It amazes me I’m able to drive a car. I had a quick glimpse in the rearview mirror of my face ,as I parked the car in front of her driveway filled with overgrown brown and green weeds. My face, an old house for a weary mind layered with fat, decay and an unruly beard. My eyes, dim gelatinous orbs that were the only shining thing about me really. And my hairline, nature’s rueful omen of my inevitable demise. Still, she had summoned me and I was there for her, as our friendship demanded. Despite my shortcomings in life, at least I was able to move from place to place. Besides I was able to cook a modicum of decent meals.
My name is Jake, and I am a 36 year-old. No wife, no job, living of some Belgian benefits because some asshole drove over my little toe during a protest I had nothing to do with. In effect, I have difficulty walking which admittedly led me to gaining some weight. But, I will have you know that many a woman might consider me rather burly, once they look past the metal t-shirts and the stains of icecream and fat. Such expectation management was also in effect regarding Alyx Grace, who I worked with for years during a cool job where I wrote scripts before they were vetted and edited. We were basically tablereaders together and had jived so well during that time that there was actual friendship between us. Still, from my memory she was a classy lady, so I made sure I dressed nice. I wore a cool denim jacket, a cap with marks and scratches on them like I worked on an oil tanker, and a really dope shirt with gothic font hailing one of my favourite indy doomsynth bands ‘Astral minor’.
I locked my car and walked towards her door. Her front garden had a swaying path towards her house and, while the flowers and plant whispered peace, it also habored some unkempt inattention. I kept wearing my cap, after seven years of no contact, the sight of my fucked up hair was to be delayed to the utterance.
Anyway, I rang the bell and waited for a while. She had a nice front porch and overall, she seemed to do well in life, judging by her house, but there was something desolate about it, something open and gray as the life of many a thirty year old unfolded in a great land of nothingness, bills and mortgage. As the door opened, she peeked from behind and smiled with big eyes. Her gaze washed over me ,and there was the crisp sensation of having someone’s attention in real life. For a moment, I was happy, carefree and without baggage. We laughed and did the chit-chat you do when you see someone after many years. What was most profound ,was that nothing seemed to have changed in her energy. She was somewhat hesitant in what she said, but I remember her being like that. She appeared not entirely sure if she was making a fool of herself or not. It was an endearing quality of hers that made me respect her more than anything. It was, at this point in my life, the only sense of decency I had as a man. I was one sad fuck of a slob spiraling downward into various low points. Cocaine and liquor- nights on my own while watching movies with director commentary on were the bottom at this stage, but it had deep chambers underneath, I was sure of it: Deep cod-webbed filled chambers of damp and despair where no light shone. As I recalled my lot, I became afraid of revisiting this woman. Her life would consist of fixing me before she could have any bit of recreation. That was an actual problem of mine, I hadn’t anticipated. At one point my problems went so deep it required social attention. Something I loathed and avoided, but also did require some humbleness. For the lies had become difficult to track.
Still, it should be noted that she played along and let me in the house, showed me some paintings and pictures of her and a dog she had with some guy that was her husband but wasn't home alot/. Her golden tan seemed to differentiate between the seasons of the photos. She offered me some coffee and had made some sandwiches which made me weary. Was this how people broke the news to you? Via sandwhiches? Also, what news? What news could she possibly have that could involve me? We were in our 30s, so cutting to the chase was a welcome feature in my otherwise manchildish life. Therapists cut to the chase as well I had come to learn. Apparently I had to man up and do chores.
‘Do you still play videogames?’ She asked.
Every-single-day.
‘No, I’ve gone into movie-watching actually, and I take walks.’ I lied.
‘Why do you ask?’ I asked, trying to scan what she was about to say. Maybe she had a video-game addicted child or something. That must be why I was there. Like an intervention. Sandwiches equal intervention. But there was something cruel about inviting me to her house, why couldn’t she just text or visit me instead? Maybe she knew I was desperate enough to actually show up.
‘Well….I’ve been going through some stuff and I…I’m playing this game some dude recommended me at a party.’ A gush of wind flew through her garden making the gold orange leaves dance and swirl around. She looked outside mesmerized by something.
‘-Its called WanderX. Its one of those MMO’s, its kinda crazy, and I’m stuck. But if I die, the game stops, I wouldn’t be able to play it anymore. It is a world so much more lush than ours, and I am somebody over there. A heroine.’
‘MMO’s? I’ve never heard of wanderX.’
‘Apparently, it’s a relatively old game. But it got rejected from the game-market or something?’
‘Why?’ I asked. I was curious because canceled MMO’s had a way of generating some controversy. It was somewhat interesting that I had never heard of the MMO. Also, the way she described made it sound more like one of those VR games that never seemed to gain profit.
‘Well, it involves drug abuse’ She replied.
‘Many games do that Alyx, shouldn’t be a reason t-‘
‘No, no’. she smiled. ‘You put on a device on your head that regulates your neurotransmitters’. She said as she frowned pronouncing the words carefully. She seemed somewhat read up on the subject.
‘What?’ I asked.
‘Yeah, so you got your serotonin, dopamine, cortisol, adrenaline, psilocybin ,dmt, lsd all of that. And it records your interpretation on certain levels of those things, so the game generates the perfect flow for you.’ She motioned us to sit at the kitchen table.
‘Woah, that sounds good’
‘It’s the best Jake, I am so addicted.’ I regained my composure at the table
‘What do you need me for precisely?’
She smiled and her eyes widened.
‘I need you to help me win at this game. You’re the only one I know who has the knowledge and the passion for games like this.’ Her craving for my knowledge incentivized a feeling of divine purpose. I was, for the first time in my life, needed. False adventure to some, but meaning to me.
-I’m sorry Jake I should’ve maybe prepared this more or something, but you are the only one I know. My romantic interest has left the country and we’re sort of on a break because of the game. I know I should grow up and all but-
‘I’ll do it’ I said.
‘Really?’ She asked.
‘Yes, I am in a rut, I hate my life, I am fat, balding,nothing works. I don’t care anymore, let’s do this.’ The feeling of being relevant, no matter how small, no matter how ingenuine and perhaps simulated was enough for me. She needed me to be good at something with her. That seemed enough.
Suddenly we laughed. We all had secrets, we were all fuckups. But we were together, thank god. I was out of her league, that much was clear. Especially because of her sweet smell mixed with a faint of lavender. Perhaps I should not have pursued these feelings, but she invoked them like no other. Even though she was married. But I wouldn’t mind to just be her secret admirer for she did provoke me to such lengths. She must be used to that too and to be honest, I never minded the whole friend-zoned thing. Why wouldn’t I explore this newfound relationship? Not exploring us would be a mistake, not exploiting this opportunity would be not worth missing out. But expectation management was advised I had come to learn. For I needed to tilt towards something realistic.
‘Allright, so I’ll sleep on the couch? Anything else we need?’ I asked.
‘We need more coffee and we need to supply our helmets first.’ There was something awfully reassuring about her dependence on coffee, like it was the one thing that would keep us sane. It was a quality to see that in a woman.
‘I am meeting a guy at café montgomerie. Join me so we can get cortisol. ‘
‘What? You get your own cortisol?’ I asked.
