Horses pulled a driver-less wagon down a long dirt road covered by a canopy of thick trees with dark green leaves and yellow bulbous flowers. The party had been travelling throughout the night and had made it into the forest known as Spongewood.

Bing!

“You have just left the region of Principium.” Fairy informed them with a cheer. “You have just completed the tutorial.”

The group sat around a long table in the hall of the magical wagon. Before them was spread a large leather map. Looks were exchanged, and the fairy continued.

“Successful completion of the tutorial level awards bonus EXP depending on the amount of participation.”

“Clemiticus had been awarded, rank B.”

“Derrick has been awarded, rank B minus.”

“Melly has been awarded, rank A.”

“Nuecus has been awarded, rank E minus.”

Melly couldn’t help but feel a rush of pride. She looked around and noticed nods of approval from all the others.

“Skittles has been awarded, S.”

“Really?” Melly spat, flinging her arms into the air. “What did that feathered freak even do?”

Fairy eyed the frustrated ranger then nodded. “Skittles has been awarded with completion of the tutorial rank S. Requirements for grade, quest, one. Be a parrot. Success rate, one hundred percent.”

“Way to go buddy!” Clemiticus encouraged.

Melly rolled her eyes.

Fairy cleared its throat and continued. “Successful tutorial completion awards EXP based on grade.”

“Clemiticus has reached level 12.”

“Derrick has reached level 10.”

“Melly has reached level 11.”

“Nuecus has reached level 10.”

“Skittles has reached level 10.”

“Your ultimate decision on your class and character will now be finalised. If you wish to change any more customisation, this will be the last time you can edit your character.”

The party members looked at one another. Suddenly, a large blue sign flashed into existence before each of them.

Clemiticus laughed as he viewed his character page.

“What the hell is all this garbage?” Nuecus asked.

Melly wanted to know that too. She was looking at a miniature picture of herself on one side and a load of numbers and words on the other.

“This is our character sheet. We can customise our body and assign stats as well.” Clemiticus informed them. “It looks like we gain a stat point per level!”

Melly looked at her stats sheet:

Melly the furious. Ranger. Level 11.

Strength 14.

Agility 24.

Stamina 4.

Luck 5.

Intelligence 18.

Wisdom 15.

Charm 15.

Melly observed a flashing number on the bottom right corner. ‘Assign 10 stat points’. Her stamina was very low. Melly remembered all the times she had followed Clemiticus only to be exhausted while he was always fresh and ready for more. She snuck a peak at the loon’s character sheet and spotted his stamina stat. It was twenty-two.

Her finger fell on the plus sign next to stamina and she mashed the button ten times.

The others all poked and prodded their character stats in deep concentration. Skittles head butted his own glowing screen with an audible thud.

Melly held her finger over the customised 'character looks' button and turned to the glowing helper above.

“Fairy, when we finalise our character what will happen?” she asked.

“Your character will be permanently locked to the current customisation. You may receive additional cosmetics and stat points later but your base looks will be set forever.”

“Forever?” Nuecus asked.

Fairy nodded, “forever.”

They all gasped, except for Clemiticus who looked like he had already finished.

Melly pressed the button to edit her body and was bombarded with a complete list of customisations. Large bars that slid up and down changed her miniature avatar before her eyes. She looked down at the two most prominent features that had shocked her a few days before. She slid them far to the left and turned up her nose. She then turned the bar far to the right.

Melly laughed. She couldn’t help herself. The comical vision of her miniature self with gigantic balloons was terrible. She then moved the bar back to where it was originally and then, after a moment’s hesitation slightly to the right.

Melly looked over to see the boys were too busy with their own customisations to notice her comical experiment. Her thoughts drifted to the spiteful words her mother had spoken so long ago. She was never good enough, never up to her mother’s standards of beauty. She clenched her teeth and moved the bar one bit more to the right. The one thing she had noticed since she had joined Clemiticuses’ party was that gravity somehow lost most of its effect on certain areas.

She would never admit it out loud but she was extremely pleased with the results. Melly's finger trailed over other parts of her body and moved certain bars in slight variations. Sections of her body more firm and slim while others became more curvaceous. When she was happy with the result, she planted her finger on finalise and a bell rang out.

Bing. Bing. Bing. Bing. Bing.

“All party members' stats and characters have been finalised,” Fairy sang.

