The large wooden doors swung in with the sound of a door that hadn’t been greased in years. Beyond the door, the image of a stereotypical Adventures guild emerged. To the right was a counter with three attendants serving there. The attendants are two pretty women and a handsome man. The women are around 5’3’’ and 5’9’’, respectively, and the man is 11’’ ish. Directly in front of us is a large board with many plaques hanging from it. The plaques are seemingly organized by some sort of star system from top to bottom. To the left is a collection of tables, a bar, and a set of stairs to another floor. The bar is operated by a muscular man standing 6’5’’ with a long beard and stylishly messy hair who is wearing a suit. Finally, the tables are primarily made up of indistinct figures, or as AshenLeaf calls them: shades.
After taking in the scene, I look over at AshenLeaf and meet her eyes. I then nod my head over at the attendants, to which she nods in agreement. We go to the nearest attendant, the 5’9’’ woman, who notices us and straitens up in her seat.
“Hello, welcome to the Guild; what can I do for you? Have you come to redeem a quest?”
“Umm-”
“We were hoping that you could give us the rundown of how the guild works, as well as maybe some insight to why so many people are shades like us,” AshenLeaf asks, interrupting my fumbling attempt to speak and indicating both of us toward the end of her question.
“Ahh, I see. Well, to move in order, the Guild offers you the ability to earn money as well as the means to access new portals. When a quest tablet is brought to your portal room, it will disappear, and a new door will appear on the wall. From that point, you will have a limited time to complete the quest before the door disappears. We also offer party tokens that will allow you to create a door between yourself and another person's portal room. Different versions work differently. We also offer general items that help manage your portal room and connections to other travelers. On that note, the reason why you are a shade, as you put it, is because you are a traveler, and your soul has yet to synchronize with our realm. From what I’ve been given to understand, once your soul synchronizes, you will be given the opportunity to form a body. Do you have any more questions?”
“Is there a way to get in contact with someone easily, even if they're not at your party?” I ask
“Yes, there are many ways, though most travelers seem satisfied when I show them the soul link,” she says as she pulls out two small stone tablets. “Once you touch these, the rune in the middle will light up, imprinting it. If you then tap another person's tablet, their rune will appear on the back of the tablet. With this, you can form a telepathic link, send messages, and even open a temporary portal in your portal room. Unfortunately, to do all this, you will need to be able to manipulate mana and input it into the rune, and I’m told travelers generally are not able to do this naturally. They also cost a silver each, so you can’t afford them yet anyway. Fortunately, I can offer you a party ring as a benefit to joining the guild!”
“What does joining the guild entail, and do we lose anything by accepting the ring?” AshenLeaf asks.
“Joining the guild simply means that you must abide by our rules for the extent of your membership. It gives you access to the quest board and its tablets. It’s important that I mention that you will only have access to the portal function of the guild for the extent of the tutorial, after which you will have to pay for it. Anyway, joining the guild awards you a party ring and temporary access to a guild bracelet. The ring allows you to communicate within a 30 ft range telepathically and gives you a sense of the location of your party members within a mile. Linking them is the same as the tablet, except the functions are passive. The bracelet allows you to store quest-related items and give them to the guild. You will only have access to this for the duration of the tutorial, at which point you must return it, or you will owe the guild one gold.”
“Well, it seems that joining the guild is pretty important to make money during the tutorial period; what are the rules?” I ask.
“If you choose to join, I’ll give you a scroll to sign with all the details, but broadly speaking, it’s:
1. Don’t sell guild equipment
2. Three criminal crimes and your out
3. Don’t kill guild members
4. Don’t needlessly antagonize other guilds
By the way, the guild's name is the Asrohe Adventurers Guild. There are other guilds out there, and we’d rather not start a guild war without good reason.”
“Seems fair. I’m down to join if you are,” AshenLeaf says.
“Sounds good,” I agree.
What follows is 15 minutes of signing papers and filling out forms. The worst bit is that many of the answers had TBD on them, as it will need to wait until after the tutorial when we finalize our character and begin to specialize.
