Collide Gamer

“I can’t believe it finally dropped!” John declared.

“Ya still on that?” Rave asked.

They had once again skipped school. After John had scored a perfect grade in every last one of his tests, he didn’t care much to attend. When he did, he just browsed through the books that were handed out, committed the entire thing to memory, and barely listened. That would be enough to get him through the year. For once he was thankful that his teachers didn’t care much about him. Ashcroft was a private college prep school and attendance wasn’t strictly mandatory. Because it was an investment to attend, teachers would still call parents if their children were absent for a while. That was, the teachers would call if they felt like it. John doubted anyone would really miss him.

The skipped morning went to grinding. The Tree of Life wasn’t that effective anymore. Seven kills were needed to get a single level-up. Still, because they didn’t need to slaughter Treants until it spawned and because they had become proficient at chopping down trees they repeated that particular boss fight ad nauseam.

Which finally had brought this item into John’s possession.

 “It isn’t even that useful,” Rave continued.

“Well, no, but it’s still worth money. Also, my inner completionist likes it to get every drop once.” John defended his glee. Making money had become a lot easier after he had figured out how easy it was to put items on the Abyss Auction. Much like money, he could, upon granting access, just have the items be pulled from his inventory. He couldn’t even begin to fathom the magical network that had to exist for the service to work through basically every device. Then again, he could hardly fathom the expanse of the electricity grid either. These systems, grown over generations, were just that impressive. “Besides that, now the only item I haven’t gotten yet is the Branch of Knowledge. I really want to know what that does. It must be pretty good to be Epic.”

“Nah, we all know Epic items always suck.” Rave said while rolling her eyes in ridicule.

“We also know that a higher level always equals a better person.” John teased the fact that he had reached a higher level than her.

“No, your powers are just pure BS. Ya have no chance at beating me.”

“Want to test that?” John dared, as they stepped into the Protected Space that served as Collide’s HQ. The old arcade stood in the untended green area, a half-forsaken lot that John was starting to look at rather fondly.

“Oh?” Rave stared at her boyfriend and he stared back. At this point, he was confident that he could at least put up a good fight, thanks to all the Skills he had gathered. “No using Aclysia though!”

“I have been informed that I am a crucial part of Master's battle strategy, Rave.” Aclysia chimed in. She had been following them at a step’s distance, ever diligent and proper. Rave had managed to get the ‘mistress’ out of her a couple of days ago.

“Yeah, she is my tank!” John protested.

 “She is a tank alright.” Rave stormed around on her heels and threw a punch at Aclysia. It hit the maidly woman straight in the chest. All Aclysia did was take a half step back to counteract the force of the impact. Rave, meanwhile, hissed, “Owww,” and waved her wrists around. “Seriously, what are you made of, pure metal?”

“Not pure metal, no,” Aclysia responded. Her sense of sarcasm was still rather low. That aside, Aclysia had double defences. When they entered a combat situation prepared, she could revert all the changes she had made to feel human to the touch and turn herself into a very aesthetic block of animated steel. This, combined with the Ironhide Attribute boosting her physical defense, made her practically impervious to any basic physical attack.

Between the three of them, at this moment, Aclysia was probably the strongest 1vs1 fighter, purely because of that defence. The Sword of Glory gave her some pretty good reach and what little damage she did take, she counteracted with her HP Regeneration. All of that said, they were still fighting enemies beneath their current level. John was not willing to test how steel held up against higher Abyssals. For all he knew, she would be ripped apart like paper.

“With my Aura I could take out one of ya guys.” Rave finished rubbing her fist. “But not both of you.”

“You actually think that you could knock out Aclysia?” John wondered out loud.

“Probably. I’d have to angle for a good dismemberment, but I think I could do it.” Rave then pointed at John. “Or I could just take you out. I could definitely run circles around Aclysia and then knock you down. Your defences are garbage.”

John wasn’t completely sure about that. He could probably defend against her with Gnome for a relatively long time, maybe even forever. It depended on whether Rave could tear down the earth walls faster than his mana regeneration replenished them. Still, he would have to find a better way to secure himself eventually.

