“Well, since we’re a brand new mercenary company, we have the ability to participate in any kind of war, regardless of the side. All we have to do is declare paid allegiance to a kingdom and we can fight for them, and receive money and fame. Since it’s the war season, it’s a good idea for us to head toward the Kyriss and Melvania kingdoms. They’re twin nations that were founded by a guild that ended up splitting up. Those kingdoms will fight at the slightest provocation, and they tend to always be at war during this time of year. Whoever we join, there’s going to be plenty of fights and experience points for us.”
“Perfect!” Sang said, “This is just what we need! When we join these soldiers, we might be able to recruit them to our company, too. This could boost our numbers quickly! Fast enough for us to maybe get to Bloodrock within a week!”
“It’s possible,” Van said, “but I’m not making any promises. We’re going to have to see what happens first.”
“Fair enough,” Sang said. “Come on—we’re going to have to meet with Kenneth and get back into the game.”
“His real name is Kenneth?” Van asked. “Kenwar... heheh, not very original.”
“It’s still better than Jane,” Sang replied. “If I’d known I’d be in this game for so long, I’d have picked something better.”
“Like what?” Van asked.
Sang paused and pondered the question. “Definitely Sangwar.”
Van laughed as they walked out of his room together. He was growing continually more surprised at how much warmer Sang was becoming over time. She had begun to really get into the game and, while she still made mistakes here and there, she was nowhere near as grumpy as she’d once been. Things were definitely looking up for their relationship.
As Van reflected on his friendship with Sang, they entered into the pod room. A tall, square-jawed man was standing in the center of the room. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, and every few seconds he would glance behind him. He seemed incredibly nervous.
“I’m guessing that’s Kenneth,” Van mumbled under his breath.
“Hi there,” Kenneth said as he approached the pair. Despite his height, the man was incredibly hunched over, and looked almost akin to a weasel of sorts. His coke-bottle glasses were practically hanging off of his face and his expression offered the sick kind of grin that a used car salesman would get when he saw an elderly couple. “The name’s Kenneth. But I guess you’ll be calling me Kenwar in the game.”
“I’m Van, and this is Sang,” Van replied as he shook the man’s hand. He was surprised at the feeling of sweat. The man really did come off as incredibly nervous.
“It’s a pleasure,” Sang said without extending her hands. “But let’s get one thing straight. See that guy up there?” She pointed to the balcony where all of the operators were busily working on their consoles. Neil was leaning over one of the rails and watching them. “If anything funny were to happen to us within this game, he’ll—”
“I’m well aware of all of his threats,” Kenneth replied. “Why do you think I look so nervous? Look, with Draco breathing down my neck and you guys watching me like a hawk, there’s very little incentive for me to do anything fishy. I’m just here to get out of a very bad situation.”
Sang shot a look at Van that showed that she clearly wasn’t buying his attitude. Van wasn’t sure what to think. Kenneth really did look nervous, but then again, Van had been incredibly nervous during his own first few weeks working with the CIA. In fact, he was probably still nervous on a subconscious level.
“Well, it’s good to meet you,” Van said, pushing past the two of them. “But we don’t have time to share our feelings. We’ve got work to do.” With that, he popped open the lid of his own pod and climbed into it.
Moments later, Van found himself standing outside of Castle Bikorn. No matter how many times he switched from the real world to the haptic pod system, he was always surprised at how smoothly the transition went. Sang and Kenwar appeared right next to him.
“About time you logged in!” said Kylian. Van turned around to see that his entire team was waiting for him.
“You guys are all up this early?” he asked.
“Double experience weekend!” Dolly said. “We’re gonna be grinding all night! No sleep till Brooklyn!”
Sahara rubbed her eyes. “Speak for yourselves; I’m exhausted beyond all belief. Too much homework to do last night.”
“Enough jabbering!” Capello said. “Who’s ready to stab some jerks?”
“Honestly,” Bidane said, “we’ve been waiting almost thirty minutes for you guys.”
“Sorry, sorry,” Van said. “We’d like everyone to meet our new teammate, Kenwar. He’s a—”
“Manhunter Kenwar?” Kylian asked. “Wow! Why are you here?”
“Oh, uh, heard about this company and thought it would be, uh, you know…” Kenwar stammered. It was clear that he hadn’t been expecting someone to know who he was.
“He’s joining us because Draco would prefer that a professional player help a mercenary company to spice things up during this war,” Sang said. “It’s a special part of their event; he was scouting around and liked the way we handle ourselves.”
“Wow!” Dolly cheered. “I cannot believe we’re going to have a Draco pro on our side!”
“I used to follow your live stream when I tried to learn what the hell all this gaming stuff was about,” Kylian said.
Van’s eyes widened at the comment. The last thing that he needed was for one of his team members to have some kind of loyalty toward Kenwar.
“Wow, that was a long time ago,” Kenwar said.
“Well, enough jabber, guys. From here, we’re heading to the north,” said Van. “Now that we’ve got a company, let’s go get in some large-scale fights.”
“I’ll do anything if it means I get to stab something,” Capello said. “Our last adventure completely sucked. Nonviolent quests are the worst.”
“Agreed,” Sang said. “I prefer riddling my opponent full of arrows instead of trying to reason with them.”
“Now that, I like!” Capello replied. “Where to exactly?”
“We’re going to side with one of the Bickering Kingdoms,” Van said as he drew out a path on the group map. “We just need to pick one.”
“Oh!” Dolly said. “I vote for Melvania! They’ve got the best color scheme—orange and black!”
“Orange does work with my robes,” Sahara said.
“I don’t care one way or the other,” Bidane said. “The White Fox doesn’t watch over the north, so it’s all meaningless to me.” Van rolled his eyes. Bidane was one of those types of players who would randomly roleplay at the strangest times. She barely had any commitment to her character, but would occasionally break into fits of prose, just yammering on and on about her goddess.
“Voting is stupid; let’s just go!” Capello said as he pushed through the group and began to run in the opposite direction of the north.
“Sang, go grab him,” Van said, and then turned to the others. “Let’s head to Melvania. There’s not much difference between the two nations, so let’s just pick the one that Dolly likes.”
“Yes!” Dolly said, pumping her fists in the air.
With that, the adventuring party began their long trek toward the Northern Spires, a mountain range that wasn’t too far from their current location. In-game, it would take less than two hours, which had been the real reason why Van was interested in joining either of the two kingdoms. With the clock ticking, they had to take every shortcut they could.
The trip was relatively uneventful until they reached the Sandswept Desert. The small desert had been created by a powerful wizard a long time ago, and while it was in the northern area, it would always remain the same blistering temperature of a regular desert. The team struggled a bit to move through the territory, sweating profusely and trying their best to keep cool, but the exhaustion from the heat was overwhelming.