Kira and Ervent appeared in the middle of the obsidian city. “You know, I don’t think I’ve been here in a while. It really hasn’t changed much,” she said.

“Really?” Ervent asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever been here. It-- ow!”

Kira glanced to the other girl. She’d rubbed her hand against the obsidian walls. “Yeah, it apparently hurts non-demons. You might want to not do that.”

“Wish you’d warned me sooner,” Ervent said softly, shaking her hand. “Is it okay for me to be here? I mean, I am an angel and all.”

“Eh. As far as I know players are fine to go to the other cities. They haven’t done any big faction war thing yet, so it’s probably not important,” Kira said with a shrug. “Let’s go get our gear fixed. You’re not getting harassed anymore, are you?”

“No. He keeps trying to send me messages, but he’s blocked now. Blueberry sent me a few apologies. You’re not really going to make them help us get our armors, are you?” Ervent asked.

Kira gave a snicker and shook her head. “It’s a game. What am I going to do, add them to my block list if they don’t? But I just thought a threat might make them think twice before they subject us to that kind of stuff. We only get so much time to play games, I don’t want to waste it on that.”

Ervent nodded, walking faster to catch up. “Hey, Kira? How do you do that?”

“Do what?” Kira asked.

“That, all of it. You never really seem nervous or upset about what people will think when you say things. Aren’t you ever worried Blueberry will get mad?” Ervent asked.

Kira hesitated for a moment and gave a soft sigh. “Do you want the truth?”

“Please,” Ervent said, staring at her intently.

“Alllll the time. I honestly speak half the time without even thinking. I actually forget sometimes that this IS a game and that all of you are real,” Kira said, giving a sheepish grin to the other girl.

Ervent’s eyes went wide and she stared up at her. “Wait, really?”

“Really. The fact is? I don’t think they care. It was the whole reason I didn’t want to game with any of you from the get go. I’m pretty terrible with people. Really bad at it. Heck, most people scare me. But the real world and this game world aren’t the same. I really wish I could be someone like Kira in the real world.”

“Really?” Ervent asked. “I’d like to be someone like Ervent too.”

“Heh. Well, Ervent is pretty cool. But the real world is a lot scarier sometimes. That and there’s no monsters I can run around and stab for money. Speaking of, will you be able to afford getting your gear fixed?” Kira asked.

“Yeah, it’s not that bad. A dozen silver or so,” Ervent said. “So, err, if I can ask. None of this is real, right? So do you feel bad about it?”

“Bad about what?” Kira asked.

“Pretending to be something you’re not?” Ervent asked.

Kira cringed before shaking her head. “No. I think Kira is kind of who I’d want to be. Someone who runs in and punches monsters in the face with a sharp, pointy stick,” she said in a teasing tone. “Maybe a bit more useful too.” She gave a soft sigh and imagined a few clients she wouldn’t have minded having a chance to stab. “What about Ervent?”

“Do you think we’d still be friends? Could still be friends? If we met in the real world?” Ervent asked, her voice soft and trembling now.

Kira gave a shrug. “I hope so. You seem pretty sweet all things considered. Bit jumpy, but--”

“I’m not kidding when I say I’m not as much like Ervent as I want to be,” Ervent said suddenly, cutting her off before quickly looking away.

The demon glanced back at her friend. Something was definitely up. The angel looked like she was going to throw up. Kira sighed and walked into the blacksmith’s shop, quickly glancing around before handing over her broken items to be fixed. “Ervent? What’s wrong? You okay?”

“No. Yes. I just, this whole event thing. Meeting everyone. Then there’s the whole issue with Quill. I just don’t know about any of it. It’s kind of weird,” Ervent said.

Kira gave a soft sigh before glancing around again. Aside from the NPC, there was nobody else but them. “Listen. If you want to tell me, you can.”

“Promise you won’t be mad?” Ervent asked, staring up at her.

