AN: It seemed unfair to only post the introduction to the world setting and not the introduction, or pre-lude to the introduction of the actual plot for this volume. Also, you deserve to see a little of the world itself (very little) and what battle scenes will be like. So, here's chapter 2. Its only about 10k words in length compared to the last one, but it gets the job done (Still like 2-5 normal chapters so there you go.

Warning: This chapter features mature content in the form of graphic violence and heavy cursing.

Chapter 2: Pay the Ferryman

Time did not flow normally in the Field of New Beginnings. There was no night, only an ever-existent morning. Scott did not know how much time he might have spent there while he experimented with his skills. Even though he could technically stay there as long as he liked, there was a limit to how far he could push, how much he could learn while there. Once he reached that limit he would need to move on. That limit came all too quickly in the form of reaching the fifth skill level in his skills. His temporary experience pools would not empty for a skill that reached that level while in the tutorial area.

As he trained his skills, his mental state had worsened. It would periodically become less burdensome, but would soon degrade once more. There eventually came a time when the lessening of the mental degradation ceased.

Now he was stuck with a constant, almost crippling, headache. The bright light of morning and the cheerful background music were like daggers to his eyes and ears that tried to stab their way into the center of his brain.

"So, this is what you meant about over-training." asked Scott while he pressed his hands against his closed eyes and tried to relieve the pressure in his head.

"Yes. It normally isn't as much of a problem out in the world proper. Out there you can just sit and rest for a short time as you absorb the acquired knowledge. At least, to a point; a point that you have reached." said Mid.

"I think I know what you mean, but what can I do about it?" he asked.

"Your permanent skill experience pool has no doubt overflowing. There is a maximum cap for the number of skill related class levels you can bank without increasing your social and combat levels." she said.

Mid tapped her chin for a moment then continued. "You gain experience at an accelerated rate here. Your race doesn't slow or improve your progress. You might have gained a few social levels as well."

"So, the experience that I gained toward leveling has reached my skill experience pool cap. Can't I do something, like level up?"

"No childe, not here." she said with a smile.

"Is it because there is nothing to fight here?" he asked. He could increase his basic unarmed combat skills easily enough at the moment just by practice his movements, but without something to fight he could not gain actual combat experience.

"Yes. I'm certain that you've already filled your skill pool to level five. Without combat experience, your mind is unable to find an outlet."

"Level five is significant?" he asked, before another stab of pain lanced through his head.

"Yes, mostly because the number four is significant. It is the building block number for all class builds." she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"There is a rule of thumb for advancement. One is a given. Two is Easy. Three is average. Four is hardcore. Five is extreme. Six is rare to be seen." she said.

Scott blinked slowly then stared at her. "What does that mean?"

She smiled warmly at him then made a little circular gesture with her finger. "Those are the numbers related to how the mechanics of the world are balanced. They relate to attributes and skills in relation to class level."

"Oh, so that is how many of any given stat or skill I can have per level?" he asked.

"It's possible to train past six, or not even gain one stat point or skill level. Those are extreme outliers, however. Four is the golden number." She made a finger gun and pointed it at him then closed one eye like she was trying to take aim. "If you increase your stats or class skill levels by at least four per character level, bang. You did it."

"That makes sense I guess. Am I right in saying that maintaining a six-to-one ratio for skill or stat training is hard?" he asked.

She nodded at him. "It is certainly doable, even ten-to-one is doable. It would just take a long longer for little real gain."

"Really? Over-training isn't useful?" he asked.

"Depends on who you are. Over-training certain skills or stats at one point or another is almost necessary in order to wield better weapons or armor. You can develop better spells before facing stronger monsters as well."

"So, then there is a reason." Mid was starting to confuse him a little. Was it possible that she was prolonging their conversations unnecessarily?

"Dear childe, there's a reason for everything. The trade-off is that it takes a lot longer. Unless you have to over train your skills or stats for a specific reason then you would be better off increasing your class level. At least that would allow you to train your skills and stats faster."

"I see, then it would be hard for me to train any of my stats right now?"

"Next to impossible, unless you want to spend a few centuries with me in this field." said Mid. She bit her lower lip a little and fluttered her eyelashes playfully.

Scott offered her a grin in response. "Pass. Somehow, I doubt that I would survive that even with auto-resurrection."

She chuckled softly then tugged on the brim of her hat. "Fair enough."

"It's too bad we can't spar or something so I could level, though." he said.

"We could, but I am required to not hold back in the least. I would kill you long before you gained even a single point of combat experience." she said.

"Ah, I remember that you said something similar last time."

Mid leaned on her staff and cocked her hip to the side. "Yes, it won't count unless I go all out. If I did go all out, you would die without gaining experience."

"So, there is no way?" he asked.

"Well, that's not entirely true." She offered him a seemingly innocent smile. "I can send you off on a tutorial quest."

"Really? What would I have to do?" he asked curiously.

Mid's smile became even more friendly and cheerful. "There is a certain rabbit, a wah-bunny, which likes to sneak into one of my gardens and eat my carrots. If you can stop it from stealing my carrots, I will grant you a reward."

"A rabbit, huh? Alright!" Scott nodded then stretched his limbs. This should be good to relieve his headache. The first rabbit he had ever fought on the casual server had been a fairly surprising opponent, but he had reincarnation stats this time. He had faced down monsters larger than a bus and come out the victor. It should be simple enough to defeat a furry little carrot thief.

"Thank you! You have no idea just how much I need this to happen." Mid raised her staff then made a gentle rotating gesture. A column of light arose around Scott and soon his faded from sight.

After he was gone she unleashed a well-cultivated and feminine smirk. Her staff rotated once and a window screen appeared before her that allowed her to monitor his quest progress. She just had to see how things went when he met the rabbit.

