Thursday morning, Ilaria was once again treading the roads of Torinelo City. It had been great so far inside Virtual Connection. She was leveling at a good pace and her first Dungeon Date was also a success.
Thinking about her date, she checked her friend list. Natsu's name was in gray, meaning that he wasn't logged in. It wasn't like she wanted to contact him anyway, objectively he hadn't been a good partner for DDing.
Rather than that, Ilaria was instantly drawn towards the only yellow name on the list.
Diana was logged in.
Ilaria hovered her index finger over the name; it was amazing how the program could recognize when you really wanted to press something, instead of like just clowning around with your fingers.
She finally pressed it.
“Hi” Diana's voice sounded in her ear.
“Hello Diana.”
“Wanna meet now? Where are you?” asked Diana
“I'm almost by the plaza.”
“That's perfect, see you there.”
As Ilaria turned the street's corner, she could see Diana by the plaza's main fountain.
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“What level are you now?” asked Diana.
“Just got to level 10,” answered Ilaria, not knowing if that was good or not.
“I didn't think you would level that fast, nyan,” said Diana, laughing. “But it will work alright. Want to join us?”
At that point, she realized there was a tall guy, clad in heavy armor, next to Diana. Even though he was taller than her, he looked young.
“Sorry,” said Diana, realizing Ilaria's surprise. “I didn't introduce you.”
“He is Kyle, my baby brother.”
“Don't introduce me like that!” exclaimed an embarrassed Kyle.
“Okay, okay,” said Diana, laughing. “Lady Ilaria, here is my dear brother, the warrior Kyle.”
Ilaria couldn't help laughing too, even though she knew it was hard on the kid. How old was he anyway?
“Sorry,” said Ilaria, smiling. “And if I have to say something, you don't look small at all.”
Kyle's face got redder, if that was even possible.
“My name is Ilaria. I just started playing, so Diana has been of great help to me. Pleased to meet you.”
After introducing themselves, the group decided to go 'grinding', which apparently meant just killing the same monsters repeatably for experience. Diana was level 9 and Kyle level 8, but in a party they would be capable to beat monsters several levels higher. It would net them more experience than just doing the extermination quests that they could manage by themselves.
They got out of the city from the north gate, walking through the farmland surrounding Torinelo City. After about half an hour, they arrived at a rock outcrop, which connected to a mountain chain further to the north. A narrow cavern entrance was hidden underneath, from which a faint drumming sound could be heard at a distance.
“We are at the lizardman caves,” said Diana. “On the first floor there are only melee ones, so we should be able to manage, even if we make a mistake here or there. We just need to be careful to not pull more than a couple.”
“Alright,” said Kyle, materializing his shield. “I might be new to Virtual Connection, but I have been playing games for years.”
“Good to know,” said Diana, pointing to Ilaria.
Kyle blushed again.
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The lizard grinding at the cave went really well. The tank's job was arguably the hardest, but Kyle wasn't joking about his gaming experience. He pulled the lizardmen with just the exact distance as to not lose them, but without taking unnecessary hits. When he got them to their designed spot, Diana would start dagger slashing one while Ilaria helped Force bolting the other one, healing Kyle whenever he needed. As the hours passed, Kyle increased the number of pulled lizardmen.
Thanks to the costume bonuses, Ilaria could even kill a lizard with Mana bolts, with mana to spare for healing. But she did realize that if she didn't have one, she would need to party like this just to be able to train.
“Whew, that was quite the workout,” said Kyle, storing his shield.
The party had been grinding for about four hours. For Diana and Ilaria it wasn't that hard, but Kyle was tired. Besides, it would be time for lunch soon, so they needed to find a safe spot to log out.
“What do you think about Kyle?” asked Diana, looking at him sideways. He was in a corner a few steps away, probably reading something in his viewpoint.
“I really don't know much about games,” said Ilaria. “But I do realize he is really good.”
