End Online: Volume 6

by D Wolfin

  “Can I help you?” The receptionist briefly looks up to glance at me before returning to the paperwork in front of her, ignoring Fen as if she didn’t exist.

  “Ah, yes, I’m here to meet with Centurion Markus.”

  “He is not currently on duty.”

  “Umm, may I ask where he is?” I feel incredibly nervous at the frigid stare this receptionist gives me in response to my question.

  The receptionist seems to consider for a while before stating, “He is in his quarters. Should you know where that is, you may go see him.”

  “I do. Thank you.”

  Not bothering to see me off, the receptionist goes back to completely ignoring me. I glance in her direction a few times as I walk toward one of the rear doors. Not being stopped for one reason or another, I feel assured that it is fine to go see the instructor.

  Centurion Markus is indeed in his quarters, the same location where he rewarded me with the cloak that I still use. His angry glare turns in my direction the moment I enter the room after knocking.

  The centurion instantly recognizes me, stands up and speaks with a voice loud enough to make the windows rattle.

  “LOST! IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG! HAVE YOU FARED WELL?!”

  I secretly wish for a player item that replicates the effects of a pair of earplugs, but sadly none exist. I immediately try to change topics to shorten my conversation with the military leader.

  “Oh, yes, and I have come back now that I am stronger as you requested.”

  “Did I?!”

  “Yes, you did. It was after I did that quest for you.”

  “HAHAHA, I DID, DIDN’T I?!”

  “Yes! You did!”

  “No need to yell! Well, I wonder what I should do now?!”

  “Could you teach me how to become stronger? Like you said you would.”

  “NO CAN DO!”

  My patience is starting to run short with the man, but I forcefully restrain myself as much as possible for the greater cause.

  “Umm, why not?”

  “Because you don’t have ‘Advanced Military Arts’ anymore!”

  “What? Yes I do.”

  “That’s a part of your Class Skill, isn’t it?!”

  “It did become a part of my Class Skill.”

  “Then it isn’t a skill on its own anymore. I CAN’T TRAIN IT!!”

  Thinking about what he just said, despite the incredible volume, I begin to understand what the purpose of returning was.

  ‘So returning was to evolve the skill and have it grow stronger. I would expect him to evolve my Class Skill instead as ‘Advanced Military Arts’ is a part of it, but I think my Class Skill is already of the highest grade so what could it possibly evolve into?’

  Just as I am about to leave, Centurion Markus’ booming voice stops me. “WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! It has been so long, stay awhile!”

  I try to excuse myself with different reasons, but the instructor moves with surprising dexterity as he maneuvers between me and the door, preventing me from leaving with his bulky body.

  Perhaps it is a privilege of being an NPC, or he is simply at a level I cannot fathom, but he easily intercepts me when I try to use my speed to escape past him.

  Instead of falling back to my last resort and using ‘Partial Draconic Transformation’, I turn my head and quietly ask Fen, “Can you please help me out?”

  “Okay,” the wolf girl says bashfully as the air surrounding her sharply drops in temperature.

  Centurion Markus also notices the chill pervading the air and his previous happy expression turns to one of fury.

  “I know this! THIS IS THE MAGIC OF THAT WRETCHED WOLF THAT GAVE ME THIS SCAR! CUR. BEAST. WHERE?”

  Grasping his scarred face with one hand, Centurion Markus glances at the walls of the room as if he is looking for something beyond them. It is during his momentary lack of attention that Fen grabs my hand and drags me out of the room before the centurion can notice my absence.

  While escaping the Iceridge Military Academy, I can’t help but think that the situation was strange and ask Fen, “Fen, is it just me, or could they not see you?”

  “They couldn’t.”

  “What? Why couldn’t they?”

  “I did not wish for them to.”

  “Hang on, I think I am going to need a little more explanation to understand. You can make yourself invisible?”

  We stop running in a quiet corridor of the academy and Fen looks at me with her intelligent eyes. There seems to be a chill deep within her irises that feels alien to me and makes me a little afraid.

  “I cannot. I only wish for them not to notice me, even if looking at me. Only works with some. Invisible, no.” She says it sternly and I feel like I am speaking to someone other than Fen.

  “Fen?” I cautiously ask.

  The wolf girl looks at me when I call her name, and the alien chill recedes from her eyes. She smiles slightly before moving to wrap her arms around one of mine, closing the distance between us. Her warmth spreads into my arm, giving me a pleasant feeling that makes me absent minded.

  ‘No, wait. Just WHAT was that?’

  Before I can voice my thoughts however, the pleasant sensation becomes stronger and my worries start to fade away. I don’t know why, but it doesn’t seem to be much of a problem anymore. She is still my Fen after all.

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

  “Hollis! Are you awake?!” Markus angrily bangs on the front door while shouting at the house. If I wasn’t already awake, it would have been an incredibly rude awakening.

  I roll myself through the house and open the front door while wondering why he is angry. Seeing me ready to go, he harrumphs and immediately moves to push the wheelchair without my consent. I intend to object, but before I can gather my thoughts, he is already helping me into his car.

