Spirits of Mithzara - 5. Elliot

‎ His apartment gleamed from top to bottom. All the dishes in the kitchen were drying, the garbage taken out. Even the bathroom had been scrubbed clean. And yet Jacob procrastinated. He should call Laura. He needed to call Laura. Or was he supposed to call her Jason?

Jacob dropped onto the couch in his living room, letting out a long sigh. This was so confusing. Why was it so hard to call her? Him? They were best friends, almost lovers. They should be able to talk about anything.

His phone dinged suddenly, Jacob checking it.

"I'm on my way over. We need to talk."

He took a deep breath. They were going to talk. Get this sorted out. Laura, or Jason... They would be here in less than ten minutes. Jacob stood up, heading to his room to dress.

Minutes later, he was at the door, waiting for a knock. When it came, the man hesitated. Whatever they said in the next minutes, whatever they did, was going to change their lives forever. And it terrified him.

Jacob steeled himself and opened the door.

"Hey."

"Hey..."

He held the door open, Laura entering the apartment. For the first time, Jacob really took notice of her clothes, the baggy shorts and loose shirt that she often wore taking on a whole new identity.

"I'm sorry I sprang that on you last night," Laura said.

"I'm having a hard time with it," Jacob admitted. "What am I supposed to call you? Are you even still my girlfriend?"

"Jason. Or Elliot. I dont really know which yet, but I want to go by one of these names. You can't tell my family though. They'd freak out," Laura, no, Jason, pleaded.

Jacob chuckled weakly.

"I always wanted a brother named Elliot," he said. "Now I have a boyfriend..."

His stomach fluttered at the thought. Boyfriend. He had a boyfriend.

"Uh... about that," Elliot said uncertainly.

"Oh..."

Jacob walked to the couch and sat down.

"I'm sorry, I really am."

Elliot let out a shaky breath, leaning against the door.

"My friend I told you about the other day, Bethany... She... uh, she kinda asked me out tonight, and I said yes."

"And then you came here to break up with me."

Jacob shook his head in disbelief.

"I mean, I get it. You're a guy. You don't want to be with a guy, that's obvious. But shouldn't you break things off with me before going out with someone else? And here I am doubting everything I've ever known about myself. I like you; does that make me gay? Am I still straight? Can I even call myself straight?"

Elliot shrugged helplessly.

"I don't know what to tell you. I really don't. But I'm not gay. I'm sorry Jacob."

"Well, at least you were honest about not becoming a lesbian."

Jacob smiled slightly, Elliot copying him. A laugh escaped him, and soon the two were embracing tightly.

"I'll always love you. You know that right?" Elliot said.

"Yeah. If you ever need a boyfriend for the holidays or something, let me know. I won't out you to your family."

"No hard feelings then?"

"I can't say I'm not upset about this, but I understand," Jacob shrugged. "As long as you're happy, I'll get over it."

"Wow, now I feel like a douche," Elliot said.

"Well, perhaps we can head down to the old sparring ring and you let me whack you a bit to make up for it."

Elliot smiled.

"I'd like that," he said.

"Mrow..."

"No Cassie, I'm working."

Kyle pushed the cat away again, his laptop perched precariously on his lap. He was working on a build for his character, trying to decide exactly what he wanted to play. He'd had an idea the day before, but now he was trying to refine it.

"Mrowww..."

He could feel her walking on the back of the couch, her body brushing against his head. The cat stepped on his shoulder, knocking against his head.

'Damn it Cas, I said leave me alone!"

Setting aside his computer, Kyle picked up the cat and set her on the floor.

"Cat aggro?" his father asked, entering the room.

"Of the highest order," Kyle sighed.

"I'll run interference."

Stanley scooped the cat up, cradling her as he sat on the couch.

"Game stuff?"

"Yeah. I'm trying to decide what kind of summoner I should play," Kyle replied.

"Huh. How'd your meeting with your friend go?"

"That depends. Do you want to pull a mom move and play twenty questions or should I just give you the answers?"

"The answers will work for me," Stanley shrugged.

"He's playing an elf, no I don't know his real age, he has a girlfriend so I am assuming he's straight, and he knows how to handle a sword. Oh, and he plays a healer."

Kyle scanned the page he was on, reading about the various crafting professions he could learn. Woodworking, weapon smithing, armour smithing, enchanting, alchemy, cooking, tailoring, fishing, gardening... The choices seemed endless. And to his surprise, these had levels associated with them. Just a simple novice to legendary scale, but he figured it would add a nice sense of progression to the professions.

