MMORPG: Rebirth of the Shadow Mage

After being done with a quest I took a peak at the time and noticed that I have around 15 minutes left.

' I should move... '

Slowly approaching the church I noticed that all three of them, Ava, Eli and Eric, were already gathered.

Nearing their location I noticed Eric raise his hand and wave it indicating that he saw me. Coming closer I noticed him suspiciously grinning.

" What? "

I raised my eyebrows seeing his expression. I didn't see the reason for him to make such a face and was kind of bothered by it.

" ~Why didn't you tell me that you'll attempt to defeat the boss for a second time? "

With a smile he spoke. Even though the question was about the boss I felt as if it had a hidden meaning. I immediately knew that Eric is interested in my fight against 15 people.

" I just happened to pass nearby... "

Shrugging my shoulders I saw Eric become disappointed as he didn't get information he was after. Turning my eyes towards Eli I noticed that she was wielding Grim Reaper's Scythe. Exchanging short greetings I moved onto Ava.

She was also wearing Equipment from the Grim Reaper, his cloak. Her long hair was tied into a ponytail, I also noticed that she had some makeup.

' I should tell Eli about this... '

Since I didn't want to tell Ava this face to face I decided to use Eli as a messenger.

It is better not to wear makeup, because it might lower the connection with the VR head-set. The makeup also doesn't help gaining favorability with any NPCs so it'd be useless, especially for a player like Ava who seeks to become one of the strongest.

Seeing me not saying anything Ava raised her eyebrow waking me up from my stupor.

" Morning... "

After we exchanged the greetings we started moving towards the castle. While on the way a lot of questions were thrown at me by my party members, even Ava asked some questions surprising me.

- Why'd you decimate the entire group?

~ One of them was my enemy...

- Why didn't you invite me... us to raid a boss for a second time?

~ You weren't online, I can't contact you outside the game...

- Can we exchange contact info then?

...

...

...

In the end I was pressur... mhmh... lucky to exchange my phone number with all three of my party members.

I was really adamant on doing it, but I didn't see a reason why not. I made sure to warn them not to spread my information around, especially Eric. I almost wanted him to sign a contract involving something important to him, so he wouldn't forget or 'accidently' have a slip of tongue.

' I should put some trust on him '

With a frown I sent all of them my phone number and their characters momentarily disappeared meaning that they logged off to write my number into their phones.

Climbing out of the VR pod I grabbed my ringing phone.

' MmmeHello! '

I heard the voice of Eli trying to do a cat impression. Saving her in my contacts I accepted the second call.

' I got lotion... '

I immediately knew it was Eric and also saved him on my phone as well.

Rinng... Rinng...

My phone rang for the last time, it was Ava's turn. Accepting the call I heard no voice on the other side of the line.

' Hello? '

I spoke, thinking that she might've muted her microphone.

' Yes? '

I finally heard her voice, for some reason it was as quiet as a whisper. After telling her that I'll end the call and add her on my contacts I took the phone away from my ear. I did hear her saying something, but her sentence was cut short due to the call ending.

' She can repeat it in game '

Stretching my back I looked outside only to see the shining moon directly through my window.

Crawling back into my Pod I logged into the game and soon was once again in-between Ava, Eli and Eric.

" Let's go "

Seeing Ava not initiating a talk I shrugged my shoulders.

' Probably wasn't that important '

Moving through the bridge I noticed little to none players waiting near the castle. Since the Raid Boss was defeated permanently it was just a tourist spot now.

Seeing our group approaching I felt a ton of eyes gazing at us, but just shrugged it off. Walking into the castle we were met by a soldier wearing silver armor.

The NPC had a helmet over his head not allowing us to see any of his facial features.

" The King was expecting your visit... "

With a deep voice the Guard moved to the side, opening the gates to the castle.

Crack.. Clank...

Like an old, rusty door the gates opened revealing a beautiful garden ahead. None of the plants were similar, every single one was either had different colors, different shape or different fruits.

Looking around I couldn't help, but snicker seeing all the greenery growing around us. As far as I recall we'll receive our rewards and also get a personal favor from the king. I could ask for expensive equipment or other stuff, but it'd paint me as a greedy person.

Unknowingly my face shifted into a creepy smile. Luckily, because of my hood nobody saw it.

' I should control my facial emotions better... '

Thinking about my appearance I took a deep sigh.

Clank... Clank...

As we were passing through the garden a group of soldiers equipped with armor covering them from head to toe approached us and started leading us through the beautiful Labyrinth.

After around a 10 minute walk we finally emerged from the garden and the main castle, in all of its glory, appeared before our sight.

Since in my past life the whole thing was recorded I already knew what to expect, but sometimes the real thing is even greater than from a video.

A building made with grey color marble, proportionally built so the castle would have a wide foundation. The higher the castle's structure was the brighter the color got at the top becoming pure white.

' Looks like a snow mountain '

Following the soldiers we were led through various halls and corridors decorated with chandeliers, various paintings, exquisite plants or other expensive stuff.

' I wonder how much it'd cost... '

Looking at the golden window frame I didn't even notice Eric nudging at my side.

" Leo, Leo, Leo! "

Only after slightly raising his voice did he got my attention. Turning my head I could see his cheeks being slightly red.

" Did you notice the maids' clothes? "

Eric's shining eyes were directed towards me expecting to hear an affirmative answer. Even though I was absentminded I still saw some of the personnel wearing weird maid uniforms which, in my opinion, exposed too much skin.

Feigning ignorance I shook my head. I'm glad I did, because Eli and Ava hearing our talk glared towards Eric with looks full of disgust.

' Pervert '

I swear I could hear Eli whisper into Ava's ear. Eric probably also heard that, because his eyes were now glued to the ground.

Looking at him I saw him moving his lips without any sound. I could discern such words as ' Traitor ', ' I'm not '. I couldn't blame him, he's known for speaking before thinking.

In such a quiet atmosphere we were finally led into a huge hall. The room was mostly covered in all kinds of emeralds, diamonds and other expensive materials.

Further in the room there were 2 thrones positioned close to each other. On one of them sat the king while on the other the Queen.

Both people could be considered beautiful even with their age. The King had an Oppressive Aura that could make one intimidated while the Queen had a soothing one that was completely opposite of the king's. They both were perfect counterparts to each other.

" This humble demon greets the King~ "

Kneeling I lowered my head and gestured for my party members to follow my lead. After all of us introduced ourselves to the king stood up from his throne.

" Thank you young ones... Thank you for letting me meet my wife for another time "

His previously oppressive aura was nowhere to be seen and his eyes had tears in them. All I could feel was his gratitude, in times like these I wonder, how much our technology has advanced to create such emotional AIs?

Long story short the king thanked every single one of us personally, he also invited us to have a meal with his family.

We were led into another room with a large table covered by tablecloth. As soon as we took our seats, Butlers entered the room bringing various Meals one after another. Even though the food wouldn't make us feel full the taste was 100% real.

I still crave for some things that could only be found and cooked later in the game. Even recalling the smell made me salivate.

After being served a 4 course meal the King finally decided to talk about the rewards.

" I'd like to reward you for your help... "

All of our eyes were drawn towards him.