JULY 30, 2049

         Azalea materialized in the middle of a bustling city, tiny jade pixels fluttering around her. Brick buildings surrounded her, each containing a multitude of floors. She stood amid a large plaza, with more people—both NPC and players alike—than she could count. The sounds of people talking, walking, trading, and living were overwhelming. She took a small step back, looking over her own body in disbelief. It felt like she was truly standing there.

         Then again, she supposed that she was. Before logging into Iadral Online, she had to use a set of provided cameras to do a full scan of her body. It was then able to take that data and create a perfect replica of herself to use as her avatar. Her clothing, however, was completely generated by the game. She wore red robes made of the softest silk she had ever felt, which flowed from her neck all the way to her feet, where it pooled on the ground. Her blond hair had been tied up into a small bun hidden under a tiny cap.

         Azalea took a deep breath. She knew that her eldest brother Ayleon would probably freak out knowing that she had logged in without him, especially since he had been the one to give her the virtual reality headset for her birthday. But she couldn’t hold herself back any longer. The rest of her family had been staunchly against her ever playing again, but she had been determined that nothing would stop her. If they wouldn’t allow her to live freely outside of the virtual world, then she would use this to escape them instead.

         She blinked as a small blue bubble appeared in front of her, floating in the air. It quickly expanded, turning into a small, blinking notification box.

Welcome back, Azalea Dareign.

It’s been 5 years, 10 months, and 20 days since your last log-in.

         Azalea reread the numbers again, before doing so once more. It wasn’t just the last time she had logged in. It was the day that had changed everything.

         The text began to rearrange itself, bursting into a swirl of pixels that wrapped around her arm. It quickly condensed into a single point on the underside of her wrist before expanding into a large, hovering menu. Azalea blinked, her eyes trailing down the screen again before returning to the top and repeating the process. It was nothing more than a basic list of her stats. She was only level one, with a negligible amount of health points and magic power. Her experience bar was stagnant at 0/105. There were tabs named EQUIPMENT, JOB CLASS, FRIENDS, along with others. When she raised a finger, tapping on the EQUIPMENT button, the pixels rearranged themselves into the equipment page, which was completely empty except for her small cap, robes, and a small dagger. Azalea closed that menu with a swipe, returning to the main screen, searching for the CLASSES tab. She couldn’t remember what primary class she had selected when she played last, but a player’s first class was one of the most important decisions they could make. For once a player logged in, and their character was created, there was no way to change it.

         Iadral Online had nearly three-hundred different base-level classes to choose from, with each falling into one of three categories: OFFENSIVE, DEFENSIVE, or SUPPORT. Once reaching certain levels, a player was granted the ability to branch out into the remaining two categories that their primary class hadn’t been in, although neither would ever be able to match the level of their primary class. She knew that most players began with an offensive class, since it allowed them the ability to level up the fastest and deal the most damage, but defensive was a close second, with support rarely being chosen as a primary. The window flashed dully, preparing to close from inactivity as her finger lingered over the CLASSES button.

         For as long as she could remember, Azalea had been hoping that when she last played, she had selected a decent class. She’d be content with the generic Swordmaster class, or perhaps even the defensive Sharpshooter class. Her finger landed on the button, and the screen disappeared for a moment before reappearing. A large list was formed, scrolling through hundreds of different classes. Azalea’s heart dropped when the menu cycled down to the section titled SUPPORT.

         So, she hadn’t chosen an offensive or defensive class. It wasn’t the end of the world. There were plenty of uses for one with a support-based primary class, even if they were few and far between in terms of top players. Often, they could lead raid-parties from the backlines, or even use their abilities to aid whatever offensive or defensive class that they chose later. Azalea found solace in that thought. She’d have plenty of time to decide about what she’d branch into later, so now all she hoped for was that—

         The list slowed to a halt and highlighted a single class. Heartmender.

         Azalea groaned loudly, burying her face in her hands. A Heartmender?! She couldn’t believe that she had been so stupid!

