Origin ARS 5 (8 page)

Aria saw no harm in telling the truth. "I'm
Aria, Scott's fiancé. Who may I say asked for him?"

"Fiancé... He, a fiancé?" She asked slowly as
though the words did not process properly. It had been a little
over nine months since she had last seen him, but this was a shock
either way.

"Yes, we are so in love it would make most
people sick." said Aria in a friendly tone. She then hugged herself
and laughed. "He's just wonderful."

Sarah grunted a little then started to say
something, but Aria continued with a girlish giggle, her eyes wide
and innocent. "And wow, when we make love I feel like the Earth
shakes."

Sarah's left eyebrow twitched slightly and
she made a coughing sound. "Yeah, uh... I just. He hasn't been
answering my text messages and I wanted to talk to him."

"Oh? About what?" asked Aria with a pretty
smile.

"That's not really... It's our business."

"We have no secrets from each other." said
Aria, a little tenseness appearing in her tone. "It was one of the
early issues in the relationship. Something about his old fiancé
cheating on him on the night they were engaged, or something. What
a pathetic whore, right?"

If Scott had heard Aria speaking in this
manner he would have been quite scandalized. She never spoke this
way around him. Normally she was quite sweet and endearing. At the
moment she was quite salty and perhaps a little spicy.

"Did he say that last part?" asked Sarah, her
face becoming a tight mask of anger.

"I don't know, she's not important now. I
should thank her, though. If she wasn't such a cheating bitch, I
would never have gotten a chance to be with my Scott." Aria sighed
dramatically then hugged her hands to her chest. "We've been ever
so happy."

Sarah looked like she could spit fire after
hearing that. Her teeth began to grind a little. "How
old
are you anyway? You look like a teenager!"

"Well, yes. I should. I'm eighteen. Wait, or
am I nineteen?" Aria acquired a thoughtful expression. "Hmm, twenty
maybe?"

"You don't even know how old you are?" asked
Sarah with a snort.

"I've been so busy being in love with my
Scott that I've lost track of the seasons." She smiled prettily.
"Either way, I'm in the prime of my life and quite capable of
handling his voracious sexual appetite during our many hours of
love making."

She reacquired her thoughtful expression.
"My, is it voracious!"

"Damned pedophile." muttered Sarah.

"Hmm? Why would you say that? Do I look like
a child to you? I own my own house and everything." said Aria
sweetly.

"Then why aren't you in it?" muttered Sarah
heatedly.

"Well, it's right there." Aria pointed to the
house next door. Sarah glanced over to it then her eyebrow began to
twitch again.

Aria blinked. "Oh wait, you wanted to tell my
Scott about something?

"Look, it doesn't concern you. I want to talk
to Scott." said Sarah with a little more heat creeping into
her
voice. Fiancé or not, this
child
kept referring
to Scott as hers like she was bragging. It grated heavily on
Sarah's nerves.

"Well, my fiancé's not here, but if you want
me to take a message I can do that." said Aria.

"Can you put some clothes on first?" asked
Sarah with a frown.

"That would be silly. We plan to make love
all day when he returns. The scented massage oil might not wash out
easily." Aria touched her index finger to her chin and acquired a
vacant expression. "It could be a while before he comes back,
though."

"Fuck it! Fine... just tell him that Sa—" The
girl stopped for a moment then a crafty look came into her eyes.
"Just tell him that he has a son, and to call me."

Aria blinked then her jaw dropped open. "A
son?"

"Yeah, didn't tell you that did he?" Sarah
smirked at the shirt-clad woman then walked off. She was incredibly
pleased with herself. That would teach the big-knockered slut a
lesson about messing with her.

Aria was momentarily distraught then glared
at the woman walking away in the distance. She did not even try to
hide it when she brought up a menu screen, scanned Sarah, and
checked her associations. Her eyes narrowed and she looked like she
wanted to rip a certain someone in half. "Lying woman. Scott's not
the father at all."

