Chapter 4 I Become a Gamer

I woke up under an apple tree. A green and white striped lemur monkey glared at me from the branches. As soon as I tried to roll over it started screeching and began throwing apples at me.

"Dammit stop!" As one well-aimed apple pinged off my shoulder. I caught the next apple mid-flight and threw it back. Lucky for me my aim was a bit better than with my fight with Viking Gorilla. The monkey got knocked out of the tree and fell.

With the sound of bells, a transparent status window appeared in front of me.

*You have defeated Green Tailed Ape~

*You have leveled up please check your status~

*Skill Gain- Rock Throwing ~

*Do you wish to activate this skill now? Yes/No~

I touched the little X in the corner of each popup. Amoris had said that the Gamer Glasses used my own magic power to activate, but how did I use the magic power? Suddenly, a status screen popped up in front of me again.

*Would you like to start the beginners tutorial. You can skip this now and come back to it later if you wish. Yes/No ~

I clicked yes.

*Welcome user is your name Eri? If this is not correct and you wish to change it you may do so now. Confirm name/Change name~

I confirmed my name.

*Thank you, Eri. From this point on we will start the beginner tutorial. If at any point you wish to stop you can do so by clicking on the red button at the top of this screen.~

The red button blinked twice to make sure I saw where it was.

*Gamer Glass is fully interactive. You can choose to use your hands to select and scroll or you can just think about selecting and scrolling and Gamer Glass will react according to your thoughts. To activate your Gamer Glass all you need to do is want the Gamer Glass to activate. Please try closing this screen by willing it closed then reactivating Gamer Glass using just your mind. If you need assistance you can say 'I need help Gamer Glass.'~

OK, I just have to think at it? I focused and willed the screen to close. The transparent screen went away. Then I wanted the screen to come back up. A screen with my name and stats in the left center and several smaller circle icons lined up along the bottom right edge appeared.

*Congratulations! You are now on the main menu. From here you can view your basic stats and current power levels. First is your name, this option can not be changed at this time. Gamer Glass will prompt you if the option to change your name becomes available again. Second is your race. You are currently at an insufficient level to reveal your race. The third is gender. You are currently at an insufficient level to reveal your gender. Forth is...~

"Wait," I said out loud. The Gamer Glass paused. I double checked just to be certain, but I definitely had male genitalia. Can I get the Gamer Glass to elaborate? Just as I thought it a secondary window flashed.

*Your race or species is currently unknown. A gender cannot be assigned without a known race or species. However, you currently have two race-specific abilities. The first Hidden Among the Masses- 20. With this ability, your status screen can be altered. It allows one to blend in among the dominant race of the area. It is a race-specific disguise ability that will fool even the All Seer. Your current gender alteration is male. You can not alter your gender at this time. At level 20 you can alter your Race/Species category. Your current alteration is Human. Would you like to change this now? Yes/No~

So I wasn't human, but I looked like a human and my status would reflect human when I found a town. No, I didn't want to change that. I could handle being human. I'd been doing it all my life. I chose not to change it. At what level did my race become known I wondered.

*Unknown, I am unable to access this information at this time. Would you like to continue with the tutorial at this time? Yes/No~

Yes

*Specific racial ability Stealth- 2. Stealth is a sneaking ability that allows the user to pass unnoticed. Your current level is 2. ~

*We will now resume the main tutorial. Occupation-Undecided You are currently unemployed. When you become employed or acquire a profession this category will automatically update. ~

*Age- Eighteen, this is the age of majority for your race. You are currently an adult. Your birthday is listed as today. For every year of the Elrich calendar, you will become one year older.~

*Level-2 You can gain levels by completing quests and killing monsters. You can also level up by choosing to expend Experience Points, or Exp, on a level up. A Level up automatically increases Physical Power, Stamina, Agility, and Magic Power. Level increases allow for greater skill gain and increases. The higher your level the more Exp needed until the next level up. Monster Kill Exp can be distributed by percentage automatically towards level up. To adjust the percentage of Monster Kill Exp allocated towards level up you simply click on Level and adjust the percentage using the scrollbar. You are currently allocating 50% of Monster Kill Exp towards level up ~

*Exp- 25 Experience Points. You can gain Exp by completing quests, killing monsters, and leveling up. You can also gain Exp by choosing to train a specific skill or ability. Exp points can be used on level up, abilities, or on physical and magical skills. To allocate your Exp select your level, ability, or a skill from the main menu then choose how many points you wish to allocate.~

