Chapter 10: Chapter Ten

(Looks at the number of views …it’s… it’s… IT’S OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAND! Ho-ho-holy shitsticks! Chapter ten, what even IS this?! XD I can’t believe I even got this far, and it’s all thanks to you, my lovely readers! Without you, I’d probably have lost confidence in my writing, so… give yourselves a high-five! You’re all awesome and I appreciate each and every one of you! Side-note, Jeffrey, the guy who brought up Aegis Online to Kylie back in chapter one, was never meant to be more than a side character, but somehow he became so much more. Anyway, I have a Patreon, pleas support me if you feel like I deserve it, and let’s get the ball rolling on this, the TENTH chapter of Aegis Online!)

 

At long last, the bell finally does ring, and everyone makes their escape as quickly as possible, not wanting to give old Simmons the chance to kick off another lecture. He’s actually done that, too, so it’s not an unheard-of risk. Getting home as quickly as possible is the only thing I want right now, the dark malaise from this morning still lingering over my head.

Luckily, my homework load is light today, and takes only an hour or so to finish, plus I’d grabbed a pizza on the way home so I didn’t have to cook or anything. Then, as soon as I check the diagnostics from Houseworth’s scan of my pod’s systems, finding no issues, as expected, and change into suitable dive-wear, it’s back into Aegis Online!

I open my eyes, the feeling of soft sheets around me a distinct change from the cool leather and metal of my pod, and I relish the silkiness for a few minutes, the dissatisfaction from today fading away. I even take a moment to run my hands up and down my body, sighing in relief as I find it just as female as I hoped. However, I don’t have time to waste, I need to find-

“Well, hello to you, honey~!”  A familiar, achingly-sweet voice jerks me into full awareness. Asteria is snuggled up beside me!

“Sgevhfuwoehdfuwerf!!!!” I splutter, as the tall, curvaceous Alv pulls me close, her cheek pressed to mine, as she brushes a gentle kiss to my earlobe. “I hope you know that you’re famous now! Rumours have spread about why I fought that asshole, and the reigning conclusions are that you’re my secret girlfriend, or you’re actually my new apprentice, seeking to learn how to be a pro streamer like me!”

I blink, and then shake my head. “Seriously?? There are already rumours about me?!Uuuuuhhh…” I whine, knowing that this could be bad. Asteria giggles and hugs me from behind, and my whimper turns to a squeak as her chest squishes against my back.  I can hear her giggling huskily in my ear. “Now, Kettrin? What’s the matter, you’re blushing so much, it’s adorable~!”

I squirm in embarrassment, and Asteria’s long, slim fingers begin tickling me, running up and down my sides and under my arms, her breathy laughter filling my ears as I flail and wriggle, trying not to howl with glee as my depression clears away totally, receding harmlessly into the distance. Being close to this amazing girl makes me feel so happy, but I can’t tell her… because she’s still tickling meee!

 

After what feels like an hour of tickle-torture, Asteria finally pulls me back into a hug. “Now, are you feeling okay?”  I nod and catch my breath, my chest heaving as a few tremors of merriment run through me. “Yeah… I’m really happy, thanks to you. And, um… I wouldn’t mind learning to stream from you…” I blush again, feeling my cheeks heat up. 

Asteria smiles, her eyes sparkling, and squeals, “Oh I’d love to! Do you know how to activate the built-in streaming service? If you haven’t used any streaming software before, it’ll ask you to make an account and all. I can help with that, it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes!”

True to her word, Asteria helps me to set up a new account, going by “Sky-Queen Kettrin”.  I send her a friend request via the streaming system, and she accepts it, allowing us to coordinate the exact time we’d want to start. Finally, the awesome dungeon crawl she’d mentioned was explained. A huge, sprawling labyrinth filled with undead! Several other players have entered, but were quickly overwhelmed and torn apart by the denizens of the maze. The weirdest part is that, when they respawned, their levels were halved…. And there were new undead in the halls of the tomb. Undead that looked like those who’d fallen in battle within the warren of passages and pathways.

“This sounds like a real adventure! And it’d be perfect for your debut stream, right, ‘Sky-Queen Kettrin’~?” Asteria teases me, and I can’t help but smile back. Actually, it did! What better way to start off my new hobby, then by conquering some brand-new, unbeaten oubliette?? However, there’s a small thing I need to do. I sit next to Asteria on the bed, legs tucked under me, and explain what I’d done last night, telling Harvenhaight’s player about myself, and that Jeffrey had been openly accepting and kind. She smiles and gives me a warm hug.

“I’m so proud of you, Kettrin! It’s one of the scariest things to do, coming out to someone. You can never be sure about how they’ll take it, even if you’ve known them for years! I guess I don’t have to protect you from him if we see him again, then? “ She laughs playfully, and I pout and stick my tongue out at her, quickly opening my menu, sending Harvenhaight a friend request, along with an invite to join us on our first dungeon-run.

