Chapter 3: Dark Prophecy 

Following the abrupt unveiling of the elf girl depicted on the video game's cover illustration, the boys found themselves irresistibly drawn to her captivating beauty. Enraptured by her ethereal charm, their gaze lingered upon her with a mixture of awe and fascination. However, amidst the spellbinding allure, Rico keenly discerned subtle nuances that hinted at an unsettling truth..

Rico: W-wait a minute

Banko: What is it?

Banko and Nico look at Rico with curious eyes

Rico: Her clothes, isn't she supposed to be almost naked!?

Banko and Nico eyes beam as they look back at the elf woman and widen their eyes.

Banko: Now that you mention it, your right, she's covered from head to toe

Nico: What the hell, we got scammed

The elf woman stares at the boys mumbling to each other, wondering what they're conversing about.The elf woman clears her throat deliberately, catching the boy's attention. The elf woman puts her hand on her chest and slightly lowers the upper half of her body.

???: I apologise for my actions, let's start over again

The boys look at her with widened eyes and raised eyebrows, surprised by the elf woman's sudden change in behaviour towards them.

Elara: My name is Elara, may I kindly hear your names.

Elara introduced herself while speaking with a tone of respect and maturity.

Nico:( She has a pretty voice)

Nico thought to himself as the Banko and Rico proceeded to answer Elaras request.

Banko: My name is Banko

Rico: I'm Rico

Nico: uh-a, I am Nico

Elara raises her upper torso and removes her hand from her chest, she squints her eyes as she stares intensely at the boy's, causing their spines to shake with discomfort.

Elara: Is it true, are you really who you say you are?

Banko: y-yeah, is that a problem?

Banko answers while his heart is still racing with fear as he can't stop thinking about how bad things could have gotten if he hadn't figured out how to use magic.

Elara: Then tell me what your race is.

The boys look at Elara with one of their eyebrows raised until they recall the black wheel from the character creation screen where they had to spin the wheel to choose a race. The boys wave their hands in the air as a blue screen appears in front of them, they open a menu screen written “Character profile”.

Banko: What the?

Banko says out loud as he, Nico and Rico have noticed unfamiliarity in their character profiles.

Banko: Nature dragonkin?

Rico: mine says fire dragonkin

Nico: Mine's shadow dragonkin

Elara: *gasp*

Elara's eyes widened, her mouth agape, and her eyebrows ascended in surprise as the revelation of their race echoed in the air. In an instant, her entire posture underwent a profound transformation, signaling a shift from calm composure to an expression of astonishment.

Elara: Y-you are, then that means the three of you are.

Elara stutters as she appears to be too shocked to properly say what is on her mind. Elara takes a deep breath as she holds her chest and finally lets out the words she's struggling to say.

Elara: the three of you are,  the heroes of the dark prophecy

The boys eyebrows close their distance, their right eyelids squint together as they turn their heads to the side.

Nico,Rico and Banko: The what!?

The dark prophecy, an ancient prophecy that speaks of a looming danger in the form of the vampire queen and her army of lethal soldiers, who seek to unleash destruction upon the land of Eldrystria. Three powerful beings, born as dragonkin, are the chosen heroes destined to confront the vampire queen and her army, bringing about peace and harmony to all the nations of Eldrystria.

The group are seen walking down a sandy path purposefully engraved on the ground in between the colossal trees. Elara has explained the details of the dark prophecy and their purpose in the video game world known as Eldrystria. After their fight, Elara understands how weak the boys are and has decided to offer them personal training in exchange that they let her join their journey to save the world.

Nico: So this vampire queen must be the final boss of the game.

Nico says to himself with his hand pressed against his chin.

Rico: ( I wonder if she's a hot older woman)

Banko:(you know, its kind of funny since we coincidentally named our friend group after the the main characters of the game)

Banko:( although when I think about it more, isn't it also a weird coincidence that the three of us managed to get stuck in this game, not mention that we easily got one of the rarest races in the game excluding Nico)

Banko:( it's just a theory but what if everything that happened so far was orchestrated by someon-)

Banko's thoughts are interrupted by Nico holding his shoulder lightly, trying to get Bankos full attention.

Nico: If we beat the vampire queen we might be able to go back home.

Rico: That does make sense since It would be a game over if she's the final boss.

Banko: Yeah,your right( i'll go along with that theory for now)

Elara looks over her shoulder at the boys following behind her, wondering what their conversing about.

Rico: um…Miss Elara where are we and where are we going?

Elara: Eh?

Elara looks at Rico with a face full of disbelief.

