Wednesday morning, as she logged in, Ilaria found herself on the top of the hill of Torinelo City. Even though it was daytime now, the view was still wonderful; clear skies, bright sun and a panoramic vista of the city. She closed her eyes for a minute, imagining the starry night sky again.
Time to go.
After jogging down the hill, Ilaria met with Amy at the plaza. The later was dressed in a green summer dress, with low heeled sandals. Her outfit looked quite normal for a change, like something Amelia would wear. Ilaria, of course, was still using the same clothes she bought on the first day.
“Finally, today will be your first date!” exclaimed Amy, grinning.
“Yeah, later,” said Ilaria. “I only get one free Dungeon Date a day and I don't want to waste it.”
Ilaria was feeling great about her progress in the game so far. The most rewarding rabbit quest had shaved a whole day from her leveling schedule, which eased a lot of her worries.
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After discussing their options awhile, they finally settled in the wild hog extermination quest. High difficulty, high reward.
Wild hogs were level 5 pig-like monsters with sharp tusks. An exotic breed of livestock brought from faraway lands; they had escaped from their enclosure, terrorizing the locals in the fields, or so said the backstory. Ilaria had to kill and bring back twenty pairs of tusks, for a three golden hearts payment.
Easier said than done.
“Help!!!” exclaimed Ilaria, running towards a laughing Amy.
“Dagger slash!” yelled Amy, killing the hog immediately.
“If I kill them you won't get any experience,” said Amy, still laughing. “They won't drop the tusks either.”
“I know,” said Ilaria. “It's just that the Force bolt deals way too low damage.”
In Virtual Connection, monsters more than seven levels apart didn't give experience, nor drops. Having Sandro and co. power level Ilaria was a non starter.
“You have Mana bolt, don't you?” asked Amy.
“Yeah, but with my current mana pool I can only use it twice,” said Ilaria, depressed. “I guess I could level that way; it'll take a lot of time, though.”
Well, not really a lot of time. Casual players would probably be satisfied by that kind of progress. But Ilaria needed to gain more than a level a day in order to keep the plan's schedule, specially at single digit levels, which were easier to clear.
“Tough luck,” said Amy. “Buying mana potions for a level 7 quest would be way too wasteful.”
“How did Minerva level?” asked Ilaria. Her sister had been a mage too, leveling in Torinelo.
“At the beginning we just did low rewards fetch quests in the city,” said Amy. “Most people level like that at first.”
“I see...”
“We started leveling faster after we met Johnny and formed a party. Minerva would use her Force bolt to attract the target, then Johnny would tank and I killed them.”
“That's all she did?”
“She also healed Johnny whenever his health dropped.”
At her current predicament, Diana's image came into her mind. Ilaria had been checking her friend list all morning, but she hadn't logged in yet. Still, Ilaria couldn't help but wonder what the catgirl would do.
The hogs were a lot bigger than rabbits, so wrestling with them on the ground was no good. Then she remembered the rope, that was actually the cordon of her beginner robes.
If I can somehow restrain the hog with it, it won't matter if it takes ten Force bolts to kill it.
Her gaze somehow fell onto a group of bushes, and she had an idea…
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“HELP!!!” yelled a disheveled Ilaria, running towards a ‘rolling on the floor laughing' Amy.
Well, that didn't go like she had thought.
The plan had been as follows. Ilaria would first secure one end of her rope to a bush. Then, she would hold the other end, tied in a running knot, while shooting a Force bolt to attract a hog. As it approached, she would throw the rope, hopefully snaring it by a tusk. Since the rope was so short, she would need to get really close to the hog.
Nice in theory; in practice, it wasn't so easy. After running around the bushes for a bit, she had finally caught a tusk with her rope.
Now I got you.
Ilaria was taking out her staff to kill the hog when, in a burst, the hog jumped on her.
The small bush wasn't strong enough and the hog had uprooted it.
“KYAA!!!”
Ilaria fell with the hog all over her. It ripped part of her jacket and T-shirt with its teeth, before she could get up and run.
Even after standing up and fleeing, she still wasn't safe. She got tangled with the rope, tripping and falling again. The hog caught up to her, plunging its tusks on her bottom.
Ilaria's health was really low when Amy finally got up and one-hit the hog.
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“Really good plan, brilliant!” exclaimed Amy, laughing out loud.
“It went a lot better in my head,” said Ilaria, lowering her gaze.
“I bet,” said Amy, still laughing.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Ilaria was sitting on the ground, in a safe zone, waiting for her health to recover. Her clothes were in tatters. Even one of her sneakers had split when she tripped.
“Anyway, you should put something on,” said Amy. “You look like you were ravaged by a savage beast.”
“I was,” said Ilaria, pouting. “Why didn't you help me sooner?”
“It was just too funny,” said Amy, in a singsong voice. “Your yell was priceless!”
“I was scared,” said Ilaria, lowering her voice. She was still on the floor, crouching and hugging herself.
“Okay, I am really sorry,” said Amy, evading Ilaria's gaze. “Now cover yourself. You are making me look like a bully.”
Ilaria put on her beginner robes, the only other clothes she had.
“Let's return to the city,” said Amy. “As an apology, I'll buy you new clothes.”
Amy materialized her handbag, taking a couple of peaches out of it.
“Here, let's eat while walking,” said Amy, giving Ilaria one.
“So that's your backpack, I didn't notice before,” said Ilaria, taking a bite of her peach.
“It carries a lot more than you would imagine,” said Amy, smiling.
“It's magic, huh?” said Ilaria.
