Origin ARS (Origin A.R.S. Book 2)
Page 18
Chapter 12: F-Fairygasm?!
Moonlight streamed down through the branches of the old growth forest casting shadows upon the land. In a small clearing the wind began to stir. It was a subtle shift in the balance of the world. Soon, a legendary hunter once again stalked the land. Woe, be unto those who became an obstacle in the path to her chosen prey!
“Alright, now to find Scott.” said Rhea as she appeared in the moonlight clearing. She looked around expectantly and then sighed. Right, why would he be waiting for her at her log-in spot when he did not even know she could log out yet?
She set out for their campsite at a determined trot. There was little time and she wanted to spend it with her comrade. However, once she arrived on site she frowned. The tent was gone. “Did he move the campsite?”
Rhea did a quick mental calculation and determined that it had only been a few days since she had left. She knew that he had been in the mine recently because she had authorized an offline prayer request for aid, and even sent him her favorite low-end set of boomerangs.
The elf maiden’s eyes widened. She pounded her right fist into her left hand then nodded. “I bet he went to sell off loot in town and get repairs.”
“I’ll send him a party chat. Maybe he’s in range?” She pulled up her party menu and noted that Scott was still her leader. That tidbit of information was obvious, but it made her smile anyway. She would have used this method during the last major separation that they had endured, but she was uncertain of how he would react.
However, something surprising caught her eye. Her momentary elation at figuring out his location faded. “He’s asleep and he’s level thirteen?”
She could not send him a party chat at this distance since he was unconscious. Further, what had happened in that mine? She knew that he had been facing a lot of monsters, but there should not have been that many.
She bit her lower lip then chewed on it for a moment. What could have happened? The implications were clear. He had faced an exceptionally large number of monsters. She checked her party log then made a curious noise. He had not died, either.
“I’m wasting time. It will take hours to get to Meaden.” Rhea called up her map screen then chose to world travel to Meaden. Her top running speed was a little higher than Scott’s. She would get to town in only around eight hours, just in time for dawn to grace the world with its presence.
***
Soft innocent eyes widened in surprise and wonder. “Wow, Scott. It’s so big...”
“Really? Looks normal to me.” said the sorcerer.
Ero popped out of his head long enough to shake her head back and forth slowly, her eyes open wide in wonderment. “I’ve never even heard of one being that big before!”
Scott laughed at the fairy. She had a flair for exaggeration. Though, it was possible that there were none bigger in this world. Massive architecture of that nature might be unique to his people.
“How do they make buildings that tall? You said that there was no magic where you are from?” asked Ero.
“It takes a long time and they use materials designed for strength and flexibility. I’m not sure what else they do, but they build them one floor at a time.” said Scott.
“You have a lot of fun memories. All I have are memories of Mike and my cave.” said Ero.
“We’ll make some fun memories Ero.” Scott felt bad for the tiny little thing. She had been locked away for her own safety and had never been far from her cave before that. She knew almost nothing of this world. In many ways they were in a similar position.
“That will be so great! Best friends traveling the world kicking butt and eating pie!” exclaimed the girl happily. Her wings fluttered rapidly for a moment then she slipped back inside his head.
Scott barked out a sudden laugh at the image that popped into his head. She sure was an excitable girl. Her innocence and previous situation made it easy for him to trust her. He had also started to receive flashes of insight, images of her past.
The bonding process went both ways. Soon they would both know everything about each other. It was quite intimate in a way. Ero occasionally said or did things that seemed perverse, but he knew that she was an incredibly innocent creature at heart.
They laughed and relived moments from their past so that they could both see more of each other’s history with greater ease. Surface thoughts were easier to view.
After they finished chatting about the past they turned to discussions of the future. Scott checked Ero’s status screen to see what he had to work with.
<<< Status >>>
Name: Ero | Class: Lesser Guardian Spirit | Race: Sacred Water Fairy
Title: Best Friend Forever
Age: 112 | Level: 1
EXP: 0
Next Level: 1000
Greater Power: Storm of Emotion
Health: 3[3] | Mana: 99[99]
Attack: 1[1] | Defense: 1[21]
Strength: 1[1] | Agility: 20[20] | Accuracy: 10[10]
Intellect: 200[200] | Luck: 40[40]
<<< * >>>
“Seriously? What the hell is with your stats?” Scott stared at her status menu in confusion and wonder. At level one her luck was higher than his currently, and her intellect was more than double what he had developed! Hell, she nearly had as much mana as he did as well.
Ero giggled softly then spoke in a shy tone. “Is it bad?”
“No, not at all. We do need to increase your physical stats a little. though. Would there be any problems later if I gave you some of my experience?” asked Scott.
“I’d love that. Gimme, gimme. Fill my body and soul with your passionate experiences!”
“Ero... Calm down.” Scott fought down the rising heat that had begun to form in his cheeks. She had a habit of becoming feisty if she became too excited.
