While May and Krafty are nearby me still arguing about cakes, I’ll continue talking to Orana

Orana: “You are heading to Orchard Hills? My that is far. I suppose it makes sense since that is where you companion is from.”

My companion Eseli? Come to think of it… Eseli did mention earlier in the city hall that she is from a place called “Malus-Seversi”, is that in Orchard Hills?

MC: “What do you mean that Eseli is from Orchard Hills?”

Orana: “Oh! You must still not know who Eseli the Clear Enhanceress is? She is not that famous, so don’t get your hopes up. But I happened to know her because I’ve heard of her name in my basic magical studies when I was younger. Even afterwards, if you keep up within a niche community, then you would continue to hear certain names of practitioners of magic who eventually become famous out of their own merit.”

MC: “Indeed, I still do not know who she is. Please tell me more.”

Orana: “I would love to. I’ve been chatting with her all day yesterday while you were gone and-“

May: “Oh hey, Krafty, look where I’m point to. That’s you when you wake up at night later”

Krafty: “I’m not going to be a walking zombie!”

Eseli: “Nnnn…no…not yet Orana.”

Orana: “Eseli, I thought you were asleep?”

Yeah, me too. I was under the impression that once a person like Eseli sleeps, you can’t wake them up anymore.

I mean, in this condition, she’s practically half asleep anyways unless she eats cake or something

Eseli: “…nnn…I happened to overhear what you two were discussing. Nnn…and…Amulet Pond is heading to Orchard Hills?”

The game is giving me another chance to answer, ‘Yes’ or ‘No’? I wonder why it’s asking me to confirm again. It’s not as if this dialogue conversation is part of any quest. Maybe it will start one with Eseli? If I answer ‘No’, I could still go to Orchard Hills if I want to.

MC: “Yes I am planning to head there.”

Eseli: “…nnn…very good. Then…. NNnnnn…how about Orana? Come join us…”

Orana: “Huh?! Isn’t it weird for you to ask me…I’ll probably just be in the way-Plus, plus! I have a shop to run.”

Woah! So, Eseli is trying to convince Orana to come with us? I don’t get what’s going on though. What will happen to Orana if I log off in the middle of the road? Wouldn’t I then just displace an NPC character. That’s cool, but it seems like Eseli is really trying to keep me from learning more about her.

Eseli: “…Nnn… what say you Amulet? …I suggest we…nnn… invite Orana to come along with us.”

Orana: “Again, I would not be of use to you two. Hey Eseli, are you listening?!”

No, Eseli isn’t listening but instead is trying to gleam her puppy dog eyes at me. However, all I see is sleepy closed cat eyes staring back.

Hey…I think I understand!

Sleepy Eseli + “of use” = ERROR

Sleepy Eseli + Orana = Awake Eseli

I don’t know how this will work out or what plan Eseli really has in the back of her mind. Apparently, she’s some sort of big shot in this world. But I do understand that Orana can cook cakes. Maybe I could have just had Krafty or May cook a in-game, but I wouldn’t have them around as much since we’ve got lives outside of this world. But Eseli would, at least for now, always have Orana with her. Meaning that, Orana would just become Eseli’s personal baker/caretaker.

I mean, normally you’d have to hire these people and pay them, right? I doubt Orana will accept either way since she has an actual business to take care of. How lame would it be if a shop vendor in a video game just left their position? Plus, I doubt Eseli or Amulet even have high enough charisma skills or whatever to convince her. So…

MC: “I agree with my companion. I’d like you to join us.”

Krafty and May are now watching this conversation too since not only has Eseli appeared again, but Orana is also creating some obviously strong facial expressions.

Including one right now. Is she starting to get angry because she’s got a lot of strangers in her house bothering her?

Orana is a tall Himenian lady, so seeing her slowly curl up in timid frustration is a bit weird-

*Orana jumps up high with her arms and legs spread out in joy*

Yeah no, I was totally wrong. She looks extremely happy!

Orana: “My my my! Divine Spirit and lady Enhanceress, I am so eager! I accept your proposal. Very well then, I shall set out with you two to Orchard Hills! There, Amulet Pond, you’ll certainly be surprised by Eseli the Clear Enhanceress!

