ã€ŠCyber V - RoyalRoad Editionã€‹


 Chapter 1

    Marty took a deep breath ready to drop the big news on the four people he had assembled in an empty classroom.

    ¡°It can be done, we all joked and fantasied about it but I dug around and found it can be done.¡± Marty¡¯s sudden declaration caused a bit of confusion.

    ¡°Wanna give us some context here?¡± Greggory asked. He was the tallest among the group and had just gotten here so had no idea what Marty was talking about.

    ¡°Completely immersive perfect virtual reality. We all joked about how we wished we could really be transported into the world of a video game right? Well now we can.¡± The four teenagers weren¡¯t quite sure what to make of what Marty was saying.

    ¡°Wow, you¡¯re serious!¡± One boy named James was a bit too excited however and jumped out of his seat.

    ¡°I am. I tested it last night on my computer and it totally fucking works!¡± Marty¡¯s excitement seemed genuine but that wasn¡¯t enough to convince his three doubters.

    ¡°Are you trying to tell us that you were able to walk around inside a game world just as you do in real life?¡± Asked Emma, the only girl present.

    ¡°Precisely!¡±

    ¡°How?¡± That was the question anyone who had even the slightest bit of faith in what Marty was saying wanted to know the answer to. Marty paused for dramatic effect then unleashed his bombshell.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it works.¡± His response caused a wave of groans. ¡°Look everyone just come round to my house at seven tonight. I¡¯ll show you all that it¡¯s real.¡± Uncertainty filled the room. None of the five were the most social people and only two of them had ever ventured into Marty¡¯s house before, one being Marty himself.

    ¡°What do you think Clement?¡± Emma asked the boy next to her that had been quiet the entire time. Out of all of them he was the most socially awkward so Emma made a point to try and get him to open up whenever possible.

    ¡°What can we lose?¡± Clement was excited by the idea of being able to enter a virtual world but still had his doubts, a lot of them though if something was no risk huge reward then he always went for it.

    ¡°Good to hear, alright mine at seven. I¡¯ll get everything ready to go so we have the most amount of time to enjoy ourselves.¡± As teenagers they all had reasonable times they were expected to return home at especially on schooldays. Emma had it the worst as she would be punished if she was out after ten by her over protective parents. Fortunately she also lived nearest to Marty. The lunch bell sounded bringing an end to their impromptu meeting. They went their separate ways as none of them were in the same class for the rest of the day but would meet up again in a couple of hours in Marty¡¯s bedroom.

    * * * * *

    At five past seven the last of the group arrived in Marty¡¯s spacious bedroom. As the only child of two well-off loving parents he had a lot of luxuries that the others didn¡¯t.

    ¡°Nice place,¡± Greggory commented stepping into Marty¡¯s room where everyone else had gathered. Marty was sitting in pro-gamer chair by his computer eager to get started.

    ¡°Welcome to my humble abode. In just a few minutes we will all embark on a journey to a world of fantasy.¡±

    ¡°Which world?¡± James interrupted. ¡°Is it a world we know or a world specifically created for this virtual thing?¡±

    ¡°The Scrolls of Elders ¨C Carria.¡± That was a well-known title, heck it was the latest title to come from one of the most established RPG franchises in the video game industry. It was praised for its massive world and openness to community modding.

    ¡°I can¡¯t contain my excitement anymore. Everyone gather around!¡± Marty spun his chair around to face his computer and began typing while the others grouped around his large monitor. They weren¡¯t sure what he was typing into the command prompt window that was open on the desktop.

    ¡°Alright here we go!¡± That was the only warning he gave before smashing the enter key and activating the program. Suddenly the screen emitted a blinding light and all five of them whited out.

    With a groan James awoke from the ordeal and opened his eyes. He was face-down in a hay pile for something reason. When he pushed himself upright he did so not with his own hands but the sturdy hands of a fully grown adult.

    ¡°Wow,¡± he exclaimed with a deep voice that soundly oddly similar to Nolan North. He definitely wasn¡¯t in Marty¡¯s room anymore and he definitely wasn¡¯t wearing his regular clothes, although that was overshadowed by the fact his entire body was different. He looked around the large bed of hay and saw three identical semi-muscular brown haired men in identical cloth rags laying passed out around him.

    ¡°Welcome to the world of a better reality,¡± a voice announced. James turned to see a tall man standing behind him wearing the same garments as the rest of them with the same build but his hair was a crusty silver colour and his jawline slightly different.

    ¡°I¡¯m Marty by the way,¡± the man explained. James blinked in disbelief but under these circumstances it was actually pretty believable.

    ¡°Marty¡­ how the hell did you do this?¡± This world didn¡¯t look like a game. Everything around them looked like it was made of atoms, not pixels.

    ¡°I got the program of the internet, specifically the Deep Web,¡± Marty explained. ¡°I told you it was possible. I couldn¡¯t believe it myself until I came here for the first time but it¡¯s amazing isn¡¯t it? I¡¯ve barely had time to explore because this town is surrounded by goblins but we can deal with that later.¡± There was another groan as one of the other men awoke. As they were all identical there was no way to knowing who was who until they spoke or in this case, didn¡¯t.

    ¡°Welcome to the world of a better reality.¡± Clement looked around then at himself. His initial thought at waking up in a stable surrounded by burly men wasn¡¯t a good one.

    ¡°Are you going to say that every time someone wakes up Marty?¡± James complained.

    ¡°Yes¡­. Welcome to the world of a better reality!¡± Marty spotted another of his friends had awoken just after Clement.

    ¡°What the hell¡­ WHAT THE HELL!¡± Emma realised almost immediately that she was for reasons beyond her understanding, a burly man. ¡°What has happened to me?¡± She demanded.

    ¡°Relax, it¡¯s just temporary. You four are all using the default warrior class character which is why you all look the same and sound like Nolan North.¡± Nolan North of course voiced every male video game character in existence, the default male voice in this game was no exception.

    ¡°Do I have a penis now? Please tell me I don¡¯t!¡± While Emma was confirming her worst fear the last member of their group awoke.

    ¡°Warn us next time you do something something like that Marty,¡± Greggory complained. He stood up and dusted himself off like he was already aware of what was happening despite being the last to wake up. He glanced around the stable to assess his surroundings.

    ¡°Pretty cool and just look at those muscles. You¡¯d never think the lot of you have never worked out.¡± He was the least surprised out of the four of them. He flexed his new body then turned his attention towards the outside world. ¡°Shall we take a look outside?¡± The group under Marty¡¯s direction walked out of the empty stable and into the blinding sunlight of beautiful blue sky.

    ¡°We aren¡¯t in Scotland anymore.¡± They felt like they were on holiday as weather like this only occurred once every few years where they lived. The trees sung in the warm breeze and the air¡¯s freshness rivalled that of the highlands.

    ¡°Forget adventuring, I would be happy to just stay here and bathe in the sun,¡± Emma joked although she would rather be in her real body instead of this one.

    ¡°Town¡¯s this way. We can pick up an easy quest from there to test the ropes,¡± Marty explained pointing down a path. He had done this yesterday but hadn¡¯t gone very far.

    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°Wait wait wait,¡± Greggory countered. ¡°Questing? Dude we aren¡¯t bound by the rules anymore. We could do anything we want here like instead of doing a quest we could literally just rob the quest giver and take all the rewards without having to actually do the quest.¡± That was true although the town guards wouldn¡¯t be happy about it nor would anyone else who lived in this world.

    ¡°I know it¡¯s a game but still, that¡¯s a bit mean.¡± Emma wasn¡¯t for the mugging an old man route Greggory was suggesting.

    ¡°Friends, this is just to test the ropes. After this session I¡¯m going to reset everything. Then we¡¯ll design our own characters and start playing for real. If Greggory wants to rob the townsfolk fine, it¡¯ll show us just how the NPCs react to circumstances they weren¡¯t programmed for.¡± By playing for real Marty meant trying to complete the game¡¯s main quest. There was a lot of stuff games tended to do for you that they wouldn¡¯t have the luxury off here. The group headed towards the small town of Cakl¡¯Dor which they had always pronounced Cackle-Door because nobody knew how it was actually pronounced. The town was small with only seven buildings including a general store, tavern, weapons & amour shop and a few houses. It was the standard definition of a starting town and everyone here had a smile on their face and a willingness to help others.

    ¡°Alright if memory serves that guy over there should provide us with a goblin killing quest and reward us with a basic weapon if we succeed.¡± Marty pointed to a farmer who seemed to be standing in a particularly bright patch of dirt. The group approached him and the poor man nearly had heart attack as five burly men, four of whom were completely identical, neared him.

    ¡°Excuse me.¡± The farmer showed clear fear towards the five men speaking with him.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t hurt me,¡± he begged.

    ¡°No no no. We want to help you. Are you the guy who hands out goblin extermination quests?¡± There seemed to be some confusion. It was never this hard with predetermined dialogue boxes.

    ¡°Oh¡­ you¡¯re mercenaries?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s sort of right. Do you have any work for us?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just a simple farmer, I can¡¯t afford to pay for five men like you to clear out my field of goblins.¡± It was apparent the farmer had never been programmed to handle five people speaking to him at once. The game was originally a single player so it wasn¡¯t that big a surprise that five heroes instead of one would change things.

    ¡°Well you¡¯re in luck.¡± James took over speaking. ¡°Because we are still getting established we have a very special offer just for you. You need only pay for one of us and the other four will work for free. Even with a group like us you have to admit I¡¯m giving you a bargain here.¡± James suggestion caught the others off-guard and before they could raise a voice of concern James had already shaken hands with the farmer sealing the deal. Soon the five of them were trundling off towards the wheat fields to kill a bunch of goblins.

    ¡°We are just resetting anyway after this. Like Marty said we are just testing the ropes.¡± James defended his actions. The five of them soon arrived at the wheat field and caught sight of the pointy green ears of the goblins that had taken over. Being strictly carnivorous the goblins didn¡¯t care for the wheat and were more interested in trying to catch field mice.

    ¡°There¡¯s one get him!¡± Greggory was the first to rush into battle. He took the three foot goblin completely by surprise and the others quickly piled in after him, although much less enthusiastically, and beat the living shit out of the poor green skin. The sight of five burly men smashing one of their comrades to bits had sent a strong message to the other goblins. When Greggory scanned the area for his next target he discovered the field was now deserted.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Greggory scratched his head as James picked up some copper coins from the goblins fading remains.

    ¡°The currency is minted from the remains of dead monsters? The economy must be in shambles.¡± It was a valid observation. James knew that the value of currency in many MMORPG¡¯s devalued overtime because of this. It was a problem many games faced so he questioned how it would affect this world which was both a game and real at the same time.

    ¡°Well now what?¡± Emma questioned. The goblins were gone but they had agreed to kill at least eight for the farmer.

    ¡°Well there isn¡¯t really any evidence we haven¡¯t done the quest,¡± Greggory suggested. The field was hidden from the town so unless the farmer was watching he would have no idea how they were doing. The others all looked at him with worried expressions but the fact remained he was right so it was time to test the effectiveness of lying in this world.

    ¡°Hold up, let¡¯s wait ten minutes then go back. It¡¯ll be too obvious if we return now.¡± James brought up another valid point. They walked around the field pretending to be busy then returned to town to meet up with the farmer. He was clearly still uneasy talking with such an odd group but paid up. A cheap sword, some coins and a healing potion was their reward just like it would have been in the game. A full set of basic equipment could be assembled by doing all of the quests in the starting village but a single set wouldn¡¯t do a group of five much good. It was certainly a problem they hadn¡¯t been expecting but was precisely why they were doing a test run.

    ¡°Hey Marty,¡± one of his friends called out. Marty turned around and hoped they didn¡¯t realise that he had no idea which of the four of them he was speaking with. ¡°Just how do we get back to reality?¡± That was easily the most important question to be asking. They had noticed they didn¡¯t have a main menu to quit the game from.

    ¡°There is a time limit set up that will return us all once an hour has passed.¡±

    ¡°And how long has passed?¡± The question was answered when the world turned to a blinding white then suddenly all five of them were back in Marty¡¯s room grouped around his computer.

    ¡°We¡¯re back, I¡¯m back.¡± Greggory quickly checked he was back to being himself. Emma was the happiest of them all to be back to normal.

    ¡°It¡¯s cool right?¡± Marty asked now that all four of them understood that what he told them this afternoon was true.

    ¡°Yeah¡­ but how is it even possible?¡± Emma questioned. Marty shrugged his shoulder while opening up a computer program.

    ¡°I got this program from the Deep Web. It is what allows us to enter the virtual world which I¡¯m assuming is based on the version of the game on my computer. I had to alter it a bit to allow all five of us to enter at once. I¡¯ve actually been spending the past week getting it ready for today¡¯s announcement.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t get it¡­ but I want to go back so shall we go back in? I¡¯ve still got time,¡± Greggory pressed. Their time in Carria had felt very brief yet an hour had passed in the real world.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m going to show you guys what you need to do for tomorrow.¡± Marty hadn¡¯t even asked if they were all free. He was just assuming as he knew none of them would voluntary miss it. He opened up the games character creator. He had also installed a number of mods to dramatically increase their customisation options.

    ¡°Tonight you should all spend some time creating a character. Once done save them to one of these.¡± He handed out four USB memory sticks. ¡°All the mods you need are on those. Likewise if there are any mods you want installed then transfer it to that. A word of warning, I am only able to have a single save file and any new mods require a fresh game. Once we restart tomorrow we won¡¯t be able to modify the game.¡± His friends nodded.

    ¡°When do we start?¡± Greggory was eager to get back into it.

    ¡°Get your characters created and mods downloaded tonight. Then let¡¯s meet up back here tomorrow at 7 again to start playing for real.¡± It sounded fantastic. They all wished they could play now but Marty had some things he wanted to set up for tomorrow. Unfortunately as teenagers school was a part of life that they had to endure. Nothing was worse than going to school when you had a brand new game waiting at home.

 Chapter 2

    The following afternoon was also joyously a Friday so Marty and the others had the luxury of not needing to get up early the next day. At twenty to seven Marty¡¯s doorbell rang and it would ring another three times over the next fifteen minutes as his friends arrived for what they hoped would be the best weekend of their life. None of them had been able to concentrate during class today due to the overwhelming excitement they felt. Emma was the last to arrive and despite being on time she still felt bad for being the last as they couldn¡¯t get started without her. As requested they had all arrived at Marty¡¯s with a character file and their choice of mods¡­ or rather James and Greggory had. Emma and Clement hadn¡¯t come with mods and just brought their characters.

    Marty installed all the files without inspecting them so he wouldn¡¯t know what his friends would look like, or what changes they had made. He had installed a few mods of his own to make life in the virtual world a bit easier and also accommodate for the things they didn¡¯t have.

    ¡°The world has been reset, mods are installed and everything is ready to go,¡± he declared. It was all ready for the five of them to begin their grand adventure. ¡°I¡¯ve set us up with a few assets to give us an easier start and also assist us with game stuff in immersive ways,¡± Marty explained using a game marketer¡¯s favourite word.

    ¡°Immersive?¡± James questioned. ¡°Game stuff?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll show you all once we get in. I¡¯ve extended the timer as well so let¡¯s get started.¡± Marty would rather show them his changes than have to explain them. The five of them gathered around his computer as he opened up the command program. Their eyes were hit with a blinding white flash as their real bodies disappeared and their minds entered the bodies of their new virtual counter-parts. The next thing they knew they were waking up not in a stable but a small cabin each with their own bed. The first to awake was Marty but this time he didn¡¯t wake as a silver haired burly warrior but as a tall, dirty blonde haired elf with stunningly sharp flawless features. A player could choose to be any of the classic fantasy races so Marty had chosen to be a Tree Elf.

