Nerd Sessions
Chapter 1: The Catastrophe
Great Lakes - Safe Half
North American Server
Kanter Imperium: Great Lakes
City/No Monsters
Non-PvP
Entry Restrictions: None
Exit Restrictions: None
The city didn't fit the setting whatsoever. Immense skyscrapers spread across the land, covering everything in their shadows, but whatever glory they must've carried had been lost long ago. They were covered in grime and moss, making them appear long-forgotten by time and memory. The vast state of disrepair made the entire city appear ancient, but that just couldn't have been possible.
Chicago was more advanced than the world of Elder Tale, a land of swords and sorcery. So why were there empty husks of cars littering the streets? Why did nearly every building have a gaping hole in it somewhere and become so abused by centuries of exposure to the elements?
Derv knew that it was odd that those were the first questions that nagged at his mind, despite, well…
"What the hell is going on?!"
"I don't wanna die!"
"Where's the GM?!"
"WHY AM I A CAT?!"
Derv folded his arms and sat down where he had spawned, on the second floor of an apartment building that overlooked the primary meeting square of Chicago, where the ruins of Union Station lay.
No, this is Great Lakes, isn't it? And that's the Guild Hall now…
He groaned and rubbed his temples. Or at least tried to, instead poking himself in the eye due to false muscle memory.
"Ugh, why did I have to make my character a different body type than me?" he complained, rubbing at the sore spot and blinking away tears. The pain was swiftly forgotten, though. There were simply too many mysteries to answer.
Like why the hell I'm in a video game, Derv thought.
It didn't feel like a video game, though. In fact, if the similarities to Elder Tale weren't so prevalent, then Derv would've easily assumed he was in some post-apocalyptic reality or… something. He felt the soft moss between his hands when he ran them across the walls. He heard the chirping and squawks of birds outside, accompanied by the thick smell of rotting life coming from the Lake Michigan beach. The sun was nearly blinding outside, causing him to cover his hands to protect his eyes.
No, it didn't feel like a video game at all.
Then why am I wearing all my gear from the game? And this body is definitely not mine… but it is familiar…
He rubbed at his chin, which was narrow and noticeably devoid of the thick beard he'd been sporting not five minutes ago. His hands were as dainty as they'd been before, but his right middle finger no longer had the scar running the length of it from when a metal wire cut it, and his left hand didn't have the mole next to the pinky finger anymore.
Not to mention what he was wearing. Gone were the grey hoodie and dark jeans. They were replaced by flowing emerald-green robes lined with indigo along the edges. He recognized them as the Vestments of the Grove Guardian he'd gotten at the first, and last, raid he'd done in Elder Tale.
Derv looked back outside, clutching the staff at his side and feeling unnerved at how he could touch all the imperfections in its wood. There were grooves where he held it, not there by design but worn down by use and time.
There's no doubt about it, this is Elder Tale. But what the hell…
He was snapped from his reverie by the sound of a telephone ringing. His vision was instantly filled with various screens, not dissimilar from the menu options of Elder Tale. One of them was blinking right before his eyes, showing the image of a phone hopping off its hook as well as the face of the person calling him. Derv's eyes widened when the recognized the name.
His hands darted toward the image, which flashed at his touch and then faded. A familiar voice echoed in his head.
"Trev?! Is that you?"
Derv breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, it's me, Doug," he replied, the words being transmitted to his friend telepathically. Somehow the motion, or lack thereof, felt natural, as if his body had known what to do despite he himself being unaware of it. For once, though, he wouldn't question it. "Thank god, I thought I'd be alone here."
"Same, man." Derv could easily feel the relief in his friend's voice. Still, he sounded remarkably collected, considering what was going on. "Shit's not making sense at all. Where you at?"
"Outside Union Station. Although… I guess it's the Guild Hall now, isn't it?"
A pause from the other end. "I don't… Yeah, okay. I'm headed there now. I'mma try to contact the other nerds, see if they're here, too. See ya in a few."
"See ya soon." At that, the communication was broken. Derv frowned. Doug was almost never at a loss for words. He was usually the first to declare his opinion on anything and wouldn't back down from it unless overwhelmed by evidence to the contrary. To hear his sometimes-bull-headed best friend being uncertain was… telling.
It made Derv feel much less at ease at what was happening. The gravity of the situation had yet to truly hit him. Was he really trapped in a game? Would he ever see his home again? What about his family? Or his other friends that he knew had likely never even heard of Elder Tale? But more importantly…
Why did he feel so giddy about it all?
After all, he felt… strong. At least, stronger than he had back in the real world. He didn't know it so much as he sensed power coursing through his body, as if rivers of pulsing energy were constantly flowing beneath his skin. He knew that despite his frail frame, he could probably flip a car on his own, or run a mile without tiring. It wasn't like his Strength and Dexterity stats were high at all, considering his class, but any level 90's base stats were well above what could be considered 'normal' for a human being.
Derv felt the mana shifting with his limbs as he moved. Was he even human anymore? He felt more powerful than any human had a right to be. And if he had the full magical power of a Summoner like he did in the game…
Just what was he capable of now?
