End Online: Volume 6

by D Wolfin

  Despite searching the area, I can’t see any other players nearby. I glide through the surrounding area to see if anyone is hiding behind one of the cliffs, but still don’t find anyone. With the only possibilities being that they either used an expensive teleportation scroll, or more likely just logged off, I eventually give up the search.

  Returning back to the party, I sullenly tell them that whoever it was is gone. I feel nervous knowing that whoever it was, they heard me talking about my unique race. If the knowledge is posted on the internet, it will be the ‘Royal Summer Tournament’ all over again.

  Continuing northeast, we gradually move through the rugged plain toward the forest. Night falls before we reach the forest, and while it is still possible to continue travelling, we decide to camp for the night.

  We never used to use tents as they take time to set up, but with more people we can afford to have two or three of us set them up while the rest do other chores. Mason proceeds with his usual duty of collecting firewood and starting a fire while I begin to prepare our evening meal. Everybody flees from my potions, yet they flock to my food. I secretly think about trying the effects of mixing one of my potions with my food to spite them, but decide that would be petty and restrain myself.

  The season in this realm is spring, so I plan to cook something refreshing. In the pot of boiling water, I drop some birds that are freshly hunted, plucked, and skinned by Mason. As they cook, the fat melts off them and seeps into the water. I wait until all the fat has melted off before picking them out, stripping the meat from the bones, and placing it back in the pot while disposing of the carcasses.

  Pulling several vegetables leftover from the first continent from my inventory, I dice them into bite-sized pieces and add them to the broth. Last, I grind six ‘Fire Flowers’ which add a chili flavor, three ‘Morning Dew Herbs’ that are sweet in nature, and finally two ‘Azurite Stone Herbs’ together. The final herb is the most important, as the ‘Azurite Stone Herbs’ are incredibly durable and serve to thicken the broth while adding a mysterious flavor and fragrance to the dish.

  The aroma emanating from the pot is extremely strong, so I have Matrix and Sir Laurence patrol the area in case any monsters are attracted to the smell.

  Shortly after, seven bowls of thick poultry stew are served. Six people wipe saliva from the corners of their mouths before stuffing their faces as if they had starved for days. Even I am impressed by the taste. The mysterious flavor of the ‘Azurite Stone Herb’ is like nothing I have tasted in the real world. The closest would be a combination of ground spices, fresh garden herbs, and a nearly intangible hint of egg.

  Only satisfied after cleaning out the pot, we all move to our tents. There are only six prepared, as Fen will be sleeping with me. It allows me to speak with her in private, arduously teaching her the difference between right and wrong.

  Unequipping my armor and cloak, I climb into a large sleeping bag with enough room for two people. Fen silently slides in beside me, placing one arm across my chest and pulling herself against me. I can feel most of her body against my arm and my heartbeat quickens in response.

  “Fen, you are awfully close,” I nervously whisper to the wolf girl who is currently sniffing my neck.

  “…Okay.”

  She fails to pick up the hint that she is uncomfortably close. She is an artificially intelligent computer program, yet I am afraid that I can no longer see her as just that.

  “Shall we continue with discussing things you should not do?”

  “If you… want.”

  For the next half hour, I teach her human morals. Actions you should not do to others, topics you should not discuss with strangers. As long as I feel it could help her understand her actions better, I teach her anything and everything.

  Eventually, my mind begins to fade into sleep with the game’s assistance, but with the last sliver of awareness I have left, I hear Fen’s voice, clear and without any pauses. “You are the only one for me. For you, I will do anything.”

  Before I can react, oblivion overtakes my consciousness and whatever thoughts I had are swept away with it.

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

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

  -Chronix-

  “And that is the information on Lost’s new ‘Eternal Draconian’ race that our intelligence has brought us,” I finish reading out from a private message sent by our spy.

  “That’s completely broken!!” Shock and disbelief covers the faces of all the upper members, or the Elders as they have started calling themselves, of the ‘Swords of Light’ guild.

  I watch all the slack-jawed members with amusement, laughing coldly before stating, “This is Lost we are talking about. We should not have expected any less from him.”

  “That’s true. It couldn’t be any other way.”

  “Nothing less than the best.”

  “Mhmm, I agree with you.”

  An Elder with the petite body of a child that makes me wonder if he is even old enough to legally play End Online raises his hand like some grade schooler before asking, “Guild leader Chronix, I’ve only recently been promoted to Guild Elder so I don’t fully understand. I am a big fan of Lost and his party, just as we all are, but why exactly are we constantly chasing after and trying to kill him?”

  The room falls unnaturally silent after the question and no one dares speak, so I answer the question myself. “Elder SingleShoe, there are two types of people who are fans of others who are strong. The first is the most common; rabble who blindly throw gifts and praise at them to get their attention. The second are those who want to have the honor of fighting them. We are the latter.”

  “But wouldn’t it be easier to just be friends?”

  “I met Lost before he became famous. At that time, unfortunately, we had a difference of opinion between us. There is no way he would accept me as a friend now, and if he did, I would probably think less of him. All I want is to follow him, and keep challenging him along the way.”

