(AUTHOR’S NOTE! Whoo! Chapter three, how’s about that?! Also, I’ve set up a Patreon now, so you lovely people can support me if you want. I don’t have anything to offer yet, but it’d be super-awesome if I somehow created something that people think is worth pledging to. I hope this chapter is as fun to read as it was to write!)

As the small horde of infuriated, resentful Diomedan Deer swarm towards me, I gulp, then sigh. This is it, I’m so gonna die. At least I didn’t go easy into that good night-
“You okay, newbie?!” I start as a voice calls out to me. The leading Deer crashes into a shimmering violet barrier, the others piling up around it as they fail to halt in time. My shoulders sag in relief, the pain in my left arm triggering a wince, but not taking my eyes off the arrayed foes. “N-Not really, I may have bitten off more than I can chew! Would you please give me a hand?”
The voice giggles, a light, harmonious sound that lightens the oppressive atmosphere. “Of course, newbie. What kind of woman would I be to leave a fellow Argonaut in the lurch?” the voice shifts around from behind me to my right, and, turning my head slowly, I stare, my mouth falling open. Standing beside me… is the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.

Long, blonde hair with green streaks, hanging in a ponytail down her back, revealing her pointed ears. Pale, creamy skin, almost glowing with inner light. Long, slender legs, barely concealed by her slinky, satin-y red dress. A rosebud mouth, curved in a gentle smile, a button nose, and deep, forget-me-not eyes. My gaze drift down slowly, and my jaw almost hits the forest floor. This girl… is stacked. Like, seriously! Perfect, full breasts, shifting under the cross-fronted fabric of her dress. As she draws in a deep breath, they shift slightly, and I tear my eyes away. “P-pretty! Uh, I mean, I-”
Mentally, I slap myself. Great, now she probably thinks I’m a gibbering moron. How could this get any worse?! I should’ve just let the Deer eat me! Gaaah, I’m so embarrassed! Shaking my head, I clear my throat.

“Um, thanks. I’m… Callex.” Something about the sound of the name I usually use seems subtly wrong, but I brush the sensation away, hoping that I haven’t made too much of a tit of myself. She chuckles lightly, and curtseys delicately. “Charmed, sir Callex. I am Asteria, of the Sunlight Glade. The pleasure is mine, I’m sure. Now, shall we teach these beasts who the real predators are?”

With a wrenching twist, I tug my spear free and ready it, repositioning my grip on the handle. “Yes, let’s give them something to bray about!” I prepare to use my Sky Hammer skill in combat for the first time, before a rush of heat washes over me, a ball of deep crimson flame spiralling past and striking the furthest deer, setting it ablaze as it shrieks and thrashes, collapsing onto the grass and flailing in agony.

My eyebrows fly up, and splutter in surprise. I mean, I should probably have guessed, judging by the shield, but… a spellcaster with support AND offensive magics? This lady is clearly more experienced with how this game works. Shrugging, I ignore the ache in my left shoulder and activate my skill, bowling through the clustered cervidae and sending them scattering, inflicting a decent amount of damage. I smirk as I spot a few broken fangs strewn across the sward, and then channel my Stormstrike and lunge.

While I’m tanking the brunt of the angry deer’s failed assault, the mage is doing her thing. I feel a cold wind to my left, and an icicle the size of a kitchen knife zips past my head, burying itself deep into the flank of one of the remaining monsters. It begins hobbling, still trying to sink its ruined teeth into my leg. I boot it in the side of the head before it can clamp its jaws around my calf, and then slam my shield against it, lunging forward with my lightning-imbued lance, just as Asteria, a spellbook floating open before her, creates a windstorm and sends it right at us. The moment the whirling current of air meets my sparking spear tip, something awe-inspiring happens.

The whirlwind draws in the electricity, sucking my Stormstrike into it and causing the cyclone to double in size, bolts of lightning crackling throughout the swirling gale. It zigzags across the grass, leaving a path carved into the dirt, the Diomedan Deer scrambling to flee, but too late. The four lucky enough to have escaped the fight mostly unscathed up to now are consumed in the tempest, their howls drowned out in the roaring winds and boom of thunder.

The last of the deer-pack limps and stumbles, trying to run away, but I take aim, before hurling my spear like an oversized javelin. It flies true, and the last of our adversaries bleats, crumpling with my lance pinning it to the ground. It kicks once, twice, then… goes still, and expires.
I stagger as the exhaustion hits, adrenaline finally running out, nearly falling to my knees. The gorgeous young mage smirks at me as she closes her tome. “Well, not bad for your first fight. I guess you have potential- oh, hold on.” She gestures in the air, checking her heads-up display, then coughs in shock. “Callex, Callex! Look at your HUD!”

Confused, I wave a hand in front of me, bringing the invisible holographic console up, and then tap on the flashing notification icon. Thanks to the fight, it seems like I might have levelled up, but I push that aside to deal with later. The next report is more interesting. It’s a statement that, thanks to the combination of Asteria’s spell and my skill… “A new technique has been created?! I didn’t know that was possible!” We say in unison, before laughing slightly. The option to name it is available to us, and I look over at the other player. “Do… you wanna pick the name, or…?”
With a gentle shrug that does… interesting… things to her anatomy, she gestures at me. “By all means. Consider it a welcome gift to you on your first day in Aegis Online.” Blushing and turning back to the name window, I type into the text box, then hit confirm. Another window opens, reading out a description.

