Mature Content Warning: Foul Language

Author's Notes: So a few reasonably big reveals here, and ramping up for volume three. Volume two is nearly finished, just a few more chapters. :)

Chapter 8: Just Tell Him

The day wore on in a way that was slow and frustrating. Origin, unable to break free from the shackles of her family life, was forced to endure cover signings and meetings that she did not care for in the slightest. They had real public relations people for that sort of thing.

The goddess sighed softly then pretended that she had a headache. She was fairly certain that she should have one given the stresses of the day. As a goddess she did not need to eat, sleep, or have headaches unless she wanted to do so. It was one of the reasons that the gods enjoyed games and mortal lifestyles. They felt as though, it provided more substance to their eternal existence. A life that existed without struggle was one that could be quite unfulfilling.

She blew a stray hair out of her face then looked down at the table top. She had brought her favorite possession to see her through the annoyances that came with being the heiress to a gaming empire. It was a little toy ring, just a silly little thing.

Origin smiled at it and remembered how she had come by it in the first place. She stroked the cheaply made plastic bit of jewelry and thought of the one who had given it to her.

“Weren’t you supposed to throw that thing into Mount Doom?” asked Silence from the other side of the table.

The goddess looked at her brother, a frown artfully crafted upon her lips. “Do I look like a hobbit to you?”

“Well, you are shorter than me.” countered her bratty older sibling.

Origin snorted at him then tucked the ring back under her shirt. She held it there like a necklace. The string was just a shoelace that Scott had used to make the necklace for her since her tiny adolescent finger was not big enough for the toy he had earned her at that crane game. Now that she was in her normal, far more adult, form the ring would fit easily. Yet, she kept it on the string as that is how he had given it to her when they had met on that beautiful day.

“Do you really miss him that badly?” asked the grim reaper, a smirk on his lips.

The so-called ice queen looked away from him and sighed once more. She did not feel like dignifying that with a remark.

Didn’t he have souls to count or something?

“I noticed that you received a priority alert not long ago... Was it from him?”

“Why do you even care, Silence. All you want to do is tease me, anyway.” replied Origin.

He seemed confused for a moment. After a short space of time passed, he asked her, “Is that really what you think?”

“Why wouldn’t I think that? It’s all you’ve done since I first met him.”

Silence shook his head slowly then said, “I’m just worried about you. It has only been a few years from his perspective, but it has been decades for you. It is not healthy to obsess over a guy who you barely know. Not for either of you. ”

“I know. I know that...”

He stood up and walked over to sit by her side. She looked in his direction, but not at him. Silence said, “You have spent a lot of time devoted to following his life. What if he ends up not being the way that you think of him? Won’t you be heartbroken?”

Origin did not say anything for a while. Instead, she sat there and stared down at her hands. When she did speak, it was to say, “I don’t know. So far, he has been exactly as I thought of him.”

“Help me out here, baby sister. Why? I can see you bringing him here. I can see you even wanting to adventure with him. Why take it further than that? You can only end up hurting each other in the end.”

The goddess sighed softly then placed her hand to the cheap plastic ring beneath her shirt. “It’s stupid, I know. We don’t really know each other. I’ve watched him in detail for a long time since that day, but that doesn’t mean that I know him. If nothing else it just makes me an obsessive stalker from his perspective.”

“Origin...” said Silence, softly. She was finally admitting the obvious to herself. That was a good sign.

“Silence, I know already. Alright, I know. I can’t help it, but I know.”

The god of death placed his hand atop the shoulder of his sister then squeezed gently. She trembled a little at his touch. It was comforting but she was deeply unsettled by her realizations. She had been a fool over the man she had adored from afar. The gods in general were like that for their favored mortals, the interesting ones as they saw them. She had taken it to an obsessive level.

“If you’re honest with yourself, do you really see you two being together with the way things are right now?” asked Silence.

