Chapter 2: Appearances
It had been three days since last Mercy had logged into Rise of the broken. The longest she had ever gone without playing the game since its release. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to even touch the Reality Sphere. It just sat there, in its place upon her desk, staring, taunting her. Screaming a silent reminder of her mistake.
The thought of starting all over with a new character had struck her. But, lower-level items had little actual value, and it would take far too much time to level back up. Her parents desperately needed the money and even doing re-clears with a random party, or offering herself out as a mercenary would bring in much more than beginner gear. She didn’t want to continue to play her weird version of a Support character, but, what choice did she really have?
One thing was certain though, she was not going back to the Storm Wolves. Mercy could put up with a lot, but she drew the line at lying. Once her trust was broken, she could never feel comfortable around someone again.
Mercy groaned before getting up out of the bed. The gnawing guilt of not being able to financially help her family overpowered her resentment. She picked up the virtual reality helmet. It was covered in various game stickers that she had collected over the years. So much so that she could no longer see the grey plastic from which it was originally made.
She walked back across the room and returned to laying in her bed. Then, she placed the Reality Sphere over her head before turning it on. She adjusted herself to get comfortable as the machine hummed to life and the display began to boot.
“It’s now or never I guess”
“Log in, Rise of the Broken!”
As soon as the words left her lips, she felt her entire body suddenly relax. The title sequence appeared on the screen. She selected Start, and the title faded into a landscape scene of a field; filled with wildflowers, surrounded by trees, with mountains that towered in the distance. The scene began to become larger and larger and she could feel a pulling sensation in her mind; as it was being transferred to the game. The process only took a few moments and before she knew it, Mercy was standing in the field that she had.
The warm spring air danced across her skin and she could smell the almost sickeningly sweet aroma of the flowers that surrounded her. An insect buzzed in her ear, as it flew by; out and about gathering pollen. She sat down and dug into the soft green grass under her feet. She shifted through the dirt and loam, admiring the feeling of it as it passed through her fingers. Every mundane aspect of this world had been artificially crafted to be indiscernible from the real one.
She took a moment to appreciate the beauty of it all before she swiped down to bring up the game menu. She scrolled over the menus until she got to her Party page. She looked at the member's list of the Storm Wolves. Without so much as a second thought, she blocked them all and left the party; including Barren.
“Now that that’s out of the way”
Mercy looked out onto the field. The last she remembered, she'd been in a nasty swamp; not this amazing place. She got up and turned around to get a better judgment of where she was. When she turned around, she came face to face with a large golden Statue; floating a few feet above the ground.
It had been carved to look like an angel, with outstretched wings. In each of its palms were Greater Gemstones of red and black, that glowed with twisting auras. It was a Respawn Point. They were common enough sites to see in the game. Whenever a player died, they instantly got transported to the nearest one of these monuments. While they were intricate and beautiful, players died so often that any admiration for their elegance was lost.
Mercy edged herself around it until she could see past the structure. A little dirt footpath lead through the meadow. A few hundred yards out it suddenly stopped, and a misty chasm appeared. An ominous rope bridge with rotten wooden planks and frayed tethers lead across the gap. With the opposite end, hidden in the fog. It was the bridge that she and the Storm Wolves had taken to get to the putrid domain of the Great Zombie Dragon Lorde.
“Right, I forgot to set a temporary spawn point before I logged out.”
Mercy brought up her menu again, this time selecting the Map. First, she made a note at her current location, in case she ever needed to come back and slay the beast again. She hadn’t taken any of the loot the first time and was still curious as to what it’s drops were. Next, she scanned the surrounding area, looking for a nearby city or town. About 20 miles to the west, next to a lake, was the small trading town of Paylore. It wasn’t a designated safe zone but it would do just well enough.
She summoned her mount, an elegant white Kirin; a beast with the body of a deer, and the scales and tail of a dragon. Atop its head were the mighty 8-point antlers, and along its back was a mane of course electric yellow bristles that travel down to its tail and faded to the color of new spring leaves. When it was done materialized, she climbed the stirrups of the leather riding saddle and settled into the seat.
