“Ah, It’s probably because I Wanted to give you something,” The father of the girl handed a little locket into two small palms of his dazzling daughter. She even seemed to handle the dead bodies better than Alfred did when he first saw them. He felt upset imagining this had been a daily occurrence in her life.
With her little careful steps… she placed the locket in Alfred’s hand before smiling at him and opening her mouth… “Th-hank you!” She said, grinning from cheek to cheek. “I.. I can talk now that they’re gone!”
“Your welcome…” Alfred said, putting the locket in his hands before the light came over him and sent him back to his little box.
Story Mission Complete!
The farmers weren’t getting attention from the kingdom’s guards and no players were willing to risk getting killed to save a few middling NPCs. However, you can’t save them all… isn’t that right hotshot?
You’ve improved with the blade! Dagger novice x2 level up!
Skill level 3
Effect: When wielding a dagger, you deal 5.5% more damage. Reach level ten in dagger novice to learn Dagger Simpleton.
Perception has leveled up!
Skill: level 2
Effect: Your overall senses are improved by 7.5 percent. Its going to be much harder for anyone to sneak up on you…
You’ve gained 1600 (+1200) experience for completing the quest!
The Beast Master died and you gained a 25 percent experience boost! You acquired a few items you might want to take to the black market, and a little locket from the girl. You might want to open it and take a look.
You’ve reached level 10!
You’re bag can now hold 50 items! Living the life aren’t you?
“So much sarcasm… you mind telling me why they do that Rexam?” Alfred said, opening up his bag and tossing the three items on the bed. “Also… anything exciting happen since you left?”
“You mean… besides you reaching level 10 in five hours? I’d say that’s pretty exciting… You beat the record by twenty hours.”
Alfred scratched his head, wondering if that information was kept on a sort of forum. He clicked on the leaderboard and mulled over the data. Turning towards the leveling section, he scrolled all the way down to the ranking titles and saw his name had replaced someone known as Kin58. He quickly looked in the settings and found an option to hide his data. His name disappeared from the ranking list as he let out a sigh of relief.
“Damn it… I really hope Vera didn’t see that,” Alfred said, looking at some of the records. Green held five records for leveling up as well. He’d been the first to reach level 30, but Kin58 had beaten him to level 35. He didn’t to want get too immersed in it before he went to the friend window and searched for Lacey…
He clicked on the spitting image of her face in a selection of twenty girls named Lacy. He would never forget her green eyes and long blonde hair that stopped just short of her neck. She looked a little bit younger than he remembered, but still had a smile for her profile picture. He hesitated before sending her a friend request. A bright flash of light blinded him as his face appeared on the top of the HUD…
Lacy has received your friend request….
Request has been denied…
Alfred looked at the message and dropped his jaw agape. He sent her the request again just to make sure she didn’t deny it by accident. A second later, he got a chat request from her. He clicked accept as he fiddled with his hair to try and make it neat.
He hadn’t taken a good look at the communication window available in his vision interface, but in his visual display it appeared he could communicate with distant players as long as he knew there name and appearance. There was a small chat window in which Lacy’s head appeared after he accepted her call. She looked a little bit miffed before her eyes burst open with shock.
“Wow… is that you Alfred…” She said, pushing the hair out her eyes as she stood on top of a mountain… “I’m… I’m sorry I didn’t accept your request… You’d be surprised how many random people have been trying to add me the last few days!”
“It’s no problem... Is that really you? I heard from Vera that you made it to Heaven’s Gate… Didn’t think she was telling the truth when she told me you were seventeen.”
“Yup…. Anyways, I really can’t talk for too long… The last I remember seeing you we had a really bad fight… I heard from Vera that we made up in the future, but… I’m happy to see you…” Lacy puckered her lips, a poignant expression on her face. “I guess I’ll tell Green about this and ask if we can meet you… He’s nothing like you remember, Alfred.”
“Sure, as long as I get to see you in one piece,” Alfred pondered at where she was. “IS that a temple you’re outside of? Why does it look crazy dangerous?”
“I’m exploring with Green Everest… I can’t tell you too much, but it was really nice to see you! I don’t hate you anymore okay…” Lacy said, smiling and waving. “I’ll probably… actually… stop by Vera’s tonight with Green… When he hears your name I’m sure he’ll be so happy to see you?”
“Are we talking about the same Green?” Alfred scrunched up with anger. “The same guy who I fought nearly once a week for four years?”
“Same guy, but older and wiser,” Lacy winked, trying not to show the worry on her face. They weren’t exactly on the safest mission and she didn’t even know Alfred had made it to Heaven’s Gate. With the risk of being distracted, she hung up quickly with a wave.
Alfred slammed his hand into the mattress and yelled angrily before Vera caught wind of it next door. The sun had started to set and she’d already started cooking dinner. Since she hadn’t seen Alfred for a while she’d spent hours outside looking for the perfect spices to make Alfred’s favorite dish.
As she stood in the kitchen, she quickly received an angry emoji from Lacy before she jumped from a knock on the door. Alfred walked in after the doorway opened on her behest. She had on a apron before Alfred got a message from the one person he didn’t expect.
