chapter 13.

“In the end we still lost.” Lily woke up from her capsule feeling lightheaded. “Whew. That was intense. Let’s see, 24 hours non stop gaming means I have been inside this capsule for 6 hours.”

Lily then opened her laptop. The first search would be the Royal Road forum. Being a passive and shy girl, she read a lot. She usually read light novels or even school material books on her laptop during her holiday. But this time Royal Road caught her eyes. She continued to read through the latest news of Royal Road, she already knew most rules and general prices of items. The only thing she wasn’t aware of was the dark gamer union forum of Royal Road. There were many links in the forum directing her to that specific point. But, she was reluctant to register herself there.

Even in the Royal Road forum, she was just some random leecher. Just reading and absorbing all the information. She didn’t want to post anything, she didn’t want to post an idea and get shot down. She was afraid that people might hate her if she posted something arrogant or invalid information. So, she just read and commented in her own brain about the posts on the forum.

1 day later she logged back into Royal Road. She quickly changed back into her beginner outfit. The city was now called the City of Acolyte. After she changed her clothes, she noticed many notifications in the corner of her eyes. When she opened them she got a handful of system messages.

You have leveled up 15x

You have died lvl decreased by 1

Quest has been completed

Maria is now your npc friend

NPC friend is recruitable for free as a party member.

You have leveled up

Due to strenuous activity. Dexterity increased by 15, stamina increased by 20, strength increased by 5, vitality increased by 10

Due to constantly using magic for a long time wisdom increased by 5 intelligence increased by 10

Due to efficiently commanding an army leadership increased by 40. Charisma increased by 50,

Due to bravely fighting an enormous army fighting spirit increased by 40

You have become the idol of nameless city, charm increased by 30. A statue of Count Duke and his Acolyte daughter is now erected in the central square. But because you were a replacement no fame could be earned

Magic mastery is now lvl 7

Fire ball is now beginner lvl 2

Light blessing is now beginner lvl 5

Phoenix regen is now beginner lvl 5

Healing hand is now beginner lvl 6

Healing Area is now beginner lvl 7

Group cure is now beginner lvl 6

Expert cure is now beginner lvl 6

Single bless is now beginner lvl 4

Acrobatic is now beginner lvl 3

Multitasking is now beginner lvl 7

Bullet deflector is now beginner lvl 8

Due to death magic mastery percentage is now ....

Due to death fireball percentage is now....

...........

She just wasted 2 hours completely reading all the notifications one by one. In summary, all of her skills had increased. But due to her death, most of her skills are now at 0%. There was a list of japtem that she picked up and details of the japtem that she lost. It was fortunate that she didn’t lose any of her main equipment.

Speed reading is now beginner’s lvl 3

She got another system notification after reading all the notifications.

‘So, this skill increases as long as I am reading something. Might as well bring my textbooks here. That way I can read faster.’ She thought while looking at the notification. It is true that you can connect your laptop to Royal Road. But due to security reasons, you can only open a very simple program from the connected laptop such as notepad. But it would take tremendous effort of calibrating and processing by an expert programmer. So, only major companies officers have that kind of luxury.

Riri then decided to visit the library. She waited for Dem and the others to pick her up. She found it amusing that the town library had some information that the Royal Road forum didn’t. She decided to read for a while. The next book was titled the history of acolyte. But before she could open that book Fira and Dem visited her. Without delay they rented another horse and rode toward Trisia after she sold all of her japtem. A week later she arrived at Trisia. Hasega and co whispered to her that they would come to the central square so she had to wait there. After that, the group went to the Tantalus headquarters.

“Ririiii!” Stella came and jump hugged her. “How are you? It felt like years.”

“Umm. I am fine.” I felt a chilling gaze from Hasega’s group in my back.

“Well, Riri, I think you owe us an explanation. Starting with the idol in front of you and the statue in the City of Acolyte.” Said Fira.

“And the cost of the mana potions I lent you please?” Said Hasega. “You were not as poor as you looked.”

“Eh, who are these guys?” Stella asked innocently.

“Umm. They are.... my friends. Umm.... they helped me travel to the City of Acolyte.”

“Ahh, I see. Hello. My name is Stella. Nice to meet you.” The group then suddenly went polite.

“Ahh, my name is Hasega. I am a knight. At your service.” He then gave a salute.

“My name is Fira. I am a mage who specializes in fire.” She bowed.

“My name is Victor. I am a warrior. Pleased to meet you.” He also bowed while giving a salute.

“Umm, Miss Stella, may I know what your relationship with Riri here is?”

