The ground rumbled and a shadow appeared near the doorway.

"I've sent them away. You can go back to what you were doing without fear of getting seen, Antlion," she said aloud.

The shadow skittered away.

Cannon logged out of the game and emerged from the gaming machine. "Truly this game's character options are only as limited as you believe them to be."

A man with a type of tablet came forward. "Cannon, I see you logged off. Then was project F a success?"

The woman chuckled. "Yes it was, well mostly. I met some interesting people at my hut just now. I suspect they have removed the source and slowed project F's future progression, but that isn't a problem. We still obtained the super condensed Mana crystal Antlion needed for one of his other experiments."

"Wait, your hut wasn't consumed by the mist? And what do you mean, met? Normally people are instantly hostile towards you."

"I meant exactly what I said. There were four players that exited the mist; a man who gave off the feeling of being incomplete, a young girl who is a genuine sweetheart, and a pair of twins that can turn into animals. They were the ones who saved my hut. It seems we aren't the only ones to discover the secrets of monstrous characters. I look forward to playing with them in the future."

The man nodded. "So, how goes Antlion's experiments?"

Cannon laughed. "You worry too much, little brother, Antlion and I confirmed our suspicions. The game will deem losing your humanity as making your character unplayable unless certain conditions exist. First, if the person has certain types of abilities, they will always be considered playable unless they, the player, refuses to accept it as playable. Second, certain items will prevent a character reset. Third, if you view your character as playable regardless of losing your humanity the game will acknowledge that and not override your character. This third option is the easiest to achieve as all it requires is for the player to view something as playable. It is entirely possible to play this game as the raid boss everyone wants to defeat. The game company really did live up to their name. However, death as a monster is different than death as one of the 'playable' races."

"Excellent, so my goal is completely doable then?"

The woman gave a nod.

"That is excellent news. I have not had much contact with Antlion for the last while. Since Project Forest went so well, how are projects B, D, and G progressing?"

"I met with him just before the visitors. So far, only Project Grotesque has shown some minor issues but otherwise everything is playing out smoothly. But I do plan to make use of the visitors that I met when they chose to return. We may even be able to make them our allies in the future."

"Oh? You believe they are that useful?"

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"I do, and if I can use them, they won't be in the way to spoil our plans."

The man grinned. "Who cares if our plans get spoiled? We enjoyed making and using them. Playing the villain in games is more fun than playing the hero anyways."

Cannon shook her head. "You know that playing as a monstrous existence does not make us innately villains or evil. Humans often use that t.i.tle for anything that they deem harmful to themselves. Such arrogance; can't they see that they do the same or worse to other races? How come they are not called evil?"

"You have a point. Now will you stop preaching to the choir? You don't need to tell me your tirade for the 10th time in the last two weeks."

***

After spending a relaxing afternoon and evening in real life dancing, playing music and laughing, the three decided to log back on Sat.u.r.day night.

Jericho looked around the well where they were at. "Princess, I should go recover the parts of me that were slain by the demon. In order to do that, I need to head back to the water elementals in the lake."

Princess smiled. "Wait for me a bit. I want to learn the Speak with Spirits skill officially before we go." She ran off towards the mage's library.

Ken stretched. "Well, that was more of an adventure then I was expecting. I think I am going to back to doing my own thing for a while. I'll level up faster that way. Being around you is great for raising my skills though."

Jericho gave a nod to the pre-teen. "Are you going to wait till Princess gets back before we part ways?"

The youth nodded. "Yeah, but I just wanted to thank you. Before we hung out, I was always jealous of you. She would talk about you non-stop. I know it was wrong of me to feel like that. You helped me get through those embarra.s.sing times in front of her and also helped me become even cooler. At school she talks about how awesome I am now too. That wouldn't have been possible without your help."

Jericho chuckled. "It is only natural to feel jealous of people who get the attention of others that you want yourself. But, unlike most people you were open minded enough to see past your surface feelings and grow up quite a bit."

Ken gave Jericho a playful glare. "You and your Zen wisdom…"

Princess returned. "I'm back! Let's head to the lake!"

"Wait Princess," he called out.

"What is it?"

"Lux and I are going to head off and adventure elsewhere. When we are at school Monday you can tell Alex it is his turn." Ken said.

The girl nodded. "Alright, but you are still coming over to dance with me later, right?"

"Of course!" The young man genuinely replied. "I will be over frequently. Dancing with you is a lot of fun."

She nodded. "Then I'll see you at school on Monday."

The kid and his lynx left.

