Corey was suddenly in the sky far above the games land mass, and he could see the large circle of mountains around the center of the continent. It was filled with a dark foreboding forrest with a single jagged spike of a mountain jutting up from the very center like a dagger piercing the very land itself. Outside the ring of mountains were forests, plains, and what he guessed were cities, that seemed much more alive and inviting.
An echoing feminine voice spoke, "You have been chosen by the makers, adventurer."
Another voice followed, this one masculine, "As a chosen you are hereby exempt from the tithe of life. You will be returned to the land by our grace upon your deaths."
Corey was now falling quickly to the eastern side of the continent and the female voice spoke again, "There is a great evil stirring in the center of this land. You must band together with the other chosen and defeat it."
"But you are not yet ready," the male voice said. "You must gain power."
Corey's avatar was almost to the ground now, and he slowed to a stop and hovered right outside a large menacing cave at the base of a mountainside surrounded by dark green pines and other shrubs.
The female voice continued, "Dungeons, such as this one, and monsters, are spawning around the land. We have permitted their existence, as they will be among your greatest tools to advance in power."
Corey shot into the air again and was moving quickly over a large forest leaving the mountain range behind him. He came to a stop above a small town on the beach. The waves sloshing peacefully along the sandy coast. There were fishing boats and wood huts with cedar shingled roofs. Corey floated down and landed in the center of the small village.
As he landed, others appeared next to him. He hadn't seen them while in midair, but he figured it was more of an interactive cutscene. Now, however, he was standing with a small crowd of other human players in the same basic clothes and gear that he was wearing.
An elderly woman in a long elegant blue gown was standing in front of him leaning on a long staff. "Welcome!" she said. She looked up and shouted"Another group of the chosen come to help us in these times of peril!"
There was a small crowd of NPC's forming around the town square and they gave a decent cheer.
Corey stood at the front of the crowd of about twenty players. "Where am I?" Corey asked, meeting the woman's eyes as she looked back to their group.
He could have sworn that there was a mischievous twinkle in those eyes. He honestly thought it was another real person, and not a non-player character driven entirely by code.
"Yeah," someone else said. "And what do we do here?"
The old woman held up a hand, putting a stop to the other chatter that had started up. "You have been called by the makers to start your journey here," she said. "I am Elsaba and this is Covington. You can find crabs up and down the beach to test your mettle, or help the villagers with their own tasks. As you gain in power you will be able to head inland and face the stronger threats that are growing in power."
A prompt appeared in his peripheral vision. As he focused on the prompt, it expanded and moved to the front of his vision. It looked like a floating panel of glass just like he'd used in the virtual meeting rooms outside the game. He could see through it, more or less, but he could clearly read the message as he focused on it.
[Quest Available: Sand Crabs for Covington. The village relies on fishing, trading, and hunting the nearby sand crabs to provide needed food and other crafting materials. Kill ten crabs and bring them back to Elsaba, and she will tell you what can be done with them. Accept Quest?]
[Yes] or [No]
Corey didn't want to rush into anything since he still didn't have a clue how the stats and leveling system worked. At his mental shift away from wanting the prompt, it automatically minimized and moved back to the left in his peripheral vision.
The other players were all cheering and running off to fight the crabs. "I'm gonna kill me some mud crabs!" one of them yelled. Corey thought he'd misheard, but then remembered a really old game before VR that had mud crabs. He'd played the ultimate definitive definitive edition they had re-re-re-released. Maybe he was referencing that?
Another muffled voice shouted, "I hope these things respawn!" The other players were already disappearing behind buildings as they headed for the beach.
Corey was now standing alone in front of Elsaba. The villagers had even moved off to mill about around the town.
Elsaba cocked her head and asked. "Did you need more specific instructions?"
"No," Corey said. "I mean, I don't really want to rush into any combat quests until I can figure out how to train my stats. But that's not all, I'd rather move inland if that's going to give me a chance at some of the, um, challenges of the gods?"
He really didn't want to attack a bunch of crabs or help a fisherman mend his net or some other menial task. It sounded like the real adventures with prize money would be farther inland.
The twinkle in her eyes was back as she responded, "Oh, so you would like to get to where the action is? I have a sister that runs the inn in Butteville, and I'm sure they could use the help of one of the chosen. There have been rumors of monsters in the forest around it, so you would have to be very brave, or foolhardy to rush off to a place like that, unprepared as you are."
It wasn't a no, so Corey just nodded along.
"However," Elsaba continued. "Though the makers have granted me the power to teleport new chosen to a more dangerous location within the region, if they so choose, it is a one time, one way teleport."
Another prompt appeared.