‘Why they are so polite towards Stella and not me?? What’s with the polite honorific. We are the same age!!’ I thought. Riri didn’t know that only the Tantalus group usually addresses Stella by name.

“Well, she is my friend.” A simple and clear answer.

“Ahh I see.” Said Fira.

An awkward silence then followed. All of the group and Stella smiled at each other but no one said anything. They didn’t know how to make conversation with a famous character. One wrong word with a famous character might drop their fame without mercy.

“Well, please come in. You are Riri’s guests.” She then walked away. Riri was quickly pulled beside Fira.

“How do you know her?!” All of the group then stared at her with ill intent.

“Umm, we accidentally met at Selei City.” I answered.

“So is the rumour true?” Said Fira.

“Umm, yes. But, ummm. She doesn’t like giving autographs away now... soo.” I answered stutteringly.

“Well, let’s go inside. After the show hall, our living room is over there.”

In the living hall they were greeted by Maria and other Tantalus members.

“Hey. That took you long enough chicken head. Where have you been. Your damsel here is lonely.” Said Ragnar.

Maria then stood up and hugged me.

“I am so glad all of you are okay. If you hadn’t come back....” Maria sobbed at me.

“Well, I am glad that you are okay. “ Said Hector.

“Well, how does her team look? “ Said Stella. Hasega and co then went silent.

“Well, they are quite unique. We definitely need more beginners like them here. I am ready to welcome them.” Said Ragnar.

“Well, it is hard to join our core group. But you can join our detachment. Tantalus 2. It’s current head is Itsalama. A lvl 80 bard.” Said Hector. “Ehen you are good enough we will be more than glad to invite you to one of our play.”

“Huh? I have never heard about Tantalus 2.” I said.

“Of course. You never asked and we have never felt the need to tell you.” Said Ragnar.

“It is understandable. You are new after all.” Said Reiner. “Hello. So you are Hasega, Fira, Victor and Dem right?”

“Yes. I am Hasega, this one is Fira, this is Victor and this one is Dem.”

“Thank you for helping our newbie here. My name is Reiner. A merchant and head accountant of the Tantalus group. So, since you guys are Riri’s friends. How about the offer earlier. Currently there are no vacant spaces in the core group. But you can join Tantalus 2 if you like.” He politely asked.

The group then stared at each other. After a long stare (they probably whispered each other) they agreed to join. The group plus Maria were then given a map to a certain location while Stella dragged me into her room.

Her room was very well decorated. A bed, a table, a wardrobe, a carpet in the middle and a bathroom with toilet. It was like a hotel suite room. If she has a 5 star bedroom then mine would be an ordinary small one. It was still more than enough. Heck it is almost better than my room in real life but her room is more luxurious.

“Well, have a seat. So, tell me your story. I have heard the report about Maria. But I didn’t know how you fared at the City of Acolyte. “She then grinned “And I have heard you have your own statue there. Is that correct?”

Riri then told her the whole story. About how she disguised herself to become the acolyte. The assault, the night raid and how they lost. Unlike the rumours that were exaggerated the 2 heroes so much, claiming them to be the best characters in Versailes, Riri made it sound rather pessimistic. She firstly said she was useless. All she could do was heal her teammates. She proposed a sneak attack but the enemy countered with a night charge attack. She then blamed herself for not barricading the city gate when the night assault came. She also blamed herself for not directing the archers properly during noon attack. Then she cried and regretted that everything she did was useless, she could not save the count and his city. The city is now ruled by a new count. Even though the city is now prospering due to the nobles and player guilds’ money and services. The current count somehow lacked the pride and principles of the old count. The monument in the central square itself was erected to calm the masses. The current count only cares about the economy. He is not especially corrupt. But he just has different principles than the old one.

Night then passed as she fell asleep inside Stella’s bedroom. Dawn then came and she went to the training hall as Stella had instructed.

“So your magic mastery has already reached lvl 7 huh? That’s quite fast.”

“What happens when I reach intermediate?”

“Well, you will have better control over magic. Here is an example. I will cast fireball. Fireball!” She then cast a fireball at ME!!

“Kyaa!” I prepared to dodge but the fireball stopped in front of me.

“With training the direction of the ball can be changed. This way the spell which is usually linear can be made to home in on a target or it can make irregular movements. Of course all of them must be done manually.”

“I see. Fireball!” The ball then shot straight from my hands.

“The fireballs mastery affects it too you know. With a lvl 2 fireball mastery, it is impossible to control the ball.”

