Wednesday passed in an unremarkable way; Ilaria started the morning killing bats as she was used to. She could have skipped them and get a Dungeon Date, but she needed such a small amount of experience for level 18 that bats would suffice. Amy didn't log though–she was probably at the gym with Minerva–so it had been an extra boring affair.
She took a break in the afternoon, logging at 4:30pm, the designated time to meat with her party. Even with the loss of her Magical Girl costume, Ilaria was strong enough to keep pace with Diana and Kyle at the Goblin Encampment. What's more, they were so fast at them that they could squeeze two full runs of the map in the time they had allotted for playing. Sadly, even with twice the chances, they didn't get the rare wand to drop.
In the evening, Ilaria dungeon dated Kyle as usual, putting her close to earning another level. She decided it was a waste to not use her extra DD after all, and pressed the Instant Blind Date button; bracing for another disappointing partner like Natsu had been, so long ago. Surprisingly, the game matched her with a warrior, giving her hopes that she could beat it even without Kyle.
They didn't win it though–this warrior couldn't tank as efficiently as her usual partner–he died with the troll grunts, leaving Ilaria to face the King alone. She tried to channel her inner Diana, or something like that–it didn't work at all–the mage was thrown to the ground within the first few seconds, and subsequently got pummeled to death. She hit level 19 anyway.
And that had been her Wednesday, Ilaria logged off satisfied for having achieved her goals for the day.
Just one more level.
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Thursday morning Ilaria forced herself to go bat hunting one last time. Amy was logged in, so they talked for a bit to ease her boredom. After a while, the mage got bored enough to be convinced to go shopping. She did need a new formal dress, since she didn't want to risk Johnny recognizing her last one.
“Dark colors go great with you, since your skin's so white,” said Amy, combing the rows of dresses.
It was true that Ilaria didn't go out much in real life, although the straightforwardness of the affirmation hurt her pride a little bit. Yes, her skin was naturally pale all year long, something she didn't change when she was customizing her looks.
“Come here,” said Amy. “What do you thing about these?”
“I like the purple one,” said Ilaria, taking the dress from Amy and insta-trying it.
“It looks great, like if it had been designed for you!” exclaimed Amy, giving Ilaria a look over.
Ilaria looked at herself in the mirror–she never stopped being surprised at her own beauty–inspecting how the long dress clung to her body. The top was long-sleeved, similar to her midnight blue gown. The bottom was different, though; the upper part of the skirt being tighter, opening up at the knee level. She walked for a bit, not finding it difficult to move in.
“I'll take it,” said Ilaria, deciding right away.
She had also looked around, but without making much effort; she knew Amy would pick the perfect dress for her.
“Wanna have something to eat?” asked Amy, as they were leaving the Clothing Shop.
“I guess I should,” said Ilaria, whose satiety bar was getting low. She had already eaten the complimentary cereal bars in the days before; they might have tasted badly, but free food is the best food.
Since they were already around there, Amy decided to invite her to “The Grinning Flatfish”, the place where the Speed Dating Event would take place. It sounded fancy–Amy having her change into her new dress was a big tell–but the elf had plenty of money, both real and virtual, so Ilaria went with the flow.
“By the way, have you ever done speed dating?” asked Amelia, clad in her golden dress, as they walked.
“I haven't,” answered Ilaria, raising her eyes towards their destination. She could see hints of the roofed terrace of the restaurant as she looked over the nearby buildings.
“Wanna practice?”
“I guess it could help.”
Ilaria wasn't looking forward to it, but any practicing could only be helpful for honing her roleplaying skills.
They kept walking in silence for a while, Ilaria taking special attention to her feet–the skirt shape coupled with the low-heeled pumps took time to get used to. As they turned a corner, the restaurant finally came into view. And the word fancy didn't give it enough justice.
The Grinning Flatfish was the most ornate two-story building that Ilaria had seen in Torinelo City so far, it seemed more baroque than renaissance-like. It was of a yellowish-orange color, with textured white overlays around the corners; every window stile painted in white, covered with golden decorations. The entrance portal was made of white marble; profusely covered in carvings, too small to identify at a distance.
“Here we are, my lady,” said Amy, making a show of welcoming Ilaria into the restaurant.
As Ilaria entered the building, she felt noticeably warmer; an aroma of garlic and herbs permeating the room. The Grinning Flatfish was–like the Clothing Shop–much more modern inside than the facade would indicate; it even had a big elevator next to the reception. It still preserved the marble decorations motive, though; a soft piano music filling the silence.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Amy went directly to the reception, where she asked for a private table from the tuxedo-clad attendant.
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“Hello; I don't think I've seen you before?” asked Amy, with a confident smile.
“I'm Johnny; very pleased to meet you,” added Amy, getting closer and grasping Ilaria's hand.
The girls had been ushered to a small, peach-colored room. From the side walls clung oil-painted still lives; the wall opposite to the door having a wide window instead, opening towards a lake surrounded by flowers and white swans.
“Nice to meet you too,” said Ilaria, surprised at Amy's characterization.
“My name is Ilaria; I just joined the guild.”
“I though that must be the case,” said Amy, pulling Ilaria chair for her. “I wouldn't be able to forget such a beauty.”
