**KEURRGH!**
I thrusted my weapon forward as I dashed along with the direction of my spear, letting its blade penetrate the boar's exposed body which finished it off. Its health bar above it drained to 0, and it turned into bits of data that disintegrated easily.
Gained 12 exp!
Said the interface before me as I finished another boar from the corner of the field outside the city that I've found to be less crowded now that the game has launched several days ago. It's been almost an hour since I've been grinding for levels and fighting against level 1 monsters out here. So far, I've gained at least two levels from doing so, but the experience points I'm getting at level 3 here don't seem to be enough to get me to level 4 tonight.
Nevertheless, I immediately ran towards the next boar on the field which gnawed away at the grass below it. It stood about a few feet away from me, so it's not a long walk from where I am. "Crippling Strike!" I yelled the name of my starting skill, triggering my weapon to glow brightly blue as I dashed forward and aimed towards the boar's left leg. It becomes alarmed the moment it sees it coming, but it doesn't seem to react fast enough to avoid my attack, and the pointed tip of my weapon collides with its front paw.
The boar's health becomes reduced to 80% and it groaned harshly in response to my attack. It jolted its leg vigorously to get me to let go of my hold on my weapon with its edge still lodged in his leg. It was effective, because the boar somehow managed to shake me off of my feet and throw me a couple of meters away from it. I instinctively rolled to the ground as soon as my body makes contact with the grass in order to shield myself from further impact, but the sharp fringes of the grass sheared my skin to leave many cuts all over my exposed skin.
My health decreased to 230 points immediately.
I groaned in pain when the roll was finished and everything it came with sank together at once. The haptic sensors built into the NDS was great alright, and I can feel the sort of pain that my avatar is also going through. It will probably be dulled when it comes to stab wounds and everything, right?
"Gah. That wasn't a good wake up call." I mumbled as I began to stand up from my earlier position. I shook my head side to side in an attempt to make the temporary pain go away. Doing so made me miss the potential danger the wild boar posed to me as it approached after swinging me away earlier.
I lifted my eye, and that was only the moment I realized that I was in grave danger. It was already too late for me to get up and take claim of my spear again, so I was left there in a defenseless position as my enemy continued its advance. I closed my eyes, but my hearing continued to sense the threat that the wild boar imposed on me.
Its footsteps were heavier than usual. It was faster than what I'm used to as well. Am I going to suffer from my first in game death soon?
**TWANK!**
The sound of an arrow flying from somewhere piqued my already aroused interests. I slowly opened my eye and found the figure of someone holding a bow in their hand. They wielded their weapon very well, almost like they were a professional. They jumped away from the enemy and fired three arrows at once that hits the boar simultaneously. Within a moment of showtime, the person was able to kill the boar with minimal effort, prompting a surprised, and quite frankly, admiring look on my face.
Gained 5 exp!
Said my virtual screen just as the person slowly approached my direction. My vision becomes clear, and I found the person approaching to be a woman. She has smooth dark hair with some of its tips reaching down her shoulders, almost like two side bangs. "Are you okay?" She said afterwards, her voice was firm but I guess she was worried? Her face showed genuine concern, especially when she reached out a gloved hand towards me.
I lifted my eye to look at her further. Her eyes were bright green, beautiful like a gemstone. Above her head was the usual blue marker for players, but below it was her name.
Therese.
"I-I'm okay. I was just a bit overwhelmed." I responded in nearly a stutter. She took my hand in hers and helped me to my feet, at which case I found another player poking their hand against the now disappearing boar that I think this woman defeated earlier. She giggled, and I swore it was the first time I found a woman's giggles to be extremely adorable.
"It's fine, we were just like you yesterday." She responded as she covered her laughter in the kindest smile I've seen a player do in this game just yet. She turned away from me, and in a moment, faced towards the other player not far from the two of us.
"Laurance, bring that spear to me. It belongs to him." She foretells, making said player look over at our direction to give me a closer look at their face. It was a man basing solely on the name Therese called them by, if I was even allowed to call her by her name. The man has spiky red hair leaning to one side of his head, making him seem tall and intimidating, although the look on his face was of pure joy.
He is wielding a two handed battle axe with a wolf's head carved to the other side of its long metallic handle. It looks like he belongs to a higher level, one I am no match for. Above his head is another cursor indicative of a player avatar, and below it was his name sprawled out; Laurance.
