Dave received a phone call, it was Ralph, "Yeah Ralphy, what"s up?"
"Not much. I got a beer keg, but was thinking we should get something stronger."
"A beer KEG?! Dude that"s way too much, who"s gonna drink all that?"
"Oh, I thought it would be too little. Remember I used to be called Ralph the Tank during my time in college."
"Dude, I didn"t go to your college! Whatever just bring me a bottle of Jack. Oh and some Rosé for the girls. They apparently like that stuff." Dave said.
"Not bad, you"re making progress even looking up what girls like. But let Old Ralph here teach you a valuable lesson. Girls who drink Rosé only do it to appear gallant. Give them some good shots of Vodka, and you"ll get to meet their dark side. Trust me. It"s the best side!" Ralph chuckled.
Dave shook his head amused and said, "Alright I trust your judgement. Bring whatever you want. Just hurry, they should be here soon."
"Aight!" Ralph hung up.
Not one moment later Dave heard the ringing of his door-bell. Walking to the door, a screen showed him his visitors. Zoe and Caitlin. Dave buzzed them in, and they entered his apartment.
Zoe walked in first, she had a bag that was overflowing with snacks while Caitlin had brought along a bottle of red wine.
"Make yourselves at home." Dave welcomed them cheerfully.
The two girls went past Dave and sat down on the round sofa.
"Where"s Ralph?" Caitlin asked.
"Oh, can"t stand us without your boyfriend?" Zoe teased, but Caitlin neither commented nor showed any expression on her face.
"He"ll be here soon-ish. He went to get some drinks." Dave answered. Just as he finished his sentence the doorbell rang once more.
Looking at the screen, there were three boys. Dave knew all of them from their game avatars.
They were the TNT.
Dave buzzed the trio in.
"Come on in!" Dave welcomed them.
Flanker looked totally different. Without his Priest"s ca.s.sock, he had a different air about him. A more…lecherous air that is. He was wearing shorts and a polo s.h.i.+rt. He looked at the girls sitting in the living room yet before he could utter a single word, Perfect held his shoulders and told him in a hushed tone: "Sven, you DO remember that Mercy"s father is from the Mob? Not to mention that Ralph, her BOYFRIEND will be here soon! As for Lone, you don"t need me to tell you that she"s already taken, right?! Try anything funny, and I"ll personally castrate you." Perfect was unusually scary.
"Aight. I was just gonna say h.e.l.lo." Sven said, swallowing what he was actually about to say, a hint of fear flas.h.i.+ng across his face.
"You guys are blocking the entrance, move!" Fortress complained with a strained voice.
"Sorry, Rob." Perfect, or Tom said apologetically and quickly made way.
Rob"s face was completely red. He was carrying a beer keg.
Dave sighed. With Ralph bringing another one they surely won"t lack booze today.
"We need cups!" Sven shouted the moment he entered.
"The kitchen is over there." Dave pointed him to the room.
Sven went into the kitchen and began looking all over. "Can"t find "em, bruh!"
"Keep looking they should be there somewhere."
"This is your kitchen man. You don"t even know where your own cups are?!"
"I just moved in bro. Less yapping, more searchin"!" Dave replied while everyone took a seat.
Fortress or Rob found the remote control and turned on the TV. He went directly for the CCN channel.
"They"ll be doing a Skelly Adventure soon. Wanna watch? We"ll probably be showcased as well." Rob suggested enthusiastically.
"Which part are they at right now?" Mercy asked intrigued.
"I think it"s just after the capture of the Third Raid Zone. They"ll probably do the Raid and the attack of the Qin warriors." Sven chimed in from the kitchen.
"Nope, Dad changed plans. You guys probably didn"t see it. After we logged out, someone triggered a new event. There will be a guild-war and a lot of players are joining in." Tom said.
"Found the cups!" Sven triumphantly held a cup high up.
"Bring "em over!" Zoe popped the cork out of the bottle and was ready to serve the wine.
The CCN broadcaster was already in the midst of talking about the Guild War event and how it had started. "A player discovered a Gnomish Ruin which triggered this exciting event. Any guild planning to enter the ruins, first will have to come out on top of this unusual Guild War."
"Each partic.i.p.ating Guild will have to pick 20 of their best members if they want to stand a chance at entering the Gnomish Ruins. The chosen players will get teleported to Limbo without suffering any consequences. There they will have to fight over several flags. The guild that manages to a.s.semble 10 flags first, will gain the right to pioneer the Ruins. However they will have to remain vigilant as any guild after that manages to collect their own 10 flags will be able to follow after them." Explained the broadcaster.
"In other words it"s a constant race. The first guild to enter will have an advantage, but any subsequent guild will try their hardest to overtake them. And unless they decide to work together the second and third guilds to enter may even end up fighting." Dave a.n.a.lysed the scenario as he munched on some crackers.
"Aren"t you gonna join Dave?" Tom asked.
"Nah, bro. Did you forget we"re currently in the middle of the ocean. Also we would need a guild for this event. To be honest, I"m interested in these ruins, but I don"t think it"s worth fighting all the super guilds over it. Let them duke it out between themselves," Dave shrugged.
The doorbell rang again. This time it was Ralph.
Rob opened the door for Ralph. This guy, unlike Rob, had the beer keg slung over his shoulder and more beer and other drinks in a bag on his other hand. The big oaf Ralph didn"t even seem to register the weight of what he was holding.
"Monster!" Rob couldn"t help but call him that for accomplis.h.i.+ng such a feat.
"Nice to meet you too." Ralph said with a smile then scooched in. He placed the keg next to the first one. "Yes! More beer!"
He put everything down and went toward Caitlin, casually kissing her on the lips in front of everyone, then sat next to her.
The room became a bit awkward for a moment, even Caitlin"s face turned beet red.
"What? You"ve never seen a couple kissing? Stop being a bunch of virgins and pa.s.s the drinks!" Ralph demanded jubilantly and immediately managed to diffuse the awkward air.
Dave didn"t notice a certain purple-haired girl looking his way expectantly, but quickly turning her head to the other side. Ralph, however, hadn"t missed that and his lips curled into a wide smile.
"Where"s Vanessa?" Ralph asked as innocently as he could with his mischievous smile.
"She should be here soon," Dave replied casually disregarding Ralph"s smile.
"Oh, then this is gonna get interesting." Ralph said. At his words, Zoe frowned and grumbled.
"Let"s get this party started!! Fortress, bust open that keg and turn on the music!" Ralph shouted.
The doorbell rang again right after that.
"Oh, that must be Vanessa." Flanker seemed elated. Finally there would be at least one beauty that he could talk with, who wasn"t anyone"s girlfriend.
Sven went to the door and opened it. He frowned when he saw the person in front of him.
"Is that Vanessa?" Dave asked. He had his back to the door.
"No, it"s some old dude." Sven replied.
"s.h.i.+t, I think we"re making too much noise. It"s probably one of the neighbors.," Dave stood up with a cup full of beer in his hand.
The "old dude" just smiled at Sven. Somehow, this smile reminded him of Dave"s patented Draugr smile.
Dave turned and headed towards the door. He was taking another sip from his cup as he walked, so his eyes weren"t on the person at the door yet.
The first thing Dave noticed were two young kids next to the man in the middle, a girl and a boy. They looked awfully alike, probably twins.
Dave raised his eyes until he met the old man"s. The world seemed to stop for Dave. The cup in his hand fell and splashed its contents on the floor.
Dave could only utter one word. "Dad…"