Morningstar

It worked. The menu really worked. Morningstar wasn't sure what he'd expected, to be fair. But this at least proved that he was a player and not some sort of anomaly in the system. On the other hand, it meant that there was still a problem to be solved. His memories truly were gone. Bahr's question caught him off guard. He hadn't thought of a next step. It was a "choose your own adventure" book and he'd run out of choices. He lifted his mug to his mouth and took a sip. The coffee was hot. Satisfactory, he thought. "I guess you could message somebody," Morningstar said, "although

"I guess that's not very fun," Morningstar chuckled. "I don't come up here much but I admit it's very scenic. One day, when I'm like ninety years old, I'll buy a house on this floor." Judging by the owl's hoot, Snowball appeared to be a quick learner. Even after making a mistake, he was immediately giving it another shot. They made a good team, Rebekah and her familiar. "I agree," he told the woman, "It won't be long before he's battle-ready." He let out a gasp, noticing something from the corner of his eye. "Oh!" Hidden under the green leaves of a bush was a mid-sized log. It w

Nakata. Was it the boy's real name? Morningstar nodded, agreeing to call him Nakata. "Star works for me if Morningstar's too much of a mouthful." The explanation of the rumor was short and to the point. Both of the players seemed to know what they were talking about. He looked in the direction that Oji pointed to and when the man began to move, Morningstar followed. "I guess I've been interested from the beginning," he returned, swiping through his inventory to equip the gear that he needed. His blade appeared at his waist and a green cloak laid over his shoulders. "There's a bit of

The question dug into Morningstar like a hook. He had to give an answer; there was no way to back out of it. He paused for a moment to think. "Alright," he started "that sounds fair." He cleared his throat, picking out words that he thought fit his motivation. "A year ago today, my girlfriend died in that dungeon. I guess this is just my way of finding closure," he said. His amber eyes were set on Nari. "If we die it won't be worth it. Not really. And what I find worthwhile is objectively foolish. I won't blame you if you'd like to back out now." He half expected them to, honest

Bahr's confusion at the acronym "NPC" seemed reasonable. He'd learn soon enough, though. The man's description of his memories were morbid. Crawling, hissing. A void-like darkness. It was perplexing, to say the least. When the server finally joined them to take orders, Morningstar was astonished to hear Bahr order a drink without hesitation. Actually, it seemed like he had shocked himself. Morningstar nodded in reaction to Bahr's expression. "I'll have the same." Bahr's monologue continued. It only prompted more questions, however. He never started playing a game? He began in the cav

Morningstar spun around, surprised. Rebekah had been in his blind spot the entire time. "Oh, hey," he said, accepting the party request. "I'm doing well, thanks. I just had coffee with a friend but aside from that, it's been a slow day for me." He peered up at the owl, who'd flown up into the sky. Evidently, she'd picked a name. Star thought it was fitting, although he was a bit disappointed that she hadn't played into the role of Harry Potter and named it Hedwig. His hand touched his forehead, forming a visor to block out the sun. "Sure," he said in response to the girl's reque

A blue light overtook Morningstar as he teleported from one floor to another. The teleportation process was always mind-boggling. It was almost instantaneous, aside for the short seconds in-between places; a sort of limbo, you might say. His body deconstructed itself into pixels and when it reformed, he was in Urbus. Floor Two. It had been a while. He stepped off of the teleportation pad and into the town. A plan was something that Morningstar lacked. It wasn't unusual for him to wing it, though. He considered where he would start. A tavern, maybe? He had been told that The Rusty Dag

All of his questions were answered in an instant. From the sandstorm came three cloaked figures. Each of them carried a tall spear, similar in height to Grace's weapon. They were wooden, however, with metal tips at the end. A lot less flashy then the blonde girl's. "What brings you through our desert, travelers?" The man in the middle spoke. Zamek coughed. "Our business is our own." The man peered at Zamek through a thin slot in his hood. "Is that so? In that case, be wary of the sands here. They can be dangerous." He couldn't see it but he was sure that the man smirked whe

