Server Lost - Chapter 1 arrival

The air was brisk, cold, in contrast to the warmth they had felt.

The light had faded and their surroundings had hardly changed. Except for the lighting, the texture.

At first one could only believe that it was some sort of update to the game. The sensor information they were receiving, was as if they were standing in a real world environment.

Jack stepped forward towards the crevice in the wall, peering out towards the moonlight.

A chill, an unnatural chill, ran down his spine. The world was far more natural than the digital one they had once resided. The sky had depth, as if one could surpass it. It was heavenly, something he had never seen before in the life he had lived.

For the first time in the game, his mouth salivated with curiosity.

Yet all these emotions, were hardly there. His face bared no expression, only shining blue orbs as cold as a reflection seen only in ice.

The barrier which divided them from the outside, was frigid to the touch. The blackened fabric of his gloves stuck to the surface before he retracted his hand.

“Sephir!” Ritorureddo, a small fun-sized moon elf wearing a set of light iron plate armor over a set of silver and blue patterned robes with ocean foam colored thread trim, shouted aloud. On top of that however is what gives her name purpose, the red hooded mantle she wears on her head.

She seemed to be one of those moe gamers, who make their characters absurdly cute. He’s met plenty like them, most of them were perverted men or manipulative women who wanted an in-game boyfriend that would give them tons of gear, money and items without working for it.

She had this heart shaped face and shiny white arctic hair that reflected the light of the room.

At least one of her primary classes had to have been Battle Mage, he was sure.

“Hm!?” Jack snapped to, turning his head to look at the teeny person, noting their red hood had been pulled down to reveal a saintly pale face with emerald eyes. His eyes traced over the freckles and the details which had been lacking before this event.

“I’ve been calling your name forever now!” She stomped a foot down on the altar’s block like a brat, causing her whole petite body to bounce, glaring up at him with the entitlement of a royal.

His eyes narrowed on her short little pointed ears.

“Are you even listening, Mister Sleeping Chaperone!?”

Taking in a deep breath, he huffed sharply, reaching forward and grasping her long white arctic hair and tugged her into the air off her feet.

“Ow! Put me down! That hurts!” Her feet kicked around, but they weren’t long enough to even connect with his chest plate.

That’s when he would bring their faces extremely close together, an indifferent look in his eyes. “It hurts?” This question rung out between the two of them until their eyes drifted over towards the other two members of the party.

A skeleton mage wearing brown mage robes with beginner’s sturdy leather overlay for protection.

His hands were on his head, and he was screaming, as much as a skeleton could possibly in any instance. Though to those around them, it just sounded like the chattering of a jaw and the intense shaking of bones.

That was Bakkuhako, his name literally meaning Buck Tooth Child. Jack when he had first met him, was rather curious about the name, wondering if it had any relation to real life.

Kykotora was face palming at the moment, dressed in a set of plain brown samurai chest plate and robe set. Long raven black hair done up in a pony tail, thick bushy brows and inherently intense Japanese eyes. He reeked of logic and emotional control on the outside, but on the interior, it almost looked as if he was shaking in his boots.

Based on the name alone, Jack could only assume that this person was actually a girl in real life. Probably even her real name, if not, he was still curious.

SLAP. Feeling two hands warmly pressing against his cheeks, without even forcing Jack into puckering his lips, Jack’s attention was brought back to Ritorureddo. She was a level twenty, so she did absolutely no damage as it was nullified simply due to his level.

Letting out a soft sigh, Jack raised a brow.

“Put. Me. Down. Now.”

“Alright Little Red,” Jack immediately released his hold on the hair which he had curled his fingers into, and watched as the vertically challenged elf landed on her bum with a soft thud.

“Oi…” Ritorureddo thrusted her body forward as she went to stand up rubbing her rear slightly. “That actually hurt too..” She didn’t seem too excited by the sudden sensations she was feeling from this.

“Sephir-sama!” Cried Bakkuhako, running up to the Angel and placing his hands on his white and blue armored robes. “What’s going on!? I don’t feel anything anymore! Nothing!”