  After Elder SingleShoe nods his head in understanding, another person asks a question that makes me frown. “Guild leader, before joining the ‘Swords of Light’ three months ago, I recall you used to be one of the leading high level players on the server. What happened to-”

  “Moving on to the next topic of this meeting. Lost and his party are currently in the Beast Realm and we have an idea of his location. We will be sending thirty ordinary members and two Elders for this assault. I will also be going, as usual.” I cut off the previous question and don’t answer, as it is a subject I do not wish to speak about with these people.

  The Elder who asked the question takes the hint and doesn’t ask it again. For the next half hour, we discuss the members who will be leading this operation, along with a new strategy to combat Lost’s draconic race. Defense against the companion Fen and his other party members is included in the plan.

  “Tomorrow, we will head out as planned! Everyone, dismissed!” I turn and leave the room before logging out, not bothering with seeing the other members off.

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

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

  -Lost-

  When my consciousness returns, the first things I hear are the birds cawing in the distance and the sound of movement in the camp. As I stayed up half an hour speaking with Fen before going to sleep, it is only natural I am the last to awaken.

  A cold draft invades the tent and makes me shiver; half my face is already numb. Fen’s arm wrapped around my back has a soothing effect that calms my mind when I focus on it. There is also the feeling of pressure on my forehead that leaves me confused.

  Slowly opening my eyes, my originally calm heart instantly starts working frantically as I realize my previous thoughts were completely wrong. I have rolled, or been rolled onto my side. Fen’s face is pressed against my face, the tender skin of her nose is brushing against the side of min
e, and our lips are a single breath away from one another.

  Her breath is frigid, brushing against my face every time she exhales and adding to the numbness. Despite that, I can feel a heat rising in my face that is quickly dispelling the chill.

  Staring at her eyes quivering beneath her eyelids in her sleep, I am unable to hold myself back anymore and inch my mouth closer to hers. The movement causes our skin to rub together and my emotions to fall into turmoil. Pressing forward a little more, our lips begin to touch lightly.

  “Lost! What exactly are you two doing in there? Don’t tell me… are you?” Mason’s teasing voice comes in from outside and I know he is unlikely the only one there.

  I pull my face away from Fen’s sourly. The mood is completely ruined, and for some reason, I’m feeling considerably angry at Mason.

  Fen is holding herself against me tightly, and my hand is trapped in an awkward position against my chest. Wriggling my arm around to free it and then myself, I grasp onto something that fills my hand. Gently applying pressure, a small protrusion presses against the center of my palm.

  ‘Soft!’ Is the first thought that comes to mind.

  I rise up onto my elbow and lift the sleeping bag cover. Sure enough, there are Fen’s twin mounds, devoid of any clothing – one of which just happens to be in my hand. I want to let go before misfortune falls upon me, but wait a few breaths before doing so, breaking free from Fen’s arm and climbing out of the sleeping bag.

  Equipping my armor and cloak once again, I briskly leave the tent and grumpily say to the party lining up out front, “I just woke up!”

  Several smirks follow.

  Fen emerges shortly afterwards and we all get to work to quickly pack away the campsite.

  I witness a strange sight while helping tidy up. Two small ice spikes erupt from the ground and pierce Mason’s feet while he is cleaning the remains of the fire. There is no injury as he doesn’t cry out, but having his feet pinned to the ground still causes him to fall into the cold ashes and stir up a cloud of soot. He stands up abruptly afterwards, covered from head to toe in grey and black residue.

  Chapter 37 – Ruminu Forgotten Temple

  – Lost –

  After Matrix interrupts Fen and me, the camp is incredibly awkward. The entire site is silent, and not-so-subtle glances are constantly sent my way. Fen stands next to me as I practice my ‘Potion Production’, eyeing the concoctions nervously.

  ‘Don’t worry Fen, I won’t feed these to you. Those other people though, I might,’ I sinisterly plot to myself.

  Once the morning cleanup is finished, I challenge everyone’s glances before saying, “Nothing happened! Now, let’s keep going into this forest.”

  They all agree, of course, but it doesn’t remove the suspicions they are harboring. I do my best to ignore them for the time being as I lead us out of the jagged plains and into the forest. At first it seems like an ordinary forest, but the brush quickly thickens as it turns into a jungle.

  The change of atmosphere inside the jungle is surprisingly abrupt. The air becomes increasingly more humid and the sounds of small insects surround us. I hear some branches snap not too far from us, but can’t seem to locate any beasts or players.

  CaptainGordon, Matrix, and Sir Laurence take the lead, using their swords to cut through the brush as we head deeper into the jungle.

  A piercing cry from above alerts me and the rest of the party as four monkeys as large as a person swing down at us on vines, large clubs in hand. I am about to use ‘Creature Analysis’ when I witness Sir Laurence cutting one down with a single heavy overhead slash of his sword.

  Seeing how weak they are, I don’t bother. Instead, I join the others in attacking the monkeys as they swing past. Three of the monkeys are instantly killed, while the fourth one only loses seventy percent of its health before passing by and swinging back up into another tree. I feel irritated that the only one that isn’t dead is the one I attacked.

