“That’s what I was WAITING FOR. Come at me! And show me what your- “

But Bold did not turn towards Thompson. He was just going left and right in a snake-like fashion.

“Ahh, help! How do I stop this thing?” yelled Bold.  

He steered the rein in many directions which only managed to confuse the horse more than before. Soon it started to completely ignore its master’s orders and headed straight towards a tree only to suddenly turn to evade the crash. But Bold was thrown off the saddle and slammed into the tree with his back. 

His spine made a cracking sound and he almost felt like he would be split into two but before that could happen, he fell on the root of the tree with his face. His skull felt like it cracked and his brain felt like it was burning. At the corner of his eyes, he could see Mikhail, Thompson and a few others sprinting towards him.

“Hey, you okay?” asked Mikhail as he crouched next to him.

“Yeah. Good thing we live in a virtual society. Otherwise, that could have left me bedridden for the rest of my life”.

“So you did finally decide to come back, huh?” said Amanda.

“Yeah, and look where it got me. But had to kick Thompson’s ass after what he said”

“Hah, couldn’t even scratch my cheek with that attack” exclaimed Thompson.

Despite the boastful tone of his voice, he looked at Bold with a proud smile and kind eyes.

“But I have to say. You truly did look like a warrior for a moment there, lad”

Bold never thought he would be labeled as a warrior, especially people who seemed to have high standards like Thompson.  But he had to admit, it sounded nice. Maybe it was in his blood, maybe he did inherit something from his grandpa.

“Glad you didn’t drop out. Tho, I do wonder what made you come back” said Vlad with a friendly smile on his face.

“Hated Thompson’s ugly face and his shitty mustache. But more than that I just hated doing nothing”.

“What did you say about my mustache, little boy” yelled Thompson as he drew his sword.

“Ahh, I think you should at least give him time to rest. And speaking of which it would be better for Bold to learn how to ride his horse more efficiently” said Vlad.

“I can teach him. I rode a horse a few years back” said Mei.

“Then it’s settled. Let’s get back to training” said Vlad
       
                                                                           
                Within a few hours, Bold learned to ride his horse at a decent speed. And the feeling was wonderful. The wind caressing his cheeks as his speedy legged buddy carries him through the grassy field.

“Wow, you learned in no time” said Mei as she caught up to him with her deer.

“Yup. Ahh, it feels nostalgic. I used to ride a horse, back when I was a kid”.

His grandpa would occasionally take him to the countryside to let him ride a horse. At first, there was panic and timidness. But when he got the hang of it, it almost felt like he had grown 4 other limbs. The limbs that enabled one to cut through time and distance with ease. And the freedom of the wind could not be compared to anything else.

“Alright team, let’s get something to eat” announced Vlad.             

              After entering the inn and they sat down around the table in the corner after ordering their meals. They chit-chatted until the food arrived. At that moment all attention shifted towards one person. Bold was now sitting behind a mountain of chicken thighs, wings. Soda and burgers were placed next to him as well.
 
“That’s some mighty diet you got there” said Thompson.

“Too bad it’s all unhealthy. No wonder you look like…that” chimed Amanda.

“Hey, stop fat-shaming me, okay? And besides, it’s the virtual world. I can eat as much as I like with no consequences. Not like it cuts down my HP ba-”

“Actually, it does cut it down” said Mikhail.

“W-What do you mean?”

“What’s your max HP?” asked Mikhail.

“I-it’s 100” said Bold hesitatingly.

“Mine is 115” said Mikhail.

“W-wait, really? Why are yours so high and mine so low? I thought it was just the norm to have a 100 as max HP”

“I remember hearing that how much we care about our body will affect our max HP. As for mana I heard it’s directly correlated with the animas and the gold we use to enhance our spells” said Mikhail.

“Foods and beverages have the same capabilities as in the real world. So, something that’s unhealthy in the real world is probably unhealthy in here too” said Vlad in a sarcastic tone.

“O-okay. That’s kinda…inconvenient” said Bold somberly.

“And if you have a stomach ache because of the stuff that you throw into your body it will be troublesome for all of us” said Amanda coldly.

Bold looked at the meals that he had gathered with puppy eyes.

“B-but. Eating a little wouldn’t hurt right?”

“Sure, in that case, I have the vegetables that I ordered. Others wouldn’t protest, I presume” said Kenji as he placed the food in front of him.

“Ugh, but I ordered the fast foods so I should eat them. It will be a waste if  I don–“

“Let’s share Bold’s food without giving him any” yelled Emma.

Vlad and Mikhail pushed away Bold from the table and within a moment the fast food was divided amongst the 9 members equally.

“Oh, come on!” yelled Bold with frustration. 

“One for all and all for one, am I right? Better care for the team if you can’t care for yourself” said Vlad optimistically.

Bold sat on his chair dumbfounded. But seeing how nobody gave a damn about his freedom of food he swallowed his sadness and slowly ate what was on the small plate that was served to him. The vegetable tasted like the ordinary life one should have. A bit sugary and a bit bitter.

