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

by Scottie Futch

  She blew a stray hair out of her face then looked down at the table top. She had brought her favorite possession to see her through the annoyances that came with being the heiress to a gaming empire. It was a little toy ring, just a silly little thing.

  Origin smiled at it and remembered how she had come by it in the first place. She stroked the cheaply made plastic bit of jewelry and thought of the one who had given it to her.

  “Weren’t you supposed to throw that thing into Mount Doom?” asked Silence from the other side of the table.

  The goddess looked at her brother, a frown artfully crafted upon her lips. “Do I look like a hobbit to you?”

  “Well, you are shorter than me.” countered her bratty older sibling. He gave her a sarcastic smile as further evidence of his intended tone.

  Origin snorted at him then tucked the ring back under her shirt. She held it there like a necklace. The string was just a shoelace that Scott had chosen to use. Her tiny adolescent finger had not been big enough for the toy that he had earned her when he was victorious at that crane game all those years ago. Now that she was in her normal adult form, the ring would fit easily. Yet, she kept it on the string because that was how he had given it to her when they had met on that beautiful day.

  “Do you really miss him that badly?” asked the grim reaper, a smirk on his lips.

  The so-called ice queen looked away from him and sighed once more. She did not feel like dignifying that with a remark. Didn’t he have souls to count or something?

  “I noticed that you received a priority alert not long ago... Was it from him?”

  “Why do you even care, Silence? All you want to do is tease me, anyway.” replied Origin. The goddess of love looked down at the table and stuck out her lower lip slightly.

  Silence seemed confused for a moment. After a short space of time passed, he asked her, “Is that really what you think?”

  “Why wouldn’t I think that? It’s all you’ve done since I first met him.” she replied.

  Silence shook his head slowly then said, “I’m just worried about you. It has only been a few years from his perspective, but it has been several decades for you. It is not healthy to obsess over a guy who you barely know. Not for either of you. ”

  “I know. I know that...” Her eyes grew narrow and then her eyebrows gently rose upward as she tried to process a complicated emotion that she could neither name, nor truly understand.

  He stood up and walked over to sit by her side. She looked in his direction, but not at him. Silence said, “You have spent a lot of time devoted to following his life. What if he ends up not being the way that you think of him? Won’t you be heartbroken?”

  Origin did not say anything for a while. Instead, she sat there and stared down at her hands. When she did speak, it was to say, “I don’t know. So far, he has been exactly as I thought of him.”

  “Help me out here, baby sister. Why? I can see you bringing him here. I can even see you wanting to adventure with him. Why take it further than that? You can only end up hurting each other in the end.”

  The goddess sighed softly then placed her hand to the cheap plastic ring beneath her shirt. “It’s stupid, I know. We don’t really know each other. I’ve watched him in detail for a long time since that day, but that doesn’t mean that I know him. If nothing else it would just make me an obsessive stalker from his perspective.”

  “Origin...” said Silence, softly. She was finally admitting the obvious to herself. That was a good sign. He had grown concerned for her mental state over the years. Their kind was prone to fixation and mental disconnects that could cause serious issues.

  “Silence, I know already. Alright, I know. I can’t help it, but I know.”

  The god of death placed his hand atop the shoulder of his sister then squeezed gently. She trembled a little at his touch. It was comforting, but she was deeply unsettled by her realizations. She had been a fool over the man she had adored from afar. The gods in general were like that for their favored mortals, the interesting ones as they saw them. She had taken it to an obsessive level, however.

  “I did not really intend for this to happen. When I brought him here, it was originally meant to be a ploy to hold back those idiots on the council...” said Origin.

  “If you’re honest with yourself, do you really see you two being together with the way things are right now?” asked Silence.

  “I don’t know. It’s easy when I’m Rhea. I can play my role and not have to worry about what he would think of the real me, but that won’t work forever. If anything, I know it’s keeping him from trusting me.”

  “So, tell him the truth then.” replied the God of Death.

  “You know I can’t do that... The system preservation requirement...” Origin spoke in a weak, non-committal tone.

  “You’re the heiress to the company Origin, and Scott is not even from ARS. He already knows that it is not a natural existence. Why have you not told him the truth? All of it? You do remember what you brought him there for, right? He is meant to serve a purpose that is even more important than just hanging out with you, yes?”

  “I...” said the goddess, but her voice trailed off before she could complete her thought.

  Silence stared at the side of her head for a moment as she struggled to come up with the right words. The minutes passed in silence.

  Finally, Origin said, “I was afraid that he would not like me, I guess.”

  “How could he not like you? You’ve wanted to spend time with him since the day that you met him. If anything, not telling him your true motivation is what has kept you from developing a real relationship instead of that forced caricature that you are both forced into.”