    ¡°This is what a true fantasy life should be like.¡± His excited voice woke Greggory who didn¡¯t look all that different from before. He was still muscular, tall and pretty masculine and had gone overboard in the body hair department. He was sprouting a bushy red beard that matched his red hair and had a forest¡¯s worth of chest hair for the full lumberjack look. If a tree saw him approaching with an axe it would topple over out of fear.

    ¡°Sweet, check out mah guns,¡± Greggory boasted flexing the arm muscles he had done nothing to earn. ¡°So who¡¯s who?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Marty. Who are you?¡± Marty asked.

    ¡°Greggory, the mighty human berserker!¡± Greggory had selected berserker as his primary player class. He took a good look Marty¡¯s character guessed he had gone for archer because that was what Tree Elves generally specialised in. He looked around at the others to see what races they had picked.

    ¡°Hey wait a minute¡­¡± He picked up on a certain detail that Marty had also just become aware off. He and Marty were the only two men in the cabin. Emma was obviously a woman, but she wasn¡¯t the only one.

    ¡°Dammit guys,¡± Greggory complained kicking James bed. A pair of large feline ears twitched as the bed shook and a feline tail slid out from under the bedsheets and dangled over the side. The face of the sleeping figure was distinctly a young girls for not only had James chosen to be female, he had also chosen go completely overboard and give himself the most youthful petite body the system would allow. Just like Marty had chosen to be an elf, James had chosen a fantasy race as well. Known as Beast Men, the race were mostly humanoid but held the traits of particular animals. In this case James had feline ears, a tail, claw like finger nails and vertical pupils. A player¡¯s race bestowed numerous benefits but also had a few drawbacks. James stretched his petite arms as he awoke to Greggory¡¯s hostile gaze. James suddenly remembered where he was and thus what his body should now look like. He wasted no time inspecting his new feminine frame and feline features.

    ¡°Amazing!¡± He spoke with excitement. A lack of surprise meant he had definitely intended for this to happen. His voice was also distinctly feminine and higher pitched than a regular persons. A few strands of shoulder length pink hair brushed across his face and he his face lit up with glee.

    ¡°Why are you a girl?¡± Greggory hissed looking at the pink haired James.

    ¡°Because this is a fantasy so I¡¯m going all out and being a super cute neko-gal.¡± Greggory gave up upon hearing that explanation. He wasn¡¯t even sure what a ¡®neko-gal¡¯ was. Clement had also awoken. Like James he was now a woman but unlike James had gone for a far more mature build as he, like Marty, was an elf. His arms were long and slender, his features an image of pure mature beauty, his hair long, sleek and golden and his breasts massive. James was an ironing board compared to Clement. Clement had gone from being the shortest person in their group in real life to the second tallest standing only a few inches below the towering Greggory.

    ¡°Seriously guys?¡± Emma had also awoken. She had directed her comment towards everyone as she was the only one who had shown some restraint. Her hair was still dark although her skin was now a tanned colour opposed to being very pale before. She had added a full foot to her height, trimmed off the excess fat, gone up a cup size and had beautiful long curls to replace her usually straight hair. It was the body she wished she could have in real-life but real-life was a lot harsher than a game. There was more she had been tempted to do but she had shown restraint in choosing her characters appearance in fear of being ridiculed. As she saw the four other members of her party she knew those fears had been misplaced.

    ¡°What¡¯s with this cabin?¡± Greggory questioned moving on from what they were to where they were. He looked around the wooden floored room with several windows letting in the bright sunlight from outside. There were five beds each with a storage locker by the foot of it. Like before they had all woken up wearing plain brown rags but now they all had something to wear over them as inside the storage lockers was a wide range of beginners equipment.

    ¡°Like I said before, I added a few things using mods to help us out. This cabin will be our base of operations for the time being and if we die we will respawn in our beds. I¡¯ve also put basic gear in our lockers to replace the gear the quest givers in town would normally give. Oh on that topic we are next to the stables we woke up in before.¡± Marty pointed to the front window were they could see the stables across the road. This cabin had definitely not been here before so it confirmed that their mods were working.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit shit,¡± Greggory complained knocking a wooden support beam.

    ¡°We are just starting out our adventure. I¡¯m not going to just give us a mansion filled with top-tier equipment. We have to still earn that.¡±

    ¡°Yeah but that¡¯ll take time. Let¡¯s vote.¡± Greggory¡¯s suggestion to hold a vote instantly backfired as everyone else voted to start with nothing but the basics and earn the good stuff.

    ¡°Moving on let me explain some of the stuff in the lock¡­ James what the hell are you doing?¡± Marty caught James stroking his crotch to confirm that his genitals were now female.

    ¡°I was just making sure my trousers fit.¡± James lied hoping they bought that excuse as he didn¡¯t want them to know what he was really doing. They didn¡¯t but Marty let it slide as he wanted to continue explaining things.

    ¡°Anyway¡­. As I was saying.¡± Marty opened his chest and pulled out a hard leather book with a black tome bearing silver writing. ¡°This book comes from an immersion mod I installed. It replaces the games menus with this book which is more immersive. As you can see my character¡¯s name is printed on the front.¡± Indeed the book was titled with the word ¡®Reslkia¡¯ as Marty wasn¡¯t the name you¡¯d expect a Tree Elf to have. The others all pulled their books from their lockets and saw the name they had given their own character was printed on each of their respective books. Greggory was the only exception since he¡¯d kept his name as Greggory.

    ¡°This book is magical and will record your special skills or spells. It will show you your mana and how much mana each of your known skills will cost you.¡± This was all stuff that was normally placed on a toolbar along the edge of the screen but naturally none of them had that anymore.

    ¡°It¡¯ll also hold a lot of other information like recipes and such. Basically all the information the game usually organises for you will be in this book.¡± That would definitely be useful. ¡°And most importantly, if you turn to the back page you¡¯ll find a log-out button. If you, and only you, touch it you¡¯ll return to the real world.¡± Indeed on the back page was a square box that read log-out across it. The next special item Marty pulled out of the chest was a leather brown bag pack. It was pretty small but as he was about to demonstrate it too was magic. Like in a scene from Mary Poppins he lowered a wizard¡¯s staff from the chest into the bag and it disappeared despite being bigger than the bag it was now inside.

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    ¡°It¡¯s bigger on the inside and also will always weigh the same. This will replace the magical inventories that video game characters usually have. There is a limit to how much it will hold.¡± Marty had gone the extra mile to make this experience as true to the game as possible. The only thing left to talk about was the vast amount of equipment in the locker.

    ¡°And the rest of the stuff is just basic gear; you all have the same stuff because I had no idea what type of character any of you wanted to play as.¡± Players had the option of choosing a primary player class in this game such as Warrior or Mage. The player classes however only acted as a guideline and players were free to learn whatever skills or magic they wanted regardless of their chosen class. The first item they each lifted out of the chest was a big hint towards what their class was. Greggory lifted out a large battle axe symbolising the berserker, Emma a sword & shield symbolising paladin, Marty a bow symbolising archer, Clement a staff symbolising a mage and James, well James was busy reading through his book which bore the name Lily but he had chosen to be a healer as he knew nobody else would. He could definitely see a lot of use in the information provided within the book. He continued to read it as the others all started equipping their basic armour discovering they had nothing to replace the cheap clothing underneath.

    ¡°Good thing it¡¯s summer right now, I¡¯d hate to go outside in the cold like this.¡± Greggory had already decided he would just steal some better clothes from the first washing line he saw.

    ¡°Alright party, let¡¯s move out!¡± Marty declared to the room filled with the odd-ball bunch of adventures. James suddenly became aware of what the others had been doing when they headed for the door and had to quickly grab what he could and chase after them before they left him behind.

    In the small village of Cakl¡¯dor a lone farmer standing in a bright patch of dirt spotted a group of complete oddballs walk into town. Two blonde haired elves, a huge figure with thick short red hair and matching full beard, a young pink haired cat-girl and a woman with noble beauty but a peasant¡¯s cloths. He looked at the rags they wore underneath their cheap armour and hoped they weren¡¯t beggars coming to dirty the town. As Marty had reset the game the farmer had no memory of his previous strange encounter with the burly quintuplets as it had never happened. The group of five walked past him and straight into the tavern not hearing the farmer breathed a sigh of relief.

    ¡°Oh lord.¡± The innkeeper had a very different sigh when he spotted the five adventurer types that had just walked onto his stone floor. It was too early for anyone to be coming in for a drink so could only assume their intention was to seek out a quest. They made for the quest board nailed to the tavern wall and began to talk amongst themselves. The innkeeper knew what quests were available. Kill a troll, collect giant frog legs, find a lost cat and defeat the lord of Siren¡¯s Tower of Death.

    ¡°Oi¡­ what the hell is this?¡± Greggory pointed to the fourth quest which involved the Tower of Death. ¡°Was this always offered in this inn?¡± He couldn¡¯t even recall a structure in the game named Siren¡¯s Tower of Death. Marty on the other hand did recognise the name.

    ¡°Alright who added that mod to the game?¡± He knew it was from a mod but he wasn¡¯t the one who had added it.

    ¡°What about it?¡± James didn¡¯t see the problem. ¡°You said I could bring whatever mods I wanted. Besides the tower doesn¡¯t do anything until you enter it.¡± The mod only added a sealed large tower in the middle of the nearby forest so shouldn¡¯t have an impact on their game. It was utterly impossible to do right now however.

    ¡°Well I know where the cat is so I¡¯ll take this one.¡± Greggory quickly snatched the piece of paper requesting assistance in finding the cat.

    ¡°Hey we¡¯re a team,¡± Emma complained. ¡°Let¡¯s stick together alright?¡±

    ¡°Nah, you guys have fun. I¡¯ll be back here soon.¡± He clearly wanted the reward all to himself and ran out the inn door to ensure he found the cat first.

    ¡°God he is selfish.¡± The others quickly decided to work together to take on the giant frogs. They knew where the frogs were so had no trouble getting to them. On the way Emma decided to ask about something that had been bothering her.

    ¡°Why am I the only one wearing decent armour?¡± She had made full use of the equipment Marty had put in her chest. It was heavy and hot but gave a lot of protection.

    ¡°Because I¡¯m an archer, I don¡¯t need much armour,¡± Marty explained. He had only taken some leather vambraces and a leather vest. The same went for Clement who was a mage while James couldn¡¯t even wear half the equipment as it was too big for him. Emma rolled her eyes as they approached the edge of a large murky pond where frogs the size of large dogs were residing.

    ¡°Euck.¡± Emma was reluctant to go anywhere near the murky water much less the slimy beasts. Marty pulled out his bow and took aim. As it was his first time using a bow his arrow fell so short of the creature he was aiming for it didn¡¯t even notice it was in danger.

    ¡°Freeze bolt!¡± Clement shouted with a voice that was louder than anyone had ever heard him speak. A bolt of icy magic formed on the tip of his staff then shot forward striking a frog and freezing it solid.

    ¡°Nice,¡± Marty congratulated. Unfortunately their task was to collect frog legs, not turn the frogs into popsicles. James was the next to take a shot at the amphibians. He pulled a long sword from his bag to attack the nearest frog but he immediately lost his balance and fell over.

    ¡°And that is what happens when you turn yourself into a five year old girl,¡± Emma mocked.

    ¡°Haha very funny. The minimum character age is 18 so I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re an 18 year old whose body doesn¡¯t have a drop of growth hormone. Maybe next time give yourself some muscle so you can actually pick up a weapon.¡± Emma had no sympathy for James poor choice in character creation. The frogs sensed the danger as Emma neared them and hopped into the deeper part of the pond where she was reluctant to follow.

    ¡°Um¡­¡± James tried wading into the murky waters but quickly realised if he went any further he might not be able to get back out again. Clement had an idea and stepped forward and pointed his wooden staff at the surface of the water.

    ¡°Lightning strike!¡± He yelled and a bolt of blue electricity struck the surface of the water. James sprang up as the spell went off narrowly avoiding being electrocuted. Scolding hot water sprayed everywhere as the spell boiled the water and Clement and James were both sprayed by it. Both were lightly scolded but it was minor injury. It was a gentle warning that actions in this world could have unforeseen consequences.

    ¡°Fast heal!¡± James healed both his and Clement¡¯s minor burns with a healing spell but it left him nearly completely drained.

    ¡°Got one!¡± Marty triumphantly shouted as one of his arrows hit true striking a frog in the back. The injured amphibian immediately went into a panic and began hoping all over the place causing the arrow imbedded in its back to do even more damage. It died shortly after as a result and Marty punched the air at his first successful kill although he had to stand ten foot from the creature to actually hit it. Unfortunately the frog¡¯s legs didn¡¯t magically fall off like they did in the game. Its slimy corpse remained whole meaning that if Marty wanted the prized frog legs he would have to do a bit of butchering.

    ¡°Or I could do this!¡± He had a bright idea so opened up his magic book and found the spell he was looking for. It was spell designed to cook raw food rapidly using magic so he pulled the slimy body out of the water and unleashed it on the entire frog. The creature was cooked in an instant, turning from a green slimy colour to a cooked brown one. With the frog cooked he simply tore the legs off and threw them into the back of his bag. It took a lot more effort killing and collecting the frog¡¯s leg than it normally did in a game but they saw the task through and returned to the inn victorious sometime after. The same couldn¡¯t be said for Greggory who was still out looking for the cat, the animal had been where he expected it to be but it had fled from him the moment he tried to pick it up. While he was out searching for the lost animal the others were collecting their reward from the inn keeper. While splitting the reward four ways wasn¡¯t the most profitable it had given them a good taste of what life in the fantasy world had to offer. They explored the area around the town a little more and not before long the timer Marty had set up expired. When they returned to Marty¡¯s room they laughed at Greggory¡¯s inability to complete the simple quest he had so boastfully accepted.

    ¡°But holy hell that world is so real. I¡¯d pack up and live there if I could,¡± Greggory joked. ¡°So what time tomorrow?¡± As they all had to enter the world together they agreed on what time they would all arrive and return to their fantasy world. They had the full day tomorrow so were all eagerly looking forward to it. They loved their new life but there was always the occasional reminder it was just a game and reality was very demanding.

 Chapter 3

    When Marty activated the program the next day the five of them found themselves standing in the same location they had been when they left Carria the previous day. Unlike before they didn¡¯t pass out so to them everything happened in a single flash of white light.

    ¡°Alright party what is our plan for today?¡± Marty asked.

    ¡°Fighting our way to the nearest city and getting into contact with the guilds would be a good start,¡± Emma suggested. The guilds usually offered the best quests plus there were benefits to joining them. The journey to the nearest city wasn¡¯t that long so the difficulty would be entirely based on what trouble they ran into on the way there. There was one slight problem they had to address before heading out however and that was that Greggory wasn¡¯t with them. He had been in the middle of the forest when the timer expired last night so they could only assume he had spawned there when they loaded in today.

    ¡°Should we wait for him?¡± James questioned. There was a map inside the book Marty had given them. It showed them their own location on the game world although not the location of others. It should be fairly obvious to Greggory where they were heading anyway. Heck considering they had no idea where he was it was possible he was closer to the city than they were. They agreed to leave him behind and set off for the city using a path through the forest to get there.

    Marty was leading the pack with his keen ears scanning the surroundings. As he was now an elf his hearing had improved. However he had yet to how to distinguish between wild animals, and a goblin raiding party. Suddenly the group was ambush by number green skinned goblins. Their ambushers were more organised that the goblins loitering in the fields. Armed with sharp spears and old armour they posed a threat.