Well, there was only one way to find out. If Doug was able to call him, then that must've meant that the menu from the game still existed, but how did you access it? Just to see if it worked, Derv said "Menu." A series of green boxes and symbols popped into existence at the word, causing him to yelp in surprise and take a few steps back. After giving it a cursory look, he tentatively tapped the 'Options' button, which sure enough opened the Options Menu. Taking a deep breath, he tapped 'Logout'…
… and nothing happened.
Derv sighed. It was a worth a shot. After exiting the Options Menu, he went to his Class Skills page. A wide variety of spells were displayed; the full repertoire of a level 90 Summoner could be overwhelming, although the same could be said for any class that was high enough level. After mulling over his options, he pressed Summon Servant: Undine.
The display disappeared and his hands started to glow blue. The white gem at the tip of his staff, the Uplifting Mage-Scholar's Staff, began to glow brightly. Derv wasn't exactly sure what to expect when one actually used magic, but this had felt… natural. As if it were as simple as moving a limb he couldn't see.
Blue lights faded into existence before him, swirling and gathering into the approximate form of a humanoid roughly as big as him. A bright blue flash engulfed his vision, momentarily blinding him, but when the light faded, the solid form of an undine hovered just above the floor. Its skin was ocean-blue, and seemed to shimmer in the sun's light. The water spirit's body was an imitation of a beautiful human woman's, but one whose limbs were much thinner and longer, and had webbed toes and fingers. Long light blue hair flowed down from its head down the full length of its body, two pointed ears poking out. But what struck Derv most where its eyes; twin orbs of solid blue, devoid of irises. It was like staring into a calm, bottomless sea.
She was also quite naked.
"I know it's been a while since you got any," a familiar voice said from the doorway behind Derv, "But is there any chance you keep it in your pants until after we found out what the hell is going on?"
Derv groaned, palming his face. Of course someone would walk in right when that happened. He turned to face his best friend. Shorter than Derv by a couple inches, a man stood in the doorway, arms folded. He wore a red hood and cloak over chain-link armor that covered his torso and limbs. Leather gloves squeaked when he moved to grab Derv's hand, the two friends clasping each other's arms before pulling in for a hug. After breaking off, Derv noticed a title card beside him.
Sykko
Race/Human
Swashbuckler, Lv. 90
Nerd Sessions - Guild Master
He didn't look exactly like the friend he'd known in real life, with short cut black hair and a moustache, but the way he carried himself, shoulders always squared, confirmed to Derv without a shadow of a doubt that it was him.
"So, 'Sykko'…" Derv started, finding himself grinning for no real reason. "This is some shit."
His friend snorted, walking across the room and keeping some distance between himself and the undine as he did. "No shit," he agreed. "It sure as hell is Elder Tale, but everything feels too real to be a game." Sykko peered out the window that overlooked the Guild Hall. The confused and furious cries of other adventurers could still be heard outside.
Derv nodded. "You remember anything before this happened? I know we were all at my house, but I can't think of anything weird happening up until we ended up here."
"Me neither," Sykko shook his head, frowning. "Bennett was bitching about the outdated graphics, but that's hardly anything new. I'd just logged on right after you guys, then I blinked and here I was."
"Same." Derv glanced at his undine, which was still just floating in the air idly and staring at him. "Say, do you feel… different at all?"
"Well, I'm shorter than you, which is just fucking ridiculous," the swashbuckler muttered wryly, causing Derv to laugh. His expression growing serious, he continued, "But yeah, I do. I'm strong, dude. I can feel it. This body…" he stared at his open-palm hands, "It's powerful. I dunno how to describe it."
"Kinda like how if your in-game stats were applied to your actual body?" Derv pressed.
"… Yeah, exactly like that." Sykko's face grew pensive. After a few moments, he cursed. "We're actually in a fucking game."
"You contact the others yet?" Derv asked, seeking to change the subject. Sykko nodded.
"Yeah, all the nerds except DiVerde are here somewhere," he explained, then snorted. "Of course he was still patching… Anyway, everyone except Alex answered me. We're gonna meet at the Guild Hall then work from there."
"Sound gucci," said Derv. Sykko rolled his eyes at the choice of words.
"Let's go, weirdo," he said, smiling as he walked back across the room. As he passed the undine, he commented, "You gonna keep the naked chick hanging around or what?"
"Ah, no," Derv flushed, bringing up the Skills menu to dismiss her. "There's gotta be a better way to do this…"
-NS-
Guild Hall
North American Server
Great Lakes
City/No Monsters
No PvP
Entry Restrictions: None
Exit Restrictions: None
The members of the Nerd Sessions guild never saw much reason to upgrade their guild hall, and it showed. They barely spent time there when Elder Tale was a game, only acquiring it in the first place because it was part of the package when one started a guild. Besides, why would they? They knew each other in real life and so didn't feel like it was necessary for one reason or another.
An unfortunate side effect was that the place looked downright Spartan, especially in the new reality. There were a grand total of two rooms: a medium-sized kitchen/dining/living room and a tiny bedroom. There wasn't a single decoration in the place, save for the Nerd Sessions guild banner hanging on the wall across the doorway, with their symbol, an orange flame on a grey field, emblazoned.
