Elements, for most that would mean the periodic table of elements. Thinking of the basic building blocks of everything around them. But for me, for the rest of the world at the time elements were more esoteric. Things such as fire, water, earth, and wind were what most would think of.
But there were higher orders of elements, when you delved deeper you would find them to be things such as time, space, karma, everything of a higher order. They were indisputable parts of the world. Elements that could not be erased from existence, that would persist through the blind eternities.
And right now, at this very moment those and more unnamable elements rushed past my head. But even those, weakened by the strong shield of my trusted ally, were more than enough to burn me to a crisp, to twist me into nothingness.
No matter what I did, whether it be moving, dodging, or any other action. If I were to do anything I would die.
It was that high level of a battle. I could never interfere. Not with monsters that powerful. Maybe if I was in peak condition.
But right now I was not, all of my mana was gone, any element or power that I had gathered in this life was taken or already used.
Another attack rushed past my head, taking with it my hearing. For a moment I just stood still, my whole body kneeling in hope.
For my whole life, it was nothing more than failure after failure. Upon more failures. Every attempt at breaking through that barrier, of karma and luck. Of death and loss. Nothing had ever stopped it.
No matter the efforts of my own or others, it would all lead to death and loss. There was nothing that I could do. If every attempt was fated to die, with a snap of lady fortunes fingers.
And maybe that would have been the end, but no. I had to be given hope, hope in the form of a game. One that took the world by storm.
One that turned my fate around. Even with all of the misfortunes that I had seen upon my life, every death and loss of my own family, of my own friends.
For once there was nothing of that sort. Even if my only living friend refused my handouts, I was still able to find joy in the little I could play.
But now, as volley after volley of attacks reached past the shield of my one and only ally. I couldn't help but despair.
He stood there, his favorite spear discarded on the ground in favor of a shield. One that would diminish the attacks of our enemies.
No, my enemies. Despair once again filled my mind.
If only I was not hated by karma this much. If I had accepted those offers, maybe… maybe then things would have ended differently.
Maybe I could have lived with him, my dear friend… my dear crush. It was more than that but words failed me in how much I cared for that reliable back of his.
Maybe if I had submitted we could have lived a life together. We could have settled down and had a family.
If only… if only…
"Hah" I exhaled, my resolve made. I was fine, there was no other option. We would both die here if I did nothing.
But for once, I wanted to be the reliable one. And let my dear live on.
He would mourn me, I know that. But he would still move on, and maybe one day. When he is old and frail, sitting with his family for the last time.
Maybe then, I would see him again. And he could regale me with his life. I would listen to it. Every detail.
I sighed again, but this time I was ready.
My resolve was set and there would be nothing more to stop me. And as such I started the preparations.
My eyes closed as hundreds of thousands of calculations flashed through my mind. Each and every one of them then being transcribed into the gem sitting between my breasts.
I held it up, the mana in the air, the divine power, the energy of the world, everything that I could find. Everything was given to it.
Intricately woven into a single line, one that would give me the power to reverse causality, to reverse the very nature of this world and give power to my beloved.
To my first and only love.
My green hair floated above me, as my eyes opened with power.
"^*(%^&("
I chanted out loud, the world stopping with my words. Then… with a flash of light… it activated.
For one final time I took a look to my dear love. His small form, burdened with years of fighting for me. For the sole purpose of being by my side.
And despite the pain, I knew that what I had done was worth it. That with this my beloved would live on.
Was there no pure joy better than that. Knowing that the one you loved would live a good life at the cost of your own.
…
"SHIELDS" I yelled. And instantly the world was covered with golden radiant light. Barriers with runes, and others just pure elemental manipulation.
Thousands of those were overlaid upon each other to create an impenetrable fortress. Or at least that was what I had thought.
As in the immediate moment afterwards, when the light from both the shields and whatever that witch had cast was gone. It was then that I truly saw hell.
A sight that I would never be able to forget, it was one of pure destruction. Even now I could barely feel my arms, nor my torso.
And that was me, the strongest of these people. The rest were vaporized with nothing left over of themselves.
Not even dust.
"Shit" I lightly cursed.
Looking over at that woman, the witch she was, was dead. Her very essence used to fuel the spell.
