URI:
   DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       NewVerse
  HTML https://newverse.createaforum.com
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       *****************************************************
   DIR Return to: NewVerse Stories
       *****************************************************
       #Post#: 7--------------------------------------------------
       Life-Like
   DIR By: Excisio
       Date: November 18, 2014, 8:14 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [glow=red,2,300]Alright so this is going to take place on Gaia,
       with the human race.[/glow]
       [center]Life-Like[/center]
       [center]Chapter 1[/center]
       [center]Character Creation[/center]
       "Go!" I said, staring up at the blank screen in front of my
       eyes.
       I felt my consciousness slip away, and my eyes drooped shut.
       The next thing I knew it felt as though I was flying, and
       then...
       "Open your eyes, user."
       I cracked my eyes open, and saw a white canvass before me. I
       looked down and saw that I had no body, nothing. It was all
       white. I looked back up in front of me, and saw a pale, male
       shaped body before me, standing with its arms out. The face was
       blank, literally. It was just a flat patch of skin. Then, a
       bunch of skin color options showed up in a rectangle next to the
       body.
       "In order to select a skin, simply concentrate on one color for
       a few seconds."
       I selected a slightly pale tan skin color, and the body took on
       the shade. Next up, it showed me eye shapes and their colors.
       Then noses, mouths, hair styles, colors, the list goes on. After
       about two hours of shaping my avatar the way I wanted it, I hit
       submit, and felt a shift in my position. The next thing I knew I
       was in the body I'd created. A mirror was quickly brought up to
       me, so I could look at my appearance more closely.
       I peered into the mirror, looking at myself. I had blonde hair,
       pink eyes, and I was completely naked.
       "Are you satisfied with this avatar?" the female voice seemed
       to come from everywhere.
       I looked my body over several times, feeling the various parts,
       and then nodded.
       "I'm satisfied!"
       An empty rectangular box appeared before me, prompting me to
       enter my new name. A holographic keyboard appeared below it, and
       I typed in the name I wanted.
       C-A-P-T-A-I-N
       "Are you sure you wish to be called Captain from now on?" the
       female voice questioned me.
       "Yes."
       The box wisped away, and then it gave me other options, such as
       the ability to alter the sound of my voice, my height, my
       weight, hair length, et cetera. I customized a few things,
       making my hair hang to a little past my eyes, and brushed it to
       the side, then tied the back into a short ponytail, and looked
       at myself in the mirror again. My body was now toned, with the
       muscles showing slightly. I grinned, and nodded happily.
       "That should do it...Next."
       Next up came the clothing options. It gave me a variety of
       different options, but since I was just a newbie, they were
       limited to tattered clothing. I ended up settling on a black
       jacket with a torn wife-beater, jeans, and some white moccasins,
       along with fingerless grey gloves.
       "Well, it's not exactly stylish, but...it'll do, I guess."
       "You are now finished with your avatar customization. You will
       be entered into Reilm shortly." the voice came once more, and
       then everything went black.
       I felt myself falling, and then hit a dirt ground rather hard.
       "Oof!"
       I scrambled to get on my feet, peering around myself. I had
       landed in the center of the starter town, and various people
       were walking around shops, talking, and a couple were watching
       me.
       "Oh look, a newbie. He looks kind of funny." They seemed to
       murmer.
       I stretched, getting a better feel for my body in this new
       virtual world. The atmosphere was rather nice. People were
       running shops, buying things from shops, soldiers marched
       around, bar fights, everything I read about. It was....It felt
       like I had finally reached my destination. I'd finally gotten
       away from the life I was living.
       I raised my hand up to access the User Panel, and opened up the
       Friends window. I tapped the 'Add Friend' button, and quickly
       added the friends I had planned to meet up with. We all saved up
       to buy the gear necessary to play this game, and planned to meet
       up ingame after making characters tonight. I was running a
       little late, so I'm the last one to enter. One by one each of my
       requests were accepted.
       A ring erupted from the window. I tapped the answer button, and
       heard an all too familiar voice from the other end.
       "Cody! You made it! We're all waiting for you at the Town
       Graveyard. We'll see you there!"
       Click
       I blinked.
       "Well, thanks for telling me how to get there..." I murmered,
       peering around.
       After some wondering around, I managed to find the graveyard,
       and found the four of my friends.
       "Yo, Brittney! John! Jessi! Grace! I'm here!" I called out,
       jogging up to them.
       They each sat perched on a gravestone, and looked at me
       welcomingly.
       "Hey man, what's up?" Grace said, looking at me.
       "Sorry I'm late. I ran into some issues at the house. I'm here
       now! What're we gonna do?" I asked, looking amongst them.
       Brittney, my girlfriend, stood in front of me. Her long, blonde
       hair and bright blue eyes glimmered in the sunlight at me. She
       wore a green and brown shirt, with a matching skirt, and some
       brown shoes. A bow sat on her back, along with a quiver. John,
       my best friend, stood leaned up against one of the larger
       gravestones. He's a bigger guy, standing a fair few inches
       taller than me. He had a massive sword strapped to his back, and
       wore a black long-sleeved shirt and some jeans, along with some
       grey shoes. His medium length black hair hung to the side, and a
       slight beard sat approximately an inch in length on his face.
       Jessi stood next to him, holding a massive hand cannon, dressed
       in mostly white and blue clothing, her short brown hair hanging
       loosely over her eyes. Grace sat on a flat gravestone next to
       them, with long black hair, and striped white and black shirt,
       along with jeans and a similar pair of black moccasins.
       "So, who has what class?" I asked.
       "I'm an archer, of course. John is a Berserker, Jessi is a
       Canonneer, and you and Grace are still undecided," Brittney
       answered, matter-of-factly.
       I nodded, and Grace stood up.
       "I just got here as well. Let's go get our classes sorted out,
       man."
       "Mmkay! Guys, you can look around some more or something while
       we go choose our classes, 'kay?" I said, looking back at them as
       Grace and I headed for the Class Instructor.
       They called out in agreement, and Grace and I headed to get our
       classes. We went down a few bricked paths, passing several tall
       buildings, and lots of stands on the sides of the street where
       people were selling food, clothes, weapons, armor, supplies,
       spellbooks, pretty much anything you could think of. After a
       while of looking around, I spotted a man from a distance
       standing next to a large wooden sign which read "Class
       Instructor".
       "There!" I pointed to the man.
       We walked up on the class instructor, an old looking man with a
       long white goatie, wrinkles, long white hair, and glasses, who
       peered at us curiously. He wore a very refined blue and white
       striped suit, and a level of curiosity in his eyes.
       "And what classes will the two of you be choosing?" the man
       asked us with an old, rasp voice.
       A large box appeared in front of the both of us, revealing well
       over fifty squares with icons in them, each holding a name below
       it. Among the list read...