*Monster Kill Exp can be distributed by percentage automatically towards Exp, as well as Magic Power and Level. To adjust the percentage of Monster Kill Exp allocated towards Exp, MP, or Level, you simply click on Exp and adjust the percentage using the scrollbar. You are currently allocating 50% of Monster Kill Exp towards Exp and 50% towards Level.~

*Physical Power- 10 Ability. Your physical power determines your overall strength. Abilities can only be increased with training, Exp allocation, or a level up.~

*Stamina- 10 Ability. Your stamina determines how long your body can maintain a current action.~

*Agility- 12 Ability. Your agility determines your speed and dexterity.~

*Magic Power- 8 Or MP for short. Your magic power level limits the number of consecutive magic skills that can be used. When your magic power is drained you will enter a comatose state. A person with low magic power will not be able to use higher level magic since their magic power would be insufficient. As you master magical skills you may find that you will automatically learn new skills of an increased difficulty. For example, a level 1 fire skill will allow for the starting of cooking fires at level 4 fire skill you will automatically learn the more advanced type magic fireball.~

*The exception to this rule is Metal Rain-1. Originally, only usable by the Dragons the technique for this magic is considered a lost art. There are no longer any living Dragons who have any knowledge of the skill. Metal Rain produces a shower of thin metal needles over the targeted area. The needle number and size will change depending on the level of skill.

The skill also produces an invisible canopy over the caster to protect them from being injured by their own magic. The size of the canopy can be adjusted to cover more people other than the caster. The limit of how many canopies can be produced is dependent on the level of skill.

Metal Rain is a master level magic attack skill. The MP consumption for a single use of Metal Rain is 400. However, you are currently able to use a significantly reduced version of Metal Rain with the MP consumption of 6. As your Magic Power levels up and if you allocate Exp Points to Metal Rain it will increase the target area, needle size, needle number, canopy size, and canopy number.~

*Skills- allows for the execution of an action. While you can attempt an action without the skill the attempt will fail or succeed based on the difficulty of the action. You can learn skills in many different ways. The first by completing a successful attempt at the skill you are trying to acquire. You can also have a skill taught to you. You can learn skills by reading books or even just by observing your surroundings. There are countless skills and just as many ways to learn how to use them.

Skills can be either passive or active. An active skill has Exp allocated to them to raise their levels. A passive skill cannot be used and has no Exp allocation. You currently have one passive skill, Rock Throw.~

*Item Equip- all items with magical properties must be equipped before use. Items without magical properties can be used as normal.~

*Blessings- bestowed upon a person by a divine being. Blessings vary greatly depending on which deity bestows the Blessing. You currently have 4 Blessings from the Goddess Amoris. Would you like to learn more about your Blessings? Yes/No~

I should only have 3 how did I get 4? This tutorial was getting long, but I had the feeling that I would need to know this stuff sooner rather than later. I selected yes.

*Blessing 1 All Map Exploration a map used in tandem with Gamer Glass that allows the user to view all surroundings and territories on a virtual map. To open the map select the map icon on the far right of the bottom of the main screen.~

I selected an icon that looked like a compass. A screen showing a map of roads, towns, water sources, and landmarks popped up. You could zoom in and out. My ranged seemed to be concentrated only in this Crystal Kingdom. I could see the borders, but I didn't get much information on what was on the other side.

It looked like you could toggle certain aspects of the map on and off. You could toggle people and little blue and red dots popped up all over the map. Most of the dots were concentrated in towns and cities. However, the further out I zoomed the less detail was given. Dots still showed in the cities, but they consolidated and became larger or smaller depending on the population.

I zoomed back in and I turned off people and toggled monster. Red and green dots appeared. Single monsters were gone as I zoomed out and what was left were 'hot spots' of monster nests. I zoomed in on the map, from the looks of it I was surrounded by a bunch of green dots. Then I tapped one of the green dots.

*Green Tailed Ape Lv 2 currently non-hostile. Normal type monster.~

So the green dots were all apes?

*Green markers designate non-hostile monster. Red markers designate hostile people and monsters. Blue markers are non-hostile people.~

I tried the search function next. I entered my name. A little yellow marker popped up in the middle of the map.

I decided to play with the map later and prompted Gamer Glass to continue with the tutorial. After all, what I was particularly interested in was the mysterious fourth Blessing. What had that scatterbrained goddess done?

