Chapter 3.23 DUDE!

Calbo Town Square

5th Lightday of the Full Moon

Than’ro materialized next to a large Purple Crystal. The first thing the large man noticed was the breeze’s cool heat as it blew past him. Looking around, he could see he was in a town, the like he had never seen before. The buildings were all made out of wood, and the roofs of each building were made out of large leaves. The large Human was broken out of his thoughts by someone next to him.

“Dude, awesome character! Did you just join the game? We got a small group going and could use a tank man. I’ll take you over to The Guild and get you going; then, I can introduce you to the others. Boy, are they going to get a kick out of you, my dude. How did you even get to choose yellow as skin color, dude?” said the small Human with long blonde hair.

“Dude?” Than’ro said as he began to follow the small man towards the towering building to the north.

***

Akhetaten Dungeon Town

5th Spirtday of the Full Moon

Flea awoke the following day and jumped down from the bed. He found Bob still sleeping in a ball of fur and decided to let his AI sleep. He was curious as to whether AI’s could dream or did they just go into a state of suspended animation.

Going downstairs, he ordered breakfast and thought about what they would do today. Without Than’ro taking almost all the hits from the dungeon, they would be at a considerable disadvantage. Flea thought maybe they could find another group to run within the dungeon. While they wouldn’t get anywhere near the same amount of cores, it would be safer than just the two of them. At the least, Bob would have a chance to practice his new skill.

After finishing his breakfast, Flea went up and woke the sleeping cat. Bob hopped off his bed. He donned his boots and scarf before speaking.

“So, what’s the plan for today?”

“I wanted to wait for Baccobus’s group to return before we head back through the World Dungeon Gate and then head for Stuglegen. I was thinking we find another group needing some extras and rerun the dungeon.”

“Sounds good. I hope Than’ro finds a decent group of players to run with. I think I’m going to miss the big guy,” said Bob.

The two left the inn and headed for the dungeon’s entrance. They sat on one of the stone benches and watched as groups went in one at a time. It wasn’t long before a group began shouting for others to run the dungeon with. Before Flea could speak up, another shouted they would join them. Soon after, another group shouted for extras, but again someone beat the Gnome to the bunch. Flea was annoyed till he realized it was Bob’s voice. The cat shrugged when Flea looked over at him.

They joined a three-person group with a guardian and two warriors. The rest of their party had died during the final boss fight the day prior and wouldn’t be spawning until later that night. The group practically ran through the dungeon, with Bob killing the beetles as fast as he could draw his bow back.

Every floor ended with them facing normal Dynasts or a single lord. At no time did they feel in any danger during this dungeon dive. Teleporting outside the dungeon, the others thanked them for a smooth run. The shorter of the two warriors handed both Flea and Bob a sack of cores for their shared loot. With a five-man group, they still came away with fifty-two Clouded Cores and forty-seven Clear Cores. Flea immediately gave his bag to Bob.

Back at the inn, Flea waited for Bob to use the cores before logging out.

***

Nexus Cafe

Friday, July 18th

“Then the car hit the off-ramp and went sailing into the trees. I wish I could have recorded it. It would have gotten so many views,” said Flea.

“That sounds crazy. After Julie and I left, she turned not long after. She tore my neck out with her teeth, man. It felt so real. I mean… like a bit too real. We ended up spawning over a hundred and fifty miles apart from one another. I was able to find a store with weapons, but she was killed a few hours into her session. She doesn’t want to play anymore, and I really don’t either. We told dad, and now he has me on the night shift while everyone else is playing Outbreak,” said Shaun Jr.

“So you guys are back to playing just Fantasy?”

“Oh yea, you know it. As soon as Julie died, she logged back into Fantasy. She believes she’s still in the lead for gathering artifacts for the contest. So, right now, she basically lives and breaths Fantasy. The girl rarely leaves the cafe, and if the few times she does, she isn’t gone long. I think her place is nearby. Not that I’ve been there yet. We always end up staying over at mine.”

“Maybe she lives with her parents or something?”

“No, she lost her parents when she was young. Her sister took care of her till her brother-in-law got a new job down in Georgia. They moved away shortly after Julie’s 18th birthday. Julie stayed behind to attend college but dropped out. She probably has a small studio apartment or roommates she doesn’t want me to meet. Either way, it doesn’t bother me. I’m happy as long as I get to spend time with her, in or out of the game.

“Speaking of gaming. My shift is over soon, and I’m going to join her. It was good seeing ya, Kyle. Make sure you speak with my father before you leave. He’s still pretty sore with how things turned out in Outbreak. Maybe you can hook him up with that group you were telling me about,” said Shaun Jr.

Kyle got up and began walking around, looking for the old man. Not seeing him out on the floor, he headed over to the kitchen’s counter and spoke with Shaun’s mother, Terica.

“Where’s your husband hiding, and what is that delicious smell?”

“He’s in the back doing paperwork, and that smell is Chicken Tikka Masala. Do you want some?”

“Oh yes, please. I’ll take two bottles as well. Did the old man eat? I can take some back with me when I go and speak with him.”

“No... no, he hasn’t, and thank you.”

