Floor two was in essence a patchwork of plateaus separated by valleys. The plateaus were quite flat, and very savannah-like, with a grassy surface and very few trees. They were approximately the same height throughout the floor, with only a few exceptions. While on the plateaus we could usually see the creatures before we got close enough for them to take notice, which permitted us to avoid most encounters quite easily. The valleys on the other hand were quite rocky, especially near the edges, with high bushes and small trees. This made avoiding creatures a bit trickier. They had more places to hide and in some cases there wasn't enough room to circle around them.

As it was, travel to Urbus was not exactly a safe trip. Mobs did spawn along the road and we had to fight some of then along the way. Running away was not a very good tactic as we would be too far from a safe zone and risked triggering other mobs we passed as we ran. On the other hand very few creatures spawned directly on the road, so we took it slowly, stuck to the road and only fought the creatures that attacked us.

In fact the safest place was where the road climbed up to the edge of a plateau. That spot did not seem to belong to neither the plateau nor to the valley; creatures simply never spawned there. As we got to the last plateau before Urbus, we took a rest on the side of the road in this transition space. Karla opened her menu and materialized two flasks of water and some bread. "So were on a bread and water diet?" I teased. I knew she hadn't wanted to spend too much as we didn't know how much our new equipment would cost. "You expected me to cook for you?" Karla said with fake indignation as she played along with my tease. "Men! They're all the same." She said rolling her eyes.

I was about to reply, but Karla stopped me, something had gotten her attention. I listened and could hear the sound of fighting nearby. Karla put her hand on my arm as she listened intently at the fighting. I could distinguish the shouts of two individuals which I assumed had gone out to do some hunting. That would be good for us as we would have fewer mobs to contend with before reaching the town. Karla squeezed my arm, "What's wrong" I asked. She looked at me. "They're kids and they're in trouble" she tugged at my arm "C'mon!" she pleaded.

We broke into a run and took out our weapons as we ran. Two boys, not even in their teens, were trying to handle an aggressive ox. The older boy had just been knocked off balance and was lying on his back and the ox was about to trample him. "Shin, help me!" the boy cried in despair. The other boy seemed frozen in place holding his short sword with both hands and shaking uncontrollably.

I didn't slow my run and headed to intercept the ox. Holding my sword horizontally and keeping it steady with my left hand I slammed the ox hard in the head. I managed to push the ox out of the way and it narrowly missed the older boy. "Get up boy!" I command. He got up and positioned himself next to me with his mace ready to strike. "Take a potion before you engage!" I told him. He stepped back and grabbed a potion from the pouch on his belt.

Karla had taken position next to the other boy. Looking down at him, she smiled and said "We're here to help." I don't know if it was the words or the smile but the boy stopped trembling. Karla prepared herself getting ready to charge in when the ox would be off its guard. That meant I would have to engage it first for her attack to be the most effective. We had run away from it, over a week ago, but now there was more at stake.

The ox had recovered from my shove and was preparing another charge. There was no way I would let it get its way. I ran towards it, and slammed my sword square on the head. That had a dazing effect on the ox and prevented it from charging. Karla, seizing the opportunity, slammed her dagger into the ox's side, and followed it with an upward stroke leaving a huge gash. A flash of blue light and a downward arc told me that the older boy had recovered and was taking part of the melee.

Though the ox was taking a beating it still managed to recover from my block and was now targeting me. It swung its head left and right. I managed to block one of the horns but the other connected, cutting me and pushing me back, taking a fair chunk of my health. Those horns were sharp. I cursed the size of my sword: a larger weapon or a shield would have better protected me in this case. I found a little comfort that if the ox was targeting me; the others would take minimal damage. But I would need to take a potion if I was to keep this up.

"I got this." The older boy said as he took another swing at the ox, giving me the opportunity to take a potion. So I backed away, as I did, the ox did a kickback and hit Karla hard. She was knocked to the ground. The ox then reared on its hind legs and in so doing knocked the older boy to the ground and was about to come down hard on him. "No!" came a voice in a scream from behind the ox. The ox froze in mid-step, it then swelled and blew up into hundreds of blue crystals of light.

As the shards disappeared and the congratulation window appeared, I saw the younger boy with his sword in hand in the spot the ox was a second ago. The young boy looked to the older boy, and started shaking uncontrollably. The older boy got to his feet and ran over, and hugged the boy tight. "I couldn't move Ry, I'm sorry. I was too scared." The younger boy said crying. "But, you got him Shin! You really did!" The older boy replied

I looked to Karla, she was dusting herself off. She looked at me with an expression that said "How do we get into these predicaments". She went over to the two boys and said "It's not safe here. Let's go" They got up without objection, sheathed their weapons and looked at Karla for further instructions. "We'll take you back to town." Karla said and looked at me. I nodded and we made our way to the road.

On the way to town the boys introduced themselves. "I'm Ory and this is my brother Sharpclaw," said the older brother. The younger brother shyly waved. Karla looked at him "Sharpclaw eh? That's a cool name." she said, and smiled at him. Sharpclaw smiled proudly. Those weren't the names they had called themselves during the battle, I guess their real names had slipped out when the stress got too high.

"I know what you're thinking: what are two kids doing in this game?" Ory said "Our parents bought the game for themselves. They're both gamers, and they said we could try the game after they had checked if it was ok for us. But we couldn't wait to try it. So when our parents said they had to go out for a bit, and mom had asked me to keep an eye on Sharpclaw here, we snuck into their bedroom and put the gear on." "We were only supposed to play for a bit." Sharpclaw interjected guiltily "but now we can't get out." Ory put his hand on his brothers shoulder "We want to help to clear the game but were not good enough yet. We need to get stronger." Ory said. I looked at him "You will. But don't rush it. It'll take time."

As we got to the edge of town inside the safe zone, Ory tugged at his brother and made him bow. "Thank you for saving me and my brother, we do not wish to trouble you anymore." I looked at them and Karla put her hand on Sharpclaw's head. "Your welcome" I said. They turned towards town and we watched them go.

"I'm surprised you didn't get on their case for being in over their heads." Karla said sarcastically. "Or maybe I just get special treatment, hmm?" She did a very cutesy 'lady in distress' act as she says this. "Har, Har." I replied, feeling teased "I learnt my lesson well enough the first time. I did NOT want to go through THAT a second time. And ... well ... apart from all that: You are special. At least you are to me." Karla stopped her cutesy act a bit surprised at my comment.

Red cheeks really suited her.