Chapter 2 Lessons
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The group now joined by Haseo and his two friends Silabus and Gaspard, warped from the city that the girls now knew as Mac Anu, and into a large, slightly narrow, grassy area with a rock face on both sides and a wooden gate at the end of it with a large pinwheel on the top . There were also two stands for both the save shop and an item shop, both of which were run by duck NPCs. The girls were awestruck at this large, grassy town to the point that they couldn't even speak for the first ten seconds or so upon arriving.
"Wow..." Said Twilight as she studied the town and all it's sights.
"Wow is right, Twilight!" Said Rarity also surveying the town, inspiration overflowing her mind.
"Well now, this place just feels so natural, it's kind of like being on the farm again." Said Applejack."
"So, what are we doing here again, guys?" Asked Rainbow Dash.
"This root town is the one for the Θ server, Celestial City: Dol Dona." Replied Silabus. "The Θ server contains areas that are at our levels and above them. You'll get more experience points here than areas that are in the Eternal City: Mac Anu. Remember?"
"Oh-oh yeah, right..." She replied sheepishly, the false statement Rarity came up with made girls felt uneasy about lying to Haseo's friends when they and Haseo knew the truth, but it was the best option they had; the other one was freaking out Silabus and Gaspard or making the two think they were crazy.
"Okay, let's see... some good area words would be..." Said Silabus, thinking.
"Θ Cheering Unlimited Freedom." Said Haseo, deciding on an area word for his party to go to.
"...I've got it! We'll head to Θ Beloved Daybreak's Paradise." Said Silabus, also deciding.
"And we'll go to... Θ Counting Humbling Gate." Said Gaspard, deciding the area word for his party.
"Okay, let's go!" Shouted Rainbow Dash, exited. Haseo entered the area words into the warp menu and his party warped away to begin training. Silabus and Gaspard's parties did the same to their respective areas to begin their lessons, completely ignorant of their party members' status.
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Haseo's party
Haseo's party warped into the area and found themselves inside a round blue room with gold accents and patterns on the wall. There was a hallway that seemed to go upward into the next room. Twilight was having trouble holding in her amazement and curiosity about the concept of the area word system.
"So, Haseo. Are there other types of areas?" She asked him.
"Yeah, towers, like this one, caves, shrines, canyons, and fields. It depends on the area words you use."
"And this is a tower?"
"Yeah, areas like this are called dungeons. Unlike fields, dungeons, are more linear. Each area has a mission for it too. Like getting a treasure from the beast temple, or fighting a boss."
"Well what are we waiting for then? Let's go kick some tail!" Shouted Rainbow Dash, enthusiastically waiting to play the game. The party went toward the pathway, further into the dungeon, but were stopped by boulders rolling in their way. But they disappeared when they got to the edge of the pathway. The girls were mad at Haseo for not telling them about it, but they got over it and they trekked further. They encountered another room, it was very similar looking to the one they were in before, almost to the point of confusing the girls. But something was different about the room, or something was in the room, making it different than the one before. Two creatures were in the middle of the room. Large, dark-purple, hermit-crab like things with pincers the size of a filly and a large cone shell on each of them. On the other side, there was a pathway, blocked by a yellow barrier.
"Monsters." Said Haseo, identifying them as such. "Scissor Bytes. That's what they're called."
"So, do we fight them? Or can we work something out with them?" Asked Twilight.
"In order to gain experience, you fight them, there's no other way." Answered Haseo.
"Well let's go then!" Shouted an enthusiastic Rainbow Dash.
"They haven't seen us yet, so we can launch a surprise attack. Rainbow Dash, you want to get started."
"Uh, Yeah! Let's do this!" Rainbow Dash saw a greenish-blue reticle on one of the Scissor Bytes, along with a gauge at the upper-right corner of her view that seemed to show it's HP. Almost without thinking ... a pair of dual swords called Spin Fang appeared in her hands, and she lunged at the two monsters, damaging them a little bit and causing a blue energy field to materialize around the party. Haseo drew his weapon, a scythe by the name of Ticking Death. Rainbow Dash suddenly realized what she was doing and looked at the swords in her hands. She was holding weapons in her hands, and it didn't take her long to realize what she had to do. She began attacking one of the monsters.
Twilight discovered a book, floating in front of her, a grimoire to be exact, called Magic Huawen, supported by a stand. "Haseo, what should I do?!" Asked Twilight, uncomfortable with the current circumstances.
"You're supposed to be helping us fight, Twilight." Said Haseo, blocking an attack from a Scissor Byte, "support us with magic!"
"But, I don't know if any of my spells work here!" She shouted back. Suddenly one of the monsters lunged at her, intending to attack her as programmed. She put her arms in front of her in fear. It looked like the end for her. But...
