Chương 115: B2 Chapter 22 - Re-spec

Veyra:" No offense, but you're the most Charmander type of guy to ever exist xD" Assassin:" Nah, tbh I was more of a Pikachu kid lol" Veyra:" Oh, really? So you had the main character syndrome even as a kid?" I laughed and sent her the skull emoji, while sitting on my bed with my phone. Veyra's starter Pokemon, huh? What would it be? I felt like it could have been anything. To me, she was the type of person to like all three choices, struggling to make a decision.

Assassin:" You're a Piplup type of girl for sure" Veyra:" omg, yes I am!! >. >" Veyra:" no way you played Diamond And Pearl as well" Assassin:" I mean, those are the best pokemon games for sure." As in, that one was the only one I'd played. My gaming experiences before Wonderwind were limited to a few games on my dad's old computer and a select few games on the DS that I used to share with Anna. Pokemon Pearl was one of the few games we had on that.

Veyra and I had been chatting about random things for over thirty minutes now. It started with me mentioning that someone's dog was barking downstairs, no idea whose, and Veyra ordered me to immediately go give pets and get pictures. It turned out, my aunt's white fluffy samoyed was visiting, so I went downstairs to get licked in exchange for some pictures. Her reaction to the dog picture was the most adorable thing, and she mentioned she hadn't petted a dog in years."

A dog that big might just eat me, though xD," she said. I had no idea how we got to Pokemon from there, but I was grinning ear to ear. Assassin:" We need to go on another actual date. I feel like Wonderwind has been all we've been talking about for a few weeks." Veyra:" We are absolutely going on a date >:)" Veyra:" Our lives are 90% Wonderwind though lol. It makes sense we're mostly talking about that. You can ask me how my day went before logging in, and it's the same two responses every time.

Either it's awful or bearable." Assassin:" We'll change that to bearable or good next week." Veyra:" >. < Let's just hope I won't be too sick, I guess." Veyra:" Anyway, I need to head to sleep. See you in four days <3" Oh. It was over? Assassin:" Good night, see you <3" Her icon went from green to grey, and I was left in the attic, which suddenly felt a lot more silent. I kept my phone in my hand. I had been considering a voice call, but it looked like it was too late for that. Veyra did say she had a lot to do.

Just four more days, and I'm in Thailand. I couldn't wait. The nights of dreaming of more bed-talk with her would finally become reality. Of course sleeping with her would be awesome as well, but even without anything weird happening, just falling asleep next to her would make the real world so much more comfortable. I wondered if Veyra felt the same way. She was always nervous about meeting me for reasons I couldn't quite figure out. Most things related to her daily life outside Wonderwind were still a mystery.

She claimed she didn't really do much other than play Wonderwind, but I was still online more on average than her. I wouldn't need to wait long to learn more. I'd get to carry her again with loads of unsolicited hugs. I couldn't expect an experience like Worlds; that was a once in a lifetime experience, not something I could expect from just a regular visit to her place, but the trip would show us how our daily lives actually fit together. Seeing as we both were game addicts, I reckoned I didn't need to worry.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. The anticipation of it all had me rolling around in bed sleeplessly for at least an hour. Most of that hour was spent hugging my pillow in preparation for when I'd get to actually hug her, and the other half was just dumb anxiety, coming from a source I couldn't identify. Regardless, we had a few more days in between to play Wonderwind before it was time to meet.

Zenith Protocol was just about to catch up to the castle. Their livestream showed them currently faced with the bridge full of demons, preparing a raid to bust through. Hopefully they wouldn't appear in the castle before we had time to loot through it tomorrow. After two hours of rolling in bed, I finally got to sleep and woke up to log back in.

"Uh, hello Aiden," Veyra said awkwardly when we logged back into Aetherdale's sewers the next day. Her staff looked a little taller than usual with more intricate runes lining its shaft. She held it close to her body, now wearing Robe Of The Grand Sorcerer again.

