Ignis' First Firesday of Harvestfall, 1442, alleyways, city of Luminara.

Elyssia materialised in the game. The lively sounds of the market plaza—hawkers calling out their wares, coins clinking, and people chatting—brought her back to reality, reminding her of where she had logged out yesterday. She looked down the street, towards the source of the noise. But her mind was elsewhere, far beyond the walls surrounding her.

She glanced down at her avatar, still dressed in her adventuring gear: a white tunic, simple linen breeches, leather boots and gloves she had received at character creation—worn even now, ten levels later. It was serviceable clothing, meant for a life of adventure in this world.

I'll upgrade you all soon, don't you worry. You've served me well so far.

The memory of the attire she had worn all day clung to her mind, and she already missed the obvious femininity of her gendered clothing. Maybe once it was time to upgrade gear, she would look for something with a little flair? She could always register it to the visual armour system and override the appearance of whatever higher-level tanking gear would look like.

A flowery pattern on a martial art gi would not feel too out of place, right?

Thinking again of her employer, the green-haired sylvani let out a long exhale. She could still hardly believe her office had forced her to dress that way. For the few other cross-players, like that Elliot, caught in the glitch like her, it might have been too much, or even seen as a punishment. But for Elyssia? It had been a blessing in disguise.

A blessing, yes, but not a perfect one. She still had to pretend she was uncomfortable with it, swallowing her excitement every time she caught herself in the mirror. If anyone found out, she dreaded what would happen? Would she lose the little of acceptance she had earned? Or worse? The weight of her secret pressed down on her. She was terrified of the inevitable backlash if people learned she was transgender.

Focus, girl!

She took stock of her surroundings. Luminara—the game's central hub. The AI-driven characters found in the game would treat her as the Wind sylvani she appeared to be. Most players defaulted to using feminine pronouns and calling her by her name, unless told otherwise. She shook her head and slapped both cheeks lightly.

I'm online now. I don't have to worry about my VR job or shitty RL body. It's time to play.

In this world, nobody cared about what was in Elyssia's player's pants.

Yesterday, in this spot, Vaelith had made a stand and convinced Elyssia to let Kaelyn join their party. She glanced around. Only a little foot traffic passed by this place. A few passersby gave her polite nods as they made eye contact. Sometimes their gaze lingered on her pointed ears, eyes, or perhaps her freckles. Elyssia, however, did not pay them any mind; they were free to stare. She had more pressing concerns than the locals' opinions of her behavior or looks.

Elyssia turned around and headed towards the market, retracing her steps from yesterday, when she had dragged Vaelith away from that flirtatious blonde catgirl. She was still fuming at Kaelyn, even though she had no reasons to. Not until she saw her in person next.

As she made her way through the city, her mind drifted back to her afternoon at work. It had gone by quickly, despite how it had felt like it would never end. She had been looking forward to logging back in the game so much. Near the end of her shift, Soraya had messaged her with her contact information and character name: Kohana Icebreaker, a Kindred dracan from Frostspire, currently playing as a brute. Another tank class. One most players looked down on.

Just like how they disliked the martial artist's evasion based tanking, the community did not like the high-risk, high-reward play style of Kohana's class. The lower a brute's health was, the angrier they got. The angrier they got, the more damage they dealt to enemies, and the less damage they took from attacks. So, unlike other tanks who wanted to be topped up in health at all times, Brute lived and died by the skill of their healers; they had to master the art of balancing healing to match the amount of incoming damage. The more comfortable they got at it, the stronger the brute would become. This was one thing Elyssia disliked about the class—its performance depended on some other player more than your own.

Elyssia knew that keeping a brute in critical condition would make a veritable monster performance-wise. And she knew exactly the best ways to make it happen, too. Should she choose to play a healer or even co-tank alongside a brute, her support could amplify the other class's power, making their performance exceptional.

But her real problem with the class was not mechanical, but personal. The class was associated with big and virile, muscled, bare-chested warriors with huge weapons. She hated it as it reminded her of her parents and their CrossFit gym. And unfortunately brought to mind her body, which leaned toward that same muscular ideal, despite how little she did to maintain it.

But Soraya, like millions of others, had been afflicted by the glitch that had swapped everyone's VR body with their in-game avatar. No one knew when it would get patched. But thanks to it, Elyssia had seen what Kohana looked like. Kindred dracans were short, lithe and had no muscle definition to speak of. Kohana, in particular, had tiny arms and porcelain skin covered in shiny dark-blue dragon scales.

