Origin ARS 3 (Origin A.R.S.) (18 page)

Sharde smiled at Rhea then nodded. “Right, right...”

Just then a knock came at the door. The knock was a strong series of bumps and scrapes. It was a sign that Gambol had returned.

“Come in Fred.” said Sharde. She readied her fan just in case.

“You know this is Barney, Wilma.” called out Gambol.

Sharde visibly relaxed after the code words had been said. “Right, my mistake.”

The door opened and Gambol walked in, a smile on his face. He closed the door then walked over to the group and sat down on a pillow. “Alright, as you can see... I have returned.”

Scott smiled at him and Gambol beamed a bright smile at him in return. It was nice to make friends.

“How did they make out?” asked Sharde.

Gambol opened up a transaction window. Scott and Rhea received a notification that they were being contacted for a trade. “The total amount is four hundred ninety-six thousand three hundred Fayth, after the five percent transaction fee was withdrawn.”

“Not bad!” exclaimed Rhea. They had allowed Gambol to negotiate the sale of almost all of their junk items and random other things from their time in the ocean. He had a few trade skills that greatly increased his capacity to earn money through trade, and he handled most of the loot transactions for the guild. Even after he had extracted five percent for his services, the haul had been much higher than what they would have gotten if they had sold it all on their own.

Scott and Rhea immediately sent Sharde one hundred thousand Fayth, each. The contract with the Crimson Shadow guild was now official.

The sorcerer turned to the male ninja master and asked, “What about the restocked items?”

“Ah, yes. I got everything and at a good price.” Gambol sent Scott another transaction request, followed by one to Rhea as well.

A massive chunk of the sorcerer’s personal fortune left his hands, nearly all of it in fact, but he was fully stocked on various items now, including numerous health and mana restoring potions.

Gambol then grinned at Scott and opened up one more transaction window. This time the sorcerer’s eyes lit up excitedly.

“So, this is what I got for the mithril scale and fish parts and a few hundred thousand Fayth?” The sorcerer practically drooled at the complete armor and weapon set that he was about to receive. He quickly accepted and checked his inventory to make sure that it had arrived properly.

“Yeah, that’s going to be a major upgrade, and it even fits with your fisherman thing.” said Gambol with a smile. The man had to be the world’s happiest ninja master.

Scott quickly equipped his gear, not even caring that he flashed his naked glory to everyone for a brief moment. Only Emma seemed upset by the flash of light, as it disturbed her nap. The mule sat up and blinked at the man reproachfully.

The sorcerer stood up then twirled around to show off his new digs. “You even found the lore ring I was looking for...”

“Yeah, I figured you were right. That’s a good fit for your fighting style if you use a spear.” said Gambol.

“Whoa, looking badass there!” cried Sharde.

Scott grinned at the ninja girl then pumped a fist into the air. He had asked Gambol to try and find an armorer and weapon smith who could use the fangs, scales, and mithril scale to create appropriate armor. The design that he had hoped for had worked perfectly. Scott was now dressed like an ancient warrior who could not decide what country to steal his ideas from.

The under-armor portion of the equipment was designed in such a way that it seemed to mimic a metal mesh wedded to a black wetsuit. A half-cuirass made of solid mithril over black steel protected his chest, ribs, and upper back while allowing for great mobility. He had bracers, mithril reinforced leather gloves, and a set of reinforced claws attached atop them.

His boots were black with the same chain mesh wrapped around them. However, there was a black steel shin guard attached to each. He also wore a studded leather, chain reinforced, battle skirt that would help to protect his groin and thighs.

His had smooth black shoulder guards and  his jet black aventail helped to protect his neck and shoulders, while his ancient style helmet protected his nose, cheeks, and skull. Where there might have been a horse hair plume atop the mithril helmet, there was instead, empty space. This would normally be a critical weakness to a helmet; however, it was quite beneficial for Scott.

Scott activated his fisherman powers and his body shifted its appearance slightly. Wrist fins shot out sideways through a slit in his bracers, and his head fin rose up through the slot in his helm. Now, he looked like an aquatic myrmidon, or perhaps an upscale hoplite.  He equipped his shield and spear. Yes, definitely like a high-end aquatic hoplite.

“Not bad at all, Scott.” said Rhea. She still wore her old armor set, but given its overall construction it was probably close to the capacity to his new equipment. It was made from similar materials to his old armor, but it had been made by a master craftsman.

