Well, two other people found out about me being Lana. But they both took it rather well. And once we started off on our new adventure in Seacrest (getting Healina some gear and levels), we developed a really strong teamwork and, after just a week, we got our newest friend to level forty-five.
First off, we inadvertently ran across a quest related to our first destination with her, the Lightqueen's Tomb. It promised one heck of a reward for the quest-taker upon completion, the Staff of the Lightqueen, which was perfect for Healina. It was a healing-slash-summoner's staff with a bonus to Charisma and Wisdom.
So we continued on our merry way with this unexpected bonus and, after fighting our way through a bunch of hostile wood-sprites and a few trolls, we came across the dungeon in question. The dungeon itself was inhabited mostly by spirit-type monsters, so I had arguably the toughest time, even with Holy Arrow and Holy Crescent Flash. Lizzy didn't have it any easier, but since her specs were more aligned with a tank's she had a couple reflect skills that could help her do damage to them. Ariana had the easiest time, as you might expect from a mage, and despite her initial worries about fighting Healina picked up a few skills for repelling incorporeal and undead monsters.
And then we got to the end of the dungeon, where we faced the Lightqueen herself, who had been corrupted into a lich. Using the special items given to us by the quest-givers, we were able to slowly bring her health down and uncorrupt her, eventually putting her to rest for good. She then rewarded Healina with the set that bore her name, the Lightqueen's Raiment, and after that we went to claim the staff from the quest-giver. That got out healer up to level thirteen pretty quick, and it tricked her out with the perfect set for her intended play-style.
After she spent some time allocating her stats and selecting or upgrading skills, we ran around for a bit longer and then logged out for the night. On Saturday, we spent intermittent hours playing through the Mountains of Night, where we came across the semi-infamous trope of a quest chain. You know, one of those quests that leads to another and another and so on, usually getting harder and harder until you finally get to the last and hardest stage of them all.
Well in the Mountains of Night (a region more or less based off of typical Eastern European fantasy tropes), that quest chain involved dragons. Seven dragons. And if you count the final boss, eight dragons. It took up all of our Saturday and some of Sunday night to get through it, but we got through it and then some (there were a lot and I mean a lot of side-quests for that little odyssey, half of them necessary to advance the main quest and some of them that were just conducive to it or in the same area), and by the end of it all Healina was then level thirty-two. The rest of the week we spent on more relaxed quests and quest chains, and by Friday we had gotten her up to level forty-six--and ourselves to forty-nine.
With that finished, we spent a night relaxing in the hotspring. We also talked about our plans going forward; after all, the cap of the Aldholt Region is fifty. We would have to pick a region to start new adventures in soon; the discussion paused so we could dry off, head inside, and put on some casual wear to resume the discussion--not without a few jokes at my expense, of course. But anyway.
The agreement we came to was to explore a few more of the level-cap dungeons in the Aldholt regions and then move on to the Marshes of the Wyrd, which was rumored to have a quest chain that sped up one's travel there. Our actual destination was Xuanpu, an Asiatic region that Ariana and I in particular wanted to visit for the sake of honing our language skills. Lizzy and Healina agreed it was a good idea, and so the matter was settled for us.
Incidentally, there is no true level cap for Panarena Fantasy Online. There are regional caps, like the aforementioned fifty for the Aldholt, and fifty-five for the Marshes of the Wyrd, but regarding the game as a whole, as long as you can grind something--be it quests, monsters, or even other players in PvP (that sounds gruesome I know, but it is just a game)--you can continue gaining experience as long as you keep playing the game. The highest level players in the entire game at the current moment are over three-hundred, and there's only nine of them. I don't know if that's pathetic or admirable, given that the game has only been live for less than half a year, despite the six-month open beta test before that. Either way, it was certainly a testament to dedication, if nothing else.
But anyhow. We spent the next few days working on our crafting skills rather than exploring the dungeons right off the bat, and Healina picked up some crafting skills related to her tamer specs: cooking and charm-making, in particular, but she also delved into mystic craft, which produced items that aided in spell-casting for healer and summoners.