Stroking its fur, she began to coax the creature west; towards their destination. It walked slowly at first, then broke out into a full gallop. Once it reached maximum speed it leapt into the air. Despite the fact that the creature had no wings, it flew with ease.
She always enjoyed the feeling of flying. From far up above she could look down on the world below, and forget about all the players being eaten alive, or having their limbs torn off. The sky of course wasn’t perfectly safe, winged beasts and monsters roamed them, looking for tasty air travelers. One could avoid them easily enough by dipping down into a forest, or by having a faster or more powerful mount.
For now, everything seemed clear, so Mercy brought her map back up again. She pressed the highlighted notes icon that appeared next to Paylore. Reading through them she learned that it was controlled by the Iron-lions guild. If memory served, they were a mercenary guild who specialized in guarding supply routes.
She had run into their members a few times during her travels, back when they were a much smaller guild. As far as she knew they were always a nice group who generally kept on the up and up. If any guild deserved control of a town, it was definitely them. Far too many guilds ran exploitative operations, using might or blackmail to maintain control of player areas. The game didn’t need another place like that.
Mercy landed her mount just outside of the town gates. On one hand, this was out of respect for the people; as it was considered rude and unsafe to land in the streets. On the other, she wasn’t a member of the guild, and she didn’t want to get blasted out of the sky by the spell casters stationed around the ramparts; on the off chance they believed she was attempting to raid them.
The game only had a few self-generated cities. Due to the far-off spacing in-between, as well as the need for trade. Players would often create their own settlements such as this one. Unfortunately, any place with a large gathering of people was sure to garner the attention of the PvP players, and attacks on these towns were fairly common.
To defend against this, the controlling guild would often garrison them with its members. The stronger a guild presented itself, the less likely they were to be attacked. Of course, the game-generated cities were much safer with their Safe zones. But, they were also extremely crowded and the cost of living was far higher. In contrast, Guild controlled cities were much cheaper but didn’t offer as much protection.
This town wasn’t much to look at. Half of the encompassing walls were wood, the other half stone. Settlements like this were almost always a work in progress. She knew that as the controlling guild gained more money and influence, they would be able to afford better materials to build with, and this town and its structures would grow and improve over time.
Mercy dismounted her Kirin and as it dematerialized, she strolled towards the gate. It was a simple one made of iron bars; designed to drop down quickly in case of an emergency. A guard stood on either side, below flags waiving the guild’s banner of a lion in a cage.
“Good day Madam.” said the guard to her left.
He was dressed in full silver plate mail; polished to a mirror finish. She couldn’t identify his race as his face was hidden under a heavy helm, but his body structure was one of the more dainty humanoid types; most likely making him an elf or a weak human. He motioned for her to approach.
“Are you here for travel or trade?”
“A little bit of both, I suppose. Mostly travel, but, I do need to pick up a few things.” She replied.
“Not a problem at all. The toll will just be one gold coin, please.” He said.
She reached into her coin satchel and pulled one out before tossing it to him. He caught it as it spun throw the air.
“Thank you kindly and enjoy your stay..... Oh, and while you don’t look the type, we don’t allow Pvp here. So if you want to fight, take it outside the city walls ok?.”
“Got it” She replied, before heading through the gate.
The inside of the town was just as mismatched as the outside. There were run-down hovels next to finely established restaurants. Peddlers calling out their wares in front of stores with big glass windows, offering items that glistened in the sun. Lower-level players coagulating together with, and getting harassed by, higher levels ones. A shining and perfect example of a well-run player town; no wonder they needed the toll.
She opened up her map once again. The image zoomed in from the Local Area Zone until it showed a layout of the town. She looked it over, searching for one thing in particular.
“Aha! They do have one!” Mercy smiled.
She selected the icon marked with a hair comb and scissors. In her vision, a highlighted pathway appeared on the ground, indicating the correct way to take to get to her selected destination. Following the path, she arrived at the Appearance Changer. It had an oddly western theme, grey siding with blue shutters that flapped in the wind. Mercy pushed her way passed the saloon-style doors; they creaked as they swung shut behind her.
