Sinomi 

In 3001 a new game was released, the game allowed all to start out as a human, but once you reached a certain level, you were allowed to choose to evolve into either a stronger version of your current race, or become something entirely different…

CHAPTER 1 The Game’s release

Eric Altamore was 20 and was the first of many to buy the new game called: “Sinomi” As he turned on the game, he put on a helmet that connected to his mind, making the game seem far more real than an average VR helmet. He awoke laying in the forest filled with grass. “Hmm, so this is how the game starts, he made his way over to a small pond to look at his character’s appearance. “Seems the game automatically scans your face to look like you instant of creating a character”

(I’m merely a lvl. One, so I’ll have to find supplies to protect myself until I raise my status high enough to deal with any situation) Altamore made his way through the forest where he came across a small cave. The moment the player got within a few feet of the cave’s entrance, a group of goblins ran out from the darkness holding either a knife or club.

“You there, how dare you trespass on our land. We shall kill you here so you won’t cause us any trouble!” Eric was unsure what to do, he only wore a white shirt with black pants, what could he do against a group of goblins. (I wasn’t much of a fighter in real life, but first time for everything) One of the short green creatures lunged toward them with a knife preparing to stab him, the game glitched for a moment before continuing. 

He felt strange but brushed it aside until after the fight. Managing to disarm the monster, he stabbed the goblin in the abdomen. The enemy landed on their back before breaking apart into pieces of green pixels.

(Weapon Acquired: Knife Level 1)

(Hmm, seems an A.I voice announces when I gain a new item. Well then, let’s see just how good I can fight with a mere knife) Two of the remaining monsters charged the human planning to strike him down with their large clubs. The man felt his body move on it’s own, with an abrupt slash the clubs broke in two falling to the ground. 

“Heh, seems my body will react on it’s own once it’s in battle” 

“I’ll kill you for breaking our weapons!” The small but buff goblin with green skin threw a punch toward the mere human, but missed by a split second. “Nice try, but you’ll have to gain more EXP if you want to beat me” With that Eric elbowed his enemy in the back of the head, causing him to collapse, becoming pixels like the other one. (Just leaves one left) He watched as the last goblin ran towards the cave attempting to escape.

Just in time, Altamore threw his knife right for the fleeing creature, piercing it’s back before it collapsed just a few feet inside the cave.

(LEVEL : 5 Acquired, you have unlocked a special skill: Silence. With this skill, enemies will no longer hear you coming)

“Sweet, now let’s see if there’s anything of value within this monster cave” The human made his way inside. As the light began to fade from outside, a line of torches lit up on the wall to show a path deeper through the cave. After about a minute of walking through the narrow path, he entered a large chamber where an ogre was waiting. It was seven feet tall with gray skin, orange eyes and muscular.

“Hmph, looks like I have my first visitor. What is it that you want?”

“I’ve come to see if there was anything of value within this cave” The ogre let out a deep laugh before rising from his throne made from goblin bones. “If you’ve come to steal from me, then I’ll have you pay with your life. I Kengaru will kill you and add you to my collection of skulls” 

Eric was unsure if he could win, but thought he should at least try. The monster slowly approached him, Altamore could barley feel the ground shake with each step the creature took. Kengaru threw a blow towards the small human, luckily missed by a mere second. The player could feel a rush of force go by from just the monster’s fist. Finding an opening, he kicked the ogre in the abdomen, sadly not doing much damage.

“Heh, you’re a weakling! This shouldn’t take much longer” His opponent grabbed him by the leg, utterly hurling him across the chamber hitting  the wall. Seeing his health bar appear on the top left of the screen, it was down to 60%. “Damn, seems he did a good deal of damage to me. At this rate there’s no question to who will win this battle. Looking around the area, he noticed the ogre hadn’t equipped his one-handed great sword that sat in the corner of the room just a few feet from where he had landed.

The boss realized what his opponent was doing and charged him, luckily the player grabbed the blade just in time.

(Weapon Acquired: Great Sword Level: 9)

Once again the monster threw a blow toward the human but was blocked by his own blade. “Time to turn the tables” With a full force slash, Eric threw his new weapon down. Kenkaru put his arm up to block the coming attack. The player’s ATK. Was lower than his current foe, but with his blade, it boosted his ATK just enough to do considerable amount of damage towards the ogre.

