Age: 18 years, 8 months

“Asura!” B4hamutt's voice filled the void again. “I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner, I just got off work. I'm on the way to Everlight. Don't go, don't leave! I'm coming! Please, please don’t go.”

Asher let out a sigh of relief before he moved through the menus again. He clicked a few times and Landasy Reality loaded. He quickly entered the game and found himself back in the room he had once known for so long, and in the body he had spent so much time. It felt odd. Right. So different from the body he had been using, and yet more like it was the body he belonged in.

She wondered if it was because it was so different from her body in the real world.

Asura brought her hands to her eyes, the limbs shaking. “I-I can't believe I'm back...” she whispered. Slowly her hands moved to her side and she clenched her fists and waited. A message soon popped up, alerting her that B4hamutt was attempting to access her room. She quickly clicked to allow it and the dragon burst through the door. “H-hey...” she said sheepishly while she eyed the floor.

He didn't say anything before he ran to her side and pulled her into a tight hug. She eeked when he held her close for a few moments. “Asura, I'm so happy you're back. I'm sorry for what you've had to endure but...”

“No, stop,” she said quickly before trying to pull away. “I don't want to talk about it. I just, I just came back to play. To have fun. I want to try those things no one else been able to do.”

“Huh?”

“You mentioned fighting... things. Going places others haven't,” she said before clenching her fists. “I want to do it. I want to try all those things, go to all those places and defeat monsters that no one else could. I want to be the first.”

“Okay. But what about your uhhh... condition?” he asked softly.

Asura glared at him before speaking. “I've spent too many months thinking about it. I don't have much left. I just want to enjoy myself for now. Even if it won’t matter in the end, I want to… I want to at least live while I can. Is that okay?”

“Right, sorry,” the dragon said before looking off to the side, before finally allowing her to pull away. “What did you want to do first?”

“Niohoggr. We tried once during the first year, so we might as well try again. It's in dragon lands though, any idea how we can get to it without getting caught out?”

“Maybe. Since most of their forces have focused onto their own fortress now, Voidhall, there should be a relatively minor force in the dragon lands. I have some important information I need to tell you about that, later. If we can get to dragon rising valley, it won't be any issue actually fighting the beast,” he said before moving to her desk and leaning against it. “But there will only be five of us. We can probably bring Scales, but I haven't decided who the other two will be.”

“Heh, you, me and Scales. Just like old times, right?” she said before laying back on her bed, letting her feet dangle over the side. “How about Andremedia? How many masteries does she have now?”

“She has three I think,” he said before moving his fingers through the air. “Yeah, fae, angel and leviathan.”

A smirk formed on Asura's lips before she glanced to him. “My my. You sure knew that awfully quickly, didn't you? Keeping notes on her?”

The dragon rolled his eyes before crossing his arms. “She's a member of Heroes of the Coalition, she joined while you were gone. She's... actually been asking a lot about you. I didn't tell her anything but I think she missed you. Anyway, she's proved to be very useful. Helped me organize a number of events and was pivotal in taking down the last capital. Since then I've been keeping notes on her and a number of others in the guild.”

“Wow... wait, if you have all those notes do you know anyone else who could be useful for this?”

“Possibly...” he said before tapping on the air a few times. “The fight takes place in the air, so someone with an angel mastery would be best.”

“Someone with...” Asura looked the dragon over and felt a sharp pain in her heart. “Your... your fourth mastery. W-was it angel?”

B4hamutt stopped for a moment before slowly nodding. “Yes. I passed. It wasn't easy to beat the puzzle, but I killed it. I'm sorry.”

“You... you don't need to be sorry. How many others... got their fourth?”

“Not many. There's actually a post about it on the forums,” he said while he kept flipping his hands through the air. “Only three succeeded. Me, Eighth and Scales.”

“So I was the only one of us three who didn't pass,” she said bitterly while her hands gripped the bed. “Did Scales get an angel mastery as well?”

“Yeah... after I passed I gave him some pointers for it. I'm sorry...”

“I told you, you don't have to be sorry,” Asura said before crossing her arms, struggling to find a use for them without tearing the covers. “It's my own fault.”

“Sorry,” the dragon whispered again before he lowered his gaze to her. Finally, he shook his head. “O-okay, I think I have someone,” he said before he put his hands together then pulled them apart, a gesture for expanding a menu. “Mastered leviathan, angel and dragon. Mostly like Scales, actually. Seems pretty skilled. If I remember correctly, the only reason she failed the first mastery quest was because she joined fairly late.”

“Yeah, a lot of people didn't pass,” Asura said with a chuckle. “Heck, if we hadn't pushed ourselves so hard with all those plans to defeat the bigger bosses, we probably wouldn't have either. Why didn't we ever try to do them again, once we got stronger?”

“I guess we got too busy,” B4hamutt said absentmindedly before flipping through some more invisible menus. “We got out first mastery and focused on the next quest. We did a few things, here and there, but for the most part we stuck to ourselves. Did lower level quests that gave more experience and rewards or went after bounties. Lost touch.”

She nodded and let out a sigh. “Yeah. I guess I kinda got a bit too absorbed. Spending all my limited time just... never mind. Is she messaging you back?”

“Yeah, she says she'll be able to in an hour or so. You should remember her, she's joined us a few times before and says she's happy you're back. Scales won't be on until then anyway. I'll send a message to Media and then we can go prepare. Sound good?”

The angel nodded and got to her feet. She brought up her own menu and went through her equipment, bringing her full body armor on once again. When it attached to her and she felt the familiar weight she reached up and ran her hand down the front. The grooves of the metal and jewels brought back a happy flash of memories. “Remember when we first got these armors?” she asked B4hamutt.