Chapter 9: Encounter
You’ve received a chat request from Green…
Would you like to accept it?
Alfred dropped back and stumbled, missing the chair he was aiming for as Vera glanced back with a set of plates in her hand. She set them down on the table as Alfred clambered to his feet and wondered what to do. He obviously didn’t want to accept the request, but Lacy said she’d be showing up with him tonight!
“Vera…. You’re not going to believe it… Green just sent me a chat request… Should I take it, or leave it?”
“Well… Lacy just messaged me too, and said Green called off their entire mission when he heard your name… I Would take the request if I were you… Otherwise, they are about to do a hell dungeon that will make them disappear for the next two days…”
“Two days? That’s a ridiculous amount of time for a dungeon!” Alfred took a second to digest that sliver of information, “Also, a hell dungeon? Is that why I saw her in front of a strange looking temple?”
“Listen… just accept the chat request already, so you can see her. He probably wants to recruit you because you’re a fighter… Green probably wants to push the past aside and get you to join his army… In fact, he’s obsessed with getting first place on the rankings.”
Alfred wanted to puke as he clicked on the accept button. Green appeared on the screen in front of what appeared to be a large orb. Green had already made his way to Larimar kingdom using a teleportation array and was heading up the hill with Lacy behind him. He smiled as Lacy stood next to him with a crew of 10 men. Her head was down as if she had just made a terrible mistake.
“Alfred! I can’t believe it’s actually you! I thought all the good fighters had been left in the pile! I cancelled the mission as soon as I heard the news…”
“Who are you?” Alfred said, sarcasm and disdain present in his voice. “If you’re wondering, I’m only talking to you because Lacy requested it…”
; “It’s what I expect… You’re nineteen as I’ve heard from Vera… I promise I’ve changed my ways… well most of them… I still want to kick your ass looking at you now, but I want you to join my guild more! wE have a real chance to clear a dream dungeon with you here… What class are you?”
“I… It’s going to take me a while to get used to this green… Why don’t you tell me what class you are first?” Alfred retorted, not used to seeing Green look at him with contentment. “I… I don’t have the most usual class so you might not even know it.”
“I’ll wait to find out from you then,” Green turned and smiled at Lacy as she grinned towards him with blush on her cheeks. “So… we now have at least have six people from our small town of 10,000… Anyways, I’ll be there in just a second! Tell Vera to set out three extra plates!”
“Got it…” Alfred clicked shut the message. It took a second for the smoke to clear out of his ears before Vera ran over with an extra three plates in her hand.
She set down a large meal with enough chicken to feed 10 people sans sauce. Her potatoes were soon ready, and a knock gently tapped against the door. He looked at Vera before she smiled at him reassuringly and pinched him on the cheeks.
“Look… you have better eyes than mine… If Green really means badly, you two can have it off with each other. However, at least give him a chance… three years can do a lot… Just like how my breasts grew bigger in two…”
“That’s a physical feature,” Alfred sat back in the chair and closed his eyes. The doorway opened and Green entered with Lacy. Her white dress stopped at her knees and she had tan lines all over her body. It looked like she’d just gotten back from a grand adventure. Meanwhile, next to her, Vera gave Green a slight hug causing Alfred to squeeze the glass hard he had in his hand.
“There… we finally meet again,” Green said, sitting down next to Alfred as he tried to hide a glower from forming from his rage. “Lacy and me were just on a quest in the jungle… We found an undiscovered dungeon… The first clear is said to give a few rare items!”
“Sounds a little bit risky,” Alfred looked at Lacy as she sat down between him and green. “Is it worth dying for just a few items? You can die in Hard Dungeons, right?”
“You do the dungeon on normal many times first, and then do the Hell mode…” Lacey added her input, dropping her elbow on the table. “However, the real danger is finding the dungeon… it took us—”
“Enough, he can find out about that when he joins the guild,” Green said, looking between Vera and Alfred with a hidden meaning in his glance. “I… I didn’t want to recruit Vera because I didn’t want to risk her life. However, Alfred… With your training… I’m sure we’d have at least a 10 percent higher chance of clearing a Dream dungeon.”
“You really want to party with me?” Alfred didn’t believe it. “Besides… I can imagine with boss monsters knowledge of vitals and martial arts would not matter as much as skills… I’m sure there are millions of people with a better arsenal then me…”
Green shook his head, tossing a coin from his hand onto the table. “Nope… that’s simply not true… There is a vital damage bonus here, and with you and me in the party we would really compliment each other… Besides, your real enemy should be the foreign kingdoms…”
“Once we all reach level 50… there will be other kingdoms we’ll have to worry about… We aren’t the first batch of players to enter into Hermia Kingdom… Listen… I’ll let you think about it, but when you reach level 25… I’m going to hunt you down to get an answer.”
“I’m going to have to delay accepting the offer then… However, why don’t we have a duel for old times’ sake… If I win the duel, you let Lacy here stay in Larimar for a week… I take it you’d enjoy it right?”
