55 The End of the Prelude (1/2)
Cannon started humming as she put the crystal away. She sat down on her chair now that she was alone once more. ”Oh, yes. I look forward to making good use of you, Jericho.” The old witch's wrinkles faded until a woman in her mid-thirties remained.
The ground rumbled and a shadow appeared near the doorway.
”I've sent them away. You can go back to what you were doing without fear of getting seen, Antlion,” she said aloud.
The shadow skittered away.
Cannon logged out of the game and emerged from the gaming machine. ”Truly this game's character options are only as limited as you believe them to be.”
A man with a type of tablet came forward. ”Cannon, I see you logged off. Then was project F a success?”
The woman chuckled. ”Yes it was, well mostly. I met some interesting people at my hut just now. I suspect they have removed the source and slowed project F's future progression, but that isn't a problem. We still obtained the super condensed Mana crystal Antlion needed for one of his other experiments.”
”Wait, your hut wasn't consumed by the mist? And what do you mean, met? Normally people are instantly hostile towards you.”
”I meant exactly what I said. There were four players that exited the mist; a man who gave off the feeling of being incomplete, a young girl who is a genuine sweetheart, and a pair of twins that can turn into animals. They were the ones who saved my hut. It seems we aren't the only ones to discover the secrets of monstrous characters. I look forward to playing with them in the future.”
The man nodded. ”So, how goes Antlion's experiments?”
Cannon laughed. ”You worry too much, little brother, Antlion and I confirmed our suspicions. The game will deem losing your humanity as making your character unplayable unless certain conditions exist. First, if the person has certain types of abilities, they will always be considered playable unless they, the player, refuses to accept it as playable. Second, certain items will prevent a character reset. Third, if you view your character as playable regardless of losing your humanity the game will acknowledge that and not override your character. This third option is the easiest to achieve as all it requires is for the player to view something as playable. It is entirely possible to play this game as the raid boss everyone wants to defeat. The game company really did live up to their name. However, death as a monster is different than death as one of the 'playable' races.”
”Excellent, so my goal is completely doable then?”
The woman gave a nod.
”That is excellent news. I have not had much contact with Antlion for the last while. Since Project Forest went so well, how are projects B, D, and G progressing?”
”I met with him just before the visitors. So far, only Project Grotesque has shown some minor issues but otherwise everything is playing out smoothly. But I do plan to make use of the visitors that I met when they chose to return. We may even be able to make them our allies in the future.”
”Oh? You believe they are that useful?”
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”I do, and if I can use them, they won't be in the way to spoil our plans.”
The man grinned. ”Who cares if our plans get spoiled? We enjoyed making and using them. Playing the villain in games is more fun than playing the hero anyways.”
Cannon shook her head. ”You know that playing as a monstrous existence does not make us innately villains or evil. Humans often use that title for anything that they deem harmful to themselves. Such arrogance; can't they see that they do the same or worse to other races? How come they are not called evil?”
”You have a point. Now will you stop preaching to the choir? You don't need to tell me your tirade for the 10th time in the last two weeks.”
***
After spending a relaxing afternoon and evening in real life dancing, playing music and laughing, the three decided to log back on Saturday night.
Jericho looked around the well where they were at. ”Princess, I should go recover the parts of me that were slain by the demon. In order to do that, I need to head back to the water elementals in the lake.”
Princess smiled. ”Wait for me a bit. I want to learn the Speak with Spirits skill officially before we go.” She ran off towards the mage's library.
Ken stretched. ”Well, that was more of an adventure then I was expecting. I think I am going to back to doing my own thing for a while. I'll level up faster that way. Being around you is great for raising my skills though.”
Jericho gave a nod to the pre-teen. ”Are you going to wait till Princess gets back before we part ways?”
The youth nodded. ”Yeah, but I just wanted to thank you. Before we hung out, I was always jealous of you. She would talk about you non-stop. I know it was wrong of me to feel like that. You helped me get through those embarrassing times in front of her and also helped me become even cooler. At school she talks about how awesome I am now too. That wouldn't have been possible without your help.”
Jericho chuckled. ”It is only natural to feel jealous of people who get the attention of others that you want yourself. But, unlike most people you were open minded enough to see past your surface feelings and grow up quite a bit.”