[Quest Available: Off to Adventure. This will send you to Butteville, a scaling difficulty zone. It will become more dangerous over time and it is not recommended unless you are a serious player. If you fall behind and find it too challenging, you may always retreat to one of the starting zones along the coast. Reward: Teleportation to Butteville. Would you like to skip the starting zone and head to Butteville?]
[Yes] or [No]
Corey nodded and instinctively reached out and tapped on yes. Just like in the virtual meeting room, it felt as though he really had tapped on a piece of glass. The sensory feedback in this game was spot on. The previous prompt for the crab killing quest disappeared from his peripheral vision automatically as well, which was nice.
"Excellent," she said. "Let me know when you are ready."
"Can you teleport me to the Dwarven Lands?" Corey asked.
"No," she said. "The makers have given me enough power to transport you somewhere within the human lands, and I think Butteville would be a perfect location for what you want. If you want to teleport to one of the other races lands, you will need to go through the Portal Guild in one of the Capital Cities. I could teleport you to this region's Capital if you'd like, but it honestly isn't far from Butteville."
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"I'm guessing they don't hand out teleports for free?" Corey asked.
She smiled at him and nodded. "You are correct."
"Butteville sounds fine then," he said.
"Excellent," She replied. "Are you ready to go?"
Corey nodded.
"Perfect," Elsaba said. She turned around and reached down behind her to pick up a little box, only to turn back to him and hold it out. "Would you mind taking this to my sister?" she asked.
[Quest Available: Courier Duty. Elsaba wants you to take a delivery to her sister, Anna, at the Butteville Inn. Rewards: Unknown. Accept Quest?]
[Yes] or [No]
Corey again selected yes and reached out to take the small box. He wondered if she had only recommended Butteville to get him to make a delivery, but he dismissed the idea.
It's probably just a randomly generated quest to go along with my choice, he thought.
[Item Received: Small Mysterious Package.]
Elsaba gave a nod and reached out with her staff to tap him on the head muttering something incomprehensible.
Corey was falling through blackness for a moment, and then he was standing on a road in between two craggy cliffs in a pass through the mountains. Ahead, he could see a forrest within the valley, and beyond that, the road led to a town surrounded by a wall of wooden posts with their tops sharpened to a point. He was pretty sure it was called a palisade.
The settlement looked like a cross between an early pioneer town and a medieval one. It didn't seem to have a castle, but there was a large building in the center that had a tall bell tower that stood higher than the rest. He assumed it must be the town hall or a church or something.
"That must be Butteville," Corey said aloud.
As he started walking toward the town, he expected something to jump out at him from the trees lining the sides of the road. However, there didn't seem to be any monsters, wolves, or anything bigger than the squirrel he saw in a tree.
After a few minutes of walking, he was at the gates.
The town was picturesque, with cobbled streets and simple, but somehow elegant shops. The town was surrounded by a forest and mountains. The largest mountain loomed to the west of the town, twice the height of the other mountains all around the valley. Corey assumed it was one of the mountains in the ring that surrounded the center of the continent.
Passing the guards at the gate, he paused to ask, "Which way to the inn?"
The guard to his right pointed toward the center of the small town. "It's the large two story building on the left side of the town square," he said. "It has a cook pot sign on it, you can't miss it."
"Okay," Corey said, jogging off toward the inn.
He heard one of the guards mutter something about a chosen, which he assumed meant they were talking about him. He supposed it would make sense for the NPC's in the game to automatically recognize the players and whether they were hostile or not at a glance.
He recognized the inn right away. Sure enough it had a hanging wooden sign with a steaming cook pot carved onto it. However, he noted that it wasn't the large building he'd seen before that had a bell tower. That one was to the far side of the town square. It didn't have any stained glass windows or crosses or any fancy adornments though. Even the door was more business like than what you would expect for a church.
It must be the town hall, he thought.
Returning his attention to the Inn he saw a short woman sweeping the small porch at the top of the stairs. He walked up and asked, "Do you know where I can find Anna?"
The short woman stopped sweeping and leaned the broom against the front wall and took a step toward him, looking him up and down. "I'm Anna. This is my inn, what can I do for you?"
"Your sister sent me to deliver this," Corey said, holding out the small box.
She took it with a smile. "Thank you young man, and what's your name?"
"Corey," he said. "I was hoping find someone who could help me train my stats, or at least teach me how, as well as some adventure."
"I'm not sure who would help you with that," she said. "I suppose I could explain the basics to you, which is all you really need to know."
"That would be great," Corey said.
Anna gave him a nod. "To train strength, you simply do things that use your strength, and the same with the other stats. Though some activities are more efficient than others, there isn't really a trainer for something as simple as training stats. You'll just have to experiment to figure out what works best for you."
