Life After the Apocalypse

Fren stands up and raises his sword at the sky. He does a quick incantation, almost an instant, and the sword emits a blinding light. He casts Holy Hit.

Atalanta continues her attack against the Goblin Boss.

Damage [HR] High Roll + [6] = 7+6 = 13

Not wanting to be left out and very much wanting these Goblins to just 'go away', the Sorcerer levels his Staff at the Goblin Boss and blasts away... hoping not to fry Raquel or anyone other than the green skinned menace.
"Flare Arrow!!"

>>>Raquel races to recover her blade nearby as Calamity directs the Goblin Boss' attention towards the ginger cat Pirate to buy her some cover. Atalanta's knee to the Goblin's gut staggers it back into Fren's sword-strike. With a blade as radiant as the sun, the Fox cuts across the Goblin's undefended back dropping it's Health Bar to a tiny sliver of it's former robustness. Arga's fire magic finishes off the remainder in true overkill fashion... The fiery blast obscuring the flash of rainbow light that signalled the end of creatures such as these. Two bottles, an item and a handful of coins rained in the vacuum of where the Goblin had once stood. The mysterious music swelled and ended with a solid electric guitar riff, to be replaced with the relative silence of the babbling brook and the sound of wind rustling through the trees...

---

---

>>>BradL33 slowly came out from behind the boulder, "Please.please.please.please.please tell me you're real people." He looked to you all as if finally having the time, and maybe the presence of mind, to get a good look at you all. "I mean, like... I dunno what I mean??" He was clearly struggling to give voice to what he was thinking and feeling. "Like people from Earth, not this crazy game world..."

>>>As if to interrupt BradL33’s question, a holographic version of the game User Interface popped into your view with startling suddenness.
>>>Your Class Icon sat in the middle of a plethora of 'drop-down' menu tabs: HP/MP Status, Character Level, Friends List, Equipment, Class Abilities, Subclass Abilities (greyed out for everyone but Fren), Racial Abilities, Party Status, etc... Everything you'd expect to have in an MMO character sheet. The LOG OFF button immediately catches your eye...only to dash hopes as it is solidly greyed out and unresponsive. However, the Character Level display scintillates with color and a similarly strobing 'up' arrow next to it. >>>

>>>Perhaps noticing everyone's sudden 'thousand yard stare', BradL33 asks "Um, is everything ok?"

Russell's attention is pulled from the pleading BradL33 to the menus now floating in front of her face. She looks over the options briefly before looking back to the young man. "Yeah, it's okay as it's likely to get in this bizarre situation. Don't worry, we are real people. We've been pulled into our characters from the game. My name is..."

Russell hesitates a moment. There's already enough going on without having to pile on the fact that she's supposed to be a man, not a woman. She decides to stick with her character's name.

"Raquel. My name's Raquel. We're all figuring this out together, kid. Stick with us and we'll keep you safe. Now, if you'll excuse me for just a moment. I think we just 'dinged.'"

She reaches out to touch the Level Up button in front of her.

Taylor looks around as if checking if any more monsters are coming.

"Depends on what you mean by 'real' because I'm pretty sure my hair wasn't red yesterday." At this point Taylor's tail, which agitatedly slaps along the side of his leg. "Oh, and I didn't have a tail either."

"The game is calling me Atalanta, but I'll probably answer faster to Taylor for now."

Calamity, still perched atop the boulder, lets out a sigh of relief. She can't help but be impressed by how well they worked as a team, even though they only met moments ago.

Her attention is caught briefly by the holographic interface that just materialised. A quick scan reveals the essentials, not much different from other games she played in the past. After confirming the basic menus and options, she turns to the new guy.

"Seems like you're one of us too. How did you end up in the woods with those green monsters?" Realising that she hasn't introduced herself, she adds. "Oh, and I'm Clara. That's probably easier to say than my username."

>>>"Okay is definitely going to be a 'relative term' from here on out, I guess. 'Sane' and the word 'Normal' too..." BradL33 mumbled in response before a sudden realization struck him. "Hey. Whaddya ya mean, "Kid"??" his gaze shot to Raquel, a puzzled and somewhat indignant expression on his face.