"Reaper's Touch!" She heard a voice shout as she was about to be attacked! She recognized the voice as Haseo's. She opened her eyes and saw Haseo swing his scythe at the monster in a circular formation, before it kept on attacking him. She looked and saw that Rainbow Dash was also fighting it. "Twilight, try opening your skill window in the menu and selecting a spell from it." He suggested.
"But, how do I-" She stopped talking and remembered the time when she and the girls went to the Chaos Gate in Equestria. She just thought about going to The World through it, and it happened. So she tried doing the same thing to cast a spell. She thought about the menu... and sure enough it appeared rightin front of her it was dark red and had a gyro that supposedly contained different things. She saw that she could turn it as well. So she turned it and got to the part that said 'skills' and accessed it. This was the 'healing/support, tab, there were two other ones, labeled 'attack spells' and 'arts'. She went to 'attack spells', selected a spell out of nine to choose from, and a ring of energy appeared at her feat. Then a circular red trail went toward the monster that Haseo and Rainbow Dash were attacking. The monster knocked Haseo and Rainbow Dash down; Rainbow Dash was surprised that it didn't hurt when she was hit and got back up. It was at that moment that Twilight uttered the phrase, "OrGan Bolg!", and several small boulders and one large boulder rose up from the ground, taking a chunk out of the red gauge and attacked the monster. Haseo and Rainbow Dash got up when it happened and completely depleted the red gague after a few more hits breaking it's shell and leaving it vulnerable. Soom The monster's HP-gauge hit zero, turned black, and disappeared, only one remained.
"Whoa! Twilight, how did you do that?" Wondered Rainbow Dash.
"I just used a skill, like Haseo told me to. I just thought about opening the menu, going to the skill window, and selecting a skill to use. It happened." Replied Twilight, trying to explain it to her in the simplest form possible.
"I didn't really get all of it, but I'll try it!" She too thought about accessing the menu, and it worked. She accessed her own skill menu, and found that she had nothing under the 'healing/support' tab, nor the 'attack spells' tab. So she checked the arts tab, and saw a total of six skills. She selected one, and she felt a sensation that made her feel like she was about to take off for flight. Taking the chance, she lunged at the remaining monster and shouted "Whirlwind!"; slashing at the beast five times before finishing it off with a miniature energy blast from her swords. After that Rainbow Dash felt like she had all the power in The World even if Haseo had more experience fighting than her. "That was awesome! So that was a skill huh? I want to do so much more of these!" She said, pumped. The group later finished off the last one with regular attacks, and Twilight learned that her book didn't do nearly as much damage as Rainbow's dual swords or Haseo's scythe. But regardless, it turned black and disappeared like the other one. Afterwards, The party dispelled their weapons. More questions from the girls followed.
"So, Haseo, what happens after we defeated these monsters?" Asked Twilight.
"Well, you get experience points whenever you defeat an enemy party. When you collect 1000 points, your level increases so you can go to higher level areas and face stronger monsters to gain more experience, items, GP, and so on. When you beat monsters with levels higher than yours, you get more experience." He responded.
"Hey, how come Twilight can use magic and I can't." Asked Rainbow Dash.
"She's a shadow warlock, she can use spells naturally. You're a twin blade, so you can't." Responded Haseo.
"Shadow warlock? What does that mean?" Wondered Twilight. For a few seconds she wondered if the 'shadow' part of it meant that she had an evil power deep within her that would soon awaken and destroy everything, but she quickly dismissed the thought, deeming it too ridiculous.
"It's one of the jobs a player can have in The World. Shadow warlocks are experts in attack magic. But they can use other types of magic too."
"And what about me?" Asked Rainbow Dash.
"You're a twin blade, they have high agility, and a variety of arts."
"So I've still got my speed even in The World!" She said, enthusiastic."
Twilight was thinking about the past couple minutes. She thought the violence portion of the game was pointless and dangerous. But she could see the appeal, and that Rainbow Dash liked it. They trekked on, as the blue wall that formed around them when the fight started and the yellow barrier that blocked their path disappeared. It was a straight hallway leading to another similar-looking room, with more monsters, and another blocked path. The group dealt with them the same way as the last time. After the barrier disappeared, they went forward again. They learned that the blue wall that surrounded them durring their fight was called the 'battle-fence', avoided buzzsaw traps and floor spikes, opened treasure chests and broke containers to get items, and gained a couple of levels. Eventually, they got to a room that was slightly different from the ones before, no monsters or breakable containers. When they looked to their rights, they saw a wide hallway. They walked to it and saw a statue of what looked like a large beast with a treasure chest at the base.
