Dragon Riders Online IC

Ashley didn't find Cifujis joke very funny. She frowned and looked at Zelenia. Neither she nor her dragon had liked the idea of killing a rogue dragon in pain. If there was a way to save them, they had to do it. Ashley smiled at her dragon and nodded.

"If there's something we can do to heal the dragons, then count us in," she declared.

Suddenly, a bright flash appeared in the room. Out of nowhere, the Dragon Crusader they had met before, Isabella, stepped forward. Behind her were the young man they'd bumped into earlier and his dragon.

"Hey, it's him," she whispered to Zelenia, frowning. The boy seemed even more disgruntled now than before.

--------------------

Samir released Ocenyx's neck, staring around the shop. He shifted uncomfortably under the stares of the other riders and looked away.

"My name's not Wonder Boy," he said gruffly. "It's Samir."

He shot a look at Isabella, feeling that she hadn't left him much of a choice. But, it couldn't be helped, it seemed.

Well, whatever was going on, he hoped they could get through it quickly and get back to what they were doing.

Zelenia (Reaction to Ashley)

"My name is Zelenia and this is my friend, Ashley. Nice to meet you all!" Said the white tiny dragon in response of Ashley's declaration of helping out the rogue dragons.

When Samir, the rude boy, came to the scene with Isabella, Zelenia frowned as well. However, she spotted Ocenyx with injuries. Zelenia felt sudden surge of power within her.

"Ashley, his dragon is injured." Said Zelenia, "I think I can heal him. Do you want me to try?" She asked her softly.



Ocenyx, and others

"And I am his partner, Ocenyx." Said Ocenyx weakly, he realized now that his injury took long time to heal because the injury was not from ordinary wood.

"I need help..." Said Ocenyx, and his lifted head fall to the ground. Maximus quickly come to the dragon's side and checked his pulse. "Chris! I need you to ask for Medic! Right now."

Isabella's eyes were widen with surprise.

"What's going on? Was the injury that serious?" Eli asked Maximus as she came to the side of fainted dragon.

"No" Said Maximus, "But something must have attacked him with a poison. Where did you find them, Isabella?" Isabella replied in worried look. "They were in the south east of miracle garden..." Then Maximus sighed heavily, "It must have been attacked by Ricky, the poison dragon. It must have become a rogue dragon when he went there to hunt for the pig with his rider."

Zelenia looked at Ashley again, "Ashley, may I use my power to heal that rude boy's dragon?"


Andrew

"Are you joking?" Said Andrew, "You want me to take that Legendary sword by myself?" Andrew looked at Leon with mixed feelings, but Leon nodded firmly, "Yes. Or else, the scripture that could save dragon's soul would not be revealed to us. The Legendary Sword of Gabriel is the key to unlock the location of the scripture." Andrew looked at Hyo and looked at Leon again. "But what about Crusaders, Knights and other riders? Why can't you send them to do that?" Leon sighed, "Wish I could send Isabella and others to help me out. But they can't. The four archangel swords were made by me."

Andrew looked at Leon, confused. "So okay, it is made by you, but why they can't help us?" Leon took a deep breath, and out. "Well it's because their souls are trapped in one dimension, but us, the aliens, our souls are dimension walkers. The archangel swords are in different dimension. Dimension where you and I, and other aliens could travel, but not them."

Andrew curled his lips, "Wow... this world is quite complicated than I thought. Alright, if you say so. I will try my best..." Leon smiled, "You are one cocky kid." Then Leon used his hand gestures in the mid air as if he was typing something. "Well, I know it will be tough without my help, so I am going to make your life little bit easier. I am going to make the players who are still in the server as limit breakers. Especially, Andrew, you are going to get some bonus stats before them, and each of your dragons would become legendary dragon of its own."

"You can do that?" Andrew looked at Leon, not able to believe what he just heard. Leon smiled. "I can only work on those riders who are from my world and if they are nearby me. So you are the only one who will get such bonuses. for now." Andrew tilted his head, "Why couldn't you do it to yourself and kill that overlord?" Then Andrew could see the sudden sadness in Leon's eyes. "Because I cannot reach the dimension created by that bast***. I guess it's up to you guys to correct the mistake I made."

Andrew opened his mouth to ask more question, but before he could do that, he felt the surge of new power in himself. His partner, Hyo, was also going through the transformation.

"All the best with your quest, Andrew. I am sending you straight away to where Archangel Sword, Gabriel is."

"Wait! Leon!" But before Andrew could say anymore, Andrew could feel his body dividing into pieces like a digital file would. In a second, he was no more.

As Andrew disappeared from his sight, Leon smiled weakly. "Do you think I am a bad person?" Leon's dragon, Raziel made its appearance from Leon's back. "You are not. You are doing what is right."

"I hope everyone feels that way. Guess it's time for us to go as well. There should be four more alien riders." As Leon hopped on to his back, Raziel asked him. "How do you know?" Leon smiled, "I check the system and I found out that among the portals, only five of them were my inventions. Other fives are still not in use."

"So when you said 'ten', you mean you only created 'ten' of those machines?" Leon nodded, "Yup, I created ten portals with emergency code, and another interesting fact? Andrew is using my machine, which means, my body is rotting somewhere else..."  

