Opening my eyes I see a run down building that is missing its shutters, lacking the front door and is surrounded by weeds. The grass is overgrown and movement in it is obvious. The sky is cloudy and the wind is cold. But according to the deed in my hand reading Lytel estate, I have a new house and this is probably it seeing as the floating box above it read the exact same thing. All I can think about is how awesome it is to have finally gotten here.
Usually you would feel really lost having suddenly found yourself in a completely strange place, but luckily I had these weird little blue windows labeling everything for me. The most persistent window flashing the words “Immigration finalizing, Mental strain condition Overridden”. That seemed nice, pretty sure that was the only reason I could even process the windows without distraction. The window with the most important looking information seemed to be asking me to finalize my two class slots. Being curious I selected the dropdown menu for option 1, I found it to have quite a few options with most being typed in white, mostly things like Pickpocket, or Laborer. There were a few greens such as Guard, Smith, and Merchant, along with 2 blues, Knight and Mage. The thing that really caught my eye though was Druid, highlighted in a rustic orange color.
Having been an avid gamer my entire life, my subconscious knew that this was something I couldn't pass up… I mean, it's doubtful that this option was available to many. I quickly selected Druid and was then greeted by a confirmation menu.
“Druid selected, Class Summary is as follows” a scrolling window popped up. “Druids are cultivators of the elemental forces focusing on methods of growing, protecting and fighting with Nature. Would you like to choose Druid? Yes or No?”
The summary being pretty much exactly what I thought it was going to be, I chose yes and watched the window close. I then selected the second class slot dropdown menu with the initial intention of choosing one of the rare blue classes. A druid mage would be fierce, or possibly a warrior that holds his foes down with an army of roots! Wanting to check out my options I selected Wizard first and was greeted with a new confirmation menu.
“Wizard selected, Class Summary is as follows: Wizards tap into the arcane magic of the world in order to conjure spells of fire, water and air. Would you like to choose Wizard? Yes or No?”
But then the gamer in me started to process the possibilities, I selected no, closing the menu. I scrolled up, all the way up into the green classes, chose Farmer and was greeted with a new confirmation menu.
“Farmer selected, Class Summary is as follows: Farmers are able to grow plants faster, bigger, and of higher quality than normal. Would you like to choose Farmer? Yes or No?”
Hrm, I could totally see this stacking bonuses with my druid job, but it could also be a dud. Was it worth the risk? I mean, could I change it later if it didn’t work out? And then I looked around, I was in front of a decrepit building in the middle of an overgrown field with a deed in my hand claiming that I owned the 80 acres surrounding the Lytel estate along with this broken down shack. “Heck with it” I thought, I might as well just start pretending this is a farming simulator and get rich with the combo. Worst case, I bet the legendary druid job could net me a comfortable living by itself. I mean it wasn’t the adventurer life that me and my buddies talked about in the past, but I always did like the “Tales of Harvest” games growing up, so why not now that I’m in “The World”?
Clicking the chosen option the confirmation menu closed and brought back up the original menu. Now that the job slots were filled I noticed 2 new boxes were available to explore with a prompt flashing next to them. Upon clicking the flashing prompt I was greeted by a new menu.
“Skill selection warning. Classes only advance through using the class for its intended function and its given skills, it is therefore highly encouraged to pick 1 skill from each of your chosen classes. It is possible to learn a skill from a trainer later but it is not recommended to delay a class's potential for advancement.”
Wow, okay. So I basically want 1 skill from each for now. No use in getting the farmer job if I’m just gonna ignore it.
Clicking on the Skill menu I was greeted with 10 different options.
Druid Skills
Air Cutter
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Allows the user to hurl a weak blade of air at a target
Animal Familiar
Grants the user access to a animal familiar
Plant Familiar
Grants the user access to a plant familiar
Poison Spray
Shoots a spray of poison at a target
Staff of thorns
Summons a staff made of thorns
Farmer Skills
Animal empathy
Animal bonding increases faster
Bountiful Harvest
Plants grown, have better yields
Efficient Work
Farm tasks use less stamina
Enrich
Allows user to raise soil quality
Quick Growth
Plants reach maturity in less time
Well that’s quite the list. “Animal Familiar” and “Animal Empathy” would probably work out. But I would assume that any familiar I have would already have a pretty strong bond with me. “Plant Familiar” and “Quick Growth” might work, but I’m not sure it would get stronger over time without me actually gaining experience. “Plant familiar” and “Bountiful Harvest” would either be awesome or nothing. Technically you could argue that a familiar’s strength or attack power is its yield. Really it just depends on the logic behind the skill. Ugh, it really stinks that I can't see the actual bonus before I choose!
Having chewn all ten of my nails during my indecision, I finally made my choice. Within moments the system brought up a summary of my character sheet. With a new window just below it.
Name: Bradford Wallace
Age: 18
Tier and Classes
Stone tier
Druid
Stone tier
Farmer
Skills
Plant familiar
Bountiful Harvest
“Character Immigration Completed. When finished reviewing character information feel free to close the window. For “Menu” access just think “Menu”.”
Upon closing the window, the world went blurry. Waking up, sweat drenching my dirt caked outfit, my brain was pounding. Was this the effects of the “Mental Strain”? Regardless, the immigration was not a fun process.
Looking around, there were subtle changes to the estate since my collapse. The sky had grown darker with a bit of moisture filling the air. Long grass stalks were moving with the passing of animals across the fields and what could be described as chewing sounds were coming from across the yard. All of this briefly distracted my vision from the new icons scattered at the corners of my awareness.
A small bright red line occupied the top left corner of my vision followed by a blue bar below it and a green bar below that. To the right was a pale green circle with a question mark that was slowly pulsating as if to beckon attention. Upon getting my focus the icon bloomed into a bright green window filled with several options.
Fruit familiar
Produces beneficial effects for allies
Fungus familiar
Focuses on debilitating enemies
Tree familiar
Well rounded front line fighter
Tuber familiar
Resistant to ongoing detrimental effects
Vine familiar
Focuses on stealth and ambushes
Taking a look at the options I started running through the options. A “Fruit familiar” could probably be a good source of income but would leave me effectively defenseless if I encounter trouble… A “Fungus familiar” might weaken them enough for me to hurt enemies but without having a second combat class I doubt it would be worth it unless I find a party to go adventure with which probably isn't so smart right off the bat for me. “Tree familiar” seems like a good option, it would at least be able to give and take a hit or two which is infinitely better than what my farmer job would be able to. “Tuber familiar” feels like it would be a good option for a mountain or desert setting, luckily I’m in what appears to be a temperate area. “Vine familiar” seems like another pretty good option for dealing with threats but I really need something that can take a few hits for me without just dying the moment it doesn’t instantly kill its target. Which brings me back to “Tree familiar”. With my selection made I was greeted with a wiggle in my pocket.
The wiggle turned into a rolling and the rolling turned into a squirming. Within moments, what appeared to be a ball of roots started growing out of my pocket before launching itself up and out of my ragged bottoms before landing on the dirt below. Over the span of 10 seconds the roots sorted themselves out and grew a more central solid core. The whole process was captivating and demanded attention. After what I’m guessing was a good 5 minutes the transformation process was finished and the creature stood staring right back at me.
Roughly 6 inches wide a ball of bark stood just as high off the ground on its 4 twisted root legs. With two root like appendages coming from its top to act like arms, it was waving and trying to gain attention from its bonded companion. Its small eyes hidden in the folds of its bark, glistening with unseen tears as the cold wind caressed its young body. As a new gust of wind hit the little familiar, it ran towards its bonded companion for warmth.