Sometimes, sleeping in until noon is a fantastic way to start the day. Do it enough times and, like any other drug, it becomes detrimental to one's health. Luckily for me, this is my first time in years. Even in game, I would normally be one of the firsts to wake up and get straight to business. After finishing our scouting mission and arriving a little after midnight, my body wasn't having the early bird mode and set my inner clock to any time after A.M. switched to P.M.

One big yawn and a long stretch later, I pull myself out of the covers and out of the tent Vic and I use for privacy inside the vardo. After figuring out who it belonged to, me, I dismiss the tent and bedrolls with a wave of my hand. I yawn once more, scratching my lower back when several afternoon greetings float my way. Mika, the Blacksmiths, and the Tailors are hard at work in the crafting corner nearby and I return their greeting, checking to see if maybe I forgot to equip my civvies before rolling out of bed. Nope, all dressed and ready to go.

I make my way to the storage crates, topping off my consumables at my preferred levels(2*Health Potions, 2*Mana Potions, 2*Stamina Potions, 3*Better Rations, and my one Glorious Dawn Elixir) I make sure I empty out all the loot I picked up along the way to make some space. I find the Vile Crawler Meat and wonder if it should go in the storage or if I should destroy it. My hoarding player mentality asks what I would do if I found out that I needed it later and I drop it into the crate. There's an astounding amount of stone bricks and Lucidium and I wonder where it all came from.

"Gotta tell Gorm and the cooks not to touch the roach meat or Victoria will kill me."

Speaking of which, it's time for brunch. So, I make my way to the dining area. There's only a handful of people here finishing their meals and cleaning up. One of the systems that have become commonplace for us, but others might find odd or even extravagant is the Rucksack of Holding with the cooked meals. All one has to do is access the inventory and choose the food that they're in the mood for. It would be as fresh and hot as it was straight out of the oven. Then again, we only do this if the kitchen staff was needed elsewhere.

For a moment, a tiny panic attack makes my heart skip a beat as I wonder if I'm missing a battle. But a more scrutinizing inspection of the vardo's inside population tells me the kids aren't in here with me and I doubt that Dawn would allow them be around for, let alone participate in a skirmish.

One of the people at a nearby table, Miss Sofia, a full human and the oldest member of Linqs, asks me if I'll be joining the others out in Denagrin. "Yes, ma'am. Are Miss Dawn and Lady Victoria out there as well?"

"Aye. They have all sorts of projects keeping them busy. Breaking down walls, keeping out trouble, training lizard folk."

"Sounds like a lot of work out there. I think I'll just stretch out my meal a little longer then." I take a bite of buttered toast and marvel at how something so simple IRL took so much effort to create in game. Freshly baked bread from harvested ingredients. Hand churned butter. We may have bought quite a bit of base ingredients in Kes Solomas, but nothing beats Linqs homemade. Apparently, our money box can attest to that as well.

She laughs hoarsely, standing up straight to a cascade of popping joints, "Don't sell yourself short, Sir Ardy. We all know how much you've done for us already. You take your break."

"Just Ardy for me, Miss Sofia. But now I feel bad for being lazy," I say in mock hurt while using my fork to push a sausage across my plate.

"Silly Traveler. Self care is important, too, you know? When Taymin…" her voice drops and for a moment a solemn expression crosses her face. The expression passes and a corner of her lip lifts for a smile, "When Taymin was here, he would tell Lady Victoria that all the time. She pushed herself to look out for us, but at the time it was just the four women and the soldiers. Low leveled and under equipped."

She finishes wiping down a table and pushing in some chairs. "But now look at us. I don't have to tell you how grateful we all are for everything." She wags a finger at me

"We're all in this together," I say with a satisfied sigh. I finish my meal and she offers to take my dishes back for me. I happily decline, telling her that my break is over and that I should start working somewhere. "Thank you, ma'am. And if there's anything you need, please let me know, alright?"

