Upon opening her eyes, Q was met with the sight of Foria. She took a look around her and found herself in the middle of a large square with 4 paths and various buildings surrounding it. Most of them seemed to be shops and vending booths, but they were all strangely empty. In fact, the entire square was empty. There wasn’t a single person to be found which was incredibly strange.
“Well… I should probably look for someone to talk to.” Q said to herself as she began to head towards one of the paths in the square. Before she could take three steps though, she heard a horn blowing, and then multiple footsteps approaching. The sounds were coming from the east and the west, so Q headed towards the north area and hid near one of the vending booths.
Soon enough, the square was filled with two groups of people. The ones that came from the east looked like a group of body-builders, who were incredibly tall and had bulging muscles all over their bodies. They held large weapons like great-swords or hammers, and looked incredibly imposing. The group from the west looked a lot more tame in comparison, with much slimmer builds and finer clothing than the ones the east group wore. The two groups met in the middle of the square and spread out, and then a representative from each side stepped out and confronted each other in the center of the square.
“GUHAHAHA!” The representative from the east laughed heartily. “Who would have thought that you Velories actually had the guts to walk out here! I thought that you lot would be trembling in your boots, locked up inside your homes!” This comment sent out a wave of laughter through the east group, and once the laughter died down, the west representative began to speak.
“Hmph. Is petty insults all you can muster with that small brain of yours? The only reason we’ve come out is to crush you uncultured swine. Soon the Breckdens will be defeated by the might of our magic!” The west representative said. The men in the west group sneered and spit towards the east group, eyes brimming with hate.
“Hah! We’ll see about that. Men, CHAAAARGE!!!” The east representative yelled as the Breckdens pulled out their weapons and ran towards Velories. The Velories also responded by pulling out wands they had hidden beneath their clothing and began reciting spells.
Meanwhile, Q watched over the events in the shadow of the booth, watching as the two groups duked it out in a clash of might and magic. At first, it seemed that the Velories had the advantage as they attacked from a range and constantly bombarded the Breckdens with various spells. The air was shaking, and various explosions could be heard as all kinds of magical attacks were flying forward. The spectacle was both impressive and terrifying, as spells ranging from fireballs to lightning strikes struck the Breckdens.The Velories were able to drop a few of them in the barrage, but soon enough a few of the Breckdens were able to break through and got into melee range.
From here the battle got far more hectic as the Velories began to deploy mana shields, which were quickly broken under the incredible strength of the Breckdens. “Grr… these damn meat bags are resilient, if nothing else…” The representative of the Velories said through gritted teeth. He then turned towards the back and began giving out orders to the others. “Squadron one through three, begin casting [Fire Spray]. Squadrons four and five, keep up the mana shields! Don’t let any of these barbarians through!”
The Breckden representative also gave out orders, although his was a lot more simple. “ATTACK!!!” He screamed, and the rest of the Breckdens let out a loud roar as they began to attack with more fervor. Some of their weapons began glowing with power, and the Breckden warriors began to make flashy moves. Some of them brought their warhammers high above their heads and smashed down with great force onto the shields, breaking them instantly, while others began to spin on the spot, using the force to hit many of the Velories shields at once.
(A/N: Spin to win)
Eventually, the Velories finished preparing their spell, and they fired it all at the same time.
*Fwooosh*
A large wave of fire swept across the ranks of the Breckdens and caused a lot of damage to them, forcing them to back off for a while. Despite being exhausted, the two sides glared at each other, daring the other side to make a move. Q watched the two sides as sparks flew between them, and just as they seemed to be ready to charge at each other again, they were interrupted.
A white light flashed in the center of the square, which immediately caught everyone’s attention. Once the light faded away, it left behind a small girl who seemed to be confused. That’s… another player right? Q thought to herself as she looked at the girl.The biggest impression of this girl would be white, since she had snow white hair and pale skin. Her more noticeable features were her round ears at the top of her head and her long tail which resembled that of a mouse.
Suddenly the mouse girl seemed to realize that she was being watched, and as soon as she saw that she was surrounded by two groups of men holding weapons, she froze in place. “Hey,” one of the Breckdens spoke out, “What are you doing here girl? This is a battlefield, not a playground for children! Get out of here!” But contrary to his demands, upon hearing the man’s voice, she began to tremble and didn’t leave.
