Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. It is the rightful property of DC Comics and Cartoon Network.

A/N: All right! I got another chapter up and done! Was hoping to see more reviews, but considering this is a new style I'm doing, I can't be too disappointed. Okay, some questions rising up and here's the answers: A while back, I lost all my data. Yes, I lost all my work I had for all my previous fanfictions and have been striving to redo what I once had. Pretty much at the point of scrapping it all and just starting over again, because the mindset isn't there anymore for some of my stories…and because half of them were altered by my ex co-writer. (seriously, not going to do that again for a long, long time, if ever.) Anyway, I know a lot of you are waiting for my updates for my other work, so please bear with me a bit longer. I am working on them, just looking at everything from a new angle.

So, with that said, don't be surprised if some of my fanfictions are taken off and replaced with new ones. I know some people like the old versions and I've tried to really get those back up, but its just not there anymore. The person I was then when I wrote them was someone I don't want to be anymore. I'm a whole different writer now and I want to do the best I can. Plus, I was very fortunate a few months back to get in touch with Stan Lee, and what he told me when I said I wanted to be a writer will forever stay with me. I won't repeat what they were because they were very personal to me, but the point was to never give up and to do what I think is good.

And if a man like Stan Lee tells you to aim for the stars, you hop into that spaceship and slam your fist down on the launch button and go for it, no questions asked!

I know I'm not the only person that Stan Lee has inspired, but I want to do more than I have before, and that's what the new me desires more than anything: Do what I think is good. There will be people that won't like what I think is good, but that's just life. Thank you for your time and I hope you find something that is more to your liking, that's all I can say about that.

Okay, I think that's enough for now. Let's get back to the game…

xXx

Teen Titans: Raven Games

Chapter 2

The shouting had been unexpected but it served in waking up the others. One by one, they jolted up and looked around for imminent danger. Raven raised a single brow before sighing some. Seemed even in a game-like, artificial magical realm instincts still followed. Everyone took a fighting stance, reaching for weapons and gear they were used to having.

Soon realization dawned on them to where they were and sure enough…it wasn't Kansas.

"We're…in the game?" The dragon-horned girl said with awe, looking at everything and then down at herself.

"Nice deduction, dragon-girl," the spiky-metaled Rogue groaned, then seeming to remember something, quickly reached up to his face and started feeling around, only to cry out in pain when his talons dug into what actual flesh he had on his face. "My mask!? Where'd it go?" quick as he could, he turned his back to everyone and inspected himself, finding he had a hooded cloak, he yanked it up over his head in his failed attempt to hide his identity.

It really didn't matter. His exotic racial features made it impossible to recognize his real one. The metallic spikes and plates protruded around his skull in place of hair. They created a natural mask around his eyes and forehead and his race's eyes had mainly orange-colored irises with black rings around the outer iris. Even if they could see his face, it would be impossible to recognize who he really was.

Raven smirked and enjoyed the fact that she could without repercussion at his reaction and watched, and wondered, how long he'd figure out his identity was still safe. Their racial features were completely different from their real selves. Raven imagined if she looked at her face now in a reflection, she'd see a pale-blue face with purple marks like flames going down over her eyes and cheeks. Add the fact that she had a smile on her face rather than the blank, deadpan one she always wore.

But things wouldn't progress at this rate. She wanted to explore this world. "We done with being surprised in being in avatar bodies? Yes? Good." She got off the grass and used a hand to wipe some of the loose blades that clung to her clothes off.

She was about to say they should get going when a brutish, thick accent voice yelled out. "What you lot think you doin'? Lay 'bout in the sun like a bunch of lamed mules? Get your arses back to town with the rest of the new recruits!"

All of them turned to the owner of the voice and saw a stout, short man with a very broad and thick frame. He sported a massive brown bread with two thick braids at the end of his moustache. He was attired in thick plated gear and tapping a warhammer in the palm of his hand with impatience. "Do I need to repeat m'self?"

"Uh, n-no! We're just tired from the voyage, that's all!" Raven said quickly as she realized what was happening, motioning with her hands for everyone to just play along when they stared at her with confused looks. "It had been so long since we saw land and this was such a nice spot to enjoy it."

A contempt laugh barked out of the dwarf. "I don' give a damn what you reasons were, elf! Get back to the port! We've enough problems with Gnoll raiders on the highways. We don' a need to encourage 'em to try sneakin' closer to the port than needed!" Then without waiting to see if they would heed his words. The dwarf turned his massively thick, broad back to them and stalked away.

"We're coming!" Raven said and urged everyone to start following the grumpy dwarf.

"What's happening here?" Robin said, looking completely perplexed.

Raven moved to walk close to him so only he could hear her words. "This is one of the random campaign scenarios I created. We got put in the one I called 'Kingdom of Zenoth'. Basically, we're playing a quest where we start out as adventurers that signed up on a pilgrimage to aid in a new land that was discovered far across the eastern sea. We're members of the fifteenth voyage that was sent to help tame these still wild lands and to help build up the Kingdom of Zenoth. We're in for a lot of work ahead of us."

"So, it's a basic city development set. What are we gonna do, spend our time in this place collect wood and stuff like peons?" Red X grumbled irritably.

"It's more complicated…" Raven bit her lower lip, trying to find the right words to their situation. "This is actually the longest campaign I made for us to play. I had originally planned to play this one after we had become more seasoned with this game's system…"

"What does that mean for us?" the feline Barbarian finally spoke with Blackfire's mocking and impatient voice, placing a clawed hand on her hip and tapping one finger on her near-naked hip hastily.

"It means…until we help to build up the Kingdom of Zenoth that will survive the ages to come in this new land, we won't be able to return to our own world," Raven said with a very heavy sigh. She shouldn't have set the game on random. The chances of it picking the longest…and the most challenging of campaigns she created…were ten to one, but she should have known the odds would play out like this.

