Pangaea Chapter one
Kale continued eating his salad as he listened to his friend Tom who was talking about some new game that Tom, Kevin, and John were going to be playing. All four boys had just graduated from high school and had the whole summer to relax before college or finding a job became an issue. Kale was sure that it would not be much of an issue as all three of his friends came from rich families; they would all have jobs waiting if they wanted to work in the family business.
Kale himself had a part time job, he taught in his uncle's dojo. It was a mixed martial arts school but Kale specialized in Krav Maga. His uncle had been an instructor for the IDF and Kale had been around the dojo since he was three. That is when he had moved in with his aunt and uncle. His parents had been the victims of a terrorist attack and his mom's sister had made sure that Kale was brought to them immediately. His aunt had a lot of pull; she was a doctor who had pioneered several surgical procedures.
Kales attention was brought to the present when Kevin said, “Dude this game is perfect for you, you won’t need to grind out levels, you won’t need to do rinse wash and repeat quests. Heck man, you won’t even need to do any of the Main quest chains, playing as a PPC will give you freedom from all that. It is a win-win situation, we will form a guild and you will be our PPC member taking care of the home front when we go out and conquer.”
Kale smiled at Kevin, he knew his friend always saw the glass as half full and was a happy guy. Glancing over at Tom and John he noted the smiles and smiled back. Seeing Tom brought back the memory of how they had first met. It had been the first day of high school and Kale had seen two of the steroidal football freaks, both seniors giving Tom a tough time. Tom had turned to leave heading down an empty hall towards the exit. The freaks had followed him and then near the exit they began to shove him around with freak one finally winding up and punching him in the stomach. Freak two then pulled back his leg to kick the smaller boy in the head when Kale kicked out connecting with the back of the knee.
His kick had caught the freak unbalanced and he fell to the floor, Kale then jumped over to the other freak and threw out his hand slapping the other freak in the face with a great deal of power. Turning back he grabbed the freak he had kicked and threw him against the wall next to his buddy. “You two animals better scram,” he said. Turning his back he offered his hand to Tom and helped the smaller boy stand up. “Are you alright?” He asked.
Tom looked up in surprise at Kale, he could not believe what he had just witnessed, a boy not much bigger than himself, someone who could not be more than 145 pounds had just kicked the crap out of two of the school's linebackers, both of whom must have weighed in at 220 pounds each. “Dude, thank you, you literally saved my ass. Those douche bags were planning on beating me to a pulp. Who are you man and how did you do that?” Tom asked.
“The name is Kale and dealing with those two is easy, they are bullies and will run if someone stands up to them. What made them turn on you like that? I know they are bullies but usually, they wait a week or two before selecting their victims.”
Tom looked at Kale and then pointed to his shirt, “I am wearing my rainbow pride shirt and when they saw that, the insults started then the threats. I tried to walk away but they followed me, I honestly thought I was done for till you saved me, not sure if I have ever been so scared. Anyway, I guess Gays are not welcomed here.”
“Dude,” Kale began, “I don’t think too many people care what your preference is as long as you don’t push it in people’s faces. Personally, I believe everyone has a right to live the life they want and I hope they find happiness doing that.” With those words, Kale had started a friendship that would last throughout high school. Introducing Tom to his other friends, all four boys had hit it off and became close friends. Kale had the three boys in his Krav Maga class by October and they had continued training for the next four years.
All of the boys were now very capable in self-defense, although Kale was on another level altogether. During the four years of high school Tom had grown a great deal and with the regular workouts at the dojo was not the tallest and most muscular of the group. He had an easy self-confidence and was considered the best looking of the bunch. Being his wingman had given Kale lots of opportunity to meet and date several girls who had tried with Tom and failed as he was not interested in them. They found Kale was a great listener and almost as good looking at Tom. He was short just 5 feet 8 inches, but pound for pound he was the strongest of the group.
Kevin and John were both tall at 6 foot 1 inch just one inch shorter than Tom. They both were blond haired and muscular, fairly popular and always funny. Kale had come to appreciate the fact that both were very positive people with a real I can do this attitude. Kale knew he had great friends and was willing to listen as they tried to encourage him to join them in the game Pangaea.