"You got to be kidding me, right?" Raziel sounded shock as he started flying towards the clouds, "Wish I was, Raziel. Wish I was. Well, I am not planning to leave this world anyways. Besides, this world will be in chaos if you become the rogue dragon." Raziel chuckled, "Yeah right. You can be more honest you know? You don't want to leave because you don't like your own world."

Leon smiled, "Come on, Raziel. Let's take a look at the aliens who came uninvited."

Nexius wrote:

Zelenia (Reaction to Ashley)

Spoiler:

****************************************************************************

Cifujis Ohtrin Mirthstrike Aoebwyn [COMA] Shy'Fei

“Sheesh, so many names to remember. Cifujis was trying to make connections in his mind, for all these new names and faces that had appeared to him from the past hour or so. While nodding in acknowledgement at the people and dragons who introduced themselves, one after the other.

The collapsing of the latest dragon, going by the name Ocenyx, alerted him of the situation at hand. “Miracle Garden, South East section. That’s the current hunting ground of a Poison Dragon and a good spot to farm pigs… or a special pig that can be found in the South East part. Hmm… Good to know. We should take caution if approaching that place. We need to first know the patterns that these Rogue Dragon’s use. Do they take up territory where they turned or move about from one place to the next? Can they be reasoned with if approached or do they simply enter a feral state of mind? Darn it!! So many questions, yet no time to ask all. With all of this drama going on, I sure hope we are not sent into the frying pan or the creature’s lair with blind folds and muffs, on our eyes and ears. The novice player of this new game or to the world itself, took as many mental notes as they formulated in his racing mind.

Samir gasped as Ocenyx sank to the ground, looking very weak. He immediately dropped to his knees, putting his hands on the dragon.

"Nyx..." he murmured, brows furrowed. He looked around, desperate for help, and saw a familiar girl. She was speaking with her dragon, who said she wanted to heal his partner. The girl smiled and nodded, and the little white dragon approached Ocenyx.

"Help him," Samir said, biting his lip. "Please."

--------------------

Ashley watched proudly as Zelenia trotted forward to help 'the rude boy' and his dragon. Whatever the boy's outer demeanor may be, he cleared cared for his dragon a lot. He couldn't be all bad then.

Samir & Ashley & Diana & Cifujis

As Zelenia reached Ocenyx, the tiny dragon started to sing, the voice of Zelenia did not sound like a teenage girl, but it was thin and beautiful. It carried power yet it was soothing.

"Rest ease, my wounded friend. You are not the only wounded soul, let my voice take away your pain. Let my voice heal you. Let my voice be the melody that heals your heart, and your soul."

Ocenyx glowed in white, then turned back into his original color. Ocenyx opened his eyes, and blinked. He lifted his head, shaking it as if he just woke up from sweet dream. Ocenyx looked more energetic, "Thank you, Zelenia. I feel really better than before."

"You are welcome." Said Zelenia and she went back to Ashley, satisfied. "Did I do good? Did I do well?" Zelenia asked Ashley.

Isabella, Eli, Maximus and Chris who just came back and witness the scene looked at Ashley and Zelenia in amazement.

"You kidding? That's the rarest skill of the order dragons. Melody of the Healer, ancient skill of order dragons that thought to be lost for good." Said Chris, "It was lost for good because..."

"Because, the order dragons decided to seal that knowledge away." Said the unknown male with brown hair; his eyes looked calm, but it carried unexplained loneliness. "Leon!" Said Chris, followed by Eli's "Crusader Leon!"

Isabella curled her lips, "You are late." Leon gave acknowledging nod, then he looked at others who had the mark of aliens. He started to state the name of each alien riders.

"Samir, Diana, Cifujis, and Ashley. Am I correct?" Said Leon, but his tone was not in the form of question but rhetorical."And your dragons names are Ocenyx, Ban, Shy'fei, and Zelenia." Leon smiled gently at them and continued. "I know you have many questions for me, but we do not have much time so let me introduce to yourself properly first. I am one and only GM in this world. But I never had an intention to make DRO to the public... In any case, the person who is going to help you get out from this world would be me, but I need your help to stable this world." Then he looked at Ashley and Zelenia, "By the way, congratulation. Ashley, your friend, Zelenia is legendary guardian dragon by birth." Then he looked at other riders. "Isabella, Maximus, Eli and Chris. Could you leave us? I need to talk to them privately." Eli curled her lips in mistrust, but as Isabella stepped out from the room, others followed her.

Finally Leon was left with other alien riders. Leon sighed heavily. "Alright ladies and gents. I think they already explained to you how bad the situation is. If you guys are scared of losing your lives, I want you to terminate the contract with your dragons. And I will force you out from this world."


Andrew

"Hyo, I think you have become bigger than before...?" Said Andrew, "I know, and I feel even more powerful than before too." Hyo replied. "How about you, Andrew?" Andrew nodded firmly. "Yeah, same here. The sword I got from Leon doesn't feel heavy, and I can feel like I can do everything."

Hyo quickly picked up the speed, "Alright then, let's get that legendary sword!" Andrew looked ahead in all serious, "Yeah, let's do this. I don't want this world to disappear. I am going to protect your homeworld, Hyo." Hyo gave a slight nod. "Yeah, let's make this world better place!"