Sarah got into a beat up old station wagon
and pulled out of the drive way. She smiled viciously at Aria as
she drove away.

"The Joker was right. Sometimes you just
wanna watch the world
burn
." muttered Aria while she stared
daggers at the fleeing woman. At the very least it would be nice if
some people burned just a little.

~*~

The Field of New Beginnings was a place where
time stood still. That did not mean that someone could stay there
forever unless they simply wanted to hide from the world. Scott had
learned first-hand that he was incapable of remaining in the
tutorial area if he wanted to become stronger. His first fight in
the new world had been a true disaster.

"So, you're ready to move on?" asked Mid with
a warm smile, but a sad tone of voice.

"Yes. I don't really know what to do about
creating more skills here. My stats are high enough, but I can't
increase my skill level enough to help me focus on development of
my spells." said Scott. He had only managed to create three spells
in his time there, none of them were combat grade abilities. He
could create a stable light spell after working on his original
unstable orb of brilliance for a while. He had an ability that
allowed him to start a small camp fire over time. He could also
wrap Earth elemental energy around his body to slightly increase
his toughness. It did nothing toward stopping an attack, but he
would be able to travel the wilds without taking minor scratches
from bramble thorns and similar things.

Scott would love to stay in the field and
learn a lot more spells over time, but every time he even tried to
do so his headache would increase in ferocity. Until he could gain
a few combat levels, he was unable to train properly. That was the
limitation of the beginner area. Otherwise, newcomers would never
leave.

"Makes sense. You have done as much as you
can here. Would you like to be sent to a tutorial dungeon near the
city that you chose? It might help you learn the way of the world
further? It's a fairly simple place and you will be able to develop
your combat ability." said Mid.

"That sounds good, but what if I die there?"
asked Scott.

"It's an instanced dungeon that is part of
the tutorial system. Time doesn't pass and the monsters won't
respawn there until you leave, but you can't return to it if you do
leave." She nodded toward him then smiled a little. "Death in that
dungeon just auto-resurrects you back at the safe room. It's your
last free death allowance."

"Sounds
real
good. Is there anything
that I should know?"

Mid chuckled. "The monsters are all low-grade
but they are designed to match their level to your stats, much like
the rabbit that killed you earlier. Though, they won't be nearly as
skillful."

"I hate that damned rabbit." muttered Scott.
He had never wanted to murder a furry woodland creature so much in
his life. He had even gained an achievement for being killed by the
thing.

[Achievement Unlocked]

They Call Him Bruce

[—]

The achievement had the image of the
Wah-Bunny tossing two copper coins on his chest in a dismissive
manner.

"Find him in the world beyond. The quest is
still available to you. Defeat Bruce and you'll get the reward that
I promised." said Mid before granting him a saucy wink and a slight
pucker of her lips.

"I don't know which sounds more dangerous,
the rabbit or the reward." said Scott flatly.

Mid chuckled softly then shook her head.
"Dear childe, you would love my rewards."

"No doubt, but I am happy with my current
rewards package." countered Scott with a smile.

The great sage nodded lightly then smiled
once more. "Good. Are you ready?"

"I should probably check the mirror one more
time to be sure." said Scott.

"Ah, good point. Go ahead dear." said
Mid.

Scott went to the mirror then checked his
status. His attributes were all the same, and his level certainly
hand not changed. He checked his skills.

[Class Skills]

Unarmed Combat:
5

Twilight Sorcery:
5

Primordial Magic:
1

Sense Life:
5

Arcane Lore:
1

Arcane Mastery:
5

Light Armor:
1

Analyze:
1

[—]

[Miscellaneous Skills]

Survival Lore:
5

Boomerang Mastery:
1

[—]

Scott rubbed his chin. There were supposed to
be a lot more class skills that he could learn, but he would have
to discover them on his own or locate masters who were capable of
teaching them to him.

