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

by Scottie Futch

  “Even with fins, you’re beautiful.” said the man. Who was he kidding...? They made her look even more exotic. He looked down at her for a moment then idly wondered if there was a skill ring to make someone look like a cat girl or a fox. Perhaps one that gave her horns and batwings? The image of Dragon-Rhea glittering in the sun caused a goofy and mildly lecherous smile to cross his lips for a moment.

  He shook his head to clear the absurdly exciting imagery away then went out to bask in the morning sun. He had a small number of ability points left to spend, after his recent upgrade of his status and skills. He also needed to verify a few things.

  Scott unequipped his current gear and then equipped his street clothes. He wanted to see his status without additional aids or changes. He called up his status screen to see what had changed and to verify the number of points that he had, and to see exactly what he needed stat-wise. He planned to spend most of his remaining points on acquiring more spells and a few things for Ero. He had already spent several thousand of his points on developing his three new skill rings and adding the additional stats and stat level-up modifiers to his status.

  <<< Status >>>

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

  Title: The Unbreakable

  Age: 18 | Level: 18

  EXP: 149,128

  Next Level: 10001 - 7999

  Ability Points: 483

  Health: 270[270] | Mana: 214[214]

  Attack: 110[562] | Defense: 139[607]

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

  Intellect: 120[120] | Luck: 56[56]

  <<< * >>>

  “Nearly four thousand ability points spent, but I think it will be worth it. I can already one-shot Shar-Shar with simple punches and kicks sometimes.” He had proven that just a few hours ago. His attack strength was higher than their average health, and they had terrible defensive skills. What was worse, the poor scaly bastards did not put out enough attack damage to get past his raw defense anymore. Though, that was only true when he did not equip his spear. Things were a bit more even in the water now, unless he used his howling gale spell to annihilate them in a gruesome display.

  Of course, with synchronicity in effect the downgrade in attack and defense was not a problem at all. He had access to an almost absurdly powerful underwater attack skill now.

  Scott looked over his stats then decided to check his survival skills to make sure he had not missed anything.

  <<< Survival >>>

  Survival abilities are designed to help you overcome obstacles and to continue to live despite all odds. These skills relate to the ability to survive any and all situations, and often work in conjunction with other skills.

  Observation - The ability to determine threats and the potential usefulness of items.

  Scavenging - The ability to get the most out of any situation, especially after defeating an opponent.

  Herbal Lore - The ability to know the properties of plants.

  Field Cooking - The ability to cook items found in the field in a quick and efficient manner.

  Synchronicity - The ability to effectively combine various skills in order to create a more powerful effect.

  <<< * >>>

  The survival skill set had multiple extra abilities that could be learned over time, such as making maps or creating traps. They combined the five basic skills, such as scavenging and observation, in order to allow for the ability to effectively create a new result. There were also several extra level-up modifiers for stats, and a few basic modifiers that started at the lowest level. Scott had taken advantage of that to increase his status by a large amount.

  The only thing he did not increase was his attack and defense stats directly. He chose the modifiers, but it felt like a waste to increase those two stats by a single point when he could increase his strength or agility by one point and gain a four point increase those stats.

  Increasing attack and defense directly would wait for a time when he had a lot of extra points to spend, and fewer things to spend them on. Why spend two hundred forty-five points to increase his attack by five points, when he could spend the same amount on strength and have an effective increase of twenty points for attack? Sure, that only counted when he fought unarmed, but the effect held true for other weapons as well. His spear, for instance, had a basic attack modifier that allowed for double his strength to be applied to attack. That increased to a triple his strength if he fought underwater while his fisherman form was activated.

  Scott thought about things for a moment. He could use higher powered spells, but what he needed was greater variety and possibly a few more physical combat skills. Ero also needed to have her level increased to six and a few of her abilities unlocked.

  He pulled up Ero’s status screen then opened her skill menu. He could not give her stat modifiers for level-up, which meant that he should focus on her abilities. Her individual stats could be raised, but at the moment she could only do things once per day. She needed more ways to feel useful.

  His eyes lit up when he saw the one thing his party lacked most. “Four hundred ability points, but definitely what the doctor orders...”

  Scott chose to activate Ero’s Sacred Water ability. A soft cry in the distance told him that the girl had realized what had happened. Ero had been spending time with the engaged mermaids while they were on watch. They got along well together for various reasons.

  The next thing the sorcerer knew a flaming meteor shaped suspiciously like a naked fairy streaked across the island at high speed. The fairy girl stopped short and fluttered excitedly in front of Scott.

  “What! What?” asked the girl, while she flailed her arms.

  “Hi, Ero. I just activated one of your abilities...” said Scott.

  “I know!” She lunged forward and latched onto his face with great excitement.

  “Ack!” cried Scott before he fell backwards and landed in the sand.

  The frisky fairy giggled and hugged his face tightly. “Thank you! Thank you!”

  It took a little time to calm the happy girl down, but after she managed to get ahold of herself she fluttered around and made little excited gestures. “Water! Give me some water Scott!”

