other hand Loki said that he will continue until you and Kotori are back. Then Kelly said that someone needs to keep the base so she is staying on the hill and no longer takes new groups. Right now its two groups going at the same time rather than three. But thanks to that each group is stronger. I am not so sure of this theory. Either you find someone good or not. -so the hill became our base? Arata commented although while returning with Kotori they also considered it their meeting place. -well one way or another, we should get there as well. Ah yes, so what is your level now? -didnt you learn that its not polite to ask questions like that. -I am curious so what is it? -its 54. Arata finally told her. -Arata what were you doing out there? Knowing you, and your slave running methods I thought that you will be 80 at least. Arata didnt have to use any slave run methods this time as rather it was Kotori that was pulling Arata everywhere without stops. Even if Arata would get hit on purpose and use that as argument to make the stop, with her around that was not a valid option. Still, they had a lot of breaks so they didnt level much despite the time. Although one may argue if the levels they got were not many or not as normally it would take full week of non-stop normal monsters slaying. -well, we had some long log out breaks. Also some stuff happened on the way. Also its not healthy to fight the monsters for all day long, right? Arata answered to Anari question. -but during our guild trial we were doing it like crazy and mostly because of you. -lets not talk about that. Anyway the quest is complete but I still need to wait for a reward. -and how long will it take? I heard that we were going to leave the city when you return. Anari informed him. -leave, like where? -somewhere. A new city or something. Sorry I wasnt listening. I guess this village can serve as a base only this far. When I first came here I also thought that I will leave it right away after seeing all those boar hunters. Never thought that I will still be here on 54th level. For a note the boar hunters were still hunting non-stop. If you come out from the Loris village by the south gate, you will see the endless number of them. -it will take me around two days That was the information that Arata got from Rodrigez. -so Anari, Gerald is in the town right now? -no he is not, but he should be soon if this test will be like the last time. Nevertheless we still should go to the hill. -sure but I still have to get Kotori. -ah yes, where is she now? -she should be in the center. -okay, I will get her. You can continue shopping and meet us at the entrance. -sure, but she may still wait in line. -what line? -never mind just go. Anari went to the center of the village and Arata continued his shopping. He didnt found anything really useful or new here. He already bought anything he thought he could use in future. Mostly cooking ingredients but also things he could use while cooking like pot or pan. First day he came to Loris the first thing he bought was a long rope. He still didnt use it but he felt that it might come in handy at some point. After successful shopping which was mostly restocking his stock of food he went to the gate. Kotori and Anari were already waiting there. -what happened? Everyone found out that the whole fortune telling is a lie? Surprised that they were there before him, Arata commented. Kotori answered right away. -I didnt feel like waiting in the line so I entered without waiting. When I did that the person who was inside was thrown out of the tent and I could give the woman my material. After that I went outside and waited for you. Anari picked me up there and here we are. In short, she pushed herself in the line without waiting and because she had the quest the NPCs did not stop her. -I did a good job finding her. Well she is easy to spot in the crowd. But we should go to the hill already. You should meet other members. After that they all went to the hill. On the hill there was a conversation going one. Kelly and two other players were there. The two were speaking to each other. -I tell you, he must have a quest here. -quest here? But there are no quests here. We also looked for one, remember. -we did, but you said that there are no quests here so we didnt try hard enough, anyway we should ask. Hey, is there any quest here? The man in brown-red robe asked. -I didnt level up here so I dont know, but remember what I told you. Two people from our guild went on quest that they found here. So it means that there are some. Kelly replied to the question. -see Odin. There are quests! -I dont want to ruin your hopes but quests in this game are not for everyone. They are hard to find because they cant be done all time. One person complete one quest and this quest may even disappear forever. Although one of two was excited about the quest Kelly put cold water on him. -well, didnt know about that. -some quests disappear some are reset. At low level they are usually reseted but it takes some time. On the other hand most of high level quests are usually onetime thing. Even if quest is failed. But that always depends on the quest. Kelly continued with explanation. -why is that? -take for example quests which unlocks race. They were few of those, even two were completed. But if those quests were complete, the race is already unlocked, so what is the purpose for that quest later on? -ah, thats good explanation. As expected of our high level player. -I am not that high level. Anyway just give up on the quest. Knowing that its there doesnt help at all. -so what should we do now? -hmm, do what you want, but dont go anywhere far and wait until Gerald and Loki are back. -but I dont think that they will bring new people. -somehow, we managed to find 5 people already so the chances are not zero. -aaaa! I am bored. Man in brown-red cloak yawned and stood up. -Zen, just sit on the grass and relax. His friend told him. -no, no, no, I have a better idea. Lets find that guy who kicked us out from the forge and make a revenge on him. -who do you want to make revenge on! Arata and girls reached the hill and heard what Zen, Odin and Kelly were talking about. -oh Arata, Kotori welcome back. Kelly seeing welcomed them. -hey, there. -hi, Kelly. Arata and Kotori said hello back to her. Second later a yellow magical shield appeared in front of Arata. Arata looked as magic bolt bounced out of it. -hey Zen! What are you doing again? I think they are other members. The black-skinned man said. -we dont know that yet. They can be assassins who came to kill us. Rather than asking we should fight back. -why would some assassins come to kill us? Well, some people might want to kill you but look, Anari is with them. Odin pointed at Anari who was standing behind Arata and Kotori. At that moment, while they were busy with conversation, Zen got hit from above by pillar of flames. -aaaaa! He started to roll around to put of the flames. Arata spoke. -arent you a mage? Use some water to help yourself. -hey Arata, he is our new member so take it easy. Kelly told him to not do too much damage to them. -I didnt do anything, at least yet. Hey Kotori, why are you attacking him like that? -its normal he attacks us and we attack him. Isnt it strange to attack us on first sight? We just arrived here and didnt do anything. -well thats true, but he didnt attack you so you shouldnt attack him. -Arata, if he attacks you its the same as if he attacked me. No even worse. Anyway, he is the enemy! Arata didnt care much about this attack but looks like Kotori wanted to execute justice and kill the man right away. -I told you he is new guild member. Get along! Kelly stopped them from continuing. Still Zen didnt give up. -hey you! Does your girlfriend need to defend you because you cant fight? Arata didnt get provoked but replied. -says the person who ran away after his surprise attack didnt work last time. -oh, you are asking for a fight? -sure come and get me! Arata wasnt provoked but he wouldnt mind doing some fighting either especially when someone was just asking for it. They soon rushed at each other. Still before they got in each other range they a white wall appeared between them. Anari shouted. -hey dont fight! We are guild mates arent we. -ah good job Anari. Hey you two if you dont stop I will get up and you dont want me to get up! Kelly shouted. -its this guy who started it. Arata calmly responded although he also felt like doing some PVP. Despite the fact that fighting against players and monsters worked the same way, fighting against players was always different. -me? On, now you are dead! Anari get this wall out of here! I will soon, aaaaa! Zens legs were grabbed by a tree that started to grow underneath him. The roots started to hold him and he couldnt move anymore as he was surrounded by creeps. -aaaa, what is it? -I told you, you dont want me to get up. Kelly was now holding her green bow and pointing at Zen trapped in the tree. -hey, Odin! Help me! -no can do. Other of the two Odin wasnt even thinking of joining in and was calmly looking at the situation. It seemed like he was really used to it. -no matter, I will just teleport out of it. Aaaaa what is it. Before even trying to teleport away Zens head was soon surrounded by three arrows. Kelly started. -you shouldnt think that mages are all that powerful. They usually die young, you know? now then, Arata do you want to try how you will do against it too? -nah I will pass. Kelly put her bow back waved a hand and tree disappeared, so did the white wall. -Anari, I will leave it to you. And so Kelly went to her previous lying on the ground position. Anari started the introduction. -so Arata, Kotori, those are our new members. The big guy on the left is Odin. Even though he looks little scary he is a good guy so dont get deceived by his look like me. Anari pointed at Odin big black bald guy with an axe and metal round shield. -nice to meet you, my name is Odin. Once again I apologize for my friend Zen. He was not only good guy but also well mannered. -I am Arata, I also sorry that the shop closed because of me. -nah dont worry. We didnt have money to buy anything to begin with. -so why did he attacked me? Arata pointed at Zen who also started to come. Odin answered. -emm well its happens from time to time. -hey Odin! What you are telling them about me. -I somehow try to save your image. Anyway apologize as well, or are you a kid that cant do that? -who are you calling a kid, never mind. My name is Zen. Your name is Arata right? -yes. -so Arata I am sorry about sudden attack in the shop and here as well. To you and your girlfriend. See Odin! I can do it from time to time. Those were not really honest apologies but it was more than one could ask for from this man. Then Anari interrupted. -oh, no Arata and Kotori are not that, they just went on the same mission. -I thought that they are going out for sure Impression of Zen turned out to be true. Second later Kotori introduced herself. -Hi, my name is Kotori, I am healer in this guild. I am also Aratas girlfriend Ah its feels good to say that. -wa . Anari stopped. Then Zen started proud of himself. -see, I have a nose for this things. -no, you dont and you never did. Odin interrupted him. -you cant say that anymore Odin. I just proved it wrong. -no, it was simply obvious this time. And if you want the proof then, do you still remember Enias and Margaret? After Odin said that, Zen somehow become quiet. - okay, okay I understand, please dont bring that up ever again. The two of them went into their own world. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. In the meantime, Anari started asking Kotori questions. -what magic did you use? How did that happened? Kotori just answered. -normally I guess, boy and girl go somewhere together and fall in love with each other on their journey. Although Arata fall in love the moment he saw me and I liked him since I was ten so its not exactly that story. Kotori said it like nothing skipping all important parts, but it wasnt probably something that one tell others. -waaaa its such romantic story, I dont think that I will ever go out with someone Anari wasnt really that surprised by the fact that Arata and Kotori were going out. Anari already heard Aratas thoughts about Kotori, so she did somewhat understand it and she was happy for her friend happiness. It also gave her some courage to once again get along with her lost friend. Well he was not lost anymore as she finally after all those years meet him. Still, Anari knew that her friend doesnt have any inch of feelings for her as otherwise he would not forget her. Still, because she wanted to change it so she asked Arata for advice. -hey Arata what do I lack? You didnt even for a second like me. Even though we knew each other since some time? -why should I like you? Its not like two people meet and they fall in love with each other just because they meet. -so how does it work? -dont ask me that. -I can answer to that Zen joined their conversation. -what there is needed for love is destiny between two people. -but Zen. Enias and Margaret, remember? Zen was immediately shooted down with his talk by Odin though. -fine, fine. I will just shut up. -exactly lets give up on private matters and talk about something else. -what do you want to talk about? Arata answered to Odin who somehow got more eager. He came up with good idea. -we have this huge group of people here. What is a better way to get to know each other than go for some dungeon? With group like this where all passed that crazy test, we have the ultimate party so we can even do some raid or at least some high class difficulty dungeon. -thats Odin for you. I also had an idea but yours is better. Zen encouraged the plan but. -HEY! Dont think of skipping from here, we are waiting for the rest! Kelly stopped their idea of going for the dungeon though. -ah I forgotten about that. -in this case, we have to go with my idea. Although it wont give us items it will still be exciting. Lets do a tournament. We will fight each other in duels and see, who is the best? Or, we can also do free for all, in battle royal style. It will definitely be awesome! Zen was already excited about his idea. Arata also though that it would be a good way to find out what other two can do. At the same time, he also wouldnt say no to a good fight. But then a new voice echoed on the hill. -here you are on it again. So about this tournament, you wont mind having to fight me in the first round, right? -haha, no I will pass. A new person came to the hill. With elegant black leather clothes which looked like a suit and yellow hair. Kelly soon greeted him. -ah Loki, how did it go? -ah, you could say it was a record. They all died in 6 seconds after the first fight started. 6 seconds you get it? -hahaha. -its not really something to be laugh about. -seem like the business is like an usual. Arata made a notice. -ah Arata, Kotori you are back. Well this time I just had to take someone as the day was getting to an end. But really, despite the fact that they were all excited and they werent even scared as all of them rushed forward with a battle shout, they all died in the 6 seconds Well if they simply charged forward without fear they were simply idiots. -anyway now that you two are here we have all our members gathered and we can finally leave this place. -so, where will we go? -Gerald didnt tell you? Ah he is not here yet. Figures. After all, I just walked there and back again. But his team shouldnt be much tougher so he should be here soon. But I am going to sleep right now so we will talk later. Loki landed on the grass and instantly fell sleep few moments later. He had a tough day I guess. -okay so now that he is sleeping, we can start the tournament. Now that obstacle disappeared Zen once again suggested idea. -I am still here. -em did I said the tournament, no, no, you must misheard me. -dont do any fighting! What if you end up killing each other? If you want to know who is the better just ask Gerald. -but only a true battle can determinate it. -I see in this case I will tell it clearly so you all understand Kelly turned towards them smiled a little and then. -dont cause any ruckus here! Shouted at them like this. It seemed like the idea was not going to play out. -for now I think that we can just talk a little and get used to each other. Arata proposed instead. -I agree on that, Aratas idea was quickly agreed upon by Odin. Zen on the other hand. -hey, why do you think that you are a leader here? Well, we are all new players so we should have one person to take a lead, but why you? I call on voting. Who do you want to take lead, first me I think that I will be best for the job. You will agree wont you Odin? -Zen you are the last person for that job, anyway if you want voting, I call for Arata. -and you Brutus against me! -you surely are not up for it. I dont want to do it and Arata looks like a good guy so why not. But lets go back one step, in the first place we dont need a leader? -oh, I am not done yet! One vote for me, one for Arata, next, Anari you will vote for a fellow mage, wont you? -hmm you definitely are no good, but I also think that Arata is not good either. We also dont need something like leader for low level players. We are only having a friend talk, isnt it? -fine. -you just gave up because you already lost right. Odin didnt let it go thought. -no! Just Anari is right we dont need a leader! -I said the same thing a second ago. So, why now you agree? -you two stop it. Its not important After Anari said that somehow they stopped it. Then one way or another it was she who took the lead. -okay so we should get to know each other. Lets see why dont we talk about our impressions of each other? -impressions? Who would normally do that? Anari, do you really know what a guild is? Kotori asked. -of course I do Somehow, I doubt it. That thought appeared on everyones face. -its a group of comrades in arms who works together. Her answer was surprisingly good though. -and where did you read that? Gerald told you? Arata had to ask. -haha, I know it from secret source. -still we dont need some strange talks. Arata once again interrupted. -if we want to work together we need to know each other right? I dont think we need to know each other in this way. Previous ideas that involved fighting were much better. What we want to know is their fighting style and abilities, no what their favorite color is. -so what was this impression thing you talked about? Still Arata ended up asking as it seemed that Anari wanted to do that. -hmm for example. What do you think about Zen for example? You just meet him. It would be first impression. Arata didnt think much about this one. -ah its simple question. It would be Crazy kid with ADHD. -who do you call . -stop! Stop! Stop! But thats really my first impression. -but he called me! Zen didnt want to let it go and but Anari continued. -thats why, I wanted to do this talk. First impressions are mostly wrong. Let me tell you my opinion. Zen is a mage who is way better than me. Also he got an interesting personality. -a kind way to put that. Odin was the one to add that and he probably knew much better. -still that is what I think. That would be all. -dont say only good things. Its impossible for him to not have bad qualities. Kotori added to the end. -well its better to not say bad things about the others. -but then there is no meaning in this whole thing. -anyway as I said first immersion is mostly wrong She is not doing a good job. It seemed that Anari was not suited to the role she took. -so next is Odin. Even though he looked scary at first he is a very good person, he stays on front line and take hits for team sake. -its a tank job after all. -its not something that everyone could do. I definitely couldnt Hmm, now that I think about it being a tank in this game is really painful. You really take that damage on yourself. Tanks job is taking hits for a team after all and in EOA you did feel those hits and even though the pain was reduced it still hurt. Anari continued. -he is a nice person, although he should relax a bit more and be less serious about everything Being too serious may not be the best but it still way better than being lax about everything. Anari continued. -now next would be Arata. I was with him for some time now so I know him quite good. I already see it. Arata is strange person who something of that kind. -well, Arata is good, strange hero who helps other in needs and even defends them against monsters when they cry in park unable to move Oh, its been a while since I hear that. -even though he doesnt look like that he has a poetic soul within him. Then he is a sadist and masochist at the same time Hey, does she understand the meaning of those words? -he also likes to force girls into strange places, and ask them to do this and that. -hey, what is this about!! Arata couldnt hold it. -I wont reveal it here. Anari ended up making it even worse. -hey! It sounds even worse now. Didnt you just say that you wont reveal bad stuff? -were they bad stuff? -no, but you make it sound strange. A..- Wait I feel killing intent. -hey Arata. Kotori while smiling called to Arata and even though her smile was beautiful as ever there was something different at it. -em, Kotori, dont worry about that. -about what? She asked still smiling. -Anari could you say more about it? Like more details. She then asked. STOP! -em sure. So he is a good because he is in overall good. Strange is from his hair and general behavior. Two kids that I meet called him hero so its from there. When we were on quest and I didnt know what was happening, he defended me against wolf and died after that, like sacrificial heroes in the movies. You already know why he is poetic as you were there as well. It was about you anyway but I cant say those embarrass things so you guys wont understand Kotori stopped emanating her fake killing intend and started to listen carefully quite interested in what Anari was telling her. It seemed like her earlier behavior was just an act and she simply wanted to find out about Arata as much as possible. I dont feel good if someone talk about me in front of me. -sadist and masochist are from when we were on the guild trial together. We cleaned the whole dungeon with small breaks in one day and even though me and our other three members kept asking for break he continued to say that the rest is for the weak. -hahaha, so like him. And the last part about that forcing? -well he forced me to go to a place I didnt want to go so thats from there. It was some strange inn. Well the food was good and bed was comfortable. -Arata? Killing, intend come back somehow. -Anari you really have no common sense do you? -did I leave something out? -Arata. -Kotori just ignore her, also I already told you how my first month went, didnt I. -still, what she said. -what she said was that she didnt want to go to one restaurant for whatever reason but after I convinced her she enjoyed the food there. Right Anari? -did I say it in a different way? It looked like Anari did not know what her words could be interpreted as. -so Kotori is there anything else? -hahaha, Arata, I just wanted to play an angry girlfriend. You thought I would be jealous? I already know that you wouldnt touch a girl even if she begged you to do so. -and why do you know that? -I am your girlfriend after all and I know you the best. Anyway Anari continue with the impression thing. Do you have anything else? You said something about him being strange. Are there some other embarrassing stuff? Arata really didnt have it easy. -well there was this time when we first meet. His quest item stopped to working so he tried to repair it but . -Stop that! Arata remembered what it was about and immediately stopped her. After all, at that time he was even trying to execute kamehameha. -Anari, its already enough about me. Switch to this one. Arata pointed at Kotori. Still Anari wanted to continue. -but it was really funny. -switch! -fine, fine you dont need to shout. -now I really want to know. You will have to tell me about it some other time Kotori seemed even more interested and it seemed like Arata wont be able to escape it. -okay but now my last impression is about you Kotori. Although I didnt talk with you too much I have a strong impression of you. Anari continued. -really? What could that be? Kotori forgotten about what they just talked about and listened carefully. Truth was that apart from Arata she didnt know others in guild that well so far. She probably didnt except what came from Anari. -to be honest, I am jealous of you. -once again? -yes, I am jealous. You are pretty, have a better figure even though you are younger than me. You can talk with everyone when I just get scared of them. And without doing much you can get person like Arata to love you. -dont think so high of me. Also you are not that bad as well. -you only say that. -I dont. -that its even worse, you are also nice person whom one cant even hate. Anyway it was my idea with those impressions so I will continue. You are open to people when I am mostly afraid of them. You were also skillful enough to pass the guild test alone at that. I saw what Arata was doing during our test so you must be simply incredible. It was true that out from all people here, Kotori was the only one that passed her test alone. -haha, you cant compare me to him, and wasnt you in the same group as him so you also did good. -well I was, although I was just doing what he told me to. I just followed. Do this, do that. I never even get in range of any monsters. There was that one time when giant kobold was chasing her but apart from that Arata was tanking everything in large distance away from her. -hey you heard this Odin, she passed the test alone? Zen got interested in this talk. He also knew how hard it is to beat the guilds test. Odin was the same. -unbelievable I am sure I wouldnt have a chance alone. -me too. Every fight was like, one wrong move and you are dead Then Zen asked Kotori. -but why did you fight alone? Odin and I also fought mostly on our own but the other guys were still useful. Yet you passed test alone. You also said that you are a healer so it even more incredible. Although isnt it healers job to keep their party alive? Kotori give fast explanation. -two run away because they couldnt stand endless pain of endless damage. I let others two die because I thought that it will be faster on my own. I also got more experience that way. Although I couldnt defeat the boss. -I see, well newbies running around are useless after all, and the boss was really hard. Still we somehow managed to defeat him. -Zen dont lie, we were annihilated. Other three died after two minutes. And we were running in circle for half an hour trying to think of something but nothing worked. If Loki didnt saved us, then we wouldnt have been here. Odin revealed the truth. -jess Odin, I wanted to look good here. Still, in the end. No one defeated last boss right? -em, Arata defeated the final boss. Anari said without care. -Anari even though I did kill last boss, we were still annihilated by minion same as them. -but we got items look at my blue cloak it is from then. -hey Odin was there any minion in boss room? Arata cut Zens question. -Geralds test is in different location than yours. -anyway I done my part now with introduction. So emm, Kotori, why dont you try? Anari continued. -sure, but I wont talk about Arata as I dont want to brag about him too much. I dont know rest to much either so it will be short. Anari you look like a nice person and I hope we will be good friends. -thank you. -although. You should forget about Arata as you have no chances here. -but I didnt . -eh you are so sure of yourself arent you. Arata interrupted and commented on that but Kotori just answered. -Arata, remember when the day when we started to go out. -of course I do. -so you know that you cant use lies against me do you? Your sarcasm also wont work. - . -see, thats why I can be so sure, anyway Anari even if you liked him you can give up. -I didnt like him! Anari bursted out. -hmm? Well, then there is no problem, right. Anyway keep trying hard and you will be a good player. Hopefully. Next Odin you look like a good player so I dont have anything against you. Hope that you do a good work as a tank. -leave it to me. -next Zen, Arata dont like you so I wont as well. Period. -hey . -but dont worry we are guild mates so we will at least be able to communicate. -that really was short, why dont you tell us about Arata after all. Anari added. -okay but I will keep it to minimum though. He has many good qualities but I will just tell one that I love him so much for. -what is it? Is it when he is fighting? Must be that. You said that you like strong people. Kotori on the other hand said something exactly not related to that. -he understands me. -?? Having a person to share your pain with is after all the best. Someone who will say the right words to you when you need them and will stay silent when you want him. I understand where it comes from. It also may be the reason why I love her so much. -what do you mean by that? Zen asked her soon. Anari was thinking about those words. Odin didnt even try as he was tired of girl talk already. -as I said. Only Arata can understand exactly like I just said. Anyway Arata your turn. -I have to do it too? Okay. Firstly Kotori I wont describe you. -hahaha, dont be shy. You can say things that you said when we were in line for fortune telling. Everyone wants to see your poetic side. Also as a person who knows me the best you have to describe me here. Eh. -okay. Then Kotori is person I love, her good qualities are endless you will know them soon enough. -hahaha. -Arata you are really bold arent you? Anari commented on that. Kotori only laughed. Arata went with revenge on Anari comment. -next. Anari you are quite useless, I just hope that you got better in the time I was not here. Arata didnt have any mercy here. -wawa. -Odin looks like a good player to have on a team so I am happy that you are in our guild. I understand that being the tank in this game is way different than normally so I respect that Odin only smiled at that comment. -and Zen. -okay you dont have to say that, I am useless and annoying as well but wait till . -no even though you are annoying at time, I am sure that you are a good player seeing you so far. For example, our short fight in the forge. Just from that I could see that you are quite good. We have to continue it someday. You also know how to act when needed so even though we will probably argue often it wont be that big problem. -ah, someone finally see my true form. Arata said those words not only to get along better with him but also because they were true. -Zen, you better dont say anything or his impression will go back to the way it used to be. Anyway my name is Odin I introducing myself once again. I dont know much about you two who just came and I hate first impressions. Well Arata looks like a good guy and if Kotori did cleaned a whole instance on her own she also must be good player. I dont need to know more. We went with Anari to exp up and she was doing the usual mage job which is hard damage dealing so even if she thinks that she lacking, for a person who never played games before its a very good job. Then, Zen is my friend whom I know from another game. We both decided to play this one as we heard its the most difficult game that is there. So far its true, thats why we will keep playing it and try to conquer the top. We are also happy to join this guild because its look promising and the thing that this guild is trying to be the best guild on the server, I really like it. It is one thing to join a good guild that already existed for a long time and other thing when you were the one that was creating that guild. Now then Zen. -sure, so, Odin is a good fellow even though he doesnt get my jokes or laugh too much. He is too serious at times and dont like to waste time. As he said we decided to play this game to get to the top. Although for now we were just planning to exp up and look for a guild later, we somehow ended up here but we dont regret it. As for others, I see that Anari is still just a beginner but it doesnt bother me that much as everyone need to start at some point. VR-genre is still fresh after all so even experienced players arent that much better than newbies here. Then we have other two whom I also dont know much. Well my first impression is Even though she looks like innocent girl Kotori is a scary. She sets people on fire like its nothing and dooms them to their deaths if they slightly offend her or she simply doesnt like someone face. -oh just wait till its over. Zen probably knew what reaction he will get from her. Still that was really his first impression. Then he continued. -haha, looks like even more people wants to have tournament now. Anyway everyone was saying only good things about you so I am balancing it up. Well, I must say that she is pretty or rather more than that but its only an avatar so its not a big deal. -its my real life look though. Kotori commented. -yea sure. -well I dont care if you believe me. - wait real look? No way! Well its true that on random you wouldnt get everything after all. Jesus you see that Odin? -I am already seeing it for quite some time but I am trying to not be impolite. -hey! Arata interrupted them. -no Arata, dont worry as you remember I have an eye for things. I can see that even if I wanted, which I dont, there is not a single thing that could separate you. Anyway lastly Arata. I just have to say that I want to fight you badly and see what you can really do. Guys with normal swordsman professions that I meet so far were really disappointing, I must say. But you even dodged my surprise fireball. -its Arata after all. -yep you should see him fighting for real, you wouldnt want to fight him them. Girls commented on it but Zen didnt lose his spirit. -I like strong opponents so we will have to fight one day. And with that, I done as there is nothing else to say. -see arent you closer to each other right now. Anari commented on whole thing. Arata soon cut it -sure but normal people dont do things like that. -it worked so its fine. Hey why dont we comment on others as well? -others? -you know Kelly, Loki and Leader. -isnt it speaking behind their backs? Kotori commented. -they wont bother. So what are your thoughts? It was talking behind their back but Anari was already in mood. -I dont really know much about Kelly you guys? -all I know that she is scary when she wants to be. -haha, thats true. Zen answered and Arata followed that comment with laugh. -but we cant forget her look. You all saw how it bounces didnt you. Zen continued. -wa Although it was clearly guys part of the talk, it was Kotori who answered. -its natural because she is older. You dont have to worry Arata. I am close enough to that. -dont say more. That as someone can get sad. Arata commented. -ah sorry Anari anyway as we dont know much we should move to next person, Loki Kotori ended up taking the lead while Anari was slacking. -Loki is quite cool isnt he? He is also strong and hardworking he should be our leader. -well we were also with him in group and he looks dependable. Right Odin? Zen commented. -sure, we also didnt speak to Gerald too much and from our first conversations I think that he should be more serious at least. -my thoughts exactly. Well, being as serious as you also wont work. Hey Anari, what do you think? Zen asked. Anari was looking down at her chest sad and just said in small voice. -leader is fine. -hey Arata, what do you think? Kotori asked. -well Loki is a great guy and would do a good job as a guild leader but if we want to get to the top Gerald is the best man for the job. She was surprised to hear that. -really? Well I also didnt talk with him too much. But why is that? -you will know soon enough. -if you say so, still after what you told me I believe you. -speaking of him, anyone knows when he is going to come back? Arata asked. -maybe he found someone good for the test and thats why he is not back yet. Normally he would be. Anari said optimistically. =yea sure Everyone answered at the same time. They talked a bit more but then after some they went to sleep or log out. Gerald still didnt come back. //**This chapter is not over. Continue to _14.2**// http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3178 Chapter 14 “Refrain” _14.2 //** Continuation of chapter 14. (From 14.1) **// Getting out from the capsule Arthur Rain went down to the kitchen to eat something. He prepared another dish that he learned in game and it turned out that his first try wasnt a onetime chance because it was not only eatable abut also tasted good. After that, he decided to use his time to do some practice. Running outside Arthur spotted an familiar figure breathing heavily. -hi there Ali, how is it going? -ah its you Arthur. Well, as you see, not well. Alice answered while breathing heavy. -you know, the secret is the breathing. -easy for you to say. I am already running for half an hour. -if you have problems then take a break. -but the problem is that they dont help. -speaking while running also doesnt help. -okay a small break then. They sated down on nearby bench. -so whats up? Arthur asked. -nothing, I was just going to start my training. -I thought that you have something to say if we sat here. Never mind. Anyway you know that playing EOA is a strange in a way. -it is strange in many ways. Which one is it? -you know, in real time we meet like three days ago or so, but for me its been like 15 days, isnt it strange? -well it is, 15 days can change much after all. -so what happened? As Alice was looking down a little Arthur asked her what happened. -in 15 day you can like, get a boyfriend or something. -well thats possible. What did you get one? -no, no, I didnt even look for one. -well I also never looked for girlfriend. Anyway what with the sad look? -its not that I want one but its somehow sad when people around you get together, dont you think? -in one way sure, but you should be happy for your friends instead. -I am but at the same time its still little sad. -dont worry about it too much. -haha, how can I worry, just look at me. Arthur looked at her for few seconds then he finally said. -I am not sure what you mean. -cant you see how pretty I am? -em that is a little strange thing to say about yourself. Alice looked down right away. She didnt have confidence after all. -sorry, I just tried to copy someone. I cant do it after all. Anyway what about you? -me? -you worry about stuff like this? I know that you had some difficulty time in life but you look like you are okay right now. Normally people at our age think about it, and worry about it. -like you? -for me its just a little. Anyway do you worry at all? -nope. Arthur answered right away. -you sure are sure about yourself. Remember that your pretty childhood friend wont pity you if you turn 30 and come crying. -for whom do you take me? -well, you spend entire life on games, forgetting everything else. -how nice of you to say that. To your information I also wont pity you when you come crying. I also wont be able to do that anyway. -why is that? -I already have the person I love. Alice stopped for more than a second but then she started. -that is rather shock for me. -why is that? -I know you for years now. You wouldnt have a girlfriend even if the world was going to break down. -hahaha, everyone is like that when they are kids. -sure they are, and then they get together with girlfriends and have happy life later. But you skipped few points already. -I didnt skip it, she is my girlfriend. -normally you wont call your girlfriend a person that you love in front of someone else. -why not? -arent you embarrassed? -its better to be honest. She always tells me to be honest about it. - . Alice once again went quite. Before she thought that Arthur was just joking but now she realized that he was saying the truth. -anyway we should continue with our training. -I was going to it end so go alone. -if you say so. Was nice talking with you, bye Ali. Arata continued his run leaving behind Alice on the bench. She could no longer follow him anymore as she didnt know how long she would hold it within her. She didnt want to show her emotions to her friend who just managed to recover. She didnt want to cause any problems for him. He found someone he loved. She should be happy about his happiness. Still she could not hold the tears that started to pour from her eyes. Logging back to the world Arata found himself back on the hill where he logged out last time. There were Loki and Kelly siting in silence, they were eating bread. Loki welcomed him. -ah Arata you are here. -yep, just logged back. -as you can see more than a day have passed but Gerald is still not here. -he probably took a break or something. -this or he found a new member, although that seems unlikely, anyway want some bread? -I should eat something sure but I wont be eating bread here. -its not like you can buy here anything good. But just wait till you get to some other cities. You will find many great foods that dont exist in real world. Although I know some people tried to make it in real with success. Anyway you really have something to look forward to. -for now, I will just make something here. You also want some? -you have cooking skills? Thats nice. Normally people dont bother with it. I am the same but if you are making something make additional one for me. -sure, you also want one Kelly? -I dont except much but sure it will be better than bread. -why do you have such low expectations? -experience. Normally player dishes are not that good, because as with everything else there is no instruction for it. -I have cooking book so it will do for instruction. Hearing this Loki said. -cooking book? Where did you get that? Its not here definitely. Did you get that in city of beginners? -yea, anyway soon I will change your minds about players cooking. After 40 minutes the dish was ready, it was pasta with sauce, everything made out of materials that Arata bought inside the village. The three of them started eating. -not bad, right Kelly? Loki commented but somehow he wasnt really excited about it in comparison to anyone else who eat it before. -well considering that its all low level ingredients, he did better than most players. Kelly also praised him in a way. -somehow I expected a different reaction. -no, its really good. The only problem is that we compare it to the other food that you can find in the game. Once you eat the dish from highest level materials, everything else will lose its former taste. Its rather a curse actually. You wont feel anything from normal food anymore. Still Arata you did good job. Loki commented. -yep, I look forward to your progress. The food taste also depends on cooking skills so when you level up with better ingredients you will make better things. But you can be in charge of cooking for now. Kelly added. -I can cook when I feel like it but dont except me to answer everyone demand. Speaking of everyone, where are they? -logged out. Anari, Zen and Odin were on hunting for few days so its normal. I think that you and Kotori also were busy so she must be resting as well. Right, Arata how was the quest? You have been out for a while. Loki asked. -last boss wasnt as hard as I thought he would be. There was a pack of wolves that we meet before getting there though. That fight was much more dangerous. As for the somewhat long time, well we had some complications. -well, as you can see, we still looking for members although if you came back three days ago we would stop it already. -our longest break was when Kotori got sick and we stayed in cave. Nothing could be done about it. -rings, didnt help? -if you end up swimming in ice-lake nothing will help. -ice-lake? You know I did mention an ice-like but it was more of a joke. -well, we ended up falling from a cliff there right into a frozen lake. -can happen to anyone I guess. But how did it happen? -we were going through narrow cliff in which only one person could go at one time. Everything was going fine until we came across a man in a brown coat who was using the same cliff but he was down. Without saying anything, he threw us down and we ended up in lake. Arata explained. -thats not very nice of him, but different people walk around the world. Did you get him after that? -Kotori was already sick before we fell to lake. After that it got only worse. We couldnt go after him even if we did, this guy looked high level so we would just end up dead. -well its good that you choose the right course of actions. By the way, How did he throw you down? You should at least be able to make him fall as well in those conditions. -well, he just waved his hand and we were already falling down. -wave his hand? Hmm hey what do you think Kelly? He said brown coat. Loki asked. -I never seen that person you just thought of, ask Gerald when he comes. -why do you have to ask Gerald about it? Arata didnt understand so he asked. -nothing it just the guy you meet may be someone that Gerald know, thats all. -who is that guy? Arata already swore the revenge and if there was an occasion to get any lead on the guy he would take it. -I only heard about him, well he is what to say a legend in the game. -a legend? -yes, there is a legend about a player who passed 300th level barrier. Just so you know, right now high level players are around 250-270 and its like that for a few months already, no few years in game time. Then, there are few people above 270 and you can even count people who are above 290 but 300th level barrier is a different thing. -why do you call it barrier? -right I have to start from that Loki continued to explain. -getting from level 99 to 100 and 199 to 200 is a little different than normal leveling up. The same is on level 299-300 although there are not many people who took the last challenge. We will talk about those barriers at some other time. Anyway as far as the legend goes, there is one person who passed 300th level. -the guy who threw us down? What would he be doing here? -the description fits, a man in a brown coat walking alone and when spotting someone he quickly removes them from the way but not killing them. And his push is also somewhat his signature move. -and the name? -Gerald called him Hermit as he doesnt involve with people too much although maybe its really his name, he could choose it for his nickname after all. The legend itself doesnt even say who it is to begin with. Still there is no much use to talk about him. But if it were really him that put you down from cliff you will have to give up on your revenge. -I dont care about it anymore and it didnt turn that bad, although if I happen to meet him later on I will ask for a rematch. Still, when we are at it can you tell me more about the higher level power structure? -sure, pass level 200, the number of players is rather low in comparison to all other. Its still large enough but not as much as 0-99 or 100-199 which goes in millions. Its hard to fight monsters alone at that point no matter the skill and when you die you lose at least 20 levels. Most people are already in a guild at that point, thats also one reason why we search for new players here. I will just add that luckily when you die, you dont have to repeat the barrier challenge again if you fall below 200 that is and the challenge is rather hard thing I must say. -so this game is an endless exping? From what Loki said, even though there were some barriers there was no cap level in EOA. -you may look at it this way but does games with max level are really better? On higher level you are doing like what? Going to same dungeons over and over again? Battlegrounds, Raids. On low level you can also do that and the best thing about exping is exploration. Main feature of EOA is for you to explore the world and have a unique adventure. I think its all comes down to it. -well exploration is great point, but how for example you choose best guild if you dont have end game content? -we just have to be more famous than other guilds and when needed, beat those who want to compete against us. That all there is to it, I guess. -great plans for our small guild which has eight people. -numbers are not that important. -I am not sure about it. Arata was septic about strongest guild thing from the start. Loki continued. -its not like we will become strongest guild in one night, its a long time consuming process but we will get there someday. -you start to talk like Gerald. -no, I just have same opinion as him. -so what are we going to do right now? -you are going to explore a world and enjoy yourself while leveling up. Also its not like we will take you by hand forever. Gerald said that we will do one big thing as a guild then you will scatter around the world. After some time passes we will get back together and then seriously think about it. -Loki! Kelly interrupted him. -ah, I shouldnt have revealed that yet, dont tell others. -its fine by me. Still, is it really that good of the idea for you three to stay in this village rather than exping up? The other players may be running away with their level now. Arata commented. After all, right now while Gerald, Loki and Kelly were playing around in Loris, there were probably many people getting more levels every day. -I dont think so, I am sure that so called high level wont go up anytime soon. Especially now. -why? -there is a war right now. Two strongest guilds are fighting each other, their players keep dying and the level goes lower. Then those few who have reached 299 level, fail the 300th level barrier and lose 30 levels. Failing means dying. Also, from 100 level, leveling up doesnt give much stat like under 100 so it makes no difference. -pvp is also quite hard here I guess. -pvp is same as everywhere. You fight against others and how hard it is depends on your opponents. Rather than hard its hardcore as normally you dont lose that much in normal game. This 10% loss is harder every time you level up. Loki continued to explain. Good thing I dont have to worry about it. They stayed on the hill. They didnt do much just waited there talked about stuff. Soon Zen, Odin and Kotori logged back as well. Anari followed few hours later. -hey, Anari how are you doing? Arata asked her as she logged back but she just nodded her head and sit down on the grass. She looked sad or rather really depressed. Kotori went to her. They talked together for some time. Arata didnt hear their conversation though. -we are bored here so I say we should start that tournament after all. Zen started at some point. Although previously Arata was eager to join, right now. -the more I lay here, the less I want to do anything. -Arata, I am the same I could lay here all day, but we should do something! Tournament is good idea as we cant go anywhere. We still didnt finish off our fight. -ask someone else I dont feel like it. -hey! Someone wants to try? Anari and Kotori were still talking, rest didnt move an inch. Arata was lying on the ground looking up on the clouds. Odin was sleeping for some time now. Kelly just looked in the distance not moving. Loki was smoking a cigarette while looking at the clouds. Zen was trying to wake them up and do something but his effort was fruitless. In the end he did the same as them soon after and landed on the grass. Time went on. The time was around 17 already when they heard a familiar voice. -everyone, be happy as your glorious leader has returned! -hello . -hey . -hi . Gerald was in high spirit but everyone replied to him without much energy. Some were asleep and didnt reply at all. -its not good to sleep all day you know? The sun is still up! Dont waste this beautiful day! -we wouldnt be doing that if you hurried before. -oh I have a good reason for that, Loki look. Gerald presented a girl who came with him. She was not too tall and she looked really young around 12 years old or so. She had short white hair, well short for a girl. Her eye color was blue. She also had white sword sheathed on her back. It was Katana model to be exact. On the other hand in comparison to her unique weapon and hair, her clothes somehow didnt fit her. They were too big for her and looked plain and were in grey and brown colors. -oh, you found someone? Good job. Loki commented. -well technically she is not yet a new member, but she passed the test. -is there a problem then? Did we have something like age limit? -no, no, there is no problem. All I have to do is have Arata to fight her. -why me? Arata stopped daydreaming and asked. -she said that she will join if she sees that another members are also good enough to pass the test, because she thinks that the test is impossible for normal people. -because it is. So she is also abnormal? -no, no, dont worry about that. Although she may seem little different as she is from Japan. -well she does have Asiatic face after all. But does she speak English? -now that I think about it I only talked to her in Japanese. -you know Japanese? -I wouldnt say I know it well but I can speak with someone using simple words, although I cant write and read their alphabet. I learn how to communicate in Japanese from someone whom I used to live with. -I guess speaking is good enough. Anyway ask her if she speaks English. -Yuki-chan wa eigo de hanashimasuka? Gerald said something to Yuki in a language that Arata did not understand. -hai, hanashimasu. Yuki answered with a cute voice of someone her age. -she says that she can. But anyway, before we go anywhere farther, she first wants to fight someone from our guild so Arata go get to it. -why me? -it would be unfair if I were to fight her, wouldnt it? Also you two are both swordsmans so it should be a good match. -but if she only passed the test she should be around 30. -and your level is? -54 -then there is nothing to worry about. She has 37 right now. -37 is a lot after whole instance. -she was in the same place you were, and you took only half of exp from there. -yes but even if I didnt, it still wouldnt make huge difference two three levels more is what I would get. -well she was 35 at the moment when she was going for boss, and after the boss she got 37. -wait! She defeated the boss? The big one with a hammer as well? -haha, funny isnt it. Anyway as you can see you dont have to give her a head start, or rather if you dont take this seriously you will get owned Yuki-chan! Arata wa guild no memba desu. Anata wa kare o koroshitekudasai? -hai, kare o koroshimasu. -hey what did you say? Arata asked. -I only asked if she will kill you. -hey! -sorry, my Japanese is poor to begin with and I forgot a word so I just used what I remembered. -use the English them. Although I think it was exactly what you wanted to say. Arata could see through Geralds intention. -where is the fun in that. Anyway you wont let some low level kill you, right? With this argument Arata could not say anything else. They went down the hill and prepared for battle. The girl slope before taking out her Katana. Should I really fight a kid like that? Arata looked at her thinking that. Her height was even lower than average 12 year old kid. Somehow its hard to believe that she defeated the boss. Still from certain age, how one fight isnt determinate by their age. Well, for now I will see what she can do. Arata decided to first test his opponent but Yuki moved in first. After two fast steps which closed a distance, she pierced forward with her katana. Arata was not fully prepared for it so he moved back rather than dodging. She didnt give him time for breath and continued without stopping this time with attack from the ground upwards. Arata blocked this one with left sword counterattacked with other horizontally from the right. Yuki crouched down and avoided the slash. Not bad or rather He didnt have time to think as Yuki quickly moved to his left and once again lunched an attack. This time Arata used his specialty and dodged it by hair. It was one of moves that he learned from his grandfather. It wasnt a part of sword fighting but rather material arts in general. Still it worked with swords as well. Even though he should be the one to counter attack now, Yuki followed him his move and was once again on his left. She made low horizontal attack on his legs, Arata jumped up to dodge the low slash. In midst of momentum, sword changed its trajectory and started moving up. Arata spin in the air and blocked it again. He then landed on one hand while still holding sword in it. He had no time to go back and from this position he had to block another slash. He couldnt block it completely and he got small scratch on left side of belly. Still afterwards, he pushed back Yukis sword and get back on feet. While he was doing it he lost Yuki from vision for a second. Another slash come at him. Arata saw a white sword a second before it hit before his eyes. At the same time, he was trying to move from its way and block it. With it the attack made just a scratch on the right cheek. Not bothered by it, Arata pierced with his free sword but it was clearly dodged by Yuki. Right after that dodge, she jumped back two times making a distance of two meters between them. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. That little girl is giving me such hard time. I should stop thinking about her like that long ago though. Arata moved forward and slashed with both swords horizontally. Yuki stepped back to dodge it and right away after swords moved from the front she closed in and pierced forward. Arata spin on right foot and counterattacked. Two attacks were made by him by it but before first one lunched, Yuki already moved away to save distance. Also the pierce attack she made left another scratch this time on Aratas arm. Even though I attack I still cant really attack her for real, she is a child after all. That child was giving him a hard time right now but he still couldnt fight on 100%. She was coming at him again with a pierce attack right into his heart. Arata made a millimeter dodge to left. The white sword passed right before him. Arata made a counter attack Yuki dodged it and once again move away. But then after that she said. -please fight seriously. Hey, I dont slack of right now. Rather than me not fighting seriously it is her who fights way too seriously. I mean every attack is with intends to kill aiming for a vital point. Who taught her to fight like that? Nowadays swords fights or material arts werent used in wars or for killing. It was now a sport. There definitely were cases where it was not true but now killing was all about pulling a trigger or big explosions. Arata was never taught to use his abilities to kill someone. On the other hand in game you are encouraged to do it. In this world fighting shouldnt be classy but rather effective. Killing opponent is your main goal. Arata once again looked at the girl before him. Still I cant bring myself to attack her with desire to kill, no matter how I look at it. I already managed to kill few players on the way to Loris but they were not 12 years old girl! Although now that I think about it 12 years old girls who are good with swords are strong, ah that brings back some painful memories. Still, no matter what I cant attack her but this shouldnt be the problem as I was trained to fight different way anyway. Arata changed his position. He moved his right sword forward and his left sword backward down to the ground. From Yukis point of view this position had many openings. Arata could only block incoming attack with his forward sword. She would have enough time to dodge should he attack with sword from the back. Knowing this, she could think up follow up and execute it right away. Still if her opponent was not going to treat her seriously she would have no mercy on him. Yuki rushed forward and slashed from overhead downward. Arata blocked it with forward sword. Still Yuki was pressing it down and her white sword was pushing back the other one. Still in one moment Arata stopped pressing his forward sword. With momentum both swords quickly moved down. With that slight change Yuki somewhat lost balance and bend forward a little. At the same time other sword from the back was coming at her. She couldnt move well enough to dodge it at that moment and her sword was also out of her control in that second. Yuki expected that it will slash through her in that second but that didnt happen. Other sword hit the white sword in a spot near the hilt. With that strike the white sword left Yukis grip and was sent flying to the sky. With that action Yuki lost her balance even more and was falling forward but Arata let go of one of his swords and catch her. It worked out. Aratas grandfather thought him techniques that focus werent on attacking but rather defending. Moves that make you win without injuring your opponent were also there although they were hard to pull off. Still is used correctly they brought excellent results as the opponent who did not see a move like this before would have little chance to defend against it. -this is enough right?! Arata shouted to the top where Gerald and the rest were watching from. -I think so. I am really surprised that you won Arata. Looks like you got a little better than last time. Anyway what is she doing now? Yuki was looking at Arata with eyes of admiration. -hey Gerald how is it in Japanese are you ok. Arata ended up asking. -Anata wa daijobudesuka! Gerald gave him the translation but it was hard to repeat it. -what!? -just use English she will understand. -okay hey are you okay? Arata gave up on Japanese and went with normal English. -hai daijobudesu. Onii-chan wa jasashi desu. -can you speak in English? -yes I can, although you may not understand all, Onii-chan. -what does Onii-chan mean? -Onii-chan is Onii-chan. From this day I will follow Onii-chan and learn from him. -wait I am Onii-chan? Gerald shouted from the top to them. -hey Arata come back here so I can introduce her. Arata picked up white sword and gave it to Yuki. -here is your sword. -kore wa katana desu. -you said, this is katana, right? -hai, Onii-chan wa nihongo de hanashimasuka? -I have no idea what you just said but anyway lets go up. -hai. I wonder what that Onii-chan means. Well I dont really care how she calls me so I will leave it at that. They went back to the top when they did Gerald said. -haha, so what say you Arata? A golden egg isnt it or rather silver. The silver came probably from the color of Yukis hair. -more or less. Anyway why did I have to fight against her, again? -because she looked for someone to fight, and I thought you will be the best for this job. Well you took few hits but you did well enough. Anyway everyone meet our new member. Her name is Yuki and she is Japanese. She might be 12 years old but as you saw, she can fight really well. She understands English but its first time for her to use it practically like this, so dont go too hard on her. -hajimemashite, watashi no namae wa Yuki desu. Douzo yoroshiku. -Yuki-chan eigo de onegaishimasu. Gerald and Yuki exchanged few words in Japanese. -ah sumimasen. Hello there. My name is Yuki, hope we get along. -hey, Gerald you should stop with Japanese as well so maybe she would use English more. Loki gave one advice. That could help a little. Still. -and where will I find other occasion to try it? Gerald answered selfishly. -so its about your self-interest again. Gerald didnt bother with other comment and continued. -with her, we have another new member. Loki, how it went on your side? -standard. -so we have 9 members, yupi!!!!! Now then, only one more! It looked like Gerald was now in full spirit for the search after finding a newest member. -hey, we talked about it already, give up the tenth one and lets get started. Loki disagreed though. -but ten is good round number. Ten sounds official. Ten sounds important. The magical ten is a dream! -do you really want to continue, how long is it already? -fine, fine, one more wont make that huge of a difference. Then so be it Gerald stopped for a second and then loudly said. -everyone, listen up! This is first official day when our guild starts to exist! Applause! -clap, clap, clap. For the first time the number of clapping people was more than one. -now here, sing it up! Gerald showed some piece of paper then started walking to everyone so they can sing it. It was some kind of form that was used to start guilds in EOA. How it worked and where to get it Arata did not know and did not bother to ask. While singing up Arata spotted an empty column, it was the name of the guild. Hmm, what was our guild name, again? When Gerald finished Arata brought that up. -hey Gerald, what is the name of our guild anyway? -oh, I thought that we should choose it together. Still, I already have a great idea for it. -great idea? Somehow I have a bad feeling about it but lets hear it. Lokis bad feeling was revealed truth as Gerald said the name of guild. -Green Smerfs! - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . The silence was the best way to comment it. -and the real one? Loki finally asked. -thats the real one, so what do you think? -no! Just no, okay. There was no much to comment on this on. Gerald wasnt discouraged though. -its only your preference. I am sure everyone else like it. Okay who wants that the name to be our guild name, hands up! Only Gerald picked up his hand. -you all have no naming sense at all. -I dont think thats even a problem here. -fine I confess. The truth is I just came up with it on the spot and tried to make it sound ridiculous Gerald said that but knowing him it was not entirely impossible that he wanted a guild name like that. -as I said we all have to come up with it. So everyone, come up with one or two good names and we will decide which is best in 10 minutes. -leader what name should it be? Anari asked. -I already gave an example, just come up with a name that strongest guild should have How a strongest guild could be called Green Smerfs!.. Anyway coming up with name is always hard. Until you got used to it, you can never decide. Hmm, I will just go with Paragon as its sound good although there are many guilds with name like that so it probably wont work but its something that I can at least say out loudly. Its definitely better than green smerfs! After about ten minutes Gerald ended the silence. -times up! I hope you all got something. We will go with order of joining the guild. First, me. Although its not as good as Green Smerfs I come up with Exorcists, how does it sound? -its better than before but why should we be called exorcists? Loki asked. -I watch a movie with exorcists few days ago so it somehow came from that. -but there is no reason to call ourselves with something that doesnt concern us at all. Or do you want to exorcise some ghost on the way? -if you are that good at it what is yours idea? -I am not good in coming with names. -you had ten minutes tell me your idea. -okay. I came up with Destiny. Arata was not the only one who didnt bother to think about it and just used something that is way overused as a guild name. -you are not that creative, are you? -happens ask the next person. -Kelly, what about you? -Yellow Smerfs. Kelly definitely worked hard on it. -hmm, something is missing but its close enough. I will take it into consideration on final vote. Next Arata. Arata said his prepared answer. -Paragon. -hey, you know how many guilds with that game exist already. I want an original one. -its much better than Green Smerfs at least. -I dont know from which side but anyway, Paragon is a no, next Anari. -emmm, friends and comrades? Anari gave an answer with unsure voice. -okay, I see that you dont even know what we are talking about, dont worry I will explain it to you latter, Kotori. -Legendary heroes. In the end in guilds it was always like that. Everyone will complain about the name of the guild but when it comes to naming it no one thinks about it seriously and come up with worst names of all. Gerald didnt even comment on Kotoris one and went on. - Zen do you have any idea? -Syndicate. -okay not bad, Odin? -Ragnarok. -well, you would definitely fit there with nickname Odin but we are looking for something else. Ah, why isnt it going as planned? -we went about it a wrong way. Loki commented. -there is still our last hope. Yuki! -Last hope? Yuki repeat those words. -yes you are our last hope. -Last hope. -you dont have to repeat it just say anything that came to your mind. -I think that she meant the name is last hope. Loki pointed it out. -hmm. Well I think that its the best from we have so far what do you think Loki? -its better but all of them are no. Although Eternal hope may be better though, -I think that at least Kelly did a good job. Anyway someone still has any ideas? I also think that Eternal hope also isnt that bad. -doesnt it sound silly a little? Kelly commented on that. -well, now that I think about it. It does, so its not good. Although, it sounds better when compared to previous ones. Ahhh, I feel like we try too hard Rather no one did it seriously. -we need some other method. New idea, give me some cool sounding words. Anything is fine. Loki you are first. Gerald started to use desperate measures. -cool sounding words that would fit a guild? I guess that could work. Okay lets start with. Answer, Serenity, Guardian. -Annihilation, Pantheon, Paradox Odin followed with those three. -Nexus, Blades, Vengeance, Arata added some other names that he heard somewhere. -Exodus, Deathscale, Crusaders. Even Kotori gave few interesting ones. -no its not it. Still Gerald was not satisfied with any of those. Loki commented. -its not that easy to name a guild, after all. -well the name itself is not the really important. The act of giving the name is what matters. -it doesnt change the fact that we need the name though. -wait, I come up with another new name. -I hope its better than last one. -well I combined some of our ideas and I just come up with Guardians of Hope. -sure it works but I wouldnt want to be in a guild with a name like this. Also we would end up as GOH in the end. So its another no. Loki shut down yet another name. -ah Loki, why are you always right? -its somehow my job to control your crazy behavior. Anyway, cant you get serious for one minute and think of something? -serious? -yes, you have to be serious from time to time. -fine Oh I got one. -I just hope its not another color of smerfs. -you wanted a serious one right. So what do you think about single word Refrain? -Refrain like in the song? Loki asked. -there is another time where you use it in sentences like for example. I refrain from doing this. but it is not commonly used. Kelly added. -exactly and we want a name that would symbolize our guild. When you hear it, you immediately think of strongest guild in EOA. -well I always preferred one word guild name and its doesnt sound bad nor it means anything bad. Okay, you can go back to your usual self. -ah finally, I hate being serious. Hey does anyone not like it? Gerald asked around. So far he was mostly discussing everything with Loki. Kelly said. -its not a bad name so it will do. -fine by me. Odin also commented. Then Arata added. -well as you said the name itself isnt the most important. Also its seems you like it, so you would use the one you want anyway. In comparison to all others Arata already grasp large portion of Geralds nature. But no one really had anything wrong against the so Gerald started loudly. -from here on the guild Refrain is starting its activity! After Gerald said that Arata got a message before him. [You have created and joined a guild Refrain.] Right away Arata checked the menu but. I was expecting something more. Some guild interface. At least list of members Of course in EOA there was nothing like that. -great now its out of the way. Its time for the party! Gerald shouted. -why do you want to make a party? Loki asked. -isnt it obvious? Its a memorial day and everyone should get to know each other. Its also a great way to relax after all the hard work. -well sounds good but you should have said that earlier. You cant just throw a party like that out of sudden. Also in this remote area you wont find things that you need for it. Party will have to wait. -but I want a party! A party, a party! Loki, dont be like that. -okay voting who wants to do the party? -well it wouldnt be bad, right? -parties are a good thing after all. Kotori commented and Anari followed up. -I think so too but. We have no music, no food and we would have to stay on this hill again as there is no good place to do it. In the end it wouldnt be much different from what we usually did which is lying down on the grass and talk. You want a party like that? Still with few words, Loki convinced everyone with reason. Even Gerald. -fine, the party is moved to another time, anyway does someone still have to do anything in this town? Arata how is your quest? -will be completed tomorrow. -okay so we move out right after you are done. -where are we going, leader? Anari asked. -its not like we can stay here in Loris forever. I will explain everything on the road. Anyway everyone is to take a long break now, so tomorrow you can play without reserve. We have a long way to go. -we were already resting for some time now. -great. So Loki, you go arrange everything and I going to sleep now. Gerald fall to the ground and he was asleep already before he even landed. -looks like he also was working hard, anyway what are you arranging Loki? Arata said. -a way for us to get to another city, its a long way you know. We need some kind of transport. Anyway, as Gerald just said, go for a break or something. See you later. -we were on a break entire day, already. Zen didnt like the idea. -nothing better to do I am afraid. You can do what you want just dont go anywhere too far. Logging out may be not the worst idea. Arata, Kotori get done with quest quickly and let us all meet before the north gate of Loris tomorrow morning. Kelly pass that message to Gerald, okay? -yea, sure. Loki went in a way to the city, Zen soon come up with idea as what to do. -okay so its time for our tournament! -if we are going for a long journey I need to prepare some staff so I am going. Arata commented. -kue, kue, kue, you are running away? -I dont have time for tournament but I can have one round with you, it will go fast. After Arata answered like that, in two seconds Zen had a sword right next to his neck. But it wasnt Aratas sword but a white katana. -Onii-chan said that he have business to do so I will be your opponent. -haha, finally someone whoaaaa! Soon Zen was barely dodging a barrage of swords. When one hits was about to hit him he teleported away. Arata commented. -Yuki, dont get involve with his talk. -hai, Onii-chan. -hey, what are you doing? Dont stop her now. I was soon going to release my full power. -yea sure. -what with that look of pity!? -anyway I am going, anyone wants to come along. -I will hang along, sure. -okay, lets go Kotori. They moved to the city but soon Zen stopped them. But it wasnt about tournament anymore. -hey, you should take this one as well. Arata looked back and saw Yukis face which was saying I want to go too. Just to be sure Arata asked. -Yuki you want to go? She nodded her head. Arata waved his hand signaling here to come. Before reaching the village Kotori asked. -hey why is she following you so much? -beats me, ask her yourself. -hi there Yuki, my name is Kotori. Yuki clanged to Arata and hid on the other side. -ohayo gozaimasu. -yes ohayo. Anyway we are in the same guild right now so we should get along. So you dont have to hide like that. -em you want to be my friend? -yes I want to be your friend! How does it sound? - . Without saying anything she just nodded her head and stopped hiding behind Arata. -good for you I guess. Arata commented. -just look. This cute little girl became my friend. -you are also a cute little girl yourself. -haha, you sure says what you want. -I learned it from you. Arata was not hiding his feelings in the least right now. //**This chapter is not over. Continue to _14.3**// http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3179 Chapter 14 “Refrain” _14.3 //** Continuation of chapter 14. (From 14.2) **// -anyway I wanted to ask. Yuki, why are you following Arata? -its a rule to follow those who defeated you in battle and spared your life. I will serve Onii-chan with my life. Yukis response was impossible. Kotori asked follow up question. -where did you come with that ideology? -its the most normal thing to do. Kotori did not understand her though. -Arata, I give up, you try it. -from where I see it, she must have been brought up in some kind of old fashioned family. She should get better with time. Anyway Yuki, you dont have to serve me or anything, we fought and we are now guild mates nothing more. -no, I will follow Onii-chan until he releases me from my duty. -ha? -hey Arata are you cheating on your girlfriend who is walking right next to you. -arent you super sure of yourself. -thats one reason that I dont take it too seriously. -but its not my fault. Also she is 12 years old right. -that another reason. Well, lets leave it at that. -no wait. I think I understood it Yuki, you dont have to follow me anymore, I release you from your duty. -I understand. Yuki answered. She stopped moving and looked down to the ground. -but that does not mean you cant go around the village with us. We still want you to come with us. Arata answered. -really? -yes, yes. They continued like previously. With little change. -hey Arata, did that change anything? -probably. -well it cant be helped then. Anyway, what are you buying Arata? -nothing I already bought everything yesterday, I just thought that I should explore the village a little before we leave. I didnt do it yet. -well, there is nothing interesting. I checked. -what about stalls in the center? -so you meant explore in that way. Okay lets go there! The entered Loris and walked through its streets. They found their way to the main square. Arata wanted for some time to see what is there but he somehow didnt have a time and always something come up. Kotori spin on foot, looked around and said. -doesnt it feel like its a festival here? -sure, it looks like it. -so what do you wanted to do? Kotori thought that Arata had a specific reason for coming here. Still his response was opposite. -I dont have any plans. I will just walk around and look at stuff. If I find anything interesting I will try it. -didnt though that you would say something like that. -its a game after all, arent we here to enjoy ourselves. Arata made the most obvious statement. Games are for people to enjoy. At least that was the theory behind them. -somehow I forget about that part. Its not that kind of game Ahhhh, I see! You wanted to go on a date. You could just said so. Lets go then! -its rather you who want to go. Also we are not alone. -she wont disturb us no wait! I just thought of a great idea. Kotoris face suddenly started to shine even more than usual but Arata somehow could tell what she was now thinking. And because he knew he right away said. -no, I dont want to. -but you didnt heard it yet. -your face is easy to understand. -ah you are no fun. Hey Yuki is there a place where you want to go? Lucky she gave up on her idea and switched to Yuki. Yuki pointed into direction of shooting game. There were many stuffed animals on the shelves. Seeing it Kotori quickly said. -leave it to me. Kotori went to the stall and paid for the game. In that game you needed to use provided weapon and shoot down three cans in a distance. Kotori picked up the rifle-like looking item. Seeing it Arata asked. -Kotori you know how to shoot right? -of course I do, the bullet comes out this way, just look. She had to shoot down 3 cans in five shoots to get a reward but it didnt go as planned. Right at the start, the first shot nearly hit the stall keeper even though he was in opposite direction than the cans. Then the second shoot ended up going way up to the ceiling of the tent. I somehow dont see it. -hey Kotori maybe I should. -I will get hang of it soon. First round ended in failure, no hits. Second the same. In the third one she once fired by luck and hit one. But forth one was back to zero. Now after ten tries she somehow got two hits. But there was only one bullet left. But then Kotori shooted and the sound of hit echoed. -haha I did it! Arata couldnt even congratulate her as anything he would say would be sarcasm. Instead he said. -took you long enough. You know if you wanted something so badly, it would be cheaper to buy it than waste money on 10 tries. -who cares about that? The winning is also important part. -so what do you want to take? -if it were me I would take that big bear, but even though I love stuffed animals I cant go around with one in a game, can I? -it wouldnt bother anyone. Thing to remember, Kotori like stuffed animals. -I already have you to hug, so I dont need it. Anyway I was trying to get a reward for Yuki as she wanted one. -so nice of you. -see that is your girlfriend. -so what will you give her? -hmm, something that would fit her. Emmm, this white bunny please. Kotori pointed at small white bunny on the lower shelf. -I thought that you would choose that biggest bear. -haha, seems like you dont understand stuffed animals Arata. -I dont want to understand them. Kotori took bunny in her hands and passed it to Yuki. -here you go. -looks like you dont understand stuffed animals as well. Arata commented as Yuki didnt take it. Kotori asked. -hey Yuki whats wrong? -even though I want to. I cant take it. Yuki answered. -why? -father told me that cute things are for weak people. Warrior shouldnt bother with it. Strict father it seems. Though Arata hearing this. It looked like Yuki wasnt a normal child after all, but Kotori didnt give up. -but you are a girl right? You said you wanted it. -but I am successor of Arakiri sword style, being a girl comes second. -emmm Arata I have no idea what she is about, translate it to me. -well I dont know the details but in Japan there are some ancient fighting styles that are passed generation after generation. -but we live in modern times now. Even if there was a war it would be guns and bombs. No one would send a girl with a sword, would they? -its more about tradition rather than it being useful, anyway Yuki. -yes Onii-chan? -even though you may be successor of something in real life you dont have to follow all rules. -but I am successor. -do you like to be successor? -I always had been a successor so I dont know. -someone forced you to do this? Yuki twisted her head left and right then she said. -no, I can quit if I want but if I want to continue to be successor, I need to behave like one. If its like that there is no helping it. -Kotori I dont think that we can do anything here. Arata wanted to give up but Kotori answered with her determination. -you are wrong Arata. -ha? -she just doesnt know what to do? The girl that cant have stuffed animals is absurd. Yuki what are a good features of being successor? -its only a title that doesnt mean much nowadays. As I thought. -so whats the reason to be one? Did you get anything out from it? Dont you feel like you just wasted time on it? -its true that I envied kids who were played in the park when I trained each day . Yuki starred and with one sentence, Kotori didnt want to listen anymore. -thats it. Arata, I am going to yell at her father for forcing her to do this, you come with me. -doesnt he live in Japan? And even though you would yell at him he wouldnt understand you because of language difference. Well, he probably knows English though. Still, its true that it doesnt feel right. -you are wrong Onii-chan, although it might be hard and I hated it for some time . -see she hated it! -let her finish. -I am happy that I am successor for all those years. What she said before somehow didnt follow up with last sentence. Kotori had to ask. -why is that? Yuki explained. -for many years I wanted to quit but my father liked when I trained with him so I didnt leave. As the time went on, I felt that its even more stupid and useless, that I wont ever need it in my life at all. -well thats natural thinking isnt it. So how much do you think it cost to go to Japan, Arata? -let her finish. -I told my father about it and he even agreed with me, and told me that I dont have to be successor anymore and I can decide what I want to do. -so you can stop being successor, right? What did you do? -I didnt know what to do. I dont have many friends to begin with. -see what happened! A sad life without friends. No, we really are going to Japan, Arata! -let her finish. -I asked mother about it. She said that normal kids play games so I decided to play one as well. I asked father for a good game and next day he came back with large strange object in the car. He told me that he asked friend for advice and this turned out to be most popular game. We read instruction on how does it work and I ended up here. From that moment I didnt regret being successor anymore. Here things that I have learned have a meaning, and thanks to that I meet leader, Onii-chan and even made a friend. -hey Arata, isnt it the saddest story that you have heard? -she lived happy ever after, so its not a sad story. -I still want to be successor even if only for staying in this game with everyone. My father also will be happy. Yuki added one more sentence. -see, there is no problem. Arata thought that it was not as bad as he first heard so he wanted to leave the subject. Still, Kotori didnt give up. -no Arata. There is still one big problem. Yuki you said that you dont care about being successor much right? -now I do. -you know that you dont have to some strange successor to stay with us. No one here is one. Right Arata? Kotori looked at Arata with question. Arata nod his head signaling he was not. It was the truth but somehow Kotori wasnt 100% convinced. Yuki continued. -still, my father likes when . Kotori interrupted her. -no! All he likes is to spend time with his daughter. I think he would be just as happy if you were a normal girl running around in skirts, gathering flowers in park and bringing them to him. That some definition of normal girl, she has. -flowers? The small things in the grass. -yes those one, anyway you want to be normal girl? -I wanted for years but now that I play this game I am somewhat happy that I can do things, others could not. Because Arata experienced her skills first hand he once again said. -Kotori, if she is happy being successor you should just give up. -Arata you werent listening at all, were you? Yuki, the only thing that you want from being a successor is fighting abilities for a game, right? -yes. -so why dont you just give up being successor and continue training like you used to. - . Yuki started to wonder. Arata wasnt convinced. -does it change anything? -of course it does. If she stops being that successor thing, she will be able to have a normal life, and still spend time with her father on training. She will also be very good player for our guild so she shouldnt stop that. -well thats true, what do you say Yuki? Arata turned to Yuki who was standing without moving. Tears were pouring from her eyes. Kotori walked up to her and hugged her in mother-like way. -must have been thought. But now you can start a new life. Here is the bunny. This time Yuki took the bunny. She hugged it and cried out. For Arata the whole conversation didnt seem that serious but after seeing Yukis reaction now, he finally understood how much it changed. They stayed like that for 5 minutes then Kotori stood up. -arigatou, Onee-chan. In the end Yuki ended up saying those words. -see Arata. That is true good happy ending. But she just called me Onee-chan, what does it mean? I know that arigatou is thank you but I dont follow this one. -I have no idea. -but she calls you similar. -yes, I was going to ask Gerald about it but he went to sleep so we will have to ask later. Not that I care that much. -ah Arata, just look at her now. Isnt it a beautiful picture. A little girl with short white hair, hugging a white bunny in her arms. Arata made a comment. -katana at her back somehow doesnt fit it. -what are you saying, its fit her perfectly. The clothes however are the problem. We need to get her something else than this worn out armor. Hmm, I think I saw something similar somewhere. Arata also spotted few similarities. -me too, even though on first glance its looks good and new, if you look carefully, you will see that material was of low quality. -well thats the problem too, but the main problem is that those clothes dont fit her. The color and design are all bad. And the material looks to old. There is not a single thing that I like about its look. -items are supposed to give stats. Look is a secondary thing. -its not a rule of VR Arata. In computer MMOs sure but in this game we are normally walking around its not our Avatars. Well, they are Avatars but we are inside them so its different. -I get what you are saying. Its better to wear things that are comfortable and easy to move in. -there is this but I was talking that you want to look good in items that you wear. -still, look shouldnt be the priority. -well seeing you walking in black all the time I understand that you dont understand fashion at all. -hey. -well the coat is fine and its have a good design. -its a rare drop after all. -but why did you buy black clothes to it as well? -em, good stats? -you are a game maniac after all. -you are not? -I am still a girl you know. Lets leave it at that there is no point in discussing it. I will just dress you up someday but for now you are at least at acceptable level. Yuki is in way worse state. So do you have some money so we could buy something for her? I just lost most of my money on that game. And we didnt loot much in last adventure. -well, I have some but it is not enough for anything good. -in that case we should ask someone to let it to us. -I have gold. Yuki stopped them as they were trying to come up who should they ask. -you have? -yes, I did some quests in that first big city and earned a little. I also got a bonus from the test. And also the big kobold dropped a lot of money, -you mean jobs right. And what bonus did Gerald give you? -not guilds test, the one in the forest. As for jobs I did some as well but the quests were much more rewarding. I also got this sword out of it. -good job Yuki. Quests are not that easy after all. You found them in city of beginners, right? -two of them yes, the third one I got in the forest after I received the bonus. -what did you do that you got the bonus? Interested in it Arata asked. He didnt get any bonus even though he did it without dying on first try. He asked. -well, I wanted a strong opponent, and strong opponents mean a lot of points. So I found and fought against the bear. After defeating it I got 10 gold and a quest. Quest was quite easy I just needed to find a cave, defeat another bear and get the reward which was this white katana. It appeared in the sky before me out of nowhere. Anyway with quests, this bonus and gold which dropped on guild test I have 50 gold right now. -did you hear this Arata? She has a lot of it. - Arata didnt answer. Kotori waved her hand before his eyes. -hey Arata! I understood somehow that she defeated the giant kobold but the bear? No way! And two of them in row? Impossible? Was this the same bear that I meet? Well there were few bear from what I remember so maybe they are different but still, what if she won against that one emmmm, how did I win our fight, again? I dont remember anymore. Aratas mind was broken. Kotori gave up. -hey Arata! Hey!!No, never mind. Anyway Yuki if you have so much gold why didnt you buy something better? -I did, after reaching this city I wanted to buy something and went to one shop. I asked for best things they have and I got this. Its not that bad and it says that it was made by a great crafter. -where did you buy it!? Yuki pointed in one direction and started. -if we go that way, there is a big building where smoke is coming out from a chimney all the time. There is also sign there that says, you want to buy something then you have come to the right place. The seller is quite friendly and even knows Japanese. -that way!? Arata isnt it that smelly forge She killed the bear! She killed the bear! She killed the bear! Arata was still in his thoughts though. -hey wake up already! Kotori started to wave her hand before his eyes once again. -Kotori? -good, you are back, anyway if we go this way we end up in the forge right? Relax it couldnt be that bear. Arata arrived at the explanation that gave him the peace of mind but he will never know for sure. -em I think so, why do you ask? -so you werent listening! To make story short, I need to have a talk with that seller there. -with Marty? Sure we can go there but the shop is closed until they are done with my sword. -when will they be done? -they said two days so it should be still closed. -didnt they say around two days? -something like that, it was soon I think. I plan to go there tomorrow morning. -well my item was also going to take two days but look the line is here again. Kotori pointed at the fortune telling stall that was in visible range and it was as popular as ever. -it really is. -the woman said that she will close the business until she is done and in two days I should come back. -hmm, it looks like she is done now. -in that case I will go get it, wait for me. -but the line? -who cares about lines. Kotori moved to the front of the line and entered the tent like nothing, ignoring the angry shouts. Normally if someone tried to do that they were pushed back by some kind of force field but it looked like it only applied to people who wanted a fortune telling. Seeing it Yuki asked. -hey Onii-chan should you do something like that? -technically no but when you are in hurry you can sometimes bound the rules. -I will remember that. Ah, I gave her bad example, well she will forget about it soon enough. Ten minutes later Kotori went back. -so how is it Arata? - . Arata was once again stunned by Kotori when she showed him her new item. It didnt look like normal item that you normally use in games. One could say that it was a head spin as it was quite similar to it. It was in a shape of large, gold sunflower. It was now on left top of her head tangled in her golden hair on the right. Kotori was satisfied with Arata stunned reaction. -I choose the design myself. And its not only looks good but its stats are really overpowered you know. Item itself even level up with me so I dont think that I will have to change it. At least not any time soon. -ah Onee-chan my sword is also like that. Yuki commented. -so it was a class quest then. Anyway, Arata lets go get your sword and buy her some clothes. My guess is that they should be done with it by now. Arata still hypnotized by her said. -yes that. They made their way to the forge. There were two familiar people walking out from there. -see Zen, the patient ones are always rewarded. -what are you saying? We could get it before without waiting. -we wouldnt have money for that. -okay lets forgot about it, we will never return here anymore. What important is that with those new gloves I will win against Arata no problem. -I am not sure about it. You saw how he fought against that girl right? -hmm, I would say that the girl was much scarier. -well she doesnt look that scary right now. Odin spotted them coming pointed at Yuki who was walking around with bunny stuffed toy in her arms. -ah Arata and Koto Zen stopped as he saw Kotori with her new item the sunflower in hair. -hello there, we are going into the forge so make the way, we will meet later. Kotori welcomed them and with Arata and Yuki entered the forge. -hey Odin? You saw that! -well an interesting design for item I must say. -does it give a stun effect the moment you see that? -Zen, give it up you dont have chance. -ah, thats why its hurts. Anyway with things like they are now I definitely need to beat Arata or I wont feel better. -just dont do anything stupid. -have I ever done anything stupid? -too many times for me to count. -maybe once or twice. Anyway we also need to get some good items ourselves dont you think? Lets look for class quests! -didnt we already talk about it. -no, no, we have to try, lets go. And so Odin and Zen went looking around the town in search of their quest. -welcome customers, ah its you Arata. Marty welcomed them as they entered the shop. -hey Marty, how is the sword? -ah its a piece of art, its truly is incredible weapon even for master Rodrigez. -so where is it? -ah yes, I should call the master. He is sleeping after the work. Marty went to wake him up using the stairs on the right. After five minutes Rodrigez was back. -Arata you wont give me a chance for sleep, will you? I told you to wait for two days. -I somehow ended up coming here now, but you are done already. -thats because my predictions involved my sleeping time so I am not done. But I understand you. The Kuroi is ready for you. -Kuroi? -its the name of the sword. -does a sword need a name in the first place? -the great ones needs it, anyway it means dark if you want to translate it. -you are bad with names you know? -blades have the names of their own, we dont name them. Must be a feature in the game, the name doesnt matter anyway. Rodrigez went to back of the shop and minute after, he returned with a beautiful black sword in his hands. He handed it to Arata with care so he doesnt touch the sharp side. It was not sheathed. [Black Sword Kuroi Damage 40-50 Strength +25 Agility +35 Attack speed +20 Reduces cost of skills by 40% Automatic upgrades on level up. Current level 54. Special skills unlock while leveling up. [Sword skill: break Using black sword, you have a chance to destroy enemy weapon.] Sword of Twilight Swordsman Arata. Its history is yet to be told. Unique class item Restriction: Twilight Swordsman Class.] Wow, its damage is like five times better than my previous one. -hahaha your face is saying everything I wanted to hear. Happy? Arata nodded his head to Rodrigez like a child who just got a Christmas present. -Arata, are you done? Afterwards, Kotori asked him. -technically, yes. Arata answered then he moved back and started to swing his sword in air. The sound had the good weight and a good sound while it cut through the air. -hey you, the one who call himself the blacksmith! In the meantime Kotori shouted. -ah its you again golden shrimp. What is it again? I see that you completed your quest. Shouldnt you be at least thankful to me for telling you where to get it. -well thank you Her thanks werent honest. -but I have a score to settle here. You are still selling old junk right? -that matter again? In the first place, why do you care about other people that much? -I dont care about them, they are weak and useless. Its good that they are ripped out of money as well. They would waste it. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. If you were a newbie, getting close to Kotori could be really dangerous. Rodrigez laughed at her remarks. -hahaha, I have similar look at it. So what is it, this time? I want to sleep a little more. I didnt sleep much since five days, you know. -all you have to do is to apologies to this girl! She presented Yuki at front. Rodrigez answered. -never seen her before. I wouldnt apologize anyway. I never do things that need apologizing for. But strange hair you have there you white shrimp. Hey Arata! Is that your offspring? Hahaha. Arata come back. He already sheathed his sword in a sheath that Marty gave him. Arata answered. -yes, yes very funny, anyway look at her gear. -ah, that what you are here about It looked like Rodrigez finally understood. He started talking with Marty. -Marty, you are cruel you know, swindling small kids like that. You should show some mercy sometimes. -but you said, if someone doesnt see the difference sell them usual stuff. -well I did but its a kid, anyway if you are not sure of something, just call me. -you would do the same thing. -I am a good guy you know. -good guy maybe but when it comes to money its definitely not it. You would rob her from every penny. I only sold her some clothing that she wanted for usual price. -Marty, if you decide to be evil, you have to stick to it. If you rob someone, rob them out from everything and leave them with nothing. Thats a definition of good shopkeeper. Marty remarked. -and how does it make you a good guy? -hahaha. Anyway because you are Aratas friend you can return those items with full refund. -arigatou ojii-san. -ye, ye, I am good ojii-san It seemed that even Rodrigez had a weak side for this kid. -hey Arata, what does it mean? -no idea. -it means . Marty tried to explain but was interrupted. -well its not important you dont have to tell me Marty, anyway I will soon find something that will- Rodrigez started to open some drawers but he was interrupted by Kotori. -stop right there! -what is it again, golden shrimp? -I dont trust your sense of style. Show me everything you have and I will choose the right stuff. -shouldnt the little one be the one to choose it herself? -I am helping her, so dont try to sell yet garbage! -hey, Arata. Keep your girlfriend in check please. I am an artist, I know my stuff. -Kotori relax. He really is master of all crafts look at my sword. - fine, you can have one try. -Marty make them some tea or something, it will take a while. Little one with white hair, give that sword to Arata for now and come with me, I will need to remake an armor so if fit your figure. It should take about the hour. Rodrigez went to the back to his forge through the left entrance on the back wall. -hey where are you going? -Kotori relax, anyway Yuki give me the sword and go there with uncle Rodrigez. Yuki removed her sword over from head and gave it to Arata, after that quickly run back to the shop. -hmm why didnt she just hide it in inventory? After about a minute Kotori asked. -oh, I have forgotten that she can do that, well it doesnt matter. Hey Marty do you have anything for some higher level I could buy something? -we mostly deal in low level stuff, as high level people dont come here very often, we have some items sure but they are not for your class. But should you get the material master Rodrigez can make anything. -see this smelly forge doesnt have anything useful. -dont worry lady, even though our stock is limited we have very good items, for example would you be interested in those boots. Marty took out silver boots out from the self and showed it to Kotori. -hey Arata they give movement speed and intelligence. -see, there are something here after all. -hey how much is it. -ah its only 15 gold. Well thats suspected for an item which is for level 50 after all. -once again, how much is it? Kotori winked few time and with a smile asked once again. -I said that its. -please remember that you angrier me few times already and I fell like roasting someone with my spells. -master! Marty screamed in panic. Kotori kept her calm and continued. -no, no, dont you know he is busy? Dont disturb him. So how much is it? -em what price would you offer? In moment Marty lost all of his merchant abilities. -Arata can you lead me some money as I said I used all on the game. -well I only have 5 gold on hand, I can lead you this. -yes please I will return them soon, anyway 5 gold for this boots is the last offer. -but, but hey Arata you are a friend to the shop. Help me! Master will kill me for that. Marty tried to look for help in him but Arata didnt even move. -no one will ever know. And dont look for help in Arata. He is with me on this. Kotori had no mercy. In the end Marty gave up and sold the boots for 5 gold. -thank you for buying, please dont come again. Marty said the usual phrase although he changed the last part of it. -thats not very nice thing to say to customers. Anyway where is the tea? You were going to bring some tea? Marty with lowered head went up to make tea. Arata and Kotori were the only ones left now. -you should be more nice to him you know. -I just getting started, wait till that blacksmith comes up with some stupid clothes, I will sink him in no time. -what are you, a devil? -you have to be like that when doing business, my Dad thought me that. He works in business where he has to buy cheap and sell for a high price. Being merciless is very important here. -I dont think that you will win against Rodrigez but you can do what you want. -haha, I wont be like you when you got your sword. -but it is a good sword. -you could still complain. -where is the sense in that? So even if those clothes will be good you are still going to complain right? -of course! Thanks to that the price will be lower. I should help my cute little guildmate after all. I didnt say anything when you were getting a sword because that was quest reward. I would help you if there was money on the line. -how nice of you. -anyway I need to think up a good response to the blacksmith as he is indeed a good talker. Normal methods wont work. But I already saw his weak point. He has a great pride in his crafts so I will just point every little thing that isnt done right. -he will just laugh that off like always. -we wont know until we try. First Marty came with the tea. Then after about three hour and a half Rodrigez come back. Kotori didnt even wait until he passes the door. -hey, old man what took you so long! -Arata why does she keep doing it? -happens, its some kind of tac Rodrigez completely ignored her and speak with Arata. When Arata was answering Kotori stopped his mouth with hand. -shh! She whispered to him and continued loudly to Rodrigez. -so where is Yuki!? -changing, she will soon be here. -why did it take so long!? Wasnt it going to take only an hour!? -well, it was specific design so it had to take a while. I also didnt sleep for more than a day so I took a short nap in the meantime. -so you did a bad job and try to say that its because you were tired! Following her tactic, Kotori was already saying that clothes were made poorly before she even saw them but just like Arata expected, blacksmith Rodrigez laughed it off. -hahaha, if you have to know then even in sleep my crafts are always of highest quality. As to why it took so long, its because I decided to change the design at some point. In the middle of my work I got what I call an inspiration. -inspiration you say. Kotori was not convinced. Arata already decided to not take part in it so he just stayed quiet. Rodrigez continued. -my inspiration right now is in its highest gear. In few days I created rare iron shield, Aratas sword and now this. The more great work I do, the better they become, I call it a craft combo. Ah, I live for moments like that. Just wait and see it golden shrimp then you can continue talking. Sorry but no matter how it will turn out you wont escape. Kotori was going to complain regardless of outcome. But then, when Yuki entered the room somehow she didnt say anything, Arata also didnt say anything. Marty commented. -as suspected of master Rodrigez, the shirt was made from that right? Yuki was wearing long black boots up to the thighs. Black shorts and black gloves. Then as the main part of clothing was a white-silver shirt similar to Yukis hair color. Rodrigez answered to Marty. -you can tell, dont you? It was a perfect opportunity to use that because it was for someone as small as her. -you didnt have enough material to make it full sized, thats why it was in stock lying for so long. -exactly but its good that it wasnt wasted They spoke about material that was used for making Yukis new shirt. Then Rodrigez turned to Kotori. -hey, you golden shrimp. Do you want to comment on something? It turned out great. Its like a true picture now, the balance of white and black. But Kotori will soon comment on colors. Something like, the girl should wear more colorful clothes. Still in the end, rather than complaining Kotori run to the Yuki and hugged her. -ah you look so cute now! How do you feel? -those clothes are strange a little. I never wore something like that, but they have high stats so I guess they will be okay. -who cares about stats when it looks like that, ne Arata? It looked like Kotori plan to complain was shot down. O, she switched to her cute side. -well it looks good on her. But Rodrigez, she fights on front line so why did you make her clothes like that? Arata answered. He was more focused on utility of equipment. In games it was the most important thing after all. As melee fighter she should have more armor than a range type. On the other hand even though he said that, Arata himself was not following this logic as he was also going around in leather all the time. Kotori answered. -Arata, who cares about that? She finally looks like normal girl. I will just heal her up if she gets damaged. No she doesnt look like normal girl at all. Then Rodrigez interrupted them as he said to Arata. -Arata she is the same as you. She wanted something that is easy to in move. Even so her armor is just as good as plate one. -isnt it just a thin shirt? Arata was not convinced. Rodrigez continued. -look can be deceiving and the material was of really high degree. The item turned out to be like one for level 100, no I would say that even way above it. -but she is 37 right now. -dont worry with my skills I can change the requirements without losing on quality. -as suspected of master Rodrigez. While Marty was commenting on that Yuki moved to Arata and asked. -how is it Onii-chan. I am not sure myself doesnt it look strange? -of course it doesnt, right Arata? Kotori walked up to Arata. He whispered to her. -hey Kotori, should she wear something like that? She even says that she feels strange. Even if it is a game she is twelve remember. -ah, do you remember my idea from back before that you didnt want to do? I think we really should have done that. You would be perfect for a role of overprotective father. -somehow I knew that you wanted to play house. -anyway say something to her she is waiting. But dont dare to tell her that she should change it. They stopped whispering to each other and Arata answered Yuki question. -it look okay, didnt you wanted to have something more colorful. -no, I wanted be like Onii-chan. Yuki answered. In a way currently she also was black and white just like Arata. -but colors may be. Kotori interrupted him. -Arata, she is happy so leave it at that. I also think that blacksmith did a good job. Hearing it Rodrigez made a short comment. -never thought that you will say it golden shrimp. Arata and Kotori continued. -but you wanted her to have a girly colorful clothes right? -but she have girly clothes. Color also fits her nicely. Actually it would be hard to mix her white hair with anything, you know. -well not everyone has a hair like you. Kotoris golden hair was unmatchable after all. -dont worry Onii-chan I like them that way. Anyway can you give me back my sword? Yuki asked him but Arata was once again stunned by image of his girlfriend so he did not do that right away. Still after ten seconds. -sure here it is. You need it for something? -Ojii-san said that he will look at it and see if he has anything better. -Rodrigez, I dont think that you fill find anything better than this here. Arata quickly said to him. Its class item after all. -I will just take a look. -here it is. Yuki walked up to the blacksmith and passed him the sword. -ah been a while since I have seen this design. Its unique sword indeed. I am afraid that I wont have anything like this unless you bring me specific material. Then I can make anything, it would have to be really incredible material to beat this sword though. Anyway let me see the blade. Blacksmith caught the hilt and was going to unsheathe it but then stopped. -hey master what is it? Marty asked seeing indecision of Rodrigez. -I just got cold felling when I touched it. Well there must be some curse on it. -curse? Yuki asked. -ah, dont worry as the rightful owner you wont get affected by it. Its rather a cure that prevents anyone else from using this sword. Anyway open it yourself. I am not afraid of curses, they normally doesnt do much anyway. But there is no reason to get one. Yuki took the sword and unsheathe it. The white katana clean like he hair. -nice sword isnt it master? From afar its, oh its a nice looking sword but when it coming at your heart or your neck, you will never think like that again. Arata recalled deadly attacks of Yuki in their sparing match but then. -Yuki, the name Koori is known to you? Rodrigez made a strange comment. He even used Yukis name instead of some kind of shrimp. -that the name of this sword. Yuki answered. Rodrigez froze for a second. Arata asked him. -hey whats up? Is something wrong? Rodrigez started to laugh but in other way than before. -hehehehe, and here I thought that meeting twilight swordsman was a unique event. Who would have thought? Ah, its an honor for me that you will wear my crafts young lady. Arata was the one who was most surprised by that. -what happened to your attitude out of sudden? Yuki you understand it? -I dont. -ah I see that you guys still dont know. Of course you dont, you are all still beginners. Rodrigez commented. -what should we know? Arata asked. -its about No, its better than you dont know about it. I dont plan to tell you. Marty if you figured it out as well, stay silent. -I also have no idea what is it about. -hey, tell us about it! -no, no. I will just go to sleep and think about it as nothing but a dream. Before that however, here is an advice for you girl. Dont go around showing this blade to someone like me who knows his craft. Its better if it stay silent for now. -what will stay silent? Aratas questions were not answered. -its only a dream so I dont have to answer. Anyway good luck on your journey Arata, Yuki and even you golden shrimp as you will need a lot of it. Rodrigez waved his hand and walk up the stairs. Kotori asked. -Arata, you understand anything out of it? -its something about Yukis profession I guess. -so Yuki got unique class. We already have many unique classes in our guild so it doesnt make a huge difference. You yourself have even two. -yes class is secondary thing anyway. What is important is individual skill of every player. Lets just ignore it. They walked outside the blacksmith shop and Kotori soon asked. -emm Arata you wont ask? -you know its rude to ask people about their classes. -there is no way that I wont ask after seeing reaction like that. Hey Yuki what is your class? Kotori right away asked her but Yuki only answered. -sorry Onee-chan, I cant tell anyone, even to you and Onii-chan. -why is that!? You are shy!? Well you dont have to tell us if you dont want to. I also didnt except her to refuse. Well hiding class is natural as it gives away your weakness but she shouldnt care with us. Also the class system in this game is so complicated that the name isnt much. If there were say ten classes then I would know the spells of all of them and know what to expect but if there is unlimited number of classes then its impossible. -no, I want to tell you but I cant. If I do that, I wont be able to stay with you anymore. -why is that? -Gerald, I mean leader told me that if I tell someone about my class he will kick me out. For Gerald to say something like this? Well, I sure he had his reasons. But I already got bad feeling about the whole thing. Arata stayed logical but Kotori right away bursted out. -hey Arata, you heard that! It was actually the first time that Arata saw her angry. Although to him her angry state was still really cute. -easy Kotori. -I going to him right now and tell him that if he dares to kick Yuki out then we are leaving as well! -take it easy Kotori. -no way, I can take it easy! Also Arata you have to beat him up at least once or twice or I wont be satisfied! And how I am supposed to stop that? -you are the one that just said that she dont have to tell us her class. -that is one thing! Kicking our little Yuki out because she tell someone her class is different! Anyway we are going to the hill now! If he is still asleep we will have good chance at surprise attack! -hey Kotori wait. -no time to wait Arata! Yuki you just stay back and watch as we deal with him. Arata you said that he will be a good leader so I believed you but can you still say that? -sure, Gerald is a good leader. -good leader wouldnt kick anyone because of that! -stop fighting! Yuki interrupted them. -what is it Yuki? Dont worry, we will soon get that leader of ours and . -Onee-chan you dont understand. -what I dont understand? Didnt he tell you that he may kick you from guild if you just say one thing? Well even if he had a reason it might be a little too harsh. Especially for an 11 years old kid, like Yuki. Also, we cant give up on someone who can defeat the forest bear for sure. -its not like this Yuki started explaining. -I will tell you the whole story. The first time I meet leader was when he found me on the road when I was going to the Loris, after I completing the quest in the forest. -on the road? I thought he was looking for members only in the village wasnt he? Arata already found it strange. -he might have started to look around elsewhere. Kotori commented. Yuki simply continued. -I dont know if he was looking there or not but when we first meet I was about an hour in walking distance away from the village, and he didnt look like he was looking for people there. -so how did he end up there? Arata asked. -I dont know. I think he was looking for something. -and what did he found? -no, he didnt find anything, when I saw him first time. He was simply standing on the road looking around. I asked if he lost something on the way as he was doing that. I thought that maybe I saw it somewhere and would be able to help. -and? and? -well he said something strange. The words were I am looking for something that I know is not here. He really was convinced that this thing was not there but even despite that he kept looking around for nearly an hour. He had a desperate look in his eyes, completely different from his usual smiling face Desperate look, him? -because I felt like I shouldnt just leave him there, I stayed till he finished. Although he didnt actually do anything in particular. When he finished I spoke with him a little and asked if he knows any strong opponents. When I asked that he told me about guild test and if I feel like joining for the test as he doesnt have enough people. After I said that I want to go, he told me to meet him at the hill, the one where we meet today. Then he ran back to village as he had to look for more people. He disappeared from my sight in few seconds despite the ground being flat. -okay, there are few concerning part in your story already but when did he tell you about kicking you out? -well its not exactly like that. Anyway after I passed the test, leader showed up. Although, he wasnt in his usual mood. He was not happy, I guess. -what do you mean not happy. He found golden egg for guild. He should be happy. -he was not, actually his voice was quite sad. Maybe he was just tired. It felt that while he was looking at me, it was like he was looking at someone else. Anyway at that moment he told me that I shouldnt tell anyone about my class and if it not necessary, restrain from using skill too much in other people presence so no one can figure it out. -hey Arata isnt it strange? Not using skills? -she can manage without them anyway so maybe its some kind of training. I am also not using my skills if not necessary. So Yuki at that moment Gerald told you that he will kick you out if you tell someone? -no, he just said that I cant tell about my class to anyone even to people who are in the same guild and if I cant come up with reason for it, I can tell this lie. -see Kotori there is no problem. -so he just wants to keep a secret to himself, eh. Kotori said that but Yuki denied it strongly. -thats not true! I dont know why but he was really worried about me. He even said that even if someone will find out, he will do his best as guild leader and take responsibility for it. -okay, now I want to know even more right now. Please Yuki, you have to tell us! -Kotori stop it. Yuki keep your word and dont tell anyone about it. -hey Arata why so serious? You know what it is about? Even if she tells us no one will ever know. -no idea, but you should leave it for now. -sure after I find out I will leave it alone. -Kotori, just leave it. -but arent you curious about it? Its probably just some new crazy idea of his. -anyway just leave it, okay? -but. -promise! -okay, okay. But know that I doing it only because you asked me for it. But you also shouldnt take it so serious. -Onee-chan is right, you dont have worry. Leader also said that its not that serious but its just better to be it that way. -there is no problem so I dont have to worry at all. If something is going to bound to happen it will happen. Anyway lets go to the gate. Arata said. -werent we supposed to get there tomorrow morning? Kotori asked. -its already nearly a night time so we will just go there now. Sleep and be ready tomorrow right away. -lets find some inn and finally sleep in some bed. I didnt sleep in a bed in this game so far. -its nothing special its the same as normal sleeping. Arata answered as he had experience in sleeping in bed in Marcos restaurant. -I just hope we find something. They went and found a place to sleep near the gate. During the night Arata thought about what have happened. He at least knew, that Gerald wouldnt say things like that just because he wanted to play around. The matter must have been at least a little serious but what could it be Arata did not know. Although he told Kotori to leave it up, he decided to ask Gerald about it the first time when he got the chance. http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3217 Chapter 15 “Journey” _15.1 Chapter 15 Journey The night has ended and the first cock crowed but he was no longer in the Inn in which he stayed last night. He woke up early and after leaving message to Kotori he left the house. His destination was meeting place near the gate where he hoped to meet Gerald. He had something to ask him about. But when he arrived at his destination no one was there. Well its two hours before the time after all. He expected that no one should appear any time soon but after ten minutes however, Loki has arrived there as well. Loki didnt come from direction of Loris but rather he came from the fields. He also was not walking but rather he came with cart. The cart was pulled by two horses. Loki parked it in some distance away from the gate. There was also another cart following after him. That cart parked next to the other one. Loki spoke for a minute with a man that came raiding it. It was not someone Arata knew. Loki and the man soon after entered the city. The man just passed by but Loki stopped after seeing him. -Arata, you are here already? Loki didnt expect anyone to be there at this hour. After all, it was still not even six oclock. This means middle of night. -Loki I see that you got us a nice transport. Seeing what Loki brought with him Arata commented. -this is the best you can find for this amount of people in this part of world that is. Anyway how is the quest? -I finished it yesterday. -then we can move without delay. Still, why are you here already? There is still some time left or rather a lot of it. -well, I wanted to ask Gerald about something. -he wont be here anytime soon. If he was alone right now, he would definitely be late, he didnt sleep much lately. Not that he likes to wake up at this hour anyway. Still, his effort paid off and he found the ninth member. Kelly will wake him up so he should show up just on time. Anyway what did you want to ask? Maybe I will be able to answer that. I can always try with him. -do you know something about our new member Yuki? Arata answered the question right away. -not much or rather I didnt even spoke to her yet. You probably know more than me. But is something wrong with her? From where I saw, you had a hard time with her. There shouldnt be problems with her fighting ability. I also think that age doesnt matter as long as someone is good enough to pass our test. -well, if you dont know its fine. Seems like he doesnt know what it is about. Although is there even something to begin with? -hey, now I am interested. You cant just cut it off like that. What exactly you wanted to ask? Still Loki got interested as well. I might as well tell him everything. Arata told the story that he heard yesterday from Yuki. Loki was hearing every word of it with great interest without interrupting like some people had in habit. When Arata ended, he finally commented on it. -Gerald said that? Well I still dont know why would he do that but Arata, if he is like that just leave it be. In the end Loki gave him advice like this. -well, this is the same thing I told Kotori yesterday. -see. Listen to your own advice. I also would want to know more but there is no reason to ask about it. After all Gerald said that it is not serious. -I am not sure about it. If it wasnt serious he wouldnt have said that at all. -well, I see where it coming from so. Okay, let assume that he told you what you want to know. What would you do then? -well, that depends on what would he say. -let assume its something that you cant do anything about. You would just have to worry about it. Is there reason for you to know? -but it can be something that I can change. -well, if it is he will tell you about it. Gerald is always like that. It may also be that he just didnt want to bother saying anything and went to sleep right away. Anyway Arata dont ask him about it and wait until he tells you. -easy for you to say as he will tell you about it the moment he see you. -I wont hide that that may be true. But he doesnt tell me everything just because I ask for it. -yea sure. -we dont know each other for that long. Well we knew each other way before but we didnt hang out together that much until we started this guild. He rather played with my sister and Loki stopped for a moment then deadly serious and more loudly said. -Arata, its really important so listen. Do not ever mention my sister in front of him! NEVER! Also dont ask why. I will repeat once again, NEVER! Wow, its the first time I seeing him raise his voice. -okay, okay never. Why so serious? Back to the topic, so you two werent playing together before? Arata for one wouldnt try to go into someone past without permission so he just leave it behind. -we werent. I just got mixed with him from time to time because of my si Loki stopped once more and continued -anyway, right now we are playing together. We are creating guild after all. Still I dont ask him for things that he doesnt want to talk about, in truth I dont ask people many questions to begin with. Still Arata, if you are still going to ask that question. I can already give you his answer, I will tell you when the time is right is what he will say. -I thought the same. But I wanted to see his reaction at least. -whose reaction? It was not Loki who said that. -you know, Geralds reaction. -my reaction, reaction to what? Gerald appeared behind Arata and played a little. Arata jumped back seeing him appear out of nowhere. -what are you doing here!? -I came to check the horses. Gerald just joked around. -yes, yes very funny. -anyway you wanted something from me? I am here so ask away. -no I dont want anymore. Arata give up. Gerald continued. -whats with him Loki? -he wanted to ask something but just gave up, -Arata, if you want to ask, then ask away. I am guild leader and I should answer to any troubles of my guildmates. -Arata forget what I just told you, if he is like this, its really nothing ask away. Loki added this sentence. Despite what Yuki said yesterday, Arata did not see any change in Geralds behavior. There actually was also nothing in particular about his yesterdays behavior either. Although Arata already give up one, he changed his mind. -hey Gerald, what is with our newest member? -you mean Yuki, she is good isnt she? I have found a golden child. She will do many great things with us. But its better if you ask her herself if you want to know something. There is no reason to ask me. -what is her class? Arata went straight to the point. -hmm, you dont ask just because you are curious, are you? Even after hearing this question Geralds behavior did not change still his answer was intriguing. -she told us how you found her and what you told her after her test so and its seems strange. -strange, hmm? Well, sorry Arata, you will have to wait for this answer, I will tell you when the time is right. Just like expected. Arata predict this answer. Loki hearing Geralds answer said. -why wont you just tell him? Its not like it would bother him to know, right? Loki was not 100% sure about it so he added question at the end. Gerald answered. -I cant tell him because he wouldnt understand it anyway. Also its not like something will happen out of it, at least in the near future. Its actual just an old story that probably doesnt mean anything today. So, its just better to leave it for now. How is that answer Arata? -well I have a huge amount of patience. But at least, can you tell me when the time will be right? -what you just said shows that this amount is not that huge as you think. Hahaha Gerald still did not show any of unusual behavior that Yuki told Arata about. If he can laugh like that there is nothing to worry about. -fine you dont have to tell me. -lets see. Get to level 200 and we will talk about it again, until then there is no meaning in it anyway. 200? Well at least its defined answer. I have no idea what level has to do with though. -okay but how long it takes to ding 200? -It took over a year real-time for a first player to get to 199 level. As for level 200, its a little different story for a different time. -a year? -now it shouldnt take this long. Also you dont have to worry about your leveling up speed. Normally dinging level 50 takes about few months. You are going fast. It seemed like Arata was breaking some records with his level. -still if its like this I will forget about the whole matter before I even get there. -if that happens I will just remind you about it, well its not like you have to know anyway nothing should come out from it. Anyway where is everyone? Shouldnt we start our journey now? Gerald once again looked around but apart from Arata and Loki everyone else was normal at least in this regard and still sleep well in bed. -its still over an hour before the meeting time. Anyway what are you doing here at this hour, I thought that you were sleeping. Loki asked. -but I went to sleep quite early, after all. And why did I come here? I thought that you may be here and as I need to tell you something so I came here. But it looks like it will have to wait for another time. Gerald sent a glare at Arata and kept on staring on him, in the most annoying way possible. -fine, have your secrets, I will move away. -hahaha, you are so understanding it shouldnt take long. Arata moved out of hearing range and Gerald started to talk with Loki about something. Aaa, I curious. To Arata surprise it didnt took more than five minutes before Gerald called him back. After the talk, Loki sat down on the ground and started looking up to the sky. He also took out a cigarette and started smoking it. He started sending the smoke out of his mouth upward. Seeing this posture, Arata asked once again. -hey what did you tell him!? -hahaha, dont worry he is always like that. Anyway, as I said, its nothing serious. Right, Loki? Loki moved his head a little and mumbled to himself. -how did it ended up like that? Gerald next time, dont tell me about stuff like that. I would also be better not knowing. -what are you saying you are my right hand, remember? -I would have a peaceful life never knowing the truth and now you destroyed it. Now I really, really want to know. -dont say stuff like that. Look Arata cant hold back anymore, he will soon attack us to get the truth. That may be one option. Loki moved his head back to the sky and said. -Arata, you wont understand a word out from it, and explaining everything wouldnt give a clean answer either. Rather for you it would be a fairy tale which you wouldnt believe anyway. But as Gerald said its nothing bad I think so leave it be. -your eyes are saying different thing. Loki was not answering anymore. Gerald laughed. -hahaha, he is always like that, but we closed this subject already. Right now, we have important stuff to do. Loki how is the transport? - . Yes, definitely nothing bad or serious. Loki also didnt answer Geralds question. -well we have much time and knowing you everything is ready. Hey Arata why are looking at me like that? Currently Arata was making a look that was saying. tell me, tell me, tell me. Still after Gerald asked he stopped doing so, -never mind. -is that so, well then. So how its been Arata? You have anything interesting to say, its been a while since we talked. -not really. -if you say so. Then I will ask how is the guild growing? I must say that I was too focused on looking for new members that I didnt talk much too actually members, especially those who werent scouted by me. -if you want to know then they all think that Loki would be better leader and wonder how you ended up in that position. Arata was merciless here, but there was some truth in it. Zen and Odin didnt have a chance to speak with Gerald too much. Kotori was also in this group. She only had her first impression and some of Aratas description thats all. Well because Arata mentioned their duel and how badly he was beaten she didnt have bad opinion of him. Still Gerald did not care and just laugh it off. -hahaha, Loki is a good guy after all. But I should talk with them a little more it seems. It also is one of my duties as a leader. Although I know about them quite a lot. I dont need a long time to understand someone. -you may, but normal people need it. -hmm, do we even have any normal people in the guild? Ah, Arata you should talk with them more. Its seems that you dont know them at all. Even Gerald thought that Refrain was full bunch of weirdoes. -well, we have a leader like that so no one can be normal anymore. -hahaha. Anyway why are they so late, we could start already. Even Kelly whom I told to come after me. -no its we who are too early. -eh I am boredoh I come up with a good plan if some of them came. -what plan? -you said it yourself, that I need more respect from players that dont know me right? -well its hard to respect someone when you never talked with them. -I think so too. That why I came up with a plan, anyway there is still much time so maybe I will be able to execute it. It took some time before anyone came but thirty minutes before meeting time Zen and Odin came as well. -hey Arata, great that you are here. Lets have a match! -you are always on it, Zen. But today, I up for it and we have some time. Arata was tired of waiting and this match was something that he also wanted to take part in. Zen was quite happy hearing it. -haha, Odin you heard that, its finally the time for Zen vs Arata shutdown! -well, good luck Zen. Odin answered in sleepy voice. -I dont need something like luck. -stop! Gerald stood up walked to the two who just arrived. They didnt speak with him before so they didnt know what to say. Or in what manner should they speak. -em is something wrong with a small sparing, Leader? -of course not, its actually good to see that you are so lively but I just want to speak with you two a little. -with us? -yes, we already spoke few times so this time I want to do something different. -what is it leader? And arent we preparing for something? -ah that is a good answer. Always remember to call me leader And here I thought that he had a good idea, but its the leader thing again. -anyway you two come with me. We will have a little sparing. Geralds idea was not something too original given a situation, still he probably thought about it earlier. Both Odin and Zen were surprised by this invitation. Zen said. -sparing? Me and Odin? -well, sorry that I disturb your fight with Arata, I am sure that it would be a great show, but you two will have a fight with me So, he wants to massacre them to show that he is good player? - well fight is a big word. It would be a game rather. -a game? -just come with me outside? I will explain. They moved just outside the walls of the village, Arata followed as he didnt have anything to do. Loki was still in his not moving position for quite a while and it was his third cigarette already. They moved away so nothing bothers them. There werent many players who passed at this hour. Gerald started. -okay so our game is simple. I sit here and close my eyes. Your objective is to attack me. It doesnt have to any damage it just has to touch me. I will not move. Hey Arata, you want to take part as well? -nah, I will pass. -as you wish, okay you two the game begins now. Gerald sited on grass and closed his eyes. Zen and Odin were standing there not knowing what to do. -hey, Zen? Is it alright to just attack him? He really just sitting there with closed eyes. -he must want to test us or something, but if he wants a one shoot then, hehe. -ah, do what you want. Zen unsheathed his sword and with right hand he lifted it to the sky. The left hand he pointed in Geralds direction. Few seconds later, a lighting struck Zens sword. But it didnt damage Zen. It looked like he somewhat caught it. With no delay it was released from left hand and went straight into Gerald. -hahahaaa. Zen laughed for a second but seeing how his attack results he soon stopped. Gerald commented. -as excepted from a person who passed our test. Your lighting strike would be hard to dodge. Even though Gerald said that Zens attack didnt hit him. -Odin, what happened? -well it disappeared at some point. -what do you mean disappeared? -its just disappeared I tell you. Anyway, I will try next and see how it goes. Odin rushed at Gerald. When coming close he swung his axe at him. But it had no effect and the axe bounced out in midair. -hmm, its some kind of magical barrier. I cant get pass through it. He must have summoned it. -no, no I didnt do anything of this sort. As you can see, I just sit here. -so what is this? Odin once again swung his axe and it bounced yet again. Gerald continued. -ah its not my fault its only your axe doesnt want to hit me thats all. -ha? -items are not stupid you know, they dont want to be destroyed, that why it stops your attacks. Say what!!!?? No its definitely not it. I can believe that items can be destroyed if they hit the wrong thing but they cant be afraid of something! Yep, its Gerald after all he is just playing around again. Arata could read through Geralds lie. Still Zen and Odin took it seriously. -hey Zen, do you understand anything out of it? -em items dont want to attack him so they bounced off. Is that even possible? And what about magic. It disappeared as well. -maybe it got scared as well. -are you serious? Magic and weapon can be afraid of someone? -hahaha, you really believed that? Then they hear a laugh. Gerald couldnt hold it anymore. - . - . Odin and Zen stared on each other. He always comes up with ideas like this. It looks serious at first then he laugh at you because you took it too seriously. Ah, good thing I didnt take part in it. Arata had experienced it too many times to get fooled. Gerald continued. -no your faces a second ago were priceless. Of course its a barrier Gerald stood up and looked at both Zen and Odin. They didnt attack anymore. -what? Are you done already? After saying this Gerald got attacked by Zen sword right away. Gerald caught the blade in his hand and stopped it. -good, fast attack when opponent looks like he is off guard. Also hey, look you won the first round. After all, your attack touched me. But the barrier is boring after all so I switched it off. In comparison I can move now, what do you say? -eat my fireball! The same surprise attack that he once used on Arata. Gerald didnt try to dodge it and this time it really looked like the fireball ran away in fear. -ahhh, you had to use this element. I promise that this time I really didnt do anything. Its just that fire attacks cant touch me. -shield now! Zen shouted and Odin rushed with his shield at Gerald. It was well combined attack but it didnt surprise Gerald at all. He just made one step back and pulled Zen into his position by his arm. Zen got hit by Odins attack and fell to the ground. Gerald added. -by the way try not to kill yourself. We have something to do later and it would be a waste to wait for you 10 days. Arata was looking at it from afar. So he is massacring them after all. Though as much. He couldnt even wait five minutes before changing his tactic. -hey Arata what is happening? Kotori welcomed him as she walked up to him with Yuki. -nothing really, Gerald just got bored and it turned out like this. Arata still looked as poor Zen and Odin were trying to come up with strategy against Gerald. He remembered that he also had similar experience once. -isnt it obvious that as he will win as he have higher level. Kotori commented. -no they are not fighting, they are playing around. -so why are they in bruises and I even see blood here and there. -well, they hit themselves when they were trying to attack Gerald. Gerald didnt do anything yet, really. -but doesnt he just walks around them? Your dodges are much more spectacular Arata. -the thing that he just walk around like its nothing, is the scariest part. Anyway maybe you also want to try? Kotori looked at Zen and Odin who were trying their best in vain. It was somehow not really appealing to her. Imaging that she would ended up like that, she answered. -nah I am good, anyway why are they doing it? -Gerald came up with idea that he will just let them attack him for a while so they will have more respect for him, at least as fighter. That is what I think his idea was at least. -your assurance is enough for me so I dont have to try that, right? Anyway its easy to see that he is good player. So everyone is here already? -Anari and Kelly are still not here. There are still 10 minutes left. You saw Loki already? -well he is siting and looking at the sky while smoking. Well, he was always like that. -you felt anything strange from him? -well, he answer when I great him but apart from that nothing unusual. Although, he must be bored right now. He has the same dead look that he had when I was on my training. Soon Anari and Kelly showed up. Kotori welcomed them -hi there, -yes hello, anyway can you tell me what those idiots are doing? After quick greetings Kelly went right to the point. Arata answered. -well Gerald thought that its good idea so . -so he decided to put it in plan, yes, yes. Anyway fighting against him doesnt have any meaning as he can block most of attacks with his barrier. You would need really strong attack to get through it. -maybe but currently he put it down and just dodges the attacks. -really? Hmm, I think I have a good idea. Kelly took out her bow and arrow. -you want to hit him with it? Arata asked. -isnt it unfair that he fights against them knowing that nothing can happen to him. He needs to be more careful while fighting. This will be a good lesson to not let your guard down. Kelly shooted out and arrow which become invisible as it left her bow. Zen and Odin were trying to attack with any tactic that they used ever before. Gerald was laughing. -hahaha, you two are pulling of good combos, although you need to work a little on friendly fire. -aaa! Zen lunched a magic bolt from his hand. He tired it already few times but it didnt work. But this time right before it hit Gerald somehow disappeared. -hey! Did I do it? He got hit and puff he is dead. Nothing left of him. -you really believe that? -no, I just wanted to say that so I dont feel bad. Where is he gone? -dont know, hey what is this? Odin pointed in the direction that Gerald was a second ago. -an arrow? -it doesnt matter. Look our glorious leader is over there. Zen pointed in direction of Arata and others. -he teleported? Wasnt he a warrior? -no idea, he didnt show us anything, he was just? . -well, he didnt do anything at all. -its hard to say it but its time to give up, we cant touch him after all. -you know that its a disgrace on our part. -not our fault, you saw what happened. -no, the problem is that I didnt. But lets just go back. Zen and Odin gave up on their game and started walking in direction of the rest. -Kelly what are you doing? Appearing out of nowhere behind Kelly, Gerald appeared. -nothing. -you could kill our precious members. -yea sorry. Odin and Zen got there then Gerald started. -anyway you two did a good job. You even won. Remember you touched me with sword when I switched style. And the only thing you need to win was to touch me. - . Somehow they werent happy about their victory. -okay. Now that everyone is here, we can get started. Kelly sum it up. -and where is Loki? He is once again daydreaming somewhere? -and whose fault is that. Loki also appeared. -definitely not mine. Anyway everything is ready? Gerald answered. -on my part, yes. -excellent. Now Gerald moved to the place where everyone could see him and continued. -the time has come to say good bye to Loris and ride for another city where new adventures awaits us. But never forget this place as its a place where our guild Refrain was created. As you all know our goal is to become strongest guild, it will take time but I am sure we can do it. Our plans for now is leveling up and once again leveling up. You have a long journey before climbing to the pinnacle. Gerald finally had an occasion to make a grand long speech he wanted to make for so long. After that they move to the wagons. -okay we have two of them so how are we going to split? -good question Kelly, anyway for start we need two riders who will control the cart. Well we will change from time to time but for now does anyone wants to sit at the front? Gerald asked. -they need to know the way. Anyway, I will take first turn you have to change with me later. -nice thinking Loki, anyway does anyone else want to ride. You just have to follow Loki. -I can if needed. Odin volunteered to ride the second one. -great, rest just enter as you please or no wait, lets just enter one cart so we can talk a little. Loki you wont care if we leave you alone? -I will appreciate some solitude. -Gerald you go with new ones and tell them whats going on. I take the other cart for myself. Saying that, Kelly entered the front cart. Maybe I should also go there. Some quiet time would be nice. -okay rest goes with me. I will tell you some things on the way. Arata dont even think about having some quiet time in other wagon. Everyone entered second wagon and they started their ride. As they entered and cart started moving Gerald started talking. -I know you still dont know each other well but dont worry with my great social skills, we will hit it off in not time. -leader it is more like they only dont know you. We already talked quite a lot. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.-ah, that hurts you know Anari. Well if that is the case I will talk without reserve. Still you two wont be able to relax so easily. We practically didnt exchange more than the greetings. Gerald pointed at Kotori and Zen. Kotori answered. -dont worry about me at least emm Gerald. I am very easy to talk to you know. -thats great. But like before, call me a leader please. -why? Arata is not doing it. Its little too formal for me as well. Anyone is doing it? -I am doing it. Anari added. -me too, Onee-chan, leader is a leader after all. -see they are the good examples, but if you want Gerald is fine as well. And what about you Zen? -sorry, although I also quite sociable I am in depression right now. After our fight I lost all faith in myself. -what are you saying you two did really good. -it didnt look good from my point. It looked like Zen was really shocked by what happened. Gerald lacks it off. -hahaha, you lack the experience that all. Anyway you guys did good. But now that we are done with introduction, lets get to the main topic. -so you are going to tell us how to level up faster? Arata asked. -you know how to level up. Go kill monsters on as highest level you can and get their exp. Well this tactic can be used to up to 100 level. After that you wont be able to do that anymore. -why is that? Kotori asked. -you will find out when you get to 100th level. Anyway some says that the game is hard at beginning but if you look at it, you guys completed a dungeon which was over 15 levels too high for you. So rather than saying its hard, the first 99 levels are for everyone to play. -what do you mean? -I mean that everyone can somehow ding up to 99. No matter how bad one plays, he can get there eventually. -why is it only 99 and not 100? -good question Kotori. They get only to 99 because to get to level 100 there is a special challenge that you need to complete. But I will tell you about details when you get there. Anyway from level 100 people already know how to fight so monsters are way stronger than before. -well, I somehow felt that calling this game super hard was a little overrating. Arata commented. -game? Ah its so good to be young. Anyway I dont really see the reason to touch this subject right now. Go around and see for yourself, you dont want spoilers from me, do you? Although, if you have a specific question I can answer that. -I have one, well you look like a good player but arent you slacking with your level right now. When you are here others players are getting ahead of you. Kotori asked that. It was a similar question that Arata asked Loki before. -no, I dont have to worry about that. -what is your level anyway when we fight it looked like child play to you. Zen asked. -we were playing around after all. -Gerald dont dodge the question, everyone wants to know, you said that you want some respect dont you, here is your chance. -hahaha, you say that, but you are the most curious one Arata. Well I can answer that question but I am already telling you dont try to follow it up with question about my class because I wont answer that. But you will find out when the time is right. -so what is your level? -before I tell you my level let me explain the structure in which the game is right now. We have endless number of players who are under 100 those are the beginners who either just started or cant pass the test to get to level 100. Then we have those in 100-199. Right now there are also a huge number of them. About the same as previous group. The game is out for two years after all which mean ten years in EOA time and you can do really a lot in ten years right. Then level 200 is also another barrier which stops many players. Number of people with +200 level compared to previous groups is rather small. Although their numbers slowly but steady increases each day as the time goes. And given the population of the game even if in comparison to previous groups its small amount, giving the number its also quite large group. But from that point the higher level, the fewer players there are. People with level 250-270 are considered veteran players. Then the number of people who are over 270 is really small. -we will get there eventually, so what is your level? Arata didnt even want to think how long it will take to get there so he asked the question. -right now my level is 299. As you can see I dont have to worry about anything. - . Gerald said it like nothing but that left Arata speechless. -waaaa, leader is so strong. -thank you Anari, anyway that how it goes, do you still have other questions? Everyone lifted their hands like in schools classroom. -hahaha, I will go one after another. Zen you can go first. -em, what are you doing here with a level like that? -isnt it obvious. I am creating a strongest guild. -cant you just join the guild that is strongest? -I have my reasons not to, also there is no guild considered the strongest in EOA. Anyway Kotori you are next. -I always wanted to know, how large is the world in this game? You should know if you have level like that. That is a good question. -size, hmm. No one truly knows that and even if someone did a new place can come up anytime without us knowing, the game is always developed after all. I never encountered a place where I couldnt go because of some invisible wall. There are high mountains which once seemed impassable but someone managed to make their way through it. There are seas that could signal the end of the map but someone built a ship and could sail through it and he ended up discovering a whole new continent. But not only that. The sea itself is another place where you can go. There is another civilization inside it. Water cities and things like that. No one managed to get there though. You would need a submarine for it. My guess is that you need a prequest for it and it would end up with new race being unlock. Still, size of this world? Saying that its endless is a right thing to do I guess I have something to look forward to. -next Anari. -do you play the EOA since it came out? -since day zero, I got in before everyone else thanks to my friend. I had few breaks here and there, but here I am again. And lastly Arata what did you want to ask. -I already talked about level barriers with Loki and he told me that there is only one player that passed level 300, why didnt you pass it yet? -as you already know there are barriers each 100 levels. Challenge at 300 is very specific, yes, that would be a good word. Other description would be impossible and hopeless. I already tried it so many times that I am tired of it for now but I will return to it one day. As for the one player that passed it. I know him quite well, although I dont want to talk about him much. Its like talking behinds someone back but as to why he managed to pass the barrier, thats completely another story. Anyway Yuki you have any question for me? -I dont know what to ask, so no. -great, because I have a question for you. -yes leader? -how did you ended up like that? -like what? -you know those clothes and the bunny. Arent you like completely different person right now? Her image changed so much that Gerald had to ask about it. -ah Onii-chan and Onee-chan told me that I dont have to be successor anymore so I can wear this and hold bunnies. -hahaha. And when he heard the answer, he bursted into laugher. -hey, Gerald what so funny? -exactly she looks cute. Anyway you should do something when you first meet her. She ended up in some rubbish. Arata and Kotori intervened. It was their fault that she ended up like that. But her new look was not the thing that Gerald was laughing about. -no, no, good job on changing her way of thinking, I was too focused on something else at that moment and I didnt even think about something like that, its not my place to dress up my guildmates either I think. Anyway I see that you do a great job, Onii-chan and Onee-chan, hahaha. Yes Gerald had a good time laughing at them. Arata had to ask. -ah yes we wanted to ask what does it mean? -ah nothing bad. Actually it pretty nice to be called that. Maybe I should also ask to be called that ahh, its a hard choice between this and leader. I will stay with the leader though. Hahaha. -why are you laughing? -well somehow. Anyway you should just ask her if you dont know. Hey Yuki, tell them what it means. -Onii-chan means older brother but I say it as beloved brother, Onee-chan is beloved sister. And once again Gerald couldnt hold it. -hahaha, I wouldnt be able to translate it like that. Yes, yes very funny. The thing that Arata didnt like was not that Yuki called him that. He never had siblings so it would be new experience. The thing that he didnt like was that Gerald was laughing at him for it. Kotoris reaction however was different. She hugged Yuki in her arms right away. -you too are my beloved little sister that I no longer have. Arata caught those last words. No longer have? She told me about it already although at that time she focused on mother mostly. But she said that her sibling also . It would be good if having a new sister helped her overcome her fears. And even if it doesnt, it definitely makes her happy. Arata looked at Kotori and Yuki who were happy together and smiled, but he forgotten who also was looking. -hey Arata great picture isnt it. -yea. -hahaha. Gerald laughed again. Arata didnt understand this one. -why are you laughing? -oh, I expected different reaction. Wait, are you two dating already? -you mean me and Kotori? -who else. So how is it? -well we do. -so you really are fast player Arata. So how did it happen? Tell me the details. I bored and we have a long way to go. -I am not telling you. -more importantly. When is the wedding? I am definitely coming. Remember that its thanks to my idea of creating this guild, you could meet her. I can even be your best man if you want. Gerald went a little ahead of himself for Aratas taste. Kotori also heard that. -Arata you want a wedding already? I cant blame you its me after all. But its still illegal you know. Well in two months it wont be. -Kotori didnt you say that for now we will just go with a flow. -yes, you two should go with a flow, I can arrange everything if you want me to. And if you yourself are afraid Arata, I can convince her hesitant parents. -no I will be okay on my own. -yes, thats what you should do as a man. Hahaha. -leader, dont mock them like that, -Anari they are happy so where is the problem? I am happy for their happiness. But if I have to be honest. Seeing Yuki like this is like a heavy burden finally left my shoulders. I finally feel like my decision was right. Gerald was looking at Kotori and Yuki who were playing together, his eyes shine in suns light and he had a warm smile on his face. Seeing this Arata asked. -Gerald, maybe you should tell us about, you know. Arata thought that maybe this time he can get the answer. Still it was the same answer. -dont worry about it Arata. No matter what, I wont let anything destroy that picture over there. Just sit down and enjoy it. And as I said many times, its nothing serious. Arata didnt think about these words anymore as he was already convinced. All he needed to see was to Gerald usual happy face which he always wore on his face. A pure childish smile on his handsome face which attracted people like magnet. They rode for few hours now. Everyone became really bored. They were just sitting and doing nothing. Again. At some point Zen couldnt stand it and asked the ultimate question. -hey leader, how long does it take to get to next city? -too long, well its better than you dont know. You will feel better not knowing Geralds answer was not something everyone wanted to hear. -also we are not going straight to the city. I have different place in mind for now. -isnt it better to get to the city first? Something like, making a home base. -that true, but we wont do it for now. -so where are we going? -to a dungeon. -well, sure we can go exp a little but I still cant see the point. -the dungeon we are going to is different than the one you were testing in. Its also not commonly known by everyone. -a secret dungeon? So the reason we are going there first is because its on the way, right? -thats a part of it, but there are different reason why we are not going to the city yet. I was going to tell you about it after we are done with it but I might do it now as well. Hey everyone your glorious leader have something to say. Anari and Kotori who were talking to each other, moved closer. Arata who was sleeping at the time was woken up by Yuki. -Onii-chan wake up. -what is it? -Arata come over here and listen. And here I have finally fall asleep. People who are asleep dont like to be woken up. Still Arata woke up and irritated asked. -so, what is it? -its time that I told you about what are we going to do right now. As I already said before, we are not going to the city first but to a dungeon. You should be able to get to level 75-85 there. -sure we can go to dungeon first, no problem here. But why do you have to wake me up just to tell it. -hey Arata isnt it better to go to the city first? Anari asked. -you want to die out from boredom? Gerald, how long are we going to ride this thing? Arata also asked ultimate question. He didnt hear the answer before. This time Gerald answered specifically. -if we would be going to the city it would be around 5 days. To dungeon it will be 3 days. Three days? I would be better not knowing. Arata was not pleasantly thinking about siting five days in some cart. There were some limits for not doing anything apart from sleeping and talking. Still he came up with a good idea. He asked a question just to be sure if it works. -okay I have question. If I log out during the ride and come back in three days will I appear in the right place? -no you will appear in midair and fall to the ground, thats why I told you guys to have break before it. And his idea was shoot down right away with Geralds answer. -but five days? -dont blame me, blame the designers. Having a huge endless world has its advantages but also many disadvantages. -I am not against long journeys but siting for five days straight is not something I like to do. -you can get used to it because in this game if you want to get from one place to another its takes a lot of time When I travel I have to do it another way. Going by foot and slaying anything on the way would be much more entertaining. -anyway I wanted to talk about the reason why are we going to dungeon first. -to ding levels isnt it? You have good hidden dungeon where we can have an easy time with good exp. Zen commented. -you all remember the goal of our guild. Anari tell us what is our goal. -strongest guild isnt it? But for now we are just exping up. -I said that but we cant just level up all day, can we? I wanted to do something as a guild before what happens next. I am sure that he came up with some stupid idea again. Well I already know that we are going separate way at some point. So I understand that what happens next. -didnt you just say that we are going to a dungeon? -good thing that you listen, Kotori. Anyway the main goal for our guild right now is for you all to level up to 99. But at the same time we should create a name for ourselves. We cant just stay quiet until you ding 299 like me. -I personally dont care about what other people says about us. Arata commented. -then you must because its those people who decide which guild is the strongest? There is no ranking or anything like that so its peoples word what matters. -fine but what do you want to do at this level? It wont matter much. -it wont matter much now, but maybe in the future it will. Anyway I will explain my plan. The city that we are going to right now is called Triangle. Its one of four cities that you can go to after leaving Loris. Also its the biggest one of the four as well. Its around the size of city of beginners that you all spend a month in. This city is the best destination that you can choose after leaving Loris or rather it was was? -it is surrounded by many dungeons, there are a lot of specific shops there, and its also the place where most of people find their first quests. There is also once famous arena on which you can win some money. Well most big of cities have one arena in it but Triangle is the only city from first four that has it. -hey, lets ignore the dungeon and go there first, Arata you sign up as well and we are fighting in the finals. Zen didnt need more convincing. -sounds good to me. Arata answered. -all you guys would like to do is just fight against someone, anyway when we get there sure you can join up, Arata you can go as well. Lets everyone join on the same day. Naturally, me included. Its been so long since I fought that arena despite doing it so many times back in the day. It will be so nostalgic. -okay I will pass on that. -me too. Arata and Zen quickly gave up on their plan. -I am joking. You can go fight all you want. I will be happy to see it. Anyway the information that I just told you could easily be found on some forums. Although net is lacking, the most common knowledge is there. -we dont have to worry about that with you as a leader, right? Kotori asked. -thats is one of privileges that you get for joining the guild although you will get lazy from that, we cant always continue like this forever. Anyway about the city, I personally stayed there until I ding level 100 so its also the place that I know the best. It was more than a year ingame time, nearly two. Although I spent there so much time mostly because we did not know how to ding 100th level. At some point everyone thought it was even max level. But I wont be talking about the old times that dont concern you at all. The point is that the city is great but as I said the city right now is no longer as great as it used to be. -too many players went there and there is no space for more people? Thats how it usually went. When too many players gather up in one place it wont be a good place to play anymore. Kotori said the most common answer. At least, in normal games. Here however. -thats not it. There were always many people in this city since the day that it was found. On the note, in the past we had no idea where to go and just followed the roads in hope of finding something and not dying in the process of doing so. Well there are still many things that are unexplored and I am not talking only about high level stuff. -so what is the problem with the city. -city is fine as always, but the problem are the rulers. -NPC are the problem? -no, players. In EOA guilds are able to size city or castle for their own and rule inside them Not like its something original. -its easy to figure out the advantages of owning a city. Especially cities like Triangle that does not belong to any bigger in game country. Anyway in Triangle there were many rulers who changed so many times. Some guilds just move to another city as they leveled up, others lost the position in fight. Yes, other guilds can size your castle if they defeat ruling guild in battle. -then you want to get a city on your own? Zens guessed. -no its too much of trouble for us right now. Eventually we will get some kind of stronghold but thats way long in the future. But we will still defeat the guild that is the ruler of Triangle. -so you are bored and looking for a fight with someone? Arata asked. -as I said I want to show people our guild in a good light. -I wouldnt care if someone just defeated one guild. You are the one that said that the city had many rulers over the years. -yes, normally it wouldnt have any meaning but let me explain you current situation of Triangle. The ruling guild right now is called a Legion. Simple common name although it fits them perfectly as their numbers are really large. It is even possible that this guild is the largest guild that currently exists in EOA, and its numbers are rising every day. -they are just probably recruiting everyone that wants to join. -yes that is the case, if one want to join them he just says, hey I want to join and they are in. Even so, they are just low level guild which doesnt matter that much in grand picture, but with their numbers like that they can do what they want on low level, and no one will stop them. -so what are they doing? -lets just say that they are unpleasant to everyone that doesnt join them. That also the reason why so many players are joining them. Anyway our guild will become heroes who will vanquish bad guild and get the glory, perfect isnt it? Gerald already had a picture of how it will end. Still all those nice words didnt blind Arata. -so you are bored after all. -dont say that. Everyone want to be a hero right? -being hero in a long run is not a best option. Arata was convinced of Marcos words so many times already. -well I am overstating it a little. Its just a small act of kindness. -well we can help but how are we going to fight against biggest guild in game? -and for that we are going to dungeon first so you guys can level up. Members of legion are mostly under 99. Those who can pass the challenge quickly leave the guild and continue their adventure. It would also be hard for them to stay in the guild after completing the challenge but that topic for later. -low level or not there should be many of them. -you forgot about something. Most of them wont do a thing in the first place. -the worst thing that can happen is us dying miserably so there is no problem. Anyway its good to kill some newbies from time to time. They fight us, they run away. Make no difference. Shooting at moving target is also fun. Zen already liked the idea of killing everyone in his sight. Gerald continued with a planning. -I have two plans, the interesting one and the boring one. I dont have to say that we are of course going to execute the interesting one. -tell us about second one. Arata right away understood Geralds intention. -fine if you want, so boring one is as follows. With one skill which will take five seconds to activate, I kill everyone inside and outside the Triangle. See, its boring isnt it? - . -the interesting one involves you guys and for that you need some levels thats why we are going to the dungeon now rather than after reaching the city. -so you want to just sit back and watch the show while we are fighting. -I will help you from time to time, but its mostly on you guys. It will be a beautiful tale of six players who defeated evil guild and bring back city to its former glory. -the six? That means only the new players? -Loki and Kelly also would be unfair so yes, only you three. -no. -Arata, dont be like that. -no I dont want to. -hahaha, I will give you the most interesting job of getting the leader. -hey I want the strongest guy there. Zen interrupted. -you can take him I dont care. For Arata the whole idea was just a pain. Gerald continued. -hear the plan of Operation first. Ah I have forgotten about the most important thing. The name for operation. -we dont need it. -how can we do anything without a name for it? Well, lets just call it operation Triangle from the name of the city. Operation Triangle begins before we enter the city. To attack someone who is ruling and throw them away from power you need to declare the war. There are few ways to do it. I already have a good idea which one to choose. Anyway, we will enter the city go to the central square and look for the leader. All we need to do is kill every member of opposite guild who will be around. -somehow the plan skips many points. Like how will we get to the center? -dont worry as I said I know the place. -I meant that there should be some people stopping us. Gerald was not bothered by Aratas remark. -is that a problem? Anyway, when we get to the place some will stay behind and interrupt incoming reinforcements. There can be really a lot of them so I will leave Loki and Kelly there just in case. The best people for defending entrance will be range so Zen, Anari and Kotori. Rest is going to defeat the leader, easy isnt it? -emm this divining is rather stupid. Even if we can stop players who will come running in range some will somehow get to us and we wont have a melee to deal stop them. Going three ranges into the fight could end up badly. Well there would be Loki and Kelly with them so that was Kotoris needles worry. Gerald answered. -I personally think that it would not be safe for melee to stay there. What you think about idea of fighting there Arata? -well, I definitely wouldnt want my allies to shoot at me with everything they got. Anari was already trying to do that once and Zen would probably also like to test that idea. -exactly. As you can all see this is the best plan that is out there. -best plan or not if you want me to fight with some leader and his underlings, I want Kotori on my back. -you worry that something will happen to her? -rather I worry that something will happen to me and I want her help because I somehow dont see you helping us. -hahaha, okay I will switch Odin with Kotori. You guys try not to kill him there with your spells. Well Odin and Zen were in a team for a long time so that may be even better. -leader, lets switch the teams, we will go and deal with leader and they can deal with little flies. -nah mages will do better against masses of players than warriors. You could think that you are doing the black job, but you will definitely enjoy it so dont worry too much. Zen changed his mind and laughed. -hahaha, killing endless number of players is much better than just one. Hey Arata! The one that kills the most is the winner. Zen decided to make it a competition. -that would be all for tactics. For now lets focus on dungeon. -rather lets focus on fight against boredom. We have 3 days of journey. -as I said, its better to get used to it. Anyone wants to play cards? //**This chapter is far from over. Continue to _15.2**// http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3218 Chapter 15 “Journey” _15.2 //** Continuation of chapter 15. (From 15.1) **// Three days have passed and they finally arrived at their destination. After that everyone went on food break and now most of them were all back. -okay everyone is back, time to move. The place where they stopped didnt look like entrance to a dungeon but rather swamps. Arata just logged back and after looking around said. -we are still missing some. -you mean Loki and Kelly? They are not coming. -and why is that? -if you take a high level player to a dungeon you wont get much experience, so its given that they wont go. Same goes for me. I am also just showing the way, after you enter I am logging out. -eh, I knew that it will be something like that, anyway Gerald where is the dungeon? -this way or that way, which was it? -you dont know? -of course I do. This way After saying it Gerald started to walk in one direction. But then he backed off and walked in complete opposite one. -okay I am now sure that this is the right way, lets go! They start moving through the swamp. After about ten minutes they get out of there and were now next to a strange rock. Gerald happily declared. -great, I found it! -you dont have to play, just tell us that you go the wrong way. Arata was not convinced. -how is that so? We are already on the spot. Now, let me tell you about the dungeon. The stone over here is the entrance. You use the key on it and boom the gate opens before you. -you got the key, right? -well, I dont. - . Gerald was really good at making Arata annoyed. -hahaha, even though I say the key, all you really need to do is pick up one of the small colorful rocks that are scattered around and put it at the top of big stone. -which of those rocks? There were many different rocks lying around. One could count more than hundreds of them. As I thought, it would be too easy. Now we have to find the right rock. With his gamer instincts Arata already could tell how the rest would go. Secret dungeons were not easy after all. But to his question Gerald surprisingly answered. -any will do. But depending on the rock, the effect will be different. -any? Are you sure that it works?? -well, I actually never been here before but I know about it from a trusted source so it should work. Anyway, depending on the rock that you put, you will get a different version dungeon. -how is it different? -level wise, number of people required and type of challenges. Anyway when one of you put the stone on the rock, dungeon should be for 6 people as you have six people in party. As for level, it goes from 40 to 99. One more thing, once you put one rock you cant put another one anymore. At least until you finish the dungeon. -and what is it about those challenges? Zen asked. -I heard that dungeon have three parts, but explaining challenges is useless as they are different every time and I know only few of them to begin with. Anyway, just put the stone and see what you got. I will move away for a second as even though I am not in party, something can always go wrong. Just choose one of the stones and put it on the rock. Gerald had a lot to explain but now he finished. When he moved away Arata said. -okay, someone get one stone, so we can start. -wait a minute. Zen interrupted him. -what is it Zen? -can we just start already. I am bored to hell from this ride. Need some action, action! Arata and Kotori wanted to put the rock right away so they can go straight to a challenge but Zen stopped them. -you forgotten something. There can be different challenges so we should choose the stone with highest difficulty, right? -we have quite good group here so we may as well do that. Arata answered. -then lets look for the stone which will give us the hardest dungeon. They come to understanding and were going to start look for the stone but then Odin interrupted them. -Zen. -ye? -those stones may look different but we dont know criteria for their shapes so how can you choose the right one for hard dungeon? - . -just I thought. When he has good idea something is definitely fishy. Kotori as always was merciless. Zen tried to defend himself. -dont say that. Its simple. The biggest stone is the hardest isnt it? -I dont think that it works like that but sure get the biggest stone. By the way, which is it? Although in different shapes and colors, their size was not that different. Arata looking at useless dispute said. -guys, just start already okay? -you said that you want a hard dungeon too! So stop complaining. Anyway we need to find a pattern to it and A blue light started to form around the main rock. Looking at it Zen asked. -hey what happened? -Onii-chan, I put the stone on so we can get started. A small blue colored stone was now placed on the gray rock in the middle. -hey you little, we still havent decided! -Zen, dont yell at the child. Odin tried to stop him but Zen continued. -what child? She is old enough to be yelled at. Hey, you hear me! You cant just do as you please! We are all equal here, you cant just decide on your own only because you are younger. -but Onii-chan said, fufu. Yukis eyes started to get wet. -Zen you are a bad person, you know. Anari commented. -where that came from? -just so you know, dont except to get any heals from me. You are on my black list from now on. Kotori also added something. -hey, wait, Kotori what you mean by black list? -dont use my name and dont speak to me. Here, here Yuki dont worry about that evil person over there. -Zen is not only bad but evil as well, waaaaa! -and that was the story of how Zen become the enemy of women in our guild. Arata sum it up. -Arata dont even comment on that! Its your fault anyway. Yuki follows everything you say. -but I didnt do anything. -no, its your fault, I wont settle down until I kick your ass. -Zen give it up, you are only making it worse, go and apologize. Odin tried to stop him. -who I am to apologize! Odin pointed in direction girls. Yuki was quietly crying in Kotoris arms. -but its not my fault. -it doesnt matter, when girl cries you have to apologize. With those words, Zen had to give up and soon apologized. -even though you apologized, dont except any heals from me. Kotori followed his apologies with this. Yuki was back to her usual quiet bunny holding self. Zen said. -anyway I still think you shouldnt treat her like that just because she is younger. I am sure that when you were her age you also hated discrimination in games because of age. You should know how it was to be look down just because you were younger. You probably had it even worse being a girl. I just didnt want situation like this in our guild, thats all. -oh you sometimes say something intelligent. Kotori had to give him justice here. -so you finally have some respect for me? -dont think that you can escape my black list that easily. Try not to take any damage today. - . In the meantime five orange portals have appeared as well as message. -hey what are those? -the entrance. Gerald appeared out of nowhere and answered Anaris question. -but why are there only five? We have six people here. -normally you need only one. Look, there are some notes next to it, Anari can you read them. -okay As instructed, Anari started reading. -this place is called Stonecell. Three challenges will be given to you after which, treasure waits. Based on your choose you take a trial Aoimoon. Challenges you receive. Recommended level 60 for challenge one. Recommended level 75 for challenge two. Recommended level 90 for challenge three, remember that all challenges must be completed in row which means that after you completed challenge one, you will be immediately teleported to challenge two That was the beginning of explanation. -challenge one Divide and conquer. Six people have come but five roads are shown. Portal in the middle is an arena in which two people have to survive until other four roads are completed. Be wary though the longer you stand there, the harder it gets. Other roads are the lines of solitude. Individual players have to reach the end of the road while killing everything on their way. Routes have different difficulty. The one on the left is the easiest one, two next to the middle portal are normal ones and the one at the right is the hardest one. Good luck on your challenge. Information about challenge two will be given when you complete challenge one. When Anari finished Gerald started. -looks interesting to me. I will divide you because I think that it would take ages for you to come into understanding In this case, I already know who get the hardest one. -Odin and Kotori you take middle route as it says survive and what is better for it than tank, healer combo. -you sure, that it will be the best with those classes? Kotori asked. -the challenges are based on the party. As you can see other four routes are the same and we have four dps. Then the middle one is for two who are not dps. -but I never fought together with Odin in party. -if you want two person combo me and Zen are the best. Kotori and Odin were not so sure but Gerald thought differently. -if you never played together then, its great time that you play. The leader makes choices and rest follow. As I said, it would take ages for you to discuss it so I am choosing the most optimal way. -but isnt that tyranny? -only if I was wrong, anyway be happy that I am still here to help. -fine we will take this one. Kotori finally agreed. -great, next Anari, I trust you will manage easy gate on your own. -but its high level, I dont think I can do it. -if you dont believe in yourself then believe in my choice of inviting you to this guild. Use knowledge that I teach you. -yes leader. Although Anari was not confident. Gerald easily put a faith in her. -Zen you take the one on the left from center. -but I want the hard one! -that may not be the best idea. Let me tell you one thing. This game is hard. When message says its easy you will maybe somehow make it, if its normal then you will have a lot of problems. Then when its says hard, well in those times its simply better to start running. You can trust me on that. Gerald said that but Zen was not convinced. -if anyone can do it, I surely can. Why do you want to give the hard one to Arata? Okay he may have the highest level right now but its not fair. Arata fight me for the hardest route! In the end, it always came down to that. -you can take it if you want. Arata answered as he was not really excited for super hard impossible route either. -then I am switching with Arata. Zen declared. -sure, then Arata you take the middle one on the left. Zen you take middle one on the right. Surprisingly, Gerald didnt have problems with it and switched them -haha, you finally see my potential I will soon get the wait! Why I am still doing the middle one? -you switched with Arata, didnt you? Well I dont mind as its the same anyway. -I was going to do middle one as well? Arata asked surprised. -what so strange about it? -what about the hardest one? Its not like I want to do it badly but someone has to. So who will take that one? -well, Yuki of course, who else? Gerald answered like it was the most natural thing. -hey you think I am worse than this little girl. She also has like what level 35 or so. Anyway I am not accepting it. -I have to agree with Zen this time. Arata and Zen were not convinced. Gerald corrected them. -You two are wrong. She has 37 level, right Yuki? -yes. -that doesnt change much! Zen exploded here. Gerald laughed. -hahaha, still for the hardest route you choose best player from party. Isnt that right? -do you really think that she is the best? -of course I do. At the same time, I dont want you guys to die so my decisions are clear, I doing the best split so you guys complete the dungeon without any deaths. -hey, I dont know what she can do but didnt she lose to Arata? How can she be best player? Zen still did not accept that. -ah yes that. Arata did she lose to you? -technically yes. -exactly technically, but in truth you were the one covered in brushes werent you? -Onii-chan won, Onii-chan is stronger. Yuki interrupted him but Gerald continued. -good thing, that you have faith in him, but Yuki, what would happen if you started using your skills. -but Onii-chan also didnt use any. -see she also thinks so. It looked like disputed wont end for a while. After all, its hard to choose best player from good group. Just like its hard to choose the strongest guild. Still, Gerald could shoot the disputed down in a second. -okay lets leave that duel behind. Guys, do I have to remind you how your boss fights went in your guild tests. - . - . The flashback of painful memories entered both of Aratas and Zens heads. Gerald continued. -well, I am still not sure myself but at this moment, if I have to choose, Yuki is the best out of you all. But here is the thing, if you want to prove me wrong, be the first one to clear your route. It will be a race. The one that will be first to finish the route is the one I will consider the best of you all from now on. What do you say? -even if its a race. She got the harder part so there is no point. -exactly no point. But at least I will have a race with Arata. Somehow today both Arata and Zen were in sync. Gerald laughed. -hahaha, you guys think that you can win, hey Yuki go all out there. -I can? -when you go solo you can do what you want. No, rather from this point use your skills whenever you want. You dont have to hide them before your guildmates. -really!? -yep. -no matter what you tell her, the winner will be me! Zen commented on that. -good thing that you are high spirit but try to stay alive and dont rush too much. -dont rush? What are you saying, its the race. Right Arata? -its not like you have chance at winning Zen. Remember the level difference. Arata answered to him. -that is a handicap that I can give you. And the moment I win, I will laugh all day. I have to take it serious as well. At least I cant lose to him. No, as someone with the highest level I have to be fastest. There was still Kotori who was one level higher than him but out from the runners Arata indeed had a highest level. Everyone now stood before their assigned portals. Gerald stood behind them. -now then. The first most meaningless race of guild Refrain will being. Prepare yourself as the reward is great as what is the better reward than to shine in eyes of your glorious guild leader! Now on my mark. Ready! Set! Go! The portals flashed as they jumped through it. Everyone apart from Gerald, were no longer there. -oh, I forgot that I will not be able to see the results anyway. Well, they will definitely never mention it again when they see the results themselves. With that last thought, Gerald disappeared in a flash. Arata found himself in some strange building. There were red curtains on the walls. There were also candles that lighted the way. It was a corridor. In that corridor he could go only one way forward. Although it was blocked by a barrier for the time being. There was instruction. [You need to get to the other side of this place in which the lever awaits. You will encounter enemies that will block your path. Defeat them all as the lever wont appear until you do this. The challenge will begin when all players are inside.] [All players are inside. Challenge will begin in 30 seconds.] Looks like we didnt need to enter all at the same time. Anyway the challenge looks rather simple. Get to the other side, kill everything on the way and pull the lever. Will I have to run back as well? Hopefully not. Thirty seconds has passed quickly and the barrier disappeared. Arata started to run. After just few meters he spotted two enemies rushing toward him. First time, I see human-type enemies. His enemies were two knights. They were rushing at Arata with swords and shields. When they got in range both of them swung their weapons at the same time. Arata tried to parry both of attacks. At the left side he successfully blocked the incoming attack but at the right side. -aaaaahh . The knight screamed but his scream finished quickly as his head was cut off from his neck. His body also fallen to the ground soon after. And as for his blade, it was cut in half as well. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Arata made a quick spin on his right left foot and attacked second knight. The knight tried to block this attack with his shield but upon crushing with Aratas weapon, the shield scattered into pieces and the second knight fell to the ground with yell. -aaaaahh . They brought broken weapon or what? Arata thought that at first but he soon realized that it was not the fault of their weapons. The left one blocked normally after all. Then its means. Arata once again looked at the difference between his left hand and right hand and then. -muahahahahaha! He made an evil laugh. After that Arata continued to run and slash down other knight that came his way in similar way without much problem. In his mind, there was a song. I have overpowered item, lalalalala. Knights couldnt do anything as their weapons shattered when as they contacted black sword Kuroi. -muahahaha! Arata like hurricane was going through the dungeon. It wasnt hard for him. After all, this was one person speed run and the dungeon was for level 60 when Arata was 55. With his overpowered class-weapon which completely mascaraed everything that came in contact with it, there was practically no difficulty involved. The number of incoming knights has increased with time but that fact didnt change much. It was already some time since Arata started and he still couldnt see the end of the tunnel but. If its like that, I can do it all day. -aaaaaa! -aggggg! -ahhhhhh! One after another fell before might of black sword. The experience gain isnt that good but even so [You have gained a level, Current level 56] Killing so many of them in short time was a good exping ground even if one didnt give much. It was a good place to exp after all. Especially if you had overpowered weapon which one-shooted everything. After 10 minutes of the run, the overall ability of the knights has increases. They also looked stronger now. They wore full plate armors and their weapons also looked better but they still fall to the black sword Kuroi. Well at least their shields started to survive one attack if blocked correctly. But that didnt slow Arata at all as he just avoided attacking into the shield. This is true slaughter feast. After another 10 minutes type of knights changed again. Although they didnt became better but rather changed their weapons to spears. It created a small problem as they would stick it forward. Arata had to be a little more carful while running now. Arata run speed slowed a little but thanks to that he could immediately change path of move. After getting away by inch from the spike he made a move to the left or to the right and the result was. -aaaaaa! -aggggg! -ahhhhhh! Knights one by one fell to the ground. After another ten minutes, Arata got another level and once again the knights with spears, started to look stronger. Just like the previous type. Still. -aaaaaa! -aggggg! -ahhhhhh! That didnt change anything. Time went on and Arata started to get a little bored. This is taking too long. Need to speed up. He started to use black dash from time to time when he encountered the large number of enemies. He could use skills more often now as his mana and stamina went up with level. His black sword also reduced costs of black swordsman skills. Overpowered was indeed the best word to describe that weapon. Same distance that he needed 10 minutes before now took 6 minutes and he finally reached the point in which he could spot a difference in the distance. At the end of the tunnel was some kind of large red door. Last knights have died and Arata reached that door. Although after seeing what was inside, Arata realized that calling his previous enemies that he slaughtered so far knights was a little overstatement. As inside he could see two true knights. They were sitting next to the table but when Arata opened the door they stood up right away. -intruder has reached this place!? Interesting. Said the one of them after seeing Arata. -why did you kill all of them? Why have you come to this place? Asked the other one. Arata not being used to talk with human-type enemies answered. -emm, to pull the lever. If one were to put logic here, Arata just slaughtered endless number of people just to pull some lever. Even if they were just data to those two before him he was a mass murder. -do you hear him, Orier? He killed everyone just for that. No matter what you will say, I will avenge my brothers. Come with me and lets kill him, fast. -slow down. Even though he is evil man, we cannot follow his footsteps. Two against one is a disgrace for a knight. I Orier, the Paladin in service of our goddess Ellsa will be his opponent. Servant of evil, if you have an inch of honor left inside you, say your name and fight honorably. Why I am the bad guy? For Arata slaughtering everything in a way was not something to feel bad for. It was normal for games after all. Arata didnt care to respond as he no longer saw any meaning to do so. -Orier its not use, you cant reason with him. -you are right. His evil roots too deeply. He cant even see his sins. Without a doubt, I will purify this evil creature for good. Whaaaaa! Hammer of justice! Paladin made a battle shout and then threw a hammer which was covered in light at Arata. Arata simply tried to reflect it with his sword. Clink! Upon the hit Arata wasnt damaged but he lost grip of the sword as it flied off his hand upon a shock. -for Ellsa! With a battle shout Paladin started to shine in light. With shield and sword in his hands, he started to run at Arata. Its not like I need two swords to fight against him. Arata was too lazy to go pick up his sword now so he decided to fight with only one. Arata dodged Paladin attack to the left and slashed with his sword from there. He landed a shot at Paladins shoulder. After that Arata quickly moved back as counter was coming at him. It only took 5 %, this one must be a boss-class or something. Well it doesnt matter much I used to immortal enemies already. And its a dungeon for one player so its should be easy. Paladin without delay continued his attacks. But they were easily dodged by Arata, although Arata couldnt counter each time with only one sword so it was going slowly. Paladin was at 76% right now, Arata dodged everything by now but this time he had to parry the incoming attack. When he did that, Paladin slammed with his shield to attack him. Arata moved back an inch but when he did that, Paladins shield glowed and he instantly moved forward. The hit with the shield pushed Arata back to the wall doing 15% damage in the process. When Arata was getting back to his feet, another hammer of justice came his way, this time Arata didnt try to bounce it again, and he simply avoided it. Maybe I should get the second sword but if I already decided that one is enough then I going to continue like this. Arata with his stupid pride decided to continue with one sword. He ran back to the Paladin dodged his swing and countered back and then slashed again before jumping away. Paladin health went under 70% and Arata continued his attacks, even if his best style were two swords, Arata was skillful with a single sword as well. It was going slowly but with Arata stable hits, it was just a matter of one or two minutes till the fight finish. But then, Paladins HP reached 60%, he became surrounded by yellow light which heal him instantly back to 100%. It wasnt strange and Arata expected Paladin class to have some sort of healing spells but the problem was that the light did not disappear after healing Paladin back. Now every time Arata made any damage, two seconds later Paladins health went back to full. -hahaha, your attacks mean nothing to me. Goddess Ellsa defends those who serve her. Paladin said to him as he swung his weapon. Yes and overpowered skills have definitely nothing to do with it. Anyway what is the level of this guy? After another dodge Arata summoned the menu. 90. So thats the reason why he has a spell like that. Otherwise it would be too easy. But what I am supposed to do? Attack him till his mana runs out? Thinking too much during a fight wasnt usually a good idea as your opponent could use it to his advantage. Arata stopped for a second and he had to parry another attack instead of dodging. Second after that like last time Paladins shield started to shine. Not this time. [Black dash activated] Arata used his skill but this time he didnt pass through Paladin but simply crushed with his attack. What? Not having enough time to think why his skill didnt work, Arata dodged incoming sword. Another attack came soon after. Anyway, for now I need to get back my second sword. Arata dodged paladins attack and started to run in direction of lying sword. It wasnt far and Paladin surely couldnt keep up when Arata started to run but then when Arata was about 3 meters away from his sword the second knight appeared in his way. He was holding long halberd in one hand which was pointed in Aratas direction. His movements were rather fast and he already was ready to strike any time. No, I dont think so. [Lighting speed] [Skill leveled up] Much faster than before, Arata went around his enemy and caught his black sword. Then with skill still activated, Arata wanted to attack the second knight. But even with lighting speed activated and attack from behind, the enemy managed to move away and avoid it. Those were just few fast steps right above the ground but they made a great distance in seconds. -Kaiser, dont interfere! Paladin shouted to his comrade and it looked like he listened as he lowered his weapon again. Aratas battle against Paladin continued. With two swords Arata damage output went up by a lot compared to before. In particular black sword made tremendous damage but even so Paladins hp managed to regenerate fast enough. After getting black sword back Arata tried to destroy opponent weapon by slashing at it with the black sword but that didnt work so Arata went back to dodging. Still, even if Paladins hp went down by 15% at each swing, it never went below 70%. Paladin was as healthy as ever and there were no sing of him losing any time soon. Need more damage. Hmm, I could use stream of night but that might not work as he will heal himself in mini-seconds between each strike so all that left is sword slash. Yes, this guy needs to be one-shooted. Arata didnt know how much damage he could make with it but this skill has never failed him, so he fully believed in it. [Sword enchant: ice] [Sword slash] After dodging another attack Arata executed his attack and from close range, Arata send an arc of ice which slashed suppressed Paladin in half without any resistance. Two parts fall to both sides. The blood did not flow out though, as the body was frozen in the locations of those wounds. [You have leveled up. 300%] [You have gained a level. Current level 59] Surprisingly the Paladin gave a lot of experience. -Orier you did well, leave the rest to me The second knight said farewells to his friend and started to walk in Aratas direction. -you did well in defeating him. But are you ready for the second round? He started. -sure I am. -hahaha, before we start I will tell you this, Orier depended too much on his armor and shield. The only thing that true warrior needs is a weapon in his hands. I already saw that you were quite fast when you passed through me. I think that you will give me a lot of fun before I kill you The knight lunched off the ground and passed the distance of five meters in seconds while holding the halberd forward. It was quick but Arata was already prepared for something like that seeing his movements before. Arata parried incoming attack to the left and rushed forward to counter. The distance was about one-two meters but when Arata was trying to get to the enemy, knight rotated his weapon and with the second end of halberd, he stoke at Arata whom didnt have a chance to evade. Aratas rush was stop. Knight continued his attack and attacked now with the spiky end. Emm, this is getting really bad. The knights moves were faster than those of Arata. Arata was trying to keep himself alive and only managed to change the direction of halberd but it still made some scratches. Arata once more tried to move forward but when he did that, knight simply jumped back which resulted in the same distance once again. It looked like the knight had a lot of experience in using his long distance weapon. -where is your speed from before? Without it, you wont have a chance to pass through my line of defense It looked like the knight was slightly dissatisfied by Aratas performance so far. The line of defense must mean the range of his halberd. Weapon like that can give much advantage if you can keep your enemy at distance. Arata already knew where the biggest problem is. He simply couldnt get to the enemy. Either the knight will jump back or counter making it impossible to get to him. Anyway I cant keep defending like that. [Black dash activated] Arata rushed forward with his skill but Knight made quick steps right above the ground to the left. -yes, you need a speed which is at least like that, but such obvious attack wont work on me After saying that, knight once again started his attacks. Arata wasnt blocking or dodging but simply moving backward like knight did just a second before. -what is it? Is that all youve got!? I cant keep on dodging like this. Its time to be a little less defence focused. Arata came up with something. He stopped dodging and once again rushed forward. The knight immediately moved backward. He was out of range again and began preparation for next attack, but Arata didnt stop his rush and continued the assault. Knight went back to offense and lunched a strike at Arata to make him stop. It was deadly attack but easy to dodge as it was going straight forward. It was attack thats purpose rather than damaging was to stop Aratas rush. Arata however didnt stop even for a second. He took the blow right into right side of belly. The halberd went through him and come out from the other end. -another meaningless death Knight commented but this wasnt Aratas loss. [Black dash activated] With that range and it being surprise attack, Knight had no chance for dodge and would definitely be hit by that attack. But the dash finished right before him as Arata didnt want to go through him but rather. [Stream of night.] Two strikes, Four, Six, Twelve hits. The knight didnt have much armor to begin with so after the skill ended, it was already the end. -yes, thats a speed I wanted to see. With those words the Knight fell to the ground. [You have leveled up by 300%] [You have gained a level, Current level 62] [New skills unlocked.] uff, That worked. It was not that Arata couldnt dodge that strike but it was an important part of strategy. Knight got overconfident the moment he thought it was his win. With this, Arata just had to get to him and burn him down with huge dps before his enemy realizes his mistake. In difference to Paladin, the second knight didnt wear that much of armor so he died after just one skill. Also, as long as level was not far apart attacks like cutting of the head that would normally kill, will kill no matter the defense. The EOA combat system was quite complicated. A lever appeared in the middle of the room right after the knight died. With 30% hp left and bleeding effect which decreased his health sadly but not by huge amount, Arata walked up to the lever and pulled it. When he did that an orange portal appeared nearby. With a message next to it. [The second challenge awaits you at the other end.] Good thing that I dont have to run back, although I thought that if someone still didnt complete their challenges, I would have to go and help them. But it already takes me to second challenge, so there is nothing like that. Everyone is on their own. I just hope they do well, especially Yuki, she had a hard route after all. If those two guys were a normal difficulty I wonder what happens on hard one. With those thought Arata went through the portal. //** This chapter is still far from over. Continue to part _15.3 **// http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3219 Chapter 15 “Journey” _15.3 //** Continuation of chapter 15. (From 15.2) **// He appeared in a dark area where only few torches that were stock to the ground gave some really weak light, everything around was pitch black darkness so Arata could not see if he was inside a building or on the outside. Still give that there was a earth ground under his feets Arata bet on the other one. On the other hand if he really was outside there should be some light coming from the sky and in this case there was not. As he moved closer, the weak light from torches allowed Arata to spot some dark figure in a distance. -whose there? Arata asked and readied his swords. When the dark figure heard that, it started to run in Arata direction, Arata was ready to defend any moment but then he heard. -waaaaa, Arata. Anari came crying and started to hug Arata all of sudden. -hey Anari stop, you will kill me. Arata wasnt in the best shape at the moment, and getting crush in the hug wasnt recommended. -Arata its dark, I scared. -stop! Also in the first place, why are you scared of dark in a game? -but, but, when I get there, no one was here and I am alone in this darkness for 20 minutes already, there were some strange sounds coming from waaa I dont even know from where. -20 minutes? -something around that but to me it feels like hour already. Wait, does that mean that Anari was the fastest? No it cant be possible. -is someone else here already? -I didnt see anyone, only heard scary sounds, Arataaaaa! -aaaaaa! Arata screamed as he was once again hugged with intention to kill. The blood started to flow out once again. -why are you screaming? -Anari stop doing it please, cant you see I bleeding. -I cant see much here, and if I let you go you will just go somewhere and leave me all alone. -I am not in condition to do much moving right now, and where would I go? And why? -how should I know. You are the one who just disappears somewhere every time. -what time? -you dont even know. After the test you went somewhere on a quest and left me all alone. -you werent all alone, and I asked you to come with me. -you should have wait for me, but instead you took Kotori with you and even ended up falling for her. -yes but it doesnt have anything to do with you. -it does. Why it does? Dont tell me she really took seriously those Gerald jokes. -well, I didnt know you cared. -no! I dont care about you, I dont care about him! You can all go and find happiness when I cry left alone! -where did that come from? And who is him? -its the truth and he is, waaaaaaaaa! Anari started crying or at least it sounded like this. Arata didnt really know what it was about but nevertheless. -I am sorry, okay. Dont cry. -I am not crying. Anyway your sorry wont help because you are not honest. -I am honest. -no you are not. To honestly apologize, you must think that you would do differently should you know what would happen. But you dont think like that, do you? I ended up going out with Kotori so she is right about it. Arata spoke honestly from heart. -well, thats true. No matter how many times I would have to repeat it, I would have done the same. You know, I am happy right now and those days with her are the best days of my life. -I know Anari lightened a little and continued. -I talked with Kotori about it. Or rather she told me about everything in details. She was worried about me as I wasnt in a best shape. She thought that its her fault because you two started dating. She even ended up telling me about her past, even though she was depressed when she was telling me about it. She even cried at the end. -I see. But Anari, if she decided to tell you that does it mean that you like me? Arata decided that there was no round around method around it and just asked straight. Seeing some of Anaris behavior and especially her change of mood after he came back from his quest, Arata expected an answer that he didnt wanted to hear but then to his surprise. -no I dont . Remember, I told you this many times. I like you only as a friend, I already have or rather had a person I like. You are similar to him in many ways so I just fell a little strange that all. But even though I didnt want to admit it, for a long time I liked that person. Emmm why I am the one getting yelled at when I didnt do anything? Also why is this girl always saying everything in such misleading way? Still, looks like I will have to leave my complains for some other time. -so, who is that person? Arata decided to ask. -remember I already told you about him once. The friend that taught me a little about how to play. Joining the guild was also his idea. -yes I remember. So what happened, that you are in such bad mood, you dont like that person anymore and you are feeling lonely? -no, the problem is that I still like him, every time I think about it, my chest hurts. -then where is the problem, continue liking him like you did before? -but he found someone that he really like, and started to go out with that person, I dont even know since when. It even may be a relationship that goes for year. Even if its not I wont do anything to interrupt him. -well you probably shouldnt try to destroy someones relationship but if you wait long enough they may always break out at some point. Relationship those days are not solid. I would say that I am the last person that you should ask for an advice in this manner but you should still have a chance. -no I dont. Arata tried to cheer her up a little but that didnt work. -why are you so dishearten? -remember what I told you, he is similar to you. So Arata, could you tell me what are the chances of you and Kotori braking out? Answer honestly. -if its honestly, well its simply not happening. The chances are solid zero if you want a number. Arata didnt think much about this one. -see, he is the same. No matter what, he wont give up just like that and fight to the bitter end against all odds. And I know the best that he wouldnt go out with someone if he didnt love that person deeply. I know him too well. Then its patted situation I guess. Not that I have much experience in this field. After second of thought Arata answered. -I see well the only thing that you can do now is just to tell him your true feelings and it will be up to him to do anything after that. Anari shook her head to that and said. -no, I dont have the rights to do it. After everything he went through I cant do it to him. Also, I already know that he doesnt have any feelings for me or rather I always knew. -then, you are going to just endure that? -yes. -how can you say it with that face? Endless tears were pouring from Anaris eyes right now. -I will, even if I have to cry alone one the bench watching him go, I will endure, so Arata please, let me stay like this for some a minute. She hid her face in Aratas chest and quietly continued to cry. They stay like that for some time. After about 10 minutes a new visitor arrived. He was holding a stick and was walking slowly and after he made two steps he fell to the ground next to the torch. -hey Zen, are you okay? Arata asked. -do I look like I am okay to you? Anyway, Arata the race doesnt count. -is it because you lose? -listen, my lose is only because I got a guy at the end that could drain mana. Fight was terrible and I nearly died five times. But anyway can you get Kotori to heal me up? -she is not here yet. -then who is over there. Wait Anari!? -hi Zen. -emm, why are you two siting like that? -stuff happened, Anari you okay now? -yes, thanks. It looked like Anari was now back to her usual self. She also finally moved away. -well Arata, dont worry I wont sell you. Also good job. -hey, dont misunderstand anything. -yes, yes, anyway where is our healer? -she is not here yet. -haha, so at least I am not the last? Even if I had to fight in melee I still pro. Anyway if she is not here. Anari, can you use that skill, you know that AOE heal. -heal is just side effect and I dont have mana for it. Anari answered. -Zen, did you perhaps got owned so bad that you cant move without help of a healer? Arata was said to him. -hey, I told you I got anti mage who drained my mana. -ah so you just let him drain you, so you can have fair fight, right? -well after a long way through army of monsters I got careless as everything was dying so fast. Anyway Arata, you are not the one to say anything I see that you are not in better condition either. -at least I dont need a stick to walk. -whatever the race doesnt count. -say what you want I still won against you. Sometimes Arata also didnt let it up. Zen tried his best to ignore it and change the subject. But Zen was annoyed by the fact. Although Arata would also probably not bring up the subject of race ever again given who actually was the fastest. -anyway if Kotori is not here then that means that there is still one person left right? Zen asked. -thats only explanation, -so will she be alright? This time he asked with worry.. -she should be. Arata answered. Although, he himself was not sure of those words. Anari followed it up little more positive thinking. -Arata is right. Also if Leader chose her to do it, she should be able to do it. Even I managed to finish everything on my own. Anari said that but Zen was not convinced. -remember that she got the hardest part. I said that I got careless and enemy drained my mana but that was my second enemy. The first one wasnt easy, even with my mana full. He could counter most of my skills and his attacks were deadly. -and here you wanted the hardest route. -says the guy who got pierced through belly. -Arata, it is true. Look how horrible it looks. Why didnt you say anything? Only now did Anari realize that Arata was one foot in the grave. -dont worry the bleeding effect stopped so I dont have to worry about hp. Well it still hurts. -Arata sorry that I got on you when you had your own problems. -dont say it in such confusing way. -confusing? -hah aaaaaaaa Zen started laughing or rather he was going to do it. -hey dont make me laugh, it hurts so bad. -Zen shut up. Arata had enough. -as I have already said. Arata your secret is safe with me. -there is no secret. -dont take it too serious. Haha aua. Anyway, I just try to ease atmosphere that all. So, what will happen if one route isnt done? - . -it is fairly possible that she already died somewhere and we failed a challenge. Zen added. He was already foreseeing the worst scenario. -could you stop saying that. -I just trying to be realistic. Yuki has only 37 level and went on the hardest challenge. If that wasnt enough, dont forget that she is 12 years old kid and a small fragile girl at that. -I know and I am little worried as well. -easy to figure out. From where I saw it, you started a family with her as daughter and Kotori as mother. - . When Arata tried to ignore that comment Anari followed it up. -didnt you guys start to play house together? That is what Kotori told me. -she never informed me of it. -so you went along just like that. Well Kotori also mentioned that she wouldnt mind that development or rather she is looking forward to it in the future She and her ideas. Sometimes even in his thoughts Arata werent honest with himself as his real thoughts that he hid were me too!. -anyway you two dont have to worry, Yuki didnt fail at least not yet, look. Anari said that pointed at the small message next to the torch. [Challenge one in progress.] -hey, you should have mentioned it earlier. Arata commented. -I forgot about it but that means that Yuki should be ok When Anari was trying to end a sentence a small dark figure come to the torch and fell next to it with a metallic sound. -hey! Arata rushed to the person who was lying on the ground. -hey Yuki, you . -Arata is it Yuk? Anari came as well but both of them were stunned at the sight of her. She had few bruises here and there but that wasnt a problem. A long spear pierced through her belly and was coming out from both sides. -Arata she is dying! Anari screamed at Arata who saw the same thing. She is dying? No, rather she should be already dead. -Anari, check her wounds! -but what if. -hey if she were dead she wouldnt be here anymore, remember when you die, you just log out. -but body stays for some time even if they die. -doesnt matter, she somehow get here so check if she is alive. Anari went around the wound with her hands and said. -Arata its no use! She is cold all around here. Cold like a dead body. -it cant be helped then, give it up Arata said that as he couldnt look anymore. But Anari was still checking the other places. -Anari just dont. -hey Arata, she is breathing. Then Anari said the words like that. -but didnt you say that she is cold. -somehow the cold is only around the wound but does not spread, check it yourself. Arata come closer and checked Yuki condition. She was indeed breathing. He then checked the wound. Its not just cold its actually frozen. Its colder than an ice storm in the mountains. What did she fight to be in condition like that? Well it doesnt matter for now. Anyway we need to do something about it but only she can do something about it. -Kotori! Arata screamed out as he himself could do nothing to help. Surprisingly the answer came right from behind his backs. -ah, even though its only been three hours you already screaming my name, ah you are so hopeless. Arata looked behind him and saw her. Kotoris cloak was dirty here and there but no wounds were shown. It didnt seem like she had any problems in her fight. -no time for that, Kotori hurry! Arata said that and Kotori immediately rushed the moment she saw her little sister. -how did that happen!? -we dont know but you have to do something or she will die. - . Somehow the moment Arata said that the look at Kotoris face dramatically changed. -quickly Yuki is . Arata was panicking but Kotoris voice was perfectly calm. -alive! And that is all I needed to hear. As long as she is alive I can help her up, so dont panic. You yourself just said that there is no time for that. Hearing her dearly and ever so dependable voice, Arata also calmed down. -so how is she? -hmm, to be frank she should be dead. Look at this. Spear is still inside her. The moment I first saw her I wanted to kill you all sadists for sending her somewhere so dangerous. -it wasnt us. -but you didnt stop Gerald when he decided that. You should have said that no matter what you will take that job. He would probably give it to you if you asked. -sorry. -just remember to not do something like that again, anyway right now I have no idea why is she alive so let me check it Kotori just looked around Yuki body, then she touched the wound. She did much less checking than Anari, in few seconds she asked. -did any of you already tried to help her? -we just checked but we didnt know what to do. -I see, so it is her doing. Of course it was, otherwise she would be dead and you wouldnt have come up with that. Anyway Arata, I will need some help with this. -cant you just heal her? -have you forgotten that she has a spear within her. It needs to be removed first. -wont she die if we start moving it? -I see that you know at least that. -I watch it in the movie. The moment they take out the weapon protagonist died. -its common motive, but if weapon stayed he would die regardless. We dont want to have that do we? So here is the situation. The only reason why Yuki didnt bleed out is because she frozen her wound. -how would she do that? -must be her skill or spell, something like that. Or maybe it was an enemy skill like some ice spear attack, but nevertheless it keeps her alive. The problem is if I start healing her normally, this ice will lose its effect and she will bleed out, this time for sure. -so what are you going to do? -well, there is probably only one way to do it. Remember the spell that I used when we were fighting against wolves? -that pillar of light? -yes that. Song of starts instantly restore health to full and it keeps effect for 5 seconds so even if she starts bleeding out she will get heal up right away. So here is the plan, when it will be in effect, you quickly take out the weapon. I dont know how you will do it, as it is long spear but you need to take that out with one quick movement. -okay I should manage. Probably. -you have to. After I use that spell I wont have much mana left so we wont be able to repeat that process. -then I will definitely manage. -of course you will, you are Arata after all. -oh you finally cut the legendary part? -that was the nickname that I once give you, when I didnt know you at all. Its not right to call you that anymore. The true Arata turned out to be much better than any image that I could thought of. I did tell you about it already, didnt I? -well you did. -so lets not wait any longer. Remember, right after the light starts and she will be back to full health, you start at that moment. Arata get start holding the weapon at one end. It was a long spear. -hey Kotori, can I cut it down? It will go out faster then. -but its a metal rood. Arata can you cut through metal? -oh, dont you believe in me? - . Kotori just smiled to that. -anyway I ask if a small shake wont do anything bad. -it shouldnt, at the current moment spear wont move an inch, she really have it frozen completely inside her body and its not melting away. Hearing that, Arata took out his black sword and cut the spear at one end with a single slash. After he was done, Kotori took out orb and started holding it to the sky, it started to shine. A pillar of moonlight surrounded Yuki and Arata. Bruises disappeared from Yukis body. Clothes that were torn off also repaired itself. Arata also got healed as he was in the range of that spell. The moment Arata took out the spear, Yuki was perfectly back to her previous look, although her shirt was stretched leaving her white chest out in the open. Kotori hided her orb and came to Yuki and started to fasten the buttons. Arata asked. -did everything worked? She is still not waking up? -of course she doesnt and she shouldnt for some time. In those five seconds, she took a damage that would kill her two or three times, its good that she didnt have to feel the pain. I would not suggest that method if she were conscious. -still she is all good right now. Anyway you were great as always Kotori. But I have to ask, how can you be so calm in this situation? Even if it were just a game, it was hard to get used to seeing people dying around you. Especially someone you knew. Even if deep down you remembered that they dont die in real, it does not help. Arata for example went into panicking mode right away. -it would be good if I were calm. Kotoris answer surprised Arata a little. -what are you saying? You looked calm to me. -being calm and acting calm are two different things. Its given that I wasnt calm. Arata! Our little Yuki had a spear pierced through her! -still you were calm as always, your words, clean logical thinking in them. It was calming me as well. -its a healer job to act calm when people are in panic, after all the healer need to keep that panicked person alive. At the same time, healer should not panic no matter the situation, because there is no one that will keep them alive. -I for one, never doubted your abilities. -we are the strongest guild after all, and remember I told you once. I will be the best healer in this game. The disaster has ended but then something crawled on the ground and said out loudly. -hey! Great healer, heal me as well. It was Zen who couldnt get up on his legs. -sorry your great healer has no mana anymore. Because you guys slacked off and it took you three hours to finish. Also I dont remember removing you from my black list. -you just wasted your mana didnt you! Even though he couldnt stand Zen would still shout. Odin who also appeared tried calm him down. -Zen we had a hard time out there. We were fighting in something that looked like an arena. Enemies kept coming at us from each side. As the time went on there were more and more of them, they were also becoming stronger. -so you just took too much damage Odin. -maybe but anyway Kotori always kept her mana over 30% right to the bitter end but when we get here, she had to use it on Yuki so its understandable that there is no leftovers for you. Anyway we should have some time before we start the second challenge so she will heal you up as well in no time [You have leveled up by 500%] [You have gained a level, Current level 67] -hey, I just got a message about leveling up. -wow five levels in one go. Zens and Odins conversation was interrupted. -over here! -what is it Anari? Anari was near the torch again and was pointing at the ground then she said. -the sign changed. Now it says. Challenge one completed you are rewarded with 5 levels That would explain the change. -then it says. Challenge two. Five lights in the darkness. You are now standing next to one of five torches. You must find other four torches and bring their light here and combine them into one strong light. Be careful as they are around are swamp that are resided by monsters. You cant be too careful though as there is also a time limit of two hours to complete this challenge. Challenge two begins in two minutes. Anari stopped reading. -so that means we have no rest? Arata stayed the fact. -rest is one thing but how I am supposed to do anything when I am like this? Zen was still lying on the ground unable to stand up. Kotori answered. -you will definitely think of something, arent you great magician? -I dont think that helps me much. If I go there I will die in seconds. -oh, thats a great idea. You can go do just that. I dont see any problems with it and at the same time there are so many advantages. - . Kotori and Zen didnt have best relationship. Arata had enough of nonsense and stopped them. -right now, our situation isnt good and we have time limited quest. So stop idle talk and lets come up plan. -okay, so I would start with sending him first as a decoy. Kotori pointed at Zen. -Kotori. Arata said her name little annoyed. -I am sorry. -get serious a little. -but what can we do. Right now we have two people who are unable to move. The rest could probably go in and it would be one torch per person but leaving this idiot aside, we cant just leave Yuki alone. -I never meant to do that. I think that for now me, Odin and Anari should go look for the torches. The rest will stay here. Kotori you heal up Zen the moment you have mana for it. After that, Zen you wait until Kotori gets some mana again so she can defend herself. -I can deal without mana if anything comes, and I definitely wouldnt want his help. Kotori protested. -dont forget that you have to take care of Yuki. She wont wake up anytime soon, it was your words. -fine, fine, even though I still dont like it. You will have to defend me you useless mage. -haha, you finally see my greatn . Zen got a kick in the face and didnt manage to finish. Arata continued. -Kotori when you get enough mana, send Zen for the search as well. As for search, the only thing we can do is scatter around and look for the torches. -Arata, did I mention to you that I am afraid of dark. -about five times and I am counting only today. Anyway Anari arent you great white wizard who should be especially god at fighting against darkness? You even once told me that you have skill that lights the way. Use it now. -oh I have forgotten about that. Arata knew Anaris skills set better than she did. -see, you have no problem as you will see things around you, even if monsters shows up you can easily defeat them. -but then Arata. How are you going to search, without seeing anything? Anari asked him. -thats a good question. But dont worry. I will just come up with something. That is a big problem but maybe I have new skill that would help me. Arata looked through his skill books. [Warriors eyes Increases your ability to see attacks You have become more used to weapon attacks and now you can see them more clearly. Passive skill.] Why does it always end like that? Another useless passive! The skill definitely was not useful in the darkness. -so each of us go different way and we hope for the best? Odin summed up the tactic. -well thats most of it. Or do you have better ideas? -no but I am not sure about this walking in the dark blindly. -me neither but there is nothing we can do about it. Anyway if no one has better ideas we go with this, lets go! Arata, Anari and Odin started the search and let for the swamps. Arata was moving through the swamp in completely darkness. Just as message said, there was completely no light. When Arata tried to look upward, he couldnt see the sky or clouds or anything one would expect to see. It was like he had some kind of roof far away over the head that blocked the sky. Focus your senses and even without a light you will be able to see everything that is before you. Without better ideas Arata tried to do something that he once saw in the movie. A blind man could use senses of smell and hearing to imagine every object in 400 meter radius. Thanks to that his ability to see was even better than ones who used eyes. Arata didnt need 400 meters, even one meter would be enough but. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. -aua! Of course Arata couldnt do something like that so once again he walked right into the tree. That shouldnt even be considered a bad plan, it was even worse than that. Anyway, I need some source of light here. Wait. Why did I rush out like that? I should have made a torch. I have materials for it. Even burning branch would help. Previously, Arata thought that if he just run in one way or another he will manage to find missing lights. But it was one of his weaknesses. He way too often trusted in his own luck. Now he was regretting his decision. Anyway I cant continue like this, for now I should get back and make that torch after all. Arata turned around. - Which way was it again? He was already moving for about 10 minutes and couldnt see anything from the point where he was right now. He looked back, then to the left and to the right. Still, nothing entered vision. He might as well close his eyes as they werent of any use right now. Pitch darknessokay its time to use the last tactic. Arata started to just run in one direction with hope of finding anything once again trusting his luck. -aua! His leg soon hooked on the tree root. Arata tripped and landed on the ground. Only then he remembered that he already used this tactic before. Right, it happened once already, thats why I started to walk in the first place. Still, I shouldnt give up too easily. Do not give up was in his mind and Arata simply got up and start running again. But after two more falls, he switched to walking again. I am moving forward so it should be some kind of progress. He might as well be going round in a loop but he didnt even want to think about it. After some time of walking he stomped on something strange. When he did that the ground started to move under him. Arata jumped back. What was that? -wraahhh. Arata heard a scary roar of some creature that he just stomped on. Luckily, he already came up with best tactic in case that would happen. RUN! He quickly moved away from that spot. At first while running and tripping, he heard some noises like something was chasing him, but it soon faded away. Arata stopped moving when he was sure nothing was going after him anymore but when he did that, he once again felt something strange under his feet. Luckily, it didnt roar so it wasnt any beast this time. Strange feeling but it feels nice rather than unpleasant. He was touching something that wasnt as hard as ground. It was like he was on some kind of water bed which was soft and nice in touch. Unfortunately that wasnt water bed. Oo Arata realized what it can be and tried to get out from there, second after. But when he made first speed his other leg fell down into the soft ground. Then second later after Arata tried to move some more, both of his legs were underground. Right now, despite being in standing position Arata was touching the ground with his hands. He tried to get out once more but that only made it worse and his torso started going underground as well. So, those really are moving sands. It was something like that but not exactly. So the moment I try to move, it becomes even worse. Arata stopped his tries to get out and started to think up a plan. This time he didnt intend to rush anymore. I cant get out from here normally as I tried already. Trying again is no, no. So now what? I dont know any ways to get out from moving sands. I saw moving sands once in a movie or some kind of program on Discovery. People mostly just drown there and died. If someone got out, it was only thanks to another person who would throw a rope or something and then pull them out. Rope hmm? I bought a rope as it didnt cost much. I thought that it would be useful but even trying to get it out from inventory is no, no. Normal ideas shouldnt work in the first place. Arata tried to come up with ideas that wouldnt be possible in normal world but could be executed here. Which skills would be useful? Well, unfortunately I dont have something like getting out from the swamp skill. Speed wont help me unless I get out from swamp somehow. Running through the swamp may be possible as long as someone is fast enough, still getting out is the hard part. There were no ideas coming to his mind. Its not like I have many skills in the first place. Dash wont help as its a skill with which I cant jump up. Then leap is the only option left but somehow, I dont see it working, I will just end up buried even more and die Ahhh! I give up. For now I will focus on surviving. Having no ideas, Arata had to give up. He stayed in swamp for 30 minutes without doing anything in particular. Then he began to wonder about the challenge. I just have to hope that the others will complete this part of dungeon without my help. That was quite optimistic but Arata began to analyze situation even more. Anari should manage somehow as she has light spells. Zen also should have something like this. So he also shouldnt have much problems either. Kotori wont move unless Yuki wake up and because it doesnt look like it will happen any time soon she is out from the game. The only other person who is also looking for the lights is Odin There should be four torches and three people looking for it at the moment. There is also time limit, and I dont think that Odin has any light source either. Really, he also should have made a torch. Well, its my fault for rushing out without thinking so I cant say anything now. But realistically speaking in the end we have two people looking for the lights. Arata realized that at the moment their chances of finding all lights are rather slim. The hour has already passed. He didnt know how others were doing but he couldnt just count on them. Time to get out. Whatever happens, happens. Previous worries left him as failing in the challenge, would probably resulting in death anyway. Its better to try getting out. Even if he only had bad ideas for getting out. Bad ideas are better than having no ideas. [Leap] Arata didnt jump up three meters up as he wanted to but he moved a little up. If for the first time you dont succeed try, try again. Arata used [Leap] as many times as his stamina would allow him. Thanks to that now only his boots were underground. He somehow got back to a moment before he started falling down. Okay, I can move my hands now as they dont connect with ground although if I move my legs I will instantly get down. It works pretty simple. But as far as I can see just running through wont work. Although I dont see too far as I cant see anything right now. Arata decided that its better to try with rope rather than use some fantasies from ninja movies. He took the rope out from his inventory. The moment I saw it in the shop I knew that it will be useful at some point. Arata bought that item even before going for guild test. When he first arrived in Loris, he searched for something that seemed useful, he didnt find much but as far as he knew, having something like rope is a must if you want to travel around and go for adventures. In previous MMO-games, items like ropes didnt exist or they had a limited usage but in EOA you can use anything in any way you can think of. You just have to be creative. Well using rope to get out from moving sands didnt require much creativity. Arata throw rope in random direction but because he couldnt see anything he missed many times. Why it never works? Even if it didnt work right away it was still Aratas best idea. He kept throwing the rope upward and at the sixth try it somehow got stuck on something. Finally. Arata started to pull rope until it became stable. He couldnt just get up as the rope was at some angle from the ground. It must have stuck on the tree or something. Anyway the time is short and I still need to find the lights. Arata pulled himself up and got out from swamp. Then the rope started to sway with him. Arata quickly got up so he wont touch the ground again. He was swaying with rope one way, then back again and again and again like on swing. Well I have to jump at the right time and hope that there a hard ground there. Arata swung rope a little and prepared for the right time to jump. When he reached a height limit on one side he used a shout of courage. -aaaaaAAAAAaaaaAAAA! At the right moment he left his grip then he landed on the ground. Success. Arata has managed to get out from the sand, still the situation just returned to the way it used to be. He still didnt have any light and had no idea where to go. He also might just end up in swamp once again and without rope he wouldnt be able to get out. He couldnt pick up the rope as he didnt know where it was. Looking for it would also be hard. Arata focused on what he could do. Okay, I need a light even if I have to rub two pieces of wood against each other, although I dont have time for that. Shouldnt I have some kind of spell for light or fire? Of course I dont. The only thing that I can call a spell in the first time is sword slash where I release elemental power. I could send out fire with it but I dont have enough mana for it as as my mana regeneration is as bad as always. Arata last time used that skill to take down the Paladin. A lot of time has passed but his mana was nowhere where its needed to be. So there is only one way left. Arata took out one sword lifted it up and started. -we are those who believe in victory -we are those who have entered the citadel -we are those who found the flame -we are those who used it to conquer evil as our swords were shining with it red light! A spell that worked only two times so far, still Arata believed as in times need it always worked. Why does it never work!? Well, it sometimes worked in times of need, most of the times it didnt. I will never try that thing again! Still Arata needed some light. Well I dont need a shining sword. Any kind of light so I dont trip myself and end up in swamps again. Arata focused once again and this time he thought of a small glowing light in his hand. Somehow after few tried, this time it worked, although its effect wasnt great. Still, that was all that he needed. Finally. With this I wont run into a tree at least, well I need to hurry before my mana go down to 0. Arata focuses again and reduced a light a little so it didnt drain him up for another hour then once again he started to run. Now he could see branches that would stop him before or roots that he would trip over. At first he was avoiding them but after some time he took out his black sword and cut through them. I still have no idea where to go but at least I see something now. On the way he found some alligator-like creatures, but they werent big challenge to him. Time has passed and there was only 25 minutes left until time limit, although Arata didnt know the timer right now. It is possible that in a second we will reach time limit, I dont have a good time feeling in this place. Even if I can find out what time it is in menu, I dont know when we started. Well, very optimistically there should still be around half an hour left. Arata continued to make his way through the swamp. This challenge isnt about fighting monster. There were not many of them in the first place. The problem is finding something when you have no idea where it is. There should be a way to do it correctly. Running blindly is definitely not that right way. How was it again? Four lights, one in each direction. I think that I ran in right direction although I can still be wrong, even if I run in wrong direction I should still get close to one light one way or another. Anyway it should be easy to see a light in pitch black space like this. That is, if you get close and the view isnt blocked by something. Arata looked at his hand, even if it was a weak light it was the only thing that one would see from afar. Wait a minute. Arata hid this hand in his black coat and looked around. Then in a distance he saw something. That way. Arata run in that direction, but as he was getting closer it started to look similar to a place from where he started. No, did I end up in at the beginning!? But he couldnt see anyone there so he kept running. Still despite the similarity, this place was not the place from where Arata started the challenge. [You have found the western light. You have to take it back to the center.] Oh, I founded but how I am supposed to find a way back now? [Remaining time 13 minutes, the number of lights that reached the center is two, two lights remain.] Still two. Anyway even if chances are low I still need to get this one back. Maybe someone else is also on the way too. Arata tried to pick up the torch the moment he did that, it stopped burning and the light die out. Arata got worried that he did something wrong but from the torch a small light just like the one he had in hand came out second later. The light soon started to fly off somewhere. -uff. With a hope in his heart Arata followed the flying light. One minute. Two minutes. Three minutes. Arata found out that if he ran faster, the light would also speed up, thats why Arata was now running full speed. The light in the air helped him a lot in this. There were more Alligators on a way but Arata didnt stop to fight them. He just jumped over them when they got in a way. It didnt take him as much time as he thought it will and after about 8 minutes of hyper-fast run he reached the starting point. The moment he did that, the flying light flied out and combined with the main torch. Arata felt on the ground as he was really tired now. Not only in this challenge, he had run a lot but also in challenge one he took part in a race and also ran a lot. -Arata? After falling to the ground Arata heard this ever so dear voice. It seemed like Kotori was still sitting in this place and didnt go anywhere for those two hours. There was also Yuki still sleeping but looking much better now than before. No one else was present. With heavy breath Arata answered. -ah Kotori, I think I just defeated a world record of distance from one torch to another. -and what distance was it? -no idea, still I moved as fast as it was possible, anyway how is the time? -well five minutes left but your effort wont pay off. We are still missing one light. -I see, well happens. Arata already considered them losing from the start so he didnt have any hard felling. -you all were just slacking off. Kotori commented. -what are you saying? I brought one light. -two hours and one light. Kotori wasnt impressed by those results even thought to Arata it was job well done. -well there were some problems, like not seeing anything. -couldnt you make some kind of torch or something before running out. You rushed too much. -you dont even know how many times I told myself this. -I will not complain as I also didnt do anything for past two hours. I dont know how it was out there. -I should be the one staying here, you would do better than me there. At least she wouldnt have ended up in swamps. -what happened, happened. We dont have to cry over the spoiled milk. Anyway what is that thing in your hand? Aratas light spell still gave dim light as he was made it so it last until the end of challenge. -I came up with it too late, still thanks to this I managed to get one light somehow. -you have light spells, Arata? -nah its basic magic. I told you about it, remember? -ah that, well I still didnt try it as I didnt have much time. We keep on doing something nonstop, one thing after another, arent we? -yea, I even think that we may have rushed with level a little. Thats how it feels to me. But it looks like this challenge will be a failure. -its not my fault at least, I had to stay here and its good that I did as some alligators came by. -how about the rest? -I didnt see Anari or Odin, not since they left. -then what about two lights that are here? -thirty minutes after you left I heal up Zen. He rushed off right away. After 45 minutes he returned with first light. -what about second light? -After another 30 minutes he came with another light. At that moment there were still two lights left and 15 minutes. Before leaving he said that you all suck and he cant wait for a moment that it ends so he can laugh at you. He especially mentioned you Arata. -at least I got one light so that is not a big problem. -if you didnt get even one I would also complain. And not just a little like now but a lot. I would remind you about it for a very, very long time Good thing I get out from that swamp when I did. -well there is still one minute left so there may be a chance. Arata still had some hops but Kotori crushed them right away. -we should be able to see the light in the distance if someone was in one minute range but unfortunately we dont see anything. -ah, you destroyed my last hope. Anyway what is this dungeon about? I didnt get much fighting in this part. -its true, there should be more monsters to kill. Normally in dungeons your main occupation is killing monsters. -this is what happens when designers try to be creative. Arata commented. -but isnt it leader fault that we came here. He said that exp here is good. -so far its not that bad after first challenge we got a lot of exp, wonder if we would get the same from this one. -well at Arena I leveled up quite a lot and with 5 level bonus I already 70. I still 67 even though we started with one level difference. Shame on me. -thats probably why he said that experience here is good. -yes but what will happen if we fail? -we will probably just die and have to wait for respawn. -well 10% may be a lot but in the end I still will be on plus Ah yes 10% level lost. I only died once and it was early so I didnt lost much. If I die now it will be Arata started counting his levels but then he stopped. -hey Arata, what is it? You will be sad over 7 levels? If you worry about it now, wait until you get 299 level like Gerald. Then it will be a true tragedy. -hahaha, nah I will never have to worry about that. -never? I think that losing 30 level is not funny at all. -skills are important not levels, right? Arata remembered that he got one additional skill that may be the most useful skill in a whole game. Sacrifice C that skill, prevented your level from dropping down even after dying. Muahahahaha. -you say that skills are important but your face seems suspicious, like you just had inner evil laugh within you. Kotori could see through him though. -what are you saying of course I didnt. It will be better if I dont tell anyone. It would look like I brag about it. -Arata you cant fool me. Now you are thinking that you dont want to tell me about it, hey what is it? She has mind reading skill or what. -and now you are thinking. -hey Kotori, we have 30 seconds left till we die so its not time for it. Arata changed the subject. Kotori didnt say anything regardless the skill after that. Instead she asked. -Arata do you have anything planed right now? -now? -after we die here. -well nothing unusual. -then isnt it a perfect time to meet each other? -em, arent we seeing each other right now? -I mean in real life, after all, we are going out. -sure but wont it will be hard, I mean we dont even know where we are life. -you are from America right? -yes. -then there is no problem. Anyway we will talk things out on the phone look 7 seconds left, lets do the counting. -on the phone then. After we both die we will meet each other. -yes, its a promise. =3 =2 When two seconds were left, something appeared right next to the torch. It was a small portal. First a light came out from it. The light instantly merged with torch. Then the portal got bigger and following the light a man jumped out from it shouting. -HAT TRICK! He slide slip on the knee. -who is the master! Zen is the master! While Zen started making the shouts of victory, message appeared in front of Arata and all others. [Five lights has become one the challenge completed] [You have leveled up by 600%] [You have gained a level, Current level 73] [Teleport to third challenge in two minutes] -ah Arata you are here, good job on finding one light. -and you did find three. So I rather should be saying good job. -hahaha, I did, didnt I? Well its a job of main character to do the impossible in time of need. What main character? -anyway what was this in last second? Arata asked as he didnt quite understand what Zen just did. -I left a portal here so when I find next light I can get back here as sap without running. I came up with this method only after the second light and thats why I used it only now. Anyway its just one spell and I wont go into details. -well you truly did good job. -hahaha, didnt I? Its finally shows who is the best, hey Kotori what will you say about me now? Somehow Kotori wasnt happy that they managed to complete the challenge. Arata soon asked. -Kotori? -well, I guess free 6 levels are not bad and we can simply quickly die in challenge three Hmm, its nice to be healer after all so much depends on me. She said it to herself. I got the bad felling about it. -what happened again? Zen asked as he didnt quite understand what happened. -nothing, hey Kotori we dont have to die, okay? -I just joking, anyway good job Zen. I may heal you once in a while from this time on. You left my black list. -haha, great me doesnt need any healing. -is that so then I wont waste any mana on you. -wait, even the best can sometimes need healing. Its better to not fight with words against her. It always ends up like that. Also, good thing that she forgotten about -hey Arata, what was with skills and not level being important again? You still didnt tell me in the end. Clear mind, clear mind. Arata tried his best to avoid mind reading. -nothing. We have to prepare for third challenge. He answered calmly. -fine but you are telling me about it later. Well I will tell her I guess, the only important thing is to not tell that guy. They all disappeared in a flash before anything else happened. Second later they all appeared in some kind of huge cage. The cage was moving upward like an elevator. -waaaawaaa! Ha? Everyone appeared at same time with Anari and Odin as well. Odin was covered in some kind of brown mud and Anari was doing her usual waaaawaaa. But second after she spotted Arata right next to her and soon catch him. -waaaa Arata, I dont know how but you saved me as always. Anari was soon hugging him strongly. -Anari let me go. -but. Arata looked around. -hey Kotori, help me. -why? Why, shouldnt you be at least a little jealous at least. Arata though like that but she wasnt bother by it at all. -you see. -Arata just look at her. She was in dark forest for two hours, you should at least give her that. Anari looked up at Kotori and said. -waaa, Kotori is so good and understanding person. -I am your friend after all. Ah Arata you probably thought that I should be jealous or something but I already said that you dont have to be worry about that. -I dont? -after all I know, even better than you, how deep your feelings for me are, and its not like Anari had any chances with you in the first place. -waaaa. Auch. Anari stopped hugging Arata and moved into the corner. -ah Anari sorry, it sounded wrong. Anyway you only didnt have chances because its me. That sounded even worse. -Kotori dont kill her off like that. Look at the sign its says the challenge three begins in one minute. Hey Anari you too its not the time for cabaret. -Arata you will never understand maiden heart. -one minute Kotori dont start it again please. -its fun, isnt it? Why cant they be ever serious? -but it would be good if we pass third challenge as well. Arata tried to convince her. -hmm, I think it would have been better if we simply all die very quickly. It looked like only Kotori didnt have much motivation now or rather she had different goals. This is bad, how is it on other side? Arata looked around. Yuki was now lying on the ground in one corner. In other corner Zen was having the best laugh of his life. -hey Zen what is it? Arata asked as he was curious. -hahaha, hey Arata did you hear that? -what? -hahaha, you didnt then hey Odin tell them how you ended up in this mud. -I dont want to. Odin answered with sulking voice. -then I will. Hey Arata listen, ten minutes after the start, Odin ended up in some kind of swamp and couldnt move at all. He stayed there for two hours. Whats more some birds ended up crapping on him. Hahahaha! -there were no birds! Looks like I cant count on this side as well. Well at least I feel your pain Odin. -everyone hear me out. Challenge three Boss fight! //** This chapter is still not over over. Continue to part _15.4 **// http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3220 Chapter 15 “Journey” _15.4 //** Continuation of chapter 15. (From 15.3) **// Arata started reading the message that appeared some time ago. -hey Arata what is with that name? Zen stopped laughing and asked. -well its not real creative but at least its simple, the challenge description is even better. Defeat the boss is what it says. -simple is the best but it doesnt seem like anyone is in the mood so I can solo it if you want me to. -I see. Good luck then. -hey Zen dont forget that its a boss monster after all. Remember the guild test. Odin reminded him. - . Zen somehow stopped smiling. -Odin he said that he will be okay on his own, so let him do it. Arata followed up. -you know. I think that I left an iron switched on. So guys, help me out. We need to finish it quickly, right? Zen changed his mind immediately. The cage reached the top and they appeared on some arena. There were many bodies lying everywhere even though Arena was at least 60 meters radius. -ah we fought here in the first challenge. But there was nothing like that standing there. Odin pointed at huge ten meters in height monster. Although it had a tail it was standing on two feet. His whole body was covered in brown scales. He also had a pretty long face. -what do you guys think? Arata asked. -well lizard humanoid. Does it make any difference what he is? Anyway look at his weapon. -I wonder if he drops that hammer as a loot. Zen and Odin werent really bothered by its size. Why big monsters always must have hammer as their weapons? -hey what is he doing. Monster was holding hammer in one hand and he moved to the wall of Arena. Minute later he started to march into direction of the cage equipped with huge tower shield which was as big as he was. -looks like he picked it up, there are some gigantic weapons hanging on the wall over there. Odin stated the fact. -it must be that depending on the stone we get different combination, anyway wonder what is his level. -100. Kotori voice came from behind. Level was the last thing that Arata would be bothered with. -well bosses are always like that. Not only they have all those abilities but they also have to over level you so much. Hey Odin. He will get here soon come over here. So how do we get out from the cage? You did it once right? Zen asked. -last time we didnt appeared in the cage so I dont know. Odin answered. -but we need to get out from here somehow right. Arata any ideas? -well, there is no door so we just have to make one. -my thoughts exactly Zen soon fired out a fireball at the cage. It looked powerful but there was no effect. He tried again with different spell but it also didnt bring any effect. -hey! Help me out there. After that he asked for help. Arata swing his black sword at cage bars but his attack also just bounced off without making any damage. -it doesnt work. -its iron cage after all. Arata stated the obvious fact. -hey does that mean that we cant get out? -looks like it. There should be something that opens the cage. It should open on its own. -hahaha, looks like third challenge will be really easy. But then Zen made a strange comment. -ha? -look, we cant get out right. But boss also cant go in, so all we need to do is to attack it with range spells. Its seems, I will solo it after all. -there is no way that it will work. Arata did not see it happen. -haha, there is, it can be some kind of bug. Also games always have some kind of exploits to use right? Anyway the boss is close enough so I start firing. -LOOK OUT! Odin shouted as the boss started a swing with his hammer. Upon contact the Iron cage was destroyed in seconds. The hammer was about to crush them as they had nowhere to run but at that moment Odin jumped up and blocked the hammer with his shield. In laws of physics a small object should bounce off from huge object but it was the hammer that bounced off. -Zen! Odin shouted, Zen without any more words understood what he meant. -Odin will stop him for now. Cage is not here anymore. We are getting out from here. Everyone is okay? -yes. -okay spread out. Arata take Yuki somewhere safe first. Then we will focus on the boss. Already out from cage Zen shouted that. He took care of early chaos and now everyone knew what to do. Arata picked up Yuki and started to run away from boss. Kotori catch up to him. -Arata we cant just leave her like that. Put her here and I will also stays here. This distance is good for healer. -are you sure? It may be better to just put her as far as possible. -there may be other monsters coming out from somewhere and we just dont see them yet. In challenge one, they were coming from all over the place. -okay I am leaving her here. But what will we do if boss come this way? -if that happens I will manage somehow but if healer take the agro from the boss you guys all sucks. With those words, Arata reassured ran back to the boss. When he got in range his first thoughts were. A moving wall. When Arata reached the boss all he could see was his shield which he held with left hand. With second hand boss was swinging his hammer at Odin. Odin was mostly avoiding the strikes dodging but also sometimes blocked them. Even if he tried to get close he couldnt as he had to dodge other strikes. His damage on boss was no existing. Still it was not his job to do it. There were magic bolts coming from the left and the right. Although the one that Zen fired were blocked by the shield. He tried to get pass it was running around but he didnt go on the other side where there was no shield. On that side Anari was firing from her spells which landed and did some damage. Still, the boss didnt look like he cared too much about those shots. Arata couldnt see his health point but it didnt go down too much. Lizard wasnt only swinging his hammer but also sometimes just moved forward or jumped left or right to land on someone. It made it even harder for Arata to get close. Again, how I am supposed to do anything here? Who come up with this design, the scale is just too big. As melee dps Arata had to stay close to the boss and attack him with his weapon although he would only reach bosss feet and his swords looked like needles to the boss. -Arata, dont slack off and go and attack! Zen shouted to Arata when he was trying to come up with something. -Im on it. Its not that easy as attacking from save distance. Anyway why are your attacks hits mostly the shield? -I was trying to get around but it didnt work, anyway at least I am keeping the shield here so Anari can shoot without problem, she will do more damage thanks to it. -it will take some time. -thats why you should do something as well, if you have problems deal with them. I already fought with boss who was way bigger than me and as far as I know, getting under his feet and attacking from there is bad idea. I should have come up with something in case that I have fight like this again. Well, there are no better ideas then this for now I will go for the back. Arata started to run to the boss. He couldnt go just straight as he had a wall right before him. He turned right to the back of boss but when he passed the shield another problem appeared. Boss sweep with his tail the moment Arata came in range of it. [Leap] Arata instantly jumped up and flight over it, but when he landed the tail started to sweep back once again from other direction. Arata once again leaped over it. When he barely avoided it right above the tail and landed on the ground he came up with idea. Its not like you do things like that in MMO, but as far as melee fighting against colossal enemies goes in games, this should work, although I have one try left as my stamina is low. Aratas stamina was drained out when he was getting out from swamp and all that regenerated was pretty much already used, although he had stamina for one more skill. Arata took out the swords and prepared for incoming tail sweep. [Leap] Arata once again jumped up and was barely above the tail similar to previous dodges but this time the moment he was above the tail he thrust his swords at the tail and holding them strongly he stuck to the tail and fly with it, moment after. The tail was moving left and right and Arata was trying his best to stay on it, he even made few attack when he was stable enough but there was no much of it. With this, I can at least do some damage, but I cant rush as if I do, I will soon fall down. Getting away from the tail climbing on the main body should be my priority. With more stable ground I should be able to do more. Arata started to move forward. He was climbing a mountain. Well the mountain was a moving giant lizard and his climbing equipment was swords rather than pickaxes. But details were not important. He keeps swinging it around. Its not like I will fall after being here for so long. At his thought the lizard stopped to swing his tail. Lucky. Although, the lizard still wanted to get rid of pest and in rather extreme way. This time he tried to do this with his hammer. With awkward movements he managed to lunch a strike on his body where Arata was. Seeing this Arata gave up slow and save climbing and started to run forward up the wall. That allowed him to avoid the attack. Then the moment when hammer landed on Lizard body, Lizard jumped up in pain. You dont use hammers to get rid of a fly do you? Though Arata when he flied up with Lizard. When they landed back on the ground, Arata finally had rather good footing on Lizards scales. Now he could attack all he wanted. Lizard learned his lesson and this time he tried to attack with his hands. He still swung down the hammer at Odin but he let go of his shield. The shield started to fall down. It also was an attack in a way. Ten meters high iron wall landing on the surface was not something that you want to get hit by. With his had free lizard tried to get rid of Arata. To dodge his first palm Arata had to jump down fast as it was way faster than climbing up. Its dangerous here. With this thought Arata made his way to a place where giant shouldnt be able to reach him with his hand. Lizards hp was going down stably now and it looked like the end was near. At least, it felt like it as Arata couldnt see his hp. That was because having nothing else to do but just swinging swords at Bosss body, Arata dps was enormous. Thats how you do it. It finally feels like MMOs boss fight. At one moment boss left out his hammer. It looked like he was going to fall on the ground that moment. Well, he did fall and his hp was no more but he didnt do it in a normal way. With his last dying breath the lizard jumped backwards and tried to land on his back. That way he could at least kill Arata who was attacking from that spot. Arata already though that something like that may happen so he planned escape route to get to Lizards belly. He managed to get there without any problems and the Lizard fall to the ground without killing anyone. Is it dead yet? Arata couldnt see boss hp, he already knew a reason for that. As Gerald told them that pass level 100 many things changes. One of them was that you cant see your or yours enemy HP anymore. At the moment Arata still could see his HP which was 100% ever since Kotori healed him up before challenge two. He looks dead to me, or at least soon be. -HEY! Is there some kind of message like we won or something? Arata shouted from the top of the boss -no! We also didnt get experience for him so he must be still alive, but just few more attacks and he will be dead, keep attacking. He got response from Zen. Arata was going to attack once more but then he spotted a change. Whats that? A black dot appeared right underneath him at Lizard belly. Arata didnt even think about it but instantly based on experience he moved away from it. Dont stay in weird circles is a golden rule of MMO. It looks like there were many golden rules that Arata had. This weird circle wouldnt be dangerous to him but from it a body emerged. -waahrs mohr dar This time it was three meter in high monster with two head. He was rather fat creature. Now what? Some kind of pig? Arata was going to attack but first he had to dodge incoming magic attacks as the boss was not wasting any minute. -nah norteh! Barrage of magic bolts came his way. Arata quickly rolled on the ground so he could somehow dodge this but just after that and electric strike came his way. Arata didnt get up fast enough to avoid it but he didnt get hit by it as in last second it was blocked by magical golden shield that appeared to defend him. As always, good to have her on my back. He didnt see where Kotori was right now but she could probably see what was happening here. It was not only Kotori who was helping. Odin appeared out from nowhere and rushed to the boss. Boss had two heads so surprise attack wouldnt work on him. He could see Odin very easily. He stopped attacking Arata and was going to start attacking Odin. When Odin was three meters away, fat boss started to cast a spell but Odin speeded up with shield at his front. Spell bounced out from his shield and Odin got to the boss and second later the boss was sent flying five meters up to the sky. There he instantly got hit by a lighting attack that came out from a ground below Lizards body. -one more! Zen lunched lighting strike but this time, boss was prepared and summoned a magic shield similar to this of Kotori but his was brown. Zens magic attack didnt break through it. -counter incoming! Arata shouted as he saw boss who while falling down was preparing something. A dark red light was gathering around him so it was probably something big but he didnt manage to finish it. Anari appeared right above him by using teleport skill. She had some kind of huge white magical circle emanating from her hand. A massive magic pillar of energy was released from it. It covered whole body of boss who was falling down to the ground. After Odin made him fly, the boss was no longer above Lizard body. Anari on the other hand fly up by about two additional meters as she was still realizing massive amount of energy. Eh, mages and their overpowered spells. Though Arata seeing bosss body crashing into the ground. Zen come managed to climb up as well and commented. -uuuu, she grows up fast, doesnt she? -so Zen, why dont you try something like that as well? -I dont like flashy things like this. -just answer, you cant do it. -well I dont have spell like that, our classes must be a little different. But I have something similar, I also have the teleport. Adding to that I even thought about combo like that before. But I found one big problem while trying it out. -to me it looks effective. To Aratas remark Zen started explaining. -it may but you see Anari will soon fall down from that height and it will hurt badly. Well we have healer so I guess its not a problem right now. Still I will not try to use that combo until I get some kind of slow fall spell. Zen pointed at Anari who was falling down. -she is an idiot. Arata quickly commented. Zen continued. -at least thanks to that we are done with another boss already, there shouldnt be any more coming, right? Hey where are you going? Arata started to run in direction that Anari was falling down. Good I have at least enough for this. [Lighting speed activated] The speed wasnt something that normal human could achieve anymore. Leaving only dust behind Arata soon get to the spot where Anari was going to land on. Arata thought that he wouldnt make it but Anari didnt fall as fast as he thought she would. Thanks to it, he managed to catch her, and it was rather suppressing that he could do that. She should have more impact by falling from that height. But Arata didnt have time to think about it as he saw magic bolt coming his way. With Anari still in his arms he kept running and dodged incoming attack shoot out by the boss with two heads. -waa, he is still alive? -its a boss after all, anyway why are you doing attacks like that? -emm whats the problem? -you falling from the sky is the problem. -haha, Arata you cant cheat on Kotori. -I not trying to use any cheap texts, I mean you could die or at least take huge damage from the fall. It would at least hurt a lot. -I landed perfectly fine you know I am very good at levitating now, so I can slow down the fall. I still cant control my position though but I would just land on the butt, thanks for catching me. Now thats explaining one thing. -anyway we still have boss to deal with. Arata looked in direction of boss. He was already occupied with Zen and Odin, although their attacks didnt work as Boss was completely surrounded by brown shields. They were floating around him and all he was doing was sending out magical attacks from inside of it. It will be hard to deal with. I dont have stamina or mana to use anything else than simple attacks and they wont be enough to break through that bubble. -Anari do you have any good spell that would break it? -em, about that. I wasted most of my mana already so I wont be of much use anymore for the time being. I thought that boss will die after last attack. - Arata put her down as there wasnt even on attack coming their way anymore as boss completely focused on other two. Although for a moment he wanted to drop her down. -didnt you learn not to waste mana? -but Arata it looks like Zen is also not so good on mana so its not only me. Anyway what are we doing right now? Both of them were firing out without a care and now we have a problem. Well I also dont have any resources so I cant say a thing. But I didnt waste it at least! -just wait here, you are useless now anyway. -wait Im not! Arata didnt waste more time and started to move in boss direction. He decided to try out enemy shields. As boss was focused in completely other way even with two heads Arata without much trouble managed to sneak to his shields at the back. The shields were making a defensive capsule around the fat boss. If I destroy just one shield I can get inside and attack him without care. Arata tried to swing a sword at it but it just bounced off Arata also took some damage from it. That wont work. Now, the only thing that I can use is Sword enchant, so lets go with it. [Sword enchant: fire] He tried once again but that didnt give much effect. His hp went down once again although it was healed back right away. But with this attack the boss stopped ignoring Arata. He sent a fireball at him. Arata didnt saw it right until it left protective field so it was impossible for him to dodge it. -aaa. Arata on reflect tried to slash it with his sword and surprising it worked. The fireball got sliced in half and fell down on both left and right side of Arata. Ha? I can do something like that? Soon enough another magical bolt came up. It was ice attack this time. Arata could dodge it with no problems as he saw it clearly but he decided to parry it again to test if he can really cut through the spells. Sadly, it didnt work and Arata got hit and fall to the ground. Soon a barrage of magic attacks came at him but this time they were blocked by golden shield that appeared in front of him. Its not the best time to try things like that. Anyway we still have boss to deal with. At the moment there wasnt much progress. Zen and Odin stopped attacking at all and focused on dodging. Anari was still standing in a distance, she couldnt do much anyway, thats why Arata left her be. Arata get up and moved to the place where Odin and Zen were. They also keep a good distance in which they could defend against incoming attack. Arata joined a game of dodge ball. -guys what are you doing now? He asked. -we thought that you have some kind of idea so we distracted the boss but you came here so it seems like you dont have any. -I dont have mana for ideas. -same as me. Zen confirmed Aratas worry. Then Odin said. -I do have some, but it wont help to break through his shield as I tried everything already. -as far as I know Anari also shouldnt have anything left, leaving no one with ability to attack break through. Zen summed situation up. -so are we going to play dodge the spell until we die? Arata asked. -we can also survive long enough until some of my mana regenerate, although with speed that it regenerate in combat we wont last long enough for a good spell. Still that game, Im in, the one who survives until the end is a winner! - . Arata once again got irritated. But there really was nothing else. -Arata, he is just joking, for now our plan is to dodge until boss run out of mana and his shield goes down. Then we will manage. Odin told him their plan. -it may take some time, I dont think that we will survive long enough. Boss can also have unlimited supplies of mana. -if its the second then we cant do anything in the first place, but if its the first one we will survive somehow. Boss doesnt use any big spells anymore, must be because he is inside that shield barrier. -even so we have to dodge it for hours, -even if we get hit here and there we still have her on our back so there is no problem. Odin pointed in direction of Kotori. Well as long as she is healing we dont have to worry about dying. Well as long as she wont decide that dying is the better choice. Arata knew Kotori was joking at that time so he didnt worry about it too much. -wont she run out from mana? Zen asked. -I dont think so. I wouldnt be surprised if she was 100% all the time, I only fought with her on first challenge but I saw all I needed so see. -if you say so. Not that I plan on getting hit. Wait, maybe she has some spell that would help. -I go ask her if she had any ideas. -Arata if you are going there, tell her that she destroying our fun with those heals. Our game wont end if she heals everyone like that. Arata ignored last comment and run to Kotori. Lizards huge shield was lying next to her but apart from that she was the same as the moment he left her. Yuki was also lying nearby. -Arata, when are you guys stops playing dodge the ball? End it already! Kotori asked when Arata got in hearing distance. -does it really looks like it? -well, it does. Look at them. In a distance Zen and Odin keep dodging incoming attacks. They were all small attacks nothing too great. -well you are right still its because we just cant do anything right now. -really? I thought that there were no problems, you know with this combo that you pulled at the start. Boss also looked weaken to me, he doesnt use any strong spells anymore. One or two hits and he will be dead. -the problem is that we cant break through his defense as everyone is out of steam. -you too? -well I was out of it even before fight began. Anyway how are you on mana? -well, I over 70%, apart from healing Odin when he was blocking hammer I didnt have much work. I started the fight with 50% so it went up. But one question, if Zen is out of steam why is he playing dodge ball as well? If he is useless now, he should just sit down somewhere like Anari. -he wanted to play a game or something. Or rather two targets boss will lose his mana faster. -well its not like he got hit so far. So our tactic right now is playing dodge ball until boss run out of mana? -well they came up with it but I somehow dont see it. -boss can just have good mana regeneration and he stopped using any good spells. We might wait here forever. -thats why I came here, do you have better ideas? -sure, go and break through shield somehow. You can do it Arata. -somehow hmm? -you will think of something. -well, I thought that you may have some kind of spell that would break through it. -well I could try my new spell but should healer really doing it? And even if I break through the shield, it wont damage boss too much after it. -if you break shield for long enough and I enter there, I should be able to finish him. -so you want to solo it up from that point. Didnt you lose all your stamina and mana already? -I also thought that you can help with that. -I dont have spell that is as useful as that. -then I will manage without it, but what about you know, that pillar of light? -well that regenerate stamina at least, but you know how much mana its eats. -but you wont need mana afterwards. -what if there is a third boss coming after this one? -that rather pessimistic. -no its rather given, who normally have two different bosses coming one after another. If it goes like that, its always three. -its not a rule, anyway your skill will cost? -half, and I need to use this if I were to get through the shield of 100 level monster. -see you will still have 20% left. -it may also not break through it, or you can also die inside there. -I will manage somehow. Arata didnt even think about losing for a second. -knowing you, you probably will easily win. Even if you dont, it wont be that bad either. We should all just die right now after all. -you talking about our meeting. -exactly that. Well I just joking again. Also I have even better idea for this boss. -oh, what is it? -if you had stamina you would break somehow on your own, right? So if we are going to gamble lets gamble big. Remember when you fought against white wolf and I healed you up? -many things happened that day. -well you should remember every inch of them, its important day after all. Anyway you got buffed up and managed to defeat the withe wolf with no problem. -well there were some problems and I would die many times without your heals but sure I did win. -so, I will just buff you up this time and you just have to do the same again. -well with that buff I could probably even take another boss if he came out. But wasnt it working only at night or something? Look its bright outside here. -its not normal sun, the whole instance is strange in the first place, anyway timer says that its night right now, so it will work. -okay we go with this. Wait till I get closer to the boss so we wont waste any time. -if its like that I will come as well, it will be more effective if I am closer while casting it. -and Yuki? -its not like she will die if I leave her alone for a second and no minions have appeared so far and I dont think they will. -and even if they do you could just defend her from afar. -exactly that, lets go. Arata and Kotori ran back to where boss was. The scenery didnt change here at all. Zen welcomed them. -you finally decided to play as well. We are winning by 20 minutes over you, but we can start from scratch if you ask nicely. Anyway did you come up with a plan? -we did, anyway Kotori you can start. - . It was time to cast the spell but then Kotori became quiet all of sudden. -hey Kotori. -Arata, I said that the closer we are the better right? -well sure, so how far should I stand? -I dont know. Hmm? -read spell again, we have time. -its says the closer the better. -then what? You want me to hug you? That would be the closest distance I guess. - . What is she embarrassed or something, her face became red. -what with you again? We were hugging many times already. -it was mostly me hugging you, you never took initiate. It was the first time he heard her complaining about it. Also her voice was different than usual. -but you said that you know me better than I do, so is there a problem? -saying is one thing, but real actions are whats important! Anyway forget it lets just get started! Wasnt it she who always said to be honest about your feelings. ehh. Arata came closer knelt down, buried his face in Kotoris chest and catch her around with arms. Soon enough light surrounded them and they stayed like this for a minute. Spell ended Arata had a buff called Song of Stars which increased his stats by 25%. -hey Kotori, it worked. Last time it was only 15% and now Arata stopped as he looked at Kotoris face. First time he saw her smile, he already developed some feelings for her. Some may call it love at first sight. For Arata her smile was brighter than light emanated by ten thousand suns and he would never get tired of it. This time it was different however. There was same pure smiling face, but the difference was her eyes from which tears started to pour out. They also werent the same tears that he already saw, they were different. Kotori said in small voice. -one more. She already started to cast another spell. Arata however didnt go back to his previous position. He stood up on one leg and moved to Kotoris face. Without moment of hesitation he kissed her. Yellow light surrounded them. The spell as to answer their feelings became different from previous one. They were standing there together in this shining golden light. That was their first kiss. Soon enough the light ended and Arata moved away. The buff changed its name it was now called Song of universe and increased Aratas stats by 100%. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! -Kotori Said Arata her name but Kotori didnt answer. In fact she still had her eyes closed. It also felt as she was leaning on him. -hey. She was still not responding. -you two are done? Odin asked after he blocked another attack. -well we are although it looks like she fell asleep or something. Arata did not understand the situation either. -asleep? What are you talking about? -hahahaha. Odin asked seriously but Zen laughed out loud. -hey what is it? -Arata, you showed us a good scene, you are so bold. Its not that I forgotten about them. But I got caught off guard. The plan was only on hugging. -and what I am supposed to do right now with her like this? -its your fault that she feinted. -she feinted? And why is it my fault? -you know if you suddenly do something like that to a pure girl like her its rather given. She even cried out from happiness when you hugged her, but you just went with another step right away Zen explained how it looked to him. Thats crying face was the problem, my thinking stopped at that moment. Instincts took over. But I didnt do anything wrong, I had no idea it will feel like this. Arata found his answer and focused on the present. -anyway you can leave her here. We will hide her somewhere so you wont have to worry. Odin said to him. -we still have the boss to defeat, after all. Arata went back to his mission after putting down Kotori carefully to the ground -hey Arata. I hope your plan is something better than defeat the boss with a power of love. Zen asked with amused voice. -well it was different but it looks like I will have to go with this one. -hey, I was just joking. -well, but I didnt. Arata rushed in enemys direction. His movements right now, were on a pair with those which he could use when lighting speed was activated. In three seconds he was already near the shields of the boss but he didnt stop even for a moment. With his black sword he made a slash and easily broke through the shield. With that he got inside. The fat boss spotted him but couldnt react at all to Aratas movements. Arata already passed him on right while making two long parallel wound. When boss tried to look back around he got another two symmetrical wounds on the other side. Arata wasnt wasting any time and now he was slashing from the back. Who needs skills with buffs like that? Arata was nearly as fast as like with lighting speed and his attack were nearly as fast as 12 strike combo. Also his opponent was a huge fat two-headed mage. He had no chance at close combat in a first place. Soon enough, the fat boss landed on his knees, Arata just to be sure chop of one of its head with last attack. The shields that were so far making the protective bubble also disappeared. Hmm that went rather fast. But it was not over. Bosss body upon collapsing started to shine with red light. Arata quickly get away from the boss. It was a good call as the boss soon exploded. -good job. Odin said that when Arata run back. -what are you saying its obvious that he defeated him only because of my earlier attacks. Zen quickly commented. -rather Anaris one. Still killing blow goes for Arata. Dont be jealous. -fine! You might have won today but soon . -we still didnt get experience. Arata interrupted Zen from continuing and stayed the fact. All look in a way where boss was before. His body was gone but at the place a small round golden ball surrounded by red flames was floating in the air. So there is one more after all, I guess it cant be just two bosses in the row. -wait here, I will finish it up. -wait up its another- . Odin didnt finish as Arata right away moved to face new enemy. When Arata got close enough, the golden ball started to fly in his direction and it was moving quite fast. In moment of confrontation the ball crushed with Aratas right sword and fly to the right, Arata was bounced a little to the left. But soon enough he once again started to run in ball direction and ball fly at him as well. The clashed again and again and again. At some point Arata stopped taking the impact of orb. He dodged it and countered from the back. It was more effective. Flame balls maximum speed was a little faster than Arata despite the buff he had but not that much and it didnt give much advantage as Arata was fast as well and his moves were much more effective. The only problem was that orb was surrounded by fire which got bigger and bigger throughout battle. But it didnt stop Arata at all and he simply ignored it. He even started to attack more intense. After five minutes of fight. Well some may not call it a fight as it was Arata massacring poor ball. Some may even pity the ball as it was trying its best and it was all in vain. Arata and ball crashed again but it was only a ball that bounced off. Before it got speed again Arata was already next to it. [Stream of night] Twelve strikes struck the ball and it landed on the ground. It managed to float up one again and then something unexpected happened. Ball started to fly away from Arata as far as possible. As if it was running. Looks like, there is some intelligence in it. Arata gave a chase. It looked like orb changed its target as it flight in direction of Odin, Zen and Kotori who no longer sleep and was standing there. Odin was already ready to block incoming ball but Arata was catching up to the ball. At first the ball was faster than him but now it was slower as it got beaten up. Arata hit the ball as he catch up and it changed it crushed to the right before it could even reach Odins shield. Given a chance as he was close enough Arata said. -hey Kotori, this buff is awesome. We definitely need to do it more often. -aaa Kotori got red in instant and tried to say something but Arata didnt stop long enough to hear the answer. He moved after the ball. It was now moving in direction of Anari who was sitting in shadow of the wall. She was just looking how the fight was going. Arata catch up to orb around 15 meters before her and with his swing he made it crush into the wall. -waaa, Arata. -hey, how is it going? -I thought that I was on a way to become good player but how I can call myself such if I see something like that. Presentation of Aratas skills in full glory had this effect. -I got buffed up a little. -well its Arata after all, anyway what is with that ball? -it looks like it started to attack other players although now its going in random direction. I think it simply running away. -waa, poor little ball. Why are you bulling it? -you do understand that its an enemy right? -ah right, but in that case shouldnt you chase it? -chasing it doesnt work as good as open combat so I might just wait until its get bored and come back. -hey Arata someone is walking there Anari pointed in direction that ball was going. Some meters away one could see white-black colored someone moving around. -hey Arata isnt it Yuki. Arata didnt hear an obvious fact as he already started running after the orb. I wont make it like this and shouting might only confuse her. Its time to use this skill, although I didnt want to as I dont know how it will end up combining with this buff ah, whom I kidding of course I wanted to use it. [Lighting speed] If Arata was moving fast with just a buff, his movements right now could only be described as teleporting. From afar once could see him only once every five meters. Arata catch up to ball right before it reached Yuki. He got right between her and the ball. With his sword he sent the ball flying. But that was not the only thing that he sent flying. It looked like Yuki was ready to parry out the attack but Arata appeared out from nowhere and the white sword was going at him, with his instant movement Arata parried it out, sending it into the air. -Onii-chan? -give me a second [Leap] Arata jumped up after the orb and in air he slashed it once again. This time it finally got cut in half. When Arata landed, two other parts also fall on the ground. -well that should do it. Yuki you sure you are okay to move, now? He didnt get an answer as Yuki started to run in his direction. She passed right next to him and jumped up. Arata looked behind after her. He saw a large flame there coming at him. Yuki jumped right into it. -hey! Arata didnt continue when he saw that in place of flame that Yuki passed through was now a solid ice, few second later all of it was completely frozen Yuki was standing at other side of a large ice ball. -Yuki what was that? -Onii-chan got careless at last second. That flame followed you, after you landed. Thats why I helped. -I got careless? Well maybe. Anyway how did you froze that up? - . Yuki didnt answered and stay silent. Ah yes, I shouldnt ask that. -anyway Yuki are you okay? -yes although, I have no idea what is happening right now. Last time thing I remember was some dark place and I fall down there. I thought that I will soon wake up in my room but that didnt happened. I am sorry that I had such hard time on first challenge when everyone believed in me. -dont be so hard on yourself. -Onii-chan can you tell me what happened after that? -wait I until it gets safe. There always may come out something again. Arata was worry that soon next boss came up. His buff was still some time away from running out so he would deal with anything that may come. Still if another boss came up this was not the time to talk. Although a message appeared that cleaned his worries. [You have leveled up by 500%] [You have gained a level, Current level 78] [You have complete challenge three: boss fight] [You have leveled up by 700%] [You have gained a level, Current level 85] [In two minutes you will be teleported to reward chamber] -Onii-chan how did it happen that I am at level 77 right now? She must be rather surprised that it went up like that. She was at thirty something before? I should at least tell her what happened. -so Yuki, long story short. You fainted after challenge one and was about to die but Kotori saved you. -Onee-chan did? -yes, when you were resting, we cleaned rest of the dungeon and there was really good experience reward so you dinged to 77. - . -what is it? -I used everyone for my personal good, and when everyone were working hard I just slept. I did nothing to help and got the same reward as everyone else. Yuki didnt feel good with it. Arata tried to cheer her up. -thats a bad way to put it. Also you took the hard job in challenge one and you helped me a second ago so you did good. -but my mother always said that you cant use other people work for your personal gain. -thats true. But we are not just some other people but your guild mates. When someone is in trouble, others help that person and dont leave them behind. We are also your friends, arent we? Yuki looked at him with big eyes. It looked like she wanted to say something but they disappeared in a flash before she could do it. Secret dungeon Stonecell. In the beginning all dungeons in EOA were hidden. So all dungeons were once a secret dungeon. Still as the time passed people found most places that they start calling dungeons. That was because those places felt familiar to them as they did experienced it in games. In most MMOs when people entered dungeon in party, they got completely different place for themselves. It meant that only people from this party can be found in this dungeon should somebody else come as well, they would be send to a different place which would be the same in nearly all aspects except of players that were inside. In those places players could without worry focus on the challenge before them. In EOA however there wasnt a mechanism like that. Everyone entered the same place. Sometimes only one party could enter some place and no one else would bother them but something like a copy of the same place for every group didnt exist. So in truth in EOA there werent places like dungeons. Those were just places filled with monsters and that wasnt exactly MMOs definition of dungeon. Still when people found those places, they called it just that as it was easy to understand for everyone. Secret dungeons however were a little different in that regard. Searching for them was impossible and the one that somehow found it must have had an incredible luck. If one sold information about the location of secret dungeon, he could earn a lot of money as it was commonly known that those dungeons had great rewards within them. Not only more experience but also unique items that couldnt be found anywhere else. Some items couldnt drop more than one time that was why secret dungeons were so precious. After finally completing three challenges members of guild Refrain stood before a really hard decision. They were in a hall. It was a beautiful hall. With paintings and hangings all over the walls. Everyone appeared in the middle of it a second ago. Before them, on three pedestals were three chests. Each pedestal had a description underneath it and it was that which created this hard decision. -so, which do we chose? Zen asked as he couldnt wait anymore. They already read the description few times. Each description was describing what reward can be found in which chest. First one simply said gold. Second description said six items, one for each challenger. Then last one was described as unknown. Everyone already pondered about it for some time now but it didnt bear any fruits. After all they wanted best reward. Arata finally said. -I would definitely take unknown. -right! Its more funny that way. Zen was also on this opinion. -what will we do if we got nothing from it. Its says unknown. And knowing this game it may be empty. Odin was up for a save choice. -I like to gamble. Everything or nothing! Zen didnt see any other option that unknown though. -shouldnt we take items for everyone or gold so we can divine it equally. -Anari, we know that you dont have experience so leave it to us. -but. -tell her Arata. -the term unknown, in games it stays for super unique rare item. Also we definitely wont take gold. It also doesnt mention how much of it is inside so it can be just one coin. -exactly that! It was one of rare cases when Arata and Zen had same opinion. -but wouldnt it be fair for everyone to get something? Anari still wanted to be fair to everyone. Even if it was one great item it would still go only to one person. -its better to have one great item than few which would end up on sale right away Arata explained. Then he asked the one that stayed silent through all the discussion so far. -Kotori you are okay with it? You didnt say anything. - . -hey Kotori! Arata moved closer to her and waved his hand before Kotoris eyes. -aaa. Arata. Wha? What is it? -the loot, what should we choose? -the loot? What loot? It seemed like she wasnt listening. -forget about the loot for a moment. Kotori, is something wrong? -wrong? With me? No, no, no everything is okay. Definitely okay! Everything is normal. Yes, yes normal. Somehow its not normal. First time I see her like that. Is it because of that? -so what about the loot? Arata went back to the topic. -loot? Ah yes, we finally finished a dungeon after all. So something dropped form the last boss? -did you pay attention for the last ten minutes? -of course I did! Kotori somewhat regain her usual self run up to Anari and in low voice asked her something. After two minutes Kotori was on the topic. -well thats difficult. But I agree that we definitely shouldnt take gold. She stated her opinion. -okay so we have two choices left. Arata answered. -what are you saying, its given that we take the third one. Zen didnt plan to let that up. -some have different opinion. Lets just do a voting. -if you want? Okay I will count. First Anari. Arata proposed the idea and Zen started the voting. -if not the gold then I think that we should choose second option. Anari was still on everyone should receive something thought. -boring, next Arata! -third one. Arata didnt wonder about this one much. Even if he doesnt get an item he just like Zen simply wanted to see what was inside and find out what unknown is. Zen continued. -now me. I am of course voting for third as well. Now, two votes for third and one for second option. Now Odin, you wont betray me right? -second vote for second. Odin also didnt think much about this one. Gambling on unknown was not something he would do. Zen didnt get dishearten. - never mind, you were always like that. Kotori? -either way is fine. I hold back my vote, if something happen its on you guys. Kotori took the best option and didnt vote for anything. With this she can complain no matter the results. -eh so we have draw? -there is still Yuki. Kotori reminded him of her. -so Yuki you will vote on no wait a second. Arata, here, here Arata and Zen started to murmur to each other. Zen was the first. -there is no way that we choose a second option right? -well its doesnt depend on us anymore. -well not on us. But it can depend on you. Just tell Yuki that you want third one and she will do what you say. -isnt it cheating? -as long as we win its not. The winners are justice. -okay I want unknown as well so I will do it. -great, I knew you would understand. And so they come up with an evil plan. -okay, Yuki before you answer listen to Arata for a minute. -hey, Yuki can you vote for third one? -sure. It went fast. -and with that we chose the third one which is unknown. Hip, hip, hurray! The plan worked perfectly. -isnt it cheating? -person who was afking for ten minutes and didnt even vote have no right to complain. Zen was not bothered by method as long as he gets what he wants. -I wasnt afking. Anyway just open that chest already! Although she didnt vote Kotori was also up for unknown. -so who will do the honors? Zen said that but Arata didnt wait for another useless dispute and opened the chest. -hey! -we definitely dont want another meaningless dispute about who is opening the chest. -fine but I am opening next chest when there will be occasion. So what is inside? -well, looks like unknown was a good way to describe it. -hey what is it? -look at it by yourself. Arata took out something in a shape of a yellow wheel. Everyone came closer and looked at description. [Angels halo. ?????????????? ????? ?????????] -does this game has some kind of identification mechanics? Like you need to use some scroll on it? Zen asked. -I dont think so. Arata asked and Kotori followed after him. -I also never heard of it. -okay so what do we do with this item? From where I see it, it is bugged. Arata stated -its not like we can do with it anything. There are no GMs in this game Zen explained and in the end their great reward after the secret dungeon turned out to be a useless junk. Or did it? Only time will tell. -aaa, an here I was thinking that I will get some legendary staff or something but we got bugged item. Zen complained. -thats about it. Well its better to just leave it and go. -my thoughts exactly. Lets get out from here! Arata and Zen were once again in sync but. -wait a minute you two! eh didnt work. Kotori stopped them. -say, what punishment you want for wasting our reward like that? -we didnt waste it. -exactly matter was put to vote. You also said that its fine either way. -I did that because I thought something like that can happen. Well I didnt expect bugged loot. Still you two are banned from loot. -hey its not our fault that we got bugged item! Kotori and Zen started fighting. -Arata what does it mean to be banned from loot? -well its simple Anari. When some item drops few people may want that item. For example if item with stats for magician were to drop. You, Zen and Kotori would want it right? -then, how normally you decide who takes loot? -in random groups there is mechanics called roll. People get a random number from game system. The one who got the highest wins As long as it is not quantic computer those numbers are not truly random but Arata left the technical details and continued. -I dont know if there is something like that in EOA. Still normally guilds wont use that system in guild. -so what do they do? -most guilds use something called DKP system. You gather points and spend them on items. You can get points for your contribution to a guild. But there is no need for that system in good guilds. Good guilds decide on spot who should take the item that dropped. Criteria are who needs it the most or who will make the best use of it. That system only works in good guilds because they are focused on their strength as a whole not on individual player for himself. -good, I thought that we will have to argue about it. I wouldnt want that. -we will easily come to understanding if something drops so dont worry. -you really think that it will work here? Anari pointed in direction of Zen and Kotori who were arguing about an item that didnt even dropped. -of course I would take item, I am healer after all! -you must have been in some newbies guild that depended on healers. DPS is most important! Enrage timers, hard part of encounter, everything can be much easier when dps is high! -healing is most important. When people die they cant dps anymore so where is your logic coming from? -from experience. -what experience? In my experience it is completely different. -that is because you were in some newbie guild that didnt know left from right. -no matter what you say, you are banned for next 10 items that drop. -10 items? There is no way that I can agree to that. Arata decided to not take part in that dispute. -so Anari, if magic items were to drop, just ignore those two and take it for yourself. -hey, Arata who made you a master looter here? Zen heard that. -no, no, no I definitely dont want to be master looter when I have pair of ninjas in party. - . - . With single word ninja he silenced them down. Being called one was a blow to pride for any gamer that played the games on descend level. Arata with simile said. -glad you understand. -its her fault she started with that banning thing. -but who decided to open an empty chest? They didnt understand after all. -you really want to argue about the loot. Is it your first time in dungeon or something? - . -sorry Arata. Anyway its your fault that I am not myself now. Kotori answered to him. -yes, yes, my fault. Anyway the chest isnt empty, there was something, right? -but that something bugged item. Kotori couldnt leave this one alone. After all they wasted a chance for some items which were rather hard to get in EOA. Arata was not disheartened. -I dont think that its bugged item. It must be usable for something. -still we have no idea what can we use it for. -we dont, but we have a walking encyclopedia of this game waiting for us right outside. -oh right, lets go ask him. They walked out from the hall through only door and appeared back in near the rock where they first teleported from. Gerald wasnt there so they couldnt ask him about the item. Instead Kelly was waiting. -took you long enough. She welcomed them when they all appeared. -hello, Kelly. Can you tell me where is Gerald? Shouldnt he be waiting for us? Arata wanted to know what to do with the item right away so his choice was not wrong anymore. Kelly answered. -he and Loki went ahead. He said that if we are going to be fighting another guild we need to find out something about them. So they went for something they called a scouting mission. -scouting mission? -dont let the name deceive you. From the way they talked they will kill off every player that they find without second thought. I dont think they will wait for us. -so we are going with boring plan after all. Arata recalled what the boring plan was. Gerald kills everything with single skill. -boring plan? Yes, Gerald said something about it. Anyway I was to wait here for you so you dont get lost. We are going for the Triangle, right away. Gerald said that we should hurry so people wont respawn after two days and he doesnt want to kill innocent players twice. Yes that is definitely scouting mission. -there is no reason for us to go if we are going with this pattern. -no, you guys still have to participate and take down the leader. Gerald mentioned that they are just going for scouting mission around the city so the inside is still left to you. -they want to take all the fun from us! And how I am supposed to win in number of people killed now? They started too early. Zen was worried about other things. Kelly somehow tried to somehow explain their behavior. -well for some time now, all they were doing was recruiting and journeying around so they probably want to stretch a little. Anyway hurry up or you wont have anything left. -I dont care anymore. Arata lets take break we are after dungeon after all. -fine by me. Kotori lost her interest in whole thing and didnt want to go for finished fight. Arata didnt care from the beginning. -what break? Action awaits! I want to do some PVP! I didnt do any PVP yet in this game! Zen on the other hand wanted to take part even if he had to finish of those who were lying on the ground. -what about all those dead players that you attacked just because you were bored? -they died too fast, we cant call it PVP. -if you say so its still better than lazing around in a cart. -you still will have to do that for two days. Kelly reminded them about brutal reality. -there is no use to talk about it now. Kelly do you know something about this item? Arata showed the item that they just got as a reward from the dungeon. -you got this from this dungeon right? -yes. -well I never seen item like that before but I heard about it. -is it bugged? -even if it looks like that its not. Although you might as well consider it bugged. You wont have use for it. You see this item is really rare. -shouldnt that be good? -no, its rare to the point where people who finds it cant do anything with it. Simply put it. Its a quest item to a quest which you dont have so you cant read its description. In this game you can loot quests item even if you dont have quest for it. If item is like that, then quest doesnt specifically tell where that item can be found. Its a lottery. You go around the world and maybe one day you will find that item. Still, most of those quests are simply abandoned as who would have thought that you have to find this item in secret dungeon for low levels. -well its true but if we got the item already we should be able to complete the quest. -did you forget that finding quest itself is as hard as finding an item. In the end without good information network its just impossible to complete those quests. -see guys, its your fault. Ban for loot! Arata ignored Kotoris comment and continued before Zen starts to argue again. -so you say that we should just throw it away? -I didnt say that. You can sell it to someone who needs it, you will get huge price for it if you find a buyer. -I think finding person who wants to buy it can be as hard as finding quest itself. -I didnt tell you to look for them. There is a place called black marked. Well you cant use it now but later you will. -what is a black market? -if you want to know that badly, listen. In most big cities there is at least one person from that group. They sell informations and goods but also buy them from others. All people from this group work together so their information is the best you can find. If you ever need to look for specific item that would be the best way to start. But as I said you cant use it as they wont appear in any low level towns. Maybe after you pass 100 you may find someone from them. But you dont know how to look for them so its meaning less. They also dont work with small flies. For now just keep this item in inventory and worry about it later. Also I will say it right away. Even if its looks like big promise of something great, it is not that big of a deal. Anyway, we should go to Triangle now so get on the cart. Then we really got useless item after all. Unknown reward. It sounds great to those who like to stake on small odds but in this evil game, those who try to gamble can pay a heavy price. Still even if item like Angels halo was useless in Aratas hands it might by the priceless thing for someone else in this world. Still, should someone in this world need that item, their chances of finding this item now would be close to zero. http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3247 Chapter 16 “Queen of Blades. Part one.” Chapter 16 Queen of Blades. Part one. The tomb of Edward Third the Great, nowadays no one even think about getting close to that place. The tomb used to be called a dungeon but everyone knows that its definitely not a dungeon by any means. Inside the tomb one can find a spirit of great king who once ruled over a large empire. His empire is no more though, as it fell over two hundred years ago. All that king has left are his tomb and his crown. The spirit of the king defends his last possession with all power he has. He does not interact with the world on his own but he can control objects which surrounds him. And what surround him are graves of people that used to serve him in the past. In history of EOA, back in the day when this place was first discovered, many players were going there and tried to put their hands on the crown. It was a crown of great king after all, it should have been some unique, one of the kind item that would have great stats or even start a quest chain. Thats was what all thought at least. After many tries and with combined force, a group of adventurers managed to destroy every skeleton that king summoned. Still even though they won, they left that place empty handed as it turned out that you cant move the crown from its original place which was skeleton of the king. In the end, all effort and resources that people put in those fights, everything was in vain. They didnt get a single reward out of it. In normal dungeon or hunting place one would at least get some experience but skeletons, even though incredibly hard to fight against, didnt give even gram of it. At some point people started to wonder. What was the reason to go to this place in the first place? The answer that most have arrived was that there was no reason. Nowadays, no one sane would try to go there anymore as people knew the tales already and knew it was meaningless to try. Still, there were some people, left that wanted to go there. This time I will definitely manage! Before the entrance to the Tomb of Edward Third the Great stood a figure in brown cloak. In comparison to all others hopeless challengers, this person had actual reason to enter this tomb. The name of this person was Rin, although practically no one called her by that name. There were several reasons for that. One of those reasons was also the reason why she wore clothes that revealed nothing. One couldnt see her face as it was all covered by a hood. Still one could recognize this character pretty easily should he even heard of her. In parts around Karma city, all players know that figure around 170 in height in brown cloak with a red mark of blood on the back of cloak is more dangerous that any monster they will ever encounter. People also knew that areas around Tomb of Edward Third the Great were the places of doom as one could find her there, from time to time. Even going in south direction from Karma was considered suicidal as that was where tomb was located. Those facts were one of first things that one should learn if they want to stay in Karma for little bit longer. Rin wanted to enter the tomb as quickly as possible. She wanted to complete the challenge of the kings ghost. It was not the first time she was doing that and probably not the last one. This time however she couldnt do it right away because as sometimes it happened, three people went against common knowledge and come to this place and waited for her before the tomb. What worse, the man from the middle stopped her and with single sentence, he asked for death. -stop right there Queen! I hate that name. -dont call me that. Get away if you want to stay alive. She answered. Although the saying was you meet her you die, the truth was that Rin wouldnt kill anyone if they didnt disturb her. Although sometimes when she was in bad mood disturbing her only meant standing in her way when she walked on the road or just entering her field of vision. Although it looked like two on the back already wanted to run, the man on the front started fearlessly. -dont be so aggressive. I have a business proposition for you, nothing else. Just hear us out. Why is it happening again? She knew what it was about. It was not the first time that someone called out to her for with similar words. -I dont care about your proposition. Leave! -its a good deal I tell you. You can only gain from it. It will also take no more than five minutes from you. All I want is a single piece of information that all. Waste of time. Already being irritated, she decided that there is no use in words anymore. Although Rin didnt move at all, above her three different shaped swords in ruby color appeared. They were all floating in the air and they were pointed in direction of uninvited guests. Seeing this occurrence, one of the two at the back turned around and wanted to run away but the one in the middle stopped him and caught him by his collar. -you have 5 seconds to run. Rin added last sentence. -wait! If you dont want to play it nice then listen to this. We have a hostage. As long as you dont tell us what we want, we will keep her imprisoned It looked like the man at the front became desperate and lost his calmness. He said his triumph card. Sorry Mary, looks like you have trouble because off me again. Rin apologized to her friend in thoughts. It also wasnt the first time that something like that happened. Although in this world her friends name wasnt Mary but Yume. The man continued. -you should know who I talk about. After all, the only person that cold hearted Queen of Blades cares about isaaaaaa! Rin didnt move but the ruby swords that she summoned flied. They had a speed compared to an arrow released from the bow. In three seconds, three swords pierced through three intruders each. And I even told him to not call me that. Looks like my fifteenth try will have to wait. -you! Rin shouted to the one of three that survived. It wasnt by luck. He survived because he was only damaged in leg and not in the chest like two others. Leg wound also prevented him from running away so it was the best choice. -yes! -if you value your life, tell me where is she? -I dont know. -wrong answer! Trying to scare him even more she started to speak louder. One ruby sword appeared above her just like before. -no please I really dont know. Second sword appeared as well. -last chance. Remember if you lie to me once more you are dead. Rin gave him ultimatum. -please no. I will tell everything. -before you say anything. I will say it once again. One lie and you are dead. Do you understand? -I swear I wont try to lie again. First of all, I want to say that we didnt really want to kidnap her! -didnt I just say one lie and you are dead. And here first thing you say is . -no no no no, believe me! We are simple players that wanted to know secret of your skill unlimited blade, thats all. We only kidnapped her because we were scared. In the first place it was your friend that gave us the idea to kidnap her. Normally it would have been an unbelievable story that no one would ever believe in. Still after it happen many times already, Rin wasnt even surprised by that fact and knew that it wasnt a lie. That again well at least I will meet her -anyway, what were you scared of? -you wont get angry? Why does he act so innocent all of sudden? Thats why they all should just never mind. -I am the one that ask questions. -I understand, please dont kill me. -the longer it takes, the more likely that I will. -we were scared of dying. There are rumors that even if someone friendly ask Que . -stop right there! Rin loudly interrupted him. -yes! -if you value your life dont even think about calling me that. There is no a single person in this world that called me that and lived after. -what I should call you then? This guy really doesnt listen at all. - . -sorry I wasnt to ask questions. He arrived at the answer second later. -looks like you have something in that head of yours. -so the rumor about you is that you kill everyone that asks about that skill. There were few versions of the rumors. This person heard the light version of it. -so you kidnapped her and thought you will have assurance that I will at least spare you because of that? Rin continued. -well something like that. The man answered. Why are they all so stupid? Even worse, it happens two times a month. They kidnap Mary and think that I wont kill them? Isnt it completely the opposite of it? They just give me a reason to do it. Rin couldnt understand their thoughts and decided that prolonging this conversation has no uses. -just tell me where is she. -there is a cave east of here. Its very close. I can show you a way. That place again. Its not even original. It became a daily quest for me. In MMOs daily quest were tasks that could be done once per day. -you dont have to I know the way. Rin knew that place way too well. -really, can I go then? -you kidnapped my friend so I cant just let you go like nothing happened. She didnt feel like spearing him or rather, she never felt like spearing anyone in the first place -please no. I cant stand loses of fifteen levels. Last surviving person kneel down and started to beg. I for one should know how hard it is to get those levels back. -I will give you a chance. What is your level right now? -153 -how can you be so weak and be 153? Did you play the same game I did? -I am not weak! I can deal with anything that came at me and are on my level. -anything you say? Then could you defeat a player that is, for example 130 level right now? -130? Well difference in level doesnt mean much but if it is 26 level difference then I think I could even manage without using one hand. I am confident in my PVP skills. -hooo. The sword that she summoned earlier lunched in survivor direction and cut off his left arm. Blood started to flow out. He screamed in pain. -aaaaaaa! -here is your chance. As I said, one more lie and you are dead. Because I hate liars in general show me that you spoke the truth. I have 130 level at the current moment so if you can deal with me using one hand you can live. After hearing this, the man bleed out to death without even trying. Rin started walk to the east as she had to give up on the tomb challenge right now. Still, she wasnt in hurry even though her dear and only friend Mary was kidnapped. She was not worried either as after all it happened for a ninth time already. After going through the forest for five minutes, she soon found the previously mentioned cave. It was the most popular spot to hold someone captive to Rins information. It was a fifth time that she came here out from nine kidnapping cases. She looked inside. There were two men in dark clothes standing there and six corpses lying around. Rin knew whose those corpses were. This place is originally the hideout of bandits. Those bandits were not players but NPC-enemies of humanoid type. There was even a job in Karma to eliminate them. Although the job involved slaying thirty bandits, not just six. More of them could be found deeper inside. All you needed to do is choose the left tunnel and you would find seven additional caves. You needed to go through them one by one, deeper and deeper. In last cave, from time to time a bandit leader appeared. He is a rare mob so if someone manage to kill him he could loot quite a sum. Still this cave wasnt popular place to level up, or even earn money. Deeper inside, there were numerous traps that would activate if one walked inside. They could get you a poisonous effect that was hard to deal with. Also to find bandit leader one would need an incredible luck. Apart from this rare mob, the job and other bandits didnt give that much so no one cared. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Rin knew that kidnappers wouldnt even think about going down as it was meaningless. Thanks to that she that all enemies were inside the first cave and she knew their number, not that it would matter should there be more. She also knew that if she couldnt see Mary in the first cave out in the open. It meant that she was in a brown cabin that was inside that cave. Why could Rin be so sure of that? Because it was the fifth time that she had to rescue her friend from this place and somehow Mary always was in that place. This time there are only two of them. Boring. Rin entered inside and ran to one of them. Two ruby colored one handed swords appeared in her hands, although she didnt unsheathe two weapons that were in sheaths attached on her right side. Before her first enemy even unsheathed his weapon she already ran up to him and slashed off his head. The second one faced in her direction with two-handed sword in his hands. He didnt try to ask any question. Rin throw both of her swords at the same time in mans direction. He reflected them with a powerful slash. The swords landed on the ground and after a second disappeared with the sound of broken glass. Rin empty handed start running to her opponent. Still there were quite a distance and the man had the time to prepare for her after defending. The moment she was in range he released a powerful swing downward over from the head. Rin spin on right foot and dodged the attack with ease. While spinning in her hands a two one handed swords once again appeared and with the force of spin she slashed the man in three with two parallel wounds on belly. He didnt have a chance to do anything. He probably didnt even know what exactly just happened as he died too quick. With sounds of battle ended someones voice appeared in the air. -over here. Help, I am trapped Rin walked to cabin and opened it. There was a girl with brown long curly hair inside. She didnt exactly look like someone who should be trembled in fear because she was imprisoned by bad kidnapers. Without care she said. -its you again Amy. Eh, I finally thought that some knight came to rescue me. Amy was a nickname that her friend always used. Nickname was however based on another name Amanda which came from a different world. In a same manner Rin didnt use her friend name Yume but instead she said. -Mary! Rin took down her brown hood. Then with left hand, she took out her long red hairs which so far were trapped inside her clothes. They landed at her back. Her hairs were really long, long to the point where some of them reached upper level of her thighs. There even were cases that someone mistook them for a cloak. In comparison to Yumes her were completely straight and silky. -Amy, I already told you. I want some knight to rescue me and once again you ruin the fun! Yume said as she left the cabin. The conversation between them started. -what fun? You think that its funny for me to save you every time? -as I said I dont want your rescue. What I want is a knight. In silver shining armor. Just so you know other colors wont do. -yes, yes knight, good luck with finding one. But why those who kidnap you always come to me. Can you explain it? -if not a knight then a prince will do as well. But he must have white horse and blond hair. Dont ignore me! -you really have weird dreams. -those are normal dreams. You should have them as well. Dont you want to find a knight that will defend you with his life? From times to times Rin could not understand her friend. -you should rather focus something that has a meaning. -meaning? And what are you doing for pass few months, or should I say years already? Go to that crypt over and over again. You die, lose levels, level up then die again and again. Its never ending loop. -its important! -whats important? Some stupid quest. All you do are those stupid quests. No its not even a quest this time, its just a prequest. You wont get even a reward for it. -the reward is a quest that comes after. It will be definitely high ranked one I tell you. -the higher rank it will have the worse it will be for you. Anyway, I already told you if you want to complete that quest. Find yourself a party for it. -no one would go to that place. Also its not like I can just stand somewhere and look for party a normal way. -ah, I have forgotten that you dont have anyone who you could ask for help. -I am fine that way! I dont need anyone help! I will manage on my own! Rin started shouting as to convince her friend. Although, she was not convinced herself. -here you are again. So Amy, which try is it this time? Rin looked down, closed her big blue eyes and answered quietly, as if she didnt want to answer. -so? -its fifteen. So okay, maybe you are right and I need some help. So Mary? -no. -why!? -no. -Mary! -you cant depend on me forever. Remember the last quest? I told you. This is the last time that I help you. I dont want to fight monsters anymore, and definitely no if I have no chance at winning. There are so many other things that one can do here. -like what? -looking for a prince is my goal now. Its also not easy, as I said he has to have blonde hair and ride white horse! -ble. -you are 19 now. You should change that tomboy attitude and also look for one yourself. -from my perspective its you who are strange. -that is an attitude which makes it impossible for anyone to befriend you. -I said that I dont need any friends. And I have you Mary. And that was main reason why no one would call her Rin. She had only a single friend that would use a different name. Apart from that no one else to talk to at least no other adventurers. Still having a single good friend should be considered much more precious than thousands of acquaintances. -eh, what would you do without me? It looked like Yume will have change of heart. With hope Rin asked. -so will you help me with a quest? -no. -Mary. -Amy, you cant depend on me forever like this. There was one characteristic of her friend and that was if she said something once she would never go back on it. Adding to that she was really stubborn. -fine, I will just continue on my own. Fifteen try is waiting and I am coming! Although I will surely die as Mary doesnt want to help me! -even if you say it loudly, its not like we can do it with only two people. And you definitely cannot do this just on your own. It was not that Yume didnt want to help her. It was just that even if she did, nothing would change. -you didnt see how far I got last time. This time for sure. -you should know that even if you somehow manage to beat this part, there will be many other parts as well. What quest giver told you? This is only a test to see if you are suitable for what to come. -then what should I do? I found this quest, I should complete it! -you know what you must do. Find people who will help you with it. Lets see, if you gather at least two that you will consider capable I will help as well. I can also call up some people that I know. -but they wouldnt be able take up the quest. They would need to befriend questgiver, which is impossible to begin with. Especially now that he is no longer here. -there is definitely a way to get it. You just dont want to find it. Although this was the first time I even heard of questgiver going on vacation because he was bored of waiting. The questgiver that gave Rin her prequest went somewhere and she couldnt find him for past few months. -even if he was here befriending him would be still impossible. You also couldnt do that. -well if I cant even speak with him, how can I befriend him? When questgiver was here Yume also tried to get the quest but she couldnt get to him as he was living in locked off space. Only Rin was allowed to see him. -anyway that doesnt change the fact that you need help. I know it will be hard for you to find people just like that. So you should . -I told you many times I wont join any guild, no matter what! It was not that Rin had any bad memories with being in a guild. It was just that she hated the sole idea of it. -if that is the case, give up on the quest. Tell that quest giver that he has to find someone else for it. -no, I will manage on my own. Its definitely worth it. And every time I can get farther and farther. -do what you want then, I cant convince you anyway Yume tried to convince her few times already and she knew that this wont work. She changed the subject instead. -by the way Amy, are you going there right now? -I was going to but now that I meet you and its been a while we can at least. -ah, really, you say that you dont need any friends. What would you do without me? -the only friend I need is Mary, so can we spend some time together? -I cant deny that request can I? -Mary! They left the cave found a good spot and set up a place to sleep. They ate and continued to talk. Rin started -as suspected of Mary, you are better cook every day. -you should also learn how to cook Amy. You are a girl after all. -what does it have to do with anything? -you know. You will find your prince one day and you will want to win his heart. Cooking is easy way to do this. -Mary what happened to you over those pass few months? You used to be normal and now. -no, its you who is abnormal. -but what is it exactly that you want? Some stupid guys like one that I cut today. Or those that I cut yesterday? -or any other day. You kill too many of them for my count. -you should have seen them. Really how did they reach this level? And how did they pass the same 100 level barrier that I passed. I somehow dont believe they actually managed to do it. -its you who is too good. And you know that unlimited blade is unfair skill to use. -thats why I dont use it too often. -ah because you are that good at fighting, you become even more unapproachable. Remember that not everyone have a chance to learn under master of fighting arts. -if I kill them fast, they should learn something from it. The way of a warrior is a way filled with pain and suffering. I am trying to pass to them some knowledge. -eh . -thats what master was saying, I think that he was right, although those people somehow dont study their failure and dont become any better with time. -you didnt change at all. Still, I believe that one day you will change that attitude and will also look for prince on white horse. -I dont think so. Not in my case. The atmosphere has become a little heavier. - it will get better after some time, dont worry. Anyway. Come and let us sleep already. They have fallen asleep next to each other under the starry night. Next day before Rin even woken up, her closed eyes were wet with tears. Yume who woke up before her was looking at her while stroking her hair. She would not ask for a reason behind those tears as she knew it too well. She wouldnt be able to do anything about it anyway. The true problem was that no one in this world or the other world could do anything about it. After waking up Rin challenged Tomb of Edward Third the Great once again and the result of fifteen try was failure. http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3285 Chapter 17 “Levi of the Silver Hand” _17.1 Chapter 17 Levi of the Silver Hand After finishing the dungeon it was finally the time for guild Refrain to start a fight against tyranny rulers of Triangle, the guild Legion. Although in truth the fight already started two days ago. The losses at the current moment right now were 30 000 people on Legions side and 0 people on Refrains side and the number of casualty kept increasing every minute. So far only two members of Refrain participated in the fight but soon reinforcements were to arrive. But were they really necessary? -are we there yet? Zen asked the ultimate question for a hundred times. -about one hour left, I told you already. And Kelly answered to him. Asking the same question again wont change the answer. Thought Arata after hearing the same exchange once again. -why do we have to fight anyway? If we wanted to level up, we should do that dungeon twice more. We would get to level 99 and then go for that barrier thing Kotori started complaining. Now that she says that, its definitely true. I dont think that we will find any better place to exp than Stonecell. That bonus level after each challenge was really the thing. -hey Arata say something. You are quiet for some time now! -what should I say? -I dont know. Your girlfriend is bored think of something. -I already used all my normal topics. -if you have any abnormal ones you can use them as well. -abnormal is probably wrong word, I would rather say special but they can be only used when there are only two of us. -you mean those from a cave. We spent there 5 days and even for a second I wasnt bored. Well its true that we cant talk about it here. Anyway Arata, what do you think about what I said earlier. -well it would be better to level up to 99. All we need is just couple of levels now. -I am missing ten, right now. Well some need more but we should do that dungeon two more times and everyone would reach 99. Also this time we would get a reward. -but we did get something. -yes some strange, useless, bugged item. What happened with it anyway? -I have it in inventory. It will just lay there until someone finds a use for it. Arata didnt know what to do with Angels Halo so he just left it in inventory. In time he will probably completely forget about it completely. -it only takes up space throw it away. -its not like there are limits to inventory. -why do you want to keep trash item? -because someone might find a use Hey, Kotori. -hmm . -we really are bored if we speak about that item. -maybe but we are still in better condition than the rest. Good condition to fight against boredom. Apart from Arata and Kotori the rest inside the cart long ago died out from boredom. Maybe also apart from Zen who was at the front and keep on asking ultimate question. He was still fired up for the fight that was coming close. -we will have a fight soon! -cant you see that people try to sleep here! Odin complained. We all have been sleeping for two days now. -and what fight? Didnt Leader and Loki go first? It should be already over. We might just find a scavenger here and there but thats all. There is a lot truth in his words. Just as Odin said, Arata also didnt expect any big fights. -Onee-chan, do you have something to eat, I am hungry. -sorry but I dont Yuki, apart from dry bread that is. But its been a while since we ate anything. -we are all concentrated on catching up to leader and we have no time to rest that we didnt have stop at all. All we have been eating was this dry bread. Anari sum it up. -without stop what other things could we ate. No time to prepare anything and I didnt find anything in shops that would survive more than 2 days so I didnt buy anything like that. Kotori answered. When Arata was looking through the shop he didnt find anything that would taste good and be portable. There were ingredients but something that you can take out and eat was not there. -if we are going to fight something I would at least like to fight on full belly. -Arata can we have a break? Anari asked. -it doesnt depend only on me. Hey Zen, can you ask Kelly if we can have food break? Arata shouted so Zen who was riding at the front could hear. -stop!? You crazy Arata! We are nearly there and you want to stop now? Its just an hour away now. -but you cant win against hunger. Also our real bodies must also be hungry. So to at least deceive them, we should eat something big here. -even so we should first. brrrrrr . A sound echoed from Zen belly. It was hearable even from a distance. -can we have a stop please? Zen also gave up. Cart turned right and stopped near the road. Kelly appeared behind at the back. -I thought that you guys will never ask. If you didnt ask I would just leave you at the entrance to the Triangle and go to eat something on my own. Anyway you are left in charge of cooking Arata, make something for everyone. Arata got a dirty work of actually making something. -since when did I become guilds cook? -you did well enough when you cooked for me and Loki, so just make something again. -and how I am supposed to make something for 7 people. I am not that good. -Arata, I will help. Kotori offered her help to which Arata answered. -it will be rather me helping you. -see, your pretty wife will help you so there is no problem right. Dont take too long! Kelly satisfied with the outcome went for a walk to screech her body. -Arata your face is red. Kotori commented as Arata was still reflecting one of the words that Kelly just said. He got back to normal in no time. -you are seeing things. -we should get started. Everyone take out anything that can be used in cooking. Kotori addressed everyone. -like what? -you probably can have only some kind of meat or something Some meat was found in inventories of players although most were out of use already. Still it was enough. -this will have to do, Arata you bought everything else, right? -well I did buy most of the things that could be bought, although there are nothing new compared to the least time. Those were the same shops after all. -so what are we making? Any ideas? -during the ride I didnt have anything to do so I read through most of Marcos cooking book and found some interesting things that I want to try. Today lets go with this. Arata opened the Marcos cooking book and showed it to Kotori. -Mordarior? Another strange thing. Okay lets go with that. But Arata! -yes? -why didnt you tell me you had this book! No wonder that you stay silent for most of the time. And here I was bored to death. Reading Marcos cooking book was the only entertainment Arata had during five days of ride. Especially the stories near each dish were quite interesting. -I showed it to you once, remember. -when? -you know after white wolf battle. -you should show it to me at the ride! I would be the one who would be bored if I did that. -at least I can trust that you choose the best thing that we can make right now? -it has very good bonuses so its perfect before battle. Although there is one part that I dont clearly understand. -lets just make it and dont keep people waiting. I should be able to descript it. Kotori and Arata once again created another strange dish based on Marcos recipe. It turned out that there was two missing ingredient which Arata was sure he got but somehow they were not inside his inventory. Still because it didnt look that important they skip that part and replaced it with something else. It didnt take them much time and soon some purple jelly looking thing was created. Although it should be something completely different. -what is it? Anari asked when she was given the plate with it. -its a great Mordarior, right Arata? Dont ask me for confirmation. -so Anari eat up and tell us how it taste. With a bright smile Kotori encouraged her to eat it. Somehow neither Arata nor Kotori wanted to try it. Even though they mostly followed a recipe it didnt turn out as they though it will and it was completely different than what the image was showing. So they decided to look for the tester. Anari took a bite and few second later, she passed out. - . - . Ups Arata looked at her with blank expression. -hey what happened? Kelly asked. -em nothing, everything will be back to normal in a second. Kotori was quick to uptake. She right away tried various healing spells on Anari even song of stars but none of that help. -I dont think normal spells can help with food poisoning. Anyway how did you guys create that thing? Also who normally would eat something that looks like that? Kelly commented. -look can be deceiving. Arata tried to defend himself. To that Kelly answered. -but mostly it tells the true. Eh, what are we going to do if she die and disappears? And here we nearly reached Triangle. Just look forward until Gerald hears why we didnt come on time. -emm, Kotori how is it? Arata couldnt do anything now. He could only depend on her. -spells doesnt work, we need something else. Is there any antidote in that poison book of yours? -its not a poison book. We must have made some mistake. -well we did change some things here and there. Happens but its not my fault. Kelly dont you have any idea as what to do? Kotori asked their last resort. -even if you ask me its not like I got anything to do with healing. And it also is not a normal case Hey dont look so disappointed! -I thought Kelly would for sure. Kotori said in low voice. -hey I am normal person, not some Omni tool like Loki or Gerald. Anyway for now we should just go and find them. They will know what to do. -eh . After hearing that Kotori added a long sigh. -what is it!? -nothing but you just destroyed image of all female players in the game. -I didnt! -you just make it like we are worthless. -dont be so dishearten its just not my expertise thats all. Okay I will do what I can. Kelly lifted the bow and shoot up the arrow to the sky. It exploded like firework and showed a message. [S.O.S Someone fell due to food poisoning.] -eh . Kotori looked even more dishearten and sighted again. -what is she on again!? Kelly pointed her question to Arata. -you know, asking for help is not really dependable right? -its more than enough! -I dont think that someone will come to help us though. -its very valuable method it times of need. It saved me many times already. -even if someone came its not like you will find better healer than Kotori in a place like this. -aaa . Looks like only now did Kelly realize that. -you forgotten about that, didnt you? -time to find Gerald! Kelly gave up and moved away avoiding the responsibility. -Arata, book. Kotori said. Arata didnt get it right away. -what book? -wake up Arata! Of course that cooking book of yours, I need to read that dish again. Where is it? -ah right, here you go . Arata took out the cooking book from the inventory and pass it to Kotori who started to read it. -so do you see anything in there? -I dont know, we definitely did everything right. Our changes shouldnt have caused it. You know what, lets make it again and see why it became like that. As far as I know it definitely shouldnt be a purple jelly. -you might as well do that. We dont have better ideas. -then first we should. -that wont be necessary! The voice came from behind them and interrupted them. A person in grey cloak came out from the forest. He had short yellow hair and green eyes. His face revealed age similar to Arata. -who are you! Kotori shouted to him. -I am but a simple traveler, but ah what do I see, such a beautiful lady. The simple traveler answered and second after a fire came at him from the sky above him. The simple traveler jumped back and avoided it right before it hit him. -hey what is it!? -prepare yourself! Zen and Odin jumped out from the cart and started running at the intruder for whatever reason. -wait I am not Even though Zen and Odin were few meters away, the guest already had to avoid fierce attacks from Yuki who appeared next to him out of nowhere. Kotori also started to fire out holy bolts at him. Arata decided to remain as the spectator. He is not that bad if he managed to survived this long. -wait I really just, a The man quickly took out his shield and blocked incoming arrows that came at his face but when he did that, the shield scattered into pieces. He wasnt hit but he after the hit he fell to his the knee before his broken shield. Everyone stopped their attacks at that moment as the man started lamenting over his once to be shield. -my shield. After all that work, nooooo! I will be demoted again. -dont get fooled, attack him now! -Kotori, take it easy. Yuki wait! Arata managed to control situation although the traveler was a second away flow losing his head. Yuki had a good control stopping her weapon right before the hit at the neck. -why did you attack him in the first place Kotori? Arata asked. -I dont like people like him. Coming out from nowhere and complementing out of sudden. -what, you dont like to be complemented? -only by you. I already decided that anyone who tries that in this world dies. Lets kill him off before . -wait! Kelly came out from the cart holding bow in one hand. -what are you guys doing? I thought we were attacked by someone. -this guy is suspicious and I am sure that its his fault that our food turned out like that. Kotori explained although those were simple excuses. -wait I didnt do anything. -like we would believe you. Lets just kill him. We have other things to worry about - -stop it. Arata can you control her somehow. Kelly interrupted her. -Kotori, whats wrong? -nothing is wrong with me. You should ask that guy instead. Coming out from nowhere with something like beautiful lady. In what times does he live? What is he? Some knight wannabe who read too much shojo-manga? Hey you say something! -my sister forc no told me, or rather advised me to speak like that. The man answered. -thats really pathetic excuse you know anyway dont talk with me ever again. -give him a rest Kotori. You are from the silver hand, right? Kelly asked. The man surprised answer. -I am. How did you know? Silver hand? Arata for the first time heard this name. At least in EOA. -I saw a mark on your, already destroyed shield. Kelly explained. -my shield! The man to his agony after hearing it. -ah yes sorry about that. Well at least you didnt die, if you got hit by that arrow you wouldnt stand here anymore. -well its not over yet I should be able to repair my shield, I guess. The man got all the pieces together. Then a circle appeared underneath the shield. Yellow mark formed a shape of a clock. Hand on the clock went back by five minutes back and then shield became . -why is it still broken? The man said out loudly. -well those werent normal arrows so spell like that wont work on them. -impossible. No one in this part of world should be able to do something like that. Who are you anyway The man looked up to Kelly. -those are wait you are an elf. Didnt thought I will see any here. Right I also have to add you are beautiful lady. -stop it kid, you are 100 years too young to start up with me. Arata and Kotori started to whisper to each other. -see Kotori. That is how you should take complements. -you think so Arata? -at least you shouldnt holy fire him right away. -he appeared at wrong moment and I dont like people who talk like that on first meeting. -from where I see it, he lost in a bet and now is forced to speak like that. That is because it really doesnt fit everything else he says. -you could say that he is honest, not like some twilight swordsman that I know. -what you want me to behave like that? -definitely no! The way you are is the best. -so where that sarcasm come from? -its because you never take initiate No! Dont change at all! -so what is it in the end? -nothing! What is it again? -wait you still think about that moment, dont you? So, do I still never take initiate? -stupid. In the meantime Kelly continued questioning -so you are saying that you came to help? -yes, I saw a signal and I thought that I can help somehow. -you have any useful skills for food poisoning? -I have something that can help with any injures. Food poisoning should also be counted in it. -well, then give it a try. The man in grey cloak come to where Anari was lying and did similar thing like he tried with shield. Even though with a shield it didnt work. Arata and Kotori come closer to Kelly. Arata asked. -hey is it really save to leave it to him? -you are okay, already? Why are you smiling like that? Kelly however asked Kotori first. -Arata is good at repairing my mood. Even though from words context it didnt look like it, their little talk did help her mood in a weird way. -anyway he is from Silver hand so there shouldnt be problems with trusting him. He is not from the Legion at least. Kelly answered Aratas question. -silver hand, what is the deal with them anyway? -I can answer your question just wait till I done. The man answered from the back. He ended treating Anari who woke up. -where am I? -hello there, beautiful young lady. You dont have to worry about anything as I saved you. -wawa. I see some problems here. Going around saying stuff like that can be misunderstood. What the guy did later which was helping Anari stand up while holding her hand didnt help misunderstanding either. Man walked up to where Arata was standing and started. -now I will answer the question. Silver hand is an order that vanquish evil and bring help to those in need. You can say that we are justice itself. We are guardians of the realm. Then they are the bad guys. Arata quickly understood. Those who are saying that they are good and just, usually lie. Kelly followed it up. -what about that time when your great order blow up the whole city and killed thousands of players and NPCs because of how did you explain it, miscalculation? - justice sometimes requires sacrifices. I dont know what you heard but even though that was unfortunate, decision of Grand Master werent wrong. Probably. -so it is some kind of guild who role play in a game. Arata summed it up. -we arent guild like . -stop I think I will be better to explain this. Kelly decided to put an end to it. -as a member I definitely have greater knowledge . The man wanted to continued, but he was ignored and Kelly started explaining. -in short. Kotori was about right. He and the other members of Silver Hand are group of knights wannabe who joined in-game police. That what silver hand order is. They are useful most of the times as there need to be some laws and someone to execute them. The only problem can be when sometimes they overdo it and cities are blow up. -it only happened once. -also some of them have too much pride in themselves which makes them sometimes hard to deal with but that goes for all people I guess. Anyway they are not a guild. At first it was institution of NPCs but you have no idea how many people wants to go around and play good knight role. -its a man romance after all. Also my sister made me do it. The man explained his reason. Looks like he has a lot of problems with his sisters. Well I definitely not am joining anything like that. After all playing a hero in a long run is not a best idea. Not that I want to go play a hero anyway. Kelly continued explaining. -their main occupation is catching players who are doing wrong things. Like killing someone without a reason or disrupting someones game. After all this game gives you completely freedom as what to do but truth is, people need laws or it becomes bad. You cant just let all those millions of players do as they like. As there are no game masters like in normal games, some players come up with an idea of reinforcing the police and it ended up like that. -we dont like being called police. -but you are ones right? Arata come up with conclusion. -I understand most of what you said but isnt it meaningless? I mean if they just hunt for someone and kill them. Sure it some punishment but they just revive ten days later and continue to do the same. -thats why joining Silver hand had any meaning. If you are killed by one from Silver hand, or just receive some damage during a fight. You revive in some kind of prison and are locked up there. Kelly explained. -exactly that. After you respawn you will be transported to a grand prison of our order where you receive judgment. You can even never see daylight again if the sentence is big. Those are the extreme cases though. -is there someone who got that punishment? Zen asked from behind. -I cant talk about it also dont even try to ask anyone where that place is as there is no one that will betray us and tell you about it. -exactly, there is no reason to ask. Members of Silver Hand dont know where that prison is. As I said it was NPCs order in the beginning. Even though right now there are more players than NPCs they still dont know how exactly that works. -apart from Grand Master. The man interrupted. Grand master is probably some kind of guild master. Guild master is another term that is used to describe leader of a guild. -so if I am killed by one of them I cant play anymore? Zen asked. -it depends. As long as you dont something really bad you wont receive serves punishment. There are about ten days or so for killing the same player too many times without a reason meaning camping case. Mass murder without reason is three months. But its a game after all, PVP is common. We wont do anything to you if you just enter some battle and kill some players for fun. Right now the thing we mostly deal with are power abuses, well I wont go into details. Its not pleasant topic to talk about. In short our mission to bring justice is definitely needed. The blondie guy explained. -thats how it goes. Well dont mind them and let them do as they please. Now I have question for you. What are you doing here? As far as I know you guys dont care about less than 100 level areas. Kelly asked him. -mostly we dont but there were some information that we couldnt ignore. They were from people who passed 100 level barrier and told us about their stay in Triangle and about the guild called a Legion. My mission was to investigate if those rumors were true and inform the headquarters. -hey doesnt it mean that we can ignore that guild wars after all? Arata asked. If there was already someone who should deal with it why should they bother? -well we already started and its not like you can convince Gerald to change his mind now. He also should have different reason for this. Its not like he care about those players that much. Anyway you were in Triangle already right? So how situation look there? Kelly once again asked. -for me, it was bad enough to call up a battalion and vanquish them all right away. Although truth is that most of the players from legion are forced to behave like they do. They cant do anything to prevent bad treatment to players so the only thing they could really do was joining the winning side. Thats what I learned. Still even if they were forced they deserve punishment. Justice demands it -do you really need to keep the act up? Kelly commented. -hmm? I thought I would sound cool saying that. Never mind. -so what are you doing here. Shouldnt you be reporting to your headquarters? -I was going to do that but just as my mission was about to end and I had all evidence that I needed, two guys show up and declared a war on Legion. I think I know who they are. Kellys and knight wannabes conversation continued. -how do you know that they declared a war? -in Triangle there is, or rather was a great statue of Legions guilds leader. Its really huge, like statue of liberty. If it was still intact we could see it from here. Anyway, as the declaration of war those two destroyed the statue and it fall down right onto the Triangle. Much of the city was destroyed instantly. With that the fight began or rather massacre from one side. Normal, uninvolved players and NPCs ran away because it was not safe. Many players just log out because it was fastest and most safe choice. As for me I also get away from there as fast as possible. I did finish my original mission but I cant just leave now. I need to see how it will end. Because if for example Legion loses its power in Triangle there will be no need to call up the battalion. In that case I would just hunt down the leader once he respawn I know how he looks like and he is the one that definitely needs punishment. For others simple death should be enough. -can you tell me what he did? -I really dont want to talk about power abuse. -I probably know what it might be. Anyway thanks for information. Now, we wasted enough time already. Anari you okay right? -I still dont know what happened? I was sitting waiting for the food then suddenly I appeared on the ground and he was telling me that he saved me. Your name is? Anari was the first one to ask his name. -you can call me Levi. As for your confusion. Its aftereffect of my spell. -but why you had to use it on me? -something happened to you and you were unconscious. Ask your friends about it, I dont know what exactly. As for why exactly you feel out of place with my spell I changed your flow of time. Simply speaking, you returned to condition ten minutes before. You dont remember what happened during this time and you are as it never happened to you. What!? Arata didnt even try to analyze that. There were many skills, spells and abilities in this world that went beyond understanding. Anari didnt mind the aftereffect and thanked him. -thank you for whatever you did. I didnt understand one bit. My name is Anari. -it was just my job. -I see that you are good. Everyone, its time to go. Get in the cart. Kelly called out to everyone. -if I might suggest. I think its better if you wait day or two. Even though most of legion forces were already defeated, there are some left of them and fights still take place from time to time. If you get caught up in it you can easily die there. The man suggested. -we will manage somehow. Everyone lets go. Cart was nearly ready to go. Anari stayed behind and explained. -dont worry Levi, those two are from our guild they wont hurt us. And we are reinforcements so we should go and fight as well. -Anari we are going already! -wait for me! Levi was left dumb fouled after hearing this. At least from his point of view those two definitely didnt need any reinforcements. He decided to take look on situation once again and start walking in direction where cart just rode. Triangle. The majestic view of beautiful medieval buildings. The scale similar to city of beginners which needed five hours to get from one side to another if you knew the way that is. That is what Arata expected to see after hearing Geralds description. The greatest city in this part of world, endless opportunity, numerous quests and great rewards. I knew that there was something fishy about it. What Arata could see right now, wasnt like that description at all. Around the city there was black scorched ground decorated with burned down corpses that were scattered everywhere. There werent that many trees either but those that survived had no leafs and also were black. As for the city, the walls around it were destroyed and from the distance it seemed that the situation inside the city was no much better then outside. The buildings were either crumbled to the ground or completely burned to ashes. -haha, they overdid it a little. Kelly remarked at some point. Yes, a little -as suspected of my guild leader, he is the lord of destruction. Zen was rather happy about it. Werent we supposed to be the good guys? Werent we going to liberating the city? From the look of it right now there is nothing to liberate anymore. Even though I care little about the other players, my questgivers probably also died. -em, even if it looks a little different than we expected, we still hold to the plan. We are close enough to the city so lets leave cart here and go on foot. Kelly stopped somewhere next to the road. They left the cart behind, they didnt need it anymore. It wasnt more than 500 meters away from the gate. What is that smell? Its horrible. It wasnt like the smell started out off sudden. Arata could feel it for some time now. It was smell of rotting corpses that were lying around everywhere. -I want to go home. -me too. In comparison to Zen who was absolutely not bothered by it, Anari and Yuki werent in best condition. Odin and Kotori were in an okay shape one could say. Then there was Arata who was one in even worse condition than Anari and Yuki. -whaaa Arata puked out then knell and did it again. -hey Arata, you have surprisingly weak stomach. But dont think that you can use it as excuse when I win our game. Remember the one that kill more enemies wins. No matter what this guy is always the same. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. -hey Arata, you okay? Kotori run up to him. -yes, I need just a sec- whaaa I need just a second. -you are not convincing when you puke in middle of sentence. -looks like even if I am over it, it doesnt mean that my body is. -it? -you know that. In his life there was only one time that Arata ever saw corpse up front. It was five years ago during Christmas. Kotori quickly understood what Arata meant. -its normal. But remember that its a game Arata, those corpses arent real. -I know that, still they should drop realism in this game a little. -hey Arata, what with you? Kelly ended up asking. -emm, remember the thing that we tried to prepare before. Arata tried it as well so it must be after effect. Kotori thought up convincing lie before Arata said anything. -that cooking again. You know how much time it ate already. -sorry. -so what are we supposed to do now? We already are way behind the schedule. This city speaks for it. Those two even started to dont hold back anymore. If we came two hours later there would be nothing left. -no need to stop, Im really w see I hold it. - . Aratas claim wasnt convincing after all. He also had pale face. Seeing it Kelly decided. -plan was already changed dramatically so it wont hurt to change it a little more. We didnt need one in the first place. Arata you have an official permission to slack off. Everyone else lets get started! -hey Im . -its your penalty for making poisonous food. -fine do what you want, its not like I cared about this guild wars at all. And its not even interesting when Gerald kills everything on his own. Rather than penalty for Arata it was reward. -you see my point. Still I dont think that he killed their guild leader on his own as he said he wont. -plan also didnt mention destroying half of the city. -well it also didnt say that destroying it is bad. Anyway lets go. -we cant just leave him here! I will stay as well! Kotori objected the idea. -Kotori you go as well. Dont worry I will follow soon after. Also the only healer cant stay behind. Arata started convincing her. -what if something happen? -what can happen? -I dont know. -see, so just go. Arata was doing his best to calm her. Kelly also added. -Kotori, you dont have permission to slack off. Common, if something were to happen he can take care of it. He can also just log off any time he wants. -but. -hey Kotori just go, we will meet later. - . Finally Arata managed to convince her but she still had incredibly dissatisfied face. They run off and entered Triangle through the city gate. Arata was left behind alone. He found a large white rock on which he sat down. It was definitely better siting on scorched ground. Arata looked around at what was left from battlefield. Even though the sight was enough for him to puke, he had a reason for it. I cant have effect like that from seeing a corpse. I need to get used to it. Even if it sounded crazy, he was trying to get used to seeing corpses of dead people. In this game he would probably see them very often, so he couldnt just leave it at that. Although, it was still strange that he felt like that now. After all, he already seen corpses of many creatures that most of the time were killed by his hand. Were player corpses different in that regard? Still there was a time that Arata killed some players as well before entering Loris, although he did not look at them afterwards. In the end, Arata didnt try to think about that, instead he start thinking about something completely different. Ah, its been a while since it was so silent. When I started this game I never thought that it would end up like this. At first I thought that I will give up on the game rather fast. Well, that statement changed right away in city of beginners. Still, my plan was rather solo it right to max level then look for people from my old guild. I never thought that I will meet this bunch. Nothing to regret, although I think we rushed with level too much. I would rather take my time and enjoy myself instead of hard work every day just to ding another level. 85 level after two months of play was great timing or rather abnormal. In city of beginners I ended up with level 8 after one month. I would call it normal pace. 77 levels in another month is definitely not normal. Strongest guild and other anything else I dont really care about it at all. I had only one reason to start the game and it was to have fun! Arata for one knew that being competitive in game was more about hard work less about having fun. Sure you were killing bosses and getting best items. But there was not time to be happy about it. You killed a super hard boss after numerous of wipes on him, great! In normal guilds there would be shouts of joy and great atmosphere after it but in competitive guild it would be -quickly get the next one as fast as possible. We cant let other guilds catch up to us. Ah I tired of that. And with the pace we have right now I cant do anything else. I think it would also be a good time to get some crafting skills or mass produce food and level up my cooking. Also I still didnt learn the bandages skill. But does it even exist here? If it does I must have it to have some sort of selfheal. Apart from that, its not like I should spend every day playing. I should visit grandpa at least. I still didnt bring all my things from his house. Arata had some things to think about as he finally got the time. He did tell Kotori that he will catch up to them in no time but now he didnt even think about doing anything. He wanted to rest, even if he was not doing anything for two days he still felt tired. Now that I think about it, how long is it already? Its ninth day of non-stop playing. Thats definitely not healthy. Its time to log out. Arata did have breaks and was sleeping in game as well so it wasnt that bad but there were times when one needed to slow down. But then, just as Arata was about to do that, he stopped right before clicking the yes button because he saw a battalion of soldiers coming to his way. -Hold! The one at the front shouted. The battalion stopped near Aratas siting spot and afterwards came closer to him. He should be the Capitan of that group but somehow he didnt have that impression. His height was similar to Arata, black hair and eyes. He wore simple armor with blue and gray colors. At the back, he had large, two-handed sword. What should I do now? Logging out right away is an option but its a little impolite. Well lets just hear him. -good morning. The man welcomed him to which Arata answered politely. -hello there, nice day isnt it? -well yes, its especially hot with all that ground burned. -right. Its seems you have a hard time. -yes hard time wait not that! Who are you!? -me? My name is Arata. What about you? -mine is Kevin wait not that! What are you doing here!? -well. I am sitting on a rock. -I see and why are you doing it? -scorched ground didnt seem appealing so I choose this spot to not get dirty. Arata was honestly answering every question although clothes in EOA would be clean themselves on their own. -ah thats understandable wait not that!? What are you doing here? You must know that we have a war here right now! Every suspicious stranger should be considered enemy! I really dont care about that war. I didnt start it and actually I have little to do with it. -why are you so hostile out of sudden? I am simple traveler who traveled here from Loris. You know how hard it was to get here. And what I see, a destroyed city. Adding to that now I have this welcome. If I knew about some wars I would chose a different city. Arata decided to play clueless low level that just arrived here. -I see, sorry about my attitude. We suffered heavy losses. Kevin bought all of it. -I see, I see. Still to destroy a city like that, can I ask who are you fighting against? -our guild Legion was attacked by two high level players, thats the information I received at least. Even if small in number they had enough strength to completely overwhelm us. -Capitan Kevin. Someone approach from east! One from the battalion reported. Arata guess was right and Kevin turned out to be their Capitan. The approaching figure turned out to be person that Arata meet before. Knight of Silver Hand, Levi. After coming close, Levi was taken by one of soldiers in front of Capitan Kevin and Arata. Kevin asked right away. -who are you? -me? Im Levi. Nice to meet you. -yes nice to meet you. My name is Kevin wait not that! Who are you and what are you doing here!? -hey there is no need for hostility. Didnt you say that the enemies are two high level guys? You dont need to bother with every person that you meet. Just go and fight those two. Arata ended up helping out. -ah a person I meet before. Levi recognized him. -you two know each other? Well thats speed things up. Sorry for all this hostility but thats what we were instructed to do. There can always be some reinforcements or something like that. Arata, you seem like a good guy so I will trust you on a word and let you and your friend go. It was going to end nicely and without the problems but Levi spoke surprised. -reinforcements? Werent you some kind of reinforcement? Or did I mishear before? Idiot! My plan is ruined. -what is the meaning of this Arata!? For Aratas luck Kevin heard all of it. -oh, did I say something wrong? Levi with innocent face looked at Arata. It looked like slacking off was not going to be the case for Arata this time. No I can still turn it around! Also its his fault anyway so he shouldnt blame me for what I am going to do. Arata stood up. -a second Kevin. -you better have good explanation! -in private Arata walked closer to Kevin moved his arm around his neck and then they started whispering to each other. -I didnt want to say it but I meet this guy before. He and his comrades are probably in a same guild as the two attackers you just mentioned. -didnt he just say that you were the reinforcements? -its his play, he is a sly one. When you would be busy with me, he would probably attack from behind and get rid of healers. You said that attackers are high level. Just look at him. Even if he hides it under his cloak you still can see his gear. -now, that you said that. I see that he is wearing mithril boots. I read on the internet that they required level 120 to wear. Well thats not as high at the other two, but it is the truth that he is over 100 level. And people like that dont wonder around here too often. -exactly, what business would he have here, except from attacking you that is. Aratas words worked like magic. That or Kevin was easy to manipulate. -I see, now as I though you are a good guy Arata. I should have believed you from the start and attack him right away. -wait. Can you really stand against someone of high level on your own? -there are thirty of us here. If level is not too high we should manage. You see, I dont see much chances of winning against those two who already killed thousands of players. I also dont really care about our guild. Its better if it stops existing in fact, people cant enjoy the game because of it. Even I was forced to join and couldnt do anything else. Still on my pride as a gamer I dont want to lose without dealing with at least one enemy. Thats why we will fight and at least deal with this one. With this I will know that I did something. -well good luck with that. I would help but I think you guys will have more chances in familiar squad. Arata managed to avoid fighting against 30 people at one time. It could end up badly if he fought them as they all seemed to have quite good gear, completely different than the one that boar hunter would use. While looking at both Arata and Kevin, Levi asked surprised. -you two are surprisingly friendly with each other considered that you are enemies. -I wont get fooled by you! Men! Its time to show him the might of legion! The one in the gray cloak is the enemy! Mages release! After the shout, eight fireballs were lunched from the group. Seeing it Levi summoned some kind of yellow barrier right before him but it broke quickly and about four fireballs hit him. Levi was blow away few meters from his earlier position and landed on the ground. Looks like, they were preparing this attack from the start. Good thing that I dont have to fight them. I dont think I could survive that. I feel sorry for this guy but it is his fault, serves him right. Arata looked in Levis direction. Levi still didnt get up and Kevin with part of his group already ran after him. Now Kevin held his two-handed sword in his hands. Hilt was in color of blue and blade in metallic silver. He lunched powerful swing at lying Levi. But then to Arata surprise, Levi blocked it with shield. Oh, he is still alive and also looks like he has more than just one shield. Arata was surprised because previously Levis shield was destroyed. The one he was using now looked a little different than previous one and didnt have mark of silver hand on it. Still simple block from lying position didnt stop the impact completely and Levi got hit with end of the sword. Still Kevin was overpowering Levi only for a moment. Second later the shield started to shine in yellow light and this time it was Kevin who got blown away. Levi got up quickly and said. -oh, you really didnt want to start a fight with me. I dont care about your reasoning but prepare for consequences! Although he said that, to Arata it didnt look like Levi will be able to keep up his word. His yellow hair was now dyed in red. His cloak was burn down from previous attack and now revealed Levis armor. At first Arata though that he was wearing plate armor, items with highest defense rating but that wasnt the case. His tabard a cloth with silver hand herb on blue background was burn down and now revealed simple chain armor that didnt look anything special. The only piece that looked plate like and expensive were his mithrils shoes. I think running away right now would be the best option. Thats what I would do at least. If possible Arata would prefer to avoid fighting against 30 man raid group. Levi didnt run away though but rather lunched of at Kevin. Kevin was also back on his feet and attacked with his two-handed sword. With his shield Levi parried it out and attacked with his blade. Jumping back Kevin managed to avoid it but Levi didnt stop there. His shield shined once again and he was lunched forward. After receiving a hit, Kevin was blow away to the back. Without wasting any second Levi run after him to continue his attack. He attacked lying Kevin who defended his face with his arms as his sword was blown away even further. The attack made huge damage but didnt slash off Kevins hands, although his position was no good. Levi wanted to continue and finish Kevin off but he was blocked by shield of one of Kevins party members. Then without delay arrows and magic bolts lunched at Levis position. He dodged first series but he had to back off. Kevin was now protected by his teammates and Levi was under heavy fire. While running around he was sometimes blocking enemies attacks but in midst of it he didnt have a chance to attack himself. Arata could see three arrows that stayed in Levis shield as they went through it and make small cracks. Well they werent Kellys arrow so he should be able to repair it. Probably. There were mages and archers at the back and melee fighters at the front. They had different kinds of weapons but mostly sword and shield. There were also some healers at the back who were casting healing spells at Kevin. In short, Levi was in bad position no matter how one looked at it. Ah, that doesnt look good. They have well balanced party, or should I say raid. Ah its really good that I dont have to fight them. Melee at front started to surround Levi who after assault looked even worse than before. He was knelling on knee and set up a yellow barrier around him, probably the same that he used to block first attack. -this is our chance. Surround him! Kevin who was still covered in healing spells was standing back and leaded his teammates. Levi on the other hand looked like he will fall on the ground at any moment. Still to Arata, he didnt look like someone who was going to give up. Arata noticed familiar mark under Levi. Yellow clock spell that he once used on Anari, this time he wanted to use it over himself. It was much bigger than before. The effect was instant. Damaged armor was repaired. Wounds also disappeared. He was like new, good and go. Well apart from one thing. Arrows were still cling in his shield, it the only item that wasnt repaired. Even from a distance Arata could see that Levi wasnt very pleased by that fact. Thats some healing power. Still I dont think that it will help him much in this situation. Levi was now in much better condition. His moves improved and were faster still he had to deal with attacks from all the sides and avoid incoming range attacks although they werent lunched in large quality because they could hit others who fought in close combat. It was obvious that Levi was much better than his enemies in terms of strength and technique but with numbers and good strategy Kevins group had large advantage. They are holding back wounded ones and heal them up while fresh guys go to the front. Its like a strategy for the boss. Even if that guy is doing quite good there are some limits to what he can do alone. If I were in his shoes well I would run away long time ago as its stupid to even try. Still if I were to fight, using maximum damage on single target would be a way to go. But as long as healers are in play if you dont burn down someone really fast they will be healed up. I would probably try to bypass the melee at front and take down the healers. With black dash and lighting speed it would be possible to get to them quickly. Still it looks like he doesnt have anything like that. Levi was fighting at his best surrounded by four or six enemies at time. He managed to parry of most of attacks and land some counters but they were simple sword swings nothing special. No extra skills. Arata realized something. He is definitely out of mana. That should be given after all, that spell was overpowered and he doesnt look like healer to me. He is a Paladin maybe? But why it looks like a clock? Well its probably something different and I already saw Paladin healing techniques. Still that shining shield strike was quite similar to the one that paladin used. Arata continued to look at the fight but at some moment he started to feel really bad for what he did. After all, it was in very, very, very little part his fault that Levi had to go through this fight. I thought that he will be okay. He should have higher level than me but looks like not high enough. I probably saw too much of Gerald actions and though that higher level means being a monster like him. Well I should be rather happy that its not the case. Still this idiot should run away if he knew that he wouldnt be able to win Ah, it cant be helped. Arata started to walk in direction of range group. They didnt pay much attention to him as they were focused on fight with Levi. Arata found ideal spot. They really ask for it, dont they? Arata unsheathe swords from his right side. [Sword enchant: Wind] -hey what are you doing? One of the Kevins group asked when he saw Aratas strange behavior but it was already too late. [Black dash] [Black dash] [Black dash] [Black dash] Using it four times Arata cleaned up ten meters of enemies. Going back and forth with black dash. Each black dash could make him go 5 meters. He used it twice on back and forth. About fifteen of enemies who were clinching together in those ten meters were defeated in instant. Some of them had no idea what happened and how they even died. -Kevin! One of female players who werent in those ten meters called for their Capitan. Apart from her, there were three others that survived as they stayed more on the side. Arata quickly went to get rid of them. The first one that stand on his way was an archer who thrown his bow to the ground and took out his sword to fight in melee but the moment his sword clinched with Aratas black sword Kuroi, archers sword was cut in half like some wooden stick. One hit was not enough to take down the archer but by combining it with second strike from other sword it was enough. Arata didnt stop there and continued forward to his main target the girl who just screamed. The reason for that was simple, she was last healer standing. With her down it would go much easier from now on. The other two who survived stood in formation to defend her as well acknowledging that her life was more important. One was a man in purple robe with wooden staff which was making him a mage, second was another archer but this one was holding a bow. After a quick show, they didnt want to take Arata in close combat. Archer was a little more forward so he was first to go. He managed to fire off an arrow but it was easily dodged by Arata as he saw where the archer was aiming at. Arata soon after moved forward and slash off archers head in one go. From Aratas left mage released fireball out of his hands. [Sword enchant: fire] With his normal sword Arata swung though the fireball and that fireball split in two and both parts passed by on his side and disappeared quickly. Ah, so this is how it goes. Just as I thought. During the ride Arata wondered about what happened during the boss fight in Stonecell. He managed to cut in half some of fat two headed boss spells. After thinking about it for some time Arata came up with an answer. Arata always felt that his second class sword enchanter somehow didnt live up to rank four as the only useful thing that it has was sword slash, but now that he found out its true power Arata changed his mind. One thing that Arata didnt understand was why there was no information that mentioned it. He came up with an answer that some things you just have to reveal by yourself. That or it was a bug. Arata continued his attack. Given the range, mage could use another spell. Knowing that fireball wont work he used something different. From the ground a pile of earth went up. It turned into shape of fist and lunched off in Aratas direction. [Sword enchant: earth] Once again he slashed it with sword completely destroying spell effect like before. Two pieces of mud landed behind him. After slashing down the spell Arata right away with second sword slash down the mage. After that Arata start walking slowly. The healer girl was lying on the ground two meters away. With long brown hairs now covering her eyes she couldnt see anything now. Still it was not because hair was covering her eyes but because she had her eyes close. Anari type eh Although Anari got better lately, in Aratas eyes she would always be someone who couldnt move in that park where he fought against his first monster in this game. What Arata called Anari type was useless scared of everything player who really shouldnt be playing this game. Arata was now relaxed but he wasnt the type that would go easy on a girl. He could go easy on a kid but definitely not because someone was a girl. There was simple reason for it. Way back in the day when he was living with his grandfather he was studding material arts and other skills. He wasnt doing it just with his grandfather. After all, his grandfather was Olympic champion. He had quite a number students training under his care. Arata was often pitched against them and train with them. There was especially one that he had to fight against very often and it was a girl. She was Aratas age and was going to the same school. Aratas grandfather wanted his grandson to make a friend with someone but lets just say Arata wasnt in mood for friendship at that time and it never worked out. Still Aratas grandfathers never give up and continued to pitch them against each other. It was also better to fight opponent of the same height as other students were older and focused on some purposes, like winning the golden medal. Aratas case was different as he never even thought about doing it as a sport. In girls case she trained to improve her health. She had some kind of illness since birth. Arata didnt know the details. Still even with health problem Arata was often beaten by her as she started the training one year earlier than him. With time it was more equal and Arata started to win from time to time but he still remembered his first year. And even so, the ratio was still about 1 win for him ten for the girl. That is why no matter how fragile one might looked, Arata never let his guard down. In fifth year of staying in his grandfather house Arata finally got better emotionally but he still never spoke to that girl about anything that didnt mention their training. Also at the beginning of that year she stopped coming. It happened after annual training in mountains that his grandfather organized for all his students. It was especially hard that year as Olympics were coming. After what happened, for all what Arata knew she could be dead right now. Still with memories about her, he would never underestimate someone just because she was a girl. There was no need to rush. Arata walked slowly and when he got close he just swung his sword at the girl. Still not rushing was his error as his sword was stopped by large two handed sword that appeared in the way. The wilder of that sword Kevin who rushed all the way the moment he heard the girl screaming. Although Arata tricked him down, Kevin didnt look angry at all, rather, he large smile on a face. -Kevin, waaaaa The girl screamed. Somehow this seems familiar. -dont worry Nel, I am here. Hey Arata! What are you doing!? -em you remember that reinforcements thing. You see, I am those reinforcements after all. There was no need to hide anything now so Arata just explained although he wasnt planning to be those reinforcements in the beginning and wanted to log out. -ah, thats really explain everything wait what! -sorry about that. -then who is the one we fight right now, he is from reinforcements as well? -if you had to describe him, then a random traveler would be good description. -well, he doesnt look like some random traveler to me. Kevin pointed in the place where Levi was fighting. He was once again covered in blood, in his blood and those who he already brought to the ground. Without healing from the back, number of remaining foes he had to fight against was lowered to three. -aaaaa!!! Correction, now it was two. Levi was making crazy moves with his sword. He didnt have his shield anymore though. What could happen with it? What was strange though, was that although Arata and Kevin should be enemies they just talked in Levis direction without any worries. -well he might not be that random. Anyway what are we doing? We fight or we not? Arata asked as he was not sure. Kevin came closer and whispered. -hey Arata, I dont mind that you lied and betrayed us. It was good tactic I must say, good job. Also, as I said, I also dont care about our guild too much. I am against their doing as well. -if that is so, you can just walk away for all I care. -yes, about that. Could you help me out a little? -help? You know, Im busy no rather right now I am dead tired, and I want to log out. Arata was now somehow regretting that he didnt log out when he had a time. -it will take just a moment. You see, that girl. I lets just say I want to look cool before her, you follow right? Kevin said with awkward voice. -more or less. -great, then could you play it out with me? It would also be good if you could do something about your friend, so he wont follow after us. You know, he looked very upset or rather, he was burning in anger at some point and then he went crazy. -okay just be quick and leave before he comes here. -thanks Kevin put his sword forward and started speaking loudly. -you deceived me and betray me! But know that I have heart full of compassion and forgiveness! I can forgive your betrayal. I can forgive death of my friends. We just happen to be on the opposite side thats all. But I cannot forgive attacking on my dear friend Nel. Prepare yourself! Right after that, over from the head Kevin lunched powerful swing downwards. Not only it was powerful but also fast. Arata could only block it lifting his two swords up. After the impact Arata had to bend the knee. Hey, it was supposed to be the play. Arata pushed sword up and started attacking. Kevin moved back quickly and with spin slashed horizontally. Arata crouched down to dodge it sword went right over his head but as Arata stood up back he saw Kevins sword started to shine in blue color. Kevin gained even more power and speed this time and without stopping the second attack came right away. [Sword enchant: shield] Arata tried to block it but the moment Kevins two handed sword clashed with his Arata was send flying back three meters. Staying on feet required some skills from him. Hey thats definitely not the play! You owe me Kevin. -your sword is too powerful. I understand that the wish to protect that girl is giving it strength. I am no match for it and thats why I flee. Arata decided to participle in role play as well although he nearly burst out laugh while saying it. -flee all you want, I dont attack those who lost will to fight! Kevin sheathed his sword and run to brown-hired girl. -Nel quickly before they regroup, we must escape from here, I wont be able to fight them both at the same time while defending you. -thank you Kevin. -its best to log out while we still have a chance. Kevin and Nel disappeared in a flash. It looked like Kevin decided that its best to leave everything to that girl imagination and take the reward later. Kevin also decided that the moment he log back, he will leave his guild and take a shot at 100 level challenge. //** This chapter is not over over. Continue to part _17.2 **// http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3286 Chapter 17 “Levi of the Silver Hand” _17.2 //** Continuation of chapter 17. (From 17.1) **// Arata walked up to Levi who already finished all of enemies. Bodies were laying in circle around him as he crunch down looking at some object. -good job Arata congratulated him when stop near him. He had to at least say something like that even if he wanted to log out already. Still Levi didnt give him answer. He didnt hear me? -hey! After second shout, Levi finally looked back. His blond hair flapped on the forehead was dyed in blood. Under them were eyes of despair. -aaa? Ah its you. He answered without energy. -I saved you there, you should be more grateful. Lets leave the part where it was my fault that they attacked you. -grateful? Thank you, yeee! I alive! Levi still was answering in hollow voice. Arata didnt mind and answer. -no problem. -why do you play the good guy all of sudden? At that moment Levi exploded. -wasnt that your fault that they attacked me!? I thought that it would be pitiful for you to fight against 30 enemies so I wanted to help, but what did you do!? You stood there and enjoyed the show like it has nothing to do with you! -well but I joined in the end and you are still alive. Where is the problem? -where is the problem!? Here is the problem! You see this, its like this because you were slacking! Arata looked at the object that Levi pointed out. It was a shield or rather fragments of it. Because of three arrows that pierced it was splint in two. -it happens sometime. Anyway if that shield got destroyed by few arrows it means that it was worthless anyway. Arata was trying to find the bright side. -it took much damage in other fights and thats why I wasnt using it before. I planned to repair it when I finish my mission here. Levi once again answered in hollow voice. -right you had to infiltrate this city. -infiltrate? What a nice word. I just had to get here and see what is going on in this city, thats all. The lowest type of mission you can get. You see, I have lowest of rank in the Silver Hand, under me are only recruits. Also I only managed to get in because my sister is high rank officer. -so even here connections are the most important. Anyway why are you upset about losing this shield? You can always get a new one. -this one, sure I dont care but it just made me remember that previous one was destroyed. -is there any difference? -I could explain it to you but why should I? Arata also didnt really care to know. -try better next time. -you are optimistic guy. -by the way, cant you just repair it with your spell like you tried last time. I saw that when you fought you managed to repair all off your armor in one go. -no shit Sherlock. You think I wouldnt do that if I could. -where is the problem? -you see its not like that ability is that useful. If you use its power too much you cant use it again for some time. The more you change back, the more time it takes before you can use it again. I wont be explaining it in details but you should get it more or less now. -still if you can just heal yourself up back to full in second and you are not a healer, its a great skill? -its not heal, I get back in time. For example after I get hit I use that ability and go back to the time when I wasnt hit. Thanks to that, my hp is returned to max and anything that was destroyed is back to normal its normal state. -and you say its not useful skill? -well I didnt say its not useful. Still a normal heal would be better if we are only talking about damage. Every time I use it on myself, I get confused and another downside is that I dont remember what caused the damage. So no never mind I wont go around tell others my weakness. -but you already did. -ha? -if you dont remember what hit you, you wont be able to defend against it next time. No, even worse. Knowing that you got hit by this or that attack first time, it is very likely that you will get hit by it again. Your opponent will know what works on you. -a. Arata could easily see the downside of that spell. -its not like I will tell it around so dont worry. Anyway you must have some unique class if you have spell like that. -now you are asking about class? Have some shame. Knowing enemy class is like ticked to win. You wont get surprised by their normal attacks as you know will know what they can do. -from where I see it you are some kind of paladin right. I saw once yellow shield attack. Also you have shield and sword and super heal its easy to read. -hahaha . Levi laughed at his explanation. -what? -Paladin, ah good one. -what? -I can at least tell you that I am not Paladin. -but something similar to Paladin. Anyway what was laugh for? -nothing. Ah right I have forgotten, you are a newbie after all. Arata didnt take that comment well. -maybe but if that newbie didnt help you, it would be your corpse lying down here. -did I offend you? Sorry. But you must say that you are newbie. Newbie is not an offense its just stays that you are new to the game. You didnt even pass the first barrier, right? What do you know about this world anyway? Probably nothing I cant say much to that. -well at least you can fight quite well so first barrier wont be problem for you. You might even get it on first try from where I see it. -well at least you are back in a mood now. -ah Levis eyes which were laughing a moment ago, once again faced despair. Arata wanting to know asked again. -dont get depress again, what is with that shield? -eh why do I have to tell you anything, go hunt some boars newbie. -I think I rather hunt some shieldless idiots, I wonder what they drop. Arata didnt mind being called a newbie but being called a boar hunter was too much. -nah, I am not in a mood right now. Fine if you want to know that badly then listen. In short, Silver Hand order is based on point system. The more points you get the higher rank you get. The higher rank you get the more merits you receive. Levi started to explain structure of Silver Hand out of sudden. -what merits? -prestige, reputation, subordinates, items and skills. The skill that we just talked about is one of rewards I got on leveling up my rank from recruit to my current rank. -free items and skills? Hey maybe I should join as well. -yea, good luck with that. -well if they invited someone you, they will welcome me with open hands. Arata didnt plan to join any kind of organization like that he just joked around. -haha, well joining is not that easy. -if they give things like that for free its definitely not easy. Anyway I understand that you gather points and change them into useful things. The more you get the better things you receive. And to get those points you do some missions like the one you do right now, right? -yes, just like that. Although there are also different ways to get points. -so, what does your shield has to do with it? Arata went back to the point. -if you have an item with herb of silver hand and it gets destroyed you will lose a lot of points. Every time you rank up your score goes back to zero. If your points are on minus for some time you can get demoted. And because I got rank up just before this mission I have no points what so ever. -one rank cant be that bad. -in my case it is, because I will return to the recruit. This isnt even considered being a member. Also its the hardest way to get promoted from recruit. -must be hard. -and it is not even my biggest problem, if I get demoted my sister will kill me. And I am no talking about killing in the game. Well, I can still hide somewhere it should take her few days to get back to house. -you dont live together? -she is older than me and moved out from house few years ago. Still it will take her no time to get me. We live in the same city. -hahaha dont worry its not like she will kill you for real. -sometimes I think that dying would be a better fate then meeting her anger. Although Levi should be joking his face was not laughing. Arata advised him. -all you can do right now is getting some points asap. That way you wont get demoted. -easy for you to say, you dont know how hard it is to get those. -what about your mission? You get some points from this right. -not enough, its lowest of lowest. -but its a start. -well its not like I will be demoted right away. Because it is so hard to rank up it is also not that easy to fall down. Levi started to feel some hope inside him. -finally, you have some positive thinking. Well I will be going now. -wait! I dead tired, give me a break! -what is it? I am two days straight in game right now. -its your fault that my shield is destroyed, so you will help me out. -mine fault? Well this one maybe, but wasnt the previous one important? I have nothing to do what that one. -you destroyed previous one as well. -its not me that attacked you. Rather, I was one of the few who didnt. -your guild attacked me so you are at fault as well. It wont take long. -ah, my guild brings me more faults then merits. -you can always leave it. But given you are a newbie joining guild with high level players is a huge merit. Information is the key. -you can find out everything on your own. -true enough and that is the case for most players. But let me tell you a story that I once heard from my sister. -what story? I said that I dont have time right now. -its short actually. You see my sister is quite good at this game. She is the strongest player that I know. -strongest player, so she is the one player that passed level 300? -passed level 300? Where did you hear that fairy tale? Dont believe everything you hear. -it goes for you as well, how can you say that no one passed it? You also just heard it from someone. -no, I saw how 300 level barrier challenge looks like. Its impossible, simple as that. -what you are 299 out of sudden and tried it? -nah, I am little over 100. I wont tell exactly as keeping levels quiet is also the way to go. -so where did you see that? -you really are newbie arent you? -never mind you probably just saw it because off your sister right? -not really, there is program on television every month that futures 300 level challenge. There was once a video from one player perspective that tried it. He died fast but one could see that its definitely impossible to beat it. Right now everyone is complains that it is a bug and developer should fix it. Still there are no bugs in this game and developers cant affect this world so there is nothing that they can do. -thats a little too much. And television? -its normal TV program. Although, I always watch it on internet. You didnt watch TV for past two years and dont know about it? You cant get away from advisement about EOA. -em . -anyway its impossible to explain everything and its a pain. We need to get going anyway so lets go Arata. -I didnt give you my name Larry. -its Levi! And I heard yours already so why not use it. Did I get it wrong? -no, anyway where are we going? -city center, cathedral. I will tell the rest while we are moving. So get going! Levi started to run in direction of Triangle gate, Arata followed after him although he thought about ignoring him and logging out for a second. They both passed through the gate entered the destroyed city. Levi remarked. -ahhh, you guys really dont know how to hold back. Such a nice city it was and now it is wasted. -its not my fault that its ruined It looked like majestic glory of Triangle will never return to its former glory. The city looked just as bad inside destroyed walls as it looked outside. -why are we running? Arata asked. -we need to get to the central before your friends kill off the leader. -they still need to defeat him first. -if they are half as good as you it wont take them more than a minute. Well given that dark-brown haired lady is with them it wont take more than one arrow. -you mean Kelly? Well that probably is true. Anyway what with that lady thing? Now you speak quite normal but back then when we first meet you were doing some strange talk like this. -hmmm if you have to know I am quite weak when it comes to talking with girl so I role-play it. -ha? -my sister told me about that idea. -I dont think that she was serious about it. She probably just wanted to see you embarrass yourself. -probably, still I also have fun doing that, so I dont plan to change it. Also I want a girlfriend. -you will probably get killed faster than get one. Arata remembered Kotoris reaction at Levis action. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. -at least I trying, you probably never had one either. -it doesnt matter to you, but if you have to know I have one right now. -somehow I dont believe you. -I dont care if you believe me. -haha, so you dont have one. Dont worry I also once lied that I have a girlfriend to look good in eyes of others. -ah, you are annoying. If you want a proof then when we find my guild then you can ask her. -she is in your guild. Then I saw her already? -yep. -which one? Wait, I will try to guess. -I still dont know why are we running? What does Legions leader have to do with me helping you? Arata wanted to get to the main topic and get done with it fast but Levi had something else in mind. -I will explain in a second. First things first. Given my impression I have two guesses for your girlfriend. -two? -yea can I ask one question with that I will be sure. -if you have to. -are you Lolicon or pedophile of some sort Arata punched Levi in a face. Levi moved away. -hey it was dangerous, I will trip if you hit me all off sudden. -then dont ask stupid questions. -okay, okay. I take it as no. So thats leave. Levi didnt speak for a moment, then he lost balance while they were turning in the corner. He tripped and rolled into the wall of the building. -you okay? Lying in awkward position with legs over the head Levi answered. -dont tell me, the one that attacked me first, the one with the flower. -well yea. Levis eyes went wide. Then he got up. He walked up to Arata and kneel before him. -teacher! -ha? -Arata you must teach me how to do that. How can I get a goddess like her? Those eyes, this face, this body. Arata once again punched Levi into head from the top and this time he hit. -dont look at others people girlfriends with lewd eyes. -but you must agree that its true. Its a goddess. Normal mortals like us are not worthy to look at her Punch! -aua, that hurt. -I said, dont look at others people girlfriend with lewd eyes. -why are you angry? Its not like I plan to take her or rather I have no idea how to do it. -thats better. -also you shouldnt worry about that. Its not like she will leave you just because someone make move on her. Rather she will kill everyone that will try do that. -why do you think so? -well she attacked me the instant I tried so Punch! -what was that for? -you reminded me that you tried to hit on her. -right. Wait a minute, why are we standing, get going Arata! Levi got up and started running. Arata followed. -it was your fault for falling on a pebble. -anyway what did you do to get situation like that. -what situation? -you know, having a girlfriend like her. She also seems to like you more than anything else in the whole world. I want to know how to get this effect. -I still dont know why are we running? Arata tried to get back to the topic. -I told you already. We have to get to the leader before your friends finish him off. We have no much time. -that I know already. But if we have to hurry we shouldnt waste it on idle talk. -there are important things and more important! You see I am 20 already and never had a girlfriend in my life, so please teach me how to get one. -you are a year older than me. -so can you teach me? -even if you say that. I am bad at this stuff same as you. Well I might be better than you given you use that lady role-play. First thing you should do is to cut that play. -I will think about it, so how did you end up with her. -many thing happens which I dont plan to share with you. But to sum things up it was her actions rather than mine that got us together. -ah, thats not really helpful. -I never really thought about things like girlfriend before, so I cant really advice you on anything. -eh . -dont get dishearten. -if that the case I stick to my lady role-play and you are just some lucky bastard so I wont call you a teacher anymore. Anyway you wanted to know why we are running. -so we are finally back to the point. So why are we running? -as I said I need some points for silver hand. One way of getting points is catching players that are on black list and thrown them into prison. Given my investigation I will definitely get many points for leader of Legion. -so you want us to step back and let you take care of him. -that would be great but I wont steal that kill from you guys. Its your war after all. All I need to do is to land a hit on his body. Even if its dead it still will send him to prison and I will get points. -so why are we running? -well if I land a hit on him while he is still alive I will get more points. -eh . -you also said that you play for two days already so we are running for you so you can faster log out. -I could just log out and ditch you. Still if we are going somewhere we should run anyway, isnt it normal for games? -you didnt play this game for long enough did you? Say, were you running all the time in EOA so far? -when I was playing solo or in small two person group, yes I did run. Especially when the distance was long. I skipped on running in previous crowed village but I would if there was more space. -some hardcore gamer you are, but in EOA you also need to role-play a little and running everywhere is unnatural Well that might be true. -I was like that as well but quickly gave up. Most players are the same. No, anyone with VR experience is like that. There is simple reason for it. Here is a different reality which is as real as reality itself to the point where people sometimes forget themselves. -that might be so. -in reality you dont just run everywhere. One reason for that is simply because cops will get you. You are too suspicious that way. Still if you are in hurry you should run thats all there is to it. Both here and in reality. Thats how I view it at least. In short I am running only when there is a need to run. -well it doesnt concern me. Anyway how far is the center from here? -in walking distance its about two to three hours. We are running so we should get there faster. -have I mentioned that I am dead tired? -yes few times. They continued to run. Their tempo wasnt that fast it was definitely not their highest speed. Given two days of playing straight, although sleeping here was more effective Arata felt strange. He was hungry and at the same time not hungry. He thought that its because his real body is hungry. Levi on the other hand was after a hard fight. None of them tried to speed up. Their speed was little faster than walking. At some point Arata asked. -Levi, you were going to tell me some story from your sister. -right. Well it will be good for killing time. As I said, my sister is one of best players but she told me a story of how she was crushed down badly by other player. -are you sure that she is the best player then? -its a story before she became one and there is no best player in this game anyway, so dont take serious everything I say. Still she is really good. And the story also takes place when she was really good. Her and her opponent levels also were the same. -when was that? -that was about time when someone first found 200 level barrier challenge. -that doesnt tell me much. -about a year ago in real time. -year is a long time. -yep, I didnt even play back then. -but if they passed 200 level barrier at level 200 why only one player passed 300 level after a year. -as far as I know, pass 200 levels its really hard to level up. Now its even harder, given the war. -what war? -it doesnt concern people under 200 so you no need to know and if you are interested google it. I also never cared about it so I am not best to explain it. Anyway its impossible to pass 300 level challenge, so stop saying that someone did. -I think at least one person should be able to do that but whatever, what about that story about? -as I mentioned, its a story about information power. At that time there was a party that was always ahead with levels and everyone considered them the best. But when they hit 199 they couldnt find 200 level challenge. Now all you need to do is check the net and you know more or less where it is but back then they needed to go all around the world and find it for themselves. Anyway they hit 199 and started to look around for the challenge. In the meantime some players catch up to them with level. One of them was my sister. She challenged one from that party to duel because of some circumstance that she didnt tell me. Well rather than a duel it was an ambush at him. -what, she wanted glory for defeating best player? Or did she want to steal his items? Actually can you steal something in this game? -if you just kill someone then you cant simply loot them, although there is a way to do that. Anyway it was neither of those she just wanted him dead and when he respawns, kill him again and again and again. -in short she wanted to gank him. She probably had some good reason for it as normally its troublesome to do so. -no idea what it was, I was too afraid to ask. Anyway when they fought, that player read her like book, without any unnecessary movement, every time with best response possible. Every skill she used was nullified and he didnt use any overpowered spells either. -so your sister wasnt as good as you say. -well you could say that, but he won because of information he had. He knew how to respond to every action and nothing surprised him. Well he probably had some skills that would be deadly but he didnt have to use them. -in fights, if you can read your opponent its easy to counter. It wasnt something really a secret knowledge but something that most of people knew. -thats the moral of the story. -still that one thing, even without a knowledge you can still put up a fight. Fight using instincts. -thats how it goes for most of people. They see something and then think how to deal with it. But being intelligent and having knowledge are two different things. -are there any other stories? -sure, there are. There once was a player who could guess up someones profession after five minute talk or one minute fight. He also was from the group I mention I wouldnt be surprised if that was a Gerald. -but that person doesnt play anymore or at least he is not in places that people would recognize him. My sister said he is not playing though so thats probably true. Or maybe not. -maybe he got bored. -definitely not that, how can you get bored of this world. Still no one heard of him, when in compression other people of that party are still famous and considered the best. -all of them? -well there was another person completely disappeared as well. Also there are few that never revealed themselves, so no one knows how many players that party really had. For example the player that my sister fought against is like shadow or a ghost. People wonder if he even exists. What I just told you is what I heard, its not like I saw any of them. As I said, I am still in low 100. -eh I will catch up to you in no time. -instead of rushing with level, you should find out about the game as well, level is not everything. -but without it you cant do much. -well leaving noobs land is a good thing, so passing as quickly as possible to 100 level is right way to go but after that there are more important things. -what can be more important? -skills and items in short. After passing 100 level there is less and less improvement in stats with level so focusing on those is better. Having good skills is much better than having high level. -if you say so. Anyway how much longer do we have to run? Arata asked the ultimate question. -just a little longer and we will see the clock tower, next to it should be the cathedral. Well, given its your guild it may not be there anymore. Now that I think about it, even if its guild wars you guys went overboard. Hmm, I think that if I killed you I could get some points. -well you can try although it might be dangerous. For the note I didnt do anything so I wont give you points. Still if you want to fight I can take you on. -nah I was joking and its not like I am in good condition to take on a whole guild by myself. You alone would be a problem and I dont want to think what would happen if people who could destroy thousands of players and largest guild in this area start to hunt me down. Rather, I will look forward to your guild progress in future. Arata and Levi were getting closer and closer to their destination. They were talking without worry and were quite relaxed. Still neither of them was prepared for what was to come. http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3287 Chapter 18 “Master of magic.” _18.1 Chapter 18 Master of magic. -we really shouldnt just leave him there! Kotori continued to say it while everyone marched through once great and majestic city, Triangle. She didnt feel good about leaving Arata behind just because he was in no condition to move forward, rather that should be a reason to stay behind. She definitely wanted to do it. Especially because it was one of very few times that he showed his weak side. Such a chance wasted. -dont worry. He can take care of himself. Anari was calming her down while walking next to her. Over pass days she and Kotori became really good friends to the point where they talked about everything, even things that were usually hidden. Kotori even revealed some parts from her past. She did that because she felt obligated to it. It was at the time when Anari one day became very dark all of sudden. Kotori thought that it was her fault, because how things ended with Arata. She thought that because they became couple she might somehow steal him from Anari because they knew each other longer even if it was only by a week or two. But to Kotoris surprise Anari completely denied that she had any romantic feelings for Arata and explained her real reasons. She didnt go into details and Kotori didnt ask for them. Anari just said that she was rejected by her childhood friend whom she loved for many years and that was the reason for her behavior. After that talk Anari condition became better. It was probably because it was the first time that she told anyone about this. In the end with such close talk in short period of time Kotori and Anari became really good friends. One thing should be added though. Kotori was younger than Anari by two years but it was rather her that was more mature. Kotori answered to Anaris calming. -I am not talking about that! Of course he can take care of himself. Rather he is probably really happy to be finally left alone and log out. I am disappointed because it was a great chance to score up my points as a girlfriend. -but arent they already full? -how should I know, he rarely tells me anything. -you definitely dont have to worry about that. And he was always this way. He doesnt speak his mind too often. -well in the end its his good point. I definitely wouldnt want someone who tells me you are beautiful every minute. Why should someone say obvious things? -Kotori, I always wanted to ask, how can you be so confident about yourself? -how? Well I just look at mirror in mornings, that all I need for self-confidence. You should try it as well. -I dont think it will work. Also, I dont look the same in real world. When Kotori just used option same as in real, Anari went through numerous of options given to the player in this game and created her character. -so how different you look in real? -well, I obviously dont have blue hair. My face also looks a little different. Well the feeling is still pretty much the same. I was never surprised by my look in mirror. Rather I was thinking when my hairs grow so long and changed color. -then you dont have to worry about anything either. Anyway, send me a photo of yourself later. -okay. They obviously already exchanged phone addresses. They walked for another fifteen minutes then Kotori started. -your childhood friend must be stupid to leave you like that. -no, no its not that. I know he never had feelings for me. Its also not like we know each other too well. Even if we are childhood friends he move out at some point and I didnt see him for five years. -then you liked him without seeing him? Anari you should know that some stupid first crushes like that, never work. -how about you, who was your first crush? I better stay quiet on this one. -its not about me now. So, when that friend returned after five years he already had someone, right? -probably. -and how your faithful meeting after five years looked like? -he forgotten my name. Whatever Kotori said ended up just adding to the fire. -auch. Well some people are bad with names so. -not only that, he didnt remember me at all. Well, he had other things more important to him at the time so I understand. -dont defend him! You should rather trash talk him all you want. I am here to listen so now is your chance. -I wont do that, he is a good person. Anari tried to defend him but. -wrong, he is lowest trash that forgets his friend. If you dont want to get angry at him, I will in your place. What trash would leave his childhood friend who loves him so much and go with someone else. -I never told him my feelings so he isnt trash. -dont defend him! still Anari, if its like you said then I must agree that it wasnt his fault. I think its time for you to hear the brutal truth. -what truth? -well the truth is that its your entire fault. You didnt tell him that you love him and he flew out with someone else. If you mentioned it beforehand he might at least think about it and give you his answer. -wawa. -if you dont attack, you will never win. Especially in your case. -why mine? -because you were childhood friends, he would never think about you in other way than childhood friend, unless you go straight to him with I love you. Even then he would probably misunderstand it. You would have to repeat it until he understands hundred times. -I dont think I could do that. -thats why its your fault. Well not like I have much more experience but with my endless attacks I brought down Aratas defenses. That should count for something. -even so I still dont think I can do that. -well some may like shy type, dont worry. But first, you need new love interest. -I think I will focus on other things now. -nonsense. The time to strike is now. Youth doesnt last forever. And what is the youth without love? -even if you say that. -well its not like you can suddenly fall in love with someone just because you want. Still search through your head. Is there someone who comes to your mind? - . -if it is someone we both know, which mean from EOA then I would suggest you Loki. He is really dependable. The only problem is that I dont know how old he is. From his look I would say that he is at least three years older than me. I dont know if game avatars age with players but in worst case he would be five years older than me. But for you it would be perfect. -its not him! -not him? Oh, wait, you have someone? Anari went red a little and nodded. -so who is he? From EOA!? From real? -well, you seen him. -so EOA it is. Well if I go by people we both know. And its not Loki. Wait! Dont tell me its Gerald! Anari, dont fall for it! Well I know that he has handsome face and looks good in general and even have mysterious aura around him that is attractive but you know his personality right? He only thinks about himself and his goals. He is also really . -its not leader. That person is not from our guild. -not from our guild? hmm, I dont think that we have any common acquaintances apart from our guild, do we? -anyway I am not telling. It doesnt matter anymore. -dont be shy. Because of that attitude you lost your childhood friend. You need to attack. I will help you, thats what friends are for right? -fine I will tell you but as I said it doesnt matter anymore. Also dont do anything. -I cant promise that. So who is it? - . -Anari you can do it. -its Levi Levi, Levi. Who was it again? -as I said it doesnt matter as I wont see him again. Anyway that was images that pop up in my mind when you asked. I dont really like him. -wait, first tell me who is that Levi? Kotori really didnt remember. -we just meet him. The one that helped me when I collapsed. -ah, that Blondie knight wannabe? -yes that was Levi. -still, why him!? I personally had really bad impression of him. You know that lady stuff who even talks that way? Anari why!? Kotori couldnt understand her at all. -you wont laugh? -why would I? -then listen, it may be because he told me that I am beautiful and apart from my dad, no other guy ever told me that. Well, it may sound like a good reason but should a cheap complement like that be enough? -well dont worry. This world is full of blind and cowardly people who cant say what they think. You are the perfect example for it. But Anari, you are so pure to fall in love just because of that. It feels exactly like your hopeless five year love for your childhood friend. -I didnt fall for anyone and I definitely dont want to hear anything about being pure from someone who faints after kissing. - . -bullseye? -it was Aratas fault for doing it out of sudden! Kotori tried to defend herself. -still you shouldnt faint from that. -lets leave it okay? -hahaha. I wanted our first kiss to be in our real bodies. But in the end, does it really matter that much? Real body, this body, somehow I lost a difference about them. Maybe I should change my look in this game like Anari so I at least fell a little different. At this point, this body is as important as a real one. Especially after only thanks to this body I could meet him. And now only because of this body I can meet him every day when in real, it would take seven hours by train to get from my house to his. Kotori and Arata had already exchange location information with each other and even checked a potential route which they would use to meet up. After thinking for a second Kotori said. -back to the main point. Although, he didnt give me good first impression if you like him I will help you out. -but I didnt say I like him. -still its worth a try, right? -but I am not sure about it. Also I not as open as you and I wont tell anyone that I love them when I dont. -well, dont imagine anything big. For starter lets aim for phone number. -phone number? -yes, that should be you current objective. Given the circumstances the hardest part will be finding him. As he could simply leave this city and we would have no idea where to look for him. -we still have to finish up here. -this shouldnt take too much time. This city and the ruling guild are already destroyed and in the first place from the beginning we were not needed. Guild Legion at the moment was practically no existing. -but we still shouldnt do thing on our own. -I know, I know, we will do what we have to. But that leader we are supposed to take care of will probably just give up the moment we show up. Then even if he does give up he will be killed in the end anyway because Zen is a psycho who likes to kill things. -psycho is a little. -you are just too good-hearten Anari. Still its your good point I guess. -well its true that he likes to kill things. -anyway, after we finish things up here, we can go and search for that Larry guy. -its Levi. -makes no difference to me, so what do we have on him? -well, he said that he needs to finish up report or something so he should be coming back to this city to see if we won. -well I wasnt listening to him but if you say so then it will not be that hard as I thought. -but dont you want to log out just after the battle? You were saying it all over that you want to wash and eat. -we can take turns while waiting for him so it wont be a problem. -and other stuff? -I said I will help you. -but I dont want to take up your time. And I remember when you and Arata were talking about stuff that you want to do after logging out and how much you hate to play right now. -well I play all the time so its not a problem. There are some things sure but they can wait. -then, you are logging out just after this ends. I wont take your time. - fine, fine, in that case I will tell you what we do. You log out first and take care of your basic needs and after that you log back and switch with me. I will do what I want afterwards. -but. -I said I will help. Anyway Anari, you do know how to get a number from a guy right? -well. -here is a technique that works 99% of the time. -some secret technique, what is it? -you go up to guy and ask the one single question and that question is. Can I have your phone number? -and then? -thats it, nothing more. Also that one percentage applies to people who dont possess cellphones. The technique wasnt that complicated. -shouldnt it be harder? I think that I should come up with some unique plan then it will be better -nah dont bother, this is the best. Anyway finding him will be the only hard part for you. -I dont think it will work that easily. Would you give someone your phone number if they would simply ask? Anari somehow wasnt convinced. -of course not! You also shouldnt give one to someone just because they ask. -then how should that plan work? -its just doesnt work in this way. The important part is that beautiful female asks a male about it. Even if they dont know you, they dont really care about giving their phones numbers away especially to a girl that showed interest in them. At least if they dont have experience of someone prank calling them at midnight. -then, doesnt this plan only works for you. -it will for you as well. You should get more self-confidence. I still would say that you should better look around for someone better but that Levi can at least be your guinea pig. Anyway, look we can already see the clock tower that was supposed to be near the center so you will soon be able to try it out after we finish things here. The main square of triangle had a green clock tower in its center. It was a strange clock though as instead of being in shape of oval it was in shape of triangle which made it much harder to read the hour from it as no one would be used to a shape like this. After finally noticing it, it was no long before the guild reached their destination. -thats really disappointing. Zen stated while looking around, there was absolutely no resistance at all. He was expecting endless slaughter but so far they didnt find anyone in this city. Not even NPCs. -they must have sent all of their troops outside to fight Gerald and Loki. But it doesnt seem like they fought here at all. This part of city is not destroyed. Kelly commented. The citys center was still in a good state. The only difference than normal would be the smoke that was coming from behind the buildings. The cause for that smoke was probably burnt down houses. They saw many of them in this city. Especially near the walls. -thats not fair I wanted to kill something. -there should be at least one person left in that building over there. -okay I am taking him! Zen stormed the cathedral. He used fireball to blow up the door and entered inside. The moment he did that a message appeared before every player that was in the close area. [Guild Legion was defeated and is no longer ruler of Triangle. Guild Refrain may take rulership of this city. In case they refuse, new election will take place in three months.] Thats it? After reading the message, Kotori was rather disappointed or rather angry. After all they rushed here without a break only to find that all of it was done without their interference. Why did we even come here? -hello! Is there anyone that wants to fight here? I can take up anyone who wants to fight. If someone doesnt want to fight its fine as well. I dont care about numbers. You can come at me 100 at the time! I will deal with you all! Zen didnt give up that easily. If we won, then it just means that there is no one here idiot. -very interesting or should I simply say stupid. But if you are so eager to die, then so be it. The voice came from inside of should be empty cathedral. The inside of cathedral was filled with benches on right and left side lined up in two lines. In the middle there was a free space that leaded all the way to the altar that was on the opposite end to where Kotori and the rest were staying. Behind the altar there was additional space and then the wall. On that wall there was a painting of woman. She surrounded by white birds that were flying around her. Apart from this painting there were many wall paintings and some crosses like in Christians chapel. Although those crosses were different from that old and dying off religion. In place where two lines crossed in Christian cross, there were three lines crossing here. On the very middle of the ceiling, there was large golden chandelier on which, silver candles were burning. The windows of the cathedral were in colorful mosaic style. They were showing both humans and animals shapes. There were also few that symbolized trees, mountains and lakes. Just looking at it could hold ones breath. Still this was not the time for sightseeing. