The Developer Reborn As Archmage

Darya woke up, and her first thought was about the insanely vivid dream she'd had. Somehow, she remembered everything in detail. It was one of those premium IMAX dreams that happened once in a blue moon. It was almost as real as a different life, but she knew she would wake up in her room. She’ll brush her teeth, wash her face, shovel some cereal, and get some work done in the morning while her brain is refreshed.

The first crack in this confident wake-up sequence appeared when she heard creaking wood along with the muffled sound of the ocean. Opening her eyes, she was greeted with the giant floral artwork on the polished ceiling. The room was brightly lit by rays of light filtering in from the window. She was on the side of the bed where the light couldn’t disturb her.

There was no doubt about it. She was in the princess bed in her princess room on her princess yacht.

Uh oh. That was all real after all?

Darya wasn’t that surprised, of course. She was fine with either outcome. Thinking about it a bit more, she was actually way better off inside Vainfall as a princess than a developer on Earth with only months to live.

She suddenly remembered a pretty naked elf glowing like the sun. If any part of what happened was a dream, she didn’t want the elf to be a figment of her imagination. She wanted her to be real.

What was her name again?!

She had always been bad with names. This was especially bad when she met people for the first time.

She remembered something that ended with a ‘s’ sound, and an old man with swords named Domino.

No, wait, that didn’t sound right.

She couldn’t ask their names again, of course. She just lay in the bed trying to remember the names that belonged to the faces that she remembered. Were they Eris and Domino? Eris sounded right. Domino didn’t. Eris and Liminal? No, that was a word, not a name. Surely it couldn’t be Dominal, who names their child that?

She yawned loudly and closed her eyes. She wasn’t even fully awake yet. A weight lifted on the bed as she almost drifted halfway back to sleep. Darya stared wide-eyed as the elf girl arose with a pile of sheets and a wavy mess of vibrant copper hair emerged. She was illuminated by a beam of light from the window, her rosy skin reflecting light like a mirror.

“Seris!” Darya mumbled, suddenly remembering the name as the light reflected from the elf illuminated the dark side of the bed.

“Oh, you’re awake, princess!” Seris said, arching her back and stretching hard. The nightdress had slipped off her shoulders at some point, and she seemed to have never noticed.

Darya would’ve been polite enough to point it out, but she was mesmerized by the image worthy of a painting.

“Been awake long?” Seris asked, stifling a yawn.

“No,” Darya said through a mirroring yawn from the depths of her soul.

Seris pushed her sheets off and crawled forward on her knees while wiping her sleepy eyes. This was entirely too much pretty elf content for Darya.

Hot damn, I can’t get used to this!

She was too distracted with the glowing elf’s perfect body to notice her hands suddenly reaching through the bright light. Her heart jumped to her throat when she felt her soft fingers loosening her own dress.

“Wh-what are you…?” Darya mumbled, still unable to take her eyes off Seris.

“I did the second healing spell while you were asleep,” Seris said lazily as she bent over. “Doesn’t hurt now, does it?”

Her fingers gently molded the skin over Darya’s ribs. It wasn’t painful at all. She remembered how bad it used to be before she fell asleep. It hurt like a stab wound each time she tried to do anything.

“No, feels amazing, really,” Darya said with a gulp.

“By the light, it’s fully healed,” Seris said cheerfully. Saying this, she wrapped her arm around Darya and lay down, pulling her into a cuddle.

Oh, I’m going to die.

She was getting entirely too much elf love to contend with. This was too fast and too much. All her instincts were screaming at her to shrink and run away. She had never been ready for any of this.

“Hm!” she grunted sternly to herself as she flipped on the side to face Seris. This was her life now. She had to get used to it, and she was going to do it even if it meant heart failure due to sweetness.

“What was that sound!” Seris giggled, “Why are you breathing like a bull?”

Darya didn’t answer. She had one goal, and it was taking her entire brain and willpower to do it. A slight deviation from the planned course of action could lead to catastrophic failure.

Get a grip! Everything I want is right here!

She wrapped one arm around Seris’s waist and drove her face into her chest in one swift movement. She had to slow down because if she did it at the speed of her determination, she would’ve broken her nose on Seris’s sternum.

“Aw, is this how you say thank you now?” Seris asked, embracing her with both arms.

“Yes,” Darya managed to say through her muffled mouth.

Seris tickled the back of her scalp, and she almost passed out. The pretty elf was doing dangerous things now. The cuddling and the hug had taken everything she had. Now fingers were involved, and she wasn’t ready. Regardless, she wasn’t going to complain.

She hugged Seris until she ran out of breath, and then she turned her face back out for fresh air. Seris kept combing her hair and, at some point, yawned lazily as she flopped over on her back, stretching her legs this time.

“Better grab something to eat,” she said, patting Darya’s head. “You can go back to sleep afterwards.”

Darya was slightly disappointed when Seris adjusted her straps back up her shoulders. She wanted more cuddling, but she had to agree with her stomach, which she only started noticing after Seris brought up the topic of food. She was hungry.