Eseli: “Nnn…good…now wake me up when you are ready to head out Amulet Pond.

Krafty: “Woah Amulet, how did you get two followers?!”

MC: “Ehehe, I am pretty sure I didn’t get two followers, but I might have accidentally started a mission?”

May: “No dummies. Eseli is a companion. And guess what, having companions in this game is unique. Even I understand that.”

Krafty: “I don’t get it still. What do you mean?”

May: “Amulet, do you also not understand?”

Oh no, May’s tone really changed. I can feel the pressure come from her voice. I forgot how it’s like when having something like an older sister or boss person lecture you.

MC: “Ah- I get that it’s unique to have companions. I spoke to another guy called FeeNix and he told me about that. But that’s pretty much it”

May: “At least you know that. Listen up you two. Especially you Amulet because you should know this. Rare things in this game are rare, water is water, blah blah. Rare things are also unique, water is necessary for survival, blah blah. People want rare things, water is a resource worth fighting over, blah blah. Y’all get what I’m saying?

Krafty: “Not at all, you always have a crappy way of explaining things. Like cakes…”

May: “Hmph!”

MC: “No-no, I get it. So, what your saying is that…I’m lucky to have a companion because companions are rare, and someone will try to take it away from me?”

May: “Yeah pretty much”

Krafty: “Is that even possible?”

May: “Eh, I don’t know”

Krafty: “Don’t act so confident about something when you don’t even understand it well enough!!!”

MC: “Uh, but what does this have to do with Orana joining me and Eseli?”

Krafty: “It’s pretty cool that you have those type of dialogue choices”

MC: “Yeah! I can’t believe events like this can happen in this game”

May: “Ahem! Dummies! It’s exactly that. This game is fun and unique, so the companions in this game are fun and unique. What makes them fun and unique? Stuff happens which is both fun and unique!”

Krafty: “… that’s obvious May! Don’t try to act so superior, you wont fool me this time!”

May: “Shut up Krafty, I can’t believe you’ve gotten this smart”

Krafty: “Haha thank-HEY WAIT!”

MC: “Ahh, I think I understand now!”

Krafty and May: “You do?”

I am not 100% sure if this is true, but it might as well be. This is also very obvious and simple now that I think about it.

So, having companions is like having very long running quests. Well, not even quests, like a quest node. But a quest node that can actively communicate with you and help you, while you do the same.

Basically. Because I have Eseli around, I have access to certain event quests. I bet you that the AI for Eseli was somewhat destined to find Madam Pink, the cake shop owned by Orana. And through a various sequence of events, I’ve gained the possibility to invite Orana over into my party. Kind of.

At least that’s what I imagine is happening.

This actually also kind of explains how parts of this game work. While this game is very impressive, I bet a large part of it is an illusion of freedom. There is simply a lot of choices available, but there is of course a limit to it.

Krafty: “What did you figure out Amulet?”

MC: “I think…”

Krafty and May: “Hmm?”

MC: “This is just a unique event-chain”

Krafty and May: “DUH!”

*Slow clapping could be heard in the voice chat*

May: “Krafty stop clapping, I’ve said basically the same thing”

Krafty: “I’m not clapping!”

MC: “Guess who it is…”

A sudden spark of fire lit inside of me. This guy. He doesn’t roleplay, he is just very into this game. It’s hard not to be, I’ll give him that. But… why is his real-life personality so cringy!?

WiseMaster667: “It’s me, WiseMaster!”

May: “Hey Wise, you came earlier than I expected”

Krafty: “Since when did Wise arrive here?!”

WiseMaster667: “Are we ready to begin our unofficial Journey Quest?”

May: “Yeah, we’re pretty much ready.”

MC: “I’ll be ready in like 10-20 minutes; I need to finish somethings here in Susana and I’ll come back”

WiseMaster667: “Alright, this is exciting indeed!”

Krafty: “W-what, huh? Wait- uhh?! What’s going on!”