Scott reappeared in a place that had the look of an old-timey farm. There was a rundown barn painted red, with a black roof. He could see a small field where the carrots were planted. The rest of the area showed little more than hard earth and scraggly bits of grass. It seemed like a terrible place for a farm, as there was little growth outside of the carrot patch.

"If I were a rabbit living in this I'd probably steal carrots too." remarked Scott. The pain in his head increased many times over. Rather, it had lapsed momentarily during his transport but it was now back in full-effect.

He clutched his head in his hands and squeezed in an effort to lessen the pain. It was ridiculous that he would experience such pain, but it felt exactly like his head was about to burst from all of the knowledge that he had acquired.

Scott staggered forward a few steps then took a deep breath. He could get through this. All he had to do was fight a rabbit. He was level one, surely the rabbit was too.

Speaking of the furry carrot thief, it did not take long for Scott to locate the very bunny in question. It was small, overly furry, and surprisingly it wore clothes. Rather, it wore something that looked like a sleeveless vest. The vest was cream colored with a little golden fringe at the bottom. It was strange and a little unsettling. He had seen stranger of course, but something about the simple fact that the rabbit wore clothes.

He tried to study the little thing for a moment, but his headache intensified. He could not handle the pain much longer. He needed to end this as quickly as possible. Scott called out to the rabbit while he clutched at his left eye. The pain was particularly intense in that area. "Hey, rabbit. Get away from there."

The little bunny stopped digging around in the carrot patch. It pulled a carrot from the ground as though it were making a point about its purpose. Slowly, it stood up on its hind legs and turned its head back to peer at Scott over its shoulder. One ear flopped adorably to the side, while its eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Wah?"

"Don't wah me. Stop stealing those carrots and get lost." said Scott. He figured that the rabbit could wear clothes, so it must be intelligent. Maybe it was like Herbert and could understand humanoid languages. If it was intelligent then using his words first would be the best method. He only had to stop the rabbit, not kill it.

The rabbit lifted the carrot up casually and waved it back and forth. It then cocked its head a little as though it were asking if Scott meant that particular carrot.

"Look, I've got a headache. If you're not leaving, I'm kicking your furry ass out of here." said Scott. He had reached the end of his patience.

The rabbit casually drew the carrot to its mouth and took a slow, confident, bite. It chewed slowly, savoring the carroty flavor.

"That's it!" Scott tore his hand from his eye and ran toward the rabbit. His headache had to stop, and the mocking bastard needed to go in order to stop it.

The rabbit tossed the carrot aside then snorted. Before Scott reached the halfway point between himself and the rabbit, the wah-bunny shouted, "Waaaa-aaaaah!" and started shuffling its feet back and forth. It drew its front paws up like fists and took on a close fighting stance.

Scott noticed the strange movements of the wee beastie, but it was hard to concentrate due to his level of mental degradation. The pain in his skull was so severe that he might even welcome a kick to the face.

The twilight master leapt upward and thrust his feet downward. He had perfectly executed a flying kick in an attempt to break the little rabbit's stance. His mentality had slipped, but he was still focused enough to recognize that the little thief had taken up a fighting stance. It would have to move out of the due to the size difference if nothing else. Scott could capitalize on that by trying to break its balance.

The importance of technique in battles had been drilled into him in recent weeks while preparing for this new world. He had been beaten half to death by the love of his life and her sister on more than one occasion. He had also studied the way that certain monsters fought, and spent a week at a temple where master sorcerers trained. Technique was vital for true mastery.

The rabbit, however, had decided that it did not want to play by Scott's rules. Instead of dodging the incoming attack, the rabbit performed a strange counter maneuver that allowed it to hop back slightly and then actually use the air itself as a springboard for a somersault kick. It both avoided Scott's attack and countered with a powerful strike to the sorcerer's chest.

Scott fell back with a startled cry as he felt tremendous pressure bear down on him. He was sent hurtling to the ground and hit with enough force that his body actually bounced.

The rabbit landed on its feet, stamped the ground once with its tiny little foot. That action somehow caused the half-eaten carrot to fly up into the air. The rabbit caught it almost casually then took another bite from its ill-gotten gain.

Scott gasped for air, the wind had been driven from his lungs. The worst part was that the rabbit merely looked at him and ate the carrot that it had stolen. The damned thing was taunting him!

It took an effort of will, but Scott rose again. His head throbbed and his vision had begun to blur due to the pressure in his skull. Yet, he was not defeated. The rabbit had to pay! "I said drop it."

The rabbit cocked its head to the side and presented an adorable bunny expression. Its eyelids dropped down so that its eyes were half-lidded. It tossed the carrot aside then took up its close fighting stance once more.

This time Scott decided that he would be more careful. The rabbit was clearly stronger than it looked! Instead of rushing in, he walked toward it carefully. Each step caused his head to throb a little, but when he got within fighting range he took the time to acquire a proper combat stance as well. It was an open stance to match the close stance of the rabbit.

"Wah?" asked the rabbit curiously. It eyed Scott for a moment then dashed forward several steps. It stopped well outside of the sorcerer's physical attack range, and then hopped back a few steps.

Scott realized that the carrot thief was trying to feel him out. It was attempting to break his stance and composure while feeling out his reaction and defenses. What the hell kind of rabbit was it?

Suddenly a strange energy began to radiate from the rabbit. Scott was uncertain what it was. He could recognize the mana, but there was an undercurrent of something else, something that was not elemental in nature.

The rabbit was about to use a fighting skill, Scott could sense the build-up. He could not let it fire off whatever about it was or he would be in trouble. The sorcerer moved forward quickly and struck out with a hard low sweeping crescent strike.