Jack blinked a few times as he watched the skeleton jaw chatter at him. His eyes slowly looked over towards the other members of the group before centering his gaze back on Bakkuhako.

“I have no idea what you’re saying…”

“What do you mean!?”

“Eh…” Jack’s nose scrunched up slightly as he could hear the sound of the skeleton’s sharp fleshless fingers scratching at the armor plating. It was like nails on a chalkboard. He brought his hand up and pressed two fingers against the forehead of his skull, forcing the skeleton to take a step back.

“So, we don’t have access to our menus, or even our hotkeys Let alone the mini-map.” Kykotora let out a sigh from the observation. “So how are we supposed to use our skills and abilities?”

Jack glanced over towards the swordsman sucking his two front teeth, making a ‘tch’ sound.

“Perhaps we just call out the skill name, or something?” Ritorureddo’s tone was questionable, as if she didn’t really believe it would work.

Jack turned his head to look at the little elf as she had spoken. “Give it a try then,” gesturing with his hands towards the statue looming over the altar. It was believed to be indestructible in game, so why not use it as a practice target.

Ritorureddo’s brows furrowed before the three others cleared out of the way. The intensity in the air rose as she moved into a martial stance. One leg and one arm drawn back, whilst she aimed her left hand at the statue’s head.

Taking in a deep, shaky, breath the girl would shout with her eyes closed. “ICE BOLT!”

Nothing. Nothing happened. Absolutely fucking, NOTHING!

Slowly she opened one eye, glaring at the back of her hand. “ICE BOLT!” She shouted again, and again. Nothing was happening as she started to flail her hand about.

Jack let out a light sigh, placing his hand on the top of her head. “Little Red,” his fingers lightly squeezed her head like a fake ass brain eater trying to suck out her brain through his palm. “Try imagining it, like in the game. Remember the spell.”

This idea came from a light novel he once read, where magic was triggered by the power of one’s will, imagination of the effect and the innate ability to execute the spell successfully in one’s mind.

Her brow twitched at the physical contact with his hand on her head. “Yeah, alright!” Closing her eyes and calming herself, she rose her hand once more towards the statue.

As theIce Boltspell was cast, not with words but with her mind, a loud WACK sound emanated from her hand as a bolt of ice propelled through the air. The bolt would shatter against the insignificant statue, little flakey crystals of frozen moisture fell as clutter around their feet.

The Skeleton stood there, having seen the entire thing with the rest of them. His jaw hanging from the hinge. Magic without words, magic without the use of hotkeys. Perhaps, he could use telepathy?

Placing two fingers on that boney skull of his, against the temple, he’d clinch his jaw and focus his sockets on the angel in front of him.

Silently the spell known asConnectwas cast from the Undead Mage, a spell which allowed on to connect to one other person at a time.

“Sephir-sama!”

Jack immediately turned his gaze towards the skeleton upon hearing their voice in his head. It was clean and clear, broadly powerful too. Sadly these three were only level twenty. “Bakku,” he used part of the person’s name, essentially calling them Buck or Back.

The skeleton momentarily began to dance, pretty much doing a jig often seen being danced by fictional pirates. “Yes!” The being seemed relatively distracted by their brief success before pausing and looking at their hands, then back up to Jack. “I can’t feel anything…”

“Oh?” Jack and the others looked over the skeleton.

“Perhaps it’s because he doesn’t have that many nerves in his body. I’m sure he’ll feel something if he were to be damaged,” Kykotora pointed out with their arms crossed over their chest, a quick-witted and near-sadistic shine in their eye.

“We’re not attacking the Skeleton,” Jack itched the tip of his nose before looking to the crevice leading outside. “Anyways, since we got down how to access our skills, lets try accessing our inventory?”
for visiting.

“Inventory!”

Jack’s eyes looked to the small moon elf and shook his head slightly. “Seriously?”

“What?!” Ritorureddo hissed up at him, “I don’t see you doing anything embarrassing!”

Making a sucking motion with his hand, he raised a brow at her.

A low growl resonated from her throat as she sighed, calming down and repeating the technique she had used to cast magic. Of course this time, to open her inventory.