And she had picked the brute class. Imagining such a delicate-looking character wielding a giant two-handed weapon, getting angrier as she bled and tore through her foes, made Elyssia smile. It made her question her dislike of the class' aesthetics.

Yeah, I can totally see how the contrast works.

As she pictured the coworker covered in the blood of her enemies, Elyssia finally noticed the blinking icon in the corner of her vision. She leaned against a wall and mentally opened the notification.

"Kaelyn Moonshadow has formed the registered party «Golden Dawn». You are one of its founding members."

Beneath the message was a small interface showing the members of her group.

Kaelyn Moonshadow, Encantadora, Priest 9, Offline for fourteen hours.

Vaelith Dawnscale, Ícono, Mage 12, Online, Silvergale Strand. Partied.

Elyssia Windwhisper, Guardián, Martial Artist 12, Online, Luminara.

Leoric Stargazer, Galán, Ranger 14, Online, Silvergale Strand. Partied.

Vaelith is online already? That's unusual. Did something happen?

They both worked nine to five, but Vaelith usually stayed late or got pulled into parent or teacher meetings. She also had to drive back from work.

Even more surprising? She was level twelve already. Yesterday, she had only been level five.

Leoric and Vaelith are in the same zone? And they're partied up? Is Leoric helping her level up?

Elyssia opened the party chat. "Hey folks. Are you two in the same party?"

Leoric was the first to respond. "Hey, Elyssia! Yeah, we are. We were just chatting, actually."

"Good afternoon, Elyssia. How was your day?"

Just chatting? Then how did Vaelith gain all those levels? Solo?

"Eh? It was… Special. Had to meet with some folks from HR thanks to the glitch. Protocol, company policy and image, you know?"

Vaelith's reply came quickly. "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that… Believe me, I get it. I got hit by something similar."

Elyssia raised an eyebrow at Vaelith's answer. She did not work in VR, so the glitch would not affect her workday. Her school was prestigious and strict. Well-dressed staff, demanding standards. Vaelith would absolutely understand the pressure of appearances. Still, Elyssia let it go.

"Anyway, I see you caught up to my level. I was thinking of dashing to Frostspire to unlock some crafting professions before we ran dungeons. You two are okay levelling on your own? Maybe team up with and help our laggard priestess when she logs on? We should all hit 15 ASAP."

Leoric once again responded first. "Planning to grind mobs all the way there, then? But sure, if that's what you want. I can help Vaelith with quests and party duties."

Elyssia sent one last message before she started walking to the city's gates. "Thanks. Let's all gather back in Luminara once we're done. I won't be too long in the north."

In other games, Elyssia and Vaelith usually levelled together. She had to admit—she had been looking forward to it, actually. Holding her hands and teaming up was part and parcel of the experience of playing games with her. However, Elyssia also knew Vaelith actually preferred to immerse herself in the quests and lore. Leoric's play style might be a better fit for her. Maybe she could actually have some fun today?

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

So tonight... she's in his care. That's unexpected. But not unwelcome. I'm glad she found someone else she's comfortable gaming with.

Elyssia needed to catch up.

Level fifteen was the magic number—the gateway to instanced dungeons. There, the enemies would finally be a worthwhile workout. A party of four players was required to venture into those enclosed areas. Enemies within had their attributes enhanced appropriately. Unlike most enemies found in the open world, dungeon enemies were all considered Elite—stronger and harder to kill.

Fifteen was also the minimum requirement to unlock the class-change system. Not that she meant to change from martial artist to anything else. Well, yes, she meant to change someday, just not immediately. Once she reached level thirty, and the more advanced classes would get unlocked. But level fifteen was the level where you could unlock the crafting and gathering classes. She had already mapped out which class she would pick. Mining, because she would need metal. A lot of it.

Then, she would go for blacksmithing for her fist weapons and armourer to make protective armguards and shinguards. Finally, goldsmith for making everyone a full set of accessories. Even though jewellery only provided small bonus to attributes compared to other piece of equipment, the fact there were five inventory slots added up to impressive numbers. And unlike armour, which was often limited to specific character classes, she could outfit everyone in the party with an assortment of earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and rings. She could kit out the whole party.

By the time she reached the plaza, her eyes scanned not for people but for collision cubes and exit paths. Her focus was absolute: get out fast.