The rabbit shot straight down into the ground! One moment it was there, and in the next Scott's sweep kick whipped through empty air. If the sorcerer had not been so focused on the bastard bunny, he would have thought that it had teleported or had become invisible.

Though it pained him greatly Scott did his best to feel for the rabbit beneath the earth. The rabbit felt like he was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It was like it had become the earth itself.

A brief moment passed while Scott attempted to feel the rabbit out, and then suddenly he sensed movement. A concentration of energy formed near where he stood. Scott instinctively jumped backward several feet to avoid what he thought would be an attack. But to his surprise a tiny rabbit fist erupted out of the ground at the mid-point of his jump!

Scott had just enough time to realize that the rabbit had tricked him just before that tiny fist rocketed into the bottom of his jaw. His teeth smashed together and several of them cracked under the pressure. His jaw was shattered by the blow.

Scott was sent flying up into the air several feet, but the rabbit did not relent. It did its weird air-hop movement and leapt up after him at great speed. It caught up to him mid-jump, kicked off his chest, and then began to glow with a fearsome power.

The world moved in slow motion at that point. A loud masculine voice cried out, "Bunny!" The glow around the rabbit increased several-fold. "Bunny!" The rabbit spun in mid-air and rotated its paws around and then pressed them together. The brilliant glow around the rabbit moved to a single point before its paws and a sphere of incredibly intense energy formed before it. "Haaa!"

The Haaa! echoed through the air twice. It was as though the rabbit had shouted, but the world had laughed at the sorcerer's plight. The sphere erupted into a coherent beam of power that shot toward Scott, who had not quite hit the ground yet. The moment his back touched the earth was the moment that the beam of energy collided with him.

A vibrant explosion rocked the area of the energy directed toward the sorcerer drove his body into the earth. An impact crater revealed the true force of the blast. The area was covered in a cloud of dust even as debris began to fall from the sky.

From out of the dust a silhouette appeared. It was the rabbit. It had reclaimed its carrot and now it had come to gaze upon its victim. In a surprisingly deep voice, the same as the one that spoke earlier, the rabbit said, "Foolish boy. Your fists are as weak as your spirit."

The wah-bunny finished its carrot then dug around in its vest pocket and pulled out two copper coins. It then tossed them down on Scott's chest and said, "Pay the ferryman on your way to hell." before it turned away. It dropped down on all fours then hopped away like an ordinary rabbit.

A happy sigh erupted from the bunny before he began to pull up another carrot. He eyed the carrot lightly then closed his eyes gently and hugged it to his chest. "Stealing carrots is a rabbit's joy." he said in a far higher register than before. Gone was the commanding voice that he had spoken in before.

***

Deep in the heart of the bedroom of a young goddess in love, Origin had an important decision to make. Did she wear the red dress that made her eyes seem to sparkle, or the blue dress that matched her hair? These things were important as her appearance had to be immaculate. She was scheduled to have a dinner date with her father for the first time in quite a while. She wanted to look pretty but also more like an adult so that he would not worry about her excessively.

"Why is this never easy?" she asked the mirror before her. She liked to dress her best, but things were different when it was for a meeting with her father, especially this meeting. He had not told her why he had wanted to meet, but she had a good idea.

While she fidgeted and made little noises related to decision making a buzzer sounded from her console. Origin glanced over to it then frowned. "Again?"

She stopped worrying about her dresses for a moment and went to see what had killed her love interest the second time. After reviewing the information a decidedly annoyed frown arose upon her lips. "Mid, you didn't..."

Origin tapped her screen and an image of Mid arose before her. She tapped on Mid's image twice and a window screen appeared in front of the madly cackling Goddess of New Beginnings. "Mid! What did you do?"

The beautiful woman on screen glanced over to the new window screen and offered her younger sister a winning smile. "He wanted a way to solve his headache problem."

"What?" asked Origin. Scott had a headache?

Mid laughed softly then slipped her hand into the bowl of popcorn she had conjured up to eat while watching the show. "Yeah, his experience pools are overflowing and he's close to a total mental overload. At least he was."

"You sent him to fight Bruce to deal with that? You know that rabbit is an auto-level boss meant to be a challenge for true reincarnated players! There's no way Scott could have beaten him without developing his skills to match his stats." said Origin with a protective growl.

Mid grinned broadly. "I know. His headache will be less severe now, though. His overflowing experience pools will be emptied out." Even if his levels remained intact, the experience that was not fully absorbed from his temporary pools would be emptied upon death. Only permanent experience would remain intact.

"That's cruel! Do you hate him or something?" asked Origin.

Mid took a bite of the popcorn in her hand then pulled the brim of her hat down a little. "I don't think that's the right word."

Origin stared at her sister for a moment then sighed. "Mid..."

"Don't worry so much little sister. He loves you." said Mid with a bright smile on her lips.

The light danced in Origin's eyes a little. "Did he say so?"

Mid nodded. "So, when's the wedding? He wouldn't tell me."

Origin's cheeks reddened slightly. "Mid, that's a secret."

Mid pouted at her sister. "No fair. I don't like it when I'm not the one with a secret."

"Suffer the mystery." said Origin sweetly.

"You stole that from your fiancé." replied Mid.

Origin laughed lightly then nodded. "He told me that once or twice. It always irritated me a great deal."

"I can see why. But don't worry dear childe, I'll take good care of our boy." said Mid.

Origin quirked her eyebrow then asked slowly, "Our boy?"

"We shared a moment." said Mid lightly.

"Mid!" exclaimed Origin.

The onscreen sage laughed beautifully then made a fancy gesture with her hand. "You are just too easy little sister."

"Don't tease me Mid. You know I'm a little sensitive right now." said Origin in annoyance.

Mid chuckled softly. "I know. Don't worry. I'll take good care of your special little man."

