13 Over the Horizon III

    Agni.

     I remembered after a bit of deep thinking. Agni is a Fire God in Hinduism. While I doubt that name held the same meaning here than it does in real life, it was clearly inspired by the Fire God, especially since the abilities are related to fire. 

     Returning to the library, I did look and find some books about the different Gods that exist in the world. 

     It seemed that four Gods exist in the world: Agni, the Fire God; Ryūjin, the Water God; Fūjin, the Wind God; Izanagi, the God of Creation and Life. While these were based off of Gods in Japanese mythology and one from Hinduism, they had a ton of lore to them. While most of it was, in fact, taken from real life sources, it was all said as though it originated in this world: Gaia. 

     The way the story goes is that Izanagi created Gaia and gave it life, he then tasked the other Gods in refining his creation. 

      It took them millions of years to craft something that could barely reach the vision that Izanagi had in his mind. 

     However, he still allowed it, for the things living on the planet was the key to his vision. He wanted them to evolve and become better things and as such, he allowed for them to rest for the next few million years. 

     "Still… this isn't enough to figure out what really happened. This is merely a synopsis. Could there be other Gods?" I asked myself as I flipped through the many pages of the book I had in front of me.

     Feeling something coming at me, I slid my chair back and brought my arm out to catch something. It felt soft and squishy. I turned it over and it was an orange. Then, footsteps came my way, making me turn to see Veronica. She sat down across from me and brought a basket up onto the table. She put her arms up on the table and let her head rest on her hands while she looked at me with a smile. I peeled the orange and took a bite of it. For a second I thought it would taste different since this is a different world, but no, it was just a regular orange. I closed up my book and my attention was directed to Veronica. She seemed happy with what she got in the basket. "I got us some potions and some minor healing items. With the money we got, I was able to get some pretty nice things. I even got us some nice looking coats to make us look a bit nicer when we arrive with Lord Dundran." She said, tossing a coat my way which I caught. I observed it, and the color caught my eye. 

     I equipped it, it was of pretty decent quality but it didn't do much in terms of effects. It only gave a minor defense increase of +3. It was a long dark red coat with black accents, with a thick black outline along the edges. 

     "Pretty nice. Thanks." 

     "You know where Kazuya is?" She asked me. 

     "I bet you that he's grinding right now. He mentioned that earlier." I answered as I sat back down in my chair. "I've been studying for new skills along with what this world is all about." I mentioned, and she leaned in like she wanted to know more about it. 

     I explained to her how the world was created and the current status of the Gods.

     There was still more to know about them, but I'd rather know later, especially since in just a few days we will be hitting the road. I stood up and opened up my menu. "How about you and I go to sleep? Tomorrow we will be ready to keep going, okay?" I asked Veronica. She nodded in response, but it was then that we got a notification from the system, one with an entirely red screen instead of the normal blue screen that was usually shown. 

[ WARNING ]

→ Upon the deadline, all players (Damon, Veronica and Kazuya) must be present. Upon meeting, logging out will not be available until all players have arrived at a checkpoint. 

     "Pretty serious. This means that we have to make sure our timing is on point." I said, and after logging out, I took off the headset. 

     "Goodnight, Damon." Veronica said to me as she put down her headset. 

     "Goodnight." I said before drifting off to sleep. 

◇◇◇

     "Huff… huff… huff…"

     "Shit. I backed myself into a corner, haven't I?" Kazuya asked himself as his back was then pressed against a wall. Before him was a large litter of Goblins. Some equipped with daggers, others with clubs too heavy for them to hold up straight, or even rusted swords broken at the blade. In the back row would be a Hobgoblin, a much larger Goblin with a humanoid figure, but still retained the pointed ears and sharp teeth that all lesser goblins possess. He instead wore rusted silver armor with a broadsword in hand. With a wicked smile curling his lips, he raised his sword forward, pointing it at Kazuya. 

     All the Goblins were merely level one or two, but the main target, the Hobgoblin, was level six. 

     "But I will say… this isn't something I can't handle alone." Kazuya spoke out before dropping his shield and axe. 

     With those no longer equipped, he reached for nothing behind his back, and equipped a new weapon. 

     With a swing, a greatsword was revealed, cleaving the first row of goblins in a single strike. 

     "This ain't enough. Gotta keep going." 

     Another swing. One with greater force than before. The greatsword itself was of a simple design. It had a long handle with a thick blade that was longer than Kazuya was tall. It seemed unfinished due to the missing guard. All it appeared to be was a slab of metal that was forgotten by a blacksmith midway. 

     This rundown railway station he found was infested with Goblins. Kazuya only recently found it when he went exploring to find another good place to grind. 

     Kazuya exclaimed at the top of his lungs, "I'm on fire! Let's keep this goin'!" His eyes fixed on the Hobgoblin, his body practically moving on its own. Wide-arced vertical swings proved to be the most effective option to fight groups of enemies, although that was a novice tactic. Kazuya sliced through one of the few remaining Goblins. He turned his foot, and rotated his body as he slammed his sword into the last two. His front faced the Hobgoblin, and his sword was held forward. 

     It's smile contorted itself into a frown. While it's blank eyes glared at Kazuya, it stood up from the chair it sat upon. 

     "Die." It said in a low, gravely voice. It raised its sword over its head, and swung while shouting, "Die!"

     "Lost Heaven, Water Form!" 

     Mana engulfed his blade, becoming a raging torrent of water that same instant. 

     Striking the ground, water rushed out from his sword, catching the Hobgoblin off guard as it was sent back against the wall behind it. 

     "Serpent Crusher!"

     From that same flood of water, it warped itself, changing into something resembling a serpent. Its mouth opened, uphinging even, and brought itself down upon the Hobgoblin. Kazuya took the sword out of the ground and let the sword rest on his shoulder. "This style… seems a little overpowered. I should log off soon." 

     He pulled out a small, yellow crystal from his inventory. "Return," he commanded. 

     And thus, he disappeared from sight and returned to the main city. "Phew~." Kazuya rubbed the back of his head. "Lucky me. I'm glad I found this for a good price!" Kazuya found the item, now known as a Teleportation Crystal, for sale at an item shop unlike the one Veronica went to. He actually bought it for around 50,000 gold, half of the reward money he got from Lord Dundran. 

     He opened his inventory and put the crystal back into it. He switched over to the menu and logged off right after. 

     Taking off his headset, Kazuya smiled widely at his ceiling fan. His blonde hair became incredibly messy upon removing the headset as it fell over his eyes. "Gah… I need a haircut here pretty soon." 

     "But that'll have to wait until tomorrow. I should probably wait until we're done with the quest to get something done with it."