Author's Note:Sorry for the long wait. It's been a crazy few weeks, full of projects, exams, and a bunch of other stuff that happened. I also turned 20 last week!

So, this time I made it so that the story is generally written in 3rd person, unless it specifically says that it's from someone's POV. Let me know what you guys think of it.

Also, please leave a few comments and let me know if there are any ways I can improve the story, or if there's anything that doesn't make sense. I'd appreciate it if you could rate the chapter too, so I know how you guys feel about the quality of my writing so far.

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In a forest outside of a city, 3 people stood around the decomposing body of an ogre. They were all bent over with fatigue, the fight had almost killed them. What was infuriating though was the fact that they’d finally made it to the center of the forest, but this last battle had took everything they had. All their potions had been used, their best skills were now on their long cooldowns, and all of their mana and stamina had been depleted.

They all knew what this meant. They had to turn back.

One of the people finally caught his breath, and straightened. “Alright, that’s it! We’re switching to plan B.”

Turning around, he started walking in the direction of the city. The 2 people that were with him gave each other a look, and followed him back.

The woman in leather armor scouted ahead to make sure that they wouldn’t run into any more monsters, since she was able to [sneak] along and not get caught. Every now and then she would run into a monster, and she would have to double back to her party which followed her path, and they would make sure to give the creature a wide berth. It wasn’t something that was easy to do, but it was something that got easier as they came closer to the edge of the forest. The farther away you were from the center of the forest, the weaker the monsters were.

When they finally emerged from the forest onto the grassy fields, the man in armor strode past them and led the way back towards the city from there.

With a hesitant look on her face, the woman in leather called out to the man in armor over their [party chat].

“Hey Zhang, are we really going to do this?”

Zhang stopped and turned his head to look at her. His cold steel glinted in the sun, and his helmet covered his cold, intimidating gaze. “Of course we’re going to do this! Why the hell wouldn’t we, Alexa?”

The rogue shivered on the inside. This might have been a game, but that didn’t mean much when everything was so real. Even though pain was limited to only 40% of what you’d feel in real life, it was still there. Death was always terrifying too, and telling yourself that it was all a game didn’t always help. Zhang could easily kill her if he set his mind to it.

“It just feels wrong. Why don’t we just go through the forest ourselves? We’re stronger than almost everything there anyway, and Misa can do crowd control for us. If we do it right, we don’t need anyone else.”

Alexa saw Misa walk past her and stand next to Zhang, which prompted Alexa to stare at the blonde mage.

“Hey, don’t look at me. I’m with Zhang on this one. What if we go in there and another freakishly strong monster comes out? Those local events always pop out at the most random times when you’re out there, and then we’d have to either fight or run. If we have to run, I’d want something between me and the thing chasing us!”

Zhang let out a smile that was too cold for words, and clasped his hands together. “Great! It’s settled. We find someone to be our meat-shield, and ditch them if we have to.”

Turning back towards the city, Zhang strode across the grassy field, Misa quickly following behind him.

Not wanting to be left behind, Alexa ran to catch up to them and ended up walking side-by-side with the person she’d hoped would’ve backed her up against Zhang.

***

After resupplying at the town, they headed back out onto the grassy plains outside. Monsters of all kinds were everywhere, and all sorts of people from different classes were teaming up to take them down. Some of them were strong enough to fight solo, but those people were few and rare out on the field. The whole scene reminded Alexa of her days back at the starter city Guardian. People would always be out scouring the area right outside the city for foxes and rabbits, the creatures that beginners would always be hunting.

It wasn’t only players that were out hunting them though. NPC’s, or “Ralian’s” as they called themselves, could also be found fighting alongside the new players. These were typically Ralians that were just starting out as adventurers, and were almost indistinguishable from players. The only way you could tell if they were players, or “Travelers” as the Ralians called them, was in the way they talked. Ralians had no knowledge of Earth, and they spoke in a stereotypical “middle-ages” way. Players could even pretend to be Ralians, if they tried hard enough. Most got caught though, as eventually they would say or do something that obviously any Ralian would not. The difference between someone pretending to be a Ralian, and someone who was speaking like one in order to gain their favor though, was completely different. The ones speaking like Ralians to get their favor wouldn't hesitate to mention anything from Earth, since Ralians knew they came from a different world. Pretenders however, would act completely like Ralians and feign confusion at anything from Earth.

The scene outside the city that Alexa and her party were at was not normal. These were monsters and creatures in the upper 40’s and mid-level 50’s. Furthermore, this was a city bordering Werebeast territories in the Principality of Yonasia. Only those who had reached a certain level and skill would be able to make it here from the starter cities, due to the increasing levels and strengths of the monsters as you got closer to any border.

