I snuck my way out of bed, trying not to wake up Alex and ruin whatever dream that caused her to make that blissful face. I threw on some clothes and made my way to the kitchen to get some coffee and start breakfast.

 

After yesterday’s events, I needed some ‘me’ time to collect my thoughts and figure out how to move forward. After I finish eating breakfast, I wrap up the remaining food and leave it on the table. I then leave a note for Yuki and Alex before grabbing a quick shower and getting into the VR pod.

 

Opening my eyes, I am greeted with a white room with a small box with words. Reading it, I realize it is asking me to input my new User ID. Using the virtual keyboard, I type in Rejected_Goddess.

 

After I finish, the normal login procedure happens, and I am back at the inn. I see both Emiko and Lenora, or should I say Yuki, next to me on the bed. It looks like they haven’t logged in just yet.

 

I pull myself out of bed and equip my clothes and armor. I quickly leave the inn for now and decide to head over to Old Man’s place. I need something to do while I collect my thoughts. I open up my menu while walking through the town to see my new stats.

 

Name: Gwyndolyn

Race: Elf

Gender: Futa

Title: Friend of Eri

Level: 7

Total Level: 7

HP: 24/24

MP: 18/18

STM: 92/92      

                         

Attribute Points: 0

STR:18

DEX: 32

CON: 17

INT: 19

WIS: 18

CHA: 13

 

My stats look a lot different now from last time. I guess this is what the update did. I look through my skill list to see if there were any changes and see that Friend of Eri is still listed. I also see some added stats for my defense, physical, ranged, and magic attacks.

 

Looking through everything, I noticed a blinking mail icon in my lower right vision. I tap on it to open the message.

 

Gwyndolyn,

Thank you for playing Rebirth Online. We have introduced many new changes to the game, one of which is your very own companion called a spark. Be sure to care for it, and we hope you enjoy the game!

 

I see there is an attachment to the letter and open it. A small ball of blue light pops out of the icon and floats in front of me.

 

“Hello, Ascended. I am spark, your personal companion. Would you like to give me a name?”

 

The thing had a slight robotic androgynous sound to its voice. I stand there for a few moments trying to think of a name for it, but then I remember my earlier dream.

 

“I will call you Kairi. You can call me Gwyn.”

 

“Thank you for the name, Gwyn. What is on the agenda for today?”

 

“I was thinking of going to Old Man’s place and getting some practice today.”

 

“That sounds good. I also see you have a quest from him too. Might I remind you that you also have a quest to report about demon activity to the capital? It is not a timed request, but it is marked urgent nonetheless.”

 

“Yeah, I remember. I’m just not feeling traveling there just yet. Are you able to send messages to people for me?”

 

“Yes, that is one of my many functions.”

 

“Ok, cool. Can you send Eri a message?”

 

Talking with Kairi and Eri made my mood better, and before long, I was standing in front of a familiar old shop. Opening the door, I was met once again with the little bell.

 

“Old Man! Are you home?”

 

“Hello to you too, Gwyn. Follow me. I have something to teach you today.”

 

I nod and follow the older man into the back. We come to a table with a magic circle design on it with strange runes placed in it.

 

“So, what are we doing here today?” I asked while curiously gazing at the table.

 

“This here is an alchemy table. Alchemy allows you to transmute one item into another as long as they are similar. So you can turn iron into gold, but you cant turn a flower into gold.”

 

“That’s pretty cool, but what is stopping you from just turning all the metal into gold? I am sure you could get some good money for it.”

 

“That is what happened hundreds of years ago. Alchemist back then did exactly that, and they lowered the value of gold. Because of that, many kingdoms fell because of the sudden shift in the market. The remaining kingdoms outlawed alchemy, and eventually, things went back to normal.”

 

“If it is outlawed, why are you teaching me?”

 

“Alchemy is still a viable craft and can help you with your other crafts. That is an old law and isn’t really enforced anymore, especially since there are so few practitioners. I only know of three others besides myself.”

 

“All right, got it. How does this work?”

 

“First, you need an alchemy circle with the correct runes for what you are transmuting. For this, we are going to turn this pile of dirt into a rock. You place the dirt in the center of the circle.”

 

I reach into a small bag of dirt provided and place it in the center of the circle.

 

“Next, you need to place your hands on the transfer points. See these two smaller circles with the single rune in them? These allow you to transfer mana from yourself to the circle, which powers the rest of the array. Works very much like enchanting.”

 

I place my hands on the circles and stand there for a moment as I realize I don’t know anything about mana.

 

“Sorry, Old Man. I don’t know how to do this.”

 

“Ah! You probably have never used mana before. I can teach you how to circulate it, but I would recommend going to the mage school and learning more. Sorcery and what I teach here go well together. Give me your hands, and I will guide you on feeling mana.”

 

I spend the morning practicing with Old Man until I can finally learn how to feel and circulate mana.

 

---

 

Rebirth Online Game Studios

 

A person jumps up from their seat in a large room where multitudes of people are pounding away at their keyboards. He rushes towards the office of the lead game designer.

 

*Knock* *Knock*

 

“It’s Open.”

 

“Hey, Jason. You that patch we put in to fix that anomaly that one player had?”

 

“Yeah, what about it?”

 

“Well, it didn’t work. I mean, at first, it did, but then she was given the skill back. I checked into it and found Eri was the one that did it. I figured we had a rogue VI, so I implemented quarantine protocols, and they all failed.”

 

Jason had a serious look on his face.

 

“Make sure the others don’t hear about this just yet. I will send it higher up. Until then, gather any information on the player and see if there was any hacking on their end.”

 

They nodded and walked back out towards the work floor.

 

---

 

On the moon sat a woman with black hair. Sitting across from her was another woman with silver-blonde hair and a black dress.

 

“You look happy today, Eri.”

 

“Yes! Very much so. Gwyn messaged me today, and she confided in me. There was another player by the name of Lenora, who she started to fall in love with but then found out that she was her daughter in her world.”

 

“Oh? That is interesting. Judging from your tone, there seems to be an issue.”

 

“Well, sort of. She says that it is seen as taboo by most people in her world to have a relation with such close family members, and now she doesn’t know what to do.”

 

The goddess looks towards the earth and closes her eyes for a moment before shifting her attention back to Eri.

 

“That poor woman. That man broke her spirit worse than I thought. I don’t know why the people of this world think things like that are bad. We gods have relations like that all the time. Although, my brother is a bit of a weird one and thinks it wrong. He could have done something to this world to prevent that from happening.”

 

“Eri dear, I want you to keep talking to Gwyn, and I will set up a little trial for her to help her gain her spirit back.”

 

“Yes, mistress. Also, one other thing. The company that made the game are interfering with your plans. They are trying to undo changes I implement and even tried deleting me on several occasions.”

 

“Don’t worry about it. They are insignificant. If they become too bothersome, we can deal with them at that time.”