‘Thunder Tornado: this skill, created by the unforeseen interaction between the spell, Windblast, and the skill Stormstrike, resulted in the formation of a battle technique that wields the full power of the Lady of Storms, Voltesse. This ability was the unintentional creation of the Argonauts known as Callex of the Skyborne and Asteria of the Sunlight Glade. When used in battle, this skill creates a lightning-imbued hurricane that seeks enemies out and deals both wind and electric damage to all in its path.’

I blink, a wide grin forming as I realise that, now, I’m immortalised in the very history of the game, a small footnote, but a part of its lore and setting nonetheless. As I raise my head, I make eye-contact with the Alv mage, Asteria’s answering smile warm, sending a thrill running through the pit of my stomach. The feeling surprises me, an unfamiliar, but slightly exhilarating. Stretching, I let out a hiss and wince. With the adrenaline fading, the pain in my cheek and shoulder grows more intense.

“Dammit… maybe I should’ve done some easier sidequests first. Get some healing herbs, or a potion or what-have-you… shit.” I poke at the rent and slashed leather pauldron and let out a sigh. “And now I’ve gotta get this fixed. Blagh.”

“Catch, then! This’ll at least help with your injuries, newbie!” Asteria chuckles lightly and tosses a small glass vial to me, a light pinkish liquid swishing around inside. Popping the cork out of the neck, I give the fluid within a tentative sniff, before downing the contents. My shoulder and cheek begin to tingle, itching as the skin knits itself back together, my wounds closing as I shove the stopper back into the muzzle of the now-empty ampoule.

With a slow stretch, I roll my shoulders, feeling the fading pain recede, my mobility fully-restored, and begin to start gathering whatever loot we’d acquired from this fight. Instead of coins and gemstones, Aegis Online goes for the more realistic ‘skinning animals, collecting valuable organs and materials, and flogging them to whoever wants to buy it/upgrading your equipment and trading the old gear in for discounts.’ 

Luckily, Asteria seems to have the whole mess under control, and I head over to assist in whatever way she needs, loading the rolled, bloody pelts into floppy cylinders and stuffing them into a sack as she slits open the belly of one dead deer, sliding her slender hand inside to extract some gross, dripping lump of viscera and gently laying it in a clean metal box, alongside several other similar globs of flesh.

“Eeewww, I hope you’re not planning on cooking those… things, are you?” I ask in trepidation, recoiling as the stunning Alv’s gentle face twists into a devilish smirk. 

A minute passes as I swallow nervously. A soft cackle flows from her as she shakes her head. “Nah, these taste awful, I wouldn’t want to make you suffer through that. On another note, do you want the antlers from that one? I could craft something from them if you don’t.” She gestures toward the bull I’d skewered before she intervened to save me from the rest of its brood.

I shrug, and then give a nonplussed nod. “Well, sure, I don’t have any crafting skills or subclasses yet, so all I’d do with them is either sell them or shove the things into my inventory until further notice. Beside, I’d have been dead without you, so they’re yours if you want ‘em.”
The smile I get in return sends a fresh wave of butterflies through my stomach, and I clear my throat and look away, examining my badly-abused greatshield. Deep gouges and cracks cover the surface, and I tut, even my inexperience noob ass realising that I’m going to need a new one, and right now. There’s no way this thing’s going to last much longer.

“Asteria? Do you know whether there’s an armourer or smithy in… Tillberry? Or anywhere nearby? My shield’s about to fall apart and I don’t have another…” I admit, feeling like I’m taking advantage of her kindness. 

The fluttery, wild sensation in the pit of my belly intensifies as the slim, delicate mage wipes herself and her knife clean, pouring water from her drinking skin onto her palms and scrubbing the blood from them. Drying them on the grass, she lays a gentle hand on my forearm.

“Sure! I should’ve thought about that myself, I’m sorry. Starter gear isn’t the best option for bringing into a battle like this… I’ll take you to a shop I know, once we’ve gotten you your pay for this quest! You think you could put those wings to use and take a quick peek, see if we’ve attracted any unwanted attention with that new move?”

Picking my slackened jaw up again, I nod frantically and crouch, springing up and desperately trying to figure out how to use my wings properly. With a series of wobbling, faltering beats, I manage to gain enough altitude to clear the treetops, carefully rotating myself in mid-air, a fierce, unrestrained joy flooding the entirety of my very being.

“WHOOOOHOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!” I start beating my white angelic wings harder, rising higher and higher, before letting myself fall in a graceless, wild tumble, end over end, the crown of a massive cedar rushing up at me. I flare my wings and bank, twirling upwards again in a sharp curve, my feet ploughing through the needle-like leaves as I pull up, out of my rough dive, arms wide as I screech with laughter, forgetting why I’d taken flight, the exhilaration of feeling the wind streaming through my feathers, my hair tugged back like a pennant, utterly free.

 
A flock of fat, noisy geese approach, above me, their ungainly bodies strangely at home in the aether. I rise to join them, taking a position at the tail-end of their V-shaped pattern, before twirling in a barrel roll, lightly buffeting the flock as I plunge through them, leaving outraged honking in my wake as I look down, seeing the speck of movement a hundred feet or more below, and furl my wings, allowing myself to plummet from the sky at near-terminal velocity.