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We spend the next two hours purchasing some items we’d need, including wardstones, bedrolls, dried food, waterskins, a couple of copies of a self-updating guide to the continent, and some basic repair tools for our equipment, before heading toward the gates of Tillberry, ready to leave on our first proper adventure. I was me again, I was with the girl I admired most, and we had ages to explore, level up, and really get to see what this world had to offer!

A gentle breeze blows, ruffling my feathers, and I spread my wings for a moment, enjoying the feeling of wind flowing through my pinions, before furling them. There’s time for that later. Now, I have more important things to do. Turning to my menu, I activate the streaming software, just as Asteria does the same.

“Hey guys, WildRoseOfTheWest here, and today I have some exciting news! I’m officially a mentor to a rookie streamer! Everyone, meet the girl who I’ve taken under my figurative wing, despite the fact that she has REAL wings! This is her; you might have seen her on my short fight-stream yesterday! Meet Sky-Queen Kettrin!”

At first, my audience is pretty much non-existent, until Asteria’s fans realise what’s happening, and start watching my stream too, my spectator count jumping into the hundreds, then the thousands! I splutter quietly, before clearing my throat.

“h-hi, guys! Yes, it’s true, I’m a brand-new streamer, and this is my very first time making a stream. I’m grateful to WildRoseOfTheWest for giving me the chance to be her apprentice! I can’t tell you how excited I am to play Aegis Online with her! Anyway, we’ve been preparing to head for the location of a brand-new dungeon that’s just been discovered, which seems to be full of weird zombies or something,  with the goal of being the first to conquer it! According to this guide-” Asteria waves her copy of the guidebook- “the dungeon is still unconquered! We still have a chance, although it might be tough with the two of us. Ah well, even if we don’t manage to be the first ones, we’ll still have a bunch of fun!”  

I nod, smiling at the small floating ball of light that acts as my own camera.  “Yeah, it’s gonna be a riot. Also! I’ve heard some gossip around town that might pique your interest! While we met Tanwen of the Whitefire, that big-as-heck white dragon, other groups of Argonauts had an encounter with different ones! I’ve heard of blue, green, even black or gold dragons showing up! All of them gave pretty much the exact same speech, and gave out the same starting gifts.  The current theory is that the fundraising promotion they did a couple of years back was well-and-truly smashed, so they‘ve been prepping goodies to hand out for all players.”

“Anyway, this dungeon is supposed to be full of undiscovered items, treasures, monsters, and all kinds of awesome stuff! To the victor goes the spoils, after all!” Asteria butts in, grinning like a kid, almost bouncing up and down in glee. Our streams continue as we hike along a wooded trail, occasionally veering off on a tangent about other games and movies, even books. It seems like Asteria’s viewers are all kinda cool, very pleasant company. I guess she’s either got a good chat moderator, or she’s been cracking down on the trolls for so long that they just avoid her streams.

The sun rises, reaches its zenith, and starts to descend as we begin to discuss our plans for the next day, taking time to search for a good camping site. Not too far off the path, defensible, near a source of fresh water, and with enough firewood available that we won’t have trouble cooking and staying warm.

While Asteria sets up the tents and chats with her viewers, leaving space for Jeffrey’s if he should arrive before nightfall, I gather firewood, dried grass and moss, stuff that burns easily and well, ranging in a wide circle around our camp to make sure there’s nothing dangerous too close by, deciding to talk about myself a little more, hoping to not screw this whole thing up somehow. By the time I get back with my haul, Asteria’s got the tents up and looks pleased with her efforts.

“Ah, great timing! A couple of my viewers have actually been in this area before and told me about a good spot a little way off. Some enemies have taken up residence nearby and they didn’t bother clearing them all out! We can do a bit of .exp farming while we wait for your friend!”

I grin and nod, checking my new gear out once more. “Yeah, I think it’d be good for me at least, I need to practice and get used to my limits and capabilities. I mean, I’ve only been in one proper fight, and that was because I took a quest way out of my league. This time, I’m gonna do better!”

True to the advice of Asteria’s chat-log, there is indeed a good-sized group of creatures some several-hundred metres away, but it seems odd. There’s the distant sounds of metal and wood impacting, as well as pained shrieks and shouts of anger. Time to go high!

With a hop, a skip, and a sharp downbeat, I rocket into the air, my wings spread wide, a whoop of exhilaration tearing from my lungs as I soar up, trying to get out of the range of most arrows and spells, just in case. My eyesight is far more powerful now, and I scan the ground ahead of us to try and pinpoint the location of the noises. Flapping steadily, I cover the distance in a couple minutes, banking and circling a large clearing below, my eyes widening.

In the heart of the clearing, a small group of carts and people are surrounded by grey-skinned, humanoid shapes, dozens of them… there are quite a few bodies littering the grass, forming a trail leading to the West, mostly the hostile grey things, but, mixed in amongst the dead, are bodies wearing the same kind of armour and clothing as the beleaguered combatants.  One of them, a female with a messy mop of pink hair, pulled into twintails, is shrieking loudly enough that I can hear her clearly, even over the din of battle.

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