7 'Tragedy' Time

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Verstronia: Dreamless Story, or VDS, is a free-to-play, 3D action MMORPG developed by Japanese game company Kami Productions. It contains various features such as real-time action game-play including player v.s. enemy and player v.s. player modes. Boasts a large collection of unique characters each with unique backstories and distinct abilities. The most promoted feature however is the inclusion of a variable story-line that changes depending on which character you choose. Within each character's story-line contains points of intersection between other story-lines, but have stand-alone elements which can make it seem like you are playing a different game altogether, depending on who you choose.

It's this uniqueness that highlighted the worse within Ashe Daemon's character and story.

If there is one word that would describe the game-play of Ashe Daemon as a story, it would be this:

Tragedy.

The life of Ashe Daemon was filled with nothing but bad luck and loss. For a platform like an MMORPG, it was a mystery as to why a character like Ashe was developed at all.

In fact, an additional feature had been added during Ashe Daemon's character selection process as continuous updates to Ashe Daemon's story-line were made.

Ashe Daemon's character selection had been age-restricted for 17+. And the kicker? Only he was designated a 17+ age restriction.

It is important to know that the age restriction for the whole of VDS had been for the ages of 13+.

This discrepancy is what made Ashe Daemon an anomaly within VDS.

At first, the uniqueness of Ashe's situation brought tons of curious adventurous, of course. However, that quickly stopped over time.

The main reason for the discrepancy is that in fact that, compared to the others, Ashe's story is filled with 'mature' content.

Not in the 'erotic' sense, but rather in the highly graphic, violent sense.

It has been established that VDS boasts detailed graphic designs so real it can be confused with an actual counterpart in reality.

Just that when the high definition graphics are used for more….gruesome purposes, they can cause a different kind of problem.

This problem shows its head pretty early at the beginning of Ashe's main storyline.

In VDS, all characters begin with a tutorial stage unique to their backstory for players to learn the basic controls. In this tutorial stage, players would learn the basics of fighting mechanics, how to open the inventories, and other useful basic features you would need to keep playing VDS. The tutorial stage starts as a kind of prologue, using a snippet of the character's past, separate from the actual game world just like many RPGs in the past.

It is within this snippet of the Ashe's past that not only we, the player, learned how his mother died, but how she had died and learned the despair which scarred and changed Ashe's character as we now know it.

Ashe's tutorial begins with a 5-year-old Ashe Daemon who lives alone with his mother Aileen Daemon within the depths of Merez Forest, as vast forest located between the borders of three countries: Eareo, Terreo, and Lumeo.

Although there is no other people around them, Ashe and his mother live a happy life with just the two of them. As long as he can be with his mother, young Ashe feels like he would need nothing else.

They were happy.

….until fate decided to destroy it.

Aileen holds a secret she had kept from Ashe. She is fatally ill.

This illness is not just any illness. Most of the time Aileen remains symptom-free, however, at certain intervals suffers from excruciating pain which if nothing is done can lead to the most painful death.

In the past 5 years, in order to curb her symptoms, Aileen has been taking a special type of medicine that can prevent her painful seizures for at least a month.

However, this type of medicine is not only rare, it is not sold in normal stores.

Luckily, the ingredients of the medicine can be concocted using mostly common ingredients found frequently in the wild. Only one ingredient within the medicine recipe had attributed to its extremely rare status along with the medicine's limited effects.

The name of the ingredient is called the Blackthorn Rose.

Not just any Blackthorn Rose. The variety of types of flowers called the Blackthorn Roses can add to a hundred types including hybrids and human-cultivated ones.

Only a Blackthorn Rose grown within the depths of Merez Forest can be useful for the creation of the medicine. Even if a Blackthorn Roses seed was taken out of the forest, the rose grown from that seed would not become the same without Merez Forest's unique environment.

The Merez Forest's unique environment cultivates a variety of different fauna and flora which cannot be found anywhere else within the Continent of Oswil.

However, it is this unique environment that makes it difficult for anyone to frequently obtain a Merez Forest's, Blackthorn Rose.

Bred within the Merez Forest, the flora and fauna there evolved greatly from their outside counterparts. This evolution made them highly dangerous to humans thus turning Merez Forest into a forbidden area where only the strongest with their countries permission are allowed to access.

Unable to obtain the medicine by normal means, Aileen made a decision to live within Merez Forest to concoct the medicine herself.

If said by any normal woman, this declaration would be equal to a declaration of suicide.

However, Aileen was not a normal woman.

Hailed as the 'Sword Saintess' in her active years within the Eareo Empire's military, she by far has enough qualifications to travel through Merez Forest.

With her own hands, she had a home built within the depths of the forest where Blackthorn Roses grow in number.

However even as strong as she is, to live within a forbidden zone as dangerous as the Merez Forest where danger lurks everywhere is not the thoughts of a sane person.

The reason why she chose to choose such a dangerous option was for just one important reason: Ashe.

In order to not leave her newborn Ashe alone without his mother, Aileen resolved herself to somehow get the medication even if she had to obtain the rose herself.

With the creation of the medication being unstable, Aileen does not hope to obtain a stable flow of medication if she were to live in the city.