Elara: we are in the Woodlands of sylvanire and we are going to the sylvanire canopy, didn't you know that?

The boys shrug their shoulders in response to her question.

Elara:( These boys have been acting strangely ever since our fight and now their telling me that they don't even know where they are)

Elara says to herself as she stares at the boys with narrowed eyes as they continued conversing with each other. Elara looks at Nico and stares at the metal cone on his head.

Elara: ( what in Eldrystria is that boy wearing, is that supposed to be a helmet?)

Elara sighs and turns her head to face the sandy path.

Elara: Where are you boys from if you don't mind me asking?

Nico: oh, we just spawned on a grassy land outside of the forest.

Elara:Eh!?

Elara turns her head back at them with widened eyes and a gaping mouth as she sounded her confusion. Elara turns head back to the path and places her palm on her forehead.

Elara: (Now they don't even know where they were born!!)

Elara slightly turns her head over her shoulder.

Elara:( Are these oddballs really the chosen heroes who will save this world) 

A few minutes earlier, after Rico asked Elara about their destination. The boys came to an agreement to not reveal any details about them being from another world to any of the npcs until they find out why they are trapped in the first place.

Rico stares at the ground as his mind wanders in thought about their conversation.

Rico: (What will happen if we do find out?)

Elara halts, prompting the boys to cease their steps. Before them stands a towering tree, dwarfing its neighbours with a majestic presence. This arboreal giant, seemingly the matriarch of the surrounding forest, boasts wooden staircases encircling its trunk, ascending to its lofty crown.

All three: Woah…

With their mouths gaping wide open, eyes widened, eyebrows raised, the boys stare at the staircases leading to the top of the tree until they can't see the stairs anymore.

Elara raises her arm and points her index finger at the top of the tree.

Elara: up there is where the sylvanire canopy is.

Nico: Wait what!?

Rico: You mean we have to walk up these stairs!?

Elara's lips curl into a small grin.

Elara: Yes

(7 minutes later)

Ascending the wooden stairs, the boys hunch over, gripping the mother tree's bark like aged men with walking sticks, struggling to maintain balance. In contrast, Elara strides ahead with impeccable posture, seemingly unaffected by the energy-draining climb. Rico, driven by boredom, breaks the silence with a question for Elara.

Rico: Miss Elara, what's a Sylvanire canopy

Elara: It's an Elf city.

The boys straighten up in excitement, envisioning attractive elf women and using Elara as the city's beauty standard.

Nico glances at Elara, he notices a transparent bar on top of her head. Her name is for some reason written in brackets but what really caught Nicos attention was what was written right next to her name, “(level 57)”.

Nico: ( if she took our fight seriously, we would've been dead by now)

Nico gulps as this revelation

Nico:( speaking of that fight)

Nico turns his head to face Banko

Nico: Hey Banko, how did you figure out how to use magic?

Nico asks Banko after recalling the wooden pillars Banko summoned using his magic staff.

Rico: oh yeah, how did you do that?

Banko: oh that, if you go on your settings and turn on your HUD, you'll see that you'll have 3 skill slots at the bottom of your screen.

Rico and Nico open their screens and turn on their HUD, revealing their health,mana and stamina bar and 3 transparent boxes at the bottom of their screen written” skill 1, skill 2 and ultimate move”.

Nico and Rico press one of the boxes which reveals a menu screen showing a large list of abilities. However, only 3 of them are highlighted. One skill in particular, even though it isn't highlighted, caught Ricos attention.

Rico: Dragon mode, we can turn into dragons?

Elara chimes in after hearing Rico's question.

Elara: Yes, all dragonkin have the ability to turn into dragons. However you have to meet certain requirements to activate it.

Rico: Like what?

Elara: I don't know, I'm an elf.

Rico chuckles as he stares at the dragon mode skill.

Rico: What if I get super angry one day and turn into a rampaging dragon and attack you guys, like in anime.

Nico: This isn't an anime, dude

Banko: I hope you didn't trigger a flag.

Nico and Banko retort at Ricos poor attempt at a joke.

The group arrives in front of a large wooden door with rune-like text written on it.

Elara: we're here

Elara puts her hands on the door and slowly opens it like in a cinematic movie. The thought of attractive elf women instantly pop into the boys heads as they leap in between the gaps of the doors with ecstatic looks on their faces. 

All three: Hot ELF!!, ch…icks…

The boys' delighted expressions swiftly shift to regret and disappointment as they gaze upon a gathering of massive, green-skinned beasts with tusks, amidst tall wooden and stone structures. Bridges link separate colossal tree branches, and water fountains dot the surroundings.