When the man took a step to her she began to seriously panic, and frantically looked around for an exit. Her eyes darted around the place, and by chance ended up looking at the place where Q was hiding. They locked eyes for a moment, and Q was surprised to find that the mouse girl's’ eyes were a bright ruby red. After looking at each other for half a second, the mouse girl then scrambled towards Q.
Once she reached Q she immediately hid behind her back, still trembling a little, and before Q could say anything the Velories and Breckdens discovered her hiding spot and looked at her with eyes of hostility. One of the Velories stepped forward and said “Ugh… another one? You children should leave. This is a battle between men!”
“Uh…” Q had no idea how to respond to the situation, but seeing that the little mouse girl behind her was trembling violently she decided to bring her away from the area at least. “My apologies sir, we’ll take our leave now.” She said as she took the hand of the mouse girl and prepared to leave. Before she could even take a step, another light appeared in the center of the square, and then another… and then another. Slowly the square was filled up with bright lights and once they faded away they left behind a diverse multitude of people. They all looked around the area confused, and once they saw that they were surrounded by a bunch of men holding weapons, they began to make a commotion.
Hmm… so there’s the other players I guess. Though I wonder why they took so long to pop up? Q wondered. Well I can save that for later. Right now I should probably take this girl to a place where she can calm down. She walked away at a brisk pace while holding the mouse girl’s hand and the two of them made it out of the square. Once they made it a fair distance away from the square, Q heard a small voice behind her.
“...nd me.”
“Hm?” Q turned around and looked at the mouse girl.
“I said, unhand me!” The girl suddenly shouted as she yanked her hand away from Q’s. Q raised an eyebrow as she took a closer look at the girl in front of her. The girl was about the same height as Q, with a similar body build as well. She had short white hair with equally white skin, and her facial features were small and delicate. The most noticeable thing though was her current expression. In stark contrast to her previous look of terror, she suddenly looked a lot more prideful and arrogant.
“Who gave you permission to casually touch me like that?” She said in a haughty tone.
“Well, no one but… would you have rather stayed in the square?”
For a second the mouse girl’s expression paled as it seemed she was imagining that situation. After a few seconds she seemed to regain her composure, though Q noticed that she still had a hint of anxiety in her eyes. “Hmph! I would’ve been fine even without your intervention.”
“Suuuuure…” Q said as she rolled her eyes. “Anyway… what’s your name?”
“My name? I am Madel- er, I mean, I am Brie.” Q let out a wry smile as Brie almost let out her real life name. “Well, nice to meet you Brie. My name is Q.” Brie furrowed her brows for a bit as she heard Q’s name.
“Is that actually your name?”
“It’s my in-game name at least.” Q shrugged her shoulders. Is it really that surprising to have a name with a single letter? They sound pretty cool to me though. Like the letter J... She was taken out of her thoughts though as Brie began talking again. “I see… Well then Q, I’ll have you assist me in my endeavors.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have… a special condition. You see, it is-”
“You have androphobia don’t you?”
“-...how did you know?”
Q let out a laugh as she looked at Brie’s surprised face. “It was a bit obvious since you looked absolutely terrified of those guys from earlier.” Q said as she remembered Brie’s expression earlier. Well, I probably shouldn’t reveal that I’m a guy in real life then huh? Q thought as she watched Brie’s face turn red.
“I… I was not terrified of them! I was just nervous. Anyone would have been nervous in that situation.”
“Anyone who was nervous wouldn’t have been shaking as much as you did.”
“That is not true! It was a perfectly normal reaction! I just don’t have a lot of contact with men after all.” Q found Brie’s indignant expression interesting, but decided not to tease her about it as it seemed that she might get really angry at this rate. “Heheh. Alright, it was a normal reaction,” Q said. “Anyway, what do you want me to help you with?”
“Oh…” Brie’s mood quickly went back to normal as she remembered the request she was making earlier. “Yes, I would like for you to escort me while I am in this world.”
Q raised an eyebrow as she heard the request. “What, you mean join your party or something?”
“No, I mean you shall be my follower and do as I command.”
“... And what makes you think I’d accept that request?”
“Because I say so!”
“Bye.”
“No, wait!” Brie ran up and grabbed Q’s arm to prevent her from leaving. “What are you doing? I have personally requested for you to be my escort. You should be overjoyed at this opportunity!”
Q just looked at her with an emotionless face and said “Listen, judging by the way you speak and act, It seems as if you’re some sort of rich lady or something.” Brie let out a gasp at this as Q pointed a finger at her and continued to speak. “Even if you’re a bourgeoisie, right now you’re playing a game. Nothing from real life matters here, so if you want someone to help you, you’ll have to ask nicely.”
