Chapter 23: The Rules of Being Together.

“You seemed pissed, Bryan. What’s up?” I was with Al at his place. After I had logged off, I decided to pay him a visit. He had been wanting to see me for quite some time just to catch up with things, especially about Noble Path Online.

“I’ll tell you what’s up. I hate partying with pussies!” That was the first words I said once I made myself comfortable in his office at AppleFruit Inc.

“Really? I never know you would party with anyone, much more with pussies.” He handed me a can of soft drink which I gladly accepted it. With one big gulp, I finished the whole thing. Surprised, he handed me another.

“Same here. If I knew any better, that was the first and last time I would party with anyone. What a joke!” This time, I drank much slower. Having finished the first one had somehow quelled my thirst a little.

“Well, aren’t you overreacting a little?” Al took a sit opposite of me and he too took a sip from his can drink. Looking at him without letting go of my own drink, I just shook my head. “Easy for you to say. You were not there! Be in my shoes for once. Or twice.”

“My bad, Bryan. But why don’t you cool down for a while before you play again? Might clear that steam of yours coming from your ears.” He could not help but to chuckle at the end of it.

“Don’t you mock me, Al. I’m still pissed. But you are right. I could do with a few days rest. I needed to get some things done too anyway,” Looking through the windows of his office, I gave out a long sigh.

“Oh, that new doctor finally arrives?” Shaking my head, I dismissed it immediately. “Not yet. Said that she had been delayed once again. Damn bureaucrats!”

“So, what’s your plan?” Al leaned forward and offered me another round of drink. But this time, I declined it.

“Going to visit some old friends,” I answered him nonchalantly and we continued to discuss the game without Ed’s presence. Normally, that guy would be the first one to actually engage with me regarding NPO, but not today.

After a while, I bid him farewell. Al was always receptive to me no matter what time of the day it was. However, Ed was still nowhere to be seen. According to his younger brother, Ed had been busy lately with a few business matters. So, it was up to him to entertain me. Hell, if I did not know it any better, he was sucking up to me but I could use some arse-licking.

*****

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MICHAEL E. GREEN

First Sergeant of United World Nation Force

1st April 1972 - 22 November 2030

Here lies a loyal husband and a fearless warrior.

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“He sure loves those lilies of his, doesn’t he Mrs Green?” I placed the flowers on the gravestone as his wife gave him a quiet prayer. I too gave him a short prayer and thanked him for what he had done to me, even after his death.

“That old fart sure was soft at heart. I could never know that he died in the war like that. I never received his body, just an empty coffin draped with the flag.” She sighed at the end of her words after finishing her short prayer. Looking at the gravestone with my drill sergeant’s name and his wife next to me, I could not help but to feel a little guilty. Perhaps the conscience was getting to me.

However, there will be a proper time for me to tell Mrs Green what happened that day. But for now, I had to hold this secret a little longer. It was not the time yet. My enemies were far too strong and their networks were too wide for me to start making noise.

“Well, shall we get going Bryan?” I just nodded at her. It had been two days since I logged out from NPO after that incident. I was busy paying visits to my dead comrades and Mr Green was the last I visited. Located out of town, his grave was the furthest. And I hated the fact that Mrs Green would always break down in front of the gravestone every time she visited this place. But fortunately, she was quite in a jolly mood today.

“Do you still keep the dog tags, Byran?” She asked as we entered the car. I just nodded at her, adjusting myself to the passenger seat and then keeping the wheelchair behind, like how I usually did it. Only this time, Mrs Green was kind enough to help me.

“Yeah, him and all the others, Mrs Green,” I answered her briefly as she just smiled at me. The old lady’s complexion had changed for better recently and I had no doubt that she had no longer relied on her meagre pension and had a mortgage to think about. I took care of it all together after I had my unexpected windfall. That and also all her healthcare and insurance needs too. The least I could do to her for all that happened before.

“So, are you going to spend the rest of your time inside that weird helmet of yours again?” Mrs Green asked as she drove us home. Her mood must be very good seeing that she too now wanted to know about my ‘work’.

“It’s a VR Gear and no. I’m going to take a few days off for now. Needed to clear my head a little.”

“Seeing you inside the room being lifeless like that was no different than being dead. Sometimes it scared me to come into your room and call you to eat.”

