Origin ARS (Origin A.R.S. Book 2) (24 page)

He decided to experiment with expending one thousand experience points to increase her level once. After he started to submit his choice, he received a message stating that he could not expend more experience than was required to maintain his current level.

“That’s good. I can’t accidentally lose a level.” said Scott. That also limited him in regards to how much experience he could give to Ero. So, it seemed fair.

A bright light flared around his head and a loud fanfare echoed through the room. A message screen appeared.

<<<
Level-Up!
>>>

Ero has increased her level by one!

Health + 3

Mana +12

Attack + 0

Defense + 0

Strength + 1

Agility + 5

Accuracy + 2

Intellect + 8

Luck + 4

<<< * >>>

“Hey, not bad! It’s strange that it showed me your new stat upgrades, though. I usually have to check my status menu to see mine.” said Scott.

“I can feel it! I can feel the power!” exclaimed Ero with great excitement.

Scott laughed at her then checked her new status. She now needed two thousand experience points to increase her level. “I wonder if it is one thousand points multiplied by your level.”

“Hmm, I am not sure. I know how my stats grow but I don’t really know much else. I have not really been able to learn that much about what I can do as a guardian spirit, either.”

Scott decided to expend five thousand more experience points to see if his theory was correct. The light and fanfare returned immediately after he submitted his choices.

<<<
Level-up!
>>>

Ero has gained two levels at the same time!

Health + 5

Mana +21

Attack + 3

Defense + 2

Strength + 3

Agility + 13

Accuracy + 5

Intellect + 19

Luck + 9

<<< * >>>

“Yes, yes! More Scott! I want more!” exclaimed Ero in a disturbingly excited voice.

“Geeze, calm down before you have a Fairygasm or something, Ero.” said Scott.

“Too late! Uhm, what’s a Fairygasm?” asked Ero in a cute and curious tone.

“Just excitement about becoming a stronger fairy.” said Scott.

“Yes! I want it! Give me the best Fairygasm ever!” exclaimed Ero.

Scott smiled in amusement. That was cute, but definitely not something he would want her to say out loud. “Fine, one more time.”

“Yeah!” shouted Ero happily.

Scott expended another four thousand experience points. That brought the total amount expended to ten thousand.

<<<
Level-up!
>>>

Ero has increased her level!

Health + 2

Mana + 9

Attack + 1

Defense + 1

Strength + 2

Agility + 4

Accuracy + 1

Intellect + 11

Luck + 3

<<< * >>>

“Oh yes! Oh that was amazing.” Ero cried out ecstatically inside his mind. Scott was not sure what to make of the effect that raising her level had on the fairy. Was she exaggerating, or did she really feel that good whenever she gained a level?

“Right, well...  I can’t do it again for now. I need more experience first.” said Scott.

“That’s OK. We’ll do it again later when you’re ready.” said Ero. She spoke in a sleepy, dream-like tone that made Scott wonder what she was doing.

“Uh, alright... Let’s see your stats now.” said Scott. He needed to change the subject.

<<<
Status
>>>

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

Title:
Best Friend Forever

Age:
112 |
Level:
5

EXP:
10000

Next Level:
5000

Greater Power:
Storm of Emotion

Health:
13[13] |
Mana:
141[141]

Attack:
5[12] |
Defense:
4[46]

Strength:
7[7] |
Agility:
42[42] |
Accuracy:
18[18]

Intellect:
238[238] |
Luck:
56[56]

<<< * >>>

“Wow, I am much stronger now that I have your experience inside Me.” said Ero in a soft and moderately disturbing tone.

“Yeah...” said Scott. What was with the innuendo?

“We should try to get you some sort of equipment. You’re smarter than I’ll be for a long time, but I’m not surprised that a single arrow took you out.” said the sorcerer.

Ero sighed softly, luxuriously. “Mmm... I’m ready. You can do anything you want, Scott.”

Scott’s face took on a subtle shade of red. This fairy, what was she thinking? He called out to her in his mind, but he only received a sleepy sounding murmur in response. He tried again and her next response was a gentle snore. “The hell, she fell asleep?”

