Chapter 9: Before The Fight

Leaving the game, I went out of my room to go cook for the girls, or I was about too when I found Luna already cooking some curry.

"Ah, Rhythm you're done. I tried making some dinner. Thank god I learned how to in class."

Well, that ruined my image of a spoiled ojou-sama.

"By the way, I wanted to ask for some time. How did you become a beta tester for the game [New World]?"

"Dunno."

It's true. Even though I know that Daimon Chase was inspired by the song, why did he make me play it.

"Maybe it's because he's a fan of mine."

"The heck? Fan, of you. Why would he be a fan of your's?"

"Why wouldn't he be. Here, sit down and let me explain. By the way, where's Soleil?"

"She went to sleep," saying that, she sat down and took a taste of her own curry. "Bleah, I need to heat it up more.”

Taking a sip, I thought it was okay, so I continued. “Daimon Chase is a mage. In fact, the technology used to make VR are all based on magic runes.”

Spitting out her curry, she started coughing before she exclaimed, “WHAT!”

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Daimon Chase was nobody in the hidden world. However, his specialty was runic knowledge. To the public, he is a genius that somehow created the impossible, VR Tech. However, it was soon discovered by the hidden world that all VR Tech used magic runes to power them.

Companies that own VR Games are all run by mages. They all keep the secret on how to create a VR World. Implement their system of magic into the technology, many games all have similar systems on magic and combat.

A virtual world uses a system of magic to mimic our solar system's creation, with a few changes.

In fact, the old headgear for accessing VR Worlds had no circuitry at all, but was mostly made to cast an illusion to not notice the runes. That is why all VR Games are created and runned by mages.

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Well, that was the summary of the lecture I gave Luna.

"Wow, mages have a bigger impact on society than I thought. But again, why would he be a fan of you?"

"Well, I'm quite famous among mages. In fact, you and Soleil are lucky to have such a knowledgeable teacher. Among my world, I'm probably ranked in the upper thousands in power."

"I don't really see that though. So I have another question, why is the VR Machine for [New World] so big."

Hmm, that is a good question. The old headgear had pretty much everything already. Maybe I should take a look. Answering that I didn't know, I finished my curry and left the room. On the way, I saw Soleil peeping on us, but she ran away once I saw her. Weird.

Going to the VR Machine, I looked upon the giant egg shaped capsule. It did strike me odd that such a simple machine needs to be excessively big. Maybe I should take a look.

Using [Mana Pulse] I check the inside of the machine. What was inside shocked me. There were so many runes and magic circles that they overlapped each other so many times. Such a complex formula should take decades to create.

Trying to decipher the runes, I started to get dizzy at how much there were. Argh! I'll take a look at it later. I'll just go back in and play.

Entering the machine, I kept [Mana Pulse] activated as the machine loaded. I was able to see the effects of some parts, but it consisted less than 1% of the runes. When it was time for me to enter VR Space, almost 90% of the runes activated. Why would so many runes activate from me just entering the machine?

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Inside the virtual room, I was silently fuming at what happened. I was now really curious about what happened. I memorized all runes there were invented, even some custom made ones, even the ancient unrefined ones. But there were several runes in there that even I didn't recognize.

"Oh? What's wrong Big Bro."

"NAVI! I have a question. Does the VR Machine have an active external camera with the formula for [Mana Pulse]?"

"It has an inactive magic circle for [Mana Sight]. Is that good enough for you?"

Seriously, what kind of machine needs these stuff installed.

"Can you activate [Mana Sight] and monitor how the mana flows when the machine is active?"

"Sure thing."

With that over with, I logged into the game [New World].

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A burnt village surrounded me. There were barely any standing structures still standing other than Jack and Kira's house. Most of the dragons and soldiers left already, so I was standing all alone.

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Vocal, there is no one here. You should probably transfer you focus

to your other body. I'll turn into my astral form and carry your body

to where you are. Just lighten the load for me please.

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Doing as she said, I change to my slime form and condense myself into a tight membrane around my monster core. Kira appearing in her astral form picks me up. Transfering my focus, I instantly find myself next to Kira.

We were inside a tent, with Kira sleeping next to Lena. Lena was keeping watch with her staff next to her ready. Memories of what happened during my absence started to appear in my head. Everything the copy experienced became memories that transferred into my head. From early morning till now, we continued to escape on the hellhound without any pursuers. My copy mainly stayed inactive while Kira and Lena conversed.

It was still around afternoon. The sun was shining brightly, but not of a warm light but more of a harsh heatwave. We were inside a forest with little trees and shade. Checking out my stats and skills, I forgot about the 1% stats.

