Reality...

Everyone claims they live in reality and condemn any alternates. In the past, video games were seen as a way to escape reality. But now, the lines are not so clear.

If a man can eat, sleep, feel pain, fall in love, or hate, are those not real? Must he exist in a certain plane for his emotions to be real?

The continued debate over whether the virtual world should be considered 'real' or not continues to wage on. On one hand, people claim the virtual world isn't 'real' and is only a figment of one's imagination. On the other hand, some virtual users claim they feel more 'real' when under than they ever did in so-called 'reality.'

Worse yet, as the virtual world begins to get more realistic, and machines like the full dives are produced, this line blurs all the more.

"Reality is only what you believe it to be. As long as you can feel pain, joy, love... or even hate; no one can take away those emotions and call them fake." Speech by Shouyou James on the advent of virtual gaming.

"There is only one reality. And that is here, where we were born. Anything else is a lie created by machines to rob us of true life. To those who wish to over-indulge in the virtual world, I say this: What happens when that world you consider reality shuts down due to system failure?" Excerpt from Nikel Nicholas. (President of the AVGN Anti-Virtual-Gaming-Network)

While these two figureheads clash, the rest of the world ponders on this issue. Is virtual reality fake? If so, do we consider the terminal patients who spend their days in there to be fake too? Who are we to judge what is real and what isn't? Or is the human race simply shirking responsibilities and heading towards extinction?

It is unclear at this point, but sooner or later, we will have to answer these mind-numbing questions.

-Excerpt from "Questioning Reality," by Peter Bowman.

Chapter 1

Season Premiere

Aktaver's Lair.

33rd Peniel 1091.

Kashi's shoulders shook with rage. "The hell is a Dimension Artist! Of course, anything would sound cool if you add dimension in front of it!" He almost tossed the scroll across the room but stopped at the last moment.

There had to be some perks to this class right? Just like warriors gained a boost in attack when wielding their classes' weapons and mages had exclusive spells. There had to be something to this Dimension Artist business.

Kashi muttered a curse and then kept on reading.

'The world descends into chaos. The balance held up by my wife and I crumbles. If there is to be salvation for our world, then it must come from the 'summoned.' Oh, how it woes me to put my faith in the very people who betrayed me. But, my responsibility as a creator must come before pride. To the brave one who finds this, I bestow upon you a power that can rend or create; save or desolate. I pray you make the right choice.'

Wow, Ferulic's a drama queen. Kashi dropped the scroll and then checked the other items. There were two books and a single scroll. Kashi picked the scroll and attempted to identify it. Ping! His first attempt ended in failure. Kashi, however, kept trying. Ping! Luckily, his persistence eventually paid off, as he successfully identified the scroll's contents.

Kashi placed the scroll in his inventory and then turned his attention to the books. Unlike the scroll, the books needed at least fifty tries each before he successfully identified them. The haze covering the books disappeared, revealing a pair of platinum and earth-colored book covers.

Kashi sensed immense power within these books. A still smile curled up the side of his lips as he opened the platinum, and then the brown, in order.

Puff!

The final book burst into light petals. Kashi blankly stared at the floating petals. Words refused to form as he struggled to come to terms with what he had obtained.

Crack!

A loud cracking drew Kashi's attention to the encased angel. Kashi closely watched as the ice melted. Freed from his bonds, the winged man fell to the ground. Whoosh! Bam! Kira jumped and then caught the angel just before he struck the ground. She then gently placed him on the ground.

Kashi looked at Kira, who in response, glared at him. "...Thanks." Kashi suppressed a wry chuckle. He squatted next to the angel. He examined the man whose wings spanned about twelve feet on both sides. Kashi, realizing the angel was still unconscious, reached out and then tapped his shoulder. "Hello..."

"Urgh!" The stranger grimaced, then coughed as he opened his eyes. A pair of beautiful, sky-blue eyes turned warily and rested on the daeben. "Who.. are you?" The angel winced as he sat up, and folded his wings at his back.

Vrwooom!

