“Hey. Did you get my info?” she asked, not hesitating to get to the point.
“Yeah. Happy to see you too. Why did you drop the kid off? I thought you said you'd help him out,” he said, his voice stern with disappointment. She merely brushed it off.
“I said I'd help him out, so I bought him some equipment and got him started through the tutorial. I'm not going to stand there and hold his hand while he learns to fly,” she said firmly. “That can take hours to get a feel for the muscles, especially if he wants to do it hands free. Do you have the information or not?”
“Fine. It's simple really. Long, but simple. How close are you to maxing out your dragon class?”
“Few more weeks, why?” she asked, warily.
“You need to head deep into dragon lands. Almost max level zones. Good news is with your wings you should be able to bypass most of the longer areas. You'll need to fight a minotaur to get something called the fire flower. Apparently it's an unarmed fighter, using mostly kicks, so be careful. Want any help?”
“Hum...” she said as she crossed her arms. “Well, it could be useful having another master class with me. But I'd rather not owe you a favor. No, I'll be fine.”
“Suit yourself. Here's a map,” he said as a small menu popped up in front of her. She clicked it and moments later a map appeared in the top left of her vision. “Good luck!” With that, the communication ended.
Asura flew up and soared east before switching on the auto flight. With her body heading on it's own way, she quickly flipped through the map. She was pleasantly surprised to find a bit more information about the boss, including a digital image.
The minotaur was called 'Mariasch the stomper', a monster with red fur. It had no weapons, but wore big blue metal boots and spiked leggings. It was far taller than a normal player with massively high attack stats. It was looking like the fight would be a difficult one, especially at her current level.
She didn't mind. She had more than a few bonuses from being a master class angel that carried into her dragon class. Besides, she had faced plenty of minotaurs before and they tended to have predictable attack patterns.
The angel flew over the world, eventually the burnt wastelands giving way to forests, lakes, plains and finally volcanos. She flew along the lava filled edges as she searched the rocky reaches for a cave entrance. There were plenty of monsters down below, lava elementals, the occasional tall and musculer orc and more than a few massive red lizards known as salamanders.
On occasion she had to fly higher as ground based creature's attempted to launch rocks or other projectiles, though she was careful to ensure nothing came too close. It wasn't long before she found the large cave entrance, carved into the rocky side of an active volcano.
She took a deep breath when she landed in front of the cave. The stench of sulfur was so strong she could almost taste it. The scorching heat was almost as intense as her encounter with Niohoggr. She glanced around, her hand on her axe as she prepared for any attacks her landing would cause, but after a few moments she let out a sigh of relief and headed within. Inside the chamber was dark, the only light coming from the small streams of magma that leaked through the walls.
Asura held out her right hand. “Flaming hands,” she said softly. Her hands burst into flame and lit the path ahead. A cheap, weak spell, but very popular for players, be they dragon or having only taken a few levels in the class.
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Asura held her axe up as the lizard-man's blade struck just above the handle. The creature then charged forward, driving her back against the wall and pinning her as another two lizard-men watched and prepared for an opening to attack.
These things were far faster than she expected, and her HP was already at the half way point. Fortunately, the experience she was getting was amazing, she'd already leveled once while in the caves.
She kicked out with her left foot, catching the lizard-man by surprise and knocking him back. The other two charged forward, their swords raised, and slashed at her. One of the blades hit her in the side while the other was a sliding blow to her right arm, dealing no damage. She swung her axe down hard at an angle and struck the closer lizard-man in the neck, beheading it and making it disappear in an explosion of red sparkles.
The other two tried to push in, but she quickly moved to the left, getting some open space behind her as she backed up. She watched them closely and waited. The one on her left charged forward. She quickly dove to the right and brought her axe down on the back of its neck. It disappeared into red sparkles as its head tumbled off. She pushed out her right hand at the last lizard. “Fireball!” Fire shot out and, while the explosion barely harmed the last lizard, it did knock the monster back. Before it could completely recover she dashed forward and cleaved through its neck as well.
After the final lizard-man disappeared in a flurry of red sparkles, she looked down and took a deep breath. “This is a lot harder than I thought it would be,” she said with a groan before glancing at her map. “Just a little further and I'm to the boss. Come on, Asura, you can do this.” She hefted her axe over her shoulder, wiped the sweat from her brow and sat down for a short rest.
After taking a few moments to heal, recover her MP and catch her breath she pushed herself to her feet and started heading down the tunnel again. Soon she could see the end of the hall, light spilling out from a massive chamber. One creature stood between her and the room however.
It was another reptilian monster, though it held a large flaming mallet. It had a massive shell, with spikes on the back. Above it the words 'Crunser, the Reptile Lord' hovered. “Ah, a mini boss. Fun.” She readied her axe. “A nice little warm up before the real fight.”
She charged forward and swung the axe down at the reptiles head, but it simply batted the axe away with its hammer. The force of the blow made her weapon vibrate, sending bursts of pain through her hands, drawing a low, hurt groan. The intensity was so distracting, Asura failed to notice the monster's movements until the hammer slammed into her side and sent her flying. She bashed into the wall and dropped to the ground like a rag doll. Her HP was cut in half from the massive hit.