“G’day there missy. Looking to change yer look?” Asked a beautiful human woman, as she entered.
She stood behind a copper counter located directly next to the entrance door. As she spoke she stroked her long blonde hair, allowing it to cascade down onto her salmon-colored southern bell dress.
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“Um, yes I would like to do a full character re-work please; including Race.” Mercy replied.
“Why certainly! Just step right up to that mirror over there and call me if you need anything,” she said, pointing to an area in the far back of the store.
Mercy passed beyond a small army of mannequins, modeling the latest fashion trends; mostly feathers, and lots of them. When she got to the back, she found an ovular-shaped mirror, positioned vertically against the wall. Twisting, golden vines with lush leaves and diamond fruit clusters framed the reflective portion of the mirror. She approached it, and a message box appeared.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Do you wish to change your appearance?
(Yes) (No)
___________________________________________________________________________________
She selected yes, and her image appeared in the mirror. Then, without warning, her perspective shifted from first person to third. The store disappeared, replaced by starlit nothingness, and she found herself looking at the human character she had made in the very beginning.
She had tried to make the avatar look as close to herself as possible. Short blonde hair, glasses, with blue eyes, and freckles. Nothing to write home about really. Beauty had never really been a concern of hers in real life, and she hadn’t seen a need to change that here.
Although, she had always slightly regretted making a human character. She had done so in haste, and, after seeing all of the other non-human options that were available, had always wanted to change it. She just could never bring herself to spend the gold on something so trivial.
Now, she had a good reason. It was time for a new start; a fresh chapter in her gaming life. That and, she still had a lot of the Storm Wolves supplies in her inventory. She was definitely not giving any of it back and a new look would help prevent them from finding her or noticing her on the street.
She scrolled through the selection of races until she found the one she wanted. She had always been envious of those with the half-human, half-fox avatars known as kitsune. With their long fluffy tails and soft pointed ears, Mercy absolutely loved how adorable they were. She selected the race and started customizing herself.
She chose the traditional patterning for the fur, but swapped the base color to white and made the tips of her ears and tail a crimson red. The hair on her hair she left shorter, but changed the colors to match her fur. She rounded out her facial structure, then made her eyes a glittering silver that she accentuated with a stunning winged liner. For the final touches, she made herself taller, skinnier, and a little more busty. Finishing with a fox-themed tribal tattoo, that ran from her shoulder down to her lower back.
Satisfied with her new body's appearance, there was only one thing left to do; change her name. Merelo was a stupid one, she hadn’t even come up with it herself. It was the first suggested name that had popped up and she hadn't thought of a better one at the time; so she had just gone with it. She stared at the blank input box.
Still just as clueless as the first time.
She typed in the word no, and laugh at herself. Then paused. She added a silent G to the beginning and looked it over.
“Gno”
It was actually kind of pretty, in almost an archaic sense. She hit accept, then saved all the changes. Her vision lurched back into her body and she once more found herself back in the shop, staring at her new reflection in the polished metal.
She flicked her tail, testing out the alien appendage, and watched as it swish back and forth. After a couple of flicks, it started to feel natural to her and she brought it up to her chest. Petting it, it felt as just as soft as she imagined it would and joy spread through her being.
Next, she tested out her ears, flattening them and perking them back up. Interestingly enough, she found she could hear much better than she could have when she was human. She also noticed that her movements felt more graceful, and colors were sharper. Maybe there were some hidden advantages of being different races that she hadn’t known about.
Her tail was not one of them. If she didn’t keep her full attention on it, it seemed to have a mind of its own. Attacking and knocking down as much of the merchandise as it could while she walked. Making her way to the checkout counter proved difficult.
“How much do I owe you for everything?” She asked awkwardly; having finally made it to the clerk.
“You look good sweety!” She said in an overly enthusiastic and high-pitched tone. “So, for the complete work over, and the new set of mannequins, your total cost comes to 4,500g. Do you want to pay with Coin or Inventory Transfer?”