"Hey, look at these and tell me what you think I should try. Besides cooking," he said.

"What are you playing? A mage?"

"Well, more of a ranger, but with summons. I just need to figure out what subclass of summons I want."

"Well I'd go with wood so you can make bows," Stanley said. "Your mom said she was going to be home late. Do you want pizza for dinner?"

"Yeah, that sounds great," Kyle replied. "Vegetarian with extra olives?"

"I'll see what I can do."

Hero of Lankin. It had a nice sound to it. And Jacob was suitably impressed with the first official quest in Mithzara. He was less impressed with the novice level longsword he wielded, strapped to his hip. But for a free weapon picked up from a disposable NPC companion, he supposed it was fine.

He made his way to a weapon shop, trading in his staff for five copper. A pathetic sum, for a starting weapon. He didn't expect much from it. The elf went next to the bookstore. He figured he should pick up a copy of the abjuration scroll, if he was going to focus on healing and buffing.

The elf entered the store, spotting a crimson kitsune sitting with a small stack of books beside him.

"Hey Gaius," he greeted.

The fox jumped slightly, looking around wildly. His face broke into a smile at the sight of Jacob.

"Oh, hi Garyn. Did you get your girlfriend started?"

Jacob frowned slightly.

"Actually, we broke up," he said.

"Oh shit. I'm sorry."

"Yeah. I'm going to grab an abjuration scroll. You want to try a little monster hunting with me today?"

Gaius began shoving the books into his bag, standing. Jacob thought he saw a woodcraft book included among them, but he wasn't certain.

"Sure," he said, a quiver and bow appearing on his hip.

Jacob walked toward the magic section of the shop, picking up a scroll with a small portcullis symbol in blue ink on the end. He had gathered nearly two silver from the gnolls he had attacked during the quest. It should be plenty for the scroll.

Paying for the scroll, Jacob and Gaius headed outside, the elf opening the scroll. He found a personal shield spell, basically the spell he should have learned from the first magic scroll.

"Eh, waste of a silver," he muttered, tucking the scroll into his bag. "The gnolls didn't give you any trouble, did they?"

"Not really. I was surprised at how easily they died," Gaius admitted as they walked through Lankin.

"They were unarmoured, except for a few rags on the chiefs. Armour makes up most of your defense in game. You have a hundred hit points, and there aren't really any ways to gain more. Most weapons deal damage in a range from fifty to a hundred points per hit. You have to rely on armour to stay alive. Which is what we are about to look for. Hopefully with our shield spells, we should be able to defend ourselves."

"I got an offensive scroll too," Gaius mentioned. "A necromancy scroll. That's okay, right?"

"Oh yeah. There aren't any bodies in the game to desecrate, so necromancy is basically just like any other magic to the NPCs." Jacob said. "As long as you don't use it to attack the guards, you'll be fine."

Pointing at a wooded rise about two miles from the walls of Lankin, Jacob added, "That's the start of the goblin and kobold zone. The story is they're fighting each other for control of the woods. There should be three dungeons in there, but we aren't going near them. Instead, we will be farming one of the slower spawns, known as Goblin Grove. There should be some people running around if we need help."

"Are we going to need help?"

Jacob shrugged.

"If we do, chances are we'll be rolling up new characters. High risk, low reward, but we have to start somewhere."

He led the kitsune out of town, fingers twitching near the hilt of his sword. This was going to be interesting.

The sound of fighting entered their ears as they followed a dirt path up the hill. Garyn had already told him what he wanted Kyle to do. The kitsune would be doing his best to run down his stamina completely as they fought, which would add an extra point of stamina for him to use each time he reached empty. They would switch off, Garyn fighting while Kyle recovered. Supposedly the goblins would be spawning in groups of three every two minutes, throughout the grove. They would have to hide to recover their stamina, but hopefully they would bot come out of this in one piece.

Garyn unsheathed his blade as they reached the top of the hill, looking every part the dashing warrior. Well, except for the grey tunic and pants. Kyle appreciated the look of them though. He could still look at straight guys, right? Especially when that straight guy was an avatar in a video game.

The kitsune took out his own weapon, frowning as he counted less than twenty arrows in his quiver. He would have to try out that new spell sooner rather than later. Figures moved through the trees around him, Kyle turning warily as they walked.

"Relax. We're on the main path. We'll be safe as long as we don't step off it," Garyn said. "Which is exactly what we are about to do."

"What?"

The elf stepped off the path, into the trees around them. Nervously, Kyle followed him. There was a real difference between doing this in a video game and doing this in reality.

