Gilly and I get back to mining. My resolve is doubled as I’m reminded why I’m down here. I use Gambler’s Boon without reservation. I’m not going to make 500 grand in a couple of months by playing it safe. I need to risk it big to win big.

I’m so into mining ore that I barely notice when I ding another level. And then another. I hardly even notice that Gilly is having a conversation with me, that I only occasionally acknowledge with an “uh huh” or an “oh yeah?”

Only when a powerful yell resounds throughout the cavern do I stop and look up from my grind. “What the heck was that?”

Both Gilly and I turn about sharply to see a group of players pouring into the cavern. The player who had yelled is still yelling; releasing a powerful warcry as she charges ahead of the pack.

And she is the most stunning woman I have ever seen.

She dwarfs the other players surging behind her and is three quarters the height of the twelve foot tall mountain troll she slams into with her marvelously ornate white shield.

The huge beast grunts, winded from the blow and from the bar above its head I see it lose over half of its HP. The woman then finished the rest of the bar off with a quick swipe from a glowing white blade that looks as big as I am.

The giant woman activates another ability with a second powerful warcry and all the trolls in the room react to it, bellowing as they begin to charge at her. I half expect her to run, but she stands her ground. I swear I see a grin part her ruby stained lips as her coal gray eyes gleam under a set of dark brows. Her jaw is wide and strong and framed by a head of platinum blonde hair.

To say that she’s beautiful is an understatement. But she’s much more than that. This woman is powerful, intimidating. If presence were an attribute she’d have over 100! I almost feel sorry for the trolls as they slam into her like in a wall of gray flesh.

Instantly half of them are stunned by a flash of white light that comes from her sword as she raises it high above her head. She keeps yelling and slamming into the trolls, keeping their attention as the rest of her party catches up to her. When they do, she cries out in booming voice that sounds like it belongs to a goddess.

“Hit them now, Thanus!”

From far behind her I hear one of the mages begin to chant. Then a half second later the air above the trolls’ heads opens up in a massive dark void and bolts of lightning shoot from it like rain. The accompanying thunder is deafening and reverberates in my chest. The dozen or so mountain trolls take more damage than I’ve seen in my life and fall to the ground as their health bars delete to zero in less than a second.

“Wow…” Gilly says next to me looking stunned. “That was cool.”

I can’t help but agree.

As the corpses of the fallen trolls begin to disappear the giant woman strides from within them, headed toward us! I still can’t get over how tall she is. At first I think she’s elven, but she’s not slender like an elf, more buff like an amazon. And her ears are normal like a human’s, not pointed.

I check her character to see who and what she is.

Name: Val Helena

Sex: Female

Race: Half Giant

Class: Paladin

Level: 85

Guild: Ragnarok

Holy crap! A max level character!

Her full-plate mail armor gleams like it’s made from ivory and is trimmed in gold with a royal blue underlay. Her shield is embossed with a massive gold cross and her sword the same, which, up close, looks more like a long sword built for her proportions, except to me it looks more like a two-handed claymore.

I take a quick peek at her armor set.

Royal Holy Knight’s Circlet: +20 Valor +30 TP

Royal Holy Knight’s Breastplate: +850 HP +30 VIT +30 STR +30 Valor

Royal Holy Knight’s Gauntlets: +350 HP +20 STR +20 MND

Royal Holy Knight’s Grieves: +850 HP +10 STR +10 AGL

Royal Holy Knight’s Boots: +350 HP +20 VIT

Royal Holy Knight’s Shield: +100 Valor +100 TP

Royal Holy Knight’s Sword: +30 STR +30 MND +30 Valor

My mouth literally hangs open. I’ve never seen such amazing looking gear and on such an amazing looking character. The combination is enough to make my mind froth in a wicked combination of adulation and envy.

Val Helena towers over Gilly and I as she comes to a stop before us and I have to crane my neck to see her gorgeous face. She has to be a couple feet taller than me!

She rests a gauntlet clad hand on her hip and then lets out an exasperated sigh. “What are a couple of noobs like you doing down here?”

Her voice sounds amazing to me, even with the insult: deep and sultry, like a hot teacher or someone’s hot mom. She even looks a little older like that, too. Not cute like Gilly, but actually kind of intimidating. A mature woman who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to demand it. My heart is pounding and I can’t tell if it’s from excitement, my libido or just plain fear.

“Hey!” She snaps her fingers in my face. “Can you hear me down there? I said what are you doing here?”

