Polite Denial

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Meliadol didn't know what he expected to see when he finally reached the edge of the cliff, but it came as no surprise that Heoh was nowhere to be seen. The only thing that stared back at him was the jagged spires of the City of Lost Hope and the wind torn land of Styxx.

Like a storm, she had come and left, leaving the carnage behind to tell of her passing.

His mind swam with what he had seen in the fight. Ghosts were able to teleport to their weapons? Or was that a trait of her legacy armament? He had a cursory understanding of the events, but it was so fast that he couldn't be sure.

Meliadol wondered what Bast would say if he told him about what happened? The knowledgeable berserker would no doubt be able to provide a deeper insight on the entire encounter.

"So, care to answer quick question?"

He could feel the accusation in the tone of voice, and Meliadol turned around to see the Knight pointing his sword in his direction. The man's eyes burned, the shame of defeat evident in how he held himself.

"Sure, what's up?" Meliadol responded in a cheery tone. He was too low of a level for this guy to PvP, so he had nothing to fear.

"Why the fuck did you low-shield that piece of shit?"

This was a new term for Meliadol. "I have no idea what that is." he responded truthfully.

"Geedee, look at his level. He's a noob." The Weaponmaster put a hand on the Knight's shoulder and gave Meliadol an apologetic smile, as if embarrassed, "It was probably just an accident, right?"

Meliadol was getting tired of being called a noob, but he did his best to not let it show. "I was just in the area and wanted to watch a PvP fight."

"Do you think we're dumb? We saw the position you two where in when we came in through the portal. You seem really 'close' to her."

"Don't be an idiot." Another voice chimed in. The resurrection point was nearby and the newly returned Wizard had obviously heard the tail-end of the conversation, "He clearly ran into her coming out of the portal and she used him to low-shield."

Meliadol was thankful for the intervention. The Knight was angry to the point of being awkward, and from the way the other two respectfully listened to the Wizard's words, it was obvious he was the leader of the trio.

The Wizard joined his two party members before continuing, "Still," he said, crossing his arms and looking at Meliadol, "I am curious as to what a new player is doing in Styxx?"

"I'm grinding down at the boneyard."

At his answer, the Wizard's eyebrow rose sharply, "Oh? Is that so? Are you doing it solo? You do know that there's other zones that are much easier, right?"

Meliadol shrugged, " Yes, solo. I enjoy the challenge. I've been here since level one."

The Wizard seemed to consider Meliadol's words. His eyes glowed blue. "Guildless, huh?" he said, half to himself, before stepping up to offer his hand to Meliadol, "Name's Gryffyn, co-guildmaster of <Fidelis>."

A stunned Meliadol accepted the handshake. Gryffyn looked pointedly to his partners, who quickly understood the unspoken instruction. They each stepped up.

"Hello, I'm Sinsara. Pleased to meet you."

"Geedee."

"I'm Meliadol."

Gryffyn smiled, "I know its old fashioned, since we can find each other's names out through the UI, but I've always considered formal introductions to be a mark of sophistication," He paused a moment to let his words sink in, before giving Meliadol a significant look, as if bestowing upon him a great favor, "Have you considered joining a guild? <Fidelis> would be happy to accept you as a member."

Truthfully, Meliadol hadn't even bothered to learn their names, being more interested in the fight and the classes involved. He had the suspicion that the three wouldn't appreciate hearing that. Immediately his mind drifted back to Bast's guild. Despite his expressed disinterest in joining <Pandora Epidemic>, he still felt a loyalty to them.

Even considering Gryffyn's offer made him feel uncomfortable.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Geedee saved Meliadol the problem of turning Gryffyn's offer down, the heavily armored knight stepping forward in his protest. "I'm telling you, he was helping that thief!"

"Wait just a second," While he was grateful for the distraction, so he wouldn't have to reject the Wizard's offer, the Knight's stubbornness was starting to grate on Meliadol, "If you're going to blame me for shit, at least explained what I did? What the hell is low-shielding anyway?"

"Geedee…" Gryffyn's warning was palpable, and the Knight immediately backed down in the face of it. With a satisfied grunt, the Wizard turned back to Meliadol, "Sorry about that. He's excitable. Anyway, back to your question…I guess you wouldn't know what low-shielding is." Gryffyn paused, putting his thoughts together before continuing, "Ah, fuck it, let me just show you."

Without warning the Wizard stuck, his staff whipping around to hit Meliadol squarely in the face…

…or at least it should have hit him. Some invisible force stopped it, a hair's breadth from impact.

In a fraction of a second, he was suddenly staring, focusing, at the close wooden designs of a staff.

Meliadol couldn't help but to take a step back, surprised by the sudden attack. Oh right, PvP immunity until level twenty. That single step, nothing more than a natural reaction, made his face burn as he remembered the simple fact that he was a lowbie.

