Questing

Chapter 1

I was excited, my new virtual reality gaming cube had arrived and after spending some time setting it up, I was ready to go.  I had saved for a couple of years and during that time the games had been getting better and better.  I had the latest game as it was included with the cube in a bundled deal.  Virtual reality gaming cubes had taken the world by storm and I was just one of many millions who would log in and play for the full 12 hours before I would have to log out.  With the time compression that amounted to 3 full days of adventure and quests. 

I was eager to get in on the new game as most of the other games were now full of gold farmers or alternates, these alts were the second or third characters that many players had made.  They ruined the economy and made questing difficult as the player's main character would give them gold or have a high-level friend run them through quests and dungeons.  It really was a pain in the ass for players with only a low-level character to try to level or skill up with any of the professions.

This new game was supposed to deal with that, you were allowed one character, and you had to experience the game world and do a few quests before you could choose a class at level 5.  The classes were pretty much the same as in all the games.  Warriors, paladins, mages druids, rogues, priests, merchants, monks, hunters, and warlocks.  Several of the classes would split into subclasses as you leveled, the game would allow some leeway in the leveling path.  I am just excited to get into the game I figured after I did a few quests I would know what class I wanted to play.

I had made sure my weekend was free and I would not be disturbed, I was as ready as I would ever be.  Popping the lid on the cube I entered and sat down in the reclining chair, then putting on the neural helmet I closed the lid and powered up the cube.  The visor kept the lasers that were constantly firing at me out of my vision.  They recorded the minuscule physical movements that would be translated into action within the game.  The head-up display flashed green and a sequence of commands scrolled by too fast to see.  Finally, a voice spoke and asked, “Are you ready to travel to a new realm, full of magic and myth?”

I hit the enter button and then relaxed and got as comfortable as possible.  Soon a pleasant hum filled my ears and a feminine voice began to talk to me, “Are you comfortable, do you need to shift positions before we begin?  At this time please choose a name.”

I answered, “No, I am fine, my name will be Anon and let’s enter the game.”  With that, everything went dim and then black.  After a minute light began to appear and in seconds I was standing in front of a large temple, with a couple of dozen folks running around.  Glancing left and right, I could see that a large forest was off to my right and on my left was a group of tents, each had an icon that displayed one of the classes.  In front of the temple was a large knight on a horse, he would greet everyone that ran up to him and then give them a scroll.

All the players receiving a scroll would instantly read it, some smiled some did not.  Then they would all turn and run off.  Guessing it was the first quest I walked over to the knight and waved, once he looked at me I asked, “Sir knight I see that you are busy but wondered if you have a quest that I can do?”

“You are a polite one, unlike most of these travelers who have shown up, stand still and let me look at you.”  After a minute of the knight ignoring all the other players he reached his hand to his hip and removed a small scroll from a purse and handed it to me.  “If you can complete this quest then come see me when you are finished, I will be glad to discuss your future at that point and offer some guidance if needed.  Now be off with you, I have this mob to deal with.”  With that, the knight ignored me and began handing out scrolls from the satchel attached to his saddle.

Clutching my scroll I turned and headed towards a large tree and sat down with my back to the trunk and opened the scroll.  I had noticed all the other scrolls were from the satchel but mine came from a small purse on his hip.  A little strange, I thought and then began to read the scroll.

Quest

Stranger, your willingness to help the kingdom of Craigellachie has been noted.  If you are willing, this quest needs to be completed.  There will be danger and risk but the rewards are scaled to the quest.  If you proceed you must travel west past the forest and go across the barren fields till you hit the mountains.  Once there you must explore the old mine.  Reports from hunters have stated that Trolls have been sighted coming from the mine.  Investigate and return with your report to receive your reward.

Do you accept?

I thought for a minute, this was more than the usual go kill some scrawny low level wolfs or rats.  It should be possible for a level one to complete as game quests were handed out based on level.  I could probably even level up on the journey if I managed to kill some wolves or rats.  Accepting the quest I walked over to the tents and made my way to the merchants.  All new players started the game with 2 gold.  Most players would not spend it on low-level gear, at least not until they knew what class they would go into.  I had my own plan to play the game, I was not in a hurry to level, my goal was to enjoy the game from level 1 to 100.

