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

by Scottie Futch

  Origin ARS 3

  By Scottie Futch

  Copyright 2015 Scottie Futch

  ***

  There were times in my life when I did not know the best way forward. If I took a path there would be no way of knowing exactly where I might end up. In those moments I would hesitate. I would spend time thinking of the right path or choice to take. Sometimes, I would hesitate so long that one of the possible choices would disappear. Often, that would lead to a situation where I was forced to take only one path forward. It was never the better of the two paths.

  Over time I began to work through that hesitancy. In fact, I over-compensated. I became impatient and rash at times when I knew that there was no reason to be.

  I had allowed that impulsiveness to overcome my common sense in recent days. Faced with the possibility of an eternal life and an incredible fantasy world to explore, I made poor decisions. Someone who I cared about had suffered due to that fact.

  I used to hesitate too much, and now I do not think things through enough. I have been foolish, stupid, and rash. That will end. It has to end. It might take me a while to retrain my habits, but I know that I can do it.

  I could not just look at this world as nothing more than a fantasy world that works like a game, even if that is what it was meant to be by those who created it. This was my life now. It was a game for some, but for me it was reality. It was time to stop letting my impatience get the better of me. It was time to get my head in the game.

  Chapter 1: Midnight on the Sea

  The cry of a wayward seagull split the stillness of the night. A simple wooden boat slipped through the water under the light of the moon. It was a small thing and an improper craft for traveling over open water. Roughly the size of a large automobile, it was just large enough for two people to fit comfortably inside.

  An elf maiden sat at one end of the craft, her brilliant blue hair gleamed in the moonlight. At the other end sat a man, a mere human. His equally blue hair was plastered to the side of his head due to the heavy amount of sweat that poured from his body.

  “Stroke! Stroke! Stroke!” called out Rhea in a cutesy manner.

  Scott snorted at her, but kept rowing. He had once thought that she was kind of cute when she was bossy. At the moment he almost wanted to roll the boat over just to see her flail around in the water.

  Atop the man’s head sat a tiny blond girl with iridescent wings. She glowed softly in the darkness. The fairy girl cried out, “You can do it Scott! I believe in you!”

  The galley-slave rolled his eyes, but continued to row. It was good exercise, but he no longer needed that in order to stay fit or to grow stronger. The only thing that he would get out of rowing across the water from the mainland to the massive island where the capital of Eizen resided was a chance to be exhausted and sweaty.

  It was a necessary thing, however. Had they booked passage on a ferry or other passenger ship, the Corpse Rat guild might have been able to track them. Instead of that, they had purchased a small boat from a fisherman who lived in a quiet little fishing village. Even if they were tracked to that location, there were literally dozens of places that they could have gone to after buying the boat.

  You cannot track someone over the ocean unless you had specific abilities. Corpse Rat was unlikely to have such abilities available at the moment, and if they acquired the services of someone who did it would be too late for them to do anything.

  Scott figured that those bastards would look for them in Eizen if they found any hint of a trail that led to the water. That was why he was annoyed at the moment. There were plenty of places to go, but the most likely place would be Eizen. Unless the Corpse Rats were complete idiots, they would send someone to Eizen anyway.

  Of course, that was only if they wanted to track them at all. There was no way to know whether that guild even gave a damn about them anymore. They probably did, but how far would they try to track them?

  Whatever, what was done; was done. Rhea and Scott had spent several days rowing between sets of islands while making their way to Eizen. Before they had left the mainland, Scott had paid off his debt to Erido, though that had been done in a roundabout manner. Sharde had sent someone to pay off the debt on his behalf. After he had received a message screen stating that his debt had been paid, he had given Sharde the money that he had intended to use for his debt.

  Scott had cringed a little when he turned the money loose, but at least the debt was paid. He would have felt better about it if he could have gotten his equipment. Unlike Erido, the armorer in town had refused to turn over his gear to someone else. He had to pick it up in person.

  He could have had Sharde’s people steal his items back; technically the services had been paid for anyway. It would have caused problems in the future, however. He would be wearing stolen equipment, even though it belonged to him.

  In the end, he had written it off as a loss. If he managed to make it back within the one month time frame he would collect his equipment, but he had already spent nearly a week traveling toward Eizen. It would take much longer to get back to Meaden since he did not have the speed of a ninja master.

  Scott thought about his lost equipment, especially his lost gauntlets. He gritted his teeth then growled softly. Corpse Rat had cost him a lot of money and aggravation. When he was stronger, he would make them pay for that, though the lost equipment was not the real reason that he wanted to strike back at them.

  Every time Scott looked at Rhea, he saw her sitting in that orc’s lap with her throat slashed. People like that, they needed killing. That was all there was to it as far as he was concerned. Rhea would have resurrected later, but what if they had been locals? When a local person died, they were either revived via a spell or they stayed dead. They would eventually reincarnate as a newborn, but their old life would be over.

  “Still thinking about it?” asked Rhea.

  Scott continued to row the boat for a moment before he nodded. “I don’t think I’ll ever stop thinking about it till those guys are taken out.”

  She nodded her head slowly in response. “Yes, I agree. But we need to be a lot stronger, first.”

