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A bit later again I know but I was editing and proofreading a few Chapters for the book so forgive me :P

Hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 46: Heartache

Penetration:Even the strongest of defenses can be broken through with effort and tenacity.Skill Type:passiveSkill Level9 (31%)Skill Effect:+ 29% Armor Penetration

Devil's Greed:Money makes the world go round so why not take more than you give? NPC Merchants and Shop owners will feel an instinctive fear towards youSkill Type:passiveSkill Level3 (87%)Skill Effect:+1.5% increased deals in your favor for both buying and selling.Additional Effect:Able to Bargain more effectively.

Blood Rejuvenation:Bathing in the blood of others you are able to find new Strength even during extended skirmish and battle.Skill Type:passiveSkill Level7 (76%)Skill Effect:0.4% max health restored every second for every 2% missing health.

Curse Blade:Enchanting your blade with a secret curse your every strike will lacerate the enemies flesh, bringing unbearable pain and misery to your opponent.Skill Type:activeSkill Level9 (22%)Skill Effect:+65% more Chance to inflict the 'Bleed' status effect.Additional Effect:+60% more Damage and longer Duration when inflicting the 'Bleed' status effect.Extra Effect:+5% Chance to inflict a random status effect.Uses:25 Mana per attack

Aura of the Beast:Your presence alone shakes the hearts of many, with an air of savagery and cruelty around you even guards do not want to take actions against you, fear is your most powerful tool and the use of it comes naturally to you.Skill Type:active/passiveSkill Level4 (19%)Skill Effect:Everyone around you (9 feet at current level) will have their stats reduced by 4% and accuracy dropped by 14%.Additional Effect:Your eyes have permanently changed color.Uses:5 mana per second.

Realm of Madness:True terror is not the predictable evil but the unpredictable that will haunt you forever. Madness is a murderer's best tool.Skill Type:passiveSkill Level2 (13%)Skill Effect:All projectile based attacks aimed at you will be slowed by 8%Additional Effect:+9% Resistance to 'Fear' and 'Illusion' status effects.

His Skills really had come a long way.

Satisfied with how everything was progressing on that end, Makoto closed the Interface and turned back to his party.

They were still in the Labyrinth but had decided to take a short break for their health and especially Sanja's Mana to reach acceptable areas again.

Interested he decided to ask for everyone's current level and soon enough got his answer.

Both Sanja and Lilliana were close to 23 while Sharon on the other hand was 38 in her human form.

It was quite ridiculous just how much of a lead his girlfriend had with being an employee of Ouroboros and all.

Just like that they hunted inside the Labyrinth for a few more hours before leaving the Dungeon for the day.

On the way back to the mansion Makoto looked to Lilliana who kept her head low and had not spoken much the entire time.

Feeling that it was a good opportunity to talk to her he asked her for some privacy and they slowed down until Sharon and Sanja walked up front, a good bit away and unaware about the gap in the party.

Before even starting up a conversation he looked at her for some time, waiting to see if she would start up the whole thing on her own or if he really had to dig deeper.

Hiding behind her black hair, Lilliana just walked next to him but kept quiet.

Sighing deeply he decided to just ask her on his own.

"So what exactly was that yesterday Lilly?"

It took her a while to respond.

"Shut it..."

"I really just want to know if you are alright, I mean it could very well be that you just had a bad day and need-"

"Are you really that stupid to not know?!"

Lilliana had raised her voice and finally looked at him with her deep brown eyes.

"I have a hunch but I don't want to say anything before hearing it from you."

Staying silent and looking at Makoto for quite a while she replied again, her voice a tiny bit shaky.

"Well I think it's pretty obvious how I feel for you and I thought you felt the same with the constant jokes you did and... then you appeared with her and I just.... I guess I just misunderstood and it wasn't meant to be..."

While she talked her eyes had started to water and she turned her head away as the first few tears ran down her cheeks.

Makoto was stunned at seeing her like this and didn't know what to say.

He always told her that it was just him joking around and he also thought that it was a sign of their friendship but apparently Lilliana had seen it differently.

Struggling with his own guilt and being responsible for the current situation he didn't reply and soon enough the small mage stormed up to the front and passed Sanja and Sharon.

Both looked back to him and Sharon showed a saddened expression while Sanja seemed confused as to what happened.

Makoto's gaze was locked on the fleeing Lilly, replaying the image of the first few tears appearing on her face over and over again.

A mental Image of Veronica appeared inside his head and a disturbing thought came with it.

Had he unknowingly done the same thing as her?

Playing around with someone elses feelings just because it was funny to see her react?

Was he not just like the person he had started to hate?

Unable to shake this realization and feeling a deep horror paralyzing his mind, Makoto wished for the first time in his life to reverse time and fix this incredibly stupid mistake.

Regret was a scary thing...

.....

With another yawn he walked into the café and ordered a cappuccino to wake him up a bit.

It was Tuesday afternoon, Makoto had just finished College for the day and he was dead tired.

Not only had he stayed up for quite some time inside Azalon but he also had trouble sleeping after yesterdays turn of events.

He had told Sharon about what happened and she had the same confused and sad look on her face as him.

Both didn't know what to do and they were not naive enough to just think that feelings like that could disappear over night.

Both treasured the short tempered Lilly as a friend so the current situation was clearly far from ideal.

Unable to come up with any solutions that could help her or solve the issue, he had logged out with a quick kiss while still deep in thought.

Sleep didn't come easily and he had woken up many times during the last few hours until dawn.

Dead tired and with his mind preoccupied by relationship problems, the day seemed to fly by as he fell asleep quite a few times too while not remembering even one word his Instructor had said.

