The guild event had finally ended; Ricardo let out a sigh as he came out of the VR machine. Why did Amy have to be there? During the last game he had genuinely tried his best to win, temporally forgetting the reason of his participation.
It's almost over, isn't it?
Tomorrow evening, he would be meeting Johnny in VC, and collecting his reward. He would hopefully learn of what had happened with Minerva on Christmas. And act accordingly.
Too mentally tired to think questions, Ricardo went to sleep early.
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Wednesday morning, Ricardo sat in the kitchen, nursing a cup of coffee, as he read a message in his cellphone. From Amy.
Tomorrow morning 9:30@BaristaCafé, k?
It had come late at night, when he was already tucked in his bed. He checked the phone's clock: 9:21. Ricardo went up the stairs in a hurry and got into the VR machine.
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Ilaria materialized in her red gown, outside the Torinelo City Workshops Guildhouse. She used a return scroll to move to the central plaza. A waste, but it was late. In a brisk pace, she crossed the few blocks separating her from her destination; entering the café only a little agitated.
The elf was sitting sideways by a window table, the light illuminating half of her face. She turned around in her chair, facing Ilaria as she approached. The mage couldn't help noticing Amy had put on the daring V-neck she had used for their first VC meeting.
“Sorry for not replying. I didn't notice until this morning and it was already late. I'm glad you waited for me.” Ilaria sat in front of Amy, forcing herself to look aside.
“That's just like you.” Amy giggled as she picked up her milkshake. “Are you ordering?”
“Yeah.” Ilaria asked for an iced coffee, to which she added two spoons of sugar. Although inside VC it was permanent spring, the hot Lima's summer made her crave the ice. They had remained silent in the time her order was fulfilled, the mage purposely stalling.
“So, how did it go with Johnny?” asked Amy, catching Ilaria as she was bringing the glass to her lips.
“It wasn't too bad,” answered Ilaria, sipping from her coffee.
“I guess you are dating now, huh?” Amy hunched over the table, showing an impish smile.
“You know how it is.” Ilaria was again focusing on a random building through the window. She did want to talk about her compromise with Johnny–and brainstorm questions together–but first she expected the elf to share about a bargain of her own. It must had happened weeks ago; she still remembered listening outside the Guildmaster's office.
“Anyway, what was the deal with Wanora?” Ilaria decided to just ask bluntly; she wasn't good at being subtle. When she joined the guild, she was worried that the Guildmaster might tell Johnny about her relationship with Amy. It could have doomed her plan before it even started. The elf took care of that. And now she was learning how.
“She wanted my support for the party,” said Amy, stirring her drink. “Mina had helped her before.”
“And that included being her date for the night?” Ilaria wondered just how far had Amy been willing to go.
“It wasn't a real date; not much different from what you are doing with Johnny.” Amy laughed, playing with the end of her braid.
“This and that are different.” Ilaria frowned as she directed her sight at the excessively mirthful elf. They crossed glances; Amy lowering her gaze and taking a sip from her milkshake.
“Why?” asked Amy, after a couple of seconds. Her voice, suddenly serious, reminded Ilaria of the night of the twenty-five. “Because you are playing as a girl?”
“Yeah, this isn't real. Not at all.” The mage pointed to herself; the sleeveless gown showing more skin than what she was used to. No matter how much she had put from her real self into her character; Ilaria wouldn't ever be more than that. A fictional character she was roleplaying for a purpose. A lie.
“Then Amy isn't real either; I'm not an elf!” Amy's voice hinted a laugh, which irritated Ilaria to no end.
“A pair of pointy ears, such a difference,” replied Ilaria, restraining herself from saying more. Even if Amy had another colors of hair and eyes, slightly thinner complexion, and elvish ears; she was obviously still Amelia. Ilaria took a gulp from her coffee, munching on a piece of ice. Amy sipped from her drink too, closing her eyes for a second.
“Anyway, you should have told me about Wanora. I don't want to owe you anything.” As Ilaria was finishing saying it, Amy's gaze turned into a stare. It had seemed like an innocuous statement at the time.
“You...” Amy's right hand, which had been laying on the table, clenched into a fist. “Why do you think I have been supporting you? Minerva is my friend in the first place.”
At that point Ilaria realized she had messed up. She opened her mouth and closed it again, lowering her gaze as she tried to think. Seconds passed, maybe minutes; and if someone had said hours, she could have believed it. Finally, the sound of Amy sipping the last swallow of her drink prompted Ilaria to action. She slowly raised her head, doubting herself for a bit too long.
“I need to go,” interrupted Amy, her voice neither hard nor soft. “Minerva must be waiting for me.”
“Okay.”
“I can't play this afternoon.” Without even raising from her seat, Amy disappeared in a flash of light.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Ilaria was left alone at the table, a glass of partially melted ice cubes in front of her.
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Ricardo had logged off shortly after Amy left, wasting the rest of the morning watching random videos on his laptop. There wasn't anything else to do in Virtual Connection for the plan. He now needed to decide his questions; it might be his only chance. And he wished he had consulted Amy.
Lunchtime arrived, Ricardo going down the stairs as soon as he was called. He looked at Minerva sitting at the table alone, not able to hide his disappointment.
“Amelia isn't eating with us today,” said Minerva, a half-smile on her face as her gaze followed Ricardo.
It was a quiet lunch, as they were used to when Amelia wasn't with them. After mom left with the empty plates, his sister stood up, looking at him from above.
“Did you have a fall out with Amelia?” Minerva's tone sounded more curious than concerned.
“I don't know.”