       Arcanist, Air Mage, Brawler, Fighter, Swordsmen, Berserker,
       Barbarian, Cook, Fisherman, Tailor, Blacksmith, Martial Artist,
       Spearmen, Illusionist, Fire Mage, Water Mage, Earth Mage,
       Time/Space Mage
       The list goes on and on. This game has a class for damn near
       anything, I swear. It's really amazing, but I had already
       decided what I wanted to be long before now.
       "I'll take Brawler," I said, grinning at him confidently.
       I heard a ding, and a rectangular box popped up, notifying me
       of my new class.
       "And you, young lady?" He looked at Grace.
       "I'll take Illusionist, man," she said, looking at him.
       "Ahhh, a magic user? We don't get enough of those. Right-O!"
       A ding popped up in front of Grace, notifying her, and then an
       old, wooden cane appeared in front of her. She caught it in her
       hand, and looked it over. It had many small carvings all along
       it, and glowed slightly with a purple aura.
       "Cool cane. Can I beat the shit out of people with it?" She
       asked the Class Instructor.
       "Certainly," the man said, appearing to have taken a liking to
       her.
       "Sweet!" She said as we headed back for the Graveyard.
       I pulled up my friends list and called John.
       "Hey buddy, meet us back at the Graveyard, kay?" I said.
       "Uhh...Alright, sure! We was just looking around the shops
       here. Picked up a few things to eat and a couple tents for
       camping." he said.
       "Oh yeah? Find anything else interesting? I asked, putting him
       on speakerphone for Grace to hear.
       "Nah, not much. There are a TON of shops here, though! It's
       crazy! One guy was selling wooden carved models and stuff. It
       was crazy how much detail he put into them."
       I grinned, and nodded, "Well, alright man. We'll see you when
       we get to the Graveyard, alright?"
       "Alrighty," he said, and I hung up.
       "So why didn't you get any sort of weapon after you chose your
       class?" Grace asked me.
       "I'm a brawler. We fight with our hands only, so we don't have
       to spend money on weapons or anything."
       "You don't even get brass knuckles or anything? Weak, dude."
       I shrugged, and we came up on the Graveyard, meeting up with
       our friends.
       "Alright guys, I'd say we test out our abilities, eh?" I said,
       grinning at all of them.
       "Mmmhm! Where'll we do it?" Brittney asked.
       I looked over to a large, rectangular gravestone in the center
       of the Graveyard.
       "If we move that thing out of the way, there's a hidden
       catacombs under this place. The monsters are supposedly a lot
       tougher than the ones normal newbies start out on, but we're
       tough. Plus we'll get stronger faster," I said.
       "What level are they?" John asked, getting excited.
       "Weeelll, that's the thing. This game doesn't quite measure
       power by levels so vaguely. Instead, one's power is measured by
       their Power. It's a number that measures the overall strength of
       the monster. Most of it is physical strength alone, with magic
       attack also factored in. They don't calculate things like
       illusions in it, though, so someone like Grace could be a lot
       harder to beat with a lower Power number than someone with a
       higher power number, simply because she could make an illusion
       capable of completely disabling them so she can beat them
       senselessly. It's pretty cool." I said, grinning.
       "Let's head on to the Catacombs, then. I wanna check out this
       freakin' cannon!" Jessi said, and we all headed over to the
       stone.
       "I wonder how heavy this thing is...it's larger than John and I
       combined. You think we can move it, buddy?" I asked.
       "We can give it a shot," he said.
       We both pushed at the large stone, but to no avail. It wouldn't
       budge so easily. Just then, a man came walking up behind us.
       "Need some help with that?" his long, straight white hair hung
       to his lower back.
       His red eyes shown brightly, and he smirked at us. He wore a
       long, red trenchcoat, and silver pants, along with silver shoes
       and a white shirt. He approached us slowly and cooly, with a
       calm expression on his face, slightly mocking.
       "Who're you?" I asked, feeling a slight chill as his glance
       made its way to me.
       "Allere. I have some business in the catacombs, so I could move
       that stone for you if you like. The monsters down there are
       tough. A lot tougher than any of you could hope to amount to.
       Not even the whole group of you could take one on alone. A bunch
       of pathetic newbies. Nonetheless, I'll be happy to let you learn
       your lesson." He smiled at me wryly.
       I grinned, and nodded, "It'd be helpful, yeah. We can handle
       it."
       He chuckled, and pushed the gravestone aside with his pinkie,
       and then walked down the stairs into the catacombs. I stared at
       him, watching his every move.
       "I don't trust that guy...keep an eye out for him from now
       on..." I said.
       "He just moved it with his freakin' pinkie holy shit!" John
       exlaimed, stunned by the feat.
       "Damn, that guy is strong," Grace said, sounding impressed.
       "Well, whatever. C'mon guys, let's go kill some monsters," I
       said, leading the way into the catacombs.
       We proceeded down the stairs, entering the darkness.
       #Post#: 8--------------------------------------------------
       Re: The Games
   DIR By: Excisio
       Date: November 18, 2014, 8:16 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [center]Chapter 2[/center]
       [center]The Catacombs[/center]
       "Ow! You stepped on my foot!" I heard Jessi complain, and John
       apologize profusely.
       "I didn't really think this through," I said, looking around.
       It was pitch black by the time we reached the bottom of the
       stairs. I couldn't see anything, and neither could the rest of
       us.
       "Uhhh. Anyone got anything we can light the way with?" I asked,
       listening for a response.
       "Closest thing I got is my cane, but it's REALLY dim," Grace
       said, holding it out.
       A faint light emitted from it, just barely revealing the floor
       in front of her.
       "You lead the way, then. I'll take your hand, and John, you
       take mine. Everyone grab hands so we don't get lost," I said,
       grabbing Grace's hand.
       We walked down the corridors for what seemed like an hour
       before we entered a hallway with torches lined on each side.
       "Finally!" John said, rushing into the light.
       We all followed him, and I pulled one of the torches out of the
       socket, holding it in front of me in case we found another dark
       passage.
       "This place is pretty creepy. I wonder what sorts of monsters
       we're going to find..." Brittney said, looking around at the
       walls.
       "Who knows," I responded.
       A large grinding noise came from ahead of us, and a large,
       broad shouldered skeleton stood at the end of the hall. It drug
       a large sword behind it, holding a shield in the other hand, and
       a viking helmet sat on its head.
       "There's our answer," Grace said.
       I cracked my knuckles, handing my torch to John, and stepped up
       to the front of us.
       "Lemme try to take him on first. You guys pay attention and see
       how he fights. That way if things go bad, you'll know his
       moves," I said, walking towards him.
