The Astral soul system-Chapter 142: Astarte

[Neural scan complete]

[Retrieving avatar]

[... Error. Time of last login....three years approximately]

’What?’

[Giving punishment: Champion level reduction]

[Calculating champion level after reduction]

[LV 200»»»Lv1]

"Wait a minute, that can’t be ri-"

Zyro’s consciousness was suddenly plunged into the game and he was forced to keep his confusion to himself.

Three years? That was the same time Zen disposed of him and Zyro. So did that mean he just... stopped playing

Zyro didn’t get it. Zen played just as much as the rest of them because they were able to find peace in the game. It was why they chose the class of farmer and simply leveled up by tending to plants and animals instead of fighting like most people that played the game.

Zen basically lived for that kind of tranquility, Zyro could remember Zen on multiple occasions saying that it calmed him, he wouldn’t just... quit . For three years?

Zyro’s vision blurred and when he finally opened his eyes again, the familiar voice of an bpc reached his ears.

"Welcome back , champion: Astarte.Your presence in this realm has been greatly missed, while you were gone your fellow gate keepers have defended this realm well and protected it’s inhabitants. You have to grow rapidly to rise up and take your place amongst them again"

’Yeah, not really interested ’

The main plot of this game was similar to real life, which made sense considering it was also a way for the military to train. Creatures from other dimensions (beasts) were coming in through rifts (dungeons) and the champions main task was to defend star gates, which were basically the pillars of this world. If the star gates were destroyed and the beasts managed to come in through them,it was all over for this world. Of course only players above level 100 could defend star gates, meaning he was no longer qualified, not like he was interested in fighting in the first place.

Zyro took a deep breath and examined himself.

He was in a pitch black cloak that covered his face slightly, golden earrings with glittering gems on them,a golden crystal pendant around his neck and a large silver and black scythe taller than himself in his hands.

’Yep, I still sound like a fighter,look like a necromancer, but have the skills of a farmer. I guess that’s what happens when Zen picks our look, Zaine our name and me our class. Luckily the level down didn’t affect my gear’

"All seeing eye"

The pendant on his neck suddenly glowed as he activated it

[Legacy gear: Cloak of Oneiros]

[Mythical gear: Scythe of Osiris]

[Mythical gear: All-seeing eye]

[Legendary: Earrings of the dead]

[Legendary: Ring of binding]

Even the basic loose clothing he wore under the cloak was legendary quality

Zyro nodded. This was currently all he had on him but he had more stashed at... his farm. Would it even still be there? After three years?

Speaking of which, Zyr- Astarte still didn’t understand why Zen had just quit. What could he possibly have been doing for three years that he didn’t have the time to login once. For most people, this wouldn’t be something serious, but Zyro was seriously concerned. Hecate didn’t have a life, that was the whole point. Study, train, and when they were old enough, they become one of the top agents, the game was the only requiem they had in their life,in fact it was more of a life than what they had outside. What could Zen possibly have been doing on the outside for three years? And come to think of it, how did he escape? He still didn’t understand many things and was starting to get confused.

While he was still thinking, Zyro suddenly got a notification, but not a game notification.

[Detected that host’s consciousness is present in a digital form]

[Beginning protocol X-2531]

[System is connecting to the game. Please wait for completion]

Zyro’s eyes widened in excitement as he heard that. Video games were one of the few things in life he... THEY still enjoyed, and if the system could actually help him connect to those, he could be in here with Theia and the others too. Maybe he could even try using his astral skills here.

"The guys are gonna lose it when I tell them about this

It looked like it would still take a while so Zyro started walking towards his farm or where he remembered it was.

He was honestly a lot less excited than he originally was. Three years had gone by. What if players had looted all his gear? And what about the plants, and the animals? He hadn’t cared for them in so long, would they even remember him? His gear may have immediately adjusted to fit him but he was still different.Would they even have survived on their own?

’Zen, you better have a good reason for this ’

Zyro said, trying to remain positive as he imagined the reunion.

However he was still worried, he didn’t even remember to take in the beautiful ethereal looking forest around him as he walked steadily, using his scythe as a walking stick, his cloak fluttering in the wind.

’Okay, okay,calm down. Alarune probably took care of the plants, and maybe the animals but.... would she even remember me? I was so young back then ’

Speaking of that suddenly reminded of something else

’Would...she... even remember me? She probably already left, there’s no way she stayed and waited for three years. I can probably never meet her again, and even if i do, she’s probably going to hate me or it’s just gonna be akward’

Zyro said, thinking of his old gaming buddy.

They both ended up finding each other as kids, and the two...of them,found normal people too difficult to deal with so they formed a partnership. Astarte made food,brews and potions, and lots of other important stuff exclusively for her and she protected his farm from raiders and beasts. She was part of the reason he’d gotten to such a high level before.

His rubbed the crystal necklace on his neck, remembering how she’d sacrificed so many levels protecting him so she could win it for him protecting a level 150 Stargate., sure it was Zen back then but they still shared the memory. She’d actually dropped lower than level hundred and had to level up with him again so they could both defend Stargates together. After all that he’d just straight up abandoned her, ignoring their partnership and going radio silent for three years. He wouldn’t be surprised if she got angry and raided his farm herself

’Yep, she’s definitely going to hate me, and i can’t even get mad for it. We practically left her at the altar ’

"That’s a strange analogy to use" Theia said, suddenly materializing in front of him.

"Theia, you’re here?"

"Yep, the system isn’t done integrating into the game, but it’s gone far enough that I can come in here. Whoever built this game is crazy. I can hack into the most advanced systems in this solar system in seconds, but the system’s actually having trouble with a game . Do you know how much processing power the system has,over a googolplex of super computers combined can only scratch the surface of the higher dimensional network that..."

