Origin ARS 3 (Origin A.R.S.) (14 page)

“Right.” said Neira. The mermaids were higher level than the Shar-Shar, however. They gained little to no experience most of the time, and the Fayth was slim. They still gained ability points usually, however.

Scott smiled at the girl. She smiled back then fanned her tail slowly.

He asked Ero, “Are there any other groups nearby?”

“No, I don’t see any.” replied the fairy.

“Alright, do you think you can handle a little experience transference?” asked Scott.

“Oh, yes! Give it to me, Scott!” Ero cried out excitedly then clapped her hands.

Rhea rolled her eyes then smiled. The little fairy was always enthusiastic about that.

Scott called up Ero’s information screen then began the transfer. She was level nine already. This would put her at nearly level ten. Scott had transferred his experience to her regularly since he had risen to level eighteen.

Ero cried out passionately as she felt his experience points entering into her. She started to whisper and babble random words. After the transfer ended she giggled softly.

“You alright?” asked Scott.

“Mnn, oh yes. I am
so
alright, right now.” replied the fairy in cheerful tone.

“Can I, like, have some of what she’s having?” asked Kiley.

“Yeah... No kidding.” said Neira.

“Sorry ladies.” said Scott. He offered them a friendly smile, but he could see their disappointment quite easily.

The mermaids pouted at him then fanned their tails cutely. Rhea called out, “Maybe we should get moving.”

“Sounds good. Alright, team, back in formation and check your distance.” said Scott.

“Yes, sir!” cried Neira before giving him a salute. She followed it with a wink.

Scott grinned at her. She had really enjoyed doing that once he had taught it to her.

The girls returned to their positions, and the team moved forward once more. They were almost at their destination. Once they arrived on the outskirts of the grotto a message appeared.

<<<
Message
>>>

You have entered an area currently under occupation by an opposing force. You may not set this location as a salvation point while it is occupied.

<<< * >>>

“So, that settles the question of whether this place is occupied or not.” said Scott.

Neira growled under her breath, a strange sound underwater. “Those nasty Shar-Shar!”

“Oh, like, what do we do now?” asked Kiley?

“Do?” asked Scott in a light tone of voice.

The mermaids turned toward him, their eyes wide and curious. This was a serious problem, after all. The Shar-Shar would be able to use this place as a spawn location in the future.

“We evict their scaly asses.” said the man with a feral grin.

Neira’s eyes lit up. She looked at Kiley and the mermaid glanced at her in kind. They looked back to Scott with great excitement. “Can we really do it?”

He smiled at them, further bolstering their courage. When they began to smile at him tentatively, he said, “I have no idea.”

“Wha-?” asked Neira. Where had his confidence gone?

“Oh, my
hopes
....” said Kiley.

Scott laughed softly. “We need to scout the place first. We need to know how many Shar-Shar are here.”

“Oh, right!” said Kiley. Her hope for the future had returned.

The sorcerer sent Ero out to investigate the area. She could hide easier than anyone else due to her size. If they saw her at a distance, the Shar-Shar might think she was a weird little fish.

A short time passed while the fairy investigated. The rest of the team hid within a rocky area and waited to receive word from their adorable little spy.

Ero returned about an hour later. The little fairy was super excited by what she had seen. She spoke about her adventure in detail for a few minutes.

“And there was this really fat one in front of the cage!” exclaimed Ero. She thrust her arms out sideways for emphasis.

Scott grinned at the enthusiastic little thing. “Good job, secret agent Ero.”

She clasped her hands together and placed them near her thighs then rocked back and forth while giggling. She had been praised and it felt so very good.

He turned to the rest of the girls. “It seems like most of the Shar-Shar are on the beach overhead. If we come at them from the cave we should be able to clear it quickly. Our mermaid team members can hold that position with their screams, since they are not collared like the other girls.

Ero had revealed that there was a small prison area that contained several depressed mermaids. Each had a collar around her neck. Rhea had supplied the information regarding what those collars probably did. It had made sense to Scott that the Shar-Shar had to have had a method to keep the mermaids under wraps. Otherwise their screams would have been too much, even on land.

Kiley had been kept away from the fire pits a short distance, so she had not needed to be collared, though the Shar-Shar had given her a wide-berth before her release.

“We sneak in, fry some fish, release your friends, and then make a lot of noise to draw in the rest of the group on the surface.” said Scott. He continued to plot out their attack strategy for a moment then asked for input.

The girls listened to his general plan then brought up useful things to help him formulate a more concise strategy. Eventually, they settled on their strike method. 

“Alright, let’s go team.” said Scott enthusiastically.

The girls quietly whispered out, “Yeah!” and then everyone swam off toward their goal.

They moved deeper into the sea and then found one of the remote entrances to the grotto. There was a natural honeycomb of caves in the area that the mermaids had used as homes, and the chosen entrance would lead them to their goal.

It was strangely easy to infiltrate the place. They had seen no guards anywhere. It was like the Shar-Shar were so confident in their occupation that they did not fear another armed force taking their new real-estate away. It was understandable. The only people in the area who would have bothered them were either another group of Shar-Shar, or maybe pirates. Neither was likely to attack an armed encampment.

They did not see a single Shar-Shar in any of the outer caves. They moved further into the area. The place remained empty for quite a while. Ero had been right. It seemed like everyone was on the surface.