       His orange eyes glowed, and he cocked his head at me and seemed
       to laugh. I picked up my pace, running at him. He lifted his
       sword up and swung down at me. I dodged his swing, and jumped to
       punch at him. He brought his shield up and slammed it against my
       fist. I groaned, gripping my hand. He swung his sword again, and
       grazed my cheek as I barely dodged it in time. I punched at his
       ribs, breaking one off. That seemed to piss him off, because he
       slammed me with his shield as hard as he could. I flew back
       several feet, landing in front of John.
       "This guy's pretty tough. John, you've got a huge sword. Why
       don't you give him a shot?" I asked.
       He nodded, handing Jessi the torch and drew his sword out,
       starting a run at the skeleton. I got up to my feet and watched
       him. He swung his sword down hard on the skeleton. It blocked
       his blow with the shield, and swung its own sword at his side.
       He jumped over the swing, and kicked the skeleton in the chest.
       It flew back, landing on its back, and started to get back up. I
       saw the opportunity, and sprinted forward, jumping up and
       slamming my fists down on its exposed chest as it struggled to
       get up.
       A large cracking sound erupted from its chest as the bones
       caved in, and the light left its eyes. I stood up, wiping my
       forehead.
       "Whew! They're tough as hell, guys. Think you're up for it?"
       Brittney and Jessi gawked at us, and Grace pondered the
       question for a moment.
       "Yeah, I think we could do it. We'll have to work in a couple
       teams, though," she said, looking at us.
       "I agree. John, you and Grace team up with Brittney. Jessi and
       I will be on a seperate team. Since you can hit so hard, the
       supporters will need you more, and since Jessi has a cannon, she
       can take the skeletons down for me to finish off," I said,
       stretching my legs.
       "Sounds good to me," Jessi said.
       "Now, let's find some more monsters, shall we?" I pressed on
       down the hall, taking the torch from Jessi.
       We walked down a few more lit hallways, and eventually came
       into a big open room full of torches. The walls were lined with
       rows of laid out skeletons and random bones strewn out across
       the floor. A large amount of skeletons were scattered throughout
       the room, spaced fairly far apart, each wielding different
       weapons, armor, and even eye colors.
       "Alright everyone, listen up. I did a bit of research before I
       got on, and these guys are tougher based on eye color. Since
       none of us have the Power Sensor ability yet, we can't tell how
       strong they are on feeling alone. Orange are the weakest, then
       you have the red, then the green, then the blue, and finally the
       white. They get stronger in that order. So don't screw with any
       skeletons passed red eyes. Got it?" I said, and everyone nodded.
       "Let's get to it, then!"
       "Wait. How do we get stronger?" John questioned me.
       "Everyone go to your User Panel and click on Character Profile.
       It'll open up a window with all of your stats, abilities, your
       avatar, yada yada. Right under your avatar you'll see your Power
       number. It goes up with battle experience. So with each attack,
       each dodge, defence, whatever it is you're doing in battle, the
       number goes up a little bit. The more dangerous the battle, the
       faster it goes up. your body slowly improves, as does your
       experience in fighting. It's a cool system, in my opinion. So
       just keep fighting skeletons, alright?" I responded as they all
       looked at their various character profile pages.
       After a moment, everyone was finished, and we started on
       fighting the skeletons. Jessi would shoot a massive cannonball
       at them, toppling them over, and I'd pounce on them and crush
       their chests, taking the life out of them. On John's team, Grace
       would put the skeletons into a daze, sometimes two or three
       skeletons at a time, disabling their movement for a couple of
       seconds, and Brittney would either shoot an arrow through their
       skulls, destroying their life, or John would crush them with his
       sword.
       Grace's ability is already really helpful, even starting out...
       Brittney's pinpoint accuracy is really helpful. I guess all
       those years of IRL archery training paid off, huh?
       And John is pretty strong by default, since he's a Berserker.
       That's pretty nifty.
       Jessi's cannon is seriously handy as well. She can damn near
       blow the skeletons to bits.
       Overall, the whole team is pretty strong. We're able to put our
       strengths to good use. I smirked, remember that Allere guy and
       how he thought we had no chance standing up against the
       skeletons. See who's laughing now?
       We trained on the skeletons for a couple of hours, and paused
       to rest. John pitched a couple of tents in one of the corners of
       the room, and lit a bonfire where we started roasting some of
       the food he had bought with his starter money.
       "So, how long are we stuck in-game again?" John asked.
       "Once you get into the game, you're put on life support for two
       years. You get stuck in-game for that amount of time, and when
       your time is up, you're prompted for whether or not you want to
       spend more time in the game or not. If you save up enough
       in-game gold, you can even buy a mind transfer, which puts you
       permanently in the game. You abandon your IRL life behind, and
       when your body dies, your mind stays in the game. So for now,
       we're stuck here for two years. Should be a nice vacation from
       the hell we were living in, yeah?" I said.
       "Mmm." Brittney said, warming her hands at the fire.
       We sighed in unison, remembering the lives we used to live.
       When John finished cooking the salmon and beef, we all ate
       dinner, and went to our tents. Brittney and I shared a tent,
       Grace and Jessi shared another, and John had his own tent, since
       he was much larger than the rest of us. We went to sleep for the
       night, letting the fire burn itself out.
       "Today was...really fun, Cody..." Brittney said softly,
       snuggling up to me.
       I nodded, smiling back at her, laying on the comfy flooring of
       the tent.
       "This is our new life for the next two years. I like it a lot
       better than what we were living in before. I'm much happier
       here. A lot of stress suddenly....gone, yaknow?" I said, feeling
       happy.
       She smiled and nodded.
       "Well, let's get some sleep for tonight, alright? Goodnight,
       sweetheart. Sweet dreams, I love you."
       "I love you too..." she said, dozing off.
       #Post#: 9--------------------------------------------------
       Re: The Games
   DIR By: Excisio
       Date: November 18, 2014, 8:24 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [center]Chapter 3[/center]
       [center]Allere's Plans[/center]
       "Cody...wake up..." I heard a voice rouse my from my sleep.
       I opened my eyes, blinking several times. Grace's head was
       poking through the tent door. I looked over to see Brittney fast
       asleep, curled up into a ball next to me.
       "Yeah...what is it?" I whispered, looking up at Grace.
       "That hot guy from earlier is here. He said he wants to talk to
       you," she replied quietly.
       My senses quickly returned to me, and I quickly scurried out of
       the tent, trying to be quiet about it. As I emerged from it,
       Allere stood, standing a few feet from us, looking at me smugly.
       "Ahh, hello. What was your name again?" He questioned me.
       "I'm Captain. What do you want with us?" I asked cautiously.
       "I have a proposition for you," he said, smiling a confidently
       at me.
       "A proposition...?" I asked, confused.
       He nodded, taking a step forward, "How would you and your group
       like to work for a certain...organization? Your combat skills
       are beyond any normal newbies, and you seem to understand how to
       work as a unit to take enemies down. We could use you."
       "What kind of organization is this?" I asked, looking at him
       skeptically.
