Novels2Search
A New Beginning By Aerebes
Prologue: A New Beginning

Prologue: A New Beginning

Be brutal (not too brutal, constructive only please). This is my first time doing creative writing.

I thought it would be interesting to experience the game from a different perspective.

Someone (probably MC's) thoughts

~Machine-like voice~

-sound effect-

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Darkness. More accurately, nothingness, as I could see myself perfectly fine.

~The scan on your irises and veins have determined that you are an unregistered user. Would you like to create an account?~

“Yes please.”

~Select the name of your Avatar.~

“Hmm…”

I kind of like Loor………Oops!

“Loor”

~Select a gender from Male, Female, or Neutral.~

Ooh, I wonder what neutral gender is…If it’s really bad I can just remake my character.

“Neutral”

~Royal Road has forty-nine races. You may select your race from the primary twenty-nine available~

“Random, please.”

~You may alter your appearance. Would you like to do so?~

I should really make sure I didn’t end up as something disgusting.

“May I see how I look?”

Floating in front of Loor’s eyes, a person dressed in nondescript brown clothing appears. At first glance it seems to be a 5’6” tall, tan, effeminate human male. Shoulder-length brown hair, bright green eyes, and a rather large, aquiline nose are readily apparent. Upon closer inspection, he notices sharply pointed ears, thus deducing it must be an elf.

“I’ve never really liked my nose…could you make it a little smaller and straighter?”

The nose of the ‘person’ in front of Loor appears much more in proportion to the rest of the face now.

“Thanks. That’s all.”

~Your account has been activated. Your stats and skills will be determined while you are playing Royal Road.~

~Select a city in which you wish to start.~

“Random, please.”

~Welcome to Royal Road. Would you like to participate in the tutorial?~

“Yes please.”

"Really?!"

“Yes. Is something wrong with that?”

"Oh, umm." ~No. Have a pleasant journey.~

“Why thank you.”

A bright light flashes and Loor finds himself blinking in the middle of a small clearing in the forest. He is wearing the same brown clothes as the floating person was before. The sun is shining down brightly from an extremely blue cloudless sky. A young woman stands at the edge of the tree line.

Oh yeah, that's why it’s called sky blue. Don't really see that too often.

-bong-

Suddenly a translucent window appears before him.

Royal Road TutorialWelcome to Royal Road. This tutorial will guide you along basic tasks in order to give you a general understanding of how to work within the highly realistic Virtual Reality. Additionally, you will be provided with some basic items and useful tips that will prove helpful at the start of your journey.

Current Task: Open Quest window

Information: To open the quest list, say “quests.” Alternatively, you may say “Character Menu” and navigate to the quest window from there. We encourage you to try all possibilities. Once at the quest window, open the window for this quest by tapping it with your finger. You may move on once you have done so.

“Quests”

Quest List--Royal Road Tutorial--

An introduction to the mechanics of high realism virtual reality and Royal Road.

Whoa, that is so cool. Wait…what is that?

To Loor’s complete surprise, he looks behind himself and sees a long, furry, feline tail. It looks just like a brown panther’s tail. Where in the world did that come from…? It’s kinda cute. I’ll investigate more later.

“Character Menu”

A bunch of floating, translucent ovals appear in front of Loor. Each one has a different word inside. He starts scanning them, looking for Quests.

Inventory……Friends……Ignore……Aha! Quests.

As Loor taps the quest oval the Quest List window appears again. This time he also taps the Royal Road Tutorial rectangle and is rewarded with a nice, cheery chime.

Royal Road TutorialCongratulations on taking your first step into becoming an emperor. From now on you may use the process you just learned to return to this quest window if you ever forget what your current task is. Furthermore, the chime you just heard indicates an update of the current task.

Current Task: View the stat window.

Information: You can either simply say “Stats,” or use the character menu you just learned about and navigate to ‘stats.’ Alternatively, saying ‘Character Window’ shows a picture of your avatar, your stats, and a list of the names of learned skills. Additionally, say ‘Information ’ to view more information about an individual stat.

