If there is one thing that most teenagers hate, it's going to school. If there's another thing that some of us really hate, it's going to school when you really want to be playing video games. Either way you sliced that cake, I, Sean Daniels, hated going to school.

I wasn't a bad student, though, if I'm being honest. Sure, I got into a scuffle now and again, but I had a lot of good marks on my side to make up for that. And since last year the incidents that led to by being in a scuffle had dissipated. It's not that I was a top-dog or anything like that. Nah, I was never a top-dog; just a vicious one. At least if you set me off. I guess that's part of the reason I ended up in a bunch of different martial classes.

Anyway. No one bothered me on the bus, and no one bothered me in orientation. Oh, and if there's a third thing that teenagers hate (probably second for some of us), it's wearing matching uniforms.

Yep, I was at one of those schools. Black uniforms with a dark red tie and brown or black shoes for guys, and the girls had pretty much the same, except they wore a red and black checkered skirt. We also had a sweater or jacket with a red stripe at the end of the sleeves for colder or more formal days. I felt like I was a drone trooper in Galaxy Avengers.

After orientation was over I went to my locker. It was just outside the room that would be my homeroom for the next abysmal year of school. A sigh of exasperation escaped me, and then I heard voices whispering in excitement. I turned to my right; they were looking down past where I was. I turned to my left; there was a very cute -- no, I mean super hot girl with dark hair and green eyes walking towards the locker that was... right... beside... mine.

There was something about her. And then I noticed her hairstyle. It was just like Ariana's. I stood there for a moment in shock. Was it...? Was she...? What were the odds?

As she opened her locker she noticed my starstruck gaze, and turned to me with a faint smile. I quickly stopped my flabbergasted expression and smiled back.

“Uh, hey... sorry, I just--”

“It's fine.” she shrugged. “I'm Rachel, Rachel Danes.” she said, reaching out her hand.

“Sean--Sean Daniels. And I really am sorry.” I said sincerely. That voice; it has to be. But I can't say anything.

“Hmm?” she said with a cute smirk as we shook hands. “Not the average bear, are we? Tough guy or scholar?”

“Me?” I wondered, and then shrugged. “Kind of in-between; I guess I have a rep with other kids here, but the teachers usually don't hate me because I don't slack with assignments and stuff.” I told her, and she nodded.

“Huh. Kind of like that Arizona Tom character, I guess.” she said as she hung up her bag.

“Wh--yeah; yeah, I guess you're right.” I smiled. “You watch that?” I asked her, and she smiled back.

“All the time. I love that stuff, you know?” Rachel told me.

“It is pretty neat.” I admitted. I know I get good grades and all, but this girl is on top of things; if it is Ariana, that is. Maybe I should put in some more effort too, I thought to myself. “Are you a transfer student by the way?”

“Mm-hm.” she nodded back as we gathered our books. “All those assignments were a night-mare to do. How did you get through them?” she then asked me as we shut our lockers at practically the same moment.

“Heh, I stumbled through, somehow or another. It doesn't stick a lot, but I do them as best I can and get good marks for the effort.” I said as we walked into class.

“Nice.” she said. “You seem fun to talk to; I wonder if we're sitting together?” she continued as we looked up at the board where our seating arrangement was outlined.

I hope so, I thought to myself.

“I'd like that. You seem fun yourself,” I said to her with a genuine smile, which was returned in kind.

“Oh nice!” she then pointed. Our names were indeed right next to each other. She was in front of me, in the first row. We went to the seats assigned to us, and when I had sat down she turned around to face me. “Do you know anyone here?” she asked me.

“Eh...” I began in an apologetic way, “I mean, I know about them, but I don't really know them, is the thing... I'm usually off in my own little world. Usually.” I replied.

“I hope I can be a part of that world. You're the first person who actually apologized for--” she broke off, blushing a little bit. Her hair color really was as dark as her avatar's, if she was Ariana; but the green eyes somehow made her way more cuter.

