Rebirth Online World

Chapter 3: New bodies – New abilities.

Drakus POV

After spending a majority of our time in the armory, we finally finished and teleported to the Dragon Sanctum. The hard part wasn’t getting the items but rather finding them. Unlike in the game where you could scroll through a screen and simply transfer the item, now we had to manually find it.

Luckily one of the guild members had an extreme OCD about having everything organized. So, everything was categorized for our convenience.

We mostly had our best gear equipped already, but we went to the armory to stock up on high-grade potions, spell scrolls, herbs, and backup power weapons in case the situation would call for it. Having some backup legendaries wouldn’t harm anyone.

In Eternia, weapons and items were categorized in different rarity. Common, special, rare, unique, enchanted, legendary, and finally Abyss class. Each one more powerful and harder to obtain than the previous.

While rummaging around, we also discovered how to store items. Just like in the game, we had the options to store them in our inventory. There was a certain limit of how much you can store all at once.

The reason for selecting the Dragon Sanctum was due to its arena. In the center of the floor was a massive arch tree that had been carved out. A massive arena for us to fight in, if it comes down to it.

Each floor was created by a multitude of people with common interests. For the Dragon Sanctum, I was a part of the group who helped build and design the over-world. Our group had an acute fascination with the mythological dragon race and decided to create the floor as an homage. My fascination was also the reason for my draconian character.

The area was filled with tall rocky spires and dense forest. Huge arch trees sprang up from the sky and served as homes for the monsters. Most of the monster were dragons and wyverns around level 80-85.

Crossing many arch tree paths, we reached the center one. We chose it to be the center as it was much larger compared to the standard arch tree. There were two different stone walkways connected to the central tree. One that leads from the preceding floor and one that goes to the next.

Here was where we would host fight clubs and competitions from time to time. The inside looks similar to a roman coliseum. A huge circular rounded area for people to fight in and wooden seats carved from the tree and could house around three thousand people.

“We’re here, now what?” asked Arsenal, casting his sight before the arena.

“They won’t be here for quite some time, so we might as well relax.” Nu-Ru, after replying to Arsenal question slumped against one of the walls. The others took his example and followed suit. Taking my own spot, I leaned against the wall, admiring the view of it all. Although spectacular, it still didn’t change the fact that we’re stuck in some bizarre situation.

‘How did we get into this mess? This was supposed to be a fun last minute goodbye, but instead, we rounded up into who knows where. Wonder if they blame me? I was the one that invited them; if I hadn’t done that, then they would still be on earth.’

As I asked the question to myself, the guilt slowly built up. Unable to take it anymore, I walked over to them.

“What’s wrong, nyaa? Why the gloomy face, nyaa?”

“Do you guys… blame me for putting you in this situation?” Finally asking the question, everyone turns towards me, so I continued on. “If you guys didn’t come, then you wouldn’t be here in this situation. You all would be safe somewhere else.”

There was no response for several seconds before they all voiced their thoughts.

“I would be lying if I said that wasn’t true.”

“True, we wouldn’t have to deal with the situation that we are in now.”

“But, if you’re asking us if we blame you, then no.”
I looked back at them with a surprise expression, unsure if I heard right.

“Knowing you, you would have stayed until the game shut down and probably be in the same situation as we’re in right now.”

“The one difference being that you would have been alone, having none of us to help you.”

“We’re all in this together man. Don’t put all the blame on yourself.”

“That’s right, nyaa! We’re here to help each other at every step so have faith, nyaa!”

I intended to take all the blame. For them to hate me but yet they didn’t. I felt some tears forming from my gratitude of having such wonderful friends.

“You guys are truly some of the best people that I’ve gotten to know, thank you!”

Resisting the urge to hug all of them, I joined them sitting down. To pass the time, we got back to the matter at hand. What exactly is going on?

“Ok. So let’s point out what we know first. We know that we can’t logout; this is because we’ve been transferred somewhere. Secondly, the NPC’s who were just code are now living beings. Finally, we’re stuck in our own player character’s bodies. And we can all agree that it had something to do with that notification.”

Taking charge Nu-Ru listed out the information of what we knew.

“We can’t say for certain, but perhaps it’s tied in with the servers shutting down. If so, then the company would be the culprit, but that wouldn’t make sense. Why would they do that?”

Leaving the question to us, we all contemplated on what Nu-Ru said. While we were all thinking about that question, a loud booming voice interrupted our thoughts.

“Ah, so this is where you all are.”

Hearing the mysterious voice, we panicked and took battle formation. Everyone tensed up as a shadow landed from the sky.

