Foot of the Spire (Tyran POV)

I stepped out of the server gate. I turned back to the swirling purple vortex and waited a moment. After a moment another figure stepped out and the gate shut.

System notification! Congratulations to Tyran and Elizabeth Almeria for discovering cross dimension travel.

System notification! For your brave endeavor you have been rewarded 25k exp, 5k merit.

Level up

Level up

Level up

Level up

…

My eyes twitched at the string of notifications that suddenly sprung up. Upsides and downsides I suppose. I was level thirty seven now and my rank had jumped from a mere lord to a second level baron. Liz probably just jumped to third level viscount.

This was a dungeon run. So I'd taken the liberty of inviting Liz along to grind out some levels. Considering how much realism the game tried to display it was difficult at times to understand how leveling up helped. Hell, I still hope the devs break out an update on that stuff.

Liz had some new gear, a steel cuirass as well as bracers and shin guards. Naturally she still had her halberd but I'd at least convinced her to bring along the shortsword I'd given to her previously. She also had a large pack slung over her shoulders. I didn't know exactly what it contained but I'd suggested food and water should we stay longer than we thought we were going to.

My gear hadn't changed, I'd given all the good stuff from the bandits to Liz. But like her I was carrying a pack filled with anything we might need. Food, water, bandages, etc.

We were standing at the foot of a stone staircase which led to a small entrance into the mountain. Mountains ranged from the east to the southwest. Behind us the pathway continued into the forest. From the pathway emerged three players.

I recognized one of them immediately, I was familiar with the person behind the avatar. I still read the names of them to be sure. Pixie Dust, Fallai, and Jewels. Trix was Pixie, that much I knew from before…

Pixie was a mage-priest hybrid; her avatar looked almost exactly like her. Well endowed and her perfect curves… how many hearts had she shattered? But the striking difference was that she changed her hair's color from a soft milky brown to a dull blond. But what surprised me most was the rather revealing outfit she was wearing. She looked like a belly dancer, it wasn't that bad, but it was damn close.

"It has the best stats!" Pixie shouted angrily, her face flushing red.

Falli was dressed in hunting leathers, a yew bow slung over her shoulder. Her hair was a warm brown, her eyes filled with gold and brown hues. "Oh, is this your man? I thought he'd be more handsome."

"No! It's nothing like that." Pixie stuttered.

"Really?" Fallai said in a buttered voice, placing her hand on Pixie's shoulder. Everything she was doing suggested that Pixie was hiding something.

"Then who's the girl next to him?" Pixie asked in near desperate tones.

"You're letting him two time you?" Fallai said in shock.

Liz and I glanced at each other, complete befuddlement was all that was displayed on her face. Thank god. Didn't need to deal with that bomb. Pixie looked at me desperately, like a lost lamb having found their savior.

"Hey sis, you making some friends?" I asked nonchalantly as I nodded to her companions.

"He's your brother?" Fallai shrieked.

"You should stop reading too deeply into things Fal." Jewels said quietly. Her blue green eyes seemed to fit her calm demeanor, her hair was a deep magenta red that normally reached her waist but was braided up to not… get in the way? She wore rusting chainmail and carried a battered greatsword and small shield.

I sighed, I mean… Why did I agree to this. I dragged Liz along because of a blunder… you log back in where you logged out. That happened to be her room. So this was my feeble attempt to placate her, it also got her out of the manor where if she'd tried to leave, everyone would have practically forced her to return to rest.

Trix needed another person so she could have enough of a party to do her quest. So she'd brought along two other people… so we had a party of five. I quickly ran through our roster. Pixie was essentially our healer, Jewels looked like she had a pretty solid tank build going on, Fal was a ranger, Liz and I were frontline dps. Heh, odd how that all worked out to make a balanced party.

"Elizabeth." Liz answered Fal's inquiry.

"Well Elizabeth it's nice to meet you." The three girls chorused. "Say, what's your character's name?" Jewels asked me.

"Tyran." I replied, adjusting my sword belt. I heard Trix nearly choke. Jewels nodded but Fal ignored me.

"We came here to do a dive! Not chat with some borish guy." Fal said as she walked past me. "Come on Elizabeth, we can have some fun together!" She said cheerfully.

Liz seemed alarmed at the sudden pacing of events. "Tyran?"

Ding! I was perplexed by the sudden appearance of a quest notification.

Quest issued. Damsel in Distress. Quest duration 6hours, special npc Elizabeth Almeria's Health may not be lower than 50%, Elizabeth must be able to act on her own free will. You must remain in Elizabeth's line of sight. Taken aback by events Elizabeth has issued you a mandatory quest, failing either of these conditions will cause Elizabeth's opinion of you to be reduced by 80%.

The hell! How was this a fair quest! That reduction of opinion would basically mean she would hate my guts!