Serena was a top player in the popular browser game Age of Gods Online which combines elements of strategy and RPG on a platform available to everyone with access to the internet. As an RMT scum, she climbed the ranks of the deathmatch with real world money. One day, after she was defeated in battle by another player, she went to sleep and woke up in the world of AGO. But something was wrong. She woke up 300 years in the future of the current Age of Gods Online. Will she be able to unravel why or how she got there and if she'll ever return home? Age of Gods Online Chapter 2 The epic struggles of young gods in another world. By Shiina Ai

Serena slowly opened her eyes at the sound of chirping birds. A sharp ray of sunlight hit her eyes, causing her to squint, before her brain woke up and the realization hit her. She sat up, thinking it was the next day and cursing Alice for not waking her up yesterday.

But then, she realized something else instead. She was sitting in bed, in a room made of wooden walls. Not just any wooden walls, but log walls. The kind of walls you often see in western cowboy movies.

She looked around her. Above her was a roof made of long grass woven together. The wall on her right had an open window right in the middle, allowing her to see a garden where bean-like plants were being cultivated. Under that window was a bed made of wood, with stitched fur covering the straw seen poking out underneath it. Right in front of her was a wooden door, crudely crafted from planks nailed together.

Serena considered it such a bizarre sight that she concluded she was dreaming. After all, she took a nap in her classroom so she couldn't have ended up in a place so bizarrely different. She thought it was possible that she was kidnapped, but if that was true, she would've been tied up when she woke up. Convinced that she was dreaming, she went back to sleep.

"Hello," a voice broke through her dream.

Serena opened her eyes slightly. Through her half-lidded eyes, she spied a young girl, not much older than herself. She had shoulder-length dark brown hair, slightly wide mouth to be considered pretty, tanned skin and oval face. But what was most striking about her was her eyes.

It was red, like a ruby placed by a skilled jeweller in the center of egg white. Serena imagined the girl's eyes would glow in the dark if light shone at it. It reminded her of her avatar in AGO, Aelrea of the Divine Arms, she had the same red eyes too. It reminded her of the mycra race, that she as the goddess Aelrea created as her kin in AGO.

But that couldn't be the case. AGO was a game. The girl in front of her looked very real. Serena pinched her thigh, winced in pain and figured she was probably not dreaming. So by process of elimination, she came to a different conclusion.

This girl is an albino, she thought.

She completely ignored the girl's dark brown hair and tanned skin.

"Umm, hi there. I bring you breakfast," the girl said.

Only now Serena realised the girl was carrying a plate in her right hand and a mug on her left. She had been too mesmerised by the girl's beautiful red eyes that shined like expensive ruby to notice anything else. While the girl crossed the short distance to the table beside her bed, she placed both her burden on the table under Serena's watchful eyes.

"Eat up. I know it's not much, but I'm sure you can appreciate a warm meal after your perilous journey."

Perilous journey?

"Didn't you come from outside the valley? Grandpa found you collapsed by the side of the road on his way home from Rycius Watchtower."

Valley?

"Could it be... you don't realise where you are?"

Seeing Serena's confused face, the girl said, "You're home!"

"Pardon?" Serena asked. In her mind, she thought this was certainly not her home.

"The Crimson Valley! The land that hero Lasrios tried to lead the mycra to! Oh wait, since you're a 'lost hammer', you probably grew up hearing it's original name 'Valley of Snakes' instead."

Certainly, Serena have heard the name Lasrios and Valley of Snakes before. However, putting both phrases in one breath, brought into mind a possibility that she couldn't believe could be real. Added to the fact that the girl admitted that her people were called the mycra, it could only bring her to one conclusion. A conclusion which was simply impossible. Not even in fairytales.

So of course, Serena was in denial.

"Are you messing with me?" Serena asked with suspicion.

"No! This really is the promised land, it is the Valley of Snakes that the hero Lasrios said was prepared by Goddess Aelrea for us. He brought us here following our time of great need."

What nonsense is this? I never did anything like that. Wait, this means... oh man, I'm getting a headache.

Serena indeed knew of a Lasrios, but that was in AGO. Lasrios was none other than one of her hero units. Serena had other hero units as well, such as Pegasus Knight Heriane and Guardian of the Forge Maristes. They fought Ukhlar together with her before she died and she could only assume they died too afterward. Sword Brave Lasrios was the strongest of them all, making Serena as Aelrea decide to equip him with an S-class weapon that she created specifically for him, the cursed Blood Forge. It was a blade of immense power that it consumed the souls of its users to become stronger. She then sent him on a long term quest to defeat one of the players from the Theocracy of Lyrica, so he was too far to be recalled when Ukhlar the Scourge of Blood invaded the Aelrean Mountain Range.

Lasrios was deep in enemy territory, accompanied by only a handful of skilled mycras and a company of khalisian mercenaries. They were in a place called the Valley of Snakes. According to the girl, this place was called the Valley of Snakes once. If one were to assume that the game had somehow become a reality, that meant, this was the place. If the game had become reality, then it would be safe to assume that just like this girl before her, Lasrios had also gained sentience.

That idiot probably misunderstood my reasoning for ordering him to come here. He probably thought I sent him here to invade it for the mycra's future settlement. I actually gave him that quest because the player who owned this land was weak. Oh Lasrios, there should be a limit to your prowess.

Serena was impressed at herself for creating such a resourceful minion. The actual reason she sent Lasrios to the Valley of Snakes was not to take the valley for her use, but to raise Lasrios's level by defeating a weak god. Then when he would be a lot stronger, she'd kill his character and have his soul consumed by the blade. This would hopefully raise the blade's level from S-class to SS-class. How could she have known he would misunderstood her intentions?

"Didn't your parent teach you?" the girl asked again.

"Pardon?" Serena almost forgot about this girl standing next to her bed.

"Didn't your parents teach you about the Valley of Snakes? Even if you're a lost hammer, you must've heard them talk about it, right?"

"You kept talking about 'lost hammer'. Is that some kind of insult or something?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way. It's just what we call the mycras who have never set foot inside the Crimson Valley."

"What did you say?"

"We call people like you lost hammer because-"

"No, did you just call me a mycra?"

"Aren't you? What are you other than a mycra? Your red eyes that shine like ruby is telling enough."

Wait, my eyes are red? I'm a normal girl! My eyes are blue!

"But the real proof is in your blood," the girl said as she touched Serena's hand.

Hey, overly friendly girl. Just because I'm sitting in bed, doesn't mean you can touch me so casually.

The girl wrapped her fingers around Serena's, causing jolts of energy to pass through the palm of Serena's hand, up to her arm then into her heart. As if in response, a stronger jolt then fired out of Serena's heart and transmitted through their linked hands into the girl. Both of them reacted to that pulse of energy in different ways.

"Ahhhnn, nooo..." the girl moaned while making a blissful face that could easily be misunderstood as something lewd.

As for Serena, she made a muffled moan and panted while thinking, I didn't know I swing that way too.

"What was that?" the girl asked while panting.

"How would I know?"

"That was amazing!"

"I never knew another girl could make me feel this way."

"You must be someone talented!"

"This can't be real, I can't be bent."

"I've never felt something so wonderful!"

"Ai, it seems like life is not so straightforward as I'd like to believe."

"I think if you work hard, you can even be a master craftsman!"

"I may need to redefine my sexuality."

"With your talent, I think you have a shot. What have you made so far?"

"Excuse me? Were you talking to me?"

"... Who else is here?"

"I thought you were talking to yourself. What were you saying just now?"

"I said your magic is so strong, you probably have the talent to become a master crafter. That pulse of energy just now was proof. All mycra can exchange energy that way, but your energy was amazing!"

"You mean that feeling just now, it wasn't love?"

"Love? Why would you suddenly ask that?"

"Thank god! I thought I've become a lesbian!" Serena breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes, thank Goddess Aelrea for your talent. There are many magic crafters from the hamlet, but you're far above them! You must be blessed. I think you should join the crafter's competition this year."

"One thing at a time, my excited tanned... uhh... acquaintance. What do I call you?"

"Oh, sorry, I was too excited, I forgot my manners. My name is Iina."

"Serena," Serena introduced herself.

She entertained the thought of introducing herself as Aelrea, but considering Aelrea was the mycra's goddess, they probably wouldn't take kindly to someone using their goddess's name. Even though she was Aelrea in the game, they'd probably expect her to perform some kind of miracle, which Serena had no idea how to do at the moment.

"Then Serena, let me be the first to welcome you to Clear River Hamlet."

*As always, please leave your comments and feedback. Praises motivates me to write faster. Constructive criticisms helps me to write better. Thanks for reading and supporting me.

Serena was a top player in the popular browser game Age of Gods Online which combines elements of strategy and RPG on a platform available to everyone with access to the internet. As an RMT scum, she climbed the ranks of the deathmatch with real world money. One day, after she was defeated in battle by another player, she went to sleep and woke up in the world of AGO. But something was wrong. She woke up 300 years in the future of the current Age of Gods Online. Will she be able to unravel why or how she got there and if she'll ever return home? Age of Gods Online Chapter 3 The epic struggles of young gods in another world. By Shiina Ai

"We're home~" Iina announced as she put her basket on the floor beside the door.

"Welcome back, Iina and Grandpa Luus. Did you get anything good today?" Serena asked while sweeping the dirt floor.