Hyo rushed with amazing speed, "Andrew, I can feel it. Whatever it is guarding that sword, it isn't just ordinary monster." Andrew grinned, "Ha! I was expecting it to be a challenging monster. Let's do our best to get that sword, partner." "Roger that." Hyo replied.

A sound of angry roar was heard, however, the duo went ahead.

Ashley sat transfixed by the sound of Zelenia's voice. It was beautiful, yes, but the beauty was more than just the quality. It was as though she were hearing her dragon's soul, her deepest desire to guard, help, and heal others.

When the little dragon trotted back to her, glowing with pride, she reached out a hand to stroke the scaly head.

"You were amazing, Zel," Ashley said, beaming at her.

At that moment, someone entered the room - the one the others had mentioned as Leon. Ashley allowed her dragon to climb up onto her shoulders before standing to face the man. He declared Zelenia a legendary dragon, and it should have surprised her, but it didn't. She'd known Zelenia was special from the start.

That was why his next statement felt like a bucket of cold water. Terminate the contract with their dragons? Then they would go rogue.

"No way," she said firmly, glaring at Leon.

--------------------

Samir felt a rush of relief as Ocenyx's wounds mended and healed, thanks to the little white dragon's song.

"You okay, Nyx?" he asked, stroking his dragon's head. Just then, the man they'd been waiting for entered. Samir couldn't help feeling a bit envious when Leon pronounced the blonde girl's dragon as legendary. Why her? He wouldn't trade Ocenyx, but still...

These thoughts were pushed right out of mind, however, when Leon suggested abandoning their dragons. Ashley spoke up first, denouncing this. Samir, as annoyed as he felt with her, couldn't help but be impressed.

"You've gotta be kidding me," he said, scowling. "I'm not doing that either."

Nexius wrote:

Samir & Ashley & Diana & Cifujis

Spoiler:

****************************************************************************

Cifujis Ohtrin Mirthstrike Aoebwyn [COMA] Shy'Fei

The singing dragon did not really do anything for Cifujis; it probably was not his taste of melody. Then again, it was not he that was being basked in the bright white light, which he could only presume would have a soothing effect on the injured dragon.

“No, It’s Mirthstrike, Ohtrin Mirthstrike. Cifujis mumbled in his mouth with gritted teeth and twitching, flared nostrils. What’s the point of creating a game character and not even using it’s given name…” He continued to grumble to himself in a low and muffled voice that would not travel to the others; as it is, they were busy being enlightened about world stuff, if not instructed out of the room.

However, when the GM asked them to leave if they were afraid… Cifujis could not hold it in anymore.


“What in the blazes do you think you people are playing at!!” Ohtrin bellowed with chest bursting forward. “First the makers entice us with misleading advertisement, then raise our hopes with in-game mechanics, only to later crush them by having it revealed that everything was basically, a farce.” The furious individual, harshly pointed his finger at Leon, “And now you tell us that you will force us out of this world…”

The Dragon Rider’s anger was partially stemming from the fact that he only entered this game, due to the promise and hopes that it had the potential of curing him of his Acrophobia. It was by applying the logic and promise of what abilities, activities and experiences earned in the game would transfer into the real world, thus it would be like using a shortcut in learning new or enhancing old techniques. But now that he is trapped in this world, with no multiple exits and entries from here to his world; there would be no way to know for sure if his game aided ability to fly on dragons here would change anything in his mind upon transferring the experience into his original physical world…


Cifujis breathed out a long sigh as he wiped away at the outburst that was only in his mind. With the other players, voicing similar responses, this alien went about and did the same.

“Yeah, what they said. We’re already too far in now and grown attached to this place and its inhabitants, plus even if it wasn’t so, what kind of ambassadors would we be, if we just upfront and left when faced with a crisis of another world.” The Alien nodded his head, “Yes we will use whatever abilities we have and help in this time of great peril. This could be a chance for us to show to the inhabitants of this world that we come from a world of honest, trustworthy and dependable beings.” Cifujis stroked his chin and continued, “If you think about it, this could very well be a first-encounter scenario. Those truth seekers were right, sentient beings other than us, do exist and we are witnesses to all of this.”

The elevated dragon rider, vigorously nodded his head in agreement, “Yes, definitely we should stay and pursue this course, no matter how dangerous or what lies ahead. We have to succeed and see this through till the end.”

Ashley, Samir, Cifujis, Diana and Leon

Shy'fei looked at Cifujis, worried what he might say. She could feel the anger in Cifujis. However, instead of bursting into anger, he held in.

Shy'fei gave Cifujis a hug as he implied he would be staying. Her embrace was warm, and tight.

Then, Leon's eyes then met with Diana's. "How about you?" Diana shook her head strongly. "No way I am going to leave Ban here alone. I decided to help him."

Leon shook his head and take a seat on the chair, looking at them. He looked little thoughtful, then he stood up again.

"Let me explain it to you one more time. You guys are not in the game, you guys are actually alive in this world. Yes, your souls are transferred to another world. But, your souls did not just transferred here, they created physical being for your souls to reside in this world. What you are going to experience here, you are going to take that experience to the world where you are from."