         The Heartmender class was widely thought of by the player base as the most useless class in the entire game. In her opinion, it was a miracle that it hadn’t been removed from the game by this point, for it was in the bottom percentage of selected classes, even in terms of a non-primary class. Azalea shook her head, pressing lightly on the Heartmender class. It expanded, showing that the class was still at the base-level, and that she only had one skill: BINDING SURGE. With that skill, she could target a single player and give them a buff that would slowly regenerate health overtime, along with removing any status effect that a person might have. It was one of the most generic skills, shared by many healing-type support classes, but as a Heartmender, there were a few caveats.

         While a Heartmender was classified as a healer, they could never heal themselves, nor more than a single person at once. That meant that all AOE healing or buffing skills were useless to her, but that wasn’t even the worst part. As a Heartmender, Azalea would never have access to any offensive-type magic skills. 

         Azalea dropped her hand, her menu dissipating into a bunch of fluttering pixels with the motion. The sun shone bright in the sky above, making her sweat in her long robes. At some point, Ayleon would notice that she’d already logged in and undoubtedly come looking for her, but she had hoped to get at least a bit of experience alone before that happened. But upon learning her class…she had no idea what to do.

         If she went out alone, there was a good chance that she’d die to even the weakest of monsters. And without having earned any Idra yet—the game’s currency—there was no way she’d be able to afford any healing potions or a weapon better than the small dagger. That was leaving out the fact that she had no offensive skills either, so she’d be stuck dealing the weapon’s base damage.

Which left Azalea with only one option. She’d have to party up with someone.

         Azalea grimaced, glancing around the plaza in search for any available players. She knew that she could just wait for Ayleon to log in and find her, but who knew how long that would take. Plus, with the influx of fans that he’d undoubtedly bring along with him, she doubted it would make for an enjoyable first experience.

         Yet, upon closer inspection, most of the players in the game right now were not truly playing the game. Instead, the city was full of players celebrating, cheering, dancing, drinking, and doing…other things that made Azalea blush and turn away. It was like the world was having one big party, and it only took her a moment to remember why.

         Tonight was the release for the newest of Iadral Online’s expansions, The Final Frontier. Ayleon had been jabbering on about it all throughout the day, but she had been more focused on beginning the game for the first time rather than trying to guess what would be included in the expansion. Not only would it apparently be the greatest expansion released for the game to date, it was rumored to be something so big that the developers had opted to keep the majority of it a secret until the moment it dropped. The current rumors guessed that it would introduce so many new lands for the players to explore, the world would be increased by ten-times its current size.

         That realization made her current predicament rather unfortunate. There’d probably be few players willing to go out and adventure with a new player like her when they could instead be inside here celebrating with their friends. Excluding Ayleon, who’d been wanting to join her, even her other brothers were planning to spend the night celebrating. 

         Azalea sighed. She’d just have to attempt to solo the first few beginner areas outside of town and hope that she’d be able to defeat the monsters there. As the game spawned new players inside of any city throughout the game when they first began, she had no idea which region she was currently in. If she were anywhere except Zone One, there was no telling what monsters she’d find waiting.

         Gathering her resolve, she left the plaza, searching for any clue as to where she was. Azalea attempted to approach a few groups of players, but as they were rather distracted—or inebriated, in most cases—she couldn’t get a straight answer out of them. Eventually, she managed to get a curt reply from another player, but it was nothing more than him pointing in the direction of the main gate and telling her to ask the other players there. After that, it seemed like everyone was content to ignore her.

         HAYWARD’S LANE was the name of the street that ran straight through the city, from east to west. Just like the central plaza, there were all kinds of different shops and buildings that lined the road, both player and NPC owned. She did her best to weave through the crowds, apologizing to anyone she may have run into or doing her best to dodge any wayward skills that were shot off in celebration. It felt like it took longer than it should’ve, but eventually, she managed to arrive at the western gate.

         Azalea stepped up to the gate. The NPC guards spared her a quick glance but said nothing. The road was filled with traveling players and NPCs, along with plenty of wagons being pulled along by horses. A sign hung from the old, cracked brick above the arch, creaking softly as it swung in the breeze. It read, ICTOL, FOUNDED 2026.

Azalea let out a breath at that revelation. Ictol was located in the middle of Zone One, which meant that there would be lower level monsters outside the city. She’d at least have a bit of a chance at defeating them.

