Nightlit

Thanks! Half the reason I wrote this was just to have it exist. But I also always felt like similar stories either get lost in their protagonist or forget they are in a virtual world entirely and just become fantasy. My goals with this story are to have a focus more on the setting and how the protagonists interact with that setting to create the eventual society that exists within it, and also to never forget that it is a science fiction story about people in a virtual fantasy world, not a fantasy story with characters trapped from a real one. I hope you enjoy it!

Understandable. And you are in luck! Cause the story is about to shift to being more action oriented (though the long talks never disappear). As for tanking. That's mostly because the game uses a free form stat customization system, inspired by things like the Sphere Grid in FFX and the Lillium Orb in Tales of Xillia, rather than locking stats and builds together in jobs like most MMOs do, which means that there are a wider range of stat balance/build setups, since you can do wonky things like make a spellcaster who has tank stats (and thus WANTS to get hit out of their casting, because they are using said casting to generate aggro rather than actually complete spells) and mixed builds are common, so it's not uncommon for a group to not have a truly dedicated tank, and instead to have multiple tanks and off tanks that trade around aggro. And many battles are designed with this in mind, with enemies able to shift around aggro, either their own or even other enemies, like how the lightning tank mage build can move aggro around. As for Asa and Wake "like liking" each other? I don't see it like that. It's not "love at first sight." Its more them both being lonely, and interested in a relationship, and upon finding out the other is potentially available? Taking a leap of Faith. Asa, in specific, had recently decided to live in the moment, and so when the opportunity presented itself he went for it, without worrying about the consequences. And Wake, for the first time in a long time, was approached by someone who wasn't just trying to get in his pants for superficial reasons (or, at least, wasn't being overt about it). In short, they both had personal reasons independently of their interest in each other for starting the relationship. That it ended up working out positively the way it did? Is because they are both generally nice people who want to support others who were also looking for someone to support them. Meaning, at least some of it was just lucking into being in the right place at the right time to fit their individual needs. They also just clicked platonically, independently of any potential romantic feelings, which helped them connect faster than they might have otherwise. Believe it or not, I actually thought about this vary question when I was writing it to begin with, I was like, "This is a bit fast. Do I want to make it happen this fast?" And I ultimately decided that I did, because I did have IC and narrative justifications for it, and I didn't want to waste a huge amount of time on preamble for something that's ultimately tertiary to the overplot.

It takes some time for everyone to get their inventories straight, but fortunately, the safe room connects to a hallway without any spawns that leads to the boss. So they don’t have to worry about clearing out enemies before the fight. Once that’s complete, Collin, Ardine, Wake, Luke, Brandon, the guy who offered to cast the teleportation circle and a group of tanks and healers approach the door. The door is large and has an ornate looking frame, but does not otherwise stand out. A moment af

“Incoming!” Zuri readies herself for an attack as she hears Gail announce another explosive. The explosion causes the pill bugs in front of her to scatter and, most importantly, unroll, giving Zuri another chance to attack. Two more of the annoying things disappear as both she and Kaja’s strikes land. Two more are taken out by a spread of arrows from Rika. They’d just finished an encounter with one pill bug and some spiders in the first room of the inner sanctum and encountered more pill bug

HP and MP are at least partially attrition mechanics, and so the way regen works varies inside and outside of instances. Inside dungeon instances, passive regen halts within safe zones, so you can't "safely" regen your HP or MP. Now, in theory they could teleport people out and get their HP/MP back that way? But when a player exits an instance, all skill or spell effects from that player immediately end, including teleportation circles, so in practice that would be a logistical nightmare. That's why the A team needed a furnishing to create permanent teleportation between their rooms. Using spells would not only be temporary, but also require at least one of them to already be in both rooms, and both of them to have the spells in question. You'll actually see this in practice during the boss fight, which takes place in its own instance distinct from the Temple instance. That said? MP healing items do exist and they are being restocked before the boss, so they are almost certainly (though realistically considering their circumstances) being overly cautious.

Asa is shocked at the turnout. A hundred or so people stand in the large safe zone outside of the Temple. It’s not just combatants either. Theo and Ben are there, as are a number of players who don’t have the combat ability, but who can heal and buff to help set up staging areas in the various safe zones. More than ten percent of the total server population has shown up to collaborate on this one raid. As far as Asa knows, that’s never happened before. Admittedly the server is small, and th

It's just the in game name for the newbie zone "bunny rabbit" wildlife equivalent. It's named for "bunny" and "nip" as in "to bite something". They look like large white bunnies, and are quite cute when outside of combat, but get an evil (but still intended to be adorable) expression while fighting. They are one of the best newbie pets with broadly applicable skills and a wide variety of build paths, intended to be easily usable by anyone who wants to use a pet and viable for all content.