“Ok, with that final form, you are officially bronze star adventurers. For the remainder of the tutorial, you are allowed to solo one below your color, party at your color above, and raid one above. The colors in order are Diamond, platinum, gold, silver, and bronze. Diamond quests are rank-up quests; when you and your party reach the peak of platinum, you can take a diamond quest to star up. At the bronze level, you are allowed to solo bronze as well. Here is your ring and bracelet; you can take any one-star bronze tablet from the wall. Since you can’t read our language, you can tap your ring against each tablet to hear a description of the quest. Oh, I almost forgot, you will have to use a drop of blood to bond them due to your inability to manipulate mana. You can borrow this knife; it’ll heal the wound after a single drop. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Nope, I’m good,” “Same,” We say before turning to each other. “I’ll go first,” I offer, taking the knife. I prick my finger, allowing a drop of blood to land on the ring before allowing myself to wince. I repeat this with the bracelet before handing the knife to AshenLeaf. Each time a drop of blood touches one of the artifacts, a dull red and white light appears briefly before dimming into nothing. Once she’s done, we walk toward the quest board. We tap a few different quests to get a feel for what a bronze star quest is. They are the classics, killing slimes and gathering their goo as well as various herb-gathering requests. There is also a few other small game hunting request from rats to rabbits. There is also a half-silver quest for horned rabbits that says that completing it entitles you to take a rank-up quest; however, to take it, you have to have completed ten other quests first. All the quests offer a few bronze coins, but the half-silver offers 25.
“Do you want to take a quest, or do you want to try to learn mana manipulation first?” I ask.
“Mana manipulation seems a better use of our time unless you want to take the combat class?”
“Mana manipulation it is,” I declare.
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Hand in hand, we walk from the guild hall, out of the Market, up the ramp, and into the tunnel toward our doors/portals. Given that AshenLeaf seems intent on continuing to hold my hand for whatever reason, I become curious as to what she plans to do at the doors. ‘I suppose with the way we left off at the guild, it could be looked at as intending to practice together… I’m just not sure if that’s what’s going on.’ Intent on clearing the doubt in my mind, I ask about the topic subtly.
“I forgot to ask; when I was in my portal room, I had two portals, one to the lobby and the other to a forest. My assumption was that Alrick unlocked it, but if you don’t have it, it would mean that it’s for another reason. So, did you have something similar in your portal room?”
“Yeah, though curiously, mine was a hilly meadow with a stream running through it. I went in to explore it a little and saw that the hills rise and fall for miles and that the river was gently swerving in wide arcs along its path.”
“That’s interesting. I didn’t check mine out beyond my initial look, which is probably why I got here a minute earlier. Do you want to split up and see if the areas Alrick unlocked were explicitly chosen for us, or stick together to bounce ideas off each other?” I ask, secretly pleased with how the conversation allowed me to ask so naturally.
“Hmm… I see where you’re going with the selection somehow matching us, but at the same time, I don’t really see how a game could do that, even one as advanced as this; they’re probably random. In any case, I think sticking together is a better idea so we have a better chance of figuring this out. Plus, I like spending time with my new friend!” She said, pouncing on me with a bear hug out of the blue along with her last line.
“He- oof!” Her tackle is very effective… Plus responds with Tickle… It is super effective!
“Wait, I’m not norma- *giggle* normally this ticklish *giggle* IRL, this stup- *gasp* -id game is sabotaging me!” She says before responding with her own tickle attack… it is super effective!
After some minutes of tickle wrestling Plus and AshenLeaf were knocked out. Alas, neither reinforcements nor healing potions were available, resulting in a draw.
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Gasping on the ground, AshenLeaf on top of me, I comment, “Somehow, I can’t help but feel that this situation is strangely familiar. Also, given that you’ve decided to convert me into an honorary pillow while relegating me to the quite literally stone-hard floor, I invoke my right of nickname because AshenLeaf is far too long to keep saying in my head. I dub thee Ash.”
“Hey, well in that case, I too invoke my right of nickname through the reciprocity clause. I demand inspiration ‘cause your name sucks.”
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“Hey now, just ‘cause making a nickname for it is hard doesn’t make it bad! Uhhhm… for inspiration, the first letter of my name is J?”
“Ooh, I can work with that…” she says before tapping her chin, still laying on top of me, “I think I’ll call you Blue Jay, Blue for short 'cause it’s your favorite color.”
“That seems a little random, but okay. Do you want to free me, or are we just going to claim the stone tunnel for ourselves?” I reply.
“I suppose, though I’m surprised you aren’t embarrassed from being in such a compromising position~” she responds teasingly before bringing her face closer to mine, emphasizing her point.
After a moment of processing, an intense blush burns across my face, freezing the rest of me to the ground.
“Interesting. I had thought that the player avatars are supposed to be entirely expressionless, but I can’t help but wonder why some of your face is glowing red rather than white hmm~” She prods, bringing her face closer again.