"Well, we're finally here." Said Haseo.
"Where? Asked Twilight."
"The beast statue, it contains an item that a player can equip."
"Wow, can I open it?" Asked Rainbow Dash.
"Go ahead." He responded. She walked up to the chest, and opened it.
"By the way, what's your job, Haseo?" Asked Twilight.
"I'm an adept rogue. I can use multiple weapons, but never be as good with them as the actual job."
"Oh, I get it, jack of all trades, master of none, right?"
"Yeah. The weapons I can use are dual swords, a broadsword, and a scythe."
"When did you get the scythe?"
"Job extension quest."
"And this also changed your clothes?"
"Yeah."
"Hey, Haseo. Here, take this. I can't use it." Rainbow Dash gave him the item that she got out of the chest. It was a blade, a weapon normally used by blade brandiers and adept rogues who could use blades but he also couldn't equip it. He thought to sell it at the shop. "Think of it as a present for teaching us how to play."
"...Okay. Let's head back to town." He said back. His party did just that, going to the nearby platform. They warped away in the blue rings, and back to Dol Dona.
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Silabus's party
Silabus and his party went to a shrine dungeon. It looked like an old temple primarily red, with screens and everything. It also had many different rooms and hallways. Rarity spent the first few minutes taking in the unique architecture.
"Well, here we are." Said Silabus.
"This looks simply amazing! who designed this, Silabus?" Asked Rarity.
"The CC Corp, you know, the company that made the game."
"O-oh, yes, I had forgotten about that." She lied, still uneasy.
"So, what're we doing here again?" Asked Applejack.
"I'm here to remind you about the basics of playing The World, remember?"
"Oh... uh, right, yeah." Applejack seemed less uneasy, and more agitated about their current situation.
"Anyway, does the term dungeon ring any bells."
"Yes, if you count the ones they use to imprison."
"That's one type of dungeon, and there's this type of dungeon. Where players go on adventures to fight monsters or get items. Let's go find some." Said Silabus. He led them to a room with branching paths, and where there was a turret thing with a wheel and a gun on its head two other montsers that looked like dragons, a treasure chest in one corner, and a bucket of some sort. "Great, we found some! So, you two ready?" He asked the girls in his party.
"You mean you want us to fight?" Asked Rarity, concerned.
"Of course, that's the way you get better at the game."
"Well I think it sounds outright barbaric to be fighting in these clothes!" She moved her hands for emphasis. "I need something better suited for roughing."
"There's nothing we can do about it right now, Rarity. Now I ain't comfortable with this either, but we just have to tough it out, alright?" Asked Applejack.
"...Oh alright! But whn we're done I'm changing out of this!" Said Rarity in submission.
"Have it your way." Said Applejack, rolling her eyes.
"Applejack, would you like the honor?" He asked her.
"Well, I guess I could try." She responded. She also saw a reticle on one monster. She hesitated at first, but then she remembered that it was just a game. thought about what she could do to 'surprise' them. "Hey! Over here!" She waved her arms around trying to get their attention. But they didn't respond in any way, shape, or form. They just idly moved
"Applejack, they can't hear you. Surprises don't work like that; you have to attack them." Said Silabus.
"Attack them? How am I supposed to do that?"
"Let me show you." Silabus drew his sword and lunged at the turret based monster. The battle-fence formed around them as well. The two girls initially didn't know what to do, but were instructed by Silabus to draw their weapons. They initially didn't know how, but Rarity had a hunch, the way she saw Silabus make his sword appear in his hand and thought to do something similar to that. She moved her arms to make it look like she was holding a weapon and focused on it. She saw a flash, and it appeared, a staff, called Spell Ji Yi. She then thought to instruct Applejack.
"Applejack, focus on summoning whatever you use as a weapon, like I did!" Said Rarity. "Just focus."
"Well, okay then." Responded Applejack. She too focused on a weapon and she got the same result. What appeared in her hands was a large sword about the same size as the one Haseo used back in Equestria. A broadsword, called Broad Sheaf.
"Hey, you guys, I could use some support!" Shouted Silabus, pleadingly.
"Right." Said the girls in unison.
"Rarity, focus on healing, Applejack, help me fight!"
"You got it, I guess." Replied Applejack, getting into a fighting position, running toward a monster to help out Silabus. Rarity was busy trying to figure out how to support them. She had another hunch, if she focused on healing Silabus, it would happen.
She focused, and she felt a sensation, she suddenly moved her right arm and her staff up into the air and shouted, "Repth!" sending a flow of energy toward Silabus, restoring his HP by 100 points.