Jericho, Princess, and Glaw walked towards the lake where their adventure took root. When they arrived, Jericho reverted to his weakened elemental form. {I'm going to the center of the lake, I'll let you know how long this will take.}

"Alright; I'll use this time to dance with the elementals here. It has been a while." She replied.

Jericho and Glawio submerged themselves and returned to the nearby compa.s.s symbol on the lake floor.

[You have returned to the Heart of the Lake. Current time till you are able to be restored to your former strength: 8 Hours (four for each lesser elemental amount of strength). If you were not at the heart of the lake, the time to restore yourself would take twice as long. You must remain in the lake during this time. Time logged off does not count towards this timer.]

{Great, this will be a bit boring then.} Jericho said as he sent the message to Princess. [A full 8 hours in-game, submerged in the water. I hope you don't get too bored up there without me.]

[Alright. Good luck not being bored down their either.] She replied.

Llyn, who appeared to have shrunk a size floated over. {Welcome back, Jericho.}

{Thank you, Llyn. Why have you become smaller?}

{After you and Glaw left, humans came back and defeated me. I lost a good fraction of my strength. Oh right, you probably don't know since you have never experienced death as an elemental and we never explained it clearly before. We drop a tier in our monster rank when we are slain. All of our elemental skills drop to the next lower tier by 10/10. We don't lose our other skills or skills that have multiple skill lines so your compositions are safe. As you are a human and an elemental I am unsure of how death would affect you. But it may affect you differently based on which form you died in.} Llyn explained.

Jericho gave a nod. {Hmm… That is something I will need to keep in mind then. So Llyn, I have gathered quite a bit of MC and Glaw said there was an MC store here?}

{There is. Just put your hand onto the center of the compa.s.s and you will be shown what you can buy. Please understand that here at our lake the options are limited. Elementals living in larger lakes, rivers, seas, and oceans will have more options or different options. For example there is an uncommon skill called Gravity's Blessing that can only be obtained by the ocean and sea.}

{I understand.} Jericho moved to the center of the symbol and touched it.

[You have connected to the Heart of the Lake. Heart of the Lake has been recorded as a valid resp.a.w.n point for your water elemental form.]

[You currently possess 350 MC.]

A menu of many items appeared before him.

[Condensed water elemental skill proficiency: (Select skill, spend MC equal to the amount of progress you wish to obtain) Price: Varies. Available amounts: varies.]

[Tablet of condensed fresh water: 50MC. This item, when absorbed by an injured water elemental, will restore them back to full health and grant them a short burst of power. This item does not restore lost power from partial death. This item has many uses for mortals that craft things.]

[Gemini Lily (Only 5 in stock): 250 MC Each. Strengthen and stabilize the user's soul(s) or elemental core(s). Water elementals often use these when their elemental core becomes destabilized and there is a risk of true death. This item can be a real life saver.]

[Rare water elemental skill book: Energy Tide. 1000 MC. Use to learn. (Known). Can only be used by a Tier 3 water elemental or higher.]

[Opalite: (Price varies by quality) Tier 1: 25MC. Tier 2: 75MC. Tier 3: 225 MC. This stone appears beautiful and tranquil. It has many uses mortals can take advantage of. For water elementals it will shorten the necessary time to recover from partial death. It also improves their finite control over water. Only one stone can be stored at a time in an elemental's core.]

{Wow, Glaw. You gave me a good skill worth 1000 MC?}

{Yes, but that is only because your violin skill was far more valuable. If I were to die, I wouldn't lose any skill proficiency since it is not an elemental skill.}

Jericho looked over the prices once again. {And you were right, 20MC doesn't get you anything. But looking over this list, the best items are still out of my price range. At least in the immediate future, it looks like Opalite is probably one of my better choices.}

Glaw gave a nod. {Opalite is a good choice. The weakest one won't be very useful. The middle one would be good because you can still use it if you ever regress back to a small elemental. The most expensive one would show the strongest results but if you were to regress, you wouldn't be able to use its power.}

{You are expecting me to regress?} Jericho inquired.

{Based on my observations, for someone who dislikes violence, you often find yourself in dangerous situations. So, yes I expect you will end up regressing at some point.} Glaw replied with brutal honesty.

Jericho shook his head. {I guess that is fair. So what would you suggest?}

{Personally, I would spend a little now and save the rest of your MC until you can get a significant pool of MC. Once you can get a lot of MC then I would spend it on things you might need or want.}

The watery bard gave a nod. {Alright then. Spend MC on a Tier 2 Opalite} He said.