“Aww, and you were doing so well earlier, bravely holding my hand, dragging me around, leading conversations. It seems you’re still such a cutie~” She continues, “Ohh, the red got brighter, interesting… well, I’m worried you may melt if I continue…” she says, getting up and allowing air to enter my lungs and my blood to thaw.
“Let's go to my portal, the grass is nice and soft, so you won’t have to worry about the stone~.”
Quickly I get up, ignoring the latter half of her sentence, trying to re-order my thoughts. An “okay” slips from my lips as the rest of my body thaws and my face cools. While my mind is away, she quickly snatches my hand and drags me along. In no state to argue, I follow wordlessly.
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At the Door to Ash’s portal room, she turns around to me. “Just in case it’s necessary, we should link our rings.”
‘She has a point,’ I realize, questioning why we hadn’t done this at the guild as we could have talked while surrounded by the crowd in the market on our way out. I raise my fist, motioning for a fist bump. *giggle* she replies before raising her fist as well. I bump her fist lightly. Once the rings meet, both rings light up with a dull white brilliance.
“Hey, it’s like the doors,” I comment.
“Yeah, you can even see that as they dim, the light is actually coming from a rune that has appeared on the surface.”
I look down at my ring in response, finding that there is indeed a tiny white rune that is the culprit for the light that is slowly dimming. Now curious, I look up at her door and find that the runes are, in fact, one in the same.
“Hey, look at this, the rune on my ring is the same as the one on your door. I bet the one on yours matches my door!”
“Only one way to find out,” She responds.
Arriving at my door, Ash confirms that the runes do match.
“Well, it seems that the runes somehow represent us in some way,” Ash notes, “Blue Jay, what does this say to you?”
I cringe a little before responding, “It says that we should go learn mana manipulation asap so Alrick can tell us rather than me going in circles trying to guess, Ash,” ending the sentence a little playfully.
“Fair point, off to the Meadows of Mana,” She responds, taking my hand yet again and dragging me off to her door.
“Meadows of Mana?” I question.
“Well, I can’t call it, The Meddows granted to me by the great and mighty Alrick; it just doesn’t flow off the tongue,” she says, sticking out her tongue.
“Message received, do not question the Ash. Understood,” I reply as we reach her door.
“After you, Madam~,” she says, waving me into the door she had just opened. Not wanting to engage, I simply walk in. *giggle* ‘I think she is amused,’ I comment internally.
My internal musing allows the black light that overtakes my vision to take me by surprise, causing me to curse upon reaching the other side. “FUUUUUUUCCCKK,” I breathe, “I had finally forgotten about that accursed light. In the next second, Ash comes out of the portal as well.
“Damn, I had hoped that the portal would be focused on blinding you and forget about me,” she says while shaking her head, “stupid light gives me headaches.”
Unsure how to respond after her last comment, I decided to move on. “Ready to go off to your, Meadow of Mana.”
“Yup,” and she grabs my hand to tug me along.
“You know I’ll follow you even if you don’t pull me.”
“Yeah, but I want to”
“But- that… Ughh nevermind. What’s your plan for this.”
“Well, I think, for starters, we should do what Alrick said, 'cause he’s kinda the Npc made for the purpose of telling us what to do,” she replies drolly, opening and then entering the meadow.
“Fair, I walked into that one,” I say before stopping to take in the view. The meadow had a certain magic to it. The place radiates a feeling of peace and serenity. It gave the feel of a place to have a picnic in the sun, play in the water, or roll down the hills of grass. It is a mixture of peace, cheer, and childishness that truly does suit Ash. ‘Even with her moments of maturity, and, dare I say it, flirting, she really does seem to be a child at heart.” after coming through the door, Ash lets go of my hand, getting a little ahead of me. It allows me to see her as a part of the larger vista. Within seconds she seems to almost merge with the surrounding environment a little. The vast grassy fields filled with rolling hills seem to grow and become a little bit more real, and that tad bit more playful. The river's calm flow seems to become that little bit louder, yet somehow more in tune with the environment in such a way that it is even less noticeable, allowing it to take a little more of the negative thoughts along with it as it flows. The wind became that little bit more present, bringing with it a sense of cheer, as well as enhancing all the other aspects. Then, in the center of it all, Ash. As she spread her arms, taking in it all, from the view, to the sounds, to the smell of fresh water and wheat, I see the image of a girl with wheat gold hair, palish skin, a floral dress, and a straw hat superimpose herself over the indistinct figure that was Ash. As the image comes in and out of focus, so too do the different aspects of the environment, as though they beat in unison. Then, as quick as the resonance began, it falls apart. Her arms fall back to her side, the image fades, and all the different elements fall slightly out of harmony.
