Chapter 206 - 206)Hospital In Montreal

Aurora Cirillo, the youngest child of Hector and Andromeda Cirillo, and the treasure of the family. Her bright red hair that looked much like a red dragon cutting through the wind. Her golden eyes that defied nature. It was an understatement to call her beautiful, perhaps celestial would be the closest word.

Before the launch of Genesis, Aurora worked hard, martial arts was more than just self-defense for her. Coming from a family of martial artists, it makes sense that she sees it as something more than it is. Ever since she entered the magical fantasy that Genesis is, she found another path. While martial arts was her family's most prominent characteristic, it gets tiring to be constantly surrounded by sweaty people who settle everything with their fists.

Magic, the smell of burning, the strong toxic feeling of the smoke overtaking one's senses. The ability to control your inner energy to fulfill your desire, the ability to consider yourself ethereal. More than any of that, Aurora liked the fact that she could start fresh here. Sure players could recognize her, but it wasn't the case for the NPCs. It was exhilarating, she could finally do something that isn't martial arts.

She wasn't alone, she had Layla, Leo, Noxx, and of course, Valerian. All of them were friends she could trust no matter what, but they didn't quite understand what it meant to be a mage. The class had a unique past to it.

To some, the entire point of a VR or another reality would be to experience something magical, or something that you wouldn't normally see, and the mage primary class was the closest or the most connected to magic. Just this put the class in a special position, of course, the classes remained equal and heavily depended upon how the user exploits the class.

There was no doubt about it. If she hadn't seen Nate then she would continue to assume that she was one of the best. However, after seeing how clearly he dominated as a mage, even in close combat, it made it very obvious that she had been overestimating herself. Although that didn't mean that she wasn't competent, she was the first to achieve the highest damage ever, and the number wasn't small. Her fire magic was volatile and free to the point where it was like breathing to her.

"Mana manipulation…." She muttered as she looked at her hands. She was currently standing alone in the middle of what seemed like a huge training ground. It wasn't clear as to where exactly she was headed or what she was doing but anyone who looked at her could say that she had been training.

Aurora couldn't get over the fact that Nate could manipulate mana. It was absurd, to be able to manipulate a part of reality itself, while to be more specific it was a part of virtual reality. It was like manipulating the oxygen in the air. 

However, mana manipulation was more than that. It was rumored to be the reason why people couldn't pass the second floor. The public was sure that to beat the level, one would require mana manipulation. Unfortunately, there was only one person who could test it and that was Nate, who at the moment hadn't been spotted by the community.

'We still have the Damianos quest….and we have no leads whatsoever…..' While the quest and details were complicated, the fact that the system didn't make it any easier was cruel. They were supposed to fend of hundreds, if not thousands of monsters all rushing with the one goal of destroying a village. 

Thankfully, it wasn't something that they hadn't done before. Due to the raid that recently took place, everyone directly involved with the monster wave quest of Linto received a gift that was perhaps more valuable than the rewards. It was experience, all of them now knew the importance of acting together and in sync.

The vision of thousand of uncommon grade mobs with the possibility of rare and epic grades entering the battle. The chances of there being zero casualties is next to impossible. Innocents were going to die, hundreds of players would lose a lot, but there would be a small group that had the experience to not simply go and die.

"That raid isn't even public….." The realization that it was just going to be a small group against all those monsters scared her. Sure in the previous battle they somehow managed, but the mobs were all those that could be one-shotted, it was long and tiring, but nothing other than the appearance of the guardians could be deemed as hard.

However, this was another question, nearly every mob would be slightly weaker than a guardian, even if they weren't, the fact that they were under the orders of someone or something, gave them intelligence, even if it wasn't originally theirs. Monsters with intelligence were dangerous, they could learn from their mistakes and their open and weak spots that were exposed would slowly become their strong points.

Just like Vraun, Linto was an independent region of sorts. It wasn't so much of a kingdom, but it was big enough to have a large population, although a good number of them did lose their lives in the previous monster wave.

"It's gonna be a long few months…." She thought about where to start the quest and realized there was no good place to look. After all, how do you gather information about a person who had been dead for a long time? Unfortunately, before she could even finish her thoughts, she heard the sound of footsteps, and when she turned around she was met with the familiar sight of Leo.

"Leo? What's wrong??" she asked when she noticed the serious look on his face. She had known him for a long time, and by now, she could say when something bad had happened, and the look that Leo wore was scary.

"It's…bad….Valerian needs us to go with him. It's about Luke and Nate….you're gonna wanna see this…oh and bring the old guns as well…." Leo said as he logged out, leaving Aurora in a daze.

Never before had she seen him in such a rush, and on top of that Leo mentioned Valerian needing her and the other two? Valerian was a vigilante, who worked in the shadows, there was nearly nothing that could cause him to panic.

'Luke and Nate…?' Aurora had witnessed firsthand how strong Luke was. It was scary, he managed to paralyze her brother with a single strike. After all, Luke was someone who was trained by K Johnson, and he was even recognized and respected by Jace Cirillo, her own grandfather.

As soon as she logged out, she pulled out her phone and dialed a number. "Grandpa, it's urgent. Please get Master Johnson as well…..It's about Luke and Nate….." She cut the call and walked towards the coat hanger.

Throughout the ride to the hospital, Aurora had been nervous. The fact that she was meeting them at a hospital wasn't making it easier. It was weird. She barely knew them, at least compared to the others, but for some reason, she couldn't help but feel her heart in her throat. What could have possibly happened? What on earth could even do something to Luke? She pushed aside all such thoughts, after all, it was all different now. They were a part of a clan, and the leaders of this clan were Nate and Luke.

"We should make a clan," Noxx said as he walked beside his brother Leo. It was back when the game was initially released, the five of them were an unstoppable force, back when Valerian or Mocha was fighting for the first place on the ranks.

"I agree as well," Leo replied, supporting his brother.

"Hmmm I don't see why not….if all of us pool in, we'll have enough money to create a guild. Even if we're short, a few more days of farming won't be too much…" Layla commented as she played with her bowstring.

However, there were two people who disagreed back then. It was Aurora and Valerian, and their reasoning for it was as simple as Valerian being the first to ascend. Thinking back, it was funny. Funny enough to make Aurora, who at the moment was a nervous wreck, break a smile. The main reason they hadn't created a guild, was so that Valerian could focus on leveling and reaching 100, ironically, all of them joined the guild that's co-founded by the player that reached level 100 first.

"Why was I thinking of that….." She muttered under her breath as the car finally reached the destination. It was a hospital in Montreal. Right outside, stood Layla who was shivering. It was obvious that she wasn't calm, and according to Aurora, other than Nate, Layla was the most reasonable person she had ever met. It instantly crushed any hope she had that it wouldn't be serious.

"Layla…..."