He rested his head on the Datanap, and his right hand grasped for the trigger handle. The teenage boy clicked a button on the handle.
Despite his eyes being closed, he saw that he stood in what seemed to be outer space. He floated towards a large, elongated object. It was a heavy sword with a glass-like blade. In the sharp window, he saw a mountainous region that he had left behind when he logged out.
He floated into the blade, and he awoke in a strong, yet agile form. His hands were pale, nearly white. On his right forearm, a red crystal protruded from his skin. He tapped on the stone and a window opened, showing various things like his hit points, mana, key skills, and a notepad. On the notepad, a quest icon was inscribed with the statement: "Clear Volcanic Dungeon".
"You're back, Ander!" a voice said, jerking his attention away from the screen. The comment came from a man with dragonlike features. His scales and armor had a sickly green tinge to them.
"I said I would be." Ander clipped.
"Now, now," the dragonoid said, "let's not get snippy. We're working together on this."
Ander rolled his eyes, and the two waited without another word. The occasional sound of a pan clanging and the rustling of a tent going down indicated that his companion was breaking down camp.
Minutes passed, until a short woman with butterfly wings appeared in the space next to them. "Sorry I'm late!" she immediately burst out.
"All good, Tillia. Ander and I were just enjoying uncomforable silence in the mean time." The dragonoid said good-naturedly.
The four-foot-tall woman with teal hair turned on Ander. "C'mon, Andie! Can't you even try to be friendlier to Mimi?"
He turned away, not willing to meet her emerald gaze. "I didn't ask for Middu to come along. He's just an NPC."
She humphed, and pushed herself into his adverted face. "He's a person, too. He's felt, hurt, and loved as much -- if not more than -- us. Give him a chance."
Ander shoved her away, and continued to look off into the distance.
"Where's Neil? Shouldn't he be here by now?" Tillia asked.
"I dunno," Middu replied, "I haven't heard from him since y'all left about two dia ago."
"Do we leave him? I'd hate it if someone left me behind!" Tillia said.
"Can you contact him in the other world?" Middu pressed.
"I don't really know him IRL..."
"Oh, I didn't know that. I thought all you Travelers only paired up with those you knew in the other world."
"That's not the point of an MMORPG." Ander muttered, loud enough for Middu to hear. "we play MMORPG's to communicate with like-minded people who we don't know, and pursue a common goal."
"You don't have to sound grumpy about it." Tillia scolded, pointing a finger sternly at him.
Ander shrugged, and went silent again.
They waited another couple minutes. Finally, Ander stood up. "I'm not going to wait any more. You can come with or not."
Middu swung a large backpack onto his back. "I'm ready."
Tillia looked torn. Finally, she said, "I'll stay. I'd hate for Neil to pop in and be alone."
"We're not talking about splitting the party, are we? That's not a very smart plan." Another voice added.
Ander and Tillia looked at the newcomer. It was a man with bronze skin and golden hair. Ander guessed once that he was a human or magitech construct, but it turned out that he was playing an Elf.
Tillia suddenly ran to the man and threw her arms around him. "NEEIILL! You made it!" she shouted.
"Easy, Til." he replied gently, "I just had a bad day at work, and being killed by my best friend online doesn't help."
She pulled back a little, but was still hugging him. Ander shook his head and started walking the path again. He sensed the other three following before he was too far.
They walked along a path with red tones, despite a yellow sun shining brightly above. Some jagged rocks let out steam. Others drooled lava. For several minutes, only the heat opposed them.
"Wait, look!" Middu pointed just off the path about 30 feet away from Ander. Ander paused. Middu was pointing at another rock. Red-orange veins pulsed through about the top ten feet or so of the mound. "That's a Magmasaur, if I'm not mistaken. A cunning one at that. They's got thick armor, burning temper, and a nasty bite."
"Guess who else has a burning temper," Ander growled, drawing a huge, two-handed sword.
As he charged it, and it burst forward to meet him. Its time for hiding was over.
The Magmasaur, with limbs made with what looked like lava with magma rock scales and a snakelike mouth, struck at Ander, but missed its footing as it landed from its huge leap. It slammed down on all fours and howled in Ander's face. He felt his ears go numb as a red icon appeared in the corner of his vision. Deafness. Ander didn't mind.
His companions had ducked down and covered their ears, but Tillia and Middu were just a little too slow, they receiving the same disability. Middu charged to the front line, equipping a shield with arcane runes etched across its face. He shouted a spell word and an armor of wet mist began to swirl around him.
Ander brought his large sword through the monster's forearm, and spun with the momentum for a follow-up attack. The second blow crashed into the beast's rocky exterior.
Neil brought his hand up and shouted a spell word. Lights coalesced around his hand, then launched like a dart at the Magmasaur. The bolt of light glanced off of the stony shell, chipping a couple flakes of stone away.
Tillia sang a spell word out, in tune with whatever she was blissfully humming. Ander began to feel wet all over, like he was in the shower. It was a water skin.
The Magmasaur reared up on its hind legs and swiped at the two Tank-class fighters in front of it. Middu leapt to the side to dodge the blow, while Ander caught the forepaw with his sword. Suddenly, liquid flame burst out from the soft underbelly, catching Middu in the deep of it. Ander fell onto a defensive position, stepping away from the monster and letting it drop. When the flames disappeared, Middu was slightly charred, and laying on the ground. Whatever water armor he had prepared was gone.
He shouted another spell word from his place on the ground, making a gesturing motion to the monster. A lightning bolt crashed through the beast from the sky. The Magmasaur seemed to be able to take the hit, though a charred mark appeared on its back. Using the moment that Ander was coming in for another swing, he rolled back to his feet.
Ander caught the monster with an upswing, but lost his balance as he tried to move into a follow-up strike. His sword tapped the stone shell lightly.
Neil blasted again, this time slamming the beast in the shoulder with the light dart. Magma spurted from the wound, covering Ander. He didn't feel it, as the water skin flowed away, carrying the soot and cooled lava.
"Try something else, Neil!" Ander shouted, "I don't want to die as a byproduct of your stupidity."
He heard no response, as he was deaf at the moment. Tillia extended a hand and spoke another spell word. Ander felt adrenaline surge through his body. He grinned.
The beast seemed pretty close to its last dregs. It rose on its hind legs, and swatted at Ander twice. As he blocked one paw with the sharp of his blade, the other paw caught him with the first clean blow Ander had received all day. Ander was sent flying back and bounced on the stone towards Neil and Tillia. Flames began to spread from his side.
Middu drew a mace, which seemed to glow with a soft aura. He brought it in a strong upward swing, knocking the Magmasaur on its side. That gave Neil the opening he needed to blast the thing with a ray of ice.
It burst into red light. When the light faded, only a few coins and a gemstone lay in its place.
"Aww," Tillia said, though only Neil could hear her, "we didn't get very much loot."
He pulled her into a hug. "You are my loot," he whispered.
She grinned just from being hugged. She didn't know what he was saying, or that he was even saying anything.
"Of course we Tanks get all the pain and you DPS's get all the girls," Ander complained loudly while going to collect the coins and ruby gemstone. Once he bagged the treasure, he sat cross-legged on the ground and waited for his hearing to come back. He had apparently put out the flames a while ago.
A few minutes later, he got the tingling sensation of suddenly feeling his ears again. He snapped his fingers just to confirm it before standing up. "Let's keep going." he said.
"Yay!" Tillia cheered, jumping to her feet again.
"Alright." Neil pushed himself up.
"Let's do this!" Middu said with a determined look.
Ander started down the path without looking back. The others glanced at each other and hurried to keep up.