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*Blessing 2 Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level. A level up requires increasingly larger amounts of Exp in order to reach the next level. Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level takes the current amount of Exp needed to reach the next level and divides that by your current level. Example: It costs 100 Exp to reach level 3. Your current level is 2. 100 Exp divided by 2 equals 50. Because of Blessing 2, it will only take 50 Exp points to reach level 3 instead of 100. ~

That air-headed Goddess may have actually given me something good. It wasn't exactly what we had discussed but it would be useful nonetheless. I could imagine the levels getting more difficult to achieve the higher they got. With this Blessing, I received a pretty decent cheat of the system.

*Blessing 3 Exp Increase X Current Level All Exp gained from Monster Kills, quests, training, etc will be automatically multiplied by your current level. Example: Green Tail Ape's Exp drop is 50. You are currently level 2. Kill another Green Tailed Ape and you would receive a 100 Exp drop. Note: Level-1 will not multiply Exp drop.~

This was the Blessing I had negotiated with Amoris for. It made sense that any level 1 Exp wouldn't be multiplied since 1x50=50. I was just grateful that I didn't start out at level 0. I was a bit worried Amoris would forget about that small flaw in the math. I really didn't want to live my life never gaining any Exp.

So not only is the amount of Exp needed for the next level up reduced, the Exp I gain is increased. Isn't this a very good situation? I would be able to power level like crazy. Eager to test this out I skipped past Blessing 4.

*Titles are designations you earn. Current Titles include Devotee of Amoris. Titles allow for small hidden power boosts if activated. Exp is not needed to activate a Title. The Devotee of Amoris title allows for hidden power boosts to all skills related to the Goddess Amoris. Current skills receiving hidden power boost are Hidden Among the Masses- 20 Stealth- 2.~

I decided to skip the rest of the tutorial and explore the rest of the main menu myself. If I came to something I couldn't figure out I could always turn it back on. I hit the button beside the compass on the main menu. It had a little picture of a silver bracelet on it so I assumed it was my inventory.

On the left side of the screen was a list of items. On the right side of the screen was a grid board with more little icons. There looked like there was more space near the bottom of the grid for more add-on icons. I tapped the first Icon that had an apple on the front.

Food popped up at the top of the left screen. The food item was listed then the quantity of the item was beside it. The words Hot Chocolate with an infinity symbol was first on the list. Strawberries with another infinity symbol were next. It was nice knowing I wouldn't be going hungry anytime soon, even if all I had to eat were strawberries.

I tried selecting Hot Chocolate and a packet of instant mix appeared in my hand. It had marshmallows. I tore open the packet and tasted the mix by licking my finger and dipping it into the powder. It tasted the same as Earth's instant cocoa. If not better than the cocoa I was used too. It had a richer chocolate flavor like it had been made from scratch rather than being instant. Unsure what to do with an open packet the inventory suddenly began to blink.

There was a little waste paper basket icon in the far left corner. It looked a lot like the trash bin icons used on modern computers. I opened the trash bin and thought about the open packet being in the trash. It suddenly appeared there.

*Would you like to delete this item now? If you confirm the item will disappear. Items that are deleted cannot be recovered. If you decline you may come back to delete this item later. It will be stored in the Trash Bin until deleted or removed from this area of inventory. Yes/No~

I selected yes and the packet disappeared from the list. So littering this world with garbage wouldn't be an issue. If they had something like this on Earth it would be a much more Eco-friendly place.

I selected the next icon on the grid it had a little sword pictured on the icon. The words thick stick appeared on the left-hand side. I selected the stick and found it was more of a 6ft tall walking stick. It just appeared in my right hand. Not what I was expecting, but a handy item all the same. I swung it around a bit to get the feel of it.

*Skill Gain- Staff Fighting ~

*Skill Gain- Basic Sword~

*Do you wish to activate this skill now? Yes/No~

Was it always going to be that simple to acquire skills? I activated both skills by adding 10 Exp to each one. I tried swinging the stick again. I didn't really feel much of a difference, but I somehow instinctively knew how to stand while using the stick as a staff, then again as I used it as a sword. So skill gain will automatically allow for a person to become more proficient in a skill.

I practiced a bit with my staff imitating the moves I had seen on TV. I tried lunges and two-handed twirls. More than a few times I dropped the staff testing out fancy spins and turns. I also cracked myself in the head twice and had to fetch it out of the apple tree when an out of control spin landed the staff in the branches.