He unequipped his spear and shield then performed an experimental backflip. It was slightly more difficult than before, but not nearly as much as he had feared that it would be. The shield and spear would be useful for close combat; the shield more so after he had mastered the skill ring that would allow him learn shield skills. However, he was primarily a sorcerer and as such he was agility oriented.

“Well, I like the look. I think. Let’s check the stats though, right?” asked Scott.

“Yeah, I want to know about those!” called out Rhea. She eyed him critically for a moment and then grinned. He definitely looked more human warriorish now that he was not wearing a banana hammock. Though, she would have to admit that she missed the view.

Scott checked his status.

<<<
Status
>>>

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

Title:
The Unbreakable Burning Terror

Age:
18 |
Level:
18

EXP:
155,859

Next Level:
16731

Ability Points:
347

Health:
270[270] |
Mana:
214[214]

Attack:
110[642] |
Defense:
139[893]

Strength:
113[113] |
Agility:
117[78] |
Accuracy:
74[74]

Intellect:
122[122] |
Luck:
56[56]

<<< * >>>

He let out a low, slow whistle. “Even with the major drop in agility, my defense is nearly nine hundred now. Is that good for level eighteen?”

Sharde stared at him for a moment then slowly nodded her head. “Yeah, I would say so.”

Rhea muttered something about Scott needing to be nerfed then everyone laughed. The sorcerer knew that they were just being nice. He was pretty sure that if Rhea was on the same level as he was that she would completely overwhelm his stats. He had trained almost exclusively for stat development so he was better than the average sorcerer, but he had fewer tricks and spells to work with as a result.

Scott checked his armor set then grinned. Since it was a set, he had received the agility penalty reduction and an additional ten percent to his armor’s defense.

<<<
Item
>>>

Badass Armor of the Dark Mariner

A suit of armor designed by a sorcerer of minor renown; this suit of armor allows the wearer to fight as well in the water as they do on land.

Defense:
+402

Attack:
+80

Agility Penalty:
41

Special

Mariner’s Glory:
The armor is equally usable in the water and on land. However, it does not allow the wearer to breathe water like air.

Bonus

Due to the fact that the armor is a perfect set, defense is increased by 10%.

The agility penalty is reduced by 1 point.

<<< * >>>

Scott showed the stats to Rhea and her eyebrow rose upward. The elf could not help but ask, “You really named it that?”

“Hell yeah. Doesn’t it
look
badass?” asked Scott with a grin.

Everyone had a good laugh at that. His new outfit was quite the hit. He was broke once more, but he was fully stocked on items and had drastically increased his equipment. He did not bother to even check the stats on his shield or spear, yet. He was too busy strutting around in the first decent armor that he had ever had that did not come with a debt.

It had finally come to pass, the moment that Ero had been waited patiently to experience once again. Her BFF stood before her decked out in his powerful and dangerous looking armor. He actually looked like a warrior for once and the effect was not lost on the tiny girl. She could not decide whether to giggle or blush whenever she looked at him.

Scott smiled at her then held out his hands. “Are you ready, Ero?”

The fairy flew to him at great speed then landed in his outstretched hand. “Yes, I am
so
ready for this!”

Scott laughed a little then smiled once more. She was certainly perky today. “Alright, relax and let it happen.”

“Yes...” She leaned back against his cupped fingers and proceeded to position herself in a pretty, but overtly sensual position. Ero was certainly ready.

His eyes closed briefly while he concentrated on the task at hand. Something was going to happen when he transferred the next bit of experience to his BFF. She would reach level eleven. However, the big change would be that she would reach level ten. That was a milestone number for every race born on ARS. He openly wondered what would happen.

“Ready?” asked Scott.

Ero winked at him in an exaggerated manner. “Give me everything you’ve got.”

Scott grinned at her then opened the experience transfer menu mentally. He focused on what he wanted to do and the option to transfer his free experience points to the girl lit up. Soon, the transfer began.

Ero gasped loudly then begin to scissor her legs softly. She bit her lower lip and rolled to the side. “So good...”

Scott watched the girl writhe and moan in his hand for a moment then blinked. A soft light began to radiate from her tiny little body. It was a special effect that he had not seen during the transfer of experience before.

Suddenly, Ero grew slightly heavier in his hand. First, her limbs began to expand and then her torso. After around one minute had passed the girl had grown to roughly twice her previous size! She was now the size of a typical Barbie doll, or similar large action figure. A normal fork would now be a regular spear for her instead of body-length polearm.

