“Almost got it!!” Lysandra called out as she continued attacking the surprise boss monster we had encountered upon reaching the source of the Singing Stream. It was a giant, tree-like sort of thing that almost looked like a gnarled oak, except for the--toothy? Barky?--maw and the vicious, jagged looking apertures that were more or less its eyes. As soon as we had reached the place, the previously unremarkable tree we had been admiring suddenly turned into this, and now after several long minutes of rotating our attack strategies and finding out its weakness (poison, of all things--it had a fire immunity peculiar for a tree-monster) we were almost finished with it.
“Tying it up!” Derwydd told us as he readied his skill, and then tangled it up in a series of strong vines with his druidic skills. “Go!”
“Lysandra, jump back--Lana, Ari, now!!” Maryn said as she bashed it for good measure.
“Poison Arrow!!”
“Iver's Blood!” the two of us cried out as we launched our skills, both of them striking the thing straight in the maw right as Lysandra hurled herself out of the way.
Iver's Blood, by the way, is one of Ari's more recent custom-spells, inspired by that fantasy book series she's been reading. Anything on-level with us has a five-percent chance to suffer a drastic poison DoT, in addition to the four-hundred damage and negative resistance to poison it already has. Anything below our level--well, she tried it on some goblins in the Aldholt with me as back-up; none of them lasted more than twenty-seconds, and I didn't even do anything to help.
Anyway. The five-percent favored Ariana this fight, and Sycaoak the Twisted, our boss monster, began rapidly losing health. Lizzy charged in to finish it off, and then we found that there was a bonus piece for Ari's quest. She then took all the pieces and went to the source of the stream, where a friendly spirit appeared for the next stage of the quest, merging the pieces, and then gifting her the assembled tool to take back to Waddles Longfoot. We also found a final cache for Mr. Burrows, and upon collecting it the bonus objective updated on that quest as well.
“At least it's giving good experience,” I remarked as I looked over the rewards on the log.
“After certain areas, there are regions where the quests tailor themselves to either a player's level or the median of a group's levels.” Lysandra remarked. “This is one of them, which is handy for us.”
“And the Vales?” Ariana wondered as we got back in the waggon for Fyu to take us back to Valebrook.
“Same deal.” she nodded back.
“So it's mostly the south of Harmonia that has capped regions and starter areas...” I mused as I laid back in my spot.
“I wonder if it's the opposite for Onyxus? If their starter regions are in the north, that is,” Healina wondered aloud.
“Hmm... that'd kinda make sense,” I agreed.
“I think they actually did do that.” Lizzy told us. “In the beta test we had a whole map with markers for convenience; they reset our map data on launch to make it interesting, though. But I definitely recall seeing beginner zones on the Onyxus side up north.”
“Neat!” our healer remarked.
“Masters, we are approaching a crossroads; shall I go to Derry first, or to Valebrook?” Fyu suddenly asked us.
“Hmm... it would make more sense to finish Mr. Burrow's quest first and then go down to Valebrook so we can take the train to Luoliu,” Ariana said as she considered it. I heard Anhe stifle a giggle at the name of the city in question.
“I agree, master, which is why I now bring it up,” the dog-beast returned.
“Let's do that, then,” Derwydd agreed.
“Go ahead and take us to Derry, Fyu,” I said to our faithful friend.
“The left turning it is, then!” Fyu replied, picking up his pace a bit as we turned northeast to make for Derry.
“What were you giggling about?” Belle then asked Anhe.
“Ah! The name of the town in the Vales; it sounds like something a bit naughty in my language.” she said with a grin.
“Sh-should we ask?” our pixie-girl wondered with a hesitant smile.
“I will spare you.” Anhe replied.
“Ah-heh,” I faintly grinned, “I'm sure they didn't do it on purpose, whatever it is.”
“Of course! They probably wanted it to sound like one of the Harmonia languages, maybe an Elf language or something,” Anhe agreed.
“Probably.” Lysandra nodded. “Hahh... who knew fighting a tree could be so tiring... wake me when we need to get on the train.” she then said, and curled up for a nap.
“Same,” Maryn said with a yawn, and I saw Heali and Derwydd nod off a bit as well.
“Oy,” I said in a quiet voice, “It's not even late, Panarena-wise, and we've fought worse trees than that and kept right on going...”