"Thanks." He said to Rarity. She then understood what she had to do; keep supporting the party while they fought.
"Applejack, Rarity just used the 'skill-trigger' do you remember that?" Asked Silabus.
"No." Responded Applejack.
"Basically, it allows you to quickly access your skills." He explained. "You just press the R1 button to access it. Let me show you." He turned toward a monster, a yellow flash came from him and he used a skill on one of the two flying dragons, which were called Sea Tridents. "Lateral Moon!" He shouted, slashing at it. The flying monster fell down to the floor with the blue gauge below it's HP gauge depleted, and Applejack and Silabus found that they were doing more damage to it after that. "Now you try it." He suggested to Applejack.
(Okay Applejack, you may not have one of his video game watchamacallits, but you can still do this.) She thought to herself as she tried to think of what to do. She tried focusing on accessing the skill-trigger, and it worked. She felt a sensation that felt like she was charging, and she saw a set of four panels, each with a name on it, supposedly the names of skills. She selected one by trying the focusing method, and she felt another sensation. It compelled her to charge at a monster. She did so and shouted, "Shell Breaker!" She pierced a monster with her broadsword, swung it backwards into the ground, and brought it back up to strike the monster from beneath it, going in a circle and damaging it. Applejack was surprised after doing this. She felt like she had bucked an apple tree until she fell down. It was such a rush for her. And the resulting damage made it look like it would die in just a few more hits. So she swung at it, and then she slammed her broadsword into the ground, creating a small shockwave. The monster faded to black and disappeared. There were two left to go and Silabus was already working on the other Sea Trident.
"Excellent! Getting the hang of the skill-trigger again?" He asked.
"Yeah... I guess so." Replied a nervous Applejack. She then turned her attention to the turret-based one with a gun. She swung her sword, and saw that the red gauge below it's HP gauge decreased when she hit it, and it's HP decreased very little. She thought to decrease the red gague first since it was depleting faster than it's HP. After a few more hits it depleted completely; it's armor broke, revealing the weaker interior. She and Silabus team attacked it for a faster kill, while Rarity learned that she also has a few attack spells, only two though. Their combined efforts, and the newly learned 'Rengeki' made quick work of the machine. The last one, was the other Sea Trident. They took care of this one as well, once again with little trouble. When they were done, they learned of experience points, GP, and items. They continued, the room had two different pathways to choose from. They went to the one that went downward. But it was blocked by a metal door that seemed to split in two when opened. In between the two pieces was a circular red light. Applejack walked up to it and tried to open it. She noticed no knobs or locks on the door. So she tried pushing it and using her broadsword, and it didn't work.
"Applejack, stop it. Youn can't open a door with brute force. You need to open it in a different manner." Said Rarity.
"Actually-"
"Then what do you think we should do?" Said a frustrated Applejack, interrupting Silabus as he was about to say something.
"Well, simply knocking on the door is the most polite thing to do in times like this." Continued Rarity, doing just that. NO response came from the other side. She knocked again, and this time her face changed to one of frustration, much like Applejacks. She knocked harder an faster. "Hello! Is somebody there?!" She shouted, continuing her seemingly hopeless efforts to open the door. "If you don't open this door right now, I will-"
"Hey, Rarity?" Said Silabus.
"What is it?!" She shouted at him.
"That's not the way to open the door either. Do you remember what Chim Chims are?"
"No, what's that?"
"Chim Chims are creatures that, when kicked, drop Chim Spheres. We use these chim-spheres to open certain types of doors." He explained. "If you look over there, you can see them." He pointed to the wall opposite of where they were standing. And sure enough, the girls saw tiny purple creatures that were carrying small blue spheres on the tops of their bodies, like flames on candlesticks, were moving on a shelf extending from the wall; "You can't notice it from here, but they actually have faces."
"Really?"
"Yeah. And you can see them right now. Follow me." He led them to the wall where the Chim Chims were. He then walked up to a metal thing with a green button that said "ON", connected to jets that were attached to the wall where the chim chims were walking. He proceeded to kick the button, it turned red and steam came out of the jets on the wall. The steam knoked there Chim Chims off the wall and onto the floor. Applejack and Rarity upon further inspection, found that they did in fact have faces, with white eyes and white w-shaped smiles. Silabus then proceeded to kick one of them, and the blue sphere flew off of it and absorbed into Silabus.
"Silabus! Why would you do that to such adorable little things?!" Asked Rarity, confused and somewhat angry at the green clad blade brandier.
