"You know, there's almost zero chance you're just gonna find her wandering around again." Knight pointed out, strolling through the marketplace next to a slightly frustrated Cookie. "In this server alone there's like.. Thirty thousand players? Add in NPCs and we're probably up to a hundred thousand friendly 'characters', and when you add in the monsters there's probably a million 'living' things - literally - here in Remnant."
"I know! And I'm not looking for her!" Ruby huffed insistently.
"Yeah?" The blonde warrior next to her chuckled. "'Cause it looks to me li-'"
"Shut up, Knight!" Ruby growled, which only made him laugh harder.
"Besides, it's not like I have a.. A crush on her or anything." Ruby went on, calming down and sighing. "But, she tried to save me back in that cave. Not a lot of other players would do that, I think. Definitely not for someone they don't know."
"You've got a point there.." Knight admitted, reaching up to rub his chin in thought. "So, you're really just looking at her so you can thank her for not-quite saving you?" He asked.
"Is that really so weird?" Ruby groaned.
"Yes. Yes it is." Knight snickered, though a pout-filled glare from Ruby made him raise his hands in mock surrender.
Ruby and her online battle buddy had spent the last week in and around Aileshard, taking on what quests they could - and otherwise just hunting on their own - so they could raise enough money to move on to another area.
With the other real-life timer mechanics that the game had implemented, it wasn't surprising at all to Ruby that the in game economy was fairly punishing as well, and making a trek by foot to a new city was a true journey.
They needed armor and weapon repair kits, various potions, an up-to-date map, and most important of all, portable campsites.
Logging out in a non-safe zone was totally doable, but there was no guarantee that the area you just cleared so you could log out would be clear when you logged back in. In fact, it seemed to Ruby that whenever she logged back into the game in hostile territory, there were actually MORE monsters there than there should have been.
But, the campsites fixed all of that. By ensuring that an area of twenty yards surrounding the fire itself was safe, it let players rest more easily (literally) knowing that they wouldn't be in for a stressful fight as soon as they dove back into WAR.
Ruby both loved the mechanic and hated it. The campfires - and other items that went along with camping - were expensive, and the fact that the roads were dedicated safe zones as long as you weren't just standing there for too long made it seem like it was a cheap shot by the developers to put the player's avatars in danger.
While this was true, as Atlas Electronics & Technology, Inc. had said in an interview the year before, it was also done to keep the in-game economy driving itself forwards. No player could take the easy route, there was no pay-to-win in any form in the game of WAR. If you wanted to travel, you had to fight for it. If you wanted to play a merchant or a non-combat character, which Ruby had seen a few people try to do, then you had to shell out for protection from other players on the trip.
When the game had first launched, critics of it had sworn up and down that a world where everything was procedurally generated and driven totally by the players would fail within three months - but AETI had been proven right in the end. The difficulty curve made sure that players were always challenged, but ultimately their own survival was in their own hands. The fact that each quest was a singular entity - it could only be picked up once, ever - made sure that they stayed hungry (but not starved) for their next chance to take on a mission. All of this and more served to make WAR's economy thrive. The playerbase ate it up, and so WAR saw it's user count rise and rise over the past two years, until it now sat at the top of the charts as far as concurrent online users went.
Ruby didn't care about the metrics, though, all that mattered to her was having a good time. Stretching her virtual muscles, being the type of fantasy-esque hero that she'd always read about in books, and maybe meeting a few friendly virtual faces along the way.
She had the first three done, but the fourth was proving.. Elusive. Knight was the only person she'd come across who seemed to genuinely just want the same thing as her. Everyone else, from individual players to entire clans of them, more or less just wanted to use her for her sword arm.
Ruby hadn't quite understood at first why she was so special. There were plenty of mid-tier players who were as good as her and didn't mind that sort of almost parasitic relationship. It wasn't until Knight had pointed out to her when she'd brought it up that she had admitted to actually being a girl, instead of just using one as an avatar.
The Red Devil didn't particularly think of herself as being too naive, she knew that creeps like that existed. She just never expected to be on the receiving end of such attention. It was right then and there that Ruby decided to change her apparently errant ways. To totally separate WAR from her real life. But, her 'secret' was already known by that point.
Still, if she didn't go on to be an open book for whoever decided to take a peek at her, Ruby figured it would help her out in the long run.
"That should.. Just about do it, yeah." Ruby murmured, running through her inventory and, well.. Taking inventory of her things. Once she was satisfied, she turned to her friend and quirked an eyebrow up in his direction. "You all set?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. All set over here." Knight answered, quickly closing what looked like a chat window. Ruby didn't think anything of it, though. People were allowed to have other friends - and it's not like he was cheating on her! Hell, they weren't anything more than friends themselves.
"Let's go, then!" Ruby said cheerily, turning on her heel towards the city gates.
"This is gonna be a long trip, isn't it?" Knight said with a laugh.
"You know it." Came Ruby's answer, and a grin.
=^v^=
"Duck in!" Ruby yelled, hunkering behind her shield as an Ursa slammed its claws into the virtual metal plate that was the only thing separating it from her, and a very violent death.