“True,” Ari softly agreed, “But we didn't have much of a choice at the time, either.” she added, snuggling against me. “Wake me at Derry?”
“Ahh... Fyu?” I turned with a helpless smile to the dog-beast.
“Fear not, masters, if you all fall asleep, I shall bark to wake you.” he returned.
“Gotcha,” I said. And with that assurance, I, too, began slowly nodding off as the serene scenery passed by our eyes along the rustic highway to Derry.
***
We arrived back at Derry in the late afternoon and turned in the quest; Mr. Burrows then opened the bonus cache we had found, and pulled out a title and deed to the land we had undertaken the quest for. This done, we continued on our way to Valebrook and turned the other quest in to Waddles Longfoot, who congratulated Ariana on solving the mystery of the mysterious farm tools and gave her some rare crop seeds as a reward. When she had stowed these away, we took a brief rest, and then we gathered ourselves aboard the Magic Bullet Express to head for the Vales of Aergondi.
“I will not complain, masters, only it is not quite a comfortable place to rest in,” Fyu remarked as Ariana and I sat with him and the waggon in one of the storage-slash-animal cars.
“At least they gave us one with a window,” Ari said as we snuggled in next to him.
“This is true; the courtesy of those running this odd machine is generous, at least.” Fyu nodded in agreement. “Are there such things in your other world, masters?”
Not for the last time, I smiled to myself in amazement at yet another reminder of how strangely knowledgeable our NPC allies were about our situations. Did that knowledge somehow keep growing and learning as we kept interacting with them? I could only wonder.
“Lots of them,” I replied.
“Hmm,” he returned in a thoughtful tone.
The train picked up speed as it began heading over a trestle-bridge that spanned a large river coming down from the east and continuing into Kingsmark. Soon it would be heading underground, and from what I had seen of the route we would not surface again until we were on the other side of a vast mountain range in the northwest of Dragonholt. We could see the peaks looming in the distance even now.
“The Everheights,” Fyu remarked as the train came around a bend, allowing us to see them better. “It is said those mountains contain great adventure, masters; I wonder if Dracuoatlax has seen aught of them that he might tell.”
“I bet he has,” I nodded. I heard the sound of Ari breathing more deeply; she was almost asleep. “One day, we'll have visited all of Harmonia, perhaps,” I said.
“And then will come the great challenges in the Borderlands.” Fyu returned softly.
“One step at a time, old buddy.” I smiled.
“Indeed,” he quietly chuckled. “Lady Ariana is now fast asleep; it seems the wisest course, considering the long dark ahead. I shall sleep as well.” Fyu added, and I silently nodded back, feeling sleepy myself as we approached the tunnel for the underground route. It felt like my eyes shut the instant we headed in; I yawned, and fell perfectly asleep.
When I woke back up, I was in the waggon again, and Ariana was still sound asleep next to me. Lysandra and Belle were the only ones awake besides Fyu and myself. Belle noticed me stirring, and came to sit on my shoulder.
“We left Luoliu about half an hour ago; it's early, Panarena time, but almost seven-thirty for real. We're in sight of the Divine Mountain now,” she said softly.
“It took that long to cross the Dragonholt, huh?” I remarked in a still sleepy voice. The sound of great flapping wings brought me to full alert, and a large creature gently thudded onto the ground. It was Dracuoatlax. He nodded to Fyu, who halted.
“I have seen many strange and marvelous things on these flights; who knew the world could change so much whilst I slumbered? But there are great quarries and great woods in these lands, and mines, masters, mines of untold wealth and bounty. Other dragons, lesser dragons, would no doubt exert themselves to seize such places. But I was content before, and I am content now. The richness of these regions should amply prepare you for any challenges that yet lie ahead.” the dragon said as I gently slipped myself out of Ari's embrace to stand on the ground. “But, right now, you need to return to your other world, do you not?”
“We'll return sooner than later,” I told him.
“Of course! And as incitement to do so, let me tell you I have espied an especially rare creature, one that promises untold rewards for those who defeat it,” he said to me with a cunning smile, and I stepped closer to listen.
“What kind of creature?” I asked him, my interest piqued.
“That, dear girl, must wait until you return. Today will be a good day, Lady Windstrider, for today we shall do battle together!” Dracuoatlax said eagerly. I placed a hand on his snout.
“That's a promise, Dracuoatlax.” I replied, looking back to Fyu. “And to you as well,” I added, and the dog-beast nodded.