It was a dragon, but very different from the ones that were spawned here. Most of the dragons were hulking and massive, this one was more slender. It stood about 1.5 times bigger than me. This was attributed to it standing on its hind legs. Its arms were about the same size with four razor-sharp claws on each hand.

Its massive wings spread across his back giving it a majestic aura. The scales and skin looked to be armor attached to him. It radiated a color of gold and bronze combined. Its neck was fairly short compared to a dragon but long compared to us. His eyes were red with black slits. Near his nose area, a strange marking could be seen. His teeth were neatly aligned and sharp as well. Finally, long black horns were sticking off from his temple curved backward.

I knew the mysterious creature well. After all, I was the one who created it. The Dragon Sanctum Guardian, Dragos.

“…Hello Dragos.” Tensing up I welcomed the massive beast.

“Hello, my masters.” Returning the same courtesy he bowed before us, much like Altina. “Altina informed me that you all would meet in my Sanctum, but I didn’t know that you would be here already, please forgive my tardiness, my masters.” Apologizing, Dragos bowed his head before me.

“It’s alright, we never really specified a location, so it’s our fault. You don’t have to worry about that.” Quickly accepting his apology, he stopped bowing. There was something so odd and awkward of having a dragon bowing its head before you.

“You are most kind my master, thank you.”

‘Like Altina and Sirva, they showed an immense loyalty when addressing us. Just how far did it go?’ So far all the NPC have seen has shown a deep respect for all of us. I couldn’t distinguish if it was truly genuine or not.

“The others guardians won’t be arriving for quite some time, is there anything I can do for you, my masters?” Speaking up, Dragos brought me out of my thoughts. Instantly I panicked as I didn’t consider the possibility.

“Actually, we were planning on using the field for training.” Stepping in, Nu-Ru drew everyone’s attention to himself.

“Training?” asked Dragos in a confused voice. The others looked Nu-Ru, wondering what he meant by training. Nu-Ru shot us a glance that said ‘Go along with it.’

“Yes, training.” Picking up on his hint, I went with the flow.

“Ohh I see. My apologies, if I had known. I would have made preparation.”

“It’s fine. We’re just doing some light training that’s all. Simply wait for the others.”

“As you command. Rawrrrrr!” Screeching, we were caught off guard. Within a couple of seconds, noises of flapping wings surrounded us. Landing were smaller dragons, but with them were wooden practice dummies.

The Dragon Sanctum also served to be a training ground. The dummies were created from the arch trees, making it extremely durable. A perfect toy to hit away at.

“Please use these to your pleasure, my masters.” And with that, Dragos flapped his wings and watched from above, out of our way. We were left to our own leisures.

“Well, that worked better than I expected,” I spoke in a sarcastic manner, only to received wry laughs from the other. From his arrival to summoning the dragons, all of it was tense. You wouldn’t think it would be as such back when it was a game.

But this wasn’t a game.

“So who wants to go up first?”

Asking the question, everyone was still reluctant of the whole situation and so was I. But there was one person who stepped up to the plate, Nu-Ru.

Facing one of the dummies he held out his hand and uttered a spell. “|Aqua Stream|”

Water shot from his arm in an arch fashion towards the dummies. When they made contact, the sounds of the wood being hacked at could be heard. Getting a better look, there were slash marks all over the dummy.

Everyone stared in awe of the spectacle that they just witnessed. Not one to be outdone, I stepped up the plate next. With sword and shield in hand, I took a battle stance.

From what we gathered magic seemed to work as it did back in Eternia. Uttering the name of the spell and it will activate. Then what about Skills then? After pondering for a moment, I chose a simple skill.

“|Dash|”

Speaking the name of the skill, I felt my body lighten and empowered. In the next second, my body sprinted forward as if it had a mind of its own. I covered the distance in a second.

“|Pierce|”

Speaking the name of another skill, I twisted my hand back and thrust my sword forward at the dummy. Hitting the dummy, I felt a shock wave escaping from my hand and outward in the direction of the sword. Stepping back, a small hole could be seen from where I strike.

My movement was fluid and precise as if my new body already knew what to do with the skill. Just like Eternia, I simply needed to recount a skill or spell and my body takes care of the rest.

Smiling at the newly learned information, I informed the others and training was underway. For the first time since waking up, there were no worries. It was fun going back and playing like this was an actual game again. Similarly to how it was when we all first began playing Eternia.

After a few minutes, we all got the hang of it.

“Hey, so how about we try something else.” Speaking up, Arsenal suggested an idea.

“Like what?” Stopping the practice, everyone casted a curious gaze to Arsenal.

“We now know that our skills and spell work. So, how about we try testing it out on one another. A sparring match if you will.”

The idea received mixed responses. It was as if a person asked if he could ride a motorcycle just after he got used to driving for the first time. The danger was apparent. In a situation like this, we always leave it up to a vote.