“Listen, guys, you know I hate these fantasy games, I mean being in VR is cool but the grind the mindless killing the hunt for better gear every five levels, being so broke that you have to sleep in stables instead of Inns. It sucks.” Kale said with feeling. “If this game is the same then what makes you think I will like playing it? I would give it a try for you guys but only if it is different for me, I am not going to do the whole grind out the levels to endgame anymore.”
“Fair enough, I know you hate that, but like I was saying earlier, you won’t need to do that. Once you make your avatar, you will be offered a boatload of classes and starting zones, all you need to do is choose the PPC class.” Tom spoke in an excited tone. “This class is tailor-made for you Kale, you cannot accept any of the major quests, and you can only do the minor ones. Basically, you start with one gold at the outskirts of your starting town or city, and then you have to get a job and a place to live. The rest is up to you, you can become a business magnate or a banker, heck the whole thing is wide open for you. With the time dilation, the two summer months equal one year game time. So what do you say, right now Pangaea is having a special the first ten levels are free, come on man give it a chance, at least to level ten.”
Kale looked at his friends and laughed, then said, “Okay, I will give it a go at least till level ten. If I have time I will download it tonight and make an avatar. Are we going to use our real names in the game?” Seeing his friends nod Kale said, “We probably should go, all the mall chicks are gone anyway. I want to do a little more research into the game, does anyone know why it is called Pangaea. Isn’t that the name of one of the earth's former supercontinents?”
Kevin answered, “You bet it is and the whole game world is based on that land mass, it is huge, and while the starting zones are mapped out for about two hundred miles surrounding each zone the rest of the world is blank. We know that there are undiscovered kingdoms and strange races, even Gods roam the vastness of Pangaea. This game is incredible, not only is it new, the VR has been tweaked and new features added. I can't wait to get in.”
Kale thought that it did sound interesting and he was becoming excited about the game but decided to play it cool until he had checked it out for himself. Looking over at John he asked, “So what stops some butthead player from killing PPC players, and robbing them, or even corpse camping the players? If I can’t level up and gain skills like normal players what is my defense? I hate to be at the mercy of some of the people who play these VR games. Some of them are fricken sociopaths.”
The other guys all nodded and then John responded, “Kale, the Game Masters have a zero tolerance for that, the first time a PPC is killed the killer is set back to level one and loses all his gear, the second time the Banhammer get brought down and he will never be seen in Pangaea again. The developers are really serious about making this the best most fun game ever. You know how the pain level in most VR games is at fifty percent, in Pangaea it is at ten percent. The lead developer said that is was stupid to make players feel pain in what is supposed to be a fun environment.”
Kale slowly digested all that his friends had told him as he caught the bus and headed for home. Having agreed to get a hold of his friends in the game tomorrow he pulled out his phone and began to check out the forums as he traveled on the bus. After arriving at home he entered the kitchen and gave his aunt Bea a kiss before heading towards his room. “Supper is in a couple of hours,” he heard his aunt yell as he entered his room. Turning around he yelled back, “Sounds good, I am starving, what is it?”
“We are having pan fried chops with mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes with chives and garlic, along with a salad.” His aunt Bea said. Kale smiled, it was one of his favorite meals, and he gave a loud whoop. “Thanks, aunty I love ya.” He yelled as he entered his room. Looking in the room Kale observed everything; it was the way he had left it with everything in its place and a place for everything. “Maybe I am a little OCD about things,” Kale muttered to himself before smiling. It did not matter; Kale felt a sense of satisfaction in neatness and order.
There was a neatly made bed against the wall with three shelves that ran from the floor to the ceiling; all the shelves were full of books on a wide variety of subjects. There was some fiction but most of the books were nonfiction, with subjects that ranged from military history to medieval engineering. There were books on basic first aid and advanced surgical procedures. Biographical works and readings on blacksmithing were in their spots on the shelves. Kale had read and taken notes on anything that had interested him as he went through school. The result was a very knowledgeable young man who had a good idea of how a lot of things worked.
On the far side of the room was the cube, it looked like a rectangular box, with the lid open a soft chair was visible with a small console and keyboard, along with what appeared to be a full visor helmet. Kale walked over to the cube and then sat down in the chair. Hitting the power button he waited as the system booted up. Connecting to the internet he searched for the game Pangaea and then hit the download button. Seeing that he had a good hour to wait he began to go over the forums, searching for anything that interested him.