       "We have one goal in this organization. We're planning to take
       over this country, and eventually the entirety of the land, and
       rule it. To do so, we need an army, of course. You would be our
       first addition, despite your newbie attributes. We'll train you
       and provide you with ne-"
       "Not a chance," I said, starting to head back to my tent.
       Suddenly he appeared before me, holding me by the hem of my
       shirt.
       "And why not?" he asked menacingly.
       "Well, for one, I don't work for assholes," I said, knocking
       his hand away, "And for two, I've got no desire to take over
       this country, let alone the whole land. I want nothing to do
       with you and your organization. Stay away from my friends and
       I," I said, glaring at him.
       A flash briefly went over his eyes. He paused, and then sighed,
       smiling once again.
       "Very well, I can't stop you. But remember, someday we're going
       to be ruling over you and your pathetic little friends. We won't
       show you mercy if you resist."
       I gritted my teeth, balling my fist up, and just as I swung my
       fist at him, a slight burst of wind erupted from him as he
       teleported away. His body swirled up into a singular point and
       vanished in nearly an instant, leaving the spot where he had
       been standing empty.
       "Tch....bastard...." I growled.
       "Man, what a prick," Grace said from behind me.
       "Mm..." I said, sighing, "I guess I'm gonna get some training
       done on my own. You should get some rest, Grace."
       She shrugged, "Alright man. Be careful," and headed back to her
       tent.
       I tightened my fists, looking at an orange-eyed skeleton a few
       meters away, "Alright you bastards...time to see what i'm
       capable of..."
       After several hours, I'd managed to kill about twenty
       skeletons. Jessi and John had woken up, and were busy cooking up
       breakfast.
       "Hey! Breakfast is done, come eat!" John called out to me as I
       was finishing off another skeleton.
       "Alright!" I called back, picking up  the few gold pieces the
       skeleton had dropped.
       I jogged over to the campfire, as Jessi was waking up Grace and
       Brittney.
       "Get any cool loot?" John asked, handing me a plate of fried
       eggs and bacon he had made on the pan he bought from the shops
       while Grace and I were getting our classes.
       "Got about 50 gold. How much food did you manage to pick up
       with the starter gold?" I asked.
       "Well, since the three of us combined our money together, we
       had 150 gold to spend. So I picked up the tents and stuff for
       50, and spent the other 100 on a week's worth of food. We should
       be set down here for a few more days," John said as Jessi
       returned with a groggy looking Brittney and Grace.
       "Alright, sweet. I've got 100 in my inventory, so that should
       cover another week's worth when we run out."
       We all sat around the fire and ate our food, and once breakfast
       was done, sat and talked for a little while.
       "So that Allere guy is gathering an army to take over the
       game's land..." I said, looking at all of them.
       Grace nodded, "Yeah that guy's a prick."
       "How do you know?" Brittney asked, looking at me curiously.
       "He showed up last night and offered to make us a part of the
       organization. I declined after hearing what the goal was," I
       responded.
       "Why didn't you wake us up?" John asked.
       "You guys needed sleep. It'd been an eventful day and all. I
       didn't wanna bother you. Anyways, something tells me this won't
       be the last time we see that guy..." I said.
       We pondered the thought for a while, and then got up to keep on
       training. We carried on like this every day for the next six
       days, and on the seventh day, John informed me of our lack of
       food.
       "We've run out of food. We're gonna need to go get some more,"
       he said, looking at me.
       "Alright. We'll have two of us go back to town and pick up more
       food and any other supplies we might need, the rest of us will
       stay here and train some more," I responded.
       "Which two of us are gonna go?" Brittney asked.
       "Hmm....John, you know what all we need, right? You'll go for
       sure. The party is still going to need one of the front line
       attackers, though. So either Jessi or I for sure have to stay.
       I've gotten the most training done out of anyone here, plus I've
       got the most gold to spend. I guess you and I will go, and
       Jessi, Grace, and Brittney can team up on the skeletons," I
       said, looking at them all, "Sound good guys?"
       They all nodded in agreement, and John and I prepared to go
       back to the town.
       "Alright, let's put all of our money together and see what
       we've come up with," I said, gathering everyone up in a circle.
       Everyone piled their money up in the center, and the count
       amounted to around 2000 gold.
       "Damn, not bad..." I said.
       "So, we're going to need to spend at least 100 on food for the
       next week of training here. That'll leave 1900 to spend on
       anything else. We can pick up some new gear now that we've got
       the money to spend on it. It won't get much, but it's a decent
       start. Who needs gear the most?" I looked around at my friends.
       "Brittney could use a new bow and some more arrows. Her starter
       arrows are nearly completely out. Jessi's cannon runs on mana
       blasts, so she doesn't use ammo. Grace's staff is nearly in two
       piece from her profusely beating the shit out of the skeletons,
       and John's sword is getting a bit dull. We'll have that
       sharpened, we'll get Brittney some new arrows and a bow, and
       Grace a new staff. Jessi and I should be fine for the time
       being. Any excess gold will go towards some better gear, I'd
       say," I said.
       "Sounds good to me!" Brittney said happily.
       "Kickass, a new staff? Make sure it's metal, I want to
       seriously do some damage on those boney fucks."
       "Awww, I wanted a new sword..." John said, sounding a bit
       disappointed.
       "I'll think about it, buddy," I said, patting his shoulder.
       We suited up, and I took all of our combined gold into my
       inventory.
       "Well, we'll be back within a day. We'll see you guys in a
       bit," I said, standing next to John and looking at the other
       three.
       Brittney ran up and hugged me, and they bid their farewells,
       then John and I set off for town. We took one of the torches to
       find our way back through the maze, and eventually came to the
       stairs we first came down. We headed up them confidently, and
       then I heard a thump.
       "Shit!" John said, clutching his head.
       I laughed, and looked at him, "Pay attention, dumbass. What'd
       you hit your head on?"
       "This stupid gra-" he froze, looking up at the gravestone.
       It had been moved back to its place over the entrance.
       "Ah, shit...That Allere bastard probably moved it
       back...Freakin' prick," I said, kicking the stair.
       "Well, we have gotten stronger...see if you can move it!" John
       said.
       I put my hands on the stone, and pushed as hard as I could. I
       felt it start to shift slightly, but I wasn't quite strong
       enough. Even with John's added strength, we couldn't quite get
       it to budge.
       "What're we gonna do now...? If we don't get out of here soon,
       we're going to end up starving to death." John said.
       "I really don't feel like sitting in the Cathedral for two days
       to revive...That'd be a huge waste of time..." I said, growling.
       "We'll just have to work out until we can move it. Since
       progress is faster here, we can build our strength quicker by
       working our muscles. Let's just work our asses off until we can
       lift it!" I said.
       "That sounds like it would take a long time..." John said.