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Zen went in first and started looking for the addresser of the voice he just heard. Everyone followed. Cathedral was rather large about sixty meters long and fifteen meters wide. -come out and lets see if you can say that again when I finish with you! Zen already wanted to kill the one who said that and it was the only thing on his mind right now. -you cant even see me, such a pity. Hahahaha . -what are you laughing at. You are probably just hiding somewhere. Its a pain to look for you so come out! -I am not hiding. Its just you who is blind. The lights from chandelier started to shine a little harder and then they created a ray of light in direction of front row of the benches. There was a man sitting in second row. He was not looking at them but rather he was looking at the painting over the altar. From the back one could only see that he had black hair and dark-purple tunic. I didnt see him there a second ago. Kotori could swear that he wasnt there when she looked in that direction before. -what are you, some magician with invisibility? Pity tricks. Invisibility was high level spell only available to mages. But man quickly denied Zens guess. -eh, you really disappoint me. I shouldnt have bothered after all, but I simply cant stand idiots who are shouting in places like this. -what! Zen shouted angry he was ready to lunch of any minute. Kelly stopped him. -thats not it. Invisibility is different. She said. -then what is it? Zen asked back although he was already ready for the charge. -you just didnt look that way thats all. Or rather you were forced to not look there. But that also not it, he still didnt do anything so far apart from gathering the light from the chandelier. That means that you were afraid to look that way? Or rather even though you looked, your eyes didnt want to believe what they see. -ha! I am not afraid of anything! -it doesnt matter if you are or not. Its a defense mechanism for you. clap, clap, clap. The sounds of clapping come from the man direction. He finally stopped looking at the painting. He stood up, get away from the benches and faced their direction. His face didnt look young but at the same not old. He had a short beard like someone who forgot to shave for few days. He was wearing simple dark-purple clothes that didnt look like battle equipment but rather something comfortable to move around in. He only had longsword in dark-purple sheath on his side. One could think he is some kind of knight but then looking at the face one could see a great wisdom in his eyes that would instantly signal that being wrong. -impressive deduction. You are correct. The man said after he stopped clapping. -but still its impossible I didnt see you as well and with my level it . -please say no more and dont change my high opinion of you. You should know that level doesnt have anything to do with it. -I know that level dont change much at some point. Still, that kind of power. There shouldnt be a player that . -as reward for understanding what happened, although I dont do it too often allow me to introduce myself. Arcon Shadenine at your service. - . Kelly stopped moving. -given your reaction you even heard of me. I wonder from who it was because I dont have any impression of you. Still, that will make things easier. Could you hurry and leave this place? I didnt want to say it but you guys are a bother. Still the barking one has to stay, he challenged me after all. -I dont care what your name but here I come. -Zen wait! Not even thinking of waiting, Zen rushed forward. He lifted his sword upward while running. Zen used his most powerful or maybe most favorite technique as he was using it quite a lot. Pricing through the celling lighting struck Zens sword and from his hand it lunched at the enemy. But one meter before the man, the lighting disappeared without a trace. Zen ignored that fact completely and continued his assault. The man also started to walk in his direction, not too slow not too fast. The moment Zen was about to swing his sword at him, it was as if the world has stopped for everyone. For everyone except the man who continued to move walk forward. He passed next to Zen. The phantom lasted five seconds and second it ended Zen was slashed in two, at the height of his belly. Both part of his body landed on the ground without an inch of life. What was that? -Zen! Odin shouted and this time it was he who started to run. -wait! Kelly shouted at him, and surprisingly Odin listened and stopped, he wasnt someone who would normally act on emotions. He still rushed forward a little though and was now positioned at the front. Little behind him was Kotori. In the middle Kelly and Yuki and all the way behind was Anari. -exactly, you shouldnt be unreasonable and listen to more experienced ones The man said but then his face changed a little. -wait, you too? What exactly do you think you can do with that bow? The man said it to Kelly who took out the bow from the back. Sill its target was not man but into the hole in a celling. -ah, an SOS signal. I think you misunderstood something. Its not like I have anything to do with you. I already said that you can leave. Also what use will that signal do? Its not like there is anyone that would be able to stop me if I wanted to kill you anyway but I guess its rather a warning message for other, lets see what you wrote there Man closed his eyes for a second and continued. -GERALD HELP. ARCON IS HERE. Thats a lot of information considering you made this message in a second. Still as I said, I dont think that anyone could help if I wanted to do something, although. The man disappeared in a flash. He appeared right behind Odin in front of Kotori who tripped back in surprise. She quickly started moving back with use of hands and legs. The moment later, Odin fell to the ground forward. There was one wound at his back from which blood flow out. -dangerous, too dangerous. Yuki who was usually silent, spoke and moved forward. Kotori didnt see what was happening behind her but at one moment something blue-white colored appeared and flied by her. It was Yuki who was covered by ice like armor. The moment she passed next to Kotori, she started to spin with a sword at front. White-blue ice spinning rocket was lunched at the man. His face showed a sign of surprise but only for a short moment. He simply walked towards the left out of the way before Yukis attack reached full speed and went forward. She flew through the cathedral in direction of the altar. In three seconds she passed ten meters leaving behind frozen benches and frozen floor, but she suddenly stopped moving and was spinning in one place although she should still continue forward. The man was pointing his hand in her direction as if holding her and the moment Yuki stopped spinning he waved his hand back to where the rest of group was. Yuki started to fly back. Everyone faces showed surprise and terror at the same time. We should quickly run. Still Kotoris legs didnt listen to her. Yuki soon flew pass next to her and crushed into Anari who was staying in the back. The man pointed his left in their direction. -its been a while since I saw that. You know if you activated that ability and went through this girl over here as well, you would have a 1% chance of touching me. But if you have this skill than it means you have that class. Hahahaha The man suddenly bursted in laughing. -if its like that then I was correct, it should be that Gerald. I guess I should properly invite him. Its been so long but still The man was in a good mood for a second but then he looked at Yuki with truly angry face which automatically disables anyone from moving. Previously he was just looking at them with a face of someone watching defenseless babies but now it was full of killing intent. -I cant let such poor imitation go away unpunished. Dont you dare to spoil her name! A black orb of energy appeared in his hand, dark purple sparks circled around it. I will die. Kotori knew that in instant she saw soon incoming attack. Given opponent strength there was no way to block it. Death was inevitable. Its not time to that. Kotoris hand found its way to her weapon the magical orb in color of pearl. It started to shine. -Spell seven, death laser. Man spoke those words and from his hand the orb released black energy which shooted out at an angle of 120 degrees, destroying everything in its way. [Song of Stars] Second before that spell covered Kotoris body, she activated her own spell. Although it was probably not the best idea. -aaaa- aaaa- aaaa!!! Kotori screamed in pain. Her spell didnt prevent the damage but just healed them. But with attack like this, it was rather her body disappearing and appearing again. Thats why her scream was cut. She was reborn just to die second after. Did she just die many times? Or was she alive for all this time? Those questions did not have a clear answer but the message [you are dead] never appeared. The spell didnt last that long but for Kotori it was endless. After five seconds enemys spell ended and two second after Kotoris Song of Stars. After she appeared one again, she found herself floating over some large crater. The scenery changed completely. Kotori started to fall down right away. Despite the fact that she had full health points, she couldnt even think straight right now. There was no damage incoming anymore but sole memory of it was painful enough. She was about to hit the ground and then roll down through a slope to a middle of a crater but then she started hovering in air at some point. Then second later she started fly up back to the remains of the cathedral. It seemed that the enemy wasnt going to give up on her that easily. Aua I should just go give up and die, why did I use that spell, dying would have been better. As she flied up, she could see that that spell took about ? of the city with it. Its range as well as power was devastating. If city was destroyed before now it was completely ruined. The crater itself looked as if there was never a city there in the first place. The man who called himself Arcon Shadenine was operating his hand but to Kotoris surprise, he didnt drop her from higher place. He also didnt shot some another spell at her or slash her with his sword. He levitated her all the way back and delicacy put her on the ground in cathedral. -that was really impressive. Even your high level friend died in instant yet you survived. The man said to her. Kotori was already prepared to die. There was also no need to be scary of him anymore. Sure he was super powerful and he could kill her any moment, but it was a game. So far Kotori didnt die in this game even once yet and dying in this circumstance was something that she shouldnt be ashamed of. With those thoughts finally reaching her, she spoke her mind although she still couldnt stand up. -you think you are so good but the truth is that you are just some idiot with personality problems. -what!? The man didnt expect these words even in his wildest dreams. -yes exactly that. You came here because you were probably owned on higher levels and you wanted to take your anger on people who just started playing and dont know left from right. Who care if you can create some big crater with one spell, which you happened to find in some spell book. Hey you so powerful idiot, you couldnt even kill someone on 90 level with it, how do you feel now? - . If she were to die, she might as well speak her mind. There was nothing to lose. -what? You cant say anything now? Is it because everything I said is true? -hahaha. Its been a long time since I saw a reaction like that. Dont worry, as a reward for surviving it I wont kill you. Still rather than getting irritated the man laughed it off. -as if I care about your rewards. You still think that you are god knows what, you even giving out rewards. Just get it done! The man only smirked to that. -I cant just kill you now, can I? If Arcon were to kill her right now it would have confirmed what she just said. Still he did not have that intention and instead he crossed his fingers and operated his menu after two minutes later a large blue bag appeared in his hands. He said. -take it Now I completely dont understand what is going on. Kotori was dumb fooled. -take it and use it and one day when you understand this world, come and find me. I wonder if you will have the same opinion then. -as if I would take anything from The man walked up to her catch her hand and moved it in a way that made the bag disappear into her inventory. -let me go! Arcon left of her hand. -you prevent! My boyfriend will kill you for that just wait for it. Kotori didnt care now at all and used any means that she could think of to angry that man even if she knew what he just did. Man didnt even react to that. -if he also wants to fight, it can be two on one, makes no difference for me. You can bring him as well. -I wont need his help! And take back your garbage from my inventory! -I am gave you this so that you can pass the limits of healer. Become powerful, as powerful as possible and then find me and still be crushed by my power. I dont care how long it will take you. Right, as to how you should use it. First use the white book then gold one, rest ar . Crash In middle sentence Arcon Shadenine was sent flying through residues of cathedral and crushed right into altar destroying it completely. The man landed next to Kotori. He wore black leather armor which looked like suit. He was also smoking a cigarette. Smoke flew through his blond hair. -Loki! Kotori recognized him easily even if she didnt see his face. Without looking at her Loki answered. -ah, and here I thought that it will be impossible for him to be here. Anyway Kotori, no time for talk, it will be hell here just in a second so log out quickly. -Loki you dont have to worry about her, I already promised to leave her alone With a sound of breaking glass Arcon get up from destroyed altar. -your timing was perfect as always. Hahaha I got hit, its been six month since last time it happened but how could I know that I will get attacked by slayer of miracles in place like this. The way man addressed Loki was really strange for Kotori and she had no idea what it was about. -wasnt being prepare for everything your motto? -yes but not for impossible. Knowing that Gerald is here, you being here is the last thing I would expect. Or wait, did you start hunting us once again? Even if the case, there shouldnt be a quarrel between us anymore. -no, I am not going back to it. It wont change anything. -so you finally understood that. Then what are you doing here? -hmm, how should I say that? Loki walked closer to Arcon while he waited for an answer. He also started walking in Lokis direction. Now they were standing right in front of each other. -you see, that girl over there and people that you probably just killed are from my guild and at the same time Gerald is a leader of that guild. -you and Gerald in the same guild. Hahaha, good one. You think I will believe in . Loki lunched a quick kick and once again, sent Arcon flaying and this time he went past the altar and destroyed a wall behind it. From that impact, the painting with woman surrounded by birds fall down. I knew Loki was strong but to kick that guy like nothing two times is incredible. -Kotori, I just finished my greetings with him so you should better log out now. Do it quickly. Loki once again instructed her. You dont have to tell me that. Kotori crossed he finger, opened the window then after finding the log button she clicked it. All that left was another click to confirm it. Still she heisted about clicking this one. Watching what will happen here would not be just interesting. Rather it should be recorded and played every Sunday on TV. Kotori wanted to see this fight but staying here would also mean her quick death and she would been just a bother. And being a bother is something that she couldnt accept. Fine. She clicked yes and disappeared in a flash. //** This chapter is still not over. Continue to part _18.2 **// http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3288 Chapter 18 “Master of magic.” _18.2 //** Continuation of chapter 18. (From 18.1) **// Lia opened her eyes inside the capsule. The capsule itself was built a little like a coffin. Although it was much larger to the point where one could screech their arms. Many people even used it as replacement of a bed as inside was also very comfortable. The top was covered mostly by glass so it was possible to see the outside. One could use capsule with top completely open but most closed it down so it isolate the sound completely. Lia also did it that way. With eyes open through the glass, she could see her dad face leaning above it. Ooo! That wasnt really happy face he was making. Lia quickly decided to open the capsule and at least not keep him waiting any minute longer. But when she tried she couldnt move properly right away. A crazy idea popped up in her mind. She thought that damage from a game somehow transferred to her real body. Her state was rather similar the one she had just before she logged out. Still if that were to be the case it would be impossible that the device that could harm human body would be globally sold. There were especially many tests on it before the release. Since development of VR started, religion fanatic called it a demon machine that traps peoples souls. Of course they were ignored. Thirty seconds later Lias could move her body again and she opened top of capsule. The moment she did that she heard her dad speaking. -Lia you are grounded for using VRC for a week. VRC term came from virtual reality capsule. As for being grounded for using it, it wasnt the first time that it happened. Still being grounded right now would be bad so she decided to use a tactic that helped her avoid the problem. -hey dad, whats for dinner? The tactic was completely to ignore what her dad said and change the subject. Before long, her dad would forget about whole deal and even if he didnt, he would not execute his statement in any way as he loved his daughter too much. -you means todays one or yesterdays? Not good. It looked like this time it wont work that easily. She somehow knew it the moment she seen his face over the capsule. Its not like he was standing there for hours waiting for her. When someone log out the capsule always lighted up in blue light for few second so he probably saw it happen and came in. -okay, I am sorry I wont do that again. -how many times did I hear it already? -can you move a little. Lia wanted to get out but the moment she stood with her legs on the ground she started to fall straight to the ground. -aa. -oto Her dad caught her second after. -that is what you get for playing two days straight you cant even stand properly. That might be the explanation of her numbness, although previously it didnt happen before. Still, Lia had a habit of staying five minutes with just eyes close after logging out. It was like ritual she always did after long period of using the capsule but this time she got too quickly because of her dad. -thats not it also I did a short break meantime. -then why didnt you eat meal yesterday. -it was midnight time so I pass on it, you should know that eating at night makes you fat. -that excuse wont work. I dont remember you having any diet since you were born. -its not a thing you normally talk about with your father ah. Lia stopped there. -its okay. Anyway, I for one know that you dont need a diet, rather eat more! Because of yours gaming marathons, you will become skeleton. -being slim is a good thing. -but having anorexia is not. Boys wont like you Who needs them? I have Arata. -well if someone wont like you it definitely wont be because of appearance. You look just like your mom. Especially, with that smile. -haha, you often tell me that. -wait a minute. What is that smile? -simile, what smile? -that smile! Thats not your normal smile. -is it bad that I am smiling? -no, but that simile is like your mother on our second date. -hmm, not the first one? -well at that time she was laughing at me so loudly that it was a little hard to see but its not a time for that. Anyway what happened? -nothing really. You are just being overprotective as always. -surely nothing happened. You didnt get a boyfriend did you? Like some legendary A what was his name again Wait, how does he know about Arata? -ah right legendary Arthur. -hmm? -did I get it wrong? Let me check again Her dad took out his cellphone for a moment and while holding it said. -yes Arthur I remembered right. Hey Lia, why are you not denying!? -I dont know any Arthurs at least. - wait you still dont know his real name yet? Ah, then I have nothing to worry about. -what do you mean by that!? Now Lia got curious. -well now you do I guess. I babbled it out. Lia, bring him over someday. We have some stuff to talk about with him. Now, where did I leave my rifle The last part he said a little lauder so Lia definitely hear that part then he walked out. When he was outside the room and already turned to the stairs he added. -Lia, if you really dont want to be grounded for VRC then in five minutes you better appear in a kitchen. Well if he can laugh about it its like he accepted it already. But why does my dad know Aratas name when even I dont. When was he really talking with Arata in a first place? Arthur, Arthur well that name suits him somehow, although Arata is better. I have to call him but it would be better to go downstairs first, oh I know. Lia run up to her cellphone, found name legendary Arata and press a call button. Two seconds passed. Maybe he is still logged on. But to oppose that thinking she soon heard his voice. -hello? -hey Arata yours real name is Arthur, right? -wow, now that I think about it of all the topics we talked about you never asked for my real name. Yes my name is Arthur, how did you know? -that shouldnt be your question right now. Dont you want to know mine? -well I already know yours, Lia. And how does he know? -so you kept me in dark when you knew mine. -well, I never knew where to put the sentence by the way my real name is Arthur Rain. Anyway how do you know my name? -we will talk about it later. Be on the phone in a next hour, okay? -okay, I am making food right now so its better to have two hands for it, bye. -bye. After leaving the phone on the desk next to the bed, Lia quickly went down the stairs and entered the kitchen. On the table there was a dinner with three different dishes. One might think that it was definitely too much for her but after marathoning for two days this should be okay. Lia quickly wolfed down the first dish before starting next one she said. -sorry dad, I should be the one making food. -what are you saying? Its a parent duty to prepare food for their children. The reason why you are making it so often is because I come back to home after dinner time. Speaking while eating may be considered a bad manner but they were family after all. -its not like I have to eat it at that time, few hours make no difference. If you want to do parent duty that much, I can stop making dinners. -that would be a little Its not like I dont want to do it, but you are way better than me so also its great to have meal waiting for you at home. Her dad started to explain himself. Lia bursted into laughter. -haha, dont worry I like doing it. Also looks like I still need to train a lot harder. I dont want to make any poisonous stuff anymore. -Lia you are way too young for that. Way too young! Looks like her dad misunderstood. -what I am way too young? -emm you know what. -no I dont. -yes you do. No matter how good he might be, I wont handle you over that easily. At least five additional years must pass! -ah, you are talking about Arata. Dont go so overprotective again dad. Its not like I leaving you anytime soon. By the way, how did you know about him? -its my duty as a parent to know everything about your life. -everything is a little. -dont say I am overprotective again. -you are! Give me some privacy! -I will think about it when you are grown up. -my 18th birthday is two month. I will hold you to your word. -aaa . Lia got him then continued with the question. -anyway you still didnt answer my question. -well I talked with him on a phone once. -really? When? Or rather what were you talking about? Lia asked but her dad just adjusted his glasses with his left hand. Middle finger between eyes and pointing finger at the side answered. -woman cant understand mens talk. I wonder where he read that sentence. -eh . -anyway we talked a little you dont need to know everything. Her dad didnt plan on telling her. Kotori didnt say anything else as she knew that he wont tell her. -you know, I always expected your reaction to be different than this. -hmm well its a win/win situation for me. As long as you like him you probably wont like anyone else so he makes a good guardian that way. And from our short talk I can tell that he wont even touch your hand on his own. Arata, you are too easy to see through. -at least I dont have to explain it to you. -dont be so easy going about it. And tell him that I wont handle you that easily. -yes, yes. -although my plan to fight against any boy that come nears you may not work out with him. -you had a plan like that? Sometimes Lia didnt know if her father was joking or not. -yes, for what do you think I still train? Still after I looked up information about him it may not be that good of idea. -what, you started to stalk him as well? -its my duty as a parent to know everything about your love interest. -its not! -dont worry I didnt do anything else apart from putting his name in google. At least yet. -you better not do anything else. -well there was a bit of extreme part when I track down his whereabouts based on a cell phone signal. -dad, its not even stalking anymore. Its illegal. -only if you get caught. -what example you are giving to your child? -its my duty to protect my child. -not like that! Sometimes Lia hoped that he was joking. -one way or another I found out few things about him. The first time I heard his last name, its somehow ring a bell in me as if I heard it somewhere before. I quickly check the internet and found out that his grandfather is this countrys hero. Thanks to his achievements at Olympics our country beat a record of golden medals gathered at single year. He also did many other things, but you probably know about them so I wont talk about them. But what I really admire is that after all those medals he didnt try to get for next Olympics in any category but instead started to teach others. Aaa Arata told me that his grandfather taught him how to fight but nothing apart from that. In a first place if they talked a little more about stuff like that, they would at least ask each other names. Her dad continued. -so you see with grandfather like that, I somewhat passed my plan with fighting. I need to come up with something else. -no you dont have to! But what else did you find out? If there was a chance she wouldnt pass on little information. -Lia, if you want your relationship to be strong, you shouldnt spy on him but simply ask him instead. -you are the last person who should say that. -also after reading about his grandfather achievements I also found information that somehow made me feel bad that I checked. I stopped right after it. You already know what I am talking about? -I do. -your mother would say that must have been a fate that brought you together. -and you? -I will definitely not believe in crap like that When he said that, his eyes become darker for a moment. But they lighted up second after. Lia didnt ask for it as she immediately knew what her father had on mind. Would fate sentence people to death? No, something like that cannot exist. There is no fate or miracles. There are only unavoidable accidents and decisions that one makes. Thats all was to it. Lia finished up everything. Just when she was about go upstairs her dad added. -dont tell me that you are going back to VRC now? -no I going to the bathroom to clean myself then I go to my room as I have something to look into. -well thats a relief. -I wont be playing for at least two days now. -really? Somehow I dont believe it but I will keep you at word. Everyone died anyway so its not like I need to hurry back. Also we finally reach the city so we should be given some slack now. Although there is no much of the city left. I wonder what happened to Arata. Given that he answered my phone and knowing him he probably logged out the second we left him alone. Wait, did he plan it out so he can log out? Well I will call him soon so I can ask then. She went up and entered the bathroom. Little after, she went out of bathroom and went into her room. She was already wearing night clothes although its still was quite some time before it got dark, especially as it was summer. Lia jumped on the bed pick up the phone from nearby desk and called number with a name legendary Arata. Maybe I should change it. She heard the Aratas voice few seconds later. -you are late Kotori. -sorry Arata, I somehow doze off in a bath. -good thing you didnt drown yourself. Anyway what you wanted to talk about so urgently? -hmm A devilish plan came to Lias head. -that shouldnt be your question now, should it? -you asked me to wait by the phone so you should have something really important right? I mean we were talking about pretty much everything past few days so what is it? Arata answered normally. Kotori was little disappointed. -eh you didnt catch it. I will give you a hint. -okay. -I just leave the bath. -so? Its normal we just played nonstop for two days so cleaning is right thing to do. This doesnt work as I planned. Arata is really green in this. -okay another clue. I said you should ask a question. The question should be about clothes. - Kotori, you. Arata finally understood. -Arata, ask the question! -I am really not into this play. -ask the question Arata! Lia would not give up now. -okay, okay if you really want mhm what are you wearing right now? -just a towel. Wonder what he will say to that. -ah, so you are wearing something that was close. -what were you thinking about? Arata, you are pervert! -you started it. I feel like I lost somehow. No I can still win. -but that towel is not enough to cover me completely as it is a small towel. It is also so still soaked so it reveals everything. - . -now that I think about it, its more of handkerchief rather than a towel. - . -hey Arata, what are you imagining right now? -nothing, its your fault anyway. -Arata you pervert! Win. -says the person who is wearing handkerchief. At least dry yourself so you dont catch a cold. -what are you talking about Arata? I am already in night clothes and under the blanked. Its you who let his imagination go wild. -Kotori, you. -it was a service from your girlfriend. -eh . Kotori didnt let him get away with just that. -you are dissatisfied? If you ask me nicely I can make your dreams come true. -no, no you dont need to do that! -Arata you prevent! Hmm but I still keep calling you Arata even though I know your real name. I think that at least when we are not in a game we should use real names. -does it bother you? I can call you Lia if you want it? -hmm, I think Kotori is cuter. -they sound both cutely to me. -Arata said my name is cute, yee, yee. -so which one should I use. -keep using Kotori and I will stick to Arata, I like it better anyway. -why does it sounds like insult to my name? -no, no. Arthur suits you, but the name Arata was in my heart for so long. Didnt I tell you, you were my first love? -you had a second one? -what, are you jealous? -no, just. -wrong answer, you should say yes. But dont worry my first love never extinguished and my dad wouldnt let me have a boyfriend anyway. -good job mr. Stafford. Still if we go on like this. We will keep using our nicknames until we get old. Well, if it comes to worst, we can always change our real name into Arata and Kotori. -that would be funny. But Arata! -what!? -why didnt you tell me that you talked with my dad? -is it really that important? Arata didnt see it as a big deal or rather he didnt want to talk about it. -of course its important! So what did you talk about it? -well even if I tell you woman wont understand mens talk. Arata said it with a different tone, similar to one that her dad used before. -you are both idiots. -hmm? -you and dad. He said the same thing. -wow, maybe he also watched that movie. -I wont even ask which one. -anyway we didnt really talk much. Just few minutes or so. -fine, have your secrets. I dont need to know everything. -I dont think that there is any secret to talk about. It just left my head as there were more important things going around. -and you probably wont tell me what were those important things. -it was you. -hmm? -the phone was before we started going out. Remember when I kept calling you there? Arata. -at that time your dad contacted me so I dont worry about you and I must say I was worry as hell at that time. Anyway now I told you so dont complain anymore. So they didnt mention it because it was at that time. -its really no secret at all. -see, thats what I have been telling you. And so this topic ended. -so Arata, what were you doing after we left you. Dont tell me you log out right away. -I didnt do that. -but when I called you, you pick up right away. -well I can give you a summary on what happened. Where to start, I guess from the beginning. Although I didnt planning it, logging out would be my course of actions. -I could tell you werent planning it. Its hard to puke on asking. So what happened? -just when I was about to log out, some guys from enemys guild came. Around 30 of them. Even though Gerald said that there should be small resistance and even if there was, they should be some newbies, the players that I encounter werent some newbies but rather their elite force. To have it even worse they were balanced party or rather I say raid. 30 people, tanks, healers, mages and archers everything. -dont tell me that you lost to them. Well considering their amount it might be a little hard even for you. -I didnt die, well at least not then. Let me finish. Because I saw army like that I didnt feel like fighting so I tried to avoid that. But then some idiot came and I had to fight them. Well at least he took the agro so I destroyed their range line and everything ended pretty well. It was true happy ending because even enemys party leader was happy about that outcome. Well I cant say the same for his teammates. -I wont even ask how that happened. I probably needed to see whole thing to understand it. -I will tell you the whole story another time but lets focus on main facts. After that, because I somehow owned that idiot a favor we started to run to the center of Triangle to catch up to you. -and who was that idiot you talking about? -remember the one that healed up Anari after we screw up the food. He was that idiot. Well I know what you might think but Levi is not that bad guy. He just happened to have bad first impression, that all. Did I forget about something? Right -can you tell me where is he now or rather tell Anari where will he be! -and what is this about? -I cant sell my friend. -its probably something stupid anyway. Still, I dont know where he is now. But I will tell you what happened to him as he shared my fate. Just listen to the story ending is near. -right so you two went to catch up to us. -you should have known that we never did catch up to you. The reason for that is, when we finally saw the clock tower which should indicate that we are finally getting close to the center Levi spotted an SOS signal in the sky. Something like Gerald help us. You will tell me about it in a second. So seeing this we started to run as we thought something bad happen but then about minute later the world turned black and were vaporized. Really in just one second there was nothing left of my body and I got message [you are dead]. Levi most likely died as well. He doesnt have level that is much higher than ours. -thats why you dont know where he is? Anari you have no luck. -thats your reaction to that! Tell me how it went on your end, you known the source of that darkness? -well . Lia quickly brief up how it went from her perspective. She started from their meeting with Arcon Shadenine and continued with a story to the moment she logged out. Arata just listened until the end without any remarks. Then when she finished he said. -that was really stupid of you. I dont even want to image how it is to die again and again. Even dying once from that spell was painful enough to me. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.-you know, for some time I thought that this damage was kept even after I log out. -Kotori you are alright!? Arata right away asked worried. -I am alright, dont worry. That was just mine stupid thinking. -still promise me that you will never use this spell in such way again! -I definitely dont plan to catch any death lasers with it, thats for sure. -but what were you thinking when you did that? -well there were thoughts like, I dont want to die. -its a game, dying is a part of it as well. -still if I can I should avoid it, right? You were always so easy going about it. You know the second reason was to not lose levels so I still can be on par with you. Eh, that was stupid because you died in the end. If I know that, I wouldnt even try. -well you did good job on surviving this. Now that I think about it Levi should be furious now. He had nothing to do with all this and he died and lost levels. -oh Levi should be furious. What about you? -me? -you are not furious about losing levels? -not really, and its not like I really lost any levels. -how come? Werent you vaporized in a second? -well, I didnt tell anyone because its somehow unfair, but I have a skill that prevents me from losing levels when I die. What?! -Arata that skill is unfair! Its breaking the balance of the game. -well thats why I didnt mention it. Dont go around telling it to everyone. -ahhh. Kotori sighted loudly. -what? -why is it that no matter what I do you always somehow win in the end? -dont say that. Surviving that skill even if you had to go through a lot was an impressive feat. I died without even knowing what killed me. -you died but as always you have a last word in it. Why do you have a skill like that?! No I dont even have to ask. How could I ever forget, you are legendary Arata after all, who always have an Ace in his sleeve. Who am I to compare. Hey Arata what do I lack? -you dont lack anything Kotori. -still even if you say that I am good player, how can I become excellent player like you? -you are excellent player. Even that guy was impressed by it to the point where he gave you something. He thought that something like that cant go without a reward. Kotori didnt listen to that. -you just dont want to reveal your secret. Fine, I will get there on my own. -you are always the same. I can say that you at least as good as me. -you only saying it. -I wont be able to convince you, I guess. Its hard to convince someone if you dont believe it yourself. Kotori somehow always felt that no matter what she did, she still couldnt win against Arata. Arata also didnt even try to continue convincing her, instead he asked. -so, can you tell me more about that guy? -even if you ask, I already told you everything. -once more. -fine. So, he introduced himself as Arcon Shadenine. It must be his name that he uses and not something he made up as Loki also called him Arcon. I dont know where his last name came from. Who even uses last name in games, maybe its some kind of title or something. Anyway he completely destroyed us along with most part of the city. I would say that he was untouchable seeing how he dodged all of ours attacks but when Loki came he managed to send him flying. -so he is no invincible. -well after two kicks like that one shouldnt be able to stand up but Loki was sure that he was still in one piece. Loki seems to known him as they talked as they walked with each other at least once. Kelly probably didnt know him in person but she at least heard of him giving her reaction. And as for him, he probably knew Gerald. Well, all that we need to do is to ask him later about it. -well, I already know Geralds answer. You will know when the time is right. -I dont know why he would hide it. But if you say so, I will check the internet later and look for info him. After all, EOA is a popular game and if he is some good player there should be at least some information about him. -well I dont really care about him that much. He has nothing to do with us. -still checking it out wont hurt. -anyway do you still have anything important to talk about? Arata cut the talk. -not really. You have something to do? -well yea, you also should have. Things pile up if you play for two days straight. -sure I do but as you know I just leave the bath. -okay I am hanging out. Arata once again misunderstood. He probably thought that Lia will play a trick on him again. -no I meant I need to dry my hair first at least. Also I think I will go sleep very soon. -then good dreams Kotori. -yea, bye. Lia get out from the bed and sat on the chair before the desk. Then she turned on the computer. Few years back, I used to play on it all the time. When VR capsules were released people who used to play computer games switch to VR games. Computers were still popular enough but not as much as in the past. They are not personal game centers anymore but rather serve a function that they were designed to serve. Of course people still could play games on it and games for it still were coming out. It was also not like normal VR games could replace all computer games but EOA was way better than anything else that came out and to this day no game could hold a candle to it. Although there was still the fact that some people simply preferred different kind of games. Lia entered the website called EOAwiki. It was a website that she mostly used to search any information on the game. Of course she wasnt using it before starting the game but she spent a deal of time there after leaving beginners city. Still there was a problem with EOAs websites when compared to other games. Information found on internet was provided by players themselves. Company which created the game didnt have idea as to what is in there. Also looking for the information wasnt that easy. For example you want to find yourself a quest. Sure you can find some information about it on internet but when you log back to the game, this quest would be probably already taken. Well you could find informations about the jobs but it wasnt really necessary to check internet for it as they were easy to find in the first place. Still in those entire informations one could see simple rule. The higher the level the less information you can find. Also information wasnt always real as people sometimes provided false information to mislead people. In the end finding something that would be useful for you was hard. On the other hand though if you look for something specific like locations of the city which is known for years would be easier. As for Lia, she was going to look up specific player. Its not like one could find information about every player but given that it was someone with the power to destroy half a city in matter of seconds there should be something. Lia typed. Arcon Shadenine click. AAA, what is this? Lia expected to find some information but the number of it was way too much. With high hopes, Lia checked the first one. It was discussion about who is the strongest player in EOA. Although name Arcon Shadenine was one of players in that discussion Lia quickly closed it off as most of it was rather speculations and quarrels, rather than anything specific. After checking the second one and another it was the same. No one told any details, many people also wrote down that Arcon Shade nine doesnt even exist. There was nothing like players database so there was no way of knowing for sure other than meeting someone. Then even if you meet someone that person could give you a false name. After looking through numerous of comments and blogs, few things started to pop up few times often. First one was that Arcon Shadenine doesnt exist, in those saying there was also addition just like player who passed 300 level barrier. Other one was that if he exists he at least doesnt belong to any good guild and he doesnt do anything that would involve large numbers of players or anything that would be known to the public. Then there was information that appeared quite often. Its said that should he exist, he probably belonged to some great team that was once group of strongest players in the game. Miracle team as people called them was the only confirmed thing that Lia found. Miracle team was a legend of EOA and in comparison to legend of player who passed 300 level barrier, there were many proofs that stated its existence. Lia gave up on Arcon and switched to search information about that team. There were few websites dedicated only to this team. What gave them such fame was that they were the first one to find and go through 200 level barrier. Since the beginning they were the ones with highest level, the ones that always went into unknown. They always were the first to explore new lands. Even now it was confirmed that two leaders of two best guilds on 200-299 level were part of that group. There were no information about specific number of players in that team but there were few other famous names in it. Even if that team was no more everyone still respected their players for what they did in the past and also for what they were doing right now. In mists of those informations, Lia found a screenshot or rather VRshot. Photo was confirmed as real it showed ten players from miracle team. It was confirmed because in the middle stood the leader of one of the strongest guild. That person name was Wolfstark and name the guild he led right now was WhiteSuns. I must tell Arata! Lia instantly recognized him as the name of guild leader and the guild was the same. The guild that she once admired. Strongest guild from the game that she once played. Aratas guild. She was excited about it. She knew that players from that guild transferred to EOA the moment it came out, but it was unbelievable that they were still the same. They still were fighting for position of number one. VR games were different after all. It was not keyboard and mouse but real bodies. Still if they play long enough, they could be good in VR as well. Not only that. They were already in sync and had strong guilds bonds, they would be at advantage. Trust is important thing after all. Should I really tell Arata about this? Lias heart began waver. Arata would be probably happy that people that he once played with are still doing okay but what would happen if he was more than just happy. What if he decided to quit their guild right away and join his old friends? Which bond would be more important to him? Still even if I dont tell him, he will find out eventually. Aaaa what to do??? After struggling for five minutes. Lia eventually gave up. Worrying about what will happen was also not something that she would usually do. Especially if she could find out, right away. -Arata, Arata, dont leave us! Dont leave me! After she got a signal she quickly said what was on her mind. Although she skipped it right to her opinion on the matter rather than explaining anything. -okay. Arata just answered like nothing. -what is that answer? You should put some spirit into it! Its not convincing! -well I still dont know what it is about. Especially if you just jump at me with words like that the moment I pick up the phone, but sure I see no problem with it. -you accept it just like that? -its something you want right? I see no problem with doing something my girlfriend wants me to do. Although you could explain what it is about so I can understand what I should do. -oh, I still didnt explain properly. -you didnt even start explaining. Kotori calmed herself down. -then listen. You see, I found information that there exists a guild called WhiteSuns in EOA. -ah, all good memories are coming to me right away After Arata said that, Kotori wasnt calm anymore. Then he asked. -still are you sure that its them? -their leader is called Wolfstark and he plays dwarf tank. They are also one of two strongest guilds in game. -then thats probably real one. I must say he has a talent for leadership and he is the best player I ever known. -I thought the same as well. -anyway you were thinking that I would leave Refrain and go apply to them right? That I treat our guild as some leveling guild. -well, something like that. -first of all, I need clarification about something. Why did you say dont leave me? -well. -you are always talking about your great self-confidence but when things come to play you are always unsure. Looks like I wasnt clear last time, I need to think about something else. -no, you were definitely clear! You dont need to repeat that! Definitely not! -haha. -what? -no its just. You were playing with me just an hour ago but if it really comes to something, you show your true colors. -what true colors!? -your pure white color. -mhm . -no its great you are like that, I really love it about you. -you say I should be shyer when talking? -be yourself thats the best. You personality disorder is the best. -what personality disorder!? -haha. Arata had a good laugh about her. Looks like, he wanted to pay her back. -I will get angry. -oh, you never got angry at me before. I look forward to it. -you only say it because you know I cant get angry at you. -so you have you confidence back? -I never lost it. -anyway with your request as long as you want I definitely not leave you. On the opposite I might have problem leaving you even if you tell me to. -I will never tell you that! -then we will get old together and laugh at the whole situation in the future. -you really plan to go out that long? -you dont? -I do, I do! -I might seem carefree to you but I really serious about whatever I do. -okay, but lets not talk about it now. Its really scary to look that far into the future. Then what about the guild? -it goes the same. If you ask me to do something I will do it. -well I dont want to prevent you from doing what you want. -it looks like its you who got the wrong idea. Sure it would be nice to play again with them we have a long story together. When I was starting to play EOA I was wondering if they still play as well. -then? -even if I say that, you forgotten about something important. Its been about five years since I last heard from them. And its only for me. Lately I started to wonder how does time flow for those who play EOA. Do they count it normally or go with 5x. For them it would be definitely more than five years. Most of them probably, forgotten about me completely. -some should remember. -if that were the case I would be glad. Still there is also another aspect to this new WhiteSuns. Wolf may be their leader and I would definitely want to play with him again but other members of this guild may not. How many of them would be from old team? Even if name is the same as times go, people change. Its been so long after all. -well guilds mostly doesnt last that long. -not only that, you might have not notice it yet but EOA is not very guild friendly game. -why not? -world is big, people scatter and there is no guild chat. -they can always talk on Skype, TeamSpeak or something like that. -its not like they can do it while playing EOA. Usings forums also has its limits. Finding each other is hard, if two people take different races it can take years before they meet up. I mean, the only person from other race than humans that we saw so far is Kelly. -well you are right. Also they are saying here that WhiteSuns were established with people who passed level 200. It didnt exist until the second year of the game release. -from where I see it, its probably just Wolf using old name for his new guild, thats all. Well I can somehow tell that there are few people that I know in his guild as I know them too well but this is definitely not my guild anymore. -why did I even worry? Even though she said that, she had few bases to be worried about Arata leaving Refrain the moment he meets his old guildmates. -you probably already have an attachment to our guild, right? -that might be true. And how about you Arata do you have a little attachment to our guild as well? -its natural I do. I mean we meet thanks to it after all. -and apart from that? -well, there are many irritating people in it but I at least I owe Gerald a lot. I told you about it already. -you did hey Arata did you ever hear about miracle team? -I dont think its worth knowing, given they have name like that. How did they come out up with it? Its even worse than Geralds green smerfs. -people gave it to them, but you should find out about them. Its a group of people that were the highest level for most of the time throughout the course of game. -I think Levi mentioned to me something like that but I dont care about people that I dont know. I am not in any contest for strongest player or strongest guild. I am just playing to enjoy myself. -still you should care about them. You see, I have picture of them here and guess who is there. -you brought it up just now so its probably Wolf. If they had Wolf as tank and their leader its no wonder they were the best. -yep he is there. -but if he created new WhiteSuns, he is not in that team anymore. -he is not but that team. -you dont have to finish. That team split up. I wouldnt wonder if the reason for that was, Wolf wanted to play with his old friends and make a guild so without him the so called miracle team couldnt perform their miracles anymore. I wouldnt be surprised by it as well. -I dont know if it is right but its true that they dont exist. But about the photo, I can recognize other people as well. On the left side there is person who destroyed us today Arcon Shadenine and on the right side but more to the central is Gerald! -you didnt surprise me there either. Kotori was expecting different reaction. -so what do you think? -what can I think, that guy can tell people classes in second and has 299th level, of course he is one of the best players. With number of classes that there are in this game its great advantage. We also already saw what he is capable of. That Arcon guy might destroy half of the city but Gerald burn down the other half. -well you are right. -anyway you find out something about him but its still useless, thats why I dont bother looking for news like that. -its always something to talk about it. Also I found out something useful about Gerald. -useful? Like something I could use it against him. What is it? Arata got interested in this one. -well you would have to look at the photo yourself but he is holding a girl in arms like a princess. -so? -doesnt it make it he has a girlfriend. -I dont think so. He always says that he is eternal child. And for him to do something like that is normal, I guess. -eh you are right, but they both look so happy. Well even if he has his strange personality some girls my like it. Also he still has his look. Ah dont worry Arata I like yours better. -and here everyone are saying that my hair is strange. -well its is a little strange. -you said it. -but its cool. -just so I say, I dont have them like that in real. -so how do you have them? -well they are black without white part. -right, Arata you were going to send me a photo of yourself. Even if I look the same in game I send you mine already. -well I am look little different but check the mail I already sent it. After checking them mail Lia answered. -different? What is different? -dont you see, the nose, or ears. I look better in real. -nah its the same. If someone wanted to create game find differences with you and your game character they could only have one difference which is your hair. -I always thought that there is more difference. Well not like I have a mirror and the only time I really check my face was at the beginning. -they really have bad character creation in EOA. Because I was afraid of what might happen I ended up choosing just like in real. -there is no character creation in the first place. Ah right that girl with Gerald. Does she have blond hair? It looked like Arata didnt just ask out of curiosity. -no they are white long and straight. Why do you ask? -nah something that Loki told me interested me, nothing much. Anyway stop searching for something to gossip about. -does it look like I doing it? -yes it does. -but you also were interested you even asked questions. -I wouldnt say interested, anyway werent you going to sleep? You should rest after what happened today. -I better do, I still dont feel the best, bye Arata. -bye. Lia stopped to look through internet. In the end she didnt learn anything useful. Legends of some miracle team, what use it had if they didnt exist anymore. Wolfstark and Whitesuns, she would hear of it eventually and its a different guild and different game. Gerald being a good player she knew for a long time. Arata was right about looking through the net as a waste of time. The only thing she really found out was that Arcon Shadenine was someone who didnt look for fame. Even though he was in the same team as all those other players, people didnt believe that he exists. When others from miracle team stood in spotlights. He was the one who stayed in the shadow. http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3309 Chapter 19 “Queen of Blades. Part two” _19.1 Chapter 19 Queen of Blades. Part two Karma city is the largest city in the western provinces. At the same time its most remote city in the west, in the known world. Farther to the west, there is still an unexplored land. Well, it was explored in a way but so far, no one managed to find another city there that could serve as a players base. There was no city in which players could resurrect in so any progress that they could make in the exploration would immediately vanish should they die. There were many expeditions that went to the west but they usually were either wiped out or returned without any findings. The main problem was naturally the lack of resurrection spot but it was not only that. The areas in the west were extremely hard to deal with and required a lot of skill from players there. Even expeditions that only had people that passed 200 level barrier meet the same fate as all others. Sure they went farther than most but in the end they were still wiped out. The other problem was that western province wasnt really popular with players. There was just nothing that impressive about it. Of course Karma city as largest city in the area had a lot of people within but compared to other cities or so called Capital, their number was rather small. People that decided to come here from other regions were rare. Most of players that were playing in western areas were those that were sent here and still did not leave. If someone wanted, he could stay in Karma up to 200 level but traveling was one of biggest features of EOA so most people decided to leave at some point. But there was one good thing about Karma. Big cities always offered a lot of merits and if competition was lower than in other cities, one could find something really interesting here. For example Rin who was now entering through southern gate of Karma. She found here few high rank quests from which she got incredible rewards. To find even one quest with high rank was impressive feat. So far Rin found three of them. Well two to be exact, the third was still a prequest. But she wouldnt be able to get third quest if she didnt complete quest of rank 6. That could only mean that next quest would be about the same or even higher difficulty. It wasnt a chain quest but if she thought about it, she wouldnt be able to get this new prequest without doing the previous one. Rin didnt know which rank new quest will have. Rank of quests didnt have anything to do with level of the player. It didnt mean that if you have low level you get low rank quest and if you have higher level you get quest of higher rank. Rin completed chain quest of rank 6 on her own which was her greatest achievement in game so far. Although it took her a year of ingame time and main reason she completed it was also due to incredible luck. Still that quest gave her an incredible reward, which was ability called unlimited blade. Even from her perspective this ability was completely unbalanced, to the point where she rarely used it in its full power. Still, even with that ability she still couldnt manage to finish one stupid prequest that she was trying to complete right now. At some point she even gave up at trying to complete it but she couldnt just pass it by like nothing. If she took all the time that she spend on those three quest so far and instead of doing them leveled up she would probably long ago pass 200th level if not higher but she decided that there was no reason for her to do level up as doing quests is much more rewarding. Many players would also add much more enjoyable that would definitely not be the case for Rin. [You have leveled up by 4%] [You have gained a level current level 125] Rin just finished one of jobs that she was using to level up. It was a job that required one to bring twenty pieces of iron. She wouldnt be normally able to gather them without mining skill but Rin found a place where iron ore dropped from monsters. -good job as always, here is yours 12 gold. The dwarf answered after receiving the iron. Even though he was from race of dwarfs he was 154 cm in height which made Rin just a little higher than him. Dwarfs were common in Karma, about 1/3 of its population were from that race, after all. At the same time, the ruler of this city was also of that race. Still Karma wasnt something you would call dwarven city for sure. It was rather a mix of dwarfs and humans with some elves appearing here and there but in much smaller numbers. Elves were more popular in other parts of the world. -thanks, I will bring more next time. Answered Rin and walked away. Even if she didnt involve herself with players that much, NPCs were a different thing. She needed to get quests after all. Thats why in cities she wasnt walking around in her usual brown cloak with red mark of blood at the back. Instead she was walking in plain clothes that she bought in the shop. Those plain clothes were still the same that she would use while wearing cloak but without the cloak no one would recognize her. It was her friend that advised her on that. What would be best disguise? Rin once asked her. To that her friend Yume answered. If you stop hiding like you usually do, no one will recognize you. It was truth that no one would have thought that famous Queen of blades would look like her, a weirdo with red hairs so long as to touch her thighs. Well that still got her get a weird look from time to time but Rin didnt have problem with that. As long as no one bothered her it didnt matter. Rin put in a great effort no to kill anyone inside city as it would lower her recognition with NPCs and that would result for example in dropping the reward from jobs like gathering iron. Even if gold was of lower importance to her right now as she needed experience to level up so she can challenge her prequest again, having a lot of gold still didnt hurt. Right now she had 2314 gold coins which would actually make her one of most wealthy person in this city. She didnt have anything she wanted to buy right now so the gold simply stockpiled over time. Even though her clothes were plain they had a good stats same with all other items. She also had a lot of weapons as her skill unlimited blade required her have one of each type. All of those weapons were of high caliber. They all were made from red iron a really rare material. She had to farm it for three months to get enough for all weapons she wanted. Right now Rin had 125 level. After failing fifteenth try in the tomb she lost 13 levels. With ten days of wait and additional week of play she managed to regain 6 of them. With one more week she would be able to close the gap back to 130 and then try sixteenth time at her prequest. She was originally planning to level up until she gets there but she received important a message and she had to get back to Karma. The message was from the questgiver that gave her the prequest. He was also the only person that would manage to send her the message in such way. The way was a sudden voice appearing out nowhere inside her head. The questgiver was a Wizard so she could understand that he knew how to do that. The message stated that he wants to know her progress on the prequest. The Wizard was gone for about four month now so Rin also wanted to speak to him. The Wizard himself was a particular human being. He was a little odd if one wanted to speak about him nicely. Still, for Rin he was precious questgiver so she tried to be on his good side although there already were more than 10 times that she wanted to kill him. Rin found her way through Karma. She was now walking through dwarven district. There were many ways that she could use but somehow she always preferred this route. That might be because dwarven district had fewer users than other one. In the first place the only people who were coming here had some interest in it, be it a job or visiting a forge. In compression elven district were filled with flowers and caf shops. It was a place where people gather. For example if Rin were to look for her friend Yume she would definitely start there. Karma was big enough to fill everyone but elven district was small compared to other two and it was always crowed. In Karma there was were more elven players than elven NPCs, which also formed a statement for Rin which was avoid elves at all cost as there is nothing to gain from them. At the same time thanks to this attitude, dwarven NPCs suddenly started to like her. The place that she was going to was a tower located at the edges of human district and dwarven district. There was a single entrance to this tower. Should normal player decided to open the door. He would simply find the stairs that lead upward. After climbing them one could find another shut door at top of the stairs. Of course some tried to open the door and with few tries people pick look ability managed to do that, still they didnt find anything of value inside. Inside was rather empty. There was only a round table and few chairs around it in the middle. Still, it was questgiver hideout, in a way. Although he didnt live inside the tower like normal Wizard should. Rin opened the door to the tower and entered. She could see the stairs that leaded upward. She closed the door behind her. Now how was it? First three knocks. puk, puk, puk She knocked the door that she just closed, three times. Then two left, two right, one left. After knocking the closed doors, she started to walk up the stairs. She was walking in an unusual fashion which was two double steps by left leg and right leg then one step by left leg. Then she had to stop for five second and continue same thing again till she climbed to the top. After that five knocks. After reaching the top, Rin knocked the doors five times then opened it. What she could see inside was the empty space with table and chairs in the middle that any other player would see. Now where was it? Rin run to the right side of the empty room and started to touch the wall around there with her hands. She was moving them around the high of her belly. She soon found a loosen brick. She took it out. After that she moved to the left side of room looking form the door. On her way she picked up one of the chairs that stood next to the table. This one part was something that she dearly hated. Rin put down the chair next to the wall and stood on it. The reason for that was simple. She wouldnt be able to reach if she tried to do it without a chair. At least no one see me like that. She tried to do this without the chair but it was simply impossible with her height. She also tried to do it with jumping but removing brick from a wall was something that she needed stable ground for. While looking for previous brick it took her some time here she immediately found it. Even if it was only her fourth time doing it, she already had many bad memories with this place which wouldnt just leave here. Why did he have to put it right here? With use of the chair she managed to remove second brick and replace it with first one. After that she put the chair back to the table. Then she moved to wall on the opposite end to the doors. There she started to look for the last brick which were located at bottom, nearly at the floor. She once again removed it and put in the second brick to that place. Then she moved back to the position from where she took first brick and put the third one there. Nearly done. Rin get back to the middle and went under the table. She left one copper coin right underneath the table. Being small is sometimes useful. -haha Lets just say that it wasnt a laugh from heart. It was somewhat empty. Now the last thing. She left the empty room and walked down the stairs. She reached the door and knocked it ten times. After doing all necessary things that Wizard told her to do, she opened the door. After opening it she could see the familiar streets of Karma, nothing changed. There were few people but they paid her no mind. Rin left the tower and went around its walls to the back. She needed to get through some bushes. After getting at back of the tower she found a small handle for a torch. The torch was lying on the ground just under it. She picked it up and put it on the right place, afterwards she pulled the torch downside. Bricks where torch was disappeared revealing a hidden entrance. Why does he care about security that much? Pulling the torch should be enough. She once asked the Wizard that question but he said that ritual is a must. If she didnt follow it she would be shock by magic trap and die. Thats what he said at least. Rin didnt want to die for a stupid reason as to find out if its true or not so she followed his instruction. The hidden entrance revealed another set of stairs but this time they were going down to the underground. Rin walk down by them. After going down the stairs, she found herself inside Wizards hideout. What funny thing was that the place itself was something that would come to your mind when thinking Wizards Laboratory. The first room was oval in its shape but the celling was quite high. The walls around were filled with bookshelves on which many books resided. Some of them were not touched for years as the spider web was covering them. Then from this room one could go to many other rooms as there were five doors around it that leaded to different parts of the hideout. Right now one of those doors was open and through it one could see that inside there was many alchemist equipment. Every room served a different purpose but right now other doors were closed. After entering through the hidden passage one would find himself in that room, in which Wizard spend most of his time. Even now he was sitting on his rocking chair and read some book near the fireplace. As for Wizards appearance, he looked as wizardly as possible. He had long pointed hat, he was wearing blue robe and of course he had a long white beard. One couldnt really mistake him for anyone else although there werent that many people that managed to meet him. -hello. Rin said after entering. She always had a small problem while talking with that man. He didnt reveal his name for whatever reason. He himself said that he forgotten it. Rin told him to create some fake name so it is easier to talk with him but to that he answered that he wont bother which such trivial things. -ah you are here, good, good. Once again this annoying catchphrase. -so, what do you want? Rin went straight to the matter. -hmm what did I want? Sorry I forgotten already, you took too long. In the first place who are you again? Why is it always like that? Some might think that old Wizard had memory problems. Rin also thought that once. But she wouldnt get into his game anymore. Ten ruby colored weapons appeared around her. Each of them was pointed in Wizards direction. -ah Rin! How long has it been child? The thing that Wizard always called her a child was another thing that angered her, although for person in his age everyone was a child of some sort to him, so she didnt attack him for that. Weapons disappeared with the sound of broken glass and in few seconds there was nothing left of them. -if you remember, then say so. In the first place I am probably the only person that would come here. -that might be true, but it is always better to ask. -please dont play good old grandpa again. So what do you want? -I see that you didnt change. I already told you what I wanted, how is your progress with the quest? The Wizard went straight to the point. -well there was some progress. -oh, tell me about it. -I can survive longer than before, thats for sure. So, soon I will definitely finish it. -then its the same as always. No progress at all. -dont say that! Rin interrupted him although what Rin did over few last month wasnt that big of a progress. -so, I have question for you. Why do you always try to do it alone? -if I could share this quest it would be easier. -I wont let you do that, you might not understand it but you must complete this quest. -I could always just ditch it you know. Wizard was not bothered by this comment and answered. -you would give up long time ago if you really wanted to do it. He got me there. -what does it change for you should I will complete it or not? -for now, its not a matter of completing it but rather getting it. Remember what I told you. The tomb itself has little to do with all that will happen afterwards. Its just a first small step. -so why do I even bother with it? -because if you cant manage with this small step, there is simply no reason to even bother with what follows afterwards. -you say that and yet at the same time you tell me to win by increasing numbers. How would I get better by doing that? -being able to cooperate with others is also an important thing. Still even if you dont cooperate I already saw all of your futile attempts at completing my challenge. From what I saw you have more than enough power to complete it. Well, at least the prequest. Even I dont know what will happen later but know that the reward at the end is something that you always desired and are destined to get. -what I always desired? You think you have a thing like that. In the first place if I had to answer that question I couldnt even answer right away. And the thing that I want The thing that I want cant be granted no matter what. -never mind. So what will I get? -it wont be me who will give you reward. The quest itself will lead you to all rewards at the end. There is more than for one person but you must be the one that take the main prize or rather the quest itself is for you to reach that reward. -of course if I am doing it I will take the grand prize but if there are multiple rewards why cant you let me share it? If I could share the quest finding good group would be easy. -then, if you could share quest would you go out now and look for people? Wizard right away hit with hard question to which Rin couldnt say yes. -well, I could give it to one person I know at least. So can I share it now? -that wont be possible. Quests given by me can be only available to people that I chose as worthy and no one else. I also must know that they are ready for the job and have good intention. But anyway! In the first place you dont even have that quest yet so you cant share it even if you got my promotion. The prequest you have is my challenge to test your ability. -you just said that I am powerful enough for it so for what do you still need some stupid tests? -I was talking only about fighting abilities, but its not the only thing that you need in this journey. In the first place you failed fifteen times already. If you go with performance like that on the main part you will never complete it. Now tell me once again, what was your mission again? -get you the crown of Edward Third the Great. -ehhh maybe you will change somehow in the future. Wizard was disappointed in her answer. -hey what does that mean!? -I would want to tell you but I cant, without great effort there is no great reward He could at least tell me something. In the end, I stand where I stood. -although, I did said that you really need to complete this quest. The faster you get it the better. Ah, what to do, what to do? -well, maybe give me another quest that would help me in this one. -dont think I am that generous but I was also always interested in that place where you would go eventually and prequest was already given. You also need that reward so. Wizard had a hard time as he fought against his principles. Rin was more interested in that reward which he spoke about so often. -by the way what is the reward? She asked once again thinking that before he was trying to avoid the answer. -I dont know what it is. All I know is that you need it. I also dont know where this thought came from. You remember why I gave you this quest. -because I helped you when monsters attacked you in western region, and there were a lot of them. That was the reason why she thought that previous quest was connected to this one. During her journey she met this Wizard in the middle of nowhere. He was attacked by horde of monsters. She decided to help him and he told her to meet him later in his hideout which was this place. Still, the only reason that she met him was because her previous quest told her to go there. -there is that but why was I even there? I always wondered. Wizard could not remember why or how did he get there. -you have a memory problem thats all. In the first place you are NPC, you were programed so there is little you can do about things like that. No matter if you like it or not. -still, my thought at the time were that I must lead you to this quest no matter what. I even had to create new laboratory in this city just for this reason. -so what about that help in quest you just talk about? While Wizard was disoriented she asked. -you wont deceive me, I didnt promise any help. -eh, you seen through it. -haha I have been training to not get swindled again. -so you got swindled before? -well it is my disgrace as questgiver. It was a story that happened little more than a month ago Ah here he starts again, him and his stories. Didnt I tell him that after hearing the one about him defeating the dragon or demon lords I had enough of his fairy tales? -it was in the city that is far far away from here. There is no known way to get there on foot. Still, with my power one day I created a portal to go to that place. Naturally its only because I am that powerful it was possible His stories are always the same. I am so great and powerful blablabla. -in that city I found a person with great magical potential. A girl she reminded me of you little even if you look completely different. She had blue hair and refreshing face. -I dont need visual aspects. Just skip to the point. Wizard ignored that comment and continued like nothing. -so I took the girl for studding. My expectations were correct and she turned out to have an outstanding talent for magician. She did anything I asked her. When I was sure of her abilities, I gave her few challenges that she had to complete. But I might have made them a little too hard especially the last one, especially given the fact that there was little time left. She wasnt going to make it Ah, at least I dont have quest with time limit. -and then it happened. I got swindled. And it was all because of my good heart No, no, if you had a good heart in the first place you would have told me how to solve my quest. That girl wouldnt have problem with her tasks either. -back to the story, I decided to help her but I cannot do anything directly my codex forbids it. There were two problems ahead of her. First one was finding the place that she should find. I gave her really easy puzzle but she couldnt solve it. It turned out that she wasnt really good with puzzles even thought she said differently. But there was also second problem which was even more pressing. -what was that? -you see even if that girl had a potential she wouldnt be able to use it in fight as she still didnt know any attacking spells and it seemed that something dangerous would attack her. Thats why I found help for her. -if you can look for help yourself, find some help for me. -that thing and this thing are two different things. -how are they different? -your quest is definitely possible as you stand now. All you need to do is move your head. But I tried to think of any fighting method, I used every mean necessary. Healing potions, mana potions, stat potions. I bought all bonuses I could and it still didnt work. I even used that stupid outfit, dammit! What Rin was always wearing, plain grey-dark clothes werent her best equipment. She had one class item that she got from her first quest but wearing it was not something that she could stand given the way that item looked like. -I am trying okay anyway what is the moral of the story? Rin somehow became interested in a story. For the first time it wasnt Wizard telling something unbelievable about himself but rather something that could happen. -moral is always be careful when you talk with people who carries two swords at their right side. What does it have to do with anything? Well I do carry like that, after all, from all styles of Master this is the most effective one for this world and my class also turned out like it did. -I dont buy it. You just come up with it on the spot. Still Rin was not convinced by Wizards explanation as indeed it looked like something that was made up only because Wizard was talking with her. -in that case listen. As I said, I wanted to help my apprentice with both of her problems. As for the riddle I just had to give her the answer and as for the second part, lucky I found a fighting professional that appear in that city. You must understand that that city was definitely lacking in that regard. People really had no idea as how to fight. -they are lacking in that regard everywhere and your fighting professional was probably the same. -you think so? I wouldnt invite just anyone. The fight wasnt going to be a walk in a park. Well it did happen in the park but it was not something that many would manage. It is true that I didnt have many to choose from and actually he was the only one that could manage that fight but he was definitely good. I wonder if you would manage against him. -hoho you must definitely introduce him to me. -its rare for you to show interest in someone. -rather than interest, I would like to beat that guy down as hard as possible so he wont get ahead of himself too much. -would you now? Ah its irritating and we are wasting time anyway. -you probably overstating him, thats all. Anyway what happen next? Rin really got into the story. -well, he helped my student and everything ended well. -so where is the problem? When were you swindled? -I didnt realize how grave it was before everything ended. In the meets of events I somehow gave him some gold which as quest giver I shouldnt have done. -why did you do that? -simply put it, he swindled me out of it. He asked to pay up first for the job and double price at that. There was little time and I was worried that he will simply walk away too, so I had to quickly say yes. It looked like Wizard also had a hard time from time to time. -everyone makes mistakes, dont let it get you. -I somehow avert the crisis so it wasnt that bad. -how so? You already gave him gold, although you shouldnt have. Well you can give gold to whomever you want in the first place so it wasnt like you did anything wrong. -I am that generous I told you already. -so what did you do to balance things out? -to avert the crisis I ran away without giving him reward which I promised, perfect right? Wizard shared with her his evil plan but after hearing it. -okay, I am done doing business with you. If you just run away when I complete the quest, I dont care anymore. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.-well that was a little too selfish of me but serve him right. Also you dont know what the part of that reward was. It was written in small notes. If it was only the item I wouldnt have mind but anyway, lets just leave this talk. So in the end, I cant be too good while handling out the quests thats the moral of the story. At least it wasnt as self-reflecting as previous ones. Still -so you are saying that you should be fair and square to everyone right? -that is exactly what I said. -so how is it fair that you help someone and even find them some fighting professional while you cant even give me a small hint. -this and that are two completely different things. Wizard answered but his voice wasnt as sure as previous time. -how is it different? Same situation, small fragile girl is in need of help with her quest. -you are definitely not fragile. Fragile girls dont destroy hordes of monsters on daily basis. And it was before you got that flying things. Of course I am not fragile, you idiot!. . mmm Still after thinking like that, Rin located the mirror and saw her reflection in it. look doesnt have anything to do with being fragile! Anyway I need to get something. -its still a little too hard for me. I need some assistance! Just a little would do, I dont need you to look for help. What do you say? Maybe you could give me one of your puzzles that you like so much. Rin knew that Wizard had a little soft side for his puzzles and wanted people to solve them even if they were creepy and sometimes didnt resemble puzzles at all. Wizard answer was however different from what Rin wanted to hear. -ah, its good thing that I learn my lesson, always be careful when speaking with the person who carries two swords at side. Eh it didnt work. Its entire that guy fault. When she was cursing in mind someone she didnt know, Wizard out of sudden changed his mind. -still, I will give you a chance to prove yourself. I already gave you challenge that test all of your abilities but now that I think about it, its your abilities and experience that might blind you from finding the solution. I decided that I will give you something that will test only your mental ability. When you solve it the message will also help you solve your quest. No, no, I already know that crown is in that tomb, I spoke with this ghost and seen it many times on his head. And get met that crown isnt very complicated quest to begin with. Where does it test my mental ability, I dont know. Still if he says that it will help, I will take anything I can. Thats what I wanted after all. -so what is it? -as you asked I will give you a puzzle. You need to solve. Even though a minute earlier Wizard said that he wont get swindled, in the end he changed his mind as his puzzles were more important to him. In the end even though Wizard said that he had some kind of codex, in the end he was a selfish being and he always did whatever he wanted. -great, so where is it? -well not so fast, I need to prepare it first. It will be something that needs to send you a clear message so I dont have much of the choice. I guess I will use one of the classical patterns, while making it If its not his own creation then it should be solvable. Then if something goes wrong, I can always ask Mary for help. -even though I said that. Only first part will follow the pattern and the second one will be completely cut off. To balance it, I will have to create the hardest possible part one. Ah, I am already fired up. I am beginning to wonder if it was really good idea to ask him for a puzzle. Still it was probably the only way. -it should take me about five hours to make it. I need to think up the words and the drawings will also take some time. The best thing you can do is disappear for now and come back later. -but I am not in hurry and I dont want to repeat that ritual so I will stay here. -ritual? What ritual? Somehow, Wizard didnt know what she meant. Rin explained. -you know knocking and switching the bricks. -ah that one. Yes, it is very important. Do it, every time you are coming here. Ah I missed it today, good thing that I always record it Wizards words were somewhat strange but Rin just ignored them. -anyway I didnt mean you have to leave this laboratory but rather disappear and appear later, you know what I am talking about. The power of quest receives which is not bestowed on quest givers like me. It looks like Wizard was talking about logging out. Even if he was NPC he had a way to explain this phantom. If I could do that, I wouldnt be here. Rins situation was somewhat more complicated than of other people around her. People that Wizard just called quest receives that were usually called adventurers. Still, that situation was the main reason, why Rin didnt involve herself with others. With no other options Rin had to stay in Wizards hideout. -no, I will just kill some time here. Do you have some interesting books? -well they are all interesting to me, choose what you want. If you are staying then I will change my plans and start working on puzzle as fast as possible. Firstly however I need to check my recording mirror as I could use some laugh, I mean I need to check something first. Well it wont take more than 20 minutes. Wizard left his seat and ventured into one of the rooms. Rin didnt know what that recording mirror was and she didnt pray. Its probably something stupid anyway. It was true that it was something stupid and sometimes, it was just better not to know what other people were doing. She started to look through the books that Wizard owned. First she looked at the one that he was just reading. The title was How to recognize swindlers. Because it looked less than uninteresting, she searched for something else. There was a lot to choose from. Bookshelves and books on it were the only decoration that Wizard probably knew. Most of books were magic oriented just as one would expect from a Wizard. There were many different genres but most of them involved something called either, basic, primitive or classic magic. It looked like Wizard had a great interest in this subject. For someone with magic oriented profession an opportunity to study those books would be priceless but on the other hand for someone like, Rin with little interest in it, those books were completely useless. In the end Rin found a bookshelf with historical books on it. She quickly chose one of them because it was somehow connected to her. The book name was Edward Third the Great. Rin always liked to read books and it was her long last hobby and one of few things that did not change in her. The books in this world had little difference than the real books, and actually those books could be read only here as they did not exist in real world. The Wizard managed to finish making the puzzle after about four hours which was slightly faster than what he said at first. He really did take into consideration that someone was waiting for that riddle in the same room as him. Rin received an envelope from the Wizard and was told to leave the laboratory before she look into it. Personally, she would prefer to stay there as the place was quiet and had comfortable seats but she knew that Wizard didnt like to have guests and preferred quiet environment and solitude. Its not that he hated people but just had low level tolerances for them. He even once told her that he really liked people but he also added that only for short periods of time. After about five to ten minutes of talk he had enough. Upon leaving, Wizard also mentioned that as long as she doesnt complete the prequest, she shouldnt come back to this place. There was no reason for Rin to argue about it and she definitely didnt want to complete opening ritual again. Previously she already decided to never come here again as long as prequest remains uncompleted but she had to come as Wizard specifically called her for it. Well it was a good thing I came, I got this after all. She though while looking at envelope. Still I dont think any advice can help me there much. The fight in the Tomb was rather simple and monotonous. The kings ghost was summoning skeletons and Rin had to defeat them. She knew that there should be limited amount of them as long time ago some group managed to clear out all skeletons. Still they werent able pick up the crown though. Rin understood that the reason for that was probably because they didnt have prequest for it and crown is quest item which they couldnt pick up. She knew that quest items were pickable regardless of if someone has a quest or not but maybe some of them were not. In the end Rin believed that should she destroy all skeletons she should be able to get the crown somehow. Rin got out from the bushes and was now few meters away from the original entrance to the tower. She already looked inside the envelope. There were three pages inside. She didnt take them out though because she first needed to find a good place for it. Doing something while standing in the middle of the street would bring too much attention that she hated. She was also hungry as she didnt eat anything since yesterday. She woke up pretty early today as she still had some distance to make. She wanted to reach the city before the number of players increase. Thanks that plan she reached Karma before 7 am when player population was the lowest. Now however it was the midday and the time that player base was the highest and Rin didnt take it well. I never knew it will take that long. It cant be helped now. Rin once again make her way to dwarven district. She chose restaurant as her destination. On the way just as excepted, there were much more people than at morning. Still as long as no one recognized her it should be fine. For Rin, who was rather known by the name Queen of Blades wandering around the city was not that save. Only because not many people knew how she really looks like, it was not everyday problem but there still should be some people who remembered her. The title Queen of Blades that she hated so much was given to her more than few years ago. It was after her numerous victories in citys Arena. Fighting in arena was a great way to gather gold and because at that time she was in need of a lot of it she participated in every competition. At first she was treated as lucky newcomer who got unique skill even though at some point she didnt use it at all because there was no need for it. Rin could manage about 10 to 15 players with pure sword skills. She even proved it once when she participated in free for all arena battle where 15 competitors group up together to eliminate greatest treat. Since then people and even NPC commentators started introducing her in fight with title Queen of Blades or Queen of the Arena. There were two reasons for this nick name. One already mentioned great skills in fighting. Second was unapproachable attitude. Whenever someone came in contact with her, she would brush him away and if he was insistent she would simply kill him. Nowadays as she no longer participate in arenas, the second title die off and the only one left was Queen of Blades. A lot of time has already passed since then, so most of the players that seen her fights in arena are no longer here. They left the Karma and started looking for adventure elsewhere. The legend of Queen of Blades also changed. It was no longer skillful girl, with long red hair and two swords at her side. Nowadays, it was murderous ghost that hunts areas around Edward Third the Greats tomb. People liked to exaggerate things after all. The more time went the more crazy the story has become. For Rin it wasnt that bad of a story and she actually decided to play the role of that ghost. Mostly because it kept players from venturing into that place. If someone found out that one can get high rank quest from the tomb even if parties in the past found nothing, there would be some adventures that would come to try again their chances at the tomb. Still for some reasons, legend didnt always work that well. There were numerous of times where Rins friend Yume was kidnapped and the one to give ransom for it was always Rin. It wouldnt be strange if it happened once or twice but number of times that it happened was way enormous. Not only that even if people knew that legend of Queen of Blades was a false rumor and it was indeed player with some unique skill, why did they use the same tactic every time instead of just asking the question. Of course Rin would just tell them that quest is not repeatable because questgiver died. With this they would get information and she would have peace of mind but no, they had to do same stupid thing over and over again. On the other hand though, Rin didnt mind it that much. It was also a chance to meet her only friend in this world Yume, whom she called Mary. She could meet her anytime she wanted but finding her wouldnt be that easy. In worst case, she would have to spend few days waiting in elven caf shop which was something that she hated a lot. Yes there were a lot of things that she hated. Rin finally reached her destination. The restaurant had two floors. One was for normal customers and one was for friends of the shop. Getting access to second floor was easy but at the same time no many people tried to do it. Basically, all you needed to do was to become regular customer and for seven days in a row eat at least one meal a day there. Then after quick talk with the owner, you were granted an access. Still getting access to second floor meant nothing more than getting access to the second floor. The food there was the same. Tables, chairs also were same as well. There was really no difference. Still, for people like Rin who didnt wanted to be bothered, getting to the second floor had some merits. While on the first floor there always were about 10 to 20 people, second floor was usually empty or at best was filled with NPCs. So far the biggest number of players that she encountered at second floor apart from her was four at the time and it happened only once. -set third please, but change beer into double lemon tea. Rin ordered the meal the moment she reached second floor. -mha I will never understand you. Familiar to Rin dwarf took the order. It was a dwarven restaurant after all and as it should be, every dwarf would put beer in food set as a drink. It was worth to note that it was no some simple beer but rather dwarven ale. Rin once drink it with her friend Yume. She had no memory of what happened after the moment she took the liquid into her mouth. All she remembered was what happened after and that was her awakening in citys prison with stomach pain. Her friend was also there and somehow didnt want to explain what happened. Rin decided to avoid repeating that action again. In the first place Rin drank that ale only because Yume persuaded her to it. She was saying something along the lines if you say you are not the kid then prove it. Rin had no idea what drinking ale had to do with being grown up, rather drinking some strange liquid which taste bad was something that stupid kid would do. But it was true that 19 years old without drinking anything in life was rare and she was convinced by that fact. In real life Rin always had to watch out for her body so something like alcohol was naturally forbidden to her. Although watching the diet did not help her avoid what had come. Today the second floor was not completely empty, there was one person sitting there. He seemed to already finish his meal. Rin already saw him in this place many times. It looked like he either really enjoyed the meals that were served here or like Rin just preferred the atmosphere. He was one of regulars. Still there was definitely no reason for Rin to care about him. There was only one time that he spoke with her or rather just exchange few words. He said that time. -I am sorry to bother you but could you confirm that quest that you once completed is definitely not repeatable? It looked that he at least knew who she was. Well at that time her image was still known as girl with red hairs so it was not surprise that he recognized her. Although normally to that question Rin would just ignore him or say yes it is, to get rid of him, that time because of humble manner of speech she explained. -questgiver died so even if it was repeatable, there is no way to get it again. The man just nodded as a signal that he understand and moved away. That was probably because he knew what happened to those who didnt give up after trying asking once or because he just accepted the fact and there was no reason to get involved again. Death of NPC character was different from death of a player. While player would just resurrect after 10 days which was 2 days in real time NPCs stayed dead forever. There were cases that quest which belonged to an NPC that died was moved to another NPC but someone who did that quest while old NPC was still lived, wouldnt be helpful in finding new NPC. Asking Rin about it was no longer helpful. Although, Rin knew that her quest is definitely not repeatable, as it was just simply too unique. Set three with double lemon tea instead of beer was served after 15 minutes of wait. The main dish of it was huge bulk of meat with sauce. Yes, it didnt suit someone who looked like Rin at all. In the first place if she was eating something like this often, she would at least gain few more centimeters in height and a lot in width. But virtual food had nothing to do with weight. As for real world even though Rin always wanted to eat food like that, she could not do it. Reason for that was the same as with the beer. Thats why in this world she would not hold back on eating. Also meat dishes were specialty of dwarven chiefs. Some might question if there really is enough space in Rin body to eat something like that but she finished her meal without leaving anything on plate. After finishing, she finally took out the riddle that Wizard gave her. Just as she checked before there were three pages inside it. After quick scanning over them, Rin found out that two of them were filled with some pictures and the last one had instruction on it and normal letters. She started with that one. [Instruction Riddle based on famous Morgorian riddle. The owner is the king. In classic Morgorian riddle you create words based on pictures, then combine them into another riddle but as I mentioned, I changed it into message for you. That message should help you in your prequest. You should have two pages with pictures on them. Every picture symbolizes one letter which is the first letter in the name of object. To make you better understand here is the example. Letter S is symbolized by picture of sword but at the same time it is symbolized by picture of shield. It can also symbolize the stairs, stars, straw anything that starts with letter S. Your job is to choose the right pictures take their first letters and combine them into sentence which will create the message that you want to hear. Good luck. PS: Should you require assistance you can ask anyone you want for help. No matter what method you use you just have to solve it and remember that your main objective is to complete the prequest.] Even if I never seen anything like that, it doesnt look that hard. For now, I will name every picture and write down the letters. Then I will try to combine them into something with meaning. Those were her thoughts before checking other two pages carefully. Although from first look, number of pictures was small if one looked more carefully they were numerous of pictures that were combining with one another into bigger pictures and those bigger pictures combined into even bigger pictures. In the end everything was combined into one large mosaic. I already decided on a way. Rin started solving the riddle with planned method. Time was going fast but number of pictures to interpret was not dwindling. There were also few pictures that Rin couldnt name but after thinking about them 10 minutes each, she just moved to the next picture. Loosing track of time she engraved herself in naming puzzle. From all this thinking, she became hungry again and ordered another set of food. Through the windows she could see that a lot of time had passed since she started but she was about to end. After all the troubles she managed to descript about 90% of all pictures. Ah finally its done, from now it should go easily. She looked at the notes that she made then looked at the instruction once again. Then she realized that she made grave mistake. Well rather than mistake there was a lot of worthless effort. No, no it will definitely be useful later on. She might have put a lot of work in naming all objects and in some way, it was in little way needed to solve this riddle but that didnt really gave her any real solution. Her plan was to combine letters into words but what if there were about 600 letters on one page. If someone wanted they could create a lot of sentences which would sound reasonable but that wouldnt have helped. Unfortunately truth was that without knowing how to, Morgorian riddle was impossible to solve and Rin just learned it hard way. -excuse me but we are closing already. Female dwarf called to her as he came closer. The previous dwarf that she asked to make set 3 was long gone as his shift ended. -closing? Shouldnt this place be opened to 2 am? -it is 2 am, Maam. -but how? Rin looked at the table that she has been looking for nearly 14 hours now. Then she looked at the clock and then on the table again. She finally realized how much time has really passed. She quickly gathered all her things and apologized for the trouble and left the restaurant. Sun was long gone but moonlight shined its blue light all over the world. In the first place pitch black environment was not something that happened too often. In EOA you could always see what was ahead of you at least one meter ahead. Well it was a different story was with dungeons, caves or in forests where there was pitch black environment. Some forest were only possible to venture to during winter because leafs fall. One would think that using some kind of different light should work as well but those forest continued monsters that would be drawn by unnatural light resulting in impossible fight for anyone with who tried it. Walking through dark alleys of Karma city was not something that would scary Rin. In the first place, the most dangerous person that was walking in those streets was her. If she equipped her brown cloak and walk around those alleys she would make it to front page in tomorrow news. The title would be the murderous ghost has finally decided to attack. There was something similar to newspaper that was coming out every day in Karma city. One could buy it from shops or boys that were running around in the mornings. Rin wouldnt read it every day but it was a good killer time so she bought it from time to time. She couldnt just hunt monsters all day and other entertainment was also needed. Other than that she would often immerse herself inside the library that this city had although ever since she started this quest she spent there, relatively less time. Rin was making her way in direction of southern gate. Regions from south to east were mostly populated with dwarfs and that region was called dwarven district. Leaving through southern gate was common for Rin as that was where road to the tomb was. Still, she wasnt playing to going there, at least not today. Her plan for now was to solve the riddle but after all work she has done today she somehow was not really enthusiastic to continue with it. She was definitely not giving up. That was at least what she has been telling herself when thinking about it. Just as she passed near southern gate and left dwarven district she reached it. The only place that she could call home right now, even if no one would wait there for her. Player housing was not common in EOA, but Rin decided to get one for herself. It was good to have your own four angles after all. The house had two floors. The whole second floor was one large room while ground floor had bathroom in which there was only a bathtub. There was no closet as one couldnt use it in this world. Apart from that there was also one smaller room in which Rin stored items that she doesnt needed right now. For example items which she cant use because of level. At one point she once had 187 level but it drooped during her tries with quests. It was easier to level up smaller amount of levels after dying and level didnt give much statistic in the first place. Difference between 125 level Rin and 187 Rin from the pass was that she couldnt equip few items and had about 20 points in every stat less. If Rin thoughts those stats would help her much she would rather wear her only class item that she had. It was armor chest piece although it definitely didnt look like one. On the first floor there was also a dining room and a kitchen which was practically never used by Rin. She didnt bother to cook her own meals if she could buy them. Gold was the only thing that she got from all that leveling. Even if getting gold and getting experience usually didnt go in pair Rin found some mobs that gave quite good experience and also drop items that could be turned into gold after. Gathering gold in this game was hard and one would have to focus on it if he wanted to earn a lot. People would think that it should be easier with each level but no it was not. Rin entered her house and went straight to the second floor. On the table which was next to the window she found a small note. There was only one person other than Rin that had access to this house and because of that Rin quickly run up to it and read it. [Amy, I dont know when you will come back but I leaving this note just in case. I am going to Rodaria for two or three week, so dont look for me. I write it also to inform you that I wasnt kidnapped. But dont worry. When I return I will be probably be kidnapped right away but you dont have to rescue me if you dont want to. Maybe this time the knight will finally appear. I hope you wont need me for anything else beside the quest in which I wont even try to help you as its doomed to failure. See you soon.] Why now? Rins last hope for solving the puzzle disappeared. Well Yume should return at some point. Although her letter was strange somehow she was so sure that someone will kidnap her. Still Rin didnt mind. For now, solving the puzzle will have to wait. I will just go tomorrow and try without it. Yes thats the best solution. Spending half a day without any results was a little hard for her so right now Rin didnt want to challenge the riddle again. Instruction was encouraging to seek help after all. As long as you feel good with it, think what you want. Rin get on the bed then started removing her clothes. She could do it with few clicks in inventory menu but in her home she would do it normally, which was throwing it on the chair next to the bed. Afterwards she covered herself with eiderdown and went to sleep. //** This chapter is still not over. Continue to part _19.2 **// http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3310 Chapter 19 “Queen of Blades. Part two” _19.2 //** Continuation of chapter 19. (From 19.1) **// Next day she woke up at eleven with pillow on which she slept, as well as her eyes were wet from tears. It was not because she had a nightmare. Rather, it was the complete opposite, she dreamed of best possible thing for her. Despite that though, her body automatically reacted on its own to those dreams, resulting in tears every time she slept, even during short naps. There was nothing else she could do about it apart from wiping them out and move on with yet another day. She dressed up in her clothes and left her house right away. She already had everything needed for sixteen tomb try. Truth to be told she didnt plan to visit her house yesterday. It was because Wizard took too much of her time. On the way to southern gate she visited one shop where she bought something to eat and a newspaper. She bought the second item as it was always a good entertainment on the way to the tomb. After leaving citys walls, she started reading it. The whole issue was dedicated to event that happened nearly two weeks ago but only now it reached to the western provinces. The title was [Triangle, no longer with us]. It turned out that one of major cities in the game was destroyed. Details were as follows. [The Guild Legion, previous rulers of the city was attacked by two unknown players. Because those players were powerful enough to deal with thousands members of Legion, their defeat was unavoidable. Although there was a lot of destruction that occurred during the fight, all could be repaired with time. But there was one thing that couldnt be repaired anymore. No one know for sure how did it happened but what was once the heart of the city is now a large crater of mud. We think that guild Legion which was about to be defeated, released some kind of magic bomb that exploded and created that destruction. Everyone who lives in the city says that it was definitely them and it was not the first time that they did something to obscure other players. That is why we believe that this version is correct. Leader and few other high rank officers of Legion were caught by single Silver Hands knight who was in the area. He did it ten days after the accident after they respawn. Currently there is no information about other side of the conflict right now but we will uncover the truth.] I hope no one will blow up Karma. Those were Rins thoughts after reading the article. It didnt matter to her what happened outside of her playground which was Karma and surrounding areas. She knew where city of Triangle was. It would take her more than a mouth to get to there, but there was no reason for her to go there just so she can see destroyed city. She wouldnt leave Karma city anyway, at least, as long as her quest wouldnt force her to it and even if it did, she would probably return here after completing it. While walking at some time Rin equipped her brown cloak and hid completely within it. She had to live up to her legend after all, although on her way to the tomb she didnt encounter anyone and now without any interferences, she was standing right before the tomb of Edward Third the Great. This time I will definitely manage. Rin gave herself words of encouragement like she always did, but even she herself didnt believe those words. She didnt have any new ideas as to what could change the outcome. She came here today rather because of routine that she followed for some time now. Even if she was 5 levels lower than usual, she didnt plan to go back to her hunting grounds just for that amount. Her mindset was already prepared for defeat and what to do afterwards. Rin entered the tomb and walked the stairs which lead underground. There were quite a lot of them as they covered three meters passage. At the end of them, there was a single entrance, a rectangular opening in the wall. Rin couldnt see anything inside as the sun rays didnt reach there. There was no other source of light inside. Still, Rin didnt bring any light source either. She also didnt have any kind of spells or ability that would make it. Still she entered without the worry. Even if she was not very comfortable in dark places, she still was walking inside without any reserve. After reaching a certain distance from the wall something sparked in front of her and three lines of green flame scattered in three directions. They were first moving on the ground and then up the walls. They ignited wood pieces that were put on the walls. The fire was now burning in three different places inside the tomb with its green unnatural light. The wood that kept it would not extinguish until at least one person remains inside. Rin could now see the inside although she knew it by heart already. The tomb was rectangular area with radius of 5 to 6 meters. Why did someone bother to build something so huge under the earth? Rin did not know. There were no pillars that would support the weight of the roof but so far it never collapsed. In the opposite of entrance at the other side there was a large sarcophagus but apart from that, there was nothing else on the ground. In comparison walls were filled with coffins that were put in wall openings. There were also paintings above those coffins and they presented the profiles of people, sometimes the whole figure. There were twelve pairs of coffins and paintings. -muhahahahahaha The tomb was filled with empty laugh. In midst of it something came out from the sarcophagus. The cover was not moved but something came out of it through the cover. At first it was green, transparent mist but it soon changed into another form. The form resembled that of a human but it was still transparent and green. Only the contours were rough. It was about two meters high and while it was floating over the sarcophagus it nearly touched the ceiling. The build of the ghost was very slim and the face looked like from someone who hadnt eaten for years. The ghost spoke the words. -who is thee that disturb the sleep of me. -skip the introduction and lets start already. Rin cut the talk right away. She talked with ghost of the king before but he never remembered her and couldnt recognize her afterwards. Rin believed that conversation itself had no other purpose than creating a climax before the fight so she did not bother with it anymore as she didnt see any changes in the fight. First with both hands Rin took down her hood and took out her red hair from her clothes. Then she fetched her left hand to the front. In that hand a two meters long ruby spear appeared. She summoned this weapon even if two one-handed swords were still equipped on her right side under the cloak. -thee came here for fight. Very well I will grant your wish Although he said that, ghost would not fight by himself. Even if Rin asked him for it specifically he would not accept. She did ask for a fight once before. To her challenge the ghost replied that kings do not fight with every plebian that ask them for it as it would be too great of honor for that plebian. Even though she did not fully understand what that world meant, Rin didnt want to be called plebian again so she never asked that question again. -hear me my soldiers! Hear me my knights! This one wants to feel the might of our empire. You promised to serve me even in death, now its the time to fulfill that promise! Its starting. After the fight started Rin started scanning the ground with her eyes and soon she saw a single skeleton arm that made its way through the ground. Without waiting a second, she ran over there. Just when the second skeleton hand appeared out of the ground, Rin pierced through the ground with her spear. Right away she started to look for other similar looking hands. Rin was using every advantage that she could get so as long as there were no skeletons that came out, she would repeat the same process. That was also the reason why she summoned spear at first even if she was slightly less familiar with using it. Still she would be able to repeat that process only for first 10-15 skeletons as rate at which they come out would increase. At the start there would be two at the same time but soon after there would be more and more. Seeing that there are already three skeletons out, Rin let go of her spear. Still, rather than falling to the ground the spear started to fly and destroyed two skeletons. Rin finally unsheathed her two swords that she always had on her right side. Like any other weapons she used they were red in color. She had tons of red weapons at least one of each type. She usually wasnt using them directly but she needed them for her skill unlimited blade. Even if she could create numerous copies of the same weapon she would still need to have one original to copy from. The cost of those weapons was rather big as they all were of high quality. The gold that Rin earned on arena went exactly on them but if she had knew that she wouldnt be done with this quest after so much time she wouldnt even bother with it. Currently she didnt have any items that she could buy with gold so it piled up. From time to time, she would buy something for higher level but only if it was a special unique item that you cant buy every day. Why did she even bother to equip weapons normally in the first place? well there were few reasons. First, it would calm her down and remind her of the times in the real world. Second was that she got used to that weight on her right side as she always had them there before she got her extra skill. Lastly there were weak points of summoned blades. Copies were not as good as originals and sometime they broke in middle of combat. That usually was no problem for her as she could summon them back instantly. It also didnt happen that often but under todays circumstances it was different. Rin had to manage a long fight, summoning blades even if it cost just a little it would still drain her mana after amounts that she will need to create later on. Simple skeleton soldiers looked like simple skeletons. They didnt wear any clothes or armor. They were the creatures made of white bones. Each of them had a weapon in their hands. Mostly swords, but also axes and spears. First they would get out from the ground like zombies. Then they would pick up their weapons out from the hole they came from. The underground must have a lot of space to hold all of them, although, in the first place skeletons would come out from the same places for hours so it wasnt really realistic. Also later on, they would jump out from the holes made by previous skeletons with ease as they didnt need to force themselves through the ground. Funny fact was that some skeletons tried to pick up their shields as well but when they lift them up, their arm would fall off from their body as it couldnt support the weight. That was how skeletons with only one arm were created. From now on, Rin would move slowly and let skeletons come to her instead of running after them. Even if it ended in situation where she would fight against multiple enemies it was less tiring to fight against few of them than running after them. At this point it was still one skeleton at the time. A skeleton with a short sword tried the piercing attack. Rin moved just a little to the left and by hair dodged the strike. Skeletons movements were quite fast because their bodies were not obscured by flesh. Of course in reality, bones cant move on their own, they need flesh and muscles for it, but resurrected soldiers were doing just fine without those parts. Still even if they were fast, they were nowhere as fast as Rin. Dodging enemys strikes was her specialty, especially against the enemies that she fought so many times before. Those moves however werent something that she learnt from sword fighting training but rather hand to hand combat. Rin already had a long experience in fighting against monster in EOA but still her main fighting skills came from the real world where she learned under greatest fighting master. Her master was teaching a lot of styles and combined them into one ultimate form. Even without any talent after five years of training under him and another four years inside EOA, Rin become a person who really deserved the title Queen of Blades, despite the fact that she hated that title. After the dodge, she stroke with right sword and chop of the head skeleton head. The attack itself was really weak but destroyed skeletons nevertheless. Skeletons mostly died with just one hit but it was not the reason why Rin attack was weak. In the first place Rin class was based on agility and speed, rather than strength and force. No matter her fighting skills she wouldnt be able to match strength of pure warrior class. Still that attack was weak even for her and it wasnt fast either. That was because Rin was holding herself back to not waste any unnecessary energy. When most players would go all out from the start, Rin knew that she would need every bit of that energy later on. Another skeleton swung his sword horizontally at her. Rin crouched down and from there she delicately attacked spot that connected upper part of body with legs. Even if she couldnt fight like this later on, for now when number of skeletons was still small she could use this style. Not strength or speed but finesse and attacking into right spots, was what she was doing. From the outside it may looked not that strong but doing it required a lot of skill. Two skeletons were coming at her from the front. One of them swung the axe. With small back step Rin moved out of range and attacked axe holder while deflecting sword of second skeleton. With empty hand skeleton tried to catch here. Rin spin of foot and with momentum destroyed the second attacker. Another opponent came, this time with large two handed axe but before he even managed to swing it, Rin quicken her two last steps and finished him off. She then turned around and saw four skeletons coming her way. Leading one thrusted his spear from maximum range at her neck. Rin moved down to avoid it and spear flew right through her red hairs that couldnt keep up with her. They werent cut this time although it was actually common for her hair to get cut in fights. Still changing the hairstyle was something that one could do only in barbers shop so even if Rin lost some of her hair in battle, they would regrow right away after some rest. Even if you cut your hair with purpose of changing your hairstyle, you couldnt do it unless you learn hairdressing skill. Rin hairs were really long, to the point where she herself wanted to cut them sometimes. Still there were no barber shops in Karma and with time she got used to them being this long. Rin moved pass skeleton while spinning. Ruby swords made contact with enemy and skeleton was gone in seconds, still she didnt stop there. She continued the spinning like hurricane and finished of another two that came, also instantly. One would think that it was some skill that system activated and not her movements. In fact Rin even had a skill that had an effect like that still after using it for some time she could reproduce the effect of skill without use of stamina. Damage and speed was not on par to while using the skill but it was more than enough to fight against skeletons. The moment she stared spinning signaled that playtime was over. Right now, it was 3 skeletons at the time that came out from the ground but soon it will be 5, before that moment Rin needed to clean up all remaining skeletons. Two were coming from behind. Rin ran to them while keeping her body down. After reaching the enemy she lunched two attacks upwards, skeletons lost their head right away. Rin turned around and while doing it, she slashed backwards destroying yet another skeleton. This one was on instinct. The biggest advantage of skeletons was their numbers. Later on every inch of the 6 meter diameter area would be filled with them. Still even at the early stage they would surround Rin every time they attacked because they were quite fast at their feet. Speed didnt help them later on as they are grouped next to each other but at start it was their strength. -Shieldbearer! Show defensive power of our empire! Suddenly the voice of the ghost king echoed inside the tomb. Crack. A cracking sound came from the coffin in the walls opening. The first one on the right looking from the entrance. The cover of the coffin was thrown down to the ground and the new enemy appeared. The Shieldbearer was the only skeleton that could use shield. His strength was way different from other skeletons and not only that, his look was also different. White bones were surrounded by green coating that was similar to that of ghost of the king. The coating took form of the person from the painting that was above the coffin. His weapon and shield was also covered by this green mist. -you shall not pass! The skeleton said while lifting his shield up. Naturally the same time, normal skeletons kept coming like they used to. I have no luck today. Though Rin seeing her new opponent, still that was not because she could not deal with him, rather it was the opposite. The shieldbearer was rather easy to deal with for her at this point. But that was actually the problem. Tomb of Edward Third the Great encounter focused on fighting skeletons. With time, their appearance rate increased to 15 at the time but if it was only that, Rin would complete it long ago. During the encounter from time to time a super skeleton would appear or rather green ghost that would take control of bones. Rin knew the exact timing of first five skeletons by heart so she wasnt surprised by his appearance. Still there was no order in which those skeletons came. In total there were 12 super skeletons. Every one of them was different, had different weapons, abilities and characteristics. Rin categorized those super skeletons in three groups. First group, those that are easy for her to deal with. For example shieldbearer was part of this group. She knew exactly how to attack to finish him off quickly without any problems. Second group was made of those skeletons that would be hard to deal with should they appear at given the time. An example for that group would be super skeleton horse-rider. That skeleton was summoning a ghost horse and ride on it around the crypt with his lance. Should he appear at the beginning when number of skeletons was low, he would be hard to catch as he could ride without interference. On the other hand should he appeared later when room is filled with skeletons, he would be slowed down by them because while riding he would have to ride through skeletons, naturally killing them in the process. In that time he could even be quite useful. Rin sometimes left him alone so he can do some havoc on the battlefield. Other example from this group would be skeleton commander who increased abilities and coordination of normal skeletons. Should he appear later on, there would be a problem as number of skeletons that receive his buffs would be high but should he appear right now it would be easy to deal with him as he wouldnt have any skeletons to command. Then there was the last group of skeletons. Rin called them those that will probably kill me. Currently this group contained only two skeletons. First one was Female skeleton with title Wind-walker. Her speed was on pair with Rin and she was really good at avoiding Rins unlimited blade skill. She was also fighting using two short swords and also had few skills that should Rin do not see them before, they would be impossible to survive. So far Rins score against her was six losses, one draw and two wins. That was not something she was proud of but at least she knew that skeleton name. Upon receiving finishing blow, green ghost would leave the bones and reveal his or hers name. Then it would fly away and take its place next to the ghost of the king and stand there till the end of the fight. The name of female skeleton was Victoria. The commander was called Shepard. The horse-raider went by name Luffus. The one that just appeared before Rin, the shield-bearer was called Tanrer. He also once belonged to third group as Rin had no idea how to break through his defenses. She even once went all out on him and fired out hundred blades in his direction at the same time but he just took it all on his shield like it was nothing. Still that was in the past as right now she knew how to deal with him and he was moved to the first group. As the time went, the more times Rin tried complete the prequest, the more skeletons went to first group. As of now Rin knew eleven names of skeletons which meant that there was still one skeleton that she had yet to defeat. The second one from third group, The Champion. Rins score against him was four losses. Number was lesser than with fights against Victoria but this one didnt appear too often and when he did, it was always at the worst possible moment when she would be out of strength. Until try eighth, in which for the first time she reached seventh skeleton, he didnt even appear once. The order of appearance of skeletons was random but somehow that one preferred to appear later, still it was not like he couldnt appear at early stages. During try 13 the champion appeared as second. But that happened when first skeleton was Victoria. When Rin got Victoria as her first opponent she was incredibly happy. That was because to that point she only managed to win against her once and even if she did, five minutes later she fell to the ground from exhaustion and other skeletons finished her off. That was on try nine. Then at try ten, they reached a draw, which was killing each other at the same time. It was surely getting better but then at try 12 she once again got defeated by her. Until try 13 score was six losses, one draw and one win but in truth it was eight attempts in prequest stopped by Victoria as Rin never managed to continue to next skeleton after the battle with her. But then try thirteen, Victoria appears as the first and Rin was in best possible condition to fight her. It was still really hard but Rin managed to win and had a lot of strength and HP to manage another skeleton that would after her. That was also because new super skeletons appeared around 20 minutes one after another so even if she received damage from Victoria she would regain most of HP with use of potions that healed over time. Getting Victoria as first skeleton was luck but with amount of luck she used on that time, the balance went off. It must have been grave in minus as the second skeleton to appear was the champion. Not only she never defeated him before but he appeared at the time like that. Not that should he appear first it would go better and Rin could win against him. He was her nemesis. Strong and precise attacks of two handed sword and unstoppable swings that would send Rin flying should she try to block them. His armor was impenetrable. Any attack would just bounce off from him. His guard wouldnt show her any weak spots either. Rin could simply not stand against someone of that caliber and at the same time someone who was her antitype. Should she fight against players who use this style she would be able to gain advantage in some other areas and turn battle in her favor but the champion would not let her do it. Still, Rin believed that one day she will deal with him and find out his name. Try 13 was the fastest loss of Rin. Her average from all tries so far was six skeletons defeated at single try, the record was ten. Try 14 was eight skeletons defeated and try 15 was also eight skeletons defeated. She met the champion at try 14 and the one to stop her last time was the commander. She didnt meet Victoria since her last win. Still all that was in the pass. Now it was try 16 and a new chance to finish the prequest. Rin summoned two long-swords right behind her in the dead spot so the shieldbearer couldnt see them. She started to run in his direction and two swords were flying behind her. The opponent was also marching forward towards her. Few normal skeletons were running in her direction. When shieldbearer was about two meters away from his coffin Rin speed up. There were five skeletons coming from all direction which didnt involve shieldbearer. Rin was already running but skeletons could keep up to this speed especially when two were coming from the way Rin was running to. The moment they were meter away from Rin used her maximum speed. [Lighting speed.] She bursted forward and left everything behind, straight into the shieldbearer. Second before she clashed into his already lifted shield she started to spin. [Hurricane] Rin was spinning with incredible speed. Her skill hurricane was based on movement speed which was greatly boosted by movement skill lighting speed. By combining two skills into single attack one could create something incredible. Sparks appeared as swords were striking at the shield nonstop. While maintaining the skill, Rin started moving around the shieldbearer to his right. Shieldbearer was keeping his shield high and followed Rins movement to block incoming attacks. His shield would not break from this attack though and Rin was well aware of that. Five normal skeletons that were left behind started to make strange noises and the shieldbearer turned his head to them. Then he saw two large long swords coming his way. In this battle, even if Rin wanted to make surprise attack normal skeletons would inform others about such tactics, thats why if she were to make a surprise attack, she had to make it so even if enemy find out about it, he cant do anything at all. Rins hurricane continued and two swords were coming from the other side. Shieldbearer wanted to bounce them off with his sword but they were flying in the way that it would be hard to do repel while maintaining his guard. Nevertheless he tried and managed to bounce them off but the second he did that, he was torn apart into pieces as Rin slip through his defenses. It was impossible to stretch in a way to keep up with her speed and block incoming swords. Should he ignore the swords he would get hit by them and either die just from that or he would stop for a second from the impact and would be torn apart by Rin anyway. There was a way for him to survive though and it was letting go of the shield and jump away from Rin but shield-bearer without the shield was an easy target and it wouldnt take long to finish him off afterwards. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. -I was Tanrer, knight and defender of Solaris and of my king Edward. It was an honor to fight against you. With those words, the first skeleton knight was defeated. Solaris was the name of empire as well as of capital where Edward Third the Great once ruled. Right now there were only ruins left of that place. It was located far to the west from the tomb. It was not easy to get there. Rin went to the west once but it was a long time ago even before she got her unlimited blade skill. First one down. Although her head was still spinning with aftereffect of using combo skill, Rin started to fight against skeletons once again. The next super skeleton should appear in 18 minutes. Five skeletons that were left behind finally catch up. First one thrusted with spear the moment he got in range. Rin parried it with left sword and pierced with another sword into his the neck. The head fall off. Skeleton with large axe jumped from behind and lunched a downward swing. Rin moved back and the only thing that was destroyed by axe were bones of just killed skeletons. Another two skeletons were in range. They swung their swords from two sides at her neck. Rin crouched down to avoid it. Two swords clinched with each other while surrounded by Rins red hairs. Rin spin with her body near the ground and slashed both skeletons in half. Now there was a one handed skeleton right before her eyes. As his weapon he had his other hand that fell off. He attacked with it. Rin countered with left sword and destroyed both weapon and the user. Then she summoned the red spear above hers head. It flayed to behind her back destroying on its way the leftover skeleton with axe. Even after destroying those five there already were ten other skeletons out in the field. Their spawn rate was not something designed for solo play but that did not matter to Rin and she once again jumped in the middle of combat. For now, skeleton spawn rate would stay five at the time which would not fill up the space too quickly. Rin would manage to kill enough so the place will not be swarmed by them. At least, for now. Time passed, number of killed skeletons increased but their number on the field increased as well, although not by much as Rin kept killing each without delay. But then the voice of the king filled the room once again signaling arrival of yet another skeleton knight. -Assassin, there is a contract for you. The cover fall from one of the coffin and skeleton emerged from the inside. In comparison to all other skeletons so far this one had clothes equipped. Black clothes completely covered skeletons whole body. One could think that it was still living human but if you looked in his eyes you could see characteristic green coating. -you wish me to fight in a fair fight? very well. It looked like this one was not mood to fight fair and square. Still he had to obey the king. 1/1 for now. For Rin it was good that this one come out now. He belonged to second group and should he come later it would be easy to lose sight of him. He was very good at hiding within groups of skeletons even though he was so different from them. If she did lost sight of him she could even be killed. Black Assassin started to run in Rins direction. Before he even reached her, he threw five knifes in Rins five viral spots. Rin just move out of the way and also started to move in his direction. When in range, she struck at him with both swords. He out from nowhere had daggers in his hands and parried the attacks. From the middle of his clothes a three hidden knifes fired out. Rin made acrobatic jump upwards but only with lower part of her body. Knifes flew under her. With body weight she pressed down at Assassins weapons. Assassin moved back, Rin landed. She summoned few weapons around her and send them flying in various directions. Most of them were for incoming normal skeletons and one flew straight into Assassin. Still the Assassin was not moving for some reason and large red two-handed sword hit right inside his chest. This is how it seemed at first but the sword without any sound just passed through the body which soon turned into black smoke. Rin looked around slowly but could not catch the glimpse of enemy. Assassin was moving out of her sight without any sound and was coming up closer and closer from somewhere. Rin stopped moving completely. When Assassin was about two meters away from her swords appeared in the space. Compared to previous ones those were flaying at full speed right away the moment they appeared. There were about six of them, Assassin had no chance to defend against them all, still something like that was really hard if not impossible so he took the hit from two swords. When that happened, Rin spinned around and with two long steps reached the assassin skeleton and finished him of with her real swords. Assassins body fell to the ground and green ghost appeared out from it. His face was finally shown. -it was a shame that I couldnt slit your throat in sleep. I was Assad, for my king I could become even devil himself. After saying that, the ghost of assassin took his place next to the king. Second super skeleton was defeated without any troubles and Rin was in good form for now. Because she just used unlimited blade, the number of skeletons dwindled a little so she could even take it easy for a moment. In the first place she shouldnt be swarmed until sixth or fifth skeleton depending on who comes out. While fighting, Rin could forget about all that troubled her. There were only her blades and endless amount of enemies to fight against. Even if it was hard, Rin got a lot of pleasure from fighting in this place. Even if there was no experience to get, even if after every defeat she would have to spend ten days in darkness, she really liked this place. Rin once wondered what she will do once she finished this prequest and then the whole quest after it. The only answer that came to her mind was, think about it later. After all there was no need to think about future that may even not come. Also even if she did not have the quest, she could still come back here whenever she wanted. Time passed and another super skeleton appeared. His title was the Archer and as his name suggested he used the bow to fight. His specialty was sending numerous of arrows at the same time and those arrows were strong enough to crush the stones walls of the tomb. Still Rins artillery was way stronger and there was no reason to hold back her skill on one of the twelve. The range battle started but the number of Rins attack was ten times bigger than that of the Archer. Even though his attacks were stronger, Rins speed did allow her to dodge them which could not be called the same for the Archer and when it came to Rins skill, after one attack hit it was the game over. In the end Archer got crushed in seconds and revealed his name Ronib. Although he was quite easy he was still in second group as getting him later on would result in hard time getting to him. Rin would still use unlimited blade there but normal skeletons would jump in the way and defend the Archer letting him do as he please. If Rin had to think about it, it was really good thing that skeletons didnt possess bows with them. The only range weapon that they used were their hand that they would throw at her from time to time. The reason for that might be because those soldiers were buried with their swords rather than bow as sword simply possessed more might to it. After some time once again, the forth skeleton that appeared had title the Paladin. His name was Hargen and he was really hard to classify for Rin. He ended up in group 1 in the end but he was on level that was way different than the others. Rin was spinning like hurricane destroying masses of skeletons that were in her way. Paladin with his large hammer started coming her way. She summoned one blade which without delay flew in his direction. Even though number of skeletons as of now was hard to count on one glance, she could see the green light around the Paladin. Paladin didnt even bother to dodge the sword and just took the hit. -your sorcery will not work against me as goddess Elssa will protect the faithful. Holy light. AAA! The moment Paladin was surrounded by yellow light he started to scream in anguish. He took a lot of damage not because of Rin but his own doing. After all, holy spells were the best way to deal with any kind of undead monsters which he now became. Paladin survived first holy light but he didnt learn from it and tried to use it again and again until his bones turned into ashes. Green ghost said his last words. -I must have lost your providence goddess Elssa. I was Hargen and I am the sinner. My king was more important to me than gods themselves. Yes the Paladin was on way different level than anyone else in first group. All you needed was one hit. The problem for Rin to group him was because, should she even consider him as easy to deal with or should she group him up with normal skeletons. There was also option of creating fourth group which would be called skeletons with special needs. In the end the moral was that skeletons and Paladins just didnt go the same way. Now that the fourth super skeleton was dealt with there was only one spot that would allow Rin to fight in rather clear area, after that the spawn rate would increase and before six one came out it would be half way full. There were still three skeletons left in second group and two of them were good on open fields. They were horse-rider and chain-wilder. If they dont come out next turn they will be automatically moved to group one. Then there was one that was bad at open fields the Commander but he was really troublesome should he appear afterwards. It would be good if I got Shepard before it goes out of hand. Still if I dont get Victoria in next turn it will be bad to fight against her later. It would be good if she was next. Rin had quite hopes to her next opponent to be Victoria. Even if it was random, Victoria mostly appeared on fifth, sixth or seventh turn so Rin believed that she could expect her to be coming soon. I didnt see her in the while so the chances should be high no it is wrong, I want him. As long as I wont defeat him I will never get done with this place. Rin manner of thinking was kind towards skeletons as if they were her friends. She didnt use their titles but rather their names. Especially she liked Victoria the Wind-walker. Seeing a female knight with that kind of strength, Rin could sometimes imagine herself like that. Their fighting styles were also similar apart from the fact that Victoria did not have unlimited blade skill. Rin loved fights against her the most. She knew that it was impossible but if she could, she wanted to speak with her, not just listen to few ending words. Still it was impossible as Victoria was a ghost. Rins mission was to fight her but even that fighting was some kind of communication. Yes, ghost of skeletons were like friends to her. She would even sometimes pity the Paladin for his auto destruction. She even liked the assassin who would say things like slit your throat in a sleep or put the poison into your food. He just had some personality problem that all. Still there was one that she could not befriend. He is the enemy, the one that I have to destroy, no matter the cost. The one that name was still unknown, the one that was her nemesis, and the one that decimated her every time he appeared. The champion. During those 18 minutes after the Paladin, Rin thoughts were only filled with desire to fight him. Fight against him would be the most precious experience she could get right now. This fight would lead her to victory over this challenge one day. The fight that would allow her to pass her limits. Surrounded by skeletons Rin was slashing them left and right. Dodging incoming attacks and spinning like hurricane, but she was not focused on fight anymore. Come! I want to fight you! Another skeleton lost his head. This time I will win. Rin parried one attack and push the skeleton sword so hard that it detached his hand. Come! I want to fight you! The parried sword flew and destroyed yet another skeleton that was behind him. This time I will found out your name. Rin could fell that twenty minutes will pass soon. Come! I want to fight you! [Hurricane] She started to spin once again. Using it as skill, gave her more speed than if she just copied it, it also created a tornado effect around her that replied all attacks. With it she cleaned about twelve skeletons that surrounded her in manner of few seconds. This time Her thoughts stopped and turned into the words just a few seconds before ghost of the king spoke the name of next skeleton. -this time I dont feel like winning. Please dont come out! -the mightiest champion of our empire, your king calls for you. The cracking sound came from the coffin on the right side next to the king. The cover fell down. The knight in full crimson plate armor came out from it. Just like Assassin this one was completely covered in armor. There was no sign of green mist from him. On the helmet there was linear opening at the high of the eyes but it was completely dark inside. On his back, the champion had large crimson two handed sword. For the note, Rins weapons were also in similar color and she even had two handed sword in her collection but if someone were to compare those two weapons, Rins one would at best be called a toothpick. -I will not fail you my king, never again. Rin took out a purple potion from the inside of her clothes. She drink it up and then. [Unlimited blade. Stage three. Golden Gate] Golden gate appeared behind Rin. That was how skill described it. Its true form however was just golden colored mist with range of two meters in each direction from Rin. It was filling the tomb up to the celling. Also it covered most part with its width. The last stage of unlimited blade that Rin could use Golden gate. It allowed her to summon way more blades the previously. Their speed when they fire up from the inside would increase. Their durability would become just as the originals. Controlling the gate was also easier than summoning weapons in a normal way. Still using it cost a lot of mana and Rin wouldnt be able to keep it up for too long but that wasnt important at all. Rin would sometimes use this skill to completely clean up whole tomb. With this skill it took no more than five seconds to destroy every single skeleton inside even if there was thousands of them. Right now there were about twenty skeletons out in the open and there were also another five coming out but there was no need to deal with them. They would not interfere in the fight any longer, they would just stay and watch sometimes even go back, that was because he did not need help. Even after using her best ability and using best stat potion available on the market Rin started to shiver. It was shiver caused by fear and despair that was coming her way, he walking slowly with two handed sword already in his hands. But it was also shiver of excitement. After all it was the first time she fought against him in situation like this where she was in quite good condition. Last skeleton was Paladin the easiest of all super skeletons. Previous ones also didnt give her much trouble. Also this was only her fifth opponent so far. Little more than an hour passed so far, she couldnt ask for better condition than that. -even if I didnt want you to come, you still did that. You will regret this decision. The champion did not respond to Rins words and continued to walk slowly. He was still about five meters away from her but Rin didnt plan to wait for him. Ruby blades started to pour out from golden gate like rain. All weapons had just one target and that was the nameless knight. Seeing this knight started to move quicker. He didnt go forward in Rins direction but he run in large circle around her. Even if he was running while holding his sword he could repel incoming attacks. Should Rin try to change their direction, he would see through it and change his direction as well. Still he would not be fast enough to avoid all of those attacks, only Victoria could manage to do it and Rin knew it. What was champion doing right now was learning how the ability works and how to counter it and he was doing it from the save distance of five meters. Rin definitely didnt want to let him do that. It was she who started to move in his direction and the golden gate followed her body. As the blades were falling on the ground with incredible speed, seconds after they made damage to it they would disappear with a sound of broken glass. There was no reason to maintain them and there were others that would take their place second after. Seeing that he will no longer be able to dodge them all, the champion stopped running and took defensive position with his sword. Even if it was a large weapon it could not bounce that amount of weapons that were fired at him but the champion had a technique to counter Rins storm of swords. He started spinning his sword and while it was spinning it was making the illusion of large shield. It also started cutting down the ground as well as the celling. At start it was destroying every weapon that come in contact with it but that was just the beginning. The full effect came soon after and the spinning sword created a wind that started to destroy Rins weapons even before them came in contact with the sword. Some weapons would lost their momentum and fall on the ground instead of breaking. Rin continued to send the swords flaying. For Rin it was not scary that he had a technique like that, she seen it before and she even knew that it will end in few seconds. Its not scary that he can perform something like that. Just as she knew it will, the skill stopped. With last wind burst the swords gave the champion some breathing room and this time he went straight for Rin after just two fast steps the swords that were endlessly pouring from the gate finally catch up to him and hit right into his body. But the effect was nothing. The real scary thing is that you even bother to use that. You go around maintaining the distance. You avoid getting hit. When it stop working, you have incredible technique to counter hundreds of blades coming your way. But why do you bother if you can do this. The knight was coming her way and nothing could stop him. The red blades that hit him either bounced or disappeared with a sound of broken glass. Rin was moving backward to greaten the distance. Even if there was no effect to be seen, the swords were hitting him so he should take some damage from it. In comparison to level under 100, monsters from land of fighters did not show their HP. Same went for player, he could not see his hp mana or stamina any longer. Player had to rally on what he sees and feels. That system made it especially hard for healers which in previous games in every fight were focused on bars of people hp rather than what was really happening around them. Rin could not see HP of Champion going down but she had to believe that it was. Even a small amount would be fine with numbers of hits she dealt him. It would eventually lead to his death. Still the Champion was moving forward like nothing, he wasnt even slowed down by all it. Even if unlimited blade was a great skill Rins own fighting skills that she learned in real life were her best weapon but she would not use it here not against him. She long lost willpower to stand and fight against him again with her own hands. Rin was trying to make more distance by walking back but Champions run was faster than her moving backward. Even if blades still continued to pour from the gate it was time for melee combat. Rins focus was entirely on dodging right now. One hit from this large sword and I am dead. Even though fear dulled her movements, Rin was still expert of dodging and it was hard to find anyone better than her in it. First attack, champion thrusted his sword forward, Rin dodged it to the left by hair. Before the sword even stopped it change its position and the blade was again coming in Rin direction. Seeing it Rin read incoming attack and bent backward the sword flew right before her eyes. After quick bend back she could see that it was not the over yet. Another attack from the same position was about to happen. The sword spin around the Champion but he did not spin himself. Never losing his eyes from opponent while it was about to get behind his back he let go of the sword with one hand and with seconds he switch it in a way that sword did not lose any of its momentum. This time attack was coming at the legs. It was about three seconds after the previous on. There really was no delay. Without alternative Rin jumped up and the sword went above her. But that was the moment the Champion waited for. His gigantic sword became surrounded by dark energy. When it went backward, the Champion stopped it for a second. More and more energy was gathering. Even if he stopped there still was no enough time for Rin to even land back. With all accumulated energy the Champion swung his sword through the ground cutting while cutting it like butter. Seeing this Rin, still in midair thrusted her swords into the ground and pulled them to get out from attack range. Master of dodge title was not for nothing and the sword filled with dark energy did not reach her. Rin landed on the ground. She didnt fall but managed to land on knees. She pulled out the swords from the ground and looked back to where the champion was. The sword was no longer covered in black energy but that attack was not for nothing. Even if it did not cut Rin it cut something else. That cannot be true. She though after seeing what happened. The last attack cut through her golden gate. Blades stop coming out from it and golden mist was slowly disappearing starting in the place where the cut was made. The golden gate, the last stage of unlimited blade known to Rin, even she herself could not touch it and when she tried her hand just go through it and appear at the other side. If it cannot be touched it should be impossible to destroy it, that were Rins thoughts and yet the Champion managed to do it. Rin lost all ways of reasoning at that moment and started desperate attack. [Lighting speed] [Hurricane] She started to spin and was coming in champion direction. He however just swung his sword with one hand. The moment his crimson sword came in contact with Rins combo skill, Rin was sent flaying to the middle of the tomb where she felt on the ground. With simple swing her combo skill was broken. Even though there was no serious damage, Rin could no longer get back on her feet. Storm of blades from golden gate was her only idea to defeat this enemy. The moment it was broken she realized that she has no chance of winning. No, rather she knew it even before fight started or maybe even before she entered this tomb. Rin was still holding her swords but her legs did no longer listen to her. They were shivering in fear and despair. The champion was slowly walking towards her, dragging his sword on the ground with right hand. Even though there were few debts in his crimson armor signaling that her skill made some damage she could not see it. -dont come! Stay away! Rin shouted in desperate voice but the crimson knight did not listen and continued his march. With last inches of will Rin summoned few blades above her and send them flaying one at the time to stop him but what could have that done if thousands of others did not help. Blades disappeared in sound of broken glass the moment they come in contact with Champions armor. Now he was staying right in front of Rin who was sitting on her knees but still holding two ruby swords in her hands. The champion bended down and catch her by neck with his free hand. He lifted her up like this. -let me go! She tried to shout but the voice did not come out from her throat. At the same time she swung with her right hand. The sword made contact with enemy helmet but it just bounced off. This attack had not strength behind it at all. With this Rin finally let go off her swords in both hands they both fell to the ground. So thats how it feels, having nothing in hands. Since she switched from spear to swords at the start of fight she was holding them hard nonstop up to this point. Her hands forgotten their natural state even after letting go of swords, they were still in position like if they were still holding them. But there was nothing left she could do now. Champions sword went into her belly and appeared at the other side. The crimson sword emerged from her scarlet hairs. From afar it would feel like it was its most natural place to be in. Like that sword was destined to go through this body. Although she could feel incredible pain right now she did not scream. She could not even do it as her throat was already destroyed by Champions grip. Now she was just looking at the opponent that just killed her. Even if his Armor had few dents the helmet stayed the same. Inside the vision line she could finally see the green mist, a characteristics of skeleton knights. After all, he was the same as them, he also had a name but she would not find out what it is. At least not today. http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3353 Chapter 20 “A gift of Power” _20.1 Chapter 20 A gift of Power Its been three days already. Arthur entered the capsule and log into the game. Arata appeared in unfamiliar place. His footing was unsteady and the ground was brown. No sidewalk, no grass, nothing. Last thing he could remember was running together with Levi. Levi was a random traveler that Arata happened to meet. They were going to find the leader of guild Legion or rather that leaders body so Levi could restore his reputation points in his silver hand order whatever that was. Unfortunately their plan failed as the moment they were getting close to the city center, they got hit by unknown black force and died within it. So that is what she meant by crater. Arata found out from Kotori or rather, Arthur found out from Lia what was that unknown force. It was a spell used by someone that Arata never sew with his eyes and did not know him at all. Arata actually got hit by that spell by accident only because he stood in the wrong place at the wrong time without being able to do anything. Sure he was going to log out anyway and he didnt lose any levels from dying but it still irritated him that he died in that way. There were some other players around him that also just log back. It looked like the main square was a respawn point for this area and even if main square did not exist anymore this place still held it resurrection spot function. Up until now, Arata died only once and that was in the city of beginners. When he respawned at that time, he could choose out from three locations where he wants to appear. This time however it was different and he didnt have any options to choose from. Not that it really mattered as the place he wanted to go right now was not away from where he appeared. I should be able to see it. Ah, there it is. Arata spotted a gigantic cross in the distance and started to move in that direction, he was still in the crater. When his way became steeper, he looked around and found a rope which was attached somewhere inside the cathedral to which he was currently going. With its help, Arata climbed up the crater without any problems. -a little to the left! -like that!? -yes its perfect, Loki, nail it! Arata reached the half destroyed cathedral. What he found there were his comrades from the guild. It wasnt coincidence for them to be here as they arranged to meet in this place on this specific hour. Still the scene before him was a slightly strange. Right now his guildmates were trying to put a large painting, back on the wall at the end of the cathedral as it probably fall down at some point. What are they doing? Gerald was giving commands as how to adjust it to the right place. He was standing about three meters away from the painting and had a good view from there. Then there was Odin standing under right down corner of the painting holding it up with his hands. On the other corner there were Zen and Yuki. Yuki was standing on Zens shoulders while holding the left corner of painting. She was doing so to match Odins height as he was a big guy after all. Wouldnt it be better to just use some chair? Then there was Loki, he was the strangest here. He was floating in the air with a hammer and nails. To be more precise he was not floating but jumping in the air. He was making small jumps and it looked more like he was walking while pushing away the air. He had perfect control over it and his upper part of body was completely stable he was nailing the nails. Cool! I didnt know there was flying ability in this game. Seeing someone who was flying right before him, Arata also desired to know how it feels. Technically Arata already flied few times or rather was falling down from somewhere but that didnt count as flying. To conquer the skies, who would not want that? The man always dreamed of ability to fly ever since ancient times after all. -hey what are you doing? Seeing that the painting was now in place Arata asked from behind. -ah Arata, good thing you are here. As you can see we are setting up the painting. Gerald answered as if what they were doing was the most obvious thing to do and people should be rather surprised if they were not setting up this painting. -and why are you doing it? -Arata! Dont bother he wont answer anyway! Zen shouted to him while lifting down Yuki. Everyone started to gather together. -no, I just dont want to repeat myself so I will say it when everyone is here. -see. -thought as much. So who are we missing? Hoping down from the sky Loki landed next to Arata and answered. -the girls. Well those two should be here in a second. -two? Arent we missing three? -well, Kelly wont join us for a while. Loki passed the news. -why? -well she . -we will explain everything when everyone is here. Gerald was still on the same page and interrupted Loki before he managed to answer. -thats true, wait and see Arata. Loki also thought that it is better idea. -anyway if we have some time then please tell me, where can I learn how to fly? Arata didnt wait a second to ask that question as he really wanted to know. Normally he wasnt asking that many questions but when it came to ability to fly, he had to know. -ah, why do you guys keep asking the same question? It looked like it was not the first time Loki was asked about it today though. -that what you get if you answer too fast. You should have waited for everyone. Gerald wanted to show that his tactic was better but his voice was a little upset. Although he probably already said this already once or twice today. Still Loki ended up giving quick explanation about his ability to fly. -well I got this ability from a quest. Also, sorry to tell you this but flying abilities are not common in EOA. Rather they are super rare. He got it from quest. It was the fastest explanation one could ask for. -is there a way to find specifically quest for that or you just got lucky? Arata asked as he really wanted flying ability just like anyone else would. -you have to get lucky I guess or should I say really lucky. Apart from myself I seen flying ability in five other players in whole game and I havent even hear rumors about any others so the number of people that can actually fly wont be even in double digit.. Six players in whole game. Looks like I wont be able to fly. Arata never considered himself lucky in those regards. Also when he thought that there werent even 10 people who could fly after ten years of game time, looking for that ability seemed pointless. -so if I wont by some miracle get the quest I wont be able to fly. Arata summed it up. -yes something like that. And even if you get one, it will probably work on different rules than mine. Other players that I know could fly were doing it different way like ability to transform into the raven or growing a demons wings. -demons wings? -that is too many specifics I guess. He just summons black wings at his back and flies with them. -how about the others? Arata couldnt leave any lose ends here. -I never saw the other two so I dont know and about last one, well I didnt figure him out yet. I saw him first time doing it only for a short time just few days ago after all. Hey, Gerald how does he do it? -probably like everything else he does. Imagination magic. Anyway dont ask me about flying! Gerald answered irritated, but Loki just laughed at that. -haha. -something bitten him? As it was unusual for Gerald to behave like that Arata asked. -well, naturally as anyone else Gerald also really wants to fly but he never found a way to do it. He usually is angry when someone touches the topic even a little. -everything knowing Gerald couldnt found out how to fly? To that comment mr. walking encyclopedia tried to defend himself. -every flying quest is not repeatable, trust me I checked them with a lot of care. Either you luck it out or you will never fly, this is my final conclusion so you can take it as granted. So luck is the only thing that can give me flying. Unfortunately luck is not my strong side. If Gerald couldnt do it then Aratas chances were really no existing. Blink. The blue light appeared at the space that Arata was standing no so long ago. -hi everyone, sorry I am late Anari welcomed everyone as it was her who teleported there. -because there is no way that I could climb up here using the rope I ended up teleporting up. She also added although she didnt have to share her physical incapability with others. -okay now we wait only for Kotori. Hey Arata did she say something to you? Gerald asked. -no, but its still behind the arrangement so she should be here soon. -even if you say so, I thought that everyone would get here earlier. -she shouldnt be late. Zen run up to the edge and looked down. -maybe she also has problems with climbing up Just as he said that, Kotori appeared on the ground inside the cathedral. Right away she stood up from it. But Zen did not see her and continued. -eh women are always like that. If they come late you cant tell them anything bad. But if you are late you must be prepared for their endless litanies and no apologies can save you from it. Especially the blonde ones. Arata as your guildmate I will give you an advice. You better somehow get out from your situation or your life will be horrible. -I dont think I will follow that advice. Still in exchange I will give you an advice, you should have stayed quiet. -whats that about? Zen looked back in everyone direction and then stopped at Kotori. Her blue eyes were clearly saying, You are enemy of woman. -how you did get here? -you are surprised this much? Well I can tell you but please continue what you were saying earlier. Kotori answered in a voice that was indeed ready for argue. -Kotori give him a rest this time. -its not like his delusions have any truth in them. Arata stopped her and prevented a pointless argue before it went out of hand. Zen was surprised seeing her coming from behind like that and it was not only him. Everyone, except Arata and Loki were surprised. It looked like even Gerald did not know that she survived as he soon asked the question. -no really, how did you get here Kotori? I mean you have no teleport spell or anything like that, I know your class better than you do and you will never get anything like that. Also why did you appear on the ground? -wow its the first time I see Gerald asking any question as if he really didnt know. Kotori commented to Arata to which he answered. -me too. -Loki didnt tell you that I survived and log out. I didnt die from that attack. Hearing those news Gerald make sharp glance at Loki. Then he caught him by arm over the head and they started whispering. It took only few seconds. After that Gerald walked before Kotori and put his hand on her forehead. He closed his eyes and stayed like that for five seconds. Kotori looked to Arata with eyes what should I do? Arata just waved his hand. Loki soon followed up. -I told you nothing happened. Anyway you should praise her instead. -its true nothing happened Gerald answered although his voice was quite strange, still second later it returned to normal. -anyway good job Kotori, you really crossed my expectation. Although note this down for the future, I know that dying is the first thing you should avoid but it shouldnt be avoided by all means. Sometimes its just better to die and wait those two days rather than end up in some really unfortunate situation. Be reasonable about it next time. -I will keep it in mind. -good, hahaha Gerald went back to his usual self and let go of Kotoris head. -still, surviving spell seven of Arcon is unbelievable feat. From the state of the city I can tell that he didnt think about holding back. I should give you a gift for your good performance as EVERYONE ELSE DIED AFTER ALL! HAHAHAH! He added the last sentence to play on everyones minds and he said it out very loudly so there was no chance for them to not hear. -oh, I know! I will give you the title of best player in our guild, well at least from newest members. I was thinking who is best of you all and couldnt really decide especially because you are all so different. But your achievement made it clear that you are the best. Hmm, I know, I will make you an officer of our guild, what do you say? -em I am not sure if I should take it. Kotori wasnt happy about his comments though. -why not? You deserved it. -you said that I am best from new members but if I were to fight against Arata I wouldnt have a chance. -you sure? Well its true that he is really good, after all he ended up in this guild. Everyone else is also really good but you are the same. Well you might lose in normal circumstances as its true that healers are not really cut out for one on one battle. Still if you were to fight this very moment you would have advantage. -in what? Why does he have to involve me in it? In the first place I dont think I could fight against Kotori seriously. Even though it is a game, I would never hurt her in any way. -well at least you have higher level. Level advantage for players under 100 level is a big thing. -well I dont think that being five levels higher does much difference. -wait, your level is what right now? -90. Even Gerald was surprised by this result still Kotori really did level up this much in the secret dungeon. Not only did she start with the highest level back then but also in the first challenge together with Odin, she got few levels more than others. -90, wow my leveling method works way better than I thought and Arata what is your level right now? -mine is 85. -no, I asking after it went down. -no, my level didnt go down. -what, you didnt die as well? Eh fun. You guys should say those things sooner. It changes our plans a little. But Arata, Loki explained to me how Kotori survived but how did you avoid that? Gerald was thinking that Arata also didnt die as he didnt lost level. But it was not the truth. The only skill that Arata had and Gerald didnt know about was his Sacrifice skill that prevented him from losing levels from dying. I still dont want to brag about my skill so. Arata thought like that but the main reason was that he didnt want Gerald to know. -well, I wasnt with the rest when the boom happened. So I didnt die. Arata answered with convincing lie although that moment Kotori send him a sharp glance as she knew the real reason why Aratas level didnt go down. Still even though Arata felt her look on his skin he didnt show any reaction. -ah thats why. Well, I wont ask you why you were slacking off at that time as we dont care about details. -I had official permission to slack off from Kelly. Arata did add one more argument to make his lie more believable even though there was no need. -if you want to take it official Kelly is simple member like you guys so she cant give you official permission to slack off. But if you didnt avoid that attack then back to the topic, Kotori you deserve the position of office after all. So you will take this as reward? -no I dont want it. -really? Well if you ever change your mind just say so. Anyway I dont have any other special gift to give you and there is no really time for that. -if we are talking about gifts for surviving that attack, I already got one from the one that used that attack. Arata already knew that Kotori received something from Arcon Shadenine before she log out. They still didnt know what that was though as Kotori also did not log in the last break. Gerald bursted into laughter. -hahahaha, he really never changes. It must have been a shock for him as well. He is too proud of his skills and giving a gift just for surviving his attack, ah thats so like him. -right, I also added that he is angry kid who take his frustration on low levels and dont know how to play this game. Kotori quickly added while they were on the topic. -and how did he answered? -it was then that he gave me a bag with something inside and told me to find him when I level up and fight with him so he can change my mind later on. -hahahaha ahh, what would I give to see his face at that moment. Arcon was always way too serious. -why are you laughing? He killed so many of us. Zen already promised to himself that one day he will kill hundreds of times that guy. Odin was on the same mind with him. Yuki also didnt feel right, for her that guy was biggest enemy that she ever faced. She even already had two nightmares about him and there were just two nights in which she slept since then. When he killed two of her comrades and was about to kill Kotori who was like sister to her, those scenes still hunted her, even it was just a game. Gerald seeing their worry just said. -dont take it too seriously. Sometimes it just happens. Like you walking the road then got hit by some big spell even if you had nothing to do with the one that casted it or ones that spell was casted on Did my lie really work? Geralds example was really too close to what happened to Arata that day. Still even when hearing it Arata did not give away any reaction and Gerald never stopped and continued with the explanation although with the first example he send a glance in Aratas direction. -or when someone pulled a large amount of monsters and was running away from then and you end up on the way those monsters went through. You have to accept those things and move on thats how it is in this game. -I will definitely return a favor one day. Geralds words didnt reach all of them though and Zen commented like this. -but you two avenged us, right? Afterwards Kotori asked the hard question and started looking at Loki and Gerald. They both tried to avert their eyes somehow. Then Loki started. -well you see I will say that I was ready to fight him to death if I had to. Also I even managed to hit him twice. After that I was strategically prolonging the fight while waiting for Gerald to come as backup but- -dont go to this again. I told you we couldnt risk fighting against him right now. Even if it would be two on one. You should understand right. You also cant afford to die right now. -there is this and there is that. You should still come and help. -but I knew you could run away without any problems. If it were me I am not sure I could. -I kind of understand. Ah right, I finally understood why he started calling himself Shadenine. But really that was scary, that skill is the most broken thing I ever seen. I think I was never running as fast after seeing it. -and you call yourself slayer of miracles? -I never called myself that. Anyway as you said I didnt want to test out what how good his spell nine really was because as you said there is absolutely no reason for us to involve ourselves with him. Also Kelly dying on us is already bad enough, isnt it? Their talk even though should be answer to Kotoris question ended up being complicated enough so only they could understand it. Still it meant that they didnt execute any revenge. -you see. We have something to do later on and for that we cant lost our levels in some random fights that have no meaning. It might be different for you as you can get back your levels without problems in day or two but for us it would be hard Gerald cut the topic and changed it completely. -I have many things to say but we cant do it here out in the open, its also uncomfortable and I am hungry. For now we are changing the location -you dont mean another long journey to other part of world, do you? Zen asked worried. -nah, we will move to my house and talk about it there. We finally arrived to Triangle after all. Sure the part of it was destroyed but its not destroyed completely so why would we even think of leaving? -you have a house here? -from today it will be a guild house I guess. We will use it as a new base of operation. So, lets go! Gerald first lifted his right hand upwards then started to move outside, everyone followed. The door no long existed but there was another way out available. Under the paining there was a hole in a wall that leaded to one street behind the cathedral, although Arata did not know how that hole was created. Gerald was leading everyone through alleys of Triangle. He didnt stop even for a second. Just like he once said, he knew this place like his own pocket. They were towards the western part of the city. In comparison to all other parts of the city, this part was not destroyed during the war. None of the buildings were not crumbled or burned down. Windows were also intact, and finally, there was no sign of any large craters in the ground. Because this area was still in good shape, there were unusually many players in this area as well. That was probably because it was the last place where they could find working shops or fill their bellies. Because of huge crowd, it was hard to hold any conversation but going through the allies was surprisingly easy. When Gerald walked at the front, equipped in his gray-red armor people wouldnt simply stand in his way and moved away. One might actually think that he used some kind of spell that would push people away but it was simply that people were moving away only because of his presence. -we are getting way too much attention. At some point, Arata whispered to Kotori who was walking next to him. Personally he didnt like to be in situations like that, where many people were looking in his direction. She is probably used to it. Arata thought that at least Kotori would be in this situation quite often. No man could hold back his gaze while looking at her. That was at least Aratas thoughts. Still Kotori quickly made him realize something. -we? Look around once more. I dont feel even one gaze at me. Well I dont need to be popular with some random mob and I have you. Still its irritating to lose to leader this much. It never happened to me. Normally I am slightly annoyed if someone starts glaring at me but if no one looks either then I dont know why but I am somewhat disappointed. By the way Arata, as long as you are going around in those shabby dark clothes you dont have to worry about catching the attention either. -well that may be the case for me but definitely not you. -as I said, look around once more. When Arata looked around more carefully he spotted it. They were walking through middle of the streets filled with people. The most beautiful goddess, right next to his arm, yet it was true, that no one pay him any attention nor looked in his or Kotoris direction. All the gaze fall at the man who was walking at the front. I have seen something like that before. Back when he first met Gerald, the reaction of the crowd was quite similar. Even if he was walking next to Kelly, who was not only good looking but was also of elven race this didnt matter. Geralds aura was something that captive people gaze and would also outshine anyone. Even if crowd was no longer filled with newbies in beginner equipment who played the game only for a month or so, the situation still stayed the same. -staying in shabby clothes has its advantages. Still in the end, Arata did not mind that Gerald was the attention grabber. -you are right on this one. Maybe I also should get something to hide myself. From time to time Kotori also would prefer to not be noticed so she came up with an idea. -as long as we are going somewhere with Gerald you also have no need for that. Arata suggested that for the time begin, she doesnt have to do that but her reaction was rather surprising. -you think I would lose to him if I go all out! Wait! Dont tell me you dont like my look! Impossible! I was so confident! -no thats not it. Definitely not it! -Arata just tell me! Should I dye my hair just tell me the color. Or should I go with plastic surgery? -why you always go in such extremes? -then, what should I change? My hairstyle? Should I Wear some accessories? I heard some guys have glasses fetish, should I wear them? She was even looking serious while saying it. -I said you definitely dont have to worry about look, just ask anyone on planet. -but you just said. There were times when Kotori would freak out for completely no reason without any basis. Still those situations always involved Arata in some part. Still he already knew how to deal with that. -did I said something wrong? You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.-hmm, nothing really. What was this all about? -so, you just did it for fun. -oh, you found out. More than half of the times though, those strange situations would be Kotori playing around and recognizing which time she was playing around and which time she did not was quite important. -still Arata seriously, what is your opinion on glasses? -opinion? I really dont have one. Firstly you for one are someone who doesnt have to care about look at all, ever. Secondly, even if you didnt look like you do, I would still love you. -I know that but as I already told you, I am and was a games maniac for a long time. -and? -you should know that when you play that much your eyesight will get worse. -thats common knowledge, although its depends on people. Some are more resilient, others less. I personally never had problems with that. That might be probably because I had a long break from playing though and now in VR you dont see the world with your real eyes anymore so they dont get worse from playing a lot. Wait Ah thats what it was about. -you are wearing glasses Kotori? -well, I use contacts most of the times. But yes I do have glasses yes. -I see, its not like it matters to me. -but it does to me. So Arata should I wore glasses or keep using contacts? -but you cant do that in the game anyway. Arata tried to avoid question. It was no difference to him and he didnt want to influence Kotoris decision. She should wear what she prefer was his opinion. Still that didnt work. -I meant in real world. We will meet someday eventually, after all. -and when will be that someday? -thats comes later, so should I wore glasses or not? Arata even tried to pull out their first meeting time as a topic but even that didnt work. Still he tried. -as I said its not important. Lets- -it is important! Kotoris eyes were deadly serious. Thats so called womans heart that man cannot understand no matter what. -even if you ask me its not like I can tell if you look better in glasses until I see you wear them. So choose for yourself. -hmm, thats also true you have to see it first Okay we will return to this conversation at that time and then you will be the one choosing. -why me? And didnt you already choose contacts in the first place. -why you? Hmm I will leave this answer to your imagination. But my imagination cant comprehend it. Arata had so many idle talks like that with Kotori that he could no longer count. Still it was part of everyday happiness. After going for about 20 minutes through avenues of western Triangle they finally reached Geralds house. -this is the place. I know it may be not what you except but it shouldnt do worse than the hill next to Loris. -this is your place? -well its not mine anymore, its ours. So, anyone want to ring the bell? -wait a minute! You are telling us that we are going to live in this villa!? Zen asked the question that had been on everyone mind. -you dont like it? Dont worry, we wont stay here for far too long and we cant use anything else. Every tavern that is still intact is probably full. Gerald answered, it looked like he did not completely understand the question or most likely was playing on everyones minds. -no, my question was, why do you have a villa in this city in the first place? -naturally I bought it. Didnt I say that I stayed in Triangle for a long time when no one knew how to pass 100th level? -no Gerald, they probably asking why did you waste so much money on it. Player houses are costly especially villa type. Loki tried to explain. -who cares about that! Zen bursted out. Although Gerald already got what he wanted he continued with a show. -you know, you say that we are going to your house but it turns out to be some kind of rich villa. And you are just transforming it into guild house like nothing. We know you have high level but even for you it shouldnt be easy to just give it away. Arata stepped in with really precise question that couldnt be avoided. That was the only answer to Geralds playing around and Arata for one already knew it well. -good point Arata. To tell the truth, I am not using it too often. After I passed 100th level, I returned here three or four times so I see no problem with giving it away. But I am not transforming this house into guild house only because I dont need it anymore. And its not only this house. To tell the truth, I have another two houses similar to this one, only little bigger. They are located in two keys locations in a world. They will also be transformed into our guild houses. -you will do that just like that? -sure why not, its for my guild after all and I dont need more than just one private room anyway. -thats really generous of you. Kotori pointed it out. -haha, there are many advantages to be in guild Refrain. So returning to the question, who wants to ring the bell? You all are already registered as someone who can enter the house. There is surprise for anyone who rings the bell now. I hope you like it. Hey, Arata give it a try! It will be reward for staying alive even if you slacked off. -I feel some evil intention from you so I will pass. Arata would not fall for an obvious trap. -eh you are no fun, Loki? -I am the same on this one. Also I already know what that surprise is. -okay I will do it. -no I want to. Zen volunteered for the job but Gerald cut him. -you guys died so no reward for you. Then Arata and Loki got some strange ideas and already said that they dont want to do it and if let Kotori do it, it would be way too extreme for everyone who is here. -why would it be too extreme? -just wait and see. Refrains guild house once Geralds private house in Triangle was not that big to call it a villa. Still the design was in white colors and the garden around it was speaking for itself. Gerald pressed golden button on the doors. Ten second passed and nothing happened. Arata asked. -you sure it still works. Like it get rusted for not using? Also why do you ring the bell to your own house? -ah, dont worry about that and look. At those words, someone finally opened the doors. She wore long black dress and white apron on it, with a flounce white headdress on short black hairs. She had also had black eyes and overall pleasant to look at face. The moment she opened the door. -master Gerald! She shouted that name and jumped at him right away. Gerald cached her and made a spin while holding her high. I knew something was fishy. -nice to see you, Maya. Gerald welcomed her. It looked like her name was Maya. -master Gerald is so mean. Why didnt you visit for so long? And now you act like nothing happened. -what are you saying. We were here two months ago. -ah master Loki. -been a while Maya. Seeing this Arata whispered to Kotori. -hey, she is not a player right? -I think not, or at least I hope not. Also, Arata you are forbidden to ring the bell. -fine, fine. The maid Maya looked around and asked. -and those are? -wait a second, I will introduce you. This is Maya, she is also a member of Refrain and guild house keeper. -for the note, she is a not player so dont worry about her crazy behavior. Loki added what was necessary. -so you are all new masters. Okay, I already remember your faces. Wait You! Maya pointed at Kotori. -what are you to master Gerald. Know that Maya will not let you do anything with him! -I am Kotori and this is my boyfriend Arata. -nice to meet you. Arata also added hello. -ah then then you are fine. I couldnt stand any girl with evil intentions towards him. -no, no there is no one with intentions like that here. Kotori explained. -good, now you two are? -I am Zen. -my name is Odin. -master Zen and master Odin right? After hearing that Zen went into daydreaming. -its the first time I have been called like that in my life. -me too. -a villa and a maid. Maybe we should stop leveling for some time and enjoy just it. What do you say Odin? It looked like one of Zens dreams was just fulfilled. Odin was as always not too excited about anything although he also was in a good mood. Maid Maya continued she then stopped at Anari. -nice to meet you, I am Anari. -good you are safe. -why is that? -well, lets just say that I am trusty type It didnt look to me like that second ago. -is there anyone else. -hey Yuki, say hi as well. Yuki was hiding behind Arata and Kotori and was left unseen until now. Also her character was that of the quiet person and she wouldnt speak anything unless she was asked by someone. That might be because she was not comfortable with speaking in English even if she had no problems in conversing with others. After observing her for a while Arata somewhat understood that also came from the fact that she was the youngest here and she was not sure how to interact with others. She was not that good at entering the conversation of large group of people so it often happened that while the group talked she would not say too much. Still while talking with her one on one, she would say a lot and would be incredibly happy that someone took interest in her. Yuki was pushed forward by Kotori to the maid. -Im Yuki. Maya stopped her eyes on her for few seconds but then she looked at Gerald and second later grabbed his arm and ran inside the house and then to some room. -I will be back in a minute! Gerald shouted while being kidnapped. -did I do something bad? Yuki looked towards Kotori and asked. -of course not, Loki you know what is it about? -I can probably guess but its not your fault Yuki. Maya probably remembered something important that she had to tell Gerald immediately. Anyway lets get inside. With Lokis suggestion they entered inside. Everyone unequipped unnecessary equipment like weapons. Its just felt right to do it as they were entering real house. It often happened while playing EOA. People would forget that they are not in real world. Arata took down his long black coat and was only in his black leather clothes, well his appearance didnt really change that much. Loki showed the way and they entered one big room. There was a large table in the middle and couches and armchairs around it. They looked really comfortable so everyone quickly sat down. Arata first sit down in armchair but then he was quickly summoned to sit on couch next to Kotori. When everyone found their sitting spots, Gerald returned with Maya. Gerald for one didnt care if it was a house or not and was still wearing his armor as always. He sat in most middle position possible and started talking. Maya went to some other room. -the first party, I mean strategic meeting of Refrain will now begin. Hip, hip hurray! Applause! -clap, clap, clap. Only Anari clapped. -thank you Anari This happened few times before. Why does he keep trying to do that? No one else will clap anyway -so before we start anything, lets wait for food. -its better to just start right away. Loki pointed it out. -oh, dont underestimate Maya As Gerald said, Maya come to the room with a moving table in matters of minutes. With ninja like movements in two minutes table was filled with different kind of foods and drinks. Everyone had two plates before themselves and a goblet with tea in it. Gerald started. -you can all start eating. I will do the talking, if you have any questions you can interrupt me or ask them later. I dont care if someone is a minor or not but if you are bad with alcohol dont drink any until the strategic part ends and the actual party starts. -wow, I like where its going. Odin, pour me one! -master Zen, drinks will be served later for now eat before its get cold. -good call Maya. Loki complemented her. It could go out of hands really fast should she not do that. -well that might be better. Anyway where should I start? The first thing you guys asked was where was Kelly?. Loki care to take this one. -you are the leader Gerald. I busy eating. Everyone already had mouths filled with something. Its been a while since they eat any good meal in the game and there was endless number of dishes right before their noses. Even if they wanted not to eat their will would not be strong enough to hold it for long. Actually, Gerald dig his own grave when he said that he will talk while everyone are eating. -okay then, lets start with five minute break He quickly gave up on the idea and also started to eat as well. But it was not eating for joy but just to control his hunger. He ate really fast and then continued. -so after Kelly got killed by Arcon, she was, lets say not in best mood. So she literally went into mountains to train and regain her levels as regaining levels first after dying is quite a good habit which you guys should also follow. -question! Zen interrupted right after first sentence. -who is that Arcon guy? -ah, we are going into off topic already? Well he killed you all so you probably guys want to know. Not that it will be of much use to you, but sure. The best way to describe him would actually be the most skillful player of EOA. -so he is the strongest player? -no, I dont think that you can call anyone the strongest player of EOA. Should you organize a tournament and gather all players in it. The person who wins, would still lose in fight to someone else who was eliminated from tournament. Its like rock-paper-scissors. You may win against one guy but lose to another. Still Arcon is pretty strong sure. I wouldnt want to fight him if I didnt want to but if I were to I could win. -yes, good luck with winning. To Geralds last comment Loki added a remark. -it has weak points. -like? Either Gerald had no answer or he didnt want to talk about it. -Loki, at least you dont interrupt me. We cut this topic here. Still it was not the case as Kotori followed up with question. -I have another question, why did he attack us, the moment he heard your name? Before seeing Kellys message, he had no intention of killing us, well except idiots who wanted to die. -who are you calling an idiot! -well, it was not something an intelligent being would do, thats for sure. Zen gave up as Kotori words were the truth. Gerald answered -I guess, he wanted me to come there and fight with him. He and I used to play together. He knows my personality and knew that I wouldnt fight him for no reason, so he tried to give me one. That would explain it. -so we were just implicated in yours affairs. -I dont have affair with him, at least I think so. We always have been good friends. Well he might currently have a grudge against me but its something that washes away in comparison to our friendship If your friends want to kill you then what about your enemies? -anyway lets cut the off top already. Time for the most important thing, which is future of Refrain. First of all, I have somewhat unpleasant news for you. I already told you about 100 level barrier but I didnt tell you how it work. Anyone of you already know it? - . No one said anything as even if someone did the explanation would still be helpful. -then listen. Upon hitting level 99 you cant progress with level anymore. To ding level 100 and unlock all levels up to 199 you have to complete a certain challenge that everyone calls nowadays 100 level barrier. I will tell you more or less how it works right before you go for it that is when you get to 99th level. What important though is what happens after that challenge. What happens after you complete it, is that you are sent somewhere to the world. -what do you mean sent? Zen asked. -its something similar to what happens after you finish your first month of play in the city of beginners and get the class. Remember, at that time you were teleported out from beginners city. This time however you are not going to the exact same forest just like anyone else that picked human race but in completely random location. -how random is that? Can you alert it somehow? Arata asked. -nope but you wont be sent to low level place like here or Loris. It should be for your level which is a region for 100-200 level. Although, sometimes you might end up at region with 400 level monsters. Well you can call it simply bad luck. Why do I feel it will happen to me? -and how fair is this occurrence? -you know that this game is not fair. Well its rare cases but some people do end up in rather unpleasant place. Loki tell them where you teleported after your challenge. - fine. For me it was, right in the middle of dragon lair. What was worse, the dragon was not sleeping and I got hit by his fire breath even before actually understanding what was happening. You guys will have it easy as you will know what this teleport is about. In my case, no one explained to me that I will be teleported somewhere and that I should expect situations like this. Oh, I got a bad felling about this. Knowing his luck and how it was all used in his resent time, Arata could already feel that his fate will be somewhat similar. Gerald continued. -things like that can happen. Anyway, for normal players unlike you, first barrier is not an easy task. Pass rate at first try is around 2% from whole population of players. That is also the reason why there are so many low level players. They cant pass the challenge and stays under 100 forever. Its also why people say that from level 100 the real fun begins. Someone who passes level 100 is no longer some small fry who just happened to try the game out and have no idea what to do. From there on players are true fighters. Although you guys are still better than most of them. No need to worry. -then how normal players usually pass that challenge? Odin asked. -everyone will get better if they put enough time and practice in it. They would max out their equipment and somehow pass it one day. -I heard that fighting academies started to appear on low level areas. People teaching there how to fight so for complete amateur it is good place to go. Loki added information. -emm, then maybe I should go there. -Anari, I told you many times to be confident, you are good. -but . -anyway if you want to learn something just ask. Anyway, right now we focus on our guild and not normal players. For you guys, passing the challenge shouldnt be the problem, what you want to do though is to get the highest score possible and get the reward. I will return to it when we will discuss challenge though. Still dont go underestimating it and dont let your guard down. Even after you complete it, no rather especially then be focused on staying alive. Your chances of living at that point are about 50%. Its a flip of coin that will decide your fate because just as Loki you might end up in dragons lair, thats the most extreme that I heard about but if you get in the middle of horde of horde of some monsters, dont blame me for not warning you. -and what will happen if we die? Yuki asked. -losing 10 levels after reaching 100 is not a big deal and you will regain it fast when you enter new lands. So as long as you get the reward from the challenge itself you can say you did a good job If its too troublesome I will stay on normal mode. As if reading Aratas thoughts Gerald added. -also note that reward from it is really good and unique so you better not think something along the lines, nah I dont care about it so I will just do normal mode Then Gerald returned to main topic. -anyway because you all will be teleported all around the world, Refrain will no longer work together as a guild at least for some time. -why is that? I want to play with Arata! Kotori bursted out first strongly objecting the idea. -well you can play with him no one is stopping you from that. What I wanted to say is that we wont work like we were doing it right now. So far we were focused only on you guys getting levels. We did it like that because there is no actual point for you to wasting your time on low level areas. Even if you do some quest here their reward wont be nearly as good as those over 100. Well with exception of class quests that is but for finding them under 100 level you have to be really luck. Anyway, rewards at higher levels are much better and its those rewards are the most important thing you should look for right now. Focusing on levels is good only up to this point. Sure you will have to level up eventually but dont make it your primary target. In this world there are many areas in which one can improve them and those areas have absolutely nothing to do with one level. It goes ridiculous to the point where skilled level fifty guy can defeat someone with level 299, although there isnt anyone with that level who is not skilled themselves, you can have my word on that. Still the strength is not limited by level by any means, so after completing the challenge, try to understand the nature of this world and become stronger. Find what this world has for you to offer Another Geralds grand speech. -but you will think about it when you complete the challenge. Also you dont have to follow everything I say, do what you think is best. Everyone have their own strengths and their own areas they should improve on and its also probably the best if you do it on your own. Naturally, I will give you few useful tips and tricks that will help you later on. First tip, dying is something you definitely should avoid if possible, although that doesnt mean to avoid it by all cost. Do you hear me Kotori? Gerald made glance in Kotoris direction and raised his voice a little while speaking.. -yes, yes, I wont do it again. -good. About those tricks, they might not seem useful at first but they will save you in circumstances in which good players like you usually die. Some are just advices some are things you need to train a little and be prepared to use them. Now second tip, dont hunt dragons. -what is the meaning of playing RPG if you cant hunt dragons? Zen asked obvious question. -as I said this is a tip on how to not die, you dont have to follow it. What I am saying is that hunting dragons in some random parties is bad idea. Dont get cheated if people say that they will kill it without problems. -although, dragon hunting parties usually turns out to be quite fun so sacrificing few levels for seeing what will happen during them is not bad. Loki had a slightly different opinion though. -its a man romance after all. Zen added interesting comment. Fighting dragons is something that you just cant live without in Fantasy-RPG. What was more important few levels that one would lose after dying or an epic fight against legendary flying leviathan? Gerald continued -tip number three, and this one you should really keep in mind, no matter what. You dont want to do quests of rank 3,2,1. -didnt you say that getting good rewards is our target? There were some gaps in logic there. Arata pointed it out. -yes I did but you wont get anything from those so just trust me and dont even get close to those quests. Things can go really bad should you fail them. No matter how tempting the reward is, its not worth it. -you said 3,2,1 but I heard that so far only two quests of rank 4 were complete. Kotori added this one. -another advice, dont believe everything you hear. I personally follow the rule, believe what I see. And you wont find everything on the internet. -emm I am not experience at game but 3,2,1 are the highest rank available so we shouldnt get them at our level right? Anari asked this one. Gerald answered -no, rank of quest doesnt follow that logic. I had a quest of rank 5 in beginners city which is the first month of playing and I had level three the time I got it. -so at any given time you can find any quest even of the highest rank? Arata asked. -there is possibility but finding even quest of lowest rank is hard enough, but you guys know it already. Anyway those three are three things that would be the most important things for now. There are only few of them for now so keep them in mind. I will add more later on. Any questions? //** This chapter is not over. Continue to part _20.2 **// http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3354 Chapter 20 “A gift of Power” _20.2 //** Continuation of chapter 20. (From 20.1) **// -I have one. -Arata, what is it. Since this morning Arata had one question that he had to ask no matter what. He waited until Gerald ended. It looked like everyone else forgotten about it -you said you will explain it later. Why were you repairing the painting in the church? It was really strange after all. Most of the city was destroyed and out of sudden, they started to put back the painting on the wall. -I forgotten about that. -me too and it was such a trouble. With day passing, some forgotten about it. Gerald answered. -thats easy one. If you look on the internet or ask people around, you will find out that to start 100th level challenge you need to knell down before the altar in the church, cathedral or anything of this kind and say the right words. Still the people that are spreading that info around are all wrong. What is important is not the altar but the painting. Without the painting it wont work on the other hand altar itself is completely useless as without it one can start the challenge no problem. So, we were repairing the painting so you guys can use it later as if we did not, who knows what will happen with it. In worst case scenario we would have to travel to some other city. -oh, thats pretty simple reason. -now that you mentioned the cathedral, I also have one question. Gerald said so. -what is it? -not you Arata. Kotori, what did you receive from Arcon? I was wondering could that be. Its not natural for him to give gifts to someone. -well I also didnt see it yet. It was a large bag. But he told me that it will help me because I will definitely hit some wall. You know what limitation he spoke about? Gerald wondered for a second then answered. -if you were to have any limitation in your play, it would not be because you lack something as the player. The only possibility is your class. -I thought the rank 3 was good. -it definitely is, what I meant is the nature of your class. As you know healers are not meant for solo play. Thats why if you ever wanted to fight him it would be hard for you as you are now. Even though some people have different opinion, the class makes a huge difference for players as its the core of everyones abilities after all. -but I wanted to be a healer and I never seen problem with that. -see, that is also the reason why you cant select one strongest player, its impossible to compare fighter with healer like you. What is more important good dps or good healing? -that is never ending dispute. Zen added this one. -and for no reason. Without the healers you wont win a hard fight as everyone will die but without people in field making damage you wont win either. Its a never ending cycle. We wont go into that dispute here though. Its a waste of time anyway. So Kotori what did you got? Kotori crossed her fingers and looked through the menus. -I cant do anything else with this bag apart from taking it out. -yes, you cant open boxes or bags inside inventory. You have to do it manually. But you can hide items within closed box inside your inventory. Gerald explained. -Arata make some space I taking it out. Kotori put it on couch that they were sitting on. It was large blue bag closed at the top tied by golden string. -I still dont know if I shouldnt just throw it away. I mean its from enemy. -its not like Arcon to leave some bomb inside it. Gerald tried to relax her but he didnt completely understand. -I am talking that I shouldnt take some gift. I have always gathered everything by myself and never asked for handout. -noble, noble. Still I wouldnt look at it that way. -changing how you look at it doesnt change the fact what it really is. Although Kotori had her own conviction there was no way that Gerald doesnt find out whats inside the bag. -but wasnt it reward for surviving his attack? Rewards for one shouldnt be thrown out. They should be show off to everyone right on the open. -but. -ah dont you know the saying that one shouldnt look a gift horse in the mouth. -a good saying but what about a Trojan horse? -dont add unnecessary comment Loki. Anyway Kotori, open the bag and you will worry about other things later.. Even Kotori was easily played by Geralds words. Well she had no chance on saying no from the beginning. If something interested him, Gerald would do everything to find whats inside. Kotori removed the golden string. The bag disappeared. -whaa -waaa Both on Kotori and Arata had to quickly catch what was falling for them so it doesnt hit them. The items scale shouldnt fit the bag but somehow it did. What Arata catch in hands was a long two handed sword sheathed in sheath. The hilt and sheath was a mix of blue and gold colors and looked majestic. Sword was quite large, much larger than one handed swords of Arata, or Yukis white katana. It was not easy but Arata managed to stabilize it in hands when it fallen on him. Kotori on the other hand was crushed by some kind of armor. The armor was in the same colors as the sword, blue and gold plus white. -Arata help. Arata put down the sword and quickly released Kotori from weight. The armor landed between them on some other items that were underneath it. Arata had no chance yet to see them. The golden armor with blue cloth. The chest piece and the armor on shoulders were in golden armor then the lower part was a long dress like in color of blue with two golden armor parts on both sides. They were tied together by belts which were going above the inside. Front part of down part was in triangle in white. Although lower parts was a single dress like armor rather knights pants it didnt exactly indicated that it was for woman. In games there were many characters going in robes. Knights lower also sometimes were like that. For example Geralds grey-red armor was the same. Still one could see that it was definitely armor designed for woman. The lower part was much more wide than Geralds one, a little like ball dress. Still it wouldnt slow down ones movements. The chest piece was mostly in gold and it was designed for slim person but the breast part indicated that it was for females. Everything was in Kotoris size. Also her gold colored hair would also go well together with golden armor. Still she said. -so Gerald, you still think that this reward would be of any use to me? Kotori wasnt too excited at all after reading one of the descriptions on them. -those are all class items. You wont even be able to equip it. Gerald voiced her reason for that. -why did that guy even give it to me? To play around with me? Or maybe to angry me? well I will just sell it and get some gold but he really did angry me with this one. I wanted to see how I would look in this armor after first seeing it but its a class item so I cant even equip it. I would also want to see that. Arata would not speak this opinion. Gerald continued. -if you are going to sell it, go to NPC shops as it will be hard to find person with specific class and I dont think that you would get that much more from the player than from NPC. Normally people dont even have much gold on them after all. This armor, lets see, oh I was even there when its dropped. Its for golden champion if I remember correctly. Its rank is 3 but I dont remember hearing about anyone with this class. What about you Loki? -me neither. Although, I know one NPC who has that class. Still, I am not sure where would we even have to start looking to find him. He was a traveling NPC and as far as I know he can be anywhere right now. -hey Kotori there are other things. Arata moved armor a little and revealed other things. -this sword is also useless as this armor, but is there anything else? Kotori asked as Arata started to take outer items from under the table on the table. -gauntlet, shoe. Naturally those werent simple shoes but long to knee golden plate knights boots. -still nothing useful. -another shoe, and another gauntlet. Well they are going in pair. There is a helmet as well. Arata took out golden helmet, although one could question its functionality. There was only one space through which one could see anything and that was a straight line opening. Kotori got tired -Arata, isnt there something useful? -apart from that there are also three books. -books? Gerald repeated Aratas words as he still was taking out from underneath the table. -first, the golden one . Arata took the first one out but the moment he did. -if I am not mistaken its a class book. Gerald commented like this. -how does it work? Can I just take it and I will have another class. Then I would be able to equip all those things. Kotori got excited and asked as she really wanted to equip those. It was probably not to wear them constantly but to simply equip them just this once. -unfortunately its not that useful as it would be completely unbalanced. Class book do not give you additional class but with their use you can change your class into the one from the book which is as I assume golden champion. I am right Arata? -yep, written on the front. -well, Kotori I wont stop you but do you really want to change into that class? I personally do not recommend it. -I also dont think I would do well in some knight class. And I wanted to be a healer. Anyway Arata what are other books. If it some super healer class with rank one I might consider the change then. After all Kotori was a healer. Should she change her class she would become some third rate player who cant make use of their class. In that way the skill books were actually dangerous to use. In the city of beginners one would get the class that theoretically suits them, still with the use of the skill book you can alert it yourself which may not turn out that good. Still, skill books were rare enough that the instances of someone having this problem did not happen too often. Arata took the second book. -the second is well the title is memories of two-handed sword fighter. -oh, thats even more rare then previous one. Loki commented. -how does it work? -simply put it you use it, book disappears and you have easier time in grasping how use two-handed sword fighting style. -so, one become master of sword in a second? Kotori asked. -Kotori, its a fraud. Arata interrupted here. -you dont know yet Arata. Maybe it is possible somehow. -I am telling you its a fraud. Arata had his own conviction about it. Fighting was not easy enough so one can learn it with some magical item. -Arata is right, its not that miracle item even if its indeed quite rare. Although it does theoretically helps a little and it definitely doesnt hurt. Gerald corrected Lokis explanation. -hey its not fair why did she got all that! Zen bursted out. It was indeed not something that player on low level could get a hands on. Combined with all other things it would make amateur into master knight. Gerald gave a good explanation to that comment though. -fair? But this game is not fair in the first place. It takes after the real world that is even more unfair. If something is not fair it all comes from the fact that life is not fair in general. In this case you can guess that any player can do what they want as it is their right. I would say that this time it is not completely unfair as if you survived that attack maybe you would get something as well. -Kotori, I wont lose to you! It seemed like Zen did not listen to that explanation at all and simply shouted. Kotori didnt even think to answer to this though and she instead asked. -so with all this item I would have skills as a melee fighter, right? -you arent really enthusiastic about it. -well, Arata already said its a fraud didnt he? -you think he knows more than me. -I, at least trust him more than I could ever trust you. -well, I cant do anything here I guess. Then Arata care to explain your thoughts a little more. -well it quite simple, you cant learn how to fight by reading some book or hearing theories. Those are the things that sure help but in the end the only thing that really matter is the practice. -ho grand words you say. -those are my grandfather words. And if someones know how to teach fighting it is him. -still Arata, you shouldnt underestimate magic of this game. What if I tell you that there are some things that you cant explain with logic? -like? -learning how to fight after reading single sentence in this book. -only idiots would believe in such things Arata would not change his mind. Kotori put the end to dispute. -I was just asking supposedly, I am not changing my class. As I said I planned to be a healer from the start. I also think that Arata is right. -I never said that you should change your class. Changing your style of play out of nowhere would waste all efforts that you put so far and I really happy having a healer like you in my guild. So you want that officer position? Gerald asked once more. This time Kotori thought about it at least. -I will think about it some other time. For now, we have like what, nine players plus one NPC in guild. What you need officers for? Still her answer stated the facts perfectly. -thats also true, but dont call Maya NPC, she is an inhabitant of this world. Thats some nice sounding definition of an NPC. Maybe I should start using it as well. Arata though like that as after all he already meet few in game characters the he got to know and calling them NPCs could be somewhat an insult as in his mind NPCs were something that he would normally only see on the screen of his monitor. -still did that guy really thought I would change the class just to fight him? Who does he think he is? Kotori followed up with another question. -as far as I know, he usually do something with clean reason in mind, giving a stock of items to someone, just so that can can sell them on the market is not in his nature. I think that we are still missing something. -well whatever it is, I am going to stay as the healer. Although I still wish I could equip those items once to make some pictures. Hey Arata how do you think would I look in this? Beautiful right? - . Kotori started to shake him. -hey Arata! How would I look in those items? -why dont you just try them? -wait, you think I should change the class? -hmm, with this combination, there is no need for that. -what do you mean Arata? Aratas words were not intact somehow. He showed the last book. White cover with no text on it. Gerald asked. -never seen anything like that. So what is it? -here Kotori. If she use all and equip all those items I will probably have no chance against her in future. Still she always wanted to be good player so she should be happy. Kotoris reaction what somewhat different to what Arata expected. There was hardly any reaction at all after she saw the first page in the book. But then she said. -I decided Kotori stopped after first page and said in strong voice. -even if it is from enemy, I will use it. -wait, what was the last book? Gerald was unclear and he didnt have idea why Kotori suddenly changed her decision. -you dont know? Arata asked. -how should I know? It may not look like it but I dont know everything. I cant know things that I dont know. Loki you have any ideas? -there are many unknown books in this world so naturally I cant tell just looking. Arata what is it? -I would say that this bag was the most unfair thing that can happen. -life is not fair, thats why anything can happen. Gerald commented with the same words once again. -that is beyond being unfair. Kotori care to show them. Kotori was looking at the white book without saying anything, thinking of something. She opened the book on first page and placed it front for Gerald and Loki to see. Everyone else also changed their position to see it. They werent saying anything for some time then Loki broke the silence. -I didnt know that something like that exist, but doesnt that book break the balance of a game a little too much. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.-so far the only way to get that was getting it in city of beginners, right? Where did he found that? -you shouldnt be asking that. I am asking why did he left something like this with Kotori? I mean, even he would definitely need it as well and it would be incredibly good for him. Not only him, me, you, it would actually be useful to practically everyone. -for him his class doesnt mean a thing, you know how he plays. The book title was. Secret of dual class. The one who use it make a new spot in which he can put new class. The only copy of this book found in world was right now in Kotoris hands. Kotori asked. -does it works how I think it does? -best way to find out is to use it. Although dont do it in house, everyone lets come outside. -why outside? -learning new class in the house can sometimes destroy it. Gerald stood up and showed the way. Kotori pick up all items to her inventory. They used a back door to leave the villa. Those doors lead too small garden behind the villa. -do the honors. Also save the memories of fighter for later time. Gerald made the last advice. Kotori was standing in the middle and everyone moved to the side with Geralds instruction. Naturally Kotori started with white book, the secret of dual class. Skill books werent similar to normal books. Although their thickness suggested that they were long in fact they were just a few sentences. -one nature was bestowed by god. One nature I will create on my own. Two natures will be in me. The one that was, and the one that will be. With those words white book disappeared in a flash. Kotoris body started to emit white light. She even lifted up from the ground and started to levitate. The effect lasted about 10 seconds and she land back right away. Light also vanished but before that happened in the sky the golden book appeared once again. This time however it was no longer the class change book but the one that had description of the class and the skills in it, namely a skill book of golden champion class. -how was it? Arata asked. -nothing special, although I got scared when I started to fly. But it was pleasant surprise. Time for the class book. Class book was usually distributed at the end of first month of play. It possessed the description of the class and spells that one could use after getting that class. Many pages were blank but they would theoretically fill up with level increased or other abilities gathered from for example class quests. Still Kotoris book right now didnt have all of that, just like the skill book it only had few sentences in it. Kotori took out the golden book and once again started to read it. -They said that destiny is something that you cant affect. Thats its a fate that you can run away from but I choose my own fate. This time it was not a simple lighting. A golden thunder hit right into Kotori even if there were no clouds that would signal the storm. Upon hitting thunder made a lot of noise and ground around Kotori was destroyed. Despite the damage nothing happen to Kotori though although Arata still got worried. -Kotori you okay? -hmm, nothing changed apart from my status window. And I also got few achievements Although this game featured achievements system one wouldnt be able to see them apart from one moment that they pop out. Nor could someone show them to others. Kotori followed up with question. -I have question. What does instant equip mean and how it works? Gerald took this one. -Its an enchantment. Its allows you to equip items with just thinking about it. It works the same way as casting spells and using abilities. Normally one cant equip their items at any times, for example, right in the middle of fight you cant change the armor you are wearing, still the instant equip enchant would allow it. Do you have it on your items? -yes. -then try to equip them like I just told you. The effect will be instant and compared to normal equipping you dont need to hide in bushes as we wont see a thing. -I will trust you on word. -well you dont have to trust me on word look Gerald said like that and in instant the armor that he was wearing changed into a different one. Well, it happened only for few seconds so Arata didnt manage to perceive it fast enough although the theme of that armor was a crimson flame. Still as mentioned second later Gerald returned to his usual equipment. -see just like that, still you wont be able to go back with the change as I just did because to do that you would need to have the instant equip enchant on both of your equipment and your current one doesnt have it. Well its not a problem right now as you can simply change it back normally in menu. Anyway go ahead and equip it. -okay. -no wait! Loki tried to stop her but it was too late. Kotori emitted blinding light and golden armor appeared on her. She didnt equip a helmet or the sword, still the impact was huge. I never have seen her like that. Kotori was emitting beauty but different than usual. It was more elegant and mature. But Arata had no time to admire her as Loki cut him out from dreaming. -Arata, go catch her! -hmm? -he will fall in the second. Arata look once again at Kotori still not knowing what it was about. Then he found out that she is about to fall to the ground as she stated to waver to the front and then to the back. [Lighting speed] Arata speed up with skill and catch her before she could fall. The moment he did that he understood what happened. The armor weight was not a joke even for him. Luckily Arata could support Kotori at standing and they didnt fall together. She should have stats for it if she can equip it. -hey Kotori is it too heavy? -heavy? I cant even move my finger in the glove. Em Arata tell everyone to go somewhere so I can change back. -you heard her! -sorry, we forgotten about one thing. There are some extra details with new classes. With apologize Loki send everyone inside. The only two left were Arata and Kotori. -well you can change now. -Arata, you too! At least, close your eyes. And she tells me to be honest with my feelings. With a smirk Arata closed his eyes. Kotori would joke all day about how easygoing she in everything. Like phone prank call three days ago but whenever it would come to anything actually happening she would always show her true self. Arata always knew how she felt, thats why he always was holding himself back. He knew that what she was saying and what she really meant was two different things. Kotori proved his theory one again although sometimes it was really hard to catch when Kotori was playing around and when she was not. -hey Arata, you should try to peep at least. After changing back Kotori proved his theory yet once again. -eh, you really never change. -anyway I changed so lets go back. Back in her usually equipment they let the garden and went inside. As they entered they could hear a loud talk about how is it unfair that Kotori got all those items. It was Zen who making a monologue. He was also adding that no matter what he wont lose which was something he already said one. Arata and Kotori sit back to the seats. Loki explained the earlier occurrence. -you see, even if you just got new class it doesnt mean you have all necessary stats for it. Your first class was probably intelligence and wisdom based, right? But the second is strength and vitality. -so what should I do? -all you need to do is level up. If you got dual class at start it wouldnt be a problem. But if you now got new class later on and that is based on completely different stats than previous one you wont be able to use this class to full advantage right away. But as you level up your stats will go up at high speed. By the time you hit 99 you will get about 60% of all stats that you should get to that point. After that is level 100. There is huge difference in leveling up after level 100. You need to put a lot more work into every level. In easy terms, they require a lot of experience and monsters dont give much more than ones before. The other thing is that reward for levels is not much either. Stats are barely increased. Thats why levels are less important. But in your case stats from second profession will go up at high speed until you get them to where they should get. Other way to get those stats to where they should be is to die few times. Stats from second class wont go down in that case and would increase when you regain levels later one. But you probably dont want to use that method right? -for now, I will stick to being healer. In the first place my second class is just off spec. -dont treat it as off spec. Dual class is more than that. You will need to learn how to combine those two professions into one great power. If you dont do it, it would be a waste. Well you can always leave it for later as even using a single class to the fullest is hard enough. Anyway, Gerald what are our plans for now? Some things have changed after all. Loki asked. -well, it will take us more time than we planned because they lost some levels but we were always behind the schedule so it doesnt matter If they tried to follow any schedule it would be impossible to keep you with it. After all looking for new members to a guild could never end after all. Gerald continued. -as for our plans, right now. We need to get everyone to catch up to Arata and Kotori with levels and then everyone to level 99. Arata and Kotori welcomed Geralds suggestion. -great then we can take some days off. -Arata lets go for a date. We have whole city to explore. -not whole, most of it was destroyed but sure. What you want to do. -doesnt matter really, just the two of us somewhere is fine with me. Plans looked bright but Gerald interrupted them. -sorry I already have other plans for you. -I dont want to do some of your dirty work. -me too. -well, well, just listen. For now I will go with everyone else to show them a good exping place so they can catch up to you in no time. Its hard to make a good plan if you all have different levels. But in the meantime I have mission for you Arata. -is it something complicated? -not really, but it may be hard in some way. Kotori just got new class and it would be a waste not to use it right? Still if she were to start using it all of sudden, it will do more harm than good. You two follow what I say? -well I dont know much about sword fighting. -the last book will help in some way. -in some way? See, I told you, Kotori its a fraud. Arata would not change his mind about this one. -believing in it wont hinder you even if it wont help. Gerald wanted to add some positives into them but Arata was set already. -it wont help, that I can say already ensure. But it can hinder. If one think that they can learn how to fight with some magical way from reading a book, there is no way that they will ever learn anything. -you are already pessimistic about it Gerald gave up as he saw that he wont be able to convince him. -still thats why you are best for the job. You will train Kotori so she learns how to fight with swords. -I got where that came from. But first of all. Kotori, do you even want to learn? Arata already read what it was about. -not really, I am healer after all. Fighting on front lines is something I will leave to you. -thoughts so. -still, if we are all going separate way, it would not hurt. -thats the spirit. See Arata she wants to learn. Arata was not deceived. -not so fast Gerald. So, Kotori what is the real reason? -I wanted to be taught by Arata, and I mean though in a lot of ways. I knew it! -Gerald, if I start to teach her now, it wont turn into teaching you think off anyway. -well, I understood it just now. -and wouldnt it be better if someone better than me trained her instead? -I dont think there is much choice. Well, we have Yuki on the board but she wouldnt cut out to be a good teacher. Also her swordsmanship is too clean, too nice and too deadly. Your style on the other hand is much more effective. Thats probably because you understand games much better than her. It is true that if you have real fighting experience, its a great boost but it doesnt automatically means that you will win against anyone. -still wouldnt it be better if you or Loki did that? -emm Loki do you know anything about sword fighting? Gerald asked to which Loki answered. -I know how to fight against sword users but I dont use swords myself. -but you use Sword Gerald. -I dont think I would be a good teacher on that front though. Unlike you, my skills came from long experience on battlefield. I was never really thought by anyone and I wouldnt even know where to start. Thats why Arata you will be best for it. -fine so how much time would I have for it? Arata gave up. -about three days I guess. Why did I even ask. -you do know its impossible to learn how to fight in three days. -you dont need her to learn everything. Just the basics, the rest will come with time. And the book will definitely help. -fine I will do it. But dont except anything, I never taught anyone either. -I didnt ask for more than that. But you have an idea on how to do it right. -well, I can more or less fight with two-handed swords so I will mostly be showing her example and tell her to repeat the movements. Then the rest will be sparing. Anyway Gerald provide us with some swords, some wooden swords that make no damage upon the hit would be best. She needs to be able to use them. To that Gerald asked suppressed. -wait Arata, you can fight with two-handed swords? -in truth with any weapon. Bare hands are also included. Well, I am better in some style worse in others but the basics are there, I definitely do know more than someone who tried to improvise their fighting at least. -I dont even want to know why you learned it all. Anyway for now do what you can. You will have about three to four days for that training. Its only the period of time when others will level up. Gerald stated the time limit. -three days. You will get everyone to 85 that fast? Well if its another secret dungeon like last time then I wont get surprised. -nah it will take 5 days including breaks but two days will be unavailable for you so you have only three. Gerald stated. -why is that? -after using books like memories of fighter the one who uses it will go into sleep for two days. You cant train when Kotori will be sleeping. -hey I was going to use that book outside. Kotori remarked. Should she not equip golden armor she would use the last book right away. -but dont you want to be bring to room while being hold like princess. Arata would do it of course. -oh, you have good ideas. Arata I am using it right now. -wait. Kotori started looking through the menu, Arata tried to that she said. -I cant wait for our date, I mean lessons, see you in two days. Take care of my body. -I said wait. -I see you dont want me to sleep? What would you want instead? Like some other things that you can do in bed? Even if Arata knew she really didnt mean it he really had hard time when Kotori started joking. This time it was even worse. -oh, I didnt think you went that far already. -ah, todays young is so corrupted. Gerald and Loki commented. -you two dont need to add fuel to the fire. Seriously. Arata answered like that. -hahaha. Anyway lets forget all plans for now. Hey, Kotori you wouldnt pass a party with your guild, would you? -who do you take me for!? -thats the spirit. So now, the first great party of Refrain will start. Hip, hip, hooray! Applause! Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap For the first time Anari was not the only one clapping. Gerald very satisfied with the result shouted. And so the party started and it lasted through the whole night. http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3355 Chapter 21 “Before the storm.” Chapter 21 Before the storm. -hahahahaha. Arthurs grandfather laughed at him over the phone. I knew this would, happen. Right now, Arthur was taking a short break from the game. When Refrains party ended, Kotori used the book called memories of two-handed fighter and fainted soon after. Well, she would probably faint regardless as she was not holding herself back during the party. In the end Arthur had to pick her up and carried her to bed, naturally by using princess carry method. After using the book, it should take her around two days to wake up, which was around 9 hours in real world time, so Arata had some free time. As for others, Gerald already lead them for the exping marathon so they can regain their levels and also catch up to Arata. Loki also went somewhere and disappeared without saying anything. So in the end, there was no reason for Arthur to wait inside the game so he log out. At some point, he decided to seriously think about what he should do with Kotoris training. He knew that it is impossible to learn how to fight in three days but some teaching would naturally be better than no teaching at all. Thats why, to solve this problem, he called his grandfather, to ask for advices from the master in the subject. So far, Arthur told him all surrounding circumstances but then, when he mentioned the book, he was soon met with laugher. -I asked seriously. Arata had enough of that laughter already so he decided to stop it. -you being serious about something is already suspicious enough. You dont need to add any fairy tales. Really, you didnt call even once for three weeks after moving out, and now that you finally do you tell me something like this. -what, did you get lonely? Do you want me to call you each day? -no, if you did that you would just be a bother. After all, I am finally free from you . -yes, yes. -so grandson. How is the living? Aratas grandfather would joke about it but he still was worry about his grandson. -good I guess. -thats all you have to say? -do I need to add anything else? I am bother after all. -hahaha. -anyway the thing I asked about. -you mean, the book that would teach someone how to fight over the night without picking up the sword do I really need to answer that? -well, I know that its a fraud. You dont need to tell me that. But did you perhaps heard about anything similar to that? -well I actually did. -you did? Oh, I thought it was complete fraud but maybe there is something behind it. Arthurs grandfather sounded serious for a second so Arata got interested but then second later. -you know, in my times there was a movie that showed something similar Movie? -the main character would get various abilities without any training. All it took was a single click on the mouse. The character learned how to fight, speak languages, or even jump from one buildings roof to another. Not that its really that hard, I still dont understand why did they make such big deal out of it? Anyway in that movie all the character really needed for those abilities was to take the right pill, so I guess your situation is kind of similar. Hahahahaha . - . In the end Arthur was simply made fun off. -by the way Arthur. You dont spend all your time playing the game are you? -not all of it. Although you said that as long as I enjoy myself its fine. -you actually enjoy yourself? Thats some good news. Still one day you will have to think about the future. -yes, one day. Arthur was definitely not trying to think about it right now. -haha, you probably have completely no idea what to do? Fine, fine do what you want. I have enough life experience to know that anything that humans do in their life is kind of meaningless anyway. -very encouraging to actually do something. -dont follow any standards and live the way you want, thats the best advice that I can give you. Although Arthur, do remember that you have the duty to stop our line from dying in your generation. -yes, yes. Anyway lets move towards the topic I wanted to discuss in the first place. I will be teaching someone how to fight with sword. -you? Well I guess you are able to do that. So did you come up with some plan already? -thats why I called. Also its not exactly full teaching as there are three days limit for it. Rather than teaching, I need to do give someone instructions on how they should train on their own. -it looks like something complicated. Still, its impossible in three days. Anyway, if you have someone who really wants to learn the sword send him to me and I will teach him until he give up or become the master of art. -well, its not something that serious. Its just for the sake of the game. -you know that I wont teach those who are not aiming for the top. Arthurs grandfather was master of his art and didnt teach just anyone but not just because he was arrogant or wanted great pupils. Arata commented. -in the past you did. It wasnt that long ago either. I still remember it, last year. You throw away from dojo everyone who was training for fun or just to be healthy. -well, I had my reasons. If they want to be healthy there are many less treating sports from them to do. -thats wasnt like usual you. Didnt you want to have army of students who would praise your name? -that was my goal. But something happened and I open my eyes to that. I didnt tell you about it yet as you already know cruelty of the world, well enough. Arthurs grandfather never explained it why he changed his mind towards training everyone into those who were serious. Also Arthur never asked but now to his words he said. -I am fine right now. -hmm I see that you dont waste time in this game after all. Still, its not something I will just spill out especially when its also involving someone you know. And that person wouldnt like you to know about it. -its not like I need to know. Felling that he shouldnt pry to deep Arthur left the subject. His grandfather returned to main topic. -so about your friends training. Tell him to do it seriously or dont do it at all Arthurs grandfather gave him final conclusion. -still now that we talk about it. Why does one need to know how to fight for playing the game in the first place? -well, it would be hard to explain it properly as you never tried it yourself And if I did you would start laughing at me again. -but yes, knowing how to fight there is useful. Its like fighting simulator in which you cant get hurt. -but if you cant get hurt its not really a fight. -anyway do you have any good advice at all? I simply want to help her in any way I can. Because it was going nowhere, Arthur decided to ask one last time. When he did that though, with one word, blow up his cover immediately. -her? Your friend is a girl? Grandfather asked, but it was clearly in slightly different tone than usual. -is that really something to be surprised about? -hoho, so I see that our line wont die that easily The voice, become really irritating for Arata. -its good to know that you really doing fine. You are grown up man so I wont tell you anything, although I will give you a warning. Our seed is strong so be careful. - . -ah, I wasnt expecting to live to see my grand grand children but how they say. The apple doesnt fall that far from the tree. Hmm, wont you be soon reach the age in which your father . -can you please stop it. Not to mention that you were even faster than him. -those were different times though. Anyway that training thing, for starter, I would suggest telling her to swing the sword until she faints. After that she can learn the techniques. You know them so just teach her that and it should be enough. You said it is nothing serious, so the training should be light. Swinging the sword until someone faints was actually light when compared to some of training that Arthur survived through. -but once again we wont have more than three days for practice. When I am supposed to show those techniques, not to mention its nearly impossible to repeat them after seeing them once. -well, I already said its impossible to learn in three days, it cant be helped. But why is it only three days? -after those three days we do different thing and then go separate way for some times. -ah so you want to test yourself by being separate? Arthur didnt want fall into any of those traps and spoke like nothing. -no, we are forced to do this by game system. -well, I dont know what it is about but without a teacher around, there is no way for her to learn it the right way. -then there is nothing I can do? -no just find her a teacher and it will be fine. There were much logic in it but. -and where would I find one? You know anyone in Rokaran city. -thats where she is living? Thats not that far from you, you are lucky. -yes I am. So do you know anyone? -hmm, I dont think so but I already have another good idea. -you have? -yes. You see, one of my students is teaching people with use of internet. Its like virtual dojo, and it isnt that bad. He told me that somehow, people in this era found a fighting spirit and wanted to learn how to fight. Right now he has filled schedule and doesnt take more students but if I ask him, he will do it right away. If your girl wants to learn that would be perfect for her. You said she doesnt need more than basics of basics right? Thats what his dojo actually specializes in, the basic for people who want to play some game. He really is making a lot of money on it. -well thats some idea. I will ask her. -great then its decided. Tell her to contact me and I will connect her with my disciple. -but I still didnt ask her. -doesnt matter, even if she refuses, tell her to call me regardless. -why does she even need to call you? -this number is fine. Anyway I have to do go to dojo now, bye! -hey! - . The call ended. He ran Oh well. That wasnt the worse idea ever. Still I dont think that Kotori really wants to learn how to fight with swords. Even since the whole business started she was not really interested in any of that. Anyway, she should be waking up soon so I should hop back to the game. As calling grandfather was the last thing on his list, Arthur went back to his room and log in to the game. Arata appeared inside the Refrains guild house. Right away he was welcomed by Kotori. -you are late! Those were not really welcoming words. -I thought you will be asleep for another hour or so. -I actually after a break already. I woke up day ago and seeing that you are not here I took a short break. I thought you will appear right away so I was rushing myself and log back as quickly as possible just to see that you still didnt log back. -technically, I still two hours before you should wake up. Also rather than waiting you should have called me. -I thought you will be faster. -sorry. -well its not like I was bored. I have new class with many skills to read through. Even if I cant use them, yet. -oh, then are you all fired up for training now? -not really. I hoped for better answer. -didnt you want to be like best player or something. -me? I only wanted to be best healer who could heal up anything that is possible to heal. -still it would be a waste not to use second class. -thats why I even agreed to all that, but tell me Arata, would I ever use that second class when important things happen? I think I wont, as in those times I will need to focus on healing anyway. -now that I think about it if you sell all that stuff you would get a good price. -maybe but I wanted to try wearing that armour because it looked quite nice even if it doesnt suit me at all. Kotori commented and gave him her reasons, although Arata saw through long ago. He couldnt agree to that comment though. -I rather thought that it was made especially for you. -well its true that I look nice in practically everything I wear but some things are simply not for me. In the end I think that the only advantages from that class are few spell that I got from it. -then what about the training. Do still want to do it? -nah, lets just leave it alone. -thats not very like you Kotori. -you were the one that said that three days training has no meaning anyway. -but even if it small help, you would usually go for it or at least try. So what is wrong? -whats wrong. What could be wrong Arata? Please tell me. Kotori was clearly sulking. If it is because of any reason the only thing I can think off is this. -its sucks that we have to be separated. -right!? What is wrong with this game? Shouldnt MMO games be about making friends and play with them any time you want! -this game was never really user friendly. Still its the same for everyone. -even if its the same for everyone, I still dont feel any better. -in the end though worrying about it will do no good. There is no reason to worry about things that you cant do anything about. -ah, you are too easygoing about it. -although it definitely sucks. Even if Arata tried to make her feel better about it, he cant do it as he also has his regrets. Seeing it, now Kotori wanted to feel him better. -okay, so lets make the use of the time we have. -right. So what do you want to do then? Go around the city and slack off? -no, lets go with that training thing. -but didnt you just? -yes, I said that I dont want to do it but that was for slightly different reason. I already thought about it carefully before deciding to take that second class yesterday before the party. No matter how I think about it my second class will come in handy, especially if I going to solo play. Right now I cant stand the idea of gathering new party that would be filled with newbies. -and this game is filled with them. -Arata, you dont even know how bad it is. You never even tried to look for party yourself, did you? You said that right after you finished beginners city and arrived in Loris, you were scouted by Gerald, right? -yes, just like that. Although, I did saw all those boar hunters, so I have a good idea on how good an average player is. Really, for what punishment would I be ever forced to play with people like that? -haha. -so we are training, right? -yep but Arata, how effective that training will be? -not that much I am afraid. Its impossible to learn much in just three days. -and what about that book? -I dont have too much hope for that, but do you feel like any difference. -nope. Kotori answering without even thinking about it was the best proof that the book was a fraud. -it would be better if we started right away. But even then it wont be nearly enough. -then even though I want to learn, is there even a reason to do that training? -well, I can at least show you the basics of basics of basics. -what are we going to do? -first two days, you will just swing the sword as many times as possible. -and how will that help? -you will get comfortable with attacking. Day three would be sparing, I will attack you and you will try to parry those attacks or dodge them. -if its just all that I dont think it will be any of use. -it will still be better than improvising. Also as I said its impossible to learn how to fight in three days. -then once again, why we even try? In the first place, even in solo play I will just stay with attacking from the distance. The conversation really went around in circles. -sure you can do that. But healer dps is low. So should you know how to use your second class, it would be better. -but using the class that you know how to use and using class that you have no idea what to do with, is quite a difference. -what you need to do is to combine those two classes and use them at the same time. But if you want to combine them you need to know how to use both of them separately. -but you said that three days are impossible so why should we even try. Yet another loop. -you have few wrong assumptions there. You dont have to learn it right away but small steps should lead you to knowledge eventually. -but I have only three days. -who said that you have only three days for it? -after that we are going for exping with everyone right? Gerald said that we wont waste single second until we ding 99 level and go for the challenge. -then what about after it? -after that you will be at second end of world as I dont believe that we end up in the same spot. -that would be too much to ask for. Still you can train then. -you telling me to train on my own? -that would be the start. -but you know in this game everyone is training on their own. Sure they will get better eventually but they wont be that good. I mean, no one after training like that would ever defeat you in pure swordsmanship, right? If one could learn everything by himself there would be no reason for teachers even existing. -Kotori how good you want to get then? -if I do something, I want to be at least above average. -fine I get it. -you have an idea? I didnt want to resort to this but. -what you want is someone who would teach you and give advices right? -yes, and that someone would have to be a real deal. -you really serious about it? -nope, around 50%. -hey! -I cant be that serious about my off spec, can I? -well, if you are not serious and give up half way, its fine as well I guess. -if I enjoy it, I wont give up half way. Still I plan to remain healer first and foremost. -okay, here is the deal. I spoke with my grandfather and he said that if you want to learn how to fight he knows someone who can help you. Arata finally explained even if he didnt know how it will go. -I dont really want to know how to fight in real you know. Just in the game. Kotori really had no determination. -its not what you think. Grandpas student opened a virtual dojo or something like that. He teaches there how to fight and give instructions. You can enter there any time you want by using VR capsule. It was probably made for people who wanted to fight in VR games anyway. -thats sounds nice So with this method, how long would it take to get as good as you for example? Although Arata didnt want to dishearten her he answered. -I had five years of training which included numerous of styles. Should you focus only on one it should be easier. Also if you keep using it in game it will also help. Still I dont want to brag but I dont think that virtual dojo would reach the level of training that I had. Grandpa tough me by himself and while doing it, he also said that I had somewhat talent for it. My blood flows through you after all was what he used to say. -you are legendary Arata after all. Oh, well I wasnt asking seriously, anyway how do I sign up to that dojo? -if you want then you have to call my grandpa and tell him that you are the girl I told him about. -what!? Kotoris eyes went wide. Arata misinterpret it. -well that was just his joke. I will get the number of that dojo master and tell you when you cans start. -no! I like first version better. Your grandfather wanted to talk with me right? And you already brag about me, right? Then give me his phone number! -I dont know about that. -I wont embarrass you. -you will, just by the fact that you call him, but that is not the issue. -then is your grandfather so unapproachable that simple human like me cant talk to him? -no he is actually really friendly. But should you really just call him out of sudden? -its not out of sudden. You will tell him before I make call. And this time you will properly explain who I am. -I already did. -hmm and what was that description? Friend from a game that wants to learn how to fight. -it probably was not the entire truth. Still know that if you dont explain, I will. And also, I will add some details that . Arata didnt even want to know what came to her mind. -okay, okay. -but it will have to wait until we are done with all things here. So lets begin that training Arata. First and foremost I wanted to be taught by you. And so three days have passed on sword training. Kotoris progress was small just like three days training would give one. She was not bad at it but at the same time she didnt have huge talent either. Being half serious about the whole thing and Arata being the teacher didnt help her in keeping motivation to swing the sword either. In the end there was more playing around that actual training. After those three days, just as Gerald said, he and others returned. They were all deadly tired but they all somehow managed to reach 85 level. Although Arata was surprised that it took them so long. That was because in secret dungeon they got at least five levels for one challenge. Each of challenge took about two hours to complete which meant 15 levels in 6 hours. From the group, only Yuki had 15 levels to ding as after dying she went down from 77 to 70. Others had even less to get. Still it took them five days together. Although, that showed how great secret dungeon was for leveling as well as how hard it is to get one level from here on. And it was going to get much worse. With another break that lasted a day it was finally the time for Arata and Kotori to join up leveling. Geralds plans also involved something else, apart from leveling that is. At first it didnt look suspicious. Following Gerald they arrived at dungeon. The enemies were of human type. They were all kind of type. Warriors, archers, mages, healers. Although Gerald himself didnt take part in fights as it would lower experience gain, it still went really fast. After all they had balanced party with tank healer and four dps. With use of high-damage AOE spells they destroyed anything in their way. The tactic was: Arata, Yuki and Odin going around the dungeon and pull everything on their way when Anari, Zen and Kotori who also had two AOE spells, finished them of. The dungeon Fortress of blue lions was for 85-95 level so they were just enough. It was normal well known dungeon. There were other parties walking around and fighting. At start, they all thought that Refrains group is crazy bunch of people that doesnt value their life. Later on, they still thought that but they had no chance to look at them anymore as it was way too dangerous to get close to them. After two parties got catch in a way of pulled mobs and died, most of players decided to wait till crazy people are gone or go somewhere else. The dungeon was big enough for people not to worry about others interrupting them but if someone just pulls packs of enemies and they ran all around the place it was better to just go somewhere else or wait till it becomes more peaceful. With that the whole dungeon was in hands of Refrains group. Still it didnt take them long to clean most of enemies and gain three levels each. The moment they all reached level 88 it was time for the boss. There were more than one boss in this dungeon but Gerald told them specifically that they come here just to meet this one. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Archmage Antonidus was the boss class monster that could be found in the eastern corner of the third floor inside the fortress. The room was no more than 6 meters diameter wide. What was big was the distance from the floor to the celling. According to the map eastern corner of the fortress was one of fortresss towers. It explained why this room was so different to previous rooms and why there was so much space in it. The walls were filled with bookshelf and books on them. There were few chandeliers with long chains which would hand about seven-ten meters over the floor. The chain was about 6 meter long and it reached the celling. After opening the door they could find Archmage Antonidus at the opposite end. Wearing a purple robe and strange hat he was standing with their back reading a book. -haha, finally some items for me. After seeing the guy, Zen was ready to storm him right away but Gerald stopped him and explained their purpose in coming here. -okay, its time to tell you why we bothered in coming to this dungeon. -good items? -lots of gold? -hidden quests? It wasnt even a question but everyone had high expectation that they voiced out. That was not the real reason though. -well, in the first place, in the current times, you could say that every quest in this game is hidden. Then, you need to do some work to get a good amount of gold. But anyway no, there also wont be any items as we are not killing this boss. -why did we even bothered to do this dungeon then? I want some items! I mean we have some hard challenge ahead of us right? Sure I dont need it but small bonus would make my victory even greater. Zen had a lot of sense here. After all they had 100 level challenge waiting for them. Gerald on the other hand looked like he didnt care at all. -you dont have to worry about items. Who needs them? -Gerald, you seem to forget the purpose of RPG games. Getting items and killing monsters. No matter how you think about it thats all there is to it. Arata joined the talk as well. At the moment the only item that would be near his level was his class item black sword Kuroi. Everything else belonged to category of low level items. Aratas second sword was not that bad as it was also from the dungeon but clothes bought in Rodrigez smith were definitely way too low. Lastly, the black coat is the item that Arata got from city of beginners on level 8. Even if it had good stats and it served him well till now, it was only this far. -items come and go, but skills always remains. What do you want? Learn something new or get new items? Gerald still didnt waver after what Arata said and he asked everyone the question. The answer to that question was rather simple though. -I want items. -me too. -who is in for ditching Geralds strange ideas and go for all bosses in this dungeon. After that we will go for other dungeons as well. Zen came up with good idea and everyone began to move inside to defeat the boss. But then Gerald started. -but you really dont need any items from this boss. Truth to be told, I know a very good spot for farming items, I was going to show it to you when you reach 99 level because thats the level you need to enter the place but if you want some low level items from here then go ahead. I am sure that you probably know better. Who needs places where epic class items drops from every single monster. You guys are right, where is a fun in that? Everyone stopped immediately after hearing that. -its sounds really fishy but never mind Thing about class items dropping from every mob was probably a lie but considering that Gerald had a plan for them to get gear in high level dungeons later on they were satisfied. Arata asked. -so what are we doing here? -to learn and practice something. You know, one of most common ways to die for good players are as follows. You get destroyed by a boss in a dungeon because you didnt know what he can do. Like when you entered somewhere blindly, by mistake or you just found a new dungeon and no one know the boss skills. All those situation leads to unavoidable deaths as you cant run away because of barrier or the doors that closes. I am going to teach you how to deal with this problem. Arata experienced it once before, and indeed he could use good idea then but that still didnt fully explain why they come here. -in that case, wouldnt any boss? I mean, if its only something you can do in specific place it wont help much. Odin asked as indeed there wasnt any difference in which boss they would try it on. If it was a method that helps only in specific circumstances it couldnt be called a good method. Still after that question Gerald reassured them -most bosses will do. Sure there are few on which that method wont work but its still better to know it. As for the reason we come to see this boss in particular, there is another thing that you need to learn and this place is perfect for it. There is one way that leads to dying and its hard to avoid no matter what level you have or how good you are. You still wont be able to do a thing when you came across it unprepared. -and the thing is? Zen asked. -falling damage. Namely crushing into the ground with the force of gravity. You will have to come up with a way on how to deal with situations where you are sent flying to the sky or just fall from a high place. If you start thinking about it while falling, you probably wont come up with anything because its freaking scary I know something about that. -still there are methods that can help you avoid it. Some skills your class have or ideas that you can come up with. Sometimes using your strongest skill just before hitting the ground is a good option. Try to come up with something and thanks to this boss you will be able to test your idea right away. -and what if it wont work? Anari asked. -well, you should be still alive even after the fall and I can just heal you up then. Gerald had some healing spells which he even demonstrated once. As Refrain stood right now Gerald was probably its best dps, healer and tank at the same time, he could even preform all those functions at once should he wanted. -so it will hurt? Yuki commented. -only if you came up with bad idea. Anyway as everyone knows Archmage Antonidus has a mechanic that you need to know about if you want to kill him. Once every five minutes he cast a spell on player that will make every party member fly to the roof if that player move from his position. Opposing that is simple, that player just dont have to stay put, that how it normally goes, still because we want us to fly up, when one of you get marked you have to move. Easy enough right? -so you are teaching us that we should go against the common tactic? Kotori commented. -exactly that! Anyway I will block off all his attacks so you have 5 minutes to come up with something. With that said Gerald rushed right before the boss. He poked him with fingers at the shoulder in a way to make him realize that he has guests. -I will teach you that you should not interrupt the elders. With that said Archmage started to fire up numerous of spells but they were all disappearing at Geralds barrier. For a note after poking the boss Gerald was just standing there without doing anything. Given that Arata already experienced flying few times he had a solution already. Should he use black dash few meters before hitting the ground he should be fine. Still because he had a try to check things out he thought that he should come up with a solution that he could use in an instance that he couldnt use black dash. Like when he was completely out of stamina. Still to do something like that without assist from the system will be hard. Hmm, something that would work like parachute would be cool still I have nothing of that sort. Arata started to look around for something that could be used as parachute. But he didnt find it. I guess that I cant use that. What else oh. His eyes stopped on the chandelier. I good thing I bought a new one two days ago. Arata crossed his fingers and confirmed that he have specific item in inventory. Its worth a try. If it wont work I can still black dash right before the ground. After coming up with idea all thats left were to wait. A blue mark appeared right under Odin. As instructed he moved right away and then everyone were sent flying, Gerald included. -aaaaaa! -wawaaa! Odin was the one who was send flying the farthest as it was probably because the one that moves which normally is the bad thing should be punished with most painful experience. The rest was flying about the same height. Gerald for one, the moment he fly up by few centimetres disappeared and appeared in the same place a second ago with a small red dot appearing right before that. While flying up Arata opened his equipment menu and took out the rope. He could do that before he start flying but he wanted to test how fast he would be able to do that. Being about five meters above the ground he already had a rope in hands. He then he threw it at nearby chandelier in a way that it got stuck at chain. Because this rope had a hook at the end he managed to do it on his first try. Holding the rope Arata stopped flying up and stopped. Then he started to fly down but two meters later he stopped once again. Then he started to get down. Perfect. Although, I can use it only if I have something to graph with rope. Still it should be useful in most of the cases. But I dont want to be in situation where I have to use it. And how the others are doing? Arata looked around. Everyone apart from Odin already started to fall down as well. What they are trying to do? Yuki and Kotori had swords in their hand. Arata could understand Yuki doing it but why would Kotori do it as well. Kotori hold a wooden sword that they used at the training. She was heading head first with sword like rocket. When she was few meters above the ground the sword started to spin and then send out waves of wind at the ground. Ground got cut a little but the attack managed to slow down Kotori enough and she managed to land without serious damage. After landing/crushing she managed to get up without a problem. As for Yuki it was not that well. The moment she was close to the ground, her sword send out a block of ice which made toboggans. In a spiral, she started sliding. Her speed did decrease and there was no big fall anymore but when she reached the end of her toboggans she naturally still had some speed and she ended up flying towards the bookshelf into which she crushed into. It didnt seem like a safe landing but Yuki wasnt really hurt by it. Also, since arrival in Triangle, Yuki has been using her spells like normal. Although there were some strange mystery around it, that made Gerald forbid her to do it, at some time he said that she needs to use it after all and that wont change much in a long run. Even if at the beginning it eats Arata curious, right now Yuki was just sword-fighter with ice powers. He for one had no idea what her class name was but in the end it didnt really matter to him. The following those two, the guilds mages did pretty well. Mages always had a numerous of spells that were useful in different circumstances, later on they would even get a skill called slow fall that would do this training completely meaningless, still they did a good job. Zen just before landing on the ground use teleport and without any problem, appeared on the ground like nothing. Then there was Anari who used something, Arata did not know what but she just started to slow down before ground as if she already had that slow fall spell. Arata was still going down the rope nearly everyone landed with more or less success. Then after reaching the ground Arata look up to the last person who was still missing. -wraaaaaa!!! Falling from the top Odin was screaming. But it was not a scream of fear but rather some kind of battle shout. Arata did not know if it was some skill that could help survive him falling down or just a way to stay focused while falling down at great speed. Either way it was a loud shout. With shield before him Odin was getting more and more momentum. As a warrior or some tank class, he shouldnt have probably didnt have anything useful for landing. But then two meters above ground the shield started to shine in red color. This is bad. Odin crashed into the floor but not only that as he also went through it to lower floor. -hey you are alive? Zen shouted to his friend through the hole that he made. -I lost about 5% of my HP but everything is fine. The problem is how I can get back? Do I need to go all the way around? The most surprising thing was that nothing really happened to him. System interpreted what happened as fast attack no falling to death. -you probably need to go around. Or wait. Arata give that rope for a minute. Zen asked as it was good idea for Odin to just climb back with Aratas rope. But then Gerald interrupted them. -he doesnt need to come back. Rather everyone jump down through that hole. I will explain in a second. -if you say so. Zen answered back and jumped right away. Arata soon followed. It was four meters height so he lost 5% of HP while doing so. -Arata! Catch me down there. Kotori shouted it from above and jumped down. Catching someone did more damage than falling on your own but Arata cached her anyway without complain. -me too Onii-chan! He did the same thing with Yuki. Anari for one jumped without saying anything and just like before she just landed without trouble. -hey Anari how are you doing it? -basic magic, I always use it for falling. Remember I even helped you one time at our guilds trial. -that didnt help much, but thanks for info. How is she doing it I dont know? I completely forsake using it at all. Arata also had once ambition to use it as well but he gave up as it didnt work well but it looked like Anari was constantly training it. The lessons that she didnt hear from Gerald but in city of beginners from someone whom she could call a mentor, she still remembered them well. Her mentor always was saying that with basic magic everything is possible. Unfortunately the number of people that actually could use it was low and it was an unknown art available only for those with talent. Arata with his minimal talent for basic magic that was close to zero did not think that this was the correct way for him to get stronger so he wasnt that focused on it. In the end basic magic was something that mages should focus on, and in EOA, Aratas heart was that of the swordsman. A red dot appeared near them. It burst in flame then Gerald appeared at that place. -you guys did a good job at the first try. Especially you Anari. Anyway because everyone did more or less okay we wont have to repeat this. No need to waste everyones time as all you really need to do in cases like that is to keep a clean mind and focus on what you can do. As you can see there are numerous ways of surviving the fall and if you really have no idea what to do, just smash the ground with some skill, that works just as well, while doing it you can aim for minion with speed from falling the damage is unbelievable high. Now then, with all that done we will once again go back to leveling up. There is a dungeon that gives a lot of experience nearby. The problem is that there will be many players there as well but I will just suggest them to leave until we are done. I am good at persuading people to be gone from the places I wanted them gone. It probably has nothing to do with persuading. -leader, you said something about running from the boss before. Anari reminded Gerald about this. -but who needs that, I dont plan on running away. I will simply kill anything that stands before me. Zen didnt consider that advice to be useful though. -if you could just kill it there wouldnt be that many deaths and I wouldnt even mention it. There are naturally many ways in which you can die but I am mentioning those that are most often. Anyway about how to get out from the room that is blocked by the barrier. We just did it. -you mean going through the floor? Odin asked? -exactly that. As you know there are barriers or doors barricading the entrance. But on the other hand there is nothing protects walls, floor or the celling. Windows are best option to escape if you ask me. But if you know you have open space somewhere behind the wall just smash through it. In underground dungeons go for the celling. -can we smash through the barrier or at least door as well? Zen asked. -thats the one thing that you cant go through. Doors have same immunity as barrier. Well naturally it is possible to break through it but you would need to get a little bit stronger before that. Still no one said that you cant smash the wall that right next to it. Thats also one of good places to break through. -ah, such simple technique. Kotori commented. -it is simple yet many people does not know about it. Well thats because we invented it with my group and didnt give it away that easily. Information is a weapon itself. I naturally wouldnt be telling you about if you werent in my guild. Yey! Yupi! Another advantage of joining our guild! Arata didnt want to admit but there really were a lot of merits in joining Refrain. -ah right, try not to tell it around to just anyone and also be careful while using it as sometimes bosses or their minions will come out into the open and bad thing can happen if they do. You know there was once a time that I released the dragon from his lair and he then fly out from it burned three villages on his way and then went somewhere. I dont have idea where it went but from time to time I can hear a tales of black dragon flying around and destroying everything on his way. Because AI monsters also can experience up and it happened long ago, right now he really is a monster to be feared of. No even before when we set him free my group couldnt hold a candle to it. And afterwards we tried many times to capture him just to get destroyed by him. -you mean miracle team? Kotori asked she knew the name in which that team was going around. -we dont really like that name but yes its the team I told you about. Its quite interesting tale. Remember when I told you not to hunt dragons, unfortunately we were pioneers of EOA and, no one told us that. We were at about 180 level back then. One of us got information from her Gerald grow silent for some time. Arata get him back from daydreaming. -yes? -right, so we got information about location of dragon lair, it already connects to other tale as it was the lair in which Loki appeared in Yes there was that. -so what we did was of course go straight for that lair to gain great achievement of being first to slay a dragon in EOA. But unfortunately dragons are not meant to be fought at that level, if they are meant to fight at all in the first place. Especially that one. Well, in short we were obliterated. When half of us died we decided to use our new developed technique that I just thought off. At that time we didnt knew that monsters can come out of their location. I was the one to make the hole in the wall. It was a small human size hole but when we left the dragons lair, the dragon destroyed the walls and went after us. In the end he killed most of us apart from two who are good at hiding then flew to burn villages and exp up. -so you let that monster free and now he brings havoc on everyone. -well, it happens from time to time Gerald didnt feel guilty about that, he continued the story. -we also tried to repair the damage and get rid of him when we leveled up. There were few tries at level 199, then there was one at level 250 and there was even one when we all dinged level 299. At that time our party was nearly completely separated but we still had this one unfinished business to do so we gathered once again as it was our fault after all but even then the beast was not in our reach. For a note, currently each of us could take the average dragon on their own and even at level 199, we managed to kill two other dragons so it is not that dragons are completely devastating but simply that the black dragon is. What is worse he grew too strong and nothing can stop him at this point. -is there really that we can do? After hearing the whole tale some people went quiet but then surprisingly Yuki ended up asking. Still to that question Gerald gave her a quick answer. -no, there is not. But anyway, you should all know that there are few dragons that also appeared in the skies and are flying around freely so its not uncommon now days. -you mean that there are more people who set the free? -probably, or maybe they are now able to go out on their own, who knows. If you ask me then I will tell you that its the dragons that got out, are looking for their friends and are helping them get out as well. AI monsters in this game are really intelligent, and those of dragon class are more intelligent than humans. -then, isnt it kind of bad? Arata asked as it seemed that Gerald did not care much. -naturally it would be better if someone hunt them down before it goes out of hand like with our dragon but who is supposed to do that? Right now only two best guilds would probably be able to do it and they are busy with their stuff. Also it was always that players and humans were weaker than monsters around them, I mean you should see it for yourself especially here in newbies lands. It gets better pass 100th level barrier but not by not that much. Anyway the lesson is dont set dangerous bosses free. Gerald finished the story with the moral. -and what about the boss above us? -well naturally there are types that move out and types that dont. This one probably wont come out because I blocked all of his attack without doing much so he got scared. -can bosses get scared? -all minions work like NPCs in a way so sure they can. Especially, humanoid types. Also while I was talking about letting dangerous bosses free, naturally there are bosses like that that are moving freely on their own. Well, this is quite big topic in general and we took enough time here, so learn the rest on your own. Time to go there are still eleven levels to go after wards. Well, with that dungeon it shouldnt take more than day or two and we dont even have to rush ourselves. -and after that dungeon for items? Zen added the question. -relax, you will get them one way or another, anyway lets go! Getting last eleven levels was easy thing. With similar tactic that at Fortress of blue lion only on bigger scale, numerous of enemies fall to the hand of Refrain. They didnt include only normal monsters but also some bandits as Gerald called them even if instance had no humanoid monsters. Still within two days Arata finally saw the message. [You have gained a level. Current level 99.] http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3399 Chapter 22 “Trial of adventurer _22.1 Chapter 22 Trial of adventurer What is the level cap in this game? No one reached maximum level so no one knows that. Many say that there is no max level at all. Before anyone get close to it new content is already somewhere in the world all you need to do is to find it. Although once people thought that level 99 is a max level. Even if people could find new lands with monsters which level was unknown no one could found a way to pass from level 99 to 100 so going to those lands was suicidal. There were two opinions at that time. First one which turned out to be false was that players have to wait until new things are unlocked even if they are already in game. Some other games once used similar system where new expansion would move level cap up. Still nothing of that sort was told by company that produced EOA. As the time passed, second idea come to mind of players and that was, that there is some special condition that will unlock higher level. That idea was supported by Christopher Horvitz who said that is possible as he always hated the fact that when new expansions were coming in games people stopped to play old content even if it was great. He also hated the fact that people had no choice in a matter and were forced to play new content wasting all the work that was done into old one. Even if they went to old raids and dungeons they would overwhelm it with level. Because players could do nothing about first opinion they focused on second opinion. Still it did not go so well and for more than half a year since game premiere no one found it. In EOA time it was more than two and half year. People started to give up at some point. Game up to 99 level was as good as they could hope for so they didnt complain there is nothing pass that. Still the dream of exploring new lands that no one went to before was in many minds so the search for a way never died out and was often a topic to talk about. As long as people dont give up someone is bound to find a way. Three years in EOA time after release of the game the news spread out that someone from elven race found a secret as how to level up to 100 level. Still because it was someone who just happen to find it and he wasnt someone who was known to be good player or at least be in good guild, many people didnt hear it right away. Most people also just didnt believe it because that player had no proof. When asked to show screenshot with his character being level 100 he answered that he only found a way but didnt manage to complete the task that one needs to do in order to level up. His explanation as how he found a way was also not really reliable. Even if people were skeptical about this, they didnt just brush it away. Instead it was label as newest content that no one did before so completing it should be worth something. Anyone could try the new content but it was not something that anyone would have high chances at. The content was really simple. Fight monsters as they come in some black arena. There were no teammates and no support. You were all on your own. Great number of players entered the challenge at the same time but you always ended up in the same place yet there were no one beside them. Challenge was not completed right away as not everyone joined it at start. Still because it was labeled as super hard, best players also get interested in it and finally managed to complete it. The news about completing it was little delayed. First player who announced it and send out a video to the internet mentioned that he already saw other players in a new land. And those were players who completed the challenge before him and didnt reveal that information. Players started to study the video that went out but it was not like they could learn much from it. Challenge was not always the same, different monsters to fight appeared all the time. Some of them were already known others were not. Still the video showed one important thing. If one wants to complete it, he needs to fulfill two conditions. One was to be as good as hell in fighting and staying alive and the second one was to have highest quality gear that they could get. With time more and more players started to pass through it and it wasnt labeled as the hardest content available. Still it was only getting to level 100. The challenge itself had another level which appeared after you complete the first one. You also had only one try on it as after getting level 100 you can never return to try at the challenge again, with condition like that number of players that complete it was really low. Dinging level 100 was a feat that was enough for most, they would be satisfied with it. But there were still some crazy people who would try the second part. -even if you fail the second part its not a reason to be sad. You will just lose ten levels but level 100 will be already unlocked. Few days have passed since Arata and his guildmates reached 99 level. Gerald just finished explaining how more or less the 100 level challenge works as well as how to get a juicy reward from it. They were in guild house of Refrain in Triangle, previously Geralds house. The moment that they will try the 100 level challenge was drawing near. -I will be happy if I pass the first part. -dont be dishearten Anari! You can do it. Just believe in yourself. -but I dont believe in myself. -thats your biggest weakness. Well I did say after all that its not that easy and when I say it, I mean it. If you manage the first part it will be good enough. Gerald was not trying to comfort her. -wawa. -still I believe in you, so if you cant believe in yourself, believe in my words. And as I said even if you lose at second part that doesnt change anything. You will die from time to time after all, thats how it is in this game. Better get used to it. Also dying for great reward that awaits you at the end is at least not meaning death. Without great risk there are not great rewards. -Gerald, is it really that hard? Arata asked. -after getting good equipment and learning your class most people manage to do it after few tries. Still those are not on your level so you should have no problems with that. -but its only first part, what about the second one? -for second you need to be much, much, better. I already know that all of you wont be able to complete it, I didnt hear about anyone who didnt have problems with that. -you? -I managed somehow. Still the last part is up to luck, I guess. -luck? -at second part you first fight some boss class monsters or just try to survive against them. After and if you manage with them, you are given about 5 minutes to drink some potions or regain your health in other way. At this point it is the second time you can give up. Giving up there gives a smaller reward which is increase in mana and stamina 5%. Even if you dont give up you still get it so dont give up just because of that. -so its more like there are three parts? -everyone says that it has two parts. One to do and one to avoid and number of people who passes that point is small so two parts are more common but I guess it can be called the third part. But there is no time to rest like between first and second where you can rest all you want. Only five minutes. -and how different is the third part. -the third part is the same, you have to defeat your opponent. Still the opponent is a little different this time and its really based on luck. When in previous parts you get monsters which are about the same strength no matter what combination you get, the last one can go bad if you are unlucky. I hate things based on luck. I always draw the shortest straw. -so what do you fight at third part? Kotori asked. -you fight copy of a player that once completed all three parts. -copy? -its an NPC with same skills that a player that once completed the challenge. It can be any player, someone who did it years ago or someone who did it minute before you. Still it will be their strength that they had at level 100 so dont worry... If its a player then we should manage somehow -but also dont underestimate it. As time goes, the challenge gets harder and harder. Because to beat it you need to win against someone who beat it once. Also they will be in perfect condition when you will be barely alive after first two parts. -so how are we supposed to complete it? -thats why I said that its hard and based on luck. The best thing you can get is someone who you are anti-class of. -and the worst we will get anti classed ourselves, perfect. Arata could already feel that he someone who is his anti-class. Even if he didnt know what class would that be. Gerald continued. -thats why its luck. If you get really unlucky or I would say lucky you could even fight against copy of me. -if I want to win, I would rather pass on it. -if I had to be honest, Arata you are probably better than when I was on level 100. Still the chances of getting someone who passed all challenges from that time are low right now. The more time one copy appear the less likely it is to appear. There are some chances but if there is someone who completed it recently the copy of him would appear most likely. There is one problem which makes the last challenge really hard. You have five minutes for the rest so you will be dead tired before fight. Copy will have big advantage. -thats not the only thing. What about mana and stamina. We will have it on 0 before we even start. Arata always ended empty after hard fights. Even if he tried to save mana for later he often ended up in situations where its either using the skill or dying. Regaining mana and stamina was slow process so five minutes would not be enough. Gerald tried to put some faith into them. -dont worry I took care of it already. I got you all a special potion that for 30 minutes let you use all skills and stamina for 10% of real cost. And with other potions that I got as well in those five minutes you will be back as new. Well, this potions have some side effects and after 30 minutes you will lay dead tired for two days after that but you should manage to win or lose in those 30 minutes and if you log out before potion take effect it like nothing have happened. -I hope so. Most of the effect stayed even when someone log out and waited for a player to hunt them. Gerald continued. -you need some advantage as well if you want to win that. You need best items and be in best form to even think about getting the reward. -and the reward is? -you can choose one of three options. They are also not always the same but things like gold, items, information about undiscovered dungeons and quests, stat increase or extra skills. Should you get skill I advise to choose this one. Items are least valuable as you will change it eventually. You can get gold in other way even if sum would be large. Dont choose quest item or you will end up with something similar that you got from Stonecell. -you should mention it before we got that item. -it went out of my mind. Anyway that would be all you really need to know about the challenge itself. Part one continuously monster fight, part two continuously boss monster fight and part three player copy fight. Use the potion before the last part or at the end of the second one. -then our last part of preparation is getting the items, right? So where is secret dungeon where every monster drops class item, Leader? Zen went back to the topic of items. -of course there is nothing of that sort. -it wasnt even a lie I guess. -dont say it like that Arata. Didnt I mention that you wont be wasting time on low level and go straight to the challenge? He just said that we need best items we can get. I dont think one potion will make that big of the difference. -Gerald? What are you going to do after we complete the challenge. -after you start the challenge I will go and do my stuff. As you know we have a teleport that connects our three guild houses so I plan to go for highest level content now and get back to form. Then, I guess I will try 300 level barrier, again. I wasnt planning on doing it as its impossible and unfair and stupid and really impossible to complete It looked like Gerald had some memories with it and even added impossible twice, -but after all I want to continue getting higher level and go to other new places and find something important. There is also a thing where I need to make our guild famous. -then you can go do it right away and we will go gather some items before going for challenge. Because as you said, that reward could be useful and we have only one chance of getting it. Arata knew that everyone felt the same and wouldnt mind farming some gear before the challenge. With their party they could easily go for hardest bosses in the area, but Gerald was still saying the same. -I said you dont have to worry about items, didnt I? -still getting good items would help wouldnt it. -having good items always help. Thats why you will have them. -you are going to give us a set of items like the one Kotori received. Zen heard what he wanted to hear. -something like that. It was going to be farewell surprise present but saying it few minutes before giving it away wont change a thing. Remember what I once said before any of you joined. There are many merits for joining our guild just pass the test. Still dont except the full set of class items I dont have things like that and I would go bankrupt if I were to buy it. -its awesome enough to get anything, so where are they? -Loki went to capital to get them. Gerald finally explained Loki absence during their leveling. -no wonder he wasnt here. How long is it from here to capital? -about a month on foot. Two weeks by horse. But he used our guild teleport so it was just a second. With that said he still needed a lot of time to get good items for all of you. Not only they need to have good stats but also you must be able to wear them so level required must be 99. And knowing Loki he will also think about some insignificant things like fashion. Still the stats will be main focus so you shouldnt have to change them unless you find something good. Things you can get in normal shops wont be better than those items that but some unique drop will. On the other hand not many things under level 99 will be better than those. -so we are starting the challenge right after he return? -after you change, we are going to the cathedral right away. I will say some encouraging words and with that you are free do to anything you want. If you want to contact anyone use our website that will be made soon, if it something important you can always use the phone. You all have my number and I have yours. If you want someone elses take ask about it yourself. Still URL for website will be ready in few days so you dont really need to do that. I will try to answer any question you might have but dont spam me with something irrelevant. Only something you cant deal with yourself... I will be finally free to do what I want. -as we already had two farewell parties there is no need for another one and Loki should be here any minute. He always is punctual and never gets late if he says that he will be on this time he will be on this time. And the time is, three, two, one. Tada. As if summoned the door to basement opened and Loki come out from there. It was understandable as the teleport to other guilds houses was located there. Everyone started to look at him with eyes full of greed and ready to jump one second he enter the room. After all items change people. -why is everyone looking at me like stray wolf looking at piece of meat? With that comment everyone stop doing that. Gerald informed him. -I told them about graduation present. You got everything? -more or less. I couldnt get Kelly to join us because she went to a place that would be impossible to leave if I went there. -thought so, well getting her here wouldnt change much but it would be good to have all members together, it will take some time before it can happen again. -being sentimental is not important. There is more important thing to do, dont forget the big picture. So with this, we are done for now. -well there is still a speech to say out. We are going to church soon. -okay, everyone gathered in line or something so I can trade you all. But please come one at the time. There was no line but people came one at the time. First Zen then Kotori, Anari, Odin. Loki took some time with everyone even if trading took only a second. Arata was planning to go last but then he heard. -you can go first Oni-chan. There was no reason to refuse so he did just that. Loki welcomed him -yo, Arata. -hey. -I just said not to be sentimental but looks like just going separate way without saying anything is also bad. -probably, but do you have something to say? -not really. Well just thank you for joining our guild. -you dont have to thank me. I have so many merits after all. -it was in plan since beginning to do it like that. And those items were the last part of the plan, well at least for now. Here take them A window appeared before Arata. [Trade with Loki] [Yes/No] Arata just clicked yes and didnt look whats inside. -I didnt know what you would like so I just get similar items to what you have right now. I did most with the same. -so I have them full black. Arata sighted. -not fully but mostly, yes. Shirt is different color and there is guild logo on back. It should suit you. -at least that. -I wanted to ask what everyone wants but Gerald said it should be surprise thats why I had to decide most on my own. The crafters helped me in choosing so its not exactly on my own I guess. -crafters? -dont be disappointed those are best crafters in the game. Items may not be the highest rate but its still better than anything you would be able to loot right now. Crafters have high skill at lowering the level required so that was the best way to get those items. -probably. Well getting some imba items would ruin the fun. -they are imba enough if you ask me and if we are talking about fun destroying everything in your way is greatest fun you can find here. -haha well I will go check them. -we probably wont talk alone like this for a long time so I wish you luck. Also beat the crap out of 100 level challenge. If you wont be able to do it, I dont think there is anyone who will. -well there are some that are better than me. Arata didnt consider himself as some good players. Not with monsters like Gerald and Loki around. Players that could throw him down from the cliff into the ice river with one move of hand. Players that could blow up whole city in matter of seconds. There also were some crazy bears running through the woods. Arata didnt considered himself too good but Loki thought differently and said. -I am positive that you are the best player in level range of 1-99 or even little higher. -you may think too highly of me. What about Yuki for example? Gerald keeps saying that she is the best. She also managed to complete whole dungeon on her own, boss included, which I couldnt do. And in our duel I won by luck. -still you won. Sure Yuki may have better class than all of you and her skill in general are on high level. But she is still just a kid. Dealing with whatever comes at you is the true strength. Understand opponent strength and finding an answer to it. Staying cool in any circumstances. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.-if you are talking about staying cool in any circumstances there is at least one person that I know who is better than me at that and still on the same level. -and who is it? -Kotori. Also, if we are sentimental now then, I have to tell you one thing. -yes? -thanks for bringing her to our guild. After all it was Loki who brought her into this guild. Arata wanted to thank him at some point but just never felt a right occasion for it. -I become your cupid in a way. But I didnt do anything apart from finding good player on street and inviting her for test with single motive of making our guild stronger. And I had nothing to do with you joining our guild rather when Anari said that she wanted her friend to come I didnt even think about searching for you and went off right away. -still I wanted to say that. By the way, you also should beat the crap of 300 level barrier. -thanks for encouragement, but for now I have different propose in this game but when I fulfill it I will get to it right away. After all we will be the strongest guild. -yes, the strongest guild. With those last words Arata went upstairs to find a room for change. Because it took seconds to change items in inventory, some already left their rooms with new items equipped. In order the first one was Zen. His equipment changed a little. As his robe looked more appealing and at first glance one could see that it was high class item. It was also not completely robe as only the back side was covered like coat. Legs were free to move and in pants. Color was still dark brown just like Zens hair. On the belt there was also a new sword which also looked more valuable than previous one. The new thing was that at the back Zen had a long silver staff. Arata never saw him with one. There was one thing that Arata didnt see. At the back of the robe there was an image of sword which was covered by flames. The image at Zens back was black. Then there was Kotori who was wearing similar robe to Zens one. The thing that was similar was the style. Legs were also exposed but behind it there was a white coat-like robe. The robe itself was in same colors as she had previously mostly white with golden colors here and there. The leggings were completely white. The difference was that she also wore short skirt on them. Similar to Zen she also wore a long silver staff at the back. The only thing that didnt change was the sunflower headset on her golden hair. She asked. -how do I look? -great as always. -its a little more mage-like than healer. She pointed at Zen who was just entering walking pass Loki and Yuki. Arata spotted a black sword in flames at his back. -and what is that mark? -guess it is a guild logo. Look I have something similar. Kotori showed her back to Arata and there he could see exact the same picture. Although color was different as it was fitting gold color. It was golden burning sword. -well I should get change soon. Want to come along? -you are okay with that? I will see you. -I am not someone who will care about showing some digital skin for three seconds to my girlfriend. If you dont want to look just close eyes them. -no, I want. I mean I will come. -then come. And so they entered the room that Kotori just left. Arata started to look up the items and change them one at the time. [Leather armor of magical swordsman. +60 Strength +40 Agility +30 Wisdom +400 Mana +200 Stamina +550 Health +300 Armor +3% Crit chance +15% Crit damage Armor piece made by skilled craftsmen Olivia. Thanks to skill of tailor the level requirement were lowered. In addition to that some stats upgrade are higher. Additional stat added. Armor Type: Leather/mail Level Required (130-31) 99] First thing that went was the armor. Aratas previous completely black one disappeared and three seconds later a new one appeared. Just like Kotoris and Zens ones at first glance one could see and feel the difference. Color also was different. Trousers were still black but there were few white lines that changed the look completely. The belt was also different more bright than previous one. The sword on the right side and there was additional place on the left one. Soon enough Arata put there a rope. It was better to have it out in the open because he will never know when it will be needed and it was the best thing he could put there. Then there was a chest piece. What Loki said was right it was not completely black. The black was only leather piece where there was some kind of armor like obsidian color mail over it. Still there also were few white lines which make it look much better. Then at the top there was a black hood that Arata could cover his head should he wanted to. The hood stuck out and landed on Aratas black coat. -hey thats no fair. After changing just one item Kotori already started commenting. -what is no fair? -you said that you will show some skin when you just stood behind with coat still on. If its like that I should wait for full effect. -wait a second till I enjoy my new items. Then I can dance for you naked. -really? -well dancing is a little too much anyway I still equipping so give me a second, I still in a menu. Arata then looked the other item and equipped it as well. [Novice One-handed sword of red steel Damage 57-70 +65 Strength +45 Agility +30 Attack speed +40 Parry Rating +5% Crit Chance Made from valuable material and by skilled blacksmith Gorim. Thanks to skill of blacksmith the level requirement were lowered and damage was increased. Level Required (120-21) 99] This time it was a sword. As name suggested it was in red color but because it was sheathed in black sheath only the hilt reveal it. Then there was another item. [Enchanted black boots of thief leader. +20 Strength +60 Agility +200 Stamina +100 Armor +5% Crit chance +15% Crit damage +3 Movement speed Additional skill Silent walking. Cwhile wearing those boots you can walk without making any noise. Boots wore once by thief leader and master of knifes. Because they were used by another person their stats are lowered. With high level enchantment level requirement had been lowered. Level Required (160-61) 99] Boots itself didnt look anything special but from description Arata could say that it was not player made but a drop. Arata thought it was something that Loki himself once used and he changed its level so Arata can use it as well. [Ring of magical swordsman +30 Agility +20 Wisdom +100 Mana +100 Stamina +2% Crit damage Ring made by skilled jewelcrafter Maya. Thanks to skill of jewelcrafter the level requirement were lowered. In addition to that some stats upgrade is higher. Additional stat added. Level Required (124-25) 99] Arata got two of those, he changed them with ring of frost and ring of agility that he once got. Although one could wear more items as well to get more stats doing so would hinder as well. In EOA one could equip on himself ten weapons at time but that wouldnt help him much. Same was with armor. Still Arata had two items to equip. [Necklace of superior agility +100 Agility Ring made by skilled jewelcrafter Maya. Thanks to skill of jewelcrafter the level requirement were lowered. In addition to that big stat upgrade. Level Required (136-37) 99] Then there was the last item. The time has finally come to change the coat of night that he got in the city of beginners. The new one wasnt rare item still it was way better that previous one. Also its name was quite interesting. [ Black leather coat of Refrain +40 Strength +60 Agility +40 Wisdom +200 Mana +300 Stamina +300 Health +500 Armor +3% Dodge rating +20% Crit damage +5% Fire damage Coat made by a skilled tailor Olivia. Thanks to skill of tailor the level requirement were lowered. In addition to that some stats upgrade are higher. Additional stat added. Refrain symbol the burning sword on the back in white color adds additional stat. Type: Leather/mail Level Required (149-50) 99 Only useable by Refrain guild member] Black coat similar to previous one but at the same time looked so different. When previous one was full leather/cloth like this one looked more durable. Especially the ends of coat were much thick. And it looked like it could stop something from attacking. The big difference was the large white image of sword with flames around it. It went from middle all way up. Then there was hood from the armor. Well this will do. Still I dont have much use of mana as my only skill cost all of it anyway and other eat just a little of it. I really need a skill that I can burn my mana into. -so how does it look? Arata asked. -much better than previous one. Looks like Loki has knowledge of fashion. But if I were to dress you up I would get rid of all that black color. -I also planned to change it but it wont happen for some time. Looks like as twilight swordsman I am doomed to have it like that. -still you look good. That was all Arata wanted to hear, but then Kotori followed up with another comment. -too good if you ask me. Can someone look too good? -is it bad? -previously your shabby clothes didnt fit you at all and lowered your appearance rate by much. But now you have clothes that fit you and with white guild mark on back and few white lines they even match your hair. -I still think that its a good thing. -on the one hand yes, but at other you will become more noticeable and someone will try to steal you from me. -and you worry about that? -no but it will be annoying. -you could be jealous from time to time. It would be nice. -I dont have to jealous of you and you dont have to be jealous of me that I am sure of. -well then, shall we go down the challenge awaits us. Arata already changed and ready to go. Kotori said his name but with little different voice. -Arata. -hmm. -this may be the last moment that we can talk like this at least for some time. -it may be. Well it wont take that long and we can use the phone. -still direct talks and phone calls are two different things. -well if we go in details we never seen each other yet. -you dont think that do you? -of course not. -for some time now for me this game, no this world is as real as the real one. -you are right. I think so as well. Arata and Kotori meet already long time ago on that hill. Arata went back to memory of their first meetings. -then they went on adventure and fall in love with each other. Although if we go in details you fall in love with me the moment you saw me and for me it was many years ago. You know Arata, because you were with me all that time I could go with days without worry. Lately I didnt even have any nightmares. When my dream looked like it was going to change into nightmare you always appeared there to defend me. But I dont know what will happen if you wont be there for me from now on. -you cant get healed that easily after all. I am the same. -you are definitely doing better than me. I know what I need to do but I still wont be able to do it. -I will come with you there when the time is right. -yes, when the time is right. -anyway Kotori. If you want, after completing the challenge we can just get back somewhere together right away. Even if we got on opposite end of world, there should way to do it. All we need to do is sacrifice some time on it. With those words Kotori stood up from the chair that she was sitting one and run up to Arata. She jumped at him high. On instinct Arata caught her legs and hold her. I guess we are doing i Arata mind froze when Kotori lowered her head and their lips touched. It was only their second kiss so far but it was first time that Kotori kissed him. Kissing and being kissed was a different thing as one who was kissed didnt except it. Arata started to lost balance and moved few steps back. Lucky there was a bed behind him and he fall back first to it. Even in midst of they never stopped kissing about 20 seconds after falling on bed. Supporting with arms Kotori drew back from Aratas face. They were still close and her golden hair was all the way down around and on Aratas face. Then she started. -I wanted to do it once more before we go separated. -now I know why you passed out that time. With a surprise like that you can really drift out. -hehe. -so its decided, we are getting back right after completing a challenge. -no, we dont need to do that. I really want to but if we do it like this, I feel that I will never be able to stand on my own again. -you wont be on your own anymore. -still just as you want to support me, I want to support you. If I cant support myself how can I support you? Arata couldnt say anything to her decision and agreed. -I understand, still if you ever need something just ask. I will drop all things that I have on mind and come to help you. -well there shouldnt be anything dramatic like that. Still I will keep you at word for that. Kotori went to her usual self even if she was still lying over him in the bed. Arata could feel that she is back to normal and added. -but if its nothing important and you just get bored. Give me some time to finish my business. -too late you gave me a word. One day I will ask you to come just to pass me a drink from a table. -then I will gladly do that. Anyway we should get down already we might be a little late. -hey Arata, we are in bed together already so why not move to a next step? -yes, yes maybe later. -hehe. With that Kotori stranded up first and pulled Arata hand. He stood up right away but Kotori didnt let of that hand. In fact she held it right to the cathedral where they went after. For now they went like that out of the room and down the stairs. There was already everyone waiting. Anari, Odin and Yuki also changed their clothes. Anari had identical equipment to that of Kotori with a difference that her colors were changed to white and blue. Odin had red armor, red shield and red sword. He looked like true black barbarian who was ready for slather and his armor become get that crimson color because of endless number of blood that his enemies left on it. It was the same material that Aratas sword was made of. His guild mark on the back was black just like Zens. Then there was Yuki whose appearance also changed. It was still mix of white and black but material was different. Similar to Kotori and Anari she had black leggings with white skirt on it. Then there was a black/white armor similar to that of Arata. She was wearing Black boots. On top of that she was wearing black cloak that covered her back and was tied like scarf around the neck. If she wanted she could cover herself fully with it. It also had a hood that could be put on head but it was part of the cloak not armor piece. At the back there was, same as Aratas guild mark white sword surrounded by flames. -took you long enough but now that everyone is ready lets to go to the cathedral right away. With that being said both Loki and Gerald equipped cloaks that they didnt normally wear. They had mark of guild on it. Lokis cloak was in black color with yellow mark at the back while Geralds one was gray with color of raging fire on it. -one question. Do we always have to go around with guild mark on our back? No that it is back or anything and its even giving me increase in fire damage. Zen asked. For someone who uses fire magic, especially mages with their fireballs it was really great bonus. -you dont have to but it will spread the name of the guild if you do. Also you have items with it so there is no reason to not wear them unless you get something better. Me and Loki only got those cloaks for this occasion so we can make last move of Refrain with this mark on our back all together. It will be epic. -just get it done with so I can take it off already. I dont like capes. Gerald was excited about his idea when Loki on the other hand wasnt up for parade. -its true that I dont plan to use it either but it will be epic right now. So lets go! With that they made their way to the cathedral. While walking before they made enough appeal then right now with high level gear the impact was much more. There was even a person or two who asked if it is some guild and if they can join. To that Gerald answered. -sure we need more people but I you need to pass a test. Here it begins. Survive this. Second later that person was burn down to ashes after Gerald touched him with one finger. Anyone who seen that didnt try to ask anymore. They soon reached the cathedral. It was still devastated like the last time but it looked like someone repair the altar. They probably thought that they need it for 100 level challenge even if though Gerald said otherwise. There were two players inside the cathedral but they decided to move somewhere else after seeing those that came. No one tried to sit on any of the benches Gerald stood in the middle and started. -its time to hear the words from your glorious leader. I have only one thing left to say. I believe in all of you so go there and win Short and simple, its first time he said something like that. -also this is only the beginning not the ending, its time to spread out the name of our guild even if it didnt work here exactly as planned Only one thing sure. -another thing is remember to visit our website from time to time. As for when we will get back together, it is not specific yet but should you all get over 200 we will do it right away. But as I said dont focus on level but on other things. Also should you find someone who is good enough to join us ask them if they want to. Of course I will create a new test for them so dont invite some random people Thats definitely not just one thing. -with all that being said, I wish you luck although you dont need it. Trust your skills and it will take you anywhere you want. The first challenge that is before you begins now. Go and dont look back! We will see each other when the time is right. With those words Gerald posture started to disappear. Normally it took him just a second but this time it wasnt instantly. At the end only red dot remained but then it burned out with a flame. There was no need for words between them. All members of the guild including Arata and Kotori just went near the altar knell down before it and said the right words. -I ready to continue my Adventure. That was all there was and one by one everyone disappeared in flash from the cathedral. //** This chapter is not over. Continue to part _22.2 **// http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3400 Chapter 22 “Trial of adventurer _22.2 //** Continuation of chapter 22. (From 22.1) **// -mortal I have seen your path and know why you came here After teleporting out from the cathedral Arata was welcomed with those words. They come right from before him but he didnt see the one that spoke them. In fact he couldnt even open his eyes right now as should he try he would only see blinding light. Still, the voice of a man as Arata recognized was the first part of so called 100th level barrier. Please dont tell me that its another one of those destiny talks. Arata prepared himself for another long lecture about nothing as this was somewhat similar to his experience at end of city of beginners but none of that happen. -yes, I know why you come here and you know why you come here, there is no need to delay anything. Your trial will begin now. With his closed eyes, Arata could feel that in second that the voice stopped the light before him also disappeared. Arata finally opened his eyes and this time he could see what was around him. Gerald said that it was going to be an arena but it didnt look like that to Arata at all. The place he was in was rather some ruins. Sure there was a lot of space around him but destroyed pillars that were lying on the ground up to some destroyed construction. There was nothing that would look like a seat for spectators. Everything was in dark obsidian color which wouldnt be appealing to potential guests. In the first place the whole place was in some large cave, there was no sky to see. The only source of light was at the top of the cave. It was a strong light coming from large azure crystal. There were three gates in the northern part of construction. They were no doors but metal bars, so Arata could see what was behind them, although what was behind them was only darkness. Gates also had different size. The biggest one was on the left and it was four meters high, the one on the right was three meters high and the smallest one was right in the middle no more than two meters high. Arata expected that monsters will be coming that way any moment. It wasnt really hard to guess out that. The metal bars on the right gate lifted up and the moment it happened Arata got the message. [Are you satisfied with this world? Are you satisfied with the rules bonds it? Or do you want to see more, experience more, and see what you could not so far. If yes, know that you came to the right place but if no then you can still go back. What lay after this point is different from what you think, some things will change some will stay the same and some things you will change on your own and it will only depend on you if those will be good changes or bad changes that you wont be able to live with. Knowing all this, do you still decide to follow that path?] [Yes/No] -yes. Arata without much thinking chose yes. He would not think much about it. He already wanted to start the challenge. [Are you sure?] This is annoying. -yes I am sure, can we get started. [Your decisions are your own and it will depend on you if you regret in in the future.] With this being done another message appeared. [Trial of adventurer. Stage one Land of fighters is not a place for just anyone. If you want to go there, proof that you didnt come here by chance and you are ready. Proof that the adventure that you had so far brought the fruit and were not for nothing. Fight the creatures from the land you explored. There are twenty waves of enemies, you have either destroy them all or survive 30 minutes after the last wave come. Requirement: Defeat incoming enemies Failure: Death. Reward: Passage to the land of fighters.] I wonder what will come. Even Gerald said that it is hard. Also its twenty waves, it may not be that easy after all. Arata prepared himself for impossible fight. [Wave one: 5x bunnies] The first step for once unbeatable challenge was five bunnies. Wait what! Arata could not believe the message but from darkness in right gate five white bunnies came out. - What type of monster you get at each wave, depended on your luck. Wave ones monsters were from level 1 to 10. Wave two 11 to 20 and so on to ninth wave which was 81-90. From then there would be a wave 91 level, 92, 93 up to 100. The last wave was boss class monster made for one player. There was one boss like that that Arata already met. At that time Arata ended up with halberd going right through his belly. Each wave would come one minute after another. This part was the one that kept players from passing the challenge. Fighting numerous of monsters was not something that anyone could do right away. Still with time anyone who trained enough would pass it. It was made for normal people who already understood the game and its fighting system. They would have hard time especially with last wave of solo boss. It was hard for normal players but for players like Arata who would fight in unbelievable circumstances for most of the time, it wasnt something too hard. For people like him the second part was made. Arata was just standing there not really knowing what to do. Five bunnies were jumping around him. Even if they were labeled as monsters they didnt have a way to attack. It has to be done one. Without much choice Arata started to catch one after another and in seconds he turned bunnies into ingredients for his next meal. Still even if it only took him a second the next wave came right after he finished. [Wave two: 5x Kobold miner] Once again Arata spotted familiar figures. Those werent the mutated kobolds that he fought during his Guild exam. As he remembered they were little lower than 30 level. The kobolds that came out were the small ones with the candles on their head and pickaxes in hands. -you will not take the candle!!! While jumping from one leg to another Arata quickly slashed them down. He felt different today, he felt light and stronger than before. It was probably because of new items which gave his avatar body new stats. With high upgrade in their quality Arata feel tell the difference. Still. Give me something better! With no enemies to fight he could not test really it out. [Wave 3: 6x Blood boars] Common! His prays were not answered and he didnt get anything too good. Well, those werent the boars that Arata once saw near Loris. The ones that came out were bigger and red in color with black fur at the top. Their pupils were red in blood and the moment they come out, they charged at Arata. Arata moved out of the way of their way and slashed them with sword as they moved right next to him. One strike was all that he needed. [Wave 4: 4x Rodlers bandit] Four men have appeared. They were all wearing brown clothes, with swords and daggers in their hands. I guess its starts now. Arata was ready for some action and rushed at them. Those were the first enemies that didnt look funny in this challenge but still. -aaaa! -waa! -haaa! They could keep up with Arata sword at all and died one by one. The last one in crazy raid managed to slash his sword at Arata but when Arata tried to block it. -wraaa! Aaaa, it happened again. Aratas sword cut through bandits sword like butter and went right through him. Where are good enemies? Arata had enough of this play and he wanted something more serious but it was still low level. [Wave 5, 3x Novice Goblin] Three little green creatures entered through right gate. Ah, I dont care anymore, when does it end? Those three also fall quite quickly. [Wave 6, 4x Wolves] O. Once again, something familiar to Arata appeared. He once had a hard time going against those wolves. Still it was only in first fight as he leveled up they started to die way quicker and now with level 99. First wolf jumped at him, Arata slashed horizontally and slashed him in half. Second was jumping from the left side, Arata with left sword thrusted into him and he died as well. The body of second wolf was thrown at the third one and third one tripped on the ground. Arata run up to him and in the meantime slashed another one that was coming at him from left. Before third one stand up him was already killed. Fighting the same enemies I finally feel that I got better with leveling up. Another wave came soon after. [Wave 7: 5x Gnoll marauder.] Other strange creatures appeared. Height of dwarf, body color of brown with horrible looking faces. They were wearing some armor and held a bone cub as their weapons. They were running at Arata while holding it high. Arata jumped up over the first one, while doing it he slashed from it above. After he landed, he had two of them at the front. Before they even swing their weapons, Arata thurst his swords forward and killed them off in one attack. One gnoll managed to swing his cub but Arata easily dodged it and finished him off and other gnoll with one slash of his sword. Still nothing [Wave 8: 8x Militia soldier] Did they start coming faster? Each wave came after 1 minute each. It was not that it speeded up but Arata was taking more time to deal with each. Still he was on time as nothing so far survived one blow. Militia soldiers as grand as it may sounds their equipment was nothing of that sort. They didnt wear anything that could be called armor and their weapons were either wooden pikes which were sharpened on the end or wooden pikes with knife attached to it at the end. Although that attachment wouldnt probably survive, a single attack. Now they are coming with numbers? In stage one of trial of adventurer except for wave 20, number of enemies could go from 1 to 10 which was the luck element to the challenge. If you get a lot of enemies on say 19 wave, it can be bad as boss will be coming out in wave 20. Fighting both the boss class monster and leftovers from previous wave was something that one wanted to avoid at all costs. No time to waste then. Arata decided that its better to fight near the gate from where monsters were coming from. He rushed forward. Seeing it militia created defense formation where they stick out their spikes out and gathered in one place. It was impossible to get to them that easily and Arata would have to destroy their weapons first should he want to get closer to them without injury. [Black Dash] Or he could kill them all with one AOE skill as they stick to each other too much. I have stamina to spare and its better if its start regain already rather than doing something troublesome. [Wave 9: 7x Polar bears] The number of them starts to skyrocket. Polar bears were also something that Arata once fought even if on lower level. Those were from range of 81-90 and there were a lot of them. Hope they are not as strong at that bear. Should Arata get 7 forest bears he would change his tactic to survive 30 minutes after the last wave rather than fight them. Fortunately for him this challenge was not impossible. Even if there were seven of them, they couldnt attack Arata at once. Bears also were not that fast. Arata got to first one, instead of attacking from the front he continued and slashed from the side with his left red sword. -whraaaa! After roar of the beast, Arata quickly combined his first strike with a second one as he saw that the bear didnt die with the single one. So it begins. Other bear jumped at him seeing his other bear die. Arata moved out from way of the attack. He was going to thurst his sword into that bear right away but he saw another one charging at him from the right. Arata jump up and landed on the bear while thrusting his sword into him. After few more steps of charge that bear died. Arata jump down from him and was getting ready for next ones. He came close to back of another dodged a strike from his back paw and slashed horizontally with both swords. [Wave 10: 5x Eagles] Already? Arata wasted some time while riding a bear for fun but that was just ten or twenty seconds. He still had 4 bears to deal with and there already were new enemies and flying ones at that. I have to stop plying around. Arata run to another bear and finished him of. Then eagles appeared in the sky and started to circle around him. Another bear come charging at him but this time Arata didnt play around and take him head one. Sword slashed with bears teeth and second later there was one bear less. An eagle come down from the sky and attacked Aratas head, Arata moved quickly out of his way but when eagle missed, he right away went up to the sky. And how I am supposed to deal with them? While Arata was looking at the sky one of two remaining bears came at him. But Arata was paying attention. He thurst his sword in a way that it closed bears mouth and bring him to the ground then slashed horizontally with black sword and finished him off. Another Eagle came from the sky attacking with his claw right at Aratas head. Seeing it Arata slashed at him with his sword but eagle easily avoided it and fly up to the sky once more. Those birds are annoying. [Wave 11: 7x Young Panther] I still didnt get any of the flying ones. Arata already had some bears and number of enemies once again increased by a lot. At first only yellow eyes appeared in the darkness but then black panthers started coming out. Lets ignore birds for now. The last bear attacked him from the right. Arata turned to him a block his attack with one sword and countered with other. But after taking a hit bear didnt stop and attacked at Arata. He first slashed out the paw that came at him then the bears head. Then an eagle came from the sky and crushed into Aratas head. It didnt do much to him but it was the first hit he got. Arata wasnt stop by it and tried to slash at the bird but the bird just went back to the sky. This is -wraa A panther jumped at Arata from the left. Arata didnt saw it in time and landed on the ground. For a second Arata, had to hold his sword and defend from her jaw but then he kick the panther up from the ground and it fly up by about two meters. Before other panthers came Arata got quickly back on feet and. [Leap] He jumped up after the panther and in the air he slashed her head of landed at rest of her body and. [Leap] Arata went into the skies and there he managed to slash one eagle when as eagle did expect a sudden attack. Arata was now falling down from five meters and in the place he was going to land or rather crush there were already were few panthers waiting. But he didnt crush. [Black dash] Right before landing he activated his ability. Arata landed safely while at the same time killing three panthers. There were three of them left now. [Wave 12: 5x Trained Militia Soldiers] -one, two, one, two, one, two! Arata could hear the shouts that were coming out from the darkness but he had something else to deal with first. Three panthers circled around him, the moment Arata moved to one panther this one walked back while other two attacked him from the back. But even if panthers had a lot of speed, Arata was faster. Arata run towards first panther. When this one found out that it cant run it decided to attack but Arata thrusted forward with his sword before she could do it. -attack! Five militia soldiers started running in his way. The difference between this one and previous is that three of them had some mail armor and other two swords and lids of pots instead of pointed sticks. Arata finished of panther and prepared for another two that were coming his way. They were both coming from his front now so Arata prepared to parry their attack. Well, his parry especially with black sword Kuroi would rather be an attack. Panthers didnt fall for that and meter away from Arata they first jumped to the left and right and from that position attacked. Arata moved back a little and their idea didnt work. When panthers were back together, he moved forward and attacked both of them twice while passing between them. Arata dodged two eagles that came at him. After dodging he slashed at them but again missed and they fly back to the sky. A thurst of pointed stick with a knife at the end of it came at Aratas head. Arata parried it with his black sword destroying the opponent weapon in the process but he didnt have time to follow up and finish him off as other militian attacked him with sword from the right. [Wave 13: 6x Orc Peons] Arata didnt have time to be excited about the fact that he will finally met some orcs in this game as he had too many things on his mind right now. He dodged incoming sword and slashed the militian that attack him with one blow from the ground up to his head. Then with black sword Arata attacked other which tried to block with his shield but lids of pots didnt work, after all even normal shields would be destroyed upon meeting Aratas sword. The militian died and there were two more of them. Without stopping Arata went straight at two before them. Their morale was not big and they didnt shout anymore. Arata went after their heads and slashed them off. Now where is the last one? Arata looked around to see the last militian whose weapon should be already destroyed. The last militian was about four meters away from him. He was running in fear to the opposite end of the construction. I will deal with him later. An eagle came down from the sky and once again Arata tried to hit it but once again he missed. Dammit. Arata could simply not deal with them. Orc Peons were already out. Those green skin creatures were in height of Arata. Although their arm muscles were quite big they didnt look like fighting experts. In fact they had pick axes and normal axes in hands but those weapons could only serve in mines or lumber mills. First orc charged forward with his pick axe. Arata easily dodged it and slashed from the left cutting of Peons arm. -wraaa. Orc yelled but that didnt stop him and with healthy hand swing once more but Arata quickly finished him off. -never to be warrior. With those words the first Orc Peon landed on the ground. Other peons werent so eager to fight and were still standing away. This guy at least had some ambitions. Arata looked at first orc that he slay in this game then moved for other one. [Wave 14: 2x Young tiger] The next wave had a smallest amount of enemies so far and that was giving a lot of time for Arata to clean everything up. Orc peons were standing in a line with their weapon ready, although they were not ready for Arata. Arata made somersault over them and slashed them from above like from time to time he liked to do. Two orcs died immediately. When other turned around, Arata was already on the ground and attack two on the left. They also tried to attack with their axes but Arata easily found a gap in that attack and while going between them landed a strikes. Another two orcs died. Arata was going to finish other two but he spotted the tigers coming at him with great speed. He didnt want to end up on the ground again so he focused on them. Lazy orcs that didnt even want to fight can wait. Arata slashed at incoming tiger but his sword did not reach him as tiger made quick move to the left and then jumped at Arata with claws. Arata spin on foot to avoid and counter but his sword still did not reach the fast tiger. Second tiger attacked him from behind to which Arata moved to the right and attacked from there. But tiger still dodged it. Now both of the tigers were running and circling around him. Need to change tactic. With fast movements Arata went after them. He run up to one never slowing down and slashed horizontally. Tiger went down and avoided it then right away, he then wanted to jump at where Arata attacked from but Arata never stop moving and he was no longer there. He was about two meters away from the tiger and with straight line went forward. Tiger moved out of the way but Arata didnt stop just changed his direction a little. There he got the other tiger which didnt expect a thing. When he recognized that Arata was coming at him, it was already too late. He tried to move out of the way but Arata still reached him with his sword injuring the back leg, and with that he quickly followed up to finish him off. The other tiger lost his calm and attacked desperately but doing so was the worst thing he could do and he ended up on Aratas swords. Now back to Orcs. Arata looked for two remaining peons. They however showed a great intelligence and following the last surviving militian ran away. The peons and last surviving militian group up and now all three of them were trying to get up to the tribunes of arena. I should finish them off now that I have time. Arata started to move in their direction but when he did that two eagles come from the sky that was what Arata saw but in fact there were three of them. After dodging two of them and without success attacking them the third one managed to bit his claw into Aratas shoulders or so it looked like that. The eagles claws didnt penetrate through Aratas coat. Arata without looking thrusted his black sword into the place of the eagle and slashed him down. One less bird to worry about. Now [Wave 15: 3x Militia Archers] Arata started to run back to the gate from where militia archers started coming out. After the run with the tigers he was some distance away from them. While Arata was running, three arrows came his way but their speed was pathetic same with their aim. All of militias weapons were really disappointing, this time it was more of a stick with a string attached to it rather than a bow, still the militia could somehow fire from it so maybe it meant that they were extremely skilled. Still, before those archers managed to take out another arrow Arata already got them. Their heads fell down to the ground before their bodies did. Arata finally catch up and got a second to rest but he didnt plan on doing that as he came up with idea. Chances are not high but it might work. He picked up one bow from militias archer body. Then he picked up an arrow. I going to fire down those guys and eat them during the break. Arata once said that he can more or less use every weapon as his grandfather thought him that. pinpin When Arata tried to pull a string the bow got destroyed. One more He picked other bow this time it was going nicely. He aimed at the eagle in the air and released the string. Unfortunately the arrow didnt fly up to the sky. In truth it didnt even pass the wooden part of the bow but just fall down to the ground. Still, it was not the fault of the bow even if was of poorest quality. As I thought. I cant fire the bow just like that. The truth was that Arata never actually trained archery and miracle would not happen. It would be hard for experienced archer to hit that eagle in the sky, Arata had no chance. Still Arata tried it just because he wanted to get rid of those annoying birds. [Wave 16: 5x Skeleton Soldiers] Skeletons? Arata quickly reacted to the word Skelton. Those were the creatures of only bones. They were remains of the bodies resurrected with black magic. From the dark corners behind the gate the white bone hands started to appear from the ground. Then full bodies of skeletons came out. Before they started their rush however, they stopped near the holes from where they come out from and looked for something inside it. Soon enough, they took out their weapons from there, mostly swords and war axes. One of skeletons tried to take out the shield as well but when he did that, his arm that tried to support it fall down. -hahaha. Arata even laugh a little at that scene as it looked comedic, especially when after that skeleton throw away his weapon and pick up his hand from the ground and started to wield it. Still Arata could no longer laugh as he saw when they started to run at him. They were quite fast. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Can I keep up with them? They were at least as fast as tigers that appeared previously but they were moving at two feet. Arata also started to run at them. His worry left him because even if the skeletons looked faster than him to him, it was no longer the case as Arata got new equipment. He still did not test it enough. First skeleton with large two handed axe, attacked downward from over the head. Arata planned to kill him before the swing but skeleton started way too early. Arata dodged to the left and axe landed next to him at the right. From that direction, another skeleton came. He jumped over the axe and then thrust his sword at Arata. Arata parried it out destroying sword in the process but when he went for the counter, the skeleton was no longer there. Then two skeletons came from the right. When Arata tried to attack them, they went separate way and attacked from both sides at once. Arata moved back and both of their weapons sword and axe hit each other in a place where his head was just a second ago. With corner of his eye, Arata once again saw incoming axe at him. Arata dodged it by thin hair and without delay he attacked the axe wilder but this one let go of his axe and get back quickly. They are quite good but now that most of them dont have puk Arata got hit in the back of the head. What hit him was a skeleton hand but it was not attached to the skeleton. One of the skeletons threw it at him. Arata looked ominously at him. The skeleton on the other hand was practicing some kind of dance jumping from one leg to another with only one hand held high. -you are dead. Arata got angry a little but then. puk Arata got hit at the back of the head with other skeleton hand. Seeing that one of them succeed, the other skeletons tried the same. And now instead of little, Arata got really angry. He started running after them right away. The skeletons started running around like it was some game of tag. Still Arata had no time for it as. [Wave 17: 4x Goblin bombmasta] Arata however didnt care about new ones too much as he really wanted to get those skeletons. Finally he managed to get one of them. After quick run and a jump Arata managed to catch its leg. Skeleton fall to the ground and his bones scattered into pieces. Four left. Arata run back to other skeletons and attacked the right away. There was no more playing around. When skeleton with two handed axe attacked, Arata parried it and knock it up. Skeleton lost balance and was an easy target. Without mercy and without holding back Arata at max strength slashed at him with both sword and skeleton was in pieces right away. There were three skeletons left and they also once again started to come at him. Arata run to the one without the weapon and simply destroyed him. [Stream of night.] Now I am feeling much better. It might have been an over kill but it had to be done. Two left. The mentioned two were really close. They still had their weapons. Arata decided on similar tactic to which he used against axe users. Even if he was a little faster than them he didnt want to go into speed contest again. Arata blocked both of the weapons and pushed just like before, skeletons lost their balance. Arata was about to finish them off but then right in the middle of them a new creature appeared. Arata saw it just now. I have forgotten about them. Just when he thought that, Arata quickly understood that it was not best idea. For his luck, goblin bombmastas best attack was suicidal act of blowing himself up right before the opponent. Boom In the middle of Aratas and skeleton fight a moving bomb exploded. Aratas body was send flying by three meters then crushed into the ground. Skeletons that stayed next to him were destroyed as well. Aua. Surprisingly Arata didnt take too much physical damage from it, his health bar went down only by 30%. Aratas new gear had some defensive power that would withstand an attack from still low level creature or maybe not that low as wave 17 had monsters from 98th level, which was just one level below Arata. An eagle come down from the sky and tried to attack at Aratas face thinking that he is unconscious as so far he didnt try to move. But when he moved closed enough body of Arata started to move and it he thurst his sword right into the eagle. Got you, bastard. Seeing this, the other two eagles went back to the sky afraid of their life. [Wave 18: 7x Mages apprentice] At least this wont have any surprises. Arata was thinking while still lying on the ground but he relaxed himself a little too much. Other goblin bombmasta jumped at him out of nowhere. He catch Aratas arms and was going to explode right over him before he did that however Arata managed to kick him with leg and send him flying to the right. About two meter away from him moving bomb once again exploded. Arata rolled on the ground from the force but this time he stand up right away. Arata saw other two goblins but he didnt want to test if they also explode upon killing. He started running to their direction. [Black dash] Arata went through them and then started to move in direction of mages. Two goblins exploded behind him. Mages apprentices were equipped with wooden staffs and purple robe. They spread out and started casting spells at Arata. There were fireballs and ice lance. Even though Arata could counter it with his sword enchanter skills, he avoided the attack and circled around slowly getting closer to them. He reached the first one. The apprentice panicked and tried to block attack with his stuff but it was easy to predict how it will end. He died in one blow. Arata dodged another series of magic balls and did the same with other apprentice. [Wave 19: 10x Young orcs] -wraaaa! -kill them all! -for the Horde! From the darkness ten big green orcs ran out from. This one was much more impressing then the peons. They had large war axes that normal human wouldnt be able to pick up. That what I expected from the orcs. Even though description said that they were young, they were more than battle capable. Arata went to finish another apprentice before their reinforcements get there. [Sword enchant: fire] Arata cut through incoming fireball and without delay get to the mage who died in the second. Their specialty wasnt close combat and staying on the front line. From now it will be harder as they will have meat shield of ten orcs. Arata got a little unlucky getting 10 at last monster wave. Although what he saw was outside of his calculation. The orcs killed all remaining apprentices and then started to argue about their heads because they wanted them as the trophy trophies. Two of them even started to fight each other. There were four of them that started to walk in Aratas direction though. -what did you say!? This one mine! -no mine! -you want me to cut off your head Wiggy?!... With single look one of the orcs managed to scary away the others. It looked like he was wanted to fight alone. -you are just a human, but good at killing other humans, you are worthy of my axe. -but you are not worthy of my sword. Arata role played a little but it he had a reason for it. -wraa. The orc charged at him holding his two handed axe high. Nothing is easier than when opponent attack you blindly. When orc swing his axe at him downward Arata easily dodged it to the right and quickly attacked from there. The orc moved his hand and blocked Aratas blow. He had a metal gullet on the hand that could stop the blade. Arata followed it up another strike but which hit at Orc shoulder drawing blood but then the axe came horizontally at him and Arata had to back out from its range. [Last wave: Soldier of the Taros and member of its legendary unit Husaria. [Trial of adventure, stage one Defeat the remaining forces or survive next 30 minutes.] Arata could hear some strange sound then from the darkness a rider on brown horse appeared. He held a long lance that he had pointed forward in the other hand he held a red shield with white eagle in the center of it. That was probably his or his battalion mark. What was imposing though was his armor. The rider was wearing grey-dark plate armor up from the boots to his helmet. But at his back there were two pair of metallic wings. They were short but went up over riders head by about 40 centimeters. Both of the wings were bouncing from each other making a sound that signaled death. When orcs looked at that figure they scattered around and started to run away. This one will be hard still I need to finish this one. Even the orc before him didnt know what to do and stayed dumb fouled. Arata wanted to use it to his advantage and attacked but the orc quickly parried it out with his axe. -brothers there is only one! Think of glory that you can get here! The orc before Arata shouted which put Arata out of the rhythm but he was back on it. When Arata crossed his sword with the orcs axe, he saw a pleasant surprise or was it that pleasant for him? The rider instead of going for Arata was riding with his horse at the remaining orcs. Nine out of the ten except the one that Arata fought with started to charge at him. What Arata saw was a true massacre. The orcs were dying under the hooves of the horse or lance of its rider. The sight was helpful for Arata as he wouldnt have to deal with them himself but after business with orcs he would had to deal with the rider. Arata stopped the attack from the orc with both of his sword. He tried to push it away but he couldnt do it and it turned into strength combat. Orc was pushing the axe down while Arata was keeping it up. Even if his avatar body was greatly boosted, Orcs strength was no joke and Arata started to lose. Still he never intended to have a fair fight. Arata kicked the orc in the belly with one of the moves that his grandfather thought him. Sure Aratas dual sword style was the best but kick from him could do a lot as well. The orc rolled in half and his grip on the axe left off. Arata didnt let go of this chance and landed three strikes at the orcs body. Because, even after this he still looked alive, Arata made forth attack and slash of his head. Thats the best way to be sure, now should I take another one? Arata looked around but there was no orcs left. The rider already took care of them. On the arena grounds only Arata and the rider stayed alive. The remaining two eagles fly away upon hearing the sound of Riders metal wing and militian and two peons hided somewhere long ago and Arata had no idea where they went. So far nothing bad happened. Even if in times there were few bad coincidences I managed to finish 19 waves out of the twenty. As they said, the first part was not big challenge for me. But I am not so sure about this one. Arata looked as the rider was riding on his horse toward him. He was no longer in gallop but ride slowly. He doesnt even consider me a treat. This could be a good chance. If I get him out of his horse it should be much easier. Arata didnt know that getting a hussarian out of his horse was really hard thing to do but he saw no alternative. But right before Arata was going to use lighting speed and make first attack, the rider spoke. -I am Kristian soldier of Taros, may I know your name. Those knights are all like that. Still I dont want to be labeled as evil being again so I may as well answer. I hope it wont cost me. -you can call me Arata and I am adventurer. Adventurer, it was the easiest way to explain player status to NPCs. Hearing this, the rider said. -I see, so this is the black Arena that seniors talked about. Then I know what I must do Then its begins Arata once again prepared to lighting speed right into him but instead of attack he was met with another question. -answer me this one truly. Should I not come would you defeat other orcs by yourself? I saw how you manage to take on the biggest one but would you manage if all others would charge at you, seeing how you slay one of them. -if nothing unexpected happened then yes. Without many problems. The rider took off his helmet and long brown hair landed on his shoulders. Then he said something really unexpected. -I am satisfied with this answer and its not a foul one becaue one never knows what can happen on the battlefield. Then adventurer Arata, do you wish to fight against me? I dont know understand where its going? -rather than wishing, I have to. After all this is my trial in which I have to defeat new enemies that come at me and you are one of them. Arata answered. -you fought against the orcs. They are enemies of mine and the kingdom of my origin. Since decades, my family and family of my friends fought against them and defended all human territories from their invasion. How can you be my enemy if you also fight against them? Everyone who is enemy of orcs is a friend of mine and the friend of all Tarossians. -but arent you bound by some mystic powers of gods to fight against me here. It is why you were summoned here. Mystic power of gods that Arata spoke about, were the programmed algorithms that should control him. But Kristian didnt seem controlled at all. -I know what you are talking about. This place the black arena is known to me. I often heard from my seniors that they are summoned here from time to time. Wave twenty of trial of adventurer, I am correct? -yes you are. Anyway if you know what it is about, then why we dont fight yet? -after coming here I was given only one task. Test if the adventurer is ready to come to dangerous lands and if he is not, show him a difference. But I already know that you are ready, defeating an orc is not a small feat and I believed you when you said that you can defeat all others. Knight Kristian explained. -so we dont have to fight? -its only depends of you. Do you want to fight me or will you share a tale with me and wait for 30 minutes? That is the timing right? That is rather easy choice. I was going to take break before the part two so if I take it now there will be no difference. Also I dont have to fight him. -without a purpose there is no need to fight. Get down from the horse and I will prepare something to eat. Kristian jumped down from his horse. He walked toward Arata and gave a hand. -once again, I am Kristian. -and I am Arata. What was going to become a bloody battle, changed into sharing a meal together. Kristian started with taking off the metallic wings from his armor. Arata asked. -what do those wings do? I dont think they are just a decoration. -you never heard Taros and our famous Husaria unit? -unfortunately I did not. -then it will be my pleasure to tell you about it. -cant wait to hear it but first I need to come up with something that can keep up the fire or we will have to eat cold food. -there is nothing worse than cold food. You said, something that you can create the fire with? In Taros everyone knows that there is nothing better for creating a campfire then axes of orcs that you ride over with your horse. There are only ten of them but they should be enough to keep fire until you finish. -great idea, lets gather them. Kristian and Arata went around and gathered wood parts of orcs axes. The metal part they simply cut off with their swords. Apart from the lance Kristian also had a long sword at his side so he didnt need to borrow one from Arata. With all axes gathered Arata started a fire and took out all necessary things he needed for the food. He was going to use rabbits meat that he got from first wave of monsters here. They still were quite fresh and Arata already made something with rabbit meat before. He didnt want to test here any new recipes as he did no longer trust them fully. In a place like this and hard fights waiting for him, he shouldnt take any chances. -so, tell me about your homeland Kristian. Arata asked his new friend about the lands that he came from, Kristian started. While speaking about his country his voice was always filled with pride. It was easy to see that he was proud of his origin. -where should I start, lets see. How well do you know geographic of human world? -not much. -and you call yourself an adventurer? -well I never had a map in my hands. I also didnt find any on the net. -then, do you at least know where city of light is? Probably not, I can tell from your face. I will make it short but this can be useful for you so listen. City of light is the biggest city of known world and its more or less is located in the middle of it, what is important that this city doesnt belong to any of the kingdoms. Adventures like you who have no origin started to call it a capital but its true name is city of light. -a place to visit then. -as adventurer you are bound to go there one day. Anyway going from this city south east you will find the kingdom of Taros, which is my great homeland. Taros have several cities there but the biggest one and its capital is Haoren. It may not be as grand as city of light but its still majestic. Since anyone remember, soldiers of Taros fought against orcs and defended the peace in human realms, at least from orcs, other wars cannot always be stopped. As I previously said, since decades, my family and my country fought against the orcs in bloody battles. Even if we didnt always win there was no time in history where orcs army passed through Rodriar plateau. -you have some great defenses there? Like castles and forts. Ground advantage counts in wars, I guess. Arata expected it like this. He could picture how after lost battle soldiers would bunker in forts and create solid unbreakable defense but Kristian answered proudly. -yes, we have ground advantage there, but not the one you just thought about. Rodriar plateau is completely flat but its flat terrains are what give us greatest advantage. The strongest unit of Taros is called Husaria. When we ride our horses with metallic wings at our backs no one will stand against us. You saw those orcs when I ride inside here. Even though they are usually fearless creature and great warriors when confronted with raider of Taros they will run in fear. Since they were young, orcs were always thought that fighting against us is meaningless. -I saw how you deal with them so I can tell, still they could win should they come up with a plan and take you down from the horse somehow. Kristian didnt take it as offence and answered. -I am quite good on the ground as well so I would deal with them somehow but what I wanted to express was what fear my unit brings to orcs. One rider of Taros would kill 3 times amount of orcs than a rider from any other kingdom. -thats quite impressive. -if that was the only case then orcs wouldnt fear us as they do. Might of Taros riders is not individual abilities of each riders. Our strength manifests when we ride all together. Imagine a water wave thats destroying everything on its path, there is no place to run, no chance to defend. -I wouldnt want to stand anywhere near that. -yes you wouldnt. -so flat terrain helps you as you can use your cavalry to the fullest. -yes thats the reason orcs never walked pass Rodriar plateau, still its also the reason why we will never deliver final blow against the orcs. Even if we can win on our blessed lands we cant use our strength at lands of our enemies. You mentioned forts and castles. The border between us and the orcs is mostly a mountain terrain. There is only a one passage which connects us. In that place orcs have their fortifications. Even the strongest cavalry, cannot win that battle. -did you try to find passage through the mountains? -of course we did and we find few in fact. But I still see that you dont understand how grand our wars are. You wouldnt suggest that if you could imagine how many soldiers take part in it. -Its probably something that one has to see. Still if you cant win with cavalry maybe you should focus on other military. -now you underestimate the might of orcs and especially their numbers. There never was a battle where number of orcs was less than number of men on our front. The difference in numbers is usually at least five times more orcs than us, usually its ten times more. Only thanks to our Husaria units we can win those battles. In the past some thought that victories in those battles were a miracles, when we lose only 100 mans and orcs lose 10000 of their kind its not strange to think like that. -well, I wouldnt call it any other than miracle. -the miracle is not a good word though, if miracle happens so often its cant be called miracle anymore. There are many legendary battles over Rodriar plateau thats how people call them but for us its just something that comes and goes like flooding of rivers or drought on fields. I guess they have to focus on the cavalry. Still in that case, they will endlessly fight in never ending war. If none of the sides can win, why cant they make peace? Probably, because the other side is the orcs. I wont even try to suggest him that. Times in what Arata live and medieval times in EOA were simply too different. Aratas reasoning would not work here. Still, he didnt feel right about fates of those people. To him this world was already real and if not that, it was at least very important place to him. War of NPCs wouldnt bother him in normal games but here it was inhabitants of this world, dying every day. -you cant change your ways if its like that. -glad you understand. -even so you cant train in different areas on your own, why not unite all human kingdoms and defeat orcs once for all. You could also ally with other races like dwarfs and elves, it should work. It was a common theme in fantasy books that Arata once read but to his suggestion Kristian just made a small simile and answered. -it wont be possible. Other kingdoms dont consider orcs a treat anymore. For them its just something way to the south, not in their fields of business. Your idea it, it had been tried few times in history but in the end nothing come out from it. We are on our own, even though we defend everyone Pity. -lets talk about something else shall we Kristian changed the subject. -right now Taros is also famous for the second thing and its the beauty of our princess. Till the end of the trial, Arata listened to Kristian as he talked about his country. He didnt return to the orcs wars but it was still quite interesting. In the meantime they ate the rabbit that Arata prepared. For a second, Arata even forgot where he exactly is but he was reminded of it when the time has come. [Trial of adventurer stage one complete.] [Trial of adventurer, stage one. You have passed your test. You can venture to the lands of fighters. But are you satisfied with this? Are you one of many or do you think you can become a hero and legend of this world. If you think you are there is a second part of test that you can take. Are your ambitions that high or you just go with a flow and dont try to stand out? Think about it carefully the choice is yours.] [Continue Yes/No] -Arata it was nice to meet you but my dream ends here. If you ever find your way to Taros let us meet again. Look for Kristian from 108th Husaria division. -when, I have a chance I will. Kristians body started to blank and few moments later he completely disappeared. His horse was also not there anymore. Arata decided that when he had a time he will go to the place that he heard of. Not only to look around or talk with Kristian again but to look for a clue that would help resolve the problems of Taros. Why would he bother with it? Well its because when Arata first heard about never ending battle between orcs and soldiers of Taros his gaming soul was screaming, there is an epic quest and where is an epic quest there is also epic item to get. //** This chapter is still not over. Continue to part _22.3 **// http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3401 Chapter 22 “Trial of adventurer _22.3 //** Continuation of chapter 22. (From 22.2) **// I see why Gerald said that there you can rest now for as long as you want. Arata looked at the message before him. He had a choice go to the second stage or not. Because it was a choice he had to make right away. He could wait with an answer for as long as he wanted he could use this time as resting time. Still he was already resting for 25 minutes now and he wasnt really tired after first stage as he got didnt have to fight against its hardest part. I am probably already way behind the rest. Not that we are racing this time so there is no need to rush. Still there is also no need to delay. [Yes] [You have leveled up, Current level 100] [Pain reduce system changed to 40%] [You are no longer able to see your health, mana and stamina bars.] [All skills level up.] [Stats increase upon leveling reduced.] [Experience required for next level greatly increased.] Thats a too many windows at the same time for my taste. Arata looked over them quickly but he already heard about all of them from Gerald so he didnt found them surprising. The metal bars from the left gate started to rise up. The left gate was biggest of all and was 4 meters long. While it was going up Arata got another message. [Trial of adventurer, stage two. You had a choice between the peace and the storm and you choose the storm] Hope I wont regret it. Gerald did mention that this part wont be a walk in the park and should be few times harder than their guild test, in which Arata failed miserably. Still Arata didnt take it too serious and as always was positive about his winning chances. [I dont know why you made this choice but you will get what you wanted] Maybe its wont be that bad. Loki said that he didnt pass it but he did manage to pass similar challenge at 200th level so it can just mean that during his play from 100 to 199th level he simply become better and previously he wasnt that good. Well that is how normal people would play this game like. Arata had some reasons to think like that. Becoming better with time was a normal progression of people who didnt had 5 years of training before them. Ah, even I do think that I am not normal. [ Similar to previous stage you will have to fight against waves of enemies that will come at you. This time there are six waves and each of them brings only one enemy] Only one enemy it may sound nice but when I know what is coming I cant be happy about that. [Defeat all of them or die trying. Last wave will begin only if should you manage to clear all others. Let the battle begins.] [Wave one: Argah Stonegrad.] In precious stage Arata could imagine what his enemies will be as the notes said eagles, orcs or bunnies. Thanks to that he could prepare himself before he even saw the enemies. This time however he simply got a name, which didnt tell him much. All he could do was to wait, although he didnt need to wait for too long. The earth began to tremble and a sound as if someone was hitting with large hammer on the ground started coming out from the left gate. I should have chosen the peace. Those were Aratas thoughts when he saw the creature that appeared before him. It was a humanoid creature with at least three times of Aratas height. His body was in color of gray as his body was that of the stone. He had four hands, two at each of the side. Both pair was holding large stone swords which nearly touched the top of the gates. Arata start running, forward. He didnt plan to slack off this time. The stone boss spotted him and attacked with right sword at the ground. Even if his weapon was large it would be hard for him to strike at fast moving target on the ground. Arata dodged easily first and second strike and was finally getting close to hit. The target was stone bosss legs. The moment Arata got closed, boss stand harder on one leg, the earth once again trembled then with second leg the boss he kicked at Arata. Arata swiftly move out of the way by half meter and counterattacked at the leg but when he hit, his swords bounced out from the stone. Arata followed it up with another two strikes at the same leg but the effect remained the same. The stone boss tried to crush Arata under his feet. To answer that Arata was moving from one leg to another and attacked at them with his swords. Having experience against creatures whose leg was much bigger, Arata had no problem maneuvering under stone boss feet. Adding to that, while Arata was under him, the boss didnt even once attacked with his swords. [Wave two: Saren Locres] The tempo didnt slow down it seems. Even though it was stage two, time between the waves did not change. [Stream of night.] Arata made 12x strike combo at stone boss leg but it didnt bring much more results that previous attacks. The leg moved back and another kick attack was coming. Guess I cant burn down with dps boss monster at my own. Arata wanted to move to the other leg but then out. He felt something stopped his left feet. When he looked at it, a numberous green creeper started to come out from the ground. Their thickness was that of Aratas rope. From feet they started to bind around his leg. Seeing it Arata didnt try to separate from it with strength. He quickly cut it off with sword at the roots. But because he stopped he had no more time to run. [Black dash] It looked as if the stone feet crushed him but instead it passed through him and moment later Arata was five meters away from there. It looks like the other one is not wasting time. It was natural for Arata to think that this was the work of the second boss, although he still couldnt see him. When Arata look back at stone boss he saw exactly what he expect which was gigantic stone sword coming at him. Arata moved to the left with his usual dodge but when he did that he trip and landed on the ground. Creepers exploded from the ground around him and started to bind him and they successfully managed to do that the moment Arata touched the ground. First gigantic sword landed just behind his feet but stone boss had two of them and second one was already coming. [Black dash] Arata quickly used his spell to release himself from the creeps. He rolled on the ground before standing up to avoid the sword. Then he started to run to the other side of Arena. Away from the gates to where an old pillar was fall down. That should convince him to walk out. Because it looked like the second boss was someone who preferred to use his tricks from a distance Arata had to move away from the gates in which he couldnt see anything. While he started to run stone boss followed right away. As he was jumping from one leg to another the earth trembled. Arata kept looking in the way of the gate. From the darkness a posture came out. It was an elf in dark green-brown robe and wooden staff in hand. It was worth to notice that his carnation was quite dark and he had long purple hairs. He was walking slowly. He didnt feel like running after Arata. [Wave 3: King of the jungle.] This time new boss did not wait. Two seconds after message of his arrival, he already rushed out from the darkness. On his four feet he was quickly moving to Aratas position he already passed by the elf. It was a large lion, his size was about the same as the white wolf that Arata once fought against which was two times bigger than wolfs, panthers or tigers from stage one. Arata stopped running seeing that he has all enemies in the open. He once again faced against stone boss. Arata sheathed back his red sword. The two handed sword came at his position Arata moved back just out of the attack range. When the sword hit the ground, Arata started run straight on the top of the sword. Before Arata could reach the stone boss arm however, boss picked up his weapon with force which sent Arata flying. In that moment with his free hand Arata released his Rope and caught with it stone boss head. While holding it tight he stopped the momentum that send him backward and landed at Boss back. With a speed Arata had he thrusted forward with his black sword at stone boss back. With the impact for the first time the sword went right into it and stuck into it. Feeling the enemy at his back the stone boss decided to wipe Arata out on black Arenas walls, which were quite close to them. Arata let go of the rope, quickly unsheathed the red sword and struck with in into the place where the sword went into. Although there was no impact in it, the strike easily crushed the stone and Arata managed to get out both swords and jump down before meeting the wall. [Wave 4: Meres Drist] Arata landed on the ground near the wall. The moment he did that however the large beast jumped at him with the paws. Both of them hit Arata into the chest and pushed him back to the wall. Upon hitting the wall, from it a creeps came out and bind Arata around the neck and then it was straggling him. At the same the king of the jungle was keep pushing at Arata with his claw. [Black dash] Arata escaped from certain death with his ever so overpowered skill. That was close. Arata had now eight small holes in his chest in places that the lions claws just were. Strangely though apart from that his equipment, and he were still in one piece. Arata started to run once again. This time however his target was elf in green robes. From behind the lion and the stone boss were already on their way following him. While running, Arata also saw a forth boss. He was a man in blue clothes. The lines of blue cloth were dancing around his legs while he was running. He had one hand stretched out away from his body and in it a large fireball which was two times size of his head. He was quite away from Arata but Arata wasnt going to neglect that guy and kept watching him with the corner of his eye. Suddenly that man jumped up in a distance. It was a simple jump which would seem like without a reason but Arata saw through it. [Sword enchant: fire] Arata started slashing upward with red sword. In a flash a large fireball and mage behind it appeared and in a flash that fireball was slashed in half. With black sword Arata stroked at the mages hand with which he attacked. But Aratas attack was stopped as a wall of mud appeared in his way. It didnt stop completely the strike but slowed down enough for the mage to crouch down. The remaining mud that was used for the wall was pushed forward by mage and it hit Arata. It didnt do much but when Arata tried to attack at the mage for a second time he moved away and was a distance of two meters already. Lion jumped from behind at Arata. Arata spinned on left feet to the left counterattacking at the same time, he landed two strikes heavy at the lion. The blood started to come out fast. In this I am expert already. Yes Arata had good training how to fight against beast like that and make every hit count. [Wave 5: Eye of destruction] Still Arata had no chance to celebrate as he had to dodge incoming stone sword. Then he saw a lightning bolt and fire lance coming his way. They were separately casted by the elf and the mage. [Sword enchant: Lighting] Arata casted lighting enchantment only on his red sword. On black one he still had fire enchantment. He cut both of the spells. Finally I got some momentum, waaa Arata bended behind as he saw purple ray of light quickly coming his way. Right before his eyes he saw some kind of laser. That didnt stop right until it hit the wall several meters away. Another long range. While still bended Arata saw a large stone sword coming his way as well as the lion from the right. I need a miracle not to die here. [Black dash] Miracle or overpowered skill. Arata went through the lion making additional damage. [Sword enchant: Darkness] [Sword enchant: Earth] Arata had to get rid of two other spells that were coming his way. When he did that he could feel creeps once again were binding his foot. Another lesser was also coming. And also stone sword over from the top. I am getting out of here. [Black dash.] Arata black dashed five meters away from there to the place where fallen pillar was. [Leap] He jumped at the top of it and started running for the tribunes, while still looking at his enemies. From the darkness he could see the last boss came out. It was a flying eye in size of basketball ball. It started casting another laser. Arata kept running up on the pillar. The laser that has been shot missed him by about two meters. It was not even close. Before Arata reached the tribunes he saw a flash on his path. A mage boss appeared at the end of the pillar. Stream of water exploded from his hands and with great speed started coming at Arata.] [Sword enchant: water] Arata split it in half but that didnt do much as attack was not ending. The water slowed Arata from advancing. If I dont get there it will be bad. Although slowed, Arata kept pressing forward against the water. He was nearly in the required space. Then a rain started to pour over Aratas head. Even though there was no sky in this cave the dark clouds were floating over his head. What again? [Sword enchant: lighting] Although Arata expected thunders coming at him right away that didnt happen. Stream of the mage also started to lose on over. Arata was now one meter before the mage. Also should he want he could jump down to the tribunes still it was good opportunity because there was no other bosses here yet. That was what Arata thought at least. -rawr! Just as he was about to strike at the mage the lion jumped at him from behind. Arata managed to block his jaw with left sword but both Arata and the lion fall down to the tribunes of Arena. Arata crushed into it but lion easily landed on four feet. Second later he started crushing Arata with his paws. Arata hold back his jaw with red sword. Then instead of trying to defend against the paws he left it to his armor and started striking at Lion from the ground. While Lions paws had a hard time with destroying Aratas armor, black sword Kuroi entered easily into Lions fur. Arata decide that if he doesnt dwindle down enemy number by a little he wont be able to continue it and will die at some point. I will have to believe in those items. Aratas new equipment was not something that someone on level 99 could get his hands on. During the fight he already felt its great influence. Since his beginning in EOA, Arata mostly prioritized defense rather than attacking but now he went into clear dps race. Maybe because he no longer saw his HP bar going down, he believed in his body and ability to survive. Arata did not see what other bosses were doing right now but he hopped that they stay out of this. After all they would have to strike at both him and the lion now. Also the only one who would be able to do that was the mage. Lions attacks started to slow down with each of Aratas strike as Arata started to aim at his front legs and already cut down its muscles. Arata felt that Lions push at red sword nearly disappeared. There were also no more attacks. Arata managed to push back the lion of him with his leg. Then he saw the mage that was still standing at the pillar. The mage boss was holding his hands high. In them there was large electric ball which was getting bigger and bigger. The energy from it was coming both from the mage and thunder cloud that elf created earlier. I am not trying to cut this one. Arata did not believe that he can nullify something like that with his sword enchanter skills. After Arata pushed down the lion, the mage realized that there is no more time to generate power and started to prepare to fire it out. Still because it was some grand spell he couldnt do it instantly. Arata used this time and get back on his feet. Only now he felt in how poor condition his body is right now. The dps shutdown with the lion cost him a lot. On his chest he had numberous of wounds and the armor in which he believed was completely ragged at the front. Going into dps race with boss might have not the best idea. Still because of that one of the bosses was nearly gone and with attack that will soon arrive here there, he could be already considered dead. Mage fired out the ball of lighting energy, the remaining of the cloud still followed it. There was a meter high small obstacle on the left of Arata. To dodge incoming attack Arata quickly went over it to the other side. There was one problem however. The obstacle lead right back to the arenas grounds and Arata just jumped down from tribunes down there. The energy bolt exploded in a place where Arata once, it didnt reach Arata as he all the way down already as he was about to. crush Well, even though Arata hit the ground really hard and right now he wouldnt want to see his HP, it was still better than getting hit by that energy ball or the laser that was fired out by flying eye the moment Arata tried to jump over obstacle. The stone boss was about three meters away from Arata while the flying eye was flying at the height of nearly four meters, just like walls of the arena. The mage should still be on the tribunes and the elf was staying in a distance. Their next attack would begin any second, it didnt look good. Also, right now Arata was in condition which didnt actually allow him to stand up freely. Its time to use it. [Potion of prohibited heroism In times where you cant afford to lose, where everything depends on your survival and you have to stand back and fight no matter the cost. Victory or death are those the only two choices? No, there is always the third one and that is victory and death. Effect: Returns your health to maximum. Your spells cost is reduced to 10% of normal cost. After 30 minutes most of your body functions will be off and pain will hunt you for week days. When that time arrives you will think that dying was a better option.] Arata quickly drank the flask without second though. The moment he went into dps race against the lion, he knew that he will have to use it soon after it. Arata didnt want to use this potion as its description at the end was not appealing. Still all he needed to do, was get done with everything in 30 minutes and log out before the effect take its tool then no matter what dont log back till a week passes in a game time. Potion of prohibited heroism was the secret weapon that Gerald prepared for everyone from Refrains guild for the 100 level barrier. He advised to use it at last resort and as late as possible but Arata didnt know how long he will survive only by using black dash to escape the near death situations. Also he didnt want to use too much stamina and mana before he use that potion. He had no way of regenerating it but now that it was lowered he could do a lot. Now then. [Lighting speed activated.] Arata rushed out with double speed. Lighting speed ability increased his speed for a short time but when using a lot of stamina the effect could be extended. Right now the cost was so small that it practically didnt eat any of Aratas stamina. A purple lesser was fired down from the sky but if eye couldnt hit Arata before, it definitely couldnt do it now. Even though the range of its attack was great because it was only going in straight line it was easy to dodge. Arata maneuvered between stone boss feet, and landed two strikes at each leg. The speed at which he came under the boss was so great that giant didnt even try to hit with his swords. Still the stone giant was not his target now. Arata was going for the elf. The elf started to cast some spell but Arata didnt plan to find out what that spell was. [Sword enchant: Wind] [Sword slash] The elf was cut in half in moments of seconds. If only I could use this spell more often. Life would be so easy. Sword slash, Aratas strongest technique and at the same time most costly one. It ate all of his mana. In normal circumstances he wouldnt use it and save it for unexpected or as the last resort, but because now it coasted only 10% of mana, Arata could afford to use it 9 times. That fact was the greatest bonus that Arata got from the potion. Arata started to magical flashes around him. The mage boss was keep teleporting around him and was sending small spells at Arata from different direction. There was also another cast of laser coming from the sky. If he keeps teleporting like that it will be hard to catch him, still he shouldnt be able to keep it for too long. In the meantime I take care of that guy. [Sword enchant: Fire] [Sword enchant: Ice] [Sword enchant: Lighting] [Sword enchant: Light] [Sword enchant: Fire] While getting away from the place where all attack was coming from Arata had to cut some spells in half. [Leap] Arata jumped three meters up and landed on stone boss chest. There he caught the rope that was still hanging around boss neck. He was holding it with one hand and with second using the red sword Arata kept striking at the boss chest. Now, what you are going to do? Stone boss let go of one of his giant swords and stroked with palm of his hand at Arata. [Leap] Arata jumped up avoiding it and landed on stone boss head. Because Arata hold his rope he managed to control his body in the air. [Sword enchant: ice] [Sword slash] [Sword slash] Using two swords two arcs of blue energy were released into the air. The were combined together in one attack in shape of the cross its target was the eye flying two meters away from where Arata was at the moment. Which was stone bosss head. When flying eye saw that its tried to counter the attack with its laser but Aratas cross sword slash attack had the power of two spells that cost full mana. It was not something that could be easily stopped. The eye got slashed into four parts. All parts froze and started to fall down from the sky. From the top Arata could see that the mage started casting some other grand spell. A dark energy was gathering in his hands. Arata decided to let him do as he pleases and focused on the stone boss. Its finally the time to finish you. Stone boss was the first out of the five that appeared. Arata jumped down at stone boss shoulder as another a strike was coming at the top of the head. The stone boss had a lot of the problems while having Arata on its body. He didnt know how to deal with it. I the end he hit himself in the forehead. Still that wasnt his downfall. [Stream of night] [Stream of night] [Stream of night] [Stream of night] Arata executed 48 strikes combo at stone boss head. The stone started to crumble at 20th strike and by 48th strike it was completely gone. Then as suspected without its head stone boss body started to fall dead to the ground. Arata caught the rope that no longer was binding neck as he had no neck. Before the body crushed into the ground Arata jumped off it and landed on the ground. I really should have started like this. The five bosses from stage two were giving Arata a hard ride. He nearly died many time but now there was only one guy left. Arata start running at the mage boss. He no longer had lighting speed activated. Mage looked like he was ready for the strike. He had a ball of darkness emanating purple sparks from it in his hands. This may be the only occasion to do it. [Sword enchant: Light] Arata was going to go head to head against mage spell. Three meters range. The mage fired out his spell. Arata readied his sword and stroke at the ball. Right before the swords encounter with the black ball both swords started to emanate white light for it. They shined only for two seconds but those seconds when they encountered with dark energy. When that happened mage spell was broken. What just happened, reminded Arata of the times when he used basic magic to enchant his swords. Still the light was a little bit different than from that times and the way to bring it out was a simple sword enchant. Although Arata stop after crushing with mage spell, he didnt forget to finish what he started. He rushed forward for a mage who looked like he was out of juice, especially, after his teleport combo which he made earlier. The mage no longer had a spirit to fight, with ease Arata cut of his head. [Your base mana and stamina increased by 5%] [Wave six in 5 minutes] With the messages that Arata received he didnt need to check if any of the bosses was still alive. Finally I did it. Hip, hip hurray for overpowered potion. With its effect still on the last wave should be easy. Arata sit on the ground to rest a little and started to relax. After all in wave six he only had to defeat one ghost of the player. No matter how good that player might be, it will be hard for him to be more difficult from what I just passed. It would be hard for one player to be better than five bosses combined. Still the one that would come out would be someone that also managed to defeat those five bosses in his times. Gerald said that the biggest problem at last wave is that you are not in good condition to fight but that doesnt apply to me right now. Right now Arata was in pretty good condition so to say. Also he still could fire out few sword slashes which could bring him instant victory. Muahahahaha, I am beating the crap out of this challenge. Arata already forgot how he nearly died there few times and that he didnt have to fight against the boss at the end of stage one. Five minutes went quickly. [Wave 6: Adventurer of the past.] I had enough of fighting for today so I will just finish it quickly. Arata get back on his feet and faced in direction of the gates. Finally the last gate the one on the middle started to open. Someone started to walk out from the darkness. The figure that walked out was definitely not someone whom Arata would expect to see there. -Yuki? Last part of 100th level barrier was fight against copy of player that already passed that challenge. That also included people who passed it like ten minutes ago. If that was real Yuki then the answer would be something along the lines Onichan?. He grabbing the hilt of the sword at her back right away said more than enough that it was not the real her. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Only hilt was visible of her white katana as the sheath was covered by black cloak with white mark of Refrain on it. When Arata looked in Yukis eyes, chill of cold run over his back. It was not because she had a scary look in them though. Its just that Yukis eyes were somewhat different than usual. If Arata had to describe it he would say that they were more blue than usual. Looks like, this wont be like the last time. Arata once won against Yuki in their small duel but it was in the past and Arata knew that this time, it definitely wont be any similar to that fight. Arata unsheathed both of his swords and prepared. But then even though he didnt even try to blink, right before his eyes Yuki disappeared. In a place she was a second ago there was some barely visible blue mist, the air in that palace was much colder. Arata looked right behind him. First he saw a white crystal which then exploded with ice and white blade came out from it. Arata tried to move away from attack but he had no time. He just barely turned his head to the left. The sword went right through right side of his cheek. That was the minimum to what Arata turn this attack into. Arata pushed back the white sword with his black one. Still the blood did not start to flow out from the wound on his check as it became completely frozen. The white crystal transformed into body of Yuki. The white sword was in her hands. Deadly like always. Without delay Arata attacked with red sword at her. Yuki dodged it with grace while keep pressing at black sword. Upon the second attack Yuki flashed in white for a second then out of nowhere her sword parried it out. How? Arata did not know what happened but then the impact of cold reached him. His right hand become completely frozen in position of the block, he barley could move it. Not good. [Black dash] Arata wanted to get away from Yuki and think up something. Because he was using black dash for it he might as well do some damage but that decision cost him. He did not go through but instead his attack was blocked like any other. While Red and white sword were bouncing out of each other, the air was getting colder and colder. While Yukis copy was not bothered by it at all, for Arata it was getting harder and harder. Now not only his hand was going to be frozen. Time to reserve the situation. Arata made a quick step back which allowed getting away from Yukis sword without paring it. [Sword enchant: Fire] [Sword slash] Arata released an arc of fire which was pointed not at Yukis copy but at his own hand. Well not exactly his own hand but next to it. Those attacks also hold back Yuki from her never ending offensive. The ice on Aratas hand melted and with his freed hand now. [Sword slash] Arata send an arc of fire at Yuki. Seeing it Yuki instantly disappeared from the spot she was standing in. [Sword slash] With a spin on the foot Arata send another arc of fire behind him. It flight right into the place where Yuki appeared form her white crystal. Got you. When Arata saw that it went right into her, he already felt the victory because sword slash damage output was enormous and pretty much everything died from it in one hit. Still this time it was not the case. Yuki exploded with silver-blue ice around her which turned into Armor. Also her sword started to release large amounts of energy. And also at the same time a small snow storm started whirl around her. With this combination Yuki stopped Aratas unlimited attack. The arc of fire was crushing with her sword for five seconds and was pushing her back but in the end it changed into an ice sculpture. You got to be kidding me. Arata did not believe his eyes. His everything eating mana spell was stopped. What was worse was that all effects that Yuki summoned did not end there. Although much of it melted there were still some pieces of ice armor around her body and the ice storm around her, was only getting stronger with time. Its like right inside the mountains. Arata had an opportunity to go right into middle of the high mountains. It didnt include only his little trip with Kotori when they were doing their class quests but in real as well. Still right now he was going back to the time where he was fighting against the Yeti boss. It was because the air that was cumulating around Yukis sword looked somewhat similar to the air that Yeti breathed from his month every 10 % of his life. Arata had hard time dodging it and many times he was turned into ice. Still because he had ring of frost that gave a lot of frost resistance the effect would disappeared in two seconds. That will help. Arata saw that Yuki is now fully ready for the battle. She slowly started walk in his direction and the snow storm with her. Arata turned on foot and started to run in opposite direction of her. It was a strategic retreat. It turned out that Yukis spell didnt limit her ability to move as she quickly started running after him. The distance was quite large however so she would not catch up to him. While running Arata operated his inventory and equipped the ring of frost but even after he equipped it, he didnt plan to stop running just yet. It was not the right time to fight. After all Yuki just activated few large spells. They even managed to withstand Aratas sword slash. Should Arata go back to fight now, he might die in that fight regardless of his frost resist the moment he enters the storm. In normal fight we were about even but when spells are added, I am on much worse standing. Arata calmly analyzed the situation, he needed to bring the fight into situation where he will have the advantage. The point in which Arata had biggest advantage over Yuki was his gaming experience. When Yuki was a newcomer who only knew how to fight and got lucky with her class, Arata was a player, who was best dps of the best guild of most popular MMO in the past. Equipping frost ring was first step, now Arata was running around the within black arena with Yuki going after him. The situation continued for about 3 minutes but then Arata saw what he was waiting for. The ice armor of Yukis copy scattered into pieces first, and then few moments later the white katana stopped to release Yetis breath like aura. There is still the ice storm but I dont have that much time left. Arata decided that the time to strike is now. The challenge didnt have any time limit to it. It would end when one side dead. But there was a time limit for Arata. Since Arata drunk the potion of prohibited heroism, he had only 30 minutes left since then. He had less than half of that time. I will finish it fast, I just need to hit with it. [Sword enchant: wind] Arata entered the ice storm and right away slashed with both of his sword at Yuki. She defended it with her sword then counterattacked. Arata completely ignored that and kept pressing with his attacks. Both of them got hit but none of them spilled blood the wounds would freeze right away. Seeing that Arata went into somewhat berserk mode and Yuki switched to defense just like Arata wanted. Even though its just a copy, the characteristics are the same. Knowing Yukis character he knew that she wouldnt go into dps race with him. Still, Yuki still had some way of attack which Arata did not expect. Within the snow storm ice needle started to appear. They were circling around and sometimes hit Arata on the sides. They even managed to rip through his black cloak and armor. Strike from the left, right, downward, upward. Even if Arata used two swords Yuki could defend against those with fast movements. Upon reflecting every attack she also could push back Aratas sword as she used two hands and Arata only one. Still that was how battle between two sword style and one sword style would look like. Just a little more, faster, faster. Even though in ice storm, Aratas body was on fire, he was no stopping with an assault. Even though he was the one that kept taking damage from ice storm it didnt look like Yuki had an advantage. More like, she was struggling now and breathed heavy. Spells that were kept up for long period of time, would drain ones strength by a lot, not only their mana. In the first place, casting spells in EOA was not something one could do right away. You needed an impulse in your head for it. Not like with, basic magic, where you had to image it perfectly but still you needed to find a way to use it. For example, speaking inside your mind the name of the spell was one way to do it. Every way, would take a tool on your mind and consecration. Keeping up spells was even harder. For the record Aratas way was like if he had numberous bottoms inside his head and artificial hand that would click them. For him even since the beginning of the game using spells was the most natural thing to do. Suddenly it happened. An opening in defense after Yukis parry was without the force. Just that single opening and Arata struck her in left side of the belly. Sorry. Even though it was just a copy the image before him was the same. What he was seeing was his cute little guildmate that would call him Onichan with a great wound that he made. Sorry. Arata closed his eyes and. [Sword slash] The arc of wind cut Yukis body in half. Arata couldnt afford to be sentimental right now but even though it was just a copy its still hurt him. Because he didnt want to look at it, he closed his eyes but even in his mind he still saw it. Sorry. Although he didnt see it, he heard as the white sword falling to the ground as well as other two sounds. The ice storm also ended which was a blessing for Arata because he didnt have to confirm if Yuki is dead or not. Arata turned around and promised himself not to look behind. [Trial of Adventurer stage two completed] The middle gate from which Yuki came from was no longer in dark mist. Instead now it was shining with yellow light. I guess its end now and that is the way out. Arata wanted to get away from the scene behind him as fast as possible, so he quickly ran toward the light. When he entered it he was no longer in the black arena. -I didnt expect another visitor so soon. Arata appeared in a place that looked a little like a library. Well there were a lot of books in there at least. He was welcomed by an old man who was sitting behind the desk. He had a gray beard and wore glasses. He was also wearing gray shirt with long brown winter coat on it even through it was sunny and warm inside. -and who did I visit? Arata answered as he really had no idea what was going on. Gerald told him that he will just receive the reward and be sent somewhere but there was nothing like treasure chest in sight. Dont tell me I was already sent somewhere and didnt get the reward. That was a possibility but the receptionist words calmed him down. -number: 304, name: Arata. Profession: Twilight Swordsman, Sword Enchanter. Guild: Refrain. Ah, not only there were four of them but they are all from the same guild and two of them even have dual class. New guild with members like that, its also needs to be registered. -what do you mean four? -hmm The man looked stopped writing in some book and looked at him. -unfortunately all informations that are here are classified, its personal data. Wait till I finish. This place is outside of space and time you wont waste here any of second of your time. -hey, explain to me what are you doing? The man ignored him and went back to writing. I still can fire out one sword slash. Arata considered using it but the receptionist ended it quite fast. -now, now are you ready? -ready for what? -cant you read, look over there. Arata looked at the wall to the left. The books on shelves created some kind of message. -every adventurer who fully passes trial of adventurer is recorded in those who fully passed trial of adventurer record The first part explained what receptionist just did. The name of that record was especially interesting. Arata didnt comment on that as he didnt expect an answer. He read the second part. -you are also here to choose the reward. -ha, so you can read! It wasnt that hard, was it? So many times people ask stupid questions even if the answer lay right before them. -then less stupid question, what my number meant in your records and how do you have informations about me? -thats two questions. To second one I already answered and I wont repeat myself. As for first one, its a simple ID number that I give to each person that was recorded there That means that everyone who passed the trial was also given one. Then do my number 304 means that there were 303 other people who passed it? Arata didnt ask because he didnt expect the answer. The man continued. -now lets see what you got to choose from. The man stood up from his chair went around the desk and press some kind of bottom on the left side of it. Three drawers opened. Arata looked inside. Class change, Stat increase, Skill upgrade. -those are the rewards I can choose from? -yes, Sherlock To his stupid question Arata got a stupid answer. Although Arata could tell from the headings what each reward would give, it was only more or less he didnt exactly know how it worked. To his surprise the receptionist started explaining. -class change just as it says. It allows you to change your class to other. Class has to be of the same type you have so the strings of fate are not changed too much. Still you cant change into any class but to one from the poll of ten. In the past you could change into any class up to rank 3 but because it took people way too long to decide, I change it into one of random ten. So are you interested in changing your class? If no, I wont waste my breath to continue explaining the details. -I am happy with my classes. Explain the other ones but do it quickly as I dont have much time left. -as I said this place is outside of space and time. Not even 1 second passed for you, you have time. Listen to what I say! I hate repeating myself! -but you repeated yourself just now. -just to get rid of you quicker With this I dont have to worry about potion effect. When he left the arena Arata had about five minutes left, if what man said was right which was in this place any timers are not moved then it was more than enough. He used different words that timers but that was how Arata pictured it. After all, the game shouldnt be able to stop the time. -the second as you may suspect increases your stats. The amount is 100 to one stat of your choice. Adventurer should know what stats are so I dont have to explain that to you. And lastly, skill upgrade. Usually people mistake this one for leveling up their skill but thats not it. What you can get is not level up on your skill but alerting its condition a little. Like increases damage output or range of attacks skills. Also speed of movement abilities or their range. Sometimes you can completely change the structure of your spell and it would be become something completely different, still the basis must be the same. As for universal upgrades that work on every spell there is coldown reduce if there is a coldown or simple cost reduce. -you said cost reduce? -you really playing on my nerves do you. -no, no, I am not trying to make you repeat yourself but I am quite interested in cost reduce of spell. After experiencing sword slash feast that Arata could pull off with the potion he would welcome a cost reduce for that skill. If he could use it twice instead of just once he would be able to do so much more. -details about this one? Its simple if your spell cost you 5% of mana or stamina it will now cost you 1%. -then if its cost 100% of mana then it will cost 20%? -not only can you read but also count you amazed me The receptionist wasnt amazed but rather said that with sarcasm. -so do you want it? He asked expecting negative answer. He didnt expect Aratas reaction. -YES! Arata shouted to his ear. -I didnt expect it its an unusual request but its your choice. So which spell do you want to change?? -sword slash change its cost to 20%. The receptionist took out the card from the third drawer and went behind the desk. -choice of reward: Skill upgrade. Details: mana reduce for sword slash skill from sword enchanter tree. He took out something that looked like rubber stamp and with it he hit at the book. The moment it hit, Arata was no longer inside the library. -who are you! -where did you came from!? -is he an enemy? -that doesnt matter kill him! We cant have any disturbances right now! Before Arata even know what just happened he was welcomed by shouts. Thanks to Geralds previous information, Arata had an idea as to what happened. Really there should be some notification about that. Arata was just brutally send somewhere by the receptionist who didnt say anything and now out of sudden. -hmm? Arata looked around and spotted four men running at him with weapons. At least its not a dragon lair. [Sword slash] [Sword slash] [Sword slash] [Sword slash] Yes, Arata had enough of fighting for today. The four men were cut in half in second. He could use four sword slash because right now the cost was both reduced from the potion and from his reward. Yep, its work. Arata also did that because he wanted to test it. He could look inside the spell book but this way it was way much entertaining. Now where am I? Arata once again looked around. He was in some kind of cave but it looked like it wasnt too deep underground as he could see the exit few meters to the right and the light coming through there. There also were two other entrances which to Arata seemed like a way deeper underground. There were a lot of bodies lying around here. Looks like some bandits hideout. Lucky I got close to the entrance or rather really lucky that it isnt dragon lair. Arata took quite seriously vision as where he can end up after the challenge. After all this I wont die today, yupi! Arata celebrated his victory. He didnt think it will end up like this but it did. All that was left was to leave this cave and log out. Because he didnt want to logout here as he would once again had to fight against bandits who as Arata thought would respawn by the time he log back he decided to walk out from there and then log out. -help! I am here! But just as he was about to do it he heard a shout coming from somewhere. Did I hear right? Arata looked behind and spotted a cabin. I dont have time but if its some quest that I can grab, I better get it. Bandits kidnapped the daughter of miller and held her captive. Arata already had a scenario in his head. Because the cabin was closed on padlock, he slashed it open. Inside it there was a girl with long curly light hairs. She wasnt wearing something that a millers daughter would wear but rather someone experienced with magic. Nevertheless Aratas scenario was not change. Millers daughters also can be magicians after all. But when he expected words of thanks he rather got a question. -who are you? The girl asked. To get the quest I need to play it right. -your rescuer. -but you dont look like knight or prince. -ah its class quest then, never mind, sorry for interference. I would probably need a class of knight or prince. I wonder what the characteristic of prince class are. Arata thought to himself but then the girl asked. -what are you talking about? -listen I only have few minutes left so just wait for someone with right class for your quest. See you. Arata tried to cut the talk but then he was met with laughter. -haha, wait, do you think I am NPC? That is a strange reply? -wait you are not! -ah this look on your face! Hahaha. And now she was laughing at him. -wait, wait, wait! There were four bandits here whom I just killed and now I rescued someone trap by them. How can it be any other than a quest and how can you be anyone other than a millers daughter. Arata tried to explain his reasoning. Mostly because the girl was laughing at him. -haha, it does really look like a quest, doesnt it? Well, thats how it was supposed to look I guess. But there arent any quests here or any millers daughter but only I. Also about those bandits you mentioned, those also were players. -did I just mistake players with bandits as some blue headed newbie no never mind. Arata talked his thoughts out loudly. -hahaha, you are strange. The girl laughed at him again. -you are not the first one who is telling me that. -with hairs like that its given, although they suit you. -is it a complement or you are saying I am strange in general? -probably both. -eh -you look cool with them so dont mind. Anyway my name is Yume. -yes, mine Arata. Sorry to cut it short but I need to log out in minute so I dont have much time for a chit chat. -eh its a pity, well I wont stop you if you are in hurry. Still if you ever want to talk with me you can easily find me in elven district coffee shop Just a minute. -I dont know what elven district you are talking about. -the one in Karma. -Karma? Arata answered. -wait, dont tell me you dont know what Karma is? Yume asked surprised. -as far as I remember its, when you do bad things, bad things happens to you and when you do good things, good things happens to you. Something like that. -hahaha. The girl once again laughed at his comment. Still Arata really didnt have time for a chit chat. -I really out of time so should we meet again you can tell me about it, bye. Arata turned around and started to run for the exit. Yume shouted. -Karma is the name of closest city in this region! -thanks! Arata shouted back without looking. He quickly arrived at the entrance, through it he saw that the cave was inside some forest. Forest like any other although it was in colors of red, yellow and brown as if the fall has come to this region. In that forest Arata spotted a figure in brown cloak quickly running through the trees. Arata stopped at the entrance to the cave. In that moment it looked like the black figure has spotted him. Arata could easily say that because when that happened, two small hands went out in the open and they were holding two ruby swords. In general the figure was quite small, barley higher from Yuki who was 12 years old kid. Its not because of me, is it? Arata for a second considered if the figure really took out its sword to attack him but he had nothing to do with that figure. Still the more he waited the more it looked like the figure is rushing to attack him so Arata took out his swords. Better get ready. Arata forgot about everything and prepared for another battle. Today his instincts were telling him that everything wants to kill him. He fought for far too long today already. They were not four meters apart from each other. Arata had the timing for attack already prepared but then the brown figure speed up by at least twice amount in last few steps. Here The attack was a rocked with one sword pointed forward. With surprise in speed the last meters it was bound to hit. Still Arata parried it away to the top. After countless battles his body right now would not fall for surprises anymore and there would be not a second of delay in his reactions. His eyes could perfectly read the opponent movements. The opponent attacked with other sword from the left. Arata parried it with his free sword. Then he attacked with other. Opponent easily dodged that by moving left then thrusted forward with right sword. Arata twisted his body so the strike went right before his belly. With his forward hand he tried to attack at opponents front sword. With this it will be What? With that attack Arata was sure that he will knock away one of opponent weapon. It was one of his moves that he learned from grandfather which would work against anyone who saw it for the first time and didnt know the counter. Arata wanted to end it fast. But this time, the opponent had a perfect counter. It was as if the brown figure saw that attack many times and defended against it many times. It was a perfect counter that Arata would use in case someone else used that technique against him. The counter was thought to him by his grandfather. To counter, instead of moving back the hand. One had to move the whole body forward and twist the arm to avoid the strike. After that one would have a perfect opportunity to strike right at opponent shoulder. That was exactly what the brown figure did a second later. As if I let you. This time before even brown figure started the attack Arata moved his sword up to block it. It was not that he saw through the opponent, it was rather that he expected the worst and tried to prevent that. The strike was coming but Arata guard was going to be set before it come. But in a moment when Aratas black sword was going to pass by his shoulder in height it happened. The vision of Arata blurred. Movement of his hand stopped. The knees supporting his body started to bend. The ruby sword of brown cloak figure hit at Aratas shoulder. Its barley spilt the blood because Aratas black coat had extra layer on shoulders. Still after that blow Arata started to fall. The brown figure surprised to what happened stopped just for a second. But that didnt last long as before Arata fall to the ground his head was cut off from his body. Soon enough the darkness clouded his vision and the following message that he didnt see for so long appeared. [You have died.] http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3442 Chapter 23 “Vicious ghost.” Chapter 23 Vicious ghost. He was not half bad, I guess. Now, who will be next? Rin just killed the first kidnapper and looked around the cave for others. But to her surprise there were no more kidnappers in there and the only other person there was her friend. Strange, the letter mentioned a group? Today after arriving in her house, Rin found a message that informed her that her friend was kidnapped and kidnappers want to get information about her skill. She was to come to this cave and in details explain how to complete a specific quest or her friend will be held captive forever. After reading that message, Rin right away make her way to the mentioned cave. Of course she didnt plan to tell them anything nor was she going to negotiate with the kidnappers. Her plan was to just kill them all, after all it was all that they deserved. So far she killed the first one but the rest was strangely missing. I guess it doesnt matter. Rin decided that if her friend is safe, it doesnt really matter if its just one person she had to kill or more. The others probably ran away when they realized their bad doings and Rin would not waste her time to look for them. Rin took down the brown hood out of her head. Then with her right hand she took out her long red hair out to the open. -Mary! She said the name of her friend who was already in hearing distance. Its been some time since they last meet. Also the last time it was in somewhat similar circumstances as at that time Rin had to rescue her as well. Her friend however was somehow displeased by the fact that Rin rescued her. At least more displeased than usual. It was because Yume wanted someone else to do rescuing part. That was at least what she kept saying. In truth however, this was a way for them to meet up with each other for no specific reason. Still, this time it was somewhat different and Yume was in fact displeased and not as usual only playing displeased. -you done it again, right Amy? Her friend would use a different name while addressing Rin just as when Rin would use a different name while addressing Yume. -you mean rescuing you? Rid didnt understood the unpleasant tone at all. -rescuing? Didnt I said many times that I dont want you to rescue me? -then why people and the letters always come to me? -well Her friend avoided the eye contact. Truth was Rin knew exactly how it went but that didnt bother her, rather she was happy to meet her friend. Just as Yume was happy to meet her. -anyway, this time I was already saved before you came here. Yume changed the subject and stated a strange fact. It was true that there was no one dangerous inside right now but just a second ago, there was a kidnapper standing near the entrance whom Rin just took care off. -I dont see any of yours knights or princes here? Also, I just killed last kidnapper so if there were any of them, they didnt do a good job. Rin answered. Yume said that someone already rescued her but why that person was no longer here was strange. It was probably because that person log out and miss the last kidnapper. That was Rins first idea or rather hope. -that kidnapper was the one that helped me. You just killed my rescuer. - . Ups. -thats why I said you did it again, killing someone just because they were in a wrong place at a wrong time. -but its not my fault that he died. He could have just say something like I am not kidnapper!. Rin tried to defend herself but she was already at losing point. -and of course you would believe him. -it would better than staying silent. -I dont think anyone can say anything, when vicious ghost of Karma is charging at them with desire to kill. -but but he even looked like kidnapper! Who normally goes all in black? Its like saying I am the bad guy. -it wasnt all black. And those clothes were stylish. Its not something a common kidnapper would wear. I wonder where he got that? If it was a crafter then it should be someone who is quite famous. I think I saw those patterns somewhere Yume pondered for a second but returned to conversation right away. -anyway Amy, you have something to say? -I am sorry Mary. -dont apologize to me. Apologize to him. -but he wont hear me anyway. Also I will never meet him again. So why bother? Also even if he was still here, I would still not apologize anyway. Its his fault for dying so easily. -eh. Yume just sighed. -so how many kidnappers were here this time? Rin asked. -four or so. -then that kidnapper killed four players on his own? -I kept telling you that he was not a kidnapper. -it doesnt matter what we call him, so how did it go? -I didnt see anything so wait, you are interested in him? What happened!? Yume asked surprised. For Rin to ask about someone else was really rare. -well, he managed to stay alive for few seconds in our fight and most importantly the technique that he used it bothers me a little. -ah, its typical you, its always about fighting. Where were my hopes? Eh . Yume signed again. -what else would that be? Rin had no idea what Yume meant. -never mind. Amy, are you going for tomb challenge again right now? -no, I just resurrected after the last try. So it will take some time before I can go there again. Even if I could go its not like it will be any different. I cant beat him. At the moment, Rin was trying to complete a hard quest or rather a prequest. In that prequest she has to fight an against army of skeletons and its twelve generals whom she calls super skeletons. Rin tried many times already but she couldnt complete it. In her last try, Rin was once again stopped by the same super skeleton whom she called the champion. It is the only super skeleton that she hadnt defeated even once so far and right now she felt like she will never be able to do so. For now, Rin hoped that this felling will go away as she level up back and then everything will be back to normal. -in that case, lets go to the Karma first. I am hungry. -right, Mary I have something important to ask of you. -if its helping in a tomb then no, I will pass on dying and I wont be helpful anyway. -no its not that. Well, its in a way related to it but there are no tombs and no skeletons involved directly. -in that case no problem. Rin and Yume left the cave and they started heading to Karma city. First through the forest and then through the road. At some point Rin unequipped her vicious ghost gear namely the brown cloak. -so what you need help with? Yume asked when they were already walking. -you see Mary, there are hundreds of pictures and you take letters and create a message. There is instruction but it doesnt help at all and in general nothing makes any sense. In a way Rin tried to explain to Yume what she wanted her help with. Rin wanted a help with a riddle that she got from questgiver who also gave her prequest to the tomb. -slow down, I didnt understand a single thing of what you just said. Anyway you said that there is an instruction. Do you have it with you? -no, its in a house. -then we will get back to it, later. -but its better if I tell you now. -um even if you tell me everything now, I am not very good with riddles anyway. If its something complicated, I wont be able to solve it. Yumes answer was not really hopeful. -then what will we do! -dont panic. I know a perfect person for that job. When Rin was not really involving herself with other players, Yume was her exact opposite. She knew and spoke with almost anyone who stayed in Karma for longer than two months. -you dont mean, that guy? -who would be better? Also he will probably do it for free if you agree to join us on our little expedition. Rin already heard about that little expedition and from where she saw it, her tries at the tomb were less suicidal than what those people wanted to do. Although the man that Yume mentioned was someone who would surely solve this riddle was one from Yumes raid group. That group considered currently 15 people who were playing together and went for dungeons or raid dungeons. In a way they were a guild but they never officially become one. It was because those players wouldnt waste their money on some paper which wouldnt change much anyway. That was at least the official story and Rin didnt care to hear the true reason as this one sounded little fishy. Right now, that group was planning an expedition to the unexplored west. In games history there already were few groups that tried and do the same but they all failed to do anything meaningful there. Still even though the chances were low new challengers would always appear and try to explore the unknown and receive the glory for doing so. -maybe you know someone else who could solve it? Rin would prefer to avoid meeting the man that Yume mentioned so she asked for alternative. -I could try with few other people, but why dont we just go for the best chance. -but if he knows that its for me, then he will never agree. He hates me after all. -he doesnt hate you. -I really doubt that. -well your relations would be better if you didnt try to kill him every time you see him. What is worse you succeeded twice didnt you? -it was his fault. -Amy? -well maybe there is 1% of my fault as well, but its mostly his. -eh anyway if you want to be fair then pay him 100 g for the job. We need money for expedition after all. -okay, I dont mind doing that but you are the one who talk it out and I am not going to meet him. -fine, fine, I will get it done, you also can keep your money. He would not take it from me even if I tried to put it into his pockets. Yes, my riddle will be solved! Although she didnt want to really on that person, Rin was sure that if he were to solve the riddle, he would definitely manage to do it. Rin was in a good mood when they continued to Karma because her riddle will be solved. But then, that mood was suddenly broken. -ah, I forgot to mention. He is not playing right now and it will take some time before he actually log back. Well I am sure it wont take that much, he should be coming back soon. -soon? -less than a month? Yumes answer made Rin lost all her hope. Well, it was not that bad as even if the riddle wasnt completed right now, it would be completed in future should that man return. But waiting will be terrible. -Rin dont worry, there are also other ways to solve that riddle. -like what? -we need to find, someone else. Yume solution was quite simple indeed. -you have any other riddle loving acquaintances? -I cant point specifically anyone else who will definitely solve it. Also if we have 100g there should be a faster method to it. Lets go to the center. -no, no, no, not there. If you were looking for something, the city center was a place to go but because of that, that place was always filled with people, it was a place that Rin usually avoided the most. -look at the bright side. You wont own anything to Shin. It will be just you putting the offer down. 100g will definitely draw people. Shin was the name of the man mentioned before. -fine, I get it. Although without desire to do it, if it was to solve her riddle and help her with the tomb fight, she had to do it. Also occupying her mind with something to run away from memories of her last try would be nice. At some time later Yume returned to their first topic. -so what did you said about Arata? You said, he bothered you? -who is Arata? -the one you killed today. Dont forget it already! -you mean the kidnapper? -yes the kidnapper. -hmm he didnt bother me but rather what he did bothered me. -you said he used some grand technique. Was it something that even you had a trouble with? -no, rather I perfectly knew how to deal with it. -then why does it bother you? -it bothers me because he knew it and not only that, he also knew about the follow up counter. It is simply impossible to avoid the follow up attack unless you know its coming. Because when you see that attack, its already too late to block it in that position. Still the kidnapper was expecting me to strike there and he started lifting his sword to defend against it. -and that bothers you? What it means to you if he knows that technique and follow up? -because its masters technique! I also know how to use it from him and how to defend against it but its not something that you can find out about easily. He must have somehow steal it. -steal? Why cant you think other way around and think, that someone just like you learnt it normal way? -because, its not something who didnt reach high enough level could learn. Its not a technique that you learn during your first year. -then that person learned for longer. -no, I dont think so. If he did learn for more than one year, he would not die that fast, although. Now that I think about it, he did block my first rush strike. It was not something any newbie could do. His last moments was also strange, did he simply gave up? -if you didnt kill him then you could ask him. Yume stated. -Mary, was he injured in previous battle or something? Rin ignored the comment and asked. -wow, you really got interested, didnt you? Still I didnt talk with him for more than three minutes and half of it was misunderstanding. He said that he has to log out right this moment so I didnt want to prevent him from doing so. As for the injuries he had quite a lot of them, some of them were even frozen god knows why. I also saw that his clothes looked like they just repaired themselves after the fight but there were blood prints on them still. I didnt have an occasion to ask about those though. -maybe kidnappers did that. Rin reached a possible conclusion. -no, those werent resent wound and as for kidnappers, they were killed in about 5 seconds, I think. -5 seconds? Definitely impossible. Rin stated right away. Even for her it would probably be impossible to deal with four people in that time unless she used her ingame skills that is. -well I dont know how it went exactly but first I heard shouts like Who are you! and five seconds later it was aaararag!. -ah, I dont know anymore, why did he stop at that moment? Rin asked herself loudly. -what do you mean? -well, he was about to block my attack then it was like, he stopped moving. Also even after I hit him, because his equipment was quite good, my attack didnt really injured him that much, still he started to fall to the ground second later. -then why did you finish him off instead of finding out what happened? Yume one again asked. -he was a kidnapper, after all. And Rin gave her the obvious answer. In her mind, the man was already labeled as kidnapper and she did not feel the need to call him differently. -maybe its like this. If he stopped moving completely then someone might have forced him out from the capsule. If you dont log out the normal way this is how it looks like I guess that makes some sense. Yume founded a reasonable explanation. -so Amy, want to look for him later and ask about all those things? -no, I dont care that much. -eh. Yume had some hopes as it was the first time since a while since Rin took an interest in someone. Lately she would just talk only about her quest, tomb and skeletons. It really saddened Yume that her friend cant get along with others. Still, because Yume knew the reason for Rins decision to not involve herself with others, she couldnt say anything to her about that. Upon reaching Karma city, they quickly went to Rins house. At the same time, it was also Yumes house but official owner and buyer was Rin. Rin quickly took out the riddle from one of the drawer. After seeing it and reading the instruction Yume quickly said. -to the center then! With small delay for the meal, they went to the city center. The Karma citys center was located in the middle of human district. One could divine this place in two parts. In west part, players did their business. Some of them were trading, others were looking for party. There were also few who were looking for people to their guild. There were also crafters would set their sales here before they could buy a building for their shops. People also looked here for help or information. Because the number of people was so large, it was set that the middle part was for those who were just looking around, while the sides were for those who were offering their services. One could imagine it like a road on which the sides were filled with traders while the middle was for the buyers. Most of the people on the sides had a table in their hands on which some information was written like. [Recruiting for a guild.[Need healer for blue mines asap.] [Selling crafted swords.] [Selling information on how to get cheaply to the capital.] and so on. In the center there was also a general information board on which people could post their needs and didnt want to wait all day on the streets. -so we are putting the note on the board and get away from here right? Rin asked with hope, although she already suspected her friends answer. -we can do it later, for now lets see how it goes if we just wait. -fine but at least not here! Right now they were in the very middle of uproar. -it would have better effect if we do it here but fine. Yume grabbed Rins hand and they started moving through the crowd. It was very easy to get lost there. Previously they also entered like that. They soon found a spot with lesser amount of people but still numerous. Still at the sides there were three free spots next to each other. Rin quickly chose the middle one. -you have the tablet right? Rin asked. -yep, I often use it. Yume took out the tablet. There was still previous message on it. [Looking for a knight or a prince on white horse and with blond hair.] Rin didnt even try to comment on that. Two minutes later a new sign appeared. [Paying 100g for anyone who can solve Morgorian riddle.] It was the simple message and starting it with paying 100g would quickly bring results. While Rin was holding the sign at the back, Yume dealt with those who came. It looked like Yume knew most of them as she often went into friendly talk rather than talk about the riddle. Still no matter how many people came, no one ever heard about something like Morgorian riddle and after looking at the pictures for a minute or so, they even have a clue on how to solve it. After two hours Rin had enough. -I dont think it will work. -just a little longer and someone will solve it. Yume was still optimistic. -fine, no more than one hour, okay? Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.-Amy, didnt you forget for whom we are doing it. Rin couldnt say anything to that. Although the number of people who tried was getting bigger and bigger, the riddle was still unsolved. When the last hour was about to end, the last person that they were going to talk with came. Although he was not there for the riddle. -excuse me my lady, can you tell me where to get a sign like that? The person had blond hair and green eyes. He was wearing a gray cloak that surrounded his body and covered most of his clothes apart from mithril boots. They were what pointed Rins attention because that material was not something that one could get in Karma. Also, everywhere else it would be still really expensive to get an item that was made from it. Yume answered. -you are not from here are you? -eh. Rin sighed. Yume would not simply answer to the mans question. Rather, she would use it as opportunity to talk with the person whom she never meet before. She was always like that when she meet a new visitor in Karma and because of that, Rin really didnt like to go around the city with her. -yes its my first time in this part of the world. The man answered. -I knew it! So where did you came from? -its hard to say as I am pretty much traveling to new cities nonstop as of late. First City of light then Tardok then Triangle and now I am here. Although, my last destination cant be called a city anymore. -wow, you traveled quite a lot. -I had my missions after all. -missions? -well I dont want to brag but I belong to the silver hand order. You dont want to brag but you just did it. Rin somewhat started to listen to their conversation now. Also even if she didnt want to acknowledge anyone just because of belonging, silver hand order had quite fame to it that even she was aware of. -thats great. Still, what someone from the capital is doing here? -well, I wasnt in capital for that long so I wouldnt say from capital. As for what I am doing here. I dont want to brag but I will be promoted soon once again for what I did on last mission. I will be one of the quickest to raise his second rank if everything goes well and there is no reason that it shouldnt. You bragged again. -what did you do? Some grand important mission? -that too but I caught some big shot criminals in Triangle. For that I will be promoted. It was not exactly only my doing but in the end I was the one that was cleaning everything up. The man answered. -you said that you still have to do something, right? So why did you come to Karma at times like this? Yume returned to previous topic. -well, what I have to do is to simply level up. They told me that for higher rank in silver hand order you need higher level. Although, I think that in truth it was probably, dont get ahead of yourself rookie. People are jealous if you are doing too well, you know. As to why I am here? First I was planning to exp up in Rodaria but I somehow ended up here. -oh, I know that city, I sometimes goes there as well, its not that far. But why did you change your destination to Karma? -on the road I catch a glimpse of interesting story from someone who was traveling from this city. He told me about great villain that terrorizes this area, so I came to check it out. If I am lucky there will be some points for me to get here. I didnt hear about any villains here. -you will hunt that villain? Yume asked. -if he exist that is. -what do you mean? -well with stories like that, there is always the catch and the villain is usually just someone who happened to kill the player that told that story and wanted revenge. Simple as that. If someone does a little bit of PvP, it doesnt automatically mean that they are criminals who should be caught. There is a complicated system to it that decides what is considered a wrong doing. Still, there is an easy way to find out if someone should be put in jail. I just have to draw a blood of given person with my weapon and I will know right away. Its an ability that you receive automatically when you join silver hand. -so you came here to find out if that villain exist or not? -well, its still just a side job that made me came to this city rather than to other. I am here mainly to level up. Still, because I am here I might as well check that villain and for that I need the tablet, so once again, where can I buy it? The man went back to the original topic. Rin expected her friend to prolong that conversation a little more but that didnt happen. -you can buy it from Floyds shop, three streets from here but if you are new to the city then you will get lost. -I am used to getting lost. The man said with smile and was about to go but Yume offered help. -you wont need to go there now as I can give you mine. We are ending our search anyway. Also those tablets are quite cheap so I can offer one to defender of justice. -really? Well, that would help. -what do you want to have written on it? I can make it so it grabs more attention, I quite good at it. But firstly, who was that villain that you talked about? I pretty much know everyone who stayed in this city for a longer time and know every gossip but I didnt heard about any player killers as of late. -so it was a false rumor after all. Maybe I should give it up already, or is it too early to give up? Anyway just write that I need information about some vicious ghost or someone called Queen of blades. Thats two names that I heard. I will just stay for an half an hour and then give up if what you said is correct. -hahahaha. Yume burst out laughing after she heard the name of the villain. The mentioned villain on the other hand was standing two meters behind them. I didnt do anything bad, or too bad. I dont kill people without a reason. Yes, Rin wouldnt kill someone without a reason. The problem was that sometimes the reason would be he stayed in my way when I walked or didnt understand the word no. The second one was actually the reason for most of her kills but the first one also appeared quite often. -why are you laughing? Did I say some joke? The man could not understand her. -no, no, its just I know very well the one you spoke of. -then that player exist? Does that person terrorize this city? -I dont know about terrorization but that vicious ghost happens to kill people from time to time, right Rin? When Yume was talking with Rin while there were others people around, she would not use the name Amy. In comparison Rin would keep using Mary no matter the situation. You could defend me at least. Although Yume just sold her out to the cop Rin nodded her head. There was no need to hide it after all. It would be interesting to kill that guy. I will be able to see if the stories about that organization are true. Also I will see if he is worth his bragging. Apart from completing quest, other occupation that Rin liked was fighting against strong opponents, although she had a hard time finding anyone that would really prove to be a challenge. So far she didnt meet a single player that managed to land even one hit on her. -if its like that then there is only one way to find out... It looked like the blond haired knight was ready for the action. -can you tell me where to find that vicious ghost and how to recognize it? He asked. -well I dont know that many details. Still if you ask around the city, people will just tell you brown cloak with mark of blood at the back. Figure like that often appears near tomb of the Edward Third the Great and if you meet it you die. -and that place is? -south of here. Its very easy to find, you just have to follow the road after leaving through the south gate. -then I guess I will try over there. -I think it may take a lot of time before you actually find that ghost. Yume didnt disclose any information that only she knew, she only told the man the most popular as of late legend of the Queen of blades. -as I said, I have a lot of time and south of here should be as good exping ground as any. -I guess. -well, sorry to cut it short, but the duty orders me to go there, right away. Also sorry that I couldnt help but I dont know anything about Morgorian riddles. You just said that you dont have any mission and just have to level up. Duty orders me? I guess, he is hardworking type. There really must be some good rewards in that silver hand order if he is trying so hard. -before you go. My name is Yume, what is yours? Yume stopped him. -I am Levi. -in that case. Welcome to the Karma, Levi. It was one of other rituals that Yume had while first meeting people in Karma. Blond haired knight walked away with much improved mood and informations that he looked for. Yume and Rin also hid their tablet as there was no real reason to continue. Yume left a message on information board and they left the city center. -so, how long will you keep him waiting? Yume asked. -why should I even go there? He will just attack me just like any other players. There were few like him already. -but they were not from silver hand order, also I know that you will go to fight him anyway. I know you too well. So when you will go there? There was no use in hiding anything from Yume. -at night. If he cant even wait for few hours then there is no need to bother with him. For now I am going to eat something. -I will go with you. You are going to the same place as usual right? -yep. -then we should drink some of their beer there, remember how great it was last time? The problem was that Rin didnt remember. She also did not really enjoy drinking but at that time she was tricked by her friend. -I have a fight later so I will pass on that. -ah, you should give poor Levi a head start. Yume already called the man poor as she knew that painful death awaits him. Yume pitied him a little. He just wanted to do the right thing and for that he would have to die. No matter how good he would be, she knew that he doesnt stand a chance against Rin. -why should I do that? -at least dont attack him right away and listen to what he says. -I will think about it, but if he says something like, let me strike you once so I can find out if you are a criminal or not I am will not hold back. -but from what he said, he plans to do something like that. -its his problem not mine. They both went to dwarven district and then to the tavern where Rin liked to go. They both ordered set five and both changed the liquid that was coming with it. -so what should we do about the riddle? Rin returned to their main objective. -I put the request on information table so if someones know how to solve Morgorian riddle and read it, they will definitely come as its 100 gold reward. -and if no one knows how to solve it? -then you have to wait till Shin comes back I really dont want this option. -what with that look? -nothing, and when will that guy come back? -probably, few days before expedition. -but you still dont know when you are going? -vacation started and people went somewhere and cant play right now. But it wont take long. A month or two. -thats not very convincing and earlier it was no more than a month. -did I? Anyway, we always had a problem with organization after all. But if by a month we dont go, I will contact Shin myself in real. Also even if we dont start in one month, he should be logging back in this time regardless. -but why are you going to the west Mary? Your level is too high right now and you want to lower it? Going there is suicidal. -you for one shouldnt be saying anything about being suicidal To that, Rin couldnt say anything as she couldnt count anymore how many levels she have lost on her quests. -as to why are we going there? The idea just popped up one day after we finished raid dungeon. Everyone thought that it will be interesting so why not? -still, its been some time since you first mentioned it. First time I heard about it was about half a year ago. -we didnt go yet specifically because we are not as suicidal as you. Remember how you told me about your adventure to the west. -I been there few times while doing my previous quest but I never went too far, and its really hard out there. -thats one of the reasons we delayed for so long, we wanted to prepare for it. Still we already decided that next big thing we do is going there and no more delaying. -it doesnt concern me so do what you want. Rin had no plans to go west as long as her quest didnt ask her of it. She simply knew that fighting abilities of monsters over there and their numbers were simply too high. There shouldnt be anyone who could freely travel in there. Anyone who would go there would sooner or later meet his end. -so what are you going to do now Amy? I dont think that you are patient enough to wait till the riddle s solved. Yume asked once again. -no, I think this time I will wait for the riddle. -why change of heart? -I need to rest form everything and its a perfect time for that. Rin tried to explain. -and whats the real reason? Yume could easily see through Rins lie. Also Rin was not the type who would slack off and lazy around for a month. -I . -Amy, who will listen to this if not me? -I I dont think I will ever be able to win this. In the end, Rin let out her honest thought from which she tried to run away. -didnt you always said, as long as you will try you will manage one day. With that thought you kept going for so long. Yume tried to cheer her up but Rin just burst. -and what that give me! You know what each failure means to me! -thats why I always said that you should use different method to it. Find someone to help. On your place I would give up long ago. -there is no that can help me and there is no different method! Yes, there is no different method than to try and try again. Yume could see the change in Rins eyes. Rin was hesitating just a second ago but now it were they eyes prepared to fight. Still they were different from usual. Rin stood up from the table. -Amy, you are not going to? -good bye, Mary. Rin answered with sad voice. -Amy wait! You cant go there now! Remember you still didnt level up back yet, what about the preparations? ... Rin no longer listened to her friend and started walking to the stairs. -dont go there that fast Amy! Yumes shout could not stop her. Rins went straight to the tomb of the Edward Third the Great. Normally in her preparation Rin would first regain her levels then gather necessary things for fight from her house. If she ran out from those things, she would also have to stockpile it first. Then and only then she would make another try at the tomb. There were other factors as well. Sometimes after waking up she would just say no, lets do it tomorrow and the try would be delayed, she needed to have maximum focus and be in best condition for it. Also if someone was to stop her on her way and she would have to fight them, she would make an extra hour of rest. She also had a rule where she wouldnt try to do more than two tries a month. Today however each of those rules was broken. Unprepared, unleveled and without clean mind, she was going for the try. Also on her way, few minutes after entering the forest someone have stopped there. -hi there, can I take a second of your time. It was the man from silver hand order whose name Rin no cared to remember. -no. Rin answered without looking at him. She was already in her brown cloak which covered her completely. It looked like man was surprised by something as he didnt follow up right away but then he run after her few seconds later and asked. -did I upset you? If yes then I am sorry. Still, I came here to find you, as I wanted to ask for a duel with famous Queen of Blades. It doesnt have to be right now but I really want to [Unlimited blade, stage three, golden gate.] A golden mist started to form around Rin and in few seconds it was clearly visible. The edges of ruby weapons started to appear on its surface and they were all pointed into man direction. She was not looking at him though. -I take that you accept? ... Tone of mans voice changed a little as he somewhat lost his cool seeing the scene before him. -em those wont come flying at me all at once, will they? He followed up with question after equipping a metal shield with mark of the silver hand on it and unsheathing his sword. But what he didnt want to see, happened right away. The fight lasted about 10 seconds. When first wave of sword arrived man block some of them with his shield, other were deflected with some kind of yellow barrier. It was surprising that he managed to do anything as when they started they were no more than two meters away from each other so he had a second to react. Still that barrier didnt last long and the results of the fight came right away. The dead body of blond haired knight. Rin didnt even stop to look at him and continued forward. She did not found out if her opponent was good or if he was bad. Just as there wasnt a single player that managed to land a hit on her, there also wasnt a single player that could do anything about third stage of that skill. At least, Rin never meet any of those. Even people that would double her with level would still die the same upon being attacked by the rain of swords. Rin finally reached the entrance to the tomb but then she stopped and nearly fell to the ground. It was because she used the third stage of golden gate without preparation. At her current level it was not something that she could freely use. Also she would normally drink a potion before using it to avoid the after effect but this time she did not do it. But this time that after effect was what saved her. There only thing that will happen if I go there now and that is my meaningless death from his sword. She understood that her chances of winning today were even worse than usual and in normal circumstances they were 0%. In a way, the silver hand knight that she just killed did save her as he made her realize her state as normally the after effect wasnt nearly as bad. She moved away from the tomb and walked to the first green ground that was near. She fall down on it right away then few moments later she fallen asleep. The try number sixteen at the tomb of Edward third the Great did not happen that day. It was postponed till the preparations were completed. Rin decided that next time, she will use any means necessary to win against her enemy and finally defeat the nameless knight. http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3486 Chapter 24 “Welcome to the Karma.” Chapter 24 Welcome to the Karma. [You didnt discover any resurrection points nearby. Resurrecting at bodys location.] Where he died, he revived. Because Arata just teleported or rather was sent to completely unfamiliar place, he didnt have the time to look around yet. In EOA, if someone did not find the place where you normally would revive they would revive in a place of their body location. Situations like that were exceptions which happened only after level challenges. Say you left the city one day and traveled far away into wildness. You would not be close to any resurrection points you unlocked but you would still be sent to the one closest to you which you discovered. Because of that new lands were hard to explore as when you died you would have to start at the beginning. Resurrecting points however were not only cities, it could be any place set for it. It actually sometime leaded to unpleasant situation where you would resurrect in a place from which you couldnt escape those places were simply called revive trap. There were cases where someone completely stopped playing EOA as he could not get out from there. On the internet you could sometimes find someone looking for help to get out from that place. There were even people, who were earning money by doing so. Dying once from time to time was something that was bound while playing EOA and it was taken as a natural thing, what was important though was to not die once again after you already died once. Dying too many times in row would lead to a massive set back. Still that problem was not something that concern to Arata. Its clean I guess. Lucky for Arata, there were nothing jumping at him the moment he appeared. Resurrecting at body location was uncommon and one could see some advantages of it but in truth it normally resulted in being killed by the thing that killed you last time. Left clear, right clear. Looks like there are no crazy players who want to kill me for no reason in sight. Just to be sure Arata looked around. Last time he appeared here he did meet some player who attacked him out of sudden and killed him. Even though he did not lose levels from dying and would log out regardless Arata didnt want to repeat that again. Even though it was just a game, dying was still not a pleasant feeling. Why was it unpleasant? If someone was to ask Arata that he wouldnt be able to explain it with words, his answer would be probably something like if you want to know go try it, its the only way to find out. Yes, Arata would rather avoid dying if possible however right now he wouldnt mind meeting the same player that killed him again even if it might lead to him dying again. Arata had some scores to settle. Last time he died because bad effect after using the potion of prohibited heroism got him right in the middle of the fight, if it were not for that he would surely win. Yes surely, that was what Arata at least thought. As I thought, no one would wait here ten days just to camp over my body. Little disappointed, Arata started to look around. Back in some forest again? What was around him was a forest full of trees. Although now it looked way different to other forest that he was before. It was not because the trees were different but the color of the leaves. When previously it was always green now it was in the colors of the fall. Brown and yellow were dominating around. But there were also red leaves as well and a lot of chestnuts on the ground. And which way should I go? Arata had no idea where he could find anything. After all he was simply thrown somewhere in the world and he had no idea what is where. There should be city somewhere near. That girl, Yuri, Yumi, well it doesnt matter what her name was, she said something like that. So for I should start with finding the city. Arata turned right and started going in that direction. He chose this one because to the right it was going downhill while to the left it was uphill. While going through the forest the birds were singing around. Been a long while since it was so quiet here. What Arata first wanted from this game were times like this, where he could just simply walk around in another world. If he didnt join Refrain, he would be probably taking it easy somewhere on 50th level right now. I have good gear and now I can use sword slash 5 times, so I dont need any new skills. What could be better than this? I have been rushing with my level ever since leaving beginners city so its time for a break. Without anyone around to watch over him Arata went into slacking mode right away. He was slowly walking through the trees while listening to the sound of birds. Still, I need some gold otherwise I wont be able to slack of in the way I want. The only thing that Arata was missing right now was gold. How to earn gold in MMOs? Its not a trivial topic. There were people who specialized in earning a lot of money in games and sold it for real money. They could live off from playing the games alone. It was not easy and only about 1% of those who tired made it but people like that existed. Of course Arata was never in a crazy situation where he would have to do that. If he had to earn money he would do it in more standard way. Still, as best dps of best guild in once most famous game he knew a lot of methods of earning gold. I dont think I will try the hard way. The hard way would be time consuming grid. It had one advantage as during grid you also leveled up but Arata had enough of that for now. He decided to use the other way which would be make money out of nothing. Still he would not be able to use it right away because this method required something unique if he wanted to use it. Now what would be a best trading skill to learn? It also has to be useful for me in a way. I dont think that some crafting is a way for me to go. The NPCs here are a little too advanced, if I were to choose sword smithing for example, how I would fare against NPC like Rodrigez who has been producing weapons and armors nonstop since so long. No one would buy it and it would be useless to me all the same. I think I will go with something like I had in Light in the citadel, I am Arata after all. Arata decided to choose the skills that his character once had in other game. They were Alchemy and Herbalism. Herbalism simply focused at gathering plants and flowers while Alchemy focused on changing those plants and flowers into potions and elixirs. If I go this way it will bring a lot of gold and it will be definitely useful for me. Arata already experienced power of potions so he was positive about it. Still before I get even one coin it will take some time. Also I will probably have to invest a little of gold into it at start. Still, later on it will be easy for me as I wont have to spend too much time on it. Herbs should be easy to find everywhere so they will come to me naturally as I play. Of course Arata had no idea how things worked in EOA but he was just using assumptions based on other games. Arata was nearly at the edge of the forest. In a distance he could see the walls of some city. Oh, I didnt get lost. Arata was expecting to roam around the forest for at least few hours. He also expected something to attack him inside it, but he didnt find any monsters there. In a distance he spotted a road that leaded to the city from the forest. Arata reached it and ventured in direction of the city. I guess its some big city, from here its look at least as big as Triangle was. The city was quite big and its walls would be about 8 meters high. Now even though I choose trading skill I still wont earn any gold this way yet. For now I should look for some easy money, guess I will check out information board. Arata didnt know if there was something like information board in the city to which he was going to but because there was one back in Loris and that was just some small country side village there should be one here. Or at least something similar to it. Arata continued forward. On his way he stepped walked over a small bridge as there was a river floating through the fields. On the bridge there were two guards who were playing some game that involved dice. Although it would be some source of information Arata didnt bothered them and continued forward. He planned to use the golden rule on some other guards. Upon reaching the city he also had to enter through the bridge as there was a moat floating around it or at least on this side. There were two guards standing at the gate but they didnt even move to stop him from coming in. In fact they were barely standing as to not fall asleep even though it was midday. Guess I wont bother those either. Arata walked pass by them and he entered the city which name he still dont know. In front of him, he had a long side walk made out of gray bricks. It was quite spacious in wide and ended way forward. Arata couldnt see where as there were a lot of people going around. It was Humans, Dwarves and Elves. It was the first time Arata saw the second and also first time he saw the third in such number. Previously it was only Kelly. What about two other races? Arata could not see any represents of other two races. Right now he didnt even remember what other two were. Whatever, for now I will go this way. Arata decided to go the main road and see what he can find. There were a lot of people around but no one paid any attention to him as they were doing their own things. Why no one is running? Arata still had in his mind that when going somewhere you should run, just like in any other game. Right now he was walking because, right now in general he was slacking off but if that was not the case he would normally run. Guess thats a different game after all. Arata find first greatest change in normal MMO and VRMMO still. Well if they are going to always walk around like this then I already won. Still he would not have a change of hard and when he will go back into the business he would run all day long. It took him a while before he reached the end of the street. Upon the way he saw many shops inns or even houses to rent but he didnt stop at any of it, he wanted to look around first and then find a best place. The end of the street turned out to be the city center for which Arata was looking for. It didnt take him more than an hour to reach it. This city is a little smaller than Triangle I guess. Arata reached this conclusion. Sure this city was smaller than biggest city of under 100 level. In triangle Arata had to walk for two hours to reach the center or go from center to the outside. Still it was also because Triangle didnt have such convenient path from the gate right to the center. This allowed Arata to not get lost and he didnt have to make any turns. Arata looked to the left and then to the right. One side was overloading with people while second would be considered normal. Whats the fuss about? Arata thought that something special was happening there right now but that wasnt the case. In that place there were people with tablets that stated their interest. Selling things, looking for things, asking for things, guild recruitment, all kind of things. It would be better if they divided into smaller group. The way that people went about it had some flaws. It would be better if trading were in one place, grouping in other and all other strange things in the third one. It would be also better if it was away from information board. Should I come later? The idea of pushing with people in that mob didnt seem that appealing. Right now, it was the midday and it was the busiest period. Guess I will come later, for now lets check what those tablets are about. Arata went into the place with less amount of people. It looked like the middle was for people who were reading the tablets and looking for something useful, while the sides were the place for people with tablets. Arata was looking for something of interest. He would instantly skip over any party invitation for dungeon as he had enough of this. He also would skip any tablet that would sell things as he was really low on gold and also didnt need any new equipment. Then there were some tablets which were buying information but right now Arata didnt even know the name of this city so he definitely wouldnt be cut out for this. Maybe I should put a tablet with the question. What is the name of this city? Some of the questions he found were as stupid as this but then he spotted one tablet that pike his interest. [Buying information about previous expeditions to the west. Any new and useful information will get you 5 gold. Depending on how useful it is it may be up to 25 gold. P.S: Anyone who knows how to solve Morgorian riddle and wants to earn 100 gold is welcomed as well but if you dont have idea what Morgorian riddle is dont even ask.] 100 gold for some riddle? Someone really wants its solved I guess. Arata saw the prices of all other things in other stands. Even though level was higher the prices were all the same. That could only mean that gold income would also stay the same. 100 gold was not something to easy get hand on. Wonder what Morgorian riddle is? Wait, from where do I remember that word? I think it also involves some bad memories. Arata had a quick flashback. I think Marco used that word somewhere, when was it? He told me quite a lot of his adventure stories but that was not then, there would no bad memories in it. Then it hit him. The wizard. That bastard who run away with my reward. Arata would never forget someone who owns him. Still what was it with the riddle? Well that guy gave me some riddles while I was looking for him but those didnt have a specific name. Morgorian riddle was the one that he gave to Anari. We ended up in Park after reading the message from it. It was all coming to him. I didnt solve it as I already had a solution from wizard but Marco explained how to do it, didnt he? There were pictures you take the first letters and you make the sentences which creates another riddle. As for pictures you choose the ones that are relevant to the creator of riddle. Yes, something like that. Arata himself was a little surprised that he remembered that. Still he tried to remember it at the time when he heard from Marco the solution just in case Anari asked him about it sometime later. Arata never revealed to her that the solution he got was not something he arrived at by himself but it was given to him by the Wizard. I should be able to solve it with Marcos instructions. Well even if I dont it is worth a try. Its 100 gold after all. And so Arata decided to give it a try. It looked like there were two people who were creators of this tablet. The one who was holding a tablet was a girl with long straight blond hair. She was quite high in height and really slim. She was wearing clothes in mostly color of blue. After spotting her ears Arata found out that she was of elf race. Her clothes didnt look too elvish and were quite normal. She werent wearing any weapons on her at the moment but that was something that Arata spotted normal in the town. The girl had her eyes closed. She was standing a little similar to the guards that were sleeping on their duty while holding to their halberds. The other person was a dwarf with long bronze beard. He also was not wearing any weapons but he wore an chain armor and brown cape. In comparison to elf girl, the dwarf was not sleeping and Arata walked up to him. -I am about your request. -you were in the west? How far did you go? Dwarf went right into the business. It was normal for anyone who was making a stand in the city center. There was no time for chitchat. Still he was wrong in Aratas intention. -no I am about the riddle. The dwarf somehow lost interest. -listen I had a thousand people already who fawned over the thought of 100 gold. Are you the next one? You think that if it were something easy that anyone can do, we would pay you 100 gold? I looked like the dwarf was already annoyed by people who asked for it. Also Arata could see that the last fragment of message on the table [If you dont have idea what Morgorian riddle is dont ask!] was written with different hand writing. -no no, I know what Morgorian riddle is. Arata tried to explain himself. -really, because in my case even though I saw it I have no idea what it was. -I can understand why. -you say as if you really saw it. -because I did. -in that case tell me what it is about? The dwarf asked. -there are a lot of pictures and you create riddle out from it. -in first one you are right but the second is false. -False? Did I remember wrong? No we had a message water but no river or sea. And lights go out was signaling night, it was another riddle. -aye its false, from pictures you create a message no another riddle. Thats what the instruction said at least. -maybe its some different version. Still in those riddles you take first letters of name of the object and create a sentence. Whatever its another riddle or a message its doesnt change much. -aye, you are right on this. So do you know how to solve it? -I know the method at least. -and it is? -and that method is worth 100 gold I presume. -hahaha looks like you have your head screwed. Well I doubt that you will solve it but you do know about it more than anyone else who came here did so its worth to give you try at least. -so can I have look at it? -about that, the thing is, I dont have it. Also I would never pay 100 gold for some riddle. Flynn has his head screwed as well. Dwarf explained, it looked like his name was Flynn. -looks like it, so your sleeping friend is the one that has it? Arata pointed in the direction of sleeping elf girl. -nay, not her either. Anyway I hope you are not too busy right now or has to do anything. -not really. -then listen. The one that wants this riddle solve is our friend Yume, she asked us to put additional information on the tablet and if we find someone who can solve the riddle we should send that person to her. -thats quite nice of you. -its normal to do it for your friend, aye? Anyway, as for Yume she should be in elven district right now. Look inside the caf shops for a girl with long curly blond hair. -and where is that elven district? The dwarf looked at him surprised. -you dont know? -today is my first time in this city. After entering I just walked straight forward to here. -that explains it but a visitor from other lands here is uncommon. Was there a reason that you come here? -I just finished my 100 level barrier and appeared here. -you dont look like someone who just came after noobs land, your gear look like from 130 at least. Also I am sure that the sword of red steel you have 120 level requirement. If you try to hide your level then you should be more careful as it is embarrassing if someone finds out. -no this sword has requirements reduced so I can wear it. -aye, there are enchants like that, not sure how you did get it if you just finished 100 level barrier but I care not about that. -so where is that elven district? -right, if you are new here, you dont know. Hmm, how to say it so you dont get lost. -the general direction would be enough I will manage somehow. -nay, we dont want you to get lost. I will give you a guide. Hey! Vivi wake up! Dwarf shouted to the elf girl but she didnt respond. -you dont have to. -nay she is sleeping for the whole day, she could use some walk. Look now it will work I will use magic words. Vivi! Shin is back! The girl right away opened her eyes. She dropped a tablet and run toward the dwarf. -really? Flynn why didnt you say earlier, I thought he was going to be absent for another two weeks. She answered right away. -because he will. The big smile from girl face turned right away into angry face. -why do you call me then! I thought we will finally go for expedition! -I have work for you. -I dont feel like doing you a favor. Arata was not sure if those two were on good terms on bad ones, still it was clear to him that they knew each other for quite some time now. -how about doing Yume a favor? -for Yume, thats a different matter. -thought so. -so what is it? -remember what she asked me for today? -something about the riddle right? Thats why we have this additional message on tablet. But Flynn, why Yume cant just wait for Shin to come back, he would solve it right away. -she said its urgent. -but its 100 gold. -she is probably doing it for someone else. You know how she is. -thats why we all love her. The elf girl said with smile. Dwarf looked back at Arata -right, whats your name again? -Arata. -I am Flynn and this is Vivi He pointed at his friend. Then he once again start speaking to her. -so Arata has an idea how to solve the riddle. I say lets give him a try. Show him a way, will ya? -well its not hard to find Yume in this town. -he is new here so make sure he wont get lost. -I can show him a way but after that I am not coming back here again. -you werent helping anyway, do what you want. -yey! Completely new energy entered Vivi and with small jumps she started walking. -Arata was it? Just follow me. Arata followed elf girl. The ventured to east part of the city. -finally out of the crowd. Arata signed when they left city center. -you dont like crowds? Vivi asked. -does anyone do? -I know few people who do. Actually, right now we are going to one of them. -is elven district also crowded like this? -even more. -100gold, 100gold, 100gold Arata looked down and started whispering to himself as to convince himself that his choice was right. Vivi started to laugh at that. -hahaha. -what? -you are strange you know? -I prefer word unique. He was already used to it. -so Arata, why did you come to this city? You are from the outside and traveled here, right? -if being teleported after 100 level challenge can be called a travel then sure. -really, you just leveled up? You dont look like a newbie. -because I am not newbie. -anyone who passes that challenge is not a newbie I guess. So how was it, did you have a hard time? On which try did you pass? It looked like Vivi was not only going to show a way. Conversation on a way was pretty natural so Arata was answering. -hard time? I guess fighting against five boss class monsters at the same time could be called hard time. -you went for a second part? You are not strange then, you are simply crazy! Thats probably the normal reaction. -still it was worth it. The reward at the end was quite nice. -wait you completed it? The elf stopped walking and looked back at Arata with huge green eyes. -yes? Arata was not sure if it was a good answer or not. -so people like that really exist. You are not lying right? -why should I? -I dont know, sometimes guys want to impress me. -I have a girlfriend, thank you. Arata cut it right away. -hahaha so you are a faithful type. Still say honestly, who looks better, me or your girlfriend? Arata once again looked at the elf girl once again. Tall and slim with long light hair. She was a picture of elven beauty found in fantasy novels. Arata arrived at his answer. -dont take it as an offence but honestly speaking, she is about four to five times better looking than you. That answer was not something that Vivi would ever expect to hear though. -how I am not supposed to take it as an offence? -no no, you are good looking but lets say not that good looking. -you still sure you are not offending me. -you wanted a honest answer right. -I did but you should learn that girls sometime says one thing and means other I know it very well. -still you really must have some high standards. Either your girlfriend really is five times prettier them me, which I cant even imagine or you just madly fall for her. -both I guess. It was true that Aratas vision was clouded in that regard. Also it was hard to compare two peoples look after all. -I am jealous. I also want a boyfriend who will look only at me. -hope you find one, anyway how long is it? Arata changed the subject and asked the ultimate question. -about ten minutes left till we reach elven district. Finding Yume will take me not too long, so from there it will go fast. -I am not really in hurry. -me neither, until Shins comes back we cant do anything. -we? -our raid group. We always go together on dungeons or raid or on adventures but since few months Shin is not here and we cant do anything other than small dungeons, so we are all bored. There are many others who doesnt play either. -you can always find a replacement. Arata gave a simple advice. Normally it was impossible to expect each member of guild/raid party to come at every time the group goes somewhere. Having someone on backup was essential. Still Vivi answered. -yes but there is no replacement for Shin. Raid dungeons that we are normally going for are usually for 25 or 50 people but with Shin we can do them in only 15 people. Well, only once we did dungeon for 50 people we mostly do those for 25. Still without Shin it is impossible. -that Shin, does he have higher level than everyone else? -no he is on the same level as us. -well I can understand why one person can sometimes decide the outcome even if he is not higher level than you. So, is that Shin your guild leader? Arata arrived at conclusion which was not true. -it would be good if he were. Vivi said with a little sadder voice. -you have some bad guild leader or something? Hearing her sadder voice he could understand that something was not going well. Vivi answered. -no we dont. Thing is we are not even a guild. -group of friends playing together is something like a guild even if you are not registered as official guild. -still it would be more fun to be in a guild, right? We would have our name, our herb and even guild house to hang out in. -is there a reason why you dont become a guild then? -normally when someone asks we say that we dont want to spend our money on register form. Its not really convincing lie as it cost only 20 gold. Well, I can tell you the real reason. Our problem is that we dont have a leader. -but what about that Shin guy? From their conversation Arata understood that Shin is the most important figure in that group. He easily come up with conclusion that he should be a leader. To that Vivi answered shouting. -right! Everyone thinks that he should be our leader but Shin doesnt want to become one and we cant convince him! -but normally when you go for raids he lead you right? Why cant he just take the title? -as for leading part. Shin is our raid leader in a way but he wouldnt even accept even this title either. -but he is acting like one, right? Vivi looked down again. -well, he comes up with tactic and tells people what to do if they dont know. If you ask him about anything he will answer and explain everything in small details but in easy to understand way Sounds like Raid leader to me. -but apart from that he never takes a lead. Also every time he explain the tactic he came up with, he always ask one question Is it alright with you guys?. Like anyone could come up with something better!! Its a little annoying but that how Shin always was and thats why we all love him. His official position that he came up with himself is called tactician. -sound like great guy. Good players who doesnt have too much pride or thinks too highly about themselves was something you would look for with candle in your hand. -if only he took leader position. -from what I heard so far, given his character he probably never will. -you dont have to tell me that, I know it too well. Anyway look, we already arrived. The elven district was somewhat different from what Arata expected. It was still the same city similar buildings. They also were still made out of stone. Arata was expecting tree houses or at least some different style but it looked like it was not the thing. There was a change thought. In comparison to previous parts, here the sidewalk was not out from stones but green grass. How was it kept green and fresh despite the crowd that was stamping over them was unknown. There were really a lot of people there. Human and elves mostly, Arata did not see any dwarves. It improved his opinion about them by far. -so where we start looking for my employer? Arata asked. -well we will do it the fastest way possible. -and that would be? -just wait and look Vivi took a deep breath and then shouted. -YUME!!!!!!!! She shouted really loudly. Possibly everyone in elven district would be able to hear. Still no one even looked at her when she did that. It was like it was normal to them. Two seconds later another shout came. -HERE!!!!! It was not something that came from close direction. Arata did not recognize where exactly it came from but it looked like Vivi knew right away. -this way. Arata followed her through the alley. They arrived at the place called five minutes of joy. It was a caf shop which was selling different kinds of caf and cakes. Vivi lead him to one of the tables. There were three people sitting next to it but upon noticing Vivi and Aratas arrival, they left their sits and walked away after saying their goodbyes. At the table there were left only one person. Girl with curly blond hair and big green eyes. She stood up as well when Arata and Vivi were coming really close. Vivi walked up next to her and both of them hugged each other. -Yume, its been a while. -about two months, right? -too long to count. -so is Shin back already? -not yet but you are coming with us next time, right? -yes, yes I am coming They both stopped hugging each other. Girl with curly hair started. -so how has it been lately Vivi? -boring, without Shin we didnt go anywhere new. No wonder you also decided to back off. -no, no it was nothing like that. -yes definitely. -hehe, well did you have any particular reason in finding me or just came just because you feel like it? -its been two months after all. Not only you didnt go with us for dungeons but out of nowhere you decided to go for a trip to another city. -it was best time for this. -I should have gone with you. So how was it? -it was really refreshing to see a new city . The girl started answering but the she was cut in by Vivi. -wait a second Yume. -hmm? -I think I forgot about something About time. -its probably nothing important. -hrm, hrm. Arata reminded about himself to Vivi. Vivi looked at him right away. -sorry! -I can wait if you have something more pressing to talk about. Arata said sarcastically. -ah its Arata. You came looking for me in the end. The girl with curly hair said that. Arata was surprised same as Vivi. -you two already know each other? -no, I think not. How do you know my name? -we meet before remember. You save me from those bandits mr. Knight. Arata understood right away. -the millers daughter! The girl had no idea what was it about but she laughed it off. -hahaha, you are still as strange as you were. Anyway, welcome to Karma, Arata She said it with smile. -first lets order some cakes and then tell me why you come Yume made an order with a single move of her hand. The waiter recognized it without any sound and just nodded. -so Vivi, how did it end up that you are here with my rescuer? -I didnt know that you even meet each other, hey Arata why didnt you mention anything. -we talked only for a three minutes and I didnt remember her name. -how can you not remember me after you have done? What have I done!? Vivi completely ignored that and continued to Arata. -right, Arata you should know that while talking with Yume you have to ignore half of what she says. -you are cruel Vivi. -this guy is a little too serious so go easy on him. -I am not too serious. -you are. Also he has a girlfriend so your usual jokes are also no, no! -mhm It looked like the girl with curly hair was not too happy but he understood. -fine. Anyway once again, my name is Yume. -I will try to remember this time. Cant promise anything though. -so, how do you like Karma so far Arata? Do I have to go into another off top? -city like any city. Anyway we should go right into the business so I can see more of it. -you have business with me? It looked like she had no idea what it was. Vivi interfered. -Yume, remember what this morning you told Flynn? -yes, ah so this is what it is about, Arata you want to join our expedition? -ha? Vivi also had no idea what it was about. -is it not it? This morning I was talking with Flynn and was explaining him that we should invite more people if we want to succeed. -Flynn didnt even comment on that and we are not looking for some random people to join us. Remember what Shin said. Our first try should be just a small test, not too far so he can see for himself what exactly is needed there. If there will be a need we will organize a large expedition and invite Karmas guilds for it but not in a near future. For first expedition Shin didnt want any unknown elements. -so what is it about? Yume still had no idea. Is there really 100 gold for it? Arata was a little worried so he explained. -I came here because of your announcement. You have riddle to solve and you give 100 gold to the one who solves it right? -yes and? Looks like she remembers. -I know how to solve it so lets get started with it okay? -wait, you really know how to solve it!? Yume eyes went wide. -I know a method as how it can be solved. So do you have it with you? Its better if I look at it right away. Wasnt it urgent? -yes it is! But you really can solve it right!? -probably. -ah, that should get her back in a mood. Yume said to herself. -Yume first show him that riddle. Vivi interrupted her daydreaming. -right, about that. I dont have it right here. A new problem arrived. -and where is it? -at my friend house. Lets go there right away Yume stood up and gave some signal to a waiter. Why it cant be ever simple. I just wanted to solve riddle fast and get that 100 gold. Now it turned into quest chain go there, go there, and then sorry Mario but your princess is in another castle. -Vivi you are coming with us? Yume asked. -should I? Yume is it one of your normal friends or that friend? If it is the second then I will pass. -she shouldnt be at the house right now. -even so I think I will pass, I will catch you later Yume. -okay, bye Vivi. Lets go Arata. Yume said it a little sadder and looked away. -thanks for showing a way, good luck on creating a guild. -thanks to you as well. Also a word of advice be careful if you meet Yumes friend. Best not talk to her at all and just finish the riddle. -as long as I get my gold then I am happy but why shouldnt I talk to her? -if you dont mind dying once or twice you dont have to listen to my advice. Anyway bye Arata, may we meet again. With that Vivi also left the caf. Arata leaded by Yume left the elven district. He had to ask what was it about. -is your friend dangerous or something? -dangerous, no. She is just misunderstood. Anyway she is not at home right now so you dont have to take too seriously what Vivi said. -I can deal with things that come at me so I am not that worried. -right you defeated 4 players in a flash when you rescued me after all. Your level is some super high or something? -not really. Its only 100. Remember when we first meet, I appeared at that cave because I just finished my 100 level challenge. -hmm, Arata are you hiding something? -no. -I trust you have good reason for lying then, well its normal that people hide their levels I guess. -I am not hiding my level. -still at least I can tell that you are definitely lying. Arata you shouldnt lie. Liars can never be truly happy, if you keep telling lie after lie one day you will even forget what the truth is. Right Vivi said that I shouldnt take her too serious. Arata had no idea what it was about so he just answer. -I will remember that. -you are strange but good guy so you can still go on the right path and I am quite forgiving. Even though Yume said that their conversation stopped completely for about 20 minutes. Arata felt little uncomfortable. He tried to find a topic to speak with. -so what happened to you after I died in that cave. Did that assassin also get you too? -assassin? I didnt see any assassins there. -you know that I died there right? It looked like Yume was not comfortable while speaking in this topic. I should just shut up. But then she answered. -I saw but no nothing happened to me. You want to know what killed you? -you know who it was? -of course I do, there are not many people who knows Karma better than me. As to what killed you it was a ghost. -ghost? -yes vicious ghost that kills people. Should I take it seriously? -can you tell me something about that ghost? -I guess, it will keep you save in a future so listen. The other name of that vicious ghost is Queen of Blades. If you spent enough time in Karma you will listen this story eventually. There is a place south of Karma called Tomb of Edward Third the Great. The tomb in a way a dungeon but that doesnt matter. What matter is that near this place from time to time, the vicious ghost appear. When you find a figure completely hidden in brown cloak with mark of blood at her back nothing can save you. The ghost will kill you and you will have no chance of defending. Power of the ghost is unstoppable and no one will stand against it. No one can stand against it hmm. Arata wasnt convinced by that story. -that ghost, is it some AI monster or a player? -what difference does it make to you? -if its AI monster then I wont go there as its level is probably too high for me but if its a player then I have scores to settle. -why do you want to go there and die again? -I didnt mention dying. -you already fought against her once right? You should know that you have no chances. What does she mean no chances? Aratas pride was hurt a little. -I might have lost but that doesnt mean I will lose again. At that time I was in worst possible condition to fight, if I were full strength it would be different. -it will not be different, you didnt see her true power. -you say like you know that ghost well. -its because . Yume stopped. -I wont pry. Anyway even if I dont win, it will be interesting fight at least. Even though our previous fight was short I already found something that I need to make sure of. Because of that I need to look for that ghost one day. -what is that something? -nothing much, just one technique that ghost used, I cant let some imitator use it like nothing Yume started looking at Arata with curiosity. -what? -nothing. Anyway, Arata could you do me a favor? -sure, what is it? -dont go hunt for that ghost right now, do it later or if you can, dont do it at all. -is there a reason for that? -yes. Well that player dodged grandpa technique so I should check it out but I guess I dont really have to do it. Still. -I wont say that I wont look for that ghost but I will not bother it and I will not attack it. If its tells me to leave I will, how is that answer? -see, you can be nice after all She answered in a little better mood then she added. -still you shouldnt lie. -when did I lie? Arata still had no idea what it was about. -fine I will tell you. Firstly you said that you just passed 100 level barrier but what about your gear? Red steel sword is for level 120 that I know. Also your clothes. They are made by Olivia! I did some research after seeing it before. How did you get that famous designer to make it for you I cannot tell but it was definitely her work! It means that you were at least once in Capital and to get there you would need to get 100 level way before. You said that you appeared in a cave after the challenge, how will you explain this? I should stop telling my level until I level up, its the second time already. Still I didnt know that those clothes were made by someone famous. Well Loki and Gerald probably have good connections. -listen I didnt lie, those clothes have level requirement reduced and as how I get them? They were given to me by my guild so I can have easier time while playing, simple as that. -aaaa, why do you keep lying? -I dont! Arata shouted honestly. -you just started to tell me some fairy tale about some good guild that would sponsor you full gear from famous crafter. -well this guild is a little special and joining it is not easy but yes its exist. -fine, I will take this believable lie. I dont know if its a good thing or a bad thing but you can say all those thing without even blinking. I really wouldnt want to play poker with you. -everything I said is true! -then explain to me one thing. You said that you just passed 100 level barrier so you are 100 level right now correct? -yes that is true. -arent you 90 level then? -no I am 100? -did you forget that you died right after we meet? Arata finally understood what it was about. With my sacrifice skill dying doesnt reduce my level but I would be 90 if it were the truth. No wonder she kept saying I am lying. -ha finally some reaction, so what do you say to that mr. liar? -there are some reasons to that which I wont explain, still know that everything I said was true. Yume wondered a little but then said. -you know what if you promise me that you wont lie again I will forget about everything. -I promise I wont lie to you. A smile come back to her face out of sudden. -well Arata, hope we can start anew. I dont like to be on bad terms with anyone. -me neither. -so Arata, you sure you can solve that riddle? -I cant be 100% sure but as I said I know the method Right I should get to it already.. -you know who made that riddle? -is it important? -yes its important piece of information that is needed to solve it. -well its not me but my friend who got that riddle but original creator was some Wizard, is it enough? Wizard? That brings some bad memories. Well its probably not the same wizard but I should check it out still. -yes its enough. By the way do you know where to find that Wizard? -well I know where he should be, not so sure how to get to his hideout though. -can you show me a way after I solve the riddle? -I guess I can but why do you want to know? -I meet once a Wizard that liked to create riddles like the one you have, it may be the same Wizard so I should great him at least. With a fist into the face. -that good reason enough I guess, not sure if its the same Wizard you meet though. Anyway I will show you the entrance to his hideout but as I said I dont know how to open it. -I already have an idea as how to do it. -we are nearly there. They arrived as southern part of the Karma. Now they were standing before small too floor house. It didnt look much different from all other houses. -this is the place. Sorry that I cant invite you in but my friend is the official owner and it is set that only someone with permission can enter it normally. -I dont mind. -sit over there I will be back in a second Yume pointed at small bench in front of the house and then walked inside. Finally I will get done with it. It was a lot of walking but Arata was going to finally see the riddle. No that he minded walking around the city that much. He was planning to wonder around the city anyway. About two minutes later Yume walked out from the house. She had an envelope in her hands. -I got it. -let me see. Arata received an envelope and got started. There were three pages inside one of them was an instruction page and the other two were pages with pictures. Arata didnt read the instruction at all and started with started with first page with pictures. Looks similar. Yes it looked similar to Arata. This Morgorian riddle was as crazy as the one he once saw. -so you know how to solve it? Yume asked after Arata had a first look. -yes but. It will take hours. -hmm? Arata didnt feel like solving it but he couldnt escape now, especially when Yume was looking at him with pleasing eyes. Without work there is no gain. I got what I asked for. In this world or in any world there is nothing like free 100 gold. -so how is it? Yume asked once again. -I know how to solve it. It might take some time though. -really? Yata! Eh. Oto. Arata felt a little more motivated after he saw how happy Yume was. She even tried to hug him in happiness but Arata skillfully avoid that. -its still isnt solved. Arata reminded her. -but its the first time. You know there were few people who said that they can solve it. They were really convincing but when they saw the riddle they gave up Maybe they knew how to solve it but when they saw this version they gave up. Arata kept his thoughts to himself. -so Arata when will it be done? How should I know. -I cant tell. If you help, it will go faster. -if I can help then I will. I thought that she would leave all to me and go somewhere. That what I would do at least, after all she is paying me for it. Arata had his view on how things worked. Nothing is for free and when you pay someone for a job he has to do all of it. She probably needs it as soon as possible or just dont want to leave me with the riddle because she thinks I would take it away. -do you need this riddle solved right away? Arata asked to make sure which assumption was correct. -not really, you have something to do first? If so, you dont have to solve it today. -eh I guess I really doesnt look like trusty type. -I will get to it right away. -ok so tell me what to do. Hmm I could tell her how to solve the riddle and let her take care of second page but if I do that she might just leave me with nothing because she will no longer need me to solve it. It turned out that the one who really didnt trust others was not Yume. -take out some paper and note letters that I say. -okay. Yume took out a small notebook and a pen. Even though EOA was based on medieval times both of them looked quite modern. Well pen and paper were not that modern anymore. Arata get back to the picture and start to look for objects related to the Wizard. Even though on first look items were randomly placed Arata could see that they were placed in lines. He started from top left corner and moved to the right like reading a book. He soon spotted first picture that definitely was related to a wizard or mage. Magical clothing. Vest, Robe. I guess Robe is more popular term. Still it wont hurt to note the second one. The first picture was purple magical robe with was typical mage clothing in fantasy world. -first note down letter R. Then under it in bracket letter V. Arata continued. Strange thought it will be longer. Arata went through five lines but he only found one picture so far. Then in sixth line he found another picture. Will this count? The picture was showing a lighting storm. Thunders were coming down from the sky and were hitting the ground. Still how should I interpret it. Lighting? Thunder? Spell? -you have problem with something? Because after first letter Arata went quiet for about five minutes Yume asked. Might as well ask her. -which word would you use to describe this picture. Arata show her the page and pointed at the picture with lighting storm. -this one? I would say electricity. Her answer was rather unexpected. -electricity? Why this one? This term wasnt used in fantasy worlds. Reason for that is electricity is not discovered in medieval time in which those worlds usually appear. -somehow. -thats not really convincing. -but thats the first word that came to my mind when I first looked at it. Also look, thunders make letter E in a way. I guess its true but its more of an F. -okay but letter E next to the R but do it in bracket. Also letters L, T and S should appear under it just like with V Yume note it down just like Arata said without asking more question. Arata finished first page after about half an hour. It was much faster than he originally thought. Reason for that was that there were not that many magical oriented pictures so far. -you already finished first page? Yume was also suppressed when Arata put it down. -yes, show me the notes so I can see how it goes. Yume passed him a her notes. Hope it will be something readable. There were only like seven pictures so far. The notes were written just like Arata asked and even though it were random letters next to each other with Yumes handwriting and organization they didnt look that chaotic. Also it looked like she was already trying to create the words out from it. She had a lot of time and not really much to do. -I think the most possible one right now is Read the. Only second E and one other letter are from bracket. Thats probably it. The second page should say what you should read. -thats probably it. Lets see what says the other page. Strange though. I thought that one page should symbolize one sentence. That was at least in Anaris case when with four pages she got four sentences. Guess its not a rule. After another half an hour his worries turned out to be correct. Even though there were much more pictures related to magic on this page Arata managed to finish it even faster than previous one. There were also few pictures that repeated themselves. It looked like the Wizard that made it was somewhat lazy at coming up with new symbols for each letter. Arata really started to believe that it was the same Wizard that he looked for. -so what does it says? Upon finishing Arata didnt ask for notes but for what Yume already created with it. -it may not be correct but when we combine all we got it says Read the instruction again. Did I get it wrong? -your friend had some instruction for that quest? Arata tried to find a solution. The message should be related to some quest that Yumes friend had.. -hmm, the riddle came with instruction remember? It was in envelope. -right, I still didnt even read it. -you already solved it the riddle so you dont have to do it. The message must have been that. -it wont hurt. Arata looked at the last page that he didnt read before. Upon reading he reached very concerning part. Owner is the king. That doesnt sound good. While searching for pictures related to Wizards and magic there were quite number of them that would be related to King or monarchy. Second Arata read the words Owner is the king he felt something was not right. Also those words were separated from all the text implying that they are important. Thats what you got if you dont read the instruction first. Arata finished the whole instruction and after doing so he was sure that it was the same Wizard he once met. His style of writing was as annoying as he himself. -you got something? Yume while Arata was thinking about how he should make his revenge on Wizard. I will finally get my reward. I have been waiting too long for it. -Arata! Still this wont be enough. There should be something extra for a long wait. Debts are growing with time after all. -hey! Yumes attempts were still in vain. Evil smile started to appear on Aratas face. I know I will leave one punch for other time so he wont know when it will come at him. He will live with consciousness that he can be hit any time in my presence. Then Arata felt something touching his check. It was Yumes index finger. It brought effect right away. Ha? -what are you doing? Arata asked. -oh, you are back. So did you found out something? Yume asked but she didnt stop touching his check. -can you stop this first. -I am making sure you listen. Arata moved his head away. -making sure I listen, what is with that method? -it worked, didnt it? I use it quite often and it always works great when someone is daydreaming. Often? No never mind. -I stopped daydreaming as you called it so you can stop as well. Then about the riddle, we got it wrong so we need to go over it once again. -wrong? But the sentence sound like sentence. I wonder if that Wizard made it on purpose or not. -there are small chances that its right and the message is meaningless Given that its that Wizard the chances are not that small though. -still, I think the correct to solve this riddle is slightly different. -in that case lets go back to work. And so Arata and Yume started all over again. This time it took him more than an hour even though he already had the experience. The reason for that was, there were much more pictures related to the king rather than those related to magician. Still the work bore a fruit and the message that sounded like advice was formed. Just like before Yume was the one to make the full sentence out from it. -Plebian cant lay their hands on Kings crown. Only worthy one, recognized by the king can take it. Thats what it says. -its sounds like the right solution this time but what does word plebian even means? You sure you got it right? Maybe there are other combinations. -I had problems with this one but this is the most normal sounding word that could be made also there was not much to choose from. Its either this or Blebian or Blelian or Plelian. I just chose the normal letters here. -I never heard a word that would sound like any of those. -me neither. Still, from the sentence I understand it is related to a person. Maybe its a name of someone or their status, position, well doesnt really matter. We might as well change it to John. -leave it as plebian then. Anyway, how do you feel about this message? Any crowns or kings are related to this quest? -yes, they are more than related. In that quest she has to take the crown from the tomb of the king. -fits perfectly then. -it really does! After proclaiming loudly Yume once again tried to hug Arata, still even after three hours of siting on the bench and looking at the pictures his senses did get an worse. -why do you dodge?! She asked. -its natural when someone tries to attack you. -it was a hug of thanks. -so thats the name of that attack. Aratas viewpoint was a little different on it. -mhm! -anyway, lets talk about my payment. Arata would not forget about most important thing. -right, here is your 100 gold Yume gave him 100 gold without a moment of thought. This is more than I ever had before. -you are good guy after all Arata. Despite lying earlier. Yume complemented him. -and what brings that now? -you know, I was satisfied with first solution and I would give you 100 gold for it but you stayed for another nearly two hours and worked to make sure you got it right. Ah, didnt realize that I can cheat it out like this. Even if he did, Arata would not cheat anyone out of money. Probably. - hope it will help your friend. Also, just for a record, I didnt lie to you even once. -any you kept on saying that even though its not logical. -that is the truth. And it is logical when you add one more aspect. -and that is? -something that you dont have to know. In the first place I dont really care if you think I lied or not. -stingy! Arata didnt plan to tell anyone about his [sacrifice] skill and not only that. He didnt plan to reveal any of other skill as well or his classes. He did not really think that it was that useful to hide it. Still it looked like in EOA revealing too much information was not something experienced player would do. For example Arata still had no idea what was Geralds class. There was one thing that Arata would reveal however and that was his level. If he wanted to form a group he would need to reveal at least that. He could say that his level is around this or that number but that was annoying to do so. In the end level, right now was supposed to not mean much. That what others told him at least. And whatever level difference there might be, Arata was always positive about winning. Arata stand up from the bench as his job was done and paid. -you are going already? Yume asked. -no reason to sit here all day. I dont any gear right now as I just got a set of new items. I think I should buy some ingredients and then cook something awesome. Or I can buy some ingredients for later and go to some restaurant or something. I have a lot of gold after all. But its a little waste to spend it on some restaurant on food. On the other hand if its any close to Marcos level then it would be definitely worth it. Well, I still dont know where I can find anything so I will continue to take tour around this city. If I find anything interesting I will stop there. Hmm, Should I go back to the center first? Arata wondered at what to do next. Being completely new in this city didnt give him much options to choose. -then lets go Yume also stood up and started going in one direction. Now then should I go left or right? -Arata, dont just stand there! Left seems like the right option. But I feel a nice flavor coming from the right one. -oiiiii! Wait is that a restaurant over there? Well I was going to choose first restaurant carefully but whatever I am going to When he was in middle of planning Arata felt a soft push on his checks. Ha? It was once again Yumes doing. -you need something else? Her method did work like a magic, although Arata would never try to use it himself. -dont tell me you already forgotten. Was there something else? -sorry, those pictures brainwashed me and I dont remember. -you said you wanted to see the Wizard, that questgiver right? I was going to show you the way There was no need to say anything else and Arata start following Yume right away. They once again started to go through alleys of Karma. -so what is your relation with that questgiver? Yume asked when they were walking. -also, how do you plan to enter his hideout? He likes you so much that he will open it when he sees you? -relation? Well I did two quests for him. As for entering his hideout, yes the entrance will appear right away. -two quest? Amazing. You sure you are 100 level? -those were quest in city of beginners, I meet that guy there, why do you ask about him though? -I was wondering if you are looking for him to get another quest. Ah thats why she is coming along. She thinks that if I get some quest she also will also get one. Haha, I finally understood her intentions. -I dont go there to get a quest. -but if he offered you one you would take it right? -no. Arata didnt think much about his answer. -why not? You said you have nothing to do right now, what can be better than doing epic the quest and get awesome reward. You said you already completed two quests from him why not take another? -its because I completed two quests from him. -what reward was not enough? -you could say that. -but those were in city of beginners right. This time it could be something much better. You should see what my friend got from one of her quest, you would change your mind right away. Or were his too hard and you dont want to take more risks? -you are somewhat too concerned about it. Arata had to point it out as he was bombarded by Yume with questions. -ah yes, sorry. -you really want to get a quest that badly? -me, not really. I am busy anyway, no time for quests right now. Was I wrong? -anyway, I dont think of getting any quests for no either. If I find something really good, I might take it but I would leave it for another time when I once again feel like it. Although that Wizard is exception, I dont want to take anything from him. -I see. From that moment their conversation completely ended. It lasted like that until they reached a lone tower which was placed between dwarven and human district. -its here. The silence was broken by Yume. -you said that the entrance to the hideout is at the back right? -yes its there. -then I will be going. Arata started to move in direction of the bushes. He did not know why Yume went silent out of sudden but he suspected her to leave him now that she showed him the way as she promised but to his surprise she did not so. -I am coming as well. They started to move through the bushes. The awkward silent was once again there. Arata couldnt take it anymore. -I didnt think you will be coming with me. -why not? -didnt I offend you somehow, you stopped talking out of sudden. -you also stopped talking. -but for me its normal. -and for me its not? -from what I heard from your friends and from what I saw so far you then not. -you didnt do anything wrong Arata. I shouldnt have hope. It would be impossible anyway. -what would be impossible? -I wont tell you. -why? -secret. You have your secrets as well dont you Arata? -yes, those are not something to get sad over. -unfortunately mine are, but in the end there are nothing you can really do about it even if you choose differently. Also I dont have permission to tell about it to anyone. I will just tell you this. Arata you didnt do anything wrong so, dont worry about it Arata could not say anything to that as the matter seemed too deep for an outsider to intervene with it. They reached the hidden entrance to the hideout. Well it was just slightly different from piece of wood and a torch holder on it. It didnt look like an entrance at all. -well Arata this is the place from where my friend enters to wizard hideout. To open it normally, first she would need to enter the tower and do some kind of ritual. She never told me what that ritual is though. -so how do you know this is the entrance. -after the ritual she would come out from the tower and come here. I was with her once when she visited that questgiver. The last stadium is putting back the torch into torch-holder and then pulling it, then hidden entrance opens. -isnt it a little bit too complicated? -probably, but thats the only way to open it. Also if you try to pull the torch without doing the ritual, trap will activate and you will die. This whole thing sounds really fishy. Arata ignored Yumes warning. He picked up the torch put it into torch-holder and pulled it. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. -what are you doing! You want to die?! Yume shouted at him for being careless but nothing happened to Arata. Also the hidden doors started to open. -thought so. -why nothing have happened? Yume could not understand. -because the rituals and trap were simply a lies. You never tried to open it this way? -well losing levels for such stupid thing is not worth it Right, people normally lose levels when they die. Still if I were to do some stupid rituals every time I have to open those doors, I would take a risk at least once to see if its true. -Arata you are not afraid of dying, arent you? -its a game after all. Its normal to die from time to time. Rather if you dont die from time to time its a boring and way too easy game for my taste. Well then, shall we go in? Arata entered the hideout or rather he wanted to enter it. Instead of entering he encountered invisible barrier. -ah what next? -well this is the reason why I never saw that questgiver. My friend can pass through this barrier without any problems but if I try, it will block me. Seeing that you are blocked as well it means that one cant simply enter this place. -ever tried to break through it? -give up that idea right away. This barrier is like the ones in boss room. The one which wont allow you to leave the boss fight. -ho? -Arata, I thought you could enter because you know that questgiver but it looks like this is not the same questgiver you know. Otherwise he would let you in. -no, I am positive that this is the Wizard I am looking for, and if he knew that it was me, he would definitely not let me in but dont worry I had a plan before coming here. Arata unsheathed both of his swords from right side. -I said it wont work. Listen my class is elementalist its main strength is enormous damage in single hit. My best spell bounce out of this barrier, do you think you can do better? -elementalist? Thats some kind of mage right? Your spells are probably strong indeed. But I will break through no problem. -I heard about players that can break through boss room barriers but those are only few and they are way out of your league. Or is it that you lied to me after all and you are one of them? -I didnt lie. -then why do you say that you will break through the barrier. -did I ever mention breaking through the barrier? Arata moved a little to the right. [Sword enchant: Wind] [Sword Slash] [Sword Slash] With both swords he released an invisible arc that cut through the walls next to the barrier. The walls broke down right away as they were not that thick. The inside was also cut a little. One would be enough, good thing that the tower didnt start to crumble. Arata entered the hole and jump down on the stairs. It was close so his torso was still out for Yume to see. -see, I broke through. Yume stood there without a word. She never thought about crazy idea like breaking through the wall rather than breaking through the barrier. Still she went quickly back to her usual self ad followed after Arata. -that surprised me you know? -the easiest solution is the best solution right? If you cant break through the barrier why dont you break through the wall next to it. -I think I saw a movie where thief couldnt broke through the bank iron doors and come up with similar idea the break through the wall instead. -if you think about it, it has a lot of sense. Although it was a solution that Gerald gave me to escape dungeons. But it has other ways of use as well. -but wont that questgiver be angry at you. You destroyed his perfect hideout. -only the entrance and its not like I need something from him. Making him angry is in my interest. -but what if he attacks us out of sudden. -then I will beat his ass. -easiest solution is the best solution right? -exactly. They walked down through pretty long stairs but finally reached the end of it. They entered the first room. It was quite large room. The walls were filled with book on bookshelves. There were few doors to other parts of the hideout. But there was no need to look for the Wizard as he was in this very room. He was sitting in a rocking chair behind the desk. He was looking as wizardly as possible. He was wearing purple robes had long white beard and long purple pointed hat. Its him. Arata confirmed that it was the Wizard that he once met. There was no reaction from Wizard at all though. In fact he was sleeping. Arata and Yume could even hear him snoring. -he didnt wake up after that sound? He really is a hard sleeper. Should we come another time? -I know how to wake him up. Just you wait. Arata walked up to the rocking chair on which Wizard rocked. -what are you going to do? Arata was no longer listening to Yume. -oh, how long I been waiting for this. Arata first took a stand, made a huge swing and then, made blow with his right hand right into Wizards sleeping face. With a loud thud, the Wizard hit the floor after falling back with the chair. Arata did not hold back at all and made the strongest hit he possibly could. Ah, this felt good. -Arata what are you doing! You just killed him! Yumes reaction was quite normal seeing what happened. -its a game right? Dying from time to time is normal. -but its NPC! They dont revive if they are killed! -this one got what he deserved, now shall we go then? Arata was not really concerned by the fact that the Wizard might have just died. -wait, you came here just to do that!? -pretty much. Arata turned started to go back in the stairs direction. -but if NPCs dies then the quest dies with them. You just destroyed my friend quest. -yea sorry about that. Arata said that but he didnt felt sorry at all. Still he could see that strangely Yume was not that unhappy about the outcome. -well what happened, happened. We cant do anything about it can we. They both started to walk in direction of the stairs but then they encountered a barrier and couldnt go through it. -should I destroy the wall on the left or the right? -let me try it this time. -YOU THERE!!!!!!!! You dare to attack the great me! They heard a yell coming from behind them. It looked like the Wizard didnt die from that punch. He was quite lively so to say. He already had two large spells ready to fire in his hands. -he is alive? Arata said without worry, although he should be worried about something right now. -hey Arata, those two spell, if we got hit by it we will die instantly. -I can tell, without you saying it. But then those two spells disappeared all out of sudden. Also Wizard voice was no longer in higher tone. -Arata? The Wizard said his name surprised. -old man, why do you get angry? I only here to get my reward, you dont have right to counter attack me. -what do you mean reward? Yume asked. -you see that yelling old man is a questgiver who runs away without giving reward to those who complete his quests. Thats why I wont work for him again. There is no gain. -so thats why you didnt want were so against it. Still, your previous reward was hitting him in a face? -I got three hits in fact but I will leave remaining two times for when I will be in bad mood. Anyway that is what he gets for cheating me. -its you who swindled me out of money! Wizard interrupted their discussion. -hey, it was legal transaction, you agreed to it. -agreed or not, its something that I shouldnt do. -you also shouldnt be running away from giving the reward to person who completes your quests. -it was what needed to be done so everything was once again in the balance. -exactly everything needs to be in the balance so what I just did, needed to be done to keep that balance. Although the Wizard was bleeding before and looked dead on the floor, right now he was doing fine. He raised back his chair and sit back on it then he started. -well then Arata, its been a while hasnt it? Good job on making it this far. -I didnt come here for a talk and I am leaving already. If you dont want your hideouts walls to get destroyed remove this barrier. -yes, you are free to go if you want The Wizard waved his hand and the barrier disappeared. -but if you want to hear what I have to tell you then its better if you stay. -see ya, I will come back the other time when I feel like punching someone. Arata was not hesitating in the answer. -Arata wait, lets listen to what he wants to say, we came all the way here after all. Yume stopped him from advancing. -its a waste of time I tell. -cant you do it for me? When Yume put the matter like that Arata finally agreed. He didnt really own Yume anything but he simply was bad at rejecting requests made in that way. Also he didnt really have anything specific to do right now. He and Yume sit down on the couch, then the Wizard started. -Arata you have changed. Last time I had to bride you with money. -its not me who wanted to stay. -yes its good that Yume is here with us. -you know me? -I heard about you quite a lot from our friend Rin. Its really good that she has you as a friend. -well thank you. Yume answered but then. -dont get deceived he is an evil being. Arata said to Yume so she doesnt get deluded. -he doesnt look bad to me. -Arata dont slander me, I never did anything bad, did I? -you never did anything bad? What about the time when you gave Anari impossible puzzle. -it was a miscalculation, I didnt do it willingly. Everyone can do a mistake. -what about the wolf that was waiting at the end. -I dont know how it leaded to it? That wolf was supposed to be smaller and it was supposed to be a small puppy. -as if I would believe you. Anyway from what I heard you still into bullying people to whom you give quests. Yume can confirm it right? Yume? Yume did not say anything her eyes started to look into the ground. -hey! There was no reaction. I wasnt going to ever use it but I have to try this. With index finger Arata touched her check. -Arata what are you doing?! -wow, it really works like magic Arata put his finger back. -anyway I was saying that the quests he gives are impossible right? -well they are really hard at least. -so, what will you say to that old man? To that wizard answered. -the prequest that I gave to Rin is not hard. What awaits her afterward is much harder than it though. -and you tell me you are not evil. Arata kept on joking but then. -she cant deal with that and you want her to take on something harder! Previously collected Yume bursted out. -I wouldnt if I didnt have to but Rin must complete that quest. This is at least what I feel. - . -yes, yes destiny and other stuff. This game just loves this theme. Anyway Yume, if that quest is that hard why dont that girl just look for a group and do it with a good team? Everything can be done with numbers. -if she could do that she would do it long time ago. Yume answered to Aratas obvious question. Arata continued. -and why she cant do it? -well, she is somewhat bad with people. -bad with people? In that case either she became good with them or she has to give up on that quest. Some people needs to understand the meaning of word MMO, if you dont want to play with other people there are things you cant do here. If she wants to play solo she should simply play normal RPGs. - . Yume didnt say anything to that but just looked down silent. Arata felt that he said something wrong but what he said was entirely true and he would not back off from what he once said. The wizard interrupted them. -well, well. No need to argue about those things. -we are not arguing as it has nothing to do with me. Arata cut it short. -yes it has nothing to do with you. -well then, you still want anything from me or not? I think there are more interesting places in this city than some old basement. -its a perfect place for me, no annoying visitors. No ones can enter here. -we entered here and now that the entrance is no longer hidden you will get much more guests. Serves you right. - . The wizard was quite unhappy about it but he didnt say a thing. -I see that you really have nothing more to say in that case. -its not me who wants to say something, right girl? Wizard looked at Yume. She was still sitting on the couch. -I just. -yes? -I just want you to leave Rin alone. Yume said strongly to Wizard. -oho and why is that? -because of your quest, she . Anyway why do make her do it? If you want that quest completed find someone else for it and leave Rin out from it! Ah, people take this game too serious. Arata could not understand why someone would say something like that to NPC. Wizard answered to Yume request. -I know why you ask that and I understand your worry as her friend, still this quest is important and Rin must be the one to take main reward out from it. If it were not for that, I would let it to someone else long ago. Or rather I would never create that quest in the first place. -she doesnt need your reward! -oh but she does, she does. -its definitely not worth what she is doing. What is that reward you speak off! -I dont know, I only know that Rin must get it. Thats why no matter how long it will take I will wait Arata was standing near the stairs and was wondering if he should already go or not. He didnt want to stay here and listen to their conversation as he didnt understand half of it. Still he decided to wait for Yume as it would be rude to leave like that. -now then, you finally reached this place and talked with me, do you have anything to ask of me? The wizard asked like he already knew the answer. Still Yumes answer was not what he expected. -no, if you cant revoke that quest, we have nothing to talk about. -really? I thought that you would ask me to give you the same quest Rin has, with that you could help her and gain the profit from it. -I dont need anything for helping my friend. Also, I already tried to help her but I alone am not good enough for it. In the end I was just getting in her way. And if following quests are going to be even harder there is no reason for me to even get that quest. -still that would be the beginning. Couldnt you find more people for that quest? With that Rin would also complete it, wouldnt she? The wizard continued. -she would not join that group as for her it would have no meaning to do it like that. -still she would get the reward that way and everything would end as it should. -I would not be able to convince her. Would you be able to do it? -no, its impossible and I already tried What is so hard in joining a group for a quest? I mean you can just stay quiet in a corner and do your job? Cant that person even do that? Arata really could not understand the situation. -still, I think there is a way for it to work. Wizard continued. -you just dont know her enough. Wizard had hopes but Yume shot the down right away. -the idea of her joining huge raid group is indeed not the best one. Also if too many people take up on that quest the main reward will not be accessible. If there is too many people on quest, rewards become smaller? Thats some good info. Arata finally got something out from coming here. I see where it coming from as its makes this game more complicated. One the other hand it kills MMO spirit of this game. You dont want too much people on your quest or the reward will be lesser. -so you have some idea? Yume asked but she was not really convinced. -the solution is simple. Rin has to look for her group herself. -eh . It looked like Yume did not believe in Wizard words. -it doesnt have to be that big group, in the first place there cant be more than 5 in it. -sorry to say it but its impossible. Rin will definitely not do that. Because Wizard was getting a little excited Yum shot his idea down right away. -I know her well and I think its possible. Still Wizard continued. -I know her better and I know that its not. Listen, she once told me this. She wouldnt mind that much having a party for her quest if it meant completing it, but because there are no people that could really help in it, its better to do it alone. In the first place she considers every other player a trash that cant tell left from right and that they are no salvation for them at all. Ah, now I get it, that person simply got fed up with noobs. Well its true that 99% of people who plays MMO are bad players. I guess here in VRMMO its even worse. Although Gerald said that from level 100 up its not that bad as people should have at least pass 100 level barrier. Still remembering all those boar hunters I cant be certain of it. -she really said that? Wizard asked. -yes. Yume confirmed. -then the answer is simple, she needs to find good players whom she wont consider a trash. Tell her that when you meet her, its a bonus advice to the one she got in a riddle. Wizard was proud of himself but Yume was not impressed by it. -as if finding people like that was easy! -maximum amount is five so it wont be that bad. -with Rin standards it will. -well she might be good but this world is huge. There are many better than her. -maybe somewhere but not in Karma. -you are so pessimistic about this. -I am realistic and you are talking to someone who knows everyone in this city. -in that case you should have no problem in helping Rin in finding those good people. -there are none who would be up to her standards. -well its god forsaken province after all, you might be right. It looked like Wizard was finally convinced. -dont insult Karma! -I know you love your city but that is the truth. Anyway because its a god forsaken province I will help finding someone. -really? -well its against the rules of quest givers but in the end, I can do what I want and no one will have complains. -so do you have anyone in mind? -hmm, I will scan the city and look for someone right for the job, there should be someone here. Even though its god forsaken province its still a big city. -I said dont insult Karma! -I just stating the fact. You should see more of the world then you would understand. Still do I really need to do it? As far as I know you have few quite strong friends out there, wouldnt they suffice? -I already proposed that solution but Rin would not accept that. -ah, why does she always need to create problems. Anyway, fine I will find someone else. The Wizard closed his eyes and focused. Right away a blue mist started to form around him. But it was only for a second as Wizard opened his eyes right away. -you found someone? Yume asked right away. -you could say that, but there were no really need to look too far. In that moment Wizard looked in Aratas way. -no. Arata just said those words as he understood what that look meant. -I still didnt say anything. -hmm? Yume looked in Aratas way. -you dont need to say anything but the answer is no and I will be going now. -why no? Didnt you already do something similar for me? -it was different that time. -wait, you mean, you want Arata to help her?! Yume finally realized and bursted out. -I still have to convince him, well now its just a matter of time. -good luck with that but the answer is no. Arata answered but then Yume once again interrupted them and said something that hurt Aratas pride. -still, I dont think that Rin would consider him good enough. I saw him die already once so he is not as good as you think mr. Wizard, better if you look for someone else. Also Rin really hate liars so it would end in her killing after exchanging few words. -for the hundred times, I didnt lie to you! -even if you didnt, what you said is really suspicious and that would be enough for getting one way ticked to the grave if you tell it to my friend. -I dont plan on seeing your friend anyway so we will never know. Still you have to take back what you said. I would not lose to someone who doesnt understand the importance of parties in MMOs. -you think so? I think that she would ravage the floor with you. Arata didnt expect Yume to use words like that but it just meant that she really believed so. -hmm Arata made an evil smirk. -there is always only one way to find out isnt there? Just dont blame me for what happens. -I wont and its you who shouldnt blame me. Anyway if you want to fight with her I can easily arrange it. -Yume Wizard stopped her. -Arata is surely strong I can assure you of that. -good enough to beat Rin? -well, as he said there is only one way to find out. But what would be the meaning of them fighting if they are to make a party. Anyway Arata will you accept this request of mine? -no. Arata was not taken by a flow of conversation. -if he doesnt want dont force him Yume in the end took his side. -still, tell me on what do you base him being better than Rin? You know what Rin can do right? -on what? Well. I first meet him even before he got a profession in a city far, far away. And now, not even two months later from that time he managed to get to this place already. Also I heard that he managed to fully complete trial of adventure on his first try. Now then Yume, do you know anyone else that managed to do it? -Arata you fully completed 100th level barrier!? -well yea. Arata answered like it was not a big deal. -but thats impossible! -hardly impossible when there were 300 people who did it before me. -now then Yume, do you believe in him now? Wizard interrupted them. -but that challenge, even Rin didnt manage to complete it. Its really hard. I dont know anyone who did. -yes, Rin should be able to complete it as well but she went for it the wrong way. To pass trial of adventure fully one must not only be good fighter You also need super gear and potion of overpowerness. -now then Arata, I think you have her approval. -nice try but I am not falling for it. Arata kept his position clear. The wizard got inpatient. -ah! You did it once already, whats your problem? Why cant you do it again?! -as I said that time was different. Right now, I just dont want to get involved in anything troublesome when I finally can slack of, thats all. Dont mistake me for someone who I am not, you got a wrong idea about me. -I do? -yes you do. -mr. Wizard you cant force him if he doesnt want to. Just like he said its not his problem Yume interrupted them. -still Arata, you sure you dont want to do this? This quest should be high ranked and reward would be probably big. What she says is truth but I dont really want to get involved in impossible quests right now. That Wizard can find someone else without problems so even if Yumes friend really need help it doesnt have to be me. -no its better if that old man finds someone else for this job. Sorry. -you already helped enough. You solved the riddle after all. You dont have to be sorry. So Mr. Wizard can you find someone else? -I can but, Arata you think you can just walk pass it? -yes. You cant force me into anything. -then let me ask you something. Why did you fought in that park on the mission I gave you? Strange question. -well if I didnt do it, I would have died. Well I died anyway. -but if you escaped you could stay alive. -if I did that then Anari would die. -so instead of choosing the easy option you decided to help her and defend her? -more or less. I didnt want to see her dead thats all. -then you help people only when its convenient for you? As long as you dont see someones problem its not your business? -even if I see someones problem its still not my business. -hmm, well then, let me see if your opinion wont change the next time we meet, you might go. -well look forward to meeting me again, remember I still have two aaaaaaa! In that moment Arata start falling into the floor. A colorful hole appeared right underneath him and in second he was no longer in Wizards laboratory. That bastard. Though Arata after landing on solid ground. And where am I? Arata looked around. The place that he appeared in was completely unfamiliar to him. Needless to say, it didnt look like any part of the city. Well, Arata didnt know the city that well but he could be sure that he was not in it as around him there was a forest. The place he appeared in though looked more like cemetery. There were graves around him and stone crosses next to them. There was also a building that looked like some larger tomb of someone more important. Above Arata there was a colorful hole from which he fell out from. It disappeared soon after though. And what now? As far as I know, I can be everywhere right now. Well its only a little setback, I guess. Arata as always was optimistic and tried not to get angry over it. He couldnt do anything about it anymore. Still it was the truth as no matter where he would end up, it made little difference for him, sure he would have to start from the beginning and look for new city again but it was not that bad. There is a road so if I follow it, I should get to some city? Still I wonder if he sent me somewhere too far away like other side of the world. Well I doubt that as this forest looks quite familiar. The forest in colors of red, yellow and brown. Leafs of fall season. It looked the same as the forest which he first explored near Karma early this morning. Also Arata didnt believe in Wizard potential to send him somewhere too far off. Going to city should by my priority but I want to stretch a little. Arata once again looked around the cemetery. How can cemetery have no ghoul or two walking around in MMO is beyond me. Arata wanted to kill some monsters but there were none in sight. Because of that he started to walk in direction of the tomb. Its probably because its still midday. They probably come out only at night. Still inside this crypt there should be a skeleton or two. Arata decided to see what he can find inside the tomb. In games with open worlds the greatest pleasure is just exploring. For example you go through the road and see lone tower in a distance. No matter what were you doing at that moment, an inner voice will say, go to this tower and see whats there. Even if there is nothing special about it. In cases of towers you can at least see the sight from atop of it. When Arata was right at the entrance, he could see the long stairs downward to the ground. It was at least three meters long down. Whats this? At the end of the tunnel he could see a dime of the green colored light. Also it looked like there were a lot of people down there. Arata could see their shadows and quite number of heads. Then, there was also quiet sound of swords clashing at each other. Guess its a dungeon after all. In that case I will just take a look, if it looks interesting I will come back later. Arata continued to go down the stairs. It was dark inside and he couldnt see that much, but there was a wall of people at the entrance to the next chamber. Arata could also make out someone who was sitting at the stairs but he could not see his face even after that person turned around. -if you came here for this dungeon, or whatever this place is, you have come at the bad time because as you can see its occupied right now. The voice seemed somewhat familiar to Arata but not enough to make him recognize the person who spoke the words. -I here just to take look and I see that there are already too many people inside. -people? What people. -well those who are standing next to the door. There are a lot of them there, is it some raid dungeon? Arata had no idea where Wizard could send him and from the look of the inside there were so many figures after all. -you should come closer and have a better view. Arata could make out that the voice belonged to a man. The man invited him downstairs which Arata was already doing. When he was close enough he could understand that he made a mistake. The figures did not belong to the players, neither did they belonged to humans or something that was alive. The creatures were white and thin. They were skeletons. Still they were really clump up together and were making a wall of bones. Arata could see that there was really lot of them. Still because none of them made even step out from the rectangular door, Arata was sure that they would not attack him. Guess its some boss room with a barrier. -I see that the group that tried to complete this fight slacked off a little if they left so many of them alive. -you wouldnt say that if you saw how big that group was. The man gave a reply to Aratas comment. -big or not, if they didnt have enough people they shouldnt even try in the first place. -you are probably right still there are people who likes to solo dungeons as its more challenging this way. Right now someone is trying to solo it. Someone went solo there. I get that its something to brag about if you can complete dungeon alone but if you cant do it you simply cant do it. There are types of dungeons and encounters that cant be soloed no matter what. And this one with this endless swarm of skeletons looks just like that type. -more challenging sure, but usually its also more suicidal. -for most people yes, but the girl that entered there is quite good I must say. She is keeping it up for about three hours already Three hours of non-stop fight, thats something. -before there was a clean view on the inside. I must say that watching that girl fight is a work of art. Its better than any action movie I ever saw. It looked like the man was a talkative type. -you know the person that is inside? -personally no, but I heard few stories about her. Still those stories didnt even tell a half of the story. It looked like the man really meant what he said. -still even if you stay here for longer you probably wont be able to see anything again. -its true that I cant see anything now. Its like that since an hour actually. From what I saw, the rate at which those skeletons come out is enormous. Still from time to time all of them are killed and the room is cleaned for few minutes. Right now I am waiting for next time it happens. -you have no better to do? Its nice to be free. -well, I have things to do but they are no better than this. Have a sit and just wait for it. It wont hurt I guess. Arata was not really that interested if the man was telling the truth or not. Still by talking with him a little longer he could confirm some things. -I have question, do you know of any city that is close by? -you are new around here? -kind of. -well I am the same I came here not that long ago. As for the city there is one, the name of that city is Karma. Its not far from here if you follow the road out from the cemetery, you will get there in one or two hours. Guess I wasnt sent that far. Rather it looks like I was send back to this forest. Just a minor setback them. -thanks for info. -no problem but I see that you are not in hurry to find a city if you are entering a places like this. -killing some monsters from time to time is a thing to do, right. -well I feel the same way but you are lucky that you didnt come here when no one was inside. It would be you surrounded by skeletons right now. Well you wouldnt probably survive to point where it would get swarmed like this. -I didnt see how hard the fight was so I cant tell. -then let me tell you a little bit of this dungeon. Well, I also saw it only once so its only my observation. What I first saw was, five skeletons appearing at the time about every ten to twenty seconds. But their appearance rate increased with time, and it end up like this after some time. -five at the time is a lot. -later it becomes even ten at the time. Those skeletons may not be that durable but they are quite fast. -use some AOE and its taken care of. -I dont think that anyone would last with mana for three hours of using AOE. -probably not but that is because this dungeon was not designed for one player to beat. Soling something is not easy. In normal group it would definitely take faster. As far as I can see the person who is tried to complete this fight is long pass enrage timing. -you mean that enrage is spawning endless number of skeletons. -yes. -and here my friend you are wrong The man started explaining. -you are wrong, because this fight was designed to be a long fight. After about each 20 minutes there is a special enemy that appears except from skeletons. I think that encounter will end after you defeat all of those special enemies. -in that case its true that you cant speed it up. But then, in bigger group you would get overwhelmed by skeletons numbers. Still if you had a mage in party, one or two huge AOE and its clean. -still even if you dont clean them all and manage to kill the bosses you will complete the encounter. -that is if you survive being surrounded by horde of enemies. You are telling me that the person who is staying inside is managing to pull it off. -as I said, her figure fighting is a work of art. -but for three hours? -three hours and more. Three hours is the time when I came here and she was already inside. Also from what I counted, there should be 12 special skeletons and right now eleven of them are killed. -you are saying that she is going to complete it? Arata would be impressed if that was the case. He knew how hard it was to complete the normal dungeon and from the look of it this was boss encounter would be harder than anything that he seen so far. The reason for that was not number of enemies but how long one would need to keep himself alive in sea of enemies. -as for completing part. I dont really know. Up till the last boss it was looking quite good. But that fight was barely won by the girl and I thought for a second that she is going to fall down to the ground any moment. Well her eyes were nearly closed last time I saw her. Also did you hear it? The sounds of fight nearly died out inside it the room. It was true that only from time to time Arata could hear any sounds from there. -I guess I wont be able to see anything here. -dont be so sure of that. Before the last boss it was the same. Then when the boss came, boom whole room cleaned and the fight begins. But god, that fight, that fight! If only you came 20 minutes earlier you dont know what you have lost. -well I never will but how did that girl cleaned the whole room. I take it that it was in the state. -she has one overpowered spell, thats the secret Should have known. -still as I said its not that spell what you should look at but at her own fighting abilities and swordsmanship. Having overpowered skills is one thing, but fighting like that is another. Ah I think I will save todays image and replay it from time to time. There was a function that allowed you to rewatch what you saw recently in EOA. It lasted one month behind but if you wanted to save something you could easily do it. -so when should next boss be coming? Arata asked because he didnt know if it was really worth to wait too long. -it shouldnt be too long I think. I am not keeping track of it but two to three minutes maybe. When the man said the area around them got a little brighter. The source of that light was coming from the inside. In a distance one could see some golden mist forming. -look its that spell, its means that the boss will be coming in a second. The man stood up and in that moment his face was clearly seen. And seeing that face Arata couldnt help but shout. -its you Levi! And here I was wondering whose voice it was. Arata recognized the blond haired knight of the silver hand order. -do you know me? Haha, I am finally getting famous. -no, you are not. Arata also stand up and his face was now visible. -this strange hairstyle cant be mistaken for anything else. Arado, its been a while. -its Arata. Arata corrected him. -yes, I had at the back of my mind Normally its me who forgets someones name. -so Arata what are you doing here? -I could ask you for the same thing. -I will tell you later, its a little complicated. -mine is also complicated. -for you its probably, you just finished 100 level barrier and got send here. No rather this is the only option as you wouldnt be able to get here any other way. -if you know then why do yo ask? -I just asked without thinking. Anyway, wait a second Arata and first look what is happening inside, I didnt lie when I said that its a work of art. This time, Arata got a little more interested, that was because he knew that Levi was not your average Joe when its comes to fighting. -the greatest champion of our empire, show thee your strength. The hollow voice came from inside the chamber. Levi commented. -its coming, Arata look closely now. Even if its just a skill she uses, its looks awesome to look at. Anyway, she should start cleaning the room in a second. Arata focused on the golden mist in a distance but nothing really happened. Then out of sudden the skeletons started to bury themselves under ground. -I guess it worked but I didnt really see anything. Arata commented. The room did become clear but it didnt seem like it was because of that spell. -no its not that. I think, I get what happened though. Because its a last boss, skeletons are no longer part of encounter. Now all that the girl needs to do is defeat that last boss When some of the skeletons were already underground Arata could finally see the girl. It was not the sight he expected to see. Arata expected someone with fierce appearance but what he saw was girl with rather small body. It was not that she was short. She should be around 170 centimeters in high but she was really slim. Her arms had absolutely no muscles or fat on them. Then the girl was wearing really girly clothes. On top she only had a red-white vest or some kind of shirt without sleeves. At the front they were joined by bottoms like in shirt. The connection was in white color and looked like it was flounce. Then at the high of the chest, there were two red ribbons tied together, and then the collar around the neck. There were no sleeves but the girl was wearing long brown gloves up to arms. They were ended with white flounce. Shoulders were revealed. Around the belly she had a brow belt. The belt was tied around the red shirt. Then lower there was a brown miniskirt which also ended with flounce. Adding to that look she also had ridiculous long ruby hair. Arata would not consider her look normal but he would consider it to be very appealing in its way. The girl eyes were nearly close and there were many wounds around her body, still she stood on her legs straights and was holding two ruby swords in her hands. Around her there was that golden mist and from it there were sticking out edges of various weapons. Each of those weapons was directed in one direction. -guess you wont see her fight because I think she is planning on using that skill to instantly kill the boss. Well I am not surprised by that. Levi stated the fact. -I will not fail you my king, never again. Arata heard a new voice. It came from what looked like the last boss that the girl had to defeat. It was a knight in full plate crimson armor with large two handed sword. -you see that weapon, I wonder if its drops here. Seeing the weapon, even Arata who used two swords at the time wouldnt mind changing his style. -if it does I have someone that will want to know about it The sword looked imposing and really epic. Going around with something like that would definitely felt good. The fight started soon or rather the massacre started soon. In one moment, ruby weapons started to pour out from the golden mist. It was a rain of swords. They were all going in direction of the knight with badass sword. First, the knight started running around the girl to avoid the first wave. He was doing quite well in avoiding the attacks. As long as you stay in a distance you can avoid it, still I dont think it would be as easy as it looks. The pattern of girls attack changed. Now instead of going for a knight she started sending weapons in area around him. -guess that would be it. Levi commented as the weapons finally reached the knight. When that happen all weapons once again started to go in his direction and this time they also hit. The knight was taking it all. -isnt that skill a little overpowered? -it is but you have to know that finding skills like this is not easy thing. Its not like she got that for free also I saw skills that were better. -like what? -hmm, for example spell that eats half of the city with it and only leaves crater of mud behind. -old times. -anyway, Arata lets go somewhere where we can talk in peace, I also hungry so its best if we go to the city? It looked like Levi lost his interest in the battle already. -didnt you want to see the ending of that fight? -what is there to see, it ended already didnt it? That boss could do nothing against it. Still I tell you, you really should regret that you missed what happened previously. It was spectacle of swordsmanship and beauty not some overpowered spells like here. Although the girl was using that skill full time as well it was not that skill that managed to damage her opponent but two swords in her hands. You know what, I going to save that fight on video anyway so I can send you this it later if you want. -no thank you, also I dont think it the battle ended already. -what are you saying? Its nearly a minute since that knight start getting bombarded. He didnt even move since then. I must say that the girl is making a little bit of overkill. The ruby weapons kept pouring out from golden mist and kept on hitting the crimson knight. But the knight was just standing there like nothing and as if the weapons that kept hitting him were really simple raindrops. The weapons were either bouncing off or disappearing upon hitting the armor with the sound of shattered glass. -guess that skill is not that overpowered. Arata summed it up. -no Arata, it is what it looks like. Each hit of those weapons is like getting hit from normal weapon. Its not some imitation. Its even pierced through my shield. -what do you mean your shield? -well I had a little episode with that girl. -you mean you fought with her? -haha, I wouldnt call it a fight. Anyway dont take that as some imitation. -if its real then does it mean that this boss stays unaffected by it all. -thats what it looks to me The boss was just staying there as if waiting. Soon enough Arata understood what he was waiting for. The weapons stooped coming out at some point and the golden mist started to disappear. -oh Arata, maybe you will see her fighting after all, looks like she went out of mana and cant keep up the spell any longer It doesnt look like that to me. Arata could see that the girl had no fighting spirit in her. When the knight started to walk in her direction she slowly started to move back. -what is she doing? Normal it was always her rushing forward at the enemy. Strange indeed, maybe she really is out of gas already Then it happened while walking backward the girl tripped and landed at her back. She did not even try to get up. -looks like she really reached her limits. Still I thought that she would at least try now that its nearly the end. -well if I were to die after few hours of fight I would give my best in last moments. -me too, I mean, why do you even try if you dont plan on giving it your 100% and give up at the end. Although, I kind of understand it after seeing what she would have to defeat. The knights walking posture was not really something you would want to see at night. -with attitude like that you would definitely lose. -then what about you mr. just dinged 100 level, can you win against that guy? -realistically speaking it would be hard, but there is only one way to find out right? -if you say it like that why dont you jump in and find out? -because if I dont have to do something I wont, its my policy. Its not my fight anyway. Still, somehow I dont want to see that girl die. -well then Arata, its time for us to go right. Levi said that but then Arata gave him an unusual response. -Levi. Get above this place outside and wait for a signal. -ha? What are you talking about, what signal? [Lighting speed activated] -Hey what are you doing! Arata jumped in through the entrance and started running in the direction of the knight and the girl. The knight was about to finish her off. He swung his gigantic sword at her. [Sword enchant: Shield] With double speed Arata managed to reach them in time. He jumped right between the girl and the knight and blocked the gigantic sword with both of his in mid-air. In that moment Arata and the knight looked themselves in eyes. Even though the knight was wearing the helmet and his vision was really thin Arata felt like he could see them even if in real there was nothing of that sort. The clash lasted about three second and after that, Arata was send flying away. Christ, it wasnt the best idea. Experiencing the might of the knight on himself Arata thought like that still, without delay after landing back on the ground, Arata rushed back at the knight. -who dears to invade the tomb of Edward Arata did not focus on the voice that was coming from some green ghost in a distance. When Arata got in range the knight with his gigantic sword slashed at him horizontally. [Leap] Arata jumped up while turning around. With the force of the jump he made few steps on the celling. [Sword enchant: wind] [Sword slash] [Sword slash] From the top he released double arc of wind at the knight. Lets see if you will withstand this. Arata was not playing around and went all out from the start. But when Arata released this attack the knights sword was surrounded by dark energy in an instant and the knight instantly slashed with it upward at Arata attack. Arata quickly pushed himself away from the celling back to the ground. Although double sword slash was Aratas strongest combo he could felt that it will be broken. Although he didnt see it he could feel his spell being destroyed by knights sword. With that high slash, the knights sword went through the ceiling and day light started to come inside as it reached the outside. But it was only the beginning as the opening started to get bigger and bigger. Emm, I guess I will pass on finding out if I can win against this guy. Arata hid his red sword back to the sheath and started running in the direction where the girl was lying unconscious. After quickly picking her up in one arm he looked back at the knight. Now then, how should I do it? The knight did not follow after Arata right away and kept waiting under the opening he made. It looked he saw through Aratas plan. Arata wanted to use the hole that the knight just made to jump out from this dungeon and run away as far as possible but now that he saw crimson knight in his battle stance defending that opening, Arata didnt felt like that will go well. I am going to return to my plan A. [Sword slash] Arata released and arc of energy upward and just like knight before he made his own opening as he originally planned. [Leap] Right away without waiting he jumped upward. Still Leap could bring him only as far as three meters up. Arata did jump off from the tomb but only his hand reached out to the outside ground. With a sword he stuck it in the ground so he doesnt fall down. With the girl in his arm he couldnt pull up though. After about ten seconds, Arata felt that he is slowly getting lower. The sword cut through the ground which could not support their weight for too long. -Arata! But then Levi came to the rescue. He caught Aratas hand and pulled him up from the hole. They both lay down on the ground and started breathing heavily. The girl left Aratas hand at some point and was lying unconscious next to him. Good thing its not the kind that comes out from the dungeon. Arata analyzed the situation. His plan had one weak spot in it and It was if knight would jump off from that tomb and went after them. Luckily it didnt happen. -you should have said something first if you are going to do something like this. Levi complained. -but I told you didnt I? Wait for a signal outside. -I didnt see any signals. -still you catch up on it. Truth to be told Arata had no idea how it will really plan out so back then he just didnt want Levi to jump after him. If he did that they would have to defeat that knight which would probably result in both of them dying. If Levi also had some kind of Leap skill it would be a different story but there was no time to ask him that.. Arata and Levi stood back on their feats. -next time, just be more clearly. Still why did you do that? Levi asked. -well, somehow. -I did not ask how but why? -we couldnt just let her die, right? Aratas reason was quite simple although he did not understand it himself fully. -Arata you are one of those? You know I want to be a hero type! -of course not! -then why? -well, somehow. Arata did not have good explanation for why he did that. Or maybe he did but that explanation was something that he wouldnt want to share. -anyway what do you want to do with her now? Levi stopped asking as he understood that he will not get good answer anyway. Instead he addressed the problem at hand. -what I want to do? Nothing really. You thought that I rescued her because I wanted something in return? -thats how it usually goes. Normally you dont risk your life for a stranger. Still I do understand you. Levi grinned. -I think you dont. Aratas comment was ignored and Levi continued. -after all it is just a game. The price for losing is just few levels but feeling of awesomest when you do stuff like that is worth it. I mean normally you can only read about it right or watch it in movies but here in this game you can actually do it. Then when you succeed you not only feel awesome but also who knows, maybe there will be extra reward in the end. After all it was clear example of saving a lady in trouble and we all know what comes after that. It looked like Levi had an interpretation of Aratas action. -no I didnt do it for that. -you dont have to hide it. I also did the same few times Levi replied with a grin and then continued. -still, because it is within a game and being in danger is quite common, I didnt even receive a single kiss in check in return. Pity, isnt it? So Arata dont except too much. -hey, you should know that I dont need any thank kisses with some girl. -aaa, right you reminded me that I hate you Levi tried to sound serious for a moment but followed it up with a grin. -nah just kidding. You didnt take it seriously did you? -even if it was serious I wouldnt care less about what you think of me. -how cold, arent we friends!? -since when? By the way, this scene was not serious but comedic. -that doesnt matter does it? Now then, lets move somewhere away from those holes because if that knight jump out from them out of sudden it might end badly Arata pick up the girl from the ground and they left the cemetery. They didnt move too far, only few meters away from cemetery in a forest next to the road. -ah its good feeling to do a good deed from time to time, right Arata? -yes but you didnt do anything. -if I didnt help you, you would fall back to that hole. -if I were really to fall down I would drop the girl down and get out on my own. -you are just saying it, you wouldnt do it. -you dont know me. -if you were someone that could drop her down back to that hole, you wouldnt try to help her in a first place. -everything was planned out so I didnt have to worry about that. -ah Arata, you are too good for your own sake. Well then. Levi walked next to the girl who was lying next to the tree. With his hand he touched her arm which was covered in blood. He stood up after his fingers were dyed in red and then unsheathed his sword. -hey, what are you doing? Arata asked seeing his strange behavior. -something that I came here for With that answer Levi touched the sword with fingers that had blood on them. Then, Arata could see surprise on his face. -green! Really? She killed me in cold blood and its still says green. I am writing a petition, this system is bugged! He then cleaned his sword and hand and sit down back. -so what were you doing? Arata asked again and this time Levi answered. -I was just checking something. Right, this is a good time to tell you what I was doing here. Remember when I told you about silver hand order points system. -more or less. It wasnt that complicated, you were gathering points for next rank and with each rank got some bonuses. -then my explanation will be quick. I simply came here to get more points by catching a potential criminal, which is she. Levi pointed at the girl with long ruby hair. -hmm, she doesnt look like criminal to me. -looks can be deceiving although in the end I cant get any points from killing her because I just checked it. I once told you that I need to land a hit on someone and I will know if that person is on list to catch or not. To be exact I need to have some of that person blood on my sword and it will do the trick. -well that explains what you just did. Still you didnt come here, I mean to this region of world just to check if you can get some points from her. Then why are you here? -my reason is more or less the same reason as you and that is to level up and do random stuff. I dont have any missions if you asking about that. In truth I didnt have any other plans apart from checking the story of vicious ghost. -vicious ghost? -that or Queen of blades. In short this girl. You want to hear about it? -nah, I am not interested. Arata already heard the story about that from Yume so he didnt ask for explanation. Arata once again looked at the girl. Still no matter how many times I look at her, I feel like I seen her somewhere. And its not the time when she first killed me after I finished the challenge, I didnt see her face back then. Still, now that I return to that moment she countered my -hey Arata. -yes? Levi stopped his thoughts. -you have any plans now? -not really. As you said, I am more or less in the same situation as you. -in that case, want to make party with me? Arata was taken back for a moment. -party? You and me? -you see anyone else here. -I do but anyway, why do you want to make party out of sudden? -its not out of sudden. I mean we both have no plans, and we also dont know anyone around here. You should know that playing alone has its limits. After all, you need someone to go to the dungeons or slack around the town with. Also finding someone good to party with is, not that easy if you didnt know. So what do you say? Arata didnt have to think too long about it. -I guess its not that bad idea. Im in. And so Arata and Levi joined into party. It was something that just happened out of sudden, without second thought. They had no idea how long it would last though. -great. Now then what should we do first? -if you want to go for dungeons we would still need to find more people. -finding more people wont be a problem but we still dont know where we could go after that. -well, my plan was to explore the city first, buy some things then go exping. I had my part of dungeons recently so I am not in rush for going to another one. -lets go with your plan then. I personally didnt thought about what to do after I done here. -we still have one problem left though. Arata pointed at the girl lying next to the tree. -it will take some time before she wakes up, I tell you. After all, just look at her. If we werent in a game you would think that she can die any moment. If I didnt see her breathing I would thought that she is already dead. -hey arent you a Paladin? Heal her up. -didnt I already tell you that I am not Paladin. I dont have any healing spells. -you could use your clock spell then. -even with my full many its not enough to restore something back by three hours. Also I think that she wouldnt want to forget about that fight. Anyway, she is not about to die so there is no need to use it. Arata dont you have any healing spells? -do I look like cleric to you? -yea, forget that I ask. Do you have anything that can restore health? -well I have few potions, as for skills, I have my cooking skill which is quite good at that. -good cooking? Wasnt it the other way around? With your cooking you created a poison if I remember correctly. -it was not my fault. -then you werent the one that made it that time? -it was me but. -if it was you then I will pass on your so called cooking skills. -well it will be your lost. -If you really had confidence in your cooking skills you would prove me otherwise. -nice try but I will not fall for that. -what are you saying Arata? What would you fall for? -I am not making you a free lunch. -haha, you got me here. But in occasion of our meeting and forming a party you should make something. -well its not like I do mind it but I am out of materials right now. Do you have anything that would be classified as cooking material? -I dont. -then there is no helping it, we will eat later. -hmm, in that case, Arata mind if I log out for an hour or two? -you can go if you want. I am not holding you. -no, I am asking if you will wait for me, we are making a party, or did you already forget about it? -just kidding. Anyway I will wait for you so go ahead, dont take too long. -I will try to get back before you get tired of waiting. With those words Levi disappeared in a flash. Arata look up to the sky. It was clear that in hour or two it is going to get dark. It was quite a long day. He decided to set up the fire. He started gathering wood that was lying around but then decided that cutting down the wood from the tree will be faster. After all he could do all he wanted as it was a game. Arata set up the fire back at the place where he started off. He also took out a blanked and covered the girl with it. That will do. Arata lay down on the ground. He was at the opposite end compared to the girl. He took his hands behind back of his head and started looking at the sky. The night came faster than he thought. Although in real world, it was still early stages of summer the game or at least this part of the world was in fall season. Back in Triangle it was the summer but after jumping from there to here the season switched to fall. Or was it simply that enough day have passed. Arata didnt bother to think about season system in EOA though and just simply accepted it. Arata was looking at the sky where starts one by one were becoming visible and the sky darker and darker. While looking at starry sky like that Arata started to feel that something is missing. He started to feel his heart aching. It was painful, at the same there was nothing wrong with him physically. So far, in his life only once Arata felt like that. No, at that time it was much stronger feeling, more painful and much sadder because at that time, he thought he will never see her again. -Kotori. Arata spoke out loudly the name of the girl he loved and at the same time the source of his heart aching. Arata was feeling like that because it was the first time that he actually got separated from her for longer than three days. There was also no specific time for which he could hope to see her again. And here I was worrying about her. Kotori herself told him how much he hated how 100 level challenge ends and that she doesnt want to be separated from him even if for a short period of time. At that time Arata was trying to cheer her up and said that it wont be long before they meet each other again. They could call each other by phone anytime he was saying. At the present time, if someone told Arata that he can call her by phone anytime and it will solve his problems, Arata would without a doubt punch him in the face. Aratas state about separating was as bad as or even worse than that of Kotori. He would just not say it out but that how it was. Arata himself would try to hide it, even from himself but at time like this and places like this he could not do so. It was after all the same as that time. Forest, during the night with starry sky. It was there, where it truly began. It was there where Arata and Kotori truly started to love each other. Time when Arata felt similar pain was when he was fighting alone against the wolves. At that time his death seemed unavoidable but what pained him the most was the thought of not seeing Kotori again. But he did not die that time, Kotori came back in time and they both survived. That pain changed into love and into the will to never leave her again. When Arata and Kotori first meet on that hill, he was somewhat attracted to her but it was still not love. Although Kotori would say love at the first sight it was not that. Or maybe it was love at first sight, at that time Arata didnt understand his feeling. Still as the time progressed and after what happened in that forest he was sure that he is in love with Kotori. Since then she became the reason he wanted to wake up at mornings. Time with her was the time that he was most happy. For a long time before meeting her, Arata was in a state where he didnt care about his life. After his parents death, he was convinced that he should die as well at that time and it was some kind of error that he lived. It became better with time but Arata became someone who wouldnt mind throwing his life away for someone else, because with that single act, he would create a meaning for his life. Yes, it was what Arata was lacking, he saw no purpose in living. He could not find joy in everyday life, he was sure that he will no longer become who he once was. But then he found it, a new world in which he could forget about the past and at the same time be reminded about it. In this world, he found things that he enjoyed, things that would make him laugh and also he found two people. It was those people that truly saved him. Thanks to the first one, Arata finally realized that his thinking was wrong, that he can in fact change back to how he once was, that he in fact never changed at all. What first person said was nothing complicated, those were simple words but those words were exactly what Arata needed at that time. That first person, allowed Arata to start once again, value the life that he had and that no matter what happens, everything will work out in the end. Even if it had no meaning, it is worth to live and see what world has for you to offer. Then, the other person that he met became The light of his life, but right now, Arata was separated from that light. Arata knew that as long as he is separated from his light he will fell like right now from time to time but each time it would only remind him how much he loved that light. Next Chapter Chapter 25 “Harsh Reality” Chapter 25 Harsh Reality South of Karma city there is a forest and within that forest, there is the tomb of Edward Third the Great. Apart from that there is nothing special about that forest. People usually avoid that place as it is of little interest, but they avoiding it especially at night. Its not because there were some high level monsters there, that would kill you the moment you step in there, although you can be easily killed if your timing is bad, that is because there was maybe not that high leveled but definitely dangerous a vicious ghost who appeared there from time to time. There are no records of someone who survived the meeting with that ghost, especially when that ghost was in bad mood. Trying to communicate with it would immediately put a curse at on you. Thats curse symptom was death. Everyone who spent more than week or two in Karma knew that and avoided meeting that ghost, but what about someone who just arrived there and didnt believe in those stories. What if that someone for example, took a nap few meters away from that ghost and didnt worry about anything? In fact there was a person like that and his name was Arata. -aaaaaaaa! Arata yawned while stretching his back. Although he was not plan to do so, he somehow ended up falling asleep. First he stopped moving and started to think about something and then before he knew it, he entered the dream world. It wasnt a long sleep. It was hard to have it in a place where he was. Still it was not a short sleep either as the sun has already started to appear behind the horizon. Arata started confirming where he is. Normally you sleep in the same bed every day so after waking up you dont have problems like that but when playing EOA you often end up sleeping in random places so after waking up you need a minute to remember what happened last time. Just like when you visit someone and dont sleep in your own bed, you dont know right away where you are. It was not that uncommon after all. Just some people wont start working normally until they reach the bathroom and put some water on their face to wake up. Arata was already used to this phantom so he didnt need much time to recognize the position he was in did surprise him after all the moment he sit straight, a red sword appeared right before his throat, ready to pierce deeper. -hmm? -dont move if you want to live Arata completely ignored the threat that was made at him and started rubbing his eyes. -I said dont move! Arata felt a light prick as the sword moved a little. Still it was not a killing blow. It didnt even wake him completely. Arata stop rubbing his eyes. Strange it didnt go away. For a moment he thought that it was some illusion but it turned out to be true that the girl he saved yesterday was now ready to kill him any moment. Arata did not know why it turned out like that but he at least knew that if he tries to do anything or even say anything he will be killed in instant. You sure she is not criminal, Levi? What was happening before him was definitely not a just act, and not just that he was going to be killed for the second time by that person. Although he knew he can be killed if he do anything right now it was not in his nature to just sit and ask for mercy. How should I start, I guess anything will bring the same effect. -hi there I am Arata. The girl was taken aback by his carefree attitude but in the end she only repeated once again. -I said dont move if you dont want to die. -no I sure that you said that I shouldnt move if I want to live. I guess I am not hearing properly right away after waking up. Anyway you said that I shouldnt move, but speaking is not included, is it?... The girl already had no idea what was happening. The sword somehow got away from Aratas throat by few centimeters. It was not girls doing. Arata moved a little back without her noticing. Now just a small push. -now that I think about it speaking is also moving right? I mean look, my jaw is moving right now. In that case go ahead and kill me, you said that you will if I move, didnt you?... After saying all those words there could be only one result and it was the girls killing him right away. But Arata could see through it or rather, he was the one that made her do it. The sword went for Aratas throat but he had enough time to avoid it. He moved his body little to the right and the ruby sword cut through the air. After that it went was. Arata caught the girls hand and throw her over his shoulder to the ground. Then he got at top of her and locked all of her movements completely. She would not be able to slip away from it as the lockdown that Arata used was a legitimate technique thought to him by his grandfather. -now then, where should I start Arata said to the girl who was underneath him. Although she didnt try to resist right now but he could clearly feel the killing intent emanating from her blue eyes. -first of all tell me your name. - . He did not receive the answer he was looking for and the girl stayed quiet. -well unlike you I dont plan on threatening you so I guess you can ignore me And the girl did just that. -really, how did I end up in situation like this? Why is Little Red Riding Hood trying to kill the hunter that saved her from wolfs belly?... Arata use metaphor to ease the tension. In fact he succeeded as the girl giggled for a second. But she stopped that right away and once again was just looking at Arata. Although, this time it was look that lacked killing intent. Arata went to the main subject. -so Little Red Riding Hood can you tell me what I did to you that you want to kill me for the second time I might add? I mean I dont even remember meeting you and I definitely didnt do anything to you. It looked like the fact that he was calling her Little Red Riding Hood amused her but that didnt stop her from saying her next words. -you have five seconds to let go of me. -as I said I dont plan to do anything to you, still you realize in what situation you are now. -its you who dont realize it. Look around before saying another word. Arata checked the surrounding. There were about ten different shaped red weapons floating around him. They were all pointed at him. I thought that she needs to summon that gold thing first to use that skill. Really, why does she want to kill me so much? [Leap] Without a moment of hesitation Arata let go of the girl and jumped away from that spot. He flew over the weapons as there were none above his head. The girl stood up and after she did that, all of the weapons floated behind her and started to point in Aratas direction. Because of what he saw in her fight against the red knight yesterday, he knew that those weapons can fire out any second and a lot more can appear after them. In fact he was expecting them to fire at him when he was surrounded by them, thats why he moved out from that circle right away. -you should have attack me rather than backing of. In that lockdown I couldnt move, you would be easily able to kill me if you tried or did you know that you would get killed as well and you didnt do that? Now your plan is probably to escape, if that so then go ahead, I dont plan to stop you. -oh you finally start talking. Arata completely ignored what she said and carefree stated the fact. -you! Arata ignored the killing intent that appeared in her eyes once again and continued. -anyway I finally realized why you tried to kill me. You thought that I wanted to take revenge on you or something because you already killed me once. But as I said I dont plan to do anything to you, and if I wanted you to die I wouldnt rescue you from that red knight, would I? - -anyway you said that you dont want to kill me anymore so I fine with that. But I am waiting for someone here so I dont plan to move away from here either. -you better start running now before I change my mind. -eh, here we are again. Anyway say what you want but I dont plan to. I know that you have some interesting skill but the girl who is barely standing on her feet isnt really that threatening. Although she tried to hide it Arata could see that she was not in best condition. In few moments he could even see her legs trembling. -hmm, you are lucky that I am not in the mood. The girl answered but it was obvious that it was not the reason. If the situation ended like this, it wouldnt be that bad but Arata couldnt just shut up at that point. -right before you go I have an advice to you Although uninterested the girl looked back at him. -you should change those clothes of yours when you are trying on threatening someone That would be enough but he had to continue. In the meantime it looked like the girl only now realized what she was wearing as she looked over her clothes with huge eyes then she started to get red. -also I think that even though in real its still summer, here it is going to be a winter soon. If you go around exposing everything you will catch a cold in no time. I dont know if you knew but in fact, you can catch a cold in this game and its not laughable matter. I understand that girls wants to look cute and all but you should consider what I said. Also, I think you would be cute enough without them. Although she was going to leave, out of sudden the swords that she summoned earlier started to come all in Aratas direction. Seeing it Arata quickly unsheathed his sword and started reflecting weapons as they come. None of them managed to hit him as Arata parried all of them away. -hey, why did you do that!? He asked but the girl was no longer in a place where she once was. The ruby weapons that were scattered around him started to disappear one by one with a sound of broken glass. Really? What was wrong with her? Arata just wanted to help her avoid getting sick. He knew how bad it could get when someone get sick in this game. And what he got for that help? He got attacked right away. Still he knew that the world was not fair and tried not to let it bother him. About half an hour later Levi returned. -yo. He welcomed him with a smile. -took you long enough. -I am on time, two hours didnt pass yet. Dont tell me you have been waiting all this time here? -I had to wait till Little Red Riding Hood wakes up after all. Now that I think about it, there was no need for it. I thought that there will be some monsters attacking but there was nothing of that sort. Also, I myself slept through most of the time. -I see that she is gone now. How was it? Did you get anything for a trouble? -yes but it was only more trouble. If next time I will want to do something similar to what I did yesterday, hit me. -was it that bad? -lets not return to it. For now, I am hungry so lets go eat something first. Arata stood up and they started to walk to the city by road. -right Arata, during a break I found out a good place for exping around here. -how did you find it? -I asked on Silver Hand order forum and got an answer. -well if we dont have to look for ourselves it will be much faster. -finding best spots ourselves would also be not that easy. Anyway what do you want to focus on? Experience, gold? -experience I guess. I dont want to spend too much time on 100 level. Also I got quite a sum lately and I dont really need gold right now. -you know that even if we focus on experience it will still take some time before we ding any levels. You didnt experience how much experience you need from now on. Also just to be clear, I am broke right now so. -I get it. Anyway dont you have a place that would be good for both experience and gold? -I do. -then why didnt you say from the start. -if you wanted to focus on gold there is some other place in which you could earn a lot quite fast. -and it is? -Karmas coliseum. I heard that because there not that many interesting things around this area compared to other cities Karmas coliseum is quite well developed. Surprising thing is that you can earn a lot without even moving a finger. As long as you know the fighters you can earn a lot by beating on them. -we dont know the fighters so we cant use this method. -we dont know other fighters but what about one of us joining and other staking. We would just have to win and because we would be completely new to the stadium other people would stake on other players. -you wont play me into being the fighting one while you just sit and earn money. -no, no. Both of us would be doing both. By the way, you cant do it yourself as there is a rule where you cant stake on your own battles but if we would switch and steak on each other it will work out greatly. -in that case we can do it but we will do it later. You said you are broke and I dont plan on leading you any money. -I just talked about the possibility but as we just chose for now its both gold and experience. -so what we will be doing? -I heard that in Karma there is quite profitable job we can take. In short it involves killing iron golems, looting them and bringing back what we looted. -thats not very complicated. -I didnt say its complicated. But there is something that makes it different from other jobs we could take. The job is actually telling us to gather iron. The way you normally do it is by mining profession. Of course, none of us do have mining and even if we did, gathering the ore this way wouldnt give us much experience. But iron golems drop this ore and thats the trick to it. -sounds good. So how many levels we ding that way? -how many? Eh, you really need to see how fast the experience bar is moving from this point forward. -it cant be that bad. If lets say, I spend a whole day killing those golems nonstop how many levels would I ding. -after a whole day you would probably manage to ding one I guess, if you didnt slack of that is. -one!? Are you sure its a good exping spot? -thats why I said you need to see it for yourself, you are too optimistic. -in that case, ignore the golems and go for a dungeon. It would be faster there. -thats how it should be but its not. In dungeon you would arrive at half of that speed at best and dying in dungeon is much easier. Well we wouldnt probably die but we would need to take a lot of break, especially if you are talking about going with only two people. -then lets find more people and it will be faster. All we really need is a healer. -yea with more people we would be faster at killing monsters but we wouldnt be faster at exping as the more people in party the less each of us would get. Normally when people are going to a dungeon their goal is not experience but the items. -then the best way to level up is going to some place and grinding mobs for days? -more or less. There are special situation on which you can get few extra levels in short time but those doesnt happen too often. Still, you are mistaking one thing Arata. EOA doesnt require players to level up to maximum level. Having no maximum level is just a proof of it. The game is made that no matter which level you have you can enjoy it fully. Right now you can do all the things you could do at level 150. -what if I wanted to go for 150 level dungeon? -how will you recognize that its 150 level dungeon? -well monsters inside it will have 150th level. -but you cant tell their level. After level 100 it doesnt show anymore. -in that case how people know if this or that dungeon is a place where they should go? -how you ask? Well they go there and if they got easily overwhelmed then they dont go there again. -thats not really solid method. -at least it something. Anyway we are not going for dungeons but for exping right? -you wouldnt choose a wrong place just to annoy me, right? -I going to do the same thing as you so why would I? -in that case lets go for those golems. -okay then first we will look for the NPC that gives that job. On a way we should find something to eat. Did I forgot about something? -I want to visit some shops as well. Not long after they reached the Karma and followed the plan. First they found the NPC that was giving out the job [Miner Life]. Just like Levi said. The dwarf NPC did not even mention killing anything but instead pointed them to the mine where they could mine the ore. When asked if they know how to mine they right away answered. -yes. -in that case I see no obstacles. [Miners life. Dwarves are always in need of iron how else they would forge their weapons and armor. Work in the mines is not an easy work but for a miner like you its everyday bread. Go to mentioned mine and gather as much as you can. The more you bring the more you earn.] [You have accepted the job.] After that they looked for a good place to eat something. They didnt have any problems with finding one the restaurant. Rather they had a problem in choosing one. In the end they entered the restaurant that specialized in spaghetti. Having filled their bellies, Arata and Levi moved to the last part of their plan which was visiting the shops. What Arata was looking for were cooking material as well as items that could be used in special circumstances. There was a problem as they had no idea where to look for those things but with help of guards, other NPCs and sometimes even players they found few good shops. The variety of things that there was easily outstand other shops that Arata visited so far. That would be Loris as in Triangle he didnt spend much time going through the shops because most of them were destroyed. And at that time Arata didnt have any money. Although they stick to the plan and didnt go sightseeing it still took them about eight hours before they left the city by the eastern gate. -finally we are out. Arata I am not going on shopping with you anymore. Levi stated with tired voice. -its not my fault that the price were that high. -sure, but you didnt have to look around every store in the city just to compare. -still, thanks to that I saved extra 10 gold. -you still spent 50 though. In the first place what do you need those things for? I understand cooking materials as I traveled once with someone who had good cooking skill level but other things? -you dont know when you will need them. -exactly, I really dont know in what time you could need half of those things? -still when the time comes I will be prepared. Better be safe than sorry. -I dont think that you will ever need ten blankets each in different color. -I also dont know but the time will come. -yea, for sure. Because Arata spent 50 gold which was quite a sum and actually didnt bought anything that would be useful in combat, Levi could not understand him. Still, right now Arata didnt need new equipment and they were going to exp and earn money right now so he thought that he will just buy anything that catches his interest. -anyway, how long will it take to get where those golems are? -four to five hours if we go at this pace. -time to start running then! -Arata, remember when I tell you once how stupid it is to run from one place to another? -I do, but as I remember in the end we were running anyway. -and as I remember thanks to that we ended up dead. -happens. Its not like we could do anything about it. -you can die at any time, thats a beauty of life they say. But in EOA its really any time. Still, it was my first death since quite long time so its not something I cant easily accept. In difference to you I lost 14 levels at that time and you will soon know how hard it is to get back those 14 levels on my level. -14 levels then you have 140 level? -I had 140 level back then, now I am at 113 coz I happen to die once more in the meantime. -I see you are slacking quite a lot lately. -the worst thing is that I couldnt do much to change the outcome in both cases. Well, I guess I could somehow prevent the second death but it was also just too sudden. -werent you the one who said that level doesnt change much. -yeas but if I happen to die once again I will go to your level which would be humiliating. Also its not like level have no usage. For example there are items with level requirement. Because I have lost so many levels I had to change my gear to the old one. -try not to die and you wont have to do that. -those two deaths were just too sudden. Before that I dont even remember the last time I died. Actually ever since I joined silver hand order and had the training there I didnt die up until now. -and how long was it since you joined? -little more than four months. Before that I also didnt die for quite some time. -yea, yea, you dont have to brag about it. -then Arata what is your death count by now? Seeing how suicidal you are it is probably high. How many times I died? There was one time in city of beginners but since then I didnt die till triangle. Although there were many time at which I was at literally 1%. But those dont count. Right there is also recent kill by Little Red Riding Hood. I got catch by potion aftereffect so it shouldnt count but I did die there after all. -I died three times. -only three? Not bad. -and you? -well, firstly I must say that I was not always as great as I am right now. -yea, dying twice and losing 27 levels definitely shows how great you are. -shut up! Anyway it would be hard to count all those time I died. Especially when I started. You said you have three deaths so far right. I already had three deaths after leaving the forest trial. -dont tell me that you ended up killing bunnies. -it was not that bad. I come up with good idea. Instead of attacking monsters I should focus on players that also tried to complete the test. You probably didnt know but each of them gave 10 points and killing newbies was much easier. -said the newbie who couldnt complete the trial in normal way. But wait arent you in police now? How could they invite someone like you in their ranks? -killing other players itself is not a crime, so where is the problem? Really who was coming up with laws in this world? -anyway lets start running already. Arata started to speed up. Levi caught up to him few seconds later. -hey, didnt I say that running is- -faster. -no it was- -more fun. Arata kept interrupting him. -you are doing it on purpose, arent you. -dont complain. Dont you have 27 levels to recover? This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.-fine if you want that much we can run Levi gave up as he understood that Arata was not going to change his mind. -still you think that recovering 27 level is that easy? -well if you plan to walk for five hours just to arrive at the location then I guess it will take you some time before you actually manage to do it. -truth to be told I never really focused on gaining levels. They were just coming to me as I played. I dont really know what is the best way to level up fast. -just kill everything that stands on your way. -ha? -thats the best way, as long as you will be killing monsters you will get experience and when you get enough experience you will get level. -as if I didnt know that. Its like explanation of how to get levels to someone who never played RPG. -still this single information is the key. I already learned that EOA is a type of MMO that rather than encouraging players to gain levels it encourage them to do other things. Well there are probably many things you can do but still, if you get drifted away by them too much your level will never increase, especially with a system where you can lose levels. Thats why if you focus just on killing monsters your level will go much faster than if you do anything else. -you have a point here. I happened to stay at the same level for a month just because I was traveling from one place to another. If I just stayed and kept killing monsters I would be able to gain few levels with it. -see, still even though I said that, I dont plan on focusing on getting levels either. -why? -common, how long could you just kill monsters one after another. -and here I thought that you have some good ideas. So Arata what were you planning on doing? -well if you didnt invite me to party then I would probably slack off somewhere. -slack off? -yea, you may not know but I was rushing with my level so far and I dont want to do it anymore. I wanted to lie on the grass and look at the clouds. -look at the clouds? -yea, you should try it once as well. You will get how awesome it is. -really, first you want to run just to be faster by an hour or two but then you start talking about looking at the clouds. -if you are doing something you shouldnt do it half hearty right? -you are strange fellow Arata, but I like people like you. -thanks, but I dont think there is anything wrong with me, to call me strange. -there are too many wrong things to count so I wont list them. -if you say so, anyway I am speeding up, try not to fall behind. -as I if I would let someone who just left land of newbies to overtake me. In the end they run all the way up to the place where golems where. It was a large canyon, at there were small caves here and there. Arata and Levi were now standing before large rocks and couldnt pass them through. -so where are the golems? Arata asked. -we need to find the entrance to the canyon first, then there will be plenty of them. -you sure its not some kind of dungeon because it looks like one. -from what I heard, there are no bosses there and the space is quite open as well so I wouldnt categorize it as dungeon. If you want some lore then this place was once a secret base of goblins. They were making machines, iron golems for whatever reason. But those machines went rampart, wipe out the goblins and ended up with nothing else to do than killing anyone who comes here. -thats some sport for them. -as for entrance we have to find it ourselves. -then lets follow the wall Finding the entrance did not turned out to be a problem after ten minutes of walk they found a large slit in the wall. -you think it this one? Arata asked. -look like entrance to me. If its not the entrance we just have to look further. Levi started to enter the slit. There was no light at the other end of it. But just like he did that, Arata stopped him. -wait. I think I heard something. They started to hear to sound of footsteps. They were getting lauder and lauder with any each second. The rhythm signalized that it was someone running. Then there were other sounds like something smashing on the ground. -guess we found the entrance. Levi stated. -why do you think so. -just wait Twenty seconds later they saw a group of three people suddenly appearing out of the slit. They were running as if something was chasing them and in fact something was chasing them. Five seconds later from the same corner two golems appeared. They were over two meters high and also quite wide. Although their build was quite similar one was in color of red and second in color of black. -its definitely the entrance. You can usually easily recognize dungeons and monsters hub by players who are running out from there chasing by the monsters. After all, where else would you run than the outside. Levi explained the common occurrence. -lets go then. -hey, dont tell me you want to help them? -I had my lesson, still this is the entrance and those golems block our way, arent they? -in the end, we came here to kill golems after all. -I take the black one. They both start running at the same time. Although they called it an entrance the slit was at least three meters wide. After all beyond it there would be a large canyon. They passed by the running party of three without even having a closer look at them and jumped before the golems. Without delay Arata started attacking at black golem body. After three hits golem stopped running after the team and focused on Arata. Slow but durable. Arata had absolutely no problems in avoiding the golems punches while doing so he also countered at them. Still his attacks were bouncing of the iron body. I cant cut through solid iron after all. Arata started focusing his attacks at joints of the golem and elements that looked weaker. Because of this, number of his attack decreased but there were visible damage to the golem. After golem strike with the right hand, Arata dodged to the left and positioned himself at the right hand of golem. From there he struck with both swords at the element that was connecting the right leg to the torso. The swords went through it and the connection was broken. The black golem started to fall and crushed into nearby wall. [You have received items.] There is no information about exp. It was not the first time that happened. When the amount of experience you received is low, there is no message about it. Arata looked if it was not because the other golem was still alive but it was not this as Levi also finished his golem already. -now Arata, we killed our first two golems, how much experience did you get? Levi asked with sarcastic tone. Arata checked the menu and experience bar. It still was saying 0%. Even if there was a small amount he earned for those golems because experience bar was displayed in percentage without decimals after it, it did not change. -I get it. -well if we kill ten more maybe you will see the change, you are still on 100th level after all. Its easy for you. -you are 13 levels higher so dont say like its that big of a difference. -guess you are right. There is no difference as both of us need enormous amount of exp. -less slacking more killing then. And so they followed to the inside completely ignoring the group of three that just run out. After all, it was nothing uncommon. -quite a sight They found the way through the slit and entered the canyon. Well not completely they were about in the middle of its height. They could go either upstairs or downstairs. Well there were no stairs to talk about so it is a wrong saying. But there were not only rocks. There were wood bridges which were connecting separate pillars and caves. It looked like anywhere you want to go you can go. The way down was about 15 meters, the way up was about 10 meters. The canyon itself was really large. Each and every way was filled with mechanical golems or their remains. It signalized that there were other players that were exping here. Still there were many ways and many golems left for Arata and Levi. -which way we go? Levi asked. -from the number corpses I can tell that there were few parties that went the way up but there are should be fewer on the way down. -in that case lets go down, that way there will be less people to whom you will want to do suicidal help. -when did I ever do that? -yesterday for example, and we just helped other people as well. -arent you from police? You should be the one doing it. -stop saying that its police and because its not police I dont have to do it. Also right now, I am in civilian so I dont have to do anything. -still if you get surrounded by monsters you would want help right. -depending on the monsters. -ones that you cant deal with. -in that case, sure, who would want to die. -its the same for others, that why you should help others when you can. -I didnt take you for such prude. You really want to play a hero. -nah, its just. -yes? -never mind, its the killing time. Arata unsheathed his sword and took one of the ways that leaded downward. They walked through the wooden bridge to which leaded to sole rock. It was 4 meter wide and had two other bridges one leaded left and one leaded right. Still on that rock there were four golems waiting for slaughter. -how do you want to do this, want me to tank it or we are going for free style? Levi asked while they still walked on the bridge. -arent we just take two each? -what would be the meaning of parting if we didnt fight them together? We are not making two teams of one but one team of two. -but I think that we will just get in each other way. -we will but because we are going to make party we should play a little together so we dont do it in future. -hey for how long do you want to have this party? -what you dont like me? Levi joke around. -dont ask in that way. -haha, anyway I thought that we would at least do some dungeons together later on so we are not only here for golems. -I am up for that. -even if we didnt go we would still benefit from fighting as a group. Two of us will kill two golems faster than each of us kill one alone each. -okay expert, so what do you want to do? -I will give you a present and today I will take the tank position. You can go ahead and have fun with unleashing maximum damage and dont worry about the defense. -your class is a tank? -I often ended up tanking in dungeons because there was no one else who could do it, although for raids I would not be the best main tank. My class is a half tank half dps. -hybrid class? -you can call it that, anyway its been a while since I actually tanked something so give me two seconds for agro in first few pulls. Levi speeded up and left the wooded bridge and jumped at the rock platform. The iron golems have spotted him and started to walk in his direction. Levis shield started to shine in yellow light, then that light started to fire out from that shield. There were four shieldlike bullets which went at golems one for each. Although it didnt look that strong upon the hit each strike made a large noise and golems bodies had dents on where the strikes fall. The dents were in shape of the shield. Well I will not get impressed with spells. Arata didnt wait two seconds and jumped in right away. He started running at the golem that was at the most right. All of the golems started to run in Levis direction already. Using the occasion Arata stroke at the golem with both of swords as he went pass him. Golem went ahead and continued to go in Levis direction ignoring Arata completely. Damn you. Arata started to run after him frustrated that he was completely ignored. Still one cant be called a tank if he cant keep the agro from the mobs, it was his job after all so dps could attack without worry. I will overagro you! Arata decided to do the most childish thing he could which was overgrowing the tank. In MMOs there was only one reason for doing that and that was, so you can tell the tank later that he sucks and laugh at him. In this case, there was that sure but Arata also wanted to see how far, can he go with dpsing. From behind, he started attacking only single golem at his joints. One strike after another and two after that. This fells a little strange. Arata was continuing to attack one slash after another without stop. Right now he was at 15 strike combo with each strike clearly switching to the next. Normally he wouldnt need to go that far or rather he wouldnt be able to just strike at something without care. Actually he was quite unfamiliar with this type of fighting. To him it was more like swinging at the wall. After twentieth strike the first golem lay died. -wow, Arata you dont have to try so hard and make endless combos like that, I saw that you nearly fell down at the end. Although attacked by three still living golems, Levi made the comment. It was true that Arata nearly fell, from 12 hit onward it was him improvising. You could say that most of the players just improvised while fighting but for Arata it was different. He was always fighting using skills he learned before. Well, apart when he did rope actions or fought crazy big ass bosses. -focus on the fight! -I dont have to be focused. those guys are too slow for me. Although attacked by three golems, four before, Levi was without problems dodging their attacks and counterattacking. Although he had a shield he didnt even try to block. Right now it was just on his arm like some extra piece of armor. In the first place it was not that big of a shield. Levi was holding his sword in two hands and striking with it to make more damage. -shouldnt you use shield, what tank you are! -who said that a tank must use shield! Anyway shouldnt you do your job as dps? If you slack off I will kill them myself. [Sword enchant: wind] [Sword slash] Arata released an arc from his black sword in line where golems were. Each of them get sliced in half and fall to the ground. [You have received items.] -its a shame we dont have any damage meter. I wonder who would be on top. -nice skill, but you shouldnt waste mana like that. -it will start regenerating and I can still use this skill four more times. -you have this effect and its only costs 20% of your mana? Bug report! Someone is cheating here! Aratas sword slash skill was enchanted after he finished trial of adventure thanks to that the cost was lowered from all mana to 20% mana. Still Arata didnt bother to explain the detail. -as if you didnt have overpowered spells. -they were gained through hard work though. Anyway I was joking and I wouldnt call it overpowered. -what would you call overpowered then if not that clock spell of yours. -you know how many defects it has. The biggest would be, if I die I cant use it so I need it right before dying. Mostly in cases I would want to use it its already too late. -if it was resurrection it would be even more overpowered. -still, I saw some spells that truly are overpowered. You also did. For example thing that blow up the triangle, or I would say that that girl spell is quite too good to be true as well. -still she got powned by that knight. -it was her third hour of fight after all. Also each overpowered spell can be overpowered by other overpowered spell, thats how it goes until we arrive at the point of biggest overpowered abilities there are. -and those would be? -how would I know, anyway lets go back to killing golems. Night is close and I dont know how you but I usually pass on fighting during the night. -sleep is more important. -yea, while we fight we also should look for someplace to rest at night as we wont be leaving outside just to rest. -we can take turns and it will be fine even if we are in middle of spawning position. For next four hour Arata and Levi continued to hunt for iron golems. Arata started counting at first but after passing 100th number of killed golems he stopped. And it was only a half way there. Still although they were hunting for golems nonstop and the distance between each group was not that large the experience they received was still small. -30% of experience yeee! Arata said sarcastically after checking the experience bar. -I think I have enough for today. -yea me too, still you are sure that this is good spot for exping. -we dont run out from monsters to kill so it is. No matter what would we end up killing the amount we get is still the same. -you should lie. I would feel better with it. -lies are better than harsh reality true, but you would see through it in no time. Anyway its finally the time you show me your cooking skills. I think that previous cave is not that bad of a sleeping place. -there werent any golems there so maybe we wont have to take turns. Lets go there. Arata agreed to Levis proposition and they went by wooden bridge to the cave they just left from. It was a small cave which was rather a connection between two rock platforms. Right now, Arata and Levi ventured quite deep down the ground. It more than ten meters compared to their starting position. Arata started to set everything up using his new tools. When previously he was making something on the field it was mostly one pot putted on fire. Right now one could compare his equipment to a small camping kitchen. Not only that, as for sleeping he had a large sleeping bad, and also few blankets. It was no longer sleeping on the ground. As for the meal, Arata as always used Marcos recipe book, but this time he could finally switch from low cost ingredients to no low cost ingredients. -you werent kidding when you said that you know the cooking. -even though you say that, I just follow a good recipe that all. -still this aroma. Arata you sure I can eat it, I dont have money to pay you. -take it as thanks for taking the forward for those few hours. Here. Arata passed him the blow. -mmmmm, it tastes as good as it smells. If you make something like that every day I dont mind being a tank in our group. -we can make a bargain. -still there is something I wanted to do tomorrow and that is making a combo play. -combo play? -well simply put it we would get in synchronization and execute attacks that require two people to perform. -sounds good but do we need something like that? -we dont need it here but its better to be prepared. -in short you are talking about fighting alongside someone. -exactly as you mentioned at the start when two people who never played with each other start to fight together they can end up getting in a way. It does more harm than good. Still if two people are used to fight together its become scary. Still what I rather want to do is some crazy combo play, well we will come up with ideas on a fly and probably fail few times but it will be awesome. -in short you want to play around as simple killing monsters gets boring. Arata interpreted it at that. -you could say it. After all, even if we spend another day fighting those golems we wont get more than one level max. -really, I never thought it will go this slow. -its like this for everyone, so there is nothing you can do about it. -well I didnt plan to focus on level in the first place. -yes, you were planning on looking at the clouds right? -there is this but I also planned to start learning trading skills. -trading skills? Well it has its advantage but this is the thing you want to do after finally arriving at lands of fighters? Dont you want to explore the world and feel the adventure? -well, there is one place that I would want to go, or rather where I will definitely go but I will do it later. -what place is it? -have you heard about city called Drastria? -Drastria, Drastria, isnt it like on opposite end of the world. You want to go there, do you have an idea how long would it take to actually get there from here. -I dont and dont you dare to tell me because I dont want to know. -anyway I never been there myself so I dont know much about it. So, why do you want to go there Arata? -I wont tell you. -haha, now I am interested. I have to look up some information about that place. -well even if you do you wont find out the real reason. -well given its you its not probably because scenery there is better although the clouds are the same everywhere. Ah, I got it. -what you got? -your reason for wanting to go there. Thats understandable. Your second half is there, right? - . -bulls eye? Haha, I see it on your face. Levi understood Aratas reason without a miss. The reason Arata wanted to get to Drastria is because Kotori ended up there after passing the trial of adventure. They talked about it on the phone. -its not funny! Why on earth did we end up that far from each other? It is even farther than in real world! -wow. Its the first time I see you complaining. Still dont let it get you. How they say it, the longer they are separate the more emotional their reunion is. Best thing you can do is not think about it or just go right now and stop complaining. Still we were going to do some dungeons so maybe after that. -I not disappearing anywhere. We decided that we will play at our locations for some time and later on get back in the capital. -just tell me before you go there. -you think we will be in the party that long? -well after what you served me today I planning to make you my personal cook. -okay I will take the position of the cook and you will do the fighting and while I watch the clouds. Words can be used against you and Arata was master in doing so. -you would get bored from it. -well, not right away though. Anyway I think that instead of sleeping here I will logout. -after setting you bed here? -it was just few clicks in a menu. I am not that sleepy to tell you the truth so I dont need to sleep through the whole night. -in that case I will log out as well. Have a nice talk with your girlfriend. -I am not logging out because . -yea, yea sure. Anyway I will also log out in this case. I will be back on 9 am game time tomorrow, see ya. Levi with a grin disappeared in a flash. After gathering everything Arata did the same. http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=333&t=3488 Chapter 26 “Little Red Riding Hood” Chapter 26 Little Red Riding Hood This time it was simply unfair. Those were the last thoughts of Rin, before she fallen unconsciousness. Right now, what awaited her now was death. There was no escape as right before her there was he, he who would never spare her life. Today on the sixteen try at the Tomb of Edward Third the Great, Rin once again was defeated by the champion. The moment he pierce her with his sword was near, this time however Rin would not feel any pain from it. After all, she was no longer awake. Still todays defeat would not leave any sorrow in her. Today, she simply had no luck. Still, because today she had no luck, she also beat her previous record at super skeletons slayed during one try. Rin would not consider this defeat as a failure as it was the first time that she reached zombie number twelve. It was only possible because he was the last that she had to fight against. The try number sixteen ended up as a failure but nevertheless it was still Rins best try and there was nothing to regret. -chirp, chirp, chirp. Rin woke up when first morning sun rays broke through the trees and fell upon her face. The sounds of birds were lingering in the air and the forest was waking up to welcome another day. -what!? Rin had absolutely no idea what was going on though. Last thing she remembered was the sound of broken glass made by her weapons as they hit upon scarlet knight armor. She lost consciousness by then and expected that in a minute or two, she will get the message [You are dead]. Rin did not know how much time has passed since then but she never got that message and now she was in the forest out of sudden. I wasnt dreaming, was I? Rin opened the menu and checked the date. One day has passed since her sixteen try at the tomb. For a moment, she thought that it was a dream that she did yesterdays try. From time to time, she had a nightmares were she fought against the crimson knight but it was definitely not a nightmare this time. She could easily tell that from her own condition. Rin would feel that bad only after using [third stage of unlimited blade]. She also got a lot of wounds that ached her even now and those wounds were in the same spots that she got in fight against Victoria in yesterdays fight. Yes it was not a dream. Rin took out the healing potion and drank it. Her wounds started to heal. Still she would need a longer rest before she would feel any better. But her condition was the last thing that Rin was worrying about right now. What is happening? How did I end up here? I didnt die as my level is still 130. Did I win? She checked the quest log and looked at her prequest but there was no change in it. As it would be that be true. Also even if I did won, I would wake up inside the tomb and not in the forest. Now where exactly am I? Rin looked around to confirm her position. It didnt take her one second to recognize the area. She was few meters away from the cemetery where the tomb was. Well, I should go home. I have no head for this right now. She had no clue as to what happened and was not in condition to think about it. She uncover herself from the blanked and wanted to stand up but. -cold! And quickly hide back inside the blanked but then even that was somewhat strange.. Wait, where did this come from? Another mystery appeared. There was unfamiliar gray blanked on her. On the other hand that would be the clue. Also there was only one person Rin could think of, whom would cover her in blanked like that. -Mary! She shouted but got no response. Not her? Rin once again looked around to see if her friend is really not around. But then suddenly something moved not that far from where she was. -aaaaa! Rin jumped back startled and shouted in high tone which could only be produced by a girl. She left the warm blanked behind. Calm down. Rin got ahold of herself and focused on what just moved. It was some black-white creature by the first look. It was laying on the ground few meters away from her. After examining it closely, it turned out it was human male. It really will be better if I just get away from here. Although she was interested in what happened and the person who was laying there probably knew the answer to that question, she would not involve herself with complete stranger. Still its somehow really cold today. Rin was used to waking up early. It was not uncommon for her to fight during a night. Still today it was strangely cold for her. Better if I hurry home and stay at bed today. It was the best course of action she could do. After using third stage of unlimited blade she would usually feel bad for few hours or sometimes even days. Normally she would use it only during tomb challenge in which she would die anyway and there were no after effect she would feel but today, she somehow did not die and it got her. Still getting the after effect was still much better than dying. Just as she was about to leave, she heard the noise coming out from the direction of the man. It looked like he was about to wake up. First he opened his eyes and then got to the siting position. While he was doing it, Rin quickly unsheathed one of her sword and ended up pointing it at the mans throat. -aaaaaaaa! The man yawned while starching his arms right before her sword. -hmm? After doing so it looked like he finally saw what was happening before him. -dont move if you want to live No! Why did I say that!? Rin reacted to his actions without thinking. It was probably because her usual interaction with other people was like that. Although this time she really didnt want to do that but her body moved on her own. The man completely ignored her threat and started rubbing his eyes. Cant be helped now. -I said dont move! After rubbing his eyes, the man had a surprise face as if he thought that rubbing his eyes will solve all of his problems. What should I do? Should I just kill him and be done with it.? Rin was in unusual situation. She was about to kill someone who couldnt even defend himself. What more, it was an assault at someone who was just sleeping a second ago. Why did my body reacted like that? Although it was not convincing, given it was Rin, it was truth that she didnt plan to do that. Still her body would attack anyone in range on its own. It was not that long since she was fighting nonstop for three hours straight. While fighting against the skeletons, she would sometime end up in state of half passing out, in those moment one could say that her body would move on its own. The silence continued for about the minute. Guess I will knock him down and leave him alone. See Mary, I can be merciful if I want. Just as she was about to do that the man suddenly spoke. -hi there, I am Arata. Rin was taken aback by mans carefree attitude. What is he thinking! Does he not realize the position he is in? And so, Rin repeated once again. -I said dont move if you dont want to die. Still even after repeating herself, man did not looked scared at all, instead he started talking some nonsense. -I sure that you said that I shouldnt move if I want to live. I guess I am not hearing properly right away after waking up. Anyway you said that I shouldnt move, but speaking is not included, is it? Rin had no idea what was happening. What wrong with him? Is he telling me to kill him? Or is he just trying to irritate me? The man continued. -now that I think about it speaking is also moving right? I mean look, my jaw is moving right now The man pointed at his jaw with a finger while saying that that. -in that case go ahead and kill me, you said that you will if I move, didnt you? I had enough. Rin wanted to spare him but if the man himself wanted to die, she had no problem in making his wish come true. Rins sword went for mans throat. That would be all. There was nothing that man could do, all Rin needed to do was to push her sword a little. At least that was what she thought. What the? Although she did not know how, the man did not get pierced by the sword that was at his throat just a second ago. He bended his body to the right to avoid the strike. Rins sword went forward without any restraint and her sword went farther than she expected. Rin felt as her hand was catch in a strong grip which made her lose her sword. Second later, she was flying in the air and ended up being thrown on the ground. Rin did not know how everything exactly happened but in the end, the man got at top of her and locked down her movements. After realizing what happen Rin looked at the situation she was in. Its not amateur lockdown. She could recognize that she was catch by someone who had some experience in material arts or wrestling at least as she could not see herself getting easily out of that. Although. Well, I wouldnt be able to do anything about amateur catching me either. Rin didnt even try to struggle as she knew that there is nothing she can do about her position. She looked at the face of the man and to her surprise she could recognized him. Its that kidnapper. It was someone that she met about a week ago, still their meeting ended up in her killing him, even thought it was also a misunderstanding. -now then, where should I start Man said while being at top of her. Guess he wants revenge, still even though I am like this, its not that I cant do anything. I hope it wont hurt that much but I have to use it. [Unlimited blade] Rin started to summon red weapons around the man. It looked like he didnt recognize the treat as he continued with talk. -first of all, tell me your name. He asked. - . As if. Rin did not give him the answer he was looking for and stayed quiet. The man continued. -well unlike you I dont plan on threatening you so I guess you can ignore me You will kill me anyway so there is no reason to treat, is that what you want to say? Still we will see who will be dead in the end. Rin was ready to kill him any moment but waited as she maybe could find me out how she ended up waking up in the forest covered in blanked rather than being dead in the tomb. And in fact she got the answer soon enough. -really, how did I end up in situation like this? Why is Little Red Riding Hood trying to kill the hunter that saved her from wolfs belly? Saved? Wait, he saved me from the tomb? Leaving question why he did that, to save me he would have to defeat him? Still, no matter how unthinkable it is, that would explain how I ended up in this forest. He probably didnt do it alone though. There should be more of them nearby. If so I should get rid of him quickly before they arrive wait did he just call me Little Red Riding Hood? Rin giggled at the thought but stopped doing so right away when she realized that she did. -so Little Red Riding Hood can you tell me what I did to you that you want to kill me for the second time? I mean I dont even remember meeting you and I definitely didnt do anything to you. I am really amused that he decided to call me that. It doesnt feel that bad and its definitely better than what others tried to call me. If he did the same then I would have to kill him by rule. For making me laugh, I guess I wont kill him, still how long does he plan to sit on me? Rin did not felt comfortable in her current position where she couldnt move at all. -you have five seconds to let go of me. -as I said I dont plan to do anything to you, still you realize in what situation you are now. -its you who dont realize it. Look around before saying another word. The man looked around and second later jumped up to the sky. From Rins perspective it looked like he was flying as it was quite high jump. He landed three meters away from her. Auch, everything hurts me. With some trouble, Rin managed to get back on her feet. Not only she was in bad condition before but also, mans throw did to her more damage than she expected. Still, she would not afford to show weakness to person before her. Even though it looks like he also had some training, he did a grave mistake. -you should have attack me rather than backing off. In that lockdown I couldnt move, you would be easily able to kill me if you tried or did you know that you would get killed as well and you didnt do that? It was true that she would have no chances if the man decided to attack her from that position. It would be a double kill sure but still, it was a great achievement to kill Rin. Thats what Rin thought at least. -Now your plan is probably to escape, if that so then go ahead, I dont plan to stop you. Rin was really in a good mood, she also wouldnt feel any pleasure from simply sending her sword at her enemy which was the only way she could fight now. It would probably be fun to test the ability of his but sadly I am in no condition to truly enjoy the fight and I already decided to spare him, for now I will simply scare him away. -oh you finally start talking. The man completely ignored what she said and stated the fact. He made a huge grin after saying that, which made his words even more irritating. -you! No matter in how good mood she was in, Rin was at her limits with mans carefree attitude. There was absolutely no sign of fear within him. He thinks that he can win against me? Normally after demonstrating unlimited blade ability to others, most of the players either start to run or beg for their life. Or at least, the look in their eyes changes. Still the man did none of that and continued talking without care. -anyway I finally realized why you tried to kill me. You thought that I wanted to take revenge on you or something because you already killed me once. But as I said I dont plan to do anything to you, and if I wanted you to die I wouldnt rescue you from that red knight, would I? - He really fought against him, and he is saying it like he did it alone. -anyway you said that you dont want to kill me anymore so I fine with that. But I am waiting for a friend here so I dont plan to move away from here either. Let me test him again. -you better start running now before I change my mind. -eh, here we are again. Anyway say what you want but I dont plan to. I know that you have some interesting skill but the girl who is barely standing on her feet isnt really that threating. He saw through it. In that moment, Rin for a first moment though, that it might not be a best idea to fight against that man right now. Not because she didnt want to or didnt felt like that. If she were to fight against him right now she would be defeated. Impossible. Rin erased thoughts like that from mind and answered. -hmm, you are lucky that I am not in the mood. Even thought she would want to prove to herself otherwise, she already promised not to kill the man. Without saying anything else Rin turned in the direction of the road. She was about to start moving when man stopped her for the last time. -right before you go I have an advise for you What again? Although she was not really interested she looked back at the man in black coat and strange black-white hair. -you should change those clothes of yours when you are treating someone Clothes? Only after the man mentioned it, Rin looked at what she was wearing right now and finally found out why was it so cold today and it was not because of the weather. Right now, Rin was not wearing her usual clothing but a class item armor that she received one of her previous quests. Aaaaahh. Rin started to feel really strange at the moment she realized it. Her face became somewhat hot out of sudden and at the same time she felt really humiliated. It was because of how her class item looked like. In normal circumstances she would never wear clothes like that not in million years, still because she really wanted to use any means necessary to complete her prequest, she decided to wear those clothes this time and see if there is any significant change. There was a change and proof to that was that she managed to beat her record today even thought she had the worst combination possible. But even wearing those clothes made her feel uncomfortable. In middle of combat she completely forgot about them and get used to them but now she once again realized what she is wearing. Still it was already too late as she was seen. The man continued not knowing that his doom is near. -also I think that even though in real its still summer, here it is going to be a winter soon. If you go around exposing everything, you will catch a cold in no time Exposing! Rin lost the ability to think rationally. -I dont know if you knew but you can catch a cold in EOA and its not laughable matter. I understand that girls wants to look cute and all but you should consider what I said. Cute! -also, I think you would be cute enough without them. DIE! And so she reached her limits. Rin send out the swords that she summoned earlier in mans direction. Moment ago she didnt want to do it, but now she somehow really wanted to kill him. Still there was another complicated feeling in her and as much as she wanted to kill him she even more didnt want to stay here any second longer and stand before him in those clothes. [Lighting speed activated] Rin sprinted in to the woods to get away from the place as fast as possible without looking back. After running for two minutes at full speed Rin looked back to see if nothing is following her. Uff. As expected there was nothing behind her. Although she didnt need to run for two minutes as no one would be able to keep up with her anyway. First, I need to change those clothes. She located nearby bushes and entered them just to be sure. There shouldnt be anyone venturing through those woods but at the same time there shouldnt be anyone who would be able to survive meeting the knight alone and save her in the meantime. Still did he really won against him? After changing into her usual clothing Rin started to wonder. She didnt know any other way of leaving the dungeon than defeating the boss to dispel the barrier. Its not like its impossible. Rin herself could not think in terms beating the champion is impossible as she wanted to defeat him. Still those thoughts often crossed her mind as of late. But even if she could not do it, it didnt meant that it was impossible. Although, Rin never fought against anyone that was better than her, she did think that somewhere in this game, there should be few people who were better than her. Still she was at least sure that no one like that was in Karma. Anyway, I am going home. Even it would be a good idea to check the cemetery I am still going home. Rin had no desire to go back to that place and see the man that was there. She remembered that he mentioned that he is waiting for someone there. Thats why he would still be there if she went there. Rin went in direction of Karma. Although after rushing in random direction without thinking, one would usually get lost, Rin knew this forest like back of her hand so getting lost in it was impossible for her. -chirp, chirp, chirp. The birds were singing and there was no wind. The sun got a little higher and it was much warmer now, although it was still early in the morning. Rin enjoyed a familiar forest. Although she was not going by road she was perfectly going straight to the southern gate of Karma, at least until the edge of the forest. A. She stopped when she spotted two people walking on the road. She stopped because one of them was the one from whom she just ran away from. He alone would be enough for her not wanting to go out but there was also second person. Rin could recognize him as well. It was so self-called defender of justice whom she met not that long ago. Why are two people whom I killed going somewhere together? Naturally she would assume that they joined forces to hunt her down but if that were the truth, the man who called her Little Red Riding Hood wouldnt rescue her. I will have to prolong my staying in the forest. Rin would not dare to come out right now as between this forest and the city of Karma there was absolutely nothing to hide behind. Result definitely would be them spotting her and she wanted to avoid that fact. Now I can check the cemetery. Although she would prefer to go to the house, eat something and sleep for many hours, she had to change her direction. I probably wont see anything there but whatever. It was not that far away although Rin didnt expect to see anything unusual. After reaching the cemetery she didnt see anything unusual. Yes, nothing unusual. What was happening there could not be described by those simple words. Well, I will pretend I didnt see it. Rin spin on her feet and left the place. Ah, I really need a rest, I am seeing hallucinations. The whole day was somehow unrealistic. First, someone saved her from the tomb? Well, she could somehow stomach that fact but skeletons walking in a day with wheelbarrow and shoves was way beyond her understanding. Reaching the Karma and her own house didnt take her long. After seeing what she saw, Rin decided to skip the meal for now. Rin walked up the stairs to the top floor and quickly located the bed. Surprisingly or rather not surprisingly, part of it was occupied by her friend Yume. It was not surprisingly because it was still early. As for her being in the house it was also not unusual. The bed was big enough for both of them or even few more people so it didnt change Rins actions. She changed into sleeping clothes and went to sleep. For a note, the bed itself took third of the room while the room took the whole floor. It was really big bed. Rin did not sleep for that long, after all, she was already sleeping for a long time in the forest. After five hours of additional sleep, her fatigue was mostly gone and she woke up. First she rubbed her eyes to get rid of tears that as always were there, then she change back her clothing. When Rin looked at the bed, she saw that Yume was still sleeping even thought so much time passed. The hour now was 13:24. Even if you partied the whole night there should be some limits. -earth to Mary, earth to Mary! You will get kidnapped if you dont wake soon. -kidnapped? But the next kidnapping is planned two weeks from now. Yume answered half awake. It looked like she had a vision of the future. -. Rin decided to grab Yumes eiderdown and pull it. Thanks to that in three minutes Yume were more or less awake. -aaaaa, ohm, Amy, I didnt expect to see you here. -its my house remember. -still werent you going to die yesterday? -well anyway you should first do something about you hair. In the moment Yumes usually beautiful curly blond hair didnt look that great right now. They were going in every direction. Word symmetric would be an opposite meaning of what was happening on her head. Still that was also nothing compared to the state of her pajama and the way she was wearing it. -right, given the chance I should cook something. -I am looking forward to it but really first take care of yourself. Rin left the room and decided to wait downstairs. Twenty minutes later Yume also went down as well. She headed to the kitchen right away. -so, Amy how did it end up that you are still alive? Didnt you go for your suicidal mission yesterday? Or did you changed your mind and gave up on that? Yume asked from the kitchen. -no, I did go. -then, did you perhaps win? -I didnt win but I beat my record 11 out of 12. Next time I will definitely win. -still if you didnt win, how is it that you are here today? -well Rin felt that saying anymore would lead definitely to misunderstanding. Nevertheless she also knew that she would tell Yume about it eventually. And if she did that later, it would be even worse. -I guess I was saved? Second after hearing that, Yume was already in the salon. -save? By who?! Knight?! Prince?! -it wasnt like that! -ah, thought so, you would hide it if it was like that Rin knew that if he hid it, Yume would not let go that fast but if she said it like nothing, Yume would lost her interest immediately. Proof for that was that she went back to the kitchen. -still how did it end up someone was saving you? It was some group of people that wanted to try the tomb challenge? I thought that no one does that anymore. -no, it was a single person. A, my bad. Yume returned to the salon second after. -it was the knight then! -ah, you are only about that. -then who? Who? -if you stay here to long the food will get burned. -fine but when I done you have to tell me everything. I will be back in ten minutes. Why do I have to tell you? Although she didnt want to, Rin would not be able to avoid Yumes questions after saying this much so she gave up from the start. -so, so? Yume came with plates of the meal. Rin focused on eating it and didnt say a word at first. Still it didnt make Yume dropping the subject. -so, so? -even if you ask me, I dont know what happened. All I can tell you, is that I feinted during the fight and instead of dying, woke up in the forest the next day. -hmm, you are not hiding anything? -as if I could hide anything from you. -still, speaking of witch if someone managed to help you then that someone should be really strong right? -I dont how strong he was but I should at least say that he was not easily afraid. -so you do know your rescuer! It looked like Yume misunderstood something before, for Rin it would be better if it stayed that way but once again she made mistake by saying too much. -did I say that I didnt? -no but you said that you just fainted and then woke up. -after I woke up, I meet him. How else would I know that helped me? -so, so? Yume kept asking as if expecting some grand answer. -what? -I am waiting for your report. -there is nothing to report. Really what is she expecting? -right its you who we are talking about after all, still did you thanked him at least? -in a way, haha. Rin made an awkward smile. Yes she did thank him. In reward she welcomed him after waking up and upon departing she even send to him twelve gifts. -I shouldnt even as should I? -no you probably shouldnt. -thought so. Anyway, now answer the most important. Who was it? I didnt hear about anyone who could be better than you being in Karma as of late but its not like I meet everyone in the city. Yes not everyone, only roughly 95%. -he wasnt better than me! Rin answered loudly but at the end she added. -probably. -probably? For you to say probably is quite huge itself. Anyway, who was it? There was no reason and also no way to hide anything from Yume so Rin always gave up on that from the start. Also there was really no reason to hide it. She probably doesnt even remember him. -well, it was someone you meet already. Remember your last kidnaping. There was a kidnapper who turned out to not be a kidnapper. -you mean Arata!? As always, she remembers everyone name after hearing it once. So his name was Arata. I think he introduced himself at some point but I didnt remember it. -yes, that guy with strange black-white hair. Yumes eyes started to get bigger. I have bad feeling about it, wait dont tell me. -you know I also meet him yesterday. Knew it, she already hunted him down and invited for friendly talk. As suspected of Mary, once she finds someone, she will never let go of that pray. -I dont care about your idle talk with him. -but you should care as Yume swiftly operated her menu and took out some papers. -tadaa! Rin focused on those papers and quickly recognized what it was. She said in amazement. -the hellish puzzle has been solved!? Why didnt you start from that! Rin tried to catch those papers right away and read the answer but Yume moved them away. -Mary, there is no time for playing around right now! -first you have to listen to something I want to tell you. -I can listen all day after completing the quest. I am nearly able to complete it myself. With the help of the riddle, I will definitely be able to do it! -what I want to say will be much more helpful to you than some words that dont have any meaning behind them. It looked like Yume though up some plan. She already read the riddle so maybe she has some good idea. -so what can be more helpful? Yume didnt answer Rins question directly but started telling what she wanted. -there are two things I want to tell you. First one, yesterday I meet up with the Wizard who gave you your quest. -you meet him!? -yes. I spend in his laboratory quite some time, although later on he kicked me out from it. -that sounds like him. Still how did you managed to meet him? I mean he doesnt leave his hideout just to buy cookies in nearby shop. He doesnt have to do that because he is teleporting them right on his plate. Wizard one shared with Rin his way to get cookies for free. -it was me who visited him. Also, I didnt go there alone. I meet someone who knew the Wizard and wanted to meet him. -you meet someone who is his friend? -I wouldnt call their relation friendly Thought so. -also that person didnt have any invitation from the Wizard. I showed him the way you usually enter the hideout and he broke in. -you mean he broke to the laboratory? What about the barrier? -lets no go into details for now, point is that he broke through and I used that opportunity and came in with him as well. -I got it now, you found out something from the Wizard about my quest and this is the second thing you want to tell me it. You so dependable Mary! Still Wizard must have been in a good mood if he told her something. It was so hard to even get that riddle out from him. -you are wrong. The second thing I want to tell you is who was with me there. At the same time it was he who earlier solved the riddle. How would that be useful? -even if you tell me, unlike you I dont know that many people. -you know him as he was also the same person who rescued you today. The person, who solved the riddle, is acquainted with the Wizard and rescued you from death, is Arata. Why did he appear so often in things related to me? Anyway it doesnt matter. Rin forcefully erased the image of a man that appeared in her head. -still how does it help me in my quest? Mary, stop wasting time and give me solution to the riddle already. -Amy, dont you think it is strange? -maybe, but please dont say that word. -its destiny! She went ahead and said that. After Rin gave her displeased look Yume continued. -no really, from what I heard from him and from you and from the Wizard, it must be that he is someone who will help you in your quest as if he was destined to. -as if. -of course its true. Also from what Wizard said when you finish this quest everything will change for better As if some reward could grand my wish. Rin had one wish, one dream, but it could not be granted. No one could give her what she truly wanted. No one could help her fulfil that dream. People often say that when you work hard and dont give up you can fulfil your dream, still its only applies to some type of dreams. Dreams like I want to be an astronaut or I want to be rich or I want to have a happy life yes those dreams can be achieved by hard work. Still what Rin wanted and needed the most was not in that category. Nevertheless Rin did want to complete her quest, as it was something that was occupying her mind. -Amy, you once said that if there were good players who could help you, you wouldnt mind being in party with them. -Mary, forget about it and give me the solution to the riddle! Rin tried for a last time to change the subject but it was long too late for that. -not until you say that you will invite Arata to the party for your quest. -as if I could do that! -oho Yume made an evil smirk, although that evil smirk on her face didnt look any evil at all. -strange, you didnt say, I dont want to which I expected the most. The answer wasnt as if, stupid or no way either. How should I take that Amy? -whatever you thinking you got it wrong! Rin tried to repair the situation but it was already too late. -you said that you cant ask him for help, as you would be embarrassed to do it. -who would be embarrassed! Getting overworked over it was not helping her either. -oho Rin got even more frustrated. -did something happened between you two? -what were to happen!? -you started to answer surprisingly loudly out of sudden. -you just making things up! -oho, I will leave it for now. But back to main subject if you cant ask him yourself I will do it for you. Yume had a mercy for her. -could you stop that already? -well then Amy do you know where Arata went after you left him? Ah, there is no stopping now. When Yume decided on something there was no stopping her. Also it was not that Rin hated the idea that much. No matter how she looked at it, if she had help of a good player her quest would progress much quicker. It was not the matter of the tomb alone. After that, there would be at least one more challenge when the true quest starts and spending another year on it didnt look that appealing. Also there was the fact where Arata wasnt that bad in Rins eyes. Sure his attitude was a little irritating but it was the first time that she talked normally with some other player in a while, except Yume that is. Wonder if he will call me Little Red Riding Hood again. -hihi. Thinking back Rin really enjoyed being called that. Part of that was because in childhood, it was her favorite book and she would nag her parents every day to read it to her. But her giggling was spotted by someone who shouldnt see it. -oho. -what!? -nothing, nothing. Somehow the way Yume answered didnt signalize that she thought that. -still will he really want to help me with quest? Rin asked seriously to which Yume answered with. -oho. -could you please stop doing that? -haha, no, I just surprise that you dont fight against my idea. No matter what I say, there is no meaning to it if you dont agree. In short Rin got tricked. -so? -you ask will he agree? Well, probably. -thats not very convincing. -from what I saw so far he will. He is a good boy even if he himself will not admit it. Hopefully he doesnt have anything important planned right now but from what we talked about he dont. -so when will we ask him? -oho. - . I really had enough of that today. -you really are surprising today Amy, I said that I will ask him myself but you want to come do it as well. -its my quest after all isnt it normal. -its normal for anyone but you. Anyway first we need to find him, its better if we ask him sooner than later. Best will be if we get to it right away. -well finding people is your specialty so I will leave it to you. -eh, putting everything on me, well you wouldnt be useful in the search anyway. Yume get ready to leave. -I will be back in max three hours, until then dont go anywhere as finding you would be much more difficult than finding anyone else. -take your time Mary, I am not going anywhere. Yume left the house and only after finishing her tea Rin realized something. She didnt give me the solution to the riddle. Rin wouldnt go for the tomb today anyway but she could at least start coming up with new ideas if she had that extra piece of information. Now then. Rin headed to the kitchen. Not because she was hungry, she just ate after all. Also she had completely no abilities in cooking. Her destination was not the kitchen but the place that she could reach only from there. At the end of the kitchen there were additional door that leaded underground to the basement. There, Rin stored additional items that she didnt need. Even though player inventory was limitless, she didnt like to hold too many things in there. There were many items here that Rin no longer used but somehow didnt want to part with them. There were also items that Rin could not wear at the moment as her level was not as high as before. There were also items that were here just in case. If some of her equipment broke she could immediately replace them. Rin went down the stairs and entered a small basement. There was not much inside, only one chest and one wardrobe. In wardrobe there were equipment items when in chest there was everything else. One may think that the chest would be enough because that chest worked on the same rule as player inventory it was limitless. Still the wardrobe had a special function where while searching through your items their look would be displayed. In normal cases if you wanted to see the item you would either need to equip it or took out from the inventory. Thanks to the wardrobe, she didnt need to do it. Still the only reason Rin was using something like that was because it was a present from Yume. Still, putting it in the basement talked for itself as how much she used it. Rin first walked to the chest. I dont want to see it again. She put there her class armor item. Although it was a clothing, Rin didnt want to see it ever again Now, all thats left is wait for Mary. Rin stood up from the chest as she didnt plan to take anything out of there. She was ready to leave but then she saw her reflection in the mirror that was hanging on the wall. A thought came to her mind. Maybe I should change those clothes already. I think they already served their purpose. Right now Rin was wearing, dark green, ugly mail-leather armor. It was a common made by one of the blacksmiths in the city. Rin was using it for about 4 months now. The reason she was doing it was the stupidest reason there was. Once Yume was nagging her about her look and that she should go to the hairdresser. There was no hairdresser in Karma so she would need to visit another town. Rin finally answered that she doesnt care about her appearance anyway and that Yume should leave it alone. Yume made the argument that there was no girl in a world that wouldnt care about her appearance and they start arguing. In the end to prove herself, Rin bought the most ugly set of armor and decided to wear it. Well there were few more uglier but they didnt had enough stats and Rin would not compromise on that. Either way, her choice was enough to prove her word. Yume was sure that she will give up after few days but because of that Rin kept wearing them up until now. Yes lets change it. No matter how I look at it, I shouldnt be wearing mail armor on my class. Rin walked up to the wardrobe and started to browser through. I already know all patterns of skeletons so I should completely neglect my armor stat. The only one who I didnt grasp is he but it looks like no matter what I would wear I still will be oneshooted by him. After deciding what type of items she wanted finding them didnt take her long. It were red shirt without slaves. Although she didnt want to admit it, not having anything solving her arms, her attack speed increased as if she her stats increased by half. This shirt didnt have any ruffles so it was okay with Rin. The stats of that shirt were also not a laughable matter as it was an epic drop from raid boss monster. Second item was the leather maroon trousers. Here there were no compromises and they were long up to the feet. They were tight at the tights and wide at the bottom, just like Rin liked. Rin also had a pair of boots and gloves in a same color as it was three item set she also got from raid bosses. Rin spend a lot of time in EOA after all. Truth to be told she should long ago went to higher level but she decided to stick to questing in which she often lost her level so she never passed 200th level and right now was in low 100th. With everything done Rin once again looked at the mirror. Much better. No matter how much she argued, what Yume said was true. It also didnt apply only to girls but to everyone. Everyone wanted to look good after all. Right now Rins clothes looked nice but unlike her class armor they werent girly either. Rin was about to leave the wardrobe when she spotted the next item on her list. It was a long red cloak with a red hood. Seeing it, brought a warm smile on her face. Been a while since I have used that. Not that long ago, before Rin got her prequest she used to wear this cloak. Compared to most of her items it was bought in a shop. Rin really liked the story of Little Red Riding Hood and when she saw this item once on a display she just had to buy it. It was the only item that she bought originally because of look but it turned out that it had quite good stats so there was no problem in using it at least at that time. While trying to complete her quest her level fell down drastically. To use the cloak she needed 128th level. Sure she could equip it now but her level usually jumped back to 117 so it was not worth to change the item which didnt have stat difference compared to her brown one which was an epic drop. Also she had to keep up the story of vicious ghost. Since she started trying to complete the tomb challenge she didnt wear this one even once. But now that it appeared before her eyes she decided to equip it. This feeling, like under a blanket. There was one characteristic that made this cloak better than the brown one. It had an effect which made it warm in touch. Rin looked once again in a mirror and was really satisfied with an effect. She started to spin and watch as the red cloak started floating in the air alongside her hair. -la, la, lalala, lalalala Rin left the basement while humming a song. It was a song that was once a main theme of little red riding hood TV show that she saw so many times. She was really in a good mood, she would even probably sing the song had it have any lyrics. -lalala, lala She didnt stop after leaving the basement. In the kitchen she continued to sing. -lala, lal- . But she immediately stopped after entering the main hallway. -oho. -Mary, what are you doing here!? Yume was already back in the house, although she said she will be back in three hours. -I just come back to inform you that I localized Arata but Amy, what are you doing here? -mhm. Rin just answered with strange sound. -oho Well, it was about the time that you change those clothes of yours. Also I didnt see that cloak in a while. Is that why you are singing song from that old program? -is something wrong with that? -no, I know how much you like it. Still, I have a question for you. -can I not answer it? -oho I still didnt ask the question. -I can see from your face that its a question that doesnt have right answer and no matter what I say I will regret it. -of course there is a right answer. So, Amy, why is it that of all days you felt like changing your clothes today? -there is no reason for that, I just felt like it! -oho, you just felt like it, yes, I understand you completely. -I think you dont. -of course I do. Today you just felt like it because of what happen at the morning and because of what will happen now. Ah, the day has come that Amy has finally understood what is important in life. -no, definitely no! -you cant deceive your nature. -Mary, stop that and focus on issue on hand! You said you found him right? -ah, you want to go to see him that badly that you cant wait any longer? -as if! Rin grabbed a nearby pillow and throw it at Yume but Yume managed to catch it. -bulls eye? Another pillow went at her. -I get it, I get it. Yume walked up to Rin, in midway she dropped the pillows back to their places. -what? Rin asked as she felt something was not right and moment later she was caught in a hug. -Mary, what are you doing! -ah, Amy you look so cute today that I couldnt resist any longer. -aaaa, you squeeze me too hard. Wait! aaa, ahh. It took four minutes before she let go of her. -mhhhh. I finally got my daily dose of Amy. It was not the first time she did something like that but as of late it didnt happen that often. -and here I thought I finally had a rest from that. -hugging you in that armor was not the same so I stopped but now that you are back in this I couldnt resist. The nights are not enough after all. -hmm, there were hidden merits in wearing those items like that, maybe I should change back. -no! It would be such a waste! -in that case I expect that you stop teasing me. -okay, okay. Anyway now that you changed, Arata will have no other choice but to help. -I dont see how me changing changes anything. -Amy, know that all mans have one weakness. -the thing between their legs? -eh, its not something a girl like you such say. No the weakness I talking about is they are weak against requests of cute girls. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.-is that so? Isnt it only applies to some of them? -no, it applies to all of them, dont worry your effort will not be in vain. -Mary, listen. First of all, I did change for myself. Also those clothes are more comfortable and easy to move in. Second of all, being cute has nothing to do with clothes. -hahaha, you are the last person who I expect to hear that from. Still your opinion is fairly common I guess. -can we stop talking about opinions and get going already, what if he disappear from the spot he is in? -I dont know where Arata is exactly at the moment. All I heard was that he is shopping in the east part of the town. Still, about that opinion of yours. -what? You just said its common. -it is common but at the same time its not. -what does that mean? -well its common around guys, girls dont think like that. Thats why Rin. From who did you heard that? - . Rin would definitely not answer to that question no matter the consequences. -did you perhaps heard it from- -stop it! -oho. Hmm, I wonder in which circumstances did he say that. -no no no one said anything like that, and definitely not him! And definitely not about me! -I see, I see. -you got it all wrong! -but I didnt say anything yet. -then stop making that face! Anyway, it was the west shopping district, right? If you are not going then Im leaving you. Rin could not take it anymore and decided to run away. -wait, what do you plan to do without me anyway when you cant talk normally with people? -I can if I want. -oho well I looking forward to seeing it. Lets go already. In the end Yume was the first one to leave the house. Rin didnt say anything else and just followed after her, although she felt really humiliated. The so called west shopping district was just a gathering of many shops in one place. Shops were owned not only by NPCs but also by wealthy players, although the shop keepers were usually NPCs. Although there was city center where players could buy stuff, as well as east shopping district located in dwarven district, west shopping district had the biggest verity of things. -man in black, with white hair? -with black-white hair. -sorry I didnt see him Yume. I just got here few minutes ago myself. Upon arriving Yume asked first random person, or maybe not that random because she seemed to knew him, about the man they were looking for. The first person did no help much, but it was only a matter of time before they find the person they were looking for. -hey Yume, I think I saw the one you are looking for! Someone shouted to Yume from afar. -Bran, is that you? Its been so long. -aye its been Rin could recognize dark haired dwarf as a member of Yumes no existing guild. It was a strange description but in short it was a group of people that operated like a guild but never become one for whatever reason. Rin never pray too much into it. Still their achievement in raids around the Karma was often heard of, and they were quite famous here. One reason for that was because there were no long staying groups in Karma as everyone would move elsewhere. But this group was stayed here for a long time. For a note, Rin would call it Yumes group but in truth Yume joined that them just recently so it wasnt right to say so. -so Yume, did a man you mentioned also had a white image of flaming sword at his back? -yes he did. So you did see him. -aye but in this case you looking in a wrong place. Sure, he was here but it was about three hours ago. -three hours? Three hours?! -aye, as to where he is right now, I cant tell but the last place he visited in this district was an alchemist shop. He was buying healing potions. I saw him there as I was doing the same and passed by him. It looked like Yumes information was not up to date, or rather not up to three hour. Its definitely because Yumes play took too much time. They could get an extra hour or even two counting the morning, if they started right away. -thanks Bran, I will catch you later so you can tell me about your vacations. -well, I wouldnt call them vacations. Anyway, I see you are in hurry but Yume, did you already heard about the expedition? Also why werent you on yesterday meeting? -em, something came up. -eh even I managed to be on time you know. Most of us were, but here five people played truant and what is worse those five are the ones who didnt take break. -then everyone else was there? -aye, they were. -even Shin? -even Shin, he some friends VRM. He is still not in his home. Anyway, because everyone from the break came back, we managed to set up a date for the expedition. -ah finally! -yes, finally. -so when is it? -on a third day of a next month but everyone should gather day before so we can discuss everything completely. Because some didnt show up we still have some things left to decide and announce. -I will be there dont worry. Anyway I must go already or I will get yelled at. Bye Bran. -see you. Yume quickly went to Rin who since some time now was really irritated. -you are done? -relax we dont need to hurry that much, its not like Arata will run away from us and its been so long since I talked with Bran. -I get it but thats why I hate going around the city with you, you always get stopped by other people. -its natural to great your friends. -yes, yes, anyway if we dont catch up to him before he logs out or go somewhere where we cant find him its your fault. Also you said you know where he is but how is it that it was three hours ago!? -that is because it was information that I got from someone who was here four hours ago. Looks like Arata had a lot of things to buy. -so what now? -of course we are going to visit the alchemist to ask where he went. And so they went to visit the alchemist. His shop was located three streets away from where they have been so it took just five minutes. -welcome! Ah its you Yume. Inside there was a man with a long dark beard. Of course Yume knew him well. Her contacts in Karma were not only limited to players. As for the shop there were a lot of flask with different colored liquid inside it but most of them were red and blue which were health and mana potions. They were not all the same though. The stronger the color is the better effect is given by a potion. -hi! -just dont start it again! Rin whispered to Yumes ear before it the conversation went out of the control. -fine, fine. Sorry but I dont have the time today, I came here to ask about someone who was here three hours ago. -no problem. Hmm, three hours ago? Could you be more specific? -black long coat and strange hair, two swords at the side. -ah him. The alchemist somehow lost his good mood. -you seen him? -wish I did not. First, he came to my shop and wanted to examine every potion I had, then he said that he wont buy anything as its too expensive and he wont get cheated. He said it loudly so every costumer in a shop heard it at the time and the ruckus started. Well it is expensive here. The only thing I am buying here are special potions that cant be bought anywhere else. -but it looks like that ruckus stopped and nothing bad happen. -I sure I lost some customers because of that. Well, things has been going good lately so I wont complain about that. -happy to hear that but can you tell me if maybe you know where that person went after? -oh, I know, but do you know what he had audacity to do? After the ruckus ended, which took around an hour he come back to the shop and asked if I wont teach him alchemy. Did he thought perhaps that I forgotten what he did? Alchemy? It is one of trading skills I think but what are those good for? Rin never understood the aspect of trading skills. She thought of them as something one can waste their time on. -alchemy? Interesting, so what did you answer him? -what could I answer? No matter if he angered me or not I cant just teach a random person my skills just to make myself more competition. -I dont think he would make an alchemist shop. -you are probably right, anyway when I answered no, he asked where he can learn it so I send him to library just to get rid of him quickly. If you are looking for him, he probably went there but it was as you said three hours ago so dont count on meeting him there. -library, got it, thanks for a help. They left the shop in hurry. -Mary, why would anyone want to learn trade skills? Rin asked as they walked. -they are useful and when you level them up enough, you can easily earn a lot thanks to them. But learning them and leveling them up first is so expensive that if you had money to afford that, you would not need money in the first place. -isnt it 500 gold for one skill book? -around it depends on the skill, but Amy it doesnt look good. -what do you mean? -I mean, Arata spent few hours buying various things, doesnt it means he plans to go somewhere? -you mean to other city? Rin asked worried. -dont be so dramatic. Remember, I talked with him yesterday and he said that he doesnt have any plans so I wouldnt expect that. Maybe he joined some group and is going with them for a dungeon or something like that. -as long as he comes back later, we can always still ask him. Rins response was quite normal but then. -ah, Amy so cute. -what do you mean? No wait, I dont want to hear that and we lost enough time on your games already. Anyway, asking later is our last resort we should focus on finding him right now. Reaching the library took them a little longer as it was not located in west shopping district but close to the center. After entering the library Yume run up to the receptionist. -grandpa, I have something to ask you? -ah Yume, you came to borrow a book? -not today, I am looking for a man in long black-white coat and with strange hair in the same color. -ah yes there was someone like that two hours ago Two hours, we are catching up. It was probably not because they were walking faster. Rin and Yume knew Karma better than anyone and compared to someone who just got here they could find their way through the streets much faster. Also someone who was new to Karma would probably get lost few times. -he asked about books oriented in herbalism and alchemy but when he learn that skill books are not for renting and buying them costs 420 gold for herbalism and 550 gold for alchemy he said that he will come back some other time. Some other time, he probably abandoned the idea completely after hearing the prices. -did you know where he went? -he was with a friend and they were talking something about gathering the ore. Still they didnt look like miners to me. -they wanted to craft something? -no it was purely for gold. They had some job on it. -job? I see. Well, thanks grandpa Yume and Rin left the library but their lead got lost. -it looks like we have to start over from the scratch. Yume commented. -not exactly, he just mentioned ore gathering job, right? I think I know which one it was as I also do it regularly. -but you arent a miner. -I told you about it remember. There is a place where monsters drop it like any other items so you can gather it there. -ah yes iron canyon. I went there once before but because those golems are so resilient to magic it was not a good place for me to do anything. Still, Amy you want to go look for Arata there? -for now, asking around east gate sounds reasonable. If they were going for iron canyon then they would leave through there. -oh, nice idea Amy. And so they went to the west gate. It turned out that Rins idea was good but. -ah yes I did saw him. He was walking with some other guy as well. I didnt recognize any of them though. They were here about thirty minutes ago. They left through this gate and went east-south. The guard who was guarding the eastern entrance to the city answered. -is that so, thank you very much. -no problem, Yume. Rin and Yume started to discuss their next actions. -such a shame, right Amy? We were so close. - . Rin did not said anything as she was clearly in bad mood. -well it couldnt be helped after all we tried our best. - . -Amy? -what couldnt be helped! Who tried their best? Isnt we late only because of your playing around?! She finally answered but what she said were only complains. Still everything she said was the truth. -its not like I could foresee that we would get late by thirty minutes. Anyway Rin, its not like its lost cause, we just have to get to iron canyon before him and you can meet him. Yume answered. -sure, I can catch up to him but what should I say then. Give up on your current objective and go help me with quest? How would that convince anyone? -I dont think that he is too focused on that objective after all he didnt have it in plan yesterday. Also you remember the weakness I told you about, just go and ask him. -no, and in the first place it was your idea from the start, I am not planning on inviting him anymore. -its too late to go back now. You cant just change your mind like that. -and why is that? I can change my mind all I want. -because, I wont let you Yumes argument was really unreasonable but at the same time it was something that Rin could not go against. -anyway, if you dont want to disrupt him, just be a good girl and wait patiently till he comes back. It shouldnt take that long. When he comes back I will hear of it and bring him to you, even if I have to tie him up. The scary thing was that when Yume said something like that she was no joking. -I dont think that will help in pursuing him. -once again, Amy remember what I said this morning, as long as you ask him, he will agree because you are so cute, didnt he said so himself. -how do you know it!? In this moment Rin made a great mistake. -oho, you finally confirmed it. -no, I mean . -I would ask about your reaction to that but given your experience, you probably went all red and ran away. -em . -anyway he will definitely agree, especially after I add that you changed your clothes for him. Really there is no possibility that he will refuse. -I didnt do that for him, stop imaging things! -oho. -also stop with that face already. Today Rin had really hard time dealing with Yume. -ah, Amy so cute. Still dont worry, there shouldnt be any need for me to say anything, generally people would join you just because you have a quest. Everyone wants to complete quests, you dont really need to do much convincing in a first place. -yes, stick to this version. -also Amy, you dont have to worry about him agreeing at all, you know that people cant say no to me when I really want something and I really want to have someone help you with your quest. And because Arata is the first person you accepted I will not give up till he agrees to help you. He is quite stubborn but I have my ways with people like that as well. I do get a lot of training on you after all. Now then we need to make some rules. First of all, until Aratas comes back you cant leave the city. If you go missing and he comes back at the time you wont be here, it might create few problems so dont even think about going to that crypt again only because you didnt lost your level on last time yet. You hear me, Amy? -okay. -second rule, to ensure that you dont go to that crypt like you promised, I wont give you the solution to your riddle just yet. -but its my riddle! -giving it to you will only make you want to go there again faster so that is no. -but what I am supposed to do if I cant go out? -oh, common you can survive few days without killing your monsters cant you? Use this time to rest and have some fun Karma is a huge place Guess I can read some book in the meantime. -now then, I think its a great idea to have some fun today, so lets go dancing! After hearing proposition like that, Rin did not waste any second and got away from Yume as far as possible. Four following days, Rin spend mostly in her house with few exception of going to a shop or a restaurant. At first it didnt seemed so bad to just wait and do nothing, she also had few unfinished books to read that she borrowed from the library but on the fifth day she ran out of then and also she had enough of sitting in her house. I cant wait another day like this. Normally Rin was always busy leveling up to go for tomb challenge again. It was not in her nature to laze around either. Yume said I should wait here but I guess it wont hurt to take a look. With those thoughts in mind Rin headed to the western gate of Karma. Rin wanted to make sure of something. She already accepted her need of assistance in her quest, as she didnt see herself winning against him but she didnt know if the person she is going to invite will be of any use. In past, Rin tried to complete the prequest with help of Yume but although Rin never said that, Yume was more of burden than a help to her. It was not because Yume was a bad player. After playing for so long she became quite skillful elementalist. With her group, she completed many hard raid dungeons. Still, that wouldnt be of any use when surrounded by army of skeletons. They werent that easy to deal with. Only because Rin already killed thousands of them, she could now defeat them like level one boar. Remembering her first try, she was surrounded by thirty of them even before first super skeleton came. After all the overall tier of that fight was on pair with raid dungeons and finding end boss who was as hard as him would not be that easy. In the end, the try with Yume was a complete defeat at third super skeleton and since then, they didnt try it again. That is why inviting someone for that challenge was not that easy. For starter all range fighters were out from the picture as they usually need someone who defends them. Rin is busy enough with keeping herself alive so she couldnt do it. Someone who could be helpful during the fights must be able to survive on their own. Thats why she wanted to check on the person she wants to ask for help although, right now Rin was not really worrying about the fact of that person being too weak. It would be bad if he is better than me. Rin did not consider that she is strongest in this world after all. The possibility of meeting someone stronger than her was low but not no existing. Thats why she decided to go to the iron canyon to find out. I have three facts to go on to. First one. Our fight when I rescued Mary last time. Sure, I won that but it was really strange how the fight actually ended. Probably as Mary said, he was forcefully disconnected. Well, I shouldnt even consider that but that is actually the only time I saw him fight. Others two facts are only what I heard. One, he managed to enter Wizard laboratory with use of force and lastly he rescued me from the tomb which could actually mean that he defeat him. But most of those are just guesses, there is too little information. I need to be sure before asking. She had her reasons but whatever they really were, in short, she wanted to spy on him. Rin left through the west gate and headed for her destination. Still, I have only today. Mary wont stop nagging if I gone for more than that. Also there is no guarantee that I will definitely find him, I might as well just bypass somewhere without noticing. There was a possibility of this but it was unlikely. When going for exping, you usually wouldnt come back right away but stay there until you get a level or two. And getting one level would take at least three to four days for average player. In Rin case, it was one and a half a day average and if she push herself really hard she could get one in a day. She could be that fast not only because of her overall fighting ability but also because she knew the best routes to find as many monsters as possible. Even if I bypass him, I dont have to worry either. Even if the man were to come back to the city, he would not go anywhere else right away. Also even if the man wanted to go somewhere right away, Yume would probably find him and wouldnt let him do it. Maybe I should mention to her that I am leaving but I didnt want to hear her comments about it. I dont even know if she is playing around anymore. She wouldnt really think that I could like someone that I dont know, would she? From the outside, acts of Yume would signalize otherwise but in truth her reaction was quite normal but it was not her who misunderstood but rather Rin. The fact, that Rin didnt just kill someone and even wanted that someone in party was a huge thing. It happened for the first time that Rin accepted someone since arriving in this world which was three years ago by this world time. Rin would not recognize it as something big but for Yume, who for those three years looked after her, it was really significant and it really made her happy. The time in which she had to look at Rin and the position she is in, was really painful for her so even a small change in Rins life would be a change for better. Even if her fate doomed her to live in this world, Yume believed that even here it was possible to attain happiness. Arriving at iron canyon took her more than four hours of walk. She was slowly walking all the way there on her feet so it was no surprise. 12:43 hmm. I should get back to Karma before 21:00 or Yume will find out that sneak out. That leaves me around four hours to look around. I should start heading back at 17:00. Well, in worst case scenario I can run some way but four hours is more than enough to simply look around. Rin created a time limit for herself so she wont go wondering around for too long. Well, four hours would probably not be enough to explore fully the canyon even if she didnt plan on fighting anything. Still if she could not find the man in four hours, she would probably not find him in five or six hours either. At first Rin was not planning on fighting at all so she doesnt waste any of her time but her decision to not fight was broken quite easily. -Muro died, aaaaaaaaa!! -dont look back, run! The group of two appeared at the entrance and was running outside. Four golems were charging behind them. They were going to get them soon. The first black golem that ran out had a stain of blood on his left hand. Pity. It was not unusual sight for Rin, yet every time she saw it happen, she could only think how weak other players were. Still, in a place in Iron Canyon, Rin was not playing the vicious ghost role. Well, she still didnt talk to anyone but her killing rate here was much lower and also. [Lighting speed activated] Rin would rush forward to help those hopeless people even though she knew that they would die eventually and dying would be a good lesson for them. Still four golems would be too hard for her alone to block. Well only two would fit in the opening with their huge bodies but Rin would not be able to gather enough agro from them in time. Thats why she decided to. [Hurricane] To kill them all, in one turn. From a far it looked like red small typhoon appeared out of nowhere. Not only two red swords but also red cloak and finally ruby hair were spinning in an astonish speed. By combining two spells the damage was devastating. Rin started circling right before two first golems and stopped right after passing the last one. Golems bodies in that instant were devastated and all of them fallen to pieces. It was needless to say that they were all defeated. And here I wasnt going to kill anything. Guess it cant be helped. In the end, some of them will probably end up being pulled on me anyway and rather than running away, getting rid of them will be easier. -hey! It looked like someone called her from behind but Rin would not look back, first it was the boys voice. -for your help, I thank you very much! And then it was voice of the girl. Still Rin would not look back. Those words did not mean anything to her, although it made her recall something that Yume said. -but did you thank him at least? Seeing up close how someone is supposed to do it made Rin sure of something. I am definitely not thanking him! She simply could not picture herself in position of helpless player who had to thank their savior for saving their life. Just like for example the two that she just saved. I never asked him for help anyway. It was his decision. Rin thought that but she didnt realize two things. First, a minute ago the fleeing ones also didnt ask for her help as they were busy running away from golems to even think about it. The second thing was that right now, she was going to ask the man to join up in party and complete quest together. What else was it than asking someone for help? On the way before passing through slit she saw a dead body of someone. Though, that sight would bring only one emotion to her. Pity. Pity for people who died so easily. Sure she did not know the whole story but dying in this place where one came to level up was something that Rin could not understand. Now then which way to go. Rin entered the familiar canyon. It was her usual place for regaining her levels so she knew it like back of her hand. Normally she would take the route down without even thinking but this time she was not here for usual business. I probably wont have a chance to check the other side so I need to choose right. Based on what I know, he came here only with that guy from silver hand so it should be party of two. Normally it would mean that they went upwards as group of two cant simply take the route down. The biggest difference about route up and route down was number of golems in one pack. When going up, their number would not extend three, at the bottom however one could pull more than ten of them at the same time. Still, I shouldnt consider that man normal. Normal people would not have a hair like that. Now that I think about it, his look alone can tell me a lot. As from what I heard from Mary, hair like that is only possible if one use color dyes, which are not that cheap or easy to get hands on. Especially the pattern in which your hair ends up being two colored, which is the case in him. That would mean he played for a long time and has a quite high level. But Mary said that he kept on saying that he just dinged level 100. I wonder if thats true, on the other hand level has nothing to do with skills so there is no need to consider that. Hmm, what else can I tell from his look. He was quite sport and tall at that. His face was Rin stopped for a moment as she recalled the man face. -that has nothing to do with anything! Anyway his look doesnt tell me anything after all! She ended up speaking her thoughts out loudly for some reason. Then she started to erase any more thoughts about that man but while doing so she recalled something else, or rather someone else. They look quite similar, arent they? Subtracting the hair of course. .., Ah, who I am thinking about again. A) its impossible, B) their personality is completely different. There was no reason to start thinking about the past that is long gone and about people she will never meet again. In the end Rin stopped thinking too deeply about her choice of route and simply headed down like usual. Yes, she headed down as usual. That meant however, jumping down from edges to edges to get deeper and deeper as quickly as possible. Going down like this was something that only Rin would do. At least she never saw anyone else even trying that. Going down like that was definitely much faster than circling around on wooden bridges. As those were no small jumps. From time to time she went like three meters down. Half way down, from here on, I should be more careful. Rin decided to start looking from this point. She skipped the first half because she knew that the man she was looking for already spent four days here. If he indeed went down he should get at least this far. Rin closed her eyes and focused on the sounds. She decided that rather than just looking around on which she didnt have enough time she should trust what she hear. The canyon would usually be calm and quiet, unless someone was fighting somewhere nearby. In that case there would a sound of battle. Golems while walking were enough to make a loud rumble. Still down, hmm? No, there is something on this level as well. But it is quite far. Even though it was far Rin had to check it. The rock on which she was right now could not be reached in normal way which meant there was no bridge that was connected to it. There. Rin located a cave that was three meters away from here and one meter down. Normally jumping that far would be impossible for anyone but Rin jumped nevertheless. [Leap] With use of skill it was possible. Rins Leap ability gave her additional jumping power, having it on level 5 she could now jump up to 4 meters. I dont think it was really worth it. Still it was not like she had 100% of pulling it off, so if she missed and hit the wall for example, it would hurt badly. After that jump, Rin started to doubt that her goal is worth all the trouble of coming here, it was probably not, but once she decided on something, Rin would not give up. The biggest proof of that would be that she still tried to complete her quest even though it cost her so much and it was not only the time that she was losing each time she failed. Some may call it endurance but it was rather simple stubbornness. Rin looked around and headed to the source of the sound. Although most of the golems on the way were already killed, which signaled that someone was indeed here, not that long ago, some of them managed to already respawn. There were three of them in Rins way. The first one to arrive jumped up two meters and then tried to crush her with his body. That jump alone was something, given the huge heavy body of the golem. Still seeing it for a thousandth time, Rin would not be surprised by it. Rin moved to the left and iron golem just felt on the ground. The second golem that was on the right tried to catch her in his hands. Rin landed two hits at his torso and after that crouched down. The hands only catch the air. Rin went underneath the golem while striking on his legs. When she appeared behind the golem, the third golem was already there and threw a punch at her. Rin moved to the left and the strike didnt hit her. When hand stopped Rin landed three hits on it. The second golem hit back with his right hand but blind attack like that had 0% of hitting. Rin passed easily next to that attack and was once again at front of the second golem. From there she attacked with both of her swords at the revealed joint that connected right hand and the torso. After that attack to the back it was in its most vulnerable state, which meant that after two hits from Rins swords his arm fell off. First golem managed to rise back at his feet attacked Rin from behind. Rin had him in a field of vision so it was not a surprise at all. She moved away from both first and second golem. There. Second later she rushed back and attacked in a spot that second had his hand. Rin pierced inside with her swords. Normal attacks against golem body were futile but while attacking the right spots the swords could easily move forward. After Rin pull her swords out, the second golem was defeated. The other golems attacked her with their fists but rather than hitting her they clashed with each other in a place she was a second ago. Rin went for the feet of the third golem she kept attacking until there was a crack. While being behind the third golem, he tried to kick her with his leg but blind attacks like that, really had 0% of chance at hitting her. Rather than hitting her, it was their way to death. Rin dodged to the left and went for the other leg. After making one spin midway she swung her swords at the leg which made golem lost his balance. When he tried to regain it by using the feet he used to kick, it got destroyed as it couldnt stand additional weight. The golem started to go downward to the ground. He was not dead yet but if she stayed away from him he was completely harmless. The first and at the same time the last golem came at her. This time, Rin went for joints that connected leg to torso. She first dodged the try of golem to catch her. She moved to his right and started attacking at the spot. It took her eight hits but she finally managed to break through the armor and cut off the lag from golems body. Cutting it off meant that golem could no longer stand and fall to the ground. Cutting legs off was the most effective way to kill golems Rin knew. After the first golem dropped dead, Rin went to finish off the second one. She could leave him alone but it would be a waste of precious experience. It still took her five hits to kill him off completely. Iron golems were slow and could be easily thrown to the ground but at the same time they were strong and really durable. Rin once got carelessly caught in the golem hand and he crushed her bones like eggs, she managed to live that through as she immediately used unlimited blade skill but the damage took was something that hunted her for a month after that. Healing completely would probably be faster if she just died and respawn ten days later but she did not do that. As for being durable, it didnt had to be said, but killing one golem required one to him a lot until defeating him. There was no way to slay it in one hit like organic monsters at least in normal means. In the first place, Rins attacks werent that strong to begin with, still it was still not bad. Rin heard that the real endurance golems show while defending against magic. Most of the spells simply bounding off and have absolutely no effect. In the end killing one golem just took some time, but his value in exp was greater than other mobs so it was not changing the speed at which you level up. Rin would probably be able to speed up her process of leveling if she used her skills more often. As long as it was not the third stage of unlimited blade, her abilities didnt take that much mana or stamina. With use of first stage of unlimited blade Rins speed could be even doubled and she would not run out of mana as long as she kept number of swords she summons at the time under ten and ten flying swords would be really devastating. Same would go for her other skills. They could also give her a great boost. But, Rin would simply not use them if there was no need for them. She would reject them as they were not her true strength. If she relied on spells and abilities too much, she felt like she was betraying her style of fighting and betraying her master who thought her it. Simply said, she was proud of how she fought and using skills could only be permitted when necessary. It was not something one would do in a VRMMO game but this was a way that Rin chose. As she went forward, the sound was getting louder and louder and finally she arrived at the spot from where it was coming from. Just as she suspected, those were sounds of someone fighting against golems. The only problem was that it was not one or two people but party of eight. They were fighting against group of five golems. Not here. Rin could not see the one she was looking for, so she had no interest in that group. Also she knew on one glance, who they were as she was familiar with people who are exping here often. Especially those who went downwards as this side was harder and compared to the way upward not many dared to go this way. Still, saying familiar was only to the point of them being here, its not like she ever exchanged with them more than few words. As I thought he must be at the bottom. Rin once again started go downward. She rather suspected it to turn out like that. Mostly because as far as she knew, no one sane would go all the way down, at least she rarely saw anyone there. Golems at the bottom usually were in groups of eight or ten. Also possibility of pulling additional group was quite high. There were also many golems patrolling the area. In comparison to all others golems, they had additional ability. Upon spotting the intruder they sounded the alarm which gathered nearby golems even if normally they were too far to be attack the player. Because normally there were no groups fighting there, all golems were ready to fight so if you get caught by alarm golem at least three groups would rush at you, which would mean fighting over twenty golems at the same time. Thats was one of three main reasons no one was exping there. Second one was, even thought it was a bottom, there was no additional benefit for fighting there. Fighting smaller groups a little higher was more effective and more safety. And lastly, even getting to the bottom was quite hard as one had to fight his way through there. Still, despite all those reasons someone was fighting there today as sound of golems running amok could be heard even from where Rin was right now. Only someone who never came here before and someone arrogant enough to think that he can win against me would go there. Rin jumping down form one rock to another was quickly getting lower and lower. It didnt take her long to get nearly to the bottom, but she did not dear to jump down to the ground after seeing what was happening there. It was for the first time that she saw such a sight. Golems, who normally just stayed on one spot and did nothing, were now running all around the place. Well at least, it looked like this as there were about two hundred of them, but in fact they were all running in one direction. That golem army was following one single black-white dot that was also moving at the head of them. It cant be. [Leap] [Leap] She quickly jumped form one rock to another to get closer and just as she was afraid. What is he doing? As suspected, the single black-white dot was the man who she was looking for. It looked like he got himself into quite trouble or rather. He is already dead. Well, he was not already dead but Rin could see as he soon will be. Moment the golems catch him, he wont stand a chance and they will catch him because the way he was going to right now was a dead end. Should I help him? No, its not even a situation in which I could do something to help. Even for Rin that army would be too much. While fighting against golems what she needed was space to maneuver, in situation where they can just simple completely surround her and crush her even if she used all her skills it would not be enough. All Rin could do now was to watch. After all, she came here for that reason. Today she just wanted to see how the man whose name was Arata could fight. She once again started to jump on rocks to get a better look. This way is bad. Rin could see that the way that man was running will result in certain death even faster than she thought. The way he was going would go narrower in a second and in two hundred meters from where he was it would be a dead end. Also there were absolutely nothing to jump onto, absolutely no way to get out from there. Still there was absolutely no panic or concern on mans face. He even turned around and started run backward for a second when he was looking at the army that was following him. Will he finally start fighting? She thought for a moment but man did not even unsheathe his swords so far. He once again turned around and continued to run in same direction. Then he shouted loudly so even Rin could hear it from afar. -Levi! Guests will be arriving shortly! Well, she had no idea what it was about. She once again started jumping from rock to rock. When she got closer once again she spotted that at the dead end where the man was running to was someone else. The man with blond hair was holding shield in both of his hands. That guy from silver hand. Well, Rin expected to see this man here as well, still what he was doing, she could not tell. Him being there though, meant that just like the other one, he will die in a minute. Although, they didnt have a look of someone who is going to die in a minute as their face did not show any concern. Dont tell me they think they can win it. Even though it was two of them now, it still didnt matter to that number and Rin was sure that golems will destroy them any minute but today she was going to see unexpected thing one after another. The man called Arata was still running right into the same direction. At the end of that way was the other one. The air around the blond haired knight started to change and he got surrounded by yellow light as if someone used a healing spell on him. Then that light started to accumulate in few spots making numberous orbs of light, they all started circling around him. It was like that for about the minute. In that time the one called Arata managed to close the distance and was going to get to him in a second, just like the army of golems that ran after him. The orbs of light started to gather in one place and that was in front of other man shield. Man called Levi pushed the shield forward making the orb going in direction of other one called Arata. It started slowly but then it started to accelerate with great speed. Arata when he got near it, he jumped over it with somersault. After landing, he unsheathed one of his swords and swung it in the air horizontally. Although, Rin didnt see anything, she could feel that this wasnt normal swing. Two seconds later, the orb of light transformed into yellow line that was getting bigger and bigger. It was going way faster than previously. Soon enough, the scale that line was so big that it expanded to cover the whole area. Sure it was a narrowed space but it was still huge. Few seconds later it encountered the army of golems. One by one they perished upon contacting the yellow line, in blink of an eye from about three hundred golems only ten or so remained. It cant be. Rin never saw anything on this scale in this game, she was astonished on how simply the two of them destroyed the army with single attack. -wow, it worked better than I thought. She could hear from the distance although she was still not over what just happened. -dont tell me you never tried it before? -its my new skill after all. With this, I think we had enough share of golem, wont you say Arata? -I also had enough but look there is still some of them left. -in that case lets finish them first and after that we are getting out from here. -I going to take the ones on the right, Levi. -got it. And so the two of them separated and started to kill off remaining golems. Although, Rin still not grasped what exactly happened as she knew that couldnt be normal spell, she had to stop thinking about it for now as finally she will have the occasion to see what she came here for. -this is . She was so surprised that she ended up speaking out loudly. Rin was expecting a lot after seeing what just happen, like some other skills that would wipe out remaining golems in one blow. But for the whole duration of the fight, the man did not use any other skills and to continue based on pure swordsmanship. He was simply avoiding all of enemys attacks while attacking only at weak spots like joints or legs. But it was his fighting style that surprised her. After calming down Rin had a complete analyze. Masters twin sword style transformed to be used in this world. In a sense, he fights just like me with minor difference on individual moves that comes from both our preferences and difference in builds. At first from what I saw on our first meeting, I thought that he somehow stolen one of masters technique but seeing all this, he couldnt grasp it all alone and it is not an imitation. But why would one of them start playing games all of sudden? Rin could easily grasp where that person learned how to fight. Unless he was touch directly by her teacher it would be impossible to arrive at to this point. Even if it was one of his students teaching him, it would still be impossible and there would be more differences in his fighting style. Still, that only gave her more questions than answers, as she could not grasp why someone who was training for Olympics suddenly started to play games. Especially someone of this level of skills. Having seen how the man deal with six golems in matter of few minutes she could easily see that he would at least score in ten best students of her teacher. Only one year have passed in that world, so it cant be anyone new. He seemed like a different person but given his look, only one person comes to mind. Its masters grandson. Still even though everything would fit, could someone really change this much? Rin did not only recognize the fighting style but the person himself. Even before, she thought that they are somewhat similar and after seeing how he fights, she was half-sure of it. Half-sure because her memories did not exactly match everything. Although their look and fighting style was the same, this man and the one she once knew were completely different. Rin once again looked below and saw how the two high-fived each other as they got together after finishing their last enemies. The man called Levi also killed 6 golems without use of skills which was also quite impressive but Rin didnt saw how he fought as she got lost in thought. The two went in direction where way back up was and Rin lost sight of them.. No matter how I think about it, it must be masters grandson. But, Arthur was someone who wouldnt do anything for fun. In school he would just stay in his bench all break and look outside the window. If someone asked him to play around together, he would coldly decline. He practically never did anything out of his own will or for himself. And most importantly, I never saw him smiling. Not even once. Rin stayed at that rock for some time and started to think about the world to which she could no longer go back. Still, that fact did not hunt her anymore as she was used to it, already. She mostly tried to remember Arthur, her masters grandson and how he always behaved. She was searching her memory for one moment in which he would be at least a little similar to the man whom she met here. But no matter which scene she recalled, which time she went back to, her question was not answered and that question was. Why does he have so much light into his eyes? Next Chapter Chapter 27 “My name is Rin.” Chapter 27 My name is Rin. The longer you play, the better you become thats what the saying says but there is always an upper limit out there for everything. At some point, one would arrive to situation in which, no matter how hard he tries, he cant do better than previously, that was how it usually went in games. Still EOA was slightly different in that regard, over time, you could became better and better and better. Even though with time you would reach a certain level of skill from which you couldnt progress anymore that easily, it wasnt impossible as in some other games where you were limited by numbers. In EOA, just by completing new quest and acquiring new skill, your overall performance would increase. There was a saying that in EOA, without real life fighting experience, you wouldnt be able to arrive at highest level of play but it was a wrong saying. Fighting experience from real, sure it gave you a good head start, no one could argue with that statement but if one had played since the game come out, it would be 10 years worth of time. Lets say someone was training for 5 years in real world and the other was playing EOA for 10 years. Who would do better? The one who trained? Or the one who spend his time on the battlefield? Although, extreme cases in which someone played EOA nonstop for ten years were unheard of. After all, it would mean spending the last two years in the VRcapsule nonstop. -so what are we doing now? Arata asked Levi while they were walking together in direction of Karma. Its been few days since they were there last time not to mention their break which practically doubled that time. For four days they were slaying golems but even if it was four days, Aratas level went up only by 3 and right now it was 103. Other people would say that its a good rate, four days in three levels but that didnt convince Arata much and he kept on complaining that it was too slow especially when they when they didnt take too many breaks in between and also they were using special tactic that speeded up the process. Still even with that effort, it was still only three levels. That experience made Arata sure that he is not going to focus purely on level anymore as rather than enjoyment it was hard work and people were not playing games to work hard. -just as we planned before. First we are going to return all that iron to that dwarf and then with earned gold we will earn more gold. Levi answered. -arena it is then? -arena it is then. By the way, do you have any experience in citys arena Arata? -well, I did fight once in arena in beginners city but that would be all. What about you? -I did fight few times actually. Its a good place to train PvP a little and because I am in silver hand I need to be good at it. Although I must say that fighting against other players isnt any different than fighting humanoid mobs. -with mobs being as realistic as humans you probably see no difference. -yea, just like that. Although, fights against other players is much more random because you never know how good your opponent truly is. -you cant find out someones level and even if you did it wont tell you much. Unless you see someone fight you wont know what they can do. Arata summed it up. -exactly but because of that fact, we can earn a lot of money. -I dont really need that much gold, right now. -didnt you want to learn crafting and gathering profession? -if it cost that much I am not sure its worth it anymore. -well, start it is a little hard and most people will say it dont pay off but if you saw how much money daily earns a famous crafter your jaw would drop. They could easily make a living out of it without working in real. -so why dont you have crafting profession? -its a pain to level it up and later on rather than going around the world and having adventure, you spend your time creating items. Sure, some people may enjoy it but its not really for me. I will have to think once again about this whole profession thing. Also my cooking is enough I guess and its also useful in real so if I were to focus on that it would be most beneficial. -by the way you remember which way it was? Arata asked as they were passing the bridge to the Karma -hmm, I would normally remember the way I once went if we went straight to the gate that is. Unfortunately because we were getting lost at each corner there is no way I remember. -I remember it was in dwarven district. -ah, you are so very observant today Arata. -shut up Levi. If you dont remember we will just have to ask for a way there. -that or we could follow the direction of the smoke. As far as I know it should be coming out from forges. -ah, you are so very knowledge today Levi. -shut up Arata, also unlike you, I am knowledgeable every day. Anyway it should be this way. -wait you two! Just as they were to walk to the right valley, someone call out to them, although they did not look back, as neither Arata nor Levi had any acquaintance in this city. They didnt spend too much time in this city after all. -hey dont ignore me! The person repeated herself. Arata and Levi looked back still not convinced that it was to them but it would be rude to ignore someone. When they look back they saw a girl with long silk blond hair. She was quite slim and high. She was wearing blue-white clothes and had a bow on the back. She was of elf race just as her ears signalized that. Arata recognized her as she once showed him a way around this town while he wanted to earn easy money for solving a riddle. In the end those money werent that easy but he did earn them. Still he could not think of reason why would she look for him or Levi. -what a beauty, do you know her? -I wouldnt say I know her, we just talked once. Also I dont really remember her name. The elven girl quickly ran up to them. -hi Arata, been few days. -yes its been. -can you introduce me to your friend first? -yes, about that. It would be hard to introduce her as he didnt know her name. -fine I get it. Looks like I need to introduce myself to you as well. The girl recognized Aratas signal when he averted his eyes in answering. -if, you could. -once again my name is Vivi, write it down somewhere. -do I really need to remember it that badly? Of course Arata could not simply answer yes but instead he complained about how annoying was to remember someones name that badly. -of course. In the first place how could you forget it! -we talked once so its not that surprising. Also, dont make drama out of it. -but its first time that someone forgotten my name. -learn some hardship and get used to it. -you are probably the only person on this world that would forget me but thats why you are so . -I am positive that there are a lot more people who are bad with names in this world. By the way, Levi introduce yourself, I am not going to do it for you. -sure, hi there, my name is Levi. -em thats it? You are not adding anything. Arata asked as he was expecting at least five sentences of self-introduction from him and that he would end it with sentence like beautiful lady. -yea, right now I am normal player after all, there is no need to talk about my great achiv . -yes there is no need so dont talk about them Arata cut him in middle sentence before he start lamenting about his so called great achievements -so Vivi, you wanted something from me? -not personally, I am just delivering a message or rather notification. Yume said she wanted to meet you again. Yume was a name of the player for whom Arata solved riddle. She also showed him a way to Wizards laboratory in which they got separated by Wizards spell. As for Wizard, Arata first meet him in city of beginners at the beginning of his journey in this world, although memories connected to him were not that pleasant. -is it something about the riddle? I get it wrong? -no, no, it was something different, I think. At least, she didnt mention anything about the riddle. -I dont know what it else it can be about. -me neither but, she asked me to wait here for you so it can be something important. -Levi, mind if we change plans a little? -its not like we are in hurry, lets go to visit the flower of this city. -you also already meet her? -I did exchange few words with her and she even helped me at that time and gave me an advice. -you guys shouldnt be surprised. Its actually hard to not meet Yume while being in this city. Vivi explained. -lets see what she wants from you, Arata. We shouldnt keep her waiting. -Vivi, can tell us where she is right now? -I will show you the way, is what I should have said right now but Yume is not logged in right now so its impossible to know where she is. -I guess its not something important then. -its Yume after all, with her its never anything important. Still, can you tell me where are you guys going to be in three to four hours? I will call her offline and tell her that you are in Karma. -we should be in Arena at that time. Levi answered Vivis question. -you two are going to fight there? -we plan to. -well arena in Karma is quite high level you know, still I guess it will not be a problem for you Arata, given that you passed through trial of adventurer completely. You know what. I will come to root for you. -you dont need to. Also we are trying to keep low profile and earn on betting. -I see, in that case I will just come to watch and root without shouting and pompons. Did she actually plan to do that? -Arata! Forget the gold! I want to see a cheerleader more! Levi interrupted very seriously. Arata just made a face palm to that and Vivi answered with much worse opinion of him. -I was joking. -haha, I also was just joking. -its too late Levi Its hard to hide your true nature after all. -anyway we will be at Arena today. I not sure about what will come later but I will try not to leave city again until I speak with her, so she doesnt have to hurry. -got it, see you later Arata. Vivi disappeared in a flash after operating the in game menu. -hey Arata, why didnt she say good bye to me? -because you are not thinking, what you are saying. -it couldnt be helped this time. Arata you must agree that having cheerleader like here would be something to look at. -not really. -just be honest. Levi hit him two times by elbow. -if you keep thinking about cheerleaders. No girl will ever look at you. -you are planning smart just because you have girlfriend. But with few magic words I can also make you think of cheerleaders. -no, I am positive you cant. -hahaha, you shouldnt have challenged me but you will get what you asked for. -fine lets test it. Its impossible anyway. Arata strongly believed in his will and his conviction but he couldnt be prepared for what came at him. -Arata, all you have to imagine is this. Your girlfriend dressed up as a cheerleader. The costume is in white-pink color but there is one problem as it is a little too small and tight in few important places. Still your girlfriend is trying her best to cheer on you while singing something like. A! R! A! T! A! Arata! Arata! Fighto! . Arata could not hear the rest of Levis singing or his tries to sound more girly like as his mind had become completely filled with a picture of Kotori in cheerleader costume. After about five minutes Arata came back to the senses. -and who is thinking about cheerleaders now? -fine you won. There was nothing else that Arata could say. -hahaha, you shouldnt underestimate my power. -anyway lets get our money first. Arata decided to cut this conversation before Levi came up with other ideas. And so they went to the eastern part of city the dwarven district. -Arata, that girl mentioned that you passed 100 level challenge completely, is it true? -well yea. -you definitely didnt say it to show off? -why would I do that? What you dont believe I did? -no that, I know how good you are, so you probably did managed to do that, still you just dont often meet people who managed to pull that off. -I dont know about that. Four others from my guild also managed to do it, so its hardly impossible. Arata found out that almost everyone from Refrain managed to pull it off with Zen being the first to complete the challenge. Second was Yuki, third Kotori, Arata was fourth and Odin was fifth. Anari died somewhere in second part and she was the only one that did not managed. Arata was not surprised by that fact. Rather he was surprised that she actually didnt die earlier. As for him finishing fourth, it was probably because he spent half an hour chatting with the guy from Husaria. Well, that reason was at least something that Arata said to himself so he doesnt feel bad about losing. -your entire guild is crazy then. I wonder what you will do in a future. Right you already have one city razed on your account. -it wasnt our fault. -its you who started that war though. Arata, I guess when the time comes it will be on me who will have to catch you. -yes, good luck with trying to do that. -haha, Im just joking. Anyway that guy should be somewhere around here. They visited the dwarf that gave them the job before. After returning all the parts both of them earned 30 gold each. -isnt it a little low? Arata said when they started walking in direction of Arena. -really, with you its always, not enough experience! Not enough gold! This thing cost too much! Could you stop complaining already? Those are all legit numbers. -I am not sure that they are. -in capital everything costs even more. Only because we are at this god forgotten province the prices are like that. -given number of people here, it doesnt look like god forsaken province to me. -well, thats because many people are send here after the 100th level barrier but as you can see there arent that many high level players around here and thats is because there is nothing special about this city. -I guess, I heard that at the other part of this world things are much more interesting. -I didnt go there yet. -well I just heard it from Kotori but she really cant decide what she should do right now, in the end she decided to take part in some expedition to go underground, although it will take place in few months from now so for now she focuses on smaller things. -expedition to the underground in the east You know, that expedition is actually organized by silver order. Levi shared the news. -you know something about it? -well the role of leader of that expedition will take the leader of silver hand order so it will be something big. Many others big shots are coming as well, it will take place in four or five months from now, when everything is ready but people for it are gathered right now. Your girlfriend must be quite good if she managed to get sign up for it. -and what about you, you didnt want to go? -I kind of did but you know, I dont really like the leader that much. So in the end I decided to decline on that. -and why do you not like him? -well, its just my opinion but simply put it, I think he is crazy. Right! Dont go telling around what I said to anyone or I will get kicked out. -I wouldnt even know who to tell it to. Anyway you have any reasons to think he is crazy or you just dont like the guy? -my opinion is only based on what my sister told me and I promised not to tell about it to anyone. So lets leave it at I just dont like the guy. Anyway do you know which way is it to arena or we are just going somewhere blindly? -I thought you knew the way. -I dont. In the end they asked the guard. The arena was located in north part of Karma. Although the city itself was not that famous its arena was. One reason for that would be because there wasnt that many other things to do here, so many people come to visit it every day. There were also many players joining in fight to show off their skills. It was also a place for guilds to look for their new members. They could see the ability of fighters and if they found someone promising, they could offer them a place in their guild. It was not only reserved to guilds of Karma. There were also representatives for many other guilds that didnt have anything to do with it, even from high level ones, although those were interested only in really good players. Still, it all was beneficial to fighters as they also wanted to join those guilds. Guilds like Serenity, Shield of the East, P.C.P. , Dragon Raiders were famous guilds also had their representatives here. Normally it would be really hard to join them but if player could be scouted by them if he performed well on arena making the whole process much quicker. And if someone performed really well, even two strongest guilds my heard of that fighter. There were some people however, for whom things like prestige and look in eyes of others didnt mean much. They didnt want to join any guilds either. For example, one who was already in a guild and other one who was a member of silver hand order, and people from there usually didnt belong to any guilds as there was no need for that. For a note, joining silver hand order would be as hard as joining any of the famous guild already mentioned if not even harder. -so who is going to fight first? Arata asked. -does it matter? Anyway both of us are signing up at the same time so it will go faster. But just as planned when I fight you bet on me and when you fight I bet on you. -what will we do if we end up fighting against each other? Their tactic would be meaning less if that were to happen. -you probably got wrong idea. We are not signing up for any tournaments but just listing ourselves as fighters. By doing just that you are not automatically fighting right away. After signing up, you have to either challenge someone to fight or be challenged. -right, you could explain a little bit more about how it works. -its not really complicated but well there is one thing you need to hear I guess. Each arena has its ranking system. When you first sign up you get the lowest rank. -what those rank do? -well there is one annoying rule in which you cant challenge anyone who is three ranks above you. -doesnt it make our plan impossible. Aratas and Levis plan were as follow. Each of them fights against two champions of arena. Because both Levi and Arata are unknown no one will put any coin and they would put on champions as they are practically given to win. That will make the balance crumble and anyone who puts on them could make a lot of gold from it. No one would normally gamble on that but Arata and Levi knowing their strength would put on each other and win big. Still, it was only possible if they fight against someone well known otherwise they wont earn much. -not impossible, it only makes it harder. I said that we cant challenge anyone above us, but those above us can challenge us. Normally new guys would not accept challenge like that as they were not crazy to fight against someone who already won many battles. -so we are the crazy ones again. Still we have to somehow make them want to challenge us. -well that shouldnt be that hard. After all, they are all arrogant bunch who thinks that they are good players only because they can win some fights in Arena. They went to a place where new fighters could sign up. -I thought that there would be a longer line. -well this procedure doesnt take long and you need to do it just once and you are sign up for eternity so it is normally like that. They entered the room. Inside there was a man behind the desk. He didnt have one arm and his eye left eye was under patch. -you two are here for fights? The man asked. Although his look was frightening, his voice was calm and collected. What was more he could write! -yes we are. Levi answered. -ha, dont rush to you deaths kids, arena is not for a like as you. -I think we will be fine but speaking of rushing to our deaths could you tell us who are two strongest and most well-known fighters here? Levi was not wasting any time. -ah, I see what you are trying to pull off, if you want to know answer to your question, look at the ranking in fighters quarters and you will know but I dont recommend doing what you plan to, it usually ends bad. But who am I to tell you that? If you wish to die, then die. So your names? -Levi. -Arata. -you guys are in any guild? -if you are asking us if we are looking for a guild then no. I personally not in any guild but I am member of silver hand order and . -silver hand, pfuu The man split on the ground without giving Levi a chance to finish. -you know, I hate that whole order and that makes me hate you as well. Get your number and get the hell out of here! -right, remember not to tell anyone that fact as you know what we want to do. -I rather want to see your face in blood, so I wont. -oh, you are so understanding. Thank you very much. -get out! Levi was forced to leave the room but it looked like he was noted in mans notebook like any other player. -and you, dont tell me that you are also in that thing. -no, no I am not, do I look like cop to you. -good answer. But I will give you an advice. Its not wise to think about them in that way. They are the bad ones who need to be put in jail. Anyway you are in any guild? -does it change anything? -does it change anything he ask? The man said sarcastically. -fine I will tell you. If you sign up with guild name, before the fight it will be announced that you are from them. Its a way to spread out the name of your guild but at the same time, it protects you from other guilds invitations should you do any well. I rather not deal with people like that. -fine, sing down that I from Refrain. -Refrain? Never heard of guild like that but whatever, take the number and go. Arata left the room. Levi was waiting for him outside. -what number did you got? He asked. -number 40114. -mine is 40113. Well number is not that important. What important is the rank. Right now we are on lowest rank 7 and what we want to do is fight against some of rank 1, lets enter the fighters quarters and make everyone angry at us. -to that, we dont even need a plan. -just improvising should be enough, try to be as loud as possible though. And so they entered the fighters quarters. In this place, one could challenge other players to fight. There were quite number of people here as this place was also the only place in which, one could be challenged to fight. Only when two players were here and both of sides accept, the fight could be held. But fight would not start right away. The fighters had to wait on their turn, as other people could be fight at that moment. Although, fights between players were usually not that long, so the waiting time usually didnt extend half an hour. Also in this place fighters could bet on fight, it was convenient for them as normally the betting held place at tribunes. Still, in this place only registered fighters could bet, so it was not like normal people would gather here to take the spot in line. Every fighter was either sitting on a bench or standing next to the wall while trying to look fearsome. Some were doing good job at it, other were terrible at it as their look completely didnt fit image of arena fighter. Arena fighters were sometimes also called gladiators but if one were to compare those people to gladiators from ancient Rome, there would be too many differences. First of all, gladiators in Rome were slaves while here people fought because they wanted. And now, two new fighters entered this place. The arena fighters quarters were usually quite quiet place. It was probably because everyone was getting nervous before their next fights. Also, some didnt want to reveal anything to their opponents so they were just whispering to their friends. But two new fighters that arrived didnt follow that rule. -Arata how do you think, how many fights do we need to fight in before we get to rank one?! -I dont know, it depends on how scared will those so called strongest fighters are! -well they would probably be too much afraid to fight against us! -you know how it is, once they somehow get to the top, they are desperate to stay there! -losing to us who just arrived here would be a blow to them after all, there is no helping it! -but Levi, in the first place, fighting against them is meaningless as it wouldnt even be called a fight. Also I dont feel like staining my sword with their filth! -really, you should have mentioned it before, why did we even came here?! -I forgot, still in this case I guess there is only one thing we can do Levi. After all, we need to show all those people on tribunes how real fight looks like. They deserve it after watching everyday how those people desecrates this arena! -you are right. We should give them a show to heal their eyes. I guess we will fight against each other Arata! -well there would not be anyone else who could hold a candle to us so that is the only way! The two new fighters could be described as follow. Too loud and way too damn annoying. The reaction from other fighter differed from person to person. Some were surprised, some believed their words, some simply ignored them seeing through their act, some were angry at them but they wouldnt say anything and simply ignore the small flies. But there were also some who easily caught the bait. -hahahaha, you two made a nice performance there but you know what all of us here heard. Oh, please I am so afraid to fight, lets do a mock battle together and run away from this place. I didnt think I will be that scared until I come here. Right guys! -yea, yea. -get the hell out of here you idiots! -as if someone could believe your words! Bingo. That was reaction that Arata and Levi were looking for. Also the man that was speaking looked like he had a lot of respect making him someone from rank one. Although, Arata and Levi knew that most of high ranking fighters would simply ignore their mocking as just as they said, they would have nothing to gain and much to lose from fight against them. Still, there would be some meat idiots who were only good in fighting and their stupid pride wouldnt allow them to listen. Also there would also be someone who given his position would not be allowed to stay silent while they were mocking everyone. The first guy that spoke was just that. He was over two meters in height and he was very wide. Arata would describe him as meat ball. Although, his muscles were quite big, seeing them Arata could only make one remark. Strength comes from stats anyway so the bigger your posture the easier it is to hit you. Still, neither Levi nor Arata answer to him. They decided to wait and see how everything will turn out. The meat ball continued. -bulls eye ha? You dont even say anything back. -get out of here imposters! -Karmas arena is not for likes of yours! -wait guys, guys relax. The man calmed down everyone. -we cannot let them go like that after they said all those things, can we? We have our pride right, so we should teach those two that in this place, playing with words like they did is not the best idea. Hey Shathis, you wont mind if I will borrow your idea! He shouted to a man who was staying as far as possible from them in a dark corner of the room. It was clear that that man didnt want to have anything to do with this occasion. -do what you want. The man just replayed without adding anything else. -now, all I need is someone else from rank one to challenge the other gay. -Garyl! Even if you want to challenge them, its impossible for those cowards to accept your challenge! Someone shouted to meat ball guy. -dont worry about that, you guys may not know it but when someone says in this hall that he accepts challenge from anyone at high rank he really mean it and its not possible to take it back. Which means, as long as we challenge them they have no way of running away anymore . Good thing to know but I doubt that meatball was the one that came up with it. -Margrag what will you say, you still didnt fought today, mind eating one of those two? -hahahaha, it will be good warm up for me before I go out serious in different fight. Looks like there are more meatballs here. The other man that laughed looked somewhat similar to the first one so Arata gave him name meat ball number 2. -which one do you want? -I will take the blond one. He looks a little like a girl and you know that I love killing them so much. Trash. Arata could describe him only with that world given. He regretted a little that he couldnt fight against him himself. -my boy, you know what. I will even give you right to be the first one to do the battle. -hahaha, you just want to see how your opponent is pouring down his pants but fine. What is blondes number? -40113. -I challenge number 40113 to death-match. After the meatball said those words, the fight got automatically registered on the board. -hahaha, Margrag used death-match, as suspected of him. Some people started laughing. -but look it truly works although the other one didnt say anything the fight was registered! -but death-match! Who normally uses that setting? -hahahahahahahaha The sound of laughter of the first meatball echoed through the hall. -Margrag you never fail to surprise us but your idea is great. I challenge number 40114 to a death-match as well. When the meatball number one said that, his and Aratas fight also got registered. -aaaaaa! Garyl did it as well. -hey I think I will be going to tribunes to see it from there, after all death-matches are rare. Still with match ups like that, there is no gambling at all, you just put everything on Margrag and Garyl and you get a profit. -true, even though this will be probably minimum stake, you still will get 5% income. -this Arena will go bankrupt one day if it goes on like that, I mean no one will put anything on those two. About half of the people inside started to go outside. Probably to the tribunes as they mentioned. Still many of them went first to put money on those two fights. -pss, Arata. Levi whispered to him. -what? -its going better than we thought right? -they are both rank one after all. It was actually too easy if I must say. -anyway dont say anything out loudly anymore, so it looks like we are really scared of them. People are going out right now so when word will get around that we look like we are sure to lose more people will gamble so we will get even more gold? -anyway your fight is first so transfer me all your gold. How much do you have? -110g, you? -80? -eh you shouldnt have spent it all on all those useless things. -you mean my meals were useless and it would be better to eat bread? -fine, I get it. Anyway even if there is 30 gold in difference I dont mind if we share fifty-fifty in the end. But you are paying for the food next time as well. Anyway with amount we will get we will be rich. -you better not lose there. -ha, as if that could happen. Anyway after my fight, quickly take out all money that we won and pass it to me. Then I will stake everything on you in next fight and the sum will be enormous. -you dont think that people will find out after your fight that something is fishy? -it will be too late for those who already paid anyway. Look people are betting here on our fights even if there are two more before ours. When someone bets he cant withdraw it anymore later on. Also there are a lot of people, so when they start betting on one fight, they will also bet on the second because they can have problem with getting it out later. -we wont have problem with putting on ourselves in that short break? -well we have privilege of arena fighters and there are no lines here, still I guess it wont hurt if your fight gets a little delayed I will think of something to let it happen. -hahaha, look at them. They cant even speak loudly and just whisper to each other. -what did you expect, in moment of truth, people true nature comes out, thats why I love killing so much. Their two opponents didnt suspect a thing. They didnt have to wait too long. As one of the fights was held off for later time and it appeared on a roster behind Aratas fight, it looked like there was an option available like that as well. By the time that Arata went to put all of their gold on Levi, the other fight already started. -how is it going? Arata asked Levi as he stayed and watch. -well the fighters in arena right now are both at rank 3, they are not that bad. The fighters that Arata saw really were not that bad. They were definitely better than those that he saw in arena in beginners city. -even if you say they are not bad. -yes they are not that good either. Look at those opening on the right guy, aa . -looks like the opponent also saw that opening. Second ago one of the fighters attacked with a spear which went through opponent belly. After that move the fight was over as its setting was not death-match but one severe wound. After the winner was declared, both of fighters were surrounded by yellow light and were healed back to full hp. -guess it will be mine turn next. Levi said it with sigh. -dont tell me you got worried. -well I am a little worried, after all, so many girls will confess to me after seeing how I fight and I will have to break all of their hearts. -yea definitely, anyway maybe you should rather find one heart that you dont want to break. -its not that easy you know. To pick one flower, out from so many. -rather you dont have even one to pick form. -Arata its hurt you know. -hey mistress, its time for us! Levis opponent called him. -eh he is so creative with names, still I going to make him pay for it. -take it easy, its they who got provoked not us. -no, the bloodshed must be done. Levis green eyes started to burn with fury. Levi and Meatball number two entered the arena. Arata wasnt really worried that their gold would be lost. After all, he could not imagine Levi to lose, especially after what he saw during last few days in iron canyon. -you will have to wait a little. Margrag loves to play around with files like that! Meatball number one said it to Arata. Arata didnt talk back as he focused on a fight. Levis opponent was equipped with large two handed axe. When the fight started he slashed with it at Levi, he on the other hand blocked it with his shield. He wants to see the strength of that attack first. Levi blocked it and didnt move an inch. Although, it might look powerful for semi-tank like Levi, hits that landed on shield didnt have any effect. After blocking the first attack his opponent was practically open but Levi started to play around with him instead of attacking seriously. Ah what is he doing? No rather he did say that he wanted to create a show after all. -you said that you will accept any challenge from high ranker in this arena, will you accept mine as well? Arata was pull away from looking at the fight as he suddenly heard that sentence coming from his left. He absolutely didnt feel any presence or didnt hear any sound before girls voice appeared. Arata looked to his left. Lower than him by head, stood a figure in red cloak. Her face as well as rest of the body was completely covered by it, only her maroon boots could be seen. -if you have high rank you dont have to ask me, you just have to challenge me like the others. Arata answered. -I dont want to have anything in common with those lowlifes. -and your rank is? Arata was not sure if she meant that or if her rank was not enough but to his question he got an unexpected answer. -rank zero. Zero? Strange, Levi didnt mention anything about someone having rank zero. If he did, we would focus on those guys instead to earn more money. -you are telling the truth? -yes. Arata didnt expect a straightforward answer like that but he didnt feel lie in her voice. -why would someone with rank zero want to fight against me? Did you get fooled by our act? We already caught enough fish on it so I can tell you that we only did that to earn money so dont feel offended. Anyway, you cant get anything form our win, right so why do you even bother? -its because I want to have match with you. Her answer remained the same as straightforward as possible without hint of hesitation like everything was thought up beforehand. -did I do something to you that you want to kill me? -no, also I didnt ask you for another death-match, rather it would be a problem if you died, I dont want you to die, just have a match with me. I guess I can have additional fight, if she wants it that badly. Also its irritates me a little that she is saying it like I am bound to lose. I dont want you to die? How arrogant can she be? -fine I will fight against you when I finish this business first. The girl nodded her head and walked away to one of the corners. Strange girl. Anyway how Levi is doing? Aaaaa When Arata looked back at the arena the fight was nearly over. The meatball number two was laying on the ground head first. At top of him was Levi who was striking with his sword at enemys body while laughing. The blood and guts was flying everywhere. There was a good amount of it at Levis face. He went crazy again. It was not the first time that Arata saw Levi like that. It looked like the moment some amount of blood lands on his face or hair Levi changes a little. Arata didnt see it often, but when they were fighting against golems but when once Levi got hit in head and blood started floating out from a wound he entered in somewhat berserk mode. And when Levi was in berserk mode even Arata was not sure if its best idea to get near him. Still in this fight it was not his blood that was on his head as he looked rather untouched. Right I need to get money first. The fight has officially ended although Levi didnt stop massacring opponents body just yet. Arata run up to the cashier and received the reward from betting. He used 190 gold to bet on Levi and now he got in return 900. It was more than 4x times the amount. If it goes up like this again we really will be rich. -hahahahaha, more give me more! Levi returned to fighters quarters. -Levi get a hold of yourself. -Arata, can I do your fight as well, one guy is not enough. -its impossible to change it now, you should know better right. Anyway if you dont hurry we will lose a lot of money. With those words Levi returned to normal. -right money, how many did we get. -900 in total, here. Arata traded him everything. -okay, I am going dont take too long Arata. Levi rushed to the cashier. -dont tell me it was your plan all along. Mr. Meatball number one asked and he was not laughing anymore. -who knows? Arata answered and headed to the Arena. Its definitely bigger than the one in beginners city. Arata looked around as he entered. The place looked somewhat similar to how coliseum in Rome was looking like. Well Arata was never there himself but he saw it on movies. Tribunes however were a little more advanced as the spectators werent sitting on stones but on comfortable seats. It will be hard to beat the last performance. Arata could see it on spectators faces. After all, they saw the unexpected, probably losing a lot of gold in the meantime. Still losing some gold was probably worth it as their faces were not filled with anger but with amazement after seeing previous fight. Well, there were also few terrified faces as well, probably because when Levi goes crazy, he goes crazy in really frightening way. -your friend must have used some trick but no tricks will work against me. The meatball number one said that, although he didnt really believe his words. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Still playing brave, lets see. Arata send a cold glare at his opponents, just that look overwhelmed his opponent. Meatball picked up his red hammer and attack with it at Arata right away. Ua, I provoked him a little too much. Or rather it was too hard for his opponent to stand that glare any longer. Arata himself didnt know how scary he looks like when he did that. Just as Arata was about to rush forward and finish it up quickly, he saw like some kind of magical barrier appeared right above him which blocked the enemy attack. -wait till its officially starts, Garyl! You dont know the rules!? Someone shouted it to meatball number one. I guess you cant attack before some kind of gong. -its not me its . -whatever it was, just wait till introduction. Before arena fight begin, both of player would be first introduced to audience by presenter. His job was quite important to make people remember the names of those who fought so news about them spread around the city or even the whole world. Fighters that already had many battles behind them on the arena and had higher ranking would be introduced as glorious warriors while new guys would be introduced rather simply. -another fight will begin any minute! Word fight might be a little overstatement here, still you should definitely enjoy it. I know that there are many fans of that person here, each of his battle are always just another manifestation of his strength and although we might not see all of it in this fight, its always good to see him in action. I give you the one of best fighters and veteran of this arena, Garyl the butcher! Although Arata did not expect it the audience did indeed must like that guy as there were loud shouts coming from tribunes. Really? -his opponent or rather punching bag will be Arata from guild Refrain. Aratas introduction was just way too different. To that tribunes were rather quiet, some people just laughed but Arata could see some worry face as well. After all, second ago the introduction went in similar way and Levi showed them his berserk mode. They were afraid that something similar might happen and that they will lose their money they bid on this fight. Still, not everyone was quiet as Arata could hear some unexpected cheers. -Arata, fightoooo! Arata looked in the direction of those shouts. The ones that were making it were Vivi and Yume. And she said that she will be quiet. Still, I already promised someone else a fight but here Vivi already brought Yume. I shouldnt keep them waiting too long. -Lets the fight begins! The commentator signaled the start of fight although just as he said it shouldnt be called a fight. They were three meters away from each other. The moment commentator gave the signal Arata shortened this distance in a second. He did not use lighting speed skill as he was fast enough without it. Before meatball number one reacted, Arata made a somersault over him. When he landed behind his opponent both of his swords were in his hands and there was already blood on them. The meatball number one s body fall to the ground and after that happened his head detached itself and roll few meters on the ground. Arata like nothing sheathed his swords back and started walking in direction of the exit. The fight ended in KO after ten seconds. The audience became quiet. Even Vivis and Yumes shout could no longer be heard. People still tried to grasp what just happened. Still what happen wasnt really complicated Arata run up to meatball number one, jump over him and while doing so slashed of his head with an attack that started from unsheathing his swords. He didnt use any of his class skills or anything like that. In the end the commentator was the first one to react. -ladies and gentlemen I give you unexpected winner! With quick and effective move he defeated the long veteran of this arena. Lets hope that he show us more in the future but for now applause to Arata of Refrain! Stadium went crazy with those words and although Arata never expected something like that to happen, he got a loud applause. It was not uncommon for winners in fight to get it but this one was louder than usual. -hahaha Arata was welcomed in fighters quarters with Levis laugh. -hahahah, I never thought it would be that easy. -you thought I will have problems with it? -not that I, mean I never thought it would be so easy to earn that much gold look Levi was holding a bad filled with gold. -my sister knows this game well after all. -what your sister has to do with it? -it was from her that I found out about this way of earning money, you know. Well, it is only one time thing so its not a method you can always use. -why not? -there wouldnt be that much difference in rate anymore, also do you think that there will be a single person that would want to fight against you after you mascaraed that guy? -I just normally killed him. It was you who went crazy in fight. -I was holding back you know and was creating a show, so maybe someone else would catch bait but then with you doing a flashy kill in two seconds we wont find anyone who will want to fight us anymore. Although, we dont really need to as we already earned 3200 gold, we are rich. -if it goes like that maybe we should stay here a little longer. I mean we were hunting golems for four days just to get 30 gold and here we get nearly 1500gold income each after one fight. -as I said its one time thing. Even during your fight, the rate was a little lower than at mine as people started to smell something is fishy, also those who already lost much in one sure bet fight would not try to bet again at something similar that is happening right after. Anyway here is your part. Aratas account rose from 33 silver to 1600 gold and some silver. He earned extra three money from wining the fight. -so we are giving up on arena for now? -although it went faster than I thought, there is no real reason to stay here, even though I would like to fight few more fights as it felt awesome to stand there and hear all those cheers, we wont find more opponents. Levi summed everything up. -speaking of opponents, someone else wanted to fight against me. -well, after what you just did, I dont think that person will still want to fight against you. -I think she is rather more eager to do it. -really and where is that person? -she is right behind you. Levi looked behind himself and spotted the red-hooded figure. Seeing as she appeared there out of nowhere he jumped away from her right away. -where did she come from?! He even shouted out from surprise. -from that corner. Arata pointed at the corner in which she was standing previously. -yes, very funny. -so you still wanted to fight against me? Arata asked the girl and she nodded. -in that case use the mode that you like, I am not really familiar with this system my number is 40114. -I challenge number 40114 to battle. Option, lose on surrender. -I accept the challenge. -hey, Arata what are you doing!!! Levi shouted at him. -what, one more battle wont hurt right? -so you dont know what you just did. -what I did? She wanted to fight with me so I accepted. Look our fight is already set. Levi quickly turned around on the board. There was one fight set before them but on last position there was. [Rank 4| Arata vs Rin |Rank 0] -ah, so I was right. Arata, do you know what rank 0 means? -not really, I guess, it means that she is better than those on rank one right? I am not going to complain about our gold income but shouldnt we challenge guys with rank 0 instead? -eh. Levi did not answer right away. -rank zero? -hey do you see that! Its rank zero! -rank zero, haha impossible. Wait RANK ZERO! The commotion started few seconds later. -so, what does that rank zero means? Arata asked once again. -in this case it means that you are in deep shit. Levis answer was not butting around the bush. -I didnt get it. -well, every arena has its own ranking system but normally they are quite familiar with each other. While ranks seven to rank one are not that hard to get if you spend enough time on it, rank zero is different. Each arena gives it only to single player who in its history was the best. Simply said, their achievements on arena and their ratio in winning were better than anyone else. Also it doesnt involve only free fighting like we are doing today but also tournaments or all other special events like free for all battles or one against ten. In some cities rank zero jumps from player each day but if we are talking about Karma, rank zero always belonged to one person. -wow, in that case we might earn a lot of money again. -as carefree as always he? Anyway Arata you still didnt recognized her? -hmm its hard to recognize someone when they hide behind their cloak. Hey, do I know you? The girl first nod and after five second of thinking uncovered her head and took out her long red hair from under the cloak. With this Arata recognized her immediately. -ah, Little Red Riding Hood! Arata said out loudly. -Arata, you know you are asking for death sentence right now right? -you are somehow over reacting it? I think she likes that name. -I am not overreacting it, its you who will be hmm strange why doesnt she attack you? I was expecting storm of swords coming at you any moment. Wow, she really does like it? -see, thats why I am saying that you are overreacting Levi. Little Red Riding Hood came to me and simply asked me if I can have a friendly match with her, although I didnt know that its her, its doesnt really change much does it. -eh I forgotten that you are too carefree to worry about anything. -life is too short for that. Still why did you want to fight against me? Arata turned this question to the girl with red hair. The girl did not answer right away and Levi interrupted. -Arata its already miracle that you are still alive, rather than asking questions to which you wont get answer you . -this is arena where people fight, do we need a reason for that? But the girl did indeed answer. -I guess fighting against someone good is good reason enough. I will look forward to seeing you in action. The girl nod and walked away. -hey, Arata. -hmm? -how is it that you are calling her Little Red Riding Hood? -its a nickname I gave her. She didnt say to stop using that so as I said I think she like it. She even have cloak with red hood now so it works perfectly. Previously, I just said it based on her hair. -I am not asking about that! Why are you on fine terms with her!? -fine terms? We just speak normally. Well, maybe she doesnt talk much but there also are people like her out there, right? -but why is it that you two speak normally? When I first meet her she without saying anything used that skill she had and killed me in cold blood before I even get what was happening. -hmm, wasnt it because of your personality. As far as I remember Kotori also had similar reaction to that, attacking you right away. -well, I might say a little too much at that time still I also heard about this girl from others. Remember why I was in that tomb. -I remember, you were looking for criminal. -exactly she is said to- -to what? You heard some third rate information from someone on the road and you believed it, Levi you should be more intelligent than that. -but she killed me in cold blood man. Levi ran out from arguments. -you can believe what you want. I will be believe in what I see, as I always did. -I get it, still Arata you are sure about fighting her? Good or bad, it doesnt matter but I saw how she fights and trust me it will be hard on you. -well I didnt saw how she fights yet. So Levi, do you think she is better than me? -better than you? Well, probably, also the moment she uses that skill you wont be able to get closer to her than three meters away. Or rather the moment she uses it, it will be a game over for you. -I guess I will be careful then if even you say that. Arata had some respect in Levis opinion. -being careful wont help you. -then what, should I get scared and run away? First of all, after you said that she is better than me I couldnt be happier. Not only I will have fun in this fight but also at the end of it I will prove you wrong. -hey, you werent listening to me. How can you have fun in a fight where you are doomed to lose. -its only your opinion that I will lose, we wont know until the fight finish and when I going into fight, its always with thought of winning. -whatever, at least try not to die. -victory or victory, those are the only two paths. -those are the same paths. -yes but you can only choose one of them. -sorry Arata I dont get you right now. Victory or Victory It was one of Aratas grandfather sayings. While going to the fight, you dont think about winning or losing. You should take victory for granted and just focus on the fight. -anyway I saw that Yume, the person we are going to meet was on tribunes so after this fight, we are going to meet her. -that are your last words to me? -I will be right back The last fight on arena already ended and it was nearly time for Aratas fight. He walked up to Little Red Riding Hood. -its not nice to eavesdrop, you know. - The girl did not answer but clearly reacted to his word. Before Arata spotted that she was somehow staying closer and closer to position where he talked with Levi. -if you wanted to listen you could just stay, you know. - -right, the name on the board Rin, is it your name? -, The girl did not give any reactions. Eh thats what you get for trying to be friendly. -yes, my name is Rin. But then to his surprise she answered. Your timings are a little bit slow. -then once again, I am Arata if you forgotten. Right, now that I know your name should I stick to using Little Red Riding Hood or use Rin instead? - I guess she really is not comfortable with talking with me, maybe I should -Rin is fine Although her answers stayed simple Arata was getting them. Dont tell me she was hardly thinking about it and didnt know which one to choose. Wow she really did like it. -Arata, it is time so lets get going. -right. Arata was catch off guard when she said his name, it was probably the first time he heard her using it. They entered the arena. First thing that picked Aratas attention was that number of spectators increased by at least two. When previously about half of seats were empty right now each of them were taken. Arata did not know why it happen but when in city the news that rank zero is going to fight in arena, everyone who heard it, rushed to arena right away. In Karma, arena was quite popular place after all but most of players that are in here never actually saw a fight with rank zero of Karma. Even if they didnt plan to come today, hearing the news they dropped everything and rushed to arena also it was no more than fifteen minutes since the board signaled this fight. If that happen earlier, the tribunes would be filled completely. Still even now people were still poring through the entrance. -you are quite famous here you know? Arata joked to the girl who was walking next to him. He didnt really expect an answer but to his surprise she replied. -not really, its been more than a year since I last fought here. -you have been in this city for that long? - Instead of answering she nodded once again. Guess she doesnt care about the chitchat, well she just wanted to fight against me. They stopped walking in the middle and the voice of the commentator started to echo through the arena. -ladies and gentlemen the fight that I will present you is not something you can see every day. Probably all of us wanted to see him in action after his last performance. Although his history with our arena is short we saw in his last fight that he did not come here to play around. Just fifteen minutes ago he defeated one of our regulars in matter of seconds. Slayer of Garyl, Arata of Refrain! This time Aratas applause was much bigger. People who saw what happened in his previous fight were all still here after all. -still calling me slayer of meatball number one. I dont know if he is parsing me or insulting me again. Arata said out loudly although the only person that would hear him was the girl who was standing before him Rin. -that commentator is an evil being. That was the fastest response Arata get so far from her, and somehow her words were super serious. The evil being continued when cheers died out. -some of you might think that we will see another ten seconds battle, after all Arata managed to defeat one of our regulars and well known fighter, however his opponent this time will not sell her skin that easily! I was really surprised myself when I saw the name that appeared on a board ten minutes ago. I dont know how many of you still remember those times but today is a day that the legend of Karma will be reborn. Some may say that I often exaggerate while introducing the fighters but no matter what I say right now it will not reflect on true strength of this fighter. I present you the one that against all odds remained undefeated, the true and only champion of Karmas arena, I am not worthy to say her name but let me at least shout out the title she was once known on. Ladies and gentlemen, I present you, THE QUEEN OF BLADES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The moment he finished this long introduction the tribunes simply went crazy, If Arata thought that he got applause before, he was now proved wrong as compared to what was happening now, he simply got nothing. And here she said she is not popular. Arata looked at the centrum of the attention. Wait, she said that she just want to have match with me right? Why is she emanating such killing intent? Rins eyes said that she was ready for a slaughter, still when Arata looked more carefully he spotted that she was not looking at him right now but at the commentator. Good its not me. I thought I said something wrong. -hey, if you keep it up, you are going to kill him just with your eyes! The girl blinked hearing this and then answered -I just hate the way he introduces me. Anyway the fight will begin in few seconds so get ready Arthur Rain. - What did she just said? Arata was not sure if he heard right. -dont think about it too much and focus on the fight, soon you will understand Rin unsheathed both of her swords but she was not preparing for a fight just yet. She fetched her right hand forward and pointed at Arata. Still, she did that in very specific way. She ended up holding the sword horizontally. Arata was confused by the name that the girl called him out. After all she used a name name that in this world should be known only to one other person and even then that person would still prefer to use Arata. Still all of his questions disappeared when he saw the girl and how she was standing right before him. Her hair is way longer that back then but it can only be her. -didnt expect to see you here Amanda. Arata recognized the girl who standing before him. He didnt know that many people and less than half of them would stay in his memory and then remembering their names would remain to selected few. But he would not forget his training partner. Arata for five years was living with his grandfather and in the meantime learn various fighting arts. Still his grandfather was well known trainer and had many students, one of them was Amanda. Because she was in the same age group as Arata they often ended up training together. Although, their relationship was purely that, they werent friends and didnt talk to each other much outside the training. At that time Arata was not that very comfortable with others and he kept them away. On the other hand Amanda was liked by most people and everyone admired her hard-work despite her unfortunate circumstances. But last time Arata saw her was more than a year ago during mountain training camp. It was a year already and I still remember her name, good job me. Arata congratulated himself in mind as he was somewhat weak at remembering others people name. But then Amanda said something strange. -Amanda died long ago, I am not her anymore. -what do you mean by that? He could not understand what she said. Even if she doesnt want to use her real name in game, she should simply say so. What with that I died thing? -I already told you how you should call me so Arata never ask me about it again. She once again started to call him Arata. -but Amanda you. -Rin, my name is Rin so Arata please dont say anything else The moment Arata recognized her one question appeared in his mind but this question could not be answered by the girl that was standing before him. She knew the question and she knew the answer but Arata had no right to ask it. But nevertheless he wanted to ask it so bad. You appear out of nowhere after that and you think that I will not ask about that -Arata please. Rin was still standing the same way with sword latched forward and even though for all spectators at the tribunes she looked the same after he heard her saying those two words, once again he felt a dramatic difference in them. The way she asked was filled with emotion, it was a request from the bottom of the heart. -Arthur and Amanda, those two never were on good terms anyway so its not ever worth mentioning, I guess. So Rin, you came here just to have fight with this great Arata or you have something else in mind? Arata understood that he could not do anything else than burry that question in deeps of his mind and change the subject. From change in Rins face he right away understood that it was a right choice. - Rin nod her head. Arata felt like for the last minute he was not talking with her but with some ghost of the past. Rin did not change her position, though. Even if she abandoned that name she did not abandon Aratas grandfather teaching. The atmosphere at tribunes was nearly its peak and if the fight took any longer to start who know what might happen. Still it was all doing of the commentator who was spicing up things up by unusual wait. He was not doing it for the fighters who looked like they started a chat, he was doing it simply for money as more and more people kept entering the arena with the news of legend appearing today. Still that time had to come eventually. -lets the fight begins! The commentator shouted. The spectators were expecting that the bloodshed would begin the moment he do so, especially seeing how Arata in his previous fight rushed right away to finish the battle as quickly as possible but this time it was different. Arata unsheathed his swords and walked towards to Rin. Just like her he latched his right hand and his black sword forward. The first clash of swords happened, but it was not a strike nor defend but simply both of those swords touched each other. The moment it happened both of them turned around and started walking in opposite direction. One step, second step, although it might look like they were simply walking away from each other, the atmosphere coming from there was deadly. People stopped shouting or even speaking when they looked how both Arata and Rin were walking in exact same manner and in complete harmony. It was like mirror image. Aratas mind was clear as he walked forward. Behind him in a similar manner was walking a girl whom he did not know, even if he spent so much time with her. The memories of that time seemed like different lifetime right now. They would not be recalled not by him and not by her. They could feel that with this fight, all that was once connecting them would be served to pieces, after that fight there would be no longer a connection between people called Arthur and Amanda. When they pass their tenth step there will be only Arata and Rin. Now! After tenth step it was the ending but at the same time it was the beginning. Both Arata and Rin turned around at the same time and started to run at each other with swords in their hands. In nearly two seconds the distance they previously made was no more and their swords clashed once again. The first clash was followed by another and another and another. At first they were attacking fast with precise moves and excellent defense at the same time. With endless exchange one sword was attacking and one sword was defending. Neither Arata nor Rin would give away advantageous position to the other and they kept exchanging blows on equal standing. Still it could not last forever. With time both of their moves become were less stable but at the same they were getting faster and faster and when fight was going like that, someone was bound to not keep up at some point and even though it would not bring the end of battle, it would define the winner. I can no longer see her attacks. With speed increasing minute by minute, second be second Arata was barely able to keep up at this moment. He was no longer thinking how to attack and where to defend but just tried to read his opponent and move instantly. There were several ways to tell where opponent would attack. The most basic was looking at opponent weapons but that would not be enough at some level. Then there was the method where you look at opponents arms and shoulders and from there you try to read how the attack will go. Arata was not using those methods right now he was just looking at Rins blue eyes and from there read what she would do and he was not the only one to use this method as Rin was also looking right at him as she was doing the same thing. Hahahahahahaha, not good, I started to enjoy it too much. Arata didnt even realize when a smile appeared on his face. He already had few hard fights in EOA but the type of them was completely different. The only similar fight that he has was his first fight with Yuki when she first joined the guild still at that time he did not engrossed himself completely in the fight and kept thinking about unrelated things. Also during that fight they didnt even get close to this level. Right now, Arata already long passed his limits. If he were to compare the speed on which he fought right now and any other time, the Arata of right now would be the fastest. It looked like Arata was not the only one that was enjoying this fight as at some time a smile appeared on Rins face as well. Arata didnt even have idea how rare it was for her and how even more rare it was for someone else to see it. Still the moment that smile appeared the battle changed completely. Although they were already moving at humans limits speed Rin once again speed up. Not good. After two exchanges Arata no longer could keep up with her and went onto defense. Now it was only Rin who was attacking and Arata was barely defending. Normally in fight Aratas greatest defense came from dodging but in this fight, he couldnt afford to make even one of them. The speed at which they were going so far would not allow their bodies to keep up with swords and making dodge would be impossible thats why the only thing both of them were doing was paring the attacks away but when parry would be delayed the strike would not be stopped. Arata was barely keeping it up already but Rin kept accelerating and accelerating. Is that even possible? He could not believe the speed that his opponent was showing him. Arata always thought that the hardest and most impossible battles he had were already behind him. Those were battles against his grandfather. Still his grandfather never went against him all out and Arata never experienced the fight that would enter this level and he could feel that Rin was ready to go even higher. And then it happened. It was great but I am not on this level Rin. Arata could no longer keep up and backed off. He wanted to jump back and catch the breath but the moment he jumped back Rin spin on foot forward and attacked him with two swords at the time right in the moment in opening which was created when Arata moved back. Arata still managed to hold his sword to block that attack but the moment two red swords crashed with one black he lost his balance and landed on the ground. Arata slid on his legs a meter back without control and the moment he looked upward he already had a sword right before his throat. The scene looked somewhat similar to what happened few days ago. At that time Arata managed to trick her and change the situation to his advantage. But this time no such thought appeared in his mind. Even though his hands touched the ground they still hold the swords so technically it would be easier. Arata knew that this time she did not want to kill him so when he would try something the red sword before him would not move forward. There was also an option of using skills from game. Should he use black dash right this second, not only would he get out from this situation but also managed to land two hits on her and that would be quite big as so far in this fight not even one scratch on either of them has been made. Still Arata did not do any of those and instead he said. -I have lost. He dropped down both of his swords as a sign of surrender but he was not angry at himself, nor angry at his loss. The moment he said those words the red sword disappeared from his throat and Rin sheathed both of her swords. The fight was over. -whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! -AAAAAAAAAA! -whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! The shouts break out right away. Although it was quiet during the fight the moment it ended, tribunes once again went crazy. This time they were even crazier to the point where they probably couldnt be even more crazier. -THE UNDEFEATED QUEEN OF BLADES TRIUMPHS AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The commentator announced the winner as loudly as he could and his shout outshout the crowd. But he did not try to add anything else as it would be probably impossible to do it twice in a row. None of them said anything but Rin walked forward to Arata and gave him her right hand to help him stand up. After he was pulled back to his feet, Arata picked up his swords from the ground. They completely ignored the crowd and left the arena. -told you, you are going to lose. Arata was welcomed by Levi remark as he entered arena fighters quarters. Still he was not really bothered by it and answered like always. -happens, Rin is simply better than me. -I didnt thought you will admit this defeat that easily, still dont you think you give up too fast? I mean you could still try to win it with use of some underhand tactic. You are good in those, right? Also why didnt you use any of skills in this fight? -Arata, can I kill this guy this minute? As unexpected as it was, Rin cut in their talk with those words. They had immediate effect on Levi. -waaaa, wait, wait, why do you want to kill me out of sudden? You hate me or something? - She nodded her head as it was in her custom. -by the way Arata why did she ask you for permission? No, before that, please tell her to dont kill me! Levi was not even trying to play brave and tell her back, he was rather sure that the moment he does that, his life will be in danger. -I dont know Levi, you are saying things like this. Of course Arata would not give up this moment that easily. -what things!? -you know you just said that I should use some underhand tactic or desecrate our fight by using game skills. -but its a game, you normally fight like that! Levi had a point but Arata didnt have enough yet. -Rin, if you want to do it, go ahead. I will even help you. He was merciless. -Arata! How can you say that! A death sentence on your partner! Right now Levi was really screaming terrified. -hahaha, relax I was joking. -dont tell it to me! Tell it to her! Rin did already unsheathe her swords and was really ready to kill Levi any moment. -oh. Well after Arata said he was joking she made a dissatisfied sound and sheathed them back. -ha ha ha ha Levi started to breath heavily. -Arata I will get infract because of you. -well you would just lose some levels again if you died because of that. -no, I am positive that if it were to happen here, it would also pass on to my real body. Anyway, Arata how long does she plan to stay here? I cant really relax with her around. -I dont know. How is it Rin? - Arata was already acting like always and carelessly spoke to her. Even though, he just got completely defeated by her. Well Rin did not answer him. Then Arata remembered. -right you wanted to talk about something, right? - Rin the same way as always, she just nodded. Seeing it Levi remarked. -Arata, how did you tame her? -I didnt tame her Arata answered and pointed at Rin. -see, she no longer ask me for permission kill you and is doing it out of free will. -sorry! I was joking! After seeing ruby blades unsheathed, Levis face went pale again. -me too. By this, she probably wanted to say that she was joking. -then why arent I laughing? -hahaha. -Arata, it isnt funny! -seeing you paranoid is. -how can I not be paranoid? I still have nightmares in which red weapons pierce endlessly through my body. He did mention it few times already. -right Rin. I heard that you killed this guy once. Is it true? - Rin nodded her head. -why did you do that? I think that as long as you dont tell him why, we wont progress from here. After thinking for a second she replied. -I had bad day and he was annoying. -you had a bad day, thats your reason! Levi blow up again. - Rin responded to him, although it was only her usual nod. -I guess, it will be better if I try to forget about the whole thing. In the end Levi was not someone who would hold a grudge for a long time, especially when it put him in difficult position. -that will be probably for the best. So, what is it that you wanted Rin? - She did not respond but just looked in Levis direction. -even though he is annoying, he wont pass a word to anyone if its some secret. Or do you want him to go? -ah, fine, I will go somewhere else if you two want to talk privately, go ahead. To both of their surprise the moment Levi said that, Rin shake her head and even said. -dont go. Levi looked in Aratas direction asking for answers. But Arata just shake his shoulders. I also have no idea. He wanted to say those thoughts by this action. Arata and Levi waited for a follow up. They expected the explanation from the girl before them but after two minutes the silence continued. Levi was the one to break the silence. -hey Arata, werent we going to talk with someone now? Its probably not good to end this conversation here but right now we are actually keeping lady waiting, its not something we men should do. -oh I completely forgot about that. They already had planned meeting with Yume. The fact that she send someone to watch over the gate just to wait for them and that she was already at the stadium during Arata fight should mean that it wasnt just invitation for a tea. -so what are we doing? Levi asked. -Rin is it something that will take long? Maybe you should take your time to gather your thoughts. When Arata said that, Rin finally took action. First she bowed her head before him. The way she did that was familiar to Arata. It was just like in old days when they were training under his grandfather. Even though those were different people there, when asking someone for a sparing they would bow like that. One fight was not enough and she wants another? Arata thought that for a second but then Rin said while still bowing although unlike asking for a sparing she rise her head and looked at him. -please help me with a quest! She did not only say it in awkward position but also in awkward way and awkward loud voice. Actually that sentence was the loudest sentence that she said so far. Still after saying that, she bowed even more and was no longer looking at him but at the floor. -ha? -ha? Both Arata and Levi had WTF reaction. Levi first broke out from it. -hey, is this the way you normally ask someone to party up? -well, it was a little too formal. -you always know how to dress it up in good words Arata. Anyway, as far as I know, in EOA you never say things like this in this situation you know why, Arata? -you are the knowledgeable one, Levi. -its simple, when you have a quest, all you really need to do is say, I have a quest! Second later it will be people begging you to invite them. -so we are accepting right? -you even ask that, of course we do. -but didnt you wanted to go for a dungeon? -who cares about that when you can go for a quest, didnt I already explained to you few times why its better to do those? -well you did. -also Arata, why do you even ask me if we are accepting. You already knew my answer and even if by some miracle it was different you would still accept simply because when someone asks for help like this, you of all people cant decline. -I am not that good hearten as you think. -no, you are beyond that, you help people even when they dont ask for it. Anyway answer her already because its awkward to have her bowing to us like this. Rin should probably already understand that they accepted from their conversation but she still continued silently in that position. -Rin we will help you in your quest. Only after those words she stopped doing so and when she looked back at them she said to both of them. -thank you. Now it was even more awkward for Arata and Levi. -as much as I would want to hear what this quest is about, we cant keep the lady waiting so we will talk the details later. Is it okay with you Rin? By the way can I call you Rin as well? -if you must. Rin replayed to Levis question although she was somehow displeased with it. -great, you can call me Levi. Anyway, Arata, how exactly we are going to find that girl Yume? Levi happy with his first true reply from her went to their current subject. -I didnt thought about that, still I saw her on tribunes before so she should be somewhere around this area. Maybe she will be waiting for us at the entrance. -optimistic as ever but I guess you are right. Its easiest for her to wait for us there. -I wouldnt recommend you two going out by the main entrance right now, especially you Arata. Rin joined their conversation. -why is that? -you probably wont like the situation in which you will end up. -but we have to go that way if we want to get out. -dont say later that I didnt warn you. -hey dont stay behind and lets go you two! Levi shouted to them as he was nearly at the exit. -me too? Rin asked supprised. -why do you ask surprised, we are party right now. We can let you go missing somewhere. -its you who would get lost. I know this city better than anyone. Auch. -your knowledge will definitely be useful, anyway this shouldnt take long and if you dont want to, you dont have to take part in that conversation. -sigh. To that Rin sighted in a strange misleading way. -dont worry the person we are going to meet is quite friendly and practically nice to everyone. Arata said those last words and started walking. He had no idea to whom he tried to explain things. Arata, Levi and Rin with people like that combining into one party even god would be afraid of what could happen. Next Chapter Chapter 28 “Party” Chapter 28 Party In MMOs the group of players that are playing together and working toward completion of same goal is called a party. For people that were unfamiliar with this term, it was not that easy to understand the meaning of words lets party up together. Someone who was completely new to this word could ask even ask a question what does dancing have to do with killing monsters?. Those people already had different definition of that word and the word party was quite not understandable for them. Thats why situations that was mentioned before indeed happened. Still, as long as someone was not complete newbie, it was not that bad and at higher levels, situations like that never happened. EOAs party system is a little hard to grasp. Creating new parties, adding new people to party, removing someone from party, deciding who will be the party leader. Normally all those functions would be controlled by simple commands. By click in the right spot on the menu or by voice command. In EOA it was somewhat different but at the same time much more natural. To be together in party all players needed to do is to feel that they are in it, nothing else. Even though its sounds complicated at first in reality its not. People never had much problem using this system. Even though it was nothing revolutionary, compared to other systems, this one worked much faster and didnt require from the player anything in particular. There are few factors that changes when player was in party in EOA. One, the experience gained from all things except individual quests would be shared. All drops would still go to random players but if it was an item of high value it could not be equipped by player if other players did not acknowledge it. As to how acknowledge system worked, there were few options. Vote, roll and master looter were being the most popular ones. Vote was as it says, people voted on who should get the item. Roll was when people could not come to understanding and decided to who it goes by for example throwing a dice or playing paper-rock-scissors. Then there was Master looter option where a single player could decide to whom the items goes. Although it was the most effective method it could only be used by people who trusted each other and not some random parties. Another thing that changed while being in party would be that when you summon your menu screen, on the left side of choosing options the message would appear. [Currently you are parted with: -Arata -Levi] If players names were highlighted it meant that they are both logged in and are somewhere close which would result in experience and loot share. Right now, both names on the Rins list were highlighted in azure color. Rin could no longer remember when the last time was since she had two people on this list. Normally that place would be only occupied by word Yume but right now that name was not there and instead there were two other names of Rins new party members. Just five minute ago she asked them to help her with her quest. Although before coming to the arena she was not sure if she should do it. At first it was all Yumes idea. Her friend suggested her that she should ask for help the person that not so long ago saved her life. It was the fact that Rin needs help with her quest. She knew that for a long time. She also knew that even if she managed to complete the tomb prequest, it was only that far. Because if prequest asked her to fight in battle like that, what would be the final stage of the quest then? Still Rin did not know anyone whom could actually help in it. It was not because she could not stand the thought of asking someone for help or being with them in party. Although, Rin didnt want to have anything to do with random strangers, for her quest, she could bear them for some time until the quest was done. The problem was that the quest itself was not that easy and if Rin were to party up with some random people, they would do more harm than good. Thats why, when Yume proposed the idea of asking Arata for help, Rin was not against it. In fact, although Rins and Aratas interaction with each other was short, she didnt felt that bad in his company for whatever reason. Decision to ask him for help was already confirmed at that point. Still Rin did not plan to do it herself. She planned to leave it in capable hands of her friend. Sadly, they could not execute this plan right away as Arata left the town and went exping somewhere. It was just a minor setback so it was not that of a problem. Still, because Rin didnt have anything to do at that time, she went ahead alone and looked for Arata in Iron canyon the place to which she thought he went. Indeed she did found him there but after she did found him, she was not sure of her decision to invite him anymore. Worth to note was that the problem was not because he would do more harm than good like most of other players. It was rather because she realized who that person really is. She also knew that it would be impossible to hide her own identity from him should she spent some time with him. Proof to that was that the moment she gave him just one slight hint, he said her name right away. Maybe she gave away too much by standing in that manner but he would find out regardless the moment they cross their swords so it was better to do it right away. It was not easy for her to do it but she had to find out his reaction to the fact that she is she. That was the main reason that Rin came to Karmas arena without Yume and asked Arata for fight. Only by fighting could she really communicate with him. In the end although it was risky, she now knew for sure that Arata will not ask about that. She was not sure if he would ask anyway but she wanted to be sure. Rin knew that there was only real connection between Amanda and Arthur was them fighting each other during the training. With todays fight, she managed to change that connection and it was no longer Arthurs and Amandas connection but Aratas and Rins connection. Apart from this last connection, everything else was not there. In the first place, they didnt interact with each other much so there was not much of anything else. Rin herself couldnt recall the time when they had a conversation that was longer than few words exchange. There was nothing to go back to anymore. Also, right now both Rin and Arata were completely different people if one looked at it. Their personality was different, their look also changed with time and because of EOA. So their meeting was not a reunion but completely new encounter in which thoughts like I used to know you felt like something from another life. With all that, Rin knew that she can without worry ask Arata for help in her quest. There was still a matter in which he could refuse. Also she had no idea how to exactly ask him for help. For a moment, she once again thought that it would be better to leave it to her friend after all but she overcame those thoughts and said it. Although. I should do it in a different way. As she followed her new party members, Rin thought like that. The way she asked Arata for help would in best case scenario go off as embarrassing. Also her plan had an unexpected element in it. Although she was planning to get Aratas help, she did not plan to get the help of his friend as well. Levi was the name of the other man. She first met him around the same time that she first met Arata. For now, lets just say that their encounters couldnt be called most fortunate as she did end up killing him once. Well, same went for her first encounter with Arata as she also ended up killing him at their first meeting but somehow when Arata completely ignored that fact, Levi still remembered it clearly. Still in the end he also joined to help with the quest. Rin was not sure if she will be able to work together with him. Still when she looked at it from other perspective, it could also be quite uncomfortable to be with Arata one on one. If Levi was to tag along, she could just stay on the side and the partys atmosphere would not be bad, even with her not saying anything. -Arata you have a problem. Rin could hear Levi in a distance. Levi was the first to pass through the gate from which arenas fighters were usually leaving the arena. Rin already had an idea what that problem might be and because she knew, she once again covered her head with the red hood. As she suspected the moment Arata walked out to the outside she could easily hear. -want to join our guild!? -want to join our guild!? -I was the first one to ask! -hey guys! We have been through it many times, get in the line! -as if I gave away a player like him to you! -Arata was it? Want to join our guild!? -hey who is cheating and asking without line! Just as I thought. After what Arata showed in his two previous fights, Rin could easily tell that hyenas will jump at him the moment he comes out. I did warn him its his fault for not listening. -guys, I really- Arata tried to decline but it didnt work at all. -first, listen to what we have to say then decide! -even heard of guild P.C.P, one word and you are in! -dont waste yourself on them, huge guilds like them doesnt take care of their members! -you should join my guild! The people started to argue with each other, when person in question stayed with little annoyed face. -hey, Levi why I am the only one that is attacked by them, you arent even in guild and they dont say a word to you. -haha, its because I was prepared for this occasion. Right now Levi was holding shield in front of him. At the front of that shield was an herb of silver hand order. Even if silver hand was not exactly a guild if someone was a member of it, that person didnt really need guild for anything else. In the first place silver hand was in a way treated as a guild and no matter how big the guild was, it was hard to propose to someone from silver hand better terms that those they already had. Thats why no one bothered Levi -but I am in a guild already, why do they ask me? -well, I am not sure myself. The both of them did not understand but Rin seeing it not for the first time knew the answer. Being in nameless guild is like being in no guild. She then looked at unsuccessful tries Arata to push back the crowd but it was rather him and Levi who were being pushed back. Well, I guess I should help him. Rin walked forward and entered between the crowd and Arata. Somehow the argue and shouts ended right away and the silence began. -lets go. Rin catch Aratas wrist with right hand and Levis wrist with left hand and walked through the crowd. When people saw that the red hooded figure moving in their direction, they moved back right away and created a way for her. -thanks. Arata said to her when they went through the crowd. They managed walk through it without any interference. -as suspected of legend of this city. Levis commented. -still why was I the only one under assault. Rin, why no one tried to ask you? You are in some big guild or something? After all, I lost to you, so shouldnt they rather ask the winner? -, they already asked me. Rin just replied like that. Although it was some time since she last was on arena, guilds invitation did still not ended that easily. There were many people who would wait for her at the tomb of Edward Third the Great and tried to invite her to their guilds. Half of those people Rin could recognize in the crowd they just passed and that may be the reason why they didnt even try as they knew that it is not the best idea. Rin took off her hood once again. She putted it on second ago just to remind those people who she was. -so Rin, you are in a guild? Levi was the one to ask her. - . What does this have to do with you? Rin did not give him an answer as she did not see the reason to. -I just wanted to know. - . -we should get to know each other better right? We are in party after all. Levi continued. Thats why I hate being party. -there are also people who like their privacy. Arata interrupted. -it was just a simple question. -and why do you care if she is in a guild or not? -I dont really care but I am trying to hold up the conversation here. Didnt I say we should get to know each other better? So he is going to continue? -I think that as long as you play with someone, you will end up knowing them eventually. Not everyone is ready to just open to others as easily as you. Also you should already know that she is not your friendly happy about everything type. Aratas and Levis conversation continued. -I guess. Still Rin, try to not be completely against us and say a word from time. Also if I offended you then I am sorry. Levi said those words to Rin and bowed. I can do at least that. - . Rin did not expect him to apologies like that but she nodded back to him. -still quiet types are also cute, right Arata? -I guess. - . Rin glared at Levi deadly. -hey Arata what do you think of this reaction? -I read it as. If you continue this you will be forced into ten day break. -right, sorry Rin I wont do it again. Straightforward apologies like that was weak point of her so she couldnt say anything to that. Levi continued happily. -dont make promises that you cant keep. Arata added to that. -at least I will try. Anyway, lets look for our flower of Karma. -I catch a glimpse of her already. Look over there. Arata pointed in direction to Rins left. After gazing over there, Rin spotted her dear friend Yume waving her hand to them while smiling. Arata and Levi would recognize this behavior as a happy smile but Rin could recognize the types of Yumes similes and what they usually meant and the smile that Yume had right now was terrifying actually her. I have to run. Were Rins first thoughts after seeing it. Oh no! Right now, I cant do that! Normally Rin would already use her lighting speed skill to get as far as possible from here after seeing her friend like that but right now she couldnt just run away on her own. -Rin, something wrong? It looked like Arata saw her anxiety. - . -anyway thats the person we were looking for or rather she was looking for us. As soon as we find out what she wanted, we will start doing the quest. -sigh. Its already too late. Rin stopped looking in direction of her friend as she didnt want to know when the doom arrives. But that didnt help her much as she could still tell the exact timing by observing Aratas and Levis faces. In one moment she could clearly see surprise faces. Second later Rin was catch from behind and squeezed. -Rin! Why did you run off and left me alone, its not fair! -Mary, let me go! -its not go to run away by yourself. Who told you where to find him hmm? And you even had a fight with him already? How do you want to build friendship if the only thing you do is fight. Bad girl, bad girl. -Mary, dont do it here! -as a punishment you are grounded for cakes this week. -I will eat what I want and let me go already! -but I still didnt get todays dose of Rin cuteness. Yume started to squeeze her even more, Rins head ended right between Yumes breasts and her ability to run away was already sealed out. Yume started to touch Rin all around her body. Her hands were going under Rins clothes. -Mary, Mary, au, ua. -ah, Rin so cute! -uaaa, aaa, hahaha. Mary, stop! It tickles! -because its your weak spot. -uuuuaaaaaaaaaa! - - Arata and Levi were looking at the scene before them with their jaw dropped to the ground. It would be hard to tell what they were thinking right now. After all, they were looking as their new cold, collected and sometimes terrifying teammate was getting squeezed like stuffed toy while making cute noises. - . Same was for every other person that was looking at that scene. There were still many people who just a minute ago tried to recruit Arata and nearly poured their pants from fear of queen of blades but right now their worst nightmare was getting squeezed like stuffed toy while making cute noises. -uuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Rin squeaked as her ear was beaten by Yume. Needless to say, it was not the sound of getting hurt. -Levi, is it really okay for us to watch? -I think that as men we are obligated to. Also even if I wanted to stop, my eyes will definitely not shut. It was similar to all others. Today was a day that legend of queen of blades changed forever. It took about six minutes until Yume stopped playing around and Rins head stopped being dizzy. -ha, ha She was still breathing heavily but when she caught her breath. -Mary what have you done!!!!! Rin shouted at her friend, Yume was not really concerned by it though. -ah I finally had my daily dose of Rin. By the way, it was my reward for you for finding yourself a party. -how can you say it is a reward!? -but you were enjoying yourself just a minute ago, werent you? -who would enjoy that! Rin shouted even louder than usual. -but the sounds you made tell me otherwise. -emm anyway Mary, you just destroyed my long built reputation! -it was bad reputation anyway so its good that it got destroyed. I was thinking on how to do that for some time now, but it was hard to reveal you as you to other people. If I just did that any other time it would not be convincing, right? No one would believe that its you. But because you just show everyone on arena that you are you it was a perfect opportunity to do it. -but you had to do it before them! Rin pointed at her two new party members. Arata was trying to keep his face straight although it could be easily seen that he was barely managing it. As for Levi, his mouth was covered by Aratas hand as at some point Levi said. -Arata, please dont let me say a single word afterwards or I really will get killed this time. I dont want to pass on opportunity for the quest but I wont be able to hold it back alone so help me out there. If Levi said something like that, Rin didnt even want to image what the two of them were thinking back then. On the other hand Yume was completely not concerned by their presence. -its been a while Arata, Levi. She said to them like nothing. Arata first showed her his pointing finger signaling to wait till he get ready. He shook his head first and waited few additional seconds and only then said. -yes been a while. Levi also says hello, he will be in speaking state in five to ten minutes I think. Anyway, I take you two know each other. Arata meant Yume and Rin. -you even ask after the show we show you? Yume was still merciless. -right . Ummm Arata was trying not to say anything wrong but in the end he couldnt keep his face straight and for a moment with his free hand similar to Levi he stopped his mouth from speaking as well. Rin shouted once again. -Mary, its all your fault! -Rin, dont worry. -dont worry? Who know what he is thinking right now! -he is definitely thinking how cute you are . Thats the problem!!! -hey Arata, what do you think? Yume was still completely merciless and went ahead and asked. -dont answer her! Rin tried to interrupt. -she only just saying it. In reality, she really wants to know, so Arata what are you thinking? -Mary! As always Rins attempts to stop her friend when she decides on something was fruitless. -well, I would say that my opinion on her changed a little but its good that she has a friend like you. If she can do stuff like that with you in public, then you two really must be good friends. Arata tried to make it sound right. Ah, I will never be able to look into his face again. -yes we are best friend, right Amy? I mean Rin. While in presence of others Yume would call Rin and not how he usually did when they were alone. Although from time to time she would slip. Rin would still use Mary all the time though. - . -oh dont be depressed I just tried to help you guys break the ice. Yume said to Rin whose face was somewhat depressed. =your way of doing it was a little bit too extreme. Out of sudden both Arata and Rin answered at the exact same time with the same words with impressive accuracy. Even if they agreed on it before it would be hard to pull that off. The moment they did that, both of the looked at each other with surprise but Rin quickly pulled her head away. -ah, perfect harmony, just like in that fight. -Mary, dont you even dare to touch this topic, right now. Rins eyes were deadly serious, right now even Yume wouldnt dare to continue that way. Arata interrupted them asked. -emm, wasnt your name Yume, right? -yes, why do you ask? -well, I usually bad with names and Rin calls you differently so. -thats a special name that only she as my best friend forever can use, to all others I am Yume so dont worry you remembered it right. -I see. I wanted to be sure as I am usually bad with names. Anyway, Vivi said that you wanted something from me, so what is it? Arata went to the matter. -ah that? It is already not current. -not current? -well, I was going to ask you if you can help Rin in her quest but she already asked you herself so there is no need to do that. Good girl, good girl. Yume once again patted Rin on the hair. -Mary, stop that. -but Rins hair is so smooth and nice in touch. - . -you two are really good friends After saying that, Arata was touched on shoulder by Levis finger. -you sure about it? Arata asked him to which Levi showed him a thumb. Then Arata took back his hand from Levis mouth. Levi first took a full breath with his eyes close and then he opened again. -its good to see you again flower of Karma. Thank you for the help from that time Those were first words that Levi spoke. They were spoken to Yume of course. Levi entered his knight wannabe mode but then Rin entered his vision and once again by himself this time he covered his mouth with his hand. -I dont know why, but I feel like I really should kill him right now Rin said after seeing it. -well, he did his best and still didnt say anything. You should at least reward him for that. Arata started defend Levi. -I know, thats why I didnt kill him. Still somehow I really feel like that must be done. -I think its better if we change place. Our memories of what happened are still too resent After Arata said that, Rin once again lowered her head in embarrassment. -anyway, now with this matter done we should focus on the quest. Arata didnt try to waste any more time. Rin for one didnt want to stay here any moment later and welcomed the idea as well. -follow me. She said to them and started walking in direction where human district ends and dwarven district starts. Yume, Arata and Levi started to follow her. With change of place and arena no longer in sight, it worked like magic and the atmosphere did changed. Even Levi after five minutes of walk went back to normal. Well if his behavior could ever be called normal. -so Yume, will you be our fourth party member? He asked while walking next to her. Right now the four were going like this. Rin on the front was leading the way. Arata was little behind on her right. Levi and Yume behind both of them were walking shoulder to shoulder. -me? No, no, I would only get in the way. -even so it would definitely be more fun with beauty like you around. -you dont have to complement me, I am no that pretty. -yes you are, hey Arata you will agree with me, right? -I guess. Arata was rather uninterested in that subject. -I guess!? What is with that answer? -then what do you want to hear? I will say it then give me a rest. -hey you two. Dont fight about something like that. Yume tried to stop that. -no, no we are not fighting. Levi answered. -if we were to call it a fighting, about 60% of our conversations would be a fighting. Arata summed it up. -werent you two friends? -of course we are. -well he is the only one that thinks like that though. -Arata, it hurt you know. -this world is harsh after all, Levi. -hahaha. Yume was laughing at their conversation. -anyway Arata, back to my question. In score from zero to ten how high you would score our flower of Karma? -do I really have to answer that? -would I ask if you didnt? -fine but after that you will give me a rest okay? -you have my word on that, but we want the answer from heart no cheating. -hmm? Arata scanned Yume from bottom to the top as she walked. Curly brown hair, green eyes, nice figure with two big assets on the chest seeing all that Arata answered. -if I were to compare, it would be around six. Six? Rin reacted to those words even though she was trying her best not to listen to their stupid conversation and somehow by mistake be dragged into it. -six? I guess I would be somewhere around there. Yume said that words after hearing his answer, Arata once again starter looking forward. -dont listen to that guy Yume and sorry that I even asked him in your presence. -no, no I think its good to hear honest opinion. -if you want honest opinion I would say that you are at least nine out of ten. Levi tried to repair the situation he started. At first he just wanted Yume to feel a little better but with Arata response it went the wrong way. -but why is your honest opinion so different Levi? I think the six is the right number for me. Even then its a little overstating. As always Mary doesnt realize her own beauty. Rin statement was true even if she didnt realize that in truth, 50% population of players of Karma, decided to stay for few months longer in this city before leaving just to have a chance to see Yume on the streets, talk with her and see her bright smile. The effect of Yume in Karma was really great. -Arata why did you have to say that number? Where do you have eyes? Levi once again started to drag him in conversation. -up right here Arata looked back to them and pointed at his eyes with two fingers of his left hand. -anyway its you who wanted honest opinion, I have no idea why did you even ask me for it but whatever I did think hardly about my answer and after comparing Yume with few other girl that I know she scored 6, thats all. Levi made a face palm. -ah!!! Why do you think about it so hard? Cant just say she pretty and we would leave this subject long time ago! -dont blame it on me, now. You got what you asked for. -hey you two stop fighting about it. Yume once again interrupted them but to that she got the same response again. -no, no we are not fighting. -if we called it fighting we would- -dont repeat yourself Arata. -its you who shouldnt cut in my talk. -and what will you do about that? -well the arena is still not that far away from here. -I like the idea, lets do it. It seemed like one more fight would occur on the arena today. -wait, why do you keep on fighting because of me, I feel bad about it you know. Yume once again interrupted them. -no we are not really fighting, right Arata? -I think this time we do. -still, did Yume had anything to do with it? -well I just wanted to have a fight with you. We actually forgot to do it even to we planned to. -now that you are saying it Arata, it was on the third day of our golem hunting, right? -yea it was after we did competition who can kill more golems in two hours. I am sure that I won that. -as if, I had five more than you. -those five doesnt count. I was the one to kill them. -oh, your memory goes bad Arata. -its your memory whose is bad, I pushed them of the cliff and then you started stealing my kills. -ah you kept on fighting! Yume once again stated it. -no, no we are not fighting. Levi once again answered. -if we were to call it a fighting about 60% of our conversations would be a fighting. And Arata once again added. -I think right now it would be at least 61%. -maybe, its not like I was counting anything. I just said a random number that sounded reasonable. -what was we on again Arata? -something about fighting. -right, Yume we are not fighting at all. And I have to deal with them until the quest is done? Rin already was somewhat not sure if she did the right thing. -well, well its good that you can talk about everything and still laugh it off. But, I somewhat got interested in that ranking system of yours. Mary added. They are still going on about this? Arata once again started looking forward as he probably was in the same boat as Rin on this subject. Which meant I am not interested, leave me alone!. Only Levi and Yume continued conversation -you got interested? -maybe it is too big word for this, but why your score and Aratas score are so different. -well, for me pretty girl equals nine its simple as that Really creative. -after all, its impossible to compare ladys beauty. -well I was wondering in which manner you would compare us, still why do you say nine and not ten then? -ten is a slot that is for those of unlimited beautifulness which is impossible to grasp for a simple man like me. -and that unlimited beautifulness is? -I cant grasp it myself, so describing it is also impossible for me. -so in the end you dont have any system and just tell every girl that she is pretty right. -em . Yume seen through Levis system right away. -thats just show how shallow he is. -shut up Arata! Its definitely better than yours. -I dont really care and I dont have any system. Also just for a note, for last ten minutes you conversation had absolutely no meaning. Dont get me involved in this. Arata once again looked forward. -I see that Arata is not interested so maybe I will ask you Levi. You know how different Arata system is from yours. Ah, thats why going around with Mary is unbearable. No matter how stupid the topic is, she would still not let the conversation die out. -Arata system is not that complicated as he said. Well he did carefully compare you to one girl that he knows and because he had to be freaking honest he gave you his answer. -so his opinion is objective? When yours is subjective right? -there are no objective opinions on that matter and Aratas one is least objective of all. -why? You did say he compared me to someone. -and thats why its objective in the least. In the first place humans shouldnt be compared to that person through Aratas eyes. -still when your answer doesnt tell me anything, Aratas one do. -what do you mean doesnt tell you anything? -if I wanted to compare two people, Arata system is better for it as he doesnt automatically gave nine to everyone like you. -still, he is rude by it. -I didnt take it as being rude but as being honest. Also when having ten points scale points you should use all of those points. In the first place if someone was asking for opinion and wanted not simple answer but some strange ranking with it, he would want to hear an answer that would give him something. I dont think its rude if someone tells me that they saw girl that is prettier than me. The pointless conversation was still pointless even if it was said with serious words and was analyzed. -so you are saying that I should change my system? -no, no, dont force yourself to change anything. Every person is different, every person follows their own path. -then you have an advice to me how to make my system better? -well, in the first place you should not use some strange systems to compare girls as its creepy Levi. -now you are telling me this! In the end Mary always win. Yume was playing around with Levi from the moment their conversation started, still only now did Levi realize it. -hahaha Yume laughed a little and then went on with the attack. -hey, Arata. Uff, he is her new target. Good thing its not me. -yes? Arata replied like nothing. If you wont be careful, Mary will eat you alive. Although Rin was not planning to she still was listening to what was happening behind her. -you just said you scored me six, right? -if I offended you then I am sorry. -no, no I am not offended; still I have one questions for you. You mind? -can I first her this question? -mhhhh, no. -fine, ask me anything and I will answer. You couldnt have made graver mistake. Ask me anything and I will answer were one of few words that one shouldnt say to Yume in any circumstances. Soon the question came but Rin did not expect for it to be a double kill. -what score would you give to Rin? Nooo! I was mistaken, her target was not him but me. The target was rather both of them but Rin wouldnt care less about that right now. -didnt you just say that this whole system thing is strange and creepy. -just answer my question, you promised. -you two will really give me a headache one day. Emmm Rin, mind if I score you with some strange and creepy system? Arata ended up asking for permission. How can you ask me that with straight face? Still, I cant say no, can I? -do what you want I care not. Rin ended up replying although she did care a lot.. -ah, couldnt you just say no well in hell. It would be so much easier. But Arata complained to her answer. -I could? Rin ended up missing the escape route. -its too late now, Arata go do your thing! And so it was another Yumes victory. -Rin, could look this way. How can he be so collected on it? -why should I? Rin asked with worried look. -I know its not your fault but there is no other way is there? She will not let us go off this hook anymore because of your answer. -umm. Rin stopped moving and everyone else did as well. She turned in Aratas direction and just as previously he started scanning her. Why does he have to be so serious about it? Previously Rin just thought that he came up with number for Yume out of nowhere but now that she felt his gaze she knew that at least he made it look like he was doing it seriously. She could see as his eyes went over her down from her feet up to her hair on the top. There also was a slow delay on the face. -are you done yet? Rin made it sound like she was angry because they were stopping for some stupid reason but in truth she simply didnt want to be looked at by Arata anymore. -yes you can lead on. They started walking again. -so Arata you already calculated everything? Yume asked again? -its not that easy. -you dont have to try so hard. -Yume, that is one of his traits, when Arata does something he always do it seriously. Levi added this sentence. If he were to say some random number it would be better. Actually I dont really want to hear his answer now. Rin was somewhat not honest with herself as in fact she was really curious. I am definitely not curious! Once again, she was not honest with herself. I am honest with myself! Anyway, Arata was ready for the answer. -so after calculating everything and a long inner debate between seven and eight I will say eight. Arata ended up saying his score. -eight! But that higher than Mary? That was Rin reaction. She was actually so surprised by her score that she said it out loudly. Well her reaction did not stay for long in everyones mind, as it was easily clouded by Yumes reaction. -eight! You gave my little cute Rin only eight! The way Yume spoke was really strange and unfamiliar to anyone except Rin. -emmm? Arata had no idea how to react to that. But then. -such offense to my little Rin in unforgivable! -but? -I cannot let it go unpunished! Yume shouted and thrusted forward her hand. From it a bolt of purple energy was released. Completely unprepared Arata was hit by it and the moment it happened, he flew right into the building and went through the wall. -Yume? Levi had no idea how to react to that but his face was terrified. -yes? Yume on the other hand just answered with a simile like nothing has special has happened and like Arata just simply tripped over a pebble. -Mary, you idiot! Rin rushed forward to the building that Arata just went through. She was quite worried right now as the attack that Yume just used was her ultimate that eat half of mana and usually killed of the person who was hit by it She jumped inside the house through the hole that was just made by Arata. And inside she spotted it. Arata was already unconscious, blood shed from his head on the ground and continued to doing so. Also he was surrounded by purple electric effect that drained his health and if left alone would kill him. In the first place the only reason he didnt die was probably because of his high grade equipment. -Arata, dont die! Rin shouted out desperately as she couldnt do anything about it. Two seconds later Levi jumped through the same hole inside. -shit, Arata! He quickly run up to Aratas body and started using some spell. A yellow aura appeared under Arata. That aura was in the shape of the clock, the yellow hand of the clock was moving backward. After it went one way around as making clock going back in minute Levi stopped his spell. Arata opened his eyes and it looked like all the damage from before disappeared along with Yumes spell. He cant simply be alright after that! When Arata saw the position he was in which was laying on the destroyed table in the pool of blood he asked. -what happened? I dont remember anything, the moment ago I was just walking and- -Arata you have a memory loss, you sure you are okay!? Rin asked as she was quite worried. Memory loss was not a laughable matter. In fact, she never heard of such phantom as losing memory because of damage in this world. -no, no you probably dont have to worry about that. Levi you used that spell right? What just happened? Arata answered. Spell? -well I could tell you but Arata you really dont want to remember what just happened and you know what. I dont want to remember it either Levi once again used the clock spell but this time on himself. In similar manner the clock went backward and after it. -wah, what are we doing here? Few seconds later, Levi said it like he really had no idea what was going on. He even started to look around to confirm his current position. Either he also got the memory loss or he was a perfect actor. Rin was looking at them terrified. -Rin, dont worry its because of his spell. Arata said to calm her down. -spell that can erase memory? -as impossible as it sounds, he does have something like that. -hey Arata, dont give away my secrets! -by the way Rin, can you tell us what happen? -yea, how did we end up in someones living room? - Rin was not sure if she should answer that question, after all Levi just on his own erased his own memories. Also even if she tried to explain, they would never believe it unless the see it again. -Rin! Guys! You shouldnt transparent into someones houses! Yume shouted to them from the outside with her ever so beautiful voice. -well, its probably nothing important. Levi commented and passed a hand to Arata. After it was grabbed, he pulled himself up. -if its something that we should know Rin will tell us about it, later. Arata and Levi walked out through the door like nothing have happened and once again engaged in friendly talk with Yume, Rin also followed them and once again took the lead. I also want my memories erased! Truth of the manner would never be spoken again. Rin tried her best to ignore another stupid topic that Yume and Levi came up with. -Rin? -Rin -Rin. Rin definitely had no plan on responding to Yumes call, as although she did not know what she wanted, it was safe to assume it was something stupid and it was not time for it as they were nearly at their destination. Rin felt as someone was touching her shoulder with finger. -what Mary!? With her friend being so persisted Rin had to response. -Arata? But it was not Yume who just touched her. -sorry to bother you but I just wanted to ask where do we going right now. I mean we had a quest to discuss. Ah, its Marys fault that I didnt hear! -ah if that was your question Arata you could just ask me. -is that so, then sorry for trouble Rin. He once again moved away. Why does he have to be so polite? For Rin, Aratas personality was something that she wasnt used to, especially today. There was not a single thing that he would irritate her with. Despite all things that has happened and all stupid topics that were taken, he stayed collected and was answering in call voice. What he was representing, Rin would describe as how she saw normal behavior. Still although she described it as normal she didnt meet anyone like that in a long time. That was probably because she didnt meet many people in the first place. His nature was problematic for her though. Because he did not irritate her like other people, she had hard time finding a reason to distance herself from him or even answer to him in rude way which was her usual interaction. The only thing that she didnt like in him also disappeared or maybe it was never there. Previously she thought he is arrogant and thinks that he is better than her, which did irritate her quite a lot but in truth it turned out that in the first place Arata doesnt care about it that much, if even at all. That was at least what she thought based on his behavior. -so where are we going? Arata asked Yume. -the place is just around the corner, you should recognize it as well. They walked out from the street and entered Open plaza. It was the place where human district ended. Then there was city water going through a small canal. People sometimes call it Karmas river. On the other side of Karmas river the dwarven district was starting. Still their destination was different. At the other side of square, closer to the wall stood lone tower. Right now, Rin was leading them to that tower or rather its underground. She thought that rather than explaining everything by herself, it should be better if the questgiver did that. They would have to visit him anyway as her new party members had to pick up their quests. Also if the Wizard explained all things by himself, Rin would not have to do that herself. -sigh. Arata sighted after seeing the tower. He did not know city well enough to recognize their route but he recognized this spot. -its incredible, right Arata? Last time you said that you will definitely not take that quest and here you are back again, just like that Wizard said. -sigh. Arata just sighted again after Yume voiced his mind out loudly. -hey Arata what is it about? Levi asked. -nothing, its just I promised to myself that I will not take the quest from that guy, never again. Still, now that I think about it, with me returning here its now all connects itself. So in the end, it was his entire fault, I should see through that faster. What does he mean? Does he Rin could not wait any second in her worry and asked. -does that mean you cant help me? -no, I will help you. His answer was what she wanted to hear but she continued. -but you just said that you promised to yourself that you wont take that quest. -I did promise myself that but I also already promised to help you and I prioritize promises to others more than promises to myself. Why did he had to say that? Well I am happy that he is staying Why I am happy!!? Rin could not grasp Aratas behavior. For her, what she wants would be always on the second place. First place would be what Yume wants but she would definitely not help a stranger if she were too had good reason not to. Even weak reason would be enough. But here Arata changed his mind just to help her. -haha, typical Arata. He is playing a hero all day long. Levi laughed at him -I am not playing a hero. -yea definitely but why I somehow cant see you broke your promise of help no matter what. -no matter what? -yes, no matter what. -no, this time you are wrong. -is that so? -there is at least one reason that would make me drop everything and go to the other part of the world asap no matter what. -other part of the world? You mean? Well I guess there is that possibility, fine this time you won It looked like Levi understood what Arata meant but Yume and Rin had no idea what that reason could be. -still that is only one reason. Apart from that, you will continue to play the hero because I know you well. So Rin, you dont have to worry about him going anywhere until your quest is complete. -there are some things that would make me go and I am not that good anyway. Although Arata said that, Rin somehow understood him well enough to know that he wasnt speaking from heart. -yes correction, unless that one reason pops up, he will stay with you no matter what. Also as for me, you dont have to worry either because as a knight I cant leave a lady in trouble so I will also stick with you till the end Levi said all that to make it easier for Rin although she was happy about all things he said. The part with the knight and lady bothered her a little but she also understood that it was only his manner of speech and he used it to everyone so he didnt do it just to annoy her. Still Rin wondered, what was that that one reason they mentioned. But speaking without use of words was not something that she could do like those two. Because she didnt know them, she could not fully understand what they were saying. On the other hand, it was surprising to her that those who were so different from each other and were on such good terms. Well, maybe it was because they were different only in Rins eyes. -still Arata you were given a quest chance and you declined? You should know that . Levi continued. -yea, yea do quest and get awesome things. Pretty much everyone is telling me to do so, still cant I just say no because I hate that guy. -but its a quest. But anyway, right now there is no use talking about it again, as we already agreed on doing it. -right Arata was somehow not eager to do, he asked. -Rin, could you tell us about the quest first, before we go in there? -emm . Rin could not answer by a sudden request, Levi interrupted. -wouldnt it be better if we listen to that questgiver first? Thats why we are here right? Thats what I wanted to say. -still I would prefer her version. Mine would be better? -well Arata, I understand that you would prefer to listen to our new cute little party member with her cute voice Rin made a killing stare in Levis direction right away but he seriously continued. -but it will be better to first listen to that questgiver and then listen to her opinion. On the other hand if we go to questgiver with knowledge of the quest we probably wont focus on what he is saying and we will miss on something. -sure but I dont think that guy will tell us anything useful anyway. -isnt he a questgiver? He should tell us all the details. -yea but you dont know him. Even if he decided that he wants to tell us everything he will probably forgot half of it. Still, I guess you are right and we dont want to trouble Rin with all explanation after all. I am not that troubled. Rin somehow could not enter their conversation and speak her mind. On the other hand Yume had no problems with it. -then with all decided we should go in already. Arata are we using the same way to enter like last time. -we can but we dont really have do that as we have Rin here with us, we can enter using normal method Normal method! That is The last thing Rin wanted right now was showing the others how the ritual of entering looked like. Still she couldnt say no to others who asked them, especially when Arata asked her for something, she did not know a polite way to say no and to him she could not use her usual way. Rin lowered her head and started to walk in direction of the towered. After what they saw earlier its not like they can laugh at me even more. Her thoughts were already grim but then. -on the other hand my method is faster and we dont own that guy anything. Its his fault for setting up some kind of stupid barriers in the first place so we will just break through. So Rin you dont have to do any of his stupid rituals. -Arata, how did you know? Eh, I said that loudly? -well knowing his personality and looking at your expression a second ago I could somewhat tell. -hey Arata, I kind of wanted to see that ritual. Levi interrupted. -is that so? Maybe you should take care of that ritual. Rin would probably tell you how to do it. -eh, we would spend too much time before I get hand of it. -yea definitely, anyway the entrance was behind the tower, right Rin? - . -Rin? - . She nodded to him only after he asked for a second time. They went around the tower through the bushes. Rin knew that route quite well but the other side of the tower looked unfamiliar. -looks like he didnt bothered to repair it. There was a large hole in the wall and through it they could enter the stairs that lead to Wizard laboratory. You can do things like that? Even though the barrier was still intact, it did not affect the hole in the wall. -hey Arata isnt it cheating? Not only you are using it to jump out from dungeons like whenever you want but also you are using it to unlock the passages to hidden questgivers? Levi commented. -its works so its fine. -its doesnt change the fact that its cheating. Also you destroyed the whole epic experience of opening hidden doors like that. -I dont think there would be anything epic in it. -you dont know it. Also once again the thing with running away from dungeon encounters? Players shouldnt be allowed to do that. -ah, stop nagging and lets go inside already. So thats how Arata saved me back then. That solves the mystery after all, he is invincible. One of Rins questions has finally been solved but it didnt make her happy at all. She thought that given its Arata, he might have a chance in fight against him, not because he was better than her, he actually lost in fight not so long ago. But Arata would fight against him fair and square, one on one, completely rested. Rin once thought that if she were to get him as first or second super skeleton she might have a chance in winning but now she was sure that she would lose regardless. Well with more people there might be a chance. She at least tried to stay optimistic although she still could not abandon the feeling of fear from him. They went down the stairs and entered the Wizards hideout. The sight was already quite familiar to her especially the main hall. The walls filled with books. Doors that leaded to other rooms where Wizard had laboratories, large desk filled with papers and books, and the Wizard siting on his rocking chair. This time surprisingly he was not sleeping but actually doing something on his desk. He was writing down something. This was actually the first time that she saw him doing something other than sleeping that she came. So he is not that lazy as I thought. -ah, I have been expecting you. Now then, before I start It looked like Wizard already knew what they were doing here. It didnt surprise Rin as she well known that he can observe anything he wants without moving away from his chair in radius of many kilometers. Still it looked like he still wanted to mention something as she could see a small grin through his beard. -so Arata, could you remind me what you said the last time. -shut up. Arata only answered to him with that, although Rin could see that he was clearly annoyed. Of course Wizard did not stop there. -was it. I wont be ever working with you again or I will definitely not take quest for you ever again. No maybe it was, I will never see you again. Could you remind me please? In that moment Arata moved in Wizards direction. -a, a, a. I know what you want to do now but know that if you do it, I will not give you the quest that you now want to get now. - . After Wizard said those words Arata stopped. Seeing it Wizard started to laugh. -muahahahaha, you cant do a thing now, eh? Say, dont you want to hit me right now? You want, dont you? But you cant, hahahahaha? What a pitiful twilight swordsman are you? Hahahaha Twilight swordsman? -ah that time has finally come. Now them, before we go to the next stage, first you have to apologize for the last time. How you should do that, lets see? First you should kneel before me and then They never learned what Wizard wanted Arata to do afterwards as Arata hit his at beard with a right hook and send him to the ground. Still, even after that Wizard calmly stood up from the ground and did not stop laughing. -hahahaha, this is even better. The ever so good Arata had broken his promise only because he had to follow his instincts and couldnt hold back his emotion. Now what will you do? I cant simply wait to hear what are you going to do. Arata looked in direction of Rin. She was not angry at him at all. After all, there would be not a single person who could hold back at that moment. Its fine, I didnt ask that much from you. Rin wanted to say that but before she could Arata said to her. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. -Rin, dont get it wrong, I didnt back off from what I said earlier. You said that you want me to help you with quest right? There was not a single part of me having that quest. It seemed like Arata founded his way out. Why do you always have to be like that? Rin wanted Arata to say, sorry there are more important things that your quest. Thats the answer that she would be confident with, that was the answer that would allow her to change her attitude towards him, and her thoughts about him. But as always he had to go ahead say the words that she didnt want to hear and at the same time wanted to hear the most. This time, I wont let you. Rin did not feel comfortable with the thought of him helping her for free. Being in a party and completing quest together was one thing but being helped just because she asked him for it was another. [Unlimited blade] The ruby weapons started to appear around her. As they appeared they were all pointed at the Wizard who right now was rubbing his nose with tissue to get rid of the blood that leak out from it after Aratas blow. -eh Rin? Even Wizard would get scary when Rin went into her queen of blades mode. -you have five seconds to change your mind old man. Her look alone could kill but adding to that those words in cold voice, Wizard and pretty much everyone else in the room had a chill on their spine. -it does not concern you Rin. Wizard answered trying to overcome fear but to that Rin only continued. -four three. -you will not. -zero! Rin skipped in counting and all blades that she summoned so far went with incredible speed in Wizards direction. There were about twenty of them and no chance to avoid them in this small space. -I give up, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Because Wizard didnt think she would do that and also he didnt thought that she would skip the counting, all Wizard could really do was scream. [Unlimited blade, break] Before all weapons reached the wizard they broke in midair with the sound of broken glass and disappeared completely. -as long as you understand. She added at the end already with her usual voice. -wow, as suspected, even NPCs cannot hold a candle to you. Levi commented the scene. He already experienced Rin in bad mood so he quickly regained his senses. -dont say that Levi when she just helped me. Rin thanks. - . Arata thanked her with simile. Its me who should be thanking you. Still this time she felt a little better than before as she didnt have to feel indebt to him even more. -Arata, this time I will let you off the hook you can have that quest but dont think that you won. Wizard also regained his senses. -well sure, technically I didnt won. Rin did. But for me, as long as you lose its a good result. -eh, todays youth, absolutely no respect for their seniors. I have no time for this Wizard said that he get back to his chair after lifting it up from the floor with magic and looked at Rin. -so, is this your choice? -yes, give them the quest. She answered understanding what he meant. -so be it. I think that you have already decided so before I start explaining anything a standard procedure must be made. Do you accept the quest that I offer? -yes. Levi was the first one to agree. -I feel like making a deal with the devil, after you said it that way but yes I will take your quest. Arata was the second to agree. Then a silence appeared in the air, it looked like both Arata and Levi started reading the quest. In the meantime Wizard asked. -and you, you do not accept it? -me? No, no, I just bystander. Yume answered. Rin already knew that she is not going to join them but now that it came to this she asked once again. -Mary, are you sure that you cant come with us? -it will be better this way and I cant watch over you forever. -but. Yume kept telling her that she would just be in her way and that she will do more harm than good. But that was not exactly true, as far as Rin knew even though her friend could not compete with her, she was one of better players thats she knew. Sure in two person group with her it was hard for Rin to defend her alone, especially in a fight like ones in a tomb where enemies coming from each direction but with bigger party and right formation in would be possible. As long as it wasnt close combat, Yume was a great asset. Still Yume would not join because her real reason was completely different. It was not as she said that she would be a bother, it was also not because she had other plans as for her, Rin was the most important above all others. No, it was not because of those things, it was because she wanted Rin to grow and even though only in this world, stand on her own. -ah its really a shame that flower of Karma is not joining us but we cant be greedy. We cant hold her only for ourselves. Anyway tell us about the quest already. It looked like Levi was quite excited about the quest that even his knight wannabe mode was broken. Did he do say it just to avoid this subject? It was the fact that it could easily turn into something uncomfortable for Rin. After all, Rin knew that she would not convince Yume to it anyway but the direction of the conversation would end up on that which would be very bad for Rin. Well, I still have long credit of irritation with him. Thankfully even if Levi were to show his good side, Rin had a many excuses to be rude to him. -the quest, the quest. Before I will go into details as to what you have to do I will tell you why did I give this quest to Rin? It is quite important. -wasnt it because she found you at the right time? Levi answered to Wizards saying. -perhaps, still listen to this story. It is not the first time that I gave people quests as rather than doing things myself, its better to use others The Wizard started the story. After all he is also evil being. -still this quest is somehow different from others. I actually dont know how all things will end because this time, rather than being simple questgiver, I take the part as the one who is leading Rin to something that he has to get. Its all started nearly two year ago. I was doing my research on use of basic magic, when suddenly I passed out. It would not be that strange as it happens sometimes when I overdo it or just work without eating anything but the place that I woke up later was not my laboratory but a place that I could not recognize. Around me there was only grassy land. It was not that big of a problem as with my super mega powers I could easily get back to my laboratory with single spell but I wanted to find out how did I ended up there. Also the moment I woke up in that place, there was a single thought going through my mind and that was I must lead the first person that I meet to some place. I knew what that place was as I once tried to get there myself but until we get to the later stage of quest I will tell you. -you mean that this quest is not a single quest but a quest line? -as a questgiver I know how to make people interested in what I want. I used that expertise to make the person that I first met to go to that place. Well there are few preparations to be made and few things to take care of but about that also later. Anyway after day of wandering around in that grassy land the first person I meet was Rin. And at the time I meet her, my mind started to scream that is the person and make sure she gets the main reward, and that is the story of how I meet with Rin and she get her quest. You skipped the point where you were running away from about 60 monsters and I had to save you. -still what does it means that Rin has to get main reward? -it means what it says. Well, I dont know what main reward is but I know that its a thing that Rin wants the most. Yes, I heard this line million times already but its impossible. -what she wants the most you say? In that case we can easily find out. Rin what do you want the most. Money, power, a man Why does he always have to make me angry? Couldnt he be more like . Rin looked in Aratas direction but then quickly averted her eyes. Levi saw that and added. -or maybe you want to But he stopped in mid-sentence. -no, after thinking it over, I would get kill for this one. In last second he made a right choice. -I see that you are starting to control yourself. Arata added. -my memories were just replayed a second ago, only that time the swords did not disappear It was your fault anyway. Rin did not plan to apologize to him, not in the slightest. -so could you continue. Levi kept conversation with Wizard. He was actually best suited to it at the moment. Rin had hard time speaking her mind with so many people around her, Yume was not taking part in the quest and Arata simply hated the guy. -thats all there is to it. Rin will find what she seeks at the end of the road but dont worry although you two will get something different it will still be a reward that will be suitable to all the trouble that you will have to go through. -all the trouble? So there is a lot to do? -its not an easy task to get you all to that place but as long as we follow the plan I created it will be possible. Probably Probably? -I will not be telling you about the place that you need to get as to not to trouble you with too many things to think about at the moment. I will provide you with task one after one just as you said, its a quest line but that is only because I created it as such. All those task could also be one huge quest but it was simply because of my nature that its a quest line and it will be easier for you to grasp. -well in that case tell us about the first thing we must do. -the first thing that you will be doing will be completely unrelated to the quest line I just spoke about. -emm and why is that? -you see, when I first meet Rin and created that quest line for her I couldnt just give it to her. Although I already saw what she is capable of when we meet, I still needed to make sure that she is ready for what I am about to give to her. Thats why when she came to my laboratory to ask for the quest about three months later to when we first meet, I gave her a simple test that she needs to overcome. Simple test, definitely. -do we need also to do that simple test you spoke of? I know that maybe we shouldnt skip over it, but Rin did that already right? So wouldnt it be better to just jump up to the real thing? -hmm it was many months ago when I gave that little test to her and even though so much time has passed, she still did not complete i. So maybe in the end you should finish it first. -not complete? Her? The same her that is sitting over there, not someone else? Levi had hard time grasping it as he already saw Rin abilities or even felt it on his own body. Wizard stayed silent. -if it wasnt like that she wouldnt ask us for help in in the first place. Arata spoke the truth although this didnt explain why Rin didnt ask anyone earlier. -hey Arata, I dont know if we should get worried or excited but hell, I am excited, lets do it! -first, we have to find out what we need to do. -oh, you got the point. So what do we have to do? Levi asked the Wizard. -as I said its a simple test, you have to find out what is the secret behind the crowd of Emperor Edward Third the Great. When you do that come and explain it to me. I already know what it is so I will know if you didnt just think it out from nowhere. -so in short we have to get you the crown? Arata asked. -I wont say anything else you must complete this challenge on your own. -hey Arata what do you think about his last answer? -well now we are at least sure that bringing him the crown has nothing to do with our quest, still if we find any crowns, there is no reason not to take it right? -I see, that you listened, despite what you were saying before about ignoring the guy completely. Just think about what would happen if by mistake we were to look for the crown instead. -maybe this prequest has some kind of hard mode in which you also get the crown? -maybe, but our priority is secret of the crown, anyway he said that he wont tell us anything else for now so we should get going. -well, I am definitely not planning on staying here. Arata was the first one to leave. -we should get back to you with that secret in a day or two, so wait for us questgiver. After saying that, Levi also started walking upstairs. -Amy? -Mary can you go for a moment. I have something to talk with that guy. Rin said it with queen of blades mode on. When Yume also left the room she continued. [Unlimited blade] -well then, could you explain to me, why did you say at that time, that I should bring you the crowd! This time Wizard was somehow not bothered by her change in attitude. -I do remember that I told you the exact same thing which I just said to them. They have the same prequest as you. Its not my fault that you misunderstood. -and you never cared to correct me! -it wasnt my role. By the way, before you attack know that this is just a mental image that you looking at right now. In the middle of speaking, I thought that it is a little dangerous to stay with you two in the same room so I switched. -oh you dont even how much correct you were this time. -still, no matter what you say Rin, even if I did correct your understanding of the quest, would your course of action changed in any way? Because I dont think so. You would still go to that place over and over again thinking that you will uncover the secret of crown that way I cant deny that. -anyway you should also know that I did everything to help you. I already gave you the riddle which should explain to you much and put you on the right track and also the second request you had I fulfilled it as well. -my second request? -dont think that Arata appeared there to save you only by pure coincidence it was me who send him there. -it was you? -well, I probably wouldnt bother to look for that help which you wanted but when he came to me on his own the other day, I decided that I want to observe him once more. He is quite interesting subject, you know? -so in the end it wasnt you who brought him to me. Good, I can kill you freely next time we meet. With that Rin left the laboratory. Although Wizard did indeed have something to do with Arata joining her party, Rin knew that his act didnt bring that much. There was only one person responsible for Arata and Levi helping her right now and it was her dear friend Yume. No matter what Rin would do, she could never thank her enough for everything Yume did for her. When Rin went outside of the tower through the broken hole the sky was already orange, it would get dark soon. Everyone was waiting for her on the outside before discussing what to do now they first decided to go around the tower to get out from the bushes. -now that we got that quest, I propose that we should just talk about what we really have to do. I am counting on you here Rin. Then we should go to sleep early. Tomorrow first thing in the morning we will get into practical part of the quest. Arata started as they reached the front of the tower. -I also think that . -what are you saying Arata Rin was middle cut in sentence by Yume. -exactly, what are you saying Arata? Levi soon followed her up. -is something wrong with my plan? I didnt see anything wrong with it either. -ah Arata I forgot that you are newbie after all. -says someone who recently lost 27 levels, but I still think that its best course of action. I mean if we were to go for the quest right after we done talking about it, no matter how long it would take, we would probably end up fighting during the night and I personally like to sleep. Unless you are planning beforehand to fight during the night and sleep during the day, its not something I would recommend either. So why are they wait Yume also said the same thing so thats means Rin could somehow tell what the two were plotting. Although she didnt know Levi, she knew Yume too well, sometimes even more than herself. -well I will let flower of Karma make you realize it. Yume do it in the way that even someone like Arata understands it. -you cant discuss your quest today as today its Party time! Yume shouted it with joy. I knew it. -well you could say that we made a party after all so for the time being we are in party. Wait dont tell me you mean a real party? =of course we mean that! Levi and Yume said it at the same time, Arata face palmed himself. -have fun then, I will return tomorrow. Ah, he is running away but I understand him. I would also like to do that. -Arata dont you think you can log out right now. -yes, yes, dont you know that to play together well, you need to get to know each other well. -maybe but we dont need to do it right away. Arata answered. -nonsense of course you do. Anyway I will be the host and you three are the main guests as you are the ones who will be doing the quest Yume already started taking care of things. -Rin you dont mind if we do it in our house? -eh ? -our house it is then, dont worry I wont let them enter your room Before Rin said anything it was already too late. -now then should we buy something special or should I make food myself? I think both. We still have a lot of time after all. I will cook something warm for a main dish, while cakes and wine will be bough form shops. There is an incredible cakes shop in this city so you have to taste it one day. Well, I must say there are few incredible cakes shops in this city and I do visit them every day. Also dont worry Rin I will bring your favorite cookies as well Well maybe it will not be so bad, I will just be eating cookies in the corner. Rin could forget about all problems as long as she had cookies at her hand to eat. Yume just used that fact to suppress all other things and make Rin not pay attention to other things like brining two men to her house and buying a wine for a party. -as for wine I know few shops as well. Do you guys want something stronger? Ah, I will buy it just in case and I also think that I should have something in the house left as well. Now, Rin you just lead them to the house and set up the water in kitchen, in that large pot that I usually use Cookies. Rin was not listening to her right now but she nod. -I should join you in one or two hours so you can start without me. -wait a minute Yume Levi interrupted her when she wanted to go. -even though you said you want to be a host I cant let you do all things by yourself. Even though you didnt take up on quest you still member of our party even if only in spirit. Also as a man I definitely cant let the lady carry all those things by herself so thats why I coming with you. -well, I would not carry anything personally but just throw it into the inventory anyway but you can join me if it bothers you that much that I take care of everything alone I guess. Your opinion on what you guys like to eat will also be useful. Then Rin, just go with Arata to our house and wait for us there, remember to set up that water. And so Yume and Levi disappeared in one of the streets. Cookies. Rin only realized the fact that they left about ten minutes later. -so Mary, what you wanted again? - EH!? There was no one in sight except Arata who started to scratch his head the moment she asked that. AHHHH! How did it happen again? It was not the first time that Rin got mind blocked with thoughts of cookies. -she said that after we get to your house you should set the water in usual pot and that she will be back in one or two hours. Although his words were normal and collected as usual, his voice did not sound like that. NOOOOOOO! Rin decided to use her last resort which was running away. [Lighting speed] She start running with double speed just so to get away from Arata as far as possible and leave her embarrassment behind, but for the first time in her life this tactic did not work as Arata followed right behind her. The fact that he was able to keep up with her astonished her as she used skill called lighting speed with greatly increased her movement speed, still that somehow made her cool her head and she forgot what just happened. Rin slowed down and returned to walking speed. Arata who was following her also did the same. There was one small problem though. The moment ago, she ran in the opposite direction than her house. I have to turn around somehow so he doesnt notice. Of course Arata did notice or at least his face said so. He didnt mention anything though. So far, except informing her about Yumes instruction he kept on silent which was actually quite uncomfortable for Rin. Why is he not talking? Although she didnt want to say anything, she also didnt want to have this quiet atmosphere around them. Still, she didnt have much experience in starting conversations lately so even if she wanted she did not know how to get rid of this silence. It looked like Arata was not eager to do anything about it either and he just followed after her as they were going through the streets of Karma. The time that it would take them to reach Rins house was about forty minutes. During that time, there was only one sentence exchange between them or rather Arata said one sentence. -still I didnt think that you would get excited about that party like those two, but seeing how you daydreamed about it, I guess its me who is strange. You get the wrong idea! Maybe it was Aratas try to start up the conversation but unfortunately Rin could not answer him right away as she didnt even know where she should start correcting him and later on when she collected her thoughts, she thought that it would be strange to answer him after three minutes. In the end, conversation chance slipped away and Arata did not try again. -you can wait over there. After entering Rins house, Rin showed the way to the living room pointed at the couch and said those words, and then she went straight to the kitchen to follow Yumes instruction. She didnt have to do it right away but the dead silence lasted already too long for her to be in Aratas company. He is probably bored with me already. Well, I cant help it, its not like I have anything interesting to say, for few past months all I have been doing was routine of leveling up and trying to complete the tomb. I wouldnt be surprised if he didnt like me. No, after walking with him this long I am sure of it. Well, in the first place, the only reason why he is here is because of that quest. Rin was planning to spend her time in the kitchen until Yume arrives. Of course its because of the quest. If it werent for the quest there is no way that I would invite anyone here! Rin finally grasped some positive thinking. Why should I even care what he thinking about me anyway its all Marys fault. In the end, whoever my party members are and whatever they think of me as long as I complete my quest I fine with it. She arrived at that answer and went back to her assignment. She found the large gray pot without much trouble and started pouring water in it. Although EOA was set in medieval/fantasy setting Rins kitchen had running water over the sink. In the kitchen there was also a gas stove and a freezer. Although in this world officially those were equipment that worked with use of magic the similarity were just too much. It would still take some time before Yumes arrives so there was no reason to prepare the water right now. Rin was just sitting on the chair and waiting when. -nice kitchen you have here Arata entered the kitchen while saying those words. What is he doing here? -dont mind me, I just thought that rather than waiting for Yume, I will take care of the food for party. Can I use this kitchen? -do what you want. Rin answered him and after that left the kitchen, right away. I guess it will be faster this way but does he even know how to cook? Well, he wouldnt ask if he can use the kitchen if he didnt. Rin and Arata switched their location. It was now her in the living room lying down on the sofa. Rin spent her time like this until Yume and Levi arrived. -hahaha, you must be joking. -no it really did happen, I saw it myself. Wait, you never been in capital before? -its too far after all. -hmm, sure from this city it would be few weeks of journey on fast horse. Still you will probably go there eventually so I really recommend the place. But we just entered some house so are we at the right place? -yes we are time really went fast. -yea and I still didnt answer that question right? -we went off track too many times. Still, with you two being here the story will be more colorful. Anyway, wait in the living room and I will get started with the food is what I wanted to say but what is this smell? -maybe Rin decided to cook something by herself. -thats impossible even if she wanted to do it. -in that case, its probably Arata who got bored by waiting and decided to cook something by himself. Its a shame that I wont taste your cooking but with that, we can start the party faster. Also, Arata with his ninja-cooking book can make really good things. -well, I will see how he is doing. With that Yume went to the kitchen and Levi entered the living room, in which Rin was now sitting on the couch. -yo. How its going? Levi welcomed her like nothing and without waiting for her answer continued. -I thought that Karma is a boring city without any merits but after following Yume for those two hours I can now see its beauty. -so you thought that its a good forsaken province? Rin somehow ended up replaying him. -more or less, thats what people say at least. -I dont care what people say. -thought so, well I personally follow the rule I will believe when I see it. Although, only thanks to Yumes tour I can understand how great this city really is. Still to stay here all this time you must really like it. So, what is you reason for staying here this long? -this place is convenient. Rin gave him half assed answer. -probably but dont you get bored here? -I rather always busy. -with what might I ask? -quests for example. -quests? -ever since I came here I always had at least one quest to do at the time. -you can find them that easily? -isnt it like that with everyone? -I never heard of someone saying that they always have a quest ready to complete. -well, there is another reason why I always have them. They take me too long. -take you too long, with your skills it should be walk in a park. -no really, for example the prequest that we will be doing is taking me about a year already, ten months in precise. -year? - Rin realized that she said too much. Surprisingly it was really easy for her to talk with Levi. -whole year, hmm? I say thats what you get for trying to solo it. -you dont have to tell me that. -by the way, do you have a guess what rank it will be? Levi asked the question that Rin wondered about many times already, she had a clear answer to it. -it will be rank 5 or lower. My guess is rank four. -whaa, stop your horses for a moment. -why? Its you who asked. -yes but I wanted a realistic answer no some daydreaming. -its what I arrived at. -but you know that rank four is the highest rank of quest that has even been completed by players so far. -and from where do you know that? -its my classified information from a certain source. -well I also heard about two rank four quest that unlocked new races. -those two are well known, there are also many unknown to public. -yes, just like there are many unknowns rank three two and one done as well. -thats however is impossible. -and what you are say is not convincing. As strange as it was Rin had quite normal conversation with Levi. -then let me show you my reasoning. First question how long do you play EOA already? -soon, it will be four years. -you used EOA time? Well whatever. Well in EOA time first players arrived in this world ten years ago. You have no idea how different the game was back then. -and what you do? -well not personally but I heard from classified source. Anyway, back then there were few certain events that occurred which could happen only once. Some of those events were related to completing the quests. -you mean like when half a year ago a saying spread out about unlocking a new race? Rin asked. She was in EOA back then already and one day all off sudden almost every NPC in Karma was speaking about completion of quest and they kept talking about it for about two months or so. It would be really hard to play at that time and never heard a word about it. -wow, you just hit the mark completely. -I did? -well, what you just mentioned is really close to the truth because what was happening back in a day was quite similar. -you mean celebration of other quests? -once again wow, you really catching on it way too fast, do I even need to explain anything else? Levi commented on how Rin read between the lines. She however ignored last comment and continued. -but not all quests are celebrated like this, there was nothing like that when I completed my quests. Although Rin completely understood what Levi wanted to say it didnt prove that no one completed quest of rank 3 or lower. -you probably thinking that there would still be high rank quest completed that were just like yours not talked about. -there is possibility but I can already guess your argument. -you can? Levi was surprised himself but Rin already tied all facts together. -you mentioned one-time events that all happened early. If those events were to prove that there is no quest completed with rank lower than four. Then the answer is simple. Those events occurred when someone first completed the quest of given rank and because there was no event that occurred for quest of rank three that would prove no one completed quest of rank three. -thats exactly it. Rin despite your look you are really intelligent. Levi praised her. -what do you mean, despite my look? -I didnt mean anything bad. You shouldnt judge book by a cover they say, how truthful it is. -but you proof is still questionable. -hmm, why is that? -you didnt play when those events occurred, so you cant be sure. -but I know it from classified source. -your source can also be wrong. Or what if those events occurred only when first lets call it public quest of given rank was completed and hidden ones remained hidden? -well I didnt think about that, still there is one more information that I have which would point that no one has completed quest of rank three. -and that is? -there is a certain condition to end up completing quest of rank three and its not about finding it. Well even if I tell it to you, you will still think that its some overheard lie that I heard. -it depends on your answer. If that condition sounds reasonable then I might believe. So what is the condition? Rin didnt often have a chance to find out things like that about this world. All the knowledge she had right now was based mostly on her own experience. -the condition is as follows. During the course of quest of rank three the adventurer is not allow to die. Upon being resurrected after ten days, the quest ends up as a failure. -you mean that, you have to complete it in one go, on one life? -that what it means Then those quests are really impossible. If Rin were to recall all her quests so far, they were always connected to death and repeated attempts, not being able to try again even once would be impossible condition. -now that you understand, come up with a better guess of rank for our quest. Levi went back to old topic. -but that is my true guess. As I said, there were few other quests that I completed. Hardest one had a rank six from which I got my skill. -you mean those flying things that kill everything, me included? Levis described Rins unlimited blade skill. -yes those Anyway the prequest that I have right now is much harder than that quest of rank six. Then if following chain quest is harder than a prequest, so it is at least two ranks higher than this one. -I see where you are coming from but . -but that will have to wait for later Out of nowhere Yume interrupted them. -sorry to interrupt you but if we wait any longer the food that Arata prepared will get cold. Rin didnt realize but for about 5 minutes now Yume and Arata were standing at the entrance to living room waiting for them to finish their talk. -hey Yume, its just as you said, she is quite talkative when you start speaking with her and here I thought she is your quiet type. Levi said to Yume when she and Arata sat down next to the table. -see I told you. She answered and started taking out the bought stuff. Arata also started to take out the prepared food. Only when Rin saw how much he prepared she understood why he used an inventory menu to take it here. -hey, Arata isnt that a little too much? Levi said seeing all that. -maybe I overdid myself a little, but its a first time that I had a free kitchen for myself in this game and there were things that I wanted to try out making. Some recipe cant be executed at campfire after all. -Arata it was good idea that you cook by yourself. -well I was bored and Yume already was doing enough of work so I thought, why not. -you didnt have to Arata. Remember I was the one to organize a party in celebration of you three forming a party. Yume added. -details. -still, can I ask, what are some of dishes that you made? -you can but I just followed a recipe from -ninja-cooking book. Levi interrupted him to what Arata said. -well you could call it that I guess. Anyway in that book there are also recipes of food that does not exist in the real world or at least is not well known so there might be few things that you wont recognize. For a note, every recipe can be executed in real world as well. -thats probably because cooking works exactly the same here. But wow, what is this butterfly looking thing? -best you just try it yourself. And so they start eating. Even though Levi and Yume did end up buying some food as well no one did touch that so far. As for Rin, she was holding herself back at first but when she started eating she couldnt stop anymore. Feeling completely new taste in her mouth for the first time in her life was really different experience of eating that something that you already ate. Also, even though each dish was different, all of them could be described as. Its delicious. It was so delicious and new that Rin didnt even leave any space for cookies as she kept on trying new things. -hey Arata, and what do you think about quests of rank three and higher? You think they were completed or not? At some point Levi asked that question. -I dont really care if they were or not. It has nothing to do with me. Arata was not interested in something that didnt concern him though. -stop complaining and answer the question. -they probably were completed. Game is out for two years already. -and what if I tell you unbeatable proof that they werent. -I will be fine either way. -you are no fun Arata. -whatever, still speaking about high ranked quest, I remember that my guild leader advised me that I shouldnt even get close to those. Although he never mentioned why. -its not like you will get this quest anyway so he probably didnt bother to explain. -that would be just like him. Not taking any of high rank quests? Well, given that you cant die even once while doing them, you probably end up just wasting your time. The party continued. For the most time of it, it was Levi and Yume continually talking with each other with Rin and Arata adding few sentences here and there. Especially Arata didnt care to say anything unless asked directly. The longest he was talking was when Yume asked about how he and Levi first meet as it was Arata and Levi both answering. That relation gave Rin a lot of information about them. There was also a particular interesting part at the end in which they just died out of sudden by unknown attack that destroyed half of the city. Also the part in which some two people completely demolish the thousands enemies and the other half of the city by themselves was also quite intruding. Rin already knew that there would be at least few people who were stronger than her but she did not know that the gap could be that great. Although she was keeping in mind that it was just Arata and Levi talking and they could easily overstatement what really happened. Still in the end, there was one thing that Rin wanted to hear about a little more and that was Aratas guild. The thing Arata said about them was kept to bear to minimum only so the story still has a sense. That was as Rin found out, Aratas way to speed up the story as it was quite long but she wouldnt mind hearing more details about other people that were involved in it. Of course, she could not ask about it. During the party she was talking normally with Levi and Yume, but her direct exchange of words with Arata was no more than Can you pass me the salt?. As party continued Levi and Yume decided that it was the time to open the drinks. Well in the end it was mostly only those two drinking together. Rin didnt even touch the stuff in the first place and as for Arata, after drinking one symbolic glass, he moved away from the main table and sit on the chair that was next to the window. He opened the window and then started looking at the starry sky. When Rin looked at him from time to time he kept sitting in the same position without moving an inch. Rin could see that his blue eyes were not looking at anything in particular. To her they seemed really distant right now. -wont you say anything to him? Rin asked Levi as it was about an hour since Arata was sitting there. -what should I say? I think that he already did well enough and stay with us this long. I was sure he will log out long ago. -but its a party right? Why would he log out? Yume asked. -only because its a party he still didnt. -but isnt he missing it right now. -he stayed with us for three hours or so, I say it is already surprising. -what? He doesnt like parties or something? -I dont think he has anything against them. Rather, he was enjoying it as well in his own way. But the problem is that he isnt in the best mood lately, especially when it gets dark like now, he right away goes into his gloomy mode. Levi explained. -lets use this occasion and cheer him up! Yume proposed. -you think I didnt try. Unfortunately no matter what we do his mood will not be full repaired. -if we all try together then . -give it up the cause is too great. -and what is that cause? It was now the Rin who asked. -if you want to know, why dont you ask him? -its not like I that interested and he wont tell me even if I asked. -why wouldnt he? You two are on good terms, right? Also he dont really mind speaking about that. -but I dont think that we are on good terms. He rather hates me. -well, I would say that its at least better terms that you and have, right Yume? -hmm I dont know anymore. -but I do, from what I saw earlier those two came to terms really quickly. And it was Arata who could normally speak with her all the time That is true. Rin recalled the past day as well as their encounter after he saved her from tomb challenge. Even though everyone else would go pale in fear, Arata was easygoing as always and talked with her normally. -anyway, Rin go and try talking with him. Levi proposed out of sudden. -eh?! -its a party after all and he shouldnt ditch us like that. -then why dont you go then? -because. If I were to go, it would have no effect. I would get brush away with few words. Also its a party organized so we can get familiar with each other. Yume organized it for us, so dont waste that time and go to him. -but. -Rin, I think what Levi says is true. Also look. Even though you know each other only for a day, you already speak normally with Levi. Wouldnt it be good if it were the same with Arata? Yume proposed but then. -hahahaha, I would say that with me it was easy, but if you want to have long conversation with Arata its a hard mode for you. But dont waste your time and see how far you can go. Also, just so you know, if you extend the number of his responses over three, you did great. -Rin here Yume passed her a plate with a cake. -you can start the conversation with I brought you some cake, now go. Rin was pushed away by them. And few moments later before she actually realized she was standing right before Arata, holding a plate in her hands. Upon noticing that she was standing there, Arata looked at her and said. -yes? -emmm, I brought you some cake. Rin couldnt think of anything else to say in given time so she used Yumes advice. -thank you but I am full already. It didnt go well though. -its a really good cake. Ah, I should already stop talking about the cakes. -is that so, then leave it and I will eat it later. With that said Arata returned to looking outside the window. Thats all? Rin try to have a conversation was shot down so fast that she was even surprised by it. I think even I have more patience for people. Rin was now wondering if she should just go back to the table already. -is there something else? But then she was once again caught off guard. -emm, can we talk about something? -whats the matter? It looked like Arata misunderstood it as Rin having actually something important to tell him. -I dont have anything specific in mind. I just wanted to talk with you. In the end she said just that. -wanted to talk with me? Look you dont have to go along with everything those two says, you know. The misunderstanding continued, though now Arata was thinking that it was only because Levi and Yume forced her to talk with him she even came here. Well there was some truth in that. -its not because of them. -you dont have to say that. I am fine with you ignoring me and not talking with me. I kind of understand why you do it Me, ignoring him? -well you will just have to bear with me until the quest is done, I will try not to get in your way, so you really dont have to force yourself to talk with me. -you are wrong, I am not forcing myself. Well, maybe a little. -then let me ask you, why now? Why now? -I not quite understand what you mean. The misunderstanding continued this time it was on Rin front though.. -I ask why now all of sudden. I mean we spend few hours alone together and you were avoiding and ignoring me for all that time Well, that did happen. -before I thought that you just dont like idle talk so I didnt mind but later on, when you start heat up discussion with Levi the moment he came, I arrived at one and only possible conclusion. You hate me. Even though he didnt show it, Arata was a little bit upset about being ignored. -but, I dont hate you. -well I didnt do anything to you so it is an overstatement but nevertheless you dont want to talk with me, right? As I said, I dont mind it, so you can go away. With that said Arata once again start looking outside the window. Hey, you should at least wait for my response. Rin got a little angry at him now. -hey! Whatever you think, I said I want to talk with you so dont look away as if situation was cleared. In the first place its your fault we didnt have any conversation. You are the hardest person to talk with in the world! She ended up taking it out on him making him the only at fault. -maybe I am, but you are not the one to talk Arata replayed without looking back at her. -anyway if you still want to hold conversation tomorrow, I will believe you. Now go away, I am not in a mood right now. -then get into the better mood! Rin shouted at him once again. Before she thought that no matter what Arata does she cant find a thing that she can get angry at him for, but now, his attitude was simply pissing her off. -tomorrow we have quest to do so we will be busy! We are wasting our time on this party so we can talk with each other! You dont have a right to sit gloomy in the corner! This is what I want to do but I am managing to restrain myself from that! -see, you are forcing yourself after all. Arata just replayed with relaxed voice. -fine, I do, so why dont you show some consideration and do it as well! -nah, I prefer to stay gloomy in the corner. Rin did not believe he really answered like that. -normally you should answer I will do it! -maybe but if normally is inconvenient then I wont behave normally. What is wrong with him? -then you really want to stay gloomy in the corner? Rin asked. -its you who describe it like that. I dont remember begin gloomy today. -then why are you sitting here alone? -you see, I dont really like drinking alcohol and when someone is forcing it on me I just walk away. Saying no is tiring after all. Especially because drunken people cant take no as an answer I kind of understand where you coming from. Rin thought like that after looking back in the direction of table. -you also said that you prefer to stay in a corner, isnt your reason similar to mine? -part of it. -then look around. There are still many other corners available. In your shoes I would just simply go to my room and went to sleep. This proposition just sounds too appealing. Rin considered really doing it but there was still one thing left to do at todays party. -then can I sit in this corner? -its your house you can sit wherever you want. And so Rin sit down on a chair at the other side of the window. There was only small table between her and Arata. Rin thought that sitting there will finally help with their conversation but Arata once again did end up looking outside the window not bothered by her presence at all. Rin once again did not believe it. Really? -dont you dare to ignore me! I sit here for conversation. Rin already understood that unless she will be this direct with this man, there will be no progress at all. -but we already talked didnt we. Its enough for you to say to them, I talked with him so stop bothering me. Is he doing it on purpose? -isnt it you who dont want to talk with me? Rin finally asked. -no. -then why are you keep on shutting down all my attempts? -because, you are forcing yourself to do them. -I am not. -then what, you really want to talk with me? -yes. -why? Arata asked the question to which Rin had no answer. She herself did not fully understand that. -its a party that was organized so we can all talk. I wont waste Marys efforts. -what you said, tells me that Yume said that you should get along with me and you are forcing yourself to sit here. -stop reading between the lines already! -your reaction says that my guess is correct though. -is it so hard for you to just go along with it!? Rin had a lot of problems with Aratas personality. The main problems were two. He kept saying what he wanted and kept doing what he wanted. -I am not really in a mood for that right now. -see you are gloomy after all. -now that you said it maybe I am Okay, I get it now, he is just strange. Aratas behavior could be only described as that as second later he clapped his checks two times and then said. -sorry Rin, I was rude. Anyway if you want to talk with me then I am happy but first lets get away from this window as its the moonlight that makes gloomy Moonlight makes him gloomy? The ended up moving the table and chair a little. Now they really were sitting in the corner. It was quite dark there so Rin ended up bringing a small lamp over. In the meantime Arata ended up eating the cake that she brought earlier. -so what did you want to talk about? Arata asked when both of them sit down. - - - - - -it will get us nowhere you know. -I already said that I dont have anything particular in mind. -but you kept saying I want to talk so I thought that you came up with something interesting. -if it were that easy then I would come up with something sooner. -but it is easy. -then try to come up with something. -sure Two seconds later Arata had a topic. -where do they sell that cake? It was really good. -ah its a shop wait, is that your topic? -it was first thing that came to my mind. -be a little bit more creative. -stop nagging and come up with something that you will be satisfied with. -I said its not that easy. -for all I know, we are talking right this moment so my idea worked. -but the topic is what should we talk about. -its probably better topic than anything else we can come up with. -it wont do. -ah, you are too picky. Thats why I said take your time. -I am not experienced in those things! -if you are not experienced, then who is? As far as I remember you were always . Arata stopped in the middle sentence. -I dont know who you are trying to remember but that is not me. I am Rin, Arata. -you may be Rin but you should still know me pretty well, right? And you still want me to advise in this manner? -what I want is Aratas advise not someone whom I never meet. -fine. Well there is one universal thing that makes talk goes smoothly and fits todays theme of the party. We should just ask each other questions that we want to know the answer to. -I see, that might work. So you came up with this idea so you already have the question right? -no I dont really have anything I want to know about you. -yes, sorry that I that not interesting. -no I dont meant it bad way. Remember when I once said, you get to know each other as the time goes on. -so why did you came up with this idea then. -well I dont have any questions but maybe you have. -me? If he is stating it like that then there is one thing that I couldnt get no matter what. How did he of all the people started to play games and changed so much even though before. Wait I cant ask that, actually most of the questions that I could think off cant be asked. Even though it feels like we know each other, with things I stated we practically shouldnt know anything. Is that why he also dont want to ask about anything? Rin realized that speaking with Arata brought a lot of trouble along the way. Not going into that memory, required a lot of consideration from them. Speaking with him would be much harder than with completely stranger. As even though they dont know each other, their old selves did. -see you also have no ideas. Guess that would end our talk as talking about nothing has its limits. -wait, I come up with something, lets talk about tomorrow quest. -you know, I wanted to hear from you about it when you first asked us to help you. -then its a good time. -unfortunately its not a good time right now as we are missing a key person from this conversation or do you want to explain things separately to him as well? And so Rins idea got shot down. -I dont want to go through it twice. -then you have any better ideas? Arata asked and Rin could only say. -no. Rin was already ready to stand up and go away when Arata come up with something. -ah, I came up with something that I wanted to ask. -really? Rin did not even think about what that could be but she was clearly happy that it will not end just like that. -well its not something I should really ask you about but you shouldnt mind that question. Its about our fight in arena. -yes? -Rin, how did you reached that speed? I mean its not humanly possible to move that fast, right? -you think that I used some kind of skill? -no, I wouldnt have thought. If you were going to use skills there would be no reason to hide that. -well, I didnt do anything special and I was still not at my maximum back then. -but its impossible. -looks like you forgot something important Arata. This world is different and my body is no longer weak as it once used to. I can do so much more here with it. -so you mean that its because of avatars body? - Rin did not answer because she didnt like how Arata stated that question. Questions like this were one of main reasons that Rin did not interact with other players that much. For Rin what Arata called avatars body was her really body. The memories of her old body were already lost in her mind and she did not want to recall them. Rin stood up from the chair. -Rin? Arata ask seeing the change on her face. It would have been better if we didnt talk, after all. -sorry Arata we shouldnt have done that after all. Bear with me until we complete the quest but after that Rin wondered if she really should say the last words but then she arrived at only possible conclusion. It cant be any other way. -after that, do not speak with me ever again. -wait Rin, did I said something wrong? Why all of sudden? -you did nothing wrong Arata but this is how it has to be. After saying those words Rin walked away from that place. She didnt go back to the main table though but straight to her room despite everyones calling. And with that the party has ended. Next Chapter Chapter 29 “Tomb of Edward Third the Great” Chapter 29 Tomb of Edward Third the Great -so Arata, will you finally tell me what you did? -I didnt do anything. Arata replayed to Levis question although he was not entirely sure if his answer was the truth. I might been a little cold to her when she came to me as I ended up thinking about Kotori again but later on, I spoke with her normally. I dont know why she suddenly left. Yesterday Arata and Levi promised to help someone with a quest. Well, it was a gain/gain situation for them as getting a quest and then getting reward out from it was the most profitable thing one could do in EOA. Because of that, there was no much debate on should they take on the offer or not?. The person that shared the quest with them was a girl whose name was Rin. Both of them already meet her before but that didnt really change much as their encounter was short. A lot of things happened yesterday, but in the end, Arata and Levi went to the girls house and took part in the party that was organized by Yume. Yume was also someone they both meet before. She was Rins best friend. The party progressed nicely and even Rin started to open up to them, which they did not expect to happen. Still, the party did not end happily. During Aratas and Rins conversation, Rin out of sudden stood up and went to her room. Yume seeing her friend leaving sprinted right after her and thats how the party ended. Arata and Levi waited inside the house as they wanted to find out what happened. After about an hour Yume came back and told them that they shouldnt worry about it and that Rin sends them a message that tomorrow morning they will go and complete the prequest as planned. There was actually not that many hours between the morning and the time the message was send so Arata and Levi just took a short break logged out and then log right back which was the current time. -from where I saw it, you definitely did something. You even made her cry. Levi started once again. -she cried? -well I didnt see it but at least it looked like she was going to. You know how it goes. Girl run up the stairs, jump onto the bed, hugs the pillow and starts crying without making a sound. I picture it like that. -dont imagine things, she is not the type that would cry easily. Also if she were to cry because of what I said, I could at least recognize what I said wrong but as I already told you, we simply had a conversation about nothing and out of sudden she was like that. Arata tried to explain himself. -but you saw how Yume run after her second later. -well, I did but that doesnt change anything. Also she told me its not my fault. She always used to hate liars but also hated lying herself, I know her well enough to tell you that. Only because Rin personally told him that it wasnt his fault, Arata was calm about the situation and didnt blame himself. -fine, if you say so By the way, I already could tell that you two knew each other earlier given how well you interacted with her at this start but when did you two meet up? I am still guessing but do you know her from real? -yes, but dont try to bring it up again Levi. Arata send him a glance to Levi telling him that he was serious. Although Arata did knew Rin or rather Arthur did knew Amanda in the real world, Arata promised Rin that he will behave as if they didnt know each other at all or rather more precisely that they dont talk about the past. Of course that made it a little hard for them to interact. Arata had few questions that he would like to ask Rin about, but he did understand that she did not want to talk about it. Because Rin did not want to talk about it, Arata decided to not think about that matter at all. He probably could find out the answers to his questions with a single phone call to his grandfather without involving Rin at all but it would be unfair to her. -eh, it was such a good teasing material. Levi said half joking but Arata already knew him well enough to know that he will not bring the matter up again anytime soon. -Levi, what time do you normally consider when you say morning? Arata asked. -that depends but it would be in range 6:00 C 9:00. Right now my morning would be closer to nine rather than six though. -mine would be similar I guess, although ever since I start playing EOA I sometimes end up waking up during the midnight. -if you want, I know a good counter measure for it. You simply have to play for exact same time every day and even with time speed difference you wont feel out of place. -I would probably do that if I had something to do on daily basis. As of now Arata didnt have anything that important to do. Well maybe except his favorite activity of the day. Still apart from that at the current moment there was nothing else. Arata did try to think up of something but so far there was results. -you can also never sleep in real world again and just do it here, that way you will never wake up at any strange hour. Levi gave him another proposition. -I think I will not go to this extreme. -I also once thought like that as well but right now its been about two month since I slept in normal bed and it was only because I was visiting someone. Before that, it would be another three months since I started that custom. -nolife. -I dont mind being called one but you are not the one to call me that as you are nolifing as much as me. That also true I guess. -still Levi, how long do you think we will have to wait? -ah, thats why you asked that question about mornings Right now it was 10:37 and one couldnt call it morning anymore. -well, I dont know how long it will take but when she comes here we just have to say that we just came here as well. -why? We are waiting for two hours already. -haha, from my research, that is a response that you tell to the girl when you set up a meeting. Ah, you will never be popular Arata. -as far as I can tell, your research does not work. -you can only said that because you have a girlfriend for a note, I still havent forgiven you for that you bastard. -yea, yea go drown in your solitude. -hey, that hurt! Levi responded in depressed way. -fine, I am sorry. But still, why do you want to use your stupid research or whatever when we are just going to do a quest? -situation does not matter, in every opportunity you need to be a gentleman. -but its Rin. -and? Levi did not understand what Arata meant. -what you just talked about is you wanting to have a girlfriend, right? Rin is your choice? -she is cute so why not? He once again answered like nothing. Is he for real? Arata could not comprehend it so she asked. -well I understand where you coming from but do you really like her like that? More than anything else in this world more than -ah, you misunderstood one thing Arata, I dont want to have one single girlfriend. -then what do you want? -what I want is a harem of five to eight girls. Thats why as long as they are cute they are welcomed aboard. - . Arata face palmed himself. -what? Levi asked as he didnt know why Arata had that kind of reaction. -you know what. You should definitely invite Rin to that harem of yours, she will definitely say yes. Be sure to explain your vision of it as well. -haha, I dont want to get killed so I will pass on that He at least knew this. -speaking of the devil, she finally came. Arata looked behind himself and saw Rin rushing towards them. From her look he could easily say that. She slept in. Her red hair was all over the place, losing its silkiness and also she had a toast in her mouth. Nevertheless she was quick on her feet and get to them before they could start laughing. -sorry, I am late. After stopping right before them she said that, still holding a toast in her mouth. Although she probably rushed here from her house she was not tired at all and breathed normally. -no problem, I also just get here. Levi replayed. -I see so you were also late Rin responded in annoyed way. That would be all for your research Levi. -sorry that I kept you waiting Arata but I slept in. Rin the said to Arata. -I can somewhat tell. Well, it happens to everyone. At least, thanks to that I had some time to eat my breakfast in that shop. -breakfast, right I also need to eat something. It seems like she is not really affected by what happened yesterday. Actually Rin was strangely talkative today. -well, you should probably start with that toast you have in mouth. Arata pointed it out. -what toast? It looked like Rin was not self-aware that she took it. -here. Arata pointed at his mouth, then Rin moved her left hand to her mouth and catch a toast. -aaa! How did it end up there? Anyway one toast will not be enough. Rin made really sad face when she said that, or rather sad-funny face. -I can wait few more minutes so go take care of things and as for Levi, he just came here after all so people who are late have no vote. -thanks, I will be back in a minute Rin run into one of the shops and few seconds later she shouted. -aaa! My hair! Then, doors opened once again and there was another shout. -I will need ten more minutes! I guess she is alright. Rather Rin was more than alright. So, it was not because of yesterday, after all. Right now it simply looked like Rin was excited about finally completing the quest and any bad thoughts that she had left her, however. What she said yesterday will not change though. Well, its not like it has to. There is no other reason for us to party other than completing the quest. Afterwards with a huge world this game has we probably wont even meet each other again. At the end of yesterdays party, Rin informed Arata that after the quest is done, they are over. It was a little sad but its not like it changed anything because Arata already planned for it to be like that as well. There would be no need for them to party up together when the quest is done. It was nothing uncommon for teams to disband when their objective is complete. -hey Arata. Werent you two fighting yesterday and that fight ended with her closing herself in her room? Levi commented the situation. -how is it that she is now more radiant than before? -as I said, I dont remember us fighting yesterday. Well there was a time when she was yelling at him as he was not in the mood but that wouldnt be called a fighting. Time went fast and after around 7 minutes, Rin walked out from that shop. Her scarlet hair was now once again silky and beautiful. She was also holding a bag with cookies in left hand. Then in the right one, she had half eaten round brown cookie with chocolate in it, although rather than being round right now it was in a shape of a half moon. -I am ready, lets go. With that said Rin lead them outside the city. After passing the southern gate they entered the road that lead to the tomb of Edward Third the Great. Rin was walking at the front while eating cookies while Arata and Levi were following behind her. -so Rin can you finally tell us about the quest? Arata asked as it would be a good opportunity to do so. It was better than stopping before the tomb they could do it while walking. Strangely enough they still didnt have a conversation on it even though it should be the first thing they should have done. Rin thought for a moment after hearing Aratas question and then answered. -three more cookies With three more cookies eaten, she started. -I guess I will start at the beginning. In this prequest we simply have to get the crown from the tomb that we are going to right now. Simple as that. -wasnt it finding out the secret behind the crown? Arata asked. -isnt that the same? -I dont think it is. -if we get the crown we will definitely complete the quest as well anyway let me talk for now. As for the tomb itself, it is a four hours long boss encounter in which you fight against skeletons. -ah, I already saw that. That didnt look like a walk in the part though. Well that red one will be quite complicated. Arata already had an occasion for a skirmish with the crimson knight and he considered a managing to run away from him a success. -dont worry. I already came up with a plan as how are we going to do it It seemed like Rin already had everything planed out. -because I have a full year experience in this fight I can practically solo it and you two entering will do more harm than good. She started explaining. =ah . Arata and Levi just sighted disappointed. -you guys said that you already saw how the fight goes. Do I need to say anything else? -but Rin, if you were able to complete the quest alone, we wouldnt be needed in the first place. Arata stated the fact. -yes that is because no matter what, I will not be able to complete it alone Rin stopped on the road when she said that but then once again continued. -the fight itself is not complicated. Throughout the whole duration of it, skeletons keep coming and you have to fight them till the end. Apart from that, there is also a special skeleton that comes out every 20 minutes. I call them super skeletons. There are twelve super skeletons in total. Their power and fighting styles are all different but I can manage to defeat them easily most of the time. Still from this twelve there is one that no matter what, I cant defeat. Even she cant defeat? -that red knight? - . Rin nodded and didnt say anything else. -so in short you want us to help you when he comes out but until then we just stay put and do nothing Levi summed everything up. -hey, Arata what do you think of this plan? Levi asked. -it is as unpractical as it can be and we will definitely not complete that quest even if we were to pull that off. Arata answered without much thought. -yea, I thought the same. Levi agreed to that as well which made Rin speak out again. -then what are we supposed to do? This plan gives the highest chances of success! You two will help me in fight against that guy and I will take care of everything else. It may not be enough but after two or three tries we should- -ah, she does not understand, does she? Levi interrupted her. -what do you think I dont understand!? -Arata, mind you? -nah you can tell her. -well, then. First of all we will not let you do things on your own, only because you are better than us. As bitter as it is, we acknowledge that you are better than us but we will not let you do anything you want. Levi started. -but this is the best tactic! -I am just getting to it so wait patiently. From what you said, there is one guy that blocks us from completing the prequest, right? Then we have to be in 100% condition to fight him. Still that 100% also includes you. If we let our best fighter be in bad condition, for the most important fight, our chances will get lower, all three of us needs to be in best average condition. I dont even try to mention that it will hurt our pride as man if we let a girl fight for us. Did, I forgotten about something Arata? -only that, even if we win that fight we will not complete the prequest anyway. Arata added. -ah yes that, well I thought that its obvious. The two of them kept making Rin angrier and angrier. -then you mean that my understanding is wrong! That for nearly a year I was doing it wrong? -well not completely wrong but you skipped the important part. Arata tried to calm her down. -exactly, can you tell me where in your plan do we learn about the secret of the crown or have a graduate that we will get the crown? I mean, I heard that someone managed to complete that thing already but they couldnt take the crown anyway. It was something that Arata and Levi arrived earlier on. The quest they were doing was not simple go, pick up the object from some monster body and return. It was uncovering the secret behind the crown. It could not involve only fighting. -well if we get the crown we will probably find out the secret as well. And maybe one has to have the quest to take the crown. Rin explained. -ah, thats some wishful thinking. Levi commented. -I agree. I wouldnt count on something like that. Sure getting the crown would not be bad but our objective is finding out the secret behind it. Also Rin, you have forgotten about something. -what did I forgot Arata!? -I did solve a riddle for you, didnt I? When does the riddle come to play in all this? -but that riddle is nonsense anyway. It doesnt have anything to do with that. It was just that damn Wizard playing around with me. Rin complained. -hey Arata. It looks like, despite everything Rin is quite a newbie, isnt she? Levi commented. -yea, I arrived at the same conclusion. - . Rin shot them the death glare to which Levi answered right away.. -do you even know what newbie means? -well not no but its definitely something bad and you are insulting me. -bad? Its not anything bad right Arata? -well, everyone is a newbie at some point, thats how it goes. Anyway Levi, it looks like we wont be able count on her while we plan anything. Arata continued. -yea her lack of experience is too great. -hey! I did defeat both of you! Where is that lack of experience I ask! If I am not experienced then what about you two! -dont get angry I will explain Levi said calmly. -Rin, how many quest did you complete so far? -what does that have to do with anything? -just answer. -four long quest lines and three one phase quests. -now then, Arata same question, how many quests have you completed so far? -well I cant remember something like that, thats impossible to count. Arata answered right away. -see thats the experience I am talking about. By the way, I also completed impossible to count number of quests by the way. -and you think I will believe that? Rin said right away. -Rin right now, we are not talking about EOA but quest from games in general. Arata quickly explained. - . Rin went silent. Arata continued. -we did them so many of them so we know that in quests whenever there is some extra information, its definitely something that is related to the quest. Nothing should be put away as nonsense. So Rin, that riddle how was it again? Rin took out the solution to the riddle and read it out loudly. -Plebian cant lay their hands on Kings crown. Only worthy one, recognized by the king can take it. -Levi what do you think? -the keyword would be Plebian right? -probably, Rin does that word appeared somewhere when you were trying to complete the quest? Arata asked, Rin wondered for a moment and then said. -only once. When I was talking with the ghost of the king. When I asked him to fight with me for the crown he answered that he wont fight with every plebian that comes to ask for a fight. -wait, wait, wait, wait a moment. You can talk with the ghost of the king!? Levi quickly interrupted her. -yes, you can speak with him whenever you enter the tomb before the fights begins. Still, whatever you speak with him or not the outcome will be the same so I just skipped it every time after I tried it once When Rin said that both Arata and Levi face palmed. -what!? I should have known, after all her knowledge of the games before should be at Anaris level. -its nothing. Arata didnt even want to comment on that. -so Arata you think that there is another requirement for this quest? Levi asked. -maybe but we will still try just talk it out first, right? -we will need a really good story to convince a ghost that we are someone worthy though. Hmm I dont have any ideas at the moment, first I need to see how the talk even goes. -okay, I got it, leave the talking to me. Arata you just improvise and follow what I say and you Rin, just stay quiet, smile and try to look nice. -who do you think I am!? -Rin just let him do what he wants. Maybe he has a good idea. Also if it goes wrong, we can always jump out from the roof and try again. -fine! Do what you want but after he fail we are going with my plan! The party arrived at the cemetery and without delay entered the tomb. Those stairs are long after all. -hey dont we need some torch or something? Its dark inside. Hey, newbie, how do you light up those green things that were here last time? Levi started. -they light up automatically and stop calling me newbie! -but you are newbie. -I am not! -how can you be so sure? You dont know the meaning of this word. He will get killed for it one day. Arata thought seeing how Levi completely forgotten his old fear and now was teasing Rin like no tomorrow. Well I also did end up teasing her. Well after that show, you cant simply be scared of her anymore. Hmm? Arata felt as someone pulled his left sleeve. They were already inside and it was completely dark so he didnt see who did it. He then heard a whisper. -Arata, what does that word mean? It looked like Rin did want to know. -nothing bad Rin. It means someone who is new to games but you are not a newbie Rin so you dont have to listen to him. -um. -something else? Arata asked as Rin did not let go of his sleeve. Rin did not answer but after three seconds let go of it. At the same time the green light exploded at the center of tomb, and three lines of it went in separated ways. Then the lights stopped at the walls on which they started to burn making the tomb bright and filled with green light. The tomb was a rectangular area with radius of five to six meters. At the opposite end to the entrance was large sarcophagus but apart from that, there was nothing on the ground. On the other hand the walls were filled with rectangular opening. In those openings there were coffins. Above each of coffin there was a painting that showed profiles of people. Most of them were men but there were two women as well. Still Arata did not have a lot of time for sightseeing as. -hahahahaha The tomb was filled with empty laugh and something came out from the main sarcophagus. The cover of sarcophagus was not moved though but rather something came out through it. At first it was a green, transparent mist but it soon changed into another form. The form resembled that of a human but it was still transparent and green. Only the contours were rough and visible. It was about two meters high and while it was floating over the sarcophagus it nearly touched the ceiling. The build of the ghost was very slim and the face looked like from someone who hadnt eaten for years. Still the face did resemble the one on the painting behind the sarcophagus. The ghost spoke the words. -who is thee that disturb the sleep of me? -pss, do what I do Levi whispered to them and stopped forward as when the ghost appeared they were still quite away from him. Arata and Rin followed him. When Levi was about two meters away from the ghost he knelled. Got it. Seeing it Arata also knelled. While doing so he cached Rins head and pushed it down a little, Rin understood what he meant and also knelled. Then Levi started -I am Prince Edward the Eleven. I came to have an audience with my ancestor Edward third the Great. Levi said while bowing down. I see so this is your plan. -and those two? The ghost asked. -those two are my servants and bodyguards. Servants? I will give you servant. Arata understood Levi was planning to do but Rin was already ready for the kill. Still she did not do anything and stayed quiet while planning her revenge. -is that so. Hahahahahaha, I didnt hear a better joke since a long time but my line is long dead! How you dare to trick the great me!? It seemed like Levis attempts rather than help just added oil to the fire. Eh, it didnt work after all. -I dare not, what I say is true. I dont have a proof as I myself just learn about it not so long ago, also you dont have to believe me, what I want is just an audience with you. Levi was not giving up though. -you! Didnt I just said that my line is long gone. With my own eyes I saw how my sons and daughters were slain. I also saw how my brothers died while we fought arm to arm and you still dare to lie to me like that?! I dont have to believe you, you say? Yes I dont, because I do know that you lie. So tell me now, why shouldnt I just execute you on the spot? I guess it is a lost case already. -you wont do that because I believe that my ancestor would not do that until he was 100% sure. And you cant be 100% sure because I am alive. I know that what I say is the truth and even though you are so sure of what you saw, your memories of that time are not that fresh anymore. From what I found out, during the fall of our empire, one of your servant did bring out alive my grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grandfather when he was just an infant. It was already after you fell on the war. You didnt know of your last son that your wife brought to the world Levi was not giving up though although his story was really unreliable. You went a little overboard with this fairy tale. -I am not sure if everything I says is the truth as I know it from uncertain source but the main facts should be correct. -so it was already after I died? Ghost wondered for a moment. -yes, it can be the truth It worked?! Arata saw how Levi showed him a victory mark but it was a little bit too early for that.. -but dont you worry, what you just said can easily be checked. Lets find out the truth. -eh? Levi did not understand what the ghost said or rather he didnt want to believe what he said. That ghost can check it? Well I knew that this story will not work but how is he going to do that. -mind of my army the king calls for you! The green ghost shouted and the cover of coffin on his left started to move. From it bones raised, they were quickly covered by green ghost similar to that of the king. The green mist resembled the man on the painting above him. -your servant reports, what is it my king? New ghost answered formally. -Shepard my friend, I have a question for you. -I will help my king in whichever way I can. -as official as always even after dying. My friend I have a question, tell me, is it possible that my descendant still lives. This one here claims to be one. The ghost of the king pointed at Levi. -it was too long ago to say for certain but it is possible. My king did not know but queen Marlera gave birth to your last child and child was still alive at the time I died. -and why do I not know about it? -the child was born five months after your death and the news arrived even later. Impossible. At the same time Arata heard all that, he also saw how Levi looked away from the king as his face also had a jaw dropped. Levi himself did not believe that his story actually worked. Well its going good for now, but its still not confirmed. -then is it possible that the child lived through that? -it is my king. But if you wish to know for sure, I remember that when the fate of the kingdom was sealed, I sent Victoria back to the castle and told her to take care of the child. My last hope was that one day the light of dawn will once again shine upon Solaris and the kingdom will be reborn. -wings of my army, your kings need you! The ghost of the king shouted right away the moment he heard the news. The coffin next to the coffin of the other ghost moved. From it another green spirit came out. This time however the ghost had a light silver armor on the green cover, also this time it was a woman. Even though already long dead, the green glow still combined into something beautiful. At each of the side the ghost had two short silver blades. -what are your orders my king? The new ghost kneeled the moment she came out. -knight Victoria, is it true that I had a child that was born after my death? -it is my king. -Shepard says that you were sent to take care of it, tell me about it. -when the war was lost, you were dead and our armies practically destroyed, commander sent me on a special mission that was as follow. Preserve the kings blood no matter what. Queen Marlera was already dead when I arrived in capital. The capital itself was under siege by the traitors forces. Nevertheless the child was successfully evacuated from the capital. Following my mission I traveled to an elven lands where took shelter with the child and continued my mission till I died. Before that however, I saw how your descendant married one elven girl and lived happily. -as suspected of Victoria, wont you agree my king? The ghost called Shepard interrupted. -yes, she never let me down. You knew who to send on this job as suspected of my strategist. Knight Victoria your success means that there still should be somewhere in this world some of my descendants right? -there might be a problem about this one, my king. Your last descendant had only one daughter. The villages elder said that he had an incurable disease that didnt allow him to have more than one child. He explained that it happen because he was an early child and queen Marlera was too old at that time to give a normal birth. What was worse, that disease did pass on to his daughter as well, I was told that it became genetic. -so that means, should any of the descendant die before giving a birth to another child the line would be broken. -yes, its just like commander said. All I can say is that when I still lived neither your son nor his daughter died. Also, just as commander instructed, I never told anyone that the child was your son, my king. -I see Shepard you can go, Victoria you stay The ghost king waved his hand and the ghost on the left of him returned to his coffin. The ghost of the king returned his glance to Levi. -stand up all of you So far they were knelling to show respect but now that king asked them to stand up so they did just that. -I still not sure if what you said is correct or not and if you really are my true descendant but nevertheless I will give you a chance. First of all answer my question. You came here for the crown didnt you? -yes I did, I also came here to unlock its secrets. For the first time Levi said the truth to the ghost of the king. -I see. Listen, whatever you are my true descendant or I am not able to check it, thats why I will decide whatever to give you the crown or not based on an old custom. The trial by battle. The god of war will tell us if you are worthy of the crown or not. -okay and what that trial looks like? Arata and Rin and Levi expected it to be the challenge that Rin normally did over and over again through pass year but they were all wrong. -we will hold three fights at the same time. Each of them will be one on one, if you and your bodyguards manage to win two of them then I will give you the crown and tell you its secrets if you lose however, then well you will die. Its a fair trade wont you agree? So do you accept? -would your descendant back out from something like that? Victory or death, everything or nothing. -yes this is how it should be. Levi is really doing a good job. Arata was not sure if he could pull something like that off. He would probably gave up the moment the king first said its impossible but Levi didnt gave up right to the end and continued to use everything he could thought of. -but why do we hold three fights, wouldnt one be enough? Levi asked. -its true that the trial by battle is usually one on one fight, but I did say that it will be a fair trade, didnt I? The ghost answered. -well you did. -you see, its not fair if you dont have any chances. If it were one on one fight then the outcome would already have been decided. Anyway, there will be three fights, that is my decision. You will be fighting against me just as royal blood should and your two knights will fight against mine two knights. To be fair, you can choose who fights who. -and who will be the other two fighters? -one of them will be Victoria who is already here and the other one The king stopped for a moment and then shouted. -the mightiest champion of our empire your king calls for you The coffin on the right from the king moved and from it come out a new ghost. Although, Arata was not sure if he should call him that. He could not see if the one that came out was truly a ghost or not. He was completely covered in crimson blood armor. He also had large crimson two handed sword on his back. On his helmet there was a small line visor. The knight did not say anything after coming out but slowly moved forward and the moment he did so, Arata saw how Rin started shivering. Wow, I didnt expect her to He stopped thinking when he looked at Rins face covered in fear. She even started to make small steps backwards. -Rin. Arata said her name and catch her arm. Rin looked at him but did not say anything. Her shivering did not stop either. In the meantime Levis and the Kings talk continued. -so who will fight who? King asked. -that crimson knight is the strongest, right? Even more than you? -I see you can tell his strength. Well even though I once got a title of great warrior I never managed to win against him, thats why I said it would be unfair if it were fight one on one fight. It would be unfair because he will not lose. Anyway lets get started already, who will fight who? -hmm well I guess the strongest against strongest so . -prince Edward allow me to have an honor to fight against the strongest knight of Solaris. Arata said it after knelling down while still holding Rins arm. Only when he said that Rin finally calmed down then she gave him a reaction which was a surprised look. -why did you? - . I cant let her just go there and die right? She already lost her calm and the will to fight even though they didnt even start fighting. There is no way she could win in this situation. -very well, so be it. The king answered without waiting for Levis approval. -could I ask for some time so we can prepare ourselves? Levi asked. -take as much as you want, just dont go outside The ghost didnt see anything against it. Levi finally walked back to where Arata and Rin were staying. -haha, I dont believe that it actually worked. He came with those words. -me too, but still good job. Arata congratulated him. -how can you call it a good job!? Rin was not convinced though. -well, if we win we will find out the secret of the crown and get the crown as well. How you could not call it a good job? Arata quickly answered. -and if we lose? -lets not think about this scenario, we just have to win. Arata said carefree. -we just have to win you say!? First of all Arata, you are already dead. Wow I didnt except her to worry about me. It was the first time that he saw Rin acting like that still his answer was. -but I dont remember dying today. Arata answered with a joke. -shut up! How could you say that you will fight him, it should be obvious that I as the best of us should fight against the strongest enemy. You know that I couldnt defeat him no matter how hard I tried and you say you want to fight him out of sudden!- -Rin you dont have to say anything else. Levi interrupted her. -but he is just going to die and why did you let him do it? Are you willing to sacrifice him? -yes this is exactly what I do. If you still did not recognize. Arata created for us a perfect opportunity to complete this quest. You said so yourself, you cant win against that crimson knight, right? So no matter who of us will fight against that guy, that person will lose and die. On the other hand, you are sure to bring us a victory if you were to fight the lady knight, right? In this case the most important and deciding fight will be me against the king in which I will hopefully win. Well that is the sum of it. -but Arata will - -Arata volunteered to be a sacrifice so its his deal. Anyway its normal that with quests you die from time to time but its a worthy transaction. Also it will be the easiest for him to recover those levels as he has the lower level than you or me. If you feel bad, help him with regaining them afterwards, it shouldnt take more than a week. -hey Levi, I dont remember singing up to be a sacrifice. I just thought that it will be most interesting to fight that guy. Arata interrupted them. -yes, yes. You definitely didnt do it to stop Rin from shivering right? I mean you never do something as stupid as playing the role of a good hero right? Have fun while dyin I mean fighting. Levi said that sarcastically and then walked towards his opponent. The ghost king was awaiting him with great metal club in his hands. Also in the meantime the ghost changed a little as the green cover was now covering a huge skeleton that came out from sarcophagus. On that skeletons head was a golden crown. -Rin dont worry and focus on your fight, you also wont have it easy. Arata said to Rin. Her opponent also didnt look like easy nut to eat either. But then Rin suddenly asked. -Arata, you really did it for me? -well, I did it for myself but it is true that if you were to go shivering like you did, you wouldnt have stand a chance. Also, I saw your last fight with him, even thought you were fighting for few hours already you shouldnt fight against him like that. -like what? -you simply used your skill from a game and nothing else. It isnt your best, is it? You were much better in our fight. -I fought light that because I was tired. -wasnt it because you were scared? -I- -anyway just focus on your fight and I will focus on mine. Also to answer your question yes I did that for you! After our fight in the arena you asked me for help and I agreed to help you. Its too late for you to take it back so till the quest is done I will support you in every way possible. -Arata? -thats why Rin I will start with defeating your fear. With that said Arata moved to the right part of the tomb where the crimson knight was already waiting for him. The moment Arata walked through certain distance, the tomb was divided by green flames on three equal parts which separated him from Rin who looked like she was still considering his words. But from this moment Arata could not longer see what was happening in other parts of the tomb and he could not wait for Rins answer as right now, before him stood he. Arata looked at the enemy before him. I will defeat your fear. Hmm, even though I said that, how I am supposed to win? Well as grandpa once said, fights are not complicated at all, if you are not sure of what to do, just go at your opponents and beat the crap of them. Arata unsheathed his sword and get in the fighting stance. -this will not be honorable fight young knight. I lost my honor long ago. The crimson knight said those words and slowly moved in Aratas direction. Whoever attacks first, wins. Arata on the other hand rushed forward with full speed. He wanted to use the time, in which the knight would not prepared. After all he didnt even hold his weapon in his hands yet. After reaching his enemy, Arata lunched a strike from the left with his red sword. Knight just stopped it with his arm hand and Aratas sword bounced off his crimson armor. Well, this doesnt look too good. When Arata attacked with second sword the knight spinned on foot and afterwards he had his great sword in his left hand. Second later, the knight made a powerful swing horizontally. He didnt even have to aim as the area of attack was all around him. Arata managed to jump backwards outside of the range though. Now! Second the sword passed, Arata rushed forward once again. Big attacks like the one that knight just demonstrated had a weakness which was after one big swing it would took some time to stop it which left the user undefended. Arata wanted make use of it but the sword which should be flying backward changed its momentum and started went back to attack forward. Arata seeing the impossible only managed set up a guard with his left sword but that wasnt enough. Aratas sword was pushed away. The crimson greatsword managed to cut Arata on left side of belly before Arata strengthened his guard with the second sword. The moment he finally blocked it however, Arata was sent flying to the wall by the power of knights push. The knight did not stop to let Arata land. When Arata was in the air the knight pointed his hand in his direction and second later several large fireball was fired out at him. Magic as well!? But he is already using some cheating moves! Arata was little surprised by the fact that the knight was also able to shot fireballs at him. Still magic attacks were easy for Arata to defend against so he was in a way lucky because if the knight were to rush him down with his sword, it might have ended up badly. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. [Sword enchant: fire] Arata cut through the fireball that were to hit him. Other fireballs were shooted in the area around him, probably in the case Arata could somehow avoid the frontal one. After cutting through fireball Arata landed safely on the ground. But he did not have a lot of time as knight started to use other kinds of magic as well. Earth rockfist, ice lances, electric thunder. Knight had quite a lot of them but Arata was just on defence and was cutting through each of it. [Sword enchant: earth] [Sword enchant: ice] [Sword enchant: electric] Sword enchanter, the second class that he got was a perfect example of anti-magic class. Even though it might not look that strong, when one unlocks its secrets, he can do a lot. It was, after all a class of rank four. Although the knight should switch to melee attacks once again he kept trying with magic attack. Is he testing my abilities? Arata read it as that. The knight probably thought that there is a limit to how many attacks Arata could defend against but Arata could defend against really large number of spell. Suddenly the knight let go of his sword and started casting something bigger. From the ground a wall of fire erupted and that wall started moving in Aratas direction. Em? Can I cut through it as well? I dont think I have a choice. Yes Arata did not have a choice here as there was no way for him to avoid it. The area that wall of fire consumed was completely filling the space that they have been fighting in. That attack was also actually cutting through the green fire at one corner. [Sword enchant: fire] If it doesnt work then I am dead but if it does work then there is a chance. Arata rushed forward at the wall believing that his skill will not fail him. In the end Arata cut through the fire without any problems although his sword lighten up in flames the moment he did so. Arata jumped through the opening he had made leaving the wall of fire behind him. The place he came out from was right in front of the knight who after casting a spell did not have his weapon in his hands. Without wasting any minute, Arata slashed at him from both sides and once again the knight just took it on his hands like nothing. Then the knights left leg bursted in flames and he kicked forward at where Arata was staying but something like that wouldnt work on Arata. Arata just dodged it with ease and counterattacked. This time it was Arata who kicked the knight and even though he tried, the knight could not dodge it. The kick forced him a little backward. Arata followed it up with swords attacks and the crimson knight started taking the hits. Two, four, eight, sixteen. Arata was slashing at the knights left and right. Still, his attacks did practically no damage to knights armor and in a way the knights was ignoring them while standing up but that did not discourage Arata at all. Now! [Sword enchant: wind] [Sword slash] [Sword slash] Arata send out double sword slash combo from a close range at the crimson knight and the knight took it right on the chest and afterwards he was sent flying back into the green fire. It seemed like he was actually going to go through it which could interrupt the other fights but there was some kind of barrier that prevented the knight from passing through the flames and he ended up landing right inside them. Did I win? It was too easy but normally just one sword slash and anything dies and he just took two of them. It was truth that the knight was very powerful but so far Arata didnt see anything in this game that withstood his sword slash. No matter how many times he used it, it always ended with enemies being cut in half. But this time it was not the case as the knight was not cut in half but he was blown away. No way. Arata saw as the crimson knight stood up from the flames like nothing and this time he started running in Aratas direction. So far he was just walking. However this time the crimson knights red-blood armor was not left untouched but at the same time it was not broken. The only thing that was left of Aratas attack were two lines that made a cross mark on the knights crimson armor but it was just a small scratch nothing else. Is he for real? Arata could not believe it at first but there was no time for that. Ah, he also got angry, still as long as I wont let him pick up that sword it shouldnt be that bad. The knight was running forward in Aratas direction but it was now more towards to his sword. Arata entered his way and prepared for the attack. He stroke with both swords at the knight when he got in range but the knight did not even try to block it. He simply continued to run ignoring Aratas attacks. Without any interference the knight reached his sword. And what I am supposed to do when he can simply ignore my attacks? Even sword slash had no effect. At the present time Aratas attacks simply had no effect which meant that the knight could simply ignore them completely and go into full attack mode. That was exactly what he going to do now. Arata once again found himself on the assault of the crimson knight. With his crimson greatsword he continued to make one powerful attack after another. Arata was only moving backwards now out of attacks range and kept looking at the attacks. Those moves are unnatural. Its like at any given time he can change the direction in which his sword is going. Simply put it laws of physics do not apply to his sword. Still I dont have time to think about that. If I stay on defense I wont be able to do anything. Although he knew that attacks his attack will have little effect, Arata could not defending forever. I highly doubt that ghosts can get tired, that tactic simply wont work. There is no other choice than this. As suicidal as it might seem, Arata decided to enter the close combat. The moment the large swing passed in front of him, Arata stopped moving backward and once again rushed forward. The crimson greatsword immediately went back at Arata with its unnatural flow. [Sword enchant: shield] Arata set up a guard with two swords as he already expected it to happen. clink The swords clashed. The knight was clearly at advantage as even though Arata was not send flying this time he was being pushed. Even though there was little strength in knights backward swing, the moment swords clashed it was a contest of power in which Arata didnt have much chance. While being pushed to the side Arata focus more at getting closer to the knight rather than staying on the position. Arata wanted to get as close as possible to the position in which the knight could not use the full power of his huge swings but the knight did not let that happen. Arata felt that the weight on his guard disappeared but second later the red greatsword was coming at him with great speed from the other side. Arata knew from the start that blocking full swing is impossible for him. He managed to block the previous attack only because it had no speed behind it. Arata quickly crouched down to avoid the horizontal swing. Still, the moment the greatsword was over his head, its stopped for a second and then started going downward. Arata right away moved to the right. The greatsword did not hit the ground but once again stopped in the air and second later went after Arata once again. [Leap] Arata jumped upward to the ceiling with a spin. The greatsword went after him once again in similar matter. The greatsword ended up making a rectangular arc in the air. Right now, Arata was standing on the ceiling upside down while blocking the greatsword that came at him. In the contest of strength he was slowly pushed upward and upward even though this time Arata had complete weigh of his body on his side. Then the knight saw an opening. He stopped trying to push Arata upward. The moment he did, Arata start falling down and while falling down he had no way of avoiding the incoming swing. Not good. Arata took a full swing from the knight who spinned on the ground. Of course he set up a guard but the moment swords clashed, Arata was send flying into the wall with incredible speed. [Sword enchant: water] [Sword slash] Before Arata hit the wall, Arata send out a wave of water in the direction he was going. The slash opposed the force that he had and Arata slowed down and stopped. The wall on which he used the sword slash was cut deeply and the water was flowing out from that intersection. That was a nice idea. Now then. Arata looked back at his opponent who put his greatsword on his arm and was slowly walking in Aratas direction. Hmm, he is full of openings. Well, my attacks wont work on him anyway. Rather than a fight, for him its still a child play with no risk. That armor is really something. Still I just have try to break through it again and again till its works. Thats the only thing I can do. Just as Arata was going to try another raid at the crimson knight the area around him has slightly changed. The green lines of flames that previously separated inside of the tomb into three parts burned out. Soon after Arata could hear a loud laugh. -hahahaha, you did end up defeating me after all. I would want to say that I couldnt fight at my full strength in this state only with those old bones but a true warrior does not look for excuses after losing. Haha, its seems like your bodyguard won as well. It was the ghost of the kings voice -I ask for your forgiveness my king but only with my spirit alone I could not hope to defeat such opponent. Arata looked around. It looked like both Rin and Levi already won their matches which meant that they successfully completed the quest. Levi was rather alright after his fight, he didnt look too damaged. On the other hand, Rin did have a lot of wounds and a silver sword was pierced through her arm. Still her opponent state was much worse as she was completely covered by red weapons. Rin took out the silver sword and started holding her arm on a wound from which a blood started coming out. -there is nothing to forgive Victoria, you may go. Now then, young fighter, you have won the trial of battle and proven yourself worthy of the crown. Pick it up from my remains. The ghost of king was no longer covering the skeleton but was once again floating in the air. Also from kings skeleton only the head in crown remained, all other bones were destroyed. It looked like Levi was not wasting his time there. Levi walked up to the crown and picked it up. -now, tell me about the secret of it. -oh, I will, I will but we are not done with the trial yet, are we? You might have won already but the trial of battle is not yet complete. Ah, and here I hoped that I can get away from it somehow. For a moment Arata hoped that he would not have to continue his fight with the crimson knight but it seemed like it was not going to be the case. -its not necessary to continue the fight. Levi tried to help Arata out. -fights that started shouldnt be stopped until the winner is decided. After all, its a fight of two knights. Do you want to make them lose their honor. Once a trial of battle starts, from two fighters only one survive. Now, call your other servant over here so she doesnt get in a way. Levi tried to help Arata out, but the king did not agree. -but we are in hurry so maybe they could finish it out with a tie? We have important business later on. Levi did not give up. Just like before when he tried to persuade the king. If it works, I will really have to thank him. -important business, you say? It cant be helped then. Ah, I wanted to see a fight of someone who could survive this long against my champion but very well Yes, it worked. And so Arata was saved and he did not have to continue the fight with the red knight that is what could have happen but this world is unfair and evil. -my champion, our guests dont have much time so stop playing around and finish it quickly! The ghost of the king shouted an order. -as you wish my king. - . Levi felt silent after hearing that. Arata saw as air around the red knight has changed. Then his crimson greatsword become completely covered in some dark energy. - . Hmm, if it isnt a technique that cut through my double sword slash the other day Damn you Levi. Arata send a sharp glance to Levi who just throw up his hands showing that there is nothing he can do. I wonder if I just run away right now the quest still will be completed. Arata considered trying this option but then he saw Rin. -sorry Arata, we shouldnt have done that after all. Bear with me until we complete the quest but after that -after that do not speak with me ever again. -thats why Rin I will start with defeating your fear. Arata remembered what he said to Rin not that long ago and he was no longer thinking of running. No, there is only one possible thing I can do and that is to beat the crap of this guy. Arata stopped hesitating and once again focused on the fight. The knight finished his spell and started running in Aratas direction. Even before his blade looked terrifying but now covered in dark energy it was even more terrifying. Still, Arata did not fear it at all and also started running at his enemy. This time blocking is not an option. Touching it is not an option, getting close to it is also not an option. As for getting hit, nothing has changed here, I will get slashed in half regardless if there is black energy on it or not. Arata was not afraid of his enemy. He just arrived at logical conclusions. Knights range was greater so he was the on to first lunch an attack, he swung horizontally at incoming Arata. [Lighting steep] In comparison to all other times Arata jumped right before enemys sword. The black energy was nearly touching him but right now Arata was moving faster than the swing of knight. He run passed the knight on the right side and landed a hit on him with his left sword while running pass him. That attack bounced of knights armor like always. After the attack Arata get at enemys back from where he wanted to make few additional attacks but the greatsword did not stop even though it should. It was because the knight started to hold it only with one hand and continued his swing to his back. [Black dash] Arata went through the knight, before the sword got him. He stopped right at the front of the knight from where he stabbed both of his swords backward, after he felt as they bounced off the armor, Arata started running forward before the sword came from the back. The knight went right after him before Arata could even turn around, still Aratas speed was much greater and when he got into the safe distance, he turned around not losing speed and once again charged at knight. The knight thrusted his sword forward at Arata. Arata went down on his knees and slide on them underneath knights greatsword. Before the sword changed its direction with his great speed Arata slipped next to the knight and hit with both of his swords at knights legs. Still, the armor the defended knights legs, was as solid as every other part of armor he wore. After the slip Arata went back at his legs and charged at knights back. Knight spinned on his foot right away and lunched another horizontal strike. Arata was rushing forward like before but right before the range of sword he stopped letting the sword go forward. This time Arata once again went forward after the strike went and somehow this time the reaction of knight to his change of speed was much slower. Got you. [Stream of night.] [Black dash.] First Arata pierced with both of his swords into the knights chest, then using the skill Arata lunched another twelve strikes and before the red greatsword came at him Arata run away with black dash behind his target. From there he once again stabbed backward with his swords at knights back and then moved away from knights range. Arata was doing it all while using his lighting steep ability. It drained a lot of his stamina but it was very helpful in fight where Arata cant even touch enemys weapon. No more streams of night. My attacks dont work anyway and I need to keep stamina for lighting steep for at least until his dark sword ability is still on. Throughout the whole fight Aratas main objective was winning it. Arata would not consider losing no matter what. That how he just was. Still right now his main priority was focused on staying alive rather than attacking, that was because if he stayed alive he would always had a chance to find a way to break through the crimson knights armor. Right now, was the hardest period in which his opponent used his ultimate spell, attacking was now even farther on the list. If Arata was here alone, he would probably just run around the tomb until the spell dies off but he could not do it as Rin was watching him, and even though his main objective was winning, there was still something even more important that he had to do right now. Arata once again raided on the knight. This knight attacked over from the head downward. Arata moved to the left to dodge it. The greatsword changed its direction without stop and diagonally swung left. Still even though there was no delay Arata managed to run forward before it got him, still because he had to speed up he did not hit the knight. Stopping with a slip two meters away from the knight, Arata rushed once again at his back. While using lighting steep Aratas advantage in speed was enormous. He could practically run around the knight and charge at his back before the knight could even turn around. And once again Arata crushed into the knight with his swords thrusted forward and then moved away before the sword got him. Arata was the only one to land attack on his enemy and knight could not keep up with him as long as Arata used lighting speed skill. From the outside it might even look like Arata was winning it huge but truth was that his attacks still did not bring any effect. Arata circled around the knight and rushed at him this time at his left. He pierced right into knights arm with both of his sword once again looking for any weak spot but once again there was none and his swords just slide on the crimson armor. Knight reactions were faster right now and the greatsword was coming at Arata with much greater speed. Still, it was nothing that would manage to catch him. Arata moved to knight back lunched another slash there and then started to get outside of knights range. Ha? But then after making two fast steeps Aratas whole body took a shock that stopped his movements. It was only for a second but that was enough, then when Arata continued to move forward he no longer had his double speed. Also because he stopped midway, Arata did not manage to run away in time. The tips of edge of greatsword run through his back. The wound was not big and it didnt reach inside much but even though it was just that Arata felt immersive pain. -aaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Arata start falling to the ground but then stopped midway as he put his right leg forward. Then with all his will he tried to ignore the pain that was going through his body. -ha, ha. I am alive? But I was just seen that he cut me in half. Arata was not cut in half but to him it looked like that. When the greatsword reach him the dark energy that surrounded it went right through his body and appeared at the other end before Aratas eye. I cant stay here for too long. Arata felt as the knight behind him already prepared another attack. The moment Arata moved forward, the greatsword landed at the spot he was in before. I can move so his attack shouldnt do that much but what was that numbing pain? Arata was already experienced in taking hits but an attack that made him scream like there was no tomorrow was completely something else. Still it didnt seem to make any physical damage. As for the reason why he got hit, Arata didnt thought for a second about the shock he received. He somehow knew that it was because his stamina ran out. Proof to that was that lighting speed run out as well. Whatever it was, I have more important things on my mind right now. Yes Arata had more important things on his mind, first being how to fight and survive without his overwhelming speed. This is bad. This time it was the knight who attacked first. With two fast steps he moved forward and before Arata could react his swing his sword at him. [Sword enchant: shield] Arata managed to stop the sword but the dark aura that was around it cut through his body. -aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! The moment it hit, first Arata once again could not stop his scream but after that all resistance he had was lost. Arata fell to the ground. -Arata, watch out! Levis shout brought him back sentences as Arata for a second completely passed out from the pain. Not good. He did not see what happen in few seconds back but right now the knight was delivering an executing blow at his body. Arata put his swords before in cross sign and the greatsword stroke at it. -aaaaaaaaaaaaa! Although once again he did stop the enemys sword, which surprised even him but then once again he screamed in pain when the black energy got him. I cant pass out now! -aaaaaaaaaaaa! Arata continued to scream. Still, it was not only because of pain that was running through his body. It was also to help him keep himself awake. -Arata! -Rin stop, you cant go and help him! -but he will! -we knew that it will end like this, dont let his sacrifice be in vain. Rin. -aaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Arata continued to scream while mustering lasts of his strengths. -Arthur, Arthur, come over here. -what do you want grandpa? Cant you see I am busy, its you who told me to train with those swords. -haha, and even though you said its a pain you kept on doing so, now I thought that it will be a good time to add a sparing to your training program as well. Look over there she will be your partner. -emm grandpa, isnt she a little bit small? Also you expect me to go serious against the girl? -stupid grandson! -aua! -did I ever teach you to look down on your opponent? -no but even though you say that, she doesnt look like someone hard to beat. -ah you will have to learn it on your skin then. Yes it will be a good lesson, you will learn not to underestimate your opponents based on look. -then can I underestimate them based on other things? -stupid grandson! -aua! -hey Amanda, come here for a moment! Teach my stupid grandson a lesson and dont hold back at all. -yes master! -aaaaaaaaaaaaa! No more! Then suddenly the flow of battle was changed. Although still screaming, Arata started to push back the enemys sword. Slowly but steadily he pushed it farther and farther. At some point Arata managed to get back at his feet. The dark energy was still cutting through him. This time the cut was not only creating a pain but also physical internal damage to his vitals but that did not stop Arata. From the start he knew that his chances were slim and even though he did not believe in victory anymore, he still wanted to show her that one should not fear anything and fight to the bitter end. And then Arata saw it, the ray of hope. Arata gathered all strength that he had left and for the first time in the fight completely pushed away enemys weapon. While he managed to do that, he felt as if that strength was not really his as he never had this many strength before. Still, he didnt stop to think about it and right away without stopping. Arata pierced forward at knights crimson armor. The knight completely ignored Aratas attack at prepared his sword for finishing blow but he did not expect it to be his downfall. -waaaaaaaaa! [Sword enchant: flame] [Sword slash] Arata pierced his black sword right into knights armor and this time it did not bounce off like all other attacks he made so far. It did not bounce off, and that was because Arata hit into the opening in enemys armor. There was tiny hole in the place where he once shooted out with his sword slash. It was so tiny that normally one would not notice it but Arata did notice it because compared to fully red-blooded armor there was a small little green light blinking there. Arata did not know which attack made this hole and since when it was there but that did not matter. Aratas sword made that hole just a little bigger but it still did not reach far enough to hurt the knight, still it was the end of the fight. Sword slash skill which Arata normally used only as arc was now used while doing pricing attack, the effect was that all its energy was send out from the tip of the sword. Arata did not see it but inside knights armor a massive amount of flames appeared. Because they could not break through the armor anywhere else, all flames stayed inside and started combining with each other. Only the visor on knights helmet could somewhat tell what was happening inside as it become completely red in flames. There was no scream, there was no sound. The crimson armor just dropped down along its crimson greatsword. -ha, ha, ha. Arata also fall on his knee after delivering the last blow, he had no more strength to stand but nevertheless it was his victory. Is it over? Arata expected to hear something or at least see the green spirit coming out from the body but that did not happened. Dont tell me he is still alive. If the knight were to move again it would be a game over for Arata but thankfully that did not happened. Instead. -clap, clap, clap Arata heard a clapping coming from his left and it was coming from the spirit of the king. -spectacular, spectacular. To think that there would be a person who could defeat him. Not only did you defeat him in battle but also destroyed his spirit in this world, he is now finally free from the curse Then the ghost of the king looked at Levi and said. -hey Blondie, give me back my crown. -hey! The crown fly up from Levis hand and went to the hands of the king or rather its started to float around. -but you promised- -black warrior, tell me is this truly my descendant? The king was no longer listening to Levi but asked Arata instead. -he is not, everything he said was thought up. Arata replied. -as I thought, in this case The crown flied over to Arata. -in recognition of your strength I will give it to you. Arata cached the crown. -rather than the crown we are more interested in its secret. Arata said quickly. -yes, I will tell you that as well. The crown was always a symbol of the kings of Solaris. As long as there was a ruler to wear it as long Solaris stood strong. After my death the crown was not passed to anyone and that is the reason that my kingdom fallen to dust. Still, the crown do have a power to bring back the kingdom back to its glory, how exactly it will happen, I cannot tell but the legend is definitely the truth. -so crowns secret is that it can resurrect the kingdom? -yes, you understood well. [Prequest Test of worth objective completed] The message signaling completion of the prequest appeared. Now all Aratas party needed to do is to go back to the Wizard. -first part finished! Levi shouted with joy. It looked like he didnt care that his previous play was destroyed as long as the quest was completed. Then Rins reaction was even more. Arata saw as tears start pour out from her eyes but he was not worried as they could be only tears of joy. Or was there a different reason behind them? -now then you have the crown and you know the secret, my promise to you all is complete. I have guarded this place for so long but now my work here is done and this place no longer bonds me. Before I go young fighter listen to my last message. You can do whatever you want with the crown I gave it to you. Still in your hands its nothing else than a decoration. I will not ask it of you but if you wish to resurrect my kingdom, look for my true descendant. Even though it was all your play, the truth is that he might still be alive. Should he truly still live and should you bring Solaris back from the land of death your reward would be unimaginable, it is my promise to you as a king. [Heir to the throne You have entered into the possession of legendary crown of kings of Solaris. Its power however cannot be used by anyone outside of royal bloodline. You have learned about possibility of living descendant of last king Edward Third the Great. Should you find that descendant and help him in bringing back the kingdom to its glory, you can expect the kings gratitude. Reward: Unknown. Rank of the quest 4 Warning: Information about kings heir being still may not be the truth. Should the heir no exist all your effort will be in vain.] Oh I didnt expect another quest. Although, its seems way too troublesome so I wont be doing it any time soon unless I get bored. But is it quest only for me or did others get it too? The conversation with the king ended up being a quest. After all Wizards quest was not directly connected with the tomb as it was only a testing place. Also the quest that Arata got from him never mentioned getting the crown at all. -hey did you guys just get a quest? Arata asked to find out. He did not want to hide the fact that he got one. -you mean confirmation that we completed the quest? I did when the ghost finished talking. Levi answered. -no I mean the other quest connected with the crown. -no I didnt, you did!? -yes, just now. -then why I didnt get one! We are in party right? When someone gets a quest in party its automatically shared between everyone. Hey, Rin did you get one? - . Rin did not answer him instead she walked to Aratas front still holding her wound on right arm. Arata was still sitting on the ground. -Rin? Arata said her name but he was quickly interrupted. -why did you won!? She asked him in angry voice. -is it bad? -why did you won!? Why does she yell at me? -I managed to defeat my enemy so I won. It was not easy but I gave it my all and it somehow worked out. -then doesnt that mean mean you went easy one me? -ha? -you went easy on me! Do you not care about my pride at all?! Instead of congratulating him Rin was really furious at him. -what are you talking about? Arata could not understand her. After all, he tried so hard to defeat the crimson knight mostly for her. -Arata, its probably something along these lines. Yesterday she defeated you in your duel but today you defeated someone whom she could not defeat, conclusion you went easy on her. Levi voiced Rins thoughts. -but I didnt go easy on her! -you dont have to tell me this I saw how badly you got beaten yesterday. Completely outclassed. -whatever you say Levi, you will not convince me. This guy was always like that! You may not know how many times we fought but he never took me serious! Rin was so angry that she forgotten that they were not going to mention the fact that they knew each other from real life. -thats not true, I- Arata tried to defend himself and then Levi interrupted. -hey Rin, I dont know about the past but yesterday he really gave it his all. As to why he won today, its probably because yesterdays fight was pure swordsmanship only and today it was full arsenal with games abilities and skills. I admire your real skill but you are still newbie when it comes to games when Arata is experienced veteran of highest caliber. -Levi you better shut up. Arata said that but then. -no Levi, please continue. Rin said to him. -I pretty much said everything there was but what I can add is that in this world just knowing how to fight in real is not enough to win. You idiot! Arata heard the sound of unsheathed sword and when he looked back at Rin she was holding a red sword which end was now right at Aratas throat. Also around her other red weapons appeared floating in the air. They were also pointed at him. Man, I got to this situation for the third time already, but this time its the worse from all. -Arata let us fight again and this time use everything you can to beat me, no more excuses no more going easy on me. -but Rin, you are too wounded to continue the fight, and your arm is completely useless. Arata pointed it out. The wounded arm which Rin hold so far was now just floating in the air. It didnt look like Rin had any control over it. Her fight must have been really dramatic for her to end up like that. -you are also wounded just like me and I am well experience in fighting in a state like this. Dont worry even though with this handicap I will still win. So stand up and dont you dare to go easy on me! -but I swear I didnt go easy on you! You would recognize it if that were the case. Remember I even asked you yesterday how did you reached that speed as for me it was something unthinkable. So calm down. -you might be true, I didnt saw you giving me an edge but still I want to fight you with going full all out. We are fighting in this world so we should use the full power that we have in this world. So stand up and fight me. -but adding our skill will not change the outcome, I give up! You already beat me when we fought normally and if we add skills, those flying red things behind you are definitely much more powerful than everything I have combined. Then you still have other skills, I really dont feel like winning with you. -yes, you cant win against me but thats why I asked you. Why did you won!? The conversation circled to its starting point although lucky Rin calmed down now. -I fought with all I got and I was lucky. -you think I will be satisfied with an answer like that. -rather than asking why did I win, you should think why did you lose. -fine I will tell you why I lose. No matter what I tried, no matter how hard I tried, I always ended up being pierced by his blade, right through my chest here. It was not one time thing, I lost against him many times and each time we fought it was even worse, even though I knew more and more about him. In each of our fight he fought from a starch but I already knew his abilities but still he still pierced me with his sword. Here, are you looking Arata! Arata looked elsewhere as he was not comfortable in looking at the place Rin was pointing at. -Rin you still dont know why you lose. I told you before the fight didnt I? - After Arata said that Rin instantly got quiet. -I told you that I will defeat your fear. - . -I think you never actually had a fair fight against that knight. You only fought against him during that other encounter right? The one you told us about. Its only natural that after few hours of fight you would not be able to fight against someone this strong. Then, each time he defeated you, your will to fight against him got weaker and weaker. -no if I were to fight him today I would still lose. It wouldnt have matter if I were to fight him in my best condition. -I wont argue here with you, you would lose but its not because you are weaker. Remember what grandpa once said. There are two easy ways to lose a fight. One is to underestimate your opponent and other is to fear them. Dont ever think of any of it during the fight as it will bring your doom. This is what he thought us. -yes I remember that. -see, no matter if you are better than me you still lose because you feared him. Is that the answer you were looking for. Arata understood it ever since he first saw Rins fight against that knight after he was teleported by the wizard near the tomb. At that time Rin was not fighting, she simply used her skill and waited for the doom. And Arata knew that no matter how strong her skill were, her real swordsmanship and her real abilities were what makes Rin strong. -but, how did you know? Rin asked. -well you kept saying that no matter what you cant win against him and when you saw him coming from the coffin you had a dead look on your face and started to shiver. It was rather easy to tell. -well I did fear him but even so, I had my reasons for it. -well, I definitely dont blame you here, that guy was scary, I dont want to see him ever again. Also what did that ghost say, that wasnt their best? I really would want to avoid meeting that guy while he was still alive. -the ghost also said that warriors does not look for the excuses. You really managed to win against him, Arata Rin stopped for a moment and added. -yes, you were incredible. Arata got fully complemented by Rin. It was no longer you didnt fight with me seriously yesterday or you went easy one me but real complement. Well, I really glad it didnt end up in us fighting again. Thought, Arata after Rin sheathed her sword back. Coz I would surely die this time once again. -hey, might I add some thoughts on the matter as well. Levi joined in after the tension eased. -Levi you better not say anything, cant you see that its ended peaceful. I dont want to hear a word from you. Arata said to him right away. -fine then I will only tell it to Rin. Levi came closer and started whispering to Rins ear. -for my sake? Arata only heard what Rin said to confirm something. When Levi finished her face was completely red. -hey, Rin what did he told you? - . Arata asked but when he did so Rin particularly avoided his eyes and didnt answer anything. Arata repeated the question this time to Levi. -what did you tell her? -only the truth that I saw, nothing else. Also I think I heard you said the same thing to her already, in slightly different words but the same. Why do I feel like, he just said something that will make my life more complicated. -Rin whatever he said, dont take him seriously. It didnt seem like Rin could hear him now. Then Rin took something out from her bag. It was a healing potion. She drunk it right away. -we are tired after the fight so we will return the quest to Wizard later. Meet me at my house at six, bye! She said it quickly while not looking in their direction and especially no Aratas one. Then she start running to the only entrance there was. In short time she was nowhere to be seen although when she was running outside Levi saw that her face which she tried to hide was still red if not redder. -ah maybe I overdid it. Who knows what the girl will think right now. Levi said out loudly. I dont want to know what he said, I really dont. -we should get going as well. Arata and Levi also went outside but there they were soon welcomed by rain outside. -ah man, the weather sure got bad while we were underground and here it was such refreshing sun in the morning. Levi started. -if you looked closely at the sky you would recognize that storm clouds were coming. -you pay attention to something like that? -no but I still saw them. -I wonder if Rin run through this rain? -well she is not here at least. Right now they were standing at the edge of the tomb where the rain still not dropped. -maybe she log out. Levi proposed. - . -what? -nothing but I just dont think thats the case. -then she should have stayed with us and discuss the quest. Ah, it was really good experience you cant often have a duel with a true king right. Well it was just its spirit thought. Still good thing that he was only a spirit. Being as strong as he was in this from, I wonder how strong he was while he was alive. When I defeated him the king said that he couldnt use even 25% of his real power that he had while he was still alive, it was probably the same for other spirits as well. After all, those were the strongest warriors of the everlasting empire, normally guys like that are super strong way outside our league. You probably dont know but in this game there are NPCs that are so strong that , hey are you listening to me? While Levi was talking Arata looked through his inventory and took out blue umbrella. -see you later Levi. Be sure not to get late. -hey you are leaving me here alone? Arata ignored Levis last comment as well as his last speech and started walking through the rain. The sound of rain drops falling on leafs was soothing for Arata after his fight. On the other hand the view got worse as the forest in season of fall did not look too great while it was raining. Especially the road was filled with wet mud mixed with brown leafs, still it did not hinder Arata too much as for the first time in some time he was free in his solitude. For past few days he had golden always speaking machine that traveling with him. The thought that he will not get away from that machine at least till the quest is complete did not help, thats why Arata wanted to take as much as he could from this rare opportunity. At the edge of the forest, he saw Rin siting under one of the trees. She also had a white umbrella over her head so the rain did not touch her. She was just sitting there with her eyes closed and had a smile on her face. A smile that Arata did not see her make ever before. Arata could hear that she was humming some song that he did not know. Still he did not even consider interrupting her and walked outside the forest. He also had an unusual smile on his face. Next Chapter Chapter 30 “Worlds first in sight” Chapter 30 World first in sight The fight was won and the first obstacle is out of the way. The prequest has been completed. It didnt actually take more than few hours for Arata and his teammates to complete it. They left Karma at around 11:00 am and when Arata get back to the city, it was only little over 3:00 pm. That meant that completing the quest took roughly four hours and most of the time was spent on going to the tomb and back afterwards back again. If it going this fast then I was worried over nothing. Arata would not admit that but he was little scared when Rin told him that she already spent nearly a year on this prequest. If that was the time that she spent on a prequest how long would it take to complete the whole quest. It was true that Arata was not in rush right now and he liked to take things slowly but at the back of his head he always kept a thought that he wants to see Kotori again and he wanted to do it as soon as possible. When Arata first arrived in Karma, he wanted to go to where she is right away. He didnt do it only because of his pride and the arrangement that he made with Kotori beforehand. Still, he thought that after a month or so will pass he will go to her right away. That was his plan at least. However Arata ended up joining a group for a quest and he could not execute that plan anymore. Still there was a hope as he saw that the quest may not actually take too long. Even if he still had no idea what that quest will actually be about after quick completion of the prequest he was in good thoughts. If it goes really fast I might end up doing the other quest as well. Although its a rank four and it looks really troublesome. Not to mention, that I dont even have idea where would I could even start looking for some kings descendant. Hmm nah, that was a bad idea after all. I will leave this quest for some other time. During the completion of prequest Arata ended up receiving another quest which was completely independent from the one he first received from the wizard. The biggest thing about his new quest was that it was quest of rank four. Quest of those rank are meant to change the structure of the world or so Arata heard. It was said that upon completing some two quest of that rank two new races were unlocked. Also two guilds that managed to complete those quests are now worldly known as being the two strongest guilds of EOA. Those two guilds were strong before but when they completed those quests the fame they received was so overwhelming that it made them stick out from the rest. When that happen whenever good player would start looking for guild, they would try to join either of those two which got a revenue of completing quests of rank four and that made those two guilds even stronger afterwards. Still Arata had nothing to do with it and even if he heard about it, he would not find it interesting. The fact was that Arata himself did not realize what it really meant to find a quest of rank four. For him, it was something that he happened to find and maybe in the future he will decide to do it if he finds some time. He himself would not be surprised if one day in the future while opening a quest log he find that quest there and think what is it doing here?. In the end, it was fault of the king that he gave a job to resurrect his empire to someone like Arata. Normal player would right away try to get the job done, but Arata was simply drinking a caf while eating a cake in some random restaurant that he found. His main occupation right now was to look at the rain that was pouring from the sky. When Arata arrived in the Karma after the fight with crimson knight he didnt really have anything to do, so he ended up going on a tour around the city again. Still because it was raining on the way, he quickly found a restaurant that sold cakes and ended up ordering some. When he finished the first portion he ended up ordering more, as those were good case. Also he had a lot of gold and even if there was a negative effect of eating to many cakes, that did not applied to this world so Arata kept on devouring one cake after another. The time Arata spent while waiting for a meeting time with Levi and Rin was just like that, nothing happened. Arata ended up sitting in that restaurant for few hours thinking about usual stuff. Which meant mostly about the person he wanted to meet. If Arata didnt have anything to do, his thoughts would usually go in that direction. When the time of meeting was drawing near, Arata went before Rins house. Just to be sure that even if he gets lost he wont be late afterwards. Still because Arata did not get lost he arrived about half an hour before the time. The rain was still pouring from the sky and it didnt look like it will change any time soon. Although with his blue umbrella that he bought some time ago in Karma it didnt present much of a problem. Arata ended up standing before Rins house. Of course he could ring a bell and enter as she was probably inside but after thinking about it he decided not to. After all, their tries to talk with each other one on one always turned into either deadly silence or after that dont speak with me ever again. With those results, Arata had no hopes for normal conversation with Rin alone as another try would probably end up in similar effect. Arata decided to avoid that. -what are you standing outside for? Come in. But then while standing he heard unexpected words that came from now opened door. Naturally the one who said them was Rin. Her clothes were little different than before, she was now wearing a dark blouse in gothic style with long sleeves. Her hair was also different as it was going through the shoulder at front rather than falling at her back. When seeing them in different position, Arata once again realized how long they were. - . Because Arata did not respond in any way as he was slightly surprised Rin got little irritated. -is standing in random places and looking at the rain is still one of your hobbies? She asked. -ah no I was just surprised by your look. Rather he was more surprised that she called out to him but he could not say that. -anyway just come in! Why did she shout at me? Whatever she shouted or not, Arata followed Rins instruction and entered inside. They ended up sitting in the living room in which the party was held yesterday, it was still not completely cleaned up for that time. Rin ended up sitting at the opposite side of the table on the couch and started to comb her hair. It seemed like she was doing it before as well as she pick up the comb from the couch. Hmm, maybe I should try again. Arata didnt want another deadly silence to occur so he started. -I dont remember even having that hobby, you know. He referred to what Rin said earlier. -is that so. I do remember you doing it quite often thought. Even if its not your hobby you liked doing it at least. -how can Rin know that? Arata knew that he should not ask that question and that he should not bring that subject up but somehow he felt that something changed today. Hearing his question a small smile appeared on Rins face. -you know what Arata. It was stupid to try to imitate that we dont know each other, so lets stop it already. Oh, I wasnt expecting this. -you sure? I thought you had some reason for us to act like that. -its not like that reason disappeared but I simply dont want to continue like this, you should realize how hard it was for us to actually talk because of this rule. -well I did, still what brought the change out of sudden? -it was nothing, I just felt like it will be better this way. The way Rin slightly answer signaled that it was not nothing. -so first you thought it will be better if we act but now you changed your mind and think it will be better this way? -is it so bad? Dont you know that woman is flighty? Also its not a complete change I still dont want to talk about the real world with you So nothing is changing after all. Their conversation ended in the end as Arata thought that he did enough progress for the time so he didnt try to bring anything else up. But then after about five minutes it was the Rin who said something. -what!? It wasnt much though and she once again ended up shouting at him. -did I do something wrong? -no but you keep staring my way. -why does it bother you? -it does! I asked why. -anyway, I would say I wasnt staring at you, its just I am sitting opposite of you so it might seem so. -ah, is that so Rin was satisfied with his answer and the silence continued once again but after four minutes, once again. -now you definitely stared at me! -I wasnt, you are seeing thing. Arata quickly defended himself. -you were! -why does it bother you? -it does! Once again, I asked why. -anyway its probably because you are the only moving object in the room and people usually get focused on those rather than something static. - . -what? Rin gave him a strange look after his answer and now it was Arata who asked what. -nothing, its just that you are as strange as always. Rin answered. -I am not strange and if you are so bothered with me being here why did you invite me in the first place? -so its my fault now? -I didnt say that but its definitely not mine! -fine next time I will leave you to your hobby then! Their conversation was really not planning out well. -eh, why did we ended up fighting again? -coz you were staring at me. -fine I will look away! -you dont have to, do what you want. And then Rin said to him this. -but you just said ah whatever . I cant understand her after all. After some time Arata ended up asking random question. -so why did you grow your hair so long? -why do you ask? -I have been looking at how you comb your hair for some time so the thought just arrived in my head. It was really the case. -so you have been staring at me! -as I said moving objects are more interesting than static one Rin face palmed her forehead after she heard Aratas comment. -also you always used to have them short. Arata added at the end. -I didnt grow them long by myself. -what do you mean? -its simply in hair in this world does not get longer on its own. You should have already notice it by now. -now that you mention it they dont grow at all. Arata went with his hand over his head. -thats why I didnt grow them but they were like that from the beginning. -is that so, still you could cut them down right? -I wanted at first but as it turns out you either need a special headdresses trade-profession for it or visit NPC headdresses. None of those are available at the start of the game and by the time I found one, I got used to my hair being this long so I didnt feel like cutting them anymore. Rin explained. -well you look definitely better with them like this. -you think so? -yea, at least you look more like a girl now. I always preferred girls with long hair you know. -no nobody is interested in your tastes! Rin once again ended up shouting at him although first word did not come out smoothly. -yea, you would be the last one to care about that. -exactly! Anyway its you who should do something about your hair. What with that color? -haha, its cool isnt it? -from which side? Rin was brutal. -now I am hurt. -if you are hurt then change it. -I didnt say that I dont like them like that, they are the part of my identity as Arata. -how stupid. Rin only answered with that. Arata was not sure if their conversation was going good or bad but there was a conversation at least so it was definitely better than before. -hey look Levi is finally here Arata saw through the window their last party member. Although only for a second as Levi was running because of the rain. He did not have an umbrella like Arata but he was not getting wet as instead of umbrella he summoned a yellow barrier over his head, although it looked like keeping it up for so long was tiring for him. Soon after Arata saw him he could hear the knock on the door. Unlike Arata, Levi had no hesitation in doing so. Still, it didnt look like Rin was going to open the door any time soon as she stayed on the couch and continued to comb her hair. -you wont let him in? -its still 10 minutes before the meeting time and I am at important part right now. It looked like Rin was not concerned by Levi staying outside in the rain that much. How thats part any different than before. Rin said that its important part but for Arata did not do see anything different than before. The knocks on the door did not stop though. -guess I will let him in. Arata finally stood up. -if you must. Rins answer was not that enthusiastic though. -dont be so negative towards him. We completed the quest today thanks to him, didnt we? -hmm! Rin looked away. I really cant understand her. Arata walked toward the doors and opened them. -if you were inside you should have opened them sooner! Said Levi while entering. It looked like his plan to use spell to block out the rain did not work and he was now soaking wet. -I told you, you should buy an umbrella at that time. Arata reminded him as at the time he was buying umbrella he was with Levi. -whatever, I will dry out in five minutes, so where is the princess? -who are you calling princess!? Rin also appeared in a hallway. -who else than- -lets go Arata. Rin completely ignored him and picked up her umbrella from the hanger. It was a white umbrella with orange oranges on it. -wait a moment, I dont have an umbrella. Oh, I know share it with me, Rin. Levi spoke out. -I would rather die than do so. Rin didnt think much about this answer. -ah, dont joke like that, you dont hate me right? -I do hate you. Rin merciless toward him. Still Levi was not someone to be pushed back because of it. -I see, in that case I will go with Arata. -I would rather die than do so. Arata repeated what Rin said a second ago. -ah, dont joke like that, you dont hate me right? -I do hate you. Rather the whole conversation repeated itself. -ah fine, if any of you dont want to share umbrella with me why dont you two share it and give me the free one. Rin clearly reacted to those words as she jump up a little but Arata right ahead replayed. -its you who didnt want to buy one so why would we accept this proposal. Remember when we were in the shop didnt you say something along the lines, I like the rain falling on my face so I fine without one. -ah, at that time I was talking about warm spring rain not a thunderstorm. The weather today was indeed something along those lines. -that shop over there sells umbrella so go there and stop whining. Rin instructed him and pointed in direction of one of the shops. -ah its so good that you care for me that much. - . Levi didnt wait much after seeing Rins last look. He hurried up to the shop. Two minutes later he was outside with new umbrella. With that secured, the party ventured towards the wizards hideout. -todays weather sure is bad. Levi started at some point. -if you want to talk about the weather then count me off. Arata answered right away. -dont be like that. Also that was just a way start the conversation. So Arata, what do you think our quest will be? -hmm I didnt thought about it, whatever is fine. -but wouldnt you want some specific quest like rescuing a princess from a tower or something like that? -why would I want something like that? -because its a man dream! -if we get a quest like that feel free to solo it. Arata answered. -thanks I will definitely take on that offer. Still you just said whatever is wine but I just thought of one type of the quest that would make you would you jump in joy. -I dont think there can be anything like that. -you bet? -I dont feel like gambling but still I am sure there is no quest that would actually make me jump in joy. -if you are sure then why wont you bet? -fine on what? -let see the loser has to listen to one order from Rin. -why from me?! Rin entered the fray. -normally its the order from the winner but its unfair as I already won. Levi explained. -fine by me, so what are that quest Levi? Arata agreed to the bed. As long as it was not Levi choosing it was nothing dangerous. -why are you two deciding on your own! Arata and Levi ignored Rins comment completely. Levi started. -whatever the quest objective is going be doesnt really matter but if it required us to go all the way to east to the other side of the known world you would be quite happy, wouldnt you Arata? -ah . He is right. -haha, that face tells us its bulls eye! -even so I wouldnt jump from joy so its your lose. -dont be sore loser and accept that I won. Arata couldnt say anything to that. As even though the possibility was low and he wouldnt do it in presence of others he might have ended up jumping in joy. - fine, its your win. -see you can never be absolutely sure of something. Now then, Rin tell him what he has to do, I propose making him dance naked in the rain. Maybe, I shouldnt make more bets with him. And especially not the ones that would involve penalty game. -I never agreed to take part in your stupid bet. It looked like dancing in the rain will not be happening though as Rin still opposed the idea. -its your one life time chance. -Rin, he wont shut up till you do it. Arata was not counting on slipping out from the bet, as he knew Levi already more that he would want to know him. In the worst case scenario it would end up in Levi choosing it so it was better to let Rin do it. -fine if I must. Then Arata, tell me why do you want to go there? Rin ended up asking a simple question. -you asked a question? Boring. Rin you can still change it or rather I can answer to that question if you are interested in it and let me choose the order instead. -who would be interested? I just asked to finish it quickly! -dont get too excited. -who is getting excited! Anyway Arata answer quickly so he shut up already! -its nothing complicated. I just want to meet someone who is there. Arata answered like that. -now! I done my part, dont involve me in your stupid bets again. The patently game quickly ended. -eh boring. Levi lost his interest. -still Levi, is it really possible that we can get a quest that would send us that far? Shouldnt it be a little closer? Arata ended up asking as he wanted to consider a possibility of it to be true. -I think it should somewhat closer but you never knows with a quests. Everything can happen. I once heard of a quest line in which guy needed to travel from one end of the world to the other few times, just to bring letters around. There were practically no fighting involved in it but you must agree that its not that easy of a quest right. -for one, I definitely wont play an errand boy. -me neither, still this quest is supposed to be hard, right Rin? - . Levi asked Rin for opinion but she did not answer. -Rin? -looks like she completely ignores you now. Arata commented. -so it seems. Anyway in the end we wont know what type of quest it will be till we actually get it. -so what type of quest would you like Levi? -haha, I am glad you asked. Well one would be the one with a princess that I mentioned. On the other hand it wouldnt be bad if we got a quest that in case of failure or success either one is fine would blow up the whole world Levi started talking about his dream quest with enthusiasm. -wait! that would be bad as there would be no one who would know that it was all thanks to me that the world was destroyed so maybe only half of the world should get destroyed. Yes that would be the best. His tastes were crazy though. -arent you from what was it name police order? Shouldnt you be like the good guy? -maybe but right now, I am not on duty and you will agree that blowing up the half of the world does sounds interesting Well I cant say it doesnt. -so in the end I think I want a quest in which you save the princess by blowing up the half of the world, yes that would be perfect. - . Arata just face himself. -you are really hopeless. And then Rin somehow ended up commenting. -then what type of quest you would want Rin? -something that I could complete alone so I didnt have to be in party with you. Rin said without second of thought. -ah dont be like that, quests are to be shared, the more the merrier. -anyway dont involve me in your stupid talk anymore. -you are surprisingly cold today toward me. Ah, it must be because of the weather Levi was as always not bothered. -Arata you will agree on this with me right? -dont involve me in your stupid talk anymore. Arata repeated Rins words. -no, you too? Ah that weather. When will the sun goes up again? My friends cant take the rain anymore. Sun come back! =who is your friend? Arata and Rin said it at the same time. -I see that you two are in synchronization as always. =could you finally shut up. -fine, fine I get it. Lets hurry up to the mage tower then. The weather does have bad effect on you two. They arrived at their destination soon after. The tower looked exactly the same as before. Even the hole that Arata made about two weeks ago was still there. Although Levi really wanted to see the spoken ritual, they once again entered through the hole. Inside the wizard was already waiting for them. -congratulation on completing the test, took you long enough. The wizard welcomed them in the room. The party, once again meet him while he was sitting on the rocking chair before his desk. -you still didnt hear about the secret. Arata said that as the quest did involve telling Wizard the secret. -all I need to know is that you know it. And as I said once before I also do know the secret. -and how do you know that we know? -thanks to my great power of course. Anyway your prequest is completed [You have completed Test of worth] [You have leveled up by 60%] [You have gained a level, current level 104] Ah this message appears so rarely now. Arata thought after seeing the message of gaining a level. As for leveling up by XX% message, he last time saw it after 100 level barrier. The monsters that he killed so far didnt give enough to make message appear, he didnt see it even after defeating the crimson knight. Arata did not know that the crimson knight didnt gave even 0 experience. If for nothing, the quests are the good source of experience. -now I will explain what I want you to do The Wizard continued and he finally started explain their quest.. -where should I start, ah that will be good way to start. What your end objective. You have to reach the silver temple that is located in heavens and when Rin does something there return safety. For a note I dont know what is that something. So apart from that, any questions? - . - . - . Whaaaaaaaaaaat! Arata, Levi and Rin stood dumb fooled. -good you dont have any so I will move to the first thing I need you to do. All of them couldnt say anything after the announcement for so long that Wizard really thought they have no questions. -wait a minute! Levi was the first to interrupt. -what do you mean heavens!? What silver temple you speak about!? What do you mean by something!? We demand some explanation!! He voiced their thoughts -eh, thats why I gave you the time to ask questions. What I mean by heavens is heavens, and what I mean by silver temple is a temple that is located in heavens. Silver temple is probably its color, nothing more than that. And as I said I dont know about that something at least yet. -okay, okay, lets leave that something out. For now, I understand the temple thing. Some temple that is in heaven, yes easy to understand but what do you mean by heavens! Levi once voiced everyones thoughts. -no, lets calm down hmm, I heard once of a village called heaven, is that what you speak about? Levi finally got composed and asked. Ah it was this. Arata was relieved that it wasnt something like that but then. -no, no by heavens I mean heavens, you know the place where the gods and angels live. Wizard answered like it was the most natural thing to say. -tell us about it in details! -but I never was there before so my knowledge is limited. I told you how that quest came to my mind right? I just happened to know that Rin has to get there, nothing else. I did once try to get the but I never was in heaven before. -then how are we supposed to get there! -Levi you are losing it. We just have to follow the quest and it will work out. Arata interrupted him. -oh you are right. Please continue then. Levi once again calmed down. -well, as for getting there. Its not like I didnt thought about it, I have everything planned out, to get to heaven you will have to go through the heavens gate simple as that. I dont think it is that simple. -do you know where that gate is? Rin ended up asking. -I do He does? Arata was rather sure that he will get a negative answer to that but Wizard said differently. -I do know where the gate is, whatever it will work or not is a different story though I knew it. -well but I think it should work, there are high chances of that, about 50%. -how is that high? -its a coin toss chance what else would you want? Also from all ideas that I had to send you three to heavens this one seems the most possible to work. Others are under 10% of chances of working. -wait you have different ideas as how to get there? -well I do so if the first plan doesnt work out we will focus on those its my job as a questgiver to make this quest possible to complete. Wizard said proudly. I dont think that making quests possible to complete is an important factor for him when he is making quests. Arata could see through his lie though. -anyway before I tell you where the gate actually is, you need to get one thing first as going to the gate without that thing would be meaningless. -oh, it shouldnt be that hard, so what is it? Levi asked. -its an activator of that gate. As you can guess without it we cant use activate the gate right. When I looked through my magical orb to get a vision on the gate, it was in its turn off state. I see so he at least confirmed that it does exist. -that make sense, so what is that activator and where is it? - . The Wizard did not answer this question. -hey! -beats me, you guys find out what it is and bring it to me [Questline: Silver temple in the heavens. Part one. There was a legend that a silver temple exists. You meet the madman who asked you to reach that place and prove that it does indeed exist. Following the legend, the madman explains that the mentioned silver temple is located in the heavens. The first thing that madman asked of you was to find the activator to the so called gate of heavens. You have to find out what it is and get it back to the madman and he will check if you founded a good thing. Rank of the questline 3 Reward unknown Warning: What madman says may be a complete lie. There is no recorded truth that someone ever reached the heavens or the silver temple. Whatever you believe in the story of madman is up to you.] [Congratulation you found a quest of rank three. Should you complete it you will be the first person in this world who did complete the quest of that rank.] [Achievement: Find a quest of a rank that has not yet been completed.] [Warning. Quest of rank 3 special requirement: While you are in possession of quest of rank three or lower you are not allowed to die. Should you die the quest will result in failure. Other members of a party can still continue on without you but you cant take part in that quest once again. Trying to do so will result in quest failure of other people who holds the quest. The requirement lasts all the way till you receive the reward. Should you complete the quest and die second after its still ends up as a failure.] [Warning. Doing quests of such rank is at your own risk. Depending on your actions, you, those around you and the whole world may change forever.] Thats a lot of text. Arata got spammed with different in game messages. Unfortunately most of them were not a good news. While the message about failing if you die once wasnt bad enough, the worst thing was the message about itself quest. Why is he called a madman here? I cant say it doesnt fit him but what does it says about our quest. In the quest the Wizard was listed down as madman. What did it tell about a quest itself? -now then, do you have any questions about your first objective? Wizard asked once again. -you wont tell us anything useful, will you? Arata asked. -its not my area of expertise and I am busy so I will not. -you are not helpful. -thats the quality of the questgiver. Wizard answered. Of questgivers or only yours? Arata already had experience of meeting other questgivers and they were much more helpful than this Wizard. -I have one question. How will we know if the activator we bring is the thing we had to bring? Rin asked. -you have to make sure you will bring the right thing, still I understand that searches for old gates activators are not easy so if you bring the wrong item nothing bad should happen. I will only inform you that you should try better next time. -I understand, lets go everyone. Their visit in wizards hideout didnt take more than necessary and seeing that they wont find out anything else if they stay there, they left quite fast. -ah, and it was just getting good. Upon leaving the tower Levi started lamenting. -you are unsatisfied with the quest coz its not rescuing a princess? Arata asked. -that too, but I am unsatisfied coz having a quest like this is like having no quest at all. Levi explained his reasons.. -dont tell me that you got scared after reading all those messages. -I am not scared Arata, I am just being realistic. Listen. There is not a single chance that we will finish this quest! Simple as that. -dont say that we wont know till we try, you are with me on this, right Rin? Arata was rather optimistic. -well, I wouldnt start this quest if I wasnt going to complete it. Rin answered although her voice was not confident as usual. -see Levi, only you got scared. -once again I am not scared but realistic. But okay, I understand that you two newbies didnt get our situation yet so I have to make you realize it with little simpler words. -said the newbie who got scared. -exactly Arata, we are all newbies and that is the one reason we wont complete this quest. Now then Levi thought for a second and continued. -lets start with you Rin. Please, answer me few question. You already completed few quest with higher rank right? How many times you happen to die while doing them? - . Rin did not say anything but just looked down as even though she said she is going to complete the quest, she already did understand that the chances are slim. -one down one to go Levi proclaimed his first victory and continued. -now then Arata. Right now you do realize that for 100% no one completed quest of rank three. -well, there was a message that stated this fact so it should be the truth. Earlier on Arata did consider this information to be wrong but it seemed like actually no one ever did the quest of a rank of 3. -then answer me this question. What does mean no one completed it? Levi continued. -no one means no one, there is nothing complicated in it. Arata quickly said. -exactly. Now then, imagine the best player that you meet so far in this game, for example those two guys from your guild that completely destroyed the city triangle. Now once again the word no one. By saying no one it actually means that they also didnt manage to complete a quest like that, even though they were this good. So do Arata, get it now? Levi was really good at making people realize the truth. - . Something that Gerald or Loki couldnt do? Yea, that could be truly impossible for us. -two down, thank you very much. Levi proclaimed his second victory after seeing Aratas face. -still Levi, wouldnt it be awesome if we actually managed to complete it? Arata did not lose his spirit though. -if we completed it then we would earn glory and fame! Woman and money! Position and power! I am definitely signing me up for that but what can we do? Its an impossible quest. -still as you just said, its definitely worth a try now that we have a chance. Also, I think that there is nothing like impossible quests, there are only bad players that are not able to complete them. -I can agree with your statement but in that case, what you said means that everyone is a bad player, because no one managed to do it so far. Anyway, Arata did you already forgot what I said before? Should I repeat myself once again, forget your guildmates, huge guilds that invested time and resources didnt manage to do it either even thought they could use thousands of best players that they had on their disposal. And you tell us to do it in with just three people. -ah dont be so negative. I understand that if no one managed to do it then its really hard but whatever, I am doing it and nobody will stop me. Arata would not bother to consider what others could not do. He would rather focus on finding out, what he can do. -ah right I forgot. You are the type who wont understand till you feel it on your skin. Whatever, you can go and die alone all you want, but I am not signing for it. -and here you wanted to do a quest so badly, well whatever, see you Levi. Arata answered like nothing. -thats all you have to say, you will really be doing it alone. -I fine with doing it alone as well but Rin you are not leaving right? - . Rin did not answer him. -Rin? -see, even she understood that its not possible. -hey! Stop destroying morale of my party member and go away already, you sign out of it right? Anyway, Rin what about you? Arata ended up shaking her shoulder. -Arata? It seemed like she really was not listening. -welcome back from daydreaming. -I wasnt daydreaming! well maybe I did. -so, Rin whats your thoughts on the quest, right? Arata was not really concern by that and asked once again. -but we will just end up dying, whats the point of it? Still Rin stayed realistic. -eh!!? You too? Really, you guys dont have the call for adventure. Arata complained on them. -its rather you who suddenly got too large dose of it. I remember that before you were always like whatever is fine but now all of sudden you have too much vigor. Levi pointed out. -its true that you are unusually energetic Arata, I never seen you like this before. Rin also followed it up. -hmm, thats probably because my old gaming blood just started boil. This situation is something that I was always looking in games after all. You see, when I play games, I dont do it half heartily. Victory or nothing, and in MMOs you can only win if you are the first one. You should know that MMOs have very few winners and bunch of losers and in the end, games are most fun when you win. Thats why when I see a true challenge that no one did before me, I want to do it and be the first one to complete it. Levi and Rin were looking at Arata with surprise as he made his monologue. -you know that its a longest sentence that I heard from you so far. Levi commented like this. -is that so? Its quite possible I guess. Anyway Rin, I will ask again coz it was your quest after all, can I just go ahead and do it? -you can but I am not backing off, if you can do it so can I. Dont think you are better than me. In the end Rin also decided to take part in the quest although it was definitely not because she was convinced by Aratas speech. -thats what I expected from you, now Levi? Arata send a sharp glance at Levi. -fine, I will do it. I can manage with one more death that awaits us. -your morale is not good enough! If we are going to do it, we are going to win, with your attitude we are bound to lose, so either you change it or you are not needed! -wait, Arata you really believe what you are saying!? Even Levi started to waver after seeing Aratas determination and his blue unblinking eyes filled with passion for victory. -listen Levi, despite what you said, despite what you know, can you believe in victory!? Remember, all good players that you already meet and what can they do and all the quest you have done so far and all those deaths and now tell me that you still believe in victory. If you can do that, then nothing is impossible! And somehow Aratas determination influenced Levi as well. -hell yea, bring it on! We will earn glory and fame! Woman and money! Position and power! Everything will be ours! One down, one to go. -Rin you also believe in complete victory, no chances of failure, right? -I am not as simpleminded as him. -no please answer me, DO YOU BELIEVE!? Arata walked in front over, bend a little to be at her height and looked directly into the eyes few centimeters away from her face. -what are you doing, stay away! Rin tried to move back away from him but Arata catch he arms and hold strongly so she couldnt escape. -tell me, do you think that grandpa training wasnt enough!? -ha? -do you think that in this game, there can be something more terrifying that our summer camp training!? - . -even if there is there is nothing that is more terrifying than our winter mountain training, right? -well . -exactly the answer is there is not. And we did survive through both of those not once not twice but four times. Thats why, we will win, so now, once again answer me, DO YOU BELIEVE IN VICTORY? -well. Arata now moved even closer and closer to the point that their forehead were touching. Rin got red right away but her eyes were still open and Arata was directly looking at them. -do you believe in victory Rin? Arata repeated the question -I do! I do! Now, get away already! Well that answer should be good enough. Arata thought like this seeing Rins reaction. She was no longer bothered by quests impossible rank. Arata nodded to himself. From the series Whitesuns secret, how to motivate your teammates when the odds are greatly against you by Wolfstark. As always it had a great effect. Last time I used it was during my guild test and that time it also had a great effect. Although its duration was quite small compared to what Wolf could do. I still have a long way to go to be as good in this as him. Still their answer was enough I guess. Arata was satisfied by the results of his encouragement. He for one knew, what was needed to be the first one to complete something in game. Most of the times motivation and believing in victory took a huge part in taking the victory. While they were two parties of the average same strength the one that believed the most would win. -by the way Rin, you got sick or something? I think that you have a slight fever, your forehead was hot. Arata added at the end. -its your fault! Rin shouted back at him though. -no, I wasnt sick since lately so you didnt catch it from me. Anyway if you want to go home and spend some time in bed to get better, then go ahead. -I fine! -well, you are energetic enough to shout so I guess its nothing serious. Anyway, we need a battle plan, I mean plan on what to do right now, lets go find a place for a supper its getting late after all, we will then think about what to do while eating. Good thing that its not raining anymore While they were underground in Wizards hideout it stopped raining. -Rin I am counting on your knowledge of the surrounding area to find us the good base of operation for tonight and for later discussion. -why, did you start talking like that all of sudden? Rin asked him. Guess I should stop with that. -yea sorry. Anyway find us a place where food is good and you can discuss things with ease. -wouldnt my house be best then? We can buy something on the way. -it may have its merits but there is no time to wait and your house location is quite bad logistically. I already scanned the area and the places that we will need are not there. -really could you stop talking in this way! She once again reminded Arata as she was slowly getting irritated. -ah yes sorry, anyway because we dont want to waste time we should find a better place something closer to the centrum. -fine I got it! But stop talking like that! Rin ended up yelling at him. -hey Arata why we are in such a rush? Rins house sounds good, she has really comfortable seats there. Levi ended up asking. -Levi, did you forgot that we are rivaling for the worlds first right now? There is no time to waste! After Arata said that Rin walked closer to him and made a chop on his head. Then Levi commented. -Arata you are overexcited so calm down. Its been two years since the game came out, ten years in EOA time, during that time no one managed to complete the quest of rank three so few minutes here and there will not change a thing. -Levi! You dont know what you are saying. Worlds first are usually decided by seconds. Sometimes even taking a toilet break can make the difference! After Arata said that, both Levi and Rin face palmed themselves. Well, I might have overdid it this time. But I didnt lie. Even Arata did realize that although he did not reflect on it. -fine, we will not rush. So in this case, Rin lets go to your favorite restaurant. -why my favorite? -me and Levi are not long enough in this city to have any favorites here so you are the only one who can have one. After eating your favorite food you will be in better mood right? From the series Whitesuns secret, how to prepare players before the raid even begins. By Zaky. -okay follow me then. And so Rin lead them to dwarven district where her favorite restaurant was. It had two floors but they could not go to the second floor as they were not usual clients. Still Rin said that the first floor was today unusually empty and indeed there were only few tables taken. They ended up sitting in one of the corners and asked for food. Arata made sure that no one will have a bear in their set even though they were usually on default. -Arata one cup wont make a difference. Levi complained. -I dont want to test something called true dwarven beer when we have stuff to discuss. Fight for worlds first is not a play, its a hard work! Getting drunk while trying to do it is not usually advisable. -Arata I am telling it you the third time already. Stop talking like that! Rin once again interfered. -yea sorry, anyway there is no time for- -buuuuuuuu! Rin once again protested but this time not with words but with strange sound. Still it was needed to stop Arata who was not listening. But on the other hand it resulted in. -hahahahaha. Levi right away laughed out loud seeing this reaction. -I will kill, both of you, now! Rin was not joking. The first danger of dying after getting this quest appeared. Ups. -Levi, stop laughing! -but Arata she just. Hahahaha. Man, who, I am working with? Arata would probably usually laugh as well but right now he was in his worlds first mode, -Rin, wait dont do anything! Arata quickly said after seeing Rin standing up. -its your fault Arata, now die! -why is it my fault? -I told you to stop speaking in that manner. Listen to this and remember it well. I am not taking orders from anyone. -I wasnt giving you orders! -you were. -yea Arata, no argue about that. Levi also agreed to that. -but if I dont do that, we will never finish! Just like with prequest we were slacking off way too much. There is no other way but in group plays, someone needs to take the lead. I didnt care about it earlier but now that it came to worlds first we have to be serious. -whatever you say Arata I am not taking orders from others. If you at least talked normally then maybe, I wouldnt complain if your requests were reasonable but if you start ordering me around then no. And its already too late to try again. Rin opposed him clearly. -then what are we supposed to do? I already told you that we cant do it half heartily or we should give up right from the start. -is that leader thing really that important? Rin asked him. -yes it is. Discussions are a good thing too but in every group there is a need for a person who has a last word, otherwise we would just end up arguing nonstop and dont make any progress at all. Arata explained quickly. -I see, in that case, I will be the leader. Rin found a solution. Her? -you want to be a leader, when you dont know the importance of it!? Were you even leading someone before? Arata asked. -dont you remember, I used to be class representative. Rin referred to really old times in this moment. -I am not talking about something as meaningless like that. -it wasnt meaningless. Anyway, I am not taking orders from others so this is the only solution How did she arrive at that? -lets see, first rule of this party. If I really dont like what either of you two is doing then its a death sentence. She already was getting into it. Its a directory you know. -hahaha, Arata let her do it. Levi laughed out loud on that.. -Levi you really okay with it? -I say its better she than you? -why is that!? -hmm, as they say, better the devil known then devil unknown. I am quite used to be ordered around by a girls you know. One in particular. Also I dont want to be ordered by you. This is already going in bad direction. -well then Arata, you dont have any problems with me being the leader do you? Rin ended up asking him. -as long as you do a good job. Whats with her today? -okay, now that its out of hands you can continue. -nah, I just lost all my enthusiasm. -dont start slacking now off now, its an order from your leader. It looked like Rin started to like her new position. -you heard our miss leader, Arata. Levi followed up to annoy Arata even more. -fine, fine, whatever miss leader says. -wait, wait, dont call me that!- Rin shouted out frustrated but she was completely ignored as Arata continued. -so what I wanted to do before miss leader was chosen was to organize few things. -dont call me miss leader! -mostly what will we do right now Arata kept ignoring Rin. You eat what you sow. -our first objective is to find an item about which we have no idea about, except of its function which is to activate the so called gate to heavens. -Arata, what about the message that the whole thing can be a fraud? Levi asked. -lets ignore it, its not like we can do anything about it. Anyway finding the activator is our only concern, right now. Whatever happens after, happens after. No need to worry about. -so how are you planning we find it? -well I dont have much experience in it so if you have an idea, go ahead. Still I was thinking that we should try with some libraries, chapels or any other thing that may be related to heavens. Like heaven based dungeon with angels, in it? I really dont know what it could be. Anyway our miss leader is a specialist on the surrounding area as well as Karma city so I hoped that miss leader will share some information about it with us. -new rule whoever try to call me miss leader again, its a death sentence. Well I played with her long enough or maybe. -I understand, Capitan Rin. Arata could not stop that easily as he still hold a grudge. -hahahahahahahaha. Arata you are really hitting it off today. -buuuuuuuu! Rin! Just call me Rin! Rin once again answered with strange cute sound. The fact that she didnt attack us yet is quite good sign for our party. -right, sorry Rin. Anyway back to the problem, do you know of any of those? Finally Arata returned to being serious. -I didnt hear of any angel based dungeons in the area or actually anywhere. As for libraries there is one. Their collection of books is quite large so starting there might be our best course of action. -and the chapels? -well there is main cathedral in the center. There should be also two smaller chapels of smaller faith as well but I dont know if they will really be of any use. Other things? I dont really know and I definitely didnt hear of any heavens gates being nearby before. Rin answered but apart from mentioning library there was nothing that could be of use. -library it is then. Also we should not forget about other source. I think that searching the net for information about heavens gate and its activator might be fruitful. -hey Arata, I have been thinking Levi interrupted. -I dont know if you heard of it or not but I think that the first part of this questline is miracle finding quest. -emm what is miracle finding quest? -its a type of quest in which you get a quest in which you have to find something but you have no idea where it could be and even when you find out where it could be, the item you wanted to get will be long gone from that place. It is because other players might pick it up regardless if they have the quest or not. Thats why finding the item is nearly a miracle. Also some of those items are really in random places that no book, no NPC can tell you about it. You just have to simply find it. From what I saw so far, the first part of the quest even if its not stand alone quest fits the conditions perfectly. Wait, I did heard about it. Not only that in fact, I do have one of those quest items myself. Wait! Wasnt it something about angels? Maybe it is connected. Arata quickly operated the menu and found the item. [Angels halo. ?????????????? ????? ?????????] Yea should have known it is not it. The item did not change in the least and even though there was word angel it was probably not heavens gate activator. -Arata whats wrong? Rin asked seeing as he started checking the menu. -nothing. Anyway I did hear about it as well. As you said, it will be bad if our quest turns out to be one of them. Levi, do you know a way to find the items in case they were from of this type? Arata asked. -there is a way for it? I never heard of any. Hmm I think that Gerald once mentioned what to do in case you have that quest at that time. Everyone was angry that we choose a stupid useless quest item instead of normal items so I remember it well. But what was that way? -what about you Rin? -em, I did have a quest that required me to find something like that. After three months I managed to locate it and luckily it was still there. Rin answered. As expected he had a lot of experience still. Three months! Okay I didnt want to resort to that but three months is a no. -guys, I will be right back. You can eat without me. Without delay Arata press the bottom log out. Arthur Rain woke up in the capsule after unplanned logging out from EOA. He didnt waste the time on anything and quickly grabbed the phone. At the phone he had one unanswered call as well as three messages. After checking if the sender was not Kotori, he ignored all of them. He did that just to be sure, although Kotori would not call him at time while he was logged in as they already synchronized their playing time so they have a specific time in which they call each other. As for other messages and calls from whomever they were, Arthur did not care about them and would return to them in the time he logs out as planned. On his phone list, he first searched for a folder guild and then for a number that was sign up as Gerald. Still after two tries, Gerald did not pick up so Arthur decided to send him a message. Its contains were. [I have a question. You once told us about the quest items and that they can be found everywhere. At that time you also mentioned something about the way to get those items should we need to find them. I dont really remember what it was so could you tell me once again? I happened to find a quest that asks me to look for quest item like that without much to go on. I didnt even start looking yet but I thought I would ask you before trying any other method. When you are free, message me back.] Although Arthur really didnt want to resort to this method, the need was greater than his unwillingness. Right now, he really was planning on completing that quest no matter the odds and as soon as possible as the worlds first was in sight. Gerald once told us if you want to ask him something, then ask away. Its your perk of being in my guild. Right now Arthur was thinking. In times of need I will even sign up a contract with a devil. Well it was not that bad as Arthur thought but Arthur already could guess that at least once something like Remember when you asked me for will definitely happen. And with that argument Arthur will be unable to decline Geralds request. Now then Arthur hopped back to the capsule without wasting much time. When Arata appeared back in the world he saw an unimaginable sight. -oh, Arata you are back. Levi welcomed him. - . Arata did not replay as he was focused on something else. -incredible, isnt it? So I didnt have a hallucination. Levi confirmed what Arata saw. Right now, right before his eyes Arata saw Rin who was trying to eat a piece of meat that was at least half of her size. -em, Rin? -hmm? She replayed while eating. -you dont plan on eating all that, do you? She first swallowed the last bite and then answered. -why else would I order it? Anyway I canceled your order as I have connections in this restaurant, you wont have to pay but if you want to eat then you have to order again. -no, I already ate before. -is that so. Rin returned to eating the tower of meat. Where does she plan to put all that? There should be limits inside humans body after all. No, its better if I not saying anything also its a game she can do what she wants. -so Arata, did you thought up of something? You log out like that out of sudden. Levi asked. -you could say that but the results will appear later, for now lets focus on what we can do now. After you guys finish, we will check the library. -okay but Arata you know that its getting late right? -and where is the problem with that? -you know during the night I usually sleep. Levi answered but the word sleep triggered Arata gaming blood.. -sleep? You think you can go to sleep when you are rivaling for the worlds first? There is no sleeping till we complete the quest or die trying! When Arata said that Rin stood up from her chair walked toward him then she made a chop on his head with her hand. After that she returned to her seat and continued eating without saying anything. What did I do again? -Arata, I already mentioned it but the game is out for ten years in EOA time. Also rushing will do more harm than good. -you never tried to get worlds first so you dont know! When Arata said that Rin once again repeated her previous actions. Ups I overdid it again. Still her not trying to kill me for that is really a good sign. This time however after Rin sit back she started talking. -it is true that rushing is no good but I dont mind spending a night in a library, the old man there is really understanding and when I once stayed over there he even brought me some cookies and milk. The cookies were especially good and you cant get them anywhere else Thats your true reason! -anyway if you dont want to Levi, you dont have to, more cookies will be left for me emm I mean as a leader, I shouldnt force you to do anything. Rin continued. Your true intentions leaked out! -is that so? I like the sound of your plan but hmm. First Levi made and evil simile and then he stood up and walked up towards Rin. He started whispering to her ear something and with each word Arata saw as her face is getting redder and redder. -thats not what I meant! She ended up exploding with the shout. -I was wrong? I thought that I got it right, hey Arata dont you think that- -dont tell him that! Rin stopped Levi from saying additional word. -ah dont get too excited, your plan is save with me. -it wasnt my plan! Also! After thinking this plan through! You have to come as well. Order from the leader! This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.-hahahaha. It looked like Levi had good time teasing Rin. -Levi another order from a leader, do not ever mention that again! -you mean your plan or everything. -everything! Its unpleasant! -well I am a little unfair with that so I will try not to but I promise nothing. -by the way guys, what are you two about? Arata ended up asking. -you see Arata, its- -dont tell him! -hahahahaha. -buuuuuu! It took some time before Rin finished her meal and when she did, it was already getting dark outside. Following the decision they made before, the party decided to visit the library in hope of finding informations about the item that they searched for. It was Rin who leaded them through the streets of Karma to the library but when they arrived there. -hey Levi, we were here before right? Arata said after seeing the library. -yea, it was at the time when you wanted to learn a crafting profession. -speaking of which, right now I do have gold for those books so maybe I should buy them. -you still didnt give up on those? -having crafting profession is a must after all. -not in this game. Anyway, wasnt it you that kept on saying, faster, faster no time and now you want to start leveling up trade profession out of sudden in the middle of the quest. -I guess you are right, I will return to it some other time. There is not time for that now and in comparison to world first, trade profession wont run away if I leave it for now. -dont return to it at all! Hey, Rin why are you entering without us? Rin ended up going in alone without waiting for Levi and Arata to finish. -if we dont hurry then they will close the library. In the first place, normally people cant stay in library at night. Only because I know the head librarian we even came here. I am still not sure if he will let us stay. It would be disappointing if he didnt. They all entered the library and upon moving to reception they heard the voice of an old man. -I am sorry but we are closing in five minutes so its better if you come tomorrow. Old man said but then something really unexpected happened. -grandpa its me! Grandpa!!! For a second Arata and Levi did not believe that a word like that and in a tone like that could come out from Rins mouth. -ah Rin. Its a second time you came here this month. I am happy that you are checking on the old man The attitude of the old man completely changed upon he realized that it was Rin that came him. -are you still looking for a man with black-white hair? Unfortunately I didnt saw him again but I heard that someone fitting your description was fighting in the arena few days ago. -shhhhhy, not so loud. I can hear you both. -oh, Rin look, isnt it the man you were looking for. The old man said after seeing Arata. -yes, I already found him so you dont have to say it. -ah is that so. Good for you. But, wait a second Rin Hey, you two! The library is closing now so come back tomorrow. Now where was I? There was a clear difference in librarian attitude between Rin and Arata and Levi. -hey grandpa I have a request, could you please let me and those two stay in the library for a night, we have something we would like to check. -hmm, I dont know, if it was only you then I would agree but. -please. Is that the same Rin we know? From what Arata saw so far, Rin did not use words please or could you but rather do it or I will kill you. At least, in most cases. Well there was a time when she asked them to help her with the quest but it was still way different from what she presented now. Right now she was showing a deer eyes to the old librarian and to those eyes no one could say no. -hey Arata, this time for sure I fell in love with her. Also I could even erase my plan of harem for those eyes. Levi commented what he saw. -yea, yea. Arata didnt take him too serious and even if Levi was really serious which he probably was not as he was never serious. If by some miracle he really was serious, it was not Aratas business. -okay, you can stay. The old librarian was defeated by those eyes after he struggled for 20 seconds. Rin continued. -while we are at it, you know where all the books are right grandpa? Could you help us find what we need? -I would love to but I am already appointed so . -please. Hey isnt it too much? He might change his mind. Rin once again showed him the previous face to which no man, or rather no one could say no. -well it would be too hard for you after all and its my job. I can be a little late I guess. This time it took only 10 seconds for the old librarian to fall for it. -I love you grandpa, but I would love you even more if you also brought those cookies that you gave me last time. DEVIL! What Rin was doing right now was somewhat evil. -I am afraid that I cant do anything about this. It is my wife who prepared them after all, and this time I dont have them. The old librarian explained but that would not stop Rin. -please! -I really cant. -please! Please! Please! -fine, fine I will try to do something about it but they wont be ready earlier than tomorrow morning. -thank you! Wow. In that moment, Arata realized why the old librarian coped up with all Rins requests. The smile, that she showed him dazed a little even Arata and Arata was already experienced with the smile of the ten thousands suns. -hey Arata, I will tell on you to your girlfriend. Levis words brought Arata to reality. -is that so? Go ahead. -you are not too concerned, are you? I thought you would beg me not to. -why should I, I didnt do anything and also how to say it First of all she would not believe you. -oh, you are so sure of it. -yes I am and you know why? It is because there is no way in hell that I will do anything that would upset Kotori and she knows it. Arata said so without a second thought. -eh, you are boring. -Levi, you brought it up because of what just happened right? Since when looking at other girls is considered a crime? -well if you had a jealous type of girlfriend them maybe there would be a good reaction there. -I wouldnt call her jealous type. -you never know what girls really think though so dont jump to conclusion so quickly Levi started. -is what I would want to say but even though I only saw her only once I kind of believe you, why you say that. Really every time I am reminded that she is your girlfriend, I always starts hate you. -if you stop talking about harems then maybe your chances of getting one yourself would increase. -maybe but right now to win against you I need three girlfriends at least. -and why I am your competition? -ah, lets end this subject already. -eh, I was just giving you advice that all. Well a day will come that you will really like someone and at that time you will stop thinking of things like harem. -why did you start to talk like an old man with twenty years of experience in marriage? -ah, twenty years in marriage, I wonder how Kotori will look like then. Arata ended up in dream land. -ioioio! We have an idiot here, someone call the ambulance! Levi commented like that. -what? Was it wrong of me to say that? -well rather than wrong, its really outside of your character. -who cares about that? Also she always told me that I should be just be honest with myself when it comes to that. No need to hide anything. -you dont have to explain it to me, I already long knew that you are a lost cause. -why is he a lost cause? It looked like Rin finished talking with the old librarian and came to check on them. -ah thats- Levi did not give her explanation and stopped midway. I wonder what girls opinion on that? -Rin, what do you think? When you love someone you should be honest about it, right? -what what brought that up? -hey Arata, its a mens talk you know? You shouldnt ask her something like that. -men talk? From which side? Anyway Rin, right now, I am trying to be honest about my feelings towards someone, what do you think Rin is that bad? Because this one thinks that it is. Arata pointed at Levi. -do I really have to answer that? -well you dont have if you dont want to. But I would like to hear your opinion. So, is what I doing strange? -hmm I wouldnt call it strange but I dont think that everyone can be like that. I for one definitely cant. -thats also true, thanks for an answer. -hey Arata, we should already focus on the quest. Levi once again interrupted them but then Rin asked. -Arata can you tell me, is that person you like is the same that you want to meet? The one, waiting for you at the other end of world? -yes, the very same. How did you know? Did I tell you about it already? -I see Rin said only that and went silent for 5 seconds but then continued. -no you didnt tell me but I already suspected it from the way you talked about it, you know your eyes lights up every time you mention that person just like a second ago. -really? I didnt know. Well its not like I try to hide it, as I said, I am trying to be honest about it. -you really love her, dont you? Rin said that in a little different voice but she did not wait for Aratas answer and continued. -anyway, the grandpa agreed to let us stay for the night. He will also look for the books that might or might not help us. He said that our request is slightly not specific. -Rin? Levi said her name out of sudden. Arata felt as it was the first time that he called her out in this manner. -what is it Levi? -arent you? -if its the thing we talked about then no. -is this your honest answer? -what he just said does not change anything. -why do you keep saying it! I even wanted to help you! Levi suddenly bursted out. -even if you did there is nothing and no one that can help me. I am already used to this fact though, so I am fine. In comparison to Levi, Rin was answering calmly. -how can you say you are fine I wonder what they are talking about. Did she tell him about the thing that she asked me not to ask about? -tell me what stops you and I will help you! Guess not. -Levi, I already told this to Arata and I will also tell it to you. Dont ask about it and dont try to find out the truth on your own. If you cant promise me that then we will not speak again. Rin said it to him completely serious. -I dont like it but if thats what you want then I will never mention it again. I thought he will say that. Arata already knew Levi well enough to know that he is someone who will not stick his nose into someones business if not asked for. Although this time he was clearly upset by it. -now that we are clear. Lets get back to the quest. Rin continued as if nothing happened. -Rin what kind of books did you ask librarian for? Arata asked. -I said that we want any book that mentions heavens, heavens gates, gates activators that are not a work of fiction. Should, I ask for anything else? -no, your order was perfect. If those books wont have what we look for then its a lost cause. -then while we wait, I will show you the way to the reading room. They have really good seats there Its so much easier if someone is familiar with the surrounding. They followed Rin and entered a small room. Rin lighted up few candles and it got brighter right away. There was pretty large table there and six seats around them. There was also a brown sofa in the corner as well as blackboard next to the door. -there are few other rooms inside library like that, although grandpa says that people rarely uses them. I myself happened to use them quite often though. -like when you were doing other quests? -at that time too, but I use them usually when I just feel like reading. Although I must say that lately I read most of the things at home. -I see that your reading habit is still there. -you could say that. Some things do not change after all. -hhhhokay I had enough. I already have my assumptions but I must ask that. How do you two know each other?! It looked like Levi passed his barrier of patience and had to ask this question. -its not your business. Still it seemed like Rin didnt feel like telling him though. Well at first she did say to behave like we dont know each other so I guess she really doesnt want to mention it too much. -Levi, unfortunately its classified information, whoever finds out have a heart attack second later and die. Arata joked around although he didnt really see the need to hide anything. There were two things that connected Arata and Rin in the past or rather there were two things that connected Arthur and Amanda. First one was that both of them were learning fighting arts from Aratas grandfather. Second was that they were in the same class in the high school for two years and also for nearly another two years in middle school. It was not a surprise as the city or rather the village they were living in was not that large so there was only one class for each year. Although at that time Arata was not interacting with others too much but you could also say that Rin was one that he interacted with the most. It was happening for two reasons. One already mentioned they were training under Aratas grandfather together and often ended up sparing. Other was that Rin was class representative and although she hated Aratas attitude, she had to deal with him whenever there was a need. Still, both of them definitely could not be called friends, mostly because of how Arata behaved. There was actually a time when Rin started to hate him with passion but luckily for Arata that feeling was no longer there, at least it appear this way. -ah I feel left out. Levi started complaining. -you wont be able change our mind with this. -fine, I was just curious, not like I really have to know. From what I saw I am sure that you two trained together somewhere. I dont really know where but it was the same place. Except that, I can shot that you were at least going to the same school together, she also mentioned that she was class representative, right? Was it the same class I dont know, Rin looks slightly younger than us but if you were in the same class then I picture it like this. Arata was a bad hooligan and Rin was tasked by teachers to bring him back on the right track. Levi skillfully used the information that slipped here and there and arrived to nearly perfect conclusion. -why I was a hooligan? Arata had to ask. -then the rest is truth? Ah, here you have your great secrets. I really dont know what you wanted to hide. When Levi finished, a sound of someone knocking the door could be heard. Then without waiting for a reply the old librarian entered. -I brought few books so you can start searching through them The old librarian entered the room while holding seven books in his hands. -Rin, did something happen? You dont look too well. Librarian suddenly said that. I didnt see anything strange with her. It looked like librarian saw something unusual in Rin which either Arata or Levi could not recognize. -no, I am fine grandpa. -remember that you can talk to me about anything. You are like grandchild to me after all. I think that the really have a similar relation to this. -if there will be something to talk I will come. Anyway grandpa, is there many more books to bring? If there are, I cant let you carry them all by yourself. Rin offered her help. -as if I let you carry them, sit down and start reading through what I brought. -but grandpa. -no buts, we have already been through it Rin. I am not that old to let girl like you carry the things for me. It seemed like librarian had his pride although he probably just didnt want Rin to do anything. -in that case, maybe I can help you. Arata offered his help. I dont really feel like looking through those books, so escaping for now under that pretext is a chance. Although, his reasons for helping were not pure. -if its someone like you then its okay. Follow me boy. It worked! -start looking through those books I will be back soon. Arata said before leaving the room and followed old librarian through the doors. -Arata, you did it just to escape from work, didnt you! Levi realized, but its already too late. Oh he caught me. -of course not. I offered help coz the librarian is staying and working over hours specifically for us even though he should already go home. We cant let him do more work than necessary, right? -as if I believed that! Levi was not easily fooled. -dont say that, Arata did it in good faith because grandpa never accepts my help. Arata, we will take care of it so go help him. Rin said to him. I dont think she was fooled, she is too intelligent for that. The reason she is letting me go is because she really wants me to help that old man. Arata read it as that. -by the way Rin, why did you start to call him grandpa? Arata stopped in the door and asked. If it goes wrong, I can run away so its a perfect opportunity to ask. -got a problem with that? -no, no, I was just curious. -eh if I had to give you a reason then it is because his real granddaughter died. When he once told me about that to cheer him up I called him grandpa and because he was really happy hearing that I kept on doing so. -hmm I see that you also didnt change in this part. You are still good hearten as always, to elder people especially. -no I did change Arata. Rin said in slightly sadder voice. -hey boy, you are coming or not! The library at night is worse than labyrinth, if you dont follow me now, you will get lost later! -yes Im coming! Arata had to leave in hurry and he run in the direction of the coming light. Although right before leaving he caught the glimpse of what old librarian mentioned. He saw that Rin was not all right as she claimed, earlier it was just hard to recognize. It was too hard to recognize because Rin was not all right ever since he meet her in this world, or maybe even, ever since she came to this world. Old man did not joke, you really can got lost here. It was already a night time but even if it wasnt there still wouldnt be a lot of light. The windows were quite narrow and bookshelves were so big that Arata at first mistook them for the walls. It was really like a labyrinth. Still getting lost was not a problem as Arata followed the light that came out from the candle that the old librarian was holding. Arata quickly catch up to him. -thats some book collection you have there, old man. Impressed by the amount of books in the library Arata ended up saying that. -haha, you are not the first one to say that boy. Also dont call me old man, even though I am 79 years old I still cant get used to it. My surname is Honbook and thats how everyone calls me, so use it as well. -I understand mr. Honbook, also name is Arata so dont call me a boy if you could. -in my age everyone seems to me like young boys and girls but I will remember your name, Arata. -what are you saying, you arent even 80 years old yet mr. Honbook. -you really dont have to say that. Even though I dont like being called an old man, I am well aware of my age My plan to get friendly with this old librarian: failed. -right, Arata. You just said that I have a lot of books here right, wait till you see this. The old man said that when Arata first caught a glance of blue light in the distance. Strange thing, it was coming from the ground. Upon coming closer Arata saw a large hole in the ground which end could not be seen. The radius of that hole would easily extend 15 meters. As for the depths of the hole it could not be told. -wow. -fifth in the size Library of this world. The great library of Karma. Feast upon this sight as not many people were able to see it. Normally people are not let to walk through the library and only Librarians are allowed to go this far. Do you want to know why? -because they would get lost? -haha, that too but some of the book you see here does not exist anywhere else in the world. They are the treasure over treasures. Also if we were to let people search for the books themselves here they would never find what they wanted. Well those rules concern only what you see down here though. The library is divided into two parts the first one that we walked through just now is open to everyone and the second part here which is usually closed. -so, why is it open right now? -because of your request. But once again, you want to use the gate to heavens? Idiocy! -you know something about it? -I know that even if you happen to find the activator to that gate which I highly doubt you will, you wont be able to reach the gate for sure. I wont tell you anything else, instead let me ask you a question? Was it you who gave Rin the idea to look for it? Before she never even mention a word about it and today all of sudden she decided to go there. -no, no it is rather because of her that I am going there as well. As for who gave us the idea, it was a task from one Wizard that Rin knew. -so its that charlatan fault again! The old librarian exploded. -you know him? -not personally but I know that he is the source of many of Rins problems. Does he even understand what she went through because of him? -if you are talking about the prequest that he gave her, we completed it today. Even though it was already late it was still today. -so after Rin completed that unbelievable request, now he ask you to use the gate of heavens? Cant that charlatan leave Rin alone! -its not like he is forcing her to do it. -hey, whose side you are on!? The old librarian ended up asking that question. It was not easy to answer but after considering it Arata gave a reply. -which side? Rins of course. -ha, not bad, boy. Before we continue, let us start looking for books that will be useful for you The old librarian moved to the edge of the hole, when he did so, a large round platform start flying his way. When it stopped before him he hopped on it and asked Arata to do the same. While they were flying and picking up books on their way, the old librarian returned to the conversation. -so Arata, was it you who helped Rin in that fight? By that fight he meant tombs challenge. -me and the other guy, the one that come with us. His name is Levi. -I see, good thing that you continue to help her afterwards. -rather than help, we have the same reasons as her to complete the next task. They all had the quest after all so it was not exactly them helping her. -whatever it is, you have my thanks. -its not like we did anything that deserves thanks. If it werent us then there would be others who would end up wanting to do that quest anyway, so Rin would end up finding help eventually. Arata explained as it was probably the truth but then the librarian asked a strange question. -Arata, did you know that Rin dont usually interact with people like you? -what do you mean people like me? -I mean other adventurers Ah he meant players. -as far as I know the only person she likes from your kind is Yume. Well, you could say that Yume is a special case as everyone in Karma loves Yume but apart from her, Rin doesnt involve herself with other adventurers. Now that I think about it, there is great difference in how she interacts with players and how she interacts with NPCs. This librarian is a perfect example of it. -well I did saw a difference but I didnt have that much of a problem interacting with her so far. Expect few times that she wanted to kill me that is. -I see, still even if you are another exception, that doesnt change much. So do you want to know, why is the reason for that? Wait, did she tell him that? Hmm its may be an answer to the question that I have and I promised not to ask her Yes, I promised. -I dont think it will be fair if you tell me that. -ah, she told you not to ask about it, didnt she? Its good that you want to keep that promise but I think if you dont find out about it, you will only end up making her suffer. I already saw how hard it was for her to speak with you two and I think that if you dont stop what you are doing, she well end up pushing you away like all others I also feel like that a little. Arata once again remembered what Rin told him at the end of yesterdays party. -so how will it be boy? I know that promises are important but while living through all those years I know that there are few more important things in this world than that. Sometimes by breaking a promise with you can save much more and while keeping the promise you only destroy things. Not all promises should always be kept. After hearing it from an elderly person, Arata was convinced. I hope I am doing a good thing. -tell me the truth. -so, thats the type of person you are. Good, good. Now then where should I even start? Well its not like I do know everything. -she didnt tell even you? -no, she did, but I simply didnt understand what she meant. The part which I did not understand too heavily involves adventurers nature. For me, who is not an adventurer its too hard to understand it. Still what I will tell you should be enough for you to not hurt her without knowing. -thats what I want to find out the most. -remember that I telling you this not because you asked me to but because I want to help Rin. Also dont tell her that I told you about it, if you do so then your relationship with her will be over Should I really ask then? But if I dont, everything will stay the same. -well then Arata, do you know what is the biggest difference between Rin and all other adventures? Librarian started explaining with asking a question. -emm, she is stronger than them? Arata answered with the first thing that came to his mind. -there is that too, but I meant something else. The difference is something that deeply involves adventures nature. Being an adventure yourself, you probably know much more how it works so you will probably understand what I mean even if I dont fully understand it Librarian continued. -Adventurers like you came to us from different world, that is the fact that many people does not know or dont want to admit but that is the truth. Still its not like adventurers came here forever and are forced to be here, at any time they want, they can return to their original world. They can also come back to this world once again anytime they want, it is very easy for you and all adventurers can do it. Is anything I said, wrong? -we may have a different understanding of it but it is like you said. In short its a log in and log out bottoms. -good, now here is a difference. Rin does not possess that ability. - . Arata did not know what to say at first, -once again I will repeat. Rin does not possess the ability to return to her old world. -hey! What do you mean she does not possess that ability? It cant be right. Its just a game after all, in worst case there might be a bug that somehow stops someone from using log out bottom, there are other ways to log out Wait, there is nothing like that. Can someone log out in other way than simply logging out? I never had problems with logging out but what if someone hacked the system and make it impossible to log out. People would be trapped inside. Many thoughts started to run through Aratas brain the instant he heard what librarian said. -ah wait, dont overthink it. I may have said it a wrong way. Seeing Aratas little panicked face Librarian said right away. -wrong way? -ah, your face really got pale for a moment. Anyway, I couldnt understand this part completely either but this one is crucial if you want to understand the rest. -but you just said that she cant return to our world. Do you mean that she cant leave this world and she is trapped in it!? Arata was not wasting any minute and asked the question. -hmm, its really hard subject for me so I cant answer your first question but about the other one yes she can leave this world like any other adventurer but the difference is that she cant return to her original world, those are her words. I didnt ask for details as I was not able to understand them. So its not like log out bottom was hacked. Still, I dont know why she would tell this old man that she cant return to real world. Was she playing a trick on him? No she did told him that and given thats it her, her who hates lying above all, it must be a truth. At least it should be true in some sense, but I wont find it out from this guy wait, in the first place I shouldnt try to find out at all. -I think you already told me enough. Now just tell me what I shouldnt do to upset her. Arata once again remembered his promise and managed to hold his thoughts back. -now that you know that she cant return to your world you should understand it yourself. Also, I am pretty much sure that Rin herself already told you that. She once mention to me, that if she ever going to involve herself with any other adventurer, she would state up front not to touch that subject. What she stated at front? That would be before our arena match. At that time she asked to not ask about that. But it cant be about that as only someone who at least knew her could know about it. -I think that when we meet there was something even more important that she had to tell me so maybe she forgot about the other thing. -something even more important? Does that mean you two knew each other in the other world? -you realized already? Even Arata was frightened a little that this old man could tell this much from one conversation. Still he was someone who knew Rin well enough for her to tell him about not being able to return to her world, even if he didnt understood it. -I have my years after all. Still, if you knew her from that world that would also explain why she coped up with you even though you are an adventurer. You are the same case like Yume. -well, you cant compare us like that. Its a fact that we knew each other but we werent even friends, we dont know each other too well. Although, if I had to think about it. She is one of few people that I interacted quite often over the past few years so I know her better than I know most of other people. Although its only like this from my perspective. -well the fact that you knew each other before coming to this world is enough. Maybe I was wrong and she will not push you away unless you really do something bad to her. The old librarians words calmed down Arata a little. -I will try not to. -anyway, whatever you know her or not there is a thing you should avoid and that is speaking about the other world from where you adventurers come. Well its not like she gets upset every time she talks about it, in fact when she was telling me about it, she always had a smile on her face but still, it always ended up with her being sad. The longer we talked, the end effect was stronger. - . -you should easily understand why it is like that? Rin has a lot of good memories of the other world. She has a lot of friends there and people who are waiting for her. She also has dreams that can only be accomplished there and things she can do only there. Being unable to return to that world is more painful to her than I can even imagine. Maybe you could understand that being an adventurer yourself but I simply cant. I try to compare it with having to travel to some other city alone and never again be able to come here to see my family and the people that I lived my life with. Not being able to return to real world. It feels like story from the book and I never really considered something like that. Still even if I had considered it, I could still not compare myself to her. Just like librarian said, her live was full of happy things. People always surrounded her and she was always giving her best in everything. I dont know what dreams she have but probably something great as well. Comparing to that, I spent my last five years doing practically nothing else than going to school and training under grandfather. Both of those things I did half-heartily, I cant say that I was giving my best in them. I didnt really have any dreams nor things to do. The only person that would be sad if I were gone would be my grandfather. Well, some things did change ever since I start playing this game, meeting Kotori being the most important of all but I dont think even now I could compare myself with Rin. Even if I were trapped in game I would probably be fine as long as Kotori was there with me I think I strayed a little bit too much of the subject. -boy, you are okay? You looked depressed for a second. -I was only depressed with how my life progressed so far, dont worry about it. Arata answered on hollow voice. -I dont think you should say something like that with normal face but anyway, did you understand what I told you? -in short, Rin gets sad every time she hears about our original world. So I shouldnt completely mention it. Still you really sure its true? Today she told me that its fine that we talk about it, and it was even her who started the subject. -hmm, thats probably because you already knew each other before. I didnt consider this possibility when we started talking. The thing is that Rin doesnt want to talk about the old world but she likes to talk about how she lived there. While speaking with you, she probably wanted to recall the good memories of that time. -that would be hard, as we dont have any good memories together. -who actually knows which memory is good and which is bad, it depends on how you look at it. Also I think that right now for Rin any memory of that world is a good memory. Anyway what you actually have to do is not avoiding talking about the old world but realizing when you can talk about it and when you cant. Do you think you can do that? -and how I am supposed to know when I can and when I cant? -well its probably impossible till you stay with her long enough. -then what I am supposed to do? -my advice is wait till she start talking about it and try to not ask any questions about the other world yes, it should be the best this way Then I was doing everything right and it was Levis fault that he mentioned unnecessary things. Arata arrived at final conclusion. -well then, that would be the last book that you need. -when did they multiply like that!? Only now Arata realized that the librarian made a large stack of books on the floor of flying pedestal. -should you require other titles, I recommend visiting the library in university of Arcadia. They have the largest book collection in the world, twice as much as here. -I dont think that there will be a need for it Rather we already have enough books for three or four days of nonstop reading. -by the way, I wanted to ask. How many books does this library contain? Arata ended up asking as even though they went down the hole quite much the bottom could still not be seen. -23 401 764 copies He gave me the precise answer? But, 23 million thats a number. Wait the other library has a twice that number? Arata was skeptic about the Librarian answer but seeing how deep that hole actually went or rather not seeing, he might have to believe it. -now then, you came here to help right? So start picking up the books already, we are nearly there. They were now flying upwards back to their original position from where they came from. -how I am supposed to pick up 30 on my own? -haha, I was joking. You didnt see the trolley when we were starting from here, you can use it. Arata ended up transporting books with the use of trolley that was in fact waiting up there for them. The old librarian ended up escorting Arata back to the reading room they were using. While walking Arata considered what the old librarian told him. He even arrived at possible conclusion that combined everything he knew about Rin and the fact in which circumstances she disappeared one year ago and the fact that as librarian said could not return to real world and the fact that she would not be playing any games by her own accord. Everything combined leaded to one conclusion Arata was afraid to voice it as he did not want for it to be true. Also if the conclusion was the truth, there was nothing that Arata could do. -that would be all from me, I hope you will find what you seek although I would still advice to cut your relations with that charlatan. Also tell Rin that I will come back tomorrow with cookies. Even though he was in hurry he ended up staying up late just to help us. He is good old man in the end. I understand why Rin is so different towards him. Anyway time to get going with this worlds first. Upon entering the room Arata saw how hardworking his teammates were. Not like I didnt expected it. Levi was already was lying on the sofa and was deep in sleep. Also it didnt look like he worked himself too hard. On the other hand Rin was completely immersed in one of the books. On the table close to her there were already few notes that she took on paper. This is also as I suspected. Rin was so immersed in the book that she didnt realize that Arata actually entered the room. First I should bring in those. Arata started to take the books that he had on trolley into the room. The trolley was so wide that it didnt fit the door so he had to walk few times until finishing it. He was unloading the books on an empty shelf that was in the room. Now he realized that it was probably prepared for those occasions like that. After unloading them all Arata looked at the shelf and thought. Seeing all this, we really may end up spending few days here. -you should have said something when you have returned Arata. It looked like Rin finally noticed him. -I didnt want to disrupt you. -dont worry about that. Still grandpa like always did not understand when I said few books and ended up choosing so much. Eh, seeing all this, we really might end up spending few days here Haha, I just thought the exact same a second ago. -still its not like we really need all of those, for example look over here on this book title. Rin continued and showed him a book in a red cover. -How to construct heavens gate for dummies? Who made this stuff? Arata asked the question -some anonym its says. The real author probably didnt want to sign his name under it. Really why did he brought us a book like this? -hmm, maybe in worst case scenario we might end up trying to build that activator by ourselves. No even worse, we might end up creating the whole gate by ourselves, there is no warranty that the one Wizard told us about will work. Arata ended up thinking a back-up plan. -you try to find a use to everything. -well old man went through all this trouble for us to find all those books so we should at least use it to the fullest. -that doesnt change the fact that its idiotic to check through books like. Well I will still look through it later on Rin ended up saying. So its idiotic but I will still do it so his work wont go for waste hmm. In the end, Rin was always a nice girl. -what!? -nothing, I will get to work in a second but before that, I have to wake up someone. Arata looked in Levis direction. -dont bother, if you wake him up right now it will do more harm than good. Seeing that we will spend more than just one night here, he said that tomorrow he will work hard and overall his effectiveness will increase after a sleep. -to me its sounds like one big lie. -I didnt believe that either but if he is asleep then at least he is not talking. Being in his company for such long time today was too tiring for me, I need a break, so dont wake him up. -if you are tired then, why dont you go to sleep already as well? -what would be a meaning of coming here at night then? We already asked grandpa to bring us all those books and work overtime. Also I wont go to sleep before you do, so if you are tired Arata why dont you go to sleep. -me tired? In times when I race for worlds first the word tired does not exist for me. Actions like sleeping, eating or breathing are unnecessary for a true pro gamer fighting for worlds first. - . Rin once again showed him disgusted look today. -what!? -hmm where should I start no what you said is way too helpless. I wont even try to comment on that. But speaking of eating, did grandpa mention something before going home? -he said that he will be back with cookies tomorrow. -all right! Now I will be able to work through the whole night. Rin returned to reading her book. Guess, I should start as well. Arata looked at the book that Rin gave him before, How to construct heavens gate for dummies and ended up opening it. He had to start somewhere after all and this seemed like good introduction. Of course he was not going to read the whole book but just the fragment he was interested in. Arata sit down and started looking for it. Lets see. Creation of gates activator is on page 74. He quickly found that page. The instruction for it was quite simple. [This is the only part that you cant create by yourself. If you want the activator, ask some angels for it. By the way its impossible for the heavens gate to work without it. There is no way around.] I already see this will be problematic. Seeing that this book would not be of any use Arata switched to other one. Not like he had any expectations from the first one given its title. The second book he chose was simply titled The heavens gate. Arata decided to read this one from the beginning. Even though he wanted only to know where to look for the activator, he had to first get some general knowledge about the gate itself. It took Arata a lot of time to go through that massive book but he found out quite a lot. There was only one working heavens gate in worlds history. The original purpose of it was to send human heroes to heaven to help angels in their defense against incoming demon invasion. The fight between angels and demons was something that was continuing for ages and it was the time when demons managed to push back the angels to the very gates of heavens. In that time, Angels decided to ask the greatest human king with whom they were in good relations to help. Following the angels instructions, the king managed to build later on so called the heavens gate. With that being build he send reinforcements to heavens. With help of human heroes the angels pushed back demons and the balance was regained once again. Since then, there was no big advantage on either of the sides but the war never ended and will probably continue forever. After the battle for heaven the surviving human heroes went back to the earth and the heavens gate was closed. The angels left in kings care an object that could open the gate whenever he wanted as they trusted the king but the king never used it even once as there was no need for it and the object became just a relic that symbolized the bound between the empire and the heavens. Except the relic, the empire did receive many other benefits for helping out in that battle but those were not mentioned in the book. That was the sum up story from what Arata read. Following that from the other book Arata got a hint to where that relic may be right now. Although, those were not good news. The other book was telling a story about the fall of that empire. The empire with the rewards for their help was blooming and became the most prospering empire of that time but they ended up paying a heavy price for it. Four generations later, when nobody who saw the times of heavens war still lived the doom has come. Demons who suffered a great defeat only because the humans joined angels army decided to punish humans for it. The demon army attacked the empire that once helped the heavens and after a long war, the empire fall and was erased from the map. Even though the empire had many great warriors and was the most prospering empire of that time, they had little chance against the demon legion. The good news were that the heavens gate was not destroyed as it was made in a way that only angelic or gods power would be able to destroy it. As for the relic that would serve in opening the gate, it was taken by demons so even if humans wanted to use the gate again, they could not do so. After those two book, I probably dont need to read about the heavens gate anymore. Now I should focus on location of the activator. From this book I found out that there is only one activator and its probably in possession of some demons. Well, I expected nothing else from the quest that makes world first. Arata continued with other books. There were many references to what he already read and no new news about possible location of the gates activator. There were also few books that were about the heavens and the silver temple but Arata decided to skip those as they were not necessary right now and when he tried one, everything was just a speculation. Arata stretched after finishing another book. Ah, this will not do. -you are doing a break? Rin asked while seeing that. It was the first thing she said since their last conversation. -rather than a break, even if I continue with those books I dont feel that they will help us that much. Right now, we should look for information where demons are. -I see that you already arrived at that part. -it was mention in few of books that the relic, I mean the activator to the gate should be in hands of demons, right now. -it might be in hands of demons but at the same time it might not. But, our only option right now is to believe that they do still have it. -there high chances for it as pretty much if book mentioned the location of the activator it was always, Stolen by the demons so the mortal races dont use the gate again. -yes, but Arata you do know how much time has passed since the fall of that empire. At some time demons might have just lost it somewhere and it is lying in some underground cave that no one can reach. Rin reminded him of that fact. -but its a relic that they wanted to have so they should take care of it. -thats what we have to bet on it, although us fighting with demons? I hope it wont come to that. -you already fought against them before? -I did have a short episode with them. It didnt go good though. -did you meet them somewhere close from here? -I wouldnt call it close but I wouldnt call it far either. Also Arata, I know that there are small chances that the relic might be in that but I wouldnt recommend that. -why do you think there are chances? Sure if they are demons then maybe but that chance would be really small. -Arata, do you know where the territories of the empire that created the heavens gate is located nowadays? -I dont really know how the worlds map looks like. Still if you do know where it is, then maybe we will have to go there and look for some demon oriented dungeons. Arata proposed the idea. -that sound reasonable but I dont really think that we can assume that the relic remained on the lands of the empire. You wouldnt have leaved the key next to the door right? -still as a last resort we might end up doing just that. Even if we dont find the relic we might find some clues about its whereabouts. So where are the lands of that empire? -its actually pretty close you know. To reach the border of it we would just have to travel for two day to the west without rushing ourselves. Rin explained. In short the unknown west was where old empire once stood. -if its this close we should definitely go there. -it isnt that simple Arata. I dont know if you heard or not, but let me tell you. The other name of Karma city is western edge of the world. You know why its called like that? Its because no one managed to travel far enough to the west to actually find something that could be used as a base. While doing our prequest I found out why. -what does the prequest have to do with it? Arata didnt see the connection. -well I thought that you already understood that the empire that is mentioned in those books is the same empire that the ghost of the king we fought against once ruled over. -wow, I didnt know that. I thought the prequest was just some kind of test to see if player is ready for the challenge. -yes, the prequest doesnt have much to do with our current quest but while trying to solve it I found out all kinds of things. That ghost empire was called Solaris. Solaris was so powerful that other kingdoms would not win a war even if they all group up together. Also Solaris was in good relations with most of its neighbors. Only a force like demon legion would be able to wipe them out completely. Although up to today I didnt know it were demons as it was always mention as the enemy. -I see, so thats why the tomb of the king is here. Last survivors of the empire must have fled behind the border and ended up honoring their king the moment they could. -yes, if the tomb was too far from the country it would have no meaning. Still, I dont think that we should focus on the past too much. We just need to find the gates activator. -still even if we dont find anything else here, we can always start looking for some demons in the west right. You said you meet them right, was it there? -Arata if you want to go to the west you can already give up, fighting demons is not something we can do either. Lets leave the demons for now and focus on other possibilities. In the books I read so far there was a theory in which the relic was not taken by demons but rather transported to the east to some church. -Rin, why is it so hard in the west? I realized that you somehow really dont want to go there, were you there before? Arata ended up asking that question. -I had one quest there so I was there already but thankfully that quest was not too far in those lands. Apart from that there was one time in which I decided to go to the west and see how far can I get. I did that to test myself as it seemed like a challenge. And it was quite a challenge. The world there is different, no cities, no people, monsters everywhere. Even only surviving is difficult. Also there are no maps of that area, there are no roads either. Traveling there is quite difficult. Also not like you have a destination where you can actually travel to. The biggest problem of the west is that there are no cities in which you could respawn should you die. Still its not like its an impossible feat to go there. You shouldnt die right away unless you are unlucky. Still many challengers who tried to explore the west all eventually ended up dying without finding anything. Monsters there are especially good. After all they could wipe out expeditions that had five-hundred players or so with levels over 200. When I went there I tried to completely avoid the fights and mostly ran away from battles, thats why I managed to get quite far but even then I didnt found anything. -Rin what you just described is a perfect ground for a quest of difficulty that no one managed to do yet. -thats why I am trying to find some other possibilities. Although I already know that we will end up going to the west regardless if the activator is still there or not. If we live long enough that is. -why are you so sure? -its simple, even if we find activator somewhere else, we will still need to reach the heavens gate, right? And where is the heavens gate located? She does have a point. -in the lands of old empire. That means the current west. Arata answered obviously. -see, we are doomed to go there anyway. Still, at least luckily the location of the heavens gate is quite favorable for us as it is said that it was closer to the eastern border rather than somewhere deep within the lands. If it was the case then our chances of reaching them would be close to zero. Well its not like our chances of actually completing this quest are any higher than that. But still, we shouldnt worry about the west unless we really have to go there. We should focus on the issue at hand. Looking through another book wont hurt. Arata ended up choosing another book from the shelf and started reading it. He and Rin continued like this for another hour until the dawn arrived. The light entered the room through the window then about fifteen minutes later Mr. Honbook the old librarian returned. Just like he promised he did bring cookies. When he entered the room with them Rin practically jumped out from the seat and wolf them down. Arata refrain from taking even one before Rin herself said, -you are not eating Arata? They are really good. That was after more than half of them were already eaten by her. Arata asked the librarian about few books that say about demons nest that can be found in the world and especially in the west. Librarian ended up first bringing five books and added that the rest will be brought shortly. Arata explained him that the rest is really not needed, although it was hard to convince the old librarian. When Arata was going to start reading the demons book, Rin suddenly said. -Arata, I know that you are in hurry and want to complete the quest as fast as possible but can I take free time today? -sure take your time. -I will probably end up coming back tomorrow so you also dont work yourself too much. With that said Rin quickly left. Arata didnt suspect her that she did that to evade the work as he knew what type of person she was. It didnt seem like something too problematic either. There was probably something important that she could do only today. What could she be doing for the whole day? First thing that is coming to my mind is that she decided to log out and take a break. But what librarian said, still stays in my mind. Also she would tell me that she is going to log out if she was doing so. Whatever, its not like I have to know what she is doing. Arata once again focused on what he was doing. Still, now that I think about it, even though I spend the whole night going through those books I dont really have any of symptoms of sleepless night. Normally I should be in a zombie mode right now, wonder why thats not the case? Nevertheless, I should do a log out break for few hours and now that Rin went somewhere its a good occasion to do so. Arata decided to go for a break. Okay, lets do that, but first. -how long do you plan on sleeping? Arata walked towards the sofa and dropped the sleeping person from it. After falling down the sleeping person was no longer the sleeping person anymore. -Arata, there are better ways to do that you know. I am not a hard sleeper so if you just yanked me by shoulder I would wake up. -yea, next time. Anyway get to work already. Levi stood up and looked around. -eh, you really ended up working through the night. So where did you arrive at? Are those books of any use? -if you read them you will get the general idea. But rather than repeating what we already did you should focus on other things. I am going for a log out break right now, so you can take it up from where I left it. -log out? I could also use it. -first do something before thinking of the break, you slept through the whole night. -em I meant later. Anyway what should I look for? -in those books it is written that the gate activator, often also called the relic was taken as war loot by demon legion when they destroyed the empire which name is Solaris. Try to look for demons dungeons or something like this. Well, places where you can find demons in general. -demons!? Well, thats what I expected from the quest of rank 3 but Arata you know that demons dungeons are called to be one of most difficult found so far. I actually read about it a little already. The article I read was about five demons raid dungeons that were found. Two of them were cleaned by one guild other three are still left undefeated. But that was that, only one guild in history managed to clean a demons dungeon so far and any other groups that tried it failed miserably. So Arata, dont tell me that we are going to try to take down demons dungeon in three people. -Levi, we have to do what others could not if we want to get the world first, right? If it comes down to it, then we will just do it. -right, I forgot that you lost your rationality yesterday. Anyway if you want locations of those dungeons then I can already tell you where they are. -oh, if you know that much then rather than trying to look for other, try to connect any of them to Solaris empire. -okay, but once again what is Solaris empire? -I guess you wont understand everything fully till you read at least one of the books we have here. Try reading that one in white cover over there before doing anything else. Also none of those books mention the name of the empire. This is something that Rin told me. Also the territories of mentioned empire are to the west from here if you were wondering. -okay, I know what to do from here on. But, I will probably end up switching to net anyway. By the way, where is Rin? Did she log out as well? -I dont know if she log out or not but she said that she will return tomorrow. I will probably also be back at that time given the time difference. -I will also try to be at that time tomorrow then. Anyway Arata, maybe rather than playing all the time, you should read a little about the EOA itself. Maybe then, you would stop having ideas like, hey lets do the quest of rank 3 or hey lets do a demon dungeon. Get your rational thinking back. -Levi did you try to do any of those before? -no but I know that I would probably just end up dying while doing so. -probably. That means not definitely. There are always chances for victory. Also while playing my previous MMO, I usually didnt read too much about the dungeons and stuff on the net because I normally did dungeons when there was absolutely no info about them, as no one did them before. I had to learn everything by myself and think of how to deal with everything myself. -well, I never was in progressive guild so I dont know what it like is. Still I already said that I am doing it so dont worry I wont be leaving at least till we fail the quest. -okay, see you later. And with that Arata logged out. The location of the relic remained unknown for the time being. Next Chapter Chapter 31 “Location of the ancient relic” Chapter 31 Location of the ancient relic The new day already came before Arata returned to the EOAs world. Well, it was still not a day thought, but roughly around 3:00 at morning. No one was inside the reading room Arata appeared in so he decided to take a short nap. It was not like he was sleepy, rather he didnt feel tired at all but he decided to do it nevertheless. After all he did not sleep for too long in last few days. Time went fast and Arata woke up few hours later when the sun was already set high. -thats why I telling you, its there! No doubt about it! First thing Arata heard even before opening his eyes was Levis voice. -but thats too far and you said it yourself, only one guild with full group of more than 100 people with high level managed to complete it. You tell me that you want us three to do the same? Following Levi, there was Rins voice as well. It seems that they were arguing about something. -I just telling you where the gates activator is, thats all. -but isnt it the same as telling me that we have to go there. -Arata told me to find the most possible location and I did. Its not my fault that it is a place like this. - . -anyway you our miss leader Rin, so you decide. -but what there is to choose from. My trace ended up as dead end and what you told me seems real. -no, I am not talking about choosing if its a good lead or not. I am about 80% sure that it is a good lead. I was asking if we should tell Arata about it or not. Listen Rin. If we tell him about this super impossible demons dungeon, he will want to go there and we wont be able to stop him because well, he is an idiot. Who is an idiot? Arata still did not move and was lying on the sofa under the orange blanked with eyes close. He wanted to gather the information in case his teammates try to hide something from him. -he is not an idiot! He just wants us to complete the quest! Rin? Arata was surprised how strongly Rin defended him. The way she shouted took back Levi as well. - . -anyway, if you are sure that its there then we have to tell Arata about it. Then we will decide if we are going or not. -but he already decided that he is going. I told him that I will go as well but if its a place like that, maybe I should pass after all. You too dont want to go there, right? You yourself said that you spend the most of your time in this city. You wouldnt just leave it for months just to get killed in some dungeon on the first pack No wait, I am taking it back. We wont even reach that dungeon in the first place. Its just out of our reach. -then we would first need to get stronger. -are you talking about dinging some levels? Fine by me but we would need to get at least 100 of them and beat the 200th level barrier on the way to even have any chances. Then we would have to recruit some people for a raid group and then try to clean the dungeon. For this quest its probably the only tactic we could use right now. With it our chances of completing this quest would go up a little. Despite being so negative about it Levi did thought that through. -so if we were to do all that, we would complete the quest? -I said that we would have some chances then. Still, its probably impossible to pull that off even if we were able to do all that, it would take way too long. I already heard that you are ready to sacrifice a lot of time for this quest but I dont think I would be able to sacrifice this much, especially when chances of completing it are this small. Even dinging all those levels without dying even once is actually nearly impossible. And completing the raid dungeon afterwards would be even harder. And the 200th level barrier, I dont know if you saw that but the sole fact that number of people that passed it is like one in thousand should speak for itself. As always Levi was good at convincing others by using logical facts to change their minds. - . -listen, thats how it goes in this world. There are things you can do and things you cant. Rin rather than focusing on this quest, you should focus on getting levels and get higher and higher. With that if an occasion where you find another quest of such rank comes to you, you can go for that world first then if you want it that badly. -as if I care about something like world first. -well, Arata was the only one serious about that but as I thought something that all players couldnt complete for ten years till now is not something you can do just because you want to do it. -anyway, I am still going to tell Arata and if he will still want to do it, I will not step back either. It is my quest after all and I was the one that asked him for help. It might take some time but we will try until we fail. -you know Rin, I dont dislike determination like that and if you agreed to something similar to the plan I proposed, I wouldnt mind spending my time on this quest, no matter how long it would take. As long as you two want to continue, I am not stepping back either. I will even go for that suicidal raid try. Still, I dont know how much Arata values his promise to you but when he found out about that dungeon he will probably give up as well. -you think Arata will agree to that? I wont hide from him where the dungeon is. -you know what Rin, now that I think about it whatever you tell him or not he will still quit this time. -why!? -well the answer is quite simple. In comparison to you or me, Arata is not ready to sacrifice unlimited time for this quest. Even traveling to that raid dungeon would probably take too long for him. -why? Does he have something he has to do immediately? -no but he rather has something he wants to do immediately. -what he wants? And that is? -well, Arata is quite simple and there is only one thing that he truly wants and that is to meet his princess. I know, it might be hard for you but Arata really loves his girlfriend above everything else. - . -he might want to get that worlds first but I know the best that there is a time limit for him. When the timer reaches zero on his clock, he will abandon everything at hand and go to meet her. - . -hey, its not nice to talk behind someones back. Arata decided that he has been listening for far too long and get up from the sofa quickly. When he did that the orange blanked fell on the floor. Did I cover myself in blanked? No, I didnt buy this color and I was going to only take a nap so I didnt take it out. Well whatever. -its also not nice to spy on people conversation. Levi answered. -I was just lying on the sofa, thats all. Its you guys who were shouting. -I guess, still you did heard the end of our discussion just now right Arata? So maybe you will tell us how it is. Rin you also want to know right? -why would I! He can do what he wants! Rin suddenly interrupted him. Levi continued though. -whatever, I will still ask as I want to know. So Arata, here is the question. What is more important to you, your girlfriend or- -Kotori. Arata didnt waste a second and answered right away while cutting in the Levis question. -I still didnt say the other option. -well, I dont really need to hear that. Whatever you put on second would not change my answer so I didnt bother to listen. Anyway if you are satisfied then lets get back the quest. - . - . Arata didnt want to waste time but his answer was just too strong for Levi and Rin to take. Levi was first one to react. -I was going to say world first, but what if I said something like your life or life of your family member. -it would still be an easy choice. I dont know in which situation it would be a choice between my family and Kotori but if it were something like you can only save one of them then I would just go to save her as my only living family that is left would not need my help. -Arata, you need to visit a psychiatric or something because I think that is already an illness Levi could only comment on it like that. He then also added. -wont you agree Rin? - . -Rin? -no, I think that this is how you should feel about the person you love more than anything in the world. I was just surprised to hear it from him. -I personally think that my harem route is healthier than that but Oh no! Why did I just said that?! Levi started to panic. Ups, he said it out loudly. -Arata, what does harem mean? It looked like Rin did not know the meaning of the word. -for Levis safety I wont tell you. -aha, so its something I can kill him for? In that case I dont want to know, we have a quest after all. I can kill him plenty of times later on. -right quest, lets focus on that! Levi said with stuttering voice. Then Rin started explaining the quest. -Arata, you have to catch up to what we arrived at so I will tell you briefly everything. It seems that the version in which demons ended up in possession of the gates activator is true. Still, the activator is most likely not in the lands of the empire as we considered before, so we wont have to make a trip to the west at least not just yet. -well that were the good news, right? -yes, now the time for the bad ones. From what we learned, it seems that the relic was not hidden anywhere but rather it was given to one of demons army general for safekeeping, meaning it always stayed with him. The name of that general is Beelphegor. -so to complete the quest we just need to find the demon with that name and get the relic from him. Arata quickly connected the fact. -probably. Levi finish the other part. Rin instructed Levi to finish the explanation. -so, when Rin told me the name of that demon I remembered that I read it somewhere already. Just to be sure I log out to check it out and found out the location of high class demon with the same name. Now listen Arata as here is where the problems arrives. I already told you about demon based raid dungeons, right? Well, that demon is in one of those dungeons. That raid was in one of the cleared ones so its not a worst case scenario and we are 100% sure that this demon is there. Still that doesnt change the fact that this dungeon is impossible for us. After all, only one guild managed to do it Levi continued the explanation. -before you say -hey! Lets try it anyway, who cares about others, first you should listen to some other bad news. That dungeon is located deep in regions for high level players. In those regions, unless you are over 230 level you will never feel save. Well to this argument you will still probably say lets try it first but now listen to the worse news for you. To reach that dungeon from Karma, even if we were over 250 level right now would still take us around three to four months. The last message was really bad. -yes, that is a little too far. Arata answered. -thats your reaction! Levi could not stand Aratas attitude and exploded. -Levi you said you expected it. Rin added. -yes but I really cant understand this guy sometimes. Levi couldnt say anything anymore and Rin finished everything. -anyway Arata, if you dont want to do that quest anymore because it will take too long for you, than you can go wherever you want and we will also give up on it. Rin stated it clearly so Arata didnt feel obligated to help only because he agreed to help earlier on. But this time Aratas response was different than the two expected. -how can I not want to do that quest? Its a world first after all. Its definitely much more worthwhile than anything I can find in this game at the current moment. Stop being negative again. You already said that you believe in victory right. Of course we are doing the quest! - . - . Arata was once again in his worlds first mode. -Arata lets not joke around and here is a deal. I dont think that you will be able to keep this resolve for many months. You are already at the stage where you keep saying her name in sleep. Levi stated the fact. -am I? Arata himself did not realize that. -yes, you are. -well, then you are probably right, I will not be able to keep my resolve for that long. -ah, you are finally talking with sense. -but still I want the worlds first. - . Levi had enough. He couldnt stand talking with Arata anymore. -Arata, it will really take at least three months to get to that dungeon then the way back should we succeed is another three months. Also this is a chain quest, should we complete the first quest there will be more. Thats why Levi asked you what is more important to you at the start. Rin ended up taking the rudder. -still even if it will take it this long its a worlds I cant past on it. -but you said earlier that. -yes, she is the most important to me but if I just ask her to come with us, then this problem will disappear right. -a. -a. Arata said it like nothing but it looked like Levi and Rin forgot about this solution. -its true that she is far from here but so is the place we would have to go, right? So if its really this far we would meet somewhere on the way and she would join our party. Also with her support completing some raid would be walk in the park. We do need a healer after all and she is the best there is. -you really want to go this far for world first? Does it mean that much to you? Rin ended up asking. -well there is that but I also already promised you that I will help you with this quest. This promise is also important to me. And even though you say I shouldnt feel obligated because of that promise, I do feel obligated to help you. There is little you can do to change that now Rin. - . Rin ended up looking away as for some reason she could not bear to watch Aratas face on that moment. -Arata, ignoring the fact that we will get annihilated in that dungeon I think its a nice plan Suddenly Levis attitude completely changed. -ah! I didnt think that I will end up in party with the goddess I saw that day. Now even though I know that only death awaits me on this path I think it is definitely worth to continue this way. -good thing you are finally motivated but dont get ahead of yourself. First of all, just so you know, Kotori hates you so dont even count on having a conversation with her. -emmm, why would she hate me!? Levi quickly asked as he didnt understand. -well, she didnt like your attitude form the very beginning and after I told her that you are flirting with every girl you see and your live purpose is to create a harem well I think you stopped existing for her. -Arata, why did you tell her that!? -well, our conversation strayed to you once when I was telling her what I was doing lately and it kind of happened. Arata didnt feel bad about what he did though. -but you also told her my good qualities right? To balance things out. -ah right, I told her that you are the fastest one to get promotion to the third rank in history of your silver hand order. -now we are talking. Arata, you can do that when you put your mind to it. So what did she said? -well, she was wondering how did that happened when you had nothing to do with guild Legions fall as it was all done by our guild leader and vice-leader. Levi just looked down after hearing that. -okay Arata I get it, you dont have to add anything else. Well I will just have to change her opinion about her when we meet. -good luck with that, I think you will need it. But still dont get ahead of yourself just yet. Calling Kotori is my last end emergency strategy. It is still not decided that the quest will take us as long as you guys said. -what, you have some other idea for it Arata!? Rin asked right away. -well, if we really end up to have travel such long distance we can always have that stupid Wizard make a portal for us to get there. If he really thinks that he can get away with sending us so far on foot then he is wrong. -well, he might agree if we threaten him. Rin read through Aratas intention. -still before that, there is one more way for us to complete this quest. It promise a good time on completing it, it doesnt involve using unstable portals of some stupid Wizard and it also does not involve long three months travels. The demons are also out from the picture in it. -you though up of something else? -yes and my tactic is quite simple but its perfect. We will buy that quest item. - . - . Another Aratas revelations make the others speechless. -Levi you said yourself that the dungeon we would have to beat was already cleared by some guild which means that all unique items and quest items are in hands of that guild. Even if we cleared that dungeon ourselves now, we would only get normal drop. So the only way thats left for us is to get that item from that guild. -I see. This really might work. Rin agreed with that plan. -its sounds all nice and well but there are still some lose ends in it. First one, even though you dont need a quest to get a quest item drop, it still is not 100%. So either you get it or not just like any other loot. And second one, how would you convince that guild to sell us that item. No rather, how would you even contact them? Levi was skeptical though. -before I answer. You said that only one guild managed to complete it right? So its the best guild in the world. Was it WhiteSuns? -no, the other one Arata was little surprised hearing that. Whats this, it seems that Wolf and the others are slacking out without me. I would understand not getting the worlds first as you cant always get it, but they still did not complete the raid yet even though its out? Ah, slackers, slackers, I cant wait to tell them that they are all suck without me. Arata thought to himself and while he did so, he couldnt hide a smile on his face as he recalled the people with whom he once played. Even though it was so long he still remembered the time he was playing with them. Even though it was not always easy, people argued and sometime said one word too much. Arata would always remember those times as good time. In a way his current recovery was also connected to his old guild. Because he had so much fun while playing with them in the past, when Aratas grandfather asked him about what he enjoyed, the first thought that came to Aratas mind was his playing time with his old guildmates Whitesuns. -still Arata Levi continued. -I am little surprised that you, who dont care about anything that doesnt concern you, heard the name Whitesuns. Well, I guess names of two best guilds are something that you cant escape from no matter what if you play this game I wouldnt say that it doesnt concern me but whatever. -well its still doesnt matter to us if it were Whitesuns or HoD. We would be in the same position with no ways of contacting them. -not exactly, if it were Whitesuns then with one phone call I would get that item in five minutes for free. Probably with invitation to their guild as well. Arata still did have Wolfstark number saved on his phone. Even though it was not the same number he was using few years ago, one day Arata received automatic message that was probably send to all contacts that mentioned the change. -hold on, where does that confidence coming from? Levi asked as Aratas response was somewhat strange. -its doesnt matter where it coming from, if its not them Arata simply answered like that. -anyway, about that Hod guild. No in a first place, who would come up with a name for a guild like that? -the full guilds name is Hand of the Devil, and HoD is a shortcut from it. Although recently they are often called Demons Slayers for being the only guild that managed to ever complete demon based raid dungeons. Levi quickly explained. -well for all I care they can be called hand of the donkey. Wait, donkeys dont have hands but hooves, so maybe not donkeys. But word hooves still starts with H so the full guild name would be hooves of the donkey. Yes, its perfect. -I see that you have no respect for best guilds either. -who they are does not matter. Our way of communicating with them will be the same. -how will we communicate with them Arata? Rin ended up asking the important question and ended the useless despite. -yea, there is no universal way to communicate in this game. There are no chat or anything like that. Also you think that HoD would listen to a request from someone like us? Levi added. -I will explain on the way, Rin can you show us the way to the bank? Arata asked. -bank? Well, there is one in dwarven district, I never used it though. Why do you need to go there. -Arata banks in this game dont have any functions you know. Inventory is limitless so there is no need to store there anything. Levi added the info. -I said I will explain on the way. So Rin. -okay, okay, I will show the way. The party ended up leaving the library and with Rin leading the way they went in direction of the bank. -so what with that bank, Arata? -you know, when you first mentioned that this is one of as you called them miracle finding quest, I remembered that my guild leader once mentioned a way to complete those quests. I didnt remember what it was so I ended up asking him again and I finally got the reply. -so thats from where the idea to buy that item came from. But what does it have to do with the bank? -Levi, did you ever heard of black market? Arata asked. -black market? I think I did. But only the rumors. I have no idea what it is exactly about. What I hear is that using the black market has some high restriction and its always was kept secret from general knowledge. Still, I am rather sure that it existed it should be located somewhere in the capital. -well there is one in the capital too but so is one in Karma and many other cities. All those places connected are what people call the black market. Arata explained. -Arata, I know this city better than anyone and I know that there is nothing like that here. Also even Mary didnt hear a single rumor of it being here and she knows every rumor that is floating around this city. -from what my guilds leader said there is a secret organization running it and they dont deal with just anyone. Even Levi with all his classified source of information just barely heard anything about it. Still, it does exist and we are going there right now. -you mean its in the bank? But I was there before and never saw anything like that. Rin explained. -it wouldnt be a secret if you could find out about it by looking. There procedure you need to go through to enter it. Just wait and see. -okay. So how will that black market help us? Rin asked. -black market does organize an auction on which you can buy and sell things. Quest items are quite popular there as unless you dont have a quest the quest item is useless to you, so you can at least get some cash. Also even if the quest item is not listed on sell, you can require a service in which one of the organization member will look for a holder of that quest item and convince him to sell it. Of course that service is a lot more expensive but it was one of major guilds that completed that raid. They should know about black market and sell things like quest items in mass. -so if we are lucky we might complete the quest without actually doing anything. Will it really be that easy? -yes, as long as its there. -Arata, I doubt it will really go this well. Its a quest of rank three, we cant just buy ourselves to victory, that doesnt work like that. That black market of yours is only a rumor, something like that should not exist. Levi was not convinced though. -but it does and has been since a long time. Also its not like we are completing the quest just a first part of it. We wont get the worlds first till the whole questline is completed. Anyway, I think that its quite useful place, where you have a problem with it Levi? Arata asked. -I wouldnt mind it if everyone were using it, but it is restricted to only few people from that many, its not fair. -since when this world is fair? Rin added and then continued. -although I have to agree. Wouldnt it be better for them if they make it more public. I think that if Mary never hear about it before then the black market in Karma was practically never used. -well they probably have their reasons for it. Arata answered like this. -reasons? What could those be? -I dont know, you can ask them yourself when we get there. The bank was at the edge of dwarven district so they arrived there quite fast. The inside was nothing special. An open room with two cabins in two corners. In one, there was a woman working, the other was empty. There were two people near the cabin waiting in line but they were clearly NPCs. Even though it was a middle of the day, the bank did not look too occupied. Arata stood in the line and waited for his turn. Levi and Rin were also standing next to him. -welcome to the Karmas bank, how can I help you? When it was his turn Arata was welcomed by the worker with those words. -I wanted to store some black diamonds. Arata answered. Of course he did not have any black diamonds to store and even if he did there would be no need to store them anyway. Still he answered like that because it was a keyword that he had to use to get to the black market. Well that was what Gerald told him at least. -black diamond? I never saw one before The woman said it like nothing although the look in her eyes clearly changed. -I will make you an account, how should I record you. -my name is Arata, my guild Refrain. Arata turned around to show the worker back of his coat, on which the mark of his guild was. The woman clearly reacted to the name of his guild and after seeing the mark she said. -I will show you the way to the VIP room we cant take out something as valuable as black diamonds out in a place like this She walked out from the cabin. Seeing Rin and Levi she said to them. -my shift is nearly ending now so someone else will come in five to ten minutes, wait till then or come back another time. -they are with me, can they come as well? Arata asked, the woman did not reply right away but she agreed in the end. When they left the main hall and walked through the doors that were there, the woman worker started talking. -normally I wouldnt agree to bring some random visitors but if its a request from someone from Refrain then I will have to agree Following the worker they soon entered a small room. That room was quite empty as there were no chairs or table. It didnt really look like VIP room at all. One would at least expect see some expensive sofa in it. After they all entered inside the worker closed the doors. Few seconds later the room started to change. The walls as well as the floor and the celling changed its color to white. In no time the room changed into a white space in which everyone were standing in. Although there was no visible floor to stand on. -before you go, there are few things I have to explain to you as its your first time using our services. Remember that sharing the information about the black market is strictly restricted. In case of not following this rule, your membership will be revoked and you will never be able to use black market again. Well, thats how it at least should be but a member of Refrain will probably not be revoked no matter what he does. Still please try to follow that rule and dont share the information about black market with just anyone. The worker ended up explaining. -what about people who are here without membership? Levi ended up asking. -you two are exceptions. There is no procedure to deal with you two. It will probably be something along the lines you will never get a membership in the future. We are quite flexible about the rules, you know. -then what do I need to do to get the membership? -this procedure is simply. You have to be recommended by ten members as being trustworthy. There is a restriction here. One member can nominate only one person per two months in real time. That ensures that the membership will be kept low. So as you can see it will not be easy for you to find then people and convince them to recommend you. After you get all recommendations, one person that recommended you explains to you how to get to one of our institutions. We take it from there afterwards. -I see. -em did I received ten recommendations? And if so from whom? Arata ended up asking. -no, you are a special case. Although there is no procedure for it, the leader decided to add all members of your guild to the data system and gave you all rank 5 in ten star ranking system. It means that you have an access to every service we offer and that your discount on tax is 25%. For your information this whole thing with inviting your guild created a storm in our organization and our forums. That is because although the leader usually doesnt do anything she has the highest authority and she can practically do what she wants. -she? -is it strange that leader of our organization is a woman? Well she is more of creator rather than the leader. Of course the information on whom she is costs 1 billion gold. -why so expensive? -well normally it should be a classified information but in our business every information is for sale so we just gave it a high price. There never was anyone who bought this info so it works Who would normally waste such amount of money? -what else The woman worker continued. -right you will receive an in-game mail in which you will get internet page address and your identification which you should use there. We limited the information on that page though and its only tells you where you can find locations of our bases in other cities through the world. I think that is all introductions that you needed as being here for the first time. So now what would you like to know about black market? -hmm, lets start with, what services does black market offers? Arata ended up asking. -we are mainly information dealers. We both buy and sell it. Then there is trading between players or delivering a messages. Those are the most popular services. There are also others more specific requests that other players made. Recently the one that is used quite a lot is arrange me a meeting with this person. -I see. I have other question. Why is your organization so secret that practically no one knows it? -there are few reasons for it. First one, the black market was supposed to be something else than what it is right now. Then there are other problems like not enough members to run it. We are dealing only with major guilds and famous players because its them who sell us the most and buy from us the most. Of course there was a plan to make it more global but the effectiveness of black market would decrease and that is something that cant happen. -next question, what is this white space we are in? It doesnt seem like bank anymore? -right now we are in the black market itself, depending on the request you have we will move to the specific area that deals with it. The whole place was created by the creator and is accessible from every base we have in all major cities. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.-can you use it for teleportation? Like I enter in one city and leave in other? -unfortunately this option unavailable as it doesnt work like that. You have to enter and leave by the same entrance. But you understanding is not completely wrong. You could meet here someone who entered the black market from other city. Meeting someone here is also one of special services that black market provides. Although because of big response to it from our members, the price had to be set at 500 gold per hour. The black market is too small to become a meeting place for many people. It also cant get any bigger than it already is. This is another main reason we cant go more public. Anyway was that your last question? -one more. Why this is called a black market when its all white here? - . The woman gave him annoyed look after Aratas last question. Its a taboo here, I guess. -that would be all. -now then, what did you come for here today? I need to know so I can send you to the right section. -we want to buy a quest item. -I see, quest item section. Right now, the man responsible for it today is not here but we will call him for you. He should be ready to meet you in five minutes until then wait in his office. The woman disappeared from the white space which started to change into an expensive office. There were three chairs in the middle and one black chair on wheels behind the desk in front of those three chairs. The office didnt look like something one could often see in EOA though. The party ended up sitting down on those chairs. Arata in the middle, Rin on left and Levi on right. -you know I expected it all to look a little different. Rin commented. -yes, who would have thought that an organization like that would exist, I will have to get a membership somehow. Levi followed it up. -Arata, you didnt mention that your guild is so famous that you have privileges like that? Rin ended up pointing it out. -famous? I wouldnt say so. Rin, did you ever heard of a guild with a name Refrain? Arata asked sarcastically. -no never. -but you heard about Whitesuns and that HoD right? -well more or less. -then as you can tell, we are not famous in any way. I rather surprised by all that myself. -but you must agree that ours guide eyes went wide when she heard the word Refrain. Levi added. -Levi, you do know well that my guild was created not that long ago. -well I do, thats why I was surprised by all that as well. Also you were granted some super membership just by being in the guild. For me its was like, say what!? Gerald once said that there are many perks for being in his guild. -anyway what is important that we have a chance to get the quest item without actually traveling for few months or fighting any demons. -Arata and where is the fun of completing the quest by yourself? Levi added. -when fighting for worlds first everything is allowed. Also fighting for a world first is not meant to be fun, its a hard work! -and here he is again. It looked like Rin had enough hearing Aratas theories about worlds first. -anyway there is still something we have to discuss if we are going to buy that quest item. How much are we willing to pay? -I dont know, how much its usually goes? Rin asked. -as if I would know that. Aratas answer was not helpful though. -right now I have over two thousands gold so if its something in this range then I can manage it. If its more expensive we can always spend some time gathering the money. Rin explained. -two thousands? I guess it really might cost that much or even more. After all, we would have to complete the demons raid dungeon ourselves if it werent for that. It must be that costly but I wouldnt have buy it whatever the cost. Arata added. -well we did end up earning over 1,5 thousand gold ourselves in arena so its not like we are poor right now Arata. -yes we are rich. -I would say if its something in a range of 4,5 meaning 1,5 from each of us we should buy it. But if it costs more than, no just no. We forget about this quest then. There are some limits on how crazy you can go with money. I guess that such sum on a quest item is already an overprice. -I think it will be the best as well. Rin added. I surprised that they are willing to spend such sum on a quest they believe impossible. -okay if we happen to find that quest item here and its over 4,5 thousands gold then we are either not continuing or we tell that stupid wizard that if he wants to have his quest done, he has to pay the rest. -you will never give up, will you? -I want my worlds first after all. When their conversation continued the doors to the office were opened. The man holding a cup of coffee entered the room. He was wearing a white lab coat on a grey sweater. He was also wearing brown pants and black slippers on feets without socks. He had a black hair that was in a true mess. It was bending in every direction. -first they wake me in the morning and then they wont even let me finish my caf, ah I really should quit this job already The man said under his nose when he walked towards the chair behind the desk. He sit on the chair looked in Aratas direction then at Rin and at Levi. He started drinking coffee for about a minute and then said. -sorry, I forgot your guys names. -maybe because its the first time we meet. Arata answered. -but they told me that they sent me a five star member today. Or wait a minute, you are from Refrain right? -yes and my name is Arata. -well that would explain a lot. Other two are from Refrain as well? What are your names? -we are not. My name is Levi and hers is Rin. -ah, so you are already breaking rules, thats just great The man said to himself and took another slip of coffee. He was not really concerned by Arata breaking the rules. He simply continued. -but you just said Rin, right? Hmm long red hair, short in height, has two swords on the right size. You are the hidden rank zero of Karmas arena arent you? -how did you know!? -its my job to know stuff and you are quite famous so dont be surprised. When people ask for best players from 100-200 range you are always mentioned as unconditional top one and trust me people do ask that question a lot. Especially the major guilds. You should know that black market also deals with guild recruitment. There were few requests for us to send you a message from few top guilds but somehow our messengers always kept on dying. Right now, the request for us to send you some message costs over 5 thousands gold you know, and that is something. But where are my manners. My name is Ray D. Aster but you guys should just call me Daster. Who am I you might ask? Well, I am the most responsible person in this organization and one of few reasons it didnt fall apart just yet, not sure if it will continue for too long though. -you dont look that responsible Daster. Arata responded only to say that name. -I dont bother with suits and ties, if someone dont like it then they can stop using black market, it would be one person less to deal with. Anyway this is the quest item section, right? He himself does not know. Is this really the most responsible guy in this organization? -it should be, we came to buy the quest item. -I sometimes get lost here with all those teleports and stuff. Even though it somehow works, it doesnt mean that it works well. Anyway lets get to the business. Does any of you have the quest that you need an item for? -we all have it. Why else would we want to buy the quest item? -ah thank god, it will be an easy work then. You know there are people who come here without the quest and want to buy it for someone else. You have no idea how hard it is to find the right quest item then. So you guys know anything about that quest item or are we going blindly? Anything you say might speed up the process quite a lot. Also remember that whatever you say, here stays here, so there is no need to hold back. -okay, so we do know that its a heavens gate activator that was given to king of Solaris by angels. As the name suggests it was used to open heavens gate- -wow, wow, you are making it so easy for me, if only others guys followed your example. By the way, do you guys also know from which mob it drops? -we suspected that it might drop from demon Beelphegor. -BeelphegorBeelphegor right, the final boss of Shattered Deeps. If thats the case, then your quest item can be sold only by Demons Slayers. If you guys are right then we will find your quest item asap, we only have to search through HoDs goods Daster started to write something on the paper when he finished that paper started to shine and the various things fall on his desk. -those are all quest items from HoDs that would fit your description or that dropped from Shattered Deeps. Check if any of them is the right thing. -how do we check it? -you simply need to check if an of those items that doesnt have numberous ???? on its description. If its not one of those then we can also try to just look for gates activators in general. And if this doesnt work there are still other options available although you would have to pay extra for those. Levi and Rin started checking the items. There were about ten of them to check. Arata asked another question. -by the way, how much more or less will this quest item cost? -standard price for quest item with discount for five star member is 1500 gold. You can always buy it on credit if you dont have the money at hand. Its a service available for those with three star earned or higher, so you are qualified. You will have to pay additional 200 gold if you decide to use this service and until you pay everything off the black market will be unavailable to you. There are no billing rates as the time goes so it will always be 1700 gold to pay off. -we have this amount so its not needed. -Arata, I found it! Rin shouted and interrupted their conversation. She was holding a gold-white statue of angel. The white parts were the hair and the wings. -let me see. [Heavens gate activator. Final element of heavens gate. Gift of angels to the king Sarius Six of the Solaris Empire. It was used only once in history when Sarius Six send his warriors to aid angels in defense of heavens. After the battle was won and heaven gate close the activator was never used again and instead served as a token of friendship between Solaris Empire and heavens. Later on this relic from a token of friendship, became a token of betrayal as when it was angels time to help, they did nothing and let the demons roam through the lands of Solaris. During Solariss fall, the relic was taken by demon Beelphegor and he keep it since then so the heavens cannot call for mortals help once again.] It simply cant not be this right? -if you found it and its not ????? then congratulation you found your quest item Daster quickly said and continued. -ah this job was easy. Normally people come with requests for quest items only knowing the quest item name, sometime even without it. If everyone were like you, my life would be so much easier. Just to be sure, lets trade the item and see if you get the in game message. Arata and Daster ended completed the trade operation and few moments later all in the party got a message. [Quest: Silver temple in the heavens. Part one. Progress. Find the heavens gate activator (Completed)] -its this one. -great. Now prepare the money and sign up this paper. It will automatically take 1500 gold from your possession. The amount will also be automatically sent to the seller, after cutting of course our provision. Arata took the pen that Daster gave him but before he could sign up he saw [trade request] right before his eyes. It was Rin giving him 500 gold of her part. -you dont have to give it to me right away. Arata said to her. -I dont want to be in your debt. Even for few minutes? He did find it strange that she acted like that but he didnt mention it. -while you are at it, you can take mine to. Levi also ended up doing the same. Then Arata ended up singing under the paper. Aratas account balance went down little over a thousand. -and with this the item is yours. Because it went so fast and nicely, I will give you 10 points towards next star rank in black market membership. For higher rank you need to gather 100 points, its quite simple system. Now then, there is one thing left Arata was it? Are you interested in selling some information? Daster asked with little change in his voice. -I dont think that I know anything of value that you dont know already. -lets not play around the bush and go straight to the topic. The thing I am interested in is the question what is your guild leader planning to do right now. I have many buyers that want to know that so if you tell me what it is then you will get at least ten thousands gold up paid up front and extra three thousands every time anyone buys this info. Daster was really not playing around the bush. Ten thousands thats a lot. Still. -even if I did know I would still not tell you, its my guild leader after all. -so whatever you do know or not, you will not tell me anyway. Well thats what I expected anyway from his guild. I guess that everyone will have to wait and see, I personally cant wait, with a big name like that who didnt do anything out of late, it will definitely be something big Hmm, what did Gerald want to do? He kept on saying strongest guild this, strongest guild that but thats probably wasnt it. But he did say that he will be busy though and that he had some kind of schedule. Which he did not follow by the way. I really dont think that information on what is he doing is worth that much though. Arata thought like that but many times the information could be the strongest weapon of all. -now if you excuse me, I will be going now. You also should go now as our transaction is over. Feel free to come back anytime when you have a need and the money of course. Daster pick his already empty cup and walked outside the door. The moment the door closed, the office room in which they were started to disappear it became a white space once again. Although this time it happened only for a second as from white space it started to change once again and it was once again the first room from which they teleported. They were back in Karmas bank VIP room that didnt look like VIP room at all. Looks like there will be no need to call Kotori. Its a shame though. Seeing how another part of the quest went super quick, Arata thought to himself like that. -that was quite easy. Levi didnt you say that quest of rank three is impossible? Arata had to say that. -we only completed a small part of the questline, it wont count as completing the quest. -details. Anyway lets get quickly to the wizard with that statue and grab the next part of the quest. Hopefully this quest wont have too many parts. -from what I heard, normally chain quest have three to six parts. There are exceptions to this rule of course but rarely. Well, we have the questline of rank three so we can never know as no one completed it. -we will know how long it was when we complete it, for now lets get back to the Wizard and see what our next objective is. The party left the bank and started walking towards the wizards hideout. In no time they arrived there. -how many times are you planning on coming here this week!? Dont you have better things to do!? The Wizard didnt sound very happy by their visit. -I am busy you know and I already told you that I wont be helping you with this part so dont come crying to me. Finding that thing is indeed not that easy but if you try hard enough you will find it. Until then do not enter this laboratory again! Now that I think about it he always mentioned that he hates being disturbed by people. Or was it that he hate people in general? -we already found that thing so quit the nagging and tell us the next part. Rin calmly responded to Wizard. -but you couldnt find it in one day. -here is your gate activator. Arata took it out and showed it to the Wizard. Wizard looked at it from afar. After seeing it the Wizard waved his hand and a book in white cover come flying to him, from one of the bookshelf. Before the book landed on the desk, it opened itself on some page. On that page there was a picture of the statue that looked exactly like the one Arata was holding. -throw it to me in a low course. The Wizard suddenly said that to Arata. -ha? -just do it! -okay, fine, fine. Arata ended up throwing the statue to the wizard. It wasnt a small statue. It had about 30 cm in height and it was quite heavy. But then the moment the statue left Aratas hand, a lighting come out from Wizards hands right into Aratas direction. Even with his amazing dodge skills it was not something Arata could dodge, especially when he was completely surprised by it. Still the lightning bolt did not hit Arata but the statue that he threw. The statue bounced back from it and Arata caught it again. -what are you doing!? -calm down. I was just testing if its a real thing. Wizard quickly explained after Arata shouted at him. -testing? What if it scattered into the pieces? -if it did, then it would mean that its an imitation. Still seeing that nothing has happened to it means you have found what I asked for [Quest: Silver temple in the heavens. Part one completed] [You have leveled up by 500%] [You have gained a level, current level 109] Wow, thats a lot. I didnt think I will get anything till we complete the whole questline but I guess the exp is here. Five levels Muahahahahahaha! Seeing the incredible level bonus from completing the quest Arata had an inner evil laugh. He did hold it back and did not laugh out loud only because Rin was already few steps away from thinking that he is a complete weirdo and he didnt want to destroy his image completely. -by the way, no that it matter, but where did you found it? Wizard ended up asking. -dont you know that they sell gate activators like that on bazaar for five gold each? We simply bought it there. Levi answered him with an explanation which explained as much as Wizard usually explained them in the quest. -I see, I must visit that bazaar once in a while as well. Anyway now that you got that thing, all thats left is to use it. Although, I am not sure if it will work. -what do you mean that it wont work!? -as I said it has good chances of working, about fifty/fifty. I do have plan B so dont worry. Although you guys probably dont want to use it. Well plan B chances of success is around 20% so we better go with plan A. I have bad feelings about this. Actually Arata never had a good feelings when it came to quest from this guy. -plan A is going to the silver temple with the use of heaven gate, right? So our next stage is finding the heavens gate and trying to activate it? Rin asked. -as suspected of you Rin, you already know everything even if I dont say anything. Yes, your next job is simply going to heavens gate and activating it with this statue. Then you next objective would be go through hopefully opened portal and hopefully you will end up in heavens. From there it shouldnt be that hard to get to silver temple but on that you can focus when you actually succeed in your current objective [Quest: Silver temple in the heavens. Part two. There was a legend that a silver temple exists. You meet a madman who asked you to reach that place and prove that it does indeed exist. Following the legend the madman explains that the mentioned silver temple is located in the heavens. You have found the heavens gate activator just like madman asked you, now you have to find the heavens gate and see if the legends are true and if a gate to heaven really existed and if its still in useable state. Rank of the quest 3 Reward unknown Warning: What madman says may be a complete lie. There is no recorded truth that someone ever reached the heavens or the silver temple. Whatever you believe in the story of madman is up to you.] The Wizard stood up from the chair and started walking in the direction of one of the closed doors. -follow me He said that and ventured to one of the other rooms that could be reached from the main hall through one of numberous doors. The room was quite small compared to the big entrance hall. It was just a small rectangular room. It was filled with many paper scrolls that were both on the shelves as well as floor. Wizard picked up one of them and then he spread it on the empty table. -as I already mentioned before, this time I will tell you exactly where the heavens gate is located so lets get it over with. Here The Wizard pointed at one place on the map. -this is the city we are currently in, Karma. As you can see following road to the south you will get to the tomb where your prequest was held. Here is the north, here is the east, south and west. Now you should have a general idea of where we are and the direction in which you will have to go. Now then, going south-west from on the map Karma we reach this point. This is where gate of heavens are. I did far seered it few times last time it was about month ago. The heaven gate is a four meter in height construction made from silver stone. As you can see on the map its surrounded by mountains but not completely and if you go from the east you will see the gate with no problems from a great distance Hmm, quite far. Judging from the map, its about five-six days trip if we went straight in that direction without many stops. So practically it would at least take two weeks. And its only if we go straight. Arata thought to himself seeing the map. -so, with this I did my job of quest-giver for now the rest is up to you. Dont bother me if you have nothing important to say. If everything goes right you wont need my help again. With that being said, Wizard left the room leaving the party behind. -ah, once again we got an impossible challenge and I dont think we can buy our way out from it this time. Levi commented. -Levi, dont bring your negative thoughts once again. Arata quickly interrupted him. -those are realistic thoughts. You have no idea how hard it is to travel to the west from here. Did you ever wondered why people call this city the west end of the world? -you are overstating it again. Its should be better than fighting demons right? -well I guess. Its true that its better than fighting demons. -see, thats the positive thinking. Hey, Rin we really ended up going to the west just like you said. - . Rin nodded while still looking at the map. -what are you looking at? Levi asked. -its the first time I see a map as detailed as that. It shows quite large area. Not only Karma is here but few other cities as well. From what I know all those locations do exist in those places. Still what I look at right now is the map of the west. From what I know people never actually ventured that far, so no one ever was at the end of this map. See, no one arrived here or here or here. Rin started to point at random locations of the map at the left part of it. -she is right, its rare to see a map but a map of unknown area is even more rare. -still you cant trust that Wizard that the map is definitely correct. The east part was confirmed by Rin but no one can confirm the west part. Also seeing that there is not even one city drawn on this map means that few things are lose. Arata commented. -it might be that but Arata you heard how the other expeditions did when they ventured to the west. They could not find the cities, no matter how hard they tried and how far they went. They all ended up dying without finding a resurrection place. This fact confirms that this map may be correct. Rin answered. -well, we dont have to find any cities but just the heavens gate and we already know where to look for it. It should be a walk in the park. -ah, you are as optimistic as always. -Rin, you said you already were in west once, can you share with us what can we expect there. -I already told you pretty much everything. Also, me going to the west looked something like this. I was going through forests and fields and tried to avoid getting caught by monsters. Sometimes sprinting at maximum speed to get away from them and so forth till I fall into some cave that turned out to be a dungeon with demons in which I died after ten minutes of fighting without actually killing any of them as they had somewhat strong regenerate abilities that I did not know how to counter. From where I saw it they were immortal as even after I cut of the head of one of them he still regenerated it in five minute or so. Ah, its good that we dont have to fight demons. -how about monsters in the fields? How good they were? -well, they are beatable if you fight them one on one but when they gang up on you then its really hard to survive. If I had to compare then it would be on a level of ten man raid dungeon bosses. -its not that bad then. -well those are average monsters that you find everywhere there. But like everywhere you can sometime find something much stronger. I did fight there against one boar that was about as strong as the crimson knight in the tomb challenge. I managed to run away from it somehow as after five hours of running away he finally let me go. - . - . Rins story became somewhat scary. -then there was also a colossal stone giant that was as big as small mountains. Luckily I managed to hide away from him and he didnt see me. For him killing me would be as simple as stamping on the ant. - . - . Also fact that it was Rin who was saying all that, made this story even scarier. -there were more scary looking things there as well but I didnt get too close to them just to be save. Still I really dont know much about the west Arata, so dont count on my knowledge there. -its not like we need knowledge when we know our destination. We just have to go straight south-west and look for mountain range. I have a compass so we wont get lost. -if we go straight south west we will get right into those mountains here . Rin showed a long range of mountains between the location of the Karma and the gate. The mountains were not blocking only that. Even going south would be still blocked. -I think that we need to plan our route a little better. Arata quickly changed his mind. -I think that the best way would be to first go east, around the mountain and then travel west Levi showed a line on which they would go. Thats seems like an idea. -still speaking of going to the west, wasnt Yume doing to do something like that? She told me about it. Levi suddenly mentioned. -is it true Rin? Arata also asked. -well, yes. You remember how yesterday I took a break and left you two for the whole day even though we were working in library together. That day I spend with Mary. I did leave you because it was the last day that she had a free time as after that she travels with her party to the west and she dont know when she will actually be coming back. It might be few weeks or even months, depending on how well her party will do. I wouldnt have left if it were for anything else. -dont worry, we also took a break. Still why is someone like Yume going to the west? -since some time now Mary is a part of a group that often goes for dungeons, raids and play together in general. Even though previously she thought of fighting as a chore that she needed to do in order to travel to new places, she started to like the battles that her party had and she started to enjoy participating in them. Then one day she said that they were planning to go to the west, just like that. -so she doesnt have any objective in that? -probably not. In the first place, her party is probably not what you think. Its a spontaneous group that does whatever comes to their mind. Going to the west is also an idea like that from what Mary told me. -but if you said that west is so difficult, how do they plan to survive there? -they are probably optimistic like you Arata. They are like lets go what bad could happen? Levi cut in. -I am not like that. -yes, you are Arata . Rin answered and continued.. -but still even though they are spontaneous group they are quite able. Also although going to the west is something that is considered suicidal in general, Marys party is not really worrying about that but its also not lets go what bad could happen? but rather lets go if something bad happens, Shin will think of something. Mary said that its their motto and not only for going to the west but wherever they do something dangerous. It think that Yume did mention that guy once when I first time meet her in Karma. Vivi was also from that group and that dwarf with her. I forgot his name. Well I am bad with names anyway. Still if we want to find out something about the west, it wouldnt be bad to ask Yume about it or some of her party member. We could always use a black market but I feel like prices for their services are little bit too much so I am not going to use it if not necessary. -Rin, when does Yume take off to the west? -today at 17:00 she have a last party meeting. It should be starting soon. Then after it in the evening they are leaving Karma. Thats what Mary told me yesterday. We dont have much time then. -then is it possible to speak with her before she leave? -probably but I dont think that Mary is the right person to ask about the west either. For her going to the west is just like another journey with her friends and as always she goes there blindly. She will only be told the most necessary things that she needs to know. Rin explained her easy going friend usual behavior. -we dont need any great details but a quick summary on the subject. -if you say so. Well, I know where Mary usually has her meeting so we can wait there till she finish and catch her afterwards. She should have some time for us. Anyway Arata, what will we do with that map? It could prove useful to have it with us on this journey? -well, that stupid Wizard wont notice if its missing so of course we are taking it. Arata answered. -you are saying it, like stealing the map is the most natural thing to do. -because stealing the map from this guy is the most natural thing to do, is it not? -hahaha. -hold on to it for now Rin and lets go see if we can find out something from Yume. Yume. Rin picked up the map, scrolled it. After that the party left the room and the Wizards hideout as well. Then, they ventured to where Yume had a meeting with her party. Next Chapter Chapter 32 “Team without a leader? Part one.” Chapter 32 Team without a leader? Part one. The empire of Solaris was the most prospering country during the era of its greatness. Back then, the people thought that it will always stay that way as there was no one that could threaten them. However it was not that there was no one that could threaten them but rather it was just that the people did not know anyone that could threaten them. Not knowing about something, doesnt mean that it doesnt exist. In the end the empire of Solaris fell under the assault of armies of hell that came to execute their revenge. Nowadays, even the name of the empire Solaris is not vastly known and once majestic lands of the Solaris are not a place to which one would want to travel to. After the demonic invasion and fall of the empire, the number of monsters that spread through those lands was enormous. Some demons also stayed behind to make sure that no empire will once again rise on those lands. But it was not only them. With no mortal races around, the monsters roamed through those lands without anyones interference. Not only they vastly increased in numbers but also thanks to demonic influence they became much stronger than their counterparts anywhere else in the world. The city of Karma is named the western end of the world precisely because going any further means unavoidable death. Anyone who goes to the west sooner or later will encounter a wall that he will not be able to pass through. That is why naming Karma the end of the world couldnt be any truer. After all, if you go any further than that, you will encounter the edge of the world and fall into the abyss. People once believed that the earth is flat. Nowadays everyone knows that its not the truth and something like the edge of the world does not exist. Still, did anyone confirm that EOAs world is not flat? We really might end up falling into the abyss if we go there. And here out of sudden one day they tell me that they want to go there. Hahaha, why are they always so carefree? The man in the white cloak looked at his teammates from under his glasses and right away his worries left him. Well, if something bad happen, I can always really on them. -we are here. Sorry for being late but Mika had stomach pains. -brother, dont tell them that! The already filled room became even more filled and now it was fifteen people inside there. Two last arrived and after saying hello to everyone, they sit down on prepared beforehand seats. -Shin! Hiro and Mika are here, everyone is ready! Someone said it to the man in the white cloak who was sitting at one of the chairs looking at his hands. He was holding them in specific position where only his fingertips were connecting to each other. The man whose name was Shin once again looked up and confirmed that two azure heads arrived. Azure heads because that was a hair color of two people that just entered. Its a little shame that there is no one to start it the way it should be started but we cant do anything about it. Shin stood up from the chair walked in the front of everyone and stopped next to the blackboard. He adjusted his glasses and went over his black hair with his hand. Then he started. -we already been on this once but not everyone was there so for starter, I will repeat the main points of our last meeting Normally in EOA when going for a dungeon or any other place with other people, players tended to make it more special by giving some form of speech. Those were usually the leaders of the group that just tried to make everyone more excited and at the same time more focused on the task. In this group however that part was rarely seen and their meeting in this room or any other place were filled only with tactics on how they would deal with incoming matter. -as you all know, today we are making an expedition to the west. Still its not like we have any goal in mind, thats why we are free to choose the direction that we will go. Originally we were going just to leave Karma and go to the west but with informations that we gathered over past few months, we found out that there is a better place to start from. Previous expeditions that left from Karma and went straight to the west were usually reduced by half in numbers on the very first day. That means that creatures they encountered were especially strong. Thats why we will try to avoid following their footsteps and use that information to our advantage. So rather than leaving from Karma we will start off from Larisane, you know the elven village to the south, the one that for an elder has a young girl. Before you ask any question, I perfectly know that, adventurers cant visit that village but because of our previous relation with the village we will be allowed to stay there for few days. Vatras was the one that make this deal happen, so say thanks to him later. Before we go on, are you all okay with going to the west not from Karma but from Larisane? -yes, we are! To the mans question everyone answered together loudly and clearly. Their synchronization was almost perfect. They definitely werent doing it for the first time, although there were some annoyed voices as on other one hand the question was completely not needed. Shin continued. -so, we are taking off to Larisane this evening. Musashi arranged two carts for us, so it should be a comfortable ride. It will take us two to three days to get to Larisane. We will probably arrive there at morning of the third day. With a ride as long as this you will all have a lot of time to catch up on everything with each other, so listen till I finish because now is the important part. You should know that in comparison to the dungeons that we are usually doing, going for an expedition is little different. Well, maybe thinking that the west is one large never ending dungeon is not wrong but standard strategy that we usually use will not work there, thats why I thought of somewhat new formation that we are going to use Shin picked up the chalk and started drawing on the blackboard. He drew only circles so it wasnt anything complex. There were six circles on the left side of blackboard, six circles on the right side and three circles down in the middle. He signed up circles on the left with the letter A, circles on the right with letter B and circles on the middle with letter E. -when we start going to the west, we are going to split into three groups. Groups A and B will be rotating throughout our entire expedition. When group A will be fighting, group B will be resting and recovering mana, then when group B will be fighting, group A will be resting, and so forth. We are not going to fight all at once so we never get caught off guard without any resources to fight. I was also thinking of a plan in which we would stop every time we are at 50% of our mana and stamina but I think we wont be able to make long breaks to rest as the longer we stay in the same place the more monsters will come at us. Thats why we will be constantly in move to avoid getting overwhelmed. When the problem arrives in which one of the groups cant manage with it, group E will join in the fight. Team E is an emergency team. When team E will still not be enough, the resting team will join in as well. Anything else will depend on the situation. I am expecting that all of us will be needed in fight most of the times anyway but if that will not be the case we will go with plan like this. Now teams distribution. Shin once again started to write down something the blackboard. He was now writing letters inside the circles. At the same time he was speaking. -team As members will be: Flynn, Lee, Vivi, Konan, Thesar and Yume. Team B members will be: Musashi, Hiro, Mika, Kuma, Bran and Julia. And lastly team E will be the remaining people which mean me, Kei and Vatras. Before we go on, is everyone okay with everything I said? -yes, we are! Everyone once again answered in union but then. -wait, I am not okay! The girl with long light-brown hair and in white-brown clothes stood up from the chair protesting. Oh, its been a while since someone say no. -is something wrong Julia? Shin asked her. -switch me with Kei, I want to be with you in the party. There shouldnt be a problem right? I have the same position as him. Eh After she said her demands, Shin already knew what will follow next. -hey, I also want to be with Shin in party! -me too. -and me! -why is the team E so small? There should be more spots in it! -I want to be with Shin in party too! He hasnt been playing for so long! -we are all the same here! How did it turn into storm when just a minute ago everyone was listening? -emm I tried to make teams the most balanced and- He tried to stop them but Shins voice was no longer heard by his teammates. -there is no other choice. We are going to make some sort of competition to select those who will be in Shins group! -then lets all go to the arena, and fight it out! -but if we do that Kei will still win, right? -there is still the second spot and I going to take it. -as if I let you! Ah, why does it always end up like this? -shut up, all of you! The loudly shout filled the room and everyone become quiet. Naturally it wasnt Shin who shouted. In the first place he wasnt probably able to make a shout that loud. -you want to change the compositions of the teams? Does that mean that you have better tactic than Shin? The dwarf with a long orange-brown beard continued. -why does team E has those members and not others? I can explain it to you if you want. Me and Musashi are out from the beginning because we are the tanks. Then Vatras is the healer of group E because he is the most omni-spec here and out of all healers have the highest dps in case there would be need for it. Thesar would probably do as healer as well but Vatras simply has much more utility in many other areas. As for Mika, we all know that she cant focus unless she is with Hiro. Then Kei is in group E because he is our Ace and will deal with the emergencies the best. And as for why Shin is in group E, I dont think that I have to explain this. So Julia and Konan you two especially, dont start riots over nothing. I understand that Shin didnt play for long but its us who wanted to go to the west. Anyway Shin, we all accept the party distribution. Right everyone!? -yes! The rooms become silent and everyone returned to their seats. That was really helpful Flynn. -well before I go on, I think there is one thing that I need to clarify Shin continued after everyone become silent. -even though we are technically separated into three groups we are not going separate way at any point. We are traveling together at all points of time. Dont even think of wondering somewhere as it will bring heavy consequences for the group and will probably result in an instant failure. Also, in the first place, team E is defending the resting team should something got through the fighting team. -ah, so thats how it is. -in that case, what we even fought over? The peace once again arrived in the room. -before we go into any details, does anyone has anything to say or has any questions? Shin asked again. -I have one question. Why do we even bother to go there? Do we have any reason? The question was asked by the man with azure hair. -of course we dont have any. You remember how it went Hiro, someone joked about going to the west and then somehow we end up deciding to actually go there. -then Shin, what do we actually have to do to succeed in our exploration? Asked the man who was until now standing quietly in the corner. He had black hair falling that covered his left eye. He was wearing just a black t-shirt and jeans. He also had a glove protector on his left hand and a longsword on his left side. He was actually one of the few people that had weapon equipped in this room or rather he was the only one that had weapon equipped right now. -if you are asking for wining condition Kei, then it would be going to the west and returning alive Shin answered. Thats the best thing I could think of. -as to what we will actually be doing there, we will find out when we get there. If we encounter some rare monsters, then we will think about fighting against them. Same if we find some dungeons that no other players ever completed before. There should be some easy dungeons that others did not complete, simply because they couldnt reach it. Being the first one to complete the dungeon is really profitable as you all know. When last time we did it, we got like what? Seven good items from the last boss? So I guess completing some unexplored dungeon might as well be our objective. I said that but, we would first need to find those dungeons. Also rather than looking for the dungeons, we have one large endless dungeon out in the open and if we manage to survive just few days it will already be good result. -hey Shin! I dont think its that important but there are some people standing next to the door to this room. They have been standing there for about 10 minutes already so I thought I would let everyone knows. While Shin was deep in thought one of his party members, the dwarf with long black beard informed him. The name of the dwarf was Bran. He was marksman/beastmaster who has been playing with Shin for really long time now, even before the current party came to be. The greatest quality of Bran was his unexpectedly good hearing which allowed him to detect people and enemies within a long range. It was especially helpful in dungeons. He could detect incoming patrols before anyone else. Also against the enemies that could make themselves invisible, Bran would still manage to recognize where they are based on the sound. In a way Bran was a perfect scout. At the same time he had the highest dps output in the entire party. -there is no reason to bother with them if they are just standing there. If they wanted anything from us they would knock right. Also there wouldnt be anyone who would want to spy on us and even if there were, we dont really have anything to hide. -nah, I wasnt thinking of that but rather maybe they have something to tell us. -I will see who it is and if they want something. Girl with the long brown curly hair said that and walked to the door. Her name was Yume. She was someone that was hard not to know if someone spent more than a week in Karma. Most of the times even few hours were enough. Her sociable skills were simply on god level. Thats was at least how Shin thought about it. I guess I will leave it to her. Yume ended up leaving the room for the time being. It was still completely filled with people though. -we all know Yume so we know that it will probably take her some time before she comes back so Shin, how was your vacation? Black bearded dwarf asked. -its not the time for questions like that Bran. -dont be like that, everyone wants to know and you cant continue till Yume is back. After a long absence Shin couldnt evade questions like this so it was better to give up at the start. -fine. But, first of all I didnt go on vacation but to work. -since when going to Hawaii is considered work? -it is. I was working part time at my aunt shop as it was the most active period, the start of summer. I was practically either sleeping or selling stuff in her shop. -and how was the beach? Did you have your romantic episode there? The elven girl in blue clothes with long straight blonde hair asked. The worst thing however was that she did not stop only on asking and because Shin wasnt planning on answering stupid questions like this she started a monologue. -after long hours of work when everyone already left the beach, I lay down on the sand and looked up at the stars. In the middle of it I fell asleep. Few hours later, when I woke up, I saw someone sleeping next to me. It was- -what are you talking about Vivi? Shin had to stop her before she went into the details of her delusion. -your romantic episode of summer of course, what else? So Shin, you had something like that? I need to know because someone paid me to ask you that question. -ah once again, I was only working and sleeping and the shop was not located on the beach. I didnt even see the beach as I didnt have time for that. As I said I went there to work. It was so tiresome that actually right now its my resting time. Sure sometimes they are hard to deal with but still this is the most pleasant time of all. Looks like I missed all of them more than I thought I did. A gentle smile appeared on Shin face, which disappeared instantly when the door opened and he saw that there were more people entering than just Yume. Well, it has nothing to do with the tactics so I am out of it. Shin decided that it is not his role to do anything about that and quickly sat back to his seat on which he was sitting in the beginning. Everyone looked at the door at that time so no one saw him sneaking out. -wait, we cant just enter in the middle of it. -it will be fine, just leave it to me Yume was dragging someone inside by the black sleeve of that persons coat. Seeing this scene Shin started thinking. Ah, I already see it. In a moment, she will say something along the lines. Hey everyone! Can those people join our expedition as well!? It was not the first time that Yume did something like that and Shin could easily foresee this situation given his experience. And just like he predicted in five seconds when the doors were closed and Yume dragged all three people inside, she said. -hey everyone! Can those three join our expedition as well!? Ah, nearly there. I was wrong just by one word. It was sometimes scary how well Shin could predict what will happen. -when did I told you that we wanted to join? I just asked you for some advices that all. Shin looked at the people who entered. At the front there was Yume and the man she dragged in. Black-white colored hairs and black-white colored clothes. Two swords unusually both on the right side, one of them black, other red I see, so this is the man that fought on par with her. Then on his right side should be his comrade that also fought in the arena few days ago. Blonde hair and gray cloak, somewhat knightly looking, yes its probably him. Even though it was not on Yumes level, Shin had vast information on people that were in Karma as well. It got a little worse as he didnt play for some time but he heard the resent news that were spreading throughout the city and connecting the facts was especially his good point. I cant see the last person but its probably a girl. She is hiding her face behind the paper that she is holding right now. Still, I can see as something red is repeating to appear in my view under that paper. Also its someone who has the reason to hide the face from us. In short it means that its her -sigh. Shin sighted to himself. Ah and now everything out of sudden became so complicated. Its a good thing that I already hided. Still, I wonder why a group like that came to us. Also why would they want to go to the west in the first place? After all no one sane would do that. Some people in the room looked at Shin after what Yume said but seeing that he doesnt want to deal with the matter at all, someone took the initiative. -Yume, how many times did we tell you not to do things like this? His name was Vatras. Although he was nearly two meters in height and was quite muscular with his profession he was a teams healer. He was of elven race and had long dark green hair. Similar to Bran he was also playing with Shin before this party came to be. -dont be like that Tras, its different this time. -and here she goes again. The man with azure whose name was Hiro hair commented. -Yume, we let you invite people from time to time but this time specifically everyone told you not to do that. Look at Shin, he is already in his pose, you guys do what you want, I dont care anymore. Julia added. Lalalalala, I am definitely not going to involve myself in this. Shin was trying his best to avoid everyones gaze. -but we always lack people right? And especially because we are going to dangerous place like this we could use some help- -Yume thats enough Then all off sudden the man with black-white hair that was standing next to her stopped stretched his hand before her and stopped her. -sit down and I will take it from here What was more surprising though was the fact that Yume actually listened to him. Oh, he managed to convince her to sit down just like this? This might be interesting. -before I continue give us two minutes. Also so you all know, the person who tries to hide her face next to me is Rin. -Arata, why did you tell them that! The girl stops trying to hide anymore and shouted at the other man. So it was her after all. I still had some hopes as you dont see her with other people too often. Or rather except with Yume, you dont ever see her with other people. Yume sat down to her spot and the room became quiet. In that time the party of three that came inside started to whisper to each other. -what! There was that one time when the girl shouted out loudly but apart from that, Shin could not hear them. That guy, he probably knew her before. Otherwise I cant think of a reason why would she cope up with him rather than killing him on the spot. Shin thought like that seeing their conversation. -pss, Shin. If you are wondering what they are talking about then they are considering joining our expedition, it looks like they didnt plan it beforehand. -I already knew that, but Bran how can you spy on people like that? -well, they might as well be planning on attacking us so if I heard something like that then I would just shot the bolt between their eyes before they get ready. You remember how our last encounter; or rather how our all encounters with that girl went Hmm I guess its a good thing that he is spying after all. Still I dont think they will attack us. Hopefully. Last time I also thought it will not happen, and it was a grave mistake. Then the first time we meet I had no idea why but I ended up dying suddenly as well. I dont like dealing with unpredictable elements like her. -you also know that I cant help it even if I didnt want to spy. Bran added at the end. -no, no Bran, spy ahead. You need to inform us if we should do an emergency log out. Emergency log out was the current tactic that Shin though off in case when it might seem like Rin would try to attack them. As long as they did it fast enough nothing would happen. After about three minutes the three people that just came, came to understanding, although it was clear that the girl with long red hair was not happy about the outcome. The man with black-white hair once again started. -although we came here just to talk with Yume and ended up in this room because she dragged us in here, after thinking it through it would be quite beneficial for us if we could join you on your expedition to the west. First, let me apologize for already taking so much time, you had a meeting after all and we disrupted it. We didnt plan on doing so but Yume suddenly came out from the room and since then, there was little we could do to stop her. The atmosphere in the room once again changed to peaceful. -she is always like that Arata, dont worry we are already used to it. Out of sudden Vivi responded to him. They already knew each other? Yes, probably that. The tone that Vivi used was not the tone that she would use to a complete stranger. -before I say anything else, can I take some more of your time? Arata asked. No one interrupted him or said no, which meant that no one was hardly against it. -I should start with introducing ourselves. My name is Arata. Levi is this guy name and as you all probably already know her but this girl name is Rin. We found ourselves in need of going to the west and came here to talk with Yume about it as we knew that she is going to do the same. We thought that we can find out something useful by speaking with her and because she was leaving the city today, the only way to speak with her was to wait for her in this inn. The rest you know, she suddenly came out and dragged us inside. Still, she said that you are going in similar direction like us, as our destination is south-west from here. When I heard that, I thought, it might not be a bad idea to join up with you, even if only for some time until our destinations separate. I know it is a selfish request of mine but you guys definitely wont lose on that. The only thing that we can offer is our assistance in fights but you should know that Rin is someone who is worth at least 20 normal average players. She has a rank zero in this city arena, and her win percentage is 100%, she will definitely be useful in hard times. Then there is this guy who is a member of silver hand order. From what he said, getting to silver hand is quite hard. How hard it actually is I dont know but maybe you do, anyway he also should be probably useful. -probably useful? You are doing a horrible job at advertising us. The man with blonde hair next to Arata commented. -then there is me who is from unknown guild and has no achievements to speak off, sorry to disappoint you. -did I say horrible? Its worse than horrible. -em, em. Aratas achievements are as follow Vivi suddenly interrupted. -maybe some of you saw it in the arena three days ago but his fighting skills are at least as good as Rins one. I personally think that he is better, then there is other thing that he told me few days ago. Just recently, he fully completed the trial of adventurer on 100th level barrier. Yes fully, all stages without dying. All stages!? So people like that do exist. I never meet anyone like that though. Seeing how Vivi said that, Shin had no doubts that she was telling the truth. There were people though who did not believe right away. -then, what do you fight at the end of that trial? Kei who was standing in the corner asked. -after you defeat all of five bosses you fight against copy of the players that already completed the trial in the past. Arata simply answered the question. -you mean those are not the real players themself? -no, they are not. Then as for the copies ability, it is their powers that they had when they themselves completed the trial. -then it wasnt her? Ah, right, I do know someone who didnt complete the challenge fully only because he went easy on his last opponent. Still, I wonder why this guy answer was so detailed. This much information shouldnt be possible to gather by simply experiencing the thing itself. I wonder where did he found out about it in such detail. As far as I remember I did search for that information myself but I didnt find anything close to what he just said. -I didnt understand this question, can you repeat? -no, never mind, you can continue. It looked like Kei was satisfied with his answer. -well, I would want to continue but I dont know what else to add. Do you have any questions other question maybe? Arata asked once again. -okay, okay, I will help you with this one. Everyone you can bombard him with any questions you have and he will answer them, still to make it easier for him and faster as well. Everyone will ask only one question Vivi interfered. So, he will answer some questions, and then it will all work out I dont think this plan will go in the direction he wanted. Not with this bunch at least. Shin thought like that. Still there wasnt anyone who would try to stop Vivi right now so it wasnt like they were against that. -so, Flynn you already know him so it will be easy for you to start. Ask him a question. Vivi started. -okay. So Arata, how did the riddle go, did you solve it? -yes I did, after that I also ended up helping with that quest and we completed it. Thats how our party came to be in the first place. -good job, and what that quest was about? I see so they have a quest that tells them to go to the west. That explains much. Even though it was not voiced, Shin already understood the motive of that party to go to the west. Well it was not a hard thing to guess. If you were going to the west then you either had some objective like them, possibly some quest. The other option would be like Shins party and that is to be crazy and die young. -Flynn only one question! Vivi interrupted Flynn although his question so random that most of the people didnt understood what it was about. -okay, next one. Mika why dont you- -no! Not me! I didnt thought of anything yet. The girl with azure hair started to panic. -hey Mika, ask him if- Hiro who was sitting next to her also with azure hair, tried to tell her something, but he was soon interrupted. -stop! Stop! Brothers influence is not allowed. Mika come up with your own question. -then, eto. Why is your hair so strange? Mika ended up asking question which was as far as possible from the current topic. No matter how many tactical meeting we have, why does it always turns into parody? -you know, I want to know that myself Arata ended up answering. Despite stupidity of the question he was not neglecting it. -they were like that on default and there was nothing I could do about it. I once had a character in other game that had a hair like this, so maybe its because of that but I dont know why other games would influence my look here. Anyway, although it looks like that, I am already used to it. I am also already used to people saying that it look strange. But you are on the same boat with that unique color, arent you? -yes but I never disliked my hair in the game. Although at first it was strange, with time I started to like them. They make me feel unique. I am quite plain except from them. Then they also symbolize my connection with my brother. Emm even though you hair looks strange I didnt want to offend you by asking about them. I think that they look cool. Mika opened to him that easily? Did having strange hair automatically created a bond between them? Normally it took a week for her to get used to anyone who joined and if Hiro werent there, it would probably took even more. Actually some of us still have problem speaking with her if she is alone. -well thanks, you are also definitely not plain so dont think like that. You are rather pretty from what I see. -okay Arata, you can flirt with her later. Vivi stopped the conversation before it went anywhere else. -eh, I wasnt fil- -next question, Konan why dont you ask something? Konan was sitting in one of the middle chairs. His greatest characteristic was his height, as he was quite small. Even smaller than the dwarfs but he was of a human race. Interesting fact was that when Shin meet him in real, Konan was higher than him by head. -something simple, how old you are? It looked like Konan did not try to think too hard on his question. Why does all those question are so random? -19. By the way, I am not the only one that is answering questions. You can ask something Levi and Rin too. Arata was answering all questions without care, he probably didnt really care and simply wanted to get it over with. -this proposition is appreciated, now them who should be the one to use it first Vivi is fully in her presenter role. -I know, I will ask next question Vivi decided to ask the question herself. Now, they should prepare for the most stupid question they can get. Although with this group you can never know. There are still many stupid questions left to be asked. -the person I will ask is Rin. And she is doing it right away. I just hope it wont end up like last time. Maybe I should hold my finger on log out bottom? -me? -yes and the question is. Out of two your party members if you had to go out with one, whom would you choose? hmm as I though, it will be hard to beat her in competition of stupid questions this time. But will Rin actually answer to that? I personally expect red weapons to appear in the air any second. -I dont want to answer to this stupid question. Yea, thought so. -if you dont answer, it might decide negatively on our voting later, this is the deciding moment, you cant let down your teammates. - fine. Rin gave her annoyed look then pointed at Levi. -this one is the last man in the world that I could go out with so the answer is simple, it would be Arata. Still for your information Arata is already taken so thats not happening. Also for everyone information, I dont want questions like that again. -hey, how can you say the last man in the world!? Her teammate was not too happy. -I said what I thought, thats all. And even if you were the last man in the world, there would still be no chances of that happening. I would not care about continuation of human race at all. The atmosphere in the room change, some were even amused by her answer. Shin included. Haha, I didnt expect that but even though this question was as stupid as it was, it really might have been a deciding moment. What everyone wanted to know was if Rin wont start killing us out of sudden in the middle of the exploration but if she can take a question like that and properly answer it, then maybe I was wrong about her this whole time. Well, I always thought like that at the back of my mind. After all, the person that Yume considers best friend of heart from all those people she knows cant be a bad. -great, great, now next question. Lee, why dont you ask something? Vivi continued. Lee greatest characteristic was that he was bald and he changed it ingame himself when he went to hairdresser. He said that it helps him in playing the role of monk which was his class. Monk is a special class that does not use weapon in fights and is pure material artist. -I think it will count as a question. My name is Lee, Arata will you fight with me later on? I want to test my skills against someone who managed to beat the trial of adventure. -sure, when I will have time. Some of the questions werent even question but it seemed if they were asked in the specific tone it would work out. -well, that was really quick, now then Kuma, you have anything to ask or rather, you have to ask something. Kuma was a unique being even in this group. Out of all fifteen people only he was of Quantin race. Not only that, Quantin race was quite rare to see except their starting area. Many people never actually met one before as it was newest race in EOA that was unlocked just recently. People of that race who passed 100th level barrier were still very few. The characteristic of Quantin race were simple to understand. They were cat people. They had cat ears and cat tails, some of them were covered in fur but not all of them. Kuma was in between where he was partly covered in fur. Still, he was no some random little kitten. From all people in the party he was the largest of all, over two meters in height and he had a huge build as well. Similar to Lee he also was not using weapons but only his claws in fights. Kuma looked like someone who you wouldnt want to meet at night in dark alley. Although, his personality was nothing like his look. He was very calm and friendly in nature. In real life he was a kindergarten teacher in practice. -then I have a question to the man on the right. I heard some dark rumors about the leader of silver hand order, what can you tell me about it? All the questions were random so far. Although, Im also little interested in this topic. Levi started answering. -I dont really know anything except those rumors I am afraid. I am not high ranked enough to find out. Still, I do share some suspicious about the leader myself but you shouldnt think that the whole silver hand order is bad. Also if it all goes well, the leader might not be the leader anymore in the near future. Right, the last information is something you didnt hear from me. -now then, before we go into serious questions there is still one person that needs to ask the question. Vivi once again took the lead. The rest are me, Vatras, Thesar, Bran, Kei, Hiro, Musashi and Julia. Did Vivi divide us into those who will play around and those who might actually ask for something important? Thats why all those questions so far were so unrelated. And the last person to ask a stupid question will be Yume. -Yume you probably already know everything there is to know but you also have to ask the question. -Arata, Levi, Rin sorry that it all turned out like this Yume started like this. After bringing them here you knew that they wont have it easy. I somehow dont think that you are truly sorry. Shin though like that. Also especially Yumes playful tone was giving her out. -now then, what to ask? What to ask? Oh, I know. It might be something that people normally dont ask but if you are to join our raid then you will need to say it anyway and if you do that beforehand, it might convince some people. You see, in our group everyone knows each other classes so we can work better together with. Especially Shin has to know everyones classes as he is the one thinking up the strategies. Thats why could you tell us your classes. No one in this room will share it with anyone so dont worry about this information leaking out. Oh, Yume actually asked for something useful in discussion. Is this the end of the world? Still, I wonder what their reaction will be. After all in EOA people can be divided in three groups, those that can tell their classes without holding back to anyone, those who will tell that only to their friends or when its really necessary and lastly people who will not tell anyone under any circumstances. -the question has been asked! Now then, first person to answer that will be turururururrurur. Levi! The member of silver hand. Vivi continued with a playful tone. -do we really have to do it? -the question has been asked! There is no way to run anymore. This is the deciding moment. Oh we already have the second deciding moment. I wonder on which number we will end up this time. -fine, fine, I wont die from that. Rank 6 in game ranking system, class name Crusader Rank 6 Crusader. Quite rare but not something out of the reach. They can take roles both of tank and dps but in comparison to the paladins they dont have any healing spells. Still their dps output is greatly higher than paladins one. As for tanking, they are good for small dungeons but in raids they would rather do the jobs off-tank, although its not impossible for them to be a main tank when player is dedicated to tanking and gather gear for it. Shin had a lot of knowledge about the classes in EOA. Of course he didnt know all of them but those that were listed on websites or generally were somewhere on the internet were known to him. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. -great, great, we could definitely use someone like that on our side, right everyone? Then the next one to answer will be Rin, whats yours. -mine is called Crimson bladedancer, if I remember correctly it was of rank seven. Its been a long time since I saw that message so I might be wrong. If you really want to know then I want to check but the name should be enough for you right? Well, thats unexpected, I thought she would be much higher, although it often is like that. Most of people become better in the game only with time. Its rare to find anyone who was truly good from the start and when it comes to classes rank it is purely based on first month of the play. At higher level rank of classes dont tell much person skills. Rank of classes symbolizes how good they were and not how good they are now. Still if someone has a high rank you can automatically assume that he was better than average in the beginning and that probably lead to being better later on as well. Still those people are rare. Although I was convinced or rather I do know that Rins abilities are not something that she learned in this game. So I assumed that she should have higher rank of class. Well, classes are based on first month of play so even if she knew how to fight that was not enough. I also remember dying out of hunger because I didnt know I had to eat in the game. Still in the end rank 7 is still high, we dont have that many people who have higher rank here. Also, even though the name of class bladedancer sound familiar and it is quite common in many RPGs games, I dont think that I read about it anywhere in EOA. People who didnt look into it, might think that it isnt that of rare class but if I never heard of it then it is not in common knowledge at least. Also who cares about the class, there is not a single person in our group that would doubt the ability of Rin. After all, she is the strongest player under 200th level if not higher. Long time ago when she was more active in arena I did see her once beating five player of level 230. And that was before she got that skill. -and finally, Arata what class has someone who can manage the 100 level trial? Vivi continued. - . Oh, is he someone from the third group? Or does he not want to reveal his class because it fades in comparison to rank 6 and 7? Its true that if it will be class out of ranking system then it might make his passing 100 level trial, doubtful. -Arata, people are waiting, this is the deciding moment. Prepare yourself mentally and say it. Its already third deciding moment. Well depending on his answer it might actually change how others will look at his request. -I dont need any preparation. Anyway my classes are well I have class that is called Sword enchanter and its rank is four. Four? High, high, super high. My theory about people getting high rank at the beginning and being good later on is true it seems. And for his class Sword enchanter, the only thing I read about this one was that its an ultimate anti-magician class. It was a story from a perspective of a mage who got completely destroyed by some sword enchanter and all of his attacks were nullified or backfired at him. -and there you have it. Their classes have ranks of six, seven and four. So high so high. Next question will be asked by. -Vivi, I didnt finish yet. Sword enchanter is only my second class. Vivi wanted to continue but Arata interrupted her. Second class? -second class? -yes, I do have double class which means I have two classes. My other class is called The twilight swordsman and its a class of rank two. - . Everyone looked at Arata with surprise. Even his teammates that stood next to him were surprised by that number. They also didnt know. Hahahaha I didnt foresee that, you are interesting indeed, Arata. I am not even sure if I should be surprised by the word double class or the twilight swordsman or rank two. There are absolutely no information about classes of rank three or higher anywhere I looked. Because of that I arrived at the conclusion that only few players in the world would have a class of such high rank. Same is with double class, although I did hear that something like that exist. -hey Vivi, I will take the next question. The first to react was a large man who was wearing heavy plate armor. Although similar to Vatras, his posture was as misleading as it could get, because he was also a healer. His class was the sixth paladin, which was one of the types of paladin class. Apart from color, classes often had other indicators as well. Numbers being the one of those. -ask away, Thesar. -Arata, can you show us a proof of your words? It was given that after saying that much some would want a proof. -you mean, that I have this class? Well I can show you my skill books if you want but I have a better idea, here Arata unsheathed his sword from the sheath on his right side. It was a sword darker then night, darker than abyss. Somehow the light was not reflecting on this sword as if it was avoiding it. -this is the sword that I received after completing a class quest of twilight swordsman type. Its probably much more interesting to look at than the skill books. -yes, thank you very much. It looked like Thesar was convinced momentarily as well as all others who still did not believe 100%. -good, good, after the big revelation we continue with the questions, there are still six people left. Kei, what about you? Vivi continued the show. -I already asked him about 100 level challenges. -yes but that was before we started. -it was you who said one question per person. Kei was too stubborn to ask another question. Ah, he is always like that. -okay, okay, then oh I know. I was thinking of leaving it to the end but, Shin! Everyone cant wait for your question, we cant keep them waiting. I also cant wait for it so whats your question? Out of sudden Vivi decided to ask Shin. -me? Shin also thought that he will be left for the last question so he didnt prepare anything yet. -Arata, you better prepare yourself because it will be the deciding moment To make matters worse Vivi said something like this. Its already forth deciding moment. Anyway, I didnt think of anything yet because someone else might have asked that question before me and I would have to come up with something else again. Still, there is something that no one asked yet and I wanted to know if what I saw was what I think it is. -Shin, so what do you wanted to ask? Everyone looked at him with expectations. -my question is to you Rin. What is that piece of paper that you keep holding and looking at? The moment Shin asked that question he could see a quick change of look on faces of the three, Aratas, Rins and Levis. Especially Arata focused his gaze on Shin right after that question. -hey, Shin, earlier he said he is a twilight swordsman and now you ask about some piece of paper? -yes, thats little unexpected of you. Bran and even Kei commented on that but Shin already knew that his question was not careless. -how did you know? Now it was Arata who asked even though the question was not to him. -well, I just asked what is that piece of paper, nothing else. I didnt have a question ready so I randomly asked for that. -randomly heh. Yes definitely randomly A smile appeared on the man with black white-hair. Now what do you have there? My guess is that it will be a thing that would convince us to let you join even if things turn out against your favor. Thats why you were saving it for later. That or Shin really asked a random question. Still Arata soon started answering and it turned out to be the former. -well we were going to use it as our trump card at the end of this question session but I guess it cant be helped now. Rin question was yours so answer them. Rin turned around the piece of paper and showed its front. -it is a map of Karma and its surrounding area. The left side of it shows the areas to the west, for example the place where we will be going or any place that you guys might want to go. Having a map would be useful while traveling anywhere and I never saw a map of the west anywhere in Karma before. If I couldnt find it means that you definitely not have it. Rin answered while showing the map. Yes, I also didnt find any map of the west even though all of us put in the effort to find it. I only found the old map of Solaris but the structure did not match to what I saw or heard from people who took part in previous expeditions to the west even though played early, their trump card still has strong the effect, I guess. -ah, thats Shin for you. To realize its something like that. Flynn complemented. -I was amazed when I heard that he has double class and rank two but if we compare him to Shin then he is nothing to be amazed about. And Julias complemented was even more. There is nothing amazing about me though. And I definitely shouldnt be compared with someone like that guy. -okay, everyone we will have time to get amazed by Shin later. There are still some questions left. Bran, give us something inspiring. The question session continued. -my turn eh. Well, I dont know it will be inspiring but aye, I do have good question. You three come here without planning to join us but all of sudden you decided to do so. But because it was all of sudden not all of you are convinced that it is a good idea. So my question is, can a solo player like you Rin can actually play in raid groups? I am asking if you can do what you are told and dont complain about the job we might or might not give you. And also most importantly, will you not end up killing someone by chance with that skill of yours? You have no mercy Bran. The dwarf with black beard was not someone who would avoid hard questions. Rather he would be the one to ask them as he didnt know how to hold back, or rather was not afraid of not holding back. After all it was a question that was on everyones mind. To his question, Rin answered right away without much thinking. -I dont like being ordered around, thats for sure. So if you ask me to do something in a way that will feel like I am being ordered around, I will not do what you ask. Also, if it will be something unreasonable then I will not do so as well. Also, if it will be something that I dont like or dont feel like doing, I wont do it either. As for playing in raid groups, it will not be my first time doing so, although I didnt party with others ever since I got the skill you spoke of. This is because from that point on, I could deal with anything by myself. Thats why as you said using that skill while other are around might end up in someone dying so dont get in my way. I wont be using it if there will be no need for it though. The situation in which I will have to use it will be probably only after you all die or at least some of you. At that moment there shouldnt be that many of you left so as long as you dont jump in front of my skill then you shouldnt get killed by it . Rin was not holding back either and voiced her thought. Oh finally a negative answer but it is also something I did expect. And I do expect more of it happening from now on. -does that answer your question? -aye, thanks for being truthful. -of course she will try her best to- -interference from others is not allowed Vivi cut in when Levi tried to repair Rins answer. If it werent like this then there would be no meaning to this questioning in the first place. Not all answers will be what we want to hear because if they were, they would be filled with lies. -now then, Hiro what you will ask about? Vivi asked the man with azure hair. He was Mikas older brother and the fact that they both ended up having that kind of hair was quite funny. Although, his character was much different than his sister. In comparison to her, he was fearless and very dependable. Still at the same time he was sometimes quite arrogant. His class was a mage, or rather water mage with the rank of 4, which was highest in the party. Well, maybe except from one person that had the same rank as him. That person was his sister whose class was water cleric. In the city of beginners they were doing the same thing and thats why their classes ended up like that. -I did have one question but after hearing what Bran asked about, I have a follow up to this. Rin do you think that joining our party is a hustle and you would be better off without us coz we will just get in your way? Ah, another so merciless and the answer will make it only worse. -yes I do think so. I dont know why Arata decided to group up with you but its his decision and I will cope with it. But yes, I do think that taking care of you all on the way will be tiresome. -I see. In that case I will tell you while I have a chance that if by some miracle others will accept you to this group, I will definitely not. But if you really happen to join us, you will have to fight with me, miss rank seven. I have to change your attitude a little. -brother you shouldnt say things like that. His sister tried to stop him but Hiro was just starting. -Mika, no everyone! You do all remember what is the most important thing in our group right? What is the reason that we can go on with only this many people and deal with things that others usually need twice or thrice the amount. Its true that Shin comes up with all plans but it is all off us that are working together to make those plans happen. Shins tactics work out precisely because we dont have to worry about others as we believe in each other. It wasnt always like that. It is a trust we built during all our journeys together. But now you want to bring here an element like her. How many of you would spend their time worrying if she might not go berserk out of sudden and start attacking us in the middle of boss fight? -Hiro you are overstating it a little with that last comment. Vatras, the elf with green hair and beard tried to calm him down. -yes, maybe Tras, but its something I wanted to say Hiro as always is good with words. He completely changed the momentum from inviting them to not inviting them. Still, he did that only because she said that he would get in her way and he couldnt simply didnt take it lightly. Or is it because of something else? As far as I remember Hiro could never stand calm when the talk was concerning Rin. Does he hate her? Is it because she is better than him? I could never understand him in this regard. -I already said everything I wanted to say but there is also something that I would want everyone to hear before making their final decision Hiro continued. -Mika can you tell everyone what you told me after we logged in today? -it was, hurry we will get late? Mikas answer was completely anti-climactic. -not that! Of course I meant the thing about todays journey and how you felt about it. -do I really have to brother? - . Hiro gave her annoyed look. -okay, okay. So, what I told Hiro earlier on is that I was actually quite scared of going to the west when I first heard about it. Then the more we found out what can we find there, the more I didnt want to go. Still, because I am going there with my brother and all of you that I can trust from the whole heart I know it will be fine. We will just have to do what we always do and if something goes wrong, we will laugh it off afterwards, it wont be our first time that it happened not it will be the last time. With you all whom I spent so much time, even dying is entertaining and enjoyable. The warm words of the girl with azure hair changed the atmosphere completely. When Hiro speech had quite an impact, it was speaking only to others reason and mind. Mikas words however were spoken from heart and were meant to be listened by hearts of others. She herself probably did not realize the importance of her words and how much influence they had but they completely shifted the gears. Wow, even I got convinced. Shin thought like that after hearing that. I think that this is truly the deciding moment. So far, I was thinking that adding this three will be very good addition in our fighting power. I also really want that map. Not to mention that being able to play the card of queen in the right moments would greatly increase our chances of survival. Still, it was only for the wellbeing of the mission in which I dont have any winning condition. I usually think of plans that the greatest importance is succeed no matter the cost, here however our plan is to have fun while traveling together in unknown land. Should it last five days or ten days or a months the important thing is not winning but the fact that after a long break we can finally do something together with this party. -hey Arata, it just turned really bad, didnt it? Shin saw that two from the party of three started to discuss their position. Yes, if I got convinced then they really are in bad situation. Still, I want to see how he will try to turn it around. -Levi, you know what, maybe we shouldnt try to join this party after all. They have this nice atmosphere and they been playing together for years, do we have the right to enter it out of sudden just like that? Arata answered. He also got convinced by that speech! Mika, you powers are terrifying. -it was your idea, if you dont want to do this then we can just go in three like we originally planned. -yes, but I didnt think it will be like that. I thought that if we go with them it will be simply easier for us. I also wanted to see raid group in action in EOA. So far the biggest party I was in was only 6 people. Then, there is also the fact that Rin would be happy if she could travel with Yume, right? -I see. In that case at least wait till it finish. So they dont plan on doing anything. All thats left are three questions. There is Julia, Musashi and Vatras left. Julia will not make it easy for them. Musashi wont try to change anything and will ask some safe question. Then I dont really know what Tras will do but it might be another hard question but that question will not be unfair, rather it will probably be a chance for a recover. -now then we have three questions left. Julia, what will you ask for? Even though the tides have changed Vivi the questions continued. -do I really have to ask for anything? I already know how I will vote. -you still have to ask the question. -okay, so ah whatever. You in the middle! I planning to vote against you joining our group, try to change my mind. Julia pointed at Arata and asked the question. -Julia its not a question. -ah, you are too picky Vivi. Then my question is, what would you want to say to change my mind? The way she asked this question makes anything he said just some hopeless excuse to convince us. -well, I dont really want to try to convince you if you already know what you want to do. Rin said some bad things but I cant say that those were lies as probably thinks like that. I told her to be truthful if she got a question rather than trying to produce some lies so thats what you get. -I do appreciate being honest but that didnt change my mind. -well, we are getting nearly to the end, only two questions remains The thing that Vivi can keep it up the same no matter how it goes is really something. -Musashi, its your turn. Musashi was another tank after Flynn that the party had. He was a muscular man with black hair falling on the sides of the forehead but not going anywhere near the neck. Right now he was in common clothing but usually he wore full plate armor a large shield and a long trident as his weapon. In comparison to Flynn he was doing a long range tanking style in which enemies had problem in getting even near his shield. He was also the fourth person who was in this party even before it was officially created. Or rather the four: he, Shin, Bran and Vatras were the ones who created it in the first place. -well, given the atmosphere it is probably the last occasion to do that, so I wanted to ask. What does one has to do in order to get a profession of rank two and dual class at that. I am simply curious it. -well, I can just tell you what I did. Firstly I won the arena tournament, and then did few quests. Two were specifically for me and in one I had to help other player. At the end of the last quest I ended up dying while fighting against level 40th wolf. Although, I did manage to kill it somehow, I died from bleeding effect afterwards. Then there was a time in which I worked in restaurant to earn few coins. Other things would be minor details. -unfortunately I wont be able to hear them but still, good luck. As I thought, Musashi didnt try to ask a relevant question. Still, fighting 40th level creature in city of beginners? That place is truly full secrets and mysteries. -and with that only one question remain, after that we proceed to the voting. Lets see what our great sage Tras has to ask. Vivi said that but of course Vatrass class was not a sage but a druid. -its finally my turn, eh. Well if I am the last let me sum up everything as well. You all asked very different question, I would say some of them were even quite impolite. -oh, which one was impolite? -yours definitely was Vivi. Also from all the questions we hat, the only one worth mentioning that were on topic were Yumes, Brans and Shins. Keis and Thesars ones were to confirm the truth so they might also not be that meaningless. All others were either you want to find out something that doesnt involve our issue right now or you were simply rude. Ah, right, I forgot. Mikas question was also appropriate in a way as it was a question that helped her make her own decision and we started to ask those questions specifically for this. -Tras, what about mine? -you asked that question Hiro only because you felt resentful after the answer that Rin gave to Brans question. Also, about your question. Didnt you ask it because you already knew the answer? And you knew it very well, because in old times you were thinking just like that yourself, although most of us here dont remember it as at that time as it was only me, Shin, Bran and Musashi in the party you were trying to join. -I will not deny that but that was before I saw how you all play. -and is this time any different? She also never played with us, did she? -you might be right but even so what I said and what Mika said is definitely true. -yes there is no question in that. Thanks to the speeches of both of you we finally arrived at the question that we have to answer here. And that question is. Should we continue as we are and play with the current team, with the people we all know well and are used to or do we try to invite those three and actually do something challenging in the west? Its not like we cant do anything challenging with people we have right now but we would be able to do much more with those three. Its a simple question we take them with us or not. Both have consequences and both have rewards. Actually I am fine with both of options but I can tell you what my answer will be, even before I ask my question. Still all of you just like me should think about the answer to the question I just ask on your own. Thats all I am saying. -so what did you decide Tras? Musashi ended up asking. -I know that will say no as the question I going to ask cant change my mind. As to why I say no, it is my decision I dont want to influence any of you so I will not explain it, at least not until the voting is over. Now then, my question is quite simple. Any of you can answer that. Why you guys want to go to the west? Your decision must have been sudden otherwise you would mention it to Yume earlier and she would keep nagging us for few days already. But today is the first time I heard of it. How did that happened that no one asked that question thought out the whole time? I didnt ask it because I already know it is about a quest but still, I do want to know what that quest is about in some details. -well, thats easy to answer. I already mention that we were doing a quest right? Actually its a chain quest and our next quest that we got today asks us to go to gates of heaven that are located somewhere around here Arata showed it on the map. -if we manage to complete the quest not only we will get the world first for being the first one to complete the quest of rank three but also we will end up going to heavens for some time. I cant wait for the view from there. Thats why even though I heard that going to the west is suicidal it is definitely worth to try. Arata explained their reason. It was quite simple reason that Shin already predicted long time ago but now that he heard about it completely he started thinking. Well, it is not something that we can set as our winning condition, as we dont have that quest. But the thing he said at the end Shin considered Aratas last words. I would want to let everyone see the view from heaven as well. It would be something worth remembering. Something worth the effort that expedition to the west brings. Now once again, I dont know what to choose. Still, that guy is really ambitious to aim for rank three quest and world first at. Or is this situation normal for him? I wouldnt be that surprised to see him succeeding in the end. Sure no one managed to complete the quest of rank three so far, still if I were to get it I would definitely not think about it in this regard. I would focus only on the ways in which I can complete it, it would definitely be a good puzzle. The last question and answer was heard and now it came to voting. -well, unfortunately we dont have more questions to use so we cant ask in details about this heaven thing and I wont change the rules right now. Note to the future me, make Tras ask question earlier because we can make a follow ups to it. Em Arata. You want to do some last speech or something? Vivi continued. -nah, they should decide as they think, I shouldnt try to convince them anymore. -I see, well, then we will proceed with voting It will be interesting to see what everyones answers will actually be but I can already predict most of them. -so, Tras you are staying with no? -yes. -then one no, zero yes. To balance it out Yume, one for yes? -of course! Well Vatras already said what he is going to vote on and Yume was given from the start. Then, I am sure that Julia will definitely vote for no, even if only to not throw her words on the wind. Although after Tras question, she probably wants to vote yes, but she still wont do it. Then Musashi will definitely vote for yes because thats how he always been. Still despite everything, why I cant say for sure that Hiro will vote for no? It should be obvious and yet. -now who should be next? I would want a yes now, hey Flynn what about you? -one for no. If it was in different circumstances then I would have no problems but because it is the first time that we are going somewhere all together since so long then I want to go with regular squad. We can challenge ourselves next time. The dwarf with brown-orange bread answered. -you traitor! Vivi quickly called him traitor for that. -everyone has their own right to vote, Vivi. You cant force anyone and voting has been our option of making choices since long time already so deal with it. -fine Flynn, I will remember it though. Its two no and one yes, who should be next. Kuma what about you? -hmm, I think what Flynn said is true. We were planning to go only with regular members anyway so we should stick to that plan. -you too!? Okay its three for no and one for yes. To balance it I vote for yes so its three for no and two for yes. Now then asking Hiro or Julia will only increase the gap so . -Vivi! Just ask everyone as it goes and dont play with votes. Or should I replace you. -yes, yes Flynn, okay next Konan, how will you vote? -hey, you were going to ask Hiro! -I will give him more time to think, stop nagging! So Konan whats your answer. -I was going to say yes but after hearing what Flynn said, I change my answer to no. -I see, four for no and two for yes, next Lee, and what about you? -well I did want to have a duel with Arata and all but what Flynn said is indeed true so I will also have to vote for no. -Flynn! You see what is happening! Its your entire fault! Vivi ended up yelling at him as she couldnt hold it any longer. -how could that be my fault? Its their decision. -but because of what you said we have three additional no. If you had to say no then you could at least follow Tras example and keep your reasons for yourself. -but those are also not my reasons, I just agreed to what Mika said earlier. -still its definitely your fault for repeating it! And now its five no to two yes with Hiro and Julia saying no for sure. One more no and its over. -but its everyone decision so try to respect that. -no! Its only your decision that spread to three other people. I never get tired of hearing them fighting. -just continue with the voting already! -fine, fine but I will not forgive you for it. So emmm who should I ask now? Vivi looked around. -stop influencing the score! -stop nagging already! And you are the one that influenced the score the most. Anyway right now it is already hopeless so, I give up lets just finish it quickly already, Mika what about you? -one for yes. Mika answered quickly without a second of though. She already had the answer prepared for a long time. -ha? Ha? Even Shin was surprised by that answer. -I vote for yes, I want them to join. Mika repeated herself. -but didnt you said earlier on that you want to have people that you can depend on and full heartily trust in? When you said that everyone changed their minds otherwise we wouldnt even had to vote. Why did you change your mind all of sudden? -I didnt change my mind. After my question I found out that they arent bad people and since then, I wanted them to join. You see except Vatras, Musashi, Shin and Bran who created this group I saw how everyone joined at some point and now there are fifteen of us. People kept on joining, some of them only for one trip, some for longer but it was always a good thing. Its fun to travel with all of you but it will be even more fun if our numbers increases. There will be more people that I could depend on and trust in. Mika again said it out like nothing. I think that Mika really doesnt know how much influence on other she has. -but you will be voting against your brother? -hey Vivi, you wanted a yes so just take it and move on. Flynn hurried her up. -ah you are right, never mind Mika. Now its five for no, three for yes. -hey Vivi can I change my answer? -me too. -I also want to change it. Konan, Lee and Kuma ended up saying the same thing. You guys are too easily influenced. It looked like newest Mika speech once again changed their minds. -there are no changing votes after you say yes or no. It is something we agree on, Vivi continue with the voting! Flynn hurried her up. You are too easily influenced Flynn. -but we could change it this one time. -Vivi, continue with the voting! -okay, okay. Then what about you Thesar? -as Mika said, everyone joined at some point and it was the same for everyone, I vote for yes. We never had a problem with it, did we? -okay, now its five no and four yes, we are nearly there. Now then whom should I ask? -Vivi! -okay, okay, then mmm, Kei share with us what you think. -one for yes. -and your arguments? - . Kei did not add any arguments. -Vivi you really shouldnt be the one to collect the votes. Should I change with you? -Flynn, stop nagging me already! Anyway its now tie five to five. I did a good job. Hmm who next Vivi looked around the room. -hmm, those two are the land mines so Musashi what about you? -me? Well as always I dont mind anyone new joining. This time there is also the fact that I simply want to see the twilight swordsman in action. Yes, just like I thought. -okay that makes it six yes and five no. Yeses are finally winning. In that case, eh Julia? -one for no. I already said it before, didnt I? Too prideful as always. Even though she once told me that visiting heavens in this game is one of the reasons she started to play. Really, why cant she just be honest with herself? -okay, its the tie again and there are two people whom I have no idea what they will say and one no from Hiro. Well I already collected the no from Julia, so I might as well collect the second one. Hiro you are staying with no right? -did I ever say that I say no? Hiro answer was rather unexpected. -no you didnt, but you are saying it right? -Vivi, mark one vote for yes. He just said quickly. -wait, wait, wait, I didnt hear you clearly, can you repeat? -you did hear it so stop acting like you didnt. I vote for yes and now its seven yes and six no, move on to the next person. So he did say yes in the end. I felt that no is somehow uncertain and he said yes probably because of what Tras said earlier. It probably reminded him of the situation in which he was once in. We also held a vote at that time, didnt we? Hiro and Mika were the first one who joined our group after it was created. Still I wonder if it is just simply because of what Tras said earlier? Well, it will probably be one of the things that I will not get a clear answer to. -well ,I will not ask for anything right now and just take this yes as it is before he changes his mind. Now then Bran, just one more yes and we can finish the voting. Now its someone whom I really have no idea what he will say. Although just like Musashi he never had problems with new people either. -hmm Bran went with his hand over his black beard. -you know I was planning to say yes and if you asked me earlier I would do so but if a score is like this then I will say no. -wait! But you just said wanted to say yes. -well I wanted to say yes because I dont mind them joining. Ever since we created this group there were many people that came and joined us. Some of them went only for one dungeon, then some stayed with us for few months or some stayed with us for this whole time and are here today with us. New people in party are always refreshing. Still because the score is like this, I will vote no and hear what Shin has to say about the matter as so far he just stays in the corner and try his best to not get involved. Best regards Shin. After saying that, a large grin appeared at Brans face and he waved his hand in Shins direction. Bastard. -ah so it came to this. Its the tie seven to seven and the final vote is yours Shin. Vivi kept on the whole thing till the end. -ah why do I get the deciding vote once again? You guys are not planning it beforehand, do you? -hmm? Of course not! As if I would believe that when three last sessions of voting ended up in tie seven to seven. -so Shin what is your vote? Vivi once again asked. Even though it ended up in the tie, pretty much the only person that really said no was Vatras at the start. Everyone else said no just because, Bran didnt even try to hide it. Even Hiro changed his mind for some unknown to me reason but the only thing that I still dont quite understand is why Vatras said no. He should be like Bran and Musashi, already used to inviting new people after all those years. -attention! Attention! Shin is hardly considering if we should let them join or not. We might even get the greatest insight of all times, prepare the notes. Really she has to make it harder. Well I wont find out why he said that unless I ask him. -Tras now that all the votes went by, you wont influence anyone so why did you decided to vote for no? Shin ended up asking as he couldnt find the reason no matter how hard he thought about it.. -so you did realize that everyone else in truth also said yes, well I also realized that. Vatras answered. -hey, my no is just as real as yours Tras! Then the girl with long brown hair intervened. -yes definitely miss visiting heavens in this game is one of my dreams. -ummm. Vatras shot down all of Julias arguments in one sentence. So she told him as well, and here I felt a little special. -so Shin, do you know the true reason why I didnt want them to join? Vatras ended up asking him. -I am really out of ideas on this. You are definitely not someone who is influenced by others and you wouldnt say no for no reason like Bran who just wanted to play around or Julia who just had to say no because she said so before and had her pride to keep. Tras, you have some reason that you are convinced of. Still, I cant think of anything that it might be. -well, I already gave you few hints on the way but as always, even though you should realize it in few seconds, your mind will simply never think in that direction But, I really cant think of anything. -the reason is quite simple. I dont have anything against new people joining us and never had but every time new people join, you always try to come up with new tactics that would use their ability to the fullest. You change the formations, think of new combos and research in depth the classes of those new people, sometimes even more that they do themselves. If we were to add new people right now you would also had to rethink our strategy for the going to the west. But didnt you say that you worked hard lately and only now your vacations are starting. I voted for no so you dont overwork yourself too much. So you could simply relax and enjoy playing this game with us. -but I dont hate doing that, its my way of playing this game to the fullest. Shin explained. -I know and even though for me my no is a no, for you the reason for my no are similar to that of Bran. So in the end its fourteen yeses and only my vote left. Well, I will say yes as this is what everyone decided on but would I also say yes in other circumstances as well? Shin once again looked at the party and the man in black and white. -so Shin, the last deciding vote? Vivi asked once again. -one for yes but dont except any big insight on why I chose that. My reason is quite simple. -Yume you heard, they are joining! Vivi didnt even ask for that reason and shouted in direction of Yume who was already near the three and was hugging all of them. During a commotion Musashi came to Shin and asked. -hey Shin, what was your simple reason? -funny thing that its you who is asking Musashi. -hmm? -I am the same as you, I also simply wanted to see the twilight swordsman in action. Next Chapter Chapter 33 “Team without a leader? Part two.” Chapter 33 Team without a leader? Part two. -well, I dont know why it exactly happened but they end up agreeing. After the long debate that took place an hour ago, Arata, Rin and Levi ended up joining Yumes expedition to the west. Even if the decision to join up was made on the fly, Arata saw only merits in it. Joining a group that is prepared to go to the west, compared to just doing it on their own blindly, was a great difference. Right now Arata was in his world first mode and he would do anything necessary that will increase his chances of winning. As for the Levi and Rin. Rin did not like that idea too much but Arata managed to convince her. Still, he did promise to her that if out of sudden, she will want to leave that party, she doesnt even have to give him her reason and they will follow her decision without asking any questions. Levi little similar to Arata, also just thought that it will increase their chances of survival, although he was not optimistic and already expected that all of them dying at some point is inevitable. Now that they joined with a larger group, the number of people that will die will simply increase. -I told you, they are good people. Yume replayed to Arata. Right now she, he, Rin and Levi were going together to the meeting place through streets of Karma. After the meeting, everyone separated into small groups to make the final preparations. Arata was already prepared for anything so he didnt really need to do anything. Yume on the other hand said that she needs to take something very important from the home and so they went there. The very important thing that she wanted to take was a small pink pillow though. Arata didnt even try to comment on that. Still going to Rins house was not fruitless as it seemed that Rin took some things as well. Hopefully, it wasnt another pillow. -hey Arata. How long are we planning on going with them? Levi asked. -that depends. As long as its the same direction as the one we want to go, I see no problems with going with them. Then, when they change their direction or simply pull back, we say good bye to them and no one should have hard feelings there. I thought of doing something like that. Arata explained how he saw it. -I see by the way Yume, where is your party exactly wants to go? It would be helpful if we knew that so we could foresee where that breaking point will be. Levi asked. -where hmm? Yume thought for a second and continued. -wherever we want, we will just go with the wind! That is what Bran told me when I asked him the same question. Thats answer was not really helpful. -then what is the goal of your expedition? Arata ended up asking. -to have fun of course! What other goal do we need? -arent you trying to find a city for example or something like that. If you find a city you will become famous as explorers of the west. Levi followed up. -hmm not really, thats no us. If we find a city then its fine, but if we dont then its also fine. So whenever they die on the first pack or kill the last boss it will be still good as long as raid takes the place and people gather. Well I dont hate those kinds of guilds. They always do have a good atmosphere in them Ah right, they are not a guild. -Yume, you once said you guys are no guild right? Arata asked. -yes, we are not a guild. -and the reason for that was that you didnt have a leader, but from what I saw earlier, I do think that there were few people who might as well take up that role. You already told me that this Shin guy doesnt want to do that but what about that big elf with the dark green hair and beard? I would say that even that mage with azure hair would do or one of the dwarfs or anyone else. I mean, having no leader in a group is quite crucial you know. -you are not the first one to say that Arata. We once did have idea that if Shin really doesnt want to be a leader, then Vatras or Musashi could take that role as well. Still, when we asked them if they want to their answer was Do you really think that any of us should be the leader of this group? After hearing that answer we somewhat gave up on the idea. The last sentence Yume said with little sadder tone. -so you plan to stay leaderless forever? -it may come to that still I will tell you once again what Bran once told us. It went like this. Shin will not agree to be our leader no matter what we say, so put it out of our mind and stop nagging him. He was always like that and you wont convince him otherwise. Then someone asked the same question you did and then Bran added. The only chances of us having a leader, is someone even more amazing joining us. Then he mentioned something about Leaders quality but I didnt quite understood what he meant. Still, even though we are not a guild and have no leader we managed to force Shin to become our raid leader so our fights go smoothly, so dont worry about how it will go Thats because guilds leaders are not always raid leaders. Leaders main role is a little different. Still, from what I saw, I guess they dont really need a leader that would connect everyone as they are all well connected with each other anyway. I may have spent too much time in progress guilds and thats why I cant see any other options. It was true that Arata didnt have much experience in casual guilds. -look we are nearly there. Oooiiii! After seeing her friends Yume shouted out to them. They were all waiting near the stables that were located at the eastern edge of the city. It was already quite late so apart from them, there werent that many people around. Right now it was 21:00. It was the time in which groups that were going to come back for the night already come back and groups that would go out for night hunting would already leave. -Yume, you are late again! Vivi an elf in blue clothes welcomed them warmly. -its you all who are all too early, I am on the time. -that doesnt change the fact that you are the last. And we even end up coming last. Well that hour of time for preparation was probably for us as they have been preparing for this expedition for some time now. Ah, I feel everyones gaze on us. -everyone! Suddenly the muscular man with black hair falling on both sides of his forehead shouted. -you will have the time to introduce yourself later. Kei and Hiro wanted to be the first raiders so we let them do it. The rest of us will be riding in the cart. It might be a little crowded as we have three more people so separate into the equal groups! Eight people to each cart! Also Shin said that it will be easier for him if he could ride today with Arata, Levi, Rin and Tras, so dont charge to his cart and wait till those people enter. We will switch later on, so you can all get to know each other but today we ride like that. Also, I think that Yume should also go in there! They do have leader all right. After seeing man giving that speech Arata thought so. It seemed like he had quite authority in others as practically no one else said anything to that. Well nearly no one. -then who should be the remaining two, Musashi? The girl with long light-brown hair in white-brown clothes asked. -the remaining two can be whomever but I should probably add that anyone but you, Julia. -why!!!!? -you will be interrupting Shin too much and he will be busy. -thats, no fair I wan whaaaa! Stop! Vivi caught the girl from behind. -Musashi, I will take care of her so why dont you and Bran also join that cart! She then propose while dragging Julia to the second cart. -Vivi let me go! Wait, I am going in there as well! -see you later Arata and you two as well. Vivi ended up throwing Julia into one of the carts although the girl was struggling fiercely. -I say that letting four founders raiding together is as fair as it gets so everyone else go to the other cart Flynn the dwarf with brown-orange beard added and there werent any of arguments either. Then going with the flow, everyone entered the carts and they ride out from the city. Everything went quite fast and smoothly. When Arata entered the cart he spotted that at the end of it was siting the man in the large wizard like white cloak. He had black hair that was falling on his forehead. He was also wearing the glasses. His eyes looked like he didnt sleep too often as there were glances of dark bags underneath them. At the moment he was trying to note down something in the notebook although his pen was not moving. -okay! I should start with introducing everyone Yume was not wasting any second and started. For her every atmosphere is good enough to make the conversation. Arata could not understand how Yume could just say this out right away when they didnt even managed to sit down yet. Still it was really helpful to have her there. -lets start from this side. They already introduced themselves but once again this is Rin, Levi, Arata Yume went in order in which they were siting. The right side was Yume closest to the back entrance, next to her Rin and so forth. Arata was closest to the inside as he entered first. Although, there was still quite gap between him and the end of cart, where the man in white cloak sit. It was a long cart. -then on the other side is Musashi, Bran and Vatras, everyone are calling him Tras though. And then at the end of the wagon is Shin. Together they all are known as our great four founders. -hi! The first one to say something after Yume was the dwarf with the black beard. -Yume you should stop spreading that four founders thing. Followed up, the man with black hair who earlier on made orders in the ranks. -Musashi, its already too late for that. Anyway, I will try to get Shin here so wait a moment. The large elf with green long hair said and moved closer to the man in white cloak. -now then, maybe we should start talking about ourselves to get to know each other better. Yume proposed. She really wasnt wasting any second. -in that case you should be the last person to say anything as everyone knows you. -thats so mean Bran! -aye. Anyway I think that they already talked enough when they go stormed with all those questions so it should be our turn now. So my name is Bran as you can see I am a dwarf. Why did I choose that race someone might ask? Its because I wanted to have this beard Bran went over his long black beard with his hand and continued. -my class is a beastmaster. Meaning I can control animals in fight, still during my play I managed to gather quite a lot of marksman skills as well so shooting with my crossbow is my main occupation in fights and I dont summon any beasts to fight unless I have to. Also I like to role play my dwarf role quite much so dont get surprised by that Flynn was similar, does all people who choose the dwarf race are like that? -your turn Musashi. -eh, you are always have it easy when you introduce yourself. -you should choose the dwarf race as well then, it would be easy for you too. -I quite attached to my look thank you. Anyway, my name is Musashi. My class crystal defender is strictly focused on tanking and that what I am usually doing ever since I started playing this game. I also often end up organizing this group as no one else want to do it. We have many individuals here so you can guess how hard it is to actually pull that off. Still it somehow worked till now and I hope it will continue to work as well. -hey Musashi that wasnt you talking about yourself. Bran interrupted him. -I did say more than enough, anyway how is Shin doing, Bran? -from where I hear, its nearly there, its nearly there ah, he is not coming. Bran added at the end disappointing note. -what are you two talking about? Arata ended up asking. He did not quite understood why Musashi asked Bran about man Shin just now. -this is one of Brans special skills. Its also not limited only to the game. That skill is a superb hearing. Musashi explained. -well it has both good sides and bad sides but if you get used to bad ones, aye its awesome to have it Bran grinned. -anyway, right now Tras is trying to convince Shin to come here. Of course Shin will not do so until he will have everything planned in his head. But dont mind him he is just being shy Shy? Him? -and what Musashi talked about is that I can hear what they are talking over there as I have good ears. -that goes beyond having good hearing. Levi commented as indeed it was beyond good hearing. The only thing, that others could hear were whispers on the wind that would only indicate that there is conversation there. -aye, but that is how it was always for me. Bran just answered to that comment like this. -can I ask you to use that ability of yours for my sake some time? Of course Levi would get interested in a thing that would allow him to spy on people. -from time to time I do hear things that I dont even try to hear but my policy is that even if do hear them, I do not share it. -ah, its a shame. -well, if you really want to overhear something we can always talk about good prices He agreed! -but I can show you my price list later as Shin is finally coming. Five seconds later after the dwarf said that both Vatras and Shin came and sit with them. Shin sat down next to Musashi and after him sat Vatras. -hey, Shin we are in the middle of talking about ourselves so why dont you say something? Musashi said that. Shin wasnt really eager to do it but in the end he answered. -ah yes, my name is Shin, nice to meet you. I am responsible for battle planning in this group and because of that I need to ask you something Well, he did introduce himself so it was quite a lot but he went straight to the point afterwards. -I already have new formation in which we will be moving. It changed a little from previous one but it should work the best. -Shin it was only an hour you dont have to rush yourself. This time Bran interrupted but Shin did not answer to that and continued. -all thats left is the positions and new groups squads. So my first question is. You three want to be in the same group or can I switch you around wherever I please? -the second option is better overall, right? Arata asked. -yes but if you prefer to be together I can make it happen as well. Also just so you know being in other group means only that you will be separated by few more meters in formation and have a different resting time. Arata looked in direction of Rin. She didnt looked too bothered by it which probably meant, wherever I am, it will still be bad to have this many annoying people around and you two are also included in being annoying! -you can do that but try to keep Rin with Yume in the group. Arata answered. -we are already doing something like that with Hiro and Mika so it shouldnt be a problem, right Shin? Musashi asked. -well, I was going to do that anyway for safety measures. Now then, your name is Arata right? You have double class and both of those classes are quite high rank. I must say that those classes are quite unknown to me but for now, I can simply classify you as melee dps, right? -yes. -next, Levi the crusader. You are more of the tank or more of the dps? Shin was really not wasting any second. -more of the dps but I did tank job quite a lot so if needed, I can do it here as well. -I see. If you were the tank I would give you the tank job but in this case you will be in a group with two other people who can tank some mobs as well so you wont have to do typical tanking job. Lastly Rin Shin continued without stopping but when it came to her, he didnt continue like before but instead asked. - how has it been? He asked in little different slightly frightened voice. Do they know each other? -ah, the apocalypse is coming! Shin asked a random question! Bran commented. -same as always. Rin replayed ignoring dwarfs comment. -I see. You know I would really appreciate if it doesnt end up like the last time. -I cant promise you that. Rin was not making it easy for him. -well I thought your answer will be like that. -then dont ask if you already know the answer. Just ask what you wanted to ask and dont waste my time. Disappointed look disappeared from Shins face and he continued like before. -you see, because the three of you joined we have a little overflow with melees. Well, this isnt a big problem but just a side reason that I wanted to mention. Now going to the main point, Rin you said that you had no experience in group play with that skill of your and you might end up attacking someone by mistake. This is something that I would rather not see happening. I could easily solve this by telling you to not using that skill unless its necessary. You mentioned something similar before but I dont want to seal that card away. Thats why I will ask. Could you take the role of range dps for now and focus on precision while using that skill? Wow, he definitely has guts if he can ask something like that out of Rin, still I dont think she will agree. -as long as I am in this party I will cope with your requests. To Aratas surprise however Rin did agreed. -great, now then thats all I needed to know so if you excuse me Shin stood up and started going to his previous spot at the end of the cart but then Bran, Musashi and Vatras caught his white cloak and stopped him. -hey stop that! I have to make groups before the next stop. Shin complained to them. -we have three days of journey before us so take it easy. It doesnt have to be done today. -it will be better if people find out their roles faster. -but you probably already prepared the groups in your mind regardless of their answers, right? Vatras said. -knowing you, you probably even considered what to do if each of them said that they are all healers. Musashi added. That is a little too much I think. -yes, that sounds like something that Shin would do. Bran also commented. -still now that I do have the answers I can finally optimize the groups the best I can and then check if everything is alright. -okay Shin, you can do your thing. -I knew you would understand Musashi. -but do it here sitting with us, it shouldnt be a problem for you. - . Shin gave him dissatisfied look. -so? Musashi asked again. -fine just dont involve me in anything. In the end, Shin sit down to his sit, although in the spirit he was not with them. He completely closed off to surroundings and clearly focused only on paper in his hand. -dont mind him, he just wants to finish everything first. Yume explained to Arata. -no rather its more of, I want to make it the as best as possible so we dont end up dead. Vatras added. -nay, I personally think that he just have the most fun while he is thinking up all those stuff. Now that he is making new formation and groups, he is probably the most happy of all times. Then Bran added as well. Ah, they are not making it easy for him. -by the way. Where exactly are you guys plan to go? Arata ended up asking. Yume did not give him the answer before and after all, today rather than to the west, they left by the eastern gate and just kept going straight. -we are first going to the elven village Larisane. From there we will start the expedition to the west. It is located south of Karma but if we wanted to go there straight way, we would have to go through the mountains which would take us about the week at best to cross. We went through that route already there already so we know. The elf with green hair answered. -I think that this time it would be max five days, we wouldnt get lost in those tunnels anymore. Musashi added to what Vatras said. -still it would take longer and we would just waste our energy. Thats why, we will first travel east by the main road and from there we will turn back south west and by another road get up to the forest that surrounds Larisane. From there we will have to make a short walk. Right, you do have a map dont you? Take it out so I will show it to you. -where was it? Rin. -here. Arata took the map from the Rin and he spread it around. The cart was long but narrow, so when they all sit on the both sides like now, their legs were few centimeters away from each other. Still Arata ended up changing his sitting and sat down next to Vatras so both of them had the view from the right angle. -ah its a really well done map so here we emm Vatras had to stop for a moment as out of sudden a dark haired head started to cover the important part of the map. -Shin, if you want to look at it, you just have to say so Shins head returned to the previous position after Vatras said that, although his eyes did not. Nevertheless his hands kept on writing something on the paper. Vatras continued. -lets see, here is Karma and this I the road that we are riding on right now. -by the way Arata, by using this road and just going straight you can get to the other end of the known world because it lasts all the way from the east all the way to the west. Levi informed him. Oh, I found out which way it is to Kotori. If both of us were to use that road we would end up joining on the way somewhere. -Arata, you didnt know about it? Vatras asked surprised. -I am got to level 100 just recently so I dont really traveled too much yet. It wont be even a month since I dinged 100th level. Plus, from this month I spent ten day waiting for resurrection as I died once already thanks to someone who is sitting here Arata shot a glance to Rin but she just avoided it by looking outside. For a note, she never apologized to him for that and it seemed like she wasnt going to. The only thing that he managed to get from her so far was the question of how did it happen that he let himself get killed so easily. -there wouldnt be even two weeks of play if I had to count the days. Arata continued. -but in that case your level is probably low. -its 109 at the moment. -I see, well its much lower than our groups average but we never really cared about that. -Tras you should rather ask, how did you ding 19 levels in such time. Its more than one level a day. Bran commented. -I just said we dont care about levels and he had to ding up from level 90 so those first ten levels were easy. Anyway we are going by the main road here and then here we turn sharp to the right and go all the way here. This is the forest where Larisane is located. The place that Vatras pointed out was not marked by anything and there was only forest. -by the way Tras. When we get to Larisane with three extra people, wont it be bad? I mean you know how that elder is. Musashi asked. -yes, that might prove problematic I did say fifteen people when I was there. -is there a problem? Arata asked. -well, you see, that village to which we are going is not really open to players and doesnt allow them to enter it normally. Even entering in the area of that forest is already dangerous. We have some past with them so we can get there but even we have to inform about our coming with two weeks advance and tell exactly how many people will be coming and for how long. Musashi explained. -ah dont worry him unnecessary. If it comes to the worse, we can always smuggle them in some bags and no one will ever know. Bran joked around. -well, it shouldnt come to that. In worst case scenario we can just camp outside. Anyway getting to Larisane should take little over two days. We left Karma today nearly at night so, at the morning of third day of journey we should get there. Vatras explained. -I see. Then after that, where exactly do you plan to go? Arata asked. -to the west. Vatras answered. I didnt ask for that. -and more specifically? We wanted to know beforehand. -well, we didnt have any planed direction, at least till today that is. Right now, we want to travel to the same place as you guys, can you show me where it is? -but we only asked if we can travel with you for some time while we go the same way. You dont have to change your plans for us. -well, we didnt have a planned direction so we dont change our plans. -you cant change something that does not exist yet Musashi added. -also there are quite lot of us who would like to see how heavens look as well so right now we all want to go in the same direction as you. -well, I can understand why, but first of all. We ourselves dont know if those gates will even work. Second of all, getting to that gate might be hard. Then there is a fact that even if those gates works, it might be that only those that have the quest might go through it. Arata explained. -I didnt think about that. -if the last will be the case then it will be your turn to smuggle us in the bags. Bran joked once again. -I dont think that there are bags large enough for Kuma to hide in. Vatras added to a joke. -details, details. -anyway I dont think that we wouldnt be able to pass through the working gate only because we dont have a quest but still your quest, is it possible to share it? Vatras ended up asking. -Rin how was that? Arata ended up asking her as he didnt know how to answer to that. -Wizard said that I can share this quest up to five people, which means two more people can still get it. -even though we already have completed the first stage of it? -you can share quests as long as they are not completed. Even if its in the middle, people might still join. Naturally they will get the reward only for the parts they are in. Levi explained. -you can share it to whomever you want Arata, I will leave the decision to you. Rin left him with this answer. Only two people hmm? -no, no, I didnt ask if you can share the quest because we wanted it. Its your party quest and we have little to do with it. Its just that if it really turns out that you need the quest to get through that gate then there is one person that we would like you to share that quest with. Vatras explained himself. -if it comes to that I see no problem with it. I might as well share it to two people. Arata answered. -then the last person that will get the quest will try the smuggling. If that person does that long after you go inside, there shouldnt be a problem even if he is caught. -you will have to find someone who will keep the poker face at the border line all those ten times. -aye, you do understand. It seemed like Levi and Bran started to form some kind of strange bond of evilness. -well even though its a heaven if the gate works you might as well storm the front and remove anyone who will want to stand in your way. Levi added. -haha, thats good idea too. Hey Shin, think of a strategy to fight against army of angels with about five to ten gods behind them. Shin did not react to Brans joke though. -still now that we have the destination and map, we might as well plan our journey. We need to find some good places for sleep breaks. Then we also cant go right into some large lake or something. I think this is where lake is. Vatras started while looking at the map. I would just go straight and adjust to what I see but planning it before might not be bad idea. -Tras, if you want to plan our road then remember to avoid this spot over here as its location of wyvern nest and fighting against flying enemies is really troublesome Out of sudden Shin joined the conversation. Although his eyes returned to his notebook and his right hand didnt stop moving as he was writing something in his notebook, he was showing the position on the map with the left hand while speaking. -then you should also avoid this part as its that forest we heard about so much. The one where you enter and the only possible way to exit it is dying. Then here is a place where one party encountered a boss monster that had really troublesome ability. Throughout the fight, there is a phase that will not end unless you kill half of your teammates. No matter the plan, if there is a mechanic like that, we cant counter it. Then this is probably our best position to make first stop, as the monster in it have low respawn rate meaning that if we clean them once we can have a full night of sleep. Then here is the lake you mentioned but rather than avoiding it, we might as well build some rafts and go this way with the river. It would help us avoid this area as this area is where- . -I get it Shin, I will leave it to you. After Vatras answered, Shin returned to what he was doing, he also stopped looking at the map now. -I thought that the west is an unknown area. Arata had to comment on what just happen. -it is but we managed to gather quite lot of information while we were preparing for this day. And Shin gathered everything we have gathered and allocated it in his mind. Right now to him, west is not something unknown but its rather his backyard. -at the current moment, you wont find anyone in this world who will know more about the west than Shin. When Shin is preparing for something, he always follows every last lead. -but where did you found all those information? Levi asked. -our main sources were two great expeditions to the west made by large guilds in the past. From their relations comes most of our info. But we didnt stop only on that and we asked also other people who just randomly went to the west to see how far they can go. Vatras explained. -aye there are much more people like that then you probably think. Bran added. -except of that. We also looked through this world history and the records about the empire of Solaris. Still, that info has a large question mark on them as it is from very long time ago. -but in the end, we had a lot of time so we prepared quite well. So no worries, we will get you to that heaven gate no problem. Musashi added at the end to make Arata and the others feel a little better. I guess it was really good idea to join them. -we prepared well but that goes only as far as the places that were reached by other players already. By combining the old records and what they said, its clear that the area changed much. Our biggest concern will be worlds raid bosses that we have completely no idea about. Tactics cant be made until you know something about your enemy. Also by going to that heavens gate we will go quite far into the area that no other player ever reached yet. Also even though the history of Solaris did mention it, we cant even be sure that our destination, heavens gate still exists. Shin once again out of sudden started speaking again. -about the gate. The Wizard that we got our quest from said that he checked last week if the gate is still in one piece and he said that it was. Arata replied to him. -I see then our winning condition is clear. With this everything will go much easier, thank you. With that Shin was going to return to his work but Arata did not finish yet. -by the way even if you make any mistake it will not be the end of the world. You have all those people with you, who you can freely trust in and at the same time those people trust in you, with that you can overcome anything When Arata said that, Shins pen stopped moving his hand. -they dont even mind dying if something goes wrong as long as they have fun doing so. What will happen if you die? Lose some levels? Your other friend here just said that you guys dont care about levels. Trying again and facing something that you couldnt overcome last time is also enjoyable part of the game after all. If you could just complete everything on your first try there will be no true felling of victory Right now everyone was looking at Arata who was giving his speech. Shin included as he finally took off his eyes from his notes. -by the way if you dont have the tactic for that boss in which you have to sacrifice half of your team, I just thought of something. If there is only one person fighting that boss, he cant force that person to kill anyone. So the solution is simple, when you see that boss, just point him out and I will go solo it for you. The silence appeared and lasted for about twenty seconds as everyone were waiting for Shins answer. And that answer did arrive. -I think I finally got the groups distribution right Shin quickly opened new pages and started drawing on it. Arata did not see what it was. His pen was moving quickly and he finished it quickly. -Tras, what do you think? Shin showed those notes only to his druid friend on his left. -you dont have to ask me, its perfect solution as always Shin. Vatras answered with the smile. -Kei! Hiro! Shin just finished! Musashi shouted out really loud. It looked like it was some kind of signal as right away the cart pulled of the road and stopped on the fields. -we are taking a break for a night? Levi asked. -no, we will just hold brief strategy meeting as Shin will not be able go to sleep without it. Vatras answered. -he will not go sleep anyway as after the meeting he will start planning our way to the west, right Shin? Bran asked. -it has to be done and the sooner the better. Everyone from both carts ended up going outside on and gathered on the right side of one of the carriage. It was already dark outside so few lanterns were brought out as well. They were all brought near the carriage, though everyone sited down on the grass away from their light. Seeing everyone sat there, Arata follow their steps as well. The only person that did not do so was Shin who at the moment was trying to attach a large piece of paper to the side of the carriage near the lanterns. When he finished, he took out a black marker out from his bag that he had hidden underneath his white cloak and then started. -we will now continue with the strategy meeting that was interrupted before. There are also few important changes to what I said earlier so listen. First the most important change we have is that we have a final goal right now that we will try to achieve. Ours expedition wining condition will be reaching the heavens gate. Whatever it works or not is not confirmed so we cant set the condition as reaching the heavens. Should we manage to get there, we will decide on what to do next, based on new information we gather and the situation in which we will be. But I think that reaching the heavens gate will be something to remember so its a perfect winning condition for us. Following this the second important change. With three new people joining us I had changed our formation for this expedition a little. First big change is that the emergency group will no longer exist. On its place however there will be a new six person group and its job will be the same as any others Shin ended up writing down on the white paper three groups of six circles. Then he noted under every group of circles with letter A,B and C. -the formation itself will be explained at the start of the expedition and adjusted and need. Still in general there will be two groups fighting and one group resting. Like in previous version there will be changes between the teams but they will happen more often so even the resting group will be ready to fight at any given time. Compared to our previous formation our fighting power on average will greatly increase. We will not be holding ourselves back. As for resting rotations. Two starting teams will be A and B. Then team A will change with resting team C. Then team B will change with resting team A and so forth. In short the team that fights for two turns always switch with the resting team. We will try to keep that rotation throughout the whole course of the expedition. Of course except unexpected fights that will require all of us and in case of need I might as well switch only individual players. As always, I will be the raid leader but this time in addition to that, each team will have their own team leader that can decide things on the fly while I am not available. Next, the third thing that changed is the party distributions. Although there are still teams A and B the new distribution is nothing like the old one. I must say that I changed practically everything that could be changed Shin walked towards the first group of circles on the right side of a paper and wrote down the letter C underneath it. -first, I will discuss team C as it is a little bit specific. Compared to two other teams this team will not have anyone on the role of main tank but it will have three people who will be both in melee dps and at the same time they will be off tanking. Those three people are Kei, Kuma and our new friend Levi. Should we fight one big monster, you should just leave it to the others team tank. The person that I will leave with healing this unusual formation will be Thesar. I also will be in this group to make sure that everything works as we didnt test a group like that before After Shin said that, Arata saw some kind of movement on his right. It was Vivi holding some brown haired girls mouth to keep her from speaking or maybe shouting. -then the last person in the group will be Bran as I want to make the fullest of his detecting ability and I want information about anything suspicious asap Shin ended up writing down the names of everyone underneath the letter C. -I mentioned team leaders but team C doesnt need a team leader as I will be in it. -which means that he also will be the team leader of our group! Arata could already recognize Brans voice that came somewhere from the dark. -yes that. Anyway the other two teams are more normal. Following from C lets go to B. Tank of the team B will be Musashi. Then following the tank, the healer of the group will be Vatras. Following the dpses will be. Lee on close melee range, Konan in the middle close range, Yume as the teams mage and lastly our new friend Rin agreed to take position of long range dps. We had a little overflow of melee so say thanks to her for agreeing on this. Also because she is inexperienced in this position expect to get hit from time to time. Tras will heal you up asap, so there shouldnt be a problem, everyone has their beginnings and by the time she gets used to it we will have good range dps for fights that favors range and I sure we will need it I think it is a little waste to put her in range but its true that having no enough range dps can be crucial. Also I guess this whole thing is for morale. -leader position of team B will be left in capable hands of Musashi. Now last but not the least team A I should try to listen now as it seems I will be in this one. -you already know who it is as it is the remaining people, but nevertheless. Flynn will be team A tank Oh I know someone from my team. -following him the healer for team A will be Mika and of course following Mika there is Hiro in the position of teams mage. Then the long range dps for team A will be Vivi Oh, another person that I know is in my team. It will make it much easier. -then lastly two melee dps, Julia and our new friend Arata Tank, healer, two range, two melee. We do have balanced team. Ah, it will be an easy walk in the park. That was the first and the last time that Arata was allowed to think like that because second later. -it might be a surprise too few of you but I think all of you will understand my choice later on. I am leaving the Position of team leader of team A to Arata . And that was the end of Aratas so called walk in the park. -any questions? -I have one, why did you choose someone who just joined to be a teams leader? Someone asked from the dark, Arata did not see who. Its given that someone is going to ask that. Ah, my life just all of sudden got so complicated. -after thinking it all through, I arrived at that it will be for the best. Do you disagree, Hiro? Aaa, someone from my team is already complaining. -no, I will believe in your choice. Or maybe it will not be that hard. -anyway I should just add, that team leaders wont actually do much but its just better to have them should something happen. So, any other question? -aaa! Arata once again heard the sounds coming from the right and it looked like Vivi just let go of the other girl as she couldnt restrain her any longer. And the shout was made by her as she was just bitted in finger by the other girl who stood up and started.. -Shin! Why I am again not in your group! -eh . Shin just sigh hearing that and looked away. -as I said team C is a special one with three melee off-tanks. Being clear agi type you cant do that job Julia. Rapier, just dont work out there. Shin was saying it without looking in her direction -I can also tank if needed! Switch me with someone! Aaaa- It looked like Julia was once again brought down to the ground by Vivi. -everything is back in control here. Arata could then recognize Flynns voice. -so, any other question? -hey Shin! Why did your last answer sounded like cheap excuse? Arata once again recognized the Brans voice. -anyone except Bran has a question and it is related to the current topic? Shin decided to ignore that comment. -or rather is everyone okay with this plan? -yes, we are! -then we will finish our strategy meeting for now. Even if I