"Kicking them is the only way to aquire Chim Spheres, which are used to open Chim Doors." He explained to her, hoping to put her fears to rest. He was also confused about her lack of knowledge about the game. He thought if she had been playing long enough to be at the level she is now, she should know about all of this. The only way she should be at this level and not know, is if she was playing since this game was first released, and didn't play again until today; that's the conclsion he reached. "Would you two mind going after the others?" He asked them, dismissing his thoughts for the moment.
"Wha-I would never-" Rarity was about to argue with Silabus, but...
"Rare, relax. It's just a game." Whispered Applejack in Rarity's ear after quickly walking up and silencing her. "Do you want to confuse him even more than you already have? Look I'm not comfortable with this whole thing either and he may find out anyway. But we just have to deal with it for now. Alright?"
"...Fine, but after this I'm, leaving the kicking of anything to you and Silabus. Or Haseo, or anypony else for that matter." Whispered Rarity back.
"Alright. And remember to say everyone, not everypony." Advised Applejack. The two proceeded to chase after the short creatures. After a few seconds they successfully kicked them and the Chim Spheres flew toward Silabus as he absorbed them as well. He then proceeded to walk toward the door and the light turned green. The door split into two and the two halves moved into the wall and their path was no longer blocked. But before they
"By the way, do you two see a map on the upper-left corner of you screen?" He asked them.
"Well now that you mention it, yes, there is." Replied Applejack. The map was vague looking as some areas were dark, which meant that those areas were unexplored.
"And now...?" The girls wondered what he meant by that. But when they looked at there maps again they saw that the dark spots were gone, everything was clear, and some icons were revealed to them.
"Wha-what happened to it? Silabus, what did you do?" Inquired Rarity.
"I used an item called a Fairy's Orb. They reveal everything about the map to you upon usage. But it's a consumable item, meaning you can only use it once, so you have to purchase more of them. This is why GP is important." He explained.
"I see..." Said Rarity. "Thank you."
"My pleasure." Said Silabus politely. "Now let's go!" He led them downwards, to a room containing a treasure chest, more paths to go to, and another group of enemies. After dispatching them they went both ways and found more enemies, which were also taken care of. The girls saw that they gained a level. They went back upwards to go to the next area in the dungeon. Along the way they found a room with floor panels so hot they could cause a pony to get third-degree burns, which they were lucky to avoid. Silabus also informed the two of their classes; Applejack was an edge punisher and Rarity was a harvest cleric. Eventually they cleared out the second area of the dungeon and encounted a new type of enemy, Onlin Packs, squishy yellow things that looked too cute to be monsters. Soon they arrived at the beast statue. This one looked like to lion-like gods were holding a crest at the sides, while a treasure chest was at the base of it.
"Well, that was a good adventure." Said Silabus. "What did you think?"
"Well... it certainly was a rather refreshing experience, to say the least." Lied Rarity.
"Would either of you like to open the chest?" He asked them.
"Uh, okay, sure." Said Applejack. She walked up to the chest and proceeded to open it. Inside of it, was an accessory. The statue of the gods and crest then dissapeared.
"So, what did you find?" Asked Rarity curiously.
"Something that I don't know what to do with." Replied Applejack.
"You could sell it to an NPC shop, or you could equip it and customize it to your liking." Said Silabus.
"And what does that do?"
"When an item isn't a rare item, you can customize it and gain abilities from it. You can do the same with weapons and armor." He explained.
"How interesting" (I should really use this concept sometime when I'm creating a new line). Said Rarity, thinking.
"I hope the basics of the game are fresh in your minds now. And don't hesitate to send me an email if you have any questions. Or you could also just read the manual." Explained Silabus, to be helpful.
"We are in your debt, Silabus." Said Rarity, slightly blushing. "I hope to see you again someday."
"Yeah, thanks a bunch, Silabus." Said Applejack.
"No problem." Said Silabus. "Now, let's head back to town." He led them to the nearby platform and they warped back to Dol Dona.
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Gaspard's party
Gaspard's party warped into a grassy field, surrounded by sand, surrounded by water; it was assumed by Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, that they were on an island of some sort. And the sun was setting like the area was programmed. Further away from the water, they saw beautiful mountains, heightned by the sunset, the only word to describe the scenery was breathtaking. They were surrounded by altars with chests on them, guarded by monsters; Sea Tridents and mecha ones that looked like scorpions on wheels, which were called Hash Chases. How the CC Corp. came up with the names for some of these monsters was beyond most of the players in the game if not all of them. "Okay! Bringing two intermediates to the field!" Said Gaspard enthusiastically.
"I'm ready when you are Gaspard! Woohoo!" Said Pinkie Pie, jumping for joy.
"Um, I hope I'm not a burden to anyone... and I hope you all have fun..." Said Fluttershy, nervous.