“Huh? Oh, our racial ones? Yeah,” he said with a smile. “Took forever for us to get all the requirements and money together to make them. It's really easy now though, they've released so many pieces of equipment that are just as powerful that most people just buy the cheaper ones.”

“Yeah,” Asura said with a chuckle. “Doesn't help the equipment doesn't scale as well with other races. Are you almost done?”

“Hold on, Media just sent her response,” B4hamutt said before tapping the air. “Okay, she says she'll be here. So I guess we should go prepare. She's also happy you're back.”

She nodded before the two left her room and headed straight for the fortress' library. “Last time we fought it, I remember we barely even nicked its scales.”

“Yeah. Though we didn't have master weapons then. I think some people tried it again after the second mastery quest. I don't know how well it went though, I can probably find some mentions if I do a few searches. Wanna try?”

Asura sighed before nodding. “Yeah, I guess it'll be faster,” she said before sitting on one of the soft cushions. She brought up a menu and connected to the outside world within a few moments. A few quick searches later and dozens of videos came up. The most recent one was nearly two years old. She played it none the less. It showed a group of five angels, each with an Excalibur, waving at the camera. A few quick introductions later and the fight began. It ended within a few moments, though to their credit the dragon did take some cuts from their blades.

She began going through more videos and checking the comments. Most of them were the same, the party would get slaughtered after dealing some damage, unable to escape the blows fast enough. The comments were filled with insults and complaints, either about the beast being too powerful, players claiming to have killed it easily, others saying there was no proof that it died and they were liars and some saying the beast was unkillable.

After a few more videos she closed out and glanced to B4hamutt. “You done?” she asked before reaching out to poke his shoulder.

“Yeah. That was... I think I learned a few things.”

“Oh? Like what?”

“Our weapons should do far better than they used to,” he said before moving his hands through the air. “Don't keep bunched up or his flame breath will melt us. Cutting his wings and trying to ground him will backfire if done too soon.”

“They did that in one of the videos? Where? How? What happened?”

“Yes, they cut through its wings. It wasn't pretty,” B4hamutt said with a cringe. “It landed on two of them, and when it was down on the ground they couldn't find any openings to strike it without getting crushed. Did make it slower though. This isn't going to be an easy fight.”

“I didn't think it would be. Where's the fun if it is?” she said with a grin. “How long until the others will arrive?”

“Shouldn't be too long. We still need to come up with a plan to get there,” the dragon said before he tapped the air a few times. “We can go through leviathan lands, they're the closest. From there we can go through the rivers and make our way to the lava pits. We can fly over those so we shouldn't encounter any trouble, and we'll be hard to see through all the smoke. From there we'd... huh. No way around it, we're going to have to go through either Mordred mines or over Morgana rise. Either way we'll likely be seen.”

“I say we go through the mines,” Asura said as she started walking again. “We'll be more closed in, but avoiding being seen will be easier if we're careful. How about we tell everyone to meet us there and we go ahead to scout?”

“Fine, hold on a second while I let them know,” he said while he tapped the air a few more times. After a few moments he walked after her. “Okay, to the mines.”

------

The two glided through the air, smoke surrounding them on all sides. Below were thick pools of magma that filled the air with streams of ash and smog.

“It's so quiet,” Asura whispered while she scanned the lands below. “Where do you think everyone is?”

“No idea. There isn't really a lot for most players to see here though,” B4hamutt said softly. “The lava pits don't offer many rewards aside from a few fire elemental enemies. The real rewards are in the mines. All those jewels. Hopefully more people will be farming the rise though. Better rewards, if a bit harder.”

“Probably,” she said and soon a massive mountain range came into view. “There they are. This shouldn't be too hard, hopefully. The entrance is near the bottom, right?”

“Yeah. We just have to find the cart tracks and then it's easy,” B4hamutt answered before they left the cover of the smoke and descended towards the range. Within moments they spotted a long line of cart tracks and landed by the entrance. “I'll go on ahead, can you wait here?”

“What? Why?”

“Because if only one of us go in, less chance of detection,” he said before he stepped into the darkness of the mines. “The others will need to know where to find us too.”

“Fine, don't be too long,” she said with a hint of annoyance. When he disappeared into the mine, she drew out her sword and dagger. She took a few swings with the blades and tried to get used to the weight once again. When she glanced back to the dagger, her mind flashed back to the last time she felt one. The way it felt when she plunged the dagger again and again into the man's chest, the blood coating her hands.

“It's clear,” a voice said from behind her, tearing her from her memories.

“What?” Asura asked and looked up. B4hamutt walked out from the darkness.

“Come inside,” he said before he motioned her forward. “I saw a few players, but nothing too bad. It might be our lucky day.”

“Oh, right,” she said before she slowly moved the dagger to her side. “Sorry, I was just a little... distracted.” She moved besides him. “Hey Mutt? Thanks for doing this with me. I know I left on... I didn't leave on the best terms.”

“Don't worry about it. I'm just happy you're back,” the dragon said before leaning against the wall and watching the exit.

Asura glanced down for a moment before sheathing the blades. She reached over and wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed against him in a hug. “I'm sorry I freaked earlier...” she whispered before she laid her head against his chest and let out a soft sigh. He felt warm and firm when she listened to his heart beat. His character's heart beat. “I was just... these last few months have been... I didn't know what I... I'm sorry. I'm not making any sense, am I?” she asked before closing her eyes.

“No, not really,” B4hamutt said before wrapping his arms around her as well. “You don't have to talk about any of it, okay? No matter what, you're still my friend. If you're hurt or suffering, I'm always here to talk about it.”

“O-okay...” she whispered. After a few moments she realized she could smell him, even worse was she didn't think she minded. Her cheeks turned red before she pulled away. “I think that's enough of that. I feel a lot better now. Uhhh, t-thanks.”

