-2,772!
While Adam was avoiding the enemy’s claws, Kureha launched a [Thunder Bolt] at the [storm wolf]. Even though its name was [storm wolf], that didn’t seem to give it a lightning immunity, which dealt a shocking amount of damage. The [storm wolf] howled in pain before, shifting its gaze from Adam, it glared at Kureha with hatred in its eyes.
And then it vanished with a loud crackle.
Adam was shocked at first, but he realized this was its [Storm Flash] ability at work. He spun around and shouted at the group behind him.
“Fayte, Susan, Kureha! Move!”
His words of warning came just in time. They moved barely a second to move before the [storm wolf] appeared within their midst and lashed out with a point-blank [Thunder Bolt] that slammed into the ground, splitting the earth apart and leaving a crater in its wake. The girls had fortunately dodged in time, but now they had a new problem. The [storm wolf] was in the trio’s midst.
With a loud howl, the [storm wolf] raised its head to the sky. Adam did not know what it was doing, but Titania did.
“It’s about to use [Thunderstorm]!” she shouted, ceasing her song.
“Keep singing! Don’t stop!” Adam shouted back.
Titania seemed to realize that the best thing she could do right now was to bolster everyone’s magical defense. She began singing again as Adam raced toward the [storm wolf], but he could tell from how fast the storm clouds were gathering that he would not make it in time.
-17,440!
At that moment, Lilith suddenly appeared on the enemy’s back and used [throat slit] to deal a massive amount of damage. Her attack did not end there, however. After her attack ended, she leaped into the air, and then came back down and used [Pinpoint Strike], attacking the enemy’s vital areas.
-4,578!
The attack disrupted the [storm wolf’s] attempt at using [Thunderstorm]. It staggered back and stared at her as though it couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. Adam used its distracted state to reach the creature and activated [Dance of the Sakura Blossoms]. He struck the enemy with a powerful thrust of his spear, then danced around the creature, his feet creating patterns in the grass as he attacked from the left, the back, the right, and the front. Had anyone been watching from above, they would have noticed how his movements had drawn a pattern similar to a sakura blossom in full bloom.
-2,625; -7,875; -23,625; 70,875; 212,625!
With all five attacks hitting, Adam was able to demolish its health. The [storm wolf] unleashed a frightening howl, which turned into a whimper halfway through before it slumped to the ground, never to get back up.
Ding!
[Congratulations! You have killed the 1-Star enemy [storm wolf]! [Storm wolf] has dropped the items [Storm Necklace], [Storm Wolf Pelt], [Thunder Staff], and 6,000 gold coins. +20,000 experience points! +5,000 ability points!]
Adam checked his stats after defeating the [storm wolf] and saw this his experience points hadn’t risen much compared to what he needed. He only had +20,682 experience points. He needed +9,800,000 to reach the next level.
Truly ridiculous.
He also checked out the new items he got from the drop to see if there was anything useful.
Item Name: Storm Necklace
Item Type: Accessory
Grade: 1-Star
Use Requirements: None
Description: A necklace that was enchanted to contain the power of storms.
Abilities: Adds 50% lightning damage to all attacks; 50% lightning resistance
Item Name: Storm Wolf Pelt
Item Type: Material
Grade: 1-Star
Use Requirements: Must have the Craftsmen secondary class
Description: This pelt is very soft. It can be used in the creation of clothing. Offers protection against lightning.
Abilities: 40% lightning resistance
Item Name: Thunder Staff
Item Type: Weapon
Grade: 1-Star
Use Requirements: Can only be used by a Mage level 10 and above
Description: A staff that contains the power of lightning.
Abilities: Magic Attack+40; adds 10% lightning damage to all attack spells
None of the items were bad, but it wasn’t what he would call great either. He would sell them when they reached Solum after their treasure-hunting mission was over.
“I think this is a good place to stop for the day,” Adam said as everyone regrouped. “We’ve been traveling for a good four or five hours, so we should log off to get some food and maybe rest a bit. I also have to help Aris with her rehabilitation.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Susan agreed. “My… my dad doesn’t like it when I play video games for too long, and I still have to do my studies for school.”
“Then let’s log off now and reconvene at a later time,” Fayte said.
Everyone else agreed to log off, so Adam used one of the [tent scrolls] he had bought, which created a large brown tent in the middle of the field they had been riding through. It was as simple as unrolling the scroll and setting it on the ground. The scroll flashed, disappeared, and a massive tent took its place. The horses were still a little ways off. When they found the [storm wolf], they had tied the horses to a tree so they wouldn’t run away.
They all piled into the tent, which was large enough for about ten people. Adam wondered if this size was the standard, or if the size was created based on the number of members a party had. It didn’t have much in the way of amenities. There were only a few sleeping bags, but since they were only using this to protect Titania and Kureha while they were logged off, the tent did not need much.
“See you tomorrow,” Adam said to Titania and Kureha.
“Yes, yes.” Titania waved him off. “Go ahead and leave us here. Kureha and I shall be just fine on our own.”