She turns back to me, her figure a little less blurred but still wholly indistinct, radiating excitement. “You felt that right! You had to have felt that right! It was just so, amazing! I felt so close to… something!” she says, unable to stand still.
“I did indeed. You seemed to become a part of the environment, bringing it together, enhancing all its different parts till they met in what I have to assume would be harmony,” I reply, still a bit stunned by the scene.
After a few moments of silence, I add, “I also think that, despite the seeming ridiculousness, these spaces are somehow tailored to us. I mean, look at what just happened; by just taking in the scene, you took the first step toward taking control of mana!”
“Oh yeah, then why didn’t this happen last time I was here,” she countered petulantly.
“As I’m sure you already suspect, it’s likely a combination of the fact that last time you came, you were here purely to investigate, while this time, you took in the view with a mindset more set on just taking it in. I’m also willing to bet that you encouraged the process by trying to practice some of the techniques that Alrick told us during class. For example, I saw you raise your arms, and I’m not afraid to guess that you were taking a deep breath in through your nose while you did that. That’s literally the 3rd technique that he taught us!”
“Okay, you got me,” she says playfully.
“Pretty sure that the harmony didn’t only enhance the environment,” I mutter, noticing that even though the harmony reduced after she brought down her arms, it didn’t go back down to the levels before she started.
“I heard that~,” she says slowly, getting into a running stance, arms raised.
I immediately understand what is about to happen… and bolt!
“Hey, get back here!” she yells.
“Nope,” I yell back, arms pumping fast. Never before have I been so happy I was a cross-country runner; I literally trained for this.
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Running along the river, I got a sense of just how peaceful the place was. There was nobody around, Ash had given up after a mile or two, and all I could hear was the calm flow of water and the gentle breeze of the wind. The air had the relaxing smell of rivers and nature. The grass below my feet was soft and devoid of rocks. The sun was bright, but it left the air at a comfortably cool temperature near the water. The water was an object all its own. It was of a deep yet vibrant blue, and its surface glittered with the light of the sun on its minuscule waves. The occasional fish leaped from the water, leaving behind a beautiful ripple spreading through the water.
Understanding what was happening, I began to take deeper breaths and breathed in through my nose. I brought my pace to a more comfortable speed, allowing myself to fully relax into the moment. I let my mind clear, I allowed myself to lose focus on the cadence of my steps, the pumping of my arms, the direction I was heading, of the fact I was in a game. Instead, I focused on taking in the smell of nature with every breath through my nose. I focused on the feeling of cutting through the gentle wind with each stride, and easing it. I focused on the cadence of my feet in relation to the lapping of the river against the shore, and synchronizing it. The waves of the river began to grow, the sparkling of the sun on their tips intensifying. The flow of the wind began to be bent by the rising waves, lessening its conflict with my strides. The smell of the water started to strengthen. The wind brought further and more distinct sents of the many grains and flowers. As my strides began to synchronize with the waves, as the wind began to pass me without being broken, the smell of the river started to overpower the scent of nature, combating the unnatural sense of childish cheer that was rising within me. Then, as before, the sense that had quickly built, fell apart.
The different elements that had altered themselves to achieve greater harmony fell out of sync. However, unlike with Ash, they didn’t simply settle back to the old status quo; they began to clash. The nature of the river had been empowered, the wind spread, and the grassy hills altered and suppressed. The river's waves pulled the wind currents into new configurations without rhyme or reason. The edges of the river rose, swallowing parts of the shore. All the while, I could feel a tension building in me, pulling in a way that felt unnatural and wrong. Fortunately, Alrick had mentioned this possibility.
I slowly brought my cadence out of step with the river. I focused on the smell of the grassy plain, ignoring that of the water. I allowed myself to follow the paths of the ever-changing wind, having to concentrate hard on the feeling as it passed over my skin to follow its guidance. All the while, I thought of the beautiful harmony of the wind passing through the grass, raising the smell of grain, flowers, and rich earthy soil. On how the water fueled this harmony by watering the plants, providing nutrients to the earth, and generating energy for the air currents. As my cadence came more and more out of step and my pace slowed, the river began to recede, its surface began to calm, the wind became more distinct and consistent, the grass regained its glow, and the unique smell of flowers, grain, and rich soil grew more profound and fragrant. Once the internal tension receded, I fell to the ground, gasping for air, but alive.
Exhausted, I allowed my eyes to close.