Chương 103: [The Group Chat]

The Discord channel felt dead. It had done for weeks now. Tony had jumped on a little earlier to see if anyone fancied a quick game but Chris and Jace were busy and the rest of the main group was in another world. When the three did get online, it was never for as long as any of them would have liked, which was weird because each of them ended up making excuses to leave earlier than they needed to. That had been happening more lately.

Tony made a brew and sat at the kitchen table with his phone face down in front of him. Lisa was out until three, something with her mum. The house was quiet, the kids either with his wife or out at their mates houses. He thought about how some weekends he'd end up on discord even when he wasn't really in the mood to play, a kind of routine check in. Now, he felt like he'd taken that for granted.

He'd been at work earlier today, the fact Luka wasn't there to have a laugh with as the hours passed was still as weird as it had been the first day without him. The company had already replaced him with someone else, a boring, stickler for rules who made the place more depressing than it had ever been. He missed his terrible jokes and the talks about stuff people had said in the chat over the weekend, or the lineup for the next music festival they planned on going to. He turned his phone over and checked it.

Nothing new. He was halfway through his brew when Phil's voice arrived. Hey man. Hope you and the family are doing ok. Not really got anything important for you to tell the group chat just thought you'd want to know Leo is going to make a move on Shai. The cat girl I told you about. I know you'll get a kick out of that. Don't put it in the chat but feel free to tell chris and jace. the festival i mentioned is happening in a few days, it looks like were entering some kind of tournement for trainees.

I'm obviously going to win it. Ronan, this half orc trainer we know, thinks I have the least chance out of the 4 of us at winning it. what a joke, am i right? anyway, thats everything for now. Cya man. Then it was gone. Tony sat with his brew and smiled. About bloody time. He thought about Leo. About the years of watching of him go from a lanky guy always laughing to an overweight shadow of his former self.

He still laughed in the chat, but it was often at himself, making jokes about his weight, or how stupid he was. Tony knew it was a form of self defence, if he made the joke it doesn't feel bad if someone laughed at it. The fact he was now in the form of his life and about to finally move past the shit that changed everything for him made Tony happy for him. He deserved to feel happy again. He thought about the cat girl joke the lads would make.

It was right there, ready, ten years in the making, and he couldn't use it. Man this sucks... He picked up his phone and opened the group chat. [Karen] Morning everyone. Quick question, this festival they've been invited to. Is it like a fair? Leo mentioned it but wasn't very specific [Jake] he's never specific about anything [Olly] true [Tony] Morning Karen. From what I've gathered it's more like a village celebration that runs over two days. Games, competitions, food.

They mentioned a tournament for the trainees [Claire] A tournament?! Is Phil entering? [Tony] Yeah, so are Leo, Luka and Sam. Parmo is in the archery [Claire] He better win [Olly] Sorry, but my dad's going to win [Jake] Yeah I doubt it [CJ] If Phil doesn't win he's never going to hear the end of it from the others [Denise] He does talk himself up a bit doesn't he [Claire] Yeah, he never shuts up. I hope he does well though [Neil] Brandon told me the trainers think he should win no problem.

I never knew he was so good at archery. I mean its a sport... [Jake] Dad mentioned the archery thing as well. Said hes miles better than everyone else [Tony] Yeah the archery is a foregone conclusion from everything I've heard. The tournament's more open [Chris] morning. just caught up on the chat. festival sounds mad. what's the prize Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. [Tony] No idea. It could be anything.

[Chris] They might be given land or something [Jace] Why would they need land. From the sounds of it theyre in the middle of nowhere other than that one village. [CJ] Imagine if the prize is like a baby dragon or something [Tony] I can't believe we're having this conversation... [Jace] Thats how I feel every time I open this chat [Craig C] Same mate. Every time [Karen] I just want Leo to be safe. I don't love the idea of him in a fighting tournament [Jake] He'll be fine Grandma.

He's different now to how he was when he was home. He's been training every day for weeks with that wolf guy. He's fine [Karen] I know that Jake I'm just saying [Olly] he hasn't lost a spar against anyone but the wolf dude. He sounds like hes in his element [Karen] That doesn't make me feel better Olly [Olly] it should though Tony smiled at that and scrolled up slightly.

Someone had posted earlier in the morning while he was gaming, a woman called Bev whose daughter had sent her first message home two days ago after finally getting her mana high enough. She'd copied out what her daughter had said word for word, the way people did when they were still getting used to the idea that this was real, and half the chat had reacted to it. A string of heart emojis from Denise. A thumbs up from Neil. The chat was good for that.

