Chapter 59 - 54: THE LITTLE FOX’S CHATTER, THE FIRE-WIND COMBO, AND THE WARMTH OF THE FAMILY ROOM

Tonight’s dinner felt far more special than usual. Not merely because the ginger chicken soup Mira served felt so warming to my stomach, but because my mood was currently at its highest point. The remnants of panic from my earlier escape to the garden this afternoon had evaporated, replaced by Mira’s small scoldings that now sounded like sweet notes of care in my ears.

After dinner was finished and my medicines were taken, Mira did not let me return to the room. On the pretext of letting my lungs get a different air circulation from the bedroom, she guided me or more precisely, pushed my wheelchair toward the family room on the ground floor.

Our family room was very spacious, with a thick gray velvet L-shaped sofa that was extremely soft. A giant flat-screen television was mounted on the wall, displaying the evening news at low volume. Mira helped me transfer from the wheelchair onto the sofa, slipped a comfortable pillow behind my back, then spread a thin blanket over my legs.

"Sit here for a while. I’ll brew some warm chamomile tea for you," Mira said with a smile before turning toward the clean kitchen.

I leaned my head against the sofa cushion, closed my eyes, and enjoyed this comfort. However, the peace did not last long. The sound of quick and light footsteps was heard descending the wooden stairs of our house. Those rhythmic and energetic footsteps were a characteristic possessed by only one person in this house.

"Big Brother Rian!"

The cheerful, slightly high-pitched voice echoed before her figure appeared. Alya, my only younger sister, jumped from the last step and ran a little toward me. She was wearing oversized cat-patterned pajamas, her black hair that was usually neatly tied now left slightly messy and loose. In her hands was a jar filled with chocolate cookies.

She immediately dropped herself beside me, making the velvet sofa bounce a little.

"Hey, be careful. Your big brother’s bones might fall off if you jump like that," I teased softly while opening one eye.

Alya only grinned like a horse, hugging her cookie jar. "So dramatic, Big Brother. Miss Mira said your condition today is really good. This afternoon you even dared to escape to the fish pond, right? Come on, you definitely got scolded by Miss Mira."

I snorted softly, rolling my eyes. "News spreads so fast. Don’t you start scolding me too; my head is already full enough with medical lectures."

Alya laughed freely. She opened her cookie jar, took one, and chewed it with enthusiasm. "I’m not going to scold you. I’m actually happy to see Big Brother starting to be naughty again. It means you’re really getting better."

"So, how was your adventure today, Yuuki?" I asked, using her in-game character name. "Have you and Arthur managed to break through Area 3?"

Hearing my question, Alya’s eyes immediately sparkled. She immediately pushed the cookie jar on her lap onto the small table in front of the sofa. She turned to face me completely, crossing her legs on the sofa, ready to begin her long tale. My little sister’s talkative mode was officially activated.

"Arthur was busy grinding materials for his weapon today, so I didn’t play with him," Alya began with very expressive hand movements. "As a replacement, I made my own party with friends from school! You know Yuna, Rara, and Azalea, right?!"

"Oh? Your classmates?" I raised an eyebrow, a little interested. "Then, what was the composition of your party? You didn’t let them all become DPS, did you?"

"Of course not!" Alya exclaimed proudly, puffing out her flat chest. "I’ve been taught the basics of MMORPGs by Arthur. I was the one who arranged the formation. Yuna took the Beastman dragon race. She got a random selection result because that rare race isn’t in the choices so she became our Tank, and sometimes she can also be DPS. Then Rara became a Mage-type Healer; she handled the healing. Azalea became the control; her job was to trap and give buffs or debuffs. She’s a flower race similar to me who took the animal race; she walks using roots, which she says is really hard, so sometimes she stands on Rara’s shoulders so she doesn’t have to walk."

"And you?" I prompted.

"I clearly became the Mage and party captain!" she answered with a wide smile. "We hunted all day in the Whispering Plains, fighting packs of wild wolves and several mutant wild boars or bulls. My friends are still stiff in their play. Yuna often delayed pulling aggro, so the monsters very often chased Rara who was casting heal magic. When that happened, the whole party panicked and screamed in voice chat!"

I chuckled imagining the chaos of that novice party. Things like that were very normal for players who were not yet accustomed to the Virtual Reality system that required them to move physically, not just press buttons on a keyboard.

"Then, how did our Mage captain save the situation?" I asked again, propping my chin with my hand, giving full attention to her story.

Alya smiled crookedly, a smile full of pride that made her look adorable. "That’s where my avatar race shone brightly, Big Brother! You know my avatar is a beast race of fox descent, right?"

