“Well, that was a travesty,” Patrick said. The group were crowded around a table in Haelshire’s tavern. They’d gotten a room here to rest up. Grey and James had been drinking there for a while now, and Amelia and Patrick had just woken up and ordered theirs. There was a surprising lack of other players there, one or two taking drinks by themselves. Despite this, it was absolutely loaded with NPCs, to the point where it was difficult for the party to hear each other. Maybe that was why other players dodged the place.
“I mean, at least we won this time,” Grey pointed out.
“The only reason you’re so positive is because you levelled up,” Amelia practically snarled. “And you didn’t even bother to revive us.” She threw another drink down her throat.
“The fight was almost over and I didn’t want to waste the Revive. You got the XP, right? This game’s not that mean.”
“That’s not what I’m complaining about, Grey. I wanted to keep fighting. I’m not here to be dead. Being dead really sucks in this game, you don’t even get to watch the fight continue, you just fall unconscious.”
“It doesn’t matter now,” Patrick told them. “We need to go grind a bit, get up onto Grey’s level. Sidequests have got to be around this city somewhere.”
“You sure you didn’t hear anything on the way out of the Garrison, Grey?” James asked.
“I’m certain,” Grey repeated. James was still confused as to how they’d been unable to hear Draconautis when they were perfectly capable of acknowledging him before.
“What did you hear, James?” Patrick asked.
“Clearly it was nothing.”
“If it was nothing, then why are you discussing it?”
“Was it that zombie dragon again?” Amelia chuckled. James let out a defeated sigh and changed the subject.
“We can always just continue with the main story,” He suggested. “Unless there’s a massive level spike we should be fine with our current team. I mean, we’re not even in the double digits yet.”
“Considering how that last fight went, I think we need the power,” Patrick said.
“I think we just need a better understanding of the game’s systems,” Grey replied. “Maybe buy items in bulk next time.”
“Of course you’d think that, you’re a level above us.”
A pinging sound was heard from Grey and Patrick and they both checked their inventories.
“Damn it,” Patrick muttered. “Sis is trying to wake me up. I’d better go. See you guys in school, I guess.”
“Say hi to her for me,” Amelia added.
Patrick nodded and tapped the logout button, vanishing into thin air.
Trident743 has left the party.
“I’d better go too,” Grey said. “My alarm’s going off.”
James and Amelia looked horrified.
“It can’t be morning already,” James replied.
Grey sighed, “No, it’s 1AM. The alarm was to tell me when to go to sleep. If you still wanna play, you have a bit of time, but I’d like some shut eye.”
James and Amelia breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Grey said before vanishing as well.
Skibabylon has left the party.
Amelia sighed and took another swig of her drink.
“Well, it’s just us two who need to grind, then,” Amelia said.
“Grey’s right, though. It’s late. We really should get some sleep,” James said. “Like, real sleep, not whatever this place does to you.”
“I don’t want to think about how sleeping works here.”
“And we’ve got half a party, we might not be that effective. You wanna finish up here?”
“No. Do you?”
James shook his head. “Not at all. Unlike Grey, I don’t have a sleep schedule or a fear of death.”
“Let’s go outside. There’s gotta be some mobs roaming around near the gates.”
They fought their way through the crowded streets, and Amelia didn’t feel the need to punch anyone this time. The drawbridge lowered automatically when they reached it this time, and they exited out into the cornfields that surrounded the city. After a while in the city choked with smog, it was nice to get out and get some fresh air. As they walked around, looking for targets, they talked to pass the time.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“How are you finding the game so far?” James asked.
“It definitely feels…different,” she said. “Like I have more control than other games. I have more mobility and choice even if I still have a concrete moveset. I can see what Grey meant by this game being revolutionary. I’m also really enjoying this class. Gotta hand it to them, I’m now not interested in using guns anymore. What about you?”
“I like it, I just wish this class dealt any damage. I get it, I’m the tank, damage isn’t my role, but come on! Only 10 damage even on my specials? Give me a break. And aggro sucks in this game too, can’t seem to pull anything.”
“Pretty accurate to you in real life, then.”
“Christ, Amelia. I know you just died, but you don’t have to kill me too!”
Amelia laughed. “Well, we can always have a 3 DPS party like we did back in OMAF.”
“Point taken, that composition was hell.”
“Yeah, but it was fun in the end.”
“Yeah. At the very end of the game. Because balancing in that game was an urban myth.”
“Broken games are good. I wish I got a giant plasma cannon in this game.”
James paused for a second, “So were you ok with Nolan and his whole…burning thing? I know it was way in the past, but still.”
She shrugged. “I don’t care about it, honestly. The scars don’t scare me anymore, not since I met you guys. You really don’t need to ask so often.”
“I can’t help it. I just want to make sure you’re ok. Trauma’s a weird thing.”
They were silent for a short while before Amelia continued talking.
“You helped us out a lot back in the day. More than you probably realised. I never got to thank you for saving my ass so many times. Even back in the orphanage, you were the only one who didn’t treat me like a freak.”
James laughed. “You don’t need to thank me. I just thought you looked lonely back then. You definitely didn’t need someone to protect you, you just needed someone else to talk to.”
“You did too. I remember you weren’t as confident when I first met you compared to now.”
“Perhaps you rubbed off on me.”
“What is a bad face day, anyway?”
James raised an eyebrow. “A what?”
“It’s something you said to me when we first met. You never explained what it was. Well, if you did, I don't remember.”
James shrugged, “I don’t remember much about myself back then…but I remember how I felt about you. And I remember meeting the others too.”
Amelia smiled, “Hard to believe we only met them in high school.”
“I didn’t expect you to get on with Grey and Patrick as well as you did. I’m glad I met them, though. And I’m really glad I met you. You guys are my friends. I’ll protect you forever.”
“Awwww, thanks. That’s very sweet of you.”
“Some people in this world need to protect each other. The governments look like they want to bring this world down with them, Kabletech too.”
“They say if you speak ill of Kabletech, Maximilian Kable shows up and kills you in your sleep,” Amelia said, like she was telling a ghost story.
“I’m sure he can hear it,” James replied. “Patrick’s saying we’re only one step away from a total dictatorship like they have in Velcorp State. Well…had.”
“Patrick’s been saying that since he was four years old. Besides, Kable running the country? I don’t like the guy, but he doesn’t seem smart enough for it.”
“He’s smart enough to run a multi billion dollar company.”
Amelia raised an eyebrow. “You could be smart enough to run a company.”
“Is that an insult or a compliment?”
“Whichever makes you feel better.”
James smiled. “Then thank you.”
James looked out over the cornfield and finally saw something to fight: a shambling mass of rags and hay with a pumpkin for a head.
Scarecrow
Level 3
75/75 HP
“We’ve found our target,” James said as he pointed to the scarecrow.
“I really wished there were more of them,” Amelia replied. “We’re going to need more than one of these things to level up, and I don’t see this thing being fun to fight.”
“We’d better hope this is an ambush then,” James said. “C’mon, let’s take them out.”
James Stats: Level: 3 HP: 300/300 STR: 10 DEF: 15 DEX: 5 SPL: 15 INT: 1
Grey stats: Level: 4 HP: 150/150 STR: 5 DEF: 15 DEX: 5 SPL: 20 INT: 0 Healing Pool: 400/400
Amelia Stats: Level: 3 HP: 150/150 STR: 25 DEF: 5 DEX: 10 SPL: 5 INT: 0
Patrick stats: Level: 3 HP: 100/100 STR: 20 DEF: 5 DEX: 15 SPL: 15 INT: 0 Mana: 150/150