"..."

*Blink*

"....Don’t... worry about it. You definitely can’t understand. Like i said before, weird choice of words"

Astarte sighed 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Yeah but it’s true,i abandoned her. She’s probably impossibly powerful by now and has her own guild or something, while I’ll most likely have to rebuild my farm from scratch"

"Probably "

Theia said bluntly,not bothering to sugarcoat it.

"Maybe pick up a few flowers for her on the way back?"

"Seriously? "

Theia shrugged

"Yeah, maybe. Flowers are always a good way to start or start over in this case"

"She’s not that kind of girl... unless she’s changed. Everything’s changed now. Nothing’s the same. I don’t even think she’s still there. She probably left"

"Dude, chill. You’re not dealing with your ex or something... well it is your ex but you know what I mean. If you can talk it out, you’ll talk it out."

That seemed to calm Astarte down a bit as he picked up the pace.

"Or maybe you wish she was your ex,huh?"

Theia looked at Astarte uggestively but he was unaffected

"We don’t process emotion, that way." He said confidently

The rest of the trip was quiet and peaceful which was strange, considering Astarte had built his farm specifically in a large forest crawling with beasts to make sure he and his partner weren’t disturbed by players very often, even if a few of them would still get close occasionally.

This brought up another problem. Even if he rebuilt his farm, how would he maintain it and keep it safe without her? His level was far too low now, and Astarte wasn’t interested in fighting to get stronger,he came here to relax.

’Guess I’ll just have to start farming again, literally "

Astarte reached a large pile of trees,all bundle together

"Here we are"

Zyro peeked through the trees and saw a huge clearing with a huge red barn and silo at the center. There were various machines everywhere but they seemed rusty from lack of use. There were lots of ridges and other things that looked like they were meant to hold plants but none of them had any.

"O... okay? It’s not that bad. It’s not that bad,we just need to clean up a bit and check to see what still..."

She suddenly noticed Astarte staring at a specific spot in the farm, his eyes wavering a bit.

"She isn’t there"

He muttered

"Who? The girl?"

His head shook sideways slowly.

"No, Alarune. She’s gone"

Astarte quickly started running to the side of the farm, dodging through trees and bushes as he hurried somewhere, his cloaked figure dashing through trees like a ghost.

A few seconds of running and he was in front of a cave covered inside and out with vines.

He gripped his scythe and was about to head inside when his pendant suddenly started glowing and pulsating.

Gasping, Astarte jumped back as far as he could, remembering it to be an early warning function.

He suddenly saw a flash of light heading for him and rolled out of the way immediately he jumped but was still sent flying into a tree.

[-5 HP]

[HP: 5/10]

Astarte was shocked. Even under his legendary cloak he was still hurt. Sure it wasn’t armor but legacy was one of the highest classes possible in the game, and unique as well.

One of his earrings suddenly started glowing and the gem on it suddenly crumbled to dust.

’Oh no’

[Earrings of the dead]

[Passive skill: Sacrifice an earring to block an attack that would have caused death. Maximum of two uses,once used, the gear is gone]

That attack would have killed him instantly even with all his mythical and legendary gear. There was no way he could win. But even so, Astarte didn’t want to log out to escape. He didn’t try reasoning with this person,he knew how most players were, and they always prioritized their own benefit above all, he shouldn’t have been walking around with legendary gear as a level one.

Astarte quickly used his cloaks active skill, briefly becoming invisible before attempting to escape but he quickly noticed another attack headed for him, meaning his attacker could still see him.

Gritting his teeth, he activated another ability and his body suddenly melded into the ground like a shadow and once the attack passed he popped back up.

He immediately used his all-seeing eye and a huge flash of light suddenly appeared, making it impossible to see. Using another ability of the all-seeing eye to locate his attacker.

Using the cloak of Oneiros,he appeared behind them almost instantly as he swung his scythe down.

He suddenly felt a clang as his attack was deflected easily. He could already feel that this person was in a completely different league to him, even with his gear boosting his stats.

"Goodbye, and never return,or else!"

Astarte’s eyes widened.

’A girl? That’s a girl’s voice! A girl all alone out here specifically, with a powerful light attack. It might be nothing, but it’s worth a shot ’

He quickly activated his final piece of special gear, the binding ring, causing it to glow faintly.

He suddenly heard the girl gasp and saw a similar glow amidst the glaring light of the all-seeing eye. He quickly deactivated it, allowing them to see clearly and he saw a girl with black hair and brown eyes standing in front of him,her glowing sword clashing with his scythe. She was a little bit shorter than Astarte and dressed in light leather armor with a few metal components added.

Her eyes dilated, widening slowly as she looked at the person she was attacking. Her gaze went to the scythe,then his cloak, then his faith. She looked at his finger and saw the glowing ring that was identical to the one she had on.

"...It can’t be...Asta? "

Astarte chuckled nervously, sweating a bit from the pressure her sword was putting on him.

"Hey... Mao-Mao. How are you doing? Could you... maybe stop trying to kill me? I can’t hold on for much longer"

Her eyes widened and she suddenly stopped putting pressure on the hilt, sliding it off his scythe and releasing it in a random direction, slicing dozens of trees in the process, and making Astarte sweat a little.

"It’s... really you?"

Zyro showed her the ring on his finger glowing in response to hers.

"Yep. The one and only."

The two of them just stared at each other for a few seconds, not knowing how to react

"..."

"..."

"...So i guess this is an inappropriate time to ask for a hu-"

Astarte looked down, shocked as she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest, squeezing him gently.

"Where the fuck were you? I called you everyday for months!"

Astarte still looked a bit shocked but he sighed and hugged her back.

"Yeah, I’m sorry"