"Of course."

"It’s not just about the cute appearance, Big Brother! The fox race has a built-in passive Agility that is very high, almost equal to the average elf race, but with additional acrobatic flexibility. So, when the wolves were about to pounce on Rara, I immediately used my agility to jump between them. I pulled the wolf’s tail, and when the wolf turned angrily toward me, I just dodged with a fast side-step."

I nodded, appreciating her play mechanics. Being a Mage usually made a player very vulnerable and slow. The majority of Mages would stand still in the back line like static artillery towers. However, Alya, with her small fox avatar body, played like a Battle Mage or Spellblade who moved agilely on the battlefield.

"And there’s something even cooler!" Alya leaned her body forward, her eyes widening with enthusiasm. "You remember before I only focused on increasing Fire element magic, right?"

"Of course. Fireball is the most reliable basic attack. Its destructive power is high."

"Well, because my level has now risen to level 17, I have enough Skill Points to open a new element branch. This afternoon, I just learned basic Wind magic!"

This time, I was truly surprised. Learning two elements at once in the early game was a decision rarely taken by players. Usually, players would maximize one element first to obtain high-level attacks. Dividing focus on two elements would make the basic damage of the magic divided and less optimal.

"Wind?" I muttered. "Don’t you need big damage to protect your friends? Basic wind magic usually only gives knockback effects or a little additional speed. Why not just maximize your fire magic?"

Alya smiled full of secrets, exactly like the smile I often gave when I discovered a new alchemy formula. She wagged her index finger in front of my face.

"That’s the thinking of average players, Big Brother Rian. But I’m the little sister of a genius," she teased. "I didn’t take wind for its main damage. I took wind for Elemental Reaction!"

I straightened my back; my curiosity as a fellow gamer was fully sparked. Second World Online indeed had a brilliant Physics Engine, and the elemental reaction mechanics were one of the things heavily emphasized by its developers, even though many beginner players ignored it.

"Try explaining it to Big Brother, Miss Fox."

"Okay, listen carefully," Alya cleared her throat, changing her tone of voice to that of a lecturer teaching. "Basic fire magic has a fatal weakness: its attacks are only single target type and the fireball’s movement is slow. If Yuna can’t hold the monster in one place, my Fireball often misses. So, I experimented. When the wild wolves were clustering, I cast Fireball toward them. Then, before the fireball hit the target, I immediately followed up by casting my basic wind magic, [Gust of Wind], right from behind that fireball!"

My eyes widened as my analytical brain immediately imagined the physics simulation inside the game.

"You fired a strong wind toward the floating fireball?" I asked to confirm.

"Exactly!" Alya exclaimed, slapping her own thigh in excitement. "Guess what happened? The strong wind pushed the fireball to become twice as fast. Not only that, the additional oxygen from the wind magic made the fireball enlarge in the air. When it hit the wolves... BOOOOM!! The fireball exploded into an area fire blast! The wolves that were originally only hit by one now all got hit by the blast impact. Their blood immediately turned red, and Azalea just advanced to finish them off with her vines."

I whistled softly, truly feeling admiration for my little sister’s adaptation and creativity.

"Fire-Wind Spread combo," I muttered while nodding fully in appreciation. "That’s an extraordinarily smart strategy, Alya. You turned a slow projectile magic into an area artillery shell. Very effective use of the fire-spread mechanics. Combined with the agility of your fox avatar, you are basically a very slippery walking artillery."

"Hihihi, right?!" Alya giggled, her face flushing with pride at receiving my praise. "My friends were left gaping seeing the wolves get burned en masse. They immediately called me ’Boss Yuuki’ all day. Even though I know that combo from often watching a cook grilling satay. If the fire is fanned hard, the fire enlarges and spreads, right?"

I laughed heartily hearing her logic that was so simple yet very applicable inside the game. Laughing made my chest feel a little tight, but I did not care. The warmth in this family room was truly priceless.

Mira walked closer from the direction of the kitchen, carrying a wooden tray. On it was a cup of chamomile tea steaming with fragrance for me, and a glass of warm milk for Alya. She placed the tray on the table in front of us, then sat on the edge of the sofa arm near me.

"Seems like the conversation is really fun. Did I miss the story of the fall of the dragon kingdom?" Mira teased while rearranging the blanket on my legs.

"Cooler than dragons, Miss Mira! I’m telling you how I burned wolves using a satay fan!" Alya answered casually, which made Mira laugh softly as well.

Alya reached for her glass of milk, blew on it gently, then sipped it. After moistening her throat that had gone dry from talking too much, she looked back at me with her round eyes.