“Well, without a healer around I’d rather not try anyway,” John said, “way too dangerous. Don’t want to hit you with Mana Ray.”

“And I don’t want to get hit by that.” Rave completely agreed. The Skill was bonkers. It ripped apart Treants in one go and left nothing but a crackling mess of wood. The range also increased by four metres per level. If he assumed that his skill went up to level 100 that meant that Mana Ray would hit a max range of 500 metres. A half kilometre, straight beam that travelled with impressive speed. He would need to find out how to get better eyes because with that kind of range and projectile, sniping was only a question of how well he could aim.

“I should probably invest in some new skillbooks.” He changed the topic.

“Like, what do you want?” Rave asked as they walked towards the door of the arcade.

“Probably should get the other basic elementals to increase my versatility a bit. Other than that, some defensive or mobility skills. I should get some items that properly increase my Mana Regen first though.”

“Why’s that? Can’t ya create something?” “Mhm, slight problems with that,” John answered as he set foot into the building. “Levelling Craft and Enchant is a bitch. It costs a bunch of MP and the rewards are not that great. I mean all my materials got used up making this one ring.”

“It’s not even that good and doing stuff without Ectoplasm just isn’t worth it.” He pulled back a chair and sat down on the conference table.

“And Ectoplasm farming would be super boring…” Rave lamented and planted her bubble butt on the table. John watched it go ‘squish’ on the hard surface.

“Yep. Maybe I should try getting the Achievement for Tier 0 Undead to see if the Spectre spawns instantly. I doubt it though, Ghosts are Tier 3.”

“How about ya work on overcoming that ‘Gap’ already?” She asked and playfully kicked the air. One leg up, the other down, back and forth like that. “We outlevel Treants so hard you could beat the boss on your own by now.”

“Mhm, yeah we could do that as well. Would need to level Create I.D. some more then.” John mumbled and looked around. “Where are the others by the way? Didn’t think Victoria’s appointment would take that long.” The Russian (yes, he had finally asked) sniper had excused herself for some ominous appointment and didn’t bother to tell anybody what exactly it was. Okay, she had no obligation to, Jimmie didn’t tell anybody what he was doing at the hospital either but at least he told them where he was. ‘There is a reason why her Charisma is so low.’ He thought and sighed. Victoria still denied joining his party but still tagged along because it was good money.

“Jimmie is probably down below and Baldy…well let’s make the test.” Rave breathed in and then shouted in the direction of the stairs, “WE HAVE YOUR MONEY, BALDY!”

There was some rummaging and then a loud curse. Rave giggled. John had the decency to laugh into his fist. A few minutes later Travolta came stomping down the stairs. “FOR FUCK’S SAKE RAVE!” He screamed angrily, “I almost dropped what I was working on.”

“What would that be?” John probed.

“None of your fucking business is what it is.” Travolta jabbed right back. “Now give me my fucking money.”

The transaction was made and Travolta grunted in satisfaction. “Good, fucking Bloodfallen are a major fucking annoyance.”

“Better with them though, right?” John asked.

“Yeah, still I dislike being at the beck and call of somebody. We also might be pulled into some of their shenanigans. We shouldn’t be, given we just pay protection money, but you never fucking know.“ Travolta counted the money bill by bill. “By the way, Regan and I were going to paint some miniatures on Friday. You want in?”

“What, really?!” John asked, while Rave groaned.

“Do you have to?” his girlfriend wanted to know. “Not even do the painting – sure, go ahead, I’ll just play around with Aclysia then. Do you enjoy Warhammer, Aclysia?”

“I have not yet engaged in the activity.”

“And already you’re more fun to be around than these nerds.”

“Shut the fuck up, Rave, you got about as much taste in entertainment as your old man does in interior decoration.”

“Says the guy living in a rundown, outdated building. Seriously, if it weren’t for the magic, this place could come down any sec-“

John almost dropped out of his chair when the entire building quaked. The sound of a nearby explosion followed half a second later. Wood and glass rattled, Travolta’s feet hit the pavement as he stormed towards the door. The trembles ebbed away. “”Jimmie!”” John and Rave realized simultaneously and ran at the open door. The guild leader was already turning a corner.