by D Wolfin
The hood is the slightly larger size as mine, although it didn’t cast a shadow over their face. Curly brown hair flowed out the from the hood down past the chest of a steel breastplate, just visible underneath the cloak.
Framed by the hair and the hood, a soft jaw line consisting of the perfect angles shows through. The hood reached down to just above the cheeks but I still take in every detail. From the pristine white skin, to the small rosy coloured lips curving into the slightest smile.
This is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Like an enchantress she is drawing me in to her, every step closer making my chest thump harder.
She walks right past me and time returns, along with all the noises of players bartering around me. With my heart still beating in my ears, I turn my head to catch another glimpse of her behind me, however she is nowhere to be seen.
The time in the real world should be around midnight now so I log off for the night, planning to continue tomorrow.
***************************************************
Outside of virtual reality I use my computer to search the End Online wiki, I see a lot of notices for updated material that more had been either learnt about or had some corrections done to previous information to improve accuracy.
Information on the knight class skill was also here, in the game the skill is seen as ‘Class: Knight’ and all the information Mouse had told me remains correct short of being required to also have a strength stat above fifty and dexterity above thirty five.
Stats in this game determine a lot as to what you can do, not just requirements to equip weapons and armour. Your level determines your maximum health, mana, and stamina. For every point of strength you can carry ten pounds of weight, the personal inventory has infinite space for as many items as you can carry.
Agility determines how fast you can move and dexterity is for skill with weapons, the higher this is the more the system will assist you in helping basic attacks hit the enemy. Intelligence affect not only spell damage but also adjusts intelligence related skills such as ‘Literature’. Mind is your mental strength and assists with both being the base resistance against mental magic but also preventing spells being interrupted by an attack from an enemy breaking your concentration.
Luck is possibly the most peculiar skill in the game, which mainly affects the chances of rare loot drops. If you manage to improve it high enough, you may even occasionally find enemies stumbling and the incoming attack only grazing you if not missing entirely. However improving this skill is incredibly difficult, gaining rare loot and winning at gambling have been the only proven ways, but even then it is extremely slow progress.
Item classifications were also here on the site, the border around the item in your inventory defines its rarity. The classifications are white:ordinary, orange:rare, blue:unique, green:epic, purple:legendary and gold:divine. The divine weapons are not much more than rumours without any hard evidence, but the game isn’t even two months old yet.
The ‘White Wolf Winter Cloak’ had a green border meaning it was an ‘Epic’ item, not ‘Legendary’ as Mouse had thought.
I also read the Gladox, the strongest player in the game, has recently reached level 100 without any sign of slowing down. I can only imagine the effort he has put into his character to already be at such a high level.
An hour after I began delving through the wiki I turn off the computer and head into bed. Staring up at the ceiling I think of the accident that cost my legs, It is still a bitter memory but I have come to an acceptance of how things are. If it wasn’t for End Online however, I fear for the possibility of gradually forgetting what it even feels like to walk.
Slowly my vision darkens, wandering the stray thoughts in my mind until I enter a deep sleep.
***************************************************
I open my eyes to the first rays of sunshine entering my room. My head felt like it had an incredible hangover, most likely from not enough sleep.
First thing to do this morning is make something to eat. In the kitchen Joelle and Shari are putting bread in the toaster for breakfast. Already in their uniform, the girls have been behaving extremely well lately, I haven’t even heard a single argument between the two of them.
“Good morning Joelle, Shari. Please don’t make too much of a mess.” I know full well they will, but I smile anyway as it doesn’t particularly matter.
“Unn, we won’t leave a single crumb!” Shari gave me a face far too determined for the declaration.
“Haha, don’t worry about it too much. Hurry up and head to school or you’re going to be late!”
“But-“
“No buts, I have to make myself some breakfast anyway so leave it to me, you need to be at school on time!” These girls are at a critical stage of life and need a firm hand to help them grow up and succeed in life.
“Okay! come on Shari, we have to go.” Joelle joined now that her toast is finally finished, grabbing Shari’s hand and dragging her out.
“”See you tonight Holly!”” They both call out before leaving the house, I honestly hope they have a good day at school.
Pouring myself a cup full of breakfast juice my toast also pops out of the toaster, coincidentally the doorbell also rings at the same time.
With a piece of toast in my mouth I wheel myself to the front door to see whoever had come visit me. As to who it could possibly be, considering my lack of friends or social life, I had no clue.
Opening the front door, two people dressed in suits are patiently waiting, a young woman in her mid-twenties and a middle aged man around forty.
The young lady has short brown hair a little past her ears, swept back behind her ears, she is a quite short but that may be due to the slightly greying man next to her being six and a half feet tall.