The merchant looked bored standing there and as I approached he forced a smile on his face and asked, “How may I help you, young sir?”

I smiled back and said, “I am looking for a basic defense weapon, something that will help keep me safe till level 5.  What would you suggest?”

The merchant looked at me with surprise and said, “You are the first person to ever ask me what I think.  Most of the new folks who come here scurry off so fast they miss out on a lot of stuff.  Tell you what, If you can do me a favor I will reward you with a complete set of leather gear.  It is not fancy but will do in a pinch, I will also throw in this staff and this training manual on staffs.  

Quest

The quest is simple, head out west till you reach the river and then scout downstream for a few miles.  My brother headed out a week ago, on a fishing trip and has not returned.  What do you say?”

I nodded it was a great quest but the problem was I needed the gear now, not after the quest.  Without trying to sound rude I mentioned that I needed the gear now not later.  The merchant frowned at me and then sighed, and said, “You are right, but if I give you this stuff and you don’t return?”

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I nodded, I could see his predicament but he was not the one heading into the wild.  After some discussion, we agreed that I would pay for the gear but once I returned he would refund my money or upgrade the gear.  It was a compromise that worked for both of us and we sealed the deal with a handshake and the exchange of money.  I now had 1 gold and 25 silver.  The kingdoms currency was 1 gold equals 100 silver and 1 silver equals 100 copper.  100 gold equaled one platinum but I doubted that  I would see that kind of money before level 50.

After receiving and equipping the gear I read the manual on staff fighting.  As I read the book the knowledge was transferred to my brain and body and once done the book turned to dust and faded away.  Using magical books to learn is a great thing, I thought as I mentally reviewed my new knowledge.  Opening up my skill tab I noted that I now had something called Bo staff skill level 1.

Bo staff skill

Level 1

Trying not to gloat, I looked at the other players running around ignoring all the non-playing characters and missing out on some of the hidden quests.  In a month, I knew that the forums would be full of them but for now, I was the only one to find a couple and I hoped that it was enough to help me get better gear.  While I was not in a hurry to level, I knew the game was dependent on gear and if you wanted to succeed you had to have good gear.  Grasping my staff, I made my way westward, ignoring other players as they killed or were killed by mangy wolves and flea-bitten rats.

Soon I had walked past the other players as the battled the animals, and once past them, I observed the trees as I tried to walk silently through them.  I was expecting an attack and when it happened I was prepared.  A level 2 gray wolf came bounding at me, with snarling foam-flecked jaws he closed to within 3 feet of me.  I swung my staff down in a direct hit,  his hit points went down 45 and he staggered, but then shaking off the hit he gave a howl and lunged up at me.  Spinning sideways I connected with the back of his head for 55 hit points.  As he dropped down I leaped onto his back and spinning around again I slammed the staff down at his neck.

Critical hit for 66 hit points flashed across my view and the wolf was dead.  I breathed in deeply, the realism of the game was astounding, and having a wolf try to turn you into supper was a bit nerve wracking.  Waving my hand over the wolf I looted 1 large wolf fang, 1 silver, 2 pieces of wolf meat and 1 wolf hide.  Not bad, I thought as the remains faded away, it beats leaving bloody messes all over the world as you killed things.

I continued to travel through the woods my gaming map slowly brightening up as I covered new territory.  After several hours, I reached the river, more of a stream than a river but it has some deep pools on the bends and if I fished I bet it would be a great place to cast a line.  I began to follow the river downstream and after a couple of miles, I came to a camp.  The fire had been out for a long time, but the tent still stood, yet the place felt abandoned.  Making my way towards the tent I peered in and noted it was empty.  A couple of blankets were on the floor with a pack next to them, but there was no sign of life.  I quickly walked around the camp but saw nothing.  Heading towards the river I could see the imprint of many feet in the soft muddy soil. 

This is not good, I thought as I stared at the prints in the soil.  It was clear that Travan, the merchant's brother had been attacked and then carted off.  I could see no blood on the ground so there was a chance that he might not be hurt, but it was clear he did not leave on his own power.  Suddenly hearing a noise, I ran back to the tent and hid between the tent and the group of trees it had been placed against.  Peering out from under some shrubbery I observed 2 strange creatures appear.  They looked vaguely like Dwarfs but with misshapen faces, their noses were broken and their ears were what boxers developed from years of being pummeled in the side of the head.  Cauliflower ears I had heard them called once and it fit.

