Rydr's stomps shook the foliage as he passed into the forest after Urginok and Syrna. Somewhere inside Rydr, he knew it was reckless because the extra noise would draw more enemies towards them. 

That voice was persistent, and by the time he caught up to his team, the giant stopped stomping. However, he could do nothing against the knot of emotions in his chest. Despite Rydr's best efforts, the air around him was heavy and dour when he pulled up behind Urginok and Syrna. 

Both normal-sized members of the team felt the brooding anger pouring off Rydr and let him alone. They both knew that Rydr would share if it was important and trusted him to handle it. 

A full group of adults expects each other to act like adults. Amazing.

In Rydr's experience, that was a rare occurrence. There was a good share of stuffy geniuses at his college and several in his classes alone. 

As he thought about classes, Rydr's mind turned to physics, as it always did after one of his episodes. It helped distract him, calm him down and take the edge off his rage. The giant looked down and held out his arms, marveling at their new shape.

Rydr wasn't especially vain in real life, but his avatar's body would make bodybuilders cry blood. His strength score was so high there wasn't an ounce of fat reflected on his body.

A while ago, it dawned on Rydr that he was strong. Stupid strong. At a certain point, physics broke down to energy and leverage. 

In the previous fights, Rydr noticed that not only did he deal serious damage, but his body was actually strong. He dragged thousands of pounds without significant straining and won primarily by wrestling monsters to the ground and snapping them in half. His physical presence in the world wrecked the environment, overgrown as it was, around him.

The giant admitted his avatar left humanity behind. It scared and thrilled him at the same time. Rydr's body turned into an engine of kinetic energy that he could leverage in almost any way, so long as he thought of it.

Rydr idly reached out, gripped a branch roughly as big around as his arm, and flexed. 

Syrna and Urginok's quiet chatter cut off when a thunderous crash of wood tearing broke the forest's silence. 

Both of them whirled around, weapons ready, to find Rydr blushing furiously and holding a huge branch.

"I-ah...I wanted to see if I could do it..." Rydr went to scratch his head and nearly beaned himself in the forehead with the leafy branch in his hand.

"Just...experiment a little quieter, okay?" Syrna's hand twitched towards her temples, but she stifled the response. She turned back forward, her long blonde hair swaying as she did, and threw out, "We're almost there anyway."

Urginok looked between Rydr and the massive branch and broke into a huge grin, "Got wood?"

Of all things, Urginok's joke snapped Rydr out of his embarrassment. 

Deflated, Rydr pointed at the tank with the branch, "That was bad, dude." 

Urginok raised his hands in peace, but his smugly gleeful expression ruined the gesture. Rydr's face became exasperated, and the tank turned around, chuckling to himself.

The beleaguered giant tossed his branch away and gave up on experimenting. His irritation from before still hadn't faded, and it made him restless. Every time Rydr ducked under a low-hanging branch bothered him even more.

Even the pristine forest, something Rydr would normally enjoy, did nothing to soothe the fuming giant. The urge to just swat every plant that got in his way grew with every step. His negative spiral was finally interrupted when Syrna called out.

"This is as far as I've been." The archer rushed up behind a tree and peeked around its rough bark. Urginok fell in behind her. 

Rydr tried to stand more stealthily; there wasn't a tree around that could hide his bulk. It's not like there isn't a wall of leaves and wood every few feet, anyway.

Syrna turned to address the boys and stopped when she saw Rydr just standing there. Her expression twisted in consternation, and she held her hands out helplessly. 

"What are you doing? Hide!" She whispered intensely to him, wide-eyed to the point of bug-eyed.

Rydr, frustrated, mirrored her and waved his hands at his body, "Where?" Then he waved his arms around, gesturing to the forest in general.

Syrna quickly scanned their surroundings and realized Rydr was correct; she couldn't find a tree, bush, or rock big enough for the giant to hide behind.

At that point, Urginok leaned forward and whispered, "You should have kept the branch." Then he grabbed a small twig and held it in front of his face like an old cartoon, grinning like a loon and suppressing his giggles.

"I'm surrounded by children." Syrna groaned.

"Hey, birds of a feather and all that," Urginok teased her. He looked expectantly at Rydr to back him up.

Rydr raised his hands to ward of any association with the tank, "I don't know about Nok, but I don't identify as a child. I'm just larger than life, is all." Then Rydr pointedly looked away from Urginok, turning his nose up.

Urginok clutched his chest in mock outrage, "You wound me, sir. I am wounded." He even started to swoon until Syrna smacked his stomach, making the tank flinch and laugh.

Once she was sure that Urginok was suitably chastised, Syrna said, "We can stand here all day while others out-level us, or we can get into the mines, your choice." Both of the boys nodded at her.

