Origin ARS 3 (Origin A.R.S.) (13 page)

All eyes were on Scott as he called upon his new power. He had not fully realized what having access to primordial magic meant. He had thought that it was just a spell that could be charged, a common thing in games.

The watery attack speared outward with great force. His companions clapped as though they had seen a great show. He knew that the spell could have great attack power, but the type of interest it had garnered was strange to him.

“You still don’t see it?” asked Rhea?

Scott shook his head. “Other than the charge ability, and the increasing damage, no.”

The elf maiden smiled. “That’s probably because you have not gained any normal water spells. You should have enough ability points... Try one.”

The sorcerer glanced at his beautiful love interest for a moment then called up his skill menu. He did have plenty of ability points to burn when it came to something as simple as a class one spell. The sorcerer selected his class one water spell option, “Drowning Sphere.”

Scott envisioned a sphere of water that fit around someone’s head. The spell, when used, looked remarkably like his vision. The ball of water that was formed floated in the air roughly one arm-length from his position. It moved as his hand moved. After roughly ten seconds it fell apart.

“That might be useful when it’s mastered, but I don’t know what’s so great about it.” said Scott.

Rhea grinned at him. “You’ll see. Check your blue fang spell.”

Scott squinted at the girl for a moment then checked his spell information. He blinked twice and then his eyes widened with excitement. He immediately called out, “Blue Water Fang!”

The spiraling columns of water and the lightshow were no different than before. The water moved to a sphere above his head, just as it always had. When he released the spell, it fired off toward his target, a broken barrel, and impacted heavily. Up until that point it was no different than before. However, immediately after impacting the target, the water swirled quickly and formed into a perfect sphere that encased the barrel.

He could combine water-element spell effects with his blue water fang spell! “That’s not bad...” Scott could see many possibilities for such a power. It wouldn’t be terribly useful against the Shar-Shar, a race that breathed water, but it might drown a Corpse Rat or two in the future.

“Not bad.... Seriously? Try again! This time charge it as much as possible.” demanded Rhea. She was more than a little annoyed by how casually he dismissed such a great power. She could not learn primal magic in her current class.

“Bossy.... But I like it.” said Scott. He grinned at her and Rhea snorted in response. She did her best to resist the urge to smile at him.

“I’d like to see it too, Scott.” said Ero softly. She currently sat on Rhea’s shoulder and looked quite happy to be able to sit there.

“Yeah, like, that would be so cool.” said Kiley.

Neira nodded her head. She wanted to see it, too.

Scott shrugged then repeated what he had done before. “Blue Water Fang!”

Instead of casting it immediately, he charged it four times. The result was incredible! When the spell hit the large sea shell he was aiming at, a much larger sphere of water rose up. If he had to guess, it could have potentially encased a normal sized car in a perfect sphere of water. He immediately realized that he could potentially drown several rats at once! Even better, the effect lasted for well over half a minute. If he had to guess, he would have said that charging the spell stacked the effective usage time.

“That’s awesome, but it makes my mana drop like a rock.” said the man. He fully intended to use that spell in the future now that he could attach additional effects to it, but it did require a lot of mana to use.

Rhea laughed at him. “True, but just look at the effects! If you master your drowning sphere, the mana cost would drop by a lot.”

“That could be useful... I wonder how I should upgrade it. I still haven’t chosen an upgrade.”  said Scott.

“Any of the upgrades would be great. I mean, it’s an absurdly powerful spell already.” said the elf.

“Yeah, it looks like something I could do if I ever had my abilities unlocked.” said Ero.

Scott looked to the fairy then acquired a thoughtful look. “Does it make me a bad person to admit that I sort of want to go drown some people just to see how much damage it will do?”

“Yes.” replied several voices at once.

“Good to know.” said Scott. He had mostly been joking about drowning people.... mostly.

“If you want to know how much damage it can do, just consider your intellect and the force of the spell.”

“It could do up to four hundred points of damage?” Both the primordial spell and the Drowning Sphere had a force of one, but his force-up bonus after reaching level ten increased all spell damage by one force level. The combined force of the spells increased the damage factor to four.

Rhea said, “Sure, if you don’t charge it. If you do charge it, you’d be doing that much damage every ten seconds to a small group.”