“Hahaha, and I thought you were not afraid of anything, much more a person like me. But just to quell your fear, I’m alive and better than ever. Even though it was just a game, I felt like I am reliving another version of me.” I gave her a thumbs up and she just laughed at it.

“I like this version of you. Though you are still jobless, but better than what you were a few years ago.” Hey, playing NPO was a job for me. My motivations might not be clear to her, but to me, it was like a daylight. Besides, I loved this new job of mine.

“A war can make or break a man, Mrs Green. I had seen the worse of humanity. Though I had yet to see the best, I was hoping I could find it outside of war instead. Maybe I could find it in the other world…” I purposely slurred off at the end, indicating my somewhat mild expectation and hope.

“Do you still have those attacks?” Mrs Green looked at me worriedly for a second before she got her eyes back on the road. Her action caught me by surprise. I wondered what made her so talkative and in good mood today? But I did not plan to find out. I just answered her questions, whatever it may be.

“Sometimes. But it is more manageable now since I could divert my attention away by playing the game.”

“Alright. As you say, Bryan. But don’t forget to take your medication.” I just nodded at her.

“And maybe see a psychiatrist too. You know, someone who could help you properly. Especially in managing that anger of yours.”

I looked at her and could not help it but to laugh. “Ohh, Mrs Green. It takes more than just a shrink to help me. But, I’ll do that. Maybe.” I gave out a non-committal answer. I’d never had a shrink before and thinking about one just gave me the creeps. I could not stand talking to someone about what happened and expected them to know or feel what I had been through. But since Mrs Green had kept suggesting me every other day that I should go and see one, maybe I would. Whenever I was free, which always never happen though.

As we reached our home, I immediately took to my bed, reliving my past memories in the war. All those that happened were my ghost – what I’d feared the most. Hopefully, it would never reach here; to where I was now. Shrink or no shrink, my past still haunted my waking moment. And when I slept at night, it just became a part my dream. And hopefully too, it just stopped at there.

*****

When I was online, I was swamped with private messages. I wanted to delete it all but I stopped when I saw Popo’s message to me.

I’d waited for you, po. But you did not come. I’m not sure when you will be coming back, but please find me at the Royal Capital as soon as possible, po. Mimi and I had something to discuss with you.

That was the only message I read and kept. And as usual, I immediately summoned Rose to my side. But this time around, I purposely did not summon Elly.

“Papa… where are we going next?” Rose asked me as soon as she arrived. “No idea, but Popo has invited me to the Royal Capital. The details are vague at best though.” I was pondering to myself when I suddenly heard a familiar but annoying voice.

“Ghost!!”

I did not want to turn around. I had nothing to say to her and my decision still stand. I paced myself quickly, trying to outrun the owner of the voice.

“Ghost… I’m sorry!!”

No, you were not sorry. I was not about to be persuaded anymore. I had made up my mind. If no one could have my back, I should do the same too. Though I had calmed down, in my mind I needed to be a little wary of who would stand beside me.

“Come, Rose. We do not need to be here.” Rose immediately climbed onto my shoulder, turned around and waved at the person who was running after me. The incident, although it could be handled better had told me one thing; if everything went well, I was the man. If it was not, I would be left on my own and hung to dry. I could not count on them to look after my back. Even her.

“Please… wait for me, Ghost!” Elly was running after me though never once I turned to face her. Perhaps dejected by my cold respond, she finally stopped chasing me.

Good, I had no need for you. I had done all I could to train you, but now you were on your own girl. I had no idea how to dismiss her from my ally list seeing that there were no functions that could prompt me to do so.

“Ghost! If you are not stopping, I will scream!” Elly threatened me. I could not help but to smirk. I raised my hand and gave a thumbs up with my back facing her. Do whatever you want. Those who looked at us were giving me weird stares as if I was ditching a girl or having a lover’s quarrel.

“Papa… are you sure you want to leave Elly like that?” Rose suddenly asked me.

“Why should I need people like her? I do not need people who question me.” Trying to understand my reasoning, Rose scratched the only leaves on her top. She still looked very much like a walking ginseng even though she had progressed quite a bit on her level. After a while, she gave a nod. I was not so sure how much she understood my words, but at least I know she supported me.

“Let’s leave this place and farm some EXPs and items. Looked like it would be night soon too.” I left through the main gate having passed the scene of the incident a few days ago. I gave a wicked smile as I remembered how I gave that arsehole a sneak attack and pummeled him like a ragdoll. He never did know what hit him, didn’t he?