“What’s for breakfast?” she asked, rolling on her back herself.

“Breakfast?” Seris asked with a smile spreading on her face. “It’s supper. Did you think this is morning still?”

The hell? I thought the light from the window was morning light!

“Oh, that’s why I’m hungry!”

Seris laughed. “Fom fixed us a grand lunch, thinking you’ll wake up, but we ended up eating it because he couldn’t bear to disturb your sleep.”

Fom. Yes. I remember the name now. Fominel!

Darya raised herself after hearing the old man had been working hard. She felt ashamed of sleeping an entire day while there was probably a lot more to do before they could set sail. She had passed out, leaving it all up to him. While she liked having a servant, she didn’t want to use the servant. She had never felt comfortable with other people doing things for her, paid or free. She was used to living alone.

Her bones popped loudly after staying in the same posture for hours. She sat at the edge of the bed, combing her wavy brown hair over her ears. Seris was quickly changing into a different dress, likely to help the old man prepare another meal.

“I’ll come too,” Darya said sleepily. She didn’t want to stay in bed and be served like the princess she was. The title was good, the money was good, and the ship was good. Whatever lifestyle Darya Altazark was used to, it wasn’t going to be hers.

“You can sleep more, princess?” Seris asked, tightening the straps of her new dress.

“I slept enough—” Darya didn’t get to finish her sentence before she saw something distracting. A faint yellow glow was coming from the dark corner of the room. It was bobbing up and down, floating in mid-air.

“Hm?” Seris noticed her sudden change in expression. “Oh, you saw it!”

“Wait! Th-that’s our mana wisp?!” Darya asked excitedly, getting to her feet. She had slept hard enough to forget the names of her crew, but she hadn’t forgotten a single word about the mana wisp that she had heard about.

Seris laughed. “Yeah, that’s him. I brought him up here since you’ll be needing it too.”

“Him? It’s a boy?” Darya asked, leaning forward to take a closer look.

The mana wisp was a palm-sized creature made of transparent yellow and blue. His head was at least two times as large as the rest of his body. He had big white eyes and a tiny slit of a mouth.

[Inspect]

Creature: Dragon Mana Wisp

Kind: Magical

Level: 1

HP: 15/15

MP: 14, 211/32,452

SP: 2/3

“Oh, a dragon type! What a crazy little guy!” Darya laughed. She had always liked Wisps as familiars, spending more than she should have to hatch rare types.

This was the weakest creature that she had ever seen. A rat would be more resilient than this. Wisps in the VRMMO came in a single size. There was no such thing as a baby wisp, because the wisp growth dynamics weren’t part of gameplay.

She could tell this one was special despite it being so weak. He had more mana capacity as a baby than Seris, a grown elf. As a familiar, this was a portable mana tank. The stamina situation was hilarious. He only had the stamina to do three things in a row.

Darya reached out and grabbed his tiny body. The wisp snapped awake, opening its elliptical eyes to full circles. His tiny mouth fell ajar as she clasped her fingers around it.

“Meak!” it squeaked like a kitten. Darya felt the sound echo in her heart. This thing was activating her cute aggression.

“How cute! What is his name?” She asked, gently rubbing his forehead with her other finger. The wisp’s big eyes softened against her touch, and his tiny mouth curled into a smile.

“You named him Kentaburgis!” Seris said flatly.

“Kentab—” Darya paused. “What the hell was I thinking!” she yelled. That name was atrociously long for a little guy.

“Well, it was your idea. Mine was Gorb, but you didn’t like that.”

“You looked at this baby and called it Gorb?” Darya asked, severely disappointed in the pretty elf.

Seris shrugged.

“Kenta, hmm, shorter. How about Enta? I’m renaming him to Enta!” Darya said. “Say Enta! there, there, little guy…” she cooed at the Wisp.

“Meak! Enta!” he squeaked like clockwork again. Darya rewarded him with a rub on the forehead again. He seemed to like the sensation.

“Alright, Enta then,” Seris laughed, “Maybe keep him with you until you recover your mana.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Darya let the baby wisp settle itself on her palm. “Where did we find this guy? He’s got a lot of Mana for his size!” she asked curiously.

“We found him in a dungeon in Arlok. That’s where we met Rossarie!” Seris said, opening the door to head out.

Arlok. She remembered that name. It was a large island somewhere in the northern hemisphere of Vainfall. If she wasn’t mistaken, Arlok had a volcanic mountain range where the dragons lay their eggs. In the VRMMO, it was one of the hardest upper mid-level raids to complete. Arlok didn’t have a human civilization. It was too wild and dangerous. Things could’ve changed in the RLP, of course.

“This Rossarie grew up there?” Anyone who could survive such a harsh place clearly had to be powerful. “I wonder what she’s like!”

“Oh, you don’t remember. She’s a Draconian with a tail and everything.” Seris said eagerly.

“What!”

“I do hope she’s alive,” Seris muttered solemnly.