Ian found his way back to Gordon's forge. Going inside he saw the dwarf waiting.
"Hey Gordon! The arrowheads done?"
"Come take a look"
Ian approached his work bench. There sat 20 sleek and sharp arrowheads. Ian lifted one and poked it with his finger immediately drawing blood.
"Ow! As expected of a master blacksmith, even something so simple is impressive! Thanks Gordon!"
Ian smiled through the pain. Seeing his antics Gordon laughed as well.
"Hahaha! Of course it's impressive! Ya know who made that?!"
"Haha! Thanks again Gordon. These are gonna be extremely helpful!"
Ian was already imagining the higher level mobs he could pierce with hus new and improved arrows. That along with Ty's help meant they could go after high level mobs.
"Yer welcome Ian. Use them well, come back if ya have any other commissions for me."
"Of course I will. Thanks again Gordon, I'll see you later."
Ian left the shop with the promise to come back. He and Arrow headed back to 'The Knight's Rest' as the sun started to set.
As they entered Ty's large figure stood out. He was in the middle of an arm wrestling match with a man. Both of them were pushing with all their strength. Veins pulsed in their arms but neither budged.
The man holding his own against Ty was middle aged. His black hair had traces of gray at the edges. A scar went straight across his face from ear to ear.
As Ian approached their contest came to an end. The man tightened his grip on the table and groaned as Ty's arm began to falter. Eventually Ty was overcome and his arm laid flat on fhe table.
Ian clapped at the dramatic conclusion and cheered.
"Yeah! Way to go dude! Ty on the other hand you suck!"
Ian high fived the man with the scar and turned to Ty with a mocking grin.
"Shut up dude. I'm not getting ragebaited."
Ian burst out laughing at his response.
Interrupting his bout, Ty's opponent asked a question.
"Who is this guy, a friend of yours Ty?"
"Let me introduce you. This is my buddy Ian Nightgale, we go way back. Ian this is Sir Bryan, he's the capitan of the Canopy City Guard."
"Nice to meet you Captain"
Ian reached out his hand to shake hands with a smile.
"Nice to meet you Ian. What are you, a hunter?"
"Ranger is a bit more accurate but yeah basically."
"Ian and I are about to set out hunting beasts and advenuring. It's going to be epic!"
Tyson laughed and puffed out his chest.
"I see, you are a party! Man that sounds like fun. Reminds me of my younger days."
"You were an adventurer too Captain?"
Ian looked at the man with interest.
"Yeah way back when I left my hometown at 15, I became a wandering mercenary. It wasn't until later that I came to Canopy City to settle down."
Bryan had a nostalgic look in his eyes. The three of them sat together for a fre more hours. Ty and Ian asked about his adventuring days and Bryan dispatched his tales and advice.
"I should be heading out boys. Thanks for a good time. Make sure to stop by the city again, I'll treat y'all for a drink."
Bryan stood up and began to leave.
"Yeah man! We'll be back soon. Make sure to keep that promise."
Soon it was only Ty and Ian at the table.
"We'll leave tomorrow. By the way I invited another person to the party."
"Who? I don't think anyone else we know is playing the game."
"I met her today. She's a druid, she has support and healing abilities. I figured that we need a healer so when I met her today I asked."
"Oh so you were picking up girls while I waited, you're the one!"
"It's nothing like that man. I ran into her at that big ass tree in the square and we got to talking. She's level 13, with her skills mostly leaning towards support."
"We needed a support anyway. A good healer is make or break in these games. All we have to do now is level up and actuallt play the game."
With that they went their separate ways to their rooms. Before logging off for the night Ian shot Jasmine a message.
"Hey we're leaving tomorrow at like noon. Make sure you have your things ready if you want to come."
Before he could log out the response came.
"Alright see you tomorrow then!"
Logging off Ian took off the headset. He got up from bed and had dinner before scrolling on guide forums and watching videos on 'Freuth'.
Ian went to sleep that night looking forward to the adventure that awaited. Now that the tutorial was over and he had a party, the game could truly start.
He woke up quite early compared to usual and immediately showered and had breakfast. Ian did everything he had to do quickly hoping to game as much as ge could today.
His sister stared at him with a dubious expression. She turned her head away and focused on her phone.
Finally done with his breakfast Ian ran up the stairs to get on the game. He quickly reached his room and put on the headset. Laying in bed Ian dove into fhe game.
Coming to in 'The Knight's Rest' Ian saw Arrow standing on his chest. The hawk was looking down on him with a curious look.
Ian reached up and scratched its head. He got up from the bed put on his ranger equipment and put his newly bought arrowheads onto his arrows.
After finishing his preparations Ian left his room and headed to Ty's. As he reached the hall Ian saw his door open.
Ty came out ready to set out. Both of the left the inn and headed to the north gate. On the way Ian shot Jasmine another message.
"On the way to the gate now. See you soon."
As they neared the gate the reply came.
"I'm here waiting."
True to the message Ian saw Jasmine standing in front of the gatehouse. He and Ty approached her.
"Hey Jaz! This is my friend Ty. He's the silver rank warrior I was talking about."
Jasmine looked up at Ty.
"Amazing! It's my first time seeing an orc player. You're so tall man"
"Nice to meet you Jasmine. Ian said nice things about you yesterday."
"Oh that's nice to hear."
Ian cut in at that point.
"Anyway we're gonna be moving north while beating as many mobs as possible and conquering dungeons hopefully."
"Sounds fun! Let's head out!"
With that the trio set off. Leaving behind Canopy City the party moved north in search of challenge and opportunity.
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Chapter 11!! What are your thoughts? Any ideas for plot points? Leave them in the comments inspiration is appreciated.