Before Tin could object any further, Will reached down and grabbed TrackAndKill69’s hand, pulling him up to stand. Altogether, though he was alive, the mage seemed rather unhappy with his situation. “This is shit,” he said, not even bothering to dust off his robe. “Who are you two even?”

“I’m Tin,” Tin said. She jerked her thumb at Will. “And this guy’s Will. And he isn’t roleplaying, he’s an actual adult.”

TrackAndKill69 glanced between Will and Tin. “What the fuck. Dude, why are you even playing this?” Will didn’t hesitate to retell the situation that happened earlier that day. “-Okay, right, sure. You’re - what? A manager or something? Subordinate, sheesh.” Will didn’t mention that he was the CEO of a large corporation, since he could somewhat tell that TrackAndKill69 didn’t care. “And now… you two want to be buddies. With me. Really?”

“Dude, you can at least tell us your name,” Tin said, making a pretty good point.

TrackAndKill69 stalled for a second. His one visible eye darted about before he looked back at Tin. “Me?” he asked, pointing at himself. Tin nodded. “Uh. Okay. Um. My name is… Well, you know my name, but you can just call me…” he grinned, “-Kill!”

“I am not calling you Kill.”

“Grrrr… fine! Call me Track. Or something.” With his name finally revealed, Track crossed his arms and hunched his back, looking away angrily. Will reached out his hand toward him. Track glanced at it before looking up into Will’s eyes. “...What?”

“Any new business requires a firm handshake to bind the partners together,” Will said, unflinching.

“Um. Okay,” Track replied slowly, grabbing the hand with no little apprehension.

Will shook Track’s hand thrice, and during the entire motion, he got the impression that Track had never once in his life shook a hand. The mere motion made him feel somewhat confused, but he didn’t ask afterwards. People had their reasons. “It’s a pleasure meeting you, Track. Always glad to be able to train the younger generation.”

Track quickly withdrew his hand, his eyes darting about. “Yeah. Um. Thanks. Yeah.”

Tin watched them for a moment before speaking. “Alright, what should our party name be?”

“P-, party name?! Dude, I haven’t decided anything!” Track exclaimed, flailing his metal staff around. “I’m level 14! Why the hell should I join a party with you two??” Tin pointed at Will. Track was about to say something, but once he gave it a little thought, likely remembering his own short battle with Will, he gave a little nod. “Well, I mean, yeah. But still! You’re both, like, level ten at most!”

Tin glanced away. “Um. Yeah, but Will is still a really good fighter!” Something shrewd seemed to light up in Tin’s eyes. “If you just let us hop on your power wagon, we’ll make for some really strong allies later on!” she argued, using facts and logic to sway Track’s opinion. Surprisingly, he actually seemed swayed.

Then something hit him. “Sure. I’ll take him in.” He turned to Tin. “-But why should I take you as well?...”

“Shoot. Hold on, uhhhh…” Tin ummed and aahed for quite a long time, and Will recognized pretty soon that she didn’t know any good reason.

“She’s my manager. Of sorts,” he said, patting her on the shoulder supportively. “I’d rather she joined as well.”

Track looked between the two of them, frowned, tapped his foot, and then frowned even deeper. “...I swear to Christ, I’m going to regret this. I was going to be a lone wolf, yanno? Roaming around all alone. Bein’ a cool wizard. And now I’ve gotta babysit a-, a grown-ass man and… and a girl. How old are you even? 17?”

“I’m 18! As of last June!”

“-Sure, whatever. You’re still younger than me! By-, by a whole year!” Will decided not to mention that he was older than both their ages combined. Age wasn’t all that important, after all. The merit of one’s character decided strength, not some arbitrary count-down towards death. “And, by the way, our party name will totally be Fight of Flight, no question about it.”

“That… isn’t an entirely terrible party name. Will, do you have any objections?”

Will shrugged, remembering how the big villain coalition he was apart of was called ‘The Animals’. “No, I don’t mind it at all.”

“Then it’s decided!” Tin said, a grin blooming on her face. “Create Party: Fight of Flight!” The second the words left her mouth, she glanced down as though to look at an invisible box. She poked at it for a bit, before saying the rest of the command. “Invite players William Ainsworth and TrackAndKill69.”

You have been invited to join 'Fight of Flight' by player TinHeadSoldier

Due to being the first player invited, accepting will automatically grant you the title of Sub-Leader

-Do you accept?-

That was… new. “I accept.”

You have joined party: Fight of Flight

You have gained title: Sub-Leader

“Hey. Wait a second. Did that guy just become sub-leader!? And how come I’m not leader?? I’ve got the highest level of all of us! Say the word and I could wipe the floor with the lot of you!” Track said, pointing an accusatory finger at both Tin and Will.

Tin shrugged. “Too late. Doesn’t matter.”

“Doesn’t-, doesn’t matter?? This party is gonna be top-ranked once I’m through with it! Aren’t you taking this seriously?”

“Nope.”

Things were heating up. “You two, take it easy. Whatever you’re fighting over can wait until later. There is plenty of time for quarrel, but it can always wait a bit longer,” Will said, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. They turned to him. In all honesty, Will had no idea what they were even trying to discuss. Top-ranked? Taking this seriously? Lord only knew what any of that meant.

“You know what?” Tin turned back to Track. “He’s right. We’ve got more important stuff to do than fight over this. Such as…” she jerked a thumb at Will, “-getting this guy to a higher level. He’s literally level 4. That’s why he couldn’t hurt you even though he was getting in all those critical hits.”

“Wow. Really?” Will nodded. “Wow. Okay, yeah, that’s gotta change. And look who’s respawned just in time!”