“What, did you kill somebody?” Kira asked, though she felt a knot beginning to grow in her stomach. Whatever had Ervent so freaked out had to be a pretty big deal. Unfortunately, she really, really hoped it wasn’t that the girl was getting a crush on her. Ervent was a good friend and all, but Kira already had a boyfriend. Even if she didn’t, she didn’t think she could endure being around Ervent outside of the short bursts in the game. The angel was just too jumpy and spastic at times.

“No. It’s, well, I talked to Blueberry and Orion about it a while ago, in fact I think it’s kind of why Blueberry started to push for this meetup,” Ervent said. “But I know if I go, everyone will know and--”

“Just spit it out!” Kira said, her tone far harsher than she meant it to be. “Sorry. Just say it. You’re kind of freaking me out.”

“I’m not a girl!” Ervent finally said, her cheeks going bright red.

Kira paused for a long, long moment then and just stared at the angel. “Wait, what?”

“I’m not a girl,” Ervent said. “I’m a boy, sort of.”

“Oh,” Kira said, staring at her. “Wait, really?” She cocked her head to the side. Of all the things she would have guessed this was about, that certainly wasn’t one of them. The girl was on for hours, how did she avoid getting sick from the sensations? “I mean, you don’t get sick?”

“Not really, no,” Ervent said softly, her eyes staring intently at the ground.

“Huh,” Kira said again, looking the girl up and down again. She remembered the one time she’d tried playing as a male in any game. It felt so strange and foreign. Made her almost want to throw up. She couldn’t imagine being a guy for hours like that. “I didn’t expect that. I guess it doesn’t make everyone sick.”

“It does some people. But, err, for me it really feels good. I mean, right? I guess? I don’t really know how to explain it,” Ervent said, her cheeks getting even redder and seeming to shrink back a little bit.

Kira barely resisted the urge to reach out and hug the poor girl. Boy. “So do you want me to call you a boy from now on? Or--”

“NO! Please don’t! Please, please don’t,” Ervent said quickly. “It’s not that. I don’t want to be a boy. I’m trying to change that. Kind of. It’s not easy, since work isn’t really accepting of that, but I’m trying.”

“Then why tell me?” Kira asked.

“If I come to this event, everyone will know I’m a guy and I didn’t want you to know I was lying to you. But please, don’t call me a boy. Please,” Ervent said softly.

Kira gave a soft sigh and couldn’t resist. The angel looked like she was going to start crying any moment, even her wings were shaking. Kira reached out and hugged the girl, giving her a tight squeeze. “Hey, easy. Easy. I don’t really get it. But you wanna be Ervent? Then you can be Ervent. I don’t care. It’s none of my business anyway.”

“Thank you, that means more to me than I can really say,” Ervent said with a soft, happy sigh before hugging her back.

“Really? Not doing anything?” Kira said with a small snicker. “Setting the bar a bit low there, aren’t you? Sure you don’t wanna try to at least get some money out of it?”

“I could pay you, if you like,” Ervent said.

“To be your friend? Not a chance. You already got me for free. Come on, let’s go look at armors. Have you seen them before?” Kira asked before pulling away from the other girl.

Ervent shook her head. “Not the demon ones. I mean, I’ve been using pieces of equipment I’ve gotten from dungeons and quests. The big ones from the end I’ve never really considered. Well, I mean, that’s not really true, I’ve seen their stats and think I know the ones I want but--”

“Ervent, you’re rambling,” Kira said with a shake of her head. “How much have you looked into them?”

“A little. There’s basic ones, but others too. How much do you know about normal armors? Light, medium, heavy?”

“Light is magic, medium is kind of okay at both and heavy is good at physical defense, right? But weighs a ton?” Kira asked.

“Kind of. But yeah, more or less. The highest grade of armor has to be acquired through a bunch of different pieces, kind of like crafting or a really obnoxious quest. You get all the parts, put them together and you get yours. Now, the basic set is what most people go for, since they give you the best stats. But there ARE variants that have lower stats, with extra benefits. Each of the races have their own.”

