"Huh?" Tyr was surprised at the pop-up prompting him to form a party. "Oh, I was planning to play solo."

"Don't be an idiot. There's no sense in us being out here alone all night and not forming a party." Brutus said as he started chuckling, "You're out here all alone fighting level 5 Skeletons. They may have low health, but they're fast and hit hard. You need me." He's right, even if I don't want to admit it. Tyr forced a smile at the warrior and pressed Yes. Brutus' HP bar, name, class, and level appeared within the peripherals of his HUD.

"So. You're a spellcaster class eh?" Tyr nodded yes in response. "Well that's good, I needed to find an insomniac like me." Brutus laughed deeply, making several skeletons nearby jerk their heads in response. Within moments they rushed towards the pair. Brutus grinned at the charging skeletons, and gripping his sword rushed forward to meet them. Tyr raised his hands and felt flames leap forward once more from his fingertips.

At first they found that it was challenging when several skeletons rushed them at once. Brutus would storm their attack, drawing their attention. Tyr would follow up with flames beside him resulting in the kill. Tyr would typically gain slightly more experience than Brutus would, as he was dealing the killing blows in most cases. A few instances Brutus would beat him to the punch and deal the killing blow before Tyr could even cast his spell. At one point a skeleton rushed from behind them and Tyr spotted it only as it swung a rusty sword towards his throat. Without thinking he instinctively blocked with his hands, crying out as sharp pain tore through him. Brutus turned in response then cried out himself as the skeleton he was fighting took advantage of this distraction. A rusty blade was thrust deeply into his side, and he drew a deep breath as he pulled himself free from it. Tyr turned back to the skeleton assaulting him and felt energy build within his arms.

"Flames!" A feeling of urgency came over Tyr as the skeleton swung the rusty sword at him again, in spite of the flames it was being bathed in. He felt a surge of energy from within him and his flames intensified. The skeleton crumbled as it ran out of health. Turning back he saw that Brutus was dispatching the skeleton he was fighting. With a sigh they both slumped down next to one another. The blood was surprising, though not unexpected. It's like the real world, more so than any virtual world I've ever experienced.

"Heh. They got the better of us there." Brutus cleared his throat before continuing his thought, "Let's crush a few more to make up for it." Tyr smirked over at him while nodding in agreement.

"I bet I'll kill more than you."

***

Only a couple short hours passed as the pair leveled in the hunting fields. To Tyr's delight his mana refilled every time he leveled up, as did his HP. The same was true for Brutus' stamina and HP. Thanks to this the pair stayed out in the fields overnight. Tyr found that the more he used his flames, the more proficient they became. Flames had its own level, it clearly said Spell Mastery : Level 3. It was dealing far more damage than it had when it was level 1, killing skeletons with only expending one or two points of mana. He himself was already level 8, though he had yet to spend a single skill point. In spite of this the pair were proving to hold themselves well against their foes.

They were taking a break and Tyr took the opportunity to spend the skill points he'd been hoarding. Initially he'd considered spending some points into his wisdom stat, but that only governed his mana regeneration rate. As of right now he'd regain his full bar from 0 in one hour time. What was more useful to him at this point was his overall mana, so that he could use his flames spell more. Players only got 5 perk points to spend every time they leveled up, but the guidebook had made it clear that there was no ceiling to levels. The guidebook also hinted that there would be opportunities to respec your stats at a later time.

Player Name: Tyr --- CLASS: Spell Caster

Level: 8 --- Exp: 950 / 26,000

HP: 100 / 100

MP: 32 / 45

POW: 10

INT: 45

WIS: 0

DEF: 10

AGI: 10

"Going for a glass cannon build eh?" Brutus had been steadily growing more and more efficient at killing the skeletons, but they had stopped spawning as the sun rose. A few low level boars had started spawning, but it was clearly time to move on. They would not get nearly enough experience from the level 2 and 3 boars to justify staying where they were. "Tyr?"

"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking," Tyr contemplated if he was really ready to head back to the crowded city or not. Shaking his head he stood up, "Yes. Glass cannon. I won't be able to take any hits, but so long as I kill what's in front of me quickly it'll be okay." Brutus sighed heavily and rocked himself to his feet.

"I don't know if you're as much of an insomniac as I am, but..." He grinned and extended his hand to Tyr, "I'll tank for you if you're down to keep going?" Tyr smirked and nodded towards the woods at the edge of field, maybe an hour walk from where they were.

"Let's see who kills the most boars on the way there!"