>>>"Dude... You better take a look..." the Sorcerer pointed to the pool of water at the bank of the brook. 'I think we've all got a lot of adjusting to do..."
>>> Hesitantly, BradL33 took the few steps over to the still waters of the pool and bent over to take in his reflection. Oh my God...I look like I'm Twelve Years Old..." his gloved hands roamed over his hls face and hair. He didn't look that young, but definitely not like an adult.
>>>"I guess...it could be worse." he said hollowly, some of the drained color returning to his face as the shock started to wear off. "I know people who made their characters hideous on purpose during character creation." BradL33 stood up and laughed a full-on belly laugh, "Bet they're in for a real shock today!"
>>>He let his (probably stress driven) mirth subside as he listened to 'Taylor' and 'Clara' speak, the goofy smile still sitting on his face. He wiped a mirth-driven tear from his eye, "Oh, um... he stammered sheepishly, "My name actually is Bradley. I couldn't think of anything better for this alt character." He seemed genuinely embarrassed by that. "I was out here gatherings mats..." materials, aka consumable crafting items in game slang "...or, rather, my character was when the Expansion hit. I figured when the Expansion hit the mats would refresh and I'd be able to snake the rare stuff out from under everyone else if I was already out here. I hit the ACCEPT button and...I dunno...like 'woke up' in the woods." He looked around at the others to see if they recognized any commonality in what he said. "It took me a minute to get my head straight and then I heard something...someone...nearby and called out. Turns out, Goblins have really good hearing. They attacked me and I...Ran. Ran for my life. I didn't know what else to do. Then I ran into you guys." He paused a moment, somberness overtaking his previous mirth, "Thanks for helping me out. I didn't know what to do... Three of those things I could handle, y'know, back when I was sitting in front of my laptop clicking away at a game. This. This is different ."

---

---

>>>It had been a panic inducing time for Isbjorn, or rather the mind inside Isbjorn, after the sudden transition from the 'world that was' and into this strange world he found himself in now. Coming to consciousness in the middle of a ruined forest path, the man found himself changed in ways he didn't understand. Alone and in a place unlike anything he knew. His brain fuzzy and unfocused, it came into sharp relief realizing his son was nowhere nearby. Hadn't he just been right there talking to him?? No. That was different. That was... That was the old world. Talking over the game chat...
>>>Noises ring through the trees. Voices. People. Maybe the sound of your son's voice up ahead? No. None of them sounded right. But maybe they know where he'd be? The broken cobbled path lead toward where the voices murmured. Whoever they were, it couldn't be worse than being alone in a strange forest.

Isbjorn stood up and dusted off the bits of grass and dirt clinging to the deep blue robes he was now wearing instead of his usual button-up and jeans. He then slowly walked towards the direction of the noise. He knew that there was little chance his 17-year old son Ulrik—the son that he didn't even know he had until a few months ago—was just over where the voices were, but that didn't stop him from desperately hoping, anyway. Isbjorn didn't want to imagine Ulrik here... wherever he was, alone by himself.

He followed the forest path, and emerged into a clearing with a pond and was surprised at the motley group of... people waiting for him. Isbjorn couldn't help but stare at the decidedly non-humans of the group, feeling like everything was a dream. Was that a fox... and a cat? His son had introduced him to the different race options in Elder Tales when he first started creating his character for the game. Isbjorn vaguely remembered there being non-human options, but he picked human since it was the simplest for him to understand.

"HELLO!" he greeted the group. He grimaced inside, scolding himself for shouting a bit too loud due to his nervousness. His big, booming voice, not to mention his towering height and burly build often scared many children to tears, and intimidated a few adults. He tried giving a friendly wave after, but the biting, cold energy shooting out of his fingertips startled him. "What the hell?!" Was that magic? Right, I picked sorcerer as my class in the game... does that mean I could use magic?

Isbjorn shook his head. No, that doesn't matter right now. What matters is I need to find my son as soon as possible. He gave the group of strangers an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that. Uh, my name's Isbjorn. I'm guessing you guys are—were players of Elder Tales too? It's a long shot, but does any one of you happen to know someone named... ah, I forgot what his username was, but his name is Ulrik and he's a Guardian."

A gold glow surrounds Raquel as she levels up. She feels tougher and, somehow, luckier. She gives Bradley a sympathetic look. "We are all in shock a bit over our transformations. Some of us more so than others." She glances down at the bit of extra cushion around her bare midriff, regretting not bringing the weight slider down a bit.