“Character window.”

Instantly, a large window with oodles of information appears.

NameLoorRaceHybrid ElfHealth80/80Mana120/120Level1Experience0.00%Strength8Agility10Wisdom12Intelligence12Dexterity10Vitality8Stamina80/80Characteristics—Androgynous—

—Elemental Connection—

—Animal Magnetism—

—Natural Camouflage—

—Infravision—

—Maker's Skill—Skills—Handicraft—

Yikes, that’s a lot of information. Gonna have to figure out what some of those mean.

“Information Vitality”

-ding-

To Loor’s surprise, the chime indicating a task change sounds when the window appears.

I guess that was the next task.

Vitality

A rough measurement of physical resilience. Helps determine Health and Stamina.

“Information Mana”

Mana

A measure of overall mental force. Allows for the manipulation of magic.

Hmm, that’s kind of annoying…I wonder if I can just…say them all at once.

“Information Maker's Skill, Information Infravision, Information Natural Camouflage, Information Animal Magnetism, Information Elemental Connection, Information Androgynous”

Maker's Skill [Passive]

Gray elves, like dwarves, are naturally drawn towards creating. As only part gray elf, you are are not fully affected by this compulsion.

Effect: Handicraft skill obtained

Infravision

Dark elves have the ability to see in total darkness by looking into the infrared spectrum. As only part dark elf, you must use mana to activate this ability.

Effect: See subtle differences in Heat

Mana Cost: 3/sec

Natural Camouflage [Passive]

Wood elves have a natural ability to blend into the forest, even exuding the scent of the forest. As only part wood elf, this ability is only half as effective for you.

Effect: Enemies less likely to detect you in woody environments.

Animal Magnetism [Passive]

Moon elves have a natural connection with all wild beasts. As only part moon elf, this connection is only half as strong for you.

Effect: +5 familiarity with any non-humanoid beast.

Elemental Connection [Passive]

High elves have natural talents with all forms of magic. As only part high elf, these talents are only half as strong for you.

Effect: All magical effects cast by you gain +5% magnitude

Androgynous [Passive]

As a member of the neutral gender, all natives see you as whichever gender they prefer to speak with. However, if you get too close with someone, they may discover you are not actually what they thought you were. Therefore, you keep your distance.

Effect: Player gains relationship bonuses of both genders, without the penalties.

Penalty: Relationship may not progress beyond Good Friends.

Cool, they give you lots of fun stuff, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to see heat.

Loor attempts to activate his Infravision skill, but quickly runs into a problem.

……Right…how do I actually use a skill? Guess I should just continue with the tutorial.

Having thought this, Loor navigates again to the tutorial quest window.

Royal Road TutorialNow that you know what some of your stats mean, it is time to look at your skills. Don’t worry, soon you will know enough to start interacting with the world around you.

Current Task: Open Skill list

Information: To open the skill list, say “skills.” Alternatively, you may use the character menu and navigate to skills from there. “Information ” can be used to acquire more detailed information about a specific skill. Or you could just tap the skill name in the skill list.

Loor, having already seen his skill list, powers right through these instructions by barely glancing at the windows that pop up.

-ding-

-ding-

A smug look appears on Loor’s face after hearing two chimes in quick succession.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Hehe, I must be doing this much faster than other people!

He again navigates to the quest window.

Royal Road TutorialVery good. Remember, without first obtaining a class, you are limited to only 15 total skills. This restriction is completely lifted after your first transition into a class. Additionally, skill level restrictions may apply according to your primary class. Gaea will further instruct you.

Current Task: Speak with the Lady at the edge of the trees.

Uh oh…what does that mean ‘skill level restrictions.’ Skills have levels? I shouldn’t have skipped the other windows.

Deciding that there is nothing he could do about it now, Loor walks towards the woman in order to continue learning. She is a beautiful woman, with long golden hair, and a soft, kind face. A simple moss green dress hints at a well-proportioned body and complements eyes the color of the sky above.

