- Natalie, won’t you go on a date with me?
- Nah, you’re boring as fuck.
- Yeah I know, but since trying doesn’t hurt I might as well… - Lucas looked down. It wasn’t how he looked today but rather how he always looked like. Even his eyes faced down as if not to stare into someone’s.
- It also has to do with me being your last option, that should hurt you know?
- Should? – he asked out of fake curiosity, didn’t really care about it.
- Well yeah, no one can be mad at you for being yourself.
That was Natalie, something close to a friend for Lucas. His parents were rich and since their son didn’t have anyone to play with, they actually went and paid someone to get their kids into the yard, but the only one who could bear with Lucas for more than a week was Natalie. Her family moved out so they stopped seeing each other, but were reunited on the 1st year of university.
There was a cool breeze running, and a bystander would find it fitting that Lucas rode on it with his eyes closed, dropped into the grass with arms laid back without a care in the world. Today he wanted to avert his eyes from the ground and look at the sun for once, but it shone so brightly that he would rather not. Natalie sat near him with a book open on a random page, she wasn’t reading it though.
- Why would you want a girlfriend anyway?
- Why wouldn’t I? Even the bad guys have love interests… - Lucas made a quick pause – Not that I’m one of them.
- No, I mean you. You don’t care about anything, when we were kids you didn’t play with me even if I begged you for it.
- I don’t recall anything from back then, but right now I want to try and experiment things.
- You should start by going to the rollercoaster, betcha never rode on it.
- Not that kind of thrill – he sighed – I don’t know, alright? I feel like I’m wasting away on a routine… Do you have a boyfriend?
- Waste o’ my time. But maybe I’ll catch one if there’s nothing better to do.
Natalie was the business type; if it wasn’t worth its weight in gold then it wasn’t worth her time at all. Now then, don’t judge her just for this, she still had feelings, but good luck trying to get then outside to flourish.
Lucas, lost in thought, just realized he would get nothing out of talking with Natalie.
- I want some experience on the matter, but out of 39 girls minus you, none accepted.
- What the? I didn’t accept it.
- Oh you got me wrong, I didn’t count you as a girl from the beginning and if you paid attention to the ordering of the words… Whatever, it’s not worth talking over – said Lucas, mulling on what he had just said.
Natalie got up abruptly and kicked his sides, sending him moaning over the grass in pain. She didn’t realize it herself, but Lucas was the only one to endure that crap from a friend. Yes, friends punch each other jokingly, but she just nailed an Olympic level shot that would make him walk strange for no less than a week. Gratuitous violence at its finest.
- I just want someone to show me something exciting, and I don’t think you’re willing to be that person. Boys don’t like me for whatever reason, but girls at least don’t flat out ignore me.
- Well duh, you’re the kind to give an “icy” aura. I’m quite surprised no one dealt in your business, probably don’t know much about yo’ family. But if all you wanna do is spend time with someone, playing an online game might be an option.
- What do you mean?
- If you playin’ a game, people won’t care much if you’re out of it so long as you are a nice player. Things will get sorted out eventually and there will never be silence unless you dodge everyone on purpose.
Lucas looked for a shadow to rest on. Weather was spicing up and he didn’t want to get smoked out in the open, Natalie followed suit.
- That seems fine, which game should I be playing?
- There are many out there. A few years ago you would have some trouble finding your match, search engines were reeeally outdated and as more products were being released more flooded became the market. Now a single word might exclude the sheer amount of games for you.
- Then… Something that doesn’t need much time commitment I guess.
- A MOBA or a shooter then. They’re quite popular nowadays.
He drew out his phone and started looking for it. Fume was the standard platform used for the game market in most countries; it provided a clean search engine and a light body for better navigation. “Neat”, thought Lucas pleasantly surprised, couldn’t get any easier.
- I will type some words and find out then. Short battles, MOBA, Interactive, New, Real-time combat, Social.
- I’m going to my dorm, tell me about it later.
- Okay, see you after vacations are over then.
Lucas waved boringly at Natalie, his eyes cast down on mannerism. A moment later he turned to skim through the few titles that came out on the phone’s screen. All games looked cool to his standards, which were basically none in regards to games, but one of them did stand out.
It was called Nobility, and he truly didn’t get much of the description, but it seemed like just the game for him to play.
As he was heading to the apartment, Lucas bought the game on his Fume account and called home to his father. It was the end of the term and he wanted to know where Lucas planned to spend vacations. The options were broad: Europe, Asia, Africa, America, Oceania, even Antarctica, so long as it wasn’t outside Earth his parents could afford a nice trip with everything you could possibly ask for in the package.
