That Time I Played A VRMMORPG.

The duo were spending their time fishing, swimming or finding other material near the underground lake.

Even with that said, Kaede sometimes goes outside and lays around, and does strange actions like using [ Provoke ] while being attacked by monsters for some time. It's to level her [ Mastery of Large Shield ] while also to initiate a new skill.

With the same thing, Gram would use his [ Spell Creation ] or get new skills from the information of NWO forums and the bulletin board, thanks to that, he gained more than enough MP skills at this point. He even went as far as moving around for some time to get [ Running ] skill that could add AGI stats when on the run.

After some time, they would head out and discover materials, in a seemingly a stroll-like way without paying any attention to monsters around.

Kaede was thinking of taking the damage reduction skills after her new shield is made so she's on lookout for new skills. She found some ways of getting from the forums and it can only be done by grinding. So with the time spent on grinding and farming, it's already a week since Risa has started diving.

It's not like all of them log in at the sametime, since they have things to do in real-life.

While Risa plays in different times, she acquired a lot of skills that are very 'easy' to take other than the water related skills. Although she didn't focus leveling up, it's much better to solo a dungeon on a lower level while she gains mastery for her skills.

The three of them are steadily readying up for the upcoming event, they stayed in the underground lake for her to improve her level and skills. At some point, Risa had started conquering the dungeon, which turned out to be a massive underwater maze.

There were not any monsters aside from the low level fishes in the lake. From her description, it's only a massive maze-like passage and that's why it had took her to discover almost all passage except the last paths that she assumed might had the door to the boss of the dungeon.

Seemingly to be the only monsters of the real dungeon on the lake.

So with that, days continued on like passing it's time.

In one week, Gram gained more than ten skills, it seems to be a lot but with his infinite usage of [ Spell Creation ], (only used one time during the week XD..) he seemed not to use it 'often'. He also gained some skills normally while experimenting on how to acquire it, it's the reason why he didn't focus on using his insta creation skill.

Like his perspective or any other players, mastery and gaining passive skills were needed, he already had many offensive skills. He focused on gaining skills overall MP's regeneration/recovery while at the same improving his ability as a mage build itself.

After finishing some sort of a quest line from the town wizard's tower, which took him more than hours to finish. Example is laid out; a monster exterminating or purifying a village while saving the people on them, then a nondescript stopping a mana ritual that would summon demons. He asked Kaede if she wanted to join but it seems she's so focused on leveling her skills this time.

He got back to the quest giver. Although it didn't give him any experience or whatsoever, the skill he's currently getting seems to be slightly unpopular given it's demanding quest and mainly, it's usage for mana that's really valuable in moments.

"Thank you young adventurer!!! Blah-blah… Can you pass this parchment to the…. I, Ganon really appreciate your courage for stopping the evil from spreading~"

"Another one?" Gram blurted out but it seemed the NPC didn't seem to mind how rude he was.

"Can you pass this parchment to the…. I, Ganon the elder mage really appreciate your courage for stopping the evil from spreading~"

"I accept, just get over it, ha.." After more than half an hour scouring for the random NPC that seemed to walk places to places, Gram got lucky and successfully finished the quest by returning to the unmoving elder mage.

[ Skill [ MP Barrier ] have been acquired. ] ( Requirements to gain: Do the quest line:.. With more than 300 MP. )

*Ding

[ Skill [ Barrier Master ] had been gained. ] ( Requirements to gain: Have three coexisting barrier applied. )

He quickly got the rewards and returned back to the underground lake as he sat beside Kaede who's laying near the water.

As soon as Kaede saw him, she greeted, "Good job~ You finished the quest?"

Gram nodded with a smile, "Yeah~ I successfully finished the quest and gained the skill! Although it's slightly hard and many materials are needed.. It's a little bit tiring."

"Here is the reward from me~" Kaede patted his head, while smiling cutely.

"Can I change the reward?" He looked at the girl, eye to eye. Earning the girl's quick pouncing heart and a fluttery reply.

"U-un! A-anything for the adventure.. J-just no l-l.e.w.d things… mhn.." She started to look at the ground as she had stopped fishing, shyly drawing to the ground cutely.

"How about.. a l.a.p pillow?" The answer made her much fl.u.s.tered but after a moment, she still accepted with a fidgety nod.

"N-nn.."

Although, it was embarrassing because her outfit revealed a lot of her t.h.i.g.hs making the l.a.p pillow much effective to him and shameful to her. She sat on a seiza-style and softly patted her soft milky things indicating him to sit his head.

'Ohh~ very comfortable… Ah! Heavens.' Feeling honestly impressed at his shamelessness.

"Hey~ Maple... You've been waiting for Sally right?" Gram naturally looked above and saw her red face. Of course he tried to calm her down by holding her hand.

"U-un, s-she's currently going to dive up as I've been timing her, earlier- ahh~! I forget..." Kaede rubbed her head while seemingly closing her eyes as if she had forgotten because of her embarrassment.

Gram encouraged her, "Then, look at the time again.." Kaede replied with a timid nod, she periodically looked towards the status panel while sometimes looking at the male's lying on her l.a.p pillow.

