Open - A Sticky Situation

"Ha....HAHAHA..... HAHAHAHAHA!" One could hear the obnoxious laugh of a certain white-hair pretty far away. "Zis... zis is great. Simply great! Absolutely fucking awesome! I can totally dig this!" Anna had played a bunch of VR games before, but none have been as realistic as this one. First impressions were important, and Terrasphere just nailed it. 11/10.

The fresh air, untouched by pollution of humanities greed. The natural scenery of green, otherwise only preserved by human-made habitats. And lastly —"My first loyal subject!"— monsters only known from fiction, real as flesh. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and this slime in front of the adventurer who had just put her first foot into this world was simply adorable. Small, green, and jiggly.

Clearing her throat, Lady Anette Josephine Liselotte Yvonne Olivia Zella von Brandt I. pointed at the happy little critter. "BEHOLD, Mr. Kleks, MY AWESOME POWER." Closing her eyes, the white-hair started to chant.

"Oh, loderndes Feuer tief in mir.
Mehr gewaltsam als die tiefen der Hölle, all-verzehrend sogar die Sterne im Himmel.
Gehorche dem Ruf deiner Königin - meinem Befehl, und erscheine!"
​

Wait, something was wrong... where was the fire, the SFX, the EVERYTHING? The spell was supposed to do spell stuff?! Unless, oh of course.

Giving it a sigh, Lady Anette Josephine Liselotte Yvonne Olivia Zella von Brandt I. shook her head before trying it again.

"Warum sollte ich mir
irgend einen super tollen Spruch
für so einen schwachen Zauber ausdenken?

FEUERBALL!"

And, just like that, her fierce fire magic actually worked! A small fireball in the size of a tennis-ball shot from her open palm and... missed?

"..."
"..."
"..."

. . .

"See my awesome power, Mr. Kleks?! I am ze greatest magician of all! If you serve me - and serve me vell - I ca- Oh... hey! No free hugs allowed! Ouch. Zat hurts!" Before the white-hair was able to finish convincing the slime about all the advantages, it had if it joined her entourage, it had already started to hug her!

"Yes, yes. Zere, zere. You're a powerful acid burning slime..." She petted the monster a little bit before her face became a tad more sinister. "FEUERBALL!" And blasted it with fire. "As I told you, no free hugs! Gotta teach my loyal subjects a few lessons... eh, Mr. Kleks, are you alright? Mr. Kleks?" Mr. Kleks was no more.

Shrugging with her shoulders, Lady Anette Josephine Liselotte Yvonne Olivia Zella von Brandt I. sighed. "I suppose Mr. Kleks wasn't zat powerful after all. Too unfit for my great leadership. ZE GREATEST LEADERSHIP OF ALL." She sure liked to yell randomly.

About to be on her merry way, it was then that the white-hair noticed a few more slimes. "Oohh! Is zat Mr. Kleks's family? Vell, let zis super awesome Gottkönigin of Everything test your vorth zen!" The sinister smug returned to her facial features. "FEUERBALL!"

"FEUERBALL!"
"FEUERBALL!"
"FEUERBALL!"

And just like that, a few minutes passed. Lady Anette Josephine Liselotte Yvonne Olivia Zella von Brandt I. was exhausted. "Mr. Kleks, your family... huff... it's... huff... really big!" It was routine by now: open palm, arm stretched out and —"FEUERBALL!"— a puff of smoke! "Eh?" Out of... Mana? What? Impossible!

Shaking her head, Lady Annette grinned from side to side. "Time for Plan R!"

R was for Rückzug - Tactical Retreat.

...

...

Lady Anette Josephine Liselotte Yvonne Olivia Zella von Brandt I. wasn't sure how much time had passed since she started sitting on this tree. Mana regeneration sure seemed slow! Or maybe it was because she was still in active combat? Well, she had time.

Up, in this tree, she was safe. The slimes couldn't get her.
Up, in this tree, she couldn't see. The slimes slowly disintegrating the wooden trunk as they cuddled up against it.

Why exactly didn't she just continue runni- retreating, again?

 

An adventure. That was what she needed. Something to distract her from the tedium of simply wandering around all the time aimless but dangerous. Like a gun in the hands of a blind man.

Her attention span was as wavering as such a pistol would be, its errant focus flitting from one moment's distraction to the next. It was why she had not allied herself to any of the large factions that ran about doing quests. It was why she joined few parties, and participated in no long and elaborate story arcs. Temperance, unlike her name's very meaning, was something of a surly drunkard who dove right to the bottom of a bottle if there was not anything fun to be doing.

She was sober currently, but only for lack of a nearby tavern to drown herself at. It had been awhile since Brisshal had been visited by the woman, and as she cast her eyes about, she realized it was really no more or less different than it had ever been. New players spawned here, which meant that everything was mercifully low-level and manageable. The further you walked from a spawn point the more dangerous things became, if only to encourage the idea of teamwork in newcomers, to match such threats.

