Midna-Phobia

In-Game

Avery shook her head stubbornly at James and his group being loud so she pulled out a pair of headphones and slipped them on, turning the volume up loud enough to drown out their chitter chatter. Her pizza was eventually called and she quickly got up, thanking the man before she took her dinner and quickly made her way back towards her room. As she ate she logged onto her computer, checking up on some new Fairy Tale announcements.

She enjoyed reading through about quests she should consider trying. At the moment she had free time, it was in her nature to study things she was interested in because she liked to succeed. She pondered it for a moment before she decided to post a question, asking for advise on her new situation regarding Sif without using any names as well as giving the new mentor system a poor, strongly worded review.

In-Game

Avery walked into the on-campus café but paused when she saw who was there and found herself retreating a step just out of habit. She still wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but her and James had just never gotten along. He was just always so unnecessarily mean to her. In the end she decided that she’d just order something to go. Walking over she made her order and sat as close to the counter as possible, hoping to avoid and kind of confrontation or attention. Unlike in her online persona Avery was not a very confident person, if anything she was more like Sif than Belle.

But that was because she wasn’t powerful here, in Fairy Tale she could just beat the crap out of someone who made her mad and if they attacked back they couldn’t really hurt her. She wouldn’t feel pain and her bones wouldn’t break. Sometimes she wished she could just live in Fairy Tale. She wouldn’t even miss this world that much, not really. She wouldn’t miss the tests or the responsibilities. Most of the people she really considered her friends were online. She certainly wouldn’t miss certain people of this world.

In-Game

She turned to him, smiling gently though she was caught off guard by the sudden hug. It took her a few moments but she eventually reciprocated it. She watched him as he moved over to a bench before logging out, thinking it was a very odd way to do so. His avatar vanished and she let out a small sigh as she began making her way through the town. She had a bit of useless gear she wanted to sell off and was hoping to upgrade some of her existing, though due to the interruption she doubted she’d have the cash for it just yet.

Belle paused as she passed a general goods store, nibbling at her lip as her tail flicked back and forth as she pondered the purchase before eventually groaning and walking over. Once the item was in her inventory she immediately sent it over to Sif for retrieval once he logged back in. Maybe it’d keep him out of trouble if he came back whilst she was gone. Finding herself very short of the necessary funds she decided it was enough for today and logged out, removing the NervGear she placed it delicately on her bedside table before leaving her room. She was really in the mood for pizza.

In-Game

“Where ever you like.” She dismissed quickly. “When you log back in you’ll be in pretty much the same spot, so it doesn’t matter too much.” Now that they were back in the town she seemed somewhat distracted, mostly because she was. She had a few things she needed to finish up before she logged out and realised very quickly that this new development was going to affect her game play very significantly. The kid couldn’t take a hit without breaking down and that was just… really inconvenient for her. It made her glad she hadn't agreed to be his mentor.

She would have never been able to go on a quest again with him there. Well… she would, but he would slow her down and would probably die fairly early in. She was still sympathetic to him, as much as she was able. He did remind her of a younger sibling she needed to take care of but at the same time she didn’t come here to babysit kids. She came here to get away from the stresses of real life and it would be difficult to do that if she was constantly worrying about someone who really probably shouldn’t be playing this game. She had a lot of things to think over.

In-Game

Belle shrugged slightly. Sure, adding something like that… would maybe attract more characters, but at the same time she felt like it would be drawing a lot away from what was supposed to be the aim of the game. You weren’t supposed to get comfortable because at any time someone could come along and take over your land. Heck you couldn’t even buy houses in the game because of that factor. She figured if they wanted to attract people who wanted to play house they’d develop a separate game for it. Maybe they were. Or they’d open up a different server where the objectives were different.

But really she had no idea and this was why she wasn’t a game designer. Either way she didn’t want to disagree with him too much. “Just up ahead.” She did answer, there was a small hill in front of them and then the town would be visible. This was a really small part of the world after all, compared to the world as a whole. She’d never explored the whole thing yet, but she’d heard from people that it was massive and took a really long time to cross from one side to another using conventional travel.

In-Game

“Um…” She had to think about that one. “You can’t… have kids, if that’s what you’re asking, they didn’t put like a… mature rating on it I suppose? Since anyone any age could play this and they obviously didn’t want to open themselves up to lawsuits because… stuff.” Really she still had no idea how old this kid was and it was considered really rude to ask about people’s real lives so that wasn’t something she could do either. “You can get married, if you wanted, the only real perks you get from that though is a shared inventory.”