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“Er-... That...” Brie was at a loss for words. She bit her lower lip and seemed to be struggling to say anything. Seeing that Brie had trouble forming words, Q let out a sigh and decided to help her a bit. “Okay, repeat after me. Q, can you please join and help me?”
Once Brie heard these words, she quickly regained focus and became arrogant again. “I will not lower my head to someone of lower status than me!”
“We’re all players here Brie.” Q started with a patient voice. “There isn’t any difference between our statuses right now. Well, unless you count our stat points. Heh.”
“I-”
“If we have no further business then I’ll leave.” Q said as she turned away.
“W-wait! Gr-…” Brie clenched her teeth as she seemed to be in a huge inner conflict. Eventually, she made up her mind and faced Q with a resolute look on her face. “Q, I request that you escort and assist me.” She said with a begrudging voice. Seeing that Brie had finally deigned to ask nicely, Q let out a smile and said “Sure!”. She accessed her toolbar and sent Brie a party and friend request.
“Oh?” Brie let out a sound as she addressed the windows that appeared in front of her. As she was staring at it she began to mumble, and Q could faintly make out her voice. “...a friend… Really? Is it that easy to make friends?”
“Are you going to accept it or not?”
“Y-yes! I have indeed accepted your request.” Seeing that Brie’s name popped up on her friends and party list, Q nodded and began to walk back in the direction of the square.
“Hold on! Where are you going?”
“Back to the square obviously. There’s some sort of event happening there.”
“You would willingly go back into that place?”
“Well yeah. The only reason I came here was to calm you down. Now that you’re all better, we can go back and join the event.” Q began walking back towards the square, and Brie could only helplessly follow her. On the way there Brie protested and tried to resist going back, but Q only threatened her by saying that she’d leave her alone here. After that, Brie stopped protesting, but stuck closer to Q as they got closer to the square.
Eventually they could hear loud voices arguing over something, and upon hearing the voices Brie tensed herself and clenched her hands. Soon enough they were in view of the square, and upon seeing all the men shouting at each other Brie began to tremble and held onto Q’s clothes. Seeing this, Q let out a dry laugh and patted her head in order to calm her down. Once she could make out what the men were saying, Q brought Brie into one of the abandoned booths and they sat there listening to the argument.
“We should eliminate them all! They’re nothing but intruders who should be punished with death!” The representative of the Breckdens cried out.
“Hmph. Are crass words all you’re capable of speaking? Though, I do have to admit, these intruders must be killed.” The representative of the Velories added.
“Please sirs, can’t we talk about this? We are strangers to this land and did not intend on interrupting your honorable duel.” A voice rang out above the angry voices of the Breckdens and Velories. Looking at the source of the voice, Q saw that there was someone in the crowd of players who seemed to be their representative. It was a tall man who had rough features and wore a long-sword with a slight glow.
The man tried to calm down the roaring crowd, but unfortunately he didn’t have much luck as the Breckdens seemed to take it as a challenge and began shouting louder. “Pipe down you brutes!” The Velorie representative yelled out. “Your incessant chattering brings pain to my ears!”
“Oh yeah? Well maybe if we keep yelling your head will explode!” The Breckden representative threw out a stupid insult, but it seemed to be effective as the Velorie representative’s face turned red and his wand began crackling with magical energy. Seeing that his insult worked, the Breckden representative grinned and gripped his weapon. The two sides looked ready to fight again which caused the players in the square to start panicking. They just got out of the tutorial, but they might die already!
“STOP!” No one knew when, but Q climbed on top of the stall and yelled out as loudly as she could. Much to her surprise, this worked as everyone in the square stopped what they were doing and looked at Q. Having this many gazes on her reminded her of an event in the past, but she shrugged it off as she began to talk. “Breckdens and Velories, stop your fighting for a moment and listen!”
The Breckdens and Velories exchanged glances with each other, shrugged, and readied their weapons once again as they prepared to attack each other. “Ugh. These stupid battle junkies…” Q muttered to herself. She took in a deep breath and yelled at the top of her lungs, “WE CAN HELP YOU DECIDE WHO’S BETTER!” Immediately, this caught the attention of both clans as they refocused their attention on Q.
“Speak child,” the Velorie representative said. “What do you mean?”