"Un, we got lots of iron ingots, rubies and diamond fragments. We got a good deal on the ruby, but iron was a bit more expensive than usual," Iina answered, looking a bit depressed.

"Are they all for crafting?" Serena asked while looking at the ingots and gem fragments in the basket.

"Yes, but there isn't much profit in making amulets and accessories these days."

"That's because everyone's making the same thing nowadays. Too much supply and and not enough people buying them. To make matters worse, the khalis merchant only comes once a month and only brings two wagons."

Serena knew of the khalis, of course. Back in the game, the khalis were the minions of Ikhlis the Mother Goddess, 3rd in ranking. Ikhlis herself was weak and offered no challenge one on one. The only problem fighting her one on one was due to fact that she had an annoying unique ability to spawn strong but short-lived khalis minions every five seconds. So it was never truly one on one.

What made Ikhlis truly formidable though was her minions, the khalis. It was often said that Ikhlis showered all her love towards her minions. One can even call them the chosen of god, their god, at least. The khalis, also called Children of Ikhlis, looked no different from a normal human. However, that was the only similarity.

The khalis were stronger, more athletic and more capable than a normal human side by side. They could also learn and cast any magic available to Ikhlis, even divine magics were possible for them. They were the kind of race that had only advantages and not even a single weakness. In fighting Ikhlis, the fighter must finish the battle quickly as khalis as a race has a telepathic link to Ikhlis. The moment they sense Ikhlis in danger, whole cities will leave everything behind and attempt to save Ikhlis.

Serena remembered the only time she fought Ikhlis. She remembered the notifications popping up one after another as her whole region map started being filled with hostile khalis from all directions. Within minutes, her whole region map were almost completely filled by hostile khalis. As the red dots representing hostile units approached within ten miles of her battleground, she fled the scene and had to sacrifice the mycras who went to battle with her. Serena still had shivers every time she recalled that battle.

"Then why not make something else?" Serena asked.

"Something else? Such as what?" Grandpa Luus asked.

Serena thought it was strange that they hadn't thought about it. They were mycras after all. Crafting was their forte, it was in their blood. Mycras had no value other than their crafting skills. They had Strength 7 out of the maximum 20, but strength alone couldn't win battles. The only reason that Serena's mycra army could stand toe to toe with the other races was their high quality, personalized equipment.

"Why not forge weapons, shields or armour? The mycras are a race of magic crafters and blacksmiths after all."

Both Grandpa Luus and Iina laughed hearing her words. Grandpa Luus smacked his own legs as he laughed. It finally ended when Grandpa Luus coughed his lungs out that both of them stopped laughing as Iina brought him a tankard of drinking water.

"It's not that we don't want to make weapons, shields or armours. We're just not allowed to," Iina answered while rubbing Grandpa Luus's back.

"Why not?"

"It's the law. Only the central towns are allowed to craft equipment of war. The fringe hamlets are only allowed to craft farm equipments and trinkets. We're also not allowed to hold weapons unless we're part of the border guards and we're not allowed to bring our weapons home even when we're one of the guards."

"Not knowing this simple fact proves you're not from around here, Serena," Grandpa Luus chuckled.

"But why does the law forbid you from doing that?" Serena asked.

"It's been like that since the Kafri Revolution. The revolutionists, they call themselves the Unifiers these days, took over the central valley and made unreasonable demands. The rest of us who didn't want to comply to their demands left the central cities and settled at the outskirts of the valley."

"What were their demands?"

"Renounce Aelrea and unite under the flag of the United Mycran Kingdom."

"Excuse me?"

Renounce me? I created you ungrateful bastards. You're removing your creator now? Oh, this makes me rage.

Serena could feel blood rush to her head. If this was a western cartoon, she would be blowing steam out of her ears. They were her creation, yet, they pushed her away. Serena felt like punishing them with the 8th Heaven's main cannon, like she had done to her enemies many times in the past. When she recalled 8th Heaven though, she started cooling and calming herself down.

She did play as Aelrea in AGO. She did create the mycra as Aelrea's minions. However, that was in AGO. When she arrived here, to this world in the game, she wasn't Aelrea. She was just Serena, a normal sixteen years old school girl. It was entirely possible that there was another Aelrea in this world, the real Aelrea, instead of the Aelrea that she created as her avatar.

Grandpa Luus took another gulp from his tankard. "So that's how the numerous hamlets came to be. But after that, the central cities came to our hamlets with armies and demanded us to surrender all our weapons and forbade us from making weapons or other tools of war."

"And that's how we're reduced to making accessories and trinkets. But what can we do? We can't fight them," Iina shrugged.

"Didn't anyone resist when they took away your weapons and made that unreasonable demand?"

"Of course, my father fought them and they defeated him handily. It didn't even take more than five blows. My mother said they were too powerful. Their strength was unmatched, their speed was faster than the eye could see and their reflex was as good as a mountain lion. My father and the other residents were no match for them. We never fought them since."

"But Aelrea did create the mycra to be strong so that the mycra can hammer rare metals with ease. How could your father lose in less than five blows?"

"You forgot, Serena. Ever since Aelrea was slain, we as a race lost much of our power. That was why we had to run away from our homeland in the north. Even the great hero Lasrios could only fight at half his power as he fought to protect our race on our exodus through the plains, the rivers, the mountains and the great swamp. But these soldiers, my mother told me they fought as if they still had the blessings of Aelrea, no, they were probably stronger than mycras with Aelrea's blessing."

"What makes you think that?"

Without saying anything, the old man Luus got to his feet. He walked up to the door, but when he couldn't hear either of them getting up, he gestured for Serena to follow him. They walked a fair distance up the mountain behind the cottage.

Serena noticed that she had not run out of breath even once. If this was the world outside the game, she would've been wheezing by now. At her father's insistence, Serena enrolled at a nearby kendo dojo where she learned shinai and naginata techniques, so she was slightly more fit than most schoolgirls. That however, didn't give her the stamina and strength of a mountain climber. She deduced it must be the mycra's racial perk, Strength 7, fulfilling it's purpose because just like her, Grandpa Luus also climbed the mountain with ease.

"This is where my father breathed his last breath," Grandpa Luus suddenly stopped while pointing at the ground.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Serena said, empathizing with his loss.

"That's not what I brought you here for, Serena."

"Then?"

"Look behind you. That was the one blow that killed my father."

Serena turned around. Her eyes went wide at the evidence before her. It was a hole, a large, deep hole. A hole with walls so smooth all the way throughout, so deep that she could see the sky on the other side of the mountain.

Forget the mycras, even the marble giants would find it hard to do this in one blow.

*As always, please leave your comments and feedback. Praises motivates me to write faster. Constructive criticisms helps me to write better. Thanks for reading and supporting me.

Serena was a top player in the popular browser game Age of Gods Online which combines elements of strategy and RPG on a platform available to everyone with access to the internet. As an RMT scum, she climbed the ranks of the deathmatch with real world money. One day, after she was defeated in battle by another player, she went to sleep and woke up in the world of AGO. But something was wrong. She woke up 300 years in the future of the current Age of Gods Online. Will she be able to unravel why or how she got there and if she'll ever return home? Age of Gods Online Chapter 4 The epic struggles of young gods in another world. By Shiina Ai

Serena stepped closer to the miles-long tunnel that cut cleanly through the mountain. The inside of the tunnel was dark as light from the other side of the tunnel could barely penetrate through the twenty feet-wide circular tunnel. But from time to time one could see a tiny fleck of light, far in the distance.

"This hole connects to the other side of the mountain," Grandpa Luus explained without being asked.

"What's on the other side of this mountain?"

"The central valley, where all our first cities are. Before this hole was made, contact with the central cities can only be made through the gorge several miles from here. This mountain used to isolate us from the unifiers - that was what they called themselves after succeeding in their revolution. They call themselves the royalists now."

"So it's a shortcut?"

"No, we don't use it. They use it from time to time, but we don't."

"Why not? Wouldn't it be convenient?"

"It is a symbol of our defeat, a monument to our failed resistance. Many among us wish to forget that battle ever happened. Some others refuse to use it because they fear they will lose their hatred the moment they started thinking "it's useful". So we chose to ignore it."

"I see," Serena said while touching the smooth wall of the tunnel.

"Careful, Serena. Some monsters made their lair inside the tunnel from time to time."

Serena pulled her hands in haste.

"Now that you know about our situation, I'm sure you understand why we can't oppose them," Grandpa Luus sighed before he continued, "We are a broken people, Serena."

Grandpa Luus started climbing down the mountain, leaving Serena to ponder his words. They climbed down the mountain in silence until they reached Clear Water. Before they entered the house, Serena stopped him at the door.

"When you said we are a broken people, did you mean the Kafri Revolution?"

"No..." Grandpa Luus continued walking and opened the front door while saying 'we're home' to Iina who replied a welcome home while she prepared the ingredients for dinner. He then sat at the table before taking off his shoes and massaging his feet.

Serena, unable to remain patient, asked, "Then what do you mean?"

Grandpa Luus looked at Serena's face while still massaging his feet. Then he said, "We were broken long ago, Serena. Long before we reached the Valley of Snakes. Before we reached this place, we were wretched people. We begged, we stole, we killed and we sold ourselves for a loaf of bread. Only when we arrived here did we manage to farm, mine and craft magical items that sustained our lives. You as a lost hammer should know more than I do since you've spent all your early years out there, in a world where mycras are treated as no better than stray dogs."