“I don’t know. It’s easy when I’m Rhea. I can play my role and not have to worry about what he would think of the real me, but that won’t work forever. If anything, I know it’s keeping him from trusting me.”

“So, tell him the truth then.” replied the God of Death.

“You know I can’t do that... The system preservation requirement...”

“You’re the heiress to the company Origin, and Scott is not even from that world. He already knows that it is not a natural existence. Why have you not told him the truth? All of it? You do remember that you brought him there for more than just to hang out with you, right?”

“I...”

Silence stared at the side of her head for a moment as she struggled to come up with the right words. The minutes passed in silence.

Finally, Origin said, “I was afraid that he would not like me, I guess.”

“How could he not like you? You’ve wanted to spend time with him since the day that you met. If anything, not telling him is what’s keeping you from developing a real relationship instead of that forced caricature that you’ve been going through.”

She nodded meekly, her hair falling forward in front of her eyes. She knew it, of course. It had been the biggest issue. She had never intended to actually meet up with him in that world. If anything, she knew her presence was causing problems. If their lives had been some sort of story like in the Earth Human media, she would have been the part that most people would want to skip because she distracts from the hero’s journey. Origin had begun to feel that she was holding him back.

“Do you want to end this early, go see him?”

“More than anything, but...” said Origin.

“I can’t help you with the meetings today, but the photo shoot tomorrow is something else. Mid can do it.”

“That... That would be great!” said Origin with growing excitement.

Silence could not help but smile when his overly innocent sister became this excited about the chance to go visit her would-be boyfriend. Still, he knew that it was not something that could be feasible long term. Scott seemed nice enough, but he could not exist in their true reality. He would be obliterated by the mere presence of even the least powerful of their kind. Mortals did not do well in the presence of divinity.

He patted his sister on the head and she made a happy noise. Silence was glad that she had found a loophole, but he doubted that any mortal could follow through on the road that she had to set for him. It would take a great deal more than just fighting a few monsters for him to become strong enough to be in the same room as her without bursting into flames.

“My services are not free, however.” he said.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“You will tell him everything. Your lives aren’t one of those trashy throw away romance novels that you love so much. You both deserve better than that. You don’t need to wait for some highly relevant plot point to make the big reveal, you know.”

“Silence...”

“Yeah?”

Origin turned to the side and gave her brother a warm hug, the first in a very long time. “I’ve been an obsessive idiot, haven’t I?”

“Absolutely.” replied Silence.

She laughed a little then hugged him tighter. It was nice, sometimes, to have a brother. “Thank you.”

“What are big brothers for?”

“Trading for spice?” replied the girl.

“Heh, you watch too much science fiction. Good science fiction, but too much...”

“Better than what you watch.” She said flatly.

Silence shook his head at her. “It’s an important part of the human experience and must be learned intimately for the sake of authenticity.”

“You search the Earth-connected portion of D-Net for badly photoshopped celebrity porn.”

“Damn right.” replied the god of death. It was for research purposes after all.

Origin stared at him for a moment. “You need a girlfriend.”

“Are you really one to talk?” he asked.

The goddess of love, and various other things, snorted at him. “No, but still... go get laid or something. You worry me.”

Silence snorted then stared at her. Had she really just said that? “My baby sister... such language?”

The blue haired goddess smirked at him then poked him in the side. “Sometimes you’re alright, you idiot.”

“Don’t go spreading that around. You’ll ruin my reputation.” replied Silence.

--

Dawn, it was a time that heralded new beginnings, but sometimes it also heralded an end. In this case, the dawn brought with it the end of a four day long grind session in the Red Rock Mine.

The new discovery bonus for Red Rock Mine has ended. Monster spawn levels and experience totals will return to normal.

“Man, I need to find a few more places like this!” Scott could not help but be excited at the prospects of new adventures. Somehow he had survived that epic battle. It was something that he had never actually believed himself capable of before. Who thought that they had the ability to crush an entire army on their own? Well, outside of the mentally deranged anyway.

