Ronald sipped his coffee slowly. He liked it black and strong, incredibly bitter. It immediately woke him up. Without him noticing, he had been playing Royal Road for slightly over a month now. He truly enjoyed the experience. He had spent time outside, roaming tourist destinations in his younger days. It was hot and sweaty business, mostly.

His favorite ‘hot and sweaty’ destination would be the beaches. At least when he was a little younger. Brazil was nice indeed. The ladies there were tanned well with a lot of sizzle that had nothing to do with food.

He was staying in a Mediterranean island at the moment. He did not like excessively cold weather. The beach here had pretty good sizzle too, if he cared to drive for an hour to there. He had seen enough. Virtual reality almost made such trips moot nowadays. Even the pleasure of the flesh could be found there with less risk than real life.

Grabbing a piece of toast, he unpaused the Royal Road compilation video he found over the net. It explained as many details as possible regarding Royal Road technology. He had spent his breakfast accompanied by this particular video.

He already watched a video explaining a little about the language in Royal Road. Every player in Royal Road could understand each other perfectly, with rare exceptions. The system recognized any language and dialect spoken, and translated it to other user’s most comfortable language. The same with writings. Surprisingly fascinating.

He also spent time watching explanations about how the Player Killing system worked, combat system and basic examples. He found explanations about the <> within too. Apparently it was not limited to Magicians only. Any caster class could have it but call it differently. <> was the official name.

He put down his handheld device on a fixed position and began watching. His left hand shoved a piece of toast to his mouth.

“Please welcome Mr. Caine, spokesperson for Royal Road Europe,” a pretty lady was seated on a couch. The format was a talk show.

“I do not think anyone knows much about Royal Road at the moment. It has only been a week since it was launched after all. So, do explain what you can, Mr. Caine.”

Winter had no idea whether the commentator was popular or not. He rarely spent any time watching television. The video was explaining a small section about the magic system. By the way, they did the interview within the virtual world too, and recorded it.

“I will, Miss Saunders,” Caine coughed a little. He wore a neat brown suit and pants. He appeared young and handsome, which was probably why he was picked for the assignment.

“So. Everyone knows about magic. You say the word, you can cast spells, you use <> and focus properly. Are you with me so far?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Do you play Royal Road, Miss Saunders?”

“Of course I do. Who wouldn’t?” She smiled sweetly. The non-existent audience laughed.

“Are you a Mage or any caster class?”

“No. I am sorry. I am a Thief.” More laughter.

“Have you seen how a priest casts a healing spell?” Unfazed, Caine continued.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Sure. They say this long string of words, and cast the magic,” she gestured randomly.

“That is correct. Do you see them chanting the same words over and over again every time they heal?”

“Yes. I did.”

“Now. That is tiring isn’t it?”

“That is true.”

“How about a mage? Do you see them chant the same words over and over again?”

“No. The mage I know only cast fireballs.” Laughter echoed around both of them.

“Of course, he says ‘Fireball, Fireball, Fireball’ all the time, yes?”

“Indeed.”

“How about something harder? Like Fire Strike.”

*Silent*

“The <> is pretty long isn’t it? Isn’t it boring to say them every single time if you want to cast that awesome fire spell? Long-winded, I tell you.”

Caine was a pretty good showman. The audience now hung onto his every word.

“But, what if….. you only need to say it once?”

“What do you mean, Mr. Caine?” Miss Saunders asked in puzzlement.

“Do you think you have the time to keep casting the same spell with long words when you have multiple enemies? Or can concentrate on what to say when one was running at you with a big axe?”

*Silence*

“I don’t think so.”

“So,you use a repeat Macro.”

“A Macro, Mr. Caine?”

“Yes. You heard me. You can modify your spell with Macro to do wonderful things. For example, you can continuously cast the same magic without needing to repeat the words continuously. You speak it once the first time and it will keep casting the same spell if you hold your position and don’t say ‘Cancel’. “

*Audience gasping*

“Is it true Mr. Caine? That is wonderful!”

*Audience clapping*

“Thank you Miss Saunders. It is a wonderful function. Using Macro, you can put spells on queue too. Wonderful isn’t it?”

Caine then proceeded to explain the process, showing the menu, making examples of how it was done. He showed flashy spells too. Bolts of colored energy flew to strike targets that appeared out of nowhere without any need to keep repeating himself.

Ronald paused the video again and turned off his device. He was done with breakfast.

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Author's Note:

1. Credit to -The Slacker- for the diligent PR

2. No credit for this short prologue this time. Sorry everyone!

3. Do let me know of mistakes you find. Try as me and my PR to spot them, we might miss some.

4. This is the Prologue for volume 2. Going to release the beginning chapter the day after.

5. Enjoy the read, everyone!