Everyone knew Titania hated it when they logged off or “traveled back to their world” as she so often put it, but it wasn’t like they could help that. This world was just a game. Everything within it was virtual, including the food, and that meant they couldn’t acquire sustenance unless they logged off.
As Adam logged off, the first thing he realized was that he felt incomparably warm. This was a feeling he had not experienced in a very long time, but he recognized the warmth being emitted by the soft body next to him.
The second thing he realized was that someone was running their hands through his hair.
Adam opened his eyes and found himself gazing into the beautiful blue eyes of Aris. She was lying on her side, but she had propped her head on her right hand and was using her other hand to run her fingers through his hair. It felt so good that he almost closed his eyes again. Only after a moment did he realize something.
“Good morning,” Aris said before she leaned down and kissed him on the mouth. Adam was shocked for a moment, but after the initial jolt from her kiss wore off, he was more than happy to reciprocate the gesture. He lost himself in exploring her warm, pliant lips. It was almost to the point where he’d forgotten his initial shock over learning about what she’d been doing.
“You can move?” he asked, pulling back to look at her.
Aris’s smile widened. She looked almost smug. “Are you surprised? I’m not sure why, but I feel a lot stronger now than I did before entering the game.”
“Hmm… maybe that’s a sign that your body is recovering…”
Adam was a bit surprised since she hadn’t even begun her rehabilitation yet. When she had Mortems Disease, moving, even a little, took a monumental amount of effort. Her muscles had atrophied so badly that they were basically gone. That shouldn’t have changed just because she was cured. She shouldn’t be capable of holding herself up like that.
“Maybe. Anyway, Adam, I have something important to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“I’m really hungry.”
At that moment, Aris’s stomach erupted with a loud gurgle that made the young woman look at him with a
very expectant expression. It all but said, “Feed me.”
Adam grinned. “Then why don’t I make lunch?”
While Aris was strong enough to sit up on her own, she still wasn’t able to walk on her own, so Adam carried her into the living room. Fayte was already there. She was in the process of tying an apron over her turtleneck sweater, but Adam called out to her before she could finish.
“Let me make lunch,” he said.
Fayte seemed hesitant for a moment, but then she shook her head and smiled, removing the apron and hanging it back up.
“If you insist on making lunch, then I won’t stop you.”
“Thanks.”
After setting Aris on the couch, Adam wandered into the kitchen and got started on making lunch. Fayte had recently stocked up on their supplies, so she had everything he needed to make a pasta salad with chopped chicken. Unlike Fayte, he did not wear an apron.
As he began preparing the food, Adam listened to the two women as they talked.
“You started playing Age of Gods this morning, right? What level are you at right now?”
“Hee-hee. I’m at level 4.”
“Level 4? Already? I know it’s easier to level up quickly near the beginning, but with so many players, it should be hard to gain enough experience points to level up. Even I needed two days to reach level 4.”
“That’s only if you grind levels like most people. I did what Adam told me to do and asked around for quests. So far I’ve completed the quests [Save Marianne’s Daughter], [Defeat the Goblins], and [Protect Farmer John’s Orchids]. All of them gave me a good amount of experience points. Plus I gain experience points for defeating the enemies I kill in each quest too.”
“Ah. Yes, I can see how that would let you level up more quickly. After Adam told me about how he leveled up so fast, I felt foolish for grinding so much. I did a few quests as well, but my level was already around level 6 by the time I began. Oh. That’s right. What class did you choose?”
“I chose the Warrior Class!”
Adam finished preparing the food just as Aris said that. He arched an eyebrow at the girl as he set the bowl of pasta salad on the coffee table, followed by the plates, forks, and Parmesan cheese. Aris and Fayte both gazed at the pasta salad like it would run away if they didn’t devour it this instant. Their eyes reminded him of starving wolves seeing their first meal after months of fasting.
“Why did you choose the Warrior Class?” asked Adam.
“You thought I’d be a Priest, didn’t you?” Aris asked. When Adam blushed, she giggled. “Hee-hee. I did think about choosing the Priest Class because it would let me use buffs and healing spells. If I was a priest, I could definitely help you out. But then I thought about what I really wanted, and it wasn’t supporting you from the back. I want to be right in front, standing side by side with you as we confront danger and go on adventures together. The idea of watching your back as you fight didn’t appeal to me.”
Now that he heard her reasoning, he couldn’t help but feel like her choosing the Warrior Class made more sense than choosing to be a Priest. As someone who had been crippled for so many years, of course she would want to have one of the most active roles in the game. As a Warrior, she could join him at the front lines, battling against their enemies side by side. That sounded more like something Aris, an active woman who had been confined to a wheelchair for three years, would want. If their positions had been reversed, he’d want the same thing.
“In that case, keep working hard to reach level 10, so you can leave the Village of Beginnings and join us,” Adam said.
“I will!” Aris nodded with enthusiasm.
“Also, we’re going to begin your rehabilitation today. We’ll start with simple stretches right now to get the blood circulating to your limbs.”
“Okay!”
Once lunch was finished, Fayte washed the dishes while Adam cleared some space on the floor for Aris so they could begin doing simple stretches that would allow her damaged muscles and tissue to heal. They didn’t log into Age of Gods for the rest of the day.
