Age: 20 years, 4 months

Asura stared at the orb, her heart pounding. After a few seconds she noticed the others staring at her. “I should go,” she said and turned away.

“Asura,” B4hamutt said before he took a step forward. “It's the team’s item. You have just as much right to it as any of us.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head. She wanted it so bad it took all her will to not try and tear it out of her boyfriend’s hands. “No. I don't. It's... it's better that one of you take it. I... if I take it, that'll be it. Even if I pass I'll be... I'll be gone soon and not able to use it like one of you could. It's better that one of yo--”

“Oh, knock it off!” Skyth yelled before rolling her eyes. “We all know you're going to be the one to use it. You're his girlfriend.” She motioned to B4hamutt. “And our friend. You could mope and say you don't want it all you want. But in the end, you are going to be the one who uses it. And we all know you want it.”

“But... but...” Asura whispered before she shook her head. “I shouldn't...”

“No, you're taking it. Don't pretend you don't want it,” Skyth said before storming past the dragon and grabbing the orb. She thrust it into Asura's chest so hard the angel stumbled back. “Just... tell us what the quest is like. This way all five of us have a chance of getting our sixth masteries. And all five of us should have a chance. Even if you won’t be around long enough to enjoy it. Got it?”

“But, I just, I--”

“Just take it!” the leviathan yelled and pushed harder.

Asura gulped and took the orb in her hands. She slowly looked up to her friends before looking down at the orb. “Are... are you sure?”

“It's only fair,” Andremedia said with a smile. “After all, we'll all get a chance to during the next contest. You won't. Besides, it took all of us to slay these monsters. You probably won't be around when we take the last down so... you deserve your chance to at least see this to the end.”

Asura nodded before chewing on her lip for a moment. Tears slowly flooded her cheeks while she looked up to them. “I... I just want to say. N-no matter what happens. Even... even though I'm going to die. Even if... if I fail. I don't regret any of the time I spent with all of you. I don't regret the time I got to spend in this game. I'm happy I got to... I got to live this life, even if it wasn't r--” She was cut off when Skyth suddenly hugged her.

“If you say it isn't real, I'm going to smack you,” the leviathan said softly. A moment later Andremedia joined in the hug. Skyth glanced back to the other two and rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on. Give the girl a hug, it won't kill you.”

B4hamutt and Scalios slowly joined in the hug. Asura smiled and looked around at her friends. “Okay. I... I'll try this weekend, okay? When everyone is together. Just so you guys can cheer me on... please?” The others quickly agreed, smiles on their faces.

------

At the end of the week, Asura appeared in her room in Everlight. She took a deep breath and slowly went through her inventory for the fifth time, just to make sure the orb was still there. She checked her friend list and smiled. “They're all here. I just need to start. That's all...” she whispered before taking the item out of her inventory and activating it.

The orb began to glow with a brilliant golden light, so bright she was forced to squint to see it. A moment later the orb stopped glowing and... nothing happened. She stared at the orb before letting out a furious scream. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! It doesn't even work?” Suddenly another flash and a glowing arrow formed in front of her. Asura's cheeks turned red before she nodded. “O-oh, right. Heh. I guess it's the same as the others... have to go to the quest location.” She took a deep breath before looking out from her balcony. “Well... it wouldn't hurt.” She leaped from it and spread out her wings. After a few seconds the world loaded and she flew north.

The arrow directed her north, away from the fortress. She brought up her map and smiled when she saw her destination. “Right in the middle of the neutral territories. I wonder if that was intentional,” she whispered and flew higher and higher, into the clouds and icy altitude. The cold bit at her flesh, though she did her best to ignore it. Her entire body quivered with excitement with each foot she got closer, unable to suppress the occasional squeal of excitement.

When she came closer to the border, she looked around. She didn't see any raiders so she easily passed over and entered the lands. She flew slightly east until she finally came to a large, wooded area. Her destination was in the center. She let out another squeal of delight before flapping her wings harder and diving straight into the middle of the woods.

