Liam Barrett:
"Fear not, adventurers," a voice booms, followed by the sound of the inn's door swinging open. "Your hero has arrived."
For some reason, the instant I hear that voice, my ears start bleeding. It's like the nail-against-the-chalkboard sound, but so much worse. Biting my tongue, forcing myself not to scream, I slowly turn around.
"Haha," a massive giant in shining, gleaming plate armor laughs while sunlight pours in through the door behind him. This massive giant has a grandsword strapped to his hip and a huge bow sitting in a quiver filled with arrows on his back. His smile burns brighter than the freaking sun, and his short brown hairs dance in the wind. Looking above his head, I see his username.
"SirValorTheBrave69," every single player in the bar cheers. They then all raise their mugs together. As if this wasn't painful enough, I see his level right next to his username.
"15," I say, almost choking. Falling, my back hitting the counter, I catch myself in time. "He's already at level 15?"
"He," SkyGlimmer repeats. "Do you know that guy?"
When SkyGlimmer asks me this, flashes of a goblin stabbing me in the back, and then he looting my dead body, run through my head. A sudden sharp pain shoots throughout my back, and I doubt it's from falling and hitting the counter. I rub my sore spot while grinding my teeth.
"He looked familiar," I answer. "The username is new."
Before, when he stole the necklace from my dead body and redeemed the quest, he didn't have a username. He also didn't have fancy armor or a bow, which, when looking at it again, had a small curved blade running across the front.
"Look at the bow he had," SkyGlimmer says, "Look fancy. Must be a special item."
"Oh come on," I cry.
My ears continue to bleed as SirValortheBrave69 begins cheering and shouting.
"Another grand day," he starts. He reaches into his pocket and pulls a weird-looking white orb out. "I have journeyed far, fought powerful enemies, and claimed this!"
He slams the orb down on the table, the whole inn echoing with a loud thud.
"I have completed the Beacon's questline, and found Luxmere's Orb!"
Again, every player cheers and raises their mug. One player even gives SirValor his mug. SirValor chugs the whole thing in only three gulps.
"Luxmere's Orb," I repeat. "The Beacon's questline? What are those?"
"I heard about those," SkyGlimmer whispers. "The Beacon's questline is a series of quests having to do something with a god."
"A what?"
"A god. An in-game god. Anyway, from what I've heard, it's super tough, even with a team.
"I don't see a team anywhere."
"That guy must have fought the final boss of the questline by himself. Damn..."
"Hey, hey, hey," I say, waving my hand. I look around but don't see my drone anywhere. "Please don't swear."
"What?"
"Uhh...Never mind."
I make a mental note for later.
"Note to self. Edit out SkyGlimmer's swearing."
Looking at the note still in my hand and the floating arrow above me, I nudge my head.
"Come on. We have some farmers to help and gold to earn."
SkyGlimmer shrugs and follows me out of the Drunken Lion and then out of Briardstead. We follow a stone pathway around the wall, along a small stream, over a wide wooden bridge, and into a beautiful small farm.
With a small brick wall at its edge, the farm has a large field with golden wheat stalks and bright green cabbages growing. Near the field is a tall stone windmill, and behind it is a small wooden house. Standing on the house's porch, I see three people: two men and one elderly woman.
"Hello," I yell, waving my hand. "We're here to help you."
I keep waving my arms, but the three people don't react at all. Instead, they keep standing on the porch, looking around. They look at the sky, the ground, their farmhouse, and everything else. Occasionally, they look at SkyGlimmer and me, but only for a few seconds before looking at the ground again.
"Uhh, hello?"
"I think we have to walk up to them," SkyGlimmer says, bumping me with her elbow. I think it over and nod.
"Makes sense."
SkyGlimmer and I approach the elderly woman first. Wearing a long green dress with a white cap, I look above the woman's head and see her name.
"Nora Barleywell," I start. "Hello."
Nora finally stops looking around and looks right at SkyGlimmer and me.