As for school, we were all doing pretty well there too, even if it wasn't as enjoyable. And let me tell you it was soo enjoyable to walk up to my locker without having it slammed shut by some over-sized neanderthal orangutan. My reputation went up a little bit as well, being the one who outwitted him into getting himself expelled. Not that it was hard...
Rachel and I have been more outgoing as well; these past few days, she's been pretty anxious or even distant about something. She hasn't told me yet, but I think there's trouble at home on her end. But she brightens up when we're together; she gets so bright, it makes me not want to ask, because I don't want to help put the sadness back on her face. Maybe I should, though... maybe she wants me to ask. I need to ask her soon, I thought to myself on Wednesday as school was ending. Not soon; I need to ask her now, I said to myself as I took a deep breath.
“Hey, Rachel,” I said to her as we finished packing our bags.
“Hm?” she turned to me.
“Ahh... I'm not sure if this is the right place, but... are things... at home... okay?” I asked her. A sad smile came to her face.
“I want to talk to you about that soon. But not here.” she whispered as she came closer.
“That's okay.” I assured her softly. “I just... I don't want you to feel alone.” I added. She wrapped her arms around me and buried her face in my chest.
“I know. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
We stood like that for a moment, and then she let go so we could head for the buses. She didn't let go of my hand until we were outside, when she kissed my cheek.
“See you for homework?”
“Definitely.” I replied with a smile, and we parted ways for the time being.
Now, things weren't just tense in our personal lives, mind you. The Aldholt regions were getting antsy as well, which was at least part of the reason we were planning to move on. See, there was this one guild, ⸸SOVEREIGN⸸, led by a level forty-eight player styling himself as Lord Garth. He was starting to ally or make pacts with other guilds around the area, and the stories about this sudden power play made the four of us fairly suspicious. I mean, guild alliances aren't anything new in any game; but this seemed off-key from the reports of Garth's personality.
Basically he was the classic egotistical narcissist, from what we heard. There was also a rumor that his dad was working for the company that ran the game, which only fueled his boldness in being who he was. He wasn't leader of an outlaw guild; ⸸SOVEREIGN⸸ was a proud elitist guild, consisting only of players who managed to pass some of the hardest quests or obtain some of the rarest items in the Aldholt and other contiguous regions. And the rumor most prevalent right now was that he was organizing an official treaty “for the good of all players in the Aldholt and nearby regions”, so they said.
Somehow, I doubted that. And why was this rumor popular right now? Because tonight was supposedly the night (or day in Panarena time) that this treaty was supposed to be unveiled at the Great Pavilion in Aldholt City. And so, after homework and chores and supper had been finished off, I scurried up to my room to enter Panarena and see what was what with my friends.
“He's becoming obsessed with that game of his,” I heard my mother say.
“Let him be; he does his chores, he's done the homework, and his teachers are proud of him! Dr. Robertson gave us that extraordinary phone-call about how he...” my dad began replying to her.
I didn't hear the rest after I closed my door, but I knew my dad would eventually have mom agreeing with him. So much for calling me an irresponsible daydreamer, I thought to myself as I stuck out my tongue and put on the Dream Machine, switching it on to enter that amazing and beautiful world.
***
When I logged in that night, I didn't see anyone in the guild on yet. Oh right, I almost forgot: we made a guild with the four of us: the Silvernight Queens. We actually formed it the second night of our adventures as a quartet, and we had continued garnering a certain reputation among local players as a force to be reckoned with.
I went to sit outside on the veranda and enjoy the sunshine; the in-game weather was just right, and it almost seemed a travesty that such a pretty day (even a virtual one) was probably about to be ruined by Garth and his scheming. If things didn't go well, things could get quite intense really soon; and even if they did go well for him there would be a lot of bad feeling.
Ariana soon logged in and joined me to sit in a sunny spot out on the porch; Healina and Lizzy were practically right behind her, but the two of them stayed inside. We could hear the faint sound of Lizzy's hammer coming from the lower floor of the estate; I guess the two of them were working on their crafting for the moment.