“Oh Fue.” She said before giggling once more.
“The only issue that I see is that you may have problems with level modifiers later since I don’t have many ability points to increase them at the moment.”
“Ah, I don’t get stat modifiers like that. When I gain a level my stats will increase, but you can’t change the modifiers. If I reach a high enough level, I’ll class up and my modifiers will increase naturally.” said Ero.
“I see. Interesting.” Scott called up his own status menu. He needed to work out how much experience he could afford to spend on the girl.
<<< Status >>>
Name: Scott Jacobs | Class: Sorcerer | Race: Human
Title: The Unbreakable
Age: 18 | Level: 13
EXP: 55,609
Next Level: 611
Ability Points: 6
Health: 189[189] | Mana: 173[173]
Attack: 88[404] | Defense: 107[419]
Strength: 79[79] | Agility: 78[78] | Accuracy: 58[58]
Intellect: 91[91] | Luck: 37[37]
<<< * >>>
“I’m sorry, Ero. I won’t be able to increase any of your abilities with ability points today. Still, I can help you gain a few levels.” said Scott.
“That would be lovely. I could hug you.”
“Not the face.” Scott smirked when he heard her giggle sweetly inside his mind.
He decided to experiment with expending one thousand experience points to increase her level once. After he started to submit his choice, he received a message stating that he could not expend more experience than was required to maintain his current level.
“That’s good. I can’t accidentally lose a level.” said Scott. That also limited him in regards to how much experience he could give to Ero. So, it seemed fair.
A bright light flared around his head and a loud fanfare echoed through the room. A message screen appeared.
<<< Level-Up! >>>
Ero has increased her level by one!
Health + 3
Mana +12
Attack + 0
Defense + 0
Strength + 1
Agility + 5
Accuracy + 2
Luck + 4
<<< * >>>
“Hey, not bad! It’s strange that it showed me your new stat upgrades, though. I usually have to check my status menu to see mine.” said Scott.
“I can feel it! I can feel the power!” exclaimed Ero with great excitement.
Scott laughed at her then checked her new status. She now needed two thousand experience points to increase her level. “I wonder if it is one thousand points multiplied by your level.”
“Hmm, I am not sure. I know how my stats grow but I don’t really know much else. I have not really been able to learn that much about what I can do as a guardian spirit, either.”
Scott decided to expend five thousand more experience points to see if his theory was correct. The light and fanfare returned immediately after he submitted his choices.
<<< Level-up! >>>
Ero has gained two levels at the same time!
Health + 5
Mana +21
Attack + 3
Defense + 2
Strength + 3
Agility + 13
Accuracy + 5
Intellect + 19
Luck + 9
<<< * >>>
“Yes, yes! More Scott! I want more!” exclaimed Ero in a disturbingly excited voice.
“Geeze, calm down before you have a Fairygasm or something, Ero.” said Scott.
“Too late! Uhm, what’s a Fairygasm?” asked Ero in a cute and curious tone.
“Just excitement about becoming a stronger fairy.” said Scott.
“Yes! I want it! Give me the best Fairygasm ever!” exclaimed Ero.
Scott smiled in amusement. That was cute, but definitely not something he would want her to say out loud. “Fine, one more time.”
“Yeah!” shouted Ero happily.
Scott expended another four thousand experience points. That brought the total amount expended to ten thousand.
<<< Level-up! >>>
Ero has increased her level!
Health + 2
Mana + 9
Attack + 1
Defense + 1
Strength + 2
Agility + 4
Accuracy + 1
Intellect + 11
Luck + 3
<<< * >>>
“Oh yes! Oh that was amazing.” Ero cried out ecstatically inside his mind. Scott was not sure what to make of the effect that raising her level had on the fairy. Was she exaggerating, or did she really feel that good whenever she gained a level?
“Right, well... I can’t do it again for now. I need more experience first.” said Scott.
“That’s OK. We’ll do it again later when you’re ready.” said Ero. She spoke in a sleepy, dream-like tone that made Scott wonder what she was doing.
“Uh, alright... Let’s see your stats now.” said Scott. He needed to change the subject.
<<< Status >>>
Name: Ero | Class: Lesser Guardian Spirit | Race: Sacred Water Fairy
Title: Best Friend Forever
Age: 112 | Level: 5
EXP: 10000
Next Level: 5000
Greater Power: Storm of Emotion
Health: 13[13] | Mana: 141[141]
Attack: 5[12] | Defense: 4[46]
Strength: 7[7] | Agility: 42[42] | Accuracy: 18[18]
Intellect: 238[238] | Luck: 56[56]
<<< * >>>
“Wow, I am much stronger now that I have your experience inside Me.” said Ero in a soft and moderately disturbing tone.
“Yeah...” said Scott. What was with the innuendo?
“We should try to get you some sort of equipment. You’re smarter than I’ll be for a long time, but I’m not surprised that a single arrow took you out.” said the sorcerer.