Their bodies were barrel shaped with arms long and out of proportion and feet that were covered in thick skin that looked like armor.  They had on little more than a loin cloth that barely covered them.  I watched one of them scratch himself and it was clear he was a male, I had not been able to tell before he scratched.  The final thing I noted was they smelled bad if you were to combine sneakers that had been worn all summer without socks and mix that with gym clothing that had been left in a locker all year, that was what it smelled like.

I was literally trying not to gasp as they walked into the camp.  I watched as they stood by the fire pit and then observed as they both began to pee onto the ashes.  Seeing that they were both level 3 I decided to attack, I would not have a better chance.  Creeping forward I managed to get behind them and then I thrust out my staff and connected with the back of the right knee of the closest thing, he went down and banged his knee on the rocks ringing the ashes.  Hit for 54 hit points.  As he tried to stand he stumbled and tripped on the rocks and landed in the fire pit with his head hitting the rocks on the other side.  Critical hit for 72. 

I noted he had about 50 hit points left but by then the second thing was attacking, I danced back as my staff swung in a lazy arc.  He tried to grab it and when he did I reversed it and then cracked him on the arm.  Hit for 45.  As he went to cradle his arm, I spun around and cracked him on the left side of the neck.  Hit for 68.  I continuing to attack by reversing  my motion and thrust the hardened end of the staff into his throat.  Hit for 88 hit points.  He was dead but the first thing was struggling to his feet so I ran forward and went to whack him on the noggin.  The bloody thing managed to grab the staff and with a grin full of bad teeth he pulled me towards him.

I knew that I would only have one chance at this so I gave it my all.  Leaping forward I used my staff to swing my feet up and drop kicked him in the face.  Kick for 53 hit points.  As he fell I pulled my staff out of his grasp.  Taking a quick look around I noted that they were both now dead.  The battle had lasted less than a minute and I felt both exhilarated and exhausted.  I went to the nearest corpse and looted him for 2 silver then turning towards the other I looted him for 3 silver.  I was glad when they both faded from sight, the smell had left with them.  I noticed that my energy bar had dropped pretty fast during the combat.

All players had three bars, one for health, one for energy and one for mana.  Combat seemed to empty the energy bar at a rate more than triple that of normal play.  Gear would help that as would leveling up.  For now, I would have to wait a few minutes to allow my energy to restore itself.  Cooking would help but I did not have the cooking skill yet.  Making my way towards where I had seen the trolls emerge I noted a hidden game trail.  I did not know if these things were trolls but they sure as hell were ugly and stinky.  I was facing a choice, to proceed or to go back and inform the merchant I had found the camp but not his brother. 

The fight had been easy, but the energy depletion worried me, based on what I had seen I thought I would be able to take on 3 or perhaps 4 of the trolls as long as I had the element of surprise.  Once I was out of energy, I would be done.  If a player reached zero energy he would gain a 10-minute debuff that slowed his movements by 50 percent.  It was death in a battle. 

All players start with the bars at 100 percent, basically 100 points, and for each level gained the bars would increase by another 100 points or 100 percent.  It was a fair solution that encouraged players to get good gear as that was the only way to change the base stats.  These base stats after level one would determine how much energy, mana and health players had.  I did not know the ins and outs of the formulae, but I did know items that had stats would make a difference in health energy and mana.

Opening my stats tab I noticed my base stats were the same as all level one players, with one exception, defense was slightly higher.  This being due to the leather armor I was wearing.

Charisma

25/100

Defense

30 /100

Will-power

25/100

Strength

25/100

Agility

25/100

Wisdom

25/100

Knowledge

25/100

As the player evolved in the game world the stats would become personalized but for the first 5 levels, they were standard.  The idea was that not one class would be overpowered at the beginning of the game, and at the final level, gear acquisition would be the determining factor for stats.  Shrugging to myself I decided to continue on the trail and hopefully find and rescue Travan.  After walking for several minutes I came to a small clearing and across from my position was Travan.  He looked battered and bruised but was still alive.  Sitting in front of a fire were three more trolls, they looked sleepy and were yawning and stretching.  I could try to sneak around them but the bush was pretty thick.  The only way to get to Travan was through the trolls.