-The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account?-
The new user looked around and admired the quality of the virtual reality systems graphics
“Yes!”
-Select the name of your avatar-
“Sora”
-Select your gender from male, female or neutral-
“Male”
-Anteus Legends has forty-nine races. You may select your race from the primary twenty-nine races.-
“Beastman”
-You may alter your appearance-
Sora looked at his avatar and saw that although he was a beastman his basic features –especially height– remained the same.
“Increase height by 2 inches”
Sora’s avatar now gave off the appearance of a tall humanoid wolf. If anyone were to encounter this creature in the real world they were certain to run away.
-Your appearance has been altered. Continue?-
-Your account has been activated. Your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Anteus Legends-
“Which stats do beastmen start with?”
-Beastmen have seven primary stats, strength, agility, stamina, vitality, intelligence and wisdom. With the exception of strength 10 stat points have been placed in each primary stat.-
“How many stat points have been allocated to strength?”
-Beastmen start with 20 base strength-
“Proceed”
-Select the city and kingdom you want to start in.-
“I would like to start in the City of Tirium in the Ocelot Kingdom.”
-Would you like to take the tutorial?-
“Skip”
-Welcome to Anteus Legends-
Sora smiled at the swiftness of the registration. Upon hearing the voice which had welcomed him he knew he had successfully entered the biggest virtual reality game on the planet; Anteus Legends.
He had already researched the various races the game offered and he had spent more time deciding his username than anything else. Despite its virtual reality interface being different from an ordinary television or computer screen the game’s registration was similar to many other online role playing games.
The light around him faded and Sora found himself standing in the middle of a decrepit city square which was surrounded by run-down buildings which were visibly crumbling around him. People furtively moved about and glanced around as though expecting to be attacked.
Sora smiled as he felt the tension in the air and after doing a quick check confirmed that there were no people interacting or groups simply hanging out in the city square. He reveled in this kind of atmosphere.
He continued to look around for a few more seconds and unseen by any outsiders he was twitching his legs and hands in order to become used to the virtual reality’s systems which allowed him to move his virtual body as though it was his own.
As soon as he saw that there were no people in the nearby vicinity he ran down a street towards the north. Although other users would have taken the time to explore the area and see the wonders Anteus Legends offered in terms of graphics Sora knew that he had to head towards the building known as the Castle of Tirium to fulfill his goal.
Sora forced himself not to look around as he passed numerous buildings and shops. If anyone caught him staring they would immediately know that he was a new user and in a city like Tirium being spotted meant being added as a target for future robberies or worse.
He was panting as he reached the entrance to the castle and took a single look before heading towards the left where the Tirium recruitment barracks were.
As Sora walked into the barracks entrance a clerk looked up at him, “What?” the clerk had been sleeping and was annoyed that his nap had been interrupted.
“Tirium is in need of protection and I want to help in any way that I can. I have come to join the army of Tirium as a new recruit.” Sora added some grandness to his response and the clerk lazily snapped his fingers and a piece of paper and pen appeared from thin air.
“Fill in the application form and your registration will be complete.” Almost immediately after stating these words the clerk went back to sleep and Sora saw from the way that he conjured the form that the clerk was a user as well.
He quickly scribbled his name on the application form and saw that this was the only detail that needed to be filled in. It was for this reason that he had entered Tirium in the first place. With such relaxed security and ease of entering into the soldier profession it was ideal for Sora who didn’t like to wait long periods of time. On the forums he had read that Tirium accepted anybody into their army no matter who they were and everything had happened exactly as Sora planned.
You have joined the Tirium Basic Army. You are currently restricted from exiting the city. Time remaining: 4 weeks.
Every new user on Anteus Legends had to spend a period of four weeks inside their starting city or capital in order to get used to the mechanics of the game. The army kept track of members that had any sorts of bans or restrictions placed upon them and notified them of their particular limitations. Luckily only four hours in Anteus Legends was the equivalent of one hour in real life so Sora would only have to stay in the city for a week of real time.
