Cookie didn’t come to a stop until she was a great distance away from the cave. “Yuck, it was all over me.” She holstered her sword and shield, then sat down at the base of a tree.

“Are you okay?” Raven looked her friend over. “Mend.” She pointed her wand at Cookie, healing magic shooting forth. “You still had more than half your health, so that’s good.”

Cookie nodded, leaning back against the tree. “I—I’m okay.”

“There you are.” Tony said, jogging over to join the two in the tree's shade. “That place was awful.”

“Awful? Those enemies are easy.” Jay said, coming over with Lucas following her.

“Easy? I had to cast Ember three times. Tony had to whack it a bunch, and you had to stab it several times for it to die.” Lucas shook his head.

“Yeah, those bugs are tough!” Tony pointed at Jay. “If I had three skills to work with, I’m sure it’d be easy too!”

“Don’t point at me. I was the one that saved your life by grabbing aggro and giving you a health potion.” Jay said, pulling her pack around.

“Er, sorry.” Tony lowered his hand. “You came in clutch. I was about to die, so, thanks.”

“Don’t worry about it. That’s what teammates are for.” Jay retrieved a small bottle of red liquid from her bag and attached it to her belt, replacing the one that had been used. “Plus, I still have seventy-six of these minor healing potions. I don’t mind sharing.”

“Seventy-six? Are you for real?” Tony asked.

Jay nodded, slipping the pack onto her back.

“How did you get so many? They’re kind of expensive, not that they’re ever in stock, anyway.” Lucas said.

“Do you remember the guard that would give you a health potion if your health got low?” Jay asked.

“The one in the basement with the training dummies? What about them?” Raven asked.

“The guard gives you a potion, and you’re supposed to drink it, then fight the dummies again. What I did was put the potion in my pack, then talk to the guard again. They’re programmed to give you a potion if you’re low, and not if you’re full health or already holding one. So, I figured storing it away would get around that, and it worked.” Jay smirked. “I was in that basement for a long time, just storing away potions. I only stopped when I hit the item cap of ninety-nine.”

“Dang, you glitched the guard?” Tony asked.

“More like—I found a loophole in the system. I haven’t found any glitches yet.” Jay said.

“Wish we had known that. Ninety-nine health potions for each of us would’ve been so helpful.” Lucas said before taking a seat in the shade. “Or we could have sold some of them to shops for a bunch of starting cash.”

“Selling would’ve been the only useful option for you guys.” Jay said.

“Why do you say that? Don’t you just drink it?” Cookie asked.

“Yes, but you guys wouldn’t be able to do that, not in combat, anyway.” Jay shook her head. “You can’t use your backpack when you’re in battle. If you’re fighting something, you can only use what is on you.” She motioned to her belt. “I have an item belt. It allows me to have items at the ready when I'm fighting.”

“How did you get that? Do you have to buy it?” Tony asked.

“No.” Jay said. “You get it from a quest. Did you all skip a bunch of quests or something? You all still have the starting gear, and no item belt, which is kind of important.”

“We’ve been avoiding any quests with combat.” Lucas answered.

“That’s right. We wanted to do the nicer missions and explore.” Cookie added.

Jay closed her eyes and lowered her head. “Okay.” She lifted her head and looked at the others. “Have you guys played MMOs before, and if so, what roles did you do?”

“I tried one when I was a kid. I don’t remember what game or role I was.” Tony said.

“This is my first.” Raven said.

“Same here.” Lucas said.

“Uh.” Cookie looked up in thought. “What does MMO mean again?”

“Oh, god.” Jay sighed. “That explains the train wreck that happened in there.”

“What do you mean? Did you not see me beat the crap out of that centipede?” Tony asked.

“I thought we did okay for being under-leveled.” Lucas said. “Could have gone better. At least no one died.”

“Are you joking? That was bad, and the tiny one almost died.” Jay paused for a moment. “The tank was in the back with the healer, not using spells, and not pulling the enemies. I don’t know why the healer wasn’t watching everyone’s health and didn’t heal the critically low teammate. The mage, muse and healer didn’t use their standard attacks, plus the muse didn’t even cast any skills. They used their instrument like a melee weapon.”