‘Among other things’. She replied
We arrived at a local café near the village Alyx lived at, it was quaint, remote and altogether as if time had stopped in this portion close to Germany. I had no idea she had settled in Manternach, it was relatively close to my shack in Oudega, Frissia, but now I lived in a beautiful town near Inverness, Scotland. It was, all in all a long trip to Luxemburg, but worth it. The Café looked like the perfect mix between a local pub and a coffeeplace.
Getting to the café was interesting because everyone seemed aware of Alyx. Villages knew everything about each other, but not in a gossipy sense. There was an energy to be read, and people from the rural side had an innate ability to read the room.
‘Moien Alyx’ the barkeeper said.
‘Ha, Louis. Meeting with Alexandre in a moment.’
‘Ah, KMW. Who is your friend?’
‘This is Jake’. She said. I did that cool nod thing.
‘ Jake, from?’ The barkeeper asked.
‘ Konstanz’. I replied.
‘Konstanz? Aber warum sprechen sie nicht Deutsch?
‘Eh, keine ahnung, aber Alyx ist American und das ist sehr…Cool? Wann ich American kann sprechen’
‘Bist du krank?’
‘Nein, aber meine name ist Jake, und es ist mir egal’
The bartender suddenly laughed.
‘Ooeh Jake and alyx would you like a cup of caaaawwwfeeee?’
‘ Sure Louis, thanks’ she said while faking being oblivious.
We sat in a nice nook of the cafe and as she took a seat in front of me, time seemed to stop. The desolate south of Luxemburg was known for harboring peering mists that would last for months from Early Autumn to early summer. The mist, to me at least, fueled the sense of being lost on the road. Seeing her was somewhat surreal, for the autumn mist would make her skin marble like, even though she had that natural gold tan. That paired with that beautiful ochre-yellow sweater made our cause, albeit unknown, hopeful and convivial. And again, her eyes smiled and gave out this warmth in the fat vast gray of my belly. Yet, I could see something behind the eyes, there was an otherworldly plan, something feminine. Something chaotic. I could see it fill her every fibre as her silhouette melted in my view.
Louis, the barkeeper came and served our cups of coffee.
‘Alyx….He didn’t say it.’ He noticed.
‘He’s new, Louis, about to introduce him’.
‘He’s experienced?’ He asked.
Alyx sighed.
‘How are you with drugs Jake?’ She asked.
I looked up, and I actually didn’t want to share this in public. I was, despite partaking in it, rather ashamed.
‘I..um..Yes…I’ve taken everything. But not too much.’
‘Are you a cocaine fiend? You speak like one. Fits with English no?’ Louis said.
‘ It helps…The English tongue handles psychedelics better. That and Fr-‘
‘French’ Louis added as he slowly inhaled. ‘Ah the French and their hazelbrown eyed women.’
‘So, if you don’t mind Louis. He is my friend, and I would like to introduce him to the M.’ Alyx said, looking cat-eyed at the bartender.
‘Ofcourse…Coffee’s on me. Welcome Jake.’ He Said.
I was nervous, admittedly. But I also had absolutely nothing to lose. Life, governments, work didn’t want me and I didn’t want them, so moments like this actually connected me to real life as best as possible. Besides, she was a gateway to reality. I hadn’t spoken to a person other than cashiers in years. Years.
‘So, let me cut to the chase’ She said, possibly realizing she was losing me in the absence of transparency.
‘Mushrooms grew computers in the 90s. Which created a mycelian A.I catered to our thoughts and desires. What happens in the game, happens in our world to. The substance we take is called Miasma, which we gather in Luxemburg, Schwarzwald, Lyon, Trinco Malles, Dunedin and other places unknown. The drug requires a practice in lucid dreaming, sigil magic and introspection.
Sigil magic? I asked. At this stage, I realized she had me in her grasp.
‘I’ll explain everything when we go online.’
‘Ey’. A guy shouted from behind the café. A gothic, with long hair.
‘Alexandre, I’ll be there in a moment, kmw’. She said.
She slid her hand into mine and looked at me.
‘I won’t lie to you Jake. This is something that I need you for. But….I can’t force you. A lot of this life is alternative and,to an extent, unhealthy.’
‘Unhealthy, what is unhealthy about it?’ I asked.
‘Well….Suffice to say that this stuff that you are about to take, will make your life adventurous. And an adventurous life can be unhealthy. Also, you will miss out on real life in a significant way. Family, friends, jobs but also the state of the world, will fall into a realm of oblivion. You have to accept that to a degree.’
‘Well….I’ve chosen a course of reclusivity already in my life’ I said.
‘I know that all my friends and family look at me from a lens of caring and willing to save. I’m done with that…I’m….I’m ready…Alyx, I think I need this unknown that you are offering me.’
‘Say it’. She said.
‘What?’ I asked.
‘You know what’
KMW.
We returned from the café after Alyx had aquired a vial from the metalhead and we had some more coffee. As we reached her house she fiddled with the gearbox and drove it slowly into the garage. She offered an additional space in her garage for my car, which I quickly did. What followed was an admirable operation of reclusivity on her part. She had a spare blanket and tons of pillows which I could use on the couch, and she had a good amount of coffee. Now she didn’t appear as a hoarder, but there was something about her interior that was off. Everything that should have been neatly stacked was encircled and put up like pentagrams. Her books for example were all sprawled across the floor like swards. While it didn’t look appealing, it did have something meticulous going for it. She opened the windows and let the cold autumn breeze in.
As she looked around with an organizing gaze she smiled as our eyes met. That constant smile, man. I loved it.
‘Are you ready?’ She asked.
‘Uhm, Am I going to be sick from the stuff?’ I inquired.
‘Oh yes, we will be filthy after this, rancid.’ She replied.
‘I already arranged towels after this, and I have two bathrooms.’
There was something very 2000s about all this. That time were industrial techno music, people from Australia and lesbians were the shit. It felt like I was part of those underground movies or something. Dreadlocks and disconnected goatees, that vibe, but in Luxemburg.
‘Allright, what do we do.’ I asked.
‘Chew on this root and put on this headset’.
The root looked like ginseng, except that the roots were more frequent and slimey. The thing about drugs was that there was something awfully delicate and primitive about it at the same time. But seeing her chew the root was motivating. I grabbed the VR headset which seemed to be a regular issue of the market except there were wood like cushions in the sockets. And as I put them on, I was looking at the two pieces of wood which had those tree lines on it. As I chewed on the root, I had some difficulty with keeping it in.
‘Do I swallow the root?’ I asked.
‘No, you could, but no’. She said.
‘- sorry, just chew and focus on the rings.’ She added.
The thing was, I didn’t feel my body process the root, nor did I feel the sense of congealment with my blood. All I felt was a loss of focus occasionally. Like that moment before you fall asleep, when you are aware that your thoughts are melting with your subconscious. That feeling took over, but instead of it being hard to focus, I was very much aware that I was delving into something entirely different. Then a soft sensation came from my temple where the VR headset was attached.
‘Alyx?’ I asked.
‘Jake, I’m here’ she said.
‘I’m feeling it, what do I do?’
