Adelynn looked at the Elven champion and wondered his first move. He gripped his pristine short swords and took up a fighting stance. She hadn’t seen this stance before, but if she had to guess, he was about to leap at her. She thought that would be absurd in the real world, since he was still almost thirty feet from her, but this wasn’t the real world.

With a sudden yell and an explosive dash, he suddenly flew at her. She was able to drop Arzuse into a defensive position to block his hit, but she was pushed back by the blow. He didn’t give her a chance to recover and leapt at her again. This time she rolled out of the way of his attack and used the momentum of the dodge to swing Arzuse in his direction. The blade left tiny sparks in the air as it slashed around. Starla thought it was a neat effect to show that it was clearly magical.

The Champion caught her swing on the guard of both his swords and pushed it away with enough force that Adelynn spun back the opposite direction.

Adelynn did not like his two-weapon style. Two weapons meant he could get under her attack and slash at her, like she herself had done to people and monsters in the past. She did have that skill ‘Ein Zweihänder’ that she threw in a translator and it came back as ‘one two-hander’ and gave her an article on Zweihänder swords. She had tried it out in the shop earlier, she could wield her claymore in one hand and indeed she’d purchased a mundane claymore to equip in that slot. She had the mundane sword equipped in her left hand now and hadn’t drawn it yet; she was waiting for the proper moment.

The Champion took a moment to ready himself for another charge and this time Adelynn was ready for him. She was just a fraction of an instant too late, but she threw herself at him just as he came for her. She’d pointed her weapon straight at The Champion and he almost skewered himself, but he was able to catch her blade and get in a light slice with his off handed sword.

Adelynn felt the weird, squirming sensation registering the hit and ignored her hit point bar flashing for a moment. “Want to try that again?” he asked her as he got back up.

“Sure.” She replied. She wasn’t as fast as she’d been when she fought Arzuse, but she hadn’t loaded herself down with speed enhancing potions. She had however, slotted a cheap speed rune into her store-bought blade and some more expensive ones into Arzuse. He leapt at her again, but this time The Champion found two weapons coming his way.

His eyes went wide as she dove at him with Arzuse in the lead and her other claymore following on its heels. He deflected Arzuse and the other blade drove home into his shoulder. He couldn’t bring his off hand weapon to counter attack as Adelynn’s second weapon was jamming his shoulder joint. They sprang away from each other and The Champion held his shoulder for a moment and then rotated his arm a bit to get it back to working order.

“I’m not familiar with this particular style.” He said looking at Adelynn holding two large weapons as if they weighed nearly nothing.

“Neither am I.” said Starla under her breath. “Where does she pull these things out from?”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out soon enough.” Replied Adelynn. She held her blades up in front of her in a less defensive posture. “This would be so much easier on horseback.” She mumbled.

The Champion’s hit point bar showed the large hit she’d scored. Starla knew from experience that Adelynn would get him down to around twenty five percent health and he’d surrender.

Adelynn however, didn’t know that and treated it like any other fight. She stabbed Arzuse in the ground and put her mundane sword in her right hand and picked Arzuse back up with her left. It vibrated in irritation for a moment before she dashed at The Champion. He wasn’t quite sure what to do, but he turned aside her initial thrust and tried to catch Arzuse with his off handed weapon. Arzuse wasn’t having any of that and shattered its way through and buried itself deep into The Champion’s chest.

Starla stood up and watched The Champion surrender as he slid off Arzuse. He wasn’t supposed to fall to his knees and he most certainly wasn’t supposed to fall to the ground. He was supposed to just declare that he was satisfied. Starla leapt over the railing and ran over. The Champion wasn’t dead just yet, but he was on the fast track to the next life. She threw a healing spell on him and his fully red bar gained just a sliver of green. Starla threw out another healing spell and he stabilized.

“What are you doing?” asked Adelynn.

“He’s supposed to give up when you get him low enough. Arzuse did a crap-ton of damage on that strike.”

“Thank you M’Lady.” Said The Champion sitting up. “You’ve definitely bested me.” He said to Adelynn. “Feel free to enter Starviva City whenever you’d like.”

The Champion stood up and handed Adelynn a badge that flashed before ending up in her status window showing a tag of ‘Worthy of entering Starviva City’.

“Neat.” Said Adelynn, “How do I get there?”

The Champion pointed to the entrance of the arena and advised her to head left and that’s where she would find the main hub for travel to Starviva City. Adelynn took Starla’s hand and walked back to the entrance and found a large machine that looked rather like an elevator, only made of silver and glass and covered with swooping curls of décor, rather than the more sterile and blockier look from reality. The two of them entered the elevator and an attendant asked where they’d like to go while giving Starla a look up and down.

“Uh.” Said Adelynn.

“Main courtyard.” Said Starla.

The lift sank into the ground and there was a nauseating sensation for a moment and then it was all laid out before her. A whole city underground. The ‘sky’ was alight with stars of various intensity and the ‘moon’ here was a large dimly lit globe at the top of the tallest building in the middle of the city. Adelynn pressed against the glass looking at all of the things she could see. Most everyone here had some kind of lantern they were carrying in all sorts of colors. Adelynn looked back to Starla to see she’d put on some sunglasses.