Serena could only nod. After all, she wasn't really a mycra, let alone a 'lost hammer'. 'Lost hammer' is a term for mycras who never set foot in the Valley of Snakes, the old name for this place, now known as the Crimson Valley. Just over a week ago, she was just another sixteen year old highschool girl. She had accepted that she looked like a mycra and because she didn't know anything about how the mycran society work, she pretended to be a lost hammer.

"I know many lost hammers who managed to find this place, long after those who were supposed to guide them died for various reasons. A family who arrived just a month before you lamented how they had to sell their two daughters to a porkin brothel. But they had no choice, without Aelrea's blessings we are weaker than a sick rattanor. They also couldn't find work as a crafter, because without the blessed golden hammer, even a mycra is no better than an average crafter."

"But I thought all mycras receive blessed hammers?" Serena said.

"Do you have a blessed hammer?" Grandpa Luus asked in exchange.

"No... but I thought-"

"You think you will receive a blessed hammer at a certain age?"

"Yes," Serena said, playing along with Grandpa Luus's misunderstanding.

"An old wives tale. Too many mycran parents lied to their children, telling them they would receive their blessed hammer when they're old enough. In truth, most mycras would never get to hold their own blessed hammer to the end of their lives."

"Why not?"

"Ever since Aelrea was slain 300 years ago, not even a single newborn mycra received a blessed hammer at birth. Only those who were born before Aelrea was slain had their blessed hammers when we started our exodus south."

"Wait, did you just say Alrea was slain 300 years ago?"

Grandpa Luus nodded.

"Killed by Ukhlar?"

"I don't know the name of the god that slew Aelrea. Ancient records don't keep well when you're running for your lives while being chased by blood maidens and dreamreavers."

Chased by both Ukhlar's and Falgur's kins, huh? I'm sorry, I didn't know what you guys went through, Serena thought as she said, "Did I - did Aelrea die at Monolith Square?"

Monolith Square, from Serena's memory, was the center of the old mycran capital of Hammerdale, at the foot of the Aelrean Mountains. It was the final battlefield where Serena as Aelrea, alongside her hero units Pegasus Knight Heriane, Guardian of the Forge Meristes, Mechanical Knight Alou, Spearmaster Gardi and Forgemaster Eri made their final stand against waves after waves of Ukhlar's cash items. He even made them so busy fighting that the only way she could summon her own cash items were by sacrificing her hero units to buy time. In the end, not even her cash items could save her and her hitpoints became zero.

As for Hammerdale as a whole, it was built in a region of permanent winter. Serena chose the site for being close to the previously unnamed mountain range which was rich in all kinds of minerals. But the coldness never bothered the mycras, for they were a people of the forge. The whole city was warmed by the fires of the forge, so much so that even snowstorms shied away from the city. In comparison, the Valley of Snakes was hot all year around, for it was at the center of the equator. Serena could only imagine the suffering they had to suffer, having to traverse the treacherous path to safety.

"Yes, our goddess was slain at Monolith Square," Grandpa Luus confirmed, "The only thing passed down throughout the generation without any deviation in storytelling was how the enemy god impaled Aelrea's body on the Iron Monolith at the end of the battle and how her burning blood continued to flow down the monolith for days, melting the monolith slowly and covering the ground in flowing magma."

Burning blood? Flowing magma? I'm pretty sure I have normal blood. I don't remember choosing the perk 'burning blood' or something cool like that. But according to this story, I or this world's Aelrea have been dead for the past 300 years. Wait, something doesn't click.

"How old are you?" Serena asked as the average age of the mycras were only specified as 120 years in AGO.

"I'm 104 years old. It is almost time for me to hand over the blessed hammer to Iina," Grandpa Luus said as his eyes drooped, looking tired as he looked at Iina who was chopping some kind of bird with a small cleaver for dinner.

Iina stopped what she was doing to object. "No grandpa. Please, I don't need the hammer. You still have many more years. You're still strong, no need to hand the hammer to me yet."

"What do you mean hand over the blessed hammer? Didn't you just say nobody born after Aelrea's death received the blessed hammer at birth? You can't give your blessed hammer to others, right?" Serena asked.

"While that's true," Grandpa Luus said while materializing a glowing golden hammer with handle as long as his arm and head much large than his fist, "There is a method to grant the new generation their own hammer."

"How?"

"You know that blessed hammers can't be inherited or handed away, right?"

Serena nodded. Of course she knew that. She explicitly stated in AGO's blessed hammer equipment setting that a blessed hammer would be soul bound to the person it was granted to. It could not be gifted away, sold away or be inherited. When a mycra dies, their blessed hammer disappears with their last breath. So how would Grandpa Luus hand over his hammer to Iina?

"There is a method. It is not exactly a transfer of ownership. It is basically crafting a blessed hammer using another blessed hammer."

Serena thought about about what Grandpa Luus just said. Blessed hammers are special items granted to mycras upon birth. They are S-class items thus giving them the ability to deal 75% damage to gods despite having low damage. Another characteristic of the blessed hammer is its ability to craft another S-class equipments at the cost of the user's life.

Wait, this means...

"You transfer blessed hammers by sacrificing yourself?!"

"It's the only way. Otherwise, my blessed hammer will disappear when I die. This hammer," Grandpa Luus looked at the glowing golden hammer in his hand, "I received it from my mother, who crafted it with the last strength of her life. Even at her death bed, she practiced, trained so that she could have enough skill to create an S-class equipment. She in turn received hers from her father. I do not know who her father received his blessed hammer from."

"But that... there must be a better way!"

"There is none. We lost thousands of blessed hammers before we found out that you can make a blessed hammer using another blessed hammer. It's usually passed down from parent to child at the end of the parent's life. It is considered an honour for the parents and for the child. These days, the amount of mycras with their own blessed hammer is less than a hundred people."

"Grandpa, please wait for a few more years. There are still a lot of things I need to learn from you," Iina pleaded with tears in her eyes.

"Yes, there is still much you need to learn. I guess I won't die so soon after all," Grandpa Luus chuckled.

Serena could only watch the exchange. As Aelrea, she would most likely be able to change this cruel fate, but she was not Aelrea. She entertained the thought of herself being Aelrea because she created and played that character in AGO. However, the fact that Iina still hasn't received her blessed hammer somewhat proved that she was not Aelrea. She figured the real Aelrea of this world probably still hasn't revived yet.

"Enough of this depressing talk. How about we have Serena cook this fried chicken she talked about early this week?"

*As always, please leave your comments and feedback. Praises motivates me to write faster. Constructive criticisms helps me to write better. Thanks for reading and supporting me.

Serena was a top player in the popular browser game Age of Gods Online which combines elements of strategy and RPG on a platform available to everyone with access to the internet. As an RMT scum, she climbed the ranks of the deathmatch with real world money. One day, after she was defeated in battle by another player, she went to sleep and woke up in the world of AGO. But something was wrong. She woke up 300 years in the future of the current Age of Gods Online. Will she be able to unravel why or how she got there and if she'll ever return home? Age of Gods Online Chapter 5 The epic struggles of young gods in another world. By Shiina Ai

"Umm, how do I use the magic skillet again?" Serena asked while holding the magic skillet with rune-like carvings on its side.

"Just like how you use any magic equipment. Just pour magic power into it," Iina explained.

"Like this?" Serena closed her eyes and saw in her mind's eye a mist-like thing moving from her arms toward the skillet. She felt the same jolt of electricity moving from her heart, down to her arms, to her hands, before disappearing into the skillet. Her magic power successfully entered the skillet and activated the runes on the side.

And the magic skillet became a flamethrower.

"Stop! Stop! Are you trying to burn the house?" Iina yelled as she quickly covered the skillet in a blanket, which also caught fire.

It took them ten minutes to stop the fire. Another five minutes to clear the smoke and almost an hour listening to Grandpa Luus's scolding. In the end, instead of cooking fried chicken, Iina banned Serena from cooking and Serena was told to help Grandpa Luus fix the parts of the house damaged by the fire instead. Thankfully, the villagers living nearby helped. Being a rich girl, Serena had absolutely no idea how to fix a house.

******

"We're off, Grandpa," Iina yelled as she stepped out.

"Ah," Grandpa Luus answered from inside the forge attached to the house.

Serena picked up her school backpack, originally filled with books and stationery, now empty save for a few bottles of water and provisions. Other than her school uniform, her backpack was her only possession. She had a credit card and cash in her purse, but she just knew it had as much value as a dashboard ornament.

She remembered the conversation last night as Grandpa Luus gave her the backpack.

"That's a very good leatherwork. Did you make it yourself?" Grandpa Luus asked as he handed Serena the backpack.

Serena was about to say yes, as telling him that she bought it at a designer store would bring up more questions. But then she remembered that the mycras weren't known for leatherworking. The mycras were the people of the forge, Serena never allocated any points to leatherworking. So she answered in the only way that made sense.

"It was my father's. He bought it from a grass bunny by the name of Armani."

In AGO, 'grass bunnies' or just 'bunnies' were minions of Doubt, the Rabbit of Murder. Unlike their name, the grass bunnies were omnivorous, eating both vegetables and meat equally. They were a little shorter than a human, standing at only 5 feet tall at the most from their feet to the top of their heads, if their tall rabbit ears were to be ignored. Unlike real rabbits, they didn't have the large front teeth, their teeth were no different from human teeth. Ability-wise, they could jump the highest among humanoid races and ranked second behind the necattans when it came to surviving a fall from great heights. They were also very agile in battle, making them the only human-sized race that could fight the marble giants as equals.