“I agree with him on this one. Fighting against those who can’t fight back isn’t giving up an accurate measure of strength.” First up was Trion Jazz

“I’m against this. If we’re careless we might seriously hurt one another.” Second was Reptilia.

“I’m in agreement with Reptilia. Let’s practice some more before doing something so daring.” After Reptilia was Shae.

“Hmmm, I’m all for this nyaa. So long as we don’t fight seriously, there should be nothing wrong with a small fight, nyaa.” Next up was Kaetzchen

“I vote to go against my brother’s idiotic plan. Now it’s up to you two.” Opposite of Kaetzchen was Manom

The vote was tied, with three to three. The only ones left who haven’t voted was Nu-Ru and I. Staying quiet, I waited to hear Nu-Ru’s response.

“I will admit that the idea doesn’t sound bad, but we must take into the account the risks of doing something so daring so early……I’ll leave this up to you Drakos. Whatever you vote for, I’ll support it.

‘Shit!’

Once again, the spotlight shined on me. I didn’t have an answer, or rather I didn’t want to answer. We were in this situation because of me and now they wanted me to make a choice again. I wanted to scream ‘I don’t know!’ at them. Why did I have to make the hard choices?

But that would be unfair to them and me. It was my mistake that we’re in this mess, and it’s my responsibility that we survive through all of this. Weighing the pros and cons, I made my decision.

“I say we go with it.”Not everyone was satisfied with my decision, but they all came to an understanding. With that done Nu-Ru organized ourselves.

“Alright, we’re have two at a time. Use only low-level spells and skills and do please be careful. Now then who wants to go first?”

“Me, nyaa! Pick me, nyaa!” Immediately raising her hand and jumping up and down like a child was Kaetzchen. It was clear that she was the most excited out of all of us.

“Alright. It’s safe to say who’s going first. Who’s next?”

“I suppose I’ll go.” Accepting the challenge was Shae.

The fight would begin once each of them are at the other end of the field. The rest of us made our way to the bleacher, all the while I gave a silent prayer that I didn’t make the wrong choice again.

Nu-Ru was the referee; double checking that everything was fine he started the fight.

“|Double Mirage|”

Starting off the bat was Kaetzchen, who used a skill. Her image blurred, splitting two people and charged straight at Shae.

“|Iron Guard|”

Defending, a white light coated Shae in a glistening color as she brought up a defense stance. Kaetzchen looked to be easily repealed as she got knocked straight back.

“Say anyone want to make a bet on who’s going to win? My money’s on Kaetzchen.”

“I’ll take you up on that.”

Joining in, Trion Jazz had a small wager with Arsenal to see who would win. The rest slowly got involved, all except Nu-Ru who was watching the match intensely.

The majority of the fight was Kaetzchen on the offensive while Shae was turtling her attacks. It wasn’t too much of a surprise due to their different play styles.

Kaetzchen’s character specialized in dps (Damage per second.) Her character was built with the intention of quick strikes and movements. Shae, on the other hand, was a main support class, so her offensive capability was limited, but that didn’t stop her.

Bring my attention back to the match, Kaetzchen was nimbly dodging around until her and her mirage was across the field from one another with Shae in the middle. Dashing forward, she planned for a pincer attack.

“|Flash Strike|”

“|Orbiter: Shield|”

Using both of their skills, Shae’s orbiter hovered above her and generated a shield dome. Kaetzchen’s attack was prepared, but that wasn’t the end of it.

“|Greater Agility|”

Using another skill, her speed increased tremendously as she rapidly attacks the shield all over. Eventually, the damage piled up and cracks formed and the shield broke. Not wasting a second, Kaetzchen ran forward and planted a kick, knocking Shae backward.

Going in for the final strike, it looked to be Kaetzchen victory. However, not everything was as it seems. Floating behind Kaetzchen was the orbiter that she forgot was in the dome with Shae.

“|Orbiter: Stun|”

Using another skill, the mechanical orb hummed to life as it opened and its gears turned. An electrical charge built up and release a static wave that stunned her.

This time, it was Shae’s turn to finally go onto the offensive.

“|Heavy Knuckle|”

Without the ability to defend Shae, Kaetzchen was sent flying backward, and the fight ended with Shae’s victory.

“Hey, are you alright! Sorry, I used a bit more force than I intended.” Finishing the fight, Shae and Nu-Ru ran to Kaetzchen.

“It’s alright nyaa. Owww~ it’s just a scratch.” Helping her up, Nu-Ru prepared some healing spells that completely healed her. Another tidbit of information that we learnt today.

“Alright then, who’s up next?”

“I’ll give it a try.” Up next was Trion Jazz.

