Joe had been released from pain and delirium and given something wondrous. He was floating on his back in a perfect pond, under a perfect sky, utterly at ease. Sun-warmed waters cradled him in their embrace. If it weren’t for Hawking, he would have figured he had somehow fallen into Nirvana. Joe had not been able to do this for so many years; just floating, at peace.
Having spent years with constant tremors, he never could have stilled his body long enough to find that sublime balance between water and sky. He also would have been unlikely to be able to enjoy it if he had. For almost a decade Joe had had to make a choice between drug-befuddled thoughts or blinding pain until, in the end, he had to settle for both. Not today. Today his mind was clear. The pain was gone. The world around him was so beautiful, he was having a hard time telling himself his eyes were just wet from the water. If you had asked him yesterday, Joe would have told you he lost his ability to shed a tear during the chemo years. Once again, not today. Today was a whole new everything.
Eventually, Joe drove himself back to the shore with strong, sure strokes, buoyed in spirit for the first time in oh-so-long. He let the sun dry him for a bit before putting on the simplistic ensemble. Playing around with the interface, Joe found out he could identify the pieces of clothing using the popup windows. Starter pants. Starter shirt. Starter shoes. Starter belt. And that’s it. Not a coin or real piece of gear to his name. He assumed Hawking had not dropped him in a dangerous zone because what would have been the point of saving his soul only to have him get eaten in the first hour he was here. Still, he thought, it would probably be a good idea to find civilization before nightfall. The sun had moved across the sky during the time he was in the water so he assumed there would be a sunset. It would be nice to have some sturdy walls around him before creepers started popping up.
Thankfully, the pond was on a hillside. Looking off the side, where the ridge had trapped the water, Joe could see down the hill a ways and spotted what looked like a simple road meandering through the scattered trees and over the grassy hills. He had hoped for a map screen but that was either not an option in this game or just not one he had available to him given his current dearth of skills. What there was instead, was a Quest screen.
New Quest [Let’s Get Started]
You have entered the world of Illuminaria. Choose a direction and select your first class.
Reward: 10 gold coins
1 basic toolkit
1 starter weapon
Since one way was as good as the other as far as he could tell, Joe turned right and started hiking down the wheel-rutted road looking for whatever the world had to offer him next. As he passed through a stand of trees, he spotted a dead sapling that was still standing with all of its bark intact. This seemed to be one of those aptitudes from his previous life he still possessed. When he was younger, it always seemed like every time he went for a walk in the woods, the perfect walking stick just seemed to be there waiting for him. Joe began rocking the tree as close to the ground as he could, listening to the cracking sounds. He could see where he wanted the break and his new muscles responded just how he wanted them to. The thin trunk snapped off just above the roots and then it was only a matter of a swift strike to his knee to snap the pole to the perfect height. The wood was a little drier than he would have preferred but still strong enough. This staff would not last long but it would suit him just fine for the trek along the wagon road.
Since the road was really not much more than a set of tracks over roughly level terrain, Joe was grateful for the extra point of contact. There were plenty of ruts and rocks which made walking sticks great for staying upright any time one of those little hazards tried to snag his foot.
As he walked, Joe tried to imagine what he wanted from this new chance at life. He had been cooped up and curtailed for years. What he wanted most was some adventure. He thought through his favorite characters and games. The ones that most appealed to him now were his explorer-type characters. He liked playing the scouts who ranged ahead of the party. His skillful tomb hunters were fun too. He was not sure how the class system worked but when the chance to choose one turned up, Joe planned to pick something that would allow him to roam around on his own, seeking new places and solving quests. Magic would be awesome, as long as it did not make him a glass-cannon. Joe smiled as he pictured creeping through lost temples, plumbing their depths for treasure and adventure.
Still lost in thought, Joe crested a particularly large hill and saw people for the first time. Surprisingly, in both directions. Ahead of him, he could see a small farming town maybe half a mile off. It looked like a typical old-world town, with small houses with a mix of slate and thatched roofs surrounded by fields of grains and grazing pastures. Behind him, Joe could see a rider heading in the same direction. The sun glinted off mail of some sort and a gold and white pennant fluttered atop a long spear the rider had standing upright.
“Hey Hawking, is everyone here from Earth like me, or are there NPCs here too?”
Neither supposition is correct. Illuminaria is primarily populated with two creature types: mortals and monsters. Each has their own growth model. There are no Non-Mortal Characters and less than 1% of the mortal population has been transferred from your world.
“So those farmers down there. They are mortals too?”
Correct. They have the same basic attributes as you do and utilize the class system for advancement.
Joe lost himself thinking this idea through. This was not just a game then. If everyone was a mortal, then everyone was really a person. There were no automaton-like sprites, mindlessly performing the same actions over and over. Each being he met would have its own goals and growth. Illuminaria was an actual world. Those farmers were actually farming. He looked back at the knight, speculating on what type of quest the man might be on.
