Dekka and I left the next morning. The manor, well it looked more like a castle now—funny that, was a buzz with activity. Banners were being changed, and guards were less visible. I saw the sign about declaring mounts being carried off.

  We had been well provisioned. And I had been gifted a new club. This one had thick metal plate wrapped around it near its end. It was much heavier and the extra momentum felt good in my hand. It was fun to swoosh around.

  The boon I had asked for had caused some consternation. Not because it was difficult for the Earl to provide, but because it was such a simple request. I think he felt too guilty giving me such a small reward, which is why I was presented with a new club.

  All I had asked for was a sparrow’s heart.

  That was it, the total sum I requested for saving the people from living under an evil spell.

  It was an easy jaunt compared to last time, even an extra level and few boosts to my stats had made a big difference.

  I picked up the quest at River’s Cross and made my way toward Rivermore. I didn’t head straight in; before I went through the gates, I went down to the river and gathered the plants for the quest. I didn’t need to go out and find rabbits, as I had many greater rabbit ears by this time. The rabbits were starting to avoid me. I had seen a few peek out behind a tree and decide to hop the other way. Were they learning, or was it that I was now higher level?

  With all the ingredients now gathered and in my inventory, it was time to go save a town.

  Rivermore was much like it had been the first time I had entered. The smell, the despair and the grime overlaying everything was exactly the same. The only difference was the pattern of people moving around.

  Making my way straight to the doctor I tried not to inhale too deeply or look to closely at the piles by the side of the road.

  Dr Finney was still a small, harried elderly man with deep shadows under his eyes. But I think he was wearing different clothes. And this time no one was in his clinic nor lined up outside.

  I stepped up to the counter, Dekka held under one arm. The doctor’s eyes again widened a bit at seeing dog, but greeted me with a professional, “What can I do for you, traveller?”

  “It is I who hope I can do something for you.” I replied. “I have come to help you with the sickness here.”

  A small flicker of hope ghosted across face, and he stood straighter. “You will help our town?”

  “Yes, this time I am sure I will.” I grinned at him.

  YOU HAVE COMPLETED MOLLY’S QUEST- Find the doctor.

  +5xp

  CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE LEVELLED UP- You are now a level 4 fighter. +3 to str, +3 to con +1 to spd

  You have received one cowslip root.

  I blinked the words away to find the doctor was looking at me in puzzlement.

  “This time?” He asked, then shook his head. “What I need are 10 burdock flowers, 6 greater rabbit ears and one sparrow heart. Do you accept this task?”

  “Sure,” I said with a wide smile, taking a moment to toss a point in [SWING] and closing my HUD

  YOU HAVE ACCEPTED THE DOCTOR’S QUEST - Save the town of Rivermore. Find the ingredients before it is too late.

  No chance of the clock running out this time.

  Much to the doctor’s astonishment, I pulled all the items out of my inventory and placed them on the counter.

  “Here you go. I just happened to have all the ingredients on me already.” I felt how smug my smile was, but I didn’t care. I was going to save this fucking town this time.

  YOU HAVE COMPLETED A QUEST - Save the town of Rivermore. The citizens are saved because of you. +15 reputation with Rivermore. New title available. [Hero of Rivermore], maybe they will erect a statue in your image, perhaps even sing a song about you.

  +1 to con + 2 to cha + 1 to int

  You have received 3 potions of greater healing

  You have received a belt of resist poison.

  A belt? Why a belt? Why was a belt the chosen clothing to protect against poison? No doubt to gird my loins against the nefarious bites and stings of venomous beasts! I laughed at myself. Not that I was really arguing about anything that would help against poison, just the absurd game logic of it. No more silly than a ring of haste really.

  I watched the doctor make the healing potion for the town. Alchemy looked cool. It might have been a better class than a fighter. Would that have automatically made me a healer, I never really liked playing as a healer.

  Reaching the threshold at the door, I paused. “Doctor?”

  “Yes?” He looked up from his careful measuring and alchemical doings.

  “Has anyone tried to save the town before? Like from this sickness.”

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Dr Finney looked thoughtful, opened his mouth to speak-then his face went blank for a moment.

  “No, I don’t think so. There may have been a traveller come through, but I am so busy I don’t remember any details,” he said apologetically. “Are you looking for a friend or party member?”

  “No, no, I was just curious.”

  Dekka and I made it to the Dew Drop Inn and turned down the little path. I was expecting a solo night in a half-programmed inn, but now it was alive with patrons and a full staff.

  This was better for company but worse for my pocketbook. Pocket pouch? Pocket slot? Whatever.

  I let Dekka run ahead. She had been gifted a massive new bow, so I wasn’t worried the NPCs would freak out. Sera had it made for Dekka before we left. It was a shocking pink with little tiny seed pearls stitched on in a repeating diamond pattern. It had suspiciously little dirt on it for being on a creature less than a foot off the ground. I got the feeling my dog liked the ridiculous thing and was trying to keep it clean.

  I was making my way to the bar when something shiny caught my eye. Sitting at a table drinking a tankard of something was a very glittery elf, looking very out of place surrounded by NPCs in homespun cloth in earth tones.

  I sat myself down beside Ayerelia after grabbing myself a beer.

  “Oh hey it’s you, still wearing NPC garb I see. But this set looks much better. Oh an hey your dog is better dressed than you are” She said by way of greeting, admiring Dekka’s bow.

