"Karla's my friend now. She's confirmed it." I savored the thought. I felt we'd always been friends ever since the first party we formed. We just never actually expressed it out loud. I had never asked anyone before to be my friend, not in so many words at least. I could now say "My friend Karla ..." in a conversation and it wouldn't feel awkward, because we both agreed that it was true. It seemed goofy if I'd think about it, but I didn't care.

If I scrolled through my menus and brought up my friend list, her name would be there. But the list was now a technicality, I didn't need it to affirm my friendship to Karla. I used to feel that if the list was wiped out for some reason, or that she felt she had to remove me, it meant she would not want anything to do with me. Not anymore, we were beyond a list.

I'd had this nagging feeling that our relationship might have been temporary. Simply partying for convenience, acquiring strength that alone we each couldn't muster, offering each other protection and watch each others backs. It could be that one day we would make a choice and go our separate ways, meet new people, and relinquish each other to a pleasant souvenir.

Some of my thought had been more sinister; that we were together only because of the game, for its purpose and not for ours. That for some reason it was simply a necessary step to achieve some goal, finish some unseen quest. Could the game have contained that kind of manipulative control mechanism? It was a chilling thought to say the least.

On the other hand the game had played a crucial role in our relationship. We probably would never have even met had it not been for it. Our real lives weren't related in any way. I had had no knowledge of this girl prior to logging in. She could have lived a thousand kilometers away for all I knew. Even if she was close by, she'd still be one person in a sea of millions.

"No! It's real. More than anything in this world. It's real." I thought to myself. A thought that made me happy, happier than I'd been in a long time. I felt it was part of something greater, something permanent. It's as if I had made a promise not only to be her friend now but actually stay her friend forever. I had a new responsibility towards her and I would never be able to deny it.

*Thump*

Something hit me in the face and brought me back to reality. Karla stood beside my bed giggling with her pillow in her hand. Nothing's worse or more brutal than being a victim of a cloth bag containing feathers. "Wake up sleepyhead. I want to go hunting, you know what they say : The early bird gets the worm!" Karla exclaimed. "That's not exactly an incentive to get up." I grumbled.

*Wump*

I received the pillow right in the face again. This time I grabbed it and launched it towards Karla. She dodged it and it hit the wall. "Tsk! You missed." she jeered. As she headed for the door. "If you practice, you'll have at least a remote chance of hitting me." she teased. I grabbed my own pillow and threw it at her as quickly as I could. It hit the door; Karla had slipped out faster than I could throw the pillow.

I got out of bed and picked up the pillows I had thrown. "She's a better shot than I am. It's that agility of hers that's hard to beat." I thought to myself. I threw the pillows on each bed, got dressed, then headed down to the common room. Karla was at one of the tables reading the latest news and sipping some tea. I sat in front of her and poured myself a cup.

"Alakazam! Turn this tea into coffee!" I ordered. "Nope didn't work." I said as I sipped my tea waiting to see how Karla would react to my silliness. She just raised her eyebrows and sighed. "I'll order some breakfast then." I said sheepishly and proceeded to give our order to the waitress who had showed up at our table. "Anything of interest in the news?" I asked after the waitress left.

"They've already cleared the twentieth floor boss and they plan to take on a boss at least once a week. It's amazing how fast they're going. And casualties have been very low. I hope it'll stay that way." Karla said. She put the paper down and took a sip of her tea. "I wonder if we'll ever get to their level." Karla wondered.

"It all depends on you, well both of us actually." I said as breakfast arrived. "The more we train and hunt, the better we get. We go up levels, we acquire new skill, we then take on tougher monsters, and the cycle continues. The levels take longer to acquire the higher we go. But if we keep at it I'm sure we'll eventually get up there. When that time comes we'll make our choice to fight with the clearing group or not." I rambled.

"Yeah, I know. It doesn't make me feel any better, it seems so far away. In some ways I envy them, you know, their courage and the fact that they help every one by clearing the dungeons, and opening new floors." Karla said. "But at what cost? So many have died trying to help. It's something I find hard to take. I don't know if I'll ever be able to face that prospect." she said as she bit her lower lip.

"Well at least you wont face it alone. I'll stand with you." I remarked. Karla's face relaxed and she smiled a little. "There's no point in having doubts about it now. We've still got a ways to go. Not to mention that we've only explored a fraction of this world we're in. We haven't even tried to enter a dungeon yet. There's still so much we can do to improve before taking on a floor boss." I said.

"You're right. It's just that, it's unnerving to be stuck in this game, with no other way out than completing it. I don't think I've ever completed a game in my life. And none of them were as hard or as complex as this one. Becoming strong enough seems so far away. I'm running out of patience, you know, to get it over and done with." Karla fretted.

Karla sighed. "Well it certainly won't happen if we sit here all day eating breakfast" Karla exclaimed. I smiled and we dug into our food. "We could explore the moors, the creatures there should give good experience points. Everything closer to town has become a little to easy. I'm up for the challenge. What do you say?" I asked. Karla grabbed my hand and gently squeezed it, she smiled and said:

"Sounds like a plan."