A large needle of ice stabbed through the stomach of a green rhino looking creature. No sign of blood or anything, there was however a giant red hole where it had been impaled. The creature froze for a moment then the outline of its' body ripples before it disappeared. It left behind only transparent gold coins. Jack pumped his fist in the air and turned around grinning at his friends.
"Yes! We'll be at our first temple in no time!" He shouted while walking towards them.
"Don't get ahead of yourself there, snow hair. We still need to get you a weapon." Aster said while putting his boomerang back in its' holster.
Everyone in the group besides Jack had a weapon now. Aster had his boomerang, Nick had twin swords, Sandy had a whip and Tiana didn't really need a weapon due to being an Elemental Mage. Everyone besides Tiana had bought their own weapon.
Most weapons in the AoM were a little expensive and Jack's was the most expensive. Every player transported started off with three hundred gold. Even if he had borrowed money from Tiana, he still wouldn't have enough and it was just a wooden stick. Still, Jack had his heart set on it, it was the only one of its' kind.
Jack only grumbled in response to Aster. He needed that staff so he could control his powers better. Most attacks he's done were pretty basic. Nick slung his arm around Jack's shoulder and smiled a little.
"Well, that's part of the reason we're out here, eh? We need more money after all." He said as he pointed back towards the pile of gold coins that Sandy had begun collecting. Half the reason was to get more money the other reason was to actually level up.
Turns out leveling up only increases your HP, here you had no stats to worry about, just need to handle yourself in combat. The monsters on the outside of Fenmont were pretty weak so they were easy to level up off of. As most people were, Jack and his friends were level four now. It was recommended to be at least level six or seven before heading to a temple since so many people had died at the blue temple already.
It was found out that you could actually be revived. When you die you disappear but as long as it was within three hours, you could be revived. No one actually knows what happens after a person dies in AoM, however. Only two people have been revived and it was within the time limit. The revival spell was impossible for anyone to do at their current level and the ingredients for the item were incredibly hard to find.
It was concluded that if you die here, you're gone forever.
Tiana glanced over at Aster who was glaring at the direction of some other players. "Um.. Are you alright, Aster?" She asked while peering over his shoulder to see what he was looking at. Tiana then sighed and shook her head with a smile. "Never mind."
There was a young boy with jet black hair commanding what looked to be an armored robot. The robot's moves were a little sloppy but it was getting the job done. Aster didn't really like him because the young boy had adapted to calling him "Bunny Ears" despite knowing his name. They saw a lot of each other since they hunted near each other on the open green field.
Aster detested the nickname and the boy knew this so he just kept teasing him. The boy was almost like a mini Jack to him.
"He's still here. That little, bratty, son of a-"
"Okay!" Tiana cut Aster off. "How about we go back into Fenmont and take a break? Besides, I bet we're all a little tired."
Jack nodded in agreement and looked back at Sandy. "What do you say, Sandy? Wanna go eat or something?"
Sandy then smiled and gave a thumbs up. With that they began to walk in the direction of Fenmont.
In the span of three days the atmosphere had really changed. It certainly wasn't as gloomy. Even if some had died. Most everyone was more enthusiastic about being in a game now, especially since it was AoM. Conversations overlapped in the streets as Jack as his friends walked through Fenmont. Some people had taken the place of merchants and such that were in the originally game, it was another way to earn money.
Though most people tried not to worry about it there was a concern about what was happening outside of AoM. Whether their families were okay or anything.
Jack looked at the blue, cloudless sky for a moment.
Here there was no communication with was happening outside.
...
Six o'clock.
This was around the time that Jack had disappeared yesterday. Emma stood in front of computer. No sign of him. No sign of anything.
She sighed and looked down before running out and towards the front door.
"Bye mom! I'm heading to Jamie's for a bit!" She yelled as she opened the door.
"Alright." Her mother replied and the door slammed.
Emma ran fast despite hardly getting any sleep last night. Her mind was filled with theories of what happened. For some reason when she logged on this morning, she couldn't play online and the forums were closed.
She ran up the steps of Jamie's house and knocked on the door breathlessly. Jamie opened the door.
"Hey, Em. Um, did you run here?" Jamie blinked stepping over to the side to let her walk in.
"Y- Yeah. I... Listen, have you played AoM lately?" She walked in with her legs heavy.
"Actually..." He closed the door behind her. "I haven't been able to get online with AoM since yesterday. I also couldn't get in touch with Hiro. Why, have you or Jack been having the same problem?"
"So you can't either, huh?" Emma froze before she grabbed his shoulders. "Jack? Did you just say Jack? You... You remember Jack..."
Jamie looked at her with concerned and startled eyes. "Yeah, your brother.. Are you okay, Em?"
Emma didn't speak. She looked down in thought.
"Why does he remember and mom doesn't?"