He chuckled and tossed my weapon over my direction, in which case I attempted to leap and take the spear in my hand, my class' increased acrobatics allowed me to jump higher than most players can. Therese clapped her hands together, seemingly in joy, and I felt like blood rushed to my cheeks that give them color because of my sheer embarrassment.
"That was fantastic!" She exclaimed when my feet landed perfectly to the ground. She looked me in the eye and I tried to give her a smile of my own in order to mask my earlier abashed expression. She then entwined her fingers together and begins to speak once more, her voice more gentle and slow than before. "You look like a nice enough player, but you won't level up fast enough in this place. Why don't we make a team so we can all level up faster while we watch each other's backs?"
Laurance approached me and puts a gentle hand on my shoulder. He speaks out afterwards. "That's right! We need more players for a raid we are planning on doing soon, and you seem the type we want in our team. What do you say?"
My mouth parted in speechlessness. This is my first time playing an online game even though it has been a staple for gaming a long time ago and I have been invited to a party already? My mouth instinctively flashed a bigger smile, my excitement no longer containable as I nodded my head towards my new party members.
"That sounds fun. Count me in." I said shortly after.
Another hour or two will pass by quickly as if it was only a few seconds for me. Therese, Laurance, and I proceeded to gain levels in areas of the game I've never seen before. The forest beyond the vast field outside the Starting City is home to wolves that are level 5, and I learned from Laurance that this was where he was able to get the ingredients to forge his axe. He encouraged me to farm for the materials he required so that I may make my own, leveling up in the process.
Therese watched our backs as Laurance and I forced our way through wolves that helplessly spawned for us to kill, and with every 40 experience points I get, the more fun the game for me becomes. I am able to reach level 6 tonight because of my newfound friends, and learned many new things about the Starting City such as weapon and armor shops I never would have seen on my own the first time I roamed this city. They have also showed me places to forge my own weapons, sell my unnecessary loot, and raise some of my non-combat related character skills too.
Meeting them truly was a blessing, but it's time for us to part ways tonight.
"Hey, I had tons of fun tonight. What do ya say we play again tomorrow night? I got classes later so I need to sleep." Laurance said in his nonchalant tone as he rubbed the back of his head with his gloved hand currently not holding his giant axe.
Therese nodded her head in agreement. "That's right. I've never had this much fun in FBO before. We should definitely meet again tomorrow."
"Of course. I learned so much from you two, and I want to learn more... maybe after I polish my blacksmithing skill tho." I replied, making us all chuckle at the memory of my failed attempts to forge a weapon earlier. Our laughter dominated the area within the spawn area, but we didn't care if anyone was looking at us that moment in time. We were too caught up in our joyful experience to think about all of that then and there.
"Shall we make a group chat in RINE then?" Laurance offered after our laughter subsided. RINE, an online messaging app that replaced emails a very long time ago. Almost everyone uses it now, even me and my decade old phone, although there is usually not much for me to check on the app.
"Sure. Let's exchange IDs" I responded to the two of them quickly.
•◦⚜◦•
"YOOO STEVEN!"
I yawned, lazily shifting my head towards the source of the noise from my seat here in the classroom right next to a window. My tired eyes immediately connects with a pair of pale blue ones, but I was too frazzled to greet my friend back.
Shortly after I exchanged contact information with Laurance and Therese, the three of us logged out of the game only for me to find out it was nearly 2 o'clock when we did. I dragged my tired body up to rest on my pillow and get as much sleep as I can before I need to wake up early tomorrow to prepare for class. Ash noticed the exhaustion from my face, but I brushed it off and told her it was because of my studies. Nevertheless, this should be our final day for classes this week, and it will give me enough time to both work part-time and play the game with my new friends.
"Hey buddy, you okay? You look like you cried a week!" Tristan exclaimed as if I was the worst fiend he has ever laid eyes on. "Look yourself on a mirror, dude. How long did you play last night?"
I yawned once more.
"Nah, it wasn't that. I was up studying for today." I lied to him as well, rubbing my eyes using my fingers which hurt because of how much I've already rubbed it earlier.
Tristan raised his eyebrows to me as he crossed his arms together, almost like he was preparing to interrogate me which made me raise my own in confusion.
Was I that easy to read?
I was about to shoot him with another lie when Tristan put both arms in the air and began to walk away. "Okay, okay, whatever floats your boat, man."He said afterwards. " But don't go sleeping on our class today, I heard Mr Giovanni is back."
I nodded my head to Tristan as I once again yawned, but it seems that my own body betrayed me and I ended up sleeping through my first period class. Great.