"On it!" Came Knight's answering call. As Ruby shoved the Ursa back away from her, her battle buddy ducked in under her sword arm to begin dragging his own blade through the Grimm's tough body. As it howled in pain, growing louder as the warrior slashed again and again, Ruby shifted her focus to the encroaching Creeps and the Beowulf that led them.
"Annoying.. Little.. Pests!" Ruby grunted, thrusting and slashing at the little monsters. Though one or two of them (almost) got close to clawing or biting her, the Red Devil proved once more how she'd earned that name - and soon all but the Beowulf were decomposing husks of black mist.
"You okay, Cooks?" Knight called out, grunting as he had to dive and roll away from the Ursa's snapping jaws.
"Worry about yourself!" Ruby answered, whirling inside of the Beowulf's guard before plunging her blade square in the center of its chest. It hissed as it died, making a last couple of weakened snaps at her as Ruby ripped the sword free.
Panting slightly, Ruby then refocused herself on the Ursa. Knight had it well in hand, dodging and ducking while carving deep gouges in its hide with his massive weapon. After her little breather, Ruby squared her shoulders and dove back into the fray.
Between her holding the massive bear-thing at bay with her shield and defensive skills, Knight dealing most of the damage, and her poking the tip of her blade into its' hide when she could, the monster was felled soon enough.
As the corpses of the Grimm they'd slain finally dissolved into nothingness, and numbers appeared above their head to show how much experience they'd gained from the fight, the pair finally allowed themself a small rest.
"Never.. Gets any easier." Knight panted, sitting down and scrolling through the list of materials and sellable items he'd been allocated from the battle.
"Speak for yourself! I coulda handled 'em all myself." Ruby shot back, grinning, as she leaned against the trunk of a tree.
"Noted. Next time they're all yours, Cooks." Knight laughed, pushing himself up from the ground.
Neither of the fighters had gotten anything even remotely good as far as loot went, but it was all sellable or usable, so at least there was that. After checking themselves one last time, Ruby and her friend began trudging off once more.
Though they were following the road, it was about a hundred or so feet to their left. Truth be told, the pair would have made much better time if they just stuck to the path, but that absolutely wasn't their style. Ruby loved the thrill of the fight, and Knight wanted to improve his skills and level up some more. So, the more dangerous 'road' was the one they took.
With that fight behind them, and another three before that, the pair had spent a good chunk of the in-game day slogging through Grimm after Grimm. As the sun really started to set, Ruby was still raring to go and eager for more, but she paused when Knight pulled to a stop a little in front of her.
"Hate to do this, but I've got work soon. Shoulda mentioned it earlier, but they called me in since they're short staffed." Knight said with a sad grimace. "Mind if we make camp here?"
It wasn't an ideal spot, and Ruby had wanted to make a little more progress than they actually had, but.. If Knight had to go, then he had to go. Though the Red Devil was certainly capable of forging ahead alone, she wasn't going to put him in the position of logging back in while in hostile territory.
"Oh, not at all!" Ruby said, ever her cheery self. "We oughta try and meet up at the same time, just so I know when to take the camp down." She went on to suggest, holding her right palm up while her left hand scrolled through her inventory.
With a couple of button presses, a small bundle of kindling wrapped in cloth soon dropped gently down into her waiting hand. Another couple of pokes before throwing it to the ground was all that was needed, and within moments, the pair had a fully furnished campsite to rest at.
A single large tent, two sleeping rolls, a fire pit (complete with a roasting spit and a large pot), and some conveniently placed logs around the fire made sure that they would at least have the comforts of home while in the field. It was amusing to Ruby that the developers went to all the trouble to put this level of detail in the game, but she really did appreciate the immersion it gave.
It's not like they were actually going to be staying there. They cooked and ate to restore stamina and health, but they didn't need to sleep - let alone share a tent or anything. Still, it was a nice touch, she had to admit.
"Thanks, I appreciate it." Knight answered gratefully. "Let's see.." He pondered thoughtfully, taking a seat by the fire, where Ruby joined him shortly thereafter. "I close tonight, and open tomorrow. Will you be free in the afternoon?" Knight asked.
It only took a few moments for Ruby to check her class schedule, before nodding in confirmation. "My last class ends at three-forty-five, I should be all set to go by four-thirty." She said, and Knight hummed in agreement.
"'Til next time, then, Cooks." Knight said with a friendly smile and a wave, before logging out. Ruby watched as the blonde warrior dissolved into pixelated light before sighing softly and laying back on the log they'd just been sharing. Most people probably would have called Ruby crazy, but laying in this virtual world - looking at the stars, camping under the clouds.. Even if it wasn't real, it was peaceful.
After a little more time, Ruby logged out for herself. It was probably for the best that Knight had left when he did. She had homework, and a bad habit of leaving it until the very last second to do. This would at least make sure she finished in time to get a good night's sleep.
[A/N]:Whew, that was a fun one! Almost/kinda got away from me a little bit, but I think we're making good progress! It may be a little bit before we get back to the real world with Ruby, but I have plenty of fun planned in-game for her. Join us next time, when we continue our adventure in RWBY-Ball Z!