Well, my HP bar has seen better days and I can't explain how useful a Save and Load option would be for the Real-World Game. The times I would Save before an incident, make a mock battle to see how things unravel, and then Load again were countless. For me this process was like second nature, although many Players like my friend Smeme considered this kind of play through as cheating, or boring... This game is different though and I have to abide by its rules... for now.I cast Mage Armor, and a protective magical field surrounds me. I feel my skin hardening, making it as tough as leather armor. Good, now time for the next spell in line: Infestation. It’s a conjuration cantrip spell that causes a cloud of parasitic insects to attack the target I wish. Admittedly, Infestation is a weak spell compared to others, only causing up to 6 Hit Points of poison damage, yet I can force my victims to move in the direction I want.My prey, a level-3 bald thug, is the unlu

After the gathering, we split into several teams and begin our descent into the tunnels from different areas of town. The goal is to find the source of the infestation and remedy it, but first, we have been given a medial task to prove our worth. That way, they’ll decide if we are capable enough to take harder quests. From the tunnels, we are meant to gather underneath the Inn and meet in a great chamber. From there we will be given our official orders. One of the guild mistresses hands us a rough map that shows us the path we are meant to take. The path leads us back toward the Hey Kitty tavern. Ambrosia calls the whole thing a waste of time but I enjoy the chance for a trial run.Myself, Ambrosia, and three others venture down into the tunnels near one of the open canals. Inside, we light our torches and begin scouting the area. It feels like it will be a long night with nothing of any interest. The sewers smell, you guessed it, disgusting. We stay away from the water

I select yes.A new party member has joined your party, my NCI informs me.Now, I can see her stats, level, and HP. She's about the same level as me and has the same HP, but as a wizard, she has a bigger Spell Inventory than me.After finishing with introductions we are gathered to the main hall where the leader of the expedition gives us a detailed briefing. The leader, to my surprise, isn't an Emissary or any other type of Player, but an NPC with an artificer class. This must be some kind of rare class for this world as I haven't seen anyone else so far. On the other hand, I haven't been long enough in the real world and it's the first time that I visit such an enormous city, so I might be wrong.The artificer demands the leaders of each party to come near him."Go!" Ambrosia orders me.I'm surprised at her reaction. Does she actually want me to be the leader or is this some kind of mocking of my previous actions?

It pisses me off having to work with Alexander. Besides Zoe, most of his team are low-level wizards who act like they have been born blessed. Half of them couldn't cast a Fire Bolt to save their lives. All in all, their Threat Levels are between 3 and 4 while the toughest of their group who looks like a tank masquerading as a wizard, has a Threat Level 5. I am pretty sure he too can't cast a Fire Bolt, given he is carrying around a cursed battle axe and a large wooden shield. I have to give a few of them credit though. Underneath their wizard robes, I notice a few of them have been holding what looks like powder bombs. Alchemic in origin, but I have the feeling they could do some heavy damage against the horde."Take this," Zoe insists, handing one of the bombs over to me."Won't this bring down the tunnels?" I say slightly worrying what ten, twenty, maybe even one hundred minor explosions would do to the old tunnels. It was bad enough the wizards were slinging Fi

The two undead assassins give me a sinister smile as more of their kind gather behind them. Fighting two of them took all my wits to hold my ground. It will be impossible for me to fight five of them and I get the feeling that this will be game over for now. I'm ready to quit, thinking once more how broken the difficulty level of this game is. My body protests, telling me I should fight to the bitter end. Could it be that if someone dies in the real world, instead of respawning, all that awaits is oblivion? Terror gnaws at me, not wanting to believe that a game over is a permanent state here."Do not fret pet!" The voice of Ambrosia whispers to me from over my shoulder."I will protect you," sexy Elektra says as a Fire Bolt flies and hits an undead assassin in the torso, decreasing his HP by 10%.I'm relieved now that my seductive aides are by my side and battle-ready. We should finish them off quickly before they cut us off from the rest of the adventurers