12 Elements

"Power on, booting up, loading personalized data. Welcome back, Clair."

"Launch 12 Elements," Clair said while smiling and laying down on her bed.

Today was the last day of the beta testing period for the new game 12 Elements. All players were gathering to participate in the last beta event. The event was to be a mega boss raid. The company that created the game, Ito, advertised orange tier equipment, God tier skill drops, special event mounts, pet companions, and hidden job changes. These potential rewards were a huge incentive for all hardcore gamers and Clair wasn't going to miss it.

"Loading complete!" The system chirped. "Good luck and have fun!"

"So it's finally coming to an end... ahh I'm so upset." Clair grumbled as her young High Elf spawned on a bed. Clair was playing as Eris, a 14 year old dual element mage. She was able to control air and water which made her an ice mage. Even though Clair was 25 herself, she had always wanted to be a cute Loli, and thus created accordingly.

She was staying in the Walton's Inn and Brewery, in the city of Everspring. The Inn was jam packed with players who prepared in advance for this last special event. The special event was scheduled to be at Mount Klargen, which was about 2 miles away from Everspring.

Sitting up, Clair brushed out her ice blue hair with her fingers.

~Hmm it's 5:30PM, I have 15 minutes before I gatta get going. I'll double check my items, get dressed and then head off.~

Clair opened her inventory and checked for her potions. 50 LV 5 Health potions and 100 LV 5 Mana. Most players were able to reach around level 50 in the 6 months, and thus were able to purchase LV5 items. The level cap was said to be at 100, but the game developers were always changing their minds.

Assured that she was ready, she stood up and equiped her best armor. Unfortunately, being an Ice Mage, and a female, the game gave her armor that was completely impractical. She was dressed in reagle thigh high dark blue boots with a silver trim, a tight fitting sleeveless dark black top that plunged at the neckline. The chest had 2 metal bowls to protect her boobs, because that's all the protection you need. She wore a matching dark blue collar with a silver stone embedded in the middle. To finish it off, she dawned a frilly black skirt and a midnight black robe with silver trim and elbow length blue gloves. Despite the fact that Clair felt rediculous dressed in such impractical armor, she still felt adorable and cute. It accentuated her petite figure and played nicely with the Loli concept.

Dashing out of her room, she ran head first into a tall burly warrior and was knocked backwards like a ant.

"Shit. Sorry." Clair said as she rubbed her nose. She didn't feel any pain, but still reacted as if she was in the real world.

"No worries, short stuff, it's going to be pretty crowded today, so don't be in too much of a hurry." The tall warrior replied briskly and continued down the hall.

"Right right. Thanks." Clair said as she stared at him leaving. As she stepped out of her room once again she heard a notification bell. It was a voice call from a friend.

"360NoScope! You're on! I'm glad you showed up today." Clair was ecstatic. She had met 360 during the first week of the beta, and they hit it off instantly.

"Hey Eris! I called in sick, so shhhh don't tell my boss. Haha. Where ya at? I'm already at the bottom of the mountain."

"I'm on my way actually, leaving Walton's Inn right now. I won't be long. My baby is pretty quick you know." Clair grinned as she dashed down to the first floor and out the front door.

"Ahh I'm so jealous. I can't believe you got Baby from that random giveaway. He's so majestic."

Summoning her Wind Wolf, Clair jumped on and set off. "Hehe you're telling me! Yip yip Baby!"

"I'll send you my coordinates. See you soon honey!" 360NoScope smiled as he cut off the communicator before Clair could throw a fit about being called a pet name. He sat under a tall evergreen tree, tipped his large hat down and waited in the shade.

Not 30 seconds after closing his eyes, someone had kicked his boots. Grumbling 360 spoke

"If you expect me to stand up and greet you then you overestimate our friendship."

"You lazy ass, I hope you get no drops today!" The stranger dressed in all black sat down against the tree too.

"Hey now, Mal! That's too much! Out of all the things you could have cursed me with you chose no drops!? So brutal." 360 punched the stranger in black while wearing an offended face.

"Hehe." Mal snickered. "This beta test group is one of the best I've seen, so there's no doubt we will ace it today. I'm sure you're bound to get at least 1 drop."

"God damn your mouth is so annoying. Eris needs to hurry up, she will be able to alleviate my pain."

"Speak of the devil! That looks like her flying puppy."

"Ah yep that's her alright."

The two stood up and flagged her down. Eris jumped off her Wind wolf and summersaulted on the ground.

"Ayee Mal is here too! This is great. I thought i would have to boss raid by myself."

"As if you would win raiding by yourself." Mal said as he placed his big hand on her shoulder and smiled. "I on the other hand could win 1v1 anyday. Hehe."

"As if block head. Anyways, wanna head up? I'm sure the other team leaders are there too." 360 suggested as he started walking towards the mountain path.

The three made their way up the path with a group of other people. Reaching the top, they saw a few hundred players waiting excitedly for the boss to spawn. The top of the mountain was flat and big enough to fit thousands.

At 5:59PM Clair spoke, "You guys all equipped and pot stocked?"

The two looked at her like she was dumb and replied with an "of course you noob."

"Hahaha just checking."

Suddenly the sky darkened and the atmosphere grew tense. A red flaming metior dropped from the sky and crashed into the unorganized players, crushing some and making others fly backwards because of the shockwave. Clair narrowed her eyes and started at the tens of 0HP players still crushed under the bosses feet.

She nudged 360NoScope and pointed at the dead players and asked "Hey, can you use Eagle Eye and explain why those players aren't disappearing into Limbo?"

"That's weird, I can see clearly their health bar is exhausted, normally death and Limbo is instantaneous. Maybe it's just part of the event?"

"Hmmm... Maybe."