Origin rolled her eyes but smiled softly at her sister. Mid could be a handful, but she was a good sister at heart. In her own way she had probably, truly, thought that coaxing Scott into being brutally murdered by a rabbit with monk skills was the best way to cure his headache.

"Well, he is going to respawn here soon. I'll talk to you later." said Mid.

"Alright..." said Origin, her voice trailing off.

The image onscreen faded out and Origin sighed. She was certain Mid would not try anything too forward, but it was still worrisome. Mid was crafty. Unlike Shara, who had the flirtatious sophistication of a walrus in heat, Mid could easily sneak another girl's man away if she really wanted to do so. Out of all of Origin's Siblings, Mid was the one who took after their mother the most.

She unleashed a soft sigh then started to turn back to renew her nerve-wracking decision making regarding what outfit to wear when she met her father. An alert sounded on her console, a different one that the one that went off when Scott died.

"Oh, they finally got back to him?" she asked. It was an alert that she had tied to his cell phone on Earth. Specifically it dealt with the US military. She had tied the alert to it so that Scott could focus on his goals on ARS without having to stop and check his voice email continuously.

She fiddled with her screen for a moment then opened the alert message so that she could hear his voice mail. An unfamiliar voice began to speak. She snorted after hearing what that voice had to say.

"Foolish little men." Scott was not going to go for their decision at all. They had decided to schedule him for a meeting in three months, but he was to report for duty in forty-eight hours. That wouldn't happen.

Origin rubbed her chin. "Well, both father and Scott did say that I could negotiate directly if all else failed."

A bright smile crossed her lips. "Why beat around the bush?"

She brought her Earth avatar, Aria, up on screen then made a few minor adjustments that she was allowed to make. Her father had said that it was allowable to upgrade her power base there slightly in case the mortals needed to see that she was not lying about her nature.

Origin hopped into her console seat and placed her tiara on her head. A brief moment later her consciousness dimmed and then brightened once more. She was now within the body of her avatar, Aria Ardent.

Aria yawned delicately then stretched in a luxurious manner. Scott's bed was comfortable, and quite large. After a moment she sighed then sniffed at his pillow. It had not been long but she missed him. In a way it was like her dreams had come true. Who didn't daydream about their favorite fictional character coming to life and falling in love with them? True, Scott was not a work of fiction, but he had been just as inaccessible until recently.

She sat up then sheet slid down to reveal her lush and naked body. Aria noticed her nudity then blinked. "Ah, that's right I should put on some clothes."

Aria started to retrieve the clothing that she had worn before, but a thought occurred to her. A goofy little grin crossed her lips and she bit her lower lip a little. "Scott's closet..."

She moved to where her man-candy kept his clothes and looked through his selection. She chose a plain white button up shirt then giggled warmly. She slid it on and buttoned it up before going to the bathroom mirror to check it out.

Aria fluffed her vibrant blue hair and turned from side to side. "This is it, isn't it?"

It was a moment like in a movie where the girlfriend wears her boyfriend's shirt the morning after they make love. "Wow, if I had a cup of hot chocolate and a shameful smile this would be almost perfect!"

After a moment she giggled once more. "Well, why not!"

She practically pranced as she headed to the kitchen. A few minutes later she sat at the kitchen table while wearing nothing but her finance's shirt and sipped at her beverage. "So shameless." Her smile widened three sizes after saying it.

There was only one more way to make this little morning scene perfect, but sadly it was not to be. It would require the aid of a second party and that just would not happen. Aria laughed at her silly thought, but then her eyes widened when the doorbell rang. "No way!"

In the perfect morning after scenario she would run into Scott's old fiancé right now. Did she dare go to the door wearing only Scott's shirt? It could not possibly be Sarah at the door, but the idea of it happening was so delightful that it could not be helped. "Well, it would be rude not to answer..."

Aria giggled sweetly then pranced over to the door. It was probably the mail man or one of those people who wanted to bring the good news about their god even though sending an e-mail would be faster.

The doorbell rang again and Aria spent a moment tousling her hair in just the right way. "Do I look appropriately scandalous?" She grinned. This would be great! "I wonder who it is?"

Aria opened the door with a bright smile on her lips and she cheerfully said, "Hello, may I help y—"

She stopped cold. On the other side of the door was the person she had least expected.

The blond woman on the other side blinked then leaned away in surprise. She took in the sight before her, of a blue haired woman wearing shirt that was obviously too big for her. It did not take much thought to realize what was happening. "Where's Scott?"

"He's not here right now." said Aria. The scenario was no longer as cute and whimsical as before.

"Oh." the blond woman said. "Uh, who.... Are you?"

Aria saw no harm in telling the truth. "I'm Aria, Scott's fiancé. Who may I say asked for him?"

"Fiancé... He, a fiancé?" She asked slowly as though the words did not process properly. It had been a little over nine months since she had last seen him, but this was a shock either way.

"Yes, we are so in love it would make most people sick." said Aria in a friendly tone. She then hugged herself and laughed.

"He's just wonderful."

Sarah grunted a little then started to say something, but Aria continued with a girlish giggle her eyes wide and innocent. "And wow, when we make love I feel like the Earth shakes."

Sarah's left eyebrow twitched slightly and she made a coughing sound. "Yeah, uh... I just. He hasn't been answering my text messages and I wanted to talk to him."

"Oh? About what?" asked Aria with a pretty smile.

"That's not really... It's our business."

"We have no secrets from each other." said Aria, a little tenseness appearing in her tone. "It was one of the early issues in the relationship. Something about his old fiancé cheating on him or something. What a whore, right?"

If Scott had heard Aria speaking in this manner he would have been quite scandalized. She never spoke this way around him. Normally she was quite sweet and endearing. At the moment she was quite salty and perhaps a little spicy.

