Origin ARS (Origin A.R.S. Book 2) (23 page)

The goddess ran along the sidewalk at an incredible pace compared to what a human could have accomplished. The buildings and people were passed in a blur of motion.

Without missing a beat, she swerved around an oncoming truck that ran up on the sidewalk and continued running at high speed. Normally, she would drive back to the family tower for the sake of authenticity. However, her running speed was much higher than a normal Earth style automobile could match. She was also able to avoid crashes with greater ease due to her higher mobility.

She sprang over a Cadillac that ran up on the curve and kept going as it slammed into an office building. Sometimes she believed that they took the crazy driver side of authenticity too far. Either way, at least traffic was a bit lighter than usual.

“Eight hours, that’s more than a day. That’s plenty of time to tell him...” In the end, she would be able to spend a little over one day with Scott before she had to come back and finish her work.

Of course, it would take several minutes to make it back across town since she could not run at top speed. Her maximum foot speed would have caused damage to nearby windows when she passed through the area. Still, it was much faster than taking a car. At the moment she did not care about the windows nearby, but she did care about dealing with paperwork if she broke them.

“Whee!” exclaimed Origin as she leapt from atop a bridge then plummeted a considerably lengthy distance toward the ground far below. She exerted an infinitesimal portion of her will and increased her falling speed to save time. She slammed down onto the concrete sidewalk like a blue haired meteor, an impact crater spread out around her landing point, but she was not particularly concerned.

She took off again, an elated look on her face. “Almost there!”

The blue haired goddess launched herself up the side of an embankment, caught the railing above, and then flipped onto the sidewalk on the upper street level. She could have avoided all of this if she was allowed to fly like a normal person. However, humans do not typically fly in such a manner so it was not allowed in the city. The rules... were a bit odd in some regards.

The family tower loomed ahead. Origin picked up speed now that she had a clear shot. She raced up to the entrance and hurled the doors open with great excitement. The goddess immediately ran for the stairs, they would be quicker than the elevator. However, there was a large and annoying sign on the entrance door.

“What do you mean out of order? Dammit! Who broke the stairs this time?” She grumbled loudly then walked over to the elevator. She puffed out her cheeks in a public display of annoyance then huffed loudly. Origin poked the elevator call button while poking out her lips like a small child who had been denied something that she wanted.

“Come on, come on...I hate waiting for this thing.” Origin paced around for a full minute, one precious irreplaceable minute, while she waited for the elevator to descend to the first floor.

“I’m going to have to have a talk with mom about having a ladder installed on the side of this tower. This is ridiculous.” Origin continued to gripe about the wait while the elevator made its descent. There were few fire escapes attached to the buildings in the divine city. Some existed for the sake of appearances and authenticity, but they were not necessary structures. The gods could easily put out a fire that might break out, and some of them chose to jump off of a building if it would take too long to reach the bottom like a normal person. Getting back up always took longer, of course.

She started to dance from side to side while making weird hand gestures at the elevator door. Maybe it would move faster? Curiously, the elevator door chose that moment to finally open.

Origin cried out, “Finally!”

The excited gamer-goddess ran into the open door and quickly entered her floor number. Quirky elevator music began to play in the background as part of the elevator riding experience. Normally, she would smile and bob her head to the music. Right now she just wanted the ride to end.

It was torture, that long ride. The torture eventually ended and she was released to her floor. The entire floor belonged to her, but she spent most of her time in her private room.

Origin entered her private bedchambers then locked the door behind her. Her command chair awaited, and so did that certain someone. She sat down and lifted up her tiara. She smiled at the largely unnecessary device. It was used mostly for the purpose of authenticity. It served a purpose, limiting the power of a deity by permission, but mostly it was window dressing. The truth was that it made the whole concept just that much more fun.

She ran her thumbs along the cool surface of her personal tiara. “I wonder if he missed me?”

She stuck out her tongue and then grinned. Of course he did! He had kissed her cheek after all.

A goofy smile crossed her lips for a moment then Origin settled into her chair. She placed her tiara atop her head and grinned. It was time to get serious and play a game.

Chapter 12: F-Fairygasm?!

Moonlight streamed down through the branches of the old growth forest casting shadows upon the land. In a small clearing the wind began to stir. It was a subtle shift in the balance of the world. Soon, a legendary hunter once again stalked the land. Woe, be unto those who became an obstacle in the path to her chosen prey!

“Alright, now to find Scott.” said Rhea as she appeared in the moonlight clearing. She looked around expectantly and then sighed. Right, why would he be waiting for her at her log-in spot when he did not even know she could log out yet?

She set out for their campsite at a determined trot. There was little time and she wanted to spend it with her comrade. However, once she arrived on site she frowned. The tent was gone. “Did he move the campsite?”

Rhea did a quick mental calculation and determined that it had only been a few days since she had left. She knew that he had been in the mine recently because she had authorized an offline prayer request for aid, and even sent him her favorite low-end set of boomerangs.

The elf maiden’s eyes widened. She pounded her right fist into her left hand then nodded. “I bet he went to sell off loot in town and get repairs.”

