Chapter 2 Lost Child

Micheal opened his eyes to find himself laid down staring at a white ceiling. He sat up and examined his surroundings. He discovered that he was in a vast colorless room. Light was emanating from each side of the room.

He was filled with excitement. He checked for anything wrong with him. He had the same hospital attire he had before which consisted with a light blue gown and slippers. His body didn't feel any different than in the real world.

A large, childish smile grew on Micheal's face. This is amazing! he thought. It feels exactly like reality! He tested his arms and legs. After he was satisfied, he stood up. As soon as he stood up, though, a feminine voice erupted in his ears.

"Welcome! To Adventure Online!"

Surprised by the voice seemingly coming from nowhere, he fell back shrieking.

"Agh!!"

Micheal looked around, but he couldn't find the voice's origin. Again, the voice spoke in his ear and said:

"Please select your race", the voice said.

As it was said, a row of five squares appeared in front of Micheal. Each one showed a different version of himself. Micheal quickly lost interest in finding the voice's location.

He stared wide-eyed at the row in front of him. He tried to touch one of these images, but his arm fazed through. He stared curiously at each image. After a while, though, the voice appeared again interrupting his curious state:

"Please select your race"

Micheal carefully looked at each race. Hmm..I what should I choose? Micheal thought, I don't know what advantages each race has. Micheal decided to ask the voice. He looked up and said:

"Excuse me, voice? Could you tell me what makes each race different?",Micheal asked.

"..."

Micheal waited, but there was no answer. Micheal felt silly staring at the sky for a voice. Just when he was about to give up, though, the voice answered with a surprisingly different tone.

"Certainly! First, I have to explain stats though. There are six basic stats each player has: strength, agility, dexterity, vitality, intellect, and wisdom. Now-"

She continues. Basically, stats could affect your damage, health, skill efficiency, and other things. For example, increasing strength improves attack damage and your physical strength.

Increasing agility allows less fatigue, more speed, and more flexibility. Dexterity improves accuracy and certain crafting skills. Vitality improves health and stamina. Intellect increases magic damage and it's effectiveness. Wisdom increases the mana limit.

There are other stats too but they had to be unlocked for them to be obtained. Each stat increases as you complete certain actions or use skill points to increase these stats. Depending on your race, though, there was different types of growth. Beast men, for example, gain 2 points in strength for every skill point while humans gain 1 point in strength.

Micheal was tremendously happy for asking the voice and was no longer ashamed of his previous action as it provided him with important information. I should ask some more questions after this, he thought.

"And so, we continue on to races. As of now, there are only five races: humans, elves, dwarves, beast men, and demons. Elves have 2x the growth rate in agility and dexterity than normal, dwarves have 2x the growth rate in dexterity and vitality, beast men have 2x the growth rate in strength and vitality, demons have 2x the growth rate of intellect and wisdom, and humans have 1.5x the growth rate in all stats. There is still races to be unlocked also. Would you like to know more or would you like to choose now?"

Micheal was currently deep in thought. Hmm...which race should I choose? Right now, I want to learn magic, but I don't want to be weak in strength! I don't want to be an elf because that would lean toward thief, assassin or archer, and I'm not that confident in speedy attacks. Dwarves seem to only be useful for crafting classes. I don't want to be focused solely on crafting.

Beast men seem to lean on berserkers or warriors, and demons seem to lean on mage type classes. Really, humans would be the best choice because they're the most balanced, but they have the least skill point growth! When beast men reaches 20 strength, humans get 15! Ahh, I wish I prepared beforehand!! Micheal adjusted his original position and walked toward the human image.

"I would like this one please." He said, pointing to the image.

"Thank you!", the voice responded as the other images disappeared. "Would you like to change it's appearance?"

Micheal looked at his character closely. I guess I could make it less pale, he thought. He told the voice and it quickly became tanner. That's better, he thought smiling. Then he accepted and the screen disappeared.

"Now, please choose your username."

Micheal thought for a bit before choosing. Well, I am pretty sad.....how about Weed? He informed and the voice rejected him, responding it was already taken. Haha, thought so. That was Drake's favorite character in something called a light novel. Turns out it was pretty popular. He tried again using his own name.

"Umm...Micheal101?"

The voice again responded it was already taken. He sighed. Obviously, without proper care, he wouldn't find an original username without proper care so, he then decided to add some serious thought to it. He thought about his life so far, how everything grew sad after his parents' death, how his friends online comforted him, how he received the bad news, how happy he was when he got the capsule. After deep consideration, he decided on a name.