"Oh relax, Fluttershy. It's only just begun! Don't worry, I'll help you out!" Said Gaspard reassuringly. The party started moving toward a nearby altar to fight some monsters and collect the treasure, but...
"Wait!" They heard three voices call for them in unison; just behind them. They looked and saw three beast players about Gaspard's height. All wearing similar-looking white and green clothes. In fact they were all wearing the same clothes, almost like uniforms. They assumed they were all in a party as well.
"Starting a long day of fighting and wounds! We're here to heal you!" Said the one on the right, named Agnes. "Medic Union! Here's a shot, straight from the heart!" He cast a spell on them.
"Changing sparkling bravery to rejuvenation!" Said the one in the midde, named MSF. "Break open the door to tomorrow! We! Are the Medic Union! We are here to help, meow!" He too cast a spell on them.
"Starting a long day of fighting and wounds! We're here to heal you!" Said the one on the left, named Telese. "Medic Union! Here's a shot, straight from the heart!" He casted a spell on them as well, and then another.
"Medical exam complete!" They shouted, warping away. Fluttershy was surprised at this gesture and didn't know what to think of it. She silently thanked them for their kindness and willigness to assist them. But she was unnerved about the 'fighting and wounds!' part of their speech.
"Hey look at our stats! They're higher now!" Shouted Pinkie Pie, psyched after somehow learning to check her status window.
"Um, Gaspard, what happened just now?" Asked Fluttershy.
"Those players were part of the Medic Union guild. A group of players deticated to healing other players and prepping them for adventuring." He explained.
"That's very nice of them." She said.
"Hey! Look! Over there!" Shouted Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Gaspard looked and saw something dark grey in color, lying on the ground within what looked like a small crop circle. "There's something lying on the ground!" She ran towards the dark grey shape out of curiosity, Fluttershy and Gaspard followed. Fluttershy gasped in fear and covered her mouth with her hands at what she saw; a small metallic creature with a tail, red hands and stubby red feat, a red line around it's waist, resembling a belt, and a metallic sedge-hat on it's head, on top of it was a gold-colored key like the kind you would find on wind-up toys.
"Oh my goodness!" Said Fluttershy, kneeling down in fear. "What happened to you...?"
"CHIM SPHERE, PLEASE! OINK!" It said to her in a rather squeaky voice.
"So you're hungry. Okay, w-where can I find Chim Spheres?" She asked it, but it gave no response to her, it just lay there, motionless.
"Hey! Mecha Grunty needs our help!" Said Gaspard, walking up to it.
"So it's called a Mecha Grunty?" Wondered Fluttershy.
"Yep! And we can help it, by giving it Chim Spheres." Explained Gaspard. He held out his hand and gave it Chim Spheres. It quickly hot into an upright position with the key on it's head turning around three times, as did it's head after it got to it's feat. It was shown to resemble a pig smewhat, and that it had a collor-ish thing on it and a clock on it's stomach.
"O-INK, THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME, OINK!" Said Mecha Grunty. It moved it's arms upward to it's head, wing-like things came out of it's back, and took toward the sky, like a rocket. Ater roughly four seconds of flying up, there was a small explosion and they saw it fly off to the side and out of sight. A text box appeared saying: "it seems to have crashed, but not in this area." And then, "Something is falling." And Gaspard recieved an item called a revive rain, which restired all allies' HP by 200 points each.
"Oh my, I hope he's okay..." Said Fluttershy.
"Here, Fluttershy. You can use this." Gaspard gave her the revive rain he recieved from Mecha Grunty.
"A-are you sure? I mean it's yours, isn't it?" She asked him.
"Don't worry about it, you'll need it." He said to her.
"Well, thank you Gaspard." Said Fluttershy. "By the way, do you what other kinds of grunties there are?"
"Yeah, there's one at Canard's Home. You can come with Haseo, Silabus, and I sometime and see him if you like."
"That sounds wonderful, thank you, Gaspard." She said smiling.
"Come on, you guys! Let's go! Adventure is awaiting us!" Shouted Pinkie Pie, running toward an altar with a Hash Chase and two Sea Tridents.
"H-hey! Wait for us!" Shouted Gaspard, running after her along with Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie drew some kind of sword, pointed it at the Hash Chase and a shot rang out as some sort of magical, bullet thing came out of Pinkie's sword, or rather, bayonet, called Gun Bead, and hit the Hash. Damaging it, and causing the battle-fence to form around them. Gaspard made his grimoire appear and Fluttershy reached out to one of them in an attempt to tame it. It swungi t's wheeled legs at her, which had some kind of sharp tentacle-ish claws on it. She avoided it, but was left surprised. She was stunned, other than her first Grand Galloping Gala, no animal has ever resisted her attempts to calm them down. She tried it again, and once again failed; this time she was hit, yet felt no pain as a result.
