[LFG]

Moira continued to excuse her first meeting with John. Tricia continued to press on how she saved his life. Both girls paused their respective tirades as pop-ups appeared in real life.

Of the two, Moira took the surprise far less gracefully. "W-What the Hell is-!" She reared back and nearly swung a hammer at where the pop-up was... except it followed and floated before her vision perfectly, tracing her like a vindictive gnat. "Ah-!"

"Wow... it really is like an MMO," Tricia's face was highlighted behind the translucent blue of the pop-up, and John could read the text from where he stood.

John Newman has invited you to a party. Join? Y/N

Moira eventually calmed down, shaking her head in disbelief, and grew annoyed as the persistent pop-up remained aligned to to her face. "Is this some kind of video game? What is this shit?"

John blinked at Moira, surprised at her tone. "I mean, it's... it's how my magic works."

Moira grimaced. "You're just making fun of me now, aren't you."

"I'm serious!"

"I'm afraid he's very serious," Tricia concluded.

With a sigh, Moira hit accept just seconds after Tricia had done the same.

Tricia Gorbachev has joined your party!
Moira Brighton has joined your party!

Achievement unlocked! "The Ballad of the Noob"!
Party up with someone significantly lower level than you. Such a helpful player!
+2 CHA
+potion of minor healing

Achievement unlocked! "Let's Stay Together"!
Party up with a significant other or spouse. The couple that slays together, stays together!
+5 CHA
+1,000XP

Achievement unlocked! "Party Up!"!
You've partied with two or more people!
+2 CHA
+1 party maximum size

Potion of minor healing: this vial of light-blue liquid bears the scent of almonds. Restores 50HP when consumed.

Minor indeed... John glanced at the party menu and tapped it to be treated to a larger-than-expected tooltip.

Party System
You switch from solo mode to party mode by inviting allies to join your cause! You can invite any non-Gamer entity that is friendly, is not engaged in combat, and isn't already in another party. You can invite up to [2 + (CHA/50, rounded down)] party members to join. You can invite up to twice as many to form a raid. All combat XP is divided between party members based on their respective levels. Summons or other minions do not count against the party limit. Barriers opened by party members remain normal, but barriers opened by the party leader will become Complexes.

What...? Curious, John tapped the last word.

Complexes are barriers that field elite enemies to reflect the power of a group meant to explore them. The barrier less closely mirrors reality and will guarantee an elite or boss fight conditioned on the satisfaction of the complex conditions. Every complex has bonus loot awarded on completion, and their population and rewards grow based on the size of the barrier.

Holy shit! I should've partied earlier-

Moira began to tap her foot as John busied himself with what still looked like nothing to the Warden. "Well, what now?"

John waved the interface away, his body suddenly alive with excitement, and shot them both a grin. "Now we suit up... and find somewhere that I can create a barrier a mile wide without anyone bothering us."

"Nowhere in Springfield," Tricia quickly replied, "and nowhere we should go. A barrier that massive is sure to be noticed... and I cannot operate somewhere I'm sure to be noticed."

John's excitement visibly shrunk.

Moira sighed. "Can you even create such a barrier?"

"Eh, well yeah... it can be 8,000 feet in any direction, 's long as it somehow involves the door I make."

Tricia nodded, and a holographic map of her neighborhood appeared. "This entire sector is warded to hide all magical activities, and has alarms for any inquiries made into it, from those outside. It has protected me this far... so, if you limit your barrier to these grounds or less, we may proceed."

John gave the map a look; parse the false reality had always conformed more or less to the exact dimension he envisioned, even if said dimensions were warped on entry. With a confident nod, he declared, "Alright then... let's suit up, and get to the surface."

Ten minutes later...

"So we meet again... you horny, hammer-hucking, hog-humping whore."

Fairy and Moira glowered at one another, and the latter replied with a dangerous smile. "You've grown since last your master begged your safety, fiend... but I've exorcised bigger."

Fairy wore her enchanted leathers, and a grimace, as she waited for John to finish his own preparations. Moira, now sheathed in her newest hauberk of gold-painted steel, let the hammer's head rest on the floor as she leaned on it like a cane, her polished shield aimed at the Fairy as if ready for a sneak attack. The two stood in the empty living room of the faux house over the Gorbachev's home along with Tricia as she watched John with rapt attention. John, now dressed for combat, spared none of his magical items save those that wouldn't stack: the crown of fear couldn't sit atop his circlet of mana, and he felt sure he could find more uses for the additional mana than he could trying to terrify a single enemy. One could hope for magical pants... He was down to his last school uniform pants that were without damage.