Ero sighed softly, luxuriously. “Mmm... I’m ready. You can do anything you want, Scott.”
Scott’s face took on a subtle shade of red. This fairy, what was she thinking? He called out to her in his mind, but he only received a sleepy sounding murmur in response. He tried again and her next response was a gentle snore. “The hell, she fell asleep?”
He started to consider what they needed to do for the day. A little shopping would be good. He needed to get supplies and possibly find something that Ero could use. He was not sure how that would work out, but it would be worth a try.
His musings were cut short by a sudden knock on the door. “Who?”
Scott stood up from the bed and walked over to the entrance. He had no reason to suspect trouble, so he opened the door. He was greatly surprised by what he saw on the other side. “Rhea!”
The elf gazed upon him with great excitement. It had taken all night, but she had finally arrived! “Scott! Hi!”
“I thought you weren’t going to be back for several more days.” he said with rising excitement.
“Yeah, I have to leave again soon but I managed to get a lengthy break so I ran back here in the hopes of finding you.” she said, a smile upon her lips.
“Will that cause trouble for your... elf stuff?” he asked her softly.
She shook her head. “No, and if it does I really don’t care.”
“Rhea...” said Scott. She had said that in quite a decisive, almost bitter, tone.
“Scott. I... We... We need to talk.” she said. Rhea tried her best to look him in the eyes but she ended up only gazing at his chest.
“Sure, come in and sit down.” he said. Unlike her, he avoided looking at her chest. Double standards were funny that way.
Scott reached out his hand and she gently took it. He shut the door behind them after she entered. They walked over to the bed and sat down. “What’s going on, Rhea?”
She took a deep breath. “I’m not sure where to start.”
He placed his hand on her shoulder and she looked down at her hands. She smiled in a soft, tender way.
Rhea lifted the hand that Scott was still holding and then placed her free hand on the back of his. “I... I need to tell you everything about me. You may be angry with me afterward.”
“OK” said Scott. He was not sure what else to say at the moment. She was acting strange.
“Scott... I, well... My name is not really Rhea Ardente.” said the elf.
He squeezed her shoulder. That was an interesting bit of information, but he was not going to have a fit for being told a fake name. At least, he would not have a fit until after he heard what she had to say. It did make him wonder what she was going to say, however.
She took in a deep breath then slowly released it before looking up at him. “My real name is... Origin. I am the reason you are here in this world in the first place.”
“Ah, so that was it.” said Scott.
She blinked then leaned in and stared at him hard. “That was it? I just revealed to you that I am a goddess who brought you to this world, and that I have been lying to you. All you say to that is that was it?”
“Well, I honestly did not think you would turn out to be a goddess. It does explain a few things. I had originally thought that you were like me, except that you could return to your home world or whatever.”
Rhea blinked slowly. “Seriously? You aren’t surprised?”
“No, I am surprised. I’m just not jumping around like a moron.” Scott laughed a little. Rhea joined in with a soft laugh of her own.
“So, you already had sort of an idea what was going on?” asked the goddess turned elf.
“An idea, yes. I had a lot of those. I do have questions, though...” said Scott.
“Please ask.” replied Rhea.
“Well, for starters... What do you mean by goddess?” asked Scott.
Rhea smiled. “That will take some time to explain in detail. On a basic level, you can say that my true race is an immortal being made of pure will. Long ago we discovered, or were created by, mortal beings. We still don’t know the truth in regards to our actual origins.”
“So, you are saying that you are actually a goddess. A real one? You’re a fire
and brimstone, raise the dead, but wreck a continent sort of person?”
Rhea nodded then squeezed his hand gently. “I can do all of those things, though we mostly focus on a concept or emotion that we strongly resonate with instead of trying to be everything.”
Scott was not sure how to react to that. Was she telling the truth? She had already admitted that she had lied to him, but it actually made a strange sort of sense. If she actually was Origin then meeting him in the waterfall area was something she had chosen to do. “Why not tell me all of this sooner?”
The elf maiden shook her head. “I’m technically not supposed to tell you this now. There are rules against speaking about this sort of thing while we are logged in to the world.”
“Logged in? You make this place sound like a giant role playing game. I know it feels like it, but...”
“That’s because it actually is a massively multiplayer role playing world. It’s a real world, just as real as the one you came from. Yet, it is upgraded to have stats and levels and all of that.”
If she had told him that a few weeks ago, he might not have believed it. However, after having lived here for a short time it made about as much sense as anything. “That helps a bit. I wondered about how real this place really was. So, we aren’t just a computer simulation or something?”
“No, no. It’s nothing so mundane. Think of it like what Earth would be like if one day game mechanics were layered on top of the standard reality. Nothing else would change, but you could gain levels and throw fireballs.”
“That does help a little. Why does this world exist like this, though? Why bring me here?” asked Scott.
Rhea squeezed his hand once more then shook her head. “That’s part of the long explanation. Do you want to hear it?”