Scott rubbed his chin. So, the tradeoff for expending most of his mana was the ability to generate up to sixteen hundred points of damage in less than a minute. Honestly, that was something he could do with one of his other spells with far lower cost.

After he said that aloud Rhea rolled her eyes. The high elf sighed loudly, “Yes, at the moment you’re right. Master both of those spells and you’ll see the difference.”

“I think my biggest issue is that my class one spells have no cool down period. I can just cast them to my heart’s content. I also don’t have to stand there with my hand out like an easily targeted moron.” said Scott.

Rhea calmed down a little then said, “Well, that’s true. Drowning Sphere is only a class one spell. Of course, if you went full damage you could have a force of up to twenty-two for every single cast of that spell.”

The elf raised a hand into the air and loudly said, “I guess that isn’t a big deal either. It’s just a spell that allows a force of twenty-two for the horrible cost of five mana.”

Scott opened his mouth then blinked. Had he heard that right? “That’s eleven thousand damage in less than a minute.”

She smiled at him again. He was finally starting to get it. However, her hair nearly stood up on her head when he spoke again.

“Not bad, but it’s too resource intensive. A little over one hundred eighty damage per second is a crappy tradeoff when I can spam my other spells without a cool down, and do several times that amount of damage.”

“What will it take for you to admit how awesome this spell is!” exclaimed Rhea heatedly.

“Why are you so personally invested in this? I can’t help it if I can spam sixty burn spells in the same amount of time that it takes me to cool down from a max cast of the blue water fang spell.”

“You’re over-trained! What sorcerer at your level could do nearly a thousand points of damage per second with a class one spell while wearing nothing but blue swimming briefs!” cried Rhea. She loved that he trained his stats so hard, but come on. He had a rare spell, with high-end functionality and he treated it like it was nothing special. It was infuriating.

Scott shrugged. “I’ve never met one personally. Am I special or something?”

He knew that he was far from special. Any sorcerer could have stats similar to his if they had forsaken their second class spells and special attacks to focus mostly on their attribute development. He had a few bonuses due to his titles, but beyond that there was little remarkable about him.

Rhea sighed loudly then nodded. “I’ve always thought so, but this is annoying. How is it that you’re more powerful without using a primordial spell? There is something weird about that.”

“No idea, but if it makes you feel better, it’ll probably be better later.” said Scott.

She nodded. “Yeah, higher tier spells and greater spell effects would be good.”

“I do wonder how I should upgrade it, though. Pure damage seems like a waste considering how it won’t even compare with a class one spam session.” said the sorcerer.

The elf maiden nodded at him. It was true that his raw damage was better when using class one spells. “Maybe additional effects would be useful?”

“Maybe, but wouldn’t that mean that I would have to add other water spells?” asked the man. He could not afford to purchase a class two spell with his ability points.

“Actually, I am not certain. I am not a primordial magic master. Sharde uses primordial fire, so she might be able to tell you more about it.”

“When we finally get to Eizen, I should talk to her a bit. There might be something we are missing.” said Scott.

Rhea sighed. She had never practiced such magic. Everything she knew, though admittedly she knew a good bit, was second hand knowledge.

“I’ll wait till I know more before making a decision.” said Scott. He was not terribly impressed with the destructive potential of his new spell currently, but in the future it could be quite dangerous.

There was a brief lull in the conversation after that. A lot had happened recently, but no one had anything uniquely interesting to say.

“What now?” asked Ero. It was the most logical thing to ask at this point.

The mermaids looked at each other and then they looked at the others in the group. Neira said, “Do you want to train a little more, or do you want to go fight the Shar-Shar? There is plenty of time left, probably.”

Scott felt a little uncomfortable leaving those poor girls in the hands of their captors. Training was important, and he could honestly use more of it, but there was a limit.

He looked to Rhea and then to Ero. The Shar-Shar were not supposed to be that strong, not even as strong as the ones they had faced here. Yet, they would only have one chance at it.

Rhea nodded. “We should train tonight and set out in the morning to finish this.”

Neira smiled brightly then clapped her hands together. “Great! That’s, like, so great!”

