The school bell rings and I jump out of my seat and run out the door. Naturally the start of summer didn’t only excite me, I just ignored the people around me and pushed my path through the crowd as fast as possible. Once I was at the door I calmed down and started walking towards the store. I grabbed the Ingredients to cook a nice juicy steak, making sure to grab some fresh potatoes of course. On my way home I almost get run over three times as I search on my phone for the information I’m looking for, the official announcement about the release Of Frebaf’s Request. Normally I wouldn’t have even thought of playing the game considering the price if it wasn’t for my best friend Noah. Being his nosey self, he brought up the game and said it would be worth it to play it if it only cost around $50 VR pod and all. Without thinking, I sighed and agreed with him. The next day Noah sprung the pod and access to the Ruby server with him. I was shocked, but at the same time impressed, Noah’s family was pretty well off with basically a mansion of a house. Even still, He could not have easily saved the $5000 the pods and game access cost. The breakthrough of full Virtual reality immersion led to a huge amount of virtual reality games being produced but most were still not developed enough to bring in a good amount of money. Prime Entertainment, however, waited until the new games were battling for popularity and started advertising to gather attention. They were easily able to bring in supporters with their unique approach to making a game, a game where you and the other players of your server help create the story through the butterfly effect. Soon the reviews from beta testers came out which was a week real time and 35 days in the game because the 1 to 5-time ratio. Most games had time distortion to extend the amount of time a person could play for. Videos and other gameplay info available was amazingly detailed but at the same time, it could not be used well since the servers all turned out differently. The setup of the game was amazing really, all players needed to be connected at once or they would not be able to play. This was because once your character is designed in a time room at a 1 to 10 ratio the timeline would slowly advance while people experiencing events were still at 1 to 10 those waiting for their event would be at a normal 1 to 1 ratio until all events up until the year 1295. Everyone could pick their age from 17 to 30 and the timeline would extend farther back. The Beta testers were a special case where they only had 3 real months until a Great War would start because they started in the year 1299. I decided to choose my real age of 17. Regular players had 1 whole real year until their great war would start but apparently some events could be accelerated or pushed off until a later date. For example, if a player somehow dealt a fatal blow to the Dark Hoard the war might be pushed off a year or two in game time The beta test was cut short after initiating the event so people would get the full experience themselves. Noah had set up the pods at a gaming studio he also set up. All the studio is is a small apartment with a bathroom, a fridge, and internet connection for the pods. Finally, I arrived at the apartment and I barged right in since Noah was already there waiting, he drove his car from his school. Grinning at my obvious excitement, a rare thing, Noah shows me how I just sit in the pod and press a button so the door closes. “Remember to find me as soon as possible, John” He reminds me. I enter immediately since the server opens in 20 minutes and everything goes faster if you create your character before the official time. The races you could choose from are the basic elves, dwarves, and humans, but the game has a system that allows for two of the main gods Kerus or Vielo to change your race into a dark being for Kerus and a High being for Vielo. None of the beta testers were able to gain the favor of the most powerful main god, creator of the low races, Frebaf. The layout of the continent, which was named Frebaf clearly showing his title as the supreme god, surrounded the mystical Krystal Lake where his City was in the middle. Thinking of choosing an Elf or a Human I push the dwarf options to the side. There was no need to be short in this world too. Choosing an Elf gives you the option to pick an affinity to an element or if you planned on being a dark or high being you could leave your affinity blank. None of the beta testers who had chosen an element affinity had been able to change to the more powerful races. Only about 13 of the 1000 beta testers over two servers were able to be advanced by their god to a dark or high race. The option for choosing human was only the extra skill point for every 3 levels. Thinking over the extra skill point and my love for fire, fire won and I became a Fire Elf. For my actual appearance, I made myself a little leaner and taller. People in stories who keep their appearances in the game are of course beautiful, I was not so I messed with my face a bit with the help of the system. When you create your character you are allowed to choose one skill from a list of basic skills but all races other than Low Humans have a hereditary skill to choose from as well. The hereditary skill for elves releases your elemental aura, but the possible slots for that were already taken. I check to see what the max was, but it was only 12 total across all the elements and fire had only 2 