‘Keep on the headset for a while, the root inside the VR headset needs to know you before we create you.’
‘I’m going to create a character?’
‘No, not a character. We’re gonna create you. I’ll show you mine as well.’
‘Show me yours?’ I asked.
‘Yes, you will get to know my goals and desires. Somewhat Freudian.’
‘Wait, what. You’re going to know my desires?’ I asked.
‘Is that a problem’ She asked.
‘Well...of course, I mean…Look, I’m a guy’
‘Jake, please…You were always shy, you’re a weirdo. I like it, don’t worry.’
I was worried. My desires involved cosplay and bathtubs. Besides, the attention of a woman, no matter how platonic made me weird, self-aware and overly obsequious.
‘Allright, take them off, it will make sense to you. Trust me.
Trust me.
Truuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuussssssssssssssstttthhhhhmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeee
As I took off the wooden headset, I was somewhere else entirely.
We were on a mountaintop overlooking a myriad of ridges. The snowy peaks stood as solemn guards on the horizon. The sky was hued with the purple of sunset, but there was still enough light to last for a couple of hours. To my left I could see Alyx, but it was an enhanced version of her. A barbarian wolf-girl! She was more muscular and curvaceous; her skin was brown gold and her eyes were a more brighter green. Her hair was kept in a neat ponytail and she wore what could only be described as fur armor. Her shoulders were covered in rabbit tails and her waist had various other grey furs and makeshift leather belts. Her legs were bare up to her calves where she would wear fur boots. I, myself was just that….Myself. In a smelly shirt and jeans. Suddenly, character creation popped up right in front of my view. The menu was transparent whereas the letters and the lines of the framework were an aqua-blue color.
First, I had to write down something about my family genetics. I was part Frisian and part Scottish which immediately became converted into my stats. My strength and constitution increased by two points, I grew a few inches, and my flow got an additional point. I had no idea what flow was, but it seemed a good thing. Then, it moved on to IRL stats. It decreased my dexterity to a -1, as well as my intelligence and constitution. But my luck and charisma got a +1. After that I had the opportunity to allocate my stat points in strength, dexterity, intelligence, constitution, charisma and wisdom.
‘This is known territory to me, but do you have any advice on what class to pick?’
I asked Alyx.
‘Play something that suits you and that you find tactically useful, the game is quite mesmerizing, so be aware that you have to play something that you want to be and something that you already are.’
‘Well, I suppose I want to be something like a barbarian that can also cast spells. The usual stuff. A battlemage if you will.’
‘Hmmm. Don’t think of the classes that much. Rather, consider why you want to be those things.’ She spoke.
‘Well, I want to look muscular, but I also want to diversify my gameplay by using spells. What are you?’ I asked.
‘I am a ranger who has a wolf companion, at least. That’s going to be this build. But I just want to be in touch with nature and survive, but without magic’ She said.
It seemed a good idea to opt for a ranger in that regards. Druids could be somewhat one-sided in class lore. Apparently, Alyx didn’t feel much for being with trees but wanted to traverse and travel through the trees more maybe.
Score allocation was a classic version of dice pools. I threw 7, 15,8,6,12 and 13. 15,13 and 12 would go into Strength, constitution, and intelligence. So, my Strength was 17 with me being half Frisian and Scottish, my constitution was 14 also because I was Frisian and Scottish, but also because of my IRL decrease. My intelligence would be 11, with my IRL decrease and I already realized that my intelligence would become a problem in this game. My dexterity became a 7, also because of my IRL modifier, making my charisma another 7 and my wisdom also a 7. All in all, here were my stats:
Strength: 18
Dexterity:9
Constitution:17
Intellect:12
Wisdom:13
Charisma:12
The class I would pick first as a base would be a Barbarian, but the game inscribed my desires and vision accordingly. I became a Gunderhen Sage. My character sheet built itself as I was feeling a surge of rewards and fears looking at the different stats. Whenever I felt too much fear, the stats would increase but when I felt too much reward, it would decrease. All I could do, was watch in honesty and consider the stats.
My combat bonus was +4 and my combat defense was 15. My Base attack had a +1. I had a feat called ‘Heavy insight’ and my initiative had a +1. I was intimidating (+7), acrobatic (+1) had a perception of +2, had a survival of +4. My armor had a -5 after I would attack. Furthermore ,I had knowledge X arcana, dungeoneering, planes +2 and use magic device +4.
My base armor class was 15X and I had 15 HP. My fortitude was 6 and my will was 2 and a +2 against enchantments. It said I had no reflexes.
My melee attack was +X (X2d6+7/x3) and +4 (1d2). There was no ranged weapon.
There was a spell with another X in front of it.
Bloodshock (1d6+X for each 25% hp from the enemy’s health bar). Can be combined with steel weapon add +3 to attack instead of touch.
I also had Runecarving blade which allowed me to imbue a weapon with a magic sigil, the rune of the eldritch knight, allowing the weapon to act as a magic weapon for the purposes of bypassing DR and affecting incorporeal creatures. This would take10 minutes.
Underneath the somewhat familiar stats it said.
Heavy insight x2
Flow +1
Explosivity x2
Magic school: None.
Spirit: 3 days
‘What does the X stand for?’ I asked.
‘It means that the game is still loading that in for you. Either you don’t have an item or you need to learn a spell first.’ Alyx said. ‘It could also be that the game is adjusting to any choices you have made, so that it can scale your base stats onto a yet to be determined weapon.
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‘I have a lot of them’ I remarked.
I could see her laugh.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll get you through it. Besides with a bit of common knowledge and caution we can easily bypass these mechanics.’
‘But once we get into combat, these rules apply?’ I asked.
‘Yes, they do. But then there is also insight, flow and explosivity. With a bit of quick deduction, we’ll get you sorted.’
‘Can we see each other’s stats?’ I asked.
Alyx shook her head.
‘No, it doesn’t work like that because the rule systems at one point evolve into personal rule systems. I could explain it to you, but first you need to grasp the essentials of the game. Suffice to say that, if I were to become a shop owner in this game, the rule settings would gradually change over time.’
‘So there is an infinite number of rule sets?’ I asked.
‘It may seem that way, but from the higher level-ups I heard that there are about 7 to 8. 3 of them are indeed vastly different from what we are playing.
‘So, the game is imbalanced?’ I asked.
‘Yes, it is an unfair game, and it is wise to exploit.’ She answered.
After I took another glance at my character sheet, I decided that this would be sufficient. I arrived at my character’s name and I went with Firestorm. But then I backspaced it, because I realized that this would be truly immersive. I recalled one of my favourite comics, my old user tag from another game, combined the lettering a bit and named my character after that: ‘Pandarpha’.
What’s your name?’ I asked.
Alyx took a bow and stood in front of me with her hands on her hips as she cocked her head sideways.
‘Bellwitch, pleased to meet you’
I liked the name immediately, there was something innocent about it. I also wondered how a ranger would name herself a witch, but I quickly realized that this game, may adapt to those desires.
‘Hey uhm Bellwitch?’ I asked.
‘Yes, Pan?’
‘IF the game adapts to our interpretation and desires, then why would we lose?’