“N-no problem,” he said and looked away. She couldn't quite tell in the darkness, but she thought she could see a bit of a blush in his cheeks as well. “They're on their way.”

“Huh?” she asked before gazing up at him.

“They're on their way,” B4hamutt repeated. “Scales just sent me a message, he was the last one, so it'll be a while before he arrives. He's close though, might even beat the others.”

“O-oh, right,” she whispered and glanced back towards the lava pits far outside the cave. “I guess we just sit and wait...”

------

Scales, still his normal leviathan self except with a pair of big leathery blue wings, burst from the smoke and plummeted towards the group. When he landed at the side of the cave, Asura and the others moved to join him. She was the only angel. Andremedia had arrived first and was a normal fae, though she had two large purple, red and blue butterfly wings on her back.

“Asura!” Scales yelled and moved straight to her. She eeked when he picked her up in a tight hug and swung her around in the air.

“Ahhhh!” she screamed. “Put me down! What's wrong with you?”

“Heh heh, sorry,” he said with a chuckle before stopping and setting her down, though he didn't let go. “I just haven't seen you in so long! I don't think I've ever seen you logged out from the game longer than a few days!”

She blushed and looked away from him. “I've been busy...”

“School or work?” he asked with a chuckle before removing his arms. “I was beginning to think you decided to abandon us. Didn't know what we'd have done without our healer.”

“Pfft. I haven't healed for you in ages,” she said with a roll of her eyes. She then glanced to B4hamutt for a moment before looking towards the cave. “Yeah. School. I've been just busy with that. Big projects and all that. So, how long until our fifth gets here?”

“She should be here soon. Ah! There!” B4hamutt said before he motioned towards a figure plunging through the smoke. The leviathan woman landed in front of them after a moment, a smile on her lips.

“Skyth?” Asura asked.

“Oh, so you remember her name,” Andremedia said with a smirk.

“Please, let's not go into that again,” Asura said with a roll of her eyes. “Long time no see.”

“Yeah. Haven't seen you since the masteries,” Skyth said with a shake of her head. “Thought you'd left us. Happy to see you came back.”

“Yeah. I've just been... busy. Let's go, okay? We've wasted enough time here as it is.”

“Right,” B4hamutt said and went ahead of the group. The others fell in line behind him as they snuck down the tunnel.

“So, lots of leviathan masters these days?” Asura asked as she glanced between Skyth, Andremedia and Scales.

“Yeah,” Scalios said with a curt nod. “Once people figured out that the master classes removed the stat limits, leviathan, dragon and angel became the three most popular. There are dozens of leviathan-slash-dragon masters out there now.”

“Really?” Asura asked with a cocked eyebrow. “I figured the special bonuses from the demon and fae would have made them more popular.”

“Sometimes, yeah,” the leviathan said with a shrug. “A lot of players prefer the power of those three, though. Since it gives your weapons their max power as well as giving you the best defense to both forms of attack. Demon isn't as popular since the master level spells are only one time use and normal spells aren't nearly as amazing as master weapons. We'll probably see more variation next year when people start getting their fourth mastery,” he said with a chuckle before stumbling a few steps. “Oh... right. I'm sorry, I didn't mean... I'm sure you'll pass this time. I didn't mean to rub it in...”

“It's fine,” Asura said, though her fists clenched at her side. “I'm fine. There is absolutely nothing to worry about.”

“Hold,” B4hamutt said and raised his hand to motion them to stop. The tunnel branched off in two separate directions, left and right. “It parts ways here. We'll need to be very careful, since we're going through heavily contested areas. Everyone ready?”

The others nodded and slowly the group began traveling down the right tunnel. When silence fell over them, Asura began to notice every little sound. The gentle drops of water off in the darkness, the way their feet gently disturbed the rocks and dirt that coated the ground. But most of all, she heard the rhythmic sound of pickaxe against stone off in the distance. Soon a great light could be seen at the end, practically blinding compared to the dark tunnels. With nervous steps they walked out from the darkness.

The tunnel opened into a massive cavern, lined with lanterns across the walls. Deep, treacherous pits occasionally opened up in the floor and dozens of tunnels spilled out from the large open space as it went through the mountain. The cavern went on farther than they could see, the entire area lit up like an underground festival. The sound of miners working could be heard echoing through the walls, seemingly as if coming from all directions.

The five slowly began walking through the open area and kept their eyes peeled for any signs of life. Far to the right they could see a few players who picked at the stones. “Careful,” B4hamutt whispered as he watched them. The players were moving in perfect alignment, moving the picks up and down before hauling some stone to a nearby cart. After a few moments he shook his head. “I can't believe this. AI's? Here?”

“Huh?” Andremedia asked.

“AI's,” Asura said with an annoyed sigh. “Basically players do a task a few times and then the AI learns how to mimic it. They aren't as popular as they were before direct neural interface games existed, since they have to be far more complex. I'd heard a few games were starting to get them, but I didn't think there would be any here. Makes me want to kill them just because...”

“What? Why?” the fae asked and took an aggressive step forward. “You said they are AI's, right? That means artificial intelligence. If they're that then they might be really complex!”

“No, they aren't,” Asura mumbled when they walked by a few. The miners occasionally made strange face motions such as sticking out their tongues or moving their heads from side to side. “They aren't really AI's. They used to be called bots long ago, but once games like this became more popular people just started calling them AI's since they actually controlled the bodies. You could run over and stab them and they'd barely notice it. Probably.”

“Unless they were set up to call for help,” B4hamutt said quickly. “Sometimes killing one can send an alarm to the actual player. They probably are logged on somewhere, just playing another game while the AI gathers things for them. We kill it then the player and all his friends might come down on us.”