“Ah--! I mean, I should apologize, right?” I said with a wry expression. “It was, kind of silly, just staring at you.” I continued, twiddling my thumbs as I stared down at my desk. “And now that I know you're new here I really feel stupid... that must've been awkward....” I trailed off this time, and she took my hand. A big smile was on her face.

“I have a feeling we're going to be best friends.” she told me right there. I looked at her in amazement, and then smiled back.

“I'd like that. I've never had a best friend.” I said quietly, and she nodded.

“I haven't either. Looking forward to it, Sean.” Rachel said, and then the bell rang.

Two seconds later the homeroom teacher walked in, slapping a pile of folders on the desk as he called the class to order. Rachel patted my hand and turned around as we all came to attention, and the day began.

Rachel, I thought to myself, maybe this year won't be so bad with a best friend--and with a partner.

***

Home room passed into English class. English transitioned into history. History left us and gave us up to the terrors of mathematics. Mathematics halted its torture to let us be dazzled by the wonders of science. And science then called an end to morning classes to let us have lunch.

Those of us with packed lunches stayed in the classroom; those without them went to the cafeteria to eat. And wouldn't you know Rachel and I both had packed lunches? Without any hesitation she began unpacking her lunch on my desk even as I was doing the same, a smirk on her face. Best friend? I thought to myself, I think I'm falling in love!

“Isn't math a pain?” she whispered to me as softly as she could. Yes, I'm falling in love.

“Right?!” I whispered back excitedly. Her face lit up, and she let out a sigh of relief.

“Like I have enough trouble with exes without bothering with them in a math class,” she shook her head, and I smiled back.

“It's too much. My dad says he's never used any math more complicated than the basics his entire adult life.” I agreed, tossing a few raisins into my mouth.

“Same except it's my mom.” Rachel nodded. “Dude. Wavelengths. We have them.” she said to me then.

“History was okay, even if it is the United States all over again,” I remarked, and she held up her hand for a high five, which I took her up on.

“Like how many times can we hear about the American Revolution and all the things the Founding Fathers did in twelve years?”

“Right? I want to hear about other places!”

“Yes!” Rachel said excitedly. “I wonder if that's what this World Cultures class is about?” she suddenly said, turning back briefly and the placing a piece of paper down on my (our?) desk.

“That would be fun,” I agreed.

“Are you in this theater class too?”

“I hadn't decided, officially.”

“I'm deciding. You're coming with me.”

“Eh?” I blinked uncertainly.

“Yes. You are. Please?” she looked at me with a puppy-dog pout. Daaaang it, she is too cute.

“Uh, ah, sure!” I managed to stumble out, and she brightened back up.

“World Cultures, Theater and Performance, and...” Rachel frowned thoughtfully, gazing over the paper with scrutiny.

“All these afternoon classes are one-hour things, huh?” I said as I looked at it with her.

“Oh wow, some foreign language classes,” she suddenly noticed.

“Hm; they rotate in spring and fall, it looks like,” I noted, playing my head in my hand as I sat an elbow upon the desk.

“So... German and French, Chinese and Japanese, or Italian and Spanish?” Rachel asked.

“That's tough. They all seem useful, or at least fun.” I said. “Spanish is such a stereotype for kids here though, you know?” I added then, and she let out a soft smirk.

“That one's out then. Though it would be fun to get a bit of Italian down.” she shrugged.

“If you mean the subs I'm all for it.” I quipped, and she put a hand over her mouth as she began laughing quietly.

“I am liking you more and more,” she said. “Let's do something weird. Let's take the Chinese and Japanese.” she then continued, and I tossed the idea over in my head.

“That does sound neat. Let's do it.” I answered her, and Rachel smiled again. I could never get tired of that smile.

“World, Theater, Chinese, and then I bus home.” she sighed.

“Same.”

“Which bus?”

“Forty-two.

