MMORPG: Rebirth of the Shadow Mage

Seeing my parents off I couldn't help, but keep my smile until the car was out of sight.

Going back inside the house I quickly ran up the stairs and literally jumped into the VR Pod.

< WELCOME BACK TO FRAGMENTAL >

My consciousness faded away allowing me to enter the game.

Blinking my eyes a few times I noticed myself in the middle of the street full with people.

I had to go towards the castle, but the street flow was in the opposite direction. I tried going against the flow, but soon almost hurt an NPC and received cold looks from the surrounding NPCs.

Sighing in defeat, I gave up and followed the flow until I found a smaller side street. Even though it seemed unkept and strangely dangerous it was almost empty except for random people passing here and there.

Entering the street I felt as if I could breathe again.

' Personal space '

I looked at my newly acquired item, before something hard hit the top of my head.

- 46 HP

Player Leo has suffered from Status Effect < Concussion >

~ The thought process of the player will be considerably slower

~ Duration → 5 minutes

~~~~

I somehow managed to discern what was written on the system, but my view was kinda blurry.

Stumbling forward I took a peek behind only to see a man with a crossbar smiling at me, showing his missing teeth.

' Gang member '

The first thing that came to my mind was gangs. You can find gangs in every city, this one is no different. They rob, extort money or even kill.

The man behind me was probably a gang member trying to gain respect from other members or simply take my money.

Seeing him approaching I let him get closer until he started searching through my pockets.

' Demonic Flame '

My body was fully engulfed in a white flame that immediately jumped on the thief.

He tried to extinguish the fire by rolling, throwing his clothes away, but in the end it was pointless. Soon the only thing indicating that he was here was some ashes scattered on the ground.

After the thief died I tried to stand up, but with my head still spinning I had to learn on the nearby wall.

As the effect of the Concussion was about to run out I saw some blurry pictures of people approaching me.

Shaking my head a few times my vision was back to normal. Directing my gaze back to the group I saw at least fifty people with similar jackets that had a rhino symbol embed onto them.

I immediately knew what this group was.

' Corrupted Rhino '

Clenching my teeth I eyed the man standing at the front. This group was responsible for the king's corruption. The Corrupted Rhino had over a thousand members all across the city.

Now one of the gang branches is standing before me. Not wasting any time talking I took a fighting stance awaiting for the gang to move.

Seeing me taking a stance, the leader made some signs with his hand and the group started slowly approaching me in tight formation.

' What a mistake '

I thought while a smile found its way on my face.

' Let's start off with a bang '

Extending my hand forward I let Shadow Energy be consumed and soon a grey orb appeared.

Looking at the front lines of the group I saw most of the people holding swords.

Boom...

The thrown orb collided with a sword of a man and exploded sending at least 10 soldiers to the overworld.

Seeing many messages popping on the screen I temporarily turned them off to focus on the fight.

Looking at the group's leader I found him agape looking at where his soldiers once stood.

His gaze shifted towards me to which I just smiled. Even though the smile wasn't visible due to the hood the Leader felt shivers run down his back.

' Spread apart! '

He immediately shouted, but not fast enough, because another blast took lives of another 8 soldiers.

Stretching my back I saw fear painted on all the group's members' faces except for the leader. He had a huge frown and his eyes were bloodshot. Inspecting him I noticed a sword hanging at his hips.

' Well he'll probably come at the end '

I thought and focused on decimating the rest of the group. Since they were further apart I didn't use Shadow Energy, because it would be a waste.

~~~~

My Mana reservoir which was full was now half empty after killing all the group members. While I was killing his soldiers the leader didn't even move, I'd say he didn't even flinch.

After the goons were dealt with I turned my gaze towards the last person standing.

His bright red eyes were staring at me seemingly trying to take my soul.

' Well let's end this '

With such thought I created a Lightning spear and threw it at his face.

Whoosh...

The projectile flew at fast speeds and was about to collide with the leader when suddenly a sharp blade split it in half.

The sword descended diagonally cutting the spear in half. My gaze was now glued to the sword the man held. It was no common sword if it could pierce through a magic spell that easily. Swordsmen can use Aura to attack the spells, but this man was not at the level to be able to wield Aura. The only logical explanation would be...

' A Magical Sword '

My eyes turned into dollar signs. Their prize can differ from 100k to 500k Gold coins. With such treasure one could retire and never work again.

Fortunately I wasn't planning on retiring this early.

' What car should I buy? '

Even before the fight began I was already daydreaming about things not relevant right now.

Raising my hand up in the sky I let it connect with my cheek slapping the hell out of me. It was one of the better ways I found to humble myself.

Putting full concentration on the man before me I clenched my staff and took a step forward sending a few spears at the leader's chest.

' Let the fight begin! '