  He opened up his inventory and took out a bottle of water. He showed it to her and she shook her head.

  “No, no... I need it to be in a bowl or something...” she said.

  “A bowl?” he asked her.

  She nodded and he shrugged. The man looked through his inventory and pulled out his cooking pot. “How about this?”

  “Sure! As long as it can hold enough water.” she said with a smile.

  “How much water do you need?” he asked. More to the point, why would she need it to be in a bowl or a pot? Did she need to heat it up?

  She tapped her finger to her chin and then looked at his bottle of water. “I think maybe one of those, possibly two...”

  “Alright...” Scott poured the bottle of water into the pot and Ero stood on the rim for a moment to inspect its contents.

  “This might be enough, but... add in a little more?” she asked.

  “Sure.” said the man before taking out another bottle of water. He poured it into the pot and it was nearly full.

  “OK!” She stuck her finger into the water then pouted. “It’s a little cold... Go heat it up on the fire for me, please?”

  Scott nodded to her. So, she did need to heat the water. Good, that made sense at least.

  He set up his cooking equipment and let the continuously burning flame do its work. It did not take long for the water to begin to boil.

  “Oh, now it’s too hot. Can you cool it a little, Scott?” asked Ero. She looked at him with wide, hopeful, eyes.

  “Sure.” He poured a little of the water out and then added more from another bottle. Ero placed her finger into it again and then squealed happily.

  “This is just, perfect! Thank you” said the fairy.

  Scott started to say that she w
as welcome, but the tiny naked girl hoped into the pot and started to splash around. He stared at the odd little scene for a moment then asked, “Ero? What the hell are you doing?”

  “Huh?” She stopped splashing then rolled over and walked to the edge of the pot. She gripped the rim with her hands and said,” You asked me to make the water sacred...”

  “You’re taking a bath in my cook pot, Ero...” said Scott.

  “Well, yeah, silly. How do you think a fairy makes water sacred?” She stared at him with wide and confused eyes. There was a small hint of a smile on her lips, however.

  Scott blinked and attempted to process that for a moment. “Are you serious?”

  “Of course! Water becomes sacred when a fairy immerses her body inside of it for a period of time. The smaller the fairy and the larger the body of water, the longer it will take.” said Ero in a matter-of-fact sort of way.

  “Are you saying that the water I drank at your spring was made sacred in this way?” Scott felt a little green around the gills, which was strange since he did not have gills at the moment.

  Ero acquired a shy expression and looked down. Her tiny little face became tinged with red. “Yeah...”

  Scott suddenly developed a nervous twitch around his left eye. It looked as though that region of his face had decided to spontaneously break out into Morse Code and had begun to signal for help. A thought crossed his mind, an old saying from his homeland that was spoken in the highest circles of society. Girl, you so pretty I’d drink yo’ bathwater...

  “Scott, don’t worry... I’ll make this batch extra sacred just for you, OK?” Ero smiled cutely, but did not look at him. For once, the girl actually seemed to be slightly embarrassed.

  “You really don’t have to make an extra effort for me...” said Scott, and he meant it. She really did not have to do that.

  She suddenly thrust her body forward and exposed herself once more to his view with a mighty, but tiny, bounce. “Yes, I do! If it’s for you, I need to do my best...”

  “Ero...” said Scott. Her earnest and hopeful expression was almost heartbreaking for the man. No one had ever wanted to take a bath with all of her might on his behalf before. It was strangely heartwarming.

  “Scott... Please let me do this for you.” said Ero. She bit her bottom lip and looked to the side. Her wings fluttered gently and caused the water in the pot to begin to ripple slowly from one side to the other.

  He had no desire to use that water in the future, but if it meant so much to her, her could put it in a bottle and keep it for emergencies. “OK, if you want to...”

  “Really! Great... Um... it would help if you would look at me while I do it, alright? I need something to focus on...” said Ero.

  Scott was confused again. “You need someone to focus on when you take a bath?”

  Ero giggled loudly then shook her head. “No silly, that’s just for regular sacred water. Extra special sacred water comes from the feelings of love and passion that a fairy feels while immersed in a body of water.”

  “Wait... Are you saying that you plan to....” said Scott. His eyes grew wide at the implications.

  Ero blushed cutely then giggled in a gentle way. “Yes.... Please watch.”

  “Ero, we’re best friends and all, but if you do that in my cook pot I’m not going to think about anything interesting for a solid month.” said Scott. It was his only pot! He could wash it later and the memory of giggling naked fairy booty bathing in it would probably not bother him that much. However, if she did extra special fairy magic in that pot he would have to toss it. He would never be able to look at soup the same way again!

  Ero gasped at him as though he had just spoken the most obscene of obscenities. “What? Why!”

  “I cook in that pot Ero.... Everyone eats out of that pot.” he said.

  “What, do you think I’d ruin the flavor in the future?” she pouted at him and then her eyebrows pressed together. Her eyes began to shimmer softly. The poor thing was on the verge of tears.

  “No, I’m sure everything would taste amazingly sweet from now on...” said Scott.