“Hmm. Twenty-nine.” she told me in turn.

“North side?”

“Yep. And yours?”

“South.” I said with a somewhat sobered expression.

“Aw.” she returned, making a pouting face again. "We'll have the weekends and the holidays, maybe... definitely holidays.”

“No definite weekends?” I wondered.

“Hmm... I got into this game recently, and met this super-cool person. You know, you kind of remind me of her a little bit. I don't know what it is.” Rachel told me.

I bet I know exactly what it is, I thought to myself as my suspicions were confirmed.

“Ah, cool. So you get wrapped up in other worlds for the weekends, huh?” I said to her with an interest.

“Mm-hm. What about you? Hobbies?” she asked me.

Ahh... how's this going to go?

“Eh, sometimes I play games, but mostly I just try to do homework and assignments to stay out of trouble.” I said in answer. It wasn't a total lie. Actually no, it wasn't a lie at all, when I thought about it.

“Hmm... that's fair.” she nodded. “What games do you like?”

Derp. Derpity-deripty-derp.

“I usually go with the old standards; Molek is still one of my favorites, and I still can't get over Void Crisis,” I said truthfully.

“Hmm? Classic gamer, huh?” Rachel nodded. “I got into this VR game; it's super awesome.”

“I heard about that one; it's gotten a lot of good reviews and a lot of happy customers, from what I've heard.”

“You should get it sometime. You can meet my friend there, too, and we can be a three-person team.” she told me with a smile.

Oh, Rachel, if you break down my door any more, I'm gonna buckle.

“Maybe someday,” I smiled.

“Or I could visit you in one of your old favorites. I think my brother mentioned that Molek has an online option?” Rachel mused aloud.

Saved!

“It does!” I nodded back. “Ah... but the discs are hard to find nowadays...” I then recalled.

Back to the torture rack...

“Hmm... my brother's still a pro-gamer. If he doesn't have it he can find it.” she shrugged.

“Nice.”

Saved again!

“But anyway; I think I'd actually enjoy spending my time with you in the real world more than a fantasy world, honestly.” she then told me, and I felt my heart skipping a beat as it got stuck in my throat. “Do you... not feel that way?” she suddenly asked, mistaking my reaction.

“Wha--n--wait! Wait. Sorry, I just, you caught me by surprise. I would love to spend time with you wherever we can.” I told her frankly. Her smile when I said those words; if I had died that second I would count myself as the luckiest man on Earth to have ever lived.

“It's settled!” she said to me then. “And we'll make more friends with the two of us; I know we will!” she added, and I could only smile back.

Sure, that'd be fun; but right now, all I can see is you.

You probably guessed from our conversation earlier that our school does things a little different. We get the four essentials in the morning, or at least what our faculty and staff deem as the primary ingredients of education, and then in the afternoon we have three electives. The first week or so we spend the afternoon figuring out which ones we want to take. But it seemed like Rachel had already planned it all out for us. It made me wonder if she might be planning out our wedding too; of course, that was most likely just a plain out fantasy.

Oh, and unlike the morning classes, we have to move to different parts of the school for these final three courses.

So for the rest of the day, we learned about things we wanted to learn about yet which were still valuable to building us up as grown adults. I do hate school, but this one isn't so bad. At least they have the guts and gumption do do something unique, something that even a school-hater like me can tolerate and even make his own fun in if he's given enough slack.

World Cultures; that was probably the most difficult for us. But it was fun, and it was good. Theater; eh, I'll warm up to it. Probably. Just so long as we don't do any Shakespeare... or is that too much to hope for? And Chinese: at least for the fall. Six-thousand characters needed to be known for fluency in written Chinese? Snap. But then I thought about Rachel--Ariana--being able to read those runes in the game last night, and I determined that it wouldn't slow me down.

When it was all over and we had our homework assignments for the classes that gave it to us, the two of us almost reluctantly packed our bags, shut our lockers again, and made our way to the bus lanes. We stopped a few paces away from the door. Forty-two was up ahead; Twenty-nine was further back. Rachel let out a sad sigh.