         Ictol had been the first city founded in Iadral, well before she was born. When she was younger, her mother would share plenty of tales about her experiences throughout the game. At the time of its creation, her mother had been part of the guild that had founded the city, but the guild had been disbanded soon after. Azalea couldn’t even recall the guild’s name. Now, over two decades later, the walls stood lined with guards, all dressed in identical silver plate armor as they watched over the land outside of the city. Flags hung at regular intervals, all adorned with the emblem of a flaming sword.

         The emblem of Ayleon’s guild: The Rising Flame.

         Within the world, guilds would lay claim to different territories, cities, or lands. From there, they could set their base of operations, along with making a profit off the cities and lands. Azalea remembered the war that had taken place just a few years prior. Ayleon had spent nearly half a year leading a campaign to take control of the city from another guild, which he eventually did. The livestream of the battle had been watched around the world, with millions of people tuning in to watch over the course of the seventy-hour battle. It had been one of her brother’s proudest moments, and Azalea remembered wanting nothing more than to stand in game with him as he finally lowered his flag over the city, but she had been forced to watch from home. Alone.

        The fields around the city were empty of any monsters, though there were plenty of farmer NPCs harvesting crops and tending to the livestock. Soon, the paved path of the city transitioned to dirt, and Azalea found herself coughing as travelers heading into the city kicked up dirt behind them. Her robes dragged along behind her, and she found herself constantly tugging on the hem in annoyance, cursing herself for choosing such a useless class.

         At the far end of the field was a large forest that filled the horizon. The sounds and smells of the city slowly began to fade, and the smell of crops, livestock, and pine trees overtook her. In the distance, she heard the cry of a cow, and the squawk of chickens. The sun was just beginning to set. Only a few players lingered this far down the path, equipped with all different kinds of items, although none looked too high levelled. They camped outside of the forest, probably waiting for any wandering monsters as they conversed jovially.

         Azalea approached the tree-line, looking into the sea of green as a few leaves fluttered gently to the ground. In front of her, another small notification bubble appeared, quickly expanding.

Letter’s Forest.

         “You might want to be careful heading in there alone,” a gruff voice called out. Azalea turned, finding a large man staring down at her. The notification dissipated. She barely reached his shoulders, and had arms that looked bigger than her head. His fingers drummed against the pommel of the battle-axe that rested on his shoulder, which was nearly as large as herself. There were a few traces of a dark beard beneath his short, wild hair, but it wasn’t much. If she had to guess, he might’ve been a few years older than herself.

         “…Why?” she eventually replied.

         He gestured towards the players lingering at the edge of the forest. “The monsters that appear this far out of the forest are nothing like the ones that await within, which is why these guys just sit out here grinding them. In fact, most low-levels tend to join them for the first few days.”

         She glanced into the forest, trying to spot any of the monsters that he spoke of. All she found was a squirrel hopping between trees. “Well, I’m not most people.”

         “Ha! As if I haven’t heard a newbie give a response like that before.” The axeman grinned, chuckling to himself before taking a few steps towards the forest. He stopped just as he was about to enter, turning back to her. “What’s your class?”

         Azalea glanced down at her robes, tugging on one of her long sleeves. It hurt to even say the word. “Heartmender.”

         “Heartmender? For real?”

         “I’m sure I can handle whatever’s in there.” She crossed her arms across her chest, watching him warily as he took a step back towards her. “I’ve been studying the game for my entire life, so I think that I can handle a few beginner monsters. I mean, we’re still in the first zone. It can’t be that hard.”

         He snorted, readjusting the battle-axe. “Studying the game and playing the game are two entirely different things. If you have truly studied the game, then you should know just how useless the Heartmender is alone.”

         Azalea frowned at the reminder. Of course, nearly everyone would’ve shared a similar opinion of a Heartmender, but part of her had still thought that maybe they wouldn’t have stated it so blatantly. Especially to her face.

         “Well, I was looking to join a party, but after you told me about those other players, I’m not sure they’d be much help…” Azalea equipped her small dagger. “I can defend myself, at least.”

         He bent over to get a better look at the weapon. It looked miniscule compared to him. “If you get injured, you won’t be able to heal.”