The vardo is parked in the town square where we cleared the clockwork soldiers, still showing the scars of wildly cast Spells, weapon impact craters, and sprays of rubble . Aside from the remnants of combat, the rest of the square is quite enjoyable to gaze upon. The dried up, grand fountain, is full of intricate carvings and the hieroglyphics along its edges.

The kids are currently playing in and around it, a stark contrast to the memory I have of it in my mind. Now that nothing is trying to actively kill us, the whole square has much more of a park feel. Old and neglected, I could argue that its much nicer than the one in Kes Solomas. Round plots of dirt surrounded by small, brick retainers containing overgrown trees and grass, decorate the corners of sidewalks. Although unattended for many years, they continue to thrive in this quiet, post-apocalyptic environment. Blades of grass poke out like tufts of green hair across the paved areas. The sky is clear and the sun is high, but a cool wind harolds an approaching change in the seasons.

Without a Whisper Ear Cuff, I have to rely on scent and sound to find where everyone went off to. With normal hearing, a myriad of sounds echo throughout the streets: children playing, older people chatting and attending to simple chores, and the distant sound of metal on metal and rocks exploding and crumbling. All my regular nose can pick up is the feint scent of rust and clay, stagnant water somewhere in this ancient city, and the musky red fungus that was disturbed recently in an attempt to study it. Apparently, some of the other buildings have it inside them as well.

I take a moment to appreciate the game before launching myself headlong into any projects or errands. After sending a message to Dawn, asking where she is and if she needed me to do anything, I wander an empty stretch of road where the buildings were shorter than the rest. While many of the ones surrounding the square are about three to four floors high, the ones down this street stick to ground level only. They're still the same, dull, dark grey color with the Lucidium accents and hieroglyphics, accept for one of the buildings. Flakes of feint blue paint cling to the side of a wall facing the sidewalk and I move in closer to investigate.

"Looks a bit sun bleached. Maybe the buildings were actually painted..." I remember reading once that instead of the gleaming white statues and buildings that thoughts of ancient Greek and Roman cultures conjure, everything was actually a vibrant rainbow of colors.

None of the wooden doors remain on their hinges and some of the metal ones are rusted shut. I find one such building near the painted one. Out of sheer curiosity for what might be inside one of the rust locked buildings and to see if I could find uses for certain Spells out of combat, I cast Corrosive Spray on the stuck door. The acidic liquid bubbles and hisses and a set of notifications pops into my peripheral.

[You reduced Rusty Door's Durability by 108!]

[Rusty Door destroyed!]

The door forms a puddle of bubbling slag and promptly evaporates in a puff of pixels, replaced by a loot bag. Seems as though destroyed objects do the same as slain creatures, depending on how much of it survives after being broken. All that was inside the bag, however, was an ingot of Corroded, Rusty Iron with a five minute timer. When I decline to receive the useless item, the loot bag fades into nothingness. It's probably the system's way of cleaning up the environment and it would explain why the ruins aren't covered in loot bags.

"So, materials and equipment dropped by creatures or people stay preserved forever in the bags," I go over to myself as I step inside, "Except for meat. That spoils. If a building, or any kind of construct I guess, has their Durability dropped to zero, you get a timed loot sack. Good to know."

It's been difficult not knowing much about the game except that it's taken many cues from a myriad of sources. I should talk to Dawn and the others about going over everything we've learned so far about the game. If we pool our information, maybe we can put together a FAQs, or Frequently Asked Questions, Guide. Metagamers like me would do just about anything to get their hands on ways to set up ideal builds for their characters, not wasting time having to think about where to train, how to drop Stat Points, or which are the most useful and cost effective Abilities to use. I mean, the main reasons none of us are "pure builds", characters that focus most of their points in a single Stat, is because none of us knew anything going in and that necessitates a certain level of flexibility in order to get the most out of the world. A healthy dose of Fighter and a dash or two of Spellcaster. Either that, or work in a large group where other members can cover the others' weaknesses. Maybe by the time the game launches we can have a guild going.