It wasn’t something a lot of people did, that she knew of, especially strangers. Maybe if a couple were really into gaming they might get married. “But you gotta remember this game is still centred around battle and quests and exploration and junk and while they did make an effort to give a very wide range of experiences and offer options other than those they’re still not the focus of the game. You’d be better off waiting for like a Sims to be released or something if you just wanted to play house.”

In-Game

Once Sif seemed to have calmed down a little Belle sighed deeply and slowly separated herself from him, once again offering a hand to help him to his feet. “I think we’ll call it quits for the day.” She eventually said, trying to be as delicate about it as possible. Who knew, maybe this was just a little kid playing; it could be scary for him. “We’ll head back into town, log out and think of a new plan next time you’re on okay?” She began leading him back towards the safe zone of the town. The girl was under the assumption he knew the conditions about logging out.

Whilst technically you could log out at any time unless you did so in a safe zone your avatar would remain where it was and would be vulnerable to attack. Only in the safe zones, which were usually towns and cities, where monsters couldn’t spawn, could you log out fully and your avatar remain safe. Belle figured that it’d probably be really sad for Sif if he logged in to a death notification and all his stuff was gone. As it was it was around dinner time for her anyway and she she was getting hungry.

In-Game

“Aww…” Belle couldn’t help herself. She’d never really seen someone react so badly to being attacked by an enemy. It was just a game after all and, whilst it was scary at first once most people realised nothing hurt that fear turned into a kind f adrenaline rush. “Come here.” She took hold of Sif and gently lowered him to the ground; sitting behind him she wrapped her arms around him and just held him gently, like someone would with their child or maybe younger sibling if something had happened to upset them. “It’s gonna be okay.” She assured him, taking a gentle tone in her voice.

Right now she was wondering if maybe this wasn’t the kind of game for him. It was pretty she could see where the concept of it would attract people who maybe weren’t usually gamers but if the basic level monsters scared him so much maybe this wasn’t the best idea for him, since fighting was a really integral part of the game. She wouldn’t tell him that right now though, maybe later once he’d calmed down a little. Right now the only important thing was to at least try and make sure he wouldn't be traumatised by this even later.

In-Game

Once again as Sif moved off to fight another wolf Belle drew her bow. The kid seemed jumpy enough as it was, she’d really hate it if he would die because he seemed like the kind of guy who’s confidence would be shot by that kind of thing. This was probably his first game of this kind, which was fair enough because other than some really lame little game the NervGear didn’t have anything even remotely close to this. She watched him again, it seemed like it was going to take a while for him to get the hang of this fighting thing.

He didn’t that aggressive nature in him from the looks of things. Sif’s cry of pain brought her out of her own thoughts and she quickly drew her bow and fired, the blow not only knocking the wolf off Sif but also killing it. Belle quickly jogged over to him and offered a hand to help him up. “Are you alright?” She asked worriedly. A quick check of his health bar showed he hadn't taken too much damage due to his gear. “Pina?” She asked regardless and the creature let out another soft cry before it flapped its wings in Sif’s direction, coating him in a blue, sparkly powder that vanished quickly enough but also restored his health. “Thank you.” Belle said, giving the dragon an affectionate scratch.

In-Game

When the boy looked at her with pleading eyes Belle only made a small gesture, encouraging him to go forward. “It can’t really hurt you.” She assured him, since a lot of new players often feared that being attacked would actually hurt, but the game had a pain absorber so even if he got an arm cut off in game he wouldn’t feel a thing. Even so she did draw out her bow once he’d turned away to make sure she could cover him in case it proved too much. Whilst his technique could certainly use some work he seemed to get a decent enough grasp on it.

She put her bow away once she was sure he was going to win. Once the wolf was defeated and he turned to her the girl gave him a reassuring smile as she walked over. “See? Easy. You did great.” She assured him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders and giving him a brief squeeze. “Here’s a little trick though, if you have the time, when you’re preparing to strike, hold your attack for just a moment.” She drew out her dagger to demonstrate, holding it neutrally at first but then moving into a motion where she could attack from but pausing once it was about to come forward.

“Then your weapon will glow a little and you’ll hear this small noise and then like a ting, and the tip of your weapon will gleam, you’ll feel it too, so eventually you can do it all by feel rather than waiting for the external indicators. Once that happens you can move into the attack and you’ll activate a ‘weapon’s skill’ which will make your attack stronger as well as auto locking on monsters.” She explained as she finished off her move. “Ready for another round?” She challenged, pointing over at another wolf.