"Did he say that last part?" asked Sarah, her face becoming a tight mask of anger.

"I don't know, she's not important now. I should thank her, though. If she wasn't such a cheating bitch, I would never have gotten a chance to be with my Scott." Aria sighed dramatically then hugged her hands to her chest. "We've been ever so happy."

Sarah looked like she could spit fire after hearing that. Her teeth began to grind a little. "How old are you anyway? You look like a teenager!"

"Well, yes. I should. I'm eighteen. Wait, or am I nineteen?" Aria acquired a thoughtful expression. "Hmm, twenty maybe?"

"You don't even know how old you are?" asked Sarah with a snort.

"I've been so busy being in love with my Scott that I've lost track of the seasons." She smiled prettily. "Either way, I'm in the prime of my life and quite capable of handling his voracious sexual appetite."

She reacquired her thoughtful expression. "My, is it voracious!"

"Damned pedophile." muttered Sarah.

"Hmm? Why would you say that? Do I look like a child to you? I own my own house and everything." said Aria sweetly.

"Then why aren't you in it?" muttered Sarah.

"Well, it's right there." Aria pointed to the house next door. Sarah glanced over to it then her eyebrow began to twitch again.

Aria blinked. "Oh wait, you wanted to tell my Scott about something?

"Look, it doesn't concern you. I want to talk to Scott." said Sarah with a little heat creeping into her voice. Fiancé or not, this child kept referring to Scott as hers like she was bragging. It grated heavily on Sarah's nerves.

"Well, my fiancé's not here, but if you want me to take a message I can do that." said Aria.

"Can you put some clothes on first?" asked Sarah with a frown.

"That would be silly. We plan to make love all day when he returns." Aria touched her index finger to her chin. "That could be a while though."

"Fuck it! Fine... just tell him that Sa—" The girl stopped for a moment then a crafty look came into her eyes. "Just tell him that he has a son, and to call me."

Aria blinked then her jaw dropped open. "A son?"

"Yeah, didn't tell you that did he?" Sarah smirked at the shirt-clad woman then walked off, pleased with herself. That would teach the big-knockered slut a lesson about messing with her.

Aria was momentarily distraught then glared at the woman walking away in the distance. She didn't even try to hide it when she brought up a menu screen, scanned Sarah, and checked her associations. Her eyes narrowed and she looked like she wanted to rip a certain someone in half. "Lying woman. Scott's not the father at all."

Sarah got into a beat up old station wagon and pulled out of the drive way. She smiled viciously at Aria as she drove away.

"The Joker was right. Sometimes you just wanna watch the world burn." muttered Aria while she stared daggers at the fleeing woman. At the very least it would be nice if some people burned just a little.

***

The Field of New Beginnings was a place where time stood still. That did not mean that someone could stay there forever unless they simply wanted to hide from the world. Scott had learned first-hand that he was incapable of remaining in the tutorial area if he wanted to become stronger. His first fight in the new world had been a true disaster.

"So, you're ready to move on?" asked Mid with a warm smile, but a sad tone of voice.

"Yes. I don't really know what to do about creating more skills here. My stats are high enough, but I can't increase my skill level enough to help me focus on development of my spells." said Scott. He had only managed to create three spells in his time there, none of them were combat grade abilities. He could create a stable light spell after working on his original unstable orb of brilliance for a while. He had an ability that allowed him to start a small camp fire over time. He could also wrap Earth elemental energy around his body to slightly increase his toughness. It did nothing toward stopping an attack, but he would be able to travel the wilds without taking minor scratches from bramble thorns and similar things.

Scott would love to stay in the field and learn a lot more spells over time, but every time he even tried to do so his headache would increase in ferocity. Until he could gain a few combat levels, he was unable to train properly. That was the limitation of the beginner area. Otherwise, newcomers would never leave.

"Makes sense. You have done as much as you can here. Would you like to be sent to a tutorial dungeon near the city that you chose? It might help you learn the way of the world further? It's a fairly simple place and you will be able to develop your combat ability." said Mid.

"That sounds good, but what if I die there?" asked Scott.

"It's an instanced dungeon that is part of the tutorial system. Time doesn't pass and the monsters won't respawn there until you leave, but you can't return to it if you do leave." She nodded toward him then smiled a little. "Death in that dungeon just auto-resurrects you back at the safe room. It's your last free deaths."

"Sounds real good then. Is there anything that I should know?"

Mid chuckled. "The monsters are all low-grade but they are designed to match their level to your stats, much like the rabbit you were killed by earlier. Though, they won't be nearly as skillful."

"I hate that damned rabbit." muttered Scott. He had never wanted to murder a furry woodland creature so much in his life. He had even gained an achievement for being killed by the thing. They Call Him Bruce. It had an image of the rabbit tossing two copper coins on his chest in a dismissive manner.

"Find him in the world beyond. The quest is still available to you. Defeat Bruce and you'll get the reward that I promised." said Mid before granting him a saucy wink and a slight pucker of her lips.

"I don't know which sounds more dangerous, the rabbit or the reward." said Scott flatly.

Mid chuckled softly then shook her head. "Dear childe, you would love my rewards."

"No doubt, but I am happy with my current rewards package." countered Scott with a smile.

The great sage nodded lightly then smiled once more. "Good. Are you ready?"

"I should probably check the mirror one more time to be sure." said Scott.

"Ah, good point. Go ahead dear." said Mid.

Scott went to the mirror then checked his status. His attributes were all the same, and his level certainly hand not changed. He checked his skills.