“You better not be wasting our time.” the Breckden representative growled.
Q cleared her throat and began to explain her idea. “From what I’ve gathered, the Breckden and Velorie houses have been fighting for a long time now right?” The representatives and other members nodded at this. “Well you’ve been fighting for so long, but there hasn’t been a victor yet right? In that case both houses are evenly matched and-”
“NO! The Breckdens are FAR stronger!” One of the Breckdens yelled out.
“What are you talking about you brute? Obviously we Velories are superior!” A Velorie said in response.
Just as the two houses began to get rowdy again, Q yelled out “QUIET!!!” The two houses quieted down as they paid attention to Q again, though they all looked very agitated. “It doesn’t matter who’s stronger. You’ve been going at it for years and there hasn’t been a clear victor, so I propose that you get help from… other sources.”
“We will NOT seek assistance from outsiders!” The Velorie representative said. “This fight is between us, and we have never looked for help from others.”
“I hate to agree with a Velorie, but he’s right.” The Breckden representative added. “We’re not so low as to ask for help from others to let us win.”
Q was getting a little exasperated as the two houses kept interrupting her whenever she tried to speak. She sighed, and once again raised her voice to be heard above the crowd. “Listen up! You’ve all noticed that us ‘intruders’ aren’t from these lands, and we have no connections or obligations to anyone yet.” The two representatives exchanged a look and prompted Q continue. “What I propose is that you two enlist us as extra forces.” Seeing that the two representatives were about to argue again, Q quickly went on with her point.
“I mean, we will join one of your sides and fight! You can use any method you want to recruit us, and we’ll join your house and fight for you. Not only will it prove your leadership skills, we can also tip the balance in your favor, winning the fight and proving who’s better once and for all! Aren’t you sick of fighting for this long? With our help we can put an end to this conflict and show which side is superior!” Q watched the two representatives, reading their expressions. She knew her argument was flimsy but she had a hunch that it was what was needed to advance this event, and soon she was proven right.
“Hmm… she has a point.” The Velorie representative muttered to himself.
“Well, if it can finally prove who’s better…” The Breckden representative was slowly nodding.
The two representatives then looked at each other, nodded, and looked back at Q. “Alright child, we’ll accept your proposition.” The Velorie representative said.
Suddenly, a window appeared in front of every player in the square.
[An Event Has Occurred!] - Through careful convincing, the Breckden and Velorie houses have decided to begin recruiting fighters to their cause! Players may join a side and help end their conflict. For one week both sides will recruit and train players for the upcoming battle. Rewards depend on player contribution, and whether their side will win the battle.
While all players were reading this window, Q saw a few more windows appear in front of her.
[You have set events into motion, granting you additional rewards.]
[New Stat Unlocked - Leadership]
[New Title] - (Leader) The confident and commanding aura you possess inspires others to follow you. Effects when equipped: 5% increase to Leadership stat.
[New Skill] - Silver Tongue (Passive) Increases chance to convince others to listen to your words.
[Stats gained]
[Fame Gained]
“Heh, awesome.” Q said as she jumped down from the booth and waited for the people approaching her.
----------------------------------------
A/N: Why hello there. As you're reading this fiction I'd like to point out something. Some of you might think that the way the event advanced was kind of weird and forced, and I'd have to agree. But I would like to remind everyone that this IS a game after all, and sometimes events are forced no matter what. Q simply gave them an excuse to start it (lol). Oh, and there's also the 'thing' about my "information-boxes". Personally I think that having too much information just makes the story tedious and takes away from the immersion, especially if I had given a prompt for every little thing like gaining a single stat or experience. Since that sounds lame, I just organized the boxes to appear after a fight is over, and I don't really go into detail on the items gained or the skills used. If the item is particularly important, I'll have the characters briefly talk about it or actually have it show up in it's own box. Likewise for skills. I think that they're pretty self-explanatory, but if there's some sort of complicated mechanic with it (like Q's 'Heartless' title) then I'll describe it in detail. In conclusion, I'm leaving the boxes as they are. Also, just realized this is a really long author note. ANYWAY, thanks for reading :)
Fun-fact: Brie's character was just supposed to be a timid mouse-girl, but that was boring.
P.S: I know that there are a lot of strange things that aren't explained in detail, like Q's "time slow" or the bulk of the players appearing randomly. This is all foreshadowing, and I swear that it'll be explained in the future... the far-future... where you'll forget about them in the first place.