Chapter 19
”Fire Cage!”
A wall of flame enveloped the enemies in front of Clarissa, burning the last 2 swamp trolls. They're not dead yet but the burning damage should suffice in killing them since they cannot move due to being trapped in the cage of fire.
"Nice work. You're getting good at this." I complimented her.
"It's all thanks to you!" She beamed at me...how cute.
Over the last few weeks we have been playing together, Clarissa and I have become much closer. She is no longer anxious around me and speaks her mind freely. She also improved a lot in CoA. It helps that she's an incredibly fast learner so she can make use of the broad knowledge I have in helping her develop her own play style. Another perk of hers is that this is her first VRMMO game so she did not develop any bad habits from playing different ones, and even if she does show slight signs of it, I always do my best to nip it in the bud.
We have been grinding for a while, though it's mainly me boosting her since she needs to catch up in level for the few days she was not able to play. I made it more efficient by not partying with her but instead luring all the mobs and dodging their attacks while she spams her skills effectively killing them by herself, thus getting all the XP. It's almost time for the scrim match so I need to get going for now.
"It's almost time for our match so I'll leave you on your own for now. Though you can take a break in grinding if you want."
"It's okay, I want to keep going. I love killing these monsters!" She said innocently with unadulterated happiness just as the last troll's eyeballs gruesomely popped due to the intense heat of her flames and screeched in agony as it died.
I involuntarily shivered at that.
I didn't unknowingly create a psychopathic killer, right? Probably not. It's just a game after all so she could kill as many as she wants to as long as they're just monsters. Besides, there is no way someone as cute and as harmless looking as her could become a crazed psychopathic mass murderer... I hope.
"O-okay, just... don't push yourself too hard alright?" I said a bit nervously.
"Okay! Good luck with your match Novo!" She cheered.
I nodded.
Player Lizbeth invited you to a PvP lobby. Would you like to accept? Y/N
What perfect timing for the invite.
”Yes” I murmured.
My vision suddenly faded, replaced by the usual Victorian-style lobby Liz uses for her PVP lobbies I looked around and saw Liz and Renz at our side of the large round table. What greeted me on the opposite side of the table were the in-game characters of Romel, Benny, Raynolds, and some hooded boy I am not familiar with who has a roguish black and white themed set akin to an assassin for better mobility. I identified him.
LightHp: 100%Mp: 100%
Lvl: 95
Guild: Assassin's Creed
Duel wr: 64%
Wins: 335Matches: 524
Team Rank matches wr: Hidden
1v1 Rank matches wr: 57%
Wins: 693Matches: 1,215
id#:***********
Introduction: Nothing is true; everything is permitted.
I didn't get to finish checking his profile when my teammates suddenly greeted me.
"Kat, you're here!"
"Yo newbie, you ready to play?"
I nodded at them both in response.
"A pleasure meeting you again, Ms. Katherine," Raynolds gave me a gentlemanly smile.
"Long time no see, Raynolds," I replied politely.
"Please stop it with the lady killer act. It's making me shudder." Renz voiced out.
"Hmph, you just don't know how to treat the ladies right, that is why you're still single," he said smugly.
I think it's the other way around though. But I'll stay out of their way for now.
"Like you're the one to talk! You also don't have a girlfriend. At least in my case, someone already asked me out, I just declined," Renz rebuked proudly.
"Ohh yeah, I remember! It was the guy 1 year below us who thought you were a girl right?" Liz chimed in.
"T-that was a while ago, I now go to the gym daily so no one would mistake my looks for a girl!" Renz reprimanded.
All the boys chortled at that, except the last member of their team, Light, who also probably did not study in the same high school they went to and didn't get the memo.
I feel out of place here... Can I just go now? You guys could just reminisce about the past and share with each other the old good times without me.
"By the way, I haven't seen you around, how did these guys recruit you to their team?" Liz suddenly asked the 4th member of the enemy team to include him in the conversation.
"Me?" he asked before continuing "I was recruited by Romel, we share some classes at our university so we became acquainted. I'm actually part of the e-sports club in our school. Our seniors already formed a team so I was one of the members who had no teammates. Good thing I heard about Romel wanting to form a team so it just kinda happened," he said as a matter of fact.
He's kind of talkative, and here I was thinking I'd find another kindred spirit but it seems I was mistaken.
"I see, so you're also in the same college as us," Liz replied.
"Yeah, to tell you the truth, we already kind of met. My avatar just looks different from me in real life since I did not use the face scanner. I was actually there when they tried to recruit you to the club, but you declined. I was kind of hoping you would join so that I have another first year to talk to," he said bashfully while scratching his cheeks.
"Oh, yeah sorry about that. I just didn't think I'd get to play freely in a club as I do back in my own home," Liz said apologetically.
"Oh no it's all good, we would not force you to join if you don't want to. By the way, where is your last member?" He changed the subject.
"Oh, just wait a bit, Chu already promised to come so I don't think he would leave us hanging."
"You mean sophomore Chu Xiaolong is your last member?! He's pretty popular in our club for his skills. They say he has never lost even once at a duel with any of his peers." He sighed "It looks like we're in for a very tough battle," he continued.
"Oh no worries, just treat it like a normal match. It doesn't matter who wins or loses as long as all of us have fun while improving in the process!" Liz said her usual sermon, which I'm starting to become a believer in.
"Although, he is taking quite a long time even for his standards," Renz interjected.
Don't mind him, it's just the usual edge lord thing to do in this situation. He's also busy governing Edgeville after all so he has a valid reason to be tardy.
"Maybe he got scared that I would pay him back tenfold for his lucky win the last time we fought," Romel taunted.
"I don't think he's scared of you in the slightest. We are the ones who have a huge disadvantage in this practice match," Raynolds chimed in.