The mounted warrior was closer than he expected. Giving a guess at the pace of the horse and his own gait, Joe guessed the rider would pass him before he reached the town. Joe was not overly thrilled to encounter an armed horseman before having the security of witnesses around him. He had originally thought he would be fine when the knight was likely some errant NPC. The idea Joe would be instantly killed on his very first interaction seemed like a terrible game design. Now that he knew that nobody was following some master script, that idea didn't hold up. If everyone he met had agency, then he could not treat this new world like a standard computer game.
Joe took a breath to calm himself. Good manners should carry him through, he hoped. Joe kept glancing back. The closer the rider got, the more on edge Joe found himself.
He tried to stop looking back and concentrate on the closest villagers. The first farmhouse had chickens ranging around a fair-sized barn. A teen was dropping hay out of the loft into a small cart her father was manning. Clothes hung on a line, fluttering in the light breeze. Nearest to Joe, a boy was picking berries from a large bramble patch by the side of the road while his dog lay belly up in the sun a few feet away. It was such a classic pastoral scene that Joe could not help but smile as he drew nearer.
The clopping of hooves snapped the newcomer out of his reverie. Joe turned and found the rider was now only a few yards behind him. Able to see him clearly now, Joe could see the man was smartly attired with what looked like a chain shirt under a well-made tabard. The jerkin was also colored in gold and white, like his pennant. It seemed cleaner than one would expect on a man riding through these open hills; as if it and the man wearing it were too good to be besmudged by road dirt. Joe turned and smiled up at the man but was met with a pinched expression of disdain. From his elevated height, the rider both literally and figuratively looked down on Joe. Even the powerful charger seemed to sneer down its nose at the man on the road.
“Good afternoon, sir. How are you this fine day?” Joe knew he was laying it in a little thick but he did feel great this fine day and the uptight man was practically asking to be nettled.
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“Save your salutations, beggar. You will get nothing from me. Now step aside.”
Joe was not confrontational by nature but this man was so rude Joe’s back immediately went up. Just as quickly prudence overrode that self-destructive instinct. This was not his modern nation on Earth, governed by the rule of law. This could be a feudal system where lords could cut down serfs with zero repercussions. Joe had no gear, no skills, and was standing in front of a clearly well-trained warhorse bearing a spear-wielding warrior. Even though there was plenty of room for the horse to pass him, Joe took a large step back. He still couldn’t help but glare at the rider.
“Watch your gaze in the company of your betters, peasant,” the knight scolded and he rode past.
What a prick! Fuming, Joe watched the spearman ride toward the hamlet. “Ok Hawking, that took a bit of the luster off your Illuminaria, Bud,” Joe muttered to himself. “Encounter one, flaming a-hole. I’m not looking forward to encountering number two nearly as much now.”
Because he was thrown so off-kilter by the knight’s attitude, Joe had forgotten he wanted to try something. He was wondering if he could use his identification window to ID people as well as objects. He also wanted to know if others could see his windows. If this game acted like most MMOs he had played, the answer to the first would be yes but he would probably be limited in what he could see without the right skills and the second one would be no. Seeing every other mortal's windows would be terribly distracting. He could try the experiment when he got to the village.
Looking ahead he could see the rider coming up on the youth and his dog. “Piss on him for me, boy,” Joe whispered towards the rousing farm dog.
The dog took one look at the rider and seemed to like him no better than Joe did. It leapt to the edge of the lane and let loose a chain of loud, warning barks at the knight. The horse stared down the hound, too well-trained to shy. Joe was too far away to hear what was said but the knight snapped a command at the boy. The youth began to extricate himself from the briar patch to get to his dog but the rider must not have felt the reaction was quick enough to be satisfactory. A second later, the warhorse turned slightly and lashed out with an iron-shod hoof, kicking the dog so hard it flew into the thorn-filled berry patch. The rider just lifted his head and rode on, ignoring the howls of pain and cries of the child.
Joe had not run in years but he found himself flying down the slope toward the boy and the wounded dog. He had worked with vets before and so had seen more than his share of wounded pets. That kick could be lethal. The only glimpse of hope was that the dog was still yowling in pain instead of being silent. Sadly, those sounds were fading as Joe slid to a halt at the edge of the thorns. The boy, who looked to be about twelve, had reached the dog who lay just inside the thicket. The dense briars must have caught the canine. While painfully prickly, that flexible wall probably saved the dog's life.
“Here pass him to me, son. What is his name?”
The boy looked up through his tears, seeing Joe for the first time. “Buck. Buckle. Buck.”
“Okay. As careful as you can, lift him up and pass him out to me. We might be able to do something for him.”