“If you haven't DDed yet today, what do you think about dating him?” asked Diana, with mischievous eyes.
“What about you?” asked Ilaria.
“I haven't used my DD today yet,” said Diana. ”But dating my little bro is somewhat...”
A Dungeon Date was just free experience, so Ilaria didn't mind dating Kyle at all. He would probably be miles better than Natsu, if nothing else.
The group took their lunch break around 2 pm. Diana was going out in the afternoon, but Kyle would re-log to do the daily Dungeon Date with Ilaria. They had leveled quite a bit; Diana and Kyle got to level 10 with experience to spare, while Ilaria was already in her way to level 12.
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Just after relogging, Ilaria noticed a pulsating red button welcoming her.
“Hello?” said Ilaria, expecting to hear Kyle's voice.
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“Hello!” exclaimed Amy. “Sorry about this morning. I had to do some paperwork for school.”
“Don't worry,” said Ilaria. “I am already thankful for all your help. So just log in whenever you feel like.”
“Where are you?” asked Amy. “Shall we meet up?”
“Right now I am waiting for my date,” answered Ilaria. “But we can meet afterwards.”
“Who is he?” asked Amy.
“His name is Kyle. He is the little brother of a girl I met on the first day,” answered Ilaria. “He's a really good tank, so I think it will go great.”
“Lucky!”
“He just arrived.”
“Alright then, good luck!”
Ilaria could see Kyle approaching her. He had logged in already in his full combat suit: heavy armor, short spear and a small round shield.
“Hello,” said Ilaria.
“Diana told me about this Dungeon Date.” said Kyle. “But let me confirm.”
“She wouldn't show you the actual date?” asked Ilaria.
“Nope,” answered Kyle. “She takes this dating thing way too seriously.”
“She won't date her own brother,” said Ilaria, laughing.
“Actually, I don't think she will date anyone besides her boyfriend,” said Kyle. “And he didn't restart his character, so that will take some time.”
They made a short review of the different mob waves and planned their strategy together. The Dungeon Date wasn't that different from grinding in a two-player party, and their builds were very compatible. Ilaria expected for them to go far.
First wave: Ten rabid rabbits.
At the time of the announcement, both of them were already at the ballroom's center, standing back to back; Ilaria facing the closest door to the right. As soon as the rabbits appeared, she started to one-shot them, rotating in her place in a clockwork fashion. For her current self they weren't any challenge.
“You made that look so easy,” said Kyle, smiling.
“Well, it was that easy.”
Second wave: Nine frenzied hogs.
After what felt like a long time–but was actually 24 seconds–the hogs materialized. Ilaria didn't waste time and started to shoot. She killed most, but a couple got to the center, where Kyle took care of them.
Third wave: Eight crimson bears.
Ilaria recalled that by this point in her last date, they had already been pushed to the side. What a difference a day of leveling and a compatible partner made.
The bears had a lot more hit points than hogs, so Ilaria–using Force bolt–could only kill three of them before they got to melee range. That wasn't a problem though. Kyle stepped to the front, pulling the bears one by one, without letting them get close to the mage.
He started going in circles in order to minimize the damage taken–all their foes following in his trail. Ilaria only had to cast healing touch once, focusing on finishing the most damaged bears one at a time.
Fourth wave: Seven twilight bats.
This round was tricky, since the bats were fast and difficult to aim. Ilaria still took advantage of their static initial positions to one-hit three of them with Mana bolts, before they started to move around. It was fortunate that she had saved most of her mana until this round by forcing herself to use the manaless Force bolt whenever possible.
The four remaining bats crowded them in the middle for a bit–Ilaria had been bracing herself for a bite–before Kyle made a sweep with his spear and 'collected' them.
With the warrior retaining their full attention, Ilaria picked them out one by one. And she finally had the chance to give them a good look; the bats did have a kinda green fluorescent shine covering them.
Fifth wave: Six cursed lizardmen.