Leon took a deep breath. "You had fear of heights? Well congratulation, that fear is not going to bother you any more when you go back to your world. You wanted to be fit in your life? By training yourself here, when you go back to your world, your physical body will be in good shape. You hungry? Don't worry, eat here and your hunger would be satisfied. What you heard about the game, is actually all true. Not a lie."

Leon took another deep breath. "Just to let you know, when you terminate your contract with your dragon, they won't go rogue. They became a dragon with fully recovered soul. The rogue dragons are the result of logging out of the game without terminating the contract." He continued, "And when I said you will take the experience to your world, it also means, you will take the pain too."

Leon took out a small dagger, then he removed his right hand glove. The right hand revealed that he was really an alien like others. He slit his right hand palm with his small dagger. He flinched little. The hand started to bleed.

"This pain will be transferred to the body in the portal and when I go back I will feel the sudden pain of my palm. But if I heal myself," Said Leon, taking out a powder from a thin air and he applied to his bleeding hand. "I won't feel a thing." Leon showed how powder recovered his bleeding hand.

"The only thing you cannot take from this world to your world is your dragon's soul and the magic that this world had taught you."

Leon looked at the alien riders once again. "This is your last chance to go back to your world."

Leon looked at Diana first, Diana glared at Leon. "No means no, I am not going to leave Ban and be happy myself. If I am going to leave this world, I want Ban to be happy and safe." Ban, the black dragon looked at Diana, looking relieved. "Thank you, Diana." Said Ban happily.

Leon turned to others to hear their reply.


Andrew

"Wow..." Said Andrew as his eyes finally see the monster that guarded the legendary sword. "Well, that's one tough looking monster." Hyo commented, then Andrew corrected her. "It's not a monster, Hyo. It's a dragon."

Then an arrow was fired from the large dragon's side. Quickly, Andrew deflected the arrow in time. Andrew's eyes were widen what it meant. "That's not just a dragon, but a dragon with a rider?"

The dragon turned around and faced Hyo and Andrew, and on top of its head, there was a humane figure. The human said it out loud and clear. "I am one of the riders who are fighting for Master Win's dream. You aliens have no right to butt in our world. We will create better place. Get lost now and I may spare you."

Andrew ready his sword, his opponent dragon was way bigger than Hyo, even though, Hyo definitely grew up bigger than before.

"That dragon sure is massive" Said Andrew, "Let's give them a greeting, Hyo." Then Hyo charged her energy and fired at the massive dragon. The action of Hyo was way faster than the opponent could react and it successfully hit the enemy dragon.

The successful hit created massive dark flame, the dark flame started to spread and cover the whole body of the enemy dragon. Soon, the fire seemed to tackle the rider too as Andrew could hear the scream of "No! No! This can't be true!"

However, that moment did not last. As Andrew thought it was over, Andrew could hear the laughter of the dead man.

"Too bad for you, you are not fighting one, but the army of my clones."

Andrew and Hyo could see what he meant, they were not just one pair of them. But more....

"Well if you put it that way then I don't see any reason not to stay. It all seems to be in our benefit."

Returning Shy'fei's embrace. "I suppose I'm here for the long run." He spoke out to everyone, before turning to his partner and gazing at her with affection, "You better not get tired of me, 'coz I'm not going anywhere without your consent, my enchanting Dragon partner."

The Dragon Rider gave a nod of acknowledgement to Leon, stating that he had made up his mind.

Ashley looked at Zelenia, at her adoring and trusting face, and smiled. She couldn't abandon someone, especially not when they had that kind of trust in her. She wouldn't let Zelenia down. They had to make this world peaceful for the dragons once more.

"I said I'm staying," Ashley announced, looking back at Leon.

--------------------

Samir frowned, staring off into the distance. The revelation that they would be safe, and their dragons wouldn't go rogue, made the idea far more tempting.

He felt Ocenyx's head nudge his hand. He looked down into his dragon's eyes and felt his insides twist.

Would abandoning Ocenyx really be okay? He might have to live with that guilt. But caring for others, extending trust, opening himself for hurt...

"I..." he said, swallowing. His hands clenched, and he looked up with steely eyes.

"Don't make me say it again."

Ashley, Cifujis, Samir & Diana

Leon let out sigh of relief, "I was hoping you all would say that," The serious face he once had disappeared, he was more smiling casually, "Cause this world needs our help more than it realize." Leon started typing in the mid air, it looked like he was using a keyboard.  "Since the battle ahead will be tough, I am granting you some bonuses. All of your dragons are legendary dragons, and will be fully grown to its potential size. You are now able to master two skills of your choice. If you have none, well, don't worry. When you learn some, two skills of your choice will be promoted into master level skill to help you on."

(All of your dragons received 20 stars to distribute, except Zelenia cause she already received it. All characters will get to chose two skills to promote into master tier)

After everyone had finished adjusting their character screens, Ashley turned to Leon.

"So, what's our first move then?" she asked. There were only a handful of them and a whole lot of enemies. If they didn't want to get overwhelmed, they'd have to act fast.

Ashley, Cifujis, Diana and Samir

"We are going to forgotten city. The portal to the scripture will be open from there." Leon answered. "But, we have to wait for Andrew's success on getting the sword."

