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

by Scottie Futch

  Chapter 16: Upgrades and Understandings

  It had finally come to pass, the moment that Ero had been waited patiently to experience once again. Her BFF stood before her decked out in his powerful and dangerous looking armor. He actually looked like a warrior for once and the effect was not lost on the tiny girl. She could not decide whether to giggle or blush whenever she looked at him.

  Scott smiled at her then held out his hands. “Are you ready, Ero?”

  The fairy flew to him at great speed then landed in his outstretched hand. “Yes, I am so ready for this!”

  Scott laughed a little then smiled once more. She was certainly perky today. “Alright, relax and let it happen.”

  “Yes...” She leaned back against his cupped fingers and proceeded to position herself in a pretty, but overtly sensual position. Ero was certainly ready.

  His eyes closed briefly while he concentrated on the task at hand. Something was going to happen when he transferred the next bit of experience to his BFF. She would reach level eleven. However, the big change would be that she would reach level ten. That was a milestone number for every race born on ARS. He openly wondered what would happen.

  “Ready?” asked Scott.

  Ero winked at him in an exaggerated manner. “Give me everything you’ve got.”

  Scott grinned at her then opened the experience transfer menu mentally. He focused on what he wanted to do and the option to transfer his free experience points to the girl lit up. Soon, the transfer began.

  Ero gasped loudly then begin to scissor her legs softly. She bit her lower lip and rolled to the side. “So good...”

  Scott watched the girl writhe and moan in his hand for a moment then blinked. A soft light began to radiate from her tiny little body. It was a special effect that he had not seen during the transfer of experience before.

  Suddenly, Ero grew slightly heavier in his hand. First, her limbs began to expand and then her torso. After around one minute had passed the girl had grown to roughly twice her previous size! She was now the size of a typical Barbie doll, or similar large action figure. A normal fork would now be a regular spear for her instead of body-length polearm.

  The beautiful fairy gasped loudly then started to pant. His experience enflamed her senses and filled her body with various sensations that she had never experienced before.

  Scott had to catch her before she rolled out of his hand a few times because her greater size made it more difficult for him to hold her properly. Eventually, her spasms and moans ceased and she barely moved.

  Ero panted gently then looked up at Scott and sighed softly. “D-did I do good?”

  “You’re the best, Ero.” replied Scott.

  She giggled softly then bit her lower lip. She was super tired now, and needed a nap. “I’m so glad... You’re always so sweet to me.”

  Scott raised her up to his face and he kissed her softly on the cheek. “We’re best friends forever, right?”

  Ero sat up and cried out “Yeah!” in an excited manner. She yawned immediately afterward, however. Scott had given her a lot of beautiful experience and she was sleepy.

  The slightly less tiny fairy rose up on her knees then leaned forward and kissed Scott on the nose. “Dream of me later, OK?”

  “Sure. Get some rest, Ero.”

  She smiled at him gently then giggled. “Yeah, I better save my energy for later...”

  Scott blinked after he realized what she meant. Ero giggled once more as she faded away. She used to be a handful at times. However, now that she was a little larger he could already tell that she would be more than a handful in multiple ways.

  After he heard Ero start to snore softly inside his mind he smiled. They would work on her skill choices and determine other changes about her later. For now, he wanted to check out the performance of his equipment while he waited for Sharde and Rhea to get back. They had decided to logout to attend to business and discuss a few things outside of ARS.

  He was not certain about hunting in the area currently as he had a tendency to get into trouble when he was on his own. Trouble could be fun, but it could also cause problems for everyone else. Now that he had arrived at the location that Sharde had designated as their primary training ground and hideout for a while, he could not help but wonder what there was to see and do in the mountains. He fought down the urge to hunt, but his rising bloodlust caused him to want to check on his new weapons.

  His boots and gloves were nothing special, though they were stronger than his old gear by a small degree. However, his new spear was a vast improvement over the coral spear that he had been using before. He equipped his spear and shield then checked their stats.

  <<< Item >>>

  Fanged Spear of the Mariner

  A spear designed to use the tooth of a large sea creature as a weapon. Reinforced by steel and mithril, this heavy spear has great attack and defense power. It can be wielded underwater with the same capacity that it can be wielded on land.

  Attack: + 97

  Defense: + 34

  Special

  Mariner’s Glory: The armor is equally usable in the water and on land. However, it does not allow the wearer to breathe water like air.

  <<< * >>>

  “The attack strength alone is higher than my gloves, claws, and boots combined.” said Scott. Of course, his raw attack power would still be higher if he fought unarmed due to his strength multiplier. Still, with synchronicity on his side he could do things with his spear that were far more damaging that he could do empty handed.

  His bare-handed combat skills were always synchronized with his magic, which explained why he could freeze an object solid when he cast freeze at point blank range among other things. He unequipped his spear then checked his shield.

  <<< Item >>>

  Great Shield of the Deep

  A shield designed by a sorcerer of minor renown. It is made of steel and mithril reinforced ironwood and can be used underwater without restriction.

