Avilien

Back again

Squeeks stuffed his adorable face and licked the inside of the carrot packet before then grooming his face and putting the rubbish back in Luke's bag. Luke watched his little tummy grow bigger and bigger until it looked like a furry blue ball. He had the urge to reach out and tickle it, but refrained from doing so. Brit took a little while to get to her feet and appeared to be exhausted and weak still, as her body trembled from standing.

"Everything will be okay, Duke," said Brit as she struggled to put her feet forward. "You've had a week to adjust to being turned into data and all this stuff with your parents, the government, and my problems, too. When I first met Squeeks, just after my dad had been deleted along with my mum, I couldn't focus. I couldn't do anything. Then Squeeks told me of something and I believed him straight away." Brit stroked Squeeks's fat belly and made him burp.

"Do you know what the very last boss of Avilien drops?" Brit looked up to the stars in the night sky and smiled. "Whoever or whatever it is drops an item called the Orb of Drunskull. A powerful magical item that grants any three wishes. The item is somewhere in Avilien and is in Squeeks's data files. There is only one, and it can only be obtained once. It is not just an S-rank item, it is a mythic S-rank item. Higher than a legendary item."

Luke didn't know where Brit was going with this story about an item that probably dropped from a raid boss. He was intrigued though, despite recent events.

"He's not understanding me is he, Squeeks? Now if he were Awesome Biscuit, he would know what to do straight away." Brit sighed and then laughed at the look of confusion on Luke's face. She had managed to cheer him up despite the endless amounts of people hunting them.

"Master Luke, the Orb of Drunskull can affect this world, too. As you have seen first-hand, Avilien items work out here, too. I did believe that the Orb was the only item to work out here, but now I know otherwise. Do you understand yet what my klutz of a master is talking about and why she is not the least bit saddened when she mentions her parents?" Squeeks gave Luke a smile and Nebs rolled his eyes. Nebs didn't know anything about the item in question as it wasn't in his data logs, but with three wishes, he could do a whole lot.

If such an item did exist then everyone would want it. Power, wealth, fame, it could all be granted with one simple wish. Other wishes could be obtained, too, and now Luke understood. Brit would bring back her beloved parents, but the odds of getting such an item in Avilien would be near enough to zero. With real-world implications, dungeons and the Avilien landscape itself would pose danger at every turn, never mind a raid where the strongest of bosses gathered.

In Forest of Winter, Luke was without a doubt one of the most successful solo players and one of the best. When it came to clearing dungeons and raids, it was different. Expert PVE—player-versus-environment—guilds cleared them long before he stepped foot in there. Top-notch guilds such as Dragons Light from North America had some of the fastest clear times in the world for dungeons and raids. Putting the pros aside, the item created a dilemma; Luke would also aim for that item if he couldn't find his dad.

"Brit, you would wish your parents back with the first wish, but what about the other two wishes if you got the orb?" Luke asked as he and Brit finally started to walk downhill through the middle of the field, watching where they stepped as the field was heavily occupied by farm animals.

"My second wish would be to be reunited with my husband if I don't find him first. As for my last wish, it would be to have a back door, and access for all the players of Avilien, allowing us to go home and return whenever we liked. Avilien sounds amazing and all, but it isn't our world. Once we arrive there, we are there for good.

"By the way, when we do get there, call yourself something really simple so I can send a friend request and invite you to my guild. Call yourself Awesome Biscuit Fanboy or something like that; I'll know it's you then. I'll even change my second wish to find or revive your dad. My husband would understand." Brit winked at Luke.