New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live



Luna blurred out of sight for a second, reappearing near the players.

Planting her feet on the ground, she focused on the small orbs of light floating above her antlers. As she did, they slowly started spinning in place, before rising into the air, dancing in a perfect circle.

They closed in on each other, still spinning smoothly, before accelerating.

Then, suddenly, they dispersed, slamming into the ground in a perfect circle around the party and her, as a barrier of energy formed between each orb, closing in like a dome above the players' heads.

The transparent barrier was invisible to those who couldn't see or feel mana, which was very few people in this group. But for the others who could, it was like looking at a glass bubble, with speckles of light dancing in the glass.

It was beautiful to watch, but terrifying to sense.

Astaroth could see the amount of Aether packed tightly in this barrier, and he felt flabbergasted. Even he couldn't generate this much Aether in such a short time.

'Nemus really gave you an incredible gift, didn't she?' Astaroth told Luna, through their mind link.

But Luna was so focused on holding up the barrier, she didn't respond.

On the other side of this dome, the demon had ballooned up to the size of a small hot-air balloon. The surrounding air was undulating with power, as his mana was slowly reaching the tipping point.

And when it did, he popped. The seemingly innocuous reaction looked no different from an overblown balloon, reaching the maximum stretching capacity, in the eyes of SharpTusk, who couldn't see mana.

But to mages in the party, it was horror.

They watched as a deflagration the size of Hiroshima happened before their very eyes. The very next second, the demon's mana ignited the very air around it, forcing everyone to close their eyes, as the room outside their protective dome suddenly turned bright white.

SharpTusk witnessed this much, as the shock wave instantly smashed into the barrier Luna was holding, and everyone felt the residual energy wash through them, blasting them to their asses.

The explosion only lasted a few seconds, but its effects were fear-inducing.

The entire boss room, which was previously dirt floors, and beige and grey stone buildings locking the area closed, were gone. The ground was now blackened and charred, with pools of molten lava here and there.

The buildings which had been holding them here now looked like blackened cliffs. Their surfaces looked like a volcano's cliff side, still red in some spots, where the loose stone from the previous impacts had melted into slag.

The only spot that was left untouched was the small circle the players were standing in.

But a notification came that snapped them out of their awe.

*First Boss; Corrupted Aspect of Speed, defeated.*

Special rewards were added for forcing the demon into self-destructing and surviving.

**

A chest appeared in the middle of the room, between two pools of lava, and right behind it, a glowing white portal swirled into existence.

The barrier around them then suddenly dispersed, a dull thud echoing behind the players, who were looking at the exit portal. Turning his head first, Astaroth saw Luna's gigantic stag form revert to her small Ash Elven form.

Her forehead dripped with sweat, and her little robes drenched. She was about four feet off the ground as she reverted, and Astaroth dashed forward to catch her, as gravity reasserted itself on her.

As he caught her in his arms, falling to his knees, she smiled weakly at him.

"Did I do good, Papa?" she meekly asked.

Her eyes were having trouble staying open, and he could see she was extremely fatigued. He guessed that withstanding such a blast had taken its toll, even on her powered-up form.

"You were amazing, my sweet girl. Sleep now, recharge. I'll take care of the rest for now."

Luna weakly nodded, before her body shone white and melted into his.

Phoenix glimpsed at him, giving Luna such tenderness, and she felt a tinge of jealousy. She quickly brushed it away, though, realizing it was unwarranted.

'What am I thinking? She is like a daughter to him. Nothing to be jealous about.'

She smiled as she walked toward him, who was standing back on his feet.

"When did Luna become this strong?" she asked.

She had seen Luna in action many times before. But Luna had never been this powerful.

She could feel something different from the doe, aside from its ability to take a humanoid shape. But she hadn't been able to put her finger on what, exactly.

"It was Nemus' doing. Luna isn't just her anymore. She is like an amalgam of many beings, myself included. But two of those beings were her parents, so to speak. And she inherited their grade after being reformed by Nemus."

Phoenix tilted her head a bit, confused.

"Luna was previously legendary grade. But now, she is mythical grade. Her level also went up a bit."

Hearing his words, Phoenix almost went slack-jawed. Every player on god's green earth would kill to get a mythical companion.

"Just how high is your luck stat?" she asked him, stumped.

"Hmm? It's at zero. Why?"

Phoenix just couldn't believe him.

"Show me. There is no way your luck score is at zero, with every good break you get."

Astaroth's shoulder rose as he was telling the truth.

He opened his inventory and pressed share for Phoenix to see. But as he went down his stats, something had changed in them.

"Huh? Why does it say five? I never put points in it…"

Phoenix looked at his five points of luck, and she slapped her forehead.

"It figures. There was no way you were at zero luck. But how did you reach five points? Even the human players who put all of it in there only have two."

Again, Astaroth raised his shoulders in a shrug.

"Don't ask me. I put no points in there because Ash Elves don't get starting points at all. I never even noticed it had gone up…"

Phoenix knew something had altered his stats to get five points. People online were claiming they had gained luck points through fortuitous encounters.

But they had gained only one point. Not five.

She wondered what kind of encounter could cause such a major shift? But then it clicked.

Nemus.

Hadn't Astaroth said Nemus was a goddess? Nothing else made sense.

She eyed her boyfriend with envy.

'I wonder if me meeting her would do the same…'