Kashi's eyes twitched. Gargantuan pressure oozed off this 'angel' even in this weakened. The daeben could tell that if he wanted, this angel could snuff him out in one breath. Despite this, Kashi took a breath to calm himself, politely bowed, and then said, "I am Kashi of the daeben. At great risk to my life, I released you from your prison."

The angel heaved and heavily coughed as he struggled to his feet. Kashi offered to help, but the angel's pride did not allow it. He gently rebuffed the daeben and eventually rose to his feet. He then observed the shattered pillars and remnants of torn tentacles, and looked at Kashi with shock in his eyes. "You defeated Nekark?"

"It was an exceedingly difficult battle." Kashi grimaced, and then clutched his sides. Honestly, he did not feel any pain, but it always paid to let people think you put in more effort than you actually did. "But my fervent desire to rescue you was all the motivation needed to surpass this test.."

"I see." The angel was clueless. "For this, you have my gratitude." He bent his head in a mini-bow. "My name is Fermes. I oversaw communication before my family was destroyed. Tell me, Kashi of the daeben; what is your true aim?"

Kashi hesitated. If this guy was anything like Fladnag, lying would be detrimental. Then again, there were always loopholes to exploit. Kashi swiftly organized his thoughts. Soon, he found his answer. "I seek power."

Fermes' gaze soured. "So, you choose destruction too. How disa-"

Kashi shook his head. "You misunderstand my intentions." He recalled the history he learned from the guide. "Since the disappearance of your family, this world has been embroiled in ceaseless warfare. Many have died, most without true purpose. To end this, I shall unite this world under my flag. But valor without power is useless. If I am to complete my goal, I will face foes much more powerful than I am. I require strength to unite the land. In this I am not ashamed!"

A warm smile lit up Fermes' face. He liked Kashi's answer. "You have a great spirit, child." He looked at the open chest. "I see you have already acquired my father's legacy. Tell me, what do you think of it?"

Kashi crossed his arms. "To be honest, I was disappointed at first. But, I understand. No matter how powerful he was. Ferulic sought to beautify and create—not destroy."

Fermes nodded. "Good answer. Here, take my hand." He then pointed at Kira. "And place the other on your friend."

Kashi did as he said, and then watched as purple light burst from the ground and encased them. Kashi shut his eyes from the brilliantly bright light. By the time he reopened them, he found that they stood in the fields outside Aktaver's lair.

Fermes released Kashi's hand, and once more offered his thanks. "It was an honor meeting you, Kashi of the daeben. I will be watching over your progress."

Kashi nodded. "I will not disappoint."

Fermes smiled as he shimmered, and then burst into petals of light.

Kashi watched the petals climb into the morning sky. When they were no longer in sight, he looked at Kira. "Well, then. Let's head to Fladnag's shall we?"

Main Conference Room,

Public Relations Building,

Kerta.

Ten elders sat around a long rectangular table. Warriors clad in intimidating red armor stood protectively along the room's walls, upon which a distinctive 'A' crossed out with two swords was painted.

Tak! Tak! Tak!

The elders' discussions momentarily ceased as a cleric walked into the room, and then stood to the side. "All rise. Absalon-sama is about to make his entrance."

The elders grumbled under their breath but ultimately rose to their feet. The mahogany doors swung open. Their grumbles died out as a man in blood-red regalia confidently strode into the hall. The man, General Absalon took a seat at the head of the table, accompanied on both sides by his trusted generals: Nyte and Asha.

"Welcome gentlemen," Absalon started. The general's red-hot glare seemed to burn the elders' minds.."I am glad to see you answered my summons."

Bastard! You threatened us! You gave us no choice!

"We could not possibly refuse the summons of the mayor of Kerta," said Dreifus, the spokesman for them all. "If I may, why have you called us away from our towns? There is much work to be done."

Absalon looked at Dreifus. "I will be seizing the capital soon. I require extra sword arms."

Dreifus paled. "You already have more than half our able-bodied men. The few we have left can barely keep monsters at bay. I ask that you reconsider."

"This is not a request." Absalon's tone was deadpan. "You all will cooperate... or face the consequences."

