Karma Strikes Back [Invite]

She fell to one knee, her fingers sweeping off the caked mud that concealed a chest underneath this ancient oak. She'd been told that the risks involved in heading to Adecus under-prepared were too steep, but Alexandra had always been a gambler at heart. But not a stupid one, no. The knight – no, dame wasn't it? - only tended to do so when the odds were in her favor.

When she saw this strongbox through sheer dumb luck, half an hour ago, she had been all too eager to open it, to claim the loot for herself. However approaching the box seemed to trigger an event – scripted she suspected due to the timing. Big gray wolves with silver streaks running down their backs came chasing her.

She could have stood her ground, but even with her trusty shield she didn't think she could hold her own against such numbers. Her style banked turning a fight into a battle of attrition, but if someone – or something ever got behind her while she as fending off foes from the front, she knew she would die.

What she did might be considered deplorable by some, but she'd turned the aggro from her unto a party she merely happened upon whilst running away. The group of guys she'd crossed looked stronger, at the very least, their equipment certainly was great by her standards. Confident that they could handle the threat she hurried back to the chest, leading to the current predicament.

The chest contained gear, impressive looking, but generic armor by all accounts – the stats identical to a newbie's equipment but she could deal with that. She unequipped the uninspired newbie's gear she had and slipped these on. The sleek cobalt-color steel, the malicious looking helmet, that bright blue flame that seemed to seem from the visor itself and the flowing blue cape thrilled her. She wasn't often one for fashion, but she was willing to make an exception with this one, given how cool it looked.

Unfortunately it seemed like karma had a way to getting back at her for what she did earlier. When she tried to remove the helmet, it was clear that something was wrong. The word error appeared on her screen and no matter how hard she tried to pry it off, it seemed locked on. She tried again, this time with the breastplate and then the graves. Something was stopping her from un-equipping the gear.

Urgency and no small degree of concern made her try every method to get rid of the armor, but nothing she could think of seemed to be working. Was it a cursed item, or a bug? She'd tried logging in and out, trying to remove the equipment but to no avail. For better or worse the helmet and armor weren't going anywhere.

It was in one of these attempts this time, with her trying to pry the helmet off her with a lever did she bump into someone merely passing through. Turning, Alexandra muttered an apology. “Sorry about that.” she said, the armor warping her voice. “I've been trying to get this helmet off. It seems... well, stuck.”

 

It was never Dieter’s intention to wander all the way to Adecus Forest of all places. Given that most of the wanders he had crossed path with had told him to be careful of the forest, it only served as the spark to his curiosity. While he may be too weak for the area, there was no sense in lingering around a designated newbie area. After all, they were all free in the game.

“Oof!” Dieter grunted as the hardened lump of iron bumped into him, sure it was only a game, but his pain sensory was fully functional, as such the collision between flesh and metal produced a kind of pain that’s no different from its real life counterpart. At that moment, his instinctive response was to draw his sword and cut down the villainous-looking figure in front of him, but when it spoke, he restrained his murderous thought.

It was difficult to tell friends apart from foes in this game. It certainly wasn’t like anything he’s played before, not that he plays games that much. “Your helmet is stuck? Do you need help?” Dieter asked as he approached the smaller figure whom he assumed to be a guy from the voice.

The man started by positioning behind the shorter stranger before he grabbed onto the helmet’s chin piece with one hand while holding the stranger’s waist with the other. With all of his might, Dieter pulled, and pulled, and pulled, but the helmet did not move an inch. Wiping the sweat from his brows, he clutched his head in confusion. It was the first time he’s seen anything like this and it bothered him.

“Okay, new plan. Lie down,” Dieter said, waiting for the stranger to do as he said before he put his feet on the boy’s slender shoulder as he grabbed onto his helmet once more, attempting to pull it off until his face reddened. “Goddammit. It. Won’t. Budge. GHHH!!!” When Dieter felt the metal being strained, he pushed himself a little harder, only to be met with a nasty zap that made him retract his hand immediately. “Shit!” he shouted.

