Chương 83: Chapter 81 - Interlude 7.2

2 She sat in her perfectly maintained and orderly room, and looked out the pristine window, while calmly petting her cat, who was lazily laying in her lap, over her high-quality clothing. Releasing a sigh, she thought back to the game and the adventures she had. It was so much fun! She could do whatever she wanted! She could wear heavy armor that concealed all of her instead of delicate ruffles and satin dresses that accentuated her figure.

She could say whatever she wanted, at any time, instead of watching her words and speaking softly in fear of offending someone's delicate sensibilities. It was heaven, compared to the gilded cage she was surrounded by. She was about to turn her focus back to the outside world that was so close, yet so far away, when she heard a delicate knock on the door. Releasing another sigh, she called out softly.

"Yes?" The door didn't open, but she could still hear clearly the person on the other side. Once again proving that privacy, at least for her, in this house was only an illusion.

"Young Miss, it is time for supper."

"I shall be right there," she answered, and reluctantly put the dozing cat on the windowsill and stood up. She spent a few seconds making sure that her dress was without wrinkles, not wanting another lecture, and with purposeful, but still delicate, steps headed for the door. Opening the door, she was met by a stone-faced maid in a picture-perfect uniform. Neither of them said anything, but as soon as she began walking, the maid fell into steps behind her, escorting her to the dining room.

After a few minutes of the silent journey, they arrived before a door, partially open from where the extremely delicious smells of the supper were wafting toward her. A lot could be said about her family, particularly about her father, but that he neglected to feed them was not something that could be mentioned.

Ignoring the servants arrayed around the room, silently staring at them, she entered the room to behold the table, thankfully not a monstrosity straight out of a fantasy novel, but she knew it cost at least as much as some people's entire yearly salary.

'Not that it matters to us…' she thought bitterly. At the table sat her father and older brother. Her father, naturally, sat at the head of the table, dressed in comfortable, yet high-quality clothing, while her brother was wearing simple jeans and a shirt, along with a necklace that she made when she was small. The sight of that necklace almost brought a smile to her face, but she smothered it. After all, a lady didn't show her emotions.

'Not even to family…'

"Daughter," her father greeted her with a small incline of his head. Her brother, however, just gave her a closed-mouth smile.

"Father. Brother," she responded softly, then as elegantly as possible took her seat. Soon, they were served all manner of scrumptious dishes and for a while, nothing else could be heard but the clinking of dinnerware and utensils and the occasional quiet request for a refill. Finally, they reached the part of the meal where all of them slowed down, ready to savor the final bites of the dinner. It was heartwarming for her to see despite being so different, all of them liked a good meal.

She wished they would be able to enjoy them without all this pomp and circumstances, but alas, that was not her fate… At least, back in the game, she could eat with her friends, and none of them cared if she ate with manners or not. Though Lucy was a little cross with her after she had done that thing with noodles, but bleh, she always wanted to try it. It was not as good as they said it was.

"Katherine," her father spoke up, and she looked at him with her best poker face.

"Yes, father?"

"How goes your progress in Magic Unbound?" Katie had to blink several times after hearing that particular question. She didn't know her father even knew what games were. Why would he be interested in her progress?

"Why, father?" Her father's head tilted ever so slightly to the side and his eyes jumped to her brother then back at her.

"Your brother already founded a guild and they are becoming one of the major guilds around Deepanchor." It took her a moment to place the city – a coastal one mainly focused on trading, fishing, and privateering – then answered.

"I'm in Ironwood City currently. Why?" The older man carefully placed his fork down next to his plate, then refocused on her.

"This game is different, Katherine. According to my own research and the research my team did, this will change the world. Those who do not join soon enough will be left behind. I'm not going to let my family fall behind. Understood?"

"Yes, father," she responded. Sam spoke about those things, but she only listened with half an ear. After all, she only played the game to get away from real life. It was rather depressing that real life would follow her there, too. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Good," he said, then when he spoke next, the words were directed at both of them.

"Katherine, I want you to join your brother, and help him with the guild. What was the name?"

"Steel Lion, father," came the calm reply from her brother.

"Good name," he nodded, then turned once again toward Katie.

"I want you to join Steel Lions and help him lead it. Our company will support you financially and in any other way you need." She blinked a few times, then opened her mouth only to close it. Her father, naturally, noticed it.

"What is it? Is there anything preventing you from joining?" The question came lightly, but she knew her father well enough to read between the lines and hear the implicit threat. Finally, she girded her loins and opened her mouth.

"I signed a contract with a company to be on their assault team." Instantly, her brother snorted and began coughing while her father's eyes grew to a rather comical size.

"What?" He closed the latest notebook that detailed his research into the magic of fire, and he couldn't help but be happy. It was a coincidence that he had met up with Sam, but he couldn't say he regretted it. His new secretive friend was a fountain of knowledge about Magic Unbound's magic system. Dan had to admit, before having a long talk about the particulars with Sam, he considered the game as any other game, but that talk opened his eyes.