The cursed lizardmen–which didn't seem to differ much from their normal variety–were actually easier than bats. It helped that they had been killing them by dozens just earlier in the morning. Kyle pulled them like a pro, and Ilaria could take her time frying them with a combination of Force and Mana bolts.
Sixth wave: Five blood-eyed lizardmen.
This was the wave for which Ilaria had been saving most of her mana. Ranged attackers were that dangerous, since they didn't need to get close to them to press their numeric advantage.
Just as they appeared, she started shooting Mana bolts starting with the right side. As she was doing that, Kyle ran to the left side to aggro those. Their plan was to prevent Ilaria–as much as they could–from being targeted.
And the plan had a relative success. They finished the lizardmen with seconds to spare; Kyle never being in danger.
Ilaria, on her side, had been targeted by only a handful of stones at the beginning of the wave; unfortunately, that had taken more than a half of her meager HPs. She was forced to spent most of her remaining mana in healing both Kyle and herself.
Seventh wave: Four goblin fanatics.
Goblins were smaller than the lizardmen, but way faster. They attacked with daggers, but they could also use their teeth and claws if they saw the chance.
Kyle pulled them as fast as he could, being hit in retaliation, but ensuring Ilaria would be safe in a corner. This time she hadn't shot any of them as they appeared–Force bolt wouldn't do anything but drawing aggro to herself–the small amount of mana she had left was reserved for Healing touch usage.
Eighth wave: Three goblin shamans.
They heard the announcement just as Kyle finished a second fanatic. And he had burned most of his remaining mana in a damage-dealing skill to be able to do so. Ilaria was drained too, having healed Kyle through the fight.
The shamans had appeared at some point; Ilaria never saw them. She felt herself receiving a Lightning bolt to the head, and dropped dead.
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“That was amazing!” exclaimed Ilaria, as they materialized in the now empty ballroom. She was panting but satisfied. It had been a very fulfilling experience.
“Such a pity we ran out of mana in the end,” said Kyle, who couldn't help smiling.
They left the DD instance, reappearing at the safe point next to the lizardmen cave's entrance. Ilaria got even happier when she checked her character's progress–she had gotten to level 12–the date amounting to more than a couple of hours of grinding.
“Now I should go, my virtual body is really tired,” said Kyle. “I hope we can have another round of DDing someday.”
“Of course, I will be glad,” said Ilaria, still smiling. “Thank you, and see ya!”
After Kyle logged out, Ilaria checked if Amy was still logged in–the DD had taken a lot of time–before PMing her.
“Hey, did you just finish?” asked Amy.
“Yeah, we got far; until the shamans,” answered Ilaria.
“That really, really good.” said Amy. “We underestimated you; maybe you are a genius at this game after all!”
“The genius is Kyle,” said Ilaria. “His tanking is a thing of beauty.”
“Did it make your heart flutter?” asked Amy, teasingly.
“Don't even joke about that,” answered Ilaria, laughing.
“You should keep dating him,” said Amy. “At this pace, you might even clear the lowest level DD before the end of the week.”
“By the way, should I take a return scroll to meet you at the city?” asked Ilaria.
“No need, I'll be logging out soon,” answered Amy.
“Ah, I forgot to tell you,” said Amy. “I'm going to your house later, for dinner.”
Having finished their conversation, Ilaria decided to log out too. She didn't have any motivation to do an extermination quest by her own, specially when she was getting many times more experience points by grinding in a party.
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Ricardo spent the rest of the afternoon listening to music while surfing the web. He had missed a lot of updates on his favorites websites since he started playing Virtual Connection.
Dinnertime arrived and everyone joined in the dinning room. Amelia had brought a box full of bite-sized sweets from a famous confectionery shop, which they picked one by one while drinking flower tea. At some point, Ricardo brought down a few tabletop games, which prolonged the gathering for a while.
And contrary to their expectations, Minerva did play for a bit. And even flashed a half-smile against her will.
Some progress.