  “Markus, is something wrong?” I ask cautiously.

  “Damn right!” He glares at me accusingly. “I was speaking with Verity last night and when it came to talking about you, she started avoiding my questions and became incredibly shy. First was that fake boyfriend act, and now this! What exactly is going on between the two of you?!”

  I pause in thought as I also try to figure it out. My memories stop on the unforgettable night in the game when she climbed into my bed, even pursuing through Fen’s rejection and anger.

  Markus seems to notice something and asks me in a slow voice, “Well, what is it?”

  “I’m… not too sure.”

  No matter how I predict the scenario playing out, there is no way I can possibly tell him about that event. I have a strange mix of fear and guilt towards telling him that which holds me back.

  Markus seems determined to find out and repeatedly interrogates me about various things. Even worse, he seems to get an inclination that Verity and I are closer than he thought. Despite everything, I am glad that he is my friend no matter what.

  ‘It’s not what you think. I, too, am confused about many things.’ My final thought remains unheard as we arrive at Cambridge University.

  Getting out of the car with Markus’s help, we find Verity waiting at the gate along with several female friends she has made. There are several boys lurking in the area, occasionally sending a longing glance her way, but no one moves to approach her small group.

  Seeing us arrive, Verity bids farewell to her group and walks up to us. Markus has his usual charming smile plastered on his face, almost as if his anger back in the car was a work of fiction.

  “Thanks, Markus. I will help Hollis from here.” She gives us a charming smile that no ordinary man would be able to refuse.

  Markus, however, seems to be diligent in keeping her away from me and stubbornly refuses. “No, us guys have to stick together at times. I will help him out today.”

  “What kind of girlfriend would let someone else help her boyfriend when she is around?”

  “And what kind of best friend would want anyone else to help him?”

&n
bsp; “How about we let Hollis decide? Hollis, would prefer if Markus or I, your girlfriend, helps you?”

  “Hollis, surely you won’t put a girl in between our relationship as best friends, right?”

  Seeing the banter go back and forth between the two of them whose motives I cannot fathom, I am at a loss for words. I decide not to answer them, casually looking away from the two.

  Verity eventually wins the argument, forcing Markus aside and taking control of helping me to my lecture. Markus, still discontent and suspicious of the two of us, leaves us half way to go to his own lecture.

  With just Verity and I alone, a tense atmosphere forms that is difficult to break. It isn’t until we are near my class that Verity breaks the tension with a few words.

  We speak about a few random aspects of our life and awkwardly try to avoid speaking about the events that happened the other night in the game. Seeing Verity, who is normally a confident and independent woman, being bashful, I can’t help but think her nervousness is incredibly adorable.

  We reach my class, where my Aunt Jude is impatiently waiting for all the students to arrive. She turns her gaze toward me and Verity inquisitively and seems to ponder about something. However Jude doesn’t say anything nor give any signs as to what may be on her mind.

  ‘I’ve never been able to understand her,’ I helplessly muse to myself.

  “I’ll see you later, darling,” Verity charmingly says, bending over and kissing me on the cheek before rapidly exiting the room.

  As soon as the door closes, the entire room is overcome with an eerie silence. There isn’t a great deal of people studying Philology and Semiotics, but the atmosphere given off is comparable to a full auditorium. I can feel everyone’s surprise, inquisitiveness, and even some despair and envy. Having a girl as beautiful as Verity call herself your girlfriend is definitely a pleasant feeling, but it can be a double-edged sword.

  Even Aunt Jude shows a clear reaction, betraying her usual hidden motives. Aunt Jude’s eyes open wide in a state of clear shock and surprise. She mumbles something under her breath, but I am too far away and can’t make out the words.

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

  “Lost, I heard something happened at school today…” Markus, now Sir Laurence back in End Online, looks at me sternly while trying to get more details on when Verity, currently Verde, kissed me on the cheek.

  I remain silent as Verde, Sir Laurence, Fen and I head toward the teleportation circle in Iceridge to return to the Beast Realm. Verde tells the knight in shining armor to mind his own business, while Fen gives me an inquisitive glance that makes me guiltily avoid eye contact. Perhaps Fen’s wolf instincts detect something, as the hands grasping my arm emit a frightening chill that makes me feel a significant stinging pain.

  The pain isn’t enough to make me cry out, but it does make me cringe. I look at Fen and see a strange ethereal chill in her irises. It has a sense of familiarity that I can’t quite put my finger on.

  I don’t think about it for long because the painful coldness in my arm is replaced with a warmth that makes me feel incredibly pleasant. Any thoughts I held before become irrelevant at that moment.

  “Your mine, and I’m yours,” Fen says as she brings herself closer to me, mirroring the loving feelings I have inside of me for her.

  Taking pleasure in Fen’s closeness, I pay little attention to Verde and Sir Laurence, but I do notice Prince Charming dropping down to one knee in front of Verde and stopping our group from walking.

  “My lady, perhaps if you could bestow me with the grace of your lips as well,” the Prince speaks with a noble etiquette I have seen so many times before. This must be his final plea.