The group went silent for a moment as they processed what this meant. They wouldn't be able to leave this world? Not until this objective was completed? That was what she assumed was going through their minds. She hadn't meant for them to be stuck this long in the game, but they were and she wasn't sure how they'd take it.

Red X held up his hand to get her attention. "Isn't there a pause option or a save like most games? Can't we just leave after we reached a point, then come back and pick up where we left off?"

Raven grimaced at his question. "…I didn't install that option."

"Uh, Why not?!" Red X said with some aggression.

"It didn't seem to be a needed function since as soon as we beat the game, we'll return to the exact moment we entered it. I figured it would just be good to play the game until we finished it, but yeah…now looking at it. That's an oversight on my part…So, uh, sorry," Raven replied and sighed heavily.

"Then we seriously are stuck as these avatars until we complete the objective, and considering its building up a kingdom, that's going to take some time," the spear-wielding dragon-girl Argent said, not quite as happy as she was before. She was just as eager to play, but knowing they couldn't leave whenever they wanted, that kinda killed some of it for her.

Robin spoke up quickly. "You guys are looking at this wrong."

"How are we doing that? You're not the one that's stuck in a short, goblin body for who knows how long!?" the short and green mage, Jinx, exclaimed loudly, waving her short arms wildly at him.

"Not our fault you picked such a lame creature to play," Blackfire said with a fanged smirk.

"I didn't pick it!" Jinx replied with even more hostility.

That made the group pause and turn to Raven.

Raven narrowed her eyes in thought, then asked. "What did you put down as your race, Jinx? Everything on your character sheet should have been exactly as you put it." She looked at everyone. "Did you guys pick other things?"

"No, I picked being a Half-Elf Druid," Robin said.

"Same," said the other girls, minus Jinx.

"I didn't expect to look like this, but I did pick this particular race for its benefits," Red X added, admiring his arms and metallic claws. "Fits my theme, you know?"

"What are you exactly?" Blackfire asked curiously.

"He's a Vulshok," Raven answered for him, drawing everyone's attention back to her. "They're a race that live on a metallic plane where almost everything is metal. They happened upon a way to enter this plane after it was discovered their plane was artificially created, and their ancestors originally were kidnapped and magically engineered to survive in the hazardous environment."

"Sounds familiar…" Robin murmured, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Okay, that explains why he looks like Shredder, but why did Jinx get turned into a goblin?" Rose said, her new tail swishing back and forth behind her aggressively, in what some might assume was a sign of impatience.

"Hmm…Jinx, what did you put in the race option?" Raven asked again after a moment.

"I didn't put anything! I don't like playing other races, so I just expected to play as myself. Figured leaving it blank would let me play an avatar like my real body," Jinx grumbled, folding her arms underneath…quite a noticeable chest.

She might have turned into a short goblin but her miniature physique was quite appealing. A semi-thick curvy body with broad hips and a tight rump and a decent size bust that balanced it out. Yes, she was a goblin but she was actually quite a hot, looking goblin.

After that analysis—and trying to not admit that she just called Jinx hot as a goblin—Raven realized what must have happened. "Random Selection."

"What?" Jinx uttered.

"Like with the campaign. Since we didn't specify which campaign we wanted to play, it selected one at random. Same thing will probably happen if we hadn't set our avatars as we wanted. Because Jinx didn't specifically put being a human as her race, the system randomly picked one for her…hence her being a goblin," Raven explained to the group.

"That makes sense…and glad I took an extra minute to pick being a Khajiit," Blackfire said after that, looking down at her feline, hourglass shaped waistline. "I could have suffered the same fate had I not…and that would have been a serious drag…"

Red X glanced over and admired her feature, too. "Yeah, that really would have been a shame," he said with a smirk on his face.

Blackfire flashed him her set of feline fangs. "Look…but don't think about touching."

"Aww, this is a game, after all? We're here to enjoy ourselves. Why not start getting friendly as soon as we can, huh?" Red X retorted with mock friendliness.

Blackfire just widened her smile, showing off more of her sharp teeth. "Try it…" she said as she flexed her right hand, giving the Rogue a good view of her claws. "I'd like to see how good of a scratching post you'd make to test these out on."

Rose rolled her eyes and spoke up before any more failed flirtation came out of the annoying thief's mouth. "Standing around isn't going to get us anywhere. If we've gotta finish this game, then we better get started as soon as possible."

Raven was in agreement. She didn't feel like wasting the first few minutes of the game watching Red X make an ass of himself. "That's what I'm thinking. Let's meet up with the 'recruits' like the dwarf wanted. Once we're there, we should start getting quests we can undertake to start leveling up ourselves."

"By quests, you mean actual labor?" Blackfire groaned, rolling her cat eyes. "That is so not me. Besides, you made this game, can't you just make us level up high enough to finish it?"

Raven gave her a look that clearly said that was a stupid question to ask. "I can't undo anything inside the game. Once it starts, there's no undoing. We're stuck as we are and the only way we're going to complete it is making sure our characters can survive whatever will come at us."

"Whatever will come at us? Don't you know?" Robin said with some worry in his voice.

"…I wanted this game to be unlike any other. So, I had made it to where the quests would be random or whatever needs by the NPCs of this world require at the time. It's not a set game like most MMORPGs. That's why I really regret not picking the campaign before we jumped into it. I'm as unsure as you guys what exactly will happen next. I know the base point but in terms of exact details, that's going to be as random as real life is," Raven replied, hugging at the guitar in her arms.

The mood was once again dampened. This wasn't how she wanted to start things out, but these were the facts now and they couldn't do anything about it. Best thing to do was move forward like Rose said. "We can't keep dwelling on this. Let's get going or we'll never go back to our real world."

"Hell yeah! I don't want to be stuck in this body any longer than I need to be!" Jinx proclaimed and started stomping down the hill in the direction the ill-tempered dwarf went.

