As they left the store Sparky said, "Back there you said she could ask either of us about our God. I'm not sure that I am ready to answer questions yet."
"I understand your hesitation, but you can still tell someone about Him. You can speak of your personal experience with Him. If every Christian did just that, then we would not need to send out so many evangelists."
Sparky nodded, "I suppose you are right, still makes me jittery."
"Totally normal," Lance said.
As they were walking through an increasingly populated Traville, Sparky bumped into a woman wearing a yellow robe. Her hair was golden white, so blonde you could barely see she had eyebrows. She was pretty in a soft sort of way, but not beautiful.
As they collided Sparky's wounded leg bumped against the woman's robe.
"Oooh, blood,” She exclaimed, “You are wounded!"
"I am sorry ma'am. I will pay for your robe to be cleaned!", Sparky replied.
As the three of them stood in the middle of the road, Lance looked up at her nameplate which read,
"Actually no, they made me choose a god, otherwise I wouldn't have chosen one. I grew up in church and that is the way I would like to continue to worship. I would tell you the name of my God but things are all weird in here regarding religion. Can't say names and stuff like that."
Lance silently offered a prayer of praise. God was clearly orchestrating things.
"Wait, you guys don't have a god listed, how did you do that?" Polly asked.
"Well," Sparky said, “I am guessing that you were not given a chance because healers need to have a god as healing is all about the gods for some reason. We both chose other classes and then refused to choose a god and here we are."
Polly grumbled, "That really stinks."
"We are both worshippers of the man who died on a cross, would you like to join us? That is unless you already have a party." Lance asked.
"I have had two parties, but the guys in them were all jerks. One of them even gave me a hard time for being a worshiper of our God."
"Wow that‘s terrible," Sparky said, "We would be thrilled if you’d join us. We are working on the quest to rid the Bird and Baby's basement of rats. It's harder than we thought."
"I would love to join up with you guys!"
Lance invited Polly to join their party and she accepted.
As soon as he did this the new Cletus and the old Cletus, the little devil one, appeared in Lance’s vision. As they looked each other over, old Cletus said, “Hello there brother, you look weird?”
New Cletus, Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy, whipped out his book and flipped the pages, “Check page 2743, near the bottom.”
Old Cletus took out his own book and his brows went up as he read. Suddenly he turned to Sparky, “Hey boss lady, you okay with me looking like that when we are partied up with Lance?”
Polly looked back and forth between the two versions of Cletus and nodded, “Yeah, I think it would be nice if you looked like that all the time.”
As he said that, old Cletus was sucked into new Cletus and disappeared. The merged Cletus signed and said, “Aah, glad we can be of one mind on these things.”
Just at that time Edie appeared in her frilly dress took a look at Cletus and said in her smug elvish voice, "Well, at least I only need to deal with one of you." She flipped her long golden hair over he shoulder put her nose in the air and disappeared.
“That was strange.” Polly said. "And who is that elvish assistant, is that yours Sparky?"
Sparky nodded a little shocked by the exchange himself.
Polly turned to Sparky and speaking a few words in a low voice reached out and touched his wound which immediately closed up.
"Now that that is resolved I think we are still going to need a fighter to handle that quest," Lance said. "Keep your eyes open for anyone without a god listed.”
**********
It was late in the day so the party decided to head back to the Bird and Baby. Once there they ordered dinner and got a table near the back of the inn.
"I am so glad to meet you guys." Polly opened up as they began eating. "I know that there are fewer and fewer gentlemen in the world, but I expected a more civil crowd in a game like this."
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Lance stifled a laugh, "Why would you expect more civility in a game like this?"
Polly looked at him in confusion, "You know knights and dragons and all that stuff, doesn't that go with chivalry?"
Lance nodded once, "I can see how you would think that, but the type of guy that plays a game like this is actually not very chivalrous. There are guys who think of themselves as white knights, defending ladies, but really they are just being self serving in a different way."
Polly looked deflated.
"But," Lance continued, "If there is true selfless chivalry to be found it will be found among Christians. When our society was more Christian it was also more noble, but it has been a long time since that has been found in American culture. But I for one count myself as someone who espouses the chivalrous traits."
"I never knew that there were specific traits." Sparky said.
"There was never an actual list during the medieval period," Lance replied, "But there did seem to be a general consensus, a guy in the late 1800's compiled a list, in short it was this: Believe the church and defend her, care for those and be generous to those who are weaker than you, love your country, be brave, keep your promises, kill the infidel, don't lie, always defend the right and the good. As a Protestant I believe the Word first and the church second and don't think we should be killing muslims for run, but all the other stuff is great."
Polly nodded, "I thought there was stuff in the code about how to treat women."