“Awesome.” Clem clapped. “What do you put your stats into?”

“Wisdom!” announced a younger, more toned Nuecus.

“Intelligence,” replied a shorter Derrick his beard looking silkier, richer and redder, if that were possible.

“Stamina.” added Melly. She crossed her arms and sunk lower into her seat.

Clemiticus nodded and threw two thumbs up.

“All Luck baby!”

Melly caught a flash of feathers above as skittles flew to a top shelf.

Damn bird. Melly thought. It had a gleam in its eye she couldn’t trust.

“Well anyway, let’s get back to it,” Clemiticus indicated at the map on the table.

The extent of the Spongewood forest was outlined roughly on the map. To the far south-east was Lobee Village and further south was Bluehill town. Two places they had left worse for wear. The large map illustrated the expanse of ocean and the landmasses they needed to circumnavigate to get to their destination. It was a great deal further than they had travelled so far.

Their next stop was a town called Anchorside. A port town with ample room to dock or launch a vessel. The flickering blue light of the fairy flashed as the tiny creature landed on the map.

“Fairy!” Clemiticus smiled.

"Yes? My most wise and handsome master."

Melly harrumphed and rolled her eyes.

"Please give us the full description of the Queen quest thingy."

The fairy bowed low. "Certainly, master. The quest 'Queen of the Ashenstone City is located in the land far to the East. To complete the quest, Clemiticus’ party must confront and defeat the evil witch. The story description is as follows. A most devious and powerful entity known as the Queen Witch of Ashenstone has discovered the existence of Clemiticus and his party. Sensing a minor threat, she sent dark and mysterious zealot mages to destroy the party. This plan backfired. Instead of vanquishing her minor foe she managed to amplify the threat tenfold. She will stop at nothing until Clemiticus, and everyone in his party has met a disturbingly gruesome end."

Melly gasped, Derrick grumbled, Nuecus sighed, and Clemiticus cheered.

The three stared at their fearless and optimistic party leader.

"Clem, you have issues!" Derrick said dryly.

"Ahem. I have not finished." The Fairy spoke sharply. "If you defeat the queen on this land, she will simply be teleported to the Ashenstone City. However, if you travel to her tower and confront her there you shall be indefinitely victorious."

Nuecuses' countenance brightened and a broad smile appeared on his face.

"Rewards include ownership of Ashenstone City. The quest chain reward includes: A million EXP, one million gold each and a legendary item!"

Clemiticus whistled.

Melly stared at Derrick. She could not believe her ears. She and her father had lived in poverty their entire lives. This was a chance at a future she had always dreamt about.

"So, we need to get over this ocean?" Melly pointed at the map.

Clemiticus chuckled. "Luckily, one of us is a swashbuckling pirate!" He polished his nails on his tunic and flicked something non-existent off his shoulder.

Melly ignored the man and eyed the splotch on the map labelled stone tower.

"Melly?" Derrick questioned his daughter as he examined her face. "You, OK?"

"Ah, yes." She turned red. "I ah." She looked over at Clemiticus. "Let's do it."

"Huzzah!" Nuecus cheered.

"Huzzah indeed. But first, don't we need some sort of crew?" Derrick asked. "Like this thing may turn into a ship like you said Nuecus. But don't we need people to help us run this thing?"

Nuecus looked around and sighed. "You're right. It gets pretty big. And I think with this evil queen looking for us we will need all the help we can get."

"How far till Anchorside?" asked Clemiticus. They also needed proper supplies. Mainly food and water.

"Not too much longer," Derrick answered. He pointed at the map. "Over an hour to the town to the north and then a few days to get to Pirate bay."

"We still need to talk about that," Melly interjected. "How are we going to get through there without being spotted?"

"Oh, that's easy," Clemiticus answered confidently. "We don't."

"We what?” Melly rebuked.

At that exact moment, the whole carriage jolted as the horses ploughed into something solid.

"WTF?" Clemiticus shouted as he smacked his head on the table.

"Yoo hoo!?" A cheerful sing-song voice echoed outside. It was distinctly male and all too optimistic.

Oh, no. Not another Clemiticus. Melly thought in dismay.

They all poked their heads out of the carriage and saw a large tree blocking the road. The horses had stupidly walked right into it.

"Seriously?" Melly spat.

