Maya departed the mage academy alone, trying to think of anyone at all else who she could bring along. NPCs would work great if she could teleport them in, but she couldn’t. And James was right about one thing, a frontal assault on Domitius without a massive distraction would be stupid.

And then she remembered one other place she might have allies. The arena. She hadn’t been back there since … she couldn’t remember how long ago, actually. But everyone had been pretty nice. Apart from Kittykitty, but she didn’t really count, the spiteful little brat.

Shadow was an NPC, but her fellow team members might be up for something like this. After all, they were all players who fought other players already, albeit in a safer forum. Who better to recruit for the invasion of a player fortress?

She reached the arena easily enough, it was right off a main road and its gleaming modern-stadium look stood out from quite a distance.

There were the usual crowd of NPC spectators and staff, but the waiting room seemed largely empty. The upcoming duels board announced that the next fight would be between Lunos of Cobalt, level 23, and Littlefairy of Shadow, level 20.

Good. At least one fellow Shadow member online.

Maya started for the backstage practice arenas, but bounced off an invisible wall before reaching the door.

Permissions mismatch.

“Huh?”

“Fighters only back there,” said the NPC at the signup counter.

“But I am a fighter. Shadow team.”

The merla receptionist consulted a clipboard and shook her head. “I don’t see you listed as Shadow’s.”

Maya checked her quests list, and her heart sank. FAILED. It hadn’t been over a week, had it? It felt like so long ago, so distant after her vacation from reality in the tutorial.

Wait, why was she thinking of hardcore training and nonstop frustration as a vacation?

No, not important, stay focused. Recruiting. And while she was at it, try to ascertain if any of them would be good candidates for the Diviner’s Orb. Free the prisoners and help the Oracle.

“Are there many other fighters around today?” Maya asked, glancing around the waiting area. “I don’t see anyone.”

“There is a fight scheduled to begin in three minutes, which is being observed by our third duelist. I believe the traditional arrangement is for Isothiaer to fight the winner.”

“What about Shadow, can I talk to him?”

“Shadow is currently unavailable. Do you want to leave a message?”

Maya tried to think of anything to say, but could think of nothing that wouldn’t be better said in person. “Maybe another time, then. Can I watch the duel?”

“Certainly. 10 copper for a one-time pass, or a silver for the day.”

“One-time, please.” Maya handed over the coins.

The receptionist motioned to a doorway behind her, opposite the duelists’ backstage area. “Right up that way. Enjoy.”

Maya entered, climbed a truly excessive number of steps, and arrived in the stands with less than a minute until the spectacle began. She found an empty seat between quietly gossiping NPCs and leaned forward to stare down into the fighting area.

“BEGIN!”

Both players moved at once. Lunos, a brown-furred felinis in green-banded plate armor, raised a bugle to her lips and a brisk challenge rang out across the arena. LittleFairy, a pale golden-skinned sprite whose appearance lived up to her name perfectly, slashed her two swords with a quick SHING along each other’s length, initiating a pale white glow on both.

Maya realized at once that this must be a dramatized version of the fight, because the two opponents charged at each other in slow motion, giving the watchers plenty of time to see their every move.

She frowned slightly, wondering if this meant observers would be able to reverse-engineer any spell she used in the arena. She would have to remember to be careful what she showed in public if she wanted any control over their wider release.

Then the fighters clashed and drew her attention back to the fight. Lunos, the felinis fighter from Cobalt team, clearly had the upper hand from the beginning. Despite LittleFairy’s fast and obviously enhanced slashes, Lunos seemed to always dance out of the way just enough to avoid the brunt of any attacks, then retaliated the moment LittleFairy left an opening.

That wasn’t to say it was entirely one-sided. Lunos wasn’t fast enough to evade all of LittleFairy’s attacks, and whatever enchantment enhanced her blades made them deal notable chunks of damage.

First one player’s health bar decreased in quick bursts, then the other’s, almost keeping pace with each other. But not quite. Lunos’s early advantage held and LittleFairy’s bar looked emptier and emptier in proportion.

Maya began to assume the conclusion was foregone, but then LittleFairy grinned and in a single quick move flung both of her swords with perfect precision as Lunos spun away from a successful strike.

With a faint, audible hiss of frost, they slammed straight through the larger player, dropping her health to a mere sliver.

“WHAT?!” Maya found herself on her feet, breath held, as the crowd around her roared in cheers and exclamations.

Lunos retreated, raising her bugle for a different burst of song, a slow, deep inclining scale.

LittleFairy backed up as well, equipping a new pair of swords which she rang together in a quick rhythm. These began to glow orange.

Maya watched as they closed again, knowing exactly how they each felt. One, maybe two hits, and this would be over either way. It was just a matter of position and timing.

Anyone’s match at this point.

Lunos darted in, and LittleFairy threw both blades straight at her chest. Lunos dropped to the ground, and the crowd gasped, but her health bar wasn’t empty. She slid across the sand, fully in control, as the swords bounced harmlessly behind her.