"I think that comes under the heading of those who are weaker. In the time of the Knights women had a lot fewer rights than they had now." Lance offered.
"Yah," Polly said, "The weaker vessel."
"So, I am not sure if it is rude to ask, but what was your life like before you entered the game?", Lance asked.
"Oh, not rude at all." Polly replied. "As I said before, I grew up in the church and always believed, but as I got older I just didn't see the need to go to church. I went to college and then on to grad school. I ended up getting a PhD in the Maths.
"The next step was teaching, I landed a job at a public university and had a pretty good life. But after a while I realized that there was only so much studying one could do and realized I was lonely. So I tried dating but I liked to talk about things that interested me, but most guys, all the guys I met, did not. Most of them were just a bunch of perverts. After a while I just gave up. Loneliness is a terrible thing, it can eat at your soul, so one day I just walked into a church and they became my friends. I am so grateful for those people, I think they saved my life. But while they were my friends I still couldn't talk to them about the things that I loved to think about, maths and such.
"After a while I realized I needed something besides math that I cared about. I needed a hobby. Being pretty much a geek I started gaming and when this came up, I decided that it was time to retire and have a new life. So here I am. I have set the maths behind me and now have a new hobby. If I ever start talking about partial differentials please stop me."
"Wow," Lance said, "I am so sorry you had such a hard time finding friends and hope we turn out better than the people you hung out with before."
Polly just smiled and nodded, a hopeful look on her face.
The party chatted for a while and then decided to get some rest and headed up to their rooms.
**********
Once safe in his room, Lance checked the time. Seeing it was just after 6 pm, he mentally issued the command to return to his offline home and called Pastor Joe. After a few moments, a holographic image of his friend appeared.
"Hey Lance, you ready to eject yet?"
"Joe, I have met two other Christians and I am feeling a burden for them. One is a baby Christian; the other seems earnest. Leaving them," Lance paused for a moment, "would feel wrong."
Joe nodded slowly, "I know you are very serious about your service to God. This is just such a divergence from any normal ministry path."
"Kind of like the first missionaries sent out from protestant churches?" Lance asked.
Joe laughed, "Yeah, I suppose kind of like that. They left everything they knew to enter the mission field. Many of them never returned home. But for them it was a planned trip with many preparations." Joe closed his eyes for a moment. "This concerns me; taking a vacation like this is one thing, but you are talking about this being a permanent choice. You would be leaving God's creation behind to live in the creation of men."
"So you are saying people should not live in houses or drive in cars?" Lance responded snarkily.
Joe gave him a knowing glare. "Wasn't it you who said yesterday that you would be back to 'real life' and 'real relationships' in a week or two?"
"But that is the thing, Joe. The relationships here are real, and it feels like real life. It's not like God is not here; He is here and I believe that there is ministry and purpose here. The inmates, welfare recipients, and VA guys have no choice but to be here once they join. Who will minister to them?"
Joe did not look convinced. "Well, in any case, you need to make a decision, quickly, likely in the next day or two at most."
Lance nodded, all of the snark gone. "I am going to pray about this very seriously."
Joe shook his head. "I can't tell you that this is a sin, I just don't get the attraction. But, you are a man and able to make these decisions. Just note that my input is that you should get out as fast as you can and leave this place behind."
"Noted. You are a good friend Joe, and I will consider what you’re saying."
Lance changed the subject. "Any news from out there?"
"Yeah," Joe replied, "The condition of people leaving the game is not much worse than earlier, but Lance, don't be fooled, everyone is saying that it will get worse. Some are saying that conditions could increase suddenly. For example, blindness or deafness could emerge. A lot of people are wising up and leaving the game."
"I can see that. Anyone who was a tourism player, or maybe just curious about the game should be leaving immediately."
Joe gave Lance a look but said nothing.
"What about the lawsuit?" Lance asked.
"Well this game was national news before, but now, with people coming out injured and a pending religious freedom lawsuit, you guys are front page on a daily basis. The legal group presented their injunction today, and the judge's decision is pending. Also, there is a class action lawsuit claiming fraud on the part of Fantasy Mainline. They never exposed that there would be physical injury to the players. This is clearly not hard to prove, and the people affected are mostly wealthy. Lance, people are asking what will happen to this game if they are sued out of existence. What will happen to all of these welfare recipients and inmates who now live in the game?"
Lance took a deep breath before replying, "Well someone needs to figure this out, real people live here Joe, real people like me."
Joe nodded, "Oh before I forget, one of the inmates I have been ministering to is now in the game. Apparently, he has been forced to play as an orc. I am going to try to get you guys connected, he is an amazing Christian."
"That sounds awesome Joe, I can't wait to meet him," Lance replied. "What is his in-game name and class if you know?"
"He is called Grog, I think he said he is playing a fighter."