Spoiler: Characters so far.... [I'm suck with tables] GeaOnline ID Real World AceKivras Kail ? ?

Nia

[Kail's sister]

? ? ?

Alisa

[Kail's childhood friend]

?

Elvaria

[Newbie elf]

? ?

Chapter 12

~ Forest Encounter ~

SW/SW/SW

“…we’ll save her from those players, whoever they are.”

Ace gritted his teeth. Now that he had said it, how on earth he’d save that elf? Those two hostiles were definitely ten or twenty levels way above him. A draconian and a vampire.

The draconian was tall and lean, with heavy armor protected almost all of his body parts. He wore no helmet since his protruding horns were in the way. Every time he breathed, wisp of smoke came out from his nostrils. In his right hand was a big, but richly decorated sword.

The vampire was a bit shorter than the draconian, with jet black hair that reached to his lower back and sickly pale skin. His smile was evil with many hints of arrogance. A slender sword rested in its sheath, dangling on his left leg.

…but what were they doing? Were they going to kill her? What for?

“Just stay there and let me kill you, bitch,” the draconian spat. “Why are you resisting, anyway? It’s not like your real self would die if your avatar’s dead.”

The vampire laughed, “Yeah! This isn’t some dead game like the one in comics! You’ll respawn in Dragonis when you die.”

Respawn? What the hell was that?

Gritting his teeth, Ace’s mind was in a mess. Between Agriella and him, it was obvious that the lamia was the strongest, but Ace didn’t think that she’d stand a chance against them. Her armor was so crappy that it couldn’t be categorized as armor and his level was way too low to fight back or support her.

What should he do…?

“What do you want for me?” the elf demanded, “if it’s money you want, I don’t have any!”

To her surprise, they both laughed.

The draconian in blue armor snickered, “Money? Who needs that crap? We’ve plenty to swim in it!”

“Th-Then why?” the pink-haired elf squeaked, her hands which were holding a sword were trembling.

The vampire sighed, “This is why I can’t stand noobs. Asking stuff and getting so giddy and shit. They’re annoying as fuck. Oh, well, since you’re going to die, might as well tell you everything. We need points.”

Points? Ace repeated with a frown. What points?

The draconian played with his sword so casually while explaining, “We need ‘em to equip special weapons, noob. They’re more powerful than your regular weapons. We want them. We want to be the strongest. And for that, you exist. You’re a points fodder for us.”

Ace held in his scream when the vampire dashed at the newbie player. He sent a slow vertical attack, which was quickly avoided. The vampire didn’t look that shocked. Instead he was smirking.

“Hey,” he exclaimed, “this is fun! An energetic prey makes it more interesting!”

The elf girl was visibly shaking, either from humiliation or fear. Maybe a little bit of both.

The elf was bulllied...

In an instant, Ace was filled with dread. Unpleasant memories resurfaced along with his fear. He knew this situation. He experienced it firsthand. He couldn’t forget the nightmare. It wasn’t the elf who was shaking, but Ace was. Hands trembling and pupils dilated, he looked like he had seen ghosts.

“Kail, would ya lend me some money?”

“Hey, are ya deaf or something? I said lend me your money, man. Aren’t we friends?”

He was scared.

They punched and kicked him. They cursed and spat at him. He was there, lying battered and hurt. It hurt all over that he felt like he was dying.

It hurt. It hurt.

—ter...

It hurt.

He didn’t want it. He didn’t want to get hurt.

—Master…

Ace didn’t—no, more like couldn’t—hear her as he writhe in agony. More and more memories of being bullied tortured him, breaking down his sanity.

“…no more…” he plead helplessly to no one, “n-no more… it hurts… it hurts…”

—Master!

Ace woke up from the unending nightmare that assaulted him. Agriella’s voice brought him back to reality. He repeatedly blinked, unsure of what happened and was confused to see the lamia almost on the verge of crying.