As that point had put an end to the argument, the group agreed and followed Jinx down to the small dirt road and they traveled down it, until they came to a small settlement that looked more like a dock. Just past the wooden port was a vast sparkling sea. Waves rolled lazily up to its beach and the glimmering water added to the beautiful sight. Now…if only the smell matched its sight. The heavy aroma of decaying seaweed that rolled up on the beach and fish hit them hard.

"Ugh, this is disgusting!" Blackfire was the first to say, covering her nose as best she could. She found the species she had chosen had a very acute sense of smell and the stench of the port was nearly burning her nostrils.

"Thought all cats like fish?" Red X joked.

"Shut up!" Blackfire snapped, almost taking a swipe at him with her claws.

"I kinda agree, though. Shouldn't it smell better?" Argent said, trying to not let the smell get to her, but clearly it was.

"Again…realism," Raven said, but she also was thinking this was another mistake on her part. It was just a bit too real and the smell was too much to handle.

"Realism blows…" Jinx muttered, both hands covering her face and looking greener than she already was.

"Let's just find out what we need do next and get the hell out of here," Rose said, doing a better job at not letting the smell get to her, even though her stomach was reeling in revulsion.

They entered the dock settlement and looked around for anything that might give them a clue. No sooner had they entered they saw a group of people all huddled around a wooden stage set up in the middle of what probably was the town's square. On the stage was the dwarf that greeted them, giving everyone in the crowd the same baneful glare and looking ready to start bashing in a few skulls. Next to him was a small figure with a balding head with patches of grey just over his ears that grew down into a thick, bushy moustache on his pudgy face. He was almost the same height as Jinx and had arms and legs of the same length as hers, but where's she had sharp, angular features, this man had round, soft ones with huge eyes that fit with his pudgy-shaped head.

Raven quickly recognized him as a gnome, or roughly how she had set a gnome would look like in this world, and urged everyone to hurry over to the stage.

As they approached, they saw the gnome waving his tiny arms in an attempt to get everyone's attention as he spoke with a rather loud and clear tune of authority. "Welcome, welcome all! It gladdens this heart of mine to see so many eager people who have taken up the challenge of entering this new world! Many of you came here to seek fortune and glory. Others, I see, simply want to start a new life. All that and more awaits you once you depart from Greenwell Port!"

Raven's group remained somewhat apart from the main mass, not wanting to get tangled and separated, but they could hear the gnome so clearly, it was as if they were standing at the front row.

"Now that we have the pleasantries out of the way…I fear I must deliver dire news. The roads leading to the growing capital has been under siege by a group of Gnolls. They've been raiding our caravans since the route had been established, and many lives have been lost due to this. We cannot risk non-combatants to travel the road until the Gnoll threat has been eliminated. With that said, we are looking for eager…more preferably experienced…adventurers to head out and hunt down these Gnolls," the gnome continued with his speech, then with a slight hand gesture, he drew everyone's attention to the snarling dwarf. "Grum, here, has all current details pertaining to the Gnolls as we know so far. If anyone wishes to undertake this mission. Please, speak to Grum."

Some in the audience looked at the dwarf and then quickly away when the dwarf locked his piercing, intimidating glare at them when he noted them looking. Raven sighed inward but was one of the few that managed not to flinch when the dwarf's eyes landed on her. '…If I had my empathic powers, my skin would be burning from the heat from that hateful glare. What's with this NPC? I don't remember making one so disliking towards everyone.'

Had she done too good of a job when she created this game? Wait, that wasn't accurate anymore. They were in a literal world now. Even if it was just a game to them, all these NPCs would regard it as the real thing. That was what Raven had set out to do, after all. So, wouldn't it be plausible that with the natural progression of a world, the NPCs would adapt and react to the world as a real person would? If they were this real…could she have really created real life by accident? She would need to experiment to see if what she created was more than just a game…

"Let's head over to the edge of town," Raven suddenly spoke up, gaining the attention of the group.

"Uh, shouldn't we go get the quest from the dwarf?" Robin inquired curiously, pointing at said dwarf who had exited the stage and was stomping away.

"There's something we need to do before we go accept the…quest," Raven said, then started walking off without waiting to see if they'd follow.

The group shared a curious look with one another, but silently started moving in the direction Raven went. When they had reached the edge of town, Raven turned to them and placed one hand on her hip and raised one hand up. Just two inches away from her palm, a green menu window popped into existence. None of them could read it when they tried to focus on it, but Raven seemed to understand what was displayed on it.

Name: Raven

Race: Half-Breed: (Snow Elf/Night Elf)
Character Level: 1

Attributes:

-HP: 120 (1.5 when not in combat)

-MP:280 (1.2 regen rate)

-SP: 170 (1.4 regen rate)

-Strength: 5

-Constitution: 10 (5+ for class profession) 15

-Intelligence:10 (9+ for racial perks) 19

-Dexterity:8 (4+ for racial perks) 12

-Agility: 9

-Wisdom: 10

-Charisma 9 (2+ for class profession) 11

-Luck: 9

Class: Bard

Class Traits:
-Bardic Inspiration
-Spellcasting

-Song Lure
-Level 1

Spell List:

-Quicken Tempo (For one minute, Allies Bard casts spell on is given a +5 boost in Agility and Dexterity.) MP Cost: 40

-Blinding Melody (Target is blinded for a two-minute duration.) MP Cost: 15

Racial Traits: Half-Breed/Elf

-Mental fortitude (Half-Elf/Half-breed perk: 50% increase rate.)
-Spiritual Awareness (70% increase rate for picking two subspecies of same race.)

-Mana Manipulation (70% increase rate for picking two subspecies of same race.)

-Arcane Insight (70% increase rate for picking two subspecies of same race.)

-Ice Manipulation (Snow Elf ability: Alert, because you have selected to be a Half-Breed. This trait will only increase by 30% rather than 70% had you chosen only Snow Elf as your main race.)

