Another Party Member

The massive stone archway of Meridian City rose before them like something out of a fever dream. Itsuki had seen screenshots and videos of the game's premier hub city, but experiencing it firsthand was overwhelming. The VRMMO experience had always felt real, but this time it felt even more real. Towering spires of crystalline architecture pierced the sky, connected by bridges that glowed with magical energy. Player avatars filled every visible space: warriors in gleaming armor, robed mages, nimble rogues, and everything in between.

"First time in Meridian?" Olivia asked, noticing his wide-eyed expression.

"Yeah," Itsuki admitted, watching a group of people ride past on mechanical mounts that looked like crosses between motorcycles and dragons. "It's incredible."

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: UNKNOWN DATA PACKAGE DETECTED] [SENDER: CLASSIFIED] [WOULD YOU LIKE TO OPEN? Y/N]

Itsuki blinked at the sudden notification that appeared in his peripheral vision. He'd never seen anything like it. The text was a different color than normal system messages, with an almost ethereal quality that seemed to shimmer.

"Olivia, did you just get a weird—"

"HOLY CRAP, IS THAT A LEVEL ONE?"

The shout came from a nearby player, a burly warrior with a massive two-handed sword strapped to his back. His [Status Inspection] skill was clearly active, as evidenced by the scanning light that passed over Itsuki.

"No way," another player said, crowding closer. "Level 1? In Meridian? How did you even get past the Razor Canyon transport requirements?"

More players began gathering, their curious stares making Itsuki increasingly uncomfortable. Status inspection attempts pinged off him one after another, each player getting more confused by the results.

"His gear doesn't make sense," a female archer muttered. "Those stats are all wrong for a level 1."

"Must be a display bug," someone else suggested. "Never seen anything like it."

"Or he's using some kind of hidden mechanic," added a mage in elaborate robes. "I heard there are ways to mask your true level if you know the right people."

Olivia stepped closer to Itsuki, her expression growing protective. "Is there a problem here?"

The crowd finally noticed her, and several people immediately activated [Status Inspection] on the mage. The results clearly impressed them, judging by the sharp intakes of breath and widened eyes.

"Level 67 Divine Mage?" the warrior stammered. "What's someone of your caliber doing with a newbie?"

"That's none of your business," Olivia replied coolly.

"Look, miss," the archer said, stepping forward with what she probably thought was a winning smile. "My guild, Iron Vanguard, is always looking for high-level mages. We've got floor boss raids planned, legendary drop farming routes, and access to the Premium Auction House. You could be making serious progress instead of babysitting."

"My guild's offering better terms," interrupted another person wearing the insignia of Crimson Blade. "Full loot priority on magical gear, private guild housing in the noble district, and we're about to attempt the Phantom Spire dungeon chain."

More guild recruiters began pushing through the crowd, each offering increasingly elaborate incentives. Itsuki watched the chaos unfold with fascination and discomfort. This was exactly like the MMO recruitment scenes he'd read about in light novels.

"I'm not interested," Olivia said firmly, but the recruiters persisted.

"At least consider Azure Dawn," pressed a well-dressed person who looked like a guild officer. "We specialize in optimal party compositions and skill tree maximization. Your Divine Mage build would synergize perfectly with our tank specialist's Aegis Knight progression."

"She said no," Itsuki interjected, surprised by the firmness in his own voice.

The guild officer looked down at him with barely concealed disdain. "Listen, kid, I get that you're new, but this is a serious discussion about endgame content. Maybe you should focus on finding a newbie-friendly guild that can help you with basic quest chains and level grinding spots."

"Actually," Olivia said, her voice taking on a dangerous edge, "Itsuki is my party leader."

The silence that followed was deafening. Several people looked between them as if trying to process this information.

"Your... party leader?" the archer repeated slowly. "A level 1 is leading a level 67 Divine Mage?"

"That's impossible," the mage said. "The party formation mechanics don't even allow that kind of level gap without special permissions."

Itsuki glanced at the still-waiting notification in his vision. Whatever was in that mysterious package, now seemed like a good time to check it out.

"Excuse me for a moment," he said, then mentally selected [YES].

[UNKNOWN SYSTEM DATA PACKAGE OPENING...] [DECRYPTING ADMINISTRATIVE PROTOCOLS...] [INSTALLATION COMPLETE] [WARNING: THESE TOOLS ARE FOR DEBUGGING PURPOSES ONLY] [NEW ABILITIES UNLOCKED:] [SYSTEM INSPECTION] - [EXPERIENCE OVERRIDE] - [HIDDEN STATUS ACCESS] - [CODE DEBUGGING MODE] - [ADMINISTRATIVE BYPASS]

Itsuki stared at the new options that had appeared in his interface. These definitely weren't normal player abilities. Before he could process what they meant, the crowd around them was interrupted by a commotion from the nearby Merchant District.

