3 Chapter 3: Over-Overpowered
-o-o-o-
"HOPE"
HOPE is an extremely powerful being that maintains the balance of energy in the whole universe. She takes the appearance of a small 8- year old girl with a pure white dress dotted by yellow stars, with her white hair tied up into 2 long twin pigtails. She is one of the 10 guardians protecting the universe. Her official title is "Guardian IV, the guardian of hope". She's also ranked 4th strongest guardian among the 10.
She wields a shield with 3 stars embedded onto the shield itself that is capable of completely blocking any kind of damage no matter how strong the attack is. Her attacks are mostly energy-based but she prefers defending instead of fighting.
She is quite cheerful and childish with an innocent personality (Despite being several thousand years old) and enjoys eating sweets. But don't be fooled by her cute appearance, she's strong enough to literally wipe out the whole universe with just one swipe of her hand. She won't do that though because she commented that it would be just "boring" ending it all so quickly like that. She is currently guiding 5 individuals in Fantasia that she accidentally killed
-o-o-o-
"It appears I gave you all too much power" HOPE said with a serious tone. "Huh?" the group was dumbfounded
"Remember when we're in the Stardust Sphere? With all the orbs that I was carrying?" HOPE said
"Yeah, all of the red orbs went into me" Mira replied
HOPE sighed
"You see. Each of those orbs contains a huge amount of power, a cheat skill. Enough to make you overpowered" HOPE explained
"The problem is, you guys are over-overpowered" HOPE said in a serious tone
"It would be easier to explain if I show you" HOPE clapped her hands "Now, everyone chant this spell" HOPE instructed
<Aura Release>
The group followed the instructions of the little girl "<Aura Release>!" Everyone chanted
A huge burst of energy emitted to each of them
Brian has a bright blue aura
Mira has a crimson red aura
Lilian is giving off a yellow aura
Travis' aura is forest green
And Serena has a deep violet aura
"Woah, we're all glowing!" Travis looked at himself "That's pretty cool HOPE!... HOPE?" Everyone looked at the girl looking downwards. She raised her head and revealed her face. Her serious look in her face with her eyes glowing white
HOPE hold out her hand and chanted something
<Drain>
The aura of the group disappeared
...
But it reignited again, even brighter than before. HOPE narrowed her eyes to the result
"HOPE, what did you do? Did you enhance our aura?" Lilian asked suddenly feeling even stronger
"Not really. I tried to suck all of your life forces. A normal person should be dead if I chanted that spell, even if that person has a cheat skill. It's potent enough to end a civilization. But it seems your auras has gone even stronger" HOPE said casually
"WHAT?!!" the group was shocked that HOPE tried to kill them but failed
"Why did you do that HOPE?!!" Brain shouted at HOPE
HOPE ignored Brian and said "Do you understand now? You're all able to resist a world-ending spell. You're all too powerful to even exist" she glared at the group with a dark look on her eyes
The group went silent. No one dared to talk back to the angered deity
HOPE sighed
"Listen, everyone. There are things that are going to be different to all of you than an average isekai character" HOPE said
"Firstly, in this world. The lifespan of a being is determined by how much MP a person has. For example, an elf has a higher MP than a human. As a result, elves live longer than humans. That applies to all of you. All of you have a ridiculously large amount of MP" HOPE explained
"You mean... we're-" Brain starting to understand their situation
"Basically immortal or at least have a very long lifespan" HOPE said
The group was speechless
"Secondly, that huge power is going to affect all of your adventurer classes" HOPE continued
"How?" Mira asked. "The orbs that a bestowed upon all of you are called GIFTS, a special skill that everyone has since birth" HOPE said
"Most of the human's Gifts are practically useless such as <Slight Luck>, <Faster Running> and so forth. But some of them are powerful enough to be used in combat such as <Incinerate>, <Enhancement> and so many more"
"I usually store GIFTS using orbs and colored it by class" HOPE said
"For example..."
