“Seven hundred? What the fuck?” Urvi said, still wearing a broken smile.

“You don’t have a filter for your mouth, do you?” Faeren asked.

“She can be a lot nastier. Let’s not get there,” I answered.

“I digress. Shall we get to the main topic at hand?” Faeren asked.

“Go ahead,” Urvi said.

Faeren once again pulled up her pad. She looked at us and asked, “Names?”

“Urvashi.”

“Karna.”

“You want to go with your original names?” Faeren asked.

Urvi and I looked at each other’s face. “I will keep it,” I said. “It is the only name I know.”

Urvi remained quiet. She seemed to be lost in deep thought, though her face now had returned to normal. “Yes. I will also keep it as Urvashi.” she finally said. “If I am going to become a badass bitch, I want everyone to know me by my real name.”

I smiled involuntarily.

“Very well,” Faeren said as she began scribbling on her pad.

Something in the corner of my right eye caught my attention. I looked down to see that markings appeared on my right forearm. “What is this?” I exclaimed.

I took a closer look at it. A giant number one appeared to be tattooed on my arm, followed by a black band encircling my forearm. They all were printed in black.

“I have that too!” Urvi said staring into her arm.

“That is your level. Right now, both are at level one. As you explore and interact with the world, you will gain experience. There is a band you cannot see right now. It will tell you how much experience you gained for each task. One full circle around the arm counts as one level, after which the band resets. The band is your life. Each player starts with four lives, once you leave the training grounds. Lose all four lives and you are dead,” Faeren explained.

She made it sound a lot worse than it actually was. Four lives count for a lot more than you think. But then again, I am sure we are expected to do tasks far more dangerous than I would even try in real life.

“But” she continued, “You can gain more lives. There is no limit to how many you can stockpile. But lives are also hard to come by. There are other attributes you will gain as you venture out. They too will appear as markings on your body.” She held out her arm, both palms facing the sky. Suddenly an object magically manifested on each hand. “Here. Take these.”

Urvi and I approached her, each taking one of them from either hand. It didn’t take long for me to realize that it was a book. I observed it more closely. It was six inches tall and four inches wide and bound in dark green leather. The etching on it looked purely aesthetical, except for the ouroboros symbol. Suddenly I remembered the TV screen in my room. I immediately shook off the thoughts, trying to focus on the now. There was no use looking back now. I noticed that my name, “Karna,” was etched on the book as well.

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“This is your guide. Think of it like the menu in your games. It keeps track of everything you need to know in this world. It will stay with you forever. You will never be able to lose it. Others cannot see it unless you lend it to them with your own will.” Faeren said.

I opened the book to see that a lot of pages were already filled in. “Looks like some important stuff has already been filled in. We will need to take a good look at them,” I looked back to see Urvi reading it very intensely.

“One last thing,” Faeren said. “Your starting weapon.” She pulled out a roll-up from inside her cloak before unrolling it. Laying it down on the ground, we saw that it contained six weapons. A claymore, a wooden staff, a massive axe, an equally massive hammer, and finally a pair of knuckle brawlers. All of them had a dull metal shine to them and the handles of each seemed to be covered in worn-out leather. The excitement of seeing new weapons was certainly diminished by the lack of some glamour.

“They look... rusty,” Urvi said. I agree.

“These are your starting weapons. It will also stay with you forever and you cannot part ways with it. You can only exchange it for another weapon of the same grade. I highly suggest you find yourself a new weapon as soon as you begin.” Faeren explained.

“In that case,” I said as picked up the claymore.

“No fair! I wanted that!” Urvi exclaimed.

I looked back at her surprised. Turning to Faeren, I asked, “Don’t you have like a wand or something?”

“To cast magic? You don’t need one.”

“Then how do we cast magic?” I asked.

“Spells can be cast by chanting them. But you will need to build a special aura for that. Right now, it is zero. There are various ways to build up a reserve of aura, you can start by gathering amber shards,” Faeren explained.

“Don’t worry dear. By the time you are ready, you will be able to create apocalypses!” I said. Urvi just huffed under her nose. Clearly, she wanted the sword.

“Please don’t cause apocalypses,” Faeren said. Urvi snorted as she bent down to pick up a weapon.

“It was just a joke. We are the good guys,” I said to calm her down, though she didn’t exactly look rattled.

“That is good to know,” Faeren commented.

“I guess I will go for the axe then,” Urvi said as she wrapped her fingers around its handle.

“Why don’t you go for the staff?” I asked.

She lifted the axe with all her might. The muscles on her arms bulged under the stress but she didn’t look to be stressing much.

“Damn! You are strong!” I commented.

She had a sharp grin on her face. “You got that right, mofo.”

Faeren quickly rolled back the weaponry and put it into the void that I was sure was hiding in the cloak. “Right then. Last few instructions. So, listen carefully. You are currently on the training grounds. They stretch close to ten kilometers in radius from this point. Low-level beasts and creatures roam these woods and will come after you with everything they have. They will kill you, but if you lose all your lives and die, you will simply resurrect here. As long as you stay within the training grounds, you are immortal. Use it to train yourself before leaving the woods. My suggestion? Get to at least level ten. There are also chests scattered all around the grounds. Find them, they contain valuable loot. You will be able to find all the basic things you need. Once you are ready, head up north. You will reach a stone gate; you will know when you see it. It is where you can leave this ground. Be certain when you want to leave. Because when you do, there is no coming back. The training grounds disappear and become inaccessible. You will be mortal and all the benefits that come from it. Understood?”

That was a lot of information at once. “Can I have it in writing? Just so I don’t forget.” I said.

“You will find it all in your journal,” Faeren said as turned around to leave.

I quickly pulled out my journal and began to flip through the pages.

“Wait,” Urvi called out to her. “Will we meet again?”

Faeren smiled for the first time since we got here. “You can find me in Lord Baeton’s estate. Terra Montes. You can find him with ease once you reach there.”

Urvi smiled and said, “Then we will meet again.”

“Good luck on your path,” she said and vanished into a bright light.

“Seven hundred years. What will you do for seven hundred years?” Urvi asked.

“Honestly? I do not know,” I replied.