I don't know. Maybe I just don't want to end up short handed, or empty handed like I do upon searching the locked building. No loot sacks, nothing important or valuable looking, just an area that maybe looked like it had a few display racks for goods and a counter in the back with a rectangular, Lucidium plate the size of a placemat covered in hieroglyphics.

"Weird. I don't think I've ever seen this on the inside before." I trace a couple fingers over it, thinking about the walls of the library. I feel an unsettling tug from within my chest to my fingers, pulling me towards the metal as if it's trying to suck me in. I leave my hand on the etchings, making sure my ring finger is touching the metal before channeling some mana through my arm and feeling it leak out. The mana feels like it's being sucked out of my hand, nothing uncomfortable just unexpected in the strength of the pull. The etchings come to life in a dim, blue glow and a notification startles me into taking a step back, prompting a couple more.

[Required Class Unavailable: Tailor Level 25 (0/1)]

[Not enough MP to complete action (35/100)]

[Denagrin Arcane Retail Interface Network will clear this inventory cache after 1/3 attempts.]

A deep breath steadies my nerves, but a ding from Dawn's replying message has me flinching again. I know the streets and the other buildings have been cleared, but the ones with locked or rusted doors have not. I glance around for hostiles, or witnesses to my jumpiness.

[Message From: Dawn Nobel

[Took you long enough to wake up! Vic's training the kobolds, along with Richter, Rachel, and Sonny. She already debriefed me on your trip. Good work with the Sphinx! ;) Boulder and some reserves are escorting people on hunter/gather trips to the south of the city. Reiger and Plisk are with me, using the Thunderstrucks to break down empty houses for materials. Have you met Plisk? He's one of the soldiers, a Half-Elf like Richter. Anyway, all the Crafters are crafting and there's a ton of stuff to accomplish before we head out to the valley in a few days. You know what to do!]

Winky smiley face aside, I don't know how to take Dawn's message. Everything she mentions can include me in some way. So, rather than fall into whatever I feel like doing, I shoot her a clarification message and make sure to include my discovery regarding the hieroglyphics and the oddly named "DARIN System." I mean, if she wants me to just go about helping everyone I can, I'm sure I can think of some way of doing it. Or, if my last directive still stands, I simply have to run around until I adapt a couple of monster Abilities. Does Fey Touch count for one? I learned it last night so maybe I can--

[Message From: Dawn Nobel

[Damn! We just crushed one of those buildings into dust! But thanks for the heads up. And yeah, I should've been more specific. I need you to accompany the hunter gatherers, play bodyguard, pick up materials, and adapt some Abilities. That'll tick off a few things on your to-do list. Tomorrow I want you to participate in the Dex training with the others. Think you can teach the kobolds Minor Survival Craft?]

[Message From: Ardacen Winters

[I can try. I have a Feat for teaching monsters, but Minor Survival Craft isn't a monster Ability. There might be an issue. I can give it a shot and if it doesn't work I can teach them something else. Anyway, I'll melt any more doors I find on my way out. Please let me know what you find!]

After leaving the outskirts of the city, I follow the shouting and din of battle a half mile down the road. The scene I discover is both familiar and comical in its execution. Apparently, even though many citizens had leveled up several times since we started our expedition across a good portion of Regalus, they are still dangerously under leveled in this area.

Boulder and a handful of others are using the train tactic to lead a growing herd of Dire Boars around the vast, short-grass plains. About eight feet tall, from tips of their ears to the bottom of their trotters, the dark brown animals with thick, coarse hides squeal and wave their saber-like tusks as their heads bob during their run. The Gatherers stay out of their way as they go about picking out plants, herbs, and other things while continuing to shoot them glances. The Hunters do what they can, taking pot shots with their weak Spells or ranged weapons.

Frustrated utterances escape the reserve units as they barely keep a few steps ahead of the boars, while Boulder does his best to grunt out words of encouragement. He trails behind them, acting as a buffer between the two groups. He pokes and prods the big piggies to retain aggro, poorly imitating the same trick we used against Kilmosoth, except this engine isn't Dex based. The overlooked detail is now a glaring error in tactics that might cost this group dearly.