Class Skills

Unarmed Combat: 5

Twilight Sorcery: 5

Primordial Magic: 1

Sense Life: 5

Arcane Lore: 1

Arcane Mastery: 5

Light Armor: 1

Analyze: 1

[--][/align]

[Miscellaneous Skills]

Survival Lore: 5

Boomerang Mastery: 1

[--]

Scott rubbed his chin. There were supposed to be a lot more class skills that he could learn, but he would have to discover them on his own or locate masters who were capable of teaching them to him.

He was a little aggravated by the lack of ability to train his primordial magic skill, but he needed actual water in order to study its effects before he could hope to actually do anything with it. He could focus on elemental water energy, but he could not yet generate physical water. He felt like he was close to doing so, however. As with everything, he just needed to train more.

"Alright. Everything seems to be the same as I remember it." said Scott.

Mid rotated her staff and a glowing doorway rose up before him. "You'll be taken to a place where your health and mana will regenerate quickly. I suggest you use it frequently, but take your time when fighting your way through the dungeon."

"I will. Thank you." said Scott.

Mid fidgeted slightly then reached down and smoothed her dress a little. "Take care Scott."

He smiled at her. She had thrown him to the wolves, rather the rabbit, but that was fine. He had lived after all. "What? No goodbye hug for your new little brother?"

Mid smiled brightly at him then rushed over to give him a heartfelt hug. It was innocent and a little sweet. "Welcome to the family little brother."

Scott wiggled a little and made friendly grunting noises for emphasis. "Thanks Mid. Am I still meeting everyone soon? We were supposed to get together till things happened."

"Of course we are, but you should probably spend some time training first." said Mid. "I think Origin is supposed to be meeting our father for dinner at some point, so you'll probably be meeting him soon as well."

"Should I be worried?" asked Scott lightly.

"Yes." Mid did not hesitate and also did not lighten the mood.

Scott blinked then leaned his head back a little. He acquired a thoughtful expression then said, "I see..."

"Don't worry about it too much. Just go forth into adventure young man." she said before releasing him from their parting hug.

Scott patted her on the shoulder. "Thanks for everything Mid, even the bunny murder quest."

"All in a day's work, little brother." said Mid warmly.

He offered her a brief smile then turned toward the glowing door. It was time to move on, even if he had so much more that he wanted to learn. Even attempting to train further in this place would cause a crippling headache. It was time for real training in the world beyond.

Scott walked through the door and Mid sighed a little at his passing. "Might as well log out and let the system take over."

Mid called up a logout screen then hit the little red button that would let her do exactly that. Her avatar slumped forward and started to snore. Soon it shimmered vibrantly and then changed shape into a fairly short elderly woman. Any new entrants to the world or returning reincarnates would be greeted by the system version of Mid, and not the true deity.

The twilight sorcerer walked through a corridor made of light and out into a dimly lit room with smooth stone walls. He blinked several times rapidly as his eyes adjusted to the light levels then looked around.

The floors, walls, and ceiling were all of a single uniformly grey color. The only things of note in the room were a small steel framed cot in the corner of the room, a silver mirror that hung on the wall, and a metal table with a little metal box sitting atop it. "Cozy."

He checked the mirror first to be sure of what he suspected. He smiled when he realized that it was, in fact, a salvation mirror. "Useful!"

Scott went to check out the box. He opened it up and saw several miniaturized items sitting inside and a normal sized envelope. He found that to be a bit strange. Did they use envelopes in medieval times? He knew this world was supposed to be different from the casual server, but was it really that different?

He opened the envelope and found a letter inside along with ten silver coins. The coins were stamped with an image of a goddess with her arms spread wide on one side and the sideways head of the same goddess on the other. There was a little motto written on the bottom. "In Origin we trust, huh?" asked Scott, an amused smile rising up on his lips. The letter inside was quite interesting as well.

[Mission Briefing]

Hellraising Hellions

Thank you for coming to the aid of the Valkovian Empire at this time of need. The agreed upon monetary fee and special equipment that you required for this task have been left here as per your request.

The empire thanks you for your service, citizen.

Mission Requirements: Defeat the Hell Rats that have taken over the 34th Street Subterranean Transit Authority building. Be warned, they are heavily armed.

Success: Defeat the Hellions 40/40

Failure: If you flee the area before the task is complete.

Reward(s): 20 Silver Fayth, Special Equipment, 1 Salvation Crystal

[--]

"The hell? Is this how quests are given in this world? That's pretty neat." Instead of a screen popping up, he had received a letter.

The other items in the metal box were doll-sized versions of gloves and common equipment. Scott reached in and carefully took out an item that looked like a tiny brown leather vest. He was greatly surprised when it shimmered then expanded in his hand.

"Whoa... Now that's neat!" Instead of an inventory screen they had something like this? Amazing! They were right about the place being both fantastic but focused on realism. It had game mechanics like this, but they were all integrated into the world instead of floating around in a distracting manner.

Scott stared at the reddish brown leather vest in his hand for a moment. He was attempting to use his skill [Analyze]. It was a class skill that would allow him to recognize simply items and eventually he would even be able to sense the abilities of his opponents.

Instead of a screen popping up in front of him he felt a strange connection to the garment, like he somehow understood it better. He still did not know what its stats were. He would need to analyze it further before he had a good idea of what it could do. The only thing he could tell for certain was that it was a light leather vest, it was of standard quality, and he could probably equip it.

Scott put on the vest then took out a pair of strange looking pants that expanded to a size that would fit him. After analyzing them he recalled what they really were. They were chaps, specifically batwing chaps. They were a leather item worn over the top of pants.

Batwing chaps were cut wide with a flare at the bottom for easier leg movement. They had several straps along the waist and thigh that were used to fasten them, and were the same color as the vest. Upon further inspection he noted a second set of straps near the bottom flare.