    ¡°Ambush, let¡¯s kill them all!¡± Marty yelled. He aimed his bow as the green skins rushed them. Emma had adopted a sword and shield fighting stance although the cheap wooden round shield she had started with barely offered any protection. She also had a hard time moving her body with her heavy armour but it could have been worse. Clement¡¯s large breasts and taller statue caused him to tilt of balance after his first spell missed and a goblin pounced onto his back. Marty¡¯s first arrow hit a goblin in the chest but only stunned it. His longhair obstructed his vision and blinded one of his eyes due to him not being used to it, this left him wide open to attacks. James small body was physically too weak for close combat fighting. He swung his sword but couldn¡¯t even pierce the goblins armour with his weak arms. Emma swung her sword fiercely and slew goblin after goblin. Attacks came at her fast and often but weren¡¯t aimed well so the goblins spears failed to penetrate the armour she was wearing. One by one she cut them down and when the last goblin fell she realised that she was now completely alone. Surrounding her was the belongings of Clement, James and Marty but they themselves were nowhere in sight.

    ¡°Did they all just die?¡± Marty said that if one of them died their body would be transported back to the cabin and fully healed. This was a game so death wasn¡¯t permanent, but evidently it was only their body that was returned to the cabin and nothing else. The task of hauling all their crap back to the starting cabin fell upon Emma so she took what she could and headed back.

    Meanwhile in the cabin her friends had also just learnt about the flaw in Marty¡¯s respawn system. They had all respawned without anything meaning that all three were stark naked. Since they were all teenage boys at heart all attention was on Clement.

    ¡°How¡¯s it feel having to carry two watermelons on your chest?¡± Marty teased. Clement didn¡¯t respond. Instead he wrapped himself up in the bedsheets. Feeling inadequate James had both his hands against his own breasts.

    ¡°Maybe I should have made mine larger.¡± Then again this was already strange enough. ¡°Hey Marty is there any way for us to get new clothes?¡± Their chests only had weapons and armour.

    ¡°No. We only have what we started with. Anything else we need to find in the game world.¡± Marty wasn¡¯t sure where to look. James was sitting naked exploring his body since he had time. He had his legs together at least hiding his private area. Marty suspected that if James got some privacy he¡¯d inspect that place as well. Suddenly James feline ears twitched.

    ¡°Someone¡¯s coming,¡± he announced. Not a moment later the door was booted open and a towering figure entered the cabin.

    Emma arrived back at the cabin to the sound of Greggory emptying his lungs with laughter. After the others had mocked him for failing to find a cat he was going to enjoy the fact three of them had died to goblins to the fullest. They were all relived when Emma entered the cabin carrying their clothing and gear with her.

    ¡°Knock knock idiots,¡± Emma greeted as she entered the cabin. She quickly tossed the three backpacks she had been carrying onto the floor for them to sort out. ¡°So how was death?¡± She mocked.

    ¡°Painful, I don¡¯t recommend it.¡± While the three of them were fine now they still all remembered the pain from being stabbed, bitten and beaten to death by the goblins. The goblins had been kind enough to kill them quickly but it did raise the fear of the pain a slower death could cause. Marty would try to do something about it later when he was back in the real world. In the meantime he threw off the bedsheet and fished his rags from his bag.

    ¡°Jesus these won¡¯t do,¡± he complained pulling out hole filled rags soaked with his blood. His body may have been fine again but his clothing definitely wasn¡¯t.

    ¡°Well you need something.¡± Emma was doing her best to avoid looking at the naked elf crouching in the middle of the cabin. While trying to avoid looking at Marty her eyes fell upon Greggory. She realized he wasn¡¯t wearing the clothes he had started with. He had a clean white shirt and around his waist was a pair of very tight trousers.

    ¡°What?¡± Greggory asked noticing her gaze.

    ¡°Did you steal someone¡¯s clothes?¡± She immediately accused thinking back to what Greggory had said previously.

    ¡°Yeah so what? It¡¯s not like those people are real.¡± Even after speaking with the townsfolk Greggory still didn¡¯t see them as anything more than a computer programs that resembled people. Emma rolled her eyes and dropped the matter knowing there was no point in arguing. She decided not to warn him about the fact that the owner of the clothes would be on the lookout for them and would spot Greggory the next time he went into town.

    ¡°So how about heading to that city now?¡± Greggory suggested. ¡°But if more goblins show up then let me and Emma handle them.¡± Considering what had just happened it was a good suggestion.

    ¡°I died because I tried to fight up close with a bow. I forgot that in reality that doesn¡¯t work. I¡¯ll be smarter next time.¡± Marty pulled a sword from his locker and put it in his bag. He wanted to get good with the bow but unlike in games it was unless at point blank range. If his enemies got closer it would be best to stick to slashing and stabbing. The party geared up with more armour this time and headed out towards the city. Like before goblins had set up an ambush along the main path. This time however the entire party was brandishing swords and shields. James still couldn¡¯t get past their armour, but with his brute strength Greggory didn¡¯t suffer the same problem. Wood was splintered as he aggressively swung his blade. Hs aggressiveness ultimately caused the sword to break, so he used his fists to finish the combat. With Greggory and Emma taking the vanguard the goblins were swiftly fought off. They get completely massacred like last time and nobody died.

    ¡°Onwards!¡± Greggory declared trampling over the muddy remains of his enemies.

    Two women clad in the armour of the city guard stood by the gates of Lurne. Today been a boring day with nothing out of the ordinary to distract them for their boredom. That changed when they spotted the odd ball bunch of adventures pretty quickly. It was a human city but elves weren¡¯t uncommon, cat girls however were especially rare to see as they historically hated large cities, and with this city being the fourth largest in the human territories it rarely got feline visitors. They watched the group closely as they passed through the gate and entered the city.

    ¡°Man there is so much to do; I don¡¯t even know where to get started.¡± Greggory was looking around with excitement although worryingly a lot of that excitement was directed at a lot of the city¡¯s women. One guardswoman was glaring at him suspiciously after noticing what he was doing.

    ¡°I was wondering¡­¡± Emma began. ¡°Is it just me or all the guards women?¡± Emma pointed out and the others all looked around and confirmed her observation. There were plenty of guards keeping order but not a single one was male. Typically the city guard had a 4:1 male to female ratio.

    ¡°Yeah¡­ it¡¯s almost as if ¡®someone¡¯ installed a mod to make all the guards female.¡± Marty directed his acquisitions at James.

    ¡°This is just how I like to play the game,¡± James responded.

    ¡°Why did you even have a mod to turn all the guards into women?¡± Emma questioned. Greggory was keeping out of this and letting James take the heat. It was probably a bad time to mention he had also put that mod on his memory stick.

    ¡°It¡¯s a fantasy game so what¡¯s wrong with modding it to my tastes?¡±

    ¡°Look I¡¯ll double check things when I get back to reality and see what else we¡¯ve added.¡± Marty tried to diffuse the situation. ¡°Evidently I should have imposed some restrictions on the mods you guys could bring. It¡¯s only cosmetic so don¡¯t worry too much about it Emma.¡± It was the prospect that there might be other questionable mods that was worrying Emma. There wasn¡¯t much she could do about it right now so she just sighed and questioned her poor choice of adventuring companions.

    ¡°Where should we go first?¡± Emma asked and was met with a mess of words that sounded like general store, the guilds and tavern all mixed in together.

    ¡°Let¡¯s split up and meet back here in an hour. There is a clock inside the book I gave you.¡± Marty¡¯s suggestion made the most sense. They all had things they wanted to do so split up to go do them.

    Marty arrived at the bristling town square and looked around at the crowds that had gathered there. One particular group of street performers had mixed music, singing, dancing and magic into a spectacular show that had the audience¡¯s attention captured. A young urchin was squeezing through the crowd with his pockets slowly filling up as the pockets of those around him became lighter. He made his way towards Marty having spotted the tree elf from the crowd hoping to relieve him of some precious elven treasure, but when he actually reached Marty he was severely disappointed. The elf couldn¡¯t even afford to clothe himself, the chances of him having anything of value were zero. The boy pushed past to find a better mark to relieve of his or her valuables. Marty continued to listen to the music admiring the beauty of the song. The street performers had been present when he been in this city digitally but had an annoying habit of only playing the same songs over and over again. The song he was hearing now was completely new to his ears.

    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    ¡°I better get a move on,¡± he whispered. He couldn¡¯t stand around all day when he was broke ass poor and needed desperately to get clothes. Fortunately he knew someone in the city who offered a very beneficial and relatively easy quest.

    Meanwhile James had just walked into the store he had been seeking. The owner wasn¡¯t exactly pleased to see the shabby looking cat-girl enter and hoped she wasn¡¯t here to steal. The city barracks had supplied all the stores in town with a guard who was silently watching James¡¯s hands.

    ¡°Hello good sir,¡± James greeted. His way of speaking was nothing like what the shop keeper had been imagining.

    ¡°Hello miss,¡± the shopkeeper replied with a strong hint of uncertainty in his voice.

    ¡°I want to sell some things to you. You buy anything right?¡± It was a rule in RPGs that general stores would buy anything someone wanted to sell for a far lower price than it was actually worth.

    ¡°This IS a general store. What are you selling?¡± James opened up his bag and began to fish out items and place them on the table. He pulled out all the spare equipment that Marty had given him, most of which he never planned on using such as the staff and bow. The shopkeeper picked up the cheap bow and examined it confirming that it was incredibly low quality.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be honest this stuff is junk, did some adventurer give it to you?¡± It wasn¡¯t uncommon for adventurers in the city to pass down their old weapons and armour to less experienced adventurers.

    ¡°No, I found it all. Anyway is it worth anything?¡±

    ¡°Not really¡­ for all this I¡¯d give you 50 coppers.¡± It was better than nothing although James wasn¡¯t going to just accept the initial offer.

    ¡°What can I get in store credit?¡± James asked.

    ¡°Store¡­ Credit¡­?¡± The shopkeeper had never heard the term before.

    ¡°Well instead of giving me copper coins which can be used anywhere, you give me credit with the store which can only be used in this store.¡±

    ¡°Why would I do that?¡± The shopkeeper still didn¡¯t get what James was suggesting.

    ¡°Well if you give me copper coins you¡¯re losing money right? But if you give me store credit then you¡¯re losing absolutely nothing. You literally write a note detailing the value of said note, sign it and give it to me as currency.¡±

    ¡°And this helps you how?¡± There had to be a catch.

    ¡°Well the idea is that you give me a little extra for my goods when I ask for credit instead of coins. Again you aren¡¯t losing anything. If you paid me in copper coins and I died, you¡¯ve still lost copper coins. But if you paid me in credit and I say died or lost the note, you¡¯d lose absolutely nothing.¡± The shopkeeper was beginning to see the benefit of what James was suggesting.

    ¡°Yeah that makes sense.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a win win situation.¡± James had him. The shopkeeper was already pulling a receipt booklet out from under the table. When James left the shop he still didn¡¯t have a penny on him but what he did have was a dagger that was actually sharp and a new shirt and skirt. He would have preferred to get trousers but skirts were way cheaper and it was pretty hot so it was nice to have the extra cooling area. Now he only needed to find somewhere to change as this city didn¡¯t offer much privacy.

    Greggory checked nobody was watching as he pressed in the belt of a stone statue hidden in the corner of an old graveyard. The secret button triggered a mechanical sound as the ground behind the statue opened up revealing a stone staircase.

    ¡°Sweet,¡± he whispered descending the stairs that took him straight to the hidden den of a group of criminals known as Vega Gang. They were an unofficial thieves¡¯ guild as the guild office refused to recognise such as group as a guild.

    ¡°Hello friends,¡± Greggory announced as he pushed open a reinforced door. Naturally dozens of weapons were immediately trained on him as he entered the cleaned out tomb that was now home to the notorious group of criminals.

    ¡°Who the fuck are you?¡± The guild¡¯s entrance was a closely kept secret but was shared with a player¡¯s character once they proved themselves. That required a series of quests however so Greggory skipped that part and came straight here which you couldn¡¯t do in the game.

    ¡°Hey relax, I come in peace.¡± Greggory slowly reached behind him and pulled out a bag of money he had swiped from a merchant stall. He tossed it towards the woman he knew was the groups second in command.

    ¡°Paying for your life?¡± She questioned.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m paying my joining fee.¡± It was suspicious. The woman known as Dia picked up the coin bag and inspected it.

    ¡°Stolen goods so I guess you¡¯re a thief but you need to be more than that to join us.¡± Dia looked at Greggory. He was strong, he was a criminal and he had somehow figured out the location of their hideout but there was one problem

    ¡°We are an organisation of rogues. We rely on being unnoticed but you¡­ you stand out in a crowd like a sore thumb.¡± Greggory was easily the tallest and large person in the chamber.

    ¡°Exactly. You lot lack brute force and sometimes you need it. Just give me a chance to show you what I can do, you won¡¯t regret it.¡± He might just make a nice addition to the group but she needed to test him first. She didn¡¯t have anything planned though so had to think something up.

    ¡°Meckan,¡± she spoke to a man to her right. ¡°If I remember correctly you have a delivery coming today. I¡¯m changing your orders, have him do all the work and just stay hidden and observe.¡±

    ¡°Hey I¡¯m not a delivery boy,¡± Greggory complained.

    ¡°If you want to join us then you¡¯ll do whatever I tell you to do. Do you still want to join or should I cut your throat right here?¡± The answer was obvious. While Greggory was happy committing petty theft it was no way to get rich. With these people help he could really hit the big bucks.

    ¡°Just point me in the direction of what you need done.¡±

    Unlike the others Clement didn¡¯t wonder off alone and instead stuck with Emma as she walked through the front door of one of the city¡¯s most established guilds. Burning Sun Warriors was the name of the guild whose symbol was a sun rising behind a shield. In terms of respect this guild was top of the chain. It had a strict code of conduct which outright forbid its members from killing humans or other intelligent races unless completely necessary. Committing any crime could get you kicked out of the group and nobody was allowed to show weakness at any time. The strict rules discouraged a lot of applicants and those that did sign up had to go through tight screening to prove they were the right material for the group. In Emma¡¯s eyes it was the absolute ideal group to be a part off and she wasted no time requesting an application from the front desk.

    ¡°Here you go.¡± The clerk handed Emma the form with a smile. The clerk acknowledged Clement was there but didn¡¯t say anything to him. As Emma filled out the form with a quill Clement looked around at the impressive artwork and treasures that made the front office look like a museum. One particular piece was a massive tapestry showing a group of knights in red and silver armour charging into a horde of twisted black shadows. ¡®Battle of Red Rapture¡¯ was embroiled across the top. Clement remembered that being mentioned in the games lore books although couldn¡¯t remember the specific details other than it had prevented the world from being destroyed five hundred years ago.

    ¡°And done.¡± Emma was about to pass the form back but quickly pulled it back as she noticed a mistake. She quickly scribbled out her real name and replaced with it her character¡¯s name.

    ¡°Welcome Beauty,¡± the clerk said reading aloud Emma¡¯s name. Clement looked quizzically at Emma while she avoided his gaze as she was a bit embarrassed about the name. She wished she had chosen something better but what¡¯s done is done. Soon a senior member of the guild descended the stone steps to the side of the welcome desk to greet her. It just so happened today was a recruitment day and he would be putting prospective guild members through their paces.

    * * * * *

    The wheels of the cart squeaked loudly as a lone figure pulled the wooden cart across the overgrown forest path. He couldn¡¯t believe he had been roped into doing the work of a horse and was questioning if all the effort he was going through was even worth it.

    ¡°I bet they are watching me pull this dam thing laughing,¡± he hissed under his breathe. He was right about being watched but it wasn¡¯t by his employers.