His slash attack pushed the boss back a few feet, along with bringing his health down to 80%. (Alright, hopefully with just a few more blows I’ll be able to defeat my first boss) Advancing toward his foe, Altamore slid between the monster’s legs and stabbed him in the back just before he could turn around. The player watched as his foe’s health went from 80% down to 30% “Now to finish this…My ultimate move: Dark slash!”

Kenkaru was weakened by the sudden drop in health and didn’t have enough stamina to react in time. With an abrupt motion of his blade as he dashed past the enemy, Eric stood in an offensive position with his blade motionless…That’s when the ogre collapsed onto the ground breaking into pieces.

“I-I did it…seems like a lot of RPG games, it really depends on a lot of things if you’re strong enough, such as your; Race, Armor, Skills and weapons. Those are usually the key to growing stronger and becoming a high-level player. Which reminds me…this is an MMORPG and yet I haven’t seen a single player pass by yet. Then again the game is still only a day or two old, shouldn’t expect players to flood in with every game”

Just as he stepped out of the cave with the silver and red great sword on his back, the A.I voice announced: (Achieved Level: 12 you now have the choice of evolving to either: Demi-human or Super-human) Closing his eyes, he could see the two choices in the darkness written in white text. Focusing on the right-side that read: “Super-Human” The text boxes vanished and he opened his eyes. His body began to glow with golden light and wisps rising from his body. His body grew buff and muscular as if he had trained and exercised for years.

“Wow, never thought I’d look like this. Well, time to continue my journey. Hopefully I can find someone that’s friendly” Making his way through the forest, he soon came across a large city out in the distance. A large steel wall surrounded the city. Eric was on a hill just high enough to see a few stores and a tower in the center of the city that was higher than the wall itself.

“Good, hopefully there will be some armor and allies I can find in the city, maybe even make a life there until I’m ready to build up my own city” As he proceeded down the hill, he could see different kinds of creatures moving around the path towards the city. Gripping the handle of his great sword with his left hand, he began making his way down the path towards his destination. Just then he heard something rustling in the trees around him, that’s when a small rock creature jumped out letting out a deep cry.

With a quick move, Altamore struck the creature with his blade, casing it to shatter into pieces. The moment he defeated the monster, a legion of tiny rock golems raced out from both sides of the forest’s path surrounding him. The player was unsure if he could defeat so many monsters at once even if they were only the size of a baby. Dozens of them leapt in his direction, they didn’t have fingers but being made of rock a punch could still do damage.

Eric spun around with his blade, slicing four of the creatures in half. But instead of them staying down like an average living creature, they merged into a bigger golem with each one he sliced in half. After only damaging five of them, they merged together into the size of a teen which was about 5’7. “Damn, they’re that tall with only five put together!? Fine, let’s try this!” Gripping his sword with all his strength, Altamore slammed his blade into the ground causing an immense wave of force to shake the forest along with sending the small rock monsters staggering backwards in different directions.

“Ugh, though a full force attack would’ve damaged any of them, but it only pushed them back. Whatever, I can handle this even if I’m alone” Advancing forward, the super-human unleashed a barrage of strikes toward three of the monsters and like before, they cracked apart, but put themselves together into one bigger monster. (I just need to get all these golems to become one so I only have to focus on one target and break it into pieces too small to repair itself)

“Hmm, let’s try this” Taking a deep breath the player swung his blade focusing on his MP bar. His blade began to glow with a purple aura as he made a slashing motion toward the horde of creatures in his way. A wave of purple energy was released from his sword in a crescent shape. He watched as the attack cut several golems in half. “Good, seems this attack is useful against rock monsters. If I focus my mana into an attack, it’ll release an energy attack the moment I finish the motion.

With every ounce of his MP, Eric made three slashes forming more crescent energy attacks in their direction once more. With his mana drained he fell to one knee out of breath. “Well…now I know what happens when I use up all my mana” The player watched as most of the monsters were sliced to pieces leaving only three small ones while the others were fused into the giant golem that was now 30 feet tall. “”Hopefully my plan works once they’re all fused together.

