The darkness of the forest provides protection for the sins of men. Deep amongst the trees, shadowed by the night, a group of three moved in pursuit of a single man. The lone man was clearly injured, yet he ran desperately for salvation but didn’t cry out for help. He knew it would not come. The cold breeze of the night beckoned death ever closer, but it loomed over him since long before this chilly night. Even in his sleep he found no peace.
Tired and exhausted, he shouted, “Don’t even think I’ll die alone!” He huffed and struggled to take another breath before continuing, “My class might not be suited for combat… and I might be weak, but even so- one of you will join me in hell!”
The men behind him were following in a ‘V’ formation. The leader of the group was dressed for murder. His black hair was tied up in a ponytail, he donned dark brown leather armor and two small daggers. Each blade had already been slathered with a dark red substance like blood and shimmered in the glow of the moonlight. His eyes pierced deep into the soul of the fleeing man, as if he could already see the man dying in front of him.
On his face was a grim grin as he explained, “It’s just bad luck, you’re fated to die here. We were planning to let you join the guild… but I got a hidden class quest. It requires me to kill one of every basic class. You’re the only one I know who chose such a useless class. So blame fate, not me. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy this.”
To his right was a man equipped in thin chainmail with a lengthy sheath on his back, and inside rested a longsword.
With an annoyed expression he spoke, “We used to be friends so we won’t torture you. Just turn around and die quickly.”
The last man in the group was on the left. He did not open his mouth. Contrary to his murderous intention, the color of his short blonde hair was immaculate and bright. His face resembled a sewer rat, yet retained the innocence of a young child. The three continued to chase him into the depths of the forest until he slowed down. In front of him was a large body of water.
The mere size of the pond overshadowed his chance for survival. He could not escape. He came to a halt along the edge of the water and mumbled to himself, “Hah… so death even mocks me here…?” He prepared himself to die but, he would fight to the end. The lone man seeked a chance at life. He was tired of death always taking from him, it was time for him to take from death. He opened his mouth for the last time, “Create Unique Skill: Death’s power to kill.”
The voice of the system echoed in his mind, “Generating Unique Skill based upon your specifications and cross referencing your current emotional state. Analysis complete. Skill ‘Reaper’s Domain’ has been created.”
Reaper’s Domain
Unique Skill
***
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Luke rolled out of the bed and smacked his face on the floor. You would think his round belly would act as a cushion and protect him from such a thing. Still, he planted his face straight onto the floor. He reluctantly pulled himself up off the floor and headed for the door.
A voice akin to pure sugar spoke through the door annoyed, “Come to the front door this instant! I’ve been trying to reach you all week!” The voice sounded familiar to Luke, but he couldn’t quite make out who it was in his groggied state. As soon as he opened the door the scent of cherry blossom perfume traveled through the summer wind and wafted into his nose.
He opened the door, but the smell alone gave away the secret of who it could be, “Why are you here Ella?”
She had long, silky-smooth black hair that swayed in the breeze. Her green eyes were as sturdy and pure as the finest jade and stared straight into his. She was wearing a black overcoat along with a light green scarf that had small, white printed sakura leaves. Underneath, she wore their school’s uniform; a brown button up sweater with a green plaid skirt. Below that, she was wearing pure black thigh-highs that perfectly defined her tightly toned athletic legs.
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After the momentary impromptu staring contest she hissed, “Why do you think I’m here? You didn’t even come to school for the last two weeks. You even missed graduation. The school asked me to deliver your diploma since I was the last one you talked to. Look I know you’re grieving but you can’t lock yourself away like this Luke… It’s not good for you. I don’t think your dad would’ve wanted you-”
Luke interupted her, “The fuck would you know bitch!?”
Ella staggered backwards. She said, “W-What? This is how you treat me? You think just because someone died you can be an asshole? Here take it so I can go!”
She thrusted her hand towards Luke with an envelope. It had the school insignia on the outside. A large box truck pulled up along the edge of the road. Two burly men got out of the vehicle and started to unload two giant rectangular shaped boxes of the exact same size. They brought them up to the front door, one by one.