"This place is smaller than my apartment," whined one of the people in the guild hall, a ridiculously tall man wearing golden leather armor. Two wolf ears poked out of his messy, spiky brown hair and he kept at least one hand on the hilt of one of the two swords sheathed as his hip at all times.
Vellrish
Race/Wolf Fang
Swashbuckler, Lv. 90
Nerd Sessions
"Tell me about it," groused the bulky man next to him, his blonde and blue-eyed face downcast. Dark blue robes covered his body, trimmed with black fur along the edges. Thick grey plate covered his torso over the robes, and a massive tower shield was strung on his back. "Can't believe we're living like fuckin' plebeians right now."
Benedor
Race/Human
Cleric, Lv. 90
Nerd Sessions
"You do realize that you were the one who said you didn't want to spend gold on this place, Bennett?" accused the shortest of the three. In fact, the top of his bald head only reached their chests. His leather armor a blotchy mess of green and brown, a green hooded cape was draped over his shoulders. He folded his arms and glared at Benedor. "Reap what you sow, dumbass."
Monsumesi
Race/Dwarf
Assassin, Lv. 90
Nerd Sessions
"Aw, you're just grumpy because you're super short now, isn't that right, Mike?" Vellrish shot back condescendingly, smirking. He reached to pat the dwarf on the head, but his hand was instantly smacked aside.
"Blow me, asshole," Monsumesi cleverly retorted. "I swear, why'd I roll a dwarf of all things…"
"I've said it before and I'll say it again," Benedor chided, grinning, "Human race is master race."
"Said the kid with blonde hair and blue eyes," commented Monsumesi, rolling his eyes.
"Naturally," Benedor responded, straight-faced.
"Good to see something hasn't changed," Derv declared as he and Sykko entered the room. The three other guild members turned to face them. "Even if it's Bennett being Bennett."
Derv
Race/Ritual
Summoner, Lv. 90
Nerd Sessions
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with me," Benedor flashed him a grin. "I'm perfect."
"Right," Derv drawled, even as the two friends embraced. The rest of them greeted each other and exchanged the usual pleasantries (which involved making fun of Monsumesi's height as well as Vellrish's garish choice of armor). Once that was out of the way, the five guild members formed a circle.
"So," Monsumesi started, looking around, "Where're the others?"
"Jack and Matt said they'd be here soon," Sykko answered. He idly tossed a throwing dagger in the air, catching it before tossing it back up again. "Connor said something about 'going for a spin' or some shit like that, but he'll be here eventually." He shook his head. "Alex is online, but he won't answer my damn calls. Zach said he'd look for him."
"Of course Alex is missing," Vellrish, shaking his head.
"Well…" Derv said, scratching the back of his head. "What're we gonna do now? Far as I can tell, we're stuck here."
"Maybe if we just do what we normally would in the game, we could, I dunno, beat it and get out?" Mons offered.
"How do you beat an MMO?" Benedor sniped.
"It was just an idea, ass. You got anything better?"
"Not really," the cleric shrugged his bulky shoulders. "What's the point? We have no idea how to get back."
"Hate to say it, but he's right," Sykko said, frowning. "We should just consolidate what we have and try to survive for now. We know jack shit about the situation and we can't do anything until we know more."
"If that's the case, can we please invest in a better guild hall?" Vellrish groused, waving a hand at the hall in question. "There's no way ten dudes are gonna fit in here."
"Aw, don't wanna cuddle with me, Bretty?" Benedor pretended to ask coyly, smirking.
"If you wanna deal with me snoring, that's on you."
"Oh, shit, forgot about that. Yeah, fuck that."
"I also vote on upgrading this place ASAP," Derv added. "Although we won't be able to upgrade too much since there's only ten people in the guild."
"Yeah, that'll be first," Sykko nodded. "After we get the others. Then - hold up."
His head jerked slightly and he placed a hand to his ear. "What's up, Zach? Cool, where is he? … Of course." He sighed. "Yeah, we're headed there now." He made a 'Follow me' gesture with his free hand, and the four adventurers walked behind him as they headed to the door. "I'll let the rest know. See ya in a few."
"Where we going?" asked Mons.
"Just outside the city," Sykko answered. The five of them exited the room, revealing a long bronze and gold-painted hallway. Adventurers from other guilds exited and entered the various doors around them that lined the area. "In the infested zone. That works out pretty well, since I was gonna say we should try to figure out combat as soon as possible."
"Finally," Benedor said, "But it's bullshit that I'm not an assassin. Why'd you let me roll a cleric?"
"You're the one that wanted to be like a paladin," Vellrish reminded him. "You have a giant ass shield that you beat people to death with. Stop complaining."
-NS-
Great Lakes - Infested Half
North American Server
Kanter Imperium/Great Lakes
Field/Monsters present
Demihumans present
Entry restrictions/None
Events/None currently
The west and south sides of Great Lakes were in a state of total disrepair. While the buildings in Great Lakes proper were overgrown, they were at least still standing. The same could not be said for the infested regions. The ruins of dozens of collapsed structures littered the thick forest, laid low by time and the elements. Where before there was at least a sense of civilization, now it truly felt like the city had been violently overcome and left to rot.