“As everything,“ said Amy, deepening her voice.
“By the way, there is a pulsating yellow button on my sight, where the PM one used to be,” said Ilaria.
“Since when?” asked Amy, surprised.
“I don't know,” answered Ilaria. “It might have been there since I logged in today.”
“The yellow button means a System Message,” said Amy. “You should check it out.”
“Okay, pressing the button.”
Dear Ilaria,
we hope you are having fun in Virtual Connection.
Since you have spent a thousand platinum hearts during this month,
we are giving you a free sample of a new item in our shop.
Enjoy it!
A long golden box fell onto Ilaria's hands. It felt light.
“Wow, first time I have seen that,” said Amy.
“It is a complimentary gift. For having spent a thousand dollars on the game,” said Ilaria, recalling the hole in her credit card.
“Open it!”
Inside there was a 7-day Magical Girl Costume Set.
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“Mana bolt!” yelled a beautiful girl, dressed as she just came out from a TV screen.
Her heart-topped staff shot a pure white sphere. The wild hog received it directly and disappeared in a flash of light, leaving behind a pair of tusks.
“That was so cool!” exclaimed Amy, clapping.
“This costume is truly overpowered,” said Ilaria, smiling against herself. “I don't know what I'll do when it expires.”
With the costume's bonus, Ilaria could shoot twelve Mana bolts without running out of mana. Also, the hogs, that she would usually need two shots to kill, were a one-hit kill.
When she first received it, Ilaria was embarrassed to try on it. But then she remembered that it came with a massive mana bonus. Besides, costumes negated the clothes' visuals.
New clothes can wait.
So Ilaria tried it on, and suddenly felt a lot stronger. Since she was already there, she couldn't help but shooting a hog.
Surprisingly, she killed it.
With the help of the cash shop item, Ilaria finished collecting the tusks in no time.
“Now you should return to Torinelo to deliver the quest,” said Amy. “And then we should go shopping!”
“With the costume, even the beginner robes should be enough,” said Ilaria, smiling.
“Maybe, but you should dress up for your date!” said Amy. “Right now you are strong enough.”
“Couldn't I level with just the hogs?” asked Ilaria, hopeful.
“Remember the plan,” answered Amy, with a grin on her face. “You should get used to dating as soon as possible.”
“Okay, I'll do a Dungeon Date,” said Ilaria, resigned. “But first I'll get a couple of levels with the hogs!”
“Fine, fine,” said Amy. “After our lunch break, we'll go shopping.”
“And then, dating!!!”
Amy left early, but Ilaria was confident enough to keep leveling alone. She was making progress, and it felt great.
It was already a quarter before 2 pm when a blue button began to pulse.
Shoot. Just three more and I'll get to level 9.
She tried to ignore the button, even though she knew it was an Outside Call. That meant mom was tired of waiting, and probably mad at him.
One more, I'll do it!
Then the screen went white.
Ilaria had been forcefully disconnected.
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“Ricardo, wash your face and get down immediately,” said his mother, angry.
“We have a guest.”
Ricardo stood up and did as he was told. He knew it was late, but he had been so close…
Going down the stairs, he saw that everyone was already sitting.
Mom, Minerva and a smiling Amelia.
“Hello Ricardo,” said Amelia, with an angelic voice.
“Hello,” said Ricardo, taking his seat.
“Hog hunting?” whispered Amelia when he got close.
“Ricardo, you should apologize for making our guest wait,” said mom.
“Don't mind it, mom,” said Amelia. “It was I who came on short notice.”
“Don't even say it,” said mom. “You know you are always welcomed here.”
“You even brought us cake.”
Amelia had mom totally on her pocket. She even calls her ‘mom', for crying out loud.
Their meal passed in a constant talk, mainly among Amelia and mom. Minerva just gave short responses when asked anything.
“You should go out one of these days, the three of you together. It's your summer break after all,” said mom, fixing her eyes on her cake. “I'll drive you if you want.”
“It sounds great,” said Amelia, sneaking a glance at Minerva from the corner of her eye.
“Sorry, I don't feel too well,” interrupted Minerva, excusing herself from the table.
“I guess I should be going too,” said Amelia, deflated.
“Do you want a lift?” asked mom.
“Don't worry,” answered Amelia. “The distance is too close to be worth it.”
After Amelia left, mom closed the door sighing.
“She is such a nice girl, don't you think?”
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After lunch break, Ilaria reconnected with a quarter of her health bar remaining. Thankfully, the hogs weren't strong enough to kill her in the 5 second penalty for disconnecting.
I shall take revenge on your kin!
Ilaria laughed maniacally, starting to shoot hogs again.
She leveled with the first one, but she still needed a few to finish the repeatable quest. Soon she started to make poses while shooting, even winking after a successful attack.
And that's when Amy appeared.
“Enjoying yourself, don't you?” said Amy, with a big smile on her face.
“You could have told me you were coming for lunch,” said Ilaria, lowering her head while straightening herself.
“I did it on a whim,” said Amy. “I was walking by a pastry shop, and thought Minerva could like some cake.”
“I get it,” said Ilaria, feeling suddenly saddened. “Sorry that Minerva wouldn't accept the invitation. Good try, though.”
“I'll keep trying!” exclaimed Amy.
“I wouldn't mind if it was only us, though,” added Amy, teasingly.
“I wonder what mom would think if she saw you like this,” said Ilaria, grinning.
“She sees you as such a smart, demure and humble girl.”
“I do have the best grade average of my class, thank you very much.”
“See what I say?”
“Just so you know, I am only like this with you.”