  The sorcerer rowed, rowed, rowed the boat for a while before he spoke again. “Rhea, how many times have you reincarnated?”

  “As this avatar?” she asked.

  “Uh, yeah.” he said. He thought about that for a moment. Did that mean that she had more than one avatar, or that this was her current persona?

  “Three times. Why do you ask?” She looked to him curiously.

  “You said that Arcane Blade was a class that most elves could be. Are there no advanced classes for the elf race?” asked Scott.

  She smiled at him. “Sure, but I haven’t taken any of them yet. My time as Rhea is special to me. She looks the most like me. I mostly come to this world in this form when I need to grind monsters or just feel better about life.”

  “I see. So, do you intend to reincarnate as an arcane blade each time?” he asked. Scott was curious about both her and this world. They had spoken frequently about things since he had learned of her true nature, but he always had the sense that she held a little back from him.

  “No. I’ll choose an advanced class next time. If I’m going to spend my life running around with an overgrown idiot, I’ll need all the strength that I can get.” She smiled at him sweetly, and then she grinned when he offered her a faux-sour expression.

  “You’ll need it.” quipped Scott. He did not mind the insult. It was true after all. Their current troubles had been initiated by his stupidity and general ignorance of the world and its politics.

  Rhea laughed at him then shook her head. “It’s fine, Scott. I’m not traumatized by what happe
ned. If anything, I’m angry because they caught me at a low level.”

  “You’re always high-level for me.” replied Scott. He emphasized his flirtation with a flutter of his manly eyelashes.

  Rhea giggled at him. “That’s really sweet, but I’m not going to trade places with you.”

  “No way, you saw through my clever ruse?” He gazed upon her with mouth agape, and faux-surprise writ large upon his features.

  The elf girl laughed louder then leaned forward. “It wasn’t that clever.”

  “I can be clever if I want to, you know.” Scott poked out his lower lip in an imitation pout.

  “I believe you.” She reached forward and patted him politely on the knee.

  Scott rolled his eyes then smiled at her. Since her admission about her true nature, Rhea had been more open and honest in her speech. She still lapsed into cutesy girl elf mode a lot, especially if he did something nice for her. However, she did not cling to him and tremble as much as she did before.

  It was strange at times. She referred to herself in the third person frequently. Scott knew that he was speaking to the real person behind those jade green eyes, now. Origin was a little different in personality than the elf girl who she played as, but she was still incredibly sweet most of the time.

  The sorcerer sighed softly. “It’s really too bad, though.”

  “Hmm, what’s too bad?” asked Rhea.

  “Ah, nothing.” said Scott.

  “No, out with it mister...” said the elf girl.

  Scott shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I just thought that it was too bad that you aren’t strong enough to row the boat.”

  Rhea snorted at him then crossed her arms over her chest. “You will not manipulate me into rowing this boat.”

  “I’d row for a while if I were bigger, Scott.” said Ero. The little fairy had been strangely quiet for most of the trip. She occasionally offered words of encouragement, such as before, but she spent most of her time watching the moonlight on the water.

  “Aww, I know Ero. That’s why we’re BFFs.” said Scott.

  “Yeah! We’ll always be best friends.” replied the fairy before rolling forward and then spreading her body out on top of his head. His constant motion did not seem to faze the girl at all. She easily retained her position on her moving perch.

  Rhea frowned at the display then snorted. “I didn’t know that I had to row a boat to be considered your friend.”

  Scott smiled softly at her. “You don’t have to row the boat Rhea. It’s OK.”

  She looked away from him then shook her head. “It’s not working. You can’t make me feel bad for you.”

  “Hey, I know! When we get to shore I can massage your shoulders! You’re bound to be really stiff, Scott.” said Ero excitedly.

  Rhea blinked then turned her head toward them. She started to speak, but Scott spoke before she could.

  “Thanks Ero. That’s really sweet of you. If you were able to row, I’d massage you, too.” said Scott.

  The elf girl closed her mouth slowly. An image of Scott giving Ero a massage invaded the elf girl’s mind. She started to feel angry, but then she realized something. Scott had just said that he would give Ero a massage if she could row the boat. “Would you give me a massage if I rowed the boat?”

  Scott smirked at her. He really did not care about rowing the boat. He was tired of doing it, but he would be done soon enough. He never really expected, or wanted, her to row in the first place.

  Still, he could not resist teasing her a little. “It’s fine Rhea. I know that you have a weak constitution. I mean, it takes a big strong man to row a boat. You’d probably pull a muscle and I’d have to massage you a little for a few days to help alleviate the pain.”

  She could just drink a healing potion, or one of her tonics, to alleviate most of the pain from a pulled muscle. Yet, she was tempted now. Still, she knew what he was trying to do. “I bet you don’t even know how to give a proper massage...”

  “I suppose you’ll never know.” said the man.

  “Never? Not even once?” Rhea’s eyes widened. She might never get a massage from Scott?

  “Nope, possibly not even once.” said Scott with a smile.

  Rhea huffed loudly then surged forward. “Gimme the oars, Scott.”

  “No, no. Rowing is for manly men, not cute little girls.” he said.