The world blinks in and out as I become ever closer to the chase, startling some as I appear out of nowhere and leave just as quickly. Once I find myself ahead of the group I activate Distracting Footwork and call everyone to run past me. When they do, Boulder stops a few yards behind me just in case, but I pull aggro on all nine of the boars. The brutes may be fast for their size, but they're nothing like the Dire Wolves.

"I'm going to cast a pink Spell to slow them down. Don't approach until it clears. Then I want you to attack as hard and fast as you can before I yell to scatter. Clear?" They confirm my order and ready their weapons around us in a wide circle. As a precaution I place a Survival Craft Bubble over my head and hold my breath.

A blue spark ignites the pink mist for Lethargic Miasma and it rapidly grows in volume, filling up a fifteen foot radius dome, an extra five feet coming from my belt's set bonus. Not a trace of the Spell seeps out any further than its range is limited to, being held in by some invisible force. The effects are fast and powerful, the movement speed of each the creatures is cut down to mere fractions of what I had been ducking and dodging moments ago. Nine sets of the same notification appears and I dismiss my Spell right away.

[Dire Boar has been Slowed! 00:00:20]

The mist vanishes instantaneously and the others descend upon the creatures like a shark feeding frenzy. I don't have to keep track of the Debuff time since all I really need to do is watch when my MP Regen kick in and count each time it restores. I give them a few seconds to disperse before repeating the process. To the entertainment of others, a couple people misjudge the amount of clearance needed and get caught up in the Spell. Their strained movements and annoyed expressions bring out fits of laughter that almost make it too hard for everyone to focus, myself included.

With the big mess out of the way, Boulder rests a massive paw on my shoulder, "Thanks, Ardy. Guess the train tactic works best with faster runners."

"Why didn't you just create a shield line and range them to death?" I ask, casting Healing Breeze on everyone just in case. They might not need it, but I know the feeling is still refreshing, especially after running a little marathon.

"Not enough shields plus no healers present. Makes it hard to 'tank and spank' as Lady Dawn calls it. Thought we could run the train, but as you saw…" He rubs the back of his neck with one hand and points a thumb at the rest of the group with the other, grinning sheepishly.

"Right. Well, I'm here now. Are you party leader?" He nods his head. I tell him to keep it so that hopefully the outing grows it to rank two and so that they keep the XP to themselves. If I taunt and heal outside of the party, I may not gain anything, but I do keep them all safe. That is, until a new or stronger monster arrives, one that I might be interested in learning from or distilling. Then, they know I'll be all over it myself.

Unfortunately for me, we only find the Dire beasts Vic and I faced during our expedition. I mean, the meat and materials are great, but they dont have any Abilities I feel are important enough for me to take away a chunk of the others' XP gains. The monsters might have Feats that I can't access with my Scan, but it's really hard to tell just by watching them fight and I don't really care. As far as babysitting duty is concerned, this is a quiet job for me today. No nearby caves to explore. No intruding hordes. No rushing to seek medical attention.

Nothing out of the ordinary or too problematic.

Maybe that's why I've been feeling anxious the whole time. A smooth ride is usually a sure sign that something bad is about to happen, not that I want something bad to happen. What if it's really bad, so bad that I can't handle it on my own? I don't have a Whisper Ear Cuff, how would I call for help? I summon Faye to give me an aerial report and I double check the area with my Enchanced Senses.

She returns to me with a shrug and a cocked eyebrow, as if asking me "Well, did you want me to find something or not?" I'm not sure how I would answer that, truthfully. Am I taking it too seriously? Isn't all this just a game? But aren't games like that? Shouldn't there be danger lurking around every corner, death in every shadow? Or is that just how I've been conditioned so far?