The beautiful fairy gasped loudly then started to pant. His experience enflamed her senses and filled her body with various sensations that she had never experienced before.

Scott had to catch her before she rolled out of his hand a few times because her greater size made it more difficult for him to hold her properly. Eventually, her spasms and moans ceased and she barely moved.

Ero panted gently then looked up at Scott and sighed softly. “D-did I do good?”

“You’re the best, Ero.” replied Scott.

She giggled softly then bit her lower lip. She was super tired now, and needed a nap. “I’m so glad... You’re always so sweet to me.”

Scott raised her up to his face and he kissed her softly on the cheek. “We’re best friends forever, right?”

Ero sat up and cried out “Yeah!” in an excited manner. She yawned immediately afterward, however. Scott had given her a lot of beautiful experience and she was sleepy.

The slightly less tiny fairy rose up on her knees then leaned forward and kissed Scott on the nose. “Dream of me later, OK?”

“Sure. Get some rest, Ero.”

She smiled at him gently then giggled. “Yeah, I better save my energy for later...”

Scott blinked after he realized what she meant. Ero giggled once more as she faded away. She used to be a handful at times. However, now that she was a little larger he could already tell that she would be more than a handful in multiple ways.

After he heard Ero start to snore softly inside his mind he smiled. They would work on her skill choices and determine other changes about her later. For now, he wanted to check out the performance of his equipment while he waited for Sharde and Rhea to get back. They had decided to logout to attend to business and discuss a few things outside of ARS.

He was not certain about hunting in the area currently as he had a tendency to get into trouble when he was on his own. Trouble could be fun, but it could also cause problems for everyone else. Now that he had arrived at the location that Sharde had designated as their primary training ground and hideout for a while, he could not help but wonder what there was to see and do in the mountains. He fought down the urge to hunt, but his rising bloodlust caused him to want to check on his new weapons.

His boots and gloves were nothing special, though they were stronger than his old gear by a small degree. However, his new spear was a vast improvement over the coral spear that he had been using before. He equipped his spear and shield then checked their stats.

<<<
Item
>>>

Fanged Spear of the Mariner

A spear designed to use the tooth of a large sea creature as a weapon. Reinforced by steel and mithril, this heavy spear has great attack and defense power. It can be wielded underwater with the same capacity that it can be wielded on land.

Attack:
+ 97

Defense:
+ 34

Special

Mariner’s Glory:
The armor is equally usable in the water and on land. However, it does not allow the wearer to breathe water like air.

<<< * >>>

“The attack strength alone is higher than my gloves, claws, and boots combined.” said Scott. Of course, his raw attack power would still be higher if he fought unarmed due to his strength multiplier. Still, with synchronicity on his side he could do things with his spear that were far more damaging that he could do empty handed.

His bare-handed combat skills were always synchronized with his magic, which explained why he could freeze an object solid when he cast freeze at point blank range among other things. He unequipped his spear then checked his shield.

<<<
Item
>>>

Great Shield of the Deep

A shield designed by a sorcerer of minor renown. It is made of steel and mithril reinforced ironwood and can be used underwater without restriction.

Defense:
+160

Agility Penalty:
-24

Special

Mariner’s Glory:
The armor is equally usable in the water and on land. However, it does not allow the wearer to breathe water like air.

<<< * >>>

Scott whistled at the high-end defense boost he received when he wielded his shield. He could use it and retain part of his strength and agility bonuses for attack and defense if he did not equip a weapon in his other hand. Sadly, until he mastered his shield lore ring he would cut his attack and defense bonuses in half.

That meant a major drop in both attack and defense but he would be able to synchronize his spells to his shield after he mastered its usage as well. After he mastered that ring, he would also receive bonuses to defense when using a shield and some of the agility penalty would decrease.

Idly, he wondered if he should save up enough money to have a red, white, and blue set of armor made complete with a round throwing shield that was enchanted to return to him like his boomerangs. He laughed to himself then shook his head. Somehow, he doubted that he could pull it off well enough. “Hmm, if only I had gone to OCS back in the army... I could have at least been a captain.”

Scott unequipped his shield. It would have its uses, just like his spear. However, he knew his bread and butter skills would always be his unarmed combat and magic abilities. He would have to undertake a great number of skill additions and equipment alterations to totally change his nature.