  Ero’s tearful pout softened a little and became a gentle smile. “Really?”

  “Yes... But that’s not the point. Would you want to eat out of a pot that I took a bath in?” asked Scott.

  “Yes. Every day.” said Ero.

  “The hell... Are you serious?” asked Scott. What was wrong with that girl?

  Ero shook her head slowly then looked at him with gentle and sincere eyes. “Anything that has ever been close to you is something I can appreciate.”

  “Ero...” said Scott, his voice trailing off. What had gotten into her?

  “I know you love Rhea, well Origin, I love her too. Even before I spent time with her, I loved her. All fairies do. I just... I want to spend time with you, too.” said the fairy girl.

  “We spend most of our time together... I mean, I’m with you more of the day than anyone else.” said Scott.

  She nodded softly. Tiny little tears began to trickle down her cheeks. She sniffed once then looked down and to the side. “That’s not what I mean.”

  Scott moved forward and picked up the pot. The warm water sloshed around a little and she swayed from side to side, but her expression never changed. He brought the pot high enough for Ero to be eye-level with him. “Ero, what do you really want to tell me?”

  She sniffled gently then leaned over and hugged his hand. “Scott, Rhea has already said it was OK and I’ve been waiting.”

  “Ero, I...”

  “No... You wanted me to talk, so you listen for once.” said the girl.

  Scott was taken aback at her suddenly aggressive response. She had not acted like that toward him before.

  “I’m your guardian spirit... But more than that. Rhea said it herself, it’s like we’re married...”

  Scott started to speak put she pouted at him and he closed his mouth. It was time to listen to the little fairy and not open his big mouth.

  “I laugh and play, and make jokes, and try to get you to like me by being super sweet. It’s easy, because I really do not know much about the world and its fun to be excited. But... I really need you to understand something.” She said.

  Scott did not try to interrupt her this time. He waited to see what she would say. Slowly, the little fairy turned her head toward him and she looked at him with tear-stained eyes. She spoke in one breathless clump of words. “I don’t mind sharing you with Rhea. In all honestly, I love her like a sister. At least, that’s how I think a sister would love a sister. Though, I sort of have strange inclinations that sisters should not necessarily have.”

  Ero took a breath and released it slowly. Her eyes darted to the side and she wore an expression like she was searching for the right thing to say. A brief moment passed and she looked at him again. “We’re together forever, Scott. I can’t just be your friend when I’ve wanted to be more than that since the day we met.”

  “Ero, I care about you too, but...”

  She shook her head. “No, no buts. I love you, you overgrown idiot. I’ve been inside your head for weeks and I know you care about me, too. I know it upsets you that you are torn between two people. Stop fighting it! We’re both willing to share you, so why are you so afraid to accept it?”

  Scott frowned at her. “It never works out, OK! Every single damned relationship I have been in has fallen apart around me, and I rarely know why!”

  Ero leaned her body against his hand again. “I know that.”

  “Why then... Why push this?” asked Scott.

  “I’m not going anywhere, Scott. I’ll always be with you.” Ero rose from his hand and looked him in his eyes. “You accepted me, and now we are forever. It’s going to happen anyway.”

  Ero gestured at her body and cocked her hip to the side. “Do you really think you have the willpower to say no to this, forever? Please...”

  Scott winced then looked away from the overtly sensual girl who had possessed h
is cute little fairy friend. “Your powers are useless against me woman...”

  Ero giggled sweetly. “Maybe in the waking world, but just you wait. Rhea is a little jealous, but she has accepted what you have not. It’s, so, gonna happen.”

  “What if I don’t want it to happen?” asked Scott. He had no heat in his voice. If anything, he sounded like a frightened child unable to fathom the horror of the thing hiding beneath his bed. Ero was the creature who waited until he fell asleep so that it could consume him body and soul.

  The fairy rose up and stood on the rim of the pot, using nothing but her toes. “It’s cute when you think you have a choice.” She leaned forward and kissed him on the nose.

  “W-what happened to my sweet little BFF?” His eyes were wide, both shocked and strangely excited.

  “I’m still here, and I’m still super-excited about everything. I just needed to take action and let you know the truth. We’re a forever sort of thing. One way or another, you’re going to have to accept that.” said Ero. She smiled sweetly at him then fluttered her wings. That’s right, just do what the cute little fairy suggests and you won’t get hurt.

  “I... Ero, I... Don’t want to hurt anyone...” said Scott. He did like the girl, and he knew how he felt about Rhea... sort-of. Nothing about this made sense, though. He could not have two different girlfriends. It was impossible to make that work without someone getting hurt!

  Ero sighed gently then kissed him on the chin. She leaned back and said, “Then stop hurting yourself.”

  “What do you mean?”

  The fairy rolled her eyes. “I’m smarter than you, remember? Do you think that I could not tell that you blame yourself for every break-up that you’ve ever been in?”

  “I have almost no real experience with this sort of thing and even I could tell that!” said Ero.

  “I’m not sure what to say.” said the sorcerer. He would rather forget the whole thing and go murder-punch a few more fish.