As much as Ben would like to take credit for this rescue mission, he wasn’t the one who turned the odds in their favor with what happened next. In fact, the only thing he could think of in his panic was to raise his hands up and shout - “okay, okay, stop!” in a voice that sounded too much like a squeal.

Besides him, Red gave an exasperated sigh. “Really?” exclaimed the mercenary in disgust. His next words were muttered in a whisper, but Ben heard them nonetheless: “trust the noob to lead and that’s what you get.”

It was, Ben reflected afterward, a bonehead move; surrendering to the guards would only lead to an investigation, which would result in the discovery of the two bodies in Ben and Red’s cell, which would most likely lead to a public hanging or whatever they used here as a death sentence.

Luckily for all of them, Ben wasn’t the only one calling the shots. While all eyes were focused on the interaction between the real and false guards, the black-haired sorceress was momentarily forgotten. Nobody saw her edging closer to the guard that was grasping her friend, nobody noticed how her lips moved as she cast what Ben later learned was a basic spell - one that she could recite from memory, without the need for any spell component or a magical focus. Nobody saw her lightly touching the guard's arm.

The next thing that happened was an electrical jolt that went through the body of the guard who was holding the redhead woman. The man’s hand spasmed violently, causing the sharp blade - much to Ben’s horror - to dig deep into the woman’s throat. It would have been the end of her, but then the other effect of the spell - stun - was triggered, and the man became frozen and unable to move. The woman he was holding, although bleeding heavily, managed to push his immobile hand away from her and slip from his grasp.

Red was the first to recognize the opportunity. “Attack!” he bellowed - and charged forward, unsheathing his sword the rest of the way. He was met head-on by the fat guard, who managed to draw his own short sword in time. There was a resounding clash as the weapons collided, and then the two fighters started to exchange blows. The sounds of steel against steel soon echoed in the narrow corridor.

Ben, who finally managed to overcome his initial shock, had his dagger in his right hand. His eyes were on the redhead - she was stumbling forward, obviously in pain, and he hurriedly caught her arm with his left hand and pulled her behind him. The girl staggered but remained on her feet.

Ben was then faced with a moral dilemma - should he plunge the dagger into the stunned body of the guard? After what happened in the last fight, he could only imagine how his honor status would plummet if he did that. Then again, the guard has made his lethal intentions clear, and this was too good an opportunity to pass by. Making up his mind, Ben bared his teeth and lunged forward, the tip of the dagger posed to penetrate the man’s heart.

In the last possible second, the stun effect of the sorceress’ spell wore off and the guard came to his senses. He only had time to raise his hand in defense, which resulted in Ben’s dagger cutting deeply into his forearm.

You hit City Guard with common dagger for 2 damage.

The man cursed and jumped backward, his leap bringing him a good ten feet away from the raging battle. He also raised his rapier upfront in what seemed to Ben like a professional warrior's stance.

Ben quickly analyzed the situation. He would be no match in a melee against such a fighter, especially not with his dagger. He could try to use his crossbow, but it wasn’t loaded and he didn’t know how long it would take. He glanced at the sorceress, hoping for another spell, but the beautiful woman retreated - either to prepare another spell or just to move out of harm’s way. Ben could think of only one thing to do: he changed the grip on the hilt of his dagger, and threw.

Ben had never thrown a dagger in his life, but he had seen movies, and he knew it basically summed up to a fifty-fifty chance: will the dagger hit with its pointy end, or with the hilt. And for once, luck was on his side - the dagger hit home blade first. The guard tried to dodge but the range was too close for that; he only managed another step backward and then the dagger sliced his leg, right beneath his leather armor. Two prompts quickly flashed by. A damage report, and a new skill:

You hit City Guard with common dagger for 3 damage. Good job! You have discovered a new sub-skill: Dagger Throwing. Indeed, we heard someone say that the most beautiful thing about these short blades is that you can easily hurl them from a distance. Needless to say, this skill can be either extremely deadly in a fight - or earn you a decent living in a circus. As this is a sub-skill of daggers, raising this skill would also contribute to the progress of your daggers skill (1 daggers level per 2 dagger throwing levels). Associated ability: dexterity. Dagger Throwing: level 1 Throwing daggers just became a bit easier for you. 3% more likely to hit. Regular restrictions apply.

By the time the prompt disappeared, Ben saw that the guard was retreating further, dragging his leg and disappearing behind a curve in the corridor. Ben thought of pursuing, but then remembered the bleeding woman and decided to stay by her side.

Meanwhile, Red was clearly having the upper hand in his duel with the remaining guard. The mercenary wore his manic grin on his face as he scored hit after hit on his opponent, and the guard, who wasn’t in the best of states to begin with, gradually gave ground. Red’s killing blow came right after his rival made a stupid, last mistake - he glanced to the side, probably seeking his companion’s help. When he looked back at Red, the mercenary’s sword was there to meet him straight through the eye.

As the dead guard slid from Red’s sword to the floor, the warrior looked up with a feral look in his eyes. “The other one, where is he?” He looked around, but there was no trace of the rapier-wielding guard.