Scott whispered to Ero in his mind, but the Fairy did not answer in any meaningful way. He could feel her presence, but could not coax her into talking. She might be whatever passes for unconscious when she is badly injured.

He sat up on his cot and considered his options. “I already sorted my loot and reclaimed the stuff that I dropped here at the camp...”

As much as he hated the idea, he would have to head back to town. His inventory was close to bursting with the various types and numbers of items that he possessed. He did not have a single empty slot. It was a wonder that it had all fit.

He stood up then stretched in a lazy manner. He was still a bit stiff despite resting completely. It seemed that sometimes the stats that he possessed did not perfectly mesh with his actual body. He suspected that there were hidden variables involved.

He hated to just leave the tent there. It was well past its prime, but he could have gotten a few more days out of it if he just had more room to carry junk. He also needed to resupply and have his equipment repaired. His chest plate looked like someone had used it for target practice at a shooting range.

The sorcerer bid farewell to the campsite then started to walk toward town. He only managed to take a few steps before he realized something. He had not gone through the process of accepting his upgrades.

Scott decided to do his upgrading before he went to town. There was also one other thing that he intended to try out as well, but that would wait until he actually left.

Tired, but curious, he called up his skill upgrade screen. After doing so he was greeted by the sight of a new message.

Congratulations! You have reached level 10!

You are now able to take the next step on the path of the master sorcerer. Please choose your path in life from the selections below.

The Path of Spirit

The Path of Balance

The Path of Power

He chose the middle path, as he had wanted to do all along. The other paths promised great perks for either physical skills or magical powers, but the opposite ability would suffer. He had come to enjoy being adequate at both.

Light flared around his body and he felt as though he had grown much stronger somehow. It was a strange and invigorating sensation! He checked to see what had happened.

You have chosen to take the next step in your training via the Path of Balance, the most difficult of the sorcerer paths.

You will not receive as many physical skills as the Path of Power, or as many spells as the Path of Spirit. However, you will obtain a greater understanding of both in regards to how they interact on equivalent levels.

Health + 25

Mana + 25

Attack + 10

Defense + 10

All other attributes + 5

New ability paths have been unlocked

“Oh hell, yes.” No wonder he felt stronger. He had just acquired several levels worth of stats at one time. Of course, that happened to everyone once they reached level ten.

Scott cleared the screen and checked his upgrade menu. He had three options. Those options were unarmed combat, sorcery, and dual boomerang mastery.

“I can pick intermediate advancement in those skills now? Why is the boomerang skill included in that?” He had studied the nature of the skill and advancement system a bit at the library in Victory Station, but a lot of stuff had not been mentioned. It was possible that all skill advancements operated based on his level. It would make sense with the reincarnation stuff, though he was just guessing at how the system works at this point.

Scott quickly expended seventy-five ability points to reach intermediate tier skills in all three categories. He received several updates to his status that made him grin like a happy little moron.

You have mastered intermediate unarmed combat! You may now learn new combat abilities and intermediate skills.

Health + 10

Attack +10

Defense + 10

Strength + 5

Agility + 5

Accuracy + 5

You have mastered intermediate sorcery! You may now learn new combat abilities and intermediate skills.

Mana + 10

Intellect + 5

All Spells: Force + 1

You have mastered intermediate dual boomerang mastery! You may now learn new combat abilities and intermediate skills.

Health + 10

Accuracy + 5

Agility + 5

Throwing Speed + 5%

The stat increases for his first upgrade were more than great, but sadly he already knew how he would spend most of his recently acquired ability points. When the intermediate level opened in his skill categories he was granted a new passive modifier option for when he gained a level. They each would cost seventy points. However, by choosing them he would go ahead and take care of that. He would still have some fun points to spend afterward. In fact, until he advanced to the next category they would all be fun points.