"SOMEBODY HELP! MY WORKSHOP'S GOING TO EXPLODE!"

The cry came from a pink-haired girl who was running toward the plaza, her arms waving frantically. She wore a unique combination of leather work clothes and mechanical accessories that marked her as an Artificer, one of the game's rarest crafting classes.

"Rina!" someone in the crowd called out. "What did you blow up this time?"

"It's not my fault!" the girl (apparently named Rina) protested as she skidded to a stop near their group. "The Steam Pressure Regulator I was working on just started going crazy! The Stabilization Crystals are overloading and if they go critical, they'll take out half the Crafting Quarter!"

Several guild recruiters immediately perked up. Crafting disasters often led to rare salvage opportunities or emergency quest chains that could provide valuable rewards.

"How long until critical?" the Azure Dawn officer asked, already calculating potential profits.

"Maybe ten minutes?" Rina said, looking increasingly panicked. "I need someone with high-level engineering skills or advanced magical theory to help stabilize it!"

"I might be able to help," Olivia offered, stepping forward. "Divine magic has purification properties that can neutralize unstable energies."

Rina's eyes lit up. "Really? That would be amazing! Though..." she hesitated, looking Olivia up and down. "No offense, but divine magic and mechanical engineering don't usually mix well. The magical resonance can interfere with precision calibrations."

"I assure you, I know what I'm doing," Olivia replied, a slight edge creeping into her voice. "I've studied theoretical magical applications extensively."

"Theoretical is great," Rina said with a nervous laugh, "but this is practical engineering. One wrong frequency modulation and the whole thing goes boom even faster."

Itsuki watched the exchange with growing unease. He could see both sides of the argument, and neither girl seemed willing to back down.

"Look," Olivia said, "divine magic operates on pure energy manipulation principles. If I can identify the harmonic frequencies of your crystals, I can create a stabilization field that—"

"That's exactly the problem!" Rina interrupted. "Divine magic doesn't follow mechanical resonance patterns! It's all intuitive casting and emotional triggers. What I need is precise frequency control and measured energy output!"

The crowd was growing larger, drawn by the argument and the potential disaster. Itsuki noticed several people pulling out recording crystals to capture whatever was about to happen.

"You're being narrow-minded," Olivia said, her composure starting to crack. "Magic and technology can work together if you understand the underlying principles."

"And you're being arrogant!" Rina shot back. "Just because you've read about energy theory in some ancient texts doesn't mean you understand modern engineering!"

Here we go, Itsuki thought, watching the two girls square off. Magic versus science. The classic debate.

The funny thing was, in most fantasy stories he'd read, magic and science ended up being two sides of the same coin. Advanced magic looked like technology, and sufficiently advanced technology was indistinguishable from magic. Both girls were passionate and brilliant in their own ways, and he respected them for standing their ground.

But that respect didn't stop him from wincing when Olivia raised her staff.

"Fine," the healer said, divine light beginning to gather around her. "Let me show you what divine magic can accomplish."

"Bring it on!" Rina replied, pulling out what looked like a Steam-Powered Gauntlet and several small mechanical devices. "Time for a practical demonstration of engineering superiority!"

The crowd immediately backed up, forming a makeshift arena around them. Someone shouted "FIGHT!" and suddenly the plaza erupted in cheers and betting as people began placing wagers on the outcome.

"Divine Lance!" Olivia called out, sending a spear of pure white light streaking toward Rina.

The artificer was ready. She activated her gauntlet, which extended into a Mechanical Shield Generator, creating a hexagonal barrier of energy that absorbed the attack.

"Smoke Grenade Barrage!" Rina countered, tossing several small devices that exploded in clouds of concealing vapor.

Olivia tried to track her opponent through the smoke, but Rina had already moved. The artificer emerged from an unexpected angle, her gauntlet now configured as some kind of Pressure Cannon.

"Steam Burst!"

The attack caught Olivia off-guard, sending her stumbling backward. She recovered quickly, raising her staff for another spell, but Rina was already pressing her advantage.

"Cable Snare!" Mechanical wires shot out from devices on Rina's belt, wrapping around Olivia's ankles.

"Purification Field!" Olivia's magic dissolved the cables, but she was clearly struggling to adapt to Rina's unpredictable fighting style.

Itsuki watched with growing concern as the fight escalated. Olivia was powerful, but her combat experience was clearly limited to theoretical applications and controlled scenarios. Rina, on the other hand, fought like someone who'd learned through trial and error, street experience, and practical necessity.

"Divine Hammer!" Olivia launched a massive attack that cratered the ground where Rina had been standing.