As the two of us sat there lazing in the bright sun like a pair of cats, I suddenly received a notification that a message had been sent. Ariana didn't get one; I guess that meant it had only been sent out to the local guild leaders in the area. I opened the message so both of us could see it as we sat up.
To the esteemed guild leaders of the Aldholt regions, including Aldholt, Ghoulwood, Belledown, Ipping Forest, Seacrest, Crystal Coasts, Varkstania, Mountains of Night, and the Woody Heights: greetings! I, Lord Garth of ⸸SOVEREIGN⸸, along with Angela of The Tea Cupboard, Angelfire of Flamehearts, and Wildeye of Mountain Tigers hereby cordially invite you to the ratification and signing ceremony of the Inter-Guild Aldholt Treaty, to be held two hours after you receive this message.
If you should choose to disregard this message, that is your choice; however, your future dealings in the Aldholt Regions will prove more difficult for the doing-so from here on out. We advise you to join in our celebration of unity and player-advancement spearheaded by myself and my esteemed colleagues so that we can all continue to enjoy the game as usual! I hope that our plea for the furtherance of cooperation in this endeavor will enlist both your sympathies and your joining hands with us for the common good of all players.
Yours in trust: Lord Garth, Angela, Angelfire, and Wildeye.
I read and reread the message, getting more disgusted the second time through. Ariana looked over at me, her red eyes filled with concern.
“Would he really make things that difficult?” she asked me.
“Players in MMOs will do lots of crazy things, and some of them really are control freaks like Garth who'll do anything to force other players into doing things their way. This could really backfire on him, though.” I said by way of answer.
“What should we do? Ignore it?”
“Nah... we'll go down and see exactly what's what first.”
“Hmm.” Ariana sighed as she looked down towards Aldholt City.
“What's up?” I asked her after a moment, closing the message.
“I think mom is in talks for a new job already.” she said, a vacant look in her eyes.
“H--already?” I wondered in surprise. “But I thought she seemed pretty decided on her job when we met at the mall...”
“That makes two of us,” she replied. “I'm guessing even Joshua doesn't know yet, but even if he did, he doesn't have the same issue with it I do...”
“Yeah, that's true...” I remarked. We looked over at each other, our eyes locked together.
“I don't want to lose you right after finding you.” Ariana said softly, a hint of tears in her eyes.
“That makes two of us.” I said with a gentle smile, enveloping her in an embrace as quiet tears fell from her eyes. “I don't care if it's a foolish hope; we'll find a way to stay together, no matter what.” I vowed to her; she nodded.
“We'll find it together.” she agreed. A few more moments passed, and then she brightened back up as we let go. “But for now, let's do what we can.” she said, and I nodded back. Lizzy and Healina then came outside.
“Hey! So did they send that message or what?” our Nordian smith said as they appeared.
“They want a meeting at the Grand Pavilion in a couple hours, Panarena time of course.” I reported to them.
“Hmm...” Healina frowned, looking down towards the city. “What do you think will happen?”
“I'm not sure,” Lizzy said with a certain chipperness in her voice. “I mean, I played a couple MMOs, but never got into anything like this before.”
“Heh, lucky... Midgard Rings and Galaxy Avengers got pretty intense with player-versus-player activities, especially in their open regions. It was brutal. And I guess that means you missed a lot of the Clan Wars in AoH as well...” I remarked, and Lizzy shrugged.
“I went to the tournaments mostly for fun, even if I was good enough to be one of two players left standing at the end of a certain event.” she said with a sly grin, and I grinned back.
“Well, anyway,” I continued, “My guess is that this is not going to go well. Maybe it'll be us, maybe it'll be someone else; either way, this message is so obviously the opening salvo for a con...” I said as I pulled it up again for them to see.
“Definitely a threat,” Lizzy nodded.
“It's a game for goodness' sake,” Healina shook her head.
“People like Garth don't really get that.” I told her. “I mean, sure, I'm obsessed with games, but even I know how to face reality when I have to.”
