Next day, a pulsing red button welcomed Milana in Torinelo City.
“Hello?” –answered Milana, expecting Amelia's voice on the other end.
“Good morning.” –said a nervous voice on the other side. –“It might be too early for you, but I'll be going out all day...”
“Hello Kyle.” –said Milana, smiling. –“And don't worry, it's already ten in the morning.”
“Would you try another exp date with me?” –finally asked Kyle. Milana was sure he would be blushing furiously on the other side.
“I'll be glad!”
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This time things went even smoother. They blitzed to the goblin shaman round, in which Milana used mana for the first time. The levels gained the last time did matter a lot.
Ninth wave: Two troll guardians.
With a fresh Kyle and Milana's mana pool three quarters full, they were in a much better position than last time. Just as they appeared, Kyle went towards the left one, while Milana shot a Mana bolt to the right one, to immediately run behind Kyle. He was dodging full time, while using his Taunt to keep them attacking him. Milana was Mana bolting both of them alternately, to not aggro them.
They killed them one after the other with a few seconds to spare.
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Final wave: The Troll King.
“Here it comes!” –exclaimed Milana, overly excited.
“Lets do it!” –exclaimed Kyle, with a confident smile.
The Troll King was 3 meters tall gray humanoid monster, with big hands and hard skin. It was dressed in a simple copper armor, holding a tower shield of the same material and a club with metal spikes. Contrary to appearances, the King was actually pretty agile since it could spin its shield at will.
Kyle approached the King sideways from the shield side, so that the troll would need to spin around for hitting him. Milana shot him while moving behind Kyle. She knew one hit from the club could be fatal.
The troll did try spinning, but Kyle anticipated that and kept moving towards its shield side. His job was to get between the troll and Milana, taking the least amount of damage possible.
Trolls had high physical resistance. So if anything would bring him down, it would be Milana's attacks.
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The Troll King got tired of spinning around and went for a shield bash. Kyle couldn't evade that, so he defended with his shield while jumping backwards and to the left. Even so, he lost quite a bit of Hit Points.
Milana's mana was at the quarter mark but she didn't hesitate on healing Kyle.
The troll finally had time to spin around and try to club Kyle. He reacted using his shield to slide forward, hitting his foe in the knee.
Milana kept shooting at the King's uncovered head while he tried to kick Kyle. He defended with his sword, making a deep cut on the troll's right leg but taking the hit directly on his chest.
He flew and hit the wall and would have died if he wasn't healed before.
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Milana didn't have much mana left. Kyle needed healing but he had lost his sword and shield. Even if she healed him, he wouldn't resist much more.
She decided to use up all the mana she had left and try to kill the troll herself.
Sorry Kyle, this is just a game.
The troll had been aggravated towards Kyle, so he went for the finishing blow, leaving Milana alone.
She expected that, shooting the troll on its uncovered neck while it hit Kyle with the club.
Kyle died.
Milana shot her last Mana bolt.
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Wow
Kyle and Milana were looking at each other and smiling. They couldn't do anything but that. The shot of adrenaline was just too much to handle.
They were still in the ballroom of the experience date.
At the time of the challenge, the room had a dark and heavy atmosphere. Now a warm sunlight came from the windows and you could hear soft string music. In the center of the room, a bright yellow crystal was floating.
The leisure date ticket.
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Finally, Milana took a step forward and pointed the crystal to Kyle.
“Take it.” –said Kyle. –“You killed him in the end.”
“No, I can't possibly do that.” –said Milana. –“You are really awesome. I know someone like me normally wouldn't be able to get that far.”
“But then...” –said Kyle. –“This should be your first chance to do a leisure date.”
“Yours too, silly.” –said Milana, laughing.
“Say what, we should go together.”
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What have I done.
Milana was talking with Amelia while eating an ice-cream at the place Angela took her before.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“So you asked a guy out.” –said Amelia, openly laughing.
“It was in the spur of the moment!” –exclaimed Milana. –“We had just defeated the boss after giving it all. And he wanted to leave the ticket for me, even though he looked like he really wanted to use it.”
“When is your date?.” –asked Amelia, teasingly.
“Tonight.” –said Milana. –“He is busy all afternoon.”
“What are you doing?” –asked Amelia.
“We haven't decided yet. I hope for arcade.” –answered Milana, with a dreadful feeling.
“At least wear your dress!”
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Ricardo logged out for lunch and took a stroll around the city.
He felt a little cramped in his room. In the game he had been walking through the countryside, exploring and fighting, but he still needed some real-life fresh air. The local mall was a few blocks away, so that was his aim for the afternoon.
“Hey!” –exclaimed an overly excited, high-pitched voice.
Yikes, it's Amelia.
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“I thought you would be leveling in Virtual Connection.” –said Amelia, going towards him.
She was dressed in a yellow blouse and white pants. Her brown hair was tied in a ponytail.
“Hello.” –said Ricardo, making a double-take. He was already used to the elvish Amelia, so he was surprised with the sudden change.
“Do you miss Amy's blond hair?” –asked Amelia, grinning.
“It would look weird.” –answered Ricardo.
“Are you shopping?” –asked Amelia, walking next to him.
“Not really. I was just feeling cramped in my room all day long.” –answered Ricardo.
“Then come with me!”
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Ricardo followed Amelia towards the main concert area.
“Didn't know there was a performance today.” –said Ricardo, realizing where were they going to.