“Uff. Inventory Transfer, please.” Said Mercy.
A notification box appears stating the amount to be transferred. She begrudgingly clicked accept.
“Thank you, please come again soon!” The lady called out, as Mercy headed out the door. "Or don't."
The last part she was most likely not meant to hear. Once she was back on the street, she groaned at her own embarrassment. Then, a receipt arrive in her inbox and she groaned again.
“This is why I never go to those stupid places; they always charge so much for what should be a free game feature.”
The mannequins had only cost 1500g; an understandable price. The other 3000g, for just what the mirror did, was outrageous.
The currency conversion from in-game gold to the real-world dollar was currently around 100g to $1. Essentially, it had just cost her $30 to change her appearance; one time.
It wasn’t as if she was that broke. In fact, she kept a small stockpile of 20,000 gold for emergencies or if she ran across some rare gear for sale. But to her, it still felt like a wasteful expense, made worse due to greed. Luckily, the supply stash she still had from Storm Wolves was worth more in just health potions than what it had cost her to change her appearance.
Mercy made her way through the streets, following her nose. She still needed to grab supplies, but there was just one obstacle in the way of that right now; food. She hadn’t been paying attention to her hunger meter all day and was now paying the consequences. Normally, she kept it topped up, so she wouldn’t have to feel hungry, never letting it drain under 75%. Currently, it was dropping below 25% and she was starving.
One smell trail, in particular, caught her attention, it smelled sweet and spicy, foreign and familiar, intense yet, delicate. Using her new heightened senses, she followed the trail through town, Until she came upon a courtyard, where several street food carts converged in a ring.
She found herself in front of a stand name “Larachelie” An orcish cook was slicing some sort of rotating meat that reminded her of shawarma.
“What kind of animal did that come from?” she asked curiously.
“Shel’ethia Beast.” He replied, "You ever hear of it before?"
“I can't say that I have. What’s it taste like?.”
He sliced a small piece off and handed it to her. Placing it in her mouth was like entering heaven, as explosions of delicious flavor covered her every taste bud.
“More please!”
The sun was starting to set and all torches throughout the town were beginning to ignite themselves. Mercy sat at one of the empty tables in the middle of the courtyard, watching the swirling and shifting shadows of the potted shrubbery, cast by the flickering flames of the stall's torches. Finrar, the orc, as she had come to know him, had fixed her up with his specialty. The meat she had sampled now included a spread of vegetables, cheeses, and sauces; all piled high on a flatbread he call Mo’pung.
After she was done devouring her meal, it was time to head to her final destination; the Adventurer’s Agency. Most towns had one and she had spied this one's on her way to the Appearance Changer. She headed back the way she had come, in search of the building made of cedar logs with a green roof made of oxidized copper. She could have checked her map but, figured finding it would be easy enough.
All of the Adventurers Agencies were made to look exactly the same; making them easily identifiable. They were created with the intention of allowing new players to integrate into the game easier. Here, one could find information about the local areas and dungeons, take on quests that had been posted, or search for a party in need of members.
The latter was the reasoning behind why she was going. Without the Storm Wolves, she was going to need new allies. She had to face the reality that dungeon delving on her own would be an impossible feat. There was a chance that a high-level party might take her in if she applied. It was a small chance, but a chance nonetheless.
She found the building she was looking for and strode in with confidence. As she did she took note of the layout. Straight ahead of her, a blue sheet with silvery tassels was draped over a wooden counter. Behind which, stood a cheerful-looking rabbit-kin girl with a pink pixie cut.
To the right, the building opened up into a sitting room. Couches and long expansive bookshelves lined the wall. While several tables and chairs occupied the middle.
The Rabbit girl wiggled her nose and raised her black and drooping ears at Mercy's approach.
“Good day miss, my name is Chateril. What can I do for you today?” She said.
“Hi, yes. I was wondering if you could help me find a new party. I had a few issues with my last one.” Mercy said.
“Of course, we can! Now, Have you been here before, or is this the first time requesting our services?”
