As pleased as I am to have this new and intriguing mount, there is something about Horse 2.0 that’s bothering me.

  - 2 Luck. With a stat like that and achievements such as Double Homicide and Serial Killer, it isn’t hard to imagine what happened to his previous owners. Fortunately, my +2 Luck zeros out his misfortune, but it would be best not to leave Horse 2.0 alone with Sherbie, or anyone else that doesn’t have at least a thousand health. Somehow, I get the feeling that wouldn’t end well. What did he say in our thirty seconds of telepathic communication?

  You wouldn’t believe the shit I’ve seen…

  I hope I haven’t gotten in over my head with this one.

  “Rev!” Sherbie snaps me out of my thoughts and I look up to see him pointing at a fortress in the distance. “You think that’s Highwall?”

  I don’t have to check my map. I’m sure that’s the place. “Yeah. Looks like we’ll be there in less than ten minutes.”

  Now that we’re finally reaching our destination, I pull up the quest once more to check the details.

  [Hidden Quest: The Bastion of Highwall

  Visit Kirin the Defender in Highwall to master the secrets of the dual shield wielding technique.]

  [Find Knight Sergeant Kirin in Highwall and persuade her to teach you the secrets of dual shield wielding, thereby unlocking the Bastion Subclass.]

  Persuade her, it says, but it doesn’t say how. If she’s a knight, that probably means she upholds justice and stuff; I doubt I’d be able to bribe someone like that with money. So what, then? Food? Flowers? Gah! At times like this, it would be useful to have even a little experience with women.

  Speaking of women…

  I check my friend list to find BB is online. She was online all day yesterday, too, then at night, she logged off. Since time here is twelve hours off from the real world, I assume she has a job of some kind during the day and goes to bed wearing the immersion helmet at night. Not that it matters to me what she does. After what she pulled, the only reason I haven’t unfriended her is so I can keep tabs on her location and avoid running in to her. Right now, it looks like she’s several miles north of here, so there’s no danger of us crossing paths. But it seems I have missed messages from her earlier this morning.

  BellissimaBaby: Hey big guy interested in questing together

  BellissimaBaby: I’ve got a tough boss up here

  Ignoring the slight squeeze in my chest, I delete the messages without responding to them and close the screen.

  By now we’ve reached a clearing, at the center of which stands Highwall, a small settlement that lives up to its name, with walls reaching one hundred feet into the air. The trees have been cleared for several hundred yards in every direction surrounding the fortress; the earth is scorched black with signs of recent battle.

  Passing a still smoldering pile of bones, Sherbie and I come up to the battle scarred iron reinforced gate. From high overhead, a gruff voice calls down to us.

  “Who goes there?”

  “We are but humble travelers, oh, noble watchmen!” Sherbie answers for me with dramatic flair. “We seek sanctuary in your fair city!”

  “No beasts allowed in Highwall,” the guard calls down. “Go your way, travelers.”

  “Beasts?” Sherbie looks to me, confused, and I gesture to his mount.

  “I think Harrietta makes them nervous.”

  With marked indignance, Sherbie unsummons the shesquatch.

  This time it’s my turn to call up to the guard. “I have come to meet with Kirin the Defender!”

  “What business do you have with the Sergeant?”

  “I wish to train under her!”

  There is silence for a minute. Then, the enormous gate creaks open a few inches. Four heavily armored guards come out, stern men all, without a spark of humor to share between them. Sherbie and I and even Horse 2.0 are subjected to a thorough search before they are satisfied.

  “Make no trouble while you’re in Highwall, gentlemen. These mountains are crawling with orcs, especially after dark; I’d hate to have to throw you to them.”

  “We want no trouble,” I say as they lead us inside the fortress and close the big gate fast behind us. “Can you tell me where I might find Sergeant Kirin?”

  “She’d be in the training grounds at this hour, drilling the new recruits. You wish to join their number?”

  “Perhaps,” I say, uncertain of how this will all play out. “For now, I’d just like a word with her.”

  “I can take you to her,” he says. “Follow me.”

  Unsummoning Horse 2.0 to go on foot, I hurry after the guard, calling over my shoulder to Sherbie. “This may take a while.”

  “I’ll be fine by myself.”

  “Stay out of trouble.”

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  From the outside, Highwall is a cold fortress of stone, but inside is lively and colorful. The streets are lined with shops and houses with gardens full of verdant produce. Everywhere I look I see people coming and going, children running this way and that, chasing chickens and playing ball in the street. But there is a heavy sense of security as well, with armored guards on every street corner, though most are standing casually, flirting with the pretty girls that happen to pass by. All of the men I see look like fighters, and even some of the women, with burly arms and scarred visages. It’s like the whole city is one huge military base.

  As we near the center of the fortress, the military presence can be felt even more strongly. Everywhere I look, I see soldiers, blacksmiths hammering out armor and swords, farriers outfitting war horses with new shoes, fletchers dutifully crafting arrows. A group of about thirty young trainees are jogging toward us, and my guide steps aside to let them pass. Another group is practicing sword swings, another works with lances, still another is practicing advanced shield formations. And, standing at the center of the training grounds, overseeing it all, the guard points out Knight Sergeant Kirin.

  “There she is. You’re on your own from here. I’ve got better things to do than introduce you.”

  “Sure. Thanks.”

  Dressed in simple looking heavy armor without the helmet, Sergeant Kirin is tall, maybe 5’10”. Though she looks about thirty, her shoulder length hair is pure white. From this distance, I can’t say whether she’s pretty or not, but the aura she gives off is staunch and unapproachable. I wouldn’t need to know she was a sergeant to see she outranks me.