"I, uh, may or may not have logged in a little early," she said.

"And… I may or may not have spent five million gold just now." Slowly, my face lit up.

"You upgraded your staff?"

"Yep." A wide grin lit her face.

"Take a look at this." Legacy Of The Portal Mage Item Type: Mythic Staff Required Character Level: 284 Stats: +4400 Spell Power +500% Mana Regeneration +5 Proficiency To All Time Spells +10% Elemental Resistance Penetration Abilities: Frozen Time (Passive): All Frost Spells share proficiency with Time Spells. Time Spells deal 5% extra Frost Damage. Frost Spells Deal 5% extra Time Damage. Portal Mage (Active): Place up to three portals to a solid surface. Portals allow for free travel for anyone that passes through.

Casting conditions: 2000 mana; the location of the portal's spawn-point must be visible to the eye. After a player enters the portal, all portals will close, and the spell goes on a six second cooldown.

"The range debuff was removed from the portals again," she said.

"I just need to see the target to place a portal. The spell power and mana regeneration were more than tripled, and Frozen Time has a new effect, giving everything five percent extra damage. And best of all, it gained resistance penetration."

"Holy shit," I said.

"That's just completely OP now."

"It's strong for sure," she said with a sheepish smile.

"But wait until you see the rest of the build. The spirit effects with a few skills might just break the game."

"Really now? Did you respec? What spells did you grab?"

"You'll see," Veyra said.

"I explored the sewers for a bit, and I accidentally found the boss. The Summoner. I wanted to wait until you got on before one-shotting it." I gave her a look.

"How early did you log in today?"

"Eh, a couple hours before you."

"And what level was the boss?"

"Four-eighty-eight." I blinked.

"You're thinking of one-shotting it?"

"Maybe not literally," Veyra said.

"I'll need you to protect me while I prepare the spells. I'm not used to the casting patterns with dark magic yet. The combo takes some time to prepare."

"Alright. What's the combo?"

"You'll see," she said again.

"I'll give you a hint first. I grabbed one more upgrade from the auction house. Take a look at this." Soul Probe Ring Item Type: Legendary Ring Required Character Level: 232 Stats: +300 Spell Power +200 Pure Elemental Resistance Penetration"Resistance penetration?" I asked.

"Your boots already crack resistances to zero, right?" Her grin only grew.

"Yeah. Don't you see the vision?" I thought about it for a bit. I couldn't see it. Two hundred resistance penetration was conventionally a good stat to have, but Veyra already had an item to bring an opponent's resistances to zero. At that point, she'd already fully pierce the enemy's resistances regardless. Adding extra penetration would do nothing.

"You might need to show this one in action," I admitted.

"Not sure if I get it."

"Fine, I'll show you," she said, offering her hand.

"I left a teleportation stone outside the boss room. Let's go." Suspiciously, I grabbed her hand, and she initiated a teleport.

When Veyra said, outside the boss room, it turned out she meant that quite literally. We teleported directly outside what looked like an underground church, walls made of stone bricks. The sewers had ended, bringing us to a secret side-room. The High ceiling was held together by thick columns. Any pews or benches that a church normally had were replaced by stone coffins. A green carpet with embroidered glowing patterns connected the entrance with an altar at the far end.

Behind the altar, the green skeletal eyes of a lich in a black robe pointed down at us. It didn't attack yet, but I had the feeling we were a mere step away from its activation range. Its nametag was, The Summoner (Level 488).

"It's like knock-off Endlich," Veyra said.

"I swear that's the same model with different clothes. Looks like the budget didn't reach every monster."

"That's still almost two hundred levels higher than endlich," I noted.

"Yeah," she said, readying her staff.

"It's a mage-type monster. I can probably one-shot it. Let's see. Protect me for a bit, please." Her gear anxiety seemingly entirely gone, Veyra stepped into the church and activated the boss.