"Remember when you all fought the slimes?" HOPE asked. The group nodded in response
"Brian received the blue orbs, the knight class" she said "A knight's skills involve on drawing out power from the knight's body and enhancing it with a sword"
"The problem is, Brian's GIFTS is too much for any sword to handle, so naturally it breaks in just one attack" HOPE said. "Seriously?" Brian uttered in disbelief
"On the plus side. After the sword breaks, it releases all lifetime damage that the sword can ever attack in a single moment. Creating a massive attack" HOPE told Brian
"Mira" HOPE looked over the girl
"Yes?" Mira replied
"Mages in this world usually can only control one element. And it's very rare for a mage to have control with 2 different elements" HOPE said
"Mira, you possess ALL of the elements. You can cast any kind of spell. But, the system of magic can only recognize one element per mage. Your GIFTS is causing errors in the system, that's why the aspects of your spells particularly the element is permanently altered. Making the fire element of your fireball into something else like a waterball"
"What?" Mira replied
"As for Lilian. As an arch-priest, your job is to support your other teammates. You have a skill that literally cheats death itself. But, your overflowing GIFTS is enhancing your spells and buffs to a dangerous level. Normally this should be a good thing, if only it wasn't affecting your range of effect" HOPE said to Lilian
"Huh?" Lilian looked confused
"A normal support type adventurer has an effect range of 10 meters. But your effect range is over 10000 meters. The effect range can affect anything whether it's your allies or your enemies" HOPE explained
HOPE walked over to Travis
"Travis' overpowered GIFTS specializes in quick strong damage. His speed is definitely unmeasurable and his strength is extremely deadly. The reason he accidentally killed Mira and Brian is that his speed is faster than his mind. It's really hard to recognize things when you're moving so fast" HOPE said
"Yeah, I can't tell if it's my friends or monsters. All I know is there's something alive there" Travis scratched the back of his head
"Serena's GIFTS are in the highest tier. All of her attacks are perfectly accurate. So accurate that it can hit any target and since you have an overpowered power, all of your arrows can pierce to any material. After destroying that target, it will continue to seek out more targets even if all enemies are defeated, that includes you and your friends" HOPE said
"I see" Serena looked upon her bow
"And lastly, you're all going to get even stronger"
"W-What?" the group stuttered
"Currently, all of you are in LV1. All of your GIFTS can make your LV cap limitless. So I suggest you all have to hold back a little and use low-grade equipment" HOPE advised the group
"Couldn't you just remove the GIFTS inside us?" Brian suggested
"When a GIFT is used into a person, their souls get merged with the GIFT. Removing it would mean ripping your soul out. And we don't want that to happen, do we?" HOPE said with a smile
"So we're stuck like this?" Mira said. HOPE just nodded
The 5 teenagers stood there in silence for a whole minute
"Well, we don't have a choice" Brian breaking the silence "We'll just find a way to live through it I guess" Brian said
HOPE gave them a small smile "Ok, keep going north until you reach an abandoned building" HOPE pointed to a certain direction "You'll know when you get there. For now, I'll leave you 5 alone" HOPE did a backflip and shined bright into white light and then she disappeared
"I have high hopes to all of you" HOPE's faint voice said to them
The group looked at each other and smiled
"Let's go!" Brian said as they head north
-o-o-o-
The 5 walked towards the north with nothing but their equipment given by HOPE. The vast plains seem endless with nothing but grass and some greenery
"How long are we going to walk?" Travis complained
"HOPE said we have to keep going north" Brian said with a bit of annoyance in his voice
"But, the Plains is so boring! There's literally nothing here but grass!" Travis complained
"Well to be fair, it's called the Plains" Mira replied
"I noticed something strange" Lilian looked at herself "Despite walking that far without rest, I'm not tired"
"Agreed, I feel like I can walk forever" Serena said
"I guess that's one side effect of being so overpowered" Brian said
Serena suddenly stopped walking
"Everyone, what's that thing over there?" Serena said looking at the horizon
"What thing? I don't see anything other than grass" Travis responded