Green laughed before Lacy blushed and hid her head. She’d always been a little bit shy, and the idea of two men fighting over her brought out all her teenage angst. She said, “I don’t mind”, before Green stood up and walked outside. He dropped a large bag he had around his shoulder as ten men cleared the way for the two of them.
These were ten of green’s best guild members ranging from levels 20 – 34. With glowers present in their eyes they let Alfred walk through with hesitation. Green looked at Lacy as she stood in the center of both of them.
“Fine, I’ll send you the request for a duel right now… However, If I win, I want to know how you got to level 10 so fast…”
“What… what are you talking about?” Vera said, just joining them outside. “He should be level 5 right… I saw him two hours ago and he was level 5…”
“Vera…. Sorry… he’s telling the truth,” Alfred tried to keep her calm. “No need to overreact… I promised you I Wouldn’t do any hard kill missions.”
“So what did you do, hell missions idiot?” Vera withdrew her sword from her sheathe and approached him. “If you want to die, then I’ll kill you myself! You suicidal little jerk!”
“Enough Vera,” Green said, stopping her with a flair of his arms. “He probably did three hell missions in a row and a few hard missions… correct… you must have quite a class to be that confident, or… you’re still the same guy who can’t stand backing down from a challenge.”
Alfred looked at Vera, who had tears falling from her eyes, and Green’s curious but cocky gaze. He held up his hands to Vera before she rushed inside and slammed the door. Lacy followed after her before looking back riddled with mixed emotions.
He held out his hands almost to try and stop her in the air before Green tossed out a dagger at Alfred’s feet. He picked it up and grasped it in his hands before a scowl stretched across his face.
“That’s a level 10 rare dagger…. You can look at the stats when you have time later… I don’t want to switch out my weapon, so I figured I’d at least give you that…”
“Tell me everything about how you trained, and show me the replays of your missions if I win… If we can get people to replicate what you did in our guild, we’ll have a real shot off-“
“Just send the request Green,” Alfred picked up the dagger and put it in his hands.
Steal Croak Blade
Grade: Minor Rare
Level 10
Attack: 40
Agility: 35
Durability: 20 / 20
Upgrades available: 2
Steal Croak Blade – contains a minor poison that causes your target to lose 1 point of agility every 10 seconds.
Would you like to equip?
Alfred grimaced but accepted the weapon as he took a gander at Green’s spear. It had gilded embellishments along the shaft, and a short sword at the end of it that rang around his back. He quickly equipped the dagger as he wondered if he could beat him in a battle. In a minute, he hoped to find out.
You’ve received a request to duel from Green
Green’s current Record: 160 wins 1 Loss 5 draws
Green’s agreed to make his level 10 to match your own… His stats will be dropped to equal your own, and his items will lose most of their effects… Do you wish to accept, or not?
Alfred accepted the mission. He couldn’t worry about vEra now, and immediately got into his martial stance. Green had a similar pose based on another school.
His father had trained him in the Dragon Style and had taken him to many dojos to learn comparative arts on his trips. Green, on the other hand, learned the sand Crane Style. Their techniques had both come from Ancient China and had made their way into modern Dojos. Alfred, however, could tell that Green had learned several new moves. It just hit him that he probably had an extra three years of training.
“This almost isn’t fair… you’re younger than me,” Green said, pulling the sword off his chain and tossing the spear onto the ground. “I can’t say I’ll enjoy beating you, but I hope you keep your end of the bargain.”
“I’m coming,” Alfred said, ignoring what Green said as he rushed forward. He immediately used his maximum ability to send out ten quick jabs as Green
reposted. His dagger skid against his blade, sending sparks flying, before his knee and Green’s clashed.
Alfred flipped back as a large bolt of pain traveled up his spine. Green laughed before he rushed forward and slashed down in every direction. Alfred’s only reply was to duck and shift from side to side. A series of cuts started to form on his arms before a large boot slammed into his chest.
He stumbled back with a ‘bang’ before Green rushed forward and kicked Alfred in the jaw. He slid backwards against the dirt as Vera looked out the window. He could see her eyes still full of tears before he scrambled to his feet. Green didn’t relent one bit and kicked him once more sending him flipping through the air.
He crashed into the ground and looked at his HP bar… He had gotten his knee cap nearly broken on the first attack. He forgot that his class was agility based, and his strength was much lower than Green’s even at the same level. Because of that, his balance had been off and green capitalized on it. However, he immediately activated stealth Walk before Green smiled and clapped his hands.
“Hah, I was hoping he was an assassin! Can you think of a more perfect class we need, Berk?”
“Nope, he’d be perfect,” one of the ten men replied, his armor nearly as nice as Greens. “However, is this really the man that went toe to toe with you?”
“Yup,” Green said as he picked up his spear and began to spin it in a circular fashion. Alfred waited patiently before he snuck behind Green and jabbed at his back. His blade seemed to phase through Green’s body before Green reappeared in a billow of smoke and slashed down.
Heaven's Gate: Volume 1 (A LitRPG Adventure) Page 6