The time passed quickly with the download complete chime sounding before Kale had finished. Deciding to continue his research before logging into the game and creating his avatar, Kale continued to read. Finally, he closed the forums having gained a much better understanding of the game and the different ways to play. Kale was determined to make a PPC character and play the game the way he wanted to, in fact, he was getting excited about all the options.
Hearing his Aunt call him Kale jumped up and went to the washroom to wash up; glancing in the mirror he noted his high cheekbones and thick dark hair that had a wavy curl to it. His lips were full and his nose was best described as Patrician in nature. His eyes were a light brown hazel color that seemed to turn black when Kale was angry. He smiled to himself as he dried his hands and then made his way to the kitchen, the smell of the food tantalizing him. Seeing his uncle Haim sitting down Kale wrapped an arm around his shoulders and gave his uncle a squeeze.
His uncle looked up with a smile, his no-nonsense face suddenly soft and full of laugh lines. “Go sit down boy, I am hungry and want to eat.” Kale laughed and said, “Me too, it smells so good.” The rest of the dinner passed with Kale and his uncle and aunt chatting and laughing about the little things that made up the day. Finishing off the supper Kale thanked his aunt and then said, “I am going to be checking out a new VR game with the guys, I will be in the cube for most of the time but will pop out every now and then.”
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“Are you going to be available to teach on Wednesday and Friday evenings?” Uncle Haim asked. “If not I can get one of the other senior students to teach, it is about time they started to develop those skills.”
Kale thought for a moment and then said, “I will pop out of the cube on those nights, it will do me good to stretch and get the blood flowing.”
Aunt Bea winked at her husband and said, if you want to come into the Hospital, we have a new nurse her name is Sarit she just started and is a pretty girl, she would get your blood flowing Kale.”
Looking at my aunt I gave her my third best look of boredom before breaking out into laughter, “You know I am not interested in dating anyone, I am pretty happy to do what I do right now. Studying, teaching and playing games. It keeps me busy.”
Seeing both of them look at each other Kale quickly stood up and began to gather the plates, taking them to the sink he rinsed them off and loaded them into the dishwasher. Returning to the table he finished the cleanup and then finally brought out two cups of tea. It was Earl Grey with real cream and sweet raw sugar. Taking his leave Kale headed back to his room and made his way into the cube.
Pulling on the helmet Kale powered up the cube and then began the process of loading the game. As the game loaded into the cube, Kale found himself immersing into the avatar creation room and was greeted by a glowing female figure. He stared at the girl who slowly became more solid until she looked like a Greek goddess. “Who are you?” Kale asked.
“I am Creatiana the Goddess of creation, and I am here to help you to choose wisely as you decide on whom you will become. You have many choices, please take your time and see what Pangaea has to offer you. Each choice has its strength and its weakness. Pangaea is a huge world that is larger than Earth and has many different options and races. Let me know when you are ready to make your choices, or if you have any questions.”
Kale nodded at Creatiana and then began to look at all the options for races, he saw that there were the usual choices of human, elf, orc, dwarf, drow; he noted that there were also half races and animal races. The choices were endless it seemed as each race had its own racial, which was a permanent buff. An hour passed as Kale continued to read. One thing led to another and Kale realized that the starting point in a game the size of Pangaea had a major impact on the race choices.
Having decided to play a Halfling Human mixed with a strange race that is called the Old Race Kale looked at the racial. The human racial was called quick learn, and it allowed humans to master abilities that were normally only available on other races. These were not class abilities as a PPC Kale could not learn class abilities. Also due to the fact that Kale had chosen to play a Halfling, the racial had a fifty percent chance of working. His other choice the Old Race had a unique racial, it was the ability to see into the spirit realm. Due to being a Halfling that racial was limited to the night, but Kale thought it would be a fun racial to experiment with.
Once Kale had finished with the origins of his avatar he was given the option of what it should look like. He observed that the avatar was based on his body, it was identical to him. Kale had always changed how he looked in all the games he played. There was little chance of his being recognized but ale preferred to be anonymous. Looking at the avatar he added some muscle mass to the upper body and then gave the avatar runner's legs. His face was changed so that it was slightly broader and his ears had slight points on them. He would not be mistaken for an elf but his ears clearly showed more that human ancestry with the little points. His eyes were a light haze color and he left them that way. Declining scars and tattoos Kale focused on the hair color and went with black hair with some dark reddish highlights.
