Parallel Vol. 1
Chapter 14: Syel Rifatora

Following Morning

The door to Taiga’s room slid open and Akari walked in, his anger evident in his furrowed brows. “Where were you last night?” His voice rung low with anger.

The person in question raised his head from behind a wall of books. “I went for a walk.”

Taiga replied scratching his hair - he needed a shower. “You said I could leave if I finished reading in a week right?”

“You’re done?” Akari’s disbelief wiped away his anger. “That... This takes average humans months, if not years to finish.”

“We both know I’m not average. Or would you like to test me? Pick up any book.”

Akari picked a random one and flipped to a certain page. “What does the third paragraph on page 185 of ‘Prehistoric Darwin’ say.”

“Trick question. The entirety of page 185 and 186 depict a diagram of an Argentinosaurus, the largest sauropod to be found till date with convincing evidence to back it up. It is named after arg-.”

Akari raised his hand stopping Taiga’s tirade. “Yes, yes, You can stop now. Knowing you, you could probably go on forever.” ′I knew he was advanced, but he has improved even further in the last years.′ Rubbing his temple, he sighed. “Follow the orderly outside. He will lead you to a bath and give you a fresh set of clothes.”

“Ho? Ma-”

“No more games,” Akari interjected with a serious glare. “I’m risking my job by releasing you. Do not make me regret it.”

“I didn’t kill anyone did I? That’s all the proof you need I’m going to be a good boy.”

Sighing, Akari turned around and left the room. “When you are done, you will be taken to building to start the game,” he said as the door slid shut behind him.

“Heeh. Interesting.”

The door opened again and one of the guards walked in, beckoning to him. Taiga followed him, a sly grin creeping up the corners of his mouth.

While Taiga was getting prepared, across the compound, someone else was faced with a terrible dilemma. It was a problem faced by many, with a very simple solution, yet quite difficult to the untrained.

“Do I call or text?” Suzuki mumbled, staring at his PDA. The words on the screen felt like a death sentence. While he had been asleep, he had missed a call from Jade, and now he was awake, he did not know what to do.

‘I should call, right? After all, she did call. But what if calling is uncool? Everyone in school texts on their phones. Yes, I should text her... but what if I come across as crass because of it? More like what do you even say in a text or call. Hey? too familiar, she might freak out. How about Hello. No, no one says that anymore...’

Smoke spurted from his ears as he burned out his brain trying to come up with a solution.

“Let’s do this.” He chose to call her and braced himself like he was about to face off a dragon, each dial tone a countdown to his death. However, he was part relieved and partly scared when no one answered the call. Probably in the game.

It never crossed his mind to call a second time; he was used to James picking up on the first ring - and he never called Adachi. He placed the PDA on his table, then entered the

Virtual Drive.

A few seconds later, Kashi opened his eyes.

After a long bath, Taiga, dressed in a black graphic T-shirt and a pair of brown slacks, entered a white room with nothing but a single full-body nerve gear in it. Several wires ran from the machine into the ceiling above, giving it an eerie look. On the wall was a one window he could not see through, but knew people those on the other side could see him clear as day.

“This the game?” Taiga asked, walking over to the machine. He patted it, relishing in its familiar coolness.

“Yes. This will be your first time in the virtual world, but it should be easy for you.” Akari’s voice rung out around the room from several hidden speakers.

“I assume you won’t be taking this off?” He raised his right arm, pointing at the silver bracelet around his wrist.

“Sorry, but I cannot do that. Not yet.”

“It was worth a shot.” He shrugged as he examined the virtual drive. “It looks similar to the Bifrost.”

“It is modeled after it. Works the same way.”

“Alright then. You know how I like to work right?” Taiga said, getting into the machine.

“Yes, there are no restrictions. You can stay in there for as long as you wish.”

“Good.” Unlike normal virtual drives, a lid sealed the inside from the rest of the world. To onlookers, it looked like a space pod, or more grimly, a coffin.

WELCOME TO F-DIVE

ENTER FULL DIVE

YES NO

“Yes.”

Taiga’s consciousness was pulled through space, right into a white room with a lady sitting on a conical object.

“Welcome to Live no Evil, Taiga Onisha. It is an ho-” Kira greeted.

“Skip the tutorial.”

“Then, please pick a class.” If she was offended by his interruption, she chose not to show it. “Be advised that different classes have their bonuses.”

He browsed through the list and settled on high elves. “I’ll take the high Elves.”

“You can choose to alter your appea-”

“Stay as it is.”

His body morphed into that of a leaner, taller halben, with long flowing white hair that was braided at the sides. He retained his fair complexion and though his skin seemed to shine brighter, that might have just been his yellow eyes playing tricks on him. Dressed in a purple robe, he looked like a majestic mage of high repute.

“Are you satisfied with your body?”

“It’s perfect. Can I start now?”

“One last thing. Please choose a name for your avatar.”

“Syèl Rífatora.”

“Name accepted. Good luck, Syèl.”

A circle appeared on the floor beneath him, out of which two bulbs of light spiraled upwards, enveloping him. The light completely blinded his vision and he shut his eyes at the brightness.

When the intensity faded, he opened them and saw he was standing in a large hall. The walls were made of stone, with several torches hanging from pillars to provide light. A magic circle similar to the one that had appeared in the room he had just come from lay beneath him; It dulled its glow and returned to mere scribbles.

“Greetings summoned.” A voice greeted.

Syèl turned around and saw a robbed halben looking at him with a bored expression. Just like him, the halben had fair skin and long white hair.

“Hello?” Syèl walked down a flight of stairs to the halben who kept his gaze on him.

“Welcome to Mònòch, home to the high elves. Pray tell, what is thine name?

