MMORPG: Rebirth of the Shadow Mage

Closing the door after him Leo took a deep breath, acting was very consuming. Looking at Ricky he couldn't help, but grumble.

'It's as if you did it on purpose...'

Giving him a single treat Leo explored around his house only to find his parents in the backyard, swimming in the pool.

"How was the school? Any girls that caught your eye?"

Leo's mother almost leaped at him, but luckily she was still in the middle of the pool. Pressing his nose bridge Leo sighed.

"It was... good I guess?"

Not sure himself Leo momentarily closed his eyes trying to forget about his seat position and Theo. With those two variables out of the view... Yep, everything was perfect.

Waving at his father Leo informed his parents that he'll retire to his room to play Fragmental.

"Just join us at dinner!"

Hearing his father's voice Leo smiled, he wouldn't dare to skip it.

***

Light particles suddenly materialized out of thin air, flowing in strange patterns and becoming a form of a human. Soon a demon male with black hair and crown-like horns appeared with a small smile playing on his lips.

"Finally!"

Taking in the deep breath of fresh air Leo smirked feeling Mana and Shadow Energy circulating throughout his body.

Looking around, Leo found himself to be in the forest nearby the Basilisk Dungeon entrance.

[ Basilisk x1 Killed! ]

<LOOT >

1:30,000 EXP

2:Basilisk Scale x15

3:Basilisk Helmet [ Silver ]

~~~~

[ Congratulation on reaching Lv. 9... Lv.10! ]

[ +40 SP ]

Glancing at the system messages Leo smirked seeing that his level rose twice. The boss' loot was already shared with David, Leo receiving all the scales while his helper got the helmet. Since Paul and Charles died beforehand Leo gave them 3 scales each.

[ The Dragon Seal has weakened... ]

[ +20 STR ]

[+10 PDEF ]

[ +10 MDEF ]

[New Resistance Unlocked! ]

Feeling as if blessed Leo quickly navigated himself towards the Resistances Tab. Looking at the system he had to cover his mouth, trying to suppress his laughter.

"The day is getting better!"

<RESISTANCES>

1:Cold Resistance: [ 15 ]

2:Fear Resistance: [ 10 ]

~~~~

Leaning on the nearby tree Leo had to sort out his thoughts. He's just received one of the rarest Resistances in the game.

In his past life Leo hadn't heard about anyone gaining fear resistance while advancing his class. Leo was the only one!

"Focus!"

Slapping his cheeks Leo felt that his skin had become sturdier while his hands felt like they could shatter a rock.

'Dragon...'

Smirking the Shadow Mage approached the nearby tree and readied his fist.

Thud...

The oak sapling shook, but still tightly held onto its roots, some kind of squirrel even fell on the ground. Luckily the animal wasn't hurt, just shocked.

Looking at the poor creature Leo frowned and left the vicinity, he didn't want to hurt harmless creatures, at least those who wouldn't give him experience.

Moving through the Forest Leo thought of what to do next. He had no immediate plans, but to sell his items and gather some stuff from here and there.

Suddenly Leo recalled that he hadn't yet received the reward for surviving the assassination attempt by John. Looking through his system Tab Leo found no mention of it and massaged his templates.

"Chain quest..."

Chain quests were like normal quests, but the player had to complete a few of them to receive the reward.

Roar...

His thought process was interrupted by a roar of a huge beast somewhere in the vicinity. Leo felt the ground underneath his feet rumble and paled.

"Fuck this day!"

Dashing under the cover of a tree he lifted his eyes to the sky warily looking at the clouds above him.

As if the thing appeared out of nowhere, soon a huge monster emerged through white fluffy clouds bringing a snowstorm behind itself.

Looking at the forest from above, the monster's blue eyes scanned through the area and soon the temperature around it dropped.

"Why is that wyvern after me!?"

Looking at the creature hovering high in the sky, Leo bolted through the greenery, trying to avoid whatever attack would come his way.

'BASTARD!'

Leo heard the reptile's voice echo in his head, but completely ignored it, it was already tense as it is, he didn't want to get into a verbal argument with a dragon wannabe.

