[9:20] First Plane, Heaven Floor.
“Ugh! This bastard!” GrizzlyDiamond roared in rage as he charged at the cold-eyed vampire, Syèl. The warrior cut a particularly sorry figure. His armor was cracked in several places, and half his face sizzled, badly burned from scorching flames. On the contrary, Syèl’s appearance was impeccable, without a trace of dust.
Syèl snorted as he looked at the charging warrior. “Stupid tricks.” Shockingly, he ignored GrizzlyDiamond and flicked his finger to his right. A five meter stone snake burst out of the ground and shot into the sky.
At first, it appeared Syèl had gone crazy, but then, the charging ‘GrizzlyDiamond’ suddenly faded to mist as a loud, pained groan erupted to Syèl’s right. The vampire calmly gazed at the warrior trapped in the stone snake’s mouth, and then turned to his left. “Don’t bother. Cheap illusions won’t work on me.”
“Tch.” RustyReaper gritted her teeth as she ‘shimmered’ into existence. She was not as good at illusion magic as Honne Onna, but she did not think Syèl would make her look so useless effortlessly.
Syèl smirked when he saw her frustration. The duo’s pain had significantly improved his mood. “What? Is that it? Why don’t you try some more magic?”
“Fucker! Don’t you ignore me!” GrizzlyDiamond angrily smashed the stone snake. The snake exploded to dust, freeing GrizzlyDiamond. “Terror Slash!” The warrior swung his sword, unleashing violent red ki-blade at Syèl.
Syèl smirked at the incoming ki-blast. GrizzlyDiamond already used his ki to ‘lock’ Syèl in place, preventing him from dodging this move.
‘Locking’ targets was a common passive skill given to masters in any combat class. Locking involved temporarily pressuring a foe with overwhelming mana or ki, preventing them from moving for a few seconds. This allowed one to prevent a situation where the enemy easily sidestepped their finisher.
This move was not infallible though. First, enemies with similar ki levels could only be locked for about a second before they broke out with their ki. It was even more difficult to lock down enemies with vastly superior ki. Also, locking was far more successful if the target was distracted, weak, or tired. That was why warriors commonly traded blows for a long time before unleashing a finisher at the end.
Syèl shockingly did not attempt to dodge, or break out of GrizzlyDiamond’s attack. Instead, he asked with a sinister smile “Do you want to die so badly?” Syèl waved his finger, and a three-meters mandala appeared in front of him. A heavy stream of water poured out, and crashed into the ki blast, causing an explosion that sent droplets flying everywhere.
“Holy Yggdrasil, Bless these children that they may grow, [Full Bloom]!”
Syèl’s brows rose as thousands of flowers suddenly bloomed from the ground. He turned to RustyReaper, who had a vicious expression as she crossed her arms.
RustyReaper’s eyes glowed green as she rapidly chanted her spell. “Flowers, heed my call and rip apart my enemies! [Flower Storm!]” Following her chant, leaves from the newly grown plants split off and formed a sharp storm and surrounded the vampire.
Each leaf had been strengthened by mana to the point they were sharp enough to pierce steel. RustyReaper was certain that this much would rip Syèl to pieces. She clenched her fist, causing every leaf to shoot down at the trapped vampire.
“Heh. Nice try.” Syèl chuckled just before the leaves engulfed him. Boom!
“No. Impossible!” RustyReaper stumbled back in shock as a small explosion burned her leaves to ash. “How!?” The flower mage groaned in disbelief as she stared at the vampire shrouded within an infernal tornado. “You didn’t even chant!”
“Who said you needed to chant?” Syèl chuckled, but did not bother explaining. Instead, he pointed at both RustyReaper and GrizzlyDiamond and said, “My turn.”
RustyReaper’s expression turned dark as a terrible cold sensation crawled up her neck. She did not know why, but Syèl’s single finger terrified her to the core. It was like it was the last thing she would ever see on this earth.
Fortunately, Syèl suddenly paused at the last second and turned to his right. The vampire revealed a dangerous grin as he dropped his hands. “You aren’t even trying to hide your presence. Are you that confident in your strength?”
“Haha, it’s nothing like that. I just don’t want you to kill off our allies.”
RustyReaper and GrizzlyDiamond froze when they heard the tell-tale slovenly voice. They turned to see the predictable blue-furred walking out of the thickets.