“They're even split apart. I won't be able to wave at you.” she said in an annoyed voice, looking at me with that look I had very quickly become defenseless against.

“Ph-phones?” I stammered out, and she brightened back up.

“Ah, you're so right! We never did exchange numbers! Here--” she said, pulling out her phone; I did the same, and we added each other as contacts. “Now I can annoy you all the way home and back to school again tomorrow.” she smirked mischievously.

“I won't get annoyed.” I said to her with a grin.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

“Challenge accepted!” she told me, waving a finger in my face. She then spread her arms out and wrapped me in a hug. I placed my arms gently around her.

No question, I'm in trouble.

“I really enjoyed today. Thank you. I won't really annoy you. Honest.”

“I wouldn't get mad even if you did.”

“You mean it?”

“I do.”

“You really mean it?” she asked me again.

“I really mean it.” I told her.

“Then I'll message you later.” she said, letting go of me to squeeze my hands and then head off to her bus.

I stood there for a moment, stunned beyond words, and then someone from my bus gently bopped my arm.

“Yo, Dans, come on.” the taller boy said to me; I nodded back, and we got on the bus together.

I said I didn't really have any friends, and I meant it. This kid who sat next to me on the bus though; well, it was kind of a friendly rivalry to be honest, even though it had started out as a huge fight three years ago.

Ty Smith. Basketball player. Not lanky, but not hugely muscled. Yet that tall dark and sporty guy whose father was a South African naive and whose mother was from the local 'hood packed a mean punch when you riled him up. And I riled him up.

To be fair he riled me up first. It had to do with a basketball that he had “accidentally” hit me with. He only laughed about it at first, calling me dumb for not moving. I called him a jerky-peanut brain for throwing it at me in the first place. He called my mother fat. I called his mother something just as bad. We both threw a punch at the same time. He hit my gut, I hit his face.

I don't really remember much after that, except, being a martial arts kid, I was surprised by how resilient his street moves were.

We about tore each other to pieces before the teachers finally pulled us off each other. After that we sat in the principals office for an agonizing two hours. It was near the end of that second hour that we started making faces at each other. Eventually we just burst out laughing at how stupid we both looked. We formally apologized to each other in front of parents and principal, but I think we had really apologized earlier with that laughing about our dumb looking faces. Ever since then, we didn't really talk or become best friends, but we'd stick up for each other when it needed doing. I guess we were what some people might call night-time friends; like stars, you only see them when it's dark. But that's when you need them most.

Anyway. He always called me Dans. I always called him Ty. He wasn't the top-dog in our grade either, by the way--or the school for that matter. But I had a feeling he was pretty close.

The bus ride home would have been so much torture, but Rachel kept her promise to “annoy” me. Yeah, no, there's no question. I like this girl.

For the rest of that week, it was high school student by day, adventurer-hero by night. In the daytime I listened with an awe that wasn't actually as fake as I thought it would be while Rachel told me about her adventures with her in-game teammate; it was actually kind of neat to disconnect myself from Lana and hear Ariana's version of events, as Rachel told them. On the other hand, it was a little more weird to hear about the real me when we were in Panarena together during the two real hours or so before bed. What was weirder, though...

***

It was Friday night. Ariana and I were leaving the Ipping Forest area. We had gotten to level twenty-five, and were now setting off to explore zones that were more challenging and dangerous. At a certain point, most of the little streams fuse together into a river, where you can hire a boat to ride down to the next area. We did this, and sat together near the side of the boat, studying the map and wondering what sorts of adventures would be there for us. It was in a lull during that conversation that the bombshell dropped.

“Hey, Lana, have you ever dated anyone? In real life, I mean?” she asked me as I was taking a drink from a fruity beverage. I almost choked. When I had recovered myself (in a most impressive cover, I might add), I looked over at her and shook my head.

