She had to knock several times before someone answered. The person who came to the door was roughly six feet tall and looked like a pumpkin with legs. Shara threw her arms open wide then leaned forward. Her avatar hopped forward with her arms open and gave the fat Scott a tight hug.
She giggled happily then had her avatar look up and say, “What a big sexy husband I have!”
“H...Husband?” asked the fat Scott. The man blinked then staggered back a little, taking mini-Shara with him.
The goddess nuzzled against his fat hairy chest then sighed. “Yep, I’m yours forever.”
The scene continued in that vein for roughly a minute; before she made her avatar pull open the buttons on her top. She then told him about how she had the world’s most common super power and he would soon have his own.
The fat Scott wasted no time in reaching up to massage the glorious orbs that were presented to him. His facial expression became quite lecherous, and he began to drool.
Shara smiled brightly. He liked her! This was going great.
However, everything began to change a few seconds later. The fat Scott started to become flush. He favored his left arm. He began to make choking and gurgling sounds. Soon after, he clutched at his chest then fell heavily to the floor.
Everything became silent after that. After about a minute both Shara and her avatar on screen nervously said, “Uhm...”
***
The soft whisper of the wind through the leaves of the mountain forest was quite soothing. However, that soft and gentle sound was incapable of completely setting Scott’s heart at ease. Rhea had told him that she would explain everything to him today. However, she had chosen to drag him out into the wilderness to show him something first.
They had traveled hand-in-hand for most of the trip. Normally, she would have a gentle smile on her lips because they were showing such open affection for each other. At the moment, she wore her cold ice-mask expression.
Ero sat atop Scott’s shoulder with her hands resting gently on her thighs. The beautiful fairy was aglow with excitement. She would spend a little time with her two most favorite people in the world, and no one else was around.
They walked for a short time then Rhea raised her hand. “Up ahead is what I want to show you, Scott.”
He nodded at her and he started to walk forward. She stopped him and said, “No, I need you to climb up one of these trees and look down into the valley. You need to see what I do.”
Scott was a little confused by her secrecy but he complied. He walked over to the tallest tree that he could see nearby then looked down into the area up ahead. His eyes widened when he spied what looked like a herd of armored creatures. They were like a cross between a deer and an armadillo. They were also bright pink in color.
He stared at the closest one for a while then tried to make out what its level was. He could not be certain but he knew it was a two digit number and the first number was not a one. “I see a bunch of armored monsters.”
“Those monsters that you see up ahead are quite common here. I’m glad that your survival skills allow you to see them so far away. It would be too dangerous for you here if you were always being attacked in random encounters.” said Rhea.
That was one of the perks of his survival skills. He could see monsters at times, up to a certain range. Random encounters still occurred but they were far less frequent now that he could just swim or run toward the monsters. It also made the world seem more real to him.
“You make it sound like it would be more dangerous for me than for you, though.” said Scott.
Rhea smiled gently then nodded. “Yes, it would be. Scott... Please don’t ask any more questions until I am done. Also, stay here and do not interfere.”
“Rhea, what are...?” Scott started to ask.
She shook her head. “Just watch.”
“Alright...”
The high elf unsheathed her sword; a blade that was incredibly dark yet gleamed in the light. It had an appearance similar to light gleaming off of an obsidian mirror. “Once my first attack hits start counting out the seconds, please.”
“Sure...” said Scott. Now he was just plain curious. Was she really going to attack all of those monsters on her own?
Rhea nodded once at him, as though she had read his mind. She turned toward the monsters up ahead then took one step forward. She lowered her body toward the ground by bending her knees then gripped her sword in both hands. She pulled it back and to the side, and then held position for a full second.
Scott watched her slam her blade forward then became nothing more than a bright blur of light. She moved so fast that he could only see the beginning and the end of the motion.
After traveling over a hundred feet forward in an instant she glanced back at him then slowly gave him an exaggerated wink and a wide joyful smile before she repeated the movement. This time she blurred forward with enough speed that he could only blink twice before she made her first attack. She had covered several hundred feet at speeds too fast for his eyes to see, even with his accuracy stats.
He nearly forgot to count when she made her first strike. She came out of her straight-line blurring motion and unleashed a powerful arcing overhand strike that crashed down upon the hapless pink armored monster with enough force to completely bisect it in a single swing. It fell sideways in two separate heaps and burst into motes of light before it hit the ground.
Scott counted slowly, “One- one thousand. Two-one thousand. Three-one thousand...”
By the time Scott had reached eight-one thousand in his counting method, Rhea had slain more than half of the monsters on the field. Each had been destroyed with a single uncompromising and expert strike.
“Nine-one thousand.” said Scott.
Rhea blurred forward then swung her blade in a wide arc that caught three armored monsters in one strike. The effective range of the blade was nearly ten feet due to the extension factor. Due to her massive attack damage and large melee radius, she cleaved through the heavily armored beasts like they were made of butter.
When Scott spoke the words, “Thirteen-one thousand” the last of the monsters in the valley exploded into motes of light. Using swordsmanship alone she had annihilated nearly two dozen monsters much higher than her level.