As frustration overcame his patience, Dieter’s face twisted into a glower as he drew his long sword. “So it seems that there is no other way. Neck out, man up, I will help you take off his damned helmet for sure, I don't doubt that you’ll be back in no time…” said Dieter as his face darkened and his eyes crackle with malice.

 

“I'd appreciate it.” that much was true.

Perhaps that was what she needed, these things were always difficult to remove yourself. Knights did have squires for a reason and she wasn't too proud to hold back from asking for help when it was sorely needed. She complied with his request, staying still for the first attempt and assuming a prone position with the second to no avail.

“Yeah...” she groaned, shoulders sagging slightly at the realization that dawned on her. “That doesn't seem about right. Maybe I was too hasty putting this thing one, might be one of those cursed items I kept hearing about back in town.” she should've probably had an expert identify it before she put it on, but the allure and the sleek appearance of the suit was too tempting.

What could she say? She liked cool things and as far as coolness went, this whole dark knight look did appeal to her tastes. Unfortunately, the trade-off wasn't quite worth it in her eyes.

“Whoa there partner, chill, this isn't a zombie survival game. I don't think its a glitch. Besides its equipment, I don't think dying would cause it to vanish from my inventory or equipment slot. Or at least, there's a chance it wont and I'm kind of a never-dying streak that I'm not inclined to break.” she groaned and pushed herself off the ground, sighing in an exaggerated manner. “Thanks for trying to help me out though.” she offered him a hand to shake, if he would take it and her grip would be firm, but friendly.

She looked at her inventory, switching between her hand held equipment and found herself being able to switch from a starting knife to the newbie's blade and shield that she picked up from the store. All these items seemed to be unaffected by her affliction. “Might be a little too risky loitering here, wanna head back somewhere safer? By the looks of your gear, we might well be the same level.”

“What brought you to these parts anyway? Curiosity?”

 

Despite being a physically-fit male in real life, he felt rather winded just from exerting himself in removing the stranger’s helmet. It was an incredibly strange feeling, yet very natural. In fact, it felt as though he was never fit to begin with. He chalked it up to the fact that he had rolled a mage-like archetype, which most likely gave him the weak-ass body he’s stuck with.

Even though he could just off himself and recreate his character anytime he wants, he felt that the entire process was a little bothersome so for the time being, he’ll just have to suck it up and get used to his virtual body.

By the looks of my gear? Astor thought to himself as he looked down at his peasant-quality rags that no one would have the heart to call “equipment.” The exchange almost sounded like sarcasm to the weary mage. From the way the stranger spoke, he figured that the young man was a fellow player like him. Thus, out of civility, he exchanged a firm handshake with the stranger looking at the spooky eye socket from which a faintish blue light radiates.

“I have also heard about the risks that appear during the night time as well. Come with me, there’s a small village not too far from here,” Astor said as he ushered his new acquaintance southward.

“So I assume that you’re a player as well and that you first arrived in an area called Brisshal after you make your character, right?”

He waited for a response before he continued. “I’m actually in a quest contract with someone who’s looking for a donkey who apparently ran all the way here, so I came looking for it. Though… it doesn’t look like I’ll survive if I keep searching blindingly for this donkey. Not to mention I’m quite peckish,” Astor said as he opened his palm menu and glancing over his need meters.

 

“Yeah, you're right about that. I'm a player alright.” her laugh was short and brief. As if she sounded anything like a scripted shopkeeper for anyone to confuse her for one. “But for you to ask that question, that suggests that there are some NPC that can pass themselves off as players? Or is it just that there are a few folks you've met that play the game for the roleplay aspect?”

Alexandra couldn't say she wasn't interested in that dimension of Terrasphere, there was some beauty in escapism to her, she played this game partly for that reason after all. But she was also a bit competitive. Injured as she was out of the game, that option was no longer available to her. In here though, that was another story.