Just the other year he went to Balderdash, a private island in the tropics owned by his family, and spent the rest of the month daydreaming in the hot sands, though that’s literally all he did those 31 days.
- Hi dad, how is it going there?
- Your mother, you know… She’s still angry at that affair I had a few weeks ago… But aside that, we’re doing quite well… And what about you, son? Made any friends yet? Aside Natalie, of course! – Although gloomy at first, his voice turned cheery at the thought of any progress with Lucas’s social life.
- No such luck. By the way, I decided not to travel this year. I’m feeling comfortable in this apartment and there’s really nothing more I could ask for.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
- Ohhhh… Is that so… Okay then, if you need anything, call home and we will be there for you. And by the way! Your sister is eager to see you! So if you can visit her during your spare time, she would be very happy!
- Okay, sure thing, I’ll be hanging up the phone right now, I’m in the elevator. Call you tomorrow, have a fine Saturday.
- Good evening, Lucas, be well.
Turning the call, Lucas got the keys to his apartment and took a shower before dropping on the couch. The computer was on and he let the game installing while in the bath. All he needed to do was connect the URT Googles and dive in the virtual reality.
All started with a cutscene, narrated by a seasoned british voice.
“In the early 11th Century, Lord Connan of the Royal House of Nightshade in the Kingdom of Eisenclad was the prominent leader of the Seven Great Houses. Under his tight watch, Eisenclad’s royalty escaped complete destruction by the hands of the revolutionaries and the ongoing war with neighboring countries.
While avoiding conflict for as long as possible, Lord Connan spotted a fail in the houses system. The old, weakened nobility, who descended through mileages of bloodline, didn’t hold any recent accomplishments that gave them the right to occupy a position of power. They were staggering on a swamp, stagnating. They were an all honest offense to the name of their ancestors.
One day, Lord Connan called upon his loyal steward, like he always did by the mornings, and invited him to a seemingly casual chat. Inside his quarters were a few intellectuals, retainers, important members of the Royal Family and even some outstanding townsfolk, all of whom taking notes of the presented situation. Soon they began a heartened discussion upon the issue, and through nonstop debate they reached a majority conclusion, one that would be regarded by every citizen of Eisenclad, as per the Queen’s own words.
- As stated in the current document, the Royal Houses declare they will be taking in new blood. Commoners and nobles alike will receive equal chances to join our ranks and become respectful and dutiful members of our caste.
Of course, commoners would never get an equal chance; Connan could never stop corruption from spreading within his own ranks. However, the truly exceptional ones, those that would definitely shake the world with their own specific strengths, they were the ones who couldn’t be denied - no matter how much their faces were forced beneath someone else’s feet, they would come out on top.
In this world you are not born into Nobility, you become Nobility”.
The ending scene closed with the seven Lords of the houses each looking at one direction: you, the player, the new blood and the one to enter their ranks.
Back into the game, Lucas evaluated each house’s benefits, trying to shape them into his initial thoughts on the character.
The seven houses were, in no particular order: Nightshade, Hammersong, Dangerain, Whistleblow, Kindlegem, Tidecaller and Candlelight.
Whistleblow was the house he chose, it offered a wider range of “environmental weapons” to use, supposedly given their superior knowledge on most practical fields. After a few tweaks on his character, a reliable copy of himself, but more gentlemanlike, he started playing.
The first thing that appeared on screen was a stern looking maid welcoming him to another room, filled with young anxious people on his side and older bespectacled seniors on their shelves, all of which handling pen and ink into documents unknown.
- Congratulations, Mister Lucan - she whispered him - you’ve proved to have a much grounded knowledge of our foundations, indeed worthy of bolstering the name Whistleblow. However, the booth won’t be satisfied with just that, you need to show them more. Go, exceed their expectations.
Lucan walked forward, facing what looked like one of Whisteblow’s butlers. The butler bowed politely before looking upwards, his gaze set on the young man before him.
[Before a duel, it’s courtesy for both sides to bow to each other. A duel will start 15 seconds after it’s settled, but we will make this one an exception and start it immediately]
Lucan bowed robotically, as if it really didn’t mean much. Afterwards, the butler clenched his fists and flied in his direction with such speed he didn’t have time to react.
[Look at your right, that’s your health bar. Whenever you get hit you receive damage, and all effects currently on your character will also appear there]
[Notice that your health is dropping periodically while the bar is flashing red. That means you are under a bleeding effect. Other effects, such as poisoned, dazed or stunned will also appear in likeable fashions for you to notice, but if you’re quick enough you can figure it by the visual effects on the character]
The maid then proceeded to voice him in-combat commands, teaching him how to fight back and how to maneuver around battle. It wasn’t easy at first, but he eventually got the hang of it, parrying, blocking, attacking, and even using environmental items. It wasn’t Street Fighter but it sure held some interesting combos.
