She led him along for some time until they reached the throne room. Lucas’s heart started racing in anticipation of the stunt he was about to pull, and he could feel a slight tremor in his hands from the adrenaline as it built up inside him. He quickly glanced around the room as they entered, mentally taking notes of the guards’ positioning. There were a few stationed at the entrance, along with another pair on each side of the king and Queen, who were seated in front of several long rows of pews, but everyone else was clearly either a civilian or a player. He also noted that there were holes in the floor surrounded by beautifully carved, ornately-decorated fences. Openings in the roof allowed sunlight to stream down through the apertures, directing it toward hanging baskets filled with flowers and ferns and then on to the forest floor.

Lucas looked over at one of the fences and tried to calm himself as he thought about what was soon to happen. He knew that it was going to be difficult, that there would be a chance he’d die, but when he glanced over at the princess, he chuckled. It was both a release of nervous energy as well as a result of what he had just realized. This is what a game should feel like . . . No, this is exactly how a game should feel.

The princess stopped as they arrived before the king and separated herself from him before taking a small step back. “This is your glory,” she said quietly to Lucas. “I do not want to interfere.”

Lucas shook his head, not wanting his plan to collapse at the last minute because of this small interruption. “No, I insist.” He motioned for her to stay by his side and checked that both Bonnie and Nick had their healing scepters in hand. Lucas also caught sight of Malik and Valerie behind him as he was looking at his friends. The pair was still glaring at him. “You were right there fighting beside me, and your spells kept me alive when I was facing certain doom.”

“Modest as always,” the princess said, re-attaching herself to his arm.

There were several other players receiving gifts for helping out, and Lucas liked the fact that most of them hadn’t gotten there as quickly as he did. His group was third in line out of what looked like ten small parties. How come there weren’t this many on the beach? Two more groups showed up behind him, and it occurred to him that they probably weren’t all there for the same thing. He was there for the defense of the city quest, but everyone else was probably there for an entirely different quest. This was the only Alfar quest hub on the whole of noob island, so it just made sense that most people would be turning in completed chains to the head of the small tree city.