"What are you waiting for, Fluttershy?! Draw!" Shouted Pinkie pie, using the skill, "Sphere Bullet!" on one of the Sea Tridents, depleting it's blue gauge and knocking it down to the ground.
"Fluttershy, it's just a game, they're programmed to attack you." Said Gaspard, blocking an attack.
"But there has to be a way to calm them down."
"Fluttershy, it's not going to kill you if you attack them." Said Pinkie Pie. "Well, in a tabletop rpg you could die, but it doesn't affect you at all! I mean just look at me, I've been hit by these creepy things but you don't hear me complaining."
"She's right, Fluttershy, you don't feel pain here. And besides, the CC Corp. can always make more of them if they want to." Explained Gaspard. Fluttershy then remebered that it all was an online game, nothing more. "And even if you do get knocked out, I can revive you." He said, trying to reassure her.
"Um, okay, I'll try..." Said Fluttershy, still a little nervous about fighting. She tried to draw something she could use to defend herself. Surprisingly, a weapon appeared to her, a scythe, called Scythe Hook. Not the kind of weapon she or Pinkie Pie were expecting her to have. She tried to get into a fighting stance, and attempted to attack one of the monsters. It hit, and the beast took some damage, and it was finished off like that. At first Fluttershy was horrified, she thought she was TOO strong, and killed it in one swing. But then it came to her that Gaspard and Pinkie had severly weakened it. Soon all of the monsters were finished and the fight ended. After they dispelled their weapons, Gaspard proceeded to try and talk to Fluttershy about the fight.
"Hey, is something wrong, Fluttershy? You didn't look like you wanted to fight them." Wondered Gaspard.
"Oh, no, it's fine... there's nothing to worry about, Gaspard." Replied Fluttershy, somewhat melancholily.
"...I don't know..." Said Gaspard scratching his head in disbelief.
"She doesn't really like attacking other creatures, like at all." Explained Pinkie Pie. Gaspard's bewildered look intensified, as he wondered how she got to that level, as the only way to have gotten where she was would be that she had...
"Don't worry about it! By the end of this adventure you'll never have to leach of of other players again!"
"L-leach of other players? What does that mean?"
"It means you get experience and GP for watching other players fight."
"Oh, no, I'm not a leach. It's just that I'm kind of scared of what will happen to those poor things..." She said refering to the monsters.
"Scared? There's nothing to be scared of, Fluttershy! Me and Pinkie will help you, we'll protect you with our lives!" Said Gaspard, determined. "Right?" He turned to Pinkie Pie.
"Of course, no party member is going to feel down on my watch! Physically or mentally!"
"...Thank you, you two." Said Fluttershy, with newfound confidence. The party continued their adventure, defeating more monsters, avoiding the traps inside of trap chests... except one time where Pinkie Pie couldn't do it and the guns inside of the chest shot her. But all she did was laugh at her mistake, and considerable loss of HP that Gaspard had to heal. Fluttershy also got used to the combat. And in one instance, something incredible happened to Fluttershy while they were walking around the area. She saw what looked like a cat, a red one with bunny-like ears. Fluttershy was ecstatic to see another animal besides the monsters that she was still somewhat reluctant to fight. She quickly ran toward the red cat-like creature hoping to interact with it in a very Fluttershy-ish way. She got a more clear picture as she got closer to it, seeing that it had light-pink patterns on it's cheeks, body and tip off tail, yellow sclera, and red eyes.
"Aw, just look at him! He's so cute." She said to the creature. "So, what kind of cat are you?" She asked it.
"That's a Malice Cat, an unlucky animal." Said Gaspard.
"Malice? That's not a very nice thing to say about such a sweet little thing." Said Fluttershy in rebuttal.
"Sweet little thing? Fluttershy, it'll cut your HP and SP in half if you don't kick it fast enough! The last time that happened, I was almost beaten by monsters..."
"I'm sorry you were beaten, but that's what you get for kicking her in the first place! Why would you even want to kick her?"
"In The World, there are beings called Lucky Animals. When you kick them, they give you bonuses." He explained. "But Unlucky Animals, will hinder you if you don't avoid kicking them-wait, 'her'?"
"Yes, just don't kick it, and you'll be fine, right? Besides, why would anybody want to kick Scarlet?"
"...Scarlet? You named it?"
"Yes. And Scarlet's not an 'it', Scarlet's a she."
"Uh, how can you tell?" He wondered.
"She's an expert on animals. One time she even handled a three-headed-!" Pinkie Pie was cut off by Fluttershy, who told her not to talk about Equestria in front of Haseo's friends.