‘Well. From what I gathered, the root of miasma does follow a certain kit that determines those rules. It’s like a force of energy that appears to be narratively useful, but it is still bound by something formulaic.’
‘So….no rule of cool from the plant?’
‘Nope, its pretty hardcore. After our tutorial we are going to get you an heirloom, so that you can keep creating characters. No way this Gunderhen Sage is going to survive.’
‘Why not?’ I asked.
‘Well for starters, it says you are from Gunderhen. That place is horrid and dangerous anyway, but you’ll learn a lot about the game.’
‘Do I have to go to Gunderhen?’
‘-No, but chances are that you’ll be sent there by the Veritas to delve for chronomagique minerals’
‘Ofcourse’ I replied.
‘Right, so that completes our character creation. It is time that we find you a weapon.’ She said.
‘Yeah, where are we anyway?’ I looked around breathing in the cold air of the mountain peaks.
‘I have no idea, the game knew we would party up so they balance out our starting location, but they do that on an ECA 1 plateau. I am from south Sherebun, you’re from Gunderhen. So, I suppose this is either Xarsplint or Southern Gunderhen. But I’m not seeing any astral ships, so definitely Xarsplint. Unless we entered the Golden city era…..Eldersmith maybe?’
She started laughing at my dumb face.
‘Never mind, let’s just travel and see what we encounter.’ She said, after she howled. From behind her ,a giant brown wolf with thick fur came from behind a rock and sat next to her. IT was a beautiful graceful looking beast, looking at me with natural trust and wisdom.’
And so it was that we started travelling together. She walked in front, her beast was passing back and forth on the road and I was just amazed at how real the hike felt in my legs. This was so real, so much more real than anything I’ve ever done. And what was great about it was that I did not get exhausted. I was strong and had seemingly no difficulty with nimbly walking down this path. I also noticed that I was wearing leather armor with sharp chainmail on my arms, but a bare chest otherwise. My chest was still puffy and out of shape, but I could sense that it was wiring into something I had longed for in years. To be in her presence, like this, was a dream come true.
We walked down sparse woods and I could hear the bark of the trees creak. It was slowly getting darker as we made our descent. We reached a turn in the road allowing us to overlook the dale underneath us. There was a village there with the warmth of fire burning in little wooden houses. We would get there in time if we made a little haste.
‘Different from our previous meetups isn’t it’ Alyx suddenly said.
‘Yeah, very different, I must say I’m really happy that you invited me over.’
‘Well you know its-…Wait’
‘Wait…what?’ I asked.
‘Troll!’
From atop the slope a troll with a large dark snout walked on the path and yelled at us. He was wearing a giant spiked mace that was adorned with small reliefs.
‘IF we defeat this creature maybe we can loot his weapon. We could….Watch out!’ Alyx pushed me off the road and I fell downward fast, but I steadied and broke my fall. She saved me from an arrow shot behind me.’
Combat had started. From where I was, I could only attempt to climb up. The mossy rocks were slippery and the branches around me stuck out like thorns. I could hear Alyx shouting commands at her wolf and uterring battle shouts.
I grasped a wet rock above me, but I immediately lost my grip and fell back downwards even more. I could hear the wolf growling and biting against the troll. I also heard a sword being unsheathed. I focused on the wet rocks above me and saw that on the side of them, they were a little dryer. I grabbed the rocks once again and lifted myself up. This time, it worked. I climbed up and zigzagged upwards ending up near the wolf and behind troll. There was no room for hesitation, I attempted to punch the small troll square in back of the head. I loaded my punch and hooked against the back of his head. The Troll fell into the upper ramp he jumped from. The wolf now bit him in the face and bloodied the beast. From a distance I could see that the other assailant who shot the bow was in fact a man,a brigand, clad in black leather armor who has holding Alyx’s arms trying to pin her down. I had to be fast and quick. I attempted to disarm the troll, but the beast shouted in my direction and swung the club in the direction of my face, luckily, I was faster so I could, if need be, break his swing. The troll was faster than I had anticipated, and he did manage to hit me with the spiked mace. It hurt. It hurt badly. It had hit me in the shoulder with such force that I was shoved back. But this, had to work. I reached for the pommel of his mace, but the Troll swung with it in wild fashion. I could see that Alyx was lying on the floor, her bow snapped in half as she was nimbly switching sides dodging the sword strikes from the assailant above her. The wolf attacked the Troll again and this time seemed fiercer in his attacks as he kept on biting his face. I ran towards the assailant and attempted to bodycheck the man, who quickly stepped away and tackled me. Now I lay on the path as well.
‘We should run, quickly jump of the path!’ Alyx shouted. Then she shouted some commands to the wolf.
I jumped off the path heading into what seemed to be my demise. It was also dark out, so this was not smart at all. But I could still see the rocks and the thickets and overall, it seemed ok to steadily make a run for it. Alyx and the wolf too seemed to be quite able to make their descent.
As we came down we found a little cavern where we could hide. It was warm inside the cavern and as we neared the backs of the cave, we could hear the growling of some strange beast. I grabbed Alyx who seemed somewhat unaware and pulled her out of there. Fire enveloped the cavern and I could see that some of her fur caught fire too. We were blasted out of the cave and fell of another cliff down the hill once more. This time, too much happened to me as well and my head hit a rock. Blood seeped out from my temple and my shoulder still. I could see Alyx’s body lying a little further ahead. I picked her up lucky to see that she was still breathing.
The wolf surrounded us and guided the way. In the distance, I could see the flickering lights of a town we now just had to reach.
The outskirts of the town had few deserted farm fields. A man holding a lantern came up to us and said.
“State your business’
‘We….got…ambushed’ I said, as I fell down in the dirt.
‘Ah…dammit….Lad, come over here. Bring the militia!’
And that’s when I woke up from the game WanderX and I was back at her house. The first thing that was noticeable was the immense headache and thirst I had. However, a more sinister feeling slowly crept up within me. There was a heightened visualization at seemingly mundane objects. For some reason, the books that Alyx had laid out absolutely captivated me as if I was looking at some classy lady crossing the street.
‘I,woah…that was amazing…but did we die?’ I asked.
For a moment, I couldn’t think and I completely disassociated from what I was. It felt, for a moments, that I saw the back of my head (bald spot included) as if I…as if something controlled me, so to speak. But with that, there was also a lot of insight into Alyx. She stood there, wearing a long sleeve comfy sweater, slacks and flipflops and still. There was a feminine divine fire inside her that I could see radiating. Her eyes must have been rubies as well, for the fire would be cast upon me. A light that morphed, a light that shone. She was beautiful and it only dawned on me now how sensational she looked. Or maybe I had denied myself of looking at women that way. I had felt low for a while so I had only allowed myself to look up women (from a distance). For I was afraid, deeply afraid. There was safety that could be endlessly exploited by being a bit of an observer of beauty as it were. But now that I saw her, being so disheveled as if she had slept for two days, I just realized that I may have fallen in love with the realness of a person. Not her per se, she wasn’t like that. But to be in a presence of a woman and having crossed that bridge of a monitor screen and being here with her was just enough. But the happy content conclusion went deeper this time. There was an uncertaintity about her, that I might have misread as being in love with me. Perhaps she was in love with me. She invited me into her house and Isaw her digital self image of a sexy wolfgirl. Ofcourse she was into me. And, while I was very much aware of her looking at me, this time, I did not look away. There was an entire world inside of her with gravity and laws and stuff. It made me think, if we are so convinced that people have personality, why wouldn’t our world have a spirit of sorts?
