The pounding on my front door, alternating with the doorbell, woke me up. My bedside alarm clock said 7:04 am. It was a full hour before when I'd set my alarm. I threw on a pair of black sweatpants I’d cut into long shorts and grabbed a clean enough plain black T-shirt from my laundry basket. It was clean enough. I slipped into my non-fuzzy black leather slippers and rushed for the door

  “Will! Will! Hurry up!” shouted a voice from outside. I recognized the voice of my next-door neighbor, Ryan. When I opened the door, I saw his wife, Megan, standing behind him, nervously wringing a towel in her hands.

  “What’s up?” I asked, glancing up and down the street. It was empty, aside from a lone car waiting at the light two blocks away.

  “Meg saw something moving in the old Speedy Pizza place across from you,” Ryan said. “I took a look and there was something small and green looking out at me through the torn paper on the front door.”

  “That place’s been empty for, what, five years? I figured anyone who wanted to break in and tag it already did.”

  “Maybe.” Ryan replied. “But this…it didn’t look human. I think one of ’em had a sword.”

  “Shit! The spawning has started. Twenty-four hours after the game went live… Shit. Shit. Shit!”

  [William of Brinsford:] [Irregulars] [The spawning just happened!!! GTFU and armor up!]

  “They?” I said sharply. “How many?”

  “Three, I think,” Megan answered quickly. “One big, two little…maybe?”

  Something moved behind the torn paper taped to the inside of the glass front door. The windows had been boarded over for years. I couldn’t see anything through them.

  “You two picked your character classes yet?” I asked. Both shook their heads.

  “We were waitin’ on you to show up, and we fell asleep,” Ryan said. “Megan went out to see if you were back and saw them. News said something big went down at the stadium last night. We figured you were in the thick of it.”

  “Yeah. Blaze went back to the capital. Her bosses were desperate to talk to her. You’ve at least looked at the class options?”

  “We looked. You were right. We’re too old to be fighting. Megan’s always been the nurturing sort. She looked at the healers.”

  “They got me all mixed up with the choices,” Megan said. “I don’t know if I’ll be any good at it…but I’ll try.”

  “You’ll do just fine. We always need Healers.” I smiled at her. “I’ll help you set it up in a minute. What about you, Ryan?”

  “I’m too old for that kind of fightin’. But I’ll take your word on magic. I’ll go that route. You said it can hit things from a distance.”

  “Good call. What kind of magic?”

  “Never did like fires much. But I spent over forty years as an electrician. Closest thing to that is lightning.”

  “Right. Megan, you need WISDOM, EGO, and INTELLIGENCE. You’ve got fifty stat points. Put fifteen in the first two, ten in the last. Take two levels in the base healing spell and stop there. That leaves you with ten points for later. Look where it says zero after those stats. Think of it changing to the number you want. It’ll feel strange when it happens, but it won’t hurt.”

  “Ryan, same stats. INTELLIGENCE, WISDOM, and EGO, in that order. Same point spread. Take two levels of LIGHTNING BOLT and one of LIGHTNING SHIELD. Save the rest.”

  That’s when I heard the glass shatter.

  Startled, we all turned. Something had broken the door glass—from the inside.

  “You can add points anytime. Confirm your choices and get ready. I’ll be right back.”

  Ducking inside, I grabbed my baldric, slung it across my body, and settled my sword on my left hip. My cane and hat followed. After all, a gentleman doesn’t go out without his hat. It’s tradition.

  I spotted the bags from yesterday’s trip on the couch. The craft store supplies were among them. Pulling out two wooden handles and a pack of dowel rods, I rushed into the garage. I found the old bottle of wood glue where I’d last used it, and hoped it hadn’t dried out.

  A couple of quick squirts into each handle, and I jammed a dowel rod into each one. No time to let them dry. A quick wipe, then I cast +1 INTELLIGENCE on each wand. Sprinting as fast as I could go back outside, I handed one to Ryan and one to Megan. I wasn’t nearly as fast as I used to be.

  “Congratulations on being a Mage and a Healer. Here’s your first magic wand,” I said, handing one to each of them.