“We stand ready, masters.” the other affirmed. Belle then switched to human form (she had managed to extend her duration to ten hours for now), swiftly putting on an outfit as she did.
“All right, kiddos! Get up! Time to take a break!” she then called, and the others began stirring awake. “Come on, Lizzy, come on, Der! We have a few real hours before you two go to work again! It's just a short break and then we'll be back here for round -- two? Three?” Belle paused, wondering, and then shrugged. “Whichever!” she smiled. Lizzy yawned loudly.
“Right... oh, shoot, I think I'm still wearing that dang thing...” she then softly grumbled. “Ugh... I'll be a bit longer,” our halberdier said sheepishly, and logged out first. Ari and I shared a hug, and then poofed ourselves, hearing Belle, Maryn, and Lysandra deciding to wait with our allies until the rest of us came back.
Fair enough, I thought to myself, and then woke up for real.
After I had eaten breakfast and shoveled our walk afterwards (oh yeah, it snowed real good here a couple days after the new year arrived and there were still intermittent snowfalls coming), I warmed myself up a bit with some coffee and then returned to Panarena, finding that the older girls had been relieved by Ariana, Healina, and Derwydd.
“There you are!” Ari said to me.
“I got wrangled for snow-duty,” I said with a wry grin.
“And I just evaded it,” Derwydd grinned. “Hooray for older siblings!” he said happily.
“Nice.” Heali smiled, shaking her head nonetheless. “I bet George wasn't so happy about it.”
“No, and he had to go to his job as well, so he's doubly grouchy.” our druid-ally replied.
“Ouch.” I remarked sympathetically as I got back on the waggon.
“The other world has its own challenges, I see.” Dracuoatlax noted.
“For sure it does,” I nodded.
“It would be interesting to visit, perhaps attempt them myself,” the dragon mused. The four of us looked around at each other with grins that barely contained our laughter, each of us probably imagining the great dragon trying to sit through a job interview or a lecture at a school somewhere.
“M-maybe someday,” I managed to say without breaking. Ari buried herself in my chest, soundlessly cackling.
“Hmm, someday, then,” Dracuoatlax said with a perfectly straight face.
Now I kind of want to see that, I reflected with a smile. It wasn't long after that the others returned, Lizzy arriving last and grumbling about having fallen asleep in her work outfit again.
“Why didn't you change back at work?” Derwydd asked her.
“Ehh... wasn't thinking, and it was super late.” she returned.
“It's always late when we get off on Fridays,” he shrugged.
“But anyway, where are we off to first?” Lizzy then said.
“Dracuoatlax?” I turned to the dragon, who nodded.
“Follow me, masters; a most opportune adventure awaits us!” he said, and sprang into the air. Fyu set off after him, the dragon keeping a steady pace so the dog-beast could keep up.
It was about fifteen minutes later that Dracuoatlax set down upon the ground again as lightly as he could. He hunkered down, impressively so considering his size, and then beckoned us to come close. Ari and I scurried over while the others got out and either got themselves ready or unhitched Fyu from the waggon. The two of us then got down on all fours and softly crawled to the edge he had halted by. We peered over, and there below us we saw a Vault Guardian.
Okay. So vault guardians are a large step down from world bosses but a few steps above ultra rare elite bosses. In fact, they're technically ultra rare elite bosses themselves, but each one is unique. From what I've read about them on the forums, each of them only spawns once for one Panarena day, and then that unique monster is never seen again, whether it's defeated or whether it goes by unnoticed. But the rewards for beating them, as Dracuoatlax said, are exceptional.
This particular vault guardian was a gigantic elk about three times the size of Fyu, though not as big as our friend the dragon. It had an almost ruby-red coloration to it, and its antlers looked like gold filigreed with silver. When I used a hunter skill to examine it I saw that its name, or title, rather, was “The Radiant Celestial”.
“Six-hundred thousand health,” Ari said softly as she examined it with Mystic Vision. “Normally we'd probably need a raid, I guess, but right now...”
“I think Dracuoatlax counts as a half-raid all on his own.” I said with a smirk, which she returned, nodding back at me.
“What's the plan, boss?” Lizzy whispered as she slipped up next to us.
“I think our best bet is to try and surprise it while Dracuoatlax creates a wall of fire to keep it from escaping, before joining us to add to the attack.” I said.
