Jacob breathed slowly in through his nostrils and out through his mouth as he followed behind Kronos. The two walked at a leisurely pace through the cobblestone streets passing pale bricked houses. Kronos had been talking at length about his power leveling strategy on their way to meet up with Milo and Sevnah.

Kronos was grinning from ear to ear when he glanced back at Jacob and said, “We’ll be tearing through several dungeons now that Milo and Sev’ are here. I can already feel that sweet experience dripping in!”

“Oh!” cried out Kronos. “I forgot to send you a party invite after the tutorial stage. Here!”

Jacob confirmed the party invite and scanned the new information that appeared in his vision creating a miniature heads up display of the party. He could see three icons, two of which were greyed out. The lit-up icon showed three bars representing Kronos’ health, stamina, and rage. The image in the icon was a live rendering of Kronos’ demonic face with a caption of ‘Berserker level 3’. Jacob’s eyes drifted to the greyed-out icons of the other party members.

The first icon he read below Kronos belonged to Milo. Milo’s icon showed a bulky demonic face with near charcoal black skin, shaved head, and dimly glowing yellow eyes. His three bars displayed health, stamina, and a new stat called focus. The caption for Milo read ‘Warden level 10’.

The last icon Jacob read belonged to the fourth member of the party, Sevnah. Her icon displayed a near symmetrical face with indigo skin tones that looked soft and delicate to the touch. She had piercing violet eyes and two protruding horns that curved back parting her raven hair into two ear length bangs. Her three bars reflected Jacob’s showing health, mana, and stamina. The caption for Sevnah read, ‘Blood Priestess level 8’.

Jacob was focused on the new HUD when Kronos came to a sudden stop. Jacob stumbled past Kronos at the last moment. Jacob shot Kronos a confused look and asked, “What’s wrong? Why are we stopping suddenly?’

Kronos cocked his head back as he examined Jacob and said, “How are you still level 1?”

“Ah, that would be because I’m Bound by the Light.” Replied Jacob nonchalantly.

Kronos went bug eyed and yelled, “What!? The one that prevents you from gaining experience from defeating enemies?”

“The very one.”

Kronos rubbed at his right temple and continued to walk towards the plaza. He talked over his shoulder to Jacob. “That removes the power leveling option for you. Man!” Kronos kicked some debris in the street to the side. “I was hoping I could train you up to help us hold the guild’s fortress for the Purification cycle at the end of this month…”

The two rounded the corner following the street into the plaza that Jacob and travelled to through the portal. The two icons that had been greyed out lit up into full color. Two other players matching the icons of Milo and Sevnah were waving enthusiastically as Jacob and Kronos approached.

“Guys, our training plans are out the window.” Lamented Kronos.

“What? Why!?” growled the gruff voice of the charcoal demon.

“Veralic here can’t gain experience thanks to a negative perk.” Explained Kronos. “Do you remember Kendrick, Milo?”

The charcoal demon nodded, “Yeah…”

Kronos flicked his thumb towards Jacob. “He took the Bound by the Light perk.”

The indigo skinned succubus burst out in laughter and pointed at Jacob. She played at wiping away an imaginary tear and replied with a high pitched velvety smooth voice. “You’re screwed. No way you’ll be able to help in the Purification defense.”

Milo lifted a finger pointing at Sevnah and said, “Give him a break, Sevnah! You know that’s not necessarily true. Kendrick did manage to level up through quests before he ended up in the Origin Vaults.”

“Yeah, and then he immediately gave up on the character because and I quote, ‘Questing experience sucks!’” snapped Sevnah.

Kronos turned to Jacob and gestured with his palms up. “I’m not sure we’ll be able to help you power level. No one has posted a power leveling guide through questing. I mean there’s not much demand for one…”

Jacob looked at all three of them and calmly asked, “What about PP? Are there any guides for farming PP?”

All three gave him a puzzled look. Kronos spoke first. “There are a few ways to farm PP, but I don’t see how that’s going to help you. Enchanted gear can only take you so far and there aren’t any abilities you can get trained in to counteract the limit on experience from opponents…”

Jacob grinned as he revealed, “I may be Bound by the Light, but I have another ability that allows me to slowly grow through spending PP. So, as long as I can collect PP I can develop.”

Sevnah threw Jacob a dismissive look and said, “Let me get this straight. You chose a leveling method that develops at a snail’s pace in a game that is constantly changing every month?”

Jacob nodded which triggered another bout of laughter from Sevnah. “You really are screwed. Most methods of getting PP require cooldowns of twenty-four to forty-eight hours and those methods are the farming ones.”

Jacob’s grin faded into a frown. “I may have a slow leveling speed but that doesn’t mean I’m useless. I can still act in the role of support while helping –.”