“Good morning, you must be Hollis Silvester,” the young woman talked first, “My name is Caroline Haper, and this man is Julius Rath. We are here from the department of childhood services.”
My world came crashing down, toast dropping from my mouth which could not utter a single word.
“I’m sure you are aware, but we are here in regards to Joelle and Shari Silvester.”
“W-What could you possibly want with them?” I stutter a bit but at least I manage to get the words out.
“We have been aware of your current situation since you had your injury, and it’s about time we stepped in.”
Julius stepped in and got straight to the point, “We are taking Joelle and Shari away, they need a proper home. Your Aunt originally approached us a year ago, but she could not take them away at the time as you were their guardian. Now, however, the court deemed you to be unfit to care for them.”
“N-no, I can look after them just fine! We have a happy family! You can’t just destroy that!”
Yes, I was becoming quite emotional over it, but how can I not when my two little sisters are being taken away from me! Especially to my Aunt who has loathed me for unknown reasons since I was little.
“You have done nothing for your family, I understand that you can no longer do the kind of work you used to, but you could still study to achieve some qualifications that would allow you to work in a position at a desk or such.
Our investigation has shown us that all you have done run away into virtual reality while your real life is crumbling down around you.”
He hit me right in a sore spot with that one, yet I could not refute his words. I knew I needed money, and I will get it, just a little more time!
“W-well can I still see them?”
Caroline was looking at me as if I was some pitiable creature and right now I did not feel much different, however it was Julius’s words that brought me down the most.
“Your Aunt wished that you do not meet with them, it is one of the conditions in taking in the girls. She will also be meeting the girls at school shortly and taking them to their new homes, she has already prepared everything for them to live there.”
“They will not be returning here. If you wish to see them again, you need to make something of your life, and you need to fight for custody of them.”
“D-do you just think I will sit by and let this happen!?” I am still stammering while trying to hold my emotions together.
“Unfortunately, this is a common procedure we use. It avoids complications that require police intervention if the adult refuses to cooperate.”
“I-is that all?” Complete defeat. They were right, and despite my words, I knew that right now I could do nothing to stop it.
“Yes that is all.” Turning around, Julius walked back to his car, Caroline only a few steps behind him.
Turning his head once before getting into the car he spoke to me across the yard one final time.
“Don’t misunderstand, work hard, prove yourself to be capable and I will support you, I am a family man after all so I hate to tear one apart. But it because of that I cannot allow this current situation to go on.”
Just like that they were gone, along with a part of myself I may never get back again.
Chapter 4 – Determination
Joelle and Shari were gone, the torment inside me continued to escalate even after Caroline and Julius left. I can feel an insurmountable amount of self-loathing over the fact that I couldn’t do better.
I logged onto End Online shortly after that, returning to the bazaar in Iceridge where I logged out. Keeping the hood up on my cloak I ran through a world of mud, the effect of running with a 50% slow effect. It was quite the sight for all the players as while running past considering I would be appearing to be lightly jogging, despite the fact I was running with all my strength.
I refuse to remove the hood of my cloak and allow anyone see this pitiful expression, never again can I show this face to anyone else. I will keep this hood on at all times!
Running through the east gate I enter a territory of wolves, the hood makes it difficult to avoid attacks but I’m acting like a berserker and taking them head on anyway. I also notice ‘Aggravation’ appears to still work on taunting enemies perfectly fine even if I have the hood on.
The suicidal battles rage on and my health is flashing red, I could not stay still however, so I began running further east. I come across more wolves but I avoid them before getting too close, at least until my health recovers.
Dragging my weary legs I do laps around the area of wolves while regenerating health slowly. I could simply wait but I can’t rest, I must keep moving, I can’t afford to stop. A small turn of luck prevailed and the ‘Slow’ effect of the cloak has the most fantastic use for weight training, my agility is rising faster than ever before, as is my strength.
I forget about my health and continue running as hard as I can, flanking a few wolves from time to time to get stronger when my health was full. I ran for about thirty hours straight, or four days in game. During that time my agility increased by thirty and my strength by fifteen, exactly half of my agility.
I could run at the speed of a normal person thanks to all my agility training. I ran through wolves’ territory to continue to train myself while fighting wolves at the same time, my new weapons slaying a wolf in a single hit.
In twelve days I have reached level twenty three. My agility is still increasing, as is my strength, but mostly agility. Fighting while running had some great effects on my dexterity as well. My mind stat increased a bit from the sheer concentration I had to put into the training, and luck showed some progress that there was no clear explanation for.
All my skills are showing significant improvements as well, ‘Aggravation’ reached skill level fourteen and ‘Advanced Military Arts’ skill level thirteen. Once they went over skill level ten I noticed that even though ‘Advanced Military Arts’ gave an upgraded stat boost they both started giving less bonuses per level.