Sonic lazily chewed on a thistle as he observed GrizzlyDiamond and RustyReaper. “This should be enough, don’t you think? I believe they’ve learned their lesson.”
GrizzlyDiamond’s expression instantly turned ugly. “Who the fuck do you think you are—urk!” The warrior clutched his stomach as he doubled over, coughing up spittle. Through his blurry vision, GrizzlyDiamond spotted Sonic by his side coldly glaring at him. ‘How? When did he get here?’
‘He’s fast.’ Syèl’s brows momentarily furrowed. As an observer, he barely caught sight of Sonic, who closed over ten meters in a single second to punch Grizzly’s stomach. ‘He’s faster than me.’ Syèl was not too proud to admit that fact. Instead, his mana began to roil, and his grin widened as his battle intent shot up.
Sonic flinched when he sensed the vampire’s rising bloodlust. Exasperated, he looked at Syèl and complained, “Are you a fifth grader? Calm down, will you?” Sonic frustratedly chewed on the thistle as he absentmindedly patted GrizzlyDiamond’s back. “Did you all forget Kashi’s warning? Low-key, low-key. We can’t let the natives know we’re here, or we’ll be stuck in this place forever. I don’t know about you guys, but this is my main account. I don’t want to lose it.”
GrizzlyDiamond coughed as he recovered from Sonic’s punch. The warrior stood straight and glared at Sonic. “Tell that bastard! He’s the one that attacked me first!”
Syèl, realizing that there probably wasn’t going to be a fight, sighed and shrugged. “Well, you pissed me off. There’s plenty of monsters. Why are you going around killing defenseless people, and little girl—” Syèl paused and once again looked at the doll. Come to think of it, this could have belonged to a boy too. “Little children.”
“Ha!? Are you crazy?” GrizzlyDiamond gave Syèl an incredulous look. “What children? These are just ones and zeros, same as any other monster. If you don’t want to get free experience points, that’s on you, but don’t force your misguided views on me. There’s always one of you in every VR. Idiots who can’t differentiate reality from a game.”
Syèl snorted at GrizzlyDiamond’s impassioned rant. “Idiot, I’m not debating morality with you. I don’t care about how you feel or what you do. You pissed me off, so I beat the shit out of you. That’s all.” It was not like Syèl did not understand GrizzlyDiamond’s point of view.
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No matter how realistic this world seemed, it was still a game designed for the players’ enjoyment. As long as players did not cheat in some way, or break Genaco Entertainment’s Terms of Service agreement, everything they did in this game was legal and reasonable, from murder to even more heinous acts.
GrizzlyDiamond belonged to the group of people who firmly treated this world as a game. He ranked things by how much experience points they would give him, and as such had no qualms killing Residents as long as he could avoid any backlash.
Kashi belonged to the group of people who treated this world as a second home, or even their only home. To them, every character in this world was real, and as a result, they carefully weighed their options before engaging in slaughter.
These two groups inevitably clashed in several VR games, leading to server-wide wars in some cases. Their ideals were too diametrically opposite for their to ever be peace.
Syèl understood all this… and did not give a shit.
Syèl was not like Kashi who unconditionally acknowledged the existence and autonomy of everything in this world, nor was he like GrizzlyDiamond, who looked down on everything as containers for experience points.
Syèl simply cared for a few people, and two of them happened to be A.Is like the Residents of L.N.E. Furthermore, even though he knew that they were computer programs, the doll dredged up unpleasant memories of a world he left behind.
“What kind of bastard logic is that?” GrizzlyDiamond growled in anger. “You beat me up because I annoyed you?”
“I’d say it is the logic of the strong.”
GrizzlyDiamond suddenly felt a chill and he turned to see Sonic’s frosty eyes.
The kafu sneered. “Like you said, this world is a game. So, guess what? If you piss someone off, they can beat the shit out of you without any repercussions. That’s what it means to live in an MMO where power rules above all. Don’t like it? Beat him.”
Sonic was really pissed off. Compared to Kashi, he was even more of a fanatic for the Residents in this world. He truly loved this world, and would much rather live here for the rest of his life, than return to the real world. So, he instinctively hated people like GrizzlyDiamond because they disrupted the peace and serenity of this beautiful world with their stupid massacres.
Still, Sonic was old enough to see and consider the bigger picture. So, he calmed down before he did anything rash, and said to GrizzlyDiamond and RustyReaper. “I sensed your energies, so some avians also might’ve. Clean this place up, scatter and stay in hiding. I have a feeling we’ll be on this floor for a while. We have to hold out and make sure we don’t get seen until then.”
