"Hah!" The boy shouted, gripping the trigger with his left index finger tightly as the shot exploded into the air. The boom echoing loudly across the whole forest.

The entirety of his slim figure was stretched out, his left foot firmly planted on the grass while his right was twisted up at a 90 degree angle. A blade moved along the edge of his chest while just barely piercing the linen of his shirt. The entire scene unfolding in less then a second.
The boy exhaled again as his body tumbled backwards, just barely missing the tip of the blade in the process. He then lifted his head up just enough for a small grin to become visible under the shadow of his long black hair. A moment later he was back on his feet and facing his target just feet ahead of him. Wielding a rusty iron sword and dawned in rough patches of leather was an angry bandit. On the ground next to him was the other bandit, the health bar above the NPC enemies head blinking before it shattered into a thousand pixilated shards.

The boy then attempted to reload his pistol as the last remaining bandit charged him with his blade wielding arm raised in the air. However the distance was closing too fast, before he knew it he was face to face with a blood thirsty virtual bandit. The menacing look on the NPCs face seeming all to real under the rules of the now death game.

Suddenly the bandit stopped mid swing, his blade seemingly frozen in the air as his smile all but evaporated. In the lower regions of his torso a metal blade jutted out nearly a foot, leaving a clean bloodless mark as it sapped the bandits health away. Then just as quickly as the blade pierced his stomach, it left, leaving the grimy thugs body to slump over and fall on the ground.

"Damn it Ryuu stop running ahead!" The girl yelled as she sheathed her two steel blades simultaneously, an intense glare shooting from her jet black almond shaped eyes.

Ryuu took a step back and raised both of his hands into the air in a surrendering manner, revealing the attire of a typical adventurer. Thick dark green leather served as his boots and gloves while a rough looking white cloth made up his pants and vest. All being tied together by a thick leather belt with a solid iron buckle. The same smirk from before never quite managed to leave his face as he spoke up.

"Woah, woah ,woah relax." Ryuu said with a very heavy accent weighing in on his english, in his hands he fiddled with both of his pistol to reload them.

"You would have died if I didn't kill him in time!" she said as she placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes, the pitch black hue of them matching her long straight hair perfectly.

Without warning Ryuu raised both of his pistols and pointed them directly at the warrior girl, a serious look completely overwhelming the smirk from before.

"Ellie!" he yelled frantically.

Almost immediately the girl ducked and rolled out of the way, just barely avoiding the steel cleaver that cut into the now empty space where her head just was. One second passed before the shots rang, both of Ryuu's pistols glowed in a bright yellow light as they fired off at the enemy.
They hit their mark, both bullets planting straight onto the forehead of the monstrously large bandit. He then grunted and stumbled back a bit, revealing his entire figure. His frame was at least twice that of his now shattered subordinates, filled to the brim with muscles and scars. All easily visible thanks to his only outfit being that of hardy leather boots, pants and a half torn black vest. The bandit then roared and charged at Ryuu, who was now a fair distance away from the ogre. His now 1/3 depleted healthbar displayed the name

"Werner The Cruel" with a star next to it to signify his elite status.

"It's him!" Ryuu yelled as Werner leaped into the air and came crashing down on the hero heavily with his cleaver, though somewhat easily dodged as Ryuu quickly and efficiently rolled out of the way. As if in response to this Werner turned around and glared at Ryuu as he readied to charge again. Though this time he was met with a different response to his attack. Across the bandits chest two glowing red x's appeared as Ellie appeared behind the ogre, both her arms outstretched with swords as she finished her skill attack.

Werner then hollered in anger as he quickly turned around and swung down on the girl with his mighty steel cleaver. The weapon met with equal force as Elli widened her stance and parried the blow with both of her blades. This sound of steel clashing steel could be heard alongside the plethora of sparks that shone every time their blades met.
In a moment of human error Ellie miscalculated the angle of one of her slashes, giving Werner a wide open area to attack. Without hesitation the giant swung his cleaver horizontally across Ellie's left shoulder, dealing a large amount of damage and sending her tumbling to the ground.
In what was a two hit combo attack Werner raised his cleaver high into the air and let it glow a bright white. After a few seconds of charging the attack the elite bandit then brought it down with all his might, the fallen warrior on the grounds health now only at 65% from before. Just as the razor sharp edge of the cleaver was about to connect with Ellie's face a loud shot rang out, followed by Werner's wrist jerking violently as the attack was sent spiraling off course. The brunt of the blow connecting with an unfortunate patch of grass to the side.

Though the bandits AI was intelligent, knowing of the second attack he quickly gripped the handle of his Cleaver and took a wide swing to his left. Splitting a airborne bullet in half just as it was inches from his demolishing his virtual eye like a grape.

"Ellie!" Ryuu yelled as he ran towards the blood lusted Werner. Who in recognition of this new threat, let out a battle cry. "I'm gonna use it, get away!" He said, now screaming as he curled up his right hand. Within a second a circular ball appeared with a fuse attached to it.