Her eyes widen when the burly man emerges from the woods and bellows a greeting. That’s a big dude! She blushes when she realizes she has been staring and glances away. "No Ulrik here, bro. But it’s dangerous to go alone, so you might as well stick with us, too, and we can help you find him. I’m Raquel."

As the others introduce themselves, Raquel moves to inspect the loot laying on the ground.

>>>"I wonder how much 'game logic' exists here?" Bradley mused and opened the pack at his hip. Astonished, he pulled out a gnarled wooden implement (that was somewhere between a staff, a club and a tree branch) clearly far too big to have been held inside the small pack.
>>>Inspired by the discovery, he slipped off the bulky backpack he wore and set it down in front of him and began retrieving whole logs from the container, each falling heavily to the ground when he let go of them. "This is crazy..." he continued pulling odds and ends out of the backpack far,far in excess of what its volume should hold. He finished by pulling out a beautifully formed red apple and (throwing caution to the wind) took a big bite. "Hm. Not bad. Tastes like an apple. I'm not about to try the mushrooms I collected though..." he mused as he looked at the items he'd emptied from the pack laying around him.
>>>He was pondering how to get all the junk back in his pack when a thought struck him. "Oh. Um, what Level are you guys?" he asked, trying not to sound weird by asking what was once probably absurd question. "I'm only Level 22. If you guys are lower level, like me, the next time you fight...and I hope we don't have to...you might get hit with a Fatigued Status if you don't eat something.". It was definitely going to take some getting used to the way this world worked.

>>>"Hey, dude. I'm a Sorcerer too..." Arga seemed enthused to meet Isbjorn, another person like him. "I do Fire Magic, so we've got this HeatMiser/ColdMiser dynamic going on, huh." Unlike Isbjorn, Arga was clearly not human. Not as obviously as the two Catfolk and the Fox Tail, but clearly inhuman. What could only be termed 'Jack Kirby-esqe' tattoos ran over Arga's body and his orange colored eyes glowed with a hint of lumenosity. "Who's this Ulrich you're looking for?"

---

>>>Raquel takes a moment to trace the area around where the Goblins fell in battle. Clear tracks and stomped grass indicated their presence; she could almost choreograph their battle moves by the tracks left behind. But the little green men had just vanished, leaving no trace of a body behind where they fell. Instead, glittering gold coins and a couple of items lay in the grass around where they'd fallen.
>>>Picking up what they'd left behind, she counted out 24 gold coins, two small bottles of a red liquid and a crude looking iron bangle of some sort. "Logic", as such a thing existed currently, indicated that the bottles contained an HP Potion. At least they heavily resembled the ones given to players through the tutorials anyway.

"Oh my God... I look like I'm Twelve Years Old... I guess... it could be worse." Upon hearing that from Bradley, Calamity, or Clara, wants to pat him on the shoulder, but realises she is too short to do that. "It's okay, at least you're not in an animal's body." She misses not having to crane her neck to look up at people.

As if these new friends of hers are not already tall enough, a towering man appears from behind the trees, his face looking lost. Despite his physique, Clara doesn't feel intimidated. After all, the guy seems as flustered with his current situation as the rest of them are.

"It seems there're many more victims of this... whatever this is. I don't know whether I should be relieved or concerned." Paw on her chin, Clara thinks out loud.

After a short introduction, Clara decides to ask for more information from Bradley, who seems to be a veteran of Elder Tales. "So we can stuff an absurd amount of items in our backpacks, but we still have to eat? Where would we find food here, in the middle of nowhere? You also said you were gathering mats, for what though? What kind of stuff can we craft in this game?"

Fren noticed the "level up" menu and gave a glance. He then closed it and left it for another time, he wants to do it in a more secure area, possibly a town or an inn, and maybe he will know some more things about this world. He then turns to the kid that came through the bushes. "Nice to meet you Bradley, I am...Fren. No I am not that high level with that character, only 10. Just fresh from the tutorial. I guess the others are the same level as me." he says. Game etiquette and for safety reasons, he knew that you should not use your real name in a MMO, although he thought that he, somehow, recognised the other players from their names. And that kitty looked familiar.

He turns around and sees the newcomer. Although Fren is tall, he is nowhere near tall and especially not that broad as the guy that introduced himself as Isbjorn.

Raquel collects the coins and potion, intending to distribute them to the others later on. She looks at the iron bangle curiously before sliding it onto her wrist to see what happens.