‘Do you…’I asked.
‘You’re staring, are you ok.’
‘Yeh its just….Which got me thinking about nature. What if Earth is like a person?’
‘What if Earth is a gift we are not to understand?’ She replied as if on cue.
‘What you mean?’ I asked.
‘Like, maybe it…You don’t look at a painting and think about how it was made or who it was made by. First, you know you look and sort of just look? What if we are just meant to look?
‘Did we buy tickets?’
‘No, our parents did. They would also be the ones more concerned with the ins and outs of the painting, the artist closing time, what have you.’
‘What did I take? In terms of drugs’
‘Just the root and a bit of morphine I think,. So what did you think?’
‘I….I don’t know what to think now.’ I responded. It was as if my perception of real life was subservient ot what happened to the game.
‘You can’t wait to go back can you?’ She asked.
‘ I want to go back so bad, so bad. But what happened, I got you to that village.
I suppose a player or an npc got us to a save chrystal which beams you back to the real world. Its like a checkpoint.
Oh neat. So we can go back?
No, first we need to check our lives here first. We don’t know how long we were out of it. Besides we need to rest so that our mana refills ingame.
Additionally, we can increase our flow if our real life and the game life gets combined in a way.
No it was weird, I know that now. Everything was weird.
I slept on the couch that night and it was a deep sleep. Alyx kept the conversations short because she noticed that my body had to adapt to the game. She made sure I drank enough water thank god. Quickly after that, I practically sank into her couch. No dreams, even though I was an extreme lucid dreamer. Maybe the lucid substance in dreams was depleted, I figured. When I woke up, I saw that we had slept for 12 hours.
She was awake at about the same time and she decided that the kitchen would be our place of normalcy. So she got dressed, encouraged me to get dressed and sat me in the kitchen and made a sandwhich and gave me a cup of coffee.
We’re going back in a minute. We have enough mana and we probably recovered our HP, but first we need you to get outside a bit, take a walk in the village.
‘Why?’ I asked.
‘It makes you aware of reality, in a way. Your body has to understand what is real and what isn’t.’
She was wearing denim jeans and a white blouse. For warmth, she had opted for a black leather jacket. She looked awesome and it was at that moment that I fell in love with her.
It was the eyes, the make-up, the sweet smell she had on, everything. But, I was in love with us like that. Like a sad beta-male. And I take pride in that position dammit.
At any rate, we walked and she walked in front of me. Besides her, the area we were at was too, very mystical. The rural quality of abandonded farmlands with overgrown grass was the thing that made me fall in love with the place. This was but a small village, with reclusive folk to be certain. The only cool people in the neighbourhood were probably metalheads. She took me to the train station and wanted to show me Luxemburg city. I had no idea why though.
The train came (didn’t cost anything) and we were off to the city. As I looked outside, I every once in a while peeked at her. She noticed I think and said.
‘Listen, I know you’re watching me. I have a husband. Its fine if you watch, but at least do it with some chivalry. Talk to me.Like, does it statisfy a man when they only just watch?’
‘Well, yeah’ I responded.
‘Yeah, but really? Don’t you picture something in your head when you look back and forth like that? I’d like to know what it is.’
‘I guess I’m just overwhelmed by being with a woman, travelling and playing games with her.’ I said.
‘Well own it, I need you. Don’t be creepy.’
‘Allright….You’re right. I’m a grown up. So…Uhm…Why are we going to the city.’
‘We’re looking for an apartment.’
‘You’re moving out?’
Pause.
‘I’m moving out’
‘Why, how?’
‘The village is a hassle and city life is more suited to me. Besides, there are too many villages in the game already. I want the comforts of the city. I want to, theoretically, buy a donut in my sweatpants’
‘Or I could bring us shit’ I said.
‘Ah, how chivalrous. Besides, things are going nowhere with my husband. I need space.’
As this idea of living together came about I noticed a few things on Alyx and me. There was a lot of potential here and I loved potential. Especially the vague kind, the neverending kind. We were friends, but there was also something of a tension going on. And she smiled at me at times and lingered with her eyes. I didn’t know why, but I noticed that I liked it and that she seemed to know I liked it. I was very aware of myself as we entered a supermarket and I bought a low fat yoghurt. Still, from the look of the cashier I could deduce that nobody was convinced of my attempt at eating healthy. Luckily for me, I managed to combine being a fat dirty dude with a low-key level of confidence. So that would know that I was indifferent and cool.
There were things I had learned by now at 30. First of all, planning and goals are useless. Just do things and nod at times. Secondly, get money so you can do what you think is fun. Never grow up and stay young forever! Also, be clueless. Nobody knows anything and when someone tries to talk in a dad-like way, just avoid them. Avoid conflict at all times. Girls like it when you’re cute and wise. Read books as well, yes.
At this point, I knew I had to sort of cling on to Alyx, but not in a romantic way. But it would be okay to accidentally fall for each other in WanderX. I could be anything in that game, so maybe also a platonic partner with her there, and not in real life. I could maybe, I dunno walk with her in dark cities, attend a cool magic university and maybe flex my muscles or something.
So you got your yoghurt?
Yep, got it right here. Protein
I didn’t know you worked out.
Oh yes Kyokushin karate, really cool.
Oh that’s great. The guy we’re meeting about the apartment said he does taekwondo, maybe you can share some interests with him.
There was a pang of worry at the mention of a man. This meant I wouldn’t have Alyx for myself. Well done Jake, you let her slip. It was time to put my evermask on.
‘So what can you tell me about this dude?’
‘He plays in a band and works at a restaurant’
I hated him already.
So we met him and Alyx had this odd idea of sharing a meal with him to see if we would jive. Apparently they knew each other through a mutual friend of theirs. It was obvious that he was interested in Alyx and Alyx didn’t mind the attention from him. He was going to jam that night with his band and he was the bass player or something. I feigned interest and realized that I was at a point in my life that I hated. At that very precise moment, I was wholly dependent on Alyx and her new life, for it was better than mine. It also made me realize that I had to get really really good at wanderX if I wanted to have any meaning in this little social group. This guy, Owen, won at real life. Alyx won at real life. His band probably won at everything.
As we met the band, I realized I got really closed off. I was afraid frankly because it wasn’t clear to me whether we could move in. Also, Alyx got really chatty with Owen and I was not part of the conversation. But, I didn’t mind that much because I was a dirtbag regarding Alyx. I was well aware that I was a bit creepy towards her in a sense. The thing I hated the most at this stage of my life, was that my paths were either that of a victim or a convict. When I just followed people, I become a victim. When I did things, everybody reacted. It is as if I was always surrounded by judges. It was at that time, that I realized that if I was to have any role in this social circle that slowly forming, I would need some liquid courage and fun.
And thus I drank.
