With her guard now up, the Possessed man in front of her started flinging fireballs at Kary again. He shot a fireball every second and a half. She had to focus on dodging to keep her life as for now, she couldn't even get close to it.
After a couple of minutes of running around, Kary was starting to sweat a little. She couldn't run forever. But neither could her opponent shoot forever. She thought she just had to wait for it to tire out and she could easily reap him in close combat.
She was wrong, when the Flame Possessed Villager saw he wasn't able to hit her, he let out a howl and stopped. Kary thought her opening was there so she jumped forward.
As soon as she got closer, the Possessed cast a fireball in each hand, slammed them together and shaped a flaming sword out of it. He dived right at her with a vicious slash, going for head right away. Kary lifted her sword to block, but when her sword got to his, the flaming sword slid right through and kept going towards her neck.
Seeing the sword getting closer, she barely had enough time to duck. After lowering her head, to keep it attached to her body, all she saw was a burnt knee going straight for her face. She couldn't escape that one and got hit strongly in the mouth.
The force of the impact sent her flying a bit backward and she landed on her ass. Once she got back to her senses, she swiftly got to her feet. The Villager was looking at her with a mocking smile and a half-burnt face. He was waiting for her to come back at him.
Getting mad at his provocations, her eyes got colder and a sharp killing intent started rising off of her. She gripped her sword with 2 hands and slowly walked step by step towards him. When she had reached less than 6 feet from him, she ducked down and explosively shot towards her opponent. The speed she managed to get was obviously not expected from her burnt opponent, as he barely brought down his sword in time to block the hit. The strength of the hit was also not something he could fathom. It lifted his sword straight up and he got hit to the left shoulder.
Seeing that the flame solidified to block the hit, Kary understood that her adversary could make it hard or incorporeal at will. Nonetheless, she was happy she hit him. Only then did she realize, the cut she had made wasn't bleeding and fire was coming out of it. She knew she would have to aim for vital spots or she would never win.
They both started to dance around one another, slashing out to kill each other. Suddenly a change happened. The Flame Possessed Villager was starting to slow down. Signs of fatigue were getting evident in his slashes and Kary knew now was the time to end this.
In a mad dash towards her opponent, she feint slashed to the right, spun to the left and brought down her sword on the enemy's neck. His head fell to the ground.
What happened next would shape Kary's life and give rise to the name Wandering Hero.
The horn on the villager's head started to take a red hue and then turned into flames. It rose up and formed a bird-like creature made of fire. The creature screeched and shot right for Kary's forehead. With the fight she had just been through, Kary had no energy left to move. The fire-bird now shaped almost like an arrow hit her head and disappeared. A red dot was left where it hit and slowly, pain started to spread from it. Kary took her head between her hands and howled. she could feel a presence wrestling her mind for control. She felt herself falling to the ground and losing consciousness.
She woke up, lying on burning rock. She could feel the heat around her as if she were in an oven. She struggled to get up, only to see she was lying on a plateau, on the side of a volcano. She heard another screech from behind. When she turned around she was face to face with the fire-bird from before, only now, it was much bigger.
'' System Notice, the player has been forcefully teleported to an alternate dimension. Name of dimension 'Spirit World, Phoenix's Domain'. The player has been assigned side quest with special rewards. You can either complete side quest or use system to forcefully teleport out. Please be advised that if you choose to be teleported out, you automatically forfeit the whole 'Beginner Trial Mission' and can not do it again. There is no penalty for failing side quest and normal rewards will be given anyway ''
'' So if I refuse to do this, I lose everything. If I do it and die, I lose half of it. And if I do it and win, I win big? That sounds pretty obvious. I ACCEPT! ''
'' Quest accepted, generating objectives, please standby... Objectives generated. The Villager you killed had been foraging around in the forest and found an egg and ate it. That egg had birthed the spirit of a phoenix. When breaking the egg the spirit has been released. It took possession of the man in a fit of anger and led him back to his village to take revenge. Seeing that you have killed the villager, the Phoenix tried possessing you. You struggled and landed in its Domain. Now you must prove your worth or it will take control of your character and you will have failed the secondary mission. You will also receive a physical penalty as a result of fire possession''
'' Well that should be simple '' thought Kary. She then looked at the bird to see what it was going to have her do.