Just then the giant rock monster threw a punch toward the human with it’s massive fist. Eric put his sword up attempting to block the coming attack. However, the force of the blow was so immense it sent the low level player staggering through the air, landing in the city he was headed toward. Meanwhile his blade had slipped from his grasp, landing near the center of down impacting the ground with the head of the blade in the ground…

Eric awoke inside a small house lying in bed. “W-where am I?”                                              He sat up with a headache. Rubbing his head. Checking his HP he noticed it was down to 40%. (Looks like I’m still hurt from the monster’s single attack…Oh no, that must mean it’s probably head toward the city right now!) Still dizzy from just getting up he rushed outside to see multiple notice him and come over. “Hello stranger, glad to see you’re awake” An old man dressed in a red cloak commented.

“Thanks, sorry to rush things but I need to get help, your city’s in danger”

“If you’re looking for warriors, you can talk to the guild master over there just a few shops down from here. There’s plenty of warriors willing to take a challenge” The bald old man responded. The player thanked the NPC before making his way towards the guild. Inside the city, the ground was covered in bricks, the  entire city was a circle with rows of stores and houses all over the place with the tower in the center of the city.

Most places were made of either wood or metal. Eric quickly made his way over to the guild tavern where a woman with light blue, green eyes dressed in a black dress was standing behind the bar which was also used as her desk. “Hello sir, glad to see you’re alright, quite a fall you had”

“I’m here to find any warriors willing to help me stop a monster headed for the city!” Many of the citizens looked at him, some with a look of fear and others a look of disbelief. “Yea sure there is, you’re just looing for free labor aren’t you?” A warrior commented sitting at one of the round wooden tables just a few feet away from the player. Altamore turned toward him with a serious expression. “Fine, if you won’t help me I’ll try to stop them myself!” The super-human stormed out of the tavern headed for the location he presumed his blade at landed.

(There it is!) As he proceeded toward the great sword, a man in heavy silver knight  armor appeared ahead of him reaching out to grab the blade. “Stop! That blade belongs to me, I gained it from defeating an ogre out in a cave few miles from here. “So what? That just means it isn’t yours. You should’ve held onto a blade as great as this” Eric watched as the knight lifted the blade out  of the ground with ease, turning toward the player. The man had long blonde hair with pink eyes.

“I don’t have time for this, a monster is headed right for this town and I need to stop it!” 

“Hmph…” The knight watched as Eric ran off towards the entrance of the city to stop the monster who was drawing near. Finally outside the city, he could see the full size golem that was now half a mile away. At his size he’d reach them in mere moments. All the player could do is stand there and watch as the creature reached the city. The city’s guards closed the large gates as Altomore stood alone for the fight.

“I Should take a break before the big fight” He tried to open his player menu and exit the game, but he couldn’t seem to open the menu to leave, only his inventory and friends list. “What is this!? Why can’t I leave the game!?” Looking up he saw the rock monster throwing a punch toward him. Managing to evade the attack, Altamore could feel the environment shaking around him from the creature’s incredible strength.

(I’m not sure what to do, my health only regenerated up to 50%. If he hits me hard enough, I could lose all my health…who knows what will happen if I die here but can’t leave the game) The monster prepared for yet another attack when something soared over the wall of the city at incredible speed. at incredible speed. The player watched as the golem’s right arm was severed from it’s body. There wasn’t any blood, instead it just hit the grass, cracking apart.

“So, there really was a monster outside Kenowa’s walls. Luckily it doesn’t seem too bright so this should be simple. Eric watched as the blonde knight stood before the giant enemy as it let out a deep roar in rage. “Oh shut it, I’ve dealt with monsters like you before and they actually had more up their sleeve instead of a pile of rock” Suddenly the knight ascended up into the air gripping the great blade he had taken from the player. As the golem prepared to grab the small warrior, the man advanced forward, slashing through the monster’s abdomen.

Instead of a single slash, the NPC landed on the ground with his back to the golem as several slashes damaged the creature in a ray of violet light. Altamore could only watch as the monster cracked apart before falling to pieces. Eric was in shock at how powerful the knight was. Using analysis which was a game feature players had, he scanned the knight which showed that he was LEVEL 50. Wow, no wonder he beat that monster so easily. To think they’re be someone that high of level in the city.