Derelict Magic Academy
It took a lot longer to reach the magic academy on the treasure map than Adam would have thought possible. Four days, in fact. It took exactly four days to reach the academy, and this was not in-game days like some video games where the time in the game was faster than the time outside of the game. Four days in this game meant four days in real life.
They probably could have gotten there sooner, but Adam and Fayte made it a point to have everyone grind their levels. Lin Akamine had already reached level 13 and many of the higher level members of guilds like Daggerfall Dynasty and the Pleonexia Alliance had reached level 12. If they wanted to keep their edge over the larger guilds, they needed to maintain a higher level.
Adam was now level 17. His level was still the highest so far, but that was because he spent more time in the game than anyone else. He required very little time to sleep. By sleeping for only two hours, he could spend at least twelve to fourteen hours playing the game, even after cutting back on his playing time thanks to how he spent time with Aris outside Age of Gods. His time was currently divided between grinding his levels on his own, partying with Fayte and the others, and helping with Aris’s rehabilitation.
Not only had he leveled up, but his spear had also leveled up. Now at level 11, the [Goddess of Creation Spear] added a +110 bonus to both his Strength and Physical Attack. This boost was insane and meant his current abilities were easily among the best in the game. He didn’t think there was anything outside of a level 90 boss like the [Spider Queen] who could cause him trouble.
Aris had already reached level 9, and he suspected she would reach level 10 either sometime today or tomorrow. He was really surprised. She would have reached level 10 long before now, but Adam had her on a strict four hours of gameplay a day regiment to keep her from exhausting herself. Given how high her level was, anyone else would have assumed she was secretly spending more time in the game, but Adam knew Aris. She would not go against him, especially when he was only doing so because he was looking out for her safety.
Fayte, Susan, and Lilith were all on the cusp of reaching level 15. They only needed one hundred thousand more experience points. They probably would have acquired the needed experience points if they played eight extra hours like Adam did every night, but he was holding off on having them grind to reach that level. He wanted Fayte to have a good class that would significantly increase her stats before she leveled too much.
He also didn’t think they could play fourteen hours a day like he did.
Kureha and Titania had also reached level 17 like him, but thanks to the insurmountable number of experience points needed, neither of them had been able to get even close to reaching level 18. While reaching the next level was indeed going to be difficult, Adam was not too worried. At present, there wasn’t a single player who could threaten them.
“Is that the magic academy?” asked Susan.
Titania flew off Adam’s shoulder and created a visor out of her hand to protect her eyes from the sun as she squinted into the distance. After a moment, she lowered her hand and nodded.
“That should be it,” she said. “I have never seen the magic academy myself, but I remember reading that it was located at this spot. It can’t be anything else.”
Their group was currently standing on a bluff overlooking a city with a large tower in the center. The magic academy was several miles out and below the cliff they were standing by. From a distance, the academy looked like a massive tower so tall it could pierce the sky. Despite being located beneath them, the tower was taller than the bluff and extended into the clouds—black storm clouds that surrounded the tower and made it look dark and ominous. Adam had to admit, it was odd seeing a single spot with dark clouds swirling around it while there wasn’t a cloud in the sky anywhere else.
“Those storm clouds look… ominous,” Fayte murmured, saying the same thing he was thinking.
“Those storm clouds are formed by the residual magic and negative emotions the mages at this academy must have felt at the time of their deaths,” Titania explained. “When the three kingdoms attacked, they attacked from all sides and slaughtered their way through the academy. I was told that at the very last moment, the academy’s dean used her own life as a catalyst to cast a curse on the kingdoms, which killed the environment to prevent crops from growing. This is why the area around here is so desolate.”
Adam studied the tower from this distance, his eyes narrowed as he used his unique abilities to enhance his eyesight. For whatever reason, it was easier to channel his energy in this game than it was in real life, which shocked him more than he cared to admit. Whoever heard of being able to use esper powers in a game?
Circling the tower near those black clouds were several massive birds. They didn’t look like much from a distance, but when he zoomed in with his enhanced vision, he saw that each bird was pitch-black, and seemed to have evil red eyes and a wingspan of at least two dozen feet. They were huge birds of prey.
“We arrived pretty early today so there’s still plenty of time,” Adam said. “Let’s head down there and explore the area around the tower.”
“That’s a good idea,” Fayte said.
Their horses were stationed only a few yards from the bluff. Adam, Fayte, Lilith, and Susan each mounted their own horse, while Titania and Kureha perched themselves in their usual places on Adam’s shoulder and head respectively. Like that, the group began looking for a way down the bluff.
-300; -300; -300; -300; -300; -600!
Aris wore a bright, big smile as she danced around the [giant minotaur], which was a massive mountain of muscle that had the head of a bull and the body of a man. The creature was wielding an axe in one hand and a sword in the other. Both axe and sword were nearly as big as adult humans. However, the ease at which this enemy swung those two weapons was enough to shock the pair of players standing naught fifty yards from where the battle was taking place.
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