“Not me.” I told her.

“Hmm.” she returned, a somewhat wistful tone in her voice. “You know that boy from school I tell you about all the time?” she continued, and I nodded. “I think I like him after all. Not that I have a problem being seen as 'one of those girls' in game, but... you know.” she told me.

It took everything I had not to break down at that moment.

Then again, was I right to keep it a secret at this point? At this rate, it wouldn't stay secret for long. Shouldn't I just tell her and accept the consequences?

“After just a week?” I wondered, both genuinely curious and stalling for time.

“I know, right?” she said with a more chipper tone. “I thought for sure a school with uniforms would be a drag.... but he has such an honesty about him and he's so super nice and genuine with me... and I think he likes me too.”

You have no idea.

“Ahh... is it no good after just a week?” she suddenly lamented.

“Eh? Ah... I mean, I dunno; just go for it, I guess.” I replied with a faint smile.

This is totally weird. I'm giving you permission as my online self to ask my real self out on dates. This is beyond weird.

“You're right.” she smiled back.

That smile; I really can't get enough of it.

“But anyway; where do you want to try heading after we pick a place in--what's the area we're headed for?” she resumed, and I looked back at the map.

“Oh, right, um... Aldholt, this one here,” I said, pointing to a larger city that was situated near a mountain range.

“Nice,” Ariana nodded. “Hmm?” she suddenly looked at it closely, and brought up another panel. “They have player housing here. Should we look into that?” she asked me.

“Hmm...” I blinked, looking at it for myself. “I mean, we'll have to look at the particulars when we get there, but I don't think that'd be a bad idea. And the area around it is good for a couple dozen levels or so, most likely, so it'd be nice to have a more private retreat.”

“Ah, okay... that does make some sense. You think it'll get much tougher?” she said as she looked over at me.

“Heh, probably. We got lucky in that dragon dungeon, so our equipment will be good for a while; but when we get to forty or so we should try and look into something else, or otherwise find a crafter willing to upgrade what we have. But crafters who can do that with rare sets like these...”

“Gotcha.” Ariana nodded back. “Well, we have enough raw materials saved up to at least make a small fortune. Maybe if we find one they'd take them in compensation?”

“The idea itself is sound, but what we have may not be good enough,” I told her with a gentle smile. “Let's see... our gear is rare quality, so we'd need some rare quality materials to make it a fair bargain.”

“That's true.” Ariana nodded again. “I bet this area would have the kind of stuff we need though. You have prospecting, right?”

“Yeah, and Mining Five. Lucky for us crafting and gathering skills are treated in a different category than fighting skills, so they level separately.” I nodded back.

“And you also have Hunting, Skinning, and Woodcutting; and I have Scholar Four and Harvester Four.” she mused aloud, examining her crafting panel. “And we both have Fishing Three.”

“Oh, that,” I said with a laugh, and she giggled too. We had spent most of Wednesday night on a fishing quest, but it had been -- well, I guess it was worth it to get Fishing Three. “So we can train our fighting skills and our gathering skills while here to earn coin and materials to upgrade our gear; and we can probably get a house too, which would be nice since we might be here for a while.”

“Mm, that sounds like a plan!” Ariana agreed.

“Let's look over the houses and such while we ride; maybe we'll find something and then just buy it when we get there.” I suggested.

“Only if we look at it carefully first.” she returned.

“Deal.” I agreed.

So we spent the rest of that river trip looking over the various houses and such that were still available; we were about to give up when we got to the final page, and then we both alighted on a house that was out by itself, up on a ridge of the mountain that overlooked the city. It was more of a homestead than a house, to be honest; it was called Cloverbell Estate.

“This one's unique,” I told Ariana. “It has a quest or quest chain to claim ownership. I'm surprised no one's done it by now...”

“Where -- ah, I see; we have to go to the lord's manor to get that quest.” Ariana said as she looked over the details.