Derv looked around uneasily as they walked across the bridge into the infested zone. He actually recognized a few of the buildings they'd walked past from Chicago, and seeing them in such a sorry state made him feel like he was in a warzone. Idly, he wondered about a friend of his that owned an apartment on the south side of Chicago. Would he find that building among the ruins, too?
"You alright, Trev?" Derv started at the sound, and turned to see Sykko walking beside him, red cloak flowing behind him in the wind. The two of them were leading the group, with Mons right behind them and Vellrish and Benedor taking up the rear.
He shrugged in response, hand tightening its grip on his staff despite the show of nonchalance. "Just thinking about home is all. It's weird seeing Chicago like this."
Sykko nodded. "I hear ya. We'll figure shit out, we always do."
Derv snorted. "I don't think we've ever had to deal with shit like this before."
"Maybe not," Sykko smiled slightly. "But maybe we have. After all, we've beaten hundreds of games before. What's so different about this?"
"Hell, I've beaten Dark Souls," Mons chimed in from behind them, "This can't be any worse than that."
"Exactly," Sykko nodded, "We've saved the world how many times? We'll do it again here."
"We'll see," Derv said, unconvinced. "We need to figure out how to fight first of all. I get the feeling that dealing with the skills menu is going to be a bitch in the middle of combat."
"Yeah, there's gotta be a way around that," Sykko mused. "You can probably go ahead and get a summon up now, save you some time."
"Hm, good idea," Derv agreed. He glanced over at the rest of the group. "We got a decent frontline with Brett and Bennett, and with you two our ranged DPS is solid. We won't really need heals… guess we got our bases covered so long as we don't go anywhere too high level."
"Considering this place's strongest mobs are only level 30, this'll be a cake walk." Sykko shrugged. "Summon whatever you want, dude."
Derv rubbed his bare chin as he opened up his Class Skills. The group had crossed the bridge at the point and had entered the forest proper. Sunlight leaked between the trees, making the shadows seem only darker in comparison. The skittering and buzzing of critters beneath the canopy made everything feel vibrant and truly alive.
The longer we're here, the more I feel like this is reality.
Pushing the thought aside for now, Derv stared at the skills menu, pointer finger scrolling through his options. Even though he had a mixed Elementalist and Necromancer build that narrowed his options down somewhat, there were still so many summons to choose from…
Well, might as well go with something that'll give us some magic DPS.
He tapped Summon Servant: Undine, and the water spirit manifested once more beside him, crystal on his staff glowing in her presence. His face flushed with heat when he realized that she was still naked.
"… You watch too much damn anime," Sykko grumbled. The rest snickered. The undine placed a dainty hand over her mouth and giggled. Derv was about to snap when he realized something.
Did… did a summon just giggle?! … And she's taking their side?!
"Whuh… huh…" was all Derv could manage. He wasn't sure which thing to be more flabbergasted about. Palming his forehead, the Summoner groaned. One thing at a time, otherwise a migraine would likely kill him before the damn monsters would.
"So… you can laugh, now?" Derv asked his servant, feeling like an idiot while doing so. The very idea seemed utterly unreal, considering the damn things were simply spells not a half hour ago. And now… could they actually be sentient?
"I suppose so, Master," the undine responded, voice melodious and soothing. She tilted her head to the side, smiling brilliantly. "I cannot say I have experience however. Your companions laughed so I simply thought doing likewise was acceptable."
Derv could feel the eyes of his friends boring into his back.
Don't say anything, don't say anything, don't say anything…
"Oooh, she called you 'master'," Mons jeered, "Bet you like it like that, don't cha?"
The others broke into laughter, and the undine joined them, albeit with more exaggerated movement. Derv glowered at all of them.
If irritation were a stat, I'd say it would be by far my highest.
"God…" Derv grumbled, wiping his hands on his face, "Alright, looks like you and I are gonna have a long talk-Shut up!" he yelled when his friends laughed even louder. He sighed and continued, "-About what to do and what not to do, since apparently you're sentient now."
"As you wish, Master," the undine said, still grinning. It was growing difficult to be mad at her, considering how cute she was.
"Um… let's get some clothes on you first." Undines, along with several other humanoid-type summons, had customizable appearances to fit their masters' tastes. Derv hadn't bothered with the feature before since it felt weird to him putting costumes on a wild water spirit, and anyway the 'nude' model hardly actually looked like a naked woman considering Elder Tale was on the softer side of the T rating. Now though…
After mulling over his options, Derv selected the sweater outfit. A grey wool sweater materialized on the undine, accompanied by a pair of green shorts. The undine twirled about in air, looking herself over, smiling all the while.
"It feels nice," she said softly.
Derv was keenly aware of the fact that none of his friends were saying anything now."So… do you have a name?" he asked.
She shook her head. "Maybe, once, but the river I was born from has long since dried up. You are my river now, Master."
