As Hera and Jason walked away from the tavern towards where they might find pigs, a very large man suddenly came running towards him. For a moment, Hera raised her sword out of fear.

I didn't know you could be attacked within the city's walls! Oh.. wait, that's just another player.

She realized, laughing nervously and lowering her sword. Now that the man was closer, she realized he was also a new player, judging by his armor and equipment. He introduced himself as Bubba'bob, a rather strange choice of a name. He was quite a large man, with a single, double wielding sword at his side.

He must be a swordmaster.

Hera realized. She smiled at him and his friendliness and answered his question.

"My name is Hera. And this is Jason, we're on a quest to collect piglet tusks and garlic in order to gain experience."

She explained, wondering why he was so interested in the two of them.

Jason was too busy imagining what the mines would be like, so the next thing he noticed was someone speak his name. He saw Hera looking at a new player, who had a two-handed sword as a weapon, and was a bit taller than Jason's character himself, and two others, seemingly rangers. He had no idea how these other guys got there, maybe they were Hera's friends.

"Uuuh... Yeah, I'm Jason, and this is Blitz, the Griff"
Jason said nodding towards the small creature at his right. The first thing Jason thought was that they didn't have any Swordmasters, the bigger guy definitely was a Swordmaster, nor rangers in their team. He wasn't sure about having two people of the same class though, specially when they were the same race as well, judging by their looks.
He wanted to talk to Hera, to see what she thought of it, but he didn't want to discuss the topic in front of the other strangers.

Hera noticed Jason shooting her an uncomfortable look, as if he wanted to speak to her in private. She inconspicuously pulled up her menu and selected private chat. Jason was the only person on her list to message, so it didn't take her long to find him and compose a message.

Is something wrong?

She pmed him, trying to maintain eye contact with the very tall man and his archer companions as she did so.

"Was there something you needed from us?"

Hera asked Bubba'bob in a kind but distant voice, straining her neck to keep looking directly at him. He was no doubt a Geaor, which would make an interesting third addition their team. They would only be missing a Xilite.

Seph in the black armour had heard both of their names, of the new people, as they were introduced and decided to be forward enough to introduce him and his brother. "Well, I'm Seph at least in the game-that is and this is my brother Tern." he said pointing to the guy in the orange armour on the other side of Bubba'bob who simply nodded as a reply.

Bubba'bob smiled as Jason and Hera introduced themselves as well as Jason introducing his fighting companion. They seemed about his level, about the same kind of personality as him-so it would seem like they could get along easily, and they knew about quests which was more then him or his companions did... It's got to be a faster way to get stronger in this game, then rapid fire knock out monsters and stay in the one level area for ages and ages....

"I think I might have a question to pose to you both, if you could give me a minute please to consult my friends here." Without waiting for a reply he got into a huddle with his ranger friends and explained what he wanted to do.

"I would like to join Hera and Jason as they seem like: knowledgeable, polite, players at the same level as us and so we can grow throughout the game and probably wrap it a lot faster then we could on our own. What do you guys think?"

Tern put his index finger on his chin and tapped it on his chin for a few moments and then shrugged and pointed it at Bubba as if to say: "Up to you dude."

Seph, didn't really have problems with it either, "The more the merrier and the bigger the audience for my jokes," he chuckled to Bubba as his reply."

The three of them turned back to Hera and Jason and Bubba smiled slightly as he posed the question: "We would like to join you-to complete this game. Is that ok with you?"

Jason saw that a private message arrived. How stupid of him, he could've thought about it himself.
He typed fast while paying some attention to what the other were saying.

"Do we need two rangers? I guess they can be good support as nearly all of us would be melee fighters otherwise, and we can't turn one back and take the other two. Should I invite them?"
Jason wasn't the sort who could say "no" straightforwardly in videogames, so either Hera says no to them, or they accept them.

"Yes, you are welcome in our team, we are aiming to be the best and recover all the Feathers of Ash. We need to be level 5 to be able to recover the first one."
Jason didn't really say these words, he heard himself say them. Oh well, it was done, he hoped Hera wouldn't be angry at him.

"Sorry, I don't know what that was."

Hera stifled a laugh as Jason blurted out his acceptance of the three newcomers. She didn't at all mind having some extra players around, but he seemed so concerned about it.

It's no problem. There's strength in numbers, after all.

"It's great to have you all with us."

Hera said with a polite smile as she pulled up her menu. She offered all three of them invitations to their team. Now they just needed some more girls on the team. Hera didn't mind playing with guys, she was used to the fact that most of the players in these games were male, but she wouldn't mind some female company.

"Shall we be on our way to collect the items for our quest then?"

Hera asked, already beginning to walk towards the pig pens in the distance.

"Sounds like a plan." Bubba'bob then followed Hera, towards where they would be helping towards completing the quest.

"So uh, can you share the quest Hera or Jason so that all of us can gain the rewards from it?" Seph asked the two of them, thinking it would be better for them if they can actually gain some of the stuff from its completion themselves.

Tern nodded in agreement with Seph's question that they needed some compensation with any quests that they might undertake.

"As long as you accept the invitation to our team, we share all of our quests, so as long as you complete the requirements for the quest with us you'll also get the rewards."

Hera explained as they arrived at the pig pens on the outskirts of the city. She opened the gate and proceeded through, stepping instantly into what she hoped was mud, but she knew better.

"Ick.."

She remarked, trying to step around what was most likely pig manure. She pulled out her long sword and focused her attention on a pig directly in front of her. Before she could get a chance to attack, though, the pig charged at her. It seemed to be unhappy that she had entered it's pen. An icon flashed in the corner of Hera's screen, reading "Evasion". She clicked on the icon and suddenly found herself very quickly side-stepping the pig. Her sword began to glow and she thrust down on the pig, draining its health completely. The pig collapsed, leaving a tusk, some hide, and some meat in its place.

"Huh, that must be one of my special attacks..."

Hera speculated.

A figure watched the group from a distance. looking in on them. I'll need to keep an eye on those. The figure then waved its hand, causing the data around it to corrupt and sputter. The hacker walked into the hole it created and closed the corruption behind it. The corruption opened back above the town, on top of the inn roof. The hacker scanned the crowds, looking for anyone else of promise...so many people wandering around...making friends, but so few were actually accomplishing what was needed. That wouldn't do at all. Who would rescue the goddess? Call her wonderful visage back to this squalid land...oh the Goddess....how the hacker so wished to lay his eyes upon her beauty again. Well...He'll just have to do something to motivate the players then. Just the thing...It was well within his power...but...would take alot of effort...He needed to prepare. He waed his hand calling more corruption and retreating into it, his mind working over time to get this to work.

Jason watch as Hera killed a pig with a big strike of her glowing sword.
It was probably a skill what she just used Jason thought.
A good team know the potential of every member, not just their own, and everyone should cover a different area of combat so the team is balanced and us generally good against everything.
Jason turned to the two rangers.
"I think you guys are too similar, both having the same stregths and weaknesses. I know you cant do anything about it anymore, but when taking gear or choosing new skills or whatever, try to focus on something different from the other. For example, one could be more of a sniper, who deals a lot of damage but shoots slower and needs more time to aim, while the other uses maybe traps and poison as well as a faster but weaker bow, i don't know. It's up to you after all."
He turned away from the twins and walked through the gate to where the pigs spawned. He sighed:
"Let's get this over with"