End Online: Volume 2

by D Wolfin

  My brains reaction speed may by currently in overdrive, but that doesn’t increase my speed, and this hood refuses to come off. Prince Charming was a step ahead though, true to being a knight in shining armour till the end he used the last of his strength to throw himself in between Verde and the goblin warrior, saving her life but suffering a fatal blow.

  He falls face first into the ground, body turning to smoke and leaving behind a loot menu containing all his gold, a total of fifteen pieces! I rush the goblin warrior and immediately engage it before it can finish off Verde as well. It was a lot weaker than I originally thought. Only fifty percent of its health was left and the rest disappeared rapidly in front of my onslaught.

  Verde was lying on her back, as pale as death. I’ve been in her situation before, that player doesn’t feel that bad but they most certainly look like they’re in quite some pain and discomfort.

  Her health is too low and her wounds are inflicting bleeding damage slowly over time, not even healing herbs could save her from that as the recovery was less than the bleeding damage. If I can restore her health enough the bleeding damage should stop.

  Rummaging through my inventory I found the one thing that could save her. I pulled out my home made vomit green healing potions. It was actually incredibly fortunate that I hadn’t thrown them all away from my last experimental batch I did.

  Well, I was and still am never going to drink one of these revolting things. But giving it to someone else was a different matter.

  Verde has three percent health left and doesn’t seem to be able to respond to my voice. Time is running out so I sit her up against one of the walls and removing the stopper from one of my vials, use one hand to open her jaw and the other to pour the contents of the potion into her mouth.

  Half of the potion comes running back out of her mouth and the other half she chokes on and it sputters out. A little got consumed but not enough to help the situation, I also only have four potions left.

  ‘I really don’t want to have to do that!’

  I think to myself as there is only one situation I can think of to save her. Completely forgetting this was a game for a moment all I could see in front of me was a dying girl, my mind clouding at the thought of anything else.

  Removing the stopper from another potion, I tipped the contents back into my mouth and hold it there, ‘no wonder she coughed it up this stuff tastes even worse than it looks’. Brushing a strand of hair from her face I bring my face closer to hers, placing my lips over hers and force every last drop of the horrid potion into her mouth, forcing her to swallow it.

  I have read about this scenario in books and seen it done in many movies, when someone is incapable of swallowing a liquid you must help them consume it.

  What I had just done came to reality, this is a game and she would have just respawned. The feeling of her lips suddenly invades my senses as I recall the softness they enclosed. They were in all honesty quite cold. Yet, touching them with my lips warmed my entire face.

  Colour slowly returned to her complexion, but there was another complication. An ice bolt comes billowing past me, impaling the wall between me and Verde. I could feel the cold on my nose as I turn to see Fen, furious eyes accusing not me but Verde, I don’t know why but the wolf really does not like her. Is it because they are both female that they can’t get along?

  Looking at Verde, she seems completely oblivious to Fen’s fury and the ice bolt next to her head. She has her head tilted forward slightly, using the thumb and forefinger on each hand to tug her hood down further, completely hiding her face.

  ‘Oh no, what have I done? Is she crying? Does she hate me? What should I do now?’ A hundred regrets swarm inside my mind. I completely did not think through my actions, and now I can’t stop worrying about what to do next.

  I ignore Fen for now, silently placing the remaining three potions next to Verde. I have no idea how to calm Fen down, mainly due to having no clue as to the source of her anger.

  I stand up and walk over to the wolf, crouching down to give her a scratch behind the ears, the dog I had when I was twelve used to like this a lot.

  Fen ignores my actions mostly, but I notice a tail wag momentarily.

  “Calm down Fen, I don’t know what the problem is but it’s better now, okay?”

  She looks up at me. Her icy blue eyes seem to melt slightly as her anger dissipates. Whatever her problem was, she seems calmer now.

  “Umm... Verde... Would you like to go back and find Sir Laurence?” I place my hands together and fiddle my thumbs at the awkwardness I feel.

  Verde slowly shakes her head a few times. Drinking all three potions as fast as she can, she continues to hide her face under her hood. I notice her making actions as if operating her menu, she shortly logs off. At that moment I receive two notifications in front of me, the first one was an incredible shock.

  Friend Request received from 'Verde'

  Accept? Yes / No

  I warily click accept, I was now even more confused if she hated me or whatever her feelings were.

  The second notification however was even more of a surprise, in some ways it was a blessing from above, yet for some reason I knit my brows reading it.

  Aggravation has reached level 35

  Prerequisites met:

  [Empty]

  Would you like to upgrade 'Aggravation' into 'Intimidation Aura'?

  Yes / Yes

  Was this skill broken or something? I have no choice but to upgrade it into something unknown, which for some reason I did not feel very comfortable with.

  Maybe I could be able to unequip it, but something is telling me that will not be the case. I also have no clue as to what it will do. Potentially it could be worse than ‘Aggravation’. Anyway there is only one way to find out, so I press one of the ‘Yes’ buttons.

