Elendril had fallen asleep.

The girls made him do all sorts of faces for several minutes.

Each time, they would take several screenshots from all angles.

It exhausted Elendril very quickly!

The girls sat on the other bed, scrolling through the many screenshots they had taken.

"Hey, Yang Mi. What do you think about this one for the happy emote?"

Yang Mi shook her head.

"No, no! This one looks so much better! It has a much more nicer tone to it."

"No! That one doesn't bring out his full potential!"

They began to argue again. 

After several hours, they finally managed to decide the emotes!

They laid back in happiness.

"Okay, this is a pretty good start for today, right?"

Yang Mi said.

"Yeah..."

Xinyan yawned.

"Let's log out for now."

They logged out. 

As the capsule opened, Xinyan checked the time. 

It was only 7:30 P.M.

However, they had spent nearly 9 hours inside the game!

This meant that time flowed twice as fast inside the game!

Xinyan was shocked.

"Ah! That felt so good! I'm going to shower, Xinyan~!"

Xinyan grabbed an apple and quickly hopped onto her computer.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

She went to the official Alkesia forum.

There were many posts asking for help, or spam accounts.

However, Xinyan ignored it and skipped straight to the popular posts. 

There, at the top, stood the most popular post!

It was an official announcement from the Alkesia development team:

Alkesia flowed at two times the speed of the real world! Not only that, but playing Alkesia also could be a substitute for sleep!

This meant that you could play all day and be perfectly fine.

This was very good news for Xinyan and Yang Mi, who made a living off of streaming and videos.

Next, Xinyan checked the Hall of Fame.

There, you could see the highest level players. 

Earlier, when she and Yang Mi had leveled up, they had received a system message asking if they wanted to be listed in the Hall of Fame.

Naturally, they pressed no!

Entering the Hall of Fame would create unnecessary trouble for them when they played in the beginning of the game. Even with the added bonus of having better reputation with NPCs, it wasn't worth becoming famous right away.

Also, they had shot up to level 5 before the first day even ended! 

At the very least, they would be constantly harassed by others!

As of now, the highest leveled players were only level 2. 

Xinyan scrolled through the forum for a little bit longer, then closed the computer.

Whirr!

Yang Mi walked out of the shower blowing her long hair. 

"Ahhh! That felt so good! I'll send the video to our editor and log in, you can go now."

-----(:)-----

Xinyan sighed in relief.

That shower felt so good!

She also managed to collect her thoughts.

She pumped her fist into the air.

There was no way she would blush at anything Elendril did now!

She glanced at the time again. It was almost 8:30 PM.

Two hours must have passed in Alkesia now!

She entered the game.

Opening her eyes, Yang Mi and Elendril were hunched over something on the other bed.

Xinyan walked over.

Yang Mi turned around and waved at her.

"Hey, Xinyan! Come over here, Elendril's showing me magic!"

Elendril was concentrating on molding a sword of dirt.

Poof!

When he saw Xinyan walk over, he immediately dispelled the magic.

He smiled.

"Now that the two of you are here, should I explain to you about the stat points?"

Xinyan sat on the bed.

"Yang Mi told me you have a general idea of stat points already, but not how many points you get per rank. At Rank F, you get two stat points per level. At Rank E, you get three stat points. At Rank D, you get four stat points per level, and so on. Also, at each increase in rank, we have a promotion mission. You get sent to another space, where you can do the promotion. If you can't complete the promotion, you have two more chances to complete it.Usually, the basic class categories are warrior, rogue, magician, and healer. The system only gives you the class you have an affinity for though, so don't worry about it being unsuitable for you."

Xinyan asked.

"Do you know how we should distribute the points, though?"

"Well, it usually depends on the class. What classes do the two of you have?"

"I'm a magician!"

Yang Mi said.

"I'm a swordsman."

Xinyan said.

Elendril sighed.

"Phew! That's good, then, because those are the only two classes I know. In the beginning, both classes focus on putting points into endurance and agility. I'd put one point into agility, and one point into endurance."

Xinyan thought this made a lot of sense. 

Doing damage was very good, but there was no point if you weren't alive!

"Ah, but what do I do with the extra stat point?"

Yang Mi asked.

Elendril nodded.

"If you're already Rank E, then it's okay to put it into your specialty, like intelligence or strength. You should also have the official class, instead of just novice something."

Xinyan felt this was very interesting! 

She quickly distributed her points. 

She put 4 into endurance, 4 into agility, and one into strength. 

She noticed something else in her status window.

"Hey, I have a new skill! It's [Whirlwind Slash]."

Xinyan said.

Skill: [Whirlwind Slash] (Lv. 1)

Deals 50 damage in a 1 yard radius. Movement Speed increased by 10% for 5 seconds. Cooldown: 45 seconds. 

"Ah, me too! I got [Flame Arrow]!"

Yang Mi said.

Skill: [Flame Arrow]

Deals 70 damage. Has a range of 30 yards. Cooldown: 50 seconds.

Sigh.

"If only I wasn't short a level, I'd have a skill too!"

Xinyan was confused.

"You don't have a skill?"

Elendril shook his head.

"Of course not! You only get a new skill every 5 levels! My father was planning to teach me a skill after I awakened, but I got chased out of town!"

"Chased out of town?"

"Yeah! I don't even know why! They kept calling me a heretic, even though I've lived in that town my entire life!"

