by Rick Scott
The possibility of a real life relationship is both thrilling and terrifying to me. But maybe it wasn’t for Gilly. Could she really like me in that way? The idea has my heart beating a bit faster. But then I shake it from my head. Because she doesn’t even want to talk to me anymore. I sigh with depression. Maybe Val Helena is right again. Maybe I should just leave things be as they are. Move on without her.
But no, I can’t just leave things like this.
Whether Gilly does like me like that or not, is irrelevant. She’s still my friend. And by ignoring her and not stopping to even tell her what was going on, I’ve been a really crappy friend to her. I didn’t even check to see that she had messaged me back when I logged in.
What an incredible dirt bag I am. No matter how important leveling has become to me now, I can’t do it by stepping all over the one person who has been there for me from the very beginning… no matter what.
I need to make this right.
I bring up my world map and prepare to fast travel.
I don’t even need to use the search function to find out where she is.
Knowing Gilly, there’s only one place she would be.
* * *
I materialize in the copper mines of Griffon’s Gulch. It’s a level fifteen area that’s not too far from the starting city of Timberdale and the elven starting city of E’lon where Gilly is from. It’s where we first met about six months ago. I pass a few low level miners as I make my way toward Gilly’s favorite shaft, an abandoned leg near the bottom that sometimes drops emeralds as well as copper and iron ores.
I spot her hammering away at a rock face.
She spots me in between swings and regards me with a scowl. “I don’t want to talk to you, Reece.”
“Wait! Don’t go!” I say, as I see her about to fast travel. “Just hear me out, okay?”
She huffs and places her hands on her hips. “Go on. And it better be good.”
“I really meant that message when I sent it,” I say. “Honestly. I really was planning to quit the game.”
Gilly’s face is still hard, but her voice softens a bit when she says, “But why? You’d just gotten that amazing scroll. Was it something I said in my messages to you?”
“Oh no. Nothing like that,” I say quickly to reassure her.
And then I take a deep breath and just let it all spill out. I tell her about the situation with my mom and her six months. About my legs. I tell her about how worthless that scroll was to me, until Val Helena offered me that deal. How I used the money to fix myself and give me a chance to afford the nano treatment and save my mom for good.
By the time I finish I have tears in my eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I should have told you all this sooner. I just didn’t want to burden you with any more of my problems.”
“Oh, Reece, you could never do that.” And then Gilly is wrapping her arms around me in a hug. “I meant every word I said in my messages to you. I’m here for you. In game and out.”
I return her embrace and feel a warmth grow between us. “Thanks, Gilly.”
Is this what love really is? I wonder.
It feels so good with her arms around me and mine around her. I’ve never kissed anyone before. Certainly not in real life, but I have a tremendous urge to kiss Gilly right now. My heart is racing as I look into her deep green eyes and wonder if Gilly is feeling the same way. I nudge closer.
But then I chicken out, as I fear that maybe she doesn’t.
I give her another quick squeeze instead before separating.
She’s still beaming at me though, so maybe I did the right thing.
This was about friendship after all, not getting to first base.
If what Val Helena said was true, then the opportunity would materialize again, if I actually tried to make it happen, that was. I steel myself and let out a nervous breath. “Gilly… how about we go on a date?”
Her eyes go super wide and I fear I’ve just made a terrible blunder. “A date? Like a “date” date? Like in real life?”
Ack! I didn’t mean for it to go that far. “Well ah… I was thinking more in game first?”
“Oh, like at a tavern?”
She’s still looking at me funny and I’m starting to lose my nerve. Maybe I’ve read everything all wrong. Maybe Val Helena has too. “How about … a dungeon date?”
“Dungeon date?” Her eyes squint in confusion but then light up with understanding. “Oh! To help you level, right?”
“Yeah,” I say, scrambling for poise. I didn’t really come up with that on purpose, but maybe adventuring together could be a good way for us to stick together through my leveling. “But I know you’re more into mining so, if you’d rather not then…”
“Hey, you know me,” Gilly says, throwing her pickaxe on her shoulder. “Mining is life. But for you?” She then grins and gives me a wink. “I can be flexible. But on one condition.”
I laugh. “Name it.”
“You have to take me on a real date someday.”
My heart does a quick double beat. Hot damn! Maybe I am still in the game. I laugh nervously and she swoops in and lands a peck on my cheek. “Okay, meet me in Timberdale in about thirty minutes. I’m going to do some research. We’re going to get you leveled up in no time, Reece.”
“Cool!”
She then gives me a quick up and down. “But seriously. Buy yourself some decent gear first.”
“Huh?”
And then she laughs. “Because no way I’m going on a dungeon date with a dude who looks like that!”
Chapter 14 Dungeon Date
I take Gilly’s wardrobe advice and hit the markets in Timberdale.
I’m still level 2 so I don’t have too much to pick from, and neither do I want to waste my money on gear that will not only soon be out leveled, but also obsolete when I get to my proper class. Still, there are a couple of items that catch my eye.