"Um... okay. So, let's go! To the boss!" He led them to the area's boss. Some areas had beast temples, which required the collection of symbol fragments from chests to open a door, others had bosses to fight, which gave you experience, and an item. The boss in this area was the boss for all areas levels 81-90 with boss missions. Dardeus was it's name; it was purple in body color, had fiery-colored, demonic-looking claws, and spikes along it's legs and the length of it's body. It also had what seemed to look like three crooked horns on it's head, and even had wings. Overall it looked very much like a dragon. Because of this, Fluttershy immediately cowered behind Pinkie Pie and Gaspard at the mere sight of it. She was panicking and desperately clutching to Pinkie's arm, her newfound confidence already lost.
"Um, is something wrong, Fluttershy? You don't seem so hot." Asked Gaspard.
"Oh, she's scared of dragons. Been that way for a really long time now." Exp
"What was that? I didn't get what you were saying." Said Gaspard.
"Oh, uh... it's nothing, absolutely nothing." Replied Pinkie, nervously, practically giving away abnormality. Gaspard decided not to press them about it. Pinkie Pie launched another surprise attack, this time on Dardeus. They now familiar battle-fence appeared, and they drew their weapons and prepared for battle. Pinkie Pie charged straight ahead and attacked it with her bayonet. Gaspard cast the spell Ani Zot on it, since it was weak to darkness attacks and spells. Fluttershy just hung back in fear of it because of what she thought it was. Despite Pinkie Pie and Gaspard's attempts to get her to help them take it down, she continued to stand their practically frozen in fear. Dardeus just kept attacking them with it's mouth, claws, and laser breath, which Gaspard had to heal. This time it attacked by slamming it's claws into the ground, and a brutal shockwave hit Pinkie Pie and Gaspard as they were attacking it, causing them to take a chunk of damage.
"Fluttershy! We need your help!" Yelped Gaspard.
"I-I can't it's just too scary...!" Said Fluttershy.
"Fluttershy!" Pinkie Pie's sudden outburst surprised her. "Remember what I told you?" She asked, blocking an attack.
"Um... no..." She lied, rather obviously.
"I said no party member is going to feel down! Not while I'm around! I don't want you to look or feel sad, okay
"Oh... you're right, I can't just sit back and watch while my friends are left to fend for themselves! Okay, I'm joining in!" Said Fluttershy, regaining her newfound confidence.
"Now that's the spirit, Fluttershy!" Said Pinkie, enthusiastically, while using the skill "Tempest Blast!", damaging Dardeus. a little bit. Fluttershy also joined in the battle, but she was still reluctant to do so because of her fear of dragons, which Dardeus very much resembled. Despite that though, she was damaging it, and even got the hang of using skills. After a while, the boss only had a bit less than half of it's HP left. But Gaspard's SP was mostly spent on healing, and being a shadow warlock, her couldn't use healing spells as well as a harvest cleric. So he only had a quarter of his original SP left. He would have to rely on items for healing. He used a Sprite Rain to heal the party's SP by 50 points each and refocused his SP into attack magic, while the other two attacked it with arts. Soon Dardeus was on it's last legs, a few more skills from them and it would be finished. In the end, it was Fluttershy who delivered the finishing blow to the beast, after she got angry at it for nearly knocking them out and interrupting their attacks with it's laser breath. A side to Fluttershy that Pinkie Pie had only seen a few times in her life. after defeating it, gaining enough experience to increase their level by one, and getting an item out of the boss, a Thunder Deer Hoof (an accessory for a weapon that adds light element to regular attacks), Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy reflected on this adventure.
"That was the best 'First Adventure In The World' Party EVER! I can't wait to see what comes next!" Shouted Pinkie Pie, still enthusiastic as ever. "What did you think, Fluttershy?"
"Well... it was... really scary at first, but I had you there to help me get through, thank you." Said Fluttershy, "You too Gaspard, thank you for your time..."
"No problem! Just message me, Silabus, or Haseo if you have any questions."
"Oh, I have one question!" Said Pinkie Pie, raising her hand as if she was still a grade-schooler.
"Okay, what is it?" Wondered Gaspard.
"Are there any other players out here?"
"Well, those players from the Medic Union already left. But there could still be other players out there. Th-they might be PKs! C-c'mon let's get out of here~!" He quickly led them to the nearest platform and they warped back to Dol Dona. Yet Pinkie Pie was still quite suspicious...
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Sorry it took so long to write this chapter, I was busy with school stuff, but I'll have a lot more time to spend writing now. Please tell me what you think. This was also an exceptionally difficult chapter to write.