“Cool, have you looked into the demon ones?” Kira asked.

“Just the angel ones, I’m sorry,” Ervent said softly, her head lowering. “I--”

“I don’t need you to take care of all of that for me. I’m not going to get mad, don’t worry. So, what else?” Kira asked.

“Well, one cool thing about the master armors is that you can change their appearance a bit. While they’ll still look like the type of armor it is and the effect can be identified easily enough, everything else about it you can change. Color, design, cosmetics. It’s part of the reason they’re so popular. You can also use other pieces of equipment and meld them to it to get the effects and appearances of those items. There have even been rumors that they might release master weapons later this year.”

Kira nodded, trying to keep the smile off her lips. “You seem pretty excited about all of this, at least. Looking forward to getting your armor I take it?”

“A bit,” Ervent said. “We’ve still got a few levels until it’s needed.”

“And?” Kira asked.

“But yeah I’ve looked at them a bit. There’s one that amplifies your flight speed and allows you to take off a lot faster. I thought it’d be really cool.”

Kira gave a small nod. “Sounds pretty cool,” she said before walking into the armor shop. Unsurprisingly it seemed to be almost empty aside from a single demon behind the counter. However, there was a small moment of lag when she stepped in and she suspected that it wasn’t that they were alone, instead it likely opened a new instance. Odd, the blacksmith hadn’t done that. She glanced back outside and, sure enough, the streets now seemed to be empty. “Huh. Private armor shops?”

Ervent nodded. “I guess. Otherwise someone might walk in when you’re changing armor. This way I guess only an NPC sees you.”

Kira rolled her eyes. “I guess if you’re taking your old armor off first, maybe. Seems a bit over the top, though.” She glanced around the shop. There were rows of dark, spiked armors on mannequins lining the floor with shields hanging on the walls. Kira walked to the shop keeper and tapped on the counter.

“Hello, welcome to my shop. Please let me know if you need anything,” the demon said, making her struggle to avoid rolling her eyes. A shop menu appeared, displaying all of the armors she could buy and have made. She quickly changed the settings so only the master armors appeared.

“Huh. I figured they’d have higher stats,” Kira said gently. “They’re not that much better than the stuff I’ve got from dungeons.”

Ervent shook her head. “Yeah. I’ve heard they really tried to focus on going wide than going tall for this. Some of them are pretty cool, though. See any that look fun?”

“Oh, there’s this really cool spider one. Apparently makes you classify as a spider and become immune to webs,” Kira said with a chuckle.

“Wait, really? You’d want something like that?” Ervent asked, the horror radiating from her voice.

“Gosh no. But it’s pretty cool. Oh, one that amplifies pets and makes them stronger. Makes your first attack when hidden do extra damage. Oh, here’s the one that lets you go through things, but the timer on it is huge. Oh, this one recovers MP faster. Ohhhh, this one makes your spells do an obsidian effect,” Kira said while she flipped through them. While some of them looked fun, they didn’t really appeal to her. Then her eyes widened. “Oh. That’s nice.”

“What?” Ervent asked.

“Duskcloud armor. Makes you lighter and not as affected by CC. Reduces all of my defenses by a bit, but… well, why not?” Kira asked before tapping the armor and selecting the ‘try’ option.

A moment later the thick leather armor on her body disappeared, replaced instead by strange, fluffy armor. When she moved her hand left and right there almost seemed to be an afterimage from the armor itself. “How do I look?”

“A little painful to look at. Try walking in it,” Ervent said.

Kira nodded before dashing down towards the exit, then jumping back away from it. She felt light as a feather, her body moving with more ease than she’d ever imagined. The armor on her body seemed to almost drift across her form, masking her in a cloud of darkness. “Okay, you know what? This is kind of cool. But weird. Let’s see if I can get something a bit more solid.” She walked back to the counter and tapped on the menu a few times. The armor shifted into black strips of leather, lined with dark gray clouds on the edges. “How do I look?”