They were also the best when it came to leather products. Their best leather armour had as much protection as a mass-produced steel plate mail while remaining light and not restricting movement. Serena thought it was the best cover for the bag.

"But the grass bunnies are all dead," Grandpa Luus said.

Of course, that cover would be useless if they were all extinct.

"Umm, no, father said he bought it from the grass bunnies. It must be true!" Sorry daddy, let me use your name just this once.

Serena could feel her daddy raising a thumbs up while saying, "It's fine. It's fine."

"Hm, I see. He must have found remnant communities of them somewhere. I'm sorry I make you remember your father. I was just curious," Grandpa Luus said as he patted Serena's head, "Why don't you show the bag to Uuki? I think she'd give you something for your time, just don't forget to tell her not to take it apart."

"But isn't this great?" Iina jumped in, "This bag seems more durable than our baskets, then wouldn't this mean it can carry more stuff?"

What are you getting at?

"Hour about you go gather materials with me tomorrow, Serena?"

"Gather materials? You mean for crafting?"

"Yes."

"But i don't know anything about gathering materials."

"You didn't learn that from your parents?"

They taught me other things. My parents taught me ethics, house cleaning, accounting, riding a bike and cooking. Gathering minerals was not part of my education.

"Don't worry, Serena. Just do what Iina do. You'll learn in no time."

"You're not coming with us, grandpa?"

"I would've, at first. But with Serena there, there won't be much need for me to be there too. Anyway, I've been wanting to start work on that runed plough. Hopefully I'll can finish enough for our trip to Derena."

"If that's the case, then it's okay. I'll teach Serena everything she needs to know."

Serena just stayed quiet. After all, she had been freeloading in this house for a week. She thought it was about time she earned her keep.

It was afternoon when they finally arrived at the gathering place. It wasn't really far with their mycran stats, only treacherous. Several times, Serena lost her footing and if not for the rope attached to Iina, she would've fallen two hundred feet to her death. Their destination was a mesa at the peak, where rare herbs and mineral could be collected for those who dare to tempt the treacherous path.

Unlike the rest of the valley, this region was often rocked with minor earthquakes. Most the time it could easily be predicted beforehand but sometimes earthquakes happen with no warning. For those on the ground, it was merely at the level of uncomfortable shaking, but for those scaling the rocky cliff side, those uncomfortable shaking could easily dislodge them from the rock they were hanging on to. This was why, it was considered a very hard location to gather from.

Which made Serena wonder why Iina chose this place for her first time.

"Alright! We're done here. Let's go down," Iina said as she picked up her basket, almost completely filled with ores of all kind.

Serena wanted to question how so many different ores could be found at the same place but decided not to. After all, this was the game world. Serena had never gone this far south but she knew from experience that common sense could rarely be applied to the AGO. The players as gods could modify the landscape at will if they were willing to spend all those faiths that could be better used for winning the game.

At least this mesa wasn't as common sense defying as The Magical Milk Fountain of Titty Mountain. Delicious Creamer was such a pervert.

Serena picked up her own backpack, also filled to bursting with ores of all kind. She hefted the pickaxe she used just before, thinking again how light something that looked so heavy felt in her hands. Thank goodness for Strength 7, she thought. Before either of them could grab the rope and descend, Serena heard the sound of flapping wings.

"Thunder crows!" Iina cried when she saw two human-sized crows approaching them fast from the air.

Serena had heard of thunder crows, but never actually seen them outside of the pictures that Whimmer the Thunder Goddess posted in the forum. Supposedly they were born with great affinity to air magics and inability to perform any other kind of magic. In exchange for these, they get increased physical and magical talents and immunity to air magics besides their natural ability to fly.

"Gather the rocks, Serena. Just pelt them with it!" Iina said as she gather fist-sized ores from the ground.

"Will this work on them?" Serena asked while picking up rocks around her.

"Who knows? We don't have any better weapon!"

Serena however, had a better idea.

"Spirits of wood, spirits of air," Serena chanted. She didn't know if it would work, since much of her power as Aelrea from the game never activated. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw two coloured lights, one green and one yellow appeared before her eyes.

In AGO, to perform magic, one must first call the spirits. This defines the elements in play. Only once it is done that the main aria can be chanted.

"Gather wind in my hands," Serena chanted as wind started gathering between her palms, "Bring sharp wood into the wind," Serena continued as wood chips as sharp as knives formed inside the raging wind between her palms, "Materialize, Sickle Winds!"

Serena threw the ball of wind towards the two thunder crows. The wind expanded into a tornado, engulfing both thunder crows in its strong, debilitating flow. However, the wind did nothing to the thunder crows, only the wood managed to wound them, but the damage was minimal.

"What is this? It tickles!" The thunder crows laughed. It actually sounded more like cawing.

"As expected. I can't defeat them with wind magics, even with the addition of wood element," Serena muttered.

In general, wood element magics are most effective for recovery instead of dealing damage. The reason she used wood element with wind element was because both elements were the most effective crowd control magic in AGO. Metal element, which deals the most physical damage has very low affinity with wind element.

"Spirits of fire!" Serena chanted with her forefinger pointed at the two thunder crows. A red orb of light appeared in front of Serena as she finished calling the element.

"Gather fire at my finger. Release in burst. Materialize, Flame Spout!" A fountain of fire burst forth from her forefinger, burning the first thunder crow, making it fall from the sky. The second one managed to avoid the line of flame. Serena thought he must have already guessed the type of magic she would cast.

This was the reason why most players chose not to practice battle magics. While in theory any player could use any magic unless they chose perks that stripped them of such abilily, in practice nobody would use magic in battle unless it was a lazy, easy fight where you were just having fun bullying a much weaker opponent. In real battle between two evenly matched players, by the time a player finished casting one magic, the other would've already delivered about a dozen blows. The magic system was simply that troublesome.

There was an exception, however. Flowing Coffeepot the Goddess Who Weaved Magic aka the self proclaimed Mistress of Magic was the only one who fought completely using magic. The was a good reason for that. Flowing Coffeepot cheated. Unlike Serena and Ukhlar, she didn't cheat using cash items. Flowing Coffeepot hacked the server. She programmed the keywords that allowed her to use a shortened chant of programmed magic spells.

Problem was, nobody knew what the keywords were. The developers tried again and again to ban her and patch the game, but she kept coming back and hacked the server again after the game was patched. By the time the final five players were announced, the issue called Flowing Coffeepot Problem was still not solved.

The other thunder crow glared at Serena and shouted, "Glory of Whimmer!"

The first lightning struck very close to Serena. She could feel her hair rising from the electric charge in the air. Then the second lightning came down. Then the third, and the fourth. Before she could count, almost a dozen lightning had struck the mountaintop.

All Serena could think of while barely avoiding the lightning strikes was protecting Iina. "Spirits of gold, spirits of earth. Gather under her feet. Materialize, Lightning Ward!"

Right after Serena cast the spell, a feeling of fatigue washed over her body. That made her unable to avoid the next lightning strike, with no physical strength to avoid it, she was hit from above by one lightning strike. Then another lightning strike hit her and she was barely able to push herself away to avoid the third strike.

[HP and MP bars activated] appeared in her vision before disappearing. It was replaced with two blue and red bars in the upper right corner of her vision.

What the hell?!!! Get out of my sight! You're blocking my view. Disappear! Turn off!

The red HP bar and blue MP bar disappeared.

Thank you! she said in her mind as she avoided the last lightning strike.

"Damn, that was Mass Lightning. How could he just cast it with such a short chant?" Serena wondered aloud while slowly pushing herself up. Her whole body was charred and much of her school uniform was burned. There was not much left of her clothes to cover herself, but it was a life and death situation. Being covered or not, she had a greater worry than shame.

"HP and MP bar appear," she said as the red and blue bars appeared in her vision again.

"That two lightning strikes took out more than half of my life. And what's this? I have only 4000 HP maximum and 800 MP maximum? Am I even less than a level 1 hero unit?" Serena wanted to cry.

In AGO as Aelrea, Serena had a maximum of 296,000 HP and 250,000 MP. Even Spearmaster Garda, her spear specialist hero unit had 7,000 HP when he was level 1. By the time Garda reached level 12, he had 92,000 HP. In comparison, Sword Brave Lasrios started at 5000 HP and 700 MP. When Lasrios was sent to kill Theocracy of Lyrica's Uranus Who Sings In the Rear, he was level 25 and had 145,000 HP and 180,000 MP. When she thought of how any of her own hero units could kill her, she felt depressed.

But then, she realized something important. The thunder crow had not moved from his position. Usually after an attack, most opponents would follow up with a distraction attack or even a killing blow. This would make her earlier absent-mindedness absolutely dangerous and could've taken her life.

Serena moved out of the thunder crow's field of vision. While his wings still flapped keeping him hovering above the ground, he made no move signifying that he noticed her movements. Serena subconsciously tilted her head, wondering what was happening. At first she thought he was casting another spell, but that didn't feel right. Even if one was interrupted during casting, it wouldn't make them catatonic like this.