"No, it's there. It looks like a wagon of some kind" Serena insisted
The other 4 looked at what Serena's pointing but they only saw the grassy Plains, nothing out of the ordinary
Then Brian noticed something. Serena's eyes are glowing purple
"Serena, I think you're using a skill right now. That's why we don't see it" Brian explained
"I see, well. I see a wagon. There are 2 people riding a wagon on it" Serena described
"That's really is an impressive skill, Serena. I guess even if we're equally strong we still have different powers" Lilian said
"Uh oh" Serena said, "What? Is there's something wrong?" Brian replied
"The people in the wagon they're getting robbed" Serena saw a girl forcefully dragged outside the wagon by a bandit. A boy tried to defend her but he was easily knocked out by another bandit
Serena's eyes stopped glowing "We need to help them" Serena said in a worrying tone
"But how? We can't even see them" Mira said
Brian had an idea
"Lilian" Brian looked at her "Yeah?" Lilian said
"You're an arch-priest, right?" Brian asked
"That's what my STATS said" Lilian replied full of confusion
"Ok, try chanting a speed boost like in MMO" Brian instructed
"Um, okay I'll try" Lilian takes a deep breath as her eyes started to glow yellow
"Speed Boost!" Lilian chanted
[<Speed Boost> skill learned!]
A yellow aura started to glow to everyone
[<Speed Boost: AGI is boosted by ???% in 120 sec>]
"Wow! How did you know that would work?" Mira asked Brian
"I figured out when we fought the slimes, most of our attacks are closely related to MMO. So I think it will work the same way as we played it on the game" Brian said remembering the details of the game. All of them memorized their skill list and their effects and specific cooldown. After all, they were the MMO club. The famous otaku/gaming club
Mira nodded in response
"Now, where are they Serena?" Brian asked her
Serena activated her skill as she glowed purple again "There" Serena pointed somewhere in the east
"Right, let's help those guys" Brian said. The other 4 nodded in agreement with a determined smile in their faces
They all took one small step forward....
WHOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!
They all suddenly move extremely fast leaving a sonic boom behind their backs with only one step. They can feel the wind beat on their faces "TOO FAST!!!" they all screamed
"Woah!" Travis tripped on something while running insane speeds. He started rolling instead of running. The other 4 tripped at Travis' rolling body and started to roll as well
They all screamed as they continued to roll as they head to their destination
-o-o-o-
"LET GO OF MY SISTER, YOU BASTARD!" the boy yelled at the remaining bandits, his body full of bruises after fighting few bandits
"Yeah right. Like that's going to happen, brave boy" the bandit taunted holding the boy's sister, retraining her in his burly arms
The other bandits laughed at their own cruelty. The girl struggled at the arms of the bandit attempting to escape her captors grasp "Brother!" the girl cried out
"Don't worry sister! I'll save you!" the boy yelled
"Don't worry sister! I'll save you!" one of the bandits mimicked with an overdramatic voice as the other bandits laughed. The boy gritted his teeth in anger
"Let go of me!" The girl struggled so much that her hair revealed something interesting. A bandit with a mask noticed the girl's appearance "Boss! Look!" the masked bandit pointed at the girl. The boss bandit moved forward to get a closer look
She has pointed ears, "Oooohh! A rare find, it's an elf!" the bandit boss eyes light up in interest
The boss bandit is a big masculine man with a bunch of tattoos in his arms with a lot of daggers dangling in his belt
"Brave boy" the bandit boss looked at the boy
"What?!" the boy said full of hate
"I'll tell you what. If you give the elf girl to us, we'll let you live. Do we have a deal?" the bandit boss proposed
"Take the deal, brother!" the girl said as she saw her brother almost dead after those fights
The boy's face started to make an angry expression
"LIKE HELL I'M GOING TO SELL OUT MY OWN SISTER!" the boy yelled as he charged to bandit boss. But the bandit boss threw a punch in his face as the other bandits ganged up and kicked him in the ground. He fell flat to the ground
"You should have taken the deal, but look at you now brave boy" the bandit boss taunted at him as he grabbed a dagger from his belt
"I offered you freedom but you spat it in my face. Now, time to die!" the bandit boss raised his weapon to kill him
"NOOOOOO!!!" the girl cried out with tears on her face
"AHHHHHHH!!"
