The fleeting sound of chirping greeted Valerie as she opened the glass door leading into her patio overlooking a backyard that most people would have called lavish. The countless, dew-stained blades of grass glistened beneath the morning sun’s rays as she stopped at the edge of the stone porch. She then set down a small case on top of the table next to her, placing her hands on her hips as she then took in a deep breath before slowly exhaling.

Whatever her colleagues might have said, the move had done her good. Granted, the air here in the suburbs wasn’t really that different from that of the city itself, but Valerie had always preferred the outdoors. So, naturally, a small house at the edge of the city appealed to her far more than the gaudy, high-rise penthouse that the precinct had tried to offer her following her discharge.

She sighed, closing her eyes. She then started to stretch, wincing slightly whenever her left shoulder flared up with brief, prickly bouts of pain. Valerie’s days in the field were numbered, but that didn’t mean that she was content to just sit around, doing nothing, despite the fact that her social bracket would have allowed her to do exactly that. But even so, her new role as the precinct’s combat instructor didn’t really give her much to do outside of the few hours every week that she had to spend training her colleagues and the rare, occasional recruit.

With that said, Prism’s launch could not have come at a better time for her. Since her physical therapist forbade her from moving around too much apart from her morning routine, the game had stopped her from going completely stir-crazy, cooped up inside her house. And the fact that she had even met a bunch of people to party up with had also come as a pleasant surprise.

“Okay,” she groaned as she finished stretching. Grabbing the small case, Valerie opened it to reveal a slim pair of glasses. With the frames’ lightweight band firmly wrapped around her head, she tapped the side of the glasses as a projection of her therapist appeared before her.

“Good morning, lieutenant,” smiled the avatar of the woman standing in front of Valerie. “How’s the pain today?”

“The same as yesterday, doc. It’s manageable,” she answered. “Now, let’s get to it!”

After forty-five minutes, having worked up a decent amount of sweat, Valerie took off the AR glasses and bid her therapist farewell for the day. A short shower later, she found herself standing in front of the large, pearl-white VR capsule installed in the corner of her bedroom. She checked the time and stepped inside as the mechanism beneath the layer of foam whirred to life, adapting to her posture as she laid down. Finally, with the capsule’s electrodes fixed to her arms and legs, she donned the game’s VR Visor and closed her eyes.

Valerie then found herself in the wooden room inside of her lobby, her stiffness and pain completely gone. She made her way into the stone antechamber, passed the blue bonfire, and through the swirling portal nestled inside of the chamber’s furthest alcove.

You have become Well Rested!

“Hello, sleepyhead.”

Vala yawned, wiping a tear away as Lilly greeted her from the other side of the room, sitting on a chair in front of a small table. “Hey,” she answered, glancing at one of the two other beds where the motionless body of their blonde healer was resting. “You’re back already?”

“Yeah,” replied Lilly. “I just took a shower and grabbed a bite to eat.”

On the table in front of the brown-haired woman, Vala noticed the innkeeper’s gun. “What’re you up to with that?”

Lilly grinned, picking up the weapon and aiming it out the window in front of her. “I was just inspecting it a bit since I haven’t actually had the chance to do it until now.”

“Mind if I take a look at it?” asked Vala.

“Knock yourself out.”

Stone Bolter

A basic spellgun capable of shooting stone projectiles by converting the wielder’s mana into Stonebolts. Despite its middling accuracy outside its effective range, this weapon’s Stonebolts do at least boast a considerably high base damage.

Effective Range: ~25m (~82ft)

Mana Cost: 15/Stonebolt

Maximum Fire Rate: 1/1.5sec

Equipment Slot:One-handed WeaponEncumbrance:2

Durability:25/25Base Damage:7-10

The polished, wooden grip felt comfortable inside Vala’s palm. The cloudy, crystalline spine ran down all the way up through the grip into which it was embedded, continuing into the base of the spellgun’s short barrel. Atop the muzzle, stood a delicate metal sight, fastened into the surprisingly sturdy ironwood.