"Magic backlash!" Serena suddenly remembered a condition suffered in the early days of AGO. Before it was discovered that magic was extremely inefficient in one-on-one battles, everyone was racing to create their own top tier magic spells. Among the most common top tier spells back then were pentacle spells, spells that used five different elements and had the power to protect of destroy countries. They were very complicated spells that could very easily fizzle with just the tiniest mistake. Even after the caster spent 3-5 minutes getting everything right, just one operator wrong could cause the spell to fail. The only way it could be used in a one-on-one fight would be if the opponent allowed it to be cast.

Serena too had cast one of those pentacle spells before, but not in battle. She named it Great Hostility Barrier and she cast it on Hammerdale, the capital of Serena's mycran dominion. It greatly weakened enemy minions and restricted the powers of hostile gods to a minor extent. Serena recalled how she ended up stuck in that one position for the whole day and ended up filing a bug report. The developer's reply was a link to a forum thread where the developers already explained it was the result of using magics beyond the player character's abilities. Obviously, Serena didn't read the thread before she sent the bug report.

Armed with this knowledge, Serena cast a spell, "Spirits of fire. Gather fire at my finger. Release in burst. Materialize, Flame Spout!"
The burst of flame shot out from her forefinger and charred the still airborn thunder crow. He fell to his death in the valley below. The spell consumed twenty of her total MP. Now she knew for sure that she was in AGO.

She looked around for Iina, feeling elation at knowing she could use this fantastic power called magic. When her eyes fell on Iina though, she froze. During the mass lightning strikes one of lightning had struck a tree and the whole tree had fallen on Iina's body. Serena couldn't know. She was too busy avoiding the lightning strikes aimed at her.

Serena quickly ran to Iina's side. Using mycran strength, she tried to push the tree off her body, but the tree was too big and too heavy to push off. Serena tried to find something as leverage, but there was nothing suitable. With time running out and no other option, Serena had to use magic.

"Spirits of metal. Empower my body with strength. Materialize, Strength Boost!" Serena felt power overflowed in her body. With this new strength, she gripped on of the branches of the tree and pulled it up before throwing it away

It was one of the boost spells Serena as Aelrea was very familiar with. But as Aelrea, this boost allowed Aelrea to crush a castle. She couldn't hope for something similar as Serena.

"Iina! Iina, can you hear me?" Serena asked while feeling Iina's wounds.

Her worry increased as she felt the blood on Iina's chest. Her worry turned to fear when she felt Iina's cracked ribcage. When her eyes reached the gaping in her lower belly, her fear turned to despair. Even in the modern world, this was not the kind of wound that could be handled lightly. Even a skilled surgeon would not dare give assurance of a successful operation.

As Aelrea, Serena never had to cast healing magic. She was a blacksmith goddess, a crafter. She was never one who carried the ideals of holiness. If minions were lost, she'd just create temporary automatons to bolster her army while waiting for the population to increase. After all, they were just pixels, datas that she couldn't care less about. Even when there was any need to instantly heal her hero units, she simply bought a potion off the premium shop. But at this moment, she didn't have a healing potion or the convenience of a debit card and premium shop.

"Spirits of Light. Gather around this body, nourish the growth, heal the wounds. Materialize, Healing Light!"

Nothing happened.

Serena cursed. Her previous spells worked, so she had hoped that this would work too. While she had never cast this spell before, she knew the incantation. It was the one healing spell that would definitely work in healing damage of this magnitude. She forgot that 'light element' was a divine element in AGO. As she was only a mycra, spirits of light would not obey her call.

Serena wracked her brain trying to find a spell of healing. She could create her own healing spell, but she didnt how healing spells work in the first place. So she could only rely on spells already created by the other players.

"Spirits of wood," she called, as a green orb appeared before her. "Umm, empower this body with vitality. Materialize, Healing... uhh... Boost?"

The spell exploded between Serena's hands. The impact hit Iina's body, causing her to cough and blood to pool in her lungs. Serena could do nothing to make things right. She had learned first aid before, but there was nothing she could do to fix a damage this bad.

All she could do was try to recall the few times she visited AGO's forums. Her mind kept scrolling through the memories of the posts in the forum, until she finally found it. A healing spell weaved into a song, composed by a Theocracy of Lyrica member, Helari the Eternal Melody. The song was actually pretty long, consisting of several healing spells that not only cured the body, but also cured curses, poison and warded the body against damage from both physical and magic as well as curses. Serena only chose the section containing the healing spell.

"Spirits of water. Listen to my voice. Whispers to the flowing river. To heal and recover. In waves and torrents. Materialize, Healing Water!" Serena shouted the final word, before drowsiness overtook her and she fell unconscious on the ground.

Despite the caster no longer conscious to give the spell direction, a large droplet of water formed above Iina's body, floating in the air. It fell on Iina's body, soaking Iina's body, covered in blood with the healing water that washed away the blood. With every pulse of water, more of her wounds closed. Her bones mended itself, the large hole in her stomach shrunk until it finally disappeared as if there was nothing there in the first place. However, that was only on the surface, the internal wounds were not completely healed.

It was because Serena did not have enough magic power for this spell. This spell was not meant for a mortal, like Serena. It was meant to be cast by a god, like Aelrea. Or at least a hero unit, like Lasrios. For someone with 800 MP like Serena, this spell was too much for her body. In AGO, losing all your HP meant death, and losing all of your MP meant passing out. Either way, you would have lost the battle.

Iina woke up first. By the time she woke up, night had already fallen. She recalled Serena's battle, up until the tree fell on top of her. She thought she should've been dead. She certainly felt the weight of the tree trunk and the pain of the branch punching through her guts, yet, there was not even a wound. She tried to get up too quickly, resulting in her coughing up blood. It was obvious she was still bleeding internally.

Iina fell back on the ground. She was still coughing blood, but it was not as bad as when she tried to get up. As she fell, her left hand touched something. She slowly turned her head to her left and saw Serena lying unconscious beside her. She didn't know how, but she could tell that she owed Serena her life.

"Serena..." Iina said slowly, trying not to exert herself. There was no response.

"Serena..." she repeated, still without a response.

With her hands, she dragged and pushed her body so that she could touch Serena's face.

"Serena..." she slapped Serena's face lightly, trying to wake her up. Serena made no move.

"Don't die on me, Serena. Your talent, don't let it end here," Iina said while slapping Serena's face a little harder.

Iina knew Serena was still alive from her warmth and breathing. But she thought they did not have the leisure of resting here. If two thunder crows could appear, two more could appear at any time. If any more thunder crows appeared here now, they'd be as good as dead.

Realizing that simply slapping Serena's face didn't work and she was far too injured do anything more vigorous, she tried to wake Serena up by supplying Serena with magic power. The moment her magic power reached Serena's heart, it was rejected so roughly that the blast threw both of them apart.

Iina coughed blood again as she fell on her front. She knew what had just happened. It was magic withdrawal. She herself had experienced it before when she was much younger. Back then, Grandpa Luus simply put her in bed so that she could recover. It took her a week to wake up. They didn't have that luxury here.

When a magic withdrawal happened, the person's heart, the core that contained a person's magic formed a protective barrier that nullified all magic. It was so that nothing could disturb the recovery of that person. In a way, this made the person who experienced magic withdrawal immune to certain types of magic. Iina's attempt just now was one such magic. It identified Iina's magic as foreign substance and rejected it.

Iina didn't know, but this more or less reflected the gameplay of AGO. While characters that ran out of HP received the status of 'dead' and would need to be revived through faith, characters that ran out of MP received the status of 'knocked out' and would need to rest for a time depending on how bad their magic withdrawal were. Knocked out characters did not need to be revived, but would be unusable until the negative mana value or negative MP recovered enough to reach at least 1. Later patches removed the possibility of extreme negative MP and simply applied a set amount of 'rest days' depending on the type of spell used that caused the condition and setting the limit to negative 100 MP.

Iina dragged herself to Serena's prone body with her arms. Now that she knew what happened, she knew what to do. She heard of this method from a peddler during one of her trade visits to the central cities. If Serena's locked heart could not accept foreign magic, she would have to trick it into think it was Serena's own magic.

And so she pressed her lips against Serena's and gave her a deep kiss.

*As always, please leave your comments and feedback. Praises motivates me to write faster. Constructive criticisms helps me to write better. Thanks for reading and supporting me.

Serena was a top player in the popular browser game Age of Gods Online which combines elements of strategy and RPG on a platform available to everyone with access to the internet. As an RMT scum, she climbed the ranks of the deathmatch with real world money. One day, after she was defeated in battle by another player, she went to sleep and woke up in the world of AGO. But something was wrong. She woke up 300 years in the future of the current Age of Gods Online. Will she be able to unravel why or how she got there and if she'll ever return home? Age of Gods Online Chapter 6 The epic struggles of young gods in another world. By Shiina Ai

Serena awoke feeling something pressing against her lips. It was a soft feeling, gentle, calming. It felt like she was in the clouds, floating, embraced by a pair of soft invisible arms. It was a nice feeling. It made her feel safe, warm, comfortable, as if she was back in her mother's womb.

She welcomed the nourishing liquid, that curled behind her lips. Sweet and thick like a deluxe chocolate fondue. It flowed, snaked around her tongue, bathing it in a joyful embrace. Running down her throat, into her stomach.

As the essence was consumed, she moaned in pleasure. Her heart screamed in joy as it finally received it's nourishment. Euphoria washes over her, as her body completely devoid of energy becomes alive again.

The snaking feeling around her tongue continued, releasing even more of the delicious nourishing nectar into her throat. It's fulfilling essence became the waves that swept her consciousness over and over, until she wasn't sure that she was dreaming of if it was reality. She heard a moan, a voice that wasn't hers and she came to the realisation...