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Name: Vocal

Level: 100 (1%)

Class: Game Master Lv: 3

Race: [Divine] Slimen

Gender: Male

Health: 10,000

Health Regen: 1 / Sec

Mana: 10,000

Mana Regen: 5 / Sec

Divine Power: 999,898

DP Production: 2 / Week

Titles:

[Game Master] [Kira's Pet (Equipped)] [God's Voice] [Divine Beast] [Summonable]

[Summoned Apocalypse]

STR: 1 (1)

AGI: 1 (1)

VIT: 1 (1)

DEX: 203 (2)

INT: 506 (5)

LUC: 304 (3)

Attack: 1-1

Spell Damage: 5

Defense: 1

Elemental Resistance:

Fire: 1%

Water: 1%

Earth: 1%

Wind: 1%

Light: 1%

Dark: 1%

Stat Points Available: 0

Skill Points Available: 11

EXP: 46%

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Innate Skill(s):

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Innate Skill: Adaptability Lv: 2 (MAX: 10)

A slimen is the most adaptable creature ever.

This skill allows you to gain other innate skills.

Higher skill levels can allow more chances acquiring new skills.

Skill Points to Level Up: 20

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Innate Skill: Lesser Mana Affinity Lv: 2 (MAX: 10)

By being used to magic, you have become more used to using mana.

Increases growth rate for training mana related skills.

Skill Points to Level Up: 20

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Innate Skill: Fire Affinity Lv: 1 (MAX: 10)

By being used to the element fire, you have become more used to

using fire magic. Increases growth rate for training spells relating to fire.

Skill Points to Level Up: 10

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Innate Skill: Water Affinity Lv: 1 (MAX: 10)

By being used to the element water, you have become more used to

using water magic. Increases growth rate for training spells relating to water.

Skill Points to Level Up: 10

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Skill List:

Change Form (Lv: 6)

Cell Structure Change

Metamorphosis {Rank 2}

Eternal Stomach

Identify (Lv: 12)

Mana Manipulation (Lv: 11)

Elemental Magic (Lv: 8)

Enchant (Lv: 2)

Rune Mastery (Lv: 3)

Handicraft (Lv: 2)

DP Production (Lv: 2)

DP Absorption

HP Recovery Up

MP Recovery Up

Magic Circle Knowledge (Lv: 1)

Summoning (Lv: 1)

Split (Lv: 1)

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Spell List:

[Mortal Rank]

Fireball (Lv: 20)

Mana Pulse (Lv: 2)

Blink (Lv: 3)

[Core Rank]

Field of Fire (Lv: 12)

Frost Storm (Lv: 15)

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Hmm, when did I get Fire and Water Affinity? Maybe it's because I used the spells [Frost Storm] and [Fireball] quite often when fighting the human soldiers. I also got another skill point. From what I know, a skill gives you a Skill Point for every ten levels the skill is.

(Ex: At Lv: 10, the skill gives 1pt and at Lv: 30 it gives 3pts)

Oh, it looks like Jack and Ben are back. From the direction of the village, two mighty dragons were flying at amazing speeds towards us. Seriously, I'm so jealous at how strong they are. I wonder how strong they are, but my [Identify] level isn't high enough to find out.

No wait a minute, can't I combine [Identify] with [Mana Sight]. [Mana Sight] is just a focused version of [Mana Pulse] so I can probably combine the two skills.

Using [Identify] as well as [Mana Pulse] - One Direction -> {Mana Sight}, a notification popped up.

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The skill [Identify] has evolved into the skill [Detect].

You have gained the innate skill [Enhanced Sight]

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Detect: Lv: 1 (0%) [Passive]

You can analyze certain things, with the limitation only to your mind.

You can also sense incoming attacks, killing intent, and the flow of energy.

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Innate Skill: Enhanced Sight Lv: 1 (MAX: 10)

Greater vision, including seeing farther and seeing in the dark.

Skill Points to Level Up: 1

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Hmm, better vision would help sometimes. I raise the level of [Enhanced Sight] by one, making it level 2.

With my vision enhanced, I can see how the two draconians were heavily injured. Parts of their scales have fallen off, while many places were bleeding. Seeing their health bar, although I couldn't see the exact figures, it was around 20% for both of them.

Could the army really damage these two dragons? No way, they must be at least level 400, how can they be damaged this badly.

Both of the dragons eventually came to the tent we were in. Turning back into humans, their tattered clothes were stained in blood as both of them fell to the ground unconscious. Seeing this, Lena hurriedly moves towards them and casts a healing spell.

Moving them into the tent, Lena wakes up Kira and has her help. Kira at first cried at the injuries of her Uncle Jack and Ben, but then she started to nurse them. I just watched nearby.

