Just when Dante was about to lose his bearings he finally felt solid ground under him. He found himself in some type of run-down camp. Large huts were built in the shape of a track field with a pretty hefty open space in the middle. There were about seventy to a hundred orcs facing the center. An orc that was at least eight feet tall stood guard over a pile of wooden spears

To the front of the camp was the outskirts of a forest, if it could be called that. The trees grew higher than Dante could twist his head upward. Each branch was wide enough to be considered its own tree, and the land itself was not horizontal. Dante spotted a couple hills in front. 

Behind him was an empty gray plain. It extended for miles until it reached the steep mountains that vanished behind a thick layer of clouds. The contrast between the two areas was bizarre. The forest extended on his left and right for as far as he could see.

You are now a part of the Graymay Clan.

You are but an expendable Scavenger, hunting food and resources for the clan warriors.

Prove yourself and you may climb the ranks.

Guild Wars will begin in 6 days 23 hours 57 minutes.  A minimum of 5 members is required for the first Guild Wars. 

“Well, that doesn’t explain anything, does it?” Dante muttered, scratching the sides of his head.

He paused, his hands shaking. He held the top of his head with both hands, and squealed. His face crumpled as he fell to his knees.

Orcs turned around, grumbling complaints. Only one of them bothered to kneel next to Dante, holding his forearm. “What’s it be with you?”

Dante stopped shaking. He peeled his arms from his face, looking at the old and shriveled orc. “My hair...I don’t have any!" he whimpered. It was one of the few things Dante appreciated getting from his Jarckal--balding wasn't a thing in their family.

Half the orcs around him laughed, while the others just shook their heads.

The old man was the later crowd. Not only did he shake his head but he also slapped the top of Dante’s shiny head. Dante got up, not returning the old orc’s strike mostly out of embarrassment. He got up, inspecting the rest of his body.

It was a bit taller than his original body at 6 foot 5, more muscular, heavier, and gray. It felt slightly sluggish, though that might have been because of his abnormally large fingers. There were five of them, and he was grateful for that, but they were too thick. He touched his face, and while it didn't feel it change completely it did feel like it was altered. His jaw was larger and his cheekbones bones felt wider as well.

Sturdy. It was built to take a punch, and he could feel the strength in his bones. It could probably give big ol' Jarckal a run for his money in a straight brawl.

For his equipment, he only had shorts on. The orcs around him all had sticks, so that was probably the starting weapon.

Whatever. Dante's fists were probably more useful than those things. Orcs were superhuman, after all. Hopefully, there was some type of monk class. Weapons were not a forte of his. 

Dante stood there for a while, unsure of what to do. Well, he knew what to do, but not how.

He needed to make a guild. He also needed people to run whatever the guild was going to do, and to do that he had to be strong. Considering this was a game, he should probably find monsters to kill or something. He was pressed for time after all. 

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Damn it, I wish Kristina was here. This was her bread, butter, and jam. He would have had her do all the fighting, planing, and tactical commanding while Sai would handle all the logistics. Dante could just put on a cheering uniform and watch them work.

Well, what would they do in this situation? Sai would get information on people and Kristina would find out how to get stronger. "Hmm...Status Screen?” Dante said. His character screen opened, alongside a few chuckles from the orcs around him.

Title

   Dante

Strength scaling: 120%

Base Strength: 12

Total Strength: 14 Level 1 Constitution Scaling: 120%

Base Constitution:16 Total Constitution: 19 Race  Lesser Orc Agility Scaling: 120%

Base Agility: 6

Total Agility: 7 Profession None Soul scaling: 120% Base Soul: 12 Total Soul: 14

Every player starts with 40 stat points. These were automatically distributed based on the scan. You may receive up to 5 additional points from your body into Strength and Consitution depending on your physical prowess, and 5 additional points into your Agility and Soul depending on your mental prowess.

You have received 4 extra points from your physical prowess.

+3 to Constitution

+1 to Strength

You have received 2 extra points from your mental prowess.

+2 to Soul.

Physical prowess. That sounded nice. So the capsule scanned his body, interesting, but how did it scan his stupid mind? and more importantly, why did he receive 2 Soul points? Oh well, I'll take what I can. Other than Agility the rest of his stats matched his proportions pretty well.

Wait what. Weren’t there supposed to be health and STM? There was nothing in his sight nor head about it. What about the endurance, now that he thought about it? Didn't most games have it. Well, I guess Constitution could include STM, but did neither have a value?

Maybe that was the definition of a "bare bone RPG system." That frankly sounded better for newbies like Dante. It was just like real life, with the added bonus of him being superhuman and dragons probably flying around. Setting that aside, if Dante compared it to a normal human, which presumably meant their minor scaling translated into an 80% stat scaling, an average human had an 8 for all categories.

Going by that, he was decently stronger, double as durable, just as sluggish, and had an above-average mental strength. Of course, all of that was due to the 120% stat scaling. In total that meant an average orc is 40% better than a human. Why would anyone pick humans in that case? Those dummies will always be the underdogs.

Interesting--this was going surprisingly well. Now he just needed to find some rabbits to kill. Deciding to go with his guts, Dante walked towards that same old orc sitting on a rock. He was sharpening his stick a rock.

He was probably an NPC. There weren’t any markers, but Dante doubted an old man would play this game. There wasn’t any character customization, so it seemed that gender and body type was locked. Whether it was a game feature or a lack of technology, he wasn’t too sure.

Hopefully those that are disabled or hurt can still move normally. It would be really nice for Sai when Dante would eventually beg him for help.

Wait, no no no. Not thinking like that. Dante had to do this on his own. “What should I do to get stronger?” Dante asked him.

"Kill. Eat what you kill," he answered instantly. He didn't look up as he spoke, though his voice wasn't condescending. It was calm and relaxed.

“Well duh. You need food to grow muscle. Where do I start?”

“Wait. We go in five.”

“How long? Five minutes?”

“Wait,” he said, knocking the stone against his stick.

I guess that's supposed to be a spear.

Not having any other option, Dante waited. He scouted the others, wondering what they were up to. Most were young and male, though he did spot a few female orcs. They didn't really look like the orcs Dante had come to expect. They had much nicer faces that looked more like elves than the villainous orcs in most video games.

They were fit and slightly muscular, but it wasn't the six abs muscular. They wore shorts and a rag that covered their chests. It was a bit odd, now that he thought about it. Just about every orc was decently attractive with bodies to flaunt around. There were some better than others, sure, but it was odd for everyone to be physically attractive.

Considering this was a made-up world, Dante didn’t mind it. While his real body could use some improvements, mostly in the face department, it was livable. But for those that had it even worse? Well, Dante could understand why they would prefer this world over the other one. It certainly looked more pleasant on the eyes, at the very least.

In terms of conversation, there wasn’t much being done outside of people that already knew each other. Five was the magic number. This was a competitive game, as far as the Carl reported. It wasn't surprising that people started together.

It tightened his heart, to see them laughing together.

He'd had Sai grow alongside him from kindergarten, and had met Kristina at the start of high-school. The past months he had spent alone were the only months he had ever been alone. He couldn't even remember the last time he laughed.

Jarckal was right for the wrong reasons. Dante couldn't do anything incredible without his friends by his side, but worse Dante hadn't realized how much loneliness hurt until now.