“Go through the door and talk to Commander Anthony.” The clerk had woken up again and jabbed a finger towards a nearby door in an attempt to get rid of Sora as quickly as he could.
Sora passed walked through the door and immediately felt a breeze on his face that told him that he had exited the building and entered the barracks courtyard. Several men in tattered uniforms were swinging their swords at wooden dummies and even more were simply lying on the grass and staring at the sky.
“Atten-hut!” A soldier in glittering steel armour exited through a door leading to the main building and several soldiers grumbled as they gathered in a line and saluted to the armoured soldier.
The armoured soldier gestured and the men went back to what they were doing. Sora approached the armoured soldier and saluted.
“Commander Anthony Sir! I am Sora. I have just joined the Tirium army and was told to speak with you.” Several onlooking soldiers spat on the ground at Sora’s blatant flattery but Commander Anthony looked at Sora with appreciation in his eyes.
“A new recruit? You seem eager. Go and hit those practice dummies so that I may see your skill.” Sora smiled at the commanders words and picked a wooden practice sword off the ground. He had read in the forums that the NPC commander was a noble and righteous individual and that flattery and hard work were a quick way to gain his recommendation for a promotion in the army.
“Yes sir!”
Sora moved towards the practice dummies and several soldiers crowded around to watch him. Sora looked closely at the dummies and kept his smile in place as he stood in front of one of the more worn out ones.
As soon as he had entered the compound Sora had seen that certain soldiers had been gathered in groups and it was clear that to them this demonstration was a test to see if they should recruit him into their groups.
Depending on how it went he would either become a respected member of the clique or he would be turned into a cash cow for the rest of his stay in the army.
He stared at the wooden dummy and saw that a faded face had been drawn on its head by some soldier long ago. He swung the sword at in an arc towards the dummies head and several soldiers snickered at his sloppy skills. As his swing hit the dummy a cracking sound resounded through the yard and the snickers stopped as the soldiers gazed at the headless dummy.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Although the dummy instantly regenerated the damage done to it the message was clear; Sora was strong enough to smash a wooden dummies head in and the same might happen to them if they weren’t careful.
Normally this wouldn’t have been possible for a level one user but Sora had gained increased strength as a beastman and he had seen that this dummy had several cracks running down its head due to being worn down throughout the day. He swung his sword several more times and also sent several stabs into its stomach as though it were truly a person standing in front of him.
“Stop! I have seen enough.”
The soldiers returned to what they were doing previously as Commander Anthony called out to Sora.
“Clearly you are still a little rough around the edges however I am sure that with enough time and practice you will become a great asset to our army.” Commander Anthony had seen that his skills were lacking but by smashing the dummy’s head he had gained the commander’s respect and Sora could see it in his eyes.
“Thank you sir!”
So far all had been going according to his plan. He had even been forced to make his skills sloppier than usual in order to avoid the interest of the nearby soldiers. He was only going to make himself known once the time was right.
Sora saw movement from the corner of his eyes and had to stop himself from turning around until he felt a hand grab his shoulder. He was forcefully spun around to face a man with a nasty scar on his face.
“Come with me boy.”
Sora could instantly see that the man was only the muscle of whichever group he was a part of. He was fairly tall and his hair was a long black clump of matted material which made him seem more of a beastman than Sora himself.
Sora was also sure that had he been standing several feet away he would still have smelt the man’s terrible breath. The man dragged Sora to a group of three guys and threw him in front of them. Sora hid his anger to the best of his abilities and looked up at the group of people seeing a slim man and two overweight guys beside him.
“You looked weak out there greenhorn. I saw you talking to Anthony over there but you should know that I’m the real boss around here.” The man in the middle of the group spoke as the two men beside him stomped their feet in a gesture of strength.
“Let Gronk play with him. Gronk will try not to break him.” The man to the right was referring to himself in the first person and had a pleading look on his face.