  Defense: +160

  Agility Penalty: -24

  Special

  Mariner’s Glory: The armor is equally usable in the water and on land. However, it does not allow the wearer to breathe water like air.

  <<< * >>>

  Scott whistled at the high-end defense boost he received when he wielded his shield. He could use it and retain part of his strength and agility bonuses for attack and defense if he did not equip a weapon in his other hand. Sadly, until he mastered his shield lore ring he would cut his attack and defense bonuses in half.

  That meant a major drop in both attack and defense but he would be able to synchronize his spells to his shield after he mastered its usage as well. After he mastered that ring, he would also receive bonuses to defense when using a shield and some of the agility penalty would decrease.

  Idly, he wondered if he should save up enough money to have a red, white, and blue set of armor made complete with a round throwing shield that was enchanted to return to him like his boomerangs. He laughed to himself then shook his head. Somehow, he doubted that he could pull it off well enough. “Hmm, if only I had gone to OCS back in the army... I could have at least been a captain.”

  Scott unequipped his shield. It would have its uses, just like his spear. However, he knew his bread and butter skills would always be his unarmed combat and magic abilities. He would have to undertake a great number of skill additions and equipment alterations to totally change his nature.

  At present, he would prefer to find or create light weight equipment with lots of powerful options. At some point in the future wearing little to no armor would probably be his best option, but he was nowhere near that point, yet.

  ***

  The well-lit hallways of the family tower were as clean and austere as they always were. While any given room might be found in a state of complete disarray, the hallways were a different story.

  Origin nodded politely to a goddess wearing a maid outfit. The cat-eared woman smiled sweetly then went ba
ck to tidying up. The cat-eared goddess loved her work and it even provided her a discount when it came to gaming supplies. Score!

  The goddess of love left the goddess of keeping the hallways clean to her tasks. She wanted to see what had gotten her sister so excited.

  Shara’s door was decorated with tiny little images of miniature ninjas and throwing stars. Origin could not help but smile when she saw it. Her sister had always been a fan of ninjas.

  Suddenly, the door opened and Shara popped her head out. “Origin! Thank goodness! I need you!”

  The ninja goddess grabbed Origin by the wrists and quickly dragged her into her room. The door shut just as quickly as it had opened. A few seconds later a happy cat-eared goddess swept her way through the area while humming a song to herself.

  Inside of Shara’s room, the pony-tailed goddess gestured toward her monitor. “There! Do you see my problem?”

  Origin blinked at her then glanced over at the screen. Despite the fact that it was on the other side of the room, she could easily see the tiny line of code that her sister had pointed at previously. “Oh, you found one?”

  “Yes! I think he’ll do perfectly...” said Shara with excitement, before her voice shifted to a sad tone.

  “What’s wrong, Shara?” asked Origin. The blue haired goddess took her sister by the hand and looked her in the eyes.

  Shara shook her head. “I think he’s perfect... a Scott of my own... but...”

  “But...?” asked Origin.

  “What now!” exclaimed the girl. She pouted at her sister then started to sniffle a little.

  “Go meet him, I guess?” asked Origin. What was so hard about that? She had finally found a dimensional variation of Scott that met her criteria. Sure, it was odd that she insisted that it be another Scott, but who was Origin to judge her sister? Shara was lonely, and at this point pretty much any Scott would do.

  “Oh right, sure... It’s that simple...” Shara grumbled a little then pouted at her sister. Why was she not being more helpful? She already had her Scott. She obviously knew how to acquire one...

  “Well, yeah. Just go see him and tell him...” said Origin.

  Shara snorted loudly. “Right, I just pop into his life and introduce myself, and then I start to tell him how much I am in love with him....”

  Origin’s eyebrows pressed together slightly. “Sure, what’s wrong with that?”

  The ninja girl looked at her sister with an incredulous expression. “It’s a completely unbelievable premise! What kind of girl meets a guy for the first time ever, then just tells him stuff like that?”

  The blue haired goddess made a choking sound then winced. That remark had hit a little close to home. Origin chose to change the subject slightly. “Well, you don’t know him yet. Why not get to know him first and then tell him you want to have his babies, or something.”

  Shara rolled her eyes then frowned at her sister. “That takes too long! I need a boyfriend to play with, now.”

  Origin laughed at her overly excited sister then nodded. “Well, if you come on too strong he might think you’re weird.”

  The red-haired goddess sighed. “True, I guess. But... He’s so cute and fat, and no other girl is currently interested in him.”

  “Uh, really?” asked Origin. She tried to picture a fat Scott who had no girls interested in him. She could not suspend her disbelief enough to appreciate that sort of image properly.

  Shara nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! He’s obviously an incredible catch! I need to get to him before he re-connects with his pretty childhood friend or some random overly attractive alien girl falls out of the sky and lands on him. That happens far too often, you know.”

  “Yeah, I suppose. Relationships take time, though. Did you know that it took me several minutes to confess my love to Scott for the first time? Several minutes! I thought that I would die if it took any longer.” explained Origin.

