After buying a weapon for Fenris, the party of aberrants left to take the wolfie on his first walk outside of the city. Calamity led the way, taking the measured, self-assured strides suited for a (wannabe) demon lord.
“Huh…” Fenris looked behind him. “... Isn't the southern gate the other way? Why are we headed back towards the plaza?”
“Hmph,” Calamity snorted. “There's no point in going to the south for you; I’m taking you to the eastern forest.”
The mist around Belphegor wavered slightly.
“Calamity, were you planning on powerleveling Fenris?”
VR games were heavily dependent on player reflexes. While the stats from leveling were important, powerleveling usually hindered the development of those reflexes and made it difficult to progress once the enemies caught up in strength. As a veteran to VRMMOs, Belphegor worried that Calamity wasn't aware of this.
“Of course not. The enemies in the southern plains are simply too far beneath his ability to be worth fighting.”
“I-Is that so?” Belphegor sighed a breath of relief.
“From what I’ve seen so far, skills seem to level faster when one challenges their limits; I’ll be using my dearest brother to test that theory.”
A savage grin spread across her face.
“Four enemies at once will probably be too much since he's still in starting equipment, but three should be just enough to push him to the edge. There's a good chance he’ll die, but… that much is fine, isn't it?”
Belphegor was suddenly worried for a different reason.
———
After a brief delay at the gates—the guards stopped Fenris after seeing his equipment, so Calamity had to convince (read: coerce) the guards into letting them pass—the group made their way into the forest.
Despite the height and density of the trees, sunlight filtered through the conifers’ countless needles, warming and illuminating the detritus-covered trail below. Fenris and Ami walked side-by-side at a leisurely pace, while Belphegor and Murmur watched over them from behind.
Fenris sniffed the air.
“... Pine trees,” he astutely noted.
“Yeah.” Ami replied.
“They smell nice...”
“They do~”
“There's a nature trail near where we live…”
“Wanna go for a walk later?”
“... Nn.”
Murmur suddenly called out to them.
“You two, check your minimaps.”
Several red dots had entered their maps’ radius.
“Ah, thanks Murmur!” Ami exclaimed, pulling her maul out of her inventory. “Those red dots are enemies; yellow represents other players, while green represents people on your friends list. Blue shows neutral entities, like NPCs.”
“Residents,” Belphegor corrected her. “They get mad if you call them NPCs.”
“A-ah, right… that vice guildmaster guy looked like he was gonna explode when someone called him that... Try not to make him mad, Fen.”
“I see,” Fenris said, unaware that he’d already done that.
The four of them slowed their approach, creeping up until they could see the enemies.
“Five wolves…” Ami mumbled to herself.
She turned to the rest of them and whispered,
“Fen, go in first to grab their attention. Murmur, you and I will take one each; once that's done, we're leaving the rest to Fen.”
They readied themselves to fight.
“What about me?” Belphegor pointed to himself.
“... Moral support?"
“Ah.”
After buying a weapon for Fenris, the party of aberrants left to take the wolfie on his first walk outside of the city. Calamity led the way, taking the measured, self-assured strides suited for a (wannabe) demon lord.
“Huh…” Fenris looked behind him. “... Isn't the southern gate the other way? Why are we headed back towards the plaza?”
“Hmph,” Calamity snorted. “There's no point in going to the south for you; I’m taking you to the eastern forest.”
The mist around Belphegor wavered slightly.
“Calamity, were you planning on powerleveling Fenris?”
VR games were heavily dependent on player reflexes. While the stats from leveling were important, powerleveling usually hindered the development of those reflexes and made it difficult to progress once the enemies caught up in strength. As a veteran to VRMMOs, Belphegor worried that Calamity wasn't aware of this.
“Of course not. The enemies in the southern plains are simply too far beneath his ability to be worth fighting.”
“I-Is that so?” Belphegor sighed a breath of relief.
“From what I’ve seen so far, skills seem to level faster when one challenges their limits; I’ll be using my dearest brother to test that theory.”
A savage grin spread across her face.
“Four enemies at once will probably be too much since he's still in starting equipment, but three should be just enough to push him to the edge. There's a good chance he’ll die, but… that much is fine, isn't it?”
Belphegor was suddenly worried for a different reason.
———
After a brief delay at the gates—the guards stopped Fenris after seeing his equipment, so Calamity had to convince (read: coerce) the guards into letting them pass—the group made their way into the forest.
Despite the height and density of the trees, sunlight filtered through the conifers’ countless needles, warming and illuminating the detritus-covered trail below. Fenris and Ami walked side-by-side at a leisurely pace, while Belphegor and Murmur watched over them from behind.
Fenris sniffed the air.
“... Pine trees,” he astutely noted.
“Yeah.” Ami replied.
“They smell nice...”
“They do~”
“There's a nature trail near where we live…”
“Wanna go for a walk later?”
“... Nn.”
Murmur suddenly called out to them.
“You two, check your minimaps.”
Several red dots had entered their maps’ radius.
“Ah, thanks Murmur!” Ami exclaimed, pulling her maul out of her inventory. “Those red dots are enemies; yellow represents other players, while green represents people on your friends list. Blue shows neutral entities, like NPCs.”
“Residents,” Belphegor corrected her. “They get mad if you call them NPCs.”
“A-ah, right… that vice guildmaster guy looked like he was gonna explode when someone called him that... Try not to make him mad, Fen.”
“I see,” Fenris said, unaware that he’d already done that.
The four of them slowed their approach, creeping up until they could see the enemies.
“Five wolves…” Ami mumbled to herself.
She turned to the rest of them and whispered,
“Fen, go in first to grab their attention. Murmur, you and I will take one each; once that's done, we're leaving the rest to Fen.”
They readied themselves to fight.
“What about me?” Belphegor pointed to himself.
“... Moral support?"
“Ah.”
