A/N: I’m so sorry for the chapter title… And I guess I should go ahead and point out that Thundatwin represents me.

V1C5 Ice to Meet You

(Lil’ Wub Wub’s POV)

Immediately as I logged on, I had an overwhelming urge to hit Thundatwin…

Anyway, breakfast was good and the shower quick. I couldn’t waste any time, even if it was only to clean a non-existing tavern. Speaking of, it was spotless! Especially the floors! It was like people kept spilling cleaning water on themselves and the floor! No but seriously, how do people put up with that old prank and still stay the night? My hand was already raw from the highfives over the past couple of days…

I quickly took care of my morning chores, including cleaning the halls, fetching new water, and… what else… Oh yeah!

Waking up the drunks out front.

I mean seriously! Can’t you at least stumble a block away before passing out? I was surprised to not see Ulfa out here, but then I remembered last night. She shuffled out sometime between the level ups and the shouting. I stepped inside and grabbed a bite of the breakfast Steph was slaving over. It was… well, it was something. I was grateful it woke me up anyway. When she turned around, I added some salt and pepper to the massive amount of eggs she was making.

We struggled around until around 10:30 game time. We had planned to go stock up. Waving goodbye to Enzo, we set off. I opened up the conversation with a serious tone.

“So let’s look over the fight from yesterday.” They both nodded in response. “First off, your aim sucks.” Thundatwin just grumbled to himself. “I know it’s tough, but it’s true. And Steph, remember that we’re close by. I didn’t see much of the beginning, but you seemed to panic when I looked.” (W)

“Yeah sorry, I was freaking out cause I kept losing health…” (S)

My brother, who had ceased his grumbles, tilted his head.

“She was bleeding.” He nodded and went into thought; however, this time StephOFF tilted her head. “Bleeding is when you steadily lose health over time. Deep cuts can cause it, or maybe some skills. Its opposite would by crippled, which is caused by blunt objects and some skills. The help said that it causes slowness and prevents some movements because you’re literally breaking bones.” (W)

Satisfied with my answer, she nodded.

“Yeah, don’t freak. Any party would crumble without their tank.” (T)

“What’s a tank?” (S)

I took over and gave a brief overview of roles.

(Okay, I’m not gonna make you read it. If you don’t know, it’ll be in the spoiler below. It’s just breezing over tank, heals, DPS, and support roles, as well as hitting basics like aggro, buffs, and CCing.)

Spoiler :

-tanks: heavily armored players that try to keep the highest aggro of all the enemies.

-heals: obviously, provide healing for the group. They mainly focus their efforts on tanks. Some might offer support with buffs/ debuffs.

-DPS: stands for damage per second. The role is also referred to as damage roles, these players focus on dealing as much damage as possible without drawing too much aggro. Most also have CC skills.

-support: sometimes a role of its own, these players focus on buffing and CCing. Also deal some damage when they can.

-buffing: these skills either boost an allies stats. Debuffing decreases an enemy’s stats.

-CC: stands for crowd control. This involves skill of effects that stop the enemy from attacking. Might come as freezing an enemy solid, putting some to sleep, or rooting. Rooting is preventing an enemy from moving.

-aggro: refers to an enemy’s attention. When someone builds aggro, the enemy will focus solely on that person.

We found ourselves done shopping and approaching the adventurer’s guild at the tail end of the conversation. Walking in, we were meet with the buzzing of conversations again. We made our way through the bustle to the bounty board.

“Wow, what’s this?” (T)

“The bounty board. Simple quests to keep the monster population down… Wait, I know for a fact I pointed it out to you last time we were here…” (W)

“Oh! Uhhh… I was thinking about what weapon to get?” (T)

Sighing, I said, “They have quests that pay you based on how many monsters you kill in a time limit on this half. On the other, they have bounties for players and NPCs with high infamy. I heard you could put a bounty on someone if you wanted, provided you have the money.” (W)

Walking closer, I looked through the bounties, but I couldn’t find the one we were looking for. I glanced over at the dark Elf player beside me and noticed that he had it.

