As it turned out, his particular choice in city wasn't the grandest. In wanting to be surprised, he hadn't read too much on the Lore, initially, and it would appear that Ulyssea wasn't a particularly powerful Kingdom and, as such, was not a popular choice... In fact, he appeared to be the only one to have chosen it, as a starting location, as well as the only player to have visited its capital city of Argos. But, luckily, that didn't seem to be that great a deterrent for, just as he'd stated in his application letter, his main goal was to experience Pangaea's quests... and that he did.
Having no players whatsoever to chat with, and a curious enough nature to test this NPC relationship idea that the game had supposedly developed groundbreaking technology on, Wrynn pretty much tried to converse with anyone and everyone he came across. The results were mind-boggling, to say the least. The number of different responses that the supposed NPCs had was tremendous. It really was as if he was speaking to another person.
Within an in-game month, Wrynn had made the Dragon's Dawn Inn into his home, and knew just about every single NPC that existed in the northern corner of Argos, where said Inn was placed. If he was to be described in a single word, it would have to be resourceful. Having always enjoyed a good argument and with none to do it with other than AI, Will spent hours honing his ability to get his point across to Argos's good people. As such, little by little, his Cunning stat would rise and soon become the largest value on his window. This, in turn, led him to three very strange quests. They all had a silver lining, but really, the man had never quite been sure if completing them was worth the reward.
In one of his many nights resting at the Inn, poor old Will received a notification:
Something is happening in the Inn's basement. Your instincts tell you to go and check it out.
Upon making his way towards said basement, the man would soon find that the source of the noises came from behind a locked door. Upon knocking, the man would soon find that he could hear whispers beyond the door:
"Shut up!"
"I didn't say anything!"
"You're making noise, he'll hear us!"
"You're talking too loud!
Needless to say, this bickering went on for a while. Not wanting to intrude on such a clearly personal matter, Will stated, preparing to go back into his room.
"I'll leave you lovebirds to your business, then. Bye."
As the man began to walk away, he could hear some stumbling footsteps and the door opening suddenly and, as it did, yet another notification came up, this time, one for a quest.
Busted!
You've just stumbled upon the Innkeeper fooling around with the local Chef. Seize this opportunity and gain something out of it.
Rewards: Increase in Cunning + Whatever you manage to wrangle from the pair
In Pangaea, all quests were forced on you. You could choose whether to complete it or fail it, but ultimately, there was not an option to refuse a quest which did, in certain cases, cause trouble for the adventurer. This was one of those cases.
The Innkeeper was a bit of a womaniser as well as a raging narcissist, and the Chef was a rather promiscuous little shrew that just about hit on anything that moved. They were, in many respects, perfect for each other. The problem was, they were both married to other people. So, our little Adventurer found himself with a problem on his hands for, the duo had begun to try to bribe him into keeping his mouth shut, and the more Will said he didn't want anything, the more desperate the adulterers would get because they believed he was about to rat them out to their better halves. In reality, Will had barely met the people in question and, if he was to be honest, this was a game. He wasn't about to get in the middle of a pair of messy divorces between AI. It was too much of a hassle to deal with, and this was a game, he was in it to have fun.
So, the man ultimately accepted the bribe. He received his very own Room in the Inn, that would cost him nothing for the rest of his life, and the Chef would buy his meals whenever he set foot into her restaurant. Even if he did end up practically extorting the promiscuous pair, it was a pretty amazing deal, all things considered.
The second strange Cunning-related quest appeared not long after that. Especially with the local Innkeeper and Chef treating the adventurer like a celebrity, Wrynn quickly became well-known with the locals and, because every time he was pampered by either of the AI, the only thing he could remember was the fact that he'd ultimately caught them bumping uglies, the man did his absolute best to deny any and all gifts they wanted to shower him with. These actions, that appeared hugely modest to the general AI community, quickly led to increases in his Charisma and Fame stats, which brought the attention of the general public alongside them.
Amongst these new fans, one in particular provoked yet another dreaded notification.
Your Very First Fangirl
All great heroes have hordes of women fawning over them. In noticing that the Blacksmith's Daughter has a crush on you, you've found your very first one. Use her affection to convince her father to teach you swordplay.
Rewards: Increase in Cunning + Apprenticed Knight Class
The NPC in question was a definite looker, but the man wasn't about to date a artificial intelligence program in virtual reality. The class, however, had most definitely caught his eye. Knights were a rare class in Pangaea, and a particularly important one, at that...
There are three main class denominations in the game. The Basic classes, The Advanced classes and the Rare ones. Basic classes were the easiest classes one could get, as the name suggested: Swordsmen, Mages and Rangers. Strength, Intelligence and Dexterity. Advanced Classes are fairly self-explanatory as well. They are improved forms of the basic ones. A Swordsman can specialise in any other close to mid-range weapons, Mages can attune themselves with an element, and Rangers can decide to focus on any small close-ranged weapons, like Daggers and Knives, or on Ranged Damage such as Bows, Crossbows or Thrown weapons.
Knights fit into the Rare category. This represents "Hybrid" classes, whose stats don't value a single one over the rest. These classes must be obtained through special, hidden quests and often bring about immense advantages to the user.