Feeling snowstorm right behind him Leo cursed, even though the Wyvern's Agility was ten times his, Leo expected to at least have another dozen of seconds before the monster caught up to him.

'I have no choice do I?'

Looking around Leo felt depression grip his heart, running deeper into the forest he noticed the trees becoming scarcer and scarcer and soon the forest ended.

A huge ravine was before him, it was so large that Leo couldn't even see the other side of it. The depth of the pit was also unseen, it seemed as if it was endless.

Throwing one last look at the Wyvern Leo smirked and raised his middle finger high in the air making sure the beast saw it.

'DO NOT DARE!'

Taking a step backwards Leo fell into hole disappearing from the view of the wyvern.

Roar...

The monster roared in rage, but didn't follow after the human, even though it could fly it didn't dive into the hole to finish Leo off. It was as if the beast was afraid of the rave, or rather what's inside it...

***

Falling at speeds not easily reached even by sports' cars , Leo couldn't help, but smile bitterly.

"I'm so not selling my items..."

Looking below himself Leo couldn't help but curse, the pit literally seemed endless.

Tearing through the air Leo had time to look through his Attributes, Items and Skills. He had already accepted his fate, he wasn't going to leave soon.

Leo even took a picture of himself falling and sent it to David.

[ On a Highway to Hell! ]

Soon the light from the sun disappeared and the surroundings became dark. Leo couldn't even use his Demonic Flame, because it'd be easily extinguished because of the speed he was falling at.

The journey was going to be an annoying one...

***

Ava was also playing the game, dueling some kind of guy that challenged her to a duel after being rejected.

The guy was already profusely bleeding while the skin on his chest was charred, Lightning was a powerful element.

Not long after her opponent fell and dissipated into light particles.

"Leo did it in a second"

Tucking her white hair behind her ear Ava thought while looking at her level. Through farming monsters and completing boss raids she has already reached Lv. 14!

The only thing dampening her growth was the continuous flow of people chasing after her.

'I need something to cover my face...'

Grumbling under her breath Ava moved through a dark forest with huge trees blocking the direct sunlight from falling on the ground.

"Let's move..."

Behind Ava there stood a muscular female Orc with a giant scythe visible on her back. She was gazing at the distance with a bored expression plastered across her face.

Both players had already spent over the week exploring the elven forest, trying to find a wandering merchant. Ava was in dire need of the mask and only the merchant could sell it, at least that was what Leo said. Ava bought this information to Leo and had to pay him over a thousand Gold coins.

'Can't he just give us an associate-discount...'

Ava thought with a frown visible on her beautiful face. She has already considered Leo as a friend or rather not a stranger, she had him on her friend list and his phone after all.

She couldn't quite get why the man would try so hard to hide his identity even from his friends.

'Circumstances...'

Pressing her lips together Ava let out a quiet sigh before turning her sparkling eyes towards Eli. Even she could open up to her friends, so why couldn't Leo?

"Leo said that the chances of the merchant showing himself with rise accordingly to the time we spent in the forest"

With a tinge of hidden annoyance Ava spoke, she really wasn't a fan of stumbling around the elven forest, which she spent over a month to escape, it was like a labyrinth infested with monsters and other elves.

"You've repeated that for the last 3 days..."

With a bored expression Eli replied looking around, inspecting the area, or rather giant mushrooms that were the size of the tree, growing in scarce groups.

'I wonder if they are edible'

Eli licked her lips gazing at the huge Amanita, she thought that her body could resist its poisonous properties.

As if feeling her friend's thoughts Ava sighed.

"Don't you dare eat that, I still need you as a tank..."

Hearing a snort behind her Ava wanted to roll her eyes, maybe she needed some new friends...

Crack...

Suddenly the ground below them cracked open and both players trying to grab onto something fell into the deep pit.

"That hurt~"

With a grimace Eli massaged her butt, while Ava managed to land on her feet. Looking around she noticed fireflies flying everywhere around them, illuminating the area perfectly.

[ New Area Found! ]

[ Tomb of the Fallen Angel found! ]

Both friends looked at each other, while subtle smiles appeared on their beautiful faces.

"Sweet!"