  Intimidating Aura (SLvl 1, 0%) -Passive

  You give off an aura that overpowers and diminishes most people. Creature of the wild will feel your aura and determine you to be a considerable threat, often opting to remove you first.

  SLvl 1:

  - Intimacy cannot be grown with NPC's under normal circumstances.

  - 15% chance every 20sec nearby monsters will get the 'Aggro' status towards you for 3min.

  - Enemies who are under 'Aggro' status will suffer a 20% penalty in both attack and defence

  - This ability is Soul Bound, cannot be unequipped.

  NPC's will be affected by 'Intimidating Aura' even if your identity is hidden as the aura given off is much more powerful than 'Aggravation'. The White Wolf Winter cloak will still hide your identity.

  Brilliant, It is basically the exact same as before. Unable to be unequipped, and more of a pain than it’s worth.

  I feel like digging a hole in the ground with my head in frustration. Good news is my intimacy will not drop for no reason like before, but nor would it improve unless I did something special. The part where it will ‘Aggro’ an enemy is also still there, completely overcharged from how it was when ‘Aggravation’ was at level 1.

  The only saving grace was that monsters caught with ‘Aggro’ had a penalty to both attack and defence which would be incredibly useful fighting large numbers of opponents.

  I notice that the Prince Charming has disappeared from the party window as well, leaving just me and Fen.

  “Well Fen, looks like it’s just us, I only have thirty green medicinal herbs left but if we are careful we should be able to clean out this floor and leave.”

  I sit with Fen and use ten of the herbs to heal our wounds. It takes a total of about half an hour to recover most of our wounds and I use that time to loot all the items that were dropped.

  The goblin warriors dropped some decent items, a few silver coins instead of copper ones, and the rusty iron armour surely must be worth more than the swords when it came to scrap metal value.

  Right next to where we rested however was the best loot of them all. The purse of coins Prince Charming left behind at h
is death holding a total of fifteen gold, seven silver, and one hundred and forty three copper coins.

  ‘Well, he has already left the party so I guess the money is mine for the taking. I probably couldn’t get it back to him anyway,’

  I run a bunch of reasons as to why it is okay to take someone else’s money. Not because I’m not going to take it otherwise, I just want to feel less guilty about it.

  Collecting all the loot lying around, I lead Fen deeper into the dungeon as we hunt for more goblins.

  ***************************************************

  ***************************************************

  -Verde-

  The goblins ambushed us from behind. The group being just as large as the one Lost and Fen were fighting. I received the first attack in the back, a critical hit removing thirty percent of my total health.

  Sir Laurence naturally noticed my health drop in an instant and had turned to protect me, placing his body in between me and the goblins. If I didn’t know what his true character was like I would probably be slightly flattered.

  The goblins slowly chipped away at our health, the two goblin warriors that Lost warned us about were the most dangerous, with blows nearly strong enough to blow Sir Laurence’s shield back.

  Moments before our inevitable death a volley of iron and ice assaulted the goblins followed by Lost appearing behind them, both swords ready for combat. I vaguely heard him say something but I couldn’t hear properly, nearly dead with bleeding wounds caused by rusty weapons was not good. I did not feel any discomfort yet I could not move my body more than a twitch.

  Lost, all of a sudden dashed into the group of goblins, showing off an inhuman speed and reaction rate. My eyes widened in shock at the sight, it was like a graceful dance where each step would either lead to avoiding a weapon or landing a deadly attack, sometimes both.

  In moments, nearly all the goblins were dead, only one still remaining. ‘No! Lost won’t be able to get to it in time!’ I don’t know why but I seem to be putting a lot of trust in him. But he is such a strong person, anyone who only knew his level would be completely fooled.

  He shouts something and Sir Laurence somehow manages to move his body to protect me, except it cost him a blow that cost him his life. It is at this point the bleeding damage brought my health below three percent. In a combat zone this is where your vision goes and you lose complete control of your body, unable to save yourself.

  The noises coming to my ears gradually stop, I don’t know if my hearing was going too or the battle was over, all I know is that I can see I still have health left so I am not dead yet.

  Soon I faintly feel my body being moved and a warm liquid enters my mouth, unable to do anything about it about half enters my throat. Wherever the liquid touched however left a foul taste which inadvertently caused my body to cough it up, but a little did pass through healing just a single percent of my health.

  Another round of the potion enters my mouth, befouling every surface inside of it.

  ‘Doesn’t he realize he is just wasting potions? Also, what kind of potion tastes this bad?’

  The difference this time is warmth enters my lips, spreading a tiny electric current through my body, warming the deepest parts.

  ‘What a nice feeling, how have I not felt it before?’

  The foul liquid also seems to be going down my throat much easier, tasting less grotesque as it goes down. I can feel the potions healing my wounds and stopping the bleeding, although the feeling of my body returning to me is magnifying the warmth on my mouth

  My health points slowly begin to rise, my vision blurring back into focus, revealing the details of Lost’s face under the hood. I could see completely through the shadow of his hood! No, that’s not correct, the hood is over my face too so the shadow is not working.