But the artificer had already rolled away, coming up with a new weapon: some kind of Alchemical Launcher.

"Binding Foam Canister!"

The projectile exploded on impact, covering Olivia in a rapidly-hardening substance that locked her in place. She struggled against the restraints, trying to cast Purification again, but Rina was already at her throat with what appeared to be a Sonic Disruptor.

"Yield," Rina said firmly. "One more frequency pulse and you'll be status-effected for the next hour."

Olivia's face flushed red with embarrassment and frustration, but she nodded. "I... yield."

The crowd erupted in cheers and groans as bets were settled. Rina helped dissolve the binding foam with some kind of Chemical Solvent, then offered Olivia a hand up.

"Good fight," the artificer said with a grin. "Your spell power is incredible, but you need more practical combat experience."

"I... yes," Olivia admitted quietly. "You're right. I've been too reliant on theoretical knowledge."

Itsuki approached them both, feeling oddly proud of how they were handling the aftermath. "You both fought well. Different approaches, different strengths."

"Thanks," Rina said, then looked at him more closely. "Hey, you're that mysterious level 1 everyone's talking about, right? There's something weird about your status display. Mind if I take a look?"

Before Itsuki could respond, she activated some kind of Advanced Inspection Device, clearly a higher-tier version of the standard skill. Her eyes widened as she read the results.

"What the hell? Your system signature is completely scrambled. It's like you're running custom modifications or something."

Several people in the crowd who overheard this began activating their own [Status Inspection] on Rina, curious about someone skilled enough to notice details they'd missed.

"Level 65 Master Artificer?" someone whispered. "No wonder she can see what we couldn't."

"Custom modifications?" Olivia repeated, looking intrigued despite her recent defeat.

"Yeah, like administrative protocols or debugging tools," Rina explained. "I've never seen anything like it. Where did you get access to developer commands?"

Developer commands? Itsuki thought, staring at Rina with new interest. She can see into this world's code like it's a video game. That's... incredibly useful. Having someone who's lived in this world but can still see it as a game system could be exactly what I need.

Itsuki glanced at his still-expanding list of new abilities. "It's... complicated."

"This is so cool!" Rina exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Can I study your system configuration? I've been trying to understand the underlying architecture of the game's mechanical systems, and this could be the breakthrough I need!"

"Actually," Olivia said thoughtfully, "if you're interested in system architecture, maybe we could work together. Divine magic operates on similar fundamental principles, just from a different angle."

Rina looked between them, then grinned. "You know what? You're both pretty cool. Mind if I tag along? I promise to help you both improve: practical engineering for you," she pointed at Olivia, "and maybe some magic theory for me."

"Actually," Itsuki said, remembering the crisis that had started all this, "shouldn't we be dealing with your exploding workshop?"

Rina's eyes went wide. "Oh crap! I completely forgot!" She grabbed both of their hands. "Come on! We can form a proper party after we save the Crafting Quarter!"

[PARTY JOIN REQUEST FROM: RINA GEARWRIGHT] [ACCEPT? Y/N]

Itsuki mentally accepted, and immediately felt the familiar sensation of a party link forming. Olivia must have accepted too, because Rina's status appeared in his peripheral vision: [RINA GEARWRIGHT - LV 65 MASTER ARTIFICER - HP: 2840/2840 - MP: 1650/1650]

As they ran toward the Merchant District, Itsuki found himself smiling. This was exactly the kind of adventure he'd been hoping for. Looking around at the bustling city (people haggling at auction houses, groups forming for dungeon raids, quest givers calling out to passersby), he felt like he was finally experiencing the true Astral Caliber world.

And with his new debugging tools and two brilliant companions, he had a feeling things were about to get very interesting indeed.

◇◇◇

The Crafting Quarter was in chaos when they arrived. Steam-powered machinery throughout the district was sparking and smoking, and several shopkeepers were frantically trying to protect their wares. Rina's workshop, identifiable by the massive DANGER: EXPLOSION HAZARD signs hastily posted around it, was glowing ominously.

"Okay," Rina said, pulling out various diagnostic tools. "The Stabilization Crystals are definitely overloading. Normal engineering solutions would take too long, and pure magic would just make it worse." She looked at both of them. "But maybe, if we combine precise magical control with targeted mechanical intervention..."

Olivia nodded slowly. "Theoretical collaboration instead of competing methodologies."

"Exactly!" Rina beamed. "And with your friend's weird system access, maybe we can debug the whole thing in real-time!"

Itsuki looked at his new abilities. [SYSTEM INSPECTION] might let him see what was actually causing the malfunction, while [CODE DEBUGGING MODE] could help them fix it at the source.