“Exactly.” Lizzy agreed.
“It's almost like...” I suddenly remarked, then trailed off. I wasn't sure of my thoughts on the matter.
“Like what?” Ariana wondered.
“I dunno...” I returned in a thoughtful tone. “Let's go down in battle-gear though to catch them off their guard; and keep your eyes open.” I told them. They agreed with me, and we quickly geared up in preparation to head down.
“Let's take a walk down for a change, get a feel for things.” Lizzy suggested, and the rest of us agreed to this as well.
We made our way down to the city on foot, entering it nearly an hour and a half later to find people gathering at the pavilion. Most of them were guild leaders and their seconds, and maybe a couple other guild officers, but there were a few loners and solo players milling around to see what was going to unfold and if this “treaty” was worth their time.
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As we reached the Grand Pavilion, I instantly recognized Lord Garth despite never having seen him. He had a rare set of armor and a sword that rumors said were nearly impossible to get at Aldholt levels; how had he gotten them, then? Next to Garth was his second, Humphrey, a more solemn individual than his boorish leader.
Angela of The Tea Cupboard was on their right, along with Angelfire and her second; and Wildeye was on the left of Garth. Why was I not surprised to see that Ty was his second?
Loads of players recognized us, of course, as we strode into the pavilion like--well, like queens. What? You thought we named ourselves arbitrarily? We actually snitched the name from piecing together some of the comments about us a few nights ago. But anyway. A lot of eyes were on us, and not just for our apparent celebrity, but because most players knew that we were the ones who would most likely antagonize Garth.
“There they are...”
“Think they'll sign it?”
“I doubt it.
“Lana looks super annoyed...”
“So does Elizasmith. Damn.”
“Garth's done it now.”
“Think they'll draw weapons?”
“Shh! They're at the table!”
“Shh!”
“Ohh, I gotta see this!”
Ignoring the peanut gallery, I approached the table with Ariana and the others, and we scanned over the “treaty” that Garth and his cronies had seemingly crafted painstakingly for our “viewing pleasure”.
In a nutshell? It was just about what I expected from Garth, and maybe a little worse. Basically Garth wanted the signees to contribute a percentage of all resources to an inter-guild stockpile so that all players regardless of their level would have something to work with. He also wanted to ensure that there were assigned time-slots for individuals or groups to harvest said resources so that no one could hoard them, along with another time-slot provision, this one for dungeon raiding. He himself, along with Angela, would take on the “noble role” of ensuring equal distribution, taking a cut of the resources for their own guilds (which from their point of view made sense, because they were the largest guilds and therefore deemed themselves our feudal overlords). There was a lot of other stuff in it, mostly about protecting caravans or gatherers-slash-foragers, but the gist of it was that they wanted to lock up resource-gathering and questing in the Aldholt.
I heard Lizzy almost growl as she read the terms; Healina made no reaction; Ariana let out a sigh of disgust. And then I looked up at Garth.
“What... is this...?” I asked him with a glare.
“Lady Lana?” he returned to me with a shameless smile.
“I agree that there are players who need protecting now and again, but this is too far! And locking up resources and dungeons in time-slots? This is a fantasy game, not a post-apocalyptic Earth! What kind of stupid prank are you trying to pull on us?” I demanded. The feeling I had earlier was starting to bug me again.
“Don't be so hasty, my lady; I'm sure even you can see the wisdom in--”
“What? Wisdom in what? Removing the challenges and obstacles in a game that make it fun? Depriving people who know what they're doing so that clueless idiots can just waltz in and take what they don't deserve without any sort of effort on their part? My guild and I built ourselves up with a struggle; no one handed things to us for just logging in! I'm not signing this sick joke of a 'treaty'.” I said to him adamantly.
“How dare you!” Angela said indignantly. “We--” she started to say again, but she was then interrupted by a fit of laughter--from Wildeye.
“What's the meaning of this?” Angelfire asked him.
“Ah, me; I went along with this farce just to see if anyone would call you out before I did, and it looks as if they have!” Wildeye said with a fierce grin.
