Fragments of Fire, Threads of Trust
"Hahaha! This just got way too easy," Joe laughed as he grabbed an ant by the neck and lifted it with one hand. Without giving it a chance to react, he slammed it into the ground with a brutal suplex that made the earth crack. Then he stood up straight, and his gauntlets—glowing red from the heat—began to strike down in a rapid flurry of punches, like a professional boxer. Each hit sparked with flames, making the creature beneath him twist in agony.
A few meters away, Dean jumped nimbly between the trees, chasing another ant that was covered in black arrows. With a quick movement, he cast a teleportation spell and appeared right above his target. He drew two daggers and drove them into the insect's neck with force, causing it to jerk upward before collapsing dead.
Meanwhile, Loli, Sig, and Bert watched the scene in surprise. Even though it had all started with one of Joe's usual blunders—which ended up attracting a ridiculous number of ants—they realized they could each handle one without too much trouble. It was mostly thanks to their combat experience, though; a single ant could easily take out half their health. But as long as they didn't get hit, they could dish out punishment freely.
"We should've come hunting sooner," Joe said with a mix of excitement and pride as his ant took its final breath. "Alright, Loli—your turn!" he added, pointing to the now motionless monster.
"Well… technically you guys are power-leveling us, so I've got no complaints," Loli replied, accepting her role as the group's designated drop collector.
"We're leveling up really fast," Bert commented with a slight smile. "At this rate, we'll be—aside from Dean and Joe—the ones who've climbed the fastest again."
"Perfect! With this one, we've reached level 20," Loli said, a mix of joy and relief lighting up her face as the system message appeared in front of her. "We can choose our next evolution. And it's already been five hours of hunting. Time to head back."
"We only killed 75 ants... I really don't want to imagine how much EXP Lua earned killing all those earlier ones by herself," Sig murmured.
"Our bags are full. It's a good time to return. We got a decent amount of minerals and a solid haul," Bert said, nodding.
"We've still got this," Joe added, lifting the massive bag Lua had lent them. "Even if we only gained one level, every time you evolve it gets harder to keep leveling up. I guess at some point, even ants won't be enough."
"Alright. You guys keep going—I'll take the demon beast core we created by combining all the mana stones," Sig said, giving them a nod. "I'll send Silver and the others to help you level."
"Sure. Have them bring some food too," Joe replied casually as he and Dean tossed a chunk of meat near the cave entrance to attract another ant.
Loli, Bert, and Sig began their return to the village, their bags filled to the brim.
As soon as they arrived, they spotted two new players.
One of them was running joyfully around the village—or at least it seemed like running, because in reality, it was a glowing blue orb bouncing around. A spirit that hadn't yet taken a physical form.
The other was floating in the center of the plaza, completely still. Also a spirit, but seemingly uninterested in everything, as if it hadn't decided anything yet.
After observing them for a moment, Loli, Sig, and Bert headed to the makeshift workshop where Silver usually worked. The young craftsman was taking a break, surrounded by neatly arranged tools.
"Miss Sig," Silver said, standing up immediately. "I just leveled up. I've got the recipe to craft standard swords now!" he announced with respectful excitement.
"Great. I brought a lot of minerals, but you can take a break and go level up with Uncle Joe and Dean. Bring the others with you—Alfred too," Sig replied calmly.
"Yes, ma'am!" Silver said before dashing off to find the rest.
By the time they saw him again, he'd probably evolved—shedding his reptilian, kobold-like form for something more advanced.
"I'll go see if Lua wants anything from the loot we picked up," Loli said with a grin, earning a teasing look from Sig and Bert. She ignored them and jogged off toward Lua's house, still under construction.
When she arrived, she noticed that in the adjacent lot—Liora's place—both Liora and Sally were busy setting up what looked like a shop. They were using planks Lua had cut to build a large square table they could walk around inside.
"Are you building a store?" Loli asked, curious.
"Yeah. We've got a lot to sell," Liora replied with a smile. "And now that Sally's an Enchanter, we're going to need more space," she added, stretching her arms to show how big she envisioned it.
Loli smiled, seeing her so enthusiastic.
"Then maybe you should hire someone. That way, you won't have to spend so much time running the store and can focus more on crafting," she suggested. While there weren't many players yet, eventually there'd be more items—and some, like Liora's lamps, were so useful that everyone bought them. Since she was the only one who could make them, the workload would pile up.
"Hire someone?" Liora echoed, a bit surprised.
"Yeah. Two new players just joined, and Sig said she'd bring in another one soon. When Joe and Dean return, someone else might join too. And if they go hunting at night…"
"Hire one of the players?" Liora asked, thoughtful.
"Well… the ones here are already busy with their own stuff. It'd be better if it were someone you know in real life. That way, there's trust," Loli explained. "Oh—but you'd need a demon beast core," she added suddenly.
"We've got cores," Liora said, pulling one from her bag and showing it. "Lua gave one to each of us."
"Wow!" Loli exclaimed, impressed. "Then you really could call someone..." But her voice trailed off as she looked at Liora—remembering she didn't have anyone close to invite. Then, she turned toward Sally.
"I... could call my mom," Sally said quietly, a little nervous. "But I'd like to show her that you can really turn them into mana flasks first. That way, she might believe me."
Loli glanced at her for a moment, then turned back to Liora.
"How about this?" she offered calmly. "Liora hires your mom. The store belongs to her and Lua, after all. She can pay you in advance with a demon beast core. That way, you can show it to your mom. If she joins the game, she'll work with you all as part of the deal. And if not, it's still an advance payment. Lua could back the contract anyway—it's her store too, and she wouldn't let Liora suffer a bad transfer."