Eventually, they made their way to the surface area of the grotto.  The fat Shar-Shar that Ero had mentioned previously was in attendance. However, the bloated fish-man was currently busy taking a nap.

Scott made a signal for the girls to take up positions then he slipped out of the water and equipped his boomerangs. “Flash!” cried Scott. His weapons were instantly synchronized with his lightning spell.

The fat Shar-Shar blinked as he awoke. A stupid expression arose upon his face as he tried to comprehend what was happening. He was horrified to discover the first coherent thing that he saw was a set of arcing weapons that sparked with elemental lightning.

He tried to stand up, but he was hit twice in the chest with powerful lightning elemental spells. Immediately the numbers seven hundred thirty-six and eighty-hundred ninety-two, popped up above his head. Even one of those strikes would have killed him. He exploded into light with little fanfare. The background music never even had the chance to change.

<<<
Battle Report
>>>

Victory!

Congratulations, you have slain a Shar-Shar prison guard

+ 142 EXP

+ 100 Fayth

+ 2 Ability Points

Item(s) Acquired

Fish Scale X 1

Shar-Shar blubber X 3

Small Pearl X 1

Prison Key

<<< * >>>

He quickly ran over to the makeshift prison and unlocked the rusty lock using the key. Sometimes life in a game world really was convenient. Immediately, he heard soft moans and then cries of surprise from inside.

“Who, what do you want?” asked a timid voice.

“It hasn’t been a month, has it...?” fearfully asked another voice.

“Is it dinner time?” asked a third.

“Marne, how can you think of eating...?” asked the first voice.

“It’s better than thinking about the other thing...” replied Marne.

The girl’s continued to gossip rapidly among themselves. They were quite chatty despite the fact that Ero had claimed that they looked depressed.

“Ladies, we’ve come to help you.” said Scott simply.

“Help! Who, hey you’re cutie! When did Shar-Shar start to look like this?” asked Marne excitedly. She had finally taken special notice of the new arrival.

“Wow,
is
it the full moon, yet? Captivity might not be so bad...”

“Geri-Geri, calm down! You don’t even know this guy.” replied the timid voice that had spoken up first.

“Shelle, come on, loosen up. If we have to do this then at least they were nice enough to send us the cute one. Could you imagine that fat thing outside being the father of your children?” said Geri-Geri.

“Eww! That is
so
gross.” cried the timid girl.

“Look, you girls can gossip later. We need to get you to the water so you can hold this position.” said Scott.

“Ooh, the pretty boy wants us to hold his position.” said Marne excitedly.

The girls started to gossip once more, and spoke with great interest regarding various positions that were worthy of being held. Scott’s left eyelid began to twitch spastically. Finally, he said, “Screw it.”

“Screw... Whoa!” exclaimed Marne. Scott had moved forward and snatched up the closest mermaid.

“Please, be gentle! I’m delicate like an anemone, you beast!” cried Marne. However, her expression was more excited than afraid.

“Hey where are you taking her?” called out Shelle.

Scott tossed the horny fish into the water then ran back to grab the next girl. Geri-Geri cried out excitedly then giggled like a shy maiden in love. “Such big muscles.”

The sorcerer tossed her into the ocean like he would toss a sack of flour. She cried out about the rough treatment, but he did not care. He had a self-imposed schedule to keep.

He returned to the cell and walked over to Shelle. The girl threw her hands up and cried out. “No! My heart’s not ready!”

Scott picked her up despite her protests. She whimpered softly but calmed down after he made no further move to molest her. However, she did cry out once more when he tossed her into the water without concern.

He jumped back into the water in time to see Marne kiss Neira in a passionate display. He swam over to them and Kiley rushed out. She hugged him tightly then started to rain kisses on his cheek.

Rhea coughed as best she could under the water. It was strange that they could speak normally, but things like a cough or a whimper came out as bubbles and weird sounds.

“Thank you! Thank you!” cried Kiley over and over again.

Scott let her get it out of her system then watched as Neira kissed each of the other girls in a strangely passionate manner. What sort of friends were they again?

“Hey, how come Ki-Ki gets to make out with Mr. Big Fins over there?” asked Marne. She unleashed a cute and calculated pout to show her disapproval.

Neira grinned at her. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too, Nei-Nei. Where is everyone else? When is Mr. Big Fins going to mate with us?” asked Marne

“You’re the only ones we have found. Scott saved me from a group of Shar-Shar, and then he and his companions Rhea and Ero joined with us to help find you.”

Marne glanced at Scott and then over to the only non-mermaid girl who wasn’t palm-sized. Her eyes widened and her jaw fell open. “Whoa, can I call dibs?”

“On Rhea? No... She’s with Scott.”

Marne pouted again. “They should just share me then...”

“Not happening.” said Neira.

“Doesn’t hurt to ask...” said Marne.

“I’ve tried it repeatedly. They aren’t expanding their family.” said Neira.

Marne sighed loudly in disappointment. “When did they start making Shar-Shar so pretty?”

“They aren’t Shar-Shar. Scott’s human and Rhea is a high elf. Ero is a water fairy.”

“Ladies, this meet and great is heartwarming, but we need to finish this while we have the element of surprise.” called Scott. It was hard to escape from Kiley’s cuddlesome clutches, surprisingly so since she had never done that before, but they did have work to do and little time to do it.

“Oh, right!” said Neira.

Scott related the plan to the new comers and they were happy to help. Without the restraining collars they were far more formidable in the water.