Elara: Welcome to the sylvanire canopy.

Rico: Why are there orcs here?

Rico asked

Elara: A long time ago, a female elf and male orc got married and inspired the elves and orcs to form an alliance together. I think its a beautiful story about true love and-

The boys stare at Elara with their eyebrows frowned so hard that wrinkles have formed around their face. Confused by their reaction, Elara asks them a question.

Elara: What's wrong?

Nico: What's so beautiful about screwing with orcs?

Elara: I don't see the problem, you should try being with an orc woman and find out for yourself.

Elara retorts

Nico raises his arm and points at the group of orcs passing by and begins to raise his voice to the point the entire city can hear him.

Nico: What!?, with these ugly things!!

Nico turns his head to where his arm is pointing and sees a large group of orcs staring at him, growling with anger. Nico attempts to turn to Elara and the others for help but finds that they've disappeared from where they were.

Nico: Huh!?

The orcs begin to close the distance between him and them as Nico starts to walk backwards. Nico immediately makes a run for it through the city's streets as the orcs chase behind him in pursuit.

…

Elara, Rico, Banko, and Nico stand before a spacious dark wooden house, enveloped by a multitude of vibrant blooming flowers.While holding on to his knees.Nicos exhales heavily as if he's been running for several minutes.

Nico: y-you abandoned *huff* me, you *huff* traitors.

Banko: *chuckle* sorry

Rico and Banko laugh at Nicos demise causing Nico to frown his eyebrows and grit his teeth in response.

Elara walks towards the wooden door at the centre of the mystical house, she grabs the door knob and enters the house.

Elara: Welcome to my home, you may come in.

The boys walk through past the door, while admiring the interior decoration of the house as well as the lavender like scent in the living room. Everything in the room appears to be made out of a combination of light and dark wood with yellow crystals hanging on the walls.

Nico: Is it really okay for us, 3 teenage boys, to live with a woman all alone?

Elara: I have nothing to worry, after all you boys are too weak for me and besides I can always just chop it off.

Nico raises his eyebrows after hearing the last part of Elara's sentence.

Nico: What do you mean by “chop it off”.

Elara chuckles as a response. Nico covers his crotch area with a face full of worry.

Entering the living room, the boys find a leaf-made sofa, a wooden coffee table, and windows behind it adorned with green curtains. Taking their seats on the leaf sofa, Elara perches on the coffee table, crossing her legs as she raises her voice.

Elara: as we all know, you boys are the heroes of the dark prophecy, you need to become as strong as possible as soon as possible

Elara points her index finger at the top of Nicos head

Elara: and you need to stop wearing that ridiculous helmet

Nico: gah!

Banko and Rico chuckle

Elara: Starting tomorrow morning you will get stronger by killing multiple glowfin glimmerlings from there we will be fighting even deadlier monsters, monsters that can kill you in an instant if you are not careful.

Elara: Now take a bath and get some sleep.

Elara leaves the room while pointing to the bathroom door near her.

…

Elara removes her cloak, placing her bow, arrows and sword on a table before settling on her bed, gaze fixed on the ceiling. A haunting image of a figure surrounded by burning houses and burnt corpses, wearing a wide grin, flashes in her mind.

Elara: If I work with them, they might help me achieve my goal, my revenge.

Elara sighs, stretching out on her bed. Her eyelids droop, and a few words escape her lips in a gentle murmur.

Elara: mom…dad…

…

Nico: dude come on!

Banko: just take a damn bath!

Rico: I refuse, I hate baths!!

Nico and Banko engage in banter with Rico in the bathroom, facing a bathtub filled with warm water. Gritting their teeth, they exchange a silent nod, locking eyes with determination.

Rico raises one of his eyebrows, wondering what they just agreed on.

Brandishing his wooden staff, Banko aims at Rico, summoning a thin pillar that thrusts him into the bathtub, causing water to splash across the floor. Nico and Banko burst into laughter as Rico raises his voice in protest.

Rico: You insignificant fools, are you crazy!!

The door bursts open with a crash as Elara enters, unsheathed sword in hand. The blade reflects the startled faces of the boys. Elara, sporting a frown, narrowed eyes, and an upside-down grin, stares intensely at them.

Elara: Shut up!!

The boy's bodies flinch instinctively.

All three: Y-yes ma'am!!

Elara forcefully shuts the door, the echoes of her footsteps resonating behind the closed door.

Banko: scary

Chapter 3 end.