In immediate response Ellie rolled over onto her stomach and pushed her body up, fiercely kicking the grass as she tried to get as far away from the scene as possible. In a last look she glanced behind her to see Ryuu just feet away from the bandit.

"Hah!" Ryuu yelled in an exhale as he seemingly easily dodged the unstoppable swing of Werner's Cleaver.

Before Werner could react Ryuu had made his counter attack as the fuse on the ball reached it's end point, lighting the sphere up in a ball of yellow light. He held just inches from the bandits face as the light exploded, activating his favorite and currently most powerful Ranged skill. "Hells Dynamite"
The area around the two then almost instantaneously erupted into a large sphere of light before exploding into the air a fraction of a second later. Out of the yellow ball of light then flew Werner's damaged AI body, textured in scratches now covering his skin as he skidded along the dirt for a good distance before his head slammed into the thick trunk of an oak.

Now Ryuu stood alone, his feet planted in a charred crater a foot deep into the dirt. Even from his far distance his eyes could still clearly see the bar above the fallen bandits head. It changed colors from green, to orange, to red as it finally reached its endpoint, instantly shattering Werner's body like glass.

"Whew…..well that takes care of the quest right?" Ryuu said in a thick accent with his sigh. Though that didn't stop him from smiling a minute later.
As if without hearing him his black haired companion strode by Ryuu, a mixed look of seriousness and relief on her face as she approached the patch of grass where Werner was just seconds earlier. Kneeling down and placing her hand above the spot, a 2d menu then came up a little over a second later.
"Werner's Head"
"Reinforced Steel Cleaver"
"8,555 Gold"
The words in the box said as Ellie pressed the "OK" button, instantly dividing the gold in half amongst the two party members while giving Ryuu the cleaver for his final blow. Also appearing in both their inventories was the item "Werner's Head", the two words in parentheses next to it indicating it as a "Quest Item".

"Lets get back then, it's getting late." Ellie said as she begun to walk off towards a particular part of the forest, Ryuu quickly following behind.
Above them the virtual light source representing the sun had already begun its descent towards the horizon. Just high enough into the sky to let it keep its bold blue color, contrasting beautifully with the handful of clouds floating around.

"Yeah another few hours and we'll have the balverines on us." Ryuu said with a smile as they walked side by side through the wilderness.
A good ten minutes then passed before the duo reached their destination. For nestled in a large clearing in the seemingly endless forest was a quaint hamlet, featuring less then a dozen buildings. Each one had the large straw roof, while under them the NPCs moved about their business. Some walked up a and down the main dirt road whilst others sat on their porch or plowed their fields, giving an odd sense of quiet to the place.
Ryuu and Ellie strolled through the village in a victorious manner, not being able to help the large smiles that covered their faces as they headed towards a particularly large two story building at the edge of the small town. As if they had seen it a hundred times, they ignored all the sites of the hamlet and waltzed in the large building. A sign on the edge of the door reading "The Red Fairy".

"Hello my weary travelers, welcome to the Red Fairy! May I offer you a drink?" The NPC barman asked enthusiastically.

"No thanks…" Ellie said without have glanced at the man.

She then walked up the large wooden flight of stairs, followed in suit by Ryuu as they turned a corner and walked up to a wooden door. Without even so much as a knock Ellie barged in, triggering a frightened response from the quest giver ahead.

"Yes?" The bald and bearded NPC then called out, returning to his normal posture. A quest window then popped up in front of the female warrior, the top right corner reading "The Bower Front" with the phrase " Part 2/6" placed next to it. Then Ellie pressed the "complete" button at the bottom right hand corner.

Suddenly both of the heroes were engulfed in golden pillars of light, seemingly rising from the floor. Two purple lettered words now loomed over the two like banners, reading the words "LEVEL UP" in bold.

Ryuu seemed immensely delighted as he opened his 2d menu and scrolled tabs over to the skills section. Their in the middle of the page was three bars, their colors all yellow while the texts under them read three words, one per pillar. "Strength", "Speed" and "Endurance". At the top left a flashing a flashing "3" loomed over the choices.
For the next few seconds he pondered the decision, holding his thumb up to his chin as he thought. At the top right corner of his menu a sentence described his character: "Ryuu - Melee - Level 17"
While directly under it another phrase described a very different set of facts:"December 22nd, 2022".

"Looks like were heading to some lake for the next part." Ellie hollered at her leveling companion while the NPC talked to her.

"The fight is not over my friend. For even though Werner Is dead, he was only a mere stepping stone towards the dangers of the lake!" The computer program talked loudly as Ryuu finished allocating his three skill points, he then went on further. "You must now journey far east, to the gypsy village of Gallinero. There you will meet my cousin Fred, or as he is known now, Aladdin. You must then listen and do everything he says, for that camp is just outside the dreaded lake and the monster that lurks within!" the NPC finished with a certain tenacity strung to his speech, making Ellie wonder who exactly the voice actor was.