“I'm not too scared of the monsters to be honest. But I am worried the dark. I'm not exactly well equipped for night combat. I'd rather die while being able to see what I'm fighting than just get knocked out by something I can't even identify.”

The knight, dame really, listened to the golden haired man. She weighed her options. Night was indeed approaching, but she felt like there was still time enough to help him out. “An eye for an eye.” she said curtly. “You tried helping me, even if nothing came of it you did put in the effort. What kind of person would I be if I didn't return the favor eh?”

“So what do you specialize in? If we're going to be a two-man unit, it'd help if we at least know each other's combat capacity.” he lifted his shield before him, tapping the rim on the breastplate, causing a bit of a dull clank. “Knight class, specialized for tanking. If you're an offensive type, we'll probably be able to work well together. If you're a healer though, we're not going to be able to do a lot of killing in a timely fasion.”

“Got anymore clues about your donkey?” she asked Astor curtly. “The problem with those animals are... they tend to be, how do I put it... withdrawn. I have an uncle who owns a farm, he had a donkey. Pretty shy thing, turns out those animals tend to have an inclination to run away when presented with a flight or fight stimulus. On the plus side, they tend to be more trusting when you've weaseled your way into their comfort zone.”

“Now I don't know if the developers of this game actually look into the behavior of real animals, but I guess we'll see huh?” the dame crossed her arms over her chest and contemplated for a few seconds. “Well, I guess the best idea I can think of is we find some kind of pasture, flat land, more grass for it to eat. The forest has some foliage, but the grass here ain't that plentiful and most branches and leaves are a little too tough. If we find a meadow or a clearing with grass, chances are we'll find it there.”

 

“I’m not a roleplayer in any way, my life isn’t so sad that I have to pretend being someone else,” Dieter responded. “A number of people I’ve met so far haven’t actually reveal their status by acting oblivious to all of my cues.”

One of the things Dieter noticed about this stranger was that he talked A LOT, he could barely mutter two lines before he is barraged with an earful of information. From a surface-level profiling, he figured that this guy must have been nervous, either that or socially oblivious. Regardless, Dieter was glad to find an amiable partner to do the quest with; as someone who exclusive wields magic, he figured it is never a bad thing to bring a punching bag along with him on his adventure.

“Oi, oi, oi!” Dieter snapped his fingers, beckoning for Alex’s attention, “before you get ahead of yourself, open your quest panel,” he said. Waiting for his companion to open the quest panel, Dieter accessed his own and tapped on the share option. “Put your finger on the confirm button and hold it there until the circle turn green.”

Once all of the tedium was in order, Dieter engaged himself in the dialogic discussion with, uh…? Realizing that they never introduce themselves formally, her extended his hand outward. “I’m Di- Astor. Nice to meet you, uh?”

When Alex inquired about his character’s information Dieter had to recheck his information to figure out what he was (he did, after all, rolled a completely random character). Accessing the palm menu once again, he tapped on a button with his thumb, from which a thin panel manifested on his hand with his information. “Uh, Pyromancy, I’m a fire mage and unless you can heal people by setting them on fire, then I don’t think I’m a healer,” Dieter replied with sarcasm as he became more familiar with Alex. It was his natural tendency to be condescending toward weaker males, to establish a hierarchy of sort. It was something he picked up from his time at the police academy and something that has proven tremendously useful.

“Can’t say I know anything about donkeys, but my contractor said that the donkey was obsessed with shiny things. So if we think about it, if it was the case that the donkey had left early this morning, what is the shiniest object it would see?” Dieter became more distraught as the image of a derpy donkey chasing after the sun thinking it was some kind of treasure played in his head. Dieter flashed a wry smile toward Alex. What were they doing with their lives? Of everything they could do in a fully immersive virtual world, they are chasing after a stupid donkey….

“Well, then it should be pretty easy to catch it once we find it then… Well, let’s follow the path of the sun then and follow your suggestion and find pasture or grassy fields on the way that we think it might have stop at,” Dieter suggested.