were to explain the formation now you guys would still forget it and we would have to repeat it in practice so its better to just do the practice right away before we start. Anyway that will be all. -wait! The voice of the same girl could once again be heard as this time, Vivi didnt do a good job on holding her. -is it about the teams again Julia? -no that Vivi let me go already! I promise to not complain about team anymore The girl managed to stand up after Vivi let her go. -I know that our goal is to only reach the gate but Shin what are our real chances of reaching the heavens? -I can tell you now that our chances of reaching the heavens gate are about 10%. But even if we manage to do that we still dont know if that gate will surely work or not. -on that we should have 50% chance! Arata ended up shouting out. He didnt just think it up from nothing as it was what Wizard told them earlier. Of course Wizard could just think up that number from nowhere. -in that case, with simple mathematic we arrive at 5% chances that we might actually get to working heavens gate. -5% percentage, then it is not that bad I guess. With you Shin that 5% is more than enough. -yes if it were 5% percentage it wouldnt be bad but as for getting through that gate and entering the heavens, this is another story. Realistically speaking our chances for that are close to zero. You do remember that Arata said that their quest is of rank three, right? There should be a reason why no one managed to complete quest of that rank so far. What I am expecting is that the moment we try to activate that gate we will get wipe out in the minute and no strategy will help us in the face of overwhelming force Yep, I also thought that getting to the heavens gate is not the hard part and only after that the true problems will appear. -anyway, as I said before. We will decide what we will do when we reach and if we manage to reach that heavens gate. We will just vote as always about what to do next in that situation. Now then, if you excuse me, I will be analyzing the route which we will be traveling to the heavens gate Musashi take it from here if you can. Without waiting for an answer Shin disappeared into one of the carts. -there is nothing else to say so we will continue our ride to Larisane. There probably wont be another stop like that as we will not be wasting time for it. -Musashi, can we enter where we want this time? -yes, go wherever you want, Julia. But just dont interrupt- -yey! Julia sprinted away and entered the same cart that Shin just entered. -anyway I going to be the raider now, and is there anyone else who wants to be the other raider? -yes. The man in black shirt and jeans came up into the range of light with hand pointed up. -Kei, you were already riding just now. - . There was no response from Keis at all. He just kept his hand high. -fine, I get it. So Kei will once again be the second raider. Everyone else- -hey! The girl with brown hair came out of the cart once again and interrupted once again. Musashi just waved his hand as if he given up and walked in the direction of the front carriage. The girl continued. -I looking for team As leader! -me? Arata answered and walked towards her. -yes you. Shin asks if he can borrow the map for some time. -sure, here it is. After Arata showed the map the girl quickly run up to him and caught the paper. -thanks! Bye! And after getting it she quickly ran back to the cart from which she came out from. The others people did not hop back into the carts right away. Some of them picked up the lanterns, and then there was Vatras who was taking care of the piece of paper that was left on the carriage. Then out of sudden someones grab Aratas coat from the front and started pulling. -pss, Arata come with me. -what are you up to Vivi? -just come. Arata ended up following her and before he noticed she dragged him inside the cart without anyones notice. The cart they entered was not empty however. At the end of it there was Shin who was looking at the map. At the same time it also seemed like he was just holding a piece of paper to block out the person who was sitting near him. It was the same cart that Arata rode before. -so what do you wanted Vivi? -I was thinking of having a familiarization meeting for team A and you should get know the people that will be with you in team, leader! Ah I already feel bad hearing that. -Vivi, I have a traumatic experience with that word so dont call me that again. -you mean being called a leader? Tell me about it. -well maybe I overstated it a little but hearing that word I cant help but think of one guy that wanted everyone to call him that. To think I would have to share the same name brings tears to my eyes. Arata answered half joking. -I see its a bigger story, but if you can laugh it out then its nothing bad. -heh, anyway your idea is good but why did we choose this cart? I think it would be easier to arrange it in other one. -well, its true that everyone would probably want to ride this one as Shin rides it but if we want to have everyone from team A then that girl is also included. Vivi pointed at the end of the cart. It looked like even Shin had some problems dealing with her. -I see, and what about the rest? -Flynn will get them or rather he should already get them we only have a little time if we want to pull that off. Where is he!? -relax, I here on time. The dwarf with the long brown-orange beard entered the cart. -what took you so long!? -you only got here faster because rather than just dragging someone in, its better to explain things first. Anyway, I got the package so stop complaining. -I see that you two are fighting as always The man with azure hair following Flynn entered the cart as well. He was wearing similar to the Shins one cloak but his was in colors of purple and blue. It also looked a little lighter. Underneath that cloak in comparison to Shin he also wore magician looking clothes but he was not wearing a robe which mages usually did wore, at least in normal games. His gear was combat oriented, which meant it was easy to move in. -everyone already started to think that you have a love quarrels? The man added. -ha, I wonder if a siscon like you could recognize what love quarrel is. Flynn was not going to leave that comment alone. -what did you say!? -I dont know anything about love quarrels but everyone do know that you have a sister complex. -ah how good that we are in the same team Flynn. You know my aim got a little bad because I didnt play for some time. I wonder if I may by some accident of course end up attacking our teams tank. Wait, wasnt that you? -your aim got bad? Strange, you never had an aim to begin with. Something that didnt exist cant get bad. Also its not like your spells do any damage. -then you dont mind if I use you as a practice dummy! Hiro answered in fast tone. The water appeared in the in the palm of his hand and its started circling with the great speed. Just touching that would definitely cut of someones finger. Ah, I see that everyone in this team is on such good terms and everyone will work together perfectly. Though Arata, seeing what was happening. Or maybe he didnt. -Hiro you are joking right? Vivi asked as the amount of water circling in his hand was getting bigger and bigger. -am I? -haha, bring it on! Flynn also took out his shield and prepared for the blow. But then a flash of purple light came from the end of the cart. The circling water stopped circling and fall down to the floor. Underneath Hiro, Arata spotted a purple circle with some markings. Arata quickly looked in the direction of where that light came from just like everyone else. Shin was holding a long wooded staff that was pointed in their direction. He was holding it horizontally so the back of it was at his back. The map that he was holding before was just now falling down on the left side. He still held it with his right hand though and he wasnt looking in their direction. Then few seconds later he hid his staff once again and returned to his previous position. I thought he was focused on the map. -of course we were joking, right Flynn? -aye, aye. The matter ended up without accident although for a moment Arata thought that it might end up with this cart begin destroyed. -ahh! Just sit down already! By the way Hiro, where is Mika? Vivi asked. -strange, she was behind me just now. Hey, Mika! Hiro called out to her and two seconds later she entered. -I am here, I am here. The last person from the team A arrived. Similar to the previous guy, she had the same azure colored hair. Her were much longer but not to the point that they would land on her back. She was wearing magician like robe in azure-green colors. -em, why is Shins rune on the floor? She asked first seeing the purple circle with marking.. -thats because Flynn and your brother are idiots. Vivi quickly answered. -ah dont mention it. Mika what were you doing? I told you to hurry or else the cart will be taken. Flynn said. -you did but isnt it more fair to explain everyone that we will held here a team meeting rather than trying to just take the seats by sneaking by? - . No one could say anything to that as what Mika said was really reasonable. -I stayed before the entrance and told anyone who wanted to come here that our team leader has something important to tell our group so it would be good if we were in the same wagon. No one complained about that. I have something important to say? -Vivi? -it wasnt my idea Arata, I swear. Flynn why did you told them that!? -it was you who told me. Get Hiro and Mika to the first cart but tell Hiro that its something important as he wouldnt come for some familiarization meeting. Flynn answered. -see Arata, it wasnt my fault! The fault is in both of them. -I see, so it was like that Hiro commented. It looked like he heard. Well that makes it easier for me. -well, its not like I didnt expect it. It looked like he didnt have anything against it though. -still Hiro, you must say that we had a good idea. Vivi added. -I guess. For me as long as I am not raiding with her, I have no complains And then Hiro ended up standing before to Arata. -I dont think we had an occasion, my name is Hiro. I think that my looks speaks for myself but my class is a mage, water mage to be exact, mr. twilight swordsman. -Arata is fine. -Arata then, so might I sit next to you? -sure the seat is empty. -em- The sound came from behind him but Hiro continued. -although, it is little strange that you got chosen as our team leader but its Shin who chose you so nobody will complain. Also I did saw your fight with rank zero the other day so I dont doubt your ability. -ano- Once again some sound come from behind him, Hiro ignored that however and continued. -still I do have a question why did you two fought without using game skills? I think that if you were to do that you could have won. -at that time it was more of a sparring than a fight although even if we were to bring up the skill I would probably lose. You know, she has those flying red things. Arata answered honestly. -yes but having two high ranked classes your skills assortment should be larger. Also that skill of hers has a lot of weak points. For example she cant use it to the full force for too long as its eats enormous amount of mana if she goes with it all out. With your speed you would be able to survive that period of time and then attack her with your skills. Also for some period of time after using that skill she also gets weaken so it would be your chance. Lastly, even if you didnt won at that time, you would get experience in fighting against that style and next time you would have better chances -you seem to know quite a lot about that skill. Arata commented as Hiro indeed said a lot. -its because I have been training to defeat her. Having fighting her already, I somehow dont see it coming. Well I might as well ask. -and how is it going so far? -right now I am at stage where I could completely counter her skill at its final stage. By the way did you saw it already, the time when a gold mist appear behind her? -I did saw it once but I dont think it would be easy to counter. -of course its not easy. Also the only way to see if my idea truly works is to test it in fight with her so maybe saying complete counter is an overstatement. -em . -but you do know that Rins is freighting not because of that skill but of her overall default fighting ability. Even if your counter works, how do you plan to fight against her in close combat? Hiro and Arata engrossed themselves in the talk. After all, Arata also was spending good deal of time thinking about how to defeat Rin. Thats why conversation between them went so fast despite first time talking with each other. They also ended up ignoring all others while talking. -yes this is where my problem lies, I trying to think of something now. -I dont think that any trick will win against the real skills trained over the years. -yes I arrived at that a long time ago but Hiro started whispering to Aratas ear. -dont tell anyone as they all thinks that I didnt play for a month, five months in game time. They all think that I didnt play at all since Shin wasnt playing either. There are many of us who did that but me, rather than waiting for Shin, I pretended that I took a break when in reality I just traveled to other city where no one would see me and trained in secret. Even Mika doesnt know about it and she thinks that I was trying out another game at that time. -then why are you telling me this? Arata whispered back. -I just wanted to share it with someone to release the pressure and it couldnt tell someone I know too well. There are times like this I guess. -hey! Why did you two started to whisper around? Vivi didnt have too much patience. -why do you care? Wasnt it familiarization meeting? I am doing something wrong? Hiro answered back. -yes, you are taking the guest of honor away from us. Maybe you should- bump! A loud sound of something falling to the ground could be heard from the outside? -what was that? Flynn asked. -it doesnt matter. Hey Hiro, you should- -we are starting the ride! This time it was loud shout of Musashi who interrupted Vivi. -so what did you want Vivi? -you should let Mika introduce herself! Vivi ended up shouting it out loud and fast so she wont get interrupted again. -ah right, Arata, this is my sister Mika. It usually takes her about four to five days before she greets new people so dont take its as an offence. Hiro went over it quickly -maybe you will let her greet him before saying those things. Vivi commented. -if it were possible I would but I know her best so. -Hiro, just be quiet for a minute. Flynn ended up intervening. Hiro didnt say another word and Arata saw as slowly but surely the second azure head was becoming more and more visible. And then the girl ended up standing up and facing Arata she stretched her hand. -hi, I am Mika, nice to meet you Araara..rata. -its Arata, nice to meet you too Mika. Arata ended up shaking her hand back. -hey Flynn, we are seeing a miracle. Vivi ended up commenting. -aye, for her to shake someones hand on the first day or even the hundredth day is amazing. Hey Hiro, did you ever saw her greeting anyone on the first day? -only once, it was when we first meet up with Shin but it may be the record for shaking hands. Arata, what did you do to my sister!? -hey, dont make it sound like I did anything bad. Also it isnt strange to for her to greet me as we already did spoke before. -no it is strange Arata. Vivi commented. -hmmin that case we managed to create a bond of having strange hair, right? -um. Mika nodded happily and sit back next to Hiro. -Mika, for your information Arata is taken so dont bring your hopes up. Vivi commented. -wha.. wha I wasnt. -yes, it wasnt even funny Vivi, you know how she is. -you are that sure Hiro? Seeing first day handshake? -yes I am. -but you do realize that one day she will fly out from your care it might be even today. -Mika? Hiro looked to her sister as she was jerking his shoulder. -brother, brother I managed to do it, praise me? -what did you managed to do? -remember when you told me that I should be more open to people. Unlike you who spent the last month playing some random game about spaceships I was training in hiding my conversation skill and today you see the results of that. -training in hiding? Hahahaha. Hiro couldnt help but laugh after hearing that. Well thats brother and sister for you. Arata thought like that as Hiro also said he was training in hiding although in his case it was something different. -what? Mika asked seeing his brother unnatural laugh. -nothing, nothing, good job Mika. Still, you cant stop here you still made a mistake at the end with the name. -thats may be because of how I trained. I didnt have time to train speaking up this name. The cart started to move but then out of sudden one more person entered from the back. He had black hair covering his left eye and was wearing black oversized shirt and blue jeans. Then there was glove protector on his left hand and a longsword on his left side. -Kei, werent you the raider on this turn? Flynn ended up asking. -Vatras came and ended up throwing me off the front seat and told me to go to sleep So that was that sound from before. -so I came here to sleep Kei added and started moving to the front but then his eye stopped at Hiro. Although, his eye was nearly closed. After 10 seconds of standing there just like that Kei said. -Hiro, I will also keep your secret, best regards Bran. Thats what I had to tell you. After saying it, Kei passed next to Arata and then he fell straight to the floor in the middle. Then he rolled under the seats and it seemed that he was already sleeping when he finished rolling. - . -hey Hiro, what is the secret? Vivi ended up asking right away. -word secret doesnt tell you something? -it does, it something that I would want to know so I can blackmail you later. -just the more reason I shouldnt tell you. So Arata returning to our conversation. -Hiro why are you stealing Arata again! -didnt you say its a familiarization meeting. I dont need to familiarize with you guys. Still if you have something we can all talk about then go ahead Vivi. -em- -so Arata, returning to our conversation. -wait! -what did you thought up of something with that little head of yours? -why are always so rude? -I am not rude its just that the truth is what hurts the most. It seems that Hiro had absolutely no blocks on what he can and what he shouldnt say. -its not the truth! And I will prove it to you. The idea that I have is to let all of us from team A to come up with some tactics. -yes, yes, great idea but you do know that anytime we try to come up with something without Shin we either end up arguing or simple dont execute it in the end anyway. -he is right Vivi. If it isnt some boss fight everyone always ends up doing what they want and go freestyle. Thats the kind of party we are. -I did think about it but this time we have Arata with us so maybe he has something interesting to say. Why me again? -ah, if thats the case then maybe we should have this meeting, right Mika? -yes. -you surprisingly agreed Hiro. -still Vivi, if we are to have this meeting, you should call her as well. Flynn added while pointing to the front of the cart. -you too Flynn, why did you two agreed so easily? Also, Flynn you didnt say a word when Arata was chosen as a team leader. Even if you believe in Shin you would smirk something under your nose right? I already know him enough and saw him fighting so I see no problem but you would normally say something. -ehm, if you forgotten I also know him well enough, and in fact I meet him before you. -we did meet him at the same time! -nah, you were sleeping when it happened. Also I did saw him that day him fighting in the arena myself, so I saw my part of his fighting as well. -we also did saw it Mika added to the conversation. -although in his first fight he was really scary, the second one was beautiful. Rather than fighting it seemed like they were dancing with each other and speaking without words. -dont say that her fight was beautiful Mika. Hiro right away interrupted her. -but it was you who was watching it fascinated without even blinking brother. And after it you sit frozen in your seat for half an hour still thinking of it. -thats not true! -thats how it at least looked like. Right being on this subject I finally has a chance. Arata, earlier on when we were voting, my brother ended up saying some bad things to Rin. But he didnt have bad intentions. He only wanted her to recognize him. -hey Mika! -ever since he first meet her, he started to work much harder to get better in fighting so one day he might stand equal to her. -Mika! -before our break he was practically spending everyday training like crazy do you know why? Mika was ignoring her brother comments. -I was simply training because I wanted to beat her, end of the story. And I started practice especially hard after seeing how she killed Shin last time, now end of the story. -Hiro, your explanation is good, we all felt like that but it doesnt somehow fits with what Mika said. Flynn ended up adding. -whatever she says is irrelevant as its only her strange imagination again. -if its only her imagination then you dont mind us hear it. Vivi managed to silence him. - . -Mika please continue. And so Mika continued. -so, previously Hiro just wanted to have a fair fight with her in which he would show her, that she is not the only good player in the world. But he really went crazy about the training only after he found out that Rin even being strong as she is was having a problem with some quest. He asked Yume where that quest was taking place in pretext that if he manages to complete the fight that Rin couldnt do, would be the proof that he became better than her. That was what he told Yume at least, in truth he just wanted to go and look on Rins fighting style or maybe I think it was rather just look at her? -oho. Hiro I didnt know you from this side. Of course the one to react was Vivi. -I wont argue it did happen but that was only to find out her weakness. Hiro answered. That would explain why did he had such knowledge of Rins skill. -and how many times was it? Vivi asked and Mika once again started answering. -Hiro ended up watching about five of her tries. I even ended up going with him once. We hid near the door with invisibility magic and were watching how Rin was doing. Especially my brother, he couldnt keep his eyes from her. But still after about two hours of fight she ended up dying at the hands of some red knight Ah, that guy was a monster. I really dont want to fight someone like him again. It was a miracle that I won. -that was one of the rare times that I saw my brother angry, he was angry to the point in which the second Rin died, he ran into the dungeon area and started fighting against that knight. Although, I shouldnt call it a fight though. The red knight took a hard beating from my brother at that time He took a beating? -all of sudden my brother started using spells that I never saw before and never did saw again since that time. Even after already wining against that red knight my brother didnt stop till all pieces of his armor were completely destroyed. Still because of that, he wasted all his mana and even though I helped him we still got overrun by skeletons Hey, do I have completely wrong idea on how good they all are? It might be because of all those boar-hunters that I meet so far but now that I think of it, they are all players who for a long time now were fighting at over 100 level. Just the 100th level barrier alone was hard enough. Still even if he managed to defeat that knight who was probably weaken after fight with Rin he still lost to the minions. Well I did once fought against skeletons in the trial of adventurer and even 5 of them give me trouble so I cant say anything to that. -that was nearly at the time most of us took the break and even though my brother finally become strong enough to do what he wanted he stopped playing with everyone and while waiting for Shin he took up some random game about flying spaceships. Only that in truth he continued to train even harder. -so what did he really want to do? Vivi ended up asking after hearing the story. -I already answered that. Hiro interrupted. -but right now, we are now talking only about Mikas delusions so go on Mika. -what Hiro wanted to do is to help Rin in that quest. Yume once told us that its not that Rin dont want to party with anyone. She wanted to complete her quest after all. Its just that most of people will simply get in her way. Thats why Hiro trained himself to be accepted by her. Still, I dont know why did he stopped doing so only because we were taking a break. Its not like he was busy with anything. I thought he will use that time to train even more. -Mika, it is because what you said is something only you thought up and has no reflect on reality. As I said I do want to beat her one day, but I dont have to rush it so taking a break was okay with me. Mikas face has saddened quite a lot after Hiro said that. -its not like you can ever take what Mika says as being real so we didnt believe her from the start. But it was a fun story. Flynn summed it up. -yes, I thought that I can at least annoy Hiro for some time with it but if it has a lose end like this then its not even worth to create a rumor. Vivi added. -but I thought! -Mika remember when you thought that Tras wants to leave our group only because he told you that he is going to Capital for a while to deliver something. Flynn brought up some old story. -yes, that was a storm. Even Shin got deceived at that time and even ended up calling Tras by phone to make sure. Vivi followed it up. -you guys dont remember it but there was also the time when Mika thought that Shin likes her only because he was kind and polite to her. And Hiro added additional story. -but Shin is kind and polite to everyone. -yes but that is an example of how wild Mikas imagination can go. -brother, dont mention it to anyone! -then stop creating some imaginary stories about me. Although only the truth can really hurt you so even if you do it, I wont get angry. -but I really thought. She kept saying but everyone ignored her. -Mika, if you want to create this type of story then chose different characters as your brother and that girl just does not fit your story. Vivi added. Mika was clearly down after hearing all that about her theory but then. -still it is true that you brother got fascinated by her fighting style so not entire story is wrong. And I dont blame him as Rin always draw people attention while fighting, its nothing new. It had enough impact for him to try his best in catching up to her. Also even though your story has a lose end, its not like it has to be all lie, what about thinking like this. Your brother was training while playing that flying game. Sometimes switching the game gives you completely new view on things. Suddenly Arata decided to add few words. I would want to tell her that, he continued to train and there are no loose ends but I cant do that. -I see. I just need to research this theory more, thank you. With those words Arata managed to cheer her up. He didnt have to do that but he couldnt just sit there and watch her getting told by everyone even though what she said was simply what she thought and how her brothers action seemed to her. Arata expected that Hiro will have a grudge against him because he partly brought him some trouble but it seemed more like Hiro was thankful to him that he said that. He himself was probably feeling bad for making his sister sad and tricking her. -but what did you want to tell me again? Because of Mikas long story the plot was somehow disrupted so Arata asked once again. -aaa! I just wanted to ask you if you can tell Rin that my brother didnt mean anything bad by what he said. -Mika, watch your own business, what I said back then is what I think. -I have to agree here with Hiro here. I also dont felt good about letting that girl join us but thats why I vote for no after all. Flynn added. -yes, the way she said that we will just get in her way was really harsh. And even though I meet her quite often while being with Yume I could never really hold a conversation with her. In the end I simply started to avoid her as its also not safe to be in her company. Even Shin got killed once. Now that I think about it, every time I was with Vivi and there was a chance of meeting Rin she would thought up an excuse and go somewhere else. -twice in fact. Hiro corrected Vivi. -twice? I never heard of the second time. -aye, I first hearing it as well. -well it was really long time ago so no wonder you didnt but I might as well tell you. Our group has four founders and we all know who they are but then the first people who officially joined the group were me and Mika. The groups size changed from four to six but with that we encountered quite a big problem which was only Musashi officially had melee fighting class. At that time we were doing crazy stuff like Tras being the second melee and Brans bear being the third, after all, with Shin nothing is impossible but we did need more melee and there was no doubt about that. And so we started looking for someone suitable and we ended up asking Rin to join us. Hiro started the story. -ah, so there was an episode like that, and how did it end? -its a story in which Shin was killed so how could it end? We heard that Rin did not want to join any guilds but we were and still are no a guild so we thought, why shouldnt we try, in worst case scenario she will simply turn us down. -but she didnt simply turn you down? Arata asked. -at first yes she did. When we ask if she would like to join, she cut us in middle sentence saying that she dont. Still, Shin is not someone who could take a no unless he at least partly understood the reason but this time he had no idea why wouldnt she even consider listening to them so he continued with arguments. Unfortunately he did not expect Rins lighting movements and before he realized what happened he lost his head. -yes thats why I said its scary to be in her company. So what did you guys did after that? Vivi added. -naturally seeing that Shin was killed before our eyes for practically no reason, we all rushed at her but it didnt have much effect as she killed us all without much trouble either. Mika can confirm my story. -yes, it did happen. I see that she wasnt called vicious ghost for nothing. -ah, who did we end up letting in our party? I wont be able to sleep at night now. Hiro you did end up voting yes despite knowing all that? How could you let your sister killer and your friends killer to join us!? -it was really long time ago who would remember that. -you do remember it perfectly! And others should do as well! Vivi complained. -yes but we never thought of it as a bad experience though. Remember what Mika said. I did start to train after first seeing Rin in action but it was not only me. Musashi, Vatras, Bran, Shin, even Mika everyone realized that the state we were in was not good, that there is much, much, much more one can do in this world. It might be possible that without that experience we wouldnt be where we are now. -yes but still. -Vivi, is being too strong a sin? -now you are going with philosophical questions, Hiro? -no I am just asking whose fault was it that we were killed back then. Rins for being strong enough to kill the bunch of noobs who wanted her to join their party or that bunch of noobs who didnt know left from right and wanted someone good to join them? We never blamed Rin for that time but rather were thankful to her. As to why we never spread that story, its simply because its embarrassing to get owned like that by one girl and it is not a story that you would simply chat about. -I see but why did you bring it up now? -you asked why did I say yes, despite knowing all that. As Mika said, I trained to show her that I am not some random weakling like back then. But other than that, I also wanted her to see, that not only me but all of us are not like we used to be. And lastly I wanted to find out, if as we are right now, would we be allowed to ask her to join us. So she did have some more people who cared about her at least a little. -in that case, I will also have to show off some good side of me Flynn added. -still Hiro, you just beautifully repaired image of Rin in our minds as without her our party might not even exist right now. But with your ability in words are you sure that what Mika said before was a lie? -nice one Flynn, thats sounds like Hiro all right. You never know when you get caught in his pace. So Hiro how is it? Vivi also asked. -yes, I did get fascinated by her skills and that helped me to get better in time and as Arata mentioned, its nothing uncommon, right? -you are now asking him? Vivi was not making it easy for him. -as I said others were the same. For example, even Shin would probably not be as he is now if it werent the same, so give me a break already. -aye, we ended up dragging the subject too long. -okay. So, where we were again Flynn? Seeing a helping hand, Hiro grabbed it right away. -I think that it was about that somehow we all ended up looking at Aratas fight the other day. -yes isnt its a strange accident? Vivi answered. -rather than accident, thats all Shin for you. He probably decided to make Arata a group leader for some reason but he still considered what others would think about it so he put to that group people that would at least not doubt his abilities. You Vivi being the first one he probably chose. Then the rest of us were those who at least saw his show in the Arena. I must say that if I didnt saw that I would probably end up dueling you Arata right this moment no matter what Shin would say and there are probably many others who would do the same should they get to this group. Hiro explained. -aye, thats sounds like Shin. Always, making it easier for everyone. -you are sure? If he wanted to make it easier for me, he wouldnt have chosen me for the team leader. Arata answered to Flynn. -Shin probably had his reason for it. You should think about what that reason could be Arata. But aye, he is not making it easy for you and the biggest proof to that is that she is in our group as well Flynn ended up pointing in the direction of front of the cart. -eh, what is she doing again, cant she at least come and say hello instead of disturbing Shin? -leave her be, she should start getting bored soon. Vivi answered. -I dont know about that, she didnt bother Shin for some time now so she probably has a lot of patience stored up. Flynn was not convinced though. -fine I will go and try get her. By now, she shouldnt show too much resistance. Vivi ended up moving to the front of the cart and few second later she returned alongside the other girl who so far stayed on the front. She was wearing a long white coat with bronze lines on it, brown belt, short brown miniskirt and white high bootie. Her light brown hair was long falling to her back. She had a braid going around at the back of her head. -hi everyone, eh . She said that without enthusiasm and sit down next to Vivi then she sighed heavily. -so how did it go this time? Flynn asked. -same as always! Or rather, this time it was even worse. I thought that after not seeing me for such a long time there would be a change but rather for a better, Shin is even colder to me than before! -isnt he just busy? Vivi wanted to cheer her up. -if he were just busy he would at least spare me five minutes, right? -but he was always like, work comes first, so you shouldnt worry about that Julia. -but even when he was free he also did avoid me. Weeeeeeee! The girl ended up crying out loud. -Julia wait, its definitely not like that. -weeeeeee, leave me alone Vivi, I know its like that weeeeeee! No one did say to her anything anymore as she continued to cry. Hiro who was next to Arata whispered to him. -thats why Flynn said that having her in a group is not easy. -shouldnt someone say something to her? -there is little we can say. You give it a try if you thought of something? -I didnt, and I dont even know her. What is her problem anyway? -its quite simple. She likes Shin and she does not have a problem saying it out loud. But when she does so, Shin just answers that he is not interested in ingame romance or simply romance in general. Of course that doesnt stop her but her efforts are fruitless, because of that, she ends up like this from time to time. She will be back anew after some time, so dont bother. -but shouldnt Shin just tell her off the hard way. I think it is a better solution than drag it on. -maybe but Shin is simply too polite to do something like that. -maybe he just drags it on because he is not sure how to respond to her feelings? -if you knew Shin for a little bit longer Arata, you would definitely not think like that. Still, I guess you never know with that feeling right? It is really uncontrollable after all, and also Julia is quite pretty. She has that natural and realistic beauty in her. Still its Shin we talk about and he is someone who controls even things that are uncontrollable. -I do think that it is beyond anyone control. -I see you are speaking from experience, well I guess I also Hiro stopped for a moment. -anyway thats how it is, but its not like Shin was ignoring her right now so I dont know what she is crying over. She should have known that when Shin gets a new set of puzzles, he will play around with them like there is no tomorrow. -I see thats the solution. -hmm? And then Arata started speaking loudly. -I dont think that its that Shin is avoiding her. Even though his is working right now, for all that time before he didnt tell her to go away as even though he was busy her presence did not bother him. Rather he was probably happy that despite not being able to converse with others right now there was still someone who just wanted to share some space with him. Sometimes just being present, means a lot. -hmm? The girl stopped crying and looked up at Arata with teary face. -hey, Arata, what with the monolog out of sudden? Vivi ended up asking. -I just thought that if someone has to cry they should at least have a reason for it and not some misunderstanding. -no, no, no, I think its you who misunderstood. -no Vivi, its me who misunderstood that guy is right The girl with brown hair got in mood right away. -by the way, who are you? And then she ended up asking this question after wiping her eyes. -me? Im Arata. -ah right, the team leader. My name is Julia. -if you could dont call me the team leader or anything that has word leader attached to it. -why not? Arent you one? -please just dont. -well, whatever is fine. So Arata, thanks for just now you opened my eyes, its true that Shin never told me off. Also thanks for the map the earlier on, I could finally be useful to Shin even if only in bringing him something. I think there was something else I wanted to say but I cant remember it anymore. Was there something else? -hey Julia, we were wondering if you happened to be in Arena few days back and saw Arata fighting. I am asking because everyone else in this group happened to be there. Vivi asked but Julia did not answer still that question reminded her of what she wanted to say. -ah right, that was the last thing! Arata, thanks to you I managed to earn 400 gold in an instant. The other day in the arena I happened to be there as I was bored, then out of sudden there were two fights listed one after another where two completely unknown people without a rank fought against two first rankers. I immediately realized that something is going on so after I saw that your friend won the first fight I bet quite a lot of my cash on the second one in which you won in an instant. Then puff and my money got so much bigger. So the last thing I wanted to say is thanks for the money. -its you who were betting, I have little to do with your win. -well, I just thought I would thank you anyway. So what did you guys talked about? -Hiro just told us a story about how he got fascinated by Yumes friend Rin. Vivi sum up what they told about. -who ever told a story like that!? Hiro reacted to it right away. -but wasnt it the main point of it? -yes but the way you said it was completely misleading. -see, he agreed, so that was about the gist of it. Vivi added. -I see, well Hiro. Although I see a little chances of it happening, I am in somewhat similar desperate situation so I will wish you luck. - . Hiro just gave her an annoyed look then he stood up and said. -sorry but I cant deal with those two at the same time. Mika, I am going to sleep right now but you can do what you want. Arata, I suggest you going to sleep sooner rather than later If you value your sanity, that is. After saying that, Hiro moved to the front of the cart. =pouter Hiro, pouter Hiro. Vivi and Julia ended up singing it together. I probably should follow his advice. Unfortunately Arata could not do it. Before going to sleep, Hiro ended up sitting next to Shin and it looked like they ended up talking about something. To that there was a reaction. -but he told me that he is super busy right now! Julia right away complained. -given its Hiro, he wouldnt bother Shin with stupid chatter like you so of course Shin will listen. Flynn commented. -maybe I should go and join their conversation. Julia was ready to do just that but when she stood up, Flynn caught the end of her white coat. -you did enough for today, so give Shin a break. -muu. Julia sat back. -still, if Hiro already evacuated from here, guess our tactical meeting is not happening. Flynn summed it up. -I can still call him. -nah, you dont have to Mika. We will just have to work things out on the field as always. -if there is something specific we have to do then Shin will tell us about it, so we dont have to worry about it Vivi added. They are a little bit too carefree or rather they are putting too much on that guy. -now that this is out of hand, lets return to the topic. -but isnt there nothing to return with Hiro gone? -you are right Flynn. Then lets change it a little. Hiro said that he and the others were fascinated by Rin at that time, was it the same with you Mika? -me? -dont space out! -eto, rather than fascinating, she is scary. -yes thats what I think as well. What about rest of you? -nah, I dont know about being fascinated but watching her fight is a privilege. Not only you can learn something but its also a nice picture. Flynn answered. -I dont know where that fascinating word came from but you cant put it in the same sentence as that girl name. Julia commented. -so you are with us on this Julia. -she killed Shin, this is not something that I can forget. It seemed that Julia was interested only in that fact. -what about you Arata? Whose side you are on? -neither, I dont see a reason to get scared by her, but also she is not on some unreachable level which I would have to admire. I saw people who are way better than her both in real world and in this game. -not unreachable? Maybe for you but that is where we going right now. I have arrived at some theory. -you can give up as they are always wrong. Flynn quickly shot down Vivi attempt. -dont say that, this time its for sure. -you say it every time but go ahead, what stupid theory you came up with this time? -based on your answer and what Hiro said before, it is clear that the only people who are fascinated by Rin are men when us women has it right and we think she is scary. I must say you are all deceived by her look. -aye, that redhead doesnt look too scary if you dont know her. Then who wouldnt want to look at art of war and art of beauty at the same time. Still, Hiro might have get fascinated but I dont think that Musashi, Tras, Bran and definitely not Shin would think the same. From what Hiro said, I arrived that it was at that time that they found out that in this game you are not bound by limits and by simply grinding your level, you wont get better. Anyway you theory is wrong. -I am not finished it, I also have a counterpart. When men will say that Rin is fascinating, then we women will say that Arata is fascinating. Having two examples like that proves it right. -nay, you got it wrong again. -dont say that, Mika, Julia, you will agree with me. -eeeemm!? Its wrong to think like that! Also by saying it, you are just bothering Arata as he has a girlfriend. Mika answered troubled. -does it matter? We are only talking about the theory. -it does! -then what if he didnt have one. -emmmm?! Mika started to look around. -see Flynn. -that doesnt prove anything. Mikas reactions are always like that when it comes to romantic stuff. Hey Mika, I thought I will tell you. Few days ago Konan told me that he likes you. -emmmm?! Mika started to look around even more nervously. -no wait it was not Konan but Kei. -emmmm?! And now her head was simply spinning around. -no that couldnt be him either as he was also listening to it and promised that he wont tell you, now who was that again? Ah, I just remembered, I also promised that I wont tell you. I think that maybe you should wait till he says it himself. -emmmm?! -fine, I get it Flynn. Vivi commented. -see, Mika is not a good material for your proving anything. -still Flynn, you know that Hiro will kill you when he hears that you bullied her. -I wasnt bulling her, right Mika? Hmm? Where is Mika? -over there. Mika was already standing next to her brother and was desperately explaining something. -ups. Well what happened, happened. Cant be helped. Anyway your theory is once again wrong Vivi. Flynn couldnt do anything about it now so he decided to not think about it again. -not yet, Julia you agree with me right? -well, I am not sure about this one. But if you switch Arata with Shin in that statement then I am 10000% in agreement with you no 1000000% even more infinity%. After all, Shin is the most fascinating, the most handsome, the most all-knowing, the most everything, the most super everything, the most super super fantastic everything. -okay you can stop right there. -but I was just getting to the best part. -no you are not helping so you can stop. -and so, another page of Vivis useless and wrong theories was filled. Still, you should take to your heart Mikas answer. Look at Julia and how much he bothers Shin by doing what she does, dont be like her and dont do the same to Arata. -I am not doing the same. Arata I am not bothering you, right? Vivi ended up asking. -well, I wouldnt say both- -hey hold on cowboy! Before you answer you should think about the consequences. Learn to draw the line fast before anyone gets hurt. Look at Shin and see what happens if you dont. Flynn quickly interrupted him. Even though he told me that. I think I already drew a line right away from the start. -isnt saying that you have a girlfriend enough? -yes, but some are more persistent and if they ask you a question like this, you need to answer it right. -Flynn its not like I trying to get in his way. -it does look like that in my eyes at least. Anyway, since when it came to this? VRMMORPGs are great but the plague that comes from the real world with it is something I cant stand. You should play game because you want to play game and not some other reasons, especially not to look for their other half. Also if someones tells that this is their first game and they started to play it because its popular again, I cannot vouch for myself. Flynn made his opinion. -its you who is ignorant of it, Flynn! Julia opposed it. -is that so? Then you think that Shin is also an ignorant? -why would I ever think like that!? -you said that I am an ignorant because I think that things that originally were not part of the games shouldnt be present in EOA. But Shin is on the same page as me. Or rather he often completely ignores all aspect of this game except for its core which is fights, dungeons, and raids. When he plays this game he either does one of those or prepare for one of those. -you and him are completely different! -aye, I like to role play my dwarf role and dont mind chatting with people about topics unrelated to the game. Well Shin doesnt mind as well but in time when he wants to focus on something, he does mind. He will never tell you that though. -but. -Julia, I think that everyone already told you about it but you really should stop expecting Shin to respond to your feelings. Its simply not happening. -you dont know till you try! -but didnt you already try and failed many times. -, weeeeeee! And so Julia went into crying again. -ah, now you done it Flynn, she will not stop till tomorrow, there goes our sleeping. Vivi commented. -I just said the truth. -weeeeeee! -hey Julia. Its not like what he said is true. I personally never thought that I would go out with someone I meet in a game but now I do. And it happened only because of her persistence and openness in showing her feelings to me, I simply could not do anything else than falling in love with her as well. Arata ended up trying to console her but he didnt say any lie in it. -wee! really? She once again looked at him with teary expression. -yes, I was thinking just like him. Who would look for a romance in a game, there are other stuff to take care of and the game is the last place in which I would look for girlfriend. -oh, that sounds like something Shin would say. Flynn added. -then can I really do that too? I mean change Shins mind? -probably but that only depends on if you really like him. -I do! But I already told him I like him and he just said not interested! What I am supposed to do, help me! Ah, why I am doing it? It is really the curse of this game. Arata ended saying all that that but because he didnt want Julia to start crying again. It was too late to get back from it now though. -rather than telling him that you like him, you need to show him your true feelings or either he will just think that you are playing around. -I am not playing around, I am serious! -the problem is that this is a game. Its hard to show your seriousness here. Depending on how you approach him, what will you tell him and how you will behave around him, that kind of stuff. -then what should I exactly do? Julia ended up taking out the pen and a notebook. -I cant help you there as I dont know. -but you said like you were speaking from experience. Dont be sting and tell me some ultimate technique! -as if there was one. All I told you is what my girlfriend did to change my mind. Thats why it might have sounded like I speak from experience but you would need a story from her perspective. -I see, so its a secret ultimate technique that your girlfriend used on you. Its power is so great that the one that it is used on doesnt even realize what hit him. In that case you will probably not know it but just knowing that its possible is enough, I will have to think of my own way And just when Arata was going to get off the hook, Julia followed it up. -now tell me what your girlfriend did and I will use it for reference. -what, what? Arata is going to tell his love stories, let me hear as well. Julias and Vivis request was replied with single word. -no. And Aratas face was not laughing. -why not? Dont tell me you are embarrassed? -no. -but didnt you wanted to cheer up Julia? -no. -so why did you said what you said? -no. -Vivi, he is still answering your first request and he repeats it till you understand. Flynn perfectly understood what Arata meant. -Arata, dont be like that! -no. -Julia what should we do? -I didnt ask for your help and if he doesnt want to talk then its fine. As long as I know its possible I should just try my best, is that what you wanted to tell me? -yes. Also personally I never think whatever something is possible or not, you should just always do your best as each failure will lead you to future victory. Just like in fights. Whenever I fight I always go with wining in mind and I never consider losing as its waste of time. -always? -pretty much, with very few exceptions. -being this good you are probably confident most of the time. -no even when my chances are slim I will still think the same. -Vivi, could you do something like that? -never, I know my weakness too well. -knowing your weakness is a first step to improve A new voice appeared out of sudden. Man with black hair, which were falling on his forehead. He wore dark brown sweeter and brown pants. On the sweeter he wore a white cloak that covered most of his body. -I came to ask you all on the matter that Hiro brought up to me just now. Because there are some of us who didnt play for some time, I think that going right away into most dangerous lands we have never been before may be a little rush. Of course we will not abandon that idea or move the date of expedition for some other time, but a small wake up is something that everyone needs. Also seeing that we have three new people joining us on this journey it will also be beneficial to them. Thats why, upon reaching the Larisane, we will stay there two to three days longer and execute our luck of draw tournament. It will definitely help me to see everyones current form. Shin announced. -luck of draw tournament, only not that! -luck of draw tournament, yea! -luck of draw tournament. Wonderful idea. The reactions were quite different. Vivi was against it, Flynn was really happy about it and from what Arata already knew, Julia would probably say the same thing even if she hated it. Then there was one more reaction. -what is luck of draw tournament? Arata asked. -they will explain it to you. Still I guess I should ask, there is no problem if we delay the journey a little. -if its only this long, there is no concern. -I see. With that Shin returned to where he came from. In the front the number of people that were sleeping once again increased as Hiro who finished his business ended up falling asleep while sitting. Next to him, Mika was sleeping as well in a position in which her head was resting on her brothers shoulder. -so what is that tournament? Arata asked. -its more of training, than a tournament. We just fight each other in friendly matches. Thats most of it. Vivi started explaining. -nah, dont listen to her. It is called tournament because it is a tournament. There is no place for friendliness in it. We beat the crap out of each other because we want to win. Flynn had another explanation though. -as far as I know, when Shin first introduced that idea it was so we can train for unusual circumstances, so it is a training Flynn. -dont listen to Julia either. She just says that because she wants you to let your guard down should you fight her. Flynn continued. -so you just fight each to see who is better? Arata got to the point. -thats exactly it. -dont listen to Flynn, he is lying. Vivi interrupted. -fine, fine, so Arata, in this training you draw the number that marks your position in the bracket, then you fight against someone and the winner moves to another round. The fights continue till the last fight and there is no one else to fight against for he winner. Sounds like tournament to me. -but it isnt a simple tournament is it? Otherwise you wouldnt add something about the luck in that. Arata asked. -aye, when I explained I skipped few less important details. Well, in tournaments there is always luck as depending on whom you fight first you might get knocked out right at the start. But there is another element of luck to our tournament. Otherwise it would be impossible for Shin to simply propose that idea. Apart from us wanting to fight against each other badly, the tournament prepares us for different circumstances. -thats what I said. Flynn ignored Vivis comment and continued. -it goes like this. Before each fight we are drawing one card out from a bucket, box or whatever is prepared and not always cards but I will use that reference here. On those cards are listed special restrictions or additional rules to the given battle. Those rule really various and depending on what you draw you might get an easy win but at the same time you might get utterly defeated. -and what those rules are? -its hard to list them all as there are quite many and every time Shin adds few more ideas he comes up on the way. You will have to wait till the thing will actually be happening but so I dont keep you in the dark I might give few examples. There is, do not use any weapons, do not use mana spells, do not use stamina spells, do not use any spells, do not move from your position, do not fight in melee, do not attack from more than one meter, fight with your eyes closes, fight with your opponents weapon, do not wear any armor and many other things. Also, there always is at least one card on which rules are that you choose someone to your party and its 3v3, 2v2 or even 6v6. I think that is the fairest one. -but some of them are really unfair, how is melee supposed to fight with only range attacks against a mage for example? Arata pointed it out. -thats why we call it, luck by draw tournament. With good cards anyone can win. -no, that is why Shin called it a training and not tournament because rather than seeing who is the best, people have to manage in different circumstances and thanks to that we learn new things. Vivi added. -I think that luck is also ones skill. Arata commented. -aye, now you are saying something Arata. Anyway look forward to it, its always fun to beat the crap of you party members right? Some PVP might be fun, although the interesting part will be drawing some ridiculous restrictions as well. -so how fierce are those fights? You probably dont kill each other as it would be a waste. -aye, we dont kill each other but the fights are to death. You see Vatras has a skill called Seed of reborn, when he cast it on a player, for a day should that player be killed, instead of getting message you are dead he is held back on 1%hp for five minutes. The person who losses, is healed back in those five minutes and so he wont die thanks to that. -you mean he has some kind of resurrection spell? -I wouldnt call resurrection the only method to be resurrected in EOA is to wait those two days. Even NPCs doesnt have the power to resurrect people much less players. -you sure about it, I thought that every healer should have a resurrection spell. Arata asked. For him, in every game so far that he played, the healers and sometimes not only them had resurrection spell. -well you know how the saying goes, I never heard of anyone having a spell like that How do you complete raid dungeons then? -anyway rather than calling it resurrection what Vatras has is a simple trick that prevents people from dying. Also that skill works only on players damage for some strange reasons, so we use it only during this tournament. -but it still works even if someone is cut in half, or completely vaporized, right? -aye, awesome right? Thats why you can go all out in those fights and dont worry about consequences. Now that I think about it, its such a good time to play it out. -what are you getting excited for, you wont win anyway Flynn. Vivi commented. -didnt you say those are friendly matches Vivi? Flynn replied with sarcasm. -you will just get spell only battle in first fight like last time and you will stop laughing. -hahaha, rather because last time I had the worst luck this time the goddess of luck will smile in my favor. Flynn was not concerned about it, too much. Even though he did call it a tournament, those really were friendly matches as there were no enemies to fight, only friends. -so, how many times did you do it already? Arata ended up asking. -this is the eleventh time I think. -aye, eleventh, we actually do it quite frequently there is at least one every month. Although this is only third time that everyone will be participating. It all started when we finished Vatrass class quest and he got that spell. The spell seemed useless for us as we are not really doing PVP that often but Shin came up with this idea on how to use it and that how it went. Eleventh, thats quite a lot. Still I see why it might be a good training method. But if there was so many I guess I have to ask. -so, who is usually wining those? -oh, you want to know who to watch out for? Flynn asked. -I was just curious. -curious, aye. Flynn answered with a grin. -we might as well tell you. Last time we did that, who won at that time again? It was Kei right? Vivi answered but it didnt look like she was reliable source of knowledge. -yes it was Kei, probably. Julia was on similar side. -maybe you two will just go to sleep already and dont interrupt us. Flynn ended up commenting. -I guess it is a little bit late and I am not really interested in it. There are always tomorrow if I want to talk with Arata so good night. Vivi ended up leaving the conversation and she dropped down on the bench and closed her eyes. -and you? -no, I am listening. I am practically the newest here apart from people who joined today, so I want to find out as much as I can. I love the stories you guys always tell. Julia answered. -fine, then stay and listen. Just like they said the last time the person who won was Kei. He is sleeping on your right under the bench if you want to know who it is Arata glanced over there and saw that Kei was long gone in deep sleep. -also, so far Kei has the highest number of wins. -so thats why everyone is calling him our ace? Julia asked. -when Shin introduced to us this training method to get us a little bit more motivated, he said that the person with highest numbers of win will be recognized as teams ace. And even though this system has a large amount of luck in it, winning it few times tells clearly that someones is good. -so is Kei better than you Flynn? Julia ended up asking that question. -I am a tank, he is a dps. We cant be compared. -but its him who got the ace title so doesnt it speaks for itself. -ah, you are interrupting again Julia. You said you are just going to listen. -okay, okay. So what are the scores? -I am keeping a record of them. There is Kei with four wins out of elven games and then there is Hiro with three wins, then Musashi has two. Then there is one guy who once won but he is not with us anymore so you I wont mention him. Then there was also one time that Shin won. -even though there were already eleven of those only five people ever managed to win one. Arata commented. -thats why winning one has a lot of meaning. -so how did it came that you never won any? Julia kept asking Flynn painful questions. -I might have not won any but here is the thing. Kei who is leading with four wins had a six months ingame time break. Hiro, who always get to high stages, and won three times also six month break. Musashi, the same, Shin same. Many others same or at least they didnt play at their usual rate. Then there is me who continued to play and often got to high stages of the tournament. Also during this break, whenever anyone wanted to form a group for a dungeon I was in it as I was the only tank left. When everyone else were lazing around I was fighting more than usual. If there is any justice in this world, who should win I ask you? -justice? Isnt that tournament the exact opposite of it? Julia once again shot him down. -whatever I just saying that this time I have higher chances than usual. Same would go for you as you continued to play as well. -yes, I was trying hard. -I dont even know how many times you came to me and said. Hey Flynn, will you tank this for me or Hey Flynn, we are going for a dungeon and you are coming with us. Not that I minded it though, thanks to that I was more motivated and did not slack off at all. -still, despite all that I dont think that your chances this time increased much, rather they decreased. Same goes for me and everyone else. Julia once again said negative comment. -why do you say such blasphemy? -its not blasphemy but the facts. This time we have three more people joining and I dont see much hope for any of us defeating Rin. - . It looked like Flynn forgot about that fact. -you had to say it didnt you! All his plans fallen in an instant. -well, in that case I will have to count on that luck that I have left over from previous tournament. -but what condition would you need to defeat her? I think that she will defeat anyone in any circumstances that we might have. -well, there is one way. If I we were to draw a team fight, and I would manage to choose Shin then I will win. -you think it will be this easy? Arata had to interrupt. -yes, Flynn even though its Shin, didnt Hiro just tell a story on how he was killed by her in a second and everyone else following. Julia had to agree. -you dont believe in Shin, Julia? Ah, no wonder he ignores you then. -no, I am not! I do believe! Julia quickly denied. -I was just joking. He wouldnt ignore you because of that. In the first place in our group, the person who least believes in Shin is Shin himself. If you were to ask him, could he win a team battle against team like, lets go extreme, Arata and Rin he would say, yes good joke. -because it is a good joke. Arata had to intervene. -you only say it because you didnt see what Shin can do. Throughout the all tournaments there is one thing that is static and that is Shin never loses in a team fight. I did say that team fights are the fairest one. That is because the right to choose first person is decided by a coin. Both sides have a fifty/fifty percentage of being the first one to choose the first player to their group. The person who wins this part automatically wins the group fight as choosing Shin means automatic win. -really, he didnt lose even once? Julia had to ask. -not even once. At some point, team cards started to have additional notes like, each player selects one or two people that opponent cant choose. When this came up, Shin was mentioned every single time as the first one. Or you could say he is on default. -now that I think about it, on two tournaments that I have already been at, when the note showed that you cant choose one player the two that were fighting didnt even say the name but just laughed. -yea, rather than one player cant be chosen it should be you cant choose Shin. Still its Shin who creates cards with rules so he wants to be fair. -what is he doing that you all think that he is so amazing? Arata couldnt help but ask. Such idolization of that person seemed strange to him. -because he is amazing! Julia answer did not help. -you will just to experience it yourself that all. We are not able to describe it. -whatever he might or might not do, I still going to win that tournament so I will find out how good he is when I beat him. Arata declared. If he already were going to participate in it, he might as well win. Although, he still had no idea on how he was going to defeat Rin. -aye, it might be that you will, but I tell you if you get a team fight against Shin there is 100% chances of losing. Whatever, I will have to see it myself. -so, in any of those group fights. Were there a time when the sides were overwhelming against him? Like two anti-classes against him and his teammates. Arata ended up asking. -there was one time when everyone thought that the era of Shin wining every team fight was over. During the eighth tournament it happened that Hiro and Mika were selected for a fight. It was 2v2 fight without restrictions. Hiro said go ahead and choose first as he wanted to give her a head start or else he wouldnt be able to fight seriously. So Mika choose Shin. Then Hiro realized that it might have been not the best idea to let her do it but it was already too late. Still, he wanted to win badly so despite his pride he chose Kei and it was a 2v2. Kei and Hiro vs Shin and Mika. Even I was convinced that its impossible to win in that situation but as I already said, Shin never lost a team battle. -against those, two with Mika as his partner. Isnt it like impossible? How did he do it!? Julia asked with high toned excited voice. -even though I was watching it, I still have no idea how he managed to pull of everything he did. Still, I can also say simply. Thats Shin for you Arata once again looked in the direction of the front of the cart. Shin was no longer looking at the map but just simply up to the celling, motionless. His hands were no longer holding anything but instead they were touching each other with the end of fingers. He doesnt look that impressing. Arata meet people whom from look he could tell that they are a bad news. For example, whenever he would look at Gerald when his face is serious, despite knowing him and being in his guild, Arata would still get a chill and his instincts would tell him to run away. Then there was also his grandfather who while seeing him in fighting stance Aratas thoughts wouldnt even say run away but simply I am dead. From the man in the white cloak however there was nothing like that. -I will also be getting to sleep now. There is no need to stay up night as we can continue tomorrow. Julia, would you move a little? -sure Julia ended up standing up and switching her sitting place to the side of Arata as Flynn went to sleep on the bench. -you are going to sleep as well? Julia asked. -no, I am not really that sleepy yet. -in that case follow me Julia stood up once again and then started walking to the back of the cart. -here, here When she waved her hand Arata ended up following her. They moved all the way to the entrance to the place from where the outside could be seen. Julia ended up sitting at the edge of the cart with her legs floating outside of it. -sit like this. -but, there is no place. -you are not fat, we will manage. The entrance to the cart was quite narrow. And there was only a small area in which someone could sit. Arata came closer and seeing that there is really no place said. -I think I should. -sit down! Julia ended up pulling him down and in the end he sits right next to her. Their legs and arms were touching. -see there is no space. -we are already siting so there is. -yes but in this position I can even feel your breath. Julia first smiled to that comment but then said. -its good that you are fateful to your girlfriend. I always preferred guys like that but you dont have to worry that I will do anything as my heart is already for Shin. -in that case you shouldnt be comfortable in siting like this either. -but strangely I am. Its probably because its someone like you. -if you start talking about things like this then I am getting out of here. -haha, wait, wait, dont worry Julia laughed at him and then said. -you know I really do like you Arata was about to stand up but Julia hold him back. -I already told you that I love Shin right? So relax. -I dont think I can relax if you start saying things like that. -do you know only one definition of the word like? -well. -normally one should consider the other version right. Arata how many of your current friends are girls? Dont count your girlfriend, only normal friends. Well in that case its not that hard to count. It really was easy to count but when Arata started thinking about it he just got depressed. In childhood I had many friends, from girls, there would be Ali for example. But I didnt keep a contact with any of them so they wont count. Then there is Ali whom I did meet again after the break but even though I tried to repair that friendship, out of sudden she started to avoid me. Alice really did start to avoid him and she didnt give him any misunderstanding there. For example, when Arata was walking on the sidewalk and Alice was walking on the same sidewalk and was walking in his direction, she would turn back as if remembering that she has to pass the street to the other side. Then there was also that even if they did meet face to face she would simply greet him and walk away quickly. Arata tried to talk with her few times but lately she always replayed with I am busy or maybe some other time. She shouldnt have a bad feelings to me anymore but its rather clear that what she wants to tell me. Also its not like we ever had much in common so its especially hard to find something to talk about. At the state where I am right now, even though I would want to say she is my friend, she doesnt count as that. Then apart from her there is probably no one. Arata continued to get depressed even more and more. There might be few girls that I get to know in the game but I am nowhere enough knowing them, to call them my friends. Still its not like it is limited to girls. I was practically always friendless even since that time. -do I have to answer that? After thinking about all that, Aratas voice changed into sound of loneliness. -what happened? You suddenly went into bad mood. -if it only were a bad mood. Arata replied with even sadder voice. -well, well, it cant be that bad. Dont make that face. -dont worry, I just realized that I have no one that I can call a normal friend. Julia was quite surprised by that. -it cant be that bad. What about you girlfriend? -yes, she is the only light in the tunnel but you asked for normal friends. -then what about your party members or I dont know Yume, Vivi, Flynn? -I dont know any of them well enough. Although I guess that I could call Levi my friend. But rather than being happy about, its only making me sad even more. The way Levi kept repeating that they are friends had a small impact on Arata. It was true that right now he was closest person what Arata could call a friend. -then what about, Rin? You seemed to get along good. -it may look like this but I know that she is forcing herself to do it. Also she did once tell me that after we complete the quest I shouldnt involve myself with her anymore. She did use exactly those words so I dont even have to wonder on this one? -what about in real? -thats even more sad. -then in a game. You are in some guild right? I remember as I was on the arena the name was- -Refrain, yes I am in a guild and even though I did get along with people who were in it, it only goes as far as being a guildmate. Best prove to that is after we separated we practically dont keep contact with each other at all. Tears started to flow out from Julias eyes out of sudden. -you know, your story is so pitiful. -I dont know why I ended up telling you this but its probably because if I hold back those thoughts in mind I would just feel bad. But why is it you who is crying? -no, I just understood how good my life has been and the fact that there are people like you in the world makes me sad. -as I said its not that bad. I still have my girlfriend. -yes hold on to that thought and dont commit suicide. -I am used to the fact that I dont have friends so I wouldnt do something like that. -saying that you are used to it is even worse And then Julia showed him a smiling face. -Arata, didnt I told you that I like you. -yes and I told you that you shouldnt say it. -you are once again misunderstanding. Anyway lets get straight to it. Arata, do you believe in men and women friendship? -I dont see anything wrong with it. -in that case, you really didnt think about it well enough. Its not like I do believe that man and woman can be friends but I am personally little afraid to get too close to anyone from opposite gender. Even here, in this party. Or maybe, especially in this party. -I thought you were all on good terms. -we are but for example I avoid being in one on one conversation with anyone from guys, except Shin of course. But then Shin avoids having one on one conversation with me so its practically with no one. -but now you are having one on one conversation with me. -I was just getting to it Julia looked up at the night sky. -even though everyone is nice and its fun talking with them, I am still not talking with them one on one, why do you think is my reason for that? - . Arata didnt say anything but waited for Julia to continue. -as I mentioned the reason is because I am scared. -you mean, you are scared of them? -no rather I am scared of what they might say. I am really scared that one of them will one day say, I like you and that it would be the other like not the one I told you. I might be a little overconfident in myself but I am really afraid of that. If someone tells me that, I can only replay with no and hurt that person feeling. After that communicating with that person would become really difficult, it might even become uncomfortable for me to be in this group and this group is something I dont want to let go, no matter what! -it must be nice to have a place like this. Arata commented. -no one stops you from joining us permanently, you should think about it. Anyway what my point is that I am afraid to act too friendly with guys but it doesnt mean that I dont believe in man and women friendship. Also, I do think of everyone in this group as my friends, although I think your definition of that word is a little bit stronger than mine Possible but I dont want to delude myself. -and now I will finally get to the point. The condition that I have to have a male close friend is quite simple. I must be sure that he will not tell me one day that he likes me and because its nearly impossible to tell one from another, I will keep my distance to not get too friendly with anyone. -I guess it is some solution if you dont want to hurt anyone. -what about you Arata? -I probably dont have to worry about it as much as you, as I am not that attractive but I wouldnt want to hear someone telling me that they likes me for the same reason as you. -I dont know if you really shouldnt worry as you might end up in that situation one day. -if it comes to that, then there is nothing I can do about it, but my answer is already prepared. Arata didnt think about this answer for long either. -see, thats why I told you I like you and I am sitting with you here having one on one conversation with you. You will never tell me that you love me and I will never have to hurt your feelings but because of that, you clear the condition of being my male close friend. So Arata will you become my friend? - . Arata couldnt reply to the sudden invitation. -in return I will become your friend and you will never again say something like I have no friends. -I would like to but we dont know each other that well and I practically meet you only today. -we have a lot of time to find out things about each other. I understand that you value the word friend a lot and maybe like me have some strange conditions to meet. But if its something I can clear out, ask me anything. -its not like I do. -then will you become my friend? - . -once again, will you become my friend? -okay, okay, I will, I will. -then from this day onward, I am your friend and dont ever think about me in any other way than that. Even if we dont meet each other for a long time, even if we end up arguing, dont think that because of any of those things we stop being friends. Also Arata, I think you should stop being so negative and simply look around yourself. You will find out that you have much more friends than you think you have. Julias words give Arata something to consider but he did not do that right away as he kept on talking with her. Friendship is a funny thing. Sometimes it doesnt matter how long you know someone, or in what circumstances you first meet, it can bloom at any moment and last even forever. There are cases when two people meet only once in life, but that time might be enough to remember the other person forever and even at deathbed consider them a friend. -oiiiii. Arata opened his eyes as he felt someone was poking him. He did end up talking with Julia for quite long time, they did not finish even when they saw the sun rising up. Only when Kei woke up, they realized how much time has passed. They agreed that they should finish it already and both went to sleep at around 7 am before anyone else woke up. Well there was also Shin who didnt sleep at all. Upon opening his eyes, Arata saw a familiar face. -ah, its you Levi. -what, you are disappointed that it wasnt whats her name again, Julia? Levi answered with smile. -Levi its too early so give me a break. -I was just wondering how your flirting went because I heard some interesting stories. -what stories? -Bran told me that he practically never saw that girl speaking with some other male one on one for this long and that everyone else is also surprised by that fact. -I didnt do anything special and if I remember correctly Bran is that guy with super hearing right? He should know what we talked about. -yes but he didnt want to share with me anything, he said that its his rule as he doesnt really want to spy on others but he cant keep the sound out of his head. -he could buy headphones and listen to some music. -thats what he does in real but you cant find headphones in EOA. -by the way, why is it so dark here? Arata couldnt help but ask. -its probably because its a night although the sun should go up soon. Its 4 am right now. -4 am? Arata was quite surprised by this fact. That meant that he slept for nearly a day. One reason for that might have been because of the beautiful dream that he had, but other more realistic one was because he didnt sleep too much lately. -yes you did end up sleeping for that long. I heard that the girl you talked with also ended up waking up not so long ago. In fact I came to this cart because before I was the rider and she switched with me. Now its her and other guy whose name is Konan who are driving. -who is Konan? -he is a funny little fellow. I was riding with him in other cart. We did have a party in other cart you know, although none of us stayed up as long as you and that girl. Well maybe except that guy but he shouldnt count Levi pointed at the front of the cart and there was Shin continually doing something, he was not looking at the map anymore though. Everyone else was sleeping as well. Although they probably were awake during the day. -but I think he will be at his limits soon as well. -I had enough of sleeping. Arata picked himself up from the floor. He realized that he was covered in a white blanket. The blanked was of much higher class than the ones he bought in the shop and was especially fragrant good. -whose is this? -not yours? -no I didnt buy a white one and they didnt have a blanked of this quality. -then you dont need to be a detective to find out I guess it was her. Also she didnt cover me just now when she woke up but rather waited till I feel asleep and did it only then. I will have to repay her. Arata filled it carefully and put in his inventory for now. -so it went good? Levi asked with a grin. -well, I made a friend. -thats all you have to say? -is there anything else I should say to you. Anyway how it been on your front? -I cant complain. Its fun with this many people around you and it definitely increases our chances of completing the quest. Also I did hear about some tournament they will be holding and we are participating as well. I will have a chance of showing off by winning it. -yes, good luck with that. -Arata if you also win every fight then we are bound to fight each other finally as its a tournament, I quite look forward to it. -then dont lose until you get to me. -you dont have to worry about that. Anyway, we still have one more day ahead of us of the ride so there is no reason to get too excited about it, at least yet. -one more day? -yes if we dont get attacked by anything we should arrive at that elven village tomorrow at about this time. -what do you mean, get attacked? -right, you dont know. While traveling by road it doesnt automatically means that you will have a save travel. Rather you are bound to be attacked by something at some point. In fact while you were sleeping a group of bandits did indeed attack us. Nothing you should worry about as they were easy to deal with. They were some random group. We didnt even stop at that time as few guys jumped out from the cart and dealt with them. -then, those attacks are only to annoy you? -dont say that, it is because of attacks like that traveling between the cities is not easy. Also we just got one of the easiest version, you never know what you might meet on the road. -it would be good if we got attacked right now, its quite boring here and it would be a good practice. Anyway you have any good ideas as what we could do in the meantime? -dont count on me. I was going to sleep right now after I spent few hours of night leading the wagon. -maybe I should also do it. I would be useful for something. -good thinking, anyway I am taking your sleeping spot Levi ended up crawling under the bench where Arata was sleeping before. -would you mind loan me that blanket? -use the one you have. -nah its too troublesome to get it out. Good night and see you in few hours. Aratas and Levis conversation stopped there. Arata looked around the cart and saw that everyone was sleeping. Well, not everyone as there was one who kept on sitting at the front in his usual position. Its not really my business that he doesnt want to go to sleep. I might as well do as Levi said and switch with someone on the raiding. Arata ended up jumping out from the cart and with half-run catch up to the front of the carts. -hey, do you want to switch!? He didnt even know to whom he speaks but said it out loud in direction of the front. -I just switched myself, try the other one. The reply came and Arata recognized the voice right away. -Julia? Right I shouldnt be surprised by that after Levi just told me he switched with her. -ah, Arata you finally woke up, not like I am one to say that as I was sleeping nearly as long as you. Anyway, if you want to switch then try the other one. -got it Arata located the other cart that was about five meters away from theirs. [Lighting speed activated] -see you later. Arata said that and then catch up to the other cart in an instant. I am getting lazy if I use skills for that but whatever. -hey, do you want to switch!? He once again asked. -its not needed but if you want then I dont mind. This time he was replied with the voice he did not recognize at all. -I thought I will try to be of some use. -okay then come up here Arata get to the bench at driver position. There was a guy with orange-brown clothes. Adding to that he was bald and had an orange circle marking on his forehead. -no wonder I didnt recognize the voice. The man said that seeing Arata. -yes, we didnt spoke yet. My name is Arata. -I am Lee. Its nice of you to come and help out. -I dont really have anything to do so I thought, why not. -here are the reins. Do you know how to use them? -yes, I happen to drive a cart like this already but what about the road, is there somewhere I need to turn? -you dont, right now we are on road that leads us straight to the Larisane, well maybe not straight by you just need to follow this road without turning anywhere and there is nowhere you can actually turn anyway. -got it. -in that case I am going to catch the last hours of night, see you later. Lee didnt stay for too long and ended up jumping down to the ground. Now that I think about it why none of us is using the front entrance? One could get from driving position to the inside of the cart but somehow no one did it. Riding the wagon didnt require from him much attention so Arata once again started to look around the area. Still in comparison to yesterday the weather today got bad and the clouds were covering the sky. At least its not raining. About hour later Arata regret those thoughts as it did end up raining. Arata took out a raining coat that he bought and continued to ride on. Probably because of the weather there werent many people who wanted to switch with him later on. There were few voices that asked him from inside of cart if he wants to switch but Arata replied that its not necessary. Even though the world was covered in dark clouds and it was raining, the landscape that Arata saw was still beautiful. Although there were momentary breaks, it continued to rain all the way to 13:00 which was now. -hey, is it Kei who once again sits on rider spot all this time? -nah, he is on the other one look to the back. The voices came from inside the cart. -is there anyone who wants to switch with that person!? You? Okay go ahead. Arata recognized that voice as he already spoke with that person and he had quite strong voice. It was Musashis voice. Surprisingly the person that wanted to switch came out from the front, right behind Arata. -I came to switch with you so go inside. Before Arata looked back the person covered in red cloak landed right next to him. -Rin? -ah its you Arata? I see, so you also had this idea. Still this time you cant stay in this corner alone for too long. Its my turn now. Rin took the reins out of his hands. -you know how to ride it? -those animals follow the road on their own so you dont really need to do anything. -I see well anyway how is it going Rin? Arata ended up asking a question. -why do you ask? -hmm probably because I was worried about you. -and why would you be worried about me? -well I did end up putting you in somewhat difficult position. -and you realized it just now? Rin asked annoyed. -sorry. -still Arata, I wouldnt call it difficult position but rather really annoying position. All those people say whatever they want and they are way too friendly with me. -isnt it a good thing? -from which side!?! The worse is that dwarf with black beard. Not only he completely has no shame but also I think he has some mind reading ability or at least he can read my lips movement. Every time I tried to say something under my nose he then says out loudly what I said. The worst thing is however that I promised Mary not to kill them so I try not to do that, but if you ask me then yes, I do think they should all die! -hahaha, I see that you are getting along with them. -why do you laugh! I am not getting along with them! -no you said that they should all die rather than killing them all, its a great progress. After all, when we first meet or when you first meet with Levi you killed us both of us without second thought. -it was your fault for being a kidnapper. Rin said quietly under the nose but Arata managed to hear it. As always she didnt plan to apologize to him for that. -oh, its my first time hearing that, why was I a kidnapper? -its nothing, also what happened, happened I cant take it back, can I? And dont expect an apology from me. It was also your fault for dying too fast. -well I do not mind that much. Anyway as I said its a big progress that you didnt kill them. -why do you make me sound like some mass killing psycho? I do not kill people without a reason. -I see, so for what reason did you kill me? -because you were kidnapper of course! Ah never mind. Also, you cant really say that I didnt kill them as I did, in fact all of them, some of them even twice. -hahaha . -why are you laughing again! It was their fault anyway! Also, what are you still doing here? When someone is switching with the rider the previous rider should return to the cart. Go in already! Rin ended up pushing Arata while he was laughing and Arata fell right inside the cart and landed there on his back. bump. He hit the floor. -oh, everyone! Look who graced us with his presence. The one who said it was a dwarf with a long black beard that Arata already had an occasion to meet. Bran walked up to him and stretched his hand to help him stand up. -thanks. Arata stood up and saw an unusual sight. People in this wagon were playing some kind of card game. There was large piece of wood in the middle on everyones knees that worked like a table and everyone was around it. There were some cards on that table but it didnt seem like any card game that Arata saw before. Everyone had only one card before them. There were more in the middle though. -want to join us? A large man that with his size would took two seats asked. Cat ears and fur? That man had an orange-golden-bronze fur like a lion and also lion like ears. He was wearing dark bronze leather armor. -right, you still dont know everyone Musashi, who was sitting in the middle on right side spoke and continued. -it will probably be best if I remind you the names you already know as well so going right from me. Well you dont need introduction to him so following The one that sit on Musashis right was Levi, it seemed that after he woke up he returned to this cart once again. -this is Lee Next to Levi was a person with whom Arata switched. -next Kuma That was the large guy with lion ears. He was sitting at the opposite end of the cart and he was taking nearly the whole width of the cart. -following on the other side, this is Thesar. It was another large guy. Arata remembered him wearing a heavy armor but right now he was in normal clothes. -Konan. Another person, that Arata didnt meet. In comparison to previous two he was quite short in height, maybe even shorter than dwarfs. -the rest you should already know. Yume, Bran, Vatras and once again my name is Musashi. She is here as well. -Arata, sit next to me, it just got free as Rin switched with you. Yume said to him. Rin probably was not playing the game or at least Arata could not imagine her playing it. -so, what are you going to do, play or not? Bran once again asked. Arata sat down at the bench and answered. -sure I can play but what exactly you are playing? -well if you dont even recognize it, it will be easier to learn while playing a game. -okay. -guys go easy on him! =of course. Smiles appeared on everyone faces. -maybe I should just look for now. Seeing it Arata commented. -dont worry it is in a way a team game. One round usually doesnt take more than ten to twenty minutes so you will get a hang of it in in one or two plays and in about 5 to 10 plays you will understand it all Bran continued to explain. -in real world, the game is called Moloch agents. But what we are playing is a handmade version that we made but the rules are the same. -but I never heard of Moloch agents either. -dont worry, I will explain everything as it goes Bran started shuffling the cards. -for start what you need to know is that there are two teams the red ones and the green ones. The red ones are the Moloch agents and the green ones are the sentries. You can see five cards in the middle, those are the mission cards. Sentries team win, when they complete 3 missions and Moloch agents team win when they interrupt three missions. On that a little bit later, for now what you need to know is that you cant show anyone the card you have. Just look at the color that your character has and then put the card on the table but dont let anyone see it. After saying that, Bran passed everyone one card. When everyone had a card before them on the table, everyone pick it up look at it and put it back. Green, hmm. The card that Arata good was of a female with short orange hair and behind her there was a green background. -I think that Musashi is a Moloch! Konan who was siting a seat away from Arata next to Yume started. -Konan, everyone knows that Musashi is a Moloch but this is an introduction game for Arata so dont start it yet Bran continued to explain. -now the next phase of the game is that everyone closes their eyes until I say otherwise. While everyone closes their eyes its a time when Moloch agents opens theirs to see who belongs to their group. So Arata close your eyes right now and of course everyone else Arata closed his eyes. -now if you got a red card you open your eyes and look for other people who have opened their eyes. Cheating destroys the fun so dont do it. We are playing with ten players right now so there should be 4 Moloch agents together and six green players. -isnt that unfair? -no the groups are constructed like this because of how the game goes, anyway all you Moloch close your eyes Bran waited few seconds. -and now everyone open your eyes. Arata opened his eyes and nothing really changed. -now I will explain how one can complete or disrupt a mission. At this stage of the game, one random player is chosen as a sheriff, who has a sheriff card right now? -here. Musashi passed the card. -it will be good if Arata experience it so Arata you will be the first Sheriff. -okay. A blue card with was passed to Aratas front. -Sheriffs job is to choose the team members that will go on mission. The first mission is three people mission, second is four, third is also four and two last missions are for five people. When Sheriff chooses a team, everyone vote should that team go on mission or not. Voting is carried out by those cards. Everyone gets black card which means no and white card which means yes. We gather it to one spot and then the game master counts it. By the way I am game master but and at the same time I take part in the game. -wouldnt it be faster if you just raise your hand? -it would be, but the important aspect is that you dont know who vote on what. Anyway Sheriff chooses the party, and when that party is allowed to go, they go on a mission. During the mission there is another voting. Each of party that went on missions vote should that mission be carried out or disrupted. -so green cards vote that it should pass. Then the red ones that it shouldnt. -I see you are getting it already. Well in second voting when you are the sentry you just vote green but when you are Moloch you can vote either green or red. The voting cards for mission are in those colors. -why would I vote green if I were red? -the results of voting are showed so when a red card appears in it, everyone will know that at least one of people who went on a mission is red and it will be hard for you to go and disrupt a mission again. When you are red player you have to do whatever it takes to make others believe that you are green and go to as many missions as possible. -so it is some kind of mind game rather than a card game? -we are using cards so its a card game but you are not wrong. Anyway you are the Sheriff now Arata so choose three people who will go to the mission. -but how should I decide the squad if I dont know anything? -well first round is rather random. Usually you just choose yourself because even if your card is red you are green, you understand what I saying. It means that no matter what, you never say that you are red. -okay, then I am going. So, is there a way to distinguish others? -well if you are red you know everything so if you show you can distinguish others then everyone will know that you are red. If you are red then you can think of some good strategy of how you want the game to go but even if you are a red right now, just choose two other random people, you can worry about wining when you understand the rules. As you can see, no one is trying too hard right now. Just choose two people who are sitting next to you so it will go faster. -okay then you and Yume. Bran gave out to everyone the pair of black and white cards. -those are the cards I spoke about. They are to decide if the team goes for a mission or not. There is an additional rule to it, whenever five voting are held back Moloch agents will win. It usually doesnt come to that. Now, everyone votes by putting their cards on the middle without showing what they choose Bran started counting. -the other card should also not be shown so other cant deduct from that what you choose The other cards were gathered in one place as well. -now the results Bran showed the cards and they were nearly all white except for one. -as you can see usually on first group everyone just votes yes as there is no reason not to. -what about that one black card? -its from one person who is trolling. Dont worry about it too much. Anyway now that the team is going for a mission another voting is held. This time the cards go only to the people who went for a mission Bran ended up giving away the cards. -there are different cards for first and the second voting but the rule goes the same The voting was held in a similar way and the results were. -three greens the first mission is completed We are wining. Arata still did not know what exactly was happening but it looked like he was winning. -now then Arata the games goes in a turns like this. Now the Sheriff badge goes in clockwise direction meaning the next Sheriff is Yume The sheriff card was passed on the table to Aratas left. -the second mission is four people. -which means, that it has higher chances of failing? Arata asked. -its not definite, look at the group that Yume will choose. Yume choose the group. -well its a good occasion to show Arata one additional rule. Next team is people from previous team plus Musashi. -see, Yume choose the previous group because there were three green cards, meaning that there is a high chance that with those people the mission will be completed again. The voting was held out again. The results were six to four. -didnt you say that there are high chances that it will go well? -well, its because Yume choose Musashi and everyone knows that he is a Moloch. -dont listen to him. Its just something that they came up with. Musashi answered from across the table. -yes, yes, anyway this is just introduction for Arata so dont try too hard. Now then just like before another voting is going to be held. Another mission vote was held and this time the results were. -three green, one red, unfortunately we got ourselves a Moloch in a group. Bran continued with the game.. -see Arata, this is another rule. Musashi is always a Moloch. Yume explained. -I am not but whatever just go get tricked by them. Musashi replied. -now then Arata, here it is where its starts. We now know that one of us is a Moloch for sure because green guys would never vote for red. Well, unless they are trolling but thats another matter and this is just introduction. There are three possibilities. The most possible one is that a new person that joined the team is a Moloch as the first mission was completed with previous members, then there is a possibility that one of people who went on first mission was a Moloch and they just held back so they dont drawn attention to them. Then there is a possibility that you voted red and you know it, in that case you have to convince others that it was not you even though it was you. As I said, always remember that you are green. You will see how crazy it can get when the real game starts, for now we continue with introduction, Konan you are next. -if you want to do this fast then I will just go with most obvious rule that Musashi is the Moloch and simply choose the first squad and myself as the fourth person. -now then Konan choose the party, in the way he choose it, Musashi should right now start arguing saying that he is not a Moloch but because this is just an introduction, he gave up and is not saying anything, which means that he is a Moloch by the way and he doesnt know how to defend himself. -yes definitely. Musashi added it seemed like he gave up this game already. The voting was held and it was once again 6 to 4. -so it just keeps on going around like this over and over again? -yes, although I cut one part from the game to make the introduction easier to understand. In real game there are also special cards that you can use, we will be adding that element in next game so I will explain later. Now the mission voting. The mission voting was held and once again it was three to one. -another mission was disrupted. -isnt that bad? -it is but we still have a chance, the next mission is five people but in fourth mission there needs to be two red votes to disrupt it. Next Sheriff is Thesar. -Bran, even though its an introduction we shouldnt just play so everything goes along your plan. Arata, even though he keeps repeating its an introduction this and introduction that, Bran is also trying to win. Thesar started explaining. -I know that usually the person who says the most is the red one as he tries to control the game in his favor but I am talking this much because I am explaining the game. Bran defended himself. -yea, yea. Anyway so this introduction doesnt end too fast lets have a green mission. Is there someone who can say for sure that he is green? -I am green Thesar but we werent playing it seriously so just relax and wait for next game. Kuma the person with lion ears who sat next to him said. -sure but lets see how far we can go from this point Kuma. -then the other person you should choose is Arata because from the way he spoke its clear that he is green. He didnt even know that this game is about lying and if new guy gets the red card at the start they always get nervous. -okay then me, you, Arata who else? -we dont know about anyone else but just dont choose anyone who was in that team anymore and especially not Bran. Konan also sounded suspicious. -yes normally he would just like me start playing a little seriously. So we can choose from Lee, Levi and Vatras. -well, maybe Musashi is also green but I guess its more save to choose from those three people. We only need one more green for now. -anyone feels like green as well? -well, it would be sad if Arata lost his first game so add me as well. Levi said suddenly. -what will you say? Kuma? Thesar asked his ally. -definitely not this one. You know how well he lied in previous games. It looked like Levis true nature was already well known to everyone. -yes even though he just started playing he became quite good at it. -guys, guys, I might have done it before but its what you do to win right? No hard feelings. I want to win this game as well so forget what happened before and allow me to go as well. This introduction game will be a perfect time to cleanse my name. Levi started talking. -okay, fine lets take him along. We just need one more green anyway, from the three of them there shouldnt be more than one red. Now one last person. Lee, Vatras what about you guys? Kuma agreed and continued. -I am green all right. Lee replied. -I am also green but whatever we win or lose doesnt matter, like most I am just waiting for the next game. Vatras replied. -what will you say Kuma? Thesar asked. -take Tras and lets go with it. Anyway is someone against it or would like to change something in that team. -Thesar, take me along! I am 100% green. When Bran said that even Arata who just started playing did not believe him. -maybe it went well if Bran is against it. Kuma said. -well the biggest problem is a next round as even though I dont think we have a two Moloch we might have one. -yes but we cant deduce anything anymore so it will come all down to luck. -okay the group is decided. Thesar, Kuma, Arata, Levi, Tras. The voting goes on. Well, I cant do anything else than vote yes. Arata had completely no influence in the game. The voting was held and the result was. -eight to two for yes. The team goes. Once again the cards were split to the people who went on mission. This time right before saying results Bran similed. -hyhyhyhyhy. Three votes for no. Moloch agents win. -how? That would mean that there were three red in the previous group, right? Arata did not believe it. -well then just look who got the Moloch cards and you will understand. At the end of the game everyone show their cards so we can see who won. The cards were shown and the people who belonged to the red team were. Bran, Kuma, Levi and Vatras. -you too Kuma!? The one most surprised by that fact was Thesar. -well you did say that we should start playing a little more serious, didnt you? -this is a little? -now then Arata as you can see if you are not careful you can get easily defeated. For example listening to me for all that time was your gravest mistake. Bran commented. -but you said it was going to be an introduction. -aye, but it doesnt change the fact that the win is a win. Still, thanks to that, I showed you what you can do in this game. I will now explain how everything went. First mission, it was you, me and Yume. I told you to choose people at random but at the same time I said just take the people sitting next to you. In that way I got to the team. I could vote red at first round but I waited and thanks to that I shot down the mission number 2 and 3. Shooting down two missions on your own is usually the most one red can do. People will definitely figure you out by then. In that moment your teammates have carry out the rest. Kuma controlled the game from that point. He was a red player so he had to get trust of Thesar. That came to him with ease because the game was already at that stadium and unless Thesar had someone he could discuss things with he would not be able to win. -now, as to how I tried to gain his trust. I said three facts, first fact I said that Bran is definitely a red. As a red player, it doesnt actually mean that you have to protect your teammates. When Bran was already in a situation where the chances of him being red were so high, you just agree to it so you dont stand out. Then I said that you are green because you are green and you gave yourself our right at the start. Then I added that Konan was suspicious because he was. Kuma explained. -I just wanted to finish it quickly and he says I am suspicious, at that moment I also stop caring about the game. Konan replied. -yes, he says it like that because he lost Bran continued. -so when Kuma got Thesar trust he just needed to get one more red to the team. He got Levi despite Thesar no trust in him, although a lot of credit goes here to Levi as well. Still you shouldnt try as hard as that, Levi. -well I just wanted to make Arata lose, thats all. Levi replied. Arata knew that something was fishy when he heard Levi saying that he wants to help him win. Well in this game not believing that guy on default might be the best option. -at that point, Kuma have already met the requirements so it would be fine to choose anyone at that point. Still when Thesar asked Tras if he is green, Tras answered in a way that even though I knew that he is red I started to wonder if I didnt saw it bad at the beginning and if he is actually green. Jesus Tras, even though I wanted Arata to see how it really goes, you overdid it. -hmm, I wanted to warm up a little, the real deal starts now. Elf with long dark green hair replied. Well, this game might not be that easy. And the game was not easy but with each following round, Arata started to understand it more and more. He joined the game first game at 13:00 and continued to play up to 22:00 which was now. -okay guys, I know that you want to continue but if Shin finds out that we were playing all night instead of resting for tomorrow it wont end good. -just one more game Musashi! Yume said. -we already had four of just one more game Musashi so no. And this was Musashi answer. -just like Musashi said, we shouldnt forget our main purpose so everyone go to sleep already. I will go switch with the rider for now. -I will change you in three hours Tras. You should sleep some as well. By the way, can someone go to the other cart as we have little overflow with people here and it wont be enough space? -I was originally in other one so I can go. Arata volunteered and left the cart through the back entrance. The time has flowed really fast. Before Arata realized it was nighttime again. The change was however that, they were now riding through the forest. The other cart just like before was few meters behind the leading one and its rider right now was Vivi. Still, because Arata didnt want to make it look like he came to switch with her, he sneaked by without her noticing and quickly jumped inside the cart. Success. -wha! -wha! Arata sudden entrance startled two girls who were sitting near the entrance. -yo! Arata welcomed them. In this cart there was Julia and Mika who were sitting at the back of it. Then there was Flynn, Hiro and Kei talking in the middle. There also was a big surprise as Shin was actually sleeping right now. -say something before jumping in, Arata. -I didnt expect you to sit here, well sorry Julia. Arata answered with simile. -so how was it? You had some fun? She asked. -more than I thought I will have. The game we were playing, once I understood the rules fully, it becomes really fun. -so did you made any friends? -well, I am not sure about that. I dont think that just playing one game with people makes you friends. So you are still the only one there. -you should just think about everyone in this party in as your friend and get it over with. -I dont think I have a right to do so. -if you stopped thinking for some time, your life would be easier Arata. Still I wont say that I dont feel happy that I am the only one that you consider a friend. -but, but, arent we all friends? Mika interrupted and it seemed like she could start crying all of sudden even though just a second ago she was happily chatting with Julia. -of course we are, right Arata? -mm- -Mika, wait, Arata is just shy to say it, that all. You also dont say everything you want right? -ah I see, so its like that. -you will pay me back for this later Julia whispered to Aratas ear. -you are going to sleep now Arata? -there would be no other reason to finish the game otherwise. Look even that guy is sleeping. -I will get angry Arata. Dont call him that guy its Shin. -sorry, its just that I practically never spoke with him before. -you are not the only one who couldnt speak with him but thats also Shin for you. I even got used to it . -he is always like that? -no, just when we are doing something new and you could say that going to the west for an expedition is the biggest thing that we done so far. Well, thats from my experience in this group at least. Mika what would be the biggest thing in the history of this group? -em there are really a lot. Like we once went on dragon hunting but it didnt end up well and since then we have rule, no more dragon hunting. -you will have to tell me about that, by the way Arata, if you want to sleep the front seems like a good place to do it. -thanks. Speaking of sleeping is that yours? Arata took out the white blanket he found after he woke up. -yes but you can keep it, I have few of those so its my present for you. I did already buy like ten blankets but you dont say no to a present. -thanks, I will use it then. By the way where did you buy it, its at least two classes better than those I bought. -ah no, I didnt bought it, its handmade. I made it. I learned a tailor subclass so I could change the look of my clothes and armor. -should you really just give to me if its handmade? -I made five like those, they were from special material. I still have the remaining four so I can give you one. Anyway, I am giving it to you so just take it Then she stood up and whispered to Aratas ear. -also if you ever find yourself crying at night coz you will be all alone, this will remind you that you have friend somewhere in the world. -I wont be doing that! -yes, from now on you wont. Anyway, good night, Arata. Arata walked to the front and ended up lying down on the ground. Still he could not sleep right away. There are people like that who play the game with their main goal being the fun. In the first place, shouldnt that be a reason you play the game? I was like this too, really long ago, I dont even remember when it was anymore. Then it changed rather than playing for fun, I have played for feeling of achievement and victory. I definitely not regret that decision but seeing people like this, I feel like either way is good. Or maybe in VRMMO your main focus should be different. Playing card game inside a game, I never heard about it but maybe its not playing the game in the game but simple playing the game with use of new technology that connects people. Thinking about this world as a game is completely wrong. It is as it says the virtual reality. Being virtual doesnt make it any less real. Arata started to waver because of what happened in past two days. All the people he meet and all events that happened were all fresh in his mind. Also the home-like atmosphere that he didnt feel for a long time was also making a good impact on him. Even though I just wanted to get some information from then, they open to me with open arms and changed their plans just for our selfish request. This guy, no, Shin was working all those three days just to make it possible even though he probably had everything planed out beforehand. In the end, they are just good people, all of them. I feel that even if they had some plans before, none of them would mind to change it. It is because any plans and this whole expedition is just an excuse for them to be together. I think it would be nice to be part of that. Arata end up considering should he stay in that party for longer. In the first place, what exactly does hold me back? I would be perfectly fine if Kotori were to join with me, right? It was what Arata thought at first but when he asked himself a question like that, his mind was filled with other thoughts or rather voice of someone. -hi there, my name is Gerald and you are coming with us to the training dungeon so I can see you up close. If you show any promise I will let you enter our soon to be created guild. Oh and this is Kelly. Are you ready? Great, LETS GO! -The first grand trial in Cobolis Cave will test your ability and see if you are worth of being in soon to be strongest guild in history of EOA. -anyway I advise that you take a stroll to Loris instead of logging out now and never returning. Look through the eyes of old Arata once again and then decide what you want to do. -From here on the guild Refrain is starting its activity! -with all that being said, I wish you luck although you dont need it. Trust your skills and it will take you anywhere you want. The first challenge that is before you begins now. Go and dont look back! We will see each other when the time is right. The answer came to him faster than expected and with it, Aratas mind became clear. He completely erased his previous thoughts and fall asleep. Arata didnt sleep for too long thought and once again he woke up before the sun go up. Aaa, once again I am up at 4 am. My sleeping balance is completely off. Right now it was 4:36 in EOA meaning Arata slept for about 5 hours. Still I dont feel like sleeping anymore, so it cant be helped. Arata picked himself up from the floor and looked around. Once, again he saw practically everyone sleeping, although as always there was one exception to that rule. Still, that man was no longer taking any notes or looking at the map, neither was he looking in the distance with dead eyes. Shin was simply drinking something from the cup. The sent coming from his cup signalized that it was coffee. It was really strong scent not something that you can get from buying a cheap coffee in supermarket. -you want some too? Seeing that Arata woke up and looked in his direction, Shin gave him an invitation. I didnt expect that. -sure I will have one. Shin ended up taking out another cup and put it on the bench on which he was sitting, and then out from a vase a hot water came out and filled up the cup. The scent of coffee became even stronger. -how much sugar should I add? -one spoon please. Even though it was a normal conversation, to Arata it didnt seem like one. Still Arata ended up taking the coffee. The water was not moving? Only now Arata realized that the cart was no longer going forward and was standing. He realized it right away as yesterday he ended up spill water on himself. -you know, I cant wake up properly without a cup of coffee in the morning anymore Shin said out loudly. If you slept more you would. -you just thought that if I slept more I would be able to wake up, didnt you? -staying up few nights in a row is not really good for your sleeping balance you know. -well, there is this but I cant leave things undone, can I? -yes, sorry for making it hard for you. Arata promised himself that he will tell those words to Shin should he have an occasion. -changing everything that I planned before was indeed time-consuming still it was fun in a way and now I have an end goal. Having a winning condition makes it much easier for me to focus. Also thanks to that, I wasnt bored during this ride. -I dont think you would be bored having this many companions by your side Shin didnt answer anything to this but just drink from his cup. -I see that you finished already though. -thats all I can do before actually seeing everything myself. Also we have the tournament today so I had to rest before that He didnt seem like the type that would be interested in tournaments. -after all, everyone would like to win? I am the same here. Shin answered to Aratas thoughts as if he heard the words itself. -so do you think you can win? -of course not, it will be good if I got lucky on the draw and win the first round. I dont know what others told you during this ride but dont be mistaken and look with your own eyes. I am a simple human being that simply wants to connect one end with another. I expected a more confident answer. -then who do you think will won? Arata ended up asking. -I thought they explain the rules to you. You cant predict the outcome just like you cant predict the situation in which you will end up. That is why this training has any meaning. Still, if it were only one on one fights then the winner would be Rin or you or your friend Levi. Still hearing that you both got beaten up by her badly then it would probably be her. Still on the other hand, because its not just one on one fight everyone has a chance, thats the way this training was created. Then it means you also have one. Just as once again hearing his thoughts Shin drank up the coffee. -so I see that we did are already at the right place? Shouldnt we wake up everyone then? Arata asked as he already had enough of this long ride. -hmm you are right still people dont like to be woken up when they are asleep and we are not rushing anywhere but just going on our own pace. Also, I dont think that there exists a reason to wake up someone at 5 am. -then is there a reason to wake up at 5 out of your free will. -plenty, for example drinking a cup of good coffee in a quiet atmosphere and peaceful atmosphere, then I needed to gather my thought and check if I didnt have made any errors. -you should learn how to take breaks. -I am not doing anything else than checking my memory thats all. Wait this is a good occasion. -can I ask you a personal question while we have a time? Arata asked. -personal question? Hmm, this should be interesting is what I would want to say but I think I know what you want to ask about and its not interesting topic for me at all So can I ask or not? -then how about this. I will answer your question but you wont be able to tell my answer to her. -how did you know I was going to ask about Julia? -by ruling out from all the questions you could ask me and seeing your character so far you wouldnt ask anything personal unless it was for someone else. Then seeing with whom you got friendly the most I can point up to two people but it were both she and Rin so I wanted to deduce the rest from your reaction but you already told me the name. -then you know my question already right? -still Julia didnt ask you to do it. You are doing it just from your free will, in that case it will be easy for you to not tell her my answer right? I dont even need your word for it as I see that you wont. -it still depends on your answer. -for you yes it still depends, but I do know what my answer will be. But still after all, I dont really feel comfortable speaking about it. -sorry to bother you then. -I will still answer though. I dont like leaving things unfinished. So if you are wondering why anyone would reject such girl like Julia who is not lacking in anything and has a lot of good qualities then my answer is quite simple. Its exactly because she is like this. There are of course other reasons as well but that is my main reason that I convinced myself with. -could you expand it a little. -simply put it she should look for someone better than me as there are plenty of those. -but she does like you the way you are. -but I dont see a reason why would she actually like me. Every occurrence should have a logical explanation as to why they happening and I dont see here any in this case. -I think love works on its own rules. -I dont know them though and I dont believe in something that cant be put on paper. Anyway I personally hope that Julia will understand her mistake and move on In a way, I cant really blame him if he thinks like that. -now its my turn to ask a question, is there a chance that you will help me in this manner? It seemed that she likes you quite a lot. -we are friends, nothing more, nothing less. -I see but I hope that as her friend you dont have a grudge against me for what I said. -no, also I didnt ask you because I wanted to convince you to do something but I simply wanted to know what you think about her. If you for example said that what she is doing is annoying and you would want her to stop doing so I would try to pass on that message. -no I dont mind what she is doing although you can pass on the message that she could be a little bit quieter especially when I am focused on something. Arata asked Shin about the whole thing because he wanted to help Julia in some way. However Shins answers were not something that he could pass on to her mostly because they werent simple. They could be interpreted either way and probably both those ways would be true and false at the same time. -wake up all of you and get ready! You have ten minutes! A loud shout could be heard from the outside, and some sleeping people reacted to it. -now, speaking of loud people. Shin commented the shout. -didnt you say that there is no reason to wake up people at this hour? -I did but it looks like Musashi thought otherwise. It would be fine either way but now all we can do is follow what already started, Arata will you lead my your hand in this? -sure what should I do? -its not like I dont believe in Musashis voice but if we really have to wake everyone at this hour we should at least do it in a little more gentle way. Thats why Shin filled both of their cups with coffee again. -with this all we have to do is go around the cart and people will wake up by themselves. I will take the left side Shin started walking up to everyone and he was just putting his up near peoples face for few seconds. Arata ended up doing the same with people on the right side. When they reached the end of the cart most of the people were already awake. -there is still the other cart Shin drink up from the cup and then left the cart, Arata followed him. Still when they were going to in direction the second cart it seemed like there will be no need for it as people already started to go out from it. -its seems we were too late. -Shin, we will get up ready in a minute, should I woke up your wagon as well? Musashi asked. -we are before the time. There was no need to wake up anyone in the first place. Said Bran who was also was already out. -its too late for second thoughts now. But where is Tras? Shin asked. -he went ahead to talk with our little princess about our extra baggage. -she is a village elder, Bran. Musashi responded. -nah, she is a princess alright. Trust me I have an eye for those things. -it doesnt concern us who she is. Anyway I see that everyone is ready so we shouldnt keep Tras waiting. Musashi said as everyone from both of the carts were already out in the open. The place they were staying in right now was a green field near the end of road that leaded nowhere. Before them there was a huge forest. Even though it was fall already leafs on the trees were all green. -yo, Arata. You have the coffee, give me some. Levi ended up coming up to Arata the moment he came out from the cart and spotted the coffee in his hands. -I wont be finishing it anyway so take it. -I not really huge fan of coffee but its nice to drink some, once in a while. Levi said and then drinking up the remaining of Arata cup. Then Shin started talking. -ehm, ehm. You guys probably heard it already but we are going to hold our luck by draw tournament today and then following day. Hiro suggested me that and I thought that it will be good occasion for some of us to warm up after the break. I also want to check on everyones condition and there are few new scenarios that I would like to try out but is everyone fine with it? =yes we are! Everyone answered together. -okay so we are doing it, first though we need to get to Larisane and find a good spot for it. This forest should be cleansed from the monsters but just in case keep the eye out for anything suspicious. When Shin finished he took out his wooden staff and started walking in the direction of the forest while holding it in one hand. He walked while holding it up and touching the ground with the other end. Everyone followed after him and entered the forest as well. There was nothing like a road inside of it or any paths as well. It looked like this part of the forest didnt see anyone in a while. Someone presence at the back. While walking Arata suddenly feel that something is trying to sneak on his back. Three, two, one. Arata made a sharp move to the left. Just like he felt, second later someones hand appeared at the height of his head as if trying to catch his throat and smother him to death. Arata made a spin on the left foot to the back to create more distance. While spinning he unsheathed his swords and then he looked at his assassin. -what are you doing, Yume? -its rather what are you doing Arata? Everyone seeing his strange action either looked in his direction or around to see if any more enemies are coming. As for Arata, he couldnt get more embarrass, still he would not show it. -I am just trying to defend myself against surprise attack. Its you who sneaks up on me. -and I was just trying to do guess who on you but what is your reaction? -lets just forget about it The march through the forest continued. -in future dont do things like that. Especially in a place like this and especially when I am on full alert. -I just wanted to see if you could guess it right. -only you who would do something like that here, so it wouldnt be hard. -from what I heard, I am not sure if you can still say it. -no, I am confident that is, aaaa! This time Arata did not notice anything but out of sudden his eyes were covered by someones hands. -guess who!? -see Yume because of you I got caught off guard, if it were an attack then I would already be dead. Still, I do have to give you a credit for pulling that of from that distance, Julia. -hehe, I did get little angry when you forgot about me. -yes, yes, sorry. Aratas eyes got uncovered and as he turn around, behind him there was Julia. -so how should I repay it to you? -lets see, how about giving up should I fight you in the tournament. -thats not fair. -nah, I am kidding, if we happen to fight, this time I will show you what I can do. -then I will look forward to it. With that Julia returned to the people with whom she was going next to. -hey Arata, did I just see wrong or are you cheating on your girlfriend? Levi asked the question right away when they started going next to each other with Yume next to them as well. -you did see wrong. Arata just replied. -then, what about that friendly atmosphere you had there? -friends should have friendly atmosphere, right? -no, no, that was definitely much more than friendly atmosphere, you will agree Yume? -well, I know what you are talking about but you are wrong, Levi. I dont know about Arata but Julia definitely doesnt like him in that way, you can trust me on that. Still even though I did hear about it before hand its still strange to see Julia taking a liking to someone like that. On the other hand knowing the clear condition that she made for herself and the fact that she waited quite long for someone who clears it for quite long does explain everything. -okay, so they are just friends, in that case Levi got closer to Arata. -psss, wont you introduce me to her? Why does he always ask for that? Arata didnt plan to whisper back to him but just answered normally. -there is no meaning as she will hate you anyway. -why do you think like that!? -its safe to assume that as its always the truth. -anyway just introduce me and I will take it from there. -I will not make troubles for my friend. So no. -arent I your friend as well, you should help me as well. -I dont remember us being friends. -hmm thats because I erased part of your memory with my spell once, when we agreed to be friends. -I see, still I dont want to be friend with someone who erases my memory. -hey you two shouldnt be fighting. Yume interrupted them. -no, no, we are not fighting. Levi answered. -if we were to call it a fighting about 60% of our conversations would be a fighting. And Arata followed it up. -by the way Arata, we need to think up the tactic for that card game so we win it more often. Levi started reflecting on yesterdays game. -it might not be a tactic but I came up with a good rule to follow in that game. -oh, what is it? -it goes like this. No matter how the game goes, do not believe what Levi says and never agree with him. Its also good way to earn everyone trust. -hey! -wow I think it really did work out for Arata yesterday, I only realized it now though This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Yume commented as she also was playing that game with them. -by the way guys, do you plan on getting serious in our tournament? -thats depends on the situation but of course, who else do you think will win but me. Levi answered. -oh, you do have some nice dreams if you think you have even chance at winning. Arata could not stay quiet to that. -then you Arata, who do you think will win? Yume asked him. -I dont really care who will win, but I will not lose to anyone. -isnt that the same? -no, I heard that there are some team battles as well so if someone choses me to the team I still dont plan on losing there either, thats why winning the tournament is a secondary thing, winning every battle that you fight is important. -right, Arata about that team fights, what will you say about the agreement to join up if any of us draw it? Suddenly Levi proposed. -if you ask nicely then I can help you but I will win every team battle on my own anyway so I dont need your help. -yes, yes, good luck when you have team fight with Rin. I will look forward to how you defeat her and all people that would be with her. - . Yes there is also that. -okay we might as well team up. -you guys arent you underestimating us a little bit? Yume had to say it. -I am confident in myself. Levi answered. -whoever the opponent is I dont see any other option than winning. Thinking about losing just distracts you. Arata answer was even more confident. -if I remember correctly when last time Arata was saying something similar, he got beaten by a girl. Levi quickly reminded. -you also got beaten by that girl you know and I at least put up a fight. -I wasnt prepared back then it doesnt count. -is that so, then maybe you should challenge her right here right now. If you win then you will be able to troll me for eternity. Nice reward isnt it? -as appealing as it is I will pass on fighting her. -anyway this time it will be different, I will win against her. -and where does that confidence comes from? -well whenever I fight I dont think about losing. Arata couldnt answer that in a good way so he repeated himself. -ah so nothing change here. Well then, Yume both of us thinks that we will win. What about you? Who do you think will win? -I have no idea, it can go either way. As far as I know if you draw badly all three of you might get kick out in first round. Its not your normal tournament where the strongest has the highest chance, then even if it was, Rin would win that, so you guys also have to count on luck. -ah, she doesnt believe in us Arata. -no rather she believes in Rin more, but all we have to do is win to change her mind. -well the best condition we would have to win against Rin is to have a tag team you and me against her and someone else. We would quickly clean the other party and then with our combo play we should be able to deal with her. -I guess that would be our best option. -eh, you are really underestimating us or you are simply overconfident. Yume once again commented on that. -by the way Yume, where is Rin? Arata asked ignoring Yumes comment. -over there Yume pointed behind her. Rin was walking in her red cloak about ten meters behind them. -she said that she had enough of people dose for few months already so she will use every opportunity to get a little bit of solitude. -eh and here we finally started to be friends. Levi said. -I personally think that she is staying with us only because of the quest. Rather, I sure of it because she told me so. And when the quest is done then its a good bye forever. -I do know that but I wanted this lie to be true. -it shouldnt be that bad guys, if Rin hated you then she wouldnt stay with you regardless of the quest or not. Yume cheer them up. It doesnt change the fact that she would prefer to not travel with us. -everyone, in a second it may look like we are in deep trouble and we indeed might be in deep trouble but dont attack the people that will surround us in few seconds. In short dont do anything at all and just wait. Their chatter was interrupted as Musashi who was leading the group stopped and said it out to everyone. -what did he mean by that? -simply we will get surrounded in a second by someone but we shouldnt do anything. Well, just simply leave the matter to Shin. Just like Musashi said they did get surround in few seconds. Firstly a rain of arrows started falling out from the woods and made a large circle around the location in which the party was. Then out of nowhere, elves equipped with bow came out from behind the trees or appeared on the trees. They were everywhere around them and there was about fifty of them in total. Now, I know what he meant by that. -what business do you have in our forest? An elven ranger came out from behind the tree before them and asked. -we are going to your village Larisane. Shin answered. -you do know that what you said means to us you can start shooting us already? -maybe but we already have the permission from elder Hikari so if you could, dont start shooting at us. Shin was speaking like he really didnt care if they start shooting or not. Just in case Arata checked the position of his swords. -I did get message from Elder Hikari that fifteen people lead by druid named Vatras will be coming so we should let the pass but I dont see anyone who would fit the description of Vatras and also there is seventeen of us. -yes, about that, there are three extra people with us so Vatras went ahead to inform Hikari, thats why he is not with us. Anyway, one of you should remember us and know that I am not lying so go ask your collages. -very well I will, still if they say that they never saw any of you then either you leave this forest and wait for Vatras outside or leave this forest and never return. -what about the third option in which we go for each other throats? -what did you say? What did he say!? Now it really seemed like Shin didnt care if they start shooting. -I just wanted to point out the last option as you skipped it and I like to have all choices in the open. But still does anyone from the squadron recognize me or rather does anyone took a part in Defense of Larisane a year and half ago? Shin asked and to Arata surprise the answer was immediate. And it wasnt only one person. -its general Shin! -its Shin the miracle-worker and the hero to our people. -its general Shin! -yes its him! -general Shin, do you remember me, thanks to you our village is once again prospering in full health. -good to hear that Irina but I am not your general anymore so you shouldnt call me that -no, no, general will always be our general, right everyone! =yes! Practically every elf apart from the leading ranger knew who Shin was. -it would probably be better if I never had to be called general again by you guys as it would mean that you are in troubles again. -ah general is always thinking about us. -yes we will never let it happen that we will need your help again. -general, we will defend this land with our own strength! -well I am sure that you will manage still if at some point you need some help to get an overwhelming victory you can always call for us. -general! Most of the elves dropped their bows and run up to Shin and few other people from the party as if they were having a touchy reunion. -why do they called him a general? Levi ended up asking Yume. -from what I heard they once ended up saving the village that we are going to right now and some of the elves here took part in it. Look around its not only Shin but others who took part in this battle as well. -what about you? -well at that time I still didnt officially joined the party. I do know everyone here for a long time but as for joining the party and going with them for dungeons it was about year ago that I started so I didnt take part in that fight. I am not the only one look, Kuma and Thesar they joined at the same time I did, then there are few who joined later, that would be Konan and lastly Julia. Especially Julia spent little time with all of us, because two months after she joined we went on a break. She did stay and continued to play for last five months with others who stayed but thats not the same as when all of us are here. -I see, by the way can you tell me how this group was developing in time while we have the time. -you are interested in it? -a little. -okay, I will skip the people who already left us as mentioning them wont tell you anything. So it goes like this. First there are four founders, Shin, Vatras, Musashi and Bran. -then Hiro and Mika joined. Arata added. -dont interrupt Arata I am explaining things to Levi. -well I also know as far as that. -well you got it right. Anyway Hiro and Mika joined the group quite fast from what I heard. It was not even a month since the group officially started. Then they did continue in the squad of six for quite some time. Then Kei ended up joining at some point as well. Then again they continued in seven for a while, I already did know them well back then. Flynn and Vivi joined at the same time about seven months before me then and there was also Lee who joined a month after them. It was at that time that battle took place. The rest you already know. Of course there were many others but those are the people who stayed with us all this time and are here with us now. -thanks for info. While Yume was explaining everything the situation developed. -I heard about a group of adventures that helped Larisane at that time but it doesnt mean that you can trespass our woods without permission. The elven ranger was still not yelling. -general said that he has permission! -yes, he is on good contact with elder Hikari. -we dont need an opinion of someone who just came here because he was ordered. -you never saw general greatness, how dare you tell him off. Shin had more than good opinion here and everyone from elven squadron started to support him. -everyone relax, everything will be solved without a quarrel we just have to wait for Vatras right. -but he just said that he doesnt believe in generals words. -we should teach him that without general this forest would turn into new edge of world. -wait, he is just doing his job thats all, also if Hikari finds out that you start shooting your supervisor because of me then it might not end up with simple quarrel. -general is just too kind. turuuuuuuuuuuuu! Then suddenly the loud sound of horn echoed through the forest. -looks like she already did found out. -everyone! Return to your posts and let those people pass! Sorry for inconvenience. The attitude of rangers leader changed instantly the he moment he heard the horn. -good bye general. -we will never forget you. -you can also call for our help anytime. The elves disappeared into the woods once again and in a second they all hid so well that it was hard to notice them. -we continue our march! Musashi shouted and they continued up the hill. This time it was Musashi who lead everyone as Shin somehow was slowly and slowly getting farther to the back. They reached the elven village without any more troubles. Larisane, hidden deep inside the forest, the village that just like Karma, marked the end of the known world. Still normal visitors were not allowed to come here. The village itself was not that big, compared to Karma it wouldnt even take 1/8 of its territories still its unique building structure was something to look at. They were nothing like Arata ever saw in his life before. The buildings were the trees themselves. They were growing in a way that they made houses on their crowns but as well as trunks. The trees were especially big, in comparison to the trees in the forest they were gigantic in width. There were also beautiful transparent, crystal bridges that marked the top level of the village. Those bridges were connecting the crowns of the trees. Thats elven village for you. I wonder how some bigger city would look like? Maybe I should have play an elf race, it definitely looks better than any of human cities I have been to so far. If Arata knew the difference in look of cities from the start, he might have really make avatar of elven race. Still how different his story would be should he really done that. At the entrance to the village there was Vatras already waiting and next to him there was a petite girl with long hair. The color of the hair could be called unique or simply strange. Some of her hair was of light blond and some of them were silver in color. There wasnt any regularity to it and even one hair next to other hair could be of different color. There was more silver hair than blond though. Still it was definitely not because of age as the girl didnt look at more than 17. She also had very unique golden eyes which didnt look really natural and would catch anyones attention right away but yet they were quite beautiful to watch at. When the party reached the hearing distance the girl quickly said. -could you stop play hide and seek with me? You should know that its useless! Her voice didnt sound too happy about their visit. Then she pointed a finger at the group of people on the left and from behind them Shin came out. So far he was hiding. -you are as good in hide and seek as you always were Hikari. He said. -its elder Hikari. -I still not used to call you elder when you are younger than me though. -and whose fault is that I become elder? -still you were the best for that job Hikari, as elder needs power to defend the village and their people. -yes and great general Shin when asked for advice on who should be the next elder had to choose me. I also have dreams you know, I wanted to travel the world and see things. I want to uncover what lies in the west, ever since I was born I felt like I should go there and what did you do, you choose me as an elder who has to stay in village all the time. -you still can do that later on. Also your other dream was to protect this village wasnt it? -I will just keep you on the word you gave me back then. But now the other matter! Shin! What did you not understood when I told you that if you want to come here tell me the number of people beforehand. -but its not a big deal- -it is and it already made problems didnt it!? I asked you to do that for your own safety so you dont get an arrow between the eyes when you come here. If someone with permission is coming to the village and it doesnt happen too often, Rangers know exact date, exact number of people and some descriptions of people that should be there. This rule isnt made because we were bored and came up with it to make people lifes harder, it was made so we can know right away if people that are coming are enemies or not! -yes, yes sorry. Shin got scolded. -it was my fault that the number of people is wrong. Arata said it to the girl as it was indeed his fault. -is that so? Come over here The girl answered to him. -your name? -Arata. And yours? -who gave you permission to ask question? Its me who asks them. Now then Arata, maybe you will tell me why in the first place you all came here? -you dont know? -I do know the reason that this guy told me but I dont think that it is the real reason so I am asking you. Hey you, where are you going I am not finished with you yet! While Arata took the fire, Shin wanted to sneak away but it was not missed by the girl. -so? Well I dont know what version they told her or if they even hid the truth but if I start coming up with some random reason it will definitely not be the same as theirs. -we simply are going on expedition to the west. -what did you say?! The girl answered as if she didnt hear correctly. -expedition to the west is our goal and we simply came to this city to start from here. -Shin! The girl completely lost her interest in Arata and went back to scolding Shin. -there is simple explanation. -oh I would like to hear that. -then I will hurry. You see to keep our promise of going to the west together when you stop being the elder to ensure you safety I have to prepare everything beforehand and I cant do that without going to the west at least once. Shin said everything really quickly as if delaying might be bad. -yes, yes its very logical and very like you Shin but why did you hide it from me? -I thought you would be unhappy knowing we are going there first without you. -of course I am unhappy you idiot! And now I am even more unhappy because you hid it! I am as unhappy as I can be. I am at the limit where my unhappiness changes into anger. And you should know what that means! -yes but I also know that Hikari is not unreasonable and would not let personal matters affect her. -if you think like that then you dont know that Hikari as much as you think. -no I think I do and also even after I tell you my next request you will still accept it and not get truly angry. -what is it? -you see I would like to borrow a part of the forest so we can train by fighting each other there. - . -so how will it be Hikari? Arata expected some storm coming right this moment but to his surprise that did not happen. -ah I give up. But know that if the kids in this village didnt want to see their famous general Shin then you would already be killed. -good thing they do want do see me then. But when you said kids were you also counting yourself Hikari? - It looked like Shin didnt really care if he will get killed on the spot or not. Still there was no killing or dead magician in the white cloak in sight. On the other hand the girl just answered. -yes. -so about my request? -do what you want. I cant stop you hero of Larisane. -does that also include that I dont have to add elder before your name? -you will do it even if I tell you not to so whats the point. Anyway you already know the city so you wont need the guide and I already told Tras everything you need to know. -you are going already? -I have my duties of an elder to do. But I should be free later on so I will come and find you then I should be able to talk with everyone else as well. Good bye. The girl disappeared in a flash the moment she said that. -I see she is doing well. Shin commented. -she is but its surprising that you are still doing well Shin. -you just got the wrong impression about her Tras. Hikari is really good at heart she just acts tough because she is an elder. -but she was the same even when she wasnt one. -at that time she was acting tough to help out everyone in the defense. Anyway we will go for some breakfast and then start the first round of the tournament. The group didnt go sightseeing the village even though some people wanted to. Instead they just went to first found a shop with food, ate something quickly and then returned to the forest. When they found the suitable location they stopped there. Although, Arata didnt see any difference as to why this place would be better. -are we going to held it here? Flynn asked. -I am suspecting that in the west we will be fighting in the forest most of the time, with this we can get used to it more easily. And Shin gave him a logical reason. Then he took out a whiteboard out of nowhere. On it he draw simple championship bracket, the usual tree that is going down, and at the end of it there were 18 lines that ended with 18 numbers. Then he took out a box and put it on a nearby stump of cut down tree. -for those who are first time doing it. You have to draw a number and then write down the name on the table under the number you draw, that will mark your position and who you will fight against. In that regard it does work like normal tournament you win you go up, you lose you lose Musashi explained loudly. -I will show it how you it goes. So without any cheating you take one number from the box Musashi took the first better piece of paper and showed it to everyone. -as you can see I draw number five, now I write my name under that number. Thats about it. I will just add that four people will have one extra fight, those people will be those that draw numbers 7, 8, 16 and 17. -those two fights will be played out the first and then the winner from those fights as well as their opponent will be fighting at the end of the next round so they can rest if needed. Shin added. -yes those two fights are something like round zero but its based on your luck who will get which number and who will have to fight more. -who would consider having one more fight as unlucky. Rather those four are the lucky ones! Flynn shout out! Then everyone proceeded to drawing the number. Arata waited till more eager ones took the vote first but also he didnt wait to be the last. 4, hmm? Arata didnt get the number in which he would have to have extra fight. He ended up writing down his name under on the right spot and waited till everything will be sorted out. In the end the tournament placement looked like this. From left to right. Vivi, Julia, Lee, Arata, Musashi, Flynn, Levi, Konan, Kei, Kuma, Mika, Bran, Shin, Rin, Vatras, Hiro, Thesar, Yume. I guess I did end up lucky if I am in completely different block than Rin. So my fight with her will have to wait till the final. Lets focus on fights that will happen sooner then. My first fight is against Lee. He was a monk if I remember correctly, then my second fight is either against Vivi or Julia, I wonder who will win their fight. Still I wont go easily on them. Then in semifinal, I guess I will finally have a fight against Levi, hmm we did already prolong our fight for too long I guess. I dont think I am underestimating the others but I dont see that bastard losing to anybody. I will have to go all out against him myself. Then, I dont see Rin losing to anyone me included although I still winning that! I still dont know how exactly but there probably maybe I hope there is a chance somewhere. After being simply outclassed in their previous fight Arata somehow loosed his usual confidence when it came to Rin. -hoho, I have Shin on my first fight Bran commented. His smile couldnt be any bigger. -by the way Tras, how did your luck go? -yea. Vatras was the one who draw the shortest stick so Bran wouldnt lose the opportunity to get that. -we believe in you Tras, you can do it. Bran continued to annoy him. Vatras didnt even try to reply. -we will begin with numbers 16 and 17 so Levi who is number 7 doesnt go on the first fire without understanding how it goes. In the box the cards are already prepared, the person with lower number always draw the random card. With this we will skip the question who is drawing the card. Last thing remember to eat the seed that we distributed earlier and this time, no one is allowed to die because you forgot to eat it, does everyone understands!! The seed was a source of Vatras spell that would keep person from dying upon dying. Still from Musashis comment, Arata could tell that there were cases in which someone forgot to eat it and then died in the fight for real. Everyone ended up eating it up now so the effect would last for today. -okay, then Hiro, Thesar I hope you are ready. Hiro you draw the card. Musashi started the tournament. The first match that was going to be played out was Hiro vs Thesar. So its a mage vs Paladin, although that guy was more of a healer right? Although Thesar was a healer, seeing him in full plate armor could deceive someone. Also the fact that he was a healer didnt exactly meant that he didnt have strong attacks. When Hiro draw the card and looked at it, his face right away went into slack. It didnt seem like a happy face. -Hiro what did you draw!? Bran asked out loudly. Hiro didnt want to read it out loudly so he passed it to Thesar who did. -scenario. You are in an area in which magic spells does not work. Defeat your opponent without using mana spells at all. -hahahaha, one less to worry about. Bran laughed out loudly. -lucky, Hiro is going out in first round. Then Yume who would end up fighting him next was also in good mood. Everyone was already laughing as laughing at yours friend bad luck was something that everyone always did and enjoy. Its not like he did draw bad. If healer cant heal himself he should also be at disadvantage. That was what Arata thought till Thesar took out a large shield and a silver hammer. Even though he was a healer right now he looked like a heavy class tank. Well, I dont think that he can break through that with mage weapon. Right now it looked like Hiro was searching through his menu and then when he finished everyone looked surprised. What Hiro took out was not magic weapon at all, what he now held in hands were two red swords. They were the kind of sword that one could get by bringing the blacksmith the red ore and those were really good quality weapons even better than many dungeon drops. Those were the swords that both Arata and Rin used. Although, Arata also had them enchanted, to lower the level requirement. -did any of you see Hiro fighting with two swords before. Mika? Flynn asked. -no he never uses them. -then he went crazy because he cant use magic in fight, well its definitely better idea then fighting with bare hands. Still fighting with two swords is not something that one can improvise. If an amateur is trying to do that he would get defeated by amateur who would use only one sword. You need to get used to using two swords or either your attacks will be so weak that they wont even hurt a fly. Still, it doesnt seem like he is a complete amateur with them, rather the stance that he took is -hahahaha Levi who was sitting next to Arata laughed out loud. -Arata do you see that!? -I do, I hope he wont kill himself while trying that. -that? I just thought that it looked a little funny as it seemed as if he was coping you. -he is probably coping Rin though. -you or her its the same. So Arata, as an expert what you can tell? -well, the move that he wants to lunch off from that position will either win him a fight or it will be a suicidal and he will end up killing himself, the second is more probable. -lets see it then! -you are ready Thesar? Hiro holding one sword to the front while keeping his body low and the second sword all the way in the back asked. -I am, and sorry that you will get killed because of bad luck. By the way what are you trying to do? -oh you will see it in a second. -on my mark! Three! Two! One! Go! Musashi did the last counting and the moment he did Hiro launched forward. His speed was incredible at start but in his fourth step he fell right the ground face first, while doing so he nearly fall right onto the sword he kept forward. -hahahahaha. Everyone burst out laughing. Thats what you get for trying that move. He should be happy that he didnt die. When Hiro fall, Thesar wasnt planning on giving him a hand to stand up but rather he wanted to use his hammer to smash Hiro head. Still Hiro rolled away before the hammer hit the ground. He stood up right after and this time without any strange positions started attacking. His attacks were deflected by Thesar shield but at the same time Thesars attacks with hammer were also parried out by Hiros swords and he was paring them with one sword while attacking with the other. Although it might have looked natural and no one paid any attention to it, Arata did pay the attention. If he is able to do this much then its not his first time holding those swords. His basis are on decent level. He probably at least end up swinging those swords at something, probably a dummy or maybe a tree. Still apart from that, there cant be any talk about him having any style. That were Aratas though but only just until that moment. Thesar pulled his shield back for a moment and then with the impact he pushed it at Hiro with great speed. Should that attack hit him it might have been a KO in one shot, still at that moment Hiro made a short step to the left and dodged the Shield by hair. When the shield went forward right before his nose Hiro saw Thesar arm right before him all open and then there was only one thing to do. Hiro swing his sword upward from the position he was in and ended up cutting into Thesar armor at the arm. The sword ended up sticking inside the armor but it didnt cut of Thesar arm. Still the moment attack landed Thesar ended up dropping his shield. Before Thesar wanted to attack Hiro with his hammer but the moment he got hit his attack lost all its strength from shock. But Hiro did not wait for him to fight off the pain and with his second sword attacked at the only weak point of Thesar armor which was his head. Thesar didnt wear any helmet after all. Hiro thrusted his sword forward little upward as Thesar was bigger than him. The sword didnt manage to hit Thesar though as even in his heavy armor he managed to bend backward and avoided the strike. Still the moment he did that Hiro jumped at his belly which was now in horizontal position which completely throw Thesar right to the ground. Hiro landed standing on Thesar after regaining his balance and right away he went for the head again. This time he caught the sword with both hands and thrusted it to the ground at Thesar forehead and then. plunck! The sword trajectory was changed as something hit it from the distance and it ended up in the ground rather than Thesar head. -the winner Hiro! Musashi shouted out! As even though Thesar did not die it was the end of the fight. -wow, he really did really great at the end its as if I was seeing you. Levi commented. -if it were me I wouldnt have to jump at the enemy afterwards and I would cut out that arm with first attack. -yea, but he is a mage right? I never saw a mage fighting in melee so well. -well, that dodge that bought him a victory was pulled out perfectly. I am surprised myself. He probably ended up practicing it a lot. Hiro ended up rubbed his forehead and get down from Thesar. After that he helped him stand out. -I thought that it was luck that we got a condition like this and that I will be able to win but I see that you are in quite a form despite the break, Hiro. -well, I guess. Hiro only answered that. Thesar ended up pulling the red sword out from his arm and passed it to Hiro, then he casted a healing spell on that arm and the wound disappeared quite quickly. Hiro picked up the sword that was stick in the ground and then he walked back to his position like nothing has happened. -Hiro we want an explanation on that! In instant he was surrounded by few people and the one that was asking him was Vivi. -what do you want to know? -for starter how did you learned to fight like this. -how you ask? I simply trained and I dont think there is anything else I have to add to that. Anyway dont disrupt the tournament and I need to rest before the next fight so give me a break. It didnt seem like he was willing to share his thoughts. -well, its time for me then. Levi stood up and walked toward the place in which the fight was held. His opponent also did the same. His name was Konan, Arata didnt have occasion to actually speak with him but he did end up playing a card game with him that did involve a lot of talking, so in a way they knew each other well. Konan was a small guy, really small even more than Bran or Flynn. In his hands he was holding an iron chain. Both ends of the chain were finished up with something that looked like end of axes. I wonder how exactly one does fight with a weapon like that? Arata didnt have an occasion to see someone using such thing before, nor did he hear a thing about it. -Levi you have the lower number so you draw the card. Musashi instructed him. -okay Levi ended up sticking his hand inside the box. -I want something funny He said and then took out the card. Then he started reading it out loudly. -scenario. You are fighting in a swamp and you cant move properly as the mud on the ground gets in your way. Defeat your opponent while moving only by tiptops. Quite easy but what happens if I for example start running? -those who doesnt follow the rules automatically loses, although if you get it wrong by accident then you can still continue. But it is easy to see if someone did it on accident or not. Vatras explained from afar. -I see. -in that case, ready! Three! Two! One! GO! Musashi once again gave the signal. Ah, Levi got some annoying condition. Levi as someone who fights in melee range could do nothing else but walk forward slowly. Konan on the other hand started to spin his chain in the air in the circles. Soon enough the chain started to spin in air with great speed and the trees that got in the line of it were getting cut. Still that also slowed down the speed of chain. But then the ends of chain started to gather a purple energy and the chain was no longer stopped by the trees. I see so its something like that. Still Levi didnt seem really concern by that fact and was slowly moving in the direction of Konan up until the range of the chain. Then as the chain was circling around Levi hit it with his sword and that deflected it and completely stopped its momentum. In that moment thrusting forward the second end of the chain was lunched from Konan position, this time Levi blocked it back by the shield. When those two attacks failed Levi once again started tiptoeing forward. Despite unusual condition he was moving quite fast. The both ends of the chain were now behind Levi and it looked like Konan was waiting for it. He pulled it back to him in a way that it would cut Levi from behind. Still seeing without looking back but just by seeing Konan hands movement, Levi jumped up and hit his sword downward to the ground and kept himself in the air for few seconds and in those seconds the chains ends went underneath him and just glanced over the sword. After that Levi landed and continued forward. He was nearly in striking range. Konan continued his attacks, this time both of chains went forward at Levi. Levi prepared the shield to deflect them but a moment before the chains hit the shield they changed their direction and went in both left and right. Then they made another turn and attacked from both of sides. From above it would look like they formed a triangle. Still it was not something that Levi couldnt fight against. Levi simply casted his yellow barrier around himself and the attacks bounced of it. That attack might have been too tricky. Rather than surprise attack using speed and power is more important. Well that guy simply got the wrong opponent. When another of his attack failed, Levi nearly got in his range and Konan on instinct made a step backward. -Konan is disqualified, Levi wins! Musashi shouted and the fight just ended like that. -but I didnt even attack him yet. -yes but he made a step back that was against the rules. -disappointing Levi ended up returning back to Aratas place, although he was not in a good mood. His fight was quite one sided though. -it would get much more interesting if we could move as we want. -you rather left him with no chance in this fight. -yes but because he could not move like he wanted his ways of attack were limited. As far as I know chain wilders are making a lot of step in their attack. For example with one step they can extend the range of attack catching enemy in a surprise. But I still would have won though. Levi added at the end. -with that the number of fighters was reduced to 16, now we will proceed with the round one. It will be simply in the order, first with second, third with fourth, and so on. As I already said but fights with Levi and Hiro in it will be played at the end so there is less unfairness in having Levi fight two fights so close to each other. -there is no need! I wouldnt mind even if my fight was right now. Although I will mind if I get a stupid condition like that again. Levi answered. -that is left to luck but okay, in that case everything will be in numerical order. So the next fight is- -Julia and me. -right, Julia and Vivi its your turn. Vivi and Julia moved to the position, it was Vivis turn to draw the card. -who do you think will win? Levi asked. -I dont know, never seen them fighting before. -the one in the white will win. Out of sudden, Rin decided to join them despite what she said earlier to Yume. -why do you think so? Do you know her? Arata asked. -no, its the first time I am seeing her but her foot work is good. I saw it before. -then do you know about the other one as well? -well, I did kill her once. Rin answered like nothing. -Rin, it may sound like strange question but did you not kill someone from here? -I definitely wouldnt have kill Mary. -yes thats given and someone else than Yume? -hmm, apart from Mary oh right! As I said I first time seeing that girl in white so I didnt kill her as well. -so those are the only two. - . -hey Arata some PvP is nice in a while as well, and remember I checked myself, she didnt do anything wrong. Levi commented. -I see you already forgotten your first encounter with her. -what was, was and is not important, what is important though is that right now she doesnt want to kill me in the least or anyone else, right Rin? -I suggest you consider it once more before saying it. Rin answered. -see how we get along Levi was not concern about what she said though. -anything, I wouldnt bet on anyone till I see what they draw. Some cards may be really unfair indeed. Levi summed it up. After drawing it, Vivi started reading the card she drew. -scenario. You just had a clash with your opponent and your weapon and opponents weapon flied away. You had no other choice than pick up your opponent weapon and fight using it. Your opponent is doing the same. Condition: fight with your opponents weapon. -ah, why did we have to get something like that!? Julia asked out loudly. -what you draw is your luck. Now, give each other your main weapons which would be, Vivis bow and arrows and Julias rapier. -but I dont know a thing about shooting this. Julia complained while switching the weapons with Vivi. -I see I just need to stick this end into her. Vivi on the other hand understood right away what she needed to do. -thats no fair, she has it easier! -this tournament was never fair so you just have to think of something. Okay, ready, set, go! Musashi started the fight without waiting too much. -wait, I am not ready, aaa! Vivi attacked right away. Although, her attack was not that solid. Even though she wanted to pierce forward it started to bend upward. Julia who was experienced in melee fight just moved backward with ease and speed, quickly making 2 meters distance before them. -Vivi, how do you fire the bow? She then asked. -I will tell you after I win! Vivi was not going to make it easy for her. When not attacking, she also had quite the speed and she managed to catch up to front once again. Although, her attacks were as bad as before. Still, she could attack at least. She also stopped using piercing attack but instead started to user rapier as normal swords as it seemed that he had little more experience in that. Still rapier was not really suitable to swing. The fight turned into Vivi attacking and Julia stepping back and back while trying to figure out how to use the bow. -do I really have to shot her down with a bow? Julia ended up asking while backing of and making the distance. -this rule is not just about it, you simply cant use your weapon and instead you can use the opponents weapon. Still you can still use your magic spells and skills. Vatras started explaining from afar. -I need weapon to do that! It was not helpful to her though. -Vivi also needs weapon to shot any of her spells so its one of fairer rule we have. -aye. Unless, you have class that focus on magic as you can cast spells without anything. Hiro for example doesnt use any weapon in the first place and it works for him. Bran summed it up. -on your place I would try to beat her down with that bow. Musashi tried to help. -its already hard enough to hit her, stop helping her. Now it was Vivi complaining. -we should go easy on a newbie right? She doesnt have much experience in this unlike you. Flynn added. -hitting with bow will not do. Its too hard to wield, it would be better with the fists. Julia once again complained. -then go with the fists. -I never hit a person, how can I do that? -it was your idea, in this tournament you use anything that comes to your mind. That is the reason we are playing it, right Shin? Bran said and asked. Shin did not bother to answer his question but instead he said. -Julia, get rid of things that are useless to you and just think about the solution. Even though your weapon is different you should just keep using your own style. It was not a solution on what she should do but the words that would help her calm down and analyze the situation. Shin comment was the only thing that Julia considered. -things that are not useful to me? That would be this bow, rather than trying to shoot by it, it might be easier to just throw the arrows. Still throwing them will bring miserable effect as I never did something like that either. And in just a moment the situation changed. Julia dropped down the bow as it was useless to her. Leaving it away increased her speed extremely. And in two seconds she managed to distance herself away from her opponent. -hey, Arata? Levi right away said it seeing this action. -yes, I did see it. -told you, she got incredible footwork. -but its on a level that we would not be able to cough up to her. - . Rin did not answer to that one and continued to look at the fight just like others. Julia in a distance took one arrow to her hand and held it at the end. She pointed it upward before her face. She waited like that for a second. Vivi seeing this stance was no longer trying to advance. Then Julia took out. Once again with incredible speed she managed to get right before Vivi. Vivi tried to pierce once again with the rapier forward, she was getting a hang of it slowly and it was a decent attack but that was not enough. Julia passed next to Vivi on the right without slowing down, and then from behind she cut it close and attacked. The arrow she held shined in yellow color, the pierce attack was successful and it went through Vivi in the middle of the chest. Then there was three quick following pierces, two at the body and last one right at the neck. The arrow pierced right through it and came out at the other end. That combo attack was enough to kill Vivi off. -the winner Julia. Someone quickly heal Vivi up! All the healers casted strong healing spells on Vivi and she was up in no time, still she did lost her fight. -Shin, Shin! I did good right? Did you finally fall in love with me? -not really, anyway just move away the next fight is coming. - Shins answer was too devastating. It would actually be better if he didnt answer as his answer shot down Julias good humor after the victory. -this might be bad. Levi commented after seeing what happened. -what do you mean? Arata answered. -if I got bad card against an opponent like this, then I might have a tough fight. -you will end up losing anyway so why do you care now? Still I wonder what kind of class characteristics she got to move that fast. She should have some really good movement skill. Said Arata but then he was interrupted. -thats not it. I told you that she has a good footwork, didnt I? Its not skill but her default movement. I dont think its possible in real life but in this world you can break human limits. -then you can also be that fast Rin? - . Levi once again asked and once again Rin did not give him reply. And then after the fight Julia decided to join them, or rather she came to speak with Arata. -so Arata, after seeing how I fight, you still think you will win with me easily? -you are definitely better than I expected. Anyway we will talk later. I am next in a line for fighting right now. -good luck then, try to lose. -thanks but I dont really need luck. -just you wait till you get a disadvantageous card like mine, although seeing you are fighting with Lee, I dont think that there will be any cards that will be one sided as you are both melee dps. -whatever it will be, I will still win. Also, you showed me something good, I will try to show something good in return. Arata answered and walked away. -Lee, Arata, you guys are next. Lee you taking the card! Aratas opponent was a bald monk in orange-brown monk looking clothes. When Lee took the card and looked at it he couldnt help but smile. -oh, you got something good Lee? Musashi asked. -you could say that luck is on my side as, um um. Scenario: You lost your weapon in a middle of battle but the enemies still are coming at you. You can do nothing else than fight only with your fist. Condition: no weapon allowed. Ah, that would be all about showing something good. Arata was quite unhappy with his condition but regardless he had to remove his weapon. While removing it in his inventory he decided to let go of his coat as well. -hahaha, he will lose in first fight. Levi couldnt hold his laugher. -he said that he didnt need any luck and he got what he wanted but now because of that we wont fight. He got truly unlucky. Julia who was also staying near them added. -unlucky? Him? I would rather say that the other guy had the worst luck he could draw. Rins opinion was completely different though. -what are you talking about. The other guy is a monk right? He normally doesnt use any normal weapon so for him its like fight with no disadvantages. While Arata cant use his swords and he is a swordsman, right? I dont even know what he actually plans on doing. -yes, no weapons condition for melee weapon fighters is one of the worst. I got eliminated because of it twice and I only took part in two tournaments so far. Julia added. -you simply dont understand that forbidding him usage of weapons will actually make him stronger. But then Rin said something strange. -what do you mean? -you just better look at what happens. Rin added at the end. The fight was about to begin. Ah, I dont like it. What is with that scenario anyway, if you get your weapon lost you can always take out another one. Who would fight without a weapon when he can use a weapon? I never could understand that. Also, what is with that unfair condition, its so favorable for the other guy? Well, I still not plan on losing and its definitely much better than only range for example. I would still win that somehow. Anyway, my opponent is a monk, specialized in close hand to hand combat. I guess I cant slack off here. -ready! Set! GO! Musashi once again signaled the fight. Lee was not waiting any second and attacked right away. With three fast steps he got close into Aratas range and then he threw a punch. When he did so his hand caught on fire as it was probably some skill. Still that punch was easily dodged by Arata and fist flied next to his head. Arata caught still burning hand and right away over his back he threw Lee right into the ground with judo-like technique. Lee hit the ground really hard. Although he used a skill it was nowhere impressive. Grandpa poking with finger is much more terrifying and at least 100x more powerful. Arata actually could finish off Lee in this moment as Lee had a hard time getting back at his feet. Not exactly because of the damage, but rather a shock he just took. Arata just looked at him from above. One shouldnt kick the lying. And though like that. Lee did get end up getting back on feet and this time the moment he did he got into some weird fighting position. -hey, maybe you will just give up and save healers the trouble. Arata said to him. -I am not done yet! Lee once again attacked forward and started executing kicks and punches. Some of them started to glow, other had incredible over speed, and some were just normal attacks, still Arata had no trouble seeing them all and he decided to block only once when Lees attack seemed like three punches at the same time. Lee started to break in sweat while Arata was actually slightly disappointed and a little bored already. -you wont mind if I finish it already. This time it was Arata who started the attack. After quickly shortening the range he made earlier. With his right hand he threw a punch at Lees face. Lee involuntarily blocked it by crossing both of his arms in the way. And it did stop Aratas attack, at least with right hand. Arata at the same time made and under swing with left hand and hit right in the belly of Lee. It was an attack that would make your opponent defend your face, while the true purpose of it was to attack at lower area. If you dont have a lot of experience you wont be able to control your instincts and will defend the face with both hands which makes the lower area open. After that hit Lee lost the control and bowed a little forward but Arata was not finishing there. After the hits he grabbed Lees head and pulled it down while making a hit with a knee right into Lees face. The blood from destroyed nose poured right away but it was also not over. Lees head went upward after the last hit and in that moment for a second Arata switched to a position in which he held his right arm upward while holding the elbow with his left hand. Then he just pushed the right arm upward with the power of both hands and with the end of the arm he hit into chin. That attack made Lee fly up a little. To finish him off, Arata made a kick with a full spin which sent Lee flying into the nearby tree. When he hit it and fall down to the ground face first he did not longer live. -- Normally Musashi should announce the winner but he just like everyone else was holding his breath. It was too easy, thats why I hate hand-to-hand combat. You just have to execute those techniques in right order and you win without any effort. -Arata is the winner. Healers, what are you waiting for? Lee just took the beating didnt he? The one who finally finished the fight was Shin who didnt look too shaken by Aratas performance and just said in calm voice. -Musashi, it will be your turn in a moment. Arata walked away victorious. -I ended up drawing quite annoying card so I couldnt repay for earlier. You will have to wait till our fight, Julia. - . Julia couldnt say anything back to this. - . Although he also wanted to comment Levi couldnt say anything either. -I dont remember this combination to have a finisher like this. Why did you skip the last part? Rin on the other hand asked completely unaffected by Aratas performance. -you know that we cant use true continuation of this on normal people so I switched it midway. -I think that using the first part is deadly enough and it also shouldnt be used on normal people either but you werent that concern about using it. I cant argue with that. -its not that deadly, look that guy is already back on his feet Arata answered but the only reason Lee could get up already was because he received large amount of healing spells and because of Vatras unique spell. Otherwise he would be long dead. -see, he is as if nothing happened. -I think that Lee might get trauma after it Julia finally managed to say something and just like she said it really might have come to that. While playing EOA, you might get an image in your head that you are quite strong. Still, it only goes as far as that if you look at someone who really knows how to fight. In those moments your fantasies will be shattered into pieces right away. -but Arata didnt you say you are a swordsman? Julia asked. -well, I am a swordsman. -then how can you win against a monk class in fist fight? -there is no much to say, he was simply weaker. Even though some of his skills were quite interesting and even though his class is hand-to-hand fighter, I dont think he actually has much experience in fighting someone who also uses that style. I think that before he might have thought that as long as he can bring himself to the super close distance he can win but he had no idea what to do if that fact did not bring him a victory so he panicked. From there on it was quite easy. -no I asked why you can fight with fists like this. -I learned it in real. -I see. Julia did not pull it forward anymore as it was unwritten rule to not ask about the real and so far they didnt talk about it practically at all. -I can tell you more about it if you want to hear. -really!!? Julia was somehow surprised. -dont get excited like that, its just maybe not short but simple story. -no, I just didnt have many conversations about real world with people in this game. -me neither but its not like its a taboo. If there is someone you dont mind telling, then you can do whatever you want. We are free to do what we want, after all. Still as I said, its not that short and I would want to watch the other matches as well. I think it might even take the whole day to finish this tournament though. -it wont take entire day. Right now we will just play out the first round then later after a break the second. Semifinals might or might not be played today but final will be played at the second day at least. -I see. Well it might seem like waste of time but it does make things a little fairer. Also its not like we are in hurry. -we will stay in this village for three days anyway. -three days? So I will have a lot of time for sightseeing then. -it is quite beautiful village so I understand what you mean. I never was here before either so I think I will do the same as well. -then why dont we do it together? - . Julia didnt answer right away to Arata proposal but agreed in the end. -okay lets do it after the first round. Anyway, I suggest you that we focus right now as you might end up fighting one of those people later on. They are both really strong and no matter what card, it will be a fair card as they are both tanks. On the field they stood. Wearing heavy armor and with shield in their hands. Their weapons were different though. Musashi hold a long trident when Flynn held a battle axe. The difference in range of their attack could be crucial as not only Musashi had a longer weapon but also he was far taller than Flynn who was a dwarf. Still dwarves had other characteristics that could bring them victory. -I didnt expect that I will be fighting you here. Musashi said. -aye, me too. But thanks to that no matter what card you draw it will be fair and square just like I like it. Flynn answered. -its my turn to draw so here I go Musashi ended up drawing the card but when he saw what he drew his face was not too happy. -hey Shin, I know its against the rules but can I redo the draw? -if you do that, then this training will lose all its meaning. -eh, thought you will say that. -Musashi what did you draw? The troll card? Bran asked from afar. -Yume, what is a troll card? Arata asked. -well, just as the name says, its a card created to troll the tournament. Its winning conditions are ridiculous and usually have nothing to do with fighting. Last time it appeared it was a coin toss Coin toss? -there are other versions as well like the person who draws the card automatically loses. -why is there a card like that? -it was Brans idea. He wanted to spice up the tournament by adding a ridiculous condition like that. It does have quite good effect as everyone cant help but laugh when that card is draw. Yes, everyone laugh as long as its not them who draw it. Well if I end up drawing the lose card then there really wont be anything I can do. But luck is also ones skills so I wont say its unfair. -no its not a troll card, at least not for me In the meantime Musashi answered Brans question. -how to say it. Well, sorry Flynn. Scenario: Sometimes to achieve the victory you dont have to defeat your opponent but rather simply stay alive. Solid defence brings much more than reckless attacks. Condition: The person who drew the card has to stay alive for 10 minutes while his opponent has to kill him in ten minutes. The defending side can only defend which means they cant attack on their own. Hits are not prohibited but only if it helped in defense. -what? Why me? Why again? Flynn could not do anything else than curse his luck. -happens right? If it were you who draw the card then it would be the other way around. -whatever, if Hiro could win in melee then I will win with such condition as well. Do the counting Musashi. In that moment Flynn switched his gear a little. Instead of using shield and axe he took out large battle-axe with blades on both ends. -ready, set, go! Musashi started the fight. -wraaaaaa! With a battle shout Flynn started right away. Without moment of though, he lunched a strike over from the head. In the midair the axe changed from iron silver to red color. That strike landed right on Musashis shield. The loud rumble could be heard. Still even though Flynns attacked looked really powerful and it was powerful, Musashi did not give any ground and was left unscratched. After the hit Flynn made a spin and landed another large hit horizontally from the right. But the effect was similar to the other. After that hit Flynn moved back as Musashis trident went his way. -isnt it against the rules? Arata asked. -not quite. What Musashi is doing is just defending himself. Attacks like that to push your opponent away is also a form of defense. You guys should look at it closely as you might end up fighting him later on. Its Musashis long range tanking style, for melee, breaking through it is insanely hard. Throughout the fight Musashi confirmed what Julia said. Apart from two hits at the start when Musashi started to use his weapon there were no more clean hits like that. Even though Flynn tried many different attacks from different angle they brought no effect. While fighting with the battle axe he couldnt even get into striking range without getting hit. In the middle of battle he switched back to shield and smaller axe. When he did so his charges become more deadly as he blocked away the trident but even if he got close there was still shield waiting for him. Also blocking of the trident wasnt that easy even for seasoned tank like Flynn. In the end the 10 minutes passed which meant that Musashi has won. No kidding, he is at least on Odin level, no I would say that even higher. Flynns attacks were well planned, well executed and with good balance of speed and power but how that guy repelled it all was incredible. Yes, he might be better than Odin, he also didnt use any skills in this fight but just stood there like unbreakable fortress. Also his tanking style is completely on different league than that of other tanks who just take the hits. Not only he defends but he also prevents you from attacking. -incredible. The first one to break the silence was Levi. Ever since Aratas fight he was silent but now he finally spoke. -you praising someone is rare. Arata said. -its not rare, its just that there usually arent many people to praise. But that guy is definitely first class tank that you rarely can see. Because I also do the tanking job from time to time I do know how good he is. -so you are saying that he is better than you. -I didnt say that. Still I have to agree that on a tank position he would be better than me. Well after I win this fight I will have a chance to fight with him so I will bring out his true abilities then. You know what Arata. We might have underestimated those guys a little but if you think about it, many of them are already veterans of this game. If you also keep underestimating them you might lose. -dont worry about me I will still win. You should rather worry about yourself as you are going to fight against their so called ace. -now that I know that I shouldnt underestimate them I will just go all out from the start and not leave any openings. Hopefully I wont get any bad card like you lose. Levi ended up going for the position. His opponent was already waiting there. Before the fight many from the party changed their gear a little from casual one to the fighting one. Still, Kei was still just wearing his black shirt and the pair of jeans. There was a small difference though. He was already holding his sword in a hand and at the end of it there was a narrow but long black chain. Kei ended up wrap it around his arm. When he finished he let go of his sword for a second. When he did so the sword started to hand in the air on that chain. So the chain is so he doesnt lose his sword. The sword was clearly attached to the right hand on the left hand Kei just had a black glove protector. -Levi you are drawing the lot. Musashi instructed him. -its me again, okay Depending on the draw I might see some interesting battle. -oh, I didnt expect this one but at least its not some annoying condition again. Scenario: being strong alone is import but whats also important is how you play together with others. Condition: instead of one on one battle it will be tag team two vs two. Find someone that you want to team up for this fight, anyone who is present has to agree to your choice. The only ones that are allowed to refuse are those who just had a fight. In case your ally has a round right after you, his fight can be postponed till later. You can also choose one person that you dont want your opponent to team up with, like someone with your anti-class. The person who draw the card both first choses who he doesnt want to fight as well as who he wants to have in a team. -okay, first you guys choose someone who you dont want as your opponent, Levi you are first. Musashi explained. -its an easy choice. There is definitely someone I would like to avoid fighting. Cross off Rin. Well thats one was obvious. Arata would do the same 100% of times. -and you Kei? -standard. Standard? -next you are choosing the teammates. Levi you are the first one once again. -wait, I still dont know whom I cant choose. -standard means that you cant choose Shin, anyone else if available. Me and Flynn included as we dont mind taking another fight right away. Right Flynn? -aye, I wouldnt mind a fair fight to relieve the stress. -hey, so that means that he left Rin open for me to choose from? Levi asked as he did not believe it. -yes, does that mean that you choose her? -hmm Levi wondered for a second but then answered. -it might be even more dangerous to have her as an ally. I can already imagine how she stabs me in the back saying that I am in a way I can also imagine that. Arata looked in Rins direction and it seemed like she didnt take an offence. Would she really do something like that. -well my choice is clear then. Arata you will help me out wont you? Well we already agree on that. -what you need my help out of sudden? Arata said it after he stood up and walked towards where the fight was going to take place. -rather than help, I dont want you to get in my way. I already shot down his option to choose Rin. If I chose you to my team then he wont be able to choose you either. You might as well sit in some corner and I will fight on my own. Oh, he really did think it out. It really seems like a solid plan. -if I am already helping you I might as well do some fighting. Arata answered. -okay so Levi chose Arata as his teammate. They both already had one fight today and during those fights they achieved one sided victory. They also know each other for some time and are used to fight next to each other. So Kei, who will join you to fight in this challenge, do you feel like you can win it? Musashi continued. -well they are both problematic. It will not be an easy fight. Thats why its only fair if I use the lack of information and experience in this tournament that my opponent has. I chose Shin to join my team. - . - . - . - . Everyone held their breath for a moment but then chatter started. -hey Tras what do you think? Hiro who was sitting next to Vatras asked. -Arata and Levi combo might be devastating. You saw how they fought before. -so you are saying that Shin will finally lose his first team battle. -I didnt say that. So far Shin won any team battle since beginning of the tournament, no matter who was in his party and who was at the other end. Remember how he defeated you and Kei while being in party with your sister. -you really dont have to remind me of it! So you are saying that this time its a similar manner? -in a way yes but this time Shin doesnt need to create miracles like at that time. After all this time he is in party with Kei. Kei is quite strong and the stronger are his allies, Shin shines even more. -that might be true but even so I dont think he will get an easy win. -well you did saw how Arata destroyed Lee in hand to hand combat which should give Lee a great advantage. Levi also destroyed Konan without much trouble. We dont know how far their abilities reach. -aye, thats why it will be interesting fight. Flynn joined their conversation. -how about we do the betting? Bran came up with an idea. -I bet 500gold on Shin and Kei victory anyone will take it? Then he continued. -Bran, we agreed that we will not do the betting on this tournament. Vatras scolded him. -I know I know. No one would took that bet anyway as there is no one here who thinks that Shin will lose a team battle, right? No one said no to that. In the meantime. -Shin, you heard him. Musashi said to Shin. -I dont want to, we will lose anyway. Shin was not really motivated and his answer was completely different from what everyone else was saying. -you are the one that came up with rules right, so you also have to follow them, otherwise as you said there will be no meaning. -fine I get it Shin get up from the grass on which he was sitting and moved to where Kei stood. -Kei you had some bad luck didnt you? Why did you have to share it with me? -stop complaining and help me win. -I dont think there is much I can do though. Well I do have one good idea though. Hey Arata, your teammate said he doesnt need your help but he just didnt want to fight against you so maybe you will sit it back, I also will sit in the back and they will have a fair fight on their own as it was supposed to be. Is he for real? -Arata, that does sound good to me. Levi said his thoughts on it. -see your teammate agrees. -Shin, no cheating! Its a team battle and you were chosen. Dont go breaking your own rules. Musashi interrupted. -I wouldnt mind agreeing to this either as its not really my fight in the first place but if I am already here then I might as well have some fun. And I dont want to get eliminated for breaking rules. Arata answered. -if we just stay on the side that wont break any rules Shin stated but then continued. -still if you want to fight then it cant be helped. In that case could you at least wait till Kei and Levi duke it out? You see, I want to help him out a little and the only thing I can do is to persuade you to let him have one on one fight. Unlike me, he is quite strong so he will have much larger chances in fighting you two in row than we two fighting two on two at the same time. The two of you would probably be too much for him. -so you are saying that I should wait and watch till they finish. Then should Kei win I would fight him next? -yes something like that. Clever idea but I have seen through it. -but what proof do I have that you two wont gang on me later on? -Arata, you are thinking I would lose? Levi asked from the side. -no, I just dont want everything to go his pace. I dont really imagine you losing. Arata would not voice those thoughts to Levi though but he was convinced of that. -oh, we could really do that, I didnt think of it Shin acted surprised. Yes, definitely. -well in a way you guys could do the same should Levi win. Well not like you would need to as one of you would definitely be enough to take me down, no rather half of you What to do? What to do? In this case I am just making troubles for Kei. I think there is quite easy solution in this. -to prevent you two ganging on me earlier on, I will just take care of you first and then I will wait for Levi and Kei battle to finish. What do you say to that? Arata proposed the idea. With this he would not have to help Levi but also he would have his share of fighting. -ah, I wanted to avoid that but there is no other way, is there? Well, I will try to make it dont end in a second so you have some fun in fighting whatever Kei loses or not. Shin had to accept Aratas proposal. -so in the end I just have to take care of this guy just as it was meant to be? I wouldnt mind fighting both of them at the same time but I cant be selfish. I will leave the other guy to you Arata. -Levi you draw a good card didnt you? Even if you lose the fight, you still win in the end as I am in your team. Arata answered. -as if I would lose. Just dont get in my way. The battle was about to begin. Shin moved a little back and created a distance. He was holding his staff in a defensive position. Dont tell me he is planning on doing that. -ready! Set! Go! Upon Musashis signal, the first one to move was Shin but his direction was opposite of where the Arata and Levi were, he simply turned around and start running into the forest. Ah, he really did start running away . Then second later Levi and Kei started fighting as well. Levi was using his only one sword style in two hands that increased his damage output. He once called it his dps stance. His opponent was also using one sword and so far they were just clashing with swords to see what the other can do. This guy is indeed quite good. He has a speed and good technique, still I cant stay here watching or otherwise I will lose the other guy. Arata didnt want to play hide and sneak later on so he ran after Shin before his white cloak got out of his field of vision. Arata run after Shin in the forest. Even though there were many trees in a way, it looked like Shin was too desperate in running away to think about hiding behind one, not that it would do him any good. Aratas running speed was far greater than that of Shin so after about 7 seconds Arata catch up to 20 meters distance despite Shins early start. Shin turned left at some point and Arata lost sight of him as he passed by a large tree. Arata didnt have to follow the same route as Shin so he turned left right away as well. After he did, he caught sight Shin right away. Hiding when I see you would not give you anything. Well I am little overthinking it as he is probably just running away so I dont come at his teammate the moment I finish him. He simply just wants to buy as much time as possible, the further we go the longer it will take me to go back. Cant tell there is anything wrong with that thinking but it is a worthless effort as I wouldnt help Levi anyway nor would he need my help. That was what Arata thought but when he was getting near the large trunk of big tree he spotted a white piece of cloth hiding behind it. Although it was probably nothing, once Arata move a little bit further he turned once again to look at the white thing and behind the trunk and there was Shin. What is he doing here? Didnt he just run the other way? Arata wanted to look back but Shin behind the trunk seeing that he was revealed shout out an energy bolt at Arata. It was a fast spell that Arata already saw few times before as both Anari and Zen had a similar one. It was really basic spell though. Arata dodged it to the left and then once again looked behind to where the previous Shin went. There was no longer a sight of him though. Was it some illusion skill or maybe clone skill? Probably something like that, or maybe I have hallucinations. Still, whatever it was it effect didnt last long. I would realize it anyway if the clone disappears this fast, he would buy additional few seconds max. Anyway I dont feel like chasing him for too long so. [Lighting speed activated] Arata with rocket speed went straight forward at Shin behind the trunk. It was a distance of 15 meters so he should make it in seconds but even though he started fast at first, after moving by five meters, he couldnt shorten the remaining 10 no matter how fast he moved. It was not that Shin was once again running away. His speed would do nothing against Aratas lighting speed skill. It was rather Arata who was not moving forward. It took some time before Arata realized what was exactly going on. On that time he stopped running forward and turned off lighting speed. I got caught and the thing that is holding me right now is probably this. Arata looked under his feet. Underneath him there was a yellow rune-circle on the ground. Whenever Arata wanted to walk out of it he was pushed back. I cant cross it, is that what it is? -you really do have a convenient spell to buy time dont you? Arata said out loudly but Shin did not replay to him. I wanted to catch him in conversation so he doesnt run away while he has the time. This spell shouldnt last too long after all. Still it is strange that he is not running away. And then Arata saw it. Shin was in completely same circle as him. Well, I doubt that he got caught in his own spell. Rather, its more of how this spell actually works. Its probably is something along the lines you can caught your opponent easily but at the same time you get caught as well. Condition like that would be fair given that I didnt even see him casting it and just get caught in the circle. Arata started to analyze the opponents spell. It also looks like he cant cast any other spells right now. Well stopping enemy movement and then shooting him with spells from afar. Combo like this could not exist in this evil world. It would be too convenient for a player. -we are already waiting so maybe we should talk about something. I heard that you never lost a team battle in this tournament no matter the odds, no matter the opponent. Shouldnt you come up with some good idea for this fight rather than betting on your friend winning two fights in a row? Or is it that you really believe he can do it? Shin did not answer him and just stayed there unmoving. Does his spell have a restriction on talking and moving as well? In that case its not that good of a spell if you ask me. But I guess, he just wants to buy some time so it works perfectly in this situation. Still, I dont plan to stay here too long, lets try to get out of here. [Black dash] Arata activated the black dash but that didnt get him out from the circle. Shame, that didnt work. This spell really does lock you inside. Although even if someone started to attack me right now, I am still able to move as I want so I would be able to take it on. But should it be two on one and the other guy would be mage or ranger for example then most of melee dps would face great problems. Even if you dont have a comrade locking down someones movement is good enough. Still, it will go only as far as normal melee dps. [Sword enchant: fire] Wait, I will burn down the forest with this one. [Sword enchant: water] [Sword slash] Arata released horizontally and arc of water that cut everything in a way. Normally Arata was just using sword slashes in wind version as they those were invisible strikes but this time he didnt really mind if Shin dodged this one. One of the reasons was that there wasnt really a need to kill him. Other that if Shin were to dodge, that might have broken the spell and Arata didnt want to wait too long. Although Arata himself would have problem of dodging his sword slash no matter in what version it was as its speed was great, so Shins chances of dodging it were really low. And then something strange happened. Shin did not move, he didnt even try to dodge it. He just stood there and took the blow. Still in fact he did not take the blow but the water slash just passed through him. There was not a drop of blood. The slash just continued forward like nothing. OoO this might be bad. Seeing how without any effort Shin took Aratas slash, Arata realized something although, he wouldnt want to say it out loud. He would prefer if Shin just used some spell that turns him into ghost or something and not the thing he just thought of but the proof of his thoughts was shown to him right away. Shin who just took Aratas sword slash like nothing, disappeared ten seconds later. But it was not because of Aratas cut. This attack never had damage like that. Also the way Shin disappeared it wasnt instantly but rather his image slowly started to blur in the space. Ah this is embarrassing, good thing that no one saw it. Upon realizing that he had been had by some clone or other illusion Arata could not feel anything but that. I just want to give him a chance for one on one fight, my ass. Arata also realized Shins strategy in this moment. It was quite simple, separate the two of them. Hold one back somewhere and then focus on the other one in two vs one fight. Finish the first fight before the other comes and repeat the two on one fight again. Even though its simple, executing it out was definitely not. It all started from let them just have one on one fight we dont have to fight as well. Then he made me think it was even my idea to fight with him one on one so Levi and Kei can fight on their own. The yellow circle spell was still not broken so Arata had to wait there. But when exactly did he run off? Was it when he switched behind the tree? No, it would be rather that he didnt switch but just simply run forward leaving his clone behind. But that clone did cast that energy bolt so I was sure that it was him, although at that time I didnt exactly saw the clone casting it but rather the bolt came out from that direction. Also when I looked back the real Shin just disappeared. Well that might have been just some teleport spell, as a mage he should have one. Arata kept looking at the ground waiting for a yellow rune circle to disappear. The moment was drawing soon it slowly started to fade. All I can do is to get back as fast as possible to where Levi is. Also even though he executed his plan perfectly there is still one thing that he has to do and that is to actually take both of us down. And then the moment in which the circle disappeared came. Arata took off right away and run as fast as he could. He couldnt use lighting speed as it was on coldown but even with his normal speed he was quite fast, not to mention he was sprinting. They also didnt run that far so Arata managed to get back quite fast but still a moment too late. -Levi. Arata came just to see the moment in which Levi is pierced by Keis sword in the chest. Levi puke some blood from his mouth and with lasts of his strength tried to land one last blow on his enemy. Kei was also covered in many bruises but there was nothing too deadly and the last hit of Levi he caught in left hand on the glove. The metallic sound could be heard but then Levi just slide off Keis sword to the ground and fall down. There were traces of some dark circles on the ground but they were fading right this moment. He lost? No thats impossible. He will just come back with his clock spell in a second. Arata expected or rather hoped to see that but there was nothing like that. There was no life in Levis eyes anymore. -Tras heal him up! This time it is finally over. Arata didnt see it right away but there was Shin in some distance behind Kei and Levi. Vatras came quite quickly but rather than healing Levi up, he first picked him up and moved somewhere else, it was probably because he saw that Arata already came and he didnt want to get in a way. He lost?! Arata had a look of not knowing what was actually going on. His eyes were open wide and he couldnt take any action right away. He lost and it was because of me. Those were the thoughts that circled inside his head. Upon seeing Aratas arrival, Shin stopped using his staff to support himself but stood up normal, although it was clear that he was breathing heavily. -eh, I thought I will have an extra second for catching a breath but it was hard to foresee that we will have to kill that guy six times before actually killing him for real. Still, after three kills it went much easier as I spotted the weak point of that ability even so he still hold it back up until now, quite impressive dont you think? -- Arata didnt answer to that. -before we continue, maybe you want me to explain you how I tricked up out. You might think that I run away leaving the clone behind but in truth- Yes, Levi lost because I was tricked by this guy. But it wont be his lost as long as I defeat them. Arata was not really listening to what Shin was saying. Rather listening to him was the reason he ended up in this situation. Right now, rather than speaking, Arata just felt like killing of that guy. And so Arata started to run forward. -my plan getting some rest while talking did not work, Kei! Kei rushed in Aratas way to stop him. [Black dash] Arata was not interested in him though. When they got in range, Arata simply activated his skill and went pass through him while leaving new busies on his body. After he went through, there was a clean way to Shin open for him. Shin shot out some weird green spell at Arata. Arata had no idea of what element it was so he couldnt slice it, thats why he simply dogged it to the left, losing one second was not much. -Kei! Switch on two, one, now! Shin shouted the counting and in half a second it was already now. And then just before Arata was going to cut off his head in place of Shin, Kei appeared who managed to block the attack with his left hand glove protector. -Kei! We will do that again but I need to catch a breath first as it wont work on someone like him if we do it now. Buy me, two minutes, in case he run after me we will simply switch again. It will make the waiting time longer but that is the only thing we can do! Shin was shouting out everything out loudly. It was completely different in comparison to how he usually was. Still, because he was shouting out loud, Arata found out his position. Shin was now staying in the place in which Arata passed by Kei. Arata didnt waste much time and he turned around instantly and rushed at Shin. There was little Kei could really do to stop him. -switch! This time without counting Shin shouted out loud and once again they changed their position this time it was way earlier than before. Still Arata could not stop momentarily and go back as he had too high speed. From Shins position Kei also rushed forward at him and pierced forward with his sword, stretching his right hand forward. Arata had no other choice but to parry it away but the moment he did so Kei let go of the sword. In his hand a small fireball appeared and he threw it out forward from a close range. Despite Aratas ability to dodge, that attack was not something he could dodge so he took it on the chest. This attack did stop him from continuing with his follow up attack with other sword. And in the midst of his stop, Kei bypass him and took the position in which he blocked the path to Shin. I should stop attacking recklessly, that guy wont run away anyway. Also the order in which I kill them does not matter. Arata realized that it might be quite hard to get to Shin while this guy is blocking him and taking Kei lightly was also not something he wanted to do. He said something about two minutes, I dont know what plan they have but two minutes is enough for me. Arata started attacking Kei at full power. Unlike his opponent, Arata was in top condition right now. Kei was barely holding Aratas attack back. First he parried away the black sword then he block out the red one with his glove, then he got a bruise on the left arm as he only managed to change the direction of black sword from heart to a little left and then he got stabbed in the right thigh. Kei was really good, best proof to that was that he was still alive under Aratas assault but he already was tired after the fight with Levi. Also no matter how good he was, there really werent that many people that could stop Aratas full assault in pure swordsmanship. Still Kei was really good and he managed to reduce the damage from killings blows to the ones that didnt kill him. Not bad but if you really think you should be blocking sword with a hand you got it a little wrong. Arata pushed back Keis sword and attacked with other. As suspected Kei blocked it with his glove but the moment he did so Arata attacked at his open arm. The black sword was about to cut it out but then Kei made a fast movement backward and in a second get back by two meters. Still seeing that incredible move Arata followed up with his attack. [Sword enchant: wind] [Sword slash] The invisible arc went after Kei and although he see through that his current movement capabilities only allowed him to move a little to the right which ended up with left arm hand being cut off. If you want to use game skills then I will also use them, still this guy would be quite interesting if he was fighting at his full power. Arata thought like that but in fights there was nothing like a mercy on your opponent. It would be rather rude to go easy on him. Arata rushed at him and pierced forward but the moment he was going to pierce through Kei, Shin appeared at that place. -ha Shin couldnt help but made a sound when Aratas sword pierced him, but moment later he get away from Arata who was clearly surprised to see him. Although the blood was leaking from his belly Shin shouted out loud. -Kei, thats enough I will take it from there! -what the hell are you doing! Jumping right on the sword! Kei was not happy by the quick rescue. -you already took enough blows so it should be my turn now. Anyway we abandon that tactic. I will think of something else and win you this fight so resign from it already. -as if he gave you the time for thinking new plan! Lets go with that in full sacrifice style thats the only thing we can do right now! -no! There are still few things that have a chances of- -whatever its my fight and this time you joined my team so I have the final word! Shin and Kei right now were completely different than usual as they were shouting at each other. I dont want to spoil the fun but whatever you do, you have no chance of victory. Arata once again moved forward. -fine! Shin shouted out loudly and cast some spell underneath him. The green circle appeared under him on the ground. -switch! And then in a second once again Shin and Kei changed their positions. I finally figured out how that switch spell works. Two people have to be on two green circles and they can switch places. Strange, I didnt realize it before. -Kei, I dont know if you can do that in your condition but you wanted it so here I go, full course control! Shin stuck his staff into the ground and from it a numberous black circles started to appear one after another right next to each other. The ground was completely covered by them in a second. What is it some large area spell? Arata expected something like flames coming out from those circles right away but that didnt happened. This skill had completely different purpose. That guy is already done for I will take Shin first. Arata decided that its best to just interrupt the spell before it does anything but Shins spell was already ready. -course 5-10-1-out! Shin shouted out loud some code. Arata was still focused on Kei but then out of sudden Kei disappeared right before his eyes and a second later Arata received a blow at his right arm. Only thanks to his armor his arm was not cut out. What? Arata looked to his right but there was nothing there, on the other hand he felt a blow that came at him from the left and it went on his back cutting through everything. Arata wanted to look back but even before he did that Kei appeared right before him little on the left and pierced at his neck. Arata barely managed to dodge it but there was still a wound on his neck after that attack. Also when the attack finished Kei fly away back about five meters away in a blink of the eye. -next 10-3-10-3-6 go! Shin once again shouted out loudly and second later Kei once again disappeared right form before his eyes. Teleporting all around the place, then attacking from where I cant see? They will get me in an instant with that. Whats with this overpowered spell? Arata had no idea what to do so in the end he just decided to rush at Shin right away. He was running while taking the blows from all around the place, still because he was moving he could reduce the damage by getting out from the range before Kei manages to strike him. Should Kei appear before him Arata would simply block it away. With this I can still make it, and after I kill Shin this combination should stop. Arata was already closing in on Shin. -now thats what you wanted Kei! Sacrifice 0! Arata was once again just a step away from Shin and he swing the sword but in that moment Kei appeared right before him and stabbed him with his sword right into the chest, in a similar spot that he stabbed Levi. Still Aratas sword did not stop and Keis head was cut off. Keis body fell to the ground first. Arata was still standing and right before eyes there was Shin with his staff no longer in ground. Ah I will pass out in a second but Arata felt like his time was coming soon though. Shin was not in range Aratas sword could reach. Aratas movements were already dull but even so Arata was trying his best to pull the red sword in his hand upward. But Shin was not sitting by idly he casted some purple spell right on Aratas feet. Arata could not really do anything about it, not that he needed to do anything as he was already one leg in a coffin. He was already betting everything on this last card. [Sword slash] With his last strength he made a swing upward but there was nothing apart from this and his flying arc was not send out. Soon after, Arata fall to the ground and lost consciousness. The only one who stood victorious in this tag battle was Shin. [You are kept alive by seed of reborn If no one will rescue you in five minutes you will be dead. Penalties for death are the same as usual.] Arata has fallen into the darkness and there he waited. But he didnt really have to wait long as he was brought back to the world after no more than a single minute. Aratas eyes suddenly opened and there were no traces of previous wounds rather he had really refreshing felling. It was as if he just left the pool filled with warm summer water. Right before his eyes Arata saw one face looking at him from above. -healing completed Vatras Mika reported the situation. -Arata, do you still feel something hurting you, if yes then please say so I will get to it right away Then she asked him with worry in her eyes. -I will check everything just to be sure, does it hurt here? She then started to touch Arata in all the places on which he had wounds before. -or here? Or here? Or here? -no, no I am fine. -then do you have some trauma after dying? If so I will try my best to ease it. -hey, Mika you dont have the time for it, you are next in the roaster Hiro voice came from somewhere. -also he is as good as ever or probably even better. Say Arata, right now you are probably feeling refreshed, arent you? Arata sit back on the grass and looked at Hiro who was standing there. -as refreshed as someone might feel after losing. But my body yes, it feels refreshed. Is it always like that after you get resurrected? -Tras spell is not convenient enough to call it a resurrection spell as for feeling refreshed. It because of Mikas healing spells. -you shouldnt get up already! Mika scolded Arata when he tried to get up. -no, I really fine. Thank you for the help. -em, em it was nothing it its just a healer job. -maybe but I dont think checking my condition so thoroughly is also your job so thank you. -em em . Mika could not say anything back to Aratas straight thanks. -Arata, if you want to hit on my sister then first you have to break out with your girlfriend and show me that you are serious about it. Otherwise know that there are serve consequences for your actions. Instead Hiro voiced his thoughts. -em emm . Mika started to panic even more. -I am not hitting on her nor will I so rest easy. Arata answered normally. -I just told you so you understand. Anyway how do you feel after losing? -you can tell that I am not happy about by it. By the way how long was I out? -two or maybe three minutes, look over there. After the fight Shin just fell on the ground and he still is resting there trying to catch the breath. Much shorter than I thought. Arata stood up on his feet. -you really shouldnt be walking right now! Mika once again tried to talk him into lying down for a minute. -yes later, I have something to do Arata answered and walked in the direction where Shin was lying on the ground. -just like everyone said, you really cant lose a team battle, can you? Arata said that to Shin and then starched his hand to help him stand out. Shin caught on that and Arata pulled him up. -you know, it does feel strange to be helped out to stand up by someone you just killed Shin said it first. It was really strange indeed. -still, I cant agree to what you said. Its rather my teammates that always win those games when I am with them and not the other way around. -yes and your perfect plays throughout this match were thanks to luck. -well, I couldnt explain it better. In order to win everything needed to be carried out. There was no room for errors. You guys are really too strong for me. -I dont feel good hearing it from someone who just beat me. -but I didnt beat you did I. In truth I didnt land a single successful attack on you or Levi, it was all Keis work. -then, how about that last purple spell right before I passed out? It clearly did hit me. -that also does not count as it wasnt an attack but only anti-magic rune. I had to cast it or else you would slash me in half, wouldnt you? -that was my plan but you did see through it. -see through it, no. I dont try to rally on that. Reading your opponent, sure it sounds nice but in my case even if I managed to read what someone will do, it would still lead to me not being able to counter it. If I tried to read you in this fight you would definitely end up doing things, I would not be able to do anything about. Shin explained. -so if you didnt read me then what? -if we are talking about that last moment, then what you did was your only option left. Well that or dying without doing anything but I did believe that you will succeed regardless of your odds, which were quite low at that time. But if we are talking about battles in general, I do not try to read what my opponent will do. Arata do you think you can see completely through the battle flow? -probably not but I wouldnt be surprised that you could, after seeing what you did. -no I cant, it is impossible to see through the battle flow completely, thats why, rather than doing that I try to control that flow. If I control the battle flow I can make it go where I want, meaning to my victory. As long as you control the flow of battle you win the battle no matter who your opponent is. Although depending on the situation and your opponents controlling the flow can be impossible which means the only lead to defeat, no matter what you do. -you have some interesting theory. -its not just a theory I also put it into practice. That is why we won this fight. I managed to change the flow to go through this little brook that lead to our victory and avoided the large sea of our lose. -a win is a win and thats why I will be waiting for a rematch. That was what Arata wanted to say from the start. -I would really prefer to avoid that. Also if we were to fight again, it could only be in the finals to which I wont get to. -if you try hard enough you will. Then even if you dont there might also be another team battle. -well there is one more card for team battle there to draw, its a six vs six but it also has a condition that wont make us be able to fight in it. You will understand what I meant when it got draw. Shin explained. -in that case just get to the final. -You say it like nothing but for what I know I will probably end up axed in the first round. -then dont get axed and control the flow. Arata gave him sarcastic answer. -yes I will think of that. For now I will be getting rest so I dont have to delay my fight which happens after this one Shin returned walked to his previous spot near the table on which tournament standings were. -Mika, I know that you have a fight in a minute but could you cast a refreshing spring one me? In a half way Shin asked. -yes, right away! Mika casted her healing spell on him without delay. Shin was surrounded in the light azure in color of the see. His tired look changed completely in a second. -ah, I really feel glad that you are here with us. Shin answered like that. -em emm . And Mikas reaction was same as always. Arata also returned to his usual spot to where Levi, Rin and Yume were waiting. Julia went somewhere else during that fight. -sorry, I have lost. Arata said it right away to Levi. -what are you talking about it was my fight and my lose. I did say that I can take two of them at the same time but it seems that I couldnt do it. -yes but it was my fault that you had to fight them both. I was completely tricked out by that guy. -you know what Arata, even though I lost I dont feel too bad and you know why? -no idea. -it is because when I fought with both of them, I gave them a hard time even though they fought me full power but when you fought them their steam was already running out. I also saw how you couldnt do anything to stop them, which was a beautiful sight that pleased my eyes. -I also gave them hard time and even killed one of them and nearly killed the other one too. Arata started defending himself although he did not think so himself. -haha, yes this lost was worth much more than a win could. By the way, the story of how you got tricked like some newbie, save it for some other time when I am in a bad mood. - . -hahahaha. Yes, Levi was not really concerned about his loss. -now, now. Dont be like that. There was no other way that it could end. -you too Yume? Ah, I really did a bad job. Arata commented. -no, no its definitely not your fault that Levi lost his fight. -then whose fault it was? Arata asked. -Levi lost the fight because of the mistake he made at the start. -what mistake? -he allowed Shin to be chosen as a party member. I think the others already told you but Shin never loses the team fights when he is chosen as a party member in this tournament no matter what. Choosing anyone else but Shin as the person you dont want to fight against is like asking for a lost. Yume explained. -I wont agree to that. Levi did choose wisely. He did prevent both me and Arata as his potential enemies. He should have won that fight. Rin interrupted. -then why did I lose then? You will tell me that I was not strong enough? Levi ended up asking Rin as he had a chance. -no, you fought really good. Actually it was my first time seeing how far you can go in the fight, you are much better than I thought. I changed my mind about you. During the fight, you will not only, not get in my way but also there might be a lot of use for you. -well I dont know if that was really a complement but that was the nicest thing you said to me so far so thank you. -in that case Rin, why do you think that Levi lost? Yume end up asking. -well if I had to choose one then its because Aratas is an idiot for agreeing to any conditions that was given to him by that man. Other reason would be because Aratas is an idiot and after agreeing to that condition he fell for a child play and got grounded for twenty minutes in a forest. Then my third choice would be, because Aratas is an idiot and even after returning from that forest he didnt managed to defeat two guys who were out of their breath after the fight with Levi but not because he couldnt do it but because he thought he will win anyway and he got way serious too late. Aua. I did know it but hearing it from her hurts even more. And why all answers start with, because Arata is an idiot? -I see, well I normally dont blame others for my mistakes but Arata, we lost because of you. Ah, somehow I do feel a little better after saying it. Levi ended up saying after hearing Rins explanation. -in that case you should choose miss perfect rather than me. Maybe you wouldnt have lost then. Arata answered. -of course he wouldnt, I am not as naive as you. Rin stated the fact. -is that so, then I cant wait to see what you will say after it will be your loss. -that wont happen. There is no one here that can beat me. -arent you forgetting about someone? Arata was quite offended by her last comment. -you mean you? Do not flatter yourself Arata. For all I know you might get knock out in the next round by that girl in the wait. Knowing you, you will underestimate her because she is a girl just like you always do, then you will get defeated before you realize how big mistake it was. I can already see it in my eyes. It would be so like you. -heh, the simplest way to prove you wrong is to defeat you in the final so we will return to this conversation then. Arata tried to answer calmly. -yes, thats what I am talking about. You already assume that you will win everything. Right, I forgot. You do not underestimating only girls, you are underestimating everyone. -I am not underestimating anyone but just stating the fact. -and that fact is there is no way that I will lose to anyone, thats what you always kept saying but you should have already know that just being a genius with masters blood in you doesnt automatically make you win. Or did you forget about this already? -dont return to that manner again! We already sorted it out long ago. -yes, we did but I think you did forget about it, but dont worry I will remind you that being a genius can only lead you that far. -only you ever called me a genius though and you are wrong about it. Still even though I am not a genius I will still be enough to defeat you. Forget the finals, lets do it right here right now! Arata ended up proposing the fight. -very well. But I cant help but laugh when I think how easy it will be to defeat you here right now. And Rin agreed to it. -you asked for it! Arata grabbed the hilts of his swords. -hey Arata, you wont- Levi wanted to say something but he didnt finish as Arata unsheathed his swords and rushed at Rin. Rin looked ready for the blood as well. It didnt seem like anyone could stop it now. -Rin! Arata! You shouldnt! Yume tried to call out but when for the first time their swords clashed there was no longer time to stop it. I have waited too long for this. Arata couldnt help it but his body was full of excitement. He didnt feel like that in his previous fight. That excitement was something he could only feel while fighting against Rin. Hit after hit, parry after parry, four swords were making a loud noises one after another. This informed every one of the situation and even though there should be another fight starting now, everyone ended up looking at Aratas and Rins fight. Unlike the arena, this wasnt a static fight. Arata didnt want to repeat the last process in which he got overwhelmed, thats why rather than just making a clashing contest he switched to hit and run tactic. Arata attacked with both swords from up right corner slashing down to left down corner. Rin spin on a foot and also with both swords pushed it away upward then she made another spin and horizontally with both swords attacked at Arata open side. Arata jumped back to avoid that. After the sword passed by at that space, he rushed forward while making two piercing attacks at Rin. Rin parried it away from the middle to the outside and Aratas swords went in both directions out to the open then from that range she kicked forward with her left leg. Seeing it Arata used his right leg to kick Rins leg upward. But that didnt go too far up and he only managed to stop the kick. After that Rin attacked with the right sword at his side, Arata blocked it out with his left sword and then he jumped back to make a distance again. But the moment he did that Rin also jumped forward right after him. From there she did a series of attacks and Arata went right into only defense. Slowly but surely, Rin was getting the upper hand in the fight. Throughout the fight, she was getting faster and faster with time. Shit, it will be like the last time if I continue like this. Still even though Arata did want to change the way they fought Rin did not let him. Arata realized that Rin cannot use that speed right away and she just awakens it in the middle of combat, if he were to make the conformations shorter she would lose that advantage but Rin simply did not allow him to do so. Should I use game skill to turn it around? But if I do that, it will be me losing even if I managed to win the follow up. And I dont think I can win the follow up anyway. Especially now, I have lighting speed on coldown and not enough mana for more than two sword slashes. If I turn it into skill battle now, I will be at disadvantage -what are you spacing out for! Rin who was continuing to attack him ended up shouting at him and then second later Aratas swords were thrown into the air as Rin struck it out of Aratas hands. Aratas eyes instantly followed the swords up to the air. He lost the sight of Rin who circled around him while spinning and she got to his back. She also was standing backward to him. Her arms however were stretched upward and the swords that she was holding were crossed in a cross right before Aratas neck. -a. Arata didnt know what to say, he got defeated even before he realized it and before he even managed to think of a plan. -it is not my third win but it is your third lost Rin said to him and continued.. -I just hope it will make you open your eyes. Rin stated and took away the swords from Arata neck. Then she simply walked away. -wait Rin, I really didnt underestimate you and what do you mean third lose? -its the third time that you lost against me. Apart from today there was also the time that I killed you and the one in arena Right I did forget about the first one. That on shouldnt count. Although if I were to explain why I lost back then it would sound like I am making excuses. -and I will definitely not believe you that you didnt underestimate me Rin continued. -just look at your swords that I took away from you with ease, did you also forget master rule. Whenever you lose or win you cant let go of your weapon unless you are dead. In arena you managed to keep that rule but just look at yourself now. -Rin I- -I dont want to hear your excuses. Also going back to the arena, even then you did underestimate me in the end. -no at that time I definitely was doing the best I can. -at that time I thought that as well but that was only until I saw your fight with the crimson knight, that is because in that fight you did go all out. In fights against me, or the one you fought today, you never tried as hard as back then. You kept on saying that you will win no matter what happen, but in the end you wont try to keep that word and when you lose it doesnt seem like you care about it at all. But it was always like that for you, wasnt it? Throwing some empty words around is just like you. Now that I think about it, yours lets get the world first and complete the quest of rank 3 is one of those isnt it? -no thats. -its this isnt it? It completely fits your usual formula. Arata I will tell you your own words so listen carefully. You cant compete for worlds first unless you believe that you can do it and really try your best for it, but seeing that you wont try your best anyway, maybe you should leave this quest to me and Levi and just go the hell you want! Rin ended up shouting at him. -no Rin I got it wrong. -yes, I might have gone overboard a little but you cant blame me for that. It should clear your mind though, so as you said before, prove me wrong by getting to the finals and there, fight against me with whatever you got. With that Rin walked away. Everyone who ended up watching, which meant everyone present started to pretend that they didnt see anything. Well she might have caught me off guard when I started analyzing the situation and looked for a way to victory and its really embarrassing to get both swords knocked out like this but I did gave it my all. That is why I tried to think of other way. Same was with Arena, at that time I also tried my best in vain. The only fight where I have an excuse is the first one but I am not even counting that one. Still on other two, during the fight Rin goes into the speed that I cant keep up with, its simple as that! What does she expect me to do then? The only thing that I can do is try out the skill battle and that is my plan for the final, but I still dont expect it to change the outcome. Arata did not know why Rin thought like that but he definitely was not underestimating her and he was definitely not going easy on her. -we might have a short break but now we are returning to the tournament. There are still four fights before the first round finish. Musashi continued like nothing has happened. In the meantime Arata returned to where he usually sat but there was silence and no one said anything to him, well except of Levi that is. -ahaha, you lost the second fight in a row. It did ease the atmosphere a little but it didnt seem like Rin is going to add anything to what she already said. -the next competitors had enough time to get ready so without further ado, Kuma draw the card. The fight that was going to be held right now was between Kuma, the largest of all here in size. A cat-man beast, that used nothing else but his claws to destroy his opponent. That was Aratas first impression of the guy but it looked like he was using not only his claws but also steel claws that he had on hands. Those were three lines of blades. His opponent was a petite girl with azure hair. -do your best Mika! There were many who supported her with shouts but the fight did look like it was already decided even before it started adding to that the card that Kuma draw make it even worse. -scenario: Kuma started reading it out loudly the moment he took it out. -your enemy is using a magical barrier that deflects any of your range attacks. He cast it around himself in two meter radius that means if you want to hit him you have to bypass the barrier and attack only from no more than two meters range. Condition: you can only attack from a short range of two meters. You wont be disqualified if you get it wrong by few centimeters or if your enemy jumps away from you at last moment. Still although rules are flexible you cant do something like firing from five meters range at your opponent as it will be cheating with the intention. -eh, you got unlucky. Kuma said. -I would lose anyway so its not like it changes much. Mika stated. -Mika! Dont give up yet and fight with your all. Also dont worry about anything if you make a mistake I will come to save you so nothing will happen to you! Her brother was trying to give her courage. -Yume, is that girl as weak as she looks? Levi ended up asking. -well, she is really good healer if not the best one we have but when it comes to her fighting by herself, it simply will not work. She always had this attitude in which she doesnt want anyone to get hurt so she is always holding back on attacking. Yume didnt even try to make it sound better but just said the whole truth. It was not something she would be able to hide anyway. -ready! Set! Go! Upon Musashis mark Kuma ended up charging with his large body at Mika. Seeing it Mika ended up making a step back one after the other but she ended up tripping over her robe and she fall back to the ground. Still from there she casted some water spell and shot it out at Kuma. Still that slowed Kuma only for a second. Also, it looked like he didnt want to prolong it for too long so he attacked at Mika who was lying on the ground without giving her a chance to stand up. Still the moment he did it, there appeared a purple flash in the air above Mika and from it Hiro appeared. Still, because he appeared in a place like this it was now unavoidable that it will be him instead who will take the Kumas charge but it didnt seem like Hiro was willing to take it. He appeared in the air in unusual position as if flying in the air horizontally. Then in his right hand a flash appeared and after which he spin his body in the air and right before Kuma came at him he thrusted his hand forward. From his hand the large missile of water came out, as large as Kuma himself. Upon the hit Kuma was sent flying right away with incredible speed. As water was continuing to push him back Kuma ended up breaking through three trees trunks before actually stopping. Hiro landed in class and then he helped his sister to stand up. And then he made a chop on her head. -you are really hopeless Mika. Hiro just commented and returned with her to where they have been sitting so far. -the winner Kuma! Musashi announced the winner even if it was the winner who got the hard beating. Still it seemed like he had quite an endurance as he stood up without much problems. -in comparison to Mika thought, her brother is really strong when it comes to fighting and from what I seen so far, even though he was on a break he ended up getting even stronger during it. Kuma is quite strong but he ended up pushing him away like it was nothing. Actually I dont know when did Hiro got this good? Even though we are both mages the gap between us is so huge. Yume commented. -it is because he is training seriously while you take your time on drinking the tea and practically never train at all. You fighting activities are also limited only to this group, arent they? What else would you expect Mary? Rin said the harsh world to her friend. -you didnt have to say it Rin. -Rin, you will probably end up fighting him in a second round so how do you feel about it? Levi ended up asking. -I already said that there is no one that can defeat me in realistic combat here didnt I? I just proved it to someone who had delusions. There shouldnt be anyone else that has them. I can hear you. -so you will win? Well that what I thought. -I wont forget to be carefully while fighting though. I dont go easy on opponents that might surprise me and make use of this like someone who is sitting here I can hear you. -also I still didnt actually saw what he can do. Well, for now I will say that he is quite promising but in the end, I wont give him many chances for winning on the other hand you never know what might happen in a fight. You cant go into the fight thinking that you will always win, like someone here, because its simply not true I can hear you. -there is always someone better than you and there are always circumstances in which you might end up losing even if you were better. Everyone have their good days and bad days as well. Also this tournaments structure is not just about fighting. Depending on the card you draw you might get automatic lose no matter how strong you are. Like those troll cards mentioned earlier. -thats more analytical explanation that I thought I will receive but I guess it holds true. Levi answered. -I just different from someone who will say that he will win no matter what happens in any circumstances and against anyone at any given time. -well thinking like that is something only an ignorant idiot would do. -ignorant idiot? That would be a perfect way to describe a person like that. I can hear you. And since when did you start to agree with each other? Even though he really didnt do anything special, Arata really ended up pissing off Rin even though they finally started to be on quite good terms. -the next fight is Bran vs Shin. Hey Shin, you rested already? Musashi ended up announcing another fight. -more or less. -hold on Musashi. Shin says it because he wants to lose quickly. He definitely doesnt have all mana yet. But Bran interrupted. -no I do have most of it and I wont be able to use all of it anyway, the fight wont take that long. -okay Bran, we will skip that fight to the end. -no, I am already ready. I also have plan prepared. -yea, yea whatever, think about it some more Musashi didnt let Shin have another fight that soon. After all in his fight against Arata and Levi, he had a long marathon. -apart from this fight. There are another two fights left, so yours will be after those two. If there is another team battle coming, you are not allowed to fight in those. The next fight, Rin vs Tras. The competitors took the field. Rins opponent was a large elf druid with long green hair. He was wearing brown-green leather clothing. He also was holding simple wooden staff that didnt have any ornaments at it ends. -Tras, you already draw the red joker so whatever you get, it wont be worse than that. Bras ended up comfort Vatras. -yea. It was clear as the sun that Vatras had no fighting spirit at all. Well I am not surprised. -Tras, I struggled to the bitter end so you also have to do it. Shin also ended up encouraging him, although it was more like, if you dont do it then I am giving up the next fight. -fine, fine, just dont expect anything. Vatras answered. -Rin you have the lower number so you draw the card. Musashi continued to be the guider in the tournament. Rin ended up drawing the card. She took first one on the top and started reading it right away. -scenario: Sometimes in fights you have to defeat your opponent quickly or otherwise something will blow up, killing your entire team in a process or at least the boss will get to enrage phase. There are also the times when if you dont defeat you opponent quickly enough you will be overwhelmed by his reinforcements coming. The high dps is often required so in this fight you will train it. Condition: the person who drew the card has to win the fight in 10 minutes while the other one has to survive for ten minutes. The defending side should not attack on will and any of their attack should only aid them in defence. They also cant finish off their opponents. Rin summarized everything. -wasnt something like that already drawn? Levi commented. -at that time it was the opposite way, the person who draw the card had to defend while the other one had to attack. Usually when there is a different condition for both sides that card will be repeated so the person who draws the card has the same chances of getting both of roles. Yume quickly explained. Survive ten minutes. Well, its definitely easier than winning against Rin in normal card. If I were to draw that card in fight against her, I would highly consider just running away in the circles just to buy some time. Although the problem would be that she would still catch me. -in short you have to kill Tras in ten minutes. Musashi explained to Rin. -thanks, Musashi. Vatras replied. -okay ready! Set! When Musashi shouted set Vatras already started casting some spell as his hands started to be surrounded by green energy. -go! Puff and in the second the figure of large druid disappeared, on its place however a black fearsome panther stood. Although that panther did not stay for too long as second later, it started run into the forest. Jumping from back legs to the front ones, the running speed of animal was something fearsome. What truly fearsome was thought was that Rin who went after him with three seconds delay was already catching up. While she was touching the ground the sparks were coming out from her feet. It probably wouldnt take long for her to catch up. Vatras the panther also did realize that. He ended up changing his direction to two large trees that stood narrowly next to each other. Right before them, he made a high jump in panther form. Then in the air he changed back to his normal form. There he started casting some spells on instant. While flying he touched both of the trees with his hands. Then when he landed on the ground behind them and he stopped running. The trees that Vatras touched started to move out of sudden. Before Rin arrived at that spot rather than two trees those were two wooden giants. -Vatras is cheating already. Rules said no attacking. Back in the place where everyone was Bran commented. -hmm, I would classify that as doing anything to survive so it is his defense. Musashi argued back. In the first place most of those cards didnt have strict rules anyway so something like that could be ignored. Also right this moment, Vatras was definitely not thinking of attacking. Although Vatras stopped running, Rin did not slow down her pursuit at all. One of the reason for that might be because right now she didnt actually see Vatras as things that he summoned or rather awaken were getting in her way. The trees were in moveable forms. Their roots became their legs and their branches became their hands. The one on the Rins right, ended up using his new acquired hands and swing it horizontally near the ground. It was a large scale attack that was in fact really hard to avoid as its area was few meters. Upon getting in the range of that attack Rin smoothly jumped upward and went over that strike. She even made a flip in the air as her legs went all the way over her head. Then after landing she cut to the right, as the other tree-man smashed downward at her position. Although two giant moving trees would probably stop many, Rin passed them with ease. She didnt have to kill them so she simply ignored them, they didnt look as if they would be able to chase her afterwards. But then when she was going to continue forward, right before her flying creepers were coming at her. And they were covering the area of three meters in every direction. It was Vatras attack. He did foresee that his diversion with tree-man would not work. Their purpose was rather to buy him a little bit of time and hide him for a moment so he can prepare his spell. Vatras effort finally paid off as Rin had to stop running forward. She looked at the attack, not really knowing what to do. When creeps came near her she cut them off with her sword but that only the cut out part stopped moving and the more was coming as well. Then because she stopped moving the tree-mans behind her managed to turn around and once again with their branches attacked her. The attacks were now coming practically from everywhere. Wow, he got her. That was what something that one could thought, when he did not know what Rin can actually do. Rin started to spin on her foot with use of great spell. The swords that she held in her arms started to swirl so fast that the illusion of a red typhoon could be seen, or rather the hurricane. Then when Vatras attacks came in contact with it, everything was repelled and cut down in the process. It didnt matter if it was a thin creeper or a thick branch of the tree-man. Everything was cut down to the small pieces. When Rin stopped spinning there was no more creepers coming her way and the tree-mans no longer had anything but their trunks left as their roots were also eaten in the process. In short they become useless. I did forget that apart from those flying red things she has many other spells that I dont even know about. Is it really that good of an idea to bring it to skills focused fight? Arata once again doubted his plan. Even though his attack ended up in a complete failure, Vatras did not give up. After Rin stopped spinning he ended up sending out three green bolts in her direction and after that he started casting another spell. This time however Rin did not let him finish. She did not take the longer route just because Vatras attack was coming her way. She simply slipped through the narrow gap between two attacks as she moved she turned her upper body sideway. The green bolds ended up going right before her belly and right after her back but they did not hit her. Rin continued forward and finally when she was three meters away from Vatras she instantly speed up and in a second she was already sticking her red sword in Vatras left side of the belly. Although, her plan was to hit right in the middle. After landing one hit, Rin wanted to follow it up with the second one right away but despite having a sword in his belly. Vatras parried away the second attack without delay. Then he managed to push Rin away by casting another green bolt right at her. She was pushed back only by half a meter when she dodged but that time was enough for Vatras to cast another spell right away. Underneath Rins feet the ground started to move and then a tree started to grow there in instant. Rin ended up being pulled upward by it as she stood right in the middle. Although seeing the tree coming out of nowhere, she did not have an intention of staying there for any second so in she jumped back even before rising one meter. Still that time was enough for Vatras to cast a healing spell on himself. Then when Rin started to run at him once again he jumped down to the ground at his hands, it looked strange but the moment before he landed, he once again turned into black panther. In that form he decided to attack Rin with his claws, still what happened after that could be described only as one sided massacre. Rin completely dodged the incoming attack and as she got on the left of her enemy she sliced Vatras belly and even the organs started to fall down. Still Vatras did not give up then and because Rin did not follow up that attack he managed to get away by one meter and cast emergency healing spells on himself. The process continued two more times like that and each time the damage was so great and wounds looked so awfully that everyone thought that Vatras will drop dead. But Vatras continued to regain his vitality and the green lights were floating near his wounds and closing it up. Still after three exchanges like this, Rin did no longer want to see it. She attacked once again and this time she attacked right at the panthers head. Still in his panther form Vatras had a lot of agility and he managed to dodge that by hair. But then she made follow-up attack with a second sword that cut off one of his front legs. And then when Vatras lost his mobility another follow-up came and this time from a spin, Vatrass head ended up being cut off. -the winner Rin! Musashi announced the end of another fight. Rin sheathed her swords back and like nothing returned to her standard location. Vatras was healed up by other healers in no time. -it went good but thats all you could hope after drawing the red joker. Bran tried to cheer him up. -the most important thing is that its already after me. I dont want to repeat it ever again. Vatras replied. -so how was it Rin? -- Arata asked but he did not get a reply. -hahaha, she is ignoring you now. Levi would use every occasion to laugh at Arata. -no she is not. -is that so then hey Rin how did you enjoyed the fight? -luckily I didnt get any stupid condition. I had to just win in ten minutes. As for my opponent, apart from having few interesting spells I must say that he was quite persistent as he fought till I cut his head off. -thanks for summaries, another question, do you start ignoring Arata? -no, I just dont want to take his time as he has some things to think about. -what things? -well, he needs to think really hard as how to not piss me off in the finals But, I didnt do anything! Although her responses to Levi were calm it didnt look like Rin did forgive Arata yet. -that is if he even gets to them. And that is if I get to them. -but I dont see you losing here. -I already said that its not impossible. For example if in this fight instead of that druid I had one of the tanks as my opponent then they would have quite high chances of surviving those 10 minutes if I didnt get really serious with them. So if you got really serious you would still manage? -the next battle, Hiro vs Yume. Get ready both of you! Musashi announced from afar. -I will be going Yume left them and went to her fight. -you will go easy on me, right Hiro? She asked her opponent after arriving. -not this time. Hiro answered and draw the card as it was his turn. But then when he inspected the card his face grew long. -no wait, really? Hiro said out loudly not believing what he just got. -hey, Hiro what did you get? Seeing your face its a card that is really great for you, isnt it? Bran commented sarcastically. In the meantime Hiro looked through his inventory and once again took out two red swords. When he made sure he got them ready he started reading. -scenario: you just got mana drain by some creature, or you simply spend it all during the fight. Still the new enemies keep on coming and they are as healthy as ever. Despite not having any energy left you still have to fight against your enemy. Condition: the person who draws the card gets mana drained for real by the one who composed this challenge. Then the other party has no minuses and is free to attack with all their powers. The winner wins Shin what is with that one sided super unfair card for mages!? Hiro really had to complain this time. His luck so far was really great. -em think of it another way, its a perfect training for you Shin answered although even he was not sure of his words. -anyway as instruction said, I will mana drain you right now so dont move. -I could just not use any mana, again. -no this time its a little different. You will by dried to 0 mana but should you regain some you can still use it. On the other hand mana drain also drains you vitally so you will get the full experience of not having any mana. -you dont have to keep it that real. -thats how the rules were stated. Prepare for the shock as here I go. The bundle of blue energy emanated from Shins hand and it landed at Hiros right shoulder. Then through that bundle there was a clear image of something blue going through it. And as it went on and on Hiros face became less and less colorful and then finally he ended up falling back on the ground. -hmmm, I didnt expect a mage to get that card. Actually draining so much mana out from someones body is quite dangerous especially in Hiros case when he has so much of it. Maybe it wasnt my best idea, still the rules are the rules. Well he wont die from this. With that Shin returned to his usual spot. -I guess Hiro is not ready but, set! Go! Musashi signaled the start of the fight. Hiro did not do any effort to stand back to his feet. Yume could use this occasion to strike at him but she didnt do so. -I wont feel too good winning like that. -Yume! Dont wait till he gets better and attack him while you have a chance! From tribunes Vivi gave her advice. -its his fault for drawing that card. Unfairness is an essence of this tournament. Flynn also added few words. -yes but what the point? Yume was not convinced. -cough, cough, Yume, know that when you lose this fight, you will become a mage failure. From the ground Hiro said those words to motivate Yume. When you lose, hmm? Arata understood those words a little different though. -fine its you who wanted it Hiro, also the best thing I can do for you is actually killing you right now. It was in a sense true as aftereffect of mana drain, especially for mages was terrible. Killing Hiro off and then healing him back would get him better the fastest. Yume end up casting a fireball right at Hiros location. Still seeing it, Hiro managed to roll way from the place at which she shot. Then he managed to get somehow back at his feet. And with two swords in his hands, he rushed forward at Yume. But then after making two steps he fall right back onto the ground. This time however he did not fall completely as he stopped his fall at the hands. Still Yume didnt plan on making it easy on him so she casted an earth fist bolt which hit hard Hiro from the left and make him fall back to the ground. Then after that, she started to cast another really large fireball, so large that Hiro would have no chance of avoiding it. -go Mary! Surprising as it was Rin was loudly cheering for her friend. -Arata I think that this fight describes precisely how unfair is this tournament and that really anyone can lose in it. -well even you lose troll card would be better in his position. Arata answered to Levi. -still its surprising that he didnt give up yet. Look he is standing back once again. Hiro once again stood up. About three meter before him stood Yume with two meters wide in radius fireball which was getting bigger and bigger. It was already too late to stop it. Still, it didnt seem like Hiro was about to give up either. Despite being pale white he switched to the position that he failed to execute in his previous fight. Playing everything on one card is a tactic but if you know that card wont work, it is no longer a tactic but stupidity. Trying to pull that out now is just as stupid as running through that large fireball which is what you are planning to do. Arata could read Hiros intention, or rather the pose he used could not be used for anything else than running forward, right into Yume and her fireball. Still, even should he succeed it would result in him burning to death instantly. That were Aratas thought at least but only until he saw what happened. Yume ended up creating really intense flames that would vaporize anything that came in its way. At the same time the scale of her attack was also huge. When she was content with the size of it she ended up firing it at Hiros location. Well it was more of pushing it at him as they were that close in range. The moment she did that, Hiro rushed forward while keeping his body low. After two steps he ran right into the fireball. From that point there was no sign of Hiro anywhere. It looked like the fight was over but then out of sudden, two swords pierced into Yumes body. One in the neck and one in the heart. Then the moment later she was pushed away and out of the flames Hiro jumped out right on her. It was the closest way for him to jump out from. After escaping from the fireball Hiro rolled on the ground while leaving his swords in Yume that due to that attack ended up dying instantly. Hiro who rolled away also was lying on the ground without moving. His eyes were close and the body was pale but there were no burn marks on him at all. Rather than burn marks he was covered in water as if he just went out of the pool. -Mary! Rin seeing the whole thing screamed and then with incredible speed run up to her friend. Still with damages like this in two vital spots her death was unenviable. -Mary! Someone quickly help her! Despite knowing the fact that Yume can be healed back in a second, Rin went into a state of desperation. -relax, of course we are going to help her. Remove those swords from her body and move away, you can leave the rest to me. Vatras interfered. Rin did as he instructed although she didnt move away. After few green spells surrounded wounds on Yumes body Yume woke up like nothing. -ah, I knew that it will end like this. Yume said those words. -Mary! Rin caught her tightly. -what are you doing now Rin? - . -Rin There was still no response. -Amy, I am not going anywhere But then when Yume used that name, Rin calm down. -so what brought it up? -you promised that you will never do that again. Rin answered still in the same position. -I didnt die, did I? I am perfectly healthy right now, so my promise of never dying on your eyes is being kept. Anyway you should understand the structure of those fights. Look around you and you will see that nobody dies here. -but. -it couldnt be helped, Hiro is much better than me. I knew it will end like this. Although after he got that card I had some hopes but even then he overcame it. By the way Tras, you should heal him up as well. -Mika is already doing that, although I dont think he took any real damage. But I dont think he will wake up anytime soon. He fought in a worse condition he could ever be in, that card was too much for spell users. Mika already did the first aid on Hiro but despite that he didnt look any better. -Shin, you got a little bit too creative on this one. I know that giving the most realistic experience was your goal but you saw how it went. Musashi said to Shin. -yes I will have to remove it in future. Although thanks to that card, I saw a glance how much Hiro developed over the break time. Although, his two fights so far restricted him from using spells. I wonder if he improved in his main domain as well. -I am sure he did. You too know him well Shin. Some may say that he is looking down on others and has too much pride but we know the best that it is because of that pride that he is working harder than anyone else so the words he says will be true and so he doesnt feel inferior to anyone Musashi answered to Shin then. -the winner is Hiro! He ended the fight with the announcement and now out of the whole round one, only one game remained. -Mary, you are really bad you know that. After returning to their spots Rin started nagging. -I do know, so what about it? Yume was not really concern about it though. -dont you want to be stronger so you dont lose again? -not really, I was never interested in those things. -but you just lost, even though you had such an advantage! -yes, but its only fair that I lost right, I wouldnt feel good if I won that one anyway. -Yume, you really have no desire to get stronger? Arata also interfered. -you two Arata? Why do you think its so important? Would I feel any better if I knew how to fight better? Would I be any happier? -that depends but as far as I know if you are weak then you will start getting in the way of others. For example this very party. -I never did get in their way though. -maybe not until today, but you said yourself, that some of people here definitely improved. With time everyone will improve then they will want to do even harder things than before and to do that, they would go into extremely dangerous places. What will you do when that time comes and you wont be able to join everyone? Arata tried to make her understand the importance of it. In fact it was not something he came up on the spot. In games when playing with your friends you had to consider additional things than just when playing it solo. Being on about the same level and having similar level of skill was quite important. If one of two people who played together out of sudden got too much stronger the other one cannot keep up. -what you said is definitely true and I already do know what I will do when it comes to that, as it will definitely happen one day. But I have no intention of changing the way I am so lets not speak about it. Also its not my job to be good in one on one fight, I just need to make dps in group fights. Its not my business I guess. -and now, the last fight of round one will commence. Bran vs Shin. I should probably focus more on this one. -aye, the wait has been too long. It looked like despite what he said earlier, Bran couldnt wait for the fight. -but I already had enough for today. Shin on the other hand was not really eager. Still both competitors got to their designed places. -its me who is drawing the card, right? Shin which one would you like? Bran asked. -your opponent losses would be really good drawing right now. Shin answered. -that would be quite boring. I will try to get us a card that will allow us to fight on equal standing. -I dont think that you can change the outcome by saying it. -I just setting my luck on the right frequency. Now hop! Bran took first better card out from the box and right away showed it to Shin. -you read it. He didnt even check what it was. -ah, why did we had to get this card right now? Shin was not really happy about the outcome. -scenario: no matter what kind of situation you are in, the most important are the basis, that is why fighting with all you got, going all out is in fact, the best training you can get. Rather than training anything in specific train in a field that will be always important. : Condition, destroy your opponent with all you got. -hahahaha. Bran laughed out loud. -Shin, its unlike you to make a card like this. Musashi commented. -I wanted to see how a normal tournament fights would look and if we should also try normal tournaments from time to time as well. There are few of us who kept repeating that they want it to happen. This card it was meant to be a tryout. But I never thought I will get that card. -there is no escaping now. So the rules are simple, there are no rules you just have to win the fight. Bran you ready? -ready as always. Bran took out his crossbow and aimed at Shin already. It was quite a large crossbow with four arms at the fire. Also it had a unique look and was in colors of black and red. It didnt seem like an item bought in shop. -see you! Shin disappeared in a flash as he didnt wait for a starting count. -whatever, battle starts! Musashi just announced it officially although it did start already. -hey didnt Shin just run away? Kuma asked. -no, he wouldnt do that even if he wanted, that is because the teleport range is simply not enough to get him out from Brans striking range. Vatras who sit near him answered. Although it did look comic a little and it really seemed like Shin ran away, Bran had a deadly look on his face. It was especially unusual for him. He was waiting and waiting. It looked like he was preparing for an attack coming from any direction. But it was a false impression. At one moment he spinned to backward and fired out his crossbow at the tree which was behind him ten meters away. The belt passes that distance in an instant and went through the three, cutting it down in the process. After the tree fallen down Shins body could be seen. It was face of a man who was nearly killed a second ago. Thats some firepower. -Bran, go easy on me, I didnt play for few months. Shin plagued for mercy. Bran on the other hand answered with the crossbow. Shin ducked down and the belt went right over his head and then he rushed to another tree. Still he wasnt planning on hiding there as he just by passes it. Then he continued to run in the direction of the forest. His back was open wide but Bran did not shot at it, in fact he didnt move an inch. -ah, its my first time seeing it. Shin forgotten about something Bran started holding his crossbow with only one hand while his free hand he stretched to the left. -Misha! Bran shouted the command and a large brown bear appeared at his left side. Then Bran pointed with his crossbow at the tree that Shin bypassed earlier. The bear started to run in that direction and also so did Bran. -go from the right! I will take him form the left. Shin did you really forget that I can tell you apart from your clones with my ears. We had this fight already, didnt we? Confident he jumped sideway to see behind the tree, the bear did the same. -got you! Bran said that out loudly but just as he was about to pull the trigger there, was nothing behind the tree. -roar! The bear roared out loud giving the signal to Bran but it was too late as Bran was too focused on aiming behind the tree to where he thought Shin will be. Because he was too focused he didnt spot red circle rune that appeared at right before his feet. He ended up stepping into it and the moment he did the red pillar of flames consumed him. -hey when did that rune appeared there? It wasnt there a second ago, the red colored runes in forest are so visible. Flynn asked. -I dont know I also didnt see anything. Vivi what about you? Yours eyes should catch it? Vatras answered and asked Vivi. -it wasnt there, it appeared a moment before Bran stopped into it. The flame rune stopped working and Bran was cooked black. Still he was standing at his feet. Still immediately after the rune ended a barrage of white energy bolts started to hit Brans body from one direction and that direction was the three that he first cut down with his first attack. I see so he never actually left that place. Arata finally grasped the situation. Bran did locate where Shin hided but after the tree was destroyed it was an image that run out, passed by the tree and continued to the forest. Bran recognized that it was an image that ran to the forest and assumed that Shin hide after another tree as passing by the object and hiding behind it and letting the image run forward was one of Shins favorite plays. Still he did not realize that Shin didnt move from behind the tree in the first place. Although the tree was cut its not like it was torn out from the ground with roots. The trunk that stayed was more than enough for hiding place. With the barrage of magic bolts that were fired at Bran there was no other way that him falling to the ground. Still it was not an over of the fight as his bear was still there and it started running in the direction of the destroyed trunk. In that moment Shin was forced to go out in the open and he pointed his staff right at the bear with great speed. Out of the staff a yellow energy came out and it landed right before where bear was now just going and in the result bear charge was stopped. Not because the bear was KO to the ground and also not because it stopped running. It was rather than despite running it did not move forward at all. Not wasting any time, Shin started to bombard the bear with more magic bolts. He can attack despite while using that skill? no, rather my assumption that he cant was wrong in the first place as it was just clone that stood there that time. It didnt take long before the bear was KO as well. -the winner Shin! Musashi announced Shins victory. Shin adjusted his glasses and walked away. In the meantime Thesar went and healed Bran back. Shin walked up to Musashi said few words to him in a way that nobody heard anything and then continued forward in the direction of the elven village. It seemed like the tournament will be on hold for now. -aaaa, I lost, didnt I? Bran managed to get up. -happens, you got overeager to do an attack from two sides at that location. Musashi answered him. -I thought it was a chance for a victory. If I just send the bear he would have stop it without problem and we would be back in a square one. -by the way, why did you think that Shin was there? -well I could hear that the one that run to the forest was a copy as it didnt give any sounds while stopping at the ground and it. Also Shin uses this trick quite a lot. -you thought you read him but it was rather Shin who knew that you would see through that so he created a plan with that in mind. Well thats Shin for you but its rare for him to fight seriously in this tournament. -aye, looks like the adrenaline from his previous fight didnt leave him. I should have taken him more serious at the start and be more careful but well I never was really patient. Anyway what did Shin said at the end? -right. Everyone with this first round is over! The next round will be played in five hours from now which will be at 14:00! Be back at that time but until then you can do what you want. -em Musashi! Where did Shin go? Julia ended up asking. -well, probably to see Hikari. -eee! Julia was about to sprint in the direction in which Shin went but Vatras stopped her. -Julia, if Shin went like this without saying a word that means he doesnt want to be interrupted. -but I wont let him be stolen from me by some elven girl! -relax, remember what Shin told you. He has completely no interest in romance in the game and especially he would never go after NPC. -I do remember that way too well! -see, there is nothing to worry about. Vatras managed to calm her. -I wouldnt say nothing, Tras. Hikari does have a hard crush on Shin. -what! And Bran made his efforts useless though. -he is just teasing you Julia. From all of us, I probably visited this place most times and I never saw the signs of it. Rather she always repeated that she doesnt want him to come to this village. Also NPCs cant have a crush on players. -hmm, I never heard rule that they cant but I rather heard few stories when they did. You can ask Yume about it. -I dont think that her stories are realistic. Anyway Julia, you can ask anyone and they will answer the same. Vatras continued to calm her down. -I also didnt see anything. Bran, you shouldnt joke around about it with Julia around Musashi also interfered. -its may be true she likes Shin but its Shin, we all like him so its nothing special. Also someone would definitely see through it, Shin being the first one but this is the first time I hear about it as well. -if Musashi and Tras are saying so then its probably true. Julia was convinced. -aye, they are not lying. Bran strangely agreed to what Julia said. -uffff. Bran sometimes your jokes are not fun. -dont get me wrong Julia, I just said that they arent lying. But its because they couldnt see anything as eyes are simply not enough to see it. I must say, Hikari does great job on hiding it or rather even more, she completely fooled everyone by her act. She is hiding her feelings under the cover of behaving like his little sister who is always angry at her brother. -no she is not pretending, that how exactly it is. I think that she even once told me that. -Tras, as I said you wont see it with eyes. -so what basis your theory has? -its simple, even though she managed to fool everyone, she cant fool herself. Even though her outside act is perfect, her body does give her out, in particular the heart. -heart? -yes, you do know that if I focus on someone, then I can even hear their heartbeat. That is why I know that her heartbeat increases drastically whenever she sees Shin. -then what you said is true! Julia couldnt hold it. -aye, just like Tras and Musashi werent lying, I wasnt lying either. Still Julia its doesnt really change you situation at all. Shin would not answer her feelings because of the way he is. Its the same as with the fact that he will not answer your feelings either. -is that your way of comforting!? -yesterday I did found out the true reason why Shin wont return your feelings. Before I thought that there might be a chance but with what he said and the way he is they are nearly zero at this point. -Bran, dont depress her anymore. Vatras intervened. -its better that she understands it sooner than later. It rather should be taken care of way earlier. -maybe but the way you handle it is wrong. -truth is painful because its real. Anyway Julia, did you understood already? It really looked like Bran wanted to put an end to it. -no and I wont! -you cant act selfishly like that. -I can and I will, I will not give up. -sure you can do what you want. Just dont say that no one told you beforehand. Still, when you get rejected and get depressed remember that there will be many people who will pick up your remains, so just talk with us when that happens. I for one wish you and Shin luck. -thank you for your honest opinion, Bran. -thats my role, to say the truth to those who needs it. -sometimes you overdo it though. Musashi added. -aye but its better if she knows what she stands on. -yes, and thats why you will tell me the true reason that you just mentioned, right? Julia asked. -I didnt hear it from Shin directly but simply overheard it. Thats why I cant share it with you. -tell me, tell me! -I cant do that. I made a vow. -Bran you could bend your vow a little this time. Vatras intervened. -its a vow because you cant bend it. So no matter what you do, I will not spill it out. -then how I am supposed to change Shin if I dont know why he cant return my feelings. Is it my look? Is it because I speak too much and he likes silence? Or does he really hate the idea of dating that much? Bran, tell me! What I am doing wrong? -I wont break my vow but I will tell you two things. First, one answer to your question, you are not doing anything wrong at least from Shins perspective. I would beg to differ though. -if I am not doing anything wrong then what is the problem! -I cant tell you that as it breaks my vow of not telling others about private matters that I happened to overheard. -then Julia wondered for a second and asked. -can you tell me who did Shin tell that reason? You are not vowed to keep it hidden are you. -aye, I can and I was even going to. You cant make me tell you this but you might have high chances to make to other person tell you. -so who is that person? -as I said, I did overhear it yesterday do you have a hunch of who it was already? I dont want to say it out loud myself as he promised Shin that he wont tell you and if I tell you who it was then, it will be me creating trouble for him. -but if he promised Shin then he will definitely not tell me. -I wouldnt have even mentioned that if that was the case. Although he did promise Shin that, he does have a stronger connection with you so you should be able to convince him. -but with whom I have stronger connection with here? -I already told you enough hints. When Bran said that, Julia immediately arrived at her answer. -ah! Because he promised to hang out with her, or rather he was the one to offer it. Arata was waiting for Julia to finish her conversation with Bran, Musashi and Vatras. Next to him there was Levi who also waited with him. Everyone else, Rin including either log out or went to elven city. Rin and Yume went for a hunt for cookies that could be bought only in elven shops. -hey Arata, should I leave you two alone so you can go out for a date? Levi asked another annoying question. -I dont know where that idea came to your mind but you are wrong. -Im just saying. Remember you just have to say a single word. Also I will not sell you to your girlfriend, no matter how will things play out. -nothing will play out. We will be simply exploring the elven village to kill the time before the next round. -thats what you say but to me it looks otherwise. Also the way you asked her to go with you seemed like a date invitation. -then you saw it wrong. -I am just saying. Also as far as I know going around the city, village in this case and looking at pretty things only with two of you is definitely counted as a date. -you are coming with us so it will not be two of us. -remember, just a single word Arata. -Levi I told you about it times and times again but I will tell you it once again so you finally understand. I do love Kotori more than anything in this world. She is the light in my life and the main reason that I even want to wake up from sleep. -ah you are such a poet Arata. -shut up. -still I do understand that, what I think however is that you dont know where you should put your line. You are too inexperienced in dating someone so you dont know how you should behave around other girls. -I dont want to hear it from you mr. never had a girlfriend in his life. -you dont have any mercy, do you? And here I was just trying to help. -I dont really need it. -then what will you do if that girl confess to you all of sudden. -she wont so I dont have to worry about it. What Julia said about the condition between man and woman friendship is indeed true. -you can never be sure of it. -she already likes someone. -yes but unlike you she is not dating that someone. So it would be easy for her to turn her feelings to you, its nothing uncommon. Also if you end up spending too much time together it will definitely happen. -it wont. -I understand that you can be confident about yourself. After all, you can say all those embarrassing things about your girlfriend to me who would normally use this opportunity to laugh at you. -then why wont you? -because it meaningless if you state it so openly. There must have been a big storm to change you. I do wonder myself what exactly made such strong bond between you and you girlfriend. After all, didnt you just meet in this game and just were playing together for a month or two? There shouldnt be enough time for that. -its not something that I feel like telling you. -well, I am not asking about your love stories it would only make me depressed. Anyway returning to the topic, even though there must be a big storm for you that doesnt necessary be the same for her. -from what she said, she is serious. She even went as far as setting a friendship condition for herself. -you know her better so I will leave it at that. Their conversation ended as few seconds later Julia joined them. -is he coming with us? She asked. -yes, allow me to introduce. -no need we already introduced before, right, my lady? -I dont have a good memory of that time, and if you dont stop calling me lady then I wont feel like speaking with you. -Levi, what did you do again? Arata asked. -nothing! Really. Anyway, I will try not to interrupt you, also if I offended you my la I mean Julia then it was not my intention. -the way you speak is something I cant take. -Levi just turn off your knight role-play Arata said and continued. -so Julia, is there a place where you want to go? -I am little hungry so somewhere we can eat but before that Arata, there is something that you have to confess Confess? -dont give me that look. You were talking with Shin about me right? What did he tell you? Julia didnt even try to go any way around and went straight to the point. -how did you know that we spoke? And even that we talked about you? -you just confirmed her suspicion Arata. Levi pointed that out. -it doesnt matter how, Arata. You know how important it is for me, so just tell me! -well, I did ask him about you as I wanted to help you out but I didnt really found out anything that might be of use for you. Also I did promise to not tell anyone. -I also wont tell anyone, so you can tell me Did she not understand that it was no to tell anyone her being on the first place. -Arata, as your friend I am asking you for this favor just this once. And so Arata found himself in a position that he couldnt refuse. -fine I get it. -yupi! I love you Arata. Julia was overjoyed. -told you that it will be like that. Levi added. -if you listened to the conversation you would understand that its not like that. -dont waste time! Tell me! Tell me! -I telling you this because I dont really think that its something worth hiding. -no you are telling it her because you cant say no to girls requests. -shut up Levi. Anyway, I gave Shin simple question concerning you. It was something like, why dont you accept Julias feelings? I thought that I can use his answer to give you some hints and generally help you out. -ah, you are a true friend Arata. Doing something like that for my sake. So, what I am doing wrong? What should I change? -there is nothing that you did wrong but as for changing, lets see Arata thought for a moment and continued. -it doesnt have to be any of those but if you get fat or get uglier or simply become hopeless being then your chances will definitely increase. - - Aratas answer completely left Julia and Levi blank. -shouldnt it be the opposite? Levi ended up breaking the silence. -you might think like that but given Shins answer to account I think that it might really increase her chances. So I wasnt joking. -Arata, you want to say that he thinks that I am too good for him? -so you did understood Julia. The answer he gave me was that he doesnt feel worth enough to be with you and that generally you deserve someone better than him. -then I really didnt do anything wrong. -did you feel that you did? -occasionally I was wondering if what I was doing didnt actually angry him or that there was something he didnt like about me or simply didnt like me completely but thank god, thank god Julia was very pleased by his answer. -but Arata, what did he mean by that. Then she asked. -from where, I see it. He simply has a low self-esteem. Sometimes what he says and what he actually does are completely two different things. -as far as I know he was always like that but I still cant find out why. At least in this game, Shin is the most amazing person that I know and its not only me who think so. There are few people who stay in our group only because of Shin, and then almost everyone wanted to join in the first place because of him. Also, I dont know if you heard but Shin is quite famous worldwide. -worldwide? Well personally I am not that informed. Levi did you hear about that guy? -well I didnt think that it was him at first as I thought it was impossible but it turns out that he is the real deal. I did read few texts that mentioned him few times but I most remember him from one statistic table. -what statistic table? -half a year ago someone organized a survey with guild leaders of 10 major guilds. Few did refuse so it ended up in 6 guilds but still the results in one question were quite surprising. That question was, if you had to list down names of three players that you wanted to join your guild who would they be?. Out from those 6 guilds, five of them write down the name Shin of the west. I never thought that he would be someone on 100-200 level and lived peacefully here at the end of the world. The thing that even though he operates here and that all those leaders heard about him and he managed to impress them is quite impressing indeed. -it is simply because Shin is an amazing player, he has a rare talents that others does not. Julia added. -then why doesnt he have any self-esteem? Arata ended up asking. -I was wondering about that myself you know. After all, I joined the group when they already were quite well known. But Shin was simply always like that, everyone said so. -I guess being recognized by some random guilds is not something that you can actually be proud of. As always Arata was ignorant of everything. -Arata dont say that, they were all big shot guilds, otherwise I would not even mention it. One of them was even WhiteSuns. You have no idea how hard requirements for joining that guild are. But here, their leader declares that he would like to have some low level in his guild. -if he was really serious about it he would end up asking him to join himself. Arata commented. -Arata, there was a time that it happened though. The leader of WhiteSuns himself came to Karma to speak with Shin. He did give him an invitation to join but Shin refused. Thats what others told me at least I wasnt there yet. Still it is definitely the truth. There were many other cases with other guilds as well. Well it is hard to find good members after all. And from where I see it, I kind of understand why they would want to have that guy in their group. You can invite normal players that are good players but that would just add to the number. On the other hand inviting this guy could change the situation drastically and the overall output would go way up. Having a good tactic is a key to success after all. -by the way Arata, I just remembered a funny fact. The leader of WhiteSuns ended up also writing two other names. And one of those two names was name Arata. Suddenly Levi commented. Me? -I think that something like that indeed happened. Hey Arata, are you famous or something? -Julia, you are forgetting that Arata didnt even play back then when that survey was made so it cant be him. Its just a coincidence that they had the same names, thats all. EOA doesnt restrict you when you want a name that someone else already has. -for a moment I thought that it wasnt impossible. After all Arata is a twilight swordsman with double-class but its true that he didnt even play back then so its definitely not him. That was the conclusion that Julia and Levi arrived at. On the other hand Arata couldnt stop thinking about it since he first heard it. Why do you want someone who disappears without a word in your guild, Wolf? Why would you look for a betrayal like me? Why would you still remember after all that time? -Arata, what you said didnt bring me any closer to finding out what I should do from now on. In the end Julia complained. -as long as you show him you affection it should be fine. Arata answered. -should be? Thats not very convincing. -I cant really help you on this field sorry. -rather than asking us, you should ask someone else. Levi added it and with that their discussion ended. They then entered to elven village and looked for some shop that sells food. Walking around in that village was quite an experience. There were no limits as to how far everything could go in games. Houses made out of trees. The bridges between them made of their branches. Then the translucent pedestals on which people walked. Then the richer houses had blue and green were decorated with blue and green crystals. From afar those crystals were shining with small lights. -they look like fireflies! Julia commented. -even the blue ones? Arata asked. -those are the blue fireflies. -no I am positive that blue fireflies dont exist. -they definitely do, you shouldnt give up hope and your dreams. -well in this world they might really exist. -see, thats how you should think. As long as you believe in something, it will definitely come true one day. Ah, if only life was as easy as she says. Arata was not really convinced by Julias words. -Julia can I ask you something? -yes? Levi asked and Julia answered with not so sure voice. -why did you take such liking to Arata in such short time? From what I saw, you actually dont have that big of connection with other people with whom you spent a lot of time already. Levi did not hold back while asking this question. -I wont answer that. All I can say is Arata is my friend with whom I am not afraid to spend time with. -thats some strange answer, does it mean that you are afraid to spend time with others. -I am not saying anything else to you. -wait, dont tell me you hate me. Levi as always had a great popularity. -no, because you joined us for the time being you are my friend, so I dont hate you. Still, at the same time I dont want to get involved with you in any way. -but that does mean you hate me. -well our definitions of that word is a little different I guess. If I did hate you I wouldnt be speaking with you right now, would I? -glad to hear that. Anyway I am not the type that wants to be liked by everyone so as long as you dont hate me I am fine. He is easygoing about everything as always. They continued down the main road and after few minutes found the place that was selling food. They found it with the power of smell. It wasnt a restaurant though but just small stall build in the tree. There were two elves selling and preparing food on the notice. It was in a way a food restaurant. Also the food that they were selling was strangely familiar to Turkish kebab. -I want to try that! Julia said right away after seeing it. -it doesnt look any special. Its more like common food that they sell at every corner of the city. We should rather go for some exotic elven recipes that were made in this game. -Levi is right, it does look like simple kebab, not that kebab is bad but we probably can easily find something better. Arata also commented. -kebab? I never heard of a dish like that. -well if you are speaking like that then we will try out elven kebab. I also didnt eat one quite in a while. -although it looks the same the taste may be different so I am also in. Levi also agreed and they ended up ordering three elven kebabs and eat them. Then they continued with the exploring. They didnt exactly have a place of destination but simply continued forward to the same road that leaded to the center. Unlike Karma, it didnt take them long before they reached it and upon reaching it they were welcomed with big surprise. Right in the middle of the center plaza there was large four meters in high bronze statue of a man in a long cloak. He was holding the staff in right hand in a way that it was touching the ground. Then with other hand he was pointing to the left. The state looked so realistic that it was as if that statue just moved and made the signal. Arata and Levi didnt recognize the statue at first but Julia could recognize with single glance. -its Shin! She shouted and ran up to see it close. After the second glance the statue did indeed look like him. -I wonder what they exactly did in this village. I didnt hear about many people who managed to get a statue build for their achievements. Levi commented. -that means there are few. -you can bet. Also those statues usually have some writing near them so lets check it out They did indeed found writing but there wasnt much information. -ah, I also want a statue like that for everybody to see my greatness. Levi commented. -I dont know about other statues but this one is hidden in a village that usually doesnt allow players to come in so nobody will see this one. Arata said that because he wanted to hide his jealousy. In the end everyone would want a large bronze statue build for them. Julia ended up returning to them after inspecting the statue from each side. -it was worth coming here after all. -Julia, what exactly did Shin did to get a statue like that? If I find out and repeat it somewhere, I will get my own statue that will be even bigger than this one. Arata was a sore loser if it came to things like that. -they defended this village from demons invasion that came from the west. I see, so I just need to defend a village from a demon invasion. =demon invasion!? Arata and Levi shouted out loud. -thats what I heard. But I never really heard the full story but I do know that Shin never consider that fight his victory. -there was a demon invasion here yet the village still stands and he even got some large statue build for his deeds. What else would you call a victory? Levi asked. -its probably because too many people died. I didnt hear much about this fight as none really wanted to speak about it but from what I learned it ended up with 80% of this village population dying in battle, following 10% died from wounds few days later. -thats leaves 10% that survive the battle. No wonder the streets are empty. Arata answered. -its not only that. Most of the people we saw here were quite young Levi added. -it is probably because in battle everyone who was old enough to hold a weapon was sent to fight. I cant say it was a bad decision though as it was probably the only decision that could be made. It was Shin decision so it was probably best possible strategy. -no, there was another way. Out of nowhere from behind them a voice came. The one who said those words was the man who was shown at the large statue. -Shin! Julia said out loud. -I heard what you talk about so I couldnt help but say something. He walked closer to them. -you already did say something, so maybe you should also expand that thought. Arata said to Shin. Hearing that, Shin smiled a little and continued. -I dont really like to scramble that old wound but I might as well finish what I started. The other choice that could be made was to abandon the village. We knew invasion was coming 5 days before it started. It would be plenty of time to evacuate everyone. -but what about the village, it would be completely destroyed? Arata asked. -village can be rebuild, lives cannot be taken back. -still in the end those were all NPCs, its not like anyone really died. Levi added. - Shin didnt say anything back to it at first but then continued. -at that time the only thing I thought about was that we can have an epic battle like in books and movies. We will probably die while fighting but it will definitely be worth to experience that battle. Were our thoughts and as we thought, it was the most spectacular, the most difficult and the most exciting fight we or at least I took part in. I was leading the defence of the city, coming up with the strategies to defend against the powerful and overwhelming force. I was even being called a general by soldiers. It all gave me an incredible feeling. But then the battle ended and someone shouted we are victorious Shin stopped for a moment as his voice become somewhat unstable but soon he continued. -only then did I realize what actually happened throughout the battle. Decisions that I made during it was not something normal human would make. Before the battle, I said that everything will turn out good and then without a moment of thought, I sent everyone to die with single command. They are just NPCs. It was exactly what I thought, but thoughts left me right away when I saw all bodies scattered everywhere and the very few survivors crying over loss of their loved ones Shin stopped for a moment once again and then continued. -even though this is an imaginary world the people here are as real as any others. Actually in this world, NPCs are much more real than the players like us because when they die they dont return. Shin made quite a long monologue. I do understand where he is coming from. Although I didnt meet that many NPCs, every one of them was real. The one I was closest with Marco from the beginners city. I would definitely not think that he is just NPC while seeing his dead body. -NPCs here are not what we are familiar with from other games. The NPCs are simply inhabitants of this world, and that is probably the best way to describe them. Arata ended up speaking out to which Shin smiled again. -I decided to tell you all that so you dont repeat my mistake but I guess it wasnt needed. Anyway there are few places that I was ordered to go to so I will be going now. Ordered? -where are you going, can I go with you? Julia interrupted. -its something that I didnt want others to trouble with so I going alone. -I definitely wont feel troubled and if it something that troubles you then I want to help! Julia was not giving up. Shin start thinking about something for a moment and then asked. -okay Julia. Depending on your answer I might consider asking you for help in this matter. I must say that I dont feel confident in it at all. Or rather I am the last person that should do it, still the orders are orders. -something that even you have trouble with, what is it? -hold on, first the question. Julia, how do you feel about kids? - When Shin asked the question Julia went red instantly. -you mean? -no dont try to over interpret it but simply answer. Do you like them or do you hate them? And how do you deal with them in general. -what about you Shin? -neither of those two but I am definitely bad with dealing with them. Anyway answer quickly because I dont want to be late. -one cant really hate kids can they. You can get angry at them from time to time but you definitely cant hate them, it is what I think at least. As for liking, for me it depends on a kid, just like with any other person. As for dealing with them, I have a little experience as I have two younger siblings. -oh, you will really be helpful then. Julia, it may trouble you a little but I would ask you to come with me. -its me who wanted to help! -yes, but I am interrupting you something. -Shin you can interrupt me any time you want and also they wont mind, right Arata, Levi? Arata and Levi nodded. -in that case come. It will be a hardest battle that I ever fought but maybe with your help it will work out somehow. Also, I will definitely pay back you for it later. Shin said to Julia while they already started walking. -you still didnt tell me what it is about. -the later you know the better. Soon enough they walked out from hearing range. -hey Arata, when you mentioned that she likes someone you meant that guy? Levi ended up asking. -yes, how did you know? -it doesnt take a genius to figure it out, ah what does she even see in him? -I dont know what women consider as attractive but he is someone who managed to get this bronze statue so maybe there is something to see. They once again looked at the bronze statue and the sign before it that described to who it belonged. On the sign there was only one note. [General Shin, savior of Larisane] Next Chapter Chapter 34 “Second round” Chapter 34 Second round Larisane is a hidden village that is not vastly known by people. The main reason for that would be because it was not accessible to them. Anyone who tried to get to Larisane would be stopped by its defenders before reaching the actual place. With time, some even started to think that there wasnt any village there in the first place and the talk about beautiful elven village hidden within a forest became a legend. Of course there were few people that tried to uncover if Larisane truly exist and some of them even managed to do so. Still even if they did confirm the fact that the village did exist, that knowledge would soon fade away in numberous rumors of EOA as knowing that the village is there still didnt mean that people can access it. However, from time to time there would appear few visitors in the village that would be granted access to it. Those visitors would be able to see many incredible things in the city, learn its history or even get a quest or two. Because there were only few players that could visit that village the quests would not run out that easily. Still even then the quest would not be easy to get but with enough work and good reputation, it could be get. In a way, unknown villages, that doesnt usually allow players to get inside, were the best possible place to look for quests. People that somehow managed to get there would usually start with looking for those. Even if they got a temporary access like only one time visit, if they managed to get a quest they would automatically receive a right to come there again. Still, as always there were few exceptions to that rule. For example someone rather than looking for quests or even go sightseeing would prefer to go cookie hunting. -yummyyyyy! -yummy! At the current time there were even two examples like that present. -Mary, you must taste this one next, its the best cake I ever ate. Hmm but this one also looks good Rin said to her friend and then took bite at another cake that was on her plate. Somehow the cookie hunting turned into cake hunting as well. -wait, I change my mind, this one it the best cake I ever ate. Although Then she took a bite at previous cake. -ahhh! I dont know anymore, its hard to compare chocolate cake with strawberry cake. Anyway Mary, you should try both of them. -munch, munch, yeeessss, laaater Amy. Yume answered, although it was little hard to understand her as she had her mouths filled completely. -is this one also really good? Rin asked while pointing at Yumes plate. -mmmhh, mmmhh. Yume ended up answering by nodding. -in that case one more of banana one please! Rin ended up ordering by shouting. Right now they were in a small cake shop that only had one table in it. It wasnt a restaurant but when Rin and Yume asked the clerk if they can eat there, there was no problem. Soon enough a large cake came flying Rins way. In this shop there were no waiters, as one would simply only buy here, rather than eat inside. Still should people like that appeared as well, the clerk was prepared and he was sending it to the table with a use of levitation magic. Why someone who could with good precision send flying plates to a table would work in a cake shop was a question that Rin didnt bother to think about. There were many more important things that she had to do. -yummyyyyy! Like eating every possible type of cake in this shop and that was what Rin was actually going to do. Great feature about EOA was that no matter how much you ate, you would always be able to somehow put more, and then despite eating all that, you would not get fat at all. Rather, you would become slimmer as after logging out, you wouldnt have an appetite to eat anything. After about two hours that Rin and Yume spent on eating cakes, they finally had enough and left the shop. Nearby it, they found a free bench and ended up sitting there. Even though you could eat endlessly you would still get a feeling of fullness at some point so, right now walking around was something that neither of them wanted to do. -how do you like this village, Amy? Yume ended up asking Rin by the name that she would only use when they were alone. -I didnt see too much of it but they have good cakes and there are no players walking around, its great place to live. There wasnt too much to think about. Even though Rin did have somewhat bad opinion on elves, mostly because of atmosphere in elven district in Karma, this place was nice and quiet. -yes it is. Its a little sad that we cant stay here for too long but only for three days. -and why is that? -that is for how long we have been allowed here to stay for, I cant tell you any details though as I dont know them. -normally this village doesnt allow anyone so three days are more than one can ask for. -yes its a rare occasion, you should be happy that you decided to join with us. -it was all Aratas idea. I am still not convinced it was a good idea though. -you are still saying it, Amy? You really do hate being with us that much. -no, I didnt mean that. So far I am just staying in the corner and no one bothers me for most of the time so its not that bad. Well with few exceptions, no one bothers me. Also not everything that came out from this decision was bad. For example as you said, I managed to get here and taste all those cakes only thanks to that. -so why do you think it wasnt good idea, Amy? -its more concerning the quest. You see Mary, sometimes less is more. Rin explained her reasons in ununderstandable way. -emm sorry I dont get it. -well, what I wanted to say is that, sometimes you can do a lot more with fewer people. -so, you are saying again that we are just getting in your way. Ah, Amy why cant you stop thinking like that? -no its not like that either, although I cant say that you wont get in a way. Still, what I wanted to say is that with smaller party there would be more options for us. Rather than fighting our way through, we could simply sneak by and fight only when necessary. Hmm, now that I think about it, if I were to simply do it alone, I would definitely arrive to that gate, without much trouble. Rin thought like that. -knowing you, you would probably want to do it alone in the first place. Ah, she found out. -no, its not like that. Also I wouldnt even arrive at this point if it werent for Arata. It was all thanks to him that we managed to complete the first quest from the chain. Just by having good connections, you can complete a quest in a second. Maybe I shouldnt decline all guild offers like that, if for example I just joined in name and get some privileges it wouldnt be a bad deal. People would stop try to recruit me as well if I already was in a guild. Still, in the end it will probably be not worth it. Also even if I could complete quest like this thanks to joining the guild, in the first place, completing them like that has no meaning. In quests, Rin was not looking for rewards or for good storylines, or even epic adventures. For her quest were something that she could fill her time with and focusing on them would make the time go faster and keep her away from thinking about other things. -right. If we are already talking about Arata, why did you start fighting with him all of sudden? You were on such good term already. Yume ended up asking about the accident that happened before. -Mary, I dont want to speak about it. I am now in a good mood after eating those cakes and I would not want to destroy it. I will just tell you that me and Arata are on as good terms as we probably can be. -you shouldnt limit yourself by saying that. -no, I will limit myself because there is no other way. I already did tell you about him, didnt I? -yes, but so what? Even though you knew him, you didnt practically talk with him at all. -Mary, just stop okay. -fine, fine. Then lets change the topic and let me ask you, how do you see our group so far? -why do you ask me that? -well, I am partly interested as well, but mostly because someone will probably end up asking me how did Rin liked being with us? -tell them that I didnt like it. Rin was not playing around with an answer and wanted to finish this topic quickly. -okay I will and the reasons? I will not get away with an answer like that. -reasons? Why do you even ask Mary, its same reason as always and there is nothing I can do about it. - . Yume stopped immediately hearing Rins answer. Seeing it Rin started. -dont worry Mary, it wasnt your fault that I remembered it. Also you know that I am already used to it. Anyway if you want some relation from me then sure I will tell you. The atmosphere cleaned with those words. -really? So how is it? The conversation went back the question. -lets start, I dont really have an opinion about everyone but you can at least tell my opponent from my previous fight that I enjoyed fighting him. Congratulate him on his endurance. -oh! I will definitely pass on that message. Yume become incredibly happy after hearing that from Rin. -you can also congratulate those two that managed to win against two idiots from my party wait! Dont congratulate that guy but only the other one. Then lastly, most important message, do remember to tell that other guy that he is going to have a painful and slow death for what he has done to you. Rin was serious about it. -why all of sudden? And here it was going all good. -why? Isnt it obvious? He killed you remember? -yes but it was just a tournament. -see there is no problem then, I will also just fight him in a tournament. There will be no mercy though. -Amy, couldnt you consider it once more? Dont do this and remember that it was my fault for losing not his. Well its true I am little unfair. -okay, in that case I will give him a quick death. -ah why does it always come to that? Dont you feel at least a bit excited about your next fight? You normally like to fight good players dont you and Hiro is really good. -I cant feel excited when I didnt see anything out from him apart from his third rate imitation. Right! Its good thing that you reminded me Mary. I also have to punish him for making fun of masters style. Sorry Mary, it looks like quick death is not an option anymore. -shouldnt you rather congratulate him for learning that all by himself! For normal people that dont know how the original should look, it is impressive. Also Hiro would probably be happy if you complemented him. -I dont care if he is happy or not, but sure I might as well complement him if he manages to entertain me. But if he will try to do it with his half assed swordsmanship then it will rather irritate me and you know what happens to those who irritate me. -relax, usual his fighting methods are completely different. He just got two bad cards and probably didnt have a choice Yume did her best to defend her teammate from Rins wrath. -then Amy, would there be anyone that you would found fighting interesting and you feel like you would enjoy it? -I would like that have a fight with the one that leaded the tournament. -you mean Musashi? -yes, him. I wouldnt say that he could win against me but I would say that I might have a lot of fun while trying to break through his defence. It might be even as fun as trying to break through Shieldbearer until I found the perfect method for him. -anyone else? -based on what they show so far then I dont exactly have anyone else to point out. Even though I did enjoy looking at Levi and that other guy fight, fighting them would not be as enjoyable as even though they are not bad, their swordsmanship is not refined. -Amy, I already did mention it to you but not everyone did learn under master fighter for few years before they started playing this game. -I also know it but especially now that I had an occasion to fight someone who did learn under master fighter just like me, I was reminded once more how entertaining a fight can be. I even felt like I could start singing while fighting him, I dont think there is anything that can beat that. -isnt it just a nostalgia effect? -maybe it is. But as I said, I cant feel like that if the fight does involve game skills. -I guess it depends on what one likes. I personally dont like both and I think fighting element should be removed from this game in the first place. -I dont know much about games but wouldnt this one lose its meaning without fighting in it? Rin asked as Yume started making some crazy theories about MMORPG without fighting. -thats how I feel, I dont know if it would be good or bad I would definitely get bored if there wasnt any fighting here. -anyway Amy, its a rare occasion that we are together not in Karma so lets go look around, there should be plenty of things to see. For starter, lets try walking through that transparent bridge. -sounds like good idea, lets go. And so Rin and Yume did just that. To reach the transparent platform one would have to find the right tree. There were many ways to get to the upper level of Larisane but for someone completely new to the city it was not an obvious way. Still, with Yume asking for direction every ten meters, finding the way didnt took them too much time. They entered the right house there in which there were stairs made of branches that leaded upward. The so called tree upper level in Larisane was made of two things. One was the branches that spread around and connected to other branches, other was the transparent crystal platforms and bridges. The houses were still the same, they were in the trunks. There was only slightly smaller number of people on the upper level than on the ground. Upon reaching the top level, Yume spotted a familiar figure and right away called out. -hey Mika, where did you lost your brother? The figure had a long azure hair and was wearing a magical robe. -ah, Yume its you, good morning The girl answered politely. -if you are looking for Hiro then he doesnt want to be disturbed right now, so if its nothing serious dont bother him right now. -I wasnt looking for him but what is he doing that he even sent you away? -he said that he will be preparing for a fight against aaa. Mika stopped when she realized who was standing behind Yume. -she is not biting anyone, relax. - . Even though Yume tried to calm her down it didnt work well. Rather it looked like Mika could start running any second, that or crying out loudly. -Rin, could you do something that would calm her down? -its your friend not mine, but as for what will calm her down, the best would probably be if I simply walk away. Rin would not make it easier on Yume, either. -Mika, I know what stories you heard but you should already make an opinion of yours about her. You saw how she behaved those past few days so you should already understand her little. I know you have some bad memories with her but try to do that. Bad memories? Ah right, the time that I killed her. I didnt even bother to remember as she died way too fast. Yumes words did work more or less and it stopped Mika from running away. Mika didnt say anything to Rin though, but then she did whisper to Yume something and then Yume said to Rin. -Rin it looks like she doesnt feel ready to talk with you but she wants to ask you something Its better if I just be done with it fast. -okay. -she asks if Arata passed the message. -what message? Rin did not know what it was about. Yume once again listened to Mika. -it was an apology of sort that what she says at least. -I dont remember anything like that. -knowing him he probably forgot Yume said then Mika once again whispered to him. -now she asks if you hate her brother for what he said on tactical meeting? By the way her brother is the guy that you are fighting next, the one with azure hair just like her. What is with that question? -if she wants a serious answer then tell her that I dont hate anyone. To hate someone, I would first need to be involved with that person. Although, now that I think about it, I never really hated anyone. I might have said it but never truly felt like that. In the first place what does it exactly mean to hate someone? After Rins answer Mika whispered once again. -oo now she says that you dont seem that scary anymore, she also likes your silky hair. -what you said doesnt seem that real as she is still talking through you. Rin answered and was still making it as awkward as possible to let it end quickly. -no, no, Mika was always like that from what I remember. It usually takes her a week to actually speak with new meet person. Even I had a problem on talking with her at first Then Mika whispered the last words to Yume and then she walked away. -now she said that it was nice talking with you but she doesnt want to disrupt us so she will be going now. Strange girl. Rin could only describe her as that. After sightseeing from the transparent platform Rin and Yume returned to the ground. Yume was leading Rin somewhere as before, when they were above Yume managed to spot something and she wanted to confirm what she saw as even though she did saw some image she said she wont believe it till she see it from closer. Soon enough they reached their destination. It was a playground near some kind of temple. To Rin, it looked nothing unusual, just a simple playground where kids could play should they want to, although it was a little strange that it was quiet there. Rin had an occasion to see a similar playground in Karma and it was always filled with noises of playing kids. -why did we came here Mary? -just wait a minute, Amy. This way, this way. They ended up entering through a small gate and when Rin walked pass the hedge she saw on the right what Yume wanted to show here. -one more story! One more story! -hey play with us again! -hear our song again, hero! -teach us some human magic! There were numberous kids running around a playground or rather one spot in particular. Right in the middle of that spot there was a man with black hair. He was wearing a white cloak that at this moment was dragged in every direction possible by the kids that were around the man. -haha, so I did see it right. Yume said out loudly after seeing the scene. Well, I do understand why she did not believe it. Still seeing what is happening, I can only feel sorry for that man. Rin tried to imagine herself in the middle of that storm but she finished immediately as even imagining it was not safe. But then someone came to the man rescue. -everyone, we will have to go in twenty minutes so I will start telling the last story that you asked for, come here and give the tired hero a second of rest because after that he has great battles to fight! -yes! The kids that were surrounding Shin answered all at once and then all run up to the girl that called them. It was a girl with a long light brown hair with a braid going around the back of her head. She was wearing a long white-brown coat like jacket on a white shirt and brown miniskirt. She was also wearing a long boots. Rin even managed to remember the name of that girl and it was Julia. All kids were quite obedient to her and when she started to tell them the story they all stayed quiet and listened with attention. In the meantime Yume went to finally freed Shin and Rin went two meters behind her. -hey Shin, what are you doing? Yume end up asking. -Yume, is that really you? Please kill me if you are not an illusion! Shin answered but his voice was really worn out. -haha, dont joke like that. -the worst part is that I am not joking. But you asked what I am doing Somehow in few seconds Shin went back to how he usually was. -hmm to summarize it. I think that today I was paying for sins that I did not commit because no deeds deserve a punishment like this. Shin answered in metaphor. -from afar it looked like you had quite the fun. Yume answered to him. Which part of that would you call fun? -fun you say? You know Yume, after those few hours I started to think that our defence of this city did not end yet. After all, the demons did invade this city and they are still here, they just took the form of kids to fool everyone. -haha, you started telling fun jokes Shin. Despite what you say you seems to be in a good humor. -good humor? Well you might say that. I cheer myself up by comparing the current situation with what I imagined could happen. Well what I expect did indeed happen but because I had help I managed to survive through it all. I will not be able to thank enough Julia for that. -it shouldnt be hard for you to thank her. Lets see, go ask her for a date, this should paid off your debt. Yume advise him. -dont even joke like that. -I just telling you, if you want to thank her just do that, you will see how happy she will become. Well I did promised not to involve myself with it so anyway Shin, are you perhaps bad with kids? -I wouldnt say bad but when they outnumber me like this I didnt know what to do. And to answer your previous question, I doing it because Hikari asked me to do it, as it was my duty as village hero she said. I never asked to be that hero though. There is also a matter that I dont deserve that title either but it was too late before I realized that everything went that far and there is nothing that can be done about it. -you will have to play that part then. -as long as it only once in a while, I can somehow survive it. Anyway what are you two doing here? -nothing in particular we are just sightseeing. -I see. Well it should soon be a time for a second round so you will have to continue it later. -but how are you planning of fighting when you are worn out like that? Yume end up asking. Indeed Shin didnt rest much after the first fights, he rather got more tired. -I would end up losing anyway so there is not a problem, is there? In the first place its a miracle that I even managed to win against Bran It didnt look like that to me. And if you call that fight a miracle, what would you call a fight in which you won against Arata? -well, my fight is already decided but other fights will be something that I want to look out. I still want to see what the twilight swordsman can really do as I think that we still only glanced at his ability. -even though you managed to win against him already? -hahahaha, I managed to win, thats a good joke. -but you did win. -so I am still interested in how far Arata can go, then I am also little interested in how Julia progressed over pass few months when I wasnt here. If Musashi and Kei dont get any troll cards it will also be really good fight and I will be able to grasp their form completely so it will also be interesting. But lastly the thing I am most interested in is a last fight and in particular how good has Hiro become lately. I not sure if he did really took that break or not but whatever he did or not it also does not matter as even before that break it was long time since I saw him fighting seriously. -now, that you said that. It did seem that he wasnt trying too hard lately but still always did everything perfectly and then whenever I asked Mika what he is doing the answer would be he is training. -yes, I was quite interested in how far his training brought him and how far can I push him right now in the fights now. That information will definitely come in handy in this expedition. I already managed to grasp most of people strength from our group but two still remain unknown and they are Arata and Hiro. Hiro, mostly. -then what about me? Rin ended up asking and entered conversation. -you are outside of my scale so I wont even try to grasp you. I know that you will manage any situation that we arrive at, and if you dont then I am sure that it will mean our instant doom. Hopeful it wont happen, although I do expect it to happen, its a west after all. Well we can only try our best to not let that happen. With that said Shin stand up from his chair and then walked to where Julia was. There he said some last words to kids and he and Julia walked away, then everyone together started walking as the time for a second round was drawing near. When they were walking Julia was in more than a good mood by Rins opinion. It looked like Yume also had that opinion so she ended up asking. -Julia, something good happened to you? -do you even have to ask Yume! You did saw it didnt you. For the first time Shin did really rally on me, for the first time I feel that I actually did help him, normally it always feels like he can do everything by himself. Julia answered smiling, she was pleased as punch. -I do know what you mean. -I dont know what you two mean by that though. Also if you could, dont talk about me in my presence. Yume and Julia were not really concerned by Shin presence next to them when they talked. -what, you dont want to hear our opinion? Yume asked. -no. Anyway I was finally freed from my torture and I need some time to get over it. -rather than getting over it you should rather enjoy the moment. Right now you are surrounded by three beautiful girls, shouldnt you feel excited? Yume was not making it easy for Shin, still his shell was not easily broken. -excited? Why should I feel excited about it? Maybe if it was in real world hmm no that would still be not excitement but nervousness, now that I think about it that situation would be somewhat scary. I really dont want to go through that. -I think that you are just saying that. -am I? -yes and I will prove it to you here. Yume speed up a little and then she ended up pushing Julia right into where Shin was going. -aaa! Julia was going to go right into him but she was completely unprepared for it. Still Yumes intention did not happened as Julia rather than landing in Shins arms ended up going through his body. Clone? -ha? -I predicted that something bad might have happened so for my own safety I prepared a double. I dont know what your intention was but you nearly knocked Julia. Shin said out of nowhere as his clone disappeared. Julia did in fact nearly fall to the ground but she somehow stopped in an air before falling completely. Then the true figure of Shin started to appear. He managed to catch her and prevented her from falling. In a way Yumes plan did work out like intended. -ah! I am sorry Julia! -yes, you should be but this time its my thanks. Julia answered while being helped up to stand up. -ah, what do I have with you. Shin said out loudly and helped Julia back on her feet. -so how was it, did you get any excited? - . Shin did not answer to Yume and started to walk faster. I looked like he had enough already and was really annoyed. -ah, Yume, see what you have done!? -I was just trying to start a conversation. It was a little too quiet given that there are four people. But sorry I wasted your chance Julia. -I already feel fulfilled today so dont worry. -by the way, you also were quite quiet before, which was unlike you. -thats because in those pass few hours I understood something about Shin, something that I didnt saw before. -what would that be? -well, I cant really describe it well, but that makes me love him even more. -didnt you once said that you cant love someone more that you loved Shin already? -I was simply wrong that time. -well as always I will simply wish you luck on this and as promised I wont involve myself in it. Still Julia, one question, how did it happened that you ended up helping him together. As far as I remember he left quite early and alone after all fights ended. -well about that Julia explained everything to Yume. Rin was not really listening to that though. She was also not listening to any of their earlier talk either as she saw it as a pointless chatter. Right now she was just enduring all this and the thing she most waited for was a journey to the west. For her todays tournament was also more waste of time. She did see the main point why it was played out but she didnt see point in her participating in it. She rather felt like she was simply getting in a way and make this tournament really unbalanced. They soon arrived in a place where previous rounds of the tournament were played. Most of people were already there but some were still missing. Rin once again walked away from everyone and took the role of spectator. -Shin, although the few people are missing we could start already now that Julia is here, dont you think. Upon noticing their arrival Musashi commented. -there is no need to rush and only few are missing so we could wait a minute. It also is not the given time yet. If you want to start though go ahead. Shin answered and also walked to the spot in which he was previously sitting. -guess I will ask the participants of the first fight Because both Arata and Julia were already here so the first fight could be fought out. Right now the only missing people were Vatras, Mika and Hiro. Before Musashi could even continue Vatras managed to get on time as well, although he was with unusual companion. Upon getting closer he only said. -I tried to talk her out from this but you know it was impossible Shin. The person that came with Vatras was Hikari. She was as Rin earlier understood this village elder. Although she didnt look old at all. She had blond-silver long straight hair, so one may argue about that but her face revealed that she would be at maximum Rins age. -Tras, I am not going to say anything and will simply watch from a distance so you can all behave like I am not here. Hikari said to him before anyone could react to her visit. -somehow I dont believe that can happen. The word silent does not go that well with you princess. From afar Bran, the dwarf with the black beard commented. -dont expect me to have any reaction from me for your provoking Bran. What you said is true though, I would like to have a companion while watching you fight. Hmm Hikari looked around and when she did her golden eyes stopped on Rin. -great, I think I found one. Anyway I will not take any of your time. You dont mean me, do you? Unfortunately Rins worries came true and the girl ended up walking in her direction. -wait Hikari, maybe its not the best idea! Even Shin who would usually stay passive tried to stop her. -I am not here, remember Hikari didnt even looked behind and continued forward. Everyones worries were quite under stable as Rin was not someone with whom you could easily have a happy conversation. Well, thats what everyone thought at least. -you wont mind if I sit here, wont you? Rin was taken by surprise by polite request so she couldnt do anything that agree to her. -but sitting on a rock is not that comfortable, isnt it? Lets change it asap Hikari just flipped her fingers in right hand and when that happened the rock that Rin was sitting on turned into a comfortable sofa that would be enough for ever two people of Rins and Hikaris posture which were quite similar. Wow its really soft. Rather than being surprised by that, Rin focused more on how good the sofa that appeared was. Hikari ended up sitting right next to Rin and started. -we still dont know each other, do we? My name is Hikari, what is yours? -Rin. -you have a nice name. - . What does she want from me? Rin could not read her intentions and was on high alert. -hmm as I thought you are not really talkative, are you? You wouldnt sit here all alone if you were, not in this group at least. -being in this group is one temporary thing for me. Rin decided to answer her. -I see it does not matter to me though, because I am not a part of this group as well Someone who is not a player couldnt be. -anyway I kind of like people that arent talkative. Anyway I do have a specific reason for choosing you as my companion. There are few less important reasons but this one thing I will have you answer me. -I dont mind, so what you wanted to ask. Rin was not wasting a second and went straight away. -well, that can wait for later, after all, I came here mostly to simply relax and see those guys fighting as it is entertaining in a way. -it doesnt seem like it will be starting yet though. Rin ended up saying it out loud. It seemed like Hikari was not expecting that and actually decided to stay a little more quiet as Rin was giving of leave me alone aura but now that she said something Hikari smiled. -so you dont mind talking with me? -why would I? -well as I said, you dont seem really talkative but thats not only that. Sometimes there are people that will not talk with me normally simply because I am not one of them. One of them? -you mean an adventurer? -yes that, some of you are really discriminating in that regard or rather because I am not an adventurer like them they feel that they need to treat me in different way. Well this group is an exception though. -I think it differs from person from person. Just like Rin answered treating inhabitants of this world was something that every player did differently. Generally everyone could be divided in four groups. The first one would be people who treat them as simple NPCs. Those people simply think that like in any other games the NPCs are some you talk with only when you need something from them. Those people would refrain from any other interaction with them and think of it as a waste of time. This group considered mostly people who were new to EOA. With time most of people would fall into either group two or three. The group two would be people that do interact with inhabitants of this world in less formal way and they do know that they are different from other games that they knew so far. They also know that getting friendly with NPCs gives one a lot of merits, from discount in the shop all the way to getting quest from them. The more important NPC was, the more merits you could get. For example the peak would probably be getting friendly with the NPC of the king in some country. Doing so was not easy but there were few people who managed to do so. The merits of having friend NPC like that were limitless. Thats why the second group would interact with NPCs actively. But in the end they would not treat them in a same way than other players like them. Even if they managed to get friendly with NPCs they would not be able to treat them equally to other people. In EOA most of the people belonged to this group. Still there were large chunk of people that belonged to group three. Group three was in a way similar to a group two but with a difference that people in group for could treat NPCs equally to other people. After spending enough time in this world they would understand people that were living in it fully and that having an NPC friend was exactly the same as having a friend in real life. It sometimes even went as far as having a mirage with someone from here. That occurrence would not be considered normal though, and at the current time it was lobed as the disease of the times. And lastly there was the last group. The people of this group are few but grouping them with any other group would do them no justice. The characteristic of that group was treating people from this world in a better way than players. Other way to describe those people would be oddballs. By the way, Rin was a rare example who would classify to group 4. That might be one of the reasons that when Hikari approach her, she didnt feel any unwillingness. Then there was also a fact that recently Rin was talking with others a lot more than usual. In fact she was talking more than she herself would want to. -I feel like I will have nice time talking with you, so lets do it Rin. When Rin started to answer to Hikari, Hikari was becoming more and more eager to continue the talk. She is already saying my name so freely. Maybe I should try as well. After all, she is not someone I need to be afraid of getting in touch with. -okay Hikari. When Rin answered like that Hikaris golden eyes actually lighten up. -ah, now I really feel like coming here was a good choice. Technically right now I am ditching some work. -but isnt it bad? -its wasnt that important and could easily be done some other time and if someone complains that I dont do my work, I have no problem with stepping down from my position or rather I really want to do that. -you are this village elder, arent you? -dont you dare to call me that Rin, do I look like old grandma to you? Because that is how I sometimes feel when people call me that. I kind of understand, I also have a names that I hate being called. -I wouldnt feel good calling you that anyway. How old are you though Hikari? Rin started to feel more and more comfortable in this conversation. Still, that was simply a difference when it came to Rins interaction with players and Rins interaction with non-players. -right now, I am 18 but try not to spread this information around. -you are younger than me then, only by a year though. When Rin answered Hikari smiled again. -as I thought, we are similar age. You know, one of the reasons I choose to sit here is because I thought I will have a chance for a normal conversation with someone my age. Its not like in this village there are lack of people who also are around my age but simply because of my position everyone treats me differently. -seems hard. -all I want right now is to live a life of a normal girl and have a freedom to do what I please. Unfortunately there is no one else who can take my position right now and as long as the village is still recovering I will need to stay here and do what has to be done. -does being a leader of this village take a lot of your time? -no, its not that bad. Also my responsibilities are generally not taking that much time. When nothing special is happening I have quite a lot time to do anything I want. The worst part however is that I cant leave this village and that prevents me from doing things I want the most. But I will not complain, with time, in a year or two, I will be able to pass on my title to someone else. -as long as you see the end you can survive anything. But how did it, happened that you became an elder Hikari? -well, its a long story which I dont really want to recall but in short, its all, that guy fault Hikari pointed in the direction where Shin was sitting. The fights did still not start yet. -now then maybe you will tell me something about yourself Rin. Like for example, why did you end up joining this team, even if only temporary? -why did I join? Its rather simple. They were planning an expedition to the west and I found myself in need to go there. There are two other people who joined with me so I didnt do it alone. -I see. I dont need to ask anything else, well you shouldnt regret it, I do know this group for some time now. Although its members are a little different than before, they hold a great power that can overcome anything. I saw it with my own eyes, so you can trust me on that. Although Rin, I must say that yours overall abilities greatly outclass anyone who belongs to this group. -why do you think so Hikari? Its the first time you see me? Rin ended up asking her. -its simply because I can tell someones power just by looking. And its doesnt even have to be looking at someones fight. I just need to see them and see their aura. -aura? -its an energy that truly describes someones power. Its hard to explain it to people who cant see it and so far I never meet anyone else with that ability so I dont know if I am the only person that can do that or not. Still, I did confirm that what I see is 100% correct. Rin you said that you are new in this party, right? Do you want me to tell you their power standing? It will not only come in your journey but also you might use it in this tournament. Although there will not really be any need for that I guess as you are really completely outclassing everyone here by far. -does that ability really tell the truth? -yes I graduate that, well even if you wont believe it completely right away, if you compare what I said with what you already know and seen from them, you may recognize that at least nothing is wrong and there are no errors. Well, I cant say I am not interested. I already did found out that this group is better than I last remember them. -somehow I already do believe you and anyway I would like to hear that. -okay then I will tell you and although I do not see it as numbers I will simply rank everyone by number that will symbolize their current power. I already looked over everyone when you first time came here today so I can tell you it right away. -how I will know what number means what? -the higher number the higher power. I will keep it simple and wont try to go into the details so 10 points will mean the strongest of you, and that is you of course If she would say differently, then I would not be able to believe her. Rin already had a good clue on everyones ability. After all, she did fight and also killed most of the people that were here with few exceptions at least once. -still I must say that you are really outclassing everyone here, the intensity of your aura is way above the average that I usually see. Even in the whole village there would be only one person that could stop you. -and who would that be? Rin got interested in what Hikari said although she did have a clue as to who would it be. -well, it does not matter. You wont be fighting that person anyway. And also, I wasnt going to mention anyone beside Shins team. -wait, you mean its not one of them? -no, I did say that that you are outclassing everyone here by far didnt I? But did you perhaps have anyone in mind. I might as well check again, I might have missed that person. So who is it Rin? -check that guy in black cloak with white-black hair. -him? Well I can already tell you that I didnt get him wrong as I did see him clearly as he spoke e to me when you all arrive but it wont hurt checking again Hikari focused her eyes on Hikari for three seconds and then continued. -yes, I wasnt wrong. I would say that he is over-all better than most here but its only if you compare them with others. I dont see any reason to think that he could win against you in a fight. -you are sure about it? -yes I am. You are not wrong thinking that he is good though, from all people here he would be at the second place together with two others and after them there is another gap between them and following people. Not as huge as between you and those three though. -then, in your scoring how much would he get? -those three at second place would get score of 6 at most. To explain the difference here I will simply say that even if they all fight against you at once they would still lose against you. -no, it shouldnt be right. Rin was sure that at least Arata should be able to keep up with her and should she lose the focus for an instant she could even lose. Also ever since she saw how he defeated the crimson knight, she was actually convinced that he didnt fight her seriously, thats why what Hikari was saying did not seem real to her. But then Hikari asked. -Rin, is your power the reason that you dont want to interact with other people in this group? -no, its not it. -still, you did overestimate someones ability so you dont have to feel alone. You wanted someone who would be same as you, didnt you? Rin did not think like Hikari just said. She herself knew the best how good was Arata in that other world, so she did not overestimate him because of wanting to meet someone on her level. Still, it was true that she wanted to meet someone who could keep up with her and enjoy a good fight. -in a way I do, but I didnt overestimate Arata because of that. -there is nothing wrong with what you did though, its not like everyone can tell someones ability just by looking, well unless its me Hikari lighten up the conversation again. -you will find strong people if you look for them though. In this world there are people to whom your power would mean nothing. Still, right now I do feel little bad that I told you that what you though was wrong. Even if its a lie, a thought of having someone equal to you near is precious and I did take it away. -you didnt do anything wrong and I still did not fully confirm that everything you said is as you see it. I think that someones ability cant be classified by number. They are also not something that stays the same. One day you might feel better, one day you may feel worse and because of that you might be stronger or weaker on those days. -you mean that time of a month? To Rins serious answer, Hikari joked around. -I didnt mean that! Rin answered with higher voice. -yes, yes, I do know that feeling well, you are not alone on this front Rin. The problem was that Hikari would not stop without continuing it. -its really not that! -haha. Hikari laughed out loud when she got that reaction from Rin. In the meantime the first fight of the second round of luck by draw tournament still did not started. There were few minor reasons for that like Hiro and Mika still missing but that wouldnt be a big problem as Hiros fight was coming last. The reason for delaying was in fact Hikaris and Rins conversation. Most of the people, if not everyone were surprised by how the two looked from afar. Rin left alone, most of the people here didnt know Hikari that well either. For them it was some really important NPC that was the head of this village. Even her appearance here, made some a sensation, but then her speaking happily with Rin from all people was more than strange. On the other hand for someone who just came here without knowing who they are, seeing Rin and Hikari, there would be nothing wrong about. It would just be two girls of about the same age chatting together happily, was there anything strange in that? Then someone that didnt find it strange at all did indeed come. For her who knew Hikari well and also did start to slowly understand Rin as well, it was somehow perfectly normal. -em, you didnt start yet? Mika said out loudly as she finally arrived. -no we didnt, we were waiting for you and Hiro, where is he by the way? Musashi asked. -I have a message from him. Until his fight begins, he wont be coming so no one disturbs him. He also did specifically tell me to mention that really no one should say anything to him until his fights begins. But if you want to know where he is, he is not too far so when it will be his turn for fight I can call him right away. -that shouldnt be a problem but what if a team fight appears and he gets chosen? -I did ask him the same and he said to pass on this massage. Em well it meant that he doesnt want to fight in team fights chose someone else. The way she answered did mean that he probably didnt say just that. -he does have his hands full with his own fight so lets give it to him, Musashi. Also didnt we decided last time that if in the later stage of the tournament the group fight appears, the priority would go to people who already lost? Vatras intervened. -yes, I think that we did agree to that. Anyway we already delayed enough so maybe we should get things started. So Arata, Julia, are you ready? -wait a minute Musashi! Suddenly Vivi interrupted him. -whats wrong Vivi? -you know I had a talk with everyone and we decided that you dont do that good of a job on leading this tournament. -its my first time I hear it. -aye, no one said anything, she just thought of that right now. Flynn commented. -well maybe not everyone but anyway as the one that is announcing the fights you should spice them up a little even before they start. With some good introduction you could make it much more interesting to watch, like for example what they are doing it in Arena. -Musashi is doing everything perfectly and there is no need for that Vivi. Even Shin ended up commenting. -but I think we will have more fun that way. Also we have an unexpected visitor so we should make it more enjoyable for her to watch After this argument no one said anything. -then its decided. -wait, wait, I am not doing any of that. It was your idea so you do it. I never asked to lead the tournaments anyway. Musashi ended up stepping down from the position and sit down next to Vatras, instead the Vivi was now going to lead it. Although, somehow in that moment, the seriousness of this tournament partly vanished. -I wasnt prepared for that but sure, although Vivi said and then started to look around. She soon found a person she need. -hey Yume! Help me out here, if it will be the two of us it will be the best show ever. -is it okay? -yes, come, come. Yume ended up being a second presenter as well and now the seriousness of the tournament completely vanished. -Vivi, I think I have a good idea listen for a bit. Yume and Vivi started talking to each other in whispers. -I have a bad feeling about this. Flynn commented. -aye, while listening to what they want to do and not only in this fight you will start to think you got lucky to get eliminated in the first round. Bran added as he did hear their whispers. -hey, maybe we should start already Julia, we are behind the time right?! Arata wanted to speed up the process before Yume and Vivi finished. -yes I think its a good idea. -no, no, no you two, you must wait till for the leading figure to start the fight. Thats how the rules go, right Shin? Vivi said out with an evil smile. -yes, but leading figure will be replaced if it slacks too much, just start the fight already. -yes, yes, just a second, Yume are you ready? Yume nodded and after five seconds of silence started. -welcome back, ladies and gentleman on the second round of twelfth luck by draw tournament. My name is Yume and I will be a commentator for todays fights and joining me there is Vivi. -hi everyone! Before I continue with tournament let me remind you that today we have a special guest with us. The youngest in history elder of Larisane, the great and only one Hikari! -everyone, applause! After Yume shouted someone did end up clapping and it was more than one person, although it died out fast. -haha, what they are doing? I did tell them to dont mind me? Hikari ended up being amused by the show. -those people always do what they want, you cant control them. Mary is especially uncontrollable one. And they only just started. Rin replied. -now everyone! The second round will begin and eight people will battle it out for the glory and prestige Vivi continued. There is neither of that in this pseudo tournament of theirs. -the first fight of the second round is between Julia and Arata. Yume what will you say to this match up? -the fate must be cruel to put those two against each other. Even though they know each other only for few days they are already really friendly with each other. -yes, I do know what you mean. Did you ever see Julia talking with other male one on one? -I did but only once and it was two days ago when she spoke with Arata. -and not only that they talked through entire night. Also we must remember that their talk might not exactly be talk, this is what they told us. -we will never know what really happened that night. We can only guess what two young people of the same age might have been doing during the night. They are both idiots. That was the only conclusion that Rin could arrive at. She didnt even want to place herself in Aratas position right now, although it looked like him and actually most of the people here already started to ignore what Yume and Vivi were saying. Still, there would be few people that didnt know the situation and would end up asking. -Rin, does those two go out? Hikari who was sitting next to Rin asked. -no they are not and also note for a future, ignore whatever they are saying so you will not get confused. -but what they say wasnt lies. I am good when it comes to see if someone is lying. -yes they are not lying. They simply take what really happen and try to color it with whatever they want. I see that people here are already resilient to it though so no one bothers to stop them. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.-ah, I see still as you said its not like what they say is a lie and who know what will happen in a future. It may as well be as they said. The strings of fate go in many directions. I dont see Arata changing in that regard though. Though Rin, while hearing what Hikari said. Still rather not seeing it coming, she was actually sure of it. She knew Arata well enough to know that the connection he has with his loved one is not something that can be broken. -okay, this is enough, start the fight already! Musashi voiced the thoughts of many who were listening to Yumes and Vivis introduction. -but we still didnt mention. Vivi complained. -no it was a bad idea to let you to do it. I will do this role again! -yes, please let Musashi do it! Konan ended up lamenting. -it doesnt even have to be him but anyone but them! Kuma also added. -Yume, Vivi sit down already and dont interfere! And at the end Flynn ended up shouting. -but its not fair! -okay then a fast voting. Is there a single person that want those two to continue? The only two that raised their hands were Yume and Vivi. -that seals the thing. -wait, wait, wait, another voting. This one was not fair as usual most of us dont mind either way. So lets vote if anyone is against us continuing? Surprisingly this time nearly everyone raised their hands. -thats seals the thing even more. Now Musashi do your job. The tournament returned to normal. -so before anything interrupts us again Julia draw the card already. As Musashi instructed Julia quickly draw one card and started reading it. -scenario: glass cannon against a boss. Condition: to win the match you have to hit your opponent only once. At the same time you lose if you got hit even once. -thankfully it looks like I wont have to kill you Julia. Arata said this after he heard the condition. There he goes again, I hope he gets beaten and learn something from it. -you sound quite confident but I think that this condition favors me. I dont think I would win in normal fight against you but if its only one hit then I might. I am quite confident in my speed. Julia answered to him. -I looking forward to the fight then. -okay, ready! Set! Go! And so the fight began. On the mark, Julia without delay started her attack. She passed the distance between her and Arata in blink of an eye before Arata actually got ready as he still had his swords sheathed. Her first attack was also really quick. The tempo, at which she unsheathed her rapier and thrusted it forward was incredible. Still even if she was confident in her speed, Arata was also more of speed type character so he was quick on uptake. He managed to parry the rapier up with first strike that came from unsheathing the sword. After that he made simple horizontal slash with the other sword. Julia managed to jump back in time before it got her. The first clash was finished but then Arata became somewhat transparent like a black ghost and dashed forward. Julia instantly tried to attack him as his attack had many weak points but her rapier went through Arata without resistance as if she slashed the wind. On the other hand Arata went through her like a ghost and stopped few meters behind her. In this confrontation he left a small wound on Julias right hand. He on the other hand didnt take any damage. It actually took few seconds for everyone to realize what just happened but soon Musashi shouted. -the winner Arata! He actually went ahead and used game skills in a fight!? It seemed that Arata didnt want this fight to last too long so he decided to end it in one go. -ah, it finished really fast. But it couldnt be otherwise if the fight was to one strike Hikari commented but at the moment Rin was not listening to her. This skill may proof troublesome. From where I saw it its practically not possible to counter it. All I can do is dodge it, but if he decides to use it when we are in the middle of exchanging blow I wont be able to avoid it in time. -what is it Rin? Hikari asked and this time Rin heard her. -nothing, I was just thinking of how some countermeasures against that skill. -I see. Well it indeed may look powerful but all you actually need to do is to counter it with the skill of your own. -skill of my own? -yes if you do so, his skill will not work like intended and all will end in clash of both of your skills simple as that I see so its like this. It still may not be easy to activate the skill in time but if its like that then as long as I realize that he wants to use it there shouldnt be any problems. And so the chances of Arata winning against Rin once again decreased. There was a reason to keep your skills hidden from others after all so you can afterwards surprise your potential opponent with it, still the purpose of this tournament was to let others see your skills so hiding them would be against the purpose of finding out what your teammates can do. -ah, maybe I shouldnt have told you that to keep things fair but you would have realize it by yourself and even if you didnt he still wouldnt have chances against you. -well, thanks for believing in me. -no rather than believing I do know that no one here has a realistic chance to win against. Hikari ended up saying but then she first looked surprised and then she stopped her gaze on one direction. -what is this color!? She said surprised and at the same time excited. -color? -ah, such beautiful aura, how could I miss it before? No, I couldnt miss it. Did someone new just came here? I didnt allow any other visitors today! Hikari stood up from the sofa and leaned to the right to see what was behind the tree that obscured her vision. Then she said. -Hiro? But, why? His aura was always dark blue and not like this. Even today at morning when he came here it was the same as always. Maybe little stronger it still felt similar to the one he had a year ago. But now he suddenly has this beautiful aura. -what do you mean by beautiful aura? Rin end up asking. To that Hikari sit back to the bench although it was clear that she kept on looking in that direction. -I did told you that I can see peoples aura and depending on their color and intensity I can tell someone strength. But now if I were to compare everyones aura here to the one that Hiro has right now they would all look blank. -you mean that his aura look stronger than everyones else? -no, no its not like that. Sure it looks strong but in comparison to yours it still has a long way to go. -then what? -hmm. Hmmm, annn no I cant explain it to you, you would have to see everything by yourself. Even explaining normal auras is hard enough. Anyway I can only say that his aura looks really beautiful right now. Rin still did not understand what Hikari meant by that but it was clear that she was looking at something that Rin did not see. Otherwise Rin could not think of a reason why someones eyes could be this excited by looking at a simple tree. Beautiful aura, hmm? I hope it means that he will be strong enough to entertain me. In the meantime the next round of tournament was about to start. Musashi and Kei were already on positions and Musashi just draw the card. Still despite that this fight looked to be interesting, Hikari decided that looking at the tree was more entertaining for her. Rin decided to ignore what she is doing and looked at the fight. -scenario He started reading. -additional power in the fight. Condition: you have to choose someone who is nearby and ask them for their one buff. The same person cant buff both fighters. After being buffed simply fight and win your fight. -hmm, that means that we will actually have a fair fight. I have been waiting for a day in which I will finally defeat you Musashi. Kei who usually was calm and collected was now somewhat excited. -hmm you never won against me even once did you? In that case it will be fair to let you chose the buff first. -no, no you can choose it first. -Musashi, the person who draws the card chooses first, read the last sentence as well. -its not here Shin. Musashi ended up showing him the card. -oh, you are right but still it should be there so you are choosing first. It seemed like Shin actually made a mistake. -it doesnt really change much who goes first as buffs are secondary thing, in that case I will Musashi answered but then. -wait a minute! Hey Shin, does someone nearby means anyone nearby? Musashi asked as if he realized something incredible. -well yes, thats how the rules are written. You can ask anyone that you see here oh. And then Shin stopped with a blank face. -Shin, did you perhaps not consider this one fully? Musashi asked. -I guess, to my defence its the leftover card from previous tournament and at that time a circumstance like this could not happen. Still Musashi you will not cheat and ask her for auto win right? -hmm, hiding my abilities before the next fight with Arata sounds appealing but I cant do this to Kei, after seeing him fired up like this. -what do you mean? Kei ended up asking not knowing what they were talking about. -well, the rules said everyone present right? -yes and? -that also means Hikari. - . When Musashi explained that, Kei somehow got quiet. -well, dont worry I am not a person who would feel good after winning it this way, I am not like Bran. -what do you mean by that Musashi. Its only fair to use the luck that the tournament has brought you. What if Kei take buff from Hikari instead? -he wont. Anyway, I will take +5% to everything from Thesar. Musashi said and right away Kei calmed down. -go Kei, destroy him now for this choice! Bran continued to urge to evil. -in this case I will take the same buff from Tras. Kei choose his buff ignoring Brans comments. In the first place in this tournament, everyone usually wanted to have a fair condition to test their strengths instead of unreasonable condition that make them automatic win. It would probably be impossible if it was a tournament full of strangers in which everyone want to win but here there was nothing like that. There was no satisfaction if the condition was unfair in the first place. Musashi and Kei moved to the fighting space and. -okay, I will anyway despite participating in the fight. Ready! Set, Go! The second battle of the second round has started and it was completely fair fight. Kei rushed forward the moment the fight started and Musashi right away prepared his defence. He held his large tower shield in front of him and with his free right hand he also held his trident forward. The moment Kei reached him which was few seconds after he started running he had to stop as otherwise he would end up on the trident that was before him. He tried to push it away with his sword to get forward but that only resulted in getting to the front of the shield that completely covered the space between him and Musashi. In this moment he quickly went back as staying before that shield was not safe. The situation returned to where it was before. Kei once again tried to break through the defense but then once again he had to stop before trident. With fast move he tried to move to the right to run away from it but Musashi only had to circle around and even though the positions changed a little the situation did not. Kei couldnt even reach Musashi shield at the current moment much less Musashi himself. -what is it? Its not any different from usual? Musashi ended up saying it. - . Kei did not answer though and get to the action right away. He went forward right onto the trident and this time the moment Musashi pierced with it Kei catch it with his glove protector. While holding it he moved forward. He once encountered the tower shield so Kei simply slashed at it with his sword. His sword shined with blue light when he did that but that gave completely no effect and Musashis shield didnt even move an inch back. Still after doing so Kei let go of his sword and stretched his hand to the right which was at the range where there was no shield. From there Kei casted a small fireball at threw it to Musashi. Still the moment he did that Musashi moved his shield to the left and the small fireball just landed on the shield without doing anything. -still not good- Musashi was going to say not good enough but in this moment Kei let go of his trident and no with his free left hand pierced forward. Apart from a glove protector that served as a defense he did not have any weapon there and his sword was connected to his right hand with the chain. Still in this moment black energy formed around Keis left hand and it seemed as if his hand turned into black spear. The important thing was that the pierce had free way to Musashi as he just moved his shield to the left to defend against the fireball but now probably he would prefer to ignore that attack and defend against this one. This attack, even if usually used with the sword rather than hand was Keis strongest attack and the moment it would meet Musashis armor, despite Musashi having good tank gear it would be not enough to defend against that and thats why Musashi did not let it happen. The moment that Keis attack was nearly there Musashi activated his own skill. In a place where he was going to be hit a new layer of defense was created. It was in a shape of transparent blue-gray crystal that appeared at space where Kei was going to hit. The dark spear upon clashing with the crystal stopped and started to try to break through it. The small parts of the crystal were scattering around but despite that the crystal layer was not broken as it regenerated itself. After 10 seconds when Keis skill effect ended the crystal that was so far only appearing on that spot spread completely over Musashis armor and not only. At the current moment Musashi was not wearing any helmet but a crystal helmet did appear on his head. Also his tower shield that was completely flat now had a crystal spikes on it. Some those spikes pierced through Kei as he was trying to stretch his body the furthest he could in his last attack. Now that it finished without success he wanted to somehow get away but Musashi did not give him this chance. -horya! With a battle shout Musashi started to run while keeping his shield with Kei still impaled on it. His destination was the nearby tree. Musashi ended up running right into that tree which in effect completely crushed Keis body. Well maybe not completely but more spikes impaled him more deeply. Still Kei was not wearing any armor but simple black shirt and jeans so he simply couldnt live through that. Musashi kept pushing his shield forward for about 10 seconds to make himself sure of his victory but the voices of pain disappeared the second Kei hit the tree so there was no real need for that. Musashi deactivated his skill after walking away from the tree and all crystals around him disappeared. Keis body slid down from the shield which no longer had spikes on it and fall to the ground without hints of living. The battle has ended. -well you won this one Musashi. Vatras announced the winner as it would be strange as Musashi himself would announce himself as a winner. Without waiting for anyone else Vatras started to heal Kei up. Musashi walked back towards his usual position. As I though, it would be interesting to try to break through his defense. Rin thought like that after seeing the fight. -ohhh, seems like Sashi is still as good as always. Hikari who was sitting next to Rin commented although from what Rin saw, Hikari was mostly busy with watching the tree rather then the fight. -Sashi? Who is Sashi? -Sashi is Sashi of course. Hikari answered like it was obvious. -and so Musashis nearly undefeated record against melee continues. Bran ended up commenting after the fight over there. -you are saying it like nothing, he nearly got me, I didnt know that he can use that skill without a sword. -dont say it like that you completely destroyed our ace Bran continued the praise. -ah how will we ever defeat that . In the distance Kuma ended up commenting. -yea, its impossible to win against Musashi as melee. Not only he has his long range tanking but also even if by some miracle you break through it you will encounter his crystal defense. He was speaking with Lee as they were both melee dps who couldnt ever win against Musashi and they were once again reminded of that fact. In the meantime Kei was healed up by Vatras and returned to his previous position also slightly depressed. -hey Kei, is it perhaps that our ace has lost his touch? Bran couldnt leave him be seeing that. -I never won against him and today was simply another day of the same thing. -by the way I can win against Musashi if I try hard enough so what does it make? -and I can defeat you so what does it make? Somehow usually quiet Kei was not easily taking comments right now. -is that so, maybe you want to try? -Bran, if you wanted to fight with him then you shouldnt have lost in the first round! Before it went out of hand Musashi stopped them. -I just tried to cheer him up, thats all. -oh, you tried to cheer him up by getting owned by him, aye Bran it was probably good idea. Flynn ended up joining in as well and some people started to laugh at Bran whose words finally turned against him. -ahh, Flynn against your brethren how could you? To that Flynn just showed him a big grin. Still this situation stopped Bran vs Kei fight and also repaired Keis humor after losing a fight. In the meantime Hikaris obsession with watching the tree finally got to the point where Rin decided to ask. -why do you think his aura is more beautifully than others? -hmm I already said that I cant explain it well, still if I had to point out then as I said its color. -color? And what color those auras has? -its differ from person to person but usually they have the same color as ones eyes. There are exceptions to that rule but its usually like this. -then does that mean mine is blue? -no you are one of few exception as yours is bright fierce red. -then what color does that guy has? -hmm, its not a simple color thats why its beautiful. I know! Because I cant say what color it is I will simply name it. I think that color of magic will be a fitting name. It is actually similar to what I thought magic would look like if it had a physical form Color of magic? -well his aura is slightly different than my imagination, its still has the foundations of his previous blue aura but then again it is very beautiful. I dont understand what made this change but I am happy that I can see it. -your explanation is not very helpful. -I would want to show it to you but I dont think that I will be able to reproduce this color and give it justice easily I already know I will try to do that later on though. Hmm for now I dont know, the best thing you can do is try looking him in the eyes. His aura changed so maybe his eyes changed as well. Still, that is just hopeful thinking as something like this does not happen. -the winner Shin! In the meantime it looked like another fight was held and it ended already in seconds and Rin didnt even notice what happened. Hmm? How did I miss it, just a second ago it was card choosing? Despite talking with Hikari, Rin was paying attention to what was happening with the tournament. She might have missed few points but she would not miss the whole fight. Still, second later everything was explained. =hahahaha. About half of people in the group were laughing. -we have been waiting for this one! -hahaha, I will never get tired of troll cards. -hahaha. -it happens Kuma, we all went through it once There were also few people that felt sorry for the person that draw YOU LOSE CARD just now but the number of people laughing was greater than those who tried to cheer him up. It was possible that the people who werent laughing also once experienced this fate at least once. There were many unfair cards in luck by draw tournament that favored one side greatly but there was nothing more unfair than simply drawing troll card. Still it seemed that this card served its purpose as people really couldnt stop laughing. -guys! Guys! We still have one more fight to go! Musashi tried to calm down the crowd and with some success at that as soon the laughter stopped. -ah right. After our ace its finally time to see Hiro gets obliterated. Bran commented right away. -ah, its been nice knowing him. Konan added. -wait, wait, maybe he will get some good card. With good card Hiro may be able to pull that off. Vivi commented. -and what card would be that Vivi? The troll card is not there anymore. Flynn disagreed. -I dont know. Maybe hmm no I cant think of anything. -what if it were a team fight and Hiro managed to get Shin? Vatras came up with proposition. -aye, maybe then it would be possible. -no its not possible. The other team card is 6v6 and it has additional rule that states that if that card is draw at the later stage of tournament the people who already lose have to be chosen before those who are still in a game. Right now there are 13 people who already lost so there is plenty to choose from. Shin quickly explained in case that the team card would be draw. -Shin, thats cheating! Vatras said to him. -those are the rules that were made before anything started, so I didnt cheat. Also I see no reason why someone would chose me. Also I dont want to share the obvious defeat. It is true that Shin couldnt foresee this situation to this extend. Also even if he was not to participate in a team battle if that card came, he would still have to face Rin in next round. Its my turn, although I dont expect anything interesting to happen. Rin stood up from the bench and started walking towards where everyone was. As to why she didnt expect anything interesting to happen, it was simple. She already fought against her next opponent twice. Although saying fought may have been a little bit too much. She simply happened to kill him twice and in both of those times she didnt feel any resistance from him. What was worse, he was a mage and Rin despised all mages in this game. Sure Rin did despised all players in general but mages in particular even though there werent that much of them were the ones that she despite the most. One reason for that was simply because she considered them all weak. Not in general strength but as a person. People who fought in melee were doing it with their bodies and while they fought, they were really learning something. In comparison, mages were simply casting their spells from afar and usually when their opponent got closed they would panic and die quickly soon after. For Rin, people who werent reeling on their skills at all were all trashes with the exception of her friend Yume of course. Still even in this case Rin was well aware of her friends little ability in fighting up close. While Rin was walking she saw as her opponent was also already coming. Although it was a little strange as he was walking while being led by his sister while he himself kept his eyes closed. -hey Hiro, whats this? You are already closing your eyes as you are afraid of looking how you are killed? Bran right away had to comment on that. -am I? And Hiro gave him calm response in puzzled voice which actually managed to silence the dwarf right away. -brother, we are in the right place. -okay. Thanks Mika. Rin also arrived at the place soon after. Whats with him? Well it doesnt matter to me. -Hiro is everything okay? Musashi ended up asking. -its more than okay but if you could start the fight already. It seemed like apart from having his eyes closed, everything was in norm. -wait a second, there is still a card to draw left. Rin could you draw the card please, its your turn. Rin nodded and walked towards the box. Then she took the first card from the top. She first read the first sentence as it was written in red letters but because it didnt change anything she read them once again. -warning, if this card is draw at the first fight of the first round put this card back and draw something else- -Shin what is with that card? Musashi ended up asking as a strange card appeared. -nothing, its just it wouldnt work if it were to be draw first but it wasnt draw first so there is no problem. -scenario Rin continued reading. -you yourself know what training you need the most, chose one from the previous cards that were draw as your fighting condition then continue with rules from that card. Note: because some cards are unfair to some people both players must agree to the chosen card. First the player, who draw the card propose the condition. Then the other player can either accept or decline and chose another card that werent brought up yet. If there is only one card left after that process to choose from that card is the condition. Some cards depends on who drew the card, in that case the person who is choosing the condition is like the person who draw the card -I think there is no additional explanation needed as this card had a lot of text so Rin. What condition will you first chose first? Musashi asked. Hmm, with a good card I might make it little interesting for me. Lets see, ah there was one that gave one player big advantage, it was even his. -I propose the card in which I get mana drained. Rin chose the most unfair condition for herself. -you are sure that- -denied! Hiro interrupted when Musashi wanted to ask if Rin just lost her mind. -is there any other card that you would want? I will agree to whatever you want although I dont think that there is anything more advantageous to you than this. -you said it Hiro right away answered Rins offer. I dont think there is a single condition which gives me bigger disadvantage that the one I chose but lets see what he wants. Playing under the condition that he feels comfortable might be more interesting. -the condition I want is the one that Shin and Bran had in their battle in first round. -you mean? Musashi asked. -all-out battle, no tricks, no rules! -ahhhhhh Rin actually ended up yawing out loud. -it will be so boring. But fine if thats what you want then sure. Rin was already disappointed but she already said that she will agree so she didnt want to change her mind now. -we will see if it will be boring for you. I was always dreaming of this moment and I dream still. Dreaming? -in those dreams, do you see yourself winning? Because of unusual use words Rin decided to ask. -no. Hiro response was rather unexpected. -then rather than dreaming you should have said that you have nightmares about it. -hmh Hiro smirked to her response. -I would never call them nightmares but anyway right now its finally time for me to wake up. And with that Hiro finally opened his eyes. -ah . But the eyes that could be seen right now, were not the same eyes he had before. Before they were simply dark blue and there was nothing unusual about them. This time however the color that they had could not be described easily. It was a mix of blue, purple, azure, black, green and few other colors that Rin could not name. Also that color was not consistent it was changing with every second as if those eyes were displaying some animation in it. The colors were circling and plotting with each other. And that was still not all to unusualness. Those eyes also emanated a small light that seemed to come out from the eyes in the same color as of the eyes. -hey Hiro!? Musashi who was the second close to them asked the question without use of words, as it was obvious what he wanted to ask about. -start the fight already Musashi, I cant keep it up for too long. Hiro quickly answered to him. -well I dont know what this is about but if that is your response then. Ready! Set! Go! With those words Musashi quickly moved away too much more distance than usual. Hiro without delay started. In both of his hands water appeared and they started to spin in incredible speed. From afar they looked like a small spinning balls. Although, normal balls couldnt spin in many different directions at the same time. Then he swung both of his hands backward and was a second apart from pushing those water spinning balls forward but then he suddenly stopped. -what is it? He asked as so far Rin didnt make a single move since the fight started. She just stood there looking at him. Still, when he asked Rin right away answered. -after finally seeing it I would also like to look at this beautiful color for a little bit longer. -hey! Our fight just started, you can look at whatever you want when we finish. Actually making a surprise attack would be the best move Hiro could make but his pride would not allow him to do so. -but it will not be possible to do it afterwards. -what are you talking about! What is that beautiful color? No, forget that, there is not time for chatter! I am attacking you so dont say afterwards that you werent prepared! -I am always prepared although if you stay like this for a little longer I might even consider giving you this win. After hearing those words, Hiro waited no longer. They were staying about four meters away from each other. Hiro finally pushed both of his hands forward and the spinning water balls flied off in Rins direction although. They wont hit me. Rin could see that both of them would simply pass her on left and right side without actually touching her. This attack probably assumed that the target would try to dodge but I can see it clearly, it wont hit me. Anyway its a little shame because as did that girl said, it is a nice color but I am going to finish it fast. I have to make revenge for Mary as well. The water balls were about to pass her so Rin unsheathed her swords and was about to run forward at her enemy to kill him in one hit, namely cutting his head off. But then the water balls which as she predicted didnt hit her exploded the moment they were going to pass by Rin. The only effect of that explosion was Rins red cloak getting little wet as there was little force behind that explosion. Still that made Rin stop her advance to check the sides if nothing else happened. It was a quick check but while doing so Hiro managed to lunch another water spinning ball forward. This time it was much larger one than previous two. Also its speed could not be compared to previous ones as it moved twice as fast. Rin still had a feeling that she shouldnt move left or right because of previous attack so she actually jumped up over the incoming water ball in direction of her enemy, so when she lands she can without delay continue with her plan. Her jump was incredibly high as it was two meters up from the ground. The spinning water ball was up to 1,5 meters so this was the distance that Rin judged safe. Jumping up two meters in height was not something that people could do but Rin did not use her skill leap for it. Right now with her avatar body she was capable of doing so without need for skill. While she was jumping over that ball, she saw that Hiro was preparing another spell. He once again had water spinning in his hands although this time it was slightly different. But there was not much time for observing as right away Hiro lifter his hands in her direction and then he said. Whats this? -spell seven, water laser. Rin did not understand why he said something out loudly and she didnt have time to ponder on that. Instantly a beam of water in high pressure came at her. Its epicentrum was Hiros hands. It came out at the high speed and high pressure probably enough to destroy few building much less send Rin flying to the sky by about 50 meters up. I see so the previous attacks were preparation for this. Not bad, its already second person today that had forced me to use a game skill. [Hurricane] Rin started spinning in the air with her skill. This time, she had to use a skill as she still had no idea how she could imitate spinning while being in the air. Rin did manage to imitate all of her skills to some extend but some of their usages were simply impossible. The beam of water crushed with the red tornado. Despite its great attacking power in that confrontation the water beam was cut in half upon contact and changed into many water beams that went to the left and to the right side. Also while the beam that Hiro was making was a single direction attack upon crushing with Rins skill it spread all over the place. Even though the water bounced off the tornado it didnt lose its power and when it went into the trees branches, the tree branches were getting destroyed. Luckily for the trees that confrontation didnt last long and soon Rin landed on the ground. The water beam did not follow her as it looked like Hiro could not change its direction. Thats why he simply canceled it. Now then, I think it should be enough to make him happy. Without delaying Rin once again moved forward to her enemy. She actually had to make just two steps to catch to him. To her surprise her opponent unsheathed two red swords exact same that she had and prepared to take her head on. Is he crazy? Rin could only think of it as that. Sure she did saw him earlier, displaying some skill with them but compared to her, his ability to fight with two swords was as large as if she were to compare herself with her master. -spell five, copy. Hiro once again spoke similar words like he did before, this time it was his body that got surrounded by color of magic. Well it got slightly surrounded. A small lines in that color started plotting all around his body. Rin went in for the kill but then. First slash, Hiro parried, second slash, Hiro parried, third slash, Hiro parried, forth slash, Hiro parried. Not bad. Those were Rins first thoughts as Hiros movements werent clumsy as before, they also werent luckily. His defense was steady and his movements had a depth in them. Time to go to higher level. Rin started to accelerate with her attacks she also stopped making them obvious. Still to her surprise, Hiro kept on defending really well, he also made few attempts on attacking her. Hmm, its strange, he is way better than I imagine, why didnt he fight like this before? Still, whatever the reason may be, right not it doesnt matter. Its fun fighting him. A simile appeared on Rins face as she kept on fighting with Hiro. For her there was nothing more entertaining than fighting against someone who would manage to keep up with her. Also this time, it was not only that. While fighting she could also observe the strange color of Hiros eyes from close up. Right now, that color went little crazy as it was spinning and plotting way faster than before. It was still beautiful though. Still, in comparison to Rins smiling face, Hiro was not smiling. His face looked rather serious as if a million thoughts were running across his mind. After three minutes of this endless confrontation Rin started to forget herself as she completely immersed herself in battle. Her body was now moving at the astounding speed that she did not reach too often. It might even be that she was never in as good form as right now. What was surprisingly though was that Hiro still managed to keep on in his defense, and with exact same speed which increased at exact same pace he kept on fighting. Still there was a huge difference. While Rin was enjoying herself to the fullest and it seemed as if she could and would want to continue this fight for a really long time, Hiro was full in sweat and heavily breathing. The fact that he kept on moving at the same peace as Rin in his current state was really surprising to her but because she was enjoying herself way too much she was not really concern about it. They continued like this for another minute and then it seemed like Hiro had finally enough. The clash from the right side was about to hit him and his sword would not manage to get there in time but in a moment he was about to get hit, his body disappeared in the flash and appeared about four meters away from his previous position. After appearing all strings that he had around his body disappeared and there he quickly dropped to the ground. -hm? Only after her opponent made such dramatic retreat, Rin returned to the reality. And calmly analyzed what happened. Wow, even Arata would get overwhelmed at that point. Rin had to compare this fight with the only other person that managed to keep up with her in clean combat. But still, in two fights they had, Arata was overwhelmed the moment Rin accelerated to a certain speed. This time however, Rin went beyond that and still Hiro still managed to entertain her. I dont know how did he learnt that but I want to continue the fight! She didnt question anything, she simply wanted to continue. Still her opponent didnt exactly looked like he would be able to grant her, her wish. I guess it wont happen though. Seeing him lying on the ground without much movement would only indicate that, although Hiros face didnt look like it was about to give up. Hiro was looking at Rin as to confirm if she is not advancing yet. He was holding his hand forward and then he suddenly lifted it up from the ground. In that place a being of water appeared and it started to get bigger and bigger till it reached the height of three meters. Then when its finally reached its final form of water elemental, the elemental sucked up Hiro to its inside. Why is he trying so hard? If he cant fight anymore he should simply give up. To most people facing the water elemental of this size would be much scarier than facing a simple man. To Rin however facing that simple man so far was entertaining. His current act however she seemed as an act of desperation. The water elemental threw a punch which changed into a water bolt that filed in Rins direction. This bolt was a simple bolt without spinning. Rin easily dodged it to the right and started running towards her enemy. There was another attack like that on the way but it wasnt even close to hitting her. Rin closed the distance quite quickly and she already started attacking the body of elemental who despite its big size wasnt that powerful. The only way in which he could attack was with his big and slow water punches that would never hit Rin in a millennium. Dodging them was somewhat similar to dodging the attacks of iron golems that Rin often fought in order to regain her lost levels, and while he fought against them there was even 10 or 20 of them at the same time, now while fighting one similar to it creature even if slightly bigger it wasnt much. Still the problem was that upon attacking the water body Rins swords just simply went through it with little resistance and when she finished the slash, the damage she made was not visible. Is it completely resistant to physical attacks? Probably not but I dont really feel like looking for a way to go around that. Rin jumped up and dogged another of elemental punches. She jumped to the level on which Hiro was floating inside his elemental. [Pierce shot] Rin threw her red blade forward. While doing so its flashed in red color which increased its speed and power greatly. Elementals body did not slow it down at all although it managed to change its course a little. Rin planned to hit Hiro right in the middle but the blade ended up hitting his right arm. Upon a hit Hiro ended up being pushed out from the elemental and he hit the tree that was behind him at that moment, after that he feel down to the ground with sword still sticking heavily in his arm. It was actually piercing it and was coming out at the other end. The elemental was not left alone but it still didnt stop functioning, at least not yet. He continued to attack Rin with its useless attacks. Rin was now left with only one sword. She could of course summon a new one in instant but she didnt feel the need of it. She also didnt feel like it would help her much right now. Hmm, I used the skill that I didnt use since so long. I might as well use that one as well. [Swordspikes] Rin threw her weapon into the ground and second later numberous of swords came out from the ground where water elemental stood and it completely cut it body in every possible way. Sword spikes stayed there for few second which didnt allow the elemental to regenerate its form which made the elemental turn into simple water and disappear. I dont actually remember when I used this skill last time. While Rin was pondering on that, out of sudden a spike of water came in her direction. It was in small size but its speed was the fastest of all so far which actually caught Rin off guard especially when she was sure that her opponent shouldnt stand up anymore. [Lighting speed activated.] She had to resort to using this skill. First she made a two steps backward and then spinned on right foot to avoid that attack. After that, numberous other similar attacks came her way. And there were a lot of them. They were coming out from large blue circle rune that was around Hiros hand, who was now standing back on his feet. His right arm however didnt move anymore and it seemed like he wont be able to use it anymore. He made me use even this. This is the first time that I had to use this many skills in a single battle against single opponent. While reflecting on that, Rin was dodging incoming attacks and was once again running to where Hiro was. With her speed on skill she reached him in seconds without any problem of dodging incoming water spikes. Rin went around the water circle to Hiros back and from there she slashed at Hiros neck. -spell one, I will not die! Hiro managed to say those words in the end but it was too late as Rins sword went clearly through his neck with its full length. -it was fun. Rin said those words to her dead opponent, but she did not expect her opponent to hear that. But it was not over and Rin was showing Hiro her back after her last attack which she made with spin to be sure to cut off his head. Right now she did not see that his head was actually still in the place as the head connected itself back to the body in a similar way to how it happened with the elemental. She did not see nor did she know that in moment of her strike, his body became water itself. Hiro still living pushed his right arm to the back with Rins red sword still piercing through it. In a way, he had a blade coming out from his skin, and with that blade he attacked Rin who simply thought that his body was falling to the ground. She made one step forward so it doesnt fall on her but Hiro pushed backward with his legs and ended up falling into her. The blade was first to make contact and it entered the left side of Rins back. -auaaaaaa! Rin suddenly felt a piercing pain that came from her back up and screamed out loudly. Truth to be told, even though it was EOA and people took hits like that every day, Rin was not really used to that pain. The reason for that was because she didnt take hits too often or rather there were only few people or creatures that could actually hurt her. In the last year those were. Skeleton the champion. Skeleton, Victoria. From time to time a simple skeleton when she was exhausted from a long fight. Apart from that, nothing hurt Rin in a long time. As for the girly scream just now, she wouldnt normally scream like that as usually she would expect the pain that would come at her and would be prepared for that but the second ago she was completely sure of her safeness. After feeling an unexpected pain and screaming out Rin sprinted forward with maximum speed on lighting speed and hid behind the tree that was about six meters away from where she stood. In the meantime Hiros dead body which should be dead was once again standing. Well, it was simply Hiro standing with the lasts of his HP. Rin looked from behind the tree only with only her head visible. She was also checking if her wound was any serious but it wasnt anything that would be considered serious in this world at least. Still, while she touched the wound directly she once again. -aua. Could not stop herself from making a sound. -what is it, you are crying? All of sudden Hiro who was standing there barely alive asked with slightly different voice than usual. He was more relaxed than before the fight. -who is crying! Rin ended up shouting back right away although previously some tears did appear in her eyes without her control. -anyway, when do you intend to finally die, I already cut your head off. Although her previous attack didnt seem like it worked, it was not like her attack didnt do anything. There was still a mark on Hiros neck where Rins blade went through. -when? Hmm, in three minutes I think. Hiro answered as it was the most trivial thing, although in a way it was trivial. -three minutes make no difference, go die already! Rin who was still hiding behind the tree shouted to him. -no I cant do that, there are still two events from my dream that did not come true. As impossible as they are I wanted them to happen. I know one is definitely out of my reach so I tried to reach the other one at least. But despite my effort, I am still too weak for it. -you are not weak, you are the first player that I meat that managed to hurt me. That was true as so far even if Rin did end up getting kicked, stabbed, burned, killed or vaporized it was never because of another player. -but I am not strong, not strong enough to see you on a gold background, not strong enough to make the Queen fight against me seriously After hearing those words Rin stopped hiding behind the tree and walked out to the open. [Unlimited blade, stage three, golden gate.] The gold cloud started forming behind Rin. The cloud spread out three meters to each side and then from it the red edges of weapons started to be visible. It was all kinds of weapons, swords, spikes, axes even arrows. Even though the skill was called gate it was as Hiro said a golden background behind Rin. -what is it? A form of pity? This time it Hiro was irritated as for him it was rather a disgrace to see this skill only because he asked. -no its not. I am not doing it for you. I use this spell in two cases. One of those cases is when I cant deal with something without it. Those are really rare though. -its definitely not now so what is the other case? -the title Queen is something that I hate and it was given to me because of this skill. Thats why whoever calls me that will die a painful death with the use of the skill that made him call me that. In this moment Rin entered her queen of blades mode that would make anyone shiver but then. -you are wrong. Hiro quickly cut her and her mode disappeared. -where do you think I am wrong? -you are wrong about the origin of that title. It was given to you not because of this skill but because of who you are and how you fight. Queen of Arena, Queen of Blades, both those titles appeared when you didnt even had that skill. -and how you can know when I got it? -I asked Yume. - . That really explained how he could know. -I dont know why you dont like being called that but- -its because its sounds like someone is talking about some old lady! -ha? Rin quickly cut into Hiros talk who was left speechless for a second. -emm thats it? -do I need any other reason? If so, other would be that it sounds as if I am married to some fat old man who all he is doing is sitting on his throne and drink wine! -haha, wait really? hahahahaha. Hiro ended up laughing at her response. -what! -nothing but- -but what? Every time I am called Queen I somehow got a horrible imaged of being that old lady who is married to that fat king! If this is not an insult then I dont know what else could be an insult! Rin was now speaking it angry but not in her queen of blades mode. Although, the golden gate was still ready to fire any second. -I see, in that case I really deserve to be killed. -you do and you will be! -although, you cant kill me now. -even if you decide to give up I will kill you regardless. -its too late as you already killed me With those words Hiros eyes started losing its unique color. -there was still so much that I wanted to show you and so much I wanted to tell but it will have to wait for our another fight, but until then I just want you to know that I never meant to hurt you. After struggling to say out those words, Hiros body completely lost its strength and fell to the ground, and this time it was really Hiros body and not Hiro himself. Rin canceled her ability and the golden mist behind her disappeared. After that she walked towards the body of her dead opponent and looked at it. -if you dont believe that you can win you will never win, idiot. She said to him even though she knew that no one would hear those words. Well maybe except that one person but apart from him there was no one that was in hearing range. During their fight Rin and Hiro move away from their starting position and not only that. Through the fight, everyone was staying in a greater distance than usual as it was simply dangerous to get close. Then just now Rin activated her unlimited blade skill and the moment that the golden mist appeared, everyone actually moved as far as they could as most of them had bad experience with it. Everyone moved away, that was what Rin thought at least but then someone come out from behind the tree. -I will tell him what you said. It was a girl with hair in exact same color as Hiro. After she said that she quickly casted a healing spell on Rin. Rin was covered in a blue light and her wound disappeared. It was really refreshing feeling. -you should rather tend to him first. Rin said to her. -umm, did my brother did something bad to you again? The girl asked then she started healing her brother. Despite what Yume said earlier about her not talking to someone for 10 days after meeting. -again? There was no time that he did anything bad. -I see thats good but in that case why are you crying Rin? -eh? Rin touched her cheeks and only now did she realize that the tears started to pour from her eyes. She really did not feel them earlier nor did she have a particular reason to cry right now. Rin did not feel like crying right now, rather she just finished her fight which was probably one of most enjoyable fight against other player she had in this game so far. The part where her opponent managed to full keep up with her was something she did not experience from another player in this world. It also seemed like her opponent wanted to fight with her again in the future so she would be able to experience this fight once again. Right now, Rin should be happy, but yet she could not stop crying. -I see. Its probably from my spell. I am clumsy and sometimes I mess up which makes people who receive my healing wet. Umm here is a towel. I always have one prepared in case it happens. The girl stopped healing her brother who seemed like he was once again alive and held out the towel towards Rin and in this moment Rin understood why her body decided to cry. It was not the first time it happen and Rin herself could not control it. Anytime it happened it was always related to a single thing, and that was memories of the real world. The world that was no longer available to her and since long time already, she lost the hope that she will ever be able to go back to that world again. Rin already closed away in her mind most of her memories about that world as remembering them only made her sad but memories was not something that you can simply close off. You cant forget about something just because you want to. All you can do is to not think about it and whenever those thoughts come back you had to push them away once again. But sometimes it was simply impossible to push them away. Next Chapter EOA CHARACTERS ART NOTICE: The pictures themselves and the description contains spoilers, up to current released chapter. You have been warned. I made some pictures of characters of EOA, enjoy. (Anyone who does not want to be influenced by images should not look down although, the pictures ended up quite good I must say, so there is not actual reason to not see them.) (Pictures were made with use of various character creators and Photoshop, still because they were made like this, they does not give them 100% justice still some are quite close.) Because there might be people that do not want to see the pictures first I will post the picture from which no one can escape as its my avatar. 1. YUKI - The sword should be white but apart from this, the picture is perfect. There is even a bunny :sparkle: . Also this is one of few pictures that actually has the clothing as they are in EOA. This is Yuki from the end of arc one, where she received the black cloak with the white mark of Refrain at it''s back. Still this picture is just the beginning and it was made in a simple character creator. Also characters dont want to be lonely, and rather than Yuki (who didn''t get enough time in the story YET and left us with the big cliffhanger, its Gerald fault though) we are more interested in other character such as protagonist maybe? Still, the protagonist hair is quite strange to the point where it''s even hard to image it, so for now let''s do his real life version. Still as I mentioned characters shouldn''t be lonely. 2. Arthur Rain X Lia Stafford. [th_009_v2.gif] When will we see Kotori again! There are few other images with those two, don''t worry. But I think that this one is the closest to the true image I have of them from all others pictures that will appear. As to where in the story this picture is, who knows? (Well I do) Anyway, we still did not see what everyone wanted to see which is "Arata''s strange hair" so here it goes. 3. Arata X Kotori Although slightly farther from the vision that I have imagined, its still good. Also this picture shows not only Arata''s strange hair but also how possibly their armor may look like. Black clothes for Arata and a coat, alright! Even black sword in hand. And then, white-gold clothes for Kotori in the same color as her hair. As to why their faces look slightly scared? Well the white wolf just came out because as you can see they are in the forest. Well, while I am already showing Arata and Kotori, I might as well continue that route and gave another versions as well. Boom! 4. Arata X Kotori No seriously: [th_009_v2.gif] When will we see Kotori again! There are many things I like about this picture but what I like about it the most is that this is exactly the face Arata would make if Kotori were to kiss him without him preparing for that mentally. I remember there were many people saying they love romance in EOA so this picture is for you. Still while Arata and Kotori keep on flirting around, there is someone who is spying on them. 5. Arata X Kotori X Gerald [th_009_v2.gif] When will we see Gerald again! I must say, even though I have the picture of the character on which Gerald was based on (which I am going to upload BTW as it''s epic) the pictures that I made of him actually gives Gerald the same amount of justice as well, his hair is even closest to the truth then the original. I guess, Gerald just looks good in any circumstances. Still, the biggest problem with the character creation is that even if I can somewhat reproduces the faces and hair the clothing usually does not fit what they wear in the story so most of those pictures could be rather called FAN ART, which fits completely as apart from being the writer, I am also the biggest fan of EOA. Anyway, this is the last pictures of Arata and Kotori, so as you can see every version ended up different so it''s not like Arata or Kotori or any other character has the defined look. The last picture showcases his strange hair really the best I think. Anyway, EOA has many other characters as well so let''s stop with the Arata''s and Kotori''s flirting and showcase others as well. 6. Gerald X Anari X Loki X Kelly [th_009_v2.gif] Wawawa, when will we see them all again! For start we have different version of Gerald which looks awesome and there is even his childish smile. Following there is Anari, the character that has won the award of being the most annoying character of EOA. It''s really prestige reward as many characters tried to get by annoying Arata as much as possible. Even the Wizard could not beat her, the pupil suppressed her master! As for Anari on this picture I would say that her hair should be light blue but on this picture normal darker blue looks good so Hurray. Then naturally she was not going around in clothing like this but I thought that if I already had to choose one from those that were available then the costume of ''Alice in wonderland'' would suit Alice the best. Then next to her is Loki. This image is very close to what I imagine him to be. Well, his necktie is definitely different although he has many of them so he also has the red one. Still the calm look and calm smile on this picture is just like Loki. Then lastly there is Kelly whom people might have even forgotten about because she is not the part of the last chapters of the arc one and in general she does not do that much. Also she was introduced at the same time as Gerald and Gerald take all lights of the reflectors whenever he appears. Note about Kelly''s hair. It was changed so many times that I don''t remember which color is on the forum here right now but in Twilight swordsman version they are in this color. Well following this I have present for the specific type of audience. 7. Gerald X Loki. There were many character creators and I tried to use any that could be useful. And on this one, we once again have Gerald with different type of childish simile and Loki who will probably use one of his kicks that will blow Gerald to the sky. I suspecting that as Loki''s face looks quite annoyed. Then following this. Finally, the original picture of Gerald. I wanted to post this picture when I first introduced him but I wanted to do this after someone recognize on whom Gerald was originally based but no one managed to do it and the time for the answer ran out. 8. Gerald Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.The other name of this picture is Gerald''s pure epicenes. Naturally Gerald''s usual clothes are not the same just like with many other pictures. Still in this picture we see the gaze, after which are very little number of characters in EOA that will not start running away when seeing it. Now then, you might think that there is nothing that could possible beat this picture but behold the fans favorite. 9. The bear He appeared just once in a single chapter yet he grabbed the attention of everyone. The strongest character of EOA, It''s him! [th_091_-3.gif] (naturally a joke or maybe not) Now then unfortunately that concludes the characters of the first arc, those that did not appear are probably sad but I did not found good character creators to give them justice. "In truth I was just making as many Geralds as possible as it''s my favorite character and I ignored the rest :grin: " Thought Ziki, thinking that no one will realize. Anyway I managed to do few pictures of characters from second arc as well. There are only two so far as once again as the character creators simply did not give them justice, right? :grin: Still rather than starting with any of my creations, let''s start with Rin''s original. 10. Rin Rin in her class item armor which she wore only once so far and even though I would want to see her in it again, she does not want to wear it. I understand her though. Anyway Rin''s look was originally based on this single picture so naturally, this picture, give her a lot of justice. Her famous red hair all the way to the thighs is here as well. Still this picture has a small problem as Rin similed like this only once after completing the tomb fight with help of Arata and Levi. That''s why there is another picture that shows her more usual behavior. 11. Rin X Levi As we can see on this picture, poor Levi will become a hedgehog with the red spikes in a second. Naturally in this picture ignore the clothes again. As for Levi''s hair. We all know that his is a blonde knight wannabe wearing a grey cloak so this picture does not give him much justice. Then following them, the two characters that were just introduced to the Arc two and are/will be important enough, for me to make pictures of them. 12. Shin X Hikari Well I am not sure how much justice this picture give them but Hikari''s hair look really good despite the fact that it was me coloring it in photoshop :). When I first imagined her hair while writing it looked awesome but now that I see it on the picture I think it''s even more awesome. As for Shin, I think that imagining him with look of Shiroe from LN is probably better but here he doesn''t look that bad either, I even changed the color of the clothes to white to give him a slight more justice. Hikari on the other hand wear''s "Elder like clothes" so with her just focus on the hair and golden eyes. Well I didn''t make any other characters of arc 2 just yet as I have been playing around with the creator only since yesterday and the arc 2 is not yet finished anyway so other will have to wait till I once again feel like playing around with or new character creators are made. Still, for the end, I will leave you guys with this. 13. Gerald X {.....} EDIT: Added at later date This time it won''t be any character creations anymore or original concepts. It''s more of I found the picture and it looks awesome, so why not add it here. (I also made some in avatar creation but those will wait for the later date) 1. Anari I would say that this picture is kind of "too great" but oh well. In this picture the hair is exactly like I imagined it to be, that light blue color with a ponytail (that is tied exactly like I always imagined). Naturally the clothing doesn''t fit (as always) but those aren''t the true manifestation of the characters anyway so it''s fine. But once again this picture is simply too great. But anyway that was the start and actually nearly the ending because following this there are new pictures of only one character. 