    ¡°I thought you said you wanted me to make a delivery?¡± Greggory whispered to Meckan who was behind the ivy covered tree next to him.

    ¡°I told you it was a delivery job, the job being stealing the delivery.¡± They were both pressed behind thick trees watching the cart moving slowly along the path below them. Greggory had been wondering why he was brought out into the middle of nowhere to make a delivery but now he understood what his mission was.

    ¡°Just kill that guy and steal the cart right?¡± Greggory asked ready to go.

    ¡°Sure.¡± Meckan didn¡¯t care how Greggory got it done. The moment Greggory got approval he made his move. He jumped out from behind the tree and charged down the slope with his stolen wood axe ready. It was immediately apparent to the man pulling the cart what Greggory¡¯s intention was. He immediately ditched his cargo and began running but he was tired and Greggory had a fresh pair of legs. The chase lasted only 30 seconds before blood was spill across the road and the man¡¯s cry for mercy was silenced by Greggory ruthless axe.

    ¡°Mission complete.¡± Greggory wiped his axe with the man¡¯s shirt then began searching through his pockets.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever met someone so heartless¡­ you¡¯ll fit right into our group.¡± Meckan gave him a pat on the shoulder then moved over to inspect the contents of the cart. ¡°All good. Help me move this.¡±

    ¡°Back to base?¡± Greggory questioned getting in position beside Meckan.

    ¡°No, we have an associate outside of town who handles stolen goods. He doesn¡¯t ask questions and in return neither do we.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like my kind of crook.¡± Greggory continued his shady dealing while his friends undertook more noble pursuits.

 Chapter 4

    Emma steadied her hand as the cracked iron sword of the undead warrior clashed against her own weapon. She followed up with a shield bash to smash her opponent into the stone wall of the tomb and turn her attacker back into a pile of broken bones. As part of her initiation into the Sun Warriors she had to help those in need. Fortunately she was allowed to ask friends for help so regrouped with Marty, James and Clement and together they accepted a request to clear out a source of evil magic from this monastery tomb. A skeleton rushed at her from behind but a clean swing from Marty took its skull clean off and the rest of the bones collapsed immediately afterwards. Marty was using his beginner sword for a bow would be useless for several reasons.

    ¡°Guys! Help!¡± Clement was backing towards them with ice spraying out of the head of his staff. The skeletons were immune to electricity and fire magic would damage the tombs contents so ice was all he could use and it was barely having any effect other than slowing them slightly. Marty and Emma exchange a brief glance then ran into the remaining undead.

    ¡°Emma catch!¡± James shouted throwing a heavy iron hatchet to her. It was far more suitable for fighting this kind of enemy than a sword. She discarded her sword and immediately used the axe to cave in the skull of one of the skeletons. James petite body was once again causing him issues with fighting so he was doing what he could to be useful. He was in charge of watching the rear but was also looking out for treasure or anything of value.

    ¡°Crap, here comes another wave!¡± Marty called out as green ethereal energy surged across a row of coffins causing them to be bust open from the inside by the bones of the occupants. A wave of ice magic slowed them down as Marty and Emma advanced forward smashing them to bits. Emma had many fears but ghosts weren¡¯t one of them. She didn¡¯t hold back as she beheaded the last of the enemies in the stone camber.

    ¡°Is that it?¡± Marty looked around at the bones littering floor. With this chamber cleared they could progress into the main chamber. They reached a solid wooden door that ethereal light was leaking out of so the cause was probably behind it. Together they busted open the door and stormed inside a large round stone chamber.

    ¡°More meddling adventures, always meddling in my private affairs!¡± The one speaking to them was a tall skeleton whose eyes and chest glowed red like hot coal beneath his torn grey robes. ¡°Your persistence has gotten you pests this far but now I¡¯ll send you to the grave and unlike me, you don¡¯t be returning from it!¡± The lead skeleton emitted a pulse of green energy and the coffins lining the chamber burst open. It was immediately clear it was the source of evil magic they had been tasked with destroying.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Marty and Emma surged forward but left a gap between each other which allowed for Clement to fire a spell down the middle. His spell of ice was countered by a spell of fire which warned the group their enemy could use magic. A lesser skeleton lurched at Clement and James threw himself in its path blocking the axe with a sword he had picked up. It took him a lot of effort to push back the undead warrior as meanwhile Marty and Emma double teamed the enemy leader. Marty¡¯s sword clashed with the sword in the lead skeleton¡¯s left hand while Emma clashed with a magical ward generated by his right. Clement took a risk with a fire spell this time but one of the lesser skeletons jumped in the path blocking it. Marty and Emma were pushed back and quickly had to turn their attention to the lesser undead attacking them.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± The leader laughed focusing on Marty. He thrust his sword at Marty forcing him to parry and parry in order to not be cut open. It was a difficult fight and adrenaline surged through Marty¡¯s veins making him smile. A sword battle with an undead monster, it was the kind of experienced he had jumped into this world hoping for. He struck back striking the enemy on the chest but it wasn¡¯t enough to defeat him.

    ¡°I will not be returned to the grave!¡± The skeleton yelled out retaliating for the previous attack and his sword grazed Marty¡¯s shoulder leaving a light cut. It was painful but the pain just fuelled his production of adrenaline sending him into overdrive. His sword locked against the enemy¡¯s and tried to push him back but the leader was stronger and had the upper hand. That was until a blast of freezing magic chilled the enemy¡¯s bones, weakening him and allowing Marty to grab the advantage. James spotted an opening and pounced onto the leaders back to seal the battle, his new dagger cutting deep into the spine. With that the fight was all but over and Marty¡¯s sword crushed what was left of the skeletons defence. Emma then quickly stepped in to behead the recoiling enemy and with him gone the magical force holding his minions together vanished and they returned to just being bones.

    ¡°Quest complete,¡± Marty announced. With the source of evil magic gone they returned to the tomb entrance where the monk who had given them the quest was waiting.

    ¡°You¡¯re hurt, let me heal that.¡± The monk held his hand above Marty¡¯s injured shoulder and with a glowing yellow light healed it completely in the span of a couple of seconds. James watched in awe as the monk demonstrated how to use the healing ability properly.

    ¡°You should ask for lessons from him James,¡± Emma joked nudging James.

    ¡°At least I can use my class skills.¡± James knew how to heal, Clement knew how to use magic but none of the others had figured out how to use their class skills. They had tried yelling out the name of their skills but to no avail. It was odd as in the game skills and magic worked the same but in this world they seemed to use a completely different set of rules. After collecting their reward they returned to the town square to search for Greggory. He was still off doing whatever but the time limit they had set would be up soon so would see him again soon enough.

    With a white flash the five of them returned to Marty¡¯s bedroom.

    ¡°Where were you?¡± Emma immediately asked Greggory.

    ¡°Just doing some solo questing,¡± he lied. He had been getting friendly with the Vega Gang and after delivering the stolen cart was already a member of their group now.

    ¡°The important thing is that today was pretty awesome.¡± They had all thoroughly enjoyed the fantasy experience, far more than what they enjoyed real-life anyway.

    ¡°I wish we had more time to play,¡± James groaned. They had been in that world for several hours now and it was getting dark outside as unlike in the fantasy world it was winter here so sky would be pitch black before 5pm.

    ¡°Well actually¡­¡± Marty opened plugged the 4 USB sticks from before into his computer, transferred something onto them then pulled them out. ¡°Just run the executable file in this and boom, you¡¯ll be able to access our virtual world from your home computer anytime you want. We don¡¯t even need to all enter at the same time.¡± They each took one of the USB sticks and realized that he must have prepared the program now on them before today¡¯s session.

    ¡°I want us all to get the same start before our grand adventure. Keep in mind all I¡¯m really giving you is remote access. My computer is still the host so you can¡¯t go around installing your own mods or anything.¡± That comment was directed at Greggory.

    ¡°Yeah about mods, can you give me a list of all the crap you guys installed?¡± Emma poked Marty.

    ¡°Let me know as well. Anyway I need to head home.¡± Greggory was the first to leave. Marty looked into the list of installed mods and confirmed the only active mods and explained most of them were cosmetic. A few of them weren¡¯t to Emma¡¯s taste though. Unfortunately he didn¡¯t know how to save and reload their virtual world properly leaving him unable to change what mods were installed without resetting their progress and characters.

    ¡°A bonus dungeon and some cosmetic changes are nothing to worry about,¡± he reassured them. With the ability to enter the virtual world from their own computers there was no need for them to stay in Marty¡¯s room. They all headed home but most of them would just hop straight back into Carria once they got Marty¡¯s program up and running. Marty unfortunately was visiting relatives this evening so wouldn¡¯t be able to return to Carria until the next morning.

    * * * * *

    Sunday morning Marty awoke very early to get back into Carria. He was expecting that at 5am he would be the only person there but according to the records Clement had been logged in since 7pm last night which meant 10 hours straight. Under normal circumstances playing a game for that length of time would be very unhealthy but Marty had no idea what affect the virtual system he had found had on the human body. As his real body disappeared upon entering Carria he suspected he might not even be aging while inside that world.

    ¡°Well who am I to judge?¡± Marty activated the program and with a white flash his bedroom became empty. He spawned back in their cabin as that was where he had logged out. He was surprised to find Clement already there but more surprised to find his friend sleeping. The female elf was breathing gently with shut eyes making a cute sleeping face that would set off any teenager¡¯s sex drive.

    ¡°Calm down Marty, it¡¯s just Clement.¡± Behind face of the stunning elf was a boy his own age. He drove the lusty thoughts from his head and replaced them with more sensible ones. It seemed like a waste to sleep in the virtual world but the fact it was a possible was interesting. Marty wondered if sleep was just a luxury for their virtual bodies or a necessity. If so did his real body and this body share the need for sleep or did they both require it independently? He would probably find out soon enough.

    ¡°Well whatever.¡± He picked up his bag pack and headed back to Cakl¡¯dor for some easier quests. The five of them had agreed to only progress the main quest line if they were all together but aside from that they were free to do what they wanted. Marty was looking at the inn¡¯s quest board when a voice called out to him.

    ¡°Hey you!¡± He turned around to find a short man who looked pretty pissed. ¡°Where is that red bastard who was travelling with you?¡± It was obvious this man was referring to Greggory. Marty quickly thought about the situation and decided the best course of action would be to deny all involvement.

    ¡°Travelling is stretching it; he was just following us. Anyhow I don¡¯t know where he is. He vanished after following us to the city.¡±

    ¡°That rat bastard.¡± The man noticed the quest board behind Marty which gave him an idea. He quickly ran up and pulled a blank quest sheet from under the inn counter and began scribbling down on it. Marty curiously watched as the man pinned the quest sheet to the board then stormed off.

    ¡°Request ¨C Catch a thief.¡± Marty sniggered reading that. They had warned Greggory about the consequences of his actions. If he didn¡¯t behave himself he would have bounty hunters chasing him soon. Marty didn¡¯t see any quests of interest so he decided to make good use of his spare time and practice his archery back at the cabin.

    When James stepped out of the cabin three hours later he discovered an unexpectedly relaxed atmosphere. Emma was lying on her back in a patch of long grass soaking up the sun¡¯s rays, Marty was examining the damage his archery training had done to a tree next to the cabin and Clement was slumped against the cabin recovering the mana he had spent practicing his spell casting.

    ¡°I know it¡¯s a Sunday but this is a bit much,¡± James joked.

    ¡°It¡¯s raining¡­ in the real world that is. I can¡¯t enjoy the sun there so I¡¯m enjoying it here,¡± Emma peacefully replied. ¡°Besides, if we want to get back to Lurne then we¡¯ll need to work together.¡±

    ¡°True that. So where¡¯s Greggory? It said he was logged in.¡± Like Marty the others could all see who was inside Carria and who wasn¡¯t. Greggory hadn¡¯t been on Carria when Emma logged in an hour ago so he was probably still in the city.

    ¡°Forget him. If he doesn¡¯t want to be a part of our party then so be it. I¡¯m happy enough with him not around.¡± Emma got up and stretched her arms. ¡°Shall we head out?¡± She suggested.

    They made their way along the forest path and were unsurprised when suddenly a group of goblins burst from the trees.

    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡°Jesus they never learn,¡± Emma hissed drawing her sword. The green skins rushed them but were swiftly cut down as Emma and Marty demonstrated their improved sword skills while James showed off the dagger even he could use. Clement supported with magic as usual and when it was all said and done the goblins were either dead or fleeing.

    ¡°Alright let¡¯s move on,¡± Marty suggested seeing the goblins as nothing but a waste of time now.

    ¡°Wait wait, I need to evaluate their stuff.¡± James was knelt down searching a goblin¡¯s muddy remains for anything of worth.

    Unfortunately the goblins didn¡¯t have many pockets in their makeshift clothing. Everything of value goblins stole usually ended up being the property of the clan chief leaving the lesser goblins with nothing. That didn¡¯t stop James throwing all the makeshift weapons the goblins had into his bag along with their shoes. The others didn¡¯t see any worth in the items so said nothing about it.

    Despite being a revolutionary game the main quest line was about as generic as they got. A source of evil and corruption that had long ago been sealed away was now free once again and growing in strength. Right now the evil was very weak and even in their current state they could have resealed it but unfortunately it was on the other side of the continent and travelling there was no easy task. The main questline basically served to guide them across the entire game map one quest at a time. It would be a long trek and fast travel wasn¡¯t a luxury this world offered them. It would be a pain but they had set clearing the main quest as their objective and were determined to see it through.

    They approached a rundown temple in the outskirts of the city and opened the doors to find a lone priest trying to keep the place presentable despite hardly anyone ever coming here.

    ¡°Priest Naman,¡± Marty called out. ¡°I am Reslkia and I have some to seek your advice.¡± The priest hadn¡¯t been expecting visitors although had been hoping for them. He looked past the fact the group of four were a bunch of odd balls and welcomed them.

    ¡°Welcome to the temple of Di¡¯koro, the goddess of purity. I welcome the pure and offer to cleanse the impure.¡± The priest wore a white robe with yellow shoulders and cuffs. He seemed a bit malnourished, but that was to be expected as the only thing keeping him alive were scraps from the soup kitchen and his dedication to his goddess.

    ¡°Priest Naman. I seek your advice on a terrible dream I, we, have been having.¡± In the game the opening cut-scene was a dream the player character had and their first task was to seek out help. Marty told the priest about the contents of the cut-scene claiming it was a dream he had and as expected the priest became worried for it foretold the return of evil.

    ¡°This is very bad¡­ and all four of have been having this same dream?¡± They all nodded. ¡°Very very bad. I must inform the mayor. I will write you a letter, could you bring it to him?¡± That was exactly what happened in the game. No doubt when they went to the mayor they would be sent away as he was busy and only allowed an audience if they completed a task for his doorman.

    ¡°What would happen if we just didn¡¯t deliver the letter? Hypothetically speaking,¡± James pondered after they had left the temple.

    ¡°Well¡­ I guess eventually the evil would grow super strong and take over the world. In theory it should right now be slowing growing in strength although I¡¯ve no idea how long it would actually take. I mean speed runners have completed the main quest in under an hour using glitches while some people rack up hundreds of hours in game time before dealing with it. The final boss¡¯s strength is always the same.¡± Would things be so convenient now? They had no way of knowing what may happen until it happened.

    ¡°Speaking of glitches, do you think if we got a cart and rammed it into the swing set we¡¯d be flung to the far side of the continent?¡± James theorised.