Unfortunately, It remained quiet around me. I was drinking, by myself at a bar that had a live band. I was one of those guys. Not the ones that sit at the bar, but the ones that look at the band absentmindedly and nod on the beat. As if I was into the music, but actually was just really really alone. To a degree I wanted this. Peace and quiet. No judges no arguments, just a band showing gratitude to me by playing songs.
And in a way, I wanted her to crawl in the endless with me, like me. No goal, no motication. Every move she’d make would highlight her own stupidity. Part of me hated her still, after all those years.
I wasn’t perfect, but I never wronged her in the slightest. She always did this, meeting other guys while meeting with me. But she expressed always that she didn’t keep me on a leash or something. Still, Alyx was the closest thing I’ve had to a girlfriend, ever.
And as I saw her in the bar, as the band was playing and owen talked to her between songs all the time, I had to give it to her. She was amazing and in a way, sincere. By god, she was married for fuck sake. She just gets lost in moments or something. And men kinda, swirl around her I suppose.
As the night went on I got to the point where I drank three tequilla, which always incited a social part of me. And as it so happened, I started talking to people connected to the band. Later, Alyx’s friend came who had put us in contact with Owen.
And I attempted to speak with all the band members and found a connection with bob, the drummer. He was wild though and seemed to catch on with drinking quite quick. There was no real conversation. As instead I started to plan out how I could exploit my relation with Alyx. Was I proud of myself in this obsessive state? No, I felt zero pride and realized that the coke and the booze had messed up my mood towards others over the years. A hate began to develop, a paranoid seething hate. I needed some sort of goal really. Something with women, meeting new people or something. At this stage, I was looking for an acknowledgement of what I am in the real world, I wanted to finally understand myself now that I was well within my 30s. Like that time I went to Guatemala. It appeared that knowing myself was a little dependent on others, but others were rough on me, even Alyx.
Later that night I got chatty with this girl who got alyx and owen into contact, Ann or something. Maybe it was the booze but I actually got to an interesting conversation. It was something about being honest towards one self, to be the key to knowing oneself.
To acknowledge myself was to be honest towards myself. But I was also a recluse, and the damage of being one was apparent. I didn’t get all social clues or conventions, but not in an eccentric cool way like Owen. Like a weird degenerate creepy way, like me. I needed something I loved, something I coulc fully commit myself to. That was the true damage within me. And you know, perhaps it just was WanderX, but to me it was more. A second chance to find myself. To grow, to find my purpose within the game.
None of this I mentioned to Margaret, for she was way too hot to relay the information of WanderX to. She sort of blended in with bright auburn eyes. I felt something, Immediately. It was a different feeling from Alyx, Alyx knew me and I knew her. This Ann, was an eccentric smart outgoing person. My polar opposite in a way. She was a girl from the outside, but a wise woman from the inside. She said I had to be honest with myself, always.
I wasn’t sure what had happened afterwards, but the band carried me back to Owen’s apartment and Alyx sorta arranged that we could be tenants in his apartment, Anne’s parents were the landlords, but Anne was working somewhere in Germany so we could stay in her stead. Something clearly had happened to two other people hiring it, making it eligible for us.
What was more interesting, was that the apartment was relatively big and Owen was ok with us spending a lot of time inside. Alyx had made clear to him we were not a thing, but he checked with me just to be sure I think. It was at that point that I actually took a liking to him. He was simple, open relaxed and he was pretty aware of himself but also didn’t take himself seriously. And, after a while I sparked interest for him. It was a trick for me not to divulge too much information so that he wouldn’t find out too many details, but he kept it all light and superficial, yet deep. He asked about dreams and really tried to connect on a deeper level. I used my psychedelic experiences to bloat.
As he left the apartment I had a talk with Alyx.
‘Listen, I’m not promiscuous or anything, but I do flirt. Are you ok with me doing that?
‘Yeah, sure. Its ok to have fun right?
But are you also ok with me like, not doing that to you?
Like? Whats going on with you?
I dunno, I guess I’m just insecure about it.
Its fine, look we’re not a couple. We may have tried it a bit in the past, but that’s long behind us.
She frowned in surprise. I noticed that my interpretation of us had gotten the better of me, and I recaptured the essence of the talk.
Besides, I think that Anne girl is really into me.
She’s really pretty though.
Meaning? So is Owen.
No, you’re right. You’re right. Lets be imperfect in real life and perfect in Wanderx.
Are you ready?
Im ready.
The apartment was a little shabby and the window displayed a view of another building with a neon sign.
We logged in the game and spawned in a rather quaint, albeit generic, village. There was a sawmill, a baker and a blacksmith and ofcourse the inn. The inn harbored a chrystal in its courtyard which served as our link between the real world and the virtual world. The chrystal grew out of a giant moss-covered waystone and had the smell of wet grass. Small blue arcane whisps whistled about the chrystal. It also boosted our experience if we entertained downtime activities. It was immediately clear to me that I had to figure out everything and I wanted to learn everything.
The first thing that was noteworthy to me were the combat mechanics. This diversified itself between heavy attacks, light attacks and a shield. From what I gathered the combat log would add a plus 5 to attack but a minus 5 to AC when attacking with two hands, a light attacks was essentially just an attack but when this wasn’t blocked the damage would be doubled. Furthermore, the shield stance would add a 1d4 to AC.
All our six stats had an additional stat slot that could be used to increase the dynamics of combat, movement and spells. In order to gain a level, I would have to train all skillsets and attributes that where signed with green in my character sheet.
My talents were, predominantly attacking with a weapon and casting spells. Casting spells was done twofold. Manifesting arcana tought me a specific spell for a limited amount of time, but I also had to learn and read books. As for movement, I realized that stamina and equipment load were different skill trees, so my carry load did not equal my stamina and required a skill in engineering. Moreover, when I looked at gaining levels this game both had prerequisites to level into a class, as well as leveling up in general.
In order for Alyx and me to gain strength we had to do a lot. It almost seemed like the early versions of MUDS and MMO’s. You had to spent more ingame time than irl time to get anywhere. But the feedback loop put my motivation into overdrive. Even looking at the small chamber in the inn filled me with awe. The npcs appeared to be figments of my imagination and all of them had a compelling and convincing face. They all gave me that invisible mob feeling. However, seemingly less people wandered around here. And when the crowd looked at us, they seemed to see us as adventurers. Alyx, or Bellwitch, looked as if her skin was glowing and her entire presence appeared more confident. Yet, it was difficult to deny how my own confidence seemed to grow. In my mind, I could select the transparent aqua looking menu screen and was able to witness what I looked like. Most of it was me at first, but my hair was long, thick and black and I had an amazing jawline. It was as if my face had undergone some corny 80s movie makeover. But, here in this world, I was allowed to deepen my desire towards those types of media. It wasn’t me who had dubbed those movie as being cheap or dumb, that was the crowd. An entirely absent entity right here. My fascination grew as I could see my own body. While the gray layer of fat was still apparent, there were blocks of muscle and everything did seem more sinewy. At this stage, I became somewhat aware of myself and noticed that Bellwitch was waiting for me.
‘Hey slowpoke, some adventurer left us some stash and said he’d return to us in a span of two days. However, the people here say that he hasn’t returned in a while.