But that was not all that was left, the boy, barely out of his teens, was looking up to me.
He had discarded the damned shield and was holding tightly to his spear.
I scoffed at his effort. It was futile. No matter how hard he would try, there would be no future for him.
He would die here along with the witch.
And how foolish that witch was. Honestly, she was too self centered. To think that this had all been about her.
Maybe she was right. Yet only about the initial times. She was a pain in our sides, constantly taking our efforts and making them her own.
But that was barely an annoyance, not enough for this big of a welcome party. No, it had only been after the appearance of her little boy toy.
The one currently glowing with power and rage.
He could not live, especially not now. Not that his little witch had died.
With his potential, and even just his current power, there was no doubt that he would bring ruin upon us.
I had even confirmed it when he was first seen.
Inari, he needed to be taken out. That woman may have thought that it was all about her, that everything we did was in order to destroy her life and that may have been right at one point but not now.
Not with the memories of mine. Scattered from a future that was not to come. This boy, barely even out of his teens, was a threat like none other.
Even with his slow start, taking to the game within the last few years of its existence before it took over our reality, had already made it to the top twenty percent. And maybe he would have lived.
But that was only if he stayed off of our radar. No, he had found company with that witch and as such we had no choice but to take notice of him.
And with every foretelling that we had taken from our future selves the more wary we had become. Until that fateful day.
Until the scattered memories had come. A day like no other.
It had begun with me eating breakfast, something normal before it happened. A vision of a dark cave. An injury ridden future me using the last of his life force in order to send a message back to the past.
Even scattered as it was, I knew that I had to do something about it. The man, Inari, had almost killed the future me, even after I had ascended to power unknown to time.
And with a passing glance at that, he was that powerful. And I knew at that moment that Inari needed to die.
He was a threat like no other, one that needed to be taken care of.
And as the energies of the world died down, vision reasserted its dominance in my being. I found myself face to face with a tear ridden boy.
His spear was pointed towards my face, a pure thrust that contained nothing more than the desire to kill.
But it was not enough, with pretentious ease I swung my sword up and deflected the blow.
Yet I had underestimated him as his hand let go of its grip on the end of the spear, letting it fall to the side in a loose grip in order to punch me in the face.
Blood dripped down my face as warning bells rang in my ears. I grit my teeth and ignored the stabbing pain that threatened to distract me.
I brought my free hand to my side and within the very moment coated it with sharp mana, stabbing forwards.
Yet still the boy had dodged, using the momentum of the spear in his hand and how it swung the wrong way in order to twist his body out of the way.
Exactly what I had wanted, I smiled as thousands of projectiles threw their way through the barrier and into the back of the boy.
And if they were normal then they would have done no damage, nothing more than a few cuts that would heal in but a moment's notice.
But they were not normal, they were poisoned, cursed, blessed, every which way. The opposing forces would tear his body apart even if he survived this battle.
I smirked as the hand holding my sword raised up and slashed his back. His cry music to my ears.
But that was not what happened, an illusion, one that I had noticed far too late.
I felt his hand holding my heart and I went to cast the counter spell but that moment was too late. I was distracted by a stabbing pain on my cheek.
The earlier blow had been more than that. It was a minor curse, something that I had not even taken notice of but it was enough to distract my spellcasting. I couldn't do anything but watch as my heart was crushed, the demon blood hidden within giving the boy a nasty surprise.
But that was barely any consolation as I would still die.
I grit my teeth as I tried to heal but nothing would work. The demon blood in my veins had been taken from my heart and dissolved in the air.
I was destined to die and as such I just watched on, neither closing my eyes or looking away as both the boy and I expired at once.
…
Sun shone on my eyes as I woke up in my bed. It was a new day, a monday. Meaning that school would start soon.
I groaned as I found the alarm clock that kept on beeping despite the awareness that I had. It was faulty.
Not something that I really minded. It was too expensive for me to replace it, meaning that it would have to stay broken or I would need to fix it myself.
Again I groaned as the piercing noise broke away into a low hum, my pressing of the buttons had done nothing but harm the alarm clock.
Honestly at that point I should have just scrapped it.
But I didn't just taking the batteries out and reminding myself to think about it later.