  “You left us to die a horrible death.” I said and took a sip. Dekka hopped up on the bench and gave the elf some serious terrier side eye. Seems she held a grudge. Though it is hard to glare effectively when you are tiny, cute and covered in pearls and pink satin.

  Ayerelia gave a delicate shrug. “It’s a game. You die, then you come back and try again. Clearly you did some grinding. You are buff.” She said approvingly drawing the last word out and nodding her head, causing the bangles in her hair to sway and chime.

  I didn’t want compliments from her. I wanted an apology. I hadn’t known Ayerelia long but I had the feeling she wasn’t one for saying sorry.

  “Yeah, but it’s such a pain to have to grind again and again. I hate starting from zero.” I muttered into my mug. In some ways I couldn’t really blame her. To her, it was just a game. One, she could leave and go back to her real life. Even so, it had to be annoying to restart, I had never liked roguelikes even when I could put down the controller and walk away.

  Ayerelia gave me an odd look I couldn’t decipher. It wasn’t worth asking her and potentially getting into an argument. I needed to get her to trust me so I could get her to help me. Running into her again before Bistmore was definitely serendipity.

  “So what are you doing here?” I asked. “On a quest?”

  “No, just waiting for a couple of friends to show up. I tried that dungeon again, and it is just too hard until I level up some more. I convinced a few friends to try the game, and since it’s in open beta now they can come in and help me grind.”

  She really was the most stereotypical elf player, a veritable anthropomorphic glittering cliche.

  “Do you have room in your party for a fighter?”

  “Actually, yes. If you wanted to join, that would be fabulous; it would give us a complete party. And that dog of yours….” She gave Dekka a thousand-watt smile.

  Dekka growled back. The elf’s smile faded.

  “Well, whatever. Your pet is almost as good as another party member.”

  Dekka snorted, and turning her back, hopped off the bench to go see if she could convince NPCs to give her some of their dinner.

  “What are the other members’ classes?”

  “We have a bard, that’s Kyle, and Cynthia is playing a frost mage now. Rohit was our tank, but he isn’t good at it. Any chance you can be our tank?” She actually fluttered her silver lashes at me.

  Sigh. My constitution was pretty high. But I didn’t have any specific abilities to pull aggro. I did need her to want me around. Maybe some of these other people would be easier to convince.

  “I don’t know if I will be better than your current tank. I don’t have any abilities yet to keep the enemy’s focus on me. But I am willing to try.”

  Ayerelia clapped her hands. “Oh, good! They are all supposed to be arriving shortly. We can do a quick rest and then get on the road. I figure we can just grind on the beasts north of here. The local NPCs tell me there are beasts roaming around the ‘dark forest’.” She said the last words in a mocking tone and gave a fake shudder.

  I didn’t like Ayerelia but I didn’t exactly dislike her either. She was just so -- pretty and sparkly— she took it to the extreme and was a bit tacky. But was some of my misgivings envy? I sat there sipping my beer and wondering if she was ever cold in that outfit.

  First to arrive is Cynthia. It became very clear that she and Ayerelia were real-life friends, and very much cut from the same cloth. I was a bit jealous of her purple robes. She looked mysterious and dangerous.

  “Hi, I am Darkraven.” She said when we were introduced. Another elf.

  I wondered what Ayerelia’s real name was.

  Kyle showed up next. He was a dwarven bard. Interesting choice. His chosen moniker was Copperbeard. And he did indeed have a shining, magnificent beard that reached down to his knees. It was braided and festooned with small beads of metal and crystal.

  Rohit was the last. Like me, he was a fighter class. Though he carried a sword and shield. I wanted a shield! Most impressively, he was huge! His character was half-orc, half-human and went by the name Arjun.

  So far, none of the players I met was a straight human. Which was fair, I never played as a human in games. Why be what I already was when I could try being something new? Was I the only one who looked like they did in the real world?

  I looked down at myself. I guess I didn’t, not anymore. My eyes and hair were the same, but my freckles had gone, and I was taller and stronger than before. I wasn’t me, but I wasn’t not me either.

  Fuck them and their choices. I felt a hot stab of jealousy watching them talk amongst each other.

  A few things were clear. Once they had all played together, but only Ayerelia and Darkraven were friends irl. The other thing, and most interesting to me, is that they all spoke as if they were going to play for a few hours. The ‘sleep’ or long rest function for them only took a few seconds.

  Did my sleep only take a few seconds? Or did I actually sleep in here? The others asked me where I was from. Sadly, no one was local to where I used to be.

  I watched them to see who I thought would be most likely to help me. The two elves were arrogant and not really interested in the others. It was fascinating to watch the two of them talk. It was as if each were listening mostly to themself and the other was just there as a type of mirror they could be perceived through.

  Copperbeard was a joker. Friendly but not the type to take anything seriously. I wondered if he was a teenager. Arjun, however, was quiet, perhaps thoughtful. He had been very respectful when meeting Dekka. The others treated her more like a weapon that I owned than that she was a pet. That alone endeared me to him.

  That night I went to bed with a plan. The next day, I was going to try to get close to Arjun and find a way to get help in this stupid game.

  Though just what sort of help did I expect? Or for that matter, want? If I left the game, I would lose Dekka. And if the game could be a little less mean, it was kind of fun.

  But shouldn’t I be missing Rodney more? And my parents? I hadn’t thought of them in… days? Were they even still alive?

  The first thing I needed to figure out was how long I had been ‘gone’ from the outside world.