Staring at the picture critically Kale finally smiled and said, “What the heck you are pretty damn good looking, maybe I will get lucky in the game.” Mentally hitting enter Kale closed his eyes as he heard Creatiana whisper “Good Luck Kale.”
There was a sudden sensation of flying over the ground at a rapid speed and then slowing down suddenly Kale felt the ground and everything became visible as the darkness faded. Looking around Kale noted he was standing beside a large tree that offered shade to the road it was next to. The road was cobbled and showed signs of age; clearly, it had been in use for a long long time. Just up the road stood a city wall with a trail that circles the outside and a gate that the road traveled through. The forest that stood next to the city was old growth and full of colors, it was clear that fall time had arrived.
The city itself was on the cusp of a mountain range; the peaks had snow on their slopes and towered over the city. Kale had chosen the city based on the fact that is had once been a city of the Old race. Also, it was cut off from the rest of Pangaea by several mountain ranges. The city was called Tempus and was the seat of the house of Asher. It was self-sufficient with no close neighbors; the kingdom encompassed about 45 villages and town. There was an inland sea that backed onto the far mountain range and many long valleys that threaded into the foothills and mountains of the kingdom.
Walking up to the gate Kale observed that there were two guards stationed there and that they were alert and armed, their gear was plain but of good quality. The men looked alert and competent and the closest one to Kale called out, “Hold up stranger, tell us what brings you to Tempus, and how long will you be planning on staying?”
I am new here and was planning on staying a good long while, I need to find a job and a place to stay, I am hoping to make Tempus my home,” Kale observed the guards as they listened to him, they paid attention and then whispered to each other for a moment.
“Well stranger, welcome to Tempus, the priests has said that the world would be receiving visitors from other realms. I had not thought the Kingdom of Asher would have attracted anyone but here you are. Be welcome here and keep the peace.”
Kale nodded and then shyly asked, “Do you know of any work in the city, I am well read, somewhat educated but not afraid of hard work or getting my hands dirty. I just need to find a job and a place to stay.”
The guards looked at Kale and then said, “If you don’t mind shoveling shit, Innis is always looking for workers at his stables. Just follow the inner Wall road to the right for about a mile, you will come to a smaller gate, right next to it is Innis stables and his Inn. He is a good sort, who helps those in need. He expects fair work for wages but if you do your job you will have a place to stay and a job, he even offers two meals a day at the Inn. It is the best job I can think of for a newcomer to the city. Good luck, Kale.” With that, the guards lost interest in Kale and he turned and began to walk along the Wall road.
It did not take long for Kale to arrive at the stables, they were large capable of handling fifty horses in the corral and at least twenty in the stables itself. Standing at the entrance of the stables were two men, they both looked about twenty-five and seemed to belong at the stables. Kale walked over and greeted them, he could see that they were both level 5 and were classed as stable workers. The larger one was named Thomas and the other was named Edward.
Kale introduced himself and felt an acceptance from the two men, looking at Thomas Kale asked, “I am looking for a job and the stables were recommended to me, I am supposed to talk to Innis could you direct me to him?”
Thomas looked at Kale and smiled then said, Innis is in the inn, probably the kitchen, it is near lunch time, come on I will take you to him.” Leading the way Thomas walked to the back of the Inn and entered a small doorway that led straight into the kitchen. The kitchen was large with the back wall having two tables against it with windows set high to let in the faint light that the city wall and the mountains allowed. There was a center island with several sinks and on the left wall was a huge open oven that had at least ten rotisseries turning. Ham and chickens along with racks of sausages and racks of lamb were all being cooked.
Next to the open oven were two wood stoves each with two burners going and on each burner were large cauldrons of both soup and stew. Beside the stoves was another oven that held at least twenty loaves of bread, light, dark and black. The smell in the kitchen was astounding, as soon as Kale had walked in he began to inhale the mouthwatering smells. Thomas looked at him and smiled then called out, “Innis, come look at what we brought you, I think he wanted a job but now I think all he wants is to eat.”