A loud voice caught all players attention, it was Garren the Royal Warrior. "Tanks to the front! Clerics to the back! Everyone else rain fire!"

Clair, 360 and Mal all sprinted to the middle area and started attacking. Clair summoned ice spears above the boss and let gravity do most of the work. She aimed at the joints and unguarded areas that the armor didn't cover. 360 was releasing poison arrows in quick succession, while Mal was summoning black whispy scorpions to attack.

With the hundreds of players attacking all at once, the boss HP was gradually falling. When it reached 80% the boss started to fight back. He released a torrent of red flames from his swords, slashing at the tanks. It didn't take very long for the clerics to become overwhelmed and unable to keep up the healing. Tanks started to drop like flies. Some being 1 shot by the flaming sword and others being stepped on and crushed like trash.

"Everyone retreat 20 yards, tanks heal up!" Garren shouted to the group of players.

The fight was complete chaos and extremely one sided. The front line of tanks soon collapsed and the boss had complete access to the middle section when his HP got to 65%. Seeing no way to win, the morall was lost and the remaining players started to scatter. Clair and her group started to retreat with the croud but were soon cut off from the main group running away. There was a blue barrier preventing them from leaving the fight.

"Shit! It's a no escape zone! We are doomed." Clair cried as she banged helplessly on the barrier.

"GG Bros. Looks like it's no drops this time." Mal sighed.

*Tisk* 360 inwardly cursed all the players that were not restricted by the no escape zone. It meant they hadn't attacked the boss when the rest of them had, and therefore they never entered the battle and weren't restricted by battle rules. Obviously the clerics didn't attack the boss and could run away, but all the dps players that ran through the barrier were scum in his eyes.

The battle zone was cleared out and only left around 200 players.

The boss threw his arms out in rage and sent torpedos of spirling fire into the players. With every attack their numbers dwindled down and eventually Clair and her group got caught in an attack. A massive flame exploded in their faces and sent them flying. Clair didn't manage to cover her face and was blinded from the heat. She grunted as she was sent into a rock pile and pinned under the boulders. Her head spun and she passed out under the rocks.

After an unknown amount of time she woke up shook her head and held her scorching hot eyes. Instantly Clair froze. Something was wrong with this situation. She was in pain, but it was a game and she wasnt supposed to be in pain. Her brows scrunched together as she started to have a very bad gut feeling. Unable to open her eyes she kept them closed and moved her body. She seemed to be all in one piece but was unable to move her left leg. It had been pinned between two rocks and was numb.

"Mal?! 360!?" Clair screamed as she tugged at her stuck leg.

Silence. Silence? The battlefield was quiet, there was no more screaming, no more running footsteps, no more explosions.

Claire's heart dropped and she got goose bumps all over. All of the sudden she heard loud, thundering footsteps and a deep haunting voice.

"Ah my little one. You seem to be the lone survivor."

Clair froze up.

~No no no this can't be happening. Bosses can't talk! How is this possible?~

Her whole person curled up and tried to become as small as possible.

"No need to be shy!" Klargen's footsteps got closer and closer until he was standing in front of the rock pile that she was in. His hand stretched out and scooped up Clair, along with a bunch of boulders.

"AHH! Stop! Please stop!" Clair screamed as her limbs were being bent in unnatural positions from being squished by the rocks in his huge red hand. The boss lifted her up to his face and spread out his fingers, letting the rocks fall through them and releasing the squished Clair onto his palm.

"So the last survivor is a ice elf. How strange." The boss said as he squinted his eyes. He watched Clair struggling to stand because of her broken leg and lack of sight. "I would have thought you players would have been a little more organized and less wishy washy. It's a real shame as I was hoping for a good battle."

Clair finally held onto his thumb to prop herself up and face him. "No boss has been as over powered as you, making us severely under prepared." She winced at the pain when she talked. The burnt flesh around her eyes was still tender and talking agitated the skin.

The boss grinned when he heard her flattery. "Smart one you are, small elf. What is your name?"

Clair hesitated

~What's going on here? Why does he even care?~

"I go by Eris."

"Well Eris, my small elf, this battle was quite disappointing. I wish to continue battling but seeing as how this is the last day of Beta, my memory will be wiped as soon as the last player logs out. Thankfully your still alive!"

"Wait, this makes no sense!" Clair interrupted him. "You are just a boss, how are you aware about the games Beta?"

"Who said I was just a boss?" He laughed. Clair was stunned.

~Does that mean he's not just a program?~

"As I was saying, I don't want to have my memory wiped, and therefore I won't allow you to log out and ruin that."

"Wait, what? No! No, you need to let me go, I have a family and a fiance. Wait! What about all the other players that were allowed out of the blue no escape zone? I'm not the only one alive! There are others!" Clair was frantic. In the unlikely chance that this boss actually had the power to prevent her from logging out, she didn't want to be the one chosen.

"Small elf, they have all been crushed by my Meteor Shower. Half of the mountain was destroyed from it. Just because they didn't aggro me, doesn't mean I can't aggro them. You are all that's left. Thankfully too, because I got so caught up in fighting that I forgot to keep anyone alive."

"This isn't happening. You can't possibly have the authority to override my personal controls."

The boss smirked, "challenge accepted." He stretched his other hand towards Clair and gently taped her head.

Claire's mind flashed a brilliant white and she fell limply into the bosses palm.

"As I cannot give your vision back, I will gift you the Assassin skill Depth Perception, the Cleric skill Life Sense, and the Alchemist skill Mana Tracking. This should allow you to produce a basic visual image. We will meet again in the future small elf, I hope you will be stronger. Good luck. Have fun!" There boss opened up a portal underneath his hand and dropped Clair into it.