         “Well, no, I suppose not,” Azalea said. She frowned at the reminder. “If I die, then I’ll just respawn in town.”

         He sighed loudly, glancing at the other players for a moment before turning back to her. His fingers drummed against the battle-axe, following some sort of rhythm.

         “Then I guess we have no choice,” he spoke. He lowered the axe to the ground, letting it lean against his leg. There was quiet for a moment, before the axeman seemed to resolve himself and continue. “I was planning to head in there anyway, so we should form a party.”

         “Excuse me?”

         The axeman flipped his wrist over, summoning his menu. He tapped the screen a few times, and her wrist began to glow. She tapped her wrist, and her menu expanded. PARTY REQUEST FROM: JAVIER. Azalea glanced between the man and the text, unsure of how to respond.

         “Javier?”

         “Javi.”

         “Oh.” Like the real world, the only way to get private information would be by having the person themselves offer it up in some manner, whether verbally or through one of the game’s systems. The FRIENDS list, for example, would display someone’s name once added, just as a party would. Azalea stared at the party request, before hesitantly tapping accept. She supposed that it couldn’t hurt to party with him. He may have been a bit forward, but at least he seemed to know a lot about the area. “Nice to meet you.”

         Javier’s wrist flashed, signaling her acceptance. He glanced at her, undoubtedly looking at the party interface. When she had hit accept, it had formed in the bottom left of her vision, just as two simple names. His voice interrupted her thoughts. “Azalea.”

         “Lea,” she responded.

         Javier laughed at that, picking his axe back up and resting it upon his shoulder. He began to walk into the forest and Azalea moved to follow. The dirt path turned even rougher, and the forest became so dense that she couldn’t see more than a few yards in front of her. The shadows cast from the trees felt smothering under the setting sun. Different types of wildlife and plants surrounded them, looking just as real as they would outside of the game, although there were no signs of any real monsters yet. Azalea found herself looking around the forest in awe. Iadral Online had always been infamous for its ability to look incredibly realistic, which had only further improved once it made the move to virtual reality. But still, it was an entirely other thing to experience it for herself.

         “What’s your reason for playing?” Javier asked. He used his axe to brush aside some low-hanging branches. “I’ll admit, I’m still surprised that you decided to choose the Heartmender class. I don’t think I could find another one anywhere if I tried.”

         “It was an accident,” Azalea replied. She reached a hand up to steady her cap as a gust of wind blew down the path. It was slowly beginning to widen into a clearing full of tree stumps and fallen trees.

         “Care to share?”

         “Not really.”

         Javier glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, but shrugged and continued walking. “You still didn’t answer the first part.”

         “My reason for playing?”

         “Yeah,” he said. “You know what I mean. The game’s slogan. What’s your reason to play?”

         It was a phrase Azalea had heard all too much. Between her mother playing, and then her brothers in previous years, Iadral Online had seemed like something that had been a permanent figure in her life, more so than anything else. She thought about his question. It seemed rather simple at first—a quote just created to catch someone’s attention—but still, for some reason she found herself stumped. It took a few minutes, and a bit more encouraging from Javier, but eventually she came up with an answer that she felt satisfied with.

         “Freedom.”

         “Freedom, huh?” Javier stepped off the path and into a small clearing. They were surrounded by tree stumps; all having been cut off at the exact same point. A thin stream ran through the clearing to her left, with trees gone even from the other side. “I’m sure you don’t want to elaborate upon that either?”

         Azalea shook her head, growing more desperate to turn the conversation away from herself. “What about you?” she asked. “What’s your purpose.”

         Javier lifted his battle-axe off his shoulder and lodged it onto one of the stumps. He turned to her with a teasing grin. “It’s only fair that I answer, but since you were so vague about your own answer, I shall be so with mine too.”

         “Well?” Azalea asked when he didn’t continue. She didn’t know why she cared to know the answer. Once they left the forest, she’d probably un-party with him and never see him again, but that curious itch still lingered. “What is it?”

         “A promise,” he replied.

         She met his gaze, and he only offered a smile in return. A smile that she found rather irritating. But she couldn’t complain. Like he said, she had been rather vague about her own answers as well.

