A Guild Pulled from Another World

In Decide when the player was not in game the avatars could be programmed to do any number of tasks including take missions and complete quests. Jessica and Kevin both programmed their avatars to do specific things throughout the day. Their guild was the number three guild in the game, a feat made even more impressive since their guild had the bare minimum human players of two. Everyone one else in the guild where their complexity programmed Avatars. Jessica as Lilitu walked over to the silver mirror in the corner of the room. She looked over her appearance and hair as the butterflies in her stomach settled. She was still nervous about talking to Kevin now that they were going to be alone.

She blew out a quick breath and patted her cheeks forgetting for a second that she would not be able to feel her hands due to the limitations of her SensoryMap. She took in a deep breath and with a thought her menus open floating in front of her. She looked through her contacts list to see if Kevin was already online. When she didn see his name she turned and walked out of her room into the hallway. To the right and left of her door were two NPC bodyguards saluted her as she walked out. Both were in full plate armor with the crest of the guild on their breastplates. Jessica paid them no mind as they followed behind her to her right and left.

The hall was not as lavishly designed as the room but still gave the impression of wealth. The guild hall could comfortably hold a guild of 250 members each having their own room. While not as extravagant as Lilitus room, the others could be used as homes for guild members that didn have the funds to purchase their own residents. Jessica and Kevins guild, AFKIRL, won the guild hall when they won the last Guild Battle which is a biannual tournament between guilds. The guild came with additional building on its large estate which offered even more housing and many luxuries not present in any other player home in the game.

Jessica still often got lost while walking the halls so she kept her map window open which floated in the air in front of her. One of the luxuries that this guild hall had was the presents of NPCs workers, maid and butlers which maintained the guild hall and the grounds of the estate. A unique aspect of this guild were the npc guards that would patrol the premises. Guild Halls are considered safe zones so there was no threat of being killed by other players normally. However during guild conflicts the safe zone is lifted and guilds can be sieged.

The guards that protected the guild acted as mobs to slow down the advancing attackers if AFKIRL was ever under attack. The guards outside were only around level 50 so they would not be a challenge for any appropriately leveled player. However the deeper they got into the main guild hall the tougher the NPCs would be. Those that guarded the treasury were level 120 although there were not many of them. The guards outside were all various toran races while those that were level 100 and above were celestial races. This was a major boost to the defense of the guild.

After a few minutes of walking around in what felt like circles Jessica turned to one of the blank walls and held out one of her hands. Teleportation was normally prohibited in safe zones however since Jessica was the Guild Master she could still use her teleportation skills.

”All things are mine to twist, bow to me o space and time, become my vessel, ” Jessica stated uninterestedly.

On her command a black smoke rose from the floor taking the shape of an open doorway. Purple energy sparked from the black void as it twisted reality to her will. The skill she used was [Lesser Teleport] which she leveled to the highest rank called Awakened. The ranks for skills starts at one, for the lowest rank, then counts up to 10 after which the skill mutates to its true form. A true skill rank goes E, D, C, B, A, S then Enlightened and finally Awakened which is the highest and most powerful rank.

In Deicide when a player levels a character they are awarded skill points. The skill points can be used to unlock countless abilities or strengthen unlocked abilities. Players can even craft totally new spells if they unlock and level the correct spell combination. Hundreds of combinations are known but due to the secretive nature of many of the top players keeping ones unique skills secret are paramount.

Jessica had seen the effect of the [Lesser Teleport] many times so she was not impressed by the skill in the least and instead was still worried about seeing Kevin. Her mind was working overtime to keep her composed for his arrival. Jessica stepped into the swirling mass of darkness and instantly was inside of the main hall of the guild building. Her two guards stepped through with her before the spell dissipated into the ether.

She checked her contact to see if Kevin had finally logged in which he had. Kevins avatar Harahel walked out of a golden doorway that appeared out of thin air and disappeared just as suddenly. When a player logged out their avatar never leaves the world. Instead they become NPC and will act out whatever commands they were programmed to do. Normally a player could have only four avatars but both Jessica and Kevin paid real world money to have two accounts and five avatars on each. Harahel was programmed to return to the Celestial Library in Enthroned. So anytime he logged in the majestic doorway to the library would appear and he would step out of it. Kevin thought it looked badass for an angel to literally bend reality with such a powerful skill every time he appeared.

”Kevin! ” Jessica yelled to get his attention as she walked closer to him. ”Hey there handsome looks like you maked out your sex appeal stats. ”

”There you are! ” Kevin said, turning around to see her. ”Sorry I am still loading in… I don have my setu… ”

Jessica hugged him as soon as she approached. She wanted to greet him with a kiss but Deicide does not allow for any potentially sexually explicit behavore. Hugs were seen as okay and were allowed by the game as long as both participants were over the age of eighteen. This was to prevent anyone from inappropriately touching a minor who were of course also playing the game. The Protection of Virtual Persons Rights Act laid strict guidelines to all Sensory Augmentation games to ensure safety for all players.

”Your sister? ” Kevin asked, knowing the answer. ”What did she say? ”

”She was just being nasty. ” Jessica responded with a sigh. ”I wish I could feel you right now. ”

”We don have much longer then we won have to worry about any of them. ” Kevin said in response. ”Your avatar is beautiful but nothing beats the real thing you know. ”

Jessica stepped back from Kevins embrace.

”Maybe I should have been Pneuma she would love to hear you call her beautiful, ” Jessica said.

”The vampire girl? Why… wait what did you write in her bio? ” Kevin questioned.

Jessica was a writer when she wasn playing Deicide. She always made sure that all of her characters in-game bios were filled out and made sense as to why they would join AFKIRL. The in-game feature to add bios were purely for roleplaying purposes so many players didn bother. Kevin filled out all of his character bios as well but only because Jessica was so adamant about it and wanted to help him come up with interesting backstories.

”I read it to you, remember? ” She asked disappointedly. ”She is in love with Harahel, but alas her love can never come to be because Harahel already belongs to Lilitu the Guild Master. ” She said in an exaggerated fashion while taking wide graceful steps and placing one hand over her face like a damsel in distress. ”How could she possibly hope to win the heart of Harahel when he already has a BAB. ”

”A… BAB? ” Kevin questioned.

”A Bad Ass Bitch, Honey, keep up. ” Jessica responded with a smirk, breaking character for a moment.

”Oh–yeah I should have known silly me. ” Kevin responded as he walked after her.

”So will you tell her she is beautiful too? ” Jessica asked instantly, getting back into character. ”Would it ease her maidenly heart or burden her with hope of something never meant t…? ”

Suddenly Jessica and Kevin fell down through the floor into what in the real world would be rock and dirt but in the virtual world was pitch darkness. Kevin could feel the air flow past him as they fell. He as Harahel push magic into his wing which opened and flapped to catch the air. A brilliant orange halo appeared behind his head as his wings electrified the air itself. However, he couldn stop his fall despite his wings or the special attribute of being an angel. Jessica cast flying spells, teleportation spells even telekinesis but none stopped or slowed their fall. They both tried to log out of the game but nothing would work. The only thing they could see was each other as the abyss took them.