Chapter 2 The Captain

Jane, now having been named by the creator, Looked with astonishment, as millions of the creator's children appeared one by one with great rapidity. She immediately had to split her consciousness innumerable times to keep up with the ever increasing children. Her task was to introduce them to life and help them form a body, before quickly sending them off into the world which she had created.

At the same time she studied them. They were not like her—who also was a child of the creator. They appeared to have past experiences and showed no concern that they found themselves in the presence of an unknown being such as herself. It was as if they had lived before their creation, and had complete trust in the environment in which they found themselves. In essence they closely resembled the children she had created in this world—who had implanted memories, thus were unaware that they only recently came into being.

The game menu came up with a flash as Levi crossed his fingers. Health bars appeared above everyone’s head with the title NPC above. Levi scanned the crowd and soon found that he was not the only player on this street. Every now and then his eyes would pass over a name signifying that they were not NPCs.

Closing the menu, he decided that it was funner to learn while playing--rather than sitting for a half an hour to read the tutorials.

To his right there was a roadside vendor who sat weaving ornate fabric bracelets as he waited for customers.

“ Sir, I am looking for work. Do you know where I might find some?” Levi said trotting over to the man.

The man's face fell as he realized Levi wasn't likely going to be a customer.

“You’re not from around here, are you, boy?” The man commented eyeing Levi.

“Nope. What gave me away?”

The man ignored Levi and continued to talk.

“Work's hard to find these days. Now that Lugarthan have stopped trade with all allies of the empire and with those Pale Lothorians scum raiding all our farming villages. What little we produce ourselves may not be enough to last the winter. To be completely honest with you boy, your best bet is to head south to the city of Letix. That is where most folk are going these days.

After thinking for a second. He off offhandedly remarked.

“If you're desperate enough, I hear that General Drix is recruiting for a militia to hunt down the Lothorians.”

“Who is Drix and how can I find him.” Levi asked, interested.

The man raised an eyebrow, looking Levi over once more.

“When did you get to Dorlake boy?”

“I just arrived here today.”

“The militia is for men looking to die. You best go back to where you came from. Dorlake is no place to make a life.”

“I don’t really have much choice in the matter.” Levi said with a slight smile.

“Well, just remember when you lay dieing in a ditch somewhere that I warned you. Follow this road to its end. You'll end up at the keep’s wall. Outside the gates there is an area set aside for the barracks. You will find the people you need there.”

The man had already turned away from Levi, shifting his attention back to his business.

“You have received a quest.” he heard Jane’s voice whisper into his ear.

“If you choose to accept, find the militia and join its ranks. Reward: basic military recruit equipment.”

Levi shot a quick glance at the merchant but he seemed oblivious of the voice that had just spoken. With a brief nod of thanks, that went unseen, Levi headed up the road as instructed.

Within moments of commencing his walk up the bustling thoroughfare, the effects of the hostilities between the nations became apparent. These were not people happily going about their daily life, rather they had a hopeless air about them. It was as if there was some impending doom causing them to quickly go about their business to return to the safety of their homes.

Despite this fact, the city really was beautiful. Old cobble streets wound their way up and around a majestic hill. The city itself was nestled in a curving cup of land that extended outward into an enormous lake. Works of great design were apparent in the old buildings that dotted the landscape every detail standing out to Levi’s newly enhanced vision. The keep itself was sitting at the top—shrouded by the morning mist in the distance.

“So, first on the agenda will be to join the army and become a war hero.” Levi thought grinning to himself.

The road became less populated as he neared the keep, and soon he found himself in a district with sprawling expansive houses. Coming around the last bend, the gate of the keep finally came into view. To his left there appeared a huge building with what looked like a training area in the field next to it.

Groups of men were doing drills hacking away at each other while their superiors looked on. At the front of the building two men were sitting behind a table with a line of people in front.

“That must be where you sign up for the militia.” he thought to himself.

As he came to the end of the line, he couldn’t help overhearing the people in front of him. They were obviously players.

“This game is so sweet! Did you see the blond in the market place?” A short man with a goatee said grinning hugely.