    ¡°Well as this world now uses Newton¡¯s law of physics and not the glitchy physics engine the games devs tested while drunk I¡¯d say probably not.¡± The games physics engine had a lot of bugs in it. Most had been patched so people didn¡¯t randomly fall through the floor when exiting buildings or get stuck in walls regularly but some had been left in for comedic effect. Unsurprisingly were denied permission to see the mayor when they arrived at the city hall although not for the reason they¡¯d been expecting.

    ¡°No way I¡¯m letting all four of you in. I¡¯ll let her in but the rest of you can wait outside.¡± The doorman pointed to Emma simply because she was human and the other three weren¡¯t. Even in a time of peace and forgiveness some people were still prejudice towards other races. On the bright side they didn¡¯t need to go clear out a nest of giant rats from the city sewer so they let Emma meet the mayor while the others waited on her outside the town hall.

    ¡°Oh shit hide,¡± James suddenly hissed diving behind one of the bushes that surrounded the city hall. Clement and Marty immediately followed wondering why they were hiding.

    ¡°Stop you thieving bastard!¡± A voice boomed as a familiar red haired figure ran past with several guardswomen chasing him.

    ¡°Was that...¡±

    ¡°Yup.¡± It was Greggory. Maybe hiding on him was a bit cruel but it was better than risking getting dragged into whatever trouble he had started.

    ¡°So what happens if he gets thrown into jail?¡± James asked.

    ¡°Well if he is smart he¡¯ll do something to get himself executed thus the guard will think he is dead when he respawns.¡±

    ¡°And if he isn¡¯t?¡± That question went unanswered. They kept hidden until Emma returned from the mayor¡¯s office.

    ¡°Why are you in the bushes?¡± She could tell she had missed something important.

    ¡°Greggory has gotten on the bad side of the locals and we don¡¯t want pulled into it.¡± That didn¡¯t surprise her in the slightest. ¡°So did you deliver the message?¡± Emma gave a thumbs up. With the main quest underway they did what most people did and completely forget about it and do something else. They all split up and went their separate ways, careful to avoid Greggory.

    * * * * *

    Marty spotted the woman he was searching for. She was Marisa Talons and had been the best archer in the country in her prime. Now she was forty years old and had settled down to raise her kids in a cabin just outside the city wall. She was still incredibly talented and offered free archery lessons to those willing to do a small favour for her in return. He approached her with a smile and she smiled back.

    ¡°Excuse me young lady, I was told you were the expert in archery around these parts.¡± A bit of flattery never hurt anyone.

    ¡°You¡¯d be well informed although I wonder what a ¡®young lady¡¯ like me has to offer a tree elf like you.¡± Tree elves were known for being keen archers. Most people expected every tree elf they met to be able to hit a bird mid-flight from a mile away.

    ¡°Please that¡¯s just a stereotype. While the archery techniques of my kind are among the best in the world. I was never able to master them, that is why I have come here to see you, a master in human archery.¡± Marty¡¯s flattery was getting him somewhere as Marisa was smiling.

    ¡°Okay, I need to finish this first. Why don¡¯t you go chop some firewood for me while you wait?¡± A simple task as expected. Marty got started with his task while James returned to the general store he had visited yesterday.

    A magical bag filled with absolute crap was emptied onto the general store¡¯s counter.

    ¡°Killing goblins I see.¡± The shopkeeper wasn¡¯t too impressed with what was being brought in.

    ¡°You bet. So how much?¡±

    ¡°Listen, this stuff is absolute junk. Nobody in their right mind would use it in a fight.¡±

    ¡°Who said anything about fighting? These swords are useless but they are still made of iron. A blacksmith could melt them down to make a new weapon. Easier than mining for iron right? These boots are too small for us to wear but if you¡¯re a child then it¡¯s a different story. Children outgrow shoes so quickly most parent¡¯s aren¡¯t too worried about getting the size perfect or having them made to last. This axe is pretty blunt by a good run on the grindstone will sort that out. Junk just isn¡¯t a word I believe in.¡± James puffed out his chest as the shopkeeper tried to process what he had just explained.

    ¡°Alright, you go over to my trash bin and tell me that it is not junk. If you can I¡¯ll buy all this stuff.¡± It was a bet James knew he could win. He walked over to the bin behind the counter and began to fish through it. The first thing he pulled out was a broken ink stone. The shopkeeper was interested to see what the cat-girl could possibly do with that. He reached into the bin and pulled out out a cracked steel axe head and immediately smashed the two of them together creating several small sparks.

    ¡°This is good quality stone, how much would you charge for a piece of flint of this high quality?¡± With that James had won.

    ¡°You¡¯re pretty good at this. I¡¯d tell you to open up your own store but I¡¯m afraid you¡¯d put me out of business.¡±

    ¡°Not we if are working together.¡± Two days ago the shopkeeper would have never imagined getting advice on how to run his store from a petite cat-girl but life was full of surprises. They shook hands and immediately James began explaining everything that was wrong with how the shop was laid out.

    ¡°What is your name?¡± The shopkeeper realised he didn¡¯t even know the name of his new helper.

    ¡°Lily, Lily Pondflower.¡± It was a beautiful name, as expected from a girl whose race was very close to nature.

    ¡°Life is full of good and bad things, you being the good and that red haired thief being the bad.¡± The shop keeper clenched his fist. He really wished he knew where Greggory was so he could punch him.

    The city guards looked at the dead end they had just arrived at.

    ¡°Where the hell did he go?¡± They had saw the red haired criminal turn down this side street so he should have been here.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, we can¡¯t let him get away.¡± The group of guards quickly spread out to search the surrounding area. As they left Greggory stepped out of the wall that was in fact an illusion being generated by the crystal in his hand.

    ¡°Thank-you Vega Gang.¡± The illusion wall was one of the many tricks the group used to avoid being arrested. They usually didn¡¯t tell new recruits about them but Greggory had already known about the crystals so ¡®borrowed¡¯ one without permission. He checked the coast was clear then ran out of the alley way and headed back to his new friends¡¯ hideout.

    ¡°I¡¯m back,¡± he announced triumphantly as he returned.

    ¡°Good, now give it back,¡± Dia demanded holding out her hand. There was no pointing in playing dumb so Greggory gave her the crystal he had stolen. It was out of magic now anyway so wasn¡¯t much use to him anymore.

    ¡°Now get out!¡± Dia ordered.

    ¡°C¡¯mon Dia. Technically I¡¯m not bound by your code of honour because you haven¡¯t accepted me into your group yet.¡± That was true. Greggory was just a regular thief who had gotten friendly with them as Dia refused to officially let him in. A different truth to the one he told Marty and his friends.

    ¡°You really think we¡¯d let you join after you stole from us?¡±

    ¡°Well thanks to that I was able to grab this for you.¡± Greggory produced from his bag a three foot tall statue that was carved from marble.

    ¡°What the¡­ you can¡¯t be serious!¡± Dia examined the statue to confirm it was the real deal but there was no doubt about it, the naked bust of the elven goddesses bore the marking of the legendary elf sculptor Lief Vien¡¯las. Getting such a large object out of the museum it was being exhibited in would normally have been impossible due to the weight and bulk, but with a magic bag pack that negated weight Greggory had no trouble getting it out the door. Unfortunately he wasn¡¯t very discrete about it and his suspicious whistling caught the attention of one of the guards.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t even damage it. I usually don¡¯t get impressed new blood but I¡¯ll make an exception this once. Welcome to the group.¡± Dia opened out her hand and Greggory firmly shook it however Dia tightened her grasp and pulled him closer. ¡°And if you steal from us again I¡¯ll slit your throat.¡± She let go after delivering that warning.

    ¡°Great what¡¯s next?¡± Greggory asked.

    ¡°Make yourself at home and get to know the people you¡¯ll be working with in the future. Don¡¯t think that we¡¯ll let you just lounge around after joining.¡± Greggory had no intention of doing nothing. He was going to get rich and probably die multiple times trying.

 Chapter 5

    Monday morning came around and Marty, Emma, Greggory and James departed from their homes to head to school wishing they were departing for Carria instead to enjoy their new second life instead. The weather here in the real world was wet and terrible, the bus was crowded and smelly and they were living in a world without magic or adventure. In their eyes the real world was inferior in every way to their world of fantasy. They sat in morning registration thinking of all the exciting things they could be doing if they were back on Carria but thinking about it only made it worse.

    ¡°Clement?¡± The registration teacher called out in Emma¡¯s class before marking him absent. Emma glanced at Clement¡¯s empty seat wondering if he had done what she wished she had done. Without a computer she had no way to find out but the reality was her guess was spot on. Right now Clement was practicing his magic in Carria with no intention of attending school that day.

    That afternoon when the last bell finally rung all four of them were out of their seats immediately and rushing towards the doors. Even though they all had to wait for a bus to get home they all couldn¡¯t wait to get out of school. It was torture to think they had another four full days of school to go through before they got a day off to enjoy themselves. James was the first to arrive home and the first to see that Clement was already in the game world. He felt he had a duty to warn Clement about the dangers of playing too much but he knew he was hardly in a position to criticize. Without changing out of his uniform he activated the program and resumed his identity as the cute heroine Lily. The last person to get home was Marty who like the others ran straight to his computer.

    ¡°Everyone is already in¡­ dam my bus driver is slow.¡± The wait for the bus to arrive had been antagonising. He fired up the program ready to jump in but instead of going white the screen suddenly went pitch black.

    ¡°Huh?¡± He pressed a button on the keyboard but nothing happened. He checked to see if his computer was actually still on and discovered to his horror it wasn¡¯t. He didn¡¯t know why it had suddenly shut down. He had to get it back online fast. He pressed the power button but absolutely nothing happened.

    ¡°Fuuuck.¡± Something was wrong with his computer and he had no idea how that would affect the game world that his friends were inside. His computer was the host so this situation was potentially disastrous for them. He prayed they were okay and hit the light switch so he could get a better look at the computers cables but again nothing happened. It wasn¡¯t just his bedroom light, he soon discovered every light in the area had gone out due to a power cut. Marty¡¯s worry turned to anger and frustration at the power company. He tried phoning James on his mobile to see if he had maybe been logged out of the game when the power went out. He couldn¡¯t get through for James¡¯s phone had been in his pocket when he virtualised himself. Cold sweat ran down Marty¡¯s back as he feared that right now his friends could be in a lot of trouble. Meanwhile inside the virtual world James was smiling as he looked around the reorganised general store. He had no idea what was happening in the real world and even Emma, whose home had also been hit by the power cut, had no idea something was wrong as she cut her way through a group of giant rats.

    It would be four hours before the power was restored which was four hours of absolutely worry and frustration for Marty. When his computer finally came back on he discovered everything was fine. He had still lost four hours he could be spending in the virtual world and decided that he would get back at the world by skipping school tomorrow. First he sent an email to the others letting them knowing what had happened. With no school and thus no homework to consider Marty jumped back into Carria. He discovered everything as he had left it. The power cut hadn¡¯t had any effect on the world or the people inside it. With that worry gone Marty decided it was time for an extra-long training session with Marisa.

    * * * * *

    Under blue sunless sky of the cool evening Marty aimed his bow and let fly, striking the bullseye from a distance of a forty metres. A vast improvement on what he had been able to achieve before and was mostly in thanks to his new tutor. It was really a case of trial and error, the target he had just hit was covered in a dozen arrows that hadn¡¯t made the mark.

    ¡°Impressive but your posture is a bit off,¡± Marisa explained. She got close to Marty and placed one hand on his hip and one hand on his shoulder to adjust his stance.

    ¡°Try again,¡± she whispered into his ear. Her touch however had made Marty nervous and his hands were so shaky he missed the target completely.

    ¡°Shush, you need to relax.¡± It was hard to relax with her whispering in his ear. He could feel a growing sensation in his pants and hoped his instructor didn¡¯t notice. He told himself to calm down but it didn¡¯t help and his next arrow also missed completely.

    ¡°Maybe you need a break, let¡¯s go inside for some refreshments.¡± She let go and Marty breathed a sigh of relief. She had never invited him inside before so he was eager to see what was what. The small building had just a single large room which looked like a kitchen, dining room and living room all rolled into one. It wasn¡¯t that surprising really; this was a fantasy period after all. The lack of any bed brought his attention to a hatch on the floor which he presumed lead downwards. Marisa put on some tea and sat down on a cushioned chair and beckoned for Marty to sit next to her.

    ¡°So where¡¯s the kids? I heard you¡­¡± Marty paused. Nobody had mentioned Marisa¡¯s kids to him in this life.

    ¡°They¡¯re with their fathers.¡±

    ¡°Fathers?¡± Marty sputtered and realised immediately that was probably very rude.

    ¡°Yes¡­ I must confess no single man¡­ or elf ever keeps me interested for very long. I¡¯m the type to sample all the wine yet never buy any you could say.¡± A gentle hand landed on Marty¡¯s thigh. Was she implying what his raging sex drive hoped she was? No he had fallen for this trick before. The correct response to this was to be cool and patient.

    ¡°Ah I can admire that. As a traveller I like to keep on moving and not stay in one place for too long, but I admit such a life can get lonely. I have found myself in the arms of strangers once or twice or maybe more times than I should admit to.¡± Marty was taking his words straight from a novel he¡¯d read. He had no experience with women other than when he had briefly felt a girl¡¯s boobs once but never gotten any further. Marisa was smiling seductively so whatever he was saying must have been working.

    ¡°I¡¯ll get the tea,¡± she declared standing up and approached the kettle that was boiling over the fire. ¡°Whoops,¡± she blandly said before jumping back as the kettle spilled and water that hadn¡¯t even reached boiling yet splashed across the wooden floor.

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    ¡°You alright?¡± Marty quickly got to his feet to help her pretending to ignore the suspicious behaviour.

    ¡°Oh I¡¯m fine but the tea is¡­ not to worry. I have something else we could drink.¡± Her something else was a bottle of mead. Marty¡¯s experience with alcohol could be summed up by that one time his uncle had given him a bottle of beer so he wasn¡¯t sure what to expect. Marisa poured him a cup and he took his first swig of the beverage.

    ¡°Shit that¡¯s good!¡± he exclaimed. It tasted of sweet strawberries which just happened to be his favourite fruit. He took another gulp of the sweet liquid and heard Marisa giggle a little.

    ¡°First time anyone has ever been so enthusiastic.¡±

    ¡°Forest fruits are like honey to us tree elves.¡± Was that even true? He had no idea but it sounded good so he stuck with it. He couldn¡¯t resist taking another sip.

    ¡°You said you travel; tell me where have you travelled to?¡± That was an easy question to answer.

    ¡°Where haven¡¯t I been? I¡¯ve seen the north, the south, the east, the west, the underground and even the island regions.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re lying,¡± Marisa accused playfully.

    ¡°Maybe such a feat is impossible in a human life-time but I am an elf. Ask me a question about anywhere and I¡¯ll tell you about it.¡± Marisa immediately questioned him on her birthplace, the swamp town of Shadegloome.

    ¡°Ah yes, Shadegloome, a town practically grown out of mushrooms.¡± Most of the buildings in the town were hallowed out giant mushrooms and had been preserved using fairy magic. It was a heck of a lot easier than building a house, especially in the poor weather conditions Shadegloome was well known for.

    ¡°Unfortunately my stay was made uneasy by a rogue fairy who was using her magic to turn some of the swamp¡¯s residents evil and directing them to attack the town.¡± Marisa hadn¡¯t heard about the evil fairy problem although it had been several years since she had been in contact with anyone who lived there. Marty¡¯s description was spot on confirming he wasn¡¯t lying when he said he had been there even though he technically was. He was also beginning to get tipsy from the alcohol as he moved onto his second cup while telling the story of his stay there.