Made connections, helped the newer members get past thinking they were imagining things. He scrolled back to where he'd left off. [Dave M] genuine question and I mean no disrespect but why are only those five lads and some council people going to this festival. my sister is in that town too [Tony] Fair question Dave. From what I understand Stonehall is a few hundred people. They don't have capacity for the whole town.

The council are going as the official representatives of Monkhaven, the lads because of their relationship with the village guard who invited them [Dave M] right yeah that makes sense I suppose. just feels like they get everything [Jace] they've also been doing the most from what everyone's said [Jake] yeah. Imagine how lost they'd be otherwise [Dave M] yeah I know. not having a go just. miss my sister [Karen] I completely understand that feeling Dave [Tony] Totally get it Dave.

Hopefully once things are more established there'll be more opportunities for everyone [Dave M] yeah cheers Tony Tony put his phone down for a minute and finished his brew. The afternoon light had shifted while he was reading, the kitchen a few degrees warmer. Outside he could hear someone mowing a lawn two gardens over, the steady back and forth of it. It should have felt normal but the mundane nature of the sound only made the situation he was dealing with that much stranger. He picked the phone back up.

[Olly] can someone explain to me why there are beast people. like with tails and ears and wings and stuff. because every time I think about it, all i can think is it makes no sense. Like biologically. [Jake] we've been over this [Olly] I know but still [Chris] evolution went different ways on different worlds mate. perfectly logical [CJ] is it though [Chris] well no but what else have you got [Craig C] the wings one gets me.

structurally how does that work [Chris] magic probably [Craig C] yeah but like [Chris] magic [Craig C]... fair [Tony] There must be a reason. Probably the same reason they have orcs, elves, dwarves and dragons. No one else think its weird that the exact same races we have in games are real over there? [Sue] Sam said there are a lot of things we have in fantasy that are real over there. They think there may have been a connection in the past.

That could explain why we have stories about them that were passed down and science made us think they can't possibly be real, so they became myth and fairytales. [Ste] Trust Sam to come up with something like that. Seems plausible though. [Claire] Phil just said "they're normal, you get used to it" which is the least helpful thing I've ever heard [Jace] that's sounds like Phil [Chris] Yeah...

xD He was still smiling when Lisa came through the front door, bags rustling, calling his name before she'd even got her coat off. He called back from the kitchen. She appeared in the doorway a minute later, looked at him, looked at the phone.

"Good news?" she said.

"Just the chat," he said.

"And something Phil told me." She put the bags down and leaned against the counter.

"What did Phil say?"

"Leo might have met someone." He set the phone down.

"I'll tell you more in a minute. Put the kettle on." He messaged Chris and Jace in their private chat just after four. [Tony] Phil gave me an update earlier. Leo's going for it with Shai [Chris] Really? Well good on him [Tony] Yeah. I didn't think he'd have it in him [Jace] wait who's Shai [Tony] the cat girl guard captain they met. Apparently it's obvious they both like each other. Chris and Jace are typing... [Chris] Man I bet the others have had his life over the whole cat girl thing.

Phil has no doubt made some shitty joke about his body pillow coming to life or something [Tony] It's like that old movie, Weird Science, but the anime edition xD [Jace] oh my god [Jace] After all that shit about the cat girl thing being a meme [Tony] Yeah, clearly he was full of crap lmao [Chris] So like, if they ended up having kids would they have normal ears or cat ears? or both? like one of those shitty ai pictures you see online [Tony]... [Jace]... [Tony] Dude.

Sounds a bit like you know more about cat girls than you let on [Chris] Don't give me that shit. You must have seen them [Chris] And to be fair, theyre just normal women with cat ears and a tail, usually hot too [Chris] I'm not a fucking furry so don't say it [Tony] yeah, sure man... [Tony] It's killing me I can't take the piss. Lets hope their chat thing levels up or something. Being able to talk to them about all of this would be pretty surreal [Jace] Yeah man [Chris] I know. I kinda wish I was with them.

I want magic and a cool sword. Being stuck at work while theyre off rizzing up cat girls and fighting in tournaments fucking sucks dude [Jace] Yeah, you're not wrong He put his phone down on the kitchen table and looked out of the window at the ordinary Saturday street, a kid on a bike, someone reversing out of a drive, the neighbour's cat sitting on a wall doing nothing in particular. Somewhere impossibly far away his friends were getting ready for a festival.

He picked his phone back up and went back to the group chat.