“Which one. They all have big boobs and nice asses?” The largest of the group asked feigning ignorance as to who he was talking about.

“I wonder if this game allows for sex?” Another one said.

Levi tuned them out. He had heard a thousand such conversations while attending high school in his home town and felt no need to join them.

In a few minutes Levi found himself at the front of the line being stared down by two burly men.

“Name?” The one on the left asked his voice devoid of enthusiasm.

“Aphaelus. Are either of you Drix? I'm looking to sign up for the militia.”

“haha. Looks like we have another clueless deadweight. Put him in the spear division under Eli.” The one on the rights said as the other noted down Levi’s name and officer.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Umm, I would much rather be put with the archers.” Levi voiced hesitantly.

The man who had just begun to turn away in boredom suddenly snapped his head back, eyes intent on Levi.

“What did you say?” He growled.

“Umm, nothing.”

“You do not have an opinion worth listening to. In fact I don't want hear anything out of your mouth except yes sir. Is that understood?”

“Yes sir.” Levi squeaked.

“Then report to your commanding officer soldier.”

Giving the men a weak nod Levi practically ran from their presence.

“What had he gotten himself into?”

It wasn't until he had gone around the bend and had entered the flurry of activity that he realized he didn't know where to find his contingent. Looking around, Levi noticed that the group of players that he had overheard earlier were just ahead of him.

“Hey wait up!” He called as he jogged up to them.

“Do you guy happen to know where I can find the spear contingent under Eli’s command?”

“Ya , that's where we’re going as well. It should be up there around the corner.” The short guy with the goatee said pointing into the scurrying mass of people.

“Do you mind if I follow you guys? I’m not the best with directions.”

“Sure thing. I'm Gosu. That's Deadfall, Vicegrip, and the big guy is TeddybeaR. We met in other games and started hanging out because we don't suck like most people. That might sound a little egotistical of me to say but you need to have someone you know won't screw things up at the wrong moment. I've died to many times because some noob ass crappy player wasn't doing what he was supposed to.”

“ Hey thanks. I’m Aphaelus. I just got a little overwhelmed. This game is so intense.”

Vicegrip spoke up. “Its crazy cool though.” It doesn't even seem to have built in attack patterns like other games. So anything goes. I bet you could even kick a guy in the balls and end the fight just like that.

“Shut it we’re here.” TeddybeaR said motioning to a field full of men holding blunted practice spears.

The captain stood in front of the group of men tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for the new comers to get in line with the rest of the soldiers. He was tall and slim with an air of almost femininity about him. In fact if Levi had seen any other women here at all he would have guessed the captain to be a girl. That being said, the worn leather armor and obvious fitness of the captain attested to the hours of training he must put in daily.

“Now that the late arrivals have finally graced us with their presence, we can begin teaching you the basics of spear work.” Said a decidedly feminine voice coming from the captain.

“He’s a she!” Deadfall gasped in an entirely to loud whisper.

Now that Levi had heard the voice, he glanced back at the captain. He was a she! She did a remarkable job at hiding her feminine figure. Either she had non-existent Breasts or she strapped them them down for training. Her black hair was braided then stuffed up into the leather cap and her face was a mess of dirt and sweat. Her hips though perhaps slightly more curvy than a mans were tempered by the lithe graceful looking muscle you think of when looking at predatory cats. If Levi had been in his body from real life he probably would never have noticed that she was a woman, but his senses in this place seemed to be on overload. It was as if his old self was a 90 year old with thick glasses and a hearing aid shoved into his ears.

The captain continued talking as if Deadfall hadn't spoken.

“If you lot weren’t the scum off my boots we would have shields to go with these spears but life is never fair and equipment is dangerously low.”

She bent over to pick up a short spear set on the ground beside her. Gosu immediately let out a suggestive whistle while her back was turned. She pivoted on the balls of her feet like a cat crouching ready to leap, fury evident on her face.

“You!” She said pointing at Levi--who was standing next to Gosu.

“Me sir?”

At that Gosu and his friends started stifling giggles.

“Uh oh this is bad.” Levi thought to himself.

“Yes you. Apparently this group needs a demonstration on how important these basic spear skills will be to you when we actually see combat. Someone give him a spear.”