I don't have an official timeline for the story, since the date doesn't really matter, but the technology would indicate it must takes place decently into the future. Mitchell would be, in that case, in the generation that started playing video games during the NES era while he was a kid, and thus has been a gamer for more or less his entire life. But don't take that as an official note of the time period of the story, just an example of why a person his age might still be playing games. That is a good guess. We may never know! (Obviously I do, but... perks of being the author!)

He is a real player, and he is 60-ish, but you're right, most people his age do not play games like this. But there are a few that do, and he's one of them. There are a few other people, including at least one who is older than him, on the server but they aren't relevant to this particular narrative.

A large group of players sits in the same room as the party was held the previous day. Theo and Ben sit with the Indecisive ones, the A team, Luke, Kwame and Ricky on the stage. Most of the other top players, including Jerome and Jacklyn, stand around the edge of the stage while others sit in various places around the room. Collin addresses the room, “So, I think we all know why we’re here, but just to make sure, the purpose of this meeting is to talk strategy for the upcoming Temple rai

Asa leaps over the crocogater’s bite and lands on its back before stabbing down into its blindside. The beast disappears dropping him to his feet on the ground below. “Do we really want to fight the boss again?” He asks as they head to a nearby safe zone. Collin shrugs, “It wouldn’t be much of a challenge.” Lloyd sighs, “It wouldn’t be any fun either.” Tracy rolls her eyes, “This isn’t very fun anymore anyway. I don’t understand those people who can grind forever in these games. D

Yep! There it is. I'm not remotely surprised he's alive, but you did have me fooled in the interim. Short epilogue, but it resolved everything pretty well. Not much more to say really. It was a fun ride!

“Kwame! What are you doing!” Tyrone loves his cousin, he really does, but the boy infuriates him to no end. “You have to see this!” Kwame says from around some corner somewhere. Tyrone sighs, “I have no idea where you are!” Kwame responds by sending Tyrone a party request which he grudgingly accepts. He follows his minimap towards the dot indicating where Kwame is, “I didn’t come out here to be led on a wild goose chase!” “It’s totally worth it!” Kwame yells back. Tyrone grum

Mostly because awesome. But also, houses are more fully customizable than the lodge and some people like the feeling of owning their own properly, since the room in the lodge is kind of more like a dorm room or rented apartment than something the player owns. Something they just AUTOMATICALLY HAVE for existing within the game. And yeah. People are forming guilds based as much on how they want to live as the game play. That networking? The start of the society within the game? That's the main focus of the story. That's why the story hasn't been focused on the action so much. In any case, I'm glad to see you still following this! Thanks!

Luke thinks about Asa as he walks up to the lodge. He can’t help it. Despite everything, he still feels like he needs to protect him. He realizes that’s irrational. Even when they were a team, he only protected Asa because he was a tank and Asa was pure DPS. The reverse could have been true. It makes him wonder if they might have chosen those roles in game because they mirrored their roles outside the game. He can’t be certain, and that bothers him because it makes him realize Asa is right.

Stephan looks at the house he just bought. The first day after his brother died, he’d gathered soul energy for when they found him. His brother was a good player. He wouldn’t have died that easily. Stephan was scared, but he didn’t gave up hope. Then Skydaculous, JiantHippo and MasterAshley, along with almost a hundred other people died on the easiest Temple raid. If that could happen, certainly anyone could be killed by skilled PKers. After that, he’d taken out his frustrations on goblins.

The game "physics" are important to the plot. So expect that stuff to never disappear. What started at something that Asa did just to make Brandon feel more involved? HAPPENED to work out! I didn't even know it was going to happen myself when I wrote it because Wake wasn't even a character in the story yet. I moved him from a different story that would probably never get written when I realized I wanted Asa to have a love interest, partially so I could write it but ALSO to make it so that people didn't just keep wondering when Asa and Luke are going to get together. And come on! If Wake didn't exist? Everyone would be expecting Asa/Luke whether it was going to happen or not! But then Wake's name (which the character already had) ALSO happened to start with A in pig latin... AND SO A MEME WAS BORN! Yep! The Sanctuary is awesome. And they already have the programming to do that, since rooms exist, so it makes sense that they'd do that for Sanctuary too, because the whole point of the spell is to give players a place to rest, recuperate ans strategize when there isn't a safe zone around. It would completely defeat the purpose if, you know, it wasn't, RELAXING! Yeah. It's one of the bigger plot holes in Sword Art Online (and many other similar stories). Put a bunch of kids in a digital world for years, and they... somehow... DON'T grow? And has no lasting impact on their physiological development? o.O Yeah. The title of this chapter may be my favorite in the entire story! Since it's a triple entendre with a lot of subtle meaning. Glad to hear from you as always!