They kept role-playing even after ordering the food–it was already way out of a speed dating scenario–but Amy looked like she was enjoying herself, and Ilaria didn't want to waste the chance for practicing.
“Did you enjoy the food, my lady?” asked Amy, taking Ilaria's hand to help her stand after the meal.
“Yeah, it was a truly fine meal,” answered Ilaria, not being able to stop herself from laughing.
“Does Johnny really talk like that?” asked Ilaria, after her laughter subsided.
“Sometimes,” said Amy, smiling. “But I'm sure he does it as a joke.”
And the food was really, truly fine; the smells, tastes and textures way beyond what Ilaria thought VR was capable of. Probably not as good as a real high-class tablecloth restaurant, but she wouldn't be able to compare.
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“Not as fancy as The Grinning Flatfish, huh?” asked Amelia, taking a bite from her chicken sandwich.
“Nope; but it's satisfying in its own way,” answered Ricardo, munching on his hamburger.
“Virtual reality food is like chewing gum, it tastes great but it always leaves you wanting,” added Minerva in a sagely tone while looking at her salad, regret plainly shown in her face.
The three of them were eating lunch at the food court of the local mall, another day that mom couldn't make it for the midday meal.
“Well, it would cost a hundredfold to eat at a place like The Grinning Flatfish in real life,” said Amelia, smiling. “We should seize the chance!”
“Looking at things like that, it does make sense,” said Ricardo, as he picked up a bunch of fries.
“Did you two go together?” asked Minerva, the tone of her voice catching Ricardo's attention.
“Yes, of course,” answered Amelia with an impish smile.
“I should join you next time,” added Minerva, before Ricardo could finish chewing. “VR food doesn't have any calories after all.”
“Are you coming back to Virtual Connection?” asked Amelia. She looked like she was having the time of her life.
“Maybe; I mean, it would be a waste to get into another game when I already have a max level chara,” answered Minerva, spearing a cherry tomato with her fork.
Soon after saying that, Minerva stood up with her salad bowl–there were still some pieces of lettuce at the bottom–and took it to the trash can. It was time for the desserts.
“Are you going for the wand again today?” asked Amelia, taking a bite from her hot apple pie.
“Yeah, that's the plan,” answered Ricardo, cutting a piece of his strawberry custard. “They should log in around 4:30pm.”
“That wand took us like two weeks of grinding for it to drop,” said Minerva, a nostalgic look on her face. “Those boss drop weapons have less than 2% drop chance.”
“I see,” said Ricardo. “I guess getting the spear from the lizard boss at the first chance was really lucky.”
“Incredibly lucky!” exclaimed Amelia, grinning. “We got my daggers on our third try, though.”
“And we were thoroughly thankful for that,” said Minerva, smiling. “That boss was super annoying.”
“Yeah; flying and blinking all around the room,” said Amelia, gesturing with her hands.
“And then suddenly diving down to back stab you,” added Minerva, spearing the cherry on top of her cake for emphasis.
“I know, right?”
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In the afternoon Ilaria met with her party at the Goblin Encampment's safe zone as usual. This time they even squeezed an extra boss round, on top of the usual two; no wand drop yet. It did make Ilaria put in perspective how lucky they had been with the spear.
Either way, when the boss fell for the third time, the experience boost was just enough to get her to level 20. She couldn't help doing a small jump and yell. Finally, she was done–and she hadn't even dated yet–boss runs were much profitable.
Diana logged out ahead as usual.
“I guess I should log out too,” said Kyle, gesturing with his hand to make his controls appear. Ilaria and him had been standing in an uncomfortable silence for awhile.
“Don't you want to do the Dungeon Date?” asked Ilaria, suddenly realizing she had taken it for granted.
“Now that you got to level 20, you should try the next date dungeon,” said Kyle, raising his eyes towards Ilaria. “Even if you don't clear it, it'll give you more exp than the under-20 one.”
That might have been true for an expert gamer like Kyle, but Ilaria strongly doubted it would be the case for her. She hadn't even done her class change yet.
“See you tomorrow?”
“How much do you need to level up?” interrupted Ilaria, calculating in her head.
“Not that much,” answered Kyle. “I should level if I do today's two DDs.”
“Then I shall be your first for tonight.”
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After a bit more of persuasion, Ilaria and Kyle finally went on with the Dungeon Date.
“It feels nostalgic,” said Ilaria, while shooting the bats as they appeared.
“Gonna miss the little batties?” asked Kyle, mockingly.
“I might,” answered Ilaria, laughing as she finished the last ones. “I must have killed hundreds of them.”
“Such a great bat killer will be sorely missed,” added Kyle, laughing too.
“You bet!” exclaimed Ilaria. “Your next girl should at least two-hit them; and no misses!”
“She could miss one or two,” said Kyle, looking like he was concerned about it.
“Then they would fly towards her face,” said Ilaria, raising a finger. “She might even go: KYAAA! Take them off me!”
“That would be a very girly thing to do,” said Kyle, casually spearing a lizardman.
“Are you saying I'm not girly enough?” asked Ilaria, grinning while burning a lizardman to a crisp.
“No, you are quite girly,” answered Kyle, smiling while one-hitting a goblin with a thrown spear.
“But Diana is my reference; make of that what you will.”