“Hello miss, you are Gaea, correct?”

The Lady’s eyes sparkle with amusement as her mouth turns up at the corners into a grin. She says in a melodious voice “Yes, I am Gaea, The Holy Seeress. It is nice to finally see someone out here. Come, you have much to learn young one.”

“You wouldn’t happen to have a hairband, would you? This is kinda getting in the way.” Loor asks, gesturing at his hair.

“Ah, yes, here you go.” Gaea reaches into the pocket of her dress, retrieves a dark brown hairband, and hands it to Loor. With a practiced motion, Loor pulls up his hair into a neat ponytail.

“Now, follow me”

They trek a short way into the broadleaf forest before coming upon a small camp. Around the fire pit stand two stumps sized perfectly for sitting and a small tent a bit further away. As Gaea sits down, she motions for Loor to take a seat on the stump opposite her. “Let us begin.” She says. “First say ‘inventory.’ This command shows you any items currently in your possession, as well as how much they weigh.”

After saying this command, an empty window appears before Loor. “Nothing’s there.”

“Of course, you have not yet obtained any items.” Gaea says, laughing softly. “Here, take this canteen and place it in the window.”

Loor takes the leather-wrapped, metal canteen, sticks his arm through the surface of the window, and opens his hand.

That looks so weird.

“Wow!”

-bong-

Stat Created: Innocence

Gaea giggles at Loor’s wonder.

“Ooh, a new stat was created! Does that mean a lot more stats than just the starting ones exist?”

Gaea looks at Loor in surprise. “You must have done that quite a bit before if a stat was created. Yes there are many different stats. Why don’t you check how that stat works? I don’t mind waiting.”

“Okey dokey, I’ll do that. Information Innocence.”

Innocence

Your childlike delight and naivety causes sentient beings to be more hesitant to harm you. However, if non-sentient beasts detect your Innocence, they will attack.

Stat points may not be distributed to this stat.

This stat will rise spontaneously as a result of your actions.

Loor closes the window and looks again at Gaea.

“Now, young one, I will teach you how to use a skill. To use a skill, you must first have a skill, so I will teach you how to make a campfire.”

Gaea takes Loor through the steps of building a campfire. From collecting nice, dry tinder to large pieces of fuel. Finally, she teaches him how to light a campfire without using any special tools.

-bong-

You have learned a new skill: Campfire

“Now, you may either go through the full process of creating a campfire the way I just showed you, or you may gather the materials, tap them, and simply say ‘Campfire.’” Gaea instructs “The first method has the advantages of training the skill much faster and customization of the shape of the campfire. As you may imagine, the second method is much easier. Now you try.”

Just tapping a pile of logs doesn’t sound like much fun.

Loor gathers all the materials and rubs a dry stick against the tinder in order to create sparks. After about five minutes of effort, a tiny curl of smoke starts rising from the point of connection between the sticks and log. He gently blows on the miniscule spark to fan it into life. The fire starts licking at the dry kindling surrounding the tinder and catches. As it begins to crackle merrily, a rectangular window appears in front of Loor.

Campfire gains 20% proficiency.

“I did it! I’ve never made a campfire like that before!”

“Well done!” Gaea says, smiling warmly “Now you know how to use skills. Next I will show you some basic fighting.”

Gaea walks into the tent and returns with a small bundle. “First, what color clothes would you like?”

“But I already have clothes.”

“Those boring old things? You need something nicer.”

“Okay, what colors do you have?”

“All of the basic colors of the rainbow, black, and white.”

“Can I get a blue shirt and black pants?”

“Of course, here you are.” Gaea reaches into the bundle and pulls out a shirt and trousers similar in style to those Loor is already wearing.

“Just put on the clothing as you would normally. You may use the tent for some privacy.”

Loor enters the tent and replaces his brown clothing with the more interesting colors. The fabric they are made of seems much finer than the ones he just took off. When he exits the tent, he jumps in startled fright, seeing Gaea holding a short metal sword.