"How about 'HappinessOnline'?"

"....ID accepted. Start Adventure Online?"

Micheal was relieved. He could finally get started on the game!

"Yes"

A screen then popped up in front of him. A selection of moving images of busy market places appeared in front of him. He looked at each one in awe.

It's as if brought from a fantasy book! In each one, a wide collection of races were in each one.

The buildings were all made of stone and wood. Some wood more than stone. Some had demons in wizard outfits while others had dwarves working near a furnace. Some had elves settling prices with human merchants on bows. Micheal continued to examine the images until the voice interrupted him,

"Please select your location"

Micheal flinched as he was brought out of his fascination. He looked to each one and asked for the least populated center. That way there would be more space to grind, he thought. The voice responded,

"Kaki Thesi, the one to the very left" the voice responded.

Micheal looked to the very left and frowned a bit. Indeed, it was lacking people. Some market spaces were empty and there was a considerably less crowd than in the other images, but it was horribly dirty and there was groups that had an unpleasant feel to them going to suspicious alley ways.

Suddenly, Micheal moved closer to the image. In the distance, a small child in rags was calling out to his mother on the streets. People were looking at him with disgust as they regarded him as a filthy beggar looking for pity and money.

They moved away from the boy. The boy looked in the crowd with a past expression of Micheal's. Micheal knew that expression well. That was the expression of depression, of fear of abandonment, of a small child in the brink of tears. An exact image of a young Micheal. Immediately, he spread into action. He went into sprinting position. He alerted the voice of where he wanted to go:

"Voice, please send me to Kaki Thesi."

"Are you sure? There's no going back." The voice sounding suspicious ly human.

"Yes! I'm sure!!" Said Micheal, paying no attention to the voice.

"Alright! Kaki Thesi! City of thieves! Coming right up!"

Micheal sprinted toward the kid as soon as the portal arose. Behind him he could hear laughter, but he couldn't pay attention to that. He was only focused on the small child. He went toward the small boy in a surprising pace, going through multiple people, not stopping until he reached him. Just as he was about to cry, Micheal leapt through the crowd to him. The kid flinched in surprise as Micheal bent over hands on knees smiling at him. He was breathing heavily.

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

"....Hi....there!..Are you...lost?", he said with a heart felt smile despite his short-winded appearance.

The kid, suspicious, backs away a few steps and says,"Excuse me mister but ...who are you?" in innocent blue eyes.

Micheal warmly smiles back and, regaining his breath, says,"I'm no one much, just trying to help."

Micheal goes down on both knees to meet with the child eye level. He looks at the child in the eyes and says,

"I'm Micheal, what's your name?"

The child replies,"..G...Gabriel"

"Pleasure to meet you Gabriel! I heard you calling for you're mother earlier. Could you tell me her name?" Micheal asks.

"Sa..Samantha" he responds shyly.

Micheal laughs inside as he sees little Gabriel look down as he speaks.

"Well Gabriel, do you want to help me find your mom?"

Gabriel sniffles and replies,"yes"

"Then could you tell me what she looks like and when you last saw her?"

Gabriel looks down for a second before looking at Micheal. A doubtful expression shown on his face. Micheal sees this and laughs.

"I can see you don't trust me much. Don't worry, I'm harmless! I can barely hurt a fly!"

Micheal makes an impression of catching a fly with his hand. He looks back at Gabriel and, sure enough, Gabriel is cutely giggling at his impression. Micheal lightly smiles. There were times when young patients were next to his room. At that time, they would visit his room and he would play with them. Micheal then crouches to Gabriel's height.

"Now, would you tell me about your mother?"

Gabriel thinks before replying with an adorable smile,"Okay!"

He starts,"She has a scar right here" He points at his eyes,"And eyes and hair like mine too. My Mommy's really amazing too! She's reaaally tall, and really strong too! One time, she even wrestled a bear!"

Micheal smiles as Gabriel stretches his blonde hair to show to Micheal. Even though I know he's an AI, Micheal ruminates, he really is like the real thing. He puts a hand on Gabriel's head.

"Well, Gabriel, I think we can find your Mommy easily with your description. Do you know where your house is?"

He shakes his head,"No, Mommy takes me to a lot of places but we don't have a home. My home is with Mommy."

Micheal's face furrowed for a bit. No home?, he thought. They don't seem to be poor since they can travel a lot.....On the run? Micheal clears his thoughts. Never mind, I can think about this later.