Brandon steps forward into the Goblin’s way, crowding it with his barrier bubble. While the bubble’s size means more things can attack him, he quickly realized that they can’t enter the area, giving him an immense amount of control over where the enemies can go. The Goblin attacks him, but immediately regrets it as the damage reflected off the barrier deals the final blow and it disappears. Wake grimaces and plants a large hand on Brandon’s shoulder, “You’re a natural.” Brandon looks d

What can I say? When I write werewolves (even though your Lycan aren't technically werewolves, from a narrative perspective they are) I write brutality as an intrinsic part of what they are. Not to say that is a complaint against your choice to not write them like that, just saying it's a difference in how we choose to portray them. If I was writing this? War and annihilation would be the only PROPER answer to what the McKinney's did. Both because the only way to ensure they are never a threat again is to eliminate them, but also as a testament to the inevitable end anyone else who attempted to even try a similar thing would face. It's not even a question of how underhanded everything is, it's a question of respect. To challenge someone openly, even someone you are GUARANTEED to defeat in combat, you are respecting their right to an open death. To show everyone how strong they really are, even in inevitable defeat. To murder without a challenge? Is disrespectful, both to your enemy, and to yourself. It's a sign of weakness and selfishness. One wouldn't even necessarily need to not use poison or a sniper. If a challenge was issues before hand, and said challenge didn't name a particular time and place for a fight? Then any form of warfare becomes acceptable. After all, a true warrior should be aware and able to protect themselves at any time, regardless of whether they are in active combat or not. What's far more important to them than a fair fight, is a fair challenge that respects both combatants right to a dignified death. And this goes both ways. To respond to the McKinney's with anything but an open declaration of war? Would be to disrespect THEM. And to these werewolves? That's unconscionable, no matter what crimes they might have committed, and no matter how many lives it might cost. Just a snippet into how I write werewolf stories, in case I ever finish one of mine and it ends up posted here (which I actually hope occurs, but I haven't been motivated thus far to finish any). Perhaps this might give you some insight into the reasoning behind some of the comments I've given you? Both to this, and your previous, stories.

I do wonder if there will be another chapter. There doesn't seem to be much else left to resolve, at least nothing that can be resolved cleanly with a bow on top. Also, Dorian is dead and his last message was over. And this is Dorian's story. I do think he was his own worst enemy. If I were him and I knew what I knew? I'd have forcefully incapacitated Levi BEFORE exposing him. Probably ripped his arms off for good measure. But it was in character for Dorian to play the fool to the very end. If there's another story? I hope it returns to Chris and how he's doing in San Fransisco. I felt his story ended with a lot of places it could go. All and all? This has been a fun romp! Peace!

LOL The lodge is specifically designed so that, regardless of what's going on? Neither the characters; nor that reader; will EVER forget that they are in a game! LOL Top player, top friend. What can I say? LOTS AND LOTS OF SPINNING IN THIS STORY! https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpectacularSpinning?from=Main.EverythingsBetterWithSpinning😛 Yeah. I love writing The A Team's dynamic. None of them are perfect, but they are just such cool people, and they really make up for each other's flaws. One could even say Asa and Luke completed their first arc. 😉 What can I say? One of the points of this was to just be a story that depicts gay without making it a big deal. To depict gay characters whose sexuality isn't irrelevant, but doesn't wholly define them either. I'm glad you're enjoying this!

If it seemed irrational? That was the point. There IS no good reason for them to raid the Temple. It was a group of hot headed players who felt they needed to do SOMETHING. PKing was off the table, and no one had given them any indication of what they are "supposed" to be doing. And being arrogant enough about their skills to think that, despite being underpowered, that they could beat the boss, after all, they were fighting a boss that has already been cracked. That they've all fought before. That the best of them may even have successfully solo'd. Basically, it was the closest thing they could do to rioting. They did it to feel in control of something significant in a situation they felt powerless in. As for support, they brought around 90 people, which under normal circumstances would be enough to complete a Temple raid, especially one this early in the world ring. And the cracked earlier raids can be solo'd by powerful/skilled enough players, so thinking they could do it with 30 people and a good plan wasn't so unreasonable. In short, if they were thinking more rationally, were at the right power level, and weren't blindsided by a changed boss? They were highly likely to be successful.

There's no specific event in or before the story that is precipitating this (except, perhaps, being trapped in the game itself). It's more just... they were best friends. Inseparable for a long time. And now they are changing as people and naturally drifting apart (really, they've been doing that for some time, but they didn't notice/refused to acknowledge this). And since they've spent so much of their lives until now together, and they are just starting to realize how much they were reliant on each other, they both know there is a good chance that they'll become very different people and that when all is said and done, they might just... have drifted too far apart to rekindle their friendship.

Ardine watches her younger proteges talk from the door before she leaves. Brandon is paying rapt attention to Asa as he explains the menu. It amuses her how their social relationship is the opposite of what you’d expect. Purely based on their features, you’d think Asa was one or two years younger than Brandon, but their countenance betrays their real ages. Asa carries himself with the maturity of a young adult, while Brandon is an excitable youth. She can’t help but appreciate both. She’s t

He mostly did it to get it out of the way. Not so much to build trust, as to not have to worry about it. As for the rest? Interesting suppositions.