Monsters of that level didn’t normally get close to a city. But even so, the grassy plains were still full of them, and the Ralians and Travelers that fought them. That was because of the yearly event “Spring Mating Season” for monsters. As the name suggests, it was a time when the monsters would get together. The only problem for the sentient races though, was the fact that any male monster that wanted to be with a female would have to prove to her that they were strong. To do that, they had to go out and kill a high number of people. There were no restrictions on race when it came to copulation, the male monster only had to kill many. If the Travelers and Ralians failed to defeat the waves of monsters that attacked cities and towns with large populations, then the population of the sentient races would decrease, and all of the creatures would become more numerous and strong. New races of creatures would even appear, which was why some players would decide not to join in on the hunt. New creatures were always welcome, since they led to new quests and new items.

But the scene that Alexa witnessed in front of her right now proved that not everyone was ok with what might happen if they fail. Spells flew by, swords and claws clashed, and a seemingly endless amount of chants and words were spoken. No one knew what would happen if all of the sentient races died, and that was more than enough for the majority of players to join in on the yearly quest.

Zhang, Misa and Alexa leapt into the fray, their teamwork proving to be too much for the majority of monsters, leaving a trail of decomposing bodies empty of loot for anyone to find. Zhang attracted the monsters as the tank, and held them off while Misa cast spell after spell on the creatures they faced. Some made them freeze in place, others left them burning in agony, and other spells left debilitating effects on the creatures.

As Zhang fended off the monsters and Misa weakened them from afar, Alexa darted in and out between them. Sometimes appearing near Zhang and attacking the enemy’s weak points, other times distracting and seriously wounding any monsters that tried to attack their spell caster. Like this, they wandered around the plains as Zhang coldly evaluated each person they came across.

While doing so, they met people who all spoke of the same thing. A person dressed like a normal villager that suddenly appeared out of thin air near the forest, and had nimbly crossed the plains while managing to avoid all of the monsters and people.

“What do you think it could be, Zhang? Is it a new player?” Alexa asked.

New players in Awakening started out in simple villager garb, appearing out of thin air just like the rumors about this new person said, after all.

“Don’t be an idiot Alexa. We’re at a city bordering the Werebeast territories, there’s no way someone like that could have made it from the starter cities by themselves. They’d have had to cross paths with monsters that would have shredded them to pieces before they’d made it halfway!” Zhang paused. “What I’m thinking is that it’s either a new quest NPC, or a seriously high-level player that has a reason for making themselves look weak.”

Misa perked up. “Want to go find out? Didn’t that last person say that he looked like he was heading to a spot near the city gates?”

“Sounds good to me. Who knows, he might just turn out to be the perfect meat-shield for us. If he’s an npc and we end up not needing to use him as a distraction, he might end up giving us a quest. If we do need him to die for us, since he’s an npc he won’t come back to life anyway.”

When she heard this, Alexa knew she had to speak up. She had a bad feeling about all of this, and even though it was a game, it still seemed wrong to use other people that way. She knew though, that they wouldn’t listen to her if she just said that, so she tried to appeal to them through logic. “What if he’s actually a high-level player like you thought, Zhang? Wouldn’t he just wipe us out if we tried anything?”

Zhang couldn’t help but sneer at what she’d mentioned. “Even if he does turn out to be a high-level player, we’re the highest leveled players in Yonasia. We can handle him if it comes to that.”

Her logic cruelly rejected, she couldn’t do anything but accept whatever happened.

Without any further discussion, they all headed back towards the city gates. They dominated all of the creatures in their path, to the point where everyone else around them made sure to give them a wide berth.

***

Approaching the city walls, they saw that the rumors were true. There was someone standing around outside the city in simple villager clothes. It was painfully obvious that he didn’t belong in the crowd that was there. With his clothes, he stood out among the other hunters like a sore thumb.

Zhang sent out a [whisper] using the [party chat]. “Follow my lead. I’ll see if he’s good enough to be our meat-shield, then we’ll find out if he’s really a player or not.”

Not waiting for a response, he strode towards the man as Alexa and Misa walked side-by-side behind him.

When he got close to the man, Zhang discreetly used the skill [observe] to gauge him.

Name: Wahshi Level: 1

Mentally affirming that the man was perfect for what they needed, he thought that there was still something off about him. ‘He’s a guy in his 40’s, at level 1 who looks pretty confused. He has to be an npc, there’s no way someone could’ve gotten all the way here without at least leveling up once. Still, there’s something not right about him. I better check and make sure.’