“Don't do this, Wild; we've worked too hard on this to throw it away because of a few malcontents who dont--” Angela began, but he interrupted her.
“A few?” he said curiously. “Unlike you, I pay attention to all sorts of players in this game, whether they're part of my guild or not. There are many who agree this 'treaty' of yours is a farce. I'm glad to know Lana is one of them. The Mountain Tigers withdraw their support. If you think you can pull this off without us, and indeed without the Silvernight Queens, good luck!” he said.
I and the others needed no second bidding. We left the pavilion without even a backward glance, and Wildeye hastened out as well with Tyman bringing up the rear. Quite a few other players joined us as we made our exit, most notably Timidator and his second; more, it seemed, than Garth and his remaining friends had counted on. Wildeye caught us at the edge of town, holding up his hands for parley.
“Lana!” he said to me.
“Wildeye.” I replied as we halted.
“I am glad you saw through such connivance.” he said with relief.
“I'm glad you're not as loyal to fools as it seemed,” I returned in kind, and he laughed.
“No doubt he will soon force the issue and gain an alliance of those who will heed his call; for this reason, my guild and I will arrange for a counter-alliance. Will you meet with us later tonight?” he asked me. I looked at the others. They nodded their support.
“We'll join you.” I said, reaching out a hand.
“You can find us in Varkstania, at Mount Fang.” he said to us as we shook hands.
“Got it!” I said in reply.
“Good hunting to you!” he said as we parted company for the time being.
When we got to a fork in the road, Healina and Lizzy split to do some exploring, and Ariana went with me up to Cloverbell. The two of us sat on our bench again once we returned, resuming our casual wear. Ariana sighed, and leaned on me as we gazed out at the sky, which was now fading into a sunset.
“I know I agreed, but getting involved in this seems a bit much. There really will be a war, won't there? A player war,” she said sadly.
“Ehh, it looks like it,” I agreed.
“Hmm.”
Snap. Red alert. She's not liking this idea.
“Ahh--but it's not like anyone really dies or gets hurt; I mean, sure, there's some bad feeling about it, but I think it's more just a way of players letting off some steam that's built up; we've all gotten this far, and we want to test each other's skills. I think that's the real undercurrent driving this wave of conflict.” I managed to ramble out in a more or less coherent and surprisingly sensible explanation. She looked back at me with curiosity.
“Oh?”
She seems interested...
“Yeah; maybe that's the feeling I had earlier. They don't want to wait for an official event, so they concocted this to provoke one of their own. It'll blow out soon and we'll all laugh about it later!” I said.
“Hmm... that does make sense now that you say it that way,” she agreed.
Okay, that was a good explanation... even if it's not exactly what my suspicions are; but any port in a storm if it cheers her up!
“Okay! We'll go along with it then! But if we manage to find a peaceful solution,” she said to me, and I smiled back.
“Then we'll go for it. I promise.” I told her.
“Good!” she replied, and then kissed me. We rarely did this in Panarena, mostly because it felt somewhat weird; but, sometimes, we didn't care.
***
We entered the Varkstania region as a group again a couple hours later. Varkstania was basically a continuation of the Mountains of Night thematically and aesthetically, except it was dominated by flatlands and marshes, with only a few mountains--such as Mount Fang. Like the Mountains of Night, the Russo, Slavic, and Germanic fantasy tropes were strong in the region. Mount Fang itself was nearly dead-center in the region, and it was the tallest mountain in the Aldholt regions. Lizzy let out a whistle as she caught sight of it.
“Boy, that really does look like a fang,” she remarked.
“Like a saber-toothed cat's fang, almost.” Healina agreed.
“Dear designers: you nailed it.” Lizzy quipped, and we laughed.
“Wow, there's a lot of others showing up too,” I said as we began ascending the path to the guildhall near the top of the mountain.