    ¡°Out of all the men I¡¯ve had the pleasure of spending the evening with, you are certainly the most interesting,¡± Marisa complimented. ¡°But alas it grows dark. You¡¯ll need to depart now if you wish to get to the inn before nightfall¡­ unless you wish to spend the night here.¡± Marty had been hoping for that offer and had no intention of refusing. He didn¡¯t care that this woman was a computer program with several children. If she was hinting towards what Marty thought she was then he would be overjoyed to comply.

    ¡°I have nowhere else I¡¯d rather be tonight than with a beautiful young woman,¡± Marty flirtatiously replied. He maintained his cool guy act acting like there wasn¡¯t a throbbing penis in his trousers although the poor state of his attire made the condition of his manhood very visible. A hand slipped across and began stroking him on the thigh, getting closer to his erection. There wasn¡¯t a doubt in his mind what Marisa planned to do with him tonight but he continued to subdue his sexual urges and play it cool. If she got a glimpse at what was beneath his elven mask she would no doubt be turned off. He continued to be cool as he followed Marisa down into her bedroom which had a comfy double bed waiting for the two of them. His shirt was already off when he reached the bed and Marisa¡¯s top was flung onto the floor soon after. First they kissed then they got naked. Soon the inside of the isolated cabin was filled with the sounds of an elf having his first sexual experience with an older woman. Neither of them showed any restraint as their voices leaked into the surrounding woodland as the horny teenager inside Marty took over and he kept on going until both of them were exhausted.

    * * * * *

    Mr Granger the business studies teacher looked suspiciously at Marty who was staring out the window with a stupid smile on his face.

    ¡°Marty you¡¯re smiling like a drug addict, pay attention.¡± Marty had originally planned to skip school today but something about waking up in the arms of a lover changed that. It may have just been in a game but it felt real and boy did it feel good. To him he really had just had sex for the first time, sex in a body he wasn¡¯t ashamed to show off.

    ¡°Sir how did company stock work in the early days?¡± James asked. Business studies was one of the few classes James and Marty had together. It was also one the few classes James actually did well in.

    ¡°That¡¯s a difficult question as the way companies were run back then was different from how they are run today. Although some historians argue about it, the first¡­¡± James began taking notes as Mr Granger went through a summarised history on how public companies operated several hundred years ago. By the end of the lesson Mr Granger had forgotten what he was meant to be teaching. He was now having a one on one conversation with James about the loopholes early companies used to rapidly increase profits. Not that anyone was complaining; the other students just used the time to do homework that was meant to have been done last night and Marty continued to smile out the window thinking about last night.

    At lunch Greggory heard James calling out to him.

    ¡°Hey how much money you have?¡± James suddenly asked.

    ¡°Enough to buy lunch,¡± Greggory replied unsure of why James was asking him that.

    ¡°No not here, I mean in Carria.¡± James was aware that Greggory had been ¡®earning¡¯ more than the rest of them with his illicit activities.

    ¡°What¡¯s it matter? You need a loan?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha but no. Listen I¡¯ve got this business plan but I need some cash to help me get it started.¡±

    ¡°So you need a loan?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m offering you an amazing investment opportunity.¡± James was confident in the business plan he had. The people of the game world had no idea how to run a proper business so were easy pickings for someone was educated as him.

    ¡°I¡¯m not interested in running a business. If you want a loan then just say so.¡± James was hesitant to take the risk. If it was his money and the business failed then he would end up owing a lot to Greggory with no easy way to clear it.

    ¡°No thanks, it¡¯s your loss.¡± James tried one last time to entice his friend into investing.

    ¡°I think you¡¯re missing the point of living in a fantasy world,¡± Greggory commented but it didn¡¯t deter James. He was still determined to find an investor for his business venture. Emma had no interest, Clement was absent again and Marty just smiled stupidly when the topic of the fantasy world was brought up. His friends weren¡¯t going to be off much use so he would have to find potential investors on Carria instead.

 Chapter 6

    The warmth of the large camp fire warmed Clements bones as his soaked robes slowly dried next to it. Marty couldn¡¯t stop his gaze from straying to Clement¡¯s chest and admiring the full breasts cupped beneath a strong bra. Clement hadn¡¯t noticed Marty was ogling him but Emma had and her sigh vocalised it.

    ¡°So why isn¡¯t James here?¡± Emma questioned. Her heavy armour had protected her from the worst of the rain so had kept her clothes on but she was still damp in many places. The three of them were slumped in the entranceway of a dungeon recovering their stamina after rushing here to escape one of Carria¡¯s harsh rainstorms.

    ¡°He is back in town trying to flog some crap to the locals, not really sure what he is planning.¡± Whatever it was it was more important than the promise he had made to his friends about advancing the main quest together. They had planned on continuing the quest which involved busting into this monster invested dungeon and stealing some old sealing stone. James however had declined the invitation saying he had something important to do in town. He wasn¡¯t that useful anyway so Marty, Emma and Clement had gone without him. They had all done this quest plenty of times before anyway and knew the dungeon like their own house.

    ¡°Oh god not you too,¡± Emma suddenly remarked looking at Clement who was smiling about something.

    ¡°Huh?¡± He didn¡¯t understand what had provoked that comment.

    ¡°You¡¯re smiling just like the screwball next me who has been doing all day.¡± Clement looked across to Marty.

    ¡°Something good happened.¡± Marty thought it best to be vague. ¡°Anyway where have you been? I mean I know you¡¯ve been in the game world but why weren¡¯t you at school?¡±

    ¡°I was sick.¡± That wasn¡¯t a lie. Clement didn¡¯t have the strongest immune system and had caught a bad cold. His parents were letting him stay off school to recover but he was using that opportunity to adventure in Carria instead.

    ¡°Being in this world won¡¯t help your real body recover,¡± Marty pointed out. He didn¡¯t know that for sure, but his theory was that their real bodies didn¡¯t exist while inside the game. If so then Clement could spent days in here and his real body wouldn¡¯t progress at all in its recovery.

    There was unfortunately no spell to simply make Clement¡¯s clothes dry so they had to wait for the fire to dry them. Eventually Marty grew tired of waiting and jumped to his feet to edge the group forward.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get going, I have another quest I need to do after this.¡± And so a warrior, a mage and an archer walked into the dungeon together. It was because of this that Clement had been smiling as he had noticed how clich¨¦ it was. They pushed into the first chamber and were met with the horrific stench of mould and decay.

    ¡°I¡¯m having second thoughts.¡± Emma tapped a rotten wooden beam filled with wood worm. The dungeons inhabitants were the least of her worries right now as the entire place looked like it was on the brink of collapse.

    ¡°Dungeons are well made, the decay is just cosmetic.¡± Marty had gotten used to making shit up after his night with Marisa. He stepped through the door and the other two hesitantly followed.

    ¡°Get out!¡± A ghastly voice yelled as a thin figure wearing twisted iron armour came running at them. Marty quickly drew an arrow and fired scoring a direct hit to the man¡¯s temple. The man¡¯s body turned to dust and his metal armour went rolling across the ground.

    ¡°Oh sweet.¡± Marty picked up an iron shoulder guard and put it on.

    ¡°You¡¯ve gotten pretty good with the bow. Speaking of which, I noticed that isn¡¯t the same bow you started with.¡± Emma had noticed that at the campfire.

    ¡°Oh this? It was a gift from Marisa.¡±

    ¡°Marisa the archery guide? I don¡¯t remember her giving out spare bows to players.¡±

    ¡°What can I say? She¡¯s really fond of me.¡± The grinning smile from before returned.

    ¡°Oh¡­ oh I see.¡± Emma¡¯s own smile turned sinister. ¡°You did ¡®it¡¯ with her didn¡¯t you?¡± She nudged.

    ¡°N-no,¡± Marty denied with a flustered voice.

    ¡°Holy hell you actually did have sex with her!¡± Emma had just been teasing but Marty¡¯s response made the truth as clear as day.

    ¡°Alright I did. No like there is anything wrong with that!¡±

    ¡°Nope,¡± Emma said behind a laugh. She took the lead and led the group deeper in the dungeon. Any and every opportunity she got she was going to use the information she had just learned to annoy Marty. Another ghastly figure appeared and ran at them but met he met his end at the tip of Emma¡¯s sword. His armour clattered to the ground and she helped herself to the higher level of protection it provided as she had yet to replace her own starting equipment.

    An hour later the trio of adventurers smashed open the massive door that led to the dungeon¡¯s deepest room. They had cut their way through countless enemies but now it was time for the all-important boss fight. In front of them they could see the large chest that contained the sealing stone they were after. Attempting to open it however would summon a powerful monster which had to be defeated to break the unseen magic lock on the chest.

    ¡°I¡¯ll touch the chest, you two move into good positions,¡± Emma instructed. She would use her heavy armour to distract the monster while her allies attacked from a distance with magic and arrows. Clement and Marty moved into opposite corners of the room and got ready as Emma neared the chest. Upon placing her hand on it the magical lock appeared and behind her a swirling grey portal opened up. From the portal spawn a huge hunched figure with a single broken wing and a stump there the other had used to be.

    ¡°Trespasser!¡± It howled before attacking with its long clawed hands. As Emma blocked the attack an arrow impacted with the twisted man¡¯s back followed by a blast of icy magic.

    ¡°All will die!¡± The monster hissed turning its attention towards Clement. It moved fast, faster than the heavily armoured Emma. Clement unleashed a huge blast of icy magic but the monster persisted and its claws slashed at him smashing his staff and tearing apart his clothing to the sound of Clement¡¯s cry.

    A second arrow was let loose and this time struck the monster in the neck. A sword was thrust into the monsters back a moment later but it was still determined to kill the group¡¯s mage and slashed at Clement again.

    ¡°Help!¡± Clement cried out but Emma and Marty were already doing everything they could. The monster¡¯s claws ripped deep into Clement¡¯s chest and he painfully choked moments before succumbing to death. He vanished moments later with his clothes and belongings falling to the ground.

    ¡°Clement!¡± Emma cried out as pulled her sword out of the monsters back. She thrust forward again and scored another good hit but the monster spun around quickly pulling the sword from her hand. Another arrow caught the monster in the neck but it was now focused on Emma. A claw was thrust at her but she blocked it with her shield then used her strength to stagger the enemy. The monster was large but it was also thin and easy to knock off balance. Another arrow hit it in the side of the head causing it to turn its attention towards Marty. Emma seized the opportunity and pulled the sword from the creature¡¯s back. With a powerful swing she cut deeply into the back of its leg to slow it down. She didn¡¯t stop there and with a clean swing cut deep into the other leg before jumping back at its claws slashed at her. Yet another arrow struck the monster in the neck and it roared loudly then charged at Marty but fell over due to its injured legs. Moments later Emma¡¯s sword came thrusting down straight into the nape of the neck killing it.

    ¡°Man that was a hard fight,¡± Marty declared.

    ¡°All you did was stand in the corner. Not to take away from your accuracy. You¡¯re pretty good.¡± Marty collected Clement¡¯s stuff as Emma opened the now unlocked chest.

    ¡°Well I guess we have to get back to the cabin to give Clement his stuff.¡± Marty wasn¡¯t pleased with the setback but it couldn¡¯t be helped.

    ¡°Can you do it? I have to get back to the guild.¡± That came as a surprise. Emma had intentionally not picked up Clement¡¯s stuff as she knew Marty would be the one bringing it back to him.

    ¡°Hey I also have things I want to do,¡± Marty protested.

    ¡°Yeah yeah, you can go visit your lover later. Clement is waiting.¡± Emma didn¡¯t give Marty a chance to defend himself. He wasn¡¯t happy the burden she had shifted onto him but someone had to do. He felt a weight on his shoulder¡¯s as he was worried about Clement. He packed up Clement¡¯s stuff into his bag and began the journey back to their cabin while Emma return to the city.

    Before returning to the guild Emma decided to stop off at the general store to sell off some of the loot from the dungeon. She walked up to the door and spotted a sign outside.

    ¡°Jumbo sale, price cuts across the store.¡± The words were painted in bright black letters across a white background. It was the first time she had seen something so obnoxious since coming here. She walked into the shop to find numerous people browsing the neatly arranged shelves and at the counter was a familiar pink haired cat-girl.

    ¡°Normally I¡¯d charge 50 copper but for you, 40.¡± James was behind the counter dealing with customers while the store owner walked around the shop offering assistance. He was following James new business plan and while making signs, buying new shelves and getting fancy clothes had cost him a small sum the increase in sales would soon earn that money back.

    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°Welcome ma¡¯am, do you need anything specific or would you like some time to look around?¡± Emma was greeted by the shopkeeper shortly after arriving.

    ¡°I¡¯m here to sell some stuff¡­¡± She was still stunned by how much James had changed the way the store was run. When she first came here it had been a glum atmosphere with the shop keeper sitting on a chair behind the counter looking fed up but now it felt welcoming.

    ¡°Ah certainly, my accomplice handles that.¡± The shopkeeper beckoned towards James. He moved to help someone else so Emma approached James and set her bag on the table.

    ¡°You¡¯re busy,¡± she commented as the shop keeper handled the other customers.

    ¡°The people of this world have no idea what hit them,¡± James replied with a confident smile. ¡°So what you selling?¡± Emma emptied all the stuff she had collected from the dungeon earlier.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ most of what I see if junk but¡­¡± James picked up a sword from among the pile. ¡°This might be worth something.¡± He was lying. The sword wasn¡¯t worth that much but at the same time the other stuff was worth more than what he was pretending it was. His plan was to overpay for the sword while underpaying for everything else.

    ¡°Really? Didn¡¯t look that special to me.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a beginner¡¯s dungeon so the other stuff isn¡¯t worth that much but this sword is basically a rare drop. Well not really but its higher quality than the rest of this stuff. I mean look how worn the straps are on this chest plate. I could probably give you 200-250 copper coins for all of this.¡± That was half of what he would have considered a fair price but you don¡¯t get rich being fair.

    ¡°300,¡± Emma countered.

    ¡°Uh¡­ hold on.¡± James walked over to the shopkeeper and had a quick word with him. He had already told the shopkeeper about this sales technique so just explained the situation to him and he whispered something in response. James then walked back over to Emma.

    ¡°The big guy says 260.¡±

    ¡°275.¡± James looked over to the shopkeeper who nodded.

    ¡°Alright 275 it is.¡± Emma gave a small cry of victory unaware of what was really going on. James was here to make money and when it came to money he didn¡¯t care if someone was a friend or total stranger, he would still get as much out of them as possible. The important thing was ensuring whoever it was walked away happy as that would mean repeat business. As Emma neared the door a large shadow appeared blocking the entrance. She backed away as three heavily armoured figures followed by a mage walked inside. Each of the warriors had a large weapon slung over their back in addition to a small sack that was brimming with loot. It was a reminder to Emma that she and her friends weren¡¯t the only adventurers in this world.

    ¡°This place looks different,¡± one of the men snorted, the stench of his body odour overwhelming Emma. This guy was clearly unaware that this city had several bathhouses.

    ¡°Yeah¡­ it doesn¡¯t smell like old man anymore,¡± an armoured woman added. Emma hadn¡¯t realised one of them was a woman because of the heavy armour hiding everything feminine about her. They looked up at the signs above the counters and spotted there was now a separate counter for buying and selling. All of them made their way over to the James at the selling counter and began fishing through their bags and dumping handfuls of trinkets on the counter.

    ¡°I take it you are all adventurers.¡± That was a given from their outfits.

    ¡°Obviously. Now little girl pay us.¡± James glanced at the treasure on the table. He wasn¡¯t even sure what half of it was or the demand for it but some of it looked like it was made from solid gold. It would have been smarter to take it to a gold smith instead of a general store but that was their loss and his gain. It took him a while to sort through it all and workout what kind of profit he could make.