“I’ll send him a party chat. Maybe he’s in range?” She pulled up her party menu and noted that Scott was still her leader. That tidbit of information was obvious, but it made her smile anyway. She would have used this method during the last major separation that they had endured, but she was uncertain of how he would react.

However, something surprising caught her eye. Her momentary elation at figuring out his location faded. “He’s asleep and he’s level thirteen?”

She could not send him a party chat at this distance since he was unconscious. Further, what had happened in that mine? She knew that he had been facing a lot of monsters, but there should not have been that many.

She bit her lower lip then chewed on it for a moment. What could have happened? The implications were clear. He had faced an exceptionally large number of monsters. She checked her party log then made a curious noise. He had not died, either.

“I’m wasting time. It will take hours to get to Meaden.” Rhea called up her map screen then chose to world travel to Meaden. Her top running speed was a little higher than Scott’s. She would get to town in only around eight hours, just in time for dawn to grace the world with its presence.

***

Soft innocent eyes widened in surprise and wonder. “Wow, Scott. It’s so big...”

“Really? Looks normal to me.” said the sorcerer.

Ero popped out of his head long enough to shake her head back and forth slowly, her eyes open wide in wonderment. “I’ve never even heard of one being that big before!”

Scott laughed at the fairy. She had a flair for exaggeration. Though, it was possible that there were none bigger in this world. Massive architecture of that nature might be unique to his people.

“How do they make buildings that tall? You said that there was no magic where you are from?” asked Ero.

“It takes a long time and they use materials designed for strength and flexibility. I’m not sure what else they do, but they build them one floor at a time.” said Scott.

“You have a lot of fun memories. All I have are memories of Mike and my cave.” said Ero.

“We’ll make some fun memories Ero.” Scott felt bad for the tiny little thing. She had been locked away for her own safety and had never been far from her cave before that. She knew almost nothing of this world. In many ways they were in a similar position.

“That will be so great! Best friends traveling the world kicking butt and eating pie!” exclaimed the girl happily. Her wings fluttered rapidly for a moment then she slipped back inside his head.

Scott barked out a sudden laugh at the image that popped into his head. She sure was an excitable girl. Her innocence and previous situation made it easy for him to trust her. He had also started to receive flashes of insight, images of her past.

The bonding process went both ways. Soon they would both know everything about each other. It was quite intimate in a way. Ero occasionally said or did things that seemed perverse, but he knew that she was an incredibly innocent creature at heart.

They laughed and relived moments from their past so that they could both see more of each other’s history with greater ease. Surface thoughts were easier to view.

After they finished chatting about the past they turned to discussions of the future. Scott checked Ero’s status screen to see what he had to work with.

<<<
Status
>>>

Name:
Ero |
Class:
Lesser Guardian Spirit |
Race:
Sacred Water Fairy

Title:
Best Friend Forever

Age:
112 |
Level:
1

EXP:
0

Next Level:
1000

Greater Power:
Storm of Emotion

Health:
3[3] |
Mana:
99[99]

Attack:
1[1] |
Defense:
1[21]

Strength:
1[1] |
Agility:
20[20] |
Accuracy:
10[10]

Intellect:
200[200] |
Luck:
40[40]

<<< * >>>

“Seriously? What the hell is with your stats?” Scott stared at her status menu in confusion and wonder. At level one her luck was higher than his currently, and her intellect was more than double what he had developed! Hell, she nearly had as much mana as he did as well.

Ero giggled softly then spoke in a shy tone. “Is it bad?”

“No, not at all. We do need to increase your physical stats a little. though. Would there be any problems later if I gave you some of my experience?” asked Scott.

“I’d love that. Gimme, gimme. Fill my body and soul with your passionate experiences!”

“Ero... Calm down.” Scott fought down the rising heat that had begun to form in his cheeks. She had a habit of becoming feisty if she became too excited.

“Oh Fue.” She said before giggling once more.

“The only issue that I see is that you may have problems with level modifiers later since I don’t have many ability points to increase them at the moment.”

“Ah, I don’t get stat modifiers like that. When I gain a level my stats will increase, but you can’t change the modifiers.  If I reach a high enough level, I’ll class up and my modifiers will increase naturally.”  said Ero.

“I see. Interesting.” Scott called up his own status menu. He needed to work out how much experience he could afford to spend on the girl.

<<<
Status
>>>

Name:
Scott Jacobs |
Class:
Sorcerer |
Race:
Human

Title:
The Unbreakable

Age:
18 |
Level:
13

EXP:
55,609

Next Level:
611

Ability Points:
6

Health:
189[189] |
Mana:
173[173]

Attack:
88[404] |
Defense:
107[419]

Strength:
79[79] |
Agility:
78[78] |
Accuracy:
58[58]

Intellect:
91[91] |
Luck:
37[37]

<<< * >>>

“I’m sorry, Ero. I won’t be able to increase any of your abilities with ability points today. Still, I can help you gain a few levels.” said Scott.

“That would be lovely. I could hug you.”

“Not the face.” Scott smirked when he heard her giggle sweetly inside his mind.