       "We don't have any other choice. Let's just hope we manage to
       make it before we starve to death, huh?" I said, dropping to the
       floor to start doing pushups.
       He joined me, and we worked for several hours. Every time our
       energy ran out, we laid and waited for it to recover enough to
       keep going. The game is different in that you recover from
       exhaustion at a much more rapid rate than you would IRL, and the
       same goes with body strength progression. I figured we might
       just make it in time if we kept working our asses off. If John
       and I could nearly get it to budge, we don't need a whole lot
       more strength before we get out of here. Nearly a day had gone
       by, and our stomachs were starting to hurt from hunger.
       "Damnit, I don't know how much longer I can go on like this..."
       John pouted, panting from his pushups.
       "It'll be alright buddy, just a little more and we'll be able
       to move it," I grunted, continuing my pushups.
       Finally I collapsed, and we laid down for a few minutes.
       "Think we're strong enough now?" John asked, looking over at
       me.
       "Let's find out," I said, standing up.
       We rose to the rock, and just as we were about to push it open,
       the Gravestone was moved out of the way, and a girl stood in the
       light shining down on us.
       "Oh, um...hi there! I didn't expect to find anyone here. You
       two alright?" She asked.
       Her dark brown curly hair hung just passed her shoulders, and
       her dark skin shined slightly in the sunlight. She wore a green
       tanktop, and green leggings. A couple pistols rested at her
       hips.
       "You gotta be kiddin' me..." I said, falling to my ass on the
       stairs, nearly flipping down them.
       "We were stuck down here! Thanks for moving the Gravestone!
       We're starving!" John said happily.
       The girl chuckled, and offered John and I a loaf of bread,
       "here you go! How did you two even get stuck down here?"
       "A guy moved the gravestone for us when we first entered. We're
       newbies, so we aren't strong enough to move it on our own," I
       said, chewing on my bread, "But the bastard moved it back when
       he left, trapping us and our friends in here."
       "Your friends...? Where are they?" She asked curiously.
       "They're still back inside the Catacombs training, waiting for
       us to bring back more food. They haven't eaten since yesterday,
       and were expecting us back by now. If you see them, could you
       tell them we'll be back as soon as we can?" I asked.
       "Sure! I'll give them a day's worth of food, too. I know what
       it's like to be starving to death," she said, smiling softly at
       me.
       "How much would that cost?" I asked her.
       "Don't worry about it! It's on me, this time. What's your name,
       by the way?" She asked.
       "I'm Cody, and this is John. nice to meet ya," I replied.
       "I'm Jace, nice to meet you too!" She responded.
       "Well, we really need to get going," I said, patting John's
       shoulder.
       She nodded, and bade us farewell as she headed down into the
       catacombs.
       "is everyone ridiculously strong here?" John asked me.
       "Everyone who trains their body diligently is. We're newbies,
       remember? We won't be so inhumanely strong for a while. These
       people have a few months on us, dude," I replied as we headed
       into the town center.
       Just then, a massive creature stepped into the center of the
       town, crushing the fountain under its foot. It towered several
       stories into the air, maybe thirty stories high. It appeared to
       be made of rock and ice, and its eyes glowed bright white as it
       peered down on the town inhabitants.
       "Holy shit! What the hell is that?!" John said, starting to
       panic.
       "I uh...I think it's a...world boss maybe? What the hell is it
       doing in the beginning town?" I wondered, looking at it more
       closely.
       After getting a closer look, I noticed that a man in a long red
       coat stood on the beast's shoulder, looking down at us and
       laughing as the monster started destroying buildings in the
       town. Everyone was running away from it as fast as they could.
       "Shit...it's Allere," I said, pointing at the golem's shoulder,
       "Guess it isn't a world boss after all...He must be starting by
       taking over the newbie town. It'd make sense to pick up
       newcomers into his army. People who don't know what they're
       doing..." I growled.
       We ran up to the massive golem, standing a couple hundred
       meters in front of it.
       "Allere! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" I shouted
       angrily.
       He looked down at me, and laughed, "Taking you over, town by
       town. Let's see how you do against a Titan Golem. Bet you're
       regretting your rejection now, hmm?"
       I gritted my teeth, "Not a damn chance!"
       "C'mon John, let's try to find a way to take this damn thing
       down," I said, looking at him.
       "Are you crazy? We don't stand a chance against that thing!" He
       said.
       "Nobody else can do it, and I don't want to let that bastard
       get control of this place," I responded.
       "Well...what do you think we can do?" he asked.
       "Good question." I said, looking up at it.
       "...We don't really stand a chance here..." I sighed.
       "So do we retreat, then?" John asked.
       "Grr...You go back and see if you can find that girl we just
       passed earlier. I'm gonna try something."
       "You sure?" he asked.
       "Yeah. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."
       "Alright..." He said, running back to the Graveyard.
       I looked up at Allere again, and then charged towards him and
       the Titan Golem.
       "Hahahaha! You don't stand a chance, kid! Not even the higher
       leveled players can take one of these things on alone!" Allere
       cackled.
       The Golem's foot rose up, and slammed down on me.
       Crack
       The world went black.
       #Post#: 12--------------------------------------------------
       Re: The Games
   DIR By: Excisio
       Date: November 19, 2014, 5:42 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [center]Chapter 4[/center]
       [center]The Cathedral[/center]
       "Hey, you're finally back! Come with me, quickly!"
       I opened my eyes, blinking them several times as I looked
       around. I was in a large room. Almost like a church room. The
       floor was paved with grey bricks, and there were several ailes
       of benches in front of me. I stood to my feet, looking for the
       source of the voice. A large alter stood behind me, with several
       lit candles. To my left, Jace stood, looking worried.
       "C'mon, get up, Cody! We have to go!" she said urgently.
       "Wha...?" I asked, feeling a bit groggy.
       "You went and got yourself killed. It's been two days since
       that red coat guy's attack on the town. We have to hurry up and
       get out of here! Your friends are waiting in the next town over.
       If we don't sneak out of this town RIGHT NOW, we aren't going to
       get out."
       I felt my senses return to me, "Allere?! Where is that
       bastard?"
       "He's outside raising an army of newbies. He's already taken
       over this town, and he's got several groups of troops marching
       on patrol to make sure nobody escapes. We're going to have to be
       sneaky if we're gonna get out of here!" she said.
       "Screw that, I'm gonna go kick his ass," I growled, marching
       towards the exit.
       She caught my shoulder, and pulled me back, "You don't stand a
       chance against that guy. Especially since you didn't even manage
       to get a hit on his Titan Golem. Now come on, if you wanna take
       him down, you're going to have to get stronger. We'e going to
       sneak out of town, and meet up with a few of my friends just
       outside town. From there, we'll head over to the town your
       friends are in, okay?"