"Y-yeah, they have two rankers on their team," Beny replied weakly.
"We have a solid battle plan though. We will turn the match in our favor with well-executed strategies and tactics. I'm a better tactician than Liz so we got this." Romel bragged.
"Ohh, he's online now, wait a sec, I'll just invite him," Liz blurted out.
A few seconds later, Chu suddenly entered the lobby.
"Chu! Ready to play?" Liz asked.
"...Let's just get this over with," he replied unenthusiastically.
"Is everyone on your team ready Romel?"
"Let's go! We are all ready! I'm itching to win this match and make you regret not joining our team, Liz."
----------------------------------
"This is a complete waste of time. I have better things to do," Chu said bluntly as he left the lobby.
"W-wait!" Romel tried to stop him but it was too late. He was already out of earshot.
"What a coward!" Romel shouted.
Waste of time was an understatement. We played 3 games straight and they got completely demolished in all of those games. They didn't get a single kill throughout the whole duration of those 3 matches even though we never changed tactics nor used some sort of advantageous strategy. This huge disparity in skills would not help anyone improve in the slightest and would only damage the enemy team's morale. So it was, in reality, detrimental to them instead of helping them improve. I kind of feel bad now for their team since I always found them pleasant to be around. I was thinking of throwing the last match to give them a little boost in morale but considering how prideful boys are, especially Romel, I disregarded that notion since it might backfire.
This far exceeds my expectations though. Our team lacks proper synergy since we only started playing with each other for a week and this is our 1st team match together due to me being severely under-leveled. I guess we could just brute force our way through the qualifiers with pure skills... even if we do lack proper team play.
"Well, he's not wrong. This was kind of a waste of time." Renz added.
"What did you say?! Wanna go at it femboy?" Romel fumed.
"...Hah? What did you just call me? Want me to beat you up in real life as I did in our last match?" Renz asked menacingly.
"I want to see you try!"
Okay, this is getting scary. This does not look like some friendly banter, they really seem like they are both pissed at each other. Boys and their fragile egos I suppose. Someone needs to stop them before this escalates.
"Stop it you two!" Liz caught our attention.
"Romel, you know how he hates being called like that. I know you're frustrated with how the matches turned out but please don't dump all your frustration on Clarence," she became the voice of reason.
"Tsk!" Romel let out as he quit the lobby.
"And Renz, at least don't fall for his provocations. You know how he is sometimes."
"Hmph, fine. But I was just telling facts, this scrim match doesn't benefit anyone here," Renz reasoned.
Liz sighed while holding her head.
Silence permeated the whole room. This is kind of awkward. I could even hear the imaginary sound of a cricket if I focus enough. It didn't last long though before someone spoke again.
"Uhm, I forgot I have to do something," Light suddenly said.
"Y-yeah me too," Beny followed suit.
They both logged out. This leaves me, Liz, Renz, and Raynolds in the lobby. Just as I was thinking of a good excuse to get back to grinding, Liz suddenly called out to me.
"Uhm, Kat. I know this is not a good time, but I might forget to ask you again later."
"What is it?" I asked apprehensively.
"Will you join our guild?" Liz quarried.
"That is a good idea, Liz. I would love to be part of the same guild with someone as skilled as Miss Katherine," Raynolds chimed in.
"Yeah, it'll help boost the strength of our faction too," Renz added.
"Oh, but please don't get the wrong idea, we are not forcing you or anything, but I really would love for you to join. I will even make you a guild officer so you could participate in guild battles! So, will you join our guild, pleaseee." she said pleadingly with a dash of puppy eyes.
Do you seriously think I could decline now? Even without all the peer pressure from these two guys, I'm sure I would cave in if you beg like that!
"Sure, count me in," I said instantly.
"Really?! Thanks, Kat you're the best!" she said as she went for a hug.
I could dodge it if I want to but I let her win this time. After what happened earlier, I kind of needed it too. It doesn't affect my real body in the slightest and it's also just a friendly hug so it didn't procure the anti-sexual harassment warning. Unlike someone I know who clings on to me so tightly that I can't even move just for him to blow me to smithereens.
I glanced at the person in question with an annoyed look and he just looked back innocently. No use playing dumb though because I'm onto him. I can see it in his eyes, those are the eyes of an absolute degenerate.
"Oh right, since you're an officer, you could join the guild war," Liz caught my attention as she released me from her hug. "Though you will have to wait another month to participate since you cannot join the guild war the same month you joined the guild," she continued.
Guild war huh, I had only joined 2 guild wars in my whole time playing CoA. The guild patch just came out back then around 3 months before I stopped playing so there is still some that I do not know about guilds. If I remember correctly, guild war takes place every end of the month where guilds duke it out with a maximum of 30 players per guild. Those 30 players are either high-ranking guild members or officers assigned by the guild leader and vice-guild leader. One of the rules that Liz was implying is a restriction that you cannot participate in a guild war if you just joined the guild in the same month. It is implemented to reduce freelance players and promote camaraderie among guild members. If a rule like this doesn't exist, nobody is going to stop someone who is not an officer from joining a weaker guild, playing for the guild war, and then coming back to his or her previous guild. Many guild members will leave quite often and it will result in a diminishing guild loyalty of the entire CoA player base.
"It's fine, I'm not high leveled enough to participate regardless."
"Okay then I'll invite you now," Liz said as she made a couple of taps and swipes.
After a few seconds, a notification entered my peripheral vision.
You have been invited to Guild: 'Concord of Heroes'. Do you wish to accept? Y/N
"Yes," I murmured.
Congratulations! You have joined the guild 'Concord of Heroes'.
"Welcome to the guild!" the three of them greeted me in unison.