  Shara winced. “That does seem like a long time... I figured that I’d say hello and we’d talk briefly and then we’d get married. That’s how it works, right?”

  Origin screwed her lips to the side then acquired a thoughtful expression. “I thought so, too, but Scott seemed to think otherwise.”

  “That’s just because your Scott has relationship issues. My Scott is thirty years old and has never had a girlfriend, so he’s obviously perfect.” said Shara confidently.

  “He used to be your Scott, too.” said Origin defensively.

  Shara nodded. “Hey, if you’re willing to share him like a good sister would, I’ll forget about fat Scott and go confess my love to our Scott immediately. I’d much rather be with him.”

  “Not so much, no.” said Origin.

  Shara pouted at her. “I really would prefer that, though... He’s grown on me over the years, and he gives great hugs.”

  “I know, but...” said Origin. It was bad enough that she had to share her man-candy with Ero. She liked the little fairy, but it made her entire body feel like it had caught on fire whenever she saw the tiny little thing fluttering around her Scott.

  The red-haired goddess sighed softly. “Right, so I’ll try to find someone to play with...”

  “Does, it have to be Scott, though?” asked Origin.

  Shara nodded. “I think so...”

  “Why?” asked Origin.

  The beautiful ninja shook her head slowly. “I just... I don’t know much about boys... I guess. If it’s another Scott, I am sure I can love him... because... Well, you already know why.”

  “Shara...” Origin leaned in and gently slipped her arms around her sister.

  Shara returned her embrace then kissed her on the cheek. “I can’t be certain of that with anyone else. Can you please try to understand my feelings?”

  Origin hugged her sister tightly then sighed. “Yes... am I being selfish in wanting to keep him all to myself.”

  “Hell, yes.” replied Shara without missing a beat, and without a hint of humor in her tone.

  Origin laughed at her then pushed her away. “Too bad.”

  “My sister is so mean!” Shara made a cute face at Origin, but the blue-haired girl would not relent. She had already been forced to share Scott as much as she was willing.

  The girls chatted briefly for a few minutes after that. Shara had to figure out the best way to insert herself into her fat, basement dwelling, Scott’s life. She would have to meet his mother, since he lived with her, and that could be a difficult proposition if she could not convince him to fall madly in love with her in a short amount of time. She planned to live with him, after all.

  “Why can’t he just accept that immediately, and we can skip to the wedding scene?” asked Shara.

  “Love doesn’t work like that... I confessed to Scott early on, but it is only recently that he has truly accepted my feelings.”

  Shara pouted. “Well, I suppose I can understand that. Though, it seems like an excessive amount of time.”

  “Yeah.” said Origin.

  Shara grinned. “Hey, at least my Scott only has a part-time job. We will have a lot of time to work on our relationship and train him to be a true badass.”

  “Wow, you’re so lucky Shara.” said Origin with a smile. It was nice that her sister had found someone who was not overly obligated. He could play with her for long periods of time.

  The ninja girl sighed gently, a happy smile on her face. “Yeah, he’s so pathetic and human. I can’t wait to get to know him better.”

  Origin laughed brightly at her sister then asked, “What kind of training?”

  “Well, I figure that since he likes fighting games and role playing games so much, I would find a way to sneak in those sorts of abilities.”

  “Wouldn’t that cause a major issue in that world?” asked Origin. Someone with the powers of a fighting game or role playing game character would be a major problem for most human worlds.

  “Nah, there are people in that world who can withstand nuclear blasts and shatter planets. One ra
ndom cute little fat guy with his own super powers won’t be a big deal.”

  “Oh, so you’re going to be visiting one of those sorts of Earths?”

  “Yeah, I’ll still help you deal with Corpse Rat and those idiots on the board who want to scrap the current ARS to increase the profit margin.” said Shara.

  “Really? Great! Thanks, sis.” Origin gripped her sisters hands then smiled happily. It was good to know that her lonely little sister was going to try her luck at finding a proper boyfriend, and would also continue to help out with the family business.

  “Seriously, though... What should our names be? I’m pretty sure about mine, but what should his superhero name be?” asked Shara.

  “RPGman?” asked Origin thoughtfully.

  “Nah, it works, but it sounds more like he conjures rocket propelled grenades.” said Shara.

  “Hmm, you’re right. Picking a proper name is pretty difficult.” admitted Origin.

  Shara grinned while showing her sister a moronic expression. “This is going to be great...”

  Origin laughed again. Shara had not been this excited in quite some time. She had convinced herself that she was in love with Scott, but the truth was that she was just lonely and wanted to spend time with someone who thought she was special. She loved the idea of Scott, so she had fixated on choosing a Scott who would allow her to be both a kickass ninja goddess and a girl who gets to spend a lot of time with her possible love interest.

  ***

  It was an uncommon event. He rarely drank alcohol, but somehow it felt right. Scott sat on the front porch of the mountain cabin and gazed out into the distance. The mountains ringing the area provided a beautiful scenic backdrop.