We found Wildeye and the others in the great hall of the Mountain Tigers' guildhall; there were several players gathered whom we knew or had heard good things about with him. Timidator, of course; Jannie Brooks of the Lightbook Bridage, a sword-and-shield user who was apparently a brilliant battle-strategist; Magisteria of Words and Sorcery, a premiere mage-player (though personally I believed Ariana might be stronger, or at least more ingenious and creative); and there was another player called Deathscythe who led the newly infamous guild Hallow's Eve. He and his gang had, almost amusingly, formed in Varkstania itself. They had taken out one of the world bosses a few days ago; I mean, they spawned back, but still -- those things are serious business, as I told Ari a few weeks ago.
“Good, good!” Wildeye said as we entered. “Is everyone here?”
“I think so, boss.” Tyman said. “The Queens' came in with the last group of stragglers from what Mongrel just DM'ed me.”
“Right,” the other nodded back. “All right then; we're all here because we want to oppose Garth and ⸸SOVEREIGN⸸. And we're going to start poking holes in their plans as soon as we can; perhaps not tonight, but definitely tomorrow.”
“I think we know some of his flaws already,” Jannie said. “His 'alliance' called for 'integration of fighters' to create larger groups, 'armies', to enforce their will.”
“They want to combine fighters who haven't worked with each other.” Magisteria nodded at the words. “Sounds smart at first, but practically speaking it's dumb in a game like this.”
“The VR world, you mean.” Jannie returned.
“Exactly.”
“But we can overcome those numbers with our strengths; we can simply fight as our usual groups with minimal coordination.” I said, and the others nodded.
“Agreed.” Wildeye grinned.
“Since he's intent on locking up resources and dungeons, we should give him a bit of grief on those counts first. Snatch up some rare resource deposits and clear a few crafting dungeons; that should irritate them.” Timidator said, and more than a few people chuckled.
“We should also try something else, though you might not like it.” I said, and they looked over at me.
“Lana?” Jannie wondered.
“We should sent messages to the outlaw guilds, see if they want in on the action. Maybe even offer them a certain cut of some kind or another. I know it sounds dirty, but if they can help us end this sooner...”
“Then we would be foolish not to at least ask.” Wildeye nodded. “It is a good plan, but let us not forget that the other side might try the same thing.”
“True.”
“Let us also not forget that other guilds in other regions may be watching; some may offer to join us, some may offer to join Garth. I am hoping that they will see through Garth and his honeyed slavery, as we have, but let us not get complacent.” Wildeye continued, and the others nodded.
“Yo, boss, me and some of the boys can take down that one crafting dungeon near Garth's home base in two hours flat.” Tyman said. “Think we can do it tonight, too.”
“I can get some to raid Belledown and the Ghoulwood for rare crafting items.” Magisteria added.
“My friends and I can work our magic in the Crystal Coasts.” Deathscythe said as he crossed his arms.
“I appreciate these gestures; do them of your own free will if you will, and let us hope Garth sees how determined we are!” Wildeye said, and they nodded their heads in answer.
“Let's draw up some plans for a more coordinated series of battles tomorrow; and let's bet on the outlaws rejecting our terms and deciding to make their own mischief for both sides,” Jannie then said as she gazed over the map of the Aldholt.
“I have to say I agree, despite my putting forth the idea...” I said with a shrug.
“You never know.” Wildeye remarked with his own shrug. “They may yet surprise us.”
“Either way, the Blackwood gang is not getting my sword back!” Timidator quipped, smashing his fists together, and there was another round of laughter. “But what do you mean, Jannie?” the big man then asked her.
“Both ⸸SOVEREIGN⸸ and Flamehearts have guild outposts scattered throughout the region; as you know, outposts are not guildhalls--they're vulnerable to PvP and can even be seized from a group or guild by a thoughtful attack.”
“Turn their defenses against them, I like it!” Timidator grinned.
“I have a contact who might like to help with that... I'll have to reach out tomorrow and ask him about the matter,” Wildeye mused.
“What about our flagship team?” Magisteria said with a faint smile, looking towards us. I blinked, and pointed a finger at myself inquiringly. “Yes, you!”