“Lately, every Friday there's something in there.” –said Amelia. –“I guess it's only a summer thing.”
“And what are we watching today?” –asked Ricardo, now intrigued.
“I don't know!”
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The performance was a Peruvian folkloric group, both musicians and dancers. The musicians were in the scenario and the dancers stayed in a corded square at the public's level.
They were performing Afro-Peruvian music, coupled with very energetic dancing.
“And now, as the last part of our show, we invite people from the public to dance with us!”
Ricardo laughed, thinking that watching people try to dance was always fun.
But then, he felt someone pulling his hand, and suddenly he was inside the corded square.
He sent a look of despair towards the smiling imp who was holding his hand.
“Hehehe”
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“That was really fun.”–said Amelia, while sipping on her strawberry smoothie. –“And don't dare to deny it!”
“Ok, ok.” –said Ricardo, flashing a smile. –“I concede.”
They were drinking refreshments in a coffee shop. After the dancing they felt warm and tired.
“I didn't know you could dance Afro.” –said Amelia.
“Mom always makes me dance in family parties, so I can fudge it.”
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“Such a pity I didn't take advantage of that when you were my dance date.” –said Amelia, faking a sad face.
“I don't know if that counts.” –said Ricardo, smiling. –“I was your date just until they finished taking the photos.”
Minerva and Amelia's Pre Prom Party took place a couple of months before. The day of the party Amelia's date cancelled on her. She planned to go without a partner but Ricardo's mom forced him to ask her. At the end he went with her just for the commemorative photo's sake.
“You did ask me, with a pink rose in your hand!” –exclaimed Amelia, laughing.
“Yeah, mom kinda forced me into that.” –said Ricardo, with a embarrassed laugh.
“Anyways, I really appreciated it.”
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After their impromptu outing at the mall, Ricardo and Amelia parted ways to their respective homes.
He needed to get back somewhat early to eat dinner, since he had an appointment.
His first leisure date in Virtual Connection.
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“Hello.”
Kyle was already waiting next to the plaza when Milana logged in. He was dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans.
“Hi Kyle.” –said Milana, who was wearing her dress because of Amelia's insistence. –“Did you wait long?”
“No, I just arrived.” –said Kyle.
Isn't this as clichéd as it goes?
“Let's go!” –exclaimed Milana, while failing to stifle a laugh.
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The couple moved to a circular room with three exits labeled as: Dance Hall, Karaoke Box and Amusement Arcade.
“Which one do you like?” –asked Kyle, eying the arcade one.
“Let's try that one.” –said Milana, walking towards the Amusement Arcade exit.
“I want to see how good are you with those.”
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“Shoot!” –exclaimed Kyle, while moving his character down the screen.
“I'm trying to aim but it's hard.” –said Milana, pressing the joystick repeatedly.
“Doesn't matter; I just need you to cover me.” –said Kyle, while throwing a granade inside a building.
The Amusement Arcade had a lot of different machines. Besides the video games you could even play some mechanical classics like whack-a-mole.
“Seems like we won.” –said Kyle, watching the ending animation on the screen.
Milana wasn't amused since the game had been way too easy for Kyle and she didn't get to do much.
“Lets play that one.” –said Milana, pointing to a white rectangular table.
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“Yeah, now this is my type of game!” –exclaimed Milana, after scoring another goal.
They were at their second match of air hockey, the first one ending 7-0 in Milana's favor. Kyle had started with a really awkward grip on the mallet. After the first three goals, Milana insisted on guiding Kyle's grip and motions, so he could at least hit the puck in a straight line.
“Finally!” –exclaimed Kyle, after scoring his first goal. Milana was afraid Kyle wouldn't enjoy the game after being beaten so soundly but she had to commend his tenacity. Second game ended 6-1, Kyle smiling regardless.
“I wonder if you are a pro in this.” –said Kyle, after being scored by a double bank shot.
“That was a lucky shot.” –said Milana, laughing.
“I intended to do a regular bank shot but my grip slipped a bit.”
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“Knew it” –said Kyle, after hearing the buzz.
Kyle and Milana were sitting in a big fluffy couch sipping from their complimentary refreshments. After the very spirited match of air hockey, they chose the trivia challenge for the date's finale.
“If it's a consolation, I would have also chosen cheetah.” –said Milana, smiling. –“Who could have thought bats were so fast.”
“It seemed too easy of a question.” –said Kyle, with a guilty smile. –“I guess that was our last game.”
“Yeah, we got like a couple of minutes left for the date instance.” –said Milana, finishing her drink.
“I wonder if we get anything from this.” –said Kyle, looking at the wall clock.
“I wonder too.” –said Milana. –“Friends haven't told me anything about items or such.”
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*ding*
Just after the clock signaled the end of the date instance, a yellow envelope appeared in front of them, while the rest of the room turned gray.
“I guess we should open it.” –said Milana, while touching the floating envelope with her fingernail.
It opened, showing three pictures of the two of them during the date. First one showed Kyle focused on the arcade machine screen, while Milana was mashing the joystick button furiously. Second one was when the both of them were looking at each other incredulously just after the double bank shot. Third one had Milana smiling at Kyle's guilty face after botching the last question of the trivia challenge.
*Do you wish to keep the pictures?*
These are actually really good. I wonder how do they do it. –thought Milana, while pressing the 'Yes' button.
A photo album appeared on her lap, the pictures floating and inserting themselves inside.