He started to consider what they needed to do for the day. A little shopping would be good. He needed to get supplies and possibly find something that Ero could use. He was not sure how that would work out, but it would be worth a try.

His musings were cut short by a sudden knock on the door. “Who?”

Scott stood up from the bed and walked over to the entrance. He had no reason to suspect trouble, so he opened the door. He was greatly surprised by what he saw on the other side. “Rhea!”

The elf gazed upon him with great excitement. It had taken all night, but she had finally arrived! “Scott! Hi!”

“I thought you weren’t going to be back for several more days.” he said with rising excitement.

“Yeah, I have to leave again soon but I managed to get a lengthy break so I ran back here in the hopes of finding you.” she said, a smile upon her lips.

“Will that cause trouble for your... elf stuff?” he asked her softly.

She shook her head. “No, and if it does I really don’t care.”

“Rhea...” said Scott. She had said that in quite a decisive, almost bitter, tone.

“Scott. I... We... We need to talk.” she said. Rhea tried her best to look him in the eyes but she ended up only gazing at his chest.

“Sure, come in and sit down.” he said. Unlike her, he avoided looking at her chest. Double standards were funny that way.

Scott reached out his hand and she gently took it. He shut the door behind them after she entered. They walked over to the bed and sat down. “What’s going on, Rhea?”

She took a deep breath. “I’m not sure where to start.”

He placed his hand on her shoulder and she looked down at her hands. She smiled in a soft, tender way.

Rhea lifted the hand that Scott was still holding and then placed her free hand on the back of his. “I... I need to tell you everything about me. You may be angry with me afterward.”

“OK” said Scott. He was not sure what else to say at the moment. She was acting strange.

“Scott... I, well... My name is not really Rhea Ardente.” said the elf.

He squeezed her shoulder. That was an interesting bit of information, but he was not going to have a fit for being told a fake name. At least, he would not have a fit until after he heard what she had to say. It did make him wonder what she was going to say, however.

She took in a deep breath then slowly released it before looking up at him. “My real name is... Origin. I am the reason you are here in this world in the first place.”

“Ah, so that was it.” said Scott.

She blinked then leaned in and stared at him hard. “That was it? I just revealed to you that I am a goddess who brought you to this world, and that I have been lying to you. All you say to that is that was it?”

“Well, I honestly did not think you would turn out to be a goddess. It does explain a few things. I had originally thought that you were like me, except that you could return to your home world or whatever.”

Rhea blinked slowly. “Seriously? You aren’t surprised?”

“No, I am surprised. I’m just not jumping around like a moron.” Scott laughed a little. Rhea joined in with a soft laugh of her own.

“So, you already had sort of an idea what was going on?” asked the goddess turned elf.

“An idea, yes. I had a lot of those. I do have questions, though...” said Scott.

“Please ask.” replied Rhea.

“Well, for starters... What do you mean by goddess?” asked Scott.

Rhea smiled. “That will take some time to explain in detail. On a basic level, you can say that my true race is an immortal being made of pure will. Long ago we discovered, or were created by, mortal beings. We still don’t know the truth in regards to our actual origins.”

“So, you are saying that you are actually a goddess. A real one? You’re a fire and brimstone, raise the dead, but wreck a continent sort of person?”

Rhea nodded then squeezed his hand gently. “I can do all of those things, though we mostly focus on a concept or emotion that we strongly resonate with instead of trying to be everything.”

Scott was not sure how to react to that. Was she telling the truth? She had already admitted that she had lied to him, but it actually made a strange sort of sense. If she actually was Origin then meeting him in the waterfall area was something she had chosen to do. “Why not tell me all of this sooner?”

The elf maiden shook her head. “I’m technically not supposed to tell you this now. There are rules against speaking about this sort of thing while we are logged in to the world.”

“Logged in? You make this place sound like a giant role playing game. I know it feels like it, but...”