slots. You had a universal Identify skill no matter what race you choose so anything like that is useless. I ignored vision enhancements like Farsight, Life Detect, and Ingredient finder. I briefly considered the last one but finally I sorted out all fire abilities to choose from. There were 5 in total, but I trashed the dumb Flame Light ability which only gave a light source and the, even more, pointless, Fire Eyes. It didn’t even shoot lasers it just made your eyes look cool and let you see in the dark. The last three were Fire Wall, which is self-explained, Fire Body, which at early stages can only be used around one body part like a fist but at higher stages can be used like a less powerful elemental aura. Mana drain compared to elemental aura is 10 to 1. The last skill was a manual-only skill Fire Manipulation. This skill can be used to control fire outside and around your body into doing anything you like using pyrokinetic powers. Unlike most skills the person using it can be hurt and damaged if not used perfectly or almost. Some manual skills were deemed too hard by the beta testers so before releasing the game Prime entertainment released some spoilers about the skills at higher levels. Once Fire Manipulation Is leveled to Advanced you gain the Fire Golem creation skill. Manual skills usually needed lots of time to be learned so you usually ended up being raised near a master of the skill you chose. Things from character design to how you advanced your history during game setup completes the history of your server. I read the overall description of the skills and chose Fire Manipulation. What pyromaniac wouldn’t want to conjure fire at a thought? Finally, I chose my name I use for all games, Yernero. I click the confirm button and check the clock in the top right corner of my vision. The controls for using the interface is exactly as described in the books I read, just focus on it. Its 4:37 and there are about 23 real minutes left until the game starts. Looking through the options menu, I see no logout button…just kidding, searching I find what I’m looking for, the time perception button. In the guide, it was noted that some may want to create their character early and not know what to do with the extra time so you could change it to normal time until the game officially starts. I change it to regular time and open my game guide provided by the game. I sort out all the parts about fire and read through them. Apparently fire is considered a weak element since there are no more true masters practicing it. All the other elements have daily uses but at most fire can be used to light a small fire. Blacksmiths have no time to master fire magic to run their forge since it can take years to be able to produce a hot enough flame and maintain it. Water can heal and move water using hydrokinetics and is easy to master. Air can be used at sea or to fly with the help of flying contraptions and but is the hardest to master second to fire. Earth is by far the easiest to master and can help create any type of building necessary for a growing city. I shake my head, Fire can be used to fly, fire can melt and propel rocks, but fire cannot be used to heal, that is an undeniable fact. Fire is the element of true chaos, unlike that pathetic chaos element. I will definitely master fire and make it the undisputable greatest element! After reading a bit more about the fire element, I find an article about the Lesser God Pyree, apparently during wars throughout history her warriors were known for using their control over fire to decide the outcome of battles. I made it a goal to find out more about her. Finally, there were only thirty seconds left and I stopped reading. The guide had run out of important things about fire so I was bored anyway. Suddenly a notification popped up: Start time Acceleration? Yes/no. I chose yes and watched as the blackness around me started to blue and another notification appeared: Witness birth? Yes/no. I chose no and waited a few seconds as the next notification showed up: Witness father’s death? Current age: 2 yes/no. I chose no again. The game tried to make sure that that each player decided how they grew up and knew about important things that happened but if you just kept hitting no the system wrote your story and presented a quick summary of what has happened for you. The next notification: Learn Blacksmithing? Current age: 12 yes/no. Interested I choose yes and the next notification pops up: Witness how to Blacksmith? Current Age 12 note: Includes tutorial for blacksmithing, If not received, quality of work may be lower if system assist is used. Sighing I choose yes. The blurred scenery around me clear and it is clear I am in a forge. Standing in front of me is a gruff looking man is named Jeph Smith; somehow his name is already in my head. A quick summary is in my hand so I read it while the time is still frozen.
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You have been working as Blacksmith Jeph’s assistant for over a year and he wishes to take you on as a full apprenticeship. You are his assistant at the request of your dead father Leroa Firejing. The two were good friends and Jeph always made tools for Leora to use on the farm. Jeph has seen potential in you and asked if you have the 40 silvers normally required to start an apprenticeship. Through numerous odd jobs, your current wallet balance is 43 silvers. Since you have accepted the blacksmith skill you balance is now at 3 silvers.
