Emma steadied her hand as the cracked iron sword of the undead warrior clashed against her own weapon. She followed up with a shield bash to smash her opponent into the stone wall of the tomb and turn her attacker back into a pile of broken bones. As part of her initiation into the Sun Warriors she had to help those in need. Fortunately she was allowed to ask friends for help so regrouped with Marty, James and Clement and together they accepted a request to clear out a source of evil magic from this monastery tomb. A skeleton rushed at her from behind but a clean swing from Marty took its skull clean off and the rest of the bones collapsed immediately afterwards. Marty was using his beginner sword for a bow would be useless for several reasons.
“Guys! Help!” Clement was backing towards them with ice spraying out of the head of his staff. The skeletons were immune to electricity and fire magic would damage the tombs contents so ice was all he could use and it was barely having any effect other than slowing them slightly. Marty and Emma exchange a brief glance then ran into the remaining undead.
“Emma catch!” James shouted throwing a heavy iron hatchet to her. It was far more suitable for fighting this kind of enemy than a sword. She discarded her sword and immediately used the axe to cave in the skull of one of the skeletons. James petite body was once again causing him issues with fighting so he was doing what he could to be useful. He was in charge of watching the rear but was also looking out for treasure or anything of value.
“Crap, here comes another wave!” Marty called out as green ethereal energy surged across a row of coffins causing them to be bust open from the inside by the bones of the occupants. A wave of ice magic slowed them down as Marty and Emma advanced forward smashing them to bits. Emma had many fears but ghosts weren’t one of them. She didn’t hold back as she beheaded the last of the enemies in the stone camber.
“Is that it?” Marty looked around at the bones littering floor. With this chamber cleared they could progress into the main chamber. They reached a solid wooden door that ethereal light was leaking out of so the cause was probably behind it. Together they busted open the door and stormed inside a large round stone chamber.
“More meddling adventures, always meddling in my private affairs!” The one speaking to them was a tall skeleton whose eyes and chest glowed red like hot coal beneath his torn grey robes. “Your persistence has gotten you pests this far but now I’ll send you to the grave and unlike me, you don’t be returning from it!” The lead skeleton emitted a pulse of green energy and the coffins lining the chamber burst open. It was immediately clear it was the source of evil magic they had been tasked with destroying.
“Let’s go!” Marty and Emma surged forward but left a gap between each other which allowed for Clement to fire a spell down the middle. His spell of ice was countered by a spell of fire which warned the group their enemy could use magic. A lesser skeleton lurched at Clement and James threw himself in its path blocking the axe with a sword he had picked up. It took him a lot of effort to push back the undead warrior as meanwhile Marty and Emma double teamed the enemy leader. Marty’s sword clashed with the sword in the lead skeleton’s left hand while Emma clashed with a magical ward generated by his right. Clement took a risk with a fire spell this time but one of the lesser skeletons jumped in the path blocking it. Marty and Emma were pushed back and quickly had to turn their attention to the lesser undead attacking them.
“Hahaha!” The leader laughed focusing on Marty. He thrust his sword at Marty forcing him to parry and parry in order to not be cut open. It was a difficult fight and adrenaline surged through Marty’s veins making him smile. A sword battle with an undead monster, it was the kind of experienced he had jumped into this world hoping for. He struck back striking the enemy on the chest but it wasn’t enough to defeat him.
“I will not be returned to the grave!” The skeleton yelled out retaliating for the previous attack and his sword grazed Marty’s shoulder leaving a light cut. It was painful but the pain just fuelled his production of adrenaline sending him into overdrive. His sword locked against the enemy’s and tried to push him back but the leader was stronger and had the upper hand. That was until a blast of freezing magic chilled the enemy’s bones, weakening him and allowing Marty to grab the advantage. James spotted an opening and pounced onto the leaders back to seal the battle, his new dagger cutting deep into the spine. With that the fight was all but over and Marty’s sword crushed what was left of the skeletons defence. Emma then quickly stepped in to behead the recoiling enemy and with him gone the magical force holding his minions together vanished and they returned to just being bones.