After the man finished talking a new quest appeared in front of Ellie, "The Bower front Part 3/6" it said in bold letters. Written under it was the description and the main objective, "Travel to Gallinero and meet Fred, erh…. I mean Aladdin"
"We should sleep here tonight and leave in the morning" Ryuu said as they left the room, his accent still hanging thick. Ellie responded with a nod. Although sleep wasn't necessary for survival, going without would severely impair the senses.

"Well let's get out early, the next wave of people will probably to start to arrive by then."

By this time they had already descended the wooden stairs and were in the main room, a fireplace warming the virtually generated air while some patrons of the town had light conversation in one of the many wooden tables. Directly behind all of that was the bar. Headed by an elder man with a bald head and curly brown mustache.
"Two rooms please" Ellie said to the innkeeper, while Ryuu nonchalantly strolled towards the door.

"Hey I'm going to go to shop and sell some stuff" the dark haired boy said as fast as he could muster the second language.
The aroma outside was soothing, twilight having just taken over the sky while an assortment of different small animal sounds emanated from the forest. NPCs all around were finishing their daily tasks and walking in all directions. Ryuu couldn't help but smile as he strolled down the dirt path towards a particularly large building, the wooden sign on the side showing a brown bag with coins falling out. He thought of all things, from the status of his pistols to over abundance of supplies stocked inside him. The different prices each would fetch in the store and which ones he would even sell.

Suddenly Ryuu stopped mid thought and quickly darted around, the loud continuous sound only acting as a brief warning before it flew bye. Dust particles were sprayed into the air as the creature and its master galloped by just feet away from the heroes body. If only for a brief moment, the two made eye contact, the flow of time seeming to stop in the virtual realm. Ryuu stared In wonder at the seemingly cold lifeless black eyes of the melee hero above him. Coated from head to toe in pitch black plate mail, the only part of skin revealed being his similarly colored eyes. Slung on his back was a massive great sword, it's extremely dark hue matching the mans armor course that wasn't the most surprising feature, standing tall on four legs under the knight was a massive creature. Its hooves thundering against the dirt as it sped through the town at unthinkable speeds, nearly running over a few of the villagers in the process. Ryuu's mind was barely able to keep pace.

"Wha..."

Then, just as fast as it arrived, it passed, leaving Ryuu's sight within seconds as it dashed into the wilderness. The hero could barely hold his slacked jaw up, for he had just gazed upon then one of the rarest and most sought after items in the game.

The creature was still, four paws planted on the sturdy limb while the massively rendered strength it possessed held its rugged frame in place. The cluster of trees rising above it concealed light like a visual based green house, blackening out all except for the staunch pair of small yellow lights that emanated from its face.
They blinked.

"What do you mean no?!" The masculine voice called out from afar, its tone a mix of anger and disbelief.

"Just that, I don't want to do it. No" Came the reply, the feminine voice calmly responded in a seemingly uninterested manner.

Immediately the beast locked its eyes on the conversation of the players, their location a good, long distance away. Among a cluster of perhaps two dozen others the two stood, under them was a wide, grassy clearing in the mighty forest.

"This is life or death, and yet, you treat it like some sort of game!" the male voice yelled, causing the beast to focus in on it. He was adorned in orange, different hues of the color spreading all around the area of his body. The only difference being the rusty iron breastplate and left shoulder plate that wrapped around his form. This all led up to his clean shaven face, outfitted with a buzz cut on top. Giving off the impression of a man in his mid twenties.

"Well, technically this is a game." The girl shot back, her arms crossed. The tone in her voice showed no fear, even in front of the massive rifle slung across the orange mans back. He then went on to yell.

"Why you….little…smart ass…..bitch! How dare you talk to me like that!" Within the minute a crowd formed around the two, with players once inside their makeshift tents eagerly walking out into the morning sun to get a glimpse of the conflict. The orange man then began to spat out a plethora of curses while the girl just cracked a small smile in return, illuminating her ponytail tied blonde hair immensely. Which in of her itself, was nigh flawless in her physical outfit of star blue eyes and a seemingly perfectly aligned face of a late teenager, rare for a gamer.

Finally, as if it seemed the third world war would erupt within virtual Albion, a figure dashed into the fray. Quickly, outpacing the average eye as his large and sturdy frame seemed to instantly appear between the two. Unlike every other member of the camp, he was decorated in rock solid iron plate, the only part of his body missing the metal being his head. "Come on now, we'll never get out of here if we fight like this." He said calmly, the extremely long blonde hair that was his flowed down to his shoulders as his expression rendered itself utterly unreadable.
Although visibly surprised, the girls expression was a nonentity when stacked up against the sheer chills they rode through the orange man. His anger evaporating into wonder and guilt as he shockingly spoke. "L-Luther?" he asked while stuttering, the player before him with the name "TJ Luther" then gave a warm smile and glance.

