Now that he could think clearly, it was obvious that there were many things that he could have been doing to better the situation. It was like nothing he had done throughout his entire time on ARS had made any sort of sense. He would have berated himself further, but to his surprise he heard someone knock at the door.
He went to see who it was, but stopped to stare after he opened the door. On the other side was a girl who had blue hair that was equally as bright and out of place in this world as his own. She also had jade green eyes that were so beautiful that they practically sparkled in the light. She was fairly tall and had a certain sweet sensuality about her that he could not possibly mistake.
“Rhea?” asked Scott, surprised by the sudden arrival of this vision of loveliness. He had not considered the possibility of having her also be on this world.
The visitor laughed warmly then shook her head. “Why no, sir. My name is Aria, Aria Ardent. I’m your new neighbor. I’m a young and impressionable girl who has recently moved to town. I know nothing of the area and wish to make friends.” She tilted her head to the side then smiled brightly, “Can we have sex now?”
Scott squinted at her then threw back his head and laughed. OK, so maybe there was one thing that he’d done on ARS that made sense.
“What’s with the name change?” asked Scott lightly.
Aria grinned at him. “Different world, different name. Besides, it’s the name that I wanted to choose for this form before.”
She took out a pair of glasses and put them on. Aria placed her hand to her cheek. Her thumb cradled her jaw lightly while her index finger rested against her cheek. “Don’t you recognize the poor little fat girl who you helped long ago?”
Scott eyed her critically for a moment. It was odd to see her without elf ears, but he would hesitate to call her fat. If anything she looked like a curvy fitness model who had been blessed with way too much charisma. “Whoever said a good deed was its own reward was wrong.”
“Hmm?” asked Aria.
“There aren’t enough good deeds in the world to make having you in my life a fair reward.” said Scott lightly.
“Why, Mr. Neighbor, how bold of you!” said Aria with a giggle.
Scott reached out and pulled his human-form girlfriend to him. He kissed her warmly on the lips and they stayed that way for quite some time.
“You’re a bit curvier as a human.” Remarked Scott playfully.
Aria poked him. “I used to be a cute little fat girl, remember?”
“Yes, you were so fat that I was afraid that the moon would be pulled out of the sky and start to orbit you.” replied Scott before reaching down to lightly grasp her delightful booty in both hands.
“Thanks!” exclaimed Aria brightly before she kissed him again. He was so sweet sometimes.
They finished being all ridiculous and romantic a few minutes later. Scott invited his body-swapping love interest into his abode.
“Sorry, the lights are out. I haven’t paid the bills in a few months.” said Scott.
“That’s fine, it’s cozy like this. Though, there is another option.” said Aria.
“Oh?” asked Scott.
Aria grinned at him then raised up her hand in an imperious and dramatic manner. “Let there be light!”
Almost instantly electric lights and various appliances awoke all over the house. Scott stared at the light bulb over head for a moment then cursed because he had nearly blinded himself in the process.
Aria placed her hand to her lips and laughed a little. Scott was still a bit goofy even here. It was one of the things that endeared him to her, truth be told.
“I know you’re a goddess and all, but how did you do that?” asked Scott.
Aria grinned at him and then wagged her finger in the air. “No fair asking a girl to give up her secrets.”
Scott smiled at her. “I like your secrets though, especially the dirty ones.”
“My secrets are not dirty, Scott.” Aria crossed her arms over her chest.
“Give me five minutes. They will be.” he replied.
Aria’s face became slightly flush, but it was nowhere near the extent that it would have been on ARS. Earth was a bit more subdued about visible emotional reactions, after all.
“Anyway…” said Aria. “What do you think about being back home?”
“I’ll know when I can go back to ARS.” said Scott. This place did not really feel like home to him. It felt strangely empty and devoid of life, unlike the world that he had lived in for the last few months.
Aria turned her head toward him and gave him a simply wonderful smile. “Do you really mean that?”
“Home is wherever you are. Here or there doesn’t matter.” Scott reached out and took her hands. “But we have things that need to be done there.”
“Yes, we do. What are you thinking?” asked Aria.
Scott was not certain what to think to be honest. He could not do much here besides take a break. He was also worried about Ero. He could sense her, but it was like she was unable to answer. That could be for any number of reasons. He mentioned it to Aria.
The blue haired girl next door sighed. “I checked her status before coming. She managed to finish off all of the bandits, but she died in the process. You probably won’t be able to talk to her for a few hours. The time difference is roughly similar here to what is in the divine city.”
“It is?” asked Scott.
“It is now. I had to wait until you left ARS and returned here to set it properly. I hope that amount of difference is fine? It was one-to-one here until I changed it.”
“So, I’ve been gone for around three months or so, but from now on every four days that passes on ARS is one day here?” asked Scott.
“Uhm, yes. Is that, alright?” she asked him with a hopeful expression.
“That’s perfect.” Scott leaned forward and kissed her on the nose.
“I’m glad. If you’d have been mad, I don’t know what I would have done.”
