Soon enough, it became clear that it was, in fact, a floating mountain. The base of the mountain was green, but as the structure crept toward the sky, the terrain become more and more rocky. Goats with neon-blue hair and curled horns prowled the mountain like guardians. Waterfalls poured off the hovering landmass, falling down to the ground to form small rivers that cut through the land. There was a thick rope hanging off the structure, slowly swinging back and forth like a pendulum.

“Told you so!” Dom snipped.

“Yeah, whatever,” Cedric said. “Still doesn’t make any sense.”

“So…. What now?” Gary said.

You have discovered the Quest: Climb the Floating Mountain

Difficulty: Easy

Rewards: Random Rare item

Wow! Gary thought. He didn’t even think it was possible to discover a quest like that! There was much to ForeverQuest that Gary didn’t know, it seemed.

“Did you guys just discover a quest?” Gary asked.

“Yeah, I got one,” said Cedric.

“So, uhh, should we climb it?” said Dom, who was gaping up at the mountain, his mouth hanging wide open.

“Guess so,” said Gary. “We get a rare item, don’t we?”

“What about those goat monsters?” said Cedric, pointing towards the goats. “You think they are tough?”

From the distance, they heard a dull behehehehe.

Gary squinted at them, trying to see their level, but couldn’t make it out from the distance. “Don’t know,” Gary admitted.

Cedric took a few steps forward and grabbed the rope. He gave the rope a firm tug. “Seems sturdy enough,” he said in a low voice.

“Let’s go for it!” Dom suggested.

Nobody tried to climb up the rope. “Okay, fine, I’ll go first,” Gary said as he approached the rope. He tried his hardest, but quickly slipped off, his hands burning as he tried to hold on. Eventually, he hit the ground and his knees buckled.

“Your strength is too low!” said Brittney. “Your strength must be at least 35 for you to climb the rope! In order to get that strong, you must make some significant gains.”

“Shoot guys,” said Gary. “I don’t think we can make it up. Nobody has over 35 strength, right?”

“Nope. I got the highest,” said Cedric. “And I only have level 30.”

Dom was already trying to climb the rope. For a short moment it looked as if he was making progress, before he tumbled off the rope, falling onto the grass with a thump! He looked dizzy, his black hair even more messy than usual..

“Ahh, dude! We have to get level 35 strength!” Dom said.

“Bro, I just said that,” Gary repeated.

“Oh,” Dom looked a bit crestfallen. “Wasn’t listening.”

The three boys stared at the floating mountain wistfully. It was moving away from them at a slow pace.

“Man, do you think we’ll ever find this mountain again?” said Dom.

Gary shrugged, “Dunno. I hope so, I want to climb to the top!”

The three spent the rest of the day training. After enough Goblin kills, they had all progressed to level 3 strength. Gary had also cut down a couple Pine trees, to grow to level 2 Lumberjacking and collect some Pine Logs. Cedric found a Copper Vein and mined his first Copper Ore. Dom didn’t find any herbs, but the friends swore to keep their eyes out for some. They all wanted to stay up with the trade skills, because there were so many valuable faucets to having good non-combat skills.

When the in-game sun had crept beneath the mountains in the distance, the three decided it was best to log off.

When Gary took his headset off, Dom was yawning wide. “Man, I wish we didn’t have to go to school. It makes it so hard to get consistent game time.”

“We should skip sometime,” suggested Gary.

Cedric shot him a worried glance.

“I mean, just once or twice,” reassured Gary.

“Tomorrow?” asked Dom.

“Nah, I got a Trig quiz tomorrow. But, soon, ok?”

“Sure, soon,” Dom agreed.

Cedric was slowly shaking his head, but he didn’t say anything. “Alright, see you guys later,” he said as he walked up the stairs.

“Yeah, later,” Dom agreed as he left with Cedric.

Gary took a few moments just to be alone. As much as he enjoyed hanging out with Dom and Cedric, sometimes, he just liked being on his own. It gave him a sense of control that he never had when he was with other people.

He stretched out on the couch and stared at the ceiling, which was plastered with video-game posters, just like the rest of his little den. He felt good, just happy to be at home.

He heard a door slam upstairs, his mom had just come home. A bit sleepy, Gary stood up.

“Gary?” his mother asked, her voice tight.

“Hey mom, how was work?” Gary was upstairs now. His mom was lying on the couch in the fetal position.

“I have to tell you something, Gary,” she sounded worried.

“What’s up?” Gary asked. It was odd for his mom to be acting this way, he

thought.

“It’s about work….” she said quietly. “Gary, I’m going to have to get a new job.”

What? Gary thought, annoyed. “Why?” he asked. “Isn’t your job good?”

“Everest Capital is done. We lost our biggest investor. They just laid off every programmer in the whole company. Which, obviously, includes me.”

Gary didn’t know what to say.

“Come here,” his mom said, as she sniffed her nose, “give me a hug, I need it.”

Gary hugged his mom, thinking about what this could possibly mean. “It’s not that big of a deal though, is it? You can just get another job, right?”

Gary mom was quiet for a few moments. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “The economy is bad, and it won’t look good that I just got let go from my last job. Additionally, computer programming jobs have been shrinking, with machine learning replacing a lot of the entry level jobs.”

His mom was right, of course. Gary had learned in class that ironically, many computer coding jobs were being replaced by computers themselves. One clever programmer could figure out how to automate tech jobs, saving millions of dollars in labor, but also putting many out of work.

“It’s alright, mom. We’ll figure it out.”

“I hope so Gary. I really do.” His mom laid her head down on the couch. “It’s just with the mortgage, and car insurance, and everything. I don’t know how long we can stay here before we have to move….”

“Move?” said Gary. “Who said we have to move? Move where? When?”

His mom sighed. “I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s just, if I can’t get a job again soon, we’re going to have to move, somewhere.”

“Out of Litchfield? Like, to another city?” Gary asked, frightened. He didn’t want to leave! He had lived here his whole life, and Gary didn’t like the idea of being separated from Dom and Cedric, not at all.

“I don’t know Gary. I just don’t know.”

Gary clenched his fists. “I won’t let that happen,” he said, his voice firm.

“Gary,” his mom said. “It might not be up to you. It’s...it’s out of your control.”

“No!” Gary yelled, standing up. “I’ll find a way to keep us here!” Gary clenched his fists tightly, thin veins popping up at his wrists.

“How?” his mom asked, her voice rising. “You’re only a kid Gary! You can’t go to school and make enough money to keep us here. No,” she was shaking her head. “I don’t want you to do that. You focus on school, on being a kid. I’ll figure out everything else. Just…” she lowered her head. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care if it.”

“I can do it Mom! I’m good at figuring things out! I can figure this out, I swear!” Gary yelled again.

“Just give it a rest Gary,” his Mom sighed again. “I’m going to bed.” She got up slowly, and limped towards her bedroom like a wounded animal.

Gary collapsed on the couch, the reality of the situation slamming him like a school bus.

If he moved…. No more hanging out with Cedric and Dom. And yeah, he hated his high school, but still, from what he had read online about other high schools, his was fairly typical.

Suddenly, Gary felt an energy like none he had ever experienced. He sat up, his head buzzing brain racing quickly. ForvereQuest had a raging game economy. If he could just figure out how to use it to his advantage.

He was angry that his mom still thought of him as a child. I’m not a kid anymore, Gary thought.

Suddenly, he realized something. Tommy’s arrogant face entered his mind, and he heard the words, “We are going to win tons of money….”