End Online: Volume 2 (12 page)

I nervously look over
the players standing behind him. They all have their hands on their sword
hilts, except for the two pointing their staves at me.

"Alternatively,"
Chronix continued on, "You could always give me all the equipment you are
wearing. Or that oversized pet wolf you have behind you. They appear to be of
an appropriate value."

Trying to take
my equipment and even Fen! I want to wipe that smile right off his face
with my fist, or better yet, a mace!

"Lost," Verde
whispers under her breath, "We need to run, if we log out they will simply
leave new guild members to camp here and let them know when we come
back."

"Mmm. Okay,"
I was a little uncertain, but I did in fact feel quite threatened by these
high level players, "Should we split up?"

"No, I am a very
fast player. So they will have trouble catching me. And I already know I have
nothing to wo-"

"Eeexcuse
me," Chronix lazily interrupts, cleaning out one of his ears with a
finger, "Remember, 'Sonar'? Unfortunately I have heard your plan and it is
quite unfortunate but it isn't going to-"

"RUN!" Verde
calls out as she sprints away from the Swords of Light guild members. Fen and I
are stunned at the suddenness for a moment, but we quickly follow.

We keep up at Verde's
speed which is quite slow compared to what I am used to. In fact, it is slow
enough that I feel like I am lightly jogging., and Fen appears to only be
lightly trotting along as well.

Doing a large circle
through the hills we enter the thicket of trees we need to pass through to
get to Iceridge. It is only a minute before two of the players step out from
behind some trees. They are two of the Swords of Light members I saw earlier.

"The boss said you
would probably head this way. Unfortunately for you, we are level one fifty,
and our skills are designed for speed. You had no hope of outrunning us in the
first place. Now cough up the money."

The one who was
speaking arrogantly was some skinny looking kid. If this was real life I
probably would sit on him.

"Sorry,"
Verde spoke up, putting on that entrancing smile of hers, "but we are
going to be passing through here, please move aside."

The mousy haired kid
visibly swallowed, completely captivated by her charms.

"Well, i-if you
ask that nicely."

He was just about to
let us go! At least, until the bald man next to him frowned and hit him over
the back of the head.

"ArrowHunter! You
go sit on the sidelines, I will take care of these two." Sending the now
moping kid off to the side, he took up a menacing appearance in front of us.

I inwardly let out a
sigh and figure talking our way out of this situation is probably no longer
possible.

"Fen," I look
straight at the wolf, "I need you to take Verde back to Iceridge, wait for
me there."

The wolf completely
ignores me, pretending like I didn't say anything.

"If you do,"
I lower my voice, "I won't buy whichever clothes you want the most."

Fen shows an immediate
reaction with her tail swinging and ears perked up. A few ice bolts rain down
at the bald man, startling him and giving the wolf enough time to wrap its jaws
around to back of her cloak and run off. I didn't see much, but I thought I saw
Verde go completely pale when she was picked up in the wolf's mouth.

The bald man, who I am
thinking looks a lot like a monk if fancy leather armour, narrowly dodged the
ice bolts and is still standing in front of me. Only, unlike a monk, there is
a katana on his hip secured in a plain scabbard. I doubt the sword is as
plain as the scabbard however. 

"You can't get
away from me! I am the fas... Damn, that's fast." He was captivated by the
speed of the wolf's escape, but quickly turned his attention to me while
clearing his throat.

"You have one
extremely fast pet there, where exactly did you get it?"

"Why would I tell
you that?"

"Shame, I would
like to get myself some monstrous pet like that someday. How you did it at your
level is also a mystery, I would say you are barely level fifty, but maybe you
are only wearing weak equipment."

He speaks like a businessman,
each word coming out as if it was a matter of fact. But he seems to jump to his
own conclusions too fast.

"I am the fastest
member in the Swords of Light guild, possibly the fastest player in the game.
My base agility is nearly a hundred and I gain another twenty four percent
bonus from both my skills and equipment. Unfortunately, you have no way to
escape."

My original concern
disappears as soon as he discloses his agility stats to me. I may have this
cloak halving my speed, but I am still faster than this guy.

With my worries gone, I
run at him at half strength, allowing him to assert speed much lower than
it actually is. With a sigh he draws the katana from the scabbard, releasing a
few arcs of lightning along the blade while he holds it. 

If only he was more
wary. As soon as I am in range he swings the blade down diagonally through my
body, leaving a trail of sparks in its wake. Only my body turns into mist and
disappears right in front of his face.

I had activated 'Back
Stab', except with a small difference.

My skill places me
behind the target facing them, ready to attack. So as soon as I appear behind
the monk, I pivoted on one foot to turn the other way. Activating my actual
speed, I disappear into the trees behind him.

***************************************************

I find Fen and Verde
waiting outside of Iceridge, both ignoring each other.

"Well, now that
that's over, I feel relieved." I try to sound cheerful, but failing
the effect the dreary atmosphere bearing down between the two.

"Yes,"
Verde's lips draw a thin line under her hood, "but I doubt they will give
up, they have been known to hold grudges."