Knights are known for their proficiency in Melee combat and moderate to heavy-duty armour, but some choose to focus on obtaining mastery over magic, and others still are at their strongest atop a Mount, which enters the realm of Dexterity. But that's not all that being a Knight has to offer. Through progressing up the Knightly ranks, one is able to gain a direct line of contact with the ruler of a particular land or Kingdom and, as such, gain easier access to better gear, quests and even classes.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Once again, these Cunning quests had left the man with a bitter aftertaste, but the results could not be argued with.
After a good two in-game weeks of using the daughter as an excuse to improve his standing with the Blacksmith, he ultimately took him in as his apprentice. Sadly, the Smith had told him that should he become a fully-fledged Knight, he would not be learning about the forge with him, but Knighthood far outweighed the crafting profession, in the young brit's eyes.
Status WindowNameWrynnAlignmentLawful GoodRaceHigh HumanLevel57ClassKnightTitlePaladin Candidate *Fame2653Health Points10750Mana Points8940Strength190 (+60)Endurance190 (+30)Agility215 (+85)Dexterity110 (+23)Intelligence60 (+7)Luck80 (+15)Charisma150 (+2)Cunning275 (+40)SatietyFullWeightModerate
A month had passed ever since the man had first started the beta. The actual Launch of the game was just around the corner, and the man had received a rather cryptic message upon accepting a certain quest... But we'll get to that in a moment.
In-game time elapses around 5 times faster than in the real world. This meant that it'd been a little less than half a year since Wrynn had first set foot in that Inn.
In spite of what one might initially think, level 50 in that amount of time wasn't really something to behold. Statistics had come up the week before stating that the average beta-tester level neared 75. This meant that little old Will was actually nearly 20 levels behind the average joe. The man had never been a decent grinder in any game. The idea was usually a tad too dull for his tastes, however, that soon changed once the man noticed his title and clicked the asterisk it displayed.
A wall of text suddenly popped up in front of his face, detailing a hidden part of the rare classes: The God Elements.
Pangaea is a game that revolves around Mythology and Fantasy and, as we all know, these things always have the same Key players: Gods. So, as Mortals in this realm of Might and Magic, the strongest one could get was by attaining a Godly Element. And the beings who'd achieved said things were dubbed True Nobles.
This "title" originated from the fact that, in most religions, those who possessed said Element were hailed as Heroes or Rulers in the mortal plane. The Ancient Egyptians believed that their Pharaohs were Gods who'd incarnated as Men, Romans believed that their Emperors descended from Mars, the God of War, and most of us are familiar with the tales of Achilles, Heracles and Perseus, and even Jesus. All of these had Godly Elements to them, and became known for their tremendous feats. This was the main stepping stone into carving one's name in the realm of Pangaea.
However, the game fused together too many Myths to be able to keep them close to their original form. So, its many storywriters meshed these ancient religions and modern fantasy novels together and created a realm where there was not a single person who knew all of Pangaea's backstory. Certain Gods who were deemed as villains might have turned to the side of Good, and vice versa, others might have been fused and so, all in all, grabbing a History book would be helpful to one's progression, but it wasn't certain that you'd succeed.
These were all incredibly hard to obtain, but considering that you would be awarded with part of Godly being's powers, they were most certainly worth the effort. There were 5 ways to attain a Godly Element. The Artefact, Ritual, Favour, Blood and Paladin classes.
The Artefact classes were supposedly the simplest to attain. One would have to ensue on a perilous journey into forgotten caverns and ruins and, upon overcoming great tribulations, come into contact with a Godly Item and draw from its power. Examples of this class would be Arthur Pendragon, who obtained the power of the Celtic God Emrys (Merlin), upon drawing the fabled Excalibur from the stone.
The Ritual classes involved summoning the Gods through a particular spell and obtaining some of their power in that manner. Despite being a God, Odin sacrificing his eye to Mimir's Well to obtain the Wisdom of the Ages would be a decent enough explanation.
The Favour classes consisted in a player's actions gaining the attention of a particular God or Goddess, who would then "bless" or "curse" a character and grant it wondrous abilities. Medusa, the beautiful woman who fled from a lust-filled Poseidon and tried to seek solace in Athena's temple but ended up being cursed instead by the Goddess who was jealous of her beauty was a perfect representation of these kinds of classes.
The Blood classes were like the ancient Roman Emperors. You would be recognised as a descendant of a God, and attain some of your ancestor's powers.
Finally, there were the Paladins. The most deranged Godly Classes out of the 5. To become a Paladin, you would have to do one of two things: Either slay or tame a Godly Beast. In doing so, you would obtain part of its power as well as some of the abilities of its Godly parent. The sole representative of this class - in Pangaea's lore anyway - had been Odysseus (Ulysses), who had slain the Cyclops through the sheer use of his wit.*1
You are the first man to be deemed capable of becoming a Paladin since the Legendary Patron of Ulyssea himself. Please make your way to the Argos's Lord to know the details of your new great quest
After carefully reading through the pages upon pages of information on the God Elements that had appeared in front of his face, to call the man ecstatic would be a massive understatement. Doing his best to spare the AI that casually walked the street his godawful dance moves and horrible singing voice, the man began what could only be described as skipping his way towards the castle, grinning from ear to ear.
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*1 Merlin isn't considered a Celtic God, and Odysseus is presumed to have descended from a God and merely wounded the Cyclops in Greek Myth.
Pangaea's Lore may differ from myth again, as the story unfolds, so I am here to say that it is purposeful.