One of the soldiers standing near Levi gave him a spear an empathetic look on his face.

“Crap, he knows I'm going to get destroyed. What can I do? I have no clue how to use a spear. Well I suppose I learned how to use a bo staff in martial arts. So I guess I'll use it like a staff. My best chance is probably to act like I have no skill whatsoever and then surprise her.

Levi walked over to the captain. It required all the willpower in Levi’s being not to fall into a fighting stance with the captain radiating intent to mutilate all while smiling at him in a teacherly way.

“Haxlar will you kindly say go to start the combat?”

The man, who had handed Levi a training spear, nodded and stepped between them with hand extended. He looked at the captain then at Levi and shouted go as he jumped out of the way.

Her response was immediate as she sprung forward like a bullet spinning from the barrel of a gun. The point of her spear came rushing at Levi’s chest and for a split second Levi regretted leaving himself so wide open for the sake of surprise. At the last second Levi was able to bring his staff into position. With his back arm extended above him and his forward arm down low. Levi caught the thrusting spear on his staff with a circular movement of his forward hand. Then, thrusting his forward hand upward while crouching he sent the powerful strike rushing just above his head. He immediately stepped in closing the distance to reduce her ability to stab with the spear effectively. Levi registered a look of shocked surprise on the captain's face right before he spun pivoting on his toes. His forward hand slid down the staff as he spun until he held it like a baseball bat, a homerun strike hurtling at her exposed legs.

Despite his certainty that his strike would land it barely connected as the captain did an impossible looking horizontal jump spin to avoid him completely sweeping her legs out from under her. She came out of the spin spear tip in the lead, thrusting toward Levi’s exposed head. He was forced to dive to the right as he was still off balance from not connecting well with his baseball bat swing.

He came out of the dive with a roll, spinning around to face his enemy and immediately fell into a ready stance.

That is when he noticed two things. First: apparently he had landed the blow against the captain better than he thought because she was showing signs of pain--though well hidden. Second: his physical senses didn’t appear to be only thing affected by his increased perception. Levi seem to be able to comprehend more fully the information given by those senses. The completion of each action became somewhat apparent from the root.

Levi was shaken from his contemplation by one such observation. The captain had shifted her balance. She was coming, and she was coming much faster than before. The point of the spear came streaking toward his face but it didn’t feel right. Her spear said look at me but her base said look down low. In an act of trust, Levi immediately lowered the end of his spear to defend his leg. At the exact same instant the spear that had been heading toward his face warped and bending snapped like a whip at his front leg. He was too slow only managing to parry the strike after it had dealt him a glancing blow.

The pain was the first thing that occurred to him. It felt like he had just been stabbed by the blunted end of a spear. Which is exactly what had happened. It felt so real. Which at this point wasn’t a good thing.

Before he had recovered from the unexpected realism of the pain another strike came hurtling at his abdomen. He tried to block it but only managed to shift the attack a little to the side. Immediately he doubled over feeling like he had to throw up. His bent over body heaved once threatening to release the contents of his digital stomach only to feel a sharp pain at the base of his neck. After that everything went black.

Jane's voice immediately sounded in his head.

“You have passed out due to your pain meter exceeding the cap allowance. You will remain in this state for 30 minutes. You may log out or remain here while you wait.

“Woops. Maybe Tenacity was important.” Levi thought to himself.

“Due to your actions during game play you have received the following proficiencies:”

“Proficiency: Staff(agility) 1%”

“Proficiency: Dodge Attack(agility) 1%”

“Proficiency: Combat Predictions(perception) 1%”

“Proficiency: Orienteering City(perception) 1%”

“Proficiency: Pain Mitigation Blunt Weapons(tenacity) 1%”

“Jane what is a proficiency?” Levi asked after a slight pause.

“Proficiencies modify a stat by a percentage,1% at level 1 to 100% at level 100, for a specific action or activity. So, when doing that specific activity your stat is increased by the percentage listed. Any more questions Aphaelus?”

“No that’s everything.”

“Thank you Jane youv’e been a big help.”

After waiting for a few seconds with no response Levi let out a sigh and logged out.