“Quest complete,” Marty announced. With the source of evil magic gone they returned to the tomb entrance where the monk who had given them the quest was waiting.
“You’re hurt, let me heal that.” The monk held his hand above Marty’s injured shoulder and with a glowing yellow light healed it completely in the span of a couple of seconds. James watched in awe as the monk demonstrated how to use the healing ability properly.
“You should ask for lessons from him James,” Emma joked nudging James.
“At least I can use my class skills.” James knew how to heal, Clement knew how to use magic but none of the others had figured out how to use their class skills. They had tried yelling out the name of their skills but to no avail. It was odd as in the game skills and magic worked the same but in this world they seemed to use a completely different set of rules. After collecting their reward they returned to the town square to search for Greggory. He was still off doing whatever but the time limit they had set would be up soon so would see him again soon enough.
With a white flash the five of them returned to Marty’s bedroom.
“Where were you?” Emma immediately asked Greggory.
“Just doing some solo questing,” he lied. He had been getting friendly with the Vega Gang and after delivering the stolen cart was already a member of their group now.
“The important thing is that today was pretty awesome.” They had all thoroughly enjoyed the fantasy experience, far more than what they enjoyed real-life anyway.
“I wish we had more time to play,” James groaned. They had been in that world for several hours now and it was getting dark outside as unlike in the fantasy world it was winter here so sky would be pitch black before 5pm.
“Well actually…” Marty opened plugged the 4 USB sticks from before into his computer, transferred something onto them then pulled them out. “Just run the executable file in this and boom, you’ll be able to access our virtual world from your home computer anytime you want. We don’t even need to all enter at the same time.” They each took one of the USB sticks and realized that he must have prepared the program now on them before today’s session.
“I want us all to get the same start before our grand adventure. Keep in mind all I’m really giving you is remote access. My computer is still the host so you can’t go around installing your own mods or anything.” That comment was directed at Greggory.
“Yeah about mods, can you give me a list of all the crap you guys installed?” Emma poked Marty.
“Let me know as well. Anyway I need to head home.” Greggory was the first to leave. Marty looked into the list of installed mods and confirmed the only active mods and explained most of them were cosmetic. A few of them weren’t to Emma’s taste though. Unfortunately he didn’t know how to save and reload their virtual world properly leaving him unable to change what mods were installed without resetting their progress and characters.
“A bonus dungeon and some cosmetic changes are nothing to worry about,” he reassured them. With the ability to enter the virtual world from their own computers there was no need for them to stay in Marty’s room. They all headed home but most of them would just hop straight back into Carria once they got Marty’s program up and running. Marty unfortunately was visiting relatives this evening so wouldn’t be able to return to Carria until the next morning.
* * * * *
Sunday morning Marty awoke very early to get back into Carria. He was expecting that at 5am he would be the only person there but according to the records Clement had been logged in since 7pm last night which meant 10 hours straight. Under normal circumstances playing a game for that length of time would be very unhealthy but Marty had no idea what affect the virtual system he had found had on the human body. As his real body disappeared upon entering Carria he suspected he might not even be aging while inside that world.
“Well who am I to judge?” Marty activated the program and with a white flash his bedroom became empty. He spawned back in their cabin as that was where he had logged out. He was surprised to find Clement already there but more surprised to find his friend sleeping. The female elf was breathing gently with shut eyes making a cute sleeping face that would set off any teenager’s sex drive.
“Calm down Marty, it’s just Clement.” Behind face of the stunning elf was a boy his own age. He drove the lusty thoughts from his head and replaced them with more sensible ones. It seemed like a waste to sleep in the virtual world but the fact it was a possible was interesting. Marty wondered if sleep was just a luxury for their virtual bodies or a necessity. If so did his real body and this body share the need for sleep or did they both require it independently? He would probably find out soon enough.
“Well whatever.” He picked up his bag pack and headed back to Cakl’dor for some easier quests. The five of them had agreed to only progress the main quest line if they were all together but aside from that they were free to do what they wanted. Marty was looking at the inn’s quest board when a voice called out to him.