“Damn...” Asura said with a groan before she struggled to look up at the beast. She shrieked and rolled to the side as the hammer slammed down where she had been laying. It left a crater over a foot deep. One more direct hit like that and she'd be dead. She jumped to her feet and gripped her axe tightly. “Cleaving strike!” she yelled before she charged forward, a red glow encompassing the blade. She felt the axe go straight through the monster's shell and hit the softer parts underneath, but it still wasn't enough. The reptile spun and brought the hammer down at her head.
Asura quickly brought her axe up to block the hammer, the force sending small hairline cracks through the shaft. “Tough little bugger, aren't you?” she said, before she kicked out with all her might into the creature's stomach. She regretted it instantly as white flash of pain shot through her foot. “V-very tough.”
Crunser roared and opened its mouth before fire shot out. Asura shrieked, but was unable to avoid the attack, becoming enveloped in flames. Amazingly enough, her HP barely lowered, though she fully expected it to reduce her to zero. The reptile raised its hammer one more time to finish her off, so she had to act quickly. She thrust her right hand out against the creature's chest. “Rapture!” the creature exploded into a mass of white light before disappearing in a burst of red sparkles. She dropped down, panting. After a moment its weapon landed on the ground, the reward for slaying the beast.
She smiled as she scooped up the bosses weapon and saw the words 'Level up!' flash in front of her. The angel then glanced inside the chamber and shook her head. “This boss is going to be impossible like this.” Her hand navigated the menus and soon the axe was replaced by the white sword, Excalibur. “Can't switch classes for a while, no more spells for a bit. I hate having to rapture. I'll just have to do this the old fashioned way. “A small satchel formed on her side, filled
with potions, as her HP bar shrunk. It allowed her to quickly grab the items without having to navigate the menus, but she could only store three items in the satchel at a time and it lowered her stats to compensate. She just hoped the potions would be enough.
Asura waited for her HP to recover before continuing on. She arrived at the chamber in moments. It was a large rocky cavity with plenty of room to maneuver, but littered with rocks that made it difficult to catch one's balance. It was hot and the air was stifling, but there wasn't any lava leaking into the room. In the center was a single small daisy that had red petals instead of white. The fire flower.
Towering over the flower was a red haired minotaur, a half-man, half-bull creature. Its arms alone were as thick as most trees and she barely came up to its waist in height. It had thick boots made of steel and colored in faded blue. It also had leggings that seemed to be made of the same metal with spikes on the knees. From the waist up it was completely naked, though she imagined with its height that likely wasn't a problem. The words 'Mariasch the Stomper' appeared over its head a moment later.
The minotaur made the first move, leaping into the air. She dove to the right before the creature hit the ground, sending rocks and dirt flying. Fortunately her class prevented her from taking damage from the flying debris, but she was beginning to see why this fight was considered a boss fight, despite being just a minotaur.
She continued to run through the debris as the minotaur slammed around her, sending more rocks through the air with each attack. After its third jump it stopped for a moment, seeming to catch its breath. She grinned and turned. “So that's your weakness!” She shot forward and swung once horizontally. The blade cut through Mariasch's leg and left a large slash through the creature's armor.
That was one of the benefits of the blade, it could slice through all non-master weapons and armor easily. Unfortunately, it meant the objects were destroyed, so they couldn't be looted. The blade also required one to have mastered the angel class and mastered the sword weapon. Though, it was still the most powerful, in terms of damage and effect, sword in the game that she knew of.
Unfortunately, the attack wasn't nearly enough to defeat the beast in one hit. Even with its damaged armor it kicked out with its right foot. She was caught in the chest and sent flying back across the chamber before finally slamming into the back wall. Her HP instantly went from full to single digits.
“Ow...” Asura said with a groan as she clutched her chest. She wasn't given much time to recover as the minotaur jumped straight at her. She leaped across the rocky terrain, moments before the wall where she had been flattened against was turned into a crater from the creature's powerful landing. Again she was forced to run for her life as the ground behind her was turned into gravel. Before long the minotaur stopped jumping and Asura reached into her satchel to take out one of the potions, downing it in moments. Her HP filled back up to full, but the minotaur had already recovered leaving her no room to counter attack.
“Dragons really are over powered,” she said with a chuckle before once again she was forced to run for her life. “If I was any other class I'd have been killed by all this debris.”
The fight was long and hard. It took all three of her potions before she figured out how to stay close enough she could attack while the minotaur was recovering, but stay far away enough that she was certain to avoid the damage from the landing. Getting in and hitting became easier after the fifteen minute mark when her MP returned. She was able to use a lower lever sword skill called crescent flash to dart in and cut the creature and then dart out before it could hit her back. Eventually she stabbed up into the creature's stomach and drew the blade out. It gripped its wounded abdomen before finally falling, disappearing in a shower of red sparkles.