Ken gave Jericho a playful glare. ”You and your Zen wisdom…”
Princess returned. ”I'm back! Let's head to the lake!”
”Wait Princess,” he called out.
”What is it?”
”Lux and I are going to head off and adventure elsewhere. When we are at school Monday you can tell Alex it is his turn.” Ken said.
The girl nodded. ”Alright, but you are still coming over to dance with me later, right?”
”Of course!” The young man genuinely replied. ”I will be over frequently. Dancing with you is a lot of fun.”
She nodded. ”Then I'll see you at school on Monday.”
The kid and his lynx left.
Jericho, Princess, and Glaw walked towards the lake where their adventure took root. When they arrived, Jericho reverted to his weakened elemental form. {I'm going to the center of the lake, I'll let you know how long this will take.}
”Alright; I'll use this time to dance with the elementals here. It has been a while.” She replied.
Jericho and Glawio submerged themselves and returned to the nearby compass symbol on the lake floor.
[You have returned to the Heart of the Lake. Current time till you are able to be restored to your former strength: 8 Hours (four for each lesser elemental amount of strength). If you were not at the heart of the lake, the time to restore yourself would take twice as long. You must remain in the lake during this time. Time logged off does not count towards this timer.]
{Great, this will be a bit boring then.} Jericho said as he sent the message to Princess. [A full 8 hours in-game, submerged in the water. I hope you don't get too bored up there without me.]
[Alright. Good luck not being bored down their either.] She replied.
Llyn, who appeared to have shrunk a size floated over. {Welcome back, Jericho.}
{Thank you, Llyn. Why have you become smaller?}
{After you and Glaw left, humans came back and defeated me. I lost a good fraction of my strength. Oh right, you probably don't know since you have never experienced death as an elemental and we never explained it clearly before. We drop a tier in our monster rank when we are slain. All of our elemental skills drop to the next lower tier by 10/10. We don't lose our other skills or skills that have multiple skill lines so your compositions are safe. As you are a human and an elemental I am unsure of how death would affect you. But it may affect you differently based on which form you died in.} Llyn explained.
Jericho gave a nod. {Hmm… That is something I will need to keep in mind then. So Llyn, I have gathered quite a bit of MC and Glaw said there was an MC store here?}
{There is. Just put your hand onto the center of the compass and you will be shown what you can buy. Please understand that here at our lake the options are limited. Elementals living in larger lakes, rivers, seas, and oceans will have more options or different options. For example there is an uncommon skill called Gravity's Blessing that can only be obtained by the ocean and sea.}
{I understand.} Jericho moved to the center of the symbol and touched it.
[You have connected to the Heart of the Lake. Heart of the Lake has been recorded as a valid respawn point for your water elemental form.]
[You currently possess 350 MC.]
A menu of many items appeared before him.
[Condensed water elemental skill proficiency: (Select skill, spend MC equal to the amount of progress you wish to obtain) Price: Varies. Available amounts: varies.]
[Tablet of condensed fresh water: 50MC. This item, when absorbed by an injured water elemental, will restore them back to full health and grant them a short burst of power. This item does not restore lost power from partial death. This item has many uses for mortals that craft things.]
[Gemini Lily (Only 5 in stock): 250 MC Each. Strengthen and stabilize the user's soul(s) or elemental core(s). Water elementals often use these when their elemental core becomes destabilized and there is a risk of true death. This item can be a real life saver.]
[Rare water elemental skill book: Energy Tide. 1000 MC. Use to learn. (Known). Can only be used by a Tier 3 water elemental or higher.]
[Opalite: (Price varies by quality) Tier 1: 25MC. Tier 2: 75MC. Tier 3: 225 MC. This stone appears beautiful and tranquil. It has many uses mortals can take advantage of. For water elementals it will shorten the necessary time to recover from partial death. It also improves their finite control over water. Only one stone can be stored at a time in an elemental's core.]
{Wow, Glaw. You gave me a good skill worth 1000 MC?}
{Yes, but that is only because your violin skill was far more valuable. If I were to die, I wouldn't lose any skill proficiency since it is not an elemental skill.}
Jericho looked over the prices once again. {And you were right, 20MC doesn't get you anything. But looking over this list, the best items are still out of my price range. At least in the immediate future, it looks like Opalite is probably one of my better choices.}