"Ah… I see," Derv shifted about, frowning. This all merited further exploration… but later. For now they needed to find the rest of their friends. "Well then. I can't just keep referring to you as 'undine', so… how does Yue sound to you?"
"Yue…" she whispered slowly, as if she were tasting the word for the first time, "Yue…" She smiled. "I like it. I'm Yue!"
"Of course you name her after an Avatar character," Benedor said from behind him, although his tone wasn't mocking.
Derv ignored him. "So, shall we, Yue?" he smiled at her, and she returned it with an even greater grin.
"Yes! Yue! We shall!" she cried joyfully, practically bouncing in the air with giddiness. Her excitement was infectious, and Derv couldn't help but feel elated along with her.
Perhaps that has something to do with the bond between Summoner and servant?
Derv was snapped from his reverie by a hard smack on his shoulder that nearly sent him to the ground. He turned to see Sykko smirking behind him. "C'mon man. We'll figure everything out, but first we gotta find everyone."
Derv looked at his friend briefly before nodding. One thing at a time. Nothing else needing to be said, the group continued onward into the unknown.
-NS-
Their first clues that Alex was nearby were the sounds of explosions. Then came the maniacal laughter.
"HAHAHAHA! YES! BLOOD! BLOOD!"
All five adventurers groaned in unison, Yue mimicking them shortly after without knowing why they were groaning in the first place. They quickened their pace through the forest, and the path eventually led them to a hill overlooking an open field. Despite many years of playing games under their belts, the group couldn't help but gasp at the chaos that was ensuing before them.
The field was thick with a goblin army, at least two hundred strong. Derv was taken aback with how real the monsters looked, from their slick green skin to the uneven, loping strides they took as they moved toward their foe. The demihumans hissed and snarled, creating a foul cacophony of yowls and clanging rusty metal. He could see other shapes amid the green horde, such as immense dire wolves with salivating fangs and unearthly red eyes and clumsy hobgoblins standing several heads taller than the rest, the hulking cousins of their far more numerous brethren.
The goblins' levels were in the low twenties, with the dire wolves and hobgoblins in the high thirties. Hardly real threats for level 90 adventurers, unless it was only one against a couple hundred of the demihumans and monsters. Which was exactly what was happening.
Something smashed into the earth at the center of the encroaching army, tearing the ground asunder, outright killing dozens and sending more flying into the air. The source was a towering warrior, covered head to toe in plated armor as white as bone. He easily swung an immense two-handed black axe, slaying monsters with every sweep and causing them to explode in white lights and bubbles. His expression was one of pure manic glee, a wide, fanged grin plastered on his face.
The horde kept charging at the lone Guardian, and he continued to fight, undaunted by the numbers.
"Jesus…" Vellrish breathed, "Did he aggro the entire damn zone?!"
"As a matter of fact," a hoarse voice answered behind them, "That's exactly what he did."
They turned to see a tall man stride out of the forest. Wearing a black tunic interlaced with dark chains along the trimming, his clean-shaven face looked amused as he approached them. He ran a hand through his thick black hair, the other hand gripping a staff made out of some sort of blue bark.
Hollis
Race/Half-Alv
Medicine Man, Lv. 90
Nerd Sessions
"'Sup, Zach?" Benedor and Vellrish said in unison, both pulling Hollis into a tight hug. The medicine man groaned at the force, almost gasping for breath, but didn't protest. In fact, he was actually smiling.
He's just as relieved as the rest of us that he's not alone here, Derv thought as he and the rest of the group greeted their lanky friend.
"Onslaught!" roared the warrior, causing everyone to flinch and turn back to see what was going on. His battleaxe began to glow a bright red as he held it high in the air, right before he cleaved through four goblins and a hobgoblin at once. The glow grew even brighter up until the second swing, after which it faded away.
"Did he just use a skill?" Derv asked, still not quite believing the sheer amount of power that radiated off of their berserking friend.
Hollis nodded. "Yeah, turns out you just need to say the skill name and do the motion. Your body does the rest. Of course, didn't learn that until after Alex pulled half the damn forest."
"Hm," Benedor grunted, raising up his hands. "So like this? Judgment Ray!"
Holy light arose from his chest, snaking upwards into his hands. Derv had to cover his eyes as the brilliant radiance expanded and burst from Benedor's hands, sending a shimmering laser beam straight at the goblin army. Three of the demihumans were instantly killed by the ray, causing those nearby to turn and face the new threat. Screeching with rage, a pack of goblins charged.
"Way to pull aggro, dumbass," Mons chided, drawing his bow. Everyone else quickly followed suite, unsheathing blades that glinted in the sunlight and staffs that began to glow with ethereal light. Icicles formed around Yue's hands, swirling in the air as the spirit giggled in anticipation.
"You're just jealous I got first blood," Benedor commented as he hefted his shield, which was easily as tall as him.
"Oh hey guys, how's it-OH SHIT!"