Immediately feeling his mind starting up again after just one sip of the hot liquid in his hands, Makoto contemplated about his feelings.

There was no question about it that he loved Sharon.

One thing that had disturbed him though was what Lilly had said yesterday about the teasing he had done and he had reached a very strange conclusion.

If it really was just a way for him to interact with her and it didn't mean anything, why had he stopped doing that after getting together with Sharon?

As far as he knew his girlfriend, she would have maybe not liked it but it would after all just be an interaction between friends, no hard feelings behind them.

But why unconsciously stop it entirely if he didn't feel guilty about it deep inside of him?

Could it be that he had harbored some feelings for the small mage and been unaware of it?

Was that the reason he had suddenly stopped teasing Lilliana after meeting Sharon?

Because he would feel guilty if he showed this kind of affection to someone else except the person that he was with?

It was a very biased way of thinking but definitely one that had been nurtured by todays society.

Was it really so strange to feel affection towards two different women?

Right now he was not even truly sure how he felt about Lilliana but was it really such a bad thing?

The answer was no, the feeling itself was not bad but the consequences could be disastrous.

Makoto didn't need to think hard and long how it would make him feel if Sharon for example told him how she felt about another man, it was a thought that not only scared but also enraged him and he quickly dropped it into a deep corner of his mind.

Naturally he could just blame it all on being horny and saying that was how he felt for Lilliana, a male desire to have sex with her because he was physically attracted to her but was that really all there was to it?

Confused but unwilling to go down a route that could very well not only destroy his current relationship with Sharon but also the fragile friendship he had with Lilliana, Makoto decided to lock these feelings he had for Lilly away.

How he felt for the little mage might be just pure and untainted affection but that was a dangerous thing and he felt a lot more and deeper for Sharon so it was clear that she had to be the only one for him.

Makoto didn't want to imagine his red haired angel with a pained expression in her eyes after being told what he felt for another woman.

It hurt him just thinking that he could make her feel unloved or insecure, that was something he didn't want for Sharon.

She was his and he was hers, that’s how it should be right?

Feeling an unease still deep inside of him even after coming to this conclusion he stared out of the shop window and on the streets.

Other people walked past in a hurry and some clearly on their way back home as it was the end of the day but all he really paid attention to was his own reflection in the glass.

It surprised him seeing his own eyes without the usual crimson hue as he had gotten used to that appearance quite a bit at this point.

The amount of female interaction he had in only one short month was truly mind boggling.

First Veronica, then Lilliana and Sanja, Sharon and not to forget the mysterious Loren.

Two of these 5 beautiful girls could be called goddesses in looks alone and he had managed to keep a relationship with those 5 girls in one way or another.

His entire world had turned upside down in only one short month but at the same time It was back again, probably woken up by the full immersion and slaughter that he had been doing inside Azalon.

Finishing up his cup, Makoto stood up and decided to go for a walk before returning to his apartment.

There was a lot of things that just didn't add up in his life from the very beginning but he had dealt with them.

He took his medication until the signs stopped appearing and he had his peace and quiet, he didn't attract any attention, barely had any human interaction at all and his only friends had been online.

It wasn't a bad life but it had been lonely.

All of this had changed.

He had changed.

It hadn't been a fast progress but in only one short month he was more open with other people, talked quite a bit in college, made a few friends and met 5 gorgeous girls that all seemed to have taken a strange interest in him.

1 had toyed with him, another 2 loved him, the next was a mystery that stole his first kiss and the last of the bunch was a good friend that also seemed to be interested in him but he liked to think that it was just her curious nature and nothing else.

Right now he had already way too much on his plate without having time to worry about Sanja, she seemed to be the most normal out of the entire bunch.

Passing by a happy couple, Makoto looked towards the sky and was both happy and scared at how much Azalon had changed him.

Sure he might have met Veronica or Loren without it but how much had one game really influenced his life?

It was both inspiring and scary at the same time.

Could he even call this Virtual Reality still just that, a game?

Or was it something else entirely?

Troubled by these thoughts, Makoto reached his apartment and heated up a frozen pizza soon after closing the door behind him.

He hadn't actually turned on his TV in quite some time so it was overdue that he at least checked the news.

It did surprise him to find out just how much things had really changed.

Instead of the recent murder or terrorist attack a good part of the actual evening news centered around Azalon, this new sensation that took the world in a storm.

Already every single one of the 50 million Capsules to enter the game had been paid for and there seemed to be an overflowing request from all around the world for Ouroboros to make more.

The first 50 thousand players in the game could be called the select few Beta Testers as the game would only launch worldwide on Friday, it had been North America that enjoyed Azalon until now, but that was for a reason.

Before Makoto's mother had paid the Capsule and the weekly fee that came with it, there was a lot of speculation on the devastating side effects that the immersion could bring, from muscle atrophy all the way to experiencing a real life death after dying ingame.

There was already enough examples in books that displayed and described them and many people had their doubts but after this one month of looking at ingame footage from around the Continent, all those worries and side effects got pushed aside.

Everyone had to have it.

When the first video from a player's own view went online the internet and real life media seemed to practically explode, News Channels with extensive programs about the game started to slowly emerge and even more so with a possible viewership of 50 million people.

It was a Chaos all around that Makoto had been unaware of, simply because he was too busy with College and playing the actual game.

Turning off the flat screen after about 15 minutes he just sat there for a while.

It wasn't only him that this 'game' affected, the whole world had changed without even anyone noticing.

A new Era was starting and he was one of 50 thousand leading the storm...

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Well here is some food for thought for you guys, time to speculate below how everything is going to turn out :D!

I really love reading those in the comment section, brings me joy that people enjoy it this much :3

Anyways, see you all tomorrow!