I went outside to find the main barracks where the Guard Captain was supposedly at according to Orana. He was not there but I went to check the main gates. There I found the Guard Captain. He was dressed in regular clothing with a simple tabard on, without armor. But it was clear he was the Guard Captain. He appeared to have been lecturing the guards who were guarding the gate, I bet it was because me, Eseli, and Honief the Lord-Mayor managed to “escape” the town. But I didn’t want to confirm whether that is why the Guard Captain was lecturing the guards in case I would get punished for it.

I told the guard captain that I accomplished a task set out by the Lord-Mayor and that I was looking for guards to be sent to the village I was at previously called Goldflake in order to accomplish the optional quest I accepted from the village elders. The Guard Captain was suspicious at first, since I didn’t really have any proof, but he seemed to believe me because I honestly told him that I accomplished something for the Lord-Mayor. So, I guess in his case, he could have just checked with Honief if I was telling the truth or not. He accepted my request and sent out 4 guards right away to head southwest to the village. I didn’t bother checking up with the village since I am not that invested in this quest anymore and I just counted it as done, plus I had my new in-game friends waiting for me back at Madam Pink.

I am surprised that WiseMaster667 arrived here at Susana so soon. He conveniently messaged me earlier when I was talking to Orana, I thought he’d arrive here in an hour or two, but it was faster than I expected. But I also didn’t expect that he’d already propose me the offer of heading to Orchard Hills so soon. I thought he told me before that he wanted to go learn magic with me whenever I was ready to go, but all the sudden he wants to go now…specifically with me? Unless something suddenly motivated him to drop the things he was doing in the game and focus his attention on me…

I suspect that May or possibly Krafty were already buddied up chatting with WiseMaster667 earlier today or yesterday…and by the looks of it…it seems that one of them told Wise that Eseli is my personal companion. I think I found the first Player in the game who is jealous and wants to take my companion away from me…

MC: “Okay, which one of you two told Wise about Eseli?”

Krafty: “I’m not telling until one of you tells me what is going on? Why are we at the stables? What about the Journey Quest?”

May: “It was Krafty.”

Krafty: “Hey! Don’t just tell him that”

May: “Why shouldn’t I? Amulet was right to worry about anyone else knowing about Eseli, remember what we discussed earlier? Rare is rare, water is water, and Wise is creepy”

WiseMaster667: “I’d rather you not put me on the pedestal if you are going to see me that way”

MC: “We can’t help it Wise, because seeing you this way is the only way we can literally see you”

May: “Yeah…why are you emote spamming in front of Eseli? Don’t you also have VR controllers, you don’t need to make special emotes”

WiseMaster667: “Oh but that is where you are wrong dear May…let me expl-“

MC: “He’s basically testing out what in game mechanics and features have effects and don’t have effects on NPCs…particularly NPCs who are companion/follower characters.”

WiseMaster667: “Precisely that. However, I do acknowledge that I do not expect any results from this…”

*WiseMaster667 flexes in front of Eseli*

Krafty: “Then…why do you need to do that?”

WiseMaster667: “Something something…the scientific method(?)… basic research and experimentations can easily be done by simple ‘trial and error’.”

May: “Right…”

MC: “At least you can understand what he’s saying haha”

WiseMaster667: “You better, I have lowered my speech to the basics so everyone can follow along if they want to. Oh! May, you remind me of an AI character. You have a very strong personality like a wacky cartoon charact- “

May: “YUP, thanks Amulet, but for some reason- I suddenly can’t understand what Wise is saying anymore, is he speaking another language? Maybe my ears are plugged…”

Krafty: “Hey… hey May, I can see what Wise is trying to say because you remind me particularly of that one lady- “

Ah, and so, this is why in-game food is useful even for Players. Here Krafty… here is some of the cake you cooked back at Orana’s bakery.

Krafty: “Thanks Amulet, I’ve now restored a 1/5 of my health that May just needed to deplete when she STABBED me with her spear…if you are offended, how come you decided hit me and not Wise?!”

MC: “Wise is looking at his research sheet. I think he’s planning for our, uh “Journey Quest”, so he shouldn’t be distracted… something like that right?”

WiseMaster667: “That would indeed be troublesome…”

Krafty: “But he’s spamming emotes in front of Eseli! How’s that research?!”

WiseMaster667: “I can multitask.”

Krafty: “Anyways…MAY!?”