Corey did his best to smile anyway, despite the disheartening news. He'd have to figure it out on his own.
"However," Anna continued. "As for adventure, I may need help with something important... But, I'll need you to prove you are trustworthy first. Why don't you go and help Brian the blacksmith. He's across the way," she said, pointing down and across the road to what looked like a medieval smithy.
"I'll do that, thanks," Corey said. A prompt appeared in the corner of his vision. Focusing on it, it opened up into the familiar floating panel.
[Quest Complete: Courier Duty. You have gained 100 reputation with Anna the Innkeeper. Current Reputation: Neutral: 100/5000. You have also been informed that Brian the Blacksmith would likely need your help.]
Corey walked down the road, admiring the many wood buildings, and the cobbled stone streets. There were metal lamp posts, but it was daytime, so\they sat unlit. Before long he found himself standing in front of the medieval smithy and walked inside.
Immediately, he was hit with the scent of burning coal and the bitter stench of used quench oil. He looked over to the sound of heated metal being struck with a hammer.
He walked toward the blacksmith and yelled, "Hey Brian, I'm Corey and I was hoping to offer you some help."
The blacksmith stopped hammering and looked up, raising one of his coal black eyebrows. The expression only looked more serious when you took in his singed beard and crew cut hair that matched his eyebrows in color. "Aye," he said. "I could use a bit of help. Why don't you go and find me a new source of iron? I've been having to wait for iron shipments to come in, and having a source close at hand would be nice."
"Cool," Corey said. "What do I do?"
"You can borrow one of my prospecting picks over there." The smith gestured to a worktable to one side that had a few tiny hammer sized pickaxes sitting on it. "If you can find me a new iron ore node, I'll be happy to train you in smelting and smithing, and I may have something else you might be interested in."
"What else?" Corey asked.
Brian let out a hearty laugh. "That's for you to find out. Now go and find some iron."
Corey opened the prompt.
[Quest Available: Ore Really. Brian has asked you to find him a new source of Iron in the nearby countryside or mountains. Rewards: Smelting and Smithing Training. Other Rewards: Unknown. Accept Quest?]
[Yes] or [No]
Corey accepted the quest and asked, "Is there a trick to finding the iron ore?"
"No real trick to it," Brian said. "Just break off a piece of a rock and once you have it in your hand you can simply inspect it to see what it is. There are subtle differences in their appearance, so you'll have to put in the leg work to figure it out on your own."
"Fair enough," Corey said. He walked over to grab one of the prospecting picks.
[Item Received: Iron Prospecting Pick. This tiny pickaxe will be useful for obtaining small samples of Rock and Ore. Durability: 100/100. Damage: 1-2.]
"I'll get on it," Corey added with a wave, and he left the smithy.
Corey looked around the outskirts of the town first, but found nothing. Next, he moved into some rocky hills, but all the rocks looked the same, and as he broke off pieces and inspected them they were just plain old rocks.
[You have found sedimentary rock.]
[You have found sedimentary rock.]
[You have found sedimentary rock.]
He tossed them onto the ground and moved on.
The town was nestled in the west most edge of the valley, with the mountains not far off in the distance. Corey figured the nearby mountainside would be as good a place as any, so he went west and started checking rocks.
He started noticing differences in color or pattern, and found a few varieties of rock. He'd found a chunk of quarts, and eventually, he found a reddish rock that resembled rust, so he broke off a piece and was rewarded with a small piece of iron ore.
[Item Received: Iron Ore Sample.]
[Quest Update: Ore Really. You have found an Iron Ore Node. Return to Brian to receive your reward. The location of this Iron Ore Node has been marked on your map.]
Corey excitedly returned to the smithy and burst in, finding Brian pounding on a piece of metal at the anvil. "Brian, I found an iron node like you asked,” he said. Brian stopped hitting the metal and looked up, so Corey lowered his voice. “It took me a while, but it turns out it wasn't far from the west town gate, near the base of the huge mountain in the range.”
Brian used the tongs to place the piece of metal back into the coal forge and walked over to meet Corey next to the quench barrel. "Great work, Corey," Brian said. "I knew when I saw your flame red hair that you would be a go-getter. Brian pulled out a map from a shelf below the workbench and rolled it out. Where was it exactly?"
Corey opened his map from the menu, and compared it to Brian's map, pointing to the spot. "It's right here."
"Wonderful," Brian said. "As promised, you will be rewarded with free access to my smithy. Also, since you did such an admirable job, and did it so quickly, I formally invite you to consider running for mayor."
“Wait, what?" Corey asked.