Anika's new companion followed her dutifully all the way back to Ralph's cabin. They didn't meet any other bears on the way, but she wondered if she could rely on this beast to fight by her side when the time came. Looking at the Pet tab in her character screen she saw that its loyalty rating was a measly 5%. Would it run at the first sign of trouble? She was glad that their relationship wasn't put to the test just yet. She looked over her shoulder a couple of times and was nervous about the whole situation. It wasn't so long ago that her new friend had been waiting under the branch, hoping that she might fall down and become a tasty treat. Trust and loyalty goes both ways, she thought, and they definitely had work to do in that area.

She checked her fatigue level, and it wasn't too bad, but Ralph wasn't anywhere to be seen. She didn't feel there was much she could do until the next morning, so she decided to log out. She wasn't sure what to do with her companion, but thought it best to keep it away from the dogs that Ralph kept close to the cabin. For this reason she wandered down to the stream and logged out there.

Before going to bed she took time to read through a couple of Hunter guides that focused on the Beastmaster specialisation. There she found two interesting guides about taming and training companions. Some players would go to extraordinary lengths to tame the wildest and exotic creatures. Some of these beasts had stats that were greater than players of an equivalent level. It meant that the many hours they would have to spend tracking and hunting down their pets, could all pay off. Especially if they tamed one which had better stats than they could ever hope to have themselves. She also learnt that most hunters kept a variety of different pets, for different situations. There were beasts like the bear she had tamed earlier that day who were essential for soaking up damage and acting like a tank. This allowed the Hunter to stand away at a distance and cause damage from relative safety. Then there were beasts like eagles and vultures who not only caused a high amount of damage, but who could also be relied upon as a second pair of eyes. Apparently, once a companion's loyalty level was high enough, it would be possible to use flying companions for scouting far and wide.

The Hunter class, and more specifically the Beastmaster specialisation, was renowned for being a very frustrating class to play. Many players had tried it and given up before starting a new character. The level of immersion required to support a sufficient bond with the animals was too high for some players. They would feel drained because of the concentration required and their fatigue levels would increase at a dramatic pace because of that. This taught her a few others important points. Fatigue levels were not just correlating with how a player's physical body was doing in the real world. Fatigue would increase after dying inside the game and from playing intensely and having to focus or react quickly on a continual basis.

The information she was reading was sinking in now and it was also making sense to her. Although exerting yourself inside the game did not have an immediate impact on how you felt, the side-effects would be felt upon logging out and returning to the real world. She pictured the players who had access to their Perma pods and figured that they would be considered an elite player. A part of her was proud that her son had achieved success in the game and was considered one of these elite players, but the other part of her was scared to death of what he was putting his body through. She had to put an end to it.

Although she tried, it was impossible to find any clues about where she might go looking for her son. The virtual world would regenerate itself, continually evolving, but the main zones would stay the same. There were places with level restrictions, contested areas where players could kill each other and neutral zones where player versus player combat was not allowed. The best way to find your way around inside the game was to buy maps from other players. Anyone could map out areas they had travelled to and they would sell these maps at a premium depending on how far away they had travelled.

After doing some further detective work, she came to the conclusion that he was likely to be engaged in player versus player skirmishes and battles whenever the tournaments were not being held. Most players who specialised in this type of combat would fight other players to increase their ranks and provide bonuses for the various factions they were affiliated with. She didn't have time to get into it much, but she felt sure that her son would be in one of these contested areas. Her best option was to find out where the tournaments were being held and to attend one of them as soon as possible.