“I agree, master,” the dragon said. “Hasten ye down softly, and give me a signal that I might know when to act.”
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“Der, didn't you get some sort of bird-call skill in your druid-line?” I turned to the werebear-druid, who nodded back.
“This one?” he whispered, letting out a call like a whippoorwill.
Why do I remember that? I found myself wondering.
“Great! I'll signal you, with a nod or something, and you can signal Dracuoatlax,” I said to him.
“Got it!” he replied.
“Maryn, take him, Heali, and Belle, and circle around to the right; I'll come from the left with Ari, Lizzy, and Lysandra. Anhe, Fyu, go long and come around between our groups to try and contain him.”
“Got it,” Maryn nodded back.
“Ready here.” Ari told me.
“I will try my best!” Anhe said, and with that we headed off into our groups to try and get the drop on the vault guardian below us, Dracuoatlax nodding to me as we headed down the left ridge.
“He's practically giddy,” I said as we softly made our way down.
“You think?” Ari wondered softly.
“Wouldn't surprise me a bit,” Lysandra said, her lips curved in a smile. Fyu gently padded past us, Anhe on his back, before softly scurrying to a point where he began circling back to come between our two main attack groups.
“Belle's skills might have been better for our group, or Anhe's,” Lizzy whispered.
“Maybe, but Pixie and Druid debuffs work well together from what I've seen.” I returned.
“That's true,” Lysandra agreed. “And she can augment Heali and Maryn as well as Derwydd with some of her skills as well.”
“And having Anhe more or less in the middle with Fyu will keep us all bolstered with her auras.” Ariana said.
“If only you two could get through your homework as easily as you get through video games...” Lizzy remarked with a flat expression.
“Gyeck!” I softly choked.
“Rude!!” Ari smirked back as the blonde girl beamed back at her.
“Hsst!” Lysandra then interrupted. We were getting closer to the vault guardian.
The majestic beast opened one of its eyes, lazily looking around. I caught my breath, wondering if it would spot us as we ducked down into the undergrowth of bushes nearby. I heard a snort, and peeked up. It had returned to slumber. With a nod to the others I resumed sneaking towards it, and they followed me closely.
This won't be the last time we're all together; definitely not -- but these adventures are going to be rarer again when school starts up. So let's do this right! I thought to myself as I quietly got my bow ready, queuing up a ranged booster skill with Piercing Breaker right behind it.
Ariana began activating one of her skills beside me, and Lizzy and Lysandra held their weapons at the ready, both of them getting into position for a blitz. I could see Maryn and the others almost opposite us, her shield at the ready. Fyu and Anhe had picked a good angle as well to complement the other attack groups. Maryn settled herself in a crouching stance, ready to spring towards the boss; it seemed like she had Charging Bash ready to go. She nodded at me, and I fired. A second later she sprang towards The Radiant Celestial, her shield knocking it upside the head as soon as my arrow hit it. The rest of them charged in or began launching their attacks from range, Derwydd signaling Dracuoatlax with his bird-whistle.
The dragon leapt with a roar into the sky, setting the perimeter ablaze and using the flapping of his wings to stoke the fire so that it would keep going, then he began casting dragonish spells unique to him to break down the vault guardian's defenses. After about a minute of using my bow, I switched to my swords, and rushed in to aid the melee. Our target fought back with resilience, grunting out counter-spells to try and thwart Dracuoatlax or bucking and kicking to keep us away.
“Keep him focused on you!” Derwydd called. Maryn used one of her strongest taunts in reply, The Radiant Celestial aggroing on her with a vengeance. The rest of us kept our focus on attacking or breaking down his resistances and defenses, Belle darting in and around the fight to aid us and Anhe calmly bolstering us with her auras, using staff-skills instead of her normal attacks.
What is he -- oh, snap!! I thought to myself as I caught sight of Derwydd in the middle of a high level druid spell he had picked up a few days ago. It was a rooting spell that called up the roots of ancient trees, rumored to be powerful enough so that they could entangle world bosses.
Well it certainly worked on this guy. When our druid-ally had finished his chant, massive roots came out of the ground as if shot from a cannon, wrapping themselves tightly around the beast's legs and neck. Derwydd then turned werebear, and Lysandra went werewolf; I saw Maryn shut her eyes tightly, still taunting the boss to keep it focused on her as our changeling friends suddenly tore into The Radiant Celestial with a frenzy.