May: “Wise probably doesn’t speak our language very well, but I expected better of you Krafty…you know you shouldn’t be carelessly pointing out a girl’s strongside, right?”

Krafty: “But Wise speaks exactly the same language-Wait! Again!! Don’t start suddenly acting like you’re so girly and young-“

…

Krafty: “Amulet, can you ask Orana for another piece of cake?”

MC: “Yeah, sure thing…”

May: “Oh awesome! The wagon has arrived!”

WiseMaster667: “Interesting. So, this unique event isn’t bound only to Amulet. But I wonder if hostile players could interfere…”

MC: “Uhahah…let’s not test that! We shouldn’t waste a lot of time, right?”

WiseMaster667: “Indeed, I forgot we need to be cautious.”

Krafty: “Cautious of what, someone like May?”

May: “You are so funny Krafty. No not me silly. It’s something to do with the Journey Quest.”

Krafty: “Ah okay. Anyways, I’ve decided to become an archer, so maybe I could shoot my bow from this wagon.”

WiseMaster667: “Yes I’ve seen something like that happen before so that should work.”

Ah, I’m in conversation mode again with the NPCs

Stablemaster: “So, this wagon here is headin for “Malus-Seversi”? Uh, do you mean the duchy’s territory or the capitol?

I don’t know… Orana or Eseli didn’t specify. I assume it should be the capitol/settlement called Malus-Seversi? I didn’t know it was also a Duchy.

MC: “To the capitol”

Stablemaster: “If it is the capitol you are heading to, then that will cost 50 silvers.”

MC: “To the duchy’s territory.

Stablemaster: “If it is the duchy’s territory you are heading to, then that will cost you 25 silvers.”

50 silvers?! Isn’t that a scam?! 25 just for the duchy’s territory but double the price to the capitol?

MC: “Is there a way to get a cheaper price?”

Stablemaster: “You thinks that you have enough bargaining power against me Dwelf?

MC: “No, not really.”

Stablemaster: “Then you should be happy you already have a sponsored trip set up by a high-ranking person from there.”

I assume that’s Eseli, so she’s a high-ranking person from Malus-Seversi? I guess if this is already cheaper than the original price…

Stablemaster: “So where will it be?”

MC: “To the capitol”

Stablemaster: “Right you are, now go off. My pal will drive the wagon there. Worry not, he can lead the horses even in the cover of nightfall!”

But it’s already almost dawn!

Wisemaster667: “So, are we ready now Amulet to set off on our grand ‘Journey Quest’?”

MC: “Yup, the wagon is ours!”

Krafty: “I actually can’t wait to fight!”

May: “It pleases me to hear you say that Krafty, but you shouldn’t get so excited…”

Krafty: “Why is that?! I bet you are afraid that I might actually be better than you when it comes to fighting in this game?”

May: “Yeah…pretty much…!”

*May performed the emote ‘wink’*

Krafty: “What is that supposed to mean!?”

Ah, I get it. We should still keep Krafty in the dark about this huh? Well, apparently Krafty is the one who told WiseMaster667 about my companion Eseli, that guy broke my trust a little…so this is payback!

Wisemaster667: “So, this wagon could even go as far as Orchard Hills, right?”

MC: “Yeah, definitely! We’ll finish our quest in about 15-25 minutes!”

I did not expect my day would turn out like this when I started playing today, but I really like it!

On the first day when I started playing the game, and entered its starting town, I met 3 random strangers. I decided to strike up a conversation with them and ended up befriending them. Now we mostly chat via the in-game voice chat, especially when we are all together. Sometimes we are a little rude to each other, but I now consider all four of us to already be online friends. I’ve also got Eseli, a unique AI companion follower and Orana who is like my new AI friend who is joining us in this journey. Those two are also on the wagon with me, but they are sleeping since I guess their AI wants them to sleep/rest at the early morning which is the time right now in the game’s world.

Where are we all headed to? A place called Malus-Seversi. I don’t know what that place is exactly besides that it’s located in Orchard Hills and Eseli is somehow related to it. I still don’t know enough about Eseli, but at least me and WiseMaster667 are finally going to learn magic for our characters. I can’t wait!