“He escaped,” said the sorceress, who rejoined the group now that the danger has passed. Her melodic voice immediately reminded Ben of Lady Galadriel, the elven queen from “Lord of the Rings”.

Feeling the need to explain (or to boast, depending on one’s point of view), Ben nodded. “I got him twice, but he ran away.”

Red growled and started to give chase, but a weak voice stopped him. “Don’t. I don’t think you can catch him. He has some kind of stealth power.”

Both men turned to look at the redhead, who leaned against the wall. She held her fingers against her throat, doing her best to stop the blood flow.

Ben cursed himself for his lack of action. There’s a damsel in distress in front of you, and what do you do? Stare at her while she’s trying to help herself! He quickly drew his other dagger and bent to cut a long strip of cloth from the dead guard’s uniform. Standing up, he handed the piece of cloth to the woman. “Here, wrap it around your neck until we can properly take care of you.”

The woman nodded gratefully and followed his advice. “Thanks, Ben.” She smiled, and suddenly everything seemed right with the world. “For this, and for everything. You guys saved our butts. I am Shiraz, by the way.”

Ben’s eyes widened. She remembered his name!

Red’s angry snort ruined the moment. “What were you gals thinking? Trying to take these two without weapons? Didn’t you find the daggers hidden in the cell?” He mentioned it as if the credit for the find was his, but Ben didn’t hold it against him. They were a team, after all.

“Well, we were too busy dealing with a high-level ninja guard and his sidekick: a drunken fool with octopus hands.” It was the sorceress, who snapped her comment in a tone not less angry than Red’s. She then turned her blue eyes to Ben, and he was nearly mesmerized by her beauty. “I am Milenna.” She smiled at him sweetly. “Thank you for the timely save. I swear I will remember it for years to come - the naked noob who saved the day.”

That again! Will this incident haunt him for the rest of the game?

Shiraz chuckled softly. “Not so naked now, is he? Lucky for us…” her voice trailed off and her face twisted in pain. Leaning against the wall she took slow, measured breaths. “I am nearly at half my health, we have to get out of here. What’s the plan?”

She was looking at Ben, and for a moment he just looked back. Then he realized she was waiting for him to answer. “Ah, well… we were thinking of bluffing our way to the upper floor…” a thought occurred to him, and his face brightened. “Actually it would be even easier now! We’ll pose as the guards who came to take you two to the lord.”

Milenna gave a snort that rivaled Red’s, which came in very sharp contrast to what Ben imagined as her persona. “And what would you say when they ask about good old Jarod and the dead Bob here? Or about the blood all of you have on your clothes?”

“Ah…” Ben said again, but then closed his mouth. He actually had a few ideas, but seeing how he didn’t manage to fool even “good old Jarod”, maybe the sorceress was right to doubt him.

Milenna sniffed, and for a moment there was silence. Then Shiraz groaned. The cloth around her neck was getting wet with her blood. “Maybe,” she said quietly, “we can look for Jarod.”

Red raised his eyebrows. “You mean the other guard? The one who pulled a vanishing act on us? I thought you said there was no use.”

“I did,” said the redhead. “But he was bleeding, so maybe we can track him and see where he went. Maybe there’s another exit to this prison we don’t know of.”

Ben pondered that possibility. In most games he had played, there were almost always at least two solutions to every problem. Why would it be different here? “I think you’re right,” he said and smiled at her. “We should try.”

The others nodded their agreement, and Red gave Shiraz a lopsided grin. “Try to stay alive for a bit longer; we could use that brain of yours.”

Shiraz only smiled back at the mercenary - which was enough to make Ben instantly jealous. Which was extremely stupid, he knew, but heck, he couldn’t really help his 19 years old hormones taking hold of his wits, could he?

Red told them to wait while he checked the dead guard for loot. When he stood up he handed Shiraz the short sword, gave Milenna a dagger and slipped a few coins into his pocket.

Milenna arched a delicate eyebrow. “No splitting?”

Red cleaned his bloody sword on the guard’s uniforms and straightened. “No,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. “He’s my kill. Besides, I already gave you his weapons.”

Ben expected some kind of argument from the snappy sorceress but was surprised when she simply nodded in acquiescence. Probably some kind of unwritten conduct among players that I’m not yet aware of, he mused.

“Good to go?” asked the Red Mercenary.

“Just a sec,” said Ben, and went to retrieve the dagger he had thrown at Jarod. He sheathed the weapon and nodded. “Let’s go.”

They left Bob’s body behind, his one remaining eye staring at the flickering light of the oil lamp. Then they went down the corridor that led back to Shiraz and Milenna’s cell and from there they had to start looking for the blood of the injured guard.

As Milenna was supporting Shiraz, and Red was scanning for dangers with a drawn sword, it was left to Ben to crouch every few steps and examine the floor. He quickly found that it wasn’t very difficult - quite easy, actually - to find the smears of blood left by Jarod. When they arrived at an intersection, Ben would check every corridor until he saw another bloody mark on the floor. Then he would lead the others in that direction.