Suddenly out of nowhere, a rolling Travis hit the bandit boss straight in the face knocking him out preventing him to kill the boy
The whole bandit group and the siblings were completely shocked to see a random rolling boy just instantly defeated the mighty bandit boss. They see the boy starting to get up holding his stomach
"I think I'm going to sick" As Travis vomited at the face of the unconscious bandit boss
"Hey! What are you doing to Bo-" the random bandit was immediately tackled by the other 4 rolled into the scene
"We made it!" Brian said still dizzy from the rolling. The 3 girls still dizzy but they forced themselves to stand up
"Where is it, Serena?" Mira with swirls in her eyes
"Remind me to never do that again" Serena putting her hand over her mouth
"Pretty butterflies" Lilian still dazed
"I don't know where the hell you all came from, but you knocked out our boss!" one of the bandits lunged toward Mira with a dagger in his hand
Mira still dizzy tried to defend herself with a spell "F-Fire b-ball" Mira cast a giant ball of rock instead, smashing the bandit flat like a pancake. "Sorry, nothing personal" Mira said to the crushed bandit
"What the hell are these guys?!" the masked bandit said in disbelief
"Everyone! Attack them!" all of the bandits started to charge at them, wielding various types of daggers
Brian saw the bandits and whispered something to Serena and Lilian. "Understood" Serena nodded as she shot an arrow to the incoming bandits
The arrow glowed purple and started to seek out and attack all the bandits "What the heck is wrong with that arrow!" a random bandit said before getting hit by it. A single arrow has defeated all the bandits. The arrow whizzed in the air as it started to head towards Serena threatening to hit her as well.
"Now Lilian!" Brian signaled her
"Barrier!" Lilian chanted
[<Barrier> skill learned!]
A large yellow shaped dome appeared around them. The arrow was successfully deflected by a barrier with the arrow just bouncing off like it was nothing. The arrow lost its purple glow
"It worked! Now make it disappear!" Brian said
"I can't" Lilian replied
"What?" Brian looked at Lilian
"I can't make it go away!" Lilian waving her hand trying to dispel the barrier
Brian tried kicking the barrier but it didn't even leave a scratch. Now Brian, Lilian, Mira, and Serena are trapped inside Lilian's own barrier. Then the bandit boss took hostage the girl again.
"You've maybe defeated my men but I still have the girl" the bandit boss yelled
"Brother!" The girl cried out
"Sister!" The injured boy tried to stand up
"Nobody move! Or you all be seeing blood coming out of this lady!" the bandit boss pointed his dagger to the girl
"Travis! Save the girl!" Brian yelled
"Got it!" Travis finished vomiting
"<Dash>!" Travis took a step forward as he turned into a green streak of light and moved in lightning-fast speeds towards the girl
[<Dash> skill learned!]
And without time for the bandit boss to react, Travis successfully grabbed the girl out the bandit boss' grasp
"There, safe and- Huh?" Travis actually grabbed the bandit boss instead of the girl
"What the hell?!" the bandit boss is being carried by Travis princess style
"LET GO OF ME!" the bandit boss swipe a dagger to Travis which he effortlessly dodged.
"Uh, guys? A little help here?" as Travis constantly dodged the attacks of the bandit boss while still carrying him preventing the bandit boss from escaping
Brian looked inside the barrier and found a stick and a branch
+++++
<Wooden Stick>
DUR: 5
ATK: 2
AGI: 0
MAG: 0
"It's bark is worse than its bite"
<Wooden Branch>
DUR: 10
ATK: 4
AGI: 0
MAG: 0
"More sticker that a normal stick"
+++++
Brian grabbed them both "Don't worry Travis. I'll be there just a second!"
