Origin ARS 3 (Origin A.R.S.) by Scottie Futch Read Free Book Online

interested in a certain someone, he might very well be inclined toward having babies with a fish.
    Rhea noticed his peculiar form of male gaze and squeezed his hand gently. Scott squeezed it in turn and she smiled once more.
    The nearby island turned out to be quite some distance away. Neira’s definition of nearby was a good hour long journey. Admittedly, they would have arrived sooner if they could have swum faster.
    As they drew close to the island and the background music grew quiet. Soon it changed to a tropical beat with steel drums playing.
    “Like, we’re here. The Shar-Shar should still be half-asleep but heading onto the beach since they mostly come out when it’s dark.” said Neira in an informative manner.
    Scott swam up to the surface and looked out over the water. On the beach up ahead there were dark figures moving around near a small fire. He moved down into the water and returned to his comrades. “Yeah, there is something moving over that way. Strange that I could see them, but they were there.”
    “Why would it be strange?” asked Rhea.
    “Huh? Well, don’t monsters just spawn randomly?” asked Scott.
    “Not always. If it’s a dedicated base for a race, like a village, they would be visible. If you had any survival skills you’d be able to see them anyway.” said the elf girl.
    Scott snorted at her. “Good to know. Hopefully I’ll finally learn those skills soon. I didn’t want to spend a decade hunting grass rats just to get started.”
    Rhea smiled at him. “Well, you would have gained enough stat increases to move up to something else in a year or so. You wouldn’t have absolutely had to fight rats by then.”
    The sorcerer gave her a sour expression. Maybe some people thought that the true measure of a gamer and adventurer was a desire to kill the exact same monster for years on end. He had always defined success by how quickly and efficiently he overcame opponents.
    He did not mind grinding, loved it in fact. However, he always preferred fighting bosses with skill and precision instead of grinding till he could one shot them. It ruined the fun of the game when the boss was not a challenge. He would much rather find its weakness and exploit it than simply go all overpowered badass on it. Victory brought about due to game mechanics that allowed the hero character to essentially cheat their way through did not give him satisfaction.
    Growing stronger by killing pathetic scrubs that cannot possibly harm him while the boss was forced to remain the same with no chance of growth was the hallmark of the modern hero. That had always been a part of games, but Scott had preferred to focus on finding the spell or the sword, or the anything, that was the enemy’s weakness.
    Grind until he would become a threat, and then use his knowledge and skill to wreck the enemy’s shit. It was much more fun for him that way. It was a gaming style that allowed him to essentially beat any game in a pathetically short amount of time. That was also how he marked his success in a game. His gamer skill-set had always been about playing the game and defeating the boss as efficiently as possible. He did not need to have the highest level ever, and he could always spend time after finishing the game searching for rare things or one more cool widget.
    Once he defeated the final boss, he did not feel as much need to conquer the game. He could enjoy the wandering around portion more. But dammit, there were worlds to save and princesses who needed help. Though, from what he could see few among them ever gave the hero any of that sweet tender goodness that was promised throughout the game. Sometimes he even wondered if that last tidbit was the real meaning of Nintendo Hard. Seriously, did Link or Megaman ever get mega-laid ?
    Sadly, he had begun to think of himself as a dying breed of gamer due to his gaming tendencies and overall inclination. Most games in the current era simply forced the player to grind forever, and