Divinity Online has shown Arthur a lot ever since he started it. In fact, he had been through so much, it didn’t even feel like everything happened in merely a week or so. The game felt like a lifetime journey worth of events shoved into 7 days of playing.
Yet, nothing came close to the shock he felt at that moment, staring at someone from his life who was essentially deceased. He hadn’t seen his grandma in years and yet that face was all-too-familiar.
“How the hell did you get inside the game, Grandma?” Finally snapping out of his shock, he asked her. ‘No, this makes no sense. Why does the game know how my grandmother looks? I have never disclosed such information. Did they read my mind and find out? Is that even allowed?’
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The lady looked at Arthur with a blank expression, not replying to his call. That look gave him the chills for some reason. It wasn’t the look he was familiar with. His grandmother had always had a warm smile on her face whenever she saw him.
She treated him very well and did her best to give him the childhood his parents couldn’t give him. She was the most important person in his life and her death was a huge blow to Arthur. He never thought that sweet human being would vanish from his life so suddenly and so… cruelly.
It took him almost a year to take it all in and finally move on. At that point, he really gave up on life and didn’t want anything to do with it anymore. But, he also never really thought about ending his life simply because he didn’t feel like it. He was suicidal and he knew that very well.
‘I won’t give life the pleasure of victory. Even if it beats me up to a pulp, I will never give it that sweet victory. I’m still here, sucker.’ He thought to himself firmly.
All of that was mainly because his grandma raised him to be very strong even when things were tough. She didn’t want him to bow or break because ‘His parents were very strong’ she said.
“Tsk, using my grandmother in the game is not something I appreciate very much, DO.” He clenched his teeth.
“Is that how you greet your grandmother, brat?!”
Suddenly, he heard the clone speak in the same voice he was familiar with. Looking up, he saw that the expression on the clone’s face shifted to a more normal one. The words she said were something he heard countless times.
‘Shit…’ He frowned. ‘Why did she suddenly change attitude?’
“How do you greet me, Arthur?”
“Shit! Uh, I’m sorry… grandma.” Instinctively, he straightened up and looked at her with a nervous look. Even after all these years, her voice would still make him react like a soldier.
“Good! Did you eat your dinner?” She asked. “You better not be missing out on your vegetables?!”
“… I’m eating ok. Look, I even gained weight.” Arthur pointed at his arms with a pouty look.
‘Wait, why am I even arguing with her?! This isn’t my grandmother for god’s sake!’ Shaking his head quickly, Arthur looked up. “Listen here, bastard. Don’t you dare replicate my grandmother and think I will hesitate to do something? My grandmother is dead.” Pulling his sword out, he pointed at the clone before he started walking forward.
“What are you doing, child? How dare you point a sword at me?!” The woman yelled angrily.
“You aren’t my grandma to order me around. Shut up!”
“When did you get that sharp tongue huh?” She asked as she put her hands on her hips.
Arthur ignored her words and continued advancing forward till he was right in front of her.
“What are you really?” He asked. “An illusion? A monster? Are you trying to stop me from reaching the very heart of this forest?”
“…” The old lady looked Arthur straight in the eyes. He could see the lack of human feelings within, confirming that this creature was indeed not his grandmother. His real grandmother would never look at him in such an apathetic way.
That was when it finally stopped the small play it was doing.
“Take one step beyond this point and you shall regret this.” A very deep, almost demonic voice spoke to Arthur through the clone. It was so horrifying that it took him by surprise for a second. “You shall never leave this forest. You have been trapped for all eternity.”
“…” Pursing his lips, Arthur didn’t speak for a moment before he finally sighed. “Man, you suck at pretending that you have everything under control. Let’s see how long you can keep this before I reach you. Then, I want you to say these exact words to my face again.”
*Swish*
After that, Arthur swung his sword, cutting the clone in half without mercy. Although he didn’t wish to cut his own grandmother in such a manner, he was far more angry that this creature had used her to try and beat him. He would never want to see his grandmother’s pure image get tarnished in such a manner.
As his sword cut through its body, Arthur quickly realized that… The sword touched nothing. Slicing through, the woman’s body instantly turned into fog and dissipated around him very quickly.
‘Tsk, so it wasn’t even a real body… Coward.’ Arthur clicked his tongue. ‘I’m so pissed off now till I get this bastard.’
Putting his sword away, Arthur turned around to resume moving toward his target. However, before he could even take a single step, his senses suddenly went off as something approached him from behind at alarming speed.
Quickly, Arthur tried to move out of the way before it could hit him. But, he was late.
*BANG*
“Shit!!” Blasted forward, he rolled on the ground and landed on his feet. His eyes quickly looked up, only to see a cloud of fog had protruded out of nowhere, manifesting in physical form.
‘What?!’ Arthur gasped when he saw the cloud fly toward him. ‘I didn’t know it can do this!!’
*Swish*
Jumping to the side, Arthur barely dodged the attack before it hit him. The moment he landed on his feet, Arthur was instantly attacked from the side by another cloud of fog. He felt his entire buddy shudder from the sheer impact of the hit.
Falling on his back, Arthur looked up with wide eyes, only to see another cloud descending on him like an execution axe. Quickly, he rolled to the side and then jumped several steps back, dodging another cloud.
“Hah… Hah… This is unfair! I wasn’t prepared.” Wiping his face, and spitting the dirt out, he pulled his sword as he manifested his bloody claws.
The clouds of smoke quickly condensed into one big cloud as if they were taking his challenge up. Then, it flew toward him like a bullet.
Arthur didn’t hesitate as he charged forward too. Not that long after, the two clashed violently.
*BANG*
The hit was very strong, sending a strong shockwave around them.
‘It’s… quite strong!’ Arthur instantly felt the blunt strength of the physical cloud. Even while using both of his arms, he could barely stop himself from being thrown back. At the same time, the waves of energy picked up, fighting him from all angles.
‘Oh boy, this is a sticky situation.’
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3