His ability to analyze items was still low, but he could tell that this was a customization option. It also did not take long to realize why they existed. He would need to kick a lot. He might trip on his own chaps if he performed a lot of fancy footwork in a low-position. The straps would allow him the protection of the leather armor, and the ability to kick like normal as the flared would be negated.

There were a few other items in the box. He pulled out a leather strap that had a wide oval-shaped metal disk on the front. It was sewn together tightly in a complete circle. Scott slid the headband over his head and positioned the disk in front. It tightened slightly when it was put into place and he sighed in relief. It actually helped his headache a little due to the slight increase in pressure.

The other items were a light brown cloth bag, a light brown leather belt, and a pair of leather gloves with a hardened leather band across the knuckles. He equipped them all then nodded.

Scott performed a few experimental punches and kicks. The new items were light weight, not that their weight would have mattered much with his level of strength anyway, and felt comfortable.

He put the envelope back into the letter and then the envelope and his money into his little bag. When he did so he was delighted to see that the letter shrank down to the size of his pinky. The little bag could hold a lot more than it seemed! Though the coins remained the same size, about the size of an American nickel.

After looting the metal box he tried to pick it up and take it with him. It refused to budge no matter what he did.

The metal cot proved to be comfortable when he checked it, a little too comfortable. He felt himself wanting to take a nap as soon as he sat down. Scott had to force himself back to his feet.

"Man, this is great!" Scott smiled to himself. The headache aside, everything he had seen of this world had him excited.

There was nothing else to do in the room, so he moved to the only exit. Scott took a deep breath then released it slowly. There were forty monsters in this area that he had to deal with before this mission was completed. They should have levels equal to his stats, but were low grade monsters. He was not certain what that meant, but he was about to find out.

Scott opened the door and stepped out into the subterranean transit authority building. The first thing he face was a wall. He stepped out and turned to see the door close behind him on its own. The door faded partially from sight, like it was trying to enter stealth mode. Perhaps it was doing exactly that. It led to a safe room after all.

He looked around and noticed that he was currently in a dead-end corridor that had little in the way of decoration. There was a sizable map on the back wall that caught his attention. It held the floor plan for the building.

The old Scott, the one who thought he was a badass gamer, would probably just wander around and fight monsters for their loot. However, the new and more balanced Scott remembered a bit of his military training. He needed to know the strength of his enemies, their position, how smart they were, and various other things. In short, he needed intelligence. There was one place that seemed to offer it. Scott traced a route from his current position to the security room on the second floor.

According to the map, the transit authority building was neither particularly wide nor was it tall. It had three floors.

He left the map behind and headed down the corridor as quietly as he could. He slipped close to the wall and listened carefully as he moved. It was not long before he sensed a nearby presence. It felt relatively strong. He knew that it might be a difficult fight.

Scott stopped near the edge of the corridor and listened carefully. He heard voices.

"Stupid humans." muttered a high-pitched voice. The dull sound of something meaty being kicked could be heard.

"Their meats taste good though." said another high-pitched voice, with a laugh.

He could not be certain, but he thought there might be only those two monsters up ahead. He had no idea what they were exactly, but that was part of the challenge.

Scott took a risk and quickly poked his head around the corner and then it back. They had both been facing away from him. They were humanoid and somewhat large, but he could not be certain what they were otherwise.

He quietly took a breath then spun gently around the corner. He had to defeat the monsters that had taken over this building. That was the task at hand. This battle would tell him what he would have to contend with in the near future.

"You think boss will get the city to pay?" asked one of the two monsters.

"Who cares as long as he pays us?" asked the other creature.

Scott noticed that they both wore what looked like heavy rain coats with the hoods up. It was impossible to see what they looked like, or their equipment. He had no real choice but to attack from behind and hope for the best as the corridor they were in now was too small to slip around them so that he could get a better look from the front.

He leapt into the air and launched a powerful flying kick that caught the monster on the left square in the back. The impact elicited a beautiful crunching sound upon impact, but despite the force of the strike, the creature only staggered forward a few steps and shouted.

"What the hell!" snarled the creature before both it and its companion turned toward Scott. He could see them clearly now. They had dull red skin, bright yellow eyes, small horns jutting from their forehead, and an angry expression. Two small tusks jutted up from their lower jaws adding to their monstrous appearance.

"A human? Eat that bastard!" roared the hellion that Scott had attacked. The creature then lifted its arms from behind the raincoat like outer garment and revealed its weapons, a set of twin pistols that did not appear to be made of metal.

Scott's eyes widened in terrified fascination as the monster that he had attacked opened fire with its twin-pistols. Each shot missed him completely, but the little bursts of light made a surprising Ka-pew! Ka-pew! sound.

The gun-wielding beast roared in frustration when his ammunition ran out and he was forced to try and reload. "Stand still meat!"

"He is standing still you idiot! Stop trying to look good cuz you got two guns!" snapped the other hellion before whipping out a massive battle axe that he obviously could not have been hiding under his coat.

An axe he could deal with. Scott half-stepped back to avoid the hard swing of the monster's horizontal attack then rocked forward and launched a hard palm strike that slammed into the monster's nose. He had hoped for a clean break, but all he accomplished was bloodying its nose a bit.

"Fucker!" roared the hellion before rushing forward in a sloppy charge.

Scott slipped sideways and kicked out at the beast's legs in the passing. Its knee buckled and it fell forward in a heavy heap.

"Shit!" snapped the other hellion as he fiddled with a spherical device. The sorcerer could not allow him to do whatever it was that he intended to do. It could not possibly work out well for him.

Scott rushed forward and launched a hard straight punch toward the hellion's head. Surprisingly, the beast snapped its head sideways quickly and then whipped its right arm around it a circle to knock Scotts arm sideways before he could recover. The entire sequence of events had taken far less than a second but Scott was already off-balance and open to the beast's next attack, a hard rising knee strike to his solar plexus.

