[Character name: Revelator

  Level: 21

  Race: Human

  Class: Defender

  Subclass: None

  HP: 1155

  Constitution: 59

  Strength: 8

  Agility: 27

  Intelligence: 2

  Luck: 2

  Skills: Baba’s Sheltering Shroud Aura (7), Blacksmithing (6), Essence Drain (15 MAX), Flourishing Physiognomy, Greater Shield Proficiency (9), Improved Block (9), Improved Aggrovating Aura (7), Interceptor, Mining (5), Oaken Heart (3), Shieldsmith (10), Tremor Aura (5)

  (total armor 767)

  —Reputation—

  Hell/Heaven: 8

  Druid’s Circle: 10]

  I’ve lost track of how many hours I’ve been down here, gold farming. I know several skills have leveled up, including Essence Drain, originally my Shroomlet Aura, which has just maxed out. Now I can kill anything I want in exactly 1 minute, with the exception of boss monsters, who do not lose their regenerative properties in my aura. But even these aren’t guaranteed more than a few extra seconds.

  After reaching level 21, I stopped getting exp from the goblins. I’ve outgrown this place, but I still need the gold, so I stay and continue farming till at last the chat window pops up in my system screen.

  Sherbie: in game where r u?

  Finally. I type a hasty reply.

  Revelator: sstay where you are, ill be right there

  It takes every last point in my Strength stat for me to rise from beneath a dogpile of smelly goblins. They tumble in every direction, cursing and hollering, but I’m pretty much deaf to them at this point. I bend to retrieve my loot.

  [23 sp 23 cp

  12 Iron Ore

  26 Health Potions

  88 Scrap Iron

  15 Goblin Cheese

  1 Dagger of the Dark Ritual]

  Ooh. A rare drop. Lucky!

  [Dagger of the Dark Ritual level 17, an expertly crafted jeweled tetranium dagger used in goblin religious rites by only the most holy shamans

  Damage 15-24 (adjusted 30-47)

  2% Life Steal]

  Hm. If I equipped this instead of my level 1 wooden sword, my damage would rise significantly. But I can’t help think of Ari’s warning. Never use any weapon stronger than my wooden sword, he said.

  Ari wanted me to be dependent on my aura. To start looking into increasing my damage by equipping stronger weapons, I’ll be tempted to build my character differently, and lose the urgency I’ve felt till now to beef up my passive area of effect skills.

  No, I must not be tempted to equip the dagger. Instead I toss it in my pack between two stacks of goblin cheese, and begin slogging through the cave, making my way slowly but surely for the entrance. Goblins follow me the whole way, hacking me with axes, firing off spells, gnawing at my ankles, only to drop dead in my aura a few feet later. I don’t bother going back for the loot, but head straight for the entrance, dragging the beasts the whole way.

  I have a bit of a struggle in the tunnel climbing the incline, and more than one goblin goes rolling off of me down the slope, back into the city, but somehow, I make it out unscathed.

  With my first breath of fresh air, I feel immensely relieved. I really don’t like having anything over my head, cutting me off from the wind and sky. As much as possible, I’d like to avoid any further underground excursions. Though I wonder if that will really be possible, considering our destination with the mountain druids…

  A few goblins have followed me all the way out of the cave, still clinging on for dear life. Good grief. These guys don’t know when to quit!

  I brush them off like the pests they are, completely ignoring their attacks. Then when I look up, I see the same group of adventurers I met before staring at me.

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  “You just now coming out of there?” asks the nymph.

  “Yeah. My friend came online, so…”

  “You mean you’ve been killing goblins that whole time?”

  “No way,” a drow hunter laughs. “He probably died and had to run back a dozen times already.”

  “No, I was there the whole time,” I answer, still just standing there as one by one, the last of the goblins drop like flies in my aura.

  The adventurers look between themselves in disbelief.

  “How are you doing that?” the nymph finally asks.

  “Doing what?”

  “Killing them like that?”

  “Oh. It’s just a skill. Everything dies in my aura in one minute, see? It kills them and heals me at the same time. I don’t even have to drink a potion and they just die.”

  “A life steal aura?” The drow is hastily swiping through my character screen, checking out my skills. “You have a bunch of them… Which aura is it?”

  Before I can answer, the nymph speaks up, still in disbelief.

  “Wait, so you’re saying you just—stood there that whole time and farmed gold?”

  “Yeah. After I sell everything I think I’ll have like nine or ten gold.”

  As I’m saying this, the last tenacious goblin drops dead at my feet. Figuring I shouldn’t waste perfectly good loot, I stoop to pick up the few coppers they’ve left me. When I straighten, I find the adventurers still standing there, staring at me and whispering between themselves.

  “Look at his HP,” I hear the drow hiss to the others, yellow eyes fairly bugging out of his head. “No wonder he didn’t have to drink a single potion!”

  “Hey,” the nymph speaks up. “You want to join our guild?”

  I blink at them in disbelief. “Me? You want me to join your guild?”

  “Yeah. We’ve got more than fifty members already, and everyone’s really friendly. There’s always someone online to quest with. And we do dungeon raids on the weekend.”

  “Wow,” I say, still a bit disbelieving, and I catch myself grinning. “You actually want me to join your guild.”