One of the burly men came up with an electronic tablet and interrupted, “Sorry, sorry. We don’t mean to interrupt, but we’re in a hurry today or we would’ve waited. Lots of people are waiting eagerly for their last minute deliveries. Can you please sign here that you received the package?” he handed Luke the tablet.
He received the tablet and hurriedly signed his name as quickly as he could. He wanted to get this over with and go back inside. The light itself hurt him after being inside for days. The man said, “Thanks! We appreciate it and have a good da-”
“How’s he supposed to take those inside by himself?” Ella interrupted.
The guy behind him chimed in, “Sorry ma’am but, our job is only to deliver to the house.”
“If you take them inside, I’ll tip you a hundred,” Ella offered.
Immediately Luke spoke up, “I don’t want your pity money, keep it for yourself.”
“It's not pity money. I’m paying you back for helping me two weeks ago, just accept it as payment. Anyway, how exactly are you going to take them inside?” questioned Ella.
Luke succumbed to the realization that he wouldn’t be able to carry them, “Fine.”
The two men worked together to take each box inside and put them on the floor in his room while he guided them.
“Thanks for the money miss!” The two guys hopped back into their truck and off they went.
Luke and Ella were left alone by the door. He spoke up and apologized, “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to call you names. I got upset when you started talking about him like you actually knew him.”
Ella stared out into the distance and muttered, “Yes I know. However, I don’t think your father would want you moping around for weeks on end just sleeping. Are you gonna waste your life away? Well, not that it has anything to me. Anyway I’m gonna leave. Goodbye Luke.”
She walked off into the distance and got back into her car. Luke watched as it drove away down the road. He went back inside his room and put the envelope from school on his desk. Then went to check out what the boxes contained. He looked at the package slips and realized the one had his father’s name on it and the other was addressed to him. His box seemed to have something attached under it. He peeled the slip off and checked the back, it was an envelope. On the front was his name. Luke opened the envelope and inside was a plastic card in front. Underneath that was a handwritten letter he unfolded:
“Luke, I’ll probably be working the day these are delivered, but I want you to open them, so you can dive in right away. You’ve always worked hard and tried your best. When you came to me asking to use your college tuition money to buy a device to play a new game, I was shocked to say the least. I never expected that, but I understood that it must’ve been something you really wanted. You never ask for much. I know you always liked games growing up and I realize I never took it as seriously as I should’ve. Some people make a living playing games, so why couldn’t you? But even so, I didn’t want you to use your tuition on a game, so instead I’ve decided to use a portion of my retirement money. I know this might be late but I’d like to help you chase your dream. I’ve never really understood games myself, but I watched the trailer for this (VRMMO?) Game after you asked me about it and I saw they mentioned fishing. I figured maybe you could teach me how to play and we could go fishing together sometimes? I was planning to go fishing more as I retired anyway and we haven’t gone fishing in a long time- since you were a young boy. I was hoping we could do it together. What do you say son? - Love, dad.”
Tears flowed down Luke’s cheeks. His dad died two weeks ago in a car accident. He sat there and cried for an hour before he lost the ability to. Luke rubbed at his red eyes. He took the card out of the envelope and realized it was a registration card for the game. His brain went into overdriving processing this new information. Now, he knew why his dad was out driving that day. He must’ve been on his way back from purchasing and registering them for the game. Luke stayed there on the floor for a long period of time.
He clenched his fists, “Thank-you dad.. I promise I’ll go fishing with you.”
Luke wiped away his crusty dried tears and unpacked the two boxes. Two brand new full-dive capsules for the new VRMMO game, Arcadia. He put them side by side in his room. Luke crawled inside the capsule. Laying inside the capsule was comfortable, it was the closest he felt to his father since he died. The capsule cradled him like the warm embrace of his dad and he slowly drifted off into a deep sleep. A screen from the system appeared in his view.