“Greetings good sir. You do not seem to be of these parts, and are obviously distressed. My party and I are experienced Travelers, and are always more than happy to help people in need. Please tell us, what is it that ails you?”

Mentally congratulating himself on the great test he’d devised, Zhang missed the momentary surprise that flickered on the other man’s face. If he had seen it, he might’ve figured out that the man obviously wasn’t one of the Ralians. But even if he had seen it, his pride and arrogance might have made it so that he couldn’t even think that someone like that could have made it to where he was. In the end, it was all a moot point. Zhang had already decided that this man wasn’t a player, and was just going through the motions of actually testing him. He was already thinking about the different ways he could use a person like him as a shield if the need arose.

‘Alright, what’ll you do now old man?’ Zhang had just recently turned 25, but his childish attitudes towards people older than him had never stopped. One might actually say that they grew, instead. ‘If he’s a player, which is impossible at that level, then he’ll talk like someone from Earth. If he is a Ralian, then he shouldn’t be a problem for us to handle.’

The thought that a player this weak might pretend to be an npc never crossed his mind. The man opened his mouth to speak, and words came out that Zhang didn’t expect to hear at all.

“I am not sure where to begin, stranger. Before I tell you anything though, I must ask, what is a Traveler?”

Flabbergasted, it took Zhang a moment to compose himself. ‘How can this guy not know what Travelers are? The time conversion between Earth and Ralia is set to 1:5, which means that even though the game has only been out for 5 years, players have been in Ralia for more than 2 decades!’

“Surely you jest my good man. How can you not have heard of Travelers? We are people who have come from another world, summoned here to help the various beings in this world with their problems.”

“I apologize if I have offended you stranger. In truth, I do not know of a great many things. I fell out of this hole in the sky, and somehow ended up here in this strange place.” The man explained.

Mentally high-fiving himself, what the man said had only confirmed what Zhang had already decided was the truth. The man was clearly an npc! Even better, it looked like he might even give them a unique quest, if they gained his trust. There was no way an npc that had just randomly appeared out of thin air would not give a quest with amazing rewards!

“Allow me to give a suggestion.” Zhang propositioned. “Come and travel with us, this way we can help you find your way back to where you came from. We will be able to keep you safe, and once you are in a familiar place, you would be welcome to leave us at any time.”

*******

Wahshi POV

“Come and travel with us…”

‘So… Travelers meant the actual players, huh. Should’ve seen that one coming, it was pretty obvious.’

If they’re players, then they wouldn’t be doing this for no reason. No one stops by and just offers to help out. Plus, weren’t they misunderstanding something? There wasn’t any way back to the Mist of Souls aside from that skill, as far as Wahshi knew. Even then, he didn’t even know how to use it. ‘If it wasn’t for Gaia being there, I’d make it a point to never go back at all’.

Why were they acting so formal and helpful?

‘It’s almost like they think I’m an…..’

The mage elbowed the rogue. It was subtle enough that Wahshi didn’t notice it.

“Uh, yeah! You should definitely come with us. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure you get to where you need to be.” She gave a thumbs up as a sign of confidence.

Seeing her act confident and strong made Wahshi smile. She reminded him of another person. Someone he’d first met on a train platform so many years ago.

He looked to the man in armor and gave a nod.

“Alright. I leave myself in your hands.”

Zhang grinned, and nodded in return. “Thank you for your trust. Please, allow us to introduce ourselves. I am Zhang, the warrior in our party.” He gestured to the 2 people behind him. “The beautiful lady in robes and armed with the staff is our team’s mage.”

She waved. “Hi! My name is Misa, it’s good to meet you!”

“And the pretty one with black hair and brown eyes next to her is our team’s rogue.”

The woman in dark leather gave him a smile and a nod. “My name is Alexa. Thank you for coming with us.”

Wahshi nodded in return. “I am Wahshi. It is a pleasure to meet all of you.”

Zhang clasped his hands together in front of him. “Great! Now that we all know each other, shall we get going?”

Wahshi looked at him in surprise. “Already? As in, this exact moment?”

“Well of course! Unless you had something that you needed to do first, we should get a head start on our journey before dark.”

“I see… Then let us be on our way. I do not have anything that I need to do before we go.” Wahshi furrowed his eyebrows. “Speaking of that… Where exactly might we be heading towards?”

Misa answered him. “We’re heading to the Werebeast territories past the Boundary Forest.”

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Author's Note:

So how was it? What did you guys of the way I wrote the story this time? Was there anything that didn't make sense?

Please rate and comment so I know how you guys feel about the story and my writing so far!

I'm doing this to improve my writing, so help me out guys and leave a few suggestions if you can!

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