Progressing through the security checkpoint without a hitch, Elise and I were greeted with a brand new different setting. 

It went from a modern fantasy city, with high walls, modern buildings, to like... Nature, FANTASYYYY nature~!!!! There are so many colors of plants! Animals are growling, chirping, howling, you name it.

Ah... walking around out here is so peaceful, just... walking under the sun with a friend. The views are gorgeous! The view isn't some sh*tty browser game where the terrain is just flat grass, the world feels lived in!

Lacing fingers with Elise, I asked, “Do you know where the dungeon is? My map isn’t filled in... you know, because I just started.”

“Yeah, Victoria helped me pin the location. Plus, they’ll probably be a bunch of tents and people around the location. So it shouldn’t be too hard to find,” Elise explained, pulling me into her, “Any other questions?”

“Ummm... Do you know what’s going to be in the dungeon? Like monsters wise... and just the general structure I should expect.”

Stroking her chin while wiggling her eyebrows- I’m still mystified on how she can wiggle them so... dexterously- Elise answered, “I think... if the rumors or ‘information’ we have is correct, the dungeon should be a relatively mundane run-of-the-mill dungeon. The monsters will change floor by floor, the lower floors with tougher monsters. I don’t know how many floors though.”

“I hope it’s kinda short then... I want to check out some of the quests sometimes... build a good relationship with the locals and such.”

“I totally forgot about your weird tick!” Elise laughed with a teasing expression, “That you always are super early and are super paranoid about being on everyone’s good side! Well, it’s not that weird, to be honest, you just... take it to an extreme. Maybe it’s anxiety? I’m not too familiar with the definition of it.”

“I’m not too keen on the definitions either. Howeverrrrr, I have another question, teacher-super-expert Elise! Can I ask?”

“Of course you can ask!” Elise exclaimed, hugging me, “Hah... you’re so soft and nice to hug... and I know you love hugging and being hugged, so I get to hug this soft person whenever I want! This is the good stuff~!”

“Hehe~ hugging is always fun~! Plus, hugging with you is nice, you’re always so warm~”

I wish Elise would just carry me... walking is hard after all~ yes I know I’m lazy! Who isn’t though?

“So Elise... what role will I be playing during the dungeon run? I don’t remember if you’ve told me... I know it’s only been like 5 minutes. I just forgot already...”

“It’s fine~!” Elise assured with a wide smile, “I don’t mind explaining at all! The procedure we usually follow is having the people raiding the dungeon split into several smaller groups, like a divide and conquer strategy. Then meeting up at the end of each floor, as a floor is usually like its own maze, with several paths through it. So you’ll just be in charge of killing the monsters~!”

“Then are the groups already decided?”

“Yeah, the groups don’t change unless something isn’t working, and we have two sets of groups, one for big raids, and one for smaller dungeon raids such as this one,” Elise replied with a bright smile and a small dance, “You’ve been added to my group in the dungeon thing~! Which is great! Since you know everyone in this group already~!”

“Really? That’s great~! Who’s in the group?”

“Hmm... I think it’s, me, Rebecca, you, Victoria... and maybe Lorraine? You’ve met Lorraine right? She’s... a real character, just a tad bit aggressive. She does almost a third of all the guild paperwork, so she’s pretty busy. Her coming is totally based on her mood, so... maybe she’ll be here?” 

“Huh... I hope she comes to the dungeon run though. As aggressive as she was it was fun talking to her~”

“Aww, how nice~” Elise teased with a grin, “I know you’re inner thoughts~”

“Stoooppp it!! I have no idea what you’re talking about... Oh! I see a gathering of people up there! Is that where we’re going?”

Looking ahead while referencing her map, Elise replied, “Yeah... I think that’s it! Though the other guilds seem to be here super early for no reason... That’s kinda weird~”

Tilting my head, I asked, “Maybe they’re just like me? Coming to the area a decent amount of time early?”

“Nah... I don’t think that’s the case... I already left early so we’d arrive and have a bit of time to sit around,” Elise explained, taking out her rapier, “It also takes a while to set up all those tents... so something is up. I hope it’s one of the guilds we’re on more friendly terms though.”

“S-So... what should I do if a fight breaks out? I’m still not familiar with my bow.”

Laughing Elise reassured, “Don’t worry about it, I could probably decimate all their lower-level players. The only people who could probably stop me are the highest level players in the opposing guilds~”

“Wait I just remembered... Shouldn’t everyone be my level? Level 1 or maybe level 2 if they started grinding immediately?”

“Nah, the company gave some of the bigger esports organizations alpha tester helmets... I don’t know why though,” Elise answered with a sigh, “There are so many arrogant people who thought they were the sh*t... Though there were also a lot of nice people, so I guess they balance out~”

“That’s nice, come on though~ we should go say hi~!”

Pulling Elise along, we ran into the area near where the dungeon would be opening at- which is so beautiful by the way~ the sun is poking through the trees ever so slightly, making it not too bright, but still well-lit~! It really has that... Fantasy ambiance- entering the area with tents strewn about, I asked, “Elise? Is there more than one guild here? I see two different banners... scratch that, make it three different banners being flown...”

“Hmm... yeah I see them too,” Elise murmured, coming to a stop, “Seems like there are 3 guilds here already.”

Stroking her chin, Elise did some random leg stretches, probably to keep her legs warm, “I know these three guilds~ two of them, their top players are super nice, and one of them... she’s a real entitled b*tch! I always f*cking wish I could slap her.”

“Ah... one of those girls? You seem to bump into them a lot more than me... we live in different social circles after all~”

“Yeah... and what pisses me off the most,” Elise grumbled doing a few squats and lunges, “what f*cking annoys me the most is I see way too much of my previous self... Sorry for getting too passionate and cursing... just wanted to express my... distaste.”

“Its fine~ cursing is... a pretty normal occurrence, and we all, ‘express our distaste’, so don’t worry about it~ Though it is funny seeing you do your leg exercises again~”

“Gotta keep your legs warm you know~” Elise replied with a grin before winking, “and I do have fun showing off my legs too~”

“I forgot!! How could I forget your playfulness~”

“Don’t roll your eyes at me, young lady~ I see that sarcastic tone of yours~” Elise retorted with mock indignation, “Let’s meet the nice guild leaders though~ we can ask about what’s going on and I’ll introduce you~! It’ll be fun~!”

“W-What?! Wait I’m not ready for this!! Y-You know I’m shy Elise!”

“Yeah I know... hmmmmm... Well, it’s either you meet them now... or during an official meeting,” Elise explained, squeezing my hand, “You can choose though~ we’ll just go sit in the sun over there~ where it’s warm!”

“Oh... Well then let’s meet them right now then... it’s time for an adventure~!”

Chuckling Elise pointed towards one of the taller tents exclaiming, “Let’s goooo~!”

Esiyx

Hey... sorry it's been a while... *bows*

Lotta stuff been happening along with just being lazy... I had to go to physical school for a bit... feel like my body is falling apart... blah blah... well... here's the chapter...

I really need some people to yell at me to write tho...

So much painnnnn my head is killlinggg me rn...

thanks for reading though~!!!!!! I'm not deaddddd~!!! i'll try and write more i promise...

Take care you all~~ *sends hugs*