“A shame they aren't being AHHHH!” Andremedia screamed and jumped back, slamming into Asura. To their right, an angel with darkened wings and armor popped out from one of the large pits and flew over towards the cart. “S-sorry,” she said with a nervous chuckle.

“Ow... you know if it was possible, I'd think you broke my nose,” Asura said with a groan while holding her nose. “Be careful, okay? I don't want you sending us down one of those pits. It's a pain flying out of such a narrow place.”

“R-right, sorry,” the fae mumbled before glancing down the pit the angel had come from. The lights only went a few feet down before turning completely dark. “I wonder how the AI did it then.”

“Probably by... ummm,” B4hamutt trailed off when he glanced to the angel who was over by the cart, back to them. He didn't appear to be moving aside from tapping on the air. “I don't think it could. Oh crap.”

Asura drew her sword and charged towards the other angel. 'Class change: Dragon 10 seconds' appeared above the winged person’s head a moment before her sword slashed through him. He let out a startled cry of pain before she cleaved through him twice more, before he disappeared in a burst of red sparkles. A few white rays of light remained where his body fell. “We need to move!” she yelled.

B4hamutt took off ahead of the group and his golden claws formed on his hands. “Okay everyone, stick together and follow me!”

The others nodded and raced after him, Asura taking up the rear. Around pillars of stone and over dips and rises in the chamber they ran until they heard a loud battle cry echo through the walls. To their right they could see a handful of people entering from one of the tunnels, two demons, a dragon and a fae.

“Ignore them, keep going!” B4hamutt yelled while he motioned ahead. “We're almost out of this area, if they get in our way, we'll cut them down!”

The fae fae-stepped closer and drew out his bow and took aim. He pulled the string back and fired. Asura skidded to a stop when the arrow flew at her, her sword held firmly in her hands. The projectile flew past her, missing by inches, and she tried, and failed, to cleave it in two with her blade. “Dang it,” she whispered in disappointment. “That would have been awesome.”

“Asura! Move it!” B4hamutt yelled. The angel eeked before she tapped the ground with her feet and fae-stepped after them. Andremedia held her bow in her hands and fired arrow after arrow at their pursuers.

“Wow, that's amazing!” Asura said while she kept running. “How are you able to fire so well when you're running?”

“Easy,” Andremedia responded before fae-stepping ahead of the group, “I just fire and don't aim!” A cry from behind them alerted them to a hit target. “Get your bow! The explosions could be useful!”

The angel nodded and ran her fingers across the menus. Her blades disappeared and a big black bow formed across her back. She fae-stepped ahead of the group before turning and drawing the string back. As soon as the arrow formed in her fingers she let it go, and the arrow soared through the air towards their pursuers. It flew by the dragon, not even coming close to striking her. Asura didn't slow down, quickly pulling the string back over and over so the arrows went wild. She finally hit someone and the arrow exploded in a massive fireball.

The four pursuers stopped for a moment before taking cover. After a few more arrows, she finally realized her friends were yelling at her.

“Damn it, Asura,” B4hamutt yelled. “Get over here! We're out!”

She fired another arrow before turning and running after the others. They were inside one of the tunnels not far from her, but she also could hear more yelling and running from behind her. Pain shot through her right leg before she stumbled and fell. She looked down at it, a single arrow jammed all the way through. “Ngggg...” she groaned before reaching down and snapping the head of the arrow off. With a quick tug she yanked it out, sending a dull, temporary pain through her leg. “So thankful the pain sensors are so low. Hate crippling attacks,” she whispered before getting to her feet and limping after the others.

Andremedia stood just outside the tunnel, her bow out while she shot arrow after arrow at their pursuers. “Move it!” Once Asura was in, the fae jumped after her.

“Rock wall!” B4hamutt yelled, rocks soon flooded over the tunnel entrance and blocked it off. “Okay, we need to move fast. Asura, heal the leg and then we need to go.”

“Rejuvenation,” Asura said before she tapped her leg. “It's only four of them, we can handle it.”

The dragon shook his head as he started walking again. “More of them were coming out of the tunnels while you were running. Their reinforcements are here. We need to go before they break down this wall.”

She gulped when the wall began to tremble and shake. The five quickly ran down the dark tunnel, the only light coming from B4hamutt's flaming hand. They soon heard a loud cheer behind them as the stones crumbled.

“Move!” the dragon yelled. The tunnel twisted and turned as they went, even branching off a few times, but their leader continued on without hesitation. It wasn't long before a light formed ahead. “Come on! We're almost there!” he yelled and motioned them ahead before stopping and turning. “Stone wall!” The tunnel closed up behind them.

The five burst out of the tunnel into a wide open grassy field. The wind blew the fresh scent of grass into their nostrils. Dandelions covered the plains as far as the eye could see, except a large stretch of land near the center where all the flowers had been smashed. Mountains surrounded the massive field to create a natural bowl with a rim that towered even over the clouds. Fortunately, it was mid afternoon so the sun could still fill the area with its light.

“You guys ready?” B4hamutt asked before stepping forward.

“It's the dragon here,” Asura said, “or the horde back there. Let's go.”

The five began walking into the field until a large message appeared in front of them. 'Warning, you are about to enter the territory of Niohoggr, king of dragons. Turn back.' Other small text formed under it, but none of them stopped to read it. The group ignored the warning and parts of the world around them blurred for a few moments. Soon, everything was returned to normal and a massive roar tore through the air.

“Okay, we're in. Let's go!” B4hamutt yelled before his leathery wings formed on his back and began to flap. The others nodded and, wings forming on those who had kept theirs gone, took to the air. High above, thick clouds had formed to block out the sky. They swirled until a large scaled claw tore through them. With a powerful flap of its wings, the clouds parted to reveal the massive beast, it's powerful black scales gleaming in the sunlight as it opened its mouth, revealing a row of razor sharp teeth. “Remember! Don't bunch up! We need to keep it moving and not let it get us in its fire breath!”