"Yes Raiden?" the long haired knight asked sarcastically, causing a few members of the surrounding group to laugh.

"Ugh…um…..whatever…" the orange man said as he marched off from his position, the lingering frustration overwhelming even Luther's presence.

Mere seconds after Raiden left, the semi circle of a crowd dissipated, each going back to their own tasks and check lists as they prepared for the journey ahead. The only two who remained were the blondes, namely Luther and the beautified female warrior. "Maia" Luther said, now staring at the tall bright blue eyed blonde who had her arms still crossed in a defiant manner while her eyes glanced towards any direction but the melee fighter.

"Nope, I'm not listening. I didn't do anything wrong here, he asked me to go get something for him way back in Piddle Brook and I said no. He then started cursing at me because I guess Napoleon didn't get his way." she said, instantly followed by a deep breath as she still refused to make eye contact with Luther.

"I'm not saying you did, but I'm also not saying you were in the right there." He said, pausing for a moment before continuing. "Anyways, from what the quest card says we're now 3/4 of the way to the lake, meaning we should probably be there this time tomorrow morning."

"So…?" Maia asked in an uninterested manner, though finally tilting her head up and bringing her eyes into view.

"So that means we'll probably be seeing the boss and whatever spawns he has come into sight pretty soon. If that does happen we need to have each others backs and be able to trust one another. I led a raiding guild in Diamondfire, bad teamwork means a wipe...And in here that means genocide." Luther said, finishing his short speech with a grave look on his face while his eyes turned to the dirt, sending slight shivers through Maia's body.

"But enough of that, we're about to leave in 5 or so minutes. So go put your tent in storage while I talk to Skittles and the rest camp." he said as he walked off past the female warrior and towards the center of a camp nearly 3 dozen tents strong.

"New Information".

The creature blinked, an animation completely unnecessary yet vital to keeping the games realism in tow. Ahead of it, now standing alone, was the blonde woman. If only for a moment she stood in utter solitude, her pair of sapphires glancing in some far away place not in the current world. The beast studied her movements, examining her armor and weapons as it tried to intake every strategic part of her character. But that, was only for a moment, the next involved the girl walking off towards the large camp behind her. Although the creature possessed no actual thought or intelligence, this one 4 letter word forever engraved itself into the beasts memory in association with the female player.

"M4ia".

The monster let out a very low pitched and almost inaudible growl as the girl entered the group of players, its distant location and the chatter of the camp having it fall on deaf ears. It's real target was not among the cluster of players Then, with the shattering of a few twigs, the beast rose up. The shade of the treeline above the treeline masked it's rough skin near perfectly, the only light reaching it being that of three small circles.
The first, white fur.
The second, a red scar along a shoulder.
The third, a razor sharp demons eye.
Two dozen twigs were obliterated instantly as the beast pressed hard against the grass with its monstrously muscular legs, shredding all the tiny pixel based blades around him. Then without of sound the creature vanished, seemingly disappearing into thin air. The only slight indication of its path was the near simultaneous rustling in the tall trees above.

Light.

Light that slowly pierced the veil of the morning sky as the virtual sun slowly inched above the horizon. There was a strong sense of tranquility in the forest. Movement was almost non existent save for the glossy reflection laid out across the water, its smooth surface stretching well over a mile in diameter. Off the path and amidst a patch of oaks a strong trail of smoke could be seen rising from the brush, not in view of the lake like other buildings but still close enough to be considered part of its massive domain. As one approached closer to the cluster of trees a feint outline of a large building came into view, but its true form could not be recognized until eyes were laid upon on its entrance.

Built to the sky with the logs of bright wood coated with white trim was the tavern. Rising a full two and half stories in height it was the sole building, save for the stall, in the clearing on the edge in the forest. Standing tall against the monsters and bandits that haunted the woodlands beyond.
Inside the corridors of structure was like a tiny mirror of the outside world, the only sound piercing the still air being the light cracklings made by the burnt fireplace opposite of the bar, both of which being on the left and right of the main room. Wooden tables, outfitted with candles and chairs, dotted the space. The largest of which having six chairs and placed just feet away from the fireplace. In terms of life the room was a nigh void, any possible players asleep in their rooms while the NPCs did the same. The only presence being that of the innkeeper, quietly sweeping a dirt less floor as he went about his pre programmed path for the day.

Suddenly, at the end of the room the wooden double doors swung open, the serenity and stillness broken as six men entered the inn. Their heights and weights varied from short and stubby to tall and skinny with all varieties of colors in between for their equipment. "Hah! We're probably the first ones here!" The shortest among them hollered triumphantly. His face littered with small amounts of acne while his short body boasted a wider frame then the rest, complementing his massive iron sword slung across his back. Behind him marched in the five other men, each of their attention caught elsewhere in the giant room.