She dropped to her knees and took a deep breath, letting the tension ebb away. “I did it! Hah! I won! I'm the champion!” She lifted her fists up with a laugh. It took her a few seconds to notice the timer in the top right only had a few more seconds on it and flashed red. “What? No no no!” She ran to the flower as fast as she could, but was too slow. The world faded around her as the headset was deactivated just before her fingers could wrap around the flower's stem.
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The hospital room came into view when he was jettisoned from the game. “W-what happened. I... I was in the m-middle of s-something...” he said weakly.
“Now now honey,” Jessica said with a super sweet smile that made him want to scream. “I know you wanna stay up all night and play with all your make believe friends, but now you need to go nighty night!” He opened his mouth, but then closed it with a sigh.
Since he couldn't do anything about it he closed his eyes, planning for the next day. At least he wouldn't have to worry about the minotaur killing him, since after he logged off it would have waited thirty seconds and then automatically ejected him from the game. Unfortunately, it meant he would have to do the entire fight over again. This time he was just going to run away until his class change was ready and just go angel. It would be far easier and far faster.
The lights were turned off after a few moments. Light could still be seen under the door and he could hear the nurses occasionally chattering away as the shifts changed. He glanced to the left of the bed where the headset was resting on the bedside table.
All he had to do was climb out of bed and hook up the cords to the wall across the room, grab the headset, put it on and flip the switch. He could play it all night. He let out an annoyed sigh and just laid back, giving up on his futile dream. He'd tried it once, all that had happened was he couldn't get back into the bed and had to call a nurse. He told them he'd rolled out of bed and since then they always had the bedside bars up so he couldn’t accidentally fall out.
Instead he tried to get comfy and fall asleep. All he had to do was sleep until morning, get his breakfast, and then he could do it all again. Head back into the world he so longed to be in.
Chapter 3
Age: 15 years, 9 months
The sun beat down across a large park. A small section had been set up for a family, complete with a trampoline, barbecue and a volleyball net. Already a large group of children had run down to the nearby river to swim, under the strict supervision of their parents.
Amidst all the excitement and energy, Asher was forced to sit in his wheelchair under a large umbrella. He had been carted over to sit with the family's elders and forced to listen as they droned on about things like taxes, elections, the state of the government and the rising gas prices. He tried to tune them out, but every so often his uncle would say something the rest of them found witty and they'd all break into raucous laughter. It sounded like a vacuum trying to suck down a pile of cotton. He didn't care about any of that.
His focus was on the game. He'd managed to finish leveling the dragon class to maximum a week ago, hatched his dragon egg recently and was almost done capping out the axe's skill level. The master class quests were scheduled to start next week and then he'd finally get his shot at mastering the dragon class. He had been spending as much time as he could in the game, blowing through his meals and spending all his time training for the quests. Not only that, something very exciting had been spreading through the game news forums.
Players had been saying they saw a demon using transformation magic. In some games that wouldn't mean much, but in LRVR it was front line news. Each of the races once had a special magic, beyond the restrictions of the elements, that only they could perform. The magics themselves had disappeared, according to the game's lore, during the war when the races were sealed off from their strongest powers. According to the developers, those magics could be unlocked under certain conditions. The player who managed to unlock them first would be a legend in the game! With all that excitement going on in his favorite world, the park seemed dull and gray in comparison. Even the green grass seeming dim and lifeless.
He had a theory on how to unlock the magics, though it would take years to find out. In the mean
time he was searching, along with his guild, for every hint on how to gain them for the players. Since transformation was the lost magic of the demons they couldn't just ignore it. The guild's third and final master class player, Scalios the leviathan, had already headed off to investigate the rumor. The only reason Asura hadn't gone first was because she was stuck at this picnic. It had already gone on for hours and was sucking the life from him.
He was brought back from his thoughts by his mother. “Hi dear. Are you holding up okay? Not too hot, not too cold?” She held out a small can of root beer to him, already opened with a straw in it.
“I-I'm fine m-mom,” Asher managed to stutter out. “J-just feel a bit n-nauseous.” He'd been dropping hints to his parents that he wasn't feeling well and wanted to return home for the last few hours, but had yet to make any headway. He took the root beer and slowly moved the can up up to take a drink. At least she didn't insist on feeding him(aside from prepping his food) while he could still move his arms slightly.
“Still honey?” Her brow furrowed in disappointment. “Your father and I are going for a walk, would you like to join us?”
Asher sighed gently. Well, it would be better than sitting and listening to the mind numbing talk about rising prices on one thing or another. “Sure.”
Slowly his mother began to push his wheelchair along until they were on a small cement path. As they walked his mom pointed out squirrels or birds. His dad took up the task of pushing him whenever they got to the hills. He just stared, barely listening, as he imagined himself back in the game, where he could fully feel the world. He barely register the wind going around him and only saw when the bumps on the path made his wheelchair jump. This world felt almost fake compared to the other world.
Landasy Reality: Angel's Escape Page 5