-Shadow Manipulation (Night Elf ability: Alert, because you have selected to be a Half-Breed. This trait will only increase by 30% rather than 70% had you chosen only Night Elf as your main race.)

Note: Due to being a Half-Breed you do not gain all Racial Traits of selected races. If you desire to obtain more traits. Must seek them out through trial, tomes, and a little luck.

EXP: 0/150 to next level

"Good, the menu system works as I had set it," Raven said, impressed with her character sheet, then took her eyes off the floating screen and toward her companions. "We all have a menu to access our stats and abilities. If you want to access your personal information and upgrade yourself this is where you need to do it at. Right now, we all are at level one so we have to work on building ourselves up as much as possible."

"That's a giving, what else Sherlock?" Red X grunted, earning a death glare from Robin.

"The leveling system…It's not like other games where you just grind and level up and automatically gain abilities and spells depending on your class you've chosen. Had we not picked any classes, we'd be starting at level zero and would have had to grind at all kinds of things to unlock a class," Raven said, answering Red X regardless of his snide remark.

"Then, had we started the game like that, we'd literally be no stronger than an average citizen. If you had it set up that way, why let us select a class then?" Jinx asked.

"Since this is our first game and testing out the functions. I figured it be easier for everyone have a pre-start class to get used to everything," Raven replied back and started to smirk as realization dawned on all their eyes. "Maybe next game we can try starting with no classes and see how things go."

Rose thought about what Raven told them. "So…what you're saying. We're not limited to just the class we picked. We can take on other classes?"

"Exactly, if I got tired of being a bard and focused more on spellcrafting by reading tomes or scrolls, I could unlock the mage class and be like Jinx. If I decided to wield daggers and focus on stealth kills, eventually I would unlock the rogue class after accomplishing enough successful attempts," Raven continued her explanation, her smirk widening. "In other words, we can be anything we want depending on what we work on."

"That sounds a little like cheating, but considering we're stuck in this game until we beat it…that would give us an edge," Argent said, rubbing her chin.

Red X shrugged. "It's an advantage and I like it. We should exploit whatever we can. This is a game, after all. So, we just need to know what it'll take to unlock certain classes. Raven, do you at least know how we can do that during game time?"

Once more ignoring his sardonic tone, she nodded, "That system is set no matter how random the game plot goes. Like I said, it all depends on how we raise our stats. Some abilities will become available to use, too, depending on what actions we do, which in turn will aid in unlocking more classes."

"In other words, if I wanted to be a monk, I'd just have to raise up my hand-to-hand combat skills, right?" Robin said after giving it some thought.

"Close, you'd be more of a brawler, or a pugilist at best. You'd have to unlock how to use Ki in order to gain that class," Raven said with a nod, then looked back at her menu. "But before we do anything else. I want everyone to open their menus and add each other into our Friend's List. That way we can communicate with each other no matter where we are…and I think you'll like how this function works." She motioned for everyone to raise their hands. "In order to bring out your menu, simply think about it with your hand up and it will appear."

Doing as she said, they all opened up their menu screens.

"Oh, this is cool," Argent remarked, reading the contents of her menu, finding everything in her character stats was there. "Oh, wow, I've got higher dexterity than I thought I would."

"It's the perks added to being a Lancer, so you'll naturally have bonuses to your stats depending on what class you are," Raven said, moving her finger down her menu and finding the section to open up the Friend's List option.

Robin looked at his stats and found his wisdom was his highest perk, but he had very low strength. That he didn't like. Being a fighter by nature he understood the importance of physical prowess when in a real fight. He should have gone with monk when he had the chance. Bitterness started to overcome him but then he looked up at Raven's excited face, and he remembered why he picked being a druid. It was to help her with support for the team. This was her game, her time to be in the lead.

This was supposed to be fun anyway and it be nice not being the leader for once.

That didn't mean he wouldn't try to pursue unlocking the monk class later, though. That would become one of his long-term goals once he was more accustomed to how this game world worked. For now, he was going to just go with the flow, but still he had to ask…

"If we can play other classes, how do we switch?"

Raven reward him with a brilliant smile. "You don't."

"What?" Everyone uttered.

Raven took in a long breath for the lengthy explanation. "We don't which classes, at all. What classes we gain are added to our main one. There are sub-classes but those are more for crafting professions, like Tailor, Blacksmith, even Fisher. But when we unlock a class, we can add its abilities and traits to ourselves."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on a minute!" Jinx cut her off, waving her short arms up in the air to gain her attention. It was something that Gizmo would do, otherwise no one would pay attention unless he screamed at the top of his lungs. "So, you're saying we can become anything at all…at once?"

"Within certain limits, but yes," Raven nodded.

"What limits are we talking about then?" Red X said, wanting a clear understanding. He didn't like not knowing unknown variables. It made for a poor heist. If there was a weakness in a plan, a faulty tool that may or may not break at a critical junction, you get rid of it. You find something that works or you improve it. That's why he risked so much to get the suit Robin made…it was the perfect tool.

Raven had the answer ready. "Take the archer class. It uses bow and arrows mainly for offense and stealth kills. Ideal if you want to be far away and kill, but if you want to use swords and shields, like most tank classes…then it would be pointless. What you'd want to do is obtain classes that complement one another. Taking the archer class again as an example, you'd be better adding the rogue class or even a magic class to it. Say you want to shoot more deadly arrows, use rogue's knowledge of poisons to coat the arrows, or use a magic class to imbue the arrows with magic properties to deliver more destructive damage."

She waited a moment to let everyone process what that all meant. As she hoped, everyone appeared to understand.

Blackfire hummed as she stroked her chin with her fingers, careful of the claws now on each end of them from accidentally cutting her. "But if we wanted to give up a class that doesn't complement one. All we'd have to do is give up working on raising that class in favor of the one we feel is better, correct?"

"You got it," Raven confirmed.

Blackfire smiled and pondered on the possibilities of what this could lead for her in this world.