“I'm sure they'll think of something to do once we outline our plans tomorrow,” Wildeye said with a grin.
“That's true,” I nodded. “It's late for us now, though,” I said as I pulled up a menu to see the real-world time.
“Ah! Right. We should also coordinate rotations to account for our younger fighters, even if they are the stars of the Aldholt region!” Wildeye beamed, and the four of us looked around at each other sheepishly.
“Whatever, boss. But I'm still going for that dungeon. Ain't no problem for this high-schooler here,” Tyman shrugged.
“Well, at any rate, we have plans and the gist of further plans.” Jannie said to us. “One thing before we adjourn for the night; I agree that we should stick to our usual groups, but I also think we should designate commanders in case we have to band together.” she said, and there were many who agreed to this.
“Wildeye and Lana, obviously.” one voice said.
“Jannie should be one too.” I said, “And some of the other guild leaders, or even seconds.”
“Let us not get too many, however.” Wildeye cautioned. “Magisteria? Deathscythe? Timidator? Gerald? Wolfbane? What say you?”
“Not me,” Timidator said.
“Nor me,” Gerald shook his head.
“Magisteria.” Deathscythe said, and Wolfbane nodded his head, as did the other two.
“Are we all agreed on these choices?” Wildeye asked. A round of clapping was heard. “Then we four and no more shall be your commanders; we appreciate your nominations and your trust. That said, as Jannie pointed out, these designations shall only be used if we have to fight a pitched battle or if we come together for a siege.” he said, and there was more clapping for the words.
“Right, that's definitely enough talking for the night. Let's do some damage and then plan things out at our next meeting!” Magisteria said. A short but poignant cheer rose up from all of us at those words, and then Wildeye said one last thing.
“Out of simple curiosity, should we have a name for our pact?” he wondered.
“Oh! That'd be groovy.” Jannie clapped her hands.
“Any ideas?” Magisteria wondered, and then smiled. “No, I know.”
“What?” Deathscythe asked.
“In honor of the two who so beautifully slapped Garth in the face, at least metaphorically, I propose the name 'Silver Tiger Pact'.” she said.
I didn't think it was possible for applause to be so loud, but it was. Wildeye and I exchanged a wry grin. For better or worse, the Silver Tiger Pact had been born.
When the four of us returned to Cloverbell, Lizzy and Healina headed out for the night, and Ari and I sat down on the couch in the common room, as we usually did. The two of us were content with each other's company for several peaceful moments, not saying a word and not needing any either. It was almost eleven in real-time. Ari looked over at me then, giving me a somewhat amused look.
“Are all player wars in games like this?” she wondered.
“Hmm...” I began as my face crinkled a bit, “I mean, this is an entirely new medium, so it's not exactly the same, but the basic principles are the same. Nothing can really get lost except fortifications and resources, and gear in this game--as we found out in Timidator's case--and this house in particular is designated as a non-PvP area.”
“So... put simply, our objective is to frustrate the other side into giving up by gathering up resources and finishing dungeons to lock them out as often and as much as we can... which kind of sounds like harassment, to be honest.” she noted.
“That's... not unfair... but to be more fair to us, Garth is planning to do pretty much the same thing, it was just dressed up prettier in the wording.” I replied.
“That's true.” she said with a smile. “So we're being more honest about it is all,” she added with the faint hint of a smirk.
“More or less,” I said with a small laugh.
“I think I might enjoy myself at least a little bit. I do want to see how our skills compare to other players... but if it goes on too long...”
“That'd be annoying...” I nodded. “I bet by the weekend, though, they'll be calling for talks to settle everything again.”
“That'd be good.” Ariana smiled. “You got that last bit of homework done, right?” she then asked me with a more serious look.
“I managed it, somehow...”
“Good!” she returned, patting my head. “All right, we should get off, it's super late.”
“True... see you tomorrow, then.” I told her, and after a tight hug the two of us logged out. As I fell asleep in the real world, I felt like my subconscious hit upon something important, but before it could actually become a thing in my conscious mind I conked out for the night.