"You... what about those left in the towns?! How do they fend for themselves?"

"I will compensate for any lives lost. Their sacrifice is for the greater good of this country."

Dreifus' knuckles whitened. There was nothing he could do or say to change the tyrant's mind. If he refused to cooperate, his village would be burned to the ground for resisting. Sighing, the old man resigned to his fate. "Very well. We will-"

Bang!

Suddenly, the door swung open. A young man ran into the room and then fell to his knees beside Absalon. "Urgent report, Absalon-sama!"

Absalon's gaze narrowed. This appeared serious. "Speak."

"We just received word that the Rinks are once again functioning!"

"What!?" The room exploded in a flurry of shouts. "Impossible!" "They have not been functional for centuries!" "Unbelievable!"

"Silence!" Absalon commanded. The room went deathly silent. He then regarded the messenger. "Can we contact other nations with them?"

"N-no my lord! It appears they have all been reset. We can only configure them manually."

"Then nothing's changed," Absalon stated. "First, we recapture the capital. Then we look into the matter of the Rinks."

"B-but my lo-"

Absalon waved his hand. "Dismissed."

The messenger shivered as he stood up. He then backed away, and silently exited the room.

Once the door shut, Absalon got to his feet and then placed his hand on the table. He glared at each of these elders as he informed them. "My army will be marching on the capital in ten days." His voice lowered, yet carried an unbearable force. "For your sake, I hope your men sign up by then. Dismissed."

Dreifus and the rest of the elders exited the room, all sharing a common thought: they needed to find the location of the true prince.

"Hmm. What do we do about this?" Asha asked, taking a seat. Blade did the same opposite her.

"First the circle... And now the Rinks," Absalon mumbled, tapping the table. "We need to find out what's going on. If players are responsible, we need to know how, so we can monopolize it."

Blade frowned. "What are Rinks exactly?"

"Oh, yeah," Asha said. "You didn't play the last game. They're basically cellphones for this world. Uses magic though."

"Hm. Pretty convenient. It'll be great if we could control them." Dollar signs sparkled in Blade's eyes. "Y'know, charge players a lot for it."

Absalon burst into laughter. "Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that? Bring me Verul."

Asha sighed. "You executed him two days ago."

"Wait, then who's in charge of commerce?"

"Some new guy. Name's Shigul I think."

"Bring him then."

Fladnag's Home.

33rd Peniel 1091.

Kashi and Kira stopped in front of Fladnag's home. Unsurprisingly, they found the old wizard waiting in front of the building.

Fladnag's eyes sparkled with a mixture of delight and mischief. "You survived," he cheered, and then added with a sly grin. "How do you like your new class?"

Kashi was conflicted. On one hand, an Artist class was complete shit. On the other hand, the class gave him some overpowered skills. He, however, did not know how long he would remain OP (Overpowered) for. His class would receive detriments to certain class perks. Warriors, for example, gained at least a fifty percent increase in ATK power when using their class weapons. Well, in the end, it mattered on how smart he was.

In the end, Kashi shrugged and said, "It's not so bad."

"Hoho, you're not convinced I see." Fladnag chuckled, stroking his beard. "I understand. What if I told you Ferulic defeated all his foes solely with a paintbrush?"

Kashi's brows furrowed. "You're saying this class has secrets?" Now that he thought about it, there had been something about unique skills. Hm. Maybe it wasn't called Dimension for show.

Fladnag's eyes sparkled. "Plenty."

"I suppose you're not going to show me?"

"Now where's the fun in that? I will give you a hint though. Won't do you good to bumble around blindly." A branch appeared in his hands. It eerily resembled Rosario's branch. "You remember this, don't you?"

Kashi accepted the branch. It identified after several failed attempts. "Rosario's branch. But I thought I left it in Aktaver's lair."

"There are seven of those. Each will grant you extra power. You must find and join the remaining five."

"Remaining five? That leaves one."

"You already used the first to obtain Ferulic's legacy," Fladnag explained. "Look out for this mark." The back of his robe turned transparent, revealing a tattoo of seven broken swords bound by a sash of blood. "The branches shouldn't be too far from them."

