Battle Maiden

Book 1 : Into the Gates of Hell

Chapter 4.5 : Side Stories

*****

The followings took place prior to Salty Rose incident.

*****

Tale one: Scruffy

Royal Road was a very in-depth game. The environment was very detailed. Every blade of grass swayed with the winds,and rivers flowed seamlessly. This aspect of Royal Road brought in a new group of consumers. The people who just wanted to relax and enjoy the view.

Even players, from time to time, take a break from slaughtering innocent fauna to bask in the beauty of the Versailles continent.

On that particular day, a girl decided to go out to enjoy the view.

This is the first time the girl ventured out of the city. New players are constrained in the city for one in-game month before they are allowed to leave. The reason for this is because they are deemed too weak to venture out. They have to prepare themselves for one month within the safety of the city walls. Keep in mind, a newly-created player can easily be killed by a harmless looking rabbit.

The girl, Sera, thought that some greenery would be a nice change from the grayness of the city. She had passed the required time and was free to venture in or out anytime she wanted to.

‘My eyes could use a break from reading.’

‘And this is also a good way to reduce stress.’

A change of pace was what she wanted. That’s the reason why she went out that day. However, as she stepped out, it was not what she imagined.

Instead of a serene and relaxing view, she saw groups of players running around chasing rabbits. It was a massacre. Working as a group, they forced the rabbits into a corner before mercilessly ending its’ life. The vicinity of the city was full with such groups.

‘Rabbits’ fur is always in high on demand, even if they are cheap.’

‘I won’t get any peace in a place like this. Maybe I should go farther where there are less people.’

She decided to move away from there, in order to look for a quieter place.A lot of players along the way tried to recruit her in their party, but she refused all of them. She was not here to hunt, she did not even have a weapon.

Even though she was facing a hard time rejecting all the offers given to her, she finally did managed to reach a quiet spot without people around. She sat down on the grass, while feasting her eyes on the beautiful view.

Even though there were no other players around, she did not find peace. It did not take long for a fox to find her. The fox snarled at her, fixing its gaze at the girl who enter its territory.

“GRRR….”

The fox growled. The muscles on its front and hind legs tensed, the hairs on its back raised slightly.

Sera stared back at the fox. She was not afraid, but was curious about the fox’s behavior. Rabbits, raccoons and foxes are low-levelled mobs in Royal Road. Like many other MMORPG, low-levelled mobs are passive creatures. They only attack when threatened.

‘Did I provoke it? All I did is sit here silently.’

She inspected her surroundings and found no other foxes around. She dismissed the possibility of the fox trying to protect its young or others of its species. Not that she’s sure whether a fox could even have young in this game.

‘If it’s not me, and it’s not about other foxes, the only possibility is…’

The only possibility was that there was something wrong with the fox itself. She sharpened her gaze at the fox, trying to find a clue on its erratic behavior.

The fox flinched watching Sera focusing her gaze on it. But it did not make any moves.

‘So that’s why!’

Since the fox was facing Sera, she did not see the reason immediately. Upon closer inspection, the fox’s hind leg was bleeding. It was injured, and an injured beast was highly aggressive.

‘It must have stumbled on me when running away from whatever thing that caused the wound.’

Another system included in the game, was the ability of monsters to level up. Small game like rabbits, raccoons and even foxes were always under threat. Not only by players, even fellow monsters.

‘Even if it’s not really alive, it’s a harsh life.’

‘I should help it.’

Sera had a soft spot for cute,cuddly,small animals. Even towards the desperate injured fox that tried to look menacing. On the contrary, she felt sorry for the poor thing. She ripped off a piece of her skirt, hoping to use it as a bandage.

‘Now, to approach it carefully.’

She inched closer and closer towards the fox. It was a very slow process,because she did not want the fox to dart off in fear. If she had any food on her, she would have already used it as bait.

The fox was growling lowly. It was breathing loudly. It was clear now that it was heavily injured and in pain.

The distance between them was now reduced to a couple of meters. Sera decided to quickly dash for the last stretch. Any closer,and the fox would either attack, or flee. She will make the first move.

‘Lunge, grab the fox, don’t get bitten.’

She visualized her next action and did a mental simulation.

She kicked the ground as hard as she can. As her body lifted off the ground, she extended her hands to grab the fox while she was in mid air.

Before the fox could react, it was already in the arms of the girl. The sudden actions of the girl startled it such that its body froze in place long enough for her to grab it.

Sera held the fox firmly while trying not to injure it further. She rolled on her back as she landed after the acrobatic feat. With the fox safely in her embrace, she released a sigh of relief.

With one hand, she firmly pinned the fox to the ground to immobilize it. Her strength was rather high for her level, since she did ‘train’ in the training hall. With the other hand, she took out her canteen of water to wash the fox’s wound.