“Let’s get this out of the way.” And his opponent was Reptilia.

Taking the field, Nu took the necessary precaution once more and then the fight was underway.

“|Cloak|”

Uttering the name of a skill Reptilia body grew transparent until she was completely gone.

“Invisibility huh? Nice trick, here’s mine! |Thunder Boom|”

His speakers sparked and launched four electrical circular sound wave in all four cardinal directions in an attempt to hit her. Yet, none of them found their mark.

“What?!”

“That was smart, but you’ll have to try better than that.” Hearing her voice, everyone looked around to see where it came from. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an odd glistening effect. Becoming visible again, Reptilia was hanging from one of the high arch trees walls.

Noticing our gaze, Trion jazz tracked our sight and spotted Reptilia

“|Sonic Boom|”

Using another range attack, he missed once more as Reptilia dropped back onto the field and rushed towards him.

“|Shadw Blade|” Grabbing on of her daggers, she activated a spell, covering the blade in darkness.

“|Blade Kick|”

As they neared one another, they each launched their attacks at the same time. Bringing his leg up, he brought it down in a downward swipe only for her to dodge it. Nimbly dodging it, she flashed through him to his back.

Bring the weapon to his neck, the fight ended in her victory.

“Man that was close, girl. Were you trying to kill me?”

“Says the guy who fired off attacks willy-nilly. At least, I know how to control myself.”

Ending the fight, the two continued their argument as they walked back. Their fight came to a close and so up next was Arsenal and Manom; however…

“Hell yeah. It’s about time. Let’s go!”

“How about no.”

“What?! Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet?”

“I was against your idea in the first place and that hasn’t change.”

“Come on! Don’t be a little bitch, let’s fight! Why else do you think I came up with the idea?”

Ahh, there it was. It wasn’t a surprise that was the motivation behind Arsenal idea. He had a reputation for picking fights for the sole intention of fighting. With Manom out, Arsenal lost all his motivation, so all that was left was Nu-Ru and me.

Taking the field, we prepared ourselves. With my sword in my right hand and my shield on my left, I took my battle stance. Nu-Ru took a rather relax fighting stance and we waited. And the fight began.
Charging forward, I aimed for the first strike.

“|Fury Slash|”

“|Enchant: Mythril Skin|”

A light showered him just before my attack made contact; only to be knocked back. The hit was strong enough to make my hand vibrate. Jumping backward, I kept my distance as it was his turn to attack.

“|Paralyzing Mist|, |Icicle Shard|”

Dodging his attacks, I was light on my feet. Pockets of bright yellow cloud burst all over the area while I used my shield to block the incoming projectile. Even from a distance, the smell was horrid.

“|Gravity Down X2|”

Pointing his finger in my direction my general direction, the air around me shook and rumble violently. Only for a massive pressure to push me downward.

|Gravity Down|, one of Nu-Ru’s most powerful spell. The spell’s strength lies in its versatility in combat. Being able to increase or decrease the gravity outputs at will. At 2x power, it was enough to force me down to my knees and keep me planted.

“|Whirlwind Blast|”

“|Dragon Force|”

Instinctively acting, I used a skill to negate the effects of the gravity. A powerful shockwave eliminated from my body, freeing me from the gravity. Freeing myself just in time, I used the short time gap to dodge Nu-Ru second spell.

“|Immolation|, |Triple Blade Slash|”

A prolonged battle would be in his favor, so I needed to end it quickly. Flames sparked in the air before wrapping around me. The skill granted an additional speed boost, so I charged in before Nu-Ru could get another spell off.

Swinging my sword, I grazed him but it was enough to activate my other skill. Two other slashes managed to hit him, knocking him backwards.

‘One more hit. I needed to push further!’

“|Frozen Tears|”

“|Pryo Charge|”

Flames erupted from my body and clocked me in a raging flame. Following the action of the attack, I kicked myself off the ground and flew towards him. Nu-Ru managed to fire one last spell. The water in the air condense into orbs of ice before shooting towards me.

The hail of bullet were instantly melted on contact with attack. Pushing through his attack, I landed a direct on Nu-Ru, knocking him way back. He didn’t have time to even open his mouth before I held my sword to his neck. It was my victory.

Sheathing it, I offered him a helping hand. “Hey, are you alright? I got a bit carried away.”

“I was hit by what amounted to a speeding flaming bullet train. You tell me. Well, at least, we know that our new bodies are sturdy.” Cracking a small smile, I couldn’t help but smile as well. I breathed a deep sigh of relief seeing him in one piece.

However, the cheery mood didn’t last very long.

“Looks like they’re here.”

Hearing his response, I turned my head towards the direction he spoke and coming from the arch trees were the NPC’s.