    ¡°Hurry up we don¡¯t have all day.¡±

    ¡°How about 20 silver pieces?¡± As per standard RPG rules 100 bronze pieces equalled 1 silver.

    ¡°What?!? That little?¡± The lead warrior was shocked by how little he was being offered.

    ¡°Step aside Brute,¡± the woman pushed her comrade out of the way.

    ¡°This stuff is worth way more than that and you know it.¡±

    ¡°It probably is but I need to evaluate it properly to give you a better price. If you come back later I¡¯ll be able to give you a proper offer.¡± The group huddled together and began speaking with each other quietly. From what James could make it they didn¡¯t want to wait around for their payment but also didn¡¯t want to go without getting a good price. Time was also an issue for James as the appearance of this group was discouraging other customers. The shopkeeper gave James a look asking if he needed help but he shook his head. He could handle this alone.

    ¡°We¡¯ll return first thing tomorrow. We are from Iron Point so don¡¯t think of screwing with us.¡± The group finally gave their response and left James alone with all their treasure.

    ¡°Iron Point huh?¡± That was the largest guild in the city and well known for having very rowdy members. James almost laughed at the fact they had left without counting it as he could easily just take a few pieces of himself. He quickly began to sort it into different categories to make sorting it simpler as well as recording what they had left him.

    * * *

    Marty groaned as he marched through the forest carrying Clement¡¯s bag. This detour would take up most of the time he had left today. Suddenly a group of goblins came scrambling through the bushes towards him.

    ¡°Fuck.¡± Marty dropped Clement¡¯s bag and drew his sword ready to fight but to his surprise the goblins weren¡¯t. They ran across the path and kept on running into the trees on the other side showing clear fear toward something behind them. Marty jumped into the bushes as well and scanned the trees in the direction of where the goblins had come from. He couldn¡¯t see what it was that had sent them running.

    ¡°Odd.¡± He was close to the cabin so he began moving as fast as he could and was soon out of the forest. He could soon see the cabin but could also strangely hear loud barking coming from inside. He drew his sword as he neared and peered through the window. Immediately a glowing blue wolf jumped up and snapped at him.

    ¡°Fuck me,¡± Marty spat jumping back. Where had this beast come from and where was Clement?

    ¡°Dismiss!¡± Clement¡¯s voice banished the wolf and with it gone Marty was able to enter the cabin to find Clement once again wrapped in a bedsheet.

    ¡°We should store some spare clothes here,¡± Marty suggested as he entered checking for more animals. ¡°What was with that wolf just now?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a familiar. I summoned it to protect me while I waited for you to return.¡± Clement hated being alone so it made sense he would summon something to accompany him when they were absent. He must have learned how to summon familiars while the others were at school or in bed.

    ¡°Here¡¯s your stuff.¡± Marty tossed Clement his bag and as Clement reached out to catch it the sheet fell away from him exposing his naked chest. Marty couldn¡¯t help but stare at the beautiful elven skin and heavy breasts. He was disappointed when Clement pulled what was left of his top over to cover them.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it difficult to move with those jugs? Most girls develop them over time but you just suddenly gained the extra weight.¡± Marty¡¯s words made Clement aware he was a naked woman in front of a teenage boy. He quickly tried to put on his clothes but the monster they had fought had torn a huge hole in Clement¡¯s chest so his clothes didn¡¯t do much to cover him and his bra was now useless.

    ¡°They¡¯re different¡­ but I¡¯ll get used to them. Underwear in this world is really well made.¡± It had always puzzled Marty how some fantasy RPGs had underwear that was rivalled that of the modern world. He couldn¡¯t think of an appropriate follow up so changed the subject.

    ¡°That wolf thing, why didn¡¯t you summon it in the dungeon?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t control it. It won¡¯t attack me because I¡¯m its master but it is aggressive towards everything else.¡± In other words it was useless unless Clement was alone. ¡°But I¡¯ll learn. I just need to keep on practicing and studying then I¡¯ll be a great mage.¡± Marty decided that the time was right to talk about how much Clement had been staying here.

    ¡°Clement, I¡¯m getting a bit concerned about how much time you spend in here. This world is cool and gives us a proper adventure, but if you keep on skipping school you¡¯re going to cause yourself, and other people, problems in the long term.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sick.¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯ll stay sick if you don¡¯t let your body recover.¡± Clement had been returning to the real world only to see his parents. At night and while they were at work he was in Carria. A cold would normally only take a few days to recover from but with the amount of time Clement was spending here it would take him weeks to recover at this rate.

    ¡°You¡¯d do the same.¡± Clement¡¯s response left Marty without a response. If he was sick he too would probably spend a lot of time on Carria free from his illness.

    ¡°Just pace yourself and give your body time to actually recover.¡± That was all Marty could say on the matter. He couldn¡¯t stop Clement from entering this world so had to hope his words got through to him.

 Chapter 7

    Each of Clement¡¯s heavy breathes carried with them a million copies of the virus that had bedridden him. His head hurt, his throat really hurt and his nose was more blocked than a city high street at rush hour. With a knock his mother opened up the bedroom door and poked her head inside to see the condition of her son. She didn¡¯t need to hear him talk to know he was still ill so quietly closed the door again and continued prepping for work. To Clement her normal morning routine sounded like a marching band was having a party in his house until finally, after what felt like hours but was really only fifteen minutes, the front door closed and silence return to the small home. Almost immediately Clement slid out of the duvet and staggered over to his laptop. He could hear Marty¡¯s words in his head telling him to stop spending time in Carria and let his real body recover but in truth Clement didn¡¯t want to get better. He hated school and being ill meant he could take as much time off as he wanted so he was intentionally giving his real body as little rest as he could. He fired up Marty¡¯s program and in a single flash of white light the headache vanished, his nose cleared and his throat felt smooth again.

    ¡°Much better.¡± Clement took in a deep breath of Carria¡¯s fresh air and exhaled again. This world was by far superior to earth and while his friends were locked away in school he was free to live a second life as a beautiful elf mage. What Clement didn¡¯t know was that one of his friends had also opted to take a day off school and it was the one he would have least expected to be tardy.

    * * * * *

    Emma stepped into the Burning Sun Warrior¡¯s guild not as a potential recruit but a full member. She had been working towards this goal ever since setting foot in this world and with her official guild card in her hand she knew she had achieved it. A guild card wasn¡¯t the only thing she had been supplied with, all members of the guild got a uniform and set of armour tailor made for them. Emma was no exception so instead of ragged clothes and salvaged armour she now wore vivid red and white clothing protected by shining steel. Her new steel kite shield had the emblem of the guild painted onto it which offered far more protection than her cheap wooden shield. Emma headed into the meeting hall as she had been told last night she would be required to attend a mission briefing. Not wanting to disappoint she had skipped school to attend it. She lined up with a group of fellow guild members wearing the same colours as her. She felt a sense of pride in being a member of a respected group. She had pretended to have a bad headache to get out of going to school and hoped her parents didn¡¯t suspect she was lying.

    ¡°Burning Sun Warriors,¡± Captain Davy directed. The silver haired captain had the attention of the ten warriors who would be embarking with him on this mission. ¡°Today¡¯s mission is a search and rescue. One of the lesser guilds reported some of its members have gone missing attempting to breach the mysterious dark tower that appeared recently near Cakl¡¯dor. We are to attempt to find them or at least recover their bodies. At minimum we need confirmation they perished in the tower.¡± Captain Davy had been with the Sun Warriors for a long time. He knew that missions like these rarely ended with the party they were searching for being found alive. His eyes kept on moving from person to person, checking each of them was in peak condition.

    ¡°You there.¡± He approached Emma but stopped opposite the man next to her. ¡°You look tired.¡± The warrior knew better than to lie so came clean to Davy.

    ¡°Sorry sir, I haven¡¯t been sleeping well recently. My young son has been crying a lot during the night.¡±

    ¡°Then you shouldn¡¯t be here. Sloppiness is not permitted while on duty. If you are tired you won¡¯t be alert and if you aren¡¯t alert in a dungeon then you are already dead. Get some rest and report when you feel better.¡±

    ¡°Yes sir.¡± The man wanted to help but wouldn¡¯t go against orders. He left the line reducing the number by one but Davy was satisfied with everyone else and gave the order to move out. Emma was a bit worried about heading into the tower dungeon. The tower wasn¡¯t part of the default game. She had never installed the mod herself so had no idea what was inside other than that it was some kind of arena designed to test max level players. She hoped that the size of her large group could make up for what they lacked in individual strength. As she marched out of the city she was reminded why she had joined this group. People who saw them coming got out of the way and watched them with respect. She felt like she was part of a movement that really meant something and even in the forests the goblins kept well away from the band of disciplined warriors. She felt even more pride seeing this; she doubted she would be able to feel this kind of pride anywhere in her own country.

    The group of ten arrived at the dark doors at the base of the tower dungeon. The circular tower stretched high into the sky and had a radius the length of a tennis court.

    ¡°It¡¯s massive¡­¡± One of the warriors whispered looking up. The tower had to have been the largest free standing structure any of them had ever seen.

    ¡°For such a thing to appear out of thin air. One fears what its purpose is.¡± Those words caught Emma¡¯s attention. Marty had theorised that the people of this world would believe the tower had always been there. Evidently they all were fully aware that it had only appeared recently. Captain Davy pushed open the large doors ignoring the words of warning written across them. The door had been locked but a master thief working with a skilled mage had managed to break it allowing everyone that followed access. The Sun Warriors moved into formation behind Davy and they marched forward into a room illuminated by a circle of floating green flames.

    ¡°Smells better than any dungeon I¡¯ve ever been in,¡± one of the men commented. They saw a staircase leading upwards at the far side of the room so slowly moved towards it keeping an eye out for traps. They reached the stairs without problem and ascended to find an almost identical looking circular stone chamber with another set of stairs at the opposite end. Cautiously Davy led the way across the room but as he reached the centre the floating flames overhead all suddenly turned red and black clouds formed around the edge of the room. Both sets of stairs vanished and from the black clouds orcs emerged brandishing heavy weapons.

    ¡°Group together in ring formation!¡± Davy ordered and as a unit the warriors pulled together and moved into the centre as the orcs attacked. There were eight orcs giving the Sun Warriors a slight numeral advantage that they put to good use. They each could mark an orc while the two warriors who weren¡¯t engaged flanked. Davy blocked an orc¡¯s battle axe with his shield and then the man behind him swept around and struck the orc in the jugular with his rapier. Unfortunately it would take more than that to bring down an orc. With co-ordinated movements and each warrior covering one another they inflicted massive damage to the orcs while suffering little injuries in return gradually defeating them. As the last monster fell the red flames turned green as the dark smoke returned to claim the bodies of the slain orcs leaving nothing behind. As the smoke vanished the stairs reappeared reopening the path further and the path back out.

    ¡°When the monsters appear the path out disappears. This place is a death trap. Those adventurers couldn¡¯t have gotten far, let¡¯s continue.¡± They ascended the stairs and found another identical looking chamber.

    ¡°Reaching the top is the goal of a madman. No safe way out, no way to know how far you have left and no way to know what you¡¯ll be fighting until you¡¯re fighting it. Those fools should have turned back the moment they realised the nature of this place,¡± Davy muttered.

    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    ¡°You know what they say, the greater the guard the greater the treasure behind it,¡± Emma joked but Davy wasn¡¯t amused.

    ¡°You¡¯d be wise to stop believing in things like that.¡± Davy ordered the group upwards to the next floor. As he neared the centre the flames once again turned red and this time dark clouds unleashed a group of floating fire elementals upon them. The fire elementals attacked primarily with magic using hit and run techniques to circle them. Their bodies were balls of fire with two detached armed all made from orange flames.

    ¡°Break formation, attack at will!¡± Davy knew how best to handle a group like this. Moving as a unit was too slow and would get them all killed in this scenario. Immediately everyone broke from their defensive circle and spread out, dodging and blocking the bolts of fire shot at them. Again only eight enemies had spawned giving them the numeral advantage. The fire elementals¡¯ way of attacking made them much less likely to kill someone but far more likely to injure.

    ¡°Ahh!¡± A man cried out as he was hit in the check was a bolt of fire burning the right half of his face. He was temporarily blinded so Emma quickly jumped between him and the monster that had attacked him to block the next fire bolt with her shield. As she did so another warrior closed in and slew the monster freeing both of them to aid someone else. The battle was swift but in the end three people had suffered minor burns and the man who had been hit in the face a major one. The injured man lay on his back taking deep breathes as Davy inspected the injury.

    ¡°Magic based fire; this will be difficult to treat.¡± Davy looked at the stairs. ¡°Beauty & Vycan, ascend to the top stair then report back with what you can see. Do not step onto the floor.¡± As instructed, Emma and another headed up the stairs to look at the next floor.

    ¡°It¡¯s the same as the previous two levels,¡± Emma called back. ¡°No sign of anyone.¡±

    ¡°Then we are retreating. Whether it¡¯s seeking treasure or seeking others, ascending this tower without any idea of how far you must ascend is suicide.¡± Davy helped the injured man back to his feet.

    ¡°Sorry sir,¡± he whispered.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry warrior. Fight enough battles and you will get hurt eventually.¡± The group descended the stairs and kept away from the centre of the floor as passed through the room they had fought the orcs. It was possible they could get to the next floor by avoiding the centre but it was a risk that Davy didn¡¯t want to take. The only lives at risk were their own so there was no reason to go any further. They returned to the city to report that the missing group were almost certainly dead.

    * * * * *

    James looked up at the new sign outside the general store which read ¡®Silver Discounts¡¯. He was fresh home from school and was pleased to see what the owner had followed his instruction while away. He had instructed the owner, Steven Oliver, to give the store a name so it would have some brand recognition. The name was chosen to make people associate it with both wealth and low prices and upon stepping through the door James saw immediately the impact the change had had. The shop was booming, so much so he struggled to get through the doorway. Fortunately his small agile body was able to easily squeeze between the patrons who were patiently waiting to be served by the lone store owner.

    ¡°I think you might to starting employing store assistants¡­ and probably get a bigger store.¡± James had to practically shout that for Steven to hear.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine now that you¡¯re here,¡± he called back. There were several issues with that statement but James decided to wait until later to tell him. He quickly got behind his counter to put a dent in the backlog of customers standing in the shop waiting. He didn¡¯t want anyone to leave unhappy so did his best for every customer he served another joined the line. He didn¡¯t hate it though, it was weird because he had once gotten a part-time retail job at a local petrol station and absolutely despised it. He had quit, or rather stormed out, after just a few days due to constant arguments with the manager who seemed to enjoy causing problems.

    ¡°Here you go sir,¡± James said with a genuine smile. He enjoyed this. He wasn¡¯t sure what was so different but he really liked working here. The people here seemed more energetic and he was beginning to feel people respect him which had been lacking when he first started.

    ¡°Hello sir how can I help you?¡± He greeted the next customer without realizing just who he was speaking with. Everyone in the shop had stopped what they were doing and were watching the exchange between the man dressed in a fat fur robe and a young cat girl. James quickly guessed this man was some kind of noble and probably very rich. Previously the upper class would have steered clear of this shabby shop but it seemed even they had grown curious.

    ¡°I must say dear girl I am a man impressed.¡± This man whoever he was had two town guards with him. ¡°Not by your clothes of course, those are appalling.¡±

    ¡°Are you looking for anything specific or just browsing?¡± James remained professional and ignored the insult as his eyes scanned for hints of who this man might be. Fortunately Steven came to the rescue.

    ¡°Lily, this man is Mayor Logir.¡± That explained the fancy clothes and personal guards.