On the field, we had encountered some low levels monsters like what we encountered back in the City of Asgardia. This was a waste of time to farm those monsters now, so we moved onto a few maps beyond the town to hunt better monsters. This time, we met proper foes; Wild Boar at level 30s to Steeling, a level 40-ish type of bat. This was our first flying enemy that I had seen so far in NPO.

At night, my approach was to be careful and not mob too many at once. Minding my surrounding, the two of us worked in tandem. This time, I was to tank and let Rose handle the DPS job.

Wild Boars were fast despite its large size and each one of them came with a high HP. And its gore attack was dangerous to boot. However, what made the battle easy was that Wild Boars did not come as a pack. At most, there were two of them at any time. And their attack was pretty linear. Easy to dodge and easier to counter-hit.

Steeling was another problem altogether though. Those monsters came in a group of 12 at least. But that was not the worst of it. Their attack, Parasite Bite could syphon our HP and healed them instead. Since they were flying, melee attack proved to be useless most of the times. Once a group of Steeling started to surround you, you either run away or hope to meet another group of players who could help you.

I saw a group of adventurers having a hard time fighting those Steelings as I watched from afar. This time, I had no one to tell me to help them or anyone else for that matter. Once was more than enough. If Elly were here, she would pester me non-stop to help those people. Bah, I got better things to do.

“Papa, there’s a Wild Boar over there!” Rose pointed to me. A level 38 Wild Boar. Licking my lips in delight, we charged towards the wild animal. Rose would attack it at range without drawing any aggro to herself as I continued to avoid its attack at melee. Once it was down to 50% HP, I would then use Mad Rush to finish it off. If its HP falls below 50%, the chances the Wild Boar to go berserk was high. Thus, the best was to kill it first before it became berserk. Giving it no quarter at all, it was felled before long.

“Hmm… when will I be able to use this weird ring?” Fiddling the ring within my palm, I just looked for more Wild Boars to fight. But alas, there was none for now.

Loki’s Mischief was the only item that I took back at the Ancient Tomb of the High King. It would reverse all active skills, spells or items effect but so far, I never had the chance to use it. The potions were expensive and the spells would take time to cast. As such, I did not need to wear it. Keeping it back into my pocket, suddenly I heard a scream for help.

*****

A familiar voice; Elly. Her piercing scream could be heard even from where I stood now. I wanted to walk away when Rose tugged to my sleeve. “Papa, are you not helping her?”

I shook my head. She looked at me dejected with my answer. “Papa, if it was me… would you ever come to my help.”

“Sure. For you, I’ll come faster than a flash.”

“I’m happy to hear that Papa. But…” Rose looked towards the direction where the voice came from. “But Papa. Don’t you think Elly might think so too? That you would come to her aide when she needed you?”

Bloody hell. The NPCs in this game sure knew how to blackmail others. Now I was struck with a dilemma. Looking at Rose, I was sure she wanted to help her. Being a competitive rival did not deter her from trying to come to her aide. But for me…

“So, what you want me to do? Rescue her? After what she did to me?”

“Papa… you can always rescue her and then leave her straightaway. At least better than having to know that you did not come to her aide when you know she needed you.”

I was dumbstruck. Whoever designed the NPCs AI was bloody smart. Should win a Nobella Prize for trying to soften my cold self.

“Alright. Fine. We will do as you say. But we will leave after that, alright? Not even a word.”

Rose nodded enthusiastically. She really knew how to get through me this time. Re-equipping myself as a healer, I immediately went to Elly’s aide. Once I reached the place, I did not assume wrongly. She was helping the party I saw earlier fighting against the Steeling group.

She never fought a flying monster before. Waving her shield and sword like that wasn’t going to cut it. The Steeling was mobbing around her. Though she held firm, her HP was dropping fast. The party member that she was helping was too pathetic to do anything other than becoming an HP fodder for the enemies. All of them were melee fighters. No healers and no range attackers either. Counting the numbers of my foes, I calculated my next move.

Perhaps now was the time to use my ring. Wearing it on my ring finger, I immediately casted Heal onto one of the Steeling.

*Heal!*

Immediately, the Steeling HP dropped by 10%. Whoa… it did work. And the good thing was the name of the skill did not change. Just its abilities and properties. Now, let’s try Poisoning those pathetic adventurers.

