Episode 13: Creator

*RING*

"Ugh..." I shifted my head which was resting on my already numb arms. The vibrations coming from my phone started bugging me more and more until I reluctantly lifted my head and rubbed my eyes. Slowly, I picked the device up and answered the call.

"Good morning, Albrecht-san." A man's voice. Light, yet assertive. A familiar voice as well.

"Oh, Nishikima. What's up?"

"I just wanted to inquire about the next update. The deadline is fast approaching, you know?"

I glanced below my arms and found my drawing tablet below them. In front of me was a screen with an unfinished panel for the next volume.

'I guess I fell asleep at my desk…'

"Albrecht-san?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm working on it."

"We've given you an ample amount of time. The writer is expecting the final work in three days."

"I know, I know. Now stop nagging me, I want to enjoy my morning for once." Before he could utter another word, I ended the call and placed my phone back onto the table. Leaning back on my chair, I sighed. There was then a sudden knock on my door.

"Delivery for Dante Albrecht?"

Someone outside called my name. I exhaled and got up hesitantly. Stretching all of my limbs to their full extent, I opened the door. A lady in a brown uniform and cap enthusiastically greeted me with a cardboard box. She had the logo of RECT Incorporated on her as well.

"Dante Albrecht?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Your pre-order has arrived! As well as the results from your beta test." She was obviously energetic about her job. I received the box from her and found that it was lighter than I expected. "Just sign here, please!"

After all the paperwork, I thanked her and plopped the package onto the mat I had on the floor. My apartment unit was extremely small so I had to make sacrifices when it came to furniture. Opening the box, I pulled out what was probably my most expensive buy ever, second only to my rent. Tearing open the bubble wrap revealed the word 'AuraSphere'. Stuck to it was a sheet of paper with a list made up of the points I accumulated when testing the thing out during the beta phase. When this device was announced, I was thrilled. Of course, it was during my VR high when I couldn't get enough of the stuff. I'd use my old AmuSphere for hours and hours. Of course, I purchased both of them back when I actually had money. At least I wasn't alone in that regard.

"Hello?" I heard her voice from the other end of the call.

"Hey Ari-chan, I just got my AuraSphere. Did you get yours in the mail?"

"Oh! Lemme check!" I could hear her ruffling out of bed. It was obvious that she just woke up. Thinking about it made me chuckle a bit. "Holy crap! It is! We need to play right away!"

She was talking about the game that came with the pre-order. It was the launch title for the system: Aura Kingdom Online. She was so ecstatic about this, she signed up with me for the beta tests and everything.

"Never thought I'd go back to VR."

"Hey, this is an excellent way to spend time together since we live far away."

She was right. I was living in the province while she was in Tokyo, attending a prestigious University. Sometimes I wish I could be with her but unfortunately, I messed up that chance a long time ago.

"Hey, Dante-kun…?" Her voice got softer. "Just remember, I don't want you playing too much, okay?"

"Huh?" I paused before speaking. "I know, Ari-chan. I won't make that mistake again."

Never again.

"Okay. I've set a schedule when we can go online and when we should take breaks." Of course, leave it to her to do something so organized. "I'll go on ahead then. I love you."

I could listen to those words over and over again. "I love you too."

With the call ended, I opened the box and took out the device. "Huh? It's blue? How'd they know my favorite color?"

I presumed it was just a pre-order skin so I moved on. Placing the device on my ears, I laid down comfortably on my bed.

'What about the manga panels?' I quickly glanced at my computer which reminded me of the work I had yet to do. 'Eh, I can cram it overnight.'

"Link start!"

The familiar virtual sun shone on my face as I breathed in the air. I found myself in some kind of port town. It was good to be back. I had made my avatar look similar to how I look in real life: a pony tail and a goatee, just with additional blue streaks since I've always thought about dying my hair. I didn't stray too far since I wanted Ari to be able to recognize me, after all. She was going to do the same with her avatar as well. For class, I chose the Ronin since I thought the sword was bad-ass, even if it was a challenging weapon to use. It was even similar to the sword used by the main character in the manga I was drawing. I wasn't writing the story, of course, but damn was it interesting. Everyone else had the same basic gear with random colors so it was hard to find Ari. All she mentioned was something green…

"Hey!" A girl with flowing green hair waved as she ran towards me. Behind her, a towering spiky haired guy was following. With a single leap, she managed to wrap her arms around my neck and hold me in a tight hug."I see you kept true to our conditions. I have to say, you look more handsome in VR!"

"And you look uglier." I joked and received a punch on the shoulder. "Anyway, who's he?"

"Oh!" She turned around and smiled at the player behind her. "I hope you don't mind if my little brother tags along. He got his AuraSphere in the mail as well."