Hard leather armor 150 Cr
+4 Armor
Not very comfortable, but it’s better than an arrow in the chest!
Short Sword 300 Cr
+1 STR +5 Damage
Short ranged but very quick and effective versus soft armor.
I buy the two items and get a pair of cheap leather pants for style. The Short Sword is level 3 so I can’t equip it yet. But I’m halfway to leveling so I head back out to the forest and take on a few more hares until I hit level.
Congratulations! You gained a level!
You are now level 3.
You have gained 2 attribute points.
Cool. I equip the sword and armor and immediately feel better. I spot a young black bear not too far away and wonder if I can take it.
Young Black Bear
Level: 7
This bear may be young, but it’s still a bear! Better take care!
Affinity: Earth
I dash in with a hit from my new sword and take off a quarter of its health. Not bad!
It then riles up and rakes me with a claw. The hit is powerful and I feel it in my chest. It’s not pain I feel, per se but definitely enough feedback to let me know I just took a big hit.
My HP confirms it. I’m down by half!
I need to kill this thing quick!
I give the bear another chop with my short sword and take another quarter chunk of its health.
Your sword kill increased by 0.5
Level up! Sword skill is now 4.
The bear goes for another attack and I use Rush at the last second and slam into its flank with my shoulder.
You use Rush!
A Young black bear is stunned!
I get another chance to attack and do so, taking the bear down to a quarter.
I try to rush it again but the ability is on cooldown now. My heart jumps in my throat as the bear rears up to attack again. I’m not going to survive another hit!
I manage to attack at the same time and receive a walloping slam as my sword hits.
You defeated the Young Bl
ack Bear!
You gain 150 experience points!
You find a hunk of bear meat.
You find a hunk of bear meat.
I killed it! My heart is pumping with adrenaline. I can’t believe I survived. I’ve never felt so alive in the game before. My exp bar gets a healthy jump but then I look at my health.
2/42 HP.
Down to 2 HP?!
Man, that was too close. If it wasn’t for the armor and the couple of extra hitpoints I’d gotten from leveling, I would have died for sure. That reminds me. I still haven’t spent any of my bonus attribute points yet. I bring up my stats.
Reece
Class: Warrior
Level: 3
Strength: 6
Dexterity: 4
Agility: 4
Intelligence: 4
Mind: 6
Vitality: 8
HP: 2/42
Stamina: 2/28
TP: 10/15
Wow, I was nearly out of stamina too. But I find I have 10 bonus points to spend! I forgot I had some left over from leveling miner that I still haven’t placed. Decision time. Val Helena said to pump them all into agility and dex, but man, a few more HP and Stamina would be great from a point of Vitality or two. Or some more strength so I can hit harder and kill faster.
But Val hasn’t steered me wrong yet; latest development with Gilly no exception. I dump 6 points into agility to bring it up to 10, since she mentioned there was some kind of threshold there and put the remaining 4 into Dex to bring it up to 8.
After I spend the points I’m not really sure if my performance has increased or not.
But there was one surefire way to find out.
I rest up to full health and spot another young black bear.
I run in and attack, feeling my blade moving quicker in my hand. Like the water resistance is now gone. I strike for the same quarter damage again and then use Rush to stun its next attack.
I attack again taking it to 50% health.
And then again taking it to 25%.
The bear finally gets an attack off and does the huge half a health bar worth of claw damage again. But I quickly attack right after and the bear is dead.
You defeated the Young Black Bear!
You gain 150 experience points!
Kill chain x 1! You gain 75 bonus experience points!
Congratulations! You have unlocked a kill chain! When two monsters of higher level are defeated within one minute of each other, a kill chain will occur, resulting in a 50% experience point bonus. The kill chain can continue indefinitely, but the time limit for each successive chain will be reduced by 10 seconds.
Wow cool. So there was a reward for killing things fast? And I definitely was able to kill that bear faster with the higher agility. I guess doing more hits with the same damage can be just as effective as doing more damage with the same number of hits. I’m starting to get the logic here for investing in agility.
I hear clapping from behind me and look to see Gilly giving me applause. “Not bad Mr. level three! And the duds aren’t bad either.”
I grin at her as I approach. “Thanks. I could say the same about you. I think.”
She’s switched to a mage class and is wearing a simple white robe that stop just above her knees and has a small wooden wand in her hand. On her legs are a pair of white leggings and on her feet are some…
“Pink bunny slippers?” I laugh at those.
She laughs as well as she does a spin for me. “Awesome noob gear, huh? I went celestial mage, since the best duo teams seem to be melee and healer.”
I send her a party request and she joins.
Gilly Level 1 Celestial Mage
HP 18/18
STAM: 20/20
TP: 35/35
“Whoa nice hitpoints!” I joke.
“I know right?” She laughs some more. “And this is with my bonus Vitality points from miner. You better not let me get hit!”