2. Kotori feast. I think that this one is simply perfect so I am posting it first. Well I actually have other pictures that are just as perfect as this one. Still this one wins with it''s simplicity. (I actually have 19 of those but I will try to not spam them all although it is hard to choose). This one is great with it''s hair fluffiness! Another just as perfect picture. And another And yet another. I really have 19 of those :) This one is perfect as well. I think that those pictures may even deserve a separate topic called "Kotori''s art". In this one, hairs are slightly too long but who cares! (Some fan service) Okay there are already 7 of those so I should stop! Although I will be adding one more which is simply... well I will say that after seeing the last picture I started to highly considered changing Kotori''s eye colour to green and her sunflower spin into double flower the way it is in this picture. But anyway apart from eye colour the next picture is easily overwhelm even all pictures that were here so far. (One may think that it''s not possible but surprisingly it is) Before that though the last note, if someone finds a character that possibly resemble one from EOA, feel free to post the picture in this topic or send me a message. If they are close to my imagination then they will land on first page, everything here should be treated as a fan art anyway. But anyway the ending of second edition is here: UPDATE 3: https://eyeofadventure.wordpress.com/characters/art2/ Chapter 35 “Chase.” Chapter 35 Chase. The last fight of the second round just ended and as everyone anticipated the winner was Rin. Although Arata did not see the end of the fight as it moved away from the position he was sitting in and even though he wanted to look at it, he would not stand up and move closer so no one thinks that he would want to look at it. While watching this fight Arata understood few things. The most important thing that he understood was that he still have a long way to go to actually challenge Rin and has realistic chance at winning. Earlier on he hoped that with use of EOAs skills and some luck he might have a realistic chance of winning. Arata was even willing to bet on using his basic magic to try and recreated his shining sword skill, which so far worked only twice. Even if chances of working it again were slim, should it work, Aratas chances would go up drastically. But right now Arata no longer had this opinion. Few seconds ago he saw how EOAs skills or basic magic works against Rin or rather he saw, how it doesnt work. What was worse Rin probably still had many skills that Arata did not see, although there shouldnt be anything worse than what he already saw. Still Arata was not worried about facing against those flying red things spell as he called it. It was because Rin would not even need to use them against him. Just a second ago Arata saw as someone really strong tried to take on Rin. The guy even managed to withstand full frontal assault from Rin at her hopefully top speed to which Arata would get overwhelmed. Apart from that Hiro was using basic magic left and right with a great effect but it still wasnt enough for him to make Rin use that skill. Why did Arata knew that Hiro use basic magic? He thought of it the instant someone said that Hiro never had skills like that before. Then there was also something else that picked his interest and that was how Hiro suddenly started to name some of his spells. Even more surprisingly was the pattern of naming those spells as it was spellnumbername. From what Arata heard it was the exact same pattern as the one Arcon Shadenine was using. Sure he did not see that guy himself but he could believe others from his guild. Maybe its a standard naming sequence for basic magic spells? Arata explained it as this as he could not imagine the connection between those two and even if it did exist this had nothing to do with him. But still in the end, even though Hiro managed to cast few incredible spells with basic magic the fight was still completely one sided. Right now Arata would want to say, I cant wait for a final and finally beat her, but even though he would always think of winning, in the end Arata was quite realistic. -ahh . Arata raised his hands up and then fall backward to the ground and started lying there. -whats up Arata? Levi asked seeing his reaction. -Levi, we will never beat her. -oh, you only found out about it now? Levi answered obviously. -you should know that you dont get tiles like untouchable queen of blades and become rank zero of city arena for nothing. You should understand that 100% win rate at arena really means a lot. -arena? We fought in that arena as well and as I remember I one shooted the so called rank one from there. I dont see why would you use it as your main argument. -okay so I will explain it to you in a way that even a newbie like you will understand. -who are you calling a newbie? -well, listen to this and think if you are a newbie or not. In arena fights there are no restrictions on fighters levels. Fights are not divined in groups so people who are fighting doesnt necessary have similar level. That means that someone with level 120 can fight against someone who doubles him and is on 240 and its still called legit fight. -so, you are telling me that she fought against people over 200th level and still won everything? -yep, exactly like that. I dont know how many players would actually travel all the way to Karma just to fight her but there are players that would immediately come after hearing about someone with 100% win rate as it would bring them fame for defeating that person. -even if they completely overwhelm her with level? -even then. -okay Levi I have a question. How big difference level makes as the game progresses? I mean if you can defeat someone who doubles your level then something is off. -ah, why do I have to hear so many newbie question lately. -will you answer or not? -haha, well it goes like this. From 1 to 100 there are quite big increases in stats. From 100 to 199 they are not that big anymore. But then there is 199 to 200 where your stats really go up like crazy, especially the defensive one. Up to level 200 you usually get one shoot by many attacks but then after level 200 it is somewhat different. Thats how my info goes at least because as you well know after dying those two times I am only few levels above you. Just so you know losing all those levels still hunts me every night. -you should be careful not to die again then. -hmm, currently I am asking for getting killed again by doing quest of rank 3 though Levi looked down when he said that. -anyway returning to the conversation, from 200 up its once again low increase. Anyway in general from now on, apart from getting through 200th level barrier the increases are small. -so the biggest difference is between 199 and 200? -yes, people are even saying that they feel like they have been reborn at that point Hmm, maybe I should rush with that level after all and then have an easy go with the quest. -although if you just thought that you should sprint with level and go for the challenge right away, its not something that you go without preparation. -really, is it that hard? -well yea. Remember when I told you that beating 300th level barrier is impossible. Well beating 200th level barrier is half-impossible. Well Rin would probably manage to do it no problem though. -if she already beats player over 200th then it would be strange if she didnt also if she could not beat that barrier then probably no one could. Arata made an obvious statement. -well, not only she has genuine technique of sword fighting but also that skill. You know what Arata I have an interesting theory on that skill. -it seems like you want to share it with me, so what is it? -well, as we have learned, skill she received that skill after completing the quest of rank six, right? -well thats what she said and Yume also confirmed it. -still even though this rank is already really high, dont you think that this skill is somewhat too strong? I already saw some good skills that were rewarded to those that completed the quest of rank 6. No, I even personally know someone who was directly involved in the quest of rank four and still his skill reward was not nearly as imposing. -so are you telling me that its some kind of bug or that despite it having rank 6 it was harder than other quests? -one might think like that but I arrived at some theory that actually explains that. Quests of rank four were completed by groups of 500th people or more working together as there were some incredible huge battles there, then all other quests are also usually completed by groups with large number of people. Even the quest of rank 10 is usually completed by full group of 5 people. -but I completed few quests already and its actually was either alone or with no more one extra person. -I was getting it but exactly as you said there exist people who also have this attitude and will try to complete their quests alone and after seeing what Rin got from the quest of rank 6, I arrived at the theory that if you complete the quest in smaller groups your reward will be higher and then if you complete the quest alone then you have a chance for something overpowered. Well, I guess it has a lot of sense and it also confirms why Wizard didnt want to let us have more than five people. -still, do people who help you without having the quest also count? Arata asked the question as if the answer was positive then them joining together with others would be a mistake. -I dont know its just something I heard from my sister. -didnt you say it was your theory? -well my sister was still not sure when she said that and using her inspiration and after finding the proof the theory appeared. Still I think that it wont be affected by people without the quest. -so you are saying that all quest rewards have their sum of gold and its natural that the more people are going to receive the reward the less gold will each individual get. So, its nothing complicated but rather than everyone having individual rewards there is one reward that is being split to everyone who had the quest. Arata ended up understanding the theory better than the one who thought it up. -oh, you dressed it up in such good words. Its still my theory though. -rather than calling it theory it should be obvious knowledge for anyone who completed few quests or know few people who did. -hmm, you might think like that but only after seeing Rins skill, I finally got the last hint so its not that obvious. -still returning to what you said earlier, you are telling me that 200th level barrier is hard enough that I wont be able to beat it? -well, you would definitely not be able to one-shot it like the one on 100th level but I guess in few tries you would be able to do it, I will give you that. Well I am talking only about current you who just passed 100th level. Before you reach 199th you will probably be some overpowered beast. -oh, hearing a complement like this from you, I am touched. -I am just saying what I see, still dont think that it means that I am planning on losing to you. -yes, yes anyway what does- Arata wanted to ask what does 200th level barrier involved but stopped as he saw something that he really did not expect to see. -hey Arata, its the worlds end! This was Levis comment to that scene before them. -well, it may be unexpected to you but I told you that Rin is really good person at heart. -no, I thought you were joking at that time. -no, I really meant it. And now you can see for yourself. At this moment before their eyes they could see Rin, Hiro and Mika coming back to where everyone was. Still there would be nothing unusual if they were simply walking there, after all Rins and Hiros fight just ended and Mika went there to heal up her dead brother. But they were not simply walking. In the first place, Hiro was currently not walking at all but rather he was being transported. And the unusual thing was that it was Rin who was transporting him. She was doing it in a very interesting or rather creative way. She summoned few of her red long weapons that werent sharp probably spears and made flying bed out from it. Adding a blanked on the top added to the effect. So, Hiro was currently being transported by flying bed that Rin made. Also Rin was not wearing her red hood and she let her hair out to the open. Seeing this occurrence some people quickly run up to them, to Mika to be precise as she was the one going at the front while Rin was walking behind her with Hiro in the air next to her. -hey Mika, what happened to Hiro? You didnt heal him up in time? Vatras asked first. -Tras, maybe your spell is not strong enough to withstand getting killed from Rin. Ah poor Hiro, he lost 15 levels. Bran commented although it didnt seem like he was that sorry. -no, no, no, I healed him back and he is okay, its just . -yes Mika? Vatras asked again. It seemed a little like he was her mentor in a way. -um, its nothing unusual or rather Hiro told me that it will happen so there is nothing to worry about. He told me that I should just put him somewhere and after few hours he will be okay. Although he also mentioned to not be alarmed if he doesnt awake after the day. -does it have something to do with strange increase of power of Hiro in that fight. This time it was Shin who asked. -maybe . -maybe? Bran repeated her words. -in the first place Mika, do you know something about it? Vatras asked. It seemed like everyone were quite interested in it and they were seeing it for the first time as well. -um, I will tell you as much as I can. You know, we have an acquaintance that is playing EOA. She started explaining. -who doesnt have an acquaintance like that? -Bran, let her finish first. Shin interrupted him. -that person is super strong and he is been playing EOA since it came out. Remember that dragon that we tried to once hunt When Mika mentioned the dragon everyones faces somewhat got depressed. -that person showed us a video from his VR capsule in which he defeats dragon like that alone. -seriously? -really? -is that possible? Those were their responses as they did not believe it, Mika continued. -um well rather than green one the one he killed was red but anyway. That person said that he will share a great secret with us that will make us stronger. It was in fact a birthday present for us. Still there was a condition to that and it was to never tell anyone about that secret, not even a part of it, under any circumstances. The moment I heard it, I right away said that I cant keep a secret like that as I am not good at holding secrets. =we know. -knowing you, you would talk it out during your sleep. Vatras added. -thats right, um thats why I didnt hear that secret and only Hiro heard it. So if you are wondering what Hiro did then it was probably connected to that secret but I dont know anything about it so you shouldnt ask me. Also even if you try to ask my brother he will not tell you anything as that person is someone my brother respects the most and he would never break a promise with him. Umm I dont think there is anything else that I can say but for now I have to go as I dont want to take too much of Rins time after she offered to help. Lets go, Rin! With that, without stopping Mika walked away from everyone and Rin followed her while transporting Hiro. They walked towards the elder girl Hikari and then, afterwards they walked in the direction of the village. At some point Yume also sprinted towards them. Although Musashi had not occasion to shout, the winner Rin, the second round has ended and only four people remained, although everyone probably already knew who the will be the final victor will be. -ah that guy has it good, being taken care of four girls at the time. Levi commented seeing that group leaving. -well I did say that Rin is a kind hearten girl, but I think she changed a little bit too much to suddenly take care of someone she just meet. -yea I think so too. By the way Arata how was the Rin before? I mean when you meet her in real life? -hmm, I dont think I should be saying that to you. -just a little wont hurt. I wont tell anyone. -fine, fine. Lets see she was definitely much more sociable than she is now. Or rather everyone always liked to be in her presence and she was chosen as a class representative. She was also usually good to everyone around her. I was actually one of few people to who she could be mean to, but I now know that it was my fault for being a jerk. I guess her behavior would be ah right, you do remember how she behaved with that old librarian, dont you? It was mostly like that. -really you are no kidding? -no, I am not. -what about, I dont know, death glares or being the terror of the neighborhood. -well, she was a terror for delinquents as she believed that she should put to use what she learned and defend those who were bullied and picked on. -ah! So my guess at that time was right and you were one of those delinquents. -do I look like someone like that? Arata asked annoyed. -yes! Levi didnt think for a second about his answer. -well I wasnt. Also even though I said all that, its all from my observation. I didnt really know her and I never put any effort in doing so. Even if we were in the same class there was little connection between us that usually came from her responsibilities as class representative. And as for our training place, we didnt talk there either but simply spared with each other from time to time, nothing else. -hmm, what you just said seems little unbelievable seeing how she is now. How could such a good girl turn into a walking killing machine? -you think of her like that? -no, at least not to that extreme. But still, I would want her to be a little bit more, how you described her rather than, I will die if I say this out loud. But anyway Arata you have an idea why she changed like that? -hmm I do but if I try to connect that fact with the fact that she is playing this game right now, then I am getting afraid of my thoughts After hearing from the old librarian some facts about Rin, Arata came up with a theory that he would not want to even think about. -anyway Levi, I am thinking of logging off right now so I will just go and ask when the next round will start so I know when to log back. -okay, I guess I will do the same. Arata walked towards the main group. Some people already left, some to village some logout although most of them were still here. -when will be the next round? Arata asked Musashi who was the closest to him in distance. -tomorrow at morning, I think. Hey Shin, when will be the best time for it? -I was also thinking of tomorrow but even though everyone already prepared themselves for playing, some of us do prefer sleeping in real world so we might as well go for a longer break. That is the other option at least, you decide what is better. -either way in three days we go for are going for the west and the decision doesnt affect that many people anymore as not everyone must be present during last fight. Vatras added. -Tras is right, the people who are still in the tournament should decide as it effects them, so Musashi go ahead. Shin passed on the decision to someone else. -you are also still in a tournament Shin. -I am fine either way, I will not log out for more than an hour or so. -well I also fine either way. Musashi answered. -but you still have to decide. -Musashi, remember you said you will take care of tournaments. Vatras added. -fine then oh I know, we should let Arata decide, he is also still in the tournament as well. -great idea! -we should make it comfortable for the guests. In the end they could not decide and left it to Arata. -you really want to let me do it? -yes why not? -at this point it really doesnt matter. Vatras added. -we will follow what you say. Anyway apart from today we are staying here for three more days so it can take place any of those days, if you want to force it, we can even play the last round at evening of today. Shin laid down all the options. If its fine for them either way then I might as well decide. Lets see. If I am already logging out, I would want a longer log out especially if we are going for a long expedition on which there will probably be no time for that. I did want to explore this village a little but I dont need that much time for that and I already saw the most of it in general. It will be at morning so I will have around 14 hours in real. -I will be going for a longer break now, so lets do it on the last day. -okay its decided With this confirmation from Musashi, Arata walked away. -so Shin, what do you think about Hiros new power and that secret? It seemed like they were going to discuss what just happen but Arata wasnt that interested in it as he already figured it out. He walked towards Levi, told him when the next round will take place and logged out. Arthur Rain left the capsule and the first thing he did was to look at the clock, even though he did check the time in game menu as well before logging out. Still not the time. Unfortunately the game did not lie to him and he still had to wait for his most desired time of the day. In this case, lets list down the things I have to do before I forget about them. One: have a nice sleep. Two: eat something, a lot at that. Three: clean myself. Thats the basic needs, the other thing I need to do is to think up the way of how to defeat Rin before I fight her again, which will probably be soon. Even though his chances were slim, Arthur still wanted to win. Also today he found out that having a good strategy might really turn the tides, he learned it on his own skin. For the first time he lost a fight in EOA not because of overwhelming numbers. Those were both numbers of enemies and number in level. No, this time he lost the fight that he should have won, or at least the fight in which he had an advantage. As his grandfather once taught him, if you want to become stronger then losses are well more valuable than wins. Study your failure and let it lead you to future victories. There was a time that Arthur did not believe those words as they were coming from someone who never losses but they were very true. But then again, to win against her I need really good tactic. The word impossible tactic would probably been better but Arthur would not go to that extreme, at least not just yet. Anyway, I will go outside to refresh my mind and while I go outside I might as well do the training. I prefer running before eating anyway. Arthur quickly changed into his running clothes and went outside. He took the usual running route or rather he never chosen a different one. If he were to do that he would easily lost a track of how long he already run and how much he still has to go. While running the same distance he only needed to think of reaching certain points on his way and dont think about anything. Although this time he had things to think about. Lets see, before going into the details I need to think of ways to deal with her skills first. It might be that she wont even need to use them but if that will be the case then I already lost. So lets not think of that option. First and foremost, those flying red things. Arthur started a strategy meeting in his head. Apart from dodging it, there is nothing else I can do. In the last resort I can use sword slash to buy myself few seconds but apart from that nothing. Sword slashing it is not a good option though as even if its cost went down it still takes 20% of my mana and Rin can shoot those flying red things for few minutes like nothing. I even did saw her doing that in her fight against crimson knight. The fact that crimson knight was taking it like nothing doesnt mean much as that guy could take my sword slashes like nothing as well. It was actually a miracle that I got that guy but that also means that I just need a miracle this time as well. Arthur found his way, he just needed a miracle. Although this time that miracle would have to be much more stronger. No lets change this way of thinking and think opposite. Rin does not want to use that skill. I kind of understand it as where would be the fun if she were to win every fight with just the use of that skill. If she were to rely on it too much then she would not get any better in other fields. I also kind of have this mindset. The analyze continued. So in short, rather than forcing her to use that skill, I have to win against her before she uses it. Hmm, that really solves a problem as in this game players doesnt have that high HP as its realistic in that regard. With right attack you can easily one-shoot anyone. There shouldnt be anyone who will still move after slashing out their heads. Hmm, well there are people like Gerald who have some awesome barriers which may defend them from simple attacks but whatever. Rin doesnt have anything like that. And if she does then its game over anyway. Arthur actually did not know how far does Rins strength go, especially after Levis explanation on how she probably beaten people with over 200th level. It shouldnt be that bad though. I dont see her beating Gerald at least. I think their fight would be something like, her using her red flying things at him but those would simply break down upon hitting his barrier while Gerald would, first laugh, then tell her how her skill is named, what class she has and probably even her favorite color and maybe even the name of her lost kitten that she once had. What was scary in those thought was that it was not exactly impossible. Anyway returning to countering her skill, I dont need to counter that skill. What else there is? Hmm there is a problem as I am not exactly sure when she is actually using a skill and when does she simply moves her body that way. I wonder if she has some kind of speed buff that makes her faster as the fight goes on? To Arthur it actually looked like that but it was nothing of that sort. Then there is that whirlwind thing or rather tornado. Would that count as a wind spell maybe? If so maybe I could somehow counter it with my sword enchanter abilities? Still, I never saw any red tornados so its probably not it and her class didnt seem to use magic in the first place. There were skills and spells, although using both of those names wasnt necessary and both could be called either skills or spells. The main difference between them was that one used stamina and other mana. The effect, however were usually something magical or rather something that you shouldnt be normally be able to do in real life. Somehow I cant see it working, anyway getting close to that red hurricane is also not the best idea. She was also using that skill as a defensive maneuver but my sword slash should get through it. I will not try to black dash through it though. But anyway, I dont see any of my plays that will make using that skill really necessary. Its more of AOE skill anyway. Arthur continued his theories. There was also that spike thing, although I shouldnt have problem dodging that as its activation is quite obvious. It will be like getting out from bad circle. In his games Arthur had a lot of experience of escaping from bad circles and even if he didnt do it that much in a while and it was with the use of keyboard, he was sure that he would at least escape that. What else. I think that she also has some kind of throw weapon skill as I managed to see that when she threw her sword it started to shine in red colored light. Hmm, if it were just a simple throw then it wouldnt be a problem and I could simply parry it out but when some magic is involved it might end badly like when I was trying to parry out, the hammer of justice once. It didnt look any special but upon contact, puff, my sword flied away. Still once again I dont see a reason to why she would use that skill on me anyway. Even though it was good idea to think of a counters so far Arthur always ended up as she does not need to use it against me or it will not be very helpful anyway. Okay lets stop thinking about counters as it leads to nothing. I am DPS anyway so rather than focusing on how to survive this or that, I should focus on how to defeat her before she does this or that. First and foremost, I am opening with a lighting speed and keep it on for the whole fight It seemed like good idea. But she also has that skill and probably on higher level too so rather than helping it will only get worse because of that. Or maybe not. In that case rather than being obvious about its use, I should use it in deciding moment before she uses it ah! I think that this whole thing leads me nowhere. This is just not fair, my usual best tactic doesnt work what else can I do? Arthurs usual best tactic was bring it down to pure swordsmanship and let his grandfather techniques do the trick. Unfortunately this time it could not work and at the same time Arthur had to worry about his grandfather techniques doing the trick for his opponent. Okay I am done, I didnt think of anything new apart from trying to use black dash or sword slash from a close range. Those two were his obvious ideas that at least had chance of working. Although I cant even surprise her with any of those two as she already saw how I used them while I fought against the crimson knight. -this is simply no fair! I dont care anymore. Arthur said that but if he didnt care in the first place he would give up long ago. I need to get stronger. With this last thought Arthur somehow increased his running speed. For the first time while playing EOA Arthur found a desire to get stronger as so far he was simply lazing around. It was not like he was weak, he was actually really strong. Some would ever call him a perfect player and would envy his skills. He had all qualities that a good player in EOA should have. Fighting experience, good reaction speed, quick decision making and large amount of knowledge of gaming worlds and also time to play. Maybe he was lacking a little in knowledge about EOA but that never really hinder him that much. With all those qualities Arthur was incredibly strong but even so his strength seemed like nothing if he wanted to compare himself with those who achieved the greatness in EOA. It all comes down to a single thing, the game was out for two years already. It might seem like nothing if compare it to other games but the feature of increased game time inside EOA was what making the big difference. There probably werent any people that managed to stay in EOA for 10 years but for a hard nolife 8 years would already be possible. Even average player who would spent, only few hours a week and played since the beginning would already accumulate about a year of game time. No matter how good someone may be, if someone started not even a month ago in real life time then its not possible to close that gap. Arthur did know that fact really well and thats why he was lax about it and didnt really care when for example Gerald powned him badly in their mock fight. But somehow while losing to Rin it was not that. Rather than being lax about it, Arthur felt motivated to strengthen himself and beat her. Arthur heard a story from Hiro about how he and his teammates got fascinated by Rin and by meeting her they found a desire to get stronger and started to train. Right now, one could say Arthur was in exact same position, he also got fascinated by her and she became his goal. Todays Arthurs usual training somehow evolved. The distance that he ran somehow doubled and then after finishing that training, he continued with others trainings as well. He didnt practice them ever since coming back to this city but he did have all equipment he needed as somehow it was packed in one of the boxes that Arthur brought his grandfathers house. The practice that Arthur did was probably not something that would actually help him in EOA right now but even so it helped him a little to calm himself down and also doing it once again was quite fun for him. The first phase of his training took him four hours after which Arthur realized what time it already was. He then went to the bathroom, cleaned himself. After that he ate the quick but large dinner. The next six hours Arthur spent on his favorite activity that he had right now. Originally it was planned to take only three to four hours but as every time so far the favorite activity got extended as number of subjects to talk about was endless when it came to talking with her. After his favorite activity ended, Arthur somehow rather than sleeping once again started to train and so his second phase of training began. Arthur didnt give up on sleeping though but simply decided that he might as well go to sleep in EOA so he can enjoy it to the fullest which means a long sleep rather than few hours nap. And as he planned he did, adding a short shower between. Arata appeared in the same place where he logged out from. It was still an hour or so before the night but because of the dark forest that surrounded him it was already quite dark. Arata didnt see anyone around so he went straight to sleeping as planned. Also he founded quite comfortable place for it, namely a comfortable sofa that somehow was placed under one of the threes. It was the perfect sleeping place. -hey! Wake up! After few hours, Arata was jerked by the shoulder which woke him up from the beautiful dream he had. -its your turn. What was worse, the voice did not stop. -eh who is this? Arata finally answered with half awoken half voice. Then he opened his eyes. -ah, its you Levi. He then said. -what with this disappointed voice. Ah, I think I understand what you wanted. But Arata, something like begin woken up by beautiful girl in the morning with morning kiss happens only in fiction. -hmm, I wouldnt say so, I already experienced few times. Levi joked around but Arata answered seriously after stretching himself. -ah you once again reminded me how much I hate you for this. Still if it really happened few times then Arata, can I ask you a serious question? -serious question from you? Thats something new, go ahead. -okay, then the question is as follows Levi prepared himself and then asked with higher voice. -what the hell are you still doing here? I mean, if I had a girl that would give me morning kisses to wake me up then going straight to her would be the first thing I would do, and nothing would stop me. If I didnt have money for the journey, I would steal the fastest horse from the stables and go through the lands, through the winds without stopping for a pee break. Ah, I messed it up at the end. Levis excited talk ended in unexciting way. -well, I often ask that question myself and I reached an answer that is enough for me to hold back on doing everything you just said. Although I would be doing pee breaks. -forget the last part okay. So your answer what? -it simple. I think people shouldnt be all lovely dovey all the time. She is the most important to me but at the same time she shouldnt be the only important for me. Both of us should also have the other things we enjoy. We both enjoy playing games so we are doing it right now, then we have something to talk about on the phone later on and also something to do together at some point when we meet again, hopefully soon. But even so, its not that we should be together 24 hours a day. You think that situation where two people who just adores themselves and think about each other all the time is a good couple? Well, we are doing it often but its not something I need to tell him though. Arata thought to himself deep in his heart. -I see, so its like that. -exactly. When we started going out, we didnt really have an idea what couples should do, so we decided to just to continue what we would do normally and dont think much about it. We were sure that it will work out on its own, and so far it is working quite well. There is no need to rush anything. -I see, I see, very reasonable but what about those times when you stare at the moon with a head filled with thoughts of her. Its clear that you are thinking of her at that time. Levi shot down all Aratas arguments at once. -about that, even though what I just told you is what I think, that resolves weakens sometimes, especially in times that I remember that night. -okay, you dont have to say anything else. Why did I even asked that question? Whenever I hear you talking about her I just hate you more Levi fussed at the end. -anyway now that you have woken up, get ready for your fight as it will be starting soon. -ah, I dont feel like doing anything today, Levi will you switch with me? After sleeping, Arata didnt feel like doing anything. -personally I would want to switch with you but its probably against rules. -but if you were to dress up like me, no one would ever know. -even if I seriously ever thought about that, where would I find a wig that would look as strange as your hair. They both started joking around. -fine, fine Arata stood up and looked around. Most of people were already here and the few missing were no longer directly involved in the tournament. Still, because one particular person was missing, Arata got interested and asked. -Hiro is not here? Arata could not see any of the two azure heads. -you mean that mage? From what I heard he logged out after he woke up which was one and half a day after his fight. He is to appear at when we will be taking out to the west, which is later this day when this tournament finishes. Thats at least what others told me. Levi answered. -I see. -but this game is sometimes annoying. Arata did you know that if you fall unconscious you can log out but if you do that then you get an automatic death? -hmm, I think I had an episode like that once. I did not log out as it would be a waste though. -exactly, that makes players who goes unconscious stay unconscious and hope for the best. -by the way, while we are at it, how does logging out during a fight work? It would be good to know. -well, I dont know if you tried but you cant simply log out in combat. But the combat phase is not defined well so usually when you are in any danger that would threaten your life you cant log out. Of course its not like you cant log out if you really want to. Still if you do that at that time you will get the message that if you log out you will die. This message does help, as thanks to that you are avoiding logging out deaths but even so, sometimes you just have to do something and it cant be helped. But if you have to do something important, you just have to plan it beforehand and avoid the log out death. -thanks for info. I am going for the fight now. Arata went to where usually fights started. Apart from missing people the others were already waiting for the fight to start. Musashi was already waiting although he always stood there throughout the whole tournament. -okay lets not waste any second and go on with. You draw the card Arata. Musashi instructed him as the person from the left side of the bracket was always drawing the card. This was the first time that Arata was drawing it though as with his number four in the bracket he was always on the right side so far. Arata walked towards the bucket and draw one of the three remaining cards. There were three of them left. Lets see, oh I finally got normal card. Also its something that I am really used to do. -scenario: a long fight still awaits you and you dont know how strong your future opponents will be. It would be best if you were in top condition to fight against them and thats why save your stamina for later. Condition: defeat your opponent without a use of stamina skills. There already was a condition where players couldnt use mana skills so this card was probably a counter-part to it to make if fair for mana users as well. This card favorite Arata a little as he had mana spells as well. Only few but he had. Also he suspected his opponent to dont have them. -ah, crap there goes my whole plan, well its not like I had many chances anyway Musashi commented after hearing the message. Still it was still not that bad for him as Aratas attack power would also decrease with this card. -I will focus on tanking then. Try to break through my defense Arata. Are you ready? Musashi had his tower shield and trident equipped and ready for Aratas assault. -sure. Arata just answer. -okay, ready start go! Musashi voiced the signal to start the fight. He was still doing it even if he was the one fighting. Still, even though he did that the fight didnt start right away. Because of nature of his play style Musashi went into defensive formation right way and just stood there with his weapons ready. Arata on the other hand completely relaxed didnt even unsheathed his weapons yet. Why should I attack into someone who wants me to attack? Arata already saw what Musashi could do, and he arrived at conclusion that breaking through his defenses would be too troublesome for him. Its better to just wait. Then again if both of them would choose that tactic, it would be a stalemate. Arata was well aware of that but he just came to conclusion that either Musashi will attack in the end or if stalemate lasts for some time, he will drop his guard down at some point. Arata already recognized that the first seconds of the fight will be most difficult as he needed to pass Musashis line of defense, otherwise there will be no occasion for him to get close, while on the other hand Musashi will be able to attack as his range is larger. Hmm, maybe I should just sword slash for the win? Arata thought like that for a second but he reached the conclusion that it would not be fun. Also just attacking with that skill was no good against prepared tank. Tanks in this game can withstand a powerful blows of boss class monsters. The stalemate continued for about two minutes and finally came the moment for which Arata was waiting for. -well, this is kind of awkward. Musashi said to him and the moment he do Arata rushed forward. The distance between them was about four meters so it wasnt big but at the same time it wasnt small. Musashi more or less got ready right away upon Aratas attack but still it wasnt as solid as a second ago. Arata went in the straight line forward. Musashi tried to attack with his trident but Arata pushed it back with both of his swords that he unsheathed during the run. After pushing it back he move the last meter while slicing his swords on the trident and at the end Arata made a powerful blow at the shield that was in a way. The large bang could be heard, Musashi did not move back even a millimeter though. After the first attack Arata just kept on slashing onto Musashis shield like crazy. It was a large tower shield that completely covered him but at the same time it was interfering with Musashis vision when his opponent was too close to him. Musashi slowly started to retreat to the back to get to range that was more favorable for him but of course Arata would not let him do it. As close as possible, this is the way to beat him. And luckily for me, he cant use his shield slam because of restriction. Arata saw Musashis previous fight with Flynn which he mostly dominated because of the positions they were in. In that fight there was just a single time that Musashi used a skill and that was when Flynn got to close, Arata right away understood that this is the position that Musashi is uncomfortable with and used it. Musashis fall back did not work so he started with something else. First he tried with a trident but it was quite hard to do anything with it as Arata was right near the shield that just as it blocked him it also blocked Arata from getting attacked. Also Musashi had to focus his strength on holding his shield in defense of Aratas assault. In the end Musashi was left with one option and that was to make a shield slam on his own, without use of the game skill. Too slow. Musashis shield attack looked quite powerful but Arata was prepared or rather was waiting for it. He quickly went to the right with a spin to dodge it. From there he had a clean position to strike. -hrua! If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. But Musashi also could attack from there. While he pushed forward the shield with his left hand, his right hand was holding a trident that was pointed right to where Arata went after dodging. The trident went underneath arm that was holding the shield and stroke at Aratas legs. Oh Arata little surprised but not really concerned jumped up onto Musashis left arm and landed there with one leg. Then right away he jumped upward once again, made a fast flip in the air and with the power of that flip went straight at the head which was the only part that was not covered in heavy plate armor. Aratas moves were so crazy that Musashi did not react in time. He also kind of entangled himself with his last attack. He also couldnt pick up his shield up as Arata just made a step on his arm which hurt. But then just when Aratas sword was about to cut through Musashis skull as it was not covered by helmet, something stopped Aratas sword in the mid-air as the blue gray crystal appeared in the air. Hey, its against rules, all well in that case, I will sword slash him and its not against the rules as its mana spell. Musashi was the one who cheated first so Arata could do that as well now that the fight should be finished but then just before he used sword slash with the second sword, his black sword cut through the crystal defense and just as Arata originally wanted, Musashis skull ended up being split in half by his sword. Still it was not a perfect victory as Arata after his acrobatics in the air landed on the back. Auch. -ah, poor Musashi, his long winning streak against melee dps just ended. Bran commented the fight, although he was not sorry for his friend at all given his grin. After showing everyone two flawless victories in his fight, Aratas fights was no longer surprise to most them and they somehow got used to it. Also they couldnt be really impressed by it when someone even more incredible than him was making even better kills. -thats wrap up the first semi-final Shin said while marking Aratas win on winning bracket. But then he somehow also marked the second one as well even though it didnt even start yet. -hey Shin is cheating! His action was not unnoticed though. -you have to fight it out first Shin. There is no running from it, so erase what you just wrote. Vatras instructed him while he started healing Musashi with the other healer, Thesar. -fine. The second semi-final was once again open. Well I am not surprised by the fact that he thinks he will lose. I dont see Rin getting caught in his games and even if she does, she can overpower anything anyway. If someone were to describe the whole tournament in a single word then the best word would be either unfair or unbalanced. Musashi was put back into one piece quite fast and the next fight could start soon. In the meantime Arata went back to his usual position. -ah experiencing his attacks on your own skin is something different. By the way Arata! I was not cheating or anything. That ability activates on its own before I get critical damage, so its actually a passive that doesnt use stamina Musashi commented on his fight. I see so its like this. Arata got an explanation on why Musashi cheated. It seemed like his ability was one that activated itself depending on circumstances. In a way it was good for him as the ability would activate itself if someone was threating his life and Musashi wouldnt be quick enough to activate it on his own, on the other however, that ability looked useful in the offense as well so not being able to use it at will was lowering its usefulness. -okay, I see you two are already ready for it. In the time Musashi was waking up from being dead, Rin and Shin were already got ready for another semi-final. Well Rin was ready, Shins face was saying, why me?. -its not fair, I should have lost in the first match, what I am doing in the semi-finals? Shin complained right away. -stop complaining and draw the card. Maybe you will another Yolo win. You wont get killed in more horrible way than me. Musashi cheered him up. It would be hard to get worse treatment than instant-kill by having your skill split in half despite cheating. Still that didnt help Shin much as he continued. -still, I do know what two cards are left there. One is 100% my loss and other is 100% my loss. -didnt you say that one of them is a team fight 6v6? You should have a chances in that? -yes, Shin never loses the team fight. -we will see miracle. -aye, if its Shin its possible. There were some cheers but as always Shin did not believe in himself. -well, if it were a team fight then maybe I see a slight chance of winning. -is that so? It will be interesting then. Suddenly Rin answered to Shins slacking. -no, no, no, no, no. It will not be interesting for you. -isnt it that you never lose the team battle? -its a lie, its my teammates that win those. Anyway lets first draw the card I want to get it over with Shin was the one to draw the card this time and when he saw what his draw his face palmed himself. -ah, this will be so humiliating. He said under the nose. -what, it isnt a team battle? Musashi asked. -Shin there is nothing humiliating to lose against her. Even Hiro got reckt. Bran cheered him up. -no, it is a team battle. Although in truth it probably wont be. Shin said under his nose. -what do you mean? If the rules say team battle, it is a team battle. Vatras asked. -well listen to scenario first. It goes like this. Massive team battle with maximum of 6 people in each group. Condition: you must lead your team to victory which means defeating everyone from the opposing team. Rules: You do not choose your own group but your opponent is doing it for you. You have to prioritize people who lost their first matches so they can take part in more fights. If this card was drawn in the first round, this restriction doesnt count. Both players choose 5 teammates for their opponents but you can also limit your team to smaller numbers if you prefer it that way. So choosing your opponent players that they dont get along with may proof to be good tactic. -so that means I can reject all? Rin asked right away. -ah why did I know you will ask this question. Shin answered right away. -if I were to have a team with me, my plan was to tell them to stay at the side but if I can reject them all, then I reject them all. Rin stated without much consideration. -are you sure you want to do it? You might regret it. Musashi ended up asking. -I heard from Mary that this guy never lost a team battle so I will bring it to 1 vs 6. Thats not a team battle so he wont win. In a way, what Rin said actually made a lot of sense. Although she was the only one that could use that logic here especially with enemy numbers like this. -hey Shin, if its 6v1 then maybe you can win? Vatras asked. -no, my chances would have been better if it were 6v6. And now, as I said, it will be humiliating. So Rin, who will share my fate? Shin ended up asking her although his eyes were already dead and probably there was no cheering that would make him lose that sight. -if you dont try seriously, you will regret it. Rin however managed to make him lost that sight in a second and motivate him using encouraging words. -fine, fine, fine. I will try to do what I can. So who will share my fate? -hmm who would you want? -you know that you just asked me a question which friend should I just sacrifice. Shin answered with a smirk. -okay, in this case I will change my question. I want you to use that ability that ability of yours with which you took down my pitiful teammates. Who is pitiful? Arata thought to himself in a distance. -you mean you will let me use it? -yes, thanks to that it will be a good training for me. So who do you want? After Rin said that, in that moment, Shins eyes changed as if his doom was not a sure thing anymore. And not only that, for the first time he saw a chance for winning this rather than just being slaughtered. When there was a chance for winning he would go for it with everything he had. -okay, I would want four melee dps and one healer for this fight, preferably Vatras. -hey, dont bring me into it! I already had my dose of fighting her! Vatras right away objected hearing that. -if you really want then I can give him to you but I also would prefer to not have him on your team, I dont want to kill him again. Rin answered. -its also fine. So its Thesar. -okay you can have him. For dps, you can choose three melee you want but there is one person that I would want to be in your team. -okay so can I have Kei, Lee, and Julia? -okay thats the tree. -and that last person you wanted? To this question, Rin quickly and decidedly pointed in direction of ever so smiling dwarf with black beard and in that moment for the first time his grin disappeared. -oj. -oh Bran, welcome aboard. -Shin, no, reject me! -how can I reject you, I need the most help I can get. -but you can ask for someone else who would be more useful in your plan! -maybe but the rules are already alerted so much and it seems like she really wants you to be on my team. I wonder why? Shin said sarcastically. -those rules, is there an option for a chosen person to reject. -no, sorry. Remember when I wanted to make that rule, you for the one said that I was just making it for myself and didnt let me. -aye Bran looked down and came over but afterwards. -so whats the plan? -plan is simple. We go with my full board control from the start and hope for the best. -thats not very Shin like. Bran ended up commenting. -thats the only way that can bring us victory. Before there was none as even if I wanted to use it, making enough time for me to activate it would bring too many losses on this side and there wouldnt be enough people to fight afterwards but if she is willing to let me freely then this is our best chance. -and she is telling me that I underestimate her opponents! In a distance Arata ended up saying it out loudly. -I dont think she is underestimating them. She just wants to have an interesting fight that will allow her train her abilities. Also I think she can freely do that because if something goes wrong she still has her unlimited card that she can use and automatically win against anyone. Levi answered. -well, sure those flying red things looks strong but its not something that automatically wins you the fight, right? She couldnt defeat the crimson knight with them. -that guy was an exception as he had some godlike armor that could take those as you called them flying red things like raindrops, but trust me that skill is on completely different level than anything you know. -you are overestimating it. -just you wait till you experience it yourself. You didnt have a chance yet did you. -not the golden one but I experienced the smaller version of it. It seems good but I somehow can reflect it with my swords so I will do it if it comes to that. -so optimistic as always. But when you experience it, you will never think like that again. To counter that skill you need an incredible skill on your own, there is no other way simple as that. -I am planning to finish before she manages to use that skill so I will not worry about that. -yes you dont need to worry about that skill as she wont need to use it on you. Still I was just explaining why she can just go yolo 1 vs 6 without worry. -without worry? But that guys skill in combination with his teammates is also quite good. -no shit Sherlock. I got killed by it six times in a row. Anyway seeing this fight we will learn how to fight against it as I dont see a chance for Rin to lose. -at that time I also didnt think that you will lose. -to my defense it was two on one, they arent that bad and that that combo is overpowered. Also unlike you, for me it happened out of nowhere, and before I realized that the second guy was there it was too late. -yes, yes my fault, anyway lets watch this fight. The fight was about to start. On one side there was Shin, Julia, Kei, Lee, Bran and Thesar and on the other there was Rin. One side was completely overwhelming the other one at least in numbers, because when it came to fighting power, it might have been the other way. -Shin you are sure we are going with that? Kei ended up asking once again before the fight start. -what you think Shins strategy can lose! Julia right away interrupted them. -against her? Yes, it will lose. -aye, I agree and the reason for that will be because only Kei can actually synchronize with Shins full course control. You two didnt have enough practice with that and Shin cant even use it with you as you will just get more confused by the skill that our opponent. -still, I will do everything I can! -yes me too! Julia and Lee shooted back. -aye, but it wont be enough. Thats why I said that this strategy isnt very Shin-like and Kei is right, it wont work. Well, I guess that Shin just want to give Rin what she wants and Bran stopped for a moment as if he was interrupted by someone but there was no sound that people could hear, at least normal people that is. Few seconds later, a grin appeared on his face once again. -hmh, hmh okay we are doing it! Its Shins battle and Shins strategy. There is no need for us to do anything else than what he tells us. - Kei stopped for a moment but then he just said. -okay. -then I guess everyone is ready. So, READY SET GO! Musashi shouted but the second semi-final just like the first one didnt start right away. Rin was waiting for Shin to activate his skill. Shin was already standing ten meters away from the group. Shin stick his staff into the ground and the black circles started spread around it. They soon started to cover every inch of ground in a great distance. It was even reaching to where Arata and Levi were sitting. -so are you ready, because after this, I will start attacking for serious. Rin warned Shin. -yes, you can start and we will be starting as well. First Kei! Six, three, nine! Everyone else as planned! Shin shouted to his teammates and after a second they nearly all disappeared from the spot they were standing. Julia appeared few meters away from Rin on the left and Lee on the other side. Thesar was the only one that stayed where he was. It seemed that he was left with two jobs. One was to heal those that need heal and second was defend Shin should Rin charge at him came. Despite being a healer, he was wearing a heavy armor and had a shield and a hammer. He probably could easily do a job of tank if needed with his class sixth paladin. Kei was the first one to make an assault. Without playing around he appeared right behind Rin in her blind spot and backstabbed with his sword right away. To that as if seeing the attack Rin spinned. It was a dodge and attack at the same time. Keis sword went behind her back while her double attack went at him, it would already have been a kill should Kei stay there but he was teleported before the swords managed to get to him. He then appeared behind her and once again attacked without delay. To that Rin made a short step that increased her spinning speed and continued her attack was faster than Keis stab. Kei blocked the swords with his glove protector but that wasnt enough as the protector was destroyed just like that with the Rins spinning attack, luckily he was teleported away behind Rin before his hand was cut off. From there rather than attacking he made a quick retreat. Still, Rin went after him right away without delay as if she did know beforehand where he appeared. In that moment Julia and Lee appeared around Rin. Lee made a low spin kick at Rins legs from the right while Julia pierced at Rin from the left. Rin parried Julias reaper, made a slight jump to avoid Lees attack and then with both her legs she kicked left and right pushing back both her attackers, after doing so she landed in splits on the ground. She quickly rolled backward and was on her legs in a second. -a good warm-up Rin said to them with her usual voice. She wasnt affected by the fight at all. But then out of sudden she made an incredibly fast spin and she slashed with her sword backward. bump! A loud sound of metal clashing could be heard. And after a second one could see a black metal bolt from a crossbow a meter away from where Rin stood. -I see, so that was your plan. Rin just said to that. -hey Levi! Are you kidding me or she just reflected a bolt that was shoot from twenty meters away from her, from the biggest bushes from a person that she shouldnt see as even the person who was shooting could not see her. Not to mention that it was completely in her blind spot. -I would want to Arata, but did you see the speed of that move. - . Arata and Levi and practically everyone else could not believe what just happen but it did happen. -everyone! Seeing what happened, Shin suddenly shouted. -lets decide on one matter of importance very quickly! The rules of our tournament say that you have to fight no matter how unjust the condition you draw is. Still I am proposing an exception to that rule and that is, you can give up when you are fighting against Rin. Is there anyone, against it? It seemed like Shin quickly though up the only way to survive for his team. -Shin its like asking if we all want to see you six die or not? -yes, thats the question Tras Earlier on, Shin always wanted to give up but everyone did stop him saying that he is just lazy, but this time there was no one to stop him when the question was like this. -okay there you have it, you won . It seemed like the battle would have an unexpected end. -wait! Rin interrupted him. -give me a minute. Rin said that and after a second about fifteen red weapons appeared in the sky. There was no golden mist though. Then they all flied in a direction of a certain bushes. Those certain bushes suddenly started to move thought and from it, one ever smiling dwarf with black beard that this time was not smiling came out or rather run out from. All the weapons werent directed only into the bushes though and one of them managed to catch the poor dwarf. The weapon did not kill him as he founded a sweet spot between one large two handed sword and a halberd. But even if the red weapons did not kill Bran, they killed his pride as the sword cut down a part of his black beard. -nooooooooooooooo! Bran yelled out. Even if his beard would regrow in few hours to the original state he would remember that it was not the same anymore. -now I am satisfied but whats wrong? This wasnt the same conviction that you had in fight with Arata and Levi. Rin said to Shin after she done what she wanted. -after what you just showed I didnt see a way to victory anymore without sacrificing someone. Shin answered. -yes, thats what I was talking about, in that fight you did sacrifice your teammate to achieve victory. -it was his fight and his call. This one however was mine and I dont like to use sacrifice tactics if its not necessary. Especially when even if I were to use them the chances of winning would still increase only by little. I just hope that I didnt disappoint you by not giving you enough entertainment here still I just thought that the only fight that you were waiting for was the finals anyway. Shin quickly gave her explanation for his decision. -no I I still enjoyed the other fights as well, even this one. -I see, well I am glad to hear that. Rin and Shin had a small chitchat and at the end Rin asked. -I know that we are going for the west today but when will those finals actually be? -hmm any time today I guess. -even right now? -if you both want then sure why not. It would even be better to do it right now. -in that case I will go ask Rin left the battle field and quickly run up to where Arata and Levi were. -Arata, we are having finals right now. Rather than asking Arata to agree Rin just informed him that they have finals right away. -already? I thought there would be additional break. Arata answered. -what did you get tired in your fight? -no but maybe you did. -even if I were half awake I would still not lose to you so . -okay, now you have done it, prepare for the consequences. -did I hurt your pride? If so good, maybe you will stop going easy on me. -for the thousand time I say I wasnt going easy on you. -if that is true then prepare for the loss. Thats what you get for skipping practice Arata. -I wasnt skipping anything! Anyway we will finish this talk when you lose. Then your arguments will be meaningless. -lets get started then! Rin in small jumps returned quickly to the fighting area. Arata followed after her soon after. -good luck getting destroyed! Levi shouted to him a something to cheer him up. Oh, I am not getting destroyed. Anyway as planned, I will start as usual with close combat and from there black dashes and sword slashes all day long. Why do I have such a small amount of actually useful skills despite having two classes? Something is wrong, but anyway this is the plan. No wait, while I am at it, I might as well try out the poem again. Yes, I decided already to not use it but without some huge boost, I really cant win. Even if I get humiliated by reciting that poem and nothing will come out from it, its fine. Also, I believe that it will work. Dont try to summon that skill with the words focus on the feelings and the image. As long as your image is clear enough it will work. Also, as long as I believe it will work it will work, yes there is no other way. Arata was determinate to achieve victory. Even if he knew that he was still far below Rin in actual power, in fights the stronger one wasnt always the winner. If the stronger fighter always won there would be no need for fights. When Arata got to the fighting area he unsheathed his swords right away and was actually going to start right away -hold on, there is still one card left to draw. Musashi stopped him. -ah, right. I somehow forgotten about that. -in finals where there is only one card left I am usually reading the rules so this time I will do so as well I will get some extra time now so its a perfect time to image that flame Arata started trying to use his basic magic. It was some time since he last tried doing so but this time he did not image himself winning without some extra boost. -scenario: between you and your opponent there is a large precipice that you cant pass because if you try you will fall into the abyss. Condition: defeat your opponent without crossing the imaginary line. Imaginary line has a width of 5 meters Well, in short its range only battle, its the card that is an opposite of only close combat battle, simple as that. You cant attack from less than 5 meters. -what! Aratas image of a burning red-white flame got destroyed in an instant. -thats is the last card that was left so good luck! Ready! Set! Go! Musashi announced the start of the fight and then quickly ran away from there as it wasnt safe to stay there. -ah! Why did it happen? Arata cursed his luck. -Arata, it will be boring so I will be ending the fight right away. -ha? In comparison to Arata, Rin was not wasting any second. It also seemed like she wasnt going to play around as the golden mist was already formed and the red weapons started to appear within it. Also that golden mist was somehow bigger than usual like five meters wide in every direction. Now it was actually a golden wall. [Sword enchant: Wind] [Sword slash] [Sword slash] After seeing the image of Rin on this golden background Arata used drastic measures and fired out two horizontal sword slashes in Rins direction right away. Still seeing his movements, even though attack was not visible Rin jumped up. In the meantime the rain of weapons had started. Oh shit. [Lighting speed activated.] Arata started running in one direction right away but the area on which the swords started to fall was just too great. Before Arata thought that Rins skill can go only in one direction and it was a focused attack of numberous weapons into a single space. He thought like that because he saw how Rin was using that skill against the crimson knight. But here she used it differently, it went all around Arata, in slightly less focused way and it completely covered an area of 10 meters around him. Still with his lighting speed Arata managed to get out from that range immediately and then he run into the woods. Rin followed after him soon after keep on firing the red weapons at him. Still seeing them coming Arata was already from their firing range and even though Rin tried to fire them in different angles in his way, Arata was at distance of ten meters away from her so it was easy to dodge. I have to attack her as well. Lets do this the moment she cannot see me. [Sword slash] While running away from Rin, Arata ended up hiding behind one of the trees and ended up firing another sword slash at her. Still even though it was hidden, the range of sword slash was too great and it ended up cutting down the tree which automatically informed Rin that its coming. Not to mention that even though it had no color the wind arc from sword slash could be distinguish if someone had a good eyes. Rin ended up running up the tree and the sword slash went beneath her while cutting many trees in the process. She did not forget to keep on firing the swords at Arata though so Arata once again started running. Still because it seemed that the fight will not end soon, Rin decided to turn off her golden gate and was not firing those weapons just from air. Well, at least I avoided that, now it should be easier. Well it became easier for Arata but the game of tags continued the same. Arata and Rin were running through the woods, even though Arata was the one who was running, Rin also stopped her attacks as even if she tried to fire at moving Arata it would have no meaning. For a note, Arata also stopped using lighting speed and just ran on his own. Hmm I have two sword slashes left but they wont work on her from this range. In the first place its stupid for two of us to fight in range, sure Rin has her skill but I dont think that she can hit me with it from that range. Arata looked behind him and Rin also was just running with troubled expression, not really knowing what to do. Both of them were used to fighting melee, with practically anything one could thought of, in comparison they never learned any range. There was one time when Arata wanted to try out archery but his grandfather did not let him do it as he looked down on people who use range weapons to fight. What I am supposed to do? Well if I stop running then Rin will win but if I continue to run then it will be an endless steal-mate. -hey Rin! In the end Arata decided to call out to her. -what is it!? Rin answered, despite the fight and consistent running, both of their voices were fresh. -is it funny to you to chase me like this? -not at all, thats why I wanted to end it fast, you should just let me kill you at the beginning. I am surprised that you managed to dodge that attack by the way, I used the chance when you were distracted and you still managed to get out from the range that practically no one else managed to run out from. -well, thanks for the complement. Arata answered to her while still running. -still because of that we have to run around this forest like idiots while destroying it at the same time. Rin pointed out the important. -is that why you stopped disabled that golden mist? -its partly because of it but when you first ran away I already knew that I wont catch you easily and if I kept it for too long I would ran out of mana. Still as for destroying the trees you cut more of them than me. In the first place, why are you running, if you have a skill like that then you should try to fight back. If you just run I will never hit you. -well that skill has limited usage and I wont be able to hit you from range of 5 meters with an obvious move like this as well. Apart from that I dont have any range spells so thats leave me with only option and its to wait till you get tired. -I see still Arata that tactic wont work as I wont get tired in this world from simple run. -I can see it myself . Arata answered to her and sighted. They continued to run like this for about another five minutes. Rin stopped even summoning her read weapons and all other also disappeared as there was no use in keeping them in the air. It was truly a steal-mate. Either, its steal-mate or I lose, and I dont want to lose to her. Even though before the fight Arata did not really believe in victory despite his doctrine about always thinking of victory, he at least wanted to give it his all, use risky tactic and even use the cursed basic magic that he would probably just humiliate himself with, still it was all because he didnt want to lose to her again. -hey Arata, I have a good proposition. After five minutes silence Rin once again started the conversation. -yes? -right now, we are out of anyone gaze so why dont we simply ignore that stupid rule and start fighting normally. They already run away from everyone and even though Arata was trying to run in circles to not get lost to much afterwards currently no one was here except of them two. So, Rins proposition was really appealing but after thinking it through Arata answered. -Rin, will you give me some time? -you mean you would want to regain your mana? -no, not that Arata ended up stopping the run and even though Rin had now a perfect chance to attack him, she did not do it and just stopped next to him to hear his words. -honestly I dont think like I can win against you right now and I dont want you to be angry at me again. But I promise that I will get stronger. -you say that you will get stronger? Rin asked surprised. -what with that face? You should perfectly know that because of the time you spent in-game I have a long way to go to catch up to you, so just wait till I get there. -no, its just, it isnt very like you. -how is it not like me? -well, normally when you lose you seem to not care at all as if you let the other person win so it doesnt matter. -I dont know it seemed to you like this but I dont remember doing anything. Anyway once again, just wait till I catch up to you then . -no, I will not wait. Rin suddenly interrupted him. -well, of course I am not asking you to get lazy and do nothing while I am getting stronger but . -Arata, it seems like you forgotten about something that I told you. -something that you told me? -yes, I dont want to repeat it but no matter what happens through the quest, it will end all the same and it will be the moment to say the goodbyes. -sure, but I can always come and visit you and ask for another duel after our quest is done. After Arata said that Rin got sadden a little. -it seems like you didnt understand what I said back then. Ah, I dont want to go back to this topic right now. Seeing the change in Rins attitude Arata immediately tried to change the mood. -in that case I will get strong enough before our quest is done and after we complete it and get out worlds first we will have a fight to death. What do you say, one extra fight wont take too much of your time. After Arata said that, Rin thought about it for a second and then answered. -okay but only if both of us will be alive at the end of it. With that Rin covered her head in red hood and started walking in the direction of the village from which they ran away from. Arata followed soon after her but they didnt exchange any more words. Looks like my number of reasons to complete this quest just increased once again. Still it will be hard to get better while doing this quest. Rather it will probably be impossible as there will simply be no time for it. I mean it looks like now we simply have to go to that gate. The gate should work as it is a quest. Games usually dont give you an epic quest to go to the heavens just so the gate doesnt work, right? Arata at least hoped it was true but he already knew that with this game everything can happen and any standards may not hold. So go to the gate. Gate will work then we go to the heavens, then we go to that temple and wuala world first. Arata liked to keep his objectives simple. What was between those points was not important right now. With this quest looking like this I really think there will be no time to train at all Even though he just told Rin that they will fight at the end, with the quest looking like this he really had no time. And in this moment Arata started to think in completely different direction Still, what is with Rin anyway? I dont know if she cant log out or return to the real world or whatever but saying things like that is not fair! Does she really think she will be more happy by just finding some other quest afterwards and playing it alone. Thats what it seemed to Arata what Rin would do. No, I dont think I can let that happen. So I have two options, either I somehow change her mind throughout this quest or I will use the drastic measures and she does not want that to happen. Arata started to think up completely different plan. Ah, Rin you do not want me to use drastic measures as even I think they are evil. Still if it comes to this, I will do it and you will not be able to refuse to him, muahahahaha! Now Arata once again looked at Rin walking away and in heart he apologized to her if it came down to the second option. When they reached Larisane once again Rin got surrounded by everyone that was present there. The circle was quite big as it was over ten people there. Yume stepped to the front and started. -Rin congratulation on winning the tournament. She said while smiling, although Rin did recognize that simile and she was not very happy about it. -you didnt but Shin said that if both of you come back alive then it means that Arata gave up as the rules say that only against you we can give up. Isnt that right Shin? -well thats about it. Shin answered while trying to look away. Well, I guess its true that I gave up. Arata didnt try to say anything in his defense and just watched what was happening. -okay, I understand that but what are you doing right now, are you trying to assassinate me. Understanding current Yume simile, Rin could easily say that she is in danger. -of course its not that! We all came to congratulate you on winning and at the same time give you a reward! Everyone lets go! At Yumes signal most of people that were present got closed and soon enough they picked up Rin upwards and then started throwing her up to the sky, once again and once again. -ahhhh! Someone help me!!!! Rin screamed with unusual girly voice while being thrown but her shout was easily dimmed by everyone cheering and comments. =Hip! Hip! Hurray for our winner! -even though it was obvious from the start that you will win! -I was really impressed by how good you are. The stories does not give you any justice. -yes, yes, you perfectly outclassed everyone here. -that is what we should expect from the rank zero of our great city Karma! -watching you fight is really inspiring! -its is an honor to have you with us. The comments were really random but they did reach Rins ears. -I am sorry for what I done to you. Put me down already! Rin ended up apologizing for something that she has not done but for her it was obvious that it was some kind of punishment. -hmm, we cant have it, can we? Vatras asked the cheering somehow stop but the throws continued. -the rules are the winner got throw up for half an hour right? We cant change that. Musashi answered. -half an hour, get me down already! Rin shouted from the top. Half an hour, maybe its good that I didnt say anything, if they considered it a draw it would be me there as well? -Rin, its your reward, enjoy the moment! Yume said to her. -how would I enjoy this Mary! -dont worry everyone, she is just saying it, in heart she is happy she is just too shy to say it - -who is too shy to say it!? Put me down! -see. So once again, hip hip hurray! -help!!!!! Rin cried out once again and at this moment the throwing up stopped. -ha?? Is it over? Rin asked finally on the ground. -well, naturally we wouldnt be throwing you up for half an hour. Vatras said to her and a face of relief appeared on Rins face. -now then! With the tournament finally done we will do what we wanted to do from the start. And that is to the west! Musashi announced. -already? Vatras asked. -did I say something wrong? -naturally you meant in few hours from now. Shin corrected him. -ah yes that, anyway just to remind everyone in six hours and that is 14:00 we are taking off to the west. Gathering spot is the western entrance to the Larisane which is more or less the area in which we are right now They were actually already to the west of Larisane. -finish everything you have to left and get ready for the expedition. Also this time, its very, very, very important and our lives may depend on it so please dont be late. Its a special note from Shin by the way. With the announcements finished Musashi decided to log out and many others also followed his footsteps as it was probably one of few occasions to do that before the expedition. Arata looked around, the remaining people were really few and those were Levi, Bran, Kei, Shin, Thesar and Julia. More than half people log out that also included Yume and . Wait a moment, did Rin just log out!!!??? Arata saw something unbelievable happening right before his eyes. Well, it shouldnt be anything strange that a player logged out before taking part in a long expedition that would take who knows how long. There were many that logged in just to see last fights and logged out back while waiting for the expedition to start. Still, Rin doing the same was something that completely blow Aratas mind. But Wait! did that librarian lied to me? No, he didnt look like someone who would lie for no reason and there would be no merits for him So, did Rin lied to him? Thats also probably not it, otherwise she wouldnt behave like she does! What librarian said should be true but -ahhhhhh! I dont know anymore!!! Arata ended up yelling out loud as he really had no idea what was going on. Still, maybe it meant that the darkest scenario that he thought up before was not true. -whats up, you got crazy after finally experiencing that skill on your own skin. Levi came up to him. -I didnt get killed by it so its not that OP, well maybe it is. Still, until I win against Rin when she uses that skill, I wont be able to call it a win. -yes sure good luck with that. Levi did not believe in Aratas new conviction, or maybe it was because of the trauma that he got after experiencing the skill on his skin which destroyed him once in few seconds. -and what about you, you are not logging out? Arata ended up asking. -nah, I logged back few minutes before waking you up so I dont need to do that. Anyway Arata, I just thought up an interesting activity. -your definition of word interesting is quite alarming so I will pass. -dont be like that before you hear it. Also we might get stronger by doing it. -stronger? -there you go. So here is what we do. Remember that NPC girl with blond-white hair? -she was here during second round right. So what about her? -you know, NPCs like that know a lot of stuff. There might even be a chance for a quest or some secret way of power up. You must always look for things like that whenever you travel, otherwise you wont find anything. -I thought we had a quest already. -there is no reason to get another one. Lets go and ask for the secret of her power. -I would rather learn secret of Rins power. -then ask her for it. -I cant do that, she is my goal to beat. You can ask your opponent for advices right? -for now she is your party member but sure I understand why you wont ask her. So anyway lets go! -you sure didnt have enough dealing with females that might kill you the instant you say the wrong word, right? -life is too short to worry about that. -but I still dont think we will get anything out from it. We will just end up angering this village elder. -who cares about that? The important stuff is that we will meet a beautiful elf girl with unique beauty, right? -I see so this is your reason in that case I will pass on it. -dont be like that, its just an NPC, you wont be cheating on your girlfriend with it. I would say you other actions would classify as that though. -I have no idea what you are talking about but fine lets go. Its been a while since I saw you got beaten up for your knights talk. And so Arata and Levi decided to pay the visit to the last person they would want to go to if they knew what could have happen if they made one mistake. However the moment they entered the village they soon encountered one problem. -hey Arata which way, is it? -you ask me? I was logged out for this whole time, I didnt have a time for sightseeing much. -yes you are right, I also was logged out most of the time and the time in which I was not logged out I spent in certain entertainment center they have here. -I dont want to hear about it if you say it like that, anyway what do we do? Ask some guards for direction? -we might as well follow the golden rule I guess or wait a second Levi spotted certain familiar person in the white cloak walking on the same street they were. Soon after. -Arata come! He will show us the way! And just like that, Shin joined their plan of visiting the elder. Next Chapter Chapter 36 “Start of the expedition.” Chapter 36 Start of the expedition. And so, the luck of draw tournament has ended and the victor was Rin. Shin was not really surprised by this result as he knew very well how strong she is or rather, he knew very well how at least strong she is. Today once again the bottom limit had moved up once again as even he did not expect this much. His skill full course control with combination of 6 people was completely broken. Shin could only image how far Rins actual power went but right now, it was not a concern of his as this time, she was on his side. Now I am sure that having those three will definitely increase our chances of survival in the west, although, I still do think it will end up the same way. Shin was now walking the streets of Larisane which he knew quite well. He was actually coming here quite often. The reason for his visits was quite simple. It was to meet this villages current elder Hikari. Hikari was a girl, whom Shin meet really long time ago. It was even before meeting anyone else from his current party. That also involved Musashi, Vatras and Bran with whom he originally created this party to begin with. The party started its activity when Shin first arrived at Karma and meet the other three. At that time, Musashi and Vatras were already playing together, so one may even say that the original founders were those two but somehow everyone was calling him and Bran a founder as well. It had some logic in it as two people are not a party yet but rather a duo. Still even though Shin met those three the first time he arrived in Karma, he met Hikari even before that. Shin still remembered that moment. It was the time when he finished 100th level barrier. After failing miserably on the second part of it, Shin ended up dying and losing 10 levels. When next time he logged back, he was in some old grove that trees looked like they lived for a thousand years by now. Their leaves were dark green in color. The wind was moving them in the air which actually make those gigantic trees seem like they were about to move. In the middle of that grove Shin spotted a crying child with quite unique hair. They were in both colors of gold and silver. That child was Hikari. Ah, I am really not good with kids but I cant just leave a crying child in the middle of gods knows where. Those were the first thoughts that Shin had after logging back. Last time he finally successfully managed to complete the 100th level barrier. After many tries and failures, finally with some luck he withstood all 20 waves of enemies. But then something unexpected accrued. Even though the messages said that he completed the challenge and got to level 100th, there was additional challenge that he could take right afterwards. Someone as curious as Shin would not pass on something like that so he decided to try the second challenge as well. It was one of the fastest deaths Shin had so far but he did not regret this decision and losing those 10 levels was nothing bad. It happened to him many times already. He would rather regret if he did not try. Now once again with level 90 he appeared in completely unknown to him lands the only thing he could see were gigantic trees and a crying child. Shin focused on the second one. There was no one that would look like a parent or a guardian of that child, so Shin assumed that it was all right for him to at least talk to it. From where he saw it, this child got lost and was now crying because it didnt know what to do. -are you lost? If so, maybe I can help you find the way. After walking up towards it, Shin said to the child those words with awkward voice. He really was bad at dealing with kids of that age. The childs age Shin judged to be around eleven or twelve. Shins words did not give any effect and the child kept on crying, with no better ideas Shin decided to touch childs arm and at least stop it from crying. -crying never solves any problems, you should rather- -stay away! The moment Shin touched childs arm, the child which turned out to be a girl shouted those words and swung her arm in his direction. In that moment, Shin felt an incredible invisible force that pushed him away. After being pushed away with great speed, Shin ended up stopping on one of the gigantic trees. When he hit it, the blood came out from his mouth and he fallen to the ground with few ribs broken. In this game even coming close to a crying child is dangerous auch. Shin was already used to getting hit, being cut by swords or being set on fire by some magic but that didnt meant that it stopped hurting him. -you shouldnt have come! You shouldnt have! The girl who was now standing, kept on repeating those words. Shin could see however that something strange was happening around her. The grass nearby her started to separate from the ground and flying around her. Hmm, it seems like I will die in a second ah back to level 81 once again. Shin quickly judged the situation. With his current condition, running away would be hard. No, he judged that even in perfect condition running away would be nearly impossible. Because he had magical profession, Rune master to be exact, he could feel the magical power and somewhat grasp how strong it was. Although this time even a blind person would probably recognize that the powerful spell will be coming soon. The golden ball of magical energy started to form around the small girl. That ball looked powerful but at the same time, it was swirling in random directions and it was not keeping its round shape. -aaaaaaaaaa! The girl started screaming while the occurrence started to happen. Wait! Will this be an unstable explosion? Unlike most other players who were simply fighting their enemies to get experience, new levels and items, people with magical profession also needed to study magic in order to improve it. Otherwise they would be stuck with the basis spells and never improve. Shin was especially good in theory, little less good in practice but still he could easily recognize an unstable spell that was going to get out of user control in a second. I have to do something! When his life was on the line, Shin was not really concerned. He was already used to dying anyway, still if he had to see a small girl detonating herself just to get rid of him he would not stand by. I hope it works. [Rune: naturalize] Shin somehow managed to withstand the pain and get back on his feet after that, he immediately casted a spell from his hand in childs direction. A small purple light escaped his palm and landed exactly at ground on which the girl was standing. After it hit a purple circle appeared around her and inside that circle there were words in an ancient language that Shin did not know. Dont explode! Dont explode! Dont explode! The only thing that Shin could now do was pray. His skill [rune: naturalize] usually gave one of three effects. One was cancelation of opponents spell, second was nothing happening as if the rune was ignored and the last one was opponents spell exploding in their face. At the current time, both second and third option would result in explosion so Shin could only hope that it wont be any of those. plump The golden ball suddenly disappeared like a soap bubble. There was no flying grass either or anything like that. There was just that strange girl left. -ah! She looked around surprised and also she stopped crying or screaming. Thankfully it worked. With this Shin managed to save the girl from dying because of him. He at least assumed that it was his fault as before he touched her there was no random unstable magical explosion in sight. Still, Shin did expect do die soon anyway hopeful this time it would not be a random explosion that would take away the girls life too. Even though it was probably she who will kill him and it was just a game, Shin would prefer to avoid watching a young girl like her dying before his eyes. -what what did you do? Hmm I am not going to die? Shin didnt expect to hear words but rather something that would bring his doom. Still, if this girl was saying something rather than attacking him, it meant that it wasnt a monster NPC but normal NPC, in that case as long as Shin played it out right, he might be able to stay alive. -your magic seemed to go out of control so I stopped it. -you you can do something like that? The girl once again answered with the question. -yes you see that purple circle over there as long as you stand in it there you wont be able to use your power. Explaining his skill to a potential enemy was probably not the best thing to do but Shin wouldnt see this girl as an enemy anyway so if she decided to attack him he would not fight back. He also knew that her power was on completely different scale anyway so him fighting back wouldnt bear any fruit anyway. -then I will say in it forever! To Shins explanation the girls announcement that and sat down. -ha? That was Shins first encounter with Hikari. After that she didnt exchange a single word with him and kept on staying in the circle, she did not know that should Shin recast that spell somewhere this circle would disappear. Still, Shin was not going to recast it any time soon as he did stay with a girl and tried to talk with her as he still did thought that she lost her way home. Then there was other reason and it was the girl would actually starve if left alone and Shin would not feel good with that. After three days of taking care of her, he finally got a response and after another day he managed to convince the girl to leave the circle. What happen after that was another story for another time but after all those years Shin threated that girl like his own sister. It didnt matter to him that she was an NPC and that she did not exist in real world. In this world she did exist and that was all that mattered. Shin never actually told anyone about how deep connection he has with Hikari. Even his teammates thought that they first meet each other during the Defense of Larisane which happened a year ago in game time. In truth however their relationship already lasted more than four years already in game time and whenever Shin would have some time, he would visit his little sister. It was quite easy to hide those visits as he did not travel there by normal means. He was given an amulet that would let him teleport to where Hikari was and back again, whenever he wanted or whenever Hikari wanted which sometimes resulted in Shin disappearing in unknown circumstances. Although Hikari would not call him without a good reason and usually just waited for him to come by himself. As to why Shin never told anybody about it, it was because Hikari asked him. Right now, it probably wouldnt have mattered as Hikari was well acquainted with everyones in Shins party but she asked him not to tell anyone. It was before she got acquainted with others and now it somehow felt weird to reveal that. Now then, lets see if she didnt blow herself up. Right now Shin was walking through the streets of Larisane and was heading to Hikaris house. Before he took out to the west, there was still one thing that he wanted to check and that was Hikaris newest research. That research actually started yesterday and it was concerning Hiros newfound powers which Hikari called beautiful aura. The actual fight in which Hiro demonstrated so called beautiful aura was three days ago but Hikari was waiting for Hiro to wake up and give her permission. After waking up, Hiro put up in front that he will not tell anyone about that as its a secret but he also said that anyone can research what they want and Hikari started doing just that although her purpose was not to recreate what Hiro did, meaning the primitive magic but she just wanted to reproduce the color so she can look at it any time she wants. Shin didnt expect any results today but if he were to leave to the west without saying goodbye his would be immediately summoned back for scolding. Ah, she was much nicer when she was younger. Shin thought like that sometimes. Actually since some time now his little sister stopped being little. With all those years that passed, she started to grow up and if it was going to go like that she would soon reach Shins age which was 19, although Shin looked a little older than that. There was also the problem that while Hikari was growing up with game time, Shin was growing up with real world time which resulted in Hikari catching up really fast. Luckily for Shin she was of an elf race which would result in her stopping ageing quite soon. It was really fortunate as Shin wouldnt want to suddenly become her little brother instead. Although Hikari was not pure blooded elf, in her family there were few other races mixed in as well although they never managed to confirm which exactly. There was also no one to ask, as Hikaris parents were nowhere to be found, although Shin did found out what happened to them. Hikaris parents decided to travel to the west and similar to any other attempt to travel to the west be it NPCs or players it always ended the same way. What was worse was that Hikari also wanted to go to the west and probably if it werent for her position as villages elder she would go there already. Shin couldnt understand why Hikari wanted to go there so much. He expected that maybe she hoped that her parents will still be there somewhere, although whenever he asked her about it she would answer that she just feels that she has to go there. Hikari did know what probably happened to her parents and she wasnt a person that would believe in miracles, nevertheless even though she did well know what going to the west meant, she still wanted to do it. Fortunately Shin managed to stop her from it by somehow making her this villages elder. Of course it wasnt his decision but he managed to convince few important people in Larisane and it ended up like that and as long as Hikari was an elder, she would not go to the west. -hey, can you help us with something. Shins walk was interrupted by one of his new temporary teammates, Levi. -if I can help then sure. -you see, we are looking for the house of the elder and we have completely no idea where it. When Levi said that, Shin soon spotted his other new temporary teammate Arata. -well, I am going there right now so you can just come with me. Shin answered, he also was little curious why would they want to meet up with Hikari. -Arata come! He will show us the way! Levi shouted to his friend who came soon after. -if we are bothering you, you dont have to do that. Arata said that right away when he came to hearing distance. Ah its somehow always like this, new people are way too formal. Shin experienced it many times already. New people that would join the party would usually have some restrains in talking with him. Shin did know what was the cause of it and that was other members telling some impossible stories about him when most of it werent true. Despite his attempts Shin never managed to stop that occurrence so it always was like that. The biggest problem was that Shin wasnt really good at breaking the ice so that awkwardness usually lasted for some time. -no, no I am going there anyway so you guys might as well come with me And so they started walking. Usually in this scenario the awkward silence would begin right away. Shin already experienced it many time and even though he would want this to not happen, it kept on happening. Still, in comparison to all other times in which he had no idea what to say to them, they just gave him a free topic to start from. -so, why do you want to meet Hikari? Shin asked while they were walking. -oh, you are on first name with her already, guess, it wont work Arata. Levi answered although Shin had no idea what the answer meant. -it wouldnt have worked either way but him saying her name doesnt mean that right away. -I guess, in that case I will ask. Hey Shin, do you have romantic relationship with that elder? Somehow the usual awkwardness was not present in this man. -em no? Shin didnt exactly know how to answer a random question like that from someone with whom he didnt speak before much. -haha, then I going to take my chances then. -you mean that you guys are going to hit on her? -yes we are! Levi answered right away. -no, he is going to hit on her and I am going to see how he is beaten up for it. Arata corrected Levis answer. -well, in that case I think you both will get what you wanted. Shin answer them with that. Shin never actually saw that happening but he did hear the tales of what happened to few elves from this village that tried to do the same and those were concerning tales. -you mean that it will work? Levi asked. -no, I mean that you will be able to hit on her and Arata will be able to see you being hit for it. -which will also be not the first time and no the last time that it happens. Arata added to Shins answer. -hahaha, you two just doesnt understand the dream of men, thats what I tell you. Men should be like this, if you see the mountain climb it, if you see the beautiful girl, ask her out. As long as you follow those rules you will gain happiness. -hmm I think I did read something like that in some manga. Shin ended up voicing his thoughts. -even so! It is the truth! -ye, ye, by the way em- -Shin. Shin didnt think that Arata forgot his name but he wanted to eliminate the awkwardness as soon as possible. -yes, by the way Shin. Its usually better to ignore what this guy is saying. -hey Arata, what do you mean by that! -I mean if someone tried to take you seriously then they would go crazy. -hahaha, I think my lifestyle is much more interesting than yours. We are in game, we should do whatever we want. -no, I am happy with my lifestyle thank you. -sure be happy with your girlfriend but just you wait till I create my harem, then we will see who is the jealous one. The first girl on this road will be the beautiful elven elder from this village. -wasnt Rin going to be your first girl on this road? -details, details! Let us not focus on the past but rather on the present! There really are people who play this game freely. Still it might be interesting to watch Hikaris reaction to that. I should be able to save him from dying if it comes to worst. Shin already predicted what Hikaris reaction will be. -I would tell you to give up on it but I know you wont listen to me so I wont. -haha, you understand me to this degree already Arata. -well there isnt that much to understand anyway. -I see that you two are quite good friends. Shin ended up commenting the situation. -of course we are. -if it seems like this then you are mistaken. Aratas and Levis answer were somewhat different. -ah, Arata dont be like that! -by the way Shin, while we have the time I wanted to ask. Why do we start at this unusual hour, I think it would be better to start at morning. Arata ignored Levis comment and asked. -well, the answer is quite simple. On our way today we might end up meeting certain creature, that we might be able avoid if it we move on the right time. Although its still just my hopeful thinking. -I see and those creatures are what? -in short I would describe it as a giant spider. If we are lucky we will avoid the big one though and just skirmish with small ones. -spiders? Arata repeated the last word with slightly changed voice. -yes spiders and the creature that we want to avoid the most is the ancient spider queen as from what I heard its a hell of a boss monster and if we meet it then it will mean our total annihilation. Eh is something wrong? Shin ended up asking seeing Aratas blank expression. -no, its just lets say I am not that good with spiders. Oh thats something new. -you have arachnophobia? -hmm I wouldnt go that far I think. But if we are talking about spiders already, I would prefer to avoid them. -I dont think we can change the route enough to avoid meeting any spiders on our way. -no, no, dont do anything like that or no maybe you should. Because hmm how to say it. I said that I am quite bad with spiders but if we are on this topic already, I would say that Rin is about 10 times worse than me being with spiders. I somehow cant image that. Shin thought like that but Aratas face was not lying. -I see, well it might take us three extra days because of that but . -no, no, no, no, no. Arata is probably just joking about it, dont change anything now Levi said that but his intentions were probably different. -hey Arata, how did it come that you and Rin are once again exactly the same in some respect and you both are afraid of spiders. -I am not afraid of spiders. -your face is telling me differently. -okay, maybe a little. Well, it realties to a certain event that I experienced, Rin also experienced it and ever since that time I cant stand spiders. Even though its not logical and everything whenever I see those little things I cant keep calm. Still when I see spider I immediately kill it for revenge, on the other hand Rin well maybe she is over it already. I see so as I thought, they did know each other from real. Aratas words confirmed Shins earlier hypothesis although he was already nearly sure of that earlier. From what he said maybe I should rethink the route but its probably too late for changing our direction now. Also it should be fine, we just need to slip through that area quickly and afterwards there shouldnt be any more spiders. The current route that Shin chose led through the widows forest. That forest was at the border of what people knew as the known lands and the west. From what he found out it was both the safest and most dangerous route at the same time. The difference between the two was simple. It was safest choice if you didnt encountered the spider queen and it was the most dangerous when you did encounter her. It might seem like a huge risk but in theory as long as they travel through that forest at the right time they shouldnt encounter the grand widow. Shin, Arata and Levi arrived at Larisanes magic center. It was not Hikaris house but Shin expected to find her here so he led the others here. Actually Hikari was speeding here more time than in her house. Shin also spend his deal of time in this place. On the outside it looked like any other tree house that one could see in this village. Well this tree house was slightly bigger, which meant it was really big. The inside was divided in few parts. First one, farthest to the left was simply a library, although books would be strictly focused on magic and nothing else. To enter this part they would need to walk through the farthest to the left gate. Then there was a middle part in which elves did their rituals. What rituals? All kind of rituals that would help this village in prospering. For example the tree houses that were the main part of this village were made thanks to one of those rituals. The invisible crystal terrace in the crown of trees was also made thanks to it. The rituals usually werent executed by a single person but by many, although Hikari was a genius child that could execute most of them on her own. Then lastly the farthest to the right door leaded to research part in which Shin expected to find Hikari. -okay its this building. Shin said to the others. -you mean this is where that girl lives? Wow, such a large house. -no she is not living here but this is where we should meet her. Lets not waste any more time. The whole thing seemed like complete waste of time to Shin anyway but he was not going to stop them if they wanted to do it. boom!!!! Out of sudden they heard some explosion that came from behind the door in front of which they were staying at the moment. Seems like another failure. Shin was not really worried as random explosion in that room happened quite often. They started happening especially often ever since Hikari started being an elder. Without waiting for others comments Shin just opened the door and entered inside. The inside was a huge round hall. Its walls were in the color of the trees trunk. Practically everywhere there were some devices that would help a magical practitioner. Although right now everything was in a mess as it either was knocked down or slightly broken. Luckily for this village this was only one room from many that those devices were kept in and also the damage was not beyond repair anywhere. In the middle of the room there was Hikari who was right now looking at the glass sphere that was hung on the celling. Right now the sphere was completely empty but Shin knew that few seconds ago Hikari tried to recreate within it a beautiful color as she called it. Still by the state of this room one could easily say that it didnt work so far. The tables were turned down, some of them slightly burned or broken. -ah, it still wasnt this! Hikari said to herself, it seemed like she didnt realize that they came inside, although Shin knew well that she did know it and she knew about their arrival ever since they decided to come here. -Hikari! I brought you some guests! Shin ended up calling to her and Hikari immediately turned around. It didnt seem like she was too happy seeing them though. -what is it? Cant you tell I am busy. She right away sent those words towards Arata and Levi, they werent meant for a Shin though as he was asked to come here before leaving and practically there was not a single time when Hikari was unhappy to meet him. -well Levi, she is all yours. Arata said to Levi. -hmm, I think this might be not the best timing but this is my only chance in a lifetime. Levi did not back of and went straight in the direction of Hikari. At some point he took out a red rose out of nowhere, probably from his inventory. -I welcome you the most beautiful lady that I ever met. My name is Levi and I came here with a hope that you will grand me a single wish and that wish is for you to accept this flower that is filled with my feelings for you. Levi ended up walking all the way towards Hikari then he kneeled before her and stretch his hands to give Hikari the flower. -Shin, is there something wrong with this mans head and you came here to let me check on him? Oh, it seems like she is in a good mood. Hikaris voice was neither angry not annoyed, she simply joked around. -no, he came here on his own. Shin ended up answering. -I see in this case you, you said your name is Levi right? I will give you three choices. One, you will leave and we will forget anything happened, two you will wait till your friend tells me what he wants to say and then you will leave and forget anything happened, and three I will take your rose and give you a kiss on a cheek, which one do you choose? Hikari ended up saying this to Levi. -whaaa! Really! Then of course I will chose the third option! Levi ended up shouting out loudly as he himself did not believe that. Hikari ended up taking the rose and then after a second she pushed it right into Levis mouth. -whawasay Levi tried to say something but it was in vain and in the end he actually ended up eating that flower. -hey didnt you just say?! -if you are stupid enough to believe that there is a woman that will answer to cheap talk like this then you are surely an idiot. -being an idiot is fine as long as I can fulfill my dreams. -I dont know what dreams you had but you should be happy that I didnt petrify you into the stone because for a moment I thought of doing so. -if it involves kissing then I am still up for it. She didnt meant that. -ah you really are an idiot em Shin, can I kill this guy? Hikari ended up asking. -dont do it if you can. Shin answered although he did know that Hikari was still joking. -unfortunately Shin said that you shouldnt die so we cant choose the third option. In that case I will answer seriously I do know you Levi, or rather I heard about you quite a lot from my new friend Rin. If you dont stop what you are doing right now I will make you stop doing so. Sure I will not kill you as Shin asked for it but you will regret not being killed as the fate that will await you is far worse than death. When Hikari was saying those words she shot a death glare with her golden eyes at Levi who somehow in the middle of that speech was slowly backing off and at the moment it ended, he was all the way where Shin and Arata were standing. -I see its a shame that we cant use option three in that case lets go with the second one Levis attitude somehow changed. Shin knew why it was like that. It was not because he got scared of current Hikari image as no matter how hard would she try, she would still wouldnt look terrifying. Her angry look was actually quite cute. Still what Hikari just did was to send into Levis brain a vision of something that made him back of. -now then you, your name was Arata, right? Hikari switched her interest to Arata now. -I didnt expect you to know my name. Arata answered. -yes whatever, so why did you come here? You also came here too waste my time as the other one? -you could say that I came to see as the other one is wasting your time. -in that case you both can leave already I dont feel like making new acquaintances today Hikari said that and turned around. She started taking care of a mess that probably appeared after the last explosion. Arata did not move away as instructed though, and waited. He seemed to be wondering about something. After about a minute Hikari once again spoke to him. -thats why I asked if you have any business with me, right away. Stop thinking about unrelated things and say what you want. I dont care if it will be a meaningless question or behavior, just do it quickly. As far as Shin remembered, Hikari was not someone who would throw away the guests that came to her although she had a little patience when those guests were slow in explaining their business. Still, because it was unusual for her to see many other adventurers, she was always slightly interested in them, so even if the matter was as stupid as Levis one she would want to find out what that matter was. -I am not sure if I should. Arata answered. -I will decide if you should do so or not. Now speak. -okay well, how to said it. My friend told me that by meeting someone like you I can get stronger so I came here to check out if it is possible. -hey Arata, I was not serious about it, sure there is a possibility but its one in million. Levi quickly interrupted him but then. -be quiet, you had your time already Hikari stopped him. -so Arata you came here with a hope that I can make you stronger just because you will ask me nicely for it? -pretty much, even if you really can help me somehow I would not be able to repay you in any way as I am leaving this village today. Hmm I do understand where he came up with that idea. Yes, technically one does get stronger after meeting certain NPCs but its usually is a matter of doing quests. You do a quest for an NPC, then they give you some reward. You also technically do get stronger by getting some experience points and in best case scenario you will get some new skill. Still, I dont know about getting anything just for asking. -thats it? You will not try to convince me somehow? It seemed like Hikari did get interested in Aratas request for some reason though. -I dont really know what would convince you anyway I did not expect a serious answer so I will be going now. Arata said that and then he was going to leave the room right away afterwards. Truth was that he did not really believe in getting anything for free in this game, given his experience so far. Well I guess, trying to ask is still better than doing nothing. Still I wonder if he had more time, Hikari would end up giving him a quest. I dont remember her ever giving quests to anybody but me. Although that probably because of this villages rules, there are no adventurers here. Shin also thought that it was rather impossible as he also knew this game way too much but then suddenly Hikari stopped Arata from leaving. -wait. Just so you know, even though your request is unreasonable you are the first person that came to me and asked if I can make them stronger. Even this guy Hikari pointed with her finger at Shin. She always pretended to be in bad relations with him whenever a third person was present. -even though I know him for a while now never asked if I can make him stronger somehow. To answer your question if I can make you stronger somehow, I am not exactly sure. As I mentioned I never had an occasion to try doing something like making an adventurer stronger and because of that when you asked for it, for a moment I though, I would want to see if I can do it Hikari explained her reasons. -still, I am not sure if I really would want to do it for you. I dont know you, you are complete stranger to me, the only thing I know about you is what I heard from Rin and from what I saw during the second round of that tournament of yours, although I was slightly distracted at that time. Practically what I know for sure is only one thing and that is that your aura is strong. -aura? -I dont feel like explaining it now. Anyway I know that you are strong, so tell me Arata, why someone as strong as you wishes to become even stronger? You should be satisfied with your current level. If I were to compare you with other adventurers I know, there would be only few that had stronger aura than yours. Why would someone want to become stronger? Well, in this game, rather than having an answer to this question you take it as default. Its natural for anyone to want to get stronger and win against others. The feeling of wanting to be superior to other players is quite common for anyone who plays the games. Shin thought like that although he himself never really had a focus like that. For him as long as he could enjoy the game, it was enough. That was at least what he thought was the case. -why? Arata first said those words. -well, the main reason would probably be because I am not satisfied with my current level I guess. -I didnt ask for an obvious answer, if that was not the case you wouldnt have asked me for making you stronger. -I wouldnt say that its an obvious answer. I would probably never said words like few days ago but if you want to hear my other reasons the sure I can tell you those I guess. Although I am not so eager about it right now, and it will take a lot of time but at some point in the future, I plan to become the strongest adventurer of this world. Suddenly Arata stated his ambitions. -hahahahaha. Levi ended up laughing at Arata from afar after hearing that. Well, his laughter is understandable, how can someone even think that they can become the strongest player in EOA. Although I dont hate his ambition. Shouldnt every player have an ambition like that. Although I am way too realistic to ever think like that. -you see how your friend reacted to your reason for becoming stronger. Hikari was not laughing but got even more interested. -well, that is why I would normally tell no one about it. Right now, I dont really think about it too much anyway as I know that I still have a long way to go. Actually, by myself I wouldnt think its possible. Thats what I expected from him, he did not lost his mind. -so why do you even mention it? How do you plan on doing something you yourself think impossible? -even if it seems impossible, I will still do it and will not give up till the end. Even though I do not believe in myself enough to feel like I can become the strongest adventurer of this world, there is someone who believe in me full heartedly and the faith of her is the only thing that I need to feel that it is possible. She believes in it so I will also believe in it and make it happen. Shin did not know to whom Arata was referring to but he did at least know that, that person was really important to him. Otherwise Arata would not do anything outside of his character. Shin already understood Aratas character a little, so it was quite strange for him to hear that Arata has an unreasonable goal like that. Still now that he heard that he was not doing it for himself, it somewhat made sense. -hahahaha Hikari also ended up laughing out loud, although her laugh was not a mocking one like Levis one. -I liked your reason and I also started to like you. An honest idiot that would never do anything for themselves but would do anything for others, sounds exactly like someone I know In this moment Hikari send a look towards Shin. -from now on, rather than elder you can call me by my name. -well I never called you an elder either but sure if you like, I will Hikari. -still Arata, if you really have a goal like that then trying to get stronger by asking someone like me to help is probably not the way you should take. True power is not something that you can receive. -well of course, I dont have any plans to run from one person to another with a similar request. In the first place I came here without any hopes what so ever, it was just something that seemed little more meaningful than waiting on some bench till we take off to the west. Also even though I said what I said, that is just something at the back of my mind. Right now I have other objectives. One of them is the success of this expedition. Arata explained. -I see, so coming to me for you is just taking any opportunity you can find Hikari stopped for a moment and then said. -okay, I decided. I will help you on your journey. Some way or another Hikari ended up agreeing to Aratas request. Hmm this world is really limitless, anything can happen in it I guess. Shin thought like that. Even though he was not exactly sure what Hikari was going to do, usually when she said something like that she at least had some kind of plan. -well thanks Arata was also slightly surprised. -so in what way would you be able to help me? He asked but at the same time Arata wasnt too excited about it. He probably assumed that it wont be anything that great. -we dont have much time so I will explain on the way, follow me. You two can also come but I am will be experimenting only on Arata. -experimenting? Arata started to wonder if it was really good idea to ask Hikari for help. Hikari now just walk pass them and was going to leave the room. -quickly, quickly, we have to start in few minutes. She ignored Aratas comment and went outside the room. -hey Arata, I would advise you to back out from it. Levi quickly said when Hikari was out from the hearing range. -well, I am not sure about it as well. From what I understood she agreed to help me only because she can use me as experimental rat. Yes, thats about it, otherwise Hikari wouldnt be so nice to someone that she just met and she loves experiments. Probably. Shin did understand Hikari as no one else in this world. -good analogy. As far as I know experimental rats usually die young, right? Levi said once again. -on the other hand its a one-life chance and what the worst thing that could happen? -I guess it would be you dying upon failure and remember we have not only a quest but also a whole expedition to do. Still the choice is yours. No risk no gains as they say. -well it would be stupid to lose my chance on the worlds first just because of a wrong decision that wasnt even connected to the quest. Yes I will pas- puff Suddenly Arata disappeared in the middle of the sentence. -hey where did he go? Levi surprised ended up asking Shin. -I think he was teleported somewhere by Hikari as I do recognize this- puff Shin tried to explain but he also suddenly disappeared in the middle of the sentence. For a second his vision went white but then after a single blink he appeared in a different place. Shin recognized the place where he appeared in and that was the ritual room. The place was not that far from where he was previously as it would take just about four minutes to go from there to where he was now. The ritual room was a large round area. The walls were still the same as in previous room and they were in the color of the inside trunk. In comparison to previous room there was nothing on the walls here. Not a single painting not a single bookshelf. In general the area that was so large looked quite empty. There wasnt any furniture here, no tables, no chairs nothing. Also the whole area was quite dim as there was no that many light sources in here. There werent any windows either. The only source of light was coming from the top. If someone wanted to look up from the middle of the room, they would see a long tunnel with the light at its end. In truth it was just a long trunk of a gigantic tree with the top that was cut open, and the light at the end was a simple daylight. When most of the area in this room was empty the center of it was what was catching ones interest. In the middle there was a small pedestal that was growing up from the middle of the trunk. Around this pedestal there were four strange plants. One would not think that those were plants but Shin learned that those were simply growing up from the base of the tree. Those four plants to Shin looked somewhat like lollipops. A small stick from the bottom and then a round colorful orb at the top. Shin already saw as those unusual plants were changing their color during different rituals or Hikaris experiments. When it was one of the rituals then it the colors were all different. One strange plant would be purple, other blue, other red and so on. Shin already saw most of the colors so he suspected that they can change to any color there is. Still, the difference was while Hikari was experimenting with her powers. Whenever she was doing that the plants would always shine with blinding light as if one was looking directly at the sun. Actually that was quite annoying to deal with as whenever Hikari was doing new experiments it was Shins job to stop her if something looked like it was going to go out of control. Shin actually ended up creating for himself a protective google to be able to observe Hikaris experiments. Shin was teleported a little to left from the center. In the center however there already were Hikari and Arata. -because you were slacking off I decided to summoned you here myself. I told you to hurry up, didnt I? Hikari started complaining. -sorry but I think I will decline on your offer Hikari. Arata quickly answered. -decline? But but why do you want to decline!? Hikaris voice was really disappointed right now. Ah, seems like she really wanted to try doing that. -well its because I am little worried that something will not work out. Arata explained. Seeing the previous explosion he was quite worried. -but nothing bad should happen well at least probably. -I quite worried about this, probably. -you shouldnt, I wouldnt do anything bad to Shins party. I do know perfectly that you are going for an expedition today, nothing bad will happen to you. Also if something would go out of control during the experiment, Shin will stop it from doing any harm, thats why he is here as well. But anyway, you have only two minutes left to make the final decision, just so you know if you decline I wont like you anymore. Even though I liked your ambition, I dont like people who go back on their words. Hikari was not making it easy on him but she really wanted to try out new things. -hey, you really can stop it if it goes wrong because I really cant have anything go bad here. Arata ended up turning to Shin. It seemed like he was really worried about something unexpected happening. -yes I can. You are not at any risk with me here. Also, even though she might not look like it, you shouldnt underestimate Hikaris power. Sure her powers sometimes go out of control but that does not happen that often anymore. During the last years she has been studding the ways of magic non-stop. As long as she does not overdo it, there is nothing to worry about. Also she is a perfectionist for good or worse, if she wasnt sure that it will work then she wouldnt even suggest you it. -Shin! Because of whom do you think I became perfectionist? Its you who always taught me that I should always prepare everything in best way I can. Hikari nagged him. -you know, you could have told me earlier that its a win/nothing situation for me. I wouldnt have to think about it that hard. Arata ended up complaining to Shin. -probably but I didnt want to influence your decision. In truth I simply wanted to see how you will decide by yourself. For one, Shin loved to analyze people. It wasnt really nice thing to do but he was always like that. Rather than asking for something himself, he would prefer to learn it by himself by observation. That was Shins nature. -so Arata, are you want my help or not. The time is running short. Hikari once again asked. -I do, I do. But you still did not tell me in which way you will actually help me. -hmm right now we have less than a minute so I will make it quick. In the meantime move to the middle of the pedestal over here Hikari walked towards the pedestal, get on it and stand the middle. -all you need to do is to stand here and not move Arata moved to where Hikari was standing. -as to what will I do. You asked me to help you to become stronger. The task of actually making someone stronger is not that easy, I will not be giving you any new powers from me or anything like that. I also will not try to increase your physical potential in any way. Maybe I would be able to do it but as you heard I dont want to try anything I am not sure of. I will be just unlocking your potential that all. Ah no good, there is no more time. I will explain everything afterwards now just stand still. Right now Hikari and Arata were both standing on the pedestal. Suddenly the whole room became brighter. The reason for that was because the sun outside was now right above the tree and the light was coming directly without interference. The sun rays brighten up the room and especially the pedestal. From Shins perspective it looked like a pillar of light was emanating from the pedestal. Still it was still the natural occurrence given the rooms structure. Hikaris spell did no start yet but soon after it did. The strange plants started to first emanate a small light that at the start was not visible because of the pillar of sunlight. Still as the time went on, it was more and more visible. Before it turned into blinding light, Shin found his protective goggles in his inventor and put them on. -I am the one with the sun Hikari started to chant a spell. It was her usual chanting that she always did whenever she wanted to use that power, so Shin recognized it right away. He was also actually the one that had to come up with those words. -I shine, so the people around me can be happy -I shine, so the people around me can be safe -I shine, so the people around me dont die in vain -I shine, so I can use this power to defend them Those five lines were at the start of all Hikaris spells. Actually the words while using magic were completely mediatory and not needed. Still speaking the words was something that helped one to focus. NPCs in the game also could use normal skills, the same that players were using but at the same time those with magical power naturally could also use primitive magic. After Hikari started the strange plants were already really bright. - . Afterwards Hikari somewhat stopped saying anything else. Normally she would had few more lines that would be connected to her current objective but because she was doing something new and something she did not expect to do, she didnt have time to come up with new lines. Hmm, she didnt have an occasion to ask me to come up with new chanting so she is in a pinch. Well, she didnt have time to make Shin do it for her as recently he wasnt playing that much and when he once come here during the break, they werent speaking about something like new spells. In the end Hikari ended up giving up on coming up with something on the fly and focused completely on the spell. After all, only with those five lines she was already beyond understanding. The ritual continued for about a minute. During that time the orbs in strange plants were getting brighter and brighter with every second. But finally after one minute they were ready. Hikari stretched her hand upward and the lights from the strange plants started to move. The light from them did not change their shape and four light balls started to gather on Hikaris palm. So far it doesnt seem like its going to explode. Shin was checking for any signs of something going wrong but he didnt see anything that would signal that. Hikari was in her top shape today. After all light balls combined into one, the second phase of the spell has started. Small fragments of combined light ball were now leaving the light ball and were transmitted into Aratas body. During this process Hikari was transmitting her magical power into the ball to keep it in the consistent shape despite what was happening. Everything was going according to the plan. At least it was looking like that as Shin never saw this ritual before. Or rather no one saw it as it was the first time that Hikari was doing it, although she probably already tried it to some degree. But then something happened. Shin did not saw anything that particular happened but he recognized that something has happened based not on the magic that was floating in the air but the change on Hikaris face. Right now she had a face that she usually used when she had no idea what was going on. Whenever this face appeared during the experiments the next thing that would most likely follow soon after was an unstable explosion. Shin considered stopping the experiment right away but so far he still didnt see anything that would signal the explosion actually happening. There was once again a change in Hikaris face though. It seemed like she understood something and now she had a determined face and was looking up to the ball. Shin also saw that right now she was sending much more energy into the light ball. It was easy to see as she started to actually shine like the light ball when she was doing so. The magical words that Hikari was using were not all simply made up by Shin as whenever Hikari was using a large amount of her power in controlled way she would start to shine like that. If I stop it now, she will be angry. Shin easily understood that this is not the time for him to interfere. From the start, he was actually not going to do anything unless either explosion was going to happen or if he received a signal from Hikari that he should interfere. For a note that signal was simply a panicked face that would look in his direction with pleasing eyes. At some point the fragments that were coming out from the magic light ball were not that small anymore. They reached the size of a tennis balls. Still, despite that, the ritual did end without any explosion and from what Shin knew if new experiment did not end up in explosion it should always be considered a success. When the experiment ended the pillar of sunlight that was coming from the top also somewhat dimmed as the sun was no longer directly over the top. That was the way in which the building was made as actually most of the elven rituals that should occur in this room should be done in the surrounding of darkness. Still Hikari despite being an elven elder would always work better while being surrounded by sunlight. She still did the elven rituals at night if there was need for them but the time where she was doing something new that she and Shin thought up was always in the middle of the day when the sun was on top. With the end of the spell everything in the room returned to normal, meaning nothing was shining anymore and there were no orbs of light or anything like that. The room was in the same state as in the moment that they first appeared in it. -ha, ha, ha, ha. There was the change though as Hikari was out of energy and was breathing heavily. Arata finally opened his eyes as during the spell he had them closed for the whole time. He actually opened them in the perfect timing as the moment he did so he saw as Hikari was collapsing before him. With fast reflect Arata managed to catch her before she fallen on the pedestal. -hey! Are you okay? Arata asked. Shin also ran up towards the pedestal but he was not really panicked as right now Hikari had a syndrome of using too much power in the short duration of time that was common for all mages, including adventures. -yes I am okay Hikari answered as she did not fall unconscious but simply run out of strength. -this spell was much more tiring that I thought it will be. I dont exactly know why but most likely it was your fault. -my fault? Arata asked surprised. He actually didnt do anything other than standing on the spot with closed eyes. -yes your fault so now take the responsibility and take me home so I can rest. -hey Hikari, I can do it if you want. Shin proposed. -no the last time you tried to carry me you actually dropped me so you are not reliable for that job Hmm, that did actually happened but it was not my fault. Ah, well I will not argue with her about this again. -also its Aratas fault so he will pay the price. -okay, sure I can carry you to your home if you want. With that Hikari ended up on Aratas back and he started to carry her. Shin led Arata his wooden staff to make it easier to carry her. He already had a lot of experience in doing so and holding the staff while Hikari was sitting on it was the best way to carry her. Hikari also ended up plotting her hands on Aratas neck. Ah, its usually me who was doing it Shin thought to himself. He felt slightly sad but at the same time he did knew that Hikari simply wanted to try riding on someone else for the change. -okay, lets go! Hikari commanded and then they started to move in the direction of the doors and afterwards towards Hikaris home. -so, should I feel any change? On the way Arata ended up asking. -do you feel any? Shin ended up responding. -none at all. -I see well you probably wont see any difference till you level up once as this is how it usually goes but hey Hikari, should he feel any difference? Shin then asked Hikari for confirmation. -why do you ask me obvious questions? Rather than that Shin. Hikari looked at him from top of Arata and just said his name. Still just by doing so he understand what she wanted. -right, right Arata we will take a small detour on the way. -sure, no problem, till the expedition starts I have nothing to do and even though I am not sure when its starts it wont start with you here Arata answered to Shin. Right now they got out from the building and were once again out in the open. Apart from few villagers that were passing on the road there was no one else. Shin ended up then leading them to a certain shop. -still Hikari, you were going to explain to me what that ritual actually did. -later. Arata said to her but Hikari did not answer. -I am not sure that there are many later left. -Shin. Hikari once again turned to him. -Arata, Hikari right now seems to be really tired so she wants regain her strengths first before doing anything else. When she is like that she will not even answer to you and stay silent so even if you try it will be in vain to ask now. Still, if you want a fast and easy to understand explanation of what that ritual actually did then I can answer that. If you want details though you will have to wait for Hikari to answer. -well I do prefer fast and easy to understand version. -in that case here it is. The purpose of the spell was to unlock someones potential. -yes I already heard that. Are you sure its easy to understand version? Arata asked after hearing Shin answer. -in short you will get one or two new skills from your profession the next time you level up. -really?!! Just like that? The second explanation that Shin gave him was really short and easy to understand. -well, I wouldnt say just like that. Preparing that ritual was not easy and executing it required large amount of magical power that made even Hikari to run out of mana. Although now that I think about it, Hikari, Arata has two professions does explain you difficulties? Suddenly Shin had an inspiration to what might have been the answer to the troubles that appeared. -two? And you are telling me it just now. Hikari said that with the tired voice. -well, I wasnt taking part in research on that spell, still why did you even try to create something like that? Shin asked as he was little surprised when Hikari had a spell like that. The reason for that was because as she said there was never any other adventurer that came to her with request like that and there probably wouldnt be many either. - . Hikari didnt answer to his question though. Seeing that she wont Shin once again explained. -anyway you should see some new spells after leveling up and I just said that it should be 1 or 2 but I think now it turns out into one or two per class. -really? Well if its true than I wont be able to thank Hikari enough. Still is it really that simple and I got it for free. -did I say it was for free? Suddenly Hikari interfered despite what Shin said earlier. -I thought you did? Arata answered. -hmm, did I? If so treat it as me helping you in your goal and you helping me in my goal. -well, I will definitely will repay you if I can, but as I said, right now I have an expedition in which I take part in and quest to do so. -of course I m Shin. Hikari once again stopped talking as she was still taking heavy after effect after the unexpected mana usage. -she wanted to say that it will not be now but later in the future and she once again will tell you the details later. But also that Arata you are not obligated to help by any mean, you can refuse if you want. -future? Well, if it will be possible then I will want to help but I will not give my word on this if I dont know when it will be. -yes, she doesnt expect anything more than this Shin answered for Hikari as she once again stayed silent. Actually right now her eyes were slowly closing and even though she planned to stay awake she probably was too tired for it. By the time they reached the shop she fallen asleep on Aratas back. -if you want, I can take her from here. Shin proposed the idea thinking that Arata would want to do something else now. -nah, I am not bothered by it. Still, we came to a restaurant and she fallen asleep before we managed to eat anything. Arata said as he understood the intension of coming to a shop that was selling food. -in that case lets just order it on take out and continue to her home. Shin ended up ordering three elders favorite. For a note that food was really called elders favorite in this shop and this was how it was marked on the menu. After about 20 minutes Shin received the bag with food the food inside and then they continues to Hikaris home. -still, I must say that you two seem quite close. Arata ended up starting the conversation after a long silence. -you sure you should say something like that to me while you are giving her a piggyback. To anyone it would seem like its you two who are close. Shin answered half joking. -what I mean is how easy you two talk with each other and how you understand her without use of words. -I guess, still Arata, if we continue this road it will be a second time that we have a silly conversation like that. You dont seem like someone who is actually interested in subjects like that. -I see, sorry for asking. Arata started looking forward. Ah, was this my mistake. This should be a chance to drop this formal talk. -no, no. I dont mind. Anyway, me and her, we know each other for few years now so you could say we are close. Say is thinking of her like my younger sister is strange? Shin ended up asking, it was actually the first time that he talked about Hikari with someone else and voiced this though. Arata little surprised at first decided to answer. -strange? Well maybe, but the only part of it being strange would come from the fact that we are in EOA and this isnt real world. -I am not really concerned about this part that much. How to say it hmm, it might be because we live in a strange era but since some time now, I stopped thinking about EOA as a game but rather an alternative world that I can be in. There are numberous of people that I meet thanks to being in this world. Its not only players but NPCs as well. There are also numberous things that I did ever since coming here that I would not be able to do while living my simple life. There are also few things that changed in me while I was here. While I use the word game, I think of games that I once played in the past, but classifying EOA as a game is strange to me. The only thing that I can compare it with is living in normal world. Shin made a long monologue. He did not plan to say this much but somehow he did say everything he had on his mind. Arata was little surprised hearing that. -that is a little strange. Others from the party told me that you in particular threat this as a game and you focus only on gaming elements of it. -I did mention that half of the things they say about me are lies. Still it might seem like that I guess as I am usually with them when we are taking part in gaming aspects rather than spending time with them normally. -so whenever you are not doing dungeons with them you spent your time with your younger sister? -I wouldnt say whenever as I do other things with them as well. I particular like to play few other games with them, I heard you tried one of those already. -Moloch agents? -yes that one. Still once again I will ask, is it strange to spend a lot of time with Hikari? Shin once again asked as he really did want to hear an answer. He didnt talk about it with anyone before. -hmm not really. Anyone can do what they enjoy. Still when you say it like that then I must ask this silly question. Is she the reason that you are giving a cold shoulder to Julia if yes then maybe you should explain it to her. -no, no, as I said I think of Hikari as younger sister. Even when we first meet she was of this height. Shin showed the previous Hikaris height. It was about the height of his leg. -but she isnt this small anymore. -its been four years after all. Still its nothing like that. As for Julia, I dont know what to do with her so leave it as this. -I probably already asked too much about it Anyway right now I cant wait for my new spells. Its been like forever since I got something. It seemed like Arata was really excited about it. -well, you cant help it as you only get limited number of spells from leveling up. Apart from that you need to get them yourself somehow. Shin answered. -you mean the method is really to go around some important people and ask for new skills? -no, no. I never heard of something like that actually working. -we confirmed that it did happened today though, although I still dont feel a difference and I didnt get any new skills either yet so I will only be able to confirm it little later. Well its a whole level to get and right now I am at 40% but its not that bad. -in this case, maybe getting friendly with certain people would result in getting new skills if you ask them. Still if Hikari is tired like this after doing it once I dont think it will be easy to convince them to help you just like that. Not to mention there arent that many NPCs that can rival Hikaris power. -there is also a matter of asking for it. I mean, I didnt really felt good while asking, hey can you give me some spells? Yes there is also that. Shin thought to himself, as indeed he would not do something like that himself. On the other hand, he did knew few people that could ask like that without reserve. -by the way, do you know other more normal methods to get skills? Arata ended up asking. -well you usually get them from quests. -you mean class quests? -yes those as well, although it is hard to find class quests. Its even harder than getting normal quests. But from normal quests you get normal skills and from class quests you get class skills. For example while was doing normal quests I might receive a skill that is generally used by all magicians. Of course quests dont reward you only with skills, there are other rewards as well. Items and such, you know how it goes. -I see so its hard to get new skills for your specific class. -thats why there is a saying that at some point your class starts to matter less and less. Although it will always have a huge influence as it is your core. Also no need to get dishearten as even though its not that often you still will get a skill from time to time for free, from leveling up. There are also other methods to get skills as well, like having someone teach you those. Although something like that still usually ends up being a quest anyway. -in a way its what Hikari did for me today. -not exactly. She didnt though you anything, she also didnt give you anything in particular. She simply used her powers to unlock your potential. Right, there is also other way to get new skills and that would be unlocking your potential yourself. In a way those random new skills after leveling up are what comes from you putting in an effort so its not other method. -and how exactly do you unlock your potential? Arata ended up asking, Shin did not have a good explanation for him though. -well, every class has its different so I wont help you here. I dont have a good reliable answer here. Like, I once thought that by studying magic I will get new skills. In a way it was working at first but at some point I didnt get anything else anymore. In the end my theory on that is that there is a limit on how much I could get from studding simple magic. Still, even now when I did quite huge experiment with Hikari I did get a new spell. But I have no idea how would it work with melee class so dont ask me for it. -I see so by doing certain things I can get new skills in that case I probably doing wrong things as I didnt get anything new for so long. Arata complained. -probably but still its usually is like that. If someone gets a new skill once in few months then they are doing good job. It is very rare for someone to get many of them in a short time. -really? I was leveling up with someone that was getting new skills like every level and it was not a lie as she was testing it before my eyes every time she did get something new. -in that case that person was doing exactly what she should be doing. It must have been some talented player I guess, well given that its your acquaintance then that person must have been really talented. -no, she is not talented, she would just go wawawa this, wawawa that. Arata said it annoyed but he did have a smile while speaking about it. -well I dont know her, but for a note what does wawawa mean. -hmm I will say that whenever I thought that I finally understood what it meant, she would always surprise me with new usage of this word. In a way wawawa means everything in her language. -haha, well there are people like that as well. Shin remarked. Also he finally managed to have a normal and not stiff conversation which was a good thing. Soon after, they reached Hikaris home. It was medium size oak tree that had three floors and a basement. Although saying medium size it was only in comparison to other houses as all trees that were part of Larisane were gigantic. The forest around the village was normal though. The secret to the trees were the rituals that were passed down in elven culture. Still even though Larisane was typical elven village, it didnt mean that all other elven cities looked like this. There were examples of elven cities not being in the forest so it would be impossible for them to be made out of trees. -this is the place Shin remarked and opened the door with his spare key. The first flow was divided into three parts which was kitchen, bath and dining room. Then other rooms on other floors were simple rooms. One the second floor there was large Hikaris room that took half a space and the study room that took the other half. Then the third one was a guests/Shins room and four other rooms that usually served as both guests/storage rooms. They usually were packed with really random things. Some of the rooms were better left unopened as if someone were tried to open them a large amount of things could crush them. Those rooms were packed in full as Hikari was simply teleporting things to their inside and never take anything out from them. The problem would appear though whenever a particular item was needed to be taken out. It was really hard to find them if there was a need. Still, despite many attempts to explain why she shouldnt do it, Hikari kept on throwing stuff there like nothing. -okay, lets take her to her room. Its on the second floor. Just as Shin suggested it, Hikari suddenly woke up. -aaaaa! She yawed strongly. -Shin you did bought the food right? That was her first question. -yes I did. -in that case you leave it on the table. Also Arata you can put me down now. -you rested already? Arata asked. -no, but its enough for now. I will eat something now and then go to sleep. I think you two have your expedition so maybe you should go already. Hmm, its true we might get late at this point. -you still didnt tell me what you wanted my help with. Arata said that. Earlier on he was right, there were not that many later left. -I see, in that case come in, you Shin as well but just so you two know I wont let my food to you. -dont worry I bought three portions. Shin answered. -who said that I cant eat three portions? Still fine, I guess I shouldnt eat too much before sleeping. Afterwards Hikari led them to the dining room. Shin also entered the kitchen and took some cutlery. The dining room was a simple dining room with a large table in the middle and chairs around it. Although it was quite rare that all of those chairs were filled. They all sit near one end of that table and started eating. At some point Hikari finally explained to Arata what she wanted to do. -so Arata, in the future I will be asking you to help me in my journey to the west. -to the west? Isnt this were we are going today? Why dont you come today if you want to go there? Arata answered with an obvious reaction. -its because I cant do it right now. I have my responsibilities towards this village. Still when those responsibilities will be completed I will be making my own expedition to the west, and in that I need help. -I see, well, as long as you notice me about it with good advance I should probably easily make it. Still, I would want to ask why do you- Suddenly Arata stopped in the mid-sentence. Shin did not know why Arata stopped but he decided to answer Aratas not finished question. -she doesnt has a reason- -yet! Hikari interrupted him. -I dont have a reason yet but when my expedition starts I will definitely find it. Anyway as to why I want to go there I just have a feeling I should go Ah, why does she keep on saying that? Her adventure to the west is nothing like ours. We can simply go there and die at some point, which I expect to happen, but if she were to go there its a total different matter. Still despite my tries I can only slow her down. Even now the only reason Hikari did not start her journey there is because she is this villages elder. Shin is partly responsible for this to happen but he is really happy that he managed to pull that out, otherwise Hikari would probably not be here today with them anymore. -do you want to hear any more other specific on this Arata? If so then I mind you that those specifics can change as the times goes Hikari continued although right now Arata was not listening. He had a face that was deep in thoughts. -hey! Hikari called out to him. -yes, yes, what were we on about? Arata answered but afterwards he made a specific movement that Shin interpreted as closing the pop up window that might have appeared before him. -ah were you listening at all? Hikari said annoyed. -yes, yes, I will go to the west in the future with you for now lets close it on that. Close it on that? Thats somewhat strange sentence. Shin founded it slightly strange that Arata was not asking for any more information. On the other hand Hikari was pleased hearing that. -yes, there is no need for me to explain things now Especially when you dont have the explanation anyway. -then as to how I will contact you about it Hikari thought about it for few seconds and then came up with easy for her idea. -Shin you deal with it. The idea let Shin take care of it. -yes, yes. -you mean he is coming as well? Arata asked. -why are you surprised? Of course I am not going anywhere without him. Or, is it that you hoped that you will have a sweet time only with me? If so I will try to consider you but dont bring up any hopes. -no, no, I didnt meant that. -what you think I am ugly? -no, no definitely not that. -so what do you think. In the end Hikari ended up toying with him. -em . -Arata, you dont have to answer, Hikari dont bully your future allies. -yes! When Shin said it to her she quickly stopped and responded like kids do to their parents. -okay now that we finished eating and there is nothing that you wanted to ask about regarding my request I will be going to the second floor. I will not keep you waiting as you have your own expedition to make. -dont worry about that, we are already late. Time somehow passed by really quick and it was already half an hour after the appointed time. Also even if they made it on time others would still say that they were late as whoever get to the meeting place last is always reminded that they are late. In that case there was no need to hurry. Although there was a reason to hurry this time as if they dont start quickly they might run into more troubles later. Still Shin did not want to hurry up anything right now. -I see sorry to keep you waiting. Also Shin, the next time you come I will be making that ritual on you as it was already tested, make sure to come up with some lines for it. -yes, yes. -so goodbye. Hikari said that and run up towards Shin. She quickly hugged him for a moment and afterwards run up the stairs towards second floor. Well it was the usual way that she was seeing him off but she didnt do it normally when someone else was around. Although, Shin always tried to make sure that when she sees him off, they are alone. Afterwards, Arata and Shin left the Hikaris house. Okay, we are just slightly late and I already considered a small delay so it will be fine. Although I did not consider that it will be me who will be late, well it could happen to anyone. With that thought, Shin started heading towards the meeting place which was little to the west from Larisane, precisely the spot in which the luck by draw tournament was held. But suddenly Arata stopped him. -hey, I know we are already late but there is something that I would want to talk about. He said those words. -sure, lets talk while we walk. -I think it might take slightly longer than this. Arata answered to him as from where they were it was five-minute walk towards the meeting place. Ahh now I really want to know what he has to say but I dont think we can delay right now, otherwise some really bad things may happen but Shin fought within himself for a moment but in the end he answered. -if it isnt something really important then I think it we should leave it for later. -really important? Hmm I think this will classify as really important for you at least What!? no, I cant stay and listen no matter what right now. Prolonging it for some other time should be better. But he is saying its something really important? -I dont think that there is anything important enough for us to risk our expedition being wiped out the first day. In the end Shin had to say it. After all, the route that they chose had a high risk if they delay for far too long. -if you say so in that case I will summarize it in few words although you will probably have many questions to it and its not a simple subject. Why at the times like this!? On the one hand Shin didnt want to listen to anything else anymore as he knew that if its something that would really concern him in really important way he would not be able to stop thinking about it. On the other hand, right now he really wanted to hear about it. Hmm I guess its leaves me with no choice. -you know what lets return to this conversation later. Shin proposed the idea. For now it was better for him to be distracted with thoughts of what could Arata have in mind. Also there was no worry as during the journey there would be time for them to speak with each other and today is an important day in which delaying is really inadvisable. -you know, I would want to talk about it now as I am not sure if it will be fair to talk about it with others around . -hmhmhm . Shin started to make quiet sounds as he was going to start to cry. Arata was not making it easy for him Why now! Couldnt it be happen any other day? -it concerns Hikari and that expedition of yours the other one I mean. Arata added that and Shins mind went blank. Whatever I dont care anymore. Even if we meet that creature there is still one tactic we can use. -okay lets talk, there shouldnt be a problem if we get late by an hour or so. Shin ended up telling Arata this. In fact there could be heavy consequences of this action but if it some matter that is important to him and concerning Hikari then he could not hold it back anymore. They ended up walking towards a nearby bench and Arata started. -hmm I am not sure how to start it. I guess I will start with a fact that I have a certain quest. -I know, the one in which you have to go to the heavens gate right. Thats the reason you want to go to the west in the first place. -no, its another quest Arata quickly said. -by the way, how much do you know about empire of Solaris? -does this have anything with the matter? -I wouldnt ask if it didnt. -right, that was stupid question. Anyway I know that Solaris was some old empire in this world that had its peak few hundred years ago. About three hundred years ago it stopped existing as it was invaded by demon army. As to why it was invaded by demon army it was because the Solariss empire once helped- -okay, okay, I see that you probably know about it more than I do Arata stopped Shin from talking. Shin did have a great knowledge about empire of Solaris. After all, its old lands were the destination of the current expedition and he researched anything there was to research. -anyway you also probably know that the tomb that is located south of Karma is actually the tomb of the last king of Solaris. -yes, I do. I also did once thought of actually trying to complete the boss fight that is inside it but because that place does not reward you in any way it was just not worth it. But isnt it a place in which Rin was doing her prequest. -yes, it was anyway Shin I think it will be better if I just explain everything and then you can ask about things that are not understandable otherwise if you comment on everything we will never get there. -okay . Shin ended up nodding as he realized that he was indeed prolonging it. After that it went quick. -so in that tomb Rin had a prequest in which me and Levi helped her. While doing so I actually managed to get another quest that is not exactly related to Rins quest but they both concern west. In that quest I received a quest item the crown of the king and the quest more or less is as follows. There is a chance that a living descendant of the king from the tomb lives, the successor of the throne of Solaris. There is some complicated thing with blood and all but in short the ghost said that the rightful successor of the throne can somehow bring back Solaris to its glory. I have no idea how would it actually happen, the ghost also said he did not know but he said it has some connection with the crown that I already mentioned that I have. The quest had a note that actual successor may already be dead but I thought that because I got this quest it shouldnt at least be the case. Still, I had no idea how I would even start looking for that descendant anyway so I just leave it on the side. Still today while I was talking with Hikari, in the moment I agree to travel to the west with her that quest got completed and the other phase of it started. So what would you think about it? Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.- the obvious answer would be that Hikari is actually that successor, isnt it? Shin didnt think much about it but he did end up asking for confirmation as somehow he didnt want it to be true. -thats what I think as well. -still, what would the actual successor do here? Also if you forgotten, Hikari is an elf and Solaris was a human empire in general and even if there were other races that were part of it, the royalty were all from human race. -hmm during the talk with the ghost I remember that he asked his subordinate as to what happen with his child and that subordinate said that the child escaped to elven lands and there that child married with some elven girl. Given that it was three hundred years ago with generations passing there shouldnt be any traces of human origins in Hikari as probably most of her successors from that point were all from elven race. -I see With this there was no mistake. The quest wouldnt have changed otherwise. -still, I dont know what being a successor to the throne would change but how would it actually work? Because, I cant really imagine. I did once hear something about royal bloodline in the past and even though there is nothing to prove it as long as the royal bloodline held the throne some countries were prospering well and the moment the line was cut the country stopped exist soon. But even if I were to believe in something like royal bloodline, as you said after all those decades Hikari doesnt have much of a human in her and much less the actual blood of the previous king. Shin started to explain what he thought about it. -you probably shouldnt ask me about it, I already told you everything I know. Still, we are in a magical world of EOA and not real world. Here anything can happen as long as it has slight traces of logic in it. Even things that have absolutely no logic in them can happen as well. Arata didnt have the answer to Shins worries. -so you didnt do anything in particular towards this quest yet? -I have full hands with Rins quest right now so I didnt even start thinking about it till now. -I see Arata give me some time Shin answered and started thinking. After the revelation that he just heard he couldnt somehow calm down. Even though it was not the time to do this he started thinking. Still, his tried to think up anything reasonable failed. His mind was now filled with thoughts and memories of the past. He was thinking of his time that he spent with Hikari and all strange events that happened that were connected to her. There were simply way too many thoughts in Shins mind right now to analyze them in any way, there was really just way too many. In the end, even though Shin couldnt solve anything right now he arrived at temporary solution. -Arata you said you have no intentions of doing that quest right now and even if you wanted to do it, there is also a matter that Hikari cant leave the village right now and it will still be some time before she can. -how much exactly? -a lot. I would say at least a year. That is because a new elder has to be selected or has to come from the elven capital and even afterwards there is a need for Hikari to pass down her responsibilities and teach the new elder the ropes. Right now there are not candidates for new elder in this village so it will take a lot of time before your quest can actually start. You should know that in comparison to other games in EOA you cant simply force NPCs to do what they in theory should do. If Hikari doesnt like it then she can simply ignore your quest completely. -she will do that? Arata ended up asking. -no, probably not Or rather she will be jumping from joy while saying see Shin, I told you I should have go there. Now then you made me the elder so now unmade me elder right now so I can finally go, you cant say no anymore yupi! Shin had an image of what would happen should Arata decided to tell Hikari about it today. In worst case scenario she would ignore everything and actually join them today. It was really good thing that Arata first talked with Shin because Shin did not have the strength to defend her. There was a difference between him going to the west to have fun adventure with his teammates and Hikari going. Shin always expected the end of expedition the moment they die after getting overwhelmed. It was natural to think like that because of what he knew about the west. If they got unlucky and meet the certain creature that is living in the forest that they plan to go through today, it was very possible that the total annihilation will happen right away on the day one. Against that creature, one would need an army and even then it might still be not enough. Then later on in the west, the creatures like this would continue to appear and the moment the party encounters one of them it will be most likely over. If Hikari were to come with them, the ending would also be the same. Despite being able to use really powerful magic, Hikari was not really that good at fighting. She did not have that much experience in it and actually using her magic in the heat of battle would be also quite dangerous to her. She was far from controlling it completely, even though there definitely was a huge progress since the time where she didnt know how to control it at all it was still not something that she could use freely. The only time that her magic was used in an offensive way was during the defense of Larisane. If it werent for her it would be completely impossible for that battle to end without defeat. Shin would never say though that it was victory at that time. -anyway because we are not going to do anything with that quest right now we will put it on hold and try to not think about it Shin presented Arata the temporary solution that he had made. Well, its impossible for me not to think about it but I should be able to focus on todays expedition at least. -also it will be good if you dont talk about it with Hikari for now, or rather dont tell anyone else as they might tell Hikari about it. Either way, the important thing is that Hikari cant find out about it. -I wasnt going to do it anyway as I thought it might have triggered the activation of this quest right now. Still it seems like I didnt have to worry about it given that she has to stay here. No, it would trigger the event really fast and this village would end up elderless. Shin didnt voice his thoughts to Arata now. -ah right before I forget, Hikari said that it will be me contacting you when she will be ready so its better if you give me your phone number. -okay, its 506682876. Shin ended up noting it in his notebook and then he stood up from the bench. -I will call you on the first occasion when we log out for now its better if we dont keep others waiting any longer. Ah, I already hear those complains. Arata and Shin started walking towards the meeting spot. It was not that far from where they were as right now they were in the western part of Larisane. It still took them ten minutes, before they could see the familiar faces of their teammates. Everyone apart from them naturally were already. After all, it was over an hour and a half delay. -hey its them! Seeing them coming, someone sounded the alarm. Soon enough few people from the part run up to him, with Julia being the first one. Knowing what might happen Shin stretch his hand forward to calm down everyone. -yes, my fault, my fault. Anyway I dont really have a good excuse as to why I am late but you can complain later on. -its unusual for you to be late. Vatras who did not run but slowly walked forward said to him. -rather it never happened. Following him Thesar added. -yes, yes sorry Shin once again apologized. -anyway I see that everyone is here so we should get going already. After Shin said that everyone who were still siting stood up and started following Musashi who started leading everyone in the direction of the west. In this party there was no one that would take the responsibility to say the last words before going. -em! EM!! Suddenly though someone shouted and got the recognition of everyone. It was a blond haired knight who was wearing a gray cloak. -before we go, I think there is one thing left to do! I know that you guys dont have a leader but wouldnt it be sad to begin this epic journey to death without saying anything. Levi who was now joined by Arata after he walked towards him started. Everyone who was present didnt dislike this idea and let them continue. -its not a journey to death but to victory but whatever! Arata added. -so because there is no one in your team to say it we decided that our party leader will make a speech. He continued like that. After Arata said that everyone once again gathered in one place and waited for what Arata was going to say. At least everyone thought that it was Arata who was going to say something. -it will definitely be an encouraging speech so listen well. Levi added and then. =hey RIN! He and Arata with slightly amused voice shouted to Rin who so far did not suspect a thing and was actually walking away from everyone while eating some cookies. The moment Arata and Levi called out to her she was in the middle of bite. -a . Before she actually realized what was happening Arata and Levi run up to her and picked her up by legs upward. -what are you doing! Rin was half dazed by situation but when they picked her up she had to respond. -naturally we are picking up our small miss leader so everyone can see you, right Arata? -yep. -so Rin give us the greatest encouraging speech you can think of. Everyone is waiting. Rin ended looking around and everyone were looking in their direction with eyes of anticipation. Even though it seem like a joke, we dont have something like that quite often. Shin also was waiting. He himself would also want to have this ritual in his party to appear more often but unfortunately somehow others expected him to do it and he was the last person that should be doing it. At least that was what Shin thought. -if you want to have some stupid speeches do it yourself! Rin ended up trying to ignore the crowd and yelled at her teammates. Yes, this is the response that I expected. -Rin, Rin, Rin we cant do that ourselves, right Arata? -naturally, its the leader duty after all. Its you who wanted to be the leader. -but what does it have to do with this party!? -well, in theory, its true that we are joining their expedition but in practice its also them helping us with our quest. -so what! -remember when I told you that morale are important. -no, you were just babbling some strange theories about strange people so I was not listening, anyway, get me down already! -sure, sure. Somehow Arata and Levi let down Rin without much argue but that was just the part of their devious plan. =the stage is yours Rin! Arata and Levi shouted that and then started running away. But in the second they, did Rin quickly managed to catch Arata by a collar. -not so fast, Arata. Dont think I will fall for that. Now then . -to my defense it was all Levis idea I just come here a minute ago! You saw it yourself. I didnt have a time to come up with something like this. Arata did not try to run anymore as he knew that it was futile. -of course it was his idea but you still agreed to it. -sorry. Ah, they really do not realize that we dont have enough time. Shin thought to himself after he once again check the hour. It was nearly 16:00 right now. Which was actually, quite bad. Still no one complained and everyone just waited to see what will turn out from it. -in the first place Arata! Its not me, who should be making speeches but that guy! Rin pointed directly at Shin who seeing it coming quickly hid behind a tree so before anyone turned their head he was already out of seeing. That was close. -it wont work, Shin will never do something like that. But feel free to do anything you want. Vatras ended up adding to their conversation. -yea we all love things like this. Then following him Vivi. -see Rin everyone is happy, go ahead. -no way in hell Rin was blunt here. -if you want a stupid speeches Arata, make them yourself. -it wont do, you are our leader Rin. -fine Arata, I give this position back to you, now you can make the speech. -okay, I will try to make one when there will be occasion for us three but here its still not my duty to do so. Here, my word has a little meaning but yours as the partys strongest has a lot of value in it. When there is no leader in the party, the strongest is the one that leads it to victory. The strongest leads us to victory, hmm? Hearing Aratas words Shin ended up coming out from behind the tree and started walking towards where the scene was being played out. Everyone looked at him and waited for him to say something but he wasnt going to say anything. Instead he walked towards Rin and whispered to her. -we dont need a leader, we dont need your words, what we need is a figure to follow. Could you assure everyone that when the bad times comes, you will be their pillar of support? -NO WAY IN HELL! While Shin whispered Rin just shouted out to respond. -hahahahahaha!!! Shin ended up laughing out loud. It was really unusual to see him laugh like this so everyone was surprised. -hey everyone, looks like nothing will come out from it so lets get going already! Musashi ended up shouting seeing that there will be nothing out from Levis and Aratas idea. -it seemed interesting though. -yea, we nearly managed to get starter speech. -aye, I also wanted to see it. Musashi maybe we should wait a little more? Flynn ended up asking. -nay Flynn, I never believed it will happen anyway. It was nice to see her reaction though, and Shin laughing like this, when was the last time it happened. The other dwarf with new black beard also agreed. -yes and we shouldnt delay any longer. Lets get into the formation in which we will move. Its not that long till we will find our first enemies. Our expedition already began long ago. Vatras finished all disputes and the journey finally began. Seeing that everyone got into their positions right away, Shin realized that everything was already explained while he was absent. Well those were only last time details as he already explained the general strategy before. The groups A and B were leading on the frond with Musashi being closest to the middle. Although he was still in the area of his team place which was the left point of triangle. Lee and Konan were holding the outer left flank. Rin and Yume were walking in the middle while being protected from every side. Then there was Vatras who was walking close to the middle of the whole formation. It was also where Shin was at the current moment. Shin was the part of team C that right now was on rest duty, which meant they were at the back of formation. Shin was overseeing from the middle the whole formation though. People from team C at the current moment didnt have a specific role to play. With exception of Bran who was also walking close to Shin and was trying to take notice of first enemy that would appear in the distance. The rest from team C, Levi, Kei, Kuma, Thesar were relaxing at the back. Then at the right side of formation was a team A. Flynn was in the middle of the right section. Then Arata and Julia was at it right now were stationed at the right flank together. Probably no one managed to explain the formation to Arata yet but it seemed like Julia was at it right now. Similar to the left side with this position, formation defended Vivi, Hiro and Mika who were going to stand in the middle although right now Hiro was going slightly towards the middle to where Shin was and he was waiting for the time when they can talk. -looks good right? Vatras who was walking next to Shin together with Bran said. -given we are doing this formation for the first time it did turn out good. Shin answered. -well, we did a small training of it while we were waiting for you. Although, originally we were to going to do it with everyone. -not to mention our strategist was gone during the most important part. Bran added the painful yet so true words. -yes, yes, once again sorry. -so, what was the reason Shin? You wont say like before that you didnt have a reason right? Did you find some really interesting topic with Arata? Bran was not beating around the bush and was not tactful. He wanted to know so he asked without holding back. -you could say so, although our talk did not involve this expedition at all and right now its not the time for the talk. -aye talking and trying to spot enemies with the use of sound is not something that I should do. Anyway until we find the first pack I think I should be at the front so I will walk up with Musashi. Just like he said Bran soon after was walking next to Musashi. He did not start a talk with him through and he was scouting the area before him. Actually there were only few people now talking to each other. It could be because of being spread out like this but also because some people were slowly getting nervous. Even though it was just the beginning they already were in the west. crunch Well, there was one person who without the care was simply eating cookies as they walked forward. As for people who were talking it was mostly the relaxed four at the back of formation. -Shin will we be okay with this tempo? We started slightly late. Vatras ended up asking. -dont ask me that if you already know the answer. Hopefully nothing will happen. Shin ended up answering while prying that he will be right. -wouldnt it have been better if we just waited for another day? -yes but it would have been your job to convince Hikari to let us stay for another day. Shin quickly answered as he already analyzed this proposition. -guess, it cant be helped. Even if she wanted to agree, she has the rules to maintain and if the elder of the village dont follow the rules, who else would follow them. -yes, we cant make too much trouble for her. Also, even if we will get into bad situation because of this little delay, if we wont be able to overcome it, our expedition to the west will end up as a failure anyway. -you mean it will be a good test? - . Shin did not answer but simply nod. -still, despite everything, we will all die anyway. It was your prediction wasnt it. -it was before we got three new fighting powers and a winning condition. Our chances might be small and even if we succeed it wont be a flawless victory but if possible I want to get those guys to reach their objective. -well, I knew you will say something like that. Anyway before I go, what are the chances of being wiped out on the first day? -you mean complete wipe today? Given that we delayed for so long, I would give 50% for maybe not complete wipe but a damage that will be enough to make us stop. Then even if we manage to continue, it wont be without deaths. After hearing this answer, Vatras walked away to his position in the formation. Which was not that far from where Shin was, but they were no longer talking. Instead someone who was waiting for his turn finally came. -hey Shin. -hi something on your mind Hiro? -I thought that I will report something to you Shin Well I guess I know what it will be about. -I will make it quick. As you probably realized there were few spells that I used during my fight with Rin that theoretically I shouldnt have. Its not that I was hiding them as in fact I dont have skills like that, those are something different. -I already know about primitive magic so I know what are you about In truth Shin knew about primitive magic for a really long time now. He also found out that his analytical mind is completely not suited to using primitive magic. Although from what Shin learned there are actually not that many people that can use primitive magic in an effective way. And number of people that can use it in battle is ever smaller. -by the way Hiro, was the secret that you learned from the man that your sister was talking about was a secret about how to use it? Shin asked. He already know that Hiro will not reveal the secret no matter what but a question like this was not a problem given the good terms on which they are and the fact that Shin would not tell about it around. -well its basically. Well its not a 100% proof method that will work for anyone and even then you need a lot of training to actually pull that off, but if you have just a slight amount of talent for primitive magic then with this method you will be able to make use of it. I already been trying to use that magic for a really long time and with some success but only after learning that secret it actually became useable in combat. Well, I am still only at the lowest level of that method and have a long way to go till I can use it freely. Anyway I wanted to talk about exactly that. There might be time when there will be a need for one of those spells so just so you know. If you want to make use of them, my preparation time for a single spell is on average 1 minute, with exception of one ultimate that would take 10 minutes and have 50% chances of working. Then if we suspect a fight beforehand if you give me 30 minutes I will be able to prepare all my spells and be ready to cast them anytime later on, but thats still can only be kept for 20 minutes of fight. Also by using this method I will pass out after those 20 minutes in similar way I passed out after Rins fight. So, if anything I would rather stick to the normal method that you told me about Hiro ended up explaining how his basic primitive works and what conditions it has. It actually had a lot of condition to meet which made the whole concept not that useful unless its a dire situation. I guess it will work only as a trump card for now. But it seems like he was not wasting time if he brought it to this level already. Normally no one would explain in details their skills with mentioning of all their weaknesses but in this party it was different. Hiro had 100% assurance that what he say to Shin will be for his ears alone, well with the exception of certain black beard dwarf but that black beard dwarf was also trustworthy. Also in the first place it was Shin that introduced Hiro to the concept of primitive magic despite not being able to use it himself. It was already more than two years ago in game time. Hiro also had problems at first but with some time, he did manage to cast few spells with the use of it, although he could only do that while he could concentrate, which meant when he was not attacked by enemies and also those spells were usually much weaker than Hiros normal spells so there was little use in them. Still it seemed that what Hiro have learned himself allowed him to use it more freely to some degree and in future it could go even higher. -right now I have eight useful skills that I can use with it, should I start listing them out. -we wont have time for it now. Look Bran made a signal Shin just saw as Bran hold up his hand upward and the formation stopped. Although second later he put it down which meant false alarm and the formation started walking once again. -well, anyway if there will be a need for you to use it I will leave it to your judgment and you can tell me the spells some other time. For now you probably shouldnt use it. -I dont plan to use it at all. Its still not in a state that it can be used freely and after effect is bad. I just used it only on her as as I wanted to win. Hiro stopped for a second but gave the explanation soon after. -okay, thanks for notice. -I am going back to my position then. Talk to you later. And so Hiro walked back to his position which was the middle of the right circle. The walk continued and now apart from relaxed four at the back no one was talking anymore. They already were focused as to not get caught by any enemies that may come out any moment. Having to be focused at all time, that was the absolute necessity while traveling in the west. The formation that the party was using had a focus on that. It was not that at all times there would be a fight but the party at the back could relax while others had to always be prepared for battle. Although Shin was right now in theory in the resting team he would not leave his post. In this expedition he wont have too much time for rest as he was the raid leader. He had to oversee every battle and in case of need make quick and good decisions. Similar to him, Bran was also not resting. Having his superb hearing, there was no one batter as a scout in a places like this. In the dark forest in which one couldnt see too far away, the scouts that would rely on sight were much worse. In comparison someone like Bran was the best type of scout one could ask for. Although Bran was not only limited to his hearing. As a marksman his eyesight was also good, maybe not as good as Vivis one but still good. Also as a beastmaster, which was his original profession he had an ability to summon an eagle that would scout the area around them from the birds view. It wasnt that useful to use this way of scouting in the dark forest but in other cases it was a great help. With someone like Bran around, Shin was not worried about a sneak attack. Bran had been instructed to make stops any time he hear anything suspicious. Most of it would probably be a false alarm but he would definitely not miss enemies that would be around. Still, sneak attacks were the last problem as the party was already prepared for a fight at any time. That was the purpose of this formation. The problem would be however simple frontal attack by overwhelming forces. The walk continued for another hour but so far the party did not encountered any enemies. Still the probability of encountering something was increasing with each passing minute as the party was getting farther and farther from the forest that surrounded Larisane and soon they were going to enter the area that will be their first test on the way to the west. So far, apart from being slightly late, everything is going according to the original plan. We didnt encounter anything unexpected, although the fact that we didnt encounter anything is also in a way not good. It would have been better if we had a small warm up fight before encountering anything big. Then again, encountering anything big is the last thing we want, so let be happy with how the things are going so far. Then again if we dont fight anything for too long, people will get too relaxed and it is no good Hmm both situations have pros and cons so any of them is fine I guess. Also Shin finally spotted what he was waiting for. The easy walk will end soon. The widows forest as it was called was now in their range of sight. About fifty meters before them there was a glade on which there were no trees, no bushes, not even flowers. Just simple, empty green glade. But that glade was no bigger than 50 meters in range and behind it there was the widows forest. In comparison to the forest in which the party was right now there were few differences. First the most important one that forest was a coniferous forest. That natural changed the color of that forest. Especially now, that the EOAs world time was the fall. Rather than a colorful forest with leafs in colors of red, yellow, and brown, the widows forest was dark green. The coniferous forest also natural looked different in the very structure of the trees. And lastly the other very visible change was a white something on the trees. It was still not possible to recognize what it exactly was but Shin did know that those were spider webs. Also in comparison to normal spider webs those were really big as those were big spiders that made them. In the end the widows forest looked like some hunted forest from horror movie and with each passing hour as it would get darker and darker it would have been scarier to be in. One might argue that planning to go through that forest was suicidal, and it was suicidal but Shins decision to go through there was not wrong. It simply was that all other routes were even worse and in this route there was a chance of slipping through that forest without encountering anything big. Other routes simply did not have that chance. Although right now, the chances of slipping through the forest safety were also low because the party was already two hours behind the schedule. It still should be better than other routes. Shin thought to himself, as the party slowly started to leave the colorful forest and entered a glade but in that second Bran hold his hand up and after a second he looked at Shin and nod which was the signal that there was something before them. Well thats only natural although I hopped that we will at least enter the forest without problem. -Shin, there is no mistake I also see a lot of movements in that forest right now. There are a lot of them and they are quite big, about this height. Vivi reported as well. She showed that the height of their soon to be enemies was reaching her neck, and Vivi wasnt someone that you would call small, in height at least. Rather with her characteristics of an elf she was the tallest of all girls that the party had. The biggest problem was however that the spiders size was not big in height but in width. -aye, those spiders are about my height. Still there are no bigger than those so I would say we are lucky. -hiiiiii! Bran also reported but then there was a sudden squeak that came from the left. -Mary? What is that talk about spiders? Rin ended up asking with unusual voice. -ah, right I didnt tell you. Well it doesnt matter to you but the first enemies that we will probably encounter are big spiders, actually we just located them so the fight against them should start soon. Yume answered. Ah, seems like it was a false alarm if Yume says like that. She should know Rin the best after all so if she says that it doesnt matter than that should Shin started thinking as earlier on he got an unbelievable information that stated that Rin in afraid of spiders for whatever reason. Now that Yume said that it didnt matter than it didnt matter although. Hey, what is with that face? Rin did not answer anything to Yume somehow her face went pale and her eyes were dead. -Rin, everything okay? Yume asked also seeing this change. -everything okay, everything okay, everything okay . Rin ended up repeating herself. Really? So, Arata knew something that even Yume did not know? Interesting. Still what about him he also mentioned that Shin now looked to the right and saw that the twilight swordsman was slightly more white than usual. What is with those two? -Arata, is something wrong? Julia who was the closest to him asked. -no, its just I remembered something bad and this image doesnt want to go away. Arata answered. He was doing fairly well in comparison to Rin. Ah, well. I understand that someone can be afraid of something without any reason for it. Shin thought to himself although Aratas and Rins fear was not without solid base to it. Well, seeing those two so far, I am sure that when the fight starts and they see that those spiders are nothing more than another type of monster that they just have to slaughter they will fight okay. I mean even though the basis are the same spiders of that size shouldnt exist. Technically Shin still did not see those spiders himself either but from what he heard he already had a clean image of how they will look like. Now then, we cant prolong any longer. -everyone! The fights will begin the moment we walk pass this glade and enter the other forest, maybe even slightly earlier as the spiders may come out from the forest to attack us ourselves. We have no information about what they can do but they are probably simple beast type monsters without special abilities. They might be a poisonous though so healers make sure to cast cure poison whenever you suspect that someone was poisoned. Anyway we will be using this formation and as discussed team C wont be joining the fight unless necessary. Musashi! Forward! For now the informations were too limited so Shin could only remind everyone to be careful. The walk continued and they walked through the glade. Even though Vivi and Bran already noticed the enemy, for all others, the forest at the other end of the glade looked quiet. There were no movements in it, that one could see. Although there were some strange shadows that did not look like shadows of the trees. Those creatures are intelligent enough to make an ambush? Although Shin did not see them himself, he already knew that something is waiting in the forest before them. Still normally the monsters on the field would just attack upon noticing their prey, here however the monsters in that forest were waiting for them and were hiding behind the trees. Although those monsters were slightly too big, to hide completely. Still farther to the forest it was all dark, and the party could not see what was in there. Unfortunately not seeing and not knowing something didnt mean that its not there. Hmm, maybe those spiders have a restriction on leaving that forest. Well, all and all, enemies like this should have an advantage over us in a dark forest like this. There are probably some of them that are hiding in the trees and the moment we enter the forest they will jump onto us. This cant happen, no matter what, if the formation crumbles and something enters inside and we cant deal with it quickly then we simply lose. The situation in which monsters would start to attack the range always resulted in wipe. It was not limited only to EOA. Rather in EOA there would still be slight chance that the range could survive still, it would depend on the individual player. The best option would be simply pulling those spiders out of their forest and fight on this glade yes this will be the best. Then even if they wont come after us we will have the advantage as we can simply attack from afar. Even if the enemy decides to fall back to the forest we will break their ambush Shin started to analyze the possible outcomes. Yes, I dont see a reason why this shouldnt work, after all I never heard of spider type monster that shots. On the other hand if there will be one then we will have to either retreat and think of other strategy or simply rush in to the forest. But thats just small possibility in case they will be able to shot which shouldnt happen. -everyone! Even though we dont see them, the enemy is hiding before us in that forest. They are waiting in ambush for us and they will attack the moment we enter the forest and they will use their home ground to their advantage. Naturally we will not let them do it. Using the fact that spiders usually dont shot we will first attack with range attack. This will either make the enemy charge on us or fall back to the forest. If they decide to fall back we rush after them while they are unorganized. We cant let them regroup and prepare another ambush deeper in the forest. Still my prediction is that they will come at us as they are simple animals they should follow the instinct of fighting back. Afterwards the only thing left to do is to get rid of them. Possibly with good timing as our main objective today is to get through this forest fast without encountering anything too big. Although as always dont be reckless and wait till you find out possible attack way in which the enemy can attacks us. That would be all, advance! Shin told the party everything that they needed to know and they once again started advancing forward. Now then, will we simply have a fight on this glade or will something unexpected happen? Shin thought to himself although something unexpected would be really unlikely as he already foresee most of possible outcomes. Still one of those outcomes started to happen before his eyes. -Flynn, something like a white arrow is coming with a great speed from this direction! Having her good rangers eyesight Vivi was first to see the incoming withe projectile. It came out from the forest before them, from the right side. -aye, got it! Flynn noticed it quickly and right away moved to stand in the way of that missile. Soon the white arrow bounced of his shield that he prepared. -hmm looks like they can shoot Shin. Flynn said after watching what was lying before him. -what kind of attack it is? Shin quickly asked. -nothing much, you could compare it to a simple arrow, well slightly bigger arrow but it didnt do anything to my shield. Also, I think its some kind of hardened spiderweb what was formed like an arrow. -I see, well lets not overthink it too much and just think of it as an arrow. Anyway we should just take notice that range attacks can happen as well, still that doesnt change the fact that our artillery should be stronger. For now, adv- Shin was going to say advance but he now realized that the first attack was just a warning for them to pull back. Now another shots started to come at them, this time in greater number and they also looked somewhat stronger. There was still only five of them so it was not that bad. -tanks! Block what you can, other just avoid the attacks. Although their attacks are fast we see them from the long range it shouldnt be hard to avoid them The first shot was visible only to people with improved eyesight like Vivi but the current arrows were visible to anyone. Although, I wonder what kind of monster can shot the arrows like this from this range. I mean we are still 30 meters away from the forest and we dont see them but only their attacks. -continue forward while taking care of those arrows. When we engage the enemy they shouldnt be able to freely shot them like that. Nothing that bad was really happening but then something unexpected happened. Right before moment Musashi and Flynn tried to block out the incoming arrows those arrows stretched out themselves and changed into a net, or rather simply spider web of gigantic size. It still had its previous speed and like nothing, both attacks quickly catch off guard both tanks and now Musashi and Flynn were caught in spider web. What was worse, while two other attacks were complete misses that flied pass the party one of them flied exactly at Hiro. Hiro with his usual confidence just made one step to the left to avoid them but the arrow changed into the net just like the two others a half of the web managed to catch Hiro and the other half soon bended and surrounded him fully. The speed of attack also created an impact that made him fall to the ground. -hey I didnt hear about this one! Musashi complained while trying to get out from the web but even though he was trying to cut it down with his weapon, the web was not easily cut. Also the web highly restricted his movement which made it hard to cut. -get off, dammit! Flynn was in a similar situation and even his axe could not cut through the web. Anytime he tried to cut the web the web would just stick to his weapon. Hiro on the other hand give up on struggling and waited. In the meantime another five arrows could be seen. -everyone, dont let it touch you! Shin shouted out but after unexpected attack some were disoriented and second later Julia, Konan and Vatras were all catch in a similar arrow as well. And just like others, their attempts to get rid of the web were futile. Just like that in few moments, out of 12 people that were in team A and B, 6 of them were caught. What was worse the battle didnt even begin, but it was soon going to begin in a second. kraruara! A strange but loud sound could be heard from the inside of the forest and soon after, the forest that looked empty a second before was now filled with gigantic spiders that started to come out from behind the trees, top of the trees or simply the darkness deep in the forest. Also against earlier predictions the spiders started to come out from their forest on their glade. Shin realized a single mistake in his assumptions. Fighting inside the forest wouldnt have been advantageous to them. Even though it was their home ground the forest could actually help the party. That was because that some of the spiders that were coming out from the forest were really big. They would barely fit between the trees, much less make large attacks. Well not all of them were that big. Even though there were many spiders that were uncountable at the current moment they could mostly be divided in two groups. Huge spiders and super huge spiders. The huge spiders were well huge. As Bran mentioned before they were nearly of the height of a dwarf. About 1,5 meter in height on the eye. Then they were 2,5 meters in width, although that was mostly because of their legs that were one meter long each. Each spider had eight legs. Six of them were really thick and it seems that they were used by spiders to walk. There were also two front legs that werent used to walk. They were slightly thinner but they looked really sharp. They were the two front legs that probably served to attack. Although the scariest looking part that would attack was definitely the mouth. Someone that would get catch in those jaws would not live for too long. There were also traces of poison on some of them, but only the bigger ones. The bigger ones were not that much different from smaller ones in look, they were just twice as big and had a different color. The smaller ones were mostly green and yellow, while the bigger ones were all orange. One could assume that the color signified the power of each spider and the green ones were the most basic ones while the orange ones were older spiders that were probably stronger. They were at least bigger, so maybe it was some older version. Still the problem werent the bigger ones. There were about 5 orange spiders visible right now, and a lot of smaller ones. Although, the smaller ones were still quite big. The worst thing was that new spiders kept on coming out from the dark and they soon reached the number of hundred. So the situation is, six of us are caught and the enemy forces are coming at us thats just great. Shin thought like that, it seemed quite bad but strangely a smile of excitement appeared on his face. Now then, we are already too far to fall back to the forest so we will fight on the glade. Even if everyone could run we probably wouldnt manage to out run those spiders and also the formation would crumble. Yes, the fight will have to take place here but there are two things that must be taken care of if we want to win. -li- Shin was going to tell everyone that the first thing that they need to do was to take care of are the webs that caught Musashi, Flynn, Hiro, Julia, Konan and Vatras. Still it seemed like it was not needed as most of people were already trying to get rid of it. Still it wasnt going that good. The web was not that easily cuttable as any time someone tried to cut it down with a weapon the web would just bend around the weapon and afterwards would just glue the weapon, which made the other attempts on cutting it even harder. Also there was Yume who was trying to help Vatras by burning down the web but the web didnt catch on the fire. It was really resilient. Even fire wont work we dont have much time to find the good way. Should I call out the team C already? The spiders were already coming in numbers if in fifteen seconds they wont find a solution to the web the party will be attacked in moment where both of the tanks cant move from their positions. Sure they could still defend themselves as the web did not restrict their movements fully but they wouldnt be able to stop the advance of the spiders. In short they wouldnt be able to do their job as a tank. Now, think what is good against web? -another five arrows incoming! Vivi shouted. The spiders were not slacking off. -try to shoot it down, range! -aye! -okay! [Magic bolt] Shin as well took part in this and shot one of his magic bolts on the arrow. Even if the arrows were small the magic attack was slightly bigger so hitting it was not a problem. In collision between range attacks and the white arrows. Attacks by Yume, Bran and Vivi those were shot down, then Shins attack managed to activate the arrow and the spider web fallen down on the ground ten meters away, which meant it was neutralized. Then there was one attack that wasnt taken care by the last range available but luckily that arrow was a miss. Given the large range from where the enemy was shooting they couldnt always hit it right and everyone focused on the arrows that would hit. Although theoretically every arrow should be shoot down. Shin looked in the direction of range that was slacking. Rin was just standing there and looked with terrified look at what was happening before her. Or rather she wasnt terrified by the situation but by the look of the creatures that came out from the forest. Cant be helped. There was no time for Shin to take care of something like this now. He had to think of a way to deal with the spider web in few seconds. Luckily the solution appeared second later. -Mika! Use water spells on those who are in the web. Or rather just soak that web in water, it will help! It was Hiro who said those words. Shin did not know when but while they were taking care of other projectiles, Hiro managed to completely wash away the web that was on him. Hearing those instructions Mika started helping everyone with her spells worked like magic, well it was magic after all. Also she was not the only one. The moment Hiro revealed the weakness of the web, Arata who was trying to help Julia with little effectiveness so far started to cut down the web out of sudden like nothing. In seconds he helped both her and Flynn who was three meters away from him. The moment Flynn was released from the web he parried the first blow of the yellow spider that came at him. In second the fight started on all sides but just in time the solution to the spider web was found. Still, that didnt mean that the white arrows stopped coming. Quite close. Shin was already ready to shout team C join the fight! but he didnt have to do it. Although given the army that came at them, the possibility of letting team C slack was small. But for now the fight began. Hmm, no matter how you look at it, thats a lot of spiders. The whole area before them was crawling with huge spiders. Still this also had it advantages. Because of their size, they could not all attack all at the same time. Using the formation the fight was minimalized to fighting 8 spiders at the time. Three each were hold back at the front by both tanks and the one that would try to circle around them would meet with left and right flank which with the help of the range dps instantly started taking care of them. Although, the left side of the formation was slightly slacking off as one of the range wasnt doing their job. Still even with that after taking care of two or three spiders the danger of being surrounded was getting lower. That was because with every new spider dead a wall of corpses was slowly building around them. For now the plan was like this. The tanks were holding in reserve the front lines with the support of healers while all dps were taking care of both flanks. The spiders on both sides were dying really fast with quick assault of dps. There was no danger of getting surrounded. The spiders attacked mostly with their two front legs. In comparison to all other legs those two were much thinner and werent used to walking. The attack of the spiders was similar to attack of the spears, they had long range but only the very end could do a critical damage. Although the attacks themselves were much more different from the spears in terms of angle from which they came. Also each spider had two of those spears. Flynn and Musashi were doing an incredible job at holding back three spiders at once. They both were surrounded from three sides at the moment but still somehow managed to withstand their attack. Natural they still get hit quite often especially from the attacks that they couldnt even see, but they had the reliable healers at their back and because they were both pure tank type they had huge defense. Even with the monsters of the west with healers at their back they would easily survive the attacks. The frontal spiders tanked by tanks were left alone as dpses were all focused on holding the flank. The pile of spider bodies was slowly forming on both sizes. On the right size the was Arata, Julia, Hiro and Vivi to take care of them and on the left size Yume, Konan, Lee and technically Rin but in practice Bran was doing her job right now. Also while killing spiders Vivi and Bran were tasked with shooting down the white arrows that never stopped coming. This time the white arrows were coming up from the sky, probably to avoid hitting their own target. That made those arrows so much more difficult to deal with. One reason for that was that it was harder to hit a target that was coming from above for various reasons. It was harder to see, harder to aim, there was stronger wind up there. Because of those reasons the white arrows were stopped with little success. What was the worse in them was that there were two types of arrows coming and to the very end one could not predict which type it would be. And both of types were bad. When someone got caught in the web not only the coughed person would stop fighting for some time but also they would get distracted right away. When Mika was caught by web at some point it was nearly a wipe. Only because of Shins quick judgment to let Thesar in it did not happen. It was a simple matter. If something happened to a healer the bad things would follow up soon after. Then there was a problem when dps got caught as when that happened the flanks would have smaller damage which could result in spiders getting around the party and attacking from the back. That wasnt a necessary that bad as there was still slacking four at the back ready to enter any minute but they were the emergency card and also if the battle were to go on for too long, the switches between teams would be needed. Still getting caught in the web was still better than getting hit by the white arrow that was meant to attack. So far there was only one person that got hit by the white arrow as the spiders were focusing more on the spider web attack but still when Vivi got hit by that one white arrow all three healers from the party including Thesar who was on the back, immediately casted their best healing spells on her which eat the most amount of mana just to save Vivis life. It was something that all healers had, a damage insight which could tell them how much damage a person took from this or that attack. For them to cast emergency heals like that meant that Vivi not only took a substantial amount of damage from that hit but also something similar to poison or bleeding effect would follow soon after. At the current moment our biggest problem is not the shadow of that gigantic spider that is twice as big as the orange spiders but those white arrows. So far the spiders are mostly using the web attack to catch us. Sure it is probably the better tactic but luckily for us we have a good countermeasure for it. While thinking like that Shin looked at Mika who was completely left with the duty of taking care of people that were caught by the web. For her it was just casting one single spell that would heal at the same time, so she was perfect for this job. Also as a healer she wasnt focusing on the enemy but on her teammates so she also quickly saw the moment someone got caught. Just a note to myself if Mika dies here, we are doomed. Anyway the only possible way for her to die would be get hit by that white arrow and from what Tras said if a mage cloth type gets hit by one of those then its an instant death. Vivi who has slight better defense survived by a thin hair . For a second Shin also imaged himself dying from that attack in one shot. Okay, lets ignore that big shadow over there, its too small to be that creature and focus on most important part as of right now. To win this fight we need to first take care of those spiders that shoot at us. Well they may not even be spiders but what they are doesnt matter. Still, there is one big problem with that, we still didnt see them. They are just sniping at us from the long distance Shin thought like that and then smiled with an evil grin. Lets make this save distance not save anymore. -Kei! Shin shouted to his teammate back. -go and tell Hiro and Arata that I have special mission for them, afterwards switch in to where Arata was fighting to keep the balance I will take Hiro place latter on. -roger! Kei without asking any question went to do it right away. It will be best if people that go for those spiders can deal with the web net so those two will be the best. Not to mention that they are probably the best team that I can make right now from the people available because this one Shin once again looked in direction of Rin who was now crouching down and holding her knees. Really what story there is for her to behave like that? Still it cant be left alone like this. Unfortunately we cant let Yume right now deal with it as she herself is already too busy, rather if not for that she would already dealt with it herself. In that case the only other option is. -Levi, go get Rin to the back of the formation, Bran is already helping in her place. Still even so, Kuma go support the left flank and make the spiders that appear there focus on you so Lee can utilize his dps to the fullest. -got it! Kuma rushed forward right away, on the other hand Levi with slightly troubled look started slowly walking towards Rin, and still it was a distance of three meters so he arrived there quickly. I am not sure it will really help but its better than nothing. Still our team C is already involved deeply in the fight. I should have known that west fights wouldnt allow us to hold back. -Thesar. Vatras and Mika are doing fine so you dont need to go in. Still those white arrows are the treat so be ready to cast your best healing skills on them. Paladin will be best for that and if you are tasked with this job the other healers wont have to focus on those, otherwise we will have big overheal just like with Vivi a second ago. Shin said it out all loudly so the other healers could understand it as well. Now then. Shin started pointing his wooden staff to the sky in the direction of widows forest. The staff was pointed above the spider army. [Rune: emerald gateway] A magical circle appeared at the end of Shins staff and started forming. Normally this skill was easy to use but this time Shin was going to use it in a little unusual way. He needed to use more magical power than usual and the casting speed was also bigger but everything was going smoothly. The magical circle shined with emerald light and flied off to the sky above the spider army. The projectile landed somewhere in the forest. Afterwards Shin pointed with his staff on the ground right before him and this time much faster casted another emerald gateway. On the ground before him a green circle appeared that inside was filled with markings and letters that no one knew meaning off. -what is it Shin? Hiro and Arata came to him at about same time and in the meantime Kei was already fighting against spiders. -I am sending you two to enemy lines with a single mission, kill the sniping spiders. -sniping spiders? Arata asked again. -well the ones that are shooting at us with those white arrows. There are probably five of them. We dont know where they are but they shouldnt be hidden as they are shooting at us non-stop. If you traverse the woods you should be able to find them. Destroying them is your highest priority you can ignore all other spiders you find on the way. I am choosing you two as you both have ability to deal with the web net yourself which might be essential on this mission. I already prepared my teleport rune so you will appear somewhere close to the forest, hopefully not in the middle of the spider army. Any questions? -I have one, you said that dealing with the web is essential but if I and Arata go, only Mika will be able to deal with those. What if something happens to her and she wont be able to do it. -if Mika gets killed then we lose, simple as that. Even if you two stay you wont be able to replace her in getting care of the web effectively. Anyway to minimize that happening we need to deal with sniping spiders but at the same time if I send random people there and they got caught in net or simply die then we automatically lose people and at the same time the situation will not change. -well, you dont have to explain everything to us. Hiro answered. -so, we should just kill those sniping spiders right? Easy enough. It seemed that both of them were ready. -okay, step on the rune and I will send you there Hiro first stepped on the rune. [Emerald switch] And he was send to the enemy lines. Inside the rune in which he was standing just now a small leaf appeared. Shin quickly picked up that leaf and moved it away from the rune. -now you Arata. -you guys better dont wipe here. After Aratas words, in a similar manner that before Shin send Arata as well. [Emerald switch] Surprisingly what was now in the rune was a part of orange spider leg. It seemed like in second that Hiro was teleported there, already encountered a spider, cut off its leg and then put it on the rune so the conditions for it to work were meet. Now then, everything is already taken care of, all thats left to execute the strategy. Ah, its been too long since I fought. Shin left his position in the middle of the formation and moved to the right to where Hiro was standing earlier. There was nothing left for him to do as a tactician for at the current moment, now it was his time to simply join in the fight and attack the enemy. Without counting the small skirmishes in the tournament it was more than a month, real time, since he fought anything. The situation on the battlefield did not change. Tanks were still dealing with three spiders at the front at the same time. So far, the party was fighting mostly against green and yellow spiders, but there was also one orange spider in the front. That spider leaded the assault and since the beginning was being tanked by Flynn. Flynn was now defending against two green spiders and one orange. Nevertheless there were no indications of him falling any time soon. Its still would probably be better to get rid of it now, to reduce use of healers mana. Even if it was not much, it would obviously be better if Flynn was defending against three green spiders and given that the number of orange spiders was low, dealing with them first the moment they come would be advantageous. -Julia, Vivi, Kei. Switch your attacks to the front and get rid of orange spiders! [Movable rune: silver sharpness] [Rune: silver artillery] Shin shouted the command and without delay or questions Julia, Vivi and Kei switched their targets. Normally someone might have ask the question about this decision especially when Shins order in a way meant let the formation crumble and ignore enemy getting pass our right flank. That was exactly what was going to happen as the moment Shin shouted the command they were still fighting against one green spider. Still no one said anything and just followed what Shin asked them to do. While they were switching, Shin casted his runes on them. [Movable rune: silver sharpness] was a temporary buff that increased damage output of melee dps. In comparison to long term buffs that would be used at the beginning of the fight, temporary buffs were much more effective but as name suggested they worked only for a short period of time. [Rune: silver artillery] was also temporary buff that increased the damage of range dps. As for the difference between movable rune and normal rune. Movable rune was casted on players and it was following them as they moved. For example right now as Kei was running, the silver circle underneath him was moving as well. In comparison normal rune was casted on single spot on the ground and to use its buff the player would need to stay inside the circle. Those were the two types of runes that Shin could cast. Also, those types could be switched the way he wanted, which meant that Shin could also cast [Rune: silver sharpness] and [Moving rune: silver artillery]. Most of the buff runes could be casted in two ways. Naturally one would assume that moving rune was much better, and in truth it was better and it was unlocked for Shin long after he passed 100th level. Both types of rune, movable and static one, would also increase given attribute by the same amount. There were many merits in using moving rune over normal rune. The only downfall was that moving rune had increased cost. The increase was extra half of the cost of the rune. It was not much but if Shin were to spam them for a long period of time, it was given that he would run out of mana faster using the moving rune. Thats why Shin kept on using normal runes as well whenever he could, especially in a fights like this where no one knew when it would end. There was one advantage of normal runes though, and that was that it could be used by multiple people. Then there were also types of runes that would be meaningless if they were used as the movable type. And also there were some runes that would not activate if they were casted as movable type. Emerald gateway for example was one of them [Rune: yellow bind] While the others rushed to take care of the orange spider, Shin was left to deal with the spider that was attacking from the right flank. Well that spider was already damaged quite a lot but he was still ready to fight and when that spider was left alone the first thing he did was charge at the nearest enemy, which was actually Shin at the current moment. Shin did not waste any movement and casted his rune underneath the back leg of the spider. Shin could of course cast a larger rune on the whole spider but that was both meaningless and not resourceful. [Rune: yellow bind], made the enemy unable to get outside the circle for a specific amount of time. The most time would be five minutes but if opponent struggled that time would get lower. For example one strong move of boss class monster was enough to break through it. Still, for smaller enemies it worked much better and also by binding just one leg of the spider the effort to break out from the circle would only be counted by that leg alone. The gigantic spider was struggling before Shin. It was trying to stretch its body forward leaving the one leg behind. With few attempts that leg was already in unusable state. Shin thought that the spider was actually trying to rip it off just to move forward. Still, the spider did not have enough time for that. [Magic bolt] Shin stretched his staff forward and started shooting one magic bolt after another at the spider before him. The greatest fighting tactic that any magical class, no any range class dreamed of. Restrict enemy movement and shoot at them from afar. Any normal melee class or melee type of monster is automatically destroyed by this tactic and there is practically nothing they can do. At that time they can only struggle to get out from their binds before they die but range classes, and mages at that, could vaporize their enemies in instant so the enemy wouldnt have a chance for that. Still, even though that was a great tactic not many players could use it as the binding spell or some spell that would restrict enemy movement was rare. There were really not that many classes that Shin knew of that had a spell like this although none of them worked as good as Shins [yellow bind]. For example there were druids or rare [nature archers] that could bind their enemy with the creeps that would suddenly come out from the ground. The purpose of that spell was the same as Shins [yellow bind] to prevent enemy from moving but to get out from the creeps one only needed to cut them down. In comparison there was no good way to get out from yellow bind. One could only use brute power to get out from it but even gigantic spider from the west was not able to do it immediately. So Shin could use one of the best restriction spell out there and that made him overwhelming powerful Unfortunately the story was not that good. Firstly even though it was good spell Shin would still need to cast it like normal [magic bolt] and hit with it right underneath the enemy which in practice was nearly impossible against fast moving enemy. Thats why shin would use this spell mostly as the trap and not something to cast right before enemys eyes. Still as long as the enemy is caught Shin automatically wins Unfortunately that was also not true. The reason for that was quite simple. Even though Shins class [Runemaster] was technically a magician class like for example Wizard, Mage or Sage, Shins class didnt have the greatest characteristic of those classes which was huge dps. While normally magician class specialized in wracking havoc upon the enemies, Shins attack would rather only scratch them a little, so even if he managed to catch his enemy, his magical attack would most of the times not be enough to deal with them completely. Sure Shin had few other ways of dealing damage but his direct damage was very limited. Shin didnt have even most basic spell of mages which was a fireball. What type magician cant even cast a simple fireball? While Shin was slowly dealing with the spider before him, the others already macerated the orange spider at the front line near Flynn. Ah Anytime Shin saw something like this he would be slightly depressed over his abilities as dps. Second later something even more depressing happened. bum, bum, bum, bum. Right from behind Shin, an attack came that hit the spider for times around its head. Those were Brans bolts that he fired out from his crossbow from the other side of formation. His side already dealt with their spiders and while waiting for the next one Bran decided to help out here as well. After getting shot four time the spider before Shin dropped dead immediately. -sigh. Seeing it Shin could just sigh. He knew that Brans simple shots from his crossbow were doing about 4x more damage than his magical bolt on which he had to spend his mana on. Even though it was still a little it was still costing mana. Still, the last thing Shin would think about was to try to outdps Bran. While magical classes were specialists in doing damage from afar, the rangers, archers and so on were even better at that. Well, better was slightly off. Both of them had their expertise. The mages were specialists in AOE while the rangers were better on single target. It of course still depended on individual skills and individual classes but that was how it generally went. As for Bran in particular, there was no better dps than Bran in this party, probably even after the three has joined. Although if Rin were to start making havoc with her skill all out she would probably be better but then again Bran would still have the best stable dps of all. That was how it was in raid battles. Even though one might be very good individually, in raid battles what was important was their specialization. Dps just has to make huge dps. Tanks just have to keep the targets on them and survive. Healers have to heal everyone. It was simple as that. In raid it was important for players to only do their jobs, the moment they had to do something other than that meant that something was going wrong. Solo fights, small party fights, raid fights, and gigantic army fights. In EOA every fight could be assigned to one of those. Solo fights were obvious. Small party fights were the most usual fights in which a group of people usually fewer than seven fought together. It was usually one tank, one healer and few dps to make things go faster. Then there were raid fights, which was something that Shins party was doing right now. Then lastly there were gigantic fight army fights. That would be any fight that would involve over 100th people on both sides. Still the gigantic army fights could go even to hundred thousand on both sides although those were usually conducted by NPCs rather than players. Naturally gigantic army fights were rare, especially those that involved over hundred thousand on both sides, but fights in which both sides would have few hundreds thousands of fighting power did happen. For a note at the current moment Bran had the highest level in the party which was 187. While the average level in the party was 154. Also given that he was in the party since the beginning, he managed to get all best gear there was to get from the dungeons around Karma and not only Karma, as sometimes the party traveled to other places as well. Lastly the reason that Brans dps was at the current moment about 20% better than everyone elses was his crossbow. That crossbow dropped a year ago during the battle defense of Larisane in which Shins party was defending against demon invasion. Everyone knows that in EOA only one guild can fight against demons and that is The hand of the devil, also known as demon slayers. Still Shins party did manage to win one battle against demon army. Sure it heavily involved NPCs from the village as well but it was Shin who was leading the defense and it was Shins party that got main loot from the defeated demons. The best item from that loot was Brans crossbow for which every range dps would kill for. Shin once tried to find information about better range weapon on the internet but everything he found would be blank in compression to it. Well that was something that one should expect from loot from the demons and the crossbow itself was a lot from the general that was leading the assault. There was one specific reason that no one could defeat demons in EOA. Sure they were strong but they werent overall stronger than anything else. They would definitely fade away in comparison to dragons. Still, even though rarely the dragons were killed but the demons were not. The reason for that was Demons unnatural resistance or rather regeneration powers. Even if you killed them, they would not die and would resurrect on their spots in about 5 minutes after. Unless one killed them in a specific way they would never truly die. Shin did not know how the rumored guild was dealing with demons but his party could deal with them only because of Hikaris magic. Well, the whole defense of Larisane was a miracle anyway but nevertheless the demon general fell down and along few other drops dropped this crossbow which Bran was now putting to good use. The orange spider on the front line was dealt with and its body now joined the wall that was slowly building around the party. Thanks to it, Flynn was now defending against only two green spiders as orange spider made twice as much of a wall than usual spider. The fact that there was one spider less to fight at the time was great improvement. In the meantime the dpses were still dealing with the spiders that were coming from the sides. The wall of corpses was getting bigger and bigger so the distance between tanks and dps was getting larger and larger also if it went on like this the party would end up getting surrounded by the wall. On the one side it was a good thing but on the other bad. So far the wall is to our advantage but the possibility of it breaking is quite big. Not to mention that some spiders are already trying to get over it. Still, the wall of spider corpses was not accounted in the first strategy. The original strategy was to fall back the moment the spiders start to surround the party and it was finally the time to execute it. Not yet, five more minutes. Even though it was time to execute that plan, Shin decided to keep on fighting here for another 5 minutes. But after that time passed. -we will be slowly moving back now! Shin shouted and soon after slightly, with short steps everyone started to fall back. Shin considered quick retreat to the forest at the start of the fight but because some people were caught by spider web it was not possible, now however they could do it as the countermeasure to the web was found. Not to mention, that now rarely anyone got caught by it. After Vivi got nearly one-shooted by white arrow the range prioritized shooting down any missiles that would come at them. The danger was just too great. As the fight continued, the number of incoming arrows also started getting lower. The moment they started moving back the three orange spiders started to cross the wall. Two from the left side and one from the right side of the formation. Still, the fall back started in the exact moment that orange spiders tried to cross the wall which greatly slowed them and one spider got even trapped within that wall. In that time without much problem the party backed off while taking care of spiders that were on tanks. -I see, so its like this. While moving back Shin could hear the part of Rins and Levis conversation. As the time went on, Rin somehow started to get back to normal -exactly, just as I said. Those are not spiders, did you ever see a spider of this size? They are simple game monsters that were based on spiders. You are not afraid of some game monsters, are you? -of course not! Also, I am not afraid of spiders either! -it didnt seem like that before. - . -oh, you wont say anything to that? -fine I will admit. Because I have some bad memories with them whenever I see those small leggy creatures I cant calm down. But you are right the big ones are not scary. Rather if I massacre them then maybe I will stop being afraid of the small ones as well. -no, I think that you are not really scared of them but you are just telling yourself that you are scared of them, or something like that. Well, I am not a therapist so you will have to deal with this one on your own. -even if you are not therapist, thank you Levi your words helped. -oh, its rare for you to thank someone. -its not its just that usually there is nothing to thank for. Anyway lets kill some spiders. Rin was already ready to jump in but Levi caught her in last second by her red cloak. -hold your horses Rin! Right now we are on reserve so until that guy tells us to join in the fight, we are resting at the back. -what!? But I have nothing to rest from. -second thing we are retreating right now so you jumping in would do more harm than good. -why are we retreating? Are there some problems? It doesnt seem likt that to me but if so I can probably deal with them. In the first place, I can deal with all those creatures that imitate spiders by myself! They will pay for fooling me! -wait, wait! For a note, did you forget that you are range dps here? - ah right well, it will be boring them but I can destroy everything with my ability as well. It will classify as range, right? Levi face palm himself. -okay lets go back to the point one once again. Right now we are in raid group and doing anything without raid leader knowledge always lead to bad things. Even if you think that it will help it usually goes back on you. -but what there is bad in destroying all those creatures here? They are our enemies, right? And enemies should be killed. -even so strategy is important. Here for example we have no idea of how long this fight will last, so we need to hold the reserve. Even you cant fight forever, you were reaching your limits in tomb challenge as well after fighting for few hours werent you? -well, I guess you are right. But still . -I know you want to do some fighting but we are just entering a damn west. Our objective is far and it will take who know how long till we reach it. You will have a lot of chances to fight yet, so wait patiently for now. -yes! It seems like the card of queen is finally available for me. Shin thought like that while he heard Rins and Levis relaxed voices. Still there was no need for him to use this card just yet. After all, the journey to the west just began. The fight continued for two hours but there werent any significant changes during it. The most important thing in raid battles was stability. There was no room for anything crazy, and things outside of Shins prediction rarely happen. If in this fight something could be called unexpected then it was when two orange spiders suddenly jumped over the tank line and landed in the middle of formation. Still no one was caught underneath when that happened and with quick target switch from every dps in formation, the spiders that tried to jump inside were quickly vaporized. With some time the white arrows completely stopped coming as well so range and healers didnt have to worry about them anymore. As the fight went one, the party ended up falling back to the forest at some point. In that forest however the fight became even easier. The big spiders had problem to move through the woods. Despite the fact that they originally lived in the forest on the other side of the glade. Still one couldnt help when they had a size like that. The orange spiders for example were in complete unmovable state when they entered the forest. Still the number of orange spiders during the fight didnt go over 20 even after two hours. On the other hand the number of green and yellow spiders seemed unlimited. At least at first, after two hours however their number was no more and actually every spider that came was already killed. Even though at first they seemed slightly intelligent with their ambush in the forest, the spiders werent intelligent enough to start running and fought to their deaths. As the fight continued the identity of a large dark shadow in the forest was also revealed. It turned out that it was just another spider. This one was twice as big as the orange one and had the red color. Apart from that there wasnt much difference. Sure he was stronger and all but when he was meet with the attack of partys dps he perished quickly before showing anything special. Although it might have been that there was nothing that special about him and he was just the older version of orange spider. He definitely couldnt be classified as boss class monster. Also Shin already had an idea of what boss is lingering inside that forest and it was not this. Still the partys objective wasnt to fight against some bosses but to just quickly pass through that forest and leave at the other side. That was their current objective. Still after the fight ended a small problem arrived. -hey guys, is it just me or those guys werent that strong? Even though it was a two hour fight that took heavy burden on everyone and most of the people were breathing heavy after the fight, Flynn ended up commenting. Right now they were all resting after the fight as marching inside the forest in this condition wasnt the best idea. -no, its just that we are awesome! The bald monk Lee answered. -well we didnt have any close calls here. Well maybe except one time but it went smoothly. Even Vatras agreed. Getting overconfident is not good. Shin quickly thought like that while hearing the comments and decided to add few words. -sure, we already fought a harder fight before. But you guys compared this fight to a raid dungeon while in truth we were just killing some random mobs on the field. -yes Shin is right. -oh, Shin is right? Well Musashi you didnt discover an America here. Bran commented. -what I mean is that we shouldnt get cocky. Also even though it might seem like we won it all right, my question is, where are Arata and Hiro? -oh now that you mention it. Flynn looked with interest on the other hand the other dwarf Bran quickly said. -RIP Hiro. It was an inside joke which they used when someone died in battle. Yes, even though the white arrows stopped coming about half an hour ago they are still not here. During the fight Shin sent Arata and Hiro on a special mission to take care of sniping spiders and it seemed that they managed to do it but somehow they didnt manage to come back. -shut up Bran. Mika, how is it? -alive. Musashi ignored Brans comment and asked Mika if Hiro was still alive. She said he is alive but there were absolutely no proof to her words. She didnt have any way to check if it was true at the current moment. Still because Mika said that her brother was alive it was the truth. -well they are probably good lost or are waiting for us inside the forest. Anyway, after we rest lets go find them. Shin quickly said as he was sure that what Mika said was the truth. Still if he had to explain someone the reason why everyone trusted her on it, even as a man of logic, the only explanation that Shin could give people was statistics. Shin did not believe in some unimaginable bond between siblings as this was the explanation that Mika gave them but the statistics confirmed that Mika always knew that if her brother was dead somewhere. There were no basics on it but if statistics confirmed something then Shin trusted them. Especially since Mikas predictions were never wrong. Still Mika could only guess if he was alive or not, but one couldnt tell if Hiro were to die second after, or if Arata was still alive either. After 10 minutes of break, the party finally crossed the glade and entered the widows forest and that marked the true beginning of the expedition to west. Next Chapter Chapter 37 “Spider lair.” Chapter 37 Spiders lair. In real world, spiders are small creatures that appear in random places where you least expect it. Technically the spiders that you normally encounter are completely harmless, unless its some poisonous spices but a real chance for encountering those are low. Thats why there is absolutely no realistic reason for anyone to be afraid of spiders. Still, as if often goes, some people are simply terrified while seeing those little things. Even if they can dispose of them with little difficulty rather than doing that, they will run away in panic while looking for help. The fear of spider and not only spiders but other small creatures are not that uncommon. In both MMORPGs and RPGs, the spiders are often used as a base for monsters to fight against. All that producers need to do is, take a random spider, make it bigger, and wuala, the monster is ready to bring the terror to the players, and especially to those who are scared of spiders in the real life. There were even situations in which because of massive amount of spiders in a certain RPG, there was a fan made mod that changed the graphic of all spider to that of a bears. It looked a little silly, seeing all those bears running in places filled with web but for those afraid of spiders it was a blessing. In MMOs however and even more in EOA, the changes like fan made mods could not be applied and the spiders would run through the lands without anything that could stop them. Still thanks to that the players could overcome their fears. Although even if they overcame the fear of spiders in game, they would still somehow be afraid of those small little creatures in real life. There was a time that Arata was afraid of spiders or maybe afraid was not the best word for it. He simply hated them. It was not that he hated them from time he was born. When he was young when he saw the spiders he would only recall that one dungeon in Light in the Citadel, that gave his guild a lot of trouble. Apart from that nothing else. Still long after that while he was already living with his grandfather, during one of the mountain training in the winter break there was a certain event that made him hate the spiders with passion and any time he would see them afterwards, he would want to execute the revenge. Thats why while seeing the spiders in EOA, Arata was not afraid but rather excited to exterminate some of them. He definitely didnt need any mods that would change their graphic to that of a bear. Actually if the spiders were swapped with bears, Arata really would be scared this time. The expedition to the west finally started and the first enemies to fight were going to be spiders, it simply couldnt be better for Arata, but somehow it didnt end too well, given the current situation in which he and his teammate Hiro were currently in. There was nothing Arata could do at this moment so he decided to recall what happened and see if he didnt made any errors along the way to avoid the current situation. -you guys better dont wipe here. Arata said those words to Shin and then he was teleported by Shins spell, somewhere. It was all in an instant, before Arata even managed to blink, he was already in a different place and that place was right in the air. He was now falling to the ground. The reason for that was because he appeared on the trunk of the tree as that was where the green rune of Shin landed. Still Arata quickly realized his position and by pushing his leg of the tree he somehow managed to land on the ground next to the tree. First thing that came to his sight was a mage with azure hair whose name was Hiro. He was dealing with one orange spider right now but that fight was so one sided, that Arata didnt need to help him. Arata looked around. Right now they were at the edge of widows forest about 30 meters away from marching army of spiders. Still apart from that one orange spider that was now dead after Hiros attacks, all other spiders were afar and notice Arata only now. -okay I am done, lets start running before more of them come. Hiro turned around to Arata and said those words. It was not that they couldnt face those few spiders that started to come to their direction but it was just that they had more important mission to do. -yes, as much as I would want to kill some of them, we will have to leave the rest to the others. Arata agreed to Hiro proposition and both of them entered the forest. Their running speed easily left the small spiders behind and in the first place, even though those spiders were large, their speed wasnt that big. It also seemed that they didnt have ability to run so they could only move slowly on their slow legs. Seeing quick dash of Arata and Hiro, the spiders quickly gave up and probably returned to attack the raid group. -well, that was easy, now lets look for those sniping spiders as Shin called them. Hiro said when they stopped running. Their current mission that Shin assigned to them was to eliminated the sniping spiders that had the ability to shot from afar with their white arrows. -good name I guess. Arata answered while looking around. Even though it was still not that hour, the forest was already dark what made horrific atmosphere. The white webs on the conifer trees were not helping that image. The white eggs scattered here and there under those trees were not helping either. -still, how are we going to find those guys? For a note, I dont have any tracking ability that would be helpful here. Hiro asked the obvious question. -well, I also dont have anything like that either. -ah so it means that Shin once again went with safety over effectiveness. He should swap me with Bran then! He would find them in a second. Oh Just as Hiro was complaining, Arata spotted something in the air. -we will have to do it a hard way then. Still I just saw one of those white arrows being fired out from that direction so first sniping spider located. -heh, already? I guess there goes the twilight swordsman rank two with a double class at that. Hiro answered sarcastically. -what you are jealous? Arata asked not understanding Hiros intentions. -did I sound like it? -a little but I cant really image that actually be a truth from you. Someone who despite being a mage is actually better than me in sword fighting and jealousy does not come in pair. -ha, better than you? Where that came from? It seemed like Hiro had no idea what Arata was talking about and was really suspired hearing that. -you should know that Rin already beat me few times in pure swordsmanship and I saw how you managed to cope with her also in pure swordsmanship so- -hahaha! Hiro ended up laughing at Aratas explanation. -and that didnt seem fishy to you in any way? -naturally it did, especially from someone who uses basic magic to that extend. -oh Hiro was slightly surprise hearing those words from someone. Naturally what Arata said earlier about being weaker in swordsmanship was to escape a talk about the classes which would probably go in somewhat bad direction. As for Hiros true swordsmanship, he was not a complete newbie but Arata judged that what he showed in his first fight against Thesar was Hiro real skill. -Arata, are you sure you want to start a conversation like that when out teammates are in the middle of the fight? Even though Hiro was probably interested in what Arata had to say he did kept a priorities. In a way Arata who wanted to start this conversation was in the wrong and it all came from his inexperience in EOAs raids. -I guess it was a bad idea. -well, we can talk on the way as well but lets start with those spiders already, which way was it? -this way! They started to run in a direction where Arata just saw the white arrow came from. Before they could even start the conversation once again, they encountered the first snipping spider. The spider was standing on a small hill that gave him two meters of height advantage from there it was preparing the shoots. The sniping spider looked quite different than the spiders that the Arata and Hiro encountered before. First of all, that spider had a long tail which actually made him more similar to a scorpion rather than a spider. Still everything else was spider-like. In comparison to previous spider all legs of sniping spider were thin and all of them were used to stand. It seemed like the spider was aiming with its long tail. The snipping spider was brown in color. Arata and Hiro after seeing the spider quickly hide behind the trees. Then they looked around. Even though they didnt encounter any spiders inside the forest yet, they assumed that there would be few of them guarding the sniping spider. -how do we do it? Should I snipe him from here? Hiro ended up asking. -lets wait till he fires another shot then I want to see its reaction to me charging at it. We will have other spiders to deal with afterwards so we should see what those guys can do. -a safety approach? -yes, something like that. -haha, you and Shin would hit it off I think. He also always prefers to use a safety approach. Well unless he turns on his evil mastermind mode. -oh, whats this? Arata got a little interested hearing a name like that. -well its just something that we named but evil mastermind mode is the moment in which Shin changes his tactic from safely ones to those which involve sacrificing everyone just like chees pieces on the chessboard without a second though. Hiro explained what Shins evil mastermind mode is. -from what I seen so far, I somehow cant image that. -well, Shin doesnt go that mode unless its absolute necessity but given that we are in the west, you will probably see it few times. I guess west really has a bad opinion, so far however I didnt see anything that scary here. While they talked they kept on looking at the sniping spider that was aiming its shoot. But now it happened. The spider, shoot out a white arrow with an incredible speed in the direction where probably the others were. At the current moment, Arata and Hiro couldnt see the party. They were already too deep within the forest. It was actually incredible that this spider managed to shoot with such good precision from such distance. Still this was the reason that the sniping spiders needed to be taken care off. Seeing the spider shoot, Arata came out from the tree and started running in spiders direction. He passed three meters of distance before the spider even noticed him. While running Arata made sure to look around in case something was indeed guarding the sniping spider but it seemed like Arata overestimated the intelligence of those creatures and there was nothing like that. While moving forward Arata saw as the sniping spider was stretching his tail. I see so he can shoot even after firing that arrow. In that case I expect that he either takes his time on aiming or some weaker version of that white arrow will come out. Although the spider didnt even do anything Arata just by seeing the movements of its tail could tell that the arrows will be coming. And just as he predicted the sniping spider shoot out a white arrow. Seeing it coming Arata continued to run faster and with little movement he dodged it as it flied pass his right side. Given Aratas speed there was no time to shoot out another arrow. Arata run up towards the spider and slashed horizontally with the left sword on spiders two front legs. They were easily cut and with that Arata made a step forward and with his right hand pierced with his black sword at spiders head, right between the eyes. After he stretched his sword fully, the spider was already dead but just to be sure, Arata pushed his sword downward and cut even more of spider head. The spider started falling to the front as its front legs were no more so Arata moved out of its way to the left. The corpse of sniping spider slide down of the two meter hill. Arata once again looked around but it seemed like there really wasnt anything guarding this sniping spider. Confirming that, Arata sheathed back his swords and walked back to where Hiro was standing. -so did you find anything important out from it because to me it seemed that you just went slashed it down. Hiro commented. Well. Arata didnt know how to answer to that after what he said earlier that he want to test the spider. -well I found out that they are all small flies that dont require a strategy in the first place. -we still have to take care of those glass cannons though The term that Hiro used glass canon was describing enemies or players that could do a lot of damage but their defense was low. -lets find the other one. Earlier on, when we were with the others, I saw that the arrows were coming from five separate spots so there shouldnt be any more sniping spiders here anymore. Also Shin sent us to the edge so this would be the farthest to the right spider. In that case we just have to go left to find the others There was nothing wrong with Hiros plan so they went on with it. They first ran some distance but afterwards they started to walk and looked around to see more withe arrows. -so, now that we have a little bit of time, maybe you will tell me where you heard the term basic magic? At some point Hiro ended up asking although that question seemed a little bit strange to Arata. -is it that unusual that I heard about it? Also just so you know, I really bad on using it. Arata quickly explained. -well there arent many people who can make use of it in a way that is actually useful. I for example need some preparations before-hand but anyway if you are asking if its unusual that you heard about it then yes, it is. Well, I did found few people who heard about it as usually as a mage you will encounter this topic eventually. If you are studying anything, that is. Still what interested me is that you called it a basic magic. Everyone else would usually call it primitive magic or original magic but you used this term. -it was a name with which I was introduced to that concept so I am using it. Also no matter what name it has its the same thing, right? Arata was really green in that subject so he ended up asking. -well yes its the same but naming it basic magic. I heard only one person naming it like this and it was the person that told me the secret of how to use it. -was that some old crazy Wizard with a huge ego? -emm no? Hiro was little surprised by Aratas question. -well I heard it from a guy like this in the city of beginners. But actually right now we are doing a quest that we got from him. He is currently in Karma so if there will be a chance I might introduce you. Arata offered. - well if there will be an occasion then sure I would like to use it but I asked you that question only because I was interested if you were in contact with the person who thought me the basic magic. Hiro explained himself. -well apart from him I never heard anyone naming it like that. No wait, there was also a time when Gerald used it, or was it Loki, I dont remember but it was during conversation with them. -I see, sorry that I asked then. -I dont mind but while we are already talking about it, could you tell me something about basic magic? Arata couldnt avoid asking this question. -if you are asking about a secret of how I am using it then I cant tell you that. No offense but I promised to not tell anyone. Hiro stated it out in the front right away. -well, I see that I wont be able to convince you, but maybe some basic at least. Like, for now I would want to know, what exactly basic magic is? The explanations that I got so far were far from good. It was mostly because the only source of Aratas knowledge about basic magic was that crazy old Wizard. -I can answer something like that I guess. You know I actually ended up asking that question to the person who thought me as well and he gave me very clear answer. -very clear answer? I am all for that. -the answer went like this. I will use his exact words. In short, basic magic is an ultimate power of magicians in this world. As you know the games pre-defined spells are often limited but with basic magic you can do anything. Yes its not easy to use but when you learn it you will be above any other magician of this world that does not use it. Still remember what I said, its only ultimate power of magicians in this world but not ultimate power of this world. There are few other powers that go way above basic magic that even I cannot understand at least for now. His words went exactly like this as I recorded them and reheard few times. Hiro added at the end. Ultimate power of magicians but not ultimate power of this world. Arata decided to remember that definition as it told him not only about basic magic but about something even more important. Despite its nearly unlimited utility from where I see it, there is something above basic magic that gives betters effects in fight? I cant really image what it is but if I really want to be that strongest player, I will have to reach it one day. Arata thought like that. As to why someone as lazy and not caring as him would even think about being the strongest player of EOA the reason was quite simple. It was for because of Kotori. Well Arata never heard anything like go become the best player from her as Kotori rarely made any demands from him. Still it happened one day when Arata was thinking, what he could do to make her little more happy. His thoughts started with sending her a gift or something. Then it went into direction of visiting her but he was going to do that anyway so it wasnt really special. While trying to come up with something he went all the way back to the first time they meet and the fact that at the beginning she kept on calling him legendary Arata. It was really embarrassing and strange to be called that but still any time Kotori said that, she was always extremely happy. Then there was also the fact that that the moment she introduced herself back on that hill she said something like she likes strong players. In truth it was more of I tolerate people who can play and I will ignore and wont heal anyone who is bad. Anyway although Arata normally wouldnt think like that, when he though off the fact that Kotori would be happy if he actually become that strongest player he didnt need any more motivation and even become serious about it. Still he was perfectly aware that its a long time process. For now, his greatest concern was to not get beaten badly by a certain girl with a long red hair. Just as the Hiro stopped explaining what basic magic is, he and Arata saw a white arrow that flied a meter above their heads. -well, I hope that answered your question but if you could, dont ask me more than this. Even though I am supposed to only keep the secret, I am not exactly sure what the part of that secret is anymore and what isnt. Still just so you know if you want to use basic magic as well, its not that that secret is the only way to use basic magic, so its not a matter of you know it you use or you dont know it and you dont. I cant tell you anything else. Maybe you could ask Shin what he knows about it, although he is bad in it so maybe not him oh right, what about that Wizard you mentioned. If he calls it basic magic then he should know a lot about it. After Arata heard this advice he suddenly got a dark vision of the worst nightmare. In that nightmare he was studding under the Wizard. After three seconds of seeing it, Arata quickly shock his head just to escape that image. No never! I would rather have Anari thought me that. Arata thought like that for a second as Anari was actually really good at basic magic now that he thought about it. But then a nightmare of studding under Anari appeared as well. This time Arata couldnt stand it even after one second. No never, I will pass on wawawa teachings as well. Ignoring the fact that his pride would not allow him to do it, Arata also remembered how Anari once tried to explain her basic magic and it was completely useless explanation to anyone apart from her. She probably wouldnt be a good teacher. -well I dont think I can spend my time training it right now as I am busy with the quest so I maybe will think of it some other time. In the end Arata arrived at that, although in his current plan he had a one goal with basic magic and that to finally learn how to use his shining poem enchant as he called it. Actually ever since Arata used it first in the city of beginners it was his goal to learn how to use it but other than that it worked only twice so far despite numberous tries so at some point Arata just gave up. Still right now that thought started to return to him. It was mostly because Arata wanted to have some edge over Rin as right now, he didnt have even one. After following the direction from where the white arrow came from, they once again found another sniping spider. The tactic of looking for the arrows seemed to work out great. Similar to the previous spider this one was also standing on the higher ground. This time it wasnt the hill though. The brown sniping spider was standing on the trunk of collapsed three. The trunk was giving it one meter height advantage. Just like before, Arata and Hiro stopped right before reaching it and hid behind the trees and started watching it. -by the way, why are we stopping rather than killing it right away? Hiro ended up asking when they did that. -this time I stopped only because you first hid behind the tree. Arata answered. -that is because I thought you will want to wait again till it shots. -I dont think we should be doing it anymore, what if someone gets hit by this particular arrow and die because of it? -ah, so we stopped because our teamwork sucks. Well I guess it cant be helped given that its first time we play together anyway Hiro stopped hiding behind the tree and came out in the open. Right away he casted a spell and water started to generate on the palm on his hand, still he did not fire it out right away but the water started to spin in his hand with incredible speed. Hiro then pointed that hand in direction of the sniping spider and the spinning water ball flied out. In few seconds it reached the spider and went right through its body from the left side to the right side. The spider ended up dying without even realizing who killed it. -ah, so hard. Hiro commented to himself and turned around back to Arata. -was this also was a basic magic? Arata ended up asking as although the spell seemed simple, he somehow got the feeling that it was not. -well yes and no. Hiro ended up answering. -what do you mean? -well in the first place every magic is in a way basic magic. But anyway, why are you asking? What I have done just now is really simple and everyone knows about it, right? Should I say that I dont know? Ah whatever. -what does everyone know about? -haha, dont ask stupid questions like that. Hiro ended up laughing at Aratas answer thinking he is joking. -no I really dont know. -dont joke like that Arata, its not time for lame jokes, even though those spiders are this weak Hiro pointed at the spider that he just one shooted. -we still have to deal with them. -no I am not joking. -how can you not joke? I mean Hiro was still taking it as a joke but then he saw Aratas serious face when he answers. -wait, wait, wait Hiro calmed down and started. -you are a twilight swordsman with profession of rank two who completed all stages of trial of adventurer and even though you are not magician you know of basic magic and you are telling me that you dont know something simple as this? Did I just say something stupid? Arata still did not know what Hiro was talking about. After all he just asked if that spell was a basic magic and thats all. -hmm, maybe I do but I dont know what you mean right now. -really? Like, really? The way moment Hiro said he somehow become more cheerful than usual, if you could say that he was ever cheerful. -hahaha, well you probably just didnt catch it. I was simply speaking of using the skill manipulation that all Skill manipulation? Arata looked at Hiro with puzzled face. -wait, wait, lets stop joking already. You do know what skill manipulation is right? Or did you hear it as skill management or mana manipulation or stamina manipulation. Well the last one is really rare but you did hear and use those all the time right? -its the first time I am hearing about it. Arata was already frank so there was no need to lie although this time Hiro face palmed himself. -em tell me at least how long did you play EOA so far? -it will be about three months of ingame time I guess. Currently Arata was not sure anymore but it was about this much. -ah, three months, then I guess, its fair wait! You said in-game time? You didnt mistake it with real time, right? -no, in real it will be month soon. -month? You telling me you reached 100th level less than a month!? -yes, something like that. Arata answered like nothing. -I see, I see Hiro started calming down. -so you are someone who rushed with their level without care and used his real world fighting skills to push himself forward? Quite good description. -fine, in this case I can understand why you havent hear about skill manipulation. Well, I will give you a short explanation on the way They once again started to look for flying arrows although Hiro started explaining right away. -skill manipulation is something that you probably already used without knowing what it is. In game everyone have their skills and spells that cost this or that much mana, stamina and have this or that effect Hiro was not trying very hard with his explanation. -still even though those skills were made to be used in specific way, you can always alert the somehow. The simplest explanation would be mages fireball. The caster can change its size, power and temperature. The more skillful ones can even change its shape or make multiple fireballs at once. Naturally increase in utility, increases the spell cost or rather the caster is deciding how much mana he want to spare and the effect will go according to that. Other simplest example would be melees class simplest skill strike Ah, the skill that I never used. Arata thought to himself hearing the name of the skill that he only once considered when he first read the skills he had. -you can put more stamina and boom, your attack power goes up by more than 15%. Anyway most of people eventually use skill manipulation unconsciously and then when they find out about it they already know what it is right away. I see, so there is name for that. Well I dont have much skills but I keep on using black dash and change the length of where I go with it. The description said 5 meters after all. The same goes with leap. Then there is the whole cutting spells with sword enchants. The skill book never mentioned that I can do it but I found out on my own that I can. -I see, well as you guested I was using it without knowing about it. Still your spell was something different right, I wouldnt have asked otherwise. Arata returned to the question. -you asked if its basic magic, its not quite but it would be closer to that, its still skill manipulation though. What I did was I took my most basic skill which is water ball and added it some power. By adding more mana, bringing out more water to it and lastly adding a spin effect. With that the damage is about four times bigger than a simple water ball. Four times? -seems like I will have to work on my skills then. -you should. Sure having high level is good but rushing too much with it and ignoring other things is not good. Well I guess that sitting down under level 100 if you can beat trial of adventurer would also be strange. Also seeing that you are doing better than me after a month of play I have no right to tell you what is better for you. Rushing only up to level 100 and then focus on other things? Wasnt this, what Gerald wanted us to do? For a second Arata reflected on the progress of his guild Refrain. -still while we are on it, how hard is it do use skill manipulation in a way you did to get an effect of 4x? Arata asked. -how hard? Well on basic skill manipulation is easy but if you want to get 4x from a skill its not that simple. Also not every skill can be manipulated and you usually have to come up on your own how to make your skills better. Anyway, if you want, we will talk about it some other time. You just mentioned that someone might die from that white arrow and despite the fact that Flynn earlier on took it on shield like nothing the shoot that I just saw a second ago would probably kill me if I took it head on without any defense spell. I think those spiders can change the power of their shoots, oh its exactly fits what we were just talking about. Hiro commented. I see so monsters can do it as well, no surprise and I probably already seen it as well without realizing. Arata was slowly realizing his ignorance. -maybe the first shoot was a warning shot. -who knows. Two snipping spiders were down and probably three remained. Arata and Hiro continued their search. The third snipping spider was found and killed about ten minutes after the second one and now then was the time to look for the fourth one, still before Arata and Hiro found the fourth one, for the first time in the forest they encountered different spiders than the sniping ones. -I will take the one on the left, you take the other one! Arata said to Hiro and started rushing at the orange spider that appeared before them. -go it. In similar manner Hiro started rushing at the other orange spider, despite being a mage who should shoot from afar. Still Arata did not see how Hiro fought. The orange spiders were much different than snipping spiders but Arata already fought against those with the raid group. The biggest difference would be their resilience. The chances of one-shooting the orange spider with Aratas attack potential were slim. Unless he used a sword slash that is. Arata closed in on the spider and by attacking with his swords clashed with oranges spider two front legs. The normal spiders were using their two front legs and were piercing and slashing with them as if they were using a weapon. Arata already experienced that and it was hard to break through the front of those two legs. One of the tactics, he used first time was to go to the side and attack at the other legs, but other legs were quite durable so it was hard to attack them from there. Thats why Arata thought off a different tactic. After rushing at the spider and clashing with its front legs, Arata used the momentum of the clash and jumped up forward using the strength of the spiders. He did not use his skill [leap]. Arata ended up landing at the top of the orange spider which was spiders weak point. It was not because the top of the spider had weak defenses but because there was nothing that spider could do once Arata got there. From the top Arata started to slash down at the spider without interference. blow, blow, blow The oranges spider life was coming to an end. Hmm, should I speed it up and use the skill strike? Nah my decision to not waste stamina on it cant be wrong. In times when Aratas stamina was still low, he decided to not use something that didnt have visible effect and Arata wasnt going to change that decision. Instead when he wanted to make stronger blow, he would just put more power into that blow, just as if he did that in the real world. All the way till now, Arata did not relay on the game skills too much, he only did that when it was necessary and even now he was not going to change his mind about it. At the start of his journey, it was because Arata didnt have many skills and many resources to use them in the first place. His number of skills still did not increase much but as he leveled up, he got more resources and also his skills upgraded themselves by one level and now cost less mana. There was also the fact that sword slash was no longer taking all the mana and lastly, the black sword reduced the mana of twilight swordsman skills as well. Right now, Arata could use his skill much more. For example he could run around using lighting speed for about ten minutes. Despite that Arata was still not using his skills and kept on fighting without them. Best proof to that would be that right now Arata wasnt using even sword enchant which cost practically no mana at all. But there was really simple reason why he fought like this. For Arata, fighting with his own hands and his own body was the most enjoyable way of fighting. Arata finished his orange spider without much problem and soon after Hiro did the same and they once again went to look for remaining sniping spiders. It didnt take them too much time to find the rest of them. But they also didnt do it immediately. Still in the end on average each sniping spider took 9 minutes to find and one minute to kill. [Black dash] Arata just now killed the last sniping spider by black dashing through it and then piecing back with his swords at sniping spider tail. -that would be the fifth one. What do we do now look for more or return to the party? Hiro asked after Arata sheathed back his swords. -hmm I think that the white arrows were coming only from five directions but lets look for another 10 minutes just to be sure. -I guess, we are probably too late for the party with spiders anyway. Hiro answered although at the current time the raid group was still fighting against army of spiders which dwindled but was still large. The search for the sniping spiders continued even if Arata and Hiro did not know if they are still out there. After five minutes, there was still no sight of any white arrows flying still in this moment Hiro point out a certain fact. -hey, dont you think that the number of those eggs around somewhat increased? It was true as earlier on there was about one egg every ten tree but now there were even few eggs next to each other under nearly every tree. -you are right. Do you want to go back because of that? Seeing something like this I can feel like something that is making those eggs is near. Arata naturally started to think like that. -no yet at least. For now we should probably see if there really is something here so in case we find something we can tell about it to others. -we could also take care of it as well. I am little bored of those fights we had so far. -well if you want to fight something then sure I will join you but if we encounter something bad and die because of it, dont blame me for failing your quest. Right, I shouldnt ask for the trouble. -lets pass on fighting then but we still should look around. They didnt look too long before they found something. After about a minute they found many really long thin sticks. Those sticks were reaching the trees and whats more those sticks were moving. There were about a lot of those sticks in a distance of 30 meters. -hmm? -hmm? Seeing those moving sticks Arata and Hiro were not sure what to do. -well its your decision teams leader. After staying there for about 20 seconds without saying anything Hiro broke the silent. -no matter what you say if we go that way we will have to fight against those, who knows what. -this is probably another type of spider given that its a forest full of spiders right? If one looked carefully they could see that the sticks were moving in groups of eight. -the forest was quite empty so far probably because all spiders rushed at our team but here we finally encounter them in greater number and just in a place where number of eggs increases. I wonder what could that mean? Hiro said sarcastically. -I would say it means that we should find out what is even further than that. -hahaha, and here I thought you were careful type like Shin. -what you are scared. -not really, if we are to die here we wouldnt live for too long anyway. So what do we do? We sneak by or simply attack? -do you even have to ask. -allow me to start then with the boom. You might as well watch what I do, maybe you will find out something interesting After saying that, Hiro started moving forward in the direction of long moving sticks. Something interesting? Arata was not sure what Hiro meant but still looked and after a second Hiro started. -I have seen the ocean, the endless blue -everywhere I look, the endless blue -I have also the whirlpool, and I still see it now -as it is, right before my eyes In that moment a large amount of water started to circle around Hiros stretched hand. It did remind the whirlpool and its diameter was around two meters. -just so you know, the basic magic that I used does not involve the secret that I spoke about at all. As you can see, you can still use basic magic without it, it just that casting anything during the fight is not easy, still if its before the fight, thats completely different matter. After saying, that Hiro started attacking. From the circling circle, water bolts formed in spikes started to fire out and they all flied in the direction of walking sticks, namely little above them. clap, clap, clap. Arata ended up clapping to Hiro performance for a joke although partly he also knew that he deserved those clapping as Arata had experience in using or rather not using basic magic. In the distance about three sets of moving long sticks fell to the ground after the attack. As predicted it was another type of spider. This type was small and large at the same time. Small because its torso was much smaller than that of previous spider but large because of its height which rivaled those of smaller trees. After being attack all of those long leg spiders started attacking. -stop or I will get embarrassed Hiro answered to Aratas clapping while keep on shooting. -also just so you know, even though it might look like I am good in basic magic it only goes as far as spells that use water. Maybe its because my class is a water mage but anything other than water spells dont turn out too good. Well I am still far from perfection with water spells as well so I just focus on those. -well if you can tell me anything useful about basic magic I will gladly listen but maybe after we deal with those. -my mouth is sealed but you can learn by looking, anyway despite being a mage I can take care of myself so dont worry about tanking. -okay. It was time for Arata to join in as well as the spiders has come. There were about 11 long leg spiders although it was hard to count as they were small and were hiding behind the trees. Because they were so large in height the first thought as how to attack them that appeared in Aratas mind was to attack their legs. Arata run up toward the first spider but just as he was about to reach the first leg, the spider picked it up and attacked from above making a pierce attack at the ground. It was really quick pierce but seeing it coming Arata avoided it in time. Still that pierce was powerful as it went right into the ground. Seeing the chance Arata made a swing at the leg that just attacked him. He made simple horizontal attack but the moment he encountered the leg, the leg didnt even bend and the sword simply bounced off it leaving only small mark on the leg. They are quite durable its quite strange after seeing few of them falling down to the ground after one attack from Hiro. Arata thought that those are just other spiders that he will take easy care of he soon found out that it was a mistake. Following with a second strike at that leg, which didnt do any damage either Arata jumped back from the spot where he has been as other spiders started attacking. Actually simple movement of those long leg spiders were deadly as their legs were just like sharp and durable like steel. Arata had unusual fight in which he had to avoid the attacks that came from above him. It was quite hard to both move and look upward at the same time. The long leg spiders also started to surround him. To avoid that Arata started to move under their legs to places where the number of long moving sticks was less. After making few other strikes Arata managed to slash off few legs but then he heard from the distance. -hey, Arata how many did you kill? -emm zero. It was slightly embarrassing to admit that but rather than killing anything Arata had problems with even surviving, he already had few close calls. -oh, then its the same as me. -ha!? Didnt you kill like five right at the start? Even thought it was a middle of the fight Arata asked. -yea they fell but they stood up soon after and are coming at us and despite firing few other skill now, the torso of those spiders is just as durable as its legs Ooo so my plan to jump upward and attack the torso will also not work. -so Arata, can do we start running already because I am not as good as you in dodging those attacks, I might have said that I wont need help but I didnt expect them to be this good. Arata quickly looked to where Hiro was and there he saw that Hiro already took few hits and actually those hits were serve enough to disable his left arm. At least it seem like it was not in usable state anymore. Strangely, though Hiro just now was using his calm and collected voice, the same way as always. -teleport out of there now! I am also running. Arata made a quick decision which if delayed could have grave consequences. Hiro disappeared in a flash from the position in which he were a second ago, which was right in the middle of long moving sticks. He then appeared ten meters away from where the fight was taking place. [Lighting speed] Arata was also not wasting his time and quickly run out from the sticky area. Without much problems, he maneuvered between the sticks and got away. Naturally after he did that the long leg spiders started chasing him but that was not the most current problem. Just as Arata escaped from the sticks he stopped as he he saw something in a distance that was coming from the distance, right behind Hiro. =look out, behind you! Somehow in the exact moment in which Arata wanted to warn Hiro, Hiro also warned Arata still, they were both late. Arata only managed to look what was behind him and what he saw was the white spider web net that come flying at him from nowhere. It was just like the white arrow that appeared behind Hiro which also turned out to be the spider web net. In about exact same moment both of them were caught by it. After getting hit, even though its purpose was not the damage the spider web net still pushed Arata to the ground few meters away from where he stood and after rolling few times, Arata was covered in it. [Sword enchant: water] Arata was not wasting any second and right away he had to get rid of that net. While they were still with the party, Hiro found out a good way to get rid of the spider web net and that was to use some water skill on it. Arata already tested his water enchant against it and it worked perfectly. Arata knew how to get out from the net so he get to it right away but helping someone else get out of the net and cutting the net around himself was different and it would take much more time. When Arata started cutting the net he saw as from the tree that was before him a new type of spider jump out from. In comparison to all other spiders this one was quite small, about the size of small dog. Still this small spider flied from the tree and landed on Aratas webbed face and second later he started to spread some green toxin in the air. Is that some poison!?! Arata panicked seeing it but this was not the time to panic. He quickly focused all his strengths on getting out from the web and after three seconds he was free to the degree in which he could move both his hands and legs. His face still had some web on it but it could wait. After releasing himself the first thing Arata did was killing the small spider that he had on his face. It was quite easy as it died in one strike. Arata quickly stood up and started running away from long leg spiders once again but after making five steps, his head started to get dizzy and then after few seconds he lost ability to see and then after about five additional steps, Arata dropped down to the ground and he no longer knew what was happening around him. I see so its like this. After recalling all the events, Arata arrived at the simple conclusion. I might have underestimated those guys and because of it we ended up like this. There was no much to debate on this. Because Arata and Hiro hunt for sniping spiders went so easily they were sure than dealing with slightly different type of them shouldnt be hard either. Still it turned out that the long leg spiders were much better than expected. Well, it probably wasnt on the level where Arata and Hiro couldnt beat them but because they assumed that it was going to be an easy fight they got overwhelmed when it was not so. I hope that Rin will not find out about this or otherwise I will get another lecture about underestimating my opponents again. Well, to my defense it wasnt my fault that we got caught. I could still fight if I wanted to. Even though long leg spiders power was unexpected, Arata was still doing okay with his superb dodge ability, still he must have fall back because his teammates could not do so. There werent that many players who would be able to stay alive in those circumstances for too long and Arata was one of the few who could pull that off. Now then what do we do? Arata looked around and once again started to think of the way of how to get out from the situation in which he was currently in. At the current moment, Arata was wrapped completely in the white spider web. The web was covering his body completely apart from the head. If his head was wrapped in web as well then Arata would probably not even wake up as he would simply choke himself to death. Well, being wrapped in the web completely wouldnt normally be a problem for Arata as he had a counter measure for it. Sadly though right now he could not use it. To get out from the web he would need to cut it down with his sword while using water enchant. But currently his swords were not in his hands and in general he couldnt really move in the web cocoon. As for his swords they somehow returned to the sheaths although Arata did not remember putting them back there. Because of that Arata assumed that its simple game mechanic that helps player to not lose their equipment. He was not sure on what laws it worked but it worked. Still being wrapped in the web was not the worst thing in Aratas current position. The worst thing was that right now, he was hanging in the air, upside down about 30 meters away from the ground. This fact beat even other bad circumstances as of now. Other bad circumstance would be that Arata was hanging only on one single thread of spider web which could any moment break. Then there was other bad thing which was what was what Arata did see. What Arata saw was one big spider which was sitting on the web beneath where he was hanging. Still saying big may be little wrong. The other spiders were big, after all. Then the long leg spiders were as high as trees. This one however should probably be called gigantic. This spider was taking about the half of the large hole in which he was. The hole itself looked to be of the size of 50 meters in diameter. That meant that the spider was about 25 meters large in width and about 15 meters large in height. Arata was currently 30 meters above the ground so half way there the huge spider could actually reach with its bent legs. It was one gigantic spider that made any gigantic creature that Arata saw so far small. The spider had eight legs that were as thick as trunks of large tree. Those legs also seemed really thick. In general the whole body of that spider looked impenetrable. There were many dark-brown plates around the spider body and Arata expected that most of his attacks wouldnt even leave a glance over it. Still that spider was not currently the problem. From what Arata saw that spider didnt move even once so far so it may be sleeping right now. Arata currently had no means of getting out from the web in which he was trapped in and even if he somehow managed to get out then he would fall down from 30 meters down head first. Also any of his tries might actually lead to the thread breaking off and in that moment it would be a certain death. I did not expect to end up in the situation like this. Still, it could have been worse. How could anything be worse than that someone might ask? Well Arata could simply be dead right now and then he wouldnt be able to do anything at all. It was not that he went crazy after waking up in a situation like this. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. I am guessing that the only reason I am not dead is because I am to be an offering to this who knows what it is, I will not call it a spider. Arata thought like that because he knew well how spiders looked like. This creature could definitely not be called a spider. Well then, for now I will continue to wait till this guy wake up. There was nothing he could really do at this point so Arata was just waiting till his teammate wake up. Hiro was in similar position to Arata right now and he was hanging on a single thread wrapped in the web about three meters away from Arata. Still, he was unconscious right now. Well, Arata was also unconscious for quite a while and he woke up just now. When he was unconscious he even got a message that if he logs out then he will die so things werent going well right now. Hmm what to do? Actually, currently Arata was quite bored while waiting. Hanging upside down on a single web thread, as crazy as it sounded would get boring quite fast if someone did that for too long and Arata was hanging for about 30 minutes already ever since he woke up. He did not know how much time passed since he went unconscious but he didnt feel like that much. Before he went unconscious it was slowly getting dark and right now it was a night as he has guessed so it shouldnt be that much. Actually lets check the time. Currently Aratas movement was restricted but not to the point in which he couldnt cross his fingers. 23:00, not that bad. Arata managed to check the time and also the date that did not change. Still even thought it was not bad it meant he was out for few hours by now. Yes, lets be positive, I didnt die, and nothing is currently trying to kill me. Focusing on the good sides was good. Still Arata already listed down all positive things about his situations, and it was only the fact that he was alive. Hmm is there really nothing I can do? Hmm what will happen if I activate black dash in this position? I think I will manage to get out form this cocoon with it. Yea, my old good skill that saved me so many times right, where are my new skills that I should have get!? Was it a lie after all? Arata got distracted while thinking on new skills that he should get. Ah, right I still didnt level up. Still if those skills will once again be some stupid passives than I am killing someone. In the first place what did that guy meant by if you do the right things you will unlock the skills of your profession. What I am supposed to do as a twilight swordsman to unlock those skills normally? Arata did learn Shins theory on how to unlock new skills as it seemed that you didnt just naturally get them from leveling up. It was just that the players were doing the right things without knowing what they did and simply thought of it like that. Still Arata had no idea as to what he should do to unlock his. I am a swordsman so shouldnt fighting with the sword be enough? Well, maybe this isnt the best moment to think about it. Also I will finally get some skills thanks to Hikari so lets leave this subject for later. Arata calmed down from his obsession. Still as to why Arata suddenly wanted to get more skills, it was not necessary because he wanted to use them in battle. Well in normal battle at least. Arata did enjoy fighting on his own the most after all. Still there was one battle in which he needed some really good skills to win and that was a fight against Rin. Right now even if he managed to create a miracle and win against her in battle of pure swordsmanship, after last defeat Arata will not feel good until he wins against as he called it flying red things. So if I do it right, I will get out from this cocoon by using black dash and then when I will be getting close to the ground and use black dash again I should survive. Perfect. A foolproof plan has been created. Hopefully foolproof plan. Now then, I will have to wait till he wakes up and then we are getting out from here. For him landing shouldnt be a problem. He can just teleport while falling down. I saw Zen doing it so he should also be able to do it as well. After that Arata once again looked around to see the way they should choose after landing. Still it was so dark that he couldnt see much. What he could recognize however was that they were in some large hole, or maybe a cave. Combination of both rather. Half of the hole in which Arata was hanging was covered and other half was open. From there the weak moonlight entered the hole and it was the only source of light. Well I cant see it from here so we will worry about it later. Arata decided to leave the most important thing for later. The important fact is to not wake up this Arata once again looked at the giant spider. Who knows what. Anyway, while I am already waiting I might consider something important that I have learned. There was no time for that till now but the hint that Arata received might turn out crucial in his progress towards basic magic. Hiro said that he is bad in any basic magic other than his main element that is water. He is a water mage if I remember correctly so there is no surprise in that. Probably because he was casting so many water spells he somehow understood how they work, or simply if his main element is water then using basic magic with it is simply easier. Yes, that makes sense. Arata had some time so he started theorizing. Hmm water for a water mage is obvious but what would work the best for me? Well what I definitely know is that according to this theory, the basic magic that I tried to use so far and succeeded only twice is my anti-element. I mean, light spells would probably be the opposite of what I should be using. Is that why it never works? Ah! Maybe I am not really that bad at it? Even the thought of using a poem seems to be good as Hiro also used it to activate his basic magic. Although, he didnt do the same while fighting with Rin. Well, he got taught some good method on using basic magic so lets leave it on that. What I want right now is to use any basic magic so I can learn that I am not talentless with it. The main reason as to why Arata gave up on basic magic till now was because he felt that he wont do anything good with it anyway. He managed to use his shining sword skill only twice despite trying many times. Arata simply didnt want to even consider an unreliable move like this in fights so he simply ignored the existence of basic magic. Still now that he saw the hope of it actually working he started thinking about it. Hmm well I dont really know much about my professions but no matter how I look at them they are definitely not on the light side of the force. After all, in my first month of play I was desecrating a cross of some religion that is in this game. When I was getting my professions I even got scolded for that by the goddess. Arata remembered old good times. Well, it fits me. I was never a religious person anyway. Still if I am not on the light side of the force then it means that I am on the dark side then. In that case. -muahahahaha Arata already started training his evil laugh as he did actually think that it will help him in using basic magic. What happened afterwards was quite surprising as Aratas evil laugh that he made for fun actually managed to wake up Hiro. Oh, I should have called to him earlier. Well its not like I can train basic magic right now anyway and I probably wont be able to do it till this expedition and quest are done. I will have to note it down though, next time use the dark side of the force and see how it turns out. Hmm, I need to consider making a poem for myself. The theme, something evil. -muahahahahaha! -hey, what are you doing in a situation like this? It seemed like Hiro was already woken up and heard Aratas evil laugh training. -I was trying to wake you up. -I see Hiro was kind enough to not comment on the method. -by the way, where are we? Rather than commenting he focused on the matter on hand and asked quite natural question given the circumstances they were in. -I would say that its a boss lair of some who knows what it is, look at it yourself. Luckily for them the gigantic spider below them still didnt wake up even after Aratas evil laughs. -this is bad. Seeing the creature Hiro gave probably quite natural response. -exactly, luckily for us thought it is still sleeping so if our luck continues we might get out from here without fighting that thing. -I am all for that but anyway do you have some plan. -well my plan is as follows. We first get down from here and then get the hell out of here. There was no time to be polite right now. -simple plan, I like it. As for getting down, I think I will manage on my own but what about you. You need help? -no, I have been through the training as to how to land from the high falls that would normally kill me Although I hoped that I will not have to use that. -I am ready but do you need some more time to gather your thoughts? After I woke up I was still quite dizzy after that poison. Arata asked. -poison? I dont remember any poison I just got hit hard by something at the back of my head and fall unconscious soon after that. It still hurts a little and I think I have a swelling but rather than worrying about that, I would rather get away from this spider as far as possible. It seemed like Hiro had slightly different experience. At that time Arata was busy with himself so he did not see exactly what happened with him. -okay we are getting down. On three. One, two, three [Black dash] Just as planned, with the use of the skill Arata managed to get out from the cocoon and when he finished he started to fall to the ground. Hmm now that I think about it using black dash to get out from the web at that time would have been better. While falling down a thought like that appeared in Aratas mind but right now it was not the time for it. Arata did his best to turn around so he doesnt go down head first and then when he was about two meters above the ground he once again used his skill. [Black dash] Arata landed without much problem. Arata had only few skills but most of them were really useful and he already founded more than one usage for them. Still, this method is like, one wrong move and you are dead. If I were one second late then I could die. Hiro also landed without much problem either by using his teleport spell and now both of them were save on the ground. The ground was filled with web that was sticky but did not get in the way of their movement. Actually the whole room was filled with those webs and they actually brought an idea to Aratas mind. But then Arata looked at the creature that was before him. From the ground perspective the creature looked even more scary, this feeling Arata could describe only in one way. Wawa. This was how much Arata would prefer not to fight against that creature. Still there was a hope. -hey Hiro, I think that if we use those web bridges we will be able to get outside. See over there. Arata whispered towards Hiro and pointed towards the web that was spread around the lair. Calling them web bridges was actually a good way to describe it. It was not coincidence that those web bridges were here thought as it seemed that other spiders were using it to move around this lair. Even now there were many spiders moving on those webs. All kind of types. Normal spiders in color of green and yellow. The slightly bigger spiders the orange ones. There were also few sniping spiders mixed in as well. The long leg spiders could also be founded if Arata looked hard enough. Even the small spiders, the type that jumped at Arata and poisoned him could be found as well. There probably were few types of other spiders mixed in as well somewhere. Those spiders were using the web bridges to move around which meant that it should be possible for Arata and Hiro to also use those webs to get out. -looks like our way out. Even if we will have to fight through some of those spiders its still better than being eaten by the big one. Let us better get moving. There were many web bridges around the lair but Arata and Hiro immediately started to run towards one specific bridge that would allow them to get out all in the one go as it was connected from the top all the way to the bottom. There appeared few normal spiders on their way but they were easily dealt with by Arata and Hiro. In few minutes they already reached the web bridge that they wanted to get to. They started to run upward the bridge. It wasnt surprising that the bridge could hold their weight as giant spiders that weighted who knows how much, were walking on. On this bridge there also were few spiders and the first one that stood in their way was the long leg spider. -we better hurry so I am going to take out this guy in one shot. As they were running on the web bridge Arata said it to Hiro. He then unsheathed his sword and prepared the attack. [Sword enchant: wind] [Sword slash] An invisible arc flied out Aratas sword and it soon reached the long leg spider that was about five meters away from them and still did not realize that they were here. Without knowing what hit it, the spider was cut in half horizontally on the torso. Its armor was not good enough to withstand Aratas ultimate attack. But then something bad happened. Aratas sword slash after flying through the spider ended up flying into the web bridge which Arata and Hiro wanted to escape with. The invisible arc however cut right through it and the bridge started collapsing. Arata and Hiro were still only on the beginning of the bridge so they didnt fall down that much and landed without any injures but. -hmm our way out is gone. -sorry. Arata didnt take to account that their way will also get destroyed although given the angle of the bridge it probably couldnt be helped. -no use to cry over the spoil milk, we still have other bridges that we can use. Hiro didnt say anything bad to Arata after what just happen as right now it was really not the time for them to argue. The clock was ticking and who knew when the gigantic spider would woke up. Given that both Arata and Hiro were still alive it meant that when they first came here the spider was still asleep. That meant it should probably be waking up soon. -we better hurry but first lets deal with those guys. The place in which Hiro and Arata landed was filled with spiders so currently they were surrounded by few of them. Five green ones and three yellow ones and two long leg spiders. -once again, it doesnt look good but we have to do it. The battle began. Arata immediately started running towards one of the long legs spiders. His target was hiding behind two green spiders. Arata jumped at the top of one of them and from there he grabbed the rope with a hook that he had always prepared on his left side. With the hook he aimed it at the stick-like legs of long leg spider. The hook got attached to it so Arata made jumped down from the green spider and started circling around the long leg spider while avoiding the attacks of other spiders. The long leg spider himself couldnt do anything as his legs were caught by the rope. After around three circles Arata pulled the rope and the long leg spider fall to the ground. Arata dodged few strikes from the green spiders and then run up towards the torso of long leg spider. He made few hits on it but the defense of that spider was just as good as on its leg. In this case. Arata attacked at the spider mouth which was the only not armored part of the spider and his swords went in. Cutting through the armor from the outside was hard but from the inside, it was much easier and soon the long leg spider fall to Aratas sword. Afterwards Arata focused on three green spiders that were surrounding him. It is worth to mention that even thought there was much more spiders that Arata and Hiro had to fight right now, the spiders were so big that they couldnt all surround them. Three was a maximum and even then they were getting in their way. I already have a way for those one. Arata already had the tactic to fight against the normal spiders and it was not involving staying on the ground. Arata moved towards first better spider and jumped at the top of it. Even though his jump was like two meters up in height, the skill leap did not activate, although Arata was making that jump with the thought of using it and actually thought that he did use it. From the top Arata once again started to unleash numberous slashes at the spider but then something interesting happened. The surrounding spiders started to get at top of the green spider ignoring the damage that they were making to their brethren. As I thought they are not high intelligence creatures, in this case I can use it. Arata started to jump from the top of one spider to another as spiders tried to climb at top of themselves and even attacked with their front spiky legs at Arata which usually resulted in them hitting the spider on which Arata was standing on. As the fight progressed most of the spiders started to focus on Arata somehow. Did that guy die? Arata had no time to look for Hiro right now and even though he more or less trusted in his abilities after Arata saw him using basic magic to that extend, it might have turned out that his teammate did die. But then it turned out to not be true. -Arata! I will blow the rest of them in one go, get down from them on three! Arata heard Hiros voice while jumping from the top of one spider to the other. Some of the spiders already died so right now it was turning into spider tower on which spiders were trying to climb on. -One! Two! Arata jumped down on three although he did not hear the three, instead he heard. -spell seven. Water laser. In that moment from Hiros hands a stream of water exploded and flied towards the tower of spiders in beam. The instant that water hit the tower, all spiders that were there both alive and dead were sent flying and soon enough there was not even notice of them. There was no time to look at it though. Arata quickly run towards the last spider that was left. It was the yellow spider. Arata dodged its attack and went on its right. From there he cut off three right legs if the spider and the yellow spider fallen down. From there it was easy to attack already nearly dead spider so he died in few blows. [You have leveled up by 1%] [You have gained a level, current level 110] [New skills unlocked] The last spider was dealt with and Arata saw the messages that appeared before him. New skills, yes! It worked! It seemed that Hikaris ritual did the thing or Arata somehow meet the requirements to unlock the new skills on his own. Still what he just did was nothing unusual and it was simply another fight. Okay, lets check them immediately or no wait show some restrain, I will want to test those skills right away and this really isnt the time for that. Given the situation and the gigantic spider that made even Arata shiver, it was really not the time to look at new skills. The only thing that was on Aratas mind right now was to get out of this place and not die while doing so. Arata went toward the long leg spider that he killed picked up his rope and looked around for another way to get out from this gigantic hole. Strange, I thought there was another direct way to get out from here. Earlier on Arata saw two web bridges that were all from the top to the bottom. One of them was destroyed by Aratas sword slash not that long ago but the other one should still be here. Well it was still here a minute ago. -this isnt good. My last attack destroyed much more than those spiders. Hiro said those words and everything was clear. When the spiders flied out from the force of his spell, they ended up destroying few bridges along the way. What was worse some of those bridges had spiders on them which now already managed to get up and started to look for the aggressors. -you know what, the more we fight the farther we are from leaving this place so rather than fighting maybe we should just start running. Arata stated his resoning. -start running? Sounds good and we should probably start doing it right now. After the last attack the spiders that so far were without much movement started to run around the lair. It was only the matter of time before they find them and in fact one long leg spider using its height advantage already started to look in their direction. It still didnt start attacking as it was probably confused but it was only the matter of time. Seeing this, Arata decided to wave his hands towards it, to show his good intentions. Hi. To that however the spider started running their direction right away. =run! Arata and Hiro started to run towards one of the web bridges. Sure it did not lead all the way up out of the lair but after looking around there was still way to get up. At the entrance to this web bridge stood orange spider and they were running right into it. Still the plan to fight already brought grave consequences so there was no time for that. When they got one meter away from orange spider, the spider attacked with its front legs forward at them. To that Arata turned right and Hiro turned left and they ran around the orange spider. Seeing his enemies splitting before his eyes the spider got disorientated for a second and using that time Arata and Hiro ran around him and jumped on the web bridge that the spider was guarding. After that it was a sprint up the web bridge. The orange spider also ended up being helpful as it blocked the way of all spiders that were chasing Arata and Hiro. There were now more of them than just the long leg one. Still they also entered the web bridge as well soon after and start the chase. -this way! Arata and Hiro ran up towards the wall and it was the end of this web bridge. Still two meters away there was another bridge that they could use so they jumped from one bridge to another and from there continued to run up. There were no more single bridges that would lead upward so they had to go with this method all the way up 30 meters out from the lair. Then way out was there as when Arata looked up he could see the starry night sky. On the second bridge stood another long leg spider. Still, it was quite good for Arata and Hiro as they could simply bypass it under its thin legs without problems. The problem was however that the spiders were closing in on them. Even though on normal ground they werent that fast, when it came to web bridges they were much quicker. Some of them were even using the down side of the web bridge and walked underneath it. Then there were also few that instead of web bridges started to climb up the wall to make an ambush later on. The situation was not really good but even since Arata woke up, his situation was bad anyway. Also right now he and Hiro still had some safe distance away from the chasing spiders. After once again running few meters up, they once again had to switch bridges. This time they had to jump down from one to another as there was no other choice. After leaping to another bridge, suddenly, rather than running away, Hiro turned around. -I have an idea. Lets get rid of those guys. -but we already tried and you know what happened, you want to destroy another web bride? -yep! Hiro answered. His answer was quite strange at first but then after he shoot out one of his spinning water balls at the web bridge Arata finally understood what Hiro meant. The bridge that was destroyed was the one that they just jumped off from and there were a lot of spiders trying to use that bridge to chase after them. By cutting down that bridge many of them simply fall down to the ground and falling from this distance already meant an instant kill. -see, we dont have to hurry anymore. -I dont think so Unfortunately the spiders on that bridge were not the only spiders that were chasing them. Right now from both sides of the bridge the spiders started coming to catch them from two sides. -we better hurry, we can lose them over there. There was no time to staying idle as the enemy was not even close to giving up. Arata and Hiro run on that bridge for about quarter of this distance and then they jumped onto the bridge that was a meter underneath them to not get flanked by two sides. After jumping down, Hiro once again shot down the bridge with his spell and once again, many spiders fallen down to their death. Still this was the lair of spiders and there were a lot of them left, including the gigantic one which luckily was still sleeping but given the commotion that Arata and Hiro were doing the chances that he will keep on sleeping through all this was small. And right now they still were only half way done. It was already hard, but it did not mean that it couldnt get harder. After passing to another bridge, another problem occurred. This lair also had few of sniping spider mixed in as well. They were in few places, most of them still on the ground but some of them were above waiting on the web bridges or stone pedestals and they started shooting at Arata and Hiro. The first unexpected shoot managed to catch Arata and because of that he nearly fell down. It was the web net type of shoot. After Arata got unexpectedly hit by it he nearly fell off the bridge. Well he actually did fell of the bridge but Hiro managed to catch him before he fell down even more. -thanks. [Sword enchant: water] Arata cut through what was binding him and with small help get back to the bridge. -it may be hard but should I start shooting them down as well? Hiro asked him. He probably had few long range spells as a mage. -no, there is too many of them and you might cut through our way to escape. We have to focus on running for now. They continued to run upward while taking care to not get snipped. Despite the hopeless situation that they were at the beginning, Arata and Hiro slowly were getting to the top. After jumping between numberous web bridges and avoiding numberous spiders a chance for survival was getting bigger and bigger. -nearly there. Arata said to his teammate as indeed they were nearly there. Right now they only had to climb another ten meters and they would finally get out from this large hole. Also most of the spiders that gave them the chase already fallen down and there were only few of them remaining. Then the sniping spiders had a bad time aiming upward and their shots werent even close to hitting anymore. In the first place they had problem to shoot as Arata and Hiro were constantly moving. -for a moment there I thought we wont make it. -what are you saying, how could get killed by those spiders? Arata answered although in truth. Thank god, I didnt die. That was a large statement in Aratas mind especially when he did not believe in any gods to begin with. -I would say that they had many occasions to kill us but now it should be alright if we reached this point already. -even, if that spider wakes up we would be alright. We could deal with him. -from here he doesnt look that scary anymore. In the first place maybe that spider doesnt wake up at all and is just there for decoration. -that might be right. I mean we are here for more than an hour already and it still didnt wake up. Anyway, you see that bridge over there. After we jump onto it, its a clear way to the freedom. Currently they were closing in to the wall once again and by changing the bridge just this one more time they would finally leave the spider lair. But then just when they reached the wall and were going to make a jump to the last bridge they heard something. -hey what was that? Hiro asked. -probably nothi- boom! It was obviously not nothing. The loud sound came from the direction of the gigantic spider that just moved one of its legs. Just a single movement of its leg created an incredible sound as if bomb exploded. -maybe its just trying to turn on the other side. Hiro said optimistically but naturally it was not the case. boom, boom, boom It each new movement this loud sound could be heard. For the time being, Arata and Hiro stayed on the bridge and were looking at the creature beneath them. The best option right now was to continue running as fast as possible but they could not do it right away after seeing what was happening before them. And here I hoped it will not happen. -seems like its not decoration after all. The gigantic brown spider was slowly making its first movement. So far it did not look hostile. -he still didnt take notice of us so we should o o. What is he doing? What is he doing? The spiders movement suddenly became unnatural. Using its gigantic legs, the spider positioned his torso upward and right now its head was pointed directly in the position of where Arata and Hiro was. Then in spiders mouth something white started to be visible. -Hiro, we better get running right this moment. -its too late for that. In that moment the gigantic spider shoot out the white thing that it had in its mouth. Not good. The missile was big and it was coming fast at Aratas position. In this moment Arata grabbed his rope and threw it upward, to the left. Before the hook even caught on anything, Arata grabbed Hiro with his right hand and jumped off the white bridge where they were. Two seconds later the place in which they were standing as well as the wall of earth was no more. The white thing that the spider shoot out which turned out to be gigantic white arrow went through the ground and completely destroyed four meters of it upward. The white arrow did not stop and ended up flying off somewhere to the sky. In the meantime Arata and Hiro were hanging on Aratas rope that he held in his left hand. Somehow the hook managed to catch on something above the wall of earth and they did not fall down. -start climbing quickly before it shoots another shoot. Arata pushed Hiro upward so he could catch the rope as well. Without saying anything back Hiro caught it and started climbing and Arata followed after him second after. The gigantic black-armored spider on the other hand after shooting his arrow of doom started slowly moving forward towards the wall where Arata and Hiro were. Still even though his moves might have looked slow, its great size was making the difference. Luckily the distance that Arata and Hiro had to climb was no more than four meters so they managed to escape the lair of spiders before the gigantic spider reached the wall on which they have been. After climbing up they saw that they were still in the forest, the part in which there were many eggs. There were no spiders anywhere in sight, so this sight meant only one thing. =freedom! Arata and Hiro shouted together after escaping from the grasp of death. Still that death was very close after them. -you dont think that, that spider can get out from that hole, right? Arata asked full of hope. -how would that be even possible, look at that size. Second after Hiro answered the spider reached the wall and started stretching its legs somehow. -I have the bad feeling so we better run out from its agro range. -wait will that thing plan to jump out from that hole? Hiro asked seeing the strange movements of the gigantic spider. -we better not find out. -okay, we are still on the run then And so Arata and Hiro once again started running away. They quickly entered a forest and after few seconds of run they couldnt even see the large hole anymore. -ha, ha, I think its over. After running forward without looking back Hiro said that after they finally slowed down. -ha, ha, yes it should Even Arata was tired after all what just happened. The whole situation was not too good for the heart and there was not a single second to relax ever since falling down from the cocoon. -hey maybe we should take the break. It wouldnt be good if we got caught by something now and die because we are too tired to fight. Arata proposed the idea. -I would prefer to get as far as possible from that thing and also we should let the other know that we are still alive. Hmm, now that I think about it if I were on their side I would assume that the two people that went on the mission ended up being two people going for suicidal mission. Ah, how something so easy at the start turned into this situation? -okay, but while we look for them we might as well walk for some time instead of running. -I guess its god idea Arata and Hiro agreed to start walking from now on although that idea did not last for more than five seconds. BOOOOOOOOOOM! If earlier sounds of the spiders could be called loud than this time the sound that echoed in the air was as if an airplane just crushed into some building. Also after that loud bang the earth somehow moved a little. Its really got out. Now what? -Arata technically speaking we already ran away from it and we are in a deep forest, so that creature shouldnt find us. There was some logic in what Hiro said but it was more of a pinnacle of positive thinking rather than define truth. Thats why rather than answering, Arata just pointed the direction and they once again started running forward. No, no, no. I am not even trying to fight that. This thought was in Aratas mind ever since he saw that creature. He was sure of one thing though. That thing was definitely not a spider. Arata and Hiro continued to run, and even though the sounds behind them were terrifying it was not like anything was attacking them right now. -Arata this way! Suddenly Hiro said that and they turned more to the left. -isnt it better to just run straight. -it is but we still need to regroup with others right? -you know where they are? -no, but I feel like it will be this way. -what do you mean by you feel? -well, just trust me on that. Arata had no idea where Hiros confidence was coming from but maybe he really did realize something. That or they were running blindly but before they were also running blindly to get away from that spider as far as possible so there was little change. boom! Boom! The spider behind them was not lazing around and was probably searching for them. Is it just me or are those sounds are getting louder. But before Arata had the chance of think about it a miracle happen. Given the size of this forest Arata thought that it will take hours but some way or another in his vision range a group of people appeared. That group of people was running exactly in their direction with a small azure haired girl leading them. Naturally given that it was a forest in the west that could be only Aratas party. -oii! Hiro! Arata! The first one to shout out was Yume. Few moments later the both groups reunited. -oh, you guys are alive, how strange? Then the other person who said that after regrouping was Bran. -thanks for believing in us Bran. Hiro answered to him slightly annoyed but happy to see them. -and here I thought that the honor of dying first was already lost but it seems like everyone still have the chance to grab that. Bran answered with another comment. -maybe you should leave it for later Bran. Hiro, where you guys have been we were looking for you like for few hours now. Musashi ended the pointless talk and asked. -yes, sorry, things good complicated. Anyway there is no time for the chitchat. Shin, remember that legend about the gigantic creature that was to live in this forest. Turns out its not a legend. -so those were those sounds Shin answered to him but it seemed like he already have an idea of what Arata and Hiro encountered. -how would you see our chances if we were to fight that? But his question signalized that maybe not enough. -I am not sure but given what I saw, I would say, total annihilation in one to two minutes. Hiro answered like that. -I see, and you Arata, what do you think? It seemed like Shin wanted the second opinion as well. -I think that rather than talking we should get the hell out of this forest before you guys can confirm Hiros description. It seemed like some people were eager to see what the gigantic spider look like. Although all one really needed to do right now was to climb the tree and it would be easy to spot the beast as it was bigger than the trees. -well, I have an idea what it is and we specifically wanted to sneak through this forest at the time it was sleeping but its too late for that Shin started explaining. So thats why he didnt want to get late. -still I have bad news, that thing can detect people in some strange way so even if we hide or try running it will catch us, also I think its way too late for running away. Boom! Boom! Boom! The gigantic spider was closing in and the earth started to tremble. -then what are we going to do! In the end someone had to ask that question and the one who did that the first was Vivi. -relax I still dont know what we should be doing but panicking is probably not it Shin stopped her before the panic spread out. And after that he went silent for a second. No one said anything in that time and Arata also felt somehow that he didnt. Soon enough, Shin once again started. -currently we have four options before us. First one would be to ignore what I just said about that creature ability to detect us and quickly ran away from this forest as we originally planned. -I think that this thing does have that ability because the second after it woke up, it immediately shoot at us, knowing where we are. Arata decided to share this information. -in that case the first option is, we try to outrun that creature hoping that that its possible. Given its size its probably not. -then shouldnt we start running right now! And not waste the time on this talk. This time Rin was the voice of reason. -Shin I think she is right. We are wasting time you yourself said that we dont have that much time. And Vatras agreed with her. -according to my information the spider locates us based on our movement, so my guess is that as long as we dont move he wont detect us that easily Seeing that they still werent under the attack proved Shins theory. Currently even though the spider was close the party was protected by the crowns of the trees. -that gives the second option that is stay where we are and hope that he wont detect us and go away somewhere. Then when the distance will get bigger we try to make run for it. Still this option is unlikable to work as that spider already knows that we are here because we already have been running. -so what are the other options Shin. Kei ended up asking. -the third one is simply try fighting that, although this is the last thing we should probably even consider given our winning condition. If we start fighting that, we will end up with heavy losses that will make us unable to continue our journey. Anyway the last choice and the one that I would probably suggest is, someone will sacrifice himself and take the attention of that spider while others run away. The only thing that that person would have to do is actually just start running because as I said, the spider detects us based on our movements. This choice is probably the only one that is giving us a realistic chance to meet the winning condition in the future. -oho, is Shin finally enters his evil mastermind mode. Despite the grave situation and the plan that Shin just presented, Bran joked around. -that is just the best option if we want to reach the heavens gate. It gives highest chances of a large number of people leaving this forest alive. -but this plan is slightly. Yume ended up voicing the thoughts of probably many. After all it was a group of friends thats goal was to just travel together and have fun. -as, always I am just laying down all of our options, its you guys however who will decide what we do. I am just marking my vote on this one. Even though it might sound like I want to sacrifice someone. -coz you want. Bran added with a smile. It seemed like there werent many situations in which he would be not smiling. - . What I wanted to say is that the person who will try to grab the attention of that spider always have a chance at running away as well. Hmm I dont want any of those guys to die and I think that maybe excluding Rin I would have the best chances on surviving. Also its was her quest all along. -I will do it. I think I have a good chance on staying alive and maybe even regrouping with you later on. After thinking it through Arata decided to volunteer. -I appreciate the thought but you sacrificing yourself is the opposite of what we need to do to meet our winning condition. Shin without a thought declined on his offer though. -wasnt that winning condition reaching the heavens gate? In that case it doesnt mean if I go or anyone else. -not exactly. Our primary winning condition is to make you, Rin and Levi reach the heavens gate. Anyone else reaching it is more of bonus goal. -hey, what do you mean by that! We never asked you to do it. -still as I remember you guys are trying to complete quest of rank three, correct? Shin kept his calm and even waited for confirmation even though it created a ten seconds of silence. -yes. -and quest of rank three have the condition that if someone dies then its over, meaning you have only one try on doing it. In comparison to us, we can make another try at our expedition to the west whenever we want without huge losses so I think our primary winning condition is obvious. -yes, in our group there is no one that thinks differently. The one that confirmed Shins words was Yume. After that Arata looked at everyones faces and everyone were simply smiling, as if accepting that. Or rather that was something that they decided long time ago without Arata even knowing. -but it was us who barged into your party and your expedition! Arata could still not accept their decision though. -hmm, if you say that its our expedition then we have the right to set our goal the way we want, right? Still to his argument Shin answered with logic using his words against him. -its not fair. Arata answered to him like this. -who said that I need to be fair? Shin answered to him and a small evil grin appeared on his face. -there it is, Shins enters his evil mastermind mode. Bran commented. -anyway Shin ignored that comment and continued. -we should probably decide fast who should go. I propose myself going as it is my plan and I wont feel good after sending anyone else. -and how does sending our strategist and raid leader to sacrifice himself will help us in reaching our winning condition Shin? Vatras stopped him. -well, its definitely would be better than sending off our great sage Shin answered to him. Vatras apart from his usual nickname Tras had also had a nickname great sage. It was rarely used but Arata did remember hearing that once already. -I think you guys are good enough to think of plans on your own while there is no one who could replace our tanks or healers, right? What he says has a lot of sense but him going doesnt have any sense at all. His position in this group is too crucial. Arata would probably once again candidate but he already knew that he would simply be rejected again. -I think that I should be the one to go, no let me do it! But then the volunteer appeared. Even though Arata still did not recognize everyone based on voice, this voice he recognized all to well, still just to confirm if he did not hear it wrong he looked to the person with the hand held up. The one who volunteered was Yume. -Mary, no! Naturally Rin immediately rejected her idea and ran up towards her. To that Yume cached her in her arms in a way that didnt allow Rin to say anything and continued. -I dont know how about others but I myself think that I am not good enough for this trip Yume continued while holding Rin who was struggling in her arms. -also one way or another it was my idea that Arata, Rin and Levi joined our party and now we want to help them reach the heavens gate. I asked them to join, simply because I wanted to help them but I myself am not good enough to do that. Even though its not even a day since we started I am already at my limits here. -Yume, its not like you are the only one who is tired, we all had a hard times in our battles. Also I think that we will have chance for rest as well so its not like it will endless fighting. Shin answered to her but Yume shock her head to her. -still, you are all doing better than me. I knew that I will die at some point sooner or later but now that there is occasion like this I really want to do this. I thought that the only thing that I can do for my best friend would be only making it possible for her to come with us but now that an occasion like this appeared, that even someone like me can really help, I will not allow anyone else to take it! The last words Yume said very seriously as if she was even ready to knock someones down just so she could do it. In this moment, she let off Rin and let her talk. -Mary, I wont let you!? -no. Still to what Rin said Yume just said no in a very stubborn sounding way as if that was not even a discussion. -how can you even think about!? -no. -its not the time to be stubborn!? -no. Yume was just looking away to the left or to the right anytime Rin tried to say anything to her. -but Mary!? -Amy, do you know what my dream is? - . Suddenly though Yume changed her attitude and said those words, which immediately silenced down Rin. -I think that as long as I am here, that dream will not happen. For those past days, I feel like I was actually getting in the way of that dream, isnt it funny? - . -thats why Amy, by doing this, I will both manage to do something meaningful and at the same time give a chance for that dream to happen, so now, you will promise me to work hard towards that dream so I can hear that it happened when you return. - . -do you promise? C . Rin finally whispered back to her. It was a whisper that probably only Yume could hear. Probably even mr. I hear everything could not hear that as at the same time the loud sound of another movement of the spider could be heard. Also in a way Arata was not sure if Rin actually said something or was it something that she and Yume transmitted between each other without use of words. After that Rin turned away from everybody and started wearing her red hood from her cloak, so no one could see her face right now. -okay, everyone I think, I will be going now, I will leave the rest to you. With that Yume started walking but then. -wait a second Yume! Lets think about it one more time. Given our lack of mages in our group we cant =SHIN! Shin once again started with logical arguments but the second he started almost half of the party shouted at him. -learn to read the mood will you, even Bran didnt say anything. Musashi added and even though it seemed that Shin still wanted to say something but he did not do so and simply looked down. Yume walked up towards where Arata and Hiro were standing. -Arata, once again, I will leave Rin in your care, if something happens you know what to do Arata already heard those words from Yume once. It was when he, Levi and Rin, first created the party. Yume told him the same words back then and at that time she also gave him his phone number. At that time Arata was not sure why would he have to call her rather than Rin doing it herself but now he somehow got the idea. -and Hiro, if you really think you want to do it, I wont stop you but I dont think that you can remain the same after learning the truth, so if you dont want to get hurt, give up on it right now. With that said, Yume walked away but before she started running she once again turned around to see her teammates and then rather than saying anything to them she showed them a smile, the same smile for which everyone remembered her and the same smile with which everyone first meet her, as every visitor of Karma without a single expectation was once welcomed to that city in the same way. Next Chapter Chapter 38 “Savage lands of the west.” Chapter 38 Savage lands of the west. One day has already passed since Aratas encounter with gigantic spider. Thankfully, the plan with the decoy has worked and the party successfully managed to escape the widows forest. Still even after escaping the forest to the open green lands that was behind it, it was still not the time to celebrate. After leaving the forest, it still took them half a day to reach their first planned stop point. It took them this long not only because on their way they once again encountered difficult enemies but also because the place that Shin choose for their stop was filled with wild animals that defended that place. Nevertheless it was really a good place for the first stop point as there the party was surrounded by walls of rock that would not allow any enemy to make a flank attack on them. In a way it was like a fortress with only one entrance to this rocky valley. That entrance was consistently guarded by someone all the times while the others were resting. After all, there was no truly safe place in the west. Currently, it was a night time and Arata just finished his turn on guard duty. Before his turn started he already managed to catch four hours of sleep. At that time a dream came to him immediately as he was really tired after what have happen in last two day. The anxiety he has gathered while running away from the lair of spiders in widows forest was with him for the whole time until they reached this place. After those four hours he took the guards duty together with Vivi as the guarding duty was done in pairs but somehow the conversation did not go well as they still remembered what has happened before they reached this place. After Yumes noble sacrifice the atmosphere in the party got drastically worse. Even though no one said anything, everyone kept on thinking it. Arata also was thinking about that person, still rather than focusing on what has happen yesterday, he rather focused on good memories that he had of her. Yume was the first person that Arata meet after completing 100th level barrier. Despite the fact that their first conversation had to be ended quickly, Arata then meet Yume once again in Karma. At that time Yume was trying to find someone to solve a Morgorian riddle and Arata was in the need of gold. It was something simple as that but if Arata did not get interested in that job, so many things could go different way. I guess if it werent for Yume I wouldnt be helping you with this quest right now. Arata looked at Rin and thought like this, he would definitely not voice his thoughts to her right now though. Currently Rin, similar to Arata was not sleeping and she was sitting in crouching position and she was looking at the campfire. Arata was also sitting next to this campfire but nearly at the opposite side of it. He was not sure what he should say to her right now. She was sitting there like this, while wearing her red hood on her head. Her face was not visible right now as it was covered from the top by the hood and the rest of her face, was hidden behind her arms, in which she was placing her head. Only her eyes could be easily visible as they were reflecting the light from the campfire. Arata already considered telling her some words like, Its not like Yume is dead, or you will meet her soon after the quest is done. Still, there was no need to tell her something like this as Rin knew it perfectly, just like everyone else knew it perfectly as well. Still, it was not that easy to get over it as no matter what they would think the fact was that currently Yume was not with them anymore and there was not a single person in this party that did not have good connections with her. Well, I am sure that when the new day arrives and everyone will get enough sleep, they will stop being so negative about it. No matter what would happen, dying in games was a common thing. After four hours of sleep, Arata was no longer trying to think if there was something else that they could do at that time, so Yume did not have to do what she did. Right now his thoughts changed to something different. Yume sacrificed herself so we could reach the heavens gate and complete that quest, the only thing we can do right now is to complete that quest and later on return in glory with world first in our grasp. Arata thought like this but completing the quest of the rank three would already long be done by someone if all it took was one person dying. At most so far Arata made only one small step towards completing it. After seeing Yumes death on the first day, Arata expected to see more people dying as well. He was not optimistic enough to think that everyone will be alive after completing the quest. Actually the chances of everyone dying were rather high naturally Arata included but Arata already decided that if he will be in a position in which he can choose a single person that he would want to see alive at the end then it would be Rin. It was true that Aratas current objective was to get the world first himself, still it was only the promise that he made to himself. Even though it was important, for Arata promises to others were more important and he already promised that he will help Rin to complete her quest and he had resolve do to it even if he had to die. What is she doing anyway!? In few hours our break will be done and I dont think there will be many occasions to rest. After waiting for some more time, in the end Arata decided to call out to Rin anyway. He walked towards her although he did, she didnt even move her head in his direction as if she didnt realize he came closer although it was probably more that she simply ignored him. Not seeing her face he started. -Rin, if you dont go to sleep right now, you will be tired during the whole day afterwards. Its not good to be sleepy doing the fights. -even if I will be half awake I will still be doing better than you. Without looking at him, Rin answered to his worry with an insult. Thats how you answer to my worry! Not only she did not listen to him but also he decided to step on his pride a little bit, Arata was little pissed by it but he couldnt say anything back to what she said. -still, it would have been better for everyone if you were in your best condition. -by everyone you mean who? This time Rin replayed with a strange question. -well, everyone who is here. Both those that are sleeping and those that are guarding the entrance. -they will do fine on their own. They dont need my help. Then in cases they will need my help they will decide to not ask for it but rather ran away. So tell me Arata, why should I ever bother? It seemed like she still had yesterdays events on her mind. -then what!? Would it have been better to fight against that and lose more people!? Arata ended up raising his voice. -quiet, cant you see that everyone is sleeping. To that however Rin simply pointed out this fact. In comparison to Arata and Rin, the party was not wasting any second of rest that they could get so nearly everyone were either sleeping or at least they were trying to sleep meaning they were in sleeping position. -yes, my bad. Arata returned to his previous tone. -Arata, you know I think that most people here, just like you said would prefer to try and fight that spider and die trying rather than sacrificing someone. Still, they decided against that as even if we managed to somehow win, just as you said many would definitely die, no argue about that. -well. If we want to have a chance to reach the heaven gate then that was the most logical choice. -ah, dont start talking like that white four-eyes again White four-eyes? Rin had an interesting nickname for Shin. -everyone knows that it was a logical choice, still you are forgetting about something Arata. The only reason that they want to get to the heavens gate in the first place is because of us. If it werent for us joining them, they would probably be satisfied if their expedition ended with a great battle against some creature that made even you run for your life. -well, you should have seen how it looks. -ahhhhh! In this moment Rin finally looked up to him. Arata so far was standing over her. -what I wanted to say is that we are getting in their way. I already saw that they, by themselves can have their adventure in the west without us. Then I, you and Levi also should be able to get to the heavens gate by ourselves. Still, because we joined with this group they ended up also going there and now you see what happened. -well, all you said is true but I think that right now they also want to reach heavens gate just as us. Even if they dont have the quest, this is still adventure worth remembering. -still, its our fault that Yume had to die alone Anyway Arata! Remember, when we first were joining with this group you said that I can decide at any moment when will we depart from it without giving any reason and I have been thinking that now is the time to Ah, what is she about again? Arata decided that listening to what Rin was saying right now wouldnt turn out good so he stopped listening to her and decided to do something about it. Although he knew perfectly that right now the words wouldnt be of any use so he used a different approach. -hey what are you doing! Rin shouted at him as Arata caught her with his right hand in a place where the collar of her clothes should be and picked her up to the height where her legs were not touching the ground anymore. It wasnt that hard as Rin was considerably shorter than him and was also quite light. Surprisingly apart from that shout, Rin was not resisting at later point anymore. It was probably because the way that Arata picked her up right now was quite similar to the way his grandfather would pick up Rin whenever she would worry about things that she couldnt do anything about anyway. -now then Arata started. -first of all, stop blaming yourself for what happened. If you want to blame someone then blame me because it was me who pulled that creature and it started hunting us. -then are you blaming yourself, Arata? Rin decided to ask while still being in the air. -not really, things like this happen and when there was little I could do about it anyway why should I spend my time over blaming myself For a really long time in his life, Arata was blaming himself for something more important. Thats why stuff like someones death in the game that happened and will happen all the time did not have much effect on him anymore. When he first started EOA he didnt have that conviction right away as the world was too realistic but later on, he himself slayed many players already so Arata took it as natural element of the game as it should be taken. -rather than blaming anyone or thinking about it, it would be better to just rest and prepare for tomorrow so we dont have to repeat what happened again. And that leads to the second thing I wanted to tell you so Amanda, be a good girl and go to sleep already. Arata decided to use Rins other name while saying that. It was partly because if he was already trying to copy his grandfather right now, he might as well go all the way. Arata said those words to Rin in the exact same manner that his grandfather would have and it actually had a magical effect. -fine, I am sorry. I wont do it again Oh, she also played along. It seemed like Rin also well remembered those scenes as she also answered in nearly the same manner. -now, let me down already Rin said that to him and Arata put her back on the ground right away. -dont think its because of what you just said, but I am going to sleep now. With that said, Rin started to walk away. -yes, yes. -but before I go, Arata She stopped and turned her head again and then she said. -the next time you try to call me like that prepare for the consequences. When she said that, her face was not laughing and her voice was cold so Arata decided to took that advice to the heart. Ah, now that I think about it we still didnt get over that fight? By fight Arata didnt mean here a real fight but argue that they had. Well, I guess that before I can do anything about that, I need to somehow win against her in fight that might be impossible for now though. Currently Arata didnt have time to think about that matter though. Then even if he managed to think of something new, right now, he still couldnt just ask Rin for the fight. Fighting in the middle of the savage lands of the west was probably not the best idea. Not only they would weaken themselves but also the fight would probably call the nearby enemies that were lurking in the shadows everywhere. Although saying in the shadows may be wrong as in the west the monsters were out in the open and with their brute strength they didnt really on any tricks. I told her to go to sleep while I stay awake. About 10 minutes after Rin went to sleep, Arata arrived at this thought. Well, four hours should be enough anyway and in this world the sleep works on its own rules. The Rules that Arata unfortunately, did not know. Still, I finally have some time so hihihihi. Arata made an evil grin and summoned the menu system by crossing his fingers in the left hand. From there, he went to inventory section and then he took out two items from it, namely [Sword enchanters skill book] and [The twilight swordsmans skill book]. In the middle of yesterdays battle for survival, Arata managed to level up once up and now he had 110th level. Ignoring the increase in level, at that time Arata focused only on one message and that was [new skills unlocked]. Right now, Arata did not even remember when the last time that he saw this message was. Some time ago, Arata learned Shins theory about getting new skills. Whatever it was true or not, Arata did not know but according to that theory, Arata was not doing what he was supposed to do as either twilight swordsman or sword enchanter. Well, so far Arata got many new sword enchants and other skills so he at least was probably doing the better job at his second class. Despite the fact that todays skills were not unlocked by his own effort, Arata was definitely not going to complain, even if those turn out to be some random passives once again. If I see the word passive again then dont blame me for what will happen. Well maybe he would complain. Now then, I want some good spells that will help me win against Rin. With this last pray, Arata opened the first book [Sword enchanters skill book]. On the first pages there was the same old description of the class that Arata newer even bothered to read and this time was no different. After skipping the description, Arata reached the old spells that he already learned. If Arata wanted to see them again, he would better do it in the menus [skill section] as there he could get much more information about his skills, including his progress on those skills and how they changed after leveling them up. In skill books however, the skills were still in their original states. The class skillbooks were not the place where you check out your skills but rather the item from which you learn new skills after unlocking them. After going through few pages, Arata reached the point where just few days ago, the blank pages were. Now however, there were two new pages filled, which automatically meant two new skills as each skill usually took one page in the skill book even if its description or the picture next to it was small. Please, no passive, please no passive. Also please no another type of enchant, anything but that. One might laugh at Aratas thoughts but passives and another types of enchants was what he usually got. After getting mentally prepared, Arata started reading his first new skill and the name of it was. [Thunder enchant] Nooooooo! After reading the word enchant Arata went into agony and only the fact that he was surrounded by sleeping people stopped him from yelling out loudly. WHY!!!! No wait, its not just another sword enchant type as those always started with sword enchant before it. After a minute Arata calmed down and saw the light in the tunnel. Now that I think about it, new sword enchants types just appeared on the same page under the word type. Okay, so this is at least not another simple sword enchant. After calming down, Arata went back to reading. [Thunder enchant With the use of lightning nature, you enchant your sword with a strong electric charge which will make your next successful strike, stun you opponent for 5 seconds to 5 hours depending on your opponent. The skill works on nearly every organic creature and many not organic creatures. To stun gigantic creatures you need to sacrifice appropriate amount of mana. Note: Skill brings unexpected results when used on mechanic creatures that are powered by electricity. Coldown: 3 minutes. Cost: 300 mana (for human size enemy) Current level of skill 1(0%)] So in short its a stun spell. Arata make quick understanding of his new skill. Stun spell was a spell thats purpose was not to damage the opponent but rather disable its ability to move. Still, once someone is not able to move, it was rather easy to finish off that opponent. I still need to hit someone with my sword for it to work and whats worse I probably need to use this enchant right before hitting someone but fine, fine, I will not complain Arata thought like this although. This skill does not help me against Rin in the least. Currently for Arata, it all came to that. Arata couldnt hit Rin normally anyway so this spell with the condition of hit the enemy to work would be completely useless against her. At least it was useful against nearly everything else but Arata cared little about that, he had other values. Okay, whats the other spell? Arata looked at the other page of the book. [Reflect enchant You enchant your sword with the powerful counterspell magic that reflects the incoming magical attack back to its caster. Your weapon must to come in contact with the spell for Reflect enchant to work. Note: Should the skill fail because of insufficient mana, your mana goes to zero and there is no effect. Cost: Mana cost of reflected spell. Current level of skill 1(0%)] ] Do I really need more anti magic spells? Those were Aratas first thoughts after reading the other spell. It once again turned out to be another enchant but given it was from the class called sword enchanter he probably couldnt ask for anything else. Luckily this also was not another type of basic sword enchant, so it was not that bad. I guess that makes this profession to be anti-mage profession, right? Arata arrived at the conclusion to which he should have arrived long time ago. Well, I can already cut down the spells but this one might be much more fun. Its slightly less mana efficient but its effect is much more as reflecting an attack is also an attack and who would expect their attack to turn against them. But then again this counterspell works only on magic that can be taken on the swords. I dont think that I can reflect just about anything with it. Some magic simply did not have a shape. It would be easy to reflect a spell like a fireball but for example a magic that summons a snowstorm like the one that Arata saw Yuki use was probably not reflectable by Aratas new skill mostly because there was no logic on how it would work. Ah, I want to test it out somehow. The thunder enchant was quite easy to understand and there was nothing complicated about it, it was a stun spell. In comparison Arata wanted to test out his reflect magic right away. After thinking for a second, Arata remembered that right now one of two magicians that were left in this party was now guarding the entrance so Arata decided to go to him right away. -hey Hiro, can you help me out with something. After walking towards the entrance, Arata said it to the magician with the azure hair. Currently Hiro and Flynn were on duty of guarding the entrance. Arata remembered that Hiro is here because he was the one who was switching with him. Actually Flynns and Hiros shift was also nearly its end. -sure what do you need? Hiro answered to him in sleepy voice. It didnt seem like there were any attacks lately. -great, in this case, can you shoot one of your water balls at me? -do I look to you like portable shower machine? -hahaha. Flynn who was also standing there ended up laughing. Well this one was a good one. -no I didnt mean that I need to clean myself, characters in EOA cant get dirty for really long right? Just like minor wounds would eventually heal with the hp regeneration, the dirt would also go away. -I know but if you really wanted to clean yourself then you wouldnt be the first one who ever asked me that question. It seemed like Hiro already had experience as portable shower machine. -aye, that actually happens a lot. Flynn added. -well I will explain myself. I just got new skill and I wanted to test it out. Arata explained the matter. -well I dont know why you need me firing water balls at you but sure. So what do you order? With spin, extra power or really gigantic one, or all of those combined? -hmm, it should probably be simple one, that wouldnt make much damage, but just ended up wetting someone. -are you sure that you are not using me to clean yourself? After Arata asked with a specific like this Hiro had to ask once again. -its really not this. Anyway just shoot it. With that Arata moved four meters away from Hiro and unsheathed his black sword. [Reflect enchant] -okay here I go. Hiro ended up swiftly casting a simple water ball that somehow lacked the power in it, still this one was the one Arata asked for. Nevertheless the water ball had its usual speed. When it came, Arata attacked that ball with his sword the same way he would usually cut the spells in half. But then right before the water ball got in contact with the black sword, a purple barrier appeared right between those two and the water ball ended up being reflected and flied back to Hiro, who surprised by what happened ended up letting that water ball hit his face, which even though probably didnt do much damage physically, it made his face and all cloths wet immediately. -hahahaha . Seeing Hiro getting a treatment like this, Flynn could not help but laugh again. In a way, Hiro looked just as if some kids shoot him in the face with a water gun. Hiro tried to remain calm but after seeing Flynn laughing at him so hard he couldnt let it go. He pointed his hand at Arata and started. -I have seen the ocean, the endless blue . Ups this is bad. -well, I really didnt mean to do that. It was just a test. -everywhere I look, the endless blue . Okay time for the strategic retreat. Arata decided to vanish before Hiro could finish off his basic magic poem. Luckily he was not chased. Well, reflect enchant works more or less as I thought it will. Arata returned to where campfire was and sit down on the rock that was around it and served as the chair. Now then. Arata looked with disappointment at his other skill book, the twilight swordsman one. I dont know what you want from me to do as a twilight swordsman but if you dont give me some good skills I am stop calling you my main profession and switch to being sword enchanter. There was a reason why Arata was angry at this class. That profession despite having rank two was actually not that useful. The profession that should be second only to those of rank one should be much more useful but right now Arata found his second profession sword enchanter much more useful. It had strong attack in from of sword slash and many useful utilities like changing the nature of his attacks to that of different elements. If there were enemies vulnerable to fire he would use fire enchant, if there would be enemies vulnerable to light, he would use light enchant. It would be especially good if he encountered an enemy that was immune to physical attacks. Even in the last fight just by using water enchant he could without problem cut through the spider web which otherwise was incredibly hard to get rid of. Then lastly there was the fact that Arata could cut through the spells as long as he knew of what element they were and most of the times it was easy to guess. Sure it might not be useful when enemies did not use magic but when they did, that ability was outstanding. Also just now he got another two quite useful skills as well. If opponent uses magic then I can deal with it in many ways now and if he wants to fight in melee then I will gladly take anyone with my swordsmanship. Then the one good thing about reflect enchant in comparison to normal cutting is that I dont need to know the element that was used. So just so you know you useless profession you have a good rival here. So if you dont stop being useless I will not only stop calling you my first profession but also I will start looking for a class change book and replace you. Even though the class change books were rare, Arata already seen one so he did know they existed and if something existed, it should be possible to get it. After trying to have a talk with his profession Arata opened his skillbook and went to the last pages quickly. Even though the new skills were probably the result of Hikaris ritual, Arata would not be surprised if he got nothing yet again. He did not remember when the last time was, he got anything from this class and the only skill that he was using that was directly connected to the twilight swordsman skills was black dash. Apart from that, Arata also had stream of night but Arata rarely used it as it only served as a temporary increase in his damage. The other skills would be more of normal warrior type meaning, [leap] and [strike]. Strike in particular was a skill that Arata got the moment he got his profession and so far, despite playing for few months now in game time, he never used it and did not plan to use it. Apart from those skills there also were four passives. One of them was [Warriors eyes] that Arata never understood what it actually did. The skill said that his eyes should get more adjusted to the weapon attacks but Aratas eyes were already adjusted to those attacks after his training anyway so it did not help him much and he did not feel any difference. Then there were two other passives. One originally increased his strength by 10% and other agility by 20%, after leveling it up it was not 15% and 25%, still Arata did not know how it actually helped him in any way. In the first place, Arata did not know what stats actually did as he never really felt any difference from them. Sure he knew that if he were to use his lighting speed ability which increased his movement speed originally by 100% now after leveling it up once by 105%, Arata could move with double speed. Understanding something like that was simple but Arata had no idea what other stats do. Like for example his last passive which increased his damage with use of swords by 30%. Arata had no idea what the stats that were in character menu window do. Before reaching 100th level Arata could at least see the difference in attack stat in his weapons, as monsters had HP bars visible and attack from one sword would do more than other despite Arata not having any difference in strength between the two. Still now that those HP bars were gone, Arata couldnt get the obvious answer. Although sometimes he still felt that his class weapon, black sword Kuroi could cut through many more things than his red sword that he got from Loki. Anyway because Arata did not feel any difference because of his stat increase, he did not consider stats really important so all his passives which increased those stats to him were useless passives and the class that focused mostly on those, for Arata would be called an useless class. Arata arrived at the end of his book quite quickly as there was no much to go through. Despite having some bad thoughts it turned out that Hikaris ritual really did the trick and there were two new pages filled. Arata would need to turn the page to see the second skill so he only confirmed that its there and started with first one. The first thing he did however was not reading it but rather Arata scanned the whole page in the search of the word passive. Good no word passive in sight and this picture also looks good. Apart from the description of the skill, on the pages, there were also pictures. In sword enchanter skill book those were mostly just pictures of swords with different kind of effects surrounding them, here however the picture looked much more interesting and could already tell much. Still, Arata went right away to reading the effect of the skill. [Shadow hand. Using the energy of the darkness you materialize the hand of shadows that can catch the enemy bring them to the range of your swords. The range to which the shadow hand can spread is five meters. Depending on the size of your enemy the size of your shadow hand will also increase. Cost: 300 stamina (for human sized opponent) Current level of skill 1(0%)] After reading the skill, Arata had mixed feeling. Sure it did seem useful but after seeing the picture in which a black hand was coming out from persons body, he thought that it will be something different. Hmm well it will be useful but it can be a little bit more useful. I already learned that skills can be used in different ways depending on what the player wants to do with it. Arata was using black dash to land from the impossible distances or his sword enchant to cut through other peoples spells, he already was quite creative with those skills and he even lately managed to learn that doing that is generally called skill manipulation by players. Lets test some other uses than pulling over other players, lets start with picking up something rather than griping it. Arata ended up standing up and looked at his previous chair, the large rock. Okay, strength test, can I pick up something like this? [Shadow hand.] Arata activated the skill with the thought of picking up the rock rather than pulling it over to him. He even walked away by two meters to see if it wont be pulled. From Aratas right arm black something started to form. Soon enough that black something was covering a large part of his arm as well as some of the body and it stretched out towards the rock. It looked like a black hand but its contours were not static and were moving. The black hand ended up being large enough to be able to catch the rock in grip and in the end, it ended up picking up the rock that weighted who knows how much. Arata was not sure if he would be able to pick it up normally and even if he did he wouldnt have keep it in the air for too long. Oh, it works. Arata ended up smiling seeing that his experiment worked as the shadow hand did not pull the rock towards him and as Arata wanted, it just picked it up and was not holding it in the air. Now then, how about moving it afterwards? Arata continued with the tests. The black hand ended up moving around just like he wanted. Moving it was not the same as moving normal arm as the shadow hand was more like a hand on some long black line. That line was not similar to humans arm although advantage went to the black line as it could bend in any direction. Still by giving the thought commands to the hand, the black line that was connecting him with it moved on its own. Arata ended up moving that hand all around, while still holding the rock. After trying to move it to some impossible places the place from which the black line emerged changed. Actually, it turned out that Arata could move the connecting point to anywhere he wanted on his body, to his back, to the belly, legs or even the head although after testing the head Arata was never going to do it again. Okay next test, lets try throwing that rock. For the whole time Arata was playing around with that hand it was still holding the large rock that he picked up earlier. Now he decided to see if his shadow hand had some throwing power. Arata ended up moving the connection point to his right hand as it was easier to throw it that way. He made a throw by shorting the black line to the minimum and making a move with his normal arm. It works! The rock ended up flying outside the campsite and passes the rocky walls. It filed as if he just threw a tennis sized ball. Okay, I think I will find a lot of usages of it, lets test it in other ways. Arata still had many ideas for that hand, so he moved to those. This time, he wanted to see if he can levitate in the air on his black hand. It was an easy test as all he needed to do was to make that hand touch the ground and push with it. It works! It seemed like this hand just like any other spell could be used in many different ways others than what was written. Still about ten seconds after successfully try on lifting himself up, the shadow hand suddenly disappeared and Arata fell to the ground from two meters height to the back. boom! Auch. After falling down like this Arata opened his menu right away and looked as his stamina bar because he had a guess of the reason why the skill disappeared. As, expected I ran out of stamina. Despite the fact that the skill said 300 mana on the human sized enemy it was probably the cost of using that skill normally. With skill management and using the skill that way, it was obvious that it will cost more and Arata expected it to happen from the start. Shame, I still wanted to try drinking tea with the use of it. After seeing the picture in the skill book, Arata got many inspiration on how could he use it even before reading the spell. Drinking the tea with it was actually high on his list. Still, it seems like I can use it for about five to ten minutes with this size so it should be quite useful. A hand like this actually has unlimited uses. I already tested on it but I can simply pick up nearby objects and throw it at people. Even simple punch would be quite good if I make it large. Arata was thinking of possible ways to use it in battle. Even though the skill said pulling people close, there were much more effective ways to use a hand like this. Hmm, getting some gigantic sword and swing it around with that hand sounds like an option too. Arata had ideas like this as well. Still he soon stopped thinking like that and started thinking other, really important thing that concerned that spell. Still, skill like this cant be without downsides and I think I know what few downsides are already. Despite it unlimited usages there was something really concerning about the shadow hand which made that skill not safe to use. In particular Arata had the feeling of touch while using the shadow hand. That also meant that he had the feeling of it being hurt. Arata realized it when he tried to see if the shadow hand will survive the meeting with the campfire. When Arata did that he immediately got pain as if he got burned and in fact the place in which the shadow hand was connected to him at that moment got burned. Arata at that time also checked the menu and the HP also went down by the same amount as if he were to put his normal hand in the fire. Its a funny skill though and even though its not safe to use, it is definitely useful. It should be useful even against Rin which I cant say about the other two although if I use that skill when she uses her flying red things it can end really badly as I will be just a bigger target. Then again, using it here in practice was easy as I was just controlling the [shadow hand] but I dont think I will manage to do that and at the same time fight. Then Arata arrived to the last problem with his new skill. Using it for limited time or the damage transfer was more or less fine. The biggest problem was that Arata was not simply using the skill but he was using it with skill manipulation and skill manipulation required a certain amount of concentration from him. The ultimate way in which Arata would want to use his new skill was, him fighting with his swords normally while using his shadow hand to do additional damage at the same time. Something similar to what Rin was doing with her red flying things. Still, by the test that Arata did so far, even though it that wasnt super to use skill manipulation his shadow hand, it still required to be focused on it. Skill manipulation depending on what one wanted to do could be really hard and Arata knew well that at the current time, he will not be able to use his shadow hand the way he wanted. Leaving the control problems, the shadow hand could also get in the way of his movements which would do much more harm than good. Well, for now using it in fights may be risky but its always new option to consider in times of need. Once I train with it and find the ways in which this skill will not get in the way of my usual fighting style. Well, in the end its swordsman skill so it should work well with swordsmanship. Well actually grabbing enemy from the distance to attack them with your sword, meaning original purpose of this skill is actually just that. My guess is that I will probably not using this skill consistently but rather use it as a fast casts with a single comments, that way the stamina consumption wont be that big, I wont have to worry about controlling it and also it wont get in a way of my normal movements. Skill manipulation depended on each player and their own ideas. Still while normal skills were designed to be useful, the ideas that someone may try to come up with use of skill manipulation often backfire rather than actually help. Not to mention that skill manipulation did not have 100% chance of working. Arata once again pick up his twilight swordsman skill book which ended up closing itself when he was playing around. Well, you managed to dodge the bullet this time. Arata thought to himself as if speaking with his class and then he hid it back to his inventory. After playing around with his new [Shadow hand] ability which despite its many downsides was not only useful but also quite fun to use, he forgot about something quite important. Well, when this quest is over, I will have to think of the ways on how to unlock more skills for this class. Completely forgetting about something quite important Arata added another thing to his TO DO list when his quest is over. He actually made a note in his menus [note section] so he remembers everything. Currently his note looked like this. [ Things to do, after the quest is done in order of importance. A: Go meet up with Kotori B: Go meet up with Kotori C: Go meet up with Kotori X: Understand the secret of unnatural speed. Y: Try using the basic magic of the dark side. Z: Find the way how to unlock new skills for your not so useless class anymore. Note: For three last points, in case of problems there is possibility to gather some gold and buy some hopefully useful information from the black market. Before that however try to check the net as something might be quite simple and vastly known and there is no need to spend money on things that I can get for free. PS: if you are really, really, really, really really desperate, you can in theory ask that guy for help. THIS IS THE LAST EFFORT THOUGH! DONT USE IT! ] Arata wrote all important parts so he doesnt forget about them as right now, he did not have enough time to take care of it. He also wrote all important notes that in a way were a message to future him although the future him would probably remember the thoughts. The remaining hours of the break went by quickly and the dark sky was brightened by the morning sun. During the break, the party was not attacked by anything that would require the guards to call for help so it turned out to be really good camping spot. Still, the heavens gate was still far so there was no time for the rest. Also from what Arata learned, staying in the one place for too long was quite dangerous and after leaving the rock cannon everyone found out why. -Shin, we are surrounded by centaur-like creatures. It was nearly the moment to move out and everyone was already awake and prepared to continue the journey. Still when Vivi was sent to scout ahead before they move out, she returned with those news right away. -no, need to call them centaur-like creatures, they are legit centaurs Shin answered not surprised as if he knew it will happen. -anyway I did mention that any time we stop anywhere we will have something to fight right away the next morning. Thats how the west is at least and the area which we are going to traverse through today was for a long time was centaurs territory. Its only natural that the will attack us the moment they find us about. -are those intelligent creatures? -if you are asking if we can communicate with them Tras then the answer is no. Sure they have their own language and they even have small villages but they are considered as monster NPCs. Well, it may be that my information is wrong but we wont be looking for the ways to communicate with them anyway, rather than this we will wipe them out. Merciless. Though Arata hearing the plan but in EOA and especially the west it was kill or be killed. -so how are we going to do this, attack them with the usual formation? Musashi ended up asking. -it probably should work, there arent that many of them out there, right Vivi? -I saw about fifty or so. -then at best they triple us with numbers so it will rather be easy. My guess is that we were found by some scout team that after founding us managed to gather their friends that were nearby. They probably did not call for the reinforcement and even if they did, the base of centaurs is four days away from here to the south so its nothing we should worry about. Our plan is to leave their lands in this one day and I will say it once again but we are not in the west to look for random fights, we avoid anything that can be avoided. Anyway, as to what we will do with those that surrounds us. Simple attack would work but there is always better way to do things. If you think about it for centaurs, it would have been much better to attack at night before we realize they are even there. Not to mention that we would be unprepared and most of us would be sleeping. Still, why did they not do it? Shin ended up asking the question as what he said was true. Hmm, I doubt it would be because they are too prideful to make sneak attacks. Well the answer is quite easy, there is probably no need to say it though. -it would probably be because they are simply too big to fight in this place. I mean, fighting against centaurs is similar to fighting against horse riders. With a narrow entrance between those rocks in our camp it would be very disadvantageous for them. Not to mention that they wouldnt be able to use their number advantage. Although most of the people remained silent as they knew that whenever Shin was asking question like that there was no need to answer and simply wait for him to continue, Levi ended up answering as he was not familiar with this custom. There was nothing bad in answering though, especially when the answer was correct. -yes, just like that. Thats why we chose this place as our resting point and walked all the way till here after leaving the widows forest. Anyway, as long as they would were to fight here its really disadvantageous for them, and thats why they are waiting for us to come out. Still, it doesnt mean that we have to give them the fight they want rather we will make them regret the thoughts that surrendering us will help them. So the plan is simple. We will use the ground advantage and position all range dps on various locations on the rock walls. From there the range will just start shooting at the centaurs until they start running. After that we cant do much as they are just as Levi said, similar to horses. We wont even try to chase them as its meaningless. -but if we let them go, they will gather more troops and attack us later on right in the open. Flynn pointed out. -well, its only natural that the will do so but we wont be able to avoid all fights anyway, its the west after all. Just as yesterday we will once again be fighting for the whole day. Still, if we do enough damage right now, the monsters at least in this area will think twice before attacking us again. We will be firing death at them from above so maybe other creatures in this area will get slightly scared of us, which will result in them not attacking us. That is the best scenario we can hope for. Anyway for now, reck the havoc on those centaurs. Well, I only have five sword slashes to fire out but I guess I might as well help as well. There are not that many range in this group. Arata thought like that and just like few others started looking for a good rock to stand on. The first one to move however was Rin. After hearing the explanation she started run towards the rocks and then, one by one she started to jump from one rock to another and in thirty seconds she climbed the highest rock that was about four meters in height and was right in the middle. The other ranges including as well as few melees started to move to the rocks at the edge of rocky fort but when they reached their positions they didnt do anything as there was no longer need for it. Instead they watch the Rain of terror. Rin was not playing around, when she heard that their best option is to scary everything in surrounding area, she really was going to scary everything in the surrendering area, including her teammates. Without playing around, after quickly arriving at the top of the highest rock she activated the golden mist and the rain of terror began. The centaurs, horse like creature that at the front had human bodies were in distance of about thirty meters away from rocky fort. Few minutes ago they probably thought that they will have the glorious battle against the oppressor that invaded their lands, still probably no one of them expected to be slaughtered in this way. From the golden mist, the ruby weapons ended up firing in every direction to everywhere the centaurs were and in about a minute it was simply over. There wasnt even single centaur that managed to survive this despite what Shin said earlier about them running away. Arata positioned himself at the edge of the rocky fort on one of the rocks and he saw the whole scene himself. The poor brown creatures were left with no chance of escape. Some of them had shields but their shields could not save their large horse bodies from the rain of terror. The weapons ended up falling from above and pierced through the bodies of the centaurs and they all changed into hedgehogs with red spikes coming out from their bodies. It seems that this skill works even better as an AOE skill. Still, does it mean that in EOA you can get skill that allows you to wipe out the small armies by yourself without breaking a sweat? Now that I think about it Gerald did mention wiping the whole city with a single skill once, I thought he was half joking but he probably was not. Arata was always confident in his 1 vs 1 fights but destroying fifty centaurs in a spawn of minute would be hard even if he start sword slashing left and right. Although, Arata did once killed about 100 golems when he did combination attack with Levi. Still at that time it required a lot of preparation as well like positioning the golems in the right spot. Here however despite the fact that enemies were quite scattered, Rin just climbed the rock, activated the skill, went down the rock and it was all over. Well, I just need to get that world first and I will get something even better. Arata tried to stay optimistic and returned to the campfire. He did forget the detail that even if he manages to complete the world first and get something incredible, Rin also was doing that world first as well, so once again it would not help him to win against her. -well, that wasnt how I expected it to happen but the monsters that saw this spectacle will definitely think twice before attacking us Shin commented when everyone gathered back. -still, Rin. Can you still use that ability after all this? And then he ended up asking. -yes, but its probably better if I hold back now and start regenerate my mana. Rin answered, it didnt seem like she was too tired though but in essence she was a melee fighter after all. -you have mana as one of your resources? But your class shouldnt allow you to use mana, right? To her answer however Shin asked immediately surprised. In EOA, everyone had stamina as a resource but only the classes that were connected to magic had mana. There were also few other kind of resources that would be unlocked for specific professions but in general all those resources worked the same, so the unlocked resources would just be different in name. Now that he asked that question, a crimson bladedancer does not look like a class that would use mana to me. My twilight swordsman doesnt have any mana spells either. Arata also realized it and before he thought that Rins flying red things was just a skill that used stamina as even though there were skills that used stamina they were still magical enough. -I obtained mana as a resource together with this skill. Still Rin just explained. -so it means you can unlock other resources if you only get a skill for it. Interesting right, Shin? Vatras ended up commenting. -I guess but I guess it is hard to find a skill that would grant you additional resource. Anyway lets move out. Team B will be on resting duty so Rin can freely regain her resources. The party left the rocky fort and went out in the open. The area around them was mostly a grass lands with rare tree appearing here and there. There were also rocks lying around. Still there was no other gathering of them like in rocky fort. Still even though it was a grass flat land it was not empty at all. Anywhere Arata looked there would be some different kind of monsters running around. Some of them would resemble animals but some would be something completely exotic that would be hard to describe, still after the show that Rin put out, most of the monsters ran away in hurry as they were scared for their lives as they should be. Also normal monsters that were on the plains rather than attacking them would rather back off because it was simply 17 vs 1. Only organized group of monsters could hope to accomplish anything still it also did not mean that random monster would not attack them as some of them possessed little intelligence. As planned, the party moved out in the formation of group A standing on the right flank, group C standing on the left flank and group B being left with slacking duty. There were minor small changes though as Shin would always remain in the middle until a battle begins so he was on the same position as always. Then in the middle of the front line, there was Flynn acting as a main tank. That made Arata move to the front a little more and he was now positioned at front right edge of formation in comparison to before when he was more on the right. Rins show really did the effect and for about an hour the party marched forward without fighting anything. Still in this hour they moved quite a distance so now the monsters werent that scared. Some would still walk away seeing the numbers but some would simply attack as any mindless monster in MMORPG would. Still those fights against small number of monsters at the time werent that hard. Anytime any of them would attack it was usually really one sided. Luckily for Arata he stood at the edge of formation so he could play around with monsters more than others. In those fights Aratas focus was on finding out to which degree he can use his new skill shadow hand with skill manipulation to use that skill in different ways than just pulling enemies. Despite what he thought earlier he still tried to use it in the ultimate way. The results of those test were well Arata hoped for a little more. Arata would want to use that skill, at the same time when he attacks with his swords or dodge anything else. He wanted to use it as something extra, which would add to what he can already do, in times of need. Unfortunately though, after testing it in practice it was quite impossible. Ignoring the fact that it was quite hard to control the shadow hand with skill manipulation and at the same do other things, the main problem was that the shadow hand got in the way a lot and that restricted Aratas movement by much. Thats why Arata gave up on using it that way quite fast. Even though with enough practice he could get a hand of using it, the second problem would not disappear. The only way in which the shadow hand could be used without stopping it, meaning for the whole time till stamina runs out was when Arata would stop doing anything else than using that skill. Which was naturally bad as Aratas normal fighting style was much more effective than him trying to make punches with his shadow hand or throwing rock with it. Still despite the fact that the best option did not work, the shadow hand was still useful and with skill management Arata started to use it in a way that was slightly closer to the original purpose of the skill which was a single instant cast just as he arrived while testing it at the stop. Pulling enemies from afar was quite good by itself as it always left them disoriented. Even though Arata at first thought that the original goal of this skill was not much it ended up with it being the best. Although Arata still didnt try to drink tea with it so he couldnt say for sure. As for other usages, although they were effective and shadow hand gave a lot of freedom in its use, in the end after testing Arata did not see using that skill that much as there was simply no need for it. Once again in the end, as long as Arata did not see the need, he would refrain from using spells as there was no need to do any overkill. While looking at the group, Arata realized that it was actually not that uncommon for people to play like this. He didnt see them using that many skills either. They were just using their normal attack to fight. After seeing those normal attacks Arata finally understood why everyone was always complementing his fighting style. Most people in the party were simply attacking, and sure their attacks were landing on the enemies but their style wasnt something that would impress Arata. Well it depended on the person and some were better some worse but it was a mile away from what Arata could do with his swords. Actually even though he was best with swords, Arata would still probably end up being better than most while using their weapons. Sure its been a while since he used anything else than swords but Arata still learned refined styles in various weapons. In comparison, what everyone was doing here was mostly freestyle. Although their attacks did hit the targets just as well so there was nothing to really complain about, it was simply that they could fight but Arata was simply on completely whole different level than them when it came to simple attacks. Well it still differed from person to person as for example Levi, whom Arata once mocked for his fighting style was also coming up with upper hand over most of the people in this party. Also because Arata ended up pointing out the mistakes that Levi was making, Levi ended up quickly correcting them, although Arata did not see to what degree he did that as its been some time since he actually saw Levi fighting from up close. As for range, they were also using simple attacks. Vivi was simply shooting her bow and Bran was simply shooting his crossbow. Then there were the two remaining mages of the group Shin and Hiro. When attacking Shin was using the simplest magical bolt spells although he was more of focused on using some kind of runes to buff up the others. He was using skills but it seemed that those rune buffs were also something really simple. Then as for other mage, Hiro. The only spell that Arata saw him casting today was his water ball, sometimes even without using adding the spin to it. In the end, actually as strange as it was, today it was Arata who was using his skills them most as he was testing his new skills. He still never get hit by enemy to trouble healers though while others would get hit from time to time but it was probably more unnatural to not get hit even once rather than getting hit so it was Arata who was the strange one. In the end the type of healer that would be useful for Arata was someone who would block the damage that was coming for him rather than healing him back. By blocking, Arata would not worry about avoiding that attack and he could attack freely. Still even though there were three different healers in this party, no one had any spells like the ones that what Kotori had. The healers here would only heal back the damage that was made so when Arata compared them with Kotori they somehow looked blank in comparison as Kotori could both block the damage and heal people at the same time although usually no one really need healing with her around as she would not let anyone get hurt in the first place and do fine with blocking everything alone. In the end the random fights against one or two enemies charging were quite easy despite it being the west, what the problem was though that fights like this made you relaxed and in west anything could happened at any given time without any signals. Arata was continuously walking and once again he spotted some creature charging in his direction. It was moving on four legs and its bottom would be similar to a dog. Still that creature did not have a head. On the other hand it had two human-like hands. That creature was charging at Aratas position so it was Aratas job to take care of it. It was really strange creature and Arata couldnt even go for his instant kill, meaning cutting the head of. In the course of playing EOA, Arata found out that the best thing to do is imply cutting off the head and move on, still sometimes, the head did not even exist so it was impossible to cut it off. As the creature was getting close Arata made a quick move to the left and with one sword he went over the body of that creature while cutting it in half while with other he cut off the hand that attacked him. After being cut in half, the creature died instantly. Unless it had high level, simple creature like this died like nothing when they walked in Aratas way. Also even if level was bigger it seemed like it still did not change much. Well currently Arata could not tell what level creatures have and from what he has learned, it seemed like the level was more of a decoration that still meant something but because you could not see any other level than yourself, you could not tell if something has a big level or not. Still leveling up did increase the stats although Arata still had no idea what those stats actually did anyway so he did not feel any change. Still no matter if someone knew what stats did or he did not know, EOA was an MMO and in MMO stats meant a lot and there was no difference here either. Another easy kill. Just after Arata thought like this, the unexpectedness of the west happened. The ground beneath him started to tremble and after Arata looked down he saw that it was not an illusion. Seeing the ground actually moving, Arata immediately jump back from that spot and just in time as about five seconds later at the position where Arata was before a giant worm appeared. In color and look, it was quite similar to a simple earthworm still in comparison to those small creatures this one was as large as a tower both in height and width. -boss-class! Arata heard the shout coming from his left although he was not sure whose it was. What just happened was the essence of the west and the same time the worst thing about it. Random attacks could happen at any given time, even if the party had good scouts. And it was not only normal monsters in small number, but even random attack of boss class monster could happen as well, or a combined attack by many normal monsters or combined attack of many boss class monsters, which was actually happening to the party right now. Following the first earthworm two others came out as well. They were slightly different though. One was green in color and other was covered in some type of black plates around its body which probably served it as armor. Nowhere as big as that spider. Still, currently Arata had different definition of boss-class monsters. After all, compared to the creature he met in widows forest, those three earthworms were quite small. Actually anything that Arata meet so far was small in comparison. -there are three of them. Flynn, take the one on the left! Musashi, take the one from the back! Everyone else focus on the one on the right! Shin shouted out the general tactic right away and the battle began. The first target was the worm on the right although everyone still had to be wary of the other ones as green one for example shooted out from its mouth some kind of green slime that naturally should be avoided. Still Arata was not looking at what was happening behind his back and quickly went for the target before him. [Leap] [Shadow hand] The worm appeared right before him so Arata first jumped to the air and then he used his newest skill to catch the worms body and climb at the top of it. For some time now, Arata already found out that attacking giant monsters from the top of their bodies was quite effective and his newest skill shadow hand was quite useful if he wanted to get on top of large creatures like this. After getting in the position Arata started to unleash havoc on earthworms body but the earthworm while being assaulted by many attacks from everyone was not going to just stay and look at them. He soon moved and he jumped out from the ground and with his head he attacked in the middle of the party. Still seeing it everyone managed to get out somehow from the range of that attack, some with the use of skills. As for Arata while he stayed at the top, while the worm was jumping, he had to jump down from it after it went under the ground so in essence he did not stay at its top for way too long. -now switch to the green one! After landing Arata ended up recognizing Shins shout. -shouldnt we finish other one first!? -there is no need! Right now, Arata still could not recognize everyone by their voices. Well he could more or less recognize people from his team and few others like obviously Rin and Levi. Apart from those two he could also recognize Musashi, Bran and Shin. Shin in particular was someone who despite not seeming like the type, actually talked a lot, still that came only from the fact that he was the raid leader so he had a lot of talking to do. Despite the fact that Arata had occasion to play with really good raid leaders in his life, Shin would probably not lose to any of them on any levels and Arata could say that in few he was even better. The best way to see if the raid leader is good is to analyze any decision that he makes and try to think of better ways on your own. Well, Arata was not trying to test anyone but in games he always tried to think on his own for other possible ways anyway. That was actually what every player should do as every person is always just one person so if someone come up with better plan there was no reason to not use it. Still Arata did not know if he got rusty after all this time of not playing in any raid groups but he soon arrived that Shins decisions were never wrong and they were usually more or less what Arata would do as well. Still, when situations like now appeared, when everyone would try to grasp what just happen, Shin would already have the basic strategy ready and that strategy was never bad so when he shouted it there was no need to overthink it, even despite the fact that normally in games its better to kill enemies one on the time so in this case it would have been theoretically better to wait for the first worm to reappear. Still, Arata was sure that there had to be some reasons for that that he simply did not know, so he just started attacking the green earthworm. The green earthworm was mostly shooting its green slime at people but it never hit anyone as no one wanted to test out what that slime did. This time, Arata was not trying to climb at the top of this one and he just run up to him and started slashing with his swords at the green wall before him. After a minute of attacks the green worm ended up doing something similar to the previous one and so he ended up digging back into the ground. Following him the armored worm ended up doing the same without even being attacked. In the end it turned out that none of the worms ever came back for more so the fight ended up without anything dying. Arata was not sure if it was intelligence or instincts but the worm boss-class monsters seeing that even if they manage to kill someone will probably end up dying themselves, decided to run away while they were still healthy. Even though it was really strange for a game, now that Arata thought about it he arrived at a conclusion that other games having their monsters always fight to death simply meant that those monsters were all stupid. No one would really care to think about it but why should monsters stay and let the players kill them while they could have a chance at running away? Well, I guess they can make reasonable decisions. For gigantic worms, running away was really simple and they didnt really have a reason to fight the party in the first place, so fleeing was the best option for them. Still, if you let monster run away you wont get the experience so it is in players best interest to kill the monster if they could. Still there was little that party could do to stop those worms escaping. The fight with worms had some difficulty in it but no one died and the walk continued but then about 10 minutes after the worms fight another boss class monster appeared in sight. This time it was not a surprise attack as the target was spotted easily from a distance. In short it was a large lion. Once again its size was once again unreasonable for it to be a normal lion. It was at least five meters in height but naturally lion being the four leg creature was bigger in length. At first the lion was just lying down on the ground and observed the party from the distance without any movement. Seeing him not moving some thought that it will not attack them as it wouldnt be the first time that some monsters simply let them pass. This time however it was not the case and after observing the party for some time the lion get up and started running in their direction. In comparison to the worms the problem with the lion was not its size, well the size was still the problem but the worst thing was him was his speed. Jumping from front legs to the back legs and legs being as big as they were, naturally resulted in devastating speed. The lion first attacked at the left flank which did not have their main tank. Although having a tank there probably would not change anything as in the face of an enemy like this, tanks could do little to stop them. While attacking the left flank, the lion first bitted with his jaw at the largest person that was there which was Kuma and actually Kuma nearly lost the half of its body from that attack but he was pushed down to the ground by Levi who actually attacked him with a shield to get immediate effect of knocking him down. Still that was just the first attack that the lion did on the side as its main attack was the charge right through the party formation from the left to the right. By stomping with its large feet the Lions run was devastating. Thesar was stomped upon and only thanks to his armor survived the blow but in seconds he was not in moving condition. Then Mika survived only because Flynn jumped right above her with his shield and stopped one step of the lion, although he also got pushed right into the ground right after. Those two were closest to dying after first charge. The lion somehow ended up attacking both active healers and was it a fluke or not, no one knew. -team B, join the fight! For now everyone spread out and try to surround that guy! As always Shin was quick on uptake and he immediately recognized that the strength of the lion was on completely different level, than anything that they fought today so far or maybe apart from the gigantic spider which they did not fight, the strongest monster in the west they meet so far. Once again the essence of the west. The worst thing was that, a monster as strong as that was something that they encountered just by the fluke. While in the dungeons the bosses usually waited at the end of the dungeons in some special place. In the west they could just sleep on the ground anywhere and you could find them at any given point in time. This fact alone was horrifying. Although it might also be that monster of so called boss class level was something normal for the west so one shouldnt be really surprised by meeting them everywhere. The range immediately started shooting at the lion but the lion was not going to simply take those attacks. He circled around the numberous attacks and started additional charge. No choice again, I have to get on top of that guy. Otherwise I will never land a hit on him. Arata still was not sure what his role in large raid boss fight should be but against enemies like this he could think only of this. Still even though he should have a chance on getting at the top of the lion as the lion was going to run next to him. The gigantic fast movements of lion were simply too much. For Arata it was just a quick stomp next to him and second later the lion was five meters away from him. Still it seemed like it was not only Arata who was not sure what he should do. Others also werent doing anything useful. The range sure were attacking but they werent making too much damage anyway as the lion just charged from one side to the other and it was hard to hit him. Even Rins flying red things were not useful in the least against opponent like this. And what I am supposed to do against it? He just uses some kind of hit and run tactic which is way too effective. Arata experienced in his life much but this situation was nothing like that. -everyone! For start, we will have him to stop him from running around like that. To achieve that we will naturally attack the legs! I will stop this guy movement in two charges from now. Musashi come and defend me in case that guy charge at me, afterwards when the spell is ready you will also taunt the guy in this direction. When I stop its movement it will probably be only for few seconds so in that time everyone focus on attacking the back legs! Despite the unexpected situation that seemed somewhat impossible, Shin had the tactic ready once again right after it happened. Well, if he can stop him, thats a different matter. I could probably use that moment to finally jump at the top of the lion, but it wont do good if I just start doing things on my own. During the raid battles there was no time for dispute and there was also little place for individuality. One just had to follow the general plan as otherwise, bad things could happen. [Sword enchant: fire] Arata also realized that this will not be the time for normal attacks but rather it was time for everyone to go all out in their dps as if this wont work, it could be that stopping the lion again with the same tactic might not work. Hmm what I am going to do may be a little overdoing it but I think I need to do at least this much to do anything against this guy. The lion made another dash and once again he nearly bite off someones head but then there was still another dash before Shin would be ready and it seemed that Lion already had someone whom he really wanted to eat. In that he charged right into some range attacks the Lion went in the straight line which surprised everyone. His prey was the same guy that the lion targeted first. The lion run up toward Kuma and this time rather than attacking while running he stopped. There he made first bite, then second bite after which Kuma rolled away but then the lion made a third bite while Kuma was on the ground and in a single second, Kuma disappeared from everyones eyes. The lion light nothing once again continued to run. To be truthful, seeing this death happen, Arata was not really affected by it, partly because there was very little interaction between him and the man from unique cat/lion like race called Quantin. Actually Arata would want to find a little bit more about that race but it seemed like he wont have an occasion anymore. It was somehow ironic though as the guy who himself looked like lion was eaten by the real lion, although that might actually even be the reason for the lions focus on Kuma, still no one would ever know. In comparison other party members looked shocked seeing their friend disappear before their eyes but rather than sadness, it was rage that filled them. The rage towards the large lion. Also there was the fact that this party played together for so long so they were probably very used to seeing themselves dying from time to time. Although, it was truly unfair for someones journey to end in a random fight like this. Still those fights were the representation of the west. -everyone get ready, this will be the time! Uryaaaa! Musashi shouted to his teammates and afterwards made a really loud yell that was so loud that one would wonder if human was actually able to do something like this. The shout ended up picking the interest of the lion which probably meant that Musashi used some kind of taunt shout, and the lion ended up charging into Musashis direction. And then Arata saw that in the place where Musashi and Shin were was now a large yellow circle, and Arata recognized what that circle did as he himself was once caught by it. I see so its like this. Arata realized that the plan was to simply catch the lion in that circle as Shin already ran out from it and Musashi was standing at the edge of it taunting the lion and afterwards attack the lions back legs. Still, even if we do it, there will still be a chance of someone dying later on. No, this time its better to take a risk now rather than have another unexpected death later! Arata planned to follow the plan but now after seeing someone dying and the thought that someone might soon follow changed his mind. He decided that disabling the legs of the lion would not be a sure way to deal with him. Even if lion could no longer make runs later on, the lion would still be able to put up the fight and just a single bite was enough to take someones life. No, I will end it in one go. [Lighting speed.] Arata who was currently ten meters away from the circle started the sprint. At the same time the lion was also going to enter the circle right away. Seeing Aratas run, everyone probably thought that he was going to attack the back leg but that was no longer Aratas intention in the least. The lion run right into the circle and he made an attack at Musashi with its front leg by kicking with it. That attack made Musashis crystal defence activate on its own but even then Musashi was sent flying to the sky few meters to the sky. When it happened, Vatras ended up running after him to get back in his healing range. He even turned into black panther to get a better speed. In the meantime the lion wanted to chase after the Musashi and probably finish him out for good but as he wanted to move forward, he was stopped by Shins rune. At that time all dps started attacking the back legs which made the lion slowly stop as the dpses were unleashing their best spell and they were not playing around with simple attack. Still the only dps that was not doing so was Arata. In the mid of everything Arata run up toward the lion and because he was using lighting speed he did it in the instant. [Leap] [Shadow hand] Once again by using this combo he got at the top of the giant creature. But he didnt go there to simply attack the lion from above with his swords. After landing at the top of the lions body, Arata continue his run towards lions front, namely his head. It was not that easy as Arata had to cut through the lions fur on his way but he soon reached the top. The moment he did that the lion ended up siting down to his back as it seemed that his back legs were now heavily wounded still apart from that lion was still healthy but not for long. [Leap] Arata ended up jumping off the head up to the air and there. [Sword slash] [Sword slash] [Sword slash] [Sword slash] [Sword slash] One after another Arata made five horizontal slashes with his swords in the exact same place which resulted in sending out five arcs of fire one after another. Arata made all attack quickly enough for the arcs to be quite close which ended up resulting in all arc combining together into one gigantic fire arc which was even bigger that the one that Arata would make in combination with Levis skill. Although the shape was slightly different as this arc became only longer in the length rather than width. Still it was rather the width that would have been better as the length would only increase the range of attack. Aratas target which was naturally the lions neck and the combined fire sword slash ended up hitting right into the back of that neck. The lion didnt even see what attacked him before he died as the result of Aratas attack was Lions head being cut off and the wounds burned as well. Aratas attack ended up cutting through the lions neck but also it went right into the ground. As to why Arata used the fire, it was because even though Arata did not understand the stats, his coat did give him +5% to fire damage so why not use it. After the attack, the force made Arata backfire to the sky even more. Ah, once again I am floating in the sky. Flying in the sky was happening so often that Arata simply did not care anymore and he simply enjoyed himself whenever it happened. At least that guy wont kill anyone here. Arata saw as the giant body of the lion fell down and got relived. Even though he did not know that well the person who died in this fight it did not meant that Arata could simply tolerate if someone else were to die second after, especially when Arata could do something about it. After Yumes death, there was no longer excuse for Arata to slack around and if there was something that needed to be killed, then the killing had to be done as quickly as possible. Well cutting off the head worked as good as always. I am surprised it worked with just single attack though. Arata was surprised but if he thought about it rationally what he just did was in a way equal to the work of 5 other sword enchanters that would work together in perfect synchronization to make a combination attack of five sword slashes, and despite the fact that Aratas sword slash did now take only 20% of mana, this was still an ultimate attack that normally took all user mana. Combination attacks are really strong but there is no rule that it has to be executed with others. One could do combination attack on his own. Anyway, hopeful the black dashing landing will work this time as well. Despite having a lot of experience with it, landing from the large height was not safe. Any time it happened, if Arata uses his skill just a slightly late he will meet the ground and possible die second after. Still it seemed that this time there will be no need for it. Arata saw as a light blue magical ball is flying his direction. Seeing something like this Arata would usually cut it down as so far, there was not a single time in which it was not the right decision but this time Arata saw that it was Shin who fired it at him. The chances of some strange mind control taking over Shin that moment and making him shoot flying Arata was practically none, although for a second Arata considered exactly that. Although there should be a limit to overthinking things. Maybe its some spell that reduces damage when someone is crushing into the ground but I wont need it. Arata thought like this as he was going to land with his black dash anyway but he still ignored the magic light blue ball which hit him and after that the speed on which Arata was falling down started to become smaller and smaller to the point where it was no longer crushing to the ground but controlled landing. Arata didnt even have to use black dash. No way! I finally saw someone casting the slow fall! There were already few times when Arata saw people, mostly Anari, imitate slow fall but seeing the true slow fall was much different and definitely much more effective, especially for Arata who remembered crushing into the ground after Anaris slow fall once. Arata ran up towards the party as he ended up flying quite far from them. -well, thats a twilight swordsman for you. The first one to comment on him was Vivi. -now, I understand what the class of rank two means. Flynn ended up adding something like this. To which Arata immediately though. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. What twilight swordsman!? That useless class! The sword enchanter is the one that is good, and this one always steals the glory. And so once again despite getting new good skill just today, the rank two profession was once again labeled as useless by Arata. -hey, its already RIP Kuma but is it RIP Musashi as well? Now that the battle was ended it was time to count the bodies. -who do you want to kill off Bran? Still to ever so smiling dwarf the reply came quite quickly as despite taking a shoot Musashi was as alive as always. Not to mention that Vatras already healed him up. -hmm, our teams cat has been eaten by other cat and because there are no longer any cats around there is also no one to cry over the spilt milk. Lets move on we still have quite a distance to go today! -hahaha Shin that was heartless but hahaha. Bran answered to him but he was rather laughing at that comment. Still it seemed like the people in this party were really used to dying. So, I guess it was not exactly because of dying but rather Yumes sacrificing herself what made others sad. Arata arrived at the conclusion as after Yumes sacrifice everyone was in bad mood but now after Kumas death, Arata was not really related to him so it didnt do much but it seemed that others were similar. As Arata suspected they were already used to see themselves dying and also, after Yume broke the ices, the following deaths on this expedition were a naturally occurrence. -dont say heartless, wasnt our original plan to continue this expedition till everyones dies. -Shin, saying that us all dying was the part of the plan anyway is not just heartless but evil. Vatras ended up telling Shin this. -anyway, after the spectacular kill by teams A team leader I think that the team A should now deserve the rest so team B will switch with them and the team A will be on slacking off duty. Lets reform the formation and move on there is no time to it. If someone got loot from that lion then leave it for later if you want to give it to someone else. Arata found it really strange but this party had random loot distribution meaning that it landed in random hands of people who could use the item. It was really strange because that was a loot system that a random party would use and not the players that were know each other for years. Still it might be that the loot is like this because the three of us joined. Arata didnt give it much thought earlier but that might have been the reason for it. The march through the savage lands of the west continued, although this time Arata was officially slacking off. Well, it was not that he had to fight all the time before. From time to time something would attack and that something would need to be dealt with, also killing monsters was everyday bread for adventurers. Still the plan was for every group to rest and now it was Aratas turn to do so. -um . -what is it Mika? Now that they did not have to be focused all the time, the azure haired siblings started talking although it was more Hiro trying to cheer up his sister. -why do you even ask!? Kuma just died. -yes, but there was nothing we can do for him now. -but we could before! -what could we do? He just vanished in an instant. Even as a healer you couldnt do anything to help him right. Thats just how it is. - . If I risked jumping on that lion while he was running around, I could also prevent that death from happening. While listening to this exchange Arata thought like this. In the end he did kill the lion but he started seriously only after seeing the large cat-man getting eaten. -Mika, dont overreact again just because someones dies, we have been through it many times. -but someone could probably help him . -Mika, dont take it on your brother only because Kuma was eaten by some crazy lion. Also if its someones fault that Kuma died then it would be Kumas fault most likely. Here, its a survival of the finest, if you cant survive on your own then you are bound to die sooner or later. Flynn, the tanks group interfere the talk as the mood was going bad. -I have to agree on that, you have to think about your own safety on your own, if you cant do that you are simply out. Vivi added. -I wouldnt say that Kuma did anything bad but just simply he was unluckily. For some reason the lion targeted him twice and in the second time, despite many successful attempts to survive the lion just simply really wanted to kill Kuma for some reasons. Earlier on he was just running around but there he stopped and was biting and biting Julia started and continued. -still, if its anyones fault that Kuma died its the Flynns fault as he didnt hold the agro. -hey some monsters just doesnt attack just single person okay, EOA is not that simple game that follows all MMO rules. -well sometimes both healers and tanks are useless as monsters just run around and kill everyone in one shot. Was that what you wanted to say Flynn? -you are implying that I am useless when in previous battle before Shin caught that lion no one managed to do any dps either so dps are also useless. In the end sometimes everyone is useless. -so if everyone is useless then why someone even need to use that word. Julia stated the obvious fact. -aye it has no meaning. In EOAs raid fights everyone just has to do what they can and do not worry about things that they cant do. Also realizing that death is a natural element of games. -you heard him Mika, when will you realize that as well? Hiro asked his sister. -um. Mika did not answer but simply nodded to her brother but that nod did not really answer the question, nor did it signal that she understood or not. Still Hiro didnt say anything else about that. -anyway, you want a piggy ride? -no I am fine. Well, I guess I can understand her a little, I also still get too emotional when I see peoples dying in this game. Even after seeing someone I didnt really know well dying in the game the hot blood boiled in me and I actually ended up ignoring the plan and went for the kill. I should think about it a little better. Arata thought like that but at that time, he was sure he will not fail. There was not an inch of hesitation but just an enemy before him that needed to be slaughtered. -anyway guys, so far we are doing great, right? After some time Julia started like this. -what do you mean by great? Hiro ended up asking back. -you know, we already have to deaths but they are not from our team right? The team A still has all its members. -ah that, well the deaths so far were so random that its not like we did anything special. After this answer Hiro looked away as earlier he was thought that the topic could fight the boredom but it turned out to not be the case. -Julia rather than saying that its a good thing, judging by how it goes the next person to die will be one of us six. Flynn pointed it out. -whats with that negative thinking? -well it something to think about but does anyone wants to take bets on who dies next? -hmm, in this case I will put 30 gold on certain orange bearded dwarf. Hiros attention returned somehow returned after Flynn started talking about the bets. -oh, in this case I will also put 30 gold, but my bet will be on the azure haired magician as he is definitely more likely to die. -then how about raising the stakes? Just between two of us, the first one to die will have to pay the winner 300 gold. -deal! And so some strange bet was played out between Flynn and Hiro. They even shake their hands and ended up asking Arata to be the witness and cut through their hands. -you guys are sure you wanted to do it? Its like asking for misfortune. After the ceremony Arata ended up asking. -it will only help us stay motivated. Its always feels so good to win against this pesky dwarf. -aye, there is nothing better than winning against this arrogant magician. -aaa, you two are getting along as always. Vivi ended up commenting. The walk continued. Even though there were few quite threating opponents that appeared on the way there was not a single time in which Arata had to join in the fight. Because there was nothing really for him to do Arata more or less was looking how others were dealing which incoming enemies. Although it was still mostly the same basic attack all the way and no one did anything too flashy either. For the most part Arata tried to analyze Rins flying red things ability as he called it. Because Rin was in the position of the range dps she was using it as her basic attack. Still, she was not really into it and she would fire at something from time to time but usually she would leave it to others. Still when it seemed like the difficulty was slightly higher the number of flying red things would increase. She said that she doesnt control it well but from where I see it, she is so used to it that she doesnt even think about it. Arata arrived at this conclusion when at one time, in the middle of shooting out her weapons, Rin ended up closing her eyes, stretched her hands and yawed out loud. At that time she shot out around 10 red weapons and they flied perfectly right above Musashis head and right next to one of melee fighters in group B, Lee. Even though Rin probably did not lie when she said that she doesnt have experience in using that ability in in the group, she had absolutely no problems in using it when other people were around as she was controlling it perfectly. -hey Julia, do you have an idea why males in our group are so obsess with that girl? At some point Vivi ended up asking that question. -em what? It seemed like Julia was also distracted by looking at someone else though. -never mind. -no, no wait. You just asked lets see lets see. But isnt Flynn sleepwalking right now, how can, he be obsessed. Julia looked around and just as she said currently Flynn was walking with eyes closed. -I meant the other two. -well, if you want to know then lets ask them Julia ran up to Arata and asked. -hey Arata why are you staring at Rin? -this is probably one of few occasions in which I can see that ability and look for its weak points so its obvious that I am going to use it. Then again, there is nothing really better to do? -I guess, you are right. I am also bored. When will our group finally switch? Anyway thanks for answering Julia returned to Vivi. -see, it was quite obvious if we thought about it but Arata is simply looking for Rins weak spots. -I dont think that she has any weak spots though. -even if they are hidden everyone has a weak spot. Arata ended up saying it to his back to where they were walking as he did listen. -yes, keep believing in it. Vivi answered to him with the words of encouragement. There has to be something that I can use. -so there you have it Vivi, rather than staring at Rin he is keep on looking at that ability, look how his heads follows the trajectory of those weapons. And then you can probably easily guess that Hiro is doing the same. -well I guess you are right. -anyway now that I mentioned it, I am really eager to stop slacking off on the backs anymore and fight a little. I will go ask Shin when our turns come Julia ran up towards Shin who was not that far as he was still in the middle of the formation. Well maybe slightly to the left now as he was shooting some magic shoots from time to time as well. Still Julia returned with sad expression few moments later as she probably got a fast answer. -Shin said that if nothing happens, then probably the change will happen in no less than two hours. I see so this tactic is to switch either when there is a need or every few hours or so. The first switch also took about 5 hours at least. Yesterday it was the same When first Arata heard about that tactic with group switching he thought it would be much more often but with a fighting style like this where everyone only uses basic attacks to preserve mana there was no need for many switches. As long as there was not really hard fight the switch would be just mediatory. -hey, how is it that no one managed to explore this lands before? I mean apart from few problems we are doing quite fine despite the fact that there is less than 20 of us. I heard about expeditions that had 300 people in it here wiping. Arata ended up asking as something was not adding well. -well, I dont know much about west, what about you Vivi? -hmm I can tell you what I know. Currently we are going by the safest route that is in the west as it was Shin choosing it. The expeditions that you talked about Arata went completely different route as they started off in Karma. Still even though they encountered many difficulties people would not call them expeditions if they were wiped out in the first day. Also apart from those two, there were smaller groups going to the west as well. -yes, I remember someone saying that is where you guys gathered your knowledge about the west. Arata answered. -anyway you asked why no one explored the west, as you can guess its not like no one was here before us but its simply that nothing of importance was found. By nothing of importance I mean a city. The biggest problem of the west is that there is no City anywhere, thats why no matter how strong you are your results will be always the same. At some point you will be wiped out by some monster and then all your effort will disappear and you will respawn in Karma. Well in our case it will be Larisane I guess. -oh, you know quite a lot about it. Arata ended up commenting. -well I was just listening when Shin was talking about it once. Anyway Arata being in the west for more than two days now, you can guess what problems every expedition faced. -hmm, I guess that first one would be that unless you have a group with many people you will not get to rest too much as even though we dont have hard fights all the time the small fights still occur. Then from time to time we ran into something bad that even if doesnt wipe us all completely it can still kills someone. Right now I am seeing the west is more of test of endurance. -a test for endurance? Well I guess it fits and that may be also the reason that all other expedition failed as well. Everyones endurance will run out at some point and because there is no city to rest in and regroup, in the west you will end up dying at some point and all your progress will vanish. Vivi answered. -I guess this is why everyone were saying before that our expedition will end up as a wipe no matter what as we are not playing on turning back Julia added and then continued. -still, if Aratas quest is to open the gates to heaven and enter the heavens then maybe the heavens will be like a new city with resurrection point and all. Then the exploration of the west would bloom as there would be a good point to start it from. If the gate stayed activated forever then it would be definitely possible as people would use heaven as their home base and by going through the gate they could explore the west freely. At least the fragment between that gate and Karma would get explored. -ah, it does sound nice and if this were to happen we would be called the explorers of heavens. Vivi added. If this is the truth then if we only manage to reach the heavens then the rest of the quest will be of the city type in which you just need to talk with some NPC in that silver temple. Arata had the vision of the happy ending, although that happy ending was based on hopefully thinking. Also there was no telling what there still needed to be done before reaching the heavens. After all it was a quest of rank three, the worlds first and right now even though the party was traveling through the savage lands of the west, they werent doing anything directly connected to the quest yet. It was just arriving at the given spot where the quest would take place. Although did EOA also involved in its difficulty the fact that one has to travel through the west to reach a certain point? No one would know the answer to this question as there was no one to ask. The walk continued. In the hours of time the hardest fight of all would probably be when the group of rhinos looking creatures charged at the group. Given the standards of the west they couldnt be called big but they were still at least twice as large as humans and that was only in height. They had fat bodies which were strong and durable and their main weapon a large horn at the end of their noses could do devastating damage. About ten rhinos charged with those horns at the group. There was no force that would stop them and even if Musashi was a tank he could block two of rhinos as maximum. At that time Flynn also joined the fray so it was four blocked of rhinos. Still all the rest were running around. To that the only thing that party could do was to spread around and use the fact that even though rhinos had the speed while charging forward they were quite slow in turning around. Their maneuver capabilities were low. Thats why surrounding each individual rhino. Attacking it from the sides was a perfect way to deal with them. The formation scrambled and it became everyone for themselves, attacking few enemies at once but still in the end, no one died despite few close calls and also apart from Flynn and Mika, the other four from team A were not called to step in. After another hour, team A switched in with team C in slacking off duty. Although it was more of team B going to the left, team C going to the back and team A going to the right, so Aratas position once again ended up being on the right flank. Also now that there were two tanks at the front, Arata was once again on the far right flank and his contribution to fights was slightly lower than earlier today. Also in Aratas group there were two really bored now range, Vivi and Hiro, and they started playing a game called who will be the first to shoot down incoming enemy. With them going out slightly more serious there was really nothing that Arata or Julia who was going next to him, or Flynn who was at the front had to do. -now that I think about it if Rin were to play the same game with them then there would be nothing left for anyone. Arata remarked like this to Julia who was walking next to him. -ah, its not fair! I also wanted to do some fighting now! -unless it will be something bigger we wont have much to do though. -still, while we have some time now Julia. Can I ask you for an advice? -sure Arata but if you wanted to ask for something wouldnt it be better to do it while we were on the back? -well, it was kind of embarrassing for me to ask you that while others were around. -oh! Its some embarrassing stuff!? Now! You grabbed my attention! -chiii! others will hear you. -I see then I will be quitter now, so what is it? -well its probably nothing what you thought just now. Anyway you know you are quite fast right? -well, my speed is my pride and also my strongest weapon. I might be not as good in fighting as you but when it comes to speed then I am confident that I can outrun anyone in this party. Julia really said it in full confidence. -even Rin? - em hmm well I would want to say yes but for now I will tell you probably. -a strange answer. -rather its an honest answer as I dont know how fast she is, still based on all that I saw so far I am faster. -well, whatever you are faster than her doesnt matter but I would say with that speed you could seriously try in professional sports. -haha thanks for compliment but obviously I cant run fast like that in the real world. I mean its like that for everyone right? You yourself cant do all those crazy moves like you do in real world, right? -hmm I would say that apart from game skills, I can. After all I learned fighting in real so I just doing the same here. Rin is the same by the way. -really? Well thats explains a lot. Your fighting style is just too refined for it to be improvised. Normally people just think of something on their own or based of somewhere rather than being officially trained by someone in general. -I see that it more or less works based on how you guys fight, still if you really want to improve in short amount of time I would advise you finding someone who would explain you some things. Sure while you train its not like your mentor is with you all the time, its more of, he explains things to you while you have then try hard to understand them on your own. Still, having a mentor is important as he will point out your mistakes and at the same time he will tell you things that you yourself would never be able to think off. Or at least it would take a lot of time for you to learn it. After all, knowledge of material arts and of weapon arts are something that is passed down for many generations and each generation was adding its own element to it making it better. -I see, that makes a lot of sense. -by the way, even though you have some areas that you will need to work on, you are still doing quite good so how did you learn to fight like this? Arata ended up asking as he was interested in which way people played this game normally. -how? Well, I was just trying to imitate what I saw I guess. Also dont make it sound like I learned it all over the night. I am playing this game for five years in game time now and I spent about two first years of it in Loris while trying to find the style of my own. As to how I learned it well as I said it was try and error method by trying to imitate people who know how to fight. As my weapon of choice became reaper, I studied the materials about fighting with it, saw some instruction films and tried to follow them. Then I guess it would be learning the rest in the fights itself. Because I could actually execute what I learn in real combat, I naturally got better and better with time. -I see, but then if this was your training method if you really find yourself a mentor then you could probably get twice as stronger in a really short amount of time. My grandfather has a dojo and there I saw that when people who trained on their own before came, they had a great improvement after one or two months of training. -is that so? Well thanks for the tip although I also once thought about it before. It was not the real training though but learning it from someone in EOA, precisely the elite school for fighters that I heard so much about. -elite school for fighters? -you didnt hear about it well in short there is an organization that created a school in this game that teaches how to fight. The teachers there have the real life experience in fighting or people that had unexpected talent and learned everything fast. You know, there already are virtual curses and schools that use VR technology right? So I would say that this is quite similar to it but it takes place in EOA. Although, you are still paying for it with real money. Well it still depends and there are also those that want gold but the one I planned to go was the former one. -so why didnt you go there yet? -well, soon after I learned that something like that exist I ended up meeting Shin and joined this party. Still, I do want to go there one day and I will. -still, doesnt it mean you will have to leave this party? -ah now you had to said that didnt you! Ups, did I just steep on the sore spot. -well, if you already started then I may tell you the whole thing. I already did tell you that I love being in this party and it matters to me much, right? -yes you did, you even have that strange condition to not talk with male here. -so you understand how much it matters to me. Still if there was one thing that I dont like about this party is that many people here dont have much of ambitions. You probably know that currently the highest level players are at max 299 level, right? -I heard that someone managed to pass that. -right now, we are not talking about the legends but the facts. Anyway you could treat level 299 as current max level, sure there arent that many of them but still thats the fact. But then what about our party. Our average right now is around 150 Oh thats way higher than mine. Arata thought like that as so far he didnt really ask others for their levels. He only knew that Levi had like ten levels more than him and that was it. Although Arata already assumed that he had the lowest level in this party. -but hear this Arata, even though this party exists for about 4 years now, this average was held for about two last years and it didnt increase at all. Then the second matter that I dont like is that the party dont want to move out from Karma for too long and also for those 4 years were mostly staying there even since the creation. -four years? Thats a little bit long. -well we are talking about in game time naturally and there are many times in which people are simply logged out so it goes faster still its four years. I am in this group for not that long, in game time it would be six months but in reality it was one month in game time playing with them as most of them were on a long break for past five months. So as you can see I am quite fresh here, still its already become somewhat unpleasant. I would want to continue playing with them but at the same time, I didnt start playing EOA only to stay in one place. When I was training in Loris I was doing so because I didnt want my low abilities to stop me from going where I would want to go. Sure I could pay someone to escort me somewhere like many peoples do but it wouldnt be the same anymore. I looked for a strong group with whom I could go whenever I would want. Then I finally found it, there is even a person that I like among them but then after some time passed I learn that they dont plan on going anywhere too far. Can you image what I felt after realizing it? -I guess, still arent we exploring the west right now? -yes and its great and this expedition just confirm that I love traveling through this world. Still even though from time to time there is adventure like this, it still will end with returning to Karma in the end. -I see, well I think I do understand what you are feeling right now Julia. -you do? -yea, and its actually not something that is rare for gamers, or maybe for everyone, I will tell you my example on what I know though. There are many types of gamers in the world but in the end you could say that someone is either hardcore gamer or casual. -what do you mean by hardcore gamer? -well its someone who wants to be better than others and is not satisfied with the casual gaming. The casual gamers are usually people who play the game to have fun from doings what they do in it. For example I would say that your party is casual gamers that are enjoying playing the game in Karma and stay on level 150. Casual gamers take the joy from what they do and dont really think that there is a need for a change. On the other hand the hardcore gamer always looks for the challenge and always want to go deeper and deeper and higher and higher. I would say that you were heading in that direction as you wanted to explore the world as much as you can. To do that though you would have to get strong enough as otherwise it wouldnt be possible. Even if you are not a hardcore gamer, the level of play that you are on right now is not satisfying for you and you try to improve right? -well, yes. At least I would want to try going to other cities and if I am already playing I also would someday want to hit as high level as possible that would allow me to travel to even more places. I dont want to stay at my current level forever. -in that case there will be the time in which you will have to make the decision, you know what decision I am talking about right? -yes, you dont have to tell me that. Still, there is also an option in which the party changes its ways. -well there is also this, that would be your happy ending right? -um well for now I will be staying here and try to win my love. -is love something that you have to win? -if I cant win it then its over because Shin does not think of me like this . Well, I probably shouldnt say anything here. The only thing I could base on would be my experience but I feel in love in Kotori like in instant and it only took a day for me to realize it completely. Still, hopefully for Julia the love can bloom with time as well because from my talk with Shin, he doesnt think of her as anything else as a friend from his party. Although he treats all people in this party quite warmly so its not that bad. -then how about you Arata? Are you hardcore gamer or not? -hmm, I would say that I am in worse condition than hardcore gamer. -worse? -you see, for me its either I aiming for the top and work hard or I get simply bored of playing the game. I would rather say that its a curse rather than a good thing. -its about self-improvement so it cant be a bad thing. -I guess. -still, if you are really aiming for the top then you have a long way to go, you know. I am not sure if I should be the one saying it but you just asked me about my speed, right? It was because you wanted me to give you some advices right? - . Arata didnt answer as he did feel embarrassed for asking someone like her for help. -lets see. Hmm, I never did any special training towards that or anything like that, I am also not sure how exactly to achieve it, or rather I would say that I am surprised that others does not achieve this. -what do you mean? -well for me, this speed simply become natural as I played, I felt like I can be faster and I knew that I can be faster so I simply started moving faster its something like that. -that doesnt tell me anything, you know. -but that how it was for me. For me as someone who is using rapier to fight the speed is the most important so I focused on that area and I did it in exact same way as other training, namely I was imitating the best. So I founded few videos that showed the fastest player in EOA and tried to imitate him. Although there was not that much to imitate as he was simply moving fast, still because I saw how fast he was I found out that I should also be able to achieve that level if I try hard enough and that the speed like he had was possible. Well, I am not sure about getting as fast as that guy but I definitely knew that I can be faster than I was and I still know that I am still far away from the limits, if they even exists. -so its something you achieve over time? -I wouldnt say so its just speed its not something you achieve. Its not a skill or anything like that, you just move faster. -your explanation doesnt tell me much you know. -unfortunately its not something that I can teach others as for me its something that was really natural. Still if I had to guess it is connected with level as every time I level up my limit somewhat slightly increases and then whenever I died and lost some levels I go back to speed I had at that time. -I myself never felt any difference when leveling up. Also after seeing Rin do it, I believed or rather also knew that I can become faster as her but even while keeping that thought in mind nothing changed. -I already probably told you everything I could think of so I wont be able to help you here. But as I said, it was something that came to me completely natural. Completely natural??? If its completely natural then why didnt it come to me even though I tried to achieve it. Eh In the end Arata didnt learn anything useful. -well, hopefully I will understand it one day. -its important to be positive right. Although, there already were people who asked me the same question and they said that they didnt meet anyone else who achieved that. Because of that I also started to think that it may be because my class is only speed type focused If its class based then its hopeless because my class is damn useless. -that or I am especially talented, yey! By the way Arata, what do you think that shadow over there is? Julia pointed straight forward and Arata realized that she was talking about the colossal shadow in the distance. Although it would be probably many miles away from where they were right now. -isnt it a mountain? I mean its about the same size right? Arata answered as compering to the mountains that were far to his right the colossal shadow was of about the same size. -but it doesnt look like a mountain, its too longitudinal right? -well we cant tell what it is from here but if you are asking if this is some creature then I think that despite this game standards, there are some limits on how big something can be right? -hopefully but I was rather thinking that its some kind of large statue or something. -if that is a statue then someone must have to sculpt it in the mountain. Although this is a game world so all one need to do is write a script. Anyway there are many worrying sights around so there is no need to overthink this one in particular. Also look it seems like we are finally arriving somewhere. -ah you are right! Even though by the look of it would still take about two hours to reach it. Because the land was quite flat here they could see a forest in the distance and reaching some forest was their objective today based on what Shin said earlier. As to why they finally could see the forest out of sudden its because they just reached the peak of the hill. Well rather than calling it a hill it was a ground that was just slightly higher. Still after getting there they quickly saw it but also not only the forest was visible for them. -seems like we will finally get something to warming up. -rather than I hope that we will not die . Right after they reached the top and got the better view they soon saw something alarming. There were the remains of some large elephant like creature lying on the ground. The size would be probably even bigger than that of the lion that they meet earlier. Still that elephant with three trunks was already death and currently his body was being eaten away by the pack of hyenas. Probably because they were eating the body of the elephant the blood was dropping down from their mouths, also when the party reached the top the hyenas immediately reacted to their presence and looked in their direction and they also right away stopped eating and started gathering in the front of the elephant body preparing to attack. -it shouldnt be that bad right? Arata said that to Julia but second later the pack of about 30 hyenas started rushing in their directions and even though their size was not bigger than that of a huge dog, they somewhat had crazy look and blood thirsted eyes that would scary anyone. -they are coming! Prepare for battle! Flynn made a shout to wake up everyone who was not paying attention as of late. Although it was quite safe for some time now to the point where Arata and Julia could have a talk on the front line of formation, the situation once again changed unexpectedly, but once again that was the west. The pack of the hyenas attacked with their high speed. Still because there were so many of them when range attacked them their shots hit well. Even before the first clash began the firepower reduced the number of hyenas by 10 as this time it were not basic attacks but more mana eating spells. Still even if 10 hyenas were killed the 20 of them was still more than number of fighters. The twenty hyenas rushed forward and even though there were two tanks at the front they naturally couldnt stop more few each. The rest rushed pass them but they were soon meet with the melee dps, which included Arata. About four hyenas were rushing forward right now at Aratas position. Two of them were at front and two at the back. The two front ones rushed at Arata together with bite attack. Arata used his two swords to block those two away. Raid battles were different. When normally Arata would simply dodge the attacks, here he had to stop them to not let the hyenas enter the formation because if they do the range might be killed instantly. It still depended on the individual range but still enemies entering inside the formation were bad. One way or another it came down to contest of strength between Arata and two hyenas that were pushing on his sword. Still it was not over as the other two hyenas that were behind those two jumped up and attacked Arata from above. Ah, this is bad, I will have to take those. Arata probably could jump back at this moment but he couldnt let four hyenas enter the formation so he decided to take the attacks and then. Still he did not take the attack as from his right came a linear yellow beam like light that pierced through the two jumping hyenas. The both hyenas were pierced through this light and a small hole appeared on their bodies that went from one side to another. After receiving those blows the hyenas were stopped and they landed on the other two hyenas that Arata was blocking. Still even after that, they were far from dead as they started moving right away. Four before me. [Shadow hand] Arata still had his two hands occupied as he was holding back two hyenas jaws with it. Still, if two was not enough what about the third hand. Arata activated his skill with the focus of a fist, the large black hand of shadows came out from his belly and hit forward with the punch. The punch landed on both two hyenas that Arata was holding back and two hyenas that landed on them. After the punch all four hyenas were sent flying to the back and Aratas skill ended. Now that he had a free moment Arata looked to his right behind him to see Julia struggling against two hyenas. Compared to Arata who could hold back hyenas more or less, Julia was complete speed type that was not supposed to tank anything. Even though in EOA the melees job was always semi tank in a way, some melee relied heavily on dodges. In Aratas case he dodged because it was the most effective but it was not because he had to use them. Arata could also block attacks alright and his class wasnt complete speed type. What are you doing? Helping me when you are in trouble yourself. The yellow linear light came from Aratas right and on Aratas right there was only Julia so it had to be her spell. I cant move from here so sword slashing it should be the best. But just before Arata was going to do that, the attacks from range on the left came on hyenas on the right, so there was no longer the need for Arata to interfere. The first push of hyenas was held back but the hyenas that received the hit mostly come back soon after. For example Aratas shadow hand punch did send hyenas flying but that was not enough to defeat them. Even some hyenas that took the first attack from the range started to get back on their feet with more or less success. Yes, cutting off the head is the way. The monsters in EOA even if they did not have high level were quite resilient still Aratas tactic to cut off the head worked even on boss class monsters so the health of the monsters wasnt based only on their health points or it was simply that certain in certain places were enough to destroy enemies HP in an instant. The battle with the hyenas continued. Because of numbers and strength of the hyenas the team C which was currently resting ended up joining as well. It made the fight much easier as in the distance between Arata and Julia, Kei jumped in as another melee so there was less space for each of them to cover. Now it was more of Arata and Kei defending the right flank and Julia hunting down the hyenas that tried to go around. Ah, I am not really suited to this. As Arata was fighting against hyenas, he arrived at this though. In large group fight like this there was little move for maneuvers or using any techniques that use high advanced footwork. Arata couldnt even let the hyenas bypass him to attack it on the sides. All he could do was to attack the front and block their charges which he was actually doing. Another head sliced in half. Hyena that just charged at Arata ended up having its head split in half. Still on its place another one jumped on its friend corpse forward and attacked with its claw. Arata blocked them off with one sword and pierced with the other at the belly which ended up landing on the hyena as still with this single shot it wasnt enough to kill her off. Still after that, hyena was attacked by two arrows that came from Aratas back and those were enough. The number of hyenas was dwindling down and at the moment Arata did not have any attacking him. Still he managed to spot one that was pushed away and was not getting back on the feet. [Shadow hand] Arata used his skill to pull it to him. He released his shadow hand from his left arm. The shadow covered both the hand and the sword that Arata was holding. The shadow hand skill could be activated from any part of Aratas body and doing it from hand felt actually the most natural. Arata used it the same way when he was jumping onto the lion. In a way by using it from hand it was as if Aratas hand got bigger and stretched away. The shadow hand went after the hyena and caught her in the grip. After that it was pulled right to Arata who pierced forward with his black sword in his right hand. Another hyena ended up being killed off. Hmm. The basic use of this skill is really good in the end. Still there is one more usage that I wanted to test. [Shadow hand] This time Arata send his shadow hand from the right hand and ended up catching the hyena that Flynn was fighting against. Grip. Arata then though of squeezing off the hyena with his shadow hand which ended up resulting in hyena being squeezed to the point where it died. Although Arata hoped for more. Works but it didnt get destroyed. But its dead I guess. -hey dont steal my kills! Somehow Flynn was not thankful for Aratas help. Arata looked around and as it seemed there were not many hyenas left and most of them were getting destroyed now. The battle has ended or maybe it did not. -three large elephants coming from the right. While the last of hyenas were being dealt with, Vivi shouted the alarm. Arata looked to the right and there he saw three large elephants which werent exactly elephants as they had three trunks each. Still the problem was that those elephants were of the size of the one that hyenas were eating before, meaning, they were even bigger than lion, they at least had six meters in height. Still while lion was swift and fast the elephants were fatter and they didnt have the thin legs. Their legs would actually end up crushing anyone who would get underneath them. Oh. This is bad. -Musashi, Flynn, take one each on the sides and kite them out to the left and right. Everyone else focus their attacks on the middle one. Make enough power to push the elephant back and afterwards nuke it down! Still when there were people who did not know what to do in situations that looked quite hopeless there would a person who would already have the solution to the problem and voice it right away. Musashi and Flynn ended up rushing forward to meet the rushing in elephants and Flynn took one to the right and Musashi took the one to the left. In the meantime Vivi shooted the one in the middle with her bow and it kept on going forward. Soon later other range started as well. Do I even need to do anything? Seeing every spells, arrows, bolts and flying red things flying over his head Arata arrived at the conclusion that there might not be really need for him to do anything. Still even with the armada like this the elephant was still charging forward, well maybe until one point. Levi ended up running towards the right flank from the left side where he stood earlier. There he started generating lights around his shield that after combining into one orange bubble that flied up a little. Ah that spell. After the orange bubble was in place all the fire power that was going at the elephant ended up going through it and then coming out from it with its new form. The attacks both increased in the power and size. [Sword slash] Arata and other melee also ended up adding something from them as well and the middle running elephant was meet with overwhelming power that not only stopped it charge but completely destroyed him. -okay now team A and also Bran and Thesar go deal with Flynns elephant. All the rest deal with the other elephant! The party split up and ended up dealing with both elephants at once. Arata ended up running towards the elephant that Flynn was tanking and started unleashing his dps on the right back foot of it. Apart from elephant slightly moving and trying to stomp on Arata there was little else that Arata had to do. The other dpses were the same. The only one who had the fun was probably Flynn as he was defending against three elephants trunks that were falling down on him but he was both dodging and blocking them well while attacking at them with his axe whenever he could. Although this time there was not instant kill the elephant after about 4 minutes was dead. After Arata looked back to the other elephant, that one was already dead as well so this time the battle ended for sure. There were no more surprise enemies rushing at them this time. -lets group up once again and continue! We are nearly there! The party went back to its usual formation soon after and about 5 minutes later the walk continued. Arata was once again back on the right flank of the formation with Julia walking next to him. -hmm, surprisingly it ended up well. Arata started. -haha, I thought that I will die when I had to defend against those hyenas. No I think I would actually die if I didnt receive support from the back at that time. -if that was the case you shouldnt bother with helping me. -how do you know it was me? -the attack came from your direction and you just sell yourself anyway. -well when I saw that you got attacked by four of them together I had to do something, right? -nothing would happen if I took those attacks. -you never know if nothing would happen, sometimes you can get one shooted just like that out of sudden, I couldnt let that happen, right? Hmm, now that I think about it if my attacks can one shoot people by cutting their head off, then I can get one shooted as well. -still you should prioritize yourself. -ah no, I wasnt in pinch because I helped you. It was simply because I am not good at tanking. I am not good at blocking and I dont want to get hurt either as it hurts thats why I always used my speed to avoid being attacked or fight in close combat for too long while facing enemy. When I play in party then I usually just have to dps but when fighting alone I am using hit and run tactic. -hit and run as a melee? -well it works like this, quick move towards the opponent hit and moving away before he reacts. Its quite different from my dodging near the enemy and attacking nonstop. Still I guess there arent many people that can do what I do so for speed type melee something like this probably works. -I see anyway while I was saying about it ending bad, I mean the elephants no hyenas. -hmm? But werent elephants were much easier. -well, yes with that tactic it was easy fight them but when I first saw them charging at us I somehow had the feeling that someone will die again. Arata was not lying there. Even if he himself could survive by rushing away from the elephant on jumping onto it, the others who were not that agile could have problems. -honestly I panicked at that moment myself as well. After all we just finished one fight that was not easy and another one started right away. Julia answered. -well I wouldnt say I panicked but I didnt see it end up this well. -and why it did not end bad? Julia asked obvious question. -hmm, I already said that, its because of that guy tactic that he made in second. -haha, so you finally see Shins greatness Wait did she just make me said it? -in this group it was always like this. Anytime something unexpected happens and anytime we think that this is the end, Shin with few words of wisdom will change the tides of battle immediately. Even though those were the words of maiden in love, there was much of truth in them. -eh well after experiencing the raid for the first time in EOA, I dont think that I will ever be a good raid leader here. -haha, dont worry about it that much Arata. Also there arent many people that would be able to lead the raid in the west where unexpected happen all the time. Comparing yourself to Shin is also not good. Remember what I told you, Shin is the famous raid leader that any guild would want to get. Well she did say that once. -yes about that, how exactly did he become famous? -well its quite simple. This party was posting on the internet how they defeated this or that boss or completed this or that dungeon. Then many people would watch those videos just to learn the correct tactic for this or that boss. Around Karma, practically everyone is using Shins tactics to complete dungeons. -okay I understand that he is famous in Karma but you said worldwide. -its natural that even if people were not going to use it, the news would spread and the fact that someone could confirm them just by looking at the videos on the internet made it even stronger. -wait, do you mean that this expedition is also going on the internet!? -well, probably not. You know not everyone liked those videos in the group and in the first place they were posted without everyones knowledge. Actually I dont even know, I wasnt in the party at that time. Anyway currently no one is making any videos anymore well at least they dont go public. -thats good then. -what you dont want to be famous? I think that some people would be impressed by seeing how you destroyed that lion in one attack. -well, being famous is a one thing but letting other people know your skills is another. -I see well thats reasonable I guess. Still its not like you can hide everything forever. Also I dont know if you knew but the news about black-white haired swordsman who could keep up with Karmas rank zero already spread. While we were in Larisane and there was a break I even found a video that someone posted on the internet of your fight with Rin in the arena you know. -wait, what! -why are you surprised? Remember I also was watching that fight and it was not something that you can see very often, especially when it did not involve the game skills. So naturally if you see a fight like this in arena its obvious that someone is going to post it on the internet later on. Not to mention that there are even people, that posts every single fight in arenas on the internet, and then if there is a special fight like yours its going to be posted everywhere. Sure normally people dont have time to watch it although your fight did have a lot of views. -but what about peoples rights? No one ever asked me about this. -hmm, if you want to go into it then you could probably remove that video from that channel but its already in the internet so it would be fighting against the windmills. You will never be able to remove it completely and people already saw it so its too late anyway. Internet always followed its own rules. Anyway if you wanted that fight to be hidden from peoples eyes then you should ask Rin to do it elsewhere rather than in a place with so many spectators. -well, I didnt mind spectators that much but I didnt know that it will go that far. Oh wait a second The conversation had to be stopped for a second as one of the beasts avoided the range attacks and managed to break through. Still Arata just slashed it with one sword starting the swing from the left down corner and ending it in the right top one. The beast died soon after. -where were we? Ah yes well at least that was a fight without spells so no one will find them out. -well, its not like people you meet will immediately recognize you, and get a clue on what you can do. For something like that you need to be really famous, you know. Your fight will be a cool video to watch but people will forget about it soon after. -I see, its nothing bad then. -why do you say its something bad, dont everyone want to be famous? -hmm, I think that being famous isnt that good also even though it was Rin, for one I dont want to be famous for losing to the girl. -oh, I will get angry Arata. You think that girls are weaker? -no, no definitely not, and definitely not in EOA, rather I already got beaten by Rin so many times that they are much more scary to me. -haha, yep gender will not signal anyones strength, although what you said is something like male pride right? Well you are not the first one to have it. Or rather there are way too many people who have it. -I would say it is natural instinct of ours. -even if it is natural instinct, I would say its a little silly. Although its still isnt the worst. In EOA, I already meet some males who ended up jumping right in front of me to save me from dying and in process they ended up dying themselves. When I asked them later on why they did it, they answered that its their duty as a men, can you understand them Arata? -hmm I think I would probably end up doing the same if there was the occasion. Arata ended up answering honestly. -no! You too Arata. Why? No dont answer it, I do know why but even though I do know why its so illogical! Ah I will never be able to understand guys. -hmm, I think that the answer is rather simple. We just dont want to see a beautiful girl before us get hurt. -I told you, you dont need to answer, well thanks for the complement. Still, does this argument hold for people like you who have girlfriend? -yes why not? Its not like its anything bad right? Is there anything bad by rescuing a friend? -probably not but I am not playing this game to be a damsel in disaster! -in this case you just have to be good enough to not need help, right? -I guess still, its also not that simple. Sometimes even before anything happen there are people who will try to sound cool and say lines like hide behind me or I will protect you dont worry. -haha . -what? Dont tell me that you also go around saying things like that. -not exactly but the words that you said just reminded me of the reason why Levi is playing the semi tank. He said exactly that he wants to be tank from time to time to say those lines. -and what about you? -fine I might have done that once or twice but I wasnt trying to sound cool then. -yes, yes definitely. Arata didnt want to continue that conversation anymore as for the whole time he was in losing position anyway. The walk continued. The party was traveling nearly for the full day already as the sun was now slowly disappearing behind the horizon. Currently it was red shining in the west which was a little to the Aratas right. Even though the party was traveling west it seemed like their current direction was more of west-south. That was the route that they chose and even though it was adding to the distance, it was probably the safest route from all available. The forest that they were going to was for a long time now in seeing distance and now it seemed that really soon in about ten minutes they will finally reach it and as it was said earlier, there will be a stop in some suitable place. Still the day was not going to end that well. -Shin, I am not sure what it is, and its probably still far but there are some concerning sounds coming from the south Bran ended up reporting at some point. -I will send my eagle to check it out. With that said Bran ended up summoning an eagle, which soon ended up flying up the skies. The eagle wasnt that big so its probably was used mainly for scouting like this although in EOA you can use anything you want in any way you want if you only realize that fact. Still despite the fact that Brans profession was called beastmaster he was not using beasts but rather he was shooting his crossbows all day long. He also had many skills that were connected to the shooting so despite being a beastmaster he was a marksman. It seemed like the EOAs class system that chose the players profession as so called destiny was no foolproof, or maybe you could simply ignore your destiny and do what you want. In the end, EOA had a lot of freedom. The walk continued but after about 3 minutes the eagle returned bringing bad news. -how is it Bran? Shin asked. -well, its says enemies are incoming. Currently based on the sound I would say that its similar to some kind of cavalry? -cavalry? oh, I see. So how long till they get her? -hmm, we might have a chance to reach that forest before they come still there are some good news as I would say that their number isnt really terrifying. -so its not an army size. -nope, its shouldnt be more than the last time. -still I dont think that they are reckless enough to attack us without any plan. Anyway lets try to avoid them completely. Everyone! It might be a little too much to ask after the full day of fighting but we are going to run the rest of the distance and enter the forest immediately. -what if there is some army of spiders waiting for us there? Vatras ended up asking. -who knows, there is little information on that area. -little information? Then why do we choose that route? -well its because any other route was a dead end with something bad killing the whole expeditions. Thats why I think that its better to try the unknown. -we are already this far? -no its rather other groups didnt go that far in this part of the west. Anyway lets try to reach the forest as quickly as possible. Musashi make some good tempo that everyone will be able to follow! -okay. And so the party started to move much faster than throughout the whole day so far. Still even though the whole day was full of fights and there was no real rest, everyone still had some reserves for the last dash. -hey, I am all up for running and in the first place I think we should do it from the very beginning but why now? Arata ended up asking Julia. -who knows, but there must be some reason for it. The party ran for the next three minutes and in a short time got close to the forest but then when the distance was not that much anymore the enemy appeared. -Shin, we wont be able to outrun them after all. Bran reported seeing the enemies on the horizon. -in this case we will fight them off. Everyone, our friends from the morning have come for another round, even though it seems like there are only twelve of them I doubt that they would simply rush at us without nothing in store. Still, it will take them two or three minutes to reach us so in that time we will get to the forest and prepare our defense by facing back to the forest. After hearing it Arata looked behind him. In the distance he could saw a shadow of the enemies that were coming at them. They were, just as Shin said earlier the friends from the morning, the centaurs. Hmm? Why are they attack us with only this number after they got beaten up at morning. Well maybe its because at that time no one lived to tell the tale. Arata did not see that matter was really concerning but still did as instructed. Soon enough the party positioned itself while having forest behind them. Luckily there werent any creatures in that forest that would welcome them with the attack. In fact that forest seemed a little strange as despite it being 18:00, the white mists appeared in it even if the mist was something that usually would appear only in the morning. Still, that was completely not concerning matter at all as in the end the only thing that mists did were interrupting the visibility also, the party was not entering the forest right now. The number of centaurs this time was twelve. In comparison to the morning centaurs those were slightly bigger and more muscular but in the end they were still of the height of a rider on the horse. The other difference with them would be that few of them had numberous scars on their bodies. The one in the middle who seemed like the leader of that cavalry had the largest amount of them and he even had a pirate like black eye-patch on his left eye. Then the next difference between the centaurs would be that current one had much better equipment. Those werent only swords axes shields or bows, it seemed like they also had magicians on their sides as there were centaurs the hold staffs and some books. Then there were also the fact that those centaurs had armor on their bodies. In this case also, some were wearing plate armor while others leather or cloth equipment. Are those some elite centaurs? Well, I wont probably even be able to fight against them as the range will take them down before they get close. Those were Aratas thoughts as he stood on the right flank looking at the charge of the centaurs and then the prepared for the assault party. -fire! The range assault began. Every time Arata saw it he could only image what the other side must feel. When the artillery was aiming at you with this fire power there was little that most could do. Still this time the centaurs answered with solid defense. All of their mages set up some green barrier at the front that blocked away all the range attacks. -everyone prepare yourself it will be a hard battle, one wrong move and you may even die! Shin shouted it although everyone realized that it wont be easy after seeing this defense. The centaurs were closing in with the barrier at front of them that blocked out the attack but then when they were thirty meter away from the party, the centaur on the front with black eye patch jumped out from the barrier and with incredible speed rushed forward. -take him down! Seeing the target the range quickly changed their target of attack, still only few of their attacks managed to reach that centaur in time and also that centaur had some green magic appear near his wounds anytime he got hit. That magic was probably casted by one of the centaurs healers at the back. The boss centaur was ignoring all the attacks and continued his charge. He was charging with the simple looking metal silver sword at the left side of the formation, from Aratas perspective. There Musashi was already ready to take the horizontal slash that the centaur was most likely going to use given the position of his sword and that attack indeed came, although the attack swing started surprisingly early. Two meters before Musashi. The moment the centaur with the eye patch started the swing, the sword itself somehow in instant turned from the simple silver metallic sword into a one gigantic silver metallic sword thats blade was at least as long as seven meters. The gigantic sword still had the momentum of the swing while it was in the small form so it came with the incredible speed at the whole left side of the flank. The first one to meet this surprising attack was Lee who was on the furthest to the left side of formation. It was the same position that Julia had on the right side. Lee managed to react to the attack despite being completely not prepare for it, still his reaction was wrong as he tried to jump over that gigantic sword thinking that it will go much slower, but the sword still had the same speed as before. In the end, Lee only started his jump and the sword came on him and cut him in half which naturally killed him instantly. The second person on the left side Konan, did not react at all, although that might have save him. Konans height was lower than that of the dwarfs so when he just stood on his legs the gigantic sword went over his head and only cut off some of his spiky hair. Then the next person who the sword attacked was Rin. In comparison to two others she reacted to the gigantic sword immediately, still her reaction was bad or rather, what she wanted to do was not what she should even try. Rin was holding two red swords in her hand and prepared to block the attack to defend the rest of the party from getting hit. If no one were to stop that sword it would end up with the sword going through the whole party and probably killing many people in the process. Thats why Rin decided to block this attack, still even though that decision came from the fact that she wanted to defend the party of her now dead friend, it did not mean that that decision was right. After the gigantic sword meet up with two red blades, Rin ended up being pushed away like fly and she ended up flying to the forest with a great speed that made her disappear from the scenery in two seconds. Then lastly the last person that took the attack of the gigantic sword was Musashi who already had his shield ready for the attack. Somehow the shield managed to block the gigantic sword and on the impact Musashi was only slightly moved to the left. Although, his tower shield now had a linear dent in the place where the sword attacked. After the attack the boss centaur was not wasting the time in comparison to the whole team that still did not manage to realize what has just happened. The boss centaur dropped the gigantic sword after the swing was finished. It seemed like he could not use it anymore. Still without delay he continued forward at what remained of the left flank of the formation that was now nearly completely devastated. The boss centaur took the spear that he had on the left side of his horse-like body and with that spear he was going straight at Konan who still like many people was not ready to do anything. Still there was one person that would not get influenced by no matter what happened. Shin in response to boss centaur charge cased one of his runes on the path where the centaur was going it was in the yellow color. The boss centaur ended up stepping right into it and he could no longer move any forward. Still, that did not stop him as he realized that he cant move in seconds and thats why he decided to throw his spear at his prey. The spear flied through the air and in two seconds ended up going right through Konans forehead which resulted in him dying instantly and falling to the ground with the spear in his head. Even Shins quick intervene did not help. Rin? Aratas eyes were currently focused on the forest where Rin just disappeared into. Judging by the strike she just took, it would not be surprising if she just died after crushing into something on her way which would mean that the boss centaur already scored three deaths. -Arata, its not the time to look around the others are coming! Julia brought him back to reality with the shout. -right! Arata shouted back and unsheathed his swords. There was no time to look around as the remaining eleven centaurs also were reaching the party as well. Five of them rushed to the front while remaining six was probably the range and they started shooting from afar. Still Arata had no time to look around and could only focus what was before him. There were three centaurs that were rushing at the right side of the flank. The first one was stopped by Flynn, the other one was pushed back by Hiros water attack, then the third one came at Arata. This one was holding black one-sided axe in the left hand and a leather shield in the other one. This time I should have a little bit more freedom. Because the number of the enemies was not that big Arata did not have to hold the complete formation but only stop the incoming attackers. Currently there was a single enemy so Arata decided to rush out to him. It was only a meter distance but he moved a little. Arata was going to make two horizontal slashed at the legs of the centaurs. Still the centaur using his horse legs made a fast jump to his left and dodged the strike. [Sword enchant: earth] Second after the attack, Arata saw that behind him a large earth fist bullet was coming at him from the mage centaur in the distance. Thats why Arata immediately get ready and cut through the attack with both of his sword which resulted in four pieces scattering around. The centaur that jumped to the Aratas right was second later attacked by Julia. She already managed to wound the opponent three times with her reaper. Still that was only a minor wound. The centaur made a swing with his axe on Julia. Seeing it Arata immediately jumped to his right and blocked the strike with two of his swords crossed together as it was a powerful blow. Even if the other centaurs were probably not as strong as the boss one, they still were elite. -dont concern yourself with me! Arata blocked the strike without thinking but there was absolutely no need for that as Julia quickly moved to the right and dodged it completely, she shouted those words and seeing that the centaur stopped at Arata. She attacked at the side which even though was armored did not provide much resistance. The centaur moved its body and blocked with the shield Julias attacks still that made him open on Aratas side and Arata did not waste a second and attacked with his swords. He attacked at centaurs front right leg and cut it off with double slash. Afterwards, Arata dodged the axe attack that centaur made at him. Still after that attack the centaur, fall to the ground as he lost his balance without his leg. -I will finish him off. -Julia, watch out! Julia prepared herself for the strike but the position in which she was did not allow her to see the range centaurs. Arata saw the arrow that was flying surrounded by the red light with the great speed at Julia. He immediately stomped on the centaurs body that was before him and then from there he jumped at Julia and brought her to the ground. While doing so he ended up receiving a linear wound from the arrow on his back. Still after landing over her, Arata didnt even have the time to hear her thanks as he saw a large thunder ball coming in his direction. Seeing that they were on the ground the centaurs mage decided to attack them. [Sword enchant: thunder] Arata get back on his feet just in time to cut through that spell, still second later he did that he felt a pain in on his legs and ended up falling to the ground right away. He is still alive! It was the fallen centaur who attacked him with his back horse legs and when he hit with them it hurt. Still that centaur couldnt move right now well so Julia attacked him second later on his bottom where he didnt have any metallic armor and with five quick attacks where her rapier was shining in yellow light the centaur dropped dead. Arata started to get back on his feet and then he heard someones shout from the back. -Musashi! It was a desperate shout so Arata turned back his head for a second. There he saw Musashi who was not tanking the boss centaur with the black eye patch. Despite the large strong attacks that the boss centaur was making using now two large black axes in his hands, Musashi was standing firm and was defending against them while at the same time he also sometimes used his trident to attack at that centaurs body. Still the shout that came meant something different. While Musashi was blocking out the double strike from the boss centaur from behind him a large darkish energy ball came. It was fired out from one of the magician centaurs in the range line. Still Musashi was now wearing his helmet and was tanking the boss centaur. His line of sight did not include the range centaurs and also there was no one who could block off that attack, nor there was anyone who could set up some kind of barrier. Even though there was a shout, Musashi was barely holding back against centaur with the eye patch, he did not have time to look around. The dark energy bolt landed on Musashis body and about few seconds later when its disappeared only Musashis metal boots remained. The death count increased once again. Then second later Aratas image was blocked by the stream of water that fired right before him. It seemed like while Arata looked in Musashis direction there were five arrows fired out from the centaurs side at his position. The one who blocked them was Hiro who appeared there in flash out of nowhere. -Arata, we are going to attack their range! -what about the melee? -leave them to others. We are going to have six centaurs of our own. Its slightly suicidal for us two to do it but Shin said that we have to distract them while rest will deal with the melee. Arata made one quick look at the party. Currently even though Musashi just died nothing changed and the fight continued. Including the one that he and Julia just killed there were two other centaurs killed off which meant that there were three of them left. Currently Flynn was tanking two of them while the boss centaur was now focused on Levi who jumped in after Musashis death. -okay, lets go get them although rather than distracting them, we are going to kill them off. Even though the boss centaur was incredible danger, the same could be said about the range centaurs, like their mages who could use spells of the level that would vaporize the tank in the instant, also there was the fact that the boss centaur was devastating partly because he kept on receiving heals from the healer centaur in the range line. -well, it cant be anything else. Hiro answered, it seemed like he also was coming there for blood. Even though the leg attack of the centaur hurt, Arata quickly get back on his feet and second after he did that he even received a heal from someone that healed him completely. Arata and Hiro started running at the centaurs that were in the range, then also surprisingly there was one person who followed along. -I am coming as well! Julia ran up to them and said those words, but after that she started to run faster and it seemed like she wanted to attack first. Still their movement was quickly seen by the range that started focusing all their fire power on them. -Julia, hide behind me! -Arata, remember when I told you that I hate lines like that. -its not time to be picky. Hiro you two, both of you run behind me. I will take care of incoming shots. Hiro start attacking them with your spells while we run. Even though unwillingly, Julia listened and got behind Arata, Hiro was doing it from the start so for him there was not a change. [Sword enchant: water] [Sword enchant: thunder] [Sword enchant: earth] [Sword enchant: light] [Sword enchant: fire] The range centaurs were in the distance of 60 meters now as they backed off after providing the barrier for melee charge. Still that meant that Arata and others had to run quite a distance. Arata was running at the front at cutting through the spells and arrows that were coming at him. There were six centaurs in range. Three of them looked like mages although one of them was a healer as he was not attacking. The other three had the bows. Upon seeing the charge at them, they started to slowly go back and when later on they started to run away. -one of them stayed, take him down! I will continue to defend against the spells but they are now scattered around so look out for them as well. Arata said that to his teammates on his back while seeing the one centaur in robe that stayed behind. It was the centaur that was a healer and it seemed like he was too focused on healing the boss centaur with the eye patch to realize that he is under attack. Hearing this Julia rushed forward and passed by both Arata and Hiro with ease and after she did that her whole body shined in the yellow color and second later like laser she went forward right through the healer centaurs body. The ended effect was the healer centaur being now slit in half and Julia stopping two meters behind him. She killed the centaur even before Arata had to cut through any spells. [Sword enchant: earth] It did not mean that he didnt have to cut through anything later on though. -the rest scattered around so I think that we should do the same and chase after them. Hiro proposed the idea. -okay, just dont get yourself killed, Julia will you be okay? Arata ended up asking although to his answer he only got annoyed look of Julia. -lets go then. The three scattered around. Arata went first after the first centaur that he saw which was one with the bow. The centaur was running back while his torso was shooting arrows at Arata who was running after him. Hmm, it is like running after the horse in full gallop. [Lighting speed] Arata was not going to try his strength against racing with the horse and turned on his skill right away. His speed increased drastically and even though the centaur could probably still run away with its horse body, because he was maintaining the speed so far he was quickly catch before realizing that he has to speed up. Arata used the moment of the distraction and after catching up to the centaur he cut of both of its back legs which resulted in centaur crushing on the ground. The centaur still managed to fire his last arrow that he had already in hand but that didnt change much and Arata killed of the centaur in seconds. This centaur had only leather on its body so there was practically no resistance against Aratas swords. [Sword enchant: fire] Arata without trouble quickly located another centaur that just shoot at him some kind of fire spell that was in the shape of flying fire lance. Naturally Arata cut through it and started running after the mage centaur. Still because this centaur was well aware of Aratas speed catching up to him was problematic. [Sword enchant: ice] Not to mention that Arata still had to defend against his attacks as the mage centaur was still casting its spells on Arata while running still that plan of his backfired. The centaur that was running away ended up running right into the rock that was on his way and in effect he ended up crushing into the ground. His front legs could not support his weight anymore so the centaur could no longer run away, and thats why he bet everything on his last card. A colorful ball appeared in his hand that combined the elements of fire, earth and light. It was some kind of combination spell that Arata never saw before. The second that spell was ready the centaur threw it at Arata. [Reflect enchant] So far Arata still was cutting through the spells as he always did because he was used to it still now that something of unknown element came at him that was not possible. There was still possibility of dodging the spell but that was also quite risky as the spell could for example explode. Thats why Arata ended up pushing it back to the caster. Arata reflected the spell and it returned at its caster and when it did the second before it reached him the spell indeed did explode. The explosion was big enough that it covered the whole body of the centaur who disappeared afterwards. Oh, I just wanted to test my spell once again but it really did explode. Anyway where is the next one? Arata looked around for another centaur. There was one archer centaur in a distance that he saw but he was chased by Julia across the field. I really need to find out what is the deal with that running speed. Seeing her being able to chase after the centaur without any skills or spells made Arata thought like that. It still seemed like it will take her some time before she manages to catch it though but it didnt seem like she had any troubles right now also Arata didnt want to hear what she would say if he were to go to help her. Then there was another mage centaur that was currently playing around with Hiro. It seemed like that fight came to pure power struggle as both Hiro and the mage centaur ended up powering their spells at each other. The mage centaur was firing some kind of black energy beam while Hiro was doing his usual water beam as well, still there it also seemed like Hiro was wining as his beam was pushing back the enemys beam. There was no need to help him. Then Arata located the body of the last range centaur archer who ended up being killed by someone from the party as that centaur ended up running in the direction of the party and there he was killed. Lastly it also seemed like the party managed to deal with the remaining melee centaurs including the boss centaur with the eye patch. Because of Aratas, Hiros and Julias attack on the range, the rest of the party didnt have unexpected situations anymore and even though the boss centaur was strong with the healer that was backing him up dead, he also followed the fate of his comrades. There also were no more deaths in that fight anymore as the fire power of the centaurs was disrupted. Still, the losses of that fight were big, currently the only person that Arata could see from the group B was Vatras. In comparison Musashi, Lee and Konan died in this battle. Then Yume who was also part of the group was no longer with them for the long time already and lastly Rin, who was sent flying to the woods was nowhere to be seen either. Arata ignored the two last centaurs that Hiro and Julia were finishing off and ran up towards the party with his lighting speed still on. He did not exchange many words with them there, nor did he listen to the story about the fight with the boss centaur with the eye patch. He just asked them, -where is Rin? but no one could answer to his question. Arata also did not wait for the answer too long and after five seconds of silence, he rushed into the woods without a second though. Next Chapter Chapter 39 “The forest of the lost souls.” Chapter 39 The forest of the lost souls. If people had to choose a single attribute that makes EOA an evil game, then the most would probably choose be the death penalty system. The death penalty system is even worse than the difficulty of finding quest or the fact that there is no chat system in the game. One might say that there are games where dying means losing your avatar completely but in the first place the systems like that does not suit the model of MMORPGs at all. In MMORPG one can do many various things but in the end, all those various things come down to two categories, PvP and PvE. PvP is a shortcut for player versus player and as the name suggest it is simply about players fighting each other. MMOs had many different types of that activity as it was one of the main feature of online games is that they should be played with other people. In EOA however enjoying PVP was quite tricky and simplest reason for that was that PVP had a high risk of dying and the moment someones dies, their fun stops. After dying you end up losing a lot of levels which result in need of regaining those levels before doing anything else. Thats why EOAs PVP have an incredible risk that goes along with it, although some would say that its adds to the emotions as even if the in-game death was not true death, there was a reason why everyone was afraid of dying. Also it was not only losing levels and be stopped from playing for two days. The worst thing about dying would be the feeling that you get after experiencing it. It was not something that one could get used to and after experiencing it few times some people would do anything to avoid feeling it again, which also included stopping playing at all. Then the other attribute of MMORPG, PvE was about player fighting against the environment, meaning anything that is not other player. Going to a dungeon is PvE, completing a quest is PvE, going for an expedition is PvE and picking up flowers is also PvE. The main feature of PvE was overcoming the challenges that were prepared inside the game. Having a good PvE in the MMO was always tricky but it also decides how good the game is. The main point is that it should be hard so players dont complete it right away but at the same time it cant be impossible because if no one completes it then there is no meaning for it to exist in the first place. Here, EOA as VRMMORPG completely ignores the fact that something can be impossible to complete. The world lives its own life and does not give any help to the players for which the game was labeled as evil. Despite that fact people do play it though as if you cant do something then either try to become better or start doing something else. In EOA, even if something leaves you in despair, there are still many things you could do. The biggest problem in EOA PvE, is not that fights are hard though, as after all if they were easy then there would be no meaning to them. MMORPGs were always focused on overcoming challenges and after dying to a certain boss hundreds of time and then finally killing him, there is no better feeling in MMO other than that. If you defeat the boss on your first try then, you wont feel anything, but if you will struggle against him for many nights in the row and then finally on n-th day win, you will feel like the winner. Thats EOAs death penalty system is so bad as it interrupts that process. You simply cannot fight against a certain boss for n-th times that easily. Anytime you fail, you receive a huge set back that wont allow you to repeat the challenge that soon and the higher level you are the worse it becomes. Then the last thing that was really bad about the death penalty was that there was no counter measure against it. Even if some games did follow the similar pattern where they prevent people from playing for a certain time and losing some levels, there was at least a counter measure against it in a form of resurrection spell. In MMORPGs the resurrection spell is a spell that brings players back to life without any penalty and without teleporting to resurrection spot in some city. With resurrection spell, where player died, the player would resurrect and he would be ready to fight once again. This counter measure allowed players to both die in dungeons and sacrifice some players without second thought. As long as the party wins, the dead would be resurrected and it would be as their death never happened. Still EOA did not follow this pattern. Even though many players spend a lot of time to find a resurrection spell, no one managed to do it. The common spell than in average MMO was something that at least every healer had, in EOA was an ancient legend that no one achieved. Still players did not give up and still believed that this spell somewhere exists. In the end though, even if someone did indeed find resurrection spell it would not change the death penalty at all for most of the players and thats why, people who already played EOA for a long time, were already used to this situation and knew that there are no easy second chances. Five deaths, after three days and we are not even half way there. The man in the white cloak thought like that while looking at the campfire. After the fight against elite centaurs the party made a stop right before entering the forest. In comparison to their yesterday camping spot todays one did not bring any special defense and in a way, they were actually out in the open. Because of that more people had to be on the guard duty. Even now there were five people who were awake and ready for the fight, and that did not even include Shin. However, despite the fact that today they had a camping stop like that, not a single fight happened since the fight against centaur band. Even if there were some monsters in the distance on the fields, it didnt seem like they will attack any time soon and also they were in quite the distance. There were no sounds coming from the forest either and given that it was Bran who said that, there really was nothing coming from that side. Well, five deaths are not bad, I was expecting at least two more by now. We already had few hard fights so we are actually doing way better than I expected. Currently despite five deaths on the journey so far, Shin was positive about the outcome of the expedition. If they go on the current rate, they should be able to reach the heaven gates. His earlier predictions about reaching the heavens gate ended up being not really accurate. The first reason for that would be that Shin did not expect the three that has joined to be this good. The other main reason for his prediction to be wrong would be the fact that some of his teammates also become much stronger during the time of his absence. Five months in game time was a lot of time and it also seemed like Shin did not exactly have a good grasp on some peoples abilities before that break as well. The first one here would probably be Hiro, although here Shin well knew that he didnt have a good grasp on him as even before the break, Hiro was doing everything like it was not a big deal for him. In the current expedition he also rarely did anything else than shooting his most basic skill water ball. Although thanks to the luck by draw tournament, Shin understood Hiros current level, although even there he did not see everything. Then the other person that Shin had currently small grasp on was Julia. Here was happening for two reasons. First one was because she was the newest member in the party and Shin didnt have an occasion to see her in action that many times, then the other reason would be that Shin was not really good at talking with her for others obvious reasons so. Yes, it is going good, or at least it will be going good as long as those two return. Otherwise its a failure as the winning condition will be lost. Earlier on, at the beginning of the battle against the centaurs, Rin ended up disappearing from everyones sight and despite the fact that the battle took about 25 minutes to finish she did not appear afterwards. Then when the battle was nearly its end, Arata ended up rushing into the forest in hope of finding her but that also ended up with him disappearing from everyones sight never to be seen again. At that time, when Shin saw Arata going inside the forest it didnt seem like that bad of an idea. Probably sending a healer with him would have been slightly better but at that time Shin saw three clear options before him. One: Arata and Rin returning unharmed. Two: Arata returns with Rin who is slightly damaged. Three: Aratas return alone after seeing Rins dead body somewhere. Those were the three options that Shin predicted to be most probable but any of those options would happen after no more than 10 minutes. No matter how strong the blow that Rin took from the boss centaur was, she couldnt fly off that far, she would definitely ended up stopping at some tree. Still now about five hours already passed since Arata went into the forest and neither he or Rin did return. Normally one would assume that something happen to both of them, like some strong creature killing them. Shin did not have an information on what creatures are inside this forest as he chose to go through this forest only because the other routes that he could choose would be impossible for them. So far the route they choose was the easiest of all routes in west but Shin could choose it only because there were informations from other expeditions that traveled to the west. Still those informations were at its end as the place where Shin group was right now was already quite far to the west where barely any expedition reached and those that did reach that far ended up choosing different routes where the oblivion awaited them, so Shin didnt even think of going there. Still now that Shin saw this forest he realized that it was a mistake that they choose this route. In other routes there would still be a chance for victory if everyone gave their best, and Shin even had a plan that would require only the sacrifice of four people in other routes fight, here however it was a truly a dead end. But what is it doing here? Shin could not understand one thing though. The forest that he saw before him, even though Shin had absolutely no information about it he did know this forest very well or rather way too well. It was one of two main things that Shin wanted to avoid in the west. One was a demon-like boss that has an immortal phase which can be stopped only after half of the members of the group die in it. Naturally Shin wanted to avoid killing of the half of his group, not to mention the impossible battle that followed after as without special means demons were unkillable. But then the other thing that Shin wanted to avoid the most was the forest of lost souls. Shin did not really know why people ended up calling that forest like that but that was the name that people used to describe this place. The forest of lost souls was a place which you can easily enter but you will never be able to leave afterwards. The relations of other players that entered it were always the same, -once you enter the forest of lost souls the only thing you can do is to commit suicide and then respawn back in the city. Why was it impossible to leave? no one described it well but what they said was quite simple, there was no way of leaving that forest normal way. The forest is always filled with the white mist on all times of the day be it midday or night. Because of that mist, once you enter the forest your vision will be limited to that of two meters ahead and everything else around you will be the white. Even if you run straight for many days you will not be able to leave that place. Because of informations like this, despite all the worst case scenarios that could happen in the expedition of the west, entering a forest of the lost souls was one of the top two. One thing was strange though. Naturally, while asking about that place Shin also asked about the location of this forest and based on what people said the location of the forest should be way, way, way to the north from where the party currently was. The informations about the forest of lost souls were coming mostly from people that went with their groups north-west from Karma and definitely not south-west from Larisane. In the end though, that did not matter anything right now as even despite the fact that it was a nighttime right now, Shin saw before him a forest filled with the white mist. Maybe the informations were wrong but that does not matter right now. This forest fits the description perfectly and also the fact that those two did not return makes it even more believable as after all I cant really image what could kill them there without making any sound. So, this is the forest of the lost souls, no doubt about it. It may not be the same that I heard about but that simply means that there are two or even more locations like that in the west. Thats sound like a reasonable explanation. The evidence was before him so there were not many other conclusions that Shin could arrive at. Still, I think that I should make the choice already. We have already waited for too long. Its been five hours since the battle with the centaurs ended, after which the party started the break. The break itself was originally planned anyway so it was nothing strange to make it. Also everyone expected Arata and Rin to come back soon. Still, the time went on and in the end they did not return. So far Shin waited long and simply hoped that the answer he reached was wrong. He somehow managed to stop everyone else from trying to follow Aratas footsteps so no one entered the forest so far. With hope Shin waited for those five hours and he even managed to take a nap for the two hours in the middle of it. It was not only because he was tired after the whole day of fights. Taking the nap was actually the maneuver in which he stopped few people from entering when he was slowly running out from arguments to stop them. As a raid leader I have to make the choice, although given our winning condition I dont have much to choose from. Still I guess the second choice will actually do more harm than good so in the end, there is nothing else than that. Shin stood up and walked towards Vatras who was currently on the guard duty. -Shin, should I wake everyone and we are going in? Vatras ended up asking. -no, there is no need. -so what do we do? Even though its probably the best solution you didnt decide to abandon them, right? Vatras knew Shin well enough to know that Shin was ready to make decisions like that. Sometimes to achieve something one would need to sacrifice something else and Shin knew it well and anytime when he was left with no choice Shin would do 100% of times without even looking back, still this time, this choice was not one of the options. -how is it that the best solution when our end goal is for them to reach the heavens gate? If it were a normal expedition to the west without any purpose in mind, Shin would probably do what Vatras just said to him. He would treat the two lost in the forest as dead and simply move on. Still this time the goal was not simple traveling through the west. -but then what about not trying to help them at all. You want to just keep waiting here until they come out on their own? -I already bet on this possibility but the longer we wait the smaller chances of it happening and it would be impossible to stop some of us from going inside the forest on their own. -I guess you are right. But then again if we dont look for them and at the same time we dont wait for them and also we dont abandon them then what other course of action there is left? Vatras was slightly confused by Shins plan even if Shins plan was quite simple. -the option that has the highest success rate is only one person entering the forest and looking for them. -but wont that only add to the fire!? It will only become one more person lost because of it. -you are right, still its way better than many people getting lost in the forest, right? -and what will stop others from entering the forest soon after that one person enters. -you Tras. Shin quickly answered. -me? And what about you? -naturally I will be the one to enter the forest, right? The only chance for us to still achieve our winning condition is for someone to enter the forest, find both Rin and Arata and then lead them out from that forest. -but isnt it like impossible to leave that forest? -if we assume that it is impossible then we have already lost. The only chance for us to win is to bet on the possibility of leaving this forest existing. Maybe other people simply overlooked something or maybe they didnt even try hard enough to look for the exit, or we simply never met anyone who managed to leave this forest. Anyway no matter what it is our chances for victory exist only under the assumption of this being possible. -and why does it have to be you who enters the forest? -well its because I dont want anyone else than me to get lost. Anyway Tras, before anyone try to stop me from going there, I am going to sneak out while people are still asleep so the rest is up to you. -fine, I guess I can stop the rest from entering for the time being but what I am supposed to do if you dont come back? -hmm well you guys can continue the expedition although the winning condition will be lost. I dont think that Levi will want to continue that quest alone so you guys can search for something in the west or simply return all the way back. It will be your guys decision so you think about it on your own. Also I will just tell you but if I dont come back after certain amount of time I am going for a suicide kill anyway, so looking for me afterwards is pointless. Now then, there is still a matter of sneaking out. Naturally even though Shin decided to search on his own, if he were to tell others about that, most of the people would decide to join him and that was not good. From what Shin knew about forest of the lost souls, even if you were walking next to someone one second you could still lose that person after another second. If more people were to come with Shin more people would get lost and later on there would be more people to find. That was one of the reasons why Shin had to do it alone. Currently the only chance for the winning condition of the expedition to be met, was Shin finding both Arata and Rin and then with them find the way out somehow. [Mirror Image] Shin activated a spell that would a copy of him to distract others while he was escaping. The copy itself couldnt do anything apart from the function that Shin could give it with skill manipulation. Mirror image was a spell that Shin once got from a certain quest. Originally it was useless skill as it was making unmovable clones that would not fool anyone but after working around with it, Shin learned how to make those clones move. It was still only one command that Shin could program within them but just with that the useless skill become really useful at diversions. While the copy Shin walked towards the campfire and sit down back, the real Shin sneaked pass the tree and then later on teleported himself out of there with the use of [Rune: Emerald Gateway]. Shin shoot the green rune only twenty meters away from the position where he stood. But then after teleporting, he arrived in the place that was filled with white mist. Just as the people said, Shin could only see about two meters before him. At the current time he was looking at the brown trunk of the tree and the ground filled with leafs and naturally the green rune underneath his feet. Hmm, I am already in. Just like that. For now lets try if I really cant go out. The first thing that Shin did was trying to get back to where he was a second ago. He once again used the teleport of emerald gateway as the place where he should teleport to was the tree near the camping spot, still the moment Shin tried to use it, the skill did not work. So this is also true. From relations of the other players, there were already people who tried to teleport out of the forest but none of the spells that would help them to get out would work. Then lets try this. After his teleport did not work Shin started to walk in the direction where camp should be. Even though he did used a teleport it was not that far from the camp. But then, even though Shin walked in the good direction for three minutes he could not reach the camping spot anymore. He was walking normally and the ground beneath him did change, the trees trunks change as well, still no matter how far Shin walked the white mist before him did not disappear. That would confirm what people have said about this place. It usually took some time for people to realize their position after entering the forest of the lost souls. Finding out, that there is no way out was not the first thing that one would think about entering the forest like that. Only because Shin knew about it beforehand he only had to confirm if the stories told by other people were correct. Anyway normally, nearly everyone would end up panicking after realizing their position but not Shin. In the first place Shin knew very well what will happen after he enters and that he probably wont be able to leave afterwards and thats why he was completely not surprised by what was happening. There is still one last option that I want to try out. Before doing anything else Shin wanted to try out one last thing. He grabbed the necklace that he had under his shirt and then. [Teleport: Hikari] Nothing happened. -sigh . Well I guess any teleport means any teleport. Because the last form of teleport that Shin tried was quite special, he had small hope that it will work. Unfortunately though it did not. For now, lets just look around. Even though Shin showed confidence to Vatras before going inside the forest, it was not really confidence but rather an act. Currently Shin had absolutely no idea as to how leave the forest with no return as some people were also calling it. Thats why Shin just continued to walk around in hope of finding anything. Also for now, his current objective wasnt even leaving the forest but rather finding Arata and Rin and from what he heard finding other people who got lost in the forest was possible. After five minutes, nothing changed. After ten minutes, nothing changed. After half an hour, nothing changed. After five hours, nothing changed. After ten hours, nothing changed. No, it cant be just this! Shins situation stayed the same, he continued walking forward through the white world and all he could see were the trees that he passed by. During those ten hours he did once try to climb one of those trees still even after reaching the top of it, he still could only see the white mist before him. It was as if the world became an endless forest filled with white mist and there was nothing else in it. Shin did not see Arata, Shin did not see Rin, the only thing that Shin could see were the three trunks and the ground. In this situation, despite the fact that Shin knew that it will most likely happen he could not believe that it was really going to be like that. He expected that something will appear, some kind of clue, that he will find something that will give him a hope of leaving this forest after he finds the others but in the end even after ten hours there was nothing like. I refuse for something as unreasonable as this to exist! After those ten hours Shin lost his calmness but still he continued forward refusing to accept his fate. Unfortunately it seemed like he will not be able to escape it. After five minutes, nothing changed. After ten minutes, nothing changed. After half an hour, nothing changed. After five hours, nothing changed. After ten hours, nothing changed. After fourteen hours, nothing changed. The whole day in total has passed since Shin entered the forest and despite that fact, nothing happened. There was absolutely no change in the surrounding, all that Shin could see were the trunks of the trees and the white world. During those 24 hours, Shin once started to run but running still did not change anything, nothing changed. I have wasted the whole day. At some point with this thought, Shin ended up resting down on the ground. He did that simply because he didnt have any strength left to continue forward, he was already pushing himself for few hours and he arrived at the point where his legs refused to continue walking. The thought that even if he continued nothing would change was too strong in him. In the past few days Shin did not sleep for more than 7 hours combined, he was at his limits that finally kicked in and the moment he decided to lay down on the ground was also the moment in which sleep overtook him immediately. -hahahaha. -hahaha. -quite resilient, was he. -just like any on their first day. -everyone struggles at first but in time, they all give up. -hahaha. -the other one still tries though. -a worthy effort but still all in vein. -hahahaha. -the girl also tried but just like all others she also fell. -not yet, after waking up she started again. -hahahaha! -thats how the humans are, they always struggle but still the hard effort does not pay off here. =hahahaha. Shin didnt really know what was happening but somehow out of sudden, he started hearing voices around him. The voices of man and women, adults and children, there was one common thing about them as somehow they all seemed unnatural and hollow. Shin was currently lying on the ground with his eyes closed. He was probably awaken by those voices and now some people were around him. Still the voices that Shin heard was not of someone whom he would recognize so rather than trying to get up, he decided first to listen to their conversations. Shin well knew that one can learn much while pretending to be a sleep, still somehow this time it did not work. -haha, look at him, a clever one. -those probably have it the hardest, they think that they will be able to succeed where other failed. -but look, look, he is even trying to pretend to be asleep. -hahaha, little does he know that its a dream world where he is right now. Dream world? Shin managed to gather new information and despite what the voices were saying he kept on lying on the ground. -hahaha, such an effort. -look at us, look at us and see your fate. See what awaits you after entering this place. It seemed like the voices were not directed to him. -you want to look dont you, you want, you want. There is no need for you to lay down on the ground. Even if we wanted to, we cant do anything to you. -ah! -no! Why did you tell him that! We wont have any fun now. -seeing him struggle is all the fun I want, hahahaha! Even though Shin wanted to learn something, the only thing he could hear was a mindless chatter of the hollow voices. Still in that chatter Shin learned that the ones that voices belonged to, cannot harm him in any way, thats why Shin decide to get up on pretending to be asleep and asked some questions. Still after he opened his eyes he did see something that he did not expect to se. He was still in the forest but it was no longer the one filled with the white mist. It was still forest of which Shin did not see the end of but the mist was gone. The forest was still not normal though as the creatures that Shin saw were as strange as the endless white mist. The creatures resembled that of a normal human in a way but to be exact it would have been only a white silhouette of a person. Every creature had a human body but there was nothing on it, it was completely white. Still the hands were moving and their heads as well. What are those? -hahaha, he could hold back no longer. -let him speak, let him speak! -tell us boy, what do you first thought after seeing us. The white silhouettes started to mock him. -well, I started to wonder what you are. =hahahaha. Shin answered calmly but he was immediately meet with laughter. -he started to wonder, he says, hahahaha. -someone trying to act thought despite everything. -ah, I like the girls reaction better. -hahahaha, she started to attack us didnt she yes that was the best. -by the girl you mean a girl with the long red hair? =hahahaha. Shin ended up asking the question but he once again only heard the laughter coming from the white silhouettes. There were about ten of them gathered around him although in the distance there was much more, still the others somehow did not seem interested in him at all and they were simply walking forward. What are those things? Still, I need to find out something from them as otherwise I will not go any further. -can you first tell me who you are? Shin once again asked calmly. -hahaha, he thinks that he found something. -they all do but his reactions are boring, I dont like this type. The aggressive ones are much better. -hahaha. I agree. -I think that the other one will also fall soon. Lets go to see him next. And then at one moment the white figures decided to leave as if they lost interest in Shin completely. -wait! I still didnt found out anything! Shin shouted to stop them. -we are not here to tell you anything. -but its a little cruel to leave him like that, isnt it? -yes the others cant speak and he will start bothering them. -I guess In this moment one of the white silhouettes walked back to Shin and started. -listen boy, if you want someone to talk to go in this direction and in five minutes you will find the broken tree. There is a person who likes to talk with the likes of you. Dont bother anyone else as it will bore no fruit and also dont touch the colorful orbs. -what will happen if I do that? -if you do that you wont meet the one I told you about, it was a warning, yet you dont have to be afraid of anything as we cannot do anything to you, look! The white silhouette tried to touch Shin but the white hand just passed through his body like ghost in the movies. -at the same time you also cant do anything to us so it also will be a fruitless effort. Anything that you will try to do be a fruitless effort you just dont know it yet. Still struggle all you want, seeing people like you fighting against their fate is one of our last pleasures in this place. With that the white silhouette with the voice of a woman ended up leaving in the opposite direction of what she pointed to. Shin realized that even the information that he got was already a lot so he didnt try ask her about anything else. Well, for now I will ignore everything and simply walk to where she told me to. Not like I can do anything else and if I try to do anything else I will probably get lost. Even if the forest is no longer filled with the mist, I still have no idea where to go. With this in thought Shin started walking in the direction that the white silhouette pointed to. On his way he passed by many other white silhouettes but they behaved as if they didnt even notice him. They were all just walking forward without any thought, or any sound. Some of them would pass through the tree in their walks but it still did not stop them and they simply went through it like ghosts. Hmm, those things said something about a dream world so, is it something like a liquid dream? Well, I havent been trying this one ever since VR came out but still, I never had an immerse experience like this her. So I have two guesses right now. One, it is a liquid dream and my mind on its own is showing me it as otherwise I might lose my sanity in that white forest. Still, it is a little bit too detailed for it to be a normal dream so the other guess where its some kind of special dream that can happen only in that forest is probably more accurate. Even though there was not much of it, based on what he learned, Shin could arrive at the possible conclusions. Thats why without second thought he decided to follow what this dream wanted him to show. Before Shin managed to reach the fallen three however something strange started to happen. His body felt some kind of force that was moving him to the front and then to the back. Shin felt as if something was touching his body while it was happening but there was nothing that he could see. Still the force was strong enough for it to make him fall to the ground. Luckily though it stopped after a minute. What is happening? Shin could not explain that in any way but luckily it stopped after a minute. Before anything else happens I need to get to that fallen tree. The fallen tree was already in visible distance so Shin started running towards it. In half a minute he reached the tree on he saw the person he was probably meant to talk with. Well, it was only Shins guess but there was someone sitting on that fallen tree and comparison to all other white silhouettes, this one was not completely white. Even though he was still quite white he was wearing gray expensive looking clothes. But it was not only that, he also had a normal human-like face. On his head he also had a hat with a feather. Seeing Shin come over, the grey person reacted to him and looked in his direction. He even stood up when Shin arrived and then he slightly bowed. -welcome to the forest of the lost souls. The grey person said first. -em thanks? No knowing what to say, Shin answered like that. -you are speaking with Mortimer, once the great historian of the city of Corazon Corazon? The city of Corazon was known to Shin. It was actually city that was located few days of journey from Karma to the north. -as you can see currently I am just a shadow of whom I used to be but still I would be happy if I could enjoy a conversation with you, its not often that I can speak with someone who is still living and is not white. Although given your clothes you are quite white yourself. Hahaha Mortimer ended up joking around. Oh, seems like I will finally be able to find out something. -so what is your name? -my name is Shin, a magician from the city of Karma. While speaking with NPCs, Shin had already a prepared introduction like this. -ah Karma, when was the last time I been there. Anyway you probably have many questions so first, let us take care of them. What is the thing you would want to ask about? -well, there are many but first I would like to confirm something. This is a dream world, right? Meaning that my really body is still sleeping in the forest of endless mist, correct? -forest of endless mist? I guess it fits as well. Anyway as you guessed, it is indeed a dream world but its not something that is simply happening in your head. Rather right now you have moved out of your body in a way but in the same way you did not. Well I guess that the best way to describe it is that anyone who falls asleep in the forest of the lost souls is having the same dream and is dreaming of this place and that dream is connected with everyone. -I see then the second thing I want to ask is about the name of this forest. I heard about it earlier and you just said it yourself as well. This forest is called the forest of the lost souls. Does it mean that those white silhouettes are actually human souls? -oh, you have it all figured out already, dont you? Still if I have to correct you on something then its not only souls of humans. If you look carefully you will find the silhouettes of animals and other creatures as well. Just so you know, I am also one of the souls that is trapped in here. -but you look slightly different than others? Why is that? -ah that is quite simple. Its because I am here only for few years and I still remember how I looked. I am not the only one, in this forest there are still some that remember themselves and their souls still resembles how they looked when they lived. On the other hand as you can see the most souls already lost their shape, some of them still have their personalities but in the end all of us will turn into the miserable state in which most of the people are in. You can see that most of the souls are completely white and they are simply walk in the single direction, right? That is because that is the only thing that they remember of their lives, to be exact the last moments before their deaths. Most of people that end up in the forest of the lost souls try to get out from it by simply walking forward. Walk forward that is their last thought and that is the result of all this. The spirit of Mortimer answered. -I see, in that case how long are you here. From where I see it you still retain your shape quite well? -well, I am here only for two years. I was part of the second grand expedition to the west or rather I was the one who organized it. I made a request to a powerful guild of adventurers to help me reach the place where the old capital of Solaris once stood. As I said, I am a historian so it was my duty to learn the truth. Currently we dont know much about what exactly happened in Solaris and if it was really destroyed completely. No one managed to reach too far to the west so there is still a chance that not everything was destroyed. Solaris was a large empire after all. Still, even though I managed to gather the powerful adventurers to help it was still not enough to go through the terror of west. After two week has passed the expeditions strength were already on its limits and then we meet a creature of terror. After few minutes of fight adventurers decided to send me away with a small escort and we ended up running into the forest of the lost souls and that is the story of how I ended up here. Hmm, something does not feel right in this story but I will ask about it later. -I see, in this case lets move to the most important question. Do you know the way to leave this forest? In the end this was the thing that Shin wanted to know the most. -well that depends Depends this looks promising. The way Mortimer started gave Shin the hope. -tell me, apart from being a magician, are you adventurer as well? -yes, I am. No not like this though. After hearing the question Shin already knew what will come next. -in this case I have good news for you, you can leave this forest quite easily. Remember what I told you. I escaped with the group of adventurers to this forest. We all ended up dying at some point but only my soul has been trapped in this place. The souls of adventurers that were with me are not here, and that is because adventurers are immortal beings. Even if they die they are still in the graces of the gods and they are resurrected. That means that the adventurers that enter the forest of the lost souls have really simple way of leaving it. All you need to do is to kill yourself. Ah, this is not helpful. Shin already knew of this method but it wasnt the thing he wanted to do. -is there any other method apart from it. The one that would not involve me dying? Shin put it as clearly as possible. -if there were do you think that so many of us would still be here? -but there may still be a way out for those who are alive. Hearing those words the spirit of Mortimer smiled a little. -ah, everyone is so full of hope at first. Well I wont tell you that there is no way out as maybe there is, still no one managed to find it yet. I see so he wont be useful in this matter. He is still good source of information though. -in that case I will look for it on my own. Anyway if you could answer some more of my questions I would be very grateful. -I have the eternity of time left, you can ask away. -then, do you know how the white mist in that forest works in general? Even if everything is white it should have an end somewhere. -how it first came to be, I do not know but as to why no one can leave the forest of lost souls it is quite simple. Look around, do you see those colorful orbs that are floating around the forest? -well its hard to not see them. -you say this but you found them only now in this realm. -you mean they are also in the world of the living? -yes they are, its just that people normally cant see them. You can see them here because you are not looking at them with your eyes. -then is there a way for me to see them in the living world as well? Shin asked right away. -hahaha, you are not wasting time are you. You dont even know what they do. -well whatever they do, I assume it will be advantageous to me if I see them. -it wont change anything but sure there is a way for you to see them there as well. But anyway first you should understand what those orbs do. Look around and you can probably see that those souls that get in contact with the orbs disappear, right? -well I realized it already. Does it mean that those that come in contact with the orbs disappear completely never to return? -ha, if it only was that simple many would already choose this fate. No the orbs does not destroy us they are simply teleporting us around this forest endlessly. -teleporting? You mean that those orbs teleport us all around the forest and that is the reason why no one can leave it? Everyone just ends up coming in contact with those orbs and that gives the illusion of the endless forest. Whats more because you cant see anything around you and you cant see those orbs, you will never find out about it. -hahaha, this is the first time that someone arrived at this so fast with so little information. -rather than laughing, how can you say that seeing the orbs does not help me in any regard? As long as I can see them and avoid them it should be possible to leave this forest, right? Shin felt like he finally found out the answer to his troubles. He finally found a hope after the whole day of endless walk. -well if you can avoid them that is. Anyway follow me for a second and you will understand why it is impossible to leave The spirit of Mortimer stood up from the fallen tree on which he and Shin were sitting on. -ah right, it quite dangerous to travel through this forest because as you can see the orbs are moving at all time so hold my hand so you dont get lost Hand? -dont look at me like that. As a magician you should know that as long as the bodies are in physical contact, when one starts teleporting the person who he touched will teleport as well. -I see so its counter measure for it. Still, you are the soul right? Can I really touch you? -technically in this world you are only a soul as well so as long as you want you can. Anyway I know the shortcut so it will take just a moment. In the end Mortimer ended up catching Shins arm and started to pull him after him. As for the shortcut, they ended up using the colorful orbs to their advantages. It seemed like Mortimer knew his ways so after five teleports they arrived where their destination seemed to be. The last part they had to walk but in the end they arrived at the edge of the forest and there Shin understood why leaving was impossible. -see, this is the reason why no one can leave this forest and dont think of making a tunnel underneath. Those things scatter around the whole area around the forest At the edge of the forest there was a wall, a wall of colorful orbs that did not leave any opening. They were also keep on moving and circling around. -now then try to shoot at it with your magic. Mortimer instructed him. -why should I? -just shoot Well breaking with force is one of the methods that I would try at least once. [Magic bolt.] Shin ended up faring his spell. Even though it was a dream world it seemed like he still could use his skills alright. Still the effect of that attack was quite disheartening. It was true that Shins magic bolt wasnt that strong of a spell but the effect would probably be the same for any other spell and that was the spell disappearing or rather being teleported somewhere else after making the contact with the orb. -as you can see I wanted to make you realize that those orbs are unbreakable. If you attack it with magic or arrows, those will simply teleport somewhere. If you attack them with swords or axes you will ended up being teleported yourself. That is how they work. Still now I understand the nature of this trap. It is definitely a move forward. Just when Shin arrived at this thought something strange happened once again. Out of nowhere his hair became wet and from nowhere the water started to appear on his face. In second his head was completely soaked. -Mortimer, can you explain what is happening to me right now? -sorry I think that this is the first time for me to see something like this as well Well this is a dream world so its not like everything has to make sense. Then later on Shins body was once again being moved by unseen force left and right. It once again lasted for about a minute and then it once again stopped. And then Shin felt as if someone just hit his face. -oh, something strange is really happening with you. You have a red mark on your face now as if someone just slapped you. Mortimer pointed out but Shin really felt like someone really slapped him just now. -could some of the souls here can become completely transparent and now they are playing tricks on me? -oh, I never thought about this possibility it may be so. Maybe there are other stages after becoming completely white. -never mind, another question. If I were to wake up right now and then go to sleep again, will I return to this place? -yes you will, but not every time. Some people cant get to this place at all while they are still alive. Others can appear here only for a second and then they disappear. I am guessing that its because of your magic nature you are able to move in here so freely so its quite possible that you will come here quite often. Still, I am not sure we will be able to meet again, this forest is large and finding someone in it is not easy. So this is probably the only time I can freely speak with him. In that case because I dont know when I will wake up its best if I ask for the most important things as soon as possible. -okay, so what is the way for me to see the orbs in the living world as well? That was probably the most important question right now. Even though Shin was not sure how exactly he was going to use it, it was something that he thought would open his way to the way out. -well before I tell you I must say that its not really safe method to use. -I think that without it, I will not go anywhere further also the alternative is dying. So if something goes wrong I can always go back to it. -you are right, for an adventurer like you its a small risk. Anyway what you would need to do to see the orb in living world as well is quite simple. You need a touch of the soul of the dead. The normal eyes of the living wont be able to perceive the orbs in the living world but if your eyes were enchanted with the power of the dead it would be possible, still as I said its risky. -it would be you who would help me right? -yes, I have no reason to refuse you my help. -but what you said seems like an operation on eyes. I cant help but feel that something like that wont work. So maybe we should try it only on one eye or no wait, cant you just give me something that would allow perceiving those orbs without any crazy operations like the one you just mentioned. -unfortunately I dont have any possessions in the world of living. Shin would prefer to avoid doing something as risky as that. Still he was running short on ideas so it seemed like there was no choice than taking the risk. -okay my last idea, cant you just enchant my glasses instead of my eyes? Like if I look through them I could see the orbs but normally I couldnt. How does it sound? - Shins last idea which he made as he was on his last ropes dumb fooled Mortimer but after hearing it he quickly said. -hahaha, I would never think of it. Still I guess that is what is needed to be a magician. But anyway yes, I think that enchanting your glasses will not only be possible but will actually be much easier. Anyway let me do it right away The spirit of Mortimer walked towards Shin and made a single move of hand before Shins face. -it worked. He said at the end despite not having any visual effect. -is it really that simple? -if it wasnt that simple then I wouldnt be able to do it. Remember I am a historian. I dont know much about magic, much less use it. Simplicity is the greatness I guess. -I see, anyway I would now want to ask about what you said earlier. You said that you were the part of the second grand expedition to the west that adventurers organized. As you said it indeed was two years ago. -good, seems like I still have the good feel on time. Mortimer was happy hearing that. -still you also said that you traveled for two weeks before entering this forest and also the fact that the expedition started off from Karma and that its destination was Solariss capital means that you went straight to the west, correct? -yes, we would sometimes turn north as well but mostly west. -now this is what does not add up to what I know. From what you said you ended up in the forest of the lost souls somewhere in the west but its not the same place that I ended up coming from. I do know where is the forest that you entered but the forest that I entered the day ago is not the same. -you mean that there are two forests like that? -that is my guess but it also seem like both of them are connected. Otherwise I would not meet you here That also means that there is a possibility that even if I leave the forest, I might end up leaving the wrong forest and appear in the place where Mortimer once entered from. Ah this just became so much troublesome. Even though Shin learned something, it still ended up making the situation worse. Now he had to worry about other thing as well. Because his winning condition right now was not just leaving the forest but rather finding Arata and Rin and then regrouping with others. -well, I guess I dont have any more questions other than that, or is it that you still have something to tell me that would be useful for me in the current situation? -hahaha, you probably asked more questions than I even though you will and they all ended up leading to somewhere. I dont think that I can think of anything that you didnt think about before. -still, there might be something that you saw, after all, you are here for two years already. Did anything unusual happen to you over that time? -unusual? I would say that everything is unusual here. Still if there was one thing then I would say that I remember finding a good siting place where the view was really good. I really felt at peace there. Still at some point I somehow couldnt find it anymore no matter how hard I looked. Also as you probably know, you can tell that I am already used to this place. -well given the way he used those teleport I would say so.. -that is because I was playing around with them. Being here for so long, finding something to do is really hard. I spend quite deal of time teleporting around and once even made a map. Still sometimes the orbs change the place where you are teleported so it was wasted effort. At the same time though its a new sequence for me to play around with. -how often does that change happen? -well so far it changed twice during those two years. The last change was about three months ago. -I see, in that case this isnt really useful to me as I dont plan to spend here a year. I dont think I will be able to survive in that white forest for so long It was not problem of surviving but rather the problem of not giving up. Even after one day, Shin already had doubts and even though he learned something today, it was still not exactly information that he need. Still right now Shin was feeling like he was missing something, as if the answer was right before him but somehow he could not see it. He did not try to analyze everything just yet though as Shin was trying to get the most information out from Mortimer until he still had the time. Also even though Shin knew that the answer was out there really close, it did not mean that that answer will actually help him in the way he wanted. -so do you know anything else, like someone else trying to leave the forest and uncovering something. -I think that this would be all. The most other people ever did was gain the ability to see the orbs in the living world. With that they immediately tried to break through that wall. I could saw many incredible attacks and so many interesting ideas that I am not sure that there is anything else that one can come up with. Still none of those methods worked and it always ended up the same way. Once again, I dont want to discourage you but if you are an adventurer, just choose the easy way out, thats the last advice I am giving you. With that said the spirit of Mortimer ended up walking towards the wall of orbs and when he reached it he ended up disappearing. Shin did not try to stop him as there wasnt anything left for him to ask of Mortimer and he already asked twice if there was nothing else. Well then, I could probably think of a way to get out of this dream at least but I can also just wait and let it end normally. I dont know for how long I am sleeping right now but my body will wake up when I will be full rested. Also there might be some other clues of getting out of the forest in this dream world. And so Shin continued to investigate the forest of the lost souls. He started with once again confirming what the magical colorful orbs do and he walked right into the wall of it. The moment he did that the scenery around him changed and there was not a trace of the orbs wall left. It might have been little confusing but Shin was already very well used to the teleportation techniques. Now then lets see if there is any difference in them depending on the color. Shin continued his tests and started walking from one orb to the other. Sometimes he had to chase them as they were moving quite fast and somewhere he would get caught by the orb as he did not manage to saw it in time. Still even though the places where Shin ended up were different, the orbs had the same effect everywhere. While moving from one orb to another, Shin managed to explore quite a lot of the forest. He did not know how much it exactly was but he visited many new places, although recognizing the difference in them was quite hard. On his way Shin ended up meeting some other souls that were not completely white. Shin talked with them and paid attention to every word they said but still, those talks did not bring any new information despite all of the spirit being different. Some ended up entering the forest only in few resent years like Mortimer. Still there was one soul that regained its form despite being there for 500 years as he said. From that spirit Shin learned that even in this amount of time, there was not a single occasion in which someone managed to leave the forest of the lost souls. That information was really disheartening but Shin was not going to give up that easily. At some points in his exploration, there were instances in which Shins body once again started to behave strange but luckily those at some point ended and did not repeat afterwards. Well at least if Shin were to ignore the strange feeling of warmth that at some point started on his left hand. Well in comparison to all others things that happened this time its even quite pleasant. Shin described it like that and continued without worrying about it. At this point, after few hours of exploration of the dream world, he already found out nearly everything there was to find out, with expectation of one. At some point during teleporting with the use of the orbs, Shin ended up being teleported to a place where he saw a small treant meaning a creature that resembled a moving tree, something that Vatras could summon to live with his ultimate spell. Although Vatras would usually use that spell on big trees rather than a small bush from which this treant was probably made off. Shin assumed that it was some kind of creature that ended up being trapped in this forest as in comparison to all others creatures in this dream world, there was nothing white in it which meant it was still alive. Still when Shin tried to move towards it he ended up contacting with one of magical orbs and was teleported somewhere else. Ever since then Shin tried to find that treant again but he could not manage to do so. Well, its not like I will be able to communicate with it anyway as its some kind of monster. Still, I guess its my way to use the remaining of the time. In a way looking for that treant right now was Shins way to kill the rest of time as he already was in this dream world for few hours by now. Actually if Shins guess was correct it would be already more than 10 hours. During that time Shin did everything he could think of. He started with testing every single of his spell on the flying orbs. Still none of them worked in the end and also his runes were not really good against it as they worked only if someone ended up stepping into them and the flying orbs did not have the legs. Still in the end, despite learning a lot about the forest of the lost souls, there still was not a single idea that had a possibility of working. Hmm, I guess I spend enough time here already. Hopefully I will not forget this dream after waking up. Shin had even worries like this as he always tried to think about everything. Should, I just wait till the dream ends on its own? I think that it did not end so far only because I still wanted to be here. From what the spirits told me, in the dream world the thought has a lot of power. It works just like magic. In this case if I want to leave from here I should probably simply relax and wait. Oh, lets test what will happen if I try to sleep inside the dream. Shin finally decided to leave from here and because so far his dream did not end he started looking for the solution. He was little afraid that he might even be trapped in this dream world and he will not wake up at all. Still his first idea that come to his mind meaning trying to sleep in the dream, worked out and few moment later after laying down on the ground and closing his eyes, Shin returned to the world of the living. Shin woke up in the white forest and opened his eyes slowly. He always was weak in the mornings, especially after a long sleep like this. He did not remember when was the last time he has slept for so long, although the only reason for that was probably the specifics of his dream as even there he was not slacking off and tried to find out something that will help him later on. Still even though in his dream he worked hard, here he was sleeping for all this time and his body was well rested and at the same time still not fully awake. Well, Shin could never actually wake up completely before drinking a cup of coffee, be it this world or the real world. Thats why before doing anything else he decided to get up and prepare some for himself with the usual manner. But then when he tried to get up he felt that something was holding his right arm, which made it unable for Shin to get up. Naturally Shin immediately looked at what it was. When falling Shin did expect that falling to sleep in a random place in this forest was not safe. Even though he did not meet any monsters anywhere, it was still the forest in a VRMMORPG game which meant it was definitely not safe. Still from any scenario that Shin could think about before, there was probably nothing else that would make his chances of living from now on any lower than what was happening right now. Right now Shins situation would probably be safer even if the army of monsters were all around him ready to attack him. Relax, relax. There is still a possibility of this being another dream. I mean I did end up going to sleep in that dream world so it doesnt necessary mean that I woke up, right? Also something like this cant be happening. So lets try going to sleep again. By thinking like that Shin immediately decided that this is still the dream world and he once again decided to try sleeping. In best case scenario this choice would change his dream or wake him up for real, in worst case scenario this choice would allow him to escape the situation back to the forest of the lost souls. Still even though Shin immediately closed his eyes and tried to sleep again, it was now impossible for him to fall asleep. After all he just slept for nearly eleven hours now and he usually his sleeping time was no more than four hours, so for him it was nearly three nights worth of sleep that he just sleep. Then again even though Shin could image that the current situation was not happening and that what he saw was not real the feeling on his right hand would not disappear. Ah, I tried my best but I guess this is the end. There is nothing else I can do to escape death. When it came to making plans to escape death in EOA, Shin was the master of it, still in current scenario he did not see the possibility of him staying alive for too long. In the end because there was nothing left for him to do, Shin decided to stop pretending and face the truth. He once again opened his eyes and looked what was on his right. On Shins right there was Rin. She was sleeping right next to him while holding his hand or rather she was wrapped around it with her body and was holding it close to her chest. Shin could not even see if she was awake as her long red hair was covering her face. Some of it also ended up on Shins body and any of his movement would probably move it a little which naturally was not safe. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Lets see, the possible explanation is that she founded me in this forest and because I was not waking up she ended up sleeping next to me. Then again because humans sometimes have uncontrollable moves during their sleep she ended up like this. Shin arrived at the only reasonable explanation to him. When she wakes up, I am dead. He also arrived at the only possible conclusion of what will happen. Actually I am not even sure if she is still sleeping no wait she is definitely sleeping otherwise she wouldnt be holding my hand like this. From the sensation that Shin felt, he could tell that it wasnt happening for short period of time. This meant that Rin was in this position for quite a while. Hmm I guess the only thing that I can do right now, is to try prolonging my death and just try my best to not wake her up. It actually wasnt the best option that Shin could choose and yet he somehow did not try to get out from this position. Rather than prolonging his death his best chance on living later on would be to try and get out of Rins grip and not waking her up while doing so. Somehow though that solution he did not appear in his mind as he was too scared to move right now. Rin. Yumes best friend and the famous queen of blades. hmm, now that I think about it, apart from those two facts I dont know a single thing about her. In her presence I am always way too scared to think about anything. For a really long time now Rin was Shins weakest point and when it came to dealing with her, the only thing Shin could think at that moment was how to not angry her to not get killed. So far, Shin was already killed twice by her and based on everything he heard about her the chances of getting killed for the third time or the fourth time were high. Well, right now being killed today was already granted, still despite everything he heard, there was still one thing that did not add up and that were Yumes impressions of Rin. What Shin knew and what Yume said were two complete opposite descriptions and so far, given his impression in the expedition, Shin found out that the one he had was not right. So in the end, he completely did not know who Rin really is. People say that she is a killing machine with the heart of ice, but how could this description feet to someone who is giving this warmth? Oh, well, I guess dying now wont be this bad now. Strange thoughts started to circle around Shins head but he did not try to analyze them. The moment he realized that the death awaits him he stopped thinking and just waited for that death. He stayed there like that for about ten minutes with his head empty of thoughts. He simply looked at the person who was clinging on his hand. At some point his left hand moved and with it he caught the red hair that was covering the face and he putted it back to reveal that. The moment he did that the sleeping face of Rin was revealed. She was indeed sleeping but there was something unusual. Somehow her eyes were in tears and those tears were going down her face. She is crying? Even though it was in the middle of sleeping, Shin did not image a situation in which he could see this face crying. Although now that he looked at Rins face he realized that he did not have good image of what she actually looked like either. Normally the most he could do was just a quick glance on her but just to be safe he would look away right away as usually he was afraid for his life. There are so many scary looking things in this game and the one I am scared of the most is someone who looks like her. For the time being Shin ignored the fact that tears were flowing out from her eyes. He could not think of a reason for it other than a scary dream or that something was wrong with her eyes. As far as he knew crying while sleeping wasnt something to be panicked about. On the other hand he started thinking about something completely different. This somehow reminds me of the times when we tried to invite her to our group as we wanted additional melee dps. After seeing her fighting in the arena I really wanted her to join us. I had even that crazy plan to make the guild and later on ask her to become our leader. Well that plan was crushed in the first stage, though. Still those were the times. I remember being quite excited about it even though everyone told me to let it go. Well, it ended like it ended so maybe I should have listened to them but the thought of making a guild with a strong and beautiful long, red haired girl as our leader was something that I really wanted to happen. Right now though I do know that the leader shouldnt be only strong and beautiful so I dont think like that anymore. Well Rin does clear both first conditions but her character is not fitted to be the leader. It somehow similar to me, even though I can be a tactician when I think of what the leader should be I never can image myself in that role. Oh, well maybe my standards are simply too high. While looking at the picture before him, Shin ended up thinking. Still at some point he could no longer let Rins face got teary like that. With his left hand he took out a handkerchief and ended up wipe out Rins tears but then the moment he did that the eyes before him opened. - . - . Shins hand stopped moving but it was still touching Rins face. They ended up looking themselves in the eyes. KJHJGKBNBJNNSJHBDWHNJWBEJWEKSNDOIWEJWKLSNKJDSDWBNSDOWDHWKJDBWKWLKDJWKJDBWDJKWLDBWJKDBWKDWDWKELGWE In that moment a million thoughts entered Shins head but at the same time he could not understand any of it, the only thing he did understand was that the moment has come for his life to end. After waking up enough and realizing what was happening Rin immediately stopped holding Shins hand and ended up standing up. Shin also ended up standing up at the same time but rather than running away, which was what the instincts were telling him to do he ended up simply closing his eyes and waited for the death to come. Still. After five seconds nothing happened. After ten seconds nothing happened. After thirty seconds nothing happened. After a minute nothing happened. But the after a minute and a half something did happen. -what are you doing? Rin ended up asking and her voice was quite calm and collected. It was nowhere as bad as Shin imaged, still even then Shin answered. -you see, whenever I die in EOA I prefer to not look on the way of how I died. That is because its easier to forget about it later on, in comparison when I see how I died, it hunt me later on at nights and I have nightmares about is so I would prefer to die with eyes closed if I have a choice. Shin also ended up answering although his voice was not calm and collected. -ah Rin ended up sighting to his explanation. -you know I am not killing anyone without a reason you know. She told him that probably to calm him down but those words brought actually the complete opposite effect. -I see. Still the occurrence that just happened even if it was not my fault I did ended up enjoying the moment rather than stopping it from happening right away which naturally should classify as a reason for you to kill me. Am I wrong somewhere? Even though Shin probably should shut up, he ended up saying those words to confirm the truth that he arrived at. -open your eyes already To that though Rin answered like this. I see so I wont be able to die without seeing how I die. I guess its a fitting punishment. Shin ended up opening his eyes still what he saw before him was just Rin standing and the white mist everywhere else. And then Rin continued. -what just happened is rather my fault. I ended up catching you because otherwise we would get lost again. I actually managed to find you in this forest twice already. When I did it for the first time I tried to wake you up but you did not respond to me despite the fact that I tried to wake you up by spiting water on your head Hmm that reminds me of something. -still because it did not work I decided to simply wait but at some point you disappeared just like that, in the blink of the eye. I do not know what happened but anyway I searched again and once again I found you sleeping in the same position. Still, at this time the tiredness was getting to me so I couldnt just wait for you to wake up and I ended up falling asleep myself. Still just so we dont get lost I ended up lying next to you and tied down our cloaks look. Rin ended up pointing at the spot where red and white cloak were tied down in knot. -hmm, good method but it wont help in this circumstances. If two bodies are not directly connected then joined teleportation will not work. Although, our previous position was a working countermeasure. After Shin said that he immediately realized that he shouldnt. -did you have to mention that fact again? -it probably would have been a better option to not but I dont like to leave things unfinished or unexplained. - fine! I get it! So, yes I did end up clutching up to you, okay. I was actually quite desperate after arriving in this forest! I could not leave it, I couldnt go anywhere! All I could see is this white mist! When I ended up falling sleep for the first time I appeared in some strange place from which I immediately woke up from and afterwards I could not fall asleep again! Then after nearly day and a half of walking in this white mist I found you! I thought that you have some kind of plan and I will finally be able to get out but then an hour later I lost you again despite the fact that I didnt move at all and you were keep on sleeping! I spent another half a day and once again I finally found you, but because I was desperate running all day I could not keep myself awake! I knew that I will fall asleep at some point so I did everything to not lose you again! So once again, sorry for clutching up to you! Is that what you wanted to hear!? - . After hearing Rin saying her perspective Shin did not really know what to say. Leaving the fact that she probably said with this explanation about more than Shin ever heard her talking in his entire life, what she said was something much different from what Shin expected. -what, was it so disgusting to you that you cant accept my apology. Then because he did not answer right away, Rin asked him a question like this, which immediately brought him back. -disgusting? No, no definitely not, I am just surprised as I expected completely different results. Whenever my assumptions are completely wrong I somewhat shocked. Rather than an apology I expected you to kill me for the fact that I didnt interrupt what was happening right after waking up. My guess was that you just moved in the sleep I would never have expected that she did it on her own. Although being in this forest for so long and what she experience must have been quite traumatic. Also, Yume did say that she is a fragile girl at heart and even though I never believed it, someone like this after being in this forest for so long may do just that. -anyway I definitely was not disgusted. As I said, I rather I actually enjoyed this sensation. -what do you mean by the fact that you enjoyed it? Dont lie to me! I think that the fact that I hate lairs was spread in the stories about me and I made sure of it so even if I promised Yume to not do anything to people in her party and also I probably shouldnt kill you given our current circumstances I will not want to get involved with liars so dont lie to me and tell me the truth. Ooo yes, I did hear very well what happens if someone lie to her. Hmm even though one should think like this, I am good a lying but if she finds out that I lied to her then its a game over and I am not sure if I will keep up my lie strong enough with her before me. I dont even know what lie would have been better than actual truth. -fine I will tell you the whole truth. -you better do. -although, I am not exactly sure anymore, what I should tell you about. -it doesnt matter what, just dont lie. But the matter was about you trying to tell me that you enjoyed me clutching you. -but I think that it is the truth. -what do you mean you think!? It sounds like a lie, also why would you? -well naturally weakling up next to beautiful girl who is clutching to my arm is interesting and definitely enjoyable sensation for me who is male and probably of the similar age. The warmth, the smell, the view and also the fact that I will probably be killed for it later, all that combined made my heart race really fast. I actually never felt like that and no matter how I think about it, it was really enjoyable for me experience. Shin probably should keep all that to himself but the number of thoughts that appeared in his mind was already at the pinnacle so he needed to voice some of them out. That was simply his nature. -you still plan on joking with me? -after considering the pros and cons I arrived that lying to you is too dangerous so I decided to go with the clean uncut truth. Although if there is something wrong then its probably because I didnt process all of those thoughts yet. If you give me some time then I will have the good answer later on. -no, no! Just forget everything that has happened and never return to it! This time Rins voice was not scary anymore and she was looking away. -sorry but I am afraid that my mind is unable to forget things in general, especially when it comes to new sensations like this, also the fact that it was enjoyable to me means that I will probably want to repeat it so I wont be able to forget about it. I must say that I rarely experience new things that I actually enjoy. -what do you want to repeat!? -aaa When Rin shouted at him full in embarrassment, Shin finally realized what was the meaning of all words that he just said to her. -okay! I think that your idea with forgetting everything is better. -you just said that you cant forget things. -yes, its true but I can put some of my thoughts in the deepest corner of my mind and never use those thoughts again ah! watch out! In the middle of his speech Shin saw that the orb in the color of blue that appeared out of the white mist and was moving towards at Rin. The moment he saw that Shin stretched his hands forward and pulled Rin towards him. By that move Rin managed to avoid getting in contact with the blue light but she also ended up now in his arms. Naturally Rin started to struggle out from them but Shin had to keep her there till the blue orb passed by and disappeared in the mist again. -good we managed to avoid it !!!!! Second later after Shin let go of Rin and said those words he had a red blade right before his neck ready to cut through it. -wait and listen, I have perfectly reasonable explanation for the action that I just made. Shin quickly said it while holding his hand up as if someone were to shoot him second late with the gun. -I hope its good because after what you just done there are little number of explanations that I can tolerate. Rin answered although her eyes right now already had a sentence of death in them. Her voice was also really cold. -well its not something that I can explain right away but before I start, do you think that I am crazy enough to try to do what I just did without any reason especially after the situation and the conversation that just happened? -earlier on you said that you wanted to repeat your sensations so, is that your reason! -no wait believe in me, its not that! -then what? Did you lie earlier on? -em Oh, this is bad. -could I not answer this question because both answers that I can give toy you lead to my death. But anyway right now, I dont plan on lying to you in any regard. Also just theoretically speaking, is trying to hug you result in death sentence? Is it enough for you to kill someone. - no. Shin was walking on the very thin ice but in the end Rin ended up sheathing her blades back. -ah, I think that nothing can give me as much adrenaline. The whole expedition to the west is nothing compared to simple conversation with you. - . Shin was really walking on really thin ice, still after all that he just found out about Rin, he decided to believe in what he see and what he saw so far indicated that the image of Rin that he had so far for many years was completely wrong. So he decided to believe in what Yume told him about her and the things that he found out on his own. In the end even though it was a crazy morning Shin ended up staying alive. He ended up sitting back to the ground and started making his favorite coffee. -well, I am already quite awake after what just happen but I still want to continue my ritual of drinking a cup of coffee at the morning, you want some Rin? -no, I am fine. -you dont know what you are losing on. This coffee is equal to the highest grade of coffee in the real world. In normal circumstance I use slightly worse one but this time I thought I will use the best one I have, as an apology for everything that just happened just now and to relax the atmosphere. Anyway, I have a special source for but normally if you wanted to get one cup of this coffee in Karma it would be at least 100 gold for one cup. -if its apology then I will take it. Although Shin was normally not the one to start the conversation when it came to Rin he could not feel calm and as they said talking did calm down people. Also, he really did want to apology to Rin for everything that happened not only today but at any day. Shin continued to make coffee with use of equipment that he had as well as some magic. Still at some point something strange happened as Rin ended up sitting next to him and she put her hand on his shoulder, although she explained her reasons right away. -you said that you wont disappear if we are directly connected right? You didnt lie with that, did you? -I didnt although rather than me disappearing it can be either you or me disappearing. I think that the last time you separated from me was you disappearing rather than me, I am sure of it because I still recognize this tree as before sleeping I made a marking on it. By the way we still can disappear at any moment but if we are connected like this we will disappear together so it will be as if no one disappeared. While I am at it I will explain that when I caught you just now it was to avoid you disappearing, I really didnt have any ulterior motive. -and how can you tell if someone is disappearing? -well, I will explain to you everything that I have learned in a second but firstly lets enjoy the morning coffee also maybe some breakfast as I am hungry. If you dont have anything to eat, I can share some sandwiches with you. -no I am fine Rin answered like that and after going through her menu she took out the bag of cookies and started eating them. -I usually eat those on my journeys. She ended up telling him that. In EOA one did not have to worry about eating that much. Some food gave temporary buffs but in general as long as one eat something it was fine as long as it was food. Rin usually just ate cookies not only because she liked them but also because just few of them satisfied her in-game hunger. Then if she wanted to eat something big, she would simply buy it somewhere in Karma. She was usually not eating anything big outside the city. -well they look delicious. they will be excellent for you to eat with this coffee. -em you want some? After Shin made a comment like this he received a proposition like this. -yes, gladly. But first let me pour some coffee. Everything was ready and Shin and Rin ended up eating breakfast together. They were no trying to hurry or anything. Still because it was troublesome for Rin to hold her hand on Shins shoulder they ended up connecting their legs together. After eating Shin ended up explaining everything that he knew about the forest of the lost souls, both what he learned before the expedition and what he learned from his observations and the talks with Mortimer and other spirits. He also explained everything about the colorful orbs and the way in which Shin could now see them. It also turned out that when Rin borrowed Shins glasses and put them on she also could use them to see the magical orbs. -I see so it was like that. -exactly, still those orbs dont do anything else apart from teleporting us so as long we avoid them nothing will happen. Still because they come out from the mist out of sudden its better to assume that we wont be able to avoid them all. -still that is not a problem as long as we hold hands or something, right? -! Well, I guess that will be the most effective. Still, are you okay with that? -its only holding hands and this is the necessity, right? -well, dont ask me. -then who should I ask? - . - Sometimes the conversation between them went into the wrong direction and ended up with awkward silence. -anyway, have your glasses back, its probably better if you have them. Then give me your right hand but remember, when this is all over never mention it again to anyone, and especially dont mention it to Mary, okay! -well its not like we are doing anything special, we are just using the most effective way to deal with the orbs. -yes but she would definitely use it as a weapon against me. -knowing her she would use it against me in the same way I guess. =sigh They both ended up sighting at the same time because they did know Yume all too well but after this joined sigh the laughter followed. =hahaha. Well it was not exactly laughing out loud but rather a small simple that would appear when they recalled their friend. Anyway in the end they ended up joining their hands together, which was slightly awkward but no one seen them so it was fine. -so, you dont know how to get out from this forest? At some point Rin ended up asking. After eating, Shin and Rin ended up walking through the forest again, as Shin wanted to see if the edge of the forest is the same as in the dream world. It was actually not that easy to reach the edge as the magical orbs were coming out from the mist in very random fashion and it was very hard to spot them beforehand. They actually already ended up being teleported twice. -unfortunately I dont. Despite everything he learned, Shin was still quite far from actually finding out the way out of this forest. -I see. -dont be sad though, even though I dont have the answer yet, there definitely was some progress towards it. -how dependable still dont try to cheer me up, even if we cant find the way out normally its not like there really is no way out. -personally I would prefer to avoid dying but it seems that despite having a quest of rank three you are fine with. -quest is secondary thing but I also dont want to die. - The way Rin said those words and the fact that she ended up squeezing her hand a little harder made an impact on Shin, still before he managed to say anything the grip went back to how it was. -well, I am probably not the most helpful when it comes to fighting against monsters but when it comes to things like this I am quite confident in myself, so we will definitely find the way to leave this forest. - . -anyway before we try to do anything towards leaving however we still must find Arata who also is somewhere in this forest. -Arata is also here? -well he should be as he ended up entering this forest as well. After the fight without saying anything to anyone he ended up rushing into the forest without a moment of thought. He probably was worried about you. -I can take care of myself. If he wants to be worried about someone, then he should be worried about someone else. -hahaha . -what!? -nothing its just that I cant help but get amused by talking with you. -what are you amused by!? -probably the most by myself in the past, I think I was never so wrong about someone or rather about anything. I never thought that I will be able to have a peaceful conversation with you. -is this really funny to you? -funny? Hmm I dont think that I can laugh like this that often. I guess after spending so much time in this forest must have some effect on me as well. Having someone to talk to in this crazy place is really calming me down and what is more I am surprisingly enjoying this conversations. -stop talking about strange things and start thinking of a way to get out from here! I am not here so you can enjoy yourself! -I am trying to think of something all the time, still right now I feel like I am missing something. Say, wont you listen to my reasoning and give me your opinion on it. -is it something that will help us gets out? -not directly but it will help us understand this forest a little bit more. -well, if its something that I can help with then of course, I will help. I want to get out from here as well. You dont have to ask me for permission. -I see Even though Rin seemed talking with him normally it was Shin who could still not relax in her presence. -in this case listen to those facts and tell me what you think. This forest is called the forest of the lost souls and even before we entered it I already knew this name. It was one of the places that I wanted to avoid the most in the journey through the west. Naturally the reason for that is the relation of people who said that its impossible to get out from here. Still, despite the fact that we were traveling really far from where that forest should be we still ended up entering it. When it happened, I immediately though of the possibility, that there are two forests like that. -can it be explained in any other way? -exactly, still after entering the dream world I found there people who ended up being trapped in forest number one the one I heard and tried to avoid and yet, we have entered the forest number two. -so does it mean that those two are connected like there are those teleport orbs right. Some of them might lead to the other forests? -I guess its reliable explanation, still why should two places like that, that are so far away be connected in this way. -dont ask me, in this world anything can happen. -anything not exactly, despite it being the game world it still follows some kind of logic. EOA does follow its own rules Shin shared his thoughts that he arrived at after a long time of thinking. -anything can happen no but as long as its logical then it can happen. He also added. -still, in fantasy world anything can be explained with the single word magic. So any logic can be ignored. Rin answered to his theory with the single word. -true but even magic has its limits. In this world the limit for magic would be mana. For example I dont think that the orbs are connecting two forests because long range teleportation is using way too much mana and we are talking about quite a distance. At best there would have been one or two orb that can transport us to the other forest. -then what, maybe only the dream world is connected? -maybe but the magical orbs are both here and in dream world and they serve the same purpose. -then maybe that whole dream world is only something you dreamed of and is not true. -you mean it was only my dream? Yes I did consider that thought but the fact that my glasses can be now used to determine the position of the orbs after that dream proofs that it was the truth and not my individual dream. -I see. But should we really concern ourselves with the second forest? We should focus on getting out from this one. -yes, but what we want to find out is what was the cause of this mist forest. It seems like something that can even repeat itself. To find the answer to the problem you first need to know what was the cause of it. -the cause is of course some magic, right? What else could it be? -yes but it could be also some natural magical phenomenon that occurs in the west. -how can this can be natural? I would rather say that some crazy magician like you was the cause of it. -then it would need to be someone really powerful. Still why did you call me crazy magician? Did I do something wrong? -I think that every magician is crazy by default. -but isnt it unfair to judge everyone by some standard. Its racism. -maybe, still if it comes to you then you are definitely crazy. How could you stay calm in this situation, go around speak with some souls and then try to explain this crazy phenomenon with logic. I say that anyone who tries to find explanation in something that is crazy is crazy himself. What is worse you are even enjoying the situation in which you ended up. -well, I wont be able to hide this fact I guess. I mean not only this is quite unusual situation we are in but also I have such interesting and lovely companion like you aua! In this moment Shins hand was crushed in Rins grip. -I told you to stop saying strange things! -what was the aua! Is there anything I offended you with? You should know but offending you is the last thing I want to do. -ah you are crazy after all. Rin ended up sighting. -you already told me what will happen if I lie to you so I will say everything that is on my mind without hiding anything and without analyzing it. -whatever, still tell me how can you enjoy our situation in which we probably are doomed to die? -we are not doomed, as long as we solve the mystery of this forest we will be able to get out. -so you are simply enjoying this situation because this is a fun puzzle for you? Now that I think about it Mary did say that you enjoy puzzles and games like this. -oh, you asked her about me? -no, she told me on her own. -still you did remember it. I feel honored aua! still I think that before meeting you I couldnt really enjoy it this way before meeting you I remember slowly becoming desperate but now my mind is calm because you are not aua! -could you finally stop it? -hmm? What should I stop doing, could you explain it to me. For now I am just trying to fight the awkwardness of holding your hand you know aua! What again? -if you hate it this much then you should focus on getting out from this forest. -no, no, by awkwardness I didnt mean that I dont like it. I already told you that I enjoy it quite much, even though the sensation is smaller than earlier, the warm feeling is still very pleasant in aaa! In this moment Rin ended up bringing Shin to the ground by pulling his hand in fast movement which resulted in him going face first into the ground. -once again stop that She did help him stand up afterwards though. I still dont know what she is talking about but it seems like the safe option would be to stop the idle talk. And here I just tried to relax the atmosphere to help her not think about the current situation we are in. After standing up Shin looked down with the sad face. -what!? -hmm? Is something wrong? Shin answered not knowing what Rin asked about. -you are trying to ask me about that? -why would I? but anyway there is nothing wrong with me so lets continue the talk. You said that it had to be some crazy magician who casted such spell but I dont really think its possible. Even if someone managed to cast a spell like this for a short while, this forest is in this mist for many years, no decades already. No one would have enough power to sustain it no wait, there can always be something that keep up that spell on its own like some magical device that manages to replenish its power on its own. I am not sure who would be able to make something like that and why but it is possible well in theory at least, not so much in practice. Much less, no one would choose a place for it like this. In a second Shin went back to thinking about the way out as if nothing happened. -hmm I dont think that I can add anything useful to what you think about so there is no need to consult it with me. -not exactly, fresh look is always welcomed and often leads to the actual answer. So do you think there is anything I am missing? -I dont think so although when I first entered this forest I thought that I was caught in some kind of spell that was casted on this place. Although, I was rather thinking of some strange creature casting it rather than human. -creature? -well, yes. We are in the west after all. There are numberous different creatures here with some crazy powers right? I would say that this mist is some kind of trap for souls and after some time the creature that set it up will come back and eat them. -well, at least we can avoid this fate still if we assume that it is a creature that is walking around the west and put some spell on the forest and because of that there are few mist forests like this then it makes some kind of sense. Still this explanation does not explain how the forest are connected with each other. Also the fact that this spell would work for so long without anyones interference is . Shin was going to say not possible but then he stopped. Million thoughts about the forest of the lost souls entered his mind and from all them, he managed to catch those most important, after catching them he combined them into one thought and that thought was the answer he was looking for, for so long. -no wait you are right, it really is this simple. Hahaha, it really was this simple. -dont laugh because it makes me feel like an idiot. -its rather me who is an idiot and you are the genius that found the answer. -you mean, it really was some creature that casted this mist as some spell? -yes, exactly that but the only thing that we were wrong about was the fact that we thought that there were two forests like this. -but from what you said there should be two. Or do you mean that those souls and all people lied to you? -no they probably said the truth and there was a forest of the lost souls over there as well. Still the point is that currently that forest is no longer there and now its here. It moved its location together with all those souls that were trapped there. -I guess it makes sense but still, does that help us in any way in our current situation? Rin returned to the most important question. -I said that you were right, right? I think that the source of this mist is indeed some creature just like you said. Maybe this mist itself is that creature who knows. The thing is that it does possess an ability to move. -but if its the mist is the creature itself then how do you want to fight against it? -well that was just a speculation because I dont think that is the case. What I think however is that this forest trap is a combination of two. One is the white mist which only serves as an illusion of an endless forest because we cant see in it. The true reason for an endless forest, are those teleport orbs. Those are definitely of a magic origin which means simple that someone made them appear and is keeping them operating. -so as long as we deal with that creature this whole mist should disappear right? -if my theory is right that is. Still there are high chances of it being true after I connected all facts. -I believe that its true. -really? Well just so you know I might have made it sound realistic but in the end its still all assumptions that I want to bet on right now because other explanations does not give us a clear chance on leaving. The chances of everything I said being true are at best 20%. -no, you wouldnt have said it if they were only assumptions. You probably didnt told me everything based on what you have learned. -oh, I didnt think that you will trust in me this much. -hmm you do know what will happen when you lie to me so you wouldnt say it unless you were 100% sure its true, right? Right now I am about 20% sure its correct but, its better be correct because otherwise it will be me lying to her which result in dying. -you are the last person that I will ever lie to. -great, then we will get out from this forest in a moment Rin said that but they were still many problems, still Shin decided to not mention them until sometime passes as Rin finally regaining part of her vigor. Still after fifteen minutes anyone would realize that it wont be that simple. -hmm how are we going to find that creature? Rin ended up asking the question that was on Shins mind right now. -I am currently trying to think of something, for now we are going with go with blind method. -but but we are seeing like two meters ahead of us right. How are we going to find anything in this forest? -I dont know it at least yet. Still now that we have learned this much maybe we should double our effort and split up? -NO! When Shin proposed that idea Rin ended up shouting out although realizing that she did so she quickly tried to explain herself. -em what I mean is that . Still she could not find a good explanation. Ah, I forgot that she already spend too much time in this forest alone. I guess it might have been traumatic. -hmm still now that I thought about this idea it actually wont help because I am not confident that I will be able to deal with that creature alone. I mean if its strong enough to cause phenomenon like this its probably not something I can deal with myself. By the way, thank you for worrying about me, I will depend on you then. -yes, leave that monster to me. Rin answered regaining her calm. Shin managed to successfully change the flow of conversation without making Rin realize it, still when it came to changing conversation to make it easy for the other side, Shin was quite good at it. And so now with their objective finally confirmed, Shin together with Rin started the search for the creature that was responsible for all this. While doing so, Shin kept on trying to think of a good method to help them in that search but the only thing he could think of for now was just marking the trees that they have visited. Well that was something just extra and he continued to look for other ways but there was little one could do in the place like this. And so. After one hour passed, nothing happened. After two hours passed, nothing happened. After four hours passed, nothing happened. And now after eight hours, there was still nothing new in their journey and they still did not have a clue as to how to find anything in this forest. -walking around like this is quite frustrating isnt it? At some point Shin said out loud as it been a silence for some time now. -hmm? -by the way Rin, how did you manage to find me after teleporting once. You mentioned that you founded me twice, right? -first time I found you I ended up tripping over your legs while running so it was pure luck Ah that wont be really helpful. -the second time though I did still remembered your presence so I knew the direction in which I needed to go. It was still hard as I was being teleported around but after half a day I managed to reach you. -what!? What does she mean by presence!? -haha . -??? -well, what I just said was a joke the second time was also luck. It wasnt funny? -hmm, I might have laugh if anyone else said that but I would not be surprised by the fact that you could actually do something like that. Where did the idea came from? -well actually its because I know someone who can do that. -you know someone who has a skill like that? -no I didnt mean EOA, it is a person in real world. - ah I see hahaha, very funny. -I wasnt joking this time but I guess it does sound unbelievable to anyone who did not meet master. During those eight hours from time a time a conversations like that appeared. Thanks to those conversations, Shins knowledge about Rin greatly increased and his impression about her completely changed. One thing that Shin did not understand was why those conversations that were about quite silly things actually brought him so much fun. He never experienced something like this or rather he many times experienced conversations like this but usually he would rather get annoyed by them in the end. Shin did not like to waste time and was a man of logic, still when he talked with Rin, anything was fine. Although that was probably caused by the fact that right now he had absolutely nothing else to do other than to traverse through the white forest. But then as they walked they encountered something unusual. It was a fallen tree. Well it probably wouldnt have been anything unusual if it was only one tree but after walking around that tree they encountered another tree fallen tree and another and another. What was more they were somehow connected with each other in a way that one fallen tree was covering the end of another fallen tree and so on. -hmm, did we finally found something? Shin asked obvious question and then he was pulled by Rin who moved closer to the destroyed trunk. -they were cut down by the sword. She said after observing the damage. -are you sure that it was a sword? Wouldnt normally people cut down the tree with an axe? Or are you saying that it was some creature that has attacks that are similar to sword cuts. -no it was the sword and he probably didnt have an axe with him. -he? -well currently there is probably only person here who would end up destroying the tree around him to ease his frustration. -I see, but how long would it take him to cut down all those trees with a sword? We already saw like ten of them. -no, I dont think it would take him that long. I once saw how his game skill ended up cutting down many tree trunks in second with a single slash although I think that this time he just went ahead and cut them down normally by himself. I told you he was probably taking up his frustration on those trees because he could not get out from this forest. -still even if its Arata I cant image him cutting down trees with trunks as large as this one in this great number. Maybe we should consider some creature that has sword like attacks after all. -no, cutting down the like this is easy, look. Rin walked towards already fallen tree pulling Shin with her and then while still holding his hand as it was nothing she took her red blade and with a single quick slash that Shin could not even follow with his eyes, Rin sliced the fallen trunk in two pieces. She then sheathed back her sword and looked back at him as if nothing has happened and what she demonstrated was something that anyone should be able to do. Right, even though her character is not exactly what I thought, she still is the queen of blades. -well if its this easy then you are probably right. Still my guess is that if we follow the trail of fallen trees we might find Arata somewhere so we should do that. -the cuts looks fresh so he shouldnt be that far. I am not sure which way we should go though. -based on how the trees are lying down on each other, the right tree was cut down after the one on the left as it is covering it so we should probably go to the right. It would be good if we found him, maybe he will have some other idea on how to get out from this forest. -does this look to you as if he had any good ideas? Rin answered with sarcasm while pointing towards the tree. - well he probably doesnt but maybe he found out something. Then there is also a small hope that Aratas skills may actually be quite useful in our current situation. He has an anti-magical class after all so he might have an useful skill that could even help us in leaving this forest without fighting anything. Although when it comes to our situation right now I would want to have Bran with me here, his scouting abilities and his hearing would be most useful in our circumstances. Maybe I should have consider risking bringing in more people -sorry for not having any useful abilities. Rin ended up sulking. -despite that though I wouldnt want to exchange anyone with you as my companion in this fore aua! -lets go! Rin declared happily and speeded up her movement pulling Shin after her. They followed the trail of the fallen trees and soon enough they found the strange person who was cutting down the trees left and right. -I will burn you down to the ground you damn forest! You will understand that you started a war with the wrong person! Muahahahaha! The first thing they heard were crazy words like this still both of them did recognize that voice. -just so you know, I dont know that person. Before moving forward, Rin ended up saying those words to Shin. They then speeded up a little and Shin ended up shouting the words. -Arata wait! After this shout Arata stopped moving and they catch up to him right away. There wasnt anything unusual in his appearance, well maybe expect the fact that he had blood thirsted eyes that signalized that he didnt sleep for quite some time, probably ever since the first stop in the west and it was already three days since then. -ah Rin, you are okay. The first thing that Arata said were those words although his voice was quite relived. -of course I am okay, what else did you though? -well its not like I am surprised. After entering forest like this, Arata probably realized immediately what happened to Rin. Still the thought of Rin being dead, did not leave his mind only until now. -so, you guys have Arata was going to ask about something but then he saw something really unusual. He even rubbed his eyes to see if he is seeing it right as after all he did not sleep for quite some time, then he even pinched himself to see if its not a dream but when none of those worked he simply thought to himself I did not see anything. -so you guys have any idea on how to leave this forest? Arata finally ended up asking. -well we came up with something but its not easy plan to execute so do you have any better ideas? Shin ended up asking. -I do have one as naturally after those two days here I arrived at something. -oh what is it? -its quite simple actually. Namely. This forest is our enemy and you dont play around with enemies, but simply destroy them. So right now I was going to burn down this forest to the ground and see if this mist will stay afterwards because I think it will not. After hearing Aratas idea this Rin just face palmed herself with her free hand. -hmm, power play? Well I think that it might actually have a chances of working Shin answered like this as even though the idea was slightly crazy, it was not completely wrong. -but I think it also might end up with us burning down in that fire as well because if the those orbs does not disappear we are most likely to end up in the middle of fire. -what orbs? Ah right he did not fall asleep so he couldnt have learned about it. -well, before we move on I guess I have to explain to you everything we have learned so far. It will take a while though. -in this case I will start preparing something to eat because I didnt eat anything in those two days. I will make something for you two as well. -much appreciated. Anyway it goes like this. While Arata started making food, Shin and Rin sit down and Shin started explaining everything from the very beginning, including everything that he has learned even before entering this forest. The explanation took long enough for Arata to finish make the meal and continued while they were eating it. When Arata said that he was going to prepare something Shin thought that it would be some fast made food too fight against hunger but he did not expect something as good as this. -hmm, I didnt think that you can cook so well. Shin commented. -thanks. Still returning to your question, I am not sure if my sword enchanters skills will actually be useful here. I dont have that many of them. And I already tested all of my skills on the mist once and none of them worked. What about you, though. As I remember you having an anti magic rune. -that spell works only if the caster stands in the rune it cant stop the magic that was already used. Anyway even though you already tried your skills on the mist, maybe you have something that would work on the orbs. -hmm, there are two skills I can use that could be considered anti-magical. One is cutting spells with my sword but from what you said it will probably result in me being teleported. Then there is also a new skill that I just got recently that can reflect spells back to its caster. I already tested it once and I managed to reflect Hiros water ball. Still I am not sure how it would work on the teleporting spell like this. -I see, so if its not a direct attack then your skill might actually do nothing. Although, lets test it out [Rune: emerald gateway] The green ball came out from the palm of his free left hand and ended up landing ground next to Arata leaving a green circle. -Arata, try to use that skill on this rune and let us see what will happen. -okay. Arata ended up swinging his sword at the green rune and right before the sword hit it the ground a purple barrier appeared between the sword and the green circle. The circle then returned to its previous state and ended up firing back at Shin. Seeing it Shin moved his upper body to the down right, right onto Rins knees. That dodge did not help him and the bolt ended up sinking into him but it didnt even hurt probably because the spell he used wasnt meant to damage anything. Shin returned back to his previous position and started. -judging by what just happened it seems like your spell aua!! Shins hand was crushed for the n-th time today already. -so I think we might actually use it to locate the creature that casted those orbs if you use that skill. - Because Arata still did not believing what was happening before him he stopped for a moment but in the end he once reminded himself. I did not see anything. And continued like nothing. -well if your glasses really can detect those orbs as you said then it might actually work. -yes, if you use this skill on the orb then it probably will end up flying back to the caster right away and we will just have to follow after it. Anyway lets test this theory right away. -okay, I will gather all my things and lets get started. Arata pick up all his cooking equipment alongside the dishes and they were ready to go. -I think that you will need those as it seems that your skill works only when you connect your sword with it. Shin said that and passed on his glasses to Arata. -okay. Arata took them and started wearing them. =phi hahahaha! Still somehow the moment Arata put those glasses on his face both Shin and Rin ended up bursting into laughter and this time it was really laughing out loud. -ah, sorry Arata, you look quite funny in them. -even you Rin hey does anyone of you have a mirror because I now want to see it for myself or no, never mind, let us get rid of this mist quickly. You two follow after me, although I think that I can take it from here on my own. -no its better if we dont separate after finding ourselves after all this time. Anyway I will be holding your shoulder so in case that we get caught by some unexpected magical orb we end up being teleported together. -okay, oh its a good countermeasure SO THATS WHY YOU TWO ARE HOLDING HANDS! In the middle of Shin sentence Arata understood something and he shouted out his thoughts really loudly. -em did I not mention it? -right you did. Ah, now it all makes sense, so I did not went crazy, because for a moment I thought I did. Still in this case I think holding hands is actually better solution in case where we will have to run after the orb in this forest so . -just so you know Arata, you are fifth last person in the world that I would want to holds hand with. Rin cut in Aratas talk and said the words to which no one could say anything back to. I wonder who are the other four people before him? Well in the end it ended up with Shin holding Aratas hand and now both of his hands were occupied, he had to hid his staff to do so. Still, the sensation that he had from both of them was completely different. -okay, I found one! It didnt take a long time before they managed to find one of the colorful orbs, after all there were so many of them inside the forest of the lost souls that one would lose the count. Even if they were not visible because of the mist they still were there. Arata was not wasting any time and swung with his sword in the air. He had it prepared in hand for the whole time. Although Shin currently glasses-less could not see them the colorful orbs at the current moment Arata swung his sword and the purple barrier-like light appeared before his sword. -its going fast, we better hurry! Arata said it out and started running. With the sudden movement he pulled Shin after him and then Shin pulled Rin. The run started. In few seconds though it became Arata and Rin going in the front and Shin being pulled and barely keeping up behind them. Running fast with hands joined inside the forest was not easy and based on how Arata was speeding up it seemed like the colorful orb was moving fast. They managed to keep up with it for two minutes but the run ended up being brutally interrupted, at least for Shin. When they ran, at some point a tree appeared right before them and Arata run pass it to the left and Rin to the right, still Shin was holding both of their hands and was in the middle which ended up with him slamming right into the tree with the great speed. Auch I really should have thought of a better method. -Arata, go ahead! Naturally upon impact the hands managed to split and both Arata and Rin moved ahead. But second later Rin returned back and left the rest to Arata. At that moment Shin already managed to fall down to the ground. Still in EOA, having damage like this was nothing. Well naturally it hurt but Shin was already used to it and started getting up right away. -are you okay? After coming back Rin asked him this while stretching her hand to help him stood up. -well, this is nothing. Thankfully I didnt have my glasses on. Shin answered and took the hand to stand up. After he stood up though, they somehow ended up holding their hands again without even thinking probably because for past ten hours or so they kept on doing so. -after it all ends you should wear them back though. Unlike Arata, they suit you. -really, in this case After hearing Rins comment Shin decided to take out a spare glasses that he had. In the first place glasses werent an item that gave stats, it was rather an accessory. Its main purpose was to help people who are wearing glasses in real get used to their bodies in EOA. Apart from that they didnt have anything special in them, at least the ones that Shin was wearing. Naturally there were glasses like shaped items that would give some stats. -still, are you sure that we should let him go. I mean he will have to face the creature that is responsible for all this. We should all go there together and then with a good tactic. -SHIN! Suddenly Rin ended up shouting his name to interrupt him and moved right before him. Even though she was only reaching his shoulder length her presence was intimidating as she looked up with deadly eyes up to his face. Not to mention that hearing his name for the first time from her also had an impact. -yes!? -you are the leader of this group, yes!? -no, my only function is- -YES!? -well, yes I am raid leader. Shin could not even start thinking the arguments in this position. -then! Could you stop dealing with everything alone and leave some things to others? -but I am leaving things to others. Doing things in group is always the most optimal solution. -not everything has to always be perfect you know. Also even if you think something is better then its not always the truth. -okay, then tell me why fighting together is a worse plan? Shin listened patiently but this time he had to argue back. -in current case its because it hard to run together. - . Well I cant argue with this. -also I dont know what you think about Arata but he will deal just fine with whatever there is. -oh, I see that you trust in him auA! -rather than trusting, I am simply aware of what he is capable of doing. -well I guess it will be hard to find something that will manage to kill him easily even if its west. I am also more or less aware of what he can do. -then what about me? What do you think of me? -you mean in combat stand point righ AUA! -what else could I mean? -well if it comes to you then I dont think that I meet anything that is stronger than you. I would say that you could probably even take on dragon by yourself. At least the one that we once fought against and that was the strongest creature that I ever meet in this game. -I see To Shins opinion Rin only answered like that and she stopped looking with him like she did. -well, for your information though I cant take on the dragon you just mentioned as I also fought against him without success when he was near Karma Well maybe I overdid it a little there. That dragon was way overwhelming despite the fact it wasnt even that big in comparison to some dragons that I saw on the internet. -still by what you said you do trust in my abilities? -I experienced them on my skin few times now so I naturally do. -then tell me, why did you never ask me to do anything so far in this expedition? You are asking everyone else to do something but just not me. Unless I do something on my own accord I am just standing there completely bored. -well, I am leaving you for the time in which you will be truly needed. -I think that there already were times in which if you asked me to do my thing then it wouldnt have ended with someones death. -well you can never know that for sure and because of our winning condition I am not going to put you in a danger aua! This time Shin took a heave blow from a belly into the stomach. Still, it was not a simple punch as after that hit, he could not breathe for more than 10 seconds. -ha, ha, ha. -try to not put yourself in danger and dont remind me of what happened with Yume. Just so you know I will not forgive you for that one. But I am sure that apart from the fact that one of our few mages was sacrificed it was still the best decision. Shin did not dare to say those words out loudly though. -okay, I give up. I also think that its always good to listen to peoples opinion so tell me what I am doing wrong and what I should do from now on? -I dont think that you are doing anything wrong in particular. -I am glad to hear that aua! -but there is one thing that I dont like what you are doing. -if that the case, then I will work on it. But what is it that you dont like me doing? -I will rather tell you what I want you to do, is that also okay? -this should also work. -so In this moment Rin stopped holding his hand and walked a little away showing him her back but then she turned around with a spin and her hair flied in the air. When she did that move the white mist around her somewhat disappear and it wasnt illusion as the white mist indeed started to disappear. Still, rather than commenting on it Rin started. -when next time you have any trouble during this expedition I want you to say out loudly, Rin go deal with it, to which I will answer, yes Shin and deal with it as you asked. You have to do that as otherwise I wont be able to repay the debt from today and if I wont be able to repay you for today then I will have to thank you for it. -is there anything you need me to thank me for? - . -well, if there is then how about this, rather than repaying me, the next time you try to kill me, dont do it. -ah never mind, forget what I said. Even if you dont ask me for it from now on I am not standing by on without doing anything if something happen. Anyway I already told you this but I dont kill people for no reason so you have nothing to be afraid of and so dont be so reserved towards me. -I will definitely keep that in mind. Anyway I can already see Arata returning in the distance so we should regroup with others. The white mist nearly disappeared completely with the exception of few white points that now started circling around the place where Shin and Rin were standing. Those white spots also started to disappear one after another but they did not disappear like the white mist but rather they took off to the sky and flied away. After that phenomenon the forest become quiet and there was nothing strange about it anymore. It was no longer the forest of the lost souls anymore as that forever disappeared forever leaving only legends behind. All souls that were lost in it, finally found their way out. Next Chapter: Chapter 40 Peaceful time of relaxation near the lake. Chapter 40 “Peaceful time of relaxation near the lake.” Chapter 40 Peaceful time of relaxation near the lake. The forest of the lost souls disappeared forever and it no longer hold anyone it its white prison. All souls that were trapped in it were released, which included both those that were dead for hundreds of years but also those who were still alive. It took three days before Arata together with Rin and Shin managed to get out from there although despite the fact that it was Arata who dealt the final blow to the cause of the white mist, Arata didnt feel like he actually did anything helpful in there. He was not sure if it were only him alone, he would be able to get out from that forest. In best case scenario it would take him much more time at least although if he really ended up burring down the whole forest that might actually end up destroying the cause of the white mist with it. The fact that he might have also die while doing so was a secondary concern and now no one can tell, what would really have happened. In the end nearly everything ended well, and Aratas greatest concern was also cleared as Rin was found completely unharmed as well. Also now that the forest was clear of the mist, the group would have a moment of breathing now in relatively safe location. But then again, not everything ended that well. After regrouping with the party, the bad news arrived. It was probably something that they should have expected as after all the party had to stay in one place for three days. Even if at start, the monsters around them werent that eager to come near the forest of the white mist, after seeing their prey for so long in one place it was bound to happen sooner or later. No one from the party wanted to tell what exactly happened but the end result was two members of the expedition were no longer here. Because it was already fifth day of the expedition, there was a need for members of the party to re-log. Even if people could sleep inside EOA they would still need to take care of other basic needs in real life. Ignoring the fact that people already had to prepare a lot of free time for it, while taking part in some long journey there was a need to stop at some point and in turns do a quick re-log. Even if the time difference was 5 hours to 1 one, five days would end up being accumulated into one full day which was already more than enough. So, while Arata, Rin and Shin were traversing through the white forest, the party decided to do the re-log routine as they werent moving at that time. Still this resulted in worse fighting power at the time and also while fighting the log in player would have to defend unconscious players. While logging out in dangerous area you receive a notice that log out might lead to possible death. Still, its not that one automatically dies but rather the body of that person falls asleep rather than disappearing. As long as someone else protect that body its fine to log out although if someone gets that message to begin with, then its a really dangerous place to log out in. In the end the two deaths that happened in the party were result of this occurrence, although it was not the logged out players that were killed but the players that tried to defend them and paid their lives to do so. Naturally, this resulted with sorrowful faces of the people that were defended so it was one of unwritten rule to not mention what exactly happened and who was helped by whom. The two that ended up dying were Vivi, the blue elven archer girl from Aratas group A and Thesar the sixth paladin from group C, who despite being a healer wore a heavy armour which made him look like a tank. In the end though, two deaths werent that bad as after returning and hearing this report Shin said that its rather fortunate that everyone else managed to survive. One could call him heartless but he probably simply said that to ease the atmosphere and also he was happy that others did not share that fate. Not to mention that he also heavily considered that everyone would be dead at this point as after all it were full three days. After regrouping, the party quickly entered the forest and walked for half an hour only to start yet another break. This time it was another logout break that was used by Arata, Shin and Rin as they naturally didnt do it with others. Currently, forest was quite safe location because there were no monsters in it, at least for the time being, so it was a perfect spot for this occasion. It was such a great location to the point where apart from the logout break for mist survivals, there was also other slightly longer than usual expedition break for everyone to sleep and regain strength, both physical and mental one. In was really good decision as even though the rest of the party did logout breaks earlier on it did not mean that they rested for too much. Arata was the same in that regard as for whole three days of walking through the white forest he did not sleep and kept on trying to do something, mostly with little effect. His last plan would probably work though, especially given the fact that there were numerous colourful teleport orbs that would spread the fire through the whole location in less than five minutes. And now, after all those rests and breaks, today was the seventh day of the expedition if one counted the first day where party took out in the afternoon. With party fully rested it was nearly the time to take out and continue the journey, although using the opportunity that it was relatively safe in the still empty forest, Shin decided to use this time to make a short strategic meeting. -as you all probably realized, we cant really continue in the way that we did. The original formation was meant for eighteen people but we have lost seven of those. Naturally we cant continue in the same manner, so the changes are need. First and foremost there will be only two teams from now on and as you can suspect there wont be a rotation system anymore. It will be too much for one group to deal with everything while the other is not helping. Even when we had three groups the third group often helped out in the end as well so it doesnt actually make that big of a difference. So from now on rather than rotation, we will simply take a small break after any hard fight also our longer breaks will be a little bit longer, although there wont be many of those anymore It will get more lively from now on. Arata welcome the idea positively as despite the fact that he do like to slack off a lot, it was somewhat painful for him to stay on the backs and do nothing while it was his group turn to be on slacking duty. After reaching this point in his explanation, Shin he ended up taking out a large piece of paper and he hanged it on the trunk of the tree and started drawing on it. The drawing was the sketch of the position that everyone was going to take from now on. It did not change much but Shin decided to went over it from the very beginning. -so in general, the formation looks like this. The middle of the front line is naturally left with our last remaining tank Flynn. Then the left flank is left to Levi and right flank is left to Arata. The space between them and Flynn are filled with Kei on the left and Julia on the right. Thats our outer defence half circle formation. Then middle of the right side is where Mika and Hiro will be staying and the left side is where Tras and Bran will be in mirror like order. Then I will be standing slightly behind them in the middle of the whole formation overseeing everything, still because there is no additional group at our backs and there is always a chance for an ambush from behind, Rin will be our protector the at back of the formation. -Shin, are you sure that you want a protector like this? -naturally Bran, I cant feel any safer than with our best player here on my backs right. -aye, but it wasnt what I meant. Still if that is what you want. -Bran rather than focusing on what you have heard you should focus on what you see. If you just get to know her you will find that she is really nice person, right Rin? Shin wanted to say something but in that moment a flying red sword came flying at his face so he quickly moved his head to the right and the sword ended up hitting into the tree on which the white paper was right next to Shins head. Although the sword still ended up hitting the place that marked Shins position in the formation. -for the hundredth time, dont get overfamiliar with me! Rin said to Shin. During the break Arata noticed that after their journey in the forest Shin tried to have a conversation with Rin many times although most of the times it ended up with her hitting him. Still, it seemed like that did not dishearten Shin in the least and he kept on trying to get on Rins good side. Naturally someone ended up asking Shin about that behaviour. To that he answered that he is trying to make a better atmosphere in the party and even though it is temporary he do consider Rin to be member of that party as well. He also mentioned that the fact that one person would always stay in the corner bothered him so he is trying to do something about it. That was at least his answer although apart from the fact that Shin was slightly more fearless towards Rin, nothing really changed. Rin still stayed in the corner and Shin did not manage to have a conversation with her even a single time during this stay. He did end up losing an arm once because of his actions but even this did not stop him as healers simple healed him up. -Shin, I think you are overdoing with that socialization a little bit. In the end though, people did think that Shin was behaving strange especially when it was clear that Rin hated what he was doing and she was quite clear about it. -nonsense Tras, also others should try to get to know her as well, you have no idea on what you are missing on aaa!... This time more than one red weapon come flying so Shin ended up hiding behind the tree. After the danger passed he quickly finished up what he had to say. -anyway, today as planned we should reach the lake and by using it, we will be able to avoid some scary parts of the west and progress a lot in our expedition. If my assumptions are correct then using the river will bring us the great effect that none of you would probably expect to be possible to happen. Well it still depends if it will really work but after sailing through the river there will be only a single day journey left for us to reach the heavens gate, if the map and location of the heavens gate that Arata showed me are correct that is. Shins last sentence was really reassuring. After that short meeting everyone was packed up and the party started moving through the forest. Despite the fact that there were theoretically no monsters in it as just few days ago it was the forest of the lost souls, just for the safety measures, the party did end up going with their new formation. Well that formation still kept the basics from what they have been using earlier and Arata was once again at the right side of the formation. -hey, Arata. At some point during the peaceful walk through the forest Julia walked towards Arata and started the conversation. Because their positions were still close that did not disrupt the formation that much. -yes? -can you tell me what happened in that forest? -hmm, sure but there isnt much to tell I think. I entered the forest, immediately got lost because, as it later turned out I have been teleporting all around the place for three days. At some point I meet up with Shin and Rin. They already had more or less everything figured out and thanks to one of my skills I found the creature that was responsible for this white mist and slashed it down with my sword the moment I found it. thats about it. -was there nothing else? -hmm apart from what I said there would be me looking for a possible ways out but none of them worked I think that burning down that forest would work though. The creature would be burned down as well as it was some kind of treant. No need to mention it though. -lastly I got an useless quest items with question marks all over it. I am not that excited about it as I already have something like that and I am yet to find any use for it. Well, I will put those things on the black market auction the next time I visit them. I wont go there specifically for that as getting inside took some time but if it will be on the way then sure hmm, now that I think about it, I forgotten to sell that angels halo crap, although lets hold back on that for now as I am going to heavens, after all. Maybe they have some lost and found shop there and they will offer the better price than 1500 gold. Well that is of course if the heavens are more of the city than a dungeon. -I see. Julia answered while looking down to Aratas explanation on what happened in the forest. -was there something else you wanted to know? -oh, if you already asked then, can you tell me what happened to Shin, there? -hmm from what he said he had quite interesting journey, compared to mine at least. He said that he even spoke with some souls of the dead in the dream world. And here I thought that if I dont stay awake something will come and kill me there. How could I know that the correct way was going to sleep? -I am not asking about that, I want to know why he started talking with Rin out of sudden!? -but didnt you ask him that question already, and he even answered it, so why do you ask me? -I ask because it is unusual for Shin to start conversations in general. What a strange reason. Still I guess she would be angry if the person she likes started showing interest in someone else. I am sure that it wont bore any fruit though. -even if you say so, when it comes to talking with Rin then its either you start conversation with her or you wont have conversation with her at all. Simple as that. I think that Shin just simply realized that fact as well and because he wants to have good atmosphere in the party he tries to talk with her. You should know that with Yume gone, Rin practically talks only with no one but me and Levi. Thats not really a good atmosphere and even if he doesnt want to be the leader, he has to execute that role as long as this expedition lasts, and its leaders job to take care of it. -then what, you are telling me that Shin is simply pitting her because she is mostly alone? If she just wanted she could not be alone, what is with that reason? -no, I am positive that it is not his reason as Rin doesnt mind being alone. For example any time I try to talk with her she will start with get lost Arata!, no matter what we might think its not something that someone who is looking for company would say when someone tries to talk with them, right? -even though I wasnt in Karma for as long as others from what I know she was always a solo player to the point where she did raids on her own so I dont think she is looking for friends in this game. -even though it is VRMMORPG people can enjoy the game on their own as well. Some people are just like this and its not a small number of them. They simply want to enjoy RPG system of it with cutting the MMO part out. And EOA does have great RPG system after all. Anyway, what do you worry about, you did see how Rin reacts to his tries, right? The thing that he is still alive is quite surprising, still that proves that Rin at least recognizes his importance in this expedition. I do kind of feel that she will kill him when that importance will disappear though. -well I did. Then why does Shin keep on trying? -its quite simple, rather than doing anything for Rins sake he simply want to enjoy a conversation with her. Even if it means dying later. -aaa! Then then what does it mean? -I guess, he wants to be her friend, or maybe he simply wants to get on her good side so he wont get killed by her again. The second one is more likely. -but both are the same thing. -hmm, that probably depends on how you define a friend. Anyway, there is nothing bad about it right? - . -wait, dont tell me that you are jealous of Rin? -I am! Really I mean, really? Still, that would explain why she asked me about it to begin with. -but its not like there is any effect here, Rin does not want to talk with him in the least. I would say that the guy should simply give up because he wont get far with how he tries to do things. So once again, where your basics for getting jealous are? -but the fact that its Shin trying is more than enough. -Julia, I am positive that you have nothing to worry about, so getting jealous over nothing is stupid. -its not stupid, but it seems like you wont understand me! With that Julia ended up returning to her position which was still really close to where Arata was walking although she did not look back even once after. Being jealous hmm? Well, I guess its more natural to be jealous but I dont remember any time in which Kotori was jealous of me and I also was not really jealous of her either. Although, thats easy for us as we do believe in each other so much. Actually because Kotori looks so beautiful I should actually consider getting jealous because there will be many who will be captured by her beauty. Still even before I could get jealous of her she herself would end up beating down the person responsible for it to the plump. Yep, in true love there is no place for being jealous. Actually jealousy is the fact of distrust between people, and there is no distrust between us. So I guess I wont understand her. Arata arrived at the conclusion but unfortunately people usually didnt have a beautiful love like this. Still, this case is completely different as even if Julia does like Shin, I do know that Shin does not like her. I would say that he even likes Hikari more, although its more of sibling love. Hmm I think its actually something that me and Kotori have with Yuki. I never had any siblings but Yuki really feels like that. Hmm I keep on thinking about Kotori but I want to see Yuki as well. Hopefully she made some friends after being teleported after we split up, especially given that she was somewhat bad at it. Although if I have to confess then I dont want her to call anyone else Oni-chan but me. Oh, I understand jealousy now. Arata made a revelation. Still, I really think that its impossible for Julias jealousy to have any meaning. Even thought it was a short time, I do now know Shin enough and based on his character, I think that if he was really looking for romance then he would already be with someone at this point and the fact that he is not is enough proof. Whats more, its literary impossible for Rin to like him back anyway. Even if world went crazy, and everything went upside down, and some crazy fat babies with angel wings and bow and love arrows start flying around the world and shot people at random, in Rin case, there is always that fact left. Its really sad but that is simply the truth that I am convinced off. The walk through the forest without lost souls took few hours but it was actually quite peaceful experience. It was the first time in the west in which the party traveled without encountering any enemies on their way. The forest was completely empty and it would probably take some time before anything decides to use it as their new home. Most of the creatures around it are probably still afraid of entering it. After unexpected fast travel party reached the planned spot. They were still in the forest but they now could see the lake in a distance which was the next point on their journey. After reaching this point the party was planning to move by sailing the river to both speed up their journey but also to avoid certain parts of the west that Shin labelled as bad ends. Still before they could do anything they still had something to deal with. -lets deal with them quickly! Even though forest was relatively empty there were some creatures that were staying near the lake. They looked like toads although their colors werent only green and brown. There also were red, blue or yellow toads as well. They also were much bigger than normal toads but being absurdly big was a standard for the west. Although there was a small difference in those creatures as in comparison to normal those near the lake had tails as well. They were big enough to not be called tadpoles though. In comparison to most other fights this time it was the party who were the attackers. Normally the party was not attacking anything that didnt want to fight for very obvious reasons, still this time even if the toads didnt want to fight, it would have been way too dangerous to leave them alone as the party would be using the coast of the lake for some time from now on. Because it was the attack Arata was finally able to move more freely this time. After range made first surprise attack from afar, every melee dps was allowed to go on their own to attack. Arata went to the most right enemy and started fighting. The first yellow toad was not prepared for the fight yet so after running towards it Arata made few attacks with his swords and massacred its head from the right side, starting with the eye. After killing the first one, the other red toad that was close, attacked with its tongue. It was actually a range attack as the toad attacked from a distance of three meters and the tongue stretched in a straight line. The speed at which it came was quite fast but for Arata it was easy to move out of the way of attack. After dodging, Arata made sure to attack the tongue and his attack cut through it. Afterwards Arata made a quick dash towards the toad. The toad even though tongue less was still up for the fight. It was now standing on its back legs. After Arata reached it, the toad pushed hard with its right hand at him. Arata made a spin on his left foot to dodge it and at the same time he used that spin as an attack and made two parallel wounds on toads left side. After that the toad used its powerful legs to jump away. As one would expect, the jumping power of a toad like creature was incredible and the toad went to the sky to a great distance while Arata was attacked by other two toads that came at him from the sides. Two blue toads landed on the two sides of Arata after making huge jumps. Still Arata was not planning on being surrounded by them for very long so he quickly moved to closer to the side of one toad. There he attacked at the hand that the toad used to attack him. Even though the push was probably stronger than Aratas attack, Arata used the swords so the force only made it easier to cut through the hand. The second toad made a small jump towards Arata and attacked but Arata was too quick for movements like that and he already moved to the back of the first toad and continued his attacks form there. Arata was not sure what level those toads had but for him the battle was quite easy as the toads werent nearly fast enough to catch up to him as he moved around them. The best they could to was to attack with their back feet or with their tongue from a distance. Then if the toad decided to run away but jumping to the sky they would simply got shoot down by the range dps so Arata was not even trying to go after them. The toads were actually quite strong and with a single hand push attack they easily destroyed a tree which was confirmed when Arata made a dodge near one tree and the brown toad destroyed. Still in the end in fights, it did not matter how strong someone was as long as they couldnt connect the attack. For Arata fights against opponents that didnt have speed behind them was always quite one sided. For toads even keeping up with him was hard but actually hitting him was even harder and in the end turned impossible for them even though they attacked in groups. The fight ended without any casualties despite the massive number of enemies. Even when a slightly more gigantic purple toad appeared which was shooting out the poison out of its mouth, the party dealt with it without much problem. Still because the coast had to be cleaned up without leaving anything alive it took some time before the party managed to catch all fleeing toads. Although some of them ended up diving into the lake so they had to be left alone, at least for now. [You have gained a level, current level 111] During the fight Arata also managed to level up yet another level. Even if the experience needed for next levels was quite huge from 100 level onward, during his journey through the west Arata was more or less fighting all day. Still he gained only one level experience worth counting from the widows forest so the rate at which he was exping wasnt that great. Sure the level was generally going slow but while Arata was exping up together with Levi on the iron golems, it was going slightly faster. Although at that time they were using extreme measures and the exp itself was their goal. It was natural that someone who was exping with only exp in mind would get much more levels than those who were simply travelling. -okay, we are doing better than planned and we actually have a lot of time now. I think that we wont be going anywhere farther today as we have to build boats on which we will travel from now on so before we are done it will be night time already. Well its not like there is any real work with the method we will be using but it will still take some time. I am not sure if we want to sail during the night but staying in one place for too long is also no long so this is also the possibility. Despite what I said, the sailing might take more than half a day after all. Anyway, for now though, lets make a camp and eat something. After the fight, Shin declared yet another stop and the camp was set up. Still setting up the camp went only as far as making a campfire and setting down some trunks or rocks to sit on. As for the food, everyone pretty much had something prepared for themselves already as it was the most effective way of eating. This time however, given the friendly location and because there was a lot of time, Arata decided to make something out of his cooking book. He already knew the recipes that were in the book so rather than looking for anything Arata already knew what to choose. Actually he decided to cook right now mostly because of the dish that he wanted to make which was frog legs in sauce. Even though the name might not be that appealing to some, people who actually had the occasion to eat it once would understand that name is a secondary thing when it came to cooking. Not to mention that something like frog legs was actually an expensive dish that one would usually find only in a high class restaurant. Arata himself did not have an occasion to eat something like that in real life but that was yet another reason to try it right now. -em if there is someone who want to try my cooking then I dont mind making some extra as I will be starting now. So if anyone wants to try frog legs in sauce then give me your ingredient loot from the last fight. When Arata started setting up his equipment, he realized that he was weirdly looked at so he declared what he was going to do. He didnt really mind making more because when you were making something, making an extra portion was not a problem. Also it didnt seem like he will have many orders as after he said the name of the dish, most peoples reaction were like this. -frog legs? You mean you want to eat those disgusting creatures we just killed? Julia commented on it like this. -if you want to cook you can do it but we cant ask you to cook for us all, right? Vatras answered like this. It might seem like he didnt want to overwork Arata but his true thoughts were easily seen through and those were probably similar to Julias one. -I like my own food the most but thanks for asking. But hey Mika, you do like to try new things right? -em! -ah sorry I forgot that you are on a diet, well Arata we will pass on your offer. The azure-haired siblings answer was like this. Although Hiro had to come up with obvious lie after teasing his sister to the point where she looked like she could start crying any moment. Still there were some positive replies as well. The first two to trade their items with Arata were Levi and Rin. -oh, Arata you are finally cooking. I have been waiting for this! Levi had the most experience with Aratas cooking so he did not bother with the name at all. -here . Rin trade her loot without any comment at all, although strangely enough she didnt walk away afterwards and stayed near the fire where Arata was cooking. Well for her it was as good staying place as any. Then lastly there were two who were not bothered with the name. -hey Bran, as the dwarves we cant be picky about a food right? -aye Flynn, the dwarves can be picky only about their beer. -then Arata, count us in! The partys dwarves duo also decided to try Aratas food as well. Arata was not sure if they were not bothered by eating the creatures that they just killed as those toads were indeed disgusting, still if they wanted to try then Arata would have more testers. Although from the books description that said that even if it may not look like it the toads are actually delicious, Arata believed that it will be really good. That was because in his cooking book, Marco wasnt using the word delicious way that often. Also even though it might not seem like it the gigantic frogs werent that common so their legs were actually a rare ingredient. It might really be one in the life chance to make this food. -so do you want to help out? Because Rin stayed near the cooking place Arata ended up asking. -you probably dont want my help. I would just get in a way. -but arent you good at cooking? -not in this world. -but the cooking in EOA works just like in real world, so you shouldnt have any problems. -if you are asking for my help because you want me to help you, then I will do what you ask of me but if you are just trying to come up with conversation then, do not bother. -but arent you sitting here because you wanted to talk about something, normally you would just sit in some room corner. -do you see any room corners here? -it was a metaphor. -well this is a good place to sit down as any others also I will be the first one to get the food I see so this is your true intention. -still while we are at it we could actually pretend that we have a conversation. Then Rin said something strange. -what do you mean by pretend? How does one even pretend to have conversation in the first place. - never mind, forget I said anything. -in the first place, why do you want it to look like we have a conversation? -didnt I say that you should forget what I said. -did I ever agree to it? -fine, lets have that conversation because I actually want to ask you of something. Arata can you tell that annoying white four-eyes to stop annoy me at every possible occasion! - . White four-eyes haha. The way Rin described Shin was quite funny to Arata. -what are you grinning for!? -nothing, still what does he do to annoy you? -he tries to talk with me. -is there anything bad with it? -yes, because I dont feel the need to talk with him. -rather than thinking like that you should consider it a chance on making a friend. -making a friend I dont want to hear anything about this especially from you. Well, I guess that is also the truth. -in that case consider it a chance to befriend a potential ally that may be useful in the future, like for example you will find another crazy quest with some crimson knights in it and you will need a help with it. Good players arent that easy to find you know. -if there really was ever a case that I would like those people to help me, then I would ask Mary for it and not him. Ah she is really good at answering. Aratas arguments were shot down one after another. -well anyway if you want him to stop talking with you, you should probably tell it him yourself. -do you think that I didnt? I did, many times but unfortunately the effect of it was similar to when I told you or Levi the same. -still look where it lead to, you have two trusty teammates for your quest. - Rin looked at him annoyed after Arata said that but then she continued. -I guess, still because of that, I dont need any more as you said trust teammates. In the first place I never did approve of joining this party, it was all your idea Arata. -but you must agree that it is quite beneficial to us as we dont have to worry about anything else than moving forward and killing monsters on our way. Even with a map I think that we would end up getting lost many times. Also I am not completely sure if we were for example able to get out of that white forest without Shins help. Although, I am sure my idea would also worked. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. - . -anyway it wont be long before we reach the heavens gate so you will have to put up with everything for few more days. Because it was little irresponsible to leave everything to one person Arata ended up checking how the progress went and from what he saw after finishing sailing through the lake it would be a one day journey at most to reach the heavens gate. If everything went well that is. The route through the river would also probably take at least one day at best. -ah, only few days After hearing what Arata said, Rin sighed with relive. -anyway Arata after we reach that gate and if that gate works and we do enter the heaven, no matter what happens we are leaving others to do what they want and we deal with our quest alone. This time its not an argue, you said that I can decided when we are splitting up. -fine, fine until then however try to enjoy your popularity because it seems like its as big as it always was. - . After Arata said that Rin gave him a deadly look so he returned to focusing on cooking. As always Marcos cooking book was descripting everything in elegant manner that anyone could understand, although right now Arata wasnt a novice cook anymore and he could make many things without use of the book as well, both in real world and EOA. Still trying new things was always the best and Marcos cooking book still had many new dishes that Arata could prepare in the future. -strange . At some point while Arata was cooking he hear those words, although Rin was probably saying them to herself. -what is strange? He asked not expecting the answer bur Rin did answer in the end. -hmm? Well, I just thought it was strange to see you having fun with something like cooking. Leaving the fact that you didnt use to simile to often or rather never, the fact that you are doing it while cooking is even more strange. -is that so? Well I a little different than I was in the past. -that I already know but cooking? Really? -I dont know what you think about it but it is quite enjoyable, you should return to it yourself. -no, I wont be doing that in this world. -I guess its not really necessary to do it in EOA but cooking is still useful. Not only you get some stat bonuses but also you can enjoy a good meal everywhere. Also while cooking here you also learn to cook in real life. - . -although, about those stats bonuses. I am not sure that they are actually useful, as stats dont do anything. Hey Rin, do you know what stats actually do? -I never really cared about them, the thing I understand though is that the more you have the better, and thats enough for me. Still Arata, arent you some old gamer. It should be you who tells me what they do. -well normally they should increase your parameters like damage you deal or the amount of the damage you can take, how fast you move and how strong you are but in EOA its somehow not it so I dont understand how it works. -I am not that interested in it in the first place but Arata, do you think that strength can be categorized by numbers? -exactly you got it right here as it cant. You should also know that if I said something as stupid as that they can then my grandpa would disinherited me. -haha he wouldnt, but you would get a solid beating for ignoring all his lessons. Oh, I saw Rin laughing like this in this world. How rare it is. It seemed that if nothing else, Rin was in a good mood right now. -anyway the food should be ready in five minutes so I should probably get the others. -they will come on their own. There is no need to call them. -if you say so. After waiting the exact time that the cooking book said, the food was ready and it turned out to truly be delicious even by Marcos standards. It also didnt look that bad despite the ingredients or rather it looked delicious as well. In the end the only bad thing that one could point out in that meal was the name. -hahaha, such a win. Hey everyone, you have no idea what you just missed on, still Arata dont let anyone who didnt want it before try it. Only the courageous ones should be rewarded. After they finished eating Bran commented to both praise Arata and irritate all others. -aye, it was the best meal I ever ate. Flynn followed up. -Arata, seconds. Rin did not comment even once but just once again repeated those words. -but you already had two seconds Arata answered. Because Rin was not involving herself in any conversation, her eating speed was much higher than others and she somehow never had enough. -also there is nothing left. - . Only after Arata added this comment Rin gave up and walked away with head down. -wait, wait! Still after she did that, Bran out of sudden called out to her. -what? -now that we eaten such delicious meal it would be a shame to stop only on that so. Hmhmhm, behold and look with your eyes on what I have here. After all, everyone knows after delicious meal its time for delicious drink. Bran ended up taking out a large bottle with unknown substance in it. -but Bran, shouldnt we start building boats like now? -haha, its not like we are necessary there, Tras will take care of it. Also Flynn, if you dont drink at least once a weak what dwarf are you ha??? There wont be a better opportunity than now. Hey little girl, you will join us wont you? - . Rin did listen to the end as she though that Bran really had something to tell her but when he finished, she simply looked at him disgusted and walked away. -in that case it will be only four of us, hmm, there probably wont be many occasions for it so lets start a drinking game and see who has the best head out of us. -hey are you sure you should be doing something like this in a place like this. Arata said to Bran. -well not only me, I mean we! Right guys. -aye! Its a matter of honor. -I will naturally join in as well. But Arata, you will chicken out? Levi also seemed quite eager for that drinking game and naturally he provoked Arata to do it as well. -you can interpret it like this but I definitely dont want to die and fail my quest because of something like that Not that I like drinking anyway. -aye but you should have some fun once in a while. Flynn commented. -ah Arata why are always like this! Lose up a little, stop being so serious and relax. Relaxation is also necessary, right? Levi continued to convince him but Arata already made a strategic retreat so the drinking game ended up being played out only with Bran, Flynn and Levi. Although it seemed like from drinking game it soon turned into singing together drunken songs and it seemed like the three had an unlimited number of them at their disposal. Arata ended up walking towards Shin and Vatras who were walking around and checking out trees. -this one will be good I think. -is that so? Well I dont see any difference so its all yours Tras. -hey, I wanted to ask, we are going to now build the boats and use them to sail through the river, right? Arata ended up asking after coming close. -yes thats about it. Vatras answered. -still is building a boat really that easy to do it in one night? Not only that but we probably need more than one to travel with elven people. Or is it that by boats you meant rafts? Arata asked. -no, we are going to use actual boats. Vatras answered and then Shin followed up with the explanation. -you are probably asking how we are going to make them but you dont have to worry about that Arata. Tras will take care of it, so leave it to him and for today just rest and the best you can do for now is to watch out for anything dangerous. We originally were planning to build boats but with neither Musashi nor Thesar here we wont be able to build anything other than rafts just as you said so we will be using completely different method. Right Tras? -well it should work I guess. Hopefully I wont get thrown out from druid circle for that though. If they are not asking for help then they probably dont need it. Arata ended up walking away but he still observed what Vatras and Shin were doing as his alternative was probably the drinking game and drunken songs which Arata would prefer to avoid. From the look of it the drink that the three were using was not something normal as in such short time all players were already drunk as if they were drinking for hours. As for Shin and Vatras, they ended up walking around the coast and were checking out the trees. Near some trees they would stop and Vatras would use some kind of green spell on them that visually did nothing, at least not yet. Still, because it was not that interesting to look at Arata soon started to look for something else to do, although he didnt have to search for too long. -hey Arata come here for a second! Arata was called by Julia who was sitting together with Hiro, Mika, and Kei. -yes? -Arata, we are planning to check out this lake because no matter how you think about it, its definitely not perfectly safe. Hiro explained right away their intentions. -you mean there are some monsters in it? -I would guess at it blindly as its the west but we already saw some large fish inside that lake so we are sure of it. Not to mention that some of the frogs dived into it. So how do you feel about some underwater combat? -no idea, I never fought underwater, I also not sure how do you picture it. Still if you are asking if I can swim then yes I can. -well that will be enough. Our plan is to enter the water and swim a little to look for aggressive creatures. Mika has a useful spell that will allow us to breathe underwater so it shouldnt be that hard. Also I can probably deal with anything on my own anyway you and others will be coming as my back up. -okay count me in but are you sure we should just do it on our own? -dont get me wrong, it was Shin who asked me to do it as I am the most suitable for it. Anyway if you are joining in, it means that. Julia, you are out. -what? Why! -we dont need too many people in there and two people at my back up will be enough. And because I think that Arata and Kei will be both more useful than you, so as the person who was left in charge of this mission I tell you, good bye. Be sure to defend the camp while we are away because there arent that many people capable of fighting as it seems. Hiro pointed towards the drunken trio. -ah!! Hiro, I hate you! Still after being told of, Julia ended up shouting and walked away angry. -it wasnt my fault was it? Arata asked. -no, I was planning on asking you from the start, unless you joined that drinking festival that is. Anyway we will start right away. -just to confirm we are looking for anything that may be dangerous and deal with it right? Kei ended up asking. -more or less but it will be me dealing with it from afar while you two are my back up in case something goes wrong although I dont feel like I wont be able to deal with anything underwater. Its my domain. Anyway Mika, after we dive into the water cast that spell on us and afterwards check on us from afar. -you didnt have to tell me that again. -great lets go. Following after Hiro who was even more confident that usual, Arata and Kei dived into the water as well. They did it in normal way with holding their breath back but after entering the water their heads become surrounded by bubbles of air that pushed away the water from their heads. That allowed the divers to breath under water without any problems. Best scuba diving gear ever. They started to go down with the search of dangerous underwater creatures. The lake was not only big in size but also quite deep so they had places to check. Still, there werent that many places in which someone could hide so in general everything was out in the open. It turned out that the lake was filled with numerous creatures. Mostly, some kind of fish that were swimming around. Apart from them there also were few colourful toads that the party first met on the coast. -hey! Is it really the best idea to agro them? Arata asked as the super scuba diving spell allowed for it, the sound that went through the water was not perfect but still understandable. -well, given their number we might end up fighting them forever. So, we better get started. Hiro answered. -wait Hiro, did you forget that our job is to check the lake for potential enemies. Kei stopped him. -yes and to also erase those potential enemies. -still those fishes dont look aggressive to me so whats the point Even though the fishes inside the lake were also somewhat big they didnt even react after the three dived into the lake. The fishes were simply swimming around. -we should probably only take care of those frogs as it seems like they are planning the revenge. Kei added as indeed the colourful toads were now gathering in one spot and they indeed had a reason to attack later on. -fine we will ignore the fishes, for now at least. Anyway as we planned stay on the back and let me handle it. -you sure you can do it? There are quite a lot of them. -haha, sure I can, using water spells underwater brings enormous effect you know. Just look at this Hiro ended up stretching his hand forward and second later a gigantic spinning water ball appeared at his palm. -just now I used my usual water ball with little skill management yet the effect is like this, cool right? Hmm, so spells can also be influenced by environment. Well I will test it myself as well. [Sword enchant: water] [Sword slash] Without saying anything Arata ended up trying out how his water spell will work underwater. Arata ended up slashing downward in the direction of the group of toads and the effect was the swords slash that was three times bigger than normal. - . Although Arata was originally planning to kill just some because the size increased the sword slash ended up killing off all toads that were grouped up in one go. The attack also made a large hole in the ground. From that ground soon the bubbles of air started to flow out. -I guess you were right. -Arata, do you have to show off so much? The water should be my domain! Hiro ended up sulking. -no, no, I was just testing what you said. -yes definitely. Anyway lets swim around a little more The search continued although there werent that many things to search for. It turned out that the lake was actually quite peaceful and the fishes that were swimming in it did not have any fighting potential. That did not mean that Arata was not attacking them though. -hey, I thought that we arent going to attack them, what are you doing? Kei asked him -I am catching the food material, if you dont have anything better to do you can help as well. Arata was fishing underwater and as his rod he had a sword. -fine, do what you want. We will go check out that underwater cave you dont have to come. Kei and Hiro ended up swimming away while Arata continued his sword fishing. It was not that easy to catch a fast swimming fish underwater with the use of a sword but at the same time it being challenging was the fun part. In the first place, Arata gave up trying to swim after the fishes and trying to catch them as it was simply impossible. Rather than that he decided to hide in some plankton and wait for his chance. This plan already worked once so Arata decided to stick to this tactic. Before long another fish ended up swimming over the plankton that Arata was hiding in. The moment it did Arata jumped up and slashed with his sword end ended up cutting of the fish head. Afterwards he didnt need to do anything as the fish meat would automatically land in his inventory. -hey Arata, come here for a second! Still Aratas playing around was stopped quite quickly as he heard Keis shout. After swimming upward a little Arata located him near the entrance to the underwater cave and so he swam in that direction. -yes? -we found something but help me convince Hiro to pull back. Kei ended up saying that after Arata got close and they soon entered the underwater cave. After swimming for two minutes they ended up reaching the place in which the tunnel ended up splitting into three ways. That was where Hiro was waiting. -good, you brought him. Anyway I say that each of us take one tunnel and see what is at the end of it. -Hiro, remember what Shin said. -easy, easy, we will just look inside or are you afraid Kei? -I am not that good at underwater fighting. Anyway lets go back. -wait, we were to look for anything that might attack us later on so, I say that we should check those caves out. Anyway, whats the worst thing that could happen? - . -hey Arata what will you say? -I think that we shouldnt do anything that is unnecessary, I dont want to fail my quest over something stupid. -its two on one Hiro. We are not here to play around remember? -okay, in that case, our mission is over as there is nothing left to check and the fishes dont want to fight us anyway so there wont be a reason for them to chase after our boats. Lets go back hmm whats that Just as they were going to swim outside the water around them somehow started to behave unnaturally. Some kind of water stream appeared and it started to push them inside the middle tunnel. Arata, Hiro and Kei tried to swim outside but even the best swimmer could not fight against this stream. Even the use of spells did not help and they ended up being sucked inside. But then as they moved at some point Hiro ended up attacking with one of his skills in the direction where they were sucked in. After few seconds in a distance in the tunnel to which they were sucked something exploded and the path was blocked off with that explosion. Without saying anything else, the three swam outside of the cave as fast as possible without looking back. -okay, let us pretend it never happened. Mission complete. Hiro just said that and then he started to swim to the coast where they began from. Arata and Kei swam after him. -hey, was it actually necessary to check out this lake? There wasnt anything that dangerous here. Arata ended up asking. -no, but Shin simply wanted to be 100% sure that if it is relatively save so nothing unexpected happens when we sail out. Also, Mika already generally tested this lake so we were sent in just to make sure. I guess if there was actually anything dangerous in this lake then we wouldnt be entering with three people only. Nor would we use it as our route later on -anyway if we dont have to do anything else then I will go back to the fishing. We werent going to continue the journey today, right? -maybe at night but okay, I will pass on the message. Hiro and Kei ended up leaving the lake while Arata continued his sword fishing. Naturally the main reason that he did that was because he wanted to test out some fish dishes from Marcos cooking book. Also swimming around was not that bad. In fact if someone could breathe underwater without any special equipment then it was actually quite pleasant experience. In diving the biggest joy was probably the ability to move in any direction you wanted, as it was not only horizontally but also up and down. In a way swimming was like flying. Arata continued his sword fishing for following two hours. At some point he managed to locate one more colorful toad that managed to hide so far but Arata dealt with it immediately. Apart from that there werent anything out of ordinary, that is if one could call fishing with sword ordinary. In the end Arata managed to stock pile quite large quantity of fish meat but then just as he was thinking of going back he heard a loud sound that came from the direction of the coast on which the party was staying. Well not exactly the coast but rather the ground in the lake where Arata once killed of many toads with ultra-water sword slash. What was that? Now however after two hours have passed, the ground in that place started to collapse and the water started to flow into the hole that appeared. While doing so it created a small whirlpool. Arata wasnt close to that whirlpool so he was not sucked in by it still he had a good look at the situation. The ground continued to collapse although now somehow rather than falling down it somehow started to move upward and Arata soon found out the reason for that. It turned out that the ground in that part of the lake was covering some kind of creature that was in a deep slumber since god know when. Still it turned out that the attack that Arata made earlier ended up waking this creature up. It was not something immediate as its been nearly two hours since then but that was probably the catalyst for the current situation. As the creature started to move Arata realized how big that creature was although right now Arata only saw the large round shell that was still covering a lot of ground on its top. Why are all those creatures in the west of such ridiculous size? After seeing the size of the creature Arata thought like that although most of the creatures of the west so far would blank in comparison to the gigantic turtle that appeared. The turtle as Arata classified it had a large shell that that in diameter would have at least fifteen meters. Still it was not exactly a turtle as in comparison to turtle this creature had long and thick tentacles as its legs. Still the head did look more turtle like although it had two horns on the forehead. Maybe it will be friendly? Arata hold the last hope but even if the creature was friendly the fact that Arata had already attacked it could not make that hope come true. So far the turtle was slowly getting out but now that its head was out, it started to look around and soon it found the unknown black-white creature that the turtle immediately recognized as an enemy. The turtle opened its mouth and few second later after gathering the energy a laser of water shoot in Aratas direction. The attack was gigantic and it also was getting bigger as it went forward. Even if Arata was 50 meters away from the turtle it would still be impossible to get out from the range of that attack, especially in the water. Thats why rather than avoiding it, Arata decided to reflect it. [Sword slash] Arata answered to fire with fire or rather to water with water. Two gigantic water attacks ended up clashing with each other and in the end both of them neglected each other. Still occurrences like that right in the middle of the lake created a gigantic wave. For the gigantic turtle it was nothing but Arata was quickly washed away by the force of that wave and there was little he could do about it. Arata ended up being washed away all the way towards the coast but not the one on which the party was staying at but the one at the other side of the lake. He came there with the large wave that ended up crushing into the coast that was inhabited by colourful toads. The party did not bother to deal with the toads that were all the way on the opposite way of the lake as there was no meaning in it. Still Arata did not really have to bother with them now either as the big wave took them inside the lake while he was pushed away to the forest where the wave took him. He would end up being suck in back to the lake, if he did not catch the trunk of the tree. That fact that he was pushed away so far should tell how big the wave was created after the water attacks crushed with each other. After getting back on his feet Arata looked in the direction of the lake that was still not calm. The waves were still forming but they were not as big as the one before, still right now it seemed like the turtle was fighting or rather mascaraing the toads that ended up sucked into the lake after the first wave. Arata could recognize the fact that the fight was taking place underwater as the gigantic tentacles of the turtle were sometimes coming out from the water and together with it many dead toads were floating out as well. Well, this is a good chance. Naturally Arata did not even think about fighting that creature as it was not meaningless but also impossible. Thats why he simply entered slightly deeper into the forest and started circling around the lake to where the party was which as he suspect also got away from the lake seeing the occurrence. Well I awaken some large underwater monster that resided in this lake but it shouldnt be able to get out of from that lake so its not that bad. In comparison to normal turtle this gigantic creature had tentacles as its legs which sure worked much better underwater but also it would make it impossible for that creature to come out from it. Well that was at least what Arata thought but he soon realized that it was not the truth. Arata was looking at the lake and at some point the gigantic tentacle of the turtle ended up coming out from the water and then it crushed down on the ground few meters away from where Arata was currently walking. From Aratas perspective a wall of flesh appeared right before him. Soon enough the second tentacle ended up falling few meters behind him making it impossible for him to go either left or right. Afterwards the turtle started to slowly emerge from the lake to the ground. Oh, he is focused on me well in that case. Arata changed the direction in where he was going so far and started running deeper to the forest away from the lake. The turtle was slowly getting out from the lake. Even if despite Aratas prediction it could move on land it was still really slowly. Its base was still that of the turtle so it was slow. After getting out from the water the turtle ended up shooting at Arata some gigantic water balls but because Arata already ran away quite far he had no problems with dodging them. Afterwards the turtle ended up slowly moving after Arata. It was moving slowly to the point where Arata had to wait for him from time to time. Still after some time the turtle ended up being about 200 meters away from the lake. Now then, this should be enough. Time to disappear. [Lighting speed] Arata activated his skill and started running away with incredible speed. Earlier on Arata could out run the slow turtle normally and even had to wait for him from time to time. Now with lighting speed activated Arata disappeared from the turtle range in few moments. Arata ran straight for about five minutes and afterwards he turned left and with great distance away from the turtle. He then continued through the thick forest back to where the party was staying. The turtle on the other hand continued its journey forward to where Arata theoretically ran to. Hopefully he wont come back afterwards and even if he does we should be able to see that thing from the great distance. Still, I wonder how many people, would someone need to gather to take down a monster like this. The turtle naturally didnt look like something that was meant to be fought alone or with ten people. It took Arata an hour to get back to where the party was. It was partly because on his way he encountered a group of black orangutan-like creatures that ended up attacking him and he had to fight against five of them. They were mainly attacking with their hands and legs but they also sometimes picked up a rock from the ground and throw it. The most troublesome thing about them would be probably the way in which they moved on the trees. They were jumping on them so swiftly that Arata ended up taking the defensive position and simply counterattacked when they came closer. Fighting in that manner took some time but there werent any dangerous situations. It was already getting dark when Arata returned and everyone was more or less gathered near the campfire. And also there were five boats already prepared waiting near the shore. In some of those boats there already were few people sleeping namely the drunken trio. Although it seemed like Flynn had ability to sing drunken song even in sleep as from time to time some strange sounds were coming from one of the boats. -Arata, where the hell did you dig up that monster from? The first one to welcome him was Hiro who rather than being worried about a person who was gone for few hours asked about the turtle. -I think that rather than answering questions, it will be better if we leave this place before that turtle comes back. -naturally we are taking off from here right away. We were just waiting for you Shin answered to him and it was true that they were ready to go any moment. -anyway lets get into the boats and move right away. -we have five of them ready so two person per boat. Vatras added. Although there were 11 people in the party right now, still to solve this the two sleeping drunken dwarves ended up being putted on each other in one boat. Without wasting a time, the party ended up pushing the boats out to the water in pairs, sometimes alone. Arata ended up begin grouped up with Rin as after he walked towards one empty boat she ended up running towards it as well before anyone else. Inside the boat there were two paddles that everyone ended up using. It didnt take long before the boats entered the river from which it was much easier to sail to the point where paddles served only to change the direction a little to avoid crushing into the rocks. Still it was not that hard and there werent that many things to crush into. -Arata, are you tired after running away from that creature? If so then you can go to sleep if you want. At some point Rin offered it to him. -not really, it wasnt that hard. I am not that sleepy either, so if you want you can take the first turn at sleeping. -I see in that case I will take on that offer. Without saying anything else, Rin ended up taking out a pillow and she fall asleep immediately few seconds later. Even though she did not say anything it seemed like she was at least worried about Aratas disappearance. Still now that it all resolved itself, she could finally relax but when she did the mental fatigue kicked in right away. The journey through the river was quite peaceful and surprisingly safe, so there was no occasion for Rin to wake up by herself and Arata did not try to wake up her either. In the end, Rin ended up sleeping for a really long time. Next Chapter: Chapter 41 Tales of the past: Amanda Rinder. Simple day.
Extra note: On EOA website, I made ''character pages'' that as a name suggest naturally show information about each individual character. The information is mostly something that was already told in the story but because the story is so long people can forget some details. Like what clothing character have and stuff like that. (For example when was the last time I described Arata''s strange hair.) So character page is a best place to remind yourself about facts like that without searching through the story. Naturally there are other informations on that page as well. (I won''t be listing it here as there is no point, go look at it) Anyway currently there are the template (that explains few things like what does long hair means in those standards. Or what forehead length means) Apart from template itself, I already made the pages for three most important characters of the second arc. (Arata, Rin, Levi) Links to everything are here: http://eyeofadventure.wordpress.com/characters/ (The characters that are made do have links to click on, new characters will get their pages at some point as well) Ah right, lastly under the page with characters in comment section there is ''popularity ranking'', something that I did at the end of arc 1, this time though, anyone can write there anything at any point. Give the notice to your favourite characters as they will be happy to hear that. Once again the link. (You might also tell me which for which character next you want a page for.) Anyway once again link. http://eyeofadventure.wordpress.com/characters/ Chapter 41 “Tales of the past: Amanda Rinder. Simple day.” Chapter 41 Tales of the past: Amanda Rinder. Simple day. Pipipipi pipipipi. The sound of an alarm clock rang inside the room and signaled that the night has ended and it was time to wake up. Few seconds later, responding to that sound, a small hand came out from under the blanked to press the bottom on the alarm clock to turn it off. Still, after doing so, the hand returned to its earlier position and the person under that blanked had absolutely no intention to get out from the bed. Ten minutes have passed in an instant but after that. Pipipipi pipipipi. Another alarm clock rang. This time thought turning it off was not that easy as the second alarm clock was placed two meters away from the bed at the desk near the window. The position of the second alarm clock was to force the sleeping person out from the bed to turn it off. Still the first reaction of the sleeping person was only a movement under the blanked, but then after endless ringing of the alarm clock anyone would finally give up. I am waking up, I am waking up. The sleeping person finally decided to stop being sleeping person and finally get out from under the blanked. -aaaaaa! Amanda Rinder was her name. Currently 17 years old with birthday coming in one month. She was a simple second year high school student whose main occupation right now was as one suspects going to school. She had short, for girl, chestnut hairs of color much closer to color of red rather than brown. She was quite short in height given her age and most of her peers were taller than her. Currently she was wearing a nighttime white sleeping dress. Her blue eyes were also still half closed as she just woke up. It was always like that as Amanda was simply bad in mornings and when allowed she could sleep for the whole day but unfortunately high school students cruel life required from her to wake up at 6 a.m. Because there was no time to waste, after turning off the alarm clock Amanda walked out from her room and went to the bathroom, to wash her face and take care of basic needs. Afterwards she went down the stairs to the ground floor of her house and went to the kitchen. She had the custom of eating the breakfast first before cleaning herself properly. -good morning mom. Still with half asleep voice Amanda said good morning to her mum and sat down near the table. -good morning sweetheart. Her mom answered as she while finishing making the breakfast for her daughter. In comparison to Amanda, her mother was completely awake and already dressed up properly. She was also wearing a white apron on her clothes right now. She had the same colored hair as Amanda although hers were much longer. Despite already being in late thirties, Amandas mom still looked quite young to the point where if someone joked that she was Amandas older sister, it wouldnt have been a poor joke. It actually happened quite often. In truth however Amanda did not have any siblings as it turned out that her mom could not have more children after giving birth to Amanda for certain reasons. Still Amanda wouldnt say that she never had any siblings as she did have a cousin that for her was just like an older sister. There was even a time when that cousin lived together with her family and it was at that time that a sister-like bond was formed. Currently, Amanda couldnt wait till the moment when she will be able to go to the collage as at that time she will move to live with her sister again as normally there werent that many chances to meet up with her. Although today Amanda was going to meet her after school in late afternoon in a certain way. Apart from the fact that it was great that Amanda will be able to live with her, it was also very convenient as even if her family wasnt poor, going to a collage and living on your own wasnt that cheap. -mom, I probably going to come back home quite late today so dont prepare the dinner for me. -you have a long training today? -no, after yesterdays fight I finally cleared the condition for going to the holidays mountain training so today I have a day off from. Well I still have to go there to talk with the master about the manner to officially get that permission. -sweetheart maybe you should reconsider it for the last time, you do remember what happened last time, right? -mom, dont return to this conversation again, especially when we finally finished it two days ago. I will be fine. I even completed that impossible condition that master set for me and you also agreed that you wont say a word after I do so. -I did but... is it wrong for me to be worried about my only child? Shouldnt a normal training be enough for you? -everyone else is going so I am going as well, anyway once again, we already talked about it many times and I completed both yours and masters conditions so I am allowed to go. - . Amandas mother ended up sighting and brought the breakfast for Amanda. One might think that she was overprotective but her worry was 100% justified. Since about five years now, Amanda was taking a classes from material arts and not only specialist. Truth to be told, someone like Amanda who ever since birth was bad in health and had to take regular checkouts in hospital, shouldnt really do extreme sports like that. Unfortunately though there wasnt a single person in the world that could convince Amanda to stop doing that as in this matter she was extremely stubborn to the point where she was ready to run away from house just to continue the training and she actually did that once to prove that she wasnt joking. During her training she learned many things that normal person wouldnt even come close to on regular basis. Despite the fact that the first year was especially rough, with time Amandas body got used to the extreme training and thanks to that her health greatly improved. Well at least in general as she still had to take checkups in the hospital every month. Still while Amanda did get used to everyday training that she was doing afterschool, the Holiday Mountain training was a different thing. That training was extreme even for an experienced practitioner although there werent really anyone who could be experienced in that practice as it focus was not fighting arts but rather survival. Actually Amanda already had a chance to experience it once and not only did she fail it but also, after it ended she was hospitalized for three months. So yes, her moms worries were 100% justified. Still, that training was two years ago and now Rin was much stronger than before, well at least in technique as her physical strength was never that great to begin with and it would probably increase that much in the future either. Amanda didnt have any hopes for that as even after five years of heavy training she did not grow much muscle and her body was as small as it always was. After finishing off the breakfast Amanda went back to the bathroom and did the major morning cleaning. After that she went back to her room and dressed up for the upcoming day. Currently Amanda was following a simple fashion although in the first place she was not really interested in fashion at all. On the top she was wearing a simple cream colored sweeter as even though it was already middle spring it was still cold in this regions. As for the bottom she was wearing black jeans. Those were perfectly normal clothes that she usually went to school with. Lastly she also took the black shoulder bag where she had the books and notebooks. After dressing up she went out form the room. On the way, she also said good morning to her parents room, although her dad to whom she spoke those greeting was probably still asleep as his work usually started at 10 and right now it still was still 20 minutes before 7 a.m. Lastly before leaving the home she took the school lunch that her mother prepared for her and started wearing her shoes. -I am going out! -have a nice day! After saying goodbye to her mom, Amanda went out. Amanda had to use the bus every day to get to school as her house was located quite far from the city. Calling it a city might actually be an overstatement as it was a small city that had only one school in it, so one would wonder if it really should be called a city and not a village. Despite the fact that it was wasnt that large the city itself was quite modern and it had most of the facilities that one could ask for. Amanda reached the bus stop few minutes before the bus arrived. When it did she entered inside and sat down on the third sit on the left from the entrance. Even by bus, it was going to take her thirty minutes to reach the city where her school was. This route was something that Amanda was really used to as for her whole life of going to school she was taking it. Because she was spending an hour in a bus every day, Amanda developed the hobby of reading books. The time in the bus was perfect for it so every day, at least that one hour would be used for that hobby, although usually it was much more if she had the time which usually was not the case. The location of her house may not be the most comfortable one but the deciding factor for this choice was the clean air in the atmosphere that one could not find in large cities of this age anymore. The air like that was simply necessary for Amanda, so an environment like that was needed. In general, the whole city as well as small villages around it had the great environment. There werent any heavy industry anywhere near so the air was mostly clean. Also the whole area was surrounded by mountains range that blocked away the fumes that would come from some other places. The only downside of those mountains was that because of them the area was slightly colder than normally although it was still something that people got used to. After 30 minutes of ride, Amanda reached the city and get off the bus. -hi, Amy. -hi, Sara. At the station she met up with friend with whom she afterwards went to school with. Sara was Amandas friend ever since kindergarten. Naturally, because the city wasnt big there always was only one school and there was always one class so ever since then they were classmates forever. It was the same with every other classmate that Amanda had. That naturally lead to good relations with each other inside the group which was quite unusual for the whole class to get along so well. As for Sara, she was Amandas best friend in school with whom she was sharing the school bench. Apart from knowing each other for so long Amanda and Sara also had many things in common such as sharing the love for reading book. In the current age most people preferred games or television or other form of entertainment but that was not the case for them. Sure, Amanda watched television from time to time with her family but when it came to games, if she actually played anything once a month it would be big for her. It was not that she had anything in particular against them but it was simply that she had other things to do and if she already had some free time she would spend it differently. From the bus station it wasnt that far to school but it was still 10 minutes long walk and that time was perfect for a morning conversation. Every day Sara would wait for Amanda at the bus station and then together they would walk to school. The morning talks were usually about everything and nothing in particular. It could be about yesterdays events or about homework or about the recent book that both of them read although they tried to avoid talking about those in the morning as it was really hard to stop once they started. Talking with a friend about a hobby that you both share is something that anyone loves to do. -Amy, problems, problems! As the girls were getting closer to the school and were nearly there, one of other Amys friends Rebecca ran up to her informing about some problems. -what happened? -there are appeared some gangsters that are blocking the entrance to the school. The teachers are afraid to come close to them, other students as well so no one managed to enter inside. -wait, what do you mean by gangsters Reb? -well, they are wearing black leather clothes and have motorbikes so who else could it be. They are not from our city or anywhere near thats for sure. Anyway, they said that they hate the school and thats why they are doing it, to help us. When Marcus tried tell them to leave, he ended up being beaten up so everyone else is scared of coming close to them now. -in this case we should probably wait for a police, its not like we can do anything about it ourselves. -wait a minute Amy. Reb, how many of them there are? Amys friend Sara asked. -there are four of them. -then in that case Amy you can take care of them right? -hey, its a different case then bulling. What if they have some dangerous weapon like guns? This is not a laughable topic. -right, sorry. -still, we shouldnt do nothing either. We cant let others got hurt so its probably better if we convince everyone to go home for today or at least stop them from doing anything. -ah, you can keep your cool even in a situation like this, as suspected of our class rep. Amy you really should candidate for school president next year. -I wouldnt have enough time for that, anyway lets go. The conversation ended as they arrived at the scene. There Rin saw that just as Rebecca informed her there were four black leather wearing thugs near the gate to the school and their motorbikes were blocking the entrance. Then around them, gathered in a half circle, were the students of the school. The school campus involved both middle school and high school students so despite the fact that there was only one class for year, there were many students going through this gate. Still, it seemed like Amanda didnt have to do anything in particular as there was no one who was going to try to step in there. -hahaha, look at their faces, there are so many of them and no one even try to come at us. -thats what I told you bro, a village like this doesnt have anyone who would have any guts. -so in the end we only ended up doing those guys a favor of not going to school, such good people we are. -hahaha you got it right and you know what, good people deserve a reward. So what do we do this time, gather the money or should we take one or two girls from here and let them thank us personally. -hmm this time I have to say money because just look at them! I never knew that village girls were that ugly. -hahaha, you got it right, how could they even look themselves in the mirror. The thugs were exchanging a conversation like from a third rate gangster movie but naturally no one was stupid enough to get into their provocation. The half circle around the gate was kept for few minutes but then appeared one person who completely ignored the situation and walked forward. -hey you wait! Dont do anything stupid, its not worth it. Someone ended up shouting to the guy that started walking towards the gate like nothing. It was a person with short black hair and with headphones in ears. Because there was no reaction at first, it was possible that he couldnt hear but after two more steps the guy answered. -stupid? But I am not doing anything stupid? I am simply going to the school like a student should. The bell will ring in five minutes, right? I will pass on arriving. The guy simply answered like that and continued forward and even though someone else called to him, he didnt listen just as he really didnt hear anymore. -hey Amy, we should stop him, its our classmate after all. Sara ended up calling her right away. Still after hearing the word classmate, despite the fact that Amanda could not see through the crowd of people she did know about who Sara was talking about. In this city nearly the whole class was each others friends and normally everyone would use a name to refer to a person rather than using the word classmate, still there was one classmate that did not try to get along with other and it was actually even more than that. When someone would try to talk with him, he would immediately make that person realize that he doesnt want to have anything to do with them and that they are simply bothering him. In the current situation though, because Amanda was probably one of the few that actually knew something about him, she knew that she doesnt have to do anything in particular to stop him right now. -you just said that you dont want to be late, didnt you? Naturally the thugs also did hear what the guy with the short black hair said. Still even though one of them asked this question him, he did not answer and simply continued forward. Still, that naturally pissed off the thugs and one of them ended up walking towards the guy. He stand in his way as if asking for the fight but the guy just walked pass him by turning a little to the right. -hey wait a minute youaaa kaa! The thug ended up stopping the guy and caught him from behind by the shoulder but the second he did that, the guy caught his hand and he threw it to the ground over the shoulder. The thug crushed into the ground hard. After that he was probably already in no longer moving state despite that though, the guy was still holding his arm and before leaving it, he twisted it in a way that led to breaking that arm in few parts. There was even a clear sound of bones being broken. -you, how dare you! After seeing what happen, the boss thug ended up rushing towards the guy in anger with his fists raised. After few steps he already reached him and the moment he did he threw a punch but in that moment the guy ended up making the fast movement and completely avoided the blow. At the same time he moved forward and it was him who managed to land the punch first right into the nose of the boss thug. After that hit the boss thug was quickly brought to the ground and the blood scattered from his nose all over his face and not only. He did get knocked out in that single blow though so he was already unconscious at that point. The guy ended up stopping after the hit and looked at his hand which was now slightly covered in blood. Because of that, the guy ended up crouching near the boss thug body and he wiped away the blood with the boss thugs shirt. Afterwards, the guy continued like nothing but then he once again encountered the gate that was blocked by the motorbikes. -hey, the parking place is over there so dont park those in the middle of the gate. I will be fine as I can simply jump over them but there are some middle school students who are using this gate as well. The guy said it to the remaining two thugs who didnt look that scary anymore if they ever did. Now however they actually looked terrified. After hearing what the guy said they immediately took the action and moved the motorbikes out of the way. There were only two motorcycles so it was probably that each bike was used by two thugs. The two remaining thugs also picked up their friends and put them on the motorbikes and afterwards they ran away. By the time they did, the guy already disappeared and walked to school. The silence was kept in the air for some time after everything happened but then the one thing that interrupted it was the school bell that signaled the beginning of the classes. After hearing it everyone who was still standing before the gate ended up rushing inside the school and another day of completely normal school life began. Naturally after what happened, all breaks between the classes were filled with the topic of the morning event. Practically everyone were talking about it as their memories were quite fresh, well maybe with the exception of one person who was actually directly involved in the case. Despite the fact that he did not interact with others and others already knew that he doesnt want to interact with them, after what happened there were some people who wanted to try to talk with him yet again. Still, because of that the man in the question somewhat disappeared every break. Amandas guess was that he probably didnt want to bother with the people that came to look for him. Still that created the problem for Amanda as she was one of very few people that had interaction with the guy so the people that came would ask about him, her. By Amandas count there were way too many girls that came and they ended up asking the questions to which she naturally had no answer. Sure she was one of the few that interacted with the guy but it was still on the level of handing him the printouts as the class rep or passing the message when teacher asked her for it. Nothing apart from that. At least, in school that is. Apart from school though they also knew each other from the training place where Amanda was training the fighting arts. Still even there their interaction was little. In the end though, because it was somewhat troublesome to answer peoples questions especially when she couldnt answer them, Amanda decided to find the guy and tell him to deal with them himself. Luckily it was not that hard as she did saw how he was disappearing every break, namely by the use of the window. Still it was a third floor so it would be hard for him to jump down and even harder to come back the same route later on so Amanda did know the only place to which he could go. If he can do it then I also can. There was one problem in reaching him though as the place where he went, the rooftop was currently closed off so if she wanted to follow him there, she had to use the same route that he did. -Sara, if someone asks I went to the toilet. -you are going there? Then I will come with you. -no I am not going there right now, its just an excuse. I will come back in max five minutes. Amanda said to her friend and then quickly moved to the window. Luckily the classroom was nearly empty so there werent that many people that would see what she was going to do. Before anyone tried to stop her, she went towards the window and disappeared second after by climbing upward right away. Truth to be told it was not the first time she was climbing the rooftop like that although the last time was to help someone who got stuck there. After few moments Amanda reached the top and easily located the guy who was simply laying there on the ground and was looking at the clouds. She walked up towards him thinking what to say but it turned out that it was he who started. -what is it class rep? I didnt forget to turn in some paper, did I? Ah, I hate dealing with him. Her thoughts immediately went in this direction. If there was one thing that Amanda did not like about being class representative it was that she had to deal with this guy, at least more than all others. Honestly she had enough just by the fact that she was training in the same place as him. The thing that she couldnt stand the most about him was that he looked down on her, namely whenever they fought he would usually go easy on her which most of the times resulted in his crushing defeat but this guy did not care about winning or losing, he actually didnt care about anything, nothing at all. Amanda had a lot of respect for all other students that trained with her under master Rain as they were doing it with exact purpose in mind, mostly sport competition. Still this guy didnt have a purpose and rarely gave his best and then even after giving his best he would not feel anything be it his victory or defeat. Thats why even if Rin was generally nice to everyone when it came to someone like this she could not do it. -I will keep it short. After what you have done this morning there are some people that want to talk with you but because you are hiding here all day they come to me to ask about you. -isnt it great then, you love to help other people, dont you? Ah, I really cant stand him. Talking with this guy was always like this. He always would try to push anyone away the second they talk to him. What was more, he actually was quite skillful in getting on peoples nerves. -I do, and because of that I am bringing you to them so you can answer their questions as naturally I cant do that. -for all I care you can just answer them with lies, it makes no difference for me. Why did I ever start like that, its not like he would do anything that would make my day easier. - fine in that case you can just sit here but do know that I will definitely mention to the master that you beaten some people in the city today. I am seeing him today so you will hear about it soon from him. -hey! You cant lie like that! You did see the situation! The guy finally reacted but it was only possible because Amanda mentioned his grandfather. For all she knew, only by mentioning him she would get any reaction from this guy. -lie? Me? But didnt you beaten up two people on everyones eyes. There are many witnesses but if I cared enough I could even get the evidence by asking the school for the video that was made by security camera near the gate. So, dont say that its a lie, you should know that I hate liars and becoming one is not something that I am planning to do. I will just not mention the other part, simple as that but if you dont want it to happen get down to the classroom and deal with those people yourself. You shouldnt worry though, none of them will ever come back to you after talking with you just once, I graduate it. With those words Amanda left the rooftop and returned to the classroom, naturally through the same way, meaning the window. Two minutes later the the guy ended up coming to the classroom as well and thankfully Amanda was no longer bothered by anyone regardless him. The school day continued as always and today there were seven lessons together as well as P.E so before Amanda finished school, a lot of time already passed. For some people, sitting in school for so long might be extremely boring but Amanda did like studding so it was not the case for her. Naturally there were few subjects, which she did not like, partly because she was not doing good in them but if asked in general she did enjoy the classes. The same went for breaks as it was the occasion to speak with her friends and she had many of them. In general everyone in her school knew each other and in classes one year above and one year below Amanda did knew everyone and was friend with them. Naturally with few exceptions like the guy but then there were also best friends with whom Amanda especially spent a lot of time like Sara. The friendship that connected people in the school was something that was built over the years of going to the same school. All school events, in school sport competitions, clubs, it was always done with the same people. It was really rare occurrence to not know the name of the person who was one year above or one year below for those who were already in high school. Some people might think that because there are less people around the chances to make a new friend would decrease. Those thoughts couldnt be any more wrong though as it was exactly the opposite, because there was not that many people, everyone were often brought together. In schools from big cities, if only one class has a good relationship it was already great, still the occurrence where the whole school has a good relation is nearly impossible for big cities. In general, in this city it wasnt hard to get friendly people, at least you age. One wouldnt actually need to do anything in particular as there were people that would approach them anyway. Amanda never had problem approaching people and she was actually one of those that would approach others as she thought of it as a beautiful thing as being with friends was the best thing in the world for her. Still, it was exactly because of that, that Amanda couldnt stand the people like the guy who ended up transferring to the school few years ago and despite the fact that many tried to approach him, he always pushed them away on purpose. In the first year of his transfer, just like others she did try to approach him, especially because he transferred to her class and ignoring everything else, as a class representative she should be friendly and easy to talk to with everyone. It wasnt only because she should be like that but Amanda was always like that and that was also why others chosen her for that position, still the guy was too much even for her. At the current moment she simply gave up on him, as anything she tried, or anything that others tried always resulted in the same thing, which was nothing. In one of their first conversations there was one time in which the guy ended up laughing at the way this school is and that conversation was the end line for Amanda. She simply could not bear to stand someone like that, even though she knew his circumstances from her master who was the guys grandfather, she could no longer think of him as someone who could be her friend, rather she started to think of him as someone she hated and it was the first time that it actually happened. When Amanda once thought about it, there was actually no one else that she really hated, no one that she really didnt want to spend time with no one that she simply didnt want to see with her eyes. Luckily though avoiding someone was not that hard so her interaction with the guy was kept to the minimum and in trainings she where she would be paired up with him, she could release her irritation on him. There was nothing better that forcing him to go serious and later on defeat him, although the fact that he still didnt show any reaction to it was yet again irritating. In the end though there was one thing that Amanda did not like about this situation and that was the fact that even in a school like this, there could be a person like him. Also the fact that he was in her class made her sometimes think that it was partly her fault and she failed as class representative, still whenever thoughts like that appeared in her, just like in any time that she would worry about something, Amanda had a lot of people that would cheer her up and in this case tell her that its not her fault as it was indeed absolutely no her fault and she already did more that one could ask for and she wasnt planning to do anything else at this point. -okay, so I will see you in an hour Linda and once again thank you very much. -no problem Amy, but who would have thought that you wanted to try out that game. -no its not like I will play it afterwards. It was just my friends idea to meet up this way. Its just one time thing, I dont really have time to play games. -ah, thats more like you Amy. But anyway if you ever want to use that method to meet up with your friend again then you can always ask me to lead you my capsule, although next time I would suggest choosing a different game as this one might prove problematic in meeting someone. As long as its starting area it will be fine but later on it might be quite hard to meet up again, especially in scenario where your friend would keep on playing and you would not. -well, I dont know much about the games and if there will be the need we can always use a different game later. -in the first place why arent you two using normal communication device. You dont need a game to meet up with someone after all. -I dont know it was her idea. Anyway, I should be ready in an hour so until then, bye Linda. When the last lesson ended Amanda found her one year older friend Linda with whom she had an arrangement today. Amanda was going to her house today to borrow a virtual reality capsule, namely she will be using it in her house. Amanda did not have this technology herself and both buying it and also buying the game would have been an way too much just to use it once to meet up with a friend. Even though it was the person that was like an older sister to her, there was still no reason to spend so much money, if Amanda were already to ask her parents for some extra money she definitely wouldnt do so for some stupid game. Also Amanda could simply ask a friend for help so it was even more unreasonable. Linda had both VRC and the copy of the game eye of Adventure so that way Amanda did not have to spend even a single dollar on it. Still before going to Lindas house, Amanda still had one place she had to visit, namely the place of her training to meet up with her master. Today she was not going there for the training though but for a short conversation. Amanda was planning for it to be really short conversation as she already decided to ignore everything her master will try to say. Why would she do that, well it was because she was tired to hear the same things all over again. The training place was huge building with many faculties inside it but also outside it. Still today Amanda was not interested in any of those and she went straight to the reception. After finding out where her master was, she went to that place right away. It turned out that her master was currently warming up so he was in his private training room. puk, puk After reaching it, Amanda knocked on the door. She did that only out of politeness as her master did not care if someone entered without knocking and actually preferred if people did it that way. Still entering like that would meant disrespect so actually no one ended up following that instruction and unusually ended up knocking. -enter. The voice came right away which should mean that her master was ready for visitors. Actually Amandas todays visit was not arranged but it was also because her master never arranged meetings with anyone as he didnt like to be bound by anything. Something like talk with person A on 15:00 Wednesday did not go well with him. For Amanda it was nothing bad as she was visiting this place three to seven times a week but for others this behavior was really troublesome, especially when her master could someday disappear and return two months later without notice. Still after entering the room, Amanda understood that her master was not ready for visitors by any means. - Amanda respected her master from the bottom of her heart but sometimes his behavior was unreasonable. Like for example now. Someone came to visit him and knocked on the door and he said enter right away, still what he currently was doing pushups with only his little finger of the left hand. Well for him, it was nothing impressive and he could easily talk with people while doing those pushups so no problems here. Still the fact that he was currently only wearing white briefs was the problem. -is this the getup that is appropriate for welcoming anyone, master Rain! What about my heart of innocent girl! Rather than saying anything else, the first thing Amanda did after entering the room was Lamenting like this. -oh, Amy thats a surprise, I thought that today is your day off. The old but muscular man who was doing pushups on a single finger while wearing white briefs answered like nothing. His body was nothing to be embarrassed about and despite few scars on it was a work of art. Still it was not the reason to show it to pure high school girl like Amanda. -get dressed! She ended up yelling at him and left the room and closed the door with a bang. -enter. Five minutes later Amanda once again heard the same words and entered once again. Her master was still doing the pushups but this time he did wear grey shirt and black shorts. Also it seemed like he changed the finger and now he was doing pushups on his thumb. -so my dear Amy, is there something you wanted from me today? -I see that you are busy master Rain, so I will get to the point. Yesterday I cleared the last condition and won against Jorgen in free style battle. With all others conditions that I meet during two last months, I am officially allowed to go for holidays mountain training right? I came here today to hear it from you officially. -well you know me Amy, after all that I cant say no to you anymore so yes you are allowed to go. However being allowed to go does not mean that you definitely have to go Ah I dont want to hear this again. Amanda thought like this hearing her master words, however she did listen him to those words once again in the end. -as you know that training is not an official part of the course, only those that really want to improve should go there. -well naturally I do want to improve. -I know still one can improve in many ways and I think that this improvement is not necessary for you. You were there once already, werent you? That training is nothing but a shortcut which sure can bring great results but at the same time its risky. Also the only thing that you can learn there is the will to survive and how to strengthen you spirit. In the world of fighters those two qualities are really important and they cant be achieved by normal means, still your goal is different from others, isnt it? That training is not for people who simply wanted to learn self-defense or improve their health. I already made the training for you that is the most suited for your needs and you followed it for all those years and now you can rival nearly everyone who is currently training here. I cant even count how many times by now you have beaten up my stupid grandson despite the fact that has both my blood and my talent for fighting. So Amy shouldnt it be enough for you? There is absolutely no reason for you to risk it. Her master gave her a long speech. It was similar to few others that he did anytime she spoke with him about this subject. Still even though it was true that at first Amanda started training only because she wanted to improve her health and it was still her main goal, by training together with others the other goal in her appeared as well and that was to not lose to anyone only because of her circumstances. To prove that even someone like her can be strong. Thats why even though her master had her best interest in mind while he tried to convince her not to go, she would still insist on going. -I will be fine. I am much stronger than I was two years ago it wont end up the same. Even if it does I am fine with that. -you already know that there are some people that ended up dying on that training, are you fine with that as well? Amanda tried to reassure her master once again but to that he told her those words, still those were words that anyone would heard if he wanted to go for that training as it was a training for those who were ready to sacrifice everything to get stronger. That training was not forced on anyone and was something that people participated out of free will although only those sure of their abilities were ready to take that risk. -no, I am not fine. I still want to do a lot of things and I have my own dreams Amanda answered with the truth as naturally she wasnt fine with that and there wasnt time for lying -thats why I will not die and return safely. - . To that answer her master only smiled as it was actually the correct answer to his question and if she said otherwise he might have consider not letting her go despite everything. -I will return tomorrow as usual. Thank you for your time With those words Amanda left the room and closed the door but second later she returned and added. -next time, be sure to be properly dressed when someone is entering this room! -I will keep that in mind. -dont just keep that in mind but follow it! With that comment she closed the door for the last time. With her business done here, her next destination was Lindas house. She actually managed to get there on arranged time even though an hour after the school was somewhat more of the earliest possible time, and Amanda did mention that it will be probably sometime later, still she did not expect her talk to go that fast. -oh, you are here already Amy. Its a little early but dont worry everything is ready for you. Well there werent many preparations on my side as nothing in particular had to be changed. I cleaned the room a little though. -just a little? -tehehe It was not the first time that Amanda was coming to this house and Lindas room which usually was not really cleaned and little cleaning would definitely not be enough to clean it. -mom! Amy is here. Suddenly Linda called out. -oh is that so, then I will bring you the dinner in a second, wait in the dining room. And Lindas mom voice came back from somewhere soon after. -hey what is this about? -you didnt eat anything apart from the school lunch did you? Thats why when I told my mom that you are coming she insisted on making you eat dinner with us. Anyway you know her, so you also know that you cant say anything that would change her mind at this point. -okay fine, I was hungry anyway. Although my mom will later on complain that I dont eat enough. -well you just have to explain to her that you ate in my house. -unfortunately she wont listen to this explanation. You know how moms are. -I do, remember how it went when I once wanted to start a diet. -hahaha. In the end Amanda ended up eating together with them but only half a portion so by the time she return home she have enough space for 3/4 of her moms dinner. The rest however will be a hard fight. In the first place Amanda could not eat that much as her body did not accept a large portion of food. It was also not only that, the meat for example was also out of the question as after eating that one she would usually end up vomiting. Even if she didnt, she would still feel bad afterwards. Because of that she didnt have a custom of eating in friends houses like this. Still Lindas mom was really persistent in this topic so Amanda ended up explaining why she had to decline all propositions. To that though, Lindas mom simply started preparing food that would be eatable by Amanda so she did no longer have a valid excuse, rather it became the reason why Amanda cant refuse since the dinner menu was changed especially because of her visit. The dinner took extra 20 minutes although it was not a problem as it was still 40 minutes before the promised time of the meeting inside the game. After the dinner Amanda went to Lindas room which as suspected had some clothes lying in random places as well some other objects laying everywhere. Still, Amanda focused on an unfamiliar furniture that stood in one of the rooms corner that wasnt there when she last arrived in this room which was three weeks ago. -so, in which way did you exactly clean this room? Amanda ended up asking sarcastically. -what are you saying, the last time this room was as clean as today was actually during the Christmas. -so this room was never clean to begin with. Anyway can you tell me what that thing over there? Is this some kind of massage bed? Amanda ended up asking as the only thing she could relate that thing to, was massage devices that she saw in her training place, although Lindas one was somewhat strange. -ah, you are so behind times Amanda, didnt you check it out already. Naturally its the VR capsule. -what do you mean by that, shouldnt VR be some kind of goggles? -haha, you are really behind times. Nowadays no one uses those anymore. Anyway this is the newest model from space electronics and its the best VR on the market right now. I bought it two weeks ago and replaced the old one. -you mean that the closet that stood there before was also VR capsule? -yes it was. I did tell you that didnt I? -you did but I thought that it was simply a place where you store your VR goggles. Well anyway how do you control that thing? Where is the joystick? -ah, I guess we wont go anywhere before I explain some things to you. Anyway Amy listen In the next 20 minutes, Linda went over the most basic things concerning VR capsule as well as game that Amanda was going to use to meet up with her friend. While listening to it Amanda thought that her friend started to talk about some SF book, because she could swear that she did once read something similar. Still because she did read it, she could somewhat image how it will work, at least based on Lindas description as Amanda was sure that it was simply Linda getting overexcited over her new gaming machine and that she overstated practically everything there. -and I guess that the last thing that you need to remember is that by crossing your fingers in game, you will be able to summon up the menu which works somewhat like a touch screen. At the bottom of that menu there is a log out button so use it when you finish. If you forget about it then ask your friend or any other player for help. In the worst case scenario I will disconnect you directly from here so if you spent too much time in-game I will assume that you dont know what to log out. -well I should be okay. By the way, you mentioned something about character creation but I do want to look the same way as I do in real as otherwise I wont be able to find my friend. Although is there a chance to make myself taller? Amanda ended up asking as even though it was going to be only for maximum an hour, she would like to see how the world would look like from few inches higher than usual. Not to mention that since practically always, Amanda had slight complex over her height, especially when there was a time that someone mistook her for sixth grade student and even one year didnt pass since then. -well, this game doesnt give you much choice although if you really want to try to be taller then chose the real life look and but after you answer all question think that you want to be taller. -but if I chose the real life look wont I simply be the same? -well the hypothesis of controlling the character creation like that is just something that I stumbled upon while looking through the internet although it did not work for me. Still the thesis did not limit itself to random option only so if you image yourself being taller then there are chances like this. Focus on one word like tall, big or long, thats what I suggest as the perfect image of yourself isnt that easy to keep if you didnt practice it before. Still if you want you can try it on random option but that might backfire on you. You just want to meet with your friend right? If your looks change it might be problematic, if that will be the case though I suggest logging out and calling your friend. -well my friend chosen the same look and she already went through character creation so I should find her somehow. Anyway one last time, I am supposed to enter this coffin, close my eyes and press one button and it will work right? -dont call it coffin, but yes you got it all right. Get started when you are ready. I will stay in the room so dont worry about this side. Well lets see how much truth there is in Lindas story. Amanda entered the capsule although before turning it on, she send one SMS to her friend as she was to let her know the moment she will be entering. With this last thing done, Amanda made her first full immersion into the world of eye of Adventure. After closing her eyes and then opening them again, Amanda found herself flying in the sky, although to her the first thought that appeared in her mind was falling down without a parachute. -aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!... Naturally given the circumstances, even though she did not know how did it happen right now, she was right in the sky and underneath her, thousands meters below there was the ground to which as she suspected, she will crush into soon after. -aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!... [Welcome to the eye of adventure] Suddenly, while Amanda was still in the state of panic and was screaming as loud as she could a big sign appeared a meter away from her face in the sky and those words were written on it. Still right now Amanda was not in the state in which she could focus on reading it. Still after the first message others appeared as well, although those werent on a big sign anymore. [New player detected] [Initialization of beginner stage] [Teleporting now] After those three messages the world before Amanda once again changed in the blink of the eye. Second before she was falling to her death as she thought but now she was in some small office room and she was sitting in some chair although she did not remember sitting down. Ah, I see, I am dreaming right now. There is no other way to explain this phantom. Wow, is this the liquid dream that I heard about so much? Currently Amanda still did not know what was really happening. She assumed though that because everything around her was completely real but the strange things that she experienced just now were definitely not real, meaning it could only be the dream. Then the liquid dream was the dream in which the person who was dreaming was aware that he was dreaming, meaning the current Amandas situation well at least that was her only explanation. Hmm, I shouldnt think too much now as otherwise it will end my dream. Amanda did have some knowledge about liquid dreams and because she wanted to preserve this dream she decided to follow this old instruction that she had at the back of her head. Now then, lets see what this dream will be about. Amanda was still sitting in the chair from which as it turned out she could not move from. Still because it was a dream she did not panic again but rather looked around. The room did look like an old office room and within it the brown color dominated. Before long Amanda located a large old fashioned television that was right before her. It picked her interest because that television turned on, on its own and some program started. On the screen a figure of old man with gray hair and gray beard appeared. He was also wearing brown suit so if he were to enter this office room, he would fit perfectly. After seeing him Amanda had a feeling that she did saw him somewhere before but she could not recall his name, still that was not needed as the man began his speech right away and that speech started with an introduction. -hello there, my name is Kristopher Horvitz. You may already know me as a genius who created VR and this game eye of Adventure Aaa After hearing the first sentence after the introduction Amandas mind connected everything together right away. Linda, you should have told me it beforehand! Ah, its a good thing that no one saw that. Well, Amanda didnt have anything to be embarrassed about as someone who didnt play games that much and was for the first time diving into the VR without general knowledge of how it worked was doomed to have reactions like she did. Also EOA was an evil game so the moment the unprepared person tries to play it, EOA will right away scare them to death just for a good start. After all the game could simply began in this office and give a heavy explanation for a newcomer like Amanda but this game was simply evil. Amanda continued to watch the program with the Christopher Horvitz at the screen, whose name she also now recalled and knew who he was. -you may also know me as person who likes to sleep and slack off at work. Well, find me a person who says that he doesnt like to slack off at work and sleep. What you found him? Sorry to disappoint you but he is lying. Right now, you must probably be thinking, where is the skip button option? Hahaha, you dont have to rush yourself, it wont take long. You may think that I just wasted a minute of your life but thats not true it was only 12 seconds. Strange, isnt it? Why 12 seconds? But anyway Linda said that its better to not interrupt and simply wait. -anyway the reason you are watching this video is that you just for the first time full immersed yourself into EOA. If you are not familiar with the term, it is from eye of Adventure the name of this very game, and no, the thing that letter e is in small letter is not a mistake. But EOA is all in caps lock yeee! You also may think that this is just some old video that is released because I want to be more famous I dont really care, I simply want to meet up with my friend, thats all. -all my money and my fame, it doesnt matter to me, the thing that I always wanted didnt exist. I couldnt find it. I couldnt buy it, and thats why I decided to create it. This world, this world of swords, might and magic. The world of adventure. The world which I always seen in my dreams, but I couldnt see it with my eyes and yet I knew that it was waiting all this time to be discovered. Well, reaching having a dream is a great thing so I can understand him. I guess his dream was something like entering the book as books are the true worlds of adventure. -many people share my dream and I am happy that I could help them fulfill it, well thats what I was saying on TV and interviews, but in truth the most important thing was that I could fulfill my own dream. Some says that you should find a meaning in life and do something so the world becomes a better place, but I could not do this, my wish was always high in the skies, but I took my childhood dream and make it alive, that is the effect of all my creations, everything was leading to this. Right now, I plan to spend the rest of my time to live in this new world that was my dream for so long, hope that you will like it as well Spending the rest of your life in this game is a little too big isnt it? I mean I do understand people who like playing games as I have many friends who do so but this sounds like addiction. Still, I guess if he is retired and doesnt have anything to do then maybe he can spend some time on this game. But only some time! -now then, to end my speech I just wanted to add. Although you may think that soon you will become best player in this world I will only say this Hmm? -good luck with that, but I will pown you, muahahahahaha. Evil laugh is the best way to end this, oh yea you wont know that its me but I will kill you so many times that you will come to hate this world, muahahahahaha. The clip on the old fashioned TV ended and although Amanda was not really focused on hearing it the last sentence somehow irritated her. Is he some psycho? Still, now I understand why this game start like it did. Well it doesnt matter to me if the person who made this game was crazy old man as I wont be playing it anyway. [Initialization of character creation process] If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.[Teleporting now] Amanda was once again teleported to yet other room. This time it was a simple white room with no chair to sit on so this time she was standing although she still could not move which was quite unnatural to her. There was once again a big screen floating in the air of this room. [Welcome to the character creation process. Please enjoy our highly developed character creation system. The number of choices that you can make is 2 or 3 depending on your first choice, congratulations! After you finish, there is a small quiz awaiting you. Please answer every question carefully and truly.] The letters appeared on the screen but at the same time they were voiced out by an artificial sounding voice. Now thats all there was to it. [Gender detected: Female] [Please choose one of the races. Note that there are 3 races unlocked, Human, Dwarf, Elf. Number of still locked races right now is 18, in next year 7 more races will be available to unlock, further development is still unknown.] -how do I choose race? Amanda ended up asking. [The character creation process is completely controlled by voice. To choose anything, say it out loudly.] -then I select Human race. [Are you sure that you want to choose that race?] -yes. Well I need to get to the same city as Mary so I dont really have choice. Not that I really care as I wont be playing this game, although I wonder if I chose the elf I would get higher more easily? In books elves are rarely short, right? On the other hand if I were to choose dwarf then nothing would change! The height complex hit Amanda once again although she would be slightly higher than an average dwarf female. [Many players chose humans as their race, it is fairly common, they think standard will be the best, well it is a safe choice, but I have to say that those who chose human are boring, they dont have the vision.] I just want to meet a friend thats all. Are all those things really necessary? [The looks in your life are very important. The same goes for EOA, so you want to create the most awesome looking avatar ever. Know this, that as a human you have one additional option in character creation making it one option available.] Right now is the time that Linda mentioned. [Do you want to choose your real life look as a look in EOA?] -can I change my real look just slightly? [Is the term real life look not understandable to you?] Amanda simply wanted to ask a question but the message she received was really offending. Well, Linda said that there is that trick and it works on real look as well so I will try it. -fine, in that case real look please. [Those that didnt choose their real look are surely ugly, but you do not belong to that category and believe in your own beauty. However at the same time you are one of those conservatizes that are afraid of changes.] -I really just want to meet my friend so can you hurry up? Even though usually Amanda could hide her displeasure and annoyance and she would not voice the bad thoughts this time she ended up being ignited by the messages of the system to the point where she spoke her mind. [Many people have many different purposes in entering this world but to favorite any of them would be unfair so everyone must follow the same process.] [Are you ready to proceed?] -how long will it still take? [The time process is unknown as it depends on each individual person Although if you stop asking annoying questions and move on you will finish faster than without asking those questions which wont be answered anyway. You are at fault here!] Ah, now I understand what Linda meant by not interrupting and not asking questions. Still the only one that is annoying here is you. [Again, are you ready to proceed?] -yes! Amanda didnt plan to prolong it any longer and would hurry up with the process as her friend was probably waiting for her. They arranged their meeting time ten minutes after Amanda sends her the message but right now Amanda was sure that she was already late. [Your look will be set according to the scan of your body. You may still experience small differences though that will help you immerse in the game. Now please choose your nickname.] -Rin. Amanda didnt thought about it much as even though she did not play games that much having a nickname to use on many websites was obvious. As for her nickname, it was first part of her last name so it was quite obvious from where it came from although it wasnt Amanda who thought it up at first but rather her friend Mary and before starting this game, Rin decided to use it to make her friend happy. [Name of new adventurer Rin. The name is incredibly short to the point where it sounds like three random letters put up together. Congratulation on your creativity!] How dare they insult Marys idea! No, no calm down, it should be nearly over. [Now before you enter the new world answer following questions. Note that they are important and werent made so that character creation was longer, they may have impact on the start of game so answer them truly. If you try to lie you will be struck by lightning. Muahahahahaha.] I am in the game anyway so nothing will happen to me, whats the point of making a treat like that. [First question: how did you come up with your nickname?] -my friend gave me the idea when I was trying to create a nickname. [Congratulation you have answered truly without a lie, although you left out some facts so please dont do that in later question. Question two: what is your experience in VR, VRMMO or MMO genre in general?] -emm I understand that VR states for virtual reality but what is MMO? Amanda wanted to answer truly but to do that she needed to understand the question so she asked and the moment she did that. [Congratulation no more questions are needed for you.] Hmm oh well if this is the end then I dont want to ask any more questions. [Conclusion] [You are someone who is probably here by mistake or because your friend asked you for it although you yourself are not interested in this world] Oh, they managed to arrive at something like this well I did say that I am here to meet up with Mary so I guess the other questions were really not needed. [Congratulation nothing is locked for you, you are free to take up any route that destiny has in offer for you. Seek it out.] The only person that I will be seeking out is Mary so no, thank you. [With this character creation is over, no more programed interaction like that will happen again, also there wont be any evil laughs or poor jokes of creator so rest assured. Once again welcome to the eye of Adventure] Right, now is the time for that change! ah what was it again a word, a word ah yes, it was long, long, long, long, long. [The game starting in 54321] While the countdown was slowly reaching zero, Amandas focus was on a single word long and she repeated it in her mind. Then when the countdown did reach zero, the light flashed before her eyes and this time, Amanda really felt that she had fallen unconscious. Rin opened her eyes for the first time and once again unfamiliar scenery appeared before her. She was standing on some plaza and there were people around her but strangely enough everyone was wearing the exact same designed clothes. The only difference in those clothes was the color. Then around her was a city, although its buildings were surprisingly small and there were no skyscrapers in sight. The biggest building in height was some kind of church with a strange cross but even that cross wasnt close to skyscrapers that were built in the current times. Also when Rin looked more closely on the buildings they turned out to be in quite old design, old to the point in which one could say medieval. Ah, so this is true virtual reality. Linda was not lying. Before coming her, Rin was skeptical about what her friend told her about playing this game but it turned out that she was telling the truth. Everything really looks realistic. Still I can easily distinguish this place from real world just by the feeling alone. I cant say in which aspect exactly but my body feels completely different than normal. Even though everything around her was real looking and life=like, Rin could not full immerse herself into it and think of it as real world. It was partly because of an unfamiliar to her scenery as there were no cities like that where she lived. Also because at first she thought of her current situation as a dream, she now always had at the back of her head that this is not real world but a game. Then lastly, her body felt somehow different than normal. Ignoring the unusual weight on her head, her body was not reacting normally and just by standing Rin somehow felt the difference. But then Rin made her first step and an incredible feeling entered her brain. Hey! What is this feeling!? Without knowing what was happening, Rin made yet another step. No, really what is this!? This feeling did not go away and then Rin made another step and another and another and in the end she broke into the run and she continued to do so for some time. Hahaha, so thats why people are so excited about this game. Everyone would want to move around in a body like this. Rin was running around without any destination but just that run brought her a lot of pleasure. That was because her body felt incredibly light, lighter than ever but at the same time it was incredibly strong, stronger than ever. In the end, Rin just simply felt good, better than ever. In her run she soon reached her maximum speed which she usually could not pass but this time she felt if she just tried harder she will be able to do so. She felt that with this body she could do so much more than normal. Hahaha, if my real body was like this, I would be able to beat even Radin and Seker. Rin thought to herself. Her thoughts were concerning the fighting sparing that she had in her fighting training. In those nearly everyone was overwhelming her in strength as Rins body even though she was training for five years was on average person level. Although being on average person level was actually her success, still naturally the others who were training were much stronger. To defeat them, Rin relied on techniques that used opponents strength or didnt need that much strength to begin with. Rin made it her own style and with it she could rival many other Masters students. Radin and Seker, were one of the oldest current students and both of them already had many medals on their account still right now Rin thought that she could defeat them if she could stand against them with the current feeling she had. At some point, Rin stopped only running but she also started to jump upwards. She wanted to test how far she can jump up with her current body. With just her first jump she reached her record but after it she immediately felt that she can jump higher and the second jump ended up at the height of two meters. Hahaha, this is so incredible. Rin thought when she was in the sky. Still because she made this jump with fast speed at the same time when she was in the air her body somehow turned. -aaa! boom She ended up falling on her legs but in a position where she right away fall on the back right after. Still while normally one would worry about what happened, Rins mind was completely different. Hahaha, it did not hurt at all. Because of EOAs pain reduce system even something like that didnt hurt Rin that much. But then, right after the fall Rins face ended up being covered by something right away. Hair? Naturally Rin touched it right away but it turned out that what fall on her was someones hair. Hair that was incredibly long to the point where it not only covered her face but also large part of the body. Rin moved that hair right away and when she did she could not believe what happened. She then right away stood up and the hair ended up moving with her. What, its my hairs!!!!??? Rin grabbed it before her eyes and indeed it was the same chestnut dark red color of her hair. Why are they so long!? She could not believe it as after all not that long ago her hair was of the same length as always. Ever since starting the training, Rin never grew her hair long because it was simply getting in a way. Many people recommended her to grow them a little longer saying its a waste but for Rin there were more important things. Still right now her hair ended up being longer than even those of her mom who had them quite long. Rins current hair was simply unreasonably long and when she stood up and looked down they were easily reaching her thighs, the longest one reached even her knees. Rin started to pull those hairs as if she tried to get rid of a wig that someone put on her but when she did she felt that those were indeed her real hair. They were sticking to her hair that strong that it was impossible for it to be otherwise. So thats what that weight coming from. In comparison to her whole body that felt great right now, Rin felt some unfamiliar weight on her head. Because there were so many changes in her body in general, she thought that it was nothing special and before falling she did not realize that her hair was so long, as before it was simply floating in the air as she ran with incredible speed. Ah what I am supposed to do with them now? Rin started thinking how to take care of the problem that appeared but it turned out that she wont have any more time for that. -AMY!!!! Huh? Rin heard someones calling her name and turned around and there she saw a girl with long brown curly hair, although her hair was nowhere long as currents Rin ones. Still, Rin right away recognized the person that was running towards her and she also started to run to her right away as well. -MARY! She also shouted her friends name and second later then ended up in the hug. That was how they also welcomed themselves after a long paring which currently was about three months long. Mary was Rins cousin from fathers side. Still, Rin did not think of her as anyone other as an older sister and she also often looked up to her as a younger sibling would normally do. Mary was three years older than her but they never had any problems with communication, not that any of them had any problems with communications with anyone either. Currently Mary was a college student and she was living on her own but Rin was planning to move to her right after she finishes high school which would be one year from now. Naturally a decision like that was big and for Rin it would mean leaving her parents house and the city in which she always lived in. She would also be unable to continue to train under her masters eye. Still, it was nothing unusual to move out for the period of collage and many people were doing so. Also Rin would eventually return to her city anyway and be with her parents once again. On the other hand the time in which she could live with Mary was really limited so even though decision was not easy, it was made with best end outcome. -ah, Amy I already thought that you had some problems with logging in. Mary ended up commenting after their five minutes long hug ended. -well, I did but as you can see now I am here now. -yes you are. Anyway there are so many things that we have to catch up on so lets not waste any time. I already planned everything so just leave everything to me. -well, we dont need to do anything special still Mary can I ask you something? -yes? -what are you doing with my hair? Currently Yume was holding Rins long hair and it also seemed like she started making braids with them. -ah nothing, I just thought it will look way better this way. You know Amy, growing them long is not enough you also have to take care of them. Still I am really surprised that you managed to grow them this long in only few months. Did you use some kind of hair growing gel, if so it did incredible thing. -no its . -anyway, now that you grew them this long dont you even think of cutting them short. Remember I always told you that you will be much cutter this way ah I want to hug you again. Before Rin had a chance to explain Mary once again ended up hugging her. This time however she did it as if Rin were a stuffed toy or a doll. Afterwards Mary started touching her around the head but also in other parts of Rins body. -Mary stop! -but I didnt get my daily dose of Amy for so long. -Mary! -just a little As always Mary didnt listened to Rins request and in few moments, Rins resistance fell down as well as no matter what she did, it would have been futile, or rather if she tried to get away for real she would at the same time have to hurt her friends and even if it would have been only a little, Rin would never have done so. Luckily this time Mary didnt go over the board, probably because today she was playing around with Rins head too much. -ah your hair is really beautiful Amy. -just so you know, they ended up like this only in this game, I didnt grew them long. I would tell you if I did. -what!?... Mary shouted with clear disappointment. -well I knew it was somehow strange that they grew this long, still Amy, now we have the proof, you look much more beautiful with your hair being long so from todays onward the only thing that barber can cut from you is the hair tips! -no I cant have them grow long, they will . -hair tips Amy! No discussion! I will be visiting you in two months, if by that time you wont look like you do here, I will get angry. -but its impossible to grew them this long in two months. Rin answered but this answer was a mistake. -fine in that case we go on compromise. You have to grow them this long without ever shorting them before you reach this length. Now it wont be impossible so dont complain any longer. -but . -its my duty to lead you to the right path so you can stun with your beauty people in the future. -but . -ah, its no use to discuss what we already decided on right Amy, so rather than that, lets move on to other topics. We never decided on anything. Still Amy couldnt say anything else anymore as it would have no effect. Her friend was always like this, when she decided on something there was no way convincing her anymore. Naturally Rin could simply ignore that decision, still she would not do that as if she really did grew her hair, Mary have be happy later on when she sees her next time. Well I guess tying them up in training should somehow work. Although, I wont grow them this long. There was also the fact that Rin already though about growing her hair a little longer for some time now anyway. She hoped that with longer hair no one would mistake her for a six grade kid anymore, although what hair length had to do with it is completely different matter. Still with short hair there were limits on how she could position her hair, while if they were longer, she could put them in some mature way. That way she would look like little girl who thinks that she is an adult. Yes, Rin had complex with her height which despite her tried did not change even in this world. In the end Rin and Yume which was the name of her friend in this world, ended up going to some restaurant. Yume was already playing this game for 28 days. She also said that she already did anything she could think of. Then again, before she started to say what she was doing in details in this game, Rin stopped her as she simply was completely not interested in it. In comparison she wanted to talk about many things concerning the real world. Sure those matters also werent all that important but by speaking about it with Yume, they become important topics right away. -I was looking for a good place to celebrate your arrival and with incredible luck I found it. Yume started talking as they walked through the streets of this strange city whose name Rin did not know. -what do you mean by arrival? Its not like I going to start playing this game with you. -I know, I know, you dont have time for that. Also I am not sure if I going to play it later on as it is quite hard but anyway, I just said arrival because if fitted the moment. So back to the topic, the place that I found is some new open restaurant which actually today has its opening and there is a huge promotion namely you pay once and eat as much as you want. -there is no need for something like that though. Mary you know that I can barely fit one normal sized dinner also I already eaten today before starting this game so there is really no need for something like that. -hmm but Amy we are in the game, right? -well obviously. -so, its not like I am huge expert either but I learned that eating in this game is not exactly the same as in real world. Well the way you eat is the same naturally but here you are not limited by any means on how much can you eat. Even someone like you can eat day and night and still ask for more. -I see but are you sure that something like that is healthy? -well, nothing will happen to your real body at least, we are in game after all. Anyway Amy, you might have probably wondered why I chose this game as our meeting platform rather than some communicator that was specifically made for VR calls? -well I did, especially when there were so many troublesome steps that I had to go through. Still I think I know why you did that though. -oh you already figured it out? -of course I did. I mean all it took me to realize was a single step in this game. -emm step? Yume not exactly understood what Rin wanted to say and that was because what she thought about and what Rin was talking about were two different things. -yes a single step. I mean the bodies that we are given in this game are incredible. I never felt as good as today and I think I could even jump onto that two-storey building. I think that I could easily destroy a wall right now with a single punch or kick, anyway Mary, I am really grateful for the opportunity to feel like that. Rin was still excited about the feeling her body had and she shared this excitement with Yume to which Yume only answered awkwardly. -you welcome I guess?... That was because she did not know what Rin was talking about. -still Amy what are you talking about? I didnt felt any change in my body compared to the real one. Sure I took real look but here I feel exact the same. -hmm? But it is obviously not the same. It is completely different. -no, it is, I dont remember hearing anyone else saying anything similar like you and I already talked with many people who are playing this game. Both in real and here on the streets. Even those with random look still dont feel that much different. Yume explained. -but Mary just look at this Because Yume was giving her solid explanation Rin decided to showcase the true evidence. She made a step away from Yume and second later she made a fast step back to her again and after that step she made a jump. It was a 360 degree flip over Yumes head during which Rins hair ended up falling on her for a second but in the end Rin landed at the other side of her. -see, for a note I can say for sure that without a good warm up and at least five meters of distance to speed up. I wouldnt be able to do something like this normally. -wow! That was incredible Amy! But after this I think I understand what happened. I guess this game created your body as if your disease did not exist so I think this is the way you your body would be if it werent for that cursed thing. -I see so its like this Normally people would try to avoid that topic but when it came to Rin and Yume they could speak about everything freely without any reserve. Well, I am already long pass asking question, why it happened to me? Rin was not down by what Yume said either. She was living with her situation for her whole life and she was completely used to it. -so what is that other reason that you chose this game as a meeting place? Rin returned to the topic and got rid of the bad atmosphere right away. -well, as I was mentioning already, we are meeting here so you can eat anything you want without worrying about anything. I will order for you a piece of meat that will be twice as large as you so eat it without concern. I already tested it and its the real thing, or rather its better than most of what you can find normally with your budget. -okay! If its like this then, I will take on that challenge. Rin couldnt say that she wasnt excited on the thought of eating meat especially when normally she couldnt eat more than few bites of it. Rin and Yume soon reached the place. It was a restaurant located in two-storied building. The walls on the partner partly did not exist and only wooden pillars were supporting the weight of second floor. The whole first floor was dedicated to the restaurant. Naturally there were many tables around. There were also few doors that would probably lead to kitchen and other rooms. There also was a staircase to the second floor behind the main desk. Following Yume, Rin reached one of the tables that were far inside the restaurant. There were many tables occupied with clients as after all today was special discount. Few minutes after sitting down a waiter came to take the order. -so for me keep it simple but for her, tell the chief to make the best meat meal ever that will be both gigantic and delicious as if it is made for someone who never eaten meat in their life. Yume ended up ordering like this. -I understand although are you sure that you want a gigantic one. I must tell you that the main chief and the owner of this restaurant just two weeks ago was still a travelling cook. For him the word gigantic meal means something that wont fit on this table. The waiter answered although Rin could not image a food that could not fit on three meters in diameter round table. -I see thats really might have been a little bit too much Yume answered to the waiter. Well, Mary was joking earlier after all, there is no way that I can eat that much. -in that case tell him that it should be a meal of a human size. Aaa Well, at least it was not twice her size. -I understand, please enjoy the drinks while you wait. The waiter ended up walking away with an awkward face but it wasnt his place to comment on anything. Well, its not like I really have to eat everything. There was after all an option of leaving the food on the plate although it wasnt that easy to do it, especially when her older sister was treating her. Rin and Yume enjoyed the conversation while waiting for the food that arrived around 15 minutes later. The person that brought though was not the waiter from before but rather some large muscular man in a cook outfit with the characteristic white cook hat and white apron. That change was made probably because the waiter would not be able to stand the weight of the meal. What man brought was one incredibly large roasted pig with many vegetables around it. -hey Rookie! Are you sure that it was this table!?... The man put the roasted pig on the table and then looked at two hungry customers that ordered it. Still after realizing that it were two slim girls he ended up shouting probably to his waiter. -hey are you listening!... Still the man didnt get the answer right away and it didnt seem like he was patient enough to wait for it any longer so rather than waiting he decided to ask. -greetings and welcome to my new founded restaurant. My name is Marco the owner and the main chief here. I have question, were you two young ladies ordering meat meal in human-like size? -yes, we were. Yume answered right away. -is that so? Truth to be told, I cant image you two eating all of this on your own. -no, it will only be her eating it alone, I already ordered something else. Mary! Rin did not believe what her friend just said but she didnt say anything else when the man looked at her. -hooo do you like to eat meat this much little girl? He said to her. Rin didnt like being called little girl but she wouldnt voice it out or do anything to the ones that said that, after all there was no reason to blame people for things that they say, especially when those things were the truth. Also if she said anything about being called small, it would signal that she had a complex about her height, which she did have although she didnt want others to know about it. Thats why she ignored that comment completely. -actually, normally I am not allowed to eat meat so I cant even say if I like it or not. Instead she answered truly. -its no wonder you have so little meat on yourself then. Tell you what. If you dont eat meat you wont grow either. - . -but I think you do know have so are there some other circumstances. Suddenly the conversation went in this direction and the chief asked this question which was actually very observant of him. -you may say that. -I see, still today is different right and you came to my restaurant to eat all this I see, I see. Well, I dont know what is happening on your side but if you are okay to eat meat here right now, eat away as much as you can. Well for someone of your kind it wont help you grow but at least you will get to know the taste. I hope that one day you will be able to eat something like this in your world as well. Hmm even if its a game people are still people. I am surprised that he could understand this much in such short amount of time. -thank you, for the good words. -its only natural to be good to your customers anyway I have to get going now as there is still much left to do. Enjoy your meal and be sure that you dont leave anything on the plate. With those words the man left back to the kitchen. Today was the restaurants grand opening so he probably didnt have much time to chat with the guests. -hey Mary, that was quite a nice person dont you think? -well I wouldnt have thought so after first seeing how he looks but you are right. Still, say Amy, do you think that he was some other person that is playing this game or a character that exist only in this game? -well of course it was a normal person, right? Anyway its better if I start eating right away so lets skip obvious questions like this. Tell me how its been lately Mary? Rin asked and started eating the meal while listening to Yumes stories. After all even though the meal was incredibly good and being able to eat so much was something that Rin never even thought about before, in the end it was the conversation with Yume that was the most important activity for Rin and the sole reason that she decided to log in into this game. In the end they ended up talking for 6 hours. Naturally at some point Rin said that she already has to go because her parents will worry about her if she were to come back so late at night. She logged in to the game at around 16:00 at her friends house so she couldnt stay for more than three hours max. Still at that time Yume explained her that the time flows differently in the game and that they still have a lot of time. Also originally Rin was going to stay there for about two hours so thanks to the extended time in the game there were still 3 hours left before settled time. -so Amy, we still have some time left, would you like to try something in this game before leaving? Currently Rin and Yume were walking the streets while talking and they were doing so for about 30 minutes already as it would be a shame to spend all the time in some restaurant when there were so many unique things to see. At some point Yume asked this question though. -hmm, I dont really know what one can do in the game though. Still, in games like this one, people should be fighting something right? After all, why else would the game provide such strong body for the people who come here? -well, you got it right although as I already mentioned usually people dont feel any change in their bodies. -I see. In this case Mary, even though it is a fake strength I would like to play around with it a little if we have the time. -okay but unfortunately in this game it is hard to find anything to fight in the first month of play. -why is that? -well its because ah, you dont really need to know anyway right? Still even if its hard to find anything to fight, there is still one place in which players can fight against each other so I will take you there, its actually is not that far from where we are right now. Yume ended up leading her towards the northern part of the city where they reached arena-like building. Before that building there were many people gathered but Rin did not pay them mind and simply followed Yume who leaded her all the way towards a building that was next to the arena. It seemed like that building served as a training ground and before that building a man of an age that lead his hair to color gray stood who seemed like this place trainer. -oho, thats unusual for two such young ladies to visit a wrecked place like this. Upon their arrival the man welcomed them like this. -excuse me. Is this the place in which people can fight? Yume ended up asking him right away. -fight? Oh, no, no, I am sorry but I cant allow you to fight here, you would have to be trained first but from what I see in you, you no longer have enough time for that training, also your path is already chosen so you cant step back from it anymore. The man answered in strange manner. -well its not like I would be one to be fighting though. I was asking on her behave. Yume answered and pointed towards Rin. -I see, I see. Well with here its a completely different matter. Tell me girl, how long have you been studying the sword? Oh, its seems that he does know a little bit about fighting. After hearing a question like that Rin immediately recognized the man as someone who had vast experience in fighting. That was because only someone like that could tell someones strength just by looking. Especially in Rins case, someone needed to be extremely experienced to not get deceived by her look. Because of that anytime someone would recognize her potential, she would right away respect that person. -well I have been studying fighting arts for more than five years but when it comes to sword in particular then it should be slightly more than three. Rin answered without hiding anything. It was the truth as indeed her training in the first few years mainly involved physical exercises rather than any fighting techniques to begin with. In the first place those physical exercises were the main reason that Rin sign up for that training. -I see, well I guess that it will be a disappointment for you to fight here then. Unfortunately the people that are fighting here are mainly novices. You probably wont find here anyone worth your time. -I see. I guess it makes sense as the people who are playing this game are people like Linda or Mary. They didnt have an occasion to learn anything and I dont know how much the game system affects the fighting but fighting is always about fighting. -still I would suggest you to take part in tournament at least once to showcase what you can do. Also, I love to watch the people who are skilled and I often reward them for letting me see them fight. [ You have been asked to do a job. Arenas Black Horse Instructor in training center proposed that you should take part in tournament because he believes that you capable of incredible things. You have revealed to him that you are experienced in fighting and now he wants to see what you really can do. He naturally expects you to win, so if you wont manage to do it, his high opinion of you will decrease. Minimum: Not available. Reward: Instructors promised unknown reward. ] Hmm, even though it will probably be easy, I still want to try fighting in this body. -well, I dont really need any reward but if I can showcase my masters techniques to some audience then I will gladly do so [You have accepted the job.] -in the end though, I would prefer to fight someone who can actually fight so how about you being my opponent? Even though Rin did agree to take part in the tournament, in the end the only thing she wanted to do was to fight someone good and currently the only one that could be called good at fighting was the fighting instructor before her. -hohoho, its rare for someone to challenge me. Hmm I would gladly accept your challenge but sadly I cant do so anymore, I can no longer return to the world of fighting. -why is that so? You still look able to me. -I did not leave that world because of a choice. Sure I have my years but its not because of that, that I no longer fight. The tournament will be starting soon so I cant take much of your time right now, but to make my story short, after a certain battle in which I should die, my opponent spared my life. He did so because he was one of my friends despite the fact that we stood on the opposite sides. At that time he told me that he was ordered to take life of the man known as lighting speed, so as long as that man stops existing his task will be completed. Naturally I honored that agreement so I abandoned my title and the world of fighting and afterwards I returned to my family and my city. Currently I am the fighting instructor as I still need to earn some coins after all but unless someone becomes my student, I have no right to cross blades with anyone. Even against my students it can only be for the sake of training. -I see, sorry for asking then. Rin ended up apologizing as the instructor probably didnt consider those memories pleasant so recalling them could be painful for him. -ah, dont be, this fate is what everyone expect at some point if they follow the way of the sword. Also in my case I was still able to return alive to my wife and kids. Its rather that the thought of abandoning them was what was horrifying. In the end you could say that I was lucky that it was my friend who was my last opponent. The fact that he still calls him his friend tells me that he really have no regrets. In the end people would always try to accept their fate and live on with it. For the instructor, he was probably telling the story about the events that happened many years ago so he probably already had a lot of time to accept what happened. -well being able to live with your family and friends is the most important thing in the world after all. Rin commented on his story. -thats what I think so as well. I see that you already discovered the secret of life. I am glad that I was able to meet a youth like you as in the current times people forget about the most important things. Anyway come with me and I will show you where you sing up for the tournament, and be sure to come back to me once you finish. And so Rin took part in that in-game tournament. Unfortunately though it went according to what the instructor said. The people that took part in the tournament didnt present any difficulty to Rin. Fighting against them reminded Rin of training with new recruits that wanted would sign up for her masters training. The training place that she was going to so often wasnt only restricted to sport champions but normal people would sometimes come there as well. Naturally their training would be something completely different and it would usually be something like one lesson a week. For those people it was more of a hobby and for the institution it was a way to earn some extra money. Also it would be quite obvious but it wasnt Rins master who was directing the training of those people but other staff members to which Rin actually belonged as well. To be precise, for her it was more of a part time job and her main occupation was the groups with the children of the age under 10. That was simply because Rin was definitely much more suitable to train children rather than some muscular mans that would only scare them away. Rin did enjoy playing the role of the teacher for them and it did make her sure that her dream of becoming an actual teacher in the future was not misplaced. That dream was actually something that came out from nowhere. It was actually something that she thought up when she was still in the kindergarten. When teacher asked her what she wanted to do in the future, Rin started thinking about the job that would involve as much interacting with others as possible but because she still did not have that great knowledge of the world the teachers job was the first thing that came to her mind and so she answered like that. So far Rin was still a high school student so it was still something far in the future, but whenever she would think about it, becoming a teacher wasnt that bad path for her in the end. If she were to become a teacher in a school like she was going to right now, there would be nothing to complain about. Although if possible she preferred to be teacher in elementary or middle school so at least the people that she would teach wouldnt be higher in height than her, because even if she hoped to still grow up, she didnt count on miracles. In the end Rin ended up winning the tournament without much problem, although she did still enjoy the fights, mainly to the fact of how her body in this game could move. In the fights she was playing around with her opponents, she was dodging their strikes, jumping over them and also she wasnt using every opportunity to strike to prolong the fight a little as otherwise they would end way to fast. Dancing around her opponents like that could be considered bad manners but if she were to attack all out from the start, she would not be able to showcase the style that her master thought her to the old instructor. After the victory, Rin returned to the instructor as promised and at that time he gave her two swords as a reward as well as he thought her some strange technique which he called lighting speed. Well at least he said that he thought her it as Rin had no idea on how to use that technique afterwards. Also she didnt bother to even try to find out how to use it as there wasnt a reason to do so. After all, it was the last minutes of her visit in this world and despite everything that happened, or maybe rather because everything did happened, Rin decided to never return here again. -well Mary, I think that I stayed for too long already. -in real time its still only about two hours you know. -but here, it was much longer and I already know that I will have some regrets after going back from this world. -regrets? In that case you can always come back here if you want. No one is stopping you from it. -no, I am not talking about the regrets of leaving but rather regrets of coming here in the first place. That is because the moment I leave this feeling will disappear and I will once again start thinking about how great it would be if my disease could be cured or how great it would be if I never had it in the first place. -I see sorry Amy I never thought that it will turn out like this. -dont worry Mary, despite everything I did enjoy myself today. I could eat that whole large delicious pig after all which normally would be impossible and of course I could meet you again. So if for a second I start having regrets I will think of those good things that happened today. In the end though I think if I were to come here more often I probably wouldnt be able to get away from those thoughts that easily so this was the first and only time here. Anyway the next time we physically meet will be in three months right? So until then bye, bye Mary. -yes I will definitely be coming to celebrate you success in that training. Bye, bye Amy. In the end they hugged each other and said good byes and afterwards Rin disappeared out from that world Or rather she was going to do that but the moment she finished the hug and walked away a little she stopped with her mind blank. -Mary, wait! Tell me how to log out! In slightly panicked voice Rin called out to her friend who already started some strange movement with her hand. -ah, about time you asked this question. I was going to log out myself just now. I actually already pressed the button if I stop holding it I will disappear. Luckily Rin managed to stop her in the last second and Yume explained how to log out as Rin already forgotten Lindas explanation with which she came to this world. Still the explanation on how to log out was really simple so after half a minute, this time Rin really disappeared for that world. Amandas consciousness returned to her body and she woke up in VR capsule in her friends house. It was little over two hours since she first entered it although to her it felt like at least 10 hours have passed. After waking up Amandas worries were made true right away and the feeling that her body had right now was completely different than the one she had just a moment ago. Still she already accepted this fact and so she started to think about what just happen was a mare dream. Nothing good would come out from thinking about the whole thing anyway. Before entering the world, Linda said that Amanda will have problems of distinguishing between the two worlds. In the end though it turned out to be false as to her, it was completely different and even with her eyes closed she could tell the difference. -so how was it Amy, did you meet your friend? After Amanda left the capsule, her friend Linda was already waiting for her. -yes, I did. Once again thank you for letting me use it. -it was nothing, you can ask me for it anytime you want. So tell me how you feel after testing it, because if you feel that you now want to play it a little more then I would suggest you to play as much as you can in the following six days. Its an important period for anyone who wants to play this game as otherwise your profession will turn out bad. -profession whats? Well anyway, you dont have to answer as I am not going to play that game again anyway. -I see, ah its a shame as I wanted to play together with you as well but I guess the games were never really your interest. -its mostly because of you that I played most of them in the first place. Anyway L1inda, I still have a promise to meet up with Sara today so I should get going before I get late. -ah right, she was going to look for the birthdays present for her boyfriend, wasnt she? -not boyfriend but a simple friend, dont start spreading the rumor. -but that rumor will become the truth at some point anyway so. - . -fine, fine. Ah right, while we are at this topic, how about you Amy do you have a boyfriend? Someone as popular as you should have someone, right? -ha once again I am telling you that I dont, so stop asking. Also no, I dont have anyone in my mind either and as you well know I dont look for anyone either . -and the reason for that is because when you are going to move in two years you dont want to be bound by more things than necessary yes, yes I remember If you remember why do you keep asking in the first place? -still Amy you should know that the high school is the best time to fall in love with someone. -yes and also best time to break up with someone after that high school is finished. -ah, you are saying it as if you experienced it yourself. -well my friend did and her story was said to me over million times so I actually know how it goes even better than someone who experienced it. Anyway, I guess that at some point everyone have to start their own family and I dont think that I am an exception, still when I start thinking about it, I am not going to look for something that will break a month later. -ah, so those poor souls from our school will cry. -what poor souls? -naturally the students that are in secret in love with you but are afraid to confess. I know about at least three people like this but who knows how many there are. After all you are liked by everyone. Even that rude guy from your class reacts to what you said and interacts with you despite ignoring nearly everyone else. -ah, dont remind me of him, do you know what he did today? -well I was before that gate at that time so I saw the matter myself and even if I didnt it was a hot topic today. Also our school is small and the news travels fast, although this time the reaction to what he has done was rather positive so his bad reputation improved a little. -dont worry he himself did not change at all. He is as troublesome to deal with as he always was. Anyway Sara is waiting so I will be going. Bye Linda. -bye hmm now that the homework is done I can finally start playing again, this time I will defeat that boar on my own! While Amanda was leaving, Linda ended up hoping into her capsule and she ventured to another world in the search of her own adventure. Afterwards Amanda met up with her other friend Sara and they went shopping together. Normally they would do it much earlier after school but because Amandas day was packed today with so many things and Sara was quite late in asking her for help it turned out that they started shopping at 18:30. It took them one and half an hour to find anything appropriate for birthday for Saras friend. It was an important friend for Sara so the right present had to be chosen. After they finished with that Sara walked Amanda towards the bus station from which Amanda was traveling between her house and the city. -see you tomorrow then. -bye. The bus came ten minutes after arriving at the bus station and Amanda said goodbyes to her friend and rode inside the bus back home. Normally on the way Amanda would read her book but right now she was too tired for that and there was still homework waiting for her to do so she decided to rest a little which actually turned into her taking a nap. That nap could actually turn out to be dangerous as Amanda did not wake up on her own after thirty minutes have passed. Thankfully the driver that knew her well did wake her up after seeing that she was not getting outside at her usual station. It was a small city after all and most of the people knew each other, not to mention that Amanda was meeting this bus driver nearly every day. After returning home, Amandas parents were waiting for her with the dinner ready but the moment her mom said something about the food Amanda immediately answered. -mom, dad, I was never as not hungry as I am right now so if possible I really dont want to force into myself anything today, also I dont really have time as my homework is waiting, so can I skip the dinner today? -but sweetheart you should . -let her go, we cant hold her here after hearing what she just said right. She probably ate too much at her friends house, right Amy? -yes, thanks dad. Luckily Amandas dad was much more understanding so now that she received his permission she right away went up the stairs to her room before her mom stops her. Today was really the day in which Amanda would not be able to eat anything anymore. Even if it was only in game, she did eat a whole roasted pig by herself and it seemed that her mind was deceived by that fact and absolutely rejected any thoughts of eating anymore. Amanda also simply did not image herself eating anything else today. After changing her clothes and finally starting the homework it was already 21:00. It was already quite late and given the fact that Amanda would have to wake up tomorrow once again at about the same hour, apart from the homework there was no time for anything else. Luckily for her, there wasnt that much of it left and it was only the homework from the subjects that she had today during the weekend she already done with everything else. Doing the homework while being really sleepy was not recommended and usually Amanda tried to avoid it but unfortunately today it was unavoidable. Because of that the homework that should have took her 20 minutes took her an hour although given her condition that made her oversleep in the train it was still not that bad. Immediately after finishing the homework she packed up the notes and books for tomorrow and went a sleep. Playing the game which had some strange time system in it did tire her out quite a lot. The next day probably because of that, Amanda nearly overslept and she would have if it werent for her parents. Still the next day she still spent mostly in zombie state. Rin woke up after a long sleep and when she did, she immediately felt that the place where she was sleeping was constantly moving. Although it was simple swinging movement of the boat in which she was. After opening her eyes and getting in the sitting position she saw the person that was sitting before her in the same boat with a strange paddle. She then realized that he was strangely looking at her face and because of that she decided to ask. -what!? -nothing but did you perhaps had some bad dream? You have tears in your eyes you know. He answered like that, to which Rin immediately touched her cheeks and indeed there were tears. After finding out about the though, she simply wipe them away with her red cloak as those tears was not something that strange, or rather this occurrence was keep on happening nearly anytime she went asleep. Still when normally she would pretend to not hear the question about those tears this time she decided to answer. -no, it was not a bad dream but simply good memories. Chapter 42 “She who commands the wind.” Chapter 42 She who commands the wind. Nearly nine days have passed since the party left the village of Larisane and nearly fifteen days have passed since the party left the city of Karma. The expedition to the west already took two weeks of in-game time and yet, there was still at least one more day of journey left, before the party reaches the heavens gate. Then again heavens gate might be partys final destination but it was not the final destination of Arata. Reaching the heavens gate as challenging as it was, wasnt the official part of the quest so the real challenge that the quest of rank three brought was still completely unknown. So far, Arata already managed to complete the first part of the rank three questline but at that time he used the power of money. As to how will he actually deal with the quest of impossible rank, Arata did not know and he tried not to think about. If Arata tried to analyze the situation objectively he would soon arrive at the thought that completing the quest is literally impossible to begin with just as everyone else would tell him. That was why Arata avoided thinking about possibility of completing it and rather focused on things that he can do right now, and that was reaching the actual heavens gate as even though the party was one day journey from it, they were still not there and in this one last day, anything could happen. At the current moment the party was sailing through the river with the use of the boats that were made by Vatras. They already sailed quite far as they were already sailing for the whole night. Because the current of the river was quite slow, they still did not reach the planned place. Even despite that fact, it was nearly 10:00 already. Being it ten however did not stop some people from sleeping and currently there were many who were doing so. Nearly everyone used the quiet time in the boat to take a chance to rest. There were few exceptions to that rule though as for example Arata did not sleep in the boat at all. It was not because he particularly refused to sleep but rather, it was simply because in his boat Rin was currently sleeping and she was doing so for quite some time now. Namely she was sleeping ever since they started sailing. Still, after seeing her sleeping face with a happy expression that she would never show while being awake, Arata didnt feel the like it was right to wake her up. Well that happy expression was not perfectly happy as there also were tears coming out from Rins closed eyes but those were probably tears of happiness given her warm smile. The other reason that Arata didnt wake her up was because he wasnt particularly tired to begin with, and that was probably because of the strange sleep system that was in EOA. Ever since Arata started playing, the sleeping system seemed weird to him, or rather he was not exactly sure how it worked. There were times where he would get sleepy as he would normally do in real world but there were also the times in which he could play non-stop and he wouldnt have any symptoms of not sleeping, just like right now. Arata thought about it for some time while sailing this boat as there was nothing better to do and he arrived at the conclusion that its not necessary time that you are awake which makes you sleepy in EOA. It was rather the activities from which one could get tired that made one sleepy in EOA. So as long as someone didnt overwork themselves they would be able to go for more than one day without a sleep without any symptoms. Most people would still sleep normally but it was not completely necessity to sleep every night in. Although it was still probably something that one shouldnt overdo. Despite the fact that it was a river in the west that the party was sailing through right now, it turned out to be surprisingly safe route to travel by. At the start, it didnt look like it will be safe as while sailing Arata could see that on the both riversides there were monsters walking around. Then, there were also quite disturbing sounds that were coming from insides of the forest. Strangely though in the end this route was really safe, and none of those monsters decided to attack the travelers that were using the river. Arata found it strange so he decided to ask but Shin explained that no one was attacking them because they were in no ones territory. If on the one side of the river there were big colorful toads and on the other mutated turtles, then the first riverside would be toads territory and the second side would be turtles territory. Still as for the river itself, it was a natural territory that served as a border so it belonged to no one in particular and everyone was free to use it and that also included the adventurers that would sail through it, although there probably werent many people that who would think of an idea like that. Normally one would rather assume that sailing through the middle of the river will result in both sides attacking at the same time but it turned out to not be the case. -hey! Are we there yet? At some point Flynn ended up asking the ultimate question. For a note, he and other two party goers were already awake. Flynn and Bran were as if nothing happened but as for Levi he had an incredible hangover and according to what he said, his head hurt badly, not to mention that he ended up vomiting three times already after waking up. After seeing him like that Arata promised himself to never try the dwarven ale as it seemed that unless someone was a dwarf the result would be a condition like that, no matter how good their stomach was. The dwarves were different only because it seemed that their race had a special bonus that allowed them to drink beer without heavy consequences later on. For some people that was deciding factor to choose the dwarven race. -naturally we are not. Also I dont know how much it will still take. Shin answered to him. -what? Dont tell me that we got lost. -no, its just that right now we have completely no information about the area around us so its hard to tell. But right now we are not lost as the moment in which we have to stop sailing is the moment when the river will take a sudden turn to the right. According to the map we will be north of the place where heavens gate is supposed to be and from there on, it will be just half a day of journey. -still if it goes on like this, we wont make it there today, right? Vatras ended up commenting. -probably but there is no need to hurry as we will have one more break before coming close towards the gate anyway. We definitely dont want to reach it in the middle of the night after all. Anyway once again, avoid speaking out very loudly as we dont know if some of those will start attacking us because we are too loud. Shin said that and pointed in the direction of the one riverside on which some kind of lake-monsters village was placed. The monsters that were living in that village were some kind of snake-like creatures that were walking on two legs. Still it wasnt completely barbaric race of monsters as they did have weapons, mostly spears and nets. At the same time though those weapons could also be simple fishing equipment as there were also some of those creatures equipped with metal shields and swords as well. Also it was worth to mention that those creatures were all dressed. Still they didnt seem like really friendly kind and ever since the party got close to the village those creatures were glaring at them with their weapons ready for the fight. Also there were probably much more guards gathered near the coast than usually. Luckily though those creatures didnt feel the need to attack those that simply sailed the river without making any contact with them so despite the fact that the party got quite close to their village the fight did not happen. At some point an hour after passing by the village Rin finally woke up from her long sleep. Well, it was completely normal but because of the positions in which Arata was sitting in the boat he was looking in her direction and the moment she realized that she asked right away. -what!? Her friendly face, which she had during her sleep, disappeared right away when she asked this question with her usual unhappy voice. -nothing but did you perhaps had some bad dream? You have tears in your eyes you know. Arata pointed out that fact before anyone else saw her face like this. Those tears were probably nothing big and there was probably no real reason behind them as Rin was sleeping for this whole time but there was no reason for anyone else to see them and misunderstand. After hearing his comment, Rin immediately touched her cheeks and afterwards she simply wipe them away with her red cloak. The surprisingly afterwards she answered to Aratas question, despite the fact that he did not expect the answer. -no, it was not a bad dream but simply good memories They must really have been good if she had such light expression. -still, why did you not wake me up? We were to take turns, werent we? Rin followed up with the question as indeed originally they were to take turns. This time however her question was in slightly concerned voice. -I guess, still I didnt feel sleepy so I rather glad that I didnt interrupt your good memories as you called it. -I see, I am sorry . While Arata tried to laugh it off, out of sudden Rin apologized to him, which wouldnt be that big normally but the way she did that was not right. The look she gave Arata at that time and the sad voice in which she said those words werent a right apology for it. Why does she always do that? No its not the time to think about it. -you dont have to apologize to me like that for something so minor. - . Arata tried to repair the mood but when he did she went quiet and didnt say anything back. -Rin? -hmm ah no never mind. Anyway, just dont complain latter that because of me you couldnt sleep, although, I will thank you for letting me sleep for a little longer. Today we will finally reach that gate, right? A rest before a hard fight is welcomed as I am expecting at least something few times harder than the tomb fight and I am not talking about the easy version that we did together with Levi but the one I was trying to do. Ah right, just so you know I still didnt give up on that one. When we finish with this quest I am planning to complete the objective that I set for myself so long ago. And then suddenly the atmosphere around her changed completely. If someone were to look at her, they would still think that her eyes look sad but generally Rin was always like that and to see her giving any other expression than that was rare. Still, the fact that she suddenly answered with such long monologue made Arata realize something. She seems in a mood for the talk. -you mean the fight that involves that army of skeletons right? But isnt it like meaningless? I mean you already completed that quest so there is no reason for you to go there. -I dont really care if I completed something or not. For me the quests are simply origins of information where I can find some hard opponents to beat. So even if the quest might be finished I still didnt beat my opponent. -I see. Well sure that knight was a true monster but you should be able to win against him if it were one on one. -no, I dont want a victory like that. My opponent is not only him but the whole battle that involves million skeletons and all other twelve skeleton knights. Possibly I also have to defeat the king at the end as it turns out that he also can be fought as Levi did fight against him, right? So I think that he might be something like the last boss of that fight. It seemed like Rin really had the intention to keep on doing the tomb fight when she returns to Karma again. Well I guess the reward is not the only reason that one wants to complete dungeons. Just having an interesting fight is a reward on its own. Also, I can fully understand her wanting to continue complete that fight after she already tried so many times. If there were no chances at all she would not try to begin with so deep down she think she can do it. Also she probably would eventually do it if she had more time. -well its not my business what are you planning to do after the quest is complete. But are you sure that you want to return to how you were when I first meet you in this world? -hmm what do you mean by return? I didnt change in the sightless so dont start saying the same things as Mary does. Didnt I make myself clear already, few times at that? -yes, you did Ah, why does she keep on saying it? I think that getting along with practically everyone as she once did suited her much more. Even now I feel like she still feels the same way as she did in my memories and what she actually do right now is that she forces herself to behave like that. Its painful for me even to just watch her do so, how painful must it be for her herself. Arata thought like this but he would not dare to say those thoughts out loudly as all his progress on getting along with Rin could disappear and once again she would stop talking with him completely. Still there was something that Arata wanted to try out. -say Rin you know I have a proposition for you. -if it involves anything outside of our current quest then the answer is no. It didnt look promising though and she shot down him like this right away with completely calm voice that she always had. -but you still didnt hear it. -I see so it doesnt involve our quest. Otherwise you would say it does. In that case I am not listening. With that Rin looked away at the river side and then she continued to do so for next five minutes. From time to time she would sneak glances back at Arata but seeing him still waiting for her approval she would immediately look back. In the end though, Arata decided to not wait anymore. -fine, in that case I will simply say it out loudly and because we are in the same boat you will hear me anyway. -hey its not fair! -I am not a good guy so I dont have to be fair. So Arata ignored Rins opinion and started saying what he wanted to say. He didnt expect much result from it but he wanted to try it anyway. -from what I understood it seems that you are enjoying hard fights that one can find in EOA. -is there something wrong with that!? Even though she said she wont hear him out, Rin ended up commenting. Arata was already used to her pseudo stubborn nature and the fact that if he wanted to say something to her and she would say that she is not interested. Still as long as he was persistent in it she would listen in the end if only to have peace of mind. -no there is nothing wrong with that, I enjoy it as well. Still I think that you are enjoying it little bit too much. -what do you mean by, too much? -I mean that after you found one hard fight you kept on trying to win it up until me and Levi helped you, right? And now you say that you still want to do it even if you dont have your quest anymore. So, I wanted to say that this way of thinking is too shallow. In this world there are fights that one shouldnt simply be doing alone, you should understand it yourself after traveling with this party for those few days, right? -I wont agree with this! I think that I would manage to reach this point of the west on my own if I knew the way that we took beforehand. Well, maybe I overconfident here but I will still say that we would manage reach this place with just three, together with Levi. Well, at least as long as we didnt end up in that mist forest as it might have been impossible for just us to get out from that one. Still then again if we just added that white-glasses to our group then we would definitely manage in four. Then again I am sure that someone can become strong enough to travel through the west on their own so your argument of looking for help from others people is false. Rin ended up explaining but to that Arata answered with the same thing that she started with. -I wont agree with this! Sure I see that this game is completely unbalanced and shouldnt be labeled as a game in the first place, but I think it still holds its MMO elements. Sure, one person can become strong equally enough to be able to compete with hundred and alone complete the fights that they would need that hundred to complete. -see its exactly what I just said. -still even then there will be some fights that will require a large number of those hundred like people to fight together. Then again there might be someone who will be as strong as that group of hundred like people. But that will still lead to the fights that will require a group of people like him. -I still dont know what your point is though. -what my point is, is that the people who can complete a dungeon on their own shouldnt be doing that dungeon in the first place as it is easy for them. They should rather look for a dungeon that would require a large group of people on that power level and together they would be able to experience the fight that would be multiple times harder than the ones that they will be able to do alone. -I see, and the harder the fight the more enjoyable it is. Is that your point? -yes and now, here is where my proposition comes. As you should know, its not easy to find people that will be on the same skill level as you, but without them you wont be able to take parts in those battles. Still this problem is not something that appeared only for you or me just now but its something that existed in world of games for ages. Also there is even simple solution to that problem and that solution is called a guild. A guild is a group of people with whom you will be able to take parts in those battles and thanks to it you dont have to look for the people yourself every time you want to take part in those. Not to mention that finding a good group of people at certain point is nearly impossible. So if you want to enjoy EOAs battles to the fullest, you should find yourself a good guild and the way you will do it is actually quite simple, you just have to join my guild, as- -stop it!... Up to this point Rin was listening but when Arata went to the main point of his proposition she interrupted him right away. -Arata, I have a question for you. Can you please tell me which part of the sentence we wont be meeting again after the quest is finished you didnt understand? Rin ended up asking this question in completely collected manner but at this moment Arata realized that he probably said too much. Still his intentions were really simple as he simply didnt want Rin to isolate herself from all people except Yume. He knew that it was not the way Rin should be and her true nature was something completely different. As for asking her to join his guild it was simply one of the ways to achieve that. This was the plan that he had on his mind for some time now but now it seemed that it wont work as it was obvious that Rin was completely against it. She didnt even let him finish when he first mentioned it. -fine, fine I am sorry. I was just thinking that if you joined my guild I would have a good back up in times of need, meaning one of those battles. So rather than calling it proposition, I simply wanted to use you in the future. Arata already had prepared lie for the occasion his proposition fails which he did expect to happen anyway. He didnt know he would be shut down so harshly though. But then strangely even though it was somewhat obvious lie as it didnt fit Aratas character at all and Rin seen through it right away, she was happy to hear that lie and afterwards she answered. -I see, so its like that. Well, despite what I said, I guess I still owe you because you agreed to help me with this quest, so in the future if you will need that back up with something, I will return the favor. Hmm? I finally did it? Such a huge step forward. After hearing what Rin said, Arata thought like that as it was indeed a huge step forward. Normally, Rin was kept on saying that she wont meet up with him again after the quest is complete. She even said it today just a second ago. Still, with the last sentence she said that she wants to return the favor, which will naturally result in them meeting again. Still even if I would want to leave it at that but I guess those words are enough for the time being, and I dont want to use something unsure like this. -well, even though I am technically helping you right now, I am doing the same quest as you and I will get the reward for it if we complete it so its not like I am doing it for free. You have no debt towards me. -no I think I do, also I expect that your problem will be of the same nature meaning that I will also get something, so only then it will be equal. Also despite what you just said, I do know perfectly well that you are doing this impossible quest with me, only because I asked you for help. I also do know that otherwise you wouldnt waste your time on something that has such low chance of succeeding as right now. There is a different place in which you want to be right now, arent I right? Maybe she is right. After all there is no other real reason for doing this quest right now other than helping her. Normally, rather than dreaming of doing something like this quest, the quest that is worth the world first, I would rather prepare myself for that world first quest instead. There are so many areas in which I can improve not to mention that my level is still quite low and trying to do something that deserve world first at this point is crazy and probably stupid. Still, because my goal is to actually help her before everything else, I never thought of backing off from it. Not even once this thought crossed my mind. -well dont worry about me, I am not completely unsatisfied with my current situation and I want to see the level of worlds first. The only place that I want to be right now is here. In the end Arata answered like this. -is that so but anyway once again remember what I just told you and dont ever repeat such heresy as me joining some guild. Even if what you said about those hard battles is probably true, its not something necessary and those dungeons that I can do on my own are enough challenging and entertaining for me. The tomb fight is one of those Hmm, there was some progress but it still wasnt enough. After hearing what Rin said Arata thought like that but then second later, Rin suddenly continued. -ahhh fine, I will answer the question that you have on your face right now Hmm? -why dont I want to group up with other people? Its simple, its because I dont want to interact with them, or no I said it wrong, I will be truthful, its rather, I shouldnt allow myself to interact with them. As to why I shouldnt do it, its because I dont want to see the difference between them and me, I simply dont want to think about the difference in our situation, and naturally seeing that difference make me think about it Arata, I am different than anyone else who is playing this game. Where that difference comes from is something that I dont want to say out loud but there is no need for that is there? You probably already know everything. After all, you know what happened. So, I dont know if Mary asked you to do it, or if you thought of it on your own after realizing my situation but still, I dont want your help in that manner or rather no matter what you do you cant help me, no one can. So in future, dont try again to do anything similar to what you just tried to do Somehow, Rin ended up deciding to open up to Arata and told him nearly everything that she was hiding so far. She probably did so because she saw through Aratas intention and unless she was as honest as this, she would not be able to persuade him to change his mind. And actually her opening up worked. Now that Arata heard it all directly from her, he suddenly felt that he really shouldnt be trying to do something that Rin did not ask him for. Previously, he already assumed most of what Rin just told him as well as the one last thing that she didnt mention but still hearing it from her was completely different. Arata decided to rethink his actions once again and started thinking, if he really was supposed to do anything in that regard in the first place as doing so would be as if he ignored Rins decision and that decision was not something that she made without thinking hard about it beforehand. After all, Arata did saw how she struggles with that decision every day. -ah right Arata, dont start feeling sorry for me all of sudden because I hate when people do that as well. What I told you changes nothing, so there is also no need for you to think about what I just said either. Anyway I dont know how long we are still going to be sailing with this boat but even if it were to be a single hour I think that it will be worthy to take that short nap after all so give me that paddle and go to sleep. Even if you cant fall asleep you can simply close your eyes and simply rest. In the end Rin told him to go to sleep and even though Arata considered that, he still had something left to say. -it seems that before reaching the gate we will still have to take one last break but for now I will take you on your offer. Before that though, can I tell you something personal? -personal? -you said that I do know what happen but in truth, I dont exactly know. Actually meeting you in this world was a shock for me and that is because up till the moment you showed me that stance in arena, I thought that you were dead. Before meeting here, the last time we talked was right before the beginning of that training right? After that I never saw you again, both in school and training. No one told me anything and you should probably guess that I didnt ask either given how I was at that time. Or maybe it wasnt even that, it was simply that I didnt want to know the truth, the truth that yet again I lost someone dear to me. -me? Being dear to you? -yes, I know it sounds like a joke if you look back on our interaction but even despite that, you were the second closest person to me after my grandfather from all the people that I knew, thats how I felt at least. Also even though I never showed it to anyone, your disappearance was a hard blow to me, although me at that time was already out of tears so it wasnt that hard to hide it. Still, thats why I want to say that I am really happy that I meet you here as thanks to that, I hope that I will be able to repay you for what you did for me because even if it didnt seem like that either, that rude guy always felt better after you came and talked with him. - hyhy, you might say that but I am sure that if you asked him, he wouldnt have agreed with what you said. -well that guy wasnt too honest with himself, so it would be just as you said. -hahaha, ah Arata, you werent kidding when you said that you will personal, still hearing all that from you feels strange right now even despite the fact of how different you become right now. But you do know that I used to hate you, right? -well even someone as kind as you told me that herself, so yes, I was perfectly aware of that. That being said though, hate is still closer relation than indifference. -I see still despite everything you said I used to be dear to you? So how about now? -now? I think that a lot didnt change here and I believe that you still are. In fact, because we can now interact with each other like this I think that I like you even more. -I see . Rin answered and closed her eyes and then she said. -go to sleep Arata, there are still many things to do afterwards. -there isnt anything else that I have left to say, so once again, I will take you on this offer. Arata ended up passing the paddle to Rin and he took a short nap that would end only after few hours when the party would reach the point where the river turns drastically to the right. -anyone who is still sleeping, wake up! Arata heard someones shouted and opened his eyes. It turned out that he did take that nap but it wasnt for too long as the sun was still high up in the sky. After waking up Arata confirmed the hour and it was 15:00. The party was no longer sailing anymore and the boats were moored on the left riverbank. It was a rocky area with no monsters around or rather right now there were no monsters around as there were about forty bodies lying dead in random spots, which signaled that the battle was held here. She did not wake me up. Arata got out from now empty boat and thought like that. It seemed like Rin did not feel like waking him up for the battle and she left him in the boat while that battle took place. Normally whenever Arata went asleep in EOA he would set up the alarm clock that would wake him up on set time still this time he couldnt do that as he didnt know how much longer they were going to sail. Also because there was someone around, Arata thought that that someone will wake him up but turned out to not be the case. Arata shot Rin a glance the moment he located her but she simply looked away and showed him his back without any feeling of guilt. -hey Shin, the edge of the forest seems clear but you better see what is farther away yourself! Bran who was returning together with Kei and Vatras shouted as they walked out from the grove. Right now party stopped on the rocky area but slightly further there were many trees, enough to call it a small grove or forest. On the other side of the river on the other hand there werent that many tries but party wasnt going that way. So, they even already started scouting. It seemed that Arata was not woken up for a little longer than just the battle, although it didnt seem like he missed anything important. After Brans shout, even though it was directed to Shin about everyone started moving towards where he came from. After all they werent going to make a stop in this place anyway. They all started walking and even though it was already scouted forest the party still went into its usual formation. -so, how bad is it? When they started moving, Shin asked as they still could not see clearly through the tree. He already skipped the question about the situation but rather went straight to the question of how bad that situation is. Yea thats encouraging. -you could say that its quite bad but on the other hand, its not bad at all. Vatras answered although his answer was a tricky one. -what do you mean? -well as Bran said, its better if you see it for yourself. After two minutes they reached point where the trees ended and they saw the open field. It really wasnt that big of a forest. They left the forest and reached the edge of the cliff. It wasnt that big of a cliff though as the fields were only three meters down to the ground. But then, on this open field, there were numerous gigantic creatures that were practically everywhere. Are you kidding me? An army of giants? The fields were filled with stone and earth giants which despite the fact that Arata was standing on the three meters cliff, were still reaching far above his height. By the first look, on average their height was in range of four to ten meters. Still apart from that there were also few of them that would probably reach the height of 25 meters or maybe even more. They were as high as skyscrapers. The giants build was quite bulky and even though they did have hands and legs they didnt really resemble humans. They didnt have anything that would resemble head although they did have eyes at the top of their thorax in the place where neck would normally begin. The stone giants were made of rock and were mostly in grey colors. Their bodies had sharp ends everywhere. In comparison to them the earth golems which were brown in color had flat and little slimmer build. They somehow did not look as durable as stone giants but that was probably just the impression one could get while comparing it to the other one. That also might have come from the fact that the largest of giants that was one of stone type. The giants were simply standing still although some of them were also walking. That fact immediately crushed anyones hope that those would be some kind of statues. As for the number of giants, it was hard to count them all but in general they filled the space of few kilometers to anywhere in sight, especially in the direction in which the party had to go to reach the heavens gate. -em once again Tras, how is it not bad? The first one to break the silence was Shin as indeed the comment that Vatras made earlier on was somewhat strange. -well, we can see here an army of boss class monsters on our way. But its the type that we once fought against and even managed to win against. -yes but it was just one giant and probably smaller than most that are here, not to mention that fight still took half of our party and at that time we had twenty three people, right. So once again, how is it not bad? It seemed like the party had some experience with this type of monster already given how Shin answered. Although that experience simply made everything look even worse. -well Shin, just you take a look from over there and you will immediately think that this route will be a simple walk in the park. Strangely Vatras ended commented like that and pointed towards the trees that blocked the view to the west. Currently the party was no longer to the east from the heavens gate but to the north from it, so right now they wanted to go south. Still, that did not meant that one couldnt go farther to the west and in fact the location of heavens gate was considered in the books to be at the eastern edge of old Solariss empire It didnt take more than a minute to reach the end of the cliff with the view towards the west. The area near the western part of the cliff was once again filled with the same giants in about the same range but they soon stopped look like a true problem as what could be seen in a distance not that far away was what was truly scary. - . - . - . - . = . -see, we have nothing to worry about if we want to go south. People who just arrived hold back their breath but it seemed like Bran was already used to the sight. In the distance there was a large mountain that would be at least thousand meters in height. Well that naturally wasnt the impressing point as after all it was a mountain and even now Arata could see another mountain that would probably be about the same in height like this one. Still, the mountain that probably everyone was looking at right now was not normal. Probably that mountain was perfectly normal just few hours ago and if the party reached this point even a single day earlier it would be nothing to look at. Still they came here right now and they were seeing what was happening. The whole mountain was literally burning. Right now one could call it a mountain of flames. But it wasnt probably any kind of volcano and that fire probably did not came out from the earth either. In the first place that fire was completely unrealistic so it couldnt be anything natural. It was a black flame that consumed and already burned down the whole flora that was on the mountain. Still even after that it did not vanquish and it seemed as if the black flames were now burning down the mountain itself and if the party was to arrive few hours later, they wouldnt be able to tell that a mountain was standing there. The burning mountain was not the only impressing thing though. The whole area around it was burning in the same flame as well and that fire was kept on spreading with the use of black flame tornados. There were several tornados that were moving through the lands and were spreading around the black flame to more and more places. The catastrophe that was happening before everyones eyes was just too grand. The whole burning area created an incredible amount of smoke that blocked the view of what was behind it but in one particular place in the sky there was a black shadow on the smoke although that shadow was slowly becoming smaller and smaller. Luckily though despite the fact that few tornados were spreading the black flame in many directions, none of them was going to where party was right now. Also the whole catastrophe was taking place far away from where they were so it didnt really involve them in particular. On the other hand if the party still wanted to continue their journey to the west, they would have to get through that place. -so Shin, do I still need to explain my answer again? At some point while everyone were watching the scenery Vatras spoke out. After hearing that question though, Shin simply turned around and started walking back to where they first looked at the giant army. -oh, there it is. It doesnt have anything to do with me mode. Bran ended up commenting after seeing Shins behavior and he also started following him soon after. He probably had enough of watching it as well. Hmm, pretending that I didnt see anything does seem like an option. The scene is simply just too crazy. Is this some kind of way that the game developers are telling people that they still did not finish that part of the game? Like some kind of if you go that way you die method rather than invisible walls? If so, I think it works perfectly. Arata also decided to turn around before anyone else. After all, in the end, the burning mountain and the burning lands, the burning tornados and the whole catastrophe werent his problems, and he already had other problems to deal with. Currently the problem was, how to reach the heavens gate when the area that the party needs to pass by is filled with boss class monsters whose number goes in thousands. Arata didnt want to just wait for now so he decided to discuss this problem, with the problem solver although this time there probably wasnt much options to choose from. -so, we are sneaking by? Arata caught up to Shin and Bran while the rest still were watching the catastrophe. He started the conversation with the obvious question. -well naturally, its impossible for us to do anything but that. You know, there are few dungeons that have giants like those as their last bosses. How was it oh yes, the main problem with fighting the stone one is his durability and large attacks, then the main problem with the earth one is that as long as he is standing on the earth he can regenerate himself. In the dungeon that we did the solution to that was to move him towards the rocky area. Otherwise, the earth giant is nearly immortal. Shin gave a quick rundown on those giants as it seemed that he was familiar with them but the news he said were kind of grim. -aye, not to mention they also have their special attacks. Bran ended up adding to the information. -so, we are able to defeat some of them but fighting them is general is pointless. Still even though everyone would though of an idea to sneak by them, as this is the only option, is there even a way to do that? -aye, I think so as well. Hey, Shin, arent there any other routes we can use? -hmm, we could try going back a little but then again we would reach those other creatures that we saw while sailing. Not to mention that orangutan who was as big as those giants over here and probably much faster. Or that gigantic snake. Also even if we did managed to get pass them, we would still end up in probably somewhat similar situation where we cant fight through our way anyway, in the end the risk would only increase. Personally I think that trying to sneak by those giants here will be slightly easier than anything else that we can try. This is simply the limit of what we can do this far in the west without much information. -we originally never planned to go this far right oh well, its just one last day of journey so whatever happens, happens. Another person ended up joining the conversation and it was Vatras. He also already had enough of looking at the scenery to the west. The last person who went for the scouting, Kei was also just few meters away. -if we are already trying to sneak by, we probably should wait till the night. Arata ended up commenting. -yes, I was thinking of it. Currently I am not sure of just a single thing and that is, should we all sneak by together or should we split into the group that would all take slightly different route or go at different times. What do you guys think? I guess sneaking up with elven people at the time cant exactly be called sneaking. -we will leave planning to you as always. Vatras ended up answering as in the first place, he found it strange that Shin asked at all. -and you Arata? Still after that, Shin repeated the question and it seemed that he asked only Arata to begin with. -I understand why you are thinking of splitting up but that can bring other heavy consequences, like we might have problem of finding ourselves later on. Still if we go in one group, not only it will be harder to sneak by but also its clear win or lose situation. Either we all sneak by or we most likely all die as once we are revealed we wont have much chance at running away. -or specifically, some of us will manage to get away and some of us wont. I personally think that you would be able to just run forward through this field and before any giant would realize what passed by him, you would be already out of his sight. Shin ended up commenting and in that moment Arata realized what he was about in the first place. -so you are saying, that those that can ran through this field only with speed should just do that and leave the rest behind? In that case, at least me and Rin would be able to go through, which is the goal that you have set for yourself as your winning condition right? With the final line so close, you no longer even mind sacrificing yourself? After Arata said it out loud, Shin made only a small simile that kind of signaled that he has been seen through. Still afterwards he answered. -lets not go into dramatic thoughts like that well what you said is definitely true and with speed alone, you and Rin, and also Julia and Kei will be able to make through this obstacle without much problem. There might even be few more people as well but you four could take it on by pure force. -hey, Shin dont forget my panther form. -I am not in the details yet, Tras anyway for some people going with a simple run will work. But for someone like me, its probably better to do it slightly different. So we are not sacrificing anyone but rather we let everyone use the most suitable method for them. Anyway back to where we were, you will agree that splitting into smaller groups simply has much more chances of succeeding, right? -yes, although charging forward right away isnt probably the best option there is. -that was only the example. Anyway we have sometime before it will get dark so in that time I will think of the groups. It will be either two or three person groups. We could even go as far as splitting separately completely but this again can bring some other problems. Still as for the problem of meeting up later on that you mentioned. It doesnt matter that much and I think that we will find ourselves on the way somehow. After all we will be all going towards a single place as if what you said about the heavens gate is true Arata, then it means that its location is exactly that mountain over there. While they were talking they reached the cliff with the view towards the south and there Shin pointed towards the mountain range in the distance, and those mountains were the place where the Wizard said the heavens gate is. Even if there were crazy burning mountains around and army of giant, seeing the goal with one eyes did encourage Arata a lot. Nearly there. Even though it was only few hours, the situation went into yet another break although this time no one was really tired because there wasnt anything to be tired from in the first place. At this moment, Arata was not exactly sure how it happen, but currently the party ended up playing the card game Moloch agents at the cliff from where they could see the burning mountain. Despite everything. The place that they were in and what was happening in the distance, everyone who was now participating in the game was focusing on the game and nothing else. The only person that was currently not participating in it was Rin but apart from her everyone else was playing. -hahahaha, I got you all! Bran declared his victory after bringing his team to victory. The game Moloch agents was the game that Arata already played with the party and knew the rules well. His first experience with it was fairly enjoyable so when the idea of playing it out came up, there was no reason to refuse. Thanks to the card game, the time went fast and before anyone noticed it started getting dark already. When it did, after another three one more game Shin!, the party once again focused on the issue at hand. For a note, after some time the black flame tornados ended up disappearing so the fire was no longer spreading some, in some of the places the black flame also disappeared but the burning mountain was still as dark as it was although by the look of it, the mountain got somewhat smaller. -okay, for the last time I will remind you of the plan Shin started. -we will spread into five groups. Four groups with two people each and one with three. Each group will start 10 minutes one after another and what we need to do is to reach the other end of this field, perfectly without any interaction with the giants. After reaching getting through the fields of giants, each party should theoretically wait for others but on the other hand, staying in one spot for far too long is not good either. So depending on the situation you can stay in one place or make your way towards the heavens gate. We already discussed the method that each group will use and you also discussed it between yourselves so I will just once again remind you of the order in which we are going The split was made mostly based on the way that people were going to use to sneak by. Certain methods simply worked better with other people and that was probably the main factor that came to game in the splitting. -the first group to go, Rin and Julia. Tactic, run through Or rather it was definitely the main factor as otherwise the paring with two people who theoretically never spoke with each other wouldnt have been made. Still this problem could occur only if Rin was involved, but then again Shin also had to take into the factor that Julia did not want to go with any other male alone. In the end those two fit to tactic method perfectly so and the group have been made and there wasnt a need for a good cooperation there. -second group to go, Kei and Tras. Also run through tactic. Then following them there is the three person group namely me, Bran and Flynn with, sneaky, sneaky tactic, please dont realize we are here The third group tactic might sound not good but in the end all tactic really came down to that. It was only a difference between trying to run through or simply walk through. For the first two groups running was possible but for the party with two dwarfs and slow magician it was not. -the forth group, Hiro and Mika, tactic name, we are cheating with invisibility magic. If anything though, the forth group tactic sounded solid. Arata already heard about it once but Mika had an invisibility spell. That spell worked on anyone that she was directly touching and the first time Arata heard about it was in story in which she and Hiro were watching Rins tomb fight. Still Mikas spell also had one huge downside and that was that the caser could not move while casting it but it went only as far as moving on her own. If someone else was carrying the caster there was no problem with it. Unfortunately it was impossible for more than one person to go with her as Mikas mana would not last long enough for that but with only one person, Hiros and Mikas tactic was flawless when it came to sneaking. -and lastly the fifth group Arata and Levi with tactic, who needs tactic in the first place? The names of the tactic that Shin used right now were created during the discussion. After Arata ended up parried up with Levi they quickly came to the terms that rather than worrying about anything, they will just go forward and if something happen they will deal with it when it happen. It wasnt like any of them had any good sneaking powers and in the end every group was doing pretty much the same. Although the reason why Arata and Levi were the last was because during the discussion they considered the possibility of fighting back, because -who cares that the opponent is as big as skyscraper. Shin was not sure if they were joking or not, but he decided that just in case they really end up doing so, at least other groups wont get involved. -anyway, Julia, Rin, you can start the moment you are ready. After Shin said that Julia and Rin simply looked at each other and then few seconds later without exchanging the word, they get down the cliff and started running through the fields. Because it was quite dark right now, in half a minute they disappeared from everyones sight which was good because it also would mean that they would disappear from giants sight as well. -hey Arata, are you sure about this team? I mean, what relation those two have in the first place? Levi was currently standing next to Arata so after Rin and Julia left in this manner he ended up asking. -hmm, I might be wrong here but I think that they never even exchanged a single word with each other. Arata answered as he really didnt remember it. In the first place, Rin still didnt change a bit and was still avoiding talking with others and because most people didnt know how to approach her, just like always she was mostly standing in the corner. -then isnt it kind of bad? -maybe but hey, just think about it this way. Julia is the only person in this party that Rin never killed. -hahaha, thats a good point. Well while sneaking people should be theoretically quiet anyway so its not like they need to talk. -I dont think we have to worry about those giants at all. You saw that they didnt even moved when Rin and Julia ran pass them. -well, would you normally run after an ant that just walked passed you one the ground? Because I think I wouldnt. -thats a good analogy. We might actually overdoing with this splitting into groups. -well maybe not as I would say that if its only a single ant then you normally wouldnt care. But if it were ten or more ants walking together then I might consider killing them just for the sake of peace. -I guess, well in the end sneaking is not something you do with ten people around you anyway. Arata finished the conversation like that and together with Levi they waited for their turn. 10 minutes after Rin and Julia, Kei and Vatras ended up going in a similar manner. Before going Vatras ended up changing into his black panther form that on this time of the day made him nearly invisible even if someone stood few meters away from him. Then 10 minutes after those two Flynn, Bran and Shin ended up going as well. Before doing so, Shin took off his white cloak to add to his chances on sneaking up, although after seeing what already happened twice, the giants did not really plan on doing anything in particular to the party and they were just standing there, without doing anything. And then ten minutes later the siblings went as well. Hiro ended up giving his sister a piggyback and then second later they literally disappeared. -I think they could skip that invisibility as it doesnt seem necessary Levi ended up commenting after seeing them go. -by the way Arata, its not like splitting up is that bad of a plan but isnt it like a foreshadowing that one group or two will never be seen again? While they waited Levi brought up a topic like this. -I guess, but if you are thinking about movie-like situation then, those that go the last are usually those that never reach regroup with others. Like they dont even have an occasion to start as before they decide to do it, something will come out from nowhere and then the last scene of them being in the movie stop on this. Later on the protagonist founds their bodies and he has the mystery to solve. Ah, by the way Levi, I think I saw something moving in those bushes over there. Arata commented and then pointed towards the forest. -where, where? Why didnt you say so earlier!? -naturally because its a joke. Anyway dont bring up topics like that because its like asking for a death flag. -no. Setting the death flag was rather splitting into groups, what I just did though was a countermeasure against anyone dying because now if someone dies we wont even be surprised. -I dont think that it will change anything whatever we will be surprised or not but anyway lets get moving as well. Arata said that and then he walked towards the edge of the cliff and Levi quickly followed after him, they both jumped down towards the field and slowly started walking. -so how do we do it? We try to be fast or we are going slow and slack off a little? -light run I guess? There is no need to hurry. Or is it that you want to try racing with me? -hmm, a good option but its too late an hour for that. So the light run should be okay And so Arata and Levi started running without care through the fields full of gigantic boss class golems. They not only ignored the sneaking concept completely but also they started the conversation at some point. -Arata, dont you think that we are once again cheating with this quest? -what do you mean? -I mean, first we bought an item from black market with gold and now we are going through the west in the most cheated way possible. Not only we went a route that didnt involve fighting anything too big but also whenever we did encounter anything big we simply ran away from it. -hmm, rather than cheated way, I would say it is an intelligent way. We found the group that had the information about this route and we used it to our advantages. Still if you already mentioned cheating then the most cheated thing was sailing through the river as we made few days distance just like that. Still when it comes to worlds first, it doesnt matter what method you chosen as long as it works. The quest said, reach the heavens gate, and we are doing just that. -yep, it didnt mention a thing about fighting through the armies of monsters on the way. -exactly we are doing everything right. While Arata and Levi were running without care and speaking some of the golems did end up moving as it was easy to notice by the sound that they made while doing so. Still in this darkness it was impossible for the giants to locate two small ants that were running pass them. After about an hour, the giants were still everywhere in sight and at the same time the mountains range that indicated the location of the heavens gate was not visible as it was blocked by them. -Arata! Are you sure that we are still going the right way because after the last turn I lost my orientation. -in that case be happy that you are with me in the group. -how can you be so sure that we didnt get lost. -well, if you want the precise answer than I am basing it on position of two constellation in the sky as well as the position of the moon. -really? Well good job Arata, seems like your hobby of being gloomy and looking at the stars on most nights finally pays off. -this and that are different, but whatever say what you want. -haha, I was just joki- boom! boom! boom! boom! Arata did not manage to hear Levis last answer as suddenly it was interrupted by the loud noises that came from everywhere around them. Those noises were made by giants movements as out of sudden some of them started moving and as the time went more and more of them moved started moving as well. In the end all of them started marching. -what is going on! Arata shouted as otherwise Levi would not be able to hear him despite being just next to him. -doesnt matter, RUN! -RUN!? Where!?... It was quite obvious that they should start running. Still the problem was that there was nowhere to run. All giants started to move out of sudden and they all started moving in one direction, namely to the east. It didnt seem like their target was Arata and Levi or any of other groups, still just by walking they could stomp on someone and that someone would disappear under their foot forever. Which will be the best direction? If we continue going south or we turn back to the north then they will have to run while looking to the side and by the look of it, it would still take us an hour to reach the other end. Then again going east, meaning the same direction that the giant go is probably the stupidest thing to do as we would have them on our backs. I guess we could theoretically climb one of the giant and by that be relatively safe but who know where we might end up because of this choice. In that case the fastest way to get out would be to go to the west in the opposite direction that giant are going, what is more because we will see them directly before us it will be easier to go. -Levi, we try this way! After quickly thinking it through, Arata made the decision. It did not matter what was the reason for the sudden movement of giants, what was important was that they did move. Arata and Levi started running full speed in the direction of the west while avoiding getting smashed to the ground. Despite few close calls at the start, they were doing relatively fine although it was still one wrong move and you are dead. What was worse it was quite dark so there was little time to between seeing the foot coming at them and dodging actually it. -hey Arata, I have been thinking! After twenty minutes of impossible ride, Levi started. -are you sure that this is the best moment for that. Arata answered and turned hard towards the left as three seconds later in the place where he would be a stone foot landed that made the earth tremble. -it might be the last time to think about that! You see, I was thinking what if those giants are running away from something!? -to me they seem like they are simply walking. -maybe that is simply their maximum speed and they cant run. Anyway if what I thought of is correct then if we continue this way- Levi had to interrupt as he had to activate one of his skills to survive. His shield shined in the yellow light and he flied forward with it just in time as an earth foot nearly crushed him. -thats what you get for talking during AA! [Black Dash] Arata also could not finish the sentence as it turned out that one of the giants on his right ended up tripping and he fell to the left right on where Arata was. Because it was hard enough to take care of those that were at his front, Arata saw that happening only in last minute so he ended up using spell to go through the body that crushed him. After those occurrence, Arata and Levi did not try to finish their conversation anymore and somehow yet again they speed up even more. Arata did hold back on using lighting speed though so they dont get separate as Levi didnt have any movement speed boost skill. After another 10 minutes, Arata and Levi successfully managed to leave the field of giants without dying. Well technically they were still on it but the giants were no longer here anymore and they moved away. -ha, ha, ha, ha ahhh, I had enough, this was my closest moment in which I could die since actually dying after first meeting with Rin. After running at full speed and being on edge for last twenty minutes they both ended up falling on the ground after making sure that nothing was around. -really? In that case I am jealous of your easy life. Arata answered to Levi as in comparison to him, he did have quite a lot close calls in which he avoided death by hair. -its easy to obtain as long as you dont play the hero on every possible occasion. -I am not playing hero. -we have been through it many times already Arata so there is no need to argue about that again. Anyway care to look at those stars again, because this time I really have no idea where to go. -hmm, we did go off the way quite a lot after this run, I doubt that we will be able to meet up with others that easily because of that. After a quick look, Arata answered like this. -in that case we should probably go straight for the heavens gate then and meet up with others over there. -yes, I was thinking of it as well. Anyway now that we dont have those statues around we can see much more thanks to the light of the moon so Arata stood up from the ground and Levi did so as well. -hey look we can once again see the mountain range to which we are going. The heavens gate was to be at the eastern end of it. - . -anyway, we should better be going before anything else happen. - its probably too late for that. Levi answered in kind of strange voice and then second later Arata heard him falling to the ground. When it happen Arata quickly turned around just to see Levi, who was now sitting on the ground with his hands supporting his back. -what are you doing? You got that tired from that run, it isnt lik- Arata started but then he looked forward and his voice was interrupted. Three minutes ago when Arata and Levi reached this place the area was clear of monsters but now, in close distance something appeared walking towards them. Compared to the giants that they just passed or rather compared to most of monsters that Arata meet so far, the creature couldnt be called big. It actually had a reasonable size and that creature actually did exist in the real world. It was a white tiger, with the white fur and black strips on his body. He generally looked quite strong and he was probably slightly bigger than white tigers that one can find in real world but in the end he was quite normal and yet. My voice does not come out! Whats worse I cant move. The moment Arata first saw the white tigers fur which was shining in the moonlight he got somewhat paralyzed. It was simple as that, he looked in the tigers eye and couldnt do anything else. Oo this is bad This is not a polarization by fear by any mean. In the first place this is a game and I already saw way too much scarier things here to suddenly get scared of some tiger is simply waking. Still the moment I saw those grey eyes I cant move anymore. Ah this is bad it is probably some kind of game ability or boss mechanic. While Arata and Levi were unable to move the white tiger slowly was getting closer and closer to them. He was still quite afar and yet the effect that he brought was this strong. If we dont get out of this before he gets here then Levis story with us disappearing without a trace will really come to truth. Anyway I have to try something. [Shadow hand.] Because Arata was already paralyzed, he gave up right away on getting out from this condition on his own as in the end he couldnt move to the point of not being able to blink. Thats why, he resulted to spells right away and yet. It doesnt come out! The shadow hand did not appear despite Aratas try to call it out. [Black dash] Arata tried different spells but they also did not work. Does this paralyzation block out the skills as well? Arata quickly arrived at the conclusion. The fact that Levi wasnt doing anything either only confirmed it even more. WHY! This is unfair! I always thought that doing this impossible quest is fine because even if I were to die while doing so, at least it will be during some exciting fight. I dont want to die without doing anything! Arata started thinking like that but unfortunately the death was not fair to begin with and in evil world of EOA, it was even more unfair. Hmm there is always an option where he walk pass us. There was literally not a single thing Arata could do at this point. His current situation could be compared to a scenario where someone just destroyed his keyboard and the mouse and the only thing he could do right now was to look at the monitor. Naturally he already tried stupid ideas like fighting it with willpower but it was given that something like that did not work. Thats