"Akir-"

The tall dude cleared his throat. "I'd prefer it if we stuck to usernames."

"Oh he's right." Ari said. "Never know who's listening, after all!"

"Alright..." I swiped down for my profile. The controls we're similar, after all. "My name's Jayce."

"Arryn!"

"Did you literally put your first name and your last name together?" Arryntaro. Get it?

This made her flustered. "I couldn't think of any good names, okay?! Where'd you get Jayce anyway?"

"Just popped up in my head." It was actually the name of the main character I had mentioned before.

"I am Kage. Ravager class." The brute spoke up since no one asked. I laughed and tapped his arm since his shoulders were too high.

"Welcome aboard."

We spent the morning clearing some low level dungeons. The more we played, the better we got. It was around lunch time when we stumbled upon something that we never should have found.

"What's this portal?" Arryn tilted her head, curiously gazing at the red swirl. We had stumbled upon it while exploring the swamp area of Port Skandia. It was weird to find a portal so secluded from the rest of the map.

"Another dungeon?" Kage asked.

"All the other dungeons we've been to were blue. Why's this one red?" I wondered.

"Ooh! Maybe it's a secret boss!" Arryn immediately pulled my arm towards the portal. "Come on! Let's go!"

"Aren't you getting a bit eager?" I laughed. The three of us entered the dungeon with high heads… until the portal behind us disappeared.

"Huh? Where'd it go?" Arryn asked as she felt around the rocks.

"Guys, we've got company!" Kage immediately pulled his battle-axe out. In front of us, a couple of boulders shook and formed a giant golem with sunken red eyes. The health bar formed above it and displayed it's level.

"Level 100?!" Arryn wavered. "No way…"

The two of them froze as a large boulder was sent hurdling towards us. Instinctively, I dashed forward and held my arms up in a futile attempt to protect them. I was sure we were going to die. That was until I felt a surge of energy flowing through me and exit my body, forming a giant shield that shattered the rock. The shield itself was blue in color while what looked like blue flames were swirling around my body and illuminating my eyes.

'Create.' I heard someone say.

Without knowing how, I broke the shield and held my hand up. A giant sword formed in it as I brought it down on the monster. It grunted as the sword shattered part of its head and made it stumble back.

"Jayce!" Arryn came to me and held onto my shoulders as I heaved. Somehow, whatever this ability was, it was wearing me down. "Are you okay?!"

"Yeah…" I knew I had to finish this as fast as I could. "Just leave it to me."

"Jayce!"

Running and screaming, I created a springboard below my feet which launched me into the air. I then proceeded to create multiple copies of my tachi and sent them flying towards the golem. It was doing enough damage but I still needed more.

'I need to use quality over quantity…' I thought.

With one charge as I plummeted towards the beast, I formed a giant great sword between my hands which was even bigger than before. With one swing, I brought it down on the golem and shattered it into a million pieces. The impact of the attack knocked me out as I landed hard on to the ground. Arryn ran up to me and held me in her arms. I started to feel better as the blue energy disappeared from my body.

"Jayce?! How are you holding up?"

"How the hell did you do that…?" Kage gawked at the now dissolving boss as a congratulatory screen popped up in front of us and knocked us up a couple of levels. Makes sense a boss like that would give us a ton of EXP.

"Who cares… we just defeated a level 100 boss!"

"Yeah..." As soon as my strength returned, I stood up with my legs wobbling. Swiping through the rewards, I realized that an item we had before had unlocked. "Hey, we can unlock the Launch Day Bonus item."

Selecting it brought me up five more levels. The two of them did the same as Arryn, in particular, jumped in joy.

"We're an even higher level now! It's all thanks to you, Jayce!" She hugged me as I hugged her back. "Keep this up and we might just become the strongest players in the game!"

"With that weird skill of yours, I'd say you're already strong enough…" Kage crossed his arms.

"Yeah but I still want you two to stand with me. Hey, I know! Let's seal it with a pledge!" I raised my arm out in a fist.

"What the hell Jayce?" The Ravager chuckled.

"Just humor me, please?"

The other two smiled and added to the triple fist bump. "This is a promise, the three of us will become the best players in Aura Kingdom Online!"

"And that we are and always will be a team of equals." Arryn said.

"That... that we won't give up on each other, no matter what." Kage added while apparently blushing. It was indeed a weird sight.

"Awww!" The green Duelist giggled.

"Don't embarrass me in game, big sis- I mean Arryn!"

I laughed as I finished up the pledge. "It's settled then, this shall be our quest!"

After we left the dungeon, we settled outside the portal as I explained the idea that had hatched in my mind. Studying the party system, I realized that the party leader received all the items dropped by the remaining party members should they die in high class dungeons.