The sorcerer gasped as some of the wind was knocked out of him, then cried out in surprise when a sharp elbow rammed down to strike his shoulder blade. He was unable to recover due to the rapid-fire counter-combo and the finishing blow from the monster came in the form of a hard spinning left hook that slammed into the back of his head with great force.

Scott was heavily staggered by the rapid strikes and was knocked to the ground, dazed by the blow. Obviously, the hellion was a gun-fighter that specialized in firearms and unarmed combat. It proved to be a truly hellish combination.

"Fucker wasn't much." laughed the gun-hellion before he lifted his boot in an attempt to stomp the life out of the man.

The creature's metal clad boot rocketed downward and slammed into Scott's back with bone-crushing force. The strength of these monsters was as hellish as their name.

"Save some for me." muttered the other hellion as he rose to his feet. Blood poured freely from his nose for a moment before he held it closed and began to breathe through his mouth.

"Why? It kicked your ass. These meats is mine." said the gun-hellion.

"The hell they is! If I hadn't kept it busy it would have killed you."

"Really? Cuz' the way I see it, you didn't land a single hit and I smashed it on my own."

The hellions were a physically strong race with lots of vitality and stamina. However, they were not particularly bright in comparison to other humanoid races. They were smarter than an average ogre, but not by much.

The monsters began to argue heavily about who got to claim the corpse, despite the fact that their meal was not among the deceased. That proved disastrous as Scott was given time to recover.

"I killed the human! Its meats is mine!" shouted the gun-fighter.

"You sure it's even human? It don't smell human." snorted the other hellion.

"Don't care. Meats is meats." muttered the gun-fighter.

"You gotz no class, fucker. These meats is wasted on you." snapped the axe hellion.

"Oh? I gotz no class?" snarled the gun hellion. "Me?"

The meat that the two monsters fought over recovered enough to form a stupid, but logical plan. Scott launched a feeble kick toward the shin of the axe hellion then went limp.

Neither monster noticed the origin of the kick, and had thought the meat to be dead and well-tenderized. So, it was natural that the axe hellion concluded what he did. "No class fucker! You kicked me!"

"No I didn't! Stop saying lies." snapped the gun hellion.

Soon the conversation devolved into a shoving contest. Finally the axe hellion snarled at the gun hellion and swiped at him with his axe. "You don't touch me, no class fuck!"

"I gotz class you assbag! You the one with no class!" snapped the gun hellion.

"Me?! I got class! I'm softsticated as hell. Ugly shit." snorted the axe hellion.

The gun hellion stopped for a moment then snickered. "Yeah, you soft alright." He ran his tongue along his upper lip then made a kissy face at the axe hellion before he launched a hard right cross toward the face of the axe fighter.

The axe hellion was not able to dodge completely, but it did not matter. He took a punch that skipped across his cheek, but managed to ram his axe handle up with under his former companion's chin with enough force to stagger him.

The gun fighter was hit with a strong follow-up attack that cleaved through his leather rain coat and tore into his chest. A fountain of blood showered out as the monster fell back, knocked to the ground by the blow. The axe hellion wasted no time in chopping downward with brutal efficiency. Meat was back on the menu tonight!

While the axe fighter finished off its friend, and thus won the conversation, Scott quietly regained his feet. The axe hellion laughed maniacally as he chopped at the gun hellion and soon the other monster was no more.

"Show you who gotz more class, meat." said the beast with another laugh.

He turned back to the other white meat that should have been lying dead on the ground, but discovered only a powerful fist rocketing toward his face. The hellion's nose broke cleanly this time, no longer able to withstand the force of the blow after having been weakened by a similar strike before.

The hellion cried out in agony before he was swept to the ground with a strong, confident spinning hook kick to back of his knees. Scott leapt atop it, snatched a hunk of its hair and started to bash the monster's face into the ground with brutal efficiency. When he felt that the hellion was properly dazed, the sorcerer began to unleash a series of hard punches to the back of the thing's head. It was not long before it went still and moved no more.

Scott panted a little. That battle had worn him out a great deal. The girls had not been kidding when they had each warned him that fights on the classic server were much more difficult. This had been like fighting real people. Real stupid people, but still real people.

He sighed loudly, then stood up and started to collect his loot. He took the guns and the axe and stuck them in the bag. The axe took up a good bit of room as it was a large item and only shrunk down to about the length of his palm.

The monster's pockets were searched and he found eighteen copper coins, each about the size of an American quarter if he had to guess. There were also a few of those little glowing spheres that the gunner had tried to use before, and two doses of a health restoring potion if the label of the bottle was to be believed.

There was more to take, however. Scott stripped the corpses down and stuffed everything that they wore into his bag. That alone took up a lot of space. If he had to guess, he might be able to store the equipment of perhaps a dozen of these monsters. He would have to pick and choose then hope for the best.

He left the naked corpses where they lay, there wasn't any way to hide them anyway other than to drag them around the corner. There was no way to clean the blood splatter and gore at the moment, either.

Scott considered moving on, but after a moment he decided against it. He went to go take a look at the salvation mirror and to rest for a while. If more monsters came out in search of these two, he would die if they saw him. He did not want to risk losing whatever experience he had gained or his items.

Back in the safe room, Scott checked the salvation mirror then sighed. He had not increased his level. Truth be told, he was not surprised. He had not done particularly well in that fight. Still, his information was saved for later.

He hopped on the cot and closed his eyes. The battles to come would be fierce, he could tell. He needed to be as healthy as possible when dealing with them, and for now he would try to fight them one at a time if possible. Without the element of surprise, perhaps even with it, he would not be able to win even a one-on-one battle with these monsters easily.