Kale watched as a large man turned towards them and began to walk over. He smiled at Thomas and Edward and then looked at Kale. “Well he looks hungry; I guess I can feed him. Smiling at Kale he nodded and then asked, “Lad did you come here for a job because I have one for you. Thomas needs another assistant for when he is off on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Edward is off on Tuesday and Wednesday. I need you to mind the stables from Tuesday to Saturday, Sunday and Monday will be your days off. I offer you a gold a week and two meals daily, all staff eat lunch and supper in the kitchen, not the Inn. You will take care of breakfast yourself. There is a small room adjoining the stables in the back that will be yours, it has a small stove for heat. We have a never ending pile of fuel in the winter for the stoves. Well, what do you say?” Holding out his hand Innis looked at me and smiled.
I smiled back and said, “Thank you, sir, I am glad to have a job and a place to live.” Innis smiled back and said, Thomas will get you squared away, do a good job lad and I will see if we can find more work for you. Now let’s eat.
Sitting down at the tables we started with bowls of stew and sandwiches made out of roast pork all topped with a strong cheese and salty gravy. It was one of the best meals Kale had ever eaten and he savored each bite. It was all washed down with fresh cold water from the well. Kale noted he had a well-fed icon appear that gave him a one hour buff to all his stats. Thinking that he would have a look at his stats as a PPC as soon as he had a moment Kale stood and followed Thomas out to the stables.
Showing Kale the small rooms at the back of the stables Thomas pointed to the far one and said, “That one is yours. It actually has a door that leads out the back into the passageway between the city wall and the property here. Taken the afternoon to clean it out and make it your home. Today is Sunday so you are off tomorrow, go explore the city and buy some bedding or any other supplies you need. Just follow the Wall road and you will come across the shops, the closer to the wall the better price you will get. Any questions, mate?”
Kale smiled and said, “Nope, but thanks for everything I will work hard and do a good job, Thomas.” Waving at the men as they walked out Kale had a good look at the room, it was rectangular with a small stove at one end and then a bed against the wall with drawers built into the bottom. The head of the bed was a desk with a chair rounding out all the furniture. Everything was very dusty and needed a good cleaning.
Going out to the kitchen Kale grabbed all that he needed and then filled a bucket up with warm water and soap. Going back to his room he began to sweep the floor and then dust all the furniture, finally taking the hot soapy water he scrubbed everything down and then dried everything. Putting everything back Kale then went down the Wall road looking for a shop where he could buy some bedding and some rough clothing. He found what he needed in the third shop[ he entered and when he left he had a set of rough sheets and a thick blanket. He also had some soap and other personal gear along with two sets of rough work cloth and one set of nicer clothing.
As Kale made his way back to the stables he stopped at a bakery and bought some bread and jam along with several buns and a small tub of butter. When Kale left the bakery he had 25 silver and a few copper left from his gold coin. The next stop would be a bank Kale thought, time to start savings; if you don’t have money at hand you don’t spend money. Once he arrived back at the stables he put all his items away and then made the bed. Stretching out Kale found that it was surprising how comfortable it was.
Mentally opening up his Stats Kale observed that he was about twenty percent in his progress to level two. He had all the same attributes that a normal player had but they seemed skewered, his strength was higher than he thought it would be as was his agility. His intellect was average and his magic was at zero. Kales basic stats read.
Strength = 75
Agility = 70
Magic = 5
Mana = 50
Intellect = 65
Presence = 45
Reputation = Friendly
Racial = Quick learn a 50 percent chance to learn another racial buff
Racial = Spiritual vision the ability to see into the spirit realm, only at night time.
Combat = 5
Unarmed combat = 5
There were a few more things but they were all at 0 or 5, clearly playing as a PPC geared your stats towards working not combat, although there was probably some overlap. But without weapons training having a lot of strength and agility would not do a player any good. Not that it mattered, Kale thought, I am not here to be an adventurer. Closing his stats Kale smiled, it had been a good day, a job and a place to live had been found, and he would be working with good people who seemed to not have any issues.
After setting the in game alarm to wake him at 5 bells so he would not be late for supper Kale soon drifted off into a relaxed sleep. As Kale slept there unseen to him a faintly luminous being appeared over his body, it was a female form that looked down at him and smiled along with a faint whisper that could be heard saying, “At last, one of my children has returned.”