She wasn't the only one. Everyone was now considering what this could mean for them. A warrior that could cast a spell while in the middle of a sword fight? A rogue that could use healing magic on themselves after taking too much damage?

"So…We Skyrim it," Robin smirked.

He was surprised when Raven giggled in response. Raven…giggled...

"Kinda but you'll find my version way better," she grinned.

"I can't wait to see…" Robin replied, smirking at her. He was really liking this new Raven. She was confident and carefree…and…and…

He kept smirking but he averted his eyes down, not wanting to finish where his train of thought was taking him. "We better get started now, huh?"

Raven noticed his action and wondered what had just gone through his mind. Back in the real world, all she had to do was use her empathic powers to read his emotions and she could quickly deduce what it might have been…but in this world, all those powers were with her moody, monotone self. Here was clueless to what others felt…and it was liberating in a way. She didn't constantly have other people's emotions bombarding her, never having to deal with someone else's sorrow, their anger, their joy. She could now focus on only her own emotions and she found it so fulfilling. This was the freedom she had wanted all her life!

Quickly skipping back toward the port, yes, she was frecking skipping, she looked back at her group and waved. "Come on, let's get our game on!"

"Is she skipping?" Red X pointed out.

Robin just shrugged and smiled. "Yeah…she is."

Jinx grunted and starting jogging after the skipping Half-Breed. "Sure, make it harder for the one with short, stubby legs!"

They broke out in a small chuckle and hurried after Raven, who was heading in the direction the angry dwarf went. The path led them to a wide post board that was filled with parchment that was scattered across its front. Any gamer worth their controller knew this was a typical quest board, where players could find jobs or quests to take on to get money, EXP, or just to progress whatever the main campaign was. There were a few people by it, looking at the available quests, but none of them went near the dwarf. He seemed to repel everyone with just his constant glare and had a feel around him that screamed violence.

Raven didn't let that stop her from approaching the angry dwarf. She didn't want to waste time on basic quests that would send them fetching an item, delivering something, or harvesting little critters out in the nearby wilds. If she was on her own, that would be one thing, but since she had her friends…and acquaintances…she had a big enough party for them to handle whatever they may face. Walking right up the glaring dwarf, Raven placed one hand on her hip and held up one to gesture at her party.

"We'd like to help deal with the Gnoll situation," Raven announced.

The dwarf only continued to glare at her. It was as if he expected her to disappear on the spot as his glare continued to grow more intense, until finally one brow started to relax. "So…You think you can handle them slobberin' Gnolls, eh?"

"I don't think, I know," Raven stated with firmness. She had to be direct and confident with this NPC, as he appeared to be the type that didn't like to waste time.

"Is that so?" Grum snapped at her while crossing his arms over his massively broad chest. It looked like he was going to be difficult, then the edge of his lip curled up into a grin. "Considerin' you actually came up to me," he turned to direct his glare at all the other people that were hovering around the quest board and shouted with distain. "Unlike these spineless curs who won' even look me in the eye!" Meeting her gaze again, he softened his tone. "Al'right, we can give your lot a try. Least you all look like you might know what you're doin'!"

He started to move away from the board and waved for them to follow. Moving to fall in behind Grum, he led them to two massive wagons. Unlike traditional horses, these wagons had four sets of the largest rams any of them had ever seen. Each ram was almost as big as a full-grown bull, crowned by huge horns that corkscrewed over and around either side of their wide heads. There was a group of dwarves busy about the wagons loading them up.

A female dwarf stood on the riding seat of the first wagon, shouting out orders to the rest. They could tell her gender by her softer features, curvier body…and beardless face. She had two blonde ponytails tied back and draping over her broad shoulders. She wore leather armor that seemed to complement her figure but also give her practical coverage of vital areas. Resting on her back was a compound bow and a quiver filled with arrows.

Grum led the aspiring group up to the shouting dwarf ranger. Raven noting a bit of eagerness in his steps as they approached and inwardly smirked. Seemed Grum had a thing for loud blondes. Said blonde finally noticed Grum and her snarled lips lightly softened. "Grum?! Finally found a bunch that won' soil themselves the moment they see a Gnoll pointin' sharp things their way?"

"Seems I managed that, Frei," Grum answered and this time he held back the harsh edge in his words.

Frei may have noticed but seemed to wish to remain professional and eyed the 'adventurers' behind Grum. "Hmm, there sure are a lot of you. Usually it's just three or four rooks that fancy themselves skilled adventurers. But I see there be seven of you? How'd you know seven be my lucky number?"

Grum adverted his gaze as a slight rosiness appeared on his face. "Simply coincidence…just that."

"Mmhmm, well, seein' as there be seven of you lot, and that really is me lucky number. Guess it's worth a shot to give you bunch the quest," Frei confirmed and then whipped her head to the side and shouted very loudly. "Cinda! Get your purple-haired arse out here now! Stop tinkerin' with that rust-bucket toy you'll never get workin'!"

There came a clattering sound of metal from inside one of the wagons and a tiny figure with purple hair done up in a long ponytail hopped out. She was the smallest person Raven had ever seen. She was half a foot shorter than a gnome or a goblin, with a childish innocence that almost made her mistake this little thing for an infant, until she saw the sharp intelligence in her eyes. Face smeared in what looked like grease, the small person tried using an oversized leather glove to try and wipe away some of it off her forehead.

Sitting on her head was a pair of goggles that went with the blacksmith-like attire she wore. Thick boots with a black apron over her front that almost looked like a dress if you looked at her directly. When Raven angled her head somewhat, she saw the small woman was wearing baggy pants and a grey wool shirt and a heavy scarf that might have once been white, but was so stained with grease it was practically black now. What Raven and everyone was looking at…was a Halfling.

"Don't you be calling my greatest work a rust-bucket, Frei! Once I have it up and running, we won't need to worry about hiring anyone to help keep the caravan safe, ever again! Just you watch!" the Halfling declared.