  She nodded meekly and her hair fell forward in front of her eyes. She knew it, of course. The truth had always been the biggest issue. She had never intended to actually meet up with him in that world. If anything, she knew that her presence was causing problems. If their lives had been some sort of story like in the Earth Human media, she would have been the part that most people would want to skip because she was a distraction from the hero’s journey. Origin had begun to feel that she was holding him back.

  “Do you want to end this early and go see him?” asked Silence.

  “More than anything, but...” said Origin.

  “I can’t help you with the meetings today, but the photo shoot tomorrow is something else. Mid can do it. She likes to do it.”

  “That... That would be great!” said Origin with growing excitement.

  Silence could not help but smile when his overly innocent sister became this excited about the chance to go visit her would-be boyfriend. Still, he knew that it was not something that could be feasible long term. Scott seemed nice enough, but he could not exist in their true reality. He would be obliterated by the mere presence of even the least powerful of their kind. Mortals did not do well in the presence of divinity.

  He patted his sister on the head and she made a happy noise. Silence was glad that she had found a loophole, but he doubted that any mortal could follow through on the road that she had to set for him. It would take a great deal more than just fighting a few monsters for him to become strong enough to be in the same room as her without bursting into flames.

  “My services are not free, however.” he said.

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “You will tell him everything. Your lives aren’t one of those trashy throw away romance novels that you love so much. You both deserve better than that. You don’t need to wait for some highly relevant plot point to make the big reveal, you know.”

  “Silence...” said Origin.

  “Yeah?” he asked.

  Origin turned to the side and gave her brother a warm hug, the first in a very long time. “I’ve been an obsessive idiot, haven’t I?”

  “Absolutely.” replied Silence.

  She laughed a little then hugged him tighter. It was nice, sometimes, to have a brother. “Thank you.�
�

  “What are big brothers for?” he asked with a smile.

  “Trading for spice?” replied the girl.

  “Heh, you watch too much science fiction. Good science fiction, but too much...”

  “Better than what you watch.” She said flatly.

  Silence shook his head at her. “It’s an important part of the human experience and must be learned intimately for the sake of authenticity.”

  Origin leaned forward and gave him a look. “You search the Earth-connected portion of D-Net for badly photoshopped celebrity porn.”

  “Damn right.” replied the god of death. It was for research purposes after all. Authenticity demanded that he study humanity with all of his body and soul, no matter how exhaustive the study must become.

  Origin stared at him for a moment. “You need a girl friend.”

  “Are you really one to talk?” he asked.

  The goddess of love, and various other things, snorted at him. “No, but still... Go get laid or something. You worry me.”

  Silence snorted then stared at her like she was a strange breed of animal that no one had ever discovered before. Had she really just said that? “My baby sister... Such language...”

  The blue haired goddess smiled softly at him then poked him in the side. “Sometimes you’re alright, you idiot.”

  “Don’t go spreading that around. You’ll ruin my reputation.” replied Silence.

  Origin tried to fight it, but she could not achieve victory. She snorted and then giggled at his attempted humor. The god of death chuckled softly in response, and soon they both laughed loudly.

  --

  Dawn, it was a time that heralded new beginnings, but sometimes it also heralded an end. In this case, the dawn brought with it the end of a four day long grind session in the Red Rock Mine.

  <<< * >>>

  The new discovery bonus for Red Rock Mine has ended. Monster spawn levels and experience totals will return to normal.

  <<< * >>>

  “Man, I need to find a few more places like this!” Scott could not help but be excited at the prospects of new adventures. Somehow he had survived that epic battle. It was something that he had never actually believed himself capable of before. Who honestly thought that they had the ability to crush an entire army on their own? Well, outside of fictional characters and the mentally deranged?

  Scott whispered to Ero in his mind, but the Fairy did not answer in any meaningful way. He could feel her presence, but could not coax her into talking. She might become unconscious when she is badly injured.

  He knew that she was still alive. She could not die unless he died permanently, and that was a hard thing to accomplish since he was supposedly eternal. He could die of old age if he sat around long enough, but there were few other methods to truly end his life. Of course, that line of thinking had not been explored in reality. He had not died yet, and hoped that he would not do so in the future.

  He sat up on his cot and considered his options. “’I’ve already sorted my loot and reclaimed the stuff that I dropped here at the camp...”

  As much as he hated the idea, he would have to head back to town. His inventory was close to bursting with the various types and numbers of items that he possessed. He did not have a single empty slot. It was a wonder that it had all fit.

  He stood up then stretched in a lazy manner. He was still a bit stiff despite resting completely. It seemed that sometimes the stats that he possessed did not perfectly mesh with his actual body. He suspected that there were hidden variables involved.

  Scott hated to just abandon the tent. It was well past its prime, but he could have gotten a few more days out of it if he just had more room to carry junk. He also needed to resupply and have his equipment repaired. His chest plate looked like someone had used it for target practice at a shooting range.