LittleFairy jumped back, yet another pair of swords appearing in her hands, but it was too late to evade. Lunos slashed out with her longer sword and it connected, bringing LittleFairy’s health bar down to nothing. The sprite froze mid-step and vanished as the announcer declared Lunos the victor.

Maya laughed, cheering along with the crowd. She didn’t remember ever being a fan of spectator sports, but this was thrilling. She wondered what the next fight would be like.

Then, as Lunos strode out of the arena, reality imposed itself back upon her.

Match has ended. Please vacate the stands. 1m 57s remaining.

Right. She had to either pay again to spectate or be relocated by force. Whether that would take the form of NPCs escorting her firmly downstairs, or the game simply moving her where she belonged, she didn’t care to find out.

Reluctantly, she made her way to the stairs. She was half tempted to challenge LittleFairy to a match herself. But would that be in poor form as a fellow Shadow fighter?

Oh, wait, she wasn’t Shadow’s any longer. Right. Well, she could still sponsor herself and fight anyone willing to go.

To her surprise, she nearly bumped into a familiar armored merla upon entering the waiting area.

“Venix?” Maya asked. It was an odd sense of nostalgia, seeing her old nemesis. She’d tried so hard trying to bring her down. “You up for a fight?”

She didn’t know what made her do it, the challenge just came out with no plan or reason. But it somehow felt fitting, in this weird duplicated day, to fight Venix again. It would be a good gauge of her progress, to see if she’d improved enough to do more than minor injuries.

Venix shrugged. “Sure.”

“And after we’re done with that, I have a job offer for you, if you’re willing.”

“I’m listening.”

Maya paid the registrar, then Venix did likewise, and their duel appeared on the upcoming board.

Lunos of Cobalt, level 23, vs Isothiaer of Crimson, level 24

Venix Heartstealer of Verda, level 15, vs Maya Starborn, level 11

“I see you’ve leveled,” Maya said. “Congratulations.”

“Same to you. Tier trial difficult?”

“Nope. Stealth-ranged him at night. Easy.”

“That won’t be an option higher up, I hear.”

“We’ll deal with that when we get there.”

“We?”

Maya shrugged. “You, I, we. What do you do when you’re not at the arena?”

“Not much, on this world at least. Why?”

“I don’t really know anything about you, except that you can set that hammer on fire with great efficiency and hit every 6.5 seconds.”

“Old data. 5.8 now.”

“Oof. I’m beginning to question my decision to fight you.”

Venix smiled. “I won’t hold you to it if you want to back out. I like to think of it as practice.”

“For what? Do you have any goals?"

Venix laughed. "Do you?"

"Yes. I'm going to create new spells and learn how to fly."

"I don't know if this is the best world if those are your aims," Venix said. "I haven't heard of players coming up with more than a handful of spells, and the magic system is honestly one of the least detailed of any world I've ever played on. If I wanted to play as a mage, I'd be out of here in a heartbeat."

"Why do you stay, then?"

"Freeform combat, small community, relatively private. Lots of flashy moves that I can do at will if I'm feeling lazy or actually work to improve if I put in the time and effort. And, I don't know, have you noticed how alive it is? How vibrant and deep? If the magic is the least developed, the NPCs are probably some of the best I've found. Other worlds they tend to be so utilitarian. Here, maybe because of the fact that there is no overarching storyline, they're more like just people. If you take the time to listen to the spectators, they all have their own lives too."

"Really? I mean, I've noticed that some NPCs are very detailed, but they're also very, well, player-centric. Like a shopkeeper will always be open. How is there room for a life if one is always at the beck and call of players?"

"Instancing. If you pay close attention, most NPCs have duplicates. You'll never see them both at the same time, but a shopkeeper who's currently sitting doing nothing in his shop can also be here watching the fights. I think most of the city population is here most of the time, in fact, and you can talk to them about their lives elsewhere."

"Oh, um, wow. That's a bit weird." Maya tried to wrap her head around it, but imagining Elaph minding the produce stall and also jumping up and down in glee at the fighting, both at the same time, was a bit of a stretch.

"But it works." Venix shrugged. "It's subtle enough that most players never notice. After all, in the time it takes you to travel from one place to another, the NPCs could have done the same. There's no reason to care that someone else still sees them back in another place while you're talking to them here."

"Do you hang out with NPCs very often?" Maya asked.

"Sure. They're better company than most people I've met."

"Are you a solo player? I assumed you were part of a fighting team, but ..."

"I am part of a team, technically, but that's just for the equipment." Venix gestured down at herself. "I'm one of the weakest and there's hardly ever anyone worth fighting at my level." She grinned. "I hope you don't mind being smashed over and over. I have been working to perfect my chaining."

Maya had almost forgotten that they were waiting for the scheduled time to fight each other. "Oh, that's fine." She grinned. "I hope you don't mind being blasted across the arena in a fireball."

"That'd be new. Not a lot of pure mages in the arena. Magic is so weak and limited, I can see why. Spellblade or enhanced ranger tend to dominate."

