In the chat with Ash, I type.
[Ravenweal]:I’m nervous
[Faustus]:He wouldn’t be doing this if you didn’t have serious chops. There’s nothing to worry about. I’ll be there with you.
[Faustus]:The fact that you got to where you are this quickly, without prior knowledge of the game or even of MMOs in general, is a huge feat. He knows you’re for real.
[Faustus]:Also if I could give you one of these gummies I absolutely would.
[Ravenweal]:You’re going to do a dungeon high? With Zoo?
[Faustus]:I’ve been playing high since I started taking them. I think it makes me better.
[Faustus]:Also, if anyone tries to tell you Zoo doesn’t do weed on the daily, that’s a fuckin lie.
[Faustus]:I know for a fact he does.
I do wish Ash could give me some of those gummies right now. My shirt is already sticking to my back with sweat. I’ve donethe Dream Vaults instance before, several times, and I know I’m good at it. I try to think of this like a track meet. Yes, this time the stakes are higher. But the motions are the same. The goal is the same. Do what you do. Perform your best.
Ash was right also. No one looked at me on Monday when I went back to school after the track meet. If anything, they ignored me. People are very good at ignoring pain.
[Ravenweal]:You good, Healz?
[Healzzzorz]:Yep good to go
I open another screen. It’s a map of the Sleeping City, complete with streets, parks, and neighborhood names. Zones, instances, and raids are all marked. So are important quest locations, although I don’t have too many of those markers now that I’m at the level cap. I navigate to the icon for Dream Vaults. A window comes up showing the instance name and description, level suggestion, and available quests. Two selections are available.
ENTER INSTANCE
and
ENTER TEAM
I select ENTER TEAM.
The game will have prompted my three teammates to enter the instance. I go to a loading screen, and when we’re all ready, our characters are teleported to the beginning of the instance.
Raven stands tall at the front. Her latest armor is lithe and deadly looking, small blades lining the outsides of her arms, up the fronts of her legs, and around the curve of her hips. Her weapon is still a giant war hammer, but the two halves of the hammerhead float, and in the center of them is a small purple flame, as if the hammer itself has an engine heart. The piece of equipment I need from Vaults is a small thing, a neckpiece that will crank my agility stat to the sky. Once I have that, I’ll be as well geared as any of the top DPS players.