She had been invited to quite a few parties while walking around, some begging for their hands to be held, others strutting about with "heroic" bravado as if they were anything to be impressed about. Hell, she'd raised her own stats to some impressive figures over time and even SHE didn't feel all that impressive. So she had accepted an invite from a few young swordsmen that wanted to clear a den of wolves, followed them inside, and promptly hidden during the entire fight using her Incognito skill.
They hadn't lasted long without a healer, and she had heard them an hour or so later storming through the woods looking to "teach that white haired bitch a lesson" for "chickening out."

Though nobody could see experience levels or a person's UI, it ought to have been obvious from the better quality of her gear that she was not a new spawn. Or maybe they hadn't thought that critically? Whatever- she had marched in the opposite direction they began searching, laughing inwardly at their misfortunes which had been well deserved in her own opinion.

Her mirthful marching brought her at length to an area with some light scorching, and a trail of gentle destruction revealed a woman sitting in a tree and waiting out the siege of some slimes that were devouring its base. Slowly. As if they were snail-paced chainsaws or just trying to chop the tree down by rubbing it with sandpaper. I mean it WOULD fall... but the woman could probably sleep up there for a few more hours before evening considering moving. Temperance grinned and continued towards the scene, her Incognito skill activated, skulking through the woods without a single sound, vanishing in shadows. Without a sound, she clambered past the slimes and up the side of the tree, depositing herself in the tree's branches beside @Lady Annette von Brandt I. Resisting the urge to laugh at having snuck up into the tree near the woman, the rogue-healer lay out across the branch like a Cheshire Cat and regarded the new player with a curious stare.

Opening her UI, she was struck with an idea and she suddenly removed all the gear from her character, leaving them garbed only in underclothes. She shoved some twigs and leaves into these, put a strip of bark on her face as a mask, and tied it in place with a boot lace... then cleared her throat politely.

"What are you doing in MY tree?" she demanded, deciding that she would torment this poor newcomer by pretending to be a Tree Spirit or something. It was the dumbest of disguises and had taken seconds to fashion together, but when your skill at stealth and disguise was as high as hers, you got away with more bullshit than you really should be allowed.

 

This... actually started to become really boring. Maybe Lady Anette Josephine Liselotte Yvonne Olivia Zella von Brandt I. should have tried to rig the game and the device locally in such a fashion that she could play some other games inside the game? Gameception. Didn't seem easy, but she would be up for the challenge.

Then why not just log out? Sure, she just played the game for an hour but what would even happen? Curiosity killed the cat-

"What are you doing in MY tree?"

This was the moment that Lady Anette Josephine Liselotte Yvonne Olivia Zella von Brandt I. was supposed to fall from the tree in surprise, right? Down into the slime pit, crying for help while being devoured alive?

"..."

But as the white-hair stared into the eyes of the tree... monster, such a reaction did not come. Yes, Lady Anette Josephine Liselotte Yvonne Olivia Zella von Brandt I. was surprised that she had suddenly awoken(?) some ancient forest creature, but it would take more than that to surprise the self-proclaimed Gottkönigin of Everything.

Nonetheless, seconds passed, before she opened her mouth.

"Oh, I am terribly sorry for trespassing onto your... for-now-territory. I vas enjoying ze view." Lady Anette Josephine Liselotte Yvonne Olivia Zella von Brandt I. put up a rather serious face as she started to look around. Something green. Anything. Ah!

Ripping off a random leaf from the tree she held it in front of @Temperance. "Take zis humble offering, oh great Sprite of random Beginner Forest A, and be bound by my vill!" She was truly a GENIUS. Not only would she calm the angry(?) bark monster BUT also make IT her first loyal minion!

Thinking about it, she should have probably taken the Taming Mastery or something, no? Ah, whatever. "I, ze great Lady Anette Josephine Liselotte Yvonne Olivia Zella von Brandt I., vill promise you a place full of vood and vegetation beyond zese roots!" Mr. Kleks didn't seem all that smart, but this Monster could at least talk! Right, she needed a name for that one too... .

 

She had to admire the girl's aplomb. Despite the sudden appearance of another, whether person playing a prank or actual NPC mob, the girl held her seating fast and did not become shaken or concerned at the irritated edge Temperance had put in her own voice. It had been meant to scare the poor newbie, but Temp's attempts had not made it past the girl's sizable ego.

Whoever this newbie was, she was ah... really, really full of herself? Snatching a leaf from nearby, the girl gave a brief apology and immediately segued into offering Temperance a... leaf... as some sort of payment for the grievance. A leaf from her "own tree" no less. She was about to pretend to be spooky and angry when the girl went on with great confidence, asking Temperance to be bound to her will. Promising her lush rewards in return for her service.