Maya remembered Jaydu blasting spells from his bow, or at least spell-like attacks which resembled no actual spells, and nodded. It seemed that the line between 'magic' and 'special abilities' was oddly drawn.

"I'm sure I can find a way to make it viable," Maya said, then realized that she'd somehow gone hours without even thinking about the fact that she could be researching today. With luck over 60, she should be able to make progress. But the deeper purpose here reasserted itself, and she smacked herself in the forehead. "I'm such an idiot."

"Changed your mind so soon?"

"No, not that. I actually came here to recruit fighters, not fight a rematch with you. Ugh. I got myself completely sidetracked, again. Why!" Maya screeched irritably at the ceiling, feathers flaring in self-directed anger. "I mean, it hasn't even been an hour. Can I really not stay focused even that long, even for something this important?!"

"Are you alright?" Venix asked.

"No! I'm a complete mess, and I don't know what to do about it. Every time I make a grand resolution to change, I forget about it within days. Or hours. Or minutes if I'm particularly unlucky." Maya shook her head and took a deep breath. "Sorry, I shouldn't be dumping my issues on you. I should probably go."

"No, wait." Venix touched her arm, gently. "It's okay. You can talk to me." Then she seemed to notice their surroundings, and glanced at the noticeboard on the wall. "We've got another twenty minutes before our fight. How about we go somewhere more private?"

Maya swallowed, nodded, and followed Venix out across the atrium and into a startlingly modern cafe area. Maya had never even noticed that the arena had anything to the left of the entrance, she'd only ever cared about the main route to the signup desk, waiting area, and practice arenas.

"Has this always been here?"

"Yep. Not much changes around here. But most people don't bother coming here, and there aren't many fighters in today anyway so we shouldn't be interrupted."

Venix motioned for Maya to choose a table, and she sat down at the first one she reached, facing the door.

Venix seated herself opposite Maya, then swapped out her heavy plate armor for something resembling normal clothing, a short-sleeved black tunic and navy leggings. Maya hesitated a moment, then unequipped her accessories as well. If she were going to have a heart-to-heart with someone she hardly knew, it would be less awkward for everyone if they weren't dressed for a fight.

"Go ahead, whenever you're ready."

"You know, this is really awkward and weird," Maya said.

"It's fine. Trust me. I've been sharing my troubles with NPCs for months, once you get over the fact that it's just completely bizarre, it really does help to have someone who'll listen."

"Well, okay. I guess I have been stuck alone with my own head for a while." Maya laughed nervously. She felt much less inclined to vent now that she'd had a minute to calm down a bit. What had been ready to burst out a minute before felt intensely personal now. "I don't know where to start."

"Then can I say something about myself, first? It may help."

Maya shrugged. "Why not, go for it."

"My son had a terrible accident when he was young. They were able to upload him before he died, but even the best algorithms can’t truly replace the experience of living and growing up. Every time I think he’s starting to progress in one area, something else always seems to revert. It’s been over ten years now and I don’t think he’ll ever be able to really mature properly. Part of the limitations of Otherworlds, I guess. But it’s still hard.” Venix shook her head. “The point is, not all of whatever you’re going through is your fault or even your responsibility. Some of it can be helped, some of it can be managed, but you can’t expect to do it all by yourself.”

Maya hesitated. “I really don’t know what to say after that,” she said, when the silence became awkward. It was weird enough that Venix was so much of a different person outside the arena, but trying to picture her as a mother was completely throwing off her preconceptions.

“It’s alright to be frustrated,” Venix added, “but try not to hate yourself too much for things you can’t really control.”

“But I don’t want to be this way! I feel like I need a full-time minder, or a personal secretary. Someone to follow me around with a clipboard and keep me from forgetting everything the moment something distracts me. It’s completely pathetic.”

“Would that really be so bad?”

“Huh?”

“If you need a secretary, just get one. Look around. Find someone who you like, hire them on. Problem solved.”

Maya’s thoughts immediately jumped to Elaph, then Maben. “But I can’t just expect someone to drop everything and follow me around so I don’t get distracted.”

“The AI characters may be incredibly detailed and lifelike, but they’re still just here for us. If you need someone to help, they will be there. Just don’t turn them away.”

“But what about—”

“Maya, stop a moment.”

Maya swallowed her protest. “Okay. What for?”

“Just stop. Think. Don’t react yet, think it over first. What are the upsides? What are the downsides?”

“Upsides, I have someone to keep track of my goals. Downside, I have to drag them around with me everywhere, and if they’re an NPC I can’t use leypillars anymore.”

“NPCs can’t use the leypillars?” Venix asked. “Huh, I did not know that. Still, it may be a slightly less perfect solution, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still a solution.”

“It wouldn’t solve everything, there’s no way. I have too many problems for it to really be that easy.”

“One step at a time. There’s no shortcut to change. It’s never going to be easy, whatever the ads promise, but it’s not impossible. You’ll figure it out, and if you need someone to talk to you can always contact me.”