  But I didn’t come all this way just to get intimidated and run away now. Though it may be the biggest hurdle for a guy like me, I know I won’t get anywhere without introducing myself to the lady, first.

  Gathering all my determination, I approach her.

  “Excuse me.”

  Without warning she whirls suddenly and clotheslines me in the throat, sending me choking to my ass in the dirt.

  What the?!

  Kirin takes a step towards me, so her shadow towers over my fallen figure. I gulp as she glares down at me with terrifying ferocity.

  “Don’t—ever—sneak up on me.”

  “I-I wasn’t sneaking, I—”

  That’s when I see it. While her left eye is icy blue, her right eye is milk white with a long scar running through it down the length of her face.

  “I won’t give you a second warning. Approach me on my blind side again and I won’t hold back.”

  “That was a warning?”

  She doesn’t answer; she’s already striding away. I scramble to my feet to run after her.

  “Excuse me, Sergeant, I think we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Revelator, I’m an adventurer and I’ve come to study under you.”

  “New recruits can sign up in the guardhouse.”

  “I’m not a new recruit. That is, I’ve come to learn from you specifically, Kirin, Ma’am. The dual shielding technique.”

  “Do I look like I’ve got time to spend training you one on one? You there!” she bellows suddenly at one of the soldiers. “What are you doing? Your guard’s way too low. And you lads, get that shield wall tighter! Heads down, elbows in! Don’t you know a berserking orc can cleave you in two with a single blow?”

  “Yes, Ma’am!”

  Snorting with dissatisfaction, Kirin continues through the training yard. I hurry after her.

  “I can see you’re busy. I’d be willing to pay you for your time. If you would just teach me—”

  The sergeant stops in her tracks. When she whirls on me I shrink once more in her shadow, feeling about six inches tall as the formidable woman glowers down at me.

  “Understand this. There are two thousand five hundred souls in Highwall. Two thousand five hundred human beings that are counting on me to train the soldiers that protect our city from the bloody orc tribes in the surrounding mountains. I train troops loyal to Highwall to protect Highwall. If you’re not going to devote yourself to defending this city, then I have nothing to teach you. Good day.”

  I watch her stride away with a feeling of defeat.

  Well. I guess that’s that.

  I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but what can I do? If she’ll only train soldiers loyal to Highwall, then there’s nothing for me to learn here. I can’t just settle down in one place—I’ll level out of this area in less than a week. It’s unfortunate, but it seems we wasted our time coming here.

  Guess there’s nothing for me to do now but find Sherbie and get out of Dodge.

  Just then, I get a pop-up message. From Kass? That’s unusual.

  KassInFlight: Do you know someone named Ari?

  My heart thuds, starts to race.

  Revelator: I do.

  KassInFlight: I am under no obligation to deliver this message, but he says to, “Keep at her. She’ll crack eventually. Don’t leave Highwall without the Bastion subclass.” Does that mean something to you?

  Revelator: Yes! Yes it does!

  My heart is pounding so hard I wonder I haven’t got a system notification. I’m so elated I could whoop for joy. How is it possible? Not only is Ari still alive, but he’s watching over me from somewhere. More importantly, it seems he can communicate with me through Link. Is it because they’re both AI?

  Revelator: Thank you, Kass! Would you be able to pass along his messages in the future as well? I’d be willing to pay for your services.

  KassInFlight: One gold per message.

  Oof! One gold?! That’s highway robbery! But, I suppose, for direct access to the god of Tetra Chronicles, it’s a reasonable price to pay.

  Revelator: That’s fair.

  KassInFlight: Ari has another message for you.

  Wincing, I consult my coin. I really need to start investing some of this capital, or I’ll be a poor adventurer forever. I still have my pride as a whale. I come from millionaire stock in the real world; there’s no excuse for me not being a millionaire in TC as well.

  Revelator: Open a window, I’ll trade you 1 g for the message.

  KassInFlight: Two gold. One for the first message as well.

  I grit my teeth. This greedy mother f*cker... Guess Kass has his pride as a whale, too. Got to respect the hustle.

  Revelator: Alright, you’ve got your gold. Now what’s Ari’s message?

  KassInFlight: He says, “Hahahahahaha!”

  I slap my face in disbelief. What was I expecting?

  Revelator: Can you please filter his messages in the future and not deliver the worthless ones?

  KassInFlight: I can do that. For one gold.

  I give up! I’m done with these two!

  Leif Nordahl

  CEO of SMark

  There’s been a leak. Plans to make SMark’s groundbreaking world’s first fully immersive game not only subscription based, but pay to win, have somehow made their way out into the public. Understandably, this has raised considerable outcry, with some in favor of the move, and others in direct opposition, even threatening to boycott the game if such a mechanic is brought on.

  But it doesn’t matter how the peons feel about it. The decision to make the game pay to win with the new expansion slated to be released on Black Friday isn’t up to them. Neither is it up to me, the CEO of SMark. It’s not even up to 99% of the other share holders.

  It’s up to him. Mr. Fukunaga.

  A funny, mischievous, rather eccentric millionaire, his eyes are barely slits in his pinched little face, yet they sparkle with mischief as he holds the entire company by the short hairs. A capricious god, the 90 year old lives to be entertained, enjoying nothing more than watching us suffer and scramble in an effort to curry his favor.

  Though I am the owner and opposed to the move to make the game pay to win, I hold only 49% of the company’s stock; meanwhile the bulk of the other shareholders hold the other 49%. And who owns the remaining 2%? Who is it sitting on the tie breaking vote, refusing to cast it until his whims are satisfied?

  Mr. Fukunaga…