"What do you mean we have to wait for Andrew? Wait, is he another alien rider?" Diana asked in surprise, Leon nodded calmly. "Yes, for some reason, unlike rest of you, he came to me. If the program was set up right, he should have went to other crusaders and knights."

Leon then sighed, "In any case, you guys wait here. I will tell Isabella and others that we are going to the forgotten city. Get yourself armed and ready."

Then Leon left.

Diana curled her lips, "Is it just me, or do you guys get the feeling that he is hiding something too?" she asked others.


Andrew

"You are seriously overestimating your ability." Said Andrew, petting Hyo's neck. "Let see how many clones you can make after my partner lit this entire place with her fire." The legendary dragon charged energy within her mouth, and aimed at the sky. The clones, however, were not kind to wait for something to happen. They quickly charged towards the duo.

However, they were too late.

The moment they surrounded Hyo and Andrew, Hyo fired great energy beam towards the sky. In seconds, black flame started raining down and started to consume the clones.

"What!" Shouted one of the clones, however, his shout turned into scream and soon every single rider was screaming.

"This is not over! We can still make our own clones!" However, it did not happened. The rider looked confused, then he stared at Andrew and Hyo with horrified expression.

Andrew's eyes were cold and Hyo's eyes were shining in light.

"None of your abilities and you dragon abilites shall work in this dimension." Said Hyo with authority.

"Now, perish!"  Hyo gathered up energy from her mouth and fired at them. The enemies tried to flee, however, opponent dragon was not able to fly and before rider could leave his dragon behind, Hyo's black fire consumed them and turned them into nothingness.

Andrew petted his partner's neck. "You don't need to cry for them, Hyo. They don't deserve it."

Andrew realized, Hyo was still a baby dragon. A baby dragon, even though she had fully grown, too young to carry the responsibility of saving her home world.

"Andrew, is this the only way? How many dragons do I have to kill to bring peace to my world?"  Andrew answered her question gently, "I don't know, Hyo. I really don't know."

There was a moment of slience, both in deep thought. Andrew took a deep breath, and out. He was about to break the silence, but Hyo spoke before Andrew could. "There's the sword." Hyo pointed out the sword that Leon had told them to get it. Andrew got off from Hyo, and grabbed the sword.

Without much effort, Andrew drew the sword out from the ground. Andrew could feel the power that started to work inside him.

Andrew looked at Hyo, Hyo nodded as if she understood what Andrew was thinking.

"Come on, Hyo. We ride to forgotten city."



Everyone

"We just received a report that there are five portals still working and no body seems to know how to shut them down. We are here with Dr. Alfred who is worldly well known technology developer. What do you think about this machines, Dr. Alfred?"

"In all honesty, I am really fascinated by portals. It seems that this machines are way advanced than ordinary game devices. We cannot even go near to the five machines that are still running as somehow it affects the law of physics."

"What do you mean?"

"We cannot go near to these five machines because it is in different dimension."

"I do not understand, Dr. Alfred. What do you mean by different dimension?"

"I cannot say as this is not my expertise. The only man who can actually explain this in any logical manner, is now found in coma state. Dr. Grey. Dr. Leonardo Grey, a young genius scientist who saved starving millions of African children with his magical scientific theory, but who no longer is welcome in this world because of his unwillingness to share his knowledge. We need him to wake up, or else we won't be able to save these five young souls from whatever hell they are going through..."

Cifujis went about scanning through his inventory. He needed to be sure that everything was at his fingertips as to when the time arrived. He later also went through the preset skill and spell tree, to check if there was anything worthwhile. 


As he opened his skill tree, a chill ran throughout his body. Suddenly he felt enlightened as if he was overwhelmed by an abyss of profound knowledge.

"Oh! What in the world..!?" he exclaimed surprisingly, to no one in particular.


Among the mass of greyed out spells, there was a single item that blinked with a blue halo around its icon. Selecting it, the screen zoomed into the location of the hooded person with raised arms and a dark blueish magic circle constructed with various sigils, faintly glowing in an eerie purple behind him. A screen popped out with information on the selected spell.

Chaos Summon wrote:

Chaos - Summoning (Master Tier) ★★★★★★★★★★
The user is able to summon monsters who are same element as user's dragon. The monster levels are up to 10, and level 10 monsters take very long time to be summoned (2 reaction posts). The monsters will follow the command of the summoner. (However the monsters would be controlled by GM)

"A Master Tier, Summoning spell!" A glint in Cifuji's eyes passed along as memories of fantasy games of old, flashed through. "This is quite unusual, but in a good way as at the back of my mind I always imagined myself being a mage class, closer to a Soul Magus or Summoner, so this is quite extraordinary for me." The new Mage stroked his chin while a wicked smile crept onto his previously jaw-dropped, surprised expression. "Heheh, just imagine the Mayhem, that I could cause with this when used cunningly, against the enemy hordes." 



Not a second later of wording his chaotic thoughts, a new icon popped into colour inside the Chaos Spells Tree.

Chaos - Hysteria wrote:

Chaos - Mass Hysteria (Master Tier)  ★★★★★★★★★★
Causes the selected target to go in a state of panic and confusion. Coming in physical contact with said target will contract the same disease. All "Hysterical" victims can not distinguish from Friend or foe, thus, will lash out randomly, targeting anyone to anything in sight, including themselves (It lasts for 3 posts).