He eyed his notebook, then with deliberate motions, he picked it up and put it into the small vault that was in every person's room at the university. Their security was guaranteed by the university itself and was there to protect their research and other notes. As of now, several people had managed to break them open, but none survived (metaphorically) the institute's retribution.

It also contained his research into the application of plasma, while nowadays he always made sure to place his research on magic in there, too. The more he talked with Sam, the more convinced he was that the guy just knew more than anyone else. This was supported by the dearth of information on the forums. As far as he could find, nobody was talking about the things Sam talked about. Though Dan was pretty sure that if somebody else figured it out, then they were keeping it to themselves.

He would have done the same. That was why he admired Sam. No doubt, the guy was keeping a ton of secrets, as people like him always did, but what he shared, he shared freely. After locking up his vault, he returned to his computer and checked his mail.

'Oh, my… That is a lot of invitations…' Apparently, everybody and their mother were starting a guild, and they wanted to recruit everybody from the university. He couldn't help but snort. As if he would give up his cushy contract with AFK. Just the base pay would guarantee, if he was smart with it, that as soon as he was finished with his dissertation, he would have enough to live on his own in relative comfort. Not to mention the bonuses and hazard pay… Hah! Hazard pay in a video game… how ludicrous!

That was his thought when he signed the contract, but now, after some time and seeing how the world reacted to the game, he felt that it was a rather smart choice. There were already horror stories of people on the forums, who found some kind of treasure, and their group or other groups simply hunted them down until they gave up said treasure. And during these hunts, those poor fools lost a lot of things.

It was similar to other games, but because of the rather widespread inclusion of RMT, those losses directly translated into monetary losses, especially for people who invested their money into buying better equipment, skill books, or even information. Dan couldn't help but pity them, while at the same time being happy in his own situation. He needed a reagent? He just had to go to the HQ warehouse, sign out the item, and that's it. Needed information?

He simply had to send a request to Lucy's secretary and an hour to a day later he had a dossier full of information in his room. It was glorious! Sadly, he couldn't exactly brag about it… Closing down the email client, he opened up the document, and with a deep sigh, returned to his dissertation. After seeing the flames dance on the palm of his hand, it was just not the same writing about the heat exchange ratios and magnetic containment fields… Being a healer was a curse. In any game. Being a good healer?

That was an even bigger curse. And being the best? It was positively the worst. Nobody wanted or liked playing healers, or at least the vast majority of people playing any game wanted to be on the front lines bashing away at monsters. Only a small percentage of the players played healers, and of those people, only a small percentage were happily playing it. Most only played it because their friends, groups, or guilds forced them. Sadly, Clarissa rather enjoyed playing a healer in any game.

And that started her interest in medicine, though after seeing how soul-crushing and demanding the job was, she kept her interest at a strict hobbyist level while pivoting to making money from games. After all, everybody needed healing. And while her parents were rather disappointed in her choices, they changed their tune rather fast when she showed them her first earnings. Less stress, less studying, and enough money to live comfortably. Hell, she made enough to help with her sister's university fees.

Then came Magic Unbound, touted to be a revolutionary game. At first, she just scoffed, as almost every new game started with that tagline, but in the end, her curiosity got the better of her. The absence of a strict class system worried her a little, as people could learn all the healing spells they needed, leaving her without a job, but when she actually began playing, her worry flew away rather fast.

The spells and skills were so complicated to control at a higher level that there was no chance of somebody learning DPS skills while also mastering healing skills. Then she met that asshole. He only used wind and shadow magic, and his admittedly adorable murder machine that some would call a wolf, but based on the talks he had with Dan and her about magic and mana control, she was pretty sure that Sam could have mastered healing just as easily.

It was rather shameful to listen to his lecture, then after they were finished for the day, return to her rented room in Ironwood (paid by the company) and practice what he had said. Her skills rose so fast that her mentor at the Healing Guild was amazed enough that it netted her a title. Which, according to the forums, were extremely rare, though rather useless in the grand scheme of things. Not hers. [Prodigious Healer: A healer is always ready to act and save lives. Decrease the cost of your healing spells by 5% and grants you the skill Hidden Reserve.] [Hidden Reserve: Level 0/100 (0%) (Active/Passive) This skill grants you a secondary mana reserve, which is always 50% of your maximum mana. It has the same mana regeneration rate as your own reserve, but you can actively channel mana into it to fill it up. Upon activation, the hidden reserve will continuously fill up your own, thus granting you extra mana to use.] It was, so to speak, overpowered.

And she only got it thanks to that idiot's lectures. She didn't like to get close to groups she worked with, as in most cases, they rather quickly threw her aside when they achieved what they set out to do. Even in this game, she suffered under this curse as several groups hired her, and when the time came to pay up, they simply either laughed into her face or attacked her. Naturally, she took the contracts to the Healer Guilds and requested arbitration.

Those poor fools would be paying for her equipment for a looong time. She put away her now-cleaned tools and headed to the door. The asshole called them for some kind of adventure, and she wanted to be there, as it was rather novel to be part of a team where her efforts were appreciated. Plus, spending time with Katie was always a joy. The girl may have been a bundle of madness, but she was nonetheless entertaining as hell.