“And just like that I spent six hundred thirty-five points. Mid was right, there are never enough of those things...” Scott muttered to himself. A new adventurer either went for the flashy stuff or the workhorse stuff it seemed. He had not been able to spend his points on anything but stat modifiers the entire time so far. Of course, that overzealous focus on stats had probably saved his life on more than one occasion. Either way, choosing more interesting skill upgrades would occur soon. He saw very few new stat upgrades available beyond the level-up modifier. There were a few but they had the feel of one off bonuses. He did not have a hundred ability points to splurge at the moment to find out, though.

“Ninety-six points... What to choose...” Scott checked his options carefully. He could now learn spells from the second and third spell tier, but they required several hundred ability points each. They required either four hundred points or seven hundred points to be exact.

Scott wanted to awaken something new, something that was not a stat upgrade. Level one spells cost forty points. He checked his unarmed combat mastery and ran through all the basic upgrades he had not activated due to wanting to upgrade his status. There was something in his range and he could acquire it quite easily. “The first step?”

He checked the ability and read the information provided.

The First Step to True Enlightenment

A true sorcerer understands that balance is the key to ultimate understanding. By mastering the energy flows of the mind, the body, and the spirit you can temporarily increase your fighting spirit. However... you will only awaken this strength in a time of crises and must return to your origin to discover the secret of true power.

“So... some kind of skill that activates when I’m in a critical state?” He was in a critical state frequently, so it should be quite useful in the future. He did not know what returning to his origin meant. Maybe he was supposed to pray to the goddess? That did not sound right since he was not a priest...

Either way, he chose the ability as it seemed interesting and was probably important somehow. After he selected it and accepted it as his choice, a new option appeared above the intermediate level. It was called, ‘A further step on the path.’

He also chose a new spell. Scott read through the information for his new ability then nodded. He took a deep breath then raised his hand up, palm out. The image of a gentle breeze flowed through his mind. The breeze suddenly became a violent tornado. “Howling Gale!”

A fierce gust of wind tore through the area with a hideous sound reminiscent of a howling beast. Tree limbs bent back and leaves were torn clear. Very little else happened, however. “Not bad, but I’ll definitely have to train the hell out of it to get any real use.”

Howling gale was a wide area attack spell. It did little damage, but if it were increased in level it would be strong enough to blow away enemies even if they weighed quite a bit.

“Hmm, six points left... Looks like I’m done upgrading.” Scott closed down his menu. He unequipped all of his items and opened up his status screen to see how he really stacked up now.

Name: Scott the UnbreakableClass: SorcererRace: HumanAge: 18Level: 13EXP: 55,609Next: 611Ability Points: 6Health: 189[189]Mana: 173[173]Attack: 88[404]Defense: 107[419]Strength: 79[79]Agility: 78[78]Accuracy: 58[58]Intellect: 91[91]Luck: 37[37]

“Seriously, am I actually stronger without any gear?” He could wear his boots and claws to increase both his attack and defense by a large amount without detracting at all. Had he already outgrown his armor?

He did not bother to put it back on, but did do a quick calculation. Most of the agility penalty was mitigated by his gauntlets and the armor bonus for wearing a complete set. So, he did not even need to see the stat difference to know that he would have a much higher defense with his armor equipped.

Scott also did not need to check to see how much weaker he would be with the boomerangs. He would lose the unarmed combat bonus when he equipped them and the accuracy bonus would not come close to making up for it. They would be good for use as a range extender though, and unlike his spells they did not require any mana. “I’ll have to learn abilities and develop a few combos to make them work for me now.”

Thinking of magic made Scott wonder about the nature of spells and how powerful they were. With the force-up addition from gaining the first upgrade at level ten, at least one of his spells would be able to do over seven hundred points of magical damage without a critical hit. His burn spell would have a force rating of eight. What sort of damage would a full mage be able to accomplish? What about higher-tier spells?

Scott had a sudden overpowering urge to acquire all the spells that he could now that he had decent stats. He felt that he had made the right choice earlier by upgrading his level-up modifiers, but that did not keep him from wanting to see what his other spells would do.