What the hell?

Serena opened her eyes, and in front of her face, kissing her so passionately, was Iina's face. She had her eyes closed while making easily misunderstood moaning sounds as she ate Serena's lips. Their tongues in full contact with each other all the way from the very tip down to under the tongue, which Serena had always thought sacred.

As Serena recognised her position, she pushed away Iina by her larger than average breasts, separating their lips and tongues as she screamed, "Iyaaaa!!!"

Iina who flew in the air from the force of the push could only make a quiet protest. When she fell, her body rolled around on the rocky ground, aggravating her internal injuries. Every time the stray rocks punched into her body, she could only complain with "Ow" and accept the punishment on her abused body. When her rolling body finally stopped against a large rock, she was already too tired and in too much pain to care.

"Y - you - pervert! So you've been having impure thoughts about me all along!"

"Wro... ng... I..."

"Taking advantage of me when I fainted. You lowlife! How dare you, not even Marc has kissed me yet. But for my first kiss to be with a girl. Uuuu, I'm sorry, I can't get married anymore."

"No... he... lp..."

"Hmph, fine. I'm not petty. I'll help you this time. But if you do this again, I'll ignore you even if you beg for help, alright?"

Iina could only keep silent. Her broken body could no longer speak. Her condition might've been better than before the healing spell that Serena performed, but she still suffered from internal bleeding.

Meanwhile, Serena was thinking. Although she said she would help, but how would she help? The only healing spell she knew pushed her MP to zero. Although she had recovered a little, courtesy of Iina's misunderstood attempt, it was nowhere near the amount suitable for that healing spell to work. So she had to abandon the idea of healing her by herself. In other words, the only way she would be able to help Iina would be to get her medical help elsewhere.

"Alright, pervert. I'm going to bring you back to the village. It's going to be rough. So don't blame me, okay?" Serena said while she lifted Iina's bloody body.

"Spirits of air. Surround our body. Lighten our body like a leaf in the wind. Materialise: Feather Light."

The spirits of air spun around their bodies, covering it in a thick layer heavy breeze. Both their long, brown hair flew all over their faces, blown around by the air surrounding their bodies.

Serena cursed as she couldn't see what was in front of her. This was never a problem in the game, she muttered in a low voice.

Nevertheless, she held tight to Iina. Tight enough to prevent her from falling, but not tight enough to crush her damaged body. Carrying Iina's barely conscious body, Serena stepped close to the western edge the mesa.

Serena peeked down at the ground, and she hated that it made her have goosebumps. She wondered if she could actually do this and suddenly felt a sinking fear rising up in the pit of her stomach. If possible, she wanted to back out.

Serena looked at Iina in her arms, being held in a princess carry that all girls, even her wish to experience at least once. She watched Iina's face, distorted as she tried to hold back the waves of pain in her body. Serena strengthened her resolve.

"You may be a pervert but you're my first friend in this world," Serena said as she turned around, her back to the edge.

"Hold tight, pervert. Things are gonna get rough!!!" Serena warned she put one foot before the other, then she followed suit with her other foot.

A second later, Serena was running at the speed of an Olympic champion. At that speed, she crossed the mesa in only nine seconds. At that speed, she placed her right foot on the very last inch of the mesa. At that speed, she pushed her right foot against the mesa, propelling her into the air.

If Iina was conscious, she would've screamed loud enough to wake the dead.

"Hoowah!" Serena cried to settle her nerves as they flew in the sky.

Instead of feeling fear, Serena felt great exhilaration. The feeling of wind violently slapping against her face was refreshing. Closing her eyes, she couldn't help but smile as she remembered a very similar feeling.

It was a memory from years ago, of the time when she was still a child and Marc was a highschool student. He used to take her riding on his cheap bike whenever he came to play. She remembered sitting in front with his arms on each side of her body. She remembered the wind against her face and how she always laughed when Marc complained about her long hair tickling his nose.

I wonder how he's doing. It's been over a week since I came here. Is he eating well? Has he found a job yet? He always makes me worry.

Now that I think about it, what about mom and dad? Am I missing over there? Or maybe this is a really vivid dream and I actually haven't even left my house. But if I'm really missing, I wonder what they'll do. I wish I can leave them a message or something.

I wonder if I can send a message or something. Maybe I can activate it like the HP and MP bar. Hm, worth a try, but first...

Serena prepared herself for landing. Due to the effect of Feather Light, her body became so light that her single jump was able to carry her in the air for almost a mile. However, everything that went up must come down. So she prepared herself for a soft landing, a little hop, a short run and off she went again, to the sky. Unfortunately, the effect was incomparable to her first jump as this time she started at a much lower elevation.

Must be quick, she said to herself, there must be someone in the village who can heal Iina's wounds.

******

In another continent, hundreds of miles away from Serena's location, was a mountain peak named Esra's Tomb. For underneath this mountain, laid an ancient power, a being once called Esra the Primordial King. For he was believed to be born when the world was still a hell of flames and magma. He alone, out of hundred others survived the Age of Inferno into the Age of Gods, where he reigned supreme amongst the younger gods.

Countless gods had fallen under his gigantic fists, his figure so huge that it seemed like it could reach the twin moons, Arica and Sarisa. Countless armies had fallen under the rampage of his minions, the marble giants. It was once said that had Esra chosen to conquer the world, he could have, for none in this world would be able to stand on their own against him.

In AGO, he was known as Esra the Primordial King. Against all odds, he was ranked as number 1 on the chart of most powerful gods, despite facing off against RMT scums like Aelrea and Ukhlar many times. Where they cheated with real money, he won with pure skills. His title of Emperor Esra was well deserved. He was also the first player to be transported to this world, much earlier than Serena, even much earlier than Ukhlar.

As the shockwave of unfamiliar divine presence reached every corner of the world, this ancient power stirred. Where there were once hollow caves inside a granite mountain, now two orbs of light appeared. It glowed inside the marble cavity, emitting blue light with the occasional thunder streaking through, appearing out of nowhere and disappearing in the same way.

It raised its head, so massive that it dwarfed the mountain peaks. So huge that even the tiniest of movements caused an avalanche from the snowy mountaintop. Had there been any mortal on that mountain, they would have certainly perished.

"Master, you are awake at last!" a marble giant larger than the others appeared. His arms held high in a gesture that could only be seen as excitement.

"Uuu, Una, huh? You're still alive." Esra spoke, his eyes gazing at this marble giant that has the basic shape of a humanoid creature, except it was 10 metres tall.

"Master, what a mean thing to say to your first champion..." The marble giant by the name of Uno said with a tone of sadness, despite his face or the lack of it showing any change in expression.

"Wait, you look a little different. Have you gained weight?"

"I was Dua when you were awake last time, master. I became Una about 60 years ago."

"What happened to the previous Una?"

"He fell into a deep swamp and sank, master. When we couldn't sense him anymore, I became Una."

"Well, good thing you're here anyway. Do you know anything about the new divine power in the continent east of here?"

"I didn't notice anything, master. But do not worry, we marble giants have reach anywhere in the world. We will certainly find out what you need to know."

"Good, wake me up when you know something," the huge granite mountain yawned before the light in its eyes dimmed and disappeared again.

"Master, don't go back to sleep!!!"

******

A crystal ball shined brightly before exploding, showering the room it was in with hundreds of small, sharp shards. It startled the rooms occupants, a large khalissian man lying on the bed and a winged woman kneeling above him. The winged woman looked back at the crystal ball on the table in surprise, her own magic wavered under the shockwave released by the exploding crystal ball. As the woman's magic faltered, the khalissian man under her slowly regained control of his focus and awareness, at the same time losing the look of lust in his eyes.

"Foul spawn of Ukhlar!" The man cried as he pushed her away and tried to reach for his sword.

He was stopped when the woman extended her arms to grab his wrist. She literally extended her arms from six feet away, preventing the man from grabbing his sword. It was not a special skill of her race, but her own transformation spell, that she had used regularly over the years for various purposes.

"Now that's not nice. The correct term is blood maiden, you know. I mean look at me. Do I resemble something like a foul spawn?" she said as she blew him a kiss with a wink.

"I must've been blind! To not see the foul abomination that disgraced my goddess. This oversight, I shall offer Mother Ikhlis your head!"

"You could've just quietly accepted your death, you know. At least you won't feel too much pain. I was even willing to let you die in pleasure for all your 'services' thus far," the winged woman said with a grin while licking her lips.

"Great Mother Ikhlis, with great love, by fire I shall purge, by light I shall cast the demon back to the hell that spawned them. Grant me-"

His words were cut short when the woman buried her elongated nails into his chest.

"You can't seriously believe I will allow you to cast Greater Banish, do you?"

"Mon-ster,"he said with great difficulty. With his heart already pierced by the venom within the bloody maiden's nails, he knew his life would only last seconds. "One day, jus... tice... will pre... va... il."

"So annoying. Can't you just die quietly? This is why I hate chatty men." She said as she closed her hands penetrated deeper around the man's heart, before crushing it in her grip.

As the man's soul left for the underworld, the winged woman licked her bloody fingers and thought aloud, "So, my lord's prophecy has come true. She is revived at last. Guess it's time for me to visit my pets again."

She made a sadistic smile as she blinked away, having no care for the corpse and the mess she left behind.