“So, you’re a warrior as well…however you’re a low-class. You might annoy me, but I can’t ignore someone with hidden potential” Eric decided to go along with it as they made their way back to the city. The NPC took him to an area in the city that had a fighting arena for battle training. “Not many use this fighting area anymore since the warriors around here either left or have become way too full of themselves. I almost forgot, my name is Reno Kaiosha, I hold the current title of strongest fighter in this city. What is your name?”

“My name is Eric Altamore”

“Now then take this, it should prepare you for our duel” The boy was a little unsure about the battle, he was only level 12, what could he do against a level 50!? Reno had given him a healing potion, it was in a tiny bottle with a glowing light-blue liquid. Drinking the potion, wisps of blue light ascended up from his body as his wounds were rapidly healed. 

“Now, is your wounds healed? Then let us begin…first I want to test and see how strong you currently are. I know there’s a big gap in power between us, but in time you should grow stronger. I even have a special item for something like this. The average person would question why I’d keep such an item, but it’s for going easy on low-level. When I put on this ring, my stats go down a great amount, should be just enough to be near your level”

Using his analysis he saw that his ally went from 50 down to 20. Tossing the great sword aside, he put his arms up for battle. Eric advanced toward the knight throwing a fierce punch toward his opponent. Reno abruptly caught his fist, kneeing him in the abdomen. The player let out a cry of pain before falling onto his back. (Damn, how can I fight this guy without getting my butt kicked?) He picked up a rock and threw it full force toward the higher-level foe. However, the knight caught the baseball-sized rock, crushing it in his grip.

“Come now, surely you can do better than this…here this may help” Picking the great sword up he tossed it over to the player. “Let’s see just how strong you are with a sword” Eric took a deep breath focusing his mana as he did before. However, instead of using his slashing technique, he let his mana flow throughout his body before dashing toward his target at even greater speed. The violet aura swarmed around his body like flames as he unleashed a barrage of sword strikes toward Reno.

The knight managed to evade each attack that came his way. On the last swing he stopped it with his armored hand. The force of the player’s blow caused a sudden shake around them. “Hmph, seems you are a skilled fighter, just lacking technique. With some more training I can teach you some skills that really come in handy. First will be how to fly that’s the most basic ability on my list of abilities. It uses no MP but does require a good amount of concentration to use”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

CHAPTER 2 Reaching New Heights

“By what I can tell, you’ve never had a mentor, therefore you have no unique skills up your sleeve aside from channeling your energy into your attacks or body to boost yourself for a moment. That can be useful, though at your level your MP is so low that you can diminish your power rather quickly, therefore you should save it for a last resort. Now then, let us begin with learning how to use flight. Calm your body and feel as though you’re becoming lighter”

Altamore watched as Reno’s body was outlined in a blue light as he ascended into the air, slowly rising up until he could see the entire city from below. Meanwhile Eric attempted to do the same. Closing his eyes he imagined his body becoming a lighter each second. Picturing a feather in his mind, his body began to float just a few feet off the ground. (Come on, why won’t my body go any higher!?)

“Honestly as that all you can do? Surely you can fly higher than a mere five feet off the ground!” Reno called back, his arms crossed as he remained motionless in the sky as the sun began to go down with a pink color filling the sky. Clinching his fist, Eric focused his mana once more while picturing the feather at the same time. In his head he saw the white feather whit the violet aura around it. At that moment he began to ascended higher until he was near his mentor.

“Heh, well done, seems focusing your mana with what I said was enough to help you fly higher, but you still have to learn how to fly around instead of just going up and down. So then…can you move and stay airborne at the same time?” Kaiosha advanced toward him. The sudden reaction to defend himself caused the player to lose his concentration on his levitation, causing him to fall back towards the city about 500 feet. At first the fear of his health reaching zero was keeping him from concentrating. Luckily, Eric found the courage to focus once more just in time to stop himself before impact.

He floated five feet above the brick-layered street before hitting the ground. Luckily at that height he didn’t take any damage. “Shit, how is it this hard to fly and yet Reno says this is the lowest skill he has to teach me!?” At that moment, he looked up to see his teacher flying towards him at great speed attempting to attack him with a fierce strike. Jumping back as fast as he could, his mentor missed just moments before contact. He struck the ground with immense force, leaving a small crater where he had struck the ground.