Not wanting to leave her fate at the whims of others, she took fate in her own hands.

Her decision to live within the forest to concoct the medication herself bore fruit.

Using her overwhelming abilities, she had cemented her status within the creatures of the forest, creating a territory where no beast dares to come close.

For 5 years, Aileen had kept Ashe safe as she continues to concoct her own medication.

However, everything doesn't last forever.

Having taken the same medication multiple times, it was inevitable for Aileen's body to develop a tolerance towards the drug.

What took only one dose now took two, and then took three,

The amount she needs continues to grow and she had no way of stopping it.

In order to maintain the duration of effect of the medicine, Aileen had continued to increase her production rate.

It was during that unfortunate timing that Aileen starting to have a seizure.

The seizure was sudden, it caused Aileen to immediately fall to the ground and groan in pain softly.

The only reason as to why she only softly groaned instead of screamed from the pain was a testament of her iron will and her dislike to show her son her weak side in front of her son.

Aileen then immediately took all the doses of medication that she had at that moment.

But it wasn't enough.

Ashe, who saw this happening, was beside himself.

In his worry, Ashe had suddenly remembered that his mom keeps bringing back roses that she brought from the forest every day.

Having remembered that his mom kept telling him it was very important to her, Ashe saw an opportunity.

'If I get mom the flower, she will get better!'

Ashe's young mind led him ironically towards the correct answer but failed to account for the dangers of his decision.

Ashe then immediately ran out of the house in hopes of finding the flower for Aileen.

Aileen, paralyzed from the pain, was unable to stop Ashe in time and in the next moment she lost her consciousness.

Ashe ran through the forest without care, ignorant of the dangers.

A normal child within Merez Forest can die from just about anything within the forest and Ashe was no exception.

Luckily, Ashe was able to traverse through the forest without encountering any danger for some time due to his mother's influence.

After some time, Ashe was able to finally find what he was looking for.

Petals and stem black as the night but somehow emits a faint glow. Ashe had discovered the Blackthorn Rose.

With joy, Ashe rushes towards the flower.

This was when Ashe's luck had finally run out.

As Ashe approached the flower, multiple sounds started to rustle around him, closing in.

From the bushes in the surrounding area, the culprits which cause the noise revealed themselves.

Merez Forest Wolves.

A pack of Merez Forest Wolves, numbering six, surrounded Ashe.

While one of the weakest existences within the forest, but that just in the forest.

If just one Merez Forest Wolves was to be brought outside the forest, it can probably decimate half a small-sized town if no one is strong enough to take it down.

With six of them, it can be said that Ashe would have no chance of survival.

Unable to move from fear, young Ashe shows no signs of resistance against the threat.

Seeing the unmoving prey, the wolves howl in joy as they all pounced towards the fresh meat.

Just seconds before the jaws of the wolves are to tear apart Ashe's flesh, 'something' happened.

A flash of black light.

All the wolves were blasted backward and whimpered in pain at the same moment the light appeared.

Confused, the Blackthorn Forest Wolves look towards their supposed prey and widened their eyes in surprise.

Ashe's hair had turned white to the root and his eyes shone red as he glared at the wolves like a predator.

Emitting a killing intent unlike his previous weak self from before, Ashe roared into the sky and immediately charged at the wolves.

This was the beginning of the tutorial battles.

With overwhelming power, the transformed Ashe instantly turned mincemeat the wolf pack.

His killing intent continues to blast out, deterring the appearance of other predators regardless of the smell of blood in the surroundings.

If Ashe were to return back to normal at this instant, he could have safely brought the rose back home without encountering danger.

However, such a convenient event did not happen.

While transformed Ashe continued to rampage, the normal Ashe's soul seemed to have become unconscious, unaware of his change.

After an unknown amount of time, Ashe consciousness had returned with him looking up while lying on the forest floor.

Beside him was an unknown man.

The man introduced himself as Rheves Verstone, a friend of his mother and the one who found him lying on the forest.

It had seemed he was watching over Ashe waiting for him to wake up before asking him questions on what happened.

Ashe who only remembered only up to the point where the wolves attacked him was suddenly reminded as to why he was here in the first place.

In a panic, Ashe quickly explained that he was Aileen's son and he needed to bring the rose back right away. While still not quite sure what's happening, Rheves quickly picked the roses from the bush and, with Ashe, they quickly made back to the log house.

Excited, Ashe planned to proudly show off his spoils to Aileen to make her feel better until he saw her 'dead' body.

With a face twisted in pain, skin as though dehydrated for weeks, and discolored spots all over her body, Ashe had trouble understanding who she was. Laying down on the spot just as he left her, it seemed that Aileen did not have a peaceful death.

Not believing that the corpse was his mother, Ashe looked around in hopes of finding Aileen alive so he can bring her the flower.

That was when Rheves Verstone placed his face eye level with Ashe and told him gently but firmly that his mother is now dead.

At an age where death was a difficult concept, Rheves continued to convince Ashe.

Once the idea that his mother will never play with him ever again, Ashe begins to cry.

With tears and snot flowing out from his body, Ashe continues to wail loudly as his screams continue to echo out int the forest.

Here marks the end of Ashe's prologue story...