       I growled in frustration, but nodded. We quickly snuck out of
       the Cathedral, and maneuvered in-between several buildings and
       hid behind stands to get out. As we walked by, I saw several
       sqaure formations of geared up newbies marching along the main
       pathways in town, and several more groups training on dummies,
       as well as fighting each other.
       "This is crazy..." I murmered as we made our way to the outer
       wall of the town.
       "Yeah, whoever this guy is, he's got some serious control and
       money to be able to set this up so quickly..." she responded.
       Just then, a red coat and white hair caught my attention out of
       the corner of my eye. Allere. I saw him as he motioned to three
       men standing in front of him. He punched one, kicked the other,
       and headbutted the third in the blink of an eye. The men fell to
       the ground, and shattered at the impact, signaling their death.
       "Shit..." I muttered.
       "Be very quiet..." Jace whispered from in front of me.
       We snuck around a couple houses, and then came up to the outer
       wall of the town. It was made of thick, grey bricks, and stood
       several stories high.
       "How're we gonna get over that?" I asked.
       "Same way your friends did," she replied, handing me a hook
       with rope tied to it.
       "Grappling hooks...? I've never used one before," I replied.
       "It's easy, just throw it up and make sure you have a good hold
       on the wall, then pull yourself up."
       "Won't this catch the soldiers' attention?" I asked.
       "Yeah, but if we're quick enough, they won't notice. If that
       big guy John can do it without being caught, I'm sure you can
       too," she smiled at me reassuringly.
       I took the hook and tossed it up to the top of the wall, and
       tugged it to make sure I had a good grip. Jace did the same, but
       pulled herself up with one tug, soaring to the top of the wall,
       and landing on the top. She hid behind the half wall on the top,
       and waited for me to get up. I grabbed the rope, and started
       walking up the side of the wall.
       This is surprisingly easy...I guess it's because my body in
       this world isn't so heavy and weak.
       I thought to myself as I walked up the wall. Halfway through, I
       heard a crack, and the hook broke loose, pulling a large brick
       off the wall, and sending me falling back to the ground, the
       brick landing just next to me.
       "Shit!" I said, scrambling to my feet.
       Jace jumped off the wall, landing swiftly next to me and took
       my arm.
       "This is gonna hurt, but we have no choice!" she said, swinging
       me by my arm.
       Soldiers piled into the alley we were in, surrounding us just
       as Jace threw me up the wall. It felt like my arm was about to
       be torn off when she let go, and I landing on the edge of the
       opposite side of the wall, grasping the edge and holding on for
       dear life.
       "Y-You threw me too far!" I shouted as she bolted up over the
       side of the wall.
       "Sorry, not quite used to my strength yet!" She replied,
       landing on the top of the wall.
       She grabbed my hand and jumped off the edge, dragging me to the
       bottom, and put me down. I looked to our right and a large group
       of soldiers started pouring out the entrance to the town, which
       had been heavily guarded.
       "Fuck! Run! My friends are just up ahead!" She shouted as we
       bolted away from the wall.
       The soldiers followed us for nearly half a mile, and we came up
       on a small wooden house with three people standing in front of
       it. Two of them, a guy and a girl, were holding hands and
       waiting for us. The third stood on the roof, peering out at us.
       He wore a long black coat with his hood up, and a pair of loose
       jeans with red shoes. The guy standing on the ground wore a red
       baseball cap, a light blue shirt, and some jeans, and the girl
       with him had long brown hair, with similar clothes to his.
       "Oh shit! Company," I heard his voice echo from the roof.
       He jumped off as we ran up to them, and the two on the ground
       drew their weapons.
       "Aiden, Ima, Linny, this is Cody! He's the last of the newbies
       who wasn't taken over by the red trenchcoat guy! He's the one
       who tried to take on the Titan Golem by himself!" Jace called
       out as we reached them.
       "Aiden...?" I questioned the guy.
       He stood with slightly long, brown hair, and was slim, several
       inches taller than myself.
       "Wait, Aiden, Ima, Linny...What?! You guys are here too?!" I
       asked, suddenly recognizing the three of them.
       "It's me, Cody! Captain Cody! It's been a while, guys!" I said
       happily.
       "Uhh, you guys know each other? Well, nevermind that. The
       soldiers are gaining on us fast," Jace said.
       "We'll handle these guys, you get to your friends," Linny said,
       "Also, it's good to see you again."
       I nodded, "Thanks! Maybe we can catch up sometime! I still have
       to kick your ass!" I shouted, running towards the next town,
       leaving behind the four of them.
       "Alright, let's kick some ass," Aiden said cooly, drawing his
       sword.
       "Mm!" They replied in unison, charging at the massive group of
       newbies.
       I ran for another mile or so, and eventually came up on a much,
       much larger town than the starter town we began in. The walls
       surrounding this town were much larger than the ones of the last
       town, and the entrance was extremely large.  I jogged up to it,
       coming to a stop and panting, trying to catch my breath. A girl
       stood, leaned against the wall next to the entrance.
       "Brittney?" I asked, looking up at her.
       "C-Cody?!" She asked, suddenly very alert.
       She sprinted over to me and pulled me into a hug, sniffling
       slightly.
       "I missed you, you idiot! Why'd you have to go and get yourself
       killed?! You and your dumbass tendancies to fight huge ass
       monsters, jeez!" she pounded her fists on my chest.
       "Relax, sweetheart. I'm alright. I managed to make it back, but
       Jace and her friends are back there fighting off the soldiers
       that found us when we tried to escape."
       Brittney growled a little at the mention of Jace, but shrugged
       it off and hugged my tighter.
       "Where is everyone else?" I asked.
       "They're all resting at the inn room we rented. Aiden had a bit
       of money he could spare us for a room for a few days to
       recooperate, so that's where we've been," she replied.
       "Then why are you here?" I questioned her.
       "I...wanted to make sure you made it, and knew where to go..."
       "Ahhh, alright. Thanks!" I grinned, kissing her cheek.
       She blushed a bit, and took my hand, dragging me into the city
       walls.
       "They're just this way!" She said.
       #Post#: 13--------------------------------------------------
       Re: The Games
   DIR By: Excisio
       Date: November 21, 2014, 8:06 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       [center]Chapter 5[/center]
       [center]The Decision[/center]
       
       We ran past several buildings, and came up on a rather large
       one. It had a small porch with a couple stairs leading up to it,
       and a railing outlining it. The door was wooden, and we headed
       inside. Upon entering, there was a main desk, with a man in a
       scruffy outfit looking at us. His brown beard was well groomed,
       and his long, brown hair hung loosely. He looked surprisingly
       young. Grace sat on a stool next to him, chatting about music
       with him.
       "Ahh, Brittney. You're back. This your friend?" He questioned
       her.
       "Husband," she corrected him, "But yeah! This is Cody."
       The man walked around the table and started looking me over.