A few minutes later, Kyle was balancing two containers and four bottles as he made his way into the back office area.

“Delivery,” said Kyle, kicking the door open with his foot.

“Oh man, you read my mind, Kyle,” said Shaun Sr., turning around.

Kyle handed the two bottles of water and a food container to Senior.

“You still playing Outbreak, or did you go back to Fantasy already?” Senior asked.

“Back to Fantasy. But If things don’t work out for the Nexus group, I got a group you might be able to join,” said Kyle.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Jonathan and I were able to meet up with a few others and kill enough Zombies to create the group again. The issue now is the distance between everyone. We have a few people who found vehicles and are collecting the others. But the no-logging out rule has been the biggest hindrance to getting everyone back together.

“We figured we would break up the groups and make smaller teams. Every day a group can get a hint at caches, and with more groups working together, we can find the caches faster. The only issue we have is getting everyone back into one large group later. We haven’t a clue on what rules there may be regarding that,” said Senior.

“You’ll figure it out. I can’t see the game being easy. I look forward to hearing how you guys get by. I’m heading to my first large city in Fantasy and look forward to it. For once, I hope we’ll have a nice relaxing time there.”

“You really shouldn’t have said that, Kyle.” Senior said with a laugh.

Kyle shrugged at Senior, got up, and tossed his food container and empty bottle into the trash. Taking a sip from the bottle of rootbeer he opened, he nodded farewell to Shaun Sr. and left the cafe for home.

On his way back, Kyle sent a message to Elenmal, giving her details of his adventures since their last exchange. He then sent a quick message to Pinky asking her if she had gotten back from summer vacation and received the pet collection he had gifted to her. Kyle stared out the bus’s window, lost in thought for the rest of the trip home.

Getting home, Kyle showered and logged back into Fantasy. Seeing as it was the middle of the night, he and Bob went to sleep.

Waking up the following day, the two went down to breakfast to find Baccobus’s group eating and talking. Flea and Bob walked over to join them, ordering their breakfast and drinks.

“Where is that big friend of yours? He still sleeping in bed?” asked the Centaur.

Seeing Flea hesitate to explain about Than’ro, Bob told the group about their dungeon run the day before. The cat left nothing out, explaining both how he got his [Metal] Skill Core and the dungeon giving the Golden Crystal piece for the end loot. Bob even told the group how they were teleported back to the Cradle of Creation by someone named Bastiva to help her get Than’ro to create a new avatar. By the time Bob had finished his epic tale, the entire bar had gone silent.

“What? Did I screw up the story? Want me to tell it again?” asked Bob to the crowd.

“No, that’s not why everyone is quiet. If your tale is straight as an arrow, not only did you get and then defeat a rare boss, you’ve obtained one of the rarest elemental skills. Then on top of that, your group obtained a Golden Crystal piece for the dungeon loot. Your group has some rather rare luck. Everyone is just cursing you under their breath,” said the Elf Naexi.

“Oh. So then I shouldn’t tell you about the treasure chest filled with Royals we found behind the wall in the boss room?”

“WHAT?!” shouted the Centaur as he sprang to his feet, as other patrons around their table did the same.

“I’m joking! I’m sorry, makes a good tale though, right?” said Bob.

The Centaur eyed Bob warily as he sat back down.

“You shouldn’t exaggerate your stories, Bob. Everyone will believe your tales have kernels of truth in them. The next thing you know, players will be searching every boss room for that chest,” said Baccobus.

“Ah, I see, I’m sorry. Everything else is the truth, though. We did get the [Metal] skill core and Golden Crystal piece,” said Bob as he created a deformed metal arrow above his hand.

Naexi snatched the arrow and looked it over before speaking, “How long does it last? How long have you been practicing to achieve this degree? And how many can you make at a time?”

“I’ve only just begun to try and form the arrow. That there in your hand is as best as I can do right now. So far, I haven’t tried to create more than one at a time,” replied Bob.

“You have no idea how lucky you were to have gotten this skill. Imagine being able to create adamant or mithril arrows out of thin air. One day, you may be devastating in combat,” said the Elf.

“Would I be able to create runes on the arrows in the future?” asked Bob.

“No, runes require gem dust and blood to create. I know of no combination of mancer that would be able to create a runed object. It would simply disrupt the balance of the System and be removed,” said Naexi.

The group stayed in the inn for a couple more hours. Baccobus told Flea and Bob about finding the twenty-foot scorpion and taking it down with the other groups. The Centaur explained the pay would last them a few cycles, so they planned to relax for a while unless the next change in the dungeon gate was close to home. Flea handed Naexi a couple of torn pages from his Communication Book and explained to them what they were. He wanted to hear about their future adventures, and if possible, meet up sometime to run a dungeon or hunt a rare monster with them.

After saying their final goodbyes, Flea and Bob did a bit of shopping in the busy market before going through the World Dungeon Gate. Again, they found themselves back on the grassy plain, though with one less group member.

“Before we get to Stuglegen, make sure you check your bag for foreign books, cursed talisman, or any old objects of great power,” said Bob with a smirk.

“Hah. Now that you mention it. I wonder what ended up happening with that book,” said Flea.