With that, the party descended into silence again. Syrna peaked around the edge of the tree for a minute before she signaled, pointing forward to where she wanted to go. 

Urginok nodded, his face serious for the first time in several minutes. Both of them stood half crouched against the tree until Syrna dashed forward to take cover behind another tree.

Urginok waited a moment and ran, crouched, over to her, sliding a little on the moss when he stopped against the tree. Rydr walked over to them, doing his best not to step on branches, and stood sideways behind the tree to hide as much of his body from view as possible. 

I feel ridiculous.

Nonetheless, Rydr followed Syrna from tree to tree as they inched further into the goblin's territory. In the distance, between trees, they saw the peak of a rocky outcropping. 

Rydr nudged Syrna's shoulder and pointed at the small peak in the distance when she looked at him.

"Go there?" She mouthed at him. Rydr gave a short nod, but they were both interrupted by Urginok. Like Rydr, he tapped them both on the arm.

Rydr looked at the smaller man where he crouched on the ground. From his perspective, Rydr could see sweat beading on Urginok's forehead and the individual pores on his skin. 

The game's level of detail amazed him and broke through the dark cloud that covered his thoughts. The moments of levity helped, but Rydr was truly in a funk. Urginok's motion in the corner of his eye made him refocus, and his moment of appreciation came to an end.

Urginok mouthed, "Where are the patrols?" He even pantomimed walking with his hands and looked around with his hand over his eyes like he was searching. Syrna's face darkened into an intense frown, and she made a few gestures in the air.

After spending a few moments looking at menus with a faraway look in her eyes, Syrna noticeably refocused. She mouthed, "We passed where they started a long time ago." 

She then held up her hands and made five and two zeroes, then pointed at her foot. They passed where patrols should have been five hundred meters back. The sight of the stormy blonde balancing on one foot was absurd, and Rydr memorized every detail to mess with her someday.

After the giant processed everything, the team noticed Rydr came to a decision. He stepped out into the open and away from the densely growing clump of young trees they hid behind. 

Rydr heard Syrna hiss behind him, but he was determined to be the only casualty if he was wrong.

Rydr looked around him as he stepped out of hiding. If any goblins were around, he wanted to give the others ample time to run away. At least, that's what Rydr told himself. 

If he were honest, then others would know that he wanted to fight - needed to fight something. While he wasn't angry with Syrna in the slightest for triggering his memory, that didn't change his episode's result. Rydr was furious.

Rydr was aware that he was reckless, but it felt like watching a train wreck. The sensible part of his brain was along for the ride. 

 Thus Rydr stalked into the open, looking for an enemy. He was still careful at first, but after a few minutes of walking around in the open, even doubling back a few times, he still couldn't find a single goblin.

Despite his frustration, Rydr didn't want his new friends to know how upset he really was. After another five minutes of fruitless search, the giant gave up and called out, "Pretty sure there aren't any patrols, guys." 

A few seconds later, he watched Syrna and Urginok surface from the mana-enhanced shrubbery. Rydr jogged the few feet in between them and nearly cracked a smile despite his foul mood. 

Branches and leaves covered both of his teammates, sticking out of their hair and clothes in every conceivable direction.

I'm so glad I missed Syrna's wilderness tracking skills. Rydr readily admitted that the woman was deadly with a bow and arrow, but she was almost as good at stealth as Rydr, which is to say, not at all. 

Of the three, the surprisingly reticent Urginok was the most adept at espionage; the man just didn't talk very much. Rydr was surprised because the tank was so talkative in town. The tank wore a more relaxed face in front of the other team members like the charm was switched off.

On the other hand, Syrna was always a pretty forceful person. Rydr envied her. She said that others found her focus alienating in her work, but Rydr felt different. To him, Syrna seemed to do what she wanted exactly when she wanted to. 

Rydr was too shy to pull his reckless stunt in real life, no matter how angry he might be. 

In real life, Rydr suspected Syrna called people an idiot to their face.

Rydr opened his mouth, but Syrna held up her hand, palm out, and said, "Yeah, I got it, no goblins. Why?" 

Wisely, Rydr shut his mouth and didn't tell Syrna about how he had been right or how she looked like a pincushion for wooden needles. Before he could think to say something else, Urginok beat him to it.

"Why don't we just go to the caves then? They gotta be over in those rocks, right?" Both of his teammates blinked at him. He stared back, nonplussed, and asked, "What?"

"Your speech changed," Syrna remarked.

"Yeah, way more casual than before." Rydr agreed. The tank's speech was noticeably more sedate, like he took his time saying words now. Before now, his speech was smooth and crisp, like a radio personality or politician.

Urginok looked at both of them and shrugged after a moment. "This is how I like to talk. I don't get to do it a lot." 