“Wow, Rhea is amazing!” said Ero. She had watched the whole thing with wide, fascinated, eyes.
“Yeah...” said Scott. He could scarcely believe it. She was capable of that level of skill and damage per second, but had never shown it even once! It was both the sexiest and the most emasculating thing he had ever seen in his life.
Scott blinked when the battle music ended and a battle report appeared before him. He had earned experience for that?
<<< Battle Report >>>
Your party has defeated twenty-six Hot Pink Armordoes. Due to your distance and lack of interaction in the battle, your rewards will be reduced to ten percent of their true value.
+ 21696 EXP
+ 850 Fayth
+ 13 Ability Points
Item(s) Acquired
Hot Pink Armor Plate X 8
Armordoe Antlers X 1
--
Congratulations! You have gained 1 level!
Level 18 > 19
<<< * >>>
“S-shit...” whispered Scott in shock. The normal music of the mountain forest played gently in the background, but he did not care. Just ten percent of the experience from that battle had given him an entire level. Had he been in the battle and actually attacked something, and survived, he would have jumped to level thirty something!
That was obscene! How powerful was Rhea? She slaughtered those things like they were nothing.
The beautiful high elf blurred back into the area then sheathed her sword. She looked up at Scott. “So, how did I do?”
He blinked at her, uncertain what to say. Ero smacked him on the side of the face and whispered, “The time, probably.”
“Oh! Oh you... Thirteen seconds or so...
” said Scott. He shook his head and stared at her like she had suddenly turned into an entirely different person.
Rhea sighed softly. “So slow? That’s terrible. Seems like I lost a step.”
Scott’s left eyelid began to twitch spastically. That was her going slow? He gripped the tree tight as a sudden wave of vertigo hit him. He had nearly fallen out of the tree!
“Rhea! You were awesome!” called Ero. The little fairy fluttered down to the elf below then shot forward and gave her a face hug.
Rhea gasped for air and then tried to pull the excited girl away. She was much harder to dislodge now that she was bigger, but the elf girl’s absurdly high strength and agility allowed her to perform the herculean task.
Scott hopped down from the tree then jogged over to her. “Did you gain a level, too?”
“I wish! No, that knocked off a large chunk of my needed experience.” she said.
“Really?” asked Scott in shock. He would have gained over two hundred thousand experience points!
“I need ten times as much as you to gain a level and my experience bonus is nowhere near yours, remember?” asked Rhea. She smiled at him sweetly then reached out her hand.
Scott took her hand then gripped it gently. “I remember.”
They smiled at each other for a moment, but eventually Rhea had to break the mood. “Scott, there were some questions that you had for me...”
He nodded to her. “Yeah, but give me a moment. I’m too busy thinking about how awesome you are.”
Rhea blinked. The color of her face slowly shifted to a light pink tinge. She slowly closed her eyes then bit her lower lip. “D-don’t say embarrassing things, I-”
Scott kissed her warmly on the lips then held her tight. Her eyes flared opened briefly then closed slowly. They held each other close for quite some time.
Ero fluttered around them in a slow circle; a little sparkling cloud of dust trailed behind her and made a halo atop them. She smiled brightly and seemed quite happy at the development.
They drew back slowly, fairy dust glittering in their hair. Scott looked at Rhea. She looked back at him. Ero looked at them both then grinned. The one thought running through her mind was, that she could not wait until she was bigger. The fact that she looked back and forth between them both was rather telling.
***
Shara sighed as she watched her avatar cry during Fat Scott’s funeral. She wore a tasteful black ensemble with a widow’s veil. The people who attended would occasionally glance over at her in wonderment. How had Scott known her? More to the point, why was she dressed like his widow? A few of the less savory types openly wondered if this meant she was available.
Back in her room Shara cried softly. She could not get an emergency resuscitation done since she had abandoned her powers to enter that world. While there were many super powered beings in that reality, none of them who were locally available would be willing to resurrect her poor dead Fat Scott.
She’d had nothing else that she could have done about the situation, so she chose to allow the time dilation to spiral a bit and soon several days had passed. She had re-started the avatar program with a new clothing set.
Shara made her avatar walk away from the ceremony after it ended, many men had gathered around to offer their condolences. She announced that they had just gotten engaged the day he died. For a moment, several other overly large men seemed to contemplate having a heart attack of their own.
The poor ponytailed ninja girl attempted to make nice with the family, but it was hard to do so when she knew the truth. Her breasts had killed Fat Scott. His heart had not been ready for the love that she’d had to give.
Chapter 19: Is it Really That Bad?
The sunlight gently streamed down through the forest canopy while Scott, Rhea, and Ero heatedly discussed the truth of the world. It was a strange and interesting conversation to say the least. One of those great truths was unfolding right at that moment.
Scott heaved, he struggled and strained. Trained in the arts of war and sorcery he had faced many opponents in his life. Yet no battle was as difficult as the one that he faced at that moment.