why now that there was nothing he could do, he tried to be optimistic. There was always a chance that the white tiger will not even look at them, although from the way that he just turned just now, it seemed like he did notice them and even started specifically walk in their direction. But then when the tiger was still two minutes away from them something really unexpected happened. Up in the air, the sound of the guitar being played started. For a second Arata started to wonder if this is some kind of ingame music even if EOA didnt have anything like that as it took away from the reality. Still that wasnt something confirmed and maybe when there was some battle music to epic fight bosses. That though soon turned out to be a false though as when the tiger came slightly closer, Arata saw a blue scarf floating in the wind and together with it the long black hair and those appeared first behind the tigers head. Soon after, Arata realized that the first quiet sounds of the guitar were only the intro. The song started second later and despite the dramatic situation in which Arata could die at any moment, he soon immersed himself in the beautiful voice of the girl he could not even see. -yesterday I died, tomorrows bleeding -fall into your sunlight -the futures open wide, beyond believing -to know why, hope dies -losing what was found, a world so hollow -suspended in the compromise -the silence of this sound, is soon to follow -somehow, sundown -and finding answers -is forgetting all the questions we called home -passing the graves of the unknown While the sounds of the song continued to play, the white tiger ended up reaching the place where Arata and Levi was and after looking at them for two seconds, he turned around to the left to reveal that riding on his back, there was the singer as well as the guitarist of the song. At the current moment she was completely immersed in her song and she was both playing the guitar and singing with her eyes closed. At this time the paralyze on Arata and Levi also disappeared and Levi even ended up standing back on his feet but the sound of guitar continued and the girl started singing the second verse. -as reason clouds my eyes, with splendor fading -illusions of the sunlight -and a reflection of the lie, will keep me waiting -with love gone, for so long -and this days ending -is a proof of time killing, all the faith I know -knowing that, faith is all I hold The girl continued to sing her song with somewhat sad voice but that was probably just the illusion created by the lyrics of the song. The song actually turned out to be some kind of love song judging from the lyrics and yet at the same time it felt as if those words also had some second meaning behind them. It felt like that at least till now then the refrain part began with yet another quieter intro just to change into energetic sound and the girl singing it from the top of her lungs. -and Ive lost, who I am, and I cant understand!... -why my heart is so broken, rejecting your love!... -without, love gone wrong, lifeless words carry on!... -but I know, all I know, is that the ends beginning! -who I am, from the start, take me home to my heart!... -let me go, I will run, I will not be silent!... -all this time, spent in vain, wasted years, wasted gain! -all is lost, hope remains, and this wars not over!... -theres a light, theres a sound, taking all shattered once!... -to the place, we belong, and his love will conquer!... -and Ive lost, who I am, and I cant understand!... -why my heart is so broken, rejecting your love!... -without, love gone wrong, lifeless words carry on!... -but I know, all I know, is that the ends beginning! -who I am, from the start, take me home to my heart!... -let me go, I will run, I will not be silent!... -all this time, spent in vain, wasted years, wasted gain! -all is lost, hope remains, and this wars not over!... -theres a light, theres a sound, taking all shattered once!... -to the place, we belong, and his love will conquer all!... -and his love will conquer all -and his love will conquer... The energetic sound and incredible singing once again went into slower mode but this was nearly the end. -yesterday I died, tomorrows bleeding -fall into your sunlight. The song finally ended with few more quiet sounds of the guitar and only then did Arata return to the earth as while listening to the song his mind started thinking about way too many things for him to keep with reality. When he did return however he realized that that he now have a line of tears coming out from his right eye. Although it would still be not much in comparison to Levi. clap, clap, clap. After the song ended Levi started clapping and his face was completely in tears as they flowed with unnatural strong stream from both tears. Ah, why now clap, clap, clap Seeing Levi doing so, Arata decided to start clapping as well. Still Arata didnt foresee that he will be rewarded for that act as then the second later the face of the girl who opened her eyes just to see them clapping was truly priceless. And then two second later, the girl started waver at the top of the white tiger and then yet another second later, she fall down from the tiger to the ground, together with the guitar she played on. -aaa!... She ended up falling on her back while shielding her guitar from the damage, although it seemed as if she slowed down right before landing on the ground. There was barely any sound when she landed on the ground which was surprising as she crushed with her guitar in hands which should make the characteristic sound. Arata and Levi looked at themselves not really knowing what to do. After all they just experienced something they simply couldnt foresee. First they meet some crazy white tiger that paralyzed them on sight just to find out that that tiger had rider at the top of it and that rider was some singing black haired girl. Then after singing some sad love song, the girl fall down from her tiger to the ground. And then even though the fall did not seem to make anything to her she had a lot of problems at getting back on her feet to the point where she did not stand back on her feet but simply changed her position to that where she could look at both of them. And Arata soon found out why. After quickly looking at her body there was something really unregularly about her. The upper part was quite normal, long obsidian colored hairs, a blue scarf tied around her neck that was fitting her eyes and then a strange dark-blue colored shirt that had wide black-sleeves. But then while upper part was looked normal and would look normal even in real life the lower part was definitely not that normal. The girl was warring some-kind of grey-white crystal-like armor. Well it was a fantasy world of EOA so it wasnt that surprising but the fact that it was joined together with the normal looking clothes from the top gave kind of odd feeling. Still lastly the reason the girl could not stand up properly was quite simple. She was missing her left leg and the crystal-like armor was now covering the destroyed part in the middle of the thigh. As for the black guitar with golden strings that looked just like real world guitar, the first thing that the girl did after landing was hiding that guitar back in her inventory and the moment she did that action, Arata and Levi finally got the reassurance that she is indeed a player as so far they could not be so sure of it. After all this was the west which was also called the land without players. Meeting here someone was so rare that the first question that girl asked did not surprise anyone. -are you two adven I mean players? She asked as she herself seemed even more surprised to see other players even more than Arata and Levi. Still, after this question the conversation went incredibly quickly. -yes we are, and so are you Levi immediately answered and continued. -you are probably surprised to see us here and so we are but what do you think about meeting in a place like this. The vast dangerous lands of the west where no one should be and yet here we are meeting under the light of moonlight. Tell me dont you think that it can be anything but destiny? My heart was captured by your song, so let me at least help you stand up after such unfortunate occurrence. Take my hand and- -no thank you, I am not really good at standing right now so I will sit on the ground for now Idiot. Naturally after seeing a girl like that Levis knight wannabe mode kicked in with full power right away but then yet again Arata had an occasion to see him get rejected without a second of thought. -are you two really players? The girl repeated her question and this time she addressed it to Arata. She probably was not sure anymore after seeing Levis role-play. -well yes we are and ignore thats guy for some time. If you do he will get better later on. Although this time it might take a little longer as he was indeed captured by your beautiful song. -beautiful? ah, stop with cheap complements like that, I am terrible at singing, thats why whenever I try to do so I make sure that no one is listening. But then again how could I know that I will meet in this place someone, its been whole five years after all. It seemed like the girl didnt have a high confidence in her voice which slightly surprised Arata but it was not the time to discuss it. -whatever it was good or bad, I cant tell as I dont know much about music but if anything I liked it. Still, if I can ask, what did you mean by whole five years? Arata had few other questions at his head right now like, who the hell are you or whats the deal with this tiger but he let the conversation flow. In the meantime Levi ended up crouching few meters away and was repairing his broken heart which Arata didnt perceive as a big deal as Levi was doing it every time after meeting any girl anyway. -well, its kind of complicated but in short the last time I meet another player in this game was five years ago And then the moment the girl said that the tears started to form in her eyes and then full of joy she started. -I did it, I did it! Did you see Torachii, I finally did it! Arata did not know who Torachii was but at least the girl sounded really glad and her tears were that off happiness. -yes, you did it Haru. And then out of nowhere another voice appeared. This time it was a voice of a male who would be at least 40 years old so even if the girl was a ventriloquist she should not be able to produce a voice like this as she herself did not look older than Arata or Levi. Then even though an unknown voice appeared the girl did not seem surprised by hearing it, and also the voice seemed to answer her. Because of that Arata asked right away. -what was that voice? -ah, right I still didnt introduce myself. My name is Haru, and the voice that you just heard belongs to my kitten over there his is Torachii. -hi, I am Torachii but if you call me that, I will kill you. Following the girl introduction the white tiger ended up turning towards Arata and then he talked. That occurrence though made both Arata and Levi look at him with wide eyes. Cat talked! Aratas mind received a huge blow as his logical understanding was being tested right now. That somewhat showed on his face but he still hold back on commenting on it although. -aaaaa! Cat talked! Even Levi was brought back with this occurrence and he did not hold back on commenting. After all it was truly beyond understanding. -hey kid, I already forgave you for hitting on Haru, and now just this once I will forgive you for calling me a cat but dont think there is the third chance. Next time I will surely kill you, you hear me! If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Its seems like Torachii wasnt as friendly as his name would suggest. Actually his name completely did not fit him as his look, the way he sounded and what he said were the complete opposite of what someone called Torachii should say. -ahh! Torachii! Dont be so rude to the first players we meet after so much time. Bad Torachii! Also, why didnt you tell me that we meet someone and you even let me embarrass myself all the way till I finished the song!... The girl complained to him but to that Torachii just turned his head away without saying anything. -well, dont worry about what Torachii said, despite his looks he is usually quite a good and friendly. Arata would definitely didnt have an impression of good and friendly from that tiger but he didnt try to comment. -we are even then, also dont worry about what this idiot said as despite his looks he is sometimes good most of the time good for nothing guy. -hey! Dont listen to him! Also Arata, I am starting to think that its because you are spreading nonsense like this I am unpopular. It seemed like Levi returned to being normal. -no, you were always hated by girls for hitting on them way before we first meet. Arata answered to him, and then Haru made a strange comment. -ah, so he was just playing around eh, why do I always end up being hit on by playboys. Why it cant be someone normal for one time aaa, did I say it out loud? Aaaa, ignore it! Ignore it! That comment wasnt for anyones hear to hear it seemed. Arata for one wasnt playing to go into it. -anyway, my name is Arata, his is Levi. Its not like you have to answer us but can you tell us what are you doing here, alone at that? -well I am not alone, Torachii is with me but sure I can you tell you anything and I also have few questions myself. Not to mention that I was waiting for five years to simply talk with someone, still before we start, do any of you perhaps has some kind of healing spell. As you can see my leg is well as you can see my leg is not here and I would really want help with it if possible. Arata didnt need to ask an obvious question what happened with her leg as they were in the lands of monsters and there were probably a lot of them that could bite of someones leg. -when did that injury happened? Surprisingly Levi ended up asking a serious question for a change although Arata knew why he did so. -it would be about eight hours ago I guess. I happened to meet an old acquaintance and I should probably be happy to be left with only this injury but you have no idea how it feels to not have a leg. At least this armor stops the pain so its not the worst case scenario. But anyway can you do anything about it? Haru did end up somewhat telling what happened to her although the old acquaintance that she meet wasnt probably a good acquaintance if because of him something like that happened. -if its eight hours then unfortunately there is nothing I can do. Levi answered sad that he cant score some points but in the first place he was doomed to the failure in that department even before he started. -you can probably guess but I also dont have any healing spells, I can share some healing potions though. Arata followed up. -thanks for the thought but naturally potions wont be enough. But anyway, now that I meet some players it means that there is a city nearby, right? I will just have to search for the healer there. I dont even mind killing myself after reaching the resurrection spot on this side. By the way, how far and which way is the city from here? Haru asked. -how far I week by foot I guess. Levi what do you think. -yes it will take at least this much given that she cant use the river. -a week!... At first Haru was somewhat both sad and surprised but then she quickly changed her attitude. -oh well, a week is not much and now that I reached this point and after surviving what happened today with the price of only one leg its actually not that bad. If I already meet some players at this point then it will be easy. Well if she is riding that tiger then its theoretically possible to get back to the city. I am not sure about the execution though. Arata thought like that but he ended up skipping the comment about trying to travel through the lands of the west alone. After all, she was already doing that and it didnt seem like she was that concerned over her safety. -I dont know what is easy for you and what is not but continuing your journey with your leg in that state is portably overdoing it. In the end though Arata commented like this. -yes, but it cant be helped it. Legs dont regrow on their own after all and I dont have any official healing spells myself and you two also cant help me. -well, we cant but we have some friends who will be. Its not only us two who are here but there are other people here as well and that also include healers. Currently we separated ourselves but we will be meeting up with them later on so if you dont mind a little detour then you can come with us and get your leg healed. Arata gave her an idea like that to which Haru reacted immediately. -really!!?? Then I will gladly take you on this offer as otherwise I will have to keep wearing this junk, ahhh, I hate wearing armors She said that as if not having a leg was a secondary problem. The value system of Haru was somewhat strange but Arata passed on commenting on that. -anyway if there really is a healer out there then I would like to go to him as soon as possible. I still didnt answer your question I know but this is really my top priority. Also I can answer your questions as we go. So where are those healers? -where they are right now I cant tell but we were to meet up somewhere near those mountains over there. Still even if we go there right now, I doubt that anyone reached that point yet. By the time we reach those mountains we might find there someone but I think that others are currently waiting somewhere at the end of giants fields. Still finding them right now after we made such great turn is close to impossible. -I see so we need to find the first in that case Torachii can you sniff some healers somewhere in this area for me? Can he do something like that? Wow that tiger is quite useful. -if I dont know how they smell then its impossible. The Torachiis answer was surprisingly disappointing though. -but cant you just sniff for some unusual smells and it should work right? -there are way too many unusual smells in this area. Anyway Haru, stop playing clueless girl before them and simply find those people yourself. Your act will not work for too long anyway and how it could work in the first place. We are still quite deep in unknown area and people who can reach this point arent stupid and its given that they will realize sooner or later. The sudden Torachii comment was quite interesting. -ah, have some mercy, you know what I went through today and I wanted to save the rests of my power for emergency because it will take at least half a month for my mana to regenerate at this point but no, Torachii wants me to do everything alone and work me to the bone. Fine, fine Haru on the other hand started sulking, although what caught Aratas ears was. Half a month for mana to regenerate? And here I thought that my mana regeneration was bad. -hey can you help me stand up?... Then Haru asked and stretched her hand towards Arata and naturally Arata took it and helped her stand up as any person who would not do so, would simply be evil. Haru ended up standing on one leg and even though Arata did offer her a helping hand in standing as well she rejected that offer. Afterwards she ended up stretching her hands to the left and right and then she closed her eyes. After ten second Arata saw a strange phenomenon as the wind that was blowing all around the fields ended up changing its direction and it went in Harus direction. It was quite easy to see as her long black hair and the blue scarf started strongly waving in the air. Still apart from that it seemed like nothing special was happening and after passing through Haru, the wind ended up go through the fields yet again. The whole situation lasted no more than the minute after which the wind started to behave normally yet again. Haru did not change her position though and she kept on standing with her hands stretched for another two minutes. Arata considered speaking to her at some point but it seemed like she was not playing around right now and that she was actually doing something, although Arata was not sure what. But then about five minutes afterwards the whole thing started, Haru yet again got blow by the wind and this time it came from opposite direction and it made her hair and scarf fly to the back. This wind blow lasted only few seconds and after that Haru returned to normal standing position. Well normal considering the fact that she had only one leg at the moment. -okay so I found three groups of people in total After that occurrence she started. -the biggest one that is also the farthest from us is a group of four, two girls and two guys while one of them is quite big I must say about two meters in height. Then the other group has three people in it, all of them male and given their height, two of them are probably of dwarven race. Then lastly there is the closest to us group which has two people in it, and oh they are holding hands some kind of couple maybe? Anyway, which one of those are your healers friends? - . - . After Haru stopped speaking, Arata and Levi could not say anything right away. Finding someone in the unknown area of range of few kilometers was hard enough but then getting such detailed information about them as well was something else. Aaa its been some time since I got this feeling from someone in this game. And here I thought that it was this white tiger that I should be wary off. Well, someone who can start singing without worry in the place like this just has to be of that kind I guess. There is no use to worry about that though, rather right now we dont have to worry about anything at all. Anyway, from what she said it seems like Rins group joined up with the second group that went off so there is one healer and then there is the other healer in the closest group namely Mika. -the closest healer is in closest group. -really oh thats great, we should be able to reach them in twenty to forty minutes. We better take off as fast as possible then. If you excuse me I will be riding Torachii as even though its rude to ride while other people walk, naturally I dont like the idea of jumping on only one leg all that way, I am not in the mood for that kind of training. Torachii come over here!... Haru ended up waving towards her tiger but Torachii didnt seem to hear her, or rather he ignored her and the moment she did wave to him he just locked the other way. -ah why do you have to be so stubborn today! In the end Haru ended up having to jump twice towards him and get at the top of him on her own. After she did that though the white tiger did end up walking in the right direction. He didnt say anything though. Then again the fact that the white tiger didnt say anything should be considered normal and yet in this case it was not. I wonder if this is some kind of mount that this game has. If yes then I want one too. In MMOs mount was as the name suggest was one of means of transport that the game had to offer. Naturally the fantasy world did not have cars in it so normally players had to use creatures like horses to move around. Every player would usually get at some point their private mounts that they would use to move faster from one place to another. In this case however Torachii seemed more than that as not only he could talk but also there was that paralyzation that Arata got at the start and it had to be from that tiger as Haru at that point did not even knew that Arata and Levi were there. Otherwise she would not embarrassed herself with her song although Arata and Levi still thought that there was definitely nothing to embarrassed about. -so you asked what I am doing here, right?... As they started to go in Hiro and Mikas direction, Haru went back to the question that Arata asked some time ago. -well its quite simple, I am simply traveling through here and my goal is to find a city with resurrection spot to finally feel safe. -I see but from what I heard there are no cities in this area anywhere. To my information there were many expeditions that tried to find the city here but none found anything. Arata answered. -no, no, I dont look for any new cities I simply want to reach a normal city which as you told me should be a week from here, right? -assuming that you have a safe journey, yes. -still, seeing that you simply want to return to a city with players in it, are you perhaps a part of some expedition that ended up failing and now you are the last surviving member of it? Levi asked but Arata immediately saw that it could not be right. -if she were in an expedition like that then that expedition would have to end five years ago given the fact that she said that she didnt meet a single player since five years. Listen carefully. -ah right she said that as well. At that time I was too occupied with looking at her beauty so what she said did not leave an impression on me. -Levi, I think that I found out one more reason why every girl reaction to you is as bad as Harus one. Although I guess it also classify under your knight wannabe mode. -I am not some knight wannabe but a true knight, dont misunderstand that as its a big difference. Anyway Arata, I dont want to hear anything from happy go lucky guy who never even tried hitting on girl. -I dont have to and even if I did, I would still be better than you. -oh, then go prove it. -there is nothing to prove as any normal person will be better than you anyway. -ha, even if that were the case you dont classify as normal do I have to remind you how many times you have been called strange. -sure but its only because of my hair. -no its because of your strange behavior. -even then I am more normal than you. -oh, you are so sure of yourself, then what do you want to bet on this time!? Somehow Arata and Levi ended up forgetting about Haru presence and they went to their usual conversation. -no so fast. First, tell me how will we measure the level of the strangeness? Arata asked as there were already few cases in which some unseen conditions appeared later on. And they appeared nearly every time and were made by both of them, usually the one who asked for the gamble. -hmm I know let leave the verdict in the hand of our new friend. -you want to involve the third person in it? You know that it doesnt end well you know. But oh well hey, can you help us sort it out? Arata ended up calling to Haru who, if anything was amused by their conversation. She still did not reveal what she meant by the fact that she didnt meet another player for five years now but she probably didnt have many occasions lately to listen to conversation like that. -sure, so can I start already. Given her answer, Haru wasnt too serious of a person either. -hmm! The white tiger Torachii though was clearly annoyed by the situation. -a second. So Arata what we are betting on? -hmm I cant think of anything, do you have any original ideas? -not really, we could bet on the usual though, the winner has the chance to command the loser although this one is getting old already. -I think that because we are in the middle of the west right now so we probably shouldnt be doing anything too stupid right now. In that case lets simply make it an extra minus point so the next time the person who lost this time losses again, he will receive a double punishment. -ok, sounds good Arata. I will think of something priceless for you to do next time. -oh please do, because I cant wait to see you do it yourself. In the end the debt about strangeness ended up being strange as well, but that was the completely different matter. =so, how is it? In the end they ended up asking together at the same time. -hahaha, even though at the first glance it seems like you dont get along you two are actually quite good friends, right? Haru really enjoyed their conversation. -of course we are. Levi first answered. -he is the only one that thinks like that though. -Arata this joke is already getting old you know. -was I joking? Well whatever so Haru can you finish our friendly dispute because I am still interested in what you have to say. -dont worry about it, I not in the hurry and I was thinking of traveling with you for a day or two if possible of course. Even though we only just met your conversation reminded of old good times to which I probably wont be able to return anymore Haru stopped for a moment after she said the last question. -but anyway I was going to be a referee right? So here is my verdict. Naturally no one of you is completely normal if you can start beating on a topic like his. In the end though who can be called completely normal in the first place? Its all depends on the perspective, I already meet people for whom the word strange is not enough and they will at best pass off as crazy. Especially in EOA, because its not a real world people let their minds get loose a little and as anywhere where you are theoretically anonymous, people simply do what they want without caring about what other people think Thats the beauty of playing the game though, you do what you want without caring for consequences. Arata agreed with Haru in his thoughts. Even in the real world, he usually did not concern himself with what other people thought or even he sometimes was trying to make people think badly of him. That was something of the past but in EOA he cared even less. As long as something seemed interesting and fun to do, he would decide to do it, while ignoring what other people would say later. Then again it was not entirely correct as in EOA people were also making connections with other people and they were not doing it as their real selves but them in the game. The other person would usually care little about who someone else was in real world as it simply had nothing to do with them. Because of that though, one had to take care of his image in the game, but in the end it was still the image in the game and someone might as well want to be seen as crazy psychopath as its entertaining for him to do crazy things after the whole day of work. The ability of becoming someone completely different was in the end one of the dreams of virtual reality mmos. -so in the end I will say that because of his first impression, you seem much more stranger to me on personality level but when it comes to look well sorry but with a hair like that I cant say point at anyone but you. In the end Haru finished her verdict like this. -see, I won. Its the behavior that counts. Arata quickly declared ignoring what Haru said about his hair. -no so fast. She said that we are both strange but you also got extra points for look, so it means that I won. -oh, dont be sore loser and admit finally that your knight wannabe talk is simply stupid and you lost because of that. -its not stupid and I will prove it to you one day, just you wait till I create my harem with its power. -yea, yea, good luck with that. Anyway next time you lose you have double punishment. -fine, fine, its not like that day will ever happen. The strange bet ended up with Aratas victory and even if it was not flawless, the win was still the win. -so, back to the question, how was it with those five years of not meeting any other player. Because it kinds of intrigues me that an occurrence like that can appear in an MMO game whose main focus should be in the end playing with other people. The conversation returned to this question. -hmm what would you guess? -if you want me to guess then I would say that, your situation involves not playing for quite some time. But also given the direction from which you are coming from and your destination I would assume that the talk about not a single city existing in the west was after all a fairy tale. Arata said what he thought up so far given the information that he received although most of those were simply speculations without much basis. In the first place, Arata was not sure why Haru ended up even asking him that question but if she already did, it was just better to tell her his thoughts. -not a bad guess. You got some parts right, yes there is a city to the west from here. Just like that Haru made a revelation that killed the myth of Karma being the west end of the world. -hmm, as I thought, this whole talk about expeditions trying to explore those lands was a lie. I knew that something was not right with that talk. Some people did found the city but they simply never told anyone so no one can benefit from it apart from them. Thats the right choice thought and I would do the same 100% of the times. Gamers always had and will have this mentally, and thats why most of the infos on the net is a lie. Naturally by this point Arata did search through few websites about EOA which were many in numbers on the net. Unfortunately though he did not find anything really useful to him as apart from tutorials like boar hunting for beginners or how to get mentally prepared for death what Arata found on the internet could go off as stupid at best. That was the problems of games where developers themselves did not reveal anything. In EOA case it was not because they didnt want to but rather it was because they couldnt do it. In the end the informations that Arata found at the internet went at best as far as 100th level barrier with the most visited tutorial named how to luck out the 100th level barrier, graduated victory after 50 tries. As for any other info, there were naturally a paid websites where people sold their information for real money but Arata was always disgusted with the idea of pay to win so he didnt even think about using something like that. While playing any kind of MMO, people could naturally get an advantage by using their real money and an occurrence like that happened in every single game. Even if company tried to fight against that occurrence, they are on losing side right away. Even if the game is well made and dont introduce this system, some players will use the opportunity to make some cash on the side and some players will use it to their advantage, although at the same time it might also be a huge disadvantage as someone who paid to win can never truly say that he won on his own and no one will have any respect for him. On the other hand though the people who were making money on the game had in gaming community quite a prestige. -well, its not like those people did anything wrong as this time they probably really did not find any city as I was the only player in that city after all As to opposite Aratas comment though, Haru started like this. -anyway I will finish the story. You got right the part with the city but you were wrong when you said that I stopped playing. Naturally I did have breaks like when I was too depressed to play but usually not for so long, after all I did want to finally get back and meet my friends again well, that at least used to be my motivation as right now, most of them are either doing their things or they stopped playing this game completely and even if it seems that I finally got back, its still all in vain. Somehow while Haru was saying those words, her face started to become more and more depressed which was complete opposite to her lively self. -why do you say in vain, cant you just meet up with them again? -well I will but it wont be the same thing anymore. I used to play with the same people ever since starting playing this game, but those people are not playing together anymore so even if I finally got back they all have their own things to do. -I see so your group simply disbanded but can you really complain about that given the fact that you left them for five years. Sure its in a game time but I would say that even a year is enough. Given the fact that you said group and not the guild, there probably werent more than ten people in it right. A small group like that can disappear at any given time. One person will go on holiday, other will get too busy in work and puff, it no longer exists. -its like I left because I wanted to! Haru complain loudly towards Arata explanation as in a way he did signify that it was also partly hers fault. The story that he quoted was a common occurrence though that happened all the time. -well, I can already tell that you liked your group so it definitely wasnt something that you did willingly, so what happened? -will you believe me if I tell you that this game is evil? -its not even a matter of believing, I already know this fact ever since the game intro. -I see in that case the story goes like this. About five years ago, one year in a real time, I completed the 200th level barrier and finally got to 200th level because despite the fact that naturally I completed it on my first try, it took ages to find that damn place where the trial was played out As she started the desperate look became the history again and she was saying everything with the smile. -anyway, I completed it in a way that took me to reward chamber, if you dont know what I am talking about then dont worry its not a common occurrence. For a note though that is from where I first meet Torachii and he became my friend. -the worst day of my life. The white tiger who was so far was quiet, ended up adding a comment like that to Haru explanation. -dont mind him, he is in somewhat bad mood today because of what happened. Anyway it was a great day in which I finally got to 200th level, meet Torachii who till then did not even have a name so I also had a chance to name him. By the way what do you guys think of his name, its perfect isnt it? I kind of take pride in how I named him and its actually the first time in which I can show case him to other players. -well, its definitely particular original name, right Levi? -yea you definitely have a great naming taste. They answered although their voices were somewhat strange while they answered. Still it did not matter as Haru was incredibly happy to hear this opinion. -haha, see Torachii, they also like it. I told you that its a great name. -eh . The white tiger didnt say anything to that though and just sighted. Poor guy. -anyway after completing the 200th level barrier I was also asked where would I like to be teleported to. At that moment I should have known that something was not right as that guy is usually not generous enough to give free services like that. Still I assumed that he was in a good mood so I told him to send me to relatively empty of players location where I can find many quests and good exping grounds for 200+ levels. After finally dinging the 200th level I naturally wanted to continue till 299th level right away as not only level is way too important in this game, more than anything but also we made an inside group bet of who will be the fastest to get to level 299th Hmm, I didnt expect this opinion. Normally everyone else said that in this game level is not important. Like this guy for example. Arata looked in Levis direction for a second but it was not only him who would say the same thing. Still in the end there were as many opinions as there were people. -so I asked for a location like that and surprisingly my wish did end up being granted and I was sent to a place with completely no people around to the city where I could find like twenty quest every single day Twenty quests in a single day! Haru was telling an unbelievable story, at least to Arata given his experience but rather than interrupting yet again, now that she finally started it, he wanted to listen to it do the end. -anyway those were the perfect conditions for me to level up quickly and actually I believe that I was first in my group with that 299 level race in the end. -wait, you currently have 299 level!? Even though Levi probably also was planning to listen till the end he had to ask. -well I kind of embarrassed to say that but yes but you must understand that I didnt really have an occasion to go look for the next barrier, not to mention that it would probably be next to impossible to find it alone. Also I was focused on something else ever since reaching 299 level. -are you really 299 level. Sorry to doubt you but people with that level are few not to mention, people usually dont reveal their level like this. Levi still did not believe here so he followed up with the question. -well, I guess but I never really hid my level thought as I dont really see a need for it. Hmm I might have to do that before meeting up with some of my friends though, or maybe before meeting them I should go ding up some more, otherwise they will laugh at me for slacking off. -wait, wait, wait now you are sounding as if your friends were long pass 300th level and you also can catch up to them right away. Sorry, but even though you seem like a nice girl I wont believe that. It seemed like Levi got irritated somewhat by what Haru said. -hmm, well technically I dont really know if they are but I would assume that they did, it was five years after all, they had so much time and from what I heard they did manage to found 300th barrier. The only thing that I heard about it was that it is hard, still no matter how hard it is, five years is a lot of time, someone of them definitely managed to do it. -ha, if you dont know then they didnt complete it as normally your friends would boast about doing that, right? Okay now I am listening again. Levi commented satisfied. -the reason that I dont know is mostly because my contact with them become somewhat bad or rather really bad. We were connected by playing together this game but when that connection was lost in the real world there was nothing really to talk about, so currently I am still keeping a close contact with only one of my friends and as for others you could say its something along the lines of sending a postcard for a Christmas. I even lost contact with someone who I thought was my best friend forever. I can kind of understand that she might have decided to stop playing but stopping contacting me out of sudden without even goodbye note is cruel Ah never mind, I feel like crying every time I think about it and its not fair to share my problems with people that I just meet. Anyway the story is nearly its end. So naturally after getting to 299th level, I wanted to regroup with my friends so we can yet again enjoy the game together. Still even though I kind of already understood it while leveling up, it turned out that I was sent to really isolated place, what was worse at start I had completely no idea which way is it to get to where all other players were. We were all to meet back in the usual place in the Capital but how could I get there when I didnt even know where I should go? Anyway it took me about two years before I realized in which way I have to go, and then another three years to reach this point and now finally I am just one week away from some players city. Ah you two are god send to give me this reassurance because even though I found out that I just have to cross the lands of Solaris, I was still not perfectly sure if this was really the correct way. With that Haru finished the summary of her story. -well, I am glad that we could help you but are you telling us that you are traveling for three years already? Arata asked her back. Some parts of her story are really unbelievable. -yes but its not exactly that I am traveling for three years non-stop. Its rather it took me three years to get to this point as naturally traveling through those lands is not that easy. Even at this point, I nearly died few hours ago, and even though I did not die I still lost my leg. Well this doesnt have anything in particular to do with this land but unexpected events can still occur at any point. As for how long this journey in particular is taking me then its about half a year, right Torachii? -six months and four days. The white tiger said the exact number of days. -thats still quite a lot still, if you are traveling for six months non-stop. Then how did you for example survived logging out? After all if someone logs out in not save area, their bodies are vulnerable to attacks. Levi asked. -yes, but naturally there are many countermeasures to that right. I didnt really have anything to worry about as I wasnt traveling alone after all and Torachii is like super strong. He can deal with most of the creatures that one can find in those lands on his own and then even if something really bad appears he can also easily run away from it while caring me. Right Torachii? -hmh . Torachii didnt say anything but he was clearly in better mood right now after hearing Harus complements. -so are you some kind of beast hunter? Levi ended up asking. -not really also Torachii is not a normal beast as you can guess. As I said I got him as a reward after 200th level barrier. In this game he is classified as my guardian spirit and mount although I dont like any of those descriptions, Torachii is my friend with whom I spend my last five years. Ah right look at this, this is the amulet that summons him Haru ended up losing her blue scarf a little and then from inside it she showed an amulet that she was using as a necklace. The amulet was looked quite incredible although it was also quite simple as it was a miniature version of white tiger head. Also currently the amulet was somewhat shining with dim light. -whenever Torachii is in his physical form the amulet shines like this, awesome, right?... Haru said and then after making sure that both Arata and Levi saw it, she hid it back and tied her scarf to the previous position. Hmm, maybe people are slightly paranoid about hiding their abilities, after all. After talking with Haru for some time, the way that she would say anything that come to her mind was somewhat smoothing. In this game, the most people that Arata meet usually hid as much information about themselves as possible. Haru on the other hand completely did not care if someone know her level or that someone know she had some guardian spirit which probably was something incredibly rare or at least incredibly useful. In a way though, Haru did behave normally as in games, people simply wanted to boast about things for their self-satisfaction. Where was the fun if someone kept hidden everything only to themselves? In this particular case, it was the first time Haru could show case Torachii to any other player so she was incredibly happy to do that. Arata even considered that should he ask, Haru would without a doubt answer the greatest taboo of EOA namely, the class name which everyone normally tried to keep hidden. It did not change the fact that it was still rude to ask by this game standards and also the things that Haru revealed were things that she did revealed on her own, although Arata already had the guess at least about her level beforehand. -so now that you two know how I ended up here, I also kind of would like to know what you are doing here. You said that its a week journey from the border right, so its quite far. Normally no one would travel this far without a reason, right? This time Haru returned the question. -not to mention that she also probably also wants to know how two weaklings like you managed to get this far without dying in the first place. Well, Haru probably didnt have any bad intentions but Torachii decided to add his few sentences. -ah, no I didnt meant that! Hey Torachii! Why are you so rude towards them? Also, because they managed to get to this point means exactly that they are good, you want to underestimate people without any basis? -hmm, I do have a lot of basis, I already tested them and they couldnt even move an inch after experiencing my hunter dominance. -but that skill simply works that way if there is a large difference in level, you cant measure people by it. -ha, if they have such low level to get this effect then they are simply weaklings who die too lot, those are your words Haru, if someone has low level then they simply die a lot, and those who die a lot are bad players, simple as that. -it doesnt necessary has to be that Torachii. Some people have different values, like they try to overcome hard challenges or- -say what you want, they can do what they want to but if they dont decide to level up and I can stop their movement with something as basic as hunter dominance then nothing else matters, they are weak. It seemed like Torachii will not change his mind. -ah, Torachii, dont take it on them okay. Ah, I am sorry for him, usually he is more friendly but today he actually got the treatment he talked about just now so he is kind of edgy now. -none taken, I know the limits I have and I cant compare myself to 299th level player after all, or that player guardian spirit, whatever that is. Levi answered like that as he didnt really take to it to the heart, Arata on the other hand. - . -aaa! I am really sorry for him, dont take it to the heart, its not like everyone has to have high level right away. Taking things slowly is also fine! Haru somewhat panicked seeing the face that Arata made but he soon after cleared the misunderstanding. -no, its not that, its just rather I was thinking about what he, and also you said earlier. -hmm? -in the first place I cant really have a high level considering my game time so far which did not even reach one real month time spent on the game so far and I do include all the breaks that I took during it. So I am not really concerned about level if there are people like you who tell me that it took them five years to reach 200th level. I think I will be faster than that at least. Even though Arata was not offended he still decided to pay back on her. -hahaha, those were different times, but sure I cant say anything to that, you sure know how to talk back and also how to impress a girl. Even if those were different times its really incredible that you can reach this place only after one month. Incredible, incredible, incredible. See Torachii, you cant judge book by the cover, just you wait and after a year or two he will come to take back what you said. -haaa, he can try that if he wants. If he will be worthy then I will fight him. The white tiger answered although his tone was now slightly more respectful, only slightly though. -so, he says. What do you say to that Arata? Haru passed the message but in that moment. -seems interesting sure but rather than fighting him, I would like to fight with you. - . The moment Arata said it with challenging voice and challenging look this time it was actually Haru who froze for a second and that was because Arata manifested a true thirst for victory that he never really shown anyone, at least in this game. It was actually one of the techniques that his grandfather thought him and that was actually a technique that allowed two fighters to determine the winner without even the fight happening. And now even if his target was 299th level player, what Arata did, didnt have anything to do with the game mechanics at all so in essence it was completely new experience to Haru who after experiencing it nearly fell of Torachii yet again. -hey kid! If you try to do anything to Haru, I will kill you know. I dont know what you hide there but I did saw that my skill worked on you so no matter what you hide, it wont help you! Still after Arata done that, the white tiger was ready to jump at him the second later. -wait, Torachii he didnt mean anything bad by that, right? Haru managed to return to her normal self, although she still asked for confirmation the end. -well I simply wanted to ask for a friendly match in the future. -friendly? Then why did you had to use do it with such blood thirst, jeez eh She said in the end and made a deep breath. -well, if you wanted to impress me then you did. I didnt think that I will manage to get scared by anything after what already happened today, ah that just shows that I am still that same little girl at heart as I always was, just like he always used to tell me. Still, please dont tell anyone that I got scared of you if you can. Only when Haru told him that Arata did realize that he did something he shouldnt. Wait did I just shit! Even if she has 299 level, its not a technique that I can use on normal people Ah not good, if Grandpa finds out about it then it will be bad. -well it will be best if we never mention it again, also I am sorry for what I did. -no, no, even though it was kind of scary I actually at the same time felt excitement. I must say it again, you truly know how to impress a girl, I even felt kind of hot after you said that, hmm maybe I am starting to fall for you, who know. -well I am honored to hear it from someone like you but I already like someone, so its kind of problematic for me. -ah Arata you are so stupid, when girl says something like that, as a man no matter the circumstances you should say, hmm I think I start to fall for you as well. Men shouldnt think about consequences and simply enjoy the moment. What happens after happens! Levi commented on the situation in the background but no one paid him any attention. -nihihi I got rejected, oh well its not the first time its happening and its even the same reason yet again. Really all good men are always taken. Still it seems like you are trying to be loyal but I will give you an advice, no matter how loyal you try to stay, if your heart start feeling a different way, you shouldnt force yourself anymore because if you do you will only regret in the end. -well I dont think I am forcing myself into anything. -nihihi, if you ever change your mind though call me. But anyway if you already challenged me then I will fight with you, come and find me whenever you want. I must say thought that I never really enjoyed fighting other players that much but if someone wants to challenge me then I am in no position to reject that challenge. Although Arata what I dont like the most is fighting against my friends and because you are slowly becoming one, I will give you just one chance to fight with me so when you decide to use, come really well prepared. I might not look like it but if it comes to player vs player solo battles there is only one person that can get a sure win against be because he has my anti-class, other than that on my good days I can defeat anyone else with at least 50% chances for winning. Well that was at least the truth in the past but even though I didnt fight against any other player for more than five years I wasnt slacking off in that time or rather I was doing quite intense trainings to get pass through the whole Solaris which is a sixs month long non-stop battle for survival. Also, the fact that I could survive meeting him today on my own at that only for the price of one leg confirms it. I dont know what others were doing but I am confident that I wont lose easily to anyone easily, well with the exception of that one person. -I am expecting nothing less, I will come well prepared dont worry about that, if I ever come that is. Still before we go back to what we were talking about can you tell me who did you meet today? You mentioned him few times. -aaa its not like I dont want to tell you or hide anything but I kind of made a promise together with my friends that we will not talk about him with anyone who is outside of our circle. I think that rule was bended a little in the last five years to allow spreading that news to people in our guilds. But I am not in any guild and much less in your guild if you have one and even if theoretically I could join in for few minutes and tell you what you asked about, its not only clear cheat on the promise on my part but also a clear disrespectfulness towards the guild system and even though I never ended up entering any guilds in EOA, I do understand what guilds are about quite well because my friends and I were really similar to what a small guild is. -Arata dont make it awkward for her and dont you know that you shouldnt ask girls for their secrets. Levi commented seeing Harus tries on explanation. -no, no it wasnt awkward and if you guys have any question I dont mind hearing them and if it isnt something that I really cant tell for some specific reasons then I dont mind answering. I like talking with people. -really? Then tell me your age, three sizes and favorite type of a guy. Ah, there really are not that many people who can follow their desires fully and ask questions like this. -okay starting with age, I do look eighteen but its been two years since I started playing so in reality I am two years older. As for three sizes, starting from the bottom its -dont tell him that! Out of sudden Torachii interrupted her. -but it doesnt really matter if I tell him and also I dont want to not answer yet another question. -Haru, I know you are happy to meet some players finally but hold back a little here. Even the fact that you answered age question was bad enough. -fine if you want. Sorry Torachii seems disturbed by those questions so I wont answer it in the end. I dont want to make him feel bad after what happened today. -well, it was a joke question anyway, right Levi? Arata turned towards Levi but to that he only got a quiet answer. -I dont know what you decided Arata but I will execute the revenge on this tiger one day, even if its the last thing I do before dying. Ah you didnt want to see me get serious Arata, you really didnt. From now on you have another guy to worry about if you want the title of the strongest player. -sure it will be fun one day to fight with you at high level but why does your reason for getting serious has to be so stupid. -stupid!? How can you say that men dreams are stupid? Well I am hearing it from the guy who let a chance like the moment before slip through his fingers then why should I be surprised? In the end Levis question was never answered, but the dream lived on! -so returning to what you and your tiger said. I have been thinking that you two are definitely right with the level thing, still somehow almost every other opinion I meet before was slightly different from that though and that working on fundamentals is more important than level. So can you tell me what is your opinion on it? Arata asked another question. -hmm working on fundamentals is important as well I guess, and because I was playing while the level barriers were hidden I usually leveled up to level 99, 199 and finally 299 as fast as possible and then later I took care of anything else. Well my view generally goes like this, sure you can defeat some enemies that are higher level than yours but in the end with low level you will get destroyed by somewhat strong high level enemy. Torachii example with his hunter dominance is quite telling in that regard, right. You cant do anything if you cant move and that spell is using level difference as its source of power. On the other hand if someone decided to rush with level and catch up with it to that one strong person, he might not be as strong as he but he will definitely have larger chances to win if he levels up rather than if he were to use that time on as you said working on fundamentals. In the end though those fundamentals are what makes true different and person with level X is not equal with other person with level X. It all comes down to when you want to level up and when you want to do other things. So something like fast leveling up if you can beat the barriers will promise a fast grow in power and even if you decide to do other things after leveling up its not like something will be blocked for you only because your level is higher. You can go back anywhere you want after all. There is even theory that you can go back as far as to city of beginners but anyway if you want a fast power grow, level is the way. There is one huge problem in that method though. -so far its sound completely reasonable so what is it. Arata commented as he himself always knew that in MMOs levels are the thing and despite the fact that he heard many opposite opinions, he didnt get convinced. -well it was not so bad when I used to level up as there werent that many people at my level but right now from what I heard the fastest way to level up is killing monster for months, day after day. When I used to level up I was doing one quest after another as it was easy to find them but now there are too many people competing for them so new players have it hard. Well, they always had it hard because we always stole all quests before other could get them. But anyway, in the end if you are ready to mindlessly kill creature after creature for a year and knowing that after that you will have to start learning all other things anyway, then good luck After Harus explanation Arata already had the answer of what his leveling way will be, not to mention that he knew it for a long time already and he didnt have in mind mindless hard working just to get few levels. Still right now something else started concerning him. Hmm, I didnt realize that first players that managed to detach from marathon had such great conditions like endless number of quest to complete. I mean sure it already takes me quite a while to finish this single quest but its because its a quest worth of rank three. I assume that some quest of rank 10 for example, you can complete in one day. I did even complete quest of rank 9 in one day once when I was helping Anari out. It was simple go, find, kill quest. Or the other rank 9 quest, that I did with Kotori. If it werent for that lake we would have completed it in two days max which would also involve leveling up on wolves. If we had higher level and went straight for that Yeti we would complete it in one day max. Hmm this is no good, although its not the end of the world either. Haru did say that there are still lands untouched by players so at some point I need to find something like that and do a quest feast. No, wait, its really isnt that bad, even if they managed to gather a lot of skills and items they couldnt be all that good if those quest were done in massive. Even if you have a lot items you can only use certain amount of them and rather than having many good items you want to have one legendary right? And you dont get legendries from simple quests done in massive. The skills are even more funny in that regard, even if you have a lot of them it doesnt mean that you use all of them. Its exactly the same thing as in Light in the citadel. Even if class has many skills, in the end their dps rotation uses five skills at best with optional skills that you will use once ten minutes or so. Actually having too many skills can often blind you, also in EOA case with skill manipulation. I would say good luck to anyone who will try to learn good skill manipulation on more than ten or twenty skills when even on one its not that easy to pull off. In the end, the concern that Arata had, after thinking it through didnt seem that big anymore. Also he personally never really complained about lack of quests that he got. Right now he was doing one quest and at the same time he had another quest waiting in his quest log. The second quest seemed as hard as this one and now that Arata knew the west he didnt really had any confidence that he could travel it while defending the successor because no matter what was that quest really about, it would had to probably come down to that. -did I say anything wrong? Aratas long thinking, which made him silent, for some time was not left unnoticed by Haru so she asked the question. -no, everything is right, thanks for your answer. -well I happy that I was able to help although there are quite few people who would completely disagree with what I said. In the end I cant even find a middle ground because once again, in my times it was simply different. Ah, I just sounded so old just now. -hehe The way Haru complained at the end made Arata laugh a little, in an unusual way. -still, thank for considering it ever for a second. Now then, its unfair for only you to answer the question so its our turn now. Although, you said that it was 20 minutes away from where our healer was but 20 minutes clearly passed already, so I am slightly worried that we didnt meet them yet. Not to mention that I would feel better if your leg got healed. -well at that time we were 20 minutes away from the other group but that group is also moving right now so its not that simple to catch up to them. We are quite close to them now though and if it werent for the night time we would be able to see them already. -if its this close then lets speed up for a second to catch up with them. -okay, but do promise to tell me in the end what you are guys doing here because you still didnt. -yes, yes I was going to but first things first. The white tiger Torachii speeded up and Arata and Levi started running after him right after. Just as Haru said, they soon caught up to Hiro and Mika, as they were walking normally, without holding hands though. Right now they werent using Mikas invisibility magic anymore although in the first place, there were absolutely no monsters in the area so it was not needed. puff! When they were closing in, out of sudden Haru ended up chopping her tiger with her right hand. It wasnt any kind of attack but simple nagging. -Torachii! If you keep doing it you wont get any new friends you know. Turn that off! It seemed like Torachii was once again using his hunter dominance but before it took effect on anyone Haru stopped him from doing so. It seemed that if Haru wasnt so immersed in her song last time she would do so as well, but unfortunately for Aratas and Levis, she was. After noticing a dangerous looking white tiger running towards his direction, Hiro naturally reacted accordingly and was a second away from casting some spells in defense. He did manage to stop himself before doing so when he saw Arata and Levi following next to that tiger. At first glance though, the white fur of the Torachii which was reflecting the moon would make anyone focus their full attention on him unlike two shady guys who were running after that tiger. -oh, so you guys made it through as well. See Mika, why were you going so crazy before? Haru spoke out. -but! All giants started to move out of sudden, normally anyone would get killed if they were in the middle of it. I dont want to see more deaths! -well, if someone is meant to die then they will die, its simple as that. Anyway as you guys can see, we are still alive and we didnt find Shin or anyone else yet and currently we gave up on that idea and we are heading towards the end point. So Hiro looked towards Haru. -what did you guys found out there? -yes, I will introduce you. This is Hiro and Mika, they are part of our expedition and her name is Haru and she is a lost traveler who is in need of a healer. Arata answered and he quickly came up with a fitting description of Haru. -hi I am Haru. Also, Arata seemed to forgotten about Torachii so, Torachii introduce yourself. -hi, I am Torachii but if you call me that then I will kill you. After Haru told him to do so, Torachii gave his usual greetings. Ah, right I forgotten about him but it seems that he is still as friendly as always. - Hiro froze after hearing Torachii speak and his eyes went wide. After three seconds of getting back to himself though he commented. -aaa! I just heard cat talked! Mika your brother is going crazy so do some emergency healing on me! -hmm, but he did talk just now. -what are you talking about, how can the cat talk!!? Yep, this is the normal reaction. Arata judged Hiros panicked reaction as perfectly normal. -hmm, normally, there is nothing unnatural for cats to talk, right? But he is so beautiful can I stroke him? On the other hand Mika asked excited. -Torachii never let anyone else but me stroke him, but how about it Torachii, just this one time? -hey girl! Lets make a deal. You are a healer right? You smell like one from kilometer. So I will let you stroke me as much as you want and even call me Torachii but in return you will have to heal Harus leg. Hey, hey, hey, what happened with killing anyone who call you by your name? -ah right, Arata said you needed a healer. Anyway I dont need anything in return, if there is a person who needs my help, I will gladly do so, whats the problem?... Mika asked and in that moment Torachii turned the other way to show that Haru doesnt have one leg. -aaaa! Its a cut off limb! There is nothing that hurts as much as this, why didnt you guys say this right away!... Somehow the usual quiet Mika ended up exploring. -anyway, get down quickly and lay down on the ground. Be sure to take off that armor as well as it will get in a way. You guys turn outside and dont you dare to peak! -yey! I will finally get rid of that armor. Haru made a happy shout. -its not time for being happy! Quickly get off, you guys too stop looking that way! It was really strange but Arata, Levi and Hiro were chased away by Mika for the time being at least. -wow, I didnt think that your sister is like that. Levi ended up commenting. -well, she gets overexcitement when she sees people who are hurt and she usually cant stand that happening even if they are enemies. Really, I will tell you that nothing is as difficult as going with her to a dungeon filled with humanoid enemies. Hiro answered. -what, is she healing them? Levi asked back. - if it was only just that. Mika sometimes even jumps in the front of peoples attacks to prevent damaging enemies. -I see you have it hard. Eh, sisters are so troublesome beings. In the meantime of Levis and Hiro conversation, some concerning sounds started coming from behind them. -kyaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!! Why is it taking so long? -I dont know, you seem to have somewhat crazy amount of HP so my spells dont have as good effect as usual. But I will manage dont worry. -okay, but still. Kyaaaaaaaaaa!!!! With her armor gone for the time being, Haru was now experiencing the true pain, although somehow her screams were not exactly those of pain but rather as if she was enjoying herself. -hey guys, doesnt it somewhat sounds erotic. Naturally Levi was the first one to comment on it. -I dont know what you are trying to image over there but just dont Levi. Arata answered to him although probably nothing could stop Levis imagination at this point. In the end it took whole three minutes before Haru was healed up completely but even then they still had to wait before turning around as Haru was changing. -okay you can turn around! Haru called out to them. After turning around Arata saw that Haru was no longer wearing her grey diamond armor on her legs. Instead now following her blue scarf and light blue shirt with long, wide black sleeves, she was now wearing a black-blue skirt that was only slightly longer than mini-skirt and underneath it she also had black tights. Then at her feets she was wearing black sneakers without laces. Sure that black equipment was fitting her long black hair and blue parts to her eyes but after this change, none of her clothing looked like battle-useful anymore. Considering that they were currently in the west where anything could happen, even if Haru had 299th level Arata had to ask. -are you sure that its safe to go around in clothing like this? -hmm but I am always going around in a set up like this. I hate armors, any armors, even leather ones are too much for me. Unless I might die because it, I wont ever wear them! Anyway now that I once again have my legs I feel like dancing. Ah the only reason I am holding back is because there are people around me whom I just meet hmm hmm ah never mind! I am dancing anyway, it feels so good to have my legs back! People really appreciate things only after losing them. Even though Haru was fighting against herself for some time, after finally getting back her leg, she suddenly started to make pirouettes. She would also from time to time jump up while spreading her legs in the air. Now with her long hair, blue scarf and wide black ends of blue shirt sleeves, there were many things flying around her while she was spinning on her foot. -what is it, some kind of ballet? Levi commented while seeing it. -who knows, but we managed to help her restore her leg and she is happy so its fine. Well it was mostly Hiros sister who did though. Arata said that and looked towards Mika who was currently sitting on Torachii and she was stroking his head and also other parts of his body as well. Despite the fact that earlier on Torachii seemed like he would kill anyone who would try to do that, it strangely seemed like the fierce talking white tiger was enjoying himself right now like any kitten would. I see, so his attitude changes drastically if it comes to girls. Arata somehow managed to see through his intentions and not only him. -Arata you know, even though I still wont forgive him and I will execute my revenge, after seeing this play just now, I am starting to respect this guy. Levi also voiced his insight. Really, why your respect is earned in such twisted way? After jumping around for about five minutes Haru returned to more or less normal or at least she wasnt doing anything outside of ordinary. -hey Torachii, now that I have my leg back I want to walk around on my own a little so you can go back if you want. -sure but in return for your healing I also offered this healer girl a ride so I will stay here for now. Torachii answered, although Arata did not remember that particular part being part of the deal, still it seemed it only made Mika even happier so it wasnt the problem. -haha, you are finally returning to your usual self. See you two, I told you that he is usually friendly. Yes and he definitely doesnt have any selfish intentions. Well, it doesnt matter to me so he can do what he wants. -yes you did. Anyway we should continue to try and regroup with other groups so do you know where they are right now? Arata returned to issue at hand as after all they already were standing in one place for 10 minutes or so. -ah, I somewhat lost connection during the healing sequence. Ahh it hurt so goo I mean bad. But now I feel so refresh. Really water based healing is always such pleasant experience. Anyway I will find them for you, so dont worry. -no, you dont have to, I remember you saying something about half a month mana regeneration so we probably shouldnt ask you to do that much and also we already have a meeting place prepared. Strangely after Arata said that Haru looked at him with big eyes as if she were about to cry. -really, you remembered that! Ah, its rarely that anyone listens to me so careful. What is more, I said this sentence under my nose and yet you heard it Hey dont look at me like that without saying anything. -eh But then she finished with sighting. -this world is really unfair after all. And in the end she commented like that. -so, does people usually not listening to you? -well, its not exactly that but for example my friends used to have a catchphrase like dont take anything that Haru says seriously. Dont you think its cruel! -maybe but if they could say that catchphrase with you around then it means they really were your friends. Still is your mana really going to regenerate for half a month? Also, is there some difference in mana regeneration on your level that I dont know about? -well, its not exactly mana regeneration its just something that I usually say when it comes to this situation. What I meant though is that I wont be at my full power for next half a month. You know, there are powerful skills that have few week coldown or skills that decrease your power for some time because you use them, and truth to be told today I had to use quite a lot of them. Not to mention that my best armor also requires repairs and this will take me even more time to get back from, although I dont like armors anyway so this is my least concern. -hmm, sounds kind of bad, are you sure that you will manage to reach the border on your own? When Arata asked this question Haru once again looked at him with big eyes. This time though she simply smiled and continued. -well, I am happy that someone is concerned about me but you dont have to worry about me. I would say that I still have about half of my strength left and also Torachii is with me. Remember what I told you, Torachii is really strong, right now I would say that currently he is even stronger than me. What!? That tiger is as strong as 299th level experienced player that can fight on par with anyone but one player who is her anti-class? Sure she said half of her power, whatever that means but in the end that tiger is also part of her power as he comes from the pendant that she wears. Even if her class is not about it, she still has a powerful pet like this. Ahhh this games fighting mechanics are so developed or rather there are no upper limits to it. There are so many ways in which one can get stronger that and there is no end to it and you can always go farther, not to mention that there is no level limit either. Those barriers kind of work like it but even now Loki already told me about someone who beat 300th level barrier already. Oh well, I should be rather happy it simply means that there are many things that you can do in this game, and for MMO the more the better. Although I can say for sure, RIP balance. Well EOA in the end is nothing like good old light in the citadel where you just had to gather items, maximize your stats, learn few skills the dps rotation and have fast clicking speed. -if you are that confident then never mind what I said. Anyway, you wanted to know what we are doing here, right? -ah, yes. You are on some expedition right? Is there any higher purpose or are you simply exploring for fun? -you could say that most of us are exploring for fun but me, Levi and one more girl who is currently somewhere are here do a quest. -is that so well thats explains a lot. Still if the quest asked you to come all the way here it isnt an easy quest right? Whats the rank of it? Oh, well I wouldnt tell it to anyone but if she is asking innocently like this then there no need to hide it. Not to mention that she considers all info something to share so its kind of rude to hide it from her now. Not to mention that I think that her way of doing things is far less paranoid. I mean in normal game you can go as far as checking someone character window without asking for permission. You just simply see cool looking armor so you click the guy and check the status. EOA doesnt allow something like that but does it really mean that you should hide everything from others for the sake of why are we doing it again? Ah yes to hide your ability, but then again does short sentence would really help anyone out? -well, its portably wont be easy and we will die during this quest but anyway its rank is three. -three?... Haru asked again after Arata explanation and then she asked. -if its three then its a world first right? -well, its should be you telling me that. Being a veteran player you should know more about it than me. -true but I was out of everyones range for five years and the only thing I know about what was happening on this side is what my friends told me, well here I mean all my friends not only those from my old group. But as for rank three quests, actually I did found three of them on the other side but I didnt even try to do them because I was told to not do it, so at least I didnt complete them. No one else bragged about completing one either so I guess its still world first, the event also did not happen. -event? -there is special even anytime someone completes for the first time quest of given rank. -I see, well you probably are right as I got a message that by completing this quest I will get world first, still why were you told to not do those quest and even followed what someone told you? I mean three quest of rank three sounds like a waste to leave them like that. -hmm, when I asked for reason they didnt told me but just answered to not do it on my own so I didnt. The first person who told me that is someone who I trust and I know he didnt do it for fun. I didnt nag him with questions as it kind of seemed like difficult stuff and truth to be told I am not good with those. I still want to find out what he meant by that though hmm in this case it will not be me doing it on my own, so- -HARU!... Haru sentence was interrupted by Torachii from the distance, he soon come closer with Mika still on his back and started. -you were not going to say something like can I join up for the quest, did you? -emm . -did you!? -well I was going to add that its rude to do so but if possible. -eh Haru, can you just this one time listen to me. I told you to not put yourself into dangerous positions and yet whenever there is an occasion to do it. I mean what happened today was obviously because of your fault wasnt it? -auu . -I am doing it for you, just this once listen to my advice and dont put your nose into any dangerous things. I dont want to hear you crying and lamenting for the next few weeks just because you have to start your journey from the start once again. Really Haru, just a single week is all I ask for. Also you can see that there are three people having the quest and some more who are traveling with them without the quest, there is probably a limit of number of people who can have that quest and even if they can share it, its more than rude in asking for joining. Haru ended up getting heavy scolding from her guardian spirit. It seems like guardian spirit was not only a tool for fighting but it also defended its masters in other ways, like preventing them from doing something stupid. -so I didnt even ask but as you can see I wont be doing it anymore, sorry for being rude. Rather than being rude, I would gladly get a help from her although even with that we might have ended up dying anyway. Still, I dont want to waste her five years effort just for my own sake. -you werent, dont worry, but know that you just missed a chance on a world first. -well I already got few of those so its not a big deal. Haru answered like it was truly not a big deal. Ah, she answered like my guild used to in the past. Its true that after getting one world first on something, the next time you do so, unless its something really incredible like last boss in last content then you wont feel much. Well in this game I still have my first world first to get and doing so by quest seems big. I have quite bad feelings about this one though. -hey kid, even if Haru is not joining there is one thing left, isnt there? Suddenly Torachii spoke to Arata. Hmm, getting called kid is annoying but he seems like thousand years old divine creature so I will not complain. -what is it Torachii? Yes, Arata was not going to complain, that didnt mean that he wont speak back though. -hrhrhr The white tiger somewhat growled quietly but he didnt say anything to that. -where is that quest going to take place because we dont want to end up in any a battle that doesnt concern us. -Torachii dont be rude, I dont mind helping a little. -this again? I thought you listened to what I said. -yes but is this a problem? As long as I wont do anything dangerous then it should be fine, right? I want to see what happens on rank three quest, after all. -really Haru, really. -nihihi. - fine, fine, lets make a deal then. You will be just looking and the second it seems bad you run away. Can you promise me that? -but if I am already going I can help out a little. Where is the fun in sitting on the side while other people are fighting? -but they dont need your help and you are not in the position where you can offer it. In the first place their task is hopeless to begin with and it also seems like they know that it is hopeless themself so they are prepared to die. If anything dont make fun of men determination. Dont say it out loudly, we are trying to forget about this fact here. -fine, I wont do much. Still Torachii, you are wrong here, quest rank was never related with persons level. For example in the city of beginners you can find even a quest of rank 5 and then even at level 299th its still meaningful for us to do a quest of rank 10 right? -well . -so Arata, Levi, and everyone who is helping you. Dont worry about anything and believe in the dream only then the miracle will happen. The way Haru said it was even more optimistic than while Arata was trying to convince Levi and Rin in trying this quest. Also while he was doing that, he needed to say many sentences before it actually worked but here Haru had a much better single saying that worked like magic. Hmm, this is the first time that someone else than me really believe that it is possible and its even more than that because I personally avoided overthinking it on purpose. She on the other hand managed to even add a reasonable argument here with the fact that person doesnt need level to complete high ranked quest which is something that I heard somewhere. Also in fact we are a good example for this fact as so far, despite everything, we went quite far with it. Hmm, I really feel somehow better after hearing this. -thanks for the good words. Arata decided to thank Haru for that mental support as lately he really was somewhat losing hope during his journey in the west. -haha, they are good arent they? Its also been a while since I could tell anyone that motto. -just so you know, Haru is not the one that came up with that. Out of sudden Torachii commented like that, which somehow destroyed the effect. -Torachii, dont make it as if I was trying to say I did. Eh now that you mentioned it though, I will say those words were first said by someone who was really incredible at motivating people. There was one thing that irritated me about that dwarf though, he always did his best to remind us that at some point he will be making his own guild in this game which naturally meant that he was going to leave us one day. Oh well, I think that I cant complain about it anymore especially when it turned out that it was me who was the first one to leave. It seems like I will have to apologize to him when I see him next time. But anyway when I said those words I really meant them as they are true. So once again, dont worry about anything and believe in the dream only then the miracle will happen. -sure sounds great but we dont need any miracles to win. We will take that world first on our own. Arata answered although because of his words he kind of laughed to himself. Afterwards he looked towards the mountain that did not seem so far away anymore. It was also no longer the drawing on the map but the real thing. After the long journey he was finally there, just few steps away from the heavens gate. If Arata knew what was going to happen there though, he would probably take any miracles that he could get. Although even then, would that be enough for what was to come. Chapter 43 “Battle for the heaven’s gate.” Chapter 43 Battle for the heavens gate. Once upon a time, there was an empire, an empire so much powerful than any other. Its territories were vast and its army unrivaled. The empire was unrivaled not only against other mortal kingdoms but even those of magical origins as well. Even gods did not have the privilege to look down upon the empire because if they did, they might have cause the war against that empire which could lead to their demise. The army of the empire was not only large in number but it also had many generals and heroes who alone on their own could stand against even gods in one on one fights. During the pinnacle times of the empire there was even a hero who could conquer the countries on his own and mostly thanks to his effort the empire became as large as it did in relatively short time. The greatest achievement of that hero was that he finished a never ending war against the enemy that empire was fighting against for millenniums. After that victory an era of peace arrived in the empire and the Hero of legends disappeared on a journey and was never seen again by anyone. Even since that day, there was no one equal to that of a hero but there were still many who obtained the same title and with their power they defended the empire and destroyed its enemies, generation after generation. In the time of its greatness there was even the time in which the empire was asked to help out the heavens army to defend against demon invasion. The king was promised great rewards for taking part in that battle so he accepted that mission immediately. There appeared the problem however as the heavens were not easily accessible for the mortal races. Still to solve this problem an appropriate method of transport was created. Following the instructions of angels engineers, a teleport gate was built on the lands of the empire. It was a truly great creation that combined the knowledge of both heavens and empire specialists. It was made from so far nonexistent material that was thought up for this occasion, and could be made only because mortals and angels worked together. The material itself did not look any different than a simple stone but what was special about it was its durability. Even the attacks of mighty heroes of the empire did not leave a stretch on it. With the use of that material the heavens gate became truly indestructible building that would last probably till the end of time although but that fact was not as important as its main function of teleportation gate. With the transport being ready, the king leading thirty mightiest heroes of the empire took the part in the battle for the heavens and won. The cost of that victory was big though as only 12 heroes together with the king returned to the empire. Those who died did not regret anything as the death in battle could not be a greater privilege for them. After the battle was won, as promised, the heavens rewarded the king and the empire richly. There were many rewards for both the empire and heroes themselves but in the end the greatest reward was kings marriage with the third daughter of the highest first archangel, the leader of heavens. That was because from that moment on, the already incredibly powerful royal bloodline gained even more incredible power that could hold both mortals and angels powers. After that fact everyone hoped that the day before a new king will be stronger even than the Hero of legends will come. Unfortunately though that day never came as the power, even though unrivaled in its raw form was also completely uncontrollable for anyone who was born with it and because of that depending on each individual, about 95% of it had to be sealed away on the day of birth for the child of royal bloodline to survive. Still, even though those powers were sealed the new monarchs and their siblings usually wielded the power that equaled to that of the heroes which was already a great feat. The hope also did not die as with each generation the power was becoming slightly more stable. In the end though, none managed to control even one quarter of it and so Hero of legends, never had any equals. -so, so, how do you guys think? Does this Hero of Legends is still alive or not? After sharing the fragment of Solaris empire legends, Haru asked this question. Currently, the situation in which Arata was did not change much as even though they did walk for some time already, they still did not find any other groups just yet. It was still night time and the mountain where the heavens gate was to be in an hour distance from them, given their current speed. Several minutes ago, Arata ended up explaining what his quest is about after Haru asked him. When he finished, Haru shared some informations about the heavens gate that she knew herself from somewhere. Although in the end her story, rather than telling anything new about the heavens gate, it was more about Solaris Empire. Those were the stories that were even farther to the past than Arata researched before and the main point on which Haru focused was so called Hero of legends. The Hero of legends was completely unrealistic being. It said that if he wanted to, he could split the planet in half with a single sword thurst. Well, ignoring this part, there were also more close to earth stories in which the Hero was typical ally of justice character who with his power saved empire many times as well as won many tournaments and defeated few dragons here and there. In his spare time he was breaking the hearts of all maidens and princesses. Those legends were really a typical fantasy stories about some hero, and those stories were probably made up and their purpose was to aspire children to behave right. There was even the legend that the better child behaves the closer to the Hero of legends they can become. In essence some of those stories were so simple and classic that they were even interesting to hear and that was probably why Haru shared them in the very first place. -I doubt it. I mean, ignoring the fact that that hero could never even exist, there is also the fact that his stories were from thousand years ago, right? He cant simply live that long. Arata gave the completely reasonable answer to Harus question. -sure but this is EOA world we are taking about. Attaining the immortality and eternal youth for someone like Hero of legends should be a piece of cake. I already meet someone who was 600 years old and used to be human once so it is possible. Then Haru answered like that, and even though Arata didnt want to believe in it, in the end, it was the game world so anything could happen. Also Haru really didnt seem like a person that can lie well, and she would probably be bad at hiding secrets. She would rather say everything the moment someone would asked with complete childs innocence that was impossible to make on purpose. -fine, that part with him disappearing on a journey never to be seen again was suspicious, still if he really is alive somewhere then its the end game content of end game contents. You wont find him unless you reach the maximum level and because there is probably no maximum level in this game then finding him should impossible. -its not like I was going to start looking for some one thousand years old guy, right? Even if I wouldnt mind anyone five years older or younger than me, thousand years is a little. -hahaha . Arata ended up laughing yet again. He did not understand why but the way that Haru answered was so funny that he couldnt help it. Her facial expressions as well as change in voice was really hilarious to the point that even someone like Arata who would laugh out loud once a week at best, was now laughing one time after another. -on the other hand he should have that eternal youth and its a Hero of legends we are talking about. -haha, no, please please stop also isnt he only this world character? -dont worry I was joking. I am perfectly normal girl who would like to have perfectly normal boyfriend. Still, you dont want me talk about my love story as it would turn out into me crying, so lets put a stop this subject. -sure I definitely prefer to see your smiling face so we better do. - For unknown to Arata reasons, from time to time Haru would end up stopping her eyes on him without blinking for few second. -sigh That occurrence though was always followed with a heavy sigh. -well I am quite happy to finally find companions to talk with so I wont get sad anytime soon. Ah, right I forgotten to ask, is my English, alright? -what do you mean alright? -I am asking if there is anything strange with how I speak. Naturally after five years of not seeing any other adventurers I didnt have many occasions to use this language. Sure I did talk with some people of this world but especially in two last years, I am mainly traveling through these lands and my only conversation partner was Torachii who is a tiger of few words. Tiger of few words? -hahaha . -dont laugh at me, I am asking seriously. -yes, sorry. I wasnt laughing at you though. Still, even if you were traveling for two years in game you still did talk normally with people in real life, right? -sure but in real life I dont have many occasions to use English that often. Also because of the time difference anyone who is playing EOA even a little is spending at least half of their time in game and I am from those that play more than a little. -I see so you are from no English speaking country hmm I didnt think that those still really exist. -well the project to make earth speak the same language was implemented and everyone do speak English but naturally some countries will never abandon their native and will stick to it to their grave as it is the tradition and the part of our nationality. Mine is exactly one of those so thats why I am asked. -I dont see any problems with how you speak. Rather now I understand why you are saying some of words in such funny way. -ah no that was simply me trying to make the conversation livelier on my own. -are you sure about it? -well probably not everything but dont tell me where I made the mistake as I dont like when someone points it out. -but you wont improve if you dont know where you made that mistake. -yes but I really dont like it. Ah, right, just so you know, me singing when we first meet was only because I was trying to use my tongue a little, it wasnt anything special so erase that moment from your memory. -and how I am supposed to do that? -I dont know, just do it. The point is that you should never bring that up if you meet anyone that I know. -I would say that its rather you who is bringing it up for the third time already, my opinion did not change though, even if the song was little sad, it was still a good song and your execution of it was beautiful, so why shouldnt we spread the world. -because its embarrassing! So far, Arata conversation with Haru was mainly like that, it was completely anti serious. Even though Arata originally wanted to have more serious conversation with the veteran player of EOA, he soon understood that it was not going to work with this person. -and here you go again, rather than saying that its embarrassing why wont you try and sing again and ask for peoples opinion. -you think that I didnt ask for peoples opinion. Well actually I didnt but the people still gave it to me and those were mostly, -Haru we are trying to sleep here, could you stop this torture!?. The moment Haru brought up the quote she also changed her voice a little as if she was trying to imitate someone. -well if you tried to sing next to sleeping person then its no wonder you got something like that. -yes about that this comment was only one of many and also one of the least cruel. I didnt want to repeat the cruel ones. -auch but are sure that you heard it right, because my opinion is still that you sing beautifully. - Arata I was wondering for some time now but are you perhaps try to hit on me, after all? -em? No. -okay, thanks for answering in that case do you perhaps have problem with hearing? Or you have bad taste in music? -I am not an expert but think that I can at least tell when someone is good at singing or bad. Anyway I was serious. Also Levi had the same opinion as me . -well I also think that I am not bad but that goes for everyone. So how will you explain all those other opinions? -hmm I dont know maybe you simply learned during those five years how to sing properly. When was the last time someone heard you singing? -oh! Haru opened her eyes as if she saw the ghost for a moment and made the characteristic hand movement for someone who finally realized something. -that might be right! I did end up singing a lot lately and as people say, training makes the master. Well I am happy that I am no longer the torture machine with my singing but anyway, you still shouldnt mention it to anyone. Please, please! -fine, fine, but given the fact of how much you enjoyed yourself while singing, I dont think that you will be able to hold back on doing so in populated area though She didnt even realize that we were standing there. -not to mention that you start humming anytime our conversation stops. Even if its just for a moment. That humming is also quite pleasant to hear. -did I? Oh well It seemed like she didnt mind it that much in the end. She then looked around and after finding nothing she asked. -so, do you want me to search for your friends after all, we still didnt manage to find them even though an hour passed. Its really taking much more than I expected. -if you wont tire yourself by it that much then I would appreciate it. -okay but once again Arata I am fine, you just took the wrong way what I said earlier on, its not that bad. Look I even have my leg back! But oh well, people like you simply love to worry about things, arent I right? Anyway I will start right away. Haru answered and started her magic. It was the same skill that she used earlier although this time she used it while walking. The wind from around the area ended up gathering and blew through her once again making her long black hair and long blue scarf wave in the air. Anytime Arata saw it, it looked even better and this time he had an occasion to see it up close. He simply couldnt stop his eyes from following those black silky flying hairs. About minute later the wind returned and just like the first time Haru gathered the information about the location of other party members. -oh, it seems like we are slacking off as all other groups become one and are now gathered at the base of the mountain. Given their mental state it seems like they are worried about you all. She answered like nothing but. You can check mental state with that spell as well? Well whatever. -and how far are we from them now? -as far as we are from the mountains, which means twenty minutes distance. -luckily there are no monsters around so we should be able reach them soon. -luckily? Oh no, its not that this area is empty because of luck. Its rather because Torachii is still using his hunter dominance so every potential enemy in the area decided to hide or run away. -I see that tiger is really useful. -right! I mean if I were to use hunter dominance on my own I would end up with wrinkles in no time. -hahaha . -this time I wasnt joking. Its a serious matter! -hahaha Arata really couldnt help but laugh sometimes. Even though from time to time Haru did say something incredible, her behavior would immediately ruin the image right after. -la, lalala, la la, lalala, la. After being left for five minutes in silence, Haru ended up starting humming yet again, for the time being thoguh Arata simply continued forward while listening to it. The time passed by quickly and soon after they reached the base of the mountain where the whole party finally regrouped. Unlike Aratas and Levis earlier predicaments, somehow no one died while they separated as Arata could see all people alive and well. Well, given that the fated to die last group managed to survive encounter with gaze paralyzing white tiger, others shouldnt have much problems either, especially given the fact that Torachiis range of hunter dominance was quite big and there was really no monsters in the area. Naturally the moment that Aratas group was getting closer to the rest of the party everyones focus was on the white tiger who could be easily seen in the distance as well as unknown girl who was walking next to Arata. Still after feeling the curious gazes Haru decided to take care of it right away. -hi I am Haru, please dont mind me I am just Aratas friend The way that Haru introduced herself did ease the suspicious gazes right away because at least she wasnt an enemy. Arata didnt comment on the way Haru introduced herself and he really didnt mind. He also didnt have time for that as Haru followed up right away. -and this is Torachii. Torachii say hi. -hi, I am Torachii but if any of you try to call me that I will kill you. Torachiis greetings was still as friendly as ever but naturally the moment he spoke, no one could even interpret what he said as on their minds there was something completely different. -strange, even though I rested enough today, I feel like I just heard the cat just talking. Bran, are you sure that your yesterday brandy didnt have any side effects? The first one to react was Flynn. -it might have Flynn as I just heard the same thing as well. Bran answered, still being able to converse at this point was still good. Others for example Shin was frozen in his boots as he probably was trying to find a logical explanation for the occurrence before him but unfortunately there probably was nothing else other than this is not a simple cat but a ancient guardian spirit. Strangely though there were two people that were not surprised by that fact at all but considered it completely normal. Those were Rin and Julia. Rin in particular didnt care less about the tiger. She was rather focused on the black haired girl and for some unknown reasons she was holding her hands on the handles of her swords. It didnt seem like she was doing it on purpose. -hey Rin! I know, but relax a little. She is not someone you should worry about. Arata decided to stop that behavior as somehow he felt like she might even lunch an attack at Haru any moment. I am not surprised that you acted like that. Despite everything, Haru does have that presence after all. It didnt hit me that bad probably because I first got her singing version but you would feel that, wouldnt you? -so, I am probably somehow in the way so once again, dont mind me. You can focus on your expedition without any concern. Torachii, here, here. After saying that, Haru walked away probably to make it easier for others to talk. She also took her white tiger back and once again started riding it. For a note, Mika was not riding Torachii for some time now and he was simply walking three meters away from the group. -Shin, the tiger talked, deal with it. We should move on. After that the first one to break the silence was Hiro who told Shin the words that he probably said to himself many times as well. Even though, Shin wasnt satisfied with that explanation it was really not the time for him to start theorizing about possibility of real worlds cats talking as well. -I guess you are right. Now then if someone wants to, you can introduce themselves to Aratas friend later. Right now we should focus on the important matter and that is for some unknown reasons most of the monsters left this area and based on Brans scouting all the way towards the heavens gate is completely safe. Even though its quite interesting occurrence let us skip the matter of answering the question why monsters left this place. We will simply use this opportunity to finally reach our winning condition. His winning condition was reaching the gate with the three of us so I guess its easy on him. My mind on the other hand is screaming like crazy while telling me things like hahahahaha, you think that this is the only thing that you would need to do to get world first! Hahahaha!. Shut up, I dont need to be told the obvious. Without delaying any more the party started moving alongside the mountain range. According to the map this was the location of the heavens gate but Arata did not see anything that would fit that description. Still, based on the direction that they have taken it seemed like the heavens gate was at the eastern side of the mountain so they still had some distance to go. -who is she? Before even two minutes passed, Rin came to Arata and asked him this question. -well, her name is Haru, didnt you hear her introduce herself. -I am not asking about that. Dont play a fool with me. -fine, fine. She is a veteran player with high level that somehow ended up in this part of the world. -and? -well thats about it, you also dont want any more information about someone else anyway right? She is not an enemy so that should be enough for you. - . fine if you dont tell me then I will ask her myself What? Before Arata noticed Rin turned around and walked towards Haru who was riding Torachii at the very back of the group. Arata went after her right away as he had no idea what Rin would do given the tone she just used or rather because he knew exactly what she wanted to do he wanted to stop her still, he was slightly too slow for that. -hey you! Fight with me! Rin ended up standing right in the way of the white tiger and after making him stop moving she challenged Haru with those words and she pointed the red sword at her. Aaaaa why did she had to do that? -em me? Haru with completely innocent and clueless voice answered while pointing with her right hand forefinger at her face. She probably didnt have bad intentions but that behavior made Rin slightly irritated. Still, Rin did answer with. -yes, you! -arara its the first time in five years that I meet any adventurers and I already have two of them challenging me right away. Hey Arata! Did I did something wrong you did the same after al!?... Haru asked Arata for explanation but before he even had the time to think up one, Haru continued. -or wait dont answer I realized it myself Proud of herself, Haru then said to Rin. -you are Aratas girlfriend that he talked about and you got jealous because I said I am his friend when you dont even know me. Well, thats definitely the right reaction as we girls should get jealous to make our boyfriends notice that we like them right. I dont think you have anything to worry about though as it seems like he likes you a lot as the moment I tried to play around with him a little he immediately told me that he is not interested. Ah you are lucky girl, its rather me who is jealous of you. You should cherish that boyfriend of yours. - . - . -I didnt get anything wrong did I? I mean you two look so nice together and I always felt it when two people had good chemistry. Well Haru couldnt be any more wrong but what she said weakened her strong presence for Rin at least as she started to understand her nature as well. -its not like that Haru, me and Rin are . Arata quickly tried to resolve the misunderstanding and explain his relation with Rin but when he tired he encountered a problem that made him unable to say anything more. We are what? Hmm, now that I think about it, I cant really put our relation in words. Can I simply say that she is my friend? No, I cant, as I dont have the right to it. Our encounter in the game cant wash away all the memories of the real world that easily. Then what should I say? Party members or teammates doing the same quest? This sounds about right but I dont want to say just this. What else could I say? Two fellow disciples of the same master? Old classmates? -sorry for bothering you, I lost my interest. Before Arata managed to find the answer to his question, Rin sheathed back her sword and with those words turned around and quickly catch up after the rest. -ah this situation got somehow awkward, sorry. Still, Arata if you couldnt answer me right away then your connection cant simply be described with a single word, right? In that case is there a need to try to look for the word, which probably dont exist anyway. Humans relations arent so simple to describe them with words. -and yet we seek those words as without them we cant feel the peace. I still have one sentence to finish so if you excuse me Leaving Haru with this answer Arata ran to where Rin went. There when he caught up to her he asked straightforward. -hey Rin, I have a question. Who am I to you? -you are someone who is helping me with the quest because I asked you for it Rin answered without moment of thought. I see so it is teammates who are doing quest together, after all. -this is the answer that you can give to her. But then she followed it with a quote like that. -then is the real answer different? -yes but that answer is not something that I can tell a stranger like her or you. -why cant you tell me? -because its personal you should rather be happy that I even tell you that there is something else. Now Arata, I will return the question and ask you, what the current I, am to you? -I still cant find the right word but I would like to think that we are closer to friends rather than two strangers that are doing quest together. I already told you everything in the boat, didnt I? And as to what you mean to me personally then whatever it is current you or past you, you were always someone that I wanted to win against. -I am not planning on letting you win though. -well naturally I will need much more than a simple luck anyway, did you give up on challenging Haru already? Or rather in the first place, why did you even do that? You couldnt meet her before so, does she looks like someone who stole your cookies? Thankfully Aratas and Rins relation did not get any worse because of what Haru said and in truth there was no reason for it to do so. Aratas worry, to make him go after Rin right away was baseless after all. -its not that. I still would want to fight her because I always wanted to see the distance between me and the so called best players of this world. It was always on my mind to challenge someone like that but I cant do that here, not with her. -I see but why not with her? -to put it bluntly, I am not sure that I will be able to push her away if she tries to befriend me. I am bad with that type of people and I already made far too many mistakes ever since this quest started, way too many. -I dont think that what you just called mistakes are actually true mistakes though. -no, Arata, they all are and I will pay the heavy price for them after we are done with this quest. Thankfully it will be ending soon. -Rin, dont say it like that. If you assume that it will end soon then its like telling me that the moment we reach the heavens gate we will immediately lose. -is there any other possible outcome than this? Rin asked with the obvious face. -there is! -and what could it be no wait I dont want to hear your stupid baseless speeches anymore. I am well better without hearing them. -then how about someone elses speeches. -what you mean Levis one? I talked with him and he is also standing on the earth all right. Its only you who is crazy to begin with Arata. Still, fine, show me a single person here other than you that believe that we can complete quest of rank three. After Rins said that Arata simple a little. -in that case follow me. He answered caught her left hand writs and then he ended up pulling her back to Haru. -dont worry about anything and believe in the dream only then the miracle will happen. After the short explanation Haru ended up repeating her motto. -see. There is other person here. Arata also commented as he made his point. -then this person is also completely unrealistic. Naturally though Rin was not convinced by that propaganda. After hearing that though Haru started. -whats wrong with being unrealistic? Being unrealistic is much better than being realistic. If you are realistic you are simply restricting yourself for no reasons. People often say that something cant happen. I say who are they to decide me that! I will decide on my own what can happen and what cant. I have many dreams that are theoretically impossible and many people told me to give up on those. To that though I say that they are not impossible as long as I believe in them! Even if they are really impossible it doesnt matter to me. Living the life in which you believe in those impossible dreams is much better than living the life without dreams like that.. Your name is Rin, right? Tell me Rin, do you have a dream, a wish that cannot be granted by anyone and cannot be achieved no matter what you do. - . Rin didnt say anything but he clearly was reacting to Harus words, especially to the last sentence that she made. -you do, dont you? Its clearly on your face and even if you managed to keep calm and not show it, I would still know that you have one, simply because everyone has a dream like this. So dont you think that the world in which that dream can come true is much better than the one in which that dream is a lie? So why wont you change your world so it fits what you want and live with your dream being possible. -so, you are telling me that its better to live in the world of lies. -but those are no lies, remember. Just dont worry about anything and believe in the dream, only then the miracle will happen. Miracles have the incredible power, you know, they can make anything happen and that also includes your dream as well. -your concept of miracles is a lie as well. -no one can say if its truly a lie or not, I can say that they exist after seeing them happen but someone else may say they do not. In the end though, it doesnt matter. You asked me if its better to live in the world of lies. You know I am not really the best to answer this question and you wont believe what I say but what I personally think is that its much better to live with your dreams being alive rather than thinking that they are impossible. If they are really impossible then so be it but if they are not and you thought about them as such and because of that they didnt happen then, isnt that a waste? -if people didnt believe in their dreams then humanity as a whole would progress so much slower. Leaving all important examples that currently do not concern you, what about a dream of an alternative world, to which you can go at any time you want? Even few years ago, dream like that was thought to be impossible but now, if we simply look around and we see the world of EOA which is one of manifestation of that dream. Labeling anything as impossible is really limiting ourselves. Your way of thinking if anything is definitely much better Haru. Arata also ended up commenting on what Haru said because what they both said was the truth. The dreams should be as unrealistic as possible because that is exactly what makes them beautiful. - . Rin did not say anything back to them at this point. After few seconds, Arata who was seeing her back so far, saw how Rin picked up her red hood and started wearing it on her head. Arata didnt see Rin doing the same since a day now. After that, still without a word Rin yet again walked away, this time however Arata did not go after her as he didnt know if there was even a need for it as Rin did have a custom of leaving right away when her business is finish. Then there was also the fact that Arata no longer had anything that he could say to her at the current moment. -Arata, will you let me talk with her one on one? After Rin left, Haru suddenly asked. -you dont have to ask me that but I am not sure if Rin will like it. -oh, she definitely wont, still did you know that sometimes, there are things that your best friend will never understand and yet a complete stranger will? - . -oh I seem to hit a bully eye with you a second ago, didnt I? -well, it wasnt even that long ago but you could say that I did once have a life changing talk with a certain stranger. -in that case I dont have to say anything else. Anyway I wont plan on doing anything else than listening as I am not really good at giving someone life changing advices but sometimes, just being listened by someone is more than enough. Torachii, I will be walking alone for some time. With that Haru ended up going after the red hood that was now walking in even greater distance from everyone than usual. Unfortunately though the matter did not turn out how Haru envisioned it as Rin didnt say a single word to her despite the fact that they walked next to each other all the way towards the heavens gate, and that walk took all together yet another hour. Normally it would probably take much longer but because there were no monsters in the area at all the party was not stopped by anything. Despite the fact that originally they started the journey at the beginning of the night, now that they finally reached the heavens gate it was still kind of dark but the morning would come soon in an hour or two. The time did not matter at all though, as the party finally reached the heavens gate. The heavens gate was located at the eastern side of the Kantraists mountain range. The building itself was really enormous. The first part of it that party saw was the stairs. The large and endless stairs that leaded upward and one could barely see their end. Those stairs went up by at least 15 meters. At the end of the stairs there was a large stone platform on which three other gigantic constructions stood. On right there was the gigantic statue of the warrior in full plate amour which was holding shield and sword. Given the size of the statue, one would assume that it was some grand king or the hero but after looking closely on it, there was no sign of a crown on his head. There also were no emblems on his amour that would signify who that warrior was. The statue did not present a specific person but rather it was a statue that symbolized a human warrior. The statue of the warrior was holding its swords to the sky, towards the other statue that was on the left side of the platform that also hold the weapon. Both weapons connected by the statues were in friendly manner rather that would symbolize friendship rather than hostility. The already mentioned second statue was kind of similar to the statue of a warrior. It also showed a person in full plate amour, with shield and sword that was pointed towards the sky. There were few differences though. The statue on the left had bronze armor and while the statue on the right had grey one. Those colors used to be different in the past and those were gold and silver. Then the other important difference was that the statue on the left had on its back a pair of wings that were stretched to the left and right. And that indicated that that was the statue of an angel warrior. Yet again though, it probably wasnt a statue of any particular angel but a statue that symbolized any angel warrior. Those two statues could also symbolize the very existence of this building as it was the border between the world of men and world of angels, as behind those two stood the actual portal gate. In comparison to the two statues id didnt look that impressing. It was a simple rectangular construction made of stone-like material. It was a simple combination of one pillar on the left, one pillar on the right, and then the tops of those pillars were connected by yet another line. The inside of that rectangular was an empty space through which one could see the wall from the mountain. Then lastly it seemed like something was sitting at the top of the gate but right now, the party who was standing before the stairs, could not see it yet. Thats some big building but I guess its only fitting to the construction called the gate of heavens. -surprisingly we managed to reach it in the end. While everyone was still looking at the construction, Levi ended up walking towards Arata and commented. -yes we did, see so far everything is going according to the plan. Arata answered to him. -plan? But we didnt have any plan. -what do you mean we didnt have one? Our plan was, get to the gate, get to the heavens and then get to the silver temple and now we just completed the first part of it. -as they say its always good to keep the plan simple. -exactly there is no need to overthink anything. Anyway I think that now we have to activate that gate and go on with the second point. So Levi, how is your experience at using ancient angel gate activators? -naturally as big as yours. -you mean you did it at least ten times so far right? -ten!? I would rather say at least twenty or so. Anyway lets get to it right away. And so, Arata and Levi started first to climb the stairs with their perfect plan of activating the gate. After all everyone knows that to use ancient angel gate activators, one simply needs to put it on the right pedestal. That was at least Aratas and Levis current plan as in other games that they played, this usually was the thing. -hey guys, are you two going to simply climb up like that? Seeing them going up. Shin called out to them. -well yea, I mean there are a lot of stairs to climb up right? Levi answered like that. -but dont you want to celebrate this occasion somehow? Normally people do that right? Flynn asked. -hmm, I am all up for parties but I dont think that right now its the best time, right Arata? Levi answered. -yea, I feel if we start parting right now then its like asking for death that will caught us unprepared. So, I am not doing any celebrations until we complete the quest. Also its not like we need yet another break because the last time we actually fought anything were the toads near the lake. Arata added. -not exactly you slept through one battle after we reached the rocky coast but you are right, the original planned break is not needed. Anyway, everyone we reached the heavens gate and with that our winning condition is meeting. Now then to the next point- Shin started saying to his friends and once again the fact that there was no leader in this group killed the possibility of an epic speech that would mark their victory. -Shin, wait a moment, you two as well . But then when he started Bran interrupted him. -guys, we just reached the heavens gate in the far west, which means we are awesome. YEA! Even though it was not grand epic speech, what Bran did was very fitting here. -yep so before we go anyway forward, following the tradition, lets make the VR-shot of ourselves before this building. Everyone gather here and make of those for yourself Vatras continued after Bran. Even if there was no leader in this party, people would still want to have the feeling of achievement and also souvenir of it. In games, that souvenir was usually the screen shot, and in VR games it was VR-shoot. Some from the party would probably go as far as saving the recording of the whole expedition. After all, the events of one month to the back were automatically saved in the VR capsule and one could copy the file and save it. Still in the end there was nothing better than a photo of memory with everyone in it. In comparison to a real photo though, there was no cameraman so everyone was making one for themselves. Soon enough everyone from the original party gathered. -you there, no slacking off now. The tradition also includes the temporary members. Vatras called out to Arata Levi and Rin as well. We as well? Oh well. -hey Arata, you know what we have to do, right? -yea, yea, lets get to it right away. After hearing the call, Arata and Levi quickly understood what they also need to do. Without saying anything else towards each other, they started walking towards Rin. -what do you guys want? I hope that you are not thinking that I will be taking part in that stupid picture do you?... Naturally Rin immediately hated the whole idea but rather than trying to discuss anything with her, Arata catch her right wrist, Levi catch her left wrist and then they started dragging her towards where the VR-shot was going to be taken. -stop! Leave me alone. Naturally Rin was trying to resist but that didnt brought any effect as at this point it was too late. The fact that she didnt do it in any drastic way, like using her unlimited blade ability, could signify that she wasnt that against the idea, although in EOA there was a strange occurrence that sometimes people completely forgot that they can use their superhuman abilities and strength and they would simply struggle like they would normally in real world. In this case the small fragile girl was caught by two men who were both at least 30 centimeters higher than her. Rin had no chance on resisting at all. -you are coming as well? On the way, Arata asked Haru about taking part in the picture as well. -I love taking pictures but it wouldnt feel right when I just followed along for few hours today. -hmm, I wouldnt say you just followed along. Your tiger probably did save us a lot of time -in that case I guess Torachii could take part in the picture as well but unlike me he doesnt like to take pictures. Anyway, I already took so much of your time while you have your quest to worry about, so dont mind me, I am just standing on the side and watch what is happening. -the next time you stand on the side, dont do it near me! Rin who stopped struggling and was slowly dragged away by Arata and Levi said those words to Haru. -I dont know why but it seems like she hates me. I guess I was a little bit too pushy. Its really been too long since I saw other adventurers so I dont behave right just yet. -no, dont worry. Rin seem to hate everyone on the first glance but in truth, she doesnt really hate annoyed. Right, Rin? -I hate at least you Arata. Rin commented back to him. -see. Arata was not concerned by it as he was already used to it and he believed that what he said was true. -ah, I see, so she is kind of like Torachii. She keeps saying things that she doesnt mean. Then, you dont hate me? Haru asked her while pointing towards her face. -I have no reason to hate you, I dont know you but I also dont want to know you and much less I dont want to become your friend. So, just leave me alone! After hearing words like that said to you, normally you wouldnt try to interact with the person who said them more than necessary. In the first place there arent that many people that can say words like that right towards someones face. Actually when someone does it, they usually dont really mean it. Words like that are not something one would waste on person they dont want to have anything to do with. -I see, in that case I will try not to bother you. Also dont worry I wont be staying here for too long. Actually if your gate works right away then I will be leaving in few moments. Still, I would want to voice my opinion on what you said and that is that you cant decide if you become someones friend or not. As long as the other person think about you like this then you two are friends. -so what? Are you saying that you are thinking of me as a friend now? -no I dont. I actually value that word quite highly. I cant call someone with whom I never truly spoke with my friend. -is that so good to hear then. Anyway you two wanted that picture right? Lets get it over with and finish this quest already. Rin finished the conversation and then it was her who now dragged Arata and Levi away. They quickly catch up to her though, and together with the party. The VR-shot of surviving 11 members of the party was made and with this ceremony done it was finally the time to climb up the stairs. Still, this is some really big building. Hmm, now that I think about it I wonder what exactly teleport gate to the heavens means? It can be either a teleport to a different place that exist in this world that could be reached normally or some crazy, multiple realms theme. Oh, well in the end it dont really matter. It can be called different realm if its wants to but in the end it will still be EOAs world. If I were to choose I would prefer a version where heavens do exist somewhere in the sky and if someone falls from there they are falling down for some time till they hit the ground I think that I am slightly getting ahead of myself but those stairs are really long. Well Arata was simply sulking too much as in reality the stairs werent that long. Naturally it took some time before reaching the height of 15 meters but it always could have been much worse. Also before party reached even the half of that height, their walk was interrupted. -Shin! Alarm, alarm! Something just moved at the top of those stairs. The partys scout Bran was first to report. -something? Can you be more specific? -sounds like wings, well we will see it in the second. So the quest finally begins. I wonder what kind of monster will be coming out. Its should be a monster worth of world first after all. Wings should mean dragon, right? Arata and everyone one took out their weapons and readied themselves for battle. Soon enough over their heads up in the sky they saw the winged monstrosity. Although that monster didnt look ugly, or scary. In fact there was even a person who called it. -ohhh, I didnt think I will be able to see dream butterfly in this area. He is as beautiful as always. Well, only Haru could be relaxed enough in this situation to look at the flying butterfly and call it beautiful. Sure it was beautiful. Having the form of a large emerald butterfly with the dark green design on its wing, it couldnt be called anything but that. There was also that light green aura gathering around it and lastly a silver horn at the top of its head. Still others couldnt enjoy the view especially when that silver horn was behaving strange, as if it was gathering energy to attack. -attack is coming, dont let it hit you at all cost! Shin only managed to shout that and second later the attack came. The green energy that was gathering at the end of the silver horn ended up splitting into small missiles and come down at every member of the party, Haru and Torachii included. From the distance it seemed like green lines started falling from the sky even if in reality those were a small green orbs that left the light effect behind them. No one has to tell me to dodge the lasers attack that is coming at me. Arata moved a little from the place in which he was but the moment he did that he also saw that the green orb changed its direction as well. Is this a homing missile? It makes it slightly more troublesome but it seems like the delay is long enough to make the last second dodge. The missiles were following players movements but only to certain extend. After realizing that Arata stay put for two seconds to let the missile get closer and after that he made a quick move and the green missile landed onto the stairs and disappeared. As for other party members. Most of them also managed to dodge the attack, although mostly with much less grace than Arata. Their dodge involved running for the whole time as the missile was coming down. Although there were also people that saw through it and dodged it by other means. Shin for example ended up using his green rune to teleport to a different place second before the attack hit him. Then there was also Haru who did nothing as the two missiles that came at her disappeared on invisible barrier above here. There were two missiles that stopped on that barrier one was for her and second one for Torachii on whom Haru was once again riding. Unfortunately there were two people that didnt manage to dodge in time. One of them was Mika who tipped on the stairs and there wasnt much time to get up from them afterwards. And then there was also Flynn who rather than dodging decided to block the attack following his tank instincts. Unfortunately though, one really should avoid getting hit by dream butterfly. Mika was already on the ground before getting hit and now Flynn with a single attack ended up falling on the stairs as well. After that they didnt show any movement at all. Are they dead? Arata wondered about it for a second but he didnt have time for that as the fight continued. The dream butterfly was flying in the sky which naturally disabled any possibility of hitting him with the sword. At least by a normal swords that were held in hands, and that did not count the red flying swords lunching like rockets from the golden mist behind red hooded girl. Rin was not wasting any time and after dodging she started the counterattack. Because her usual mean of fighting was closed off, she went straight into playing her strongest card and also the only card that she could use to attack someone who was flying about 20 meters above them. -see Torachii, it was worth coming here, we are already seeing something good. -meh, it doesnt matter if it is coming from some low level, not to mention that its a waste of mana as this attack wont work on an enemy like that While Torachii and Haru were enjoying the show, the red weapons ended up reaching the height of the butterfly. The butterfly naturally tried to dodge the attacks but as if foreseeing it beforehand the weapons were shot in a way that it was impossible to dodge completely. Therefore the red blades hit the emerald wings of the dream butterfly. The moment they did that though it seemed as if the weapons entered the body of the butterfly and afterwards disappeared without a trace. -see just as I said. -dont be so harsh Torachii, it happens to everyone and also, dream butterfly is immune to physical attacks if I remember correctly. It seemed like the butterfly also quickly realized that Rins attack does nothing to him so he stopped flying around and despite the fact that numberous weapons were keep on hitting its wings, the butterfly started charging another attack. -attacking that thing is no use! Everyone listen! The tactic to fight against this type of creature is simple, we have to survive long enough for it to run out of energy, if it does then it will fly away and leave us alone. Shin shouted, although Rin continued to attack regardless, ignoring what he said. -what about those that get hit, are they dead? Hiro asked while bending over his sister. -those who get hit even once will fall into eternal sleep and the only way to leave that sleep is to either get killed or do a log out dead, either way its a lost cause. Shin explained and his voice didnt show even a hint of concern for his fallen teammates. -then isnt it the same as dying!? Tras cant you do something? Naturally Hiro didnt take that comment well. -I cant, they both have status that makes it impossible to cast any spells on them, no matter what kind of healer it would be, we cant do anything about it. -Hiro, just as you said, its the same as dying so even though they are not technically dead there is not a single thing we can do for them and given the current circumstance, we dont even have time to talk about it. Anyway, the dead is dead, lets leave it as that and focus on dodging, we have to look focus on the present. Shin answered heartlessly. It seemed like the talks about him being able to leave his comrades in the times of need without even blinking were true. Not everyone took that comment well but unfortunately there wasnt even time for discussion as another attack came from the sky once again. This time everyone managed to avoid it and there were no more people dead. After that attack, Rin gave up on attacking as she also realized it was completely no use. On the other hand changing with her it was Hiro who now started to shoot his water spells up to the sky. Unfortunately though the range from which he was shooting made it really easy for the butterfly to dodge all attacks and charge another attack yet again. Hmm, if we really only have to dodge the attacks for some time then its not that bad. Sure I feel bad for Flynn and Mika but at least we will be able to continue later on. -em I dont know if that information will be of any use to you but those two are not dead yet and they can be saved alright. The one in the glasses over there has incomplete information. While everyone was focused on what was happening above them, Haru ended up telling them this information. -what do you mean that I have incomplete information? Naturally Shin got interested in what she said and immediately answered. -well, rather than incomplete well I didnt want to say it but its completely wrong. You made it sound as if the battle against dream butterfly was about dodging it attack and surviving till the end so its fly away on its own. That is completely wrong because if you let him fly away the people he shoot will never wake up as the only way to wake them up is to kill the butterfly. The difficulty of the fight is actually not letting the butterfly escape and kill it in given time as otherwise your friends who got shoot will be dead. Its one of time rush fights. -I see, so its like that. Still why did you say this information wont be useful? In that case we could focus on . Shin asked back right away although he stopped second later as he probably also realized what Harus answer will be. Because he already asked it Haru still answered. -it wont be useful because you wont be able to defeat that butterfly given what I see. He is nearly immune to most physical attacks and you only have two magicians in your group. Also you seem more of a support type, so in the end you have only one person who can bring out any real magic fire power but then again, not only one person is not enough to even hit into the flying butterfly but also even if he hits his spells will be too weak for boss class monster of 237 level. Haru gave the full explanation. -I see, in that case, despite the fact that my information was wrong we will have to stick to the tactic as there is nothing else we can do. So once again, everyone focus on dodging and dont think of anything else! Two deaths are not that bad anyway. Shin ended up repeating his tactic. But then. -Shin, I dont agree with this one! If there is a chance to save my sister I am going to do it. The azure haired magician didnt want to give up so easily. -you will just waste your mana Hiro. You wont be able to shoot down that thing on your own. Your attacks are barely hitting it and even if others were to help you, there arent that many magic attacks they can use. Its a lost cause and we should never doing anything that has no chance on working at a... . -shut up, I will do what I want you third rate magician. If you dont plan on helping then shut up and let me concentrate. Suddenly Hiro interrupted him like that as it seemed that he was really not in the mood after what happened in his sister although, even that was probably not enough for him to say things like that. Wow, I wasnt expecting that one. -that was a little bit too far Hiro. -too far Tras? You as well, rather than saying things like that you should start helping me out, you have range magic spells dont you? Bran, your crossbow gives the magic attack attribute as well. So, stop watching from aside like idiots and start fighting before- Before Hiro managed to finish he ended up getting a sudden kick right into the face that came out of nowhere as no one was standing next to him. Still the one did not even touch the ground or make any sound. Although right now she was standing next to his body that fallen on the stairs. -STOP!... Haru talked to the one that she just brought to the ground. It was her who despite sitting on Torachii quite away ended up nearly teleporting before Hiro and kicked him into the face. She did not really teleport though but rather she jumped towards him and with and moved in the sky with the strong wind. But now that Haru landed on the ground and looked down on Hiro, she was not the same person. With the single word she silenced and scared to death everyone who was around. The earlier, clumsy girl was completely gone and now there was the incarnation of death itself, standing there. Somehow even speaking in her presence would take incredible effort and willpower to and no one had enough of it to say anything. Still that occurrence happened only for an instant after Haru said the first words but soon after she continued normally. -dont insult your friends only because you are nervous about you sister. Its good that you worry about her but this is not what friends should do. Or is there a different reason why you said those words? -ha, whatever you say, an outsider like you has no right to say anything in this situation. Could you stop interrupting me and- Still even after what happened Hiro had no intention of correcting his mind and Harus words did not reach him at all. But then it happened again. -stop right now!... Haru said those words with that presence coming back. She said them in separately with pause one after another in a voice that could not belong to her or rather it was completely different kind of tone, one that normally wouldnt be possible for human to make. After Haru finished those three words, Hiro fainted without saying anything else. Before anyone managed to say anything though, Haru once again normally said. -em mm, I mean aaa I am sorry! I really didnt want to knock out your party mage. That one was outside my control and because I cant stand by when good friends are fighting each other for no reason. Then because he didnt listen to what I said at the, I kind remembered something and overreacted. Overreacted? You just made him faint with blood thirst alone. Or was it even that I dont know. It didnt seem normal. -nah, dont worry, he deserved that one although what happened is nothing unusual. Our mage is always going crazy after his sister dies, and we are used to it already. Strangely enough despite what just happened there wasnt that much of an awkward silence and Bran quickly regained his composure and said those words. Although that was also because the second time that Haru become scary didnt have that strong effect on the others, as it was directed only to Hiro. -beware of the next attack! Despite the situation that was happening, naturally the butterfly was not waiting idly and after charging its power once again, it shoot down with the missiles. The one who sounded the alarm was Levi and it was good thing that he did as because of what happened about half number of people forgotten about the situation. After the next complete dodge the talk continued. -ah, it was the first time I was seeing it. So Hiro really has a sister complex. Julia ended up commenting. -yes, he is always losing it whenever something happened to Mika. Although Shin, did you do something to him lately? Kei unusually asked with a glare. -I dont think so, why do you ask? -well calling each other idiots for us is normal but in your case, it seemed like he really tried to insult you. -aye, I agree, also when Kei is already pointing it out then its true, Brann agreed with Keis comment. -hmm, I personally didnt felt like it, I mean I do think myself that I am third rate magician anyway. Stating the truth is not an insult. But anyway I dont remember doing anything bad, so I guess it must be because his sister died. -that is probably true. One thing we can know is that you didnt do it intentionally. Anyway we have to focus on the matter so no more of us dies. To end the conversation Vatras stated something really important as it was true that right now it wasnt the time for the chit-chat. Yes, there isnt anything better than a conversation right in the middle of boss fight. Still, I also agree that we shouldnt stay put and watch those two die. But then again if that thing is really high level boss class monster that is immune to physical damage then there is only one last option we can result towards. And its better if I do that before that last option disappears. Arata walked down the stairs toward the white tiger and Haru who was getting at the top of him. Even though no one commented on what she done, she was really down, right now and her usually happy face was replaced with face of sadness and Arata felt that if he doesnt hurry then that face would be the last time that he will be able to see Haru at all. -you are going already? Those were the first words that Arata said to her, although they were not the question as he somehow knew that this was Haru intentions. -yes, I stayed for too long in the first place I didnt have the right to join in with you, even if only for a little. It seems like after all those five years, it become even worse. -what do you mean? -who knows but anyway I think that its really time for me to go. -but didnt you want to see the quest of rank 3. I think it still didnt started and we just met a random monster on a way. -well, I also think that one dream butterfly is not enough for to rank three quest. Still even though I still do want to stay, do you think that it is still right for me to stay after what I just did? No, even if you tell me that it is, I wont believe you because you will be just acting nice. As that mage just said, I am an outsider here, and even though I said I will simply stand on the side, I still couldnt stand on side and interfere in important moment. -you didnt do anything wrong though. It was true that Hiro freaked out as he wasnt behaving as usual although it seems like it wasnt the first time. No one complained to you as well, so you shouldnt worry about that. -Arata thanks for those words but I really will be- Haru really didnt feel good about staying here for any moment longer and she still looked quite sad but then when she was about to leave someone else came to her. -if you are worrying about what those idiots think then dont worry, your little spectacle did not impress them. Those idiots are so stupid that they can forgive even a person who killed them two times so they wont feel anything towards someone who looked scary for a second and knocked down their friend when that friend was misbehaving. In the end, even if you kill them few times, even if you scare them to death few times, those people will still behave as if that never happened and whats more, they are even willing to assist the person who did that to them afterwards. So if you are leaving only because of what happened then dont bother. If you really feel like you did something wrong though, wouldnt it be best to repay the debt. After saying those words, Rin did not wait for any response but she walked away and got ready to dodge the next attack that came soon after. Arata also dodged the attack and then the next time he looked back at Haru, she somehow seemed like the whole accident never happened. -ahhhh I think I got a little over paranoid with it. Its not like it was the first time it happened but I guess the long break from seeing people took its tool. Anyway Arata, thanks for worrying about me, I am fine now. Tell Rin that I am grateful to her as well. -you can tell it yourself. -I will but she wont listen to me, also I am not sure if there will be an occasion. So you guys want me to help you take down that butterfly dont you? -well naturally we dont see any other way. I mean even Rins attack didnt do a thing and that thing is flying 20 meters over our heads. There is really little we can do. -well flying enemies are a pain if you cant fly yourself, especially those that never come to attack in melee. But anyway I will definitely help, especially after what she just said to me. Although I felt like rather than only cheering me up she was actually doing it to force me to help you with the butterfly. Hmm, Rin did say few times that she doesnt want Yumes friends to die for nothing, so I guess it might be true. -maybe but she didnt have any ill intentions towards you. -no dont take it like that, the only thing I felt from here was genuine worry about her friends and I would also like to think that about me, just to feel a little bit better. But anyway, leave it to me I will take care of that- -HARU!... Just as Haru was finishing her sentence Torachii interrupted her. -didnt you promise me to not get involved in fights. -but I cant back off now, can I? -then are you saying that you want to risk getting killed later on only because you wasted your powers to help others? -how can you say that helping others is a waste Torachii! Ah, you are so mean sometimes. Also, to take care of dream butterfly I wouldnt have to do much. -even then you would still need to use one big attack, right and that is already more than enough. I will remind you again, right now you are in no position to help others carelessly, open your menu look at your mana and coldowns and stats then- -ah you are nagging me too much disappear Torachii!... Despite the fact that the white tiger was properly doing his job as the guardian spirit, Haru decided to ignore his words and with simple command she made him disappear. Torachii first become somewhat transparent and then he was sucked into the medallion on Harus neck in a ghostly manner. In few seconds there was no sight of him anymore. -well then, lets get to it right away. With Torachii done Haru said those words like nothing. -wait, wait, wait. Before you do anything, please tell me if there is any other way than that. Arata stopped her right away though. -but this will be the fastest and easiest and . -the most dangerous for you way, right? -ah, dont listen to what Torachii said Arata. I told you I am fine. Sure I am not at my best right now but killing single dream butterfly wont be hard for me at all. I can kill it with a single spell. -oh, I am sure you can but I am asking if there is any other way. Before you tell me the answer I am not letting you do it. -mhmm, I already told you but I actually like when people worry about me so lets see. Well there is one other way that will work just as well and wont take anything out of me. But there is a need for an extra element in it. Arata, does anyone in this party have a good fire range spell. -good fire range spell? Actually I technically have one but what does it have to do with this plan? -one is the fact that dream butterflies are really weak against fire and they take about three times as much damage as from any other spell. -even if that is the truth I dont think that I can one shoot a high level boss class monster with a single spell. Hmm, it might be possible if I do the combination of five sword slashes but the main problem is that I am not sure that I will hit, or rather I am sure that I wont and thats the reason why I didnt try it. That butterfly is bound to avoid it. -well dont worry about that. Just shoot out that fire skill in the direction of the butterfly and leave the rest to me. -dont get me wrong but I think that there are many uncertainness in this tactic, so are you sure it will work? -yes, I am. Fire is my greatest enemy but at the same time I am its greatest ally. The wind is what makes fire spread, the wind is what makes fire strong. As long as fire and wind work together there is nothing that can stop them and thats why, the fire was never winds enemy and wind was always fires friend. Haru smiled while saying those words although what she said didnt explain anything. Still Arata somehow managed to get what she wanted to say and just to confirm if he understood her correctly Arata asked. -so, by that you mean you have a wind based spell that power ups fire based spell right? -hmm ah yes, yes, thats exactly what we will be doing. So, dont worry about control or anything like that, just shoot out a good fire spell into the direction of that butterfly and leave the rest to me. -fine, I will do just that and believe in you. I will start on three two one . [Sword enchant: fire] [Sword slash] Arata swung his black sword upward and the arc of fire escaped it and flied towards the dream butterfly. The light that was made during this attack was really intense especially given the fact that it was still night time. After the arc of fire flied up a little, unnaturally the wind started to blow upward from the ground, despite the fact that there was no indication of it happening earlier on. The intense wind powered up the arc of fire drastically which was visible in both the brightness of the flame as well as size of the fire arc. The powered up sword slash flied all the way towards the flying butterfly who naturally did try to avoid getting hit but in a similar way that his attack changed its direction the arc of fire also followed after the butterfly. The butterfly was much bigger target it had no chance to escape. It still did its best at dodging and originally only its left wing was set on fire but soon enough that fire spread over the whole body of the butterfly. The burning dream butterfly at this point was unable to do anything and it seemed like it actually started to panic. That was at least what one could tell from its movements as the butterfly started flying there and back again but its torture did not last long as the intense fire did end up burning down butterfly wings a little and that made it start falling to the ground. The butterfly was originally 20 meters above the party and the party was standing on the height of five meters of stairs so it was 25 meters way to the ground and after the butterfly hit it never stood up again. Also Arata got a confirmation three minutes later as not only Mika and Flynn woke up but also the system messages like this appeared. [You have leveled up by 40%] [You have gained a level, current level 112] [New items collected check the inventory] It is done. Also wow, when was the last time I saw leveled up by message. Hmm, It seems that this kill counted as a solo kill by me despite the fact that Haru helped out. So even if there is a lot of exp needed, as long as I find truly overwhelming with level enemy I still get a lot of exp. Also there is a message about new items and that message appears only when there are some really good items appearing. Not crafting or food material. And definitely not some junk, which I can only sell or useless quest items that I guess are also a junk that I can only sell I probably shouldnt be doing it right now, but lets check that item quickly. Its been a while since Arata had good item drop so despite the fact that right now he had to focus on different things, he couldnt help but peak on what item he just got. [Ring of dream butterfly {something} Level requirement 250] Oh well its not like I can use it yet but thats some cool effect. Not really battle useful but still good. In the meantime Mika who managed to wake up after the dream started healing Hiro who theoretically didnt receive any damage. Nevertheless she continued, and after two minutes of her effort, Hiro woke up as well. Seeing his sister alive did help him calm down but in the end he never said anything to anyone. In a way just like certain someone, he equipped the blue hood of his magic cloak and walked to the edge to the stairs without interacting with anyone, his sister included. -aaa, seems like getting beaten didnt help him either, oh well Hiro has sometimes his moods. To lighten up the atmosphere Bran commented on Hiros actions with a joke. -we were in kind of edgy situation, dont blame him. Anyway, thanks to Aratas and our guest interference we managed to avoid losing anyone so lets not dwell on it anymore and before anything happens we should Shin started to organize situation as his position required it of him. Well, the fact that they shouldnt be standing in the middle of the stairs right next to their last goal was kind of obvious, still before he could tell others what to do his voice stopped because of what was happening before his eyes. Arata would say that his eyes looked shocked, or maybe even scared, and it was even worse than in the case of seeing Rin who killed him twice in without any effort. This time however there was a true terror in his eyes. Arata also saw that few others from the party who were standing while looking down the stairs. Not all, because Levi and Julia for example were looking down with the interest, but Vatras and Kei had a reaction slightly similar to Shins one. Hmm? Without asking for anything Arata also looked down the stairs. Despite the fact that the morning was yet to come, the ground seemed strangely bright in somewhat red color. The area of few kilometers before the heavens gate started becoming redder and redder. It was a color as if under that ground there was a fire burning, or lava from a living volcano. Few minutes ago everything was normal but right now it was a false memory as the whole area down the stairs was like that. It was both the ground and the forests. It was visible especially on the trees as they also slowly started to shine with that red lava color as well and then one by one they turned into the ash and disappeared. And then lastly in the distance of about 3 kilometers away from the heavens gate, there was a horizontal red line that had the most intense red color. Arata was clearly able to see it as was standing nearly the top of the stairs now, and he was also seeing that the earth around that red line behaved strange. It was not only changing its colors but right on height of the red line the ground started to move. Namely the ground behind the red line started to lift up while the area before it started to fall down. It was holding its flat form and the way it was falling down started to make the gigantic slope all the way towards the red line which was slowly becoming the red wall. The red ground and black sky? Are we still on the EOAs earth? Seeing what was happening on the horizon, Arata couldnt help but joke to himself. What was happening before him was beyond anyone understanding. Strangely though, it seemed like there were people here who knew what was happening and there actually were a lot of them. And they knew it because they already had an occasion to see it one. -Arata, Levi, Rin Shin regained his composure and started talking yet again although the way he said those three names was kind of formal. -if you want to complete your quest then you have to get at the top of those stairs, activate this gate and hope it charges up fast, otherwise, give up and start running already. -do you think that we would run away after coming this far? The first one to answer was Levi and Arata followed after him right away. -not to mention that it would be pain to get back on this point even if we decided to run which we naturally wont do. Anyway, I see it seems kind of bad so can you tell me what is happening? Arata followed it up. To that Shin answered. -I see, so you are not worried about your life. I will explain in a second but we should start activating the gate right away. For all I know, the gates like this dont work magically right away not to mention that unused gates charge up even longer than normal ones and from what I know, this one wasnt active for over 300 years. So, lets hurry up upward. Shin said those words and strangely enough he started running up the stairs before anyone else which was quite unusual for him as he always let someone else take the front. Still, that simply showed that there was no time to waste and seeing him run up the stairs like that everyone quickly followed. After running up the stairs the party reached the platform on which the two statues were standing on the left on right. Still those two statues werent the focus of anyone right now as at the end of the platform 10 meters away from the stairs stood the actual gate that was as big as those statues. -who would bother to build it so big, wasnt it purpose to teleport humans? Levi commented after seeing the thing. Only now that they saw it before them, it was much easier to realize how big that gate was. -I guess that they wanted to make it an universal size. You saw those giants right? Anyway, I am taking the activator out Arata was a holder of the relic and ever since showing it to Wizard it was safely laying in his inventory. Hmm, I didnt think about it so far but if I were to die somewhere on the way it would be the end for Levi and Rin as well as the relic would be lost with me dying. While looking through the inventory Arata had a thought like that. He soon located the item though and it looked exact the same as it was when he first found it on black market. [Heavens gate activator. Final element of heavens gate. Gift of angels to the king Sarius Six of the Solaris Empire. It was used only once in history when Sarius Six send his warriors to aid angels in defense of heavens. After the battle was won and heaven gate close the activator was never used again and instead served as a token of friendship between Solaris Empire and heavens. Later on this relic from a token of friendship, became a token of betrayal as when it was angels time to help, they did nothing and let the demons roam through the lands of Solaris. During Solariss fall, the relic was taken by demon Beelphegor and he kept it since then so the heavens cannot call for mortals help once again.] After reading through the description yet again, Arata materialized the item in his hands. The small golden sculpture of an angel with silver hair and wings was the actual form of the activator. After seeing it for the first time, Arata couldnt care less how that activator looked like but right now the shape of the activator somewhat bothered him. It wasnt exactly the shape that bothered him but rather it was the fact that there wasnt any buttons to click on that sculpture. Okay, so where do I need to put it? Arata looked around for the right place but strangely enough apart from two giant sculptures and the gate itself, the area on the platform was a flat stone pavement. Hmm, will it work if I simply try to pass through the gate with it? Arata started thinking what to do but he didnt really have a good idea and the one he came up with wasnt probably going to work. So, rather than trying to do anything strange before the eyes of expectation that everyone was now looking at him with, he decided to ask. -so, does anyone know what should I do with this item? With this single question everyone nearly everyone looked away avoiding his gaze, despite the eyes of expectations that they had just a second ago. There was one person who didnt though. -well, from what I read, portals that require special items to activate it are actually quite easy to operate. What I mean is obviously that they are easy to operate if you have that special item with you as otherwise its completely impossible to do anything useful with them. At best you can make a portal to completely random location with it. You have the said item though so the only thing that you need to do is to awake it with the touch of mana. Shin explained what he knew about the subject. As someone who studied magic as a form of knowledge and not power, he knew a lot of things that any other magician wouldnt have any idea about. In EOA, the magician class was rare enough and on average only one of ten people got a class that can use mana spells. From those who did, only about half is magic strictly oriented but that also involves classes like healers. In the end though even if you add healers to magician group, only one from every twenty people has strictly magic oriented class. But then again the number of people, who are actually studding magic rather than simply using it, is really, really low. After all, in the end, EOA is a game in its core and who would think about spending their time on studding in it when there are monsters to be slain. On the other hand, Shin was one of those few who actually enjoyed this subject and the magical experiments were something that he spent the most time on while playing EOA and he never regretted a single minute that he spent on it. Touch of mana?... well I guess I would be able to think up the way to do it if I tried but I am not sure how long would it take so -it seems like you know what you are talking about so I will leave it to you. Arata walked towards Shin and passed him the statue. Shin caught it in two hands and started examining it. He quickly gave up on doing so as there wasnt that much to look at as the gate activator did look like a simple sculpture. In the end Shin did what he said was needed, namely he touched the sculpture with mana. From visual standpoint, for a second, Shins hands lighted up in the blue light and two seconds after that the statue started flying and it flied away from Shins hands. -well, I think thats about it. We dont need to do anything else Shin commented and his eyes followed after the levitating sculpture. The sculpture flied all the way towards the gate, and it stopped right in the middle of it. There it started to shine with a golden light. Hmm, I dont know what that red ground was about but if the gate is opening then I dont plan on checking it out. Arata though that the gate will open any second and second point of the plan will be completed. Unfortunately though, the statue did not change the state of the gate at all, and it simply continued to shine in the middle of it without doing anything in particular. -so as I already mentioned, before it charges up it will take some time. From where I see it, it will take at least an hour for the gate to materialize and afterwards another hour for the gate to become stable. So because unstable portals are even worse than no portals at all, it will take two hours before we can use this thing to reach to heavens Shin ended up commenting but he wasnt done yet. -now then, the good news is that despite what you guys told me when you first joined up with us, the gate is working perfectly fine and after those two hours it will definitely work as it should. Naturally I cant tell for sure that the other end of the portal will be the actual heaven to which you want to go but given all the facts that we know, I would be surprised if it was not. -aye, one does not build two statues like this to make portal to nowhere. Bran also commented. I see so the biggest problem is solved. Well I never doubted that it wont work as killing off epic quests with not working gate is not something that even this evil game would do. At the back of his mind, Arata always considered the possibility of the gate being a fraud, although that possibility was getting lower and lower the more he found out about the gate itself. In a way he wasnt really worried about it. -so, as long as we will stay here for two hours, we can use it right? Strangely enough, Rin ended up asking for a confirmation. -that is so, but that is also only as long as we manage to still stand here after two hours Shin said those words with a voice that didnt have any energy as if the whole matter did not matter to him anymore. Arata was not sure if it was because he already reached his winning condition, but Shin really had a voice that was devour of energy. -now its time for the less pleasant news. Arata, you asked me what was does the situation down the stairs means right, well some of us already know it as we did saw it once. Not on this scale of course as it wasnt that bad After saying those words Shin had a surprised face, and what he got surprised by was actually his own words. -oh, I never thought I will describe that situation as not bad. But anyway, right now you should already be able to see it with your eyes just walk towards the stairs and look down and there you will see- -WHERE ARE YOU!? WHERE ARE YOU!? COME OUT AND STOP HIDING PUNY MORTALS!! Arata was still seeing Shins lips moving his lips but his voice was completely overwhelmed by the demonic voice that came from the east. Hearing it everyone stopped for a second, and then they rushed towards the stairs. In one way they simply wanted to look at what called them out, but also in a way, they obeyed the command that came to them. - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . After looking at the scene, all eleven remaining members of the expedition couldnt say anything. During their journey they saw a lot. Starting with an army of spiders and the gigantic spider queen, followed by different monsters in the savage lands of the west, followed by the forest of the lost souls from which there said to be no escape, followed by yet more monsters and the gigantic hybrid of turtle and octopus, and then lastly followed by the army of gigantic golems and flying butterfly that put people to sleep. One could even say without lying that even the black flame burning mountain looked peaceful in comparison to what the party was now seeing on the horizon. After all the burning mountain was simply burning, many miles away in the distance, this time however the Hell was right before their eyes and to reach it they would simply need to go down the stairs. Hell that was probably the only correct definition of the lands before them as those lands did not look like earth anymore. The ground everywhere was black and red. Also there were now three rivers of liquid flames, as if volcano erupted somewhere near, which wasnt completely impossible given the scenery. At the place of where the red line used to be, right now there stood a wall but it wasnt simple wall of earth. On that wall there was a black energy gathering everywhere. It was completely static energy thats function was quite obvious. It was a portal. Anyone could tell that on a single glance, as after all, one by one, or rather hundred by hundred, the demons were pouring out from it, although it was not that easy to see them coming out from where party was staying the view was already interrupted by the army of demons that already managed to get out and marched quite forward. Hell how do people image a place like this? For most its a place of eternal fire filled with demons, the lava flows everywhere. Place where humans are tortured by those demons in many cruel ways that one shouldnt even try to image. The lava is here, the demons are here, and the souls to be tortured are here as well. This place already deserves to be called hell but soon it will turn into true hell of peoples imagination. Flame imps, hell hounds, pit fiends, vile monsters, siege beasts, fire infernals, blood worms, soul defilers, lurkers, golgors, hell berserkers, demon troopers and also in the sky flying, anarchs, demon bats, fallen angels, arch demons, gargoyles, phantom beasts, blood fliers. Those were everywhere in the line of sight up to the black portal wall where the red line used to be. They were still about three hundred meters away from the stairs but the marching army of demons would soon fill up that space as well, especially when the one who was marching on the front of the whole army was walking with the fast pace. The one at the front was not be the biggest demon out there but he had a different feeling than all others. Even if the army was so monstrous, it was easy to recognize this one at the front as its commander. His body also looked different than that of others. Sure the demons differed in shapes everywhere but some of them were similar to each other making them into groups. The leading one was different though and he could not be group up with others. Even though he might not be the biggest he was naturally still bigger than a human, even after comparing him to a mammoth he would still won. He was about 7 meters large in height and about 5 meters in width. Truth to be told his body was kind of fat and at the bottom he had eight crabs like legs that were supporting his weight. Those legs looked like obsidian steel that would be able to cut through anything. Higher up though as already mentioned the body did not look impressing as it was fat, at least by human standards. Still it didnt seem like this demon had any health problems, especially when his arms were incredibly muscular and given his large size, no human could rival them. Actually for human a fat body and muscular arms like that was probably impossible combination. Then lastly there was the demonic head that was completely inhuman like. The creature had four eyes and three black spikes at the top of its head. The whole demon body was black-brown in color, his skin as well although there were few places in which it seemed as through his veins rather than blood, it was the lava that flowed. His mouth and eyes especially revealed that the inside of him was made of fire. And then lastly, that demon was walking with gigantic giant-greatsword which he was holding in one hand while letting its blade fall on his shoulder. As for the sword, well from afar it did look like sword, black in color with red lava markings runes on it. Still if someone were to get closer to that sword though, it couldnt be called anything else than a long bar of steel that no human could ever wield it. At some point the leading demon called out yet again. -COME OUT AND STOP HIDING PUNY MORTALS, OR IS IT THAT YOU ALL HAVE LOST YOUR OLD HONOR THAT YOURS ANCESTORS ONCE SHOWED TO ME!!! After demon called out, it was clear that the last shout was also made by him, although the demon wasnt even trying to shout as his mouth was barely moving and yet, this was enough for his demonic voice to echo everywhere. Well then, its time to hide somewhere for two hours, the question is where. There probably wasnt a single person on the platform who thought about something else than hiding or running. -oya and here I wanted to help but after seeing this I think that even running away from this situation will not be easy. Is this the reason why they told me not do quest of ranks three? Was it simply because I wouldnt be able to do them alone anyway? While everyone were still regaining their composure, Haru ended up commenting, although that was probably her talking to herself, but second later it turned out that it was not. -Haru! This is enough, isnt it? You saw the quest of rank three already so its time to run! Despite the fact that Torachii was nowhere in sight, his voice came out from Harus direction. It seemed that despite the fact that he was now in the medallion he could still voice his thoughts. -easy, easy, I was joking. When it comes to running there is nothing that can stop me at this point. I mean I managed to run away from him right? If the strongest being in the whole EOA world couldnt catch me then it means that I can run away from anything, so lets see how the situation will develop and for a little longer. Out from everyone on the platform, only Haru could even think of surviving what was about to happen because everyone else already searched for hiding places and escape routes and couldnt find them. -OH, THERE YOU ARE! I CAN ALREADY SEE THE BRAVEER ONES!... In the meantime it seemed like the demon managed to notice the twelve people at the top of the stairs to the heavens gate. His eyes were now focused on the party as he was getting closer and closer to the gate, naturally with the whole demon army behind him. The demon army was surprisingly accurate and they were walking in battalions in a solid formation. Those werent some scavengers that were grouped together but rather a well-trained and disciplined demon army, but the fact that they were in formation moving like that was even scarier. Also not a single demon, be it on the land or in the sky dared to get ahead the leading one. -COME DOWN, SO I CAN SEE YOU ALL, YOU ARE NOT THE COWARDS THAT WOULD HIDE ARE YOU! It seemed that despite its demonic appearance the demon was complete reasonable being that was able to speak without many problems. He also did not mindlessly attack them right away which an usual monster in games would do. Still, the fact that he did not attack and was reasonable being made him even scarier. After all between the mindless demon and intelligent demon the later one was definitely more deadly. -Shin, what do we do? Vatras ended up asking although his voice signaled that he already made peace with his fate and naturally in a game, the death was something that happened to everyone every time, the more you play the more times you experience it and in the current circumstances no one could be ashamed if they died. -hmm lets start with ignoring the fact that the chances of us living do not exist or at least I do not see them yet Shin started very encouraging. -naturally its impossible for us to defeat this army and because running away would also involve getting through at least portion of that army, its impossible for us to run away as well. Well at least for most for us He finished last sentence while looking at Haru. -in that case the only route in which I can see a hope of hope for surviving exist is the route in which we try to survive for those two hours until the heavens gate opens and then by using it we hop into the heavens and hope that there is enough space to run away to as those demons will chase us afterwards anyway. Still that way we will theoretically enter the heavens so our new winning condition will be met. So I propose that we will try to go in that direction is anyone against it?... Despite the fact that it was Shin speaking his usual tactic that as always followed the reason to the last note, unlike usual, his voice was devoured of energy as if the words that he was saying were made in vain. Nevertheless there wasnt anyone against it so Shin continued. -now then, naturally the problem is how we will survive those 2 hours. Truth to be told we wont survive those as I said, right now there isnt any hope for us to win, the river of our lose doesnt even have a small rivulets to which we could try to escape to, at least I dont see it, thats why all the decisions that we will have to make at least for now are completely blindly. First decision, do we go down or stay here. Staying here gives us advantage in theoretical hopeless defense as the demons will be able to advance only by stairs, which are still 8 meters wide on and there are also flying demons as well so it doesnt change much but theoretically its definitely better place to make our last stand. -then we are staying here, right? Julia asked. -if we stay here then we will die, unless the heavens gate activate itself in spawn of two to five minutes as this is the best we can hope for before the demon lord losses his patience. So if you guys want to bet on possibility that I was wrong with my predicament and the heavens gate activates faster, then we might chose this option. -betting on you being wrong is like asking for a certain loss. Kei voiced most of peoples thoughts. -is that so? I would say that there are about 20% chances for that happening, I mean I never saw heavens gate activators like that and my examination didnt last even a minute so I think I could be easily wrong. -aye, you can think what you want but we think you werent. Bran commented. -in that case we will walk down the stairs as the demon lord asked us to. -wait, I am against it. Even if it may seem hopeless, if we will fight anyway we should do it here. Out of sudden Rin entered the interrupted Shins instructions. -is that what you think? Well it will probably end the same way whatever we choose but there are actually few merits that will come to us if we go down and fighting is impossible anyway so- -dont say its impossible. Sure I dont think that defeating this army is possible but if its holding my ground on this platform for two hours, then it might be. -is that what you think? Well, I for one know that you are strong Rin but the brutal truth here is that even you are not able to slay even a single demon in this entire army. Shin stated the fact that made chill go over everyones spine. -are you serious white glasses? -well dont get me wrong, I am not saying that every single demon here is stronger than you. On average if we dont count flame imps who are cannon fodder, the average strength of single demon will be equal to average strength of a single member of our party. Naturally that means that you who is several times stronger than our average, is also stronger than the average demon out there. Still in the end you wont be able to kill even single of them because of the special demon trait. -what kind of trait? -well its quite simple. Unless you kill them with a method that works on them they will regenerate to their original form endlessly. They have immortal bodies that are vulnerable only to either angelic or demonic power, unless you attack with those it will be no use Is that why there was only one guild that was said that can fight against demons. Arata recalled what he once heard. -and you dont have any attack like that do you? - . When Shin asked her Rin didnt say anything else back anymore. -naturally there exist exceptions to that rule as there always are. The one I know is that Larisane current elder Hikaris powers also worked on demons but except that I dont know of anything else. Shin started explaining but then someone interrupted him once again. -there are many more exception that I know Despite the fact that Haru was looking down on the army as if the whole thing was completely not connected to her, she started giving an advice, and unlike others, her voice was fresh and completely normal. -I dont know about any elders but the usual tactic to fight against demon army is to take down its general. The regenerative powers of demons come from their commander and ignoring the fact that he is generally powerful. The demons are always following demon lords orders precisely because he has their lives in his hands. If demon lord decides to kill his subordinates he can do so with a single thought. -I see, still even then demon lord is also demon with that regenerative power so it doesnt help us in the least. Shin answered back to her. -not exactly. Sure demon lord can also regenerate but the power of his regeneration comes from his core, and that core is physical object that is somewhere inside his body. -and if its physical, it can be destroyed. Arata commented and for the first time he saw the light at the end of the tunnel. -yes, if you destroy it then the demon lord will die. Unfortunately though even if by some miracle you manage to defeat the demon lord it doesnt mean that the demons around him will die out. At that moment they will become completely free beings. Sure they will lose their regenerative powers but there will still be the whole army of thousands to fight. -so in that case there is no reason to try to defeat him and we should stick to defending. After all whatever they have regenerative power doesnt matter as any that we slay one he will be replaced by yet another one. Arata commented but then. -I dont want to discourage you but we dont have much time for discussion left so lets not waste it on theory. In practice the moment the fight starts is the moment we die, its simple as that Shin started to state the cruel truth before some forgets themselves. -no matter what we do, if those demons charge at us we will be dent into the earth. As I said, each individual demon is as strong as any of us and even if lets say even ignoring their regenerative powers, each of us would be able take on a hundred then there will still another few thousands of them left. And then lastly there is also a demon lord. To completely convince you I will ask our temporary guess. Your name was Haru yes? -yes it is. Ah, I am happy that someone managed to remember my name without even talking with me. Shin asked her in serious tone but Haru was still completely unconcerned by the situation and behaved normally, if her usual behavior could be called normal that is. -tell me, can the lost miracle take on that demon lord? -by lost miracle you mean me, right? Why did you call me that? -well isnt that how the people call you now? One of four original members of legendary miracle team and yet the first one to leave the group while disappearing completely from everyones sight for years never to be seen again. I think this is the story from what that nickname came from? You are not familiar with it? -well the story is correct but its the first time I am hearing it, still I am surprised that there is still someone who remembers me here despite the fact that I never meet them. -really, I thought it was kind of obvious, right everyone? Shin ended up asking but the look of nearly everyones face said that they had no idea. Well there was also Rin who didnt seem to care, and as for Arata. Definitely obvious, I knew it the moment I saw her, well after few minutes of talk that is. She was really obvious. Well I guess others might have not realize as they didnt talk with her, although it seems like Shin recognized her by look alone. Does, people normally recognize those guys on sight? -hey Arata, did you realize it? Before Arata had a chance to ask, Levi ended up asking him with whisper. -well it was kind of obvious right. -yea, yea. The way Levi answered was kind of misleading. -what you didnt? Even someone as ignorant as me could figure it out, werent you listening to our conversation? -yea, at that time I was busy with planning my next moves on how to hit on her. -so what did you think she is so far? -hmm, hot babe with white tiger guardian? - . -hahaha, I was just joking well not with the last sentence but I simply wanted to check you out. I was actually counting that you with your ignorance of the world wouldnt even hear of them. Myself naturally I understood it as naturally I do know the legends about miracle team. The fact that most of them is completely unbelievable is a second matter but I do know them so naturally if we meet some player who was doing race to 299 level with her friends it can be only them. I mean in general currently there arent more than 30 people or so who have 299 level right? -good, you got me worried there. Arata for a moment was worried about Levis importance judgment but it seemed like he was simply playing around. Still apart from him there were some people that did not realize who Haru was in the party. After all normally one wouldnt simply assume that a random traveler they met was one from a legendary party, although the fact that it was random traveler right inside the west could point towards it. -I see so thats how it is. Personally I thought that no one would remember me at this point. But anyway, if you ask if I can defeat the demon lord then my answer is yes. After few seconds of silence Haru ended up answering although her answer was not something that Shin expected. -are you serious? -well, at the current moment because of what happened to me yesterday if you simply count pure power level then I might lose in that but I would still win nevertheless. It wouldnt be an easy fight, especially with this many demons surrounding him but I believe in myself. However I am not planning to do that. I did say that I want to help but me killing demon lord does not help your position in any way and unfortunately I dont think that even with my full powers I could later on take on the remaining army, whats more if I overdid it with demon lord I could have problems to run away afterwards and currently I have a good reason to not want to die. Unless I find a meaning in it I wont do anything here. -honestly I am shocked that you can really claim to be able to do that like its not a big deal but I will not argue with you. -as I said, it wouldnt be easy but if it came to that I can win. -whatever it is we wont be asking anything like that out of you. Anyway guys, lets start climbing down the stairs as we cant keep that guy waiting Shin pointed towards demon lord who with his army was now a small distance away from the stairs and if the party didnt start go down those stairs before he reaches them, it could end up with dead end right away. While they were already walking down though he once again started. -if it seems strange to anyone that we are following what he says then let me tell you that given our objective of staying alive for two hours, following demon lords wishes is the best way to try it. Namely we can buy a lot of time if we go down talk with him as surprisingly, demon lords like to talk a lot. If we are luckily, he might even end up talking for those two hours nonstop. -really? Arata asked as he didnt believe it. -well, we probably wont be able to talk for 2 hours but we are sure to get at least ten minutes. That combined with the time that already passed would be the whole twenty minutes of time. Its quite plenty isnt it? Anyway whatever you guys do, remember to not try to start the fight on our own, if that happens we are bound to die. Our quest of rank three was always impossible to begin so dying on it isnt strange at all. Rather we should be surprised if we live on later on. Anyway I still dont believe that each individual demon is as strong as we are, although As Arata was walking down the stairs, he thought like that, still the only reason that he did not believe in demons strength was the fact that there were simply so many of them. Normally in games if there are so many enemies, the player is able to kill one after another with a single attack or with some ultimate spell completely destroy at least half of the army. Still, that was what was happening in normal games. EOA was not normal by any means and also, right now Arata was trying to complete the world first with the party of eleven people and Haru, although Haru wasnt going to do much as he assumed. Even if she did it would still be 12 people doing world first in a game where to battles you can bring as many people as you can. From what Arata read there were two known quests of rank 4 completed by two strongest guilds and those two quests unlocked two new races. At the current moment Arata believed that there were probably more of quests like that completed and those two were known only because it was impossible to hide information about it. Anyone could find out that new races appeared after all. Still no matter how many quests of rank 4 were completed, the said two as the tale went, involved hundreds if not thousands of players trying to complete a single quest and of a lower rank then the current at that. On the other hand Arata was trying to do a higher ranked quest with less people. The fact that there were no thousands of players present, didnt mean in the least that the fight for the thousands of players will not happen and from the look of it, even a thousand might not be enough as the demons kept on coming out from the black portal and each individual, looked like boss-class monster of some dungeon at the very least. There was no way that monsters that looked like that could be a simply cannon fodder. -so, you decided to stop hiding, just as I expected While the party was still walking down the stairs the demon lord said those words to them. His voice stopped being ridiculous loud although it still had its demonic vibe in it. It was still strange for a demon lord to talk with normal humans but the answer to that question arrived quite quickly. -do not be afraid to speak at least before we start the war. Even though in the long past my opinion was different, right now I respect your kind and I also learned to not underestimate it. Despite your petty appearance your kind always had great power in yourself, and I saw many prove of it during my my lifetimes. Your kind was always strong, there are even cases of individuals that power suppresses heavily even that of mine, one thousand years ago I actually fought fair and square against one of you, he was just a kid and yet he defeated and actually killed me easily without any effort, it then took me the whole three hundred years to revive after that loss. Even since then you have my respect and even though some of you are complete weaklings, the strong ones appear in your bread. In our last heavens invasion, it was precisely because of you that we failed, and then when we came to execute our revenge, you fought bravely for many years before finally submitting to our power. And lastly your final trait, despite being simple mortals, no matter how many times we destroy your cities and burn down your villages you will still rise again from ashes. So you have my respect and right to speak before me, also I know you are no weaklings, after all to reach this place with the ancient relic, you had to defeat Beelphegor, who despite not being the brightest, and strongest of us he was still a demon lord just like me We better not mention the fact that we actually bought that item for gold. While listening to the demon lord, a thought like that appeared in Aratas mind. -now then, before we start the war, the greeting between generals is considered the right manner in for your kind, isnt it? Allow me to start, MY NAME IS AZMODAN, THE DEMON LORD OF WAR. The one who loves battle, the one who loves death, the one who has respect for his enemies but also the one who is easily bored. The last information was slightly different from others but in the Demon lord stated his name. Oh my! Its good old Azmi! After hearing that name, a thought like that appeared in Aratas mind. Truth to be told the name Azmodan for a demon appeared in about every second game that had anything to do with demons. Still that was simply because in the mythologies and many religions there always appeared a demon with that name whose purpose differed from legend to legend but the name Azmodan was something that appeared many times. It appeared so many times to the point that Arata every time hearing this name in a new game would give the demon with that name nickname Azmi. Arata was not sure from where that nickname actually came from but at least in his guild in LITC which also had the demon end boss called Azmodan in some raid, everyone in the guild were calling him Azmi so it wasnt only Aratas nickname alone, although he was the origin of that name in his guild to begin with. Unfortunately giving the demon lord a cute nickname like Azmi did not make him any less treating. Hmm, I meet Azmi in this game and this game allows players to talk with NPC the way they want, has the chance to call Azmi, Azmi finally come? Despite a huge temptation of fulfilling one of everlasting dreams, Arata decided to not do anything stupid because Azmi might not like his nickname. After Azmodan stated his name, he waited for response from mortals armys general. Naturally there was no one like that here and also less twelve people could not be called an army but in the end after few moments of silence, Shin as a raid leader answered to him. -my name is Shin, the magician of the city of Karma and the temporary leader of this unit. Even in a face of a demon lord, Shin would still not say that he is leader of the party. That actually took some talent and a lot of unwillingness towards that name. -Karma? Karma? Hmm, where did I hear the name of this city? Ah yes, its the first mortal city I will be destroying while we will be making the invasion to the east from here. Hmm, when was the date of that invasion planned though? Ah, I dont remember After hearing the name of the city, Demon Lord Azmi ended up revealing some critical information, at least critical for the residents of Karma. Hopefully, I wont be there when it happens. Arata didnt have much attachment to that city so he wouldnt cry if it gets destroyed. On the other hand there were actually many people in this party that had that attachment with Rin being the first one on the list. Still, getting worked up about the news right now, wouldnt do any good and everyone still remembered what Shin told them, namely to not start the battle on their own. -so tell me, is there really only twelve of you here? Azmi asked. - . yes there are. After moment of thought, Shin answered truly. One could argue about that choice of lying. Saying that Shin has eight thousand followers hiding in the mountains ready to fight at any moment could work but that would work only for at best a minute and when Demon Lord Azmi would found out about the lie he would probably stop the chitchat and execute everyone on the spot. Shin probably calculated that rather than lying and be killed the moment the lie is found out, it is more beneficial to prolong the talk with truth for as long as possible because that gave the highest number of minutes and gathering as many minutes as possible to the pull of two hours was the only way for the party to have any hope of survival. -I see, only twelve people and their leader say he is only temporary, I see, I see You dont have to say anything else just nod to confirm what I think. So, despite the fact that you had the power to bring down Beelphegor your armies suffered too much in that fight as Beelphegor despite his many flaws is demon lord nevertheless. So because so many of you died there, you twelve are the last survivors of your tribe who to honor your fallen, decided to use the ancient relic to make connection with heavens once again. Demon Lord Azmi started creating some unbelievable stories that came out from nowhere and had no basis but after hearing it, Shin ended up nodding as if saying that was true. - . -hmm thats no good, thats no good. Do you know why we came here on this very day on this very hour? It is because we were already expecting you mortals to come here and activate the gate ever since Beelphegor was defeated. We set the sensor that would inform us the moment some mortals try to climb the stairs. So when it happened we came here to invade the heavens with the very gate that our enemies made, in the most unexpected way. Angels do know of Beelphegor demise and the fact that he lost the relic. Because of that they also know that we dont have it so we wont be able to attack from the gate, and this knowledge is something that we exactly planned on using. Before attacking the heavens though, I was planning to entertain myself with the mortals who managed to defeat Beelphegor and because of that I came excited hungry for battle Azmi explained his reasons but then he started unexcited. -but there are only twelve of you and thousands of us, how do you expect to satisfy my army bloodlust. Ah if I knew it would happen we would have come two hours later when the gate is open, now we have to wait, and didnt you hear how I introduced myself. I am the one who is easily bored and waiting is one of the things that I hate the most in the world. Ahhhh! I dont even have anyone to take my anger on! The twelve of you is not enough! Not to mention that I would have become laugh stock for attacking twelve mortals with army of thousands demons So does that mean that we dont have to fight them? After hearing Azmi sulking, a hope like that appeared in some mind, unfortunately though that hope was easily broke as this world was not a gentle world that would allow something like that but rather an evil world that had no mercy on its players. This time however it wasnt going to be that bad though. -two hours, two hours, what can I do for two hours Azmi continued his lament although currently at least 20 minutes has passed ever since the gate was activated. Surprisingly though Azmi also knew that it will take two hours to activate this gate which highly increased the possibility of that being true. -ah it cant be helped, when it comes to war, I love even waiting for it. In that case I should be a good leader from time to time and let the new blood have their first mortal kills. Then again, there is only twelve of them, if it turns into hunting, no one will want to take part in it as it would be a dishonor Oh I know! You are mortals so lets do it in your mortal like style While talking, Azmi was touching his chin with his gigantic left hand which signaled that he was thinking hard, although him doing so, did looked grotesque. In the end though, it seemed like he found an idea. -SHIN OF KARMA! I hope you do realize that you and your comrades life depend on my whim. -naturally I am aware of that. I would be a fool to think otherwise. Shin answered. -good, I still asked because some of mortal breed sometimes have really crazy ideas sometime, but then again you are a magician so you have your head on the right place. Then listen right now I dont care about mortals especially if they are not able to put up the fight. If there were more of you then I would destroy you all without a moment of hesitation because you would get in the way later on when the true war beings, but with your numbers, you cant even do that. So I dont care about you. The thing is though that the gate activation sequence takes some time and I am the one who hates boredom and to counter that I came up with good idea. For those 2 hours we will hold small fights between us, naturally we will limit ourselves with numbers to make it more honorable. This will serve as learning for my new demon troops to understand the powers of mortals as they do not estimate you in high regard like me. -I see if we can help it anyway we will gladly do so no matter what kind of rules those fight have. -hahahaha, I like you, you are fast on uptake. Yes, its not like you have any choice, apart from dying immediately right away, although I did meet mortals who would chose to do so right away. -we prefer to hold on our lives but if I understood correctly then if we manage to survive 2 hours will you let us go? -DEPENDS. If you manage to entertain me for those two hours then you might try to run away, if you can that is, because at that moment the war will begin. In war nothing is certain and that what makes it beautiful. Still after those two hours I dont care what will happen with you. But I am already bored so LETS BEGIN IMMEDIATELLY!... The talk with Demon Lord Azmi turned out to be quite advantageous as during it the party avoided the worst case dead end scenario in which the whole demon army attacks them, still the unknown rules on which Shin had to agree on did not give that better of a situation either. After Azmi made a loud roar, some of the demons from the army came before him and stand in the line like well-organized army pluton. There were also two demons that came down to this line from the sky. All demons saluted towards Azmi with their hand and then they spited in two groups to the left and right. There were both ten demons on the left and right side of Azmi standing in the line. Lastly there was one demon that started walking towards the party and he stopped in the area between the party and the demon army. It was the first time that anything passed through the imaginary boundary line. As for the demon, he was completely red in color and didnt have head or a neck. Instead his eyes, month and ears were placed on his torso. In a way that demon wasnt that big as others but he was still about three meters large in height and two in width. Apart from not having head and being red, he had humanoid posture with two hands and legs that ended with hooves. -the rules are simple, two fighters come in one goes out and I chose the fighters. For starter, I already felt the disgusting presence of this race for long enough so order that elf over there to start fighting immediately! Azmi was not wasting his time and started the fights right away. While choosing the first person to fight though, he did not even give it a second of thought but immediately pointed with his free hand towards large green haired elf Vatras. Does he not like elves for some reason? Its good that we dont have many of those as it seems if that were not the case he would killed us asap. Anyway if this is how the situation develops, its not that bad. As long as I am not chosen its fine to just look, then if I get chosen then I will steal as much time as possible without killing my opponent and then the moment gate appears, its time for the run. Meaning, lighting speed and go. While the situation was occurring, Arata came up with a suitable plan that gave him the biggest chances not only on survival but on completing the quest. Naturally it was only about his own survival but in the current situation he couldnt be bothered with others because even if he wanted to, there was nothing he could do. Even with his decision to help out Rin first, if his interference did not change the outcome anyway, Arata was not stupid enough to try. In the current situation everyone had to lookout for themselves. -Tras, see you in Karma. While Azmi was looking, most of the people did not say anything because as Shin mentioned that saying anything that they do might cause him to change his mind. Still, after Vatras started to go to the place where the fight was going to be held, Shin said those words towards him. Hearing it, Vatras only smiled and continued forward. Hmm, I guess if those demons are immortal anyway, actually no one of us can win. Unless we have angelic or demonic powers but I doubt that anyone here has something like that. Even if my Twilight swordsman class which is kind of evil and has the powers of darkness, those are probably not demonic powers so it wont work. So whoever goes out there is doomed to lose, and this guy is even in more uncomfortable position. From what I know, druid-like classes have a lot of restrictions on their spells if there are no trees around. During the journey Vatras was showing of his skills and from what Arata understood, unless there were trees around Vatras had a lot of spells that he couldnt simply use. At the current moment, the red ground underneath everyones feet didnt even have the grass as it already burned down. The same went for trees that were in the area before demonic invasion. All of those turned into ashes and were now scattering in the wind making the place look even more demonic. Anyway its already been 20 minutes since activation of the gate, lets see how much time we can get from this. -LET THE FIGHT BEGIN! The moment Vatras moved away from the rest of the party and was in a distance of 5 meters from them, Azmi shouted, despite the fact that Vatras clearly wasnt ready yet. Still that only showed that he was an impenitent person who didnt like to wait, or maybe it simply showed that he really hated the elves. -wraaaaar! On the command Vatrass opponent started rushing forward. Despite the fact that he was standing on two legs just a second ago, in his run he was also using his log-like arms so his style of running was similar to that of gorilla. The rushing demon looked overwhelming in every point and it was rather clear that the moment he reaches Vatras it will be the end of the fight. Still, because the fight started earlier than expected the distance between two fighters was greater than it should be normally, although no one could really tell what distance was actually right when it came to duels with demons. The whole distance between the party and the demon army was about 80 meters so it was quite a lot. For some reason the demons werent coming any closer than that, although it was rather that for some reason Azmi was not coming closer than that and other demons simply did not dare to get ahead of him. Still by this act Azmi was probably making a lot of space for the fights to come. The rushing demon had to run through 60 meters to reach Vatras and naturally Vatras was not going to let this advantage pass by him. It seemed like the demon was some kind of pure brute force type of the fighter so someone who could attack from the distance would naturally get the advantage in the first seconds of the fight. Despite the fact that Vatrass skills were mostly connected with the use of trees or in the very least grass, he had one spell that he could shoot out. It wasnt anything overlay powerful, as it was only slightly stronger than most basic magic bolt but even that was better than nothing. In a way, the spell that Vatras started casting was in a way, druid type of basic magic bolt, and the only difference was that it was green in color. While having his wooden staff on the back, Vatras started casting with his hands the spells. Green light appeared at his hands and second later it flew towards the rushing demon. Also Vatras was not wasting any time and he was shooting one green nature strike after another. The rushing gorilla demon was running in the straight line and even upon seeing the green magic bolts flying in his direction he continued to do so. That naturally that led to him getting hit by one bolt after another and his body was simply taking hits but those hits didnt even slow him down much less damage him. The situation didnt look too well for Vatras and the demon was getting closer and closer, still seeing the effect of his actions, Vatras decided to change his attack method and stopped spamming his green bolts. Instead he started gathering energy in a single green nature strike by not shooting it right away but keeping it in his hands. What he was doing was one of the simplest methods of skill manipulation which was to gather more many in one skill to give that skill more firepower. Truth to be told that method was not very effective as apart from extra power there were no others extra effect involved but against opponent with tough defence it was definitely better to attack with something that can have an effect. Also the biggest weakness of this method which was the fact that it took more time to cast and the fact that opponent could dodge it anyway werent Vatras concern right now. He still had few seconds before the enemy reaches him and as for dodging, the demon did not care to do so at all. When the distance gone down to five meters Vatras shoot out his green bolt that after charging up, changed its color and become slightly darker. The bolt soon reached the charging demon and landed right at the demons right arm. When that happened there was a small explosion that finally managed to damage the demon and not only it damaged him but also nearly blow away the arm completely as after the attack it was barely attached to demons body. That explosion made the demon fall to the ground in his run as he was using his hand in that run. After falling the demon started rolling forward to Vatras who immediately moved away from there to the left. Despite the fact that he landed a large blow, Vatras did not relax at all and after making some distance he once again started casting the power up green nature strike and everyone soon learned why. The demon, who just rolled on the ground stood up like nothing and looked at his right arm which had a damage that revealed its bone, which also become slightly cracked. But then after the second of though, the demon ended up grabbing his right arm with his left hand and pulled it strongly. With that act he actually ended up reaping off his right arm, which despite the damage was probably still in very usable state. But then again even crazy act like that soon become understandable. After reaping his arm, the demon started to walk towards Vatras this time on his legs and as he was doing so, the arm that he just ripped off started regenerating. The red flesh started to come out from it and after there was enough substance, the flesh became the new arm in the spawn of 6 seconds. It happened so fast that one could think that the arm was never ripped off to begin with. Just to be sure Arata looked towards the place where demons previous arm was thrown to. Its still there. Unfortunately, the old arm was still there and even blood was flowing out from it. Sure it was a black blood of a demon but blood nevertheless. In the meantime Vatras managed to charge up yet another green bolt and from a distance of two meters. He shooted it at the demon who was walking towards him. This time the demon did not ignore the attack but rather he punched the green bolt with fist. Yet another explosion occurred and with it, everyone could see five fingers from demon being blown away, but then after the smoke from the explosion disappeared the hand was completely intact yet again. After that, it was demons turn to attack. His attacks were quite simple. Using his gorilla like body and log-like arms he was making huge blows one after another. His reach was at least two meters while dodging the attacks Vatras couldnt even dream of attacking back in melee. What he was doing though was mostly backing back. Still the demon was making strikes one after another and he was smashing at the ground and the longer he did that the faster he become. Vatras had problems with dodging from the very beginning as his normal body wasnt very agile-like and after a minute of struggling he finally got hit. It was a horizontal gong strike from the left which he did end up blocking with his staff but the moment the arm reached him, the staff was split in half giving no resistance at all and he took the full force blow. Even someone of Vatras posture was blown away in a second but naturally the demon didnt stop at that and soon once again rushed after him. Aaa, this doesnt look too good. After getting hit, even though it probably hurt like hell, Vatras did not give up just yet and decided to use the best tactic that was out there and would give the best result in time gathering, namely running away. While flying in the air from being blown away Vatras was surrounded by green light and soon he changed his form into that of Black Panther. Using thats form agility, he turned around in the air and without much problem landed on four feet just like all cats do. Then after giving a quick look to his enemy Vatras the Black Panther started to run away. Well it probably kind of sucks to simply run away but I guess he wants to buy us as much time as he can. Or rather actually I believe that in that form he is at least twice as fast as the speed that demon showed earlier on so theoretically he could run around for two hours no problem. In essence, in this battle of time, running away from enemy was probably the best tactic there was but unfortunately even if at the first glance it looked flawless, there was one huge flaw in it that no one expected. When Vatras started running away, out of sudden on his way a wall appeared. It was actually a wall that landed right before him and because it appeared so close, in his super speed mode of black panther Vatras had no chance to stop at this point and he ended up crushing with his head right into it. -HA! ELVES, THEY ARE ALWAYS THE SAME, THE ONLY THING THEY ALWAYS DO IS RUN AWAY IN FEAR. AH, THIS RACE IS ALWAYS SO DISSAPOINTING!... The demonic loud voice of demon lord Azmodan could be heard right after Vatras crushed right into his sword. The flaw of running away plan was that Azmi was not going to tolerate it and thats why without thinking for a second, the moment he saw Vatras attempt on running away, he immediately swung his sword and blocked his way. It was just a simple swing but the moment he did that the ground trembled and the lava started to come out from the place of the cut. Still right now it was not important as Vatras who crushed with his head into that sword was not in the best shape and naturally there was no time for him to recover. His demon gorilla opponent reached him few seconds later and when he did, he began the slaughter. He started attacking with his fists one after another right into Vatras body which turned back from black panther form into normal form upon the crash. The blood was scattering around any time the demon hit although it was very probable that even after one or two hits Vatras was no longer alive still despite that the demon did continue to hit and there was no one to stop him. -HAHAHA, THERE ARE NO BETTER ELVES THAN DEAD ELVES, DONT YOU AGREE EVERYONE! =HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! After Azmi commented on the situation his whole army behind him started to laugh with the demonic laugh and because it was the whole army doing so, the sound that they all made was really terrifying. And here I thought that they are more of organized army than a savage beast but I guess its rather that they are originally savage beasts who were turned into the army. Really can there be anything worse than that. In the end Vatras fight didnt last even five minutes, so it was quite concerning matter as it was still one and half an hour before the gate activates but given the strength of the demons, it was really possible that there wouldnt be anyone left alive at that point, if any at all. -GOOD, GOOD. It was fairly entertaining to see the elf getting the beating, you must know that even though I do respect mortal races, the elves were always so disappointment to me and anytime I see them they disappoint me yet again. But I already cleansed your group of that pathetic existence so we wont see any more of that behaviors Azmi said those words towards the party and his words were sending a simple message, the moment someone starts to run away is the moment he dies. There was also one other message hidden within it as well and that was the moment someone else tries to do that is the moment in which I will lose my patience. -so who should be next It seemed like Azmi was going to choose another fighters right away. First he looked at his demons in the line and then despite the fact that he didnt say anything one of the demons stepped forward. This time the demon was a dog, but not any kind of dog but a hell hound. The chosen hell hound had two heads and three tails and in general looked diabolic. In a way though he also looked like a simply big dog but naturally hew was much more deadly than that and he still had 160 meters in height. -and from your YOU! DONT YOU FEEL A LITTLE BIT TOO RELAXED!... After choosing one of his demons Azmi looked back and the party and second after he did, he saw a behavior that was somewhat, disrespectful. Well in general it wasnt the only disrespectful behavior as for example at the current moment, Haru was eating an apple as if nothing was happening, and then there was black bearded dwarf who was waving his hand as if saying, -pick me! Pick me! His ever so lasting smile was also on his face all right. But then there was a person who was sitting down with crossed legs and closed eyes. -OKAY, I DECIDED, IT SEEMS LIKE YOU ARE BORED AND BECAUSE I AM THE ENEMY OF BORDEOM, YOU ARE NEXT, COME HERE MAGICIAN! The person who was sitting down and meditating was Hiro, and his meditation was not interrupted even after the loud yell of Azmodan. Still it was obvious that it was he who he was calling. -aaa, brother he is calling for you! After the call though, Mika ended up running towards Hiro and she started shaking his shoulder. -so the bastard wont even let me prepare, oh well I wont need anything more than this one Hiro commented and stood up from the ground. -guys, see you in Karma, dont stay in the heavens for too long and remember to take pictures. It seemed like despite his bad humor earlier on, Hiro calmed down enough to start joking around before going for the death. -aaa, brother dont die! When Hiro started going forward, his sister called out to him. -dont trouble others while I am not here and listen in everything Shin. Also, dont do anything suicidal, dont heal up the enemies, dont jump in front of some attacks, and dont overdo it with healing to the point where you pass out. Also dont panic and For about another minute, Hiro was listing one after other things that Mika shouldnt do. The list was extremely detailed. -there are also the other usual things as well but you should remember them by now, now then here I go before they got tired of waiting. Hiro was probably already testing Azmis patience so making him wait any longer could spell disaster. Thats why right after calming his sister down and also sending her an unusual smile that he would show only to her, Hiro walked way to face his enemy. -LET THE FIGHT BEGINS! Azmi yet again started the fight as fast as possible although yet again it was advantageous for the partys side. This time however Hiro wasnt going to have that much time though as the speed with which the hell hound started to run was about four times faster than the previous gorilla demon. Hiro started the firing out his water spinning balls right away and despite the fact that he wasnt channeling them at all they were still probably stronger than Vatrass charged green nature strike. In a way he was actually channeling them but his casting speed was just the same as in normal spells. The power was show right away as the moment the attack reached the rushing demon and one of the heads got hit, half of that head was completely destroyed. Despite that though, the hell hound was rushing forward without stopping, ignoring all the attacks. Its heads and front legs got destroyed few times during the run and because of that the hellhound fall down to the ground but then again, seconds later those broken parts would regrow. At some point though, it turned into Hiro firing at the lying on the ground hell hound who was keep on regenerating. In short one sided massacre. -wow, is it just me or their regeneration is even faster than the last time? While looking at the fight, Arata heard Flynns comment coming somewhere from the left. -the closer they are to their general the faster their regeneration is. Also if there is only one demon that is using regeneration power, then all of that power is focused only on him. Really, those one on one fights cant be called more wrongly than that. Shin answered. So the current demons regeneration was even greater than usual. So simply put it, if there were more demons regenerating at the time it would work slower. I still dont see how it would help though. Even if it was slower they would still be able to regenerate from vaporized state. Arata though, while seeing that the hell hound that just disappeared after one bigger attack, reappeared yet again. After firing one water spinning ball after another for about five minutes, Hiro naturally started to slow down. It was maybe rather that the speed that he was casting earlier on was insane especially given the fact that there was skill manipulation involved. And then as he started to slow down, one of his attacks did not reach the target and fall to the ground before reaching the target. And in that brief moment of time, the hell hound escaped. It was not that he managed to run away normally but he used some kind of spell that moved his body on its own five meters away from firing range. Before Hiro managed to change the direction of his attacks the hell hound managed to regenerate enough body to start running again and this time he was no longer going straight forward. He started circling around in a distance of about four meters away from Hiro and given his speed, actually hitting him with that spell was next to impossible right now. After five complete misses Hiro also reached that conclusion and gave up on attacking for the time being. Oh, it seems that even though they are immortal they still dont want to get killed over and over again. And if those guys start to fight in more intelligent way they may be impossible to stop. Not to mention that hound just used a skill a second ago. Hiro was waiting in the middle of the circle with his hands ready while the hell hound was circling around him, naturally that stalemate did not last long and finally the hound made swift turn but naturally Hiro was prepared for that moment. -spell seven, water laser. Hiro pushed both of his hands in hell hounds direction and the high pressure stream of water shoot out second later. In the time of that delay though, the hell hound also got ready, and despite the fact that he was only three meters away from where the spell was casted, hell hound in that one second managed to cast his own spell or maybe it wasnt even a spell. The two demonic heads of hellhound breathed fire right into the water stream. Right after the clash of spells, in the reaction of water falling right into the fire, a large amount of white steam appeared that immediately made a large cloud of mist. As one would expect though, few seconds after that at the end of the mist, the water stream came out in a solid line, which meant that the fire spell of the hound was broken, or fire breath of the hell hound simply ended as the hell hound already achieved his goal with it. In the middle of the white mist, a grey shadow moved and that shadow seemed like a dog. The hell hound managed to move away from the firing range of water laser and now he was once again attacking at Hiro who was still casting his spell thinking that he just blow away the hound on kilometer. Unfortunately that was not the case and in the moment the shadow of the dog attacked the hands of the shadow of a man. Hiro couldnt move his hands at that moment because after activating the water laser he couldnt change the direction of attack which would happen if he were to move his hands, still because he saw the hounds head jumping at him he immediately realized that he had to do something. What he did was slightly reckless but at the same time it worked perfectly. Hiro simply jumped upward a little and the force of his spell pushed him backward and that not only allowed him to dodge the strike but also the spell managed to hit the hound who got in the attacking range. It was only for three seconds before Hiro fell to the ground from the force but in those three seconds the hound did get blown away and fly away and disappeared. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. For two seconds, Hiros water laser was being shot up to the sky and afterwards it ended. Hmm, he bought some more time with that action. A thought like that appeared in Aratas and some of partys minds as those fights werent even about winning. Unfortunately it couldnt be any wrong. Out from the white mist the hell hound jumped out and with its head he bitted at Hiros still stretched arms and all it took was a second of time for those arms to be separated from Hiros body. The hell hound made this attack on a single sprint so when he stopped three meters away from Hiro, he still had two hands in its mouth. There was a difference in look in this hellhound in comparison to before and that was that the number of heads. The previous one had two of them but this one now had only one. The same went for number of tails being reduced to two from three. -aaah, it seems like RIP Hiro. Seeing the armless mage on the ground Bran commented, still that comment couldnt be any more wrong as in the first place from the very beginning the fight was completely one-sided. One-sided in a way that one side did never have any chances at victory. Can he even cast spells like this? Naturally being handless greatly lowered one fighting potential, although rather than worrying about casting spells right now Hiro had problems even with standing up. The one headed hell hound was not going to give him the time to learn how to stand up without hands though. The hound split away the hands he had in his mouth and once again started attacking. This time he was not rushing but the distance of three meters wasnt much. He soon reached to where Hiro was struggling and then right away he bite at Hiros head, still the only thing that hell hound managed to bite was the flash of Hiros spell. Hiro teleported few meters away. He appeared in the air still in lying position but while he was in the air, before hitting the ground he managed to cast another spell. It wasnt a shooting spell as even if Hiro wanted to cast something like that he didnt have the medium to do so anymore. Instead it was a sort of a summoning spell. Hiros body was soon surrounded by water and after three seconds he started floating inside the large water elemental. Well large only from human standpoint as demons in the distance were so much larger. Ah that spell. Well, hopefully this time it will work better as his last card. Arata remember Hiro casting this spell in his fight against Rin but at that time the spell was completely broken in second with a single range attack. It seemed that despite the fact that the water elemental seemed strong given his size in truth it wasnt that strong of a spell. The water elemental started shooting the normal water balls at the hound who this time yet again did not bother to dodge and started taking the hits. The water elemental attacks were not only slower but also much weaker but despite that the hell hound was taking them and was not rushing forward anymore. The hound might have simply been waiting for Hiro to bleed out as especially now that he was floating in the water, it was viable how much blood was coming out of him. It was enough blood for water elemental body to slowly turn red. Unfortunately though that was once again not the case and soon everyone found out why this hell hound didnt bother to attack anymore. -brother, behind you! Mika shouted to her brother who was fighting while trying to ignore the pain, unfortunately thought, her shout was not heard by him, and even if it were, it was already too late. Out of nowhere, behind the water elemental a second one headed hell hound appeared. Its black fur was now surrounded by red energy and because of that his speed was greater than even that of two headed hell-hound. Hiro didnt even see the second, and also he couldnt expect anything attacking him from the back as it was after all one on one fight. Still the second hell hound kept on rushing forward and then two meters away from the water elemental the red light around him exploded and the hell hound flied like an arrow into water elemental and Hiro. Without any resistance, Hiros body became separated into two parts. And both of those parts soon landed on the ground and the moment it happened signaled the end of the fight. The two victorious hell hounds walked towards each other and then they yet again combined into one being that they originally were. Naturally in this fight there werent anyone interfering and the two hell hounds were nothing else than two heads of one hell hound which were running around separately. It seemed like they possessed ability to do so and using that separation technique in the right time could completely foul the opponent, especially when the separation was made in the very middle of white mist. In the end though, what tactic did hell hound used did not matter as after all, his opponent couldnt make any real damage to him. If one cant damage their opponent they are doomed to lose eventually. There was still one occurrence that happened at the end of the fight. After combining into one, the two headed hell hound ended up growing yet another head and now he become the three headed hellhound. -HAHAHA, THAT WAS WORTHWHILE. HE EVEN EVOLVED INTO CERBERUS CLASS! Azmi ended up laughing out loud after seeing the puny mortal struggling against his fate just to end with nothing. If there was one thing that Hiro managed to earn though it was the time as his fight lasted about 15 minutes and now it was 50 minutes since the start of gate activation and only 70 remained. As for Azmis comment, it seemed like after winning the battle the hell hound become even stronger and now with three heads he might even start to split into three from now on as if only one wasnt enough. -no . After seeing the fight and her brother dying Mika ended up falling to her knees out of sudden and it seemed as if she was going to scream a second later. Before that happened thought, Julia ended up running towards her and shut her mouth. -now, now, we dont have the time to mourn the dead. Also you can meet him again if you simply log out so dont go into hysteria without a reason. Julia tried to calm her down but naturally that didnt have much effect. In the first place if the words had any effect on her then there wouldnt be need for shutting down her mouth. Still, that simply showed that people in this party did knew her way too well. -rule number six, similar to rule number five, any time Hiro dies, Mika goes crazy so countermeasures are advised. You learn it fast Julia Bran ended up commenting. -but when will be my turn! Its about time for Bran the demon slayer to show you it how its done. He also followed it up with something like this, still no matter how one looked at it, they would think that it was a joke as from those two fights one could easily tell that there was no force to fight against demons. Despite that fact though, once again Bran ended up waving his hand up towards Azmi to show that he wants to fight. Well he is a good guy. Sure we will probably all die anyway but because he would go first there are higher chances that we will live till opening of the gate. -now, the next battle Azmi yet again started choosing the fighters for next battle. From his side this time it was a brown demon who had quite human like appearance. He was brown in color, had two horns and a tail but his build was that of a human. He was also wearing leg armor. Then he was also wielding a weapon, a long red spear. As the demon reached the front of Azmodan he stuck that spear into the ground and waited for his opponent to be chosen. -hmm who should be next?... You dwarf! I see that you want to fight and I understand you, we all seek battles after all. Your effort to take part in the fight earned my respect for you but thats given, dwarves were always the best from all mortal races after all. Still you will have to wait one more turn as this time I would like to see somewhat closer combat Azmi said to Bran and it seemed that his tries to get the appeal actually worked and he was booked for the fight after this one. Before that though Azmi started to look for a suitable melee fighter but he soon reached the conclusion. -hmm ah it doesnt really matter. You there leader, send one of your melee fighters over here, I dont care which one, you all look all the same to me. Still send someone who will fight like a men and not run away or shoot some puny spells, I got bored of those already. When it came to melee fighters there were many to choose from as there were still alive and well the great number of them. Those were, Arata, Levi, Rin, Julia, Kei, Flynn and maybe Haru. Truth to be told, one couldnt tell her fighting style from just looking. She wasnt wearing any weapons and her armor or rather clothes didnt fit any type of fighting equipment either. Thin blue shirt with long wide sleeves, blue scarf, black and blue checkered mini skirt, black tights, and black sneakers. Those clothes really didnt tell much. The only thing that Arata had to go on currently was the fact that Haru was wearing a heavy plate white-gray leg armor when he first meet her, although no matter how he looked at her, she didnt seem like someone who would fit well with those, starting with the fact that her body wouldnt be able to stand the weight. At least in real world as this was the world of EOA in which the look of the person had nothing to do with their strength so in a way it didnt matter completely how one looked. -so, is there anyone who? Before Shin managed to ask for volunteers Kei ended up stepping forward and without saying anything or asking for permission he decided to take part in the next fight. Unless it was a fight, Kei usually didnt have much presence in the conversation and that was simply because he didnt say much. That was his nature and from Arata learned, he was always like that. On the other hand, when it came to fights, Arata would say that Kei was the best from the whole party in fighting and as the expedition progressed he was getting better and better, although Julia explained it to him as him getting back into the shape after the break. Everyone would get little rusty after not fighting for some time but that rustiness couldnt last long in the middle of expedition to the west. Arata didnt have many occasions to fight alongside him and also he nearly didnt have a single conversation with him, but if there was a chance he did see a lot from him. Kei was yet another example of person who is wearing the clothes that arent meant for combat. Through the whole expedition he was keep on wearing his sleeveless black shirt and blue jeans. Still with the result of surviving without any larger problems up till now, no one could really complain to him. Even now that he was walking towards his enemy, he didnt seem to care about changing his equipment at all. He took out his sword that had the chain at the end of it and he started to tie that chain around his right hand. -LETS THE BATTLE BEGIN! Yet again Azmi didnt wait for far too long before the fighters got ready, although the demon spearman was ready for the fight for a really long time. In comparison to the other two demons before him though this one didnt start running but he simply picked up his spear and started walking forward. Kei was also walking forward while adjusting his chain and the grip on the handle of the sword. The battle seemed static at first but that was only up to the time where they were three meters away from each other, in that moment both fighters got in the fighting position. Kei was holding his sword in both hands stretched forward and the demon spearman was holding his spear low ready to strike at any time. The difference between the sword and the spear is naturally its range. In general the spearman is always advantageous in fights as it is really easy for them to attack the other while swordsman needs to find a way to get closer. Naturally though coming closer is incredibly hard and a skilled spearman is usually able to stop the attacker from coming at any close range. The fight began and the fighters were two meters away from each other, Kei had to control the distance not to get to close although at this range a swift move forward could reach him right away. On the other hand for him to get anywhere in range he would need to make at least three steps. The demon spearman wasnt going to wait in a stalemate for far too long though and he right away started moving forward and made one attack after another. To that Kei was blocking it to the left and right while at the same time he was moving backward. It seemed like it will take some time before anything plays out, especially when Keis main purpose was to buy time. But then after two minutes later the simple fight between spear and sword ended. The demon activated some skill and his spear lighted up in red light and second later, the illusion of that spear flied forward at Kei. Kei immediately activated his own skill and his sword shined in blue light that managed to reflect the illusion of the spear. Second later though another illusion came this time Kei dodged it to the left and afterwards he jumped away a little just to see the occurrence from the distance. The spearman started sending illusions strike one after another and Kei was dodging them while backing off still he couldnt let this situations stay for too long like that so he finally decided to go forward. He moved right next to one illusions strike and once again reached the distance of 2 meters there he attacked at still shining red spear that the demon was using. To that though the spear moved and soon counterattacked, with illusion still activated. Still when it was in the closest melee range, the illusion didnt even have a space to appear. The spearman though still controlled the distance and didnt allow Kei to step forward at all but then after another exchange, Kei let go of the sword with his left hand in protector and with it he shoot out the fireball right into the spearman. Demon spearman seeing it immediately moved to the right and dodged the fireball completely still in his move he didnt have the time to control his spear properly and it was exposed for a second. Kei didnt lose on this opportunity and cached the spear with his left hand and afterwards he moved forward to slash with his sword. In that moment though the demon spearman let go of his spear and moved backward to avoid it. Kei rushed after him right away and didnt let him get away. He had advantage of moving forward so he did catch up to the demon in four steps and there with blue lighted attack strike he attacked. To that though, the demon spearman blocked it with his right hand, although calling that hand a hand was not right anymore. The hand transformed in some sort of fang, black in color and incredibly durable given the fact that Keis attack didnt do anything to it and what was worse, the demon had the second arm transformed into that fang as well. The demon attacked with the second arm but seeing it Kei simply jumped back a little and avoided it completely as despite the fact that hands turned into fangs their range was still that of a hand. The fight turned around and now it was Kei who had advantage in reach, which he wasnt going to waste. He started making attacks and the demon was blocking them while moving backward, but naturally Kei wasnt going to just swing his sword at him allowing the opponent to block. Second after one swing, the demon ended up punching forward with his fang arm and second later, that fang ended up firing away from his arm, right at Kei. Still Kei managed to catch that attack with his left hand protector few centimeters before it reached his heart. After that attack the demon followed up with the second one from the other hand. He wanted to use the window that the last attack made, unfortunately thought there wasnt any real open spots for him to attack there but rather it was Kei imitating one to cheat the demon into attacking. The demon took the bait and in that second Kei made a fast maneuver downward and his sword appeared right underneath the exposed hand of the demon. Still he didnt attack that hand but with another step he went for demons belly and there he made a fast cut which split the demon in half The two pieces of demon fall to the ground but Kei turned around with the sword pointed at those pieces. Despite the fact that getting cut in half should normally end the battle, it wasnt going to be the case here as the enemy wasnt normal. The demon no longer spearman started regenerating soon from his upper part and then he started to get up on his feet. Naturally though Kei wasnt going to wait and let him do that. Rather than that he already had his ultimate ready to strike. The dark energy was gathering at the tip of Keis sword and the moment the demon was getting up Kei pierced with that sword in the middle of that demon which immediately brought a shocking effect which made the demon unable to move. The demons body started to fall into the pieces but then its started regenerating yet again. Still against that Kei was simply not ending his spell and while the sword was still right inside the chest of the demon, the energy was damaging him. Yet another battle took the outcome where the demon was dying and regenerating yet again just to die afterwards. Still, Kei stopped his skill after about 30 seconds as it seemed that he simply couldnt hold it for that long. He also didnt attack the demon right away when he started regenerating. Even if without a skill, a simple sword attack would have a good effect. Kei simply moved away and waited for his enemy to regenerate. It took only 30 seconds before the demon was fully regenerated with his fang arms ready to attack as well. They also changed a little and now they were much longer which destroyed Keis advantage in range. Still after Kei saw that the opponent was ready for the fight, he rushed forward at him. The demon attacked with his fang hand but to that Kei simply avoided them by letting that attack go by his right and without even stopping he reached the demon and cut him again. This time it was the full cut from the right side of belly to left shoulder. The demon was yet again on the ground in pieces, and then yet again Kei turned around and waited for him to regenerate. This situation ended up repeating itself about 10 times and with each new time, Keis kill was even cleaner than earlier one. He completely grasped the demons ability to the point where he even let him pick up his spear again. Still that didnt change the fact that each of Keis rushes ended up in single cut that would kill a normal person. Also because Kei had a moment to rest after each kill, he wasnt particular tired by the fight right now and in essence he would be able to continue this training for a long time. The time might have been even long enough for the heavens gate to activate, unfortunately though a scenario like that was not going to happen. -WILL YOU KILL HIM OR NOT!? IF YOU CANT KILL HIM THEN SIMPLY GIVE UP! From now I will be adding one rule to those fights. They cant last more than ten minutes. If they do then it means that both fighters lose. This fight is already 20 minutes long so because rules changed only this time you have five additional minutes to finish this fight!... Even though it was a kill after a kill, Azmi ended up getting impatient as the sight of his warrior getting destroyed one time after another was probably not pleasant to watch. Azmis tournament, even if he considered it honorable was in truth a completely unfair set of fights in which only his side can win. In the first place for him it was a simple game to kill the time before his real war starts. On the other hand for party it was the fight for their life. Unfortunately though if Kei had a way to kill the demon, he would have probably used it long time ago so the situation in the following five minutes did not change and after those five minutes. -TIMES UP! With his gigantic sword, Azmi attacked at Keis position, as naturally the loser of the fight was meant to die. Still, seeing that attack coming, Kei made a fast movement to the right and the steel wall landed next to him. But just as he avoided the attack, somehow the sword ended up pulling him towards it not letting him escape, so despite the fact that Kei was trying to get as far as possible from that sword, he could not. Then his feet were soon covered by lava that was made after the strike landed on the ground. That lave wasnt coming from anywhere in particular but it simply appeared on the ground. After about a minute both Kei and no longer spearman demon were completely killed off by Azmi as both of them disappeared in liquid fire never to be seen again. How is this fair? I ask again, how is this fair? Arata would want to scream at the absurd of the situation and the result of peoples hard work. Despite the fact that Vatras, Hiro and Kei actually ended up killing of their demons opponents many times at that, their fate still lead them to their deaths and no matter how well they fought they still got killed off as if they were a pebble on the road although that was what the party was to the demon army. A pebble on the road that they were using to entertain themselves while waiting. Still Arata couldnt say anything to that, in the first place it was his fault for trying to do the quest of rank three and the fact that he involved others in it. The world where one can achieve everything simply because he believes that he will is definitely not EOAs world. If someone is completely unprepared for things he wants to do, then this world will not be gentle with him but rather it will threw it right into the middle of oblivion that the path he chosen was meant to bring. -ah, that was really disappointing, killing off that loser only one time was not enough. How dare he stains the name of demons so much and lose to a mortal who cannot even damage him. Eh thats what you get for recruiting in third circle of hell Azmi was clearly disappointed with the performance of his subordinate, enough disappointed to burn that subordinate alive and from Azmis attack that demon never regenerated himself again. -ANYWAY, NEXT FIGHT, ARE YOU READY DWARF! COME AND SHOW ME THAT YOUR BRAVERY IS WORTH SOMETHING! Probably because quite a lot of time has passed Azmi was not wasting any more time. Surprisingly this time it was the party side that had its fighter chosen first. In the end though. No matter how you look at it, the best result he can do is reach a draw, which still isnt that appealing. I mean there already were three quite good fighters who got killed no matter how hard they tried. After the three fights, Arata was already on the notion where the moment someone is chosen to fight is the moment they die. It was simply that it couldnt be anything else as even if you manage to overwhelm your opponent it still didnt mean that you can win and if you take too long the Demon Lord himself will make the execution and as it seemed, making any resistance towards him was a completely futile. Azmi was really on completely different level here although that was what one would expect from someone called Demon Lord, who is leading a gigantic army to make an invasion on heaven. Still, despite the fact that his lose was already decided, Bran did not lost his everlasting simile. -finally!... Bran said and then he reloaded his crossbow which was actually a move as if reloading a shootgun. -its time for Bran the Demons Slayer, watch and learn kids! With a comment like that he started walking fearlessly forward. -hey did Bran just lose it? Julia commented on his behavior. -well it may be still the aftereffect of the trunk that we drunk the last night. Flynn answered to her. -I think he said it like this so we dont bother with a goodbye talk like. Shin also ended up commenting. It seemed like Brans friends also couldnt understand where Brans confidence was coming from, which meant that what Shin said was probably correct and that Bran was just trying to look cool before dying, which would be so very in his style. Well I guess its better to do it that way. Still its really incredible how very few of us are left now. Without counting Haru and Bran who just left to be killed, there were only seven people remaining alive from the original 18 who went for the journey. Still there were only about 45 minutes left before the heavens gate was going to be activated and by how it went so far, there were high chances that some people will be alive up to that point. What will happen then though was completely different matter because surviving till the heavens gate opening didnt mean anything as at that moment it happens the demons army will march forward. After Bran took his position, one of the demons also came from the demon line. The first thing that one would think of after seeing that demon was he is gigantic. His height was rivaling Azmis one meaning he had about 9 meters in height. It was probably another type of brute force demon but in this scenario the one that Vatras fought against was actually small. The giant demon had two elephant like legs on which he was standing and three muscular hands that were coming from his back and sides. Then at the top there was egg like head which didnt have mouth or ears. There was only one eye in the middle that was now looking down on the small dwarf in a distance, although for the giant it was only few steps away. As if it wasnt unfair already with their regenerative powers. Arata could only think like that after seeing the giant. No matter how one look at it, Bran was completely overwhelmed without chances at all to the point where if someone were to start digging a grave for him, it wouldnt have been that strange. Strangely though Bran was completely unconcerned about his opponent. He already had his black-red crossbow in hands ready to fire at any second. -LET THE FIGHT BEGIN! Azmi signaled the start of the fight and somehow it turned out to be the fastest fight of all as it lasted only a minute. Boom, boom, boom! As the giant demon walked, the earth tumbled with each step. Bran on the other hand was standing without moving with his crossbow resting on his shoulder. He was waiting for the giant to come closer and then when he did. puf, puf, puf Bran made three shoots with his crossbow with his target being the left feet of the giant, on which was in the middle of the step. The second it stepped on the ground the bolts landed on that leg and then that feet got shivered to pieces the moment those bolts reached it. The three bolts were flying in the line and at the height of that line there was a large wound as if someone cut through the leg completely. Because the hit happened right in the middle of the walk, the giant started to fall right away. boom! The giant fallen onto the ground and his head ended up being two meters away from Bran. That fall though was so big that it force made Bran lift up by half a meter but afterwards he landed without any problems. Still the fallen giant right away used his side arms to smash the fly that was standing before him. To that thought, Bran simply shoot twice once for each arm. This time the moment the bolt reached the arms there was immediate explosion that pushed those hands away while damaging them highly in the process. Still that wasnt the end of demon giant attack as after that attack did not work he ended up glaring with his eye at the dwarf and then that eye started to change the color to red, which seemed as if some laser would be coming out from it any second. Still no one found out if there will be that laser coming or not as. -not so fast brother Bran reloaded his crossbow while saying those words and then he shoot right into the glaring eye. This time as the bolt flied through the air, there was a visible effect of it starting to glow in first yellow then orange and then red color. The red color was the last to be seen as the bolt ended up hitting the glaring eye right in the middle, which interrupted the effect of what was going to happen. -hasta la vista baby. With this quote, Bran turned around from his enemy and let his crossbow on his shoulder and when he did, right behind him yet another explosion happened and that explosion blow up the giants head. All that happened while Bran was standing like boss with the flames scattering behind him. = . In general everyone were quite quiet during all fights because rumbling around while demon army is watching wasnt the most intelligent thing to do. Still after this occurrence, no one would probably be able to say anything. Well, good job you killed him once but that doesnt change anything. He will just regenerate second later and this time he will squash you for sure. But I guess that is how one dies with a style. Aratas logical thinking kicked right away as in other fights, others also more or less won. Kei for example killed his opponent about twenty times and even though his kills werent flashy they were really effective. Here however Bran just once destroyed the giant demons head and now that he even turned around and was showing his back to his enemy, which was naturally the most stupid thing to do. At least in case where that enemy was still alive because as it turned out, the demon did not start regenerating like others and even his feet that was first damaged never started regenerating either. -WHAT TRECHERY IS THIS! CAN YOU KILL THE DEMON, DWARF! It took him another minute to realize what happened but naturally Azmi realized that he just lost one of his demons and as one might suspect, he wasnt too happy about. -aye and people call me Bran the demon slayer, so bring on another one! Bran answered loudly without fear. -em I never heard anyone calling him like that, did I miss something? In the meantime Julia ended up asking the question. -nah, he just thought it up just now to make it sound cool. Flynn answered to her right away as it was the truth that no one called Bran like that ever before. -still he did slay a demon just now didnt he? How did he do that? Julia followed with yet another answer. -hmm no idea, hey Shin, care to give us some insight. -I am also surprised, you saw that Bran use the same skills that he always had. Well if you want a good guess then it has to do something with his crossbow as it is a weapon of demon lord, of the very same like the one before us and that weapon is second only to legendary class. I see so this crossbow should have some effect that works on demons. Arata started thinking like that as well, also his thoughts were probably the truth as when Shin guesses something he is usually 99% certain of his answer, so taking it for granted wasnt wrong choice. -ANOTHER ONE YOU SAY? At the same time Azmis and Brans conversation continued. -GREAT! There arent that many of you and you are the first one that made things interesting. I should have expected it from the crafty dwarven race. You can fight as many times as you want, Bran the demon slayer, show me that you are worth of this title. Azmi accepted Brans ask and at the same time he also became the first one to actually call Bran by that name. Despite the fact that another fight might bring him death, especially when demons already knew they had to be careful, Bran still had his everlasting smile and simply reloaded his crossbow. The way he was always doing that thought was more as if he was reloading a shotgun because was only moving his hand back and forth to do so. The body of the giant was still on the field so it would get in the way. Because of that, Azmi himself caught the leg of the fallen demon with his free hand and then he threw that gigantic body like nothing, hundred meters away right into the lava river. - . Afterwards, Azmi was also not playing around with choosing his next demon and this time he chose the one that was standing on his left. In size, the demon was about as large as an average human, still his get up signaled that fighting against him will not be easy. The demon had magical like items all over him. Dark black red magical robe and demonic looking staff that anyone who would want to role play the evil magician role would kill for. Then there was also a head with three horns going left right and to the back on which a red crystal ball was resting on. And then lastly to add to the demonic appearance there were two red glowing eyes. After seeing his opponent Bran immediately started aiming at him even before battle began. He didnt have to wait for that for too long though. -LET THE BATTLE BEGIN! At the signal Bran right away fired out two bolts in the direction of his enemy. The bolts flied the distance of 100 meters and reached the demon mage who didnt move at all at least until those got closer in the distance. When they did though, he waved his demonic staff before him and a dark line of magic appeared in places where his staff went through. Brans bolts ended up crushing into that line and when they did they exploded immediately. Those explosions didnt even break through the magic black line though, although that black line disappeared soon after it was save. Brans attack ended up being futile but despite that he simply smiled even more and started shooting again. This time the demon mage wasnt standing by any longer. He pointed his staff forward and second later two circles of magic appeared in front of him on both left and right. Afterwards from those circles some black creatures started to crawl out. One from each circle, those were beings without consistent form. After crawling out they started to move in Brans direction. In the meantime other bolts were yet again blocked by demon mage. The attacks stopped for a second as both fighters decided to close down the distance, after walking for a half a minute though Bran yet again shoot with his crossbow into the black creatures and the moment the bolts reached them they exploded, eating away the black creatures with it. To that thought the demon summoner simply summoned two other without any difficulty. The fighters now stood 20 meters apart from each other and that was the place on which they stopped and then for about three minutes the battle turned into demon summoner summoning new creatures and Bran one-shooting them with his crossbow. After those three minutes though Bran stopped shooting out of sudden and that was probably because he realized what was this opponent strategy. So it was a drain mana prefight. Arata also realized it at some point that the battle simply turned in who will be the first one to reach their limits and it seemed that the demon was not getting too tired from his summoning while on the other hand Bran had a limit on how many times he could use his explosive shot. After realizing his disadvantage Bran broke into run forward to his enemy. Even if he himself wasnt that of melee fighter his opponent didnt seem like one as well. On his way Bran jumped over the hands of the black creatures with the high for a dwarf jump and without much problem he reached his enemy who immediately shoot out a large fireball forward with his demonic staff. To that though Bran quickly rolled away and avoided the attack and when his roll ended he yet again shot at the demon mage. Demon mage yet again blocked with his line of magic and second after he did he hit with his staff to the ground. When he did that a magical circle appeared underneath Bran but naturally Bran jump out from that circle immediately. From that circle this time a small creature appeared but this time it wasnt black but rather orange, and that creature looked like some of those that were standing in the demon army namely a flame imp. The flame imp after getting out started right away to generate a fire around his hands and three seconds after challenging it he shot it out in a form of a small fireball. From now on Bran had to worry about yet another thing even if he already was busy enough with the black creatures and attacks from the demon summoner. The fight turned into scenario where Bran was now running in circle as new creatures and imps were summoned and he had to avoid even more attack. The demon summoner was not going to stay on only small creatures only though. When Bran was completely occupied with what was already summoned the demon channeled a gigantic summoning circle from which a living flame rock came out. The flame rock soon took the form of four meters in height golem that would probably squash anyone the moment he came up with him. Despite the fact that originally it was one on one fight it soon turned into one dwarf running away while a small army was chasing after him. While running away Bran also had to kill of some of summoned creatures that stood on his way but luckily his shots were able to one shot them with the exception of the rock flame golem which soon after he appeared he became a huge trouble for Bran. Golems attacks, the moment they hit the ground they also squash out green lava around. It wasnt on the same level as Azmis attack but those were still troublesome. In time Bran didnt even see his opponent behind the wall of the creatures that his opponent summoned. In the end Brans started to run away in the opposite direction of the army while shooting with his crossbow as they came, still it was probably slightly too late for that. There was also the fact that Azmi was not really pleased with the fact that Bran is using such tactic so running away for a long period of time was not recommended. Bran also was completely aware of that and thats why his running away was only temporary. At some point he stopped running and looked back at the enemies that were crawling at him, the summoner was nowhere in sight still that didnt mean that Bran did not know where he is. -mhm Bran shoot with his crossbow upward to the sky, and then when the bolt reached the distance of 50 meters it exploded. From that explosion yet another bolt came out and this one went straight somewhere the small army. From the place where Bran was it was not visible but from the place from where Arata was looking he saw the scene completely. The flying bolt ended up hitting right into the demon summoner skull. The demon didnt even see the attack coming as his minions obscured his way. On the other hand Bran knew exactly where his opponent is as he wasnt using his eyes to see him and even if there were explosions blowing up everywhere, Bran could still easily locate people and demons by hearing alone. The moment the bolt went through the demon summoner head he ended up dropping dead without any resistance as Bran really snipped him down with that shot while executing a head shot. The minions that the summoner summoned also ended up disappearing with their master death. The moment the summoner died the magical circles draw back the summoned creatures right away, along with the fire rock golem who was a step away from killing Bran. The battle yet again had an unexpected winner although this time there were many close calls in his actions and probably his mana pool in this fight went down greatly as well. Still despite that, after standing up from the ground, Bran one again said. -bring on another one! -ah, as always he doesnt know when to give up doesnt he? In the party line, Shin ended up voicing his comment because normally anyone at this point would back off. There was a limit after all of how long one can fight, although if one were to count, the two battles that Bran fought jut now took only 15 minutes and that included all preparations and walking around, still by asking for yet another opponent, Bran was really asking to be killed especially when Azmis mood wasnt increasing after seeing on of his better new recruits getting killed in such pathetic fashion. -it seems that the fresh blood is not enough for you, in that case, what will you say about fighting someone more experienced dwarf? Despite his irritation Azmi still had quite calm voice. -Bran the demon slayer is not afraid of anyone. Bran answered to him like this although the party made only one comment. -idiot. -idiot. -idiot. The most surprising thing was that it was Rin who was one who commented and even though she said it in a low voice, Arata still managed to catch it. If Arata had to voice his comment though it would be slightly different. There should be a limit on how much you want to do to buy us some time. How much getting some extra time will actually help out, no one could tell but currently it was the only thing that people could focus on and probably because it was the last thing that one could be useful at, people here decided to gather as much time as possible as after all, in the current situation with the demon army before them, no one could image a situation where they would end up staying alive afterwards, Arata included. In his third fight, Brans opponent was no longer the demon from the front line next to Azmi. This time it was one from the skies that was so far simply floating in the sky. It was a winged demon with whose wing looked like those of the bat. At his back he had a quiver full of spears in a shape of tridents. They were all red in color. The demon was also holding two of those tridents in his hands ready to use at any moment. While he was floating down all the way to the ground before Azmi, Bran also took his usual position where he originally started all previous fights, and then when both of them reached their positions, yet another fight began. Naturally the winged demon wasnt going to fight on the ground and the moment the signal to battle appeared, he took the skies right away. Before that Bran immediately shot out few bolts but naturally given the distance at which they were apart from each other those bolts missed completely. As the battle progressed though, it didnt become anywhere easier as the winged demon was moving in the skies and also he could change his position in multiple ways Even though the fight only just started Bran immediately found himself in a quite desperate position as an ability to fly gave one incredible advantage. The winged demons attacks were also quite spectacular. So far he threw only one of his tridents down and even though it flied at the great speed, Bran did manage to easily avoid it. Still that was only as far as getting in physical contact with it. The moment red trident hit the ground it made the ground around it explode in many directions which made aoe rock wave. One of those rocks hit Bran and he was pushed away by this attack by two meters and landed on the ground. After first attack gave such result, the winged demon right away shot out another trident and at that time Bran was still in lying position face first to the ground. Still despite the fact that he didnt even see the attack coming he did knew about it and he started rolling away. The trident attack yet again hit the ground and made the rock wave but this time those rocks went over Bran who was keeping his body close to the ground. After those rocks flied over him though he stood up like nothing. But at that time he didnt even have the time to do anything else which proved to be catastrophic. The winged demon dived down to the ground and this time he wasnt going to throw his attacks anymore. It took him mare three seconds between starting the dive and coming close to Bran and that was too fast for someone who was already barely keeping up. Bran managed to only make a small step to the left and that allowed him to avoid the fatal wound but still the red trident went right into his right arm, and second after his whole arm got ripped off as the winged demon finished his dive and went back to the sky. -ah, that what he gets for getting to overconfident. Flynn ended up commenting as it seemed that the fight will be ending quite soon. Fighting against higher class demon was probably simply too much. -well, as he likes to say it, RIP Bran. Julia also joked around. In the end, everyone here were already prepared for the unavoidable. Strangely though the fight didnt end up that fast, and even with one arm Bran was still putting up with fight. From now on Bran started to run around and by doing so he was avoiding another attack after another. At the same time he tried to shot upward at flying demon but without the second arm he didnt have any aim at all and the bolts simply flied up to the sky and were exploding there like fireworks. Him reloading his crossbow with teeth did look quite funny. Somehow the fight did went into the stalemate yet again, even despite what just happen, but naturally the winged demon wasnt going to wait for too long as for him killing of one dwarf shouldnt take that long. Once again he started to dive down and this time he was going to finish the dwarf once for all, there was one thing that he didnt expect though and that was the fact that ever since the first dive Bran was waiting for this moment. When the winged demon started his dive, Bran voiced the command and before him, already standing on two legs, Brans brown companion appeared. The demon crushed into the standing bear but that crush ended up with bear pushing the demon down to ground and afterwards holding him back there with his weight. The demon and the bear were struggling in competition of strength for some time but Bran wasnt going to stand by either. He jumped at the top of his bears head and from there with one arm he pointed his crossbow right into the demons head. -from here, I dont even need to aim. He said to him and pulled the trigger, the bolt went into winged demons skull and yet again, by some miracle, Bran won yet another fight as his attacks were deadly enough to demons that even a higher class one would get one-shooted. -HAHAHA, SPLEDID, if you managed to win even against that one you now earned the honor of meeting me in combat. Come and fight me, Bran the demon slayer. After this fight Azmi started laughing out loud and then he decided that Brans next opponent will be he himself. To that though, Bran who was fearlessly asking for more and more this time he answered. -nah I will pass, I need to let others have some fun as well. His answer was still completely fearless but this time he decided to step down. Even if he wanted to fight, with his arm ripped off and still bleeding he would meet his death immediately and even if dying at the hand of demon lord didnt seem as that bad of a death, Bran didnt seem like he was interested interested any of those. Strangely Azmi didnt stop him, or say anything but in the end his respect for the dwarven race yet again increased. -see guys. Thats how you do it As Bran came back to the party line he commented like that, in the end though his efforts didnt actually bring more time than Keis one but the fact that he now returned victorious after three I am dead for sure battles, no one would ever mention that fact. -Mika! Heal me up will you, I am still up for the fourth round afterwards. Before anyone managed to say anything back to him Bran walked towards partys last healer and asked for healing. Because it was already sometime after Hiros death, Mika managed to calm down a little as naturally one couldnt be completely calm down in this situation especially when dying any moment wouldnt have been that strange. After Bran asked her, she started to cast her healing spells right away but strangely despite the fact that the bleeding stopped, the arm didnt show a sign of regenerating at all as it should normally be the case. Rather than that there was now a black demonic mark on Brans wound. -if you want to heal this one up you will need anti demonic heal. Normal healing spells wont work on this curse. Health will get back to full sure but the actual wounds will not disappear. While Mika and Bran were looking at the wound and wondering why it didnt start regenerate, Haru who was still busy eating apples explained to them from the distance. -anti-demonic heal, whats that? Shin ended up asking. -in general, its known as one of most useless healing techniques as usually no one survives fights against demons. Be technically its a heal that removes the curse that comes with demons attacks. As to how to fight against that curse you need to find a healer with anti-demonic heal which isnt easy. In the end, the easiest way to get rid of it is simply to die and respawn just like in case of any incurable wounds. Haru halfassly explained although her explanation was quite clear and that was that Brans arm isnt going to get healed up anytime soon which also meant that he wont be of much use should the fight broke out, so even if he did managed to survive, most of his fighting potential disappeared as a range who cant aim would only get in a way. It seemed that Bran also understood that given his expression as he heard the news as after all the ever so smiling dwarf really rarely did not smile. So, not only demons are nearly immortal but also they have attacks that cant be healed up with normal heal. Yes, definitely very balanced. Still no matter what was the end result, Bran survived and won three fights where others fell. He bought a lot of time so one couldnt ask for more out from him. After all the fact was though that there were only 25 minutes left till two hours pass. -now then!... Azmi yet again started. -those fights took much more than I expected and we have probably about thirty minutes left. Here I thought that all of you will get a fight but we might have no time for that as when the war starts, I wont have the time for you. In that case lets change the rules a little It seemed that even though so far everything was going in favor of surviving till opening the gate, there might appear the change as Azmi got little impatient. That was probably what some thought but it turned out that the change in rules was actually not that bad. -so because we wont have time for all I will give you a choice of who will get the honor to do so. You there temporary leader! After each fight you have one minute to decide the next fighter, just like I do and after that minute the fight will start right away. The counting for next fight begins now so I hope you already have the candidate. Azmi ended up letting Shin decide who will be sent to death next. Even if what Bran did was quite incredible it still didnt change the fact that everyone else cant do anything about regenerative powers of demons. But then no one expected that letting the party decide on their own would lead to a problem right away as the second Azmi explained the rules, the most inappropriate person started walking forward. -I will go. After saying that Rin started walking forward right away as if everyone already agreed to her decision. -Rin, wait if you! Arata who was standing not that far from her managed to stop her by catching her by the left shoulder although the moment he did so. Oo, that was the wrong move! The moment he did so though Rin on instincts caught him by that arm right away and second later Arata flied over her shoulder and hit the ground hard. Auch. -ah, Arata I am sorry. -dont be, in this world it doesnt hurt that much. Still saying stupid things like its your turn to go next because if you go next everything we have done here will lose its meaning. You know what the meaning of going there to fight means. -there already were so many people who ended up dying and naturally the next person who goes will die as well. -yes, I glad you see the reason so you shouldnt go there and simply wait patiently till- -no, in the end it doesnt matter who goes next, we will all die eventually. -no, its not decided yet! We still have a chance if the gate opens and we will sneak inside before anything big happen. Arata continued to explain it to her but that made things only worse. -if there really a chance then great. Go and use it. I will buy the remaining time so everyone who survived here can have a chance on going inside as well. I should be able to stay alive for next 25 minutes at least. -didnt you hear the rules, if you dont win the fight in ten minutes then Azmi will get you and you cant win the fight as you cant kill the demon right? Arata was trying to reason with her from lying on the ground position while holding her leg from going forward but it didnt seem to go well, and the reason for that was the difference in Aratas and Rins objectives. -then after those 10 minutes I will fight that demon lord for the remaining 15 minutes. -and what about the quest!? Shouldnt we as the quest holders survive till the end? -I dont know why you think like that. Arata I dont know if you are excited about the quest or not but personally I would prefer to have a good battle than some stupid quest. I told you didnt I, quests dont mean anything to me. They simply tell me where to find strong opponents. So Arata, go and do that quest without me. Personally I am already tired of it and if this quest expects me to fight the whole immortal demon army then I wont be able to complete it anyway, so this is our good bye Arata. -wait Rin, you cant just. -I can do what I want. With that said Rin ended up kicking away Aratas hand and she managed to slip away from his grip, but then when she was about to go forward to the battlefield she encountered a problem as while Arata was holding her back, someone else sneaked away to take part in next fight. Safe. Arata thought after he saw Rin stopping as it werent for a person to step in Rin would really go and fight to death. Still he was really surprised by who actually stepped out there. Also with that person stepping out, there was someone really furious for that selfish behavior. Before even Arata managed to look in the direction of the battlefield he immediately knew who went there as soon enough, a shout even louder than that of Azmi could be heard. -HARU! What the hell do you think you are doing!!!! It was medallions shout or rather it was a shout of Torachii who was inside the medallion, and naturally he was yelling at Haru who ended up sneaking to the front while everyone were looking at Arata and Rin. -auch, dont shout to my ear like this Torachii, I can hear you perfectly if you whisper. -but whispering to you doesnt work. Haru I was waiting patiently but now you are going overboard! Summon me and we are getting out of here. -hmm okay. -I know you will not agree but stop complaining and wait you agreed? Even Torachii was surprised after Haru suddenly agreed. -under one condition though. -whatever it is I agree. Now then lets go! -but we cant go now. -why? -hmm? Didnt you just agree that I will stay here for next 25 minutes and stretch a little. Strange Torachii, strange. -when did I agree to that? -just a second ago. - . -nihihi. -you dont mean that the condition was. -nihihi. -eh . After Haru ended up laughing in strange and playful manner twice, Torachii gave up as there was no longer anything he could do as Haru got him good while he let his guard down. -hey Rin, while you are already going back this way, can you help me stand up. While Rin was walking next to Aratas body he called out to her like that but she just gave him annoyed look and walked pass him. In the end Arata stood up by himself and then he started watching what the lost miracle was going to show. -okay Haru, just dont overdo it ok? So how are you going to kill them, even if they are weak they are still demons. -I will simply use ebondale. -what!? You are going to draw your legendary weapon here? -but that will be the easiest and at the same time simplest method right? Also unless we go after demon lord its not like I can hold myself back with any other demon killing spell to kill only one demon right? -okay, I will give you that, be sure to equip your armor as well. -NO WAY! You know I hate armors and there is no need for it so I will pass on that. Anyway I will be slaying some demons now so be quiet, Torachii. If anything, Haru definitely didnt lack in confidence, although not using her items while she could, should be rather called overconfidence. -so they sent the civilian? Azmi said to Haru as he saw her walking in his direction, and as to why he called her civilian it was probably because she wasnt wearing anything that would be suitable for battle. -I dont want to be rude but I am already coming and there is no demon for me. Haru wasnt offended at all but she rather answered like that. -oh, I see that you dont want to prolong your death, very well. After Azmi finished, one of the demons from the line came out. It was a demon who was twice as large as human and who was holding two demonic orange whips in both of his hands that probably served as weapons. -LET THE FIGHT BEGINS! Said Azmi but unfortunately no matter how one looked at it, it wasnt even going to count as a fight. Although Azmi couldnt even tell that beforehand. -come, ebondale! After the fight started, Haru stretched her hand forward and said those words. Few seconds later a black weapon appeared before her. From one side it was a simple long black rod which ended with a spike which could made one think that it is some kind of spear, still it was the other side that had the actual blade, and its form revealed that it was a scythe. Still it wasnt any scythe that a farmer would use to harvest his crops. It was rather a death looking scythe whose size even though wasnt that big and its presence made Azmis gigantic black-red demon sword look small from the distance. Despite the fact that it was only one weapon appearing, with only that Harus general appearance changed from that of happy and clumsy girl into a death god that could suck away someones soul with a single thought. That was at least how it looked from partys side as they were looking at Harus back where her long black hair added to the image. After catching her weapon, Haru started to spin it around and she was doing so not only at the front but also around her body. The black circle that appeared in the effect of spinning scythe was moved all around her body and it wasnt even disrupted the moment Haru changed her holding hand. Before the battle started Haru already closed most of the distance so whip holding demon didnt have much to travel and after ten meters he could already attack with his whips as they gave him additional 10 meters in range of attack. Still when he got in range of 15 meters Haru stopped spinning her weapon without purpose. Instead she started a long horizontal slash backward which made her body spin as well but then when that slash was going to finish its 180 degree spin, Haru disappeared from that position, but it was not exactly that as she appeared right away only in different spot and that was namely 15 meters behind her demon opponent. There she made yet another spin and second later she once again appeared in her previous spot from which she was gone for about three seconds. The demon with whips made another two steps as if nothing happened but then his upper side of the body ended up slipping down left and right. The legs followed soon after and three parts of the body were now all lying on the ground. Despite the fact that it seemed as if the demon was cut by invisible force, there wasnt a single drop of blood coming out from him, rather all the areas on which he was cut become somewhat darker to the point where the inner flesh was not visible. -next one, please. Haru said to Azmi without a single change in the tone of her voice although even if she sounded normal, from partys perspective with her scythe in hand, she still had a death god image. Azmi waited for a minute and he was looking at his death brethren, to see if he was really dead but despite the fact that the demonic regenerative powers should start working right away, there was absolutely no sign of that from the dead demon. -hey civilian, whats your name? Still after confirming his death, rather than sending new demon to fight Azmi asked for the name. -its no I wont tell you, you are not my type. To that question however Haru gave him as much unfitting answer as possible. -very well, we will fight without knowing each others name. -hmm but I do know your, Assmoron wasnt it? - . -nihihi, once someone introduce themselves I will remember their names forever as I am quite confident in my memory, tell me I got it right didnt I? But Assmoron, I dont think that its a nice name, so how about this, I will give you appropriate nickname hmm Unfortunately before Haru could think of any nickname, Azmi lost his patience and he swing with his gigantic sword at her, to that though Haru simply took her scythes blade above her head and blocked the blow. boom! There was a loud clash of steel but that was only that. -hey! Shouldnt I fight two other demons before you? You wanted to fight the dwarf only after three wins. -SHUT UP WOMAN AND FIGHT! The tone that Azmi had while saying those words was really furious, he took his blade back and attacked again and again and again, Haru on the other hand was blocking those attacks as they come. -dont call me woman, it make me feel old. Also I am not married and I never even had a boyfriend so it makes it even less appropriate The fact that Haru was saying things like that while defending against Azmis attack made him even more furious so his attack become even bigger. Anytime he attacked the tip of his blade also hit the ground behind Haru which made lava come out from there. That did not apply however to places where his weapon was above the ground which meant that correct way to defend against his attacks was to block them. -ah I see, I didnt give you my name so you cant call me by my name hmm but I really dont want to tell my name to someone like you. Tell you what if you manage to lose some weight I might consider it. -WHAAAAA! As Haru continued to spit nonsense, Azmi decided to go into another gear, he lifted his gigantic swords, roared and then swing it down. Seeing that though, for the first time, Haru rather than blocking it, she ran away to the left. Before the sword hit the ground she was already 20 meters away from it so she escaped completely unharmed, still that couldnt said for the ground that Azmi hit. After the sword hit the ground, the ground started splitting in half and in a spawn of ten second a large ten meter in wide crater appeared. The crater started at the end of Azmis sword and ended at the base of the stairs to the heavens gate that strangely enough withstood the attack completely and even stopped it from spreading further. Still that simple swing made the slot which was deep for at least 40 meters and ended with lava deep inside. -hmhmhmhmh, muahahahahahahaha!... After Azmi finished his attack and pick up his sword back on his arm, he suddenly made a demonic evil laugh and in his case, it was actually quite appropriate to do so as after all he was a demon lord, unlike all others demon lords wannabes. -you ran away, didnt you? When he finished the laughter though, he pointed out the fact that this time Haru didnt block the attack anymore. -of course I did. Find me a girl who wont get scared when a fat old man tries to swing at her his long stick. Not to mention that you shouted like crazy. -hahaha, I dont know if you are doing all that to deceive your enemy but it wont work on me, didnt I mention that I never underestimate mortals, no matter their personality or gender. Now then we still have more than 20 minutes left, I didnt think it will be possible but let me warm up on you With that said Azmi yet again started to attack with huge swings and Haru yet again started to block them. -HAHAHAA, THIS IS IT, PLEASE ENTERTAIN ME FOR AS LONG AS YOU CAN!... Azmi was laughing and enjoying the battle, on the other hand though, Haru was silently blocking each attack one after another. It actually looked unbelievable for someone her posture to block those gigantic blows but Arata was already used to the unnatural nature of EOA which obviously had its own laws of physics. -HAHAHA, whats that you are already overwhelmed, is defending the only thing you can do, come at me! Its not a battle if only I am attacking. WHORA! Azmi once again roared and second later his swing become so much more powerful. Haru naturally saw that as well and yet again she run away from that attack. This time she ran to the back as it was a horizontal swing. Still the moment the sword flied few meters before her, Haru was immediately pushed away by invisible force and with an incredible speed she flied all the way towards the stairs of heavens gate, into which she was about to crush. Before Haru crushed into those stairs though, a strong wind started to blow in the opposite direction in which she was flying which completely neglected her flying speed and at the end she stopped ten meters above where the rest of the party was and afterwards she safely landed on the ground right next to the party. -hey, if you cant continue then simply run away, no one will blame you for that also no one expects you to waste your few months effort here. Because Haru ended up landing quite close to where Arata was he immediately said those words to her. -does it seem like I am losing? -you just got blown away all the way here and before you simply take blows one after another so at least you are definitely not winning. -haha, you know I actually like when people get worried about me. -yes I know as you mentioned it but its not the time for joking. -I guess its not, with only half of my powers and opponent this strong it really is not going well. As suspected of demon lord of war Despite what Arata said to her, Haru still was talking like usual. -truth to be told I have only one chance on kill him as I am now as against demon lords its either you kill them in one attack or you wont kill them at all as they are nearly immortal. Not to mention I dont even know where his core is. Ahhh why did I get involved in something like this at times like this sigh. With that complain added, Haru yet again started moving forward towards Azmi who was already coming quite close. -I told you, you dont have to- -rather than worrying about me you should start thinking up some plan. Regardless of outcome you will have an army of demons charging at you after my fight ends as after all, demons turn into truly savage creature the moment they lose their general. Haru left him with those words, although no matter how one looked at them, it didnt seem like she for a second considered actually losing. She is right on that point though rather than standing and looking at those fights we should have come up with something for later. Arata looked back in the direction of his not so big anymore party. -hey, we should have come up with something just in case. I also think that no matter what happens, Azmodan will get bored with everything else and decide to attack after this fight stops. Not to mention that he will want to have a strategic position the moment the gate opens to invade the heavens right away. -well, in the first place the fact that we managed to buy this much time already is a miracle. As of now it shouldnt be more than fifteen minutes left before the gate activates and become suitable for teleportation. Still as for the plan, the only thing we can really do is to try to survive at all costs, namely keep you, Rin and Levi alive at all cost. So I was thinking of something along the lines that everyone else will stop the incoming charge for as long as we can while you run up the stairs and go through the gate the moment it opens. Realistically speaking, the demons will catch up to you quite fast but from there on, you just have to survive for few minutes and I believe you all three can do it. To Aratas ask though, Shin already had a prepared answer. Hmm, I thought he will say something like that, still even if that plan works out and we three actually manage to slip into heavens, I wont feel any good at all. -unfortunately I cant agree with this plan. Arata decided to answer like that. -its not like we can come have anything better, our opponent will be the whole demon army. -exactly and the moment they charge at, marksman who cant aim, two cloth wearers who dont have much attack capability and a tank who at best can block one tenth of the stairs, they will steam roll through you in second. Not to mention that they have flying demons as well so, I dont really see anyway that you can do to stop that charge even for a little while- -get down! boom! Out of sudden while Arata was having a discussion with Shin, Levi called out to everyone to get down. That was actually not need as the object that flied over their heads was eight meters above them. Then second later the object hit the stairs. Nothing happened to the stairs though as it once again was confirmed that the construction was truly unbreakable. Arata quickly looked in the direction of the stairs but luckily it wasnt the black haired girl that crushed into the stairs just now. Rather than her it was actually black-red, gigantic greatsword of demon lord Azmodan along with his hand still holding. It seemed that Haru managed to cut of Azmis hand at the height of wrist and afterwards send this sword all the way over here. Then afterwards Arata take a quick look at the battlefield where Haru and Azmi with his hand completely healed still going at each other. The fight slightly changed though as Azmi no longer had his weapon with him. Because of that he switched to fists and magic but even though still devastating his attacks become somewhat less powerful. I see, so even if you cant damage him, you can still weaken him by taking his blade away. -so you are saying that whatever we do it still will be meaningless. Well I cant really argue with that. Even if all of us were still alive it would have change nothing. In the first place with quest of rank three, we cant do anything meaningful anyway. Despite the fact that Arata just shot down his plan, Shin wasnt really angry and his voice was still tired as it become ever since he saw the red line on the horizon. -you know us Arata, we would like to help but just look at that fight Where Shin stopped, Flynn decided to pick up. -you can see probably the highest grade player of EOA over there and she is successfully feeding off a freaking demon lord on her own, not to mention that she just disarmed him. But then again even she the member of legendary miracle team never completed the quest of rank three. If someone with her power didnt complete it, what can power of our nearly destroyed party can? Sure we are better than most players our level but we are simply not someone who can get a world first. Arata listened to Flynns words but then he did he realized that those words werent actually for him but rather they were meant for someone whose head was overheating from thinking up strategies that will fail anyway. Arata also saw it and so he finally decided to share the tactic that he came up with. Well one couldnt call it a tactic though. -in that case it will be my time to do something rather than letting you guys sacrifice yourself. -oh, you have something in mind? Shin immediately asked him. -yes I do but telling it is quite complicated and we dont have time for that so you will have to do with hearing only your part. Anyway the main point is that you all guys go upward the stairs and try to survive near the gate while I hold back anything that will try to come by stairs. -and how exactly are you going to do that? -well, that is the part of my complicated plan which I dont have time to share. Anyway if it comes to the horde of demon charging at us just run up the stairs as fast as you can and dont worry about what happens here. Rather than doing something meaningless you should focus on doing something useful but you wont find here anything else than meaningless death so search for usefulness up the stairs. - I see I cant think of anything else so if that is what you think is best, I will follow your plan. Everyone if this fight ends before the heavens gate opens we all run up the stairs without looking back, is that clear? In the end without other options available Shin decided to agree with Aratas plan and he probably also realized what was the truth behind the complicated part. -in that case I will be staying here as well. Still after Shin and Arata finished, Rin voiced her desire to stay as well. Well I was waiting for this one. Naturally though Arata did expect it to happen. -sorry Rin but you are the crucial part of the upstairs operations so you cant stay here. -I dont care about any upstairs operations but if you want me to be part of them then you have to come up there as well. If you are staying here I am also staying here, if you are going up then I am also going up, you have those two options, chose one Arata. -I dont agree to those, I want dont want to be in the same group as you for our next operations. -then I will stay here and you go upstairs. -I was the first one who said I will stay here so you dont have a choice. I was first. -and are you going to use a stupid reason like that? -yes I will. If you wanted to stay downstairs you should have say so earlier, now its too late, the fastest is always the winner, thats how the world works. Because Arata didnt really have any good explanations, he decided to go with the most stupid ones. -you cant stop me from doing what I want though. I am staying here. It seemed like it wasnt going to work though, still Arata didnt finish jus yet. -oh, Rin I didnt know that you are like that? -what do you mean by like that? -you know, that you like to cheat. - and what does cheating has to do with me staying here? Hahaha, I got you. -you know we have that fight planned right? Still it would be unfair if you spied on my abilities before that fight and if you stay here you are doomed to see them and I think that this time I wont be able to keep them hidden. -even so I will also be using my skill so we will be even. -no because some of my skills can work only if my opponent doesnt know about them and they are the core parts of my tactic for my next fight with you. Naturally something like tactic for the next fight didnt exist yet but Arata didnt had to mention that fact. - Arata, you cant! I know you are lying right now? Also you told me that you did go all out in our fights, in that case I do know about your skills already anyway, or is it that you were lying then? -no think back on that Rin, we still didnt have that full out this world skill fight did we? -but I did saw your fight with the champion, I am sure that you werent holding back there! Arata, stop with those lies, you know I hate liars! -I do know that so I would never lie to you, think back to what I told you in the boat, do you still think I could lie to you after all that I said. Remember, you are the dear person to me and the rude guy who tried to push you away is really not here anymore. -dont bring that up when its convenient for you! Also how can, you say things like that with other people around us!... Rin ended up shouting back at him although her usual collected voice disappeared completely, and her face also turned into the color of her hairs. -also I know you are lying. -I am not even if its true I did use most of my skills in the battle against the champion there are still new ones like the ones that I got just recently. -I know about those as well as I saw you how you were testing them in the expedition you have nothing hidden from me! -then how many new skills did I got? -three. That black hand to punch with, the bounce back spells skill, and the electric strike that you tested on toads. -haha, and here you are wrong because there is still one more which I didnt use yet because there was no occasion to. Also apart from that spell I also got one new just few hours ago. -and you are asking me to believe you that you got so many new skills in such a short time. -you already saw the other three right and as for the one I just got it was a present from Haru, she just gave me a perfect skill to learn from scroll that will work perfectly against you, just you wait till you see it. Hahahahaha. Arata was coming up with anything that sound reasonable as right now he didnt care about later as he simply wanted to put her at the top of those stairs. - . -anyway as you can see you cant be in the same party as me when the fights broke out so because I already called this spot you have to go upward. - . As Arata tried his best to convince Rin to go upward, she suddenly stopped saying anything but rather looked in his direction and continued to glare. -if you want a confirmation you can ask Haru about it later on, or if you want I can even show you my skill book. - fine I get it, I will go upward just as you wanted. We will all die anyway so I dont want to waste my time arguing with you. Also Arata, you didnt thought it through, if I were to look into your skillbooks, the reason for hiding skills would disappear as I would read about them. Well its not like she would find anything there as the whole thing about the forth skill and skill from Haru was naturally a lie. Also I know you enough that you wouldnt want a proof anyway. -if it helps I can confirm that Arata did get four new skills because I was there when he meet the requirement to unlock them and it was exactly four skills that he was going to get. Namely it was two for each class but as we know he has two classes so by multiplying it by two we receive four. Despite the fact that it was already said and done and Rin already agreed to Aratas lies, out of sudden Shin decided to made that lie more trustworthy. -I can also confirm that Arata indeed got a spell scroll from that girl as I was with him at that time. Then following after him Levi also added the trustworthiness to Aratas lies although if there was one thing that people should have learned from playing card game Moloch agents with him it would be that Levi wasnt someone who one should trust on word. Still, the thing was that Rin didnt know that as she never decided to play with them, not even once and even if she had the occasion to see the game, she probably wasnt paying attention at that time. -I already said that I will go. You dont have to add anything else... After those two comments, Rin once again repeated that she is going although there was a slight chance for better in her expression, but then she yet again looked at Arata and her expression become once again incredibly sad and what was worse, she yet again said those words that Arata didnt want to hear. -I am sorry . The way Rin said those words completely silenced everyone who would want to say anything else at this point and the silence came soon after. Because that silence didnt seem to end any time soon, Arata decided to look away from that scenery and looked back at the battlefield where the fight between Azmi and Haru continued to heat up, although it also seemed like it was going to end soon. -MUAHAHAHA, what is it? Is that all you got! From the distance it seemed like Azmi was going to win this fight. He was now standing few meters before Haru who unlike him didnt seem to be in the good condition anymore. She was now crouching down with bended knees and her face was blocked as her face was looking down. After laughing at his close victory Azmi threw a punch at her and his punches even if he wasnt even hitting the earth were making a small tunnels in the ground just from invisible force. There were already many holes like that around. Azmis punch did not reach Haru though as even though she was crouching, she still managed to perfectly avoid the blow by incredibly high jump backward. She actually jumped up all the way to Azmis height and then with a somersault in the air landed few meters to the back where she was staying. Still everyone knew that by dodging and running away one cant win. I see, so I guess she was simply buying time from the very beginning. In the first place she did tell me that she has half of her abilities on some unreasonable coldown. I guess she was acting then, or simply underestimated Azmi or something, whatever it is though she will probably start running away soon. Arata also started thinking like this but then he realized an important detail although what actually made him do so was Levis as inappropriate as possible comment given the situation they were in. -black! While Arata was thinking about Harus situation his thoughts were interrupted by Levis loud shout. Still because Levi said it in somewhat excited voice Arata decided to ask. -what are you screaming black? Did you come up with something? -haha, I see that you are interested Arata, in that case I will tell you Levi ended up walking towards Arata to whisper to him, so others does not hear him. -during that last somersault I finally confirmed, she is wearing the black ones. -ha? What is it about? -naturally I mean that! You know when she was flying in the air her skirt flipped up and I had the perfect angle -say I am good right? I was able to see it all the way from this distance. Unfortunately I couldnt confirm the design. -Levi could you get a little more serious in a moment like this? -relax, rather than that I tried to give you a reward for your soon to be noble sacrifice, you hero wannabe. -I dont know what you are talking about and I am definitely not planning on dying any time soon. As soon as you guys enter the heavens, I will follow after you so be sure to call out to me when the gates open. -oh, I am so thrilled that you will defend my escape, I didnt think that you cared so much about me. -if anything I dont care what happens to you, when you die I will simply laugh at your corpse. -ah, your words hurt so bad, arent we friends? -even so I would not jump into the fire simply to help a friend, I am not that good of a guy. -oh, you finally said that we are friends? -I wasnt meaning you in last sentence. -whatever it was its not like I didnt know it as after all there is only one reason why you want stay down here and its definitely not to help out a friend. -then what are you telling me that I am doing it for self-satisfaction. -who knows, but still as your friend I will tell you just this. Because I know you, I know that you would prefer to actually die today rather than continue this quest as otherwise nothing but regrets is what will await you. With those words Levi left him and walked away. I am not sure what he meant but if anything I definitely would rather regret dying here and losing my worlds first. In the end, Arata didnt understand what Levi tried to tell him and he once again looked at the battlefield. There the first time he saw Haru yet again, his opinion on the fight changed right away even despite the fact that what ignited that thought was Levis comment on Harus underwear. Wait, she is still not wearing her armor! It was true that Haru was still fighting in her civilian clothes which naturally meant that she didnt fear for her life even once despite the fact that she was fighting against demon lord. From afar it would seem that Azmi is winning by a lot as after all it was only him who kept on attacking, and Haru was only defending and dodging. Also it didnt seem like that only from afar as Azmi himself kept on laughing, completely sure of his victory. Oi, oi, she didnt even dirt her clothes yet and you are thinking that you are winning, Azmi its not good! You have no right to be overconfident. Unfortunately Azmi couldnt hear the thoughts of Arata who out of sudden putted himself in his position, probably because he was relating to him or maybe it was simply an advice for himself in the future as Arata did have the same overconfidence problems. -HAHAHAHA, you are already barely keeping up, so how long do you think you can survive, from the look of it you wont even survive the remaining five minutes to see the heavens gate opened. Is this the time already? Actually right now the party had no way of telling if the gate was already activated, although in this very moment the party also realized that problem, although finding the solution to it wasnt that hard. -Julia go quickly upstairs and call us if the gate was to stabilize. Shin said to her. -how can I tell if it will be stable? -currently the gate should look similar to water surface on which the drops of waters keep on purring, but the moment the gate become stable will be the moment in which those drops will disappear and it will be completely flat area. -so if its already flat it means that the gate become stable right? -yes exactly so if that will be the case call us immediately, otherwise dont call us at all as we dont want to let the demons see our movements. If anything you can simply whisper and Bran will hear you. -okay! With instructions ready, Julia quickly run up the stairs and disappeared from everyones sight. It was probably already quite worrisome do move from their positions on the watch of demon army but because it was only one person, there was no common from demons, also no one would probably dare to interrupt Azmis fight. -FINE, if you dont plan on showing me your attack then I am going to finish it right now, I still have my speech to tell to my armies before the war starts With that said Azmi prepared for the last and finishing blow. His body started turning from black to red color and at the same time it was becoming bigger and bigger, and it wasnt that he was becoming fatter but rather his muscles were evolving and growing. The biggest grow could be seen at his right arm which he now was pulling backward preparing for the blow. That arm also had an unusual glow as if something was surrounding it although the color his heating up body was completely overwhelming that glow. -thanks for the warm up and now, good bye!... With those words Azmi ended up throwing the punch and the moment he did everything before him become surrounded by the force. Also it was not only before him but also around him, as even if in slightly lesser effect the demons that stood on the front line or were flying in the sky also got blown away, then even the party who was standing over 100 meters away from the fight and werent in the direct line of the punch felt the shockwave coming all the way towards them. On the other hand though, if Azmi was going to punch in their direction they would already all die immediately because after seeing the damage that he did on his front, no one in the party had any hope of surviving that. The distance of few kilometers in front of Azmi which was far to the right become completely devastated in few moments and even the the small mountain that used to stand over somehow disappeared as after the punch there was nothing left but destroyed earth and also probably many dead demons that have been caught in the blow although because the army kept their line, most of its forces was naturally still intact and only those more unluckily died or simply flied away somewhere. After the blow all that was left was few kilometer in length crater that would definitely put to shame the one that Arata saw in the city of Triangle as the one that Azmi created here just a second ago was at least few times bigger and deeper than that one. -MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! After the attack ended, Azmi laughed out loudly with his demonic voice as he couldnt see Haru anywhere in sight while just few seconds ago she was in the place where crater began -HAHAha, how do you like that you aaaaa! But then suddenly Azmis voice turned into that of yell of pain. -Aaa, maybe standing here wasnt the best idea just by listening to you up close my ears hurts As it turned out Haru was alright and well and currently she was standing right on the top of Azmis head and she just ended up sticking the pointy end of her scythe right into Azmis forehead and it was probably that pain that made him yell. -your voice is really too loud and I am sensitive to sounds so, go die in hell!... hmm, but the hell is your home right? So when you go there you will simply disturb your neighbors with your loud voice, in that case emmm ah never mind, bye, bye! Haru tried to say something inspiring but unfortunately it didnt turn out how she imaged it, nevertheless it seemed like Haru was finally switching from defending and buying time into actual fighting, even if she still didnt equip her armor. She pick up her weapon and over her head, she started to spin it around, in a similar manner that she did the first time she took her scythe to hands. This time however it wasnt a simple practice, or maybe it was as what happened two seconds after couldnt have anything to do with a circling weapon in the hands of single girl. Not to mention that it all started all from the ground. At first it was just a simple circle on the ground around Azmis body but in two seconds, in turned into gigantic tornado that would seem to reach the sky. The moment that tornado appeared Arata lost from his eyes both Azmi and Haru as they were in the very middle of the cyclone. Then after another two seconds the cyclone started to shoot away something out from it but Arata could not see exactly what those were as they flied away way to fast, although he already guessed what exactly those were namely the black body parts that were cut away from poor demon lord. Shooting away Azmis elements also didnt take that much time as the tornado started to disappear about twenty seconds after if first appeared. It started to disappear from the ground to the top and when it did it was clear that the place where Azmi was just a while ago was no longer filled with the demon lord, on his place however there was one human-sized red-blood gem that was floating in the air and nothing else. As for Haru, Arata soon located her when tornado continued to disappear, it was about 300 meters above the ground high in the skies. Normally one could have a problem to locate her from the distance but right now Haru was quite visible or rather the edge of her weapon gathered everyone attention as that weapon was now soaking up the tornado and taking its power in. -WHATS THE MEANING OF THIS! While this was happening, out from the black portal on the used to be red line, a gigantic winged demon appeared and he ended up shouting out the moment he saw the scene with demonic voice that could rival that of Azmi. And second later even before he could get an answer he took out a demonic looking black-red bow and started aiming, and his aim was surprisingly on the blood red crystal. He generated a demonic arrow which soon ended up flying towards the crystal. At the same time, Haru was challenging the power of tornado towards her weapon and then when the tornado completely disappeared, there was a gigantic wind blade at the edge of Harus scythe. When she finished soaking the power of tornado, she then with that weapon started to fall downward but it wasnt a simple free fall. At the very beginning two small tornados appeared at her feets that greatly increased her falling speed and when Haru got the desired speed she started to spin in the air which made an effect of falling gray-white spinning circle that destroys everything on its way. That spinning circle was going straight in the direction of blood-red gem which strangely started to generate a black flesh around itself. Before the circle hit that crystal though it encountered the arrow which managed to reach the gem and right before hitting it, the arrow turned upward and went exactly against Harus attack, still the moment the demonic looking arrow encountered the spinning circle, even despite its great power, it didnt stop Harus attack even for a second and the arrow ended up disappearing in the wind without a notice. The spinning circle nearly reached the blood red gem but then it was stopped for few seconds by a red barrier that appeared in its way that was generated by the crystal itself, still that only bought yet another few seconds and the spinning white circle broke through it as well, breaking it completely and then it finally landed on the blood red gem. Despite the fact that it didnt look that durable, surprisingly the red gem was withstanding the attack quite well, although that meant that it didnt get destroyed right away. Still the damage was keep on coming and as the time went on, the spinning circle was going deeper and deeper inside the gem which was slowly being cut in half. After twenty seconds of confrontation there were only few centimeters left on which the both sides of gems were connected, but then as if the gem had its own will, the gem moved and second later it was pushed down to the ground. With that the gem escaped for a second the spinning circle. After hitting the ground the gem bounced upward to the air and the spinning circle couldnt follow him anymore as in the first place that attack finished and Haru landed on the ground on her feet. Naturally though she wasnt going to let the red game escape and second after landing she made swing with her scythe with released the energy that was still gathered on its blade. In a look the attack looked somewhat similar to Aratas sword slash, as it was a white-grey flying arc. Still that attack never reached ;nearly destroyed gem as the demon that appeared earlier on and was shooting with the bow did manage to fly all the distance over here and the moment there was a chance he caught the red gem with his hands and slightly he managed to move it out from the attack range. It didnt come without a price though as the moment he did that rescue, the half of his body down the chest was cut off by Harus attack and it fallen down to the ground. The demon ignored that detail and he immediately started to fly away over the demon army which made Haru unable to follow after him. -THE OTHER DEMON LORDS WILL COME SHORTLY, UNTIL THEN THOUGH BE SURE TO SHOW THEM THE MIGHT OF DEMONS. IF I HEAR THAT ANY OF OTHER DEMON LORDS SAW A HUMAN HERE, YOU WILL FIND OUT WHY I AM CALLED THE DEMON LORD OF TORTURE! It seemed like the demon that saved Azmis core just now despite his poor performance which was getting cut in half the moment he tried to do something, was also a demon lord. Still it seemed that rather than fighting his main focus for now become the protection of the red-blood gem and so the demon lord of torture ended up flying away back to the black portal as fast as he could. His appearance and the command that he made, spelled nothing but doom and death for the party as even though Azmodan the demon lord of war was defeated, his gigantic army was still here and those were thousands of demons who were waiting for two hours just for the chance to slay anything. =wraaar! =kruaaaaa! =buraaaaa! =iciuiuc! The whole army ended up making a loud shout and second later the first line of the demons started charging forwards. -everyone, its now or never, we are climbing the stairs and following the plan! The second after the demon shout, Shin called out to his paralyzed party which followed what he said immediately. Naturally with few exception. One of those exception was Arata who decided to take pleasure of making first blood during the war as he would like to call it, apart from him though there shouldnt be anyone else staying. But naturally there were some. Arata didnt even have to check but he simply looked in Rins direction and as he suspected she was standing there without moving and she was simply looking at him. Still the moment he glared at her and she saw that glare she turned away with sad eyes and run up the stairs like nearly all others. The other person that stayed behind was Shin, although he was going to do so only for some minute. -I finished runeing you up and also I am leaving the emerald rune here as well. The moment you want to back off just stand on it and you will be teleported up the stairs, hopefully it wont be long before we call you Shin said to him and looked down, his voice for the first time today wasnt as tired as earlier, before he started running up though, he added one last thing. -take care of yourself. I guess still for now I have to think up an idea of how to stop this charging horde as otherwise my staying here will also be meaningless. Arata looked at the demons that were already fifty meters away from him. When the army started running even Haru gave up on doing anything else and after waving towards Arata, she escaped with the use of yet another tornado. This was slightly smaller than previous one but after summoning it for few seconds Haru started to spin inside it and after reaching a crazy speed she ended up lunching herself from it. She ended up flying east and given her speed at the very beginning Arata wouldnt be surprised if she were to reach Larisane or Karma just by letting the force push her away for a day. He also wouldnt be surprised if the speed that he reached destroyed her body as human body wasnt supposed to withstand such pressure and speed. Luckily though, Haru didnt have normal human body but rather a body of high level adventurer. =warrrr! The demon army was closing in. Well then lets start with this one. [Sword enchant: light] [Sword slash] For the good start Arata decided to check out how his strongest spell will deal against the horde of charging demons. He unsheathed his black sword, enchanted it with power of light and send out the long arc before him. That arc soon reached the demon horde, some of the demons jumped over it but some of the demons were hit and sliced in half and even though Aratas attack wasnt anti-demonic without the presence of demon lord nearby, those attack managed to kill of some demons, and not only some but actually many to the point where Arata soon also got a message. [You have leveled up by 50%] Oh! Lets try it again. [Sword slash] Seeing the result Arata send out another sword slash at the wall of enemies before him and then yet again. [You have leveled up by 60%] [You have gained a level, current level 113] well the double usage of my spell managed to buy the whole six seconds, great! Despite the fact that Arata just earned a whole level just by swinging his sword forward while activating the spell twice, the result was that the demon charge line only slowed down for barely six seconds and even if one sword slash did manage to kill off some demons on its place, there was always thousands of others. Yea well I dont have any other ideas so I will simply fight them on the stairs and try to the epic quote. -you shall not pass! Arata tried to shout at the demons but his shout wasnt even heard by him as the demon army was charging forward with a huge roar. Well, its not like I was good at shouting anyway. Unfortunately Arata didnt have time for the jokes as the demons on the left side of the crater that Azmi made earlier on finally reached his position and the first demon that did so was a gigantic thing with six arms and with each of them he had a large club and with one of those clubs he hit at Aratas position. Naturally Arata immediately moved backward to avoid it and the club landed at the bottom of the stairs and bounced back from them. Those are really durable. Arata looked at the stairs that even now stood unscratched. Still it wasnt the time to admire Solaris architecture durability as second after the club landed on the stairs the other first demon reached the stairs. It was one of the hell hound type or rather Cerberus type as he had three heads. After he appeared and run up to him Arata immediately pierced at the middle head with his sword. The moment he did that though, the two head on the left and right used the half of the body each and went on Aratas left and right and from there they attacked. To that though Arata simply jumped upward and dodged the strike and from the sky he pierced the other two heads with his swords. But then while he was still in the air he saw that on the right side of the stair there was another demon that was trying to sneak by. [Black dash] Arata used his skill to hurry up falling down and after landing with few fast steps he sliced at the sneaking demon belly and after dealing the wound he pushed him downward the stairs on yet another demon that was charging by. How am I supposed to block off ten meters of space? A thought like that appeared in Aratas mind when he saw about six smaller demons now getting pass him on the other side from which he came just a second ago. [Sword slash] Just to stop them Arata send out the arc that killed them on the spot as well as some other demons that were climbing the stairs. Still second later after he did so, the gigantic demon ended up attacking with two clubs at Arata from both sides. [Leap] Arata didnt even have the time to look on how big the reach of those clubs were and so he jumped up as far as he could, which actually ended up being surprisingly high, at this high Arata would consider landing with black dash but naturally he didnt even have the time to think about that. After jumping up, Arata become an easy target for the winged demons that also were taking part in the charge. The moment Arata appeared in the air, those of mage type ended up shouting with some red lasers at him. There were about 15 of those lasers coming at the same time. Common! While in melee, there was a limit on how many enemies can attack him at once, with range attacks there was nothing like that, actually Arata should be luckily that the archers didnt attack him as well, although that was probably because the mages demonic lasers would vaporize the arrows I dont even know what element it is so [Reflect enchant.] With no other choice but that, Arata in the mid-air, swung with both his swords at the incoming lasers. The purple barrier appeared the moment the lasers came close to the swords and at start those lasers were reflected back as intended but unfortunately not all of them and in the end about four ended up hitting Arata and afterwards, they help him to get to the ground faster namely they made him crush into the stairs after first hitting him hard. [You have gained a level, current level 114] On the other hand the reflected lasers ended up shooting down the flying mages who werent prepared for that counter and with those dead, Arata got yet another level. I guess its already RIP mana. Arata stood up from the stairs and thought like this as the reason why some of the lasers were not reflected was because Arata already reached his limit with mana and the last reflects took the rest of what he had because those lasers werent some minor spells. So its already time of lighting speeding out of here? After getting the first hit, Arata realized that he wont last here for far too and even if he does the demons will bypass him eventually which would completely kill the purpose of him staying here. Despite the fact that it might seem like Arata was trying to sacrifice himself to buy some time, which he actually was probably doing, Arata himself didnt plan to do a waste sacrifice that wont change anything. Still right now he couldnt really do anything that useful to stop the army of demons not to mention that there were also some flying ones that were sure to slip by as they werent even flying above the stairs. Although Arata wasnt concerned at least by that part as he never considered having a chance of stopping the aerial attack to begin with, so he just had to leave those that slip by to people at the top of the stairs. Still his main goal was to stop the ground forces even if only for a second and currently he already bought about 100 of them so it was a great achievement but unfortunately it seemed like that would be all. Okay its time to Arata already turned away and was even made first step of his run but then as he looked forward up the stairs he saw something blocking his way. Hmm! That something was eight meters long, black-red gigantic greatsword of Azmi that was send flying here some time ago, although at that time Arata wasnt looking at the fight so he didnt see how it happened although he did now barely remembered that the sword flied over his head at some point. Still now that Arata saw this sword before him, the demonic black metal with red demonic letters on it, he immediately though of a certain idea or rather recall something that he once thought up. No it wont work. He also immediately thought that this idea wont work and if he were to actually try it out, he would certainly pay it with his life, but then again, even though Arata knew it wont work he tried anyway. [Shadow hand] The black hand without a clear form escaped Aratas right shoulder and stretched all the way towards the handle of the gigantic sword and grabbed it, but then naturally the sword didnt even budge when Arata tried to pick it up. I knew it. Arata looked quickly to the back just to see one demon with two handed axe come at him. Currently though Arata was attached to the gigantic shadow hand so he couldnt even turn around properly. Thats why after dodging the axe attack, Arata made very uncommon for him move and ended up kicking the demon with a high kick that send the demon flying to the left side of the stairs which made him fall down from there as currently Arata was 8 meters above the ground on those stairs. I have to let go of it! Even though in his mind, Arata had the rational thought of letting it go, his actual actions were quite the opposite and he kept on trying to lift up the sword while he fought of few incoming demons with taekwondo leg kick techniques. Hmm maybe I should try out that method here! Arata unsheathed his black sword and started holding it horizontally in the same position that the gigantic greatsword was laying. The best way to control that thing is to simply give it a simple command of following my hand movement. With that there is no imagination involved which makes it much easier. So -perfect connectivity! Arata actually voiced the name of the method that he came up with for his shadow hand controlling. That method was quite simple and that was namely, after making shadow hand, order it to follow the movement of actual hand. This method had few downsides like both normal and shadow hand had to move now in the exact same manner as well as the shadow hand had now the limitation of human hand and it couldnt stretch for example. Still when it came to precise control that method was the best as it provided a connectivity to the point where the real hand also had to take into account what the shadow hand was doing, although in those circumstances it backfired heavily as the moment Arata connected both hands, his right hand in which he was holding his swords couldnt move as well, and Arata felt the complete weight of the object that he was trying to pick up right now. Ah no good! Another demon came and this time he attacked with his four arms at Arata whose right arm become a complete unmovable stone. In that second though actually using the fact that his right arm wont move, Arata made a small jump caught the head of incoming demon with his feet and then he smashed that head right into indestructible stairs of heavens gate construction which naturally hurt a lot. After that though Arata focused back on impossible. -common you damn useless strength stat! I have a lot of you and you never actually did anything for me! That number is not for show, is it? It should be able to pick up a large junk of metal like this at least! Naturally though nothing answered to his call and the sword still didnt budge. Also the problem was that Arata was running out of his time as many demons were already two meters away from him with the charging demon with a horn being two second away from sticking his spiky horn into Aratas back and this time, no human techniques could help Arata to counter it. Arata didnt even saw that though as he was trying his best with Azmis greatsword so he couldnt keep on looking behind himself but then when he made a glance towards his back and saw the horn right behind him, there was nothing else he could do as undoing perfect connectivity wasnt something Arata could do in few seconds. Thats why rather than doing anything else, with the attack being a second away from piercing through him, Arata did what any other person would do in his situation and namely he closed his eyes, second before his doom. After all the memory of your own death was something that would hunt you later on so if anything, anyone would like to avoid seeing it. Strangely though when Arata closed his eyes he didnt saw the darkness that would soon consume him. It was rather complete different image. Nearly everything before him was white with the exception of one person who was standing in the middle of that white space. Arata also immediately realized that that person was about to say something but even if it was just an image in his head Arata didnt want to hear it as he knew the exact words that would the person say to him, thats why before that person managed to say anything Arata opened his eyes once again to escape that. But then when Arata opened his eyes he saw that his body did what he could not. The first thing he saw was his hand holding the black sword stretched forward. That sword just finished the cut through the horn and the charging demons head. But then there was also the gigantic demonic greatsword which cut about five other demons that were climbing the stairs. Ha? Arata still was not sure what was happening but then he saw another demon on his right appearing out of nowhere so with the natural self-defense mechanism, Arata swung at him with his sword in hand and cut off demons left arm and second later he stabbed that demon in the chest with the same sword as he still did not unsheathe the other one. Still while he was doing it, the gigantic greatsword followed the exact same movement, and in ended up destroying few flying demons that happened to be on the way of the swing. No way! Despite the fact that Arata did not believe it, what was happening before his eyes was happening before his eyes and that was namely his full connectivity working as intended and his shadow hand arm being able to pick up Azmis greatsword. It was happening even despite the fact that Arata didnt even feel any difference in his body. His muscles were working the exact same way they were working before, and Arata himself didnt feel any difference in his strength usage either. Despite that though the shadow hand with the greatsword in it was following Aratas movement perfectly and because it did at the current moment, Arata ignored everything else. Only a single thought appeared in his mind. Time to kill some demons! With this thought in mind, Arata run to the middle of the stairs and made the spin. That spin naturally made the gigantic greatsword move in the similar manner which ended up with gigantic horizontal slash that destroyed every demon that was on the stairs to get pass Arata. After that one swing Arata faced down the stairs and moved his hand with the sword in it before his face. The gigantic greatsword moved in the same manner as well and then while holding it like that, Arata for the first time started going down the stairs. Whenever he encountered any demons he simply made a horizontal slash to destroy all of them, but it was not only that, given the huge range of this weapon, Arata also started swinging at the enemies in the sky who upon meeting the demonic greatsword were falling down like flies. [You have gained a level, current level 115] Before Arata reached the bottom of the stairs he already had yet another level. Because demons strongest ability their regeneration powers were not active right now, their general power level decreased a lot, but they still gave the same amount of experience as they would normally and because of that Arata could get level after the level with little difficulty. And it was really in little difficulty as right now Arata didnt even necessary had to use any techniques or perfectly balanced slashed. Right now all Arata needed to do is to simply swing the sword in the air and then Azmis greatsword would take care of the rest. Arata continued to kill all types of demons, the big one with three hands and clubs was especially a good target as the moment he fell down he also killed off a lot of his brethren while at the same time he blocked away the left side of the crater. For some time Arata had to block off only the right side of stairs which given his fighting tactic was quite easy for him. At some point, Arata started to even regret that he has to defend the stairs right now because if he was allowed to run against the demon army and there simply spin slowly while moving forward, the amount of experience that this whirlwind would make would be tremendous. Arata did not forget the bigger picture though but even if that method would have been better, Arata still exp up quite a lot. [You have gained a level, current level 116] [You have gained a level, current level 117] [You have unlocked a new skill] [You have gained a level, current level 118] The level was going up like crazy and in the meantime Arata even saw the message about some new skill, after seeing it a though appeared in his mind. I see so the twilight swordsman class is about picking up gigantic demon swords and swing it at demon armies if I do that more often I will get new skill. Right now Arata had really easy time as his swings not only served as attack but also as a defend because anytime the range tried to attack from the distance Arata simply countered it by swinging his gigantic sword as naturally, the demonic greatsword of demon lord would be much more durable than any type of magic. And because Arata had such easy time he even had a time for making sarcastic notes towards the game system, namely the great new skills unlocking system. Unfortunately though just as anytime something is going good, there had to be end to everything. Just as Arata was making yet another swing, the shadow hand suddenly disappeared and with its last movement the demonic greatsword ended up flying away while cutting few more demons on its way, still those were the last ones that Arata could kill with that method as after three minutes of playing around with it, Aratas stamina run out. Ah I thought there will be at least one more minute, I didnt make it much bigger than during the test but it seems that not only the size counts in stamina consumption. Oh, well I didnt expect to pick it up anyway so, hey great result. Ah if only I could keep that sword but unfortunately its something that is only lying on the ground and its not my loot. -now then . The moment the greatsword flied away from Aratas hand the look in all demons eyes immediately changed, and then two second later, the whole demons army artillery that could see him, started to attack Arata all at once. When that happened though, no one hat to tell Arata what to do right now. -aaaa! Arata started to run away, and he was doing it very fast, actually he was running really, really fast. Much faster than he normally would, it was simply that every of his steps send him a little farther than usual although right now even that was barely enough to escape incoming projectiles. Arata was not thinking about anything else than running and his run was so desperate that he even missed the emerald rune that Shin left him to escape with. In the current circumstances Arata had only one goal and that was to get away from the projectiles that were coming at him and those were all kinds of type. Arrows, spears, bolts, swords, clubs but also magical beams, fireballs, magical circles appearing under his feet, and many others which would be hard to count. There was even one gigantic demon that ended up throwing a simple rock that of the size of the car. There were really many things that were coming at him, still Aratas sprint allowed him to somehow not get caught by any of those and at the current moment he already went by the half length of the stairs. All those attack hit those stairs but yet again they didnt do anything. Right now though Arata wouldnt have mind if the bottom of the stairs got destroyed as it would delayed the demon charge. Arata did not even look behind him though and he continued upward as there was nothing left for him to do and by his count the heavens gate should have already been opened, even if no one called him. While climbing the stairs and looking upward Arata saw something appearing at the top of the stairs, or rather slightly above the top of the stairs as the person that appeared was not standing but flying with the use of wings. It wasnt any of the winged demons that managed to slip by earlier, it was obvious as the demons simply couldnt look so beautiful and their wings would never be able to achieve this crystal silver color. Well that is an angel if I ever seen on. Arata quickly understood the nature of that person as just by simple look it was obvious. Apart from characteristic silver white wings the angel was also wearing a robe in angelic colors which were gold, silver and blue. That robe also included a hood that covered the angels head but from Aratas perspective he could see angels face. Under the hood there was womans gentle smile as well as beautiful golden eyes that for a second looked in his direction. It happen only for a moment though as second later she looked at the battlefield and then face expression completely changed. So are the good guys or not? Practically ever since Arata learned about angels involvement in the quest, he had this question on mind. That was because in essence there were two options that differed a lot. One was that angels are good, friendly NPC race and other that the whole heavens is some kind of large dungeon in which those angels are enemies to fight. Naturally those two were a huge difference as one meant free walk in the park and other another army to fight against. This hostility wasnt there when she looked at me, right? Currently the flying angel had really hostile expression but hopefully that was only because she was looking at the demon army that was corrupting those lands. And naturally it didnt end just on making hostile expression. The flying angel suddenly started to shine in silver-gold light and afterwards in the sky around her about twenty flying silver-gold orbs appeared. The most surprising thing though was that the moment she activated her spell the light in the horizon started to appear signaling the start of a new day. It was truly an angelic entrance that was followed by the light of dawn. Still right now there was something else on Aratas mind. Wait, is she going to attack that army on her own? Where is an angels army or something? The answer to that question soon appeared but before that though, the silver-gold orbs, all at once started to release the lasers beams down on the demon army. Arata followed the silver-gold lines with his eyes and there on the ground he saw how most of the demons were simply being vaporized the moment they encountered those beams. Seeing that though Arata was somehow no impressed. Although it was for completely different reasons. ah I had already enough overpowered attacks for one day. I guess that I should be happy that none of those are aiming at me. The lasers beams continued for about two minutes and they were holding back the charging in demons away from the stairs. Still even that power could not defeat the whole army as the number of demons didnt seem to go down by much even with an attack like that. But it seemed that that attacks purpose was slightly different as while the angel girl was using those silver-gold orbs to hold back the army, behind here some other flying people started to gather. In comparison to the first angel those had the amours and weapons ready. Their equipment was mostly in gold and silver color. Nearly all weapons were gold though. About half of them had angelic bows with them but even if there were angel archers they still had other weapons as well. Still there was few characteristics that was exact the same with all angels and that was that they all had silver white wings, golden eyes and also silver-white colored hair without a single exception to that rule. The length and the style of that hair did differ but they were all silver in color. About three minutes after their appearance, the gold-silver orbs disappeared and the moment they did, the gathered angels army started flying down, and the great battle between forces of heaven and hell for the heavens gate began. Oh, this is somewhat depressing. Looking at the scene made Arata think like that as for him fighting against one strong flying enemy would be quite hard. Here however before his eyes he had two armies filled with men, women and demons, full of flying people who kept on making incredible attacks one after another. Well none of that was on Azmis level or on level of the angel girl who didnt join the fight and was keep on flying above the stairs for this whole time. -oh Arata, are you still alive. While Arata was looking down on the battle scene from bible, he suddenly heard Levis surprised voice coming from the top of the stairs and after looking up, Levi was indeed there. -yea, whats up over there? Arata answered and started climbing the stairs, while he was still doing so, Levi answered. -well we had few demons slipping by you but we took care of them with little problem. Apart from that, when the gate opened, first this angel appeared Levi pointed with his finger over his head as three meters directly above him the angel girl was flying. -and after her, bunch of other angels appeared as well and now they are all fighting. But strangely though they all ignored us or rather, this girl ignored us even though we called out to her. As for others they were clearly talking about us but they didnt answer to our questions either. Well, even now she is still ignoring us. Despite the fact that Levi just talked about the person who was clearly visible, she didnt do anything in particular and right now she actually had her golden eyes closed. While Levi explaining the situation, Arata managed to climb the stairs and there he saw that the party was staying there alright and well. There were also many demons bodies lying around, mostly with wings but there also were few without one. Hmm, so I did let few of those without wings slip after all. When did that happened, I was sure I stopped them all? Arata did know that he let through the flying ones as he couldnt do anything about those high in the sky but there were also few types that wouldnt be able to fly and yet they also managed to get up there somehow. Oh, well it doesnt matter, I am glad everyone is okay. Only a simply though like that appeared in Aratas mind, although. -hey Levi, where is Julia! After doing a fast look, despite what Levi said, there was one missing. -wow relax bro. Sure I cant say for sure right now but she should be okay. -what do you mean? -well after all those angels flied pass by us, we were standing there wondering what to do. Well actually we were betting on the odds if you were living or not and if we should simply leave you. -thanks . -you are welcome. Dont sound so mean, it was simply an idea that Shin presented, in the end though Rin said that we are waiting and well no one felt like arguing with her. After that though that guy came up with yet another idea and that was that we should check if the havens gate works alright. -but the angels come out already so why shouldnt it work? -dont ask me, that guy is simply too cautious for all I know. But anyway after that idea a volunteer appeared and she went inside the gate about a minute ago and she should be coming back to let us know that it work for sure. -I see, well if its already two way teleport then we can try it out just in case. So Levi what about the possibility that angels are our next enemies? -hmm, I dont know, the only thing I can say is that girl is nice. Little quiet though, but I am sure that she is simply thinking how to answer my feelings. I see so he already used his knight wannabe mode on her. Hopefully she wont think of us as weirdoes because of him. After listening to all the details of the report, Arata started walking forward on the platform as because it was so big, he was still quite away from everyone else, and they were mostly staying on the other side close to the portal. The closest to Arata, or rather the farthest from the gate and the group was naturally Rin. Then there were the rest chatting together and those were Shin, Mika, Flynn and one-armed Bran the demon slayer. Still as Arata was coming closer, it seemed that Mika saw his wound on the belly that he got after laser attack which he didnt manage to block out. Still given that Arata tried to block the whole army by himself, in the first place it was a miracle that he survived so a wound like this counted like nothing. Arata didnt thought of it as a miracle though but rather simply giant demon lords greatswords are good. Mika run up to more or less where Rin was staying and from there she started her healing spells. With few seconds delay, the wound was healed, although right now Arata didnt feel much difference as he himself completely forgotten about that wound and his body blocked away the signals of pain. At that time he didnt have a time to worry about it. In truth though, it was a serve wound that made his bones being visible from the outside. Also Arata couldnt really look how healing was done and that was because Mika was standing next to Rin. The moment Arata saw Rin here again, he averted his gaze as he couldnt stand looking at her right now. Despite the fact that earlier on she was worried about him, right now, the moment she saw him here alive and well her face was sad, even sadder then usually. She was looking at him with eyes that send a clear message that she didnt want to see him again. Arata realized that message as well even if he couldnt tell why still he himself didnt want to look at that message so he averted his gaze. Still that situation didnt last long as even before Arata managed to reach the party the lie of peace and victory was destroyed. The flat gold gate of the portal suddenly moved and out from it a man came out. It was a man in a completely golden armor that covered him completely with the exception of the head, and his characteristics were the most surprising. The eyes were golden just like with any other angel but his long hairs tied at the back were dark brown. He also had a small unshaved bear. Then another surprise that man did not have the silver wings like all others that came out from the heavens gate. Right now the dark brown haired man was holding single one-handed sword in his hand although it was a strange sword as its handle was as long as the sword blade. If the man were to hold the weapon from the very bottom it would become a small spear right away. The sword was gold in color although, the red blood was already staining it, despite the fact that the golden man still didnt fight any demons and also demons blood was black. -ARIEL! ARIEL! The moment the man fully emerged from the portal he ended up shouting the same name twice, in the quite loud voice of 40 years old man. -what is it, your eminence fourth Archangel? The answers to that call come right away from the flying angel girl that Arata first saw. She on the other hand sounded rather young. The moment she answered though the man ended up stabbing his sword into the ground, although because it was the unbreakable stone that the heavens gate was constructed, he didnt manage to stab it completely. Still somehow his blood stained golden swordspear, still ended up flying in vertical position few centimeters above the floor and then few second later a huge transparent gold wall appeared all around the heavens gate portal. Then the man ended up disappearing from Aratas eyes and the next time Arata saw him, he man was now flying next to the angel girl and even more surprisingly, right now he had the other characteristic of the angel race the silver wings. His hair remained dark brown though. As to why Arata managed to locate him so fast, it was because the man right away started talking. -Ariel, whats with that your eminence fourth Archangel? Didnt I tell you to call me Michael. -I think it would have been a dishonor for me to call you that, your eminence fourth Archangel. -but you are an Archangel now as well Ariel, also is that the way to call your old time friend. -at best, we could be called old time acquaintances but even that is an old tale isnt it. So once again, what is it your eminence fourth Archangel? - It seemed like the two angels were either on good terms or on bad terms but it seemed like the former was more probable as the angel girl was clearly sulking before him and despite calling him your eminence fourth Archangel her voice didnt have any respect for the golden armored angel. -ah, whatever. So Ariel, how many of them there are out already? -surprisingly at the current time I dont see any demon lords here. -none? Strange, but well they will come soon luckily though because of that we have time to talk so Ariel, what is the deal with you letting someone enter the heavens without permission. Or rather dont tell me that you gave them permission! You should know that the old man will get angry! -I dont know what you are talking about? I simply judged the situation and decided that it will be better if someone more appropriate than me deal with interracial affairs. -and who exactly that someone was going to be? -who knows? With that answer Ariel the angel turned away and flied away leaving the annoyed golden armored angel Michael behind. -you will have to thank me for saving you reputation here later!... He once again shouted to her but he didnt get any other answer than that. -now then The golden angel turned around in partys direction while still flying in the sky but then second later he decided on land on the platform and when he did, his silver wings also disappeared. -what I should do with you guys? Ahhh this will be troublesome but I guess the discussion will go fast. Was the girl with long brown hair that passed through this portal and entered the heavens was one of your friends? He asked them this question. Was? -yes she is, did you see her? Shin answered. -well then the discussion really went fast before I start though I guess I can answer your last question. Yes I did see her and you have no idea how painful it was to chase her. Ah I already see those comments tomorrow, the heroic forth archangel has a trouble with catching a single human girl. But dont worry I did catch her and naturally when I did, I immediately get rid of her. We dont have quarrel with the human race but she was an intruder, just like you all are. With those words the golden angel rushed forward. This time Arata managed to see his move but that was only because, the angel passed right between him and Levi with his immediate movement. The angel passed by them before Arata even managed to catch his sword and if he was to attack at that time, he would probably easily kill both Arata and Levi as in a single move, as while he moved he also draw out two golden swordspears out from nowhere. Luckily though, the archangel did not attack them as his target was someone else for the moment. After passing by Arata and Levi he stopped between Rin and Mika and there he attacked to both left and right with his spearsword. cling Rin managed to unsheathe her swords and time and put up the guard in time, the moment she did that though, both of her original swords broke instantly, she on the other-hand ended up being pushed away with archangel strike by about five meters. Still apart from her swords she seemed unharmed and also she immediately threw away two destroyed swords and summoned their exact copies with her skill. On the other side though, Mika didnt manage to react to archangel movements and her body ended up being split in half with a single strike, which didnt actually cut her in half but the moment sword pierced her belly the golden energy was released form it which did the rest. After his first attack, the archangel looked at Rin and commented. -ahhh, here I wanted to take care of most unpleasant part right away where I have to kill girls yet here someone with hero attribute appears. It wont be that easy it seems. In that case before any of you manage to sneak in while I will occupied, I will do this. After saying that the archangel Michael looked in the direction of the magic portal and second later he stretched his hand towards it. From that hand a golden magical line came out and that line went straight into the middle of the portal where the statue, aka gate activator, aka ancient relic, was still flying. The golden rope reached the statue and attached its end to it. When that happened the brown haired angel caught the rope with his hand and then he pulled it. Without any struggle the relic ended up flying towards the archangel and the moment it left its position, the golden portal disappeared few seconds after, just like partys hope of entering the heavens. - . - . No one could say anything as just like that, their two hours struggle to survive in the face of demon army was wasted. The first one who once again voiced his mind was the archangel. -I might be an archangel now but I had my deal of being the guard of gates, portals and multiple other entrances. That experience always says, if you want to defend the gate, lock it and take the key before anyone manage to sneak in. As my Capitan used to say if the intruders are too strong for you, they will kill you and take the key but you will be dead anyway so you wont hear any complaints from me about letting anyone slip by later. Ah simple common knowledge but it saves so much time. Now then intruders, are you strong enough to take this key away from me? Just so you know though, even if you manage to do so, Ariels job is to simply take this relic and fly away, she didnt come here to fight the whole demon army just by herself, thats why even if you defeat me, you will still have to defeat her and then even if you manage to do it, you will still have to survive against the demon army that will come later as even if you put this statue back to its place, it will still take same time it took to activate in the first place. Just like that, the archangel Michael explained everyone how hopeless their current situation is, although even if there were few glimpses of hope here and there, Arata always knew that if the angels end up not being the friendly NPC race, they wont be able to do anything even after entering the heavens. -can I ask you something? Suddenly Shin asked. -the last wish of a dead men? Sure go ahead. -I was wondering. It seems troublesome for you all to come here and defend this gate. Also the fact that the relic was in possession of demons shouldnt be good for you, as they could use it to invade heavens from here just like they are trying to do so now. Thats why, wouldnt it be better for you to destroy this gate long time ago before they manage to use it, or is it that you still need it? -no, we angels dont need it, we can get to earth and back to heavens anytime we want and yes destroying this gate would be the safest choice but oh well, just simply look at this The archangel Michael ended up connecting his two swords into one dual blade. While he was holding it the weapon started to get surrounded by brightest light that Arata ever saw and when that light stabilized around the weapon, the archangel ended up sticking it into the ground. boom! There was incredibly bang and a strong shockwave that ended up pushing everyone from the party to the ground. Still, when everything calmed down there wasnt big damage done to the platform anywhere despite the big power of the strike. -wow! I managed to make a stretch on it, seem like I got a little bit stronger in those past few years The first one speak anything was yet again archangel Michael who was actually suppressed that his big ultimate attack made a small hole in the floor of the platform. -now then I think that will answer your last death wish, as you can probably realize it is impossible for us to destroy this thing. Well not literally impossible but we would need to gather all five highest ranked archangel and ask them to attack this thing day and night for few years. And I am for one will definitely not sign up for this job It seemed that apart from answering Shins question Michael also simply wanted to try his power against the heavens gate durability still even his attack didnt do much to it. -well then shall we continue its been a while since I fought on my legs without wings. The archangel said that and then he spited his dual blade back into two spearswords. But then before he started attacking, someones laugh interrupted him and that laugh made even the great archangel shiver. -hyhyhyhyhyhyhyhyhy The voice seemed to come from far above them and it was exactly the spot in which the two blades of the statue of human warrior and statue of angel crossed. Arata looked up immediately and at the top of those blades there was someone in black clothes. Because of the distance though, Arata couldnt make anything else out from him as his size was only that of a human. -demons, angels, adventurers After finishing his laugh that lasted for about 20 seconds, the person at the top of those blades started and continued. -demon lords, archangels and even the child of the wind It was a voice of a man but at the same time it was a voice that no man could have. -ah, it was an enjoyable show and even now there is so much happening, but I can wait no longer With that said, the black individual ended up standing up as so far he was sitting with his legs in the air, after he stood up something completely unnatural happened. From his small body a big pair of black wings emerged and those wings were nowhere near with its size compared to the angels one. Those wings were as big as the statues or even bigger than that as it was hard to see. With those wings the black individual started to fly up right away and just the simple movement of those wings brought to the ground everyone who was standing. The black individual started to go higher and higher to the sky and as he did, his whole body also started to morph into something else. -I can wait no longer. This building piqued my interest as if this building was calling me, this building was challenging me and I never run away from the challenge. As the black creature went higher and higher, its form developed and soon, no one had any doubts as to what he was. Despite the fact that the day just started, the sky one again become black as the black dragon consumed all light around him. -its been here for so long, and yet only now I found out about it Already in his dragon from, he continued to speak. -from this day on though, no one will see this divine construction again as all is nothing before the breath of creation. The black dragon was already high in the sky and from there he attacked with the ultimate attack that all dragons have. The black fire escaped his jaw and it came down to the earth destroying everything on its way. This day, the heavens gate that stood in those lands for over 300th years as well as the myth of its indestructability disappear forever as after the breath the only thing that remained on the whole battlefield was the black flame that consumed all. Next Chapter: Chapter 44 Hopeless dream. Chapter 44 “Hopeless dream.” Chapter 44 Hopeless dream. All that remained was black scorched ground. Just few hours ago, the area was still filled with thousands of warriors, who were fighting for the glory of their races in their everlasting conflict. And yet, despite the fact that the gigantic battle broke out, that battle didnt last even an hour as in that time alone, both armies were nearly completely wiped out with ease and just like them the object that one side wanted to reach and other wanted to defend was destroyed. The heavens gate was no longer here as it disappeared alongside the armies of hell, armies of heaven as well as small third party that also happened to take part in that battle. Everything that was once there disappeared and all that remained was the black scorched ground. But even if area was now empty not everyone were consumed by the flame in the moment it came down from the earth. Some of the demons which were still close to their black portal managed to run back to the hell before the dragons breath came their way. There were also demons that were skilled in magic and they managed to teleport away from the place. The same went for angels whose survival rate was especially surprisingly high as before flames took them, there were many that disappeared with the ray of light that came from the sun. But even then though, only about 5% of everyone who was gathered there did manage to escape as all the rest completely disappeared forever and unlike dying in the battle for which every one of them was ready, there was absolutely no glory in their deaths. The same went for the party of adventures that happened to be in the eye of the cyclone, they also all disappeared the moment the black flame touch them. All it took was a single contact and with that their existence was erased. In their case though, it was not the end of their lives as all adventures had the power to stand again and fight as long as their will is strong enough to not give up. For some of them dying is everyday bread that they live with every day and they treat it as a natural phenomenon. That did not mean that they could fully get used to it however. No matter how many times one experienced it, every time someone died, it would leave a sour taste in their mouth. The feeling of death every time was completely real and even if in the end one didnt truly die, experiencing the feeling of death still changed people. The moment one wakes up in their capsule after experiencing the death is exactly the same as when someone wakes up in the hospital bed after surviving a life treating accident. In essence though, it still different greatly from person to person and someone who dies every weekend or so, will not think that much about dying as humans are the creatures that can cope with any situation and the more time they experience it the less shocked they become. That was why not everyone could experience the true feeling of death. Still, if one were to point out those that would get the closest to that feeling, then it would be those to whom death doesnt happen that often. This actually created the strange combination where those who could avoid death most of the times would suffer the most when they finally fail to escape its grasp and death will finally catch them. And yet sometimes even a person who managed to stay alive would prefer to simply die and share his comrades fate rather than be the only one that survived. It was the truth that he survived but at the same time one could not truly say that he was still alive. Few hours have already passed since he appeared here and yet ever since then, he still did not move from the emerald rune next to which he was lying on. Why me? This was one of the very few thoughts that were filling Aratas head and it was the thought that he tried to cling to as any other thought was so much painful. At the time when the black dragon appeared out from nowhere and soon after attacked, there was little that anyone could do. Even two large armies couldnt do anything. Even someone with a title forth archangel escaped right away after seeing the difference in power that was astronomical. Truth to be told Arata didnt see what happened over there apart from that, as he as well escaped the platform two seconds after Michael and three seconds before the flame reached him. At that time everyone were still there alive and well, but right now, nothing remained of them and Arata was sure of it, after all no one could escape by the same method as he did. As to how Arata escaped, it was not his doing. Starting from the fact that he didnt have anything that would be useful in this escape he couldnt even use spells as both his mana and stamina was drained from the fight he had. Those wouldnt have help him anyway as there was only about 10 seconds of time between the time at which the dragon started his breath and the time in which the black flame reached the ground. Before that, it was impossible to move as the strong wind created by movement of dragons wings completely immobile everyone, even for the mighty archangel. So there were only ten seconds for escape and in those ten seconds, there was little that one could do. In the first place one wouldnt even have a time to gather the thoughts especially after so many hopeless events that were happening one after another. The hope of entering the heavens was already crushed by the archangel Michael and yet even something more powerful ended up standing in Aratas way. That was only in his perspective though as for the dragon, everything that was on the battlefield was nothing more than a pebble on the road maybe with the exception of the heavens gate itself, but it seemed that after his attack the dragon was clearly disappointed. Still, even in a dire situation like that, there still was one person that would keep his head calm and do anything in his power all the time. In those ten seconds or rather in only 6 seconds, in his last moments Shin casted two emerald runes. One under Aratas feet and one he shooted far away, deep into the mountain that stood behind the heavens gate. With this act, Arata was saved from the death and he teleported to the place in which he currently was. Still that was all. Despite the fact that there were still 4 seconds remaining, no one else managed to be saved by Shins spell and the proof to that was that the emerald gate was still on the ground next to Arata. If it werent, Arata could still hope that Shin casted it somewhere else maybe just in case Arata didnt get out from it in time. Even if it that act would require an incredible speed casting it was possible, or at least it would be still something to hope for. But the fact that the emerald rune was still here meant that it was not the case and that was because, only two copies of that rune could be created at time, so if someone were to escape with that method, that someone would appear where this rune was and yet even after six hours, no one else appeared. In those six hours, the black flame vanquished all that was on the base of the mountain and now there was no sight of demons, angels, heavens gate, or any other adventurer. There was only Arata lying on the ground in the mountains forest. One could say though that even he was in the end vanquished by that black fire as right now, he couldnt even bring himself to log out, much less to stand up. For Arata, there was always something that hunted him in the very bottom of his mind and that was his parents death. Even if he did already made peace with that event, if something similar were to happen to him he would immediately start thinking about it and no matter how much peace he would make with it, it would never have been enough. Right now it was something exactly the same as at that time as anytime Arata would think back on it, there was always one thing that he regretted the most about that even and that was the fact that he was the only one that was left alive, he was the only one that survived. Thoughts like that always used to fill Aratas head back then and right now the situation yet again repeated itself, as if the circle of destiny could never be changed. One could say that this time it was simply a death in games that the people alongside him didnt truly die. In essence it was the truth and yet Arata felt that he really just lost someone. The death has a lot of meanings and its not necessary a state in which the human stops to breath. Do people die when their head is shoot through with bullet? No! Do people die when they are cut through with the sword? No! People truly die, only when they are forgotten. Thats why for everyone, people die at different time. If person A, never meet and will never person B, then for person A, the person B is no different from dead person. The same went for two people who just briefly meet each other and at some point one they would forget about the other person and the would never meet them again. That way to person A, the person B is yet again no different from dead person. Following that the other scenario is when person A and person B know each other well and even after a long time they will remember themselves and that memory will still live inside them. Some might say that its simply a helpless thinking that serves one to get over the pain of losing someone but as long as you can recall the other person, as long as you can image their smiling face, they are still alive in your heart. Still, the death isnt the worst thing that can happen to someone as there are far more tragic events. If it the examples are already related to memories of others, then it would be a situation where person A is very close with the person B and yet they depart, never to meet each other again, but still with the thought that the other person is alive out there somewhere, and with the hope of meeting that person again. The situation in which those two will never meet each other again, is the one truly tragic one as death ends everything immediately where here its a continuous pain for many years. Right now, it was the situation in which Arata found himself. Obviously right now Arata wasnt thinking about Levi, Shin, Julia or anyone else because if he decided to, he could meet them again with little difficulty. Still there was one person that he would not be able to meet like that again and that person was the only one that Arata wanted to see right now and from all people on earth and in EOA, without a single exception, she was the one with whom he wanted to reunite the most right now. Still, that wish could not be granted as Arata was sure that she will never again allow him to come closer to her. Even if he managed to find her again, she would not talk to him, the only thing she would do was either ignore him or kill him if he didnt give up. Then even if Arata did manage to get stronger than her, at best it would end with her committing the suicide just to escape from him or her running away the first moment he loses her from his sight. The point was that he will never be able to hear her voice again. So just like I always thought, it was a hopeless dream. There was also a thought like that in Aratas mind as despite everything, he never considered his chances at succeeding to be high. At best he gave himself 5% chances of winning and for him it was enough to not get depressed over the situation. In the first place, he wouldnt get depressed even if those chances were lower and that was because the quest itself was the secondary goal. Arata knew well enough that completing this quest was a hopeless dream. In normal circumstance, if Arata already decided on completing this quest, he would rather tell the Wizard to leave that quest for him for later and in the future he would return to complete it. This was the calm analysis that Arata was making even right now with his quest of rank four. He didnt want to charge into unknown just for the sake of it, especially when that could also bring the real death to someone from this world. Still, even though Arata could calmly analyze the situation with the other quest he had, in the current quest he couldnt do so. He couldnt back off, he couldnt say I will come later after I am actually ready for it and he couldnt do it simply because he was not alone. Then again, it wasnt simply the fact that he couldnt convince Rin and Levi to put off that quest for later. Even if there was that notice about dying and failing right away, Arata was sure that with EOAs quest system where one can cheat out an npc from gold, there should be an option of disbanding the quest for some other time and pick it up later, especially when it was the cheated npc who was giving that quest. Operation like that should definitely be possible and thanks to that the party could easily separate, get ready and then get back together at later date. But even if Arata was given the chance now, even if he knew since the very beginning how will this most likely end, he still couldnt make the other decision. It didnt matter if it was the failure right now or giving up at the very start as the end result was always leaving her alone, to continue a life that couldnt be even called a life. Thats why the only option that Arata had was to try to chase after this hopeless dream and to survive in it for as long as it took and maybe thanks to it, he would have more time, more time to be with her, as with the use of that time he wanted to do something for her. Arata himself was not even sure what it could be. There was naturally a thought like paying off for what she did for him in real world, or simply a though that it will be fun to do a quest with her but it wasnt only that. Arata himself really did not know what he wanted to do with her but ever since he recognized her in Karmas arena something was born inside him. If there was something that Arata did understand though it was that he wanted to find out: Why she? Why someone who was always loved by her parents and all people around her keep on having a face that is even worse than mine used to be? Why someone who already faced many difficulties in her life and managed to live happily with them is now in this state? Why does someone who always loved people and was always being loved back decided to cut herself out from all those who were so dear to her?. But it wasnt only that he wanted to find out about it. Arata didnt even actually consider that reason to be important, what was important to him though was to change this situation somehow. He simply wanted to stop her from doing what she continued to do and if possible help out in some way. Arata didnt know how exactly he can help her but generally as long as he kept being in contact with her, he thought that will be able to do something and there was actually some change. Even if all of his tries didnt work, little by little, from time to time, Rin would revert to her old self. There was one moment where Arata saw the biggest change in her and it was little bit after completing the prequest with the tomb fight. At that time and only at that time Arata saw Rin truly smile like Amanda as if she forgotten about everything, even if only for a little while. Still that moment assured Arata that his effort is not completely in vain and that maybe by completing this quest, he will be able to make a true change. Even if it were to be a small change it was still worth it. In a way, it was another hopeless dream that Arata chased after but it always is better to chase after hopeless dream rather than try to face against cruel reality as after all, no one can truly tell if your dream is truly hopeless. Unfortunately though all dreams end at some point and if you wont catch your dream in time, it might fly away and disappear from your sight forever. In future, you can still chase after that dream but if that dream already escapes your grasp once, you will always know that you wont be able to catch that dream in the future as well and if one try to chase after the hopeless dream without a conviction, it is bound to remain hopeless forever. Its over. All is lost. All was for nothing. In the end, I couldnt do anything for her shit, shit -SHIT!... At some point, thought like that appeared and then Arata cursed as loud as he can. Normally, Arata would never curse as he never really saw any reason in it. In a way though that also meant that he never truly could get frustrated over something that he never truly cared for anything. Even the most polite person will end up cursing at some point, they would hide in the darkness corner of the world and there they would release their frustration. In comparison to general cursing, this here wasnt actually bad but rather it showed that someone truly cared about something, especially in cases of those that usually never cursed. Right now Arata had a lot of frustration build in him, the biggest problem of that frustration though was that there wasnt actually anything that he could do to prevent the source of frustration from happening. Because of that, Arata didnt even have anyone to curse or anyone to blame. During heavens gate battle, there werent any mistakes that he made, there werent even any mistakes that other around him made, in essence given their hopeless situation, they truly arrived at possibly the best scenario for them and they stayed alive for as long as they could, it was simply that it wasnt enough. Also seeing what happened there, no matter where Arata looked there still werent any points at which he could make those chances even closer. At best what he could do would be to gather a massive amount of players, to join him on this big quest and with that, increase his chances of victory. Still would that truly be enough? There were thousands of demons and angels everywhere and yet they all were nothing but a grain of sand against the black dragon. Then, how about adding a group of incredibly strong people like Haru? She probably wouldnt die that easily, so if there were a whole group of people like her, would it work? It probably still wouldnt as first of all, ignoring the fact that it was impossible for Arata to gather that many people, there was also the problem that that many strong people didnt even exist and those that did exist were still not enough because Arata still remembered the story of how the black dragon came to be. Sure he couldnt be sure if it was the tale about the same black dragon but how could it be not? A being on completely different level than all others. A being that is completely out of anyones reach, or at least out of reach of any adventurer in the world. What was more though it was not only out of reach of any adventurer but also out of any group of adventurers, any party, any guild. It was truly a being that was too far in the sky for anyone to reach it as for that being all was nothing. So if gathering more allies was not enough, what else was there? Get stronger by himself? Even if someone told him that, there wasnt much that Arata could do. He was already putting everything into it to the point where he was either doing something or sleeping. After all, for all this time his motivation, his goal was standing right next to him, so in circumstances like that even Arata who would love nothing else than slack off, could not do so. Arata was always dedicated to that, especially during the expedition. Through the whole expedition Arata was doing very few things. It was either fighting against monsters of the west, resting, observing Rin fighting against monsters of the west to find her weaknesses, thinking up the ways in which he can improve so he can get closer to her even if by one step. In a way apart from sleeping time, his thoughts were always filled with her. While thinking up new strategies and theorizing how he can improve it was always with the last goal in mind and that was how will it help him in fighting against her? The same went for most of fighting time as unless it were some dire situation, Arata was testing the ideas that he came up with earlier to see if they make any sense. Most of his ideas did not work out though and it also wasnt like he had that much time, but yet still it was always with the thought of Rin. Then there was observing Rins movements, mostly to learn more about her and at the same time learn something from her. Although if there was one thing that Arata knew well about Rin it was her fighting style because as at the same time it was his own fighting style as well. In that regard watching her wasnt the complete necessity and yet even if it was going to help even a little, Arata would prefer to do that rather than nothing. In the end though, winning against Rin was not the only reason that Arata tried to get stronger. It was rather a secondary goal, or maybe even a lie that he could tell others as when for example Levi would joke that Arata is trying too hard. In essence the reason that Arata could keep on trying was because he wanted to avoid the situation that happened few hours ago. And yet, his wish to help her out could not be granted as even if Arata did everything he could, it was not enough. -shit!... Thats why Arata was now cursing out loudly as if there was one thing that he could blame, then it would be this evil world that was standing in the his way. -shit!... Then if it wasnt the world, then maybe it was the fate, although cursing his own fate at this point seemed pointless. In his life, Arata cursed his fate so many times already, that doing so for yet another time, wouldnt add much to that. Nothing he could do right now would have any importance either and in the end sometimes before one can stand up again, before one can start thinking rationally there was a need for a pointless actions and screams of hate. After yet another hour, Arata finally regained enough composure to gather his thoughts as after all there was a limit to how long one can do nothing at all. Although it was probably going to take a lot of time before his face stop having the dead like look. So I guess its truly over. Everyone died, the quest objective is destroyed and she Even after regaining composure it still hurt anytime those thoughts appeared in his mind. So what should I do now? Or rather should I do anything at all? Why should I do anything to begin with? I dont see any reason in anything right now? I guess I should start with logging out. The true fresh air will hopefully help. Maybe getting away from this world will help. Being in EOA sometimes feel like a dream so maybe if I get out from here I will manage to forget but then again I dont truly want to forget and yet at the same time, is there anything else I could do? There really isnt and I probably wont be able to come up with anything by sitting here either, so logging out sounds like an option. And after that a long break, a break that I wasnt able to make as lately I was always bound by And then yet again those thoughts caught him again and this time, with all recent events floating through his mind, Arata started to cry and he continued to do so for next 10 minutes. Its no use, I cant think straight right now after all, everything is simply too fresh. I should log out as fast as possible and at least escape this scenery. A week, two or more without coming back here should help somehow. But even after that time, I dont want to return to this place again. The thought that I will have to return to this place again may even keep me away from returning and I will delay it as much as possible. So rather than that, I can at least take care of this immediately. With that thought still lying on the ground with the rock behind his back Arata unsheathed his sword and looked at it. In the end, I am still in this damn west and I will have to come back from there. What is the better way to do so rather than simply resurrecting back in Larisane. Or will it be Karma? I dont even know, nor do I care right now. But strangely right now its not even a crazy though as I wont be able to come back on my own anyway so I should simply get it done as quickly as possible. With that thought Arata pointed the edge of the black sword towards his neck. Sorry Shin but I will waste your effort of saving me but you would also consider this action to be a reasonable solution right? After all, I have this cursed power that will not even punish me for failure, I dont think that losing few levels would mean anything to me right now though, still without even that concern, there really is not a single reason why I should even try to stop myself from doing this. If anything, I hope that the feeling of death will be as real as it was in those other times With this last though and hope for punishment, Arata closed his eyes and two seconds later he pushed the sword to his neck. - . But then even though Arata didnt hesitate, his sword did not reach his throat as it stopped two centimeters before it and even though Arata pushed even harder, thinking that it was his instincts holding him back, the sword still did not budge as it was because it wasnt his instincts that were holding him back but rather someone else. -what are you doing you idiot! Arata heard this voice and immediately opened his eyes because if he kept them closed he would think that his mind was playing tricks on him. But then even after he opened his eyes, for a moment he thought that he saw the illusion as it could not be true and yet, could the illusion be so realistic? The large blue eyes right before his, the long red hair that was falling onto him and lastly the voice, the voice that he never thought that he will hear again. -Rin? Arata said her name and his grip on his sword loosed up a little. In that second Rin managed to pull it away from him and throw it away. She did that with her hands catching the raw blade and even though she was wearing the brown leather gloves, her hands were still cut as when she first caught the sword to stop it from moving she used all her strength and she wasnt careful while catching it as for her. She had only a second of time in which she could stop Arata from doing what he was doing. Still even with bleeding hands, after throwing away the sword, she could slap Aratas face with that bleeding hand as strongly as she could. -answer me! What were you doing, you idiot! Despite what she had done just now, her voice was full of concern. Right now she wasnt looking like her usual self, not only somehow her red cloak was missing and she only had a sleeveless red shirt on her but also her face was panicking and at the same time there were tears in her eyes. Still rather than giving her an answer, Aratas consciousness still wanted a better proof, that the person before him is not an illusion that that his mind created to somehow fight against the empty feeling in his heart. Thats why before he even noticed, his hands moved and he grabbed Rin who was just slightly above him and then he pulled her towards him. After this act, even Rin couldnt say anything for some time and in that time Arata confirmed what he wanted to and soon he voiced it out. -so, you are real? Arata already got many proofs to that and yet his words formed this question. -of course I am real! Before anything though, let me go Arata! While being pushed against Aratas chest, Rin shouted back to him, still after that shout, he started holding her even stronger and also answered to her. -no! -what do you mean by saying no. Let me go already! -no, if I do, you will disappear. -stop saying nonsense and let me go already! I dont know what illusions you had earlier but I am completely real. -I know it now and that is the reason I wont stop holding you, after all if I do, this time you will truly disappear. After all, its over. - . Arata said the last words that somewhat explained what he did, although he probably could do it in another way. Still his body moved on its own and did what it did and now that Arata finally said those words, Rin realized what he meant and afterwards she didnt answer him back. In the end, even if Rin survived in some way, it still did not change the situation. The simple death in EOA itself meant nothing after all. Arata wasnt depressed over Rins death itself but rather about the connection between him and her disappearing. Because it disappeared Arata knew as just like Rin always told him, after this connection is lost, they will never meet each other again At some point Arata managed to talk her into another meeting with the excuse of paying off the debt for this quest but still, right now it didnt mean anything as in the end Arata did not manage to help out Rin in her quest so there was no debt to be spoken off. There was truly nothing left, and even if Arata was given this last chance to meet up with her, in a long run this changed nothing. Or maybe it was simply the fate, once again playing around with him, and her appearing here was to make it even more painful experience for him. After Aratas last words they stayed quietly for about five minutes like this but finally after gathering her thoughts Rin once again said. -let me go Arata. -no. -what you said earlier is completely right, its truly is a time for me to disappear. After all our agreement is done is done isnt it? So lastly allow me to thank you for your help, sadly though it wasnt enough but its not like I was expecting it to be any different after all even you with your crazy talks did not truly believe in winning, did you? - . Somehow right now Rin was not sounding sad and she tried to sound normally, she even tried to smile while saying that. Still her actually doing so brought completely different effect as her usual self always had the sad voice and sad look. Still even though it seemed like Rin was fighting against herself while saying those words so she continued to do so. Although it was not exactly her fighting against herself but rather her once again trying to cope with the situation in which she was and decision that she made ever since she was locked away in this world. -so now that we finally finished our quest, its truly time for me to go. If anything, the expedition to the west and the last battle near the gate did give me what I want from quests, so I dont have any regrets. Unlike you, I dont care about any rewards and even more I dont care about any world firsts. Maybe this is why we have lost, because I was not serious enough. I cant truly say that I did anything great during not only the last battle but during the whole quest. It was always you Arata. First winning against the crimson champion against whom I couldnt win. Then it was thanks to you that we managed to find the gate activator in the black market as I would never find a place like that. Then it was also your idea thanks to which we decided to group up with Yumes party and thanks to it we safety reached this place. During the expedition it was also mostly you who took the burden and the most difficult positions. Even in the last fight you by yourself decided to stop the whole army of demons that were charging at us and you even succeeded in doing so. Me on the other hand, I didnt do anything, at best, I did just as much as the other people from Yumes party even despite the fact that it was my quest to begin with, so Arata, if you want to put blame someone, you can put that blame on me. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.-no you didnt do anything wrong. I also didnt do anything wrong. Levi also didnt do anything wrong and no one else also didnt do anything wrong. If anything, the only thing that we did wrong was to decide to chase after this hopeless dream. -I guess you might be right here, still just like that monstrous girl said, believing in miracles and dreams is much better than living without them, and in the end I did have fun while doing this quest. -yes me too... Still if you already mentioned it why did you call Haru a monstrous girl? -but she is a monstrous girl isnt she? I mean she looks like the girl that always have her head in the cloud but then out of sudden she is defeating one demon lord after another without any difficulty in one attack. -I guess, in a way you are right although, if you ask anyone on the streets the true monstrous girl is you. -thats because I did my best to keep this image for so long Somehow their conversation brightened up for a moment, but only for this one time as soon enough Rin once again said. -now then Arata, its really time for you to let me go. -no, I wont. -its not even funny Arata, let me go already! -I am not trying to be funny. -then what? Are you going to hold me like this forever? -if I have to. -wha wha what do you mean by that! Let me go already, or do you want me to break away by myself? Is this the way you want to end this? -I dont want to end anything but I can tell you that if you want me to let go of you, you will either have to promise me that we can meet up again or knock me out and run away from me forever as I will chase after you. -thats even less funny Arata. Let me go already! -no, didnt I tell you that you have to break away by yourself. There is no other way because if anything, my arms arent going to move. - . In the end though Rin didnt try to break away and she continued to lay in Aratas arms. The situation continued for about 10 minutes and after that time Arata asked. -whats that. you are not trying to break away? - . -or is it that its I am too comfortable to be lying on? -you are. -I am glad that you think so. - . - . Still the conversation once again stalled after that exchange, as Arata did not know what he is supposed to say in this situation as how could he know. In the first place there were no words that would be better than any other right now, as no words could truly make any difference. Rin also didnt seem like she was trying too hard to come up with anything appropriate, if anything it seemed as if she decided to fall asleep for now as she rested her head completely on Aratas chest. Still her falling asleep only seemed like this from Aratas perspective as she herself naturally couldnt do so in current situation. -so how long are you playing to lay on me? At some point Arata asked to confirm if she is really sleeping or not. -until you let me go. -but you do know what you have to do for me to let you go and unless you do so, I wont. -in that case suffer having me sleeping on your belly. -I wouldnt say there is any suffering here. You are and always were as light as a feather. At best you are doing a job of comfortable warm blanket. -if I am that comfortable to you, you will fall asleep soon and then I will run away when it happens. -hey thats not fair. -its you who is not fair Arata. Right now you are asking me to give you a comfortable lie, but you should know that I hate liars, and that I am not planning to become one myself. Thats why I cant lie to you that I will allow you to meet me again and Arata, a lie is the only thing I would be able to give you. Do you think it is easy for me? Thats unlike you, I am not suffering? Then you are wrong as I do, I truly do. -then- -and this is exactly why I can give you only this lie. I let myself get close to someone and that slipped back right away and now it collect it tolls. So before that toll become even bigger, I want to start repaying it right now, thats why only the lie is what I can give. And as for the second option you suggested with breaking out, I would say that it would be really troublesome to have someone chase after me as its easy to find me and I am not planning to move, so rather than breaking out and running away, I let you hold me for as long as you want, until you finally give up as my decision will not change. As our agreement said, after the quest is finished we wont meet each other again the fact that we failed that quest doesnt change anything as failing the quest means its ended. -is there really no other way? After hearing her said that once again, Arata asked for the last time and to that Rin answered. -there is Arata but but that way is too painful to me and I dont want to have any more regrets. Maybe if you were like Levi, someone whom I didnt know on the other side, it would have been easier but I did know you. I think that if I let myself meet up with you normally, it would end up similar to me trying to meet up with my parents, you could guess that it isnt impossible for me to meet them in this world and I did so in the past many times. But as glad as I was to meet them again, there also was no more painful experience than that and I dont want to go through it again. - but then what about Yume? You two knew each other from real world as well. -Mary is special even I cant understand why but only with her I dont feel the same pain. I really dont know why she is special as even after meeting my friends from school it hurt and yet with her with her its simply different. Unfortunately though, you are not special Arata and meeting you really hurts a lot. The fact that you changed and now are so nice despite the fact that you used to make me furious does not help, what else does not help is the fact that the way I am right now, I understand what you were doing back then perfectly and in fact, at some point I started to imitate what you have been doing and thats what created the so called queen of blades. - . -because of that though I also think that you understand me as well, so if you do understand me, isnt it already the time to let me go? -no, because I also learned that this way of living is not right and seeing you now doing that is not something that I can overlook. -well, I did know that you more or less overcame that as otherwise you wouldnt be behaving like you do. I dont know if you overcame it yourself or if someone helped you. I also see that you want to help me. -yes that is exactly what I want to do. -but Arata, for you it was just a single moment, wasnt it? It was a single event that happened once on a snowy night and in that single night it ended. It was something that appeared and finished momentarily. I am not saying it was easier for you or anything as our situation shouldnt be compared but Arata, can you help with situation that did not end and will probably continue forever? - . -see you cant, but its not your fault as no one can do anything so now, stop saying stupid things and also dont you dare to lie to me with words like everything is going to be okay. I dont think you are the type to do so as usually with few exceptions you dont lie, still even if you were to lie to me with those words and I would even feel better after hearing them, it is not going to be okay, or what, do you think that chasing after this hopeless dream is better. Sure it might be and I never actually gave up. Who know maybe the medicine will develop itself enough to let me open my eyes in that world again, still even if I decided to chase this hopeless dream its not like there is anything to chase after. The only thing I can do is wait, so if you also want to chase that dream, you can do so by simply waiting, but Arata its not your problem and you should focus on your own problems. And lastly you shouldnt be holding a girl in your arms like that. -you cant tell me what I can and cannot do. I can do what I want. -you also shouldnt be telling me the words like this. -I can say what I want. -you cant be selfish like that either. -I can be as selfish as I want. -ahhhh you are truly a hopeless idiot, fine do what you want I will wait till you are satisfied. And with that they stayed like this for next hour. In that hour they didnt talk about anything again and also Arata wasnt thinking about anything either. He simply hold the thought in his mind that the moment he let her go, he will truly let her go and anytime Arata reminded himself of that he strengthen his grip back. Still unfortunately the world couldnt go the way Arata wanted it to go and everything had to have its end but today was not the day of the end as the true ending was still far away high in the skies. shishi shishi. While lying on the ground Arata suddenly heard the sound of moving leafs and then before he even managed to look in the direction of the coming sound, he soon heard someones voice. -ah! Finally, I found you guys ahh! It was so troublesome to climb this damn thing, couldnt he teleport me to slightly closer position, it took so many hours to find you two The quiet and peaceful time was disrupted by Levis voice that came out from the bushes. As he was walking closer and closer he spoke those words but then when he reached where Arata and Rin were lying, he stopped. His eyes become bigger for a moment but naturally, if there was one person who knew what to do in this situation it would be Levi. -oh, I am sorry for interrupting, please dont mind me and continue whatever you have been doing. Just call me after you finish. With the understanding voice he spinned on foot and turned around, but then before he even made one step he was soon stopped. =wait! It isnt like that! At exact same time, both Arata and Rin called out to him and even stretch their hands in his direction, even if naturally they couldnt reach him by doing so. They made that move in perfect union even despite ignoring the fact that just a second ago they were nearly sleeping. Second later, Rin also rolled off Arata as quickly as she could and despite the fact that for all those hours he was keep holding her, she managed to leave his grip in second without any difficulty. Still then even if they separated right away and called out to him, Levi still answered. -no, no dont mind me. Dont worry its not like I feel left out or anything. Its not like I mind that you two were sleeping together here rather than look for me. After all, I fully understand you. There are things that are more important right. So once again dont mind me, I will return in an hour so you will have enough time to- =no! -one hour is not enough, okay then- -NO! They yet again called out to him and surprisingly Levi did turn around after that. -hmm, I guess it cant be helped if I already killed the mood, once again, sorry! Levi also apologized although his voice was completely not giving any sense of those apologizes to be true. In the meantime though, both Arata and Rin stood up on the ground and afterwards Arata started. -its not like we did anything so give it a rest. Anyway how did you survive, I thought you were dead? Arata asked him right away, also kind of to change the subject, naturally though Levi didnt give up that fast. -well if you think that undressing the girl is nothing then sure, ah Arata maybe I was wrong about you. And here you play such an honest and frightful man. Still as always though bro, your secret is save with me. -there is no a secret. -is that so? - . -haha . Because Arata went quiet for a second, Levi immediately made an laughter of victory, still when he did that though, Rin immediately said. -nothing happened, and what do you mean by undressing in the first place? -well I dont see your red cloak on you and your arms are completely wide open so- -that is completely unrelated! Anyway Levi, I will now say a good bye to you as well! Our quest is done and so is my reason to travel with you two good bye Levi good bye Arata. Rin clearly slowed down before saying those last words and her voice just now was yet again, that same sad voice that she always had, maybe even sadder than usual. -dont! After hearing that voice and mostly hearing the meaning of those words, Arata slowly started to raise his hand but his voice did not come out, at the same time tears started to form on his eyes even if earlier he already thought that he dont have any left. But then when he couldnt say anything, Levi answered to her completely normally. -hey not so fast, we still arent done yet are we? Sure if you want to ditch this impossible quest, then you probably have the very right to do so, still after coming this far already, I think that I would like to at least die while trying to complete it, dont you also think so as well Rin? What Levi said made completely no reason and yet his words immediately put so much hope in both Arata and Rin. Arata was still not sure if it will actually change anything as seeing Rins resolve, he wouldnt be surprised if she simply sprinted away as she already was showing them her back. But something completely different happened though, Rin quickly spinned back with a speed that made her long scarlet hair float in the wind. Her face also changed greatly, just a second ago it was a face that would start crying the moment she disappears from everyone sight. Now however her blue eyes were opened wide and her mouth immediately said. -what do you mean by that, Levi? The gate is destroyed we cant get to the heaven anymore. Her words, was still full of reason and yet her voice was calling for the argument to break that reason to the small pieces. -well yea, we cant use that anymore. But, the important point is that we are all still alive so we didnt fail our quest. Rather, it turns out that we just completed yet another part of the questline oh, well rather than explaining anything you guys better look at the quest window The moment Levi said those words, both Arata and Rin went right into the quest window to see the failed quest. [Quest: Silver temple in the heavens. Part two. (completed) There was a legend that a silver temple exists. You meet a madman who asked you to reach that place and prove that it does indeed exist. Following the legend the madman explains that the mentioned silver temple is located in the heavens. You have found the heavens gate activator just like madman asked you to, now you have to find the heavens gate and see if the legends are true and if a gate to heaven really existed and if its still in useable state. After reaching the heavens gate, you managed to open the gates to heaven and proved the theory of the madman. Unfortunately though, the gate was caught in the war of two races and because of that war the gate become useable anymore. Because of that you will have to find another way to reach the silver temple. Because of your journey though in which you managed to achieve a lot and also find out a lot, that effort was not in vain. Return to the madman and report on your progress. The madman might not be that mad though, as so far all of his knowledge was unquestionable. Rank of the quest 3 Reward unknown (Minimum: 50%) Warning: What madman says may be a complete lie but what he said so far was the truth. The heaven do exist in the skies and it is also possible to reach them the heavens. The silver temple is still unknown so whatever you believe in the story of madman is up to you, still because you already confirmed part of his story, its very probable that the rest is also the truth.] [Minimum: After returning this quest you will reach the point where no matter the final conclusion you will receive a reward. The reward will be approximate to how much of the questline you manage to complete with the maximum of 100% upon completing the final quest. Do note that only by completing the quest fully can you receive the actual reward and also only then will your quest be marked as completed.] Hmm, this doesnt sound that bad. Arata thought after seeing the extra note that now the quest had with it. From the look of it, it seemed like while doing a questline it wasnt only simply win or lose situation. In their current case for example, they already theoretically, cleared the demon raid dungeon without dying and also fought against thousands demons and even made two demon lords retreat. They also survived meeting an archangel that was about was not joking while with his intention to kill them. And lastly, they survived a meeting with the black dragon that demolished everything in his sight with a single breath, indestructible heavens gate included. If one thought about it like this, Arata, Rin and Levi already had a lot of impressive feats and no matter how evil this game was, it couldnt simply give them nothing for it as if they didnt get anything for acts like that no one in this world would deserve any reward either. -so Rin, you wont be leaving us right now right?... After they read it Levi continued. -I mean from the half of reward from quest of rank three you should at least get something on the level of your broken skill. Not to mention that even ignoring this, wouldnt it be a little rude to leave us now, I mean if it wont be fun if it will be only us two guys. And finally after that the hope remained. - if the quest is not failed then its completely different matter. You two ignore everything I just said. In the first place, its my quest to begin with and also I already said that I am going to try and complete it so if I were to leave now then it would make me a liar. -great but is this really your true reason for staying? -I dont know what do you mean by that? In the first place its obvious for me to stay if we can still complete the quest its the same for you two as well, isnt it? -well if we already decided on doing it we should stick to this decision till the end, right Arata? So, I still have the time. As the conversation progressed, Aratas mind was becoming clearer and clearer and now it was yet again the same way as always. Or maybe not exactly the same as something in him did change today. His resolve strengthened yet again, resolve to chase after is goal, his hopeless dream. Now that he experienced what will happen if he fail to catch it, he definitely was going to do everything, to not let this scenario repeat itself. He still did not know what exactly he had to do, just as he never knew but right now he knew well what he wanted to reach. -yes, we still have a lot to do Arata answered to them and then he continued as usual although maybe not exactly usual as he couldnt look in Rins direction, and unlike as it already happened few times, this time it wasnt because he didnt want to see her sad face as in the first place, Rins face wasnt that sad right now. -so, our first target is to reach Karma, right. We have to do at least that to get that minimum reward. I wouldnt say its the time for celebrating yet though. Because I doubt that anyone else survived it will be only us three traveling. -we will be alright, it shouldnt be that hard. Rin answered to Arata finally getting on the matter, still Arata could only hear her voice as he didnt see her speaking it. -actually you two, there is no need for that as this problem is already taken care of. But then Levi interrupted them with this. -what do you mean by that? It took us more than a week to get here, two weeks if you count it from Karma so it should take us at least this much to get back. Arata quickly answered to him but then Levi said. -Arata, do you know how did I survive the dragons breath? -well I already asked but you didnt answer. But why do you bring it up now. -because its related. Anyway you two do remember that you left me with the duty of communicating with the Wizard, right? =well I cant stand that old geezer. -hahaha . Levi gave a serious normal question and Arata and Rin gave the serious true answer and yet when they did, Levi simply started to laugh again at their perfect union. =shut up already. -hahahaha hah ha no please stop guys, its not the time for that It took him some time but in the end Levi managed to stop his laughter. -well leaving this aside. You left me with the communication so because of that I also took that Wizards orb in case we need to call him later. So far there was no need to and I didnt do it even once. Actually, I kind of forgotten that I even have it in my inventory. Still, few seconds before the flames took me, my pocket started to shine in the white light, the Wizards voice filled my head and then I was teleported away to save distance. Too far away if you ask me, but its definitely better than no teleport at all, right? -so thats how it was but how did he know that you need rescuing? -well I actually asked about it myself and he said that he has been watching us. In general he mentioned that he can look anywhere he wants in the world and when someone possesses his magical orb then he can do so without any interference. Hmm, I guess there was that function in it if I remember correctly. -so you are saying that he just happened to look at you and helped you in time? -well I wouldnt say he happened to look as he was already looking at everything that was happening before the gate because as he put it, it was a nice show to see us all get powned. That bastard. -still even then, is it really that simple for him to help you by teleporting you away. -no, he actually said that he barely managed to do so as the distance was too far. He said that if it was easy then he would teleport the others away as well but as you can all know only I was teleported and other died. -I see so thats why you realized that the quest is still not failed, that geezer told you didnt he? Rin asked him while coming into conversation. -well yea. Anyway while we were talking he told me what to do next, and now I will explain to you why we dont have to travel back anymore. In short after saving me he said that we will need to find another way to get into the heavens. He left the details as how we will do it till we reach him but it was something about that other method that had 20% chances of working He really mentioned something like that. -but as to how we reach him, he said that he will summon us to him with his magic, meaning that we will teleport all the way from here the way to his laboratory in Karma. And with that Levi explained everything which meant that their minimum of 50% was as good as granted although in that moment both Arata and Rin answered. =I dont think its safe. -haha no you guys stop. You are making it on purpose right? Like you set it up before. =no we didnt. We didnt and it somehow does feel strange to say the exact same words like her at the same time though. I will stay quiet for now. -well, its too perfect to not be set up. So, just tell me how you send each other the signal to what to say, its actually a funny trick and I would want to try it out. = . But then when Levi asked them that, without any reason in particular both of them also didnt answer and stayed quiet. -so now, its a combo silence ha? I still dont know how you two do it, but its really working out well. But anyway, the Wizard did expect your answer to be like that, he actually did say that you both will say the exact same thing. Because of that he said to pass the message that he is usually good at teleports and portals and that he is especially good at summoning and the reason for that is because he dont like to move out from his laboratory so anything he needs he simply summons to his table. -speaking about a healthy way of living. Arata commented on it but then Rin said something more convincing. -actually I did hear him saying it once as well, so its not a lie that he came up with just to convince us. -well if anything, using that teleport is just as risky as going back the same way through the west, and if there is one thing I can believe in then its the fact that that Wizard would do anything just too lazy around and avoid meeting people. -if you are okay with it Arata then so am I. Rin said those words but even so still, Arata couldnt look directly at her. -in that case we are using the offer, right? I will call him back in that case. Still, dont blame me if the teleport wont work as it wasnt my idea okay? You guys also agreed to it. =fine. -so lets get on with it After that Levi made the quick call to the Wizard. Arata and Rin didnt hear the conversation but it didnt last long. After a minute or two, Levi positioned the orb in the middle between the three of them. After that around the orb and around them, the magical blue circle appeared. At first it was a dim lighted but as the time went on the power seemed to increase and with it the magical circle was becoming more and more visible and then after waiting for about 5 minutes the circle turned into liquid like ground and all three of them fall into that circle as if falling into the water. Their exploration of the west ended. Unlike the expedition though, it still wasnt the end of their journey as when something ends, something also begins. As for Arata, Rin and Levi though, they simply continued to chase after their hopeless dream.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ The last chapter of arc two is here. There was also an ART update with new pictures that mostly focus on characters from the arc that just ended. Art2 Now then, following the tradition of ending of arc one with the ending of the second arc the second edition of popularity rankings begins. (answer here or on EOA''s website) 1. Who is your favourite character? (The list of characters is on the website) -this time if possible chose both fav male and female. (You can add as many as you want in both but the placement will be important) 2. What is your favourite part of the story so far? -answer with the number of chapter/chapters or any other way. 3. What are weak points of the story? -in short complains, although they wont any impact on the story. Apart from those three questions that appeared at the end of arc one there is small bonus that is not important but if someone wants to they can check their knowlague about EOA. Namely it will be a quiz of with no answers and no rewards but you can test yourself with it to find out how well you know the story. (I am not sure if this is good idea but whatever, warning those questions are not easy as you can search the book yourself) (Some questions may have an answer it wasnt revealed) Question 0: What are the names of Aratas classes? Question 1: How many miracle members name were already revealed? Question 2: What is the nickname of Loki? Question 3: Who is the legendary player who passed 300th level barrier? Question 4: What are the names of two strongest guilds in EOA? Question 5: Who are the two people from the expedition party that were never killed by Rin? Question 6: Who is the tenth member of Refrain? Question 7: What was the name of the crimson champion from the tomb challenge? Question 8: Why does Arata have black-white hair? Question 9: How much time has passed since the story began? (Either real time or in game time) Question 10: Why Arata didnt get profession of rank 1? emm. good luck with answering those or rather, I will be very surprised if someone even tries, much less answers all. Ah I overdid it a little. But anyway I will end with the example of an answer just like I did for arc one. 1. Male character: Gerald, Levi Female character: Haru, Rin (I will hold back myself on only two, but anyone can add more. Counting from left first one gets one point second half a point, third 1/4 point, and so on. Only point 1 will be counted) 2. Chapters 11-13 3. Arata wa baka desu! (this one will probably appear a lot. Still try to not repeat the same thing.) (also its not necessary to fill all points. First is most preferable! Third one is not, in essence the third part should be used if its something useful and not obvious like grammar is bad. In essence, write the third point only if there is really something that you would like to point out!) Chapter notice thread. As you all know, or maybe not but you will know from now on, I stopped position on RR and new chapters appear only on EOA''s website which is a land of evilness and happiness. https://eyeofadventure.wordpress.com/ I still make notices on this forum so I need a place for it. My current method was to post it in chapter 44 thread but that creates unnecessary ''trash comments'' that are not related to the chapter itself. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. So if anyone still uses this forum page to check when I post the chapter I will make notice in this topic. And the number below will say the newest number of the chapter. 47.