“How the hell are you going to see?” she asked.

“These are ‘Nightglasses’. I can see in nearly pitch-black darkness with these on. I don’t really like carrying a lantern.”

“I love lanterns!” said Adelynn. “They’re so fun at festivals.”

“I just feel like I can’t see far enough with the circle of light.” Said Starla. The lift operator pushed a lever and the door hissed open.

“Here you are. Please attend to your business and begone.” He said.

Adelynn and Starla stepped out into the courtyard. Starviva was much busier than Moonsorrow had been. “Wow, why is it so busy?” asked Adelynn.

“Well, Starviva is both a prettier city than Moonsorrow and it’s a good way to hide from the new players who beg for money or help. Most players down here have been at it for a good long while.” Said Starla.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Ah!” said Adelynn, “Look at this lantern!” she pulled Starla into a shop and began going through their wares. Starla looked around. They certainly had more selection than they’d had last time. She noticed a door that lead to an adult area and pointed at the door.

“When did you add that?” she asked.

“Oh!” said the shopkeeper, “I took over this location from the Starvivans and started designing my own things.”

“Oh!” said Adelynn holding up a modern take on a traditional Asian design, “You’re a player, not an NPC?”

“Yes.” The shopkeeper said. “I run a store in Headspace proper for all sorts of home décor, but I thought Starviva would enjoy some of my designs.” With a flick of her finger she sent the location of her Headspace store to both Adelynn and Starla. “Nice to meet you, I’m Filandra.”

“Nice to meet you too!” said Adelynn. She looked down at the store address and realized it was from the section of Headspace that could have almost anything available. “I love these lanterns.”

“Thanks,” said Filandra. “Most are designed off of real-world counterparts, but there are quite a few of my own design.” She picked up a set that looked like silver and filigree toruses. “These are designed to be either worn around your wrists or ankles to let you see the road without using your hands.”

“Clever.” Said Starla.

Filandra smiled. “They wouldn’t work in the real world of course, since you’d bang them on things and trip on them, but here I can just make them illusions.”

“So, you’re a magic user.” Said Starla. “Filandra…” she tapped her chin with a finger. “I thought I knew of the enchanters in Mythticle.”

Adelynn realized that Starla wasn’t playing her part as a dark elf properly and slipping back into her old role as ‘that lady who knows everyone somehow’.

“Ahem.” Said Adelynn. “That’s crazy Nyx, nobody could know all the players.”

Starla looked at Adelynn for a moment. “Oh, I guess I haven’t been to Starviva that often. Well, it’s nice to have goals, right?”

Filandra smiled. “Weird goal to have, but okay. Did you want to see what was behind the door?”

“I can guess.” Said Starla.

“You can, or you can look.” Said Filandra with a wink. “You might be wrong you know.”

Starla shrugged. “Fine, I’ll take a look.”

Inside the adult section was fine works of art with modern touches. Statues of men, women and animal folk in all sorts of poses, paintings with their own backlighting and other things that were very classy in scope.

“Not what you expected?” said Filandra.

“Not at all.” Said Starla. “Maybe I’ll commission something for my place.”

“Ahem! Lanterns?” said Adelynn.

Starla smiled and turned to leave the adult section. “Thanks for showing me.”

“Of course.” Said Filandra. “Did you find something you liked?” she said turning to Adelynn.

“Yes. I like this one.” She said handing her a five-sided silver and paper lantern. The lights from within swirled in a myriad of colors and it shed a pale pink light. “Do you have these in your Headspace store? I might need some for my room.”

“Of course.” Said Filandra taking the coins from Adelynn. “Thanks for your business and welcome to Starviva City.”

“Is it that obvious?” said Adelynn.

“I would say that a good half of the people who stop in are new to Starviva, but that number goes up when you see them somewhat beat up.”

“Oh, oops.” Said Adelynn looking to where The Champion had cut her. “Yeah, I’ll get that cleaned up.”

The two of them left the store with Adelynn holding her lantern by a chain. It swung close to her knee and let her see easily twenty to thirty feet in the darkened street.

“So, where to first?” asked Starla.

“Oh!” said Adelynn. “Let’s see, I was following a lead on how those goblins got that ground tunneling tech and he vanished into Starviva City. So, I guess I need to see if I can pick up that trail again.”

“Alright, there’s a few options. You can talk to various NPCs and ask them about… what was his name?”

“Zid the Shadow.” Replied Adelynn.

“Yeah him. So, ask about Zid or you can get into fights in the back alley’s and grill those guys for information related to him.”

“Would you be able to help with those fights?” asked Adelynn.

“Yes, actually.”

“Would that be faster?”

“Also, yes.”

“Alright, let’s do that.”

Starla led them away from the mildly lit streets and into endless winding and twisting alleys behind the buildings that seemed to be forgotten. “There used to be PVP players hanging out back here shank newcomers.”