“Not to mention, the tank ran off on their own, which is bad enough, but they pulled even more enemies.” Jay said, looking over the group.

“I’m sorry, everyone. This is all still so new to me.” Cookie said, head hanging down.

“Don’t worry about it. We’re all having a hard time. It’s not just you.” Raven sat down beside Cookie, wrapping an arm around her friend. She then looked at Jay. “Look, if you want to leave the party, I doubt anyone will mind.” Her gaze shifted to Lucas and Tony, who shrugged. “Cookie and I were kicked from our first party for being new. We get it.”

“I’m sure we could find another new person to join us.” Lucas said.

“Yeah! I appreciate you saving me and all, but we’ll find someone else that doesn’t complain about us.” Tony glared at the feline.

“Whoa.” Jay threw her hands up defensively. “I didn’t say I wanted to leave, or that I was complaining. Those are just the things we need to work on before attempting that dungeon again.”

Cookie raised her head. “You don’t want to leave?”

“No.” Jay said, pulling out her pocket watch and checking the time. “Plenty of daylight left to train you guys.” She slipped the watch back into her pocket. “Plus, who knows when I could find another team that has a free slot and would be compatible with my class?”

“Training? Are you going to be our coach or something?” Tony asked.

“Basically.” Jay said.

“You’re going to help us?” Cookie stood up, walked over to Jay, then hugged her. “You’re so sweet, thank you!”

“Uh, yeah. It’s not a big deal.” Jay froze until Cookie released her.

“What are we going to be doing, exactly?” Lucas asked.

“Mostly just backtracking to the quests you all skipped and supervising. Come on, let’s go back to the village nearby.” Jay motioned for the group to follow her.

The party made their way back to the village, then took the roads back to the western village. Raven’s navigation made the trip easy. Cookie shared berries with everyone for a snack as they traveled, except for Jay, who had their own. Tony practiced his flute after finishing his snack.

“So, you can play that like a proper instrument?” Jay asked.

Tony nodded, lowering the flute from his lips. “Yep. I thought it’d be cool to be a muse since I play instruments in real life, but this is kind of brutal.”

“Why is that?” Jay pressed further. “Does it not work well in VR?”

“No, it plays really well. I can’t compare it to real life, since I've never played a flute before, but it’s good. Great, even.” Tony sighed. “The problem is that I have to play songs to activate my skills. I don’t just shout the name like everyone else.”

“Wait, really?” Jay asked. “Huh. That explains why you didn’t use any skills in the dungeon. You got scared and couldn’t get the song out.”

“What? No! I wasn’t scared. I forgot the song because we haven’t fought anything yet. That’s all.” Tony turned his head away.

“He totally got scared.” Raven muttered, leaning close to Jay.

“Didn’t you get scared too?” Jay asked.

Tony burst into laughter.

“What—I didn’t say I didn’t.” Raven said. “It was dark, the centipedes were big and gross, and one was even on Cookie. It’d be weird not to be scared.”

“Aw, thanks Raven. You do care.” Tony smiled at the Elf.

“I’m not standing up for you. You’re a man, and you were scared the most. Don’t you have any pride?” Raven rolled her eyes, then looked away from the Kobold.

“I—What? But you just said—” Tony stammered, looking at the others.

“What do you know? We’re here!” Jay loudly announced as the village came into view. “You said you guys accepted all the quests here and just didn’t do the combat specific ones, right?”

“Yeah, we got all the quests we could find from each village.” Lucas said.

“Let’s see.” Jay pulled her journal out. “Do you have the ‘Bug Infestation’ quest?”

Lucas retrieved his journal and turned to the quest page. “Yep. Kill ten ladybugs.”

“What? I don’t want to kill ladybugs.” Cookie frowned.

Jay chuckled. “You might feel different once you see them. Follow me.”

“Uh oh. I don’t like the sound of that.” Tony commented.

Jay led the group along the outskirts of the village and to a large crop field. Stalks of green corn filled the area, easily two feet taller than Lucas. The stalks were tightly packed, making it impossible to see more than a few feet through them.