She landed on a stone platform. Ruined statues of massive tigers and wolves surrounded it, long overgrown. She slowly moved to the nearest one and wiped some of the moss away. Underneath the heavy foliage she could make out markings. “Holy beasts, of course.”

The extended paws of one of the nearby statues broke off behind her, causing her to turn and shriek. She couldn't see anything and shook her head before kicking one of the statues, the stone quickly crumbling away. “Right. Old, broken, falling apart. Calm down,” she whispered before turning back towards the guiding arrow.

It pointed to a large archway over stairs that headed into the ground. She slowly walked towards it and made her way inside, carefully walking down the foliage covered stairs. After a few feet she held out her hand. “Burning hands.”

Guided by the light, she quickly made her way down to another passageway. It had once been guarded by two stone doors, though one had long since toppled over and shattered on the stone ground. She headed inside and took a quick scan of the room.

Inside was a small, round platform. In front of that was a stone console with a spherical indent. She let out a squeal of delight before running up to the console and inserting the orb. The platform sprang to life and white light sprang from it. She gulped nervously and stared. “A teleporter... of course. I just need to step inside. That's it. I'm almost there. I just-- AGHHHHHHH!” she screamed when a blade popped out from her chest. Pain shot through her body, far stronger than it should have been, before she double tapped the ground.

Asura fae-stepped to the other side of the room, clutching her chest. The pain didn't disappear, even though the burst had. “D-definitely VNS,” she whispered before looking across the room at her assaulter. A demon, large and bulky. Red tattoos and massive horns, with an all too familiar name. “Caelite.”

“You remember me this time?” the demon asked with a scowl. “I'm honored. Hope you don't plan to run away again. What's all this, anyway? Managed to track down another one of the legendary beasts?”

“Huh?” She glanced to the teleporter and shook her head. “No. This is something else. Please, just go. I don't have time to fight you,” she said before placing her hand to her chest. “Greater heal.”

“Not a chance,” Caelite said with a chuckle before stepping towards the portal. “I didn't follow you all the way here just to walk off without the prize, I--”

“Crescent flash!” She drew her blade and appeared in front of him. Her blade slashed out, though the demon parried with his own and moved back. His weapon was the same glaive from before, the blade black and seeming to absorb the light itself. He held the blade of the weapon up, between the two of them.

“You can't just cut my weapon to pieces anymore, Asura,” Caelite said with a grin. “We're both quin-masters. You'll need to fight me fair and square. I've been waiting a long time for this...”

“Please, stop,” Asura said before pulling her wings close. Even though she'd healed her chest, she could still feel echos of the pain through her body. “I don't want to fight you. This won't work for you, it's a master quest. It's set up for someone who needs the holy beast.”

Caelite smirked before taking a step forward and thrusting his blade forward. She quickly knocked it away and charged forward, but he fae-stepped backwards. “Do you want to know a secret?” he asked with a cocky grin. “That's the final mastery I need as well.”

“It's mine!” Asura said before holding the blade at him. “You have no idea how important this is to me, I--”

“Oh, give it a break,” the demon said with a roll of his eyes. “We're both here, both can use it. I say we fight for it. Winner goes through. I tell you what. I won't even use the master spells if you won't.”

“What? But it was me and my friends who defeated all these monsters and got the chance. I can't risk it based on a simple fight.”

“Relax. It's just a game,” Caelite said with a chuckle. “Meet my terms, give me my rematch? And I promise. If you beat me, I’ll even let you go through without any issues.”

Asura growled and clenched her fists, the world turning red for a moment. “Fine. But no using the demon's stealth ability either. I can use it just as easily and if you try, I'm going for the portal.” Though, she suspected he’d do the same.

“Deal! Cleaving stab!” Caelite yelled and charged forward, his blade glowing red. Asura quickly moved to the right so the blade dug into the ground. The moment it hit, the red magic shot out and cut a long, narrow gouge into the stone.

Asura quickly jammed her foot down on the shaft of the weapon and pressed her weight on it. The demon stumbled forward, raising his left hand. “Gust!”

She was knocked backwards a few feet, but quickly fae-stepped behind him. She drove her sword down at his back, but he quickly twisted around and brought the shaft of the weapon between them, catching her sword.

