After a brief flash of light, Ace found himself in the middle of the bustling square of Cooperton, the starting town for humans.
‘Wow. I knew this game is supposed to be legendary but I didn’t think it would feel this real.’
He took a moment to just admire the scenery while listening to all the stall owners advertise their wares while feeling a slight breeze blowing on his face. Then he started to move around to test out his body.
‘Even my body feels like it does in real life. Now to check my stats.’
“Status Window.”
Character NameAceRaceHumanAlignmentNeutralProfessionNoneLevel1Fame0Title(s)NoneHealth100Mana100Strength10Agility10Vitality10Intelligence10Wisdom10Luck10
‘Well it’s not surprising. The research I did before work suggested that humans were the most balanced of the playable races, but this does seem kind of dull. Good thing the game can generate new stats and skills so that my character won’t be so generic. Now I spent enough time just standing here. It’s time to get moving. I can figure out what to do as I walk around for a bit.’
So Ace started walking in a random direction while looking around and noting anyplace that looked important and will need to stop by in the future. He also continued to consider what he should do during his first four weeks in the game.
‘I always found it annoying whenever I tried playing as a tank or healer so I’m going to stick to my original plan and focus on becoming a damage dealer. The best profession for this is normally a mage, and let’s face it, what’s the point of playing a virtual reality game if I can’t do things that are impossible in the real world. The best thing I read for mages to do in the first four weeks is to spend a lot of time in the Library.’
This was because the creators of Living Legend placed a ban to stop new players from leaving the starting town for four weeks (one week in in real life). They decided to do this because they knew that this will be the first experience of virtual reality for most of the new players. It also serves as a time for new players to build up their money so they can buy equipment to beat the monsters found outside the town. To farther motivate the players to spend the first four weeks preparing, there is a temporary boost to the gaining/raising of stats and skills. This meant spending at least some time in the Library where one can raise the Intelligence and Wisdom stats by reading various books to be very beneficial for any inspiring mage. In fact, almost every new player (at least the ones that did their research) will stop in the Library at some point in their first four weeks to try and learn at least some of the useful skills from the books that cover a vast number of subjects.
As Ace continued walking, he spotted something that caused him to pause. In the shop across the street was a help wanted sign.
‘That reminds me, the last post I read before I left for work talked about how a lot of new players underestimate the need for the characters to eat and drink. Many of these new players end up dying from hunger. Building up some funds until I can start hunting monsters wouldn’t be a bad deal either. Especially since I only started with a canteen and ten loafs of stale bread. And even better, this shop is a restaurant. I already have some experience with this from my part-time job.’
So Ace decided to walk into the restaurant.
“Excuse me, is anyone here?” Ace called out after he entered the shop.
“Well this is rare,” a middle-aged guy with a short beard said as he comes out of the back room. “We usually don’t get any customers at this time.”
“I am not a customer. I came in because I saw the help wanted sign and was wondering if you are still hiring.”
“Sure, I’m Max, the owner. What’s your name?”
“My name is Ace.”
“Ace huh. Well, come back into the kitchen and you can get started. The pay is one silver per week…”
“Only a silver a week!?” Ace couldn’t stop himself from exclaiming.
“Yes, a silver a week. I know that it is on the low side, but every employee receives a free meal for whichever shift they work so it evens out.”
‘This will limit how decent of equipment I can get at the end of the month but it should be fine since I am mainly getting this job so I don’t starve to death.’ Ace thought as he took a second to calm down.
“That should be fine.” Ace replied, but he still could not quite get the unsatisfied look off of his face.
“Good to hear. For now you can wash those dishes.” Max said slightly annoyed. But he decided to give the kid a chance since most of the adventurers that have been arriving lately were not satisfied with it and refused the work.
So Ace got started with the dishes. They were piling up from the lunch time rush earlier with no one to clean them so there was a big pile waiting for him. The experience he already had from working part-time at his uncle’s restaurant helped him, but even with that it was still slow going. By the time Ace was almost done, the evening rush started and the pile of dirty dishes in front of him was growing faster than he could shrink it. But this didn’t bother him since this was nothing new to him. By the time the dirty dishes stopped coming and there was nothing left for him to clean, it was already dark out. Max came up to him with a steaming bowl of soup. Just the smell of it made Ace’s stomach grumble.
“Ha ha ha. Hard work deserves good food. I can finish up here. Enjoy your supper,” Max said as he handed Ace the bowl. “And I expect you back here tomorrow for the lunch time shift.”
“Thanks… hey Max, I was planning on studying in the Library. Can you tell me where it is located?”
“Sure, it is actually only a couple of blocks towards the center of the town. You are in luck to, because of all you adventures that keep arriving lately, the Library is now open 24/7. It never used to be like that.”
“Thanks again,” Ace said before he quickly ate his soup and left the restaurant.
With Max’s directions, it didn’t take long for Ace to arrive at the Library. It also helped that the streets were well lit. Even though it was not quite a city, Cooperton was still a fairly large town. The residents found that having well lit streets at night helped deter some of the crime.
Once he entered the Library, Ace was greeted by the librarian at the front desk.
“Welcome to the Cooperton Library. You look new.”
“Yes, my name is Ace. How do you do?”