  It comes swinging back down a moment later, but is shot and killed by one of Mason’s arrows before it can get close to us. I collect several tufts of fur that the monkeys drop, as they are potion ingredients according to the item information, while several other minor loot items and a handful of silver coins are distributed to the rest of the party.

  “That was unexpected,” Mason laughs heartily while warily looking up at the trees.

  I look at him and amusedly say, “Weren’t you up a tree the first time we met you?”

  “I was…”

  “Could you climb up the trees to keep an eye out for any more of your kin?”

  “Can’t you fly? And I am not a monkey, thank you!”

  “You sure like to cause mischief though!” I look at Mason from the side, unwilling to let the disturbance this morning go.

  Our bantering stops and we proceed deeper into the jungle. Before travelling too far we find a packed-dirt trail that leads off through the trees. The forest is much thinner around the path, making travelling much quicker. With the choice of turning to the right or left when coming onto the path, I choose to travel left, since the path to the right seems to lead back to the ocean.

  The path forks multiple times through the jungle, and we even see several parties of players while aimlessly following it. The monkeys in the trees attack in approximately ten minute intervals, so after the first hour we can mostly predict when they will attack.

  During the third hour of travel, most of the party starts to get restless from walking without direction. Suggestions to leave the trail to fight as many different monsters in the jungle as possible are raised, but I decide against it as we would probably end up lost before too long.

  Not long after, our motivation is rejuvenated once again when we come to the end of one of the paths. Still within the jungle, the trees thin out before completely disappearing and leaving a large open area where the clear blue sky can be seen in its enormity.

  Within the clearing are the ruins of a massive establishment. A square, ten meter tall wall of crumbling and cracked stone bricks surrounds an enormous temple and several other, smaller temples. At least, that is as much as I can see over the walls.

  A crumbling stone arch which has had the doors collapse inwards serves as the entrance to the dungeon. From inside, I can hear the sound of swords and spears hitting something incredibly solid within the walls, letting me know that we are not the only people here.

  “Let’s go!” I barely finish saying before everyone, minus Fen, rushes past me and toward the fallen entrance.

  If it is a race to see who will be first, I can’t help but shake my head at their foolishness.

  Kicking off from the ground, I leave an afterimage behind me as I move like a phantom toward the temple’s entrance, Fen following me effortlessly. The rest of the party, who are all still moving quite quickly, barely have any time to react as I pass them and arrive at the entrance.

  Giving them a smug grin, Fen and I are the first to step through the fallen gates and witness the scene inside.

  Entering ‘Ruminu Forgotten Temple’

  The ground is covered by old square slabs of stone, tufts of grass emerging from the cracks between their joints. An enormous stone temple is in the center of the area, looming above me with a menacing appearance. Several smaller temples and even smaller houses are around it, giving the appearance of a fallen civilization.

  The wide streets between the buildings have stone pillars, as tall as three men, standing in positions with no apparent pattern. However, due to their age, several of them have broken, leaving pillar sections and rubble spread across the textile pavement.

  The sounds of fighting ring out again as well. A party of six players, Nekomata from Kano City and Inudoga from the second capital of the Beast Realm, Koga City, are currently fighting two of the moss covered stone golems wandering the area.

  “Creature Analysis,” I quietly say as the rest of the party reaches the gate.

  Name: Stone Guardian

 
Level: 155

  Health: 4900

  Magic: 550

  Stamina: 550

  ??

  I feel like there is a bit too much of a disparity between the level of the monsters outside the dungeon and those inside. The health of these ‘Stone Guardians’ is also incredibly high.

  The party fighting the two golems appears to be having a lot of difficulty. Staring at them struggle due to their attacks bouncing off stone, Mason says, “The golems appear to be highly resistant against physical attacks. We need to use magic or physical attacks that are infused with magic.”

  Walking down the street as a large group, we steer clear of the party so as to avoid the ‘Stone Guardians’ falling under my aggravation effect. We don’t avoid other enemies, however, challenging a small group of three golems right from the beginning. We could probably fight many more at once, as our stats are mostly equal to the top players and our levels are much higher than our enemies’, but we decide to be cautious.

  To test our theory, we try pure physical attacks first. Mason’s arrows bounce off the golem, just as do Sir Laurence’s and Matrix’s swords. CaptainGordon’s pistol cannon has a very different effect, as the bullet embeds itself deep within the golem and causes web-like cracks to form around the bullet hole. The shot drains a full thirty percent of the golem’s health.

  I use my speed to try and cut through its defense, slashing the enormous stone torso along the side. Even my speed isn’t enough to negate its physical defense, only leaving an inch-deep gash in the stone. Although much less effective than the pirate’s pistol cannon, my attack did take off five percent of the golem’s health.

  “Next, magic attacks!” I call out, narrowly dodging the swinging arms of the golem that seems to have the strength to lift mountains.

  Distancing myself from our enemies, I call out “Dire Starburst” and cast my magic before any of the others.