The virtual sun was just rising on Aincrad. I stared at it for moment. It's as if I hoped it would charge me up like a battery. I was exhausted. After all I'd spent the whole night awake and that after a whole day of hunting all sorts of creatures, just tough enough to give me a hard time. To top it all off the evening was way too emotionally draining.

I dragged my feet to the inn, and without even glancing at the common room, I went to my room and collapsed on the bed. I couldn't be bothered with changing my clothes. I laid there, staring at the ceiling, a rerun of the past days playing back in my mind. I screamed in frustration. All I wanted was a little peace. I took a very deep breath to calm myself, and without further notice, I simply fell asleep.

I slept without dreams, a peaceful empty slumber that pushes all your worries aside and centers on keeping you out for as long as possible. A big dose of just the right medicine, so much so that It was already midday when I finally woke up. My mind remained half asleep as I got up. "A little breakfast and a large coffee should do the trick." I thought to myself. I chuckled at the thought, "Coffee? Hah! In your dreams Wolf, in your dreams." I said aloud. Even if they burnt the tea it wouldn't be anywhere near what I craved. And NPCs never burnt anything.

I stared over my food sitting at one of the tables of the inn. For the first time in a while I was alone with nothing to do, no plan to do it. I used to know exactly what to do when I was alone: go hunt, trade items, eat, sleep. What little charm it once had was now lost, the gains seeming meager for such a high risk. On the other hand it was an intrinsic part of the very nature of MMORPGs.

I headed to the market place to equip myself with some healing items, and do a little maintenance on the battle axe. The smith here had a good collection of weapons and quite a few parts you could add to armour to upgrade it: studs, spikes, extra plates, and more. I browsed his wares while I waited. I paused when I saw the katana he had on display. A shiver traveled the length of my spine.

"You interested in the katana?" the smith said as he came back with my battle axe. "I ... no. I'm just looking." I stuttered surprised by his presence. "Look all you like. You just don't look like the type to use one." he said. "Someone I know uses one." I said absentmindedly. The smith just stood there with my battle axe in front of him. I stared at him for a moment till I realized what he wanted. I paid him for his work and left the store feeling empty.

I headed along the river, along the route I had taken the day before. I got to about a hundred meters out of town before leaving the road and cutting into the forest. I readied my battle axe as I carefully entered the forest. Almost instantly I was attacked by a Giant Centipede, orange-brown in colour with sideways, very sharp claw like mandibles. I didn't get much chance to asses it's aesthetics, or lack there of, as it raised its body and dove at me. I moved as fast as I could to avoid those sharp claws, I felt its legs just brush my shoulder. I counterattacked by chopping downwards into the insect's side. Then I yelled "Switch!"

Nothing happened. For a moment I had forgotten I was going at this alone. The creature seemed to decide it was its duty to remind me, by thrashing its body and knocking me to the ground. Cursing through clenched teeth, I tried to get a grip on how I was going to do this. I hadn't fought alone for so long that I no longer had a strategy to match my skills. It wasn't going to be easy.

I got back on my feet as the creature came down for another attack which I managed to block with the battle axe. I let loose a spinning attack that caused multiple hits, then finished with a dazing blow. I damaged the Giant Centipede but it left me open for attacks again, and this time it cut into my shoulder. My health was dropping too fast for comfort. I would have to protect myself more. I started alternating offensive and defensive skills.

That worked, my health was now going down slower, though it was still going down, and it was going to take twice as long to kill the Giant Centipede. I was switching between styles, blocking even when the creature couldn't retaliate. But I wasn't going to make it if I couldn't keep my health up, I would have to take a potion. Right after performing a stunning blow I took one as fast as I could at the risk of making myself vulnerable. The creature attacked again before I had time to finish it. My health was only at half but there wasn't much more I could do about it.

With my health still going down, I fought the urge to panic and tried to concentrate on the creature in front of me. I charged a sword skill and waited till the creature made its move. As it dove towards me, I released the skill which luckily managed to hit it four times. I saw the beast shudder for a moment then explode in that now too familiar firework of blue-green sparks.

I felt no pride, no joy, no power from beating the creature. I just needed to get to somewhere safe and get there as fast as I could. Downing a potion, I backed out of the woods, praying that I didn't aggro any other creatures. Once on the road, i tossed the empty potion bottle and grabbed my battle axe with both hands, madly looking everywhere, terrified of my surroundings. Panic stricken, I ran all the way back to town.

Once in town, I looked back where I'd come from. Still scared of what was out there. "I can't do it." I said in half a whisper. I sat on the ground and just stared out into the wilderness, still shaken from the experience. From where I sat it was deceivingly calm, and actually looked inviting. It was an attractive but deadly combination that I'd have to resist if I was to survive.

I would need some help. The creatures were just too strong to take alone. I would need someone I could party with. Someone to be my battle partner, who wants to go hunting as much as me and who could back me up when the going got rough. There was only one person I could think of that would really fit the bill. There was no way around it. I would have to ask if she would come with me once again.

I didn't know exactly where she was at this point and not wanting to wander all over town, I thought the best way would be to send her a note. I brought up my menu and accessed my friends list. It popped up in a fraction of a second but I stared at it for a good five minutes, with my hand hovering over the names, before coming to grips with what I saw.

Karla's name was gone.