Kashi nodded. "Thank you." He then looked down at the branch. "Um... how do I activate them?"

"Ah yes, I completely forgot." Fladnag took Kashi's hand and then wrapped it around the branch. He then mumbled something under his breath.

The branch took on a bright glow as it metamorphosed into a piece of broken wood with archaic text etched onto it.

"Oh...wow," Kashi muttered. He placed the broken wood into his inventory, hands shaking in delayed shock. If this was a power from the first, he wondered what the remaining six abilities would be. Not a bad class at all.

"Now that you have a taste of power, where will you go next?" Fladnag asked as he knelt in front of Kira. He stroked her fur, tickling her behind her ears. To Kashi's dismay, Kira responded by rubbing her head against the old man's soft beard.

Kashi rolled his eyes. Where was this love when Kira was with him?. "The capital. I plan on conquering the capital."

"Will you be joining the main army then? I hear they are recruiting."

"No. I have a separate course of action."

The wizard paused, his eyes narrowing. "As I recall you are yet to join a guild, aren't you? You won't get any honors in such a large scale battle without one."

Kashi shrugged. "I'll figure something out. I can't join a guild 'cause I'm banned from Kerta. No other major towns close-by where I can sign up." Actually, the only reason he could sign up in Kerta was that the capital was lost.

"After how long we've known each other." Fladnag sighed as he got to his feet. "I have a stake in you, daeben. I'll offer my assistance should you require it - to an extent of course."

Kashi's brow rose. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I can easily get you into the city." Fladnag snorted. His gaze turned disdainful. "Any amateur illusion mage could."

"You could? How?"

"Oh ye of little faith." Fladnag snapped his fingers.

Brilliant white light enveloped the elf, and then lifted him off the ground. Kashi felt his hair grow longer and his body began to morph in weird places. Eventually, the light dimmed, and then set him on the ground.

Kashi examined his fair skin in surprise. That was... hm? Something was odd. His chest felt heavy.

Kashi looked down. "Kyaaaa!" A high-pitched scream rang through the forest to the adventurers outside. The daeben nearly went mad with rage! "Wh-what did you do to me?!"

"Just what this tale needed. A good gender-bender tag." Fladnag laughed as he leisurely stroked his beard. "Marvelous, don't you think?"

Kashi grabbed and pulled on the wizard's beard, eyes burning. "Change. Me. Back!"

"No." Fladnag flicked the young man's forehead. "You have about ten hours before you return to normal. I suggest you get going."

"You look much cuter as a girl"

"Shut it!" Kashi glared at Kira, who responded with a show of her considerably large teeth. Kashi shivered. Groaning inwardly, he sighed and then released Fladnag's beard. "Whatever. This isn't enough to faze me."

Unfortunately, Kira had no intention of letting it go.

"Of course. That freak out does not count as fazing."

"Oh, he is not alone in this," Fladnag said.

Kira suddenly felt a shiver run down her spine. Her eyes grew wide, and she immediately whirled around in an attempt to flee. Snap!

Unfortunately, she was too late. Fladnag snapped his fingers and Kira subsequently morphed to resemble an average white dog. "What is this?!"

"Ha! Serves you right" Kashi gleefully enjoyed Kira's wronged expression. However, he instantly turned to Fladnag when she once again exposed those pearly whites. "I cannot thank you enough for your help. Though I may appear rude, I will forever be in your debt."

Fladnag chuckled. "Worry not. You have already begun to repay me."

Kashi looked at Fladnag with suspicion, but he eventually decided against confronting the wizard. "Thanks again. I should be on my way."

"Aethir guide your path."

3rd Floor Cat's Glass

Guild Administrations.

Kerta

A female halben and her cute white dog walked up to the clerk. "Hi, I would like to form a guild please."

The clerk, a red fox-woman gave the elf a once-over. Ugh, another poor one. They all think just anyone can start a guild. "That'll be one hundred Syros."

Kashi nodded. "That's no problem." He removed a purse of gold and dropped it on the counter. "Is there anything else?"