Elendril shook his fist at an imaginary person, with flames in his eyes.

Xinyan tilted her head.

"So you don't have a skill right now?"

Elendril shook his head again.

"You can see yourself if you don't believe me."

He showed his status to them.

That was equal to all of her stats combined!

And what were those other stats!

She almost spit blood.

This was cheating!

How did an NPC have more than 4 times her stats, and still be lower leveled than her?

She suddenly thought of something and frowned.

"But wait, didn't you move super fast in the forest? How did you do that without a skill?"

Elendril beamed with pride.

"Actually, that's a movement technique my dad taught me. It's designed primarily for the forest, to let you stay quiet while moving quickly. It's a lot better than just running, too."

"Could you teach me the technique?"

Xinyan asked.

Elendril nodded.

"Of course! I was actually wondering how to repay you for saving me."

Xinyan could feel Yang Mi's gaze burning into the back of her head.

"Could you teach Yang Mi too?"

"Of course! It's not like it's a very valuable technique. Let's wait until tomorrow morning, and we can head out to practice!"

"Alright!"

-----(:)-----

They began to walk from the inn towards the city walls.

Xinyan and Yang Mi walked side by side Elendril.

Sylvanax had long gone to sleep and hid in his pouch.

Xinyan hovered near Elendril, practically touching him.

In her opinion, it was absolutely necessary if she needed to catch him if he stumbled. 

But why did people have to stare at them so much?

Which made her think, why did the NPCs have to be so realistic in Alkesia??

It was already bad enough for her to get glares and glances from players, but from NPCs too?!

This stupid boy! He still refuses to let me support him! What happens if he falls over and gets critically injured! He'll make my mission to protect him much harder! Though maybe, if I break a leg... he'll stay still?

She sighed.

Dealing with Elendril was so much of a hassle!

The moment she had logged into Alkesia this morning, he was already up and bouncing around the room!

He said he was perfectly fine, but he had already almost stumbled three times in the past five minutes! 

Still...

She snuck a glance at his face.

The immaculate cheek bones, the white skin...

Xinyan could feel her anger melting away.

She shook her head.

No! I have to stay angry! I can't forgive this idiot for being stupid!

As they approached the main street, she noticed that a large crowd began to form. 

Elendril led them to push through the crowd.

However, it was so thick that if it weren't for seeing Yang Mi's tag, she would've been lost!

She cursed the gods for not making her taller.

They finally managed to reach the front of the crowd. 

The main street and entrance to the town square was slowly being cleared out. 

From the direction of the gate, she noticed that applause and jangling were slowly getting louder.

Above her, Elendril's face lit up.

He turned around towards the two and spoke excitedly.

"Guys, look! The paladins of the church are coming through! They're the protectors of the land who deal with the monsters and disasters! Soon, when I rejoin my brother and father, I'll join them too!"

Xinyan could feel the admiration and eagerness practically dripping off of him.

She doubted the church was that good though.

Wasn't that always the commoner's opinion, then the church ends up being the annoying antagonist who never stops bothering you?

She turned her head towards the direction of the growing sound.

She would see for herself if they were really as virtuous as he said.

Clop! Clop!

Jangle! Jangle!

Many of the people were lined up along the road.

Many had reverent faces, many cheered for the incoming paladins, and some even kowtowed to them.

There were also many adventurers that lined the road. 

They all appeared very fierce, and many of them looked belligerent.

However, Xinyan noticed that when the knights neared, all but a few dropped to their knees, even the players!

The paladins moved closer to where they stood.

They rode magnificent war horses, white and black horses that were very tall and muscular.

Xinyan narrowed her eyes at them.

They were all taller than her!

They also wore gleaming golden armor, inlaid with intricate engravings.

Xinyan thought that they were a terrible eyesore.

Atop the gleaming horses sat, yet again, gleaming knights in armor. They wore fully plated armor that was primarily silver. Gold accents lined the armor edges, giving it an even more conspicuous appearance. Many carried a massive shield on their back and a golden hilted sword.

Xinyan noticed that the knight in front was a stunning woman.

She held her helmet in her hands. A massive great sword could be seen slung onto her back. Her flowing, golden hair that reached the waist, and the sparkling blue eyes drew everyone's attention towards her. Combined with her stunning figure, even Xinyan felt something stir within her heart.

Clop!

Thud! Thud!

Xinyan began to notice that even the people to her right were beginning to kneel down.

Almost like a wave, soon it reached her.

Clop!

Thud!

Xinyan felt a massive pressure on her!

She tried to resist, but the fear grew and grew inside of her!

She kneeled down.

Her face was very pale.

She realized that that aura exuding from the knights as they passed was extremely terrifying!

This must be the fear debuff from the higher ranked monsters and NPCs!

She observed the new status. It was a 80% debuff to all stats! So this was what the NPC meant when he said they didn't stand a chance in the wave! Even if the fear debuff was not as intense with lower ranking creatures and NPCs, it was still fatal for a low leveled person like her!

Suddenly, the clopping stopped.

Xinyan felt the pressure grow even greater!

If it was an a bed on top of her before, now it felt as if an entire house weighed down on her!

Sweat streamed down her face!

Thud! Thud!

She could even hear people collapsing onto the ground!

The pressure suddenly lightened to before.

She heard a captivating voice from ahead of her.

To Xinyan, it felt like a refreshing glass of cold water on a hot summer day!

"You, what is your name?"