    ¡°Yes, that I am. So you¡¯ve named this shabby establishment Silver Discounts?¡± It was only natural a nobleman like him would pretend to have no interest in a shop common folk shopped it. It presented a danger as if the mayor left unhappy other customers would spread rumours. At the same time if he bought something then other nobles would flock to visit the shop because if it is good enough for the mayor then it¡¯s good enough for them. Fortunately something caught the mayor¡¯s eye and he stepped over and looked at painting hanging from the wall.

    ¡°Hmm.¡± The mayor had some interest in it but not a lot, fortunately that was all the opportunity James needed.

    ¡°A young woman sold us that painting not two days ago. She said it deserved a better home and hoped we could find one for her.¡± James paused pretending to think but he had already made his mind up. The mayor examined it for another few seconds and just as his interest was fading James spoke up again.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you take it? As a gift to commemorate your first visit to our store.¡± The mayor¡¯s noble pride would make it very hard to sell anything to him but accepting a gift was another matter.

    ¡°Yes, this painting is much more deserving to be hung in my hall than here.¡± He beckoned for one of his guards to remove the painting from the wall. Steven remained silent as James allowed the mayor to walk away with not just a painting but also a smile. He had succeeded in ensuring the mayor left happy which in turn would ensure no negative rumours being spread by him. In addition the Mayor hadn¡¯t left empty handed. He hadn¡¯t paid for it, but he had acknowledged that what was sold here was worthy to be put on decoration in his house. People were still stunned by the Mayor¡¯s appearance so James took the chance to speak with Steven.

    ¡°Did those adventurers from yesterday ever come back?¡± They had said they¡¯d return this morning but James had school so had left the transaction in the shop keeper¡¯s hands.

    ¡°No, I haven¡¯t seen them. Their items are still in the box round back.¡± That was odd. The jewels and trinkets they had left behind were worth a hefty sum. They must have gotten preoccupied with other things. As business picked up again James started to pay attention to what people were wearing. All his customers were cleanly dressed and the mayor¡¯s word about James¡¯s own attire stuck with him. He didn¡¯t want to spend a lot on clothes due to them being ruined by his adventuring but if more nobles were to visit the shop he would definitely need to look fancier. He had told the shop keeper to splash out to look nice so it would be hypocritical to not do the same. He decided that when he was done he¡¯d go visit the tailors for some new clothing.

 Chapter 8

    Emma¡¯s work with the guild today wasn¡¯t over by a long a shot. After having dinner with her family in the real world she returned to Carria and Captain Davy immediately called her into a mission briefing. While she was investigating the tower the mayor¡¯s aide had personally visited the guild to request assistance in a special mission sent to all the city¡¯s guilds. City hall was requesting that all the guilds co-ordinate in a large scale operation to sweep the surrounding forests and report any danger they encounter.

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit vague. Any danger? Wouldn¡¯t that include the numerous goblin tribes living there?¡± Emma commented reading the briefing notice. The woman beside her laughed and decided to enlighten the new girl about the mission.

    ¡°Actually City Hall asks the guilds to sweep the area at the start of every season to basically to keep the forest¡¯s natives in check. The Sun Warrior¡¯s usually decline as that kind of work is below us but¡­¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s only been a month since the last sweep,¡± Davy finished the sentence. ¡°It isn¡¯t cheap to hire out all the guilds to search a huge area. If the mayor is conducting a second sweep this season and is hiring elite groups like us then he must be worried about something. We¡¯ll accept the request. If there is a threat to the city out there then we have a duty to destroy it.¡± Emma didn¡¯t want to spend the rest of her evening scouring the forests but being a Burning Sun Warrior had its ups and it had its downs. She was soon placed in a party with two others and given a map showing the area she and her party were to do a thorough investigation off.

    ¡°Try to avoid fighting the local wildlife unless you have to and if you find something of concern report back immediately. All I want for now is confirmation on the existence of a threat. Don¡¯t risk your lives trying to get detailed information of it.¡± The nature of the mission meant forces would be spread thin. Most people had been put in a group of two and it was only because Emma was new that she was in a group of three.

    ¡°Yes sir.¡± Emma was paired with Vycan and a woman named Juliet. They had a large chunk of forest to investigate so to avoid wasting time they set off immediately.

    * * * * *

    Greggory descended the stone steps of the Vega hideout hoping for some high risk high reward opportunities.

    ¡°Look who finally showed up,¡± Dia greeted coldly as per usual. Greggory noticed that hideout was unusually empty.

    ¡°Was I meant to be here?¡± Greggory guessed he had missed something.

    ¡°When opportunity knocks you answer. City Hall has sent all the guilds out on a scouting mission. Even the Burning Sun Warriors have deployed most of their members. This means the guildhalls will be mostly empty giving us the opportunity we need to slip in and recover items of value.¡± Dia looked at Greggory with an impatient expression. ¡°I see you¡¯re content just standing around however. Did I mention I¡¯ll be awarding a secret bonus to the person that steals the most surprising item from them?¡±

    ¡°Surprise you huh?¡± Greggory replied with devious thoughts entering his head. ¡°So anything is open game so long it comes from a guild hall?¡± Dia nodded. That sounded fun. He quickly left the Vega base and headed towards the guild hall district carefully avoiding the town guards who were beginning to recognise him as a criminal. The guild halls were among the most expensive and well-furnished buildings in the city and usually the most well protected. Dia had been pretty vague about what he was to do so he just picked out a building at random and walked straight through the front door.

    ¡°Hello?¡± He called out. Even the guild reception desk was unstaffed. He hopped over the desk knocking over a chair and began searching for valuables. He opened up a long box he found and discovered a row of spare keys each with a wooden tag detailing what it was the key for. He hoped to find one labelled treasury but sadly it wasn¡¯t there. It made sense the treasury key wouldn¡¯t be kept unguarded plus he doubted treasure would ¡®surprise¡¯ Dia anyway. He needed something unique, something she definitely wasn¡¯t expecting and one of the keys caught his eye.

    ¡°Women¡¯s sleeping quarters¡­ heh.¡± Greggory began giggling like a child as he grabbed the key. He made an educated guess about where the dormitories would be. He stealthily searched for the door his key unlocked. Fortunately this guild had been kind enough to label all the doors so it was little trouble fighting the room he wanted and unlocking it with the key. To his disappointment the women¡¯s sleeping area was fairly plain looking and kept tidy. He hadn¡¯t really been expecting anything but was still somehow disappointed by it. The dozen or so bunkbeds were all neat and tidy plus there wasn¡¯t anything valuable on display. It almost looked more like a hostel room than guild quarters. Each bed had its own footlocker but they were all kept locked. The only thing there was really to steal was the contents of the clothing drawers and wardrobes, but that was precisely what had come for. He began giggling immaturely again as he rolled over to the first set of drawers and opened it.

    ¡°Cha-Ching.¡± It was filled with treasure, well treasure to a teenage boy anyway. Greggory fished out a pair of pink silk undergarments and in a bout of paranoia double checked nobody was watching before sniffing them. A lack of detergent in this world meant they had been washed with water alone so the feint smell of woman¡¯s sweat still lingered. Panties, bras, even corsets, he began stuffing it all into his bag pack.

    ¡°What a haul, Dia is definitely going to be surprised.¡± He emptied the drawer and moved onto the next and whistled as he opened it. ¡°Black lace. The tailors of this world sure know how to make a man happy.¡± He stuffed the contents of that drawer into his bag as well but stopped when he came across something unexpected. A small wooden box had been placed in the back of the drawer. It was very well crafted and made Greggory curious so he quickly opened it. He hoped for jewellery but when he opened the box he discovered it just had a round polished stone inside it. It looked nice but it was still just polished stone so was hardly worth much. That didn¡¯t stop him stealing it however along a lot of underwear from the other drawers as well.

    ¡°Surprise you huh? I bet you¡¯ll be surprised with this haul.¡± Greggory spoke like a dirty old man. He put the last of the underwear into his bag and pulled out the black lace panties again

    ¡°If nothing else surprises Dia these definitely will,¡± he declared unaware someone had heard his voice. Suddenly the door was thrown open and Greggory met eyes with the woman whose underwear he had clutched between his hands. He expected her to make some kind of high pitched squeal but that wasn¡¯t what the women on this world did when confronting a thieving pervert.

    ¡°Repent now thief!¡± She drew her sword immediately and Greggory quickly kicked opened the window nearest to him with such force the glass and wooden frame broke from the impact. Before the woman could catch him he was outside and pulling himself up onto the roof of the building opposite.

    ¡°Thanks for the gifts,¡± Greggory mocked throwing the panties he had been clutching towards the woman. He began running up the sloped roof but suddenly lost his footing as the tiles beneath him froze over with incredibly slippery ice. The woman he had mocked knew a few spells and wasn¡¯t about to let Greggory run off with her belongings. He fell from the roof flaying his hands around to try and grab something but found nothing. His left leg was the first thing to hit the ground and it hit the ground hard. His ankle bent unnaturally and intense pain surged through his body as it snapped. Greggory bit his lip and began to crawl forward determined to escape despite having a broken ankle.

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    ¡°Pain is all in the head,¡± he hissed. He pushed himself forward aware that the woman who had caused this would reach him soon. He wasn¡¯t going to escape, not like this. His brain acted quickly to come up with a way out. He spotted a small dip in the ground that was too small to hide him but wasn¡¯t too small to hide his bag. He pushed the bag into the hole then using one of the illusion stones made it look like there was nothing but grass there. Next he pulled out a vial containing a tasteless but very potent poison. He swallowed the contents without second though then began to crawl as far away from the hole as he could.

    ¡°There you are!¡± A voice called out as the woman came round the corner. Greggory continued to crawl as his senses became blurry. The last thing he remembered was being grabbed by the neck before letting out a dying breathe. His dead body faded away leaving the woman who had caught him clutching just his shirt.

    ¡°What the¡­¡± She had never seen anything like it before. Meanwhile Greggory was back at the cabin now as healthy as could be. His broken ankle was fully regenerated and not a drop of the poison that had killed him remained in his body.

    ¡°Probably not how Marty intended the respawn system to be used but what works works.¡± Greggory had put some spare clothes in his locker just in case this happened. The illusion gem had a life-span of less than an hour so he needed to get back to his bag quickly. He just hoped he had been able to lure the woman far enough away from it that she wouldn¡¯t discover it by luck.

    Greggory finally returned to the Vega hideout with his bag he heard Dia clapping at his return.

    ¡°You are a man who somehow gives us, a group of feared renegades, an even worse reputation than we already have. I¡¯m happy you joined.¡± She seemed to know a bit about what had happened.

    ¡°What can I say; I have a talent for earning myself a bad reputation.¡±

    ¡°So how did you do it? Healing crystals? Teleportation? Doppelg?nger magic?¡± Dia knew the guards were searching for a man who should have been crippled and had ordered all healers in the town to not treat anyone suspicious. Greggory however looked fine raising the question of how he had managed such a quick recovery.

    ¡°I like to keep my escape techniques a secret. No offence but you¡¯re the least trustworthy woman I¡¯ve ever met.¡± Dia took that as a complement.

    ¡°Thank-you. I already know what you¡¯ve brought me although I¡¯ve no idea why.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s simple. Step 1 is to steal underpants and step 3 is profit.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s step 2?¡± Dia questioned. As she was from another world she didn¡¯t get the South Park reference Greggory was making.

    ¡°I also stole other things like this.¡± Greggory fished out the small box with the polished stone in it. He opened it up for Dia to see but as he opened the box her eyes widened and she dived forward and snapped it shut.

    ¡°Silence!¡± She ordered grabbing the box and setting on a piece of parchment. She drew a circle around it along with some runes which began to glow sealing the stones magic within the circle.

    ¡°I hope they didn¡¯t see,¡± she whispered. ¡°That spy stone is infused with demonic magic. Highly illegal and potentially very dangerous but also highly valuable if you know the right people. Where did you get it?¡±

    ¡°Stole from some woman¡¯s underwear draw.¡±

    ¡°Hmm no wonder you got caught. She likely had a spell that alerted her something was wrong. Hmm what would a member of Iron Point want with an illegal spy stone?¡± Dia walked around the table with the stone on it pondering the question but couldn¡¯t find an answer.

    ¡°Well it¡¯s ours now although she¡¯ll definitely want it back. Well that¡¯s your problem.¡± Greggory briefly pondered if maybe he was making too many enemies. Well it was just one city; he could always set up shop elsewhere.

    * * * * *

    Emma returned to the Sun Warriors guild hall empty handed late that evening.

    ¡°All clear sir, nothing beyond the usual goblins and cave beasts.¡± Captain Davy marked the area she had scouted as clear on the large map that had now been laid out across the table. Several other areas were also marked as clear as other scout parties had already returned. However the area they had covered was still only a fraction of the forest.

    ¡°Take it easy for tonight, I¡¯ll co-ordinate our results with the other guilds and tomorrow morning I¡¯ll assign you your next search area.¡± Tomorrow morning? Emma had school and she didn¡¯t want to skip a second day in a row.

    ¡°About that sir, I won¡¯t be here until the afternoon.¡±

    ¡°Why? I hope you have a good reason.¡± She couldn¡¯t exactly tell him it was because she was from another world and had to attend school there. She thought about caving in and skipping school tomorrow as well but decided to stand firm.

    ¡°I don¡¯t live locally sir and have to¡­¡±

    ¡°Stay in the guild hall tonight then.¡± He wasn¡¯t making this easy.

    ¡°With respect I have people who rely on me at home. I can¡¯t stay here.¡±

    ¡°Ah I understand. I once had people I needed to care for. Alright report in as soon as you can. Dismissed.¡± Emma breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon they¡¯d have a better picture so she wasn¡¯t just searching empty forests again.

    * * * * *

    Another arrow hit the bullseye on the target outside Marisa¡¯s cabin. Marty heard her clap as she emerged from the wooden house but the expression on her face was that of boredom. The energy Marty had felt when he first met her was gone and he was beginning to suspect she didn¡¯t care about him being around anymore.

    ¡°You¡¯ve come a long way since you started but I think it is time for you to take the skills I¡¯ve shown you and put them to good use.¡± She was definitely trying to kindly tell him their time together was over. It was something Marty as a social outcast was very familiar with.

    ¡°I can¡¯t thank you enough for your help and ¡®hospitality¡¯.¡± He said the last word flirtatiously.

    ¡°Yes but it would be a waste to keep you here for myself,¡± she teased back showing some recognition of the night they had spent together. ¡°If you want to truly show your appreciation then I have a request for you. Travel to Megl¡¯din, join a hunting party and bring me the meat of the first creature you kill.¡± Megl¡¯din, the capital of the human territory and home of the Grand Duke. The dark woods to the north east of Megl¡¯din were filled with monstrous beasts whose meat fetched for a very high price. She was giving him a quest, one that would take days to complete. She had definitely grown bored of him. No wonder she lived alone. She grew tired of men so fast that marriage just wasn¡¯t on the tables.

    ¡°Anything for a beautiful lady.¡± They were almost at the point in the main quest where they had to head to the capital anyway. Marty fired at Marisa¡¯s target one last time before collecting his arrows and going in search of his friends. Unfortunately his attempt to find them was fruitless. When he logged off he saw that only Clement was still inside the game world.

    ¡°Maybe I should text him¡­ No he¡¯ll be fine.¡± Marty had homework he needed to finish. It was already late so he rushed through it getting most of it wrong. Since there was no penalty other than a word of warning about his grades he didn¡¯t care. His life, like his friends had become about getting their real world duties out of the way as quickly as possible to spend more time in the virtual world.