“Good evening Ace. I am Robert, the night-shift librarian. Since this is your first time here, I will explain the rules. First, whether it is night or day, you are expected to be quiet. Light talking is allowed but if you disturb anyone around you, you may be asked to leave. Second, anyone can read any of the books not in the restricted section for free, but to check any books out of the library, you will need a library card, which costs 5 silvers. There will be additional fines for any damage to the books you check out along with any late fees if you don’t bring them back on time. Third, under no circumstances can any of the books from the restricted section leave that section. In fact, you can’t even see any of the books from the restricted section without permission from the Head Librarian. Violate this rule and we will be forced to bring in the Town Guard. Fourth, there are designate spots in each section, for where you can return the books you borrowed from that section. A librarian will be along to make sure each book is returned to its proper place. If you do eventually check out any books from the Library, you only need to return those to the front desk. Finally, you are to treat the books with the utmost respect. Eating and drinking in the Library is permitted but if a book is damage in any way, there will be consequences that can range anywhere from a small fine to being permanently banished from this Library. Also, there is no chance of hiding the fact if you do damage the books in the Library since a ward has been set up on the building that watches over all of the books. Did you get all that?”
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“Yes, I understand,” Ace replied with a slight smile. “I don’t I will have enough money anytime soon so I will just read here, and I will be careful with all of the books. While I have your attention, can you direct me to the section on magic? I want to be a mage.”
“A mage huh,” Robert said. He also had a small smile growing. “The magic section is at the back of the left wing. Unfortunately, though we have many books on the history of magic, we don’t really have any books on learning magic. Those books tend to be expensive. If you want to read any of those, you will probably have to purchase them at the Mage Guild.”
“That’s OK. The books you have will do for now,” said Ace as he started making his way past the entrance desk.
As Ace was making his way to the back, he saw other visitors quietly reading at various desks that were in the open areas between the different sections.
‘So that’s where you’re supposed to read. It’s pretty good placement if you consider the fact that when you research something, you will often need books from various different subjects to reference.’
After Ace reached the magic section, he grabbed a couple of books. Some of which gave explanations on magic, others told the tales of some of the more famous mages. He grabbed these because he knew that magic is such a broad subject that in order for a mage to be successful, they need to specialize in a specific branch to be effective. He then brought those books to an open desk and opened the first book, “Beginning the Journey in Magic – Understanding Mana”.
+1 Intelligence
+1 Wisdom
+1 Intelligence
‘Wow, that’s a big boost for only reading one book. It must be the boost I’m given for the first four weeks. Still this game created something that doesn’t exist in real life like magic with rules that actually make sense. I should try that exercise it mentioned that beginners normally practice.’
Ace raised his right hand up in front of his body with his index finger pointing straight up. Then he spent a couple of minutes trying to will the tip of his finger to glow. He eventually lowered his hand though when there was not any sign of success.
‘The book did say it would take a lot of practice but I would have thought I would have made at least some kind of progress. I must be doing something wrong. The book said this is an exercise to practice channeling magic, so perhaps I should focus on that.’
Ace then raised his hand up again, but instead of focused more on his body. He was trying to visualize an intangible substance pulling away from his core and traveling thru his body, much the same way as blood travels thru the veins, on its way to his finger.
‘This is harder than I thought it would be. As I focus on moving the mana to my finger, I lose focus on the rest of my body. I think I need to be able to focus on both at once and then imagine a continuous flow of mana from the center of my body to my finger.’
He had this thought after another few minutes of fruitless practice. It would take another five minutes before he figured out the trick of looking at his entire body and visualizing the flow of mana at the same time. But once he got this trick down, he was interrupted by a couple of system messages.
Acquired Skill Mana Manipulation. Allows the user to manipulate their mana for efficiently.
+1 Intelligence
+1 Wisdom
‘It must be the beginner’s boost again because it should take a lot longer than fifteen minutes to learn a new skill. It was also probably boosted by the fact I just read a book that was talking about this. I should spend some time like this again if I ever come across any more useful skills while I am reading.’
At that point, Ace noticed a person get up and start to take the stack of books that he was reading back. On closer look though, Ace noticed that the guy missed one. Curious about what the book was, he got up to take a look. The title was “The Secret of Adventuring”.
‘This looks interesting. I think I will read this book next.’
After he returned back to his desk, he immediately dove into the new book.
+1 Intelligence
+1 Wisdom
Instead of being happy though with another increase in his stats, he was feeling very upset.
‘How can this be!? I chose to become a mage since I heard it was the best profession for dealing damage. Even though the book confirmed this, it also said that a mage is physically weak. I don’t want to be so weak that I am in fear for my life whenever the enemy gets close. I know, the book said that they are “traditionally” weak. I just got to find a type of mage that is not traditional.’
With that thought, Ace started reading the next book, “Types of Spell Castors”.
+1 Intelligence
+1 Wisdom
‘Crap. This was helpful in understanding why there are many different professions of spell castors but it doesn’t answer the question of why they are frail and what I can do to fix it. Maybe I will find something by reading the history books about famous mages that I also brought.’
So Ace kept reading all the books he brought with him to the desk. The famous mages that were brought up in detail were powerhouses of magic. Unfortunately for Ace, all of their exploits that were covered showed them when they were already powerful enough to blow away armies before they can even get close to them. While this did renew his interest into becoming a mage, it still didn’t answer his growing worry about the frailty of mages. Ace was so lost in his reading that he lost track of time and completely ignored all of the system announcements of his rising stats. That was until his read the last book he had.
You have gained the stat Concentration. It allows you to focus on something to the exclusion of all else. The stronger your ability to concentrate, the harder it is for you to be interrupted. Focusing on a single action also makes it a little easier to gain and raise a skill relevant to the action you are focusing on.
‘Nice. This is one of the crucial stats for a mage. Now I’m starting to get hungry. Oh shoot! It’s almost lunch time. I don’t want to get fired for being late on only my second day.’
So Ace hurried and returned the books that he had on him and left the library in a rush.
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P.S. There are exerts of some of the books he read in the spreadsheet.