Kiley nodded her head enthusiastically. Finally, they would go help their friends.

“Let me take a brief nap to recharge my mana. We can hunt till around midnight then come back.” said Scott.

“A brief nap does sound nice.” said Kiley. The mermaids had been up on guard duty most of the day. Ero could protect the island when her power was in effect, but she had not been using it recently. They were in training after all.

“I’ll take watch since I slept the day away.” said Rhea. As far as the mermaids knew, that was true.

Scott walked over and gave her a warm hug. “Your snores gave me courage.”

She punched him on the arm then shook her head. “Goof...”

He kissed her on the cheek then said, “Good night dear.”

Rhea giggled a little then smiled. “Good night...”

“Good night Rhea!” exclaimed Ero before fluttering off toward Scott.

The little fairy found her lower half in a tight feminine grip immediately afterward. She gasped and struggled a little. “Hey, Rhea... What’s this?”

The high elf grinned at the fairy. “There should be two people on guard duty if it can be helped, right?”

“Wha...? But... But...” The fairy reached toward Scott then made a cute little grunting noise, much like a lonesome puppy.

“Ooooh,
Elf-blocked
.” said Scott in a cheery voice before slipping off into the tent.

“No fair! No
faaaair
!” cried Ero.

Scott immediately walked back out of the tent and over to the tiny little thing. He stroked her cheek with his finger then granted her a smile before he walked back inside.

A brief, awkward, moment passed. The elf held onto the fairy, and the fairy held onto her annoyance.

“Don’t you like spending time with me, little sister?” asked Rhea sweetly.

Ero pouted at her then unleashed a loud snort. “Yes, I do...”

The elf pulled the little fairy forward and did her best to kiss the annoyed little dear on the cheek. She whispered, “I’m working on it.... OK.”

Ero sighed. She knew what Rhea meant without having to ask for clarification. The goddess of love just needed a little more time to work through her feelings.

The fairy kissed Rhea on the lips gently, a far less sensual sight that might have been implied. It was more like a younger sibling sharing a simple moment with an older one. “OK...”

The elf maiden released her fairy companion then walked toward the closest high sand dune. It would be a long few hours. Ero fluttered along beside her, neither would have the tender moment that they currently desired. The sorcerer in their life was too tired for romance.

Final preparations were underway. The five member party would soon disembark. Their first destination would be the grotto that the mermaids called home. Neira and Kiley wanted to see if any of their people had doubled back. There was another distinct possibility, however. The Shar-Shar might have taken up residence there as well.

Scott did something that he had not done for weeks. He opened up his quest menu. When he had first arrived on ARS he had taken many quests, but since he had left Victory Station there had been no chance to take any.

He had been a little surprised that he had not received one when they had agreed to help Neira rescue her people. Many thoughts had gone through his head, but in the end he had been wrong.

After the request opened up in front of him, he had asked Rhea about it. The mystery had been solved immediately.

Neira had accepted their desire to help earlier, but it was not until she had seen how well they could work together that she trusted them enough for an actual quest to generate. It was much like comparing an event where someone accepts a stranger’s offer to help plant a garden versus taking the time to officially hire a professional gardener. The sorcerer looked at the current quest information and rubbed his chin.

<<<
Quest!
>>>

Liberate the Mermaid Grotto!

The mermaid
Neira
has asked for your help in liberating her home from the fishy forces of the Shar-Shar. Crush them with your mighty power, or barring that, rescue a few of her friends!

Difficulty:
Moderate

Reward:
Improved intimacy with the mermaids. A special reward based on effectiveness of the liberation effort.

Requirements:
Locate and liberate the mermaid grotto. If the Shar-Shar have occupied the area, exterminate them all. Rescue any mermaids in the area.

Time Remaining:
3 days

<<< * >>>

Scott could not believe that the quest only rated as moderately difficult. The Shar-Shar would be numerous and higher in level. His magic would do terrible damage to them if he managed to target them in groups, but the average level of his party was below twenty even with the mermaid’s levels added.

He looked back to see how the girls were doing. He had taken last watch while they rested. Soon they would leave and head for the grotto. It would take only a few hours to reach it now that they could swim quickly enough to keep up with the speedy mermaids.