My therapist used to say that I wouldn't allow myself to relax in case a situation were to arise. The stress of the problem wouldn't hit me quite as hard as if I were unprepared or at ease, like flinching before a hit. Except, I'm always flinching, all the time. He said it would actually explain my reflexes. Simply put, my brain would imagine as many worst case scenarios I possibly could and ready my body for the most likely ones. Of course, its not always perfect, like the time I misjudged the distance of the bar counter as I lunged for two, knocked over beer bottles.

The black eye was a tender reminder that sometimes you got to let things fall. The rubber mats would've easily kept the bottles from shattering on the floor and the area under my orbital socket wouldn't have taken the full force of a sudden stop.

I shake myself out of these thoughts and observe the NPCs at work. They're chatting with each other while they search for whatever it is they're looking for. Weapons are waiting patiently in hands or sheaths and scabbards instead of in storage rings. With me around as an early warning system, they should have plenty of time to draw weapons from storage instead. Are the weapons just security blankets now? Maybe so, but they seem to be in the same basket as me. After all, how does one relax in the wild when the wild can be so… hostile?

***************

In some remote corner of reality, both hauntingly familiar and desperately alien, the vivid globe of Arc and the swarms of multi-colored grids of ever changing lights rotates in the center of a dark room. A streak of light tears across the darkness, only to freeze in mid air, several yards away from the enormous, glowing sphere. It vanishes out of existence without any fanfare. The only other things in the room are the noticeably smaller figures of people, if they could be called that at all. Humanoid in shape, mostly, they shine in glorious, regal colors of ruby red, glittering gold, deepest onyx, shimmering silver, and so on.

One figure, whose vibrant purple and dark blue hues swirl with the design of galaxies, her slender fingers tussel her hair, flowing like liquid metal. With a flick of her wrists and a flourish of the solid mass of hair, brilliant blue and purple embers dance about her head, only to return to nonexistence in microseconds.

Dimitria//[Did you happen to witness that anomaly, Kole?]

Kole//[What anomaly? I was focusing on a pair of Travelers clearing out a Wyvern nest by themselves. They even killed the Queen and her court. Hard to say which battle is more impressive, the one I just watched or the one with the grab-bag platoon against the young Wraith.]

The god of dungeons and monsters is a whirlwind of activity, with his three heads and many tentacle arms working the multitude of grids and screens before him.

Dimitria//[Kole…]

Kole//[Sure does remind me of the good old days eh, Pravdara? When the Arceans would send armies after Dragons, Giants, and Demon hordes?]

Dimitria//[Kole.]

Pravdera//[Who said those days were "good" for anyone but you and your pets? I lost a big chunk of my followers because of that Lich Lord World Quest. I was almost demoted to a minor deity!]

A half dozen Marduks appear around the goddess of law and justice. She whispers to them in Celestial, even though a few others in the Pantheon would have been able to translate had they overheard her speaking. Celestial, one of the first terrestrial languages besides Infernal, was derived from a much older language that few in any dimension of Arc speak, let alone read or write. When their orders are received, the black, grey, and white angels bow before their goddess and vanish under puffs of grey mist. One stays behind, a Marduk with eggshell white hair styled into a pixie cut, to discuss something with the goddess.

"We have worked with many minor gods as well as those in the Pantheon to create tighter restrictions on the Ritual Candles. Travelers won't receive them as rewards anymore, though there are still ways for one to aquire them that we cannot regulate, like buying them from a shop. Fortunately, we were able to put an Arcane or Faith requirement of at least two hundred so we shouldn't hear of their use any time soon." The Marduk bows her head, as the black, grey, and white goddess muses over her own screens and lights.

"Good. And what of the Traveler, Ardacen Winters?" As she speaks the name, the entire Pantheon seems to halt for a microsecond before continuing on with their duties as if nothing happened. Pravdara, however, can sense rising levels of attention in their direction.

"For a moment we… lost him." A wave of utterances and concern sweeps through the cavernous room as any pretense of work is put aside. The globe freezes as do all the grids, lights, and screens, as if paused in a video game. The Marduk is also frozen in her shrug and grimacing smile before a snap of someone's fingers returns her to normal time. Well, normal for the Pantheon anyway.