(5 In-game Hours Later)

Navi returned my original body while we waited, and my copy fused with me. It wasn't long before both Jack and Ben woke up at the same time.

"Urgh, damn this headache is so fucking annoying."

"Watch your language Jack. Your little Kira is nearby."

"How are you doing Uncle?"

They continued to idly converse with each other for a while, then Jack started to explain what happened.

"Most of the humans were eradicated by us and the elders, but many of their mages took us down. Eight of our elders fell in battle. We plan to have a final battle at the Crater of Carter."

Kira tried to convince her uncle to consider otherwise. "But there should still be a lot of the army remaining. And all of the Immortals might hold a grudge and kill you later. It's not worth going."

Ben spoke out in a frustrated voice. "We need to. The humans have hunted us for too long. We must make a last stand."

Everyone felt the gloomy atmosphere in the air. Everyone was silent, then both Ben and Jack stood up.

"Goodbye, we will only be out for a while."

No one mentioned that they also might never see Jack and Ben again. Both of them leaving, they transformed into their dragon forms. As they flew, no one noticed me attaching myself to Ben's scales.

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"How long do you think we'll get there Ben?"

"At this speed, probably around 2 hours. By the way, shouldn't you have spent more time with Kira for a while. We might not see them again."

"Don't say that Ben. I want to believe that we will see Kira and Lena the next day, regardless whether we win or lose."

With me eavesdropping on their conversation, I felt guilty at sneaking onto the flight. I long ago split my body and had my main body attach myself to Ben's scales. Navi was watching over my copy, but she could still communicate with me through messages.

I thought up of an idea to train my mastery over spells. Before I left, I equipped my title [Game Master] and spent 50 DP to create an AI that has my memories. So now whenever I split, two me(s) will control each body.

My copy, which I will call First, is currently training several spells while I was with the two dragons.

This way, I can have one of me train while the other plays around. It's lucky that all trained skills go together when we (or I) fuse. First can even play while I'm offline.

Seeing how long it will take to get there, I log out.

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Leaving the machine, it was around 9 p.m.

I have nothing to do for an hour or so. What should I do? Oh yeah, I forgot to visit the suicidal girl. I prepared some outdoor clothes and started to leave. On the way, I met with Luna.

"Hey, where're you going?"

"Oh, I have nothing to do for an hour, so I'm going to visit someone."

"Oh, can I come. Honestly it's kinda tough staying inside without going outside."

"Sorry, but in a few days you should be able to leave. Do you want to bring Soleil… no wait, she's probably asleep."

"Don't worry, she woke up a while ago. Wait here, I'll get us prepared."

A few minutes later, I see both girls coming towards me. Nodding to Soleil, I say, "You okay with going out."

Nodding her head, she replies, "Let's go Big Bro!"

Big Bro? Were we that intimate that she would call me Big Bro. Opening the door, I didn't notice how Luna's face slightly blushed.

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"Mmm, it's so good to go out after being cooped up. So where are we going?"

"I'm going to visit an acquaintance of mine's. She's from my old middle school."

"Ehh, you're visiting a girl this late at night. Is it appropriate to bring us with you?"

"It's just for an hour. Besides, we have a sort of business relationship, so you might be meeting with her more often in the future."

Going to Baba's place, we enter her store through the trapdoor, to the surprise of Luna and Soleil. Inside, it was the same room with an excessive amount of capes and currents.

"Ah, Rhythm! I see that you brought more customers."

"Yeah. In fact, the order I made was for the two girls here. I came to pick up the goods."

"FUFUFU, very well. Here they are."

Bringing out several items, I gather them all into a bag that came along with the pile. The two sisters were watching the items with a strange glint in their eyes. Seeing this, Baba just chuckled.

"By the way, the tutor will teach the young lady every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the VR World [Study Forever]. He starts next week, here's his Teachers ID, xxx-xxx-xxxx."

"Thanks Baba." Taking all of the items, we left the store and walked home. It was a short trip, but both Luna and Soleil were satisfied with this small trip.

Seeing them off, I went back into [New World].

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"Navi, can you tell me anything noteworthy about the effects of the machine?"

"The machine draws mana from the atmosphere, but also draws mana from the Arcane Veins from the world. The machine uses an astronomical amount of mana, but most of the mana is used only when you log in to the game [New World] or when you log out. Also, it seems like your body starts to naturally fuse with the world's energies, although it was only a tiny amount so it is still uncertain if it actually happened."

"Wow, that's a lot of information. Thanks Navi."

"Hehehe."

Seeing as how the body unconsciously fused with energies, usually that was a symptom of aftereffects of being summoned or when your body starts to lose its physical shape.

I guess I'll study later. Time to go back into the game.