Chapter Five: First Battle

Alexia, now inside of her avatar, Eris, wakes up to find herself standing in a completely different setting.

She's standing in the middle of an opening in a large forest, but it's unlike any forest Eris has ever seen before. The ground itself is dark grey in color, as if it is covered in a thick blanket of ash. The trees surrounding her on all sides have white trunks and mysterious, purple leaves. In the sky, there is no sun at all, instead there's a black sky with a blood-red moon illuminating the ground below. The red light combined with the strange forest and the quietness, gives an ominous feeling to the entire area, strong enough to send a chill up Eris's spine. However, even though she feels this cold chill, she does not get afraid. Instead, a creepy grin that shows off her wicked fangs appears on her face. She does not feel fear. Instead she has a sense of calm, tranquility, and excitement within her. It's as if she belongs in this place, and it makes her feel as if she's home.

"This place is so creepy and awesome!" she says with excitement.

Suddenly, a voice rings in her ear, "You're going to be a horror addict when you get older. Actually, you may be one now."

"Arthur?" Eris asks, recognizing the voice.

"That's me. Big surprise, you choose a vampire as your race in this game," he says sarcastically.

"How do you know that?"

"You should see your head's up display. Don't you?"

Eris takes a look and does indeed see a few things in her field of vision. There's her name, race, and three bars, the green one for her HP, the purple one for her MP, and then a blue one for her SP, sitting in the top left corner of her field of view.

"I'm seeing everything you're seeing right now. That place is very creepy by the way," says Arthur.

"This is awesome. I can't believe I'm able to walk again. Not only that, but I also feel super strong."

Eris then hears another voice inside of her head beside that of her brothers, "Notice: You have acquired the title, Progenitor. All stats have increased by 50. HP, MP, and SP have risen by 100. The skills Sharp Claws, Regeneration, Blood Gathering, Blood Drinking, Blood Manipulation, Hypnotic Eyes, Vampirism, Flight, Darkness Magic, and Fire Magic have all risen to level 2. You have acquired the ability to gain more spells. Notice: you have an unopened gift box in your inventory," it says in a monotonic, female voice.

"Um… brother, what was that?"

"That voice tells you whenever there's a change to your level or if you have anything in your inventory that you need to open. If you want to see your stats, just say 'Status.'"

"Status!"

Eris' stats are as follows, "Name: Eris Vermilion. Race: Vampire. Age: 10. Level: 1. Class: Magic Swordsman. Titles: Progenitor. Skill Points: 0. HP: 200. MP: 200. SP: 200. Strength: 90. Defense: 80. Magic Attack: 90. Magic Defense: 80. Speed: 100. Passive Skills: Sharp Claws (level 2), Regeneration (level 2), Blood Gathering (level 2), Blood Drinking (level 2), Blood Manipulation (level 2), Hypnotic Eyes (level 2), Vampirism (level 2), Flight (level 2). Skills: Darkness Magic (level 2), Fire Magic (level 2), Lightning Magic (level 1), Swordsmanship (level 1)."

"Let's see…" Eris presses on the Progenitor title to read its description, "'Congratulations player, you are the first one to play as a vampire in Legend Conquerors Online. Thus you have acquired the title Progenitor. Gives +50 to all stats, doubles HP, MP, and SP, increases the level of vampire-related skills and magic, and doubles the player's EXP gain.' What about the beta tester guys? None of them wanted to play as vampires?"

"Nope. And even if they did, it's not like their experiences in the game were recorded. They were just testers afterall," Arthur explains.

"Well, I guess I won't complain. This just makes it easier for me to destroy monsters and other players," the vampire states with an evil smile.

"You are one messed up little girl."

"Hehehehe. So, where do I go to kill some monsters and how do I do that?"

"Hm, according to the manual that I'm reading, right now, you're in the middle of an area that should contain low level monsters. Go north, and you'll be able to find a town. The towns are going to be safe zones where the monsters do go or spawn."

