The next morning.
Lucas woke up and saw his mother's smiling face. He too smiled at her and gave her a kiss on her lips and said
"Goodmorning, mama."
"Goodmorning, baby."
Leya didn't mind being kissed like that. She thought of correcting her children's misconception but then she realised why should she do it? There was no reason for it.
Was it a taboo? Sure it was. But did it matter? The answer was no. The reason being, the level she was at, such small things or taboos didn't matter at all. It was also a pretty common thing from the place she was from.
Lucas then turned to Lucy who had her arms wrapped around their mother from the side and laid on her shoulder and greeted
"Goodmorning, big sis."
Lucy separated from Leya and gave a peck on Lucas's lips and greeted back
"Goodmorning, little brother."
After the morning greetings, Leya took them to freshen up and dressed them up and went to make breakfast. Lucas and Lucy sat on the living room sofa and watched tv together.
"Pap para ra! Hello kids! We are back once again! After your positive responses and the love you've shown to the vr model x-z dive capsule, we are here with the newly developed dive capsule to give you a better experience once again!
The new model y-z is a next step into the world of vrmmorpg! The y-z model has improved…"
"The y-z model has the new features of…"
"The y-z model is now available to be purchased, don't delay and get one for yourself now! Call xxxxx to purchase and get battle ready for the Astral worlds exploration!"
Lucas recalled that he had seen this advertisement a few years back. That was the first time he heard about Astral worlds and his interest only kept increasing as days passed. Now that he saw the advertisement again, he realised that the product was a gaming console that could let him explore the Astral worlds, albeit virtually.
Lucy looked at her brother gazing intently at the tv screen. He seemed more excited than usual when something related to the Astral world was mentioned. She understood why that was the case.
She too had seen the advertisement two years back and now that it came up again, she understood that it was a device that gave access to a virtual world which was similar to the Astral worlds and so, Lucas would naturally be excited for such things.
Leya came out of the kitchen at that moment holding a tray full of food. She placed it on the dining table and said in a loud voice from across the room
"Breakfast is ready!"
Lucas and Leya switched off the tv and went together to the dining table. They sat down and Lucas said hurriedly
"Mama, please give me your phone."
Leya seemed a bit confused at such an odd request made to her so suddenly. She nevertheless put her hands inside her jeans pocket which was empty but still took out a phone from it by creating a temporary portal and gave it to Lucas. She created temporary portals as if it were no big deal and at her convenience.
Lucas took the phone from his mother and typed in a few words. Leya had been teaching Lucas and Lucy writing and reading since they were two years old. They were much better and proficient in it now as compared to kids of their age and so Lucas could easily operate a phone without any hassle.
Lucas typed in a few things and gave it back to his mother. Leya took it and had a look. She smiled and then asked Lucas
"Do you want me to buy you this, baby?"
Lucas nodded his head hurriedly. Leya smiled and ruffled Lucas's head. Her children had never asked her anything as of now and this seemed to be their first request, of course she was going to fulfil it for them.
"Mama, one for me too, please." Lucy guessed that it must be a dive capsule Lucas just asked about and asked one for herself too. It was not complicated to guess it.
Leya nodded her head and tapped a few times on her phone and ordered two dive capsules. She put the phone back in her pocket and said to the two
"Done. It'll be home in an hour. Now let's have our breakfast, shall we?"
"Thankyou, mama!" Lucas got down from his seat, hugged Leya and expressed his gratitude.
Lucy too said thankyou and hugged Leya. Leya patted their heads and said chuckling
"Fufufu…it's no big deal. Let's have breakfast now."
Lucas and Lucy got back in their seats and ate their breakfast. After finishing their breakfast, they went to the living room and watched some TV show together and waited for the delivery of the dive capsule.
An hour later.
Ding!
Lucas heard the doorbell ring and jumped off the sofa, running towards the door. Lucy followed him but walked normally. Leya smiled and shook her head. It seemed that she was underestimating her son's love for the Astral world's exploration.