Well... there were two ways this could go. She could either screw with the girl further and give her a bad time. Or she could screw with the girl further and keep up the charade and vow to be a loyal servant.

Snatching the leaf from Anette's hands, Temp stuffed it into her mouth and chewed it, determined to keep eye contact with "ze great Lady Anette Josephine Liselotte Yvonne Olivia Zella von Brandt I." unblinking, until she had swallowed the stolen leaf.
"By twisting vine and ancient oak, this pact is sealed, this one we spoke!" Temperance chanted aloud, then hopped immediately out of the tree and turned to regard the slimes as if they were the most minor or nuisances.
"I cannot harm that which is of the natural order; it is against my very being. But I can heal you, and fight off abominations or undead. I will serve you until you either achieve your goals, or are unworthy of a Spirit of... uh..." casting about, she looked for something to be a spirit of.
"...Bee hives."
Fuck it. Why not? She could work with it.
"You must not EVER harm a bee hive, and must protect them from harm. Bees are very important. And they live in hives. So... that's the deal, then. Give me a big plot of land to call my kingdom, and don't hurt any bees or bee hives. In return, I'll serve you."

Honestly, it wasn't like she had anything else to be doing.

 

Lady Anette Josephine Liselotte Yvonne Olivia Zella von Brandt I. stared blankly into @Temperance's wooden mask. Was this... confusion? Just for a split second, the white-hair seemed genuinely confused. Confused that her utterly ridiculous plan had actually worked. "Heh..." A smirk full of confidence. Of course, it worked! She was Lady Anette Josephine Liselotte Yvonne Olivia Zella von Brandt I., after all!

Alas, it wasn't time to celebrate just yet. As the red-eye had finished the contract, things took a turn for the worse. "Bees..." Lady Annette muttered. "Ze Bees..." They were one of nature's most terrifying creatures. Everybody was afraid of them. One of humankind's most dangerous predators. One bee? Sure, pffsh. No problem.

But Bees are Legion.
​

Everybody who spends enough time to play video games knew that.

"Ha...hahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHA!" The girl laughed maniacally. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" It seemed terrifyingly, stereotypically, maniacal German.

And she had just tamed a Bee spirit! Well, technically a bee-hive spirit, but who cared about the small print anyways.

"Ja! A great beehive spirit, such a powerful being zat can..." ...only heal and screw with the undead? Could spirits have standard-classes, too? "Well..." That was kind of a bummer. Now, she'd need a tank or melee DPS, or something!

"Alright, Ms. Bienenstich!" She still had to take care of the slimes. "See zis forest around you? It's mine. It still is, but now it's yours too. Anyone vho has a problem vith zat can come to me and I set zem straight." Simple as that. Shouldn't a beehive spirit have a beehive on that tree, anyway? Small print.

"Vith zat out of the vay, you don't happen to be able to restore MP, too?" Did a beehive spirit even know what MP meant? "You know, Mana!" If worst came to worst she could also just jump down and punch Mr. Kleks's family into the afterlife. At this level, the difference between a magician and physical fighter shouldn't matter.

 

From a nearby hill, a girl with teal hair, bright blue eyes, and a matching set of kitty ears burst into the scene in a rush, sliding down the hill with a purposeful quickness. It didn’t take long for Celestine to notice the massive army of slimes slowly eroding away some random tree. No way. That many?! Some newbie must’ve been really trigger happy to aggro so many at once. More importantly…

It was hilarious. Celestine giggled at the idea of some newbie up a tree. This was totally worth checking out, even if she was a bit rushed at the moment…

“Hi!” Celestine’s head suddenly burst through the leafy cover of the tree, as she leaned on one of the thicker branches. Once she’d actually taken a good look at the one lady who’d just hopped back down from the tree though, Cel’s cheeks began to redden quickly.

She glanced at the half-naked lady, then to the loli, then the lady, then the loli. “Eww…” she finally commented, scrunching up her nose. That was a lot of exposed skin. Blech. Nasty stuff… and even nastier still if they were doing what Cel thought they were. But: a loli was a loli! She’d assist her by warning her of the impending doom.

“I do not mean to do an interrupt of your...” Celestine paused, looking for the right word to describe just what these two were doing without actually saying it. “...’Fun times.’ But I was just doing a ‘pop in’ to say you should probably not do a remain here. The slime are doing a come for you, and will probably do you a death if you are taking a staying of this place.” Even as she spoke, Celestine sounded like she was a bit rushed.

"And as the payments for this important piece of the informations, I will do an accept of the cuddles." She held her arms out with a stupidly blissful smile, hastily beckoning the loli closer.

"Err... to be of more clearness: not the 'fun time' cuddles. Just the huggle cuddles. I am not liking the 'skin' and... 'other bits.'"