 

“Sad? I dunno dude. I mean I wouldn't judge those guys too quick. I get why people would want to escape reality. Never been big on videogames myself you see. But I kinda got into a car accident so my legs are on the mind, I usually spend most of my time outdoors so well... this is a nice alternative. I wont pretend there's no life outside the game, but I can see where they're coming from.” he shrugged, dropping the topic. He had the feeling this guy didn't really care for things like that. “You sure those were people? Or just NPC pretending?”

"Quest panel, right. Just give me a-” she brought her hands over the various menus until she found the right button. “Accepted!”

“Diastor?” she scratched her head. “Oh wait, I guess that means your real name starts with a Di? I'll just forget you even mentioned it,but I'll make it fair. In-game name's the wall, most people call me Alex in the land of the living though.” he chuckled and checked his equipment for damage. That seemed to be a feature of this game and she didn't want to have to fight with faulty gear.

“Hmm not bad. You'll bring the pain and I'll hold them off. Classic combination I think, a little cliché but it'll have to do.”

“So we got an plan A and plan B, not bad. Alright, just create the party and lead the way Astor.” she said, following the man as they carved their way through the woodlands, towards the plains where the sun was still sailing high overhead.
The trip was largely boring, though that was only perhaps due to her traveling companion. Alone, she was under-leveled to be here. With a party however, it was rough but doable.

Of course, things wouldn't be that easy. What sort of MMO didn't have random encounters. Try as they might, the two would encounter a lone gnoll. It wasn't really well equipped, but regardless the thing looked menacing. It's gear at the very least, looked far better than their own.

“Right... wanna run or face it?” Alex inched back, bringing her shield to bare. Her sword hovered casually at the side, but her gaze never left the enemy.

If Astor took the latter, she'd dig in and prep herself for the worst. “The tutorial told me that 'switch' was the typical phrase here. I'll stay between the two of you, when you shout 'Switch' I'll try to push it away and step aside for you to strike. Shout again and I'll cover you while I still have health. If either of us hit the red though, we bail.”

“Good plan?”

There wasn't much time to get his consent however.

Even as she raised her shield to intercept the attack, the crude club came in hard. A gong-like sound reverberated through the shield and she felt herself almost being lifted off her feet.

“Shit.” she gritted her teeth, realizing the vast difference in their abilities.

Forget counter-attacking, the only option she had here was to completely commit to defense. Each blow sent her staggering back, even when she dug in she felt the hurt. The shield would take much of the force, but even what penetrated was starting to hurt her arms. This was like being asked to lift a bag of potatoes with just your arms. It sounded easy and for the first thirty seconds it was, but with each passing moment your arms would start growing sore and even the damage mitigation wasn't helping.

Concussive force was tearing away at her health, chipping away at the green bar and turning it yellow.

 

He scratched his cheeks, slightly put off by the guy’s strange line of conversation. Well, to begin with, it wasn’t as though Astor knew how to even speak to people in video games. Since this was a live, face to face conversation (albeit virtual), there still must have been some kind of conventional mannerism to make it sound a lot smoother than what he was making it out to be. Astor stopped himself before his brain spun out of control, he was overthinking it. All he needed to do was accept Alex’s… no… the Wall’s invitation to party up so they can move on with their adventure. According to basic knowledge of RPG-type games, he figured they would make for a synergistic team, he roasts things, and The Wall… well, The Wall does what he wants, keeping the enemy out of Astor’s face.

“Well, as long as I have the time and distance to set things on fire, I think we’ll make a fine team,” Astor said.

It seemed Astor’s statement was going to be tested, given that of everything they could have ran into, a bear, snakes, wolves, giant bugs, they ran into a freaking Gnoll. The Gnoll’s beast-like stature cast a menacing shadow over the two players who were obviously over their head, traveling in a dangerous area like Adecus Forest.