Lucas opened the door and saw two rectangular boxes. He went near it and realised he was too small and weak to lift them up. So, he waited for his mother to arrive and pick these two large boxes up.
Lucy and Leya arrived at the door. Lucas hurriedly ran to Leya and held her hand and pointed at the boxes
"Those boxes are too big and heavy, mama. I cannot pick them up."
Leya patted Lucas's head and said with a smile
"Don't worry, mama got you covered."
Leya walked towards the two boxes and lifted one up and took a step and vanished from the spot. She arrived just as soon as she left and picked up the other box and repeated the same thing.
Lucas and Lucy were once again amazed by their mother's prowess and could watch her do this all day long. Leya walked towards her kids and held their hand. She said while taking them inside
"Everything is set up and you can start anytime you want."
Lucas's eyes lit up when he heard this sentence. He wanted to reach the capsule and jump into it straight away but he was being held by his mother and she was walking normally without any hurry.
He wasn't a bad child who would leave her hand and run away. He was obedient and loved his mother just as much as she loved him. Soon, his wishes were fulfilled and when he saw two capsules that were two meters in length and half a meter in breadth and height.
The capsule was silver in colour with a transparent glass at the top. They were laid in one corner of the living room and there was a big screen attached to each capsule.
Leya let go of Lucas's hand and Lucas jumped right into the capsule and closed the glass door. He laid inside and attached a head gear onto him.
Lucy too went into the capsule that was empty and laid inside and attached the head gear. Leya chuckled at how eager the two were. She thought that she would need to answer their question about how she could set all these up within a few seconds but it turned out all for naught.
She shook her head and pulled out a chair from thin air and sat on it. She then looked at the two screens attached to the capsules.
The screen of Lucas's capsule showed him standing with a mask that covered his face on a grassland and at the other screen there was Lucy with a veil covering her face standing on a grassland too.
Leya had read the instruction manual and she knew that it was one of the features of the game. The Avatar of the player would look just like the player but would have the face covered to hide the identity. There wasn't any option to remove it and the game wouldn't start if one didn't choose a mask or veil.
Leya was watching what things here children were going to do and how they would fare off in this virtual Astral world. She had set up the game difficulty to easy for now and the pain they would experience was only 1% of what they would feel in actual life.
She would gradually increase the difficulty and pain levels as they advanced and train them. These controls weren't in the hands of the player but given to the gaurdian/parents of the player.
This was because everyone who used this would be under 21 and were generally children between the age of 10-18. They may misuse it or accidentally increase it to the highest settings and cause harm to themselves. It was a safety precaution.
Lucas and Lucy were ready to set upon their first ever adventure and Leya too was anticipating on how they would perform. She said softly
"Goodluck and have fun, my babies."
[Welcome host to the VRMMORPG Astral Survival.][Please sign up to start playing the game.]As soon as Lucas put on the head gear, he felt being sucked through some vortex and everything blacked out for a moment. But soon, the surroundings changed and Lucas found himself standing on a grassland and in front of him was a blue screen with words written on it in white.He understood that this must be the form he would need to fill to sign up. He raised the virtual keyboard present in front of his stomach a little and typed on it and filled the form up.Next he was asked to customize his character and since he was very eager to adventure, he went with the default one which was an Avatar of himself wearing a mask. Lucy too did the same on her side and both got ready for their first adventure.[Detected another user login from the same IP address. Would the ho
Lucas and Lucy got out of their dive capsules and rushed to their mother and hugged her."Mama!""Mama!"The two said in a weeping tone. They both had tears in their eyes and were scared from the experience they just had. Leya cradled them and patted their backs gently and said in a gentle and soothing voice"It's okay, it's okay, mama is there now. Everything will be alright."She comforted them with her words and tried rocking them to sleep. She knew what they were going through and felt a bit pained watching her children suffer like this. But it couldn't be helped.They were bound to come across these various situations sooner or later and it was better to make mistakes now than suffer in future. Leya sang a lullaby in a low and calm way and put her children to sleep in her arms.Lucas and Lucy sle