“But, I still have the penalty. Do I really need it now?

“Hmm, nope. But you can also use it for healing hand and expert cure. Watch.” She then casted healing hand, a green light then glowed on her hand and turned into green ball. ”See, this is the healing hand spell. Usually the spell targets a single ally within a 4 or 5 meter radius automatically according to your will. But with this, you can fire the spell. Just like a fireball. Even though its power will be reduced, its range will increase by many folds. Fire.” She then fired the ball at the sky. The ball then slowly dimmed and vanished.

“Wow.”

“Well, the range is somewhere below that of a fireball. But it can reach 30 meters I think.”

“I see. But, I can’t train the healing spell without seeing someone injured.”

“You can train your fireball by hitting that scarecrow. But..... hmmm...Ii kind of have a different plan.” The indecisive instructor then fell silent. “Want to see your friends at Tantalus 2? I also want to train your acrobatics. The gym there is better for training that.”

“Ummm, okay I think.”

‘Is it just me or is she a little bit hesitant about visiting Tantalus 2?’

1 hour later. After asking Lucky the blacksmith to repair my staff and some tailor to repair my other equipment that were battered in the war, Stella with her usual outdoor hooded cape took me into some ordinary school gymnasium looking building. When we approached the door a whipping sound could be heard.

‘I have a bad feeling about this.’

The door then opened. With a blur motion Stella ducked while a whip hit me in the face.

You have take 100 damage

“Ouch.“ I fell while touching my face. If this was not in game my eyes would have been filled with tears already.

“Ahh, sorry, sorry. I did that on reflex, Miss Stella.”

‘You hit someone with a whip on reflex!!!’ I screamed in my head.

“Hey Itsa. So how are the newbies.” She casually greeted him while opening her hood.

“Not bad. But just like other noobs, they complain a lot.”

After rubbing my aching forehead, I quickly hid behind Stella’s back like a child. The man in front of her has fine muscles. But with a scar here and there he looked very frightening.

“I see. Well where are they?” She asked.

“Right there.” He pointed at some people lying on the ground like the dead.

Still using Stella as a shield, I followed her to the corpses which are Hasega, Fira, Victor, Dem, Maria, and another one. It is Arknum.

“Hah. I am dead. I can’t move anymore.” Such sounds were coming from the group.

#tar#

My heart jumped at the whipping sound. The corpses turned back alive in an instant dodging the whip.

“Itsa.... a-a-a-aren’t you a bard?” I quietly asked a question. His personality doesn’t match the delicate bard at all. With a sword on his right and a whip on his left. He is like a beast master whipping at his pets.

“Ahh, so who is this girl? Another healer?” He quickly assumed. Is my behaviour that obvious?

“No. She is my disciple.” She patted my head. ”well, we want to train acrobatics here. So we want to borrow some space and equipment.”

“Ahh. Sure, sure. Please by all means. Use this room as you like.” He bowed. Her intimidating demeanour earlier towards my former group vanished. He seemed to respect Stella deeply.

“Let me help you. What do you need?”

“Some mattresses will do.“

We then took a corner space of the gym. Occasionally a whipping sound and a scream of pain could be heard. The group was being trained like military officers. Doing push ups, hitting scarecrows, running and performing mock battles. Even though Maria and Fira were women and got a nicer attitude, they didn’t escape that training.

“Well, to answer your earlier question. Yes, Itsa is a bard. And a good one at that. He plays a violin I think.” She then removed her cape. Her white shirt and blue skirt looked good on her. It matched.

Truthfully I couldn’t imagine him being a bard right now. Wearing a T shirt with a huge muscles. He was really more like some Gym instructor with an intimidating scarred face.

“Ahh, he wears a tuxedo when in a play. These are just some casual clothes.”

“Ahh, I see.”

“Mmm. Lets get started. So, I want to explain about our class’ other specialty. It is not really special since it also can be learnt while doing that.” She pointed at Maria and Fira. They were doing gymnastics on other mattresses with a whip to fasten their pace.

“Uh huh.” I just nodded.

“Hmm. Now what should I say next?“ Stella fell into thought again.

“Mmm. Basics of acrobatics?” I asked.

“Ahh, yes. The basics of acrobatics is to adjust your center of gravity. Some animals such as crocodiles or sharks are paralyzed when they are upside down. Humans are no exception.”

“Do we get paralyzed too?”

“Our brain will get confused with a sudden change of the center of gravity. So our body tends to stiffen a bit. Well, compared to those animals we are way above them at controlling our center of gravity.”

“I see.”