“Hey you!” He turned around to find a short man who looked pretty pissed. “Where is that red bastard who was travelling with you?” It was obvious this man was referring to Greggory. Marty quickly thought about the situation and decided the best course of action would be to deny all involvement.
“Travelling is stretching it; he was just following us. Anyhow I don’t know where he is. He vanished after following us to the city.”
“That rat bastard.” The man noticed the quest board behind Marty which gave him an idea. He quickly ran up and pulled a blank quest sheet from under the inn counter and began scribbling down on it. Marty curiously watched as the man pinned the quest sheet to the board then stormed off.
“Request – Catch a thief.” Marty sniggered reading that. They had warned Greggory about the consequences of his actions. If he didn’t behave himself he would have bounty hunters chasing him soon. Marty didn’t see any quests of interest so he decided to make good use of his spare time and practice his archery back at the cabin.
When James stepped out of the cabin three hours later he discovered an unexpectedly relaxed atmosphere. Emma was lying on her back in a patch of long grass soaking up the sun’s rays, Marty was examining the damage his archery training had done to a tree next to the cabin and Clement was slumped against the cabin recovering the mana he had spent practicing his spell casting.
“I know it’s a Sunday but this is a bit much,” James joked.
“It’s raining… in the real world that is. I can’t enjoy the sun there so I’m enjoying it here,” Emma peacefully replied. “Besides, if we want to get back to Lurne then we’ll need to work together.”
“True that. So where’s Greggory? It said he was logged in.” Like Marty the others could all see who was inside Carria and who wasn’t. Greggory hadn’t been on Carria when Emma logged in an hour ago so he was probably still in the city.
“Forget him. If he doesn’t want to be a part of our party then so be it. I’m happy enough with him not around.” Emma got up and stretched her arms. “Shall we head out?” She suggested.
They made their way along the forest path and were unsurprised when suddenly a group of goblins burst from the trees.
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“Jesus they never learn,” Emma hissed drawing her sword. The green skins rushed them but were swiftly cut down as Emma and Marty demonstrated their improved sword skills while James showed off the dagger even he could use. Clement supported with magic as usual and when it was all said and done the goblins were either dead or fleeing.
“Alright let’s move on,” Marty suggested seeing the goblins as nothing but a waste of time now.
“Wait wait, I need to evaluate their stuff.” James was knelt down searching a goblin’s muddy remains for anything of worth.
Unfortunately the goblins didn’t have many pockets in their makeshift clothing. Everything of value goblins stole usually ended up being the property of the clan chief leaving the lesser goblins with nothing. That didn’t stop James throwing all the makeshift weapons the goblins had into his bag along with their shoes. The others didn’t see any worth in the items so said nothing about it.
Despite being a revolutionary game the main quest line was about as generic as they got. A source of evil and corruption that had long ago been sealed away was now free once again and growing in strength. Right now the evil was very weak and even in their current state they could have resealed it but unfortunately it was on the other side of the continent and travelling there was no easy task. The main questline basically served to guide them across the entire game map one quest at a time. It would be a long trek and fast travel wasn’t a luxury this world offered them. It would be a pain but they had set clearing the main quest as their objective and were determined to see it through.
They approached a rundown temple in the outskirts of the city and opened the doors to find a lone priest trying to keep the place presentable despite hardly anyone ever coming here.
“Priest Naman,” Marty called out. “I am Reslkia and I have some to seek your advice.” The priest hadn’t been expecting visitors although had been hoping for them. He looked past the fact the group of four were a bunch of odd balls and welcomed them.
“Welcome to the temple of Di’koro, the goddess of purity. I welcome the pure and offer to cleanse the impure.” The priest wore a white robe with yellow shoulders and cuffs. He seemed a bit malnourished, but that was to be expected as the only thing keeping him alive were scraps from the soup kitchen and his dedication to his goddess.
“Priest Naman. I seek your advice on a terrible dream I, we, have been having.” In the game the opening cut-scene was a dream the player character had and their first task was to seek out help. Marty told the priest about the contents of the cut-scene claiming it was a dream he had and as expected the priest became worried for it foretold the return of evil.