  “I’ll show you a cute girl!” exclaimed Rhea heatedly.

  “I already know a cute girl.” said Scott.

  The elf girl’s face began to grow flush. “Oh, do you?”

  “Yeah, Ero’s adorable.” replied Scott without missing a beat.

  “I am, aren’t I?” asked Ero with a pleased smile. She looked down at Rhea from Scott’s head then giggled.

  Rhea’s lips screwed into an angry expression for a brief instant then her face became impassive. She adopted an expression similar to a stone statue. “Give me the oars, Scott.”

  “No...”

  “I want the oars, Scott.” said Rhea before leaning in a little closer.

  “No, no. This is man’s work.” said the supposed man.

  Rhea’s expression never changed. However, one moment she sat directly in front of him and in the next moment she lunged forward. She tackled him and forced him onto his back via her surprising maneuver.

  “Rhea?” asked Scott in surprise.

  The elf girl gazed down at him with ice cold eyes and perfect features. “You have something that I want. Give it to me.”

  Scott felt a little freaked out by her change in demeanor, but he decided to play it cool. “Make me.”

  Her eyes narrowed briefly. She leaned down until she was but a hair’s breadth from his face. “Give it to me Scott. I want it, now.”

  In response to her open aggression he bit his lower lip and offered his cutest expression. “Please, be gentle.”

  Rhea’s impassive expression remained intact but she did not speak. However, after a brief moment passed her face became incredibly red and she closed her eyes tightly.

  Finally, she cried out, “Stupid!” and slapped him on the chest. Given his natural defense, it actually hurt her more than it hurt him. Though, neither took any damage from the act.

  Before Scott could respond she smacked him three more times in rapid succession. “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”

  It did not actually hurt for him to receive those blows, but Scott could tell that he had hurt her somehow. Instinctively he slipped his arms around her and embraced her tightly.

  Rhea panted and heaved a few times before nuzzling her cheek against his chest. “You’re so stupid...”

  Scott kissed her on the forehead. “I guess that means I need a smart girl to keep me in line.”

  The elf giggled nervously then clutched at his shirt with her right hand. “True. You do need a certain level of oversight.”

  “Oversight? What am I, an expense report?”

  “Oh, don’t bring that up right now. Paperwork... Who needs it!” Rhea looked down at him with wide and mischievous eyes.

  A tiny voice cried out, “That’s cute and sweet and stuff, but can you get off of me please!”

  “Ero!” cried out Scott. He bucked upwards a bit and the little fairy flew out from under him. She had somehow gotten pressed underneath a bit during the special moment that Scott and Rhea had shared.

  “I thought that I was going to die! Again!” The tiny girl fluttered over to the edge of the boat and settled down. She crossed her arms then pouted at them both.

  “Oh, Ero...” said Rhea. The elf had not meant to cause trouble for the little fairy, even if the tiny girl did occasionally cause mischief.

  The fairy stamped her foot then exclaimed, “No! There’s no way to make this up to me.”

  “I’ll buy you a piece of pie.” said Scott.

  “Do you really think that a piece of pie will make me forgive you?” asked the girl. She took a deep breath then pouted at Scott with even greater ferocity.

  “
Two pieces of pie...” said Scott.

  Ero acquired a crafty look. “I also want a cookie.”

  “I don’t know... cookies are awfully tasty. I might want to keep them all for myself.” replied the man.

  The fairy gasped at him as though he had just spoken an incredibly vile obscenity in her presence. “Oh, no!”

  “Scott, buy her a cookie.” said Rhea. She might have a few jealousy issues regarding Ero at the moment, but the little fairy was just too cute to resist.

  He turned his head back to look at the elf. She had regained her ice sculpture-like expression.

  Scott looked to Ero. The fairy tapped her tiny little foot then leaned forward and looked at him. Finally, he turned his gaze to the sky above. After a moment he closed his eyes tightly and cried out, “Dammit, I’m out numbered.”

  Rhea’s expression broke apart with a loud *snerk!* She started to laugh immediately afterward. Ero joined in as well. Scott merely shook his head and bemoaned his fate. His was a fate that befell all supposedly manly men in the presence of overwhelming amounts of girl power.

  ***

  The gentle crackle of the campfire flame provided both comfort and security in a dark and foreboding night. Scott was a grown man and a soldier. He had spent more than one dark night surrounded by unfamiliar terrain. Yet, there was nothing as strange to him as the endless expanse of the ocean in the middle of the night.

  Rhea was unconscious at the moment. He could not be certain if she had gone to sleep or simply logged out. Ero had decided that she needed to take a nap as well. That left the man alone with his thoughts.

  He looked out to the midnight sea and wondered about the future between the moments where he engaged in remembrance of his past. Scott had tried to ignore it, but there were many things about his current life and mental state that did not feel right. The background music currently played a soft and gentle song that perfectly emphasized the moment. It was another bit of strangeness in an already strange existence.

  The sorcerer looked down at his hands and considered them carefully. They had become instruments of death in this world. He had taken well over a thousand lives already. Yes, none of them would die and be gone forever, but he had still done it. What was worse, he had actually begun to enjoy it.