“Oh?”

“Honestly, there probably are. Last I heard there was a group that did regular patrols, but who knows if they still do that.” Said Starla.

They walked down the dark alley for a bit and Adelynn felt a little uneasy, but pushed her unease to the back of her mind. It was good to know that things could happen back here, but fear was not an emotion she was going to give into.

After a good ten minutes of walking some dark elves stepped out of the shadows and told Adelynn to give them her gold. Adelynn asked Starla if these were players, but when she turned to look Starla wasn’t behind her.

“They aren’t players.” Came Starla’s voice through the earring. “I’ll take the one to your left.”

Adelynn pulled out Arzuse and swung it deftly at the dark elf on the right. The other one took a step back when he saw her score a critical hit on his buddy and then a beam of purplish light burst through his chest. Starla, now visible, slid the beam sword out of him and he fell to the ground.

“Alright. Where is Zid the Shadow?” Adelynn asked. The two elves vanished into clouds leaving behind a small bag of coin and some black leather.

“Whoops.” Said Starla. “I thought you wouldn’t crit your dude.”

“I didn’t expect you to run him through with your beam sabre.”

“Shhhh, it’s not a sabre, nor is it made of light.” Said Starla winking. “Although it honestly isn’t made of light, it’s condensed raw magical energy, but calling it a magic sword sort of comes off way to generic.”

“Right.” Said Adeynn putting Arzuse away and gathering their leather for later. “How long until another group shows up?”

“Who knows, ten minutes? Let’s just keep walking.”

The two of them rounded a corner and Starla said “Oooh, this place looks like a good place to be ambushed in, I bet you it’s here. Watch out for archers.”

When they were in the middle of the clearing an arrow zipped up to Starla and bounced off. “There’s one.”

“What is your armor like?” asked Adelynn pulling out Arzuse. “That isn’t supposed to happen.”

Starla shrugged. “Magical? Anyway… Come to me and be my bow, With this light I’ll show, Surge forth and strike our foe! Light Arrow!”

An arrow of light lanced out and struck the archer as three figures in black ninja-adjecent clothing descended from the other side. Adelynn was ready for someone to appear, but didn’t expect three.

“Ye shouldn’t have come here lass.” Said the ‘leader’.

“Did they give these guys pirate accents? I thought ninjas and pirates didn’t mix!” Adelynn decided that the talkative one should know more and thrust Arzuse through his left-hand man.

“Where did you hear that?” asked Starla. “Light Arrow!” She sent another blast of light to another rooftop where it hit someone and they crumpled and slid off the roof to the ground below.

Adelynn blocked a swing from the boss ninja-elf-pirate and swung at his right-hand man. The leader took a moment to move around behind her to flank, but he wasn’t expecting a second sword to appear in her left hand and hit him in the ribs. He didn’t die instantly from overwhelming damage and staggered backwards.

His right-hand man wasn’t so lucky as Arzuse passed through him with little resistance.

“Minimum Power Light Arrow!” said Starla as a faintly glowing arrow nailed the boss in the knee and he crumpled.

“Yay!” said Adelynn. She grabbed the elf-ninja-pirate by his shirt. “Where is Zid the Shadow!?”

“I don’t know any Zid the Shadow!” he replied.

“Minimum Power Light Arrow!” said Starla as another faintly glowing arrow hit his other knee.

“Arrrgh!” he yelled, “Fine! I’ll tell ye! He often goes to the Whisperin’ Wench down near the docks for a swig and a shag.”

“Great! Thanks!” said Adelynn releasing him.

Starla began pointing her light bow at him and Adelynn held up her hand. “He told me, so leave him alone.” Starla shrugged and dropped the bow which faded into motes of light before hitting the ground.

“Are you always like this to the NPCs?” asked Adelynn.

“I mean, the ones that attack you usually have it coming.” Said Starla.

Adelynn shrugged. The leader looked pathetic on the ground and couldn’t stand or walk. “If we heal you will you leave us alone?”

The elf-pirate-ninja looked up at her. “What? I mean, yes, but ye’d do such a thing?”

“Yep.” She made a motion to Starla and Starla rolled her eyes before throwing a healing spell onto the wounded bandit. He stood up, put his sword away and walked away waving a hand of thanks.

“Alright. Didn’t know that could happen.” Said Starla.

“I know it’s just a game and whatnot, but I’m surprised at how robust the NPCs reactions are. I kind of expected him to just give up and go home.”

Starla had to wonder for a moment if there was a hidden ‘compassion’ stat or something. She was absolutely sure she’d be on the ‘ruthless’ side of things.

They made their way out of the back alley and onward toward the docks.

“Wait, how are there docks in this city?” asked Adelynn.

“You know, I never thought about it. We’re technically walking on the ceiling because the gravity is flipped in the whole city.”

“Is that what that nauseating moment was in the lift?” asked Adelynn.

“Yes. I guess that explains the design of the boats.” Said Starla.

“What do you mean?” asked Adelynn.

“Oh, you’ll see.”