Frei waved her off. "Till then, we be hirin' swords to do the fightin' for us, which from the looks of it will still be a long time a doin'!"

"Humph!" Cinda grunted and crossed her arms over her chest, throwing her chin up in the air, only adding to her child-like charm.

Ignoring the Halfling's outburst, Frei turned back to the group. "Not much of an engineer as she claims to be, least when it comes to makin' golems. But she's good at makin' sure a bunch of rooks like yourselves are fitted for the task at hand. She'll see to repairin' your gear and maybe even improvin' upon it."

"For a fair fee, course," Cinda added sharply.

"True enough, same with any new gear you may be wantin'. That will cost you, but whatever you lot find alon' the way will be considered yours if you find anythin' suitable," Frei nodded to them and then pointed the wagons. "Since we be so 'lucky' as to have seven of you. We're gonna make the most of it. Two of you are gonna ride up front with me, three in the middle and the remaining two in the last wagon. When you're ready to go, decide who wants to ride where. We're ready to head out now."

As soon as the dwarf had finished talking, everyone in the group suddenly had a window notice appear in front of them.

Quest Alert!

"Ride them Wagons!": (Keep Frei's caravan safe during the trip to the growing capital city. Mission Objectives: Slay 10 Gnolls, All wagons survive. Reward: 10 gold, 100+ reputation with Frei's Caravan, 100+ reputation with Capital of Zenoth. Other rewards vary depending on difficulty changes during quest!)

Accept: Yes/No?

The smile on Raven's face was infectious as everyone finished reading the notice. This was it! Their first quest! Ten gold would help them a lot once they reached Zenoth, or so they assumed if the currency in this world was like other games. Raven had set up the basic, copper, silver, gold coin standard method of payment, figuring it was easier that way. There were other ways to pay, like gems and platinum. Platinum coins being the highest currency. One thousand gold coins made up one platinum coin, ten silver made a gold coin, and ten copper coin made a silver coin.

She made platinum coins at a higher rate because of the rarity of the metal, and to set a goal for adventurers. It would make the value of gold worth more and sought after over silver and copper, and to keep this world's economy reasonable. She'll have to explain this world's currency system to her comrades, but they'll have plenty of time during the trip to the capital. Now they needed to decide who was going to ride where.

"Mind if I make a suggestion on how we should do this?" Raven asked.

"This is your game. You know how this works better than us, so go on, love," Argent said pleasantly.

Seeing everyone nodding or smiling in agreement, Raven felt a boost of confidence and proceeded. "I think we have one heavy hitter in the first and last wagon. Blackfire, you ride the first wagon along with myself. I can give quick support for you when you jump into a fight. Rose, you ride the last wagon along with Red X. Being another fighter, you'll be our other heavy hitter and Red X will scout for any dangers that might be trying to sneak up on us. Argent, Robin, and Jinx will ride in the middle wagon and give support to whichever wagon may need it the quickest."

No one disagreed with her decision. It was a balanced formation for the situation. If they were attacked by either end, they'd have a defender to give time for the others to either join in, or to watch out for other ambushes. Leaving Argent with the two main casters would provide them enough protection and time to cast their spells. Hopefully, if they are ambushed, it'll come from the front, which was why Raven wanted Blackfire and herself there. Being a barbarian, Blackfire's strength would be more ideal to handle a full-frontal attack, leaving Raven to remain on the wagon and using her songs to even Blackfire's odds. She didn't have a song to heal yet, but she could make sure Blackfire didn't take as much damage with what she had. Quicken Tempo would ensure Blackfire could get enough good hits with the increase bonus in her Speed and Dexterity, while using Blinding Melody would help blind any range attackers that tried to whittle her health down from afar.

Having Rose and Red X in the back would ensure they wouldn't be surprised if they were attacked from behind. Both were quick and agile fighters and could react fast enough to keep their rear safe. Robin was the main member of the party she had to make sure was protected. Pulling up his character sheet now that they were all in the same party, she looked at his stats.

Name: Robin

Race: Half-Elf
Character Level: 1

Attributes:

-HP: 160 (1.5 when not in combat)

-MP:290 (1.2 regen rate)

-SP: 170 (1.4 regen rate)

-Strength: 4

-Constitution: 8 (5+ for class profession) 13

-Intelligence:10 (5+ for racial perks) 15

-Dexterity: 7 (4+ for racial perks) 11

-Agility: 9

-Wisdom:11 (5+ for class profession) 16

-Charisma 7

-Luck: 8

Class: Druid

Class Traits:
-Druidcraft
-Spellcasting

-Animal Lore
-Level 1

Spell List:

-Nature's Wrath (Caster fires a bolt of nature magic at target, dealing 15x1 damage per casting) MP Cost: 10

-Healing Touch (Caster heals 120 HP to single target) MP Cost: 30

Racial Traits: Half-Elf

-Mental fortitude (Half-Elf/Half-Breed perk: 50% increase rate.)
-Spiritual Awareness (50% increase rate for having elven blood.)

-Mana Manipulation (50% increase rate for having elven blood.)

-Physical Fortitude (40% increase rate for having Human blood.)

Note: If you desire to obtain more traits, must seek them out through trial, tomes, and a little luck.

EXP: 0/150 to next level

He had an offensive and a healing spell. That would be handy when things got tough and keep the party alive. Once she learned her first healing song, then he and her could focus solely on support for everyone. At least until they all settled on what main path they wanted to follow. She knew Robin well enough that he would want to go with a fighter class as soon as possible, but was trying to be a good sport and help balance things out. Hopefully, everyone would learn one kind of healing spell or ability at some point, but for now at least they could get by until they could afford potions and medical supplies.

Truthfully, she would want everyone to learn First Aid as soon as possible. There was no telling when the group would be split up, or forced to take care of their own injuries until they could get to a healer. That's why she made things so versatile as she did. Taking a page from the game Skyrim: why only focus on one thing? They were in for a long-haul…everything she could to prepare them now would save them much grief later.