The smell of roasted meat drifted through the area, mingling with the chatter of merchants and players. For a moment, the scent almost pulled her out of her focused state—but she shook it off, her attention zeroing back in on her goal for the day. It could wait. Everything could wait, except the progression.

Questing was not her style, even if this game felt less scripted than others. Her mind flicked back to her starting city and recalled the letter given to her by her Bagsh, still in her pockets. Maybe she would visit this Mergen Raelan later. "Wise men", her memories translated. High praise, coming from her master. But not now.

She passed the gate guards, and they nodded at her as she made her way outside. Elyssia reviewed her current plan. She would do the level five and level ten party duties offered in the camp outside of the city. Group content, technically. But to her, they were warm-ups. Only someone like her would treat them that lightly. She would collect the first-time bonus for each of those battles and then move to the next camp.

She consulted her map, orienting herself in a straight line toward Tidebreaker Watch. None of the enemies in this entire zone would attack her unprovoked, but she kept her eyes out for them, as they made perfect targets for her dash ability. The near-teleport quality of that ability allowed her to travel even faster than simply relying on her sprint ability.

It took less than a minute for her to arrive in front of the dutywarden near the centre of the outpost.

The tall blonde homini standing in the crusader garb common all around Luminara seemed unperturbed at Elyssia's sudden arrival. He lowered his gaze to meet hers.

Elyssia grinned and waved. "Hey there, Warden!"

The crusader raised an eyebrow, more at her casual greeting than anything else. "Good afternoon, adventurer."

"I'd like to tackle whatever party duty you have available for me right now."

She knew the drill. Since this was her first time, she needed to complete every battle in order to unlock access to the next tier. This meant she had to clear the two level five duties before she could get to the level ten ones. Which also meant the system would restrict her abilities to those of a level six martial artist.

"Of course. At the moment, the outpost is looking for help to clear the beach of aggressive, invasive wild-life."

She gave him a thumbs up and was about to say something when a voice interrupted her from behind. "Dude, wait up. That's group content, you know?"

She turned. A trio approached: a red-scaled Kindred dracan guardian, a silver-and-blue-haired Wind sylvani priestess, and a Pint burrovian elementalist. The dracan was the one who had called out to her.

Elyssia shrugged. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

"You sure?"

Elyssia waved a hand dismissively. "Thanks for your concern, but I've got this." She turned to the dutywarden. "Let's get this started."

The Guardian was about to say something else, but the priestess put a hand on her arm and shook her head. "Let her be, Z."

The short bunny-man turned around and walked away. "Hey, good luck!"

Elyssia nodded at the bunny and shot the rest of the group a grin before speeding off toward the first pack of sea creatures which had spawned for her encounter. As she ran off, she heard the dracan grumble behind her. "What a waste of first-time bonuses."

Sorry, but I will not slow down so that you can leech off me, Red. A guardian? If I let you play with me, you'll rip aggro off me because that's all you're good for, and then I'll lose the most important source of my damage—the mobs focusing on me. The priestess is probably the type that conserves her mana to heal instead of dealing damage. The only one I could make use of is the elementalist, but I doubt they'd let me borrow him.

At level six, Elyssia had access to a full rotation. Elbow Strike to Palm Strike to Cannon Fist, and then it looped around. Each Cannon Fist not only dealt extreme damage, since it was the finisher attack of her combo, but it improved the critical chance of her next Elbow Strike by a significant amount.

The first pack had four enemies. Sea urchins, crabs, flying fish. Marine life that all fought outside of water, as if it was the most natural of things. Elyssia did not even stop to think about the absurdity for a single second. She saw sources of experience points, collision boxes, and attack patterns. It could be a spinning cube for all she cared.

And so the dance of death started. Elyssia focused on the limbs of all her opponents. Needles. Teeth. Pincers and claws. The attack patterns of her enemies would be obvious, which made her life easier. Like she had taught Leoric, the first rule was "Don't get hit." Dodging enemies at this level was easy. But the most important part of any battle with her class was to intercept every attack—a perfect parry, which required precise timing—and then follow-up with punishing counter-attacks. Her rotation was supplemental damage, not the focus.

Elyssia had already run the math. Her attack combo was powerful; that was true. Each of the hit packed a serious punch, and they chained off each other for a constant stream of damage. But counter-attacks were the force multiplier in her arsenal. Assuming sufficient player skill, it acted like an area-of-effect spell, in the sense it would do more damage the more enemies she fought at a time.