“Poison! Rot!” Instead of damage over time from the skill, I had healed them over time instead. Nifty.

My ‘attack’ came as surprise to all of them. If someone were to look at what I did, they might think that I was a sadist; poisoning the players in need of help and healing the enemies. And since I was wearing a robe, none of them could see my face clearly either. I instructed Rose to help to kill off the lowest HP Steeling while I healed the rest; starting from Elly. And once her HP rose up to 80%, I then concentrated on debuffing the whole Steeling group. Stone Skin and Heal would bring their defence and lower down the HP without taking any aggro to myself.

One down, 7 more to go.

*****

During the battle, not once did I come any closer to them. All I did was to attack and support from range. Once we felled all the monster, I immediately took my leave.

“G-Ghost?” Elly came after me. Unlike the day when it was bright, my vision during the dark was limited. My movement speed aside from battle was quite slow for my liking. I had to be careful since I might enter an enemy’s ambush or got tangled into something unknown.

“P-Please… wait for me…” She continued to rush at me. And like me, she too had the problem in moving freely at night.

“ArGGhHH!!”

This time, her sudden scream made me stopped in my tracks. I turned and faced her immediately. Unfortunately, she fell down and was now surrounded by a couple of Wild Boars. She had not fully healed herself and now, having dropped both her shield and sword, she was like a lying corn-feed waiting to be picked upon. I shook my head in disbelief. That blonde girl really knew how to get herself in trouble.

“She should be more careful than this. What a weird girl. I had taught her everything, especially fighting and travelling at night. And now this…”

“Papa… should we help her?” Rose tugged on my sleeves.

“If I don’t, you will definitely make me having those guilty consciences again, Rose. I swear your mouth are getting sharper by the minute.”

Re-equipping before entering the battle, I charged together with Rose. Those Wild Boars were too busy attacking Elly that they did not see us coming from their rear. Before I entered the fight, I immediately used the Mad Rush skill.

*Critical Backstab Hit!*

*Critical Backstab Hit!*

With two slashes, the level 35 Wild Boar’s HP dropped by 60%. And I did not stop there. I continued to give it few more attacks before it finally faced me. With 40% HP left, the Wild Boar was going berserk. But Rose supported me with Vine Hold thus stopping its movement.

“Good job, Rose.” After giving her a thumbs up, I slashed my enemy relentlessly.

“Be prepared to be a bloody slab of meat, you ugly pig!” Once we felled the first Wild Boar, the second one was much easier. Trying to run away, Rose managed to stop its movement once again. And this time, all I did was to go the hind side and backstab it till death. A simple kill, indeed.

Once done, I went up to check on Elly. “You alright, girl?”

Upon looking at me, she left out a loud cry and immediately stood up and hugged me tightly.

“Hey, what’s this? Let me go!”

Elly shook her head on my chest. I tried to push her away. NPC or not, I was not too fond of getting a hug like this. Furry and cuddly things were alright but not crying women. My chest was not their handkerchief. Ughh… I really hated this.

“I-I’m so sorry, Ghost… P-Please d-don’t leave me!” Elly spoke amidst her tears. Her snots and mucus were sticking to my armour. I wiped it away immediately with a disgusted look on my face.

“As my ally, you were a big disappointment. How could I ever trust you for having my back?!” I was playing hard to catch. I knew that she had been stalking me the whole time trying to get close to me. But this time, she needed to earn my trust if she wanted to be my ally again. From the bottom.

“I-I’ll do anything… please. Please Ghost?” Elly pleaded with me. I did not have much time to delve into this sort of drama. I ended it up with just a simple offer on the table for her.

“Fine. You can join back my party, but this time I’ll disable the friendly-fire. If I ever think that you are going turn your back on me, I’ll kill you that very moment. Understand?!”

Elly was jolted by my conditions. But it did not take her long to consider it. “Alright, anything for you, Ghost!” I looked directly at her and with deliberate movement, I made the gesture for her to follow me.

“Papa, did you really disable the friendly-fire?” Rose whispered into my ears as Elly followed us from behind. I just smiled at her and patted her leaves. “What do you think?”

*****

After selling our loots for the day, the three of us made our way towards the Royal Capital. Elly did not know our destination until much later, during one of our night camps. The reaction when she heard about it was quite unexpected.