"If we can stack those Launch Day potions, we can level up in no time!" I explained.

"So you're saying we throw a couple of newbies into the level 100 dungeon and collect their potions?" Kage asked.

"Yeah. That's also why we should split up. Each of us can form different parties to speed things up."

"Isn't that being a bit mean, Jayce?" Arryn asked with a concerned look on her face. "You're basically killing people indirectly."

"It's just a game, Arryn. They'll just respawn safely in the town."

"I know but…"

I held her shoulders and gazed into her emerald eyes. "I want us to have fun here, okay? If we're going to be the best players in the game, we have to level up faster than the rest, at any cost."

"I understand…"

"Now, we'll split and meet back in Port Skandia after five hours. Gather as many potions as you can."

And so our plan was set in motion. I patrolled the docks while the two of them searched elsewhere. While walking around the first forest area, I found a curious looking orange haired player getting knocked down by some bunnyhops. Laughing, I approached him.

"Don't let a bunch of rabbits kick your ass!"

Ever since I met you, I was intrigued. I felt a connection between us so that's why I kept trying to reach you. Again and again, I tried to be nice. I tried to form a friendship with you. At the beginning, I disliked this game because of all the flaws it had but even then, you were the one who helped me learn to love it. You were the one who helped me give this game a second chance. I understand that you lost your trust in other people when Arryn took you to that dungeon but even if I tried to rekindle that trust, you didn't want that. Why? Why do you have to be so selfish?!

"Jayce!" Wairuzu struggled to break free from the chains I bound him in as I accessed my menu and selected the leave party option.

"Thanks for leading me to this Gaia Key, Wairuzu. Those ghost quests really come in handy. Apparently, my key is located in Blizzard Berg." I swiped through my quest log and showed him a similar quest which told me to venture to said area. It was written in a bright blue text. I had received it at the same time Wairuzu received his. I didn't know what it was at first but thanks to the orange Ronin, I now knew it would lead me to a Gaia Key. "It's only a matter of time before I get all of them. It turns out I'm the only one who can save this game, after all."

"You're insane! You can't keep everyone else from becoming admins! It's supposed to be a council of eight not one!"

"Don't worry, Arryn and Kage will be by my side. Even if they won't receive administrative control, they will still be there to help me govern this world. At first, I thought you were capable of that responsibility as well but then you proved to me again and again that you only care about yourself!" My blue eyes glared at him in anger. "You always want the last hit, you always want to be the leader, you always want the best items because you think you're so important!"

"That's not true! I…"

"Arryn…" I glanced at the Sorcerer who muttered Ari's username. "Arryn wouldn't agree to this!"

"And what makes you so sure she wouldn't?"

"I see it in her face! I see that it hurts her whenever she hurts other people. The way I see it, you forced her to go with your plans!"

"I did not force her!" Pausing, I exhaled. That was close, I almost completely lost my temper. "She agreed willingly. You don't even know her like I do. She knows I'm doing this for her."

Finally finished, I walked towards the Gaia Key. "That's enough. It's time for me to leave."

"I won't let you!" Wairuzu's eyes started glowing orange again. I knew it was only a matter of time before he broke free so I hurried to the key and grabbed it as fast as I could. However, I had no time to get away. Almost instantly, the orange Ronin slammed into me and knocked me back. Rising up, I found him covered in orange flames with his tachi held out.

"So you want to fight, huh?"

"You're not getting out of here with that key!"

"So be it…"

Raising my hand, I created a dozen throwing knives and chucked them at him one by one. In reaction, he swung his sword from left to right and deflected each blade. With a downward swing, he brought it onto me. I blocked by creating a shield and countered with a pistol blast. Wairuzu grunted as he stumbled back. He immediately charged up his sword again and began slashing at me. I dodged and weaved as much as I could, creating shields to block any attacks I could not avoid. I knew I had to reserve my energy unlike that raging idiot. With one swift motion, I made a hook that parried his sword to the ground and with my other hand, a blade which sliced him across the neck. He stepped back, holding the affected area. His health bar was already that low? Sometimes, I couldn't gauge how much damage I was dealing with the weapons I created.

"Wairuzu!" Megumi opened her tome and prepared to heal.

"Oh no you don't!" I extended the chains which bound her to her arms, keeping them from moving.

"Don't touch her!" Wairuzu came at me once more with a familiar skill. "Crescent slice!"

A cloud of dust surrounded us as the attack hit. I safely jumped out of the way and landed behind him. Quickly, I snatched his sword with a chain coming from my hand and drove it through his stomach.

"You want to know why you can't beat me?" I whispered in his ear. "You're too angry. You use up too much energy in your attacks. Without learning how to properly wield this gift, you'll never beat me."