“Excuse me, but we’re going out to hunt some Treants and decided to earn some extra money. The only thing is, that’s the only bounty for it. Are you going to take it? If not, can we have it?” (W)

“Yeah, sure man. Just on one condition though. You just have to let me tag along.”

I looked him over more closely. He had an identical staff to my own. He was wrapped in a brown cloak that looked nice for our levels. His red hair was tied up in a ponytail, though he missed a few strands. His pointy ears had large looking gages near the tip. To top that off, there were huge burn marks all over his forearms. ‘Ouch…’ Unlike Enzo, he had some dark looking tattoos on his left cheek. Some kind of tribe markings?

“Mage?” (T)

My brother had joined in on the conversation. He nodded in response. He and Steph were checking the guy out. ‘Gaaaaaay.’ I debated teasing him out loud, but I came to the conclusion that it wouldn’t make a very good first impression.

“Sure!” (S)

She answered before we could discuss it… I looked at my brother. He shrugged and gave a slight nod. He claimed himself as McIcer15, and I sent him a party invite. He was a level two. I mentally shrugged as he handed over the bounty.

“You just gotta give this to Dee.”

Before we could stop her, Steph tilted her head and said, “Who’s Dee?” (S)

I literally face palmed while my brother offered a high five. He accepted it with a laugh, and then turned to Steph.

“Dee is the person at the counter, but try not to fall for that again.” (M)

I gave the bounty a once over, explaining what we needed to get. Arriving at the counter, I struck up a conversation with the receptionist, a bunny girl. She started sweating a bit. I gave my best smile and started confidently.

“Hi! I’d like to take this bounty with my party please.” (W)

“S-Sure! The limit is three days. Please prepare yourself to fight them, though it shouldn’t be too hard. They keep to themselves, so it will go quite easily with a party.”

*Ding!*

New Quest!

Treant Bounty

Sharable

Three day time limitA simple bounty to hunt the local Treants (level 5).Requirements:X Treant leavesQuest Members:Lil' Wub Wub

McIcer15

StephOFF

ThundatwinAccept the quest for your party?YesNo

I thanked her and began to turn away, thought for a moment, and turned back to her.

“Excuse me, one last question. May I ask for your name?” (W)

“Oh! My name’s Dee.” A chuckle erupted from the surrounding players. “Why do you Travelers always laugh at that…” (D)

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

I thanked her again as I turned around. For real this time. Steph was blushing slightly, while Thundatwin and McIcer looked a little suspicious…

“Told ya so!” (M)

I grunted and shot my brother a questioning glance.

“We explained the joke.” (T)

I shook my head as I lead our pow wow out the building.

***

(Thundatwin’s POV)

I have got some luck with dark Elves!!

Moving passed that, there were a couple of things I learned about McIcer. He was a nice guy, despite the appearance the tatts did for him. He did odd jobs for his time stuck in town, which is why he was a low level. ‘Now that I think about it, we got pretty lucky with that quest.’ What else… Oh yeah!

The guy was fucking hilarious.

His humor style was unique and delivered in an almost laid back manner. Most of it was presented as responses to other jokes. And the guy used the word ‘groovy.’ How much cooler can you get!

As a gamer, he seemed more confident and experienced than Steph. However, he admitted that he was new to mmos. At that, Wubs launched into the role explanation once again. This time, though, he quizzed StephOFF on the terms.

“Then I guess I lean towards DPS role then. Plus a little CC.” (M)

At a nod from us, he went further to explain the spell he pooled his money into.

Ice Shard

10 Mana

Level 1 (0%)Description:A novice spell that draws on the powers of ice to launch a shard at a target. Deals damage and has a chance to slow. Occasionally freezes target.Effects:Deals 15 damage

10% chance to slow target

0.5% chance to freeze targetSpecifications:3 meter range

3 second cast time

4 second cooldown

The spell sounded pretty nice.

We started to plan tactics, deciding Steph as the main tank. I was debating on whether the sword or the bow. I slapped my forehead. ‘Why didn’t I think of using both…’ I explained my plan to the party’s confused looks. Moving on, I was going to act as a DPS most of the time, switching out with Steph when she needed a sub. Icer was on full time DPS, the same for our healer.