  “Point it at your target and picture the spell going through it. I hope the wood holds up to LIGHTNING. If you want to make your own, maybe from metal, I’ll enchant it. Meg, you do the same. Push your HEALing spells through it.”

  By then, something small…maybe three and a half feet tall…with greenish-gray skin and big, pointy ears stepped outside through the pizza place’s door. They’d broken most of the glass and torn paper out of it.

  It wore a filthy brown leather loincloth and carried a crude wooden club. Yellow eyes glared from under a heavy brow, over a long, hooked nose. Sharp teeth jutted from its mouth. It stood out clearly against the building’s white walls and red trim. Another one followed behind, and a larger figure loomed in the shadows behind the opening.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  I sent a Join Party invite to Ryan and Megan.

  “Say yes to joining,” I told them. “We all get experience this way.” Their fumbling gave the big one enough time to break through the door.

  A quick double REVEAL STATS showed me the roster: Level 1 Kobold, Level 1 Kobold, and a Level 3 Goblin. The goblin stood just under five feet, bald, mossy green, with a bulbous nose. He wore a grimy, dark leather tunic and clutched a rusty short sword. None of them had shoes. The Kobolds had ten hit points each. The Goblin had 30. His poncho gave light armor protection. The Kobolds wore only loincloths.

  “Megan, get behind Ryan. If my Damage Meter drops, focus on me and use your Healing spell. Do the same for Ryan if we’re both hurt. But heal him first. Got it?” She nodded.

  “Ryan, cast LIGHTNING SHIELD about three feet in front of you. Stay behind it. You can cast through it. I’m going around the side and going after the big guy. Hit the little ones unless I yell for help. Just…don’t hit me. Please.” I laughed, drawing my rapier.

  “I finally get to use this. Let’s see how much I remember,” I thought as I slow jogged across the street.

  “Hey! Green and uglies!” I shouted. “You’re gonna look even uglier when I’m done with you! I’m gonna poke your fat bellies till you pop!”

  It wasn’t my best taunt, but I was playing Tank. I needed their focus on me, not Ryan.

  They shouted back in Goblin or Kobold or whatever they spoke, their voices high-pitched and angry. Whatever I’d said had worked. They looked more pissed than confused.

  A streak of LIGHTNING flew past me and nailed the first Kobold. It jerked like it had just grabbed a live wire and flopped backward.

  Casting a MANA SHIELD on my cane. It wasn’t fixed in place. It moved with me like a floating shield. I intercepted the second Kobold just as Ryan zapped it with his next LIGHTNING BOLT. A quick glance back, he’d held firm, Megan crowding up behind him.

  It was about ten feet to the Goblin when I advanced and lunged, full stretch, and jabbed him in the ass as he tried to move past me. He squealed like a…well, you can imagine. Then he turned and swung at me.

  The nice thing about a full fencing lunge is, you’re low to the ground. The bad part? Recovery is slow. I tried another advance from the lunge and pain shot through my legs. He brought his blade down past my shield and cut into my bare arm.

  Five points of damage.

  It hurt. A lot. I cried out and stumbled back upright.

  Another LIGHTNING BOLT flew past me and finished off the first Kobold.

  I stabbed again as the Goblin closed with me. This time catching the Goblin in the thigh. Not fatal, but a hit and he stopped, crying out something.

  Suddenly, my arm tingled and the pain vanished. Megan had HEALed me. Over HEALed me. Even the ache in my legs faded.

  Grinning, I stepped in as the Goblin swung again. “Come on, ugly. Let’s finish this,” I said as I blocked it with my shield, then thrust my rapier straight through his left eye.

  Critical hit. Twenty-five damage. Dead Goblin. I guess through the eye into the brain counts as a critical hit.

  He collapsed in a heap.

  The second Kobold went down seconds later—Ryan’s last LIGHTNING BOLT dropped it mid-charge.

  Then came the message: 50 XP to each of us. Not much for me, but half a level for them.

  I wiped my blade clean on the Goblin and sheathed it, dropping my shield.