Two more people walked into the clearing, easy-going expressions quickly growing terrified when they beheld just what was waiting for them. One was a medium-size Ritual man with a swirling red tattoo on his left cheek, wearing a simple tan tunic and leg guards shaped into the fierce expressions of tigers. His two metal gauntlets hummed quietly, only barely audible over the din of rampaging goblins and the Guardian in the distance.
Snodd
Race/Ritual
Monk, Lv. 90
Nerd Sessions
The other man was taller than him. Taller than me, too, Derv noted sourly. With pointy ears poking out of a messy mop of orange hair, he was gripping a wicked-looking trident in his hands. The weapon looked as if it were made of gold at the tips, with the shaft colored a sickly green. His silver vest glinted like metal, despite being made of silk and wool.
Linus
Race/Elf
Bard, Lv. 90
Nerd Sessions
"Explanations later!" Sykko shouted, brandishing a pair of throwing daggers. At the end of each hilt was the symbol of a weeping clown. "Killing now!"
The goblins were almost upon them. Derv felt something like fear spark in his mind, but his body was calm. It made the motions as if it had thousands of times, which he supposed it had. His grip on the Mage-Scholar's Staff never trembled when he raised it up, feeling the channels of mana churning within him like a maelstrom. Raw power coursed through his veins, and he couldn't help but make a grin matching the rampaging Guardian's.
How many times have I dreamed about this? That we've dreamed about this?
Yue glided to his side, looking at him with those dark blue eyes. Seeing his smile, she imitated him and stared forward as the ice magic began to flow around her like a blizzard.
"Three…" Sykko counted. Vellrish tightened his grip on his dual straight swords and slowly smiled. Linus moved between him and Hollis, pointing the trident at the charging enemy. Snodd placed himself next to Sykko, raising his fists. Benedor locked his shield into place ahead of him while Hollis twirled his staff before gripping it with both hands.
"Tw-"
"YEAHHHHHOOOOHOOOHOOOO!" hollered a high-pitched voice directly before them, right before a massive fireball slammed from the heavens into the goblin army where the berserker was still fighting. The resulting explosion engulfed almost a fourth of the entire force.
"Well, looks like Connor made it," Snodd snorted.
"Fuck it, ONE!" Sykko shouted.
Then more explosions happened.
-NS-
Aditon
Race/Wolf Fang
Guardian, Lv. 90
Nerd Sessions
The red haze that had clouded Aditon's vision faded, causing him to curse with impatience. Fury of the Beast, a racial ability unique to Wolf Fangs, had given him a drastic increase to his Strength and Dexterity. Unfortunately, if the buff lasted too long then Wolf Fangs would've been a bit broken, so the effect only lasted for a minute. Even more unfortunately, it had been freaking awesome feeling his already powerful body gain such a ridiculous boost, but when it left he couldn't help but feel weaker.
Of course, while technically true, he was hardly weak by any means to begin with.
Pouring all of his frustration into a great swing, Aditon bellowed, "Armor Crash!" and smashed his axe, the Brutalizer, into the earth. A deafening thunder resounded through the air as ground broke from the force, sending both chunks of dirt and goblins flying. More demihumans quickly filled the gaps, heedless of the present danger, either from a desire to avenge fallen comrades or simple bloodlust.
It mattered not.
"Cross Slash!" Two quick strikes felled them. More came.
"YES!" Aditon screamed, even as a dire wolf reached past his defenses and bit at his arm. "Bring me more!" With a heave he tossed the monster off of him, sending it howling back into the enemy ranks. "Bring me enemies!" They obliged.
He had wanted this more than anything in the world. The chance to truly charge into battle, to strike down an army of foes, to feel the rush of raw, vicious war pumping through his heart. He had always talked about it, back home. In fact, if you asked his friends, they'd say he talked about it too much. After all, normal people didn't talk about how much they'd enjoy feeling the blood of a defeated foe splash against your face.
Too bad these things don't seem to bleed, Aditon mused as he split a hobgoblin in half, the remains bursting into light that dissolved into bubbles. Or maybe it's because I keep killing them with one hit?
A laser beam coming from the east snapped him from his reverie. He followed the beam's path and saw a familiar group of figures standing at the forest's edge. Aditon smiled and tried to wave them down, but was interrupted by a large pack of hobgoblins attacking him as one, dog piling him and dragging the Guardian to the ground. Even as they beat him with thick wooden clubs, he grinned.
"Anchor Howl!" he roared. "C'mon! BRING ME MORE!" For a moment, he felt his challenge, no, his entire being, call out to the entire world and demand to pay attention to me. Such was the hypnotic effect of a taunt, and the goblins were powerless to resist. Dozens of the demihumans leapt on top of their hobgoblin allies, joining in the vicious pounding.
Aditon, despite himself, winced at the exponentially growing weight on him. His fingers dug into the earth, steadying himself from the onslaught. His defenses were taking a pounding, but he smirked when he prepared to activate his ace in the hole…
Or he would have, if Fury of the Beast still hadn't been on cooldown.
He cursed, even as one of his arms finally failed. The combined weight of well over twenty hobgoblins and goblins was getting to him, especially with his HP and MP so drained. Aditon's face pressed into the dirt, he could barely breath anymore.