He shook his head. “There are a lot of things that you do that used to disturb me, but these last few weeks have helped me a great deal. I get that there are things you can’t tell me, or don’t think to tell me since they seem obvious to you.”
“My, so level-headed.” she said with a smile.
“Well, we aren’t in anime soap opera land right now. It’s actually easier to concentrate.” said Scott.
“True, ARS is a fun place but it was not really designed for normal human mental states. You’ve no doubt been acting on impulse more than anything.”
“That needs to stop, seriously.” said Scott.
“Does it? Most of the time it has worked out for you in the end.” said Aria gently.
Scott nodded to her, but he also disagreed. “Yes, but barely. Now that I know the reasons for my actual existence on ARS, it feels like I should be focusing on building a sound strategy against the Lords of Destruction instead of plotting revenge.”
Aria smiled at him. “If that’s what you want to do it’s fine. You’re the champion.”
He grinned at her then shook his head. “What do you want to do, Rh- Aria? Corpse Rat needs to die, but crushing them completely will take a lot of time.”
“Honestly? I know it doesn’t sound right, but I say forget about them entirely. We killed their people, thy tried to kill us but still failed. If anything, we’ve already crushed them. Besides, we could just pay my sister’s people to hunt them down like dogs a few at a time. We can’t use the money we earn on the casual server when we go to the classic server anyway.”
“Let the badass ninja assassins handle the light weight while we focus on becoming as strong as possible?” asked Scott.
“Sure, between my various item cache locations, and the money we can earn from hunting till we reach level one hundred, we can probably hire them to keep after Corpse Rat long term. Besides that, my family wanted a crack at them anyway.” said Aria.
“They weren’t strong enough to take them by
themselves though, were they? Crimson Shadow I mean.” asked Scott. He had no idea how strong her various relatives were on ARS.
“Not in one glorious offensive, no. They’re ninjas and ninja masters, though. If they are paid enough, they’ll devote themselves entirely to routinely assassinating Corpse Rat members. Throw in a provision about forcing their guild out of that town and I bet we can even achieve the goal we wanted. Best way to spend our money, I think.” said Aria.
“Well, that is certainly better than allowing all of that money to go to waste.” said Scott. There was also the time factor. Sure, the Corpse Rat assholes would lose a level if they died, but they would just respawn. It was not hard to gain a level on ARS-Casual. If they had gone through with the assault on Corpse Rat personally it would have led to a long war of attrition. That was not time well spent when it was not even the right server, and none of it would matter in the end!
Another thought occurred to Scott. “How about those items though? Are there any that we can use to help us level faster?”
“Absolutely! I don’t really have any weapons suitable for a sorcerer, but plenty of armor and accessories. If not for the fact that we were trying to help the mermaids, I would have suggested that we go to my best store house. It’s back on the mainland near the northern mountains.”
“Why not mention it before?” asked Scott.
“Like I said, we were on the mermaid mission. Besides that, it will take about three months to reach it on foot. Did you want to let the mermaids languish for months on end?” asked Aria.
“Good point.” said Scott.
“If you let me level up enough to pass you by, I can lead the party and take you there with world travel. The months will fly by, and weeks will pass here, but at least we won’t have to walk in person.” said Aria.
Scott rubbed his chin. “Hey, Love of my life… Do you know where I can get my hands on those permanent lore crystals? You know, the kind that impart skills that won’t be lost?”
“Sure, I have a few of those in my storehouse, though they won’t do you as much good if you’re changing servers.” said Aria.
“Ah, right, the limit caps on skills and stats?” asked Scott.
“Yes. The system works differently on the classic server. You’ll be able to start out with a few specialized skills that you choose to have or create from everything that you have learned here. Spells tend to work differently as well.”
“How so?”
“Well, sorcerers… You’re sticking with some kind of sorcerer upgrade, right?” asked Aria.
“Yeah, I think so.” said Scott.
“Well, anyway, instead of having a few dozen different variations of the same exact spell that only differ in strength, you have to focus on developing one spell type. You’d need to take the time to charge it up to the next level.”
“What, like my burn spell has to be conjured and held until it charges up to Ar-Burst Rain?” asked Scott.
“Yes. So, that entire spell progression takes one spell slot, but it takes much longer to cast a more powerful spell.” She glanced at him. “Stat dependent of course.”
“Of course.” he said.
“Your spell can be interrupted and all the mana lost. It’s much more tactical. Though, the customization aspects will be worth it.” said Aria.
“I’ll probably understand all of this more when it actually happens, right?” asked Scott.
“Probably. You’ll have your basic upgraded sorcerer skills, and four additional skills that might be from any legitimate source. Plus you can choose a certain number of spell types that you create via customization since you will have reincarnated. You get more spell slots as you get stronger. You only get more skill slots for reincarnating.”
“Legitimate source?” asked Scott.
Aria said, “Skills gained from high-grade lore crystals and events. Your boomerang and survival skills would count, though they will work a little differently. Most everything else won’t transfer. You’d really have to just be there to understand.”