"I say once more. Yoo hoo!?" the voice rang out once more.

The blue fairy flashed and announced. "A new event has started."

They looked around the area. The path was still covered in trees. It was mid-morning, and the air was calm and cool. A flash of movement was spotted from atop a tree to their left. A man in brown clothes appeared and swung from a rope above, landing on top of the fallen log.

"Ah, ha! Stand and deliver!" The man bellowed in triumph.

The cheerful thief wore dusty travelling clothes and had a curved blade by his side. He was handsome in a rugged, rebellious sort of way. Complete with short black hair and a rather impressive curled moustache.

Clemiticus clapped excitedly. “Nice landing.”

“Why thank you!” the bandit replied.

"Defeat the bandits to complete the event." Fairy, the fairy announced.

"Defeat us?" the bandit replied. "What in the blazes is that sparkly blue git. And why does it think you have a chance to beat us?"

Melly growled. It looked like she was right. Another Clemiticus character had appeared before them. This one was a little shorter and seemed to have even more pep in his step. "I am so sick of this shit."

Clemiticus stepped forward and raised a balled fist theatrically, "Ney villain. We shall be the ones to vanquish you, sir."

The bandits' head cocked to one side. "Villain? You are one to talk. Aren't you a pirate?"

"Yaarr." Clem cheerfully replied.

The bandit shook his head. "Okay. Any-who. I say this once more. Since you seem deaf or stupid..."

Both, Melly thought bitterly.

"Stand and deliver!" the bandit commanded. "All of your valuables now belong to us."

"Shall I attack?" Derrick asked as he pulled out his magical tool.

"I'll help," Melly added and looked for something heavy.

The two ambled beside Clemiticus and brandished their weapons.

"No you don’t!" The bandit wiggled his finger disapprovingly. “You little rascals. Ready, boys?”

An entourage of heads poked out of shrubs, trees, bushes and ditches. There were at least twenty of them. All wearing brown travelling tunics, holding curved blades and ready for a fight.

Clemiticus paused, and Melly sighed. It was time to make a plan. Clemiticus may be crazy, but for some strange reason his plans worked out in their own little way. Things might always look grim, but she knew Clemiticus would be victorious in the end.

Somehow.

Clem looked over the main bandit's head and gave the man a wide smile. "You are the only one to have a name above your head. That means you are the leader."

The bandit shook his head in confusion. "Well, of course, sir. I lead these fine loyal men."

Clemiticus read out the man's name. "Rupert Lowbags. Hm..."

The bandit froze. "How, how did you know my name?"

"Hush!" Clem reprimanded and looked over his shoulder. "Fairy?"

"Yes, master?"

"Are these mobs hostile?" he queried excitedly.

"To your party members, yes."

"And to me?"

"No. They are neutral because of the restrictions and benefits of your current class."

"And that means what, exactly?" Melly interjected. "They will kill us and leave you?"

"Nope. I'm a Pirate, and they are bandits. We're the same people but work in different circles. Fairy, can I inspect that Rupert guy?"

"Hey! Listen to me! I’m here to rob you, and I may even let you live." Rupert shouted.

Clemiticus ignored him and poked at a blue box that materialised in front of him.

"What in the blazing hell is that?"

Clemiticus dismissed the confused bandit with a wave and continued his work. "OK, here you are. Rupert Lowbags. Says you are a level thirteen bandit with leadership skills."

"Would you like to peruse the reputation options?" Fairy asked.

"Yeah, definitely. Oh, look." Another box flashed up, and Clemiticus smirked. "I can contract a bandit as a mercenary if I wish."

"Like hell I would ever work for a man like you! Right, men?"

Jeers echoed as every bandit swore and growled at the insult.

"Costs ten percent of total earnings to hire a leader and a further one per cent per follower." Clemiticus shrugged and clicked on the accept button.

Rupert's expression instantly reversed and the sing-song man shouted. "We shall follow this man into the bowels of hell itself!"

Every bandit cheered in excitement.

Melly let out a cry of exasperation. "Seriously?"

"Clemiticus has created a temporary contract with the Bandits of Spongewood. Bandits' primary class can evolve into 'Piracy' once they have mastered the basics of sailing."

Clemiticus turned to his party members and gave them a reassuring thumbs-up. "We got ourselves a crew."

Melly shook her head. "Some people never struggle."