Rydr frowned, wondering what he meant, but nodded because he accepted the brown-haired man's reason. The giant certainly acted different in-game and couldn't point any fingers.

Since they all agreed that the slow way was a waste of time, they proceeded to walk directly towards the rocky outcropping in the distance. Because they didn't bother hiding, it took less than ten minutes to get there. 

The trees became less dense, and undergrowth lightened until it was almost nonexistent as the ground became more gravelly. Soon gravel gave way to crowded boulders until they were at the foot of the outcropping.

As it turns out, they weren't the first people there by a long shot. A whole team of players bustled around a jagged opening, like a huge scar across the rock's face. Rydr finally found the mine's entrance. While the divers' presence threw him for a loop, it didn't change what had to happen. Rydr needed to get into that mine.

When Rydr went to take a step forward, he felt a hand grab his elbow. Rydr looked down and found Syrna attached to that hand. 

"What's up?" He asked her.

Syrna nodded to the players ahead of them, "That's got to be a guild up there. I hate to say it, but we may not be able to get in." She plainly wore her distaste for the group of players on her face.

Rydr was confused for only a moment before he realized the problem. He leaned back, hands on his hips, and said, "I see. They're monopolizing the goblins and the mine at the same time."

"Taking all the experience and resources for themselves!" Urginok's expression was even more openly antagonistic than Syrna's, twisted into a scowl.

Rydr tried to remain as cool as possible on the outside, but he boiled over on the inside. This sort of behavior, taking just because you could, twisted a knife in his guts. His life had been altered too much by a person with that attitude. 

The giant barely managed to keep his fists from clenching and his body from trembling with emotion. Fortunately, Rydr practiced both of those things all too often.

Rydr calmly suggested, "Why don't we just check it out? Worst that can happen is they say no, right?" He turned around and started towards the guild divers, noticing that the ground sloped down to the mine's entrance after the rise crested.

"Worst that can happen is they kill us, you moron," Syrna muttered under her breath, making sure Rydr knew exactly what they were walking into. Despite himself, Rydr felt his right-hand clench until his knuckles audibly cracked.

Behind him, Urginok reached out and gently pulled Syrna away from Rydr. The stocky tank didn't think that Rydr would hurt Syrna; he just had the gut feeling that they shouldn't get in his way right now. All three of them made sure their weapons were out before they got to the other players.

"Stop! This place is under Shining Star's control. You need to leave." One of the divers finally noticed two people and one giant coming at them and called out. 

Rydr heard Syrna suck in a little gasp, but even he had heard of Shining Star. Among the many Career Guilds that existed, Shining Star was infamous as the Fallen Star Guild. In every VR game, they used dirty tactics and their numbers to bully other players.

Even though most of the gaming community vilified the corrupt guild, the members were famously prideful. They even seemed to thrive under scrutiny. To Rydr, who read about them in real life, they were exactly the type of diver he wanted to prove wrong and defeat.

"I'm sorry, but I need to get in the mine for my quest. Is there someone in charge that I can talk to?" Rydr strove to maintain a pleasant tone when he responded to the player. 

While it seemed that this fool bought it, hook, line, and sinker, Urginok and Syrna took another subtle step back.

As he looked at the Shining Star member, Rydr absorbed his details. Black pants and boots met a black tunic and black leather armor. The only spots of color on the guy were his metallic sword and his blonde, foppish hair.

"Oh, a quest, you say? Well, right this way. Follow me to our leader." The guild diver's voice dripped with sarcasm, and the blonde fop seemed to have a great time making fun of Rydr to his face. No doubt he felt confident with the large group of players on his side.

Like a professional poker player, Rydr didn't let an ounce of irritation show on his face. He calmly followed the monochromatic moron closer to the scar-like entrance to the mine. More of the group gathered around them as they walked until nearly twenty players followed them to the opening.

"Hey, Guile, these guys have a quest, and they really need to get into the mine. Is it okay if we let them in?" Without a shred of courtesy, the wannabe teen-Alucard called out so the whole group could hear. Laughter rang out around them as the Shining Star Guild members cackled like that was the best joke they'd ever heard. 

Rydr's impression of them, if possible, dropped even lower.

He supposed that somewhere in the world, places had to exist for scum like this to gather; he just wondered why it had to be here. Rydr would much rather fight his way through a legion of goblins bare-handed than deal with the living excrement in front of him.

Then the slimiest person Rydr had ever seen stepped through the crowd. Roughly six feet tall, this pale, lanky man had a weaselly face framed with limp, oily black hair. Dressed head-to-toe in leather armor, he walked up to Rydr and looked him up and down. 

A few of the divers threw catcalls at Syrna, but everyone fell silent when Guile held up his hand.

"A quest, you say? Hmm, I'd love to help you out, but I'm under orders not to let anyone in." When Rydr heard the man speak, he shuddered internally. The oily rat had a voice so nasally and whiny it sounded comical.