“No let me toy with him. I want to see how his legs sound when they snap.” The man to the left cracked his knuckles in anticipation.
They were positioned in a spot that was far away from Anthony so that he would not notice if they beat down the new recruit.
“Gronk, Kelm. Shut up.” The two looked hurt as their boss rebuked them.
“Yes Sam.”
Clearly the hierarchy was first priority to them and it was clear that any manners were completely disregarded when talking to weaklings such as Sora.
Sora got up off the ground and brushed some dust off his shoulder. He didn’t really care about the dust but the gesture clearly showed that he wasn’t cowed by the man in front of him. It appeared that he would have to show his skills earlier than he expected.
“I’m not looking for small fry like you” Sora laughed at the man in front of him and the man laughed as well then spoke a simple command to his subordinates.
“Kill him.”
Gronk and Kelm smiled nastily and walked towards the beastman. The muscle man that brought Sora over to the group ran to a safe distance as he realised that a fight was about to break out.
Sora looked at the two, “Are you going to step on me with those fat feet?”
They roared in unison and charged towards Sora and jumped right before reaching him with their hands sticking out to grab him.
Sora swiftly dodged to the side as the men landed on the ground and leapt behind them. He hit Gronk in the back of his knee with his sword to unbalance him. The man staggered and Sora continued his motion by bringing the sword from the back of Gronk’s knee to the back of his head and with one powerful swing managed to cause the man to flop face first onto the ground unconscious.
Kelm looked at his fallen partner and cautiously circled around Sora. He was carefully searching for an opening in Sora’s defence but Sora faced his wooden sword towards him and they stared into each other’s eyes.
Sora saw Kelm’s eyes shift behind him and spun around to smack Sam in the ribs. The man cried out in pain and in the same motion Sora twisted the sword downwards and felt flesh as he stabbed the space behind him. He leapt to the side so that he, Kelm and Sam created a triangle formation.
Kelm clutched his stomach which had just been hit by Sora’s sword and the Sam looked as though he was regretting entering the fight. Although he was outnumbered Sora had clearly been hiding his skills and his two enemies were hurt and demoralised. He had them right where he wanted them.
Before Sam could react Sora stabbed his sword towards the Kelm’s chest and combining the strength of a beastman and the weight of the enemy Sora managed to knock him onto his back. Sora looked at the man squirming on the floor and it reminded him of a cockroach which had dropped onto its back.
Sora heard a yell and easily dodged a punch sent to his side by Sam. Sora ignored him and continued to the enemy on the floor. Sora swung his sword and heard a satisfying crack as the sword connected with the man’s testicles. Several soldiers that were watching the fight winced and Sam was visibly pale.
New skill acquired: Sword Mastery.
Sora turned to face the last enemy but found that he couldn’t move his sword.
“That’s enough. Clearly these weaklings are no match for you.”
A man was holding the end of Sora’s sword and despite his bonus strength Sora found that the sword wouldn’t budge a single inch. The man’s level was too high for him to handle right now.
“Release my sword. I can see that you are stronger than me. I will stop this fight.” Sora tried to look as defeated as possible.
The man smiled and forced the sword out of Sora’s hand. He had clearly not been fooled by Sora’s act and realised that despite their differences in level if Sora managed to get back his sword his skills might make him a difficult opponent.
“It is clear that you did not come here to start petty fights. Why have you joined the army?” The man was smart. He could sense that Sora was not simply trying to test his skills out on any weaklings he came across.
Sora smiled, “Take me to your leader.” The man looked surprised but after a second of consideration he gestured at Sora to follow him and walked towards a door heading towards the main building of the barracks.
Sora glanced at the groaning men behind him and saw Sam glaring at him with hatred in his eyes. He ignored the man and walked towards the main building. If he was going to reach his goal then he would be making many more enemies along the way and they would be far stronger than the men he had just beaten.
This was just the first step of his journey. The citizens of Tirium and all of Anteus Legends had yet to know true terror but he would show them. He would show them all.