*Skill Gain- Dancing~

*Skill Gain- Martial Arts~

*Skill Gain- Pain Tolerance~

*Do you wish to activate this skill now? Yes/No~

I didn't have enough Exp did I? I double checked on the main screen. I had somehow earned 30 Exp. A notification window appeared to the right of my status. On it was the Skill Gain notifications along with three notifications about gaining 10 Exp for successful training. I tapped on the window and found that you could toggle Gamer Glass' notification system on and off. I left the Skill Gain and Level Up notifications on, but scrolled through and turned off everything else.

I then used those 30 Exp and activated Martial Arts and Pain Tolerance by giving them each 10 Exp. I used another 10 Exp on Basic Sword. I double checked the skill but it didn't level up. For a brief moment, I had imagined myself becoming an amazing swordsman with just a couple practice swings. Laughing at myself, I brought up the inventory again.

There was an icon with a shirt on it labeled clothes. It was empty. Next was a picture with a book. In the books section were four books and a letter. The letter was a basic welcome to Elrich hope you enjoy your new life type introduction. It got placed in the trash bin. The four books were more promising. Two of them I had seen before on Amoris' cafe table. The Big Book of Magic and Book of Powerful Magic were at the top of the list.

The next book was Introductory of Races and Species. I tapped on the book and discovered I could actually read the book through the inventory. There was no need to actually physically hold the book. The book was organized by estimated population so humans were the first on the list. I skimmed the book briefly mostly just looking at the pictures rather than reading it.

The last book was the Introduction of Common Languages. Panic set in a bit at that. I was told that I would automatically understand the Common Languages. Here was a book with an explanation of the 6 most commonly used languages. Would I have to learn all 6? I barely was able to pass Freshman Spanish let alone learn 6 languages. That's when it occurred to me that what I was reading wasn't in English. I had been reading in the human language of Elrich and hadn't even noticed.

*Ability Gain- Intelligence. Intelligence levels correspond with how quickly a skill can be learned. The higher the intelligence the fewer Exp points a skill will require to level up. You can gain Intelligence by completing quests, killing monsters, and leveling up. You can also gain Intelligence by reading books and solving problems. ~

I checked my status screen and Intelligence was right under Agility. I had also gained 20 more Exp points for gaining Intelligence. I once again distributed them towards Basic Sword hoping for a level change. There was no change.

I wondered if it would level up if I used the skill to attack monsters. Opening the map I searched for weaker leveled monsters. Green Tailed Apes were flashing on my screen. There was one just a few yards to my left hiding in a bush. There were also two more in a nearby tree.

Rushing towards the bush I steadied the staff in both hands above my head. In a huge swing, I brought the staff down upon the head of the startled Ape. The Ape lay there dead.

*You have leveled up please check your status~

*Skill Gain- Skull Bashing

I opened my status. My Level went up to 3 and I gained 100 Exp.

As I was thinking about how to allocate my new Exp the two Apes that had been hanging out in the tree attacked. They both charged at the same time. Using the staff like a baseball bat I swung at them in an embarrassingly haphazard way. One went flying towards the apple tree the other got smashed to the ground, but not before he bit my leg. It felt like getting bit by an angry cat.

*You have leveled up please check your status~

*Ability Gain- Defense. Defense levels determine how much damage you can take from an attack. The higher your Defense the lower the amount of damage you receive from an attack. You can gain Defense by completing quests, killing monsters, and leveling up. If you fail to repel an attack, points will be subtracted from your Hit Points. ~

*Hit Points, or HP for short, is the numerical value assigned to indicate how many attacks, or damage, one can receive~

*HP bar added to the permanent visual display. This bar will remain active in combat even if Gamer Glass is not being used. A level of 0 HP will result in death. A level of 15 HP will result in unconsciousness. HP will replenish itself slowly over time but may be boosted by using potions or healing magic. Max HP is determined by Level, Stamina, and Defense. The higher these three abilities are the higher your Max HP will become. ~

A long red bar with 115/120 showed in the bottom of my vision. I've come across similar displays in games. In some games, HP replenished automatically, in other games you had to drink potions to bring your HP back up to max. It seemed this system used a mix of both. Seeing the red bar there was a stark reminder that I could die.

I checked my status again. I had gained another level and had 320 more Exp added. A few of my other abilities had gained a few points as well.

Name- Eri Veritas

HP 115/120

Level- 4

Age- 18

Race/Species- (Human) Unknown

Gender- (Male) Unknown

Occupation- Unemployed

Exp- 445

Physical Power- 15

Stamina- 10

Defense- 1

Agility- 17

Intelligence- 1

Magic Power- 8

Metal Rain Lv 1

Skills

Staff Fighting Lv 1

Basic Sword Lv 1

Martial Arts Lv 1

Pain Tolerance Lv 1

Racial Ability-

Hidden Among the Masses- 20

Stealth- 2

I looked at my HP bar again and decided on the spot to raise my defense. I added 200 points to Defense. It now read Defense 32. The HP bar also increased to 205/210.