Kaede, who had a dilemma whether to pet his head, seems to have gained some strength and started softly petting his head subconsciously. With an awkward effort, she had slightly calmed down, she was a little jumpy over doing it, but for some reason, for her, it made her more ticklish as her cheeks had a clear red-tint on it.

'You can do it myself!' Feeling his white soft hair, she would slid her fingers as if she's exploring and experiencing the actions that she won't even believe she had done it towards an opposite s.e.x.

Gram who was relaxing looked at the gained skills over the week, he made an accidental movement which made Kaede yelp a 'hueeh~' but at the second had calmed down.

While he didn't want to move his head, he could feel a soft tender and plush on the back of his head making it very comfortable and satisfying. It wanted him to move and 'massage' his head, of course as if knowing his intentions, she started rubbing while softly massaging the rampant head, which felt ther.a.p.eutic all together.

[ MP Barrier ]

A passive barrier that uses MP as it's fuel, when 0 MP, had a refreshing time of 10 minutes before being able to use it again.

[ Barrier Master ]

All barriers will now depend on the user VIT as it's defense percentage attribute. Applicable to the user only. Barriers could now protect the user from all knock-back effects and if the enemy broke a barrier, the user will stagger 5 seconds.

"Ridiculously long quest and seems menial enough to be ignored, I guess players don't want barriers that use MP passively." He understood, after all, not everyone could improve their MP to the brim and even he might get in trouble when he ran out of skills to refill his MP.

His eyes lit up, "The [ Barrier Master ] though, is a superb addition! Not being knock-back~ hehe!" Getting it was a surprise, he didn't get any manipulation mastery but it seems having more than one type of barrier is a great achievement of its own. There was the downside, but the good side made up for it.

"Ahh~ so relaxing.."

"D-don't move so much!"

-

Given the time, Risa took to lay out the dungeon, he efficiently used the waiting time by acquiring more skills and improving them, of course he did not forget to cuddle or laze around with his very best girlfriend.

Risa raised from the water surface and asked Kaede who was fishing beside the water. "Puhaa… Ha〜…Ha〜… how long did I dove? I think I beat my previous record again~"

"I-It's amazing! Uhmm.. You're nearing 30 minutes!" Kaede glanced at her status panel to confirm.

"Having the [ Swimming X ] and [ Diving X ] means… this is my current maximum limit… if I don't reach one way within less than 25 minutes, I'll drown huh…" Risa who was in a pondering mode floated in the water glanced at Gram who was fishing beside Kaede while looking at his stats with a contemplating expression.

Risa leaped out of the water and walked towards the two, "Ohh! Perfect timing Knox! You just came right?" The magical VR game doesn't include wetty clothes sadly which made Gram a little disheartened but it didn't show in his expression.

"Yeah, I had some quest to do earlier." Gram nodded, looking closely at the ash brown hair girl approaching. With a quick petting on her head, Risa immediately back and jumped to the lake so that they can't see the light blush on her cheeks.

"Hmm.. Should I send a message again?" Kaede said who had seen the event giggled happily, it felt like she's delighted to see her friend's shy's expression.

"Do twenty minutes or if I'm not back by then, extend it for 5 minutes... this time.." Risa showed a thumbs up without turning back a little embarrassed which made Kaede's assumption better. Although, after getting to the water he had recovered, before she dived down, looked at him with a leer.

"Leave it to me! Enjoy diving〜! Risa-chan!" Kaede waved her hand and motivated her friend.

"Un! I'll be going now!" Risa disappeared with a moderate splash underwater.

"Her progress is good now that I think about it." Gram said to the side, Kaede nodded as she lightly glanced on her status panel counting down on Risa's return.

"She's so pumped about it after all, it seems studying this much had a bad~ effect on her. Ha-ha.." Kaede wryly smiled. Although, he somewhat agreed given the dull quick quizzes they had during classes.

Gram nodded in understanding, "Yeah~ That's just like her.."

"Just a little bit committed to trying her best.." Kaede glanced at the lake water with a smile. Seeing her focused expression made him point a finger to her face and softly poked her cheeks, making her pout cutely in the process.

"And well~ she's a self proclaimed pro-gamer after all~." He said with a chuckle.

"Un~! I think you're right about that. She always challenges you with too many games… she's too competitive!"

"Right!?"

Fully believing about Risa gamers aspect, at the same time telling jokes about being competitive during her friends birth made Kaede blushed so hard that he got called a 'pervert'.

He looked at the status panel. He has been identifying skills that he gained over the week.