“Well shit,” he muttered aloud, eyes widened with awe as he scanned the furry creature up and down, inspecting every inch of the monstrous mass snarling at them. Considering that he’s spent a long time walking here and having to fight small and nonthreatening monsters on the way, he’s felt quite confident in his spellcasting ability. He’s got a number of spells that he can actually recite in perfect form. “Well, let’s test our teamwork then,” he replied after stewing the thought in his head.

Hearing The Wall covering the concept of Switch, Astor nodded, absorbing the important information that he’ll need to know to do well while fighting in a party. “Okay, I don’t really have many spells that require a long casting time, so I think we’ll be able to do thi—” Before he could even finish his sentence, the Gnoll began to move and jumped toward Alex with a hard strike on his shield. Astor barely had the time to jump back. “Dammit!” he cussed loudly as he got up and dealt with the sheer terror of watching The Wall submitting to each and every one of the beast’s powerful strikes. From where he was standing, he could hear the harsh clashing of metal producing awful clanging noise. The Gnoll was relentless.

Noticing that The Wall’s HP meter was turning yellow from the damage he was taking, Astor shook himself out of the awkward state he was in and stood straight up. Form an empty triangle by holding his hands in front of his ornate necklace, Astor began to chant an incantation that he had memorized with 100% accuracy. “Asf va fen ei la nohro wey…” a warm sensation began to radiate from his hand as he could feel his magical energy collecting in the triangle.

“Oi, Alex, switch, get out of the way!!!” Astor shouted as he extended his arms outward, hurling the ball of fire toward the Gnoll. Should Alex get out of its path in time, it should hit the Gnoll in the chest.

Here’s to hoping The Wall knows when he needs to put his wall down… lest he wants to be roasted together with the beast.

 

How the guy even managed to memorize such a long-winded chant was none of her business, but she was only grateful that he managed to finish casting that spell. Though this was a fake world, the pain from what she was enduring was anything but fake to her. It was like she was slapping concrete with a metal bat. Maybe by some miracle the bat wasn't folding, but her hands were just about ready to give in.

She swerved out of the way, just barely in time that she felt the heat from the fireball warm her back. Even as she rolled in the mud, she had presence of mind to pop open a small vial of red liquid – one of those freebie potions newbies got that she saved up and popped it right into her mouth in the time that Astor's eyes were likely on the gnoll.

The creature screamed, buckling back from the sheer kinetic energy and the searing pain that erupted from it's chest outwards. The fire seemed to do a number on it, probably compatibility. All that fur was probably nice to have on cold nights, not so much when dealing with red-hot fire.

There was no time to celebrate however as she swerved back in, the muscles of her legs bulging when she pressed her shoulder against the shield to block and savage swipe that would've connected to Astor's head. Her health bar was green now, the healing potion having increase her health, but once more the creature's attacks started taking up increasing brutality and speed.

Like a drum, the hardened wood was slammed into metal. Alex's feet were being pushed against the earth, her soles dragging deep furrows through the grass as she was forced to withdraw step by agonizing step.

This seemed crazy to her. She wasn't even taking the full brunt of the attack by her own estimate. She was angling her shield somewhat and bending at the knee with each impact to disperse the force, but even that did little to diminish to damage she was receiving. The yellow bar was starting to flicker again and both shield and armor was starting to showcase wear and tear.

A cosmetic effect or permanent damage to the equipment, she wasn't sure, what she did know was that she didn't have much time left. The gnoll stepped back, three more strikes, the first sent her reeling to the left, but she adjusted her footing, drawing the right back to keep the creature in front of her.

An overhead blow that came to fast was intercepted, sliding off the face of the shield tha was angled slightly. But she fell to her knees from the sheer strain and the last cause her to stagger back, dropping her sword as she opted to devote herself fully to the defense.

Her health bar was no longer yellow, but a deep shade of orange.