<-.-> <-.->

*A reader messaged me about this story and I realized it's been so long since I've released a chapter. So since this chapter was mostly completed anyway, I decided to release it now. Hope you enjoyed it, dear readers.
**As always, your comments and feedbacks are greatly welcomed. Praises help me write faster while constructive criticism helps me write better. Thank you for reading my work.

Serena was a top player in the popular browser game Age of Gods Online which combines elements of strategy and RPG on a platform available to everyone with access to the internet. As an RMT scum, she climbed the ranks of the deathmatch with real world money. One day, after she was defeated in battle by another player, she went to sleep and woke up in the world of AGO. But something was wrong. She woke up 300 years in the future of the current Age of Gods Online. Will she be able to unravel why or how she got there and if she'll ever return home? Age of Gods Online Chapter 7 The epic struggles of young gods in another world. By Shiina Ai

"Is there a healer in the village? A healer! Anyone know a healer?!" Serena yelled the moment she ran past the boundary of Clear River Hamlet.

"Please, is there a healer?" Serena yelled again.

"Serena!" one of the young girls from a nearby house called, Serena felt like she had seen the girl before, but couldn't remember when and her mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of Iina.

It was because while Serena was running at her top speed, Iina's body became increasingly cold. Iina's once laboured breathing had become so shallow that Serena could barely hear it. Even checking for her pulse returned a very weak one. Serena had little choice but to slow down her running, as she was afraid that the jostling had further weakened Iina and caused her more damage, but she knew she had little time left.

"Go to the village chief's house. He can help," the same girl said once she had gotten Serena's attention.

Serena quickly ran to the village chief's place while minding herself so that she didn't give additional damage to Iina's fragile body. She momentarily thought, "Ah, I forgot to thank her," but decided she would say it another time. At this moment, Iina was in critical condition and required her utmost attention and care.

"Village chief! Village chief!" Serena yelled before she even arrived at the village chief's home. She had come here once when she first arrived in the village as Grandpa Luus introduced her to the village chief. However, this was the first time she had come here by herself and she hoped that he was home.

"Serena, what's wrong?"

Serena breathed a sigh of relief seeing the village chief's face.

"Please, we were attacked by Thunder Crows while mining for ores. Iina was injured. Please help!" Serena pleaded as she stood in front of the open door.

The old village chief whose name Serena kept forgetting told her to put Iina on the straw mat in the common room. Serena quickly did so, but it was clear that Iina's condition had turned even worse. There was no colour in her face anymore and Serena feared that she might've been too late.

"She's still alive, but barely. I don't see any injury or sign of lightning strike. How was she injured?" the village chief asked after a short examination.

Serena tried to recall the events as best as she could, but there were gaps in her memory, such as when she fell unconscious after casting the healing magic, "I don't think she was hit with lightning strike, but during the fighting, she was pinned under a tree and her stomach was gouged by a falling branch. I tried casting healing magic, but it only closed the wound. I think she still has internal bleeding."

"If she is bleeding inside, then we need to drain the blood between her organs before we can do anything more," the village chief said as he opened a drawer at the side of the common room while asking his wife to bring in a bucket of hot water, healing poultice and clean cloths.

"Umm, is there anything I can do?" Serena asked as she stood at Iina's foot.

"That healing magic that you mentioned earlier. Can you do it again?" the village chief asked.

"I'm sorry, I can't," Serena answered with much regret.

After all that running, Serena was left with only 28 MP. It was only enough to cast one Fire Spout or to create a bucket of clean water. It was not enough for anything else, not that Serena knew any spell that could help in this situation. Aelrea was the goddess of craftsmanship after all, there was no need for Serena to remember or use any healing magic in the game. Serena regretted that kind of thinking now.

The village chief's wife stood up and guided Serena outside, telling her, "Then there is nothing you can help with." To the villagers who stood outside the village chief's home wanting to know what happened, she said, "Everyone, please, let us all pray to our goddess, the great Aelrea to grant her blessings so that Iina may live to see another day."

As soon as she finished her words, some of those present took out a pendant from inside their clothes. Some were wooden carvings, some were cast iron items but they all had the same basic shape. A hammer, Aelrea's symbol, though some appeared to be more stylized than others. Those without one simply clasped their hands together and closed their eyes.

Serena too prayed to Aelrea, despite her previous faith in her human form. As a mycra, she was a creation of Aelrea, and it only made sense to pray to Aelrea, even if Aelrea was her own creation. "Aelrea, if you truly exist, then please answer my prayers. If we are not the same person, then please save Iina with your powers. But if you and I are the same person, then please give me a way to save Iina."

Serena lost herself in her prayers. Over and over, she repeated the same prayer, hoping for Aelrea to save Iina or provide her a way to save Iina herself. In the end, she heard the 'ping' that she understood as a system message. She opened her eyes and saw the notification saying [Spatial Inventory Activated].

Huh? Spatial inventory? What is that? There was no such thing in AGO.

Serena pondered over the notification before saying, "Inventory."

A window appeared to her left, showing a number of items neatly organized in what appeared to be two-dimensional square lockers. Serena knew what this was. It was the personal inventory that was provided for every unit. In AGO, there was no backpack implemented. So every hero unit had their own equipment screen with an inventory pack consisting of 6x12 individual squares. Each square could hold one item stacked up to 99. It was nowhere near the level of her Treasure Vault back in her floating fortress 8th Heaven, but even this was better than nothing.

Serena understood now why it was called Spacial Inventory. It was because it was a pocket universe accessible only by the person themself and was separate from other methods of carrying items. She took a look at her inventory screen, hoping against hope that there was a healing potion in there somewhere, but was not surprised that she could not find any.

It was because Aelrea herself rarely fought a battle personally and thus had no use for healing potions. Whenever Aelrea was injured enough, she would just return to 8th Heaven to either be healed slowly or imbibe one of the premium potions stacked in her Treasure Vault. Whenever Aelrea moved personally, it was for gathering materials for crafting. And so her spatial inventory was full of crafting materials.

Wait, I can use this! Serena thought as her eyes caught sight of certain items in her inventory.

The First Anvil. Made of Niana's Tear, it was the ore that fell from the sky in the backstory of AGO and the rare Rib of Milomarus, a limited item supposedly from the rib bones of a dead old god during the War of Molten Earth, also from the backstory of AGO. Serena had to pay a lot of real world money to get these two items. It was a sum that gave her father no choice but to deliver the first real scolding in years for wasting money. Its effect is giving anything crafted the minimum grade of B and allows the creation of high grade items even without high grade catalysts.

The Hammer of Enchanting. It was actually a failed hammer that Serena crafted with mithril and premium jewel. She actually wanted to craft Hammer of the Forge Lord, a weapon of vast power that could smash mountains, an SS class weapon which also had the effect of increasing the value of any crafted item by 1. She intended to give it to Guardian of the Forge Meristes. Unfortunately, she missed the timings in the smithing process several times and it became a junk item. She intended to craft another Hammer of the Forge Lord, but unfortunately, Ukhlar's invasion happened. Despite it being called a junk item, it was still a better hammer than the one that Granpa Luus and Iina had been using. As the Hammer of Enchanting, it allows Serena to enchant the item with a special effect, depending on her crafting mastery and the materials used. Since Serena didn't have a Blessed Hammer, this was the most she could hope for.

The Heart of the Rainbow Lizard. It was a large carrion lizard that lived in the Swamp of Sorrows at the edge of Selion's Magic Forest. It wasn't really a tough monster, but it was dangerous because its tongue contained dangerous toxins, so toxic that it could kill the lizard itself. However, the lizard had another property, which was high regeneration which allowed it to negate the damage of the toxin while healing itself from any injury in short order. Aelrea rarely hunted them herself, but since it was at the edge of her pantheon-member Selion's forest, she often bought it off Selion. Selion spawn-camped them so much that if AGO was the real world, the rainbow lizards would've reached near extinction. Spawn-camping is considered a really dastardly way of getting materials by putting a bunch of soldiers near where mobs would appear and then killing them the moment they spawned. Serena recalled that their heart was the key ingredient in high level recovery medicines.

Azureum ore. In AGO, it was a common ore. It was pretty useless as weapons due to its softness, but it had a special ability of being very accommodating to enchants. Even when Aelrea wanted to make SS class divine weapons, she used large quantities of melted azureum ore in her alloy of antinium, auricalcum and maginium. Mithril was useless for forging divine weapons as its properties made it impossible to bond with other metals except for iron, which wasn't used in high grade crafting.

For her purpose, she needed the magical capabilities of The First Anvil, the enchanting bonus from Hammer of Enchanting, the regeneration buff from Heart of the Rainbow Lizard and the enchanting-friendliness of azureum ores. As Aelrea, she had forged one before and she did it often, as she granted one to each of her hero units. Just like in the game, she was going to craft the Amulet of Regeneration. Serena was going to make her first magical artifact in this new world.

Although she was briefly delighted at the sight of her Premium Wyverns and Premium Flame Dragon, she decided not to use them. After all, neither of them could cast healing spells. What she needed was a way to save Iina, not weapons to raid a village.

She quickly asked those in attendance if there was a nearby forge she could borrow. There was a murmur of confusion at first, before a man offered the forge in his home which was only a short walk away. Guided by the man, Serena quickly went to the forge and found the place satisfactory for her purpose. In front of the man's wide open eyes, she pulled out The First Anvil, the Hammer of Enchanting, five still-bloody Hearts of the Rainbow Lizards, two large blue azureum ores twice bigger than her fist and a pile of coal. She pulled it nonchalantly from thin air, not realizing that the man behind her had never seen such a thing and could not comprehend what he was seeing.