Gaea giggles softly and holds out the sword for Loor to take.

“Tap the sword, and select examine, or just say ‘examine sword’ to see the readily visible statistics.”

Loor does so and a window appears in front of him.

Beginner’s Iron Sword Damage 1-5 Durability 50/50

A sword given by the Holy Seeress as part of your training.

Cannot be Improved

“Wow, thanks!”

“You’re quite welcome. Get ready to use that sword.”

“What?”

Gaea grins, brings her right hand to her mouth, and lets out a piercing whistle.

Loor hears rustling in the forest and starts to panic. Just as he is about to run away, a small brown rabbit emerges from the bushes and stares at him.

………I was afraid of a bunny

Grinning at his foolishness, Loor is taken by surprise when the bunny suddenly jumps to attack him. He tries to evade it, but stumbles and is gashed on the forearm by her large teeth. Loor attempts to retaliate with a clumsy swing of his new sword. The bunny avoids it easily. The sword is heavier than he expected and he overbalances. He does a funny little pirouette and falls to the ground. Taking advantage of his weakness, the bunny jumps on his chest and starts kicking his face like crazy. The red bar in the corner of his eye was getting very low at this point. Just as it was about to empty completely, Gaea calls for the bunny to stop and says a few words.

“Healing Hand.”

Suddenly, a bright light appears above Loor’s head and the red bar returns to full.

“Until you are able to defeat Nerat here, we cannot move on.”

Slightly annoyed by this pronouncement, Loor nevertheless stands up and gets into a ready position. This time, he attempts to draw first blood in the battle.

He fails.

Nerat evades his slow thrust and slashes at his leg with her teeth. Desperate to get the rabbit away from him, Loor kicks out wildly. By some lucky chance, he connects directly with Nerat’s body. She goes flying into a tree. Much to Loor’s consternation, she gets back up without a problem. Now, however, Nerat is swaying on her feet. She seems to have gotten a concussion. She hops drunkenly towards Loor, much slower than before. Loor gets ready to swing his sword and times it to make perfect contact with Nerat.

Gaea again calls for the battle to stop. She says those same words and a light appears over Nerat this time. Gaea pets Nerat, thanks her, and dismisses her.

“Congratulations, you are ready to adventure through the world.” Gaea pronounces as she pats him on the back “All that’s left is to teach you how to rest your soul, and give you a small gift.”

“Rest my soul?”

“Yes, either say ‘Log out’ or 'System Menu' and tap the words that say log out.”

Ah, so that is the term for logging out.

“Do I have to do it now?”

“No, you just needed to know how to do it.”

Gaea enters the tent again and returns with a brown leather backpack. “Here is the gift I mentioned, It increases your inventory capacity, and has some helpful items inside already.”

“Thank you so much for helping me!”

“Think nothing of it. I will now drop you off just inside the city gates. You will not be allowed to leave for one month. I suggest either going to the training hall to practice your sword skills, or going to the library to learn some more.”

They walk on a path through the forest for a short time. Exiting the forest, they see a large field absolutely covered with tree stumps. Near the large wooden walls in the distance is a cluster of people engaged in heated battle with rabbits and the occasional fox. While they walk along the road to reach the gates of those walls, no animals attack them and people turn to stare, eyes wide, at the golden-haired beauty. As Loor and Gaea walk through the gates, the guards bow deeply to the Holy Seeress.

“This is where I must leave you, good luck on your journey.”

-bong-

You have completed the Tutorial!

For being the first player to complete the tutorial, +5 unallocated stat points.

The only thing running through Loor’s mind as she reads this is...What the……I thought this game has been out for over a year now.

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Pronouns referring to Loor are interchangeable. Am trying to use the opposite of whichever gender is more abundant in the area.

Don't hesitate if anything in the tutorial seems unreasonable. I tried to make it fairly balanced.

I am horrible at inventing names, any suggestions for the city?

Should i keep it third person or switch to first person from Loor's point of view? Past tense or Present tense?

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