[You now have 275 MC. You have acquired Tier 2 Opalite. Equip?]

{Equip.}

[Your timer has further reduced. Normally the Tier 2 Opalite would reduce the 8 hour timer to an 6 hour timer. As you are in the Heart of the Lake Your 4 hour timer is reduced to 3 hours per lesser elemental piece needing to be healed.]

[Command water has received a pa.s.sive bonus. Effects will be more visible while in use.]

{Well, six hours down here will be a lot less boring than eight.} Jericho replied.

Llyn floated over. {Jericho, there is one other feature of the MC stores has not been explained to you. You can give things to the store in exchange for MC. I would not recommend the current you taking advantage of this but in the future, it may be useful to you; especially since you can transfer skill proficiency into the MC store for other elementals to learn.}

Jericho practiced some of his elemental skills while under water and continued to chat with his watery friends.

***

Princess, danced with the lesser elementals and enjoyed conversing with them thanks to her new skills. She attempted to summon Narsisse the wood elemental.

{Princess! You called?} The little daffodil asked as it looked around the surroundings. {Hi cousins!} The flower waved to the nearby lesser water elementals. {Water you up to?}

The water elementals slid over. {We are dancing. Would you like to join us?}

Narsisse rustled with excitement. {You guys are funny!}

Princess chuckled. {Narsisse, how are you and the other wood elementals doing?} She inquired.

{We are doing just peachy. Things like that mist that are harmful to you mortals are food for us. But your mortal concern for our well being is nice.}

Princess smiled. {That's good.}

{Well, your magic is running low so I should uproot myself and leaf before you wither. Seed you later!} Narzisse called out before vanis.h.i.+ng.

{Bye!} Princess replied to the disappearing elemental.

Some of the lesser water elementals whispered. {Finally… Their need to make puns is annoying. And we didn't intend things to be a pun when inviting them to dance either.}

Six hours pa.s.sed. Jericho and Glaw emerged from the lake.

"You are done already? I thought you said it would take eight hours." Princess inquired.

Jericho reverted to his human form. "It would have but I obtained an item that sped up the process. I was so focused I forgot to tell you."

The girl smiled. "Well, I don't know where we should go from here. But do you want to visit the well again to perform?"

Jericho shook his head. "Honestly I am still mentally exhausted from the mist. I think I want actual sleep rather than the rest the game provides our bodies."

Princess gave a nod. "Alright."

Jericho logged off and laid down on his bed. He quickly fell asleep.

***

Rain fell as Jericho chased after his parents.

Two searing lights flashed.

"No!" Jericho cried out as the two people crumpled to the ground.

"Jericho, take care of your sister," his mother's voice weakly said. "…deserve to be happy."

***

The sound of gla.s.s shattering woke the man. He jolted from his bed and entered his living room.

A rock wrapped in paper and the fragments of his shattered front room window rested on the laminate floor.

Jericho carefully removed the paper, read and slumped lifelessly to the floor. "No, this is exactly why..."

The paper shook in his trembling hands.

"Who gave you the right to be happy again you fiend in human flesh? You failed to heed my warnings. The Symphony of Jericho Maestro's Lament shall be played again. Last time it was those who loved you. This time; watch as you are helpless to do anything. The 1st Movement has already begun."

-The Conductor-

***

*End of the Prelude*

*Coming up next: The 1st Movement*

(Teaser 1)

Jericho closed his eyes plucked and strummed the strings of his electric guitar. His voice roared in agony as he clenched his vocal chords.

♪ h.e.l.lo Unknown; your visits are not acceptable. Why have you come so unexpectedly? I did not invite you to the table! What do you expect me to see? You have made my heart unstable. Why must you take these things from me? ♫

(Teaser 2)

Jericho quivered in anger as he stared at the silhouette of a man on the other side of the video call.

"*To hear from you after all of these years...*" An aged gruff yet refined voice said in an unfamiliar tongue.

"*I need your help,*" Jericho replied with an attempt to remain calm.

The deep heavy voice spoke. "*You have needed my help for years. What's changed?*"

The bard clenched his fist as he struggled to answer. "*The Conductor; he's back.*"

"*Oh? The one who convinced you hate yourself... and me?*"

Jericho nodded slowly.

"*Still can't accept the other half of you? Do you think you are beneath others because of it?*"

Jericho glared. "*How can I accept it, when the thing I need your help with...?*"

"*You are just like The Conductor. You are still blaming things that should not be blamed, Jericho.*"