Taken aback by the massive player’s carefree introduction, Charles went with the flow and introduced himself as well. “Charles G. Wood at your service, I’m a Level 7 Escutcheon Knight, and resident Hero of BRYZ!” Sweeping his arm, he indicated the other two members of his party. “The quiet girl over there is Tenshi, our combat specialist, both her Level and Class are unknown! The grovelling expert over here is Isaac, a Level 1 Minioneer in charge of comic relief.”
“I see, I see,” the armoured player nodded wisely.
“Like heck you do!” Isaac retorted, punching Charles in the shoulder. “Who’s in charge of comic relief again, you hero-tier creeper?”
“At least my first reaction to situations ain’t begging for my life!” Charles grinned smugly.
"Right," Nor ignored their bickering. "So that's Charles, Isaac and..." they paused. "Where's Tenshi?"
"Here," Tenshi replied, suddenly behind the player.
"Frickin'...! Give me some warning next time!" The player spun around in surprise. "Actually, why are you behind me?"
Tenshi gave no reply, simply standing and examined the player carefully from head to toe, her red eyes darting all across the player's frame.
"Er, hello?" Nor asked uncomfortably, waving a hand in front of Tenshi.
"Classic Tenshi," Charles commented.
"Yup, classic Tenshi," Isaac agreed.
"I see," Tenshi suddenly looked up into Nor's helmet goggles. "Nor, you are...a girl, correct?" she intoned with absolute conviction.
"Pffft!" Charles stifled a laugh.
"Er, yeah?" Nor asked, confused.
"I kinda figured the pink decals and girly team name would be a dead giveaway," Charles quipped. "But I guess this is Tenshi we're talking about."
"Well, this is the internet," Isaac countered. "You never really know."
"I see," Tenshi repeated. “I was simply asking because that would make you the first female player I have met in BRYZ. A pleasure to meet you.” She bowed.
“Oh...kay. Wait, really?” Nor replied in surprise. “Hang tight, I’ll call the other members of Peppermint Eyeglass.” Swiping her menu, she typed a couple quick messages, then minimized the window.
“You’re calling your friends over?” Charles asked, dexterously retrieving a comb from his chest pocket and fixing his hair.
“Well, I did offer to show you guys around,” Nor responded. “Plus, it sounds like Tenshi could use some girls-time, so after I show you two the basics, I’ll take her on a special tour of the city, no charge!”
“Just her?” Isaac complained. “We’re kind of a team. Shouldn’t we stick together?”
“Bro, if Tenshi and the rest want to have a girl’s night out, let ‘em!” Charles shrugged. “It’ll be good for her. Let’s show ‘em the kind of fun we guys can get up to by ourselves!”
“You’re the last person I expected to suggest we don’t make this co-ed,” Isaac retorted. “Well, fine, why not. I need to pick out a new weapon anyway.”
“That settles that,” Charles turned to Nor. “Er, by the way, you said you’re inviting your friends. Any of them cute?”
“All my friends are cute,” Nor responded defensively. “They’re miles out of your league though. Nico⭐’s tall, strong, and popular, whereas Kage’s cool, intelligent, and a little shy. Together, we’re and unbeatable team!”
“Heh, don't you know "leagues" are just a myth?" Charles shrugged. "But Nico and Kage, huh? You all have nicknames for BRYZ?”
“Nico⭐,” Nor corrected him. “Besides, it’s actually stranger that you all use your real names. Didn’t you ever listen to any of those warnings about not sharing any personal information over the net?”
“Puh-lease!” Charles shrugged, holding his hand out to his sides. “I joined BRYZ to meet girls, plain and simple. It’s only right that they know what to call me when they fall into my arms!”
“PSA, I’m not with this guy,” Isaac interjected, distancing himself. “I just didn’t bother coming up with one yet. Maybe if I think of a cool one, I’ll change it later.”
“Suit yourself,” Nor shrugged. “I always like to err on the side of caution.”
A loud voice from across the courtyard broke into the player’s conversation.
“Hey Nor, are these the guys you were talking about?”
“Holy hotcakes!” Charles muttered to Isaac, sizing up the approaching girl.
“Charles…” Isaac rolled his eyes.
“Hey, I’m looking respectfully,” Charles replied with a pious expression.
The player the voice belonged to was a tall, leggy woman with sharp features and even sharper eyes. She was sporting a plain, belted beige toga with a leg slit, and twin metal bracers emblazoned with the Peppermint Eyeglass emblem on her left upper and lower arm. She wore simple leather thong sandals and kept her waist-length parakeet-green hair in a likewise simple manner, letting it run free over her shoulders. On her back was a curious weapon Isaac could not identify, looking like an impossibly wide-bladed broadsword, only improbably short. As a whole, the armament closer resembled a squarish shield than a sword, with a wide-angled point on one end, and a two-foot handle on the other.
“Nico⭐!” Nor exclaimed, running over to her with surprising agility. “Meet my new friend Tenshi! She’s going to be joining us around town today. Oh, and those two are her sidekicks.”
“Any friend of Nor’s a friend of mine!” Nico⭐ replied, clapping Tenshi on the shoulder. Then, she turned and flashed a warm smile at the two men, winking at Charles.
“Guh!” He clutched his chest.
“…You good, bro?” Isaac nudged him.
“She’s too powerful!” Charles groaned dramatically. “My heart!”
Nico⭐ laughed warmly, before turning and looking around her. “Hey, where’s Kage?” she asked. “She should be online already.”
“I’m here.”
A quiet voice from behind them nearly made Isaac jump out of his skin. Turning to look, he only saw the darkness of the city’s entry tunnel. Then, materializing out of the blackness…a human shadow!