“Syèl Rífatora.”

“Have a pleasant stay, Master Rifatora.” His smile was so fake, Syèl had to resist an urge to bash his teeth in.

“I’ll do just that.” Syèl left the hall through the only exit, a large bronze door that was much easier to open than he had thought. He stopped outside the doors, eyes wide at the sight before him.

The High Elves were pompous who believed themselves superior to all the other races.

As a result of their arrogance, they chose to live in the mountains regions at the heart of the continent.

They made their homes by carving into the mountains, resulting in a masterpiece of architecture. Pathways had been created by the mountains, with transparent windows on the higher floors that shielded them from the wind.

Syèl leaned over a railing to admire the sheer drop below him, wondering how they managed not to fall off.

Invigorated by the sight, he began a series of stretches to test out his new body. It was quite easy for him to adapt to the body, although he drew some attention from other users.

“Must be his first time in virtual reality.”

“Haha, look at him go. Wow, what a noob.”

“I bet you he dies in three days.”

Syèl paid no heed to the onlookers, and when he was done stretching, he went exploring. The high elves, or ‘Helves’ as they were fondly called, were sticklers for order. As such, their buildings were separated into several sectors. The lower floors housed the lower class citizens and stores. The middle floors were for the middle class, which was where a lot of their major shops were located. The upper caste lived close to the summit which was where the grand library, parliament and several other government functions were held. At the summit sat the grand castle, home to the king and queen and restricted to only those with permission.

After garnering as much information as possible from the locals, Syèl went to the grand library where he was directed to a small stuffy room with shelves of books.

“These books contain the basics of magic, along with a few instructions should you choose to read them.” The clerk who directed him bowed and left the room.

He was not the only one in the room. Several users sat around tables perusing the books. Despite a large number of books, there were only fifty-three unique books on the shelves. The rest were all clones to cater to a large number of people. The books averaged at three to five hundred pages, varying in size and of the text. An average human would take a month to finish them all without eating or sleeping.

Most users chose a certain field of magic and read the few books related to their profession. For those who did not want to manually read the books, there was a <<Quick Read>> option which let them learn whatever was inside of a skill book without actually reading them. A few books had to be read manually in order to learn their skills though.

Syèl picked all fifty three books and placed them in front of him. He opened the first one, flipping the pages at a speed that suggested he was looking for a special page. A minute later, he was done reading the entire book. The game rewarded him for manually reading the book with an increase in his stats.

INT increased by 1

WIS increased by 1

“Interesting.” He proceeded to finish all fifty-three books in the next hour, by the end of which his Intelligence had increased by 60 and his Wisdom had increased by 63. This feat of his was only possible because of his condition. His brain recorded ad processed everything his eyes saw at the exact same time. When he looked at a page, he did not see individual words, but an entire block of text which was processed and understood in a fraction of a second. As a result, he possessed a hundred percent comprehension of everything he read as opposed to a regular human’s seventy percent (without speed reading).

While reading the books, Syèl noticed a trend: Most of the books were dodgy about certain subjects, going so far as to call them blasphemous. These subjects were classified solely under ‘Dark Arts’ and they piqued his interest.

Done with all the books, he returned them to their shelves and left the room, curious eyes following his retreating figure.

Syèl stopped at the reception of the Library and rang a bell placed on the counter. Seconds later, a door opened, and a female halben walked out with a business smile. The tag on her robe revealed her to be Fenèt.

“How may I be of assistance?”

“I would like to read more on the Dark Arts,” Syèl said abruptly. The art of subtlety was completely lost on him.

In response to his question, Fenèt’s features darkened, and her smile fell to a flat line. “Where did you hear of that?”

“I finished all the books in the little library. You know anything or not?”

“Impossible, you only arrived today. Show me your status window.”

With a sigh, Syèl followed the motions in the manual he had read before entering the machine.

Character Name: Syel Rifatora Alignment: Neutral

Level: 1 Profession: N/A

Title: N/A Race: Halben

Fame: 0 Infamy : 0

Health: 100 Mana: 840

Strength:10 Agility: 10

Wisdom: 73 Intellect: 70

Vitality:10 Dexterity:10

Leadership: 0 Luck: 0

Attack: 5 Defense: 2

Dexterity: 14 Endurance: 10

Magic Resistance: 25

(Fire Resistance: 5% Water Resistance: 2%

Wind Resistance: 2% Earth Resistance: 1%

Lightning Resistance: 0%

Light Resistance: 0% Dark Resistance: 1%

“Impressive.” Fenèt stared at his stats, surprise evident on her features. “To possess such mana despite being only a level one. If you so wish, I shall introduce you to several masters in a school of your choice.”

There were six major schools of magic: Restoration, Conjuration, Destruction, Alteration, Illusion and Enchanting. Each school was broken into smaller elements with restrictions placed on the elements one could learn. For example, a fire mage would be terrible at ice magic.

“No. I am not looking for any of those classes. I want to learn the dark arts.” Syèl drummed on the counter, irritated by her attempt to divert his attention.

“Those are forbidden. I am afraid you will replace no one willing to teach you those blasphemous arts.” Her expression soured even more, and it seemed she was seconds away from calling the authorities.

“Useless. I guess I will have to search on my own.”

“With all due respect, if you are caught practicing the dark arts, you will be banned from Mònòch and all its sister cities for life.”

“I just have to make sure I don’t get caught then.” Syèl left the counter and headed for the exit, irritated by the conversation. Unbeknown to him, his name was entered into a blacklist right then. Thus, he was the first user to have his name entered in a blacklist in the entire continent.

Outside the library, an elf in black robes waved him over. “I hear you are interested in learning the Dark Arts?”

“You going to teach me?”

“Follow me...”