In a fight against four enemies, her attack combo would contribute around forty percent of her damage output. If she counter-attacked every attack from her enemies, her damage per second would do more than double.

And if she really wanted to push things to the next level? She could improve her kill speed by spreading her attacks around. If she focused her combo on a single target, she would down it too fast, and then would lose the free source of damage from countering its attacks.

She grinned wickedly at the sea creatures. She was toying with them. Most sane players would tell you "death is the ultimate debuff", and the number one rule for combat was to reduce the amount of enemies beating on the tank as soon as possible. Elyssia? She did everything she could to extend their life as long as possible.

… And despite her best efforts, they lasted a mere eight seconds.

She looked at the remains of the sea creatures. One of the crab had just taken a Palm Strike to the face, flying backwards, its shell breaking into fragments as it rolled on the ground. The others were flopping on the ground at her feet, gasping for air.

Battle breakdown? Five hits from her attack combo. Fifteen counter-attacks. Eight seconds. Damage taken? Zero.

The guardian she saw earlier would have needed roughly eighteen seconds to do the same, she roughly estimated as she sped towards the next pack of sea creatures.

There were five of them this time. You really think a single extra monster will make a difference? You should learn from your friend, sushi.

She dashed to the enemies and started her dance of death again. Once again, she counted every hit. Five hits from her attack combo. Twenty counter-attacks. Despite the extra monster? It was still over in eight seconds. Damage taken? Still zero.

She had a self-heal ability, but she almost pitied it.

I'm sorry, Mountain Breath, you're not seeing a lot of use yet, are you?

Finally, a massive shadow moved beneath the waves, and the giant crab lumbered onto the beach, claws raised and ready. The crab skittered and snipped its claws and pincers threateningly, but still seemed to regard the diminutive sylvani as a worthwhile adversary.

At least it's able to recognise when it meets its match.

Boss monsters have one big flaw: they fight alone. Since that was not an actual boss enemy with attack patterns, just a scaled-up version of the crab she had already fought, Elyssia knew exactly what to expect from it.

"Come on, crab stew. Let's get this over with."

Its attacks looked fiercer, and they had a lot more weight to them, but the animation and timing were exactly the same. So she knew exactly the tells. This was the word gamers used to indicate a movement boss creatures did which told you what the boss would do next. For example, a dragon inhaling a lot of air was usually a sign it would breathe next. If it raised its wing, it would likely hit you with a buffet of wind next.

She already had the timing down pat from the training on its smaller cousins. The biggest challenge was not to get bored or slip up before it went down. And even if things got ugly, she could always sprint away and use her self-heal until she was back in top shape, as unlikely as it sounded. Not against a level five giant crab.

"You have reached level thirteen for the martial artist class."

It took her thirty-six seconds to take the boss down. She counted eighteen counterattacks, and eight full rotations of her attack combo. Each attack had felt like hitting cement. The timing of her parries was simple, but the force of each intercepted blow reverberated through her limbs, a brutal reminder that a single mistake could mean shredded armour and bloodied limbs. Her mountain of hit points and paper-thin armour really only afforded her a small amount of leeway when fighting solo.

One down, three to go.

She still had three similar duties to clear in this zone. Then she could move to more dangerous pastures. She would head north soon. Once she would get to the wetlands, she planned to sprint through as fast as she could. But beyond them, the path to Frostspire was more than likely going to be full of higher-level enemies and challenges worth her while. And once she got all the way to that city, she could learn most of the profession she was aiming for. Plus, with luck, she might run into Kohana, a thought which made her smile.

As she walked back to claim her rewards and report her success, Elyssia thought about how terribly slow the crab battle had felt. Rapidly, she estimated a party of four regular adventurers like the ones she saw earlier would take approximately twenty-four seconds.

Comparing her performance to that number made her feel a little better. But when she imagined the speed of a well-oiled machine, a properly trained party? The boss would have been dead in twelve seconds, at most.

As strong as she was alone, part of her itched to see what she could do together with a strong team backing her up.

Will Vaelith, Leoric and Kaelyn reach that level of play?

Elyssia brushed the thought away, as it did not really matter. She had been a top raider before, and right now, she just wanted to have fun. Even though, for her, having fun usually meant breaking records… or pushing past them.

She was not setting out to break records. It just kept happening.

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