"Please, let me speak with the one in the front," Zamek said to Grace. Morningstar stopped and turned around, noticing that Katar had done the same. To prevent Zamek from overexerting himself, Morningstar came to him. "Are you okay?" He asked, worried that they'd have to rest so soon. "Yes, it's not about me. Have you noticed?" Immediately, Morningstar went on alert. He scanned their surroundings carefully, catching the glimpse of cloth dropping behind distant sand dunes. "Noticed what?" Simon asked, looking around. Katar must have seen the same thing as Morningst

A notification popped up in front of Morningstar. His rewards. He read them out to himself. A bunch of Col, some materials, and a rare trinket. It was nothing special but still, more than he had before. He turned to his group. "Is everyone okay?" On the surface, the party appeared unscathed. He looked at Katar. The man's brows furrowed and his lips formed a frown. He was frustrated with himself. Morningstar waved him over and then returned his attention to the group. "Let's keep going. Watch for more, though." Katar moved from the middle to the front, next to Star. "Everything o

The saltworm shot up from beneath them, spraying sand particles at the party. He heard Grace shout for Zamek and Simon to get back. Katar hesitated. He must have been surprised by the sight of the beast. Normally, Katar would have been the first to react, swinging his sword and cutting down the enemy. But he didn't. He stood there, eyes wide as he gazed up at the saltworm from below. Morningstar ripped his blade out of its sheath. A blinding golden glow came over the straight sword like a light in the dark. The hood of his green cloak fell down as he leaped towards the giant worm. As

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the sand shift to his right. It was distant but he knew it wasn't his imagination. He stopped in his tracks and raised his arm, telling his party to do the same. His grip tightened around the hilt of his sheathed straight sword. Something was moving beneath the sand. "What is it?" Katar called from the center of the group. "Shh," Morningstar hushed. He waited to withdraw his blade. Perhaps whatever it was would keep moving and leave them be. Suddenly, more sand moved in front of them. The creature that swam through the sand was serpent-l

At his waist sat his two-handed straight sword. After years, he still hadn't upgraded it. He told himself he wouldn't until he could craft one himself. Morningstar gazed out into the sandstorm. Katar stood next to him. In the back, Grace and Simon made sure Zamek was okay. The old man pulled his cloak over his head. "If you have cloaks, you all may want to do the same." They obliged, each of them pulling up the hoods of their cloaks and robes. Morningstar was the first to step out of the safezone. Katar and the others followed shortly after. The quest had begun. The wind whipped up a

Five miles into an unforgiving sandstorm. Joaquin had done this quest weeks before. Morningstar remembered his friend mentioning it but he had not asked about the contents. Through his almost constant coughing and wheezing, Zamek explained the situation. The dunes of the fifth floor were more dangerous than they could possibly know, Zamek told them. He believed they should give the desert more credit, for there were more than simple creatures living there. There were true monsters. Morningstar shifted his weight between his feet as they stood in front of Fortaleza's main gate. The wa

Morningstar counted the heads of the people in his group. One. Two. Three. Four, including himself. "Do you think this is enough?" he asked the one on the far left. Katar pulled his fiery hair back into a ponytail. He was dressed in a red robe that looked uncomfortable in the fifth floor's dry weather. If it was, the man made no indication of it. At his waist was a silver and gold, dragon-hilted katana. Kraki Gazan, he recalled. Beast of Flames. He looked over the group as well as if judging their capabilities. "Yeah, I don't see why not," Katar said. "The four of us should be a

Morningstar thanked the man before they teleported back to Scalabis. The city was quiet in the dead of night, as it should be. "I've got an inn booked. It was nice to meet you, Watson," Morningstar said. Watson smiled back. "And you, Morningstar. I'm sure we'll meet again sometime soon." With a wave, Watson walked away, leaving Morningstar alone with his thoughts. The Ghost of the Tablelands. He wondered if he'd really seen such a thing or if it was just his mind playing tricks on him. It'd been almost nine years but he still believed in it now as much as he had back then.