"Jason I'll get the tab!" A medium sized one yelled to his shorter counterpart as he waltzed over to the counter and initiated conversation with innkeeper. Meanwhile the rest had already begun to sit down a the great table in front of the fireplace. Taking seats with a great amount of familiarity, being only the latest among dozens of inns in their journey.

The next hour went by rather quickly for the group as they were served endless amounts of alcohol with no dizzying side effects. Even so the Placebo Effect seemed to have taken hold as the members grew louder and louder while regaling each other with humorous stories of their journey, steering noticeably clear of anything from their real lives. Even still there was no lack of conversation, undeniably proved by Jason, their smallest member. Seated at the end of the table directly in front of the fireplace with his arms outstretched and while his voice boomed as his body language commanded the lot of them. Above his head a two piece line of text read "TankGod".

"We'll stay here another hour and then press on to the lake, there's supposed to be a small village on the shore so we should have some new quests on are hands." he said with a thick accent, seated back comfortably in his chair. His buzzed brown hair clung tightly to his characters skull. Being the smallest type of cut then known to players, save for the "Blossoming Bald" cut in Bright river.

Just then At the other end of the table an overweight fellow with short blonde hair and a square jaw responded. "Might even be a quest or two in the building, we should definitely have a look around before leave." the man said, his name reading "Lightweight".

"It's alright Jake has it covered" a third added in from his standing position by the innkeeper. Leaning back on the bar with his sleeve covered elbows while facing the rest of the group. His name read plainly, "NeonTiger". Meanwhile the rest sipped from their thick wooden mugs almost in unison, embracing the realistic taste given to the drinks.

"Nothing!" A voice yelled from up the second floor as the thumping of feet echoed from up the stairs.

"Well, damn." the TankGod said with a sigh in between drinks.

"You sure?" Lightweight hollered back to the man coming down the stairs.

"Yeah just a bunch of rooms for renting nothing else." the stair man said as he finally came into view, he was decorated in a mesh of faded orange and black leather with a small longsword at his back and knife on his side. Of all the men in the room he seemed the most handsome and professional, having a clean shaven head with a goatee coating his chin.

"Kind of seems like a waste of space when you think about it." Lightweight said with a shrug, turning his attention back to the table.

"Whatever we're just going to be relax anyways." The goatee man said as he reached the floorboards, showing his above average height when leveled with everyone else. Leaving his name "RICH" slight easier to see.

A loud bang.

All attention was driven to the door, no one even paying mind to the "huh" the reverberated from one of the members almost immediately. "More people?" NeonTiger hollered from the bar, shifting his body and the long faded blue cloak around it nervously.

"Hm I thought for sure we'd be ahead of ever-"

Another, louder.

"Come out Korbin we know you're in their!" yelled a deep voice from just outside the door, other murmurs and hollers soon joining in from the outside.

Instinctively everyone tensed, those sat down stood up immediately while others ,like RICH, readied their weapons. "I thought this was a safe zone!" the goatee man yelled as he wielded his sword worriedly.

"It is, this must be some sort of quest event or something." Tank God said as he shot back his reply quickly, keeping his voice calm. All the while the men kept their eyes trained on the door, not noticing the figure behind them.

NeonTiger screamed as his body was thrown from the bar and onto the grand table, violently landing with a smack before rolling onto the ground. His health bar cut down to half in mere seconds. RICH was the first to scream. "Jared!"

It's speed was blinding, already within striking distance of RICH as it swiped its massive claws at the warrior. Sparks flew throughout the room as it crashed against the hard iron of his blade with the force of a cannon, its steel-like white fur brimming with muscles.

Suddenly the double doors caved in and multiple armed men entered at once, some with pistols and rifles and others swords pitchforks, every weapon available. They ran as fast as their script would allow their NPC legs to move, well over a dozen bodies rushing into the inn towards the beast.

Still at RICH's throat the beast cocked back it's scarred shoulder as it came in with another blow. Swiping the warrior along his right abdomen before launching him across the room with a backhand from its other arm. Just as the counter attack had already begun, Jason arriving before any NPC or player as he cleaved at the monster with his heavy iron greatsword. His dark brown eyes were filled with the utmost grit and determination. But with little to no effort the creature side stepped to the left, easily maneuvering past the blow while managing to land in a strike along the way. Tank God cringed as the claws dug deep into his side, cutting at his health bar like butter. Behind Jason came Lightweight, his massive hammer barely even drawn before the beast literally ran him over. Using the big mans torso as a makeshift trampoline, digging its clawed feet deep into his belly before it blasted off with enough force to carry it out of the inn completely. Being already half way across the room before the fat man even hit the floorboards. All the men's virtual hearts sank as the juggernaut flew through the air, completely and utterly indomitable and equal to none.