“Hmm... if it's from the lord it might be a tough quest...”

“But to get that house? I like it. Let's do it.” she said to me at once. I felt like I was back in school with her. A smile leapt to my face.

“Let's do it, partner!” I said as she grinned back. With that resolution in mind, we suddenly found ourselves docking at Aldholt.

***

Aldholt was not unlike the town we had been staying in, visually speaking, but it was definitely larger and more than a few of the buildings were bigger. Especially the lord's manor. It stood above the market square, across from what was probably a temple. This, as we would find out, was the capital of the Aldholt Region, the southeastern portion of Panarena as a whole.

As we wandered towards the manor itself, Ariana and I asked questions about Cloverbell Estate; the NPCs all directed us to speak with the lord, while the players all told us to not take the quest. Apparently, some of them had at least tried it.

But you know teenagers. The more you tell them not to do something...

Well, by the time we got to the lord's manor we were thoroughly curious. The steward greeted us at the door, and ushered us in for an audience.

“The AI here is amazing,” I remarked to Ariana, who nodded in agreement.

“I wonder what this quest is,” she wondered.

“My lord, visitors have arrived.” the steward said, and the lord bade us approach.

“Honored guests, I am Lord Aldwine; what would you have?”

“Lord Aldwine, I would ask you about Cloverbell Estate and the mystery around it.” I said in answer, and the grey-haired noble gave me a look of interest.

“Few there are who have ventured upon that quest; most of those who do come back have returned in shame, unable to face the mysterious peril that plagues the estate. Dare I hope you are of a different breed of hero at last, my brave young ladies?” he asked us.

“I want to conquer this unconquerable mystery.” Ariana said, and I nodded with her.

“Tell us what to do, Lord Aldwine.” I said as I knelt before him, and Ariana knelt with me.

“It is said that the house is plagued by an ancient ghoul with seven servants. Each of them will come in turn during the hours of the night so long as you are there, it is said. That is what we know, save that most who have tried to undertake the quest for Cloverbell have all returned before the midnight hour.” he told us, and we looked at each other. This might be tougher than we thought -- but hey, we beat the Twin Dragons. What's a ghoul or seven?

“I understand, my lord.” I said in answer. “We will do what we can.”

“If you succeed you shall have the estate and all its furnishings granted to you in perpetuity, and you shall be exempted from the citizen's tax and recognized as thanes of the hold.” he told us.

With that our audience was concluded. We were shown out respectfully, and then we made our way into the market to sell what we could and buy some potions and scrolls to aid us for the upcoming challenge.

“The real time isn't an issue,” Ariana noted as we finished the last of our transactions. “Every hour that goes by in real life is four hours here. But we'll have to get there quickly, and it didn't look like an easy path up.”

“True,” I replied, gazing back towards the mountain where we could just see Cloverbell in the distance.

“Hey, did you hear? Those two hot chicks are heading for Cloverbell,” someone in the market said behind us.

“Really?” another voice, this one filled with surprise, wondered.

“It's true!” the other said.

“Five-hundred gold pieces says they come back before midnight, just like the rest of us,” a third said.

“Ten-thousand if they come back before ten!” another said, and they erupted in laughter as more bets poured in.

A noise of disgust and anger left my throat and went out of my mouth. Ariana looked over at me, and placed her hand on my arm. I turned to her, and she shook her head.

“Never mind them, let's go and do this!” she told me.

“Let me just say one thing to them.” I returned.

“Gotcha.” she replied with a wink. I think she knew exactly what I was going to do.

I approached the peanut gallery with a stern look, and they stopped laughing to look at me. Then I affected my own winning smile, as far as female-me was concerned, and crossed my arms across my chest.

“If we complete the quest and win Cloverbell,” I said to them, and they stared at me as I paused, gaping, waiting for my next words. “Two-thousand gold from each of you. And if we fail it, we'll pay you our leftover earnings, all of them.” I announced, and the wager panel came up with the terms on it.