  “Yeah! I’ll send you the invite now, so—”

  “Oh, thanks, thanks really, I’m flattered, but don’t bother. I’ve already got a guild.”

  “But it looks like The Whales only has four members,” says the drow, checking out the guild from my character screen.

  “Yeah,” I reply, for some reason grinning like an idiot. “We just got two more members, isn’t it great?”

  The adventurers look between themselves, not sure what to say.

  “Anyway, I’ve got to go, my friend’s waiting for me!”

  I hurry past them, my step feeling especially light—and that’s not just my high Agility score.

  It feels nice to be recognized by other players. After my disaster with the White Strider’s guild, I thought my name would be anathema in TC forever. But really, it was just bad luck after all, that we ran into Dario and Cherry1 right outside the guild office that time. Out here, not only are players not avoiding me, they actually want me to join them. Then, does that mean other players might even want to join The Whales guild someday? That would be incredible! After all, we only need one more member to run a guild dungeon. Then we’ll be able to level up our gear, and—I can hardly wait!

  I follow the orange dot on my map indicating my pal Sherbie’s location, and burst upon the scene breathless with excitement, only to find him locked in a tender embrace with Harrietta, his face buried between her furry ape breasts.

  “Rev!” He pulls his head out when he hears my approach, looking rosy cheeked and a bit stupid.

  “Uh, you two need some alone time?”

  “Nah, Mommy was just being affectionate.”

  “You’re telling me she initiated this?”

  As though in response to my question, the shesquatch plucks Sherbie up by the collar and deposits him with absolute stoicism into her pouch, without once ever breaking her solemn gaze on the horizon.

  “Mrh,” she grunts in satisfaction to feel his weight in her pouch.

  “Ahhh,” Sherbie sighs happily, and she pats his head with an enormous hairy hand.

  Yeah, I really feel like these two need a moment. That’s alright, I can give them some space.

  “Hey, I just remembered I needed to do something at the base. You can go on ahead.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah, totally! You two go ahead and don’t mind me. I’ll catch up!”

  I teleport out of there so fast it makes my head spin. Thank goodness that’s over. Now if only I could erase the image of Sherbie motorboating the shesquatch from my mind…

  As I materialize inside the Whale Base, I immediately become aware of the scent of smoldering earth. The grass is blackened, I realize, and still smoking! Are we under attack?

  Then I turn at the sound of two voices yelling at once to see Captain Moon facing off against Bax the wizard, each pointing a finger at the other.

  “Permission to apprehend this agitator, Sir?!”

  “CAN I KILL HIM??!”

  “Whoa!” I hold up my hands. “Hang on, what’s going on here?”

  “This man has been harassing my men,” Captain Moon accuses first, the usually put-together officer looking frazzled and out of his mind with frustration. I guess Bax has really been putting him through it since I was last here. Eh heh heh…

  “He attacked the guardhouse with fireballs and injured Private Drayer.”

  “Tell him why, Moon!” Bax is shrieking. “They peed on my rosebushes!”

  “If the soldiers committed this act,” Moon adopts an aloof look, “it was only just recompense for the swarm of lice he summoned in the barracks.”

  “And why do you think I did that?! This man burnt his dinner and left the trap door open—he smoked out my tower on purpose! Do you have any idea how much damage that smoke caused to my spell tomes and magical ingredients??”

  “I only did it to fumigate the place for the plague of cockroaches you summoned in my bed!”

  Oh dear. It’s too much. I don’t think I can hold it in.

  “Pffft.”

  Both angry men whip their heads around to glare at me.

  “Find this amusing, do you?”

  “Bahahaha!”

  It’s too much. At his boiling point, Bax looks about to launch a fireball at me, while Captain Moon is ready to summon all the troops and toss me out of camp.

  “Sorry,” I say, holding up my hand. “Sorry. It’s just, you two deserve each other.”

  “What Moon here deserves is a nice long bath in a pool of acid,” Bax spits on the ground.

  “A week in boot camp in the Xyloh arctic would cool your fire, bub.”

  “Alright, that’s enough, both of you,” I say with a tone of authority, and I hear just an echo of my father’s voice in my command. Perhaps they hear it too, for they turn once more to face me, eyes angry but mouths snapped shut. “You’re neighbors whether you like it or not, and you’re living on my land. I’m the guild leader and you’ll obey my orders. Bax, that means no more petty harassment of Captain Moon and his men. Moon, that means you stay out of the wizard’s way. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, Sir,” Moon answers not too enthusiastically, and maybe even a tad sarcastically. I’ll let it go for now.

  “Bax?”

  “Fine. Just be sure you keep those cretins out of my garden.”

  “They’ll stay out of it,” I answer for Moon. “Now recall your plagues, wizard. No more lice or roaches.”

  With a glare and a grumble, Bax waves his arm. Still glaring at me, he says, “It’s done.”

  “Good. Here, a peace offering,” I say, and I hand each of them a stack of twenty goblin cheese. They look down at it, unsure of what to make of my stinky gift. “Both of you eat some of that and simmer down. And remember to stay on your best behavior, even when I’m not around.”

  “Uh, thank you, Sir.”

  “Thank you, Moon, for a job well done defending the base in my absence. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do around the place…”