The sorcerer thought about all of the changes that had occurred recently. In many ways it was like a chapter of his life had closed, and a new one was opening. Much of the emotional baggage that burdened his heart had flowed away, like a current in the sea. It would still take time to truly accept his own feelings, but he had admitted them clearly. That simple admission made him feel lighter, stronger.

He did not know what would happen in the coming days, but right now he had wonderful people in his life. He did not have to pretend to be someone else or hide behind the mask of his former profession.

Scott thought about how things had changed, and then thought about his recent decisions. Some had worked out, but a few of them had been too close for comfort. He had even lost out on his armor and weapons from before.

The coral armor he had found only worked for Shar-Shar or other naturally aquatic people. His transformation ability did not offer him the capacity to wear that armor for some reason. He had literally spent the last few days wearing nothing more than a set of bikini briefs and a handful of low-grade accessories that were more for appearances than any actual utility.

As far as weapons went, his spear was nice enough. It even allowed for synchronization of his spells. Yet, he missed his rat fang gauntlets. Underwater combat training had been lucrative in many ways, but despite how much he enjoyed both that and the company of the mermaids, he was ready for a good old fashioned land based adventure.

Sometimes it was still hard to believe that this was his life now. Life in a game-like world was fun and certainly interesting. He could not help but wonder if there was more to it, however. Rhea had claimed that she brought him here to be her champion, but he was not really certain what that meant. He had thought that it meant that he had powers similar to one of the gods who played this game in mortal form, but something seemed off about that.

He decided to ask her more about his true purpose once they finished their work here. Questions like that one could be asked in Eizen, as he felt that it might prove to be a distraction at present.

The sun peeked out from the curtain of night. Dawn on the sea was a magical time. The music became livelier. The scents changed to a more delightful aroma. The sky took on myriad colors, and the sun gleamed beautifully.

A soft voice echoed inside his mind. “Wow, how pretty!”

Ero separated from her host and looked around for a moment. After she enjoyed the view for a moment she turned and gave Scott a kiss on the cheek. “Good morning, Scott.”

He reached up and gently caressed her cheek with his pinky. “Morning Ero.”

She smiled sweetly but then pouted. “Don’t you want my morning to be
good
?”

“I want all of your mornings to be good.” said Scott.

Ero threw her arms open and hugged the side of his face. Scott instinctively wanted to tell her to stop, but he remembered recent events and allowed her to embrace him in her preferred manner.

She dropped down to his shoulder and took a seat. Ero was quiet for a time, but she could not resist speaking. She unleashed a slow, content, sigh. “This is so nice.”

“Yes, watching the sun rise with your BFF is a good thing.” said Scott.

Ero smiled gently. “I’m still your BFF, huh?”

“Yes, forever and ever and ever and...” began Scott in an overly cheerful voice.

The fairy laughed in a sweet way. “I’m glad. I know it was a lot to dump on you recently.”

Scott reached his hand up and she clasped one of his fingers with her hands. “You’re someone important to me, Ero. You can talk to me about anything.”

She kissed the tip of his index finger then sighed. “I’m a little selfish, I guess. I know you and Rhea are together, or at least together enough that I make things difficult for you.”

Scott was quiet for a moment. He took that time to formulate his thoughts. Finally, he spoke. “You’re my Ero. If things are difficult that just means that you’re someone who is worth having strong feelings for.”

The fairy’s smile grew three sizes, but her eyes began to mist over. She was on the verge of crying. “Y-you really think so, Scott?”

“Yes.” he said simply.

“I... That makes me so happy.” Ero pressed her face to his finger and began to cry a little.

Scott smiled at the rising sun. She was a sweet girl. It was good to see her honestly express herself. He knew how hard that sort of thing could be when you were afraid of speaking it aloud.

***

It was just after midday before they came within sight of the grotto. At least, Ero could see something in the distance that resembled what the grotto was supposed to look like. Scott had the team spread out at twenty meter intervals. He had the group traveling in a method that would be difficult to impossible on land, but was useful when you had to travel in an open environment with no dedicated surface to walk upon.

Ero worked overwatch from a distance high above. Her tiny size would not alert any on duty Shar-Shar, and she could see a great distance through the water due to the fact that she was considered to be an elemental water spirit in her own right.