“Well, umm. Ahh!” She went into thought again and spoke. It was funny to watch her instructing like this. It was like she had a massive amount of knowledge but didn’t know what to teach “And so, the acrobatics skill removes this burden bit by bit so we can move more efficiently. For example.”

She then fired a fireball. The fireball went a bit further but then come back at her. She then dodged the ball matrix style and stood up again. I watched in awe. She should have fallen, she should have fallen on her back or her butt. But she could stand up again. Some people in despair on the other side stared at how she dodged a bullet like in a Sci-Fi movie and stood up again.

“So...”

“Sorry. I can’t do that!” I quickly answered without waiting for her question.

“Huh? Why? Hasn’t your bullet deflector already reached lvl 8. You should be able to see projectiles more easily ... Well, we do not jump to dodging bullets like that. Well, let’s practice by doing basic gymnastics to relax your body, that is the basics of acrobatics after all.”

“Perfect timing!” Itsa interrupted. “Miss Stella, it would be an honor for this humble me to be able to spar against your disciple.”

“Well, let’s have your disciple do it instead. You are lvl 80 after all. It is not fair.”

“At your service Miss Stella.”

“Eh? Umm... a mock battle?? But... I can’t...”

“Ahh, I forgot. Let’s make a rule.” Stella said.

“Yes?”

“Time limit of 30 minutes. All of you attack her at the same time. She will not counterattack or attack you. If you manage to get her health to yellow point you win. Arknum is an exception. He can’t join the fight okay.” At that point I was wondering who the demon is. Stella or that beast master.

“Ahh, I see. Well everyone. Gear up. Miss Stella here has given you a handicap. If you manage to lose, I will double the training. Triple if necessary.” Massive evil intent could be felt from him. He is a bard right? Right?

“Alright and if we win?”

“I will halve the training.” Everyone’s faces then lifted up. Hope filled their eyes.

“Dodging attacks from 4 people is....”

“It is fine, I know you can do it. Wear the cleric set but don’t wear the shoes okay?” Stella cheered me on. “Don’t lose okay. Fight to the last of your ability.”

“Alright. Don’t worry Riri, I will make this as fast and as painless as possible.” Victor said.

The battle then began. I wore my cleric set and I was barefooted since the shoes impede my movements. Hasega and co wore all of their equipment.

“Light blessing, single bless,” I buffed myself.

Hasega then charged alone. He swung his sword horizontally. I jumped and dodged to the back. Without delay he chased me and swung his sword vertically, I sidestepped to dodge. He then chained the attack horizontally which I blocked with my staff.

‘Somehow this is not as hard as I thought it would be.’ Riri thought. She based her judgement on the war in which she had participated, not knowing that most of the soldiers there were lvl 50 or higher and that with her shoes that impede her movement speed by 30%. She was also never attacked while in Hasega’s group so she had no way to measure her strength compared to the group. This was due to her high dexterity granted by her class and her titles, in addition to that her multitask ability which has 4 focuses now allowed her to read Hasega’s movements and control her body precisely.

“How come a cleric can be this agile.” Said Hasega. To others Riri appeared to barely dodged the sword. But after several swings from Hasega they knew that it was not luck.

“Alright. We will come as well.” Victor brandished his sword. Fira with her staff, Dem with his knife and Maria with her spear.

The tides then changed. After Hasega attacked, Dem closed in from behind and tried to stab Riri. But Riri barely managed to dodge it, only being dealt scratch damage. Victor then attacked with one of his axes which were blocked by Riri’s staff. Everyone was surprised that Riri had enough strength to block his attack. Although it is doable, dodging Dem’s attacks surprised them. Victor then attacked with his other axe and blew Riri away. She quickly regained her balance in midair and landed with 20% of her HP gone.

“Healing hand!” She then casted one of her spells. The group then stared at Stella and Itsa.

“I didn’t say that she could not use healing magic right?” Stella then asked Itsa “Why are they looking so confused?”

“So this was one of her plans to raise my magic masteries!’ Riri suddenly realized.

“Don’t just stand there. Time is ticking!” Itsa roared.

Everyone then went into serious mode. They knew that Riri was a good healer and could heal large chunks of her HP in one go. Furthermore it is being boosted by her equipment right now. She could literally heal 30 or 40% of her HP with one of her healing hands. This meant that they must finish the battle as soon as they can. If healing hand’s cooldown ended they would need to redo their work.

Fira then joined the fray. But her fireballs and firestrike were easily deflected by Riri’s staff, only fireblaze worked. But that also hit her own teammates. Then Maria also jumped in. Being new to spear mastery, she stumbled here and there only adding to the confusion of the battle.