Except….

From the doors, another blur. Like a smite from the heavens it streaked across the room, the only color visible being a glowing blue beam. In an instant the two forces collided at the center of the room in an eruption of electricity.

"Shit!" Tank God yelled as blue streaks of lightning flew throughout the room, him and his men barely even having the time to shield their eyes, let alone duck for cover.
But the explosion only lasted for a second before the beasts body was flown back with startling momentum, crashing through the back door next to the bar and into the storage room. Soon followed the overwhelming sound of crates and barrels being obliterated by the impact.

Not a second later an their was a roar from the storeroom, a war cry like no other. The monster came back in full force, its long clawed feet shredding up the wooden floor as it raced back towards its foe. Taking the blow as if it were just a mere swinging of the pendulum.

"Now!" came a cry from the ceiling, capturing the already boggled minds of the other humans players. There hugging the roof was a boy, clothed a mesh of light and dark blue applied to the stock Adventure Outfit while sporting long brown hair above his young face.

Though any further examinations were halted by the overwhelming sound of rifles and pistols unloading their respective rounds, creating several small puffs of smoke in the process. Nearly a dozen tiny glimmers of silver raced towards the monster, merely a breath away from its stout before it could even register the threat. The beast then whimpered as its body twisted and bent violently at the mercy of the bullets, immediately halting its assault and close lining its back to the floor.
A blow of that magnitude would have easily knocked down any lower level NPC for a good minute or longer, but this one was above that. Without a moments notice it sprung into a flip off its back, intending to crash to the floorboards with its massive legs and launch out of the inn with one last mighty push.

Intending.

With a great crack a blue steak crashed to the floor, momentarily lighting the entire tavern in a blinding mix of blue and white light. Throughout the room streaks of lightning circulated like the roots of a tree, seemingly finding every open space before instantly disappearing from sight.

In the half a second that this transpired the beast went from the middle of a backflip onto its feet to being pinned to the ground as if it had angered gravity itself. Around its throat with dozens of shards of silver embedded in the grip was a brown leather glove. Unwavering in its strength as it gripped tightly. Its target was also clearly visible, whether it be its devilish red eyes or multitude of barred fangs. All leading up to the top of its skull where a small inscription read its name, "Korbin"…

"…..The White Balverine".

"What the hell?"

"Who are you?"

Both voices yelled out almost simultaneously, the wonder and confusion in their voices replicated by the murmurs of their fellow group members behind them. Each was still recovering from the ordeal both mentally and physically, some losing a great deal of health during the fight.
One of their two points of interest then turned his head curiously, the surprised expression on his face making it really seem like there was a question mark floating above his head. He opened his mouth, ready to speak, but then closed it. Looking down with his eyes awkwardly before opening it again as also struggled to make sense of the situation.

"People?" Apollo asked.

Just then, if only for a split second, his grip loosened. Removing the silver gems from the Balverine's hide and returning its strength back to normal, a terrifyingly strong normal. With a flex of its muscles and swipe of the claws its threw Apollo out of the way like a rag doll. Sending the boy spiraling over to the bar counter, knocking over several bottles before falling to the floor with a smack. A multitude of glass shards soon followed, causing extra damage to the battered player.

Seeing its opportunity the beast dashed for the door, cutting and slashing its way through the mob with ease. Its absolute domination caused the remainder to flee, the silver bullets be damned. The other players then watched in horror as the beast stopped just inches from freedom, turning its massive frame around to shoot the men a deathly glare. The monstrous red scar along its shoulder becoming apparent then more than ever as an eerie red glow enveloped the Balverine and its form shrunk. The players flinched, behind the bar a rustle of shattered glass was heard as the electrical charged boy tried to get up in time.

Now in human form Korbin spoke with his seemingly real voice, deepened to demonic levels after the transformation. "For this offense against me and my kind I curse you all with the mark of the Balverine."

Apollo grunted, his body now to a standing position behind the bar.

"I shalll spend the rest of my life hunting you seven to the ends of Albion. Never ceasing my hunt till either you, or I, are eradicated. In other words, eternity."

Apollo leaped from the counter, releasing a desperate charge from his right hand while his two legs propelled him from the hard wood and broken glass. Although the aim-assist helped tremendously with magic and ranged weapons, the possibly of missing ones target was still very real. Proved by the lighting bolt that streaked across the room and into the wooden wall just next to the balverines powerful frame, its muscles extending and contracting at inhuman levels as it flew through the open door and towards the tree line ahead. Its four legged gallop surpassing a horse in a full gallop.

The rest of the plays watched in horror as a demonic inscription wove itself onto the front of heir right forearms, emanating a thin red flame before stamping itself onto their skin.

"…Damn it!" The young electric wizard cursed under his breath, now visibly depleted of mana as he knelt in the middle of the tavern. Above him a small block of text read "Congratulations, you've completed An Enemy Within! The evil balverine as been driven from the town and the villagers have your thanks, but at what cost?"

