Chapter 32: Difficult Decisions

Chapter 32: Difficult Decisions

“So.” Eli sat on his couch across from Derrick and Selena, the living room table between them with a paper and pen set out in front of each of them.

“You’re really going to give me your old Simbox?” Derrick asked excitedly.

“Of course, once the new ones arrive. He said they’d be here in two days or so.”

“It’s perfect, exactly when exams end!” Derrick cheered.

“That means you’ve got two days to get Spoody ready!” Jillian called from the kitchen, in the process of making a plate of snacks for them.

“Guys, focus. This is serious.” Eli snapped back, and they all went silent, concentrating on their papers.

“We could... try like, a theme. RedArcher, BlackAssassin, BlueHealer?”

“That’s probably the worst naming idea I’ve ever heard.” Eli groaned at Derrick.

“Oh that’s rich, coming from the guy who just took the S of his last name.”

“What’s wrong with Winter?”

“It’s a season, not a name.”

“What about you, Selena, Silentwire is a cool name, you can think of some for us right?”

“Uhm... I’m really bad at names, I just do anagrams of stu-” She started to reply, but immediately threw her hand over her mouth, trying to pull the words back in as her face turned bright red.

“Really? What’s Silentwire an anagram of?” Derrick asked as he started to write the letters down.

“Ah, nothing, that one’s not an anagram.” She quickly replied, but it was too late, Derrick had figured it out. She hung her head in absolute embarrassment. “I was, I was... in a hurry...” Both Derrick and Eli had very different reactions. Derrick looked slightly creeped out, but Eli, uninterested in her name, looked as though a lightbulb flicked on in his head.

“That’s genius. I’ll be Renwit.” Eli wrote it down on the paper proudly. Derrick quickly hit him over the head with his own paper.

“Terrible! Who the heck wants to watch a guy named Renwit? Both of you, stop with the damn anagrams.” Derrick snapped at them. This chapter's initial release occurred on the n0vell--Bjjn site.

“Blah, whatever, thinking like this is silly. He said the next time we log in, the customization should be available. You guys should log in so we can meet inside, I’m still worried about Orm.” Eli stood up, frustrated with the name planning.

“O-okay.” Selena stood up and shuffled towards the exit. Derrick followed behind with a skip in his step.

“Two more days and no more Sim Center!” He hummed.

“W-wait, here, I made little celebration snacks.” Jillian stood in the hallway to intercept them. “You have to take one, even if you are leaving.” She held out a tray with small colored cookies, one blue, one red, and one green.

“Don’t touch the blue one, it’s my favorite color.” Eli warned them both, to which his mother looked at him disapprovingly.

“T-thanks.” Selena took the green one, and Derrick thanked her as well. The two waved Eli off and headed outside.

“I’m so proud of you sweetie.” Jillian handed out the blue cookie to Eli and he ate it in a single bite.

“Honestly, I didn’t do anything special. I feel like we scammed that guy.” Eli replied with guilt.

“Well, either way, it seems you can just play relaxed now with your friends, without worrying about you-know-what, and making money, and all that stuff.” She smiled.



“So the people in Orm are still in trouble, poisoned?”

“Yep. If you got one of the priest quests, I suggest you skip it for now. Guys at Averon are insane for putting something like that in a low level area.” He mumbled to himself as the group continued to walk beyond Aegis. He started to become restless, knowing he had to wait for his companions but eager to get to the hideout to see what was going on - he had a bad feeling about the villagers' wellbeing back in Orm.

Not wanting to idle about, he started making his way around the clearing using his woodcutting axe and herbalism skills to gather more resources for crafting until finally another player appeared behind him. [Lina - Level 11]. Sheglanced about for a moment before she spotted Aegis and waved awkwardly.

“Uhm... Eli?” She asked.

“Selena?” He replied, she nodded.

“You changed a lot!” She looked him up and down.

“You just changed your hair color to blue.”

“Y-yeah... but I don’t think anyone will know who I am anyway so it's okay.” She shrugged. “We have to wait for Derrick.”

“Yup. I’m just chopping.” He replied.

“Okay.” She sat cross legged on a rock and wiggled her toes, watching Aegis patiently. They didn’t need to wait long before the final character appeared within the clearing around them. [Darkshot - Level 9]. He had short black spiky hair, dark brown eyes, and an ungodly amount of tattoos and scars all over his face.

“Please don’t tell me you are Derrick.” Aegis rolled his eyes.

“I have evolved beyond Derrick, I am an absolute badass.”

“You look like you got run over by a streetsweeper.” Aegis replied.

“What are you talking about? Scars and tattoos are badass. I look like an experienced war veteran, shooting arrows from the darkness - Darkshot.”

“Aegis though? Really?”

“It’s the name of Eirene’s star.” Aegis replied proudly.

“It’s also a word in the english language, like Winter.”

“Whatever, I couldn’t think of something better. It’s good enough.” He huffed back.

“Well, then...” Derrick suddenly spoke in a narrator-type voice. “Are you going live yet?”

“Nope, still pending.”

“Okay good, I have time to practice my entrance.” Darkshot replied, he began doing dramatic turns and whispering random phrases to himself akin to something you’d find in a comic book. ‘Looking for me?’ ‘Don’t worry, I’m here now.’. Aegis ignored it and sent him and Lina a party invite.

“Aegis, Lina, and Darkshot. I guess it’s not bad.” Aegis shrugged. “I’ve got a quest I was working on before Keldan interrupted the other day... but I’ve heard the raiding party that went ahead of me to the hideout got wiped out. You guys okay with helping me out?”

“Mhm. I’m all done with my quests for a while.” Lina smiled as she hopped to her feet.

“Of course, we’re your armed escort right?! But I gotta ask, can you really not attack at all?”

“Nope, 0 damage from me, I’ll be the tank and the healer.”

“Roger.” Darkshot replied. “I’ve been waiting for this ever since you said you’d play. Onward, to our first dungeon crawl!” He cheered like a giddy school girl.