Sunday morning, January 2nd, Ilaria materialized in front of the–closed at the moment–Hidden Owl Lounge and Disco, in Torinelo City. Last night had been short, one could say. After her dizziness episode–and way earlier than planned first meeting with Johnny–she had decided to log off and call it a night.
Actually, Ilaria didn't know if meeting Johnny was good or not–she could see it benefiting the plan–she just wasn't feeling well, and didn't want to risk doing something she would regret. At least I had the mask on, he wouldn't recognize me later, would he?
Anyway, her goal for the day was getting at least to level 15–that would leave her 5 levels for 5 days, until Friday. It would be hard on her, but it was possible–specially if she kept DDing Kyle.
As Ilaria was pondering her next movement, she received the call of certain catgirl, inviting her to what promised to be a very exciting lizard-grinding 'party'. She took out a return scroll registered to the lizardmen's caves and teleported away.
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Ilaria hadn't seen Diana or Kyle in the party–she had left so early she didn't gave them a chance. They didn't comment anything about it–not that Ilaria had much to say–before starting with the grind.
Inside the caves, the group mowed through the lizardmen as if they were rabbits, moving like an efficient, ruthless machine. And soon they got to the last cave clearing, in front of the boss room.
“Ready?” asked Diana, without even giving them the chance to refuse.
“Yeah,” answered Ilaria. Kyle just materialized his shield and put himself in his starting position.
Yesterday, they had cut it close, but Ilaria was sure this time would be different. For starters, she had gained one level, so she could tank one extra rock. Most importantly, she had been thinking about this battle all the morning–picturing the scene in her mind–and she knew exactly what she needed to do.
Kyle went into the room first; Ilaria could hear the lizardmen grunting as they noticed him. She counted to five before following inside.
The room was as she had pictured in her mind: rough stone walls lined with smoky torches; high ceiling from which an iron candelabra was hung, it's wax candles dripping to the floor. In the far left an open tent, from which emanated an aroma of fat and spices, a handful of crude drums abandoned at its entrance. And, the important part, five lizardmen slingers in a pentagon formation, swinging their slings.
She could feel Kyle rushing by her as she approached the center of the room–having the candelabra as a landmark–designers would always put it in the exact center, it would be irksome otherwise. Ilaria was aiming before she raised her head, shooting just as the same time the rocks left their slings, in Kyle's direction.
As the first slinger dropped dead, the other four turned towards Ilaria. Last time she had been unmoving while she aimed the second one, which earned her a couple of rock hits. Now–since she knew their positions–she ran at an angle towards the right wall as she double-shot a second one, at exactly a quarter, and halfway, respectively.
While Ilaria was killing her second target, the slingers released their shots too. Ilaria got hit on her left leg as she moved, the other rocks missing her widely. She stumbled a little–nothing like the headshot of yesterday–and double-shot a third slinger before they could even recharge.
Then, she turned around, moving towards the center again. She shot from the same positions as before–she didn't need to see to aim, the advantage of going against unmoving targets–felling a fourth slinger. The last one had missed its only chance at retaliation; its rock going pass her head at a couple centimeters of distance.
Ilaria smiled as she looked at her last target, and executed it in a couple of shots to the torso. She then turned around towards Diana and Kyle, who were finishing with the last pair of lizardmen. She crossed glances with the former, who smiled at her, as she gave the last slashes to her prey.
“That was easy, wasn't it?” asked Diana, after approaching Ilaria at the center of the room.
“Yeah,” answered Ilaria, smiling. Even if she got hit once, she was very satisfied with herself.
“I didn't get to see it, but the results talk by itself,” said Kyle, with pride in his voice. “Your hit points are almost full.”
“Well, it wasn't that hard,” said Ilaria. “Hitting an enemy who won't move, that's it.”
“It makes sense,” said Kyle.
As they were talking, Diana started walking forward.
“Let's do that.” said Diana, pointing to the golden door at the far end of the room, the boss' room door.
It was an almost floor to ceiling gold-plated wooden door, with carvings depicting war scenes between lizardmen and humans. The most prominent figure was a huge lizard wielding a spear.
Boss fights weren't easy–the game recommended a full six person party of around the boss' level–but Diana was sure they could do it. Emboldened by their recent success, the group went ahead.
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The golden door closed behind them with a thump, the temperature in the boss' room much colder than in the rest of the cave. The room itself was a square about half the size of the last clearing, illuminated by blue crystals embedded in the ceiling. The wooden walls were dirtied by mud and bloodstains in equal proportions. And, sitting on a raised dais against the far wall, there was the biggest, fattest lizard Ilaria had ever seen. It was even taller than the troll boss from the Dungeon Date.
“The Lizard Broodmother,” said Diana. “Lovely, isn't she?”
“I don't know if I'm more repulsed by her mud crusted skin or her dirty drooling mouth,” answered Ilaria, thankful that the developers had toned down the smell. It was merely unpleasant; it should have been close to unbearable by the looks of it.
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Kyle quickly set into his previously designated place, covering them as the vanguard. The lizardwoman got up with a roar and picked up its spear. Kyle, who was waiting for that, ran towards the boss, intercepting the spear throw with his shield.
“Now!” yelled Diana.
Ilaria–who had been aiming ever since she walked into the room–didn't waste time and made her shot. The Mana bolt impacted the Broodmother directly in the chest, making it step back. Diana–having already gone around the other side–jumped the boss with daggers in both hands. The catgirl slashed her foe twice and hopped backwards, as the spear came flying back towards the Broodmother's hand.