Unlike Rydr, Urginok and Syrna took everything in stride. Divers acted like this in every game. Like any cyber-bully, Guile played this way because he wanted to, because there was no risk of retaliation in real life. 

He was also paid to be this way. Guile, whoever he was, worked for the Shining Star Guild and received a salary for it.

In other words, he was a professional player.

"Is there nothing I can do to get in?" Rydr fished one last time. He tried his best to portray a naive idiot. Though, the giant admitted that he might actually be one.

"Weeellll...how's about this. If you beat me in a fight, I can tell my boss that you guys were too strong, and we couldn't stop you." Guile spread his hands out like that was really all he had to offer. The divers around them snickered.

"Just you and me?" Rydr clarified, pointing at himself and Guile.

"Just you and me, I swear." Guile put his hand over his heart like he was being sworn in.

"Okay, I ac-"

"Oh! Before I forget, I need to collect gear from my friends." Guile interrupted Rydr at the last second. "We're a small team, and all our gear is spread out...you understand, right?" He smiled, and Rydr wanted to break his face. 

The guild members all laughed at the obvious lie, and several of them ran forward.

Rydr watched as Guile suddenly became clad in metal armor, replacing his leather set from before. The whole time he smiled to himself like he'd set up this giant chump, which wasn't exactly the case.

Because Rydr simply didn't care. The rotten guild leader could have demanded Rydr fight bare-handed if it made him feel safer. One thing did occur to him, though.

"I understand completely. Our team is pretty small too," Rydr smiled naively at Guile, even tilting his head to the side and squinting his eyes in good cheer. Truthfully he had to close his eyes, or he would glare death at the rodent.

Then he turned around and pointed, "Hey, Nok, can I borrow that?" Urginok furrowed his brow and tracked to where Rydr pointed. His eyes found his war-hammer, still in hand.

Guile made as if to object; his eyes went wide before he calmed himself. Once he resumed his haughty expression, Guile magnanimously said, "Of course! Everyone should be able to rely on their teammates."

For a brief moment, Rydr slipped, and his real feelings showed on his face. His jaw clenched so hard his teeth groaned, and his extended hand stiffened, his tendons and veins clearly visible through his skin.

Urginok felt like he was face to face with a bomb. The hair on his arms stood up from the sudden tension rolling off Rydr. Both men reversed their grips and handed the haft of their respective weapons to each other. The tank looked Rydr in the eyes and marveled at what he saw.

Rydr wasn't just angry. He was eager.

War-hammer in hand, Rydr turned to face Guile. The previously rogue-like player now looked more like a tank than Urginok. 

Plate greaves, vambraces, and cuirass adorned his body. The daggers he sported before were still on his hips, but in his hands, the Guild member held a wickedly sharp sword and steel banded kite shield. 

"You know what, guys? I'll let him get the first attack in since he doesn't have any armor." Guile graciously made his announcement with his arms raised, addressing everyone like he was at a podium.

"What happens if I win?" Rydr asked. He wanted their leader's word that his team would be allowed into the mine peacefully.

"My team and I will let your team into the mine. Of course, if you lose, I want the hammer in your hands." When Guile declared the conditions, Syrna looked sharply at Urginok, concerned because he might object to Rydr using his hammer. 

To her surprise, Urginok's expression was like a placid lake.

Rydr didn't show a reaction except to get ready. He bent his knees, spread his feet, and leaned forward while reeling back with the hammer. It looked like Rydr would run forward and swing at Guile with a baseball bat instead of a war-hammer to anyone who watched.

On the inside, Rydr felt like his limbs were vibrating in place. Adrenaline, nervous jitters and rage vied for dominance as Rydr tensed his body, winding it tighter and tighter like a coil. 

As he tensed his body, the giant dug his toes into the ground, hard, and leaned further forward, like a sprinter waiting for his heat.

Guile readied himself, swinging his sword this way and that to show off, and said, "Can someone help us with a countdown of five? How about you, gorgeous?" Guile waggled his eyebrows at Syrna, who snorted and walked forward. 

The archer could care less about his sleazy compliment. She just wanted to see this.

"5"

"Hey, good luck, bud." Urginok finally broke his silence to call out encouragement.

"4"

"Aw, that's cute! He'll need it." Guile shouted back at Urginok. His voice pitched like he was talking to a toddler.

"3"

"I was talking to you, dickhead." Urginok smiled viciously at the oily moron.

"2"

Guile did a double-take, shocked that someone had the guts to say that to him. "What did you-"

"1"

 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: 

Here we are at another cliff-hanger. Anyone placing bets as to who wins this fight?

Find me on P.atreon @Zelthias_FWto read ahead~