The second grand summon spell finished, and Ju rose from the golden circle in the floor, her eyes briefly flashing white as they had in Fairy. When the circle closed, Ju seemed to truly come to consciousness... and immediately hid her face as she remembered the last time she had seen the women present.

Moira didn't care much for the undead abomination in turn. "Are you only going to call your most blasphemous subjects-?"

"[You cannot expect me to fight! You cannot expect me to do so along with the women before whom you shamed me!]"

"J-Ju, I'm- look, things got out of hand back then; I wasn't myself, really!" It was pretty hot though... "I already said I'm sorry... and I know this is hard, but you have to adapt and start going into combat with me, if only to get used to it."

"[Just destroy me...]"

John winced, but remained firm. "I won't."

"John, do you... understand what she's saying?"

John blinked at Moira. Turning, he saw that Tricia, too, seemed intrigued. "Yeah... I mean, can't you guys?"

"She's speaking Mandarin," Tricia explained, "albeit a dialogue that my automated translator is having trouble interpreting. As I recall, during our... event... she didn't have much to say and seemed rather... hesitant until you used more of that arousing magic on her."

John rubbed his chin as he eyed the downtrodden concubine. That confirms it, then: they don't learn English, and I don't learn Elven or whatever; we just understand each other. Not even party members will know what she says... "Hmm. Not being able to communicate during the fight could be a problem... then again, calling the bear instead won't solve that problem... nor the rabbit folk..."

"You... have..." John turned to Tricia... and found her eyes wide, almost child-like, as she softly begged her question. "... You have rabbit people?"

"It's fine," Moira huffed. "Keep the wretch on a short leash and send her after our enemies; so long as she doesn't create more enemies with her curse, I couldn't care less what happens to some barrier illusions."

"[What are they saying now...?]"

"They've accepted fighting alongside you, so long as you follow my orders and attack our enemies."

Ju let her silence respond.

Right... so if grand summoning counts as three instead of one, and I can call eight... "Alright," John sighed, "I've still got two more to call in-"

"It will certainly **** the direct approach to have so many of us enter at a time..." Moira muttered.

Ignoring her, John called down the two senior Almiraj warriors from his temple as regular summons, one after the other. First came Leafdie, the eldest: black-furred and with part of his left ear missing, the anthropomorphic rabbit-man hunched as he found himself surrounded by humans. His clothes, a simple tunic and shorts, were made from pressed bark of the same tree that created the shaft of his spear. A necklace decorated with jade was cut from the same stone that made the head of his mildly enchanted spear. Moira took note of the warrior's vestments; Tricia, with wide, sparkling eyes, could barely contain herself as she watched his fluffy, floppy ears do their best to seem menacing.

A minute later, Skythumper was among them: almost as short as Greenpaw, but with thick, cording muscles that rippled beneath short-growing fur. Two short swords of brass glittered on his belt, which aside from a leather thong was all the creature wore. With his anatomy so on display, the Almiraj body was revealed: the legs of the rabbit "half" that shaped most of the head, but a furry rendition of a stocky and human torso and arms. If not for both of them being level 19, John would've been satisfied to keep them cooped up in the temple forever; neither desired to speak a word unless ordered to do so by John, and their simple, savage lives before meeting the Gamer made conversation trite at best.

"[Master,]" grumbled Leafdie, unexpectedly. John looked to his warrior... as Tricia stood just behind the same, fuzzy monster, her fingers stretching to try and touch his erect ears. "[Is this the enemy? May I kill her?]"

"Everyone in this room is our ally, and you are all forbidden from injuring any of them under any circumstances, even if in self-defense."

"May I have extended studies with the..." Tricia gulped. "... f-fluffy one?"

"[Is she threatening me?]"

"Possibly," John answered them both.

"Alright," Moira declared, lifting her hammer and banging it against her shield, "it's getting late, and I need to be back home by ten if I want to avoid any questions. Let's get this over with!"

"Oh, well, in that case," John explained as he walked towards the living room wall, "we can be in there for a bit less than... sixteen hours."

"... What-"

John focused on the outline of the neighborhood from Tricia's hologram, on the plain surface behind which the front yard existed, and on his desired level for the complex: 15, enough to give Moira and him some experience worth a damn while also keeping Tricia and Fairy safe. The wall shimmered, and a padded, ruby-red door appeared before him with a simply golden hoop for a door handle. Taking a deep breath, John focused his mind; he would be responsible for more than just himself, this time. That they were his wives, and women who now lived in his heart, compounded the pressure. "It's ready."