'' Welcome human, to my Domain. Seeing that you managed to kill a small part of my consciousness, I deem you worthy to a trial. If you succeed, I shall grant you a part of my powers, If you fail, I will burn that small body of yours to ashes. Do you accept my trial human? ''
'' Yes I do Great Phoenix '' Kary answered, sucking up to him.
'' Very well. Then I shall make a clone of you from flames and you shall vanquish it ''
The Phoenix then flapped his wings and a spiral of flame shot out of them, going straight for Kary. The flames past through her without harming her then went back in front of her. They stopped a few
meters away and started taking human shape. The shape then refined into a more female-like form and then even more by taking up her face and equipment.
Once it had taken shape, it drew its sword and went into guarding position. Kary drew her own sword, ready for combat. She no longer felt exhausted, as this was the spirit world, therefor her body and spirit were separated and her spirit had not yet fought.
Not wanting to drag things out, Kary dashed straight at her fiery copy and slashed out. The flame clone side-stepped and tried to stab at her. Kary pivoted her waist, barely dodging the stab, and jumped back at a safe distance. This dance went on for a few rounds and before long, both showed signs of weakening. The fire clone then started walking towards her at a slow pace. By the time it got a few feet away, Kary had already caught on what it wanted to do. It was going to copy her faint from before. So she lowered her center and prepared to jump back.
As soon as the flame clone shot towards her, Kary feinted a top slash to imitate the possessed villager and when the flame clone started to spin for the neck blow, Kary jumped back. As soon as she landed she put all her energy into her legs and shot back forward. She brought her sword back up from the finished downward slash, right into the flame clones chest. She kept her forward momentum, passed the flame clone as it was rising from the cut and plunged her sword right into its back, through its heart, if it had one.
The flaming woman cried out in pain, then she flickered out of existence. Kary had won. She dropped to her knees, feeling the pressure from the fight disappearing. She looked up to the Phoenix and smiled.
'' I have vanquished your trial oh spirit. What do I get in return? ''
'' Hmph '' The Phoenix huffed. He had not expected her to win. Humans were so fragile after all.
'' So be it. I will give you a part of my power. Cherish it, as it will surely help you survive in the hard times to come. Now go, leave this place, your presence disturbs my peace '' Saying this, a small burning red egg separated from the Phoenix and slowly drifted towards Kary. It then slowly entered her forehead and merged with her consciousness.
'' System notification, Player Wandering Hero has acquired Phoenix Spirit Egg and will be awarded 1 ability and one special talent. Please check stat page for further information ''
Kary was then teleported out of the spirit's Domain and reappeared in the field she had first appeared in. She instantly opened her stat page.
~Wandering Hero~
Class: Swordmaster
Level: 2
Strength: 9
Dexterity: 6
Intelligence: 4
Wisdom: 4
Toughness: 6
Charm: 3/10
Luck: 7/10
Armor: 13
Attack: 3-5
~Talents~
Chosen of Fire: Player has been chosen by a spirit Phoenix and has acquired a part of its power. This gives the player a chance to resist burns and the ability Rise from the ashes. This talent can be cultivated to upgrade.
~Abilities~
Rise from the ashes (One time use): Player can die and come back to life without penalties.
'' Nice! '' Kary exclaimed. She was stocked to get this insane cheat right off the bat. To be able to come back to life without penalty, even just once, was an epic boost to any player.
Meanwhile, in her cabin, her body temperature had risen 2 degrees yet the scanners kept indicating that everything was fine. As if her body was normal even with 2 degrees hotter.
In the game, Kary decided that she had played enough for today and logged off. Her body once again felt like it was sucked in, but this time, upwards. With tired eyes and a bit of sweat, she woke up in her cabin. She felt sore all over, like if she had run a marathon. She brushed it off, thinking it was her muscles still reacting a bit through the dive.
She got out of the cabin and went to shower. Then she went down to eat as it was already late. She had played for 9 hours. Time flew by when you were getting fireballs shot at your face and a sword swung at you. She got in the kitchen, only to see a plate with food and a note in beside it on the table. The note said ' Kary, I see that you have played too long again. Heat this in the flash oven for 2 minutes, eat and go to bed, I would like to spend some time with you tomorrow. Love, Mom. '
With a smile on her face, She did as the note said. She ate and went to bed. She was looking forward to spending time with her mom and her late-night gaming afterwards.