"Hold on, the game just spits someone out in some random, monster-infested area?! That's a little mean isn't it?"

"The beta testers didn't mind. Plus it's not like they'll spit you out in an area with level 100 monsters roaming around when you're just a beginner. Calm down, this is meant to be a trial run for players to learn how to use their skills. You're lucky to have your awesome big brother helping you out."

"Okay, so how do I use my spells and skills?"

"Well, for some like regeneration, you don't have to say their names, they just happen. As for the rest of them, all you have to do is say their names and the skills or spells activate. However, some of the more powerful spells do require an incantation to activate."

"Incantation?"

"Yeah. It's a series of words that need to be said in order to activate the spell. The more powerful a spell is in this game, the more likely it is that it needs an incantation to use. But for the spells you have, all you need to do is say their names while aiming your palm at the target. In order to see your spells and your weapon techniques say 'Open Codex!'"

"Open Codex!" she repeats.

A large book appears in front of the young vampire and instantly opens to the first page. There, there are two columns. The first column has the word "Spells," and three items underneath it and the second has the word "Weapon Techniques," with four items underneath it, both written in fancy English writing. The items underneath Spells are as follow; Dark Bullet (level 1), Fireball (level 1), and Spark (level 1). The items underneath Weapon Techniques include; Great Slash (level 1), Darkness Slash (level 1), Fire Slash (level 1), and Lightning Slash (level 1).

After looking through each of her spells and weapon techniques, the vampire hears a noise behind her. She turns to see a large monster that's at least another four feet taller than her. The creature bears a resemblance to both a praying mantis and a scorpion. It has long, sickle-like appendages on its front, four legs that hold it upright, a long, scorpion-like tail with a stinger at the end, and is covered in exoskeletal armor. The insectoid is light grey in color with violet-colored compound eyes on its triangular head, and a pair of violent-looking mandibles.

"Ssskrrrreeeeeee!!!" the monster roars as it locks eyes with Eris.

"What is that?!" she asks with widened eyes.

"I'm looking… Ah, that's a zombie mantis. You'll find a lot of them around this area."

"Can I kill it?"

"The monsters in the area you're in should be around level 5 at the most so you should be able to take it out. Try using your skills and spells."

"Got it!" the vampire answers with a smile while aiming the palm of her hand at the monster, "Let's try a fire spell first. Fireball!!"

A magic circle appears on her right palm that has a decagram in the center with a ring that contains strange symbols around it. A ball of red flames appears from that circle and then accelerates towards the undead mantis. The fireball hits the monster in the shoulder and explodes, tearing off the beast's arm. Blue blood pours from the wound on the monster's shoulder where its left arm was previously.

"Skreeee!" it howls in pain and it charges Eris.

The vampire takes out her sword and raises it to block, just as the monster brings down its sickle on her. Though she blocks the blade directly, the force of the hit sends Eris flying backwards. Surprising herself, the vampire manages to land on her feet and then checks the bars on her heads up display. A bit of the purple bar is missing, and some of her green bar is also missing, but is slowly coming back a tiny bit at a time. She also feels a small numbness on her hands with how hard the mantis hit her blade.

"Am I healing?"

"That's your passive skill, Regeneration, in effect. Of course it does not recover much right now since its level is low. Now you should try one of your physical attacks," Arthur suggests.

"Alright. Fire Slash!"

Eris's sword, which was originally silver in color with a golden hilt and brown handle, becomes shrouded in orange flames. The young vampire accelerates towards the monster, and cuts off its head with a single, horizontal cut. The monster's lifeless body falls to the ground, and a panel appears in front of Eris that asks, "Would you like to use the skill Blood Gathering on the corpse?" with a yes and no button underneath it. The vampire presses the yes button, and the blue liquid inside the creature's body assimilates into a ball over top of her head. The monster's body then disintegrates into red sparks.

Arthur is staring at the screen with widened eyes and whispered to himself, "That was awesome. The way she used that sword was like she'd been training for her entire life. Where did she get skills like that?"