The farmboy, ignoring the sharp thorns slid his arms under the wounded hound and dragged himself towards Joe with a sorrowful determination. Joe winced as he watched the thorns grab and dig in, but the boy had just a foot to go and Joe knew Buck needed help badly. Joe pushed forward and found the thorns were even worse than he anticipated. They lanced right through his light linen shirt and leggings, cutting furrows in Joe’s limbs and belly. Ignoring the lacerations, Joe stretched out his arms for the hound. He could already tell the dog had broken ribs. Hopefully, those broken bones had not punctured anything. As Buck was eased into Joe’s arms, the offworlder’s hopes were dashed. He could see the skin of the dog's belly was darkening to a deep purple. It was too soon for that to be bruising. Joe guessed that meant there was blood under the surface of the skin, internal bleeding. The man sliced himself backing out before carefully lowering the hound to the grass beside the road. His mind was racing to think of anything he had learned that would help but Joe had no real veterinary training, just lots of volunteer hours. There had to be something he could do for Buck.
New Quest [Save Buckle]
Buckle cannot be saved by ordinary means. You could save him by becoming a Healer. Will you accept Healer as your Primary Class?
Reward: BiteBark
Joe scowled at the screen. The Healer class was nowhere near the top of his list of preferred classes. It was pretty close to the bottom. This was exactly the sort of class he didn't want. This was not a self-sufficient ranger or shaman. It was not a highly versatile magical one like a mage or druid. Healers had magic but almost no versatility. This class would make him completely party-bound. A solo healer just didn’t work. Being stuck depending on others would be like stepping back into his old life, having to have others care for him. To top it off, the one thing Joe had more than enough of in the last few years was illness and injury. He had nothing but respect for the nurses and doctors who had treated him but he did not want to be one himself. He would much rather put that world behind him and start something new.
‘Damn it.’ Looking at the fading dog and crying boy, Joe knew he could not live with himself if he declined.
You have acquired Healer as your Primary Class. You have gained the following traits.
[Awakened] +2 to Spirit. You have gained 2 common spirit-based skills.
[Healing Touch]: Heal a target for 2 health plus 2 points of Health for each skill rank you have with this skill. You must be touching your target. Cost: Modest Mana.
[Heart Fire]: Create a small campfire. Any living being in Close range of the manifestation regains 1 point of Health for each skill rank you have with this skill every minute. The fire lasts for one hour. Undead creatures in this area will take damage instead of gaining health. The flames radiate a gentle warmth but will not burn surroundings or living creatures. Cost: Moderate Mana.
[Nimble]: +1 to Dexterity. You have gained 1 common dexterity-based skill.
[Staff Expertise]: You are proficient with staves for both offensive attacks and defensive parrying. You may take advanced staff-based skills.
You are now level 1. You have gained 1 unassigned attribute point.
A bloom of light appeared a foot away from where they were kneeling and another pop-up window opened, but Joe ignored both. He placed his hands gently on Buck’s side and willed the healing to begin. He could feel a sense of warmth flow through his fingers and into the wounded dog.
You have restored 11.1% of Buckle’s total health. You are unable to determine Buckle’s current health.
Your skill [Healing Touch] has increased to rank 1.
Joe felt a bit of dizziness. It must be the decreased mana. He had never had that resource below 100% before. His stamina had been down a bit but he assumed that was from his panic attack. The sensation passed in an instant and Joe willed a second burst of healing into Buck.
You have restored 22.2% of Buckle’s total health. You are unable to determine Buckle’s current health.
Your skill [Healing Touch] has increased to rank 2.
Again, the lightheaded feeling returned and faded quickly. Joe popped up his resources and saw he had only used about 10% of his mana. He had plenty more heals but he wanted to try his other ability as well. Both he and the boy were covered in stinging thorn slices. Looking at a spot next to the three of them Joe pointed and willed it to catch fire.
You have summoned a [Heart Fire]. Creatures close by during the next hour will gain healing over time.
Your skill [Heart Fire] has increased to rank 1.
A ring of small stones appeared on the ground and a bright bundle of flames began to dance within them. A sense of warmth and wellness radiated from the campfire. Joe could feel the pain from his cuts begin to fade away. While [Heart Fire] worked on all three of them Joe decided to give Buck at least one more. The dog was breathing easier now but it still gave small whimpers of pain after every breath.
You have restored 33.3% of Buckle’s total health. You are unable to determine Buckle’s current health.
Your skill [Healing Touch] has increased to rank 3.
Oh, what the hell.
You have restored 16.7% of Buckle’s total health. You are unable to determine Buckle’s current health.
Your skill [Healing Touch] has increased to rank 4.
When the fourth healing dropped the amount healed, Joe knew Buck was at max health. He flopped down onto his back to let his head stop spinning. ‘I am going to have to get used to that,’ he thought.
Just as the vertigo abated, he was shocked by a very wet slap to the face. He opened his eye to see a pair of smiling faces; one puffy-eyed and grateful and the other drooling and swaying side to side due to its heavily wagging tail.