The man in front of her who gave the information, opened his mouth for a bit, nodded and repeated what he had told alyx.
‘That’s right, Garth was supposed to return yesterday, he was checking one of the Cyphernauticum tubes for a quest. Perhaps you can locate him? He is a valuable asset to our village.’
‘What’s the name of this village anyway?’ I asked.
‘Excuse me?’ The man said.
‘The name of this village, what is it?’ I repeated. Alyx gave me a look.
‘Its Dalesom’ The man answered. Than he closed his eyes and added.
‘Some dale backwards’
‘We will locate this Garth and get him back to Dalesom then. Are there any dangers on the road we ought to be aware of?’ I asked.
‘Well there’s wolves, trolls and ofcourse the coven roams these forests’ He answered.
‘The coven?’
‘Yes, the coven of fire. Witches, essentially that hide within the many caverns around these hills and imbue it with fire. You had a run in with them didn’t you?’
‘Uhm’. Alyx paused.
‘Why, yes yes we did.’ I answered.
‘Please locate Garth for us and we will reward you handsomely, the stash Garth left you can be found in your chambers’.
We went to our chambers which was a small bedroom with two separate beds, a small cupboard next to it, two chairs and one chest. Alyx followed me and motioned me to open the chest.
The stash he had left us was some basic equipment.
I was granted a golem forged shoulder piece, scalemail that would cover my arms and a thick belt covered with scales and chains to cover my legs. Still, I hadn’t equipped it yet. Furthermore, I was granted a circlet I was to put on my head.
‘Oh great he gave you a circlet of commune!’ Alyx said.
‘That way we can communicate with him!’ she added.
On second thought I handed the item to Alyx. She understood and appreciated my humble approach to gear and put it on her head. The circlet made her look somewhat more royal and had the immediate effect of granting her long curly locks that seemed to drape whenever she turned her head. She inhaled deeply, moving her chest up and down and closed her eyes spreading her arms next to her hips.
‘I’m hearing him call for aid.’
‘Says he is inside some far off castle on the vanishing shores. He says he is being held by a…an elven witch by the name of Anduariel.’
‘Who is that?’ I asked.
‘No idea, but it seems we need to investigate some of these witches.’
‘Yeah but, we got destroyed by them in that cave.’
‘About that. She said as she put her hand on her hip, looked behind her and closed the door.’
‘How does the commoner downstairs know that we got attacked in the cavern?’
‘Perhaps Garth told him?’
‘Yes, well how did he know?’
‘Maybe he tracked us or something? Or maybe he is aware of the mobs that surrounded our starting location.’
‘Yes, but starting locations are random in this game.’
‘Why don’t we just ask the guy?’ I asked.
‘No, no I don’t want to impose.’ She replied.
‘You’re not imposing when you’re asking a question though, right? Besides they’re npcs’
‘Yes, but not in the sense of a computer game. They are an amalgam of the stranger in our heads. They are as real as they come. Sorry I should have maybe told you this. But we are essentially dreaming. Do you always just ask things in your dreams? ‘
‘I….do not…actually.’ I realized.
‘I’m sorry, some of my idiosyncrasies translate even into this world’. She sat on her bed and looked down sideways as if she was embarrassed, but also requesting comfort.
I sat on my bed across from her.
‘What is it Alyx?’
‘I’m sorry I ignored you at the party’ Her green eyes had a silver shimmer to them as she cast them softly towards me. The only sound that could be heard was the ruffle of the inn downstairs and the soft crackle of the candle in our room. It was already evening and the red in the sky had already gone dark on the surface.
‘Well, it bothered me a bit yes. But to be fair, I am a little difficult in social situations.’ I said.
‘Besides, you were having fun right?’
‘I’m in love with Owen.’
‘Ah ok, well…I suppose you’ll need to divorce first.’
‘Do I? Am I not free?’
‘You are, but that’s how it goes.’
‘-Wait…what if you got him to play this game? Maybe you could deepen your feelings for him in this world?’ I hated myself for giving this advice.
She sank her face into her hands.
‘I’m such a mess, I asked you to come all the way from England to Luxemburg to play a game and now I am dragging you into all of this’
‘Hey now, it looks like a great game. Look, I have an idea. Why don’t we explore this game and thereby also explore what we want with our lives. It taps into our subconcious right? So careful reflection after our sessions might help. And you’re not that much of a mess, at least the mess with you is….active. I simply don’t have a life.’
‘Maybe we could help each other?’ She asked.
‘Lets, we’re friends right?’
To be fair though, I wasn’t thrilled to have this happen. I had an opportunity to win something here, only to be reduced as an extension of her problems. This had to change. This game….It had to be about me. And if it was also activated by the power of psychedelics, she wouldn’t need a lot of convincing. Besides, it would clear up a lot for her too.
She smiled and held my hands, then looked up and glanced in the chest.
‘There is another thing in there for you it seems.’
She stood up and walked towards the chest, bended forward and lifted an item. As she turned towards me I noticed that she was holding up a sword in both hands.
‘My knight’ She said and smiled brightly.
‘You love this don’t you?’ She asked.
The sword was a longsword with a red grip and gold pommel adorned with a silver rainguard. I took the sword in both hands and noticed how heavy it was, yet we carried it with some ease. It was fun and odd to realize how heavy these things were and how strong we both were holding it. Yet, we were all too aware of the simulation. Strength was not something to be faked.
‘I love it, yes’. I said as I looked closely at the weapon. This would be my companion for a long while.
‘What did you get?’ I asked.
‘I received a Kap’reesi bow from the midden. She said and held it up. The bow seemed to be made from sturdy ancient oak. Its dark green tone was adorned with bright green thorns. The bowstring was a silvery white. The quiver that came with it had bright blue arrows inside.
‘Farenite arrows’ She said happily.
And I also received a new piece of cloth armor, but I’m not sure if it looks good on me.
‘Well, show me’ I asked.
‘Right, you’ll have to wait ourside the room or turn around.’
‘Oh, ofcourse, wait I’ll get dressed to’
As I put on my armor, I realized that I hadn’t become model material yet, but something great was happening.
‘Finished?’ I asked.
‘Yes, turn around’ She said.
As I turned I saw her in a battledress adorned with silver small shoulder pieces. The dress had a navel deep neckline and was covered in dark green leaves. It looked like she was a model on some show.
‘Woah’ I said.
‘It’s a bit much isn’t it?’ She said.
‘Well….have you seen me?’ I said.
She laughed. But I wasn’t sure if she was pleased with what she saw. My abs were sort of showing, but in a circus performer kind of way.
‘Let’s gather some equipment, drink, sleep and make for the Vanishing shores early in the morning. We’ll need camping supplies for it will take for about three days to get there. There appears to be a famine so we’ll have to hunt on our own and gather enough food along the way.’
As we travelled we made sure to leave early and make the first six hours count. Sunrise passed its orange glow to grey morning clouds. The walk that was ahead of us would be hillsides mostly scattered across a balance of open fields and dense forests. We had enough water and enough food with us for one day. We met a couple of boar hunters lamenting the fact that most of their game had been tainted with black blood, a tell-tale sign of curses.They discussed various tactics and it was apparent that bellwitch seemed to join in on their lingo saying phrases such as ‘wind direction’ and ‘not with these kinds of bark’.