  I can see every detail of his face, from the thin line of stubble running down his jaw line to the long hair tied up somewhere behind his head, a few pieces hanging down in the form of bangs. He has quite a pretty face, but the most noticeable are his eyes, they are a rather boring green colour, but there is a deep pain in them that causes my chest to constrict just looking into them.

  All of a sudden there is no more of the potion entering my mouth. With the foul taste of the liquid gone I momentarily feel this man’s lips on mine, every tiny part leaving a sweet sensation on my mouth, before he removes his face. The warmth on my mouth disappears along with his face behind the shadow of his hood.

  ‘He kissed me!’

  Despite the need to do so to force the potion down my throat, the only word that could come to my mind was ‘kiss’. Pinching onto my hood I bring it down to hide my face turning crimson in embarrassment, the fluttering butterflies in my chest refusing to subside.

  I hear a crack next to my ear and feel a chill on my cheek, but I am already lost too deep in my subconscious to pay attention to it.

  I don’t know how much time passes but three horrible looking potions are left on the ground next to me. Lost also asks me if I wish to go and find Sir Laurence who should have respawned.

  ‘I don’t want to go see him, I just want to stay with you,’ I don’t know where this thought is coming from as I shake my head back and forth, it came from nowhere and refuses to leave.

  I drink the three potions on the floor next to me to try to remove the feeling on my lips but the taste of the potion reminds me of his lips on mine.

  I start to feel trapped in my own emotions and open my game menu. Hovering my finger over the ‘Log Out’ button something in me drives me to send a friend request to Lost before I do leave the game to clear my head.

  ***************************************************

  I leave virtual reality immediately. Sitting up on my bed with my knees at my chest I remove the VL from my head and replace it with a pillow, still unable to cover my utter embarrassment.

  My mind is still replaying the memory of his facial features, and most importantly his lips on mine.

  ***************************************************

  ***************************************************

  -Fen-

  ‘That vixen! What has she done?? She deserves to die!’

  Manipulating the space above me I form what Lost has been calling an ice bolt. Only this one is different, I pack more and more layers of ice onto it than I ever have before.

  I still feel it isn’t big enough but it should do. Directing and releasing it, the ice bolt vaults forward, impaling the wall and separating the revolting woman from Lost.

  ‘It is all your fault! If you weren’t here things would be different, I didn’t want you to come in the first place! I can see your level, and you act like you can’t defend yourself against these weak creatures! I am all he needs, so leave!’

  I will make this woman pay. Using my original skill, ‘Origin of Ice’, I will make her pay for deceiving my Lost!

  ***************************************************

  ***************************************************

  -Lost-

  Fen and I explore the second level of ‘Unknown Goblin Lair’ and take on countless more groups of goblins with the warriors mixed in. We are a lot more careful now that it is the two of us, doing as much damage from a distance as possible.

  Without being in a party I am getting one hundred percent of all the experience dropped too. Only Fen all of a sudden started standing in front of me, fighting every enemy that tried to attack me with a ferocity that scared me to tell her to stop.

  It did not take long until we decided to leave due to a shortage in healing herbs, we got lost back on the first floor but the ordinary goblins that wandered around there were weak and we dealt with them easily.

  By the time we returned to the surface I had nearly recovered all my agility that I lost from my previous death. I had also gained a large growth in dexterity, but the progress was exponentially slowing down, to the point where if I was to play eighteen hours eve
ry day I doubt my skill would reach 100.

  Name: Lost

  Health: 298/522

  Stamina: 36/237

  Lvl: 41

  Lvl UP: 93%

  Str: 53 +10

  Agi: 171 +21

  Dex: 51 +23

  Int: 8

  Mnd: 37

  Lck: 17

  Fame/Infamy: 0

  Alignment: +0

  God: -

  Belief: 0

  Equipped Skills:

  Intimidating Aura (SLvl 7, 12%)

  Advanced Military Arts (SLvl 35, 38%)

  Herbalism (SLvl 21, 76%)

  Potion Production (SLvl 11, 68%)

  Hunter's Eyes (SLvl 33, 4%)

  Throw (SLvl 17, 74%)

  Creature Analysis (SLvl 15, 64%)

  Mining (SLvl 1, 0%)

  High Speed (SLvl 10, 92%)

  Reserve Skills:

  Smithing(SLvl 1)

  Luckily the shrink spell on Fen didn’t wear off until we were outside of the dungeon. If she grew to full size inside she would not have been able to get through the opening to leave.

  Under the dark night sky the air was incredibly refreshing. I had forgotten what fresh air was like underground, every breath seeming to fill me with new life.

  The new skill ‘Intimidating Aura’ was extremely strange in some ways. It seemed to have no growth, sure the level of the skill went up, but none of the bonuses went up and the area of monsters it affected didn’t seem to increase. The border around the skill was green too making it a rare unique skill, so it should have some significant purpose or growth.

  I open the menu to log off for the night, bidding Fen farewell for a while, outside the time should be well after midnight.