It also came to my attention that the damage boost and proficiency only applied to the weapon in my right hand, the wakizashi in my left hand did a lot less damage but it still came in handy. The difference in the blade length was incredibly difficult to get used to but enough practice allowed for fluid motions.
This continued for another half month, my daily routine becoming eating, playing End Online and sleeping, often in the game. Levelling got slower and slower, eventually getting to a point where it seemed to no longer progress, but I continued my practice. Wolves died in one hit, and despite how futile it became to even try raising my level further through wolves, I just could not stop myself.
Nearly all my Stats seemed to stop increasing after some point in time, agility being the only one still showing progress. My agility has increased an enormous amount. I could now run faster than the wolves, at a speed that seemed to glide over the snow when I ran my hardest. I fear what would happen if I removed my hood, It would surely be a disaster.
Name: Lost
Health: 354/354
Stamina: 181/181
Lvl: 27
Lvl UP: 31%
Str: 47 +6
Agi: 109 +8
Dex: 41 +6
Int: 9
Mnd: 27
Lck: 15
Fame/Infamy: 0
Alignment: +0
God: -
Belief: 0
Equipped Skills:
Aggravation (SLvl 21, 81%)
Advanced Military Arts (SLvl 19, 35%)
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Reserve Skills:
[Empty]
Aggravation (SLvl 21, 81%) -Passive
People you interact with will naturally be more hostile to you and monsters will also be more inclined to attack you.
SLvl 21:
- 27.5% less intimacy with NPC's.
- 22.4% chance every 30sec nearby monsters will get the 'Agro'
status towards you for 2min.
- This ability is Soul Bound, cannot be unequipped.
Advanced Military Arts (SLvl 19, 35%) -Active
You have completed the training course at Iceridge Military Academy showing your determination in the face of death itself, learning the highest proficiency of short swords.
SLvl 19:
- Fighting Prowess + 2
- Short sword proficiency.
- Short sword damage bonus 2.55 X base damage.
- +8 Agility.
- +6 Strength.
- +6 Dexterity.
I had used my sacred arts a lot during this time and now they mostly only used 80% of the original cost, but the decrease was slowing down at an unimaginable rate, I doubt it would ever go lower than 70%
‘CrossX’ was the second sacred art that I learned, an attack using both weapons to slash in a downward angle, crossing the blades to strike an ‘X’ on the enemy
***************************************************
Leaving the game my body feels like it has had a massive crash after a sugar high, I could not seem to muster any energy from within myself.
Sitting in the kitchen I stare into an empty fridge with eyes of a dead fish, a slow groan emanates from my stomach craving sustenance. A clock hanging on the wall shows me the current time is 11:04pm, just past the time that the supermarket closes.
A glance around shows filthy dishes piled up in the sink, crumbs and other bits of food still on the table. I have also been reusing the dirty dishes each day for my food, barely even rinsing them in between use. I couldn’t even grab new dishes from the cupboards, I had no way of reaching them.
I am currently an absolute slob, completely unlike myself from just a month ago. I am more than aware of that fact, even as I continue looking the other way.
There is no food so I begrudgingly decide I will go to bed, conserve my energy and go food shopping tomorrow.
With my eyes closed in bed I recount once again the events of the past month. The memories roll by and my mind begins to grow darker and darker, giving me the fe
eling of being trapped in a nightmare.
***************************************************
I woke mid-morning sun falling through the window, lighting up all the loose dust in my room, creating miniscule fairies floating around in the sunshine. It would have been perfect short of the cold sweat I was covered in.
For the first time in a month I don’t put the VL on and enter virtual reality. I had gradually numbed to the pain of loss and failure, but it was time I had to do something. Half the money I got from selling my car is now gone, and I am going to be in considerable trouble if I don’t do something.
My first task is to raise money, I will do that by selling items in game, I haven’t been back to collect more apples but its time I did that and make some more money.
If I am to make something of my life and get my sisters back I will need to go to university, considering I dropped out of high school I will have either take a competency test to get a pass from high school or wait until I am 22 before applying to university, to be considered a mature age student and not require a high school graduation certificate.
All this is going to require money, and a lot of it. The high school competency test will only require about $500 but university can easily cost $20,000 a year, plus the cost of books, transport, and everything else.
I don’t care how I have to make the money. I will even sell my organs if it comes down to it! No matter how low I have to act or how many people I have to scam, I will make this money!
Steeling my resolution I go to the kitchen to clean, it is a battlefield in here but don’t hesitate, starting with the dishes and ending with dusting everything up to as high as I can reach. The rest of the house was relatively clean, and only needed a light dust. The girls’ room however was different, it was a mess, and I planned to leave it that way and make them clean it up when I got them back!
It was at this moment I remembered my quest from the apothecary that required me to collect materials for her.