“It’s like I am finally reaching a point where I can do something instead of just prepare.” Scott was absurdly pleased.

Life would no doubt become quite interesting soon. Though, how it could be more interesting that crushing a goblin army inside their own lair was something he would have to wait to see.

He closed down his menu screens then tried to contact Ero once more. He heard a soft sound inside his mind that reminded him of someone snoring. He concluded that she was still resting.

“Guess I’ll head back to town.”

Scott did not start walking, however. For the first time he intended to try and use one of his abilities, the world traveler ability. “Let’s see how fast, this fast travel is supposed to be.”

He brought up his map screen then tapped the icon for the town of Meaden. An option to travel immediately to Meaden in the fastest means possible popped up. He accepted and a screen popped up prompting him to start walking toward his destination.

The sorcerer did as directed and after taking seven steps the world began to grow dark. Soon, the forest faded away entirely. A large number nine appeared in the darkness. Experimentally, he took another step forward. Nothing happened. He took several more steps and the number dropped to eight. Scott counted his steps after that. Every time he took seven steps forward the number dropped by one. He tried walking backwards but it still dropped by one.

When it hit zero the world slowly returned. Scott was surprised to see that it was early afternoon. “So, time passed then, like it said it would. How much time, though?”

He checked his system menu and noted that it was close to three in the afternoon. He had only taken a few dozen steps but he had traveled all the way to Meaden. Yet, nine hours had passed in the world while he traveled. Was it some sort of alternate dimensional travel ability? Could others do that?

“Man, that is so useful but I could waste my life away without realizing It.” said Scott.

It had taken about fourteen hours to get to the mine before, so world traveling was not only easier on the feet, it took a lot less time. He had not really tried it out before for various reasons. He had not bothered when he was still at Victory Station since he hunted right outside the gates. The only real reason to use it would have been after reaching the waterfall shrine, but he had been trying to keep that ability hidden from Rhea.

Scott headed into town. He had to offload his junk then seek out an armorer to repair his badly damaged equipment. There was no way that he would be heading out again for a few days, given that factor. What could he possibly do in town for a few days? While he wondered at what to do with his downtime, eyes watched him from the darkness of the nearby forest.

“Is that him?” asked a rasping masculine voice.

“Blue hair, wood armor, came from the right direction... It could be him.” replied another voice.

The duo watched as their possible prey passed the town gates. The first speaker stood up, revealing himself to be a barrel-chested orc. The second speaker was a hobgoblin. “Log out and tell that idiot that we’ve probably found the sorcerer. Show him the scan.”

“Right, I can’t believe that moron went and got his entire army crushed by one low-level Noob.” said the monster.

The orc shook his head. “He relied too much on the auction site to recruit. His level and his army were pitiful.”

“True and he got his ass handed to him for It.” said the hobgoblin.

“If it were just him, I would not give a damn. He made the whole guild look bad.” replied the orc.

“Yeah, fucking Karsh... If he wasn’t the leader’s brother I’d just tell him to go fuck himself.” said the hobgoblin.

“No kidding. How are the Corpse Rats going to rise as the number one monster army guild with assholes like that running things?” asked the still unnamed orc.

The hobgoblin snorted then shook his head. “That sorcerer, he’s a player isn’t he?”

“Yeah, he has to be. Have you ever known a local to be able to crush an army by themselves unless they were much higher in level?”

The overly large goblin looked at the town gates. “Too bad he’s human, a guy like that would have been nice to recruit...”

“Yeah, true. Oh well. We’ll crush him anyway. Just have to wait for him to leave town.” replied the orc.

“Wonder how long that will take?”

“Doesn’t matter. If that’s the guy we’ll call it in to the guild. We’ll have enough guys here in a few days to take him even if he’s in town.”

The hobgoblin cackled maniacally after hearing his superior’s words. That was true. What could one low-level Noob do against real players?

--