Goblin cackles filled the air, Kyle placing an arrow on his bowstring as they walked. Something rustled in the trees to their left, and the kitsune looked over, seeing a goblin lunging at Garyn with a dagger.

"Garyn!"

He jumped at the elf, knocking him off his feet as the dagger fell past them. The two rolled toward the hill, dropping until they hit a small ledge. Kyle sucked in a deep breath, willing the world to stop spinning around him. He didn't feel any pain, but a red bar in front of him showed he was at fifty percent of his health.

Belatedly, the kitsune realised he was laying on top of Garyn, their bodies pressing together in a rather compromising way. His own body was starting to react, surprising him. The game included sex...?

"Uh, Gaius, do you think you could get off me?"

"Oh yeah... Sorry..."

He stood up carefully, helping the elf to his feet.

"Thanks for the save," Garyn said, brushing himself off. "Goblin?"

"With a dagger," Kyle nodded.

"Yeah, that would have messed up my day. Try to shoot him next time though."

It was stupidly obvious. Of course he should have shot the goblin. They were here to kill goblins.

"Should we try again?" he asked.

"Of course. But first we need to find a way back up the hill. And you look pretty beat up too."

Kyle looked at his health bar, still hovering at fifty percent. It looked like there was no regeneration for health outside of potions.

"Here."

A small clay vial fell into the kitsune's hands, a red cross painted on the side.

"Healing potion. It will give you two points of regeneration every second for a minute. Not good for emergencies, but it will work for now," Garyn said.

Opening the vial, Kyle tipped his head back and swallowed the contents, gagging at the grassy taste.

"They aren't the most pleasant drinks in the world," he said, tucking the vial into his bag.

"No, but they work. Okay, here's how we're going to do this. You're going down first. I'll cast a shield on you and you cast one on yourself. It should dampen the fall damage," Garyn said.

"Uh... can you repeat that? I could have sworn you just told me to jump to my death."

Kyle shook his head, looking at the steep hill below them. There was maybe a hundred feet between them and the ground. If he was lucky, he would roll safely. If not, he'd be rolling a new character.

"I promise I'll help you grind out a new character if this doesn't work," Garyn said.

"I can't believe I'm doing this..." Kyle muttered, placing his fingers into a diamond.

"Focus on putting all your stamina into the shield. It will dampen more of the damage," Garyn added.

The kitsune did as he was told, feeling the energy rush out of him as the translucent shield appeared around him. A second bubble appeared around Kyle, and he took a deep breath, before jumping off the ledge.

He landed on his feet, skidding down the slope for a second before tripping. Rolling down the hill, the kitsune could feel the impacts of the hill whittling away at his health. Seventy... sixty eight... sixty six... It was difficult to keep his shield up, but Kyle managed somehow, until he rolled to a stop, battered and exhausted.

His stamina bar flashed briefly, showing an extra point of stamina.

"Incoming!!!"

Looking up the hill, Kyle saw Garyn sliding down the hill on his back, dodging rocks as he guided himself with his feet. The elf hit a stone near the bottom of the hill and his shield fell as he tumbled the rest of the way.

"Dude, that was awesome. How'd you do that?" Kyle asked, hurrying to help the elf to his feet.

"Focusing on my dexterity. I got an extra point after the gnolls earlier."

"Really? I didn't get a point of dexterity," Kyle frowned.

"No, I'd say you got a point of intelligence for focusing on chiefs. I fought my way through the gnolls, dodging their fists. It's funny, they weren't even armed."

"I could have sworn they had bows," Kyle said.

"Maybe. I didn't see any arrows."

"I did. Are you okay?"

Garyn shrugged.

"A little beat up, but I'm alive. Maybe we should head back to Lankin. I think it's a little early to hunt goblins after all..."

"We didn't really hunt anything."

"No, you just pushed me down a hill," Garyn laughed.

"I was trying to save your life-"

"I know. I'm just screwing with you. I'll see if I can get Lau... if I can get Elliot to join us tomorrow. Three people would probably make for a better rotation anyway."

The elf closed his eyes momentarily.

"Yeah, my alarm is going off in a few minutes. I'll meet you at the book store tomorrow?"

"Sure," Kyle agreed. "Later."

"See ya."

Garyn faded from view, leaving Kyle alone. Finally the kitsune could take the chance to adjust himself. He'd have to figure out how to avoid reacting to the elf. That was a recipe for disaster.

He started back toward the city, trying his best not to think about Garyn lying under his body. And failing miserably. Well, if nothing else, he'd have the feeling and the image for later.