We made our way to the gate, where we saw a multitude of people grouped new the exit. A few rings formed around some passing the time by dueling. A guard was standing in front of them, sweating and trying to shout above the crowd’s murmurs. There was no way for us at the back to hear her. At least she finally washed the paint off, though Wubs looked a little sad at that.

I nudged him. “Follow my lead!” (T)

*Stomp Stomp Clap!* *Stomp Stomp Clap!*

-An awesome group effort in which everyone starts to scream “We Will Rock You”, during which staffs are slammed, swords and shields crash, and some crazy mother fucker power slides.-

I look out of the gates and see the wolves shuddering and dashing to get away. Suddenly, someone starts a count down.

10!...

9!...

We were screaming the numbers.

6!...

5!...

I grabbed Wubs robe in front of me. Steph and Icer followed suit, starting a chain.

2!...

1!...

GOOO!!

We surged forward, shoving the guard out of the way to release the flow of battle-crazed adventurers. Most stayed straight, pursuing the wolves to end their struggles. Some followed the path, eager to be the first to get to a new town. A few, us included, made straightaway to the forest.

The train was a good idea, as we saw many parties split up and forced to look for each other. Some other groups had a similar idea. We sprinted until we were alone in the vicinity then we sprinted some more. Though we were all out of breath and a good distance from the nearest fight, we could never out run the sounds of violence echoing in the woods.

Panting, we waited until everyone caught their breath.

For constantly running, you feel yourself become more agile.

+1 AGI

It started as a chuckle and evolved into a full blown laugh. Four different sounds mixed to become a single, light hearted atmosphere. When it subsided, we examined the area around us. We were surrounded by trees. The green light filtering from above was pretty calming. I turned further to continue looking, and saw a stump. It went up about 3 meters and was wide to the point where it took two men to wrap their arms around it. Curious, I trained my eyes on it for a moment and saw subtle movements.

“Pssst!” I pointed at the stump. Steph set off at a cautious pace, while Icer and I tried to get an angle on it. Pulling out my bow, I forced myself to ignore the whispering coming from Icer.

Common Treant

Level 5

75/75

A roar erupted from StephOFF as she jumped in, making an overhead slash.

[Sneak attack! 12]

A monstrous creak resounded in response. I released my arrow, a thud signaling it embedding into the trunk almost immediately after. A 5 rose from the spot. The stump picked itself up on its roots, spinning quickly. The movement turned its one remaining branch into a weapon as it slugged into the side of Steph.

[20]

She screamed out in pain as she rolled for a couple of feet. This thing must’ve monstrous strength! The air chilled. I glanced to my right as I readied an arrow, catching sight of a magic circle about the size of a plate forming in front of Icer. An ice shard the size of a kitchen knife launched from it at a high speed.

[15]

I ignored looking towards the light falling on Steph as I looked back towards the treant. There were some tears in the bark, opening the wood to show darkness in the shape of eyes and a gaping mouth. Its branch had a speck of green on it. A sole leaf hung there.

I drew, and released another arrow.

[5]

I heard Icer mumbling again as the treant, with its creaking… well, sounds like everything was creaking. Anyway, it set off towards Steph as the speed of a slow walk. She was struggling to regain her breath. I cursed and dashed forward, unsheathing my sword.

I slashed at everything close to me in an attempt to draw aggro.

[4]

[5]

I ran between its root legs, slashing as I went.

[5]

Its gaze ran over me before continuing behind me to Steph again. I clicked my tongue and jumped, a slash unleashed towards its branch.

[Critical! 8]

It worked a little too well, as it tried to kick me instantly. I was about to land. There wasn’t much I could do. I rotated and put the sword in between the leg and myself.

[19]

I hit the ground. Hard. I saw a shattered bone next to my health. Winded, I used my hand to communicate to the party.

Party ChatThundatwin:branch weak spot

Icer’s whispering never stopped, so I hope the message got across. Another cold rush accompanied by a whoosh. A shard was sticking out of the head of the treant. Icer missed by barely any distance…

A shadow launch over me. I winced, but sat up through the pain anyway. I saw my brother rush in and smash his staff into one of the legs. Its sliver of health disappeared. With a crash, the treant fell over. A silence followed.

“… Timber.” (W)