Releasing his body, I watched as he slumped onto the ground with just a single health bar. I decided to leave him like this since I still had a shred of respect.

"What can I say? You really put up a fight. Maybe I'll give you one last chance to join me."

"Go to hell…" He groaned on his knees, holding his abdomen.

"Alright then, if you'll excuse me, I need to get to the next Gaia Key." Preparing a Teleport Crystal made in our forge, I bid the members of the nameless guild farewell. "Goodbye."

"Hang in there!" Megumi stood over me as I pulled my sword out from my body. What a humiliating defeat.

"We need to go after him!" Daize said. "Where did he say he was going? Blizzard Berg?"

"And what?" Soran nervously shuffled his feet. "You saw what he could do. Fighting him in this state will only get us killed."

"Well, we have to do something!"

Jayce's chains had shattered after he teleported out of the temple with the orange Gaia Key. We would have gone after him immediately if I wasn't so injured. Cursing under my breath, I stood up and sheathed my blade.

"Wairuzu?" Megumi had a sad tone in her voice.

"He's right…" I clenched my hands into fists. "He's right about me. Nothing's changed… noth-"

To my surprise, Daize smacked me across the face which was a first. "That… that's for all the chops you've given me!"

"What?"

"That was also for doubting yourself." The Archer had a stern look on his face. "If you start kicking yourself while you're down, you'll never stand back up."

"Daize…"

"Yeah." Soran agreed. "You said it yourself anyway, what Jayce described was not true. I choose to believe that he is wrong as well. I know you're a good person, Wairuzu."

"Why…?"

Daize smiled but this time, I wasn't annoyed. "You think I'd take his word over yours? Not in a million years, dude. If we don't believe him, you shouldn't either."

"Wairuzu." Megumi walked up to me. "I'm only here because of you. Thank you so much."

What the hell? How could they say all those things? I couldn't help but smile. They chose to believe in a version of me I had yet to become, a version of me I wanted to become. At least I had my work cut out for me.

"What's the game plan then?"

All of the heads in the hall turned as I entered. Arryn, in particular, was looking a bit worried.

"Jayce? Where's Megumi and the others?"

"They found out. I had no choice, Wairuzu was going to take the key for himself."

She gasped. "You mean they found out about…"

"Yes. Now, we need to retrieve the rest of the keys before they become a pain in the ass. Where's Kage?" I swiped through the data I received from multiple players around the server.

"He's gone to sleep. It's getting late."

"We'll have to go ourselves then. The next key's in Blizzard Berg. We can leave immediately."

"Jayce, have you been following my break schedule?" Arryn tapped my shoulder.

"Of course I have! Now can we concentrate? If we don't move fast, the Gaia Keys will fall into the wrong hands!"

"Jayce, answer me. How long have you been online?" She insisted. "You say you're taking breaks but are you? It seems that everytime Kage and I log in, you're already there."

"I'm taking breaks alright?!" I swiped her hand off my shoulder and sighed. "We just need to hurry and get all eight keys before anyone else does."

"Why do we need all eight? Don't we just need one?"

"Because I don't trust anyone other than me to run this game." I realized the tone of my voice was a bit off and decided to calm down. "Arryn, I'm doing this for us. I can make this place a paradise where we can have all the fun we want. Once we achieve that goal, we can relax."

"Very well…" She looked down. "But I'm still worried about you, Jayce. You know what happened last-"

"Last time. Yes, I know. I told you, it won't happen again. I just need to…" I was interrupted by a sudden hug from her.

"Jayce, please. Take a break. For me." She pulled me in closer. "We can send Richter's squad to Blizzard Berg."

I paused before wrapping my arms around her. "Okay…"

"New bow, baby!" Daize held up a reinforced sandstone bow he found in one of the chests lying around the Minotaur chamber. There were four so we each decided to pick one.

"Ooh! Magic amulets!" Megumi peered at the contents of her chest. "Soran, what did you get?"

"Just some potions…" He nervously laughed. "Wairuzu, how about you?"

I silently gazed at the item on my screen before putting it on. It was a Ravager class armor but luckily, there was no such thing as exclusive armor sets in this game. With one swipe, dark shoulder pads and gauntlets that were spiked with red outlining each of them appeared along with the rest of the armor pieces. The chest had a red pattern to it while the collar of the inner shirt was the same shade of orange as my hair. The trousers were black while the boots had this red flame motif to it. A belt of cloth was wrapped around my waist which was a similar color to the scarf from my last armor set. Standing proud, I turned to the others.

"Right. Let's get to Blizzard Berg."

Ending: Yume Sekai by Tomatsu Haruka

Next Episode: A Cold Reunion