Eric found himself breathing heavily with his heart racing from the abrupt attack his mentor had attempted before it was too late. (I can do this…if I can get my body to go up…I should be able to move forward as well) Once more he imagined himself flying forward this time instead of rising up. He drifted slowly at first but began to pick up speed. (I can do this) Flying fast as he could, Altamore clinched his fist throwing a full force punch toward his target.

Reno took a hit to the face, getting sent several feet backwards before catching his balance. Well done, you learned flight faster than I expected you to. Now then-” Before he could finish he felt something out in the distance… “Demons…I can feel dark energy headed this way. By the feel of it, there’s a lot of them. Stay here, you’re not strong enough to deal with these. The average demon’s level is about level 30. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Stay here and make sure all the citizens stay inside”

Reno aimed his hand toward the great sword, causing it to float over to him before he took off at incredible speed with a blue aura swarming around his armored body. As he flew past the walls of the city he could see a large demon out in the distance, along with dozens of human-sized demons either flying around it or walking through the forest. “What is this? Who’s commanding so many demon to randomly attack this specific city!? Never the less, I should be strong enough to handle such a threat. Let’s see…Many seem like level 30…however that massive one is a level 50 like myself. This could pose a problem…only one plan comes to mind”

Putting his hands together as if to pray, a clone of himself manifested beside him. (This clone is only level 25, but should stall long enough until I get back) Reno flew back to the city, descending down to the guild tavern where Altamore chose to wait. “Eric, I need you to head to the closest city and ask them for help. Hear I have a map that might help. I know you’re still a little rusty at flying, but we don’t have enough time for me to head there and get back before they reach the city!”

With a nod the player took off toward the city that was north of them. He flew slow but smoothly. Meanwhile Kaiosha rejoined his duplicate. The demons had a few minutes before they were to reach the city’s walls. “Fire skill: Condensed fire ball!” Forming a small but powerful orb of fire in his left palm, he shot it in the middle of the army of demons. The moment it hit the ground, it erupted in a massive explosion.

“They may be demons, but they can still take damage from fire attacks. Even with my large amount of MP, I need to conserve as much as I can by using the skills that use the least amount of energy. “Lightning skill: Lightning barrage!” Aiming his hand toward the dark sky, dozens of lightning strikes rained down, striking many of the evil creatures. Pulling the sword out from behind his back, he prepared to take on the monsters up close…

Meanwhile…

Altamore soared through the sky now picking up speed getting used to flying. After about five minutes of flying he looked at the map on an electronic device that was round and showed a holographic map with a flashing blue dot which was his current location. “Good, looks like I’ll reach the next city in a minute or two. I hope my mentor’s doing alright…

Back at the Kenowa Reno flew through the area at great speed, slashing threw every demon that came his way. “I won’t let any filthy demons get into the city of Kenowa!” The gigantic demon spotted him and opened it’s mouth, releasing a wave of fire in his direction. “Damn, ice wall!” An abrupt wall of ice formed between him and the coming flames. The heat was so immense it almost instantly melted the thick layer of ice until it was a puddle of water.

The armored warrior created three shadow-clones of himself, going right for the monster. Many winged demons attempted to stop him but were sliced with the great sword, causing them to go flying off towards the forest, crashing into the trees below. (A lower level demon won’t stop me from killing this colossal monster) Moving up to his target, Kaiosha used his MP to unleash a barrage of slashes at light speed. The blood red goo-like demon blew up in a splatter of red liquid.

It seemed as if he had defeated the monster but in a shocking turn, the goo put itself back together, hardening into a stronger-looking version of itself. The red goo creature was now looked like a knight in red armor with red eyes glowing through the hole in the helmet. The demon was now holding a blade as well. “Hmph, I knew it couldn’t be that easy to defeat a massive devil with an equal level to mine”

Miles away Eric had finally reached the city where he landed at the front gate of the city. The gate was bronze with gold symbols on them with a metal wall instead of concreate like the other city. “Welcome traveler, what brings you to Orion this late at night?” A guard dressed in black royal clothing asked holding a great sword with diamonds on the handle and near the tip of the blade.