Lucan continued to parry the butler’s attacks until the chance came that he was able to grab him by the necklace – receiving a not so kind punch to the jaw and a dazed effect. “Yeah, that wasn’t a smart move”, he thought to himself. However, it was just that hard to beat the butler, he was outright more intelligent than the kind of AI one would expect to face early on, created only for seasoned players to beat.
In a short amount of time, he got crushed beneath the butler’s feet.
- Is that all, commoner?
[Whenever you reach 10% of your health bar, you enter Critical State. While in Critical State you unlock your house’s special ability. For the House of Whistleblow, it’s called Whispered Hints. Try to use it]
With a thought, Lucan activated the Whispered Hints and his vision got filled with tones of red, blue and green.
[The Whispered Hints is an ability that quickly reveals all performable actions for a short moment. If you’re fast enough, you might just be able to come up with an effective strategy.]
This time there weren’t many things appearing in front of him, so the actions were limited. He wasn’t quite sure it would work out, but he tried nonetheless.
- W-what the! – shouted the butler while Lucan forcefully bite on his left shoe like a stray dog. His response was fierce, stomping on his face out of pure disgust.
- Get off me, you creep!
The shoe was starting to squeeze out of his feet. Lucan then positioned quickly and tore it off, just before receiving another kick to the guts for a double strike. Outside the game plan he really felt for his character, he wouldn’t have known how painful it was if he hadn’t known Natalie. Actually, he wouldn’t feel most of his pains if they had never met at all.
“Food for thought” he wondered, weighing the pros and cons of knowing Natalie in a nanosecond of time.
- Tsc… You maggot…
Just as he was getting up he understood what was about to happen, mostly because of the “hints” still alive in his mind. The ground was all colored red whereas the left shoe was colored blue – yes, only the left shoe.
While beneath the man’s feet, he was able to get a good look of the floor and how he felt being pressed against it. In short, it was a tad slippery. While that didn’t matter if wearing those shoes or walking barefoot, if you wore a sock that would be a completely different story - precisely the butler’s situation.
The objective course of action would be taking off the sock or putting the shoe back on your foot, but the butler was under a different kind of pressure that Lucan didn’t really understand. Or maybe he was just dumb.
Who knows.
Whatever the case, he was down a leg. Now, it was still a challenging NPC, but with such a liability it was just a matter of time.
Lucan tried to get close to trade blows, but the butler waved him off with the right leg, making clunky moves that ended up embarrassing himself even further. He dealt in that mid-range fight and got him to the ground.
With a smooth slide, Lucan got on top of the butler and beat him until the judges were satisfied.
- We have seen enough. You can stop now – said one them, clearly infuriated with the butler’s poor decisions.
- Wait a minute, we haven’t decided yet! – protested a young man from the rightmost side.
- And what is there to decide?
- That… He used a cheap move by spitting on his opponent’s honor. He doesn’t deserve a position in our house.
- I protest against this affirmation.
- Conceded – replied the central figure.
- What we saw here was an act of cool judgment that led to victory. By analyzing his opponent’s actions, he drew a plan to create a compromising position and quickly put it to the test. It was an intelligent move planned on the spur of the moment; this man has a talent we cannot ignore. Clearly he can’t best Siegfried in a duel, we all know that, but that doesn’t diminish his qualities.
- Do you fools forget the knight’s vow? Are we thugs and thieves that don’t respect things as simple as one’s dignity?
- To consciously discard a possibility for the likes of outer appearance and honor is what I would call foolish. In fact, we are still recognized as a Royal House precisely because we don’t follow the rules.
After driving the youngster into a corner, he spoke towards Lucan approvingly.
- Listen well, Lucan, you should know something about the house you are being accepted into. The Whistleblow is not an ordinary house. Its original purpose was not to serve the Queen or her people. Whistleblow was an association of people with many talents that frequently traded services with the crown. All of these services earned us a place in nobility, as impossible as it sounds.
The older man made a pause to clear out his throat. He wasn’t the type to talk too much, and summarizing Whistleblow’s history was getting him impatient.
- However, as you may guess, Whistleblow was not accepted by the other houses, not even the lower ones. And that is not because of our origins, it is because of our duty. Defying common sense to bring out an entirely new perspective to the problems, we serve as the devil’s advocate against the other six houses.
[You’ve officially joined the House of Whistleblow]