Getting out of bed I grab all of the clothes that I would need and head to the shower.
Half an hour later I had done all that I needed to do, idly eating breakfast as some news show popped up and told of some VR video game that everyone was hyping up as a second world.
I sighed as I looked at my wallet. I would have loved to play it, especially with my friend but I couldn't afford it. I could barely even afford rent and food, let alone this new technology.
It was a shame too, as they were saying you could make real money from it unlike other games.
Either way though there was no way an orphan like me could play it. And as such I just gave up and commuted to school.
…
The ringing of the bell signaled to me the start of class and not only that but it signaled for me to take off my headphones.
For the time that I had been sitting in the classroom I had been doing nothing but listening to the same song on repeat. There was nothing better to do.
If I could I would have listened for the whole class, after all it was math and there was nothing difficult about that. Others might have differing opinions but I knew that it was easy as all hell.
Honestly I didn't even need to listen to the class, a simple glance at the notes gave me all the understanding that I ever needed.
"Yo"
I turn my head and find myself face to face with my only friend, Ata. I nod and gesture for her to sit. She was older than me and so was everyone else of this class.
Of course they were, I would have skipped even more grades if I could but Ata didn't want me to and I was too afraid to let her go. The one friend that understood me.
And as her soft green hair fell upon the desk, her head leaning towards me in a meaningful way I couldn't help but look away. There was nothing other to say, even if she was so forward I could never take advantage of her.
Her situation was unfortunate just as mine was, and it was because of that unspoken bond that we were so close but there was something off today.
While her behavior was familiar it had a different smell to it, like there was some sort of mature undertone that I could barely sniff out.
"Hello" I greeted back, idly waving my hand.
She went to say something but the lecture had already begun and as such she was given no chance to talk any more than we already had.
Minutes after minutes all passed by, a break in the lecture. One that allowed for the conversation to continue despite the tyrannical rule over the classroom that the teacher had taken.
"Hey, Inari, have you heard of that new VR game?" She began, her eyes uncharacteristically shining at its mention.
I just simply nod in affirmation, how could I have not known about it. It was being hyped as a second world to humanity. With time dilation that would let people enjoy two days in one and movements so realistic that you could not tell the difference from real life and it.
Of course I had heard of it, I would have been deaf not to and even then the posters were everywhere.
It was simply titled PURE, a pure experience made for everyone, there were no limits. It was a land with no ceiling. Anything and everything could be done in it.
At least that was what it was being hyped as. But I knew, I knew of the impossibility of it. All because I would have tried making it one day. And because of that I knew of the difficulty of generating all of those structures.
Of keeping rules and systems consistent with almost infinite actions. There would need to be some major revolution. A super AI even greater than the best that we had today.
For a game of those promises we might even end up using a whole planets worth of energy just to power the servers needed for the game.
I scoffed, turning from my notes and memorizing the equation in mere moments. Then, once I had done that I turned again but this time to look at Ata. She was smiling and gesturing to her bag.
What she had in it was a mystery one that would have…
*DING* *DING*
I startled from my seat, the bell breaking me from my thoughts. I took my things and made my way outside of the classroom, making for the lunch hall where Ata was leading me to.
She took my hand, her own warm in my embrace. I wanted to blush, to call out the behavior but I could not voice my thoughts, it was like something was actively stopping me.
It might have been the gentle touch, her innocent stare, or maybe even just her smile. But I was captivated.
Enough that I barely noticed when I was sat down next to her and a lunch placed in front of me.
I reached into my pocket, pulling out the meager money that I had been given for living expenses and attempted to repay her for the food.
"No, no need for that." She stopped me, her glare unusually hard.
"Bu-" I tried to argue but my words were drowned out by the crowds of people rushing past Ata and I.
"No, you don't need to pay me for something I would already do."
I tried to shake my head but she just set another glare at me and I didn't know what to do, it was like she had suddenly gained dozens of years of experience in dealing with me.
But that wasn't possible.
"If you really want to repay me then here…" With that last word she ruffles through her bag and pulls out a helmet from the expanded space.
"What?! Is this..?" I question in a panic.
"Yes, it is a helmet for PURE, so if you really want to help me then play with me, be in my party and help me reach the heights of this game."