“I’m Eric Altamore and have come to find help for the nearby city from demons that are preparing to attack” 

“Very well…wait here, I will have a talk with our king to provide you with any available help” Eric stood outside the city as the guard went through an average-sized door next to the large gate. (Hopefully I’ll make it back before anything bad happens)

Back in Kenowa Forest Reno floated in the air staring at his powered-up foe. The knight noticed that all of the small demons were just spectating instead of attacking him anymore. (Seems they’re not going to interfere in this fight, either way I can’t let my guard down) The armored demon gripped it’s samurai sword made of flames, making a slicing motion toward Reno with the city right behind him. Throwing both hands out in opposite directions, the knight created a blue shield made of his own mana.

A wave of flames 50 feet high went burning right through the forest right for the hero. His energy barrier managed to take most of the damage, therefore only bringing him down to 80% health. “Crap, I’m getting nowhere…but all I can do is stay on the defensive if I wanna protect the city” As the colossal demon prepared to attack once more, a projectile made of light flew past Kaiosha, hitting the demon in the eye.

The knight looked behind himself to see Eric and two other warriors coming to his aid. One was an Elf with large white angel-like wings. He had long blonde hair dressed in a black cloak. The other was a woman with dark purple hair wearing golden armor. They reached him in moments. The elf used it’s wings to fly while the knight used the flight ability like Eric and Reno. 

“We’ve come to your aid” the elf commented, shooting yet another light arrow toward their main target. The demon attempted to reach out and grab one of the heroes but was forced back by the power of the elf’s arrow. Seeing their master getting forced back, the small demons all flew right for the archer, attempting to stop his attacks. With a smirk the elf pulling his bow back that was made out of energy, an arrow made of green light formed where an arrow would normally be in an a bow. 

His last two arrows were green however, holding his projectile in place, it became yellow…then finally red. Seconds before the horde of creatures attacked, he let go of his projectile, sending it right for the monsters just five feet away from them. The first few demons evaded the soaring arrow, but hit one of the enemies right behind them. The moment the arrow made contact, it blew up in a shockwave of red light, wiping out everything single demon between them and the giant monster.

“There, that takes care of the pawns, now we just need to handle this giant demon. That arrow of took a lot of my MP to use, it’ll be awhile until I have enough mana to use the full-power attack again”

“Don’t sweat it Xavier, I got this back me up” The woman in golden armor responded flying right for the red armored devil. It fired red beams of energy from it’s helmet’s opening. The warrior dodged each coming blast, landing on the creature’s arm. Time to defeat you monster!” The creature raised his arm up trying to throw her off. However she jumped from his arm flying to the left reaching his stomach. Before she could attack, he slapped her away, sending her away at incredible speed. 

At the last second before she was too far, she flooded her blade with her own energy, throwing it full-force toward their target. She impacted near the city wall while her sword pierced the creature’s abdomen. Altamore saw that the target’s health was down to 70%. Xavier had an idea, aiming an arrow toward the sword stuck in the demon’s chest, he shot it head on for the blade. The others watched as the projectile struck the bottom of the sword handle, forcing it all the way inside.

Slowly rising to her feet, she realized what just occurred and smirked. “Special skill: Mana Destruction!” The sword within the creature erupted with a dramatic explosion within. The creature. The demon was now down to 20% health. “There, I should be strong enough to defeat him with less than half health!” Gripping his great sword with a firm grip, Reno made instant slashing motions with his blade, sending crescent waves of energy toward the large monster.

All watched as each of the slashes pierced the creature’s body beginning to crack apart. The demon let out a fierce roar before bursting apart in a ray of orange light. Once more the defeated creature became a swarm of pixels before vanishing completely. Eric could feel himself grow exponentially strong from all the EXP the creature had given him.

(You Have Reached Level 25 You Can Now Evolve) 

Altamore was given the option to evolve into either a Great Lord or Wizard. After some thought, the player decided to evolve into a great lord. His plain clothes changed into gold and red royal clothing you would see an emperor wear, along with his black hair growing longer until the back reached his shoulders and bangs was brushed to the side covering his right eye. The others could feel great power radiating from him.