“Never!”
“Okay,” she says. “So I did some research. Found this great page with a speed leveling guide. The best dungeon to hit is a place called the Murky Swamps, it’s a level 15 dungeon.”
“15?” Yikes! “You sure we can survive in there?”
“If’ we’re around level 5 or 6 it says we can. Come on, we can level on the way there. Let’s try one of those bears as practice.”
“Okay,” I say and we venture through the forest a bit until we find one.
“Ready?” I ask.
“Yuppers!”
I laugh. Man, she’s so cute.
I charge the bear and take it down much like before, using Rush to block its first attack.
I still take nearly half my health in damage on its second hit, however, but Gilly is able to heal me up by swishing her little wand and casting a spell.
Gilly casts Heal!
You recover +25 HP.
It’s enough to take me back up to full and I finish the bear off taking no further damage.
You defeated the Young Black Bear!
You gain 75 experience points!
“Wow!” Gilly says. “I nearly leveled from that. Let’s kill another one!”
The excitement in her voice spurs me on and I quickly find another black bear. We take it down just as easily.
You defeated the Young Black Bear!
You gain 75 experience points!
Kill chain x 1! You gain 37 bonus experience points!
A burst of light engulfs Gilly and the words Level Up! appear above her head.
“Awesome,” she says. “We got a kill chain. Quick, find some more.”
I laugh at her enthusiasm and we venture deeper into the forest.
* * *
We spend about an hour making our way through the West Wood Forest, which eventually shifts into the Murky Woods. It gets darker and the trees grow more densely together and become covered in creepy looking vines. I hit level four and dump the bonus point into agility. I’ll spend my next level’s points in dexterity to bring that up to ten as well. I’m almost level 5 and Gilly level 3 by the time we reach the Murky Swamps.
Dead trees and stumps poke out of the dark water, covered in moss and choked with tall reeds. It feels like it’s nighttime already as thick dark clouds blanket the sky, blotting out the sun. The air has a chill and a slight mist to it, making it hard to see past more than a hundred feet or so. In the semi darkness beyond, I can see huge shadows lumbering slowly through the swamp.
I’m not liking the feel of this.
“The dungeon is in there?” I ask.
“It is the dungeon,” Gilly says and then points ahead of her. “Look, those are the NPCs we need to talk to, to enter.”
She runs ahead of me to where an old man and woman are peering into the darkness with a lantern. They straighten as they see us and plaster bright hopeful expressions on their dirt covered faces.
“Oh kind strangers, can you please help us?” the woman says. “Our granddaughter, Sarah, was lured into the swamp by a dark spirit. Will you, I pray, look for her? My husband and I are both too frail to venture any further than this.”
You have been offered a Quest: Swamping for Sarah (Recommended Level 15)
Venture into the Murky Swamp and bring Sarah back alive.
Bonus: Destroy the dark spirit to prevent any more children from falling prey to the swamp.
Typical fantasy quest plot, I suppose.
“Sure,” I say and the game interprets that as me accepting the quest.
You have received a new quest!
You will receive bonus experience points and items upon completion.
“You must be careful in there,” the old man says. “Many powerful creatures roam the swamps. If you get into trouble you can always come back here…where it’s safe.”
Would you like to set your respawn point to this location?
“Sounds like a good idea,” Gilly say and we both set out home points. “At least if we die we won’t have too far run to get our tombstones
.”
I nod and we start our way into the swamp. Tepid water soaks through my boots as we step into the muddy foot high water. I have a feeling this will become a problem if we ever have to run from something. The game soon confirms it by placing a restricted-movement debuff on my HUD.
“Aw man, my slippers!” Gilly whines and she steps into the swamp behind me.
That gives me a chuckle. “So besides being level 15 and spooky as heck, what’s so special about this dungeon that makes it great for leveling?”
“Those,” Gilly says and points ahead of me.
I strain to make out what she’s point at but soon I see one of those lumbering shadows again, but this time I’m close enough to see it for what it truly is. It’s humanoid and about as tall as Val Helena, but where she has muscle, this thing has fat. It has a pig like face that is complete with a set of tusks that protrude from its fat cheeks. Its skin is green and looks to be falling off in places and across its body are deep wounds and cuts. Then I see its eyes and my skin grows cold. They are dead and lifeless, milky white and glazed over. As it lumbers closer to us I can final pull up its stats.
Undead Orc Warrior
Level: 13
This once fearsome creature was slain, but has been raised from death to serve a new master.
Affinity: Dark
“Zombie orcs!?” I shoot Gilly a stare. “And it’s level 13!”
“They’re supposed to be really slow and easy to dodge. Plus they don’t have a lot of hitpoints. And they’re spaced out in here so we can face them one at a time.”
I brace myself. “Okay. But be ready with that heal spell.”
“Oh wait,” Gilly says and a scroll appears in her hand. “Forgot I can use this now that I’m level three.”