“Help!?” interrupted Sevnah. “All three of us will be so far out of your level range by the end of the day that you wouldn’t be able to follow us into the danger zones. We would be babysitting you the whole time.”

She whipped around jabbing her finger at Kronos. “Time, we don’t have! We have to get back to level 50 before the end of the month if we’re going to have a prayer of holding our fortress during the Purification.”

Kronos brushed her jabs away and muttered, “Chill, he’s a competent player who listens and learns. I’m sure we can-.”

“No!” she looked back to Jacob. “Look I’m sure you’re a nice person and all, but we’re on a tight schedule. We were all for helping you level because Kronos said he found some new talent. But your circumstances just don’t work with our plans. So, no. We’re not going to babysit you.”

Kronos prepared to object when Milo let out an annoyed sigh silencing him. Jacob glanced at each of them cautiously. He threw on a gentle smile and raised his hands as he attempted to diffuse the situation. He started by meeting Sevnah’s eyes and said, “I perfectly understand. From what Kronos told me about the cycles, y’all seem to be taking advantage of the new game plus features. That however comes with the pressure of leveling in time to defend your gains.”

Jacob looked to Kronos. “She’s right and I’m too new to the game to be of benefit to your guild yet. So, go ahead and level like crazy! My class is a complicated one that will require some more research and that takes time.”

Jacob’s grin grew wider as he glanced at Milo. “Besides if you guys hold the fortress then I’ll be fine since they can’t travel to Atropos.”

Sevnah clapped Milo on the shoulder and grinned at Kronos. “See? He gets it! Everything is copasetic. Let’s get going!”

Kronos gave Jacob a guilty look and said, “You can still come with us for the early stages of the power leveling. You know, get an idea of what you’re facing.”

Jacob caught the flash of anger on Sevnah’s face. He quickly waved off the notion and said, “I’d love to man but I am actually feeling sore from our training. I guess I’m not used to playing this game yet.”

Sevnah turned the flash of anger into a smile when she saw Kronos look over his shoulder at her. When his gaze returned to Jacob, he said, “Alright, take it easy man. Here, accept my friend request. Send me a message if you have any more questions about the game. You may not make level 50 in time for the Purification, but you can at least try for it by the time the next Apocalypse rolls around.”

Jacob clicked accept on the friend notification. “Thanks.” He looked past Kronos to Milo and Sevnah. “I appreciate the help y’all have given me and I look forward to seeing you guys successfully defend your fortress.”

“You’re welcome.” Grunted Milo walking away.

“Yeah, no problem!” said Sevnah sweetly as she followed Milo.

Kronos lingered for a moment longer throwing Jacob an apologetic look. “Sorry about her. She’s a little high-strung. But she’s right about our need to rush to 50. You’re a pretty chill guy so hit me up anytime you need help, ok?”

Jacob chuckled. “Sure.”

Kronos waved a quick goodbye before running after Milo and Sevnah. A few seconds after they departed, a new notification popped up informing Jacob that he had been removed from the party. He turned his back on them and contemplated his next action. I lack a lot of information right now. He walked around the plaza and began to make a mental list. I can get experience through PP or quests. That means I need to look at the details of my Gifts of the Dark ability to determine where I get the most bang for my buck with PP as that appears to be my limiting factor right now. First point, learn more about PP sources. Second point, research beginner guides to determine gaps in my game knowledge.

Jacob winced and came to a sudden stop doubling over when his calf muscle seized up in a cramp. A long minute passed with him in pain while trying to massage the cramp away. When the cramp passed he muttered under his breath, “Guess I really am too tired to keep playing.”

He made the logout gesture pushing the reality of the game down to a small bubble. One last notification popped up asking if he was sure he wanted to log out. A simple click dumped him in darkness as his helmet stopped sending sensory feedback.

He felt his body being directed by the M.U.C. back into the standing position. Popping and whirring sounds could be heard as he was detached from the support rig. Gravity took hold as his full body weight pressed down on him once again. His muscles screamed in pain now that he lacked the support of the M.U.C.

He wrenched his helmet off and peeled his haptic suit off. He rolled onto the floor next to his now empty suit and breathed as slowly as he could manage. That would have been embarrassing if I was with Kronos and his party. I guess I should be thankful Sevnah was so dismissive then?

Jacob chuckled at his thoughts. Satisfied that he could move again, Jacob gingerly picked up his gear and made his way to his bedroom. There he felt a wave of exhaustion roll over him at the sight of his bed. He fought back the sensation of fatigue as he dropped his gear on the floor and threw his work clothes off the bed. With a spot cleared on his bed, he collapsed face first into his pillow. He turned his head towards his alarm clock and saw that the time was 8 p.m. He blinked a few times as the red numbers of his digital clock blurred with the closing of his eyes. He relaxed his body as the world went dark, slipping into a peaceful rest.