(What is this? He’s changed, his power feels nearly equal to my own, and yet he’s merely a level 25!? Just how much potential is this boy hiding within himself!? In some games it depends on the character of how high their stats will be even at the same level, but this is just too much)

“Thank you, we couldn’t’ve done this without you” Eric commented. He realized his voice had also gotten deeper as if he had matured just from evolving. “You’re welcome, we’re glad to be of help to those who ask for it” Xavier replied with a bow. The woman also bowed.

“We have to head back to our own city, but if you ever need help we’ll do what we can to help” She informed them. “Wait, before you go, what’s your name? I don’t think you ever told us” The player responded. She told them her name was Alena but she didn’t know her last name.

“I don’t have a last name because I don’t remember it. When I was a baby, my village was attacked by a black dragon that scorched everything and killed just about everyone that lived there. The only thing I can remember back in my childhood was I was found by an elder woman who was a traveler. Since I wasn’t hers, she thought it would be disrespectful to give me her last name. However, she did have to give me a first name so she named me Alena”

With that, the two made their way back to their home city…

Day 2

Altamore awoke in his master’s guest room. The floor had a red carpet covering the floor, the walls were just plain wood with a dress and mirror on the other side of the room. His bed had three blue pillows two on both sides with one in the middle and a aqua blue soft blanket. He walked out of the guest room into the hall where he saw a balcony and stairs. The player decided to take a shower before heading down stairs. Eric just folded his red and gold clothing on the floor as he got in the shower.

As the warm water ran down his body he looked at his new evolved body. It didn’t seem much different from his super-human body. They were both just 6’1 with muscles as if he had been training and working out for years. Eric was shocked at how far he had come in only his first day, along with the fact his power had reached such heights compared to how he started just yesterday.

“I’m unsure what this body’s limits are…but I’m excited to see just how powerful I’m able to become. The average game usually has a leveling system that only go up to 100, but could be more” Once finished, he dried himself off before putting his clothes back on. Taking a deep breath he made his way down stairs where his mentor sat at a wooden table in the middle of the kitchen.

“Morning, you seem rested. Good, hopefully today we’ll get some training done to earn you some skills for battle” After eating with his master, they once again headed over to the training grounds. “Now then, a useful move in a difficult fight would be the duplication technique, using this skill fractures your level and stats in half with each duplication. The way to master this type of skill is to calm your body…feel your mana flowing throughout your body and use your concentration to separate your power into fractions. Once you’ve done so, you’ll be able to form up to six clones. However, at your level each copy would only be about as strong as a level 5. So best to just split your power once for a single duplicate”

Eric nodded and closed his eyes. Feeling the flow of energy within himself, he imagined the flow splitting in half but still continuing to flow simultaneously. (Come on…) It took a lot of focus, his body began to sweat as his mana swarmed around his body like purple flames. A figure began to manifest from his energy. Finally a clone of the great lord formed beside him. Altamore analyzed the clone’s level and it showed: Level 15 “Low but still useful” The player commented.

(Skill Acquired: Duplication: Level 1)

“Good work, seems you learn skills faster than I thought. Now to test the new ability in battle. Come at me, with the ring lowering my level I’m low enough to take you and your duplicate on at about a fair level” Eric put his arms up preparing for the fight. With a clam voice saying: Duplication…level 1”

Forming his doppelganger at his side, Sending his clone for a head-on barrage, Eric stood back and watched as his ally threw a barrage of blows toward his combatant. Reno was keeping up with the clone’s fierce combo of melee attacks. (Hmph, alright then, let’s see you handle this!) Eric advanced forward, both him and his duplicate unleashed a barrage of blows as fast as they could.

Finding an opening the player struch his master across the face, sending him across the brick-layer ground. “Well done. I’m not sure what happened to you yesterday, but you seemed to have drastically improved and learn much faster. You have the instinct of a true fighter instead of a rookie warrior. Things may get more interesting at this rate”

“Let’s find out”

“Very well…your next skill should be a challenging one…let’s see…how about Siphoning cube? It’s one of my most advanced skills and uses a lot of MP”

“Never heard of a technique like that”

“When you think about it, the ability explains itself. Watch and learn apprentice” Reno opened his bare hand as mana began flowing around it like wisps of energy, it negan to form itself into the shape of a blue cube. Taking him over to the forest outside the city, Kaiosha tossed the cube of blue light up into the air. Altamore watched as the cube absorbed the life energy of all the plants around them before becoming purple.