       "So you're the guy who tried to take on that Titan Golem single
       handedly, huh? What were you thinking, man?" He asked.
       I shrugged, "I don't have it in me to back down from a fight
       when lives are at stake. Even if I knew I WOULD be completely
       useless compared to that thing."
       "Well, you've got balls, if nothing else. Nice to meet you, I'm
       Alex."
       I nodded, "Cody."
       "Your friends are waiting upstairs. First door on the left," he
       nodded toward the stairs on my right.
       "Thanks!" I said, heading toward the stairs.
       Brittney followed me, holding onto my arm, and we went up the
       flight of stairs, and got to the room door. The door was white,
       like the walls around it, and had a small design on it. The
       handle was brass. I grabbed it, walking straight in, much to
       Brittney's dismay of not knocking first.
       "Hey!" John said, sitting on the bed.
       The bed had white blankets and white pillows on it, and stood a
       few feet off of the ground, next to another of the same layout.
       Jessi sat on a wooden rocking chair in the corner of the room.
       "You're back! How was death?" Jessi asked me calmly.
       "Black. I was unconscious the whole time," I reponded.
       "So...now what do we do?" John asked.
       I sighed, sitting on the bed next to his.
       "I...don't really know. The monsters here are a lot tougher
       than the ones in the Catacombs. Allere has completely taken over
       the newbie town. He's probably coming for this one soon, and
       then we'll have to make a decision..."
       "And that is...?" Jessi asked as Brittney sat next to me.
       "We either stay and fight, or we run away again," I said,
       looking down at the floor.
       "Let's fight, then," Jessi said plainly.
       "We aren't strong enough....we're damn near broke, really weak,
       and inexperienced. He's training an army and he's got thousands
       of men already. We're a group of five. Currently...we can't do
       shit," I said, tightening my fists.
       The room grew quiet, and we all sat and pondered our situation.
       After a few moments, there was a knock on the door.
       Knock knock knock
       I got up and answered it.
       "Which one of you is Cody?"
       A tall, slim man stood in the doorway. His skin was dark, and
       he wore a white hat, with a white shirt that hung above his
       stomach, revealing the dark skin, as well as some white
       leggings. He bore a dagger at his hip, and had short blonde
       hair.
       "That would be me. Who're you?" I asked.
       "Could you come with me? I need to speak to you in private..."
       He said, glancing around at the other three in the room.
       I looked back, and then back at the man in the doorway.
       "Yeah, sure," I walked out of the room, closing the door behind
       me.
       "We need to go somewhere a little bit more...private," he said,
       taking me by the wrist and pulling me down the stairs.
       "What's this about?" I asked, following him.
       "You're the leader of your group, yeah?" He asked me.
       "More or less. They're my friends, but they trust me, and I'm
       usually the one giving them orders," I said.
       "That red trenchcoat man-"
       "Allere," I added in.
       "-Allere- is gathering an army, and fast. We need people who
       can stand up against him, and people who are capable of leading
       others against him."
       We walked behind the front desk, and through a small door that
       was apparently hidden behind it, passing Grace and the man I met
       earlier. We crawled through the door, shutting it behind us, and
       entered into a small room with a table and some papers spread
       out along it.
       "So what, you want me to do something for you guys?" I asked.
       "Sort of...Would you like to join the fight against Allere? We
       need to stop him before he gets too out of control," he said,
       sitting down on the opposite end of the table.
       I took my seat, and pondered the question, "I was actually just
       debating this with my friends. Trying to decide whether or not
       we stay and fight. Even if we stayed and fought, we're just a
       bunch of newbies. We joined a mere week ago, and haven't gotten
       much training it whatsoever."
       "I heard you and your group went straight for the Catacombs
       upon getting your classes. Most people can't even survive down
       there after two weeks of training. You might be newbies, but
       you're smart fighters. We can train you, and even provide you
       all with decent gear. But we need people who can help in this
       fight. If we don't win, Allere's power could spiral out of
       control with the capture of this town," the man said.
       I sighed, and nodded, "Yeah...That's what I was thinking. It's
       a much larger town than the newbie one he just took. With the
       population here, he could grow his army vastly in number. I
       guess we don't have much of a choice...but we're going to need
       all the training we can get. We have little money, no food, and
       no decent gear. What can you help us out with?"
       "Everything. I belong to a high ranking guild, and we've got
       more than enough money in the vault to pay for you all some
       decent gear. As for training, we have a way to train you in
       private. It's a bit more....black market style, but there's a
       way..." he said.
       "A way to train in private? What are you...?" I questioned.
       "There are certain groups who specialize in capturing monsters.
       Our suppliers have large amounts of monsters in stock we could
       buy for you all to train on. We've even got a Guild Basement you
       can fight them in. You and your party can train there, and we'll
       supply housing, food, and gear. But we NEED your help in
       fighting Allere. You might be a small group, but each of you has
       a large amount of potential. Jace, and our guild leader himself
       saw it in you," he said.
       I thought for a moment.
       You can even buy monsters to train on if you know the right
       people? This place...
       "Alright. I accept your terms. But I'd like to make a request,"
       I said.
       "What is it?" He looked at me skeptically.
       "I want to train in a seperate room from the rest of my
       friends. On more powerful monsters."
       "A-All by yourself? But...your friends will have a hard enough
       time defeating the monsters by teaming up on them!" He said,
       startled by my request.
       "I'll be fine. I'm the leader of my group, so I feel the need
       to be stronger than them. I can handle whatever you throw at
       me," I responded.
       He looked at me concerned, but finally nodded, "Alright, we can
       do that."
       I grinned, "Then let's get to work."
       A few days passed, and we were standing in the man (who I later
       learned was named Wesley) who I had spoke to before's guild
       hall. It was a large room, with several large white pillars
       supporting it. The floor was mostly yellow and orange-colored,
       with many stained glass style pictures all over it. We stood
       before the guild leader, and Wesley himself standing next to
       him. The man was large, muscular, taller than Wesley by nearly a
       foot (towering over me), and also dark skinned. He looked at me
       with a stern expression.
       "So you're Cody?"
       "Yeah. That's me," I said, standing in front of everyone else.
       "I see. Are you and your group ready for the training we're
       going to put you all through?" he asked.
       I nodded, "Yep! Do you have what we need?"
       He nodded, and snapped his fingers. Several men came out,
       giving everyone in my party new gear. John got a larger, sharper
       looking sword, Brittney a bow designed to shoot up to seven
       arrows at once, Grace a strong, sturdy metal staff with a ball
       of fire floating on the edge of it, Jessi a larger and more
       powerful looking cannon, and gear for the lot of them. They
       presented me with a pair of fingerless gloves, a black
       trenchcoat with red lightning going down both sides of the back
       of it, black pants with several pockets in them, and some black
       combat boots to match. I was also given a black shirt with the
       guild logo (A red lightning bolt) on it. Everyone else was given
       similar clothing, but better suited for their class. We all
       suited up, and the guild leader grinned at me.