Figures, he thought, Right when my dream comes true, I lose it all because I get too carried away.
That was when the fire came.
A wave of heat washed over Aditon, and the creatures assailing him screeched in agony. The pressure on him suddenly lifted, he groaned, stood up, and was welcomed by the sight of a blasted and burning battlefield. Goblins set aflame squealed as they ran, panicked and routed. Dire wolves desperately rolled in the ground in an attempt to put out the flames, and hobgoblins only stumbled about as fire slowly ate away at their HP.
"Ahhhh… ow," whined the bringer of such calamity. Fumbling out of a crater, the first thing Aditon noted about him were the two vulpine ears that poked out of shoulder-length blonde hair. What followed was a thin figure wearing what looked like a frayed and dirty robe. With golden eyes, the harbinger of fiery destruction said, "Oh hey, what's up man?"
Gotenks
Race/Fox Tail
Sorcerer, Lv. 90
Nerd Sessions
"Connor!" Aditon greeted, rushing over to pull his friend into a hug. "The hell did you do?!"
"Ah," Gotenks quickly pulled himself out of the hug and looked about, slight smile on his face, "Just wanted to see if I could pull an Azula, ya know, flying with fire. Kinda worked. Although it worked more like a human mortar than anything."
"I love it!" As he said it though, glowing eyes began to appear through the smoke, followed by hunched figures slowly making their way forward. "Although it looks like you got hella aggro."
"Nah," Gotenks scoffed, hand pulling on his frayed robes. "Wild Witch's Rags. Nullifies hate so long as there's someone else to take the blame."
"Oh," Aditon said, before smirking. "You're damn lucky I'm supposed to take the blame, ass."
The sorcerer shrugged. "Don't hate the player, hate the game." As he said that, orbs of simmering crimson energy formed in his hands.
"Hate the game?" Aditon sounded completely baffled. He hefted the Brutalizer up, the black weapon shining hungrily as the goblins approached. "Why the hell would I do that?!"
-NS-
"Purification Barrier!" Hollis shouted. A wall of blue energy materialized behind Snodd right as a dire wolf moved to charge him. The monster bounced off the hard light of the barrier, giving Snodd enough time to react and finish it off with a stomp.
"Thanks, dude!" Snodd said before launching himself back into the fray. Hollis waved him off and turned his gaze to get a better read on the situation. He was sorely tempted to join in the melee with his friends, but even now his deeply-ingrained operator instincts held true. It was why he was able to step back from the battle and read the entire situation.
Half of the goblin army had been wiped out, mostly thanks to Gotenks' crash landing. He could see the Sorcerer and Aditon fighting on their own ahead of everyone else, dishing out death via fireball and axe swing. The amount of DPS the two could deal on their own was absurd, and if they'd been facing higher level foes then Hollis would've been more concerned.
He was still a little concerned though, so he cast two Chants of Recovery on them, letting the HoT spells handle whatever damage they might take.
"Oooh, that one's pretty!" Derv's undine shouted as she shot an Ice Arrow from her fingertips, skewering a goblin. Hollis wasn't sure if she was referring to his spell or the goblin she'd just killed. So he did what he always did whenever something weird happened: shrug and shoot magic at something.
-NS-
Ten level 90 adventurers versus two hundred level 23 goblins, with at least fifty hobgoblins and dire wolves roughly in the level 30 range.
It was a wholesale slaughter.
Linus drove his trident through the chest of the last goblin, which spat out a thick black liquid before fading away into nothing. Gold coins clinked as they fell to the ground from where the demihuman had once stood. The Bard shook his head as he picked up one of the gold coins and examined it closely.
"Really?" he breathed, shaking his head. "These things actually drop loot."
He collected the rest of the gold, regardless of his disbelief. Some old habits couldn't be ignored, even if his life had suddenly been flipped on its head. Perhaps especially because of that.
Sighing, Linus tightened his grip on the Viper Trident and made his way to where his friends were gathering. Idly, he noticed that he wasn't even tired. He'd swung the clearly-metal trident around as if it weighed almost nothing, stabbing and crushing with ease. He'd ran, dodged, leapt, and fought like a madman, yet… he hadn't even broken a sweat.
Just what the hell was he now? What were any of them?
-NS-
"So…" Vellrish started, once Linus joined the group. They were all standing in the middle of the field, which more resembled a blasted warzone than anything. Large gaps in the earth stretched out like open wounds, scorch marks had ruined swathes of singed grass, and more than a few craters dotted the area. "The first thing you decided to do when you realized we were in the game was aggro the entire fricking zone?!"
"You say that like you don't know me," Aditon offered by way of answer, smirking and resting the obsidian axe on his plated shoulder.
"Big shocker, Alex goes on a killing spree the first chance he gets," Sykko said, rolling his eyes. "There's something more important we need to talk about here."
"Like what the hell happened to us," Linus said. Sykko nodded.
"Exactly. Does anyone remember what happened between us starting the game and then ending up here?"
Everyone shook their heads. "I just blinked and then I was in Great Lakes next to Matt." Snodd answered. "Or Linus, I guess."
"So… what do we do?" Monsumesi asked.
