End Online: Volume 2 (4 page)

What I had just done came
to reality, this is a game and she would have just respawned. The feeling of her
lips suddenly invades my senses as I recall the softness they enclosed. They
were in all honesty quite cold. Yet, touching them with my lips
warmed my entire face.

Colour slowly returned to
her complexion, but there was another complication. An ice bolt comes billowing
past me, impaling the wall between me and Verde. I could feel the cold on my
nose as I turn to see Fen, furious eyes accusing not me but Verde, I don’t
know why but the wolf really does not like her. Is it because they are both
female that they can’t get along?

Looking at Verde, she
seems completely oblivious to Fen’s fury and the ice bolt next to her head. She
has her head tilted forward slightly, using the thumb and forefinger on each
hand to tug her hood down further, completely hiding her face.

‘Oh no, what have I done? Is she
crying? Does she hate me? What should I do now?’ 
A hundred regrets swarm inside my mind. I completely did not
think through my actions, and now I can’t stop worrying about what to do next.

I ignore Fen for now, silently
placing the remaining three potions next to Verde. I have no idea how to calm
Fen down, mainly due to having no clue as to the source of her anger.

I stand up and walk over
to the wolf, crouching down to give her a scratch behind the ears, the dog I had
when I was twelve used to like this a lot.

Fen ignores my actions
mostly, but I notice a tail wag momentarily.

“Calm down Fen, I don’t
know what the problem is but it’s better now, okay?”

She looks up at me. Her
icy blue eyes seem to melt slightly as her anger dissipates. Whatever her
problem was, she seems calmer now.

“Umm... Verde... Would you
like to go back and find Sir Laurence?” I place my hands together and fiddle my
thumbs at the awkwardness I feel.

Verde slowly shakes her
head a few times. Drinking all three potions as fast as she can, she continues
to hide her face under her hood. I notice her making actions as if operating
her menu, she shortly logs off. At that moment I receive two notifications in
front of me, the first one was an incredible shock.

I warily click accept, I
was now even more confused if she hated me or whatever her feelings were.

The second notification
however was even more of a surprise, in some ways it was a blessing from
above, yet for some reason I knit my brows reading it.

Was this skill broken or
something? I have no choice but to upgrade it into something unknown, which for
some reason I did not feel very comfortable with.

Maybe I could be able to
unequip it, but something is telling me that will not be the case. I also have
no clue as to what it will do. Potentially it could be worse than
‘Aggravation’. Anyway there is only one way to find out, so I press one of the
‘Yes’ buttons.

Brilliant, It is basically
the exact same as before. Unable to be unequipped, and more of a pain than it’s
worth.

I feel like digging a
hole in the ground with my head in frustration. Good news is my intimacy
will not drop for no reason like before, but nor would it improve unless I did
something special. The part where it will ‘Aggro’ an enemy is also still there,
completely overcharged from how it was when ‘Aggravation’ was at level 1.

The only saving
grace was that monsters caught with ‘Aggro’ had a penalty to both attack
and defence which would be incredibly useful fighting large numbers of
opponents.

I notice that the Prince
Charming has disappeared from the party window as well, leaving just me and
Fen.

“Well Fen, looks like it’s
just us, I only have thirty green medicinal herbs left but if we are careful we
should be able to clean out this floor and leave.”

I sit with Fen and use ten
of the herbs to heal our wounds. It takes a total of about half an hour to
recover most of our wounds and I use that time to loot all the items that were
dropped.

The goblin warriors
dropped some decent items, a few silver coins instead of copper ones, and the
rusty iron armour surely must be worth more than the swords when it came to
scrap metal value.

Right next to where we
rested however was the best loot of them all. The purse of coins Prince
Charming left behind at his death holding a total
of fifteen gold, seven silver, and one hundred and forty
three copper coins.

‘Well, he has already left the party
so I guess the money is mine for the taking. I probably couldn’t get it back to
him anyway,’ 

I run a
bunch of reasons as to why it is okay to take someone else’s money. Not because
I’m not going to take it otherwise, I just want to feel less guilty about
it.

Collecting all the loot
lying around, I lead Fen deeper into the dungeon as we hunt for more goblins.

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

-Verde- 

The goblins ambushed us
from behind. The group being just as large as the one Lost and Fen were
fighting. I received the first attack in the back, a critical hit removing
thirty percent of my total health.

Sir Laurence naturally
noticed my health drop in an instant and had turned to protect me, placing his
body in between me and the goblins. If I didn’t know what his true character
was like I would probably be slightly flattered.