"Oh!!" Another startling sound escaped from within the bewildered individual. "And here I thought just gaining one Master Skill was something astounding, but two is indeed better. Two, I can surely work with." 



Cifujis took a few seconds to go through the description of the newly activated spell which portrayed a character shaking its head while three question marks orbited above its head.


*Wheue* The man with raised eyebrows whistled, "This should go along quite dangerously with my new found Summoning ability and even if not, then as a crowd control, it should work quite charmingly indeed." Cifujis nodded approvingly.


Clearing the screen, the player content, turned towards his fellow companions in the room. "Well for the time being, with just two activated spells, some tactile weaponry and a Long-Sword with fluctuating power level, I think I should be taking the Mid-Supporter point than being in a direct frontline battle formation." He nodded again, deep in thought. "Yeah, a Battle Caster would do fine, for now."
 

Shy'fei's partner shifted his head towards the door that Leon took his departure through, "Well if it is anything serious then it's bound to be revealed sooner than later."


Cifujis clenched his fist, shaking it with vigor, "We just need to be prepared for anything that we shall face from here on. Firstly I believe that we need to place our cards on the table and figure out some sort of battle plan, no matter if it will be in its infancy. If we are to team up then we need to know each other's abilities." Cifujis punched his chest with his clenched fist, "Like I said, I'm good as a mid to back fielder with my skill sets, supporting the team from the sidelines. With our combined knowledge, we should formulate who stands where and with that clarify who'll be the point man in Leon's absence."

After wording his thoughts, the Dragon Rider shrugged his shoulders, "Of course if the Crusaders would be to accompany us, then that should take care of most of it." He ended with a slightly twisted smile, sending that he himself was unsure of the outcome.

Both Ashley and Samir watched Leon closely as he left. Samir said nothing, merely narrowing his eyes intently, but Ashley nodded in response to Diana's words.

"I wonder what though..."

They were interrupted from their musings by Cifujis asking about their abilities. Ashley piped up at once.

"I can take the front," she said. "I specialize in melee and protective magic, with some offensive light spells thrown in."

She looked over at Samir, who grunted.

"I use a bow and shadow magic, so I'll take the rear," he said, then added almost sheepishly, "And, uh, some healing spells too..."

Ashley smiled encouragingly, but he only looked away.

"Shouldn't we get going already?" he asked quickly.

Ashley, Cifujis, Samir and Diana


"Well, I will be front line shooter." Said Diana, spinning her guns and putting them into the pistol holster, "Ban could dodge well and I love flashy plays."

As Samir mentions about going out now, Leon came back. Leon's face was darkened and entered the room with Dragon Knight Eli. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen. Gear up. Time is not our ally." Said Leon, "Eli will lead us to the Gate of the forbidden city."

Leon signaled all of them to come outside with their dragons, and to follow him and Eli. The atmosphere was somewhat heavy, for some reason it gave out a signal to everyone that situation was really dire and serious.

As they came to certain point of endless clouds, Eli halted her dragon.

"This is it. I can only accompany you guys till here. If you go further straight there should be a Gate to the forbidden city." Said Eli, then she turned around with her dragon; facing Leon and other riders. "From what Leon granted you with his blessing powers, I fully trust you guys to bring peace to my world." Eli smiled weakly at the five dragon riders. "I am little sad that many riders who came to me for an advice to get better relationship with their dragons were aliens like you. It is not like I dislike your kind, but really, some dragons loved their masters and I am sad that many of them are in rogue state because they were not actually from my world." Leon smiled gently at Eli, "Don't worry. With their help, we will have the scripture to help them."  Eli eyes met with Leon's and then her eyes looked at other riders. "I trust you guys. I will wait for the good news."

Eli quickly disappeared with her dragon. As Eli finally disappeared from their sight, Diana released curled lips and finally asked a question to Leon, breaking the heavy silence that was on everyone's shoulder. "Why so few crusaders and knights? If this was actually a different world, there should have been a lot of locals who should have reached such status..." Leon sighed, and answered heavily. "Because many riders are with the overlord. They have decided to change the side. None of them are actually in crusader's or Knight's levels though, so they couldn't attack Arka directly. However, even though many riders betrayed Arka,  many locals are still working their own ways to become knights. Unlike us, who are affected by the dimension disruption created by me, some locals are still nurturing their dragons. Many of their dragons are still not big enough to fly with their master. Matter of fact, do not be surprised, many locals do not become a dragon rider."

Leon sighed once again. "Many of them are just ordinary people or students who are going through the training to become a dragon rider. Come, follow me. We just need to enter the Gate. We will be at the forbidden city the moment we enter the gate. And, Andrew just sent me a text, he got the sword. Well if you have any question about this world, I am happy to answer it for you."

Leon signaled others to follow him and his dragon. For some reason... It felt like this was the good time for them to actually ask more questions about this world and perhaps get to know each other better.


Andrew

"Message sent, now, we just need to wait." said Andrew, Hyo gave out acknowledging nod. "I will ask him about the dark knight we had to fight... I wasn't aware of their existence until now..."

Hyo looked down, Andrew could feel the sadness that Hyo was going through.