"Hello, adventurers," Nora says in a quiet but still soothing voice. "Are you here to help us?"
"Yes," I say with a nod. "Yes, we are."
"Thank you so much. Animals and bandits have been attacking our farms recently. We have not been able to harvest our crops and deliver them to the city. We ask you to protect us while we bring in our crops."
I then hear triumphant horns and drumming, before the next part of the quest appears in front of me.
"Protect Nora Barleywell and her two sons."
Reaching down, I grab my iron axe from my hip and raise it. I then turn to SkyGlimmer, who brings up her staff.
"You ready?" I ask while spinning my axe.
"Yes, I am," SkyGlimmer replies with a smile.
We follow Nora and her sons, taking only ten steps before stopping and watching as the family picks cabbage.
"Soo," I say, looking around. "Do we just wait?"
"No," SkyGlimmer answers. "We stand and protect."
I do as SkyGlimmer said. I stand and protect the farmers as they grab more heads of cabbage and put them in their pockets, or I guess, it's more like their inventories.
"Soo," I say after clicking my tongue. "What did you have for breakfast today?"
"What?" SkyGlimmer turns to look at me.
"Just trying to pass the time. I mean, no offense or anything, but Nora is kind of taking a while. I'm a little glad her farm is small."
SkyGlimmer lets out a small chuckle.
"I had a bowl of cereal with some eggs. Sunny side-up. What about you?"
"I had a handful of frozen fish sticks, some Chinese takeout from last night, and a grilled ham and cheese sandwich."
SkyGlimmer looks at me after I listed what I had for breakfast.
"What?"
"That's...a lot."
"Not really. My roommate ate most of everything. Frankly, I was surprised there were still fish sticks left."
As SkyGlimmer and I talk for a little longer, we hear some howling in the distance. Turning, we see a pack of wolves jumping out of the nearby woods. White and grey, with drool dripping from their sharp teeth, the wolves waste no time and charge toward us.
"Finally," I shout, "Sheesh. You guys sure took your time."
SkyGlimmer and I look at each other before charging. Skidding to a stop, SkyGlimmer raises her staff.
"Firebolt," she yells. A small fireball shoots from the tip of SkyGlimmer's staff. It hits one of the wolves, not killing it but setting it ablaze. Still running, I swing my axe and hit the lead wolf. I also don't kill it, but knock it to the side. As the lead wolf pushes itself up, I hear growling from the side. The last wolf jumps toward me. It tries to bite me, but I jump back. Charging forward again, I raise my axe. Slamming it down, I kill the third wolf.
"Ha," I cheer, before quickly looting it. In the wolf's inventory, I find three gold coins and one wolf pelt. "Awesome. Ahhh--"
As I exit the wolf's inventory, the lead wolf lunges at me. It hits and knocks me to the ground. Opening its mouth, the lead wolf is about to bite down on me, but before it can, lightning bolts hit it from the side, stunning it.
"EpicFail," SkyGlimmer yells, purple lightning bolts bursting from her staff. "Loot later, fight now! I cannot believe I have to tell you this!"
"My bad," I say. I push myself up, raise my axe, and finish off the lead wolf.
Kicking and spinning her staff in her hand, SkyGlimmer walks over to me.
"Loot later, fight now," she repeats. "Otherwise, that happened."
"Okay, okay," I say, putting one of my hands up. "Loot later. Yeah, I got it. In my defense, I thought the game paused itself while looting."
"This isn't single player, EpicFail. It is an MMO. You know, massive multiplayer online."
"I know what an MMO is. For crying out loud, I've learned the letters A and B from playing a Game Boy."
Before I can say more, an arrow hits the dirt beside us.
"What the--," I scream, "Where did that---"
Loud screaming interrupts me. SkyGlimmer and I turn to see a group of bandits, wearing fur armor and armed with bows, swords, and maces, charging toward us.
"Remember," SkyGlimmer says, lowering her staff and aiming it.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, fight now."