“We know!” Asura yelled before navigating the menu. Her bow disappeared and her sword appeared on her back, this time nearly as large as her. She reached back to grab the blade before pulling it out with both hands. “YAHHHHHH!” she yelled and flew at the beast. When she got closer the powerful flapping of its wings sent her tumbling back a few feet, the winds almost as strong as a hurricane. Despite it, she pushed through with all her might, weaving around the dragon's claw when it took a swipe at her. She shot in with closed wings and flew like an arrow into its chest. Her speed thrust the sword in deep, cutting through scales, but when the blade stopped her grip slipped and she slammed into the beast, its rough scales cutting into her body.

“ASURA! Get out of there!” Scalios yelled. The noise drew her attention, causing her to look up. The dragon's mouth was open and she could see the flames beginning to form. With a kick, she shoved off from the beast, pulling her sword free when she fell back. A moment later flames enveloped where her body had been and, even though she wasn't struck, the heat radiating from the flames threatened to sear her body.

Asura let out a sigh of relief before opening her wings and flying up. A shadow fell over her and she turned her gaze, one of the massive claws coming right at her. “Ahhh!” she yelled and tried to fly out of the way, but it was coming too fast. It stopped, for a split second, allowing her to narrowly escape. She looked up the beast's arm and saw large chunks of ice around its elbow and shoulder. Skyth was flying by the shoulder, her mace out. When she struck the creature across the neck, ice formed and temporarily enveloped where it struck. It only lasted a few seconds before shattering under the beast's strength. A moment later an arrow flew by and struck the beast's other elbow, encasing it in ice as well.

“So that's what the leviathan weapon does,” Asura whispered. “Scales! Look out!” The leviathan struck at the dragon's other shoulder, but when he did the Niohoggr's head turned around and opened its mouth.

“Ice shield!” Scalios yelled and a barrier of ice enveloped him. A moment later Niohoggr's flaming breath surrounded the ice. The fire rapidly died down, revealing the leviathan. The ice shield was gone, and the warrior fell through the air, his entire body charred black.

“Scales!” Asura yelled while she reached out for him. She had to pull her wings close to her body and dive to try and catch the blue warrior plummeting to the ground. “Pull up! Use your wings!” She soon saw the leviathan's wings had been scorched and mangled by the powerful flames.

Scalios groaned and attempted to do as he was told, before letting out a hiss of pain when the wings refused to move. He held out his arms and legs as wide as he could while she dove at him, trying to slow his fall.

“Almost there!” She reached out her hand for him. The ground was coming up fast while she tried reducing wind resistance as best she could. A split second later she felt something and wrapped her fingers tightly around his burnt arm.

“Agh!” The leviathan hissed with pain. Ignoring him, Asura spread out her wings and pulled him up higher to wrap both arms around him. Angling herself she slowly changed her angle horizontally and flew in a wide circle before shooting back up.

“Restoration.” A white glow enveloped her friend. After a few moments the tattered remains of his wings began to grow and heal while black, charred scales reformed into slick blue ones. When they came back up into the fight she looked down at him. “Better?”

“Yeah,” he said with a groan. “Those burns hurt. I think they dialed up the feedback on this fight.”

“Maybe, just be careful,” she said before letting him go and gripping her sword tightly. “If you fall from this height there's no way you're going to survive.”

“I know,” he whispered before tearing off towards the dragon. The other three were holding it off as best they could. B4hamutt's claws were tearing at the monster's back while Skyth was doing everything she could to try and disable the beast's mighty claws. Andremedia was keeping her distance and shot arrow after arrow at the beast, freezing its mouth whenever it attempted to use its powerful breath.

“Scales, I got an idea!” Asura yelled. “While Media has the mouth dealt with, help Skyth freeze one of his arms!”

“What? Why?”

“Just do it!” she yelled before flying up above the dragon.

Scalios sighed and flew towards the right arm. As soon as Skyth froze the shoulder he charged down and brought his mace down on the elbow, striking it three time so ice formed over the limb in a thick layer.

The moment the arm stopped fully, Asura dove down as fast as she could. Gripping her sword in both hands she struck and cleaved down into the immobilized limb, right below the wrist. Her blade cut through the scales and deep into the creature's limb while it howled in rage and pain. Unfortunately, she didn't have enough force to cleave through fully. She gripped the hilt tightly and tried to pull it free, but the blade refused to budge.

“Come on!” she said while she pulled with all her might. “Let it--”

Her last words went silent when pain shot through her and the world went dark. The massive beast's other paw wrapped tightly around the angel before squeezing.

Agony shot through her body while the beast crushed her in its grasp like a grape. “AHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHH! GAHHHHHHHH!”

After what felt like hours of mind numbing pain, the dragon released her and she tumbled towards the ground. Arms wrapped around her crumbled body, and quickly flew her away from the monster's claws.

“Asura, are you okay?” Andremedia asked.

“So... much pain...” she whispered. It was mostly gone now, but she could still almost feel it as if it was echoing through her bones.

“Hold on,” the fae said and leaned in. “Holy ki--”

The angel blushed and her hand shot out to push against Andremedia's forehead. “Whoa there. The holy kiss spell doesn't actually need a kiss.”

“What? I know!” the fae said curtly and her cheeks turned red. “I wasn't going to kiss you, I was just... ugh. Holy kiss.” The two glowed for a moment. “There, better?”

“Yes, thank you,” Asura said before pulling away. She looked to the giant's claw and saw her sword still lodged deep into the scales and bone. “This is going to be interesting. Maybe I should have kept the explosions on instead of the damage. I just didn't think that would hurt it.”

“Probably not, come on!” Andremedia yelled before shooting more arrows at the creature.