I heard Dracuoatlax laughing in amusement from above, and there was a thud as he came to earth on a fourth side of the beast, lunging with razor-sharp fangs and teeth to rip off its left hind leg. The giant elk cried out in pain, and a massive chunk of its health evaporated. I looked over to see the dragon chowing down on the leg calmly, enjoying the spectacle. He snorted flames towards the beast, singeing it lightly as he finished with his current morsel.
Y-yikes, I thought to myself.
“There's a dragon for you,” Lizzy quipped as we returned our attention to the immobilized vault guardian.
“Fifteen seconds left!” said a deep, growly sort of voice. It took me a moment to recall that was how Derwydd sounded in his bear-form.
“The roots?” I called back.
“Exactly!” the werebear replied.
“We shall not need them, I think,” Dracuoatlax said, almost sniggering.
“Indeed not,” Fyu returned with a hint of amusement. The dog-beast rushed forth to stand on his hind legs, raking the vault guardian's face with ferocious claws.
“Ten!” Derwydd called out.
“He's going down pretty fast with this party,” Belle noted. “Four-hundred thousand HP and falling!”
“Those debuffs you have on him are incredible!” I said to her, and she winked back.
“Der! Just switch back already! We need yours on him, too!” Lysandra called out in her wolf-voice, which was a full octave deeper than her normal one. The werebear grunted in reply, using a couple of DoT claw skills for good measure before shambling back and resuming his normal form.
“Only five seconds anyway,” he grinned as he took up his staff again to cast spells. I saw Lysandra then claw her way onto the beast's back while Dracuoatlax tore off the other hind leg of the vault guardian.
“Lana!” she called down to me.
“Lizzy!” I said, and ran towards our halberdier, who nodded, holding her halberd at a horizontal position. I jumped on to its wide blade, and Lizzy catapulted me into the air at the same time I sprang off of it, doing a flip before I landed on the back of the beast as well, softly sighing in relief.
“Sweet!” our Nordian smith cried out excitedly.
“Nice!” Maryn said, refocusing her attention on the boss to distract her from thinking too much about our werewolf girl; though she seemed to be doing slightly better than usual.
“Now what?” I asked Lysandra, who moved up towards the vault guardian's head and then pointed to a certain area on its neck as she shifted back to human form.
“Stab that area, and I'll stab down into another,” she said as she readjusted her top.
“You got it,” I said, readying my twin swords that Lizzy had made. Lysandra took her own blade out again, that elegant Elven-made weapon, and then nodded. The two of us rushed forth, driving our blades into its neck with all our strength. She twisted hers around sharply and then yanked it out; I did about the same. The beast howled in pain. Lysandra grabbed me, and jumped back to the ground.
“Ariana!” she called out as we landed.
“Belle, Der!” Ari said as she cast her spell, and the other two used their skills to take down The Radiant Celestial's resistances to about half. Our Wood Elf mage's spell, a rain of fiery darts, then struck the beast in various places, except for the head.
“Fyu!” Anhe then called out, casting a couple of auras on the dog-beast, who lunged at the massive elk to rake his neck with a hefty set of claws.
“Dracuoatlax!” the dog-beast called as he came back to earth. The dragon then arched forth, seizing the vault guardian by the neck with his massive jaws, and snapped the thing's head clean off before roaring in triumph to the skies. The rest of the unique boss went up in pixels, but Derwydd used one of his skills to preserve the head for a taxidermist.
“Whew! Nice!!” Lizzy cried out, clapping her hands. “And look at all of that loot!!!” she said in amazement. I then tapped her shoulder. “Hmm?” she wondered, and I pointed to a door that had appeared. “Huh?! More!?” she said excitedly.
“More.” Lysandra nodded.
“A lot more, I bet,” Maryn said.
“This really was meant for a full raid, huh?” Belle said with a sheepish smile.
“W-we can probably build something with our portable crafting stations to carry it all back...” Healina remarked with a faint grin.
“Indeed, masters,” the dragon smiled at us. “Build something, and I will gladly carry our spoils home!” he said with delight.
“Hmm... Anhe, what do you think?” I said, beckoning her over as I checked my crafting panel.
“Hmm...? That can work, though it will be silly to see it in the air!” she grinned.