Her eyes were set hard, like some sort of invisible resolve that only she could see. Yet I could only stare, captivated by the force of those eyes.
"Ok" I simply agreed, unable to say anything else.
…
I stumbled into my home. The door opening with a creak.
Maintenance had taken a backfoot, little things like a creak in the door, or a squeaky tile or board were things that I could not afford to fix.
Not with the meager money that I had. Everything went into food and living expenses. Though right now it stood out to me.
All because of a brief hope. Money could be made in PURE. Lots of it if the press and news were to be believed.
And it was that hope that drew my attention to my living. Dreams of a nicer house, of food that wasn't always leftovers.
It drew me in. And eventually I gave into temptation and plugged the helmet into the network.
PURE was already installed into the helmet. Meaning that I just needed to wait until five in the afternoon.
The time when the servers would be up.
In the meantime I texted Ata, careful to not be too eager.
[Ata: Have you installed the helmet, signature and all]
[Me: Signature?]
[Ata: Yeah, ya need to put it on and let it sync with you for the first time. Then even though the servers aren't open you can start your character creation]
[Me: K]
[Ata: Good, we'll meet at the country's main city since we'll randomly be assigned a starter village]
[Me: Anything else?]
[Ata: trust your gut]
With that I closed my phone and lay my head down on the pillow.
I had not known that we needed to sync the helmet to us. But it was good to know. And as such I did just that.
[Syncing started, would you like to create your character Y/N]
I selected the 'Y' and instantly I was teleported to a new place. The surroundings around me were like a black void.
The only thing in my vision was the screen and one other such thing.
It was like a statue. But it was haunting in its visage. A praying girl. With hair that flowed down to her bottom and a blindfold that belied pain and discomfort.
She held her hands together in a prayer, a small cross reaching out of her hands.
It was hauntingly beautiful.
[Select Name]
"Inari" I called out and the system acknowledged it.
[Would You Like To Start The Tutorial Y/N]
"Tutorial?" I asked out loud. Were the servers not offline. Or was the tutorial separate.
And even then why was I not able to choose a class or even a weapon and skills. What kind of game was this.
I shook my head and threw those thoughts from my mind. It was unnecessary to think of them at the moment.
If anything the tutorial would explain it to me.
And as such I chose the 'Y' option once more.
Again I was transported but this time it was different. I felt myself being pulled towards the statue. Its hand, once in prayer, was held out.
The small cross that she was praying to elongated and grew just as the statue did. Or maybe it was that I was nearer and could grasp the actual size of it.
No matter the reality I was placed onto the cross and consumed in a brilliant scope of light.
I closed my eyes and opened them once again.
But this time I was not in the black void that I once was. No, I was in a town. Hundreds of people around me.
Yet unlike them I was actually real. I could tell that they were NPC's just by the way that they moved about.
The familiarity they had with each other. The light conversations that told of their familiarity with the world.
It was something that no other player should know about and as such it was only logical that they were NPC's rather than players.
"You!" I startled and turned to the side. One of the NPC's, or people if you would prefer, yelled at me.
It brought my attention to where I actually was. I was not on the ground but rather slightly elevated and on a castle wall.
What I was looking down on was the rows of soldiers and knights walking around. It seemed weird that there wasn't any civilians but that could be left for later.
"Yes?" I responded almost immediately, my thoughts and deductions had taken less than a second.
"Grab a weapon from the armory and report to the staging floor."
"Yes Sir." I saluted and followed his pointing to the room.
I found myself looking at several weapons. Most of them were common like bows, swords, spears, and hammers.
Typical things you would see in video games but there were also more esoteric things.
Things such as staffs and staves, bells and whistles.
But there was only one thing that drew me, the spear. It was an easy weapon to learn and one quite complex if used right.
When I grasped it I felt assured of myself. As if this was the right thing for me.
Of course I tried other weapons but the spear was the most comfortable.
It happened as I left the armory with the spear. A series of notifications signaling my advancement.
[Inari]
[Class: Classless]
[Level: 0 (0/1000)]
[HP: 10/10]
[MP: 5/5]
[Strength: 1]
[Dexterity: 1]
[Vitality: 1]
[Mana: 1]
[SP:4]
…