The angel charged forward after her sword before opening her hands and aimed them behind her. “Gust!” A burst of air sent her hurtling forward and she closed her wings. The powerful winds from the dragon's wings buffeted her on all sides so she lifted her hands in front of her face to dampen them enough for her to see. She flew at the blade and, when she got close, opened her wings and grabbed the hilt. She kept flying forward, pushing against the blade so it finally slashed through the beast's limb entirely. Its claws fell through the air, before disappearing in a flurry of red sparks. “We did it! We can do this!” she yelled before diving again, narrowly avoiding the dragon's other claw.

Niohoggr let out an ear shattering roar before it twisted its body around to face her. With a powerful flap of its wings, that sent the others tumbling back, it tore off after the angel.

“Ahhhh!” she yelled before turning and flapping her wings as quickly as she could. The dragon didn't care while the others struggled to keep up with the pair. Its head shot out and attempted to bite down on her, but she performed a sharp right turn so the jaws narrowly missed her. The beast's claw shot out at her next, clipping the tip of her wing and sending her spiraling through the air. “Ahhhh ohhhh urrgggggg...” She groaned and held her stomach, struggling to stop the world from spinning around her.

“ASURA!” Andremedia yelled.

The angel looked up, though she was still unable to stop spinning. The dragon's mouth shot down and swallowed her whole. She screamed when wet gooey dragon saliva surrounded her on all sides and she was dragged down the dragon's throat. Nasty liquid shot into her mouth, gagging and choking her while she tried to cough it out, but it kept flowing around her and enveloping her. Unable to see or hear anything while she shot down the dragon's gullet, she stabbed out with her sword. She held onto the hilt with both hands and, despite the slippy liquid enveloping her, cut with all her might.

After a few moments she felt herself pushing out and into the open air. She fell through the sky and struggled to cough all the foul liquid out from her body while bile rose in her throat. After a moment she felt herself sufficiently purged and held out her hands. “Cleansing torrent.” Water enveloped her, allowing her to open her eyes. The dragon was flapping around while it writhed in pain. A large hole was cut into its chest, where she had escaped from.

The others were striking it over and over while B4hamutt went straight for the wings and slashed through them, slowing the beast, but not managing to ground it. The dragon turned to him and opened its mouth before flame began to gather, a moment before Asura saw the most amazing shot she'd ever seen.

Andremedia's arrow shot through the air and jammed right into the hole in the monster's chest, coating the entire area in ice. The flames struggled to escape through the hole, but with the heat blocked she was able to see as the glow of hot flames traveled back into the dragon's body before creating a new hole in the monster's chest.

Skyth brought her mace down on the creature's left wing and ice enveloped it, while B4hamutt shredded the right wing with his claws. Scalios dove down and brought his mace crashing against Niohoggr's skull. Ice coated the dragon while it tumbled through the air. It writhed and twisting about before its massive frame slammed into the ground below.

The creature hit the ground like a meteor, sending out waves of dirt and flowers as the world around it shook. Dust filled the air and blocked the creature from sight while the five watched it from above. “D-did we w-win?” Asura asked before flying over to the others and looking down.

“Maybe,” B4hamutt said while he tried to see through the dirt. “Did you throw up?”

“Yes,” she said softly.

“I didn't think you could do that in game...”

“Not many games you can,” she said before she shook her head. “I'd heard of it, but I really don't think they needed to make it quite this realistic.”

“What caused it?” Andremedia asked.

“Mouth full of dragon saliva,” she said with a shiver before her stomach twitched at the mere thought. She put a hand over her mouth and waited for the nausea to subside. “I can still taste it... ugh. Like rotten eggs mixed with gasoline... I couldn't even spit it out.”

“Ew,” Scalios said and shook his head. “Happy you got out of there before it flamed you. Media, that was an amazing shot. How often do you practice with that bow?”

“Well, it is my primary weapon,” the fae said with a light blush. “I have years of experience with it.”

“Yeah, but you did that while flying,” Asura added quickly. “I've never seen anyone shoot so accurately in the air. The wind their wings gives off tend to throw off the shot.”

“O-oh, well, it's nothing really,” Andremedia said and waved them off. “C-come on, anyone could do it with enough practice. You just need to learn when to time it.”

“Still, that's--” Asura was cut off when a loud roar tore through the air. Below the dust settled and Niohoggr's body lay still on the ground in the middle of a massive crater. Cracks and fissures had spread throughout the entirety of the valley. Slowly the beast's body began to twitch before its head slowly lifted up from its downed position, before letting out another roar. It slowly climbed back onto its claws before aiming its head at them and letting loose a massive blast of flames.

The five scattered, though they soon realized there was no point. Fire spilled out from the dragon's chest, weakening the blast. It died long before it came within reach of touching them. “We've got this!” B4hamutt yelled before clenching his fists. “It's missing a claw and its fire breath is weaker. We just need to watch out for the tail and remaining claw and we can do this. Don't let it corner you!” he yelled before diving down at the beast. The others nodded and they followed after him.

When B4hamutt shot down at Niohoggr, the beast opened its mouth once again. An arrow to the mouth quickly froze it shut before he dove by. A moment later Asura brought her blade crashing down on the dragon's head, slicing deep into its snout before yanking her blade free and diving around the massive, writhing skull.

“It can't take much more!” B4hamutt yelled as he tore his claws into the beast. “I have an idea! Let's guarantee this! Our most powerful spells!”

“You mean like rapture?” Asura yelled before she jammed her sword into the beast's neck and tore more scales away. She flew back up into the air as the dragon's tail slapped at her.

“Yes!” he yelled flying back, the red hot flames nearly incinerating him. “Everyone, come on!”