Before her would open a black circle, rotating like that of a black hole.

Squinting, she would reach out forward, her hand temporarily vanishing from sight before she pulled it back out. In her hand was a common healing potion.

“Now, how did you decide what you took out?”

“I don’t know, its as if I can remember all of what I had put in there.”

“Oh?” Jack watched as she put the item away, before releasing his hold on her head.

Almost instinctively, she began to pat down her hair, straightening it as she combed her fingers through it. Her eyes bored holes through the back of Jack’s head as he walked over towards the Crevice to look outside again. That was when she smelt an abundance of pine as a gust of wind entered the dungeon’s cave entrance.

“What’s that smell?” The elf, along with the other two members of the party pressed against the wall as they peered outside, a world lit by moonlight and stars alone.

“Wasn’t there a cliff and an ocean the last time we were outside…?” Kykotora pointed out as they went to slip through the crevice to go outside, only for Jack to grab them by the shoulder and toss them back inside.

Skidding on their ass, they yelped. “What the fuck is wrong with you!?” The Swordsman who had appeared to be emotionally controlled, flipped like a Russian bear.

“You don’t know what’s outside…” Jack uttered before looking over the others, “I’ll go first.” In a way he felt responsible for these amateur players, even though he could just as easily let them die.

Stepping through the narrow crevice, he rested one armored leather boot upon the ground, followed by the next. Soon enough, he was standing outside, his six white wings would sprout from his back, their glow illuminating the area.

“It seems my wings work…” Rolling his jaw, he was in awe as he saw his breath in the air.

Surrounding the cave entrance was a clearing of an evergreen forest. The smell of pine was intoxicating, almost overwhelming. It smelled like Christmas, but with the true scent of a long time extinct tree. All the smells were exaggerated to the point that he could tell there was a stream nearby.

The smell was processed and recognized as if it was a flavored data stream. A map of tastes, aromas, odors. It wasn’t the same as one’s natural sense of smell from the world they knew as Earth.

Quickly he retracted his wings, before tilting his head back to look at the sky. A hand reached up and ran along his forehead, and into his short black hair with a low ratio of random purple highlighted strains. He had a pretty face, but it wasn’t exactly feminine, but rather a romanticized hero of Mythology with a triangular shaped facial structure.

As he shifted his weight and turned to look towards the other, gave them a nod. “Safe.”

The next person to exit the lobby was Kykotora, who rested their hand nonchalantly on the longer samurai which hung from their hip. Seeming to have recollected themselves, they peered each way, before turning their gaze to Jack, tapping a finger on the butt of his hilt.

Ritorureddo suddenly rushed out of the crevice, immediately clinging to Jack’s hip as she looked around them. She was a five foot elf, he was a seven foot angel. While she was still rather awes struck, she was fearful, this began to look like a Kitten hiding behind a magnificent Dire Wolf.

Next to leave the lobby was the Skeleton, who almost casually ducked outside, only to pause as it looked to the right of the crevice. There was a lantern fading into view, the galloping of horses over a hundred meters away.

Perhaps their arrival had made a disturbance in the area?

Jack’s eyes turned towards the skeleton, then towards the light it was looking at. “Pull up your hood and conceal yourself.” Even in the game world undead characters were seen as abominations by NPCs in towns and often couldn’t get normal quests unless a disguise was worn.

Reaching up, the Skeleton did as told and draped their brown hood over their head before stuffing their skeletal hands into their sleeves, like a wise monk.

Kykotora stared at the elf as it was clinging to the party leader, “Why are you clinging to a man that just picked you up by your hair?”

“I like it rough!” She spouted in defense, “Leave me alone, okay!?”

Jack’s attention flickered on down to her when she said this, it was a blatant lie. She was afraid, and he was the strongest being there. The only being in the group that wouldn’t be blown away by the fat chance of a sudden High Dragon encounter.

The galloping was getting closer, heavier. There had to be at least three horses, probably a small wagon of sorts being dragged behind them. It was too dark and crowded in the forest to tell.