Dante spawned at the same location he logged off from. The camp had went from being nearly full to barren. Hunting, probably.

Dante inspected his body, glad to see it healed. The sloth had quite literally scooped a part of his body, both flesh, and bone, and all of it came back in a matter of an hour or something. The only thing that remained of the bear's slashes was a few marks on his back.

It was neat. Everything healing in such a short while meant Dante could be a bit reckless. Besides the two hour lockout, Sai didn’t mention any punishment for dying.

Level 2 is going to help quite a bit. If he was going to fight unarmed he might as well be rewarded for the system for it—using weapons just did not fit his image. Gauntlets, maybe. Kristina saw her play a couple of those characters, and their style seemed to fit Dante. Hopefully, it would make him of actual use to the party.

“What are you brooding about?” Pistil said, slapping Dante’s back. “Also, where is everyone? It’s 5 past the time.”

“Dunno. What skill are you going for? I can’t decide between something that might make me deal actual damage or something that might keep me alive.”

“Uh, depends. If you’re going to constantly be fighting with Steins and Skan, then tanking and providing utility for them is better. The utility is what I’m going for—their fight gave me a reality check.”

“Hm, in that case, why don’t I just become super-fast and dodge everything? It will make me hit more and survive."

Dante heard laughter behind him. He turned to see two orcs making their way towards him. The one in the lead had a bone spear that was followed by an eight-foot orc that just carried a damn log on his shoulders. “Sorry, sorry,” the one in the lead said. “I heard you talking. You knew to VR?”

“Played that dragon-hunting game a few years back, though I’m still learning,” Dante replied. That person had a smirk that seemed so… punchable.

“Holy shit. Starting with Broken Realms as your first VR? How did you even get invited?”

“Slicker,” the large orc said. His voice was deep and smooth. Not as horse as Dante expected it to be. “Stop wasting time.”

“Sorry, sorry—that’s like trying to fly when you can’t walk. It’s just silly, that’s all. Anyway, I’m Slicker and the scary one behind me is Blunt Force. You can call him Blunt.”

“I’m Da—”

“I heard you guys were starting a guild,” Slicker said, cutting in. “We want in.”

Dante turned towards Pistil. “Sai mentioned it off-handedly,” Pistil said.

Damn it dude. Dealing with rude idiots was Dante’s job, but Sai could have at least warned him. “Sorry about that, we’re not open yet. Still getting things together.” It wasn’t just that, of course. Dante just didn’t like the dude. It might have been shallow to recruit based on first impressions, but Dante’s instincts have yet to fail him.

“For real? We waited an hour for nothing?”

“No one told you to wait,” Pistil said, shrugging.

“Whatever. I’ll wait to hear it from The Bloody Hound,” he said, clicking his tongue. “When will she be back?”

“The ground is yours,” Dante said, taking a few steps away from them. Where were Sai and Kristina? For a secret-meeting-behind-his-back, they sure were taking their time. “Know what happened to Skan?”

Pistil shook his head. “I got back ten minutes ago. Haven't seem him."

Something flashed behind Dante. With a groan, he turned again. Seriously, why does everyone appear behind me? A skill that helps him turn would be more useful at this point. At least this time it was a friendly person—a really friendly person. The gleeful look that flashed on Kristina’s face when she met eyes with him frightened him.

What did she do. Sai not being here made Dante worry even more. “Where is Sai—”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Not sure, I didn’t do anything wrong,” she said quickly, walking past him without a pause. “If Skan isn’t here then he might not come—let’s just go hunt!”

Dante swallowed. Maybe I should stay out of that one. This was the fist time Dante saw Kristina be so giddy. He didn't know what to expect.

“Excuse me, can I have a word please, Bloody Hound?” Sicker said. He stood straight with his spear by his side.

“No,” Kristina replied without a pause in her stride.

So he does have manners. Dante and Pistil werne’t worthy enough. Tragic how he held onto it for the person that couldn’t care less about it.

After a good chuckle and taking pleasure in the startled look on Slicker’s face, Dante followed her. “If we’re searching for a boar it might be helpful to get a gob—"

“We’ve been waiting for a long time! At least you could do is just hear me out,” Slicker said.

Kristina was in a good mood. She didn’t kill him right then—she only stopped, summoned her, spear, and turned around. Her smile was impeccable. “Okay. Go ahead.”

Dante was proud to see Blunt step back. See, being big doesn’t mean dumb. Slicker, on the other hand, kept talking.

“That chimpmuck told—” Slicker cut his sentence short. He snapped his spear in front of him."

“Are you talking about m…are you talking about our chipmunk?” she said with red ki flowing out of her skin.

Oh my. That was so adorable Dante’s heart skipped a beat. Meanwhile, Pistil began shaking on his side. He had his spear out as well. “What’s wrong? She can handle it. I don’t think the guy in the back intends on fighting too.”

“Don’t you feel it?” Pistil barked. “How could you be so oblivious. She’s releasing bloodlust!’

Ohhhhhh. That explains the heart skip.

“Hey, I asked you a question,” Kristina said, stepping towards him.

“Yeah boy, the madam asked you a question!” Dante said, hopping behind her with his hype man skills turned up to maximum.

She kicked him in the shin, and this time actually sent him jumping up. The strength behind that kick was unnatural—the ki she was using must have powered her up.

“What you doing this for!” she yelled.

“What do you mean! The kid is literally frozen in fear, and you want me to act like there’s some shitty suspense going on here?”

“That doesn’t mean you can act like that. You're ruining my image!”

“Oh no, Kristina’s—”

“Steins! It’s Steins!” she yelled, throwing another low kick at him. Dante jumped back, dodging the first, and received the second kick on the bottom of his soles. Her slippery foot pulled back before Dante was able to stomp it against the ground. When she swung her spear Dante stepped within her range, avoiding the tip, he received her attack on one arm while the other punched straight at her.

She blocked with one arm. It pushed her back with no damage taken.

Damn, Ki is broken. It made her stronger, faster, and more durable.

“I-I’m still here!” Slicker yelled, though when everyone turned towards him he froze again.

“Hey, Mrs. Bloody Hound the great, please take care of your fanboys,” Dante said, pointing at Slicker.

“I’ll get you after him,” Kristina said, sticking her tongue out at him. She walked towards Slicker, and stuttered to a stop when a six-foot log whacked him directly on the head. It squashed his head against his neck, causing blood and bone to spurt on both sides. Slicker collapsed to the ground with a thud, his head all but gone.

“Cooooool!” Dante said, his eyes wide. His opinion of Blunt, and large weapons in general, was vastly increased.

Blunt bowed towards them. “I apologize for his behavior, we were only recently acquainted.”

“Hey,” Dante said, rubbing his cheek against the top of Kristina's head. “I think found someone to replace Skan!”

“He’s your responsibility, then. We wasted enough time. I swear if I don’t get to kill something within the next 10 minutes I am going to blow.”

Dante practically hopped towards Blunt. He extended a hand over Slicker’s corpse. “I’m Dante. Want to play with us?”