The clerk gaped. The nonchalance in the way the girl had coughed up the gold suggested she had much more. Now that she took a closer look, the daeben was kind of cute. She cleared her throat to dispel the thoughts in her head. "I need the signature of at least one other member."

"I don't have anyone else."

"I'm sorry then. Guilds need at least two members before they can be formed. Was once five, but recent times have forced us to reduce both the requirements."

Kashi gnashed his teeth. He did not have much time left. He could always pay a random stranger to sign up with him; but it felt wrong. He was deep in thought on how to proceed when he remembered. There was someone he knew without a guild.

Kashi quickly scrolled through his friend list, but to his dismay, the target was offline. He debated further on what to do, then opted to wait. At least until he had only an hour left.

In the meantime, Kashi took a seat by the wall. His breath evened out, as he sunk into deep meditation. Three hours later, he received a notification.

+200 MP

Ferulic's Spirit: Level 2

A wide grin spread across the daeben's face; the skill was really broken. With this, Kashi would not have to slave away reading in order to raise his mana. Sure, it was boring, but it would make a real difference in the latter stages of the game.

He stretched his sore body as he got to his feet. A glance through the friend's list showed his savior had come online. He contacted her and asked her to meet him at the counter.

A few minutes later, Leila walked out of the elevator. She scanned the room searching for the daeben. Her gaze settled on an unfamiliar female daeben waving at her. Is that... No, it can't be. She walked up to the elf, brows drawn together. "Kashi?"

Kashi panicked. "Shh.. keep it down. I don't know where Absalon's goons might be."

"Oh, okay." She looked him over. "That's... an in-te-resting look."

"It's not what it looks like! Fladnag did this." Kashi pointed at the uncomfortable lumps of fat he had been lugging around. How the heck did women live with them? "Let's just forget this ever happened. I need your help."

"What with? I owe you for the Spriggans."

"Are you in any guilds right now?"

"No. Haven't found any that suit me."

Kashi took a deep breath. "I really need someone to help in forming a guild. Can't do it without a partner."

"Why not just pay some random person to sign up with you?"

Kashi shrugged. "It doesn't feel right."

Leila's eyes narrowed, but then she relaxed. "Now, I'm not saying I'll join. But if I wanted to, what's your guild's main purpose. I won't join you if you're just forming a guild for the sake of having one."

"To put it simply... World Conquest."

Leila nearly choked. "Sorry. Did you just say world conquest?"

"Yes."

"Like rule the world, overlord, and all that?"

"Yes."

Coming from anyone else, Leila would have laughed him off as delusional, but his eyes told her he was dead serious. "Okay," she conceded.

"You'll do it?"

"Yeah, sure; why not? Sounds like it'll be interesting." As far as Leila was concerned, this would further her own goals too.

Upon reaching an agreement, Kashi and Leila returned to the counter to sign up.

Uwaah, are they a couple? They go so well together. The clerk shook her head. She had to stop reading those books. She walked them through the procedures, rules, and regulations of forming guilds.

Half an hour, and increasing hate for paperwork later, they were finally on the final question. "What is the name of your guild?" asked the clerk.

Kashi thought long and hard on it. He had never really been part of guilds so he was not well versed in good guild names. The ones he could think up where Squad of skulls; Nightstriders; Battleborn; Wasted Brigade. Unfortunately, any name he thought up was already taken. The longer he tried, the more frustrated he got. At this rate, they might as well call themselves Hopeful Maggots with the time it was taki-

"Hopeful Maggots it is," announced the clerk as she penned the name down.

"Wait! I didn't mean to say that out loud!"

"I'm sorry, but once you've chosen a name, you can't change it until death or disbandment. And as stated earlier, you cannot disband until at least five months after being formed." The clerk paused and then looked up at Kashi. "There is one special case where you can rename your guild. Unfortunately, you can only stumble on it yourself. I am not cleared to tell you."

Kashi cradled his head in his hands, as Leila patted his back.

The clerk beamed at him. "I look forward to seeing the future of Hopeful Maggots."

'Ugh... kill me now.'