The question gave them all pause. The members of Nerd Sessions exchanged glances, trying to find the answer somewhere. Aditon was the only one who looked away, blue eyes staring longingly at the horizon. He closed his eyes and took a shaky deep breath, as if he were restraining himself.
"We need to learn," Hollis finally declared. The rest of the group, Aditon included, turned to face the Medicine Man. He gulped and leaned into his staff before continuing, "We know that Elder Tale was coming out with a new expansion today. In fact, if I remember correctly, it had just come out on the Japanese server right when… we got here. But that's it."
"Not exactly," Derv corrected. "We know that this isn't Elder Tale. By that I mean it's not the game, despite some game mechanics still being around. I mean," he swept his hands out, gesturing toward the land around them. "Look at it! Everything feels real. The sky stretches on forever, our attacks actually affect the environment, and…" He took a deep breath. "And my servant talks. That never happened before."
Vellrish nodded. "Yeah, that really caught me off-guard."
"I'm with Zach," Derv continued, "We know too little right now. This world may be familiar, but… well, it's obvious something's changed."
"We just have to find out what." Mons stated.
"Then maybe we can find a way back home." Benedor added. Next to him, Aditon shook his head, but stayed silent. Gotenks shifted about uneasily, strange expression crossing his face but also not saying anything.
"One thing at a time," Sykko said. He stepped forward into the circle slightly, not quite putting himself at the center. "We're going to figure this out. We're gonna explore, over-analyze, and learn everything we can about this new world. Because we're nerds, and nerds always take shit like this seriously."
"Hell yeah," Aditon agreed, armored fist clenching.
"We need more resources," Linus noted, "We're piss-poor right now and the guild's tiny. The bigger combat guilds might try to pull a power play or some shit, and there's no way in hell we can go up against them."
"We'll get resources," Benedor said, "I'll make sure of it."
"And we sure as hell better start recruiting. Preferably some more girls," Mons commented, "No offense to you guys, but I really don't want a sausage fest the whole damn time."
"Seconded," said Vellrish.
"Also, we should only use our game names," Gotenks spoke up. Everyone else turned toward him, surprised since it was the first time he'd spoken since they all grouped up. "Everyone else will see them when they look at us, not our 'real' names. It'd just be confusing to anyone we recruit if we kept calling each other 'Connor' or 'Doug'."
"I… don't like that." Benedor folded his arms. "I mean, so what? They can call us by our game names and we call each other by our real names. What's the issue with that?"
"A lot, actually," Snodd said, "We'll just alienate whoever joins up if we do that. Besides, it's kinda difficult to join a group if you can't call people the same name as everyone else."
Sykko nodded. "Yeah, Con's… Gotenks is right." He sighed, rubbing his forehead as he spoke. "I don't like it much either, since it feels like we're losing a piece of home, but we gotta do it. For the sake of the guild."
Aditon shrugged. "Eh, I don't have a problem with that."
"Figured you wouldn't," Hollis snorted, before his expression grew serious. "I don't think it's really hit me, yet," he said quietly.
"Me neither," Snodd said, looking down. He stared at his open palms, as if he couldn't really believe that they were there. "I don't feel like I'm me. This body doesn't belong to me. I dunno how to describe it." He sounded frustrated.
"We'll figure it out," Derv assured him, stepping forward. "This is how things are for now. We're in Theldesia. That's our reality. But I wouldn't want to be stuck here with anyone else more than Nerd Sessions."
"Damn right you wouldn't," Sykko grinned, moving in and gripping Derv's arm. Everyone else echoed the sentiment and moved closer, each raising a fist and bumping with each other at the center. The variety of hands was great, Derv couldn't help but realize: some dainty and bare, others callused and gloved, while others were meaty and covered by plate.
They were trapped in a strange new world in strange new bodies. They commanded powers that none of them fully understood, and were forced to wield them against monsters that wanted nothing less than their total annihilation.
But when they all raised their fists to the sky and shouted as one, Derv couldn't help but feel like they could withstand anything.
-NS-
A lithe shape kept itself low in the bushes, lying in the shadows of the forest. To all appearances it looked like a briar weasel, one of the weaker monsters known to roam the infested half of the Great Lakes. But those who could look beyond such deceit would've seen something entirely different.
Genius of Masks
Eliphas
Genius, Lv. 89
Rank/Normal
With crimson eyes it stared at the ten adventurers out celebrating in the field, before shaking its head with disappointment. The thorny branch wrapped around its tail twitched and coiled, causing the briar weasel to turn.
A simple crow looked back at it, single yellow eye gleaming through the darkness.
Genius of Conjuring
Capanaeus
Genius, Lv. 89
Rank/Normal
The briar weasel bared its fangs at the crow, pawing at the ground. The black bird cawed once, a harsh and unpleasant noise, before flying off. The briar weasel shook its head once again and turned back toward the adventurers, letting its disgust for their kind fill its core.
Glorify yourselves all you like, Eliphas thought bitterly. Revel in your newfound power. Let your egos fester and grow like cancer. It will make your fall from Paradise all the sweeter.