“This is very bad… and all four of have been having this same dream?” They all nodded. “Very very bad. I must inform the mayor. I will write you a letter, could you bring it to him?” That was exactly what happened in the game. No doubt when they went to the mayor they would be sent away as he was busy and only allowed an audience if they completed a task for his doorman.
“What would happen if we just didn’t deliver the letter? Hypothetically speaking,” James pondered after they had left the temple.
“Well… I guess eventually the evil would grow super strong and take over the world. In theory it should right now be slowing growing in strength although I’ve no idea how long it would actually take. I mean speed runners have completed the main quest in under an hour using glitches while some people rack up hundreds of hours in game time before dealing with it. The final boss’s strength is always the same.” Would things be so convenient now? They had no way of knowing what may happen until it happened.
“Speaking of glitches, do you think if we got a cart and rammed it into the swing set we’d be flung to the far side of the continent?” James theorised.
“Well as this world now uses Newton’s law of physics and not the glitchy physics engine the games devs tested while drunk I’d say probably not.” The games physics engine had a lot of bugs in it. Most had been patched so people didn’t randomly fall through the floor when exiting buildings or get stuck in walls regularly but some had been left in for comedic effect. Unsurprisingly were denied permission to see the mayor when they arrived at the city hall although not for the reason they’d been expecting.
“No way I’m letting all four of you in. I’ll let her in but the rest of you can wait outside.” The doorman pointed to Emma simply because she was human and the other three weren’t. Even in a time of peace and forgiveness some people were still prejudice towards other races. On the bright side they didn’t need to go clear out a nest of giant rats from the city sewer so they let Emma meet the mayor while the others waited on her outside the town hall.
“Oh shit hide,” James suddenly hissed diving behind one of the bushes that surrounded the city hall. Clement and Marty immediately followed wondering why they were hiding.
“Stop you thieving bastard!” A voice boomed as a familiar red haired figure ran past with several guardswomen chasing him.
“Was that...”
“Yup.” It was Greggory. Maybe hiding on him was a bit cruel but it was better than risking getting dragged into whatever trouble he had started.
“So what happens if he gets thrown into jail?” James asked.
“Well if he is smart he’ll do something to get himself executed thus the guard will think he is dead when he respawns.”
“And if he isn’t?” That question went unanswered. They kept hidden until Emma returned from the mayor’s office.
“Why are you in the bushes?” She could tell she had missed something important.
“Greggory has gotten on the bad side of the locals and we don’t want pulled into it.” That didn’t surprise her in the slightest. “So did you deliver the message?” Emma gave a thumbs up. With the main quest underway they did what most people did and completely forget about it and do something else. They all split up and went their separate ways, careful to avoid Greggory.
* * * * *
Marty spotted the woman he was searching for. She was Marisa Talons and had been the best archer in the country in her prime. Now she was forty years old and had settled down to raise her kids in a cabin just outside the city wall. She was still incredibly talented and offered free archery lessons to those willing to do a small favour for her in return. He approached her with a smile and she smiled back.
“Excuse me young lady, I was told you were the expert in archery around these parts.” A bit of flattery never hurt anyone.
“You’d be well informed although I wonder what a ‘young lady’ like me has to offer a tree elf like you.” Tree elves were known for being keen archers. Most people expected every tree elf they met to be able to hit a bird mid-flight from a mile away.
“Please that’s just a stereotype. While the archery techniques of my kind are among the best in the world. I was never able to master them, that is why I have come here to see you, a master in human archery.” Marty’s flattery was getting him somewhere as Marisa was smiling.
“Okay, I need to finish this first. Why don’t you go chop some firewood for me while you wait?” A simple task as expected. Marty got started with his task while James returned to the general store he had visited yesterday.
A magical bag filled with absolute crap was emptied onto the general store’s counter.
“Killing goblins I see.” The shopkeeper wasn’t too impressed with what was being brought in.
“You bet. So how much?”