At that point Ricardo really didn't know; Amy had remained silent after her outburst. Later, she talked in an even voice as she excused herself. It was like that other time; she would probably log in tomorrow and act like if nothing happened.
He left for his room, wasting some more time until 4:30.
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As she materialized inside Torinelo City, Ilaria allowed herself to get excited. She changed to her combat dress and jogged towards the meeting site. This afternoon they weren't going to grind, they were going to train. And it would be awesome.
The Torinelo City Arena was destined to be a new landmark; just the scale of the building in construction was impressive. Ilaria wondered if it's presence was purely cosmetic, or if there would be a time limited quest in there before its completion. The Training Hall–located across the street–wasn't too remarkable in comparison. A long, single-storey construction with a porch in the front, showing several marble statues of adventurers in the middle of combat.
“Alone today?” asked Dave, who was waiting in the porch with Diana and Kyle, his black eyes startling the mage for a second.
“Yeah,” answered Ilaria, evading his glance. “Amy can't play this afternoon.” And she hadn't asked Mina; maybe she should had.
“Don't let his eyes intimidate you,” said Kyle, approaching Ilaria, as the other pair walked ahead. “That's part of his strategy.”
“Are them...”
“Obviously not,” replied Kyle, laughing. “They are dark brown; I guess it didn't take much customization to get them black.”
The group entered the building, which had a long and wide corridor with numbered doors at both sides. The first dozen doors were illuminated by a red light; number 13 was lighted in green, and then a few more reds.
“This one is free,” said Kyle, pointing to the door. “Does it bother anyone?” He had said anyone, but he was clearly looking at Ilaria.
“Why? Because of the number?” Ilaria laughed, going forward. “Since they graciously left it for us, we should take it.”
The door opened to a dirt-floored, roofless enclosure. The interior was a square of about 200 m2, limited by walls made of a dark green, rubbery material; far bigger than what one would expect by the distance between doors.
“Here we are,” said Dave, walking to the middle of the room and turning around. “It doesn't look like much, huh?”
Ilaria looked around, and yeah, it really was just an empty backyard. There was a digital display on the back of the door. Next to it, hanging to the wall, there were two pairs of colored bracelets: one red and one blue.
“We were in a hurry; the aesthetics were left for later. The Arena will be a beauty for sure.” Dave laughed as he took out his spear and shield. “Leaving that aside, the important part is that in here we have a second HP bar: the Combat Points bar. We attack towards that bar; and, if depleted, there's a ten seconds timeout and the other team scores a point. Team with more points win.” There were adjustments to a few abilities–stealth had a five minute cooldown, for example–but things worked mostly the same as when fighting monsters.
Dave started doing a demonstration against Kyle. And, even though both were fighting as if they were level 35, the experience gap showed. Dave moved like a faster and stronger Kyle, switching relentlessly between spear thrusts and shield bashes. Less than two minutes later, the younger warrior was out, his spear tossed aside in the last exchange.
“What do you think?” asked Dave, helping Kyle to stand up.
“As expected, I'm still no match for you.” Kyle smiled, picking up his spear. “But it feels great, even compared to PVP-focused games.”
“Shall we try a team fight now, ladies?”
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Ilaria and Kyle took the blue bracelets and positioned themselves towards the left of the room; Diana and Dave standing on the opposite side.
“Diana will try to get to you,” said Kyle. “Stay close to me and don't let her get close without paying the price.”
“And if she goes into stealth?” Ilaria wouldn't be able to do anything about it, and she had seen how effective the catgirl was in close quarters.
“Try to at least pinpoint the side of approach by sound. She can only use it once, so giving up that point isn't the worst.” It was the first time for Kyle, too. He must had been researching it during classes.
They exchanged glances and set in running position. The digital display showed the countdown, making a horn sound as it turned to zero. Kyle ran towards their opponents, Ilaria letting him be several steps ahead so she could shoot if given the chance. On the other side, Dave was also running in the front, Diana directly behind him. Ilaria tried a couple of shots, which the opposing warrior easily blocked with his shield.
Not minding having lost earlier, Kyle went ahead to challenge Dave. Ilaria took the chance to use her shield to pepper Dave with several Mana bolts from behind her tank. Diana–who had made a tentative of going for a backstab–left the warriors in their duel and went ahead, forcing the mage to focus on her.
Ilaria changed her target, aiming towards the incoming rogue. Diana made a complicated pattern on the floor as she approached; all the bolts missing her but the last one. Although, Ilaria was sure the catgirl could have evaded it if she really wanted.
“Now I got you,” said Diana, grinning as she did the last spin that put her directly in front of the mage. The earlier shot had impacted on her left side, taking about five percent of the rogue's Combat Points.
Ilaria used her shield to defend against the dagger onslaught. She did try to shoot, but in close quarters the rogue had the advantage. After seconds of token resistance, Diana's slashes started to connect; the mage's CPs descending in tens of percentage chunks. Not much time later, Ilaria was out; conceding the first point of the match.
“Don't worry too much,” said Kyle, looking at her with concern. “You have never experienced player versus player combat; it was to be expected.”
“Yeah.” Ilaria had been proud of her progress in the game so far. The combat practice made her realize she had a long way to go as a player
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They kept practicing for about an hour, the results not changing at all. Well, the extra practice made Ilaria realize that Diana had been holding back all along. At least she wasn't too clueless to notice.
“Sorry; I gotta go,” said Dave, storing his weapons. “Don't worry; a few days of practice can make a lot of difference.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Ilaria knew Dave was right; it was depressing anyway.
Since there were only the three of them remaining, Ilaria excused herself and logged off early. She still needed to plan her questions for Johnny. If she failed, all that she had done in Virtual Connection so far would have been for nothing.