         “Fine,” she said, turning away to look around the forest. There were a few dull taps behind her, signaling that he was doing something in his menu. “When are we going to go find some monsters?”

         When Javier didn’t reply, she turned back to him to find him wearing a new outfit. He wore a plaid shirt, with a pair of overalls and thick boots. He had a normal wood-cutting axe slung across his shoulder. It was clearly made to resemble a lumberjack’s outfit. Azalea thought the rugged look suited him perfectly. 

         She didn’t question why he had made the change from his armor to the simple clothes. In Iadral Online, a player’s stats were completely determined by the equipment and weapons they wore. As a result, players were incredibly reliant on the types of gear that they used, increasing the competition between players to get certain items. So, since he had switched to the lumberjack’s outfit, she could only suppose that it would give him some sort of buffs towards Woodcutting. 

         “There’s only one way to fight monsters in this forest,” Javier said. “And that’s by luring them to you.”

         Javier strode over to one of the uncut trees before winding back his axe and swinging it down. A chunk of the tree went flying as the axe dug deep into the wood. He repeated the process, over and over, until the tree flashed, before shattering into thousands of tiny pixels, leaving only a small stump in its place.

         A small screen appeared to the right side of Azalea’s vision, letting her know of the small amount of Woodcutting experience she had gained from being in a party with Javier. While she would gain experience for the JOB CLASS, however small it might be, Javier would gain all the items—in this case, Oak Logs—since he was the one doing the actual cutting. He continued the process a few more times, cutting down tree after tree until he stood back, sweat dripping from his forehead.

         “That should be enough,” Javier said, breathing heavily. He opened his menu again, unequipping his current clothing and putting on the iron armor he had been wearing before. “With any luck, the first monsters should start arriving soon.”

         On cue, there was an immediate growl to Azalea’s right. She whipped around, summoning her menu to equip her dagger when she found herself face to face with the monster. The monkey-like creature hung from a branch, watching her with its mouth wide open, green venom dripping from its elongated fangs. It swiped down at her with one gangly arm, making her scramble back a few steps. Text appeared above its head, reading LETTER’S BROOD.

         “Letter is the boss in this forest,” Javier interrupted. “I’ve only encountered him once before, and I barely lasted more than a few minutes against him. His minions aren’t too difficult, though.”

         The creature before her looked like something straight out of a nightmare, so Azalea could only imagine what the boss looked like. There was another growl behind her as another minion hopped down from a tree, watching her intensely with its beady green eyes. It matched the other with its bright green fur.

         Javier rushed forward, pulling his battle-axe from the stump and swung it at the first monkey. The minion leaped backwards from the branch it swung from, coiling itself around the trunk of another tree. It let out another hiss, sending green spittle flying. Azalea turned back to the second mob, satisfied that Javier could handle the first.

         “The key with these guys is to not let them get too close to you,” Javier called out. He stepped towards the minion he was fighting and swung his axe again. The minion jumped again, making his axe hit the tree and lodge itself in the wood. He pulled it out with a grunt. “If you get bit, you’ll be messed up pretty good for a few hours.”

         Azalea’s arm trembled as she held up her tiny dagger. The second minion only continued watching her, its breath labored. She knew that it was only a monster inside of the game—a basic monster at that. But the amount of detail in it was incredible. From the sway of its fur as it rocked back and forth between its feet, to the sharpness of the teeth and claws, it didn’t look like it was simply made from a bunch of code and pixels.

         Her musings were interrupted by the monster in front of her letting out another hiss. It lunged at her, making a desperate swipe with its claws. She tried to sidestep, but her foot got caught in her robes and she couldn’t move fast enough. Its claw dug into the skin on her forearm, tearing right through the sleeve. Azalea yelped, expecting the searing pain as she cradled her arm in the other. It never came. Instead, there was a low burn, and when she looked at the arm, she found that there was a line of red pixels stretched across her skin, which dripped down her arm and onto the ground.

         There was no such thing as a health bar in Iadral Online. The amount of damage a player has taken is represented by the amount of damage done on their avatar. So, at most, she had probably lost around 5% of her health.