“Done!” one of them jumped up, stamping his hand on the panel. One by one they all followed suite; twenty-three players in total wagered two-thousand gold each against our entire savings. This done, I walked away with my head held high, proud as a cat in a window. Ariana smirked at me.

“What are we going to do with forty-six thousand gold?” she asked me.

“I dunno; buy the place some new rugs.” I quipped, and she burst out laughing.

***

Climbing up a mountain was old hat for me; Ariana wasn't having a hard time herself. As Rachel, she hand her family had often gone on hiking or wilderness vacations. As Ariana, this newbie gamer was quickly becoming someone I wasn't sure I could stand up to in a fight. Sure, it had only been a week, more or less; but that second night of fighting against the Twin Dragons? She held her own as if she was the last boss. And her way of using magic was unique too. Most players in any game went down a specific discipline, but she drew from them all, sometimes combining certain spells from different disciplines to make something unexpected happen. In short, whether in real life or in video games, this girl was way out of my league. And yet she wanted to be with me. But enough about that--we were talking about the mountain.

With our efficiency and experience, we reached Cloverbell just as the sun was setting. Down below us we could hear the bell of the temple tolling out the evening hour.

The estate itself was somewhere between a house and a castle in design. It was grown over with ivy and mosses, but at the same time we kind of liked that. From what we could see of the inside, it was quite dusty, but winning the quest would probably change that.

“De-fi-nete-ly gonna need new rugs...” I said as I looked in.

“And some nice furniture,” Ariana nodded. We went around to another side of the house; a small stone path led a short distance away to a secluded grove. In the midst of it was what looked like a hotsprings bath--most likely. “Wow!” she exclaimed with delight, turning to me and taking my hands. “We are winning this! I don't care if it's not really real, I want to soak in that hotspring!”

“That would be something else for sure,” I nodded in agreement. “I wonder why all these players freak out about midnight, though...” I then mused aloud, and she began thinking with me.

“Maybe it's all rare monsters? Or maybe the boss shows up early instead of at the end?” she reasoned it out, and I nodded slowly.

“Maybe, and I think that the lord implied he wasn't sure about how they would show up, so they could all jump out at some point unexpectedly. And if they're all elite quality mobs, that would answer why none of the players around here have finished this quest, even with their levels,” I continued.

“We're twenty-five now; this house is still near the lowest level area. But maybe that doesn't mean much...” Ariana then resumed as we began walking towards the manor.

“That's not impossible,” I agreed.

“Basically we have two options: full attack, or full defense.”

“Or we can rotate those strategies as needed until we get a better handle on the situation we're facing at the moment.”

“That works too.” she nodded back. “Wow. Why do I feel like I talk to you all day? We really click, you know? Just like me and my friend at school--” she said with a smile that suddenly dissolved into an alert expression as we heard a noise. In an instant our weapons were out and the conversation paused.

“Talk later; we rotate attack and defense as needed!” I told her.

“Got it! Either way, I'm activating Storm-Wards.” she replied, stamping her staff into the ground to turn on the aura of frost and lightning she had composed the other day.

“Shadow-vision.” I said, and suddenly the world went darker while the outlines of friends and enemies had bright colors to show them up. Ariana was blue; there were two red outlines near the front of the manor. “They're around the front, two of them. You go around to the north, I'll slip up from the south; instant take-down.” I told her, and she nodded.

We split up, racing quietly around the manor to take down our first two monsters, both walking corpses of some kind. It was barely worth describing. Ariana reduced one to cinders and soot with a lightning storm, and I chopped the other one into five or six pieces before it could even turn. I scanned the area again with Shadow-vision, seeing nothing -- for now.

“Seven minions...” I repeated to myself.

“Two down; six left, counting the ghoul itself.” Ariana whispered as we crouched down to wait near the door.