Suddenly, Raven's eyes widened in alarm. "DAMN! I almost forgot!"

Upon hearing Raven actually curse, Robin turned to her quickly. "What is it?"

"Respawn point!" Raven blurted out and then started looking frantically around.

"We have respawn points?" Argent asked.

Raven suddenly urged everyone to the side again, away from the caravan so none of the NPCs would overhear. Once they were far enough, she whispered to them. "I completely forgot about how respawns work here! And before you ask Red X, no, all of us dying won't end the game! I made it so we can keep going even if the entire group is wiped out, since there isn't a saving function to use…which I'm seriously going to add next chance I get."

"And a log-out option," Red X grumbled.

"That, too…yeah, seriously going to tweak things when we get out of here," Raven said with an apologizing tone.

"I'm still unfamiliar with most of your earth games, but from what you just said, we can't die?" Blackfire mused with a very eager smile. Immortality had always been a goal for her…what self-respecting Empress, even a former one, didn't dream of being immortal and ruling her world forever?

"We can still die, but we just don't stay dead. After a time-period, we'll come back to life at a respawn point…which will be whichever graveyard we'll be closet to, but only we can respawn," Raven said meaningfully, pulling everyone closer to whisper softer. "That means…if any NPC we encounter dies…they die for good, unless there is a healer that knows resurrection spells, and even then, those are not going to be common."

"So what if the NPCs die? That just means we don't have to deal with them again after we kill them," Red X brushed off, earning a death glare from Robin.

"It also means that if any NPCs that we allied with die, we lose whatever support we may get from them! Not to mention if we do nothing to save them, we lose reputation with them and whatever faction they are aligned to," Raven replied sharply.

"Oh, so that's why we get those reputation points from the quest," Blackfire said, wondering what was so good about receiving those.

"Yeah, the more reputation we gain with the NPCs the more options and pathways open up for us. Especially if we want to start learning other class skills and traits. We need to get as many of them on our side as possible!" Raven said, giving Red X a meaningful look.

Red X rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine, fine…don't kill the NPCS." Then he quickly added with a wicked smirk. "The beneficial ones, at least…"

Robin frowned and wanted to add no killing at all, but then remembered that this was supposed to be like a real video game. Their first quest stated they would have to slay ten Gnolls once they encountered them: so that was going to be unavoidable. He would just have to get used to that if they were going to beat this game world, whether he liked it or not. This wasn't Jump City or Gotham. Hell, this wasn't even earth anymore.

The rules were all different here and anyone that played any kind of RPG knew that you had to kill to gain EXP, or you'd never get anywhere. What he was having trouble with was how real and life-like the NPCs they've met so far were! If he didn't know any better, he'd have sworn he was talking to a real person! Raven truly outdid herself…or was this because of the game itself? Did it really create this world or did it simply send them to an alternate reality with new bodies?

He felt he should have analyzed the game himself before leaping into this situation. As much as he trusted Raven, he should have been more cautious, so why hadn't he? He didn't know the more he thought about it. It just felt like the right thing to do at the time, and if he was honest with himself. He wanted to make Raven happy. She looked so distraught when Beast Boy blew her off when she tried to show everyone her creation. Seeing how much work and energy she put into this game's creation, how could he not refuse trying it?

'Thank god, Bruce won't ever find out about this. He'd never let it down that I leapt before I looked at something that obviously could have been a trap,' Robin thought privately.

Pushing that unpleasant thought aside, Robin refocused on the conversation after realizing Raven was talking directly at him. "Hmm, I'm sorry, what?"

Raven gave him a concerned look, but them seemed to think against voicing her worry. They all needed to understand their situation. "Keep focus, Robin. This is critical. Yes, we can't die but when we do, it will split us up. Whoever is respawned will have to travel back to where they died and that could take any amount of time depending on which graveyard we respawn at."

Jinx groaned heavily. "It's bad enough I'm stuck in this small body, but if I get killed out there and respawn somewhere around here? How the hell long do you think it'll take for me to catch up with anyone with these stubbly legs!" she nearly yelled, gesturing once more to her small physique.

Everyone almost slapped their hands over her mouth, Red X beating them to the punch as he had closest and assuming the best agility out of all the group. His metallic hand almost knocked her jaw loose and she yelped in mild pain. Instantly everyone saw her HP bar, which appeared suddenly over her head drop by five points. Jinx flinched back and glared hotly at him, baring her sharp-pointy teeth. "The hell?"

It didn't hurt as much as it should have, but the shock of being struck and then seeing her health bar flash down in the bottom of her vision drop pissed her off more than anything.

"S-sorry," he said quickly, actually sounding worried. He started at his hand and looked back to her. "I didn't think…"

Jinx snapped at him before he could finish. "Next time, try thinking before slapping someone with your hands, you asshole! I'm just glad I didn't get scratched up by those claws! I'm ugly as it is, I don't need scars!"

Red X kept looking at his hand and frowned deeply. He seriously hadn't meant to hurt her, but he didn't take into account that his hands normal anymore. They were metal now and he oddly didn't 'feel' her skin when he smacked her. He felt a sense of pressure and knew he had touched something soft and warm, but it was different than how he used to feel with his hands. It was more like he registered he touched something, but not exact details a simple touch would have told him.

What's more, he caused serious harm with that simple gesture. Was this how Robin's teammate Cyborg felt? Was this the sensation he experienced every day with not having any a real body? What about the rest of his body? Was it entirely dulled sensed like this? He shuddered inwardly at that thought. There were things he'd like to do that required physical interaction. He was a guy after all and he was going to be around a bunch of hot chicks almost throughout this entire game.

Why wouldn't he try getting into one of two of their pants? Blackfire was seriously killing it with the cat-girl look. Argent was an exotic beauty with her draconic-like appearance. Hell, Rose was dead sexy as a demonspawn. Jinx…only exception considering he just got on her bad side. Plus, didn't trust going anywhere near someone with a mouth full of sharp teeth like she had now. There was one set of jewels he considered too precious to ever lose.