"That, does indeed
sound like it could be a pain." The thought of that egotistical man
chasing me around is most certainly not pleasant.

"I would recommend
leaving the Kingdom of Glace for a while. That should not be a problem now that
you're over level fifty."

"What about you,
will you be leaving?"

"There is no need,
they did not hear my name so they cannot use any locate spells to find
me."

"Well, if we need
to leave, why don't you come with us?"

Verde stops moving for
a minute and seems to be thinking about her answer. I have a feeling in my gut
that it is her trying to work out the best way to turn my offer down.

'Maybe she is still
angry about the kiss...'

"Okay, I suppose I
can do that."

'Huh, why would she say
yes?'

"I’m glad.
Although I have a few things I need to do first."

After our partings, Fen
waited while we all split up. I don't know where Verde went, but I went
directly to the magic shop and bought a scroll of shrinking for Fen.

With the wolf now
in the town, we first have to secure her some clothing. I lead a
happy Fen into what appears to be an ordinary clothier, but turns out to be top
end clothing with massive price tags on them. 

Fen ran off before I
could get her out of the shop and into a less expensive one. She stops while
looking at a particular dress hanging on the wall all by itself. 

"I suppose I did
promise to give you whatever you wanted." Letting out a sigh, I took it
down from the wall. 

One look at the price
tag causes me to tear up. There is not much to the dress, and the bonus
effect isn't even useful for Fen. But, I suppose clothing having any bonus
effects dramatically increases the value.

That is an enormous sum
for a single simple dress. With such an expensive taste, could this wolf smell
the price tag?

Purchasing the dress I
lead the wolf outside the shop before it sees anything else it wants. In an
alley behind the shop I leave Fen with the dress to transform change into. I
was a little afraid at first she would transform into a human at one tenth the
size thanks to the scroll, but that wasn't the case.

From the alley, Fen
walks out, revealing her human form to me for the very first time. 

Her hair is as white
has snow, cut just above her shoulders at the back, and flowing down
past her collarbone at the front. Under her straight cut fringe I can see
her crystal blue eyes, her narrow lips drawn in a straight line, and
her cheeks that are tinged rose.

She gives me a nervous
and bashful glance. The dress clings to her figure at the top, yet at the
bottom it is much looser, a few layers of frills decorating the hem. Just
under the bust a large white ribbon wrapps around her, tied into a bow on the
back of the dress.

"You look fantastic
Fen," I sincerely mean it. Even with her pale skin, the dress looks
stunning on her. Despite the low cut, it clung to her modest chest, revealing
the shapes underneath. 

After paying so much
for it, at least I did not have to worry about the durability of the dress. The
dress was classified as clothing and not armour, meaning that while it did have
durability it would only drop with modifications. My cloak was technically
classed as clothing as well.

I am completely at odds
as to how I should define her. Do I call her a wolf, or a person? She is
definitely a wolf, but right now she is a person. There aren’t even animal ears
or a wolf tail to still be able to call her a wolf.

She looks at the
ground, nervously playing with her bare feet at my words.

'Now that I think of
it... She probably still isn't wearing any underwear!' 

The thought completely
sobers up my mind for a moment. One careless moment in the wind and
everyone is going to get a grand view of Hail Mary. 

Surely the game must
have some sort of censoring, but Fen isn't exactly your typical NPC or Player.
Plus, if I recall, there is a requirement that players must be at least
eighteen years old.

She is only my
companion, but I still do not want others to see her like that. I would like to
buy her some underwear, but I have no clue what I should get. I need to call in
someone who would know.

"Verde, where are
you now?"

"Oh, Lost. I am
just buying some food for the journey. Have you finished with what you needed
to do?"

"Mostly, there is
just one thing I need your help with. Can you come to... Mmm, let me check what
it's called... Bernardo's?"

"I know that
place, that's where I got my cloak from! I will be right there!"

She shortly arrives at
where I am waiting. The instant she sees us however she stops dead in her
tracks. Or should I say, the instant she sees Fen.

"T-Thank you for
coming so quickly!" I stammer a little at the start, a little nervous now
that she is in front of me.

"The th-thing is,
Fen doesn't currently have any underwear, and I am not very good with clothes
shopping. I-I have actually never bought... Any of that stuff." I indicate
to the girl next to me.

Verde is still staring
at Fen, her face completely pale. She does not even register my words.

"Verde..."
Fen spoke up, showing a smile across her face, "Please... Help me buy
some... Underwear..."

Verde still didn't say
anything, but she gave a few short nods of her head.

***************************************************
***************************************************

-Verde-

After the kiss, I had
logged out and locked myself in my bedroom. My father had come knocking on the
door quite often, bringing me food and demanding to know what was wrong.

If he knew the truth, I
have no doubt he would find out where the boy lived and pay him a visit.

I wasn't particularly
angry or upset at him stealing a kiss. It is just that every time I recall it,
I get these butterflies in my chest and my head feels dizzy. 

I was afraid to log
back on.

Afraid that he would
kiss me again.

Afraid I would let him.

I could feel
heat rising to my face. I try burying myself in my pillow, but
nothing seems to be able to hide me.

***************************************************