Asura gulped and slammed her sword into the beast's back and let it go. Throwing herself flat on the monster she gripped one of the jagged scales. “Okay!” she screamed as the others dove down around her. The dragon inhaled deeply and turned its head towards her. “RAPTURE!” White light shot through the monster.

Explosions tore through the air around them as five master level spells went off simultaneously. The blast sent her flying back while the sound rocketed through her ears, so loud she thought her teeth would shatter. The continuous force held her pinned against the valley floor while lights and sounds enveloped her from all sides. The pain made her scream and she struggled to move against the force. Then, as quickly as it came, the force ended. The entire world turned silent and everything she saw was a blinding white.

The world slowly began to reappear around her while the light slowly disappeared. Dust and dirt filled her vision on all sides. Across the valley she could see the others, some slowly un-burying themselves. The dragon was nowhere to be seen. She looked around and tried to touch the ground, but she couldn't feel it even though she could, dimly, see her arms moving. Everything was blurry and seen through a weird filter.

“Did we win?” Asura asked, though realized she couldn't hear herself say it. She tried yelling, but no sound came out. She looked around in confusion until suddenly messages began flooding her vision.

Warning: Brightness levels reaching dangerous levels, vision will return momentarily.

Warning: Sound levels reaching dangerous levels, audio will return momentarily.

Warning: Force feedback system experiencing brief malfunction, touch will return momentarily.

Warning: System overload, systems rebooting.

There was a sudden whirling sound and the world returned completely to normal, allowing her to see and feel normally again. “Guys? Are you okay?” she yelled, and to her relief she could hear herself.

“Yeah,” B4hamutt yelled out before getting to his feet. He glanced around and sighed. “I think Media's frozen and Skyth disconnected. Scales? Can you hear me?”

The leviathan was crawling from the wreckage, but didn't respond. When he finally got to his feet he waved his hands at them and started talking, though no sound came out. After a few moments his voice finally came out, “REBOOT AND-- Oh. Never mind, it seems to be working now. What in the world was that?”

“I don't know,” Asura yelled before flapping her wings and flying over to them. Skyth's body was completely gray and Andremedia was unmoving. “I think we may have overloaded the game.”

“Maybe,” Scalios said before looking around around. “I guess using five top level spells at once on such a detailed enemy was a bit of overkill. We won though! That's gotta be one for the history books.”

A shrill shriek filled the air, making them cover their ears. After a few more moments it stopped and Andremedia groaned. “I'm back, ow.”

“What was that?” B4hamutt asked as he glared at her.

“Sorry, just an error in my voice module,” she said before getting to her feet and stretching. “Did we win?”

“Seems so,” Asura mumbled and nudged Skyth's body with her foot, though she went right through the leviathan. “Nothing's happening though. I wonder if she'll be able to reconnect.”

Her thoughts were answered a few seconds later when color flooded into Skyth's body. The woman groaned and went limp. “What was that?” she asked before shaking her head. She took Asura's hand and was helped up.

“We think we overloaded something,” Asura told the leviathan before looking around. “Niohoggr is gone though, so I think we won.”

Fireworks suddenly filled the air, illuminating the area in their colorful glows. Blues, reds, golds, purples and greens streaked across the sky as dozens of lights went off throughout the wrecked valley.

“Congratulations!” a loud man's voice called out. “As the first to ever defeat Niohoggr, the king of dragons, please accept this reward!”

Another flash filled their visions and Asura cringed, but after a moment the light disappeared and revealed a small two dimensional treasure chest in front of her. She blinked and tapped it. A message popped up, 'Acquired: Essence of Niohoggr, Skins of the dragon slayer.'

“Anyone know what these are for?” Asura asked and opened her inventory. Neither item was there.

“Not a clue,” B4hamutt said and his fingers moved through the air. “Wait, hold on. The timer for my hell fire penalties is gone. No way,” he said and his mouth fell over. “Holy... the penalties for hell fire are gone! It still has a timer on use, but that's all.”

Asura's mouth fell open and she opened her skills and looked at her own. “Wow... that makes that spell far more... hold on,” She activated her class change. “I wonder if it altered anything else. Maybe...” she said and her body changed to the scaled form. She navigated to her status. “Oh you won't believe this. The caps are off for the same stats my angel has.”

“That's useful at least,” Andremedia said and navigated through the menus as well.

“Guys! Look!” Scalios said and held his hands out. His blue armor began to shift and change. Jagged black scales formed over his armor and molded across his body. The scales spread out, even coating his wings so rather than light blue scales they turned the same black with gray leathery skin, like the dragon's. His helmet changed before it took the form of a much smaller dragon's face, with bared fangs and glowing red eyes. He held out his hands for a moment before his mace formed in his hand, rather than having the face of a lion it was now a long black pole with a golden orb on the end. On top of the orb a black dragon lay, coiled around it while its scales gave the weapon jagged edges. “I think I found what the skins do.”

Asura gaped and went to her own weapons. She found she could change her weapons and armor as well. Her sword hilt changed into the form of a dragon, with the tail as the grip, its wings as the hand guard and the blade shooting out from the dragon's mouth. The blade was gold and covered in rubies down the center. The edge of the blade was shaped with edges that constantly shifted about, as if they were flames.

“It seems to be an option, same as our master weapon appearances,” B4hamutt said softly. “This is amazing.”

“No, not just that,” Asura said and a grin formed on her lips. “What if there are more?”

“More?” the dragon asked before he cut the air a few times with his now black scaled claws.

“Essences. For all the races.” She glanced down at her sword with wide eyes. “We defeated the dragon... what if there's one for the angels, the demons and all the other races?” she asked in awe. “What if we beat them all?”

B4hamutt crossed his arms and nodded. “I imagine we'd have to work quite hard,” he said gently. “There are probably a few legendary monsters like Niohoggr. If we were to slay them all...”