"I remember whipping out my sword and slicing at it but after I blinked, it was gone. I think I ran the entire way back to town," Morningstar chuckled. "So, the ghost is real?" Watson asked. "I mean, I think so. Not a single person I've told has ever believed me, though. What about you?" Morningstar handed his plate back to Watson, who was beginning to clean up. Watson hesitated. "I'm not sure. I've never really believed in the supernatural, myself." "Care to join me on a trip to the Tablelands?" "What, are you trying to give an old man a heart attack?" Watson laughed

"I told you that I went to the Tablelands, yeah? I went because I wanted to see the cliffs for myself. People in Urbus like to tell stories of the spirit that haunts the Tablelands; the ghost of the first player to die there. I wanted to confirm whether the stories were true or not. I guess it's kind of what got me into exploring in the first place." Morningstar took a bite of his fish before continuing, afraid of letting it go cold. "I went in the late afternoon and arrived at nightfall. I walked all the way across the Tablelands until I found the cliffs where the ghost was supposed

"Your turn," Watson began, "I'm sure you've got plenty of stories to share." Morningstar laughed. He wasn't sure it was possible to top the tale of the giant slayers; however, he was happy to give it a try. "Sure," he said, humoring the old man. "This was back when the game first started—within the first few months, anyway. I didn't know anyone yet, since I came into the game alone, and I spent most of my time doing quests. Well, one day, I decided to take a day off," he recalled the story vividly as if it had only just happened. "I can't remember what floor we were on but back

Time went on and the pair continued to chat until nightfall. The fire that Watson had started crackled in the moonlight. The fish was finally ready. Watson pulled it off of the flame and gently placed it on a cutting board. He tapped it with his glowing kitchen knife and the meat split into two portions. Morningstar withdrew the artisanal bread from his inventory and handed half to Watson. "So, what happened next?" Morningstar asked. Watson took the bread and put it on a plate. Then he began dishing up Morningstar's food. "Well, the giants found us, of course. Sam was so pissed that

Morningstar spun around, surprised that anyone was around. He hadn't noticed the old man when he'd jumped and he hadn't swum a far distance. "I am," he called back. "This is my last day on the islands so I wanted to make the best of it." "Truly, truly. We're in the same boat," the old man laughed. Due to his age, one could have mistaken him for an NPC. It was rare to see older players. The man was dressed comfortably in shades of brown with a straw hat to block out the sunlight. He wore glasses, strangely enough. Morningstar was of the belief that eyesight problems were fixed wi

Everything is different underwater. It's as if your senses are restrained; tethered by the ocean itself. You can't see or hear anything clearly. You relinquish your control to Neptune and in return are offered uncertainty—a mystifying coin flip between tranquility and dread. Luck was on Morningstar's side. Holding his breath, he floated for a bit less than a minute before rising to the surface. His head breached the glass-like plane that separated the two worlds of sea and land. His blonde hair looked brown when it was wet. He trod the water, admiring the serenity of his surroundings. The

Within a twenty-minute time frame, Morningstar had climbed back up the cliffside and said goodbye to Peaches. "I'm sure we'll meet again. Here," he said, handing the rabbit the last of the wildflowers he had collected. The animal took them willingly and hopped away, back through the bushes and into the quiet forest. Morningstar watched for a moment until he was sure that Peaches was gone. Then, he turned back to the sea. Previous tests had concluded that the currents below were safe for swimming. Taking a few steps back, he took a deep breath in. He stretched his back and legs and th

Alkor... Morningstar tried putting a face to the name but found that he was drawing a blank. Had he been the one fighting the blonde girl? He couldn't remember. "Fine, if you want me to put on my big girl pants, my answer is Jomei," he smirked, using the only name he could remember from previous conversations. "But you can't ask why." "I get it though," he looked back towards the dojo. "There are a lot of interesting people here. It'd be a lie if I said I wasn't curious about a few of them." That being said, he felt no urge to confront or talk to them. He was content where

Rebekah's call to train her owl was one that Morningstar had expected. He knew from the day she had tamed it that she would need to teach it how to assist her in combat. Since he was the one who joined her that day, it made sense that he'd tag along once more. Star had never been to the twenty-second floor. It never interested him, for some reason. Maybe it was because it felt like a place you went to retire; the most peaceful place in existence. Monsters were few and far between unless you included the deer. It just seemed... boring. He could not deny the beauty of it, however. Even