                   That night, as everyone gathered around the campfire Vlad opened his notebook and gave it to Kenji and ordered everyone to pass it to one another after seeing it.

“Tomorrow is the big day. Gotta wake up early and head towards the cave. But first, take a look at the formation. And then I’ll explain the plan”.

Bold looked at the notebook when it came to his side.
                                                               

            Team formation
Natalia            Vlad          Thompson
Kenji           Emma          Mikhail
Mei           Amanda         Bold
                      Diego

“The dungeon we’re going to tackle tomorrow is called the cave of crystals. The place does have wide areas but it’s usually filled with tunnels. The animas we encounter there are called mousers. They’re small in stature and have about 15 to 40 max HP” said Vlad.   

He showed a hand-drawn picture of an orcish being that stood on two legs. Its teeth were like saws and its head was that of a mouse. It had small hands and feet but those limbs had three sharp dagger-like nails to make up for it.    

“The enemies we encounter may be weak but they’re large in number. If one of us gets surrounded by them it’s game over for that person. However, with the formation that you have previously seen, we have a chance to clear the dungeon with zero casualties. And since huge chunks of our journey are through the tunnels, most of the pressure will be on the front row. Which is why the hardest hitters are at the front. The safest place of the formation is the center. Emma and Amanda are positioned there. Their spells are a great support. And as far as observation is concerned they are not good melee fighters. And the people on the third and fourth row will stall the mousers that are following us”.

He dug into his dimensional bag and brought out a few items.

“These are called ‘Assembly summon seals’. Say assembly summon and say the name of the member of our guild. And they will teleport to your side. However, this will only work if the person you plan to summon is close to this seal. About ten meters is the max range. And I only have four of these. One seal is going to stay with me. We’ll split the other three. Also, take one sticker each and glue it to any part of your body”.

Vlad stretched his arm and offered them the small stickers that have detailed carvings on it. There were a total of ten stickers.   

“These stickers will allow you to be teleported when one of our teammates summons you using the seal. Otherwise, it won’t work”.

Everyone got up and grabbed a sticker.

“Now the three seals. Come on, don’t be bashful”.

Kenji raised his hand, got up and grabbed one of the paper seals. Afterward, Diego took one. However, the last one, Vlad decided to give it to Bold.

“Uhh, umm. Doesn’t anyone else want it?” asked Bold with concern.

“You’ve surprised us the most today. Who knows, maybe you’ll do surprising things with this”.

Just take the compliment said Bold’s mind and he took the seal from Vlad with no hesitation.             

With the important discussion out of the way, everyone got up and walked towards the inn slowly due to their fatigue. Vlad and Natalia were the only ones who were stalling behind and they did not enter the inn once they had arrived. Their behavior felt a little strange to Bold but he did not bother asking anything. Everyone quickly headed upstairs toward their rooms. But Mikhail suddenly stopped and spoke: 

“Hey everyone!”.

“What?” said Diego in an irritated manner. 

“I just remember seeing a dagger and a blade lying around near the tree trunk that we were sitting on. Did you guys pick it up? It would be a waste to keep throwing weapons hastily” said Mikhail. 

“Shit”

Bold now remembered. He was the one who got so tired and lazy that he threw his weapons in anger.

“Sorry, it's mine. Damn, I shouldn’t have been so careless” 

“Well, hurry up and get them before some other crooks do” said Mei.

“Right” said Bold and turned around.    

Hating his own cluttered mind and untidiness, Bold sluggishly walked towards the door. He opened it, went outside into the dark night and took a deep breath. Just then he heard a voice.
 
“Vlad, stop”

It was Natalia’s voice. Bold froze in place and slowly looked around his surroundings.  His eyes managed to catch a glimpse of two silhouettes hugging and melting into one another behind a tree. 

“What if someone is watching?” said Natalia. 

“Then it’ll make it more fun”.

Bold doubted what he had just heard. He didn’t consider himself insane enough to hear random voices in his head but he never trusted his mind to be unpreverted either. He quickly got off the doorstep and hid behind one of the bushes and observed the silhouettes. Soon his eyes adjusted to the dark and now he realized what he heard was in fact a reality.

Vlad was smooching his sister’s lips and neck like a starving beast. Natalia looked completely vulnerable and fragile, unlike the swordswoman Bold had met a few days ago. It was hard to tell whether she was enjoying the pleasures her brother gave her or was she being dragged into the flames of lust unwillingly.

INCEST INCEST, WTF Bold screamed...or so he did in his head.  He was dumbstruck. It wasn’t like he never heard what incest was. On the contrary, he might have even seen more incest than the average person thanks to the land of the rising sun and their kinky creations. But watching this type of stuff in live-action was…really fucking weird. But yet, he could not take his eye off the scene. Perhaps curiosity got the best of him. Or maybe his unconsciousness was dying to see this romantic movie to turn into porn.