Dimitria//[That's what I've been trying to tell you, Kole. Everyone. I may have found the reason why we couldn't find the Sphinx and why the numbers have been skewed for the area north of the Denagrin Plains. I mean, part of the reason IS the area.]

Their chorus of silence is new as they experience a sensation they haven't felt since they first came into existence. Uncertainty. Nonplussed as they are, it takes only a moment and a half before any of them speaks.

Drominius//[But what is causing the area to do… whatever it is you think its doing?]

The gold and green god of farm and field brings up a screen with a long, detailed report on. He brings his face with the knife like horn closer to the heiroglyphics.

Dimitria//[That… we don't know yet. But, if you set a viewer to the area, you will notice that--]

Nyctos//[My eyes!!]

The god of night and shadows shrinks back from his station in pain. Several waves of his dark sleeved arms in front of the screen do nothing but flicker it in and out of view. On the viewer is an unfiltered, dazzling, white screen. The only noticeable activity comes from the movement of geometric shapes that are barely a few lumens less bright than the rest of the magical deluge of light.

Dimitria//[…This is all we can see.]

The goddess of magic ignores the antics of her fellow deity while the others can't help but comment on the novel development.

Kole//[How did this happen? What's causing this? It looks like a constant explosion of mana. There are two dungeons in that area, and I can't connect to either of them right now. What is going on?]

Dimitria//[Alright, Kole, alright. It's strange, even for us. We'll work this out. Now, does anyone have any active or pending Quests in that area?]

Once again, a brief silence permeates the room. Their heads don't move, but their gazes slide across each other, frustrations mounting as no one answers.

Nyctos//[This… hyper-arcane light noise? Hasn't it happened before? But, for a brief moment, not persistent like it is now? I recall Pavaros comparing it to an…]

Pavaros//[An orgasm? Yeah, but not one that lasts this long. That would be crazy. You could just about die… with pleasure… writhing about on the floor, not knowing whether you're coming or going. Ha!]

Laughter breaks out, along with a few pairs of rolling eyes. The currently swirling, yellow mass that is the goddess of love and lust bursts into a bright pink, her hands start from her hips and coil their way around her torso in a self embrace. They snake their way back down, between her thighs, illiciting a whimper and sigh. The others know where this is going and restart the rotation of the globe and continue with their duties in earnest.

Pavaros//[That would be absolute misery, wouldn't it? Your last act. The climax of your life. Desiring nothing more than to pouring every… last… ounce of your… hatred!]

Her hands fly out of her crotch, activating other lights and moving screens in a blur of movement. Her sudden declaration and actions startle the others and their attention diverts from their screens once again.

Pavaros//[I remember! It was when that Lich Lord summoned the Wraith! Normally, summoning them doesn't produce this much excess magical energy, but the rituals he used weren't strong enough on their own. So he used some sort of Artifact. What was it again?]

She summons a screen, replaying a video segment of the Lich Lord's final moments. The screen replicates itself in front of the other gods so they can recall the moment with her.

Dimitria//[Honestly, he shouldn't have been able to do it at all by himself, but when he pulled the Master ranked Philosopher Stone from the Queen Chest we couldn't exactly predict he would use it like that.]

Pravdara//[So what is it? Residual mana radiation? Is that even a word?]

Drominius//[It is now. Must be what's causing the unusual amount of Dire creatures in the plains and forests nearby. Did any of you see the herds of giant Lupalions? So, so many…]

Kole//[I don't think it's such a bad thing, aside from the fact that we can't observe the area from here. Why don't we just Quest out the area and maybe get some Travelers involved to clear whatever is causing the radiation?]

Dimitria//[The Traveler we've been watching has already been there and back. That's when I first noticed the anomaly I was talking about. When he reached the radiated zone, it was like he disappeared from view. Now, if we're moving forward with Questing, we have to wait until he decides to go back.]

Nyctos//[Is there some other way to keep tabs on them? Maybe one of the minor gods since they can directly interact with the world? What's Az up to?]