At present, he would prefer to find or create light weight equipment with lots of powerful options. At some point in the future wearing little to no armor would probably be his best option, but he was nowhere near that point, yet.

***

The well-lit hallways of the family tower were as clean and austere as they always were. While any given room might be found in a state of complete disarray, the hallways were a different story.

Origin nodded politely to a goddess wearing a maid outfit. The cat-eared woman smiled sweetly then went back to tidying up. The cat-eared goddess loved her work and it even provided her a discount when it came to gaming supplies. Score!

The goddess of love left the goddess of keeping the hallways clean to her tasks. She wanted to see what had gotten her sister so excited.

Shara’s door was decorated with tiny little images of miniature ninjas and throwing stars. Origin could not help but smile when she saw it. Her sister had always been a fan of ninjas.

Suddenly, the door opened and Shara popped her head out. “Origin! Thank goodness! I need you!”

The ninja goddess grabbed Origin by the wrists and quickly dragged her into her room. The door shut just as quickly as it had opened. A few seconds later a happy cat-eared goddess swept her way through the area while humming a song to herself.

Inside of Shara’s room, the pony-tailed goddess gestured toward her monitor. “There! Do you see my problem?”

Origin blinked at her then glanced over at the screen. Despite the fact that it was on the other side of the room, she could easily see the tiny line of code that her sister had pointed at previously. “Oh, you found one?”

“Yes! I think he’ll do perfectly...” said Shara with excitement, before her voice shifted to a sad tone.

“What’s wrong, Shara?” asked Origin. The blue haired goddess took her sister by the hand and looked her in the eyes.

Shara shook her head. “I think he’s perfect... a Scott of my own... but...”

“But...?” asked Origin.

“What now!” exclaimed the girl. She pouted at her sister then started to sniffle a little.

“Go meet him, I guess?” asked Origin. What was so hard about that? She had finally found a dimensional variation of Scott that met her criteria. Sure, it was odd that she insisted that it be another Scott, but who was Origin to judge her sister? Shara was lonely, and at this point pretty much any Scott would do.

“Oh right, sure... It’s that simple...” Shara grumbled a little then pouted at her sister. Why was she not being more helpful? She already had her Scott. She obviously knew how to acquire one...

“Well, yeah. Just go see him and tell him...” said Origin.

Shara snorted loudly. “Right, I just pop into his life and introduce myself, and then I start to tell him how much I am in love with him....”

Origin’s eyebrows pressed together slightly. “Sure, what’s wrong with that?”

The ninja girl looked at her sister with an incredulous expression. “It’s a completely unbelievable premise! What kind of girl meets a guy for the first time ever, then just tells him stuff like that?”

The blue haired goddess made a choking sound then winced. That remark had hit a little close to home. Origin chose to change the subject slightly. “Well, you don’t know him yet. Why not get to know him first and then tell him you want to have his babies, or something.”

Shara rolled her eyes then frowned at her sister. “That takes too long! I need a boyfriend to play with,
now
.”

Origin laughed at her overly excited sister then nodded. “Well, if you come on too strong he might think you’re weird.”

The red-haired goddess sighed. “True, I guess. But... He’s so cute and fat, and no other girl is currently interested in him.”

“Uh, really?” asked Origin. She tried to picture a fat Scott who had no girls interested in him. She could not suspend her disbelief enough to appreciate that sort of image properly.

Shara nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! He’s obviously an incredible catch! I need to get to him before he re-connects with his pretty childhood friend or some random overly attractive alien girl falls out of the sky and lands on him. That happens far too often, you know.”

“Yeah, I suppose. Relationships take time, though. Did you know that it took me several minutes to confess my love to Scott for the first time?
Several minutes
! I thought that I would die if it took any longer.” explained Origin.

Shara winced. “That does seem like a long time... I figured that I’d say hello and we’d talk briefly and then we’d get married. That’s how it works, right?”

Origin screwed her lips to the side then acquired a thoughtful expression. “I thought so, too, but Scott seemed to think otherwise.”

“That’s just because your Scott has relationship issues. My Scott is thirty years old and has never had a girlfriend, so he’s obviously perfect.” said Shara confidently.

“He used to be your Scott, too.” said Origin defensively.

Shara nodded. “Hey, if you’re willing to share him like a good sister would, I’ll forget about fat Scott and go confess my love to our Scott immediately. I’d much rather be with him.”