Just then the over two dozen members of the pitchfork and torch NPC mob disappeared, shattered into thousands of crystals. Cutting 4/5 of the total number of bodies in the room out instantly. Leaving Apollo seemingly alone on the floor as the battered members of the small party regained their wits, theirs minds just then coming up to speed with the event.

"Hey! Kid!" yelled Tank God, just regaining his footing while his health bar slowly regenerated above his head. Shock and confusion started to give way to anger as the short yet thick man marched towards the knelt boy, his sword still drawn. "What the hell was that?"

Around the room the recovering players shared similar expressions, anger mixed with genuine confusion. In a world where the end of a green bar meant life or death, many of them had come perilously close to meeting that fate. The fault of which seemingly lying with the brown haired boy. Unresponsive as Tank God continued his walk towards the young mage. "Hey I'm talking to you….." he squinted his eyes at the large words above the boy "…erh…Apollo!"

"What?" came the response, confused and off target.

"….What?" Tank God himself questioned back, now in full view Apollo as he continued kneeling on the floor. A small menu stealing his attention away from the short man. "What?" he repeated, bewildered.
"Wait, oh…" Apollo turned and stood up and feigned a light smile. "Ugh sorry I wasn't listening, was checking my inventory. What'd you say again..uhm…Tank…God?"

The response caught the man off guard, the ensuing pause lasting a good few seconds before he could muster a response. Behind the rest of the group had cleaned themselves up and began to take positions behind their leader.

"What. Just. Happened?" He put it plainly, annoyed by the boys total lack of social awareness. For the first time his thick Australian accent presented itself to the boy, catching Apollo also off guard.

"Seems a White Balverine has some sort of vendetta against us. I bet we're all going to dealing with that one for a while."

"...You know what...never mind." he said with a sigh "It was a probably some quest event you did or something, I don't know or really don't care. Point is, that Balverine was a way higher level then me and my buddies."

"Yeah that thing took out a third of my health bar in one blow!" Lightweight hollered from behind his short friend, the sides of his extremely wide belly being clearly visible behind Tank God.

Not even glancing back at his buddy the tank continued. "Which, you know, became a big problem when it started mauling us" he sighed again "and then it became an even bigger problem when it placed a magical curse on us and said it was going to hunt as down until the end of time."

"Actually I think it said eternity Jason." a tall fellow said from behind the short tank, his name a odd arrange of characters reading "TrixForKidz". He was dressed in grey and black linen with a moderately bright orange scarf around his neck, combing with his long messy black hair to cover nearly all his face.

Ignoring yet another one of his friends comments Jason continued. "That thing was a monster, and would probably have killed a few of us if it hadn't of left. Yet you looked like you held your ground against it" he paused for a moment "but not completely. Maybe if we geared up and faced it in a fair fight together, we could kill it."

Apollos facial expression had "Genuinely Unconcerned" plastered across the top. "Well yeah I guess, what's your point?" he said after a quick shrug.

"My point is that we should stick together so this beast doesn't murder us all. Cause you know, you kind of got us into this mess." He said with an exaggeration of his arms. All his friends gave him brief looks of concern before nodding themselves.

Milo face reddened like a cherry as it dawned on him that this might be more then a quick social interaction. He then took and a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. Although not necessary to survive in a virtual environment, breathing was implemented to occur its normal rates so players wouldn't feel too detached after a long session of adventure. And at times like this he was all the more thankful for the mechanism.

"Sure" Apollo said with a smile. "You guys are probably about to do all the quest along the western side of the lake, I've already done all those." he said with a small frown, before turning it to the other side and continuing. But I'm heading up to a Gypsy Camp after this, the quests might be above your level range but with all of us put together it shouldn't be too bad. and I could use some help for some of the bigger ones."

Though technically all the quests were below there level range, the real threat of death keeping most players 10 levels below what was originally intended by Lionhead.

"Then it looks like we got I deal hehe, since were going to be hanging out for a while, might as well introduce my real self. My name is Jason." he said with a hearty smile, his outback accent now even thicker then before. When a response didn't come for a few seconds he didn't stop his speech. "How about I introduce to my friends here?" Next to him NeonTiger shuffled as TankGod raked him up front.

"This here is my little brother, Jared" he said loudly, naming his brothers name in defiance of his username. Beside Jason Jared was of a notable few inches above his brother, though probably the exact average height of a male human.

"Hey how you doing." he said with a clean smile practically dripping with confidence. His long blue cloak covered the top half of his body while raggedy black pants covered the bottom part. The lack of any weapons around him made his choice of class abundantly obvious.

"Behind me we have Paul" TankGod said as behind him Lightweight moved to the side. He was a fat man with blonde hair of normal length with an impossibly large hammer slung across his back. In response to the seemingly roll-call style introduction he let out a short wave and smile.