That left me with the decision on what to do with the remaining 225 Exp. Speed was important you would be able to dodge attacks if Agility was high enough. However, that wouldn't matter much if you ran out of breath due to low Stamina. If I added Exp to Intelligence then used the rest of the Exp towards Basic Sword it might level up.

In the end, I decided on 50 Exp to Stamina and 75 to Agility. Stamina became 18 and Agility 36. I used 25 Exp on Intelligence bringing it up to 5. Then I added 75 Exp towards Basic Sword. Basic Sword became Lv 2. My HP bar also raised again. It's max was now 260.

Pleased with myself I glanced down at the Green Tailed Ape. In RPGs, monsters could be eaten or sold for parts in towns. I bent down and touched the Ape. While I had no idea if it could be eaten I was eventually going to head towards a town. I didn't have any money so being able to sell these creatures would go a long way in gathering some start-up cash. I added the Ape to my inventory. An icon with a monster skull appeared. I gathered the other three Ape bodies and stored them as well.

Thinking about selling the monsters in a town reminded me that I had no camping supplies and that I should probably consider where I was planning on sleeping that night. I had no money at the moment so hunting the Apes along the way was probably a good idea.

Food was also important. I really shouldn't rely on the assumption that I will be able to sell or even eat the Apes at all. They could be completely worthless for all I knew. Glancing up at the apple tree, I began to gather all the ripe looking apples. I wouldn't be able to keep eating strawberries forever. I hoped that the fruit of Earth and the fruit of Elrich were similar in composition and I wasn't gathering something poisonous. The Apes had been eating them and that was a good sign, but I still didn't want to take a chance of eating something until I had confirmation it wouldn't kill me. After all, I did still have the strawberries. I could live off them for a short while at least, but eventually, nutrition would become an issue.

*Skill Gain- Harvesting~

I checked and there was an additional 10 Exp added. For the time being, I chose not to allocate the points. If I was in a dire situation having some Exp ready to use to power up an ability or skill might be the difference between life and death.

Opening the map, I searched for nearby towns or cities. There was a large city on the western border of the territory and a few small towns dotted along a road leading east. I was currently on the eastern end of the territory with the nearest town being the one on the furthest eastern border. It was a decent sized town called Yellow Springs. Selecting the town from the map a brief overview of the town was displayed.

*Yellow Springs, A walled town of mostly human habitation. Has a town guard rather than a militia. Known for its hot springs. This town was built up along the merchant highway as a way station and tourist destination. The town has a third tier Adventurers Guild III, a second tier Merchants Guild II, a public library, a jail, marketplace, and multiple inns. The area's government is run by House Holjior and to a smaller extent a town council.~

It seemed like a good place to start to me. I wouldn't reach it by nightfall, but I might be able to reach it by midday tomorrow. Looked like I was sleeping outside tonight. I never went camping on Earth so I had very little idea of how to go about selecting a proper sleeping spot. I just knew you were supposed to have a fire and a tent. I had no way to start a fire, and I lacked the knowledge of how to start one by rubbing sticks together. I also had no tent or even a blanket.

With a sigh, I headed in the direction of the merchant highway. If I met with some fellow travelers then maybe I could learn a few things about camping. I made sure to leave the map open with monster toggled on so that I could hunt the Green Tailed Apes along the way.

Name- Eri Veritas

HP 255/260

Level- 4

Age- 18

Race/Species- (Human) Unknown

Gender- (Male) Unknown

Occupation- Unemployed

Exp- 30

Physical Power- 15

Stamina- 18

Defense- 32

Agility- 36

Intelligence- 5

Magic Power- 8

Metal Rain Lv 1

Skills

Staff Fighting Lv 1

Basic Sword Lv 2

Martial Arts Lv 1

Pain Tolerance Lv 1

Rock Throwing

Dancing

Skull Bashing

Harvesting

Racial Ability-

Hidden Among the Masses- 20

Stealth- 2

Items Equip

Inventory Bracelet

Blessing 1- All Map Exploration

Blessing 2- Exp Points Required by Level Up / Current Level

Blessing 3-Exp Increase X Current Level

Blessing 4- Item- Gamer Glasses

Titles- Devotee of Amoris