“Like you’re about to go raid a village. So, for a demon, not bad. Isn’t it hot?” Ervent asked.

Kira shook her head. “Not really. I think it’s supposed to be clouds, not wool. Looks like wool though, doesn’t it?”

“A little,” Ervent said.

Kira looked over the requirements for the armor before sighing. “Yeah, it’ll take a while to unlock. Looks like I’ll need to do Syn’s revenge a few times. And a place called Armageddon Temple. Huh. What’s that like? Have you done it before?” she asked.

“No. But I think it’s based off the place we did before. Apocalypse lab, where you had to break all those red crystals off that monster? It’s a larger version of that, apparently massive and requires a huge group.”

Kira shuddered and shook her head. “Ugh. Sounds tedious.”

“You can probably run around and stab a lot of things, though. So I think you’ll like it,” Ervent said in a teasing tone.

“I do more than just run forward and stab things. Sometimes I leap on their backs and stab them,” Kira said with a grin. A light ping made her glance to the side. “Huh?” Someone had send her a message. She gave a sigh when she realized it was Quill.

‘Hey, are you with Ervent? Can you ask why she blocked me?’ Quill’s message read.

She quickly clicked reply. ‘Leave Ervent alone.’ She sent the message and then blocked him.

“Okay, so wanna head back to the guild hall and go to the angel place? Actually, what IS the angel capital like? I don’t think I’ve ever been there,” Kira said.

“Floating city, Sanctuary,” Ervent said.

“Really? Sounds interesting,” Kira said before she started to walk towards the exit.

“I guess. Honestly, I think this place is way more interesting. I hear you can shape the obsidian if you try hard enough.”

“Really?” Kira asked moments before stepping out into the city proper. There was a moment of lag and then the city reloaded. “I’ve never seen anyone do it before.”

“I’m just saying what I’ve heard. There might be some trick to it, though. It’s just a rumor, after all. We don’t have to go to Sanctuary if you’d rather start working on your armor.”

Kira glanced back. “Really? I thought you wanted to go shopping too?”

“I mostly already know what armor I want. I’d rather help you out while you have time to play.”

“Thanks, then. I--” Kira stopped in mid sentence before giving a small sigh. “Hey, Ervent?”

“Yes?” Ervent asked, her voice having a small tremble.

“It’s okay,” Kira said before reaching out and lightly patting her head. “You don’t need to try and bribe me to hang out with you. You’re my friend, first and foremost. No matter what. Okay?”

Ervent flushed and looked away. “I know. You’re doing so much for me. I want to try and be useful.”

“You are useful, silly. Honestly, I’m just thankful this is all. I was starting to worry that you were in danger or something. I’ve got to say, I’m a little surprised you told Orion and Blueberry,” Kira said.

Ervent gave a sigh and shook her head. “I think Blueberry kind of already knew. I mean, she didn’t say anything about it. But I’m pretty sure he knew.”

Kira paused for a moment, blinking a few times. “Did you just say ‘she’?” she asked.

“What? No! He, I meant he, not she!” Ervent said, the panic and worry in her voice telling Kira that she had heard correctly.

“Easy, easy,” Kira said quickly, lifting a hand and holding it up. “It’s fine. So Blueberry is a girl, then?”

“Please don’t tell her, err him that I told you. Please!” Ervent said quickly. “He just doesn’t like the way he’s treated when he plays a girl, so he plays a guy.”

“And it doesn’t make him sick?” Kira asked with a shudder.

“No. Does it normally?” Ervent asked.

“For a lot of people I think it does,” Kira said. “I’ve heard it does, at least. It made me sick when I tried it. I won’t say a word to him, promise. Don’t be so nervous, okay? We’re friends, right? Besides, I’ve got to look out for you.”

“Look out for me? Why?” Ervent asked.

“Because you’re a little angel,” Kira said with the biggest grin she could.

She was rewarded with a loud groan from the girl.