Artificial Fantasy

Gaiden 1: Novel Meeting

Meanwhile during the battle of the <Tested Wilds>...

"GAAAHHH!!!!"

A young knight in armor screamed as he found himself being flung into the field. As he tried to get up, a young teenage [Elf] in a black robe stared at him with his eyes narrowed, frowning at the sight of his friend being thrown away. He turned to see several large slimes slither towards his direction and sighed in dismay over his friend's sudden fall.

"Seriously, Zac?" he groaned as he slowly backed away from the monsters. "I thought you said you could handle a few slimes."

"Y-Yeah I did! I-It's just that... I've been out of shape after days of studying offline, okay?!" Zac muttered as he got to his feet and raised his sword. "And I told you, <Razul>! My name is <Arthur>! A-R-T-H-U-R! As in King Arthur from those old movies! Have you heard of using in-game names in an MMORPG like this one?!"

"I know. But I admit, it's still kind of oxymoronic to call you that, even in this virtual reality game."

Arthur frowned in response to his friend's teasing. However, he quickly turned his attention to the slimes as they blasted a large water ball towards Razul, which he quickly dodged with a sidestep away before he drew his gun-like weapon from his robe.

"Okay, enough bickering. Do you even know how to beat those things?!"

Razul quickly aimed his weapon at one of the slimes and fired off several energy bullets towards it, which caused it to explode in a blast of blue liquid. However, it quickly regenerated itself as it split into two more slimes, albeit a bit smaller than the others, much to his dismay.

"I don't know! Wind is usually the one who identifies monsters with his [Hunting] skills and of all days, he had to ditch both of us just so he can explore that crazy forest with his brother alone!" Arthur complained as he charged in at a group of slimes attacking Razul. But when he tried to stab one of them, his long sword just went through its serious body, trapping its blade in the process. "W-What the hell?!"

He tried to pull his sword out of the slime but to no avail. In response, it quickly stretched several parts of its body and formed a long whip and lashed out at the young knight.

"Idiot! Try paying attention to your surroundings!"

Shifting his aim towards the slime stuck onto the panicking knight, the gears on the side of Razul's weapon started to turn as blue energy began to form inside the barrel.

"Energy waving throughout the elements around me. Gather to me and create a force to use against my enemies."

He then pulls the trigger, which releases the gathered energy from the weapon's barrel.

"[Mana Blast]."

The energy shifted into a large energy bullet as it pierced through the slime, causing it to explode into a liquid as it released Arthur's blade. However, it also caused him to be covered by the slime's remains in the process.

"Dude! Warn a guy next time!"

Razul sighed in response and said, "If you hadn't moved in time, you would've ended up as a victim of friendly-fire. And even if I hadn't tried to shoot it, you'd have ended up as part of that slime's diet anyway."

"Still, try to warn me next time!"

Just as they continue, the remaining slimes began to advance on the boys.

"Forget that, Osborne. How about we focus on what's in front of us first? Like trying to disable their division abilities?"

"How should I know how to do that? And I told you, call me Arthur!" The young knight shouted in annoyance.