Turning it around and inspecting it on all sides, Vala looked outside and grinned as she shifted her attention back towards Lilly. “What do you say we go out and take this thing out for a few rounds? We still have at least a couple more hours ‘til the others get back.”

“You’ve read my mind,” Lilly winked before getting up from the table. Downstairs, Wade kept himself busy, scurrying through the hall and in and out of the kitchen. And next to the entrance, the young guard named Oren stood watch, nodding as the two of them left the inn.

With Lilly leading the way, they were soon outside of Harkon, following the town’s walls until they had reached a quiet glade. The two then quickly went to work, searching for and placing various stones and logs along a fallen tree trunk at the far side of the small glade.

“Well, this should do it,” said Vala as she eyed the distance between her and their makeshift targets. “How about a friendly little wager to keep things interesting?”

Raising her brow, Lilly stared straight at her and asked. “Got anything specific in mind?”

“Six shots each,” Vala answered, handing the spellgun back to Lilly, grip first. “Whoever hits the most targets dead on, pays for the other’s next dinner. I’ve already got Bane buying me dessert, so I might as well get the complete set.”

“You’re on! Don’t even think about backing out now,” grinned Lilly as she walked in front of the log sporting their targets. Raising the spellgun with both of her hands, the brown-haired woman took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She then aimed and fired, shattering the first stone target that they had placed. “That’s one… two, three, four, shit…”

Like clockwork, the first four targets shattered as the spellgun’s Stonebolts whirred through the air, its crystal spine leaking gray light through Lilly’s fingers whenever she fired. The fifth, however, had escaped her wrath not once, but twice. “Well, I was hoping for all six, but this’ll have to do,” said Lilly, a smug smirk spreading across her lips.

“Indeed,” Vala muttered, taking the spellgun and aiming it at her first target. Its weight felt right as she aimed using the small iron sight. “So, I just have to think about firing this thing?”

Lilly answered her with a small nod as Vala tightened her fingers around the grip ever so slightly. She imagined firing a Stonebolt and, almost instantaneously, the spellgun followed suit, hurling a stone projectile towards the small log that was her first target. Although she missed, the Stonebolt had glanced the log, tipping it over as it shot by.

“Not bad, not bad at all!” said Lilly, a hint of surprise present in her tone. “Who knows, maybe you’ll–”

The brown-haired woman’s voice trailed off as Vala adjusted her aim and fired off five rounds in quick succession, hitting all the other targets dead center. A moment later, the chime of a new system notification resounded within her head.

You have gained the Sharpshooter skill! (Passive Skill)!

Sharpshooter (Passive Skill)

Rank:ApprenticeLevel: 1 (3.0%)

Your impressive skill with firearms allows you to more accurately target a foe’s vital areas, thus increasing the damage and critical damage you deal when using Spellguns.

Bonus Spellgun Damage: +5.0%

Bonus Spellgun Critical Damage: +5.0%

“H-how?” Lilly stammered, slack jawed by the display that she had just witnessed.

“Practice,” Vala giggled as she patted Lilly on the back. “Up for round two?”

Finally finding her words, Lilly rushed next to her. “You should have this!” the brown-haired woman exclaimed, pressing the spellgun into Vala’s hand. “Compared to me, you’ll be able to put it to far better use!”

“No thanks,” she winked as she pushed the weapon back. “I’d much rather be front and center than fight from a distance. But that doesn’t mean I can’t teach you a thing or two, since you’re already pretty good yourself.”

****

With Zeph by his side, Drake walked into the inn’s mess hall only to find a sea of people swarming around one of the tables.

“Miss Mia! Please, take this!”

“What can we ever do to repay you?”

Groaning loudly, Wade stomped his way towards the mob of dwarfs and miners. “Alright!” the burly innkeeper thundered. “That’s enough out of you lot! Can’t you see that you’re making her uncomfortable?!”

Protests and arguments erupted throughout the crowd, however they quickly dispersed as a chair creaked back and Vala stood up, towering above everyone else by almost half a head.