  The sorcerer bid farewell to the campsite then started to walk toward town. He only managed to take a few steps before he realized something. He had not gone through the process of accepting his upgrades.

  Scott decided to do his upgrading before he went to town. There was also one other thing that he intended to try out as well, but that would wait until he actually left.

  Tired, but curious, he called up his skill upgrade screen. After doing so he was greeted by the sight of a new message.

  <<< * >>>

  Congratulations! You have reached level 10!

  You are now able to take the next step on the path of the master sorcerer. Please choose your path in life from the selections below.

  The Path of Spirit

  The Path of Balance

  The Path of Power

  <<< * >>>

  He chose the middle path, as he had wanted to do all along. The other paths promised great perks for either physical skills or magical powers, but the opposite ability would suffer. He had come to enjoy being adequate at both.

  Light flared around his body and he felt as though he had grown much stronger somehow. It was a strange and invigorating sensation! He checked to see what had happened.

  <<< * >>>

  You have chosen to take the next step in your training via the Path of Balance, the most difficult of the sorcerer paths. You will not receive as many physical skills as the Path of Power, or as many spells as the Path of Spirit. However, you will obtain a greater understanding of both capacities in regards to how they interact on equivalent levels.

  Health + 25

  Mana + 25

  Attack + 10

  Defense + 10

  All other attributes + 5

  New ability paths have been unlocked

  <<< * >>>

  “Oh hell, yes.” No wonder he felt stronger. He had just acquired several levels worth of stats at one time. Of course, that happened to everyone once they reached level ten.

  Scott cleared the screen then checked his upgrade menu. He had three options. Those options were unarmed combat, sorcery, and dual boomerang mastery.

  “I can pick intermediate advancement in those skills now? Why is the boomerang skill included in that?” He had studied the nature of the skill and advancement system a bit at the library in Victory Station, but a lot of stuff had not been mentioned. It was possible that all skill advancements operated based on his level. It would make sense with the reincarnation stuff, though he was just guessing at how the system works at this point.

  Scott quickly expended seventy-five ability points to reach intermediate tier capacity in all three categories. He received several updates to his status that made him grin like a happy little moron.

  <<< * >>>

  You have mastered intermediate unarmed combat! You may now learn new combat abilities and intermediate skills.

  Health + 10

  Attack +10

  Defense + 10

  Strength + 5

  Agility + 5

  Accuracy + 5

  <<< * >>>

  <<< * >>>

  You have mastered intermediate sorcery! You may now learn new combat abilities and intermediate skills.

  Mana + 10

  Intellect + 5

  All Spells: Force + 1

  <<< * >>>

  <<< * >>>

  You have mastered intermediate dual boomerang mastery! You may now learn new combat abilities and intermediate skills.

  Health + 10

  Accuracy + 5

  Agility + 5

  Throwing Speed + 5%

  <<< * >>>

  The stat increases for his first upgrade were more than great, but sadly he already knew how he would spend most of his recently acquired ability points. When the intermediate level opened in his skill categories he was granted new passive modifier options for when he gained a level. They each would cost seventy points. However, by choosing them he would go ahead and take care of that. He would still have fun points to spend afterward. In fact, until he advanced to the next category they would almost all be fun points. Once he expanded some of his basic stats a little more, it would b
ecome wasteful to spend his points in that manner. At that point it would be better to choose skills and other perks.

  “And just like that I spent six hundred thirty-five points. Mid was right, there are never enough of those things...” Scott muttered to himself. A new adventurer either went for the flashy stuff or the workhorse stuff it seemed. He had not been able to spend his points on anything but stat modifiers and a few stats the so far. Of course, that overzealous focus on stats had probably saved his life on more than one occasion. Either way, choosing more interesting skill upgrades would now be possible. He saw very few new stat upgrades available beyond the level-up modifier. There were a few but they had the feel of one off bonuses. He did not have a hundred ability points to splurge at the moment to find out, though.

  “Ninety-six points... What to choose...” Scott checked his options carefully. He could now learn spells from the second and third spell tier, but they required several hundred ability points each. They required either four hundred points or seven hundred points to be exact.

  Scott wanted to awaken something new, something that was not a stat upgrade. Level one spells would cost forty points. He checked his unarmed combat mastery and ran through all the basic upgrades he had not activated due to wanting to upgrade his status. There was something in his range and he could acquire it quite easily. “The first step?”

  He checked the ability and read the information provided.

  <<< * >>>

  The First Step to True Enlightenment

  A true sorcerer understands that balance is the key to ultimate understanding. By mastering the energy flows of the mind, the body, and the spirit you can temporarily increase your fighting spirit. However... you will only awaken this strength in a time of crises and must return to your origin to discover the secret of true power.