"Now it’s my turn to ask. How about you, Big Brother Rian? I heard you played quite long today before the medical alarm went off. Are you still on the grasslands shooting cows? Or still busy stirring potion pots inside the city?" she asked, her tone of voice changing into the investigative tone typical of a little sister who did not want to lose in competition.

I reached for my teacup with both hands, feeling the warmth spreading into my palms. A thin smile full of secrets was painted on my lips.

If only Alya knew what I had done today. If only she knew that this sickly big brother of hers had just taken down an Elite boss the size of a giant in Murkwater Swamp, triggered a large-scale chemical explosion reaction in the peat soil, leveled an entire Orc camp alone, and created an Epic longbow whose shots could destroy solid rock from a distance of seventy meters.

However, I decided to keep it as a surprise. If I told her now, she would definitely go into hysterics and force me to immediately show those items, which I could not do because I had already reached my playtime limit. Besides, it would be more fun if I demonstrated the destructive power of the Titan’s Ironbark Longbow directly to her and Arthur when we partied together later.

"Well, that’s how it is," I answered with a deliberately made-up modest tone, while shrugging casually. "I experimented a little with alchemy. Mixed a few materials, made a few small explosions. Not as cool as your fire and wind combo, of course. Big Brother just tried making new poison variations and carving a bow that’s a little longer."

Alya pouted her lips, looking a little disappointed with my answer that she found boring. "Yaaaah, Big Brother is really a waste having high attack and accuracy but playing like a retired crafter. You should occasionally try hunting in more challenging areas! Up north they say there’s a swamp with really fierce enemies. One of these days, when my friends’ levels are decent, let’s party together, okay! Later I’ll protect Big Brother on the front line with my fire magic!"

I held back the laughter that nearly exploded. My little sister, with very noble intentions, had just offered protection to the person who had turned that fierce swamp into a personal playground and source of explosive materials.

"Of course," I answered with a wide smile, looking into her eyes with full affection. "Big Brother will greatly look forward to the protection of the greatest fox mage in StoneBrook. One of these days we must hunt together."

Alya nodded in satisfaction, feeling she had won the argument and positioned herself as a more pro player than her big brother. She finished her milk in a few gulps, then reached for her cookie jar again.

Suddenly, when she was about to chew a cookie, the movement of her hand stopped. Her eyes narrowed, staring sharply at my face and shoulders. She leaned her body forward, observing carefully.

"Wait a minute..." Alya muttered softly. She stretched out her free hand, then gently pulled a strand of my black hair that hung over the shoulder of my robe. "Big Brother Rian... your hair..."

Mira and I exchanged glances for a moment, then smiled understandingly. I had already guessed that sooner or later Alya would notice it. This afternoon before she left for school, she had been in too much of a hurry and had not paid close attention to me.

"Long, right?" I answered softly.

"Not just long, Big Brother! This... this is really thick!" Alya exclaimed, her eyes bulging in disbelief. She touched the skin of my scalp, examining my hair like a researcher. "Last month your hair was really thin because of those medicines, then it was cut short. How come now it’s suddenly this long? This is real hair, right, not a fake wig that Miss Mira bought to make you happy?"

"Don’t be ridiculous, that’s real hair," Mira replied while laughing softly, lightly tapping Alya’s hand. "Doctor Karin also examined it this morning. Your big brother’s cellular system is undergoing extraordinarily rapid regeneration. His hair grew ten centimeters in an unreasonable amount of time. This is a very good sign, Al."

Hearing Mira’s explanation, Alya’s hand that was holding my hair suddenly trembled softly. I could see her brown eyes starting to well up. She released my hair, then bowed her head deeply.

"Hey, why are you crying instead?" I asked gently, stroking the top of her head.

"I’m not crying!" she denied quickly, roughly wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her pajamas. "I... I just got cookie dust in my eye! Besides, hair this long makes Big Brother look like a bum, you know! Tomorrow I’m going to take scissors and tidy up Big Brother’s hair so he looks like a human again."

A tsundere attitude that was very similar to what Mira had done in the garden this afternoon. It seemed this trait was contagious. I could only smile widely, stroking Alya’s back with full affection. I knew exactly what those tears meant. They were tears of relief. The heavy burden she always carried every time she saw me lying weakly was slowly beginning to lift.

That night, our family room was filled with a very real warmth. Alya’s chatter about virtual monsters, Mira’s gentle scoldings, and the soothing taste of chamomile tea in my throat all blended into a harmony of life that I had always dreamed of.