After giving out instructions, Sonic turned to Syèl. “If you meet your guildmaster, tell him I would like to speak with him. Until then.” With those words, he waved at the group and then calmly walked away.
“Heh, he knows how to make an exit.” Syèl chuckled as Sonic walked into the thicket. He then turned to GrizzlyDiamond. Despite the warrior’s nasty glare, Syèl could no longer muster up any battle intent. Cheap fast food quickly lost its appeal after catching a whiff of a five-star course.
Syèl sighed and then also retreated into the forest. “Whatever, I’ll see you guys later.”
Angered by the two men’s nonchalance, GrizzlyDiamond clenched his fists. “Just you wait, you bastards. When this is all over—”
“Grizzly,” RustyReaper interrupted the enraged warrior before he finished his sentence.
“Ah. You’re right. Sorry.” GrizzlyDiamond, realizing he almost spilled one of their guild’s greatest secrets bowed his head and apologized.
“It’s fine.” RustyReaper smiled, but it soon turned frosty as she looked into the forest. “We will make them pay for their arrogance soon enough.” With those words, she flicked her fingers, causing a giant mandala to hover over the field. “O Gaia, take the forgotten earth for your own. [Overgrowth].”
The mandala shattered as tree vines grew from the earth and snaked over the thick trees and treehouses. Within a few dozen seconds, the entire region was filled with so much vines and greenery that the treehouses looked like they had been abandoned several years ago.
Other vines then wrapped up the corpses and dragged them underground to serve as fertilizers for their future growth.
RustyReaper looked at her handiwork with a grim smile. She was nowhere near Brilith’s level, but she was still an extremely powerful plant mage. “For the mission’s sake, we’ll let Syèl live a little longer. Next time, I’ll teach that vampire a true lesson.”
***
[9:30] Fourth Plane, Heaven Floor
“Hey, hold up!”
Zuri, who had been making a beeline for the next Air Corridor, paused when she heard a familiar voice behind her. She turned to see Somo frantically flapping his wings until he caught up to her.
Somo’s cheeks were flushed when he finally caught up, indicating just how much effort he exerted to catch up. “Haa Haa~ You’re pretty fast.” Somo took a moment to catch his breath, and then said to the bewildered Zuri. “Thank goodness, I caught up. You almost passed it.”
Zuri was even more confused. “Passed what?”
“Hehe. You’re pretty strong, but from the sixth floor, damn near everyone is an elemental. You’ll lose if you go as you are now.” Somo strutted out his chest, rubbing his nose as he tried to exert the aura of a mysterious expert.
“Zuri will lose?” Zuri frowned. “Why will Zuri lose?”
Somo grinned. Hehe, operation Wise Master was in full effect! “Well, without wind elementals, you won’t be able to maneuver freely in the sky like those experts. You’ll definitely fail. You’re strong, I admit, but movement is everything in the sky. Your strength won’t mean anything if you can’t hit your target.”
Zuri clenched her fist in frustration. Indeed, she felt her limitations in that last battle. If the other guards were even better at flying, she might not stand a chance. However, Zuri could not let herself fail Kashi’s mission. She looked at Somo with imploring eyes. “Do you have a way to help me?”
Somo vigorously nodded. ‘Kuuu~ She’s so cute! ’ The young avian coughed to prevent his excitement from reaching his eyes and then returned to his ‘wise expert’ demeanor. “Your only weaknesses are your flight and elemental skills. I know a place where you can fix those pretty quickly.”
Zuri’s eyes lit up with excitement as she grabbed Somo’s shoulders. “Where!?”
‘C-Close!’ “There.” Somo steeled his facial muscles as he pointed towards the ground.
Zuri looked down and her eyes widened with surprise. An incomparably beautiful tropical land was spread out before her eyes. Several tiny green ‘bubbles’ floated above the luscious trees, giving the plane an ethereal, magical atmosphere. Her gaze was drawn in particular to a giant tree, where thousands of ‘bubbles’ were tightly clustered.
Many avians sat beneath the tree, eyes closed in deep meditation. Every now and then, a bubble would descend, and then disappear into an avian, who would then stand up, bow, and fly away.
Somo proudly spread out his arms as he took in Zuri’s fascination. “Zuri, welcome to The Garden, birthplace of all Elementals.”