“Listen, this stuff is absolute junk. Nobody in their right mind would use it in a fight.”
“Who said anything about fighting? These swords are useless but they are still made of iron. A blacksmith could melt them down to make a new weapon. Easier than mining for iron right? These boots are too small for us to wear but if you’re a child then it’s a different story. Children outgrow shoes so quickly most parent’s aren’t too worried about getting the size perfect or having them made to last. This axe is pretty blunt by a good run on the grindstone will sort that out. Junk just isn’t a word I believe in.” James puffed out his chest as the shopkeeper tried to process what he had just explained.
“Alright, you go over to my trash bin and tell me that it is not junk. If you can I’ll buy all this stuff.” It was a bet James knew he could win. He walked over to the bin behind the counter and began to fish through it. The first thing he pulled out was a broken ink stone. The shopkeeper was interested to see what the cat-girl could possibly do with that. He reached into the bin and pulled out out a cracked steel axe head and immediately smashed the two of them together creating several small sparks.
“This is good quality stone, how much would you charge for a piece of flint of this high quality?” With that James had won.
“You’re pretty good at this. I’d tell you to open up your own store but I’m afraid you’d put me out of business.”
“Not we if are working together.” Two days ago the shopkeeper would have never imagined getting advice on how to run his store from a petite cat-girl but life was full of surprises. They shook hands and immediately James began explaining everything that was wrong with how the shop was laid out.
“What is your name?” The shopkeeper realised he didn’t even know the name of his new helper.
“Lily, Lily Pondflower.” It was a beautiful name, as expected from a girl whose race was very close to nature.
“Life is full of good and bad things, you being the good and that red haired thief being the bad.” The shop keeper clenched his fist. He really wished he knew where Greggory was so he could punch him.
The city guards looked at the dead end they had just arrived at.
“Where the hell did he go?” They had saw the red haired criminal turn down this side street so he should have been here.
“Let’s go, we can’t let him get away.” The group of guards quickly spread out to search the surrounding area. As they left Greggory stepped out of the wall that was in fact an illusion being generated by the crystal in his hand.
“Thank-you Vega Gang.” The illusion wall was one of the many tricks the group used to avoid being arrested. They usually didn’t tell new recruits about them but Greggory had already known about the crystals so ‘borrowed’ one without permission. He checked the coast was clear then ran out of the alley way and headed back to his new friends’ hideout.
“I’m back,” he announced triumphantly as he returned.
“Good, now give it back,” Dia demanded holding out her hand. There was no pointing in playing dumb so Greggory gave her the crystal he had stolen. It was out of magic now anyway so wasn’t much use to him anymore.
“Now get out!” Dia ordered.
“C’mon Dia. Technically I’m not bound by your code of honour because you haven’t accepted me into your group yet.” That was true. Greggory was just a regular thief who had gotten friendly with them as Dia refused to officially let him in. A different truth to the one he told Marty and his friends.
“You really think we’d let you join after you stole from us?”
“Well thanks to that I was able to grab this for you.” Greggory produced from his bag a three foot tall statue that was carved from marble.
“What the… you can’t be serious!” Dia examined the statue to confirm it was the real deal but there was no doubt about it, the naked bust of the elven goddesses bore the marking of the legendary elf sculptor Lief Vien’las. Getting such a large object out of the museum it was being exhibited in would normally have been impossible due to the weight and bulk, but with a magic bag pack that negated weight Greggory had no trouble getting it out the door. Unfortunately he wasn’t very discrete about it and his suspicious whistling caught the attention of one of the guards.
“You didn’t even damage it. I usually don’t get impressed new blood but I’ll make an exception this once. Welcome to the group.” Dia opened out her hand and Greggory firmly shook it however Dia tightened her grasp and pulled him closer. “And if you steal from us again I’ll slit your throat.” She let go after delivering that warning.
“Great what’s next?” Greggory asked.
“Make yourself at home and get to know the people you’ll be working with in the future. Don’t think that we’ll let you just lounge around after joining.” Greggory had no intention of doing nothing. He was going to get rich and probably die multiple times trying.