“What about the primordial magic?” he asked. Sure, he had no real idea what to do with it at the moment, but he’d earned it. He was already a little bummed to hear that his spear and shield skills would not transition over.
“That sort of thing is an expansion of your class, so it gets to go too. Honestly, if you really want to spend time trying to develop new skills here, those are the kind that you should focus on.”
“There are other sorcerer skills to learn like that?” he asked, excitement growing in his voice.
Aria smiled at him. “Absolutely. There are not many that you can gain as a basic sorcerer, but if you take a little time after you class-up, you can find a few of the other abilities. They exist on the classic server as well, so it’s really up to you when you try to acquire them. They can be useful, but not particularly necessary early on.”
He nodded. “Which would you suggest? Get them now, or wait?” he asked.
“I suggest that you wait. The abilities gained from those quests are nice, but there are items that you receive during the course of those quests that would be a lot more useful on the classic server. You can’t take them with you from the casual one.”
“Makes sense, alright. So, when we return it will be full-bore training to the finish?” he asked.
“Sounds good to me! Though, if you really want to go the path of balance you’ll have to take up a specific questline.”
“What do I have to do?” he asked.
“I can’t give you details or I’ll ruin your chances. I can take you to the place where the quest starts, however. You can’t do it till you are level one hundred, though. It’s not a particularly long quest chain. It can easily be completed in a day, but you only get one chance.”
“Ah! Good enough for me.” said Scott. If he failed, then it just meant that he should choose a different class. Honestly, given the way he fought now it might not be a bad idea to change classes anyway. The spear, shield, and heavy armor did not exactly seem fitting for a martial artist mage. A dark knight or paladin route might work out better for him, especially since he could keep some of his current attack magic via customization. It all remained to be seen.
There were many things to plan out for the near future. He definitely saw more merit in developing his skills and abilities instead of spending his time on a futile war of attrition like he had originally planned. Ultimately, he needed to be stronger for both himself and everyone that existed on the various versions of ARS.
Whether or not he could stop the lords of destruction when that event finally kicked off in the years to come remained to be seen. Yet, he knew that allowing himself to focus solely on what amounted to petty revenge would be the best way to ensure that he failed and everyone paid the price.
Chapter 12: Mortals. Am I Right?
There were many things that one might expect upon returning to your home world after being magically whisked away to become a real-life game character. The idiotic, and completely unbelievable, message left on his phone was not one of them.
“You’ve been staring at your phone for a while now. What’s wrong?” asked Aria.
Scott slowly shook his head from one side to the other. It was ridiculous. They could not do this!
He turned to look at Aria then said, “I need to check my mail and e-mail!”
“Wha-?” asked Aria, even as Scott rushed toward the front door.
After the power had been restored, and he had taken the time to charge his cell phone, he had decided to check his messages. Most of them were just random crap, and one or two were from Sarah for some bizarre reason. However, it was the last messages that had come as a true surprise.
Scott pulled out several large handfuls of mail from his post box, one of which was a message from the post office citing that he would need to remove the mail from his box before they would deliver more. It was dated two days prior, so he was not particularly worried about what he had missed. No, wh
at concerned him was the rather absurd mail that he had gotten.
He saw the address on several offending letters and his eyes narrowed. “They can’t do this to me, dammit. Eight years is the cut-off!”
Scott tore open the letter that had the oldest postdate and began to read. The more he read, the higher his blood pressure rose. “Recalled my ass! I performed my obligation plus two years!” snapped Scott.
“What’s going on, Scott?” called Aria from the doorway.
“Bullshit, that’s what!” he called back.
Aria ran out to see what he was talking about and he handed her the letter. After reading through it, she blinked slowly. “Are they serious? You’re being called back to active duty?”
“This has to be a clerical error or something. The contractual obligation for anyone is only eight years total. I re-enlisted twice after my first tour and went two years beyond that. I shouldn’t even be on the damned ready reserve list.” said Scott angrily.
“I wonder how this happened?” she asked him.
Scott shook his head. Who knew? Was there a war on? “I’ll have to find out. Give me a moment.”
Aria nodded and he smiled briefly at her before lugging his arm load of mail into the house. He tossed it down on the table and then grabbed his phone. He did not owe the army anything. He had done his part and he had shit to do that was a bit more important than sweeping a motor pool or making coffee for overpaid morons fresh out of college. War was one thing, but most of what he did outside of deployment was mind-numbingly boring.
He called the number provided on the letter and played phone tag with all manner of people ranging from a PFC Andre to a Major Calhoun. Eventually, he was redirected to a First Lieutenant Samantha James. After speaking for a few minutes, Scott’s blood pressure increased further.
“You mean to tell me, that I had to request honorable discharge? I thought that was automatic for enlisted personnel? Only officers had to do that sort of things.” asked Scott testily.
He heard a snort on the other end of the line, followed by a brief few seconds of typing. The good lieutenant almost laughed when she replied, “Well, congratulations. You’ve been promoted.”
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