  “We got ’em. Drop your shield, Just think of it disappearing. Thank you, Megan. You healed me perfectly. Ryan, two kills to my one. Damn good for your first fight. You might’ve taken all three by yourself…but I didn’t want to risk it.”

  His shield faded. They hugged tight, and I smiled.

  “Next time, maybe you’ll handle it yourselves. Or with the neighbors.”

  “Will. Thank you,” Ryan said. “That was…I don’t even have words. Hitting it with that bolt…what a rush! Does this make me a real mage now?”

  “It sure does. A few more like this and you’ll be teaching others. And Megan helping them with healing.”

  “Does this make us, what’s it called, adventurers?” Megan asked.

  “You bet. The ancient, as of yesterday, and honorable order of adventurers.”

  We all got a laugh from that.”

  “Let’s see what loot they dropped. Always check.”

  I bent over the Goblin. “Sword’s not much,” I said, picking it up. “+1 ATTACK. Looks like a game sword, not pre-System like mine. Might matter. Humans get a +1 with using them in addition to that.”

  I rummaged around and found a pouch on the Goblin. thirty copper coins inside. The Goblin’s poncho had 10 points of DEFENSE. Using DETECT MAGIC gave me the info. The Kobolds had singed pouches with ten coppers each.

  “Ryan, take the Kobold loot. I’ll take the Goblin’s. You can pass the gear to someone who needs it.”

  I stared at the coins. They were each about the size of a dime, with a balance scale on one side and a shield shape on the other. As clean as any U.S. coin.

  Then they vanished.

  “What tha…?” I blurted.

  My character screen appeared. A new icon appeared. A shield, and it had the number 30 next to it.

  “Cool. I don’t have to carry them. But how do I get them out?”

  “Hey!” Ryan said. “My coins are gone!”

  “Mine too!” Megan added. “What happened?

  “Check your character screen. Bottom right corner. You’ll see a shield icon and your count.”

  “I see it,” Megan said. “Ten.”

  “Same here,” Ryan said.

  I held out my hand. Three coins, I thought. Nothing.

  Then: {Three Shields}. Three copper coins appeared in my palm.

  “They’re called Shields. Think of the number, hold out your hand, and they’ll appear.”

  They tried it, laughing as coins appeared and disappeared.

  I borrowed the sword, thought {INVENTORY}, and it vanished. A new line appeared: INVENTORY. I activated it and there was the sword. Sword, I thought. Nothing. Then: {INVENTORY: Sword}. It appeared in my hand, hilt first.

  “See?” I said, handing the sword back, explaining how it worked.

  “I need to clean up and check messages. I’m dropping the Party for now. You can invite others the same way. Talk to neighbors. If this place spawned once, it’ll probably spawn again. Could be daily. Could be hourly. If someone’s a Warrior, give them the sword and armor.”

  “I’ll help when I can. If the same things show up again, you two can probably handle them. Add people to your Party. You can have five people in a party. Keep your shields and health up. You’ll do fine.”

  Pausing, I then sent both of them JOIN GUILD invites.

  They both lit up.

  Either of you can look at or think about someone and mentally send a message to join your party. You can also talk, like texting, to other people in your guild and party. Or someone else when you know their Game Name. There's a lot of this information if you look for it through your Game Screen. You can find it online too by now.”

  “Thank you, Will,” Ryan said. “Didn’t think we had it in us. But you proved us wrong. I never thought us two old folks in our seventies could do what the kids do.”

  “We’ll get it done,” Megan added. “I just joined your guild and sent you a thank-you message. I’ve got a few already saying hello. Maybe we should try those games you play. It might help us get better.”

  “It will. Tell the guild what happened. They can help you finish your characters. And Ryan, any rubber gloves or gear to protect you from electricity you’ve still got? Wear it. Might count as armor. That’s why I wear my old fencing gear. Let others know too.”

  Starting to walk back toward my front door. I told them, “See you later.”

  Fighting them didn’t work up much of a sweat, but I wanted a shower and coffee. Lots of coffee.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXnXC_75SHI

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXarxC7mTq0

  DISCORD if you want to ask questions, make suggestions, or just talk about the story.