‘It’s a bite mark. Not the doing of a human. Wolf maybe?’

She then bandaged the wound with the piece of cloth that she had torn from her own skirt. She had no attachment to her beginner outfits. It was free, and not that cute. Most beginner outfits were immediately thrown away after replacement equipment was obtained, as there was no market for the free starter outfit. Even NPC shops refuses to buy them. At least this way, the cloth would serve a higher purpose.

The fox felt afraid when it was pinned down. It started to relax a bit when it realized that this girl was trying to treat its hind leg. It did not let its guard down, though it wouldn’t make much of a difference since it was currently under the mercy of the girl.

Sera, after finishing the treatment, lifted the fox and put it in her lap as she sat down on the grass. Her neat bandaging, even when using crude material, awarded her with the Bandage skill. With the fox in her lap, she began to pet the fox tenderly.

Once the fox felt that the girl had let her guard down, it tried to jump up and run away. The attempt failed, as it immediately stumbled, having had all its energy drained during the standoff. The girl picked the exhausted fox up and put it in her lap again, and stroked the soft fur of the fox gently. The fox persisted in three more escape attempts before finally giving in and falling asleep in her lap.

‘It won’t be able to survive out here. With that injury, it’s easy prey.’

‘I should take it with me, at least until it recovers.’

Sera gently held the sleeping fox in her hand, carrying it like a mother would carry a newborn. The sun was starting to set, and the dangerous wolf attacks were high during the night. She hurriedly walked back towards the city gate.

Using her body, she hides the fox from the view of other players. A sleeping fox was easy experience points. She also did not want to be labelled weird for carrying a sleeping fox around. Some players did manage to see her carrying the fox, but she lied that her class was tamer and the fox was her pet.

It went smoothly for Sera. She managed to reach the city gate safely. Her concern right now was to find a place for the fox to rest in the city.

‘The library is out of question. Maybe the training hall, there’s not many people there.’

‘The bigger problem is, when I log off. If left alone, it might wander around.’

She walked to the gate while her head was occupied with formulating a master plan to blackmail convince Instructor Graham to take care of the fox for her. It was a brilliant plan, with a 100% success rate, and involved a pink piece of leather, three pairs of chopsticks and the fur of a pregnant street cat. It was a complicated plan which was hard to explain, and required careful planning.

So complicated was the plan, that while thinking of the details and the proper timing, she overlooked a simple flaw in her plan.

*Slash!

A flash of gray light was seen in her arms, where the fox once lay sleeping. In its place was now a small fox’s fang and 3 coppers.

“Fear not traveler, I have gotten rid of the monster trying to sneak into the city.”

It was an NPC guard, whose job included getting rid of monsters venturing too near the city gate. She may have been able to fool players, saying that the fox was her pet, but not an NPC guard.

-You have leveled up-

A message popped out. Even though she did not kill the fox, she did inflict a portion of the damage when she pinned the fox down earlier. Even with the reduced experience gain, a fox was still a level 5 mob, while she was still level 1. Enough to bring her level up.

“Scruffy…”

Sera spoke for the first time that day.

She then headed toward the training hall, one of the two places where she could find comfort in the city. It wasn’t like she could blame the NPC programming.

This is the story of how Sera reached level 2 while never hunting or doing quests.

*****

Tale two : The Twin’s Day Out

It was a rare sight. Scott was actually hanging out with friends. Well, not his friends, they were his brother’s. To others, it seemed like they were having a double date, as their company were two pretty girls from the same university.

‘He set me up. Should’ve known.’

They were eating lunch together, in a famous fast food restaurant. Nothing fancy, but delicious and healthy. Fast food restaurant standards had grown better these days. Their table was filled with Steve’s laughter, and occasional giggles from the girls. They were having a good time, except for Scott that is.

“What’s wrong with your brother?” One of the girls asked.

“He’s a bit shy. You know him,” Steve explained.

Scott, the elder twin of Steve, was a bit of an introvert. It’s not that he was antisocial, he just did not know how to carry himself in a crowd. He often just shied away from any invitation to hang out or any other social activities. Nobody took offense at his rejection, as he was always been polite and genteel. If not for Steve, he would have spent all his spare time at home.

“Forgive me if my manner offends you, girls. I am not used to this.”

The girls quickly apologized to Scott, his apology made them feel guilty.

“Please, it’s not your fault. We were just wondering. Your brother is always so lively, and since you are twins, we unconsciously compare the both of you.”

“It’s not that we are offended, we are just afraid that we bore you.”

The mood at the table turned a little sour. Now Scott was the one who felt guilty. Before he could try to mend the mood, the girl sitting directly in front of him, Lucy, shot a question towards him.

“We know that you usually don’t do this type of thing. What made you agree to hang out today?” Lucy gave a puzzled look.

“Well, my brother told me that he gave you girls his word that he would drag me out and hang out with you girls.”