“As you can see the cube made from my own mana has turned purple. Once a siphon cube has stored a decent amount of energy it will change color. The next step is to let the cube flow back inside you along with the energy stored within it, therefore boosting your stats for a short period of time”

Once more Eric prepared to follow his master’s instructions, as he began forming the cube from his own energy, he suddenly lost concentration causing it to break into wisps of purple light. Preparing his 2nd attempt, a scream was uttered a few miles away within the city. Both warriors took off into the skies, looking for the source of the cries. As they passed about three rows in the south direction, they saw a figure dressed in black with white hair. They descended down onto the street as the man looked back at them.

“Hmm, I can sense great power coming from both of you. I wonder what your blood taste like, I’ve grown tired off drinking the blood of weak humans” Eric watched as the figure’s eyes glowed red with fangs sliding out from his lips.

“Ah, so you’re a vampire” (Just what level are you…) The player analyzed the target’s level… “He’s a level 55, little stronger than us, but together we should be able to handle him”

“Heh, are you sure about that? Then by all means…come take me on” Reno formed a fireball the size of a volleyball, throwing it right for him. Both watched as the sphere blew up in an immense burst of flames. However, when the flames cleared, the vampire stood there unharmed. Eric saw that the creature’s HP hadn’t been effected by the flames.

“You both are clueless, we vampires have an immunity to fire attacks” Without warning, the assailant dashed right for the armored knight. He attempted to pierce the warrior’s abdomen with his pale sharp fingers, but was brought to a halt by Altamore’s quick grip. The man found his hand stopped just inches from his target’s gut.

“You won’t be killing any more people” The great lord responded with a serious tone, looking his assailant dead in the eye. “You little!” He threw a punch toward Eric with his free hand after realizing he couldn’t escape from the player’s strong grip. Again Eric caught the coming attack, head-butting him in the face while letting go of his enemy.

“Rrrgh! I’ll make you pay for injuring me!” Purple blood ran down his face from his wound. “Hehehaha! This skill takes all my MP, but it’ll be worth it to rid this world of you two fools! I, Alacare will use this ability to trap you both in hell!” At that moment a rift opened behind the pale vampire. It had a red outline of energy as it began to pull everything around them inside. They tried to fly away but the force of the rift’s pull was too strong.

Kaiosha was utterly pulled inside while Eric was still struggling against the current. Finally he gave into it, knowing he couldn’t just leave his ally in the underworld…

CHAPTER 3 Trapped In The Underworld

Altamore hit a hard rock-hard ground before getting up. “Well that hurt”  He looked around but there was no sign of his mentor or the vampire Alacare. “Great, seems we were separated on entry even though it was the same rift. Never the less, I have to find Reno, hopefully before I find  Alacare” The placed looked like a loud cave, sharp stalagmites above him, along with flames and magma bellow him about a mile down.

He stood on a bridge-like path made out of rock. After walking for only a minute, three demons with blood red skin with buff muscles and wings came out from three rifts that manifested in front of him. “Ugh, I knew it wouldn’t be that easy to reach Reno”

Meanwhile…

Reno Kaiosha found himself standing over a balcony of a green pool filled with souls. “If this is where all souls come after death, Hades shouldn’t be too far behind. I need to be careful so I don’t run into the god of the underworld himself…

Back above the abyss, Eric fought off the three eight feet tall demons. One of the level 30 demons whipped it’s sharp tail in the player’s direction but missed just seconds before contact. Seeing an opening, Eric threw his palm out toward him, sending a fierce wave of force in their direction. The demon was sent over the path, falling toward the abyss before catching itself with it’s wings. 

With a smirk, Eric formed a siphoning cube, tossing it into the air. Both demons in front of him fell to their knees weakened by the skill while the 3rd one was caught in range, falling into the magma below too weak to fly. His cube landed in his hand. It was red with electricity swarming around it from overflowing with power. Absorbing the cube back within in his body, his mana raced with an immense boost in power. His body was covered in a red aura of light like flames.

End Of Part 1…