Then there was Raven herself. Yeah, she would probably take some time to work on, but it would so be worth it. She was the sexiest elf he ever saw, and he could only imagine what a freak in bed she might really be now. She seemed more personal and open with her feelings compared to the cold fish she had been before they started this game. He could seriously see them having a fun night together. Well, once he figured out how to charm her pants off.

Yet, there would be no point if he could barely feel the experience. Then again, only his hands and forelimbs were metallic. The rest of him still had flesh and once he had a moment of privacy, he'd check all his 'equipment' to make sure of what he was working with. No, he wasn't a narcissist…not by much. It was simply good to get familiar in a body he was going to be spending a lot of time in, or so he was telling himself. It wasn't like the others weren't going to do the same at some point, either.

He returned from his musing when he realized Jinx was still cursing loudly at him. "Look, I already apologized. I'm not going to keep doing that. Besides, look, you're HP already returned, so why are you still yelling at me?"

Its was true, her HP had returned to full bar in mere moments, and yet she still looked like she was going to chew his face off. "I'll yell at you all I want! You're not the one stuck in a midget body!"

The thief rolled his eyes and then held up his hands in a time-out gesture. "Okay, pipsqueak. I'm stopping you there. You're gonna have plenty of time to take your issues out on the Gnolls were gonna be hunting down. Save that aggression for them."

Not waiting to see what the ex-villain-turned-goblin would say after that, Red X turned away from them all and headed for the last wagon and hopped on, then accepted the 'Yes' option to for the quest. As soon as he did, a twenty second countdown appeared just slightly above their vision, what Raven needed to explain to her friends as their HUB screen. Once they had a chance to rest, she'd go over the basic game mechanics.

"Looks like we have to start or it starts for us," Rose remarked and headed after the rogue and joined him in their assigned wagon, urging everyone to quickly accept the quest before the timer ran out, and they all did.

Argent and Robin had to bodily pick up Jinx who was still in the middle of a fit and raging, kicking her legs and spouting mutilating threats she planned to do to the rogue when she got her chance. As the three got into the center wagon, Raven couldn't help but wander…was Jinx this angry because she was playing as a goblin, whom were know to be very short-tempered and quick to act, or was this really how Jinx was when she was upset.

It didn't occur to her until just now that maybe playing as a different race would affect their original personalities. She wasn't sure if she had set a limiter for that. Another thing to add to her list to modify her game after they got out of this. She'd have to experiment to see if that theory was correct. When she got into the first wagon with Blackfire, she felt now was a good time to try and ask her a key question.

"How you feeling?"

The feline ex-express turned to Raven and gave her a long blink. "Excuse me?"

"You know what I said," Raven said, knowing full well Blackfire understood her.

"Look, I'm here to just have fun. Not do the goodie-goodie thing you hero-types like to do and tell your 'besties' all your personal feelings, okay?" Blackfire retorted, using her clawed fingers to make quotation marks in the air at the specific word.

"I'm not asking you for that. I'm asking…how do you feel…compare to before you entered the game," Raven pressed, keeping direct with her. Blackfire was a bitch, even if Starfire was reluctant at times to admit that herself. Raven wasn't fooled by her attitude toward everyone around her. If she was going to get any answers from the space villain, she had to be straightforward.

Blackfire sighed in irritation and rolled her eyes, but she didn't ignore the question. She looked down at one of hand and flexed her claws out, admiring how they gleamed in the bright sunlight. She kept admiring her claws and after a few seconds more, Raven figured Blackfire was going to brush her off, then suddenly she spoke up.

"I feel…free."

"Can you explain it more?" Raven urged her, really wanting to know what she meant by that.

Blackfire seemed focused on her thoughts before she answered, trying to find the right explanation. "I feel like there's nothing I can't do. I can go where I want, say what I want. There's a confidence I hadn't had since I was…" she stopped abruptly and glared at the sky. "Forget it, it's not important."

"Blackfire…we don't know each other well enough to talk like this. I understand, but if you can tell me more about that feeling, I'll listen. Whenever you want to," Raven assured her, amazed she got that much out of the wicked alien empress.

Blackfire scoffed at her and kept her eyes up at the bright blue sky. "You'll be in for a long wait then…" Then she did another unsurprising thing and smiled. "…But thanks for not pushing the issue."

Raven smiled back. That was unexpected but it was a good start. Maybe there was a side to Blackfire no one knew, or maybe it was the game giving her that freedom she spoke about to finally be herself…much like it was doing for her. The wagon jolted as it began moving and Raven looked out over the driver's shoulders to the hilled roads head of them.

Their first journey…had begun.

xXx

A/N: And they're off! The story is off and our characters are starting to realize things are going to be changing...for better or for worse still remains to be seem.

Okay, here's a list of the stories that I've been reading that had inspired me to try a hand at writing Litrpg. If you haven't read these, I urge you to do so and give your support to these fantastic writers! This is just a small list of stories that I personally love. If you are interested in more, leave a review and a like, and I'll add another list of books to check out! Again, if you read these and like them, give these writers your support!

Life Rest: New Era Online by Sheme Kuznits

The Land: Chaos Seed series by Aleron Kong

Dante's Immortality: Beginnings by Antonio Terzini

Ascend Online by Luke Chmilenko

Stuff and Nonsense: Theardbare series by Andrew Seiple

Morningwood: Everyone Loves Large Chests by Neven Illiev

Eden's Gate: A LITRPG adventure by Edward Brody

Dan the Barbarian by Hondo Jinx

Dragon Seed: Archemi Online by James Osiris Baldwin

Level Up or Die!: Underworld series by Apollos Thorne

Dungeon Born: Divine Dungeon series by Dakota Krout

The Ritualist: The Completionist series by Dakota Krout