Rhea smiled sweetly at her love then casually tilted her arm to the side. She looked Scott in the eyes and watched his disbelief blossom as her dainty little arm completely overpowered him. The back of his hand touched the top of the fallen tree-trunk then remained there despite his many attempts to move it.
“Rhea is the winner!” declared Ero with a smile. She then added an additional afterthought. “Again.”
“Believe it now, Scott?” The high-elf released his hand then flexed her muscles a bit. It was an adorable sight to say the least.
Scott frowned at her then nodded. “Yeah, you really are a lot stronger than me.”
“I’ve reincarnated a few times. My stats are naturally much higher than yours.” she said.
“Especially your modesty stat.” replied Scott.
She stuck her tongue out at him then tilted her head from side to side. “Mmmneeh!”
He snorted then broke out into a laugh. That was so adorable that he did not know what to say about it.
Ero fluttered down atop the fallen tree then stretched her arms out to the side with her palms facing outward. “Now, now, children please don’t fight.”
Scott blinked then looked down at her. The little fairy grinned up at him then said, “I’ve always wanted to do that.”
“Your bucket list is pretty long, huh?” he asked her.
Ero giggled then nodded. “Yeah! There are just so many interesting things that I would like to do with you and Rhea.”
Rhea smiled softly then reached down and ran a finger along the tiny girl’s hair. She was a cute little thing when she wanted to be. It was easy to be jealous of her, but hard not to like her.
Ero stopped giggling, but a smile broke out on her face to show her true feelings. She closed her eyes and made a soft and happy little noise.
Scott reached out and massaged the tiny little fairy’s lower back with his index finger. The girl immediately acted like she was in heaven. “Mmm, such a nice day...”
It was a strange, yet sweet, moment. However, it was destined to end. Rhea sighed loudly then said, “I don’t get it.”
“What?” asked Scott. He continued to pet his little friend and Ero continued to enjoy it.
Rhea looked down at Ero for a moment then sighed. “Why ARS is losing so much popularity of late.”
“It is?” Scott could not understand why ARS would be seen as anything but extremely popular. It was a truly amazing place.
“Yeah, that’s what has the idiots on the board up in arms.” she said.
Scott smiled down at Ero. The little fairy had started to fight with him in order to try and lift one of her legs over his finger. He refused to allow her to do it and worked against her. She continued to strive to reach her goal, and giggled with each attempt. He looked back up to Rhea. “Is it really that bad? How many players are you losing?”
“Every time we so much as deviate by one percentage point from projected income and player retention, they act like the company needs to scrap the world and start over.” Rhea said before she giggled down at Ero. The fairy was trying her best, but she could not ride the pony or whatever it was that she was trying to do with Scott’s finger. He kept moving his hand around to deny her.
“That’s just stupid. What about the people who live here?” said Scott.
Rhea looked at Scott then looked down and sighed. “They keep getting screwed over. I’m sick of it.”
“Isn’t there anything you can do?” asked Scott before rolling his index finger around in order to avoid another attempt by Ero to hitch a ride.
“I already did it.” said Rhea, a smile on her lips.
“You did?” asked Scott.
“Yep, sure did.” She said, before she extended her finger down to tickle Ero on the rib. The fairy started to laugh and squeal, but looked up at Rhea with an expression t
hat seemed quite dangerous.
“Oh? What did you do?” he asked.
“I brought in a ringer... Is that how you say it?” she asked him.
“Yeah, but who’s the ringer?” he asked seriously.
She blinked at him. “Who do you think?”
Scott was not as unintelligent as he occasionally acted, but he had never once in his life been considered to be someone’s ringer. It took him a moment to realize who she meant. “Me? I’m supposed to be your ringer?”
“Yes. You’re my ringer, Scott.” Rhea smiled at him, but continued to tickle Ero with brutal efficiency. The little fairy dropped down onto the log and tried to stop laughing, but she was completely at the mercy of the high elf.
He stared at her for a moment then asked, “What exactly can I do, that you can’t do a lot better?”
“Be human.” she said without missing a beat.
Scott was unable to see how that would help him. He told that to Rhea and she continued her explanation.
“Simple, we need to get players to enjoy ARS again. While the Apocalypse Storyline is popular, it won’t bring people back to this world unless something new and interesting happens.”
“So, what... I’m new and interesting?”
Rhea grinned at him. “Yes, to me. However, you would also be interesting to the rest of the divine city.”
“Why?” he asked.
“We love humans and their pop-culture. You’re the only one from your Earth in the current era who’s been brought into ARS.
“Oh, so I’m the only one from my world here after all? I had wondered about that.” said Scott. He had a lot of questions regarding his status in this world, specifically, and that included the existence of others who might have come here from Earth.
“There have been other temporary adventurers who were summoned to solve a serious quest and were sent home. It is always good for public relations and marketing when we do one of those transported mortals campaigns.” replied Rhea.
Scott laughed a little at that. It actually sounded like a reasonable premise for a random manga or light novel. The gods are bored, let’s summon humans with attitude to save the world for fun and profit. “So, why not just tell the other gods that I’m human.”
Origin ARS 3 (Origin A.R.S.) Page 20