He was a little aggravated by the lack of
ability to train his primordial magic skill, but he needed actual
water in order to study its effects before he could hope to
actually do anything with it. He could focus on elemental water
energy, but he could not yet generate physical water. He felt like
he was close to doing so, however. As with everything, he just
needed to train more.

"Alright. Everything seems to be the same as
I remember it." said Scott.

Mid rotated her staff and a glowing doorway
rose up before him. "You'll be taken to a place where your health
and mana will regenerate quickly. I suggest you use it frequently,
but take your time when fighting your way through the dungeon."

"I will. Thank you." said Scott.

Mid fidgeted slightly then reached down and
smoothed her dress a little. "Take care Scott."

He smiled at her. She had thrown him to the
wolves, rather the rabbit, but that was fine. He had lived after
all. "What? No goodbye hug for your new little brother?"

Mid smiled brightly at him then rushed over
to give him a heartfelt hug. It was innocent and a little sweet.
"Welcome to the family little brother."

Scott wiggled a little and made friendly
grunting noises for emphasis. "Thanks Mid. Am I still meeting
everyone soon? We were supposed to get together till things
happened."

"Of course we are, but you should probably
spend some time training first." said Mid. "I think Origin is
supposed to be meeting our father for dinner at some point, so
you'll probably be meeting him soon as well."

"Should I be worried?" asked Scott
lightly.

"Yes." Mid did not hesitate and also did not
lighten the mood.

Scott blinked then leaned his head back a
little. He acquired a thoughtful expression then said, "I
see..."

"Don't worry about it too much. Just go forth
into adventure young man." she said before releasing him from their
parting hug.

Scott patted her on the shoulder. "Thanks for
everything Mid, even the bunny murder quest."

"All in a day's work,
little brother
."
said Mid warmly.

He offered her a brief smile then turned
toward the glowing door. It was time to move on, even if he had so
much more that he wanted to learn. Even attempting to train further
in this place would cause a crippling headache. It was time for
real training in the world beyond.

Scott walked through the door and Mid sighed
a little at his passing. "Might as well log out and let the system
take over." Mid called up a logout screen then hit the little red
button that would let her do exactly that. Her avatar slumped
forward and started to snore. Soon it shimmered vibrantly and then
changed shape into a fairly short elderly woman. Any new entrants
to the world or returning reincarnates would be greeted by the
system version of Mid, and not the true deity.

The twilight sorcerer walked through a
corridor made of light and out into a dimly lit room with smooth
stone walls. He blinked several times rapidly as his eyes adjusted
to the light levels then looked around.

The floors, walls, and ceiling were all of a
single uniformly grey color. The only things of note in the room
were a small steel framed cot in the corner of the room, a silver
mirror that hung on the wall, and a metal table with a little metal
box sitting atop it. "Cozy."

He checked the mirror first to be sure of
what he suspected. He smiled when he realized that it was, in fact,
a salvation mirror. "Useful!"

Scott went to check out the box. He opened it
up and saw several miniaturized items sitting inside and a normal
sized envelope. He found that to be a bit strange. Did they use
envelopes in medieval times? He knew this world was supposed to be
different from the casual server, but was it really that
different?

He opened the envelope and found a letter
inside along with ten silver coins. The coins were stamped with an
image of a goddess with her arms spread wide on one side, and the
sideways head of the same goddess on the other. There was a little
motto written on the bottom. "In Origin we trust, huh?" asked
Scott, an amused smile rising up on his lips. The letter inside was
quite interesting as well.

[Mission Briefing]

Hellraising Hellions

Thank you for coming to the aid of the Valkovian
Empire at this time of need. The agreed upon monetary fee and
special equipment that you required for this task have been left
here as per your request.

The empire thanks you for your service, citizen.

Mission Requirements:
Defeat the Hellions that
have taken over the 34th Street Subterranean Transit Authority
building. Be warned, they are heavily armed.