"Alright! Just wait, Iina, you'll be as good as new soon," Serena said to herself as she tied up her sleeves and filled the coal tray.

Serena then chanted, "Spirits of fire. Listen to my words. Bring forth sustainable fire. Feed upon these coals. Materialize: Flames of the Forge."

Right after her chanting completed, her barely recovered MP plunged to almost 10 again, specifically, it was reduced by 19 MP to 12 MP. Despite her small MP recovery, if she had taken a bit longer casting the magic, she wouldn't have had enough magic to cast the spell. Thankfully, it was only the Tier 1 Flames of the Forge. She believed she could probably cast the Tier 8 Forgefire at full MP, but she had no need for such a high level spell in this instance.

Of course, she didn't realize that the older man who lent her his forge was looking slack-jawed at her back. For Serena, it wasn't weird for a mycra to be able to use Tier 1 arcane spells as she did set them to have Arcane 1 proficiency. However, much had changed since Serena played as Aelrea. In this village at least, nobody could use the magic their ancestors wielded so readily. Not a single one.

As more of the villages gathered and stood watching behind Serena, she worked the bellows of the smelter in order to melt the azureum ores in an attempt to reduce it to its liquid metal. At the same time, she threw an iron blank into the forge, powered by the Tier 1 persistent fire spell, Flames of the Forge. Realizing that there won't be enough hand for her to melt the azureum ore while striking the metal at the same time, Serena decided to employ another magic, one she rarely used in the latter days of AGO but was of great help in the early days.

"Spirits of wind. I call upon the rough autumn winds. By my will, blow life into this vessel. Materialize: Strong Winds of Autumn!" Serena chanted as instead of bellows, wind came from all over the workshop, gathering into the air holes of the smelter at the bottom before coming out again at the top of the smelter, continuously throwing embers to the air.

"Ohhhhh!!!" the crowd gave their appreciation.

"The peanut gallery is too noisy," Serena commented under her breath. Regardless, she gave it no attention, as for now, Iina was her priority. With that thought in mind, she pulled out the iron blank with a tong, carried the red hot iron to The First Anvil and started hammering.

Tiny sparks flew with each hammering, as she first elongated one point of the blank before widening it, making a very thin sheet of iron. Serena wanted to create a steel amulet, but she was afraid she would run out of strength before she finished. After all, she did run miles away at top speed with assistance from magic. Even if her body could still somehow hold on, she would need the assistance of body strengthening and strength boost, neither of which she had enough magic power for.

Serena kept hammering, feeling elated in its ease. Despite never having held a smithing hammer before as Serena, right now she felt as if she had been doing it all her life. She instinctively knew where and when to strike the iron, when to flip it over, and when to put it back into the forge for reheating. It was as if all the knowledge and skills simply flew into her body as she went along. Serena assumed it must've been Aelrea's skills that she had been using, as Aelrea had forged thousands of artifacts and failed tens of thousands more.

Or it could just be the mycra's innate skill with metalworking, Crafting Skill Level 7. She recalled the ridicule in the forum back when she posted the mycra's racial stats. She was called crazy, a noob and they told her it would make her race so unbalanced she would lose the game within a week. They tried to prove it by attacking Hammerdale one after another.

However, the mycras were a race of crafters. Their single purpose was to craft something. Due to that, the attackers eventually had to retreat one after another. They lost to the mycra's ability to craft everything, including the landscape itself. They lost to the mycra's motto of 'Craft The World'.

Where other gods used their faith to transform landscapes, Serena used the mycras to craft natural traps and golems to defeat her enemies. The very land itself became Serena's ally. Serena recalled laughing alone in her room every time her enemies fell into the traps laid for them and died without even reaching Hammerdale.

And now, instead of relying on the mycras, Serena decided to rely on herself. Her and her skills, whether as Aelrea or a mycra, she would save Iina. This was the way that Aelrea showed her. Only through crafting would she save Iina.

She managed to make two similar sheets of iron about the size of three fingers put together. It was still attached on one corner to the blanks and with it, she sent both sheets back into the forge. Then she grabbed the five hearts of the Rainbow Lizards in both hands. She looked at the magic power in the corner of her vision and was satisfied with its amount, believing it to be enough for the spell she wanted to cast. With blood flowing through the spaces between her fingers, she chanted a spell.

"Spirits of Water. Abide by my command. Release the water from this vessel. Spirits of Air..."

She could see her magic power reducing at double the rate with the calling of the second element. This is called a line spell, a spell that uses two separate incantations for two different elements. With every element chanted separately, the amount of magic drain doubles. For a triangle spell where three separate incantations of three different elements are used, the magic drain doubles again, causing more than four times the magic drain.

"Come into this vessel. Let hot winds dry it to dust. Materialize: Drain Swamp!"

The effect was immediate. The five hearts of the lizard, previously fat and continuously pumping out blood had now become small, hard and blackened. Without even washing her hands, Serena placed the five dried hearts on the anvil and struck it again and again with her hammer until it turned into fine dusts. Then she brought the two sheets of iron and struck it against the heart dusts on the anvil. She repeated it until there was no more of the dust left on the anvil before sending it back into the forge. Once the iron became red hot again, she folded the iron sheets over and over, making the heart dust one with the iron.

She would've continued striking the iron, if not for a sudden ringing in her head. It was as if an alarm went off and she knew what it was for. She turned to the smelter, pulled off the exit and watched as melted slag flowed out of the smelter. She could see some of the blue melted azureum flowing out together with the slag, but there was nothing she could do about that. The man who loaned her his forge used it for reducing steel. He had no specialized facility for producing the more delicate metals.

Once the slag had stopped flowing out of the exit hole, she closed it again. While azureum had lower melting point than iron, it still required a bit more time to completely melt. She knew that this meant she should move on to the next procedure.

She took a chisel and started carving out one of the iron sheet with runes of power. While the rainbow lizards themselves were good enough for crafting regeneration talismans, Iina's body was in very bad shape. Therefore, Serena decided to carve the runes for 'healing' and 'constitution' to augment the healing power of the talisman. This was not a problem for her, as all mycras, or at least the mycras from AGO knew of runecrafting from birth.

Once she finished carving the runes, she turned back toward the smelter. Grabbing an earthen cup from her inventory, she placed it under the exit hole of the smelter before opening the gate. The melted azureum flowed smoothly out on the guide before collecting inside the cup. Serena quickly grabbed the cup with her hand before pouring its contents into the runes carved into iron sheet.

It was a slow process. The pouring had to be done carefully and precisely. The melted azureum must not spill out of the carved depressions or it would create completely different effects from one intended. Serena had never done it before, but she knew exactly how to do it, likely owing to the divine crafting skill that Aelrea had. Or perhaps it was mycra's innate crafting skill, but judging from how impressed the peanute gallery were, she doubted it.

Once she was confident that she did not make any mistake, she left the iron sheet with the cooling azureum to cool slowly on the anvil. While shutting down the smelter, she looks into her slowly replenishing mana count. The final spell would require quite a significant amount of mana and worse, she didn't know how long it would take to achieve the desired result. If it took too long and she didn't have enough mana, the whole thing could become a useless junk.

However, she knew she couldn't wait for too long. Who knew how long Iina had before she would succumb to her injuries. Therefore, she decided to gamble it all.

She grabbed both the pieces of metal, one with azureum and one without as she chanted, "Spirits of Metal. Behold the structure of this metal. Connect these two pieces by the azureum metal. Merge these two pieces into one. Materialize, Alchemical Meld."

The two pieces of iron sheets floated up from her hands. It spun around each other in the air, a flow of mana linking them to each other. It slowly came closer as the two pieces alligned and the more chains of mana shot out and bound the two pieces with each other. It spun faster, with more chains of mana coming out to bind these two pieces, but it had stopped coming closer to each other. It was now only spinning in the air, releasing a buzzing sound and blinding light, but did nothing else.

For awhile there, Serena feared she had failed. She feared it had become a junk item as it could not meld into each other. But she still had some mana and there was no spell rejection, so the spell couldn't have failed. With no idea what else to do, she raised her two hands up, the palms facing the two pieces of iron.

She said, "By my wish, become one, Runed Amulet of Regeneration!"

And as if abiding by her will, the chains of mana shined brightly and pulled the two pieces together, combining with a blinding flash. While even Serena had to close her eyes, she knew that she had succeeded. The proof had just fallen into her hands. Without even looking, she knew it was the Runed Amulet of Regeneration.

She no longer felt so helpless. She now knew that she was Aelrea, Aelrea said so herself when she gave her back some of the skills from the game. With this power, she could save Iina for sure.

With these thoughts in mind, she took off towards the village chief's home without a moment to lose. The amulet grasped tightly, she said, "Wait for me, Iina. I'm coming."

<-.-> <-.->

*Yeaaaa, sorry for not posting for a very long time. You see, I've been having some problems and writing a new chapter was not quite the priority. Only recently I managed to regain the motivation. I will also update two other stories in short order. What those stories are? Well, you can only wait. Ahahahaha.
**As always, your comments and feedbacks are greatly welcomed. Praises help me write faster while constructive criticism helps me write better. Thank you for reading my work.