“We’re mining, what’s it look like?” Gilly snaps back unfazed. “And what’s it to you?”

“Mining, huh?” A male warrior in red-plated samurai armor sidles up next to Val Helena. He’s got a dark full beard and a top knot that reaches to Val-Helena’s chest plate. “I’m betting they’re spies.”

Spies?

Gilly and I share a look of confusion and I send her an in-party message that the new-comers can’t see: “What are they talking about?”

“No idea.”

“What guild are you guys with?” Val Helena demands more than asks.

It takes me a second to remember it myself, since I never really interact with anyone on there, besides Gilly. “The Nasgar Labor Union.”

“Yes, I can see that much from your character info, Reece,” Val Helena says sardonically. “I mean your real guild. The one you use for your main class?”

“This is my main class.”

The male warrior laughs—whose name is Zeke and is level 45, when I check it. “I bet you guys are snooping for Storm Raiders. They’re always trying to steal LM claims from us, man.”

Val Helena sucks her teeth with a look of disgust. “Would be just our luck. We finally get an LM spawn all to ourselves and this happens. I bet they start showing up in two minutes and start camping on top of us. The pricks.”

LM claims? Camping on top of us? I got no clue what these guys are talking about.

“Maybe they’re just here to get the TOD,” a new person who’s just joined us says. It’s the mage who casted the lightning storm magic—Thanus, I remember Val Helena calling him. He’s like the exact opposite of her though; a male Halfling who’s barely four feet tall and dressed in dark robes with funky magic symbols all over them. “I know I used to do that when I was low level. Used to sell it to the high-end guilds for like 10k a pop.”

“What’s a TOD?” Gilly says.

Van Helena regards us both quizzically. “Maybe these guys really are just noobs.”

I ignore her statement, since it’s probably accurate and look to Thanus. “What was that about 10k a pop?”

Whatever the heck it was, if I could leave here with it and trade it for 10k, I would have hit the jackpot.

The Halfling, who looks like an old man just laughs at me. “Go look it up yourself, you lazy noob.”

“On it,” Gilly says through the party chat and then her eyes glaze over.

“Anyway…” Val Helena gives us an eye roll. “You two better clear out of here. An LM is about to spawn and it’s got a massive AOE attack. If you’re not clear of here you’re both going to die real quick.”

I at least know what AOE means. Area of Effect. Kind of like that lightning storm thing Thanus used.

Val Helena turns on her low-heeled boot and begins to stride away, giving me a mesmerizing view of her armor clad hips as they rock from side to side. Zeke and Thanus leave with her and she begins issuing them orders like a battlefield commander.

“Zeke, take your party and clear out the adds as they respawn. Top up your rage meters and save them for when the LM pops.”

“Will do.”

“Thanus, make sure your guys all use some kind of mana regen food. Especially the healers. This thing hits like a truck. I’m going to need to be kept topped up at all times.”

“Got it.”

“But don’t over heal either. Remember this is a marathon. Conserve where you can. And tell them not to spam heals. Get them to set up a healing order and alternate the heals between themselves. This thing’s got a rock throw that will one shot the entire back row if they pull hate off me, even for a second.”

I find myself listening in on their conversation as they further depart. I’ve still got no clue what she’s talking about, but Val Helena really seems to know her stuff and by the way her guys respond to her, it makes me want to respect her even more. You had to respect someone who’s reached that level and has that kind of gear, but even more so when they know in-depth game mechanics and can lead a raiding party.

I’m so enthralled with their conversation that I don’t even notice the huge shadow that falls over me. It’s only when yells from the rest of Val Helena’s party, who is waiting by the cavern entrance, hits me, that I get the hint that something is wrong.

“Pop!” they keep shouting. “Pop! Pop!”

Val Helena stops dead in her tracks and looks over her pauldron clad shoulder. I follow her gaze to see a mountain troll standing right behind me! But it’s no ordinary troll. It’s about twice the size of a normal one, and wears a crown that looks made from dragon’s teeth. In its hands is the thick iron shaft of a massive hammer, the head of which looks as a big as a car!

I hear Val Helena’s voice yell out “Run!” and I do so without thinking.

It’s only when I deplete about half my stamina bar that I realize Gilly is not with me. I look back to see her still standing there, multitasking, caught in her trance. The massive troll faces her and raises its hammer to strike.

“No!” I cry. “Gilly!”

I dash back toward her and reach Gilly just in time to shove her toward the cavern wall. The massive hammer slams on top of me with a sickening crunch of bone and the world goes black once again.