“That I did. And I am always true to my word. Especially towards lovely girls.” Steve cut in.

“Well yeah, I just don’t want to make my brother a liar.” Scott continued while rubbing his forehead.

“Ain’t he a good brother?” Steve put his arm around Scott’s shoulder, pulling him closer.

The girls smiled. The twins were very famous among the girls in their university. Not because of their looks, which were not bad actually, but because of their relationship. The twins may not have noticed it, but the way that they treated each other was not something you see that often among siblings.

Steve was always lively, full of confidence and very expressive. Scott was a man of few words. When you listened to Steve talk, you could feel the energy in his voice. Scott talked in a very calm manner, no one had ever heard him raise his voice. They had many similarities, but their opposite characteristics were what made them unique.

Whatever they did together always looked sweet in the eyes of other people. The way they argued, the way they joked, the way they laughed together. The way Steve dragged his brother around so he could make friends. The way Scott taught his brother calculus, so they could pass the test together. The way they defended each other when people badmouthed one of them. They caught the attention of the girls on campus.

It may also have had something to do with those BL doujin and fan fictions that were getting popular with the girls lately.

Scott’s face redden as his brother began ruffling his hair, while saying he was the best twin in the world. The girls’ faces were also getting a reddish tint while looking at this scene.

“He started playing Royal Road lately.” Steve changed the topic to liven things up

“Really? What level are you?” The other girl, Rose, wasted no time asking him.

“I just started. Still in the city, doing training.” Scott answered as he pushed Steve away.

“That’s too bad. It would be nice if we could hang out in the game too.” Lucy was also interested.

“He’s doing a stupid training hitting scarecrows all day. I had to come and bring him food supplies, because he has no money and did not do any quest.” Steve smirked, making fun of his brother.

“Why would you do stuff like that? There are many other things you could do.”

Rose, having played together with Steve since the first day, thought that Scott would do better since he had his brother to guide him.

Scott then began explaining how he saw a girl manage to get a free sword from completing the training. He also said that you can raise some stats doing the training. He never went in-depth, just a quick explanation to end the topic.

“If that girl can pass the test, I would be ashamed not being able to!” Steve mimicked his brother’s words.

“A girl? Are you sure it’s a girl?” Lisa asked.

“It’s a girl. I’m very sure of it,” Scott nonchalantly replied.

“Do you remember the account creation process?” Lisa pressed on.

Scott was puzzled by the way she insisted on the gender topic. He recalled his account creation process, and then it hit him.

‘NO.’

‘No, No, No, No, No, ……. NO!’

A series of Nos kept on repeating in his head. He remembered the feminine voice during the avatar creation stage.

'-Please choose your gender from male, female, or neutral-'

‘It can’t be!’

While the conflict was happening in his head, it began to show on his face. Lines showed up where there were none before, as his expression turned into one like a man in great pain.

“But why would anyone choose a different gender in the games??”

Scott was now in the denial stage. The girl who, for the first time in his life, mesmerized him on the day he laid his eyes on her.

“Perverts.” Rose and Lucy explained in unison.

“It’s common in online games. Being a woman has its advantages.” His brother added.

Scott realized that his dilemma was noticed by the girls and quickly composed himself.

‘Well, I’ll believe that she is a girl with all my heart.’

‘Wait, why does her real gender even matter?’

‘Or his gender.. mppfhh.’

‘Stay calm. Not here, not in front of them.’

“Well I think that changing the way you look is stupid.” Scott tried to veer away from the topic.

“Says the guy who made his avatar have an eight pack with blue hair.” Steve was the only one who knew this fact. Was.

“What was that for? I do have an eight pack. Wanna see them?”

“Please Brother, I’ve seen you naked many times. You’re not even close to having a six pack.”

“I noticed your avatar is two inches taller, does the fact that I’m a bit taller bother you that much?”

“You’re only five millimeters taller. It’s not worth bragging about!”

“Says the guy who increased his avatar height by two inches.”

The girls kept silent as they listened to the brothers arguing.

“You want to talk inches? Let’s compare then!”

The argument was heating up a bit here. The twin seemed to be forgetting where they were. While Steve’s voice increased in volume, Scott maintained his.

“Tissue?” Rose asked Lucy as she offered a pack of tissues to Lucy.

“Yes please,” Lucy accepted her offer.

Blood was flowing out from the girls’ noses.

*****

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Wrote: The PR credit is edited, since the PR wished for anonymity. Said person gave me permission to credit IT as a Lazy PR. Hence this;

Credit for PR goes to :

Chapter 5 might not be out tomorrow, I have greatly underestimated how much kids can distract me from writing.

The second story was born due to chat shenanigans, a joke that have nothing to do with the story so far, but touching the topic of gender ambiguity in RR. As always, thanks for reading.