"Don't worry, Hyo. We will save the others before they side with the overlord."

The dragon nodded.

Ashley and Zelenia flew behind Leon, surveying the skyline. Well, this was certainly more of an adventure than she'd been expecting, but she was going to meet it head on.

"Hey, we should probably get to know some of our teammates more while we have a chance. Who do you want to talk to?" Ashley asked Zelenia, stroking her dragon's magnificent neck. She'd become even larger in her true form now that she'd ascended to legendary dragon status.

--------------------

Samir rode in the back of the procession, eyes narrowed. He wasn't feeling particularly chatty at the moment, knowing something terrible could be waiting for them up ahead.

He looked down at Ocenyx, studying his dragon's grand form. His dragon was legendary now, and even some of his skills had gotten impressive boosts. But would that be enough?

"Hey, Nyx," he murmured. "You think we're going to be all right?"

This time, Cifujis snuck quick glances at the world below his feet that spread for miles on all sides. At first, he did feel queasy but as time passed by, the feelings did begin to subside though it still wasn't enough. He really needed to level up this Dragon Riding skill, which most likely meant that he needed to mount and ride with the dragon, multiple times.

As they rode towards their destination, Leon suggested that they may ask him any questions we had in mind. "I don't know about you all and this was supposed to be my first VR-Fantasy Game, so I am really looking forward to using Real Magic for the first time. I did dabble in those Adventuring games of old where the hero's crawled into dimly lit Dungeons and faced varied ferocious beasts, ranging from demon foxes to mighty Dragons. But that era of games played nothing like your traditional Digital counterparts. So I am really interested in knowing the intricate working knowledge behind the Magic of this world and how we use it."

Ashley

"Well I would love to know more about Samir and Ocenyx. Their bond was really strong. When I was healing him, I was able to sense that Ocenyx gave huge part of his soul to Samir." Said Zelenia carefully. "Ocenyx was ready to give up his life, if he had to sacrifice his life to save Samir."

Samir

"Well, if whatever Leon just said is true, don't worry about it. I got your back, Samir." Said Ocenyx in confidence. "Besides, I can feel that my powers are fully in my control. I will be there for you, no matter what, Samir." Said Ocenyx in gentler tone.


Cifujis & Diana

"Great question!" Said Leon, like a professor was impressed by his student, "Magic is really mysterious in this world. When you wish it, it will come to your aid. Interaction of magic is like interacting with living thing. When the time comes, when you really want to use your magic, wish it strongly to come to your aid."

Diana looked at Leon as if he was talking nonsense, then Leon added. "And I have made you all into limit breaker. You guys could technically learn more than 20 spells and skills like locals could do. Isn't that amazing?"

"What do you mean?" Diana asked, not so sure if she had to be happy or not.

"It means all locals here knows more spells, more skills than all of you. But now, you all have equal capacity as locals. So don't hesitate to learn. But, more spells and skills you learn, less spells and skills would reach the master level."

Well, Cifujis wasn't fully content with the answer or probably it just wasn't what he was expecting. "Well I still don't get the inner workings but I suppose its more like a practical thing, than theoretical. The quickest way, as you suggested would be to test one's willpower during an obstacle."

The Dragon rider leaned forward onto Shy'fei's back as he continued to give thought on the subject, "About what you said, say if I really wanted to turn my body into a dark cosmic like visage which enables me to move freely through space and electrocute any object that I may pass through, like say an eel, would I be able to gain an ability as such, just by thinking about it? He raised the question to anyone with the answer.

Ashley smiled at Zelenia. Her dragon could be so child-like at times, and yet so wise and understanding.

"All right," she agreed. "Let's try."

****************************************************************************

Samir flushed a bit at Ocenyx's words.

"T-thanks," he said. Even if it was a bit embarrassing to hear such direct words, he couldn't help but be pleased.

"I'll be there for you too," he murmured. No sooner had he spoken this than the elegant white dragon, the one that had healed Ocenyx, dropped back toward them.

"Hi," the girl said, smiling at them. "We just wanted to make sure you were still feeling all right after Zelenia's healing song."

Samir frowned. He didn't want to be ungrateful - he really was glad that they'd been able to help Ocenyx, but he didn't want to constantly feel indebted to them.

"He's fine," he said bluntly. The girl frowned too.

"Not to seem rude," she replied. "But I was asking him."

Samir narrowed his eyes, but he couldn't exactly say anything to that. He looked down at Ocenyx, as though willing his dragon to send them away.

****************************************************************************

Geez, what was it with this guy?

Ashley had to sigh. He certainly wasn't making this easy on them. She wasn't going to force her company on anyone, but if they wanted to make it out of this, they really needed to work together.

Cifujis & Diana

"As I said it's like an interaction with living being, so if you want to find out such magic, you need to find the place where you might learn such magic. For instance, you want to learn magic of fire, you should go where you can find the element of fire. Best place would be Volcano Island." Said Leon, "If you are looking for chaos magic, well, the forbidden city is best place." He added thoughtfully. "However, you must remember this. If such magic doesn't exist, you won't be able to ask for its help."

Diana frowned, "So, you are saying no magic in this world is 'created'?" Leon nodded, still looking ahead. "Yes, this world, magic is simply burrowed from the beings we cannot see." Leon said it calmly.