The goblins slowly chipped
away at our health, the two goblin warriors that Lost warned us about were the
most dangerous, with blows nearly strong enough to blow Sir Laurence’s shield
back.

Moments before our
inevitable death a volley of iron and ice assaulted the goblins followed
by Lost appearing behind them, both swords ready for combat. I vaguely heard
him say something but I couldn’t hear properly, nearly dead with bleeding
wounds caused by rusty weapons was not good. I did not feel any discomfort yet
I could not move my body more than a twitch.

Lost, all of a sudden
dashed into the group of goblins, showing off an inhuman speed and reaction
rate. My eyes widened in shock at the sight, it was like a graceful dance where
each step would either lead to avoiding a weapon or landing a deadly attack,
sometimes both.

In
moments, nearly all the goblins were dead, only one still remaining. 
‘No! Lost won’t be able to get
to it in time!’ 
I don’t know why but I seem to be putting a lot
of trust in him. But he is such a strong person, anyone who only knew his level
would be completely fooled.

He shouts something and
Sir Laurence somehow manages to move his body to protect me, except it cost him
a blow that cost him his life. It is at this point the bleeding damage brought
my health below three percent. In a combat zone this is where your vision goes
and you lose complete control of your body, unable to save yourself.

The noises coming to my
ears gradually stop, I don’t know if my hearing was going too or the battle was
over, all I know is that I can see I still have health left so I am not dead
yet.

Soon I faintly feel my
body being moved and a warm liquid enters my mouth, unable to do anything about
it about half enters my throat. Wherever the liquid touched however left a foul
taste which inadvertently caused my body to cough it up, but a little did pass
through healing just a single percent of my health.

Another
round of the potion enters my mouth, befouling every surface inside of
it. 

‘Doesn’t he realize he is just
wasting potions? Also, what kind of potion tastes this bad?’

The
difference this time is warmth enters my lips, spreading a tiny electric
current through my body, warming the deepest parts. 

‘What a nice feeling, how have I
not felt it before?’

The foul liquid also seems
to be going down my throat much easier, tasting less grotesque as it goes down.
I can feel the potions healing my wounds and stopping the bleeding,
although the feeling of my body returning to me is magnifying the warmth
on my mouth

My health points slowly
begin to rise, my vision blurring back into focus, revealing the details of
Lost’s face under the hood. I could see completely through the shadow of his
hood! No, that’s not correct, the hood is over my face too so the shadow is not
working.

I can see every detail of
his face, from the thin line of stubble running down his jaw line to the long
hair tied up somewhere behind his head, a few pieces hanging down in the form
of bangs. He has quite a pretty face, but the most noticeable are his eyes,
they are a rather boring green colour, but there is a deep pain in them
that causes my chest to constrict just looking into them.

All of a sudden there is
no more of the potion entering my mouth. With the foul taste of the liquid gone
I momentarily feel this man’s lips on mine, every tiny part leaving a
sweet sensation on my mouth, before he removes his face. The warmth on my mouth
disappears along with his face behind the shadow of his hood.

‘He kissed me!’

Despite
the need to do so to force the potion down my throat, the only word that
could come to my mind was 
‘kiss’. 
Pinching onto my hood I bring it down to
hide my face turning crimson in embarrassment, the fluttering
butterflies in my chest refusing to subside.

I hear a crack next to my ear
and feel a chill on my cheek, but I am already lost too deep in my subconscious
to pay attention to it.

I don’t know how much time
passes but three horrible looking potions are left on the ground next to me.
Lost also asks me if I wish to go and find Sir Laurence who should have
respawned.

‘I don’t want to go see him, I just
want to stay with you,’ 
I don’t
know where this thought is coming from as I shake my head back and
forth, it came from nowhere and refuses to leave.

I drink the three potions
on the floor next to me to try to remove the feeling on my lips but the taste
of the potion reminds me of his lips on mine.

I start to feel trapped in
my own emotions and open my game menu. Hovering my finger over the ‘Log
Out’ button something in me drives me to send a friend request to Lost
before I do leave the game to clear my head.

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

I leave virtual reality
immediately. Sitting up on my bed with my knees at my chest I remove the VL
from my head and replace it with a pillow, still unable to cover my utter
embarrassment.

My mind is still replaying
the memory of his facial features, and most importantly his lips on mine.

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

-Fen-

‘That vixen! What has she done?? She
deserves to die!’

Manipulating the space
above me I form what Lost has been calling an ice bolt. Only this one is
different, I pack more and more layers of ice onto it than I ever have before.

I still feel it isn’t big
enough but it should do. Directing and releasing it, the ice bolt vaults
forward, impaling the wall and separating the revolting woman from Lost.