That was what stopped the Wizard's strike.

"As you see, your presence serves as a natural block to PvP attacks. By simply standing around, you can affect a PvP battlefield. Doing so is known as 'low-shielding'. It used to be a rather unsavory tactic used by PvP guilds in group fights. Bring a bunch of lowbies and tell them to get in the way of their enemies."

"What did I low-shield exactly?" This was all very interesting, but it still didn't answer his main question.

"Earlier, when I was AOEing with Winter's Flow, it was to do two things. There was the offhand chance that I catch her and root her to the ground, but the main purpose was to destroy any traps she had set on the battlefield prior. And it should have worked. She didn't place any afterwards, yet she used Possession to move Sinsara onto a Electric Needle Trap…which just so happened to be placed right where you had been sitting for most of the fight…."

Meliadol's mind flickered back to when Heoh had toppled over on him. Those emerald eyes staring at him. Had she placed it then? She must have. Heoh had used his immunity protect her trap! It was unbelievable she had thought ahead that much. The simple action bespoke of a person with a ruthless meticulousness that Meliadol begrudgingly had to respect.

Don't move.

To think those simple words had such far-reaching results.

Meliadol began to apologize, because he had truly not known Heoh's intentions, but Gryffyn waved it all away. "It's no matter," he said with a laugh, "No sense in getting mad in PvP. You win some, you lose some. Nevergarden is a huge place, there's players better than you around every corner." But then the Wizard's eyes hardened, "But we'll run into her again. She'll pay for stealing from our members."

In that moment, despite the show Heoh had given, Meliadol believed Gryffyn's words.

The Wizard shrugged, as if to say it was all in the past. "Let's rewind a moment. What do you say about joining <Fidelis>? Like I said, we'd be glad to show you how amazing this game is. We're very new player friendly!"

Meliadol glanced to the side, unable to meet the man's eyes, "Um, about that. Don't take this the wrong way…"

"Say no more." Gryffyn saw the obvious response in Meliadol's actions and saved him the guilt of actually saying it.

Meliadol did feel bad for aiding in the PvP loss, even if unwittingly, but he felt there was also a certain danger in getting involved with guilds. It was like a whirlpool; get too close and he'd be swept up by the current. He was too busy with the game itself to become involved with the social game as well.

The Wizard's eyes flickered blue.

Player Gryffyn wants to be your friend.

Accept Decline

"In case you change your mind!" Gryffyn responded when Meliadol looked up at him in surprise.

Really, what could one say to refute such a simple request? Wordlessly he accepted it. Never hurt to know more people, even if he had no intention of taking them up on their offer. Plus it gave him a perverse sense of satisfaction at seeing Geedee squirm in anger.

[01:29:55]Bast to you: event dungeon?

He must have missed the berserker logging on, but he immediately responded back.

[01:29:59]You to Bast: Sure!

Elation flooded through him. He hadn't seen Bast in a while, and he was looking forward to another try at the Halloween event dungeon. Not to mention he had now looked at the event dungeon chip rewards, and for a lowbie like him they were pretty good. He wanted to buy a few Experience Potions to speed up his leveling, and maybe a few pieces of beginner gear that were obvious upgrades to the armor he was currently using.

"Anyway, we'll let you be." The Wizard's voice jolted him back to the present, causing Meliadol to burn with embarrassment.

He was being rude by just zoning out.

"Ah, sorry about that. Got messaged by a friend to do the event dungeon." He felt as if he should explain himself.

"Not a big deal. We gotta go ourselves. I doubt she stayed around, but we should probably still search to see if we might get a round two."

"Okay…if you're sure. Good luck!" Meliadol waved goodbye before turning to enter the portal. He was torn between the eagerness to find Bast and start the dungeon, and trying to maintain a semblance of dignity as he felt the stares of three pairs of eyes on his back.

It wasn't until he had entered the portal and landed (stumbled) on the grassy fields of Nevergarden's Arendall Outskirts that he let the grin show on his face. His thoughts played through the PvP fight he had witnessed and he had to resist to urge to skip. This was a real encounter in this game; not a duel, not a prearranged fight, but instead a scrap between people who desperately wanted to win.

It was dynamic, brutal, and unfair.

He couldn't wait to get involved.

Meliadol's mind was filled with thoughts, possibilities, of things far into the future. Of how he'd make a name for himself, and how he too would be able to take entire groups with confidence, just like Heoh had done. He wanted to be the one to make people look at him in awe.

But to do all of that, he needed to get past the trials of today.

Meliadol pulled up his HUD and quickly shot Bast another message.

[01:31:21]You to Bast: What can you tell me about Ghosts?

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