“We’re not supposed to find ladybugs and squash them, are we?” Raven asked.

“That can’t be it. What kind of game would have a quest like that?” Tony asked, stepping forward into the corn.

“Hey, small guy.” Jay glanced down at her journal. “Tony. You shouldn’t be taking the lead. The tank should do that.” She turned to Cookie. “First rule of MMOs, the tank goes first and pulls the enemies, and only one group at a time, especially if you’re new.”

Cookie’s face lit up a few seconds after all eyes were on her. “Oh, right, that’s me!” She equipped her sword and shield. “So, I have to go first every time?”

Jay nodded. “The tank is supposed to be the primary front line. You have the most defense and health out of all of us, and will survive longer because of it. If you pull most, or all, of the enemies, then the healer only has to worry about healing you.”

“That’s right. Tony had Cookie take the lead when we went through the spider forest.” Lucas said.

“Mhm. I’m a MMO newb, and even I knew the tank goes first.” Tony grinned.

Cookie turned to face the corn. “Alright, if I have to, I will.” She took a deep breath, then headed inside.

“Normally I would be close behind the tank, but I’m just supervising.” Jay glanced at her journal. “Art, you go next, then Tony and Raven last.”

“You’re not going to help?” Lucas asked, following Cookie into the corn.

“I fought these by myself. You shouldn’t need me, but I’ll jump in if I have to.” Jay said.

“This should be easy, then.” Tony commented before adding himself to the line.

“That’s what you said about the dungeon, and you nearly died.” Raven went into the corn behind the Kobold.

“You’re the healer, and you didn’t heal me!” Tony shot a glare at the Elf.

“Pay attention. You’re going to run into a ladybug soon.” Jay shook her head, then followed Raven.

“We really have to kill some innocent ladybugs?” Cookie asked, making her way into the field. “Oh.”

“Oh?” Lucas repeated, stepping into a clearing. The stalks of corn were flattened in a large circle, and in the center was a typical red ladybug, except it was as big as a horse.

“Whoa! That thing is huge.” Tony clutched his flute in one hand.

“They’re not very cute when they’re so big.” Cookie shook her head with a look of disapproval.

“Wow, you can see every little detail.” Raven said with a slight tilt of her head.

“Focus. That bug is level ten.” Jay pointed at the large insect. “Cookie, you’re the tank, so pull it, then everyone can start attacking.”

“Pull it? With what?” Cookie asked, looking back at Jay.

Jay blinked a few times. “Grab aggro.”

Cookie blinked back. “Aggro?”

Jay looked at the confused faces peering back at her, except for Tony. “Move forward on your own and get its attention. Once it attacks you, then everyone else can attack it.”

Cookie held her sword and shield up, then slowly walked towards the enemy. “Okay. It’s just a ladybug.”

“You can do it, Cookie! Don’t worry, I’ll keep you healthy!” Raven called out, her wand raised.

Cookie cautiously approached the idle beast, its antennas twitching. “Okay, miss ladybug, you need to stop ruining the farmer’s crops. This food isn't—Ah!” The insect charged forward and rammed into Cookie, sending her skidding backwards. “It’s fast!” She wildly swung her sword at the giant ladybug.

“Emb—” Lucas aimed his wand.

“Wait! Let Tony buff you before you cast your spell!” Jay said.

Lucas stopped, lowering his wand.

“I got you!” Tony raised his flute, then started his song.

“You should see an icon appear on your wristband. That’s the buff.” Jay explained.

Lucas glanced at his wrist, and indeed an icon had appeared; a red outline of a sword inside a circle. “Yep, I see it.” He took aim once more. “Ember!”

Once Lucas’ spell activated, Jay turned her attention to Raven. “Healer, why aren’t you doing anything?”

“My bad.” Raven pointed her wand at Cookie. “Mend!”

As Cookie was healed, Jay glanced at Lucas. “Why aren’t you attacking?” Her gaze shifted to Raven. “And why did you heal? The tank’s health was barely turning yellow.”

“My skill is still on cooldown.” Lucas said.

