Max Level Again

*clang*

*slash*

*slash*

*stab*

The bandit clashed swords with me but stood no chance. He went in for a heavy strike, but I easily moved out of range of his attack. I guess he expected it to hit because he didn't immediately follow up with another attack; I rushed in and stabbed him with my sword. The bandit vanished away, and I had completed another encampment. For the last eight or so hours, I have been going from place to place killing camps full of goblins, orcs, bandits, etc. This was all so I could finally get enough XP to reach level 150. I received the XP bonus for finishing the camp and it gave me just enough to level up. I opened my menu, went to the level section and clicked the button to level up, then clicked the confirm button. The button that let me level up previously was now greyed out, and I was once again at the max level. Yeah, I know spending a whole day doing busy work to get enough XP for a single level sounds like a waste, and you're pretty much right; the stat bonuses aren't anything to write home about, but the main bonus I get is the bragging rights.

[MikeFight – Has Invited You to Join Them]

Oh, Mike's online. Just how long has he been online? Playing with someone else probably would have made this whole XP grind a lot less boring.

I clicked accept and started teleporting to where he was. Everything went black, and when the teleporting finished, I found myself back in the Longevity guild, in Mike's big guild master room. I looked around and saw Mike sitting down on one of the couches in the room. I walked over and gave a greeting.

"Yo, what's up?"

"Hey Josh, how's it go- wait, did you already reach the max level?"

"Yeah, sometimes it's tough being so good."

"pfft… Yeah, I only got to 137"

"So what'd you invite me for?"

"Oh, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"You know, if you just wanted to talk you could have just called."

"I know, but I feel like talking in VR makes it feel a bit more personal than over a phone call. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about two big things; first, I want to be the first guild to complete the upcoming demon lord castle raid."

"Wait, why do you want to be first? We can just do it later on when the guides and everything are published. Plus, most of the people in the guild are more or less here for casual fun, so getting everyone together for something competitive will probably be hard, especially since it's starting in like two days."

"Yeah, I know, but I still want to do it. I want to have our guild in the Hall of Triumphs."

The Hall of Triumphs was a location you could go to in order to see people and guilds that went above and beyond. There were usually one or two for each major event, one being for who completed it first, and a second for whoever completed it the fastest within a week of it starting. You could teleport there pretty much whenever you wanted and could usually watch a replay of the event from the group or guild there. There were two sections you could visit, the nationwide section which only showed people from your nation and the worldwide section which showed the top records across the world.

"Why do you want to be in the Hall of Triumphs? I don't get it, you were never really a competitive guy."

"Well, that brings me to our second reason. I- I-"

Mike paused for a second before finally speaking up.

"I won't be able to play Arcadia anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I… people move on sometimes, and I won't be able to play Arcadia anymore."

"Dude, stop beating around the bush, just tell me what's wrong."

"I don't want to"

"Mike, just tell me."

"I ca- don't wan-"

"WHY!?"

"JOSH, JUS-"

"MIKE, WHY DON-"

"SARCOMA!"

"…"

"…"

"w- what?"

"I… have sarcoma. The doctors said we caught it early, but I will need surgery that'll either remove my whole arm, or some big parts of it to the point that I can't use it like normal. Before I talk to my doctors and schedule the surgery, I want our guild to make it in the Hall of Triumphs."

"Mike, I-"

"Jus- just don't. Don't say anything."

"…"

"Does Olivia know?"

Mike didn't say anything, but rather averted his gaze, looking away from me.

"Mike, she's your sister…"

"I know, it's just, it's hard telling her. Don't say anything about this to her. I'll let her know later."

"…"

"Alright. I'll also start trying to get everyone together."

"Thank you, Josh."

I started walking to the door to exit the room when Mike spoke again.

*chuckles* "You know, it's crazy."

"Hmm? What is?"

"It's crazy that… even though we've never really met, you're probably one of my best friends. It's crazy, right? How can you be best friends with someone you never really met, it's crazy. I can't really say how, but here we are."

I smiled and responded.

"I don't think it's that crazy, but you're right about something. We've got to meet up one day and hang out. Especially since that's apparently what best friends do."

He smiled back, and I opened the door to leave.

"Also, you should probably get your level to 150 before the battle."

I then walked through it and closed the door behind me. My smile vanished.

What a horrible situation. I really hope everything works out well. Anyway, I've got to try and get everyone together. I've also got an idea that might all but guarantee us first place and make for a great time.