 

The situation was getting direr by the minute and require Astor to react more quickly. He needed to do something to save his new companion or he was just going to get crushed into a pile of mashed flesh at the rate the Gnoll was pounding on him. But what can he do exactly? That was the question Astor was juggling inside his head as he watched the Gnoll easily pushing so-called The Wall around so easily, almost like a ragdoll with a little bit of resistance.

Taking a deep breath and emptying his lungs, he began to think in the few seconds that Alex had bought him by occupying the attacking beast. “That… it has to be that spell… eh…” Astor conversed with himself as he had his eyes closed in an attempt to visualize the effects each of his spell would have on their common enemy. Once he determined the proper spell to use, Astor quickly put his pointer and index finger on his temple, attempting to recall yet another spell that may be the more appropriate one for the situation they were in.

Dashing toward The Wall, Astor had his right hand over his mouth as he began to recite another incantation quietly, making sure he was focusing on accuracy over everything else, considering that if he miscast the spell here, both of them were going to be turned into tomato paste. “Vindarh vende anzala norath… fus fen zadah!”

Once Astor popped up from behind Alex he maneuvered his hand off to the side as a torrent of fire spewed forth in a cone shape, setting the worn-down furry beast ablaze along with any plant life unfortunate enough to get caught with in the stream of fire. His spell was relentless and he kept concentration all of his effort on melting the fleshy mass in front of him that had started to kneel down and let out painful howls.

“Oi, what are you doing, get up and finish him, I won’t last for very long!!!” Astor shouted feeling the weariness starting to set in as his energy bar began to deplete. But it seemed to be working considering that the Gnoll was on its knees, unable to move from the sheer pain of a live burning. However, before he hit the 10% mark, Astor closed his fist, stopping his few seconds long burn spell to make sure he doesn’t pass out from exhaustion.

By the time he was done casting the spell, his energy bar was barely above 5%, he was just a few seconds away from completely emptying. It was a close call... Since his fire magic was still low level, he couldn't exactly cast spell efficiently without emptying his energy tank.

 

Sometimes, she envied the sheer power that mages commanded. But her distaste for memorizing chants and invocations was enough of a deterrent to prevent her from pursuing that field. Even as her health withered away, it seemed her companion finally brought out the big guns to to speak. Rather than a single concussive blast, he switched to a sustained attack. The stream of fire, or was it a cone? It was hard to tell, her proximity to the attack and the haze from the heat made it difficult to tell, but it didn't matter. She stepped away, instinctively pulling another flask from her belt-bag and chugging it down like some thirsty traveler in a desert.

Given the dramatically quick decline of the enemy's health bar she was convinced it was going to die, but unfortunately it wouldn't be that easy. The creature was still alive, if only barely. Seeing the fire putter out and hearing her companion's voice roused her into action.

In a flurry of cloth and steel she surged forward, eyes intent on the weapon she had discarded in the melee.

The gnoll looked at her weapon, the blade gleaming in the sunlight, trying to reach it before she did but just as it's fingers were about to close upon the hilt it found it's head blown back.

Alex had never intended to pick up the sword.

It was a ruse, instead she was using her shield like a giant fly-swatter. She smacked it against the monster's head, once, twice, three times and it staggered back and taking the initiative she dove forward, slamming the end of her shield upon it's throat even as it crashed into the dirt, scattering earth and mud all around.

Her breathing was heavy, staggered, but the creature was vanishing into motes of light. Over their heads, a congratulatory sign popped up.

A hard-won fight, a dangerous one she wouldn't have vouched for if she had the choice. Her fingers were still trembling, despite staying alive there was a visceral fear that gripped her. This was pretty much her first real kill. Jello-based creatures tended to just scatter and die, but this felt far more like a real fight than she liked.

Oh she wasn't unused to violence. She knew a bit of Judo, but killing things, that was leaving her feeling a little more out of sorts than she liked. “Holy hell, that wasn't good.” she shook her head. “I'm not sure how the others do this without trouble, but that just felt a little too real for comfort.” she told Astor, shivering.