Rhea had been assigned the low-forward position. She was over forty meters in front of Scott, but also forty meters below him. Thankfully, the fisherman transformation allowed them to avoid certain negative aspects of the water, such as how rapidly they could change depths in a safe manner.

The mermaids were flanked wide to the left and wide to the right. They would be able to create a
triangle of madness
as Scott liked to call it, by picking a designated point where their screams intersected.

The traveling method used was designed with a specific purpose in mind, and that purpose would soon be tested. Ero spoke through the party messaging system. “Scott, six Shar-Shar at um six-by-um...eight. Yeah, six-by-eight at two hundred, shallow ten... no twelve.”

Scott responded. “Alright, let’s get ready team.”

The group swam straight down for around ten to twelve meters and then turned toward the left slightly. He was sure that the army had probably thought up something similar for underwater battles, or even space scenarios. However, he had not trained for either.

Scott had spent a little time during their training to design a simple system for navigating and battling as a team while in the water. He had trained the girls to see threats as being similar to intersecting clocks. It was not perfect, but it would give general directional headings. They had no special equipment for measurement and distance, so they needed something to visualize.

The mermaids had not easily understood the concept during the first few hunting trips, but after a while they picked up on it. They had never seen a clock before. Rhea knew about them, and Ero had access to Scott’s memories. So, they had adapted with greater speed. Afterward, they helped to train the mermaids.

He had been forced to explain it to Neira and Kiley in simpler terms. So, he had used his finger. He showed them the hunting method via rotating his finger in a circle. He had placed his hand straight out, pointed to the left, and then rolled his hand in a small circle. He had then turned his finger straight up and moved his hand like he was stirring a pot. Eventually, they had understood.

The system he had devised used one clock face to determine the general position of the opponent in relation to the team’s position. The second clock told them exactly where they were oriented. Shallow meant that the opponent was below them but not more than forty meters. Had they come from above, Ero would have used the term
rise
.

Ero had told them that the Shar-Shar group was to their lower-left. They were positioned at a small downward angle that was roughly twelve meters down and two hundred meters forward of their position. Now they were at the right depth.

They turned to the left a little then waited. It did not take long before the Shar-Shar noticed their presence. The monsters gurgled something menacing then raced in with their spears. The background music immediately changed to a battle tune.

“Wait for it.” said Scott.

Neira and Kiley tensed. They would be up first. Rhea was at a position a good distance below them even though she was a bit forward compared to the rest of the team. The Shar-Shar might break off and attack her, but they fought best in a straight line. That was the weakness of their underwater strategy. They were strong opponents in the sea, but they typically performed the aquatic version of a spear unit charge. It would work great against finnies, or the occasional large sea beast. However, it was a terrible strategy against a prepared party.

“Now!” cried Scott.

The mermaids screamed out their songs simultaneously. Their powers crossed each other perfectly at precisely the right point. The fish-men immediately clutched at their heads and cried out in shock.

Scott whirled his spear around overhead then slammed it downward before he cried out, “Howling Gale!”

An underwater tornado erupted outward from his position. It tore at the closest of the Shar-Shar, and then dragged the more distant members in with its potent vacuum effect. The closest ones died quickly but the ones that had been farther away did not receive full damage. They were greatly weakened, however.

Unfortunately, for the confused fish-men their torment was not over. Rhea streaked upward and began to hack, stab, and slash at them with great skill. She tore into their confused body and quickly ended the lives of the remaining monsters.

A few seconds after the absolute slaughter ended, the music shifted back to its serene aquatic theme. Scott said, “Good job team.”

<<<
Battle Report
>>>

Congratulations!

Your team defeated twelve Shar-Shar!

+ 1832 EXP

+ 1056 Fayth

+ 24 Ability Points

Item(s) Acquired

Cracked spear X 3

Fish scale X 8

Fang X 7

Fish Eye X 1

Shar-Shar Fillet X 2

Coral Spear X 1

<<< * >>>

“Not bad...” The Shar-Shar represented a lot of experience points at the moment since they were at a higher level than he was. Without the human experience bonus, he would have earned roughly one-third of that amount.