       "Not half bad," he nodded in approval.
       "Yeah, they look a lot better in clothes like that," Wesley
       commented, "you guys don't look like such newbies anymore. Now
       it's time to get to where your power matches your appearance,
       eh?"
       I nodded, and we followed Wesley as he led us down to the Guild
       Basement. My friends all walked into the basement with Wesley,
       and he quickly shut the door behind him, leaving me behind. This
       was my cue to head back up to the Guild Leader and get led to
       the room I was going to be training in personally. I heard a lot
       of protest on the other side of the door, and called out to
       them.
       "Don't worry, guys! I planned on training on my own from the
       start, so don't freak out. I figured you wouldn't let me if I
       told you beforehand. Just listen to Wesley and train as a unit,
       alright? We need to get as strong as we can as fast as we can,
       so get going!"
       I headed back up to the Guild Hall, and as I approached the
       Guild Leader, a woman in an all black outfit with a mask on
       suddenly appeared at his side.
       "Allere is due to come here in a week, according to my
       sources," she said.
       The Guild Leader nodded, and the girl once again disappeared.
       "You heard that, right? We have one week to get you to the
       point where you can stand up to his army. I hope you're ready."
       I stretched nervously, and nodded, "As ready as I'm gonna get,
       big guy."
       He grinned, and led me to a room down several hallways. It was
       a vast room, and was....excessively empty. In fact, upon
       entering and shutting the door, all of the walls disappeared. We
       were in a white void, just like when I first made my avatar.
       "What's this place...?" I asked the Guild Leader.
       "This place...is a room. An extremely expensive room. EXTREMELY
       EXPENSIVE. It's an endless storage room. We just haven't put
       what we plan on putting in here yet," he said.
       "What are you planning on putting in here?" I asked, looking up
       at him.
       "Wouldn't you like to know?"
       A large group of people dressed exactly the same as the girl
       that randomly showed up earlier suddenly appeared, each holding
       a large cage with some fierce looking monsters inside of them.
       "They what I'm fighting for the next week?" I asked.
       "No. They're your warmup. I expect you to be finished killing
       these monsters within the next hour. Get to work."
       The cages, people, and Guild Leader all suddenly vanished,
       leaving the monsters to fall to the floor. There were various
       monsters, two headed tigers, six legged boars, giant hawks, you
       name it. All waiting just a few meters from me, staring at me
       with fierce growls.
       "This...is gonna be tough," I said aloud, and then charged at
       them.
       ...
       "Hey, times up! Allere is going to be here in an hour. He and
       his troops have already begun the march to the city. I've sent
       several spies of my guild to infiltrate them, and they're going
       to slow down the march as much as possible. You should regroup
       with your friends and let them see how much you've changed," the
       Guild Leader's voice came from behind me as I crushed the skull
       of the lion that charged at me.
       "Ahhh...already? Alright! I wonder how much they've changed
       since last week!" I said excitedly, jogging over to the door.
       "You've all growned surprisingly quickly in the past week. What
       you accomplished in the last week would take the normal newbie
       about a year to complete. You and your friends are kind of
       ridiculous, you know that?" He said, patting me on the shoulder.
       The Guild Leader and I had built a pretty fond relationship in
       the past week. He was pretty impressed with our progress, and
       how quickly we all were growing in power. More than anything, he
       was surprised by our will to keep moving forward.
       "My friends are pretty tough!" I grinned proudly.
       "You and them both, kid," he nodded, leading me to the Guild
       Hall.
       As we entered, all of my friends were already standing there,
       as well as Jace, Aiden, Linny, and Ima. Jessi, John, Grace, and
       Brittney all stood next to them. They all stared at me as I
       entered, and I grinned at them.
       "Hiya guys! Long time no see!" I said.
       Brittney was hugging me in an instant--literally. Like. There
       was this blur and bam. She slammed into my chest and was hugging
       me tightly. I groaned slightly, hugging back.
       "Sorry baby, I'm still a little s-sore," I said, smiling at
       her.
       She raised my hair up a bit, looking at my face.
       "You're all cut up and bruised! What were you thinking?"
       "I was thinking I need to get strong and fast. I figured I
       could train faster if I was alone. More battle experience and
       stuff that way. The injuries just toughened me up. My body has
       gotten a lot more durable, too!" I said excitedly.
       "Mhrrr. Well you should've been more careful..." she said
       quietly.
       I grinned at her, lifted her chin and kissed her softly. She
       went bright red, and I chuckled, walking up to the others.
       "Hey guys. How's it going?"
       "Pretty good. Wanna see a trick?" Grace said.
       "Sure!" I responded.
       "Turn around," I felt a tap on my shoulder.
       Grace was standing behind me. Err. Sort of. She was also
       standing in front of me.
       "Sweet! What're you doing?" I asked.
       "Making it look and feel and sound like there's more than one
       of me, dude. Illusionist. I can do all sorts of cool shit."
       I grinned, "that's a pretty kickass class. Is it useful in
       battle?"
       "Without her we wouldn't have even made it," John chipped in.
       "Hey! My cannon was pretty strong!" Jessi argued.
       Brittney came up next to me, smiling.
       "I got pretty fast!"
       I nodded, grinning at her, "No kidding. You're super fast. You
       could give Jace a run for her money."
       "Actually, she's faster than even I am now," Jace chimed in.
       I looked between the two of them, "Wait, really?"
       She nodded, "You guys have been training way harder than we
       have. For even the Guild Leader to be impressed, that's pretty
       incredible."
       I grinned at my friends, "They're pretty tough, huh?"
       "Without a doubt," Jace responded.
       "So! What sort of progress have YOU made?" Brittney asked me,
       tapping on my shoulder.
       "Oh, you know..." I started, trying to avoid the topic.
       One of the guild's spies appeared just then.
       "All of the spies have been defeated. Allere will be here in a
       few minutes!"
       "Everyone, move out!" The Guild Leader shouted, and we all
       rushed to the exit of the guild manor.
       We ran out to the front gate of the town, and Allere's army was
       coming in fast.
       "Everyone, prepare for battle!" The Guild Leader shouted.
       Several archers, Brittney included, were lined up on top of the
       town walls, all aiming their bows. Jessi stood with her cannon
       loaded and ready, and Grace started casting several shielding
       spells, putting several layers of protective shields in front of
       the mages she stood with. Everyone else readied their weapons.
       the Guild Leader stood behind the guild mates, shouting out
       commands. I walked out to the front of everyone, standing in the
       very front of the army. John stood not far behind me, his sword
       at the ready.
       "Here they come!" The Guild Leader's booming voice erupted.
       The troops were a few meters away from us, and I charged at
       them.
       "Prepare for war!"
       *****************************************************
       Page 1 of 1