Sunday morning, when Ilaria logged into Virtual Connection, a Private Message was waiting for her. She extended her arm, deliberately pressing the button with her fingernail. Let's see what the pretty boy has to say.
As she read the message, she laughed at herself. She had already forgotten all about the other guy she had said yes to; Rob.
Predictably, he had asked about doing a Dungeon Date together. Ah, he's the mage dude. She might have gone with it, if Rob had been logged at the moment. He wasn't.
Shortly after that Diana and Kyle logged in, and Ilaria forgot all about Rob again.
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After a few minutes, Ilaria joined her usual party for their typical goblin grind. Well, it was mostly goblin boss farming by now; the normal ones not being any challenge at all.
The mage had been sort of pensive all along the way. She was worried about having to contact Johnny, and Minerva's wish to meet her in-game wasn't helping to lessen her anxiousness.
She could stall the issue as long as their party was still playing in the Goblin Encampment, maybe enough for her to get what she needed out of Johnny. On the other hand, it was obvious that they really should be grinding trolls; the only thing that kept them here was the possibility of finally getting the wand.
“Here we are again,” said a beaming Diana while staring at the golden-curtain, the One-eyed Summoner waiting on the other side.
“To think we were one hit away from being wiped out the first time,” said Kyle, wistful.
“I bet you are glad we took the risk at that time,” replied Diana.
“Okay, I admit it,” said Kyle, reddening a bit. “Are you close to leveling up?”
“Yup, I should level after beating the boss,” answered Diana, while probably checking her character screen.
“Are you ready?” asked Kyle, turning his head towards Ilaria, concern in his eyes. I guess my worries are shown in my face.
“Yeah...” started to answer Ilaria. Beating the low leveled grunts had been so easy that her mana bar hadn't lowered from the three quarters mark at any point.
“Before going in I want to say something,” added Ilaria, steeling herself. “It's obvious that we have outleveled this place for some time. Since Diana is leveling up after this, let's make it our last run.”
“But you don't have the wand yet,” said Diana, raising her eyes from somewhere in her viewpoint. “It's true that we could get a bit more experience in other areas, but if we are gonna do mindless grinding it's better if we have a purpose.”
“Don't worry about that,” said Ilaria. “My sister used to play this game, and she just told me she would give me hers if I wanted it.”
Of course, Ilaria would rather not have it come to that; she couldn't evade Minerva forever, though. Well, who knows, the wand might drop this time.
“Alright, then let's make this a memorable run!” exclaimed Diana, going ahead.
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“You didn't need to refrain,” said Diana, laughing as she put her daggers away.
“No way!” exclaimed Ilaria, with a twinkle in her eye. “I wouldn't dare to mess up your masterpiece!”
The party beat the One-eyed Summoner soundly; Diana didn't get hit at all while dueling the boss. The catgirl sported a relaxed smile all the way, like she had taken a huge weight off her shoulders.
“Such a pity, no wand today either,” added Diana, still smiling.
“Yeah, I did notice,” said Ilaria, not all that concerned about it. “It would have been too perfect.”
Ilaria knew it meant she would need to come clean with her sister sooner rather than later, but her friend's happiness was infectious. Besides, one part of her was excited about spending time with Minerva in Virtual Connection.
“Did you finally level?” asked Kyle, storing his lance and shield in his briefly materialized backpack.
“Yup, got to 20.” answered Diana, doing the victory sign with her fingers.
“You're such a dork,” said Kyle, stifling a laugh.
“Kyle's calling me a dork,” replied Diana, openly laughing.
“That's how I know,” added Kyle, breaking into laughter too.
“I really want to do my class change now, so I'll be going solo,” added Diana, after the laughter subsided. “Dave has been waiting for a long time.”
“That will be an extreme level-gap DD,” said Kyle, pensive. “Tell us how it goes.”
Getting to level 20 not only gave you access to a real class and let you join a guild, the level 20 date dungeon was the DD for most of the players; a higher leveled one being in the works for months but not yet implemented.
“Of course,” said Diana. “Though, what I would really want to try is the new couple PVP system. I won't be close to Dave's level anytime soon, but under the tournament rules it wouldn't matter.”
For the Valentine's event, every player's level was going to be scaled to 35. It made sense for that tournament, since they wanted the highest number of participants possible. If they started a PVP league–as Kyle had said before–it would certainly be different.
“I guess this is it for the morning grinding,” said Ilaria, after the conversation died.
“I'll go back to Torinelo City now,” said Diana. “But you two feel free to continue without me.”
It would be a pity to stop so soon. They had done the boss run in less than an hour, still being ten past ten. Ilaria turned around, showing a playful smile. “Kyle, wanna date now?”
“Yes,” answered the warrior, not blushing as he used to, to the mage's disappointment. He must be getting used to having a pretty, older girl asking him out for a 'date'.
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After a Dungeon Date that wasn't all that different from the one of the day before–there were only so many ways they could improve with tactics alone–the duo decided to grind trolls for what was left from the morning. At some point Amy logged in too, joining them at the caverns.
“Then, is your rogue doing her class change quest?” asked Amy, while they were waiting for the mage's mana to replenish.
The group was sitting in a safe zone hidden in a corner of a corridor, just before the opening where the stairs were located. It was the only room they had left to clear in the first floor of the Troll Caverns for their current run.
“Yeah,” said Ilaria. “Diana hasn't been doing DDs, so she only got to 20 this morning.”
“That explains it,” said Amy, playing with her daggers as usual.
“You haven't met my sister yet, have you?” said Kyle, his eyes somewhere else in his viewpoint.
“Nope,” said Amy. “But I would love to watch her play. From what Ilaria has told me, her skills are something else.”
“Yeah,” said Ilaria, not hiding the pride in her voice. “She might be just level 20 now, but she's a veteran.”
