Mathyx smiled as he carried the large burlap sack through the woods. With the sun shining through the leaves, he felt it appropriate for the occasion. He could hear Marithra chattering away behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he caught sight of her and the streaming crystal floating just in front of her.
Marithra was the typical elven beauty. Willowy without being too thin. Her long, dark hair was tied back into a ponytail, rather than her usual bun. The dark leathers she wore served to hide her body while still accentuating her figures. He never did figure out how she managed to do that in clothes that were supposed to be stealthy. Especially given the stat buffs the armor gave her.
His avatar, however, was as plain as an elf could be, with short black hair, basic features, and brown eyes. Were it not for the pointed ears, he could have easily been mistaken for a human.
“We’re near the village for the final turn in! We just want to thank all of you for helping with this last quest. We wouldn’t have been able to defeat the land dragon without you! This is the last quest we need for the Quest Master Achievement. It’ll also be a game first! It’s been months since we first set out on this journey and many of you have been with us since the beginning! We can’t wait to celebrate with you all back at the Capital!”
Suppressing a chuckle, Mathyx turned back to watching the surroundings as they neared the village. It had been a very busy few months, driven by some of his few remaining friends. A frown threatened to escape as he thought back on those he’d driven away in his self regret and depression. The accident had broken more than just his arm and leg.
Shaking away those thoughts before they could fully take hold, he instead focused on what to do once they were past the impending turn in. What would their next goal in the game be? While he’d been playing Fantasy Quest Online for years, it was only recently that he’d found something to focus on rather than just wandering aimlessly through the game, enjoying the scenery and freedoms of an open world virtual reality game.
Early on in the game he’d been a dedicated raider, alongside his wife and a group of friends they’d made over the years. They’d cleared dungeon and dungeon, going for the fastest times or first clears. They still held some of the records for the server, their names immortalized on the monoliths outside those dungeons and on the Records Wall of the Capital.
That all ended with the accident. He rubbed the arm holding the bag with his free hand, from elbow to wrist, as phantom pain tingled along his arm, even in this virtual world. That accident had cost him his right arm and leg, but that was only the physical results. Losing his wife and daughters hurt worse than any damage the drunk driver could have inflicted. There were times when he’d wished he could have just died with his family. It took months of therapy to get him to the point where he could function without railing against the world. It took one of his other friends dragging him back into the virtual worlds, where he could ignore the physical wounds, to finally start his mental recovery.
Then came the Quest of Quests. Marithra had been the one who originally suggested it, but Grilkor, Annamarie, Nathaniel, and the rest had all jumped on the opportunity. The goal was to complete every quest in the game, earning the achievement of Quest Master, something that no one else in the game managed (or bothered) to do yet. As a server first, their names would once again be etched onto the Records Wall. There was also the reward of a new VR interface from Fantasy Quests’s parent company, as well as access to the beta for their next game.
Those incentives had been enough to get his friends on board with Marithra’s plan and they’d dragged Mathyx along until he was as much a driving force as she was. It helped that she was a well recognized streamer and that her followers had been willing to help them work towards their goal.
The clank of armor drew his attention to the side where Nathaniel had walked up. The big man was dressed wearing his normal tanking gear, one of the best sets in the game and one that the group of friends had worked hard to get him. “I’m glad that you and Marithra are going to be the first to complete the achievement. You’ve both put in the most work and quite frankly, you’ve needed an equipment upgrade for years. I still can’t believe you’re still using first generation access gear.”
Mathyx shook his head, chuckling slightly. “Yeah, well, not all of us have big tech jobs. My VR set has handled everything Fantasy Quest could throw at me, including this big fella.” He gave the sack an affectionate pat. “But yeah, I’ve been noticing the slight sync issues of late. Not enough to fully throw off my aim, given the assist from the system, but enough that I’ll welcome the upgrade.”
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Nathaniel grinned and clapped a gauntleted hand on Mathyx’s shoulder. The smaller man suppressed a wince. The tank was almost a pure strength build, whereas Mathyx had gone for agility and intelligence for his custom arcane archer build. “Well, let’s hurry and get you that new rig. Then you can help the rest of us finish catching up.”
Mathyx chuckled and nodded, picking up the pace slightly. It wasn’t long before they arrived in the elven village. With how remote the location was, along with no major resource nodes in the area, very few players made their way out there. It was one of the reasons no one else had completed the achievement yet.
Spotting the village elder near the gate of the village, Mathyx waved and held the sack aloft! “We return victorious. Your village will no longer be plagued by the land dragon.” He tossed the sack to the elder, who upended it at his feet. The mangled head of the dragon tumbled free to land in the grass, drawing hisses and gasps from the other elves nearby.
“You have done our people a great service, adventurers. We thank you. We ask that you take these trinkets and coins as a sign of our thanks.”
Fireworks burst to life overhead and a familiar fanfare played in everyone’s ears. A system window appeared in Mathyx’s view. “Congratulations! You have earned the ‘Quest Master’ Achievement!” Simultaneously, there was a booming announcement from the game system and a large status screen appeared across the sky, telling the whole server about the World First Achievement for both Mathyx and Marithra, as they both got credit simultaneously for turning in the quest.
Marithra bounded over and engulfed Mathyx in a hug. He returned the embrace and was smiling as he turned to his other friends. They were all smiles until they all gaped and pointed behind him.
Turning around, he felt himself gape as a massive black dragon loomed behind him. How had it even snuck up on them? Just the wind pressure from those sky blocking wings should have been felt for miles, blowing down trees and flattening the village. That it just sat there in the middle of the village, somehow managing not to squash the place was almost as unbelievable as it sneaking up on them.
“Congratulations, Quest Masters!” That voice boomed out with the wind force that Mathyx would have expected from the winds of travel. “You have completed my challenge and are therefore worthy to be my champions! Go now, to the world that awaits you!”
Mathyx released Marithra to fully face the dragon, forcing his mouth closed. He ran through a bunch of different responses, when Marithra beat him to it.
“The world that awaits us? What do you mean?”
The dragon’s toothy maw stretched in what Mathyx could only assume was an attempt at a smile. Considering those teeth were each larger than he was, he didn’t feel very relieved.
“A new world, where the Gods and Greater Beings may vie for supremacy. The world of Mindoria! I shall see you there!”
The dragon vanished just as suddenly as it appeared, a gaping void appearing where once there had been a dragon. The void was filled with stars and patterns that Mathyx’s brain couldn’t quite grasp. That void snapped closed with a boom that he felt in his soul.
What did the dragon mean, by a new world? Was it an unannounced expansion? A hidden world unlocked by the achievement? Turning to his friends, he tried to ask them, only for the world to go blank around him, leaving him in a void similar to the one the dragon had left behind.
For a moment it was just him and Marithra floating alone in the void. Then even that disappeared as blinding pain pierced his brain and drove him into unconsciousness.