Isaac rubbed his eyes and looked again. Although not a shadow, the figure wasn’t far from one. Walking towards them, the short, slender girl was one solid palette of black, from her hoodie to her hair, from her shoes to her pants, all the way up to the dark expression she wore. Her hair was just long enough to cover her right eye, curling up at the ends to form an odd fringe that encircled her head. Burning like a coal, her visible left eye was an angry shade of red, breaking through her monochrome appearance as she stared warily at the two men.
Stepping back a pace, Isaac let the girl by. Passing without the slightest noise, she flashed a quick glare at the two, before taking her place behind the other girls, slouching against a nearby building. It didn’t escape Isaac’s notice that she too had the Peppermint Eyeglass insignia on her outfit, emblazoned across the back of her hoodie as the only non-black colour in her attire.
“Kage, this is Tenshi, a new friend!” Nor told Kage, filling her in. “We’re gonna give her the grand tour and take her on our shopping trip today!”
“A friend, huh?” Kage muttered quietly, not looking either Nor or Tenshi in the eye. “You’re too trusting, Nor. You just met her, can you really call her a friend?”
“All right, that settles it, all four of us are gonna go live it up in town!” Nor exclaimed, pumping her first towards the sky as she ignored the complaints of her companion. Then, grabbing Tenshi by the hand, she began walking further into the town.
Behind her, Nico⭐ simply smiled knowingly, falling into step behind her huge companion. Left behind, Kage rustled the hair under her hood with an uncomfortable expression. Finally, she sighed exasperatedly and slunk after her teammates.
“Well, we might as well follow them for now,” Isaac suggested, phrasing it more as a question than a statement.
“Well sure but…” Charles looked pointedly in Kage’s direction. “I’m sorry, that girl has a serious attitude problem. Didn’t anyone ever tell her you’re never fully dressed without a smile?”
“Just as long she doesn’t rub off on Tenshi,” Isaac laughed.
*******
Following the odd trio, Tenshi, Charles, and Isaac were led across the sprawling city of Wyndvale.
“This here’s a good hotel I’d recommend to new players.” Nor pointed to a small building that looked less like an inn and more like a house. “It’s one of the few that’s run by a player, not an NPC. The owner just opened up recently, and as you can tell by the looks, he just revamped a residential house into a bar, so the rooms are top quality. Plus” — she turned to face the two, holding a finger to her mouth grill — “he keeps procrastinating about putting up his sign, so most people don’t even know it exists. It should be more or less vacant.”
Walking further along, Isaac whispered to Charles, “Man, this place is huge! Hard to believe it’s the smallest town in Canada’s smallest region.”
“If you consider it has to hold over two million people, it makes sense,” Charles whispered back. “Well, it’s not like they’re ever all online at once, so that would be a bit of an exaggeration. Either way, large numbers of players are out traveling between towns, completing quests, and exploring, and if you take into account that a lot of players move to larger centers when they outgrow their surroundings, this is about right.”
While whispering to each other, the two of them nearly collided with Nor’s back when she made a sudden stop, turning around to face the pair.
“Alright, this is about as far as I’ll need to show you!” she declared. Pointing to a busy marketplace towards the center of the city, she continued “If you’re looking to buy any equipment, that would be the best place to start.” Opening her menu, she swiped a couple of windows, causing alerts to pop up in front of the two men.
“I sent you a friend invite, along with the names of some of the better shops I found,” the armoured player explained, giving them a thumbs-up. “We’ll be taking Tenshi from here on, so if you need anything, just send me a message.”
Thanking her, the two waved their goodbyes to Tenshi and headed off towards the bustling marketplace.
“You sure went all-out helping them,” Nico⭐ whispered, elbowing the armoured player. “Did you know then from somewhere?”
“Kinda,” Nor replied non-committedly, adjusting her helmet with one hand. “Anyway, I sorta felt responsible, you know. If they up and died in their first major fight, I’d feel pretty bad.”
“Nah, they look like they know their way around a scrap or two,” Nico⭐ assessed, watching the players disappear into the crowd. “When it came to your explanations of the world and the game mechanics, they looked like they already knew half of it.”
“They’re naïve,” Kage muttered from behind the pair. “I’ve seen it before, there’s a false confidence that comes from parties that’ve never faced any kind of major challenge.”
“Aw, don’t be like that, Kage!” Nico⭐ laughed, ruffling her hair. “Even if you say that, it’s not like we’re veterans ourselves.”
Kage grumbled in protest, pulling her hood up. “I just tell it like it is. They need to take things a little more seriously. This isn’t just some game anymore.”
“Nah, that’s all this really is at the end of the day, I wouldn’t think too much about it,” Nor waved dismissively. “Speaking of, we should get going and show Tenshi the sights. I gave us two hours before the three of them are gonna meet back at the inn, so that’s our time limit to party it on up!”
“Where to first?” Nico⭐ asked, opening the map on her menu.
“Arcade,” Kage interjected, raising her hand.
“No complaints here!” Nor replied, pumping her fist in the air. “I’m feeling good today, I’m aiming for at least 3rd place!”
Dragged along by her companions, Tenshi couldn’t help but getting caught up in their pace, smiling as she dashed after the odd trio. Pausing for a moment, she reached into her hair, pulling out a metallic, ovular apparatus. Dropping the hovering device into a nearby alley, she continued after the trio, her mind at ease.
Meanwhile, in the alley behind her, the sphere suddenly came to life. With a metallic hiss, its covering folded out, unleashing a stream of whirling pixels on the ground beneath it. When the pixels had coalesced, something was standing in their place.
Picking up the apparatus and slotting it into its back, the figure continued on into the alleyway without looking back.
ns18.191.103.248da2