First, he swung the wooden branch to Lilian's barrier instantly breaking the branch in the process as it ran out DUR
Lilian's barrier was successfully smashed open
Brian ran towards the bandit boss "Hey Travis! Duck!" Brian warned as Travis ducked allowing Brian to swing his stick to the bandit boss
"<Slash>!!!" Brian yelled as his stick started to glow bright blue. Brian's stick slashed the bandit boss causing him to toss upwards into the air. The bandit boss was defeated as he fell to the ground with a slam
Brian went over to the boy "Are you okay?" Brian held out a hand to him. The boy grabbed his hand and tried to stand up "Yeah, I'm alright" the boy replied
"Brother! You're okay!" the girl ran to her brother and hugged him "I'm really sorry!" she started to cry as she continued to hug her brother. The boy just patted the back of his sister to comfort her "You're really a handful, sister" the boy replied
The 5 smiled at siblings
-o-o-o-
"We're really thankful for saving us" both of the siblings bowed in front of their saviors
"It's no problem" Lilian said.
Brian noticed their pointed ears
"I would guess that you're elves, right?" Brian asked. The siblings paused for a bit
"Yes, we are elves" the boy said with a bit of fear as he showed his ears as well
"Why are you guys doing here? I thought elves never leave their forest?" Mira remembered her mythology
The boy frowned in anger "Our village was destroyed" he said
"We were trying to run away as far as possible" his sister continued "Elves are extremely valuable in the black market. They sell them to nobles for slavery or 'special entertainment'" her brother gripped his sister's hand tighter wanting to protect her
"I see" Serena replied looking at the defeated bandits in disgust
Brian thought about it and took a deep sigh "Why don't you elves tag along with us?" Brian proposed
"Really? Are your friends okay with that?" the boy said
"Are you guys okay with this?" Brian asked his friends
"I don't mind having more companions" Serena said calmly
"Sure! The more, the merrier" Lilian said in a cheerful manner
"Of course I'm okay with that! After all, elves are good fanserv-" Travis was punched by Serena before he finished his sentence
"I'm okay with them. I'll keep the girl from Travis' perverted acts" Serena said
"Thank you for having us" the siblings thanked again
"My name is Sora. I'm a blacksmith elf. I'm the older brother" the boy introduced himself. He has short blonde hair with a dagger on his belt
"My name is Sera. I'm an artifice elf. I'm the younger sister" the girl said. She has shoulder-length blonde hair while carrying a backpack
"Well, I'm Brian" Brian introduced himself
"The one with staff is Mira" Mira waved her hand with a smile
"The girl with blonde hair is Lilian" Lilian smiled
"The boy who carried the bandit boss is Travis"
"Hi" Travis responded
"And the girl with the bow is Serena" "Pleasure in meeting you both" Serena greeted courteously
"We're...." Brian paused a bit and looked at his 4 friends. The 4 nodded in response with a smug smile
"Heroes" The 5 said in unison with a smile on their faces
"I see" Sora said
"Nice to meet you all" Sera replied
"Um, Brian was it? Where are you all going?" Sera asked
"Somewhere in the north. We have to find an abandoned building there..." Brain replied
While Brian and Sera were talking, Lilian noticed a cut in Sora's arm "Hey, you seem hurt. Let me fix that"
"Okay" Sora agreed
Brian was talking with Sera until he noticed Lilian is about to heal Sora. Brian's eyes widen in fear
"Lilian, wait!" Brian tried to warn Lilian
"<Heal>" Lilian chanted. A yellow glow surround Sora's wound and healed it
[<Heal> skill learned!]
But due to Lilian's overpowered GIFT, the defeated bandits started to recover as yellow glow surrounding them
"Didn't you forget Lilian?! You can't control your range yet!" Brian exclaimed
"Whoops" Lilian saw the fallen bandits started to stand up
"Everyone! To the wagon!" Sora yelled as all of them rushed towards the wagon
"Hey! They're getting away!" the masked bandit suddenly said fully recovered. He ran along with a huge mob of bandits
"Um, guys. The horses are gone!" Sera shouted. True enough, they are no horses in the wagon. Only empty reins
"They must've escaped after we got attacked by bandits" Sora said
Travis saw the incoming mob "Brian! I have an idea!" Travis whispered something to Brian's ear
Brian widens his eyes at what Travis' planning "Are you crazy?! We are not doing that again!" Brian yelled
"Do you have a better idea?" Travis pointed at the mob, all of them wielding extremely sharp daggers
Brian groaned "Fine!"