“Exactly,” Asura said with a chuckle. “And I think I know exactly where we can search for the leviathan one.”

“Oh? Where?” the dragon asked. The others moved in closer.

“Well, not exactly where, but I can find it,” she said with a sigh. “Listen, there are five more of these out there, possibly. Let's all choose one to search for and then we can take it down as a team. Five of us, five more essences. What do you say?”

“Shouldn't we tell the Coalition?” Skyth asked before her gaze moved away from them.

“No!” Asura said quickly. “This is a once in a lifetime chance. If word gets out to the legions what we're doing, then they'll try to stop us. It'll be hard enough to do this without having them combing the country side for us.”

“What about the skins?” she mumbled before she held up her own dragon mace. “We can't exactly hide them.”

“We don't have to,” she said with a smile. “We can tell people we got them, and how. We just don't have to tell anyone that we're trying for the others. Or about the other benefits. At least until we slay them. Agreed?” she asked and put her hand out.

B4hamutt sighed and reached out with his hand, placing it on top of hers. “I don't see the problem with it. Agreed.”

“Eh, I'm with you guys,” Scalios said and put his hand on top.

“Fine by me,” Andremedia said with a smile, joining her hand

“Well, I guess we aren't really hiding anything,” Skyth said and her hand joined them at last. “It's not like this gives any real advantage. Well, not a big one. I’m in.”

Asura smiled and nodded. “Thank you. I guess we should get going.”

“Scalios, can you set up a teleporter to the guild hall?” B4hamutt asked. The leviathan nodded and walked off. The dragon then tapped on the air a few times. To Asura's surprise a small message popped up a second later.

She opened it and blushed when the words filled her screen. “I know what you're trying, Asura. Don't worry, I'll help you every step of the way.”

She looked over towards him and softly mouthed thank you, before turning away. Before long the teleporter was set up and they were off.

------

Asura sat on her bed, her right leg hugged up to her chest. “So, the war efforts, what all did I miss?” she finally asked.

B4hamutt let out a sigh before leaning against the wall opposite her. “Well, both sides are down to their final city. It's kind of stalled a bit. Turns out that, since the war started with us losing our three cities, the game admins ended up setting up special bonuses. You know, to keep it fair. There was a whole interview about it two months ago when the last Unholy Legion capital fell. Want me to send you the video?”

“No, just give me the basics,” the angel said with a shake of her head.

“Basically, they wanted each side to have a different feel, depending on which side found the ‘destroy’ quest first. Turns out it was a quest, by the way. Apparently incredibly hard to find, too. That's why we lost so much from the beginning. We had extra NPC bonuses to compensate, as well as hidden bonuses so even if we were penetrated, it was harder to finish us off. Now that we've managed to push them back to their final fortress, the benefits have, for the most part, left. We're still out numbered, but apparently that's compensated automatically by NPCs at the fortresses to give us all a fair fight.”

Asura nodded. “So, any idea what happens when one side wins?”

“Nope,” the dragon said and slid down the wall to sit down. “There are rumors, though. Some people think there's a big event planned after this. Depending on which side wins, there will be a tournament or some kind of total destruction event. Basically, wipe out the enemy faction. Some thing that they’re planning to release a new game, completely redo everything. All of it is just rumors, though.”

“So, when do we launch an attack? I assume we're going to wipe this fortress out as well, right?”

“Maybe, but it'll be a while before we're able. All forces interested in attacking or defending tend to do so now. Getting back to your own fortress is pretty easy, so neither side has been able to overwhelm the other yet.” B4hamutt glanced up to her and smiled. “If you want, I can see about preparing another large assault. Maybe during a high season, when more players are around? Possibly after we find some of these monsters?”

“I'd like that. Worse comes to worse, at least we can't be imprisoned at the fortresses. I can't imagine anything drawing the war to a stand still as fast as that would.”

He nodded and got to his feet. “Me either. I'll see you later, okay? I need to take care of some things before I log off,” he said before he turned towards the door. He stopped a moment later and looked back. “Asura... I'm really happy you're back. I hope we can make this as exciting for you in your... ummm... as you want.”

The angel smiled and nodded. “I know. Don't worry. I'm just... happy I can spend this with my friends. I'll see you again, soon.”

------

Asher was awoken by gentle movements of his bed. Amy stood over him, clip board in hand. “Good morning, Asher,” she said with a cheerful smile. “Are you ready for today?”

“Uuhhh... uhhh...” he managed to grunt out weakly while his eyes moved around. It had been a few months since he and the others had slain Niohoggr and time had flashed by almost too quickly. While they did on occasion help with the war efforts, they weren't ready for a final battle yet. So the majority of their time had been spent exploring the world and attempting to locate the other great beasts. Unfortunately, they had yet to have had any luck. Nothing had nearly the flare Niohoggr had.

When it finally came time to decide on his survival, he had sent his parents the letter as requested. He asked to live. He wanted to see the world for a little longer. Now, it was finally time for his surgery. He had lost all sense of feeling and control of movement in his body and the majority of his head, no longer even able to turn it. The tube down his throat had already been removed after it had begun to inhibit his ability to breathe.

“Just stay calm,” she whispered and pat his head. “Considering your condition, we'll be using an inhalation drug to put you to sleep. Just relax,” she whispered before pulling up a gas tank on wheels. She slowly lifted up the mask and put it over his face.

He wondered why they even needed the gas. He couldn't feel anything they were doing anyway. When the gas began to take effect and he felt his eyes droop, a terrifying thought filled his mind. What if they weren't going to operate on him? What if this was just supposed to kill him and they were lying about the surgery to give him hope? His breath began to quicken while he struggled to try and lift his arms, to kick, to roll around, but all he could do was blink in agitation while the world leaked away into darkness.