Diana pondered a bit, then sighed. "Well, Ban, let's say hi to that white dragon and her rider." Diana said to her partner and they seperated themselves from Leon and Cifujis.

As Diana gone to say hello to other rider, Leon asked Cifujis. "Were you able to understand what I said? Or do you have more questions to ask?"


Ashley & Samir

"I appreciate your kindness. As my partner said, I am fine. At the moment, I would like to talk with my partner alone." Ocenyx tone was gentle and polite. However, the words he said clearly showed they were not welcomed. "It's okay, Ashley. We talk to them other time. Glad to hear you are okay, Ocenyx." Said Zelenia and quickly flew to where Cifujis and Diana were.

As Ashley and Zelenia quickly turned to others, Ocenyx sighed. "Well, this time I followed what you want. But, let's try to be little friendlier next time." Ocenyx advised his partner.

As Zelenia put some distance from Ocenyx, Zelenia complained. "Ashley, is all male like that? Proud and doesn't know how to be nice? I saved his life and he acts like he would have survived without me."

Then there were greeted by Diana and her Dragon, Ban. "Hey! Ban and I just wanted to say hi." She smiled at them. Diana glanced back at Samir, then look at Ashley, "So, how is he holding up? Is he still being rude?" She asked innocently.

Samir looked away at Ocenyx's words. Somehow, his dragon's tone made him feel like he was in the wrong somehow. But... He wasn't. They were just being busybodies, weren't they?

"Yeah..." he murmured noncommittally.

--------------------

Ashley was feeling upset at Samir's attitude, but Zelenia brought a smile to her lips.

"It's not you," she said, stroking her dragon's neck. "I think... He just doesn't know how to accept help."

Diana and Ban flew up a moment later, also intent on Samir.

"Yeah, same as usual," Ashley said, shrugging. "Maybe he'll change his tune later."

She smiled and held out a hand to Diana, hoping to get on a more positive track.

"I'm Ashley, and this is Zelenia."

Nexius wrote:

Cifujis & Diana

Spoiler:

Cifujis Ohtrin Mirthstrike Aoebwyn [COMA] Shy'Fei

Shy’fei flew close by to Leon, matching his dragon’s speed. Cifujis was silent for a bit, in which the other dragon’s and their riders seemed to be losing formation as they went about socializing.

“Living Magic… that seems interesting. In that case, I need to get in touch with a magic source that allows me to see every aspect of magic beings that grants it’s magic to all, even before making a contract with them. If I can get to the “Soul” or “Source” of the magic then I should be able to weave it with much more fluidic control by simply be able to tap into its rawest arcane state. However, if I plan to manipulate the elements in such a way, then I truly need to understand and master my chosen spells.”

The Dragon rider raised his stance to sit upright on the Dragon’s back. Looking at the palm in front of his eyes, the veins inside, pumping blood, him feeling the thumping of the heart. This body was not his, yet he was here, linked with his soul, he could call it his own body as he had full control over it, or at least to the extent that he had over his original body.
Cifujis clenched the fist, digging deep the fingernails into the palm. “But what if there was a way to control what is truly mine and what is truly someone else’s.” he spoke quietly to himself.

Unclenching the fist, Cifujis looked at the impressions that left behind, twisting the wrist to bring in view the back of the hand which was now a bit pale for all the blood that was blocked access. Returning to the curled palm, he envisioned in his mind a form of aura converging and growing around it. A Sinister smile crept up the left side of his mouth.

Returning back to Leon, he reconfirmed, “I see. So The Forbidden City, you said I should be able to find Chaos at there.” His eyes glinted/gleamed with a demonic hue as the distant sun casts it dyeing light through the auburn clouds, “In the vicinity of Chaos, death and suffering may also be not far away. So what kind of human and beast population, should we be expecting?” He paused as they flew closer to the Gate that would lead them inside the Forbidden City.

“I should, be able to capitalize, on that.” The sorcerer in making inaudibly ended on an ominous note, making sure his voice did not trail off to the others.

Samir

"So, if this isn't your world... I guess you have someone waiting for you in your home world?" Ocenyx asked carefully, "I somehow felt rush in your words, like you really want to get back to your real world." He added.


Ashley & Diana

"Well, my name is Diana and this is Ban." As their dragons were massive, it was not possible for them to have a genuine handshake. However, Diana too hold out her hand in the mid air and gave a gesture of shaking Ashley's hand.

"You know, I am so glad that there's another girl from my world," Said Diana, "I mean, this is my first time in another world as well. What I mean is, in the virtual game, I usually change my gender because I do not want to appear weak." Diana face turned little red, "I am interest in boys, so don't get the wrong idea. How about you? Is this your first time in virtual gaming?"


Cifujis

"Chaos doesn't mean just death, evil and darkness. Chaos, in this world, means out of order, randomness, and imbalance. It could be something that makes people fear, or something that makes people obsessive with its awe. In fact, death is part of element of order in this world. However, immortality and such that would goes against the nature of the life cycles considered property of chaos." Leon answered it gently, "In forbidden city, we might come across with monsters that should have died long time ago. Walking corpses, zombie dragons, and the forgotten Kings... You will see when we get there."