“Expert cure.” The group then went silent as Riri’s HP that was almost at halfway mark went back to full. Hasega then removed his shield and armor hoping to increase his attacking speed. Victor did the same with his helmet and leather armor. Now they were just wearing ordinary t-shirts to battle. They charged and attacked Riri.

“Group cure.” The hope that was in the party suddenly went dim for 25 minutes as Riri cycled through her spells while trying to dodge and block attacks by Fira, Dem, Victor, Hasega and Maria. None of the attacks landed a critical hit so she managed to control her health and cycle through her spells with room for mana regeneration.

“Riri. Please spare us...” Fira then begged.

“Huh? Umm it is just a mock battle right? Nothing would happen even if one of us loses right?” I asked dumbfounded. I wondered why they seemed to attack me with bloodlust in their eyes a moment ago. I thought it was just because they were excited so I followed in by doing the best that I can. Why does Fira beg now.

“Didn’t you hear. Itsa will triple our training!!” Dem said. They were exhausted from their relentless attacks. I too was catching my breath but still was faring better than them.

“The training is horrible. To increase our vitality the mock battles last until our HP is red. We need to run, jog and do acrobatics for 8 hours straight. Then rest and do another shift. It is hell.” Victor said.

I then turned to Stella.

“If you lose on purpose I will train with that okay?” My body then tensed. I looked at their eyes.

The 30 minute mark then passed. My HP is at 50 percent. I miscalculated the damage I got from Dem at the last moment. The battle then ended.

“Well. That was a good show. Though it was only through luck that you won, you guys did well.” Itsa said.

Acrobatic is now beginner lvl 4

Dexterity has improved by 5

Healing hand is now beginner lvl 7

Phoenix regen is now beginner lvl 6

Group cure is now beginner lvl 6

Expert cure is now beginner lvl 6

Magic mastery is now beginner lvl 8

“Well, the outcome is not so bad. Alright the mock battle is over. Riri, let’s return to the corner and do some basic training.”

We then returned to our respective instructors. Stella gave some pointers to me and we held a match just like before with Hasega. In that mock battle I couldn’t touch her at all, she doesn’t need to block nor use the speed like she used in Sidinia. Somehow her movements are smooth and graceful. She then told me that the secret is the body’s flexibility and balance. After 2 days of continuous training my acrobatics skill went up 3 levels.

“Hey Stella!” Ragnar then came into the Tantalus 2 gym.

“Yes?”

“We got a request performance. From count Sil of the City of Acolyte.”

“What?”

“They asked us to perform the 2 heroes of the city.”

All of the group then stared at me.

“Well, the pay is good. Count Ignis also approved it.”

“Ummm.“

“Ah. You can’t play Riri. We can’t really have the real one playing the fake one. Hahaha” Ragnar laughed a bit and went back to serious mode “Well, I am serious. We might get exposed if we do that. Also to not reveal any information we have, we requested them to make the script instead. They suspect nothing and ordered us to come there.”

“Why did they order a play like that?” Fira asked.

“Well, Count Sil only cares about the growth of the city. Who becomes a hero or famous doesn’t interest him one bit. Because of the magnificent role this girl had in that city, he intends to utilize it to bring further growth in the town.”

“Well, all of you come into the core building. Itsa, besides this bunch of greenhorns how many are in Tantalus 2?”

“Somewhere along 100 sir.” He reported.

‘That many? It is almost 3 times the number of core members!’ I thought.

“Alright, round them up later. That on and off group can join to be laborers. That City of Acolyte is new and they do not have many freemen and laborers yet.”

After 3 days of meetings, we finally headed into that new city. There was actually nothing to discuss except the communication line with Trisia just in case the City of Acolyte doesn’t have the necessary equipment. The roles would determined later. But the major roles, that would be the acolyte and the count. It was decided that Stella and Hector would play them. Something that I had expected.

http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=350&t=3317&p=21817#p21817http://www.royalroadl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=350&t=3633

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author note

well, this chapter is rather dull compared to others. it is like calm after storm. hope you enjoy

suggestions and comment are welcome.

it is frustrating when you see your rating goes down in fanfic search list ^_^ :grin: but it is feels so great when you see the rating went up again in that rating. it feels like the rating shows how you guys like my fanfic more clearly. somehow it makes me feel proud but not arrogant. rate my fanfic with you heart and honesty okay ^_^

enjoy reading. [th_084_.gif]