"Huff…Huff…Huff…"Lucas and Lucy were currently sitting on the ground with their backs resting on a tree. They were breathing heavily due to fighting with another beast in the virtual Astral world.They logged in and were moving towards the first checkpoint in the middle of the dense jungle when they were attacked once again by another beast. This time they weren't as afraid as before and defeated the creature easily.Though it was easy, it still consumed almost half of their stamina. They couldn't continue to move ahead due to it and were therefore resting to catch a breather."Haah, big sis, this is so tiring! We will not be able to make it to the checkpoint." Lucas said after breathing out heavily."N-No…Huff…we'll make…huff…it…" Lucy said despite the heavy breathing.Lucas d
[Congratulations host on reaching the first checkpoint. Please check the system panel for more info.][Ding!][Quest completed. Please check the system panel for more info.]Lucas and Lucy were currently inside a cave. The cave was big enough to fit four adult humans inside and Lucas and Lucy being five year olds, found it comfortable to be in.The two got the same message. The message was transferred through a cold mechanical voice in their head. They summoned the blue screen also known as the system panel in front of them and tapped on it a few times. The screen blanked and a new string of words appeared along with the cold mechanical voice ringing in their head.[Ding!][Reach the first checkpoint - quest completed.Score: 23/100Rank: 89,067,231][Reward obtained. Obtained ×1 metal
"...the rumoured rank 9."Gasp!Every president on the screen gasped after hearing such news from the Arrowstorm country's president. No one had expected such a development to occur in such a short while.When the president of Arrowstorm country called for an emergency meeting, everybody thought it may be related to some major outbreak of some kind that needed serious attention and nobody had any thoughts of hearing the word 'Rank 9' prior to the meeting."President Niheir, are you serious about this?" The old man in his early 60s spoke in a serious tone, asking for confirmation.Niheir was the name of the Arrowstorm country's president who nodded at the old man's question.The other people finally understood the gravity of the matter. It was much more serious than they thought it would be.The
A few days passed. Astaroth household, Levyne district. Lucas and Lucy were currently having breakfast with their mother. It was a simple breakfast consisting of fruits, toast with butter and tea. "It's your first day of school today, are you two excited?" Leya asked while sipping tea. Lucas and Lucy thought for a bit but couldn't really come up with an answer. They were told by their mother that school would be fun and she even gave them a few reasons as to why but this didn't really spark any excitement in them. The two wanted to play games at home and being told to go to school for 4 hours everyday only shortened the time they would get t
"Are you really going to descend into the desolate realms?" A woman in deep blue robes rubbed her forehead and asked."Yes. I've thought it through. I am tired of watching over those hypocritical fools who know only to fight with each other and don't act like gods but power hungry savages.I am going to the desolate realms to live peacefully which has no chaos and I won't get a headache ruling over these bunch. I will watch my child grow and that'll make me more happy."A black haired, blue eyed, mature woman who seemed to be in her early 30s with a voluptuous and perfect hourglass like body wearing majestic black robes and a crown said while breastfeeding her child in her arms."Sigh. I understand your concerns, dear. But can you at least tell me when you're coming back and where you're going?" The woman in deep blue robes said with a tired look.She looked the same
Two years passed.Lucas and Lucy were in Leya's embrace, watching tv. They were watching their favourite anime. It was about baby dragons who did little adventures daily such as buying bread, cleaning the house or doing chores. This program was entertaining as well as educational for little children like Lucas and Lucy.It was Leya who found it while browsing her phone. Her children had nothing much to do while being at home, tv shows therefore seemed a good idea to let them be entertained.There was an interval in the show and commercials started playing out." Pap para ra! Hello kids! Do you want to adventure to the Astral world like your parents, friends or relatives do? Are you interested in getting those rewards? But do you find yourself to not be 28 yet but still hope to explore those worlds?Don't worry! We have the right product for you. Ha