“Damn it,” she said softly. “You're a lot better than I remember.”

“I've been practicing,” he said before holding out his hand. “Fireball!”

“Ice shield!” A wall of ice formed in front of her, narrowly blocking the dangerous assault. Asura stepped back before the glaive blade suddenly thrust through the shield, slicing it in half.

“You aren't too bad yourself.” Caelite said before raising the blade tip to chest level. “Guess you have a lot more experience though, huh?”

“Why did you follow me?” she asked as she took a few steps back. “Ray burst!” She held out her hand before rays shot out from her palm.

“Ice shield!” he yelled and his own barrier appeared. “I saw you flying by yourself!” he yelled and took a step back, quickly turning and bringing up his weapon to block Asura's sword when she fae-stepped behind him. “I knew whatever brought you here had to be good!” He caught her sword across the shaft of his weapon and quickly stepped to her side. He slammed the butt of the weapon forward, leveraging against her sword and smacking her in the back of the head. “Besides. You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to fight you again. After what you did that day… I couldn’t lose another chance.”

Asura stumbled forward and the demon plunged his blade forward. She quickly jumped up and, with a powerful flap of her wings, flew backwards over his head. The angel drove the tip of the sword down at his skull, but he quickly threw himself down to the ground and rolled to the side.

Caelite drove his glaive at her stomach the moment she landed, forcing her to stumble and fall to avoid it. “Ow!” Pain shot through her backside when she slammed into the wall, stunning her. The demon fae-stepped over her, blade raised high.

“You lose!” he yelled before plunged the blade into her stomach. She let out a cry of pain and her eyes went wide.

Screams tore from her throat when the burning pain assaulted her stomach. Even after the initial burst faded, the pain didn't. Asura's foot lashed out, catching the demon in the stomach and sending him tumbling back. With another pained cry she reached up and yanked the blade from her stomach, tears going down her face as the pain refused to fade. “D-damn it...”

“What's wrong with you?” Caelite asked before getting to his feet. He fae-stepped to his blade and picked it up.

“Doesn't... m-matter,” she whispered once the pain slowly began to fade. She slowly got to her feet, though she stumbled to the right. “It's... I won't lose.”

“You don't look so good. Are you sure you want to keep fighting?”

“Yes!” Asura yelled and charged forward. Her blade flashed in from the right, which he quickly blocked. She refused to let up, even when she felt as if her body might give out at any second. Her left fist shot out, catching him by surprise on the side of the head. She pushed in harder, slashing viciously while he struggled to fend her off. He fae-stepped away, but she quickly joined him with her own, pushing him back with each movement. “I won't LOSE!” she screamed and plunged her blade into his stomach.

“Grk!” Caelite's weapon fell from his hand. He suddenly smirked and reached up, grabbing her shoulders. “Rap--” Though he stopped, his eyes widening.

Asura stared up at him, her own eyes widening, before she drove her elbow into his nose, making him stumble back. She slashed one last time, cleaving through his neck and making him disappear in a flurry of red sparkles.

She stared in disbelief and crumbled to her knees. “I... I did it. I won,” she whispered before looking to the teleporter. “I... I've won. I did it. I'm...” She placed a hand to her stomach. “G-greater heal...” Her HP shot back up. With a soft groan she got to her feet and moved to the console. She leaned against it until the pain began to fade. She saw a message appear on her display a second later.

‘Good fight.’

“It's time. I'm going to do it,” she whispered to herself before she took a few cautious steps towards the light. Memories flashed in her mind with each step. Memories of the life she had lived. Her world. The friends she had made. Everything she'd done up to now. She tapped on the menu before she gave her friends one last call.

“It's finally time,” she said when they answered. “Thank you,” she whispered and placed her hand into the light. It felt warm. “Thank you so much for allowing me this final chance.”

She stepped into the light before the world around her faded. Warmth filled her and she closed her eyes. She could hear the soft flutter of feathers. It was finally her time, her chance. Time for her to show this world what she could do.

There was no longer an Asher. Her name was Asura and this would be her legacy.

The end.

MelodyAvant

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