She reached into a folder behind the counter and pulled out a piece of parchment. Then she equipped herself with a quill and some ink. The page was blank, except for a line at the type labeled "Name and Player Number." Mercy gave her the information before she asked for it. She wrote it into the empty space and the page began to change. More lines started forming, then letters and numbers began forming words and stats.
“Let’s see now.” Said Chateril, looking everything over. “It would appear that the last time you were at the agency was 3 years ago, you were level four, and, you had taken on a quest to retrieve some Spider's Silk in Dangbore Forest. Does that sound correct?"
She nodded.
“And, it would appear that you never completed the quest. Seeing as it’s been so long, I’ll just go ahead and cancel this out for you.”
“Thank you.”
“Right, our next step, since it doesn’t look like you’re level four anymore, is to analyze your current Abilities, Ascensions, and Gear.” She said, reaching into a drawer and pulling out a silver bangle.
She reached across the countertop and gently took Mercy’s hand. Then, she slid the bangle onto her wrist. They both watched as the paper that contained her stats changed. The ink swirled and morphed; then settled, reflecting back on all the growth and progress she had made over the years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Gno Level:100 Race: Kitsune Hp 50/50 Mp 20/20
Experience: Max
Ascensions: Dexterity:100
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Equipment:
Head: Circlet of Sashi- There is a 10% chance when you use a health potion for it to be refunded to you.
Upper Body: Robe of Perkain- gain a small window of invulnerability when you first enter a dodge.
Arms: Gloves of Sashi- Increase potion healing by 25%
Lower body: Leggings of Ja’ko- You’re maximum dodge roll distance is increased by 10% of your dexterity level
Feet: Sandles of Sashi- After using a health potion, receive a 10% movement speed buff for 2 seconds.
Weapons:
Main hand: Sword of Shi’or
Off-hand: Sword of Shi’or
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Runes Slots
Rune 1: Syleon’s Vision
Rune 2: Last Will
Rune 3: Terrestrial Agency
Rune 4: Bait and Switch
Rune 5: Zaroa’s Agility
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Spells: N/A
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Oh, my….This is certainly an…. interesting build.”
Mercy explained to her its concept, and what her role had been with the Storm Wolves.
“Well, don’t worry. You’re Max level, so I’m sure I can find you something. Why don’t you go sit down for a bit and I’ll see what I can find and bring over some options?"
She walked over to the other section of the building and picked a black leather sofa in the corner of the room on which to relax while she waited. There were only a few other people in the room. Most of them were milling about with their heads stuck in books. All of them appeared to be newer players. A conversation between a pair at a nearby table caught her attention. She did her best to mind her own business and normally didn’t like to eavesdrop but, something told her to listen.
“Did you hear? They found a new Dungeon and no one's beaten it yet.”
“Eh, so what. It’ll get cleared in no time. I swear every time the first handful of parties fails to clear a Dungeon everyone goes mad. Then everyone rushes too there in the hopes of grabbing the Unique Item. And you know what? It’s gone before you even get there. I give it two days tops.”
“No, you don’t understand. It’s been 10 days, and nearly 15,000 people have tried, but no one can even enter the Dungeon! No one's even made it close!"
“What are you going on about, are there really strong monsters surrounding it or something?”
“No, no monsters. That's the weird part; it’s just a bridge, with the door to the Dungeon on the other side. But, any time anyone steps a foot on the bridge, they are instantly torn to pieces by a hail of projectiles coming from every direction; faster than the eye can see. There's barely a speck of blood left of um. They're calling it “The Path of a Million Arrows.” No one’s even managed to take more than a single step. Golden Bull, Silver Scorpion, Copper Kobra. Not even their best players have managed to do it."
“But...they’re the top 3 strongest guilds in the game right? How is that even possible?”
“I don’t know, whatever is being fired tears through the game's best armor like its butter, blasts right through magic barriers, and they’re literally impossible to dodge!”
That was all Mercy needed to hear. From the very beginning of the conversation, she’d had an itching feeling. The same one that had driven her when she first discovered Rise of The Broken.
“Excuse me, Sir? How much gold to tell me where that Dungeon is located?”