-

Knox

Lv: 28

HP: 275/275 ( MB: 862 ) ( BP: 100/100 ) ( LBP: 5000/5000 )

MP: 765/765 (+77) (+20)

[ STR: 0〈＋10〉]

[ VIT: 235〈＋10〉]

[ AGI: 0 ]

[ DEX: 0 ]

[ INT: 470〈＋235〉〈＋50〉〈＋10〉]

Equipment:

Head [ーーー]

Body [ Timeworn Armor of the Shadows ]

Right hand [ Mirror of Oblivion ]

Left hand [ Mystic Storm Gloves [ Skill: Earth Wyvern ] ]

Legs [ Timeworn Armor of the Shadows ]

Shoes [ Timeworn Armor of the Shadows ]

Accessories [ Ring of the Forgotten Knight ]

[ Mana Ring ]

[ーーー]

Skill:

[ Transcendental Meditation ] [ Perception ] [ Sensory Enhancement ] [ Mana Sensing ] [ Nature Gift ] [ Spell Creation ] [ Fire Manipulation ] [ Gravity Manipulation ] [ Spell Overkill ] [ Giant Killer ] [ Poison Immunity ] [ Enchantment ] [ Wind Manipulation ] [ Light Manipulation ] [ Almighty Defense ] [ Earth Wyvern Eater ] [ Mastery of the Support V ] [ Bizarre Eater ] [ Explosion Manipulation ] [ Magic (Mana) Devourer ] [ Sound Manipulation ] [ Fishing IV ] [ Cooking I ] [ Running II ] [ MP Strengthening (Small) ] [ MP Enhancement (Small) ] [ MP Cut ( Medium ) ] [ MP Regen (Medium) ] [ Intelligence Strengthening (Small) ] [ Mana Leech Augment (Small) ] [ Sound Manipulation ] [ Electricity Manipulation ] [ Multi-Casting (Small) ] [ Concurrent Chanting II ]

[ Gold: 413044 ]

Low HP Potion x 20

Low MP Potion x 20

White-Fish Scales x 341

… Materials...

[ Running II ]

Faster movement speed when running.

[ MP Strengthening (Small) ]

Increases MP by +10% of the maximum reserve.

[ MP Enhancement (Small) ]

Add MP +10.

[ MP Cut ( Medium ) ]

MP cost of skills/spells are reduced by 20.

[ MP Regen (Medium) ]

MP passive regeneration rate +100%.

[ Intelligence Strengthening (Small) ]

INT +50%.

[ Mana Leech Augment (Small) ]

User gain +4 MP for per enemy hit.

[ Sound Manipulation ]

The ability to shape mana to manipulate sound, a periodic disturbance of a medium (air, ground, water, etc) that radiates outward linearly in the form of a pressure wave. Use additional MP to improve spell damage, effectiveness, and radius.

Spells:

Sonic Fissure - 200 MP

Sonic Flash Step - Half Max MP.

[ Sonic Flash Step ]

Able to perceive sound, which allows users to travel in distributed frequencies (activated with [ Perception ]). The sound, user would see will be more direct in the mana spectrum. Every activation requires half the max MP, as if slowing down time before pinpointing the direction to move, travelling at the speed of sound. With a refresh time of 5 minutes. Limited to sound that user could.

[ Electricity Manipulation ]

Able to manipulate electricity, a form of energy resulting from the movement of charged particles. Use additional MP to improve spell damage, effectiveness, and radius.

Spells:

Chain Lightning - 50 MP

[ Chain Lightning ]

Lightning can be charged around the player's body, then would shoot out a chain of lightning whenever the player did a successful attack towards a nearby enemy passively. After the maximum charge (0/3) three at max, will shoot a chain of lightning that will additionally hit more nearby enemies when the user attacks. 50 MP per charge, casting time of 1.5 second.

Every rebound of the lightning will diminish the damage by 5%, maximum of 15 rebound.

[ Multi-Casting (Small) ]

Use spells multiple times for 3x the MP cost. Improve the mastery of the skill to lessen the MP usage.

[ Concurrent Chanting II ]

Can use spells with chanting duration in movement. This enables any spells to be used when in constant movement. Higher levels of the skill reduce casting time of spells and skills under movement.

Current Bonus: 5% reduced casting time.

[ Mana Ring [Rare] ]

Adds 20 MP.

Earning the first half of the skills took half of the week while each one of them would take him hours or even a day to get. An example is the [ Intelligence Strengthening ] and [ Mana Shield ] which needed some sort of quest to finish.

Lastly, [ Multi-Casting ] and [ Concurrent Chanting ] had been acquired to zealously farm low-level dungeons to defeat monster materials to earn reputation points to exchange the skill. It took him more than (every night in rl of course! ) three days to earn the skills, although it was much easier given that he had acquired many aoe skills turning grinding into him into a mindless killing spree machine. During the time he also gained one more accessory, which is a lucky get from one rare monster he accidentally killed during one of his sprees.

Thankfully other players had done it and shared it rather graciously in the bulletin board making it easier to plan out.

"I really want to clean up my skill list." Gram felt slightly annoyed given how his skills seem to be messy and non-categorized.

Of course, he wanted to sort it out but there wasn't any option for it in the status panel, it might change in the future and he hoped they would do so.

"It looks okay to me though?" Kaede said, which made him look and giggle. He didn't mind her simpleness in things, so he rubbed her head while explaining why he's a little adamant of cleaning it.

Kaede glanced at him and said, "Then, nevermind.. but I feel like you're blaming the creators because of it?"

Gram chuckled, "I didn't though?"

Kaede rolled her eyes cutely, "You did!"