Isbjorn calmly approached the group, relieved that these strangers weren't threatened by him. Once he got closer though, he couldn't help but be shocked and slightly anxious. He figured a lot of them would be pretty young—teenagers just like his son whose hobby was playing games, but he hadn't expected to see little kids as well. Their parents must be very worried... Still, he greeted them one by one, memorizing their names and answering their questions.

He gently smiled at the young woman in glasses, and answered, "I'll take you up on your offer, Raquel, and go with you guys. I agree that there's safety in numbers." Isbjorn then turned to the sorcerer with tattoos, fondly chuckling at the young man's enthusiasm. "Ulrik... Ulrik's my son," he simply said. "He's the one who wanted to team up with a Sorcerer so you'll have to thank him for that." If I find him... No, When I find him.

Overhearing Clara's concerns about food, Isbjorn addressed the group. "If what Bradley's saying is true... I think we should find the nearest settlement. A town, a village, just somewhere with more people so we could get more information. Along the way we could try hunting some wild game if we can find them. I don't have any experience in hunting, but since we have this—" He opened his hand, palm upward, intending to produce some magic. Thankfully it worked, as a small chunk of ice now rested on his hand. "—we could probably manage somehow. What do you guys think?"

Taylor looks around a little, but does not jump in to leveling up. "I'll look at that later." Taylor mutters to themselves.

"Not only fresh to the tutorial, fresh to computer games in general. What a way to get starts right?"

"Basic survival says finding shelter is the most important, especially if monster attacks are really a thing here." Then she shrugs. "I know how to hunt, but really only with rifles."

>>>Dismissing the User Interface, whether for later use or after finishing Leveling Up, proves easy enough by pushing the ❌ on the holographic display. Calling it up again seems to be a reflexive mental action and not just an event triggered by Leveling Up. Fortunate, given how handy having all that information at your literal fingertips could be.

>>>"Oh, wow. Yeah, I didn't think of it that way..." BradL33 suddenly realized the import of Clara's statement. "I was just so relieved not to be alone here I... I didn't think about how being here might affect you guys too." He didn't know how to address her assertion about being trapped in a humanoid body, especially one so drastically different from 'normal' existence. Perhaps to buy time to think about what Clara had opened his eyes to, he started exploring how to store all the items he'd taken out of his pack. Sorting through the pile of stuff he tossed a wrapped package over to Clara, "Here. I had some food packed just in case. Go ahead and take it, there's more but I have to dig it out."
>>>BradL33 seemed like he was about to address Clara's question about crafting when something Fren and Taylor said diverted his interest. "Wait. You guys are right out of the Tutorial?" he stood up quickly and started a head count. "Five. Six. Seven... Uh oh." He knelt down and started throwing stuff into his backpack hurriedly. "I don't know if things still work exactly like the game but we gotta go. Like now..." he shouldered the pack as if it were perfectly normal and not holding a couple hundred kilos of weight. "Those Goblins you fought. IF things work kinda like the game, the things that live here zero in on players. Us. Those three Goblins zeroed in on me. They were what? Like Level 12? There's seven of us here now and that's bound to draw a lot more than three Goblins or maybe something worse or, I dunno, higher Level? Either way, big groups like a full Party of six attract attention fast and we have seven here. The Big Dude is right." he nodded towards Isbjorn. "We should get back to town as fast as we can."

---

Raquel shrugs when the bangle has no immediate effect. She keeps it on her wrist for now.

When BradL33 suggests leaving swiftly, she nods. "Right. Let's get a move on. Lead the way."

Isbjorn looks at Bradley, admiring him for how calm he is about their whole situation despite being a little kid. And from the looks of it, is way more knowledgeable at the game than the rest of the group. He places his big hand on top of Bradley's head and ruffles his hair affectionately. "That's right, point the way to the nearest town. Don't worry, I'll protect you," he says.

He looks at the whole group, trying to figure out how to arrange everyone while they're traveling. "Since I'm the biggest of us, I'll stand in the front," he starts. It hasn't really come up now in his older years, but Isbjorn has experienced many brawls when he was younger and stupider, and his build was definitely advantage on that front. What's more, while he hasn't mastered his ice magic yet he's sure it'll come in handy when protecting the group. "I think Fren can be with me. Then Raquel, Taylor, and Arga can protect the back, while Clara and Bradley go in the middle. Sound good?"

---