“Wait, I might have seen this pattern before,” I suddenly realized. “Weakest two show up first, then two stronger ones will show up, and then I bet at midnight the boss shows up with the other three.”

“Then we can prepare a little better, if you're right. But I trust your instincts.” Ariana told me, and I nodded back.

As it turned out those instincts were right on the money. It was two game-hours of waiting, but eventually two more showed up. They were stronger, and put up a lot more of a fight than the previous two. I suddenly happened to notice that their levels were thirty, right before we finally finished them off. And then it hit me.

Wait! The reason the other two were so easy is because they were probably just a bit under our level: the entry level for this area. These we just fought are probably mid-level for the region, making them more difficult for us at twenty-five. Which means the boss and his buddies will be at the highest possible level for the area. So the reason no one finishes this quest is because of that, and the reason no one comes back is because it's probably not worth it once you're at area-cap to get a house here when you can just go and get one somewhere else in a new area, where you can probably just up and buy a nice place like this... which leaves on problem... what is the area-cap for the Aldholt region and its territories?

“Lana?” Ariana touched my shoulder, seeing my face busied with thought.

“Let me check something,” I said, pulling up the area guide. I soon found what I wanted to see. “Highest possible monster level, fifty...” I read aloud, and Ariana frowned.

“So that's why everyone runs from it,” she said as she came to the same conclusion I did, looking back down towards the city. We stood there in silence for a moment, contemplating the choices before us. To fight, or to flee. I then shook my head.

“We'll do it. Somehow we'll do it. It'll take all of our skills and probably a lot of our potions and stuff, though...” I said as I sat down beside her. She sat down as well, nodding.

“There's a penalty from dying in this area, though, and probably the other higher level areas from here on out.”

“There is that.” I nodded. “It's not bad here, though; just a loss of gold and a reset of our current experience gains.”

“Which would be super painful it we were about to hit level twenty-six, but it's only about a fifth of the way there now,” she agreed as she moved closer, leaning her head on my shoulder. “I wonder what my classmate would think of this game,” she suddenly said, and I couldn't think of a thing to say. “He really is a lot like you. If I found out he was you, in some weird way, that would be strange -- but I think I'd be okay with it. I'd just wonder why. But since he is such a good guy, I'm sure he'd have a reason for being a girl in a game like this.”

You're killing me, Danes, you're killing me.

“I'm sure some guys do it as a way to gain perspective; even if they can't understand us girls completely, maybe roleplaying as a girl in these online worlds helps them to gain an empathy for us? I wonder if it's like that. That wouldn't be a bad reason, even if they do like to sneak a peek at certain places,” she said with a faint giggle.

I could honestly say I had gained an empathy for girls through this. I really had. Maybe there were even other guys who had done the same--I can't be the only one, can I? And I'd bet that in this world there were even girls who were reversing the situation.

I could also honestly say I had, at first, “taken peeks”. But I had quickly reasserted control of myself from those more ridiculous impulses to just play the game with Ariana, even if she didn't know it was really me. Yet I couldn't resist; I took her hand, squeezing it lovingly.

“I'm sure that, whatever his story is, that he's a guy who wants your happiness more than anything, and that if you put it to him he'll be man enough to face up. So long as you're willing to accept him no matter what. That's how all good relationships are, from what I understand.” I told her.

Way to be Doctor Bill, genius, I thought to myself with an inward cringe.

“Well, if he was a womanizer I probably wouldn't accept that.” she added with a snarky smile.

“Yeah, I wouldn't go for that either.” I agreed with her immediately. “Not that I wouldn't want them to have no friends or anything, but as far as serious feelings go, I would want to be the only one in a person's world.” I continued, realizing more than ever I wanted to confess to her -- about everything.

“Same.” Ariana gently whispered back. We stayed sitting like that for quite a long time, enjoying each other's silent friendship and holding hands under the starry night of Panarena. And then we heard it. The eerie noise of undead creatures trampling about. Our final battle was on.