“Right?” I said with a grin of my own.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how and why there was a forum post a few real hours later about a massive dragon carrying a large treasure ship across the skies of Panarena towards Xuanpu. We spent a few Panarena hours gathering up more materials, especially wood and ore, carting it all back to the spot we had claimed while our two friends guarded the area from passersby and opportunistic thieves. Then Anhe and I managed to build at least the outer hull of a treasure ship, deciding that we didn't really need to finish it so long as it could hold our winnings and earnings, and Lizzy managed to make some strong chains so that Dracuoatlax could tow it through the skies. We decided to let Fyu haul the resource-laded waggon with Belle and Anhe, the lightest of us, for company, and began trekking back to a wayport nearby.
“That's gonna be on a forum post later, I know it.” Lizzy quipped as we watched the dragon and the dog-beast fade into the distance with their cargoes.
“Yeah.” I agreed. “But anyway, field crafting stations sure are handy,” I then said.
“Oh def.” the blonde girl nodded.
“Right?” Heali said.
“Are you gonna finish the ship later, you think?” Ariana asked me.
“Hmm... I guess we could run through here a bit longer, or go back to Bethelia to try and get some resources to craft sails and rigging for it...” I mused.
“Definitely Bethelia for sails and stuff. The plants around here are better for rope-making, I think.” Lysandra said.
“Right, and Hollyland to the east probably has a few good resource spots as well,” I nodded.
“We should really get a second waggon, though, and a couple of strong beasts to pull it.” Ariana then remarked. “Maybe we can work on that with our new house or homestead?”
“Good plan,” Healina told her.
“Agree.” I said.
“Not too many dull moments with you girls, eh?” Derwydd grinned.
“Nope!” Lizzy beamed back.
“Definitely no dull moments here.” Lysandra nodded.
“Should we get some more on the way back? We have enough storage,” Maryn noted.
“Ehh, why not,” I shrugged.
“Just don't get it from the Varri Forests or Aerdene; the Elf wardens there will kill tree-fellers on sight and you'll get negative reputation with them.” Lysandra warned.
“Eep.”
“Let's head south; I hear the Wundörd Mountains have some good iron and orichal deposits, as well as a few spots for silver-steel.” Derwydd then suggested.
“If we're going that far we'll need the train again,” Healina returned.
“So north first, then, and then we'll catch one to... Laeli, I think it's called?” he replied.
“Or the mining outpost west of it for a closer walk,” Lizzy said as we turned northwards to head for the Luoliu Station.
***
By the time it was afternoon in the real world, we had spent a couple of days in Panarena gathering more materials and carting it all back home to Queen's Haven. Then Maryn and I, with input from the others, built up plans for a homestead in Bethelia, and returned there after dinner in real life with some of the refined materials we had made to get it built. When we were done, there was a homely hall with a solid foundation and a veranda shaded by the eaves sitting in the midst of our new property. Healina and Ari then set a wayport down near the edge of it (you can't make one but you can get them from the in-game store for custom-made houses or guildhalls), and we were set to continue developing the place as we liked.
“Definitely a good spot for fields and gardens down there,” Ariana said as we sat on the porch later with the others, enjoying some tea. Lizzy and Derwydd had gone off to work by then, and Maryn had logged off in a fright when she suddenly recalled she had a meet-up with some of her other friends.
“Queen's Haven had some good spots as well, I thought,” Belle remarked, now in her human form again.
“True, but I think that's more of our trade-center and capital.” Ari replied.
“Oh, gotcha. I can see that!” the other girl nodded.
“Works for me,” I agreed.
“Pfft!” Lysandra started cackling.
“What's up?” Belle looked over at her. The dark-haired girl flipped a panel over so we could see. It was a picture of -- you guessed it. Dracuoatlax and the treasure ship.
Giant dragon spotted carrying a huge ship across Harmonia.
Anon: … this is the Silvernight Queens' dragon, right? Right?
Anon: maybe? I think so
Anon: the heck are they up to now?
Anon: …
Anon: …
Anon: I give up. Wake me when the guild competition's over. They win.
Anon: XD
Anon: lmfao
Anon: duuuuddee... lulz
Anon: h#ll no. challenge accepted!!!
Anon: lookout, guys, we have a bad-@$$ on our hands...
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-hahh!!” Belle clapped her hands with delighted amusement. “Oh, no, we've done it again!” she said through tears of merriment.
“Wait until they see the head.” I remarked with a grin, and we doubled over with laughter again, content with our adventures for the night.