         Javier stormed in from the right, swinging his battle-axe down ferociously. The weapon radiated blue, signaling the use of a skill, and made contact with the second minion’s head. It let out a terrifying wail that made Azalea’s ears ring before collapsing on the ground, its skull caved in. After a few more pitiful wails, it melted into a puddle of red and disappeared completely. A small notification box appeared to the right of her vision, notifying her of the experience—and Idra—that she had gained.

         “You alright?” Javier asked. His body was covered in scratches, with some of his armor being dented. There were three more puddles of red pixels still dissolving from where he had come from. A single monster still remained, staggering back to its feet a few yards away. 

         Azalea glanced down at her arm again. Her heart pounded as she tried to steady her breath. The cut did only feel like a slight burn, but if she kept racking up damage like that, she could only imagine how much worse it would become.

         “I think so.” She released her arm, only to spot the final minion jump towards Javier. “Look out!”

         Javier spun, but the monster was already too close. Its fangs pierced right through his armor and into his shoulder with a crunch. Javier screamed, dropping his battle-axe, and reached up to grasp the monkey by the neck before yanking it out of his shoulder. With a roar, he flung the monster at a tree and made to pick up his weapon but stumbled.

         “Hey Lea,” he groaned, falling to a knee. Javier looked around the clearing in a daze, unable to focus on a single spot. “It’s the venom…I…I can’t tell where you are, but now would be a great time to utilize that Heartmender class.”

         Azalea glanced at her hands, one holding the dagger and the other with a thin trail of red down it. In the bottom left corner of her vision, Javier’s name flashed yellow, signaling a status effect. She remembered the only skill that she had. BINDING SURGE. It should be able to help, but there was a single problem.

         “How do I cast it?!” she yelled. The minion was already beginning to rise, looking more enraged than before.

         “You just need to think of which skill you want to use and—” Javier groaned louder, falling back down as he tried to rise to his feet. “And flex your hand.”

         Azalea held out her hand, releasing her dagger. It fell to the earth with a thud. She thought of what he said, extending her fingers before repeating the skill in her mind.

         Binding Surge.

         The effect was instantaneous. A soft blue glow began to emanate from her hand, which she angled towards Javier. There was a slight tingling in her fingers, that only grew as the skill continued. It weaved through the air like a snake, wrapping around his body, and focusing in on the spot the monster had bit. Javier shook his head, grasping the pommel of his weapon before standing back up. He still looked a bit tipsy, but he was able to plant his feet and regain his balance.

         “Thanks,” Javier managed. The monster began its charge, raising a claw high in the air. “Typically, that would’ve been the end for me.”

         Javier raised his battle-axe, meeting the charging monster with an attack of his own. He activated one of his skills, creating a trail of light behind his battle-axe as it slammed into the chest of the monster. The last of the monsters let out a horrendous shriek that pierced the air before bursting into a spray of red pixels, painting the earth red to match.

         Azalea watched as Javier lowered the battle-axe, still dripping red. The faint blue glow of her spell still radiated around him, slowly continuing to heal the scratches that littered his body. Her own wound still burned, but it was beginning to dull. A small notification box appeared on the right side of her vision, letting her know of the Idra and experience she had gained.

         “I had never thought of how useful it would be to have a healer with me,” he said, looking over his body. “It typically takes me twice the amount of time to kill them, especially when there’s more.”

         “How many are there usually?”

         “Hmm…” Javier placed a hand under his chin. “On average, I’d say about eight to ten.”

         Azalea gulped, her mind already pondering over what it would have been like to fight even more of those things. Even one had seemed like too much for her to handle, and if Javier hadn’t been there, then she knew for a fact that she’d have died. And these were some of the supposed easiest monsters.

         “So, how do you feel? You handled yourself well for a first timer, even for a Heartmender.”

         Azalea offered what she hoped to be a reassuring grin, giving him a thumbs up. Her heart still felt like it was trying to burst out of her chest. “I might not have the best class, but I’ll make the most of the one I have.”

         Javier smiled and opened his mouth to reply, but a burst of orange light filled the clearing before he could say anything. It blinded her momentarily, and Azalea stumbled back, raising an arm to block her eyes. The light was gone in a moment, and she delicately reopened her eyes to find the clearing empty besides herself.

         “Javi?” she called out. There was no reply. “You there?”

         Then the world came to an end.