“She had a level 50 character before,” added Kyle. “And her boyfriend is still at max level; they might be dungeon dating right now.”
“I wonder how would that work,” said Ilaria, unintentionally remembering something she didn't want to. Johnny was level 50 after all; she might be able to experience it if things go well. And she still hadn't contacted him.
“By the way, shouldn't you be logging out soon?” asked Amy, flashing a knowing smile at the mage.
“It's true, I have to log out in a bit,” said Ilaria, surprised as she realized the passage of time.
It was Sunday, the day she was in charge of the cooking. And even if she had bought precooked pasta and sauce, the lasagna wouldn't assemble itself.
“Want me to bring anything?” asked Amy.
“Nothing in particular,” said Ilaria. “If you bring a dessert my sister will happily eat it. And then complain for it being there.”
“Your call,” added Ilaria, smiling conspiratorially.
“I'll think about it,” said Amy, laughing.
“Are you eating together again?” asked Kyle.
“Yeah, we eat together almost every Sunday,” said Ilaria, smiling. “And often during the week too; we live just a block apart from each other.”
“It makes sense,” said Kyle. “Then, are you logging out now?”
“I should,” said Ilaria, making a pause. “Lets finish with the run first; a few more minutes won't make much difference.”
“If you say so,” said Amy, rolling her eyes.
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The last room of the first level of the Troll Caverns was a mostly rectangular opening in the rock, dotted by a bright yellow crystal formation; although most of the illumination came from a huge bonfire. A rumble of water could be heard from the stairs descending towards the second level.
Concerning the enemies, it had eight troll grunts–divided in two groups of four–one by the entrance; and one in the far corner, behind the bonfire. That second group was kinda hard to spot–Amy had told them how she missed it the first time with her old party–although the combat plan didn't change from their usual once you knew it was there.
Kyle entered the room running, Ilaria close behind him. There was no need to wait for the tank to Taunt the trolls, since there weren't any ranged menaces.
As soon as Ilaria had a line of sight, she started spamming fireballs towards the closer troll quartet. Although the trolls had several levels over the goblins, the first level of the caverns was way easier; melee only enemies made for a straightforward approach.
Kyle remained always in front of her, not letting any troll retaliate as they were being systematically burned in their place. The mage just needed to pace her mana, so she would have enough to heal her tank if the need arose. Amy–who wasn't officially part of the party–had been sent to check on the other group, telling them of their movements.
“Incoming, 9, no, 10 o'clock from Kyle,” said Amy to the mage by Private Chat.
“Thank you,” said Ilaria.
“Kyle, incoming 10 o'clock.”
By the time the second group got around the bonfire, Kyle was finishing the last troll from the first group. Ilaria, behind him, stretched her arm towards his neck–her usual spot–topping the warrior's HP bar ahead of the last encounter.
From the couple of runs they had already done at the caverns, they knew things were close to being wrapped up. Ilaria didn't have too much mana left, so she couldn't spam fireballs like with the first group. It didn't matter. Kyle did rounds around the trolls; giving her time to finish them with Force bolts, and the occasional Mana bolt whenever her mana allowed.
“That was good,” said Kyle storing his weapons. “I guess you should go now.”
“Yeah, I should go,” said Ilaria, storing her staff in her handbag.
“Yup, she should go,” said Amy smiling. “She's cooking today.”
“Oh, what are you making?” asked Kyle, stopping what he was doing.
“White sauce lasagna,” answered Ilaria. “I bought ready-to-use sauce, but I need to layer it and put it in the oven.”
“Anyway, I got to go,” said Ilaria, smiling. “See you!”
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Ricardo logged off half past noon, leaving the VR machine in a hurry; he needed to put the lasagna in the oven soon, or it wouldn't be ready for their usual lunch time.
As he layered the pasta, cheese, bacon and vegetables, he wondered at what point he had became so engrossed with Virtual Connection. So much that he was regularly catching himself playing for a little bit longer, and then running because it had gotten late.
It's just for the summer, and only because of the plan; when University starts again, gaming is over.
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Amelia arrived ten minutes to 2pm, just as Ricardo was descending the stairs to give a look to the lasagna in the oven. She was dressed in the new aquamarine dress she had bought the day before, carrying a bag with a bakery logo on it.
“Hello!” said Amelia, kissing him in the cheek as usual. “How's the food? It smells great.”
“I don't know,” said Ricardo, closing the door behind her. “I was going to check.”
Ricardo left Amelia with mom–who entered the room shortly after them–and went to the kitchen. Contrary to his fears, the lasagna was done on time; the mozzarella cheese on top completely melted, and perfectly golden. He let out a sigh of relief–taking a picture for posterity–before putting on the kitchen gloves and pulling out the tray.
“That looks amazing!” exclaimed Amelia, as Ricardo entered the dinning room with the lasagna in his hands. Dad and Minerva had arrived in the time Ricardo had been in the kitchen.
“Spinach and bacon lasagna, I hope you enjoy it,” said Ricardo, putting down the tray and dividing the portions.
“I guess it's fine just for today,” said Minerva, looking at the tray with greed.
Soon the conversation died at the table; everyone too busy eating instead. The pasta had cooked evenly–like the packaging promised–and bacon was always a sure bet. The ready-to-use sauce was alright; maybe he would make it himself next time. Anyway, the lasagna was a success.
“This is really good,” said Amelia, smiling as she filled her fork. “You should make it every week.”
“You can't eat like this every Sunday; do you know how many calories are in here?” said Minerva, looking at Amelia reproachingly.
“Once a week should be okay,” said mom. “It's not bad to enjoy food from time to time.”
“Yup,” said Amelia, smiling as she held eye contact with Ricardo. “Seconds?”