Welcome “Party” (1)

"Delicious wine!"

"Drunken chicken!"

"Pork dumplings!"

"Bamboo rice!"

"Spicy wontons!"

"Crispy roasted duck!"

NPCs moving around Red Star Court repeated the names of dishes as they entered.

"It's my treat today," Champion said joyfully. "A Shifu's gotta introduce his new disciple to everyone in the clan!"

The following night, his Shifu had a brilliant idea of throwing an impromptu welcome party at the Red Star Court, the most opulent dining establishment in DOJ. He had invited the active members to come feast at this "virtual treat" to share his joy. Their first guest was a Healer by the name of Windy.

"Ahem, when do we get a real treat?" she hinted.

The clan voice chat had been activated so clan members who joined the channel could conveniently chat with each other.

Windy, level 95, clad in bright floral robes, took a seat at one of the tables. Lucas recognized her clothing as one of the cheapest apparel that cost 50 Gold Leaves.

"That's not the point about today's party," Champion diverted the topic. "Meet Luc, our new member!"

Scrutinising him from head to toe, Windy cast a scornful look at Lucas.

"Level 20…are you kidding? Sorry, I don't mean to be rude but you've got to face reality. Champion, did you tell him how this server sucks and he can't really survive here as a newbie?"

The sheepish grin on Champion's face gave him away.

"Hey, kiddo. Word of advice: Run. I don't know why you joined this game and server right now. Bladeheart is one of the suckiest servers, probably the worst in all the games I've played. It's dominated by rich tyrants. To be honest, if it wasn't for Aeryn and our clan, I would've quit this game long ago. You can't progress much in this game unless you have a very deep pocket…" she warned Lucas.

"Champ, I bet you're gonna lose your disciple in less than three months." her words pierced right through Champion's heart.

Lucas liked how straightforward she was. No sugar coating or innocent smiles like those green tea bitches that cling onto the biggest spenders to have an easy life. Her down-to-earth personality was cool.

"I'll blame it on you if that happens," Champion retorted. The two of them engaged in a quarrel like fire and water. Whenever Champion was overly optimistic about things, Windy would shoot him down and dragged him back to reality.

"H-hi, Shifu?" a stuttering voice interrupted them.

"A-ha, is that my senior? Nice to meet you!" Lucas was interested to know who shared the same fate of being "conned" into having Champion as their Shifu.

"Where are you? I don't see you around. How can you miss this fabulous party?" Champion's avatar scanned the environment but there wasn't any sight of other players besides the three of them.

"Help!" the same voice who stuttered was now yelling. "They're at it again!"

"What? Send us your coordinates! I'll head over right now!" Champion's jovial attitude vanished. Lucas sensed something wasn't going quite right. What was happening "again"?

"Why do you even bother? You'll just get killed like your disciple, duh." Windy said nonchalantly.

A player named Noel dropped his coordinates into the clan chat. Lucas could finally put a name to the voice he heard.

"T-they kept ambushing me even though I did nothing…," Noel sounded dejected.

Dreams Warriors must be at it again, these bastards never stopped pouncing on the weak.

"Sorry guys, gonna go help my other disciple. We'll continue the party later!" clicking on the coordinates, Champion joined Noel at the "battlefield".

Windy remained rooted, sighing, "What's the point, seriously? It's not like we can defeat them."

"Holy shit, this is a massacre!" Champion's voice pierced through the channel, deafening everyone.

"S-sorry, I don't know why trouble's always at my door!" Noel's said feebly.

"Hey, it's not like I can help but what's the situation?" Lucas didn't follow his Shifu as he'd just become dead meat the instant he went there.

"There's five of them…Noel's tiring to complete a mission that requires him to find an NPC. They won't let us get to it." said Champion.

"Just give it up, forget about the reward…or do it another day." Windy rolled her eyes.

"There's a time limit to complete this mission and it's about to expire. It's not about the rewards, it's for Noel."

The jovial kid he just met became a soldier who was determined to rescue his comrade stranded on the battlefield. This was some top-grade quality of a Shifu.

"I'm sorry, Shifu. Let's just forget about it; you've already done a lot for me."

"No no no, we don't give up until the very last minute!"

Lucas stood up, startling Windy. Her eyes were judging him again.

"Don't make worthless sacrifices…" she shook her head.

"I'm late, has the party started?" another voice came through the channel. Lucas recognized this one - it belonged to Aeryn.

"Clan leader, you logged in at the right moment. We need assistance!" Champion was glad backup had arrived.

"Oh man, don't drag Aeryn into this!" Windy was annoyed.

"Wait, what's happening?" everything happened in a flash and Aeryn wasn't quite sure how to react. After a short "military briefing" by Champion, she was ready to jump into the battlefield.

"Sorry, Lucien. We'll celebrate your party later." with that, she transported herself to join Champion and Noel.

Lucas was ready to join in the fight too, although he knew he wasn't of much help. But maybe he could become bait and lure the bullies from Dream Warriors away to buy them a tiny weeny bit of time. Doing anything was better than being idle.

"Why doesn't anyone get my point? Stop wasting your time and putting up a worthless fight!" Windy was insistent on remaining in Red Star Court, watching NPCs serving food that she couldn't consume.

"It's not about whether it's worth it, but for the sake of change," he winked and disappeared, leaving Windy alone staring at the four walls.