They continued attacking the boss in the same way until its hit points got halfway down. At that point, the Broodmother stepped down from it's raised dais with the spear in her hand. Kyle went forward to engage it, blocking with his shield while trying to stay in front of the girls. Ilaria alternated between shooting and healing, chipping at the boss' hit points.
Here it comes.
Suddenly, the walls at the sides of the room started moving sideways, revealing ten big, light-pulsing, crackling-sounding eggs.
“Don't mind them,” said Diana, while running towards the closest egg. “I got it.”
The rogue frantically slashed the lizards from the right wall as they emerged from their eggs. The lizardlings were fast but weak, falling easily to Diana's daggers; she didn't even bother to evade their claws. She finished them just in time to intercept the left side ones, who were approaching Ilaria from the back.
“Are you alright?” asked Ilaria, glancing sideways.
“Don't worry; they won't kill me.”
After Diana killed all the lizardlings, the Broodmother became enraged, dropping its spear. It began thrashing wildly, attacking with claws and teeth at Kyle. He intercepted the attacks when he could, taking the hits with his body otherwise; his hit points steadily dropping. Ilaria could barely follow the movements–and that just because he had fought alongside Kyle several times–but she still needed to remain close despite the danger. Healing touch–the basic healing spell and the only one at Ilaria's disposal–needed physical contact to activate.
After a couple of seconds, Diana returned to engage the boss, chipping at its HPs one opportunistic strike at a time. It finally fell down in a burst of light, leaving its spear floating behind.
“Lucky!” exclaimed Diana, clad only in her underwear. Her armor laid in pieces all over the room.
Blood spear of the lizard tribe
Level 17 shortspear
Retrace (This weapon can be recalled to your hand two seconds after impact)
The spear of the matriarch of a lizardman clan, coated in the blood of all its previous owners.
A boss weapon, less than 2% of a chance for it to drop. They had really been lucky. It didn't look much different from the normal spear though, just a crimson shine along the shaft.
It was a spear, so Ilaria prompted Kyle towards it. He looked towards Diana, who nodded at him.
“Is it really okay for me to take it?” asked Kyle, looking at Ilaria.
“Yeah, take it,” replied Ilaria, smiling. “I don't have any use for a spear anyway.”
“Thank you, Ilaria,” said Kyle, picking up the weapon.
“That rare drop is the best weapon for a tank under level 30,” said Diana, smiling.
“Nice!” said Ilaria, not being able to stop glancing towards Diana. “By the way... Are you sure you're feeling well?”
“It just feels a little itchy!”
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“I didn't think I would ever see the Naked Ninja in action,” said Kyle, laughing.
“Naked Ninja?!” exclaimed Ilaria, dumbfounded.
Diana, Ilaria and Kyle were back at the Barista Café in Torinelo City, sipping cold drinks.
“That's how she is called in her guild,” said Kyle. “You can imagine why.”
“I can see it,” said Ilaria, stifling a laugh.
“You know...” said Diana, a little peeved. “In the first days of the game, we farmed that boss for days. And I would always end up with my clothes all in tatters. So I decided: instead of wasting gold in buying new armor every time, I'll just fight naked!”
“It makes a lot of sense,” said Ilaria, laughing.
“I wish I had done that today,” said Diana. “I wasted a perfectly fine set of level 7 clothes.”
“We have been leveling really fast,” said Ilaria, after noticing she was halfway through level 15. “If we keep at it we'll get to level 20 in no time!”
“Such a pity winter break is almost over,” said Kyle. “I still need to level twice to be able to use my new spear.”
“That's easy,” said Ilaria. “We just need to date!”
“Yeah,” said Kyle.
“By the way, I can't join you in the afternoon,” said Diana, apologetically. “But you two can still train together without me.”
“Is Dave logging in?” asked Kyle.
“Yup,” answered Diana, smiling. “And I should be a good girlfriend.”
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After finishing their drinks, Kyle excused himself, promising to log back in the afternoon for their daily DD.
“What plans do you have for level 20?” asked Diana, now that they were alone. “Are you gonna be an official mage?”
“Yeah, that's the plan; and I'm already used to it,” answered Ilaria. “Watching you two fight has made me painfully aware I wouldn't make it either as a warrior or rogue.”
“You would do just fine,” said Diana. “Kyle and I are pros!”
“Really?” asked Ilaria, dumbfounded.
“No way!” exclaimed Diana, laughing. “You are so cute!”
Ilaria felt herself blushing. If Diana had told her seriously that she was a professional gamer, she would have believed her. Kyle too. They were as good as what little she had seen from the big gaming tournaments.
“There aren't any Virtual Connection pros yet anyway,” said Diana. “The game doesn't even have any PVP capabilities yet.”
“But that will change soon...”
“Yup, the new update scheduled before Valentine's Day. It will change everything,” said Diana, excited.
“Are you looking forward to it?”
“Everyone in the guild is.”
Ilaria moved the ice remaining in her cup, slurping what liquid was left with the straw.
“That's another thing I wanted to ask you,” said Diana, looking at Ilaria in the eyes. “When you get to level 20, do you want to join my guild? Kyle will be joining for sure.”
Ilaria had dreaded that question ever since they breached the topic. She, as a newbie, had been benefiting immensely by being in a party with expert gamers like Diana and Kyle. Which made her feel like she owed them. Regardless, in normal circumstances, she would join gladly. But she currently couldn't, she needed to join Johnny's guild for the plan.
“I...”
“Don't worry too much,” said Diana. “Sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
“No, I'm sorry,” said Ilaria, knowing she was probably making a mess of herself. “The thing is, I already have a guild to join. Otherwise I would have loved to.”
“Don't mind it,” said Diana, smiling. “We won't stop playing with you because of that. And if you ever change your mind, just tell us.”