  Verde looks down on him with a deadpan face, choosing to completely ignore him and walk around his kneeling figure. I’m also incredibly embarrassed to see such a sight, pretending like he is someone I don’t know and walking past him.

  We reach the church where the teleportation circle resides ten minutes later. Prince Charming, after failing at every attempt to gain Verde’s interest, returns to being her shadow and sending glares at any players who look toward her.

  There is a queue of players lined up in front of the teleportation portal. We join the end of the line, and I estimate that it will be our turn in a few minutes at the pace the players are being processed.

  “Where would you like to go?” A humble middle-aged male NPC presiding over the teleportation portal politely asks us when we stand at the front of the queue.

  “Beast Realm, Kano City.”

  “Very well, please step into the portal.”

  The teleportation portal shines brightly as we step on it. The winter atmosphere is whisked away as we are instantaneously brought to Kano City.

  “Let’s split up and see if we can find any information of strange places or ruins. We need to locate those stone tablets to complete my quest.” I look toward Verde and Sir Laurence, who will be one team while Fen and I will be the other.

  This task would be easier using our new guild that Mason and Matrix are managing, but we have yet to even accept any new members.

  Verde nods her assent before asking, “What about if any other quests come up? Should we accept them?”

  I think for a while before replying, “Yes, we should. I need to get more equipment to sell so perhaps finding a different quest or two will be for the better. It also may lead us toward the stone tablet.”

  Happily deciding our next move, we part ways in search of information or quests. Verde and Sir Laurence log off for the time being to look through the End Forums for any information or quests that have been posted by players.

  Only Mason and CaptainGordon have the skill required to read books, so the library is not currently an option. I could learn the skill at the local church or a relevant quest, but it would be level 1 – too low to be of any use other than reading some simple picture books.

  I lead Fen around to various NPCs, instructing her to find and accept any quests from them as long as they can lead to obtaining rare equipment or exploring ruins of any sort. It is extremely difficult to have Fen respond to most NPCs as she has an extreme lack of interest.

  I almost risk the gained infamy from talking to them myself after many of Fen’s failed attempts. We do find some quests, but they are only small collection quests and monster exterminations. Fen lacks the delicacy in talking to NPCs to find any quests more intricate than those.

  Just as I was about to give up and return to our meeting point, a strange quest is prompted to us by a library NPC.

  Quest: Investigate the ancient Buddhist Temple

  An ancient temple that was once used by the reclusive Buddhists remains atop a mountain peak in the Hirya Region north of Kano City. The librarian’s assistant requests you to inspect the site and survey the condition of the temple.

  The librarian’s assistant requests that you destroy any demons that have invaded the sacred land to honor the temple.

  Grade: Rare(Orange)

  Fen turns to look at me and I give her a massive thumbs up, signaling for her to accept the quest.

  I’m not sure on how the game system values Companions and how much they are capable of, but being able to accept quests is a massive aid to me.

  Fen and I return to a central area where Verde and Sir Laurence have just logged back on. They both have troubled expressions as they recount the small and useless amount of information they found on the internet. There are countless notes on enemies, hunting grounds, dungeons and any infamous player killers who have made someone angry enough to post information about, but there is nearly no knowledge relevant to what we need.

  Contrary to that, I happily invite them back into the party and share the quest Fen accepted for us. Verde smiles wryly after realizing I had Fen find and accept the quest because I couldn’t, but we all prepare to set off and complete it.

  I go through a small local market of players selling herbs and other ingredients they h
ave collected, purchasing items I need for creating meals and replenishing any of my stores that are running low. I still had a dozen gold coins after handing everything I could spare over to CaptainGordon, so I have more than enough money for my shopping.

  I also travel to some of the known locations to collect herbs and add more to my stock. I find myself attracted to a certain female player also collecting herbs who has neither cat or dog ears, but instead those of a striped raccoon. I ask her for the details, but she refuses to tell me her secrets.

  After preparing all the items I will need, I find that Verde and Sir Laurence had long since finished their preparations and have been waiting for me.

  “Let’s go,” I say cheerfully as I lead the way toward the north city exit.

  Outside the city is the same grassy plain I remember. Off to the east is the ocean, which carries a salty scent over the flat plain. There are other players walking in the distance, some heading toward the city while others are leaving, but not many are fighting the monsters around. They are only weak monsters in the end, so most players choose to go around them rather than fruitlessly crushing them.

  Our party is of the latter, avoiding any fights in order to proceed through the plain as fast as possible. It is more difficult than when others do it though, because my skill automatically aggravates any monsters in the nearby vicinity to attack. We have to give a wider berth around the monsters than anyone else, or charge right through them.

  An hour after walking and crushing the odd monster that attacks, we finally leave the grassy plain. To the north of the city is a new area I have not been to, an area where countless hills and mountains take shape across the landscape.

  I spot a party of players hiding in a small bush getting ready to ambush a group of four half-man half-wolf enemies that are probably related to the werewolves seen on tv. This entire area is swarming with these level 150 werewolves. They give a lot of experience, which makes this entire area popular for many players, but they are also equally dangerous so the weaker players tend to do their best to ambush them.