Next to her, their blushing healer forced herself to respond. However, she didn’t dare raise her head as she spoke. “I’m sorry everyone, but I can’t accept your kind offers… I feel like I would be taking advantage of you all. So, could you please find it in your hearts to do as I ask?”

Faced with Mia’s sincere plea, the commotion quickly died down as everyone went about their business and returned to their tables. And as Drake finally approached his party, he noticed that both Dhek and Kim were already there.

“There he is!” said Bane. “What took you so long?”

“Sorry,” Drake apologized. “I finally managed to get a hold of Arthur, so we briefly went over everything that happened.”

Taking a final sip from her flagon, Kim got up and gestured towards the door. “If all of you are ready, then we should get going.”

Everyone nodded and, in between the farewells and good wishes of everyone around them, they all made their way outside as Wade came out after them, holding a small knapsack.

“I’ve taken the liberty of packing a few supplies for all of you,” said the innkeeper, handing Lilly the package.

“Thanks, Wade,” she said as she then smiled and hugged him, causing the man to sigh dejectedly as he gently patted her on the back. “You take care of yourself, alright?”

“Heh, you’re one to talk!” the innkeeper laughed. “Try not to be a nuisance to everyone else, you hear?”

One eyeroll later, they all bid Wade farewell and soon found themselves sitting inside of Kim’s wagon, zipping through the forest surrounding Harkon. Sitting in front of the wagon, Dhek kept his eyes on the road ahead, seemingly lost in thought as Kim minded the wagon, her purple hair fluttering freely in the autumn breeze.

“Hey,” said Bane using the party wide chat function. “I think this is as good of a time as any to tell them.”

Drake sighed, closing his eyes to avoid the weight of his friend’s gaze as he then also heard his spirit’s voice.

“He’s right, you know, boss.”

“Tell us what?” Lilly asked, her interest and curiosity already piqued.

Another sigh escaped Drake as he took out the Rune Guide that Roy had left him. He then flipped a couple of pages and stopped at a passage that had been scribbled in haste compared to neat and orderly text found throughout the rest of the old tome. “It’s about a message that my master left me,” he said, handing Lily the tome. Her eyes then started skimming through the lines, growing wider as she neared the end of Roy’s entry.

“Whatever developers wrote this questline,” said Lilly as she passed the tome to Vala, “they really have a sense of humor.”

“Hello runt,” said Vala, reading the master’s message aloud, “I trust that by now, you’ve managed to patch things up with your spirit. I’m sorry that I had to disappear like that, but both the Royal Court and the Guild are in disarray right now (I’m sure it’s not hard to imagine why). And the Four Houses aggressively trying to stick their pompous noses into every institution’s business isn’t really of much help either. Everyone’s scrambling to try and bring as many Strangers into the fold as possible, and they’re all getting increasingly desperate. No surprises there.

“As I’m sure you realized, we wanted to get in front of this, so me taking you in wasn’t just something I did on a whim. But I’m glad I wasn’t wrong about you. Which brings me to my next point: Drake, while you might be a decent young man, albeit a bit aimless at times, not everyone shares your way of thinking. In fact, we’ve been getting a disturbing number of reports linking Strangers to everything from robberies and arsons, to murders and much worse…

“Now, I know that I don’t have to worry when it comes to you turning your power against others without proper cause. You don’t commit such atrocities because it simply isn’t in your nature. You don’t need another reason to lower your blade. You need a reason to raise it. This might just very well be a game to those Strangers. And if so, in their minds, it most definitely isn’t anything more than just a harmless opportunity to blow off some steam.

“But, in case the past couple of days haven’t demonstrated the arrogance in that line of reasoning, in case having a spirit share your consciousness and your every thought wasn’t enough, allow this bitter, old fool to make one final attempt to convince you of the opposite. Should you ever find yourself in a fight with an Enoan, look into their eyes. And should you find them lacking in humanity, then, by all means, strike and sever the strings of that soulless puppet. For if even that isn’t enough to prove to you that this is no mere game, then I fear those Strangers might actually be right.