After we had finished our tea, we went over to Cloverbell and spent some time in the hotspring before returning to Queen's Haven, Derwydd returning to Owldale Hall, to work on our crafting some more and to get the rest of our resources refined into usable materials. Derwydd took a fair cut of them with him, remarking wittily that it would take his guild (which is about ten times our size) a whole month to get through it. I didn't doubt him in the slightest, even though it was mostly in jest.
We spent the rest of the night relaxing or visiting fun spots in Panarena, and then one by one we got off for the night. On Sunday I went through the usual routine of being dragged to church in the morning and then later released to do as I would -- which of course meant I was soon back in Panarena again. Ariana and I went with Maryn and Fyu to do some stuff around our newest house in Bethelia, sprucing the place up a bit with some of the furniture and trappings we had either crafted or bought. She and I then fenced off a couple of areas for gardens or fields, while Maryn set up a barn and silo in another area that we had agreed on.
“Definitely looking more like a homestead now,” the older girl remarked when we had finished.
“Yes!” Ari smiled, and I nodded in agreement, looking out over the fields we had marked off and gazing at the newly-placed buildings.
“Hahh...” I sighed after a few moments, leaning back in the chair wearily. “Tomorrow we're back at school, huh? I got too used to this...” I remarked as the others looked over at me.
“Hmm... true... same.” Ariana nodded.
“Hard not to get used to it!” Maryn grinned. “It's a lot more fun than--than whatever we're trying to be out there...” she then remarked as the grin faded, a more melancholy look on her face.
“Maryn?” I wondered. She smiled again, shaking her head.
“University jitters.” the dark-haired girl told us.
“Hmm.” I returned with a nod.
“Are you going to the one Belle and Sandra are at?” Ari asked her.
“It's my second option,” Maryn replied. “My first is AILE, though.”
“Oooohh.” Ari said with awe, and even I perked up in amazement.
“The Archimedes Institute of Learning and Education, huh?” I remarked.
“Hm? Lana, you know about it?” Maryn asked me.
“Heh... just another thing my parents tease me about...” I said with a bemused smile.
“Ahh, gotcha.” the older girl grinned back mischievously. “One of those things, huh?”
“Poor Lana.” Ariana said, patting my head with a smile.
“Yeah, yeah...” I quipped back, and they giggled.
“Oh, Lana, I happened to notice in some magazine the other day that there's a new VR game prepping for release next year or so... apparently Galaxy Avengers has almost finished converting and reorienting their MMO for the Dream Machine.” Maryn then said to me.
“Oh nice!” I exclaimed. “KOH dropped the ball, I guess... I thought they'd be quicker...”
“Joshy said those guys had some conversion issues; which is kind of confusing to me because I would think Galaxy Avengers stuff would be harder to adapt...” Ariana told me.
“Now that you say that, I get what you mean...” I nodded back, the three of us suddenly pondering the question.
“Maybe the other game had better resources or better access to stuff.” Maryn shrugged.
“Access, maybe. KOH is a Japanese-Korean venture, after all, and the other one is made closer to home.” I agreed. “But anyway... our home is here, for now; can't see us moving beyond it quite yet.”
“Oh definitely. Especially after all the effort we put into it.” Ariana smiled.
“Exactly.” I smiled back.
“No question here.” Maryn agreed, taking a sip of her tea as she leaned back in her chair, as did Ari and myself. “Still... school tomorrow...”
“Yep.”
“Ugh.” the two of us returned almost simultaneously.
“Masters, I believe this barn here to be more suitable for myself. If you are heading to the other world again, I shall take my rest here for a change.” Fyu said to us as he came up to the veranda.
“Sure, buddy, go ahead.” I smiled back, and he bowed his head.
“I shall see you upon your return, masters. Fare ye well.” the dog-beast said, and then made his way to the barn.
“It's about nine in the real world.” Maryn said as she checked the time.
“Well... I guess we can at least make the effort of getting back into routine...” I sighed.
“True. And it wouldn't hurt to get off early for a change,” Ariana said in agreement.
“That too.”
“Oh definitely.” Maryn nodded. “I'm heading off first, then. See you tomorrow.” she smiled, and with that she poofed away for the night. Ariana and I shared a hug, and then logged off ourselves moments later.
***
“Hahh...” I sighed again as my real self, setting the Dream Machine aside on its stand. “And so ends winter break.”