“I guess that donkey might be long gone by now, eh?”

 

After he had finished his fire spell, Astor hung back and followed The Wall with his eyes. Astor was used to violence, given that he’s seen a multitude of serious crimes that leave behind scarring sights of human atrocity where he works. The Wall bashing the Gnoll’s throat in until he nearly beheaded it? That was nothing. Although, the rawness of the entire encounter did capture his interest. This was an ultra-realistic game and for someone who was less desensitized to gore like him, they might experience quite the cognitive dissonance in maiming living things until they’re just nothing but a disjointed pile of meat.

When he saw Alex’s shaken reaction to their first, proper kill, he approached her and put an arm around her shoulder and gave her a tight, one-armed squeeze. “Be a man, you’ll get over it faster than you think, all we need is to find you a few more to bash!” Astor made light of Alex’s mental struggle, shrugging it off with a light and carefree tone of voice.

“The donkey? You mean, that donkey?” Astor beckoned The Wall with a gesture to come forward. Once Alex was next to him, he raised his pointer finger and guided her eyes toward the half-eaten mass of something that used to be a donkey. With the donkey eaten, it seemed their objective has been met. They found the donkey, just not in the condition the owners are expecting.

Sliding down a short hill, Astor headed toward the donkey’s corpse. Given how its body was seemingly gnawed off at a crude and inconsistent angle, Astor surmised that it must have been eaten by the lone Gnoll. From the first glance, he naturally entered his investigative mode, treating his surrounding as though it was a crime scene. Given how long he’s been working at his job; he simply can’t turn off his detective eyes when he sees corpses.

“The donkey’s probably eaten by Gnoll. Since it was traveling alone, it’s probably separated from the group and got lost and well… got hungry, I suppose,” he deduced with conviction behind his words.

Feeling his body becoming tenser from stress, Astor put a hand up to his face to unfurrow his brows, something he does to relieve minor tension.

“Why don’t we grab it and head back to town? They did ask us to bring back something, and never suggest that it had to be alive, right?” he said. “If we get paid for our trouble, I’ll buy you a drink, come on.”

@The Wall

 

If nothing else, Astor's rather callous observation and treatment of the situation was enough to draw Alex's thoughts off the situation at hand. “Be a man he says.” Alex echoed, wiping the blood off the shield using the grass at his feet. “I'm no stranger to violence man, I've been doing Judo for four years now, but this sort of crap is just visceral. It ain't that easy to shake off. Besides, I just don't think I'm the sort that likes putting things down permanently. Its easier when you're playing a video game and you're detached, but its sort of hard to do that when you're in the game this way.”

But here, the coppery scent of blood and the adrenaline rush she felt as well as the genuine fear of being battered into paste with that over-sized club had affected Alex deeply.

“Though that makes me wonder exactly what sort of crap you've seen if this doesn't faze you.” she sighed and gave her companion and odd, if even skeptical look before she just shook her head firmly. “Or not, yeah, actually don't tell me. Probably better if I don't know.” he might've been in a gang of some sort, that seemed to make sense.

The explanation made some sense and Alex was a little too tired to question it.

“Ha...” she exhaled softly and waddled her way towards the dead donkey. “Well, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, that much I'm telling you.”

“Worse case scenario and we can't turn in the donkey, we can probably eat the thing. I can probably prepare this meat, I did take cooking as a mastery.” it was an unusual choice, maybe even impractical, but Alex didn't really care. “Yeah, its weird I know, but come on. If I'm going to be in a virtual world with an unlimited range of ingredients at my disposal, might as well try to make the most of it yeah? I cook for the family, dad's horrible at it, so I'm no slouch.”

“Have you checked out the gnoll though? Might have some interesting loot on it, you'll never know.” and if he did and it proved deficient of lucrative wares upon it's corpse, Alex would just shrug. “I do have to ask. Can you even get drunk on virtual beer? I kind of understand how it can stimulate... adrenaline, but intoxication?”