“Master, what is wrong?” she whispered her question, “…you were mumbling and scary…”

Ace collected his thought and tried to open his mouth, but was unable to. It was as if his mouth was sewn shut. He averted his gaze and stare at his trembling hands. The palms were sweaty and looked paler than they were.

He didn’t quite remember what was going on. All he could recall was that he was suffering from Wawan’s punches, money all taken away. He was crying in that quiet hall, alone and helpless. Then everything was repeated again and again… He was trapped within, unable to break through the vicious cycle.

Ace dismissed the thought and gave Agriella a reassuring smile, “…I’m sorry I’ve made you worry. It’s just that the elf reminded me of something...”

“Are you alright? Do you have any Scroll of Return? We can go back to Dragonis safely that way…”

Ace lifted a hand, “No, I’m fine. We will use the scroll once we have the elf safe and sound.”

“But…!” Agriella objected but was quickly interrupted.

“No buts. We will safe her.”

Agriella’s normally pointed ears were now slumped along with her body. She seemed dejected. He knew that the lamia was worried about his safety, but he was fine. The nightmare was gone and he was refreshed.

Thanks to her.

The draconian player lifted his big two-handed sword, intending to slice the elf into two. The sight of a majestic sword paralyzed the elf. She did nothing but stare warily at the big, metal thing. The elf was either charmed by the sinisterly design or realized that resistance was futile, and accepted her fate to be killed by fellow players.

Right before the draconian slammed the sword, a small ball of fire exploded on his hands, thus broke his stance.

“Who the fuck was that?!” the bulky draconian roared with madness.

The elf girl took the opportunity to leap to safety. She ran to the source of the fireball and readied her weapon.

Beside the elf girl, there was a newbie Summoner. The end of his wooden staff was pointed at them. He wore a fierce expression across his face, although the fear that nestled deep inside many layers of expression could only be seen by trained eyes.

“I won’t let you harm her!” his voice was slightly trembling.

“The fuck are you?” the draconian shouted angrily. “Are you her friend? Heh, doesn’t matter! I’ll kill you along with that bitch!”

“You’ve forgotten that I’m here all along. You can take the girl. I’ll kill the Summoner,” the vampire took out his weapon. It was glowing sinisterly, a clear sign that it was a rare weapon, or possibly a legendary one.

Ace gulped. Two veteran players versus two newbies.

…how could he defeat them…?

Spoiler: Status

AceKivras

EXP Chart*

Atk: 5

HP (180/180)

Level 2

207/765

Def: 4

MP(110/245)

Human

558 to lv. 3

M.Atk: 19

Eiredrahl the Impure*

Summoner

5 Coins

M. Def: 13

Independent

Minimum piety

ATTRIBUTES

POTENTIAL

Equipment

No perks or abilities*

STR

5

Worst

Head

Circlet

VIT

7

Bad

Neck

Amulet

DEX

7

Bad

Body

Robe

PER

8

Bad

Back

-

INT

18

Superb

Arm (main)

Staff

WIS

11

Best

Arm

-

WILL

11

Best

Waist

-

CHA

16

Superb

Legs

Pants

* (tap to see)

Feet

Shoes

(Help)

Skill

Description

Level

Healing

VIT

Lets you recover your HP over time

2.643

Staff

VIT

How proficient you are swinging your staff

2.098

Running

VIT

Affects your running speed

3.004

Light Armor

DEX

How effectively you act while wearing Light Armor

7.145

Evasion

DEX

Helps you to evade attacks easily

8.430

Casting

INT

This skill helps you power up your spells

5.610

Meditation

INT

Gradually recovers your MP

5.917

Herbology

INT

Lets you identify any herb to its fullest potential

6.078

Control Magic

WIS

Prevents your ally to get hit by your spells

2.819

Memorization

WIS

This skill slows down the decay of your unused skills

3.677

Literacy

WIS

Allows you to read more difficult spellbooks

6.175

Control Beast

CHA

Lets you control higher-level Summon Beasts

7.931