"Then can you tell me where you last saw your Mommy?"

He nods his little head," I was over there with Mommy. We were traveling again from an old home again. she said to wait over here. She went to talk to someone. She was talking to someone but they were taking a long time so I looked at things. I went to another person with some shiny rocks...and I was gone for a few seconds but...when I went back..",Gabriel's eyes turn redder.

"...Mommy wasn't there anymore...sniffle...they left...sniffle..I tried to find them but...sniffle....they.. ..she-",Gabriel face becomes contorted as his read eyes water.

Micheal could see the small Gabriel trembling. Before Gabriel could finish his sentence, Micheal tightly hugs Gabriel and repeatedly strokes the back of his head. He softly shushes the trembling Gabriel, remembering the recurring image of a worried mother caressing a young Micheal.

"Shh...shh..",he says as he strokes his head,"Slow your crying Gabriel, we will find your mother soon. For now, though, you must cease your tears. You must be strong if we are to find her."

Micheal could feel Gabriel's trembling getting slower. Good, he thought. He then smoothly pushes Gabriel away. Gabriel then wipes his nose and tears. Micheal grows a small, caring smile.

"Are you better now?",He asks.

Gabriel shakes his head up and down,"Yeah."

Micheal stands and offers his hand to Gabriel.

"Let's go find your mother",Micheal says to Gabriel.

Gabriel looks at the hand and grows a determined expression. He nods his head and places his hand on Micheal's as Micheal closes his hand on Gabriel's. Suddenly a 'ding' could be heard but he just ignores it. Micheal then stands up and yells,

"Samantha! Gabriel is here for you!"

Gabriel joins in,"Mommy! Mommy, where are you!"

"Excuse me",he asks a person,"have you heard of a person named Samantha?"

........

They walked hand in hand, past many of crowds, searching for Gabriel's mother. Steadily, they go through the whole market place. No one has seen or heard of a person named Samantha. After, an hour or so, Micheal stops looks at Gabriel.

"Gabriel, I don't think your mother's here, do you know where she might be?"

Gabriel stares at the ground in thought,"hmmm.."

He lifts up his head as if he remembered something.

"Mommy usually goes to the forest, do you think we can find her there?"

Micheal considered this information. His mind went to it's own world as he wondered what they should do. Well, since she's not here, we'll have a better chance finding her there. And even if she's not there, we could always go back here to find her. Micheal's face started to distort. But I'm still level 1! What if we meet a wolf or something? I don't think we'll be able to escape, and we certainly can't fight it.....but, I don't think there's another option....

Micheal sighed. When he entered the game, he discovered what little he had! Or more like taken, he thought. It was when he checked his inventory that he discovered something. He only had 3 loaves of bread left, 1 potion, and 4 gold left! Usually, when one starts an MMORPG, they started out with AT LEAST 10 gold. Only as he saw thieves steal from others did he understand.

I got robbed! he thought. With only those in his inventory, they can barely afford another piece of bread! Forget an inn! Micheal forgot those troubles and forced a smile to Gabriel.

"Alright, Gabriel, let's go!"

Micheal and Gabriel slowly went to the exit after asking directions from trustworthy people. After they arrived, though, he looked around. It's empty, he thought. He looked for anyone around him. No guards, he thought. Suddenly, two players in thief equipment were seen running from the outside. They were running without looking behind them and had a frightened expression. Sweat poring down their faces.

"Run!!",the players said to them,"she's coming!!"

Not long after they said that, a large, yellow-haired beast was chasing after the two. Blood could be seen on her long strands of fur. It charged to the two thieves.

"What is that?!" Micheal exclaimed.

Micheal sprinted with the two players while pulling the gaping Gabriel away from his frozen state. As fast as they could, the group ran away from the threatening beast. The beast, was slowly gaining. Micheal was sweating bullets when, suddenly, he felt a tug at his arm. He looked around and saw Gabriel staring at her. Micheal tried to pull him away but he released his grip from Micheal. Gabriel then ran toward the beast. Micheal was shocked and rushed to grab Gabriel.

"Gabriel!",he said,"what are you doing!"

Gabriel then pushed Micheal aside to the ground and continued in a desperate sprint. Then, in a loud voice, he yelled:

"Mommy! Stop!!"

Micheal's eyes grew wide.

"MOMMY?!"

(Author's Notes: Hey guys, sorry for the wait, didn't really plan this out well. Thanks for reading and hoped you enjoyed! Please criticize freely! ;))