Saying so, Track gestured broadly towards the barren scenery, where a fair few moles had popped up to look at the commotion. It was obvious going by Track’s hungry eyes and predatory grin that he’d very much like to kill them all himself, but in the end, he left it to Will. Maybe as an investment, maybe as a favour, Will couldn’t tell. And he didn’t mind. With his combative skills and higher level, he could take out most of these in single stabs, which he did.

For a while, Tin and Track just kind of stood by, talking to each other while Will mercilessly slaughtered the local mole population. It didn’t take long until he got a little message.

Level up!

You have reached Level 6!

Tutorial II

Objective 2: Defeat 15 Horn-Eyed Moles Completed

Track hopped off of the boulder he’d been sitting on and clapped his hands. “Alright! Now that you’ve done that, let’s move onto the Lee-,”

“Hold on.” Will’s voice was enough to quiet Track almost immediately. “How did you know I had finished? I said nothing. Don’t mistake my words, I am merely curious.”

Track looked over at Tin, clearly seeking her help, but she merely shrugged. “Uh, um. See, since you’re level four, it’s unlikely that you’re still on Tutorial I, which would mean you’re on Tutorial II since you don’t kill Horn-Eyed Moles in Tutorial III. Therefore, since you’ve now killed 15 Horn-Eyed Moles, it means it’s time to move onto Objective 3, which is to hunt ten Leercats.”

Neither Tin nor Will could muster an answer to that. Tin was likely wondering how the hell Track had time to count the moles while the two of them were talking, while Will had other considerations.

“Very impressive, Track. You’re an excellent logician.”

“Um. Okay? We should-, we should probably go into the woods. Kill some Leercats. Ten of them, right?” Track asked, to which Will nodded. “Great, great. Let’s go.” With that, Track turned to walk towards the woods, not even making a gesture for them to follow. His pale face seemed just a shade redder than usual, though Will couldn’t imagine why. The woods, once they actually entered them, weren’t so much woods as a collection of dead-leafed pines, standing tall amidst each other. Compared to the thick bout of forest where the Boa had lived, this place was far more conservative in volume.

“Okay, so what you’ve got to remember about the Leercats is that unlike the Horn-Eyed Moles, if they can help it, they won’t come out of their holes, like, at all. If they can help it. Keep close eyes on your feet, and if you hear rumbling, run. Or call for me. I might be able to help, I hope.”

Will took a look at the creature peeking out from the ground before them.

Leercat Lv.7

The creature looked like a combination of a frowning cat and a sleek fox. It popped out of the whole, long and alert ears on edge, eyes wide and staring. It had its front paws folded by its chest, revealing the claws to be abnormally long, about the size of kitchen knives.

And for once, Will made a connection that was game-related. “-Won’t you fight some of these, Tin? They’re almost your level.”

“Huh? Oh, um. Well, usually I’d fight Leercats with my party, but they left, so…”

“So fight with me,” Will offered. “We’ve already fought once. Much like all kids your age, you have potential. If we battle now, and if you let me teach you, I can strengthen you.” With his piece said, Will summoned his sword and prepared to face the Leercat. He could tell Tin was hesitating, as if nobody had invited her into battle so enthusiastically. It didn’t matter to Will. Whether she decided to join him or not was her decision.

“...Fuck it,” she said under her breath, summoning her knives and walking up to him.

Track stared at them. “Are you two, like, enemies or something? Talking about fighting while in the middle of-,”

The Leercat attacked first. As Track had warned before, it did not leap out at them. No, it burrowed into the ground, disappearing from his sight like a little phantom. ‘Beware your feet.’ Had this been real life and Will had lost his sight, his go-to sense would have been his smell, but it had been suppressed in this world, alongside all his other Powers. Therefore, all that remained was his sense of hearing and his touch.

The ground twitched and trembled beneath his feet. He closed his eyes. He could hear it approaching, digging and burrowing, surely not thinking that it was heard.

It came straight for them, bold as it was. Then, when it came close enough, it turned to the right, heading for Tin where she stood beside Will. Her legs were tense and there was a slight tremble in her lip. She knew what was coming, and so did Will. It came a little closer. Burrowing beneath them. And then, it was right in front of them, preparing to dig up and slice at something, anything it could reach, when…

Will took a large step to where Tin stood, and stabbed his sword into the dirt up to the hilt.

Critical Hit!

The Leercat gave a damp screech, muffled by the dirt around it. Will could feel it struggle at the end of his sword, but he didn’t let it go. Instead, he stabbed his sword in a little further, angled it so that the Leercat pressed up against the tunnel it had dug, and with one hefty tug, he uncovered both the sword and the Leercat, sending it flying up and into the air, alongside several clumps of dirt.

“Have at it!” Will called out, prompting the stunned Tin to action.

“Y-, yes!” she replied, stabbing at the Leercat only to miss by a hair’s width. The Leercat clattered to the ground, showing its entire body for once. The lower body was composed of a pair of really small legs and a long, thick tail. It hissed. Tin clicked her tongue. “Shit. Sorry, I just-,”

“There will be plenty of opportunities to come. However, should you give up now, you won’t have another chance to fail.”

“I-, I’m not giving up!”

“Then what are you apologizing for?” He grinned, and raised his sword again. Tin couldn’t answer, apart from a nod and a matching, determined smirk. They got back to it.

Once the Leercat had emerged from the ground, defeating it was rather easy, so long as they never gave it a chance to escape into the ground.

You have gained 22 Exp

Level progression: 12,0%

“Alright,” Will said. “Let’s keep at it.”