“That’s because it actually is a massively multiplayer role playing world. It’s a real world, just as real as the one you came from. Yet, it is upgraded to have stats and levels and all of that.”

If she had told him that a few weeks ago, he might not have believed it. However, after having lived here for a short time it made about as much sense as anything. “That helps a bit. I wondered about how real this place really was. So, we aren’t just a computer simulation or something?”

“No, no. It’s nothing so mundane. Think of it like what Earth would be like if one day game mechanics were layered on top of the standard reality. Nothing else would change, but you could gain levels and throw fireballs.”

“That does help a little. Why does this world exist like this, though? Why bring me here?” asked Scott.

Rhea squeezed his hand once more then shook her head. “That’s part of the long explanation. Do you want to hear it?”

“Yes.” said Scott without hesitation. What else did he have to do that was more important than finding out why he was actually here in the first place?

“Well, where do I start?” asked Rhea rhetorically. She took a moment to consider her options.

Scott sat there patiently, wondering at what she would say. He felt surprisingly calm at the moment.  How much had this world changed him? He had just learned that this world was created to be a live-action roleplaying game and he was sitting next to a literal goddess. Shouldn’t he be freaking out at the moment? Yet, if anything he felt a strange mixture of excitement and numbness. He was conflicted but intrigued.

“The gods, my people, we love humans and their popular culture. Your world, and other versions of your world throughout existence, we enjoy what you create. We try to emulate it in order to experience your fantasies and humanity.”

“You... love humans?”

“Yes! We’re your number one fans. Some of us enjoy what your kind create so much that we modeled an entire city and lifestyle based on your popular fictional narratives.”

Scott blinked twice then nodded. That seemed odd, but plausible. Given his current situation it even made sense. That is, it made sense if anything in his current existence could be said to make sense.

“So, well... This world exists because we made it to exist this way. Specifically, my family did. We are what you might call, a family owned corporate gaming company.”

Scott absorbed that information then could not help but laugh. Things were starting to make sense, more and more. If he allowed himself to believe what she was saying, it all made a freakish sort of sense!

Rhea laughed a little as well, but her laugh was one filled with nervousness and anxiety. “Yeah, I suppose we might seem odd to you.”

“No, not at all. You are from a race of beings with incredible power over reality, a race who loves games so much that you make them for real. I can tell you, there are probably billions of people back on Earth who would love to be able to do that. Hell, I would have loved that job.”

“Would you! Would you really love a job like that?” Rhea gripped his hand tightly and looked at him hopefully, her eyes filled with a wild and intoxicating excitement.

“Of course I would. Who wouldn’t? Create worlds, play in them? Meet interesting people and loot their corpses... sounds great.”

Rhea lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him. “Oh, Scott. I am so happy.”

Scott sat there, his cheeks burning, while the goddess in elf form pressed tightly against him. He suspected that he was missing something, but at least she seemed happy.

She pulled back after a while and wiped tears from her eyes. Despite the fact that she had started to cry, she bore a warm and excited expression. “I had always hoped that you would, even if I was never sure that we would meet again.”

“Again? You’ve mentioned things now and then that make me think that we have met before, but...”

Rhea’s lips quirked into a smile that seemed to be half smirk, and half amusement. “I’m not surprised. You would not recognize me as I am now. We did meet once before, on your world.”

“Did we?” asked Scott. He did not remember anything like that. He was certain that he would remember someone similar to her.

“Yes, do you recall several years ago by your idea of time... You met a little girl, a chubby pre-teen with glasses and blue highlights in her hair?”

“I...” began Scott. He could almost feel like he knew what she was talking about, but he could not quite see the memory that she was referencing.

“You were wearing your cute little army uniform. The little chubby girl was lost and scared. A man who smelled like he had not bathed in months accosted her on the street, but you appeared and helped her.”

“Wait, wait... In Phenix City, Alabama. I didn’t have a car at the time, so I had to catch a ride with someone. I didn’t have a chance to change clothes into my civvies after final formation...”

“Yes! Do you remember the little fat girl?”