His efforts rewarded him with a prompt:

Good Job! You have discovered a new sub-skill: Tracking. Keep looking for those telltale signs, and nobody would be able to escape from you As this is a sub-skill of perception, raising this skill would also contribute to the progress of your perception skill (1 perception level per 2 tracking levels). Associated ability: wisdom. Tracking: level 8 If the footprint is large enough, if the blood is fresh enough, if the smell is strong enough, if the bush is trampled enough - you just might figure out where the trail of your target is. 5% increase per level to the chance of finding easy or new trails. 3% increase per level to the chance of finding half-concealed or partially old trails. 1% increase per level to the chance of finding well-concealed or old trails.

He also got another satisfying notification:

You have gained 4 levels in perception. Current level: 16.

Followed by yet another incredible prompt:

Lo and behold! You have crossed the second threshold (level 15) for your perception skill. Bonus XP for crossing the second threshold: 100. Current XP: 810. Points to next level: 190. You receive the following boons: 15% more likely to discover hidden people and objects. Regular restrictions apply. Perception Power 1: Passive Focus. You may sense hidden people and objects in your immediate vicinity. The hidden target will become clear in your vision, whereas the rest of your vision will become blurred. Note: hidden dangers may also present themselves. Be careful not to confuse a treasure with a trap! Note: while this is a passive ability, it will yield better results in an active search. In time, sensing secrets and dangers - and knowing how to differentiate between them - would become second nature to you.

Ben nearly stopped dead in his tracks after reading those last messages. Up until now he considered his Identify skill as his most amazing one - not because it gave any meaningful advantages, but because it was awesome to see information about people and stuff just by looking at them. It was… out of this world. Now it appeared he would be able to see dangers as well, just like Peter Parker’s spidey sense. An honest to god superpower!

He was also impressed with his relatively high tracking skill - although once again he wasn’t overly surprised, considering some of the things he used to do in RL.

All and all, considering he was still only level 1, it was amazing that he was already so advanced in some of his skills. Again, not that you’d hear him complain. In fact, he found it hard to erase the grin from his face as they went deeper and deeper into the underground tunnels. Here he was, in the company of three beautiful adventurers, questing for the unknown. And he was getting stronger! If only his best friend Mike could see him now. Ben felt so thrilled that he wanted to dance, but then he remembered Red’s laughter after his last little jig, and thought better of it.

The others were quiet as Ben led them away from the crime scene, each one preoccupied with his thoughts (and Shiraz obviously with her pain).

After what seemed to take the better part of an hour, they arrived at a dead end.

This section of the underground floor was devoid of lamps - the only light they now had came from a lamp Red took from a wall some two hundred yards back. It was also colder here, and Ben thought they must have delved deeper below ground level during their short hike.

Seeing a wall blocking their way, Shiraz groaned. “Tell me there’s a way out,” she said pleadingly. “I keep getting bleeding notifications, and dying from blood loss isn’t what I had in mind for the first game session.”

Ben glanced at her, noticing how pale her beautiful face was. Had he led them all to their doom? Can’t be. The blood led here.

Pressing his lips in determination, Ben crouched to examine the floor. Red, without being asked, crouched next to him to give light, and both of the men searched the stone floor.

After a few seconds, Red cursed under his breath. “There’s nothing!” he hissed. “We’re trapped!”

Ben could hear the accusatory tone of his companion, but for once he didn’t let the other man’s words get to him. Focus. He kept looking, searching the entire length of the floor and even brushing his hand lightly across its dusty surface. Was that a footprint? Ben bent closer. He could sense… something. A secret. Was that his new power coming into play? Apparently it was, for suddenly his vision became blurred! Everything went out of focus, except for a thin line across the floor. This crack seemed completely in focus and as Ben followed it with his gaze, he saw that it connected to another line, and then to two others… a square!

Ben blinked and his vision returned to normal, although now he could easily pinpoint the exact location of the lines he saw on the floor. “There’s something here!” he exclaimed in excitement.

“What! Where?” said Red, edging closer to him. Milenna and Shiraz quickly followed suit.

Ben hurriedly dusted off the floor until all of them could see what was hidden beneath: a trapdoor, complete with a stone handle indented in its center.

Shiraz let out a weak “woo-hoo!”, Milenna smiled beautifully, and Red gave Ben a hearty slap on his back (which, once again, nearly sent him sprawling to the floor). “Skin my man!”, laughed the mercenary. “The ever-surprising noob.”

Ben basked for a moment in their praise and then bent to examine the hidden door. He focused again, but his vision remained the same. “I think it’s safe, I don’t sense anything out of place. Red would you?...”

The muscular warrior gave his own chest two taps. “Leave it to good old Red.” The mercenary then grabbed the stone handle and pulled. Ben expected to see his muscles bulge from the effort, but the door wasn’t as heavy as it seemed. It came up easily, and the four of them looked inside.

The first thing they all saw was a ladder that led deeper into the darkness.

The second was blood that was smeared on the first step of the ladder.

“Well helloooo, Jarod,” said Red.

Ben felt a smile creep up his face. If he wasn’t mistaken, they were about to make their way into his very first VR dungeon.