"Everyone, get in the wagon! We're doing Travis' plan!" Brian instructed as everyone got in the wagon
"Brian, what's Travis' plan?" Mira asked
"Just hold tight if you want to live" Brian said with a scared look on his face
"Huh?" Everyone said except for Brian and Travis
Travis grabbed the wood connecting the wagon "Right! <Dash>!" Travis' eyes started to glow green as he took one step forward and left a sonic boom that blew back the incoming bandits
"TOO FAST!!!" everyone screamed
"SERENA! USE YOUR SKILL TO WARN TRAVIS IN ANY OBSTACLES ALONG THE WAY!" Brian shouted
Serena tries to nod as her eyes started to glow purple "TRAVIS! TURN RIGHT!" Serena yelled at Travis as she saw a boulder that they narrowly dodged as Travis turned right, as they speed off to the north
-o-o-o-
"TRAVIS STOP! WE'RE HERE!" As soon as Serena saw a building. Travis started to slow down
Travis stopped in front of the building as everyone got off the wagon completely disoriented from the insane trip
Mira puked behind a rock nearby, her face completely green
Sora collapsed as soon he got off the wagon as his sister came after
"Look, the butterflies are back!" Lilian hallucinating
Serena is shaking Travis with anger "Never! Do that again!" Serena continued to shake him as he constantly apologized
Brian looked at the building. It was a 2-story mansion. It wasn't big but at the same time it's not small
"Guys, look at this" Brian noticed a paper taped at the door of the mansion. The other 4 heroes peeked at the note
"Take this seemingly convenient mansion in the middle of nowhere as an apologyđ- HOPE"
"That loli god" Lilian imagined HOPE doing a silly face
"Well, guys. I guess this is our home now" Brian declared as he faced the elven siblings
"Wow, really?" Sera looked at the mansion
"I see a town nearby" Serena staring at the east side using her skill
"That means we can still go into town without walking too long" Sora said
They opened the front door and inside they've found the mansion a bit dark and dusty. But the mansion is free from damage with even few furniture already in place
"Okay, let's get started on this world" Brian said as he faced towards his 4 friends
"Remember our promise guys?" Brian said
'No matter what happens, we'll stick together!" the 5 said at the same time
The 5 laughed at their own antics as the elven siblings looked at them with mixed confusion and admiration
-o-o-o-
Meanwhile in the Stardust Sphere...
HOPE is seen sitting on a hospital bed watching the 5 in an old TV set.
"So the legend begins" HOPE said as she grinned and continued to monitor them
-o-o-o-
(A/N: For those who are unfamiliar to some terms used in the story)
Isekai translates to "another world", it is a genre revolving around a normal person being transported to or trapped in a parallel universe. "An another world character/isekai character" is usually an abnormally strong character with a cheat skill
A Cheat skill is an unfairly strong power/skill often given to an isekai protagonist
MMO, Monster Masher Online. An online role-playing video game that the 5 formerly played as the MMO club
Fanservice is material in a work of fiction or in a fictional series that is intentionally added to please the audience. It uses sexuality or hints at sex often in a funny or comedic way to tease and titillate the audience. This mostly used in the anime community
HP â Health Points, the user's capacity of their vitality/health
MP â Mana Points, the user's capacity of their magic
STR â Strength, the user's physical power
AGI â Agility, the user's top speed
DEF â Defense, the user's capacity to resist damage
MAG â Magic, the user's magical power
DUR â Durability, an item's limit before it breaks
ATK â Attack, weapons' power to induce damage
I HOPE that help you guys to understand this story! đ â Chris
