Mythran's Master Of All

Lucy called the hospital just after 2pm and told Ren she was ready to log in. He gave Lucy a few minutes to get ready and then settled into bed and put on the VR headset.

“Flow Login Start.”

********

Ren woke up in the VR world and everything seemed fine. He didn't feel like he was suffering any effects from anything and smiled. “That's a relief.”

“What is?” Lucy asked.

“I don't feel any different from normal.”

Lucy nodded. “That's good. Say, Ren... why don't you make up the potions that you used up? The mana potions, specifically.”

“That's a great idea.” Ren took out his alchemy kit and made up 7 Mana potions.

“Ren... do you have any antidote potions?” Lucy asked.

“What? Why would I need those?”

Lucy sighed. “Of course you don't need them. I need them.”

“You do?”

“Of course I do. I'm not as strong as you, and I won't survive if I don't have anything to protect me from poison.”

Ren thought about it for a minute. “You're right. I should be trying to protect you more.”

Ren made up one vial of antidote and gave it to Lucy. “There you go. It should help you from almost any poison.”

“Thank you, Ren!” Lucy said and opened the vial.

“What are you doing?” Ren asked.

“I'm just going to taste it, to see if it's okay.” Lucy said and put it to her lips. “Ugh... that seems a little off.”

Ren looked at her sceptically. “It's probably because of the settings in your VR headset.”

Lucy nodded. “Yeah, I was scammed by this guy into buying the cheapest helmet for the most expensive price.”

“You WHAT?!?”

Lucy nodded. “Yeah, it was pretty stupid of me to buy it off of F-Bay™, But he had the expensive box, and when it arrived, the cheap one was in it.”

“Did you complain?”

“I tried, but the sale was for 'the box and contents, not necessarily for the high quality I believed it would be'. That's a direct quote from both the seller and F-Bay™.” Lucy explained.

“Lucy, I'm so sorry.”

“It's okay... but what you said could be true. I don't know.” Lucy said. “Here. You try it and see if it tastes okay.”

Ren shook his head. “I don't need to taste it. I know it's good.”

“How?”

“I've tasted it before.”

“Then you'll know how it should taste, right?” Lucy asked.

Ren nodded.

“Then do what I just did. Slip a little into your mouth and see if it really does taste the same. You're the only one who can make the comparison.” Lucy said sweetly. “You said you wanted to protect me, how will I know it's any good if you don't try it for me to make sure?”

Ren sighed. “Fine. Just a sip. I don't want to waste it.”

Lucy handed it over and Ren put the vial to his lips. He tipped it up a little and Lucy grabbed Ren's nose and the end of the vial and tilted it all the way. Ren sputtered and choked a little but he swallowed it involuntarily. Ren knocked her hands away and the bottle hit the ground and broke.

(cough) (cough) “What was that for?” Ren stood up and tried to spit out the antidote, but he'd already swallowed it.

“For your own good.” Lucy said, satisfied.

“I know you're mad about Elerlyth, but you don't have to try and choke me to death!”

Lucy shrugged. “I didn't try to choke you at all, even though that sounds like a good idea.”

Ren stared at her.

“Ren, you're not the first guy to cheat on me, okay?” Lucy said and crossed her arms. “I thought you would be different from them.”

“Lucy... I'm sorry that happened... but I...” Ren grabbed his stomach and went pale.

“R-Ren?”

Ren shook his head and turned sideways as a wenching pain doubled him over. Ren opened his mouth to throw up and this black ooze came out. He wretched a few times until nothing else appeared, then stood up again. Lucy walked over to him and rubbed his back. They looked down together at the foot wide puddle of black ooze.

“Is that...” Lucy said.

“A present from Elerlyth.” Ren said. “Several in fact.” Ren took one of his concealment rocks that he had in inventory, absorbed the glyph, then enchanted it with a glyph of 2 wind and 2 fire. He wasn't sure if this was necessary, but it didn't hurt to do it. Ren pointed it at the black puddle. Activate. A blast of fire shot out and hit the puddle. Ren moved it back and forth, making sure to engulf the whole thing. After a few minutes, the puddle was all burned up. [/i]Deactivate.[/i] Ren stored the rock back into inventory. He might need it again later.

“Lucy... I...” Ren said. “Thank you.”

“You said you needed my help. That's what friends do.” Lucy said and went back to the side of the building.

“You're not staying?” Ren asked.

Lucy shook her head. “I think I've had enough of the game for a while.”

“But... Lucy...” Ren sighed. “I understand.” Ren walked over to her and knelt in front of her. “I can never apologize enough for hurting you like that.” Ren reached out and took Lucy's hand, and she didn't pull it away. “I know you've probably heard this before; but, I'll do everything I can to earn your trust back.”

Lucy nodded. Ren wasn't sure what she was nodding for, his promise or hearing it again. He didn't ask her to clarify what she meant, though... and let her hand go.

“Thanks again, Lucy.”

“You're welcome.” Lucy said and leaned back against the building. “Logout.”

Ren stared at Lucy's phantom form for several minutes, then turned away. Ren walked over to where Mitchell's shop was, but there were no soldiers, barricades, or even ropes. He walked to the front and there was a 'Closed Until Further Notice' sign. When he approached it, a popup appeared.