“And with that, I must once again take my leave. I hope you can forgive my ramblings, incoherent as they might be, along with my shoddy penmanship. Stay safe, runt.”

Silence befell the rest of the group as Lilly raised a brow and glanced around at them. “Really, no reaction?” she asked. “Come on! That’s some quality flavor text right there!”

Next to her, Mia took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as her lips then stretched into a thin, sullen line. “I… I don’t really know what to say.”

“Oh, you can’t be serious!” Lilly exclaimed. “Think of the implications. Do you mean to tell me that you actually think that the NPCs in Prism are sentient?! Please, be reasonable.”

She had a point. Drake knew that she did. But then again, so did Roy…

“Honestly? I’m a bit on the fence as well,” said Vala as she handed the tome back to Drake. “If you would have shown me this just a few hours ago, I would’ve agreed with you in a heartbeat. But having seen Khaddar’s eyes… I can’t help but feel like there’s something more to it.”

Stunned, Lilly simply turned to look at Bane and Drake as the lycan scratched the back of his ears and spoke. “I’m nowhere near smart enough to actually make sense of all the things that need to be unpacked from that message. The way I see it, if this really is a game, then us continuing to roleplay as the kind and moral heroes won’t really change anything. But if it actually turns out that this is some strange, Matrix sort of situation, then it’s still no skin off our noses!”

“Matrix?” Mia asked, looking rather confused.

“An old movie,” Drake smiled as the tome within his hand vanished into his inventory. Meanwhile, Lilly had dropped her head into her hands, rubbing her temples as she sighed.

Sliding next to her, Mia wrapped her arm around the brown-haired woman’s back. “A-are you okay?” she asked, forgetting to actually use the party’s chat.

“Yeah,” Lilly mumbled. “I’m just… very confused right now.”

“Good to hear that!” Kim’s voice resounded from the front of the floating wagon. “For a second there, I thought that you didn’t believe in my driving skills!”

“No such thing!” Lilly smiled as she eyed Kim. “And I believe I also heard some interesting tidbits on how you’re the perfect woman to talk to when it comes to information of any kind.”

Turning back to steal a peek, the information broker flashed her a knowing smirk. “I might be, miss Lilly.”

“In that case, I hope you won’t mind if we keep in touch.”

“Not at all,” said Kim. “In fact, I’d encourage it.”

“If I were you, I’d be careful around her,” said Bane. “She hangs around in some… interesting circles.”

“I’ll take that under advisement,” grinned Lilly.

Much to everyone’s surprise, Dhek finally decided to talk, breaking whatever vow of silence he had imposed upon himself for the past few hours as he stared at Bane and Vala. “Speaking of keeping in touch, would you mind taking me to see my brother in Alissey? Outside of Troria and Harkon, I’ve never actually been anywhere else until now…”

“We need to swing by his place as well,” said Vala. “So that won’t be an issue.”

Hearing this, the dwarf sighed in relief as he thanked them and leaned back against the thick canvas covering the wagon. Moments later, Dhek was out like a light.

“That also brings up an interesting topic,” said Bane, making use of their party chat again. “What are we all going to do once we finish these quests? Do you all still want to go together as a party?”

“I don’t see why not,” smiled Mia.

“I suppose there are worse things I could be doing,” said Lilly as she rolled her eyes in the most exaggerated fashion possible.

“That sounds good to me,” Vala nodded.

“Don’t look at me,” Drake sighed at Bane. “Unfortunately, I’m stuck with you for the time being.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said the lycan, shaking his head. “Well, if that’s the case, what do you all say about us forming a guild?”

“A guild?” Vala asked. “How’s that going to work? And isn’t Drake already part of the Mages Guild?”

“You can have more than one guild,” answered Bane. “Quite a few people online have started talking about it. You also get a few perks to go along with it, like a smaller experience penalty and the ability to set up a guild headquarters!”

“That… does sound cool,” said Drake.

“Yeah. That’s all fine and dandy,” Lilly agreed, “but what about a name?”

Seeing the overly eager grin on his pal’s face, Drake sighed. “I take it you’ve already thought of one?”

“Solace.”