"This spiffy RICH fellow to my left is Richard, go figure", referring to the of average height man with a black goatee and hair of normal length. To his side was a skinny iron longsword, its emphasis on speed proven utterly useless in the face of the balverine. Like his sword his outfit placed little worry on armor, wearing a cheap adventure outfit of a similar make to Apollo's.

"Right here is Tony, my little brothers friend." He said in reference of TrixForKidz, the scarf man standing tall with a pistol strapped to his chest. His long black hair and orange scarf contrasted greatly when next to each other, the clash of the two colors barely leaving any to the eye for his face. His bangs drooping over his eyes while his scarf rested parallel to the bottom of his lip.

Jason spoke after a deep breath "and lastly we have Aaron". Referring to the only man in the room still not directly behind him, his name causing Apollo to crack a smile, the mighty rifleman, "Cheesus". Across the tavern and next to the stairs a player turned around startled at the sudden call, as if he hadn't heard any of it. He had dozens of little pockets and belts across his body, all shaded in dark orange in black, while his leather pants were an odd and out of place white. He had light brown skin, multiple shades darker then the rest. Even from far away his rifle was hard to miss, still equipped and resting on his brown skinned hands as they looked upon the ranger. He raised it up with one hand and waved at Apollo, with said hand."Hey!" he said, now smiling boldly like the others while his legs carried him towards the others.

"...Huh...well then…" the young wizard said slowly, still in taking all the information. "Hi, um…I'm Apollo?"

"Sir, I don't think it would be wise for you to do this alone." the man said, his clothes an assortment of black and brown leather, a thick belt buckle tying at the waste. He had a small black goatee and short black hair. On his back was a longbow, oak by the looks of its color. Next to it law a quiver of several arrows, their metal unknown. Above the feathers of said arrows the name "Edward Gwynne" floated lightly.

The man in front of him ignored the statement, seated high upon his light brown horse he stared intently at the body of water in front of him. Waves crashed against the rocks far below his vantage point, roughly beating against the shore as the wind bellowed wildly. So vast was the body of water that the land was but a spec in the distance, around his high cliff the water curved, forming a small peninsula that stood defiant of the mighty lake. For minutes he waited there, staring quietly at the rough sea before him as the leather coated NPC behind said nay another word in protest. His armor too was a large bit of leather, though more densely compacted and eloquent then the former. On his right shoulder was a small chunk of steel, a shoulder pad that bolstered his appearance greatly.

A change in the wind.

Not only direction, but speed. Blasting the two upon the rock greatly with a fresh spray of water. The man on the horses reaction was hidden, a large black hood and mask covering all but his eyes. Which themselves also seemed unaffected by the rustle. Below the waves began to increase in size greatly, now swirling to form a large circle of tides. A grey shadow soon appeared under the water, growing larger and darker by the second. Even the sky seemed to respond, the once bright glimmer of sunlight fading at a rapid pace as clouds swarmed the area.

"Sir I beg of you, this isn't wise. This isn't a task befitting one man!" the NPC said in a worried tone, giving off the scripted warning meant to wave off curious players. Yet still, the man paid him no mind. At his side the player reached for his weapon, a steel katana unheard of so early in the game, its rarity increased exponentially by the soft yellow glow emanating from the metal. It was as a golden blur as he unsheathed it with his right hand. Ready to cut open any foe by the dozen. Almost simultaneously he hoped down from his perch on the animal, sending it off running with a kick.

And then it rose.

Easily the largest monster encountered by any player in the game thus far, the sea beast lifted itself from the bottom of the lake on behalf of its god. Six massive tentacles flew about the air wildly while the beast roared mightily with its spiked teeth and enormous jaw. It's only color was blue, a thousands shades at the least. Coating the entirety of its frame save for the crimson of its mouth, mirroring the color blood to a very close degree. Atop its monstrous skull printed in massive blue letters was the title "Metis, 2nd child of Oceanus"

It's lizard like eyes scanned the immediate area, within a second it had located and targeted the lone warrior and NPC aide. In the next second it had swung one of its tentacles at them, and in the one after that it had made contact.

A burst of light erupted from the rocky cliff face, its brightness only enhanced by the then thick cloud cover. The man had blocked blow with the precision and timing of a time traveler. Matching the beast it swung one, two, three, four more times in the next several moments. Traces of blonde hair leaked out from the top of the mans mask as his body moved back and forth at incredible speeds. Behind him Edward had just started unleashing his first arrows at the beast, aiming at whatever parts visible. It seemed as if an earthquake was triggered every time the beast clashed with the man, waves double the height of any man spread out in all directions across the lake. Alerting all other towns and players along its to the battle happening along the northern shore.

If anything became more apparent during those few minutes it was the floating bit of text above the mans head as his body rapidly changed locations. Always holding true in its position no matter how fast he dodged or slashed.

"Kungen"