Looking up the man walks towards the forge and shows me the basics of using system assist in forging. Studying how the old man does it and how the system assist helps me, I notice a clear difference in Grace and quality. Silently I search for an option to record the man to reference later. Finding it I start recording and ask him to show me again some of the ways to smelts iron. These methods include how to remove impurities from a bucket of molten iron, smelt into bars, and use bars to make a sword. After 3 hours the tutorial is done and I'm back in the blurred space. The Next notification is a sad one I would rather miss: Witness mother’s death? Yes/No. I choose no and continue. There ends up being only one more notification telling me that time is about to run at 10 to 1 and it is the first day of 1295. It also says that because of certain circumstances I did not take part in any festivities and am instead sleeping in a cave outside of the town Caiul. Once Again I have a short paper explaining what happened
Your father was out hunting for food for your birthday and never returned. The next week your father’s best friend Jeph formed a search party to look for him. His corpse was found in a clearing 5 miles outside of town. After learning blacksmithing for 3 more years under Jeph, you have heard many stories about your brave and strong father and wish to see where such a man Died. On your way home you stop to buy some bread to persuade your mother to let you go “hunting” with a few friends. When you get home to your house outside of the town the door is broken down and the place is trashed. Your mother is sitting in her old rocking chair and has a hole in her chest from a sword. Suddenly you were jumped by a soldier lying in wait. Using your secret Fire Manipulation ability passed down your mother’s family you burn the soldier alive in rage. You bury your mother and tell the townsfolk what happened. You show Jeph the crest on the soldier’s tunic and he tells you about finding the same crest near your father’s body when he died. Enraged you take your two best friends Nick and Jeremy to explore the area your father was found dead in. Finding the clearing you stumble onto a path that leads deeper into the forest and follow it. You are following it now but are resting in the cave for the night. 30 seconds until server start… 3…2…1.
It is 6 am in the game so the other two are still partly asleep. First there were two notifications in front of me so I opened them one at a time.
-Through heritage and actions, you have gained the title of Pyree’s chosen.
This title is always equipped. Because you chose to learn Fire manipulation and blacksmithing you are have gained Pyree’s favor. Priests of Pyree will notice your title and you will gain +50 Intimacy with them. +50 mana unless the title is revoked. Visit a temple of Pyree to unlock the full potential of this title. All temples of Pyree have been marked on your map.
-You currently have the quest: Find out more about the Crest
Jeph smith has asked you to find out more about your mother’s killers and their possible involvement with your father’s death. If possible, find out the reason behind your parents deaths.
I finish reading and take the time to examine my stats. They are all accumulated through your life, but your level stays at level 1.
Name: Yernero Title: Pyree’s Chosen Level: 1
Health: 126 Mana: 150 Stamina: 100
Hp regen/sec: 0.2 Mana regen/sec: 0.2 Stamina Regen/sec: 0.1
Strength: 24 Intelligence: 5 Dexterity: 7
Agility: 5 Vitality: 6 Luck:5
Fame/infamy: 0
Affinities: 50 Fire
My stats are decent but not as high as I had hoped. Sighing I get up and decide to see if training increases stats, I will waste no time since I don’t want to try fire manipulation and not be able to control it because some stat is too low. It looks like this quest is a little mysterious since I have never seen the crest from the quest on any wikis. Outside the cave, I see that it is right underneath a nice cliff great for climbing. Thinking about the possibility of gaining stats and a skill I reach up and climb. Despite my usual fear of heights, I climb as high as I can. Looking down, I realize I'm only 5 feet off the ground and gulp slightly. I stop going up and try hanging on for as long as possible. If you die you only get three revives for the whole server. The creators wanted to get it as realistic as possible, but they decided that most people would need one or two deaths to get used to the reality that its possible. During the beta test lives were infinite but at the same time they were made a big deal. Frebaf himself came to revive you and explained to any NPCs who saw you die. It even resulted in some loss of intimacy due to suspicion. After hanging on for 5 minutes, I gained only one stat in strength so I decided to try sprinting to increase agility. After 5 minutes of sprinting across the clearing around the cave entrance I gained 2 stat points in agility but at the same time, Nick and Jeremy lumbered out of the cave looking at me in confusion. Ignoring them I say “Let’s set out” and start following the path. An idea pops up in my head as I walk and I open my inventory. Yep, there was a hammer labeled “Beginner’s smithing hammer” I Identify it.
Beginner’s Smithing Hammer
An unbreakable hammer with low damage and only able to create poor quality tools.
Damage 1-2 Rarity: common
There were 5 ranks of rarity, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Legendary, and Mythical. Beta testers did not have enough time to find any Mythical Weapons, but they did manage to find 3 Legendary weapons. Both Beta test servers failed to stop the Dark Hoard’s advance so it was each servers goal to gain a mythical weapon so they had a chance to stop the Hoard. I take out the hammer and keep it at the ready. The trail suddenly widens and large tower can be seen over the treetops. I take the time to admire the scenery, the trees were all swaying individually and the tower was made out of plain stone. But then suddenly it was dark as something covered my head. I was crouched over as a fist landed in my gut. A heavy object hits my head and I am knocked out. One word, FUUUUUUCCCKKK.