"Is that so?" Liora asked with genuine interest. "Then let's do it." She accepted easily, as if the decision had already been made.
"Wait… are you sure?" Sally asked, a little shy. "You've already given me so much. You helped me get accepted by Lua and level up with you..."
"It doesn't matter. You're working with me anyway. It's just an advance payment, like Loli said. And I have lots of mana flasks on my bed," Liora said with total nonchalance.
Sally furrowed her brow slightly, not quite understanding that last part about the flasks.
"But…" she still hesitated.
"Don't worry. Liora is protected by Lua. If she hasn't said anything, it means it's fine," Loli chimed in with a smile, pointing at Lua, who was sitting not far away with her hand under her cheek, watching them quietly.
Clearly, she had been paying attention the whole time.
"Then… go bring your mommy," Liora said, calmly handing the demon beast core to Sally.
Sally took it carefully, as if afraid to break it, clearly surprised by the gesture. Then she hugged Liora tightly, grateful for her trust—and for being her friend. Moments later, she vanished.
"Now that I think about it… why do you have a halo?" Loli asked, tilting her head slightly. Then she noticed Liora's level. "Hahaha! Bert said it'd be us, but you beat us again."
"Lua took us and killed a giant snake," Liora said, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "It was huge!" she repeated, spreading out her arms and legs to show just how big, making Loli laugh.
Loli then turned toward Lua and called out gently so as not to be intrusive:
"Lua! I got some new recipes! Want to try them out?" she said with a bright smile.
Lua turned her gaze toward her, stood up calmly, and began walking in her direction. Her face remained as stoic as always, but there was a subtle sparkle in her eyes… one that Loli found just as endearing as Liora's.
Sally exited the game in a rush, yanked off her visor, and ran straight toward the figure moving in the kitchen.
"Mom!" she shouted, nearly breathless.
Linda appeared immediately from the other room, visibly alarmed. "What happened? Are you hurt? Did something go wrong?" she asked, hurrying over with a worried look.
"No, come with me," Sally said, grabbing her hand urgently and dragging her toward her room.
Linda had no idea what was going on, but she followed without question.
Once in the room, Sally planted herself in front of the computer and started talking at lightning speed:
"There's this game... super realistic, like, really real, where you appear as a spirit—not exactly a monster, even though we kind of look like monsters. All players are like that. And you evolve. You can fight giant monsters like a huge serpent and take their cores. Those cores are used to send game invitations, but they can also be turned into mana flasks in the real world. That last part was told to us by some veteran players. So, I made a friend—she's really sweet and super tiny, maybe five or six years old—and she helped me get a job because I don't like killing monsters. We stayed in this village under construction where there's a beautiful woman with red horns—she's an Oni—because everyone's a spirit. She takes care of Liora like a mom. She took us to the forest and killed a giant snake and gave us the cores so we could use them however we wanted. And Liora told me I could use two: one to hire you if you want to play the game with me, and another to show you that we can turn them into mana flasks. That way, maybe dad can quit that awful job. They say it gives five high-quality mana flasks. I don't know if that's really true, but that's why I wanted us to check it together… and to invite you."
Linda froze completely, her expression stuck somewhere between shock and confusion. The only part of her body that moved was her index finger, which she raised slowly to help her process the avalanche of words.
"Okay... so there's a game… and in that game, you evolve as you level up. It's really realistic, which is why you're not fighting monsters. You stayed in the village, where you met a kind girl who quickly became your friend. Veteran players told you that high-quality mana flasks could be made using a rare in-game material. And now you left the game to invite me to play with you… and to check if the flask part is real."
"I'm not sure how rare it is," Sally replied, nodding. "Because Sig and her group brought some friends too. But yeah… something like that."
Linda's voice softened.
"Sweetheart... that veteran player probably lied to you. There's no game that creates high-quality mana flasks. Except... for the mana extracted from humans."
Sally stood still. She lowered her eyes and looked down at the core in her hands.
"But… I have beast cores. We can check them… together."
"You know what?" Linda said softly, gently stroking her daughter's hair. "Whether they tricked you or not… I'd like to play that game with you."
Sally's eyes lit up instantly.
"But first let's see if it really works!" she exclaimed, holding back a squeal of excitement.
"Alright. But don't get too excited… if it turns out to be fake, you'll be really disappointed," Linda warned, her voice full of love and caution.
Sally nodded, more nervous now, and hurried off to find some empty flasks she had saved. Then, carefully, she connected them to the side of the computer, just like Loli had taught her.
She scrolled through the menu that appeared when the core was recognized in her inventory… until a pop-up window appeared:
Would you like to convert this core into KA energy?
Please ensure empty flasks are connected to collect it. Otherwise, energy may be lost.
Sally tapped "Yes" without hesitation.
Linda, still standing behind her and thinking it was all some elaborate roleplay, suddenly froze.
First, her eyes widened slightly.
Then, her mouth slowly opened in disbelief.
And finally, her entire face shifted into a look of complete astonishment.
Right before her, the five empty flasks began to glow brightly, filling with a vibrant, liquid-like energy that swirled inside the glass. In just a few seconds, they went from completely empty… to overflowing with pure mana.
A faint humming sound filled the air, as if the energy itself was still resonating through the room.
"It was really true…" Sally whispered, her voice trembling with joy and pride.
But Linda said nothing.
She remained frozen, mouth slightly agape, eyes locked on the glowing flasks…
…as if the entire world had just changed before her very eyes.