“You told me to do something! All I can do is heal.” Raven answered.

Tony turned to face Jay, still playing his song.

“It keeps head-butting and swiping at me. Someone do something!” Cookie cried out, still flailing her sword wielding arm at the ladybug.

“Cookie, why aren’t you using your skill, and don’t swing your sword around like that.” Jay said.

“I don’t remember what my skill is!” Cookie’s right arm stopped its wild movements. She looked at the ladybug and swung, slashing it across its head. “Oh wow, I cut it!”

Jay looked back at the magic users. “You two, you have standard attacks, just like what Cookie is doing. Everyone can attack without using a skill. From what I’ve seen, you have to flick your wand.” She turned towards Tony. “You should have a standard attack too, but I have no idea how to do it.” A glare from the Kobold caused her to raise an eyebrow. “You’re doing great, though. Keep buffing.”

“Like this?” Lucas flicked his wand, a small orb of green light shot out to hit the ladybug.” He quickly did it again, though nothing happened. After a second, he tried once more, and the projectile shot out once more. “Dang, even that has a cooldown.”

Raven was next to shoot a green orb from her wand. “Wait, that isn’t a healing thing, is it?”

Jay shook her head. “No, it deals damage, but probably not a lot. It’s better than doing no damage at all.”

“Ember!” Lucas sent out bits of flame at the ladybug, which caught aflame. “Nice, it got ignited.”

Cookie shrieked. “It’s on fire, kill it!”

“Gah!” Tony lowered his flute. “I ran out of mana.”

Lucas flicked his wand at the ladybug, then looked at his wrist. “Why am I still buffed?”

“Pay attention to the enemy, guys.” Jay said. “Raven, keep attacking.”

“Shouldn’t I heal Cookie?” Raven asked before sending an attack at the insect.

“She should be fine.” Jay pulled out her magnifying glass and held it up. “It’s almost dead. Just finish it.”

“If that’s the case, then I’ll do it!” Tony declared before charging forward, bashing the ladybug’s side with his flute.

“I—” Jay sighed. “Whatever, just kill it.”

Cookie slashed, Tony bashed, and the two magic users attacked a few more times before the ladybug fell onto its side, fading away in its defeat.

“I did it. I fought the giant ladybug!” Cookie held her sword in the air.

Tony raised his flute wielding arm up to join in. “And I helped!”

Raven hurried over to Cookie’s side. “You really did, and I only had to heal you once.”

“So, was that better?” Lucas asked, turning towards Jay.

“Yeah, a lot better than earlier. There is still a lot you guys need to learn, though.” Jay smiled, watching the other three celebrate.

“Whatever advice or info you have, we’ll need it.” Lucas followed the feline’s gaze. “This MMO stuff is harder than I thought.”

“Yeah. A lot of people don’t realize that MMOs can be challenging. Just ask anyone who has ever done a late game raid.” Jay walked over to where the others were talking. “If you’re all done, you still need to fight nine more of those.”

“Oh, right.” Cookie’s arms lowered, hanging at her sides.

“Nine more? One was stressful enough.” Raven grabbed her wand from her belt.

“How were you stressed? You sat in the back waving your wand around!” Tony turned to the Elf.

“And what did you do, short stuff? Huh? You played a song.” Raven said.

“I’d like to see you learn the flute and then learn songs to cast spells!” Tony glared.

Jay slowly stepped backwards. “Does this happen a lot?”

Lucas chuckled. “A few times a day. I don’t know why they bicker so much.” He watched them continue to go at each other with petty insults, though Cookie broke it up once that started up. “I think it might be a way of them forgetting about our situation. It helps me forget, anyway.” He glanced at Jay. “Or they just don’t get along. You’ll get used to it.”

“Well, it is kind of funny.” Jay said, her attention shifting to the ladybug fading into existence. “You guys might want to get into combat formation.” She pointed to the fully formed insect, which was turning to face them.

“Get it, Cookie!” Tony quickly backed away.

“How did that giant thing sneak up on us?!” Cookie took a few steps back, then stopped, raising her sword and shield. “Okay, get behind me. I’m going to attack!”