In the midst of noon, we heard a couple of screeches from the forest, it was insane to me how the feeling of danger dispelled the sense of adventure, it seemed to be antithetic to the design of these video games, but made it also feel all the more real. The screeches and the emotion of shock actually made me realize how detailed the game was. I could zoom in on leafs, branches and the concept of a tree in a forest seemed to be visually generated successfully. But what was so strange is that we all appeared to share into that illusion. As if the game had found out our idea of the forest. But then again, I had come to realze that the hunters we spoke to, were actually npcs but not in a derogatory way. This instance must have been generalized on the basis of ‘talking with hunters in a forest’. Before the actual encounter of a forest would be rendered. Moreover, it made me consider that perhaps there was always a different viewpoint on the same object in all things in the world. From my perspective a tree could be slightly different than that of Bellwitch. As I peered into the forest I noticed ringed branches hung from the trees. Trying out my hypothesis I said to Alyx
‘This world is generated so well, do you see those rings hanging from trees.’
‘Where, Jake….Where?’
The hunters looked and watched along.
‘Over there look’. I said as I held her close and pointed at the ring, she stood before me and put her hand on my cheek as I was looking over her shoulder to direct her eyes to the ringed branches.
‘That’s witches, get out your weapon, now!’
Not long after, as we moved into a clearing, hordes of animals came pouring from the trees, abject horror reflected on their faces. A fungal green sliver across their furs. Rabbits, squirrels and wolves gathered around us. Another thing that games hadn’t quite captured well is how much animals can surround you as a prey.
We got some help from hunters, but we were faced with two wolves. I decided to attack fast and held my sword close to my hip. Alyx faced one wolf from a distance and shot her frost arrows or whatever they were called. Meaning I had to face two wolved on my own. But this time, I was ready, this time, I was prepared.
One of the wolves came at me in a fierce manner and bit my arm. Instead of pulling I gave in before the arm would become mangled. My armor protected me sufficiently in that regard but I came lying on the floor because of it. The next wolf jumped onto me and bit in my chest, and I could feel its fangs sank into my stomach. Despite my confidence, this was not off to a great start. I punched the beast and got up. Then, The wolf that bit me first came at me and snapped at my legs. However, I kicked it and also kicked some dirt in its eyes. The second wolf jumped at me but I managed to shift my weight and use my momentum to dodge it. Now I was ready to strike. I remembered reading in the combat log that a light attack would double the damage if this wasn’t blocked. Wolves didn’t block to the best of my knowledge, so I attacked swiftly at the second wolf. Because he had his back against me I scored a critical hit so I already had double damage, but this time ,because of my light attack, the damage had quadrupled. My sword sank into its back and I slashed it upward creating an arc of enchanted black blood.
The first wolf stood in front of me and attempted another bit towards my arm. I caught it with my guarded scaled armour and pushed him back, stepped forward and went for a heavy two handed attack increasing my change to bypass its thick fur and sink it into its flesh. It hit and the beast was slain in its mouth.
As I recovered from this fierce amalgam of blood, sand and sweat I looked at Bellwitch. She had her eyes wide and heaved her chest up and down with a big smile on her face. Together with the hunters she had managed to deal with the wolves.
The battle was over, but we heard another screech. One that seemed close but also ricocheted off from the clear bark of trees
‘Must be the witches’, one of the hunters said, looking at Alyx for confirmation.
‘They enchant the creatures, that’s what must have caused the famine.’ Alyx concluded. She was way more eligible to talk about these manners than I was. Moreover, I had not come unscathed from my encounter with these wolves. But I saw that I could increase my strength. It was high time to go over my stats, rest and recover for the night.
The next day we passed some hills and noticed a dark green tower with the emblem of a moth on the sides.
Alyx stopped me and nodded towards the tower
‘That is a moth tower’ Alyx said,
‘-It is a place of treasure and insight. We should investigate and see if we can buff ourselves for the remainder of this trek. Furthermore, it is rumored to house chrystals that we can use to log off‘
As we neared the dark green tower,I noticed how slimey the structure had become. The grass we walked on, also had a distinct slimy and sticky quality to it. There was a discernible and audible hiss coming from the grass.
Spiders, they were fucking gigantic spiders. It dawned on me how absolutely terrifying these creatures were in VR. Same with the wolves in a sense, there was something ferocious and primal about battling these fierce and feral creatures.
Thus, we fought the spiders. Three of them as a matter of fact.
Two of them came attacking and the third seemed to scurry behind the two.
I decided to guard myself by wielding my sword and swining it in their direction a bit. But they attacked me anyway and gnawed and put their legs onto me. Yet I managed to block their heavy legs and their fangs with my red longsword.
I lifted my sword with two hands and stuck one of the beasts for 10 damage. He walked backwards and Bellwitch shot him with one of her arrows. The spider died.
Two spiders remained.
One of them attacked me ,but I guarded myself once again and succeeded. The other one came jumping at me but I ducked and dodged him. I thrust my sword at the one I had guarded myself from. This was a light attack, but the reflexes of the spider were too fast. An arrow hit the the spider I had ducked from, however as I heard the whistle of the farenite arrow the spider appeared hit and frightened, and attempted to attack but it had seen an opening and was trying to flee away.
Also the other spider’s attack was more of a warning and we let it flee. The remainder spider with a frost arrow in his back stood in front of us and let out a guttural hiss. With two hands I struck at him multiple times until his legs were chopped off.
In front of me, the blue screen showed me I had gained 4 strength points from this encounter. The gauge met with what was called IP-card 1.
Combat was over and we were able to enter the moth tower.
‘You’re getting stronger’ Alyx said.
‘I noticed yes, we should reflect on combat later on. We’ll have to push forwards, we cannot log out’
As we entered the dark Moth tower, I was met with a sense of dread and despair as I ventured through the dark hallways.
We entered the hallways and the door showed a moth.
Above it I could see a riddle.
‘Provide that which I desire’
Alyx went through her inventory and provided a biscuit. But nothing worked. I couldn’t even see what was going on so I lit a torch.
With the light burning, the doors opened. It dawned on me that I had made a smart move here.
As we entered the next room, I could see a small slow burning flame. The flame had visions inside it. Visions of a wizard could be seen up in the red, pink sky and a mountain with the shape of a hand could be seen. The rocks at the base made it look like a skull. So, it was like a skull-hand mountain. As the vision ended, the flame also subsided. A clear chrystal remained out of the flame. We were able to end our session.
I gained a level and so did Alyx. As a result of all this ,I got another 5 points in strength.
Alyx also got 5 points in dexterity.
In the tower we had abundant shelter and we could rest for a little while as well.
We took a short rest, talked about combat, ate some rations and I practiced for strength increase. I got another point in the skill strength, now I had received my second card. As I looked at myself I noticed that my abs started to show the six distinct blocks.
Alyx summoned her trusted wolf companion and fed it. The beast always appeared from outside our periphery and there was always a pang of joy to know that it had followed Alyx.
We were ready to log off.