“What’s the matter? Having second thoughts?” I looked at her intently. Travelling here was not easy. Littered with a number of level 50s to 70s monsters, we had our fair share of fighting the whole time. Though it was just half a dozen maps away from the town of Brensberg, nonetheless, each map was as big as a couple or more of lower levelled maps combined. What made it easier though was the numbers of players here.

Many were farming monsters around, numbering no less than a few hundred per map. Perhaps at the peak, it could reach a thousand or more. It was only during the night time when there were fewer players travelling that made our journey a little harder. Thus, we were selective of our prey and when we needed to fight. After one such battle, we decided to call it a day and rest.

“I-I… I’m afraid to go back there, Ghost.” Elly looked down on the grounds while fiddling her thumbs.

“Hmm… why?” I looked at her sternly. She looked really uncomfortable indeed.

“I…I…” Elly continued with her uneasiness which was quite apparent to see. But I was not here to play her nanny or guardian.

“I’ll be going regardless whether you are coming with me or not. I want to see Popo and Mimi! If my friends need me, I’ll go. Even to the end of the earth itself.” I had made up my mind. If she wanted, she could tag along. Or else, I would have no problem travelling alone with Rose.

“I-I’ll follow you anywhere, Ghost! Please, don’t leave me anymore!” She was a little hesitant at first but I knew she meant every one of her words. Though she did piss me off the other day with her antics, she did win me over by how hard she worked. Honestly, I always like a hard worker. She would do anything I would tell her to do; including stripping her armour off.

“I’ll always have your back, Elly. Remember that!” I kept reminding her of the ethics within my party. Everyone must watch for another’s back. Our lives depended on it. Right or wrong was not in question. The party leader must be respected at all times. If disagreement ever happens, feel free to leave. But when the time comes, each of us must be able to rely on each other. What the previous party did to me was breaking the taboo and I could never tolerate that. I might overreact as Al said to me, but who’d never?

Elly looked up at me. I threw her a slab of roasted meat. “You are my ally. My party member. I’ll not have anything or anyone hurt you. If something bothering you, I’ll get rid of those with my own hands!” Suddenly, she let out a quiet cry while munching her dinner. I could not know what happened but for now, I was on the lookout for the rest of my members.

“After we eat and rest, let's continue with your training, Elly.”

Stripping her to just her underwear, I had her fight with just a shield. Without armour or weapon, all she could do was to either avoid or shield herself. But the monsters here, especially Rabid Blood Hare was extremely fast and agile. They would just attack her flanks and rear if she ever raised her shield.

“Oi, girl. Your butt is exposed. Avoid or cover it up before the rabbits mauled your arse.” I gave out a loud laugh that made Elly blushed. She immediately covered herself but not without having a couple of her enemies striking her for free. I could help but to shake my head a little and giving out a long sigh.

I had been thinking to increase the difficulty in her training. And now, I wanted to train her in the usage of the shield as a weapon but had not encountered any monsters that were fast and agile enough. But the Rabid Blood Hare was perfect. At level 50s, it would pose serious issues if one was not careful enough. Add that to its attack; the Blood Suck skill was an automatic 100% hit. As the name implied, the skill would leech our HP to heal itself. So getting hit and then having the skill casted on us was a bad situation to be in.

“Oi Elly. What are you doing? You are naked as anyone could be. Stop relying on your equip all the time!” Elly let out a whimper and looked at me for mercy. But I just shook my head in all seriousness.

“Learn to avoid your enemy’s attack. Your weapon is your shield. Do as I tell you. Don’t let your basic instinct tell you otherwise.”

To others, I might not make any sense at all. Well, feck them. I’d train her as how I see fit. As the night wore on, Elly showed remarkable improvement. She was a fast learner indeed. And the training became a little tougher too.

But without risk, there would be no reward. After several days of travelling, the three of us had passed well over level 45. Though our skills were pretty much at the basic level, nonetheless the proficiencies improved greatly. Elly had gained a few new skills that pretty much enhanced all her stats and abilities as our main tank. I could not be happier.

But Rose was not too happy with Elly’s progress and she too wanted me to train her. Papa was playing favourites, as she said. But unfortunately, despite all my attention, she did not gain any extra skills much to her annoyance and Elly’s delight. The two girls were really competitive and that made the whole journey a little merrier with their constant bickering of who was better. And I was stuck in between two girls fight, unfortunately.

This continued on for few more days until we finally arrived at the Royal Capital.