Chapter 2
A Storm Is Brewing
Unlike regular players, Rain had the privilege to create his character even before the game goes online. As soon as he began the character creation process, he was immediately filled with fury. He quickly logged out and made a call. The cell-phone was bought by Rose, and the contacts listed were only hers and some emergency numbers like the police and the fire station. It will also be deducted on his paycheck. That was fine by him, except that the phone was not the regular cheap one but a multi-feature expensive one and was colored pink. It also included a monthly subscription for calls and e-mail.
She’s a leech. That was how he thought of her after seeing the phone on his desk yesterday morning along with a note. He wanted to smash the phone on the floor, but realizing that it would only increase his expenses, he decided otherwise. He thought that he would never use the thing.
“Hello, hello!” Rose answered with a cheerful tone.
“’Hello!’ my ass! What’s up with this thing?!?” he shouted through the phone.
“The phone? Isn’t it cute?” she replied with a cutesy voice not befitting her age. She was already twenty-eight years old. Rain figured that out through her online profile he found in the internet. He was seven years younger than her.
“No it’s not! And that’s not what I’m talking about! What the heck is up with this character creation thing? It’s only for females!”
“Oh, that! Since it’s a feature of the game to be able to chose a gender other than your own, we took the liberty of making you chose the opposite one,” she answered with an easy-going tone.
“Damn you!”
“I’ll deduct your paycheck each time you yell at me.”
“Guh… authority abuse…” he growled.
“Haha! Nothing you can do about that. Anyways, just go along and have fun.” She ended the call.
In the past three days, Rain had not seen Rose in the house, only those mysterious notes she left behind. He remembered opening the freezer to find almost every food inside attached with a note on how to cook it or which recipe was preferable for that food. He also once tried leaving the house only to find some weird person wearing a mask and glasses following him. He later found out that it was a person hired by Rose to tail him if he leaves the house to make sure he doesn't run away.
Furious after the call, Rain started stomping his foot and yelling. Outside, the person who was hired to tail him could hear the racket he was making. The person then called Rose to tell her of what happened, and her voice through the phone was indicating that she was laughing at Rain’s predicament.
After releasing all his anger, he logged back in and continued with the character creation. As he said, there was no option to change his gender to male. Only a female character could be created.
He tampered with the physical attributes. There were so many possible changes that could be made and after spending quite some time, he got annoyed and just kept on pressing the
In the end, he chose a tall figure with a cute face, but a slightly fat body. The hair was long and sky blue in color. Near the tip, it changed to a light sunset orange. The eyes were deep-set and platinum in color.
After approving the appearance, next was the race.
The races available in the game were Human, Dwarven, Elfin, Werebeast, Sprite, Draken, Celes, and Gheist. Each of the race start in a different location and had different unique racial properties. There was no way to tell what those properties were and how they would affect the game. If he tried to ask Rose, he knew that she wouldn't tell him. He tried searching the internet, but the information was not yet available.
He tried choosing Werebeast, and more options appeared for selecting which beast the character will be based upon. There were a lot of choices, and luckily there was a
A pudgy goat lady, he thought. With a shrug, he accepted it and the next information needed was the name. He spent a few minutes on this one. He had typed the name Rain on the field, but he didn't dare press the
After a few more minutes spent on thinking, he changed it to Storm.
Worse than just a rain.
He pressed
What he didn't know was that Rose was watching a live streaming of his character creation process in the company office and was having a good laugh at the character he created, especially when he named it Storm.
Did he know that in some ancient myths, goats were the representative animals of storm gods? Shaking her head, she thought that it must just be a coincidence.
After waiting anxiously, the
He was now standing on top of a floating stone tile. All around him were the blue sky and the sea of clouds, similar to that in the login screen, except that the tower was nowhere in sight. Looking down, he could see the body he created. Behind him, the strange colored hair danced with the wind.
This feels awkward. His ample breasts and slightly fat body was something his original body didn't have. I should get used to this body. The game allowed only a single character per subscribed account. He can’t change this character unless he buys a new account.
In front of him a prompt window appeared.
Welcome to Skyborne!
If this is your first time playing Skyborne or playing a Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online game in general, then going through the Tutorial is highly recommended. Otherwise, you will be sent directly to the starting area of your race.
Proceed with the Tutorial?
Obviously, he pressed
This Tutorial will teach you on the basics of Skyborne.
Skyborne is a VRMMO. Like all VRMMOs, you can move your virtual body as if moving your real body. Try moving your body.
Don’t worry, you will not fall off. When you walk or run, a stone tile will appear beneath your step.
Rain, or technically Storm, walked forward. Just like the window said, a stone tile suddenly appeared beneath his foot every time he takes a step. He then tried kneeling down, and a tile also appeared under his knee. It was as if there was an invisible floor under him and it would become visible whenever a part of his body makes contact with it.
Well done!
If there is any sense of incongruence, run the calibration function of the VR headgear.
In the real world, you can communicate with others by speaking. The same is true in Skyborne. Try letting out your voice.
Don’t worry, no one will be be able to hear what you say.
“Rose is a jackass!” he shouted out loud. The voice that came out from his mouth was sweet. It slightly put him off.
Nice!
There are other forms of communication that will be available later on as you progress into the world of Skyborne.
Now, let us move on to the game functions of Skyborne. In order to maximize the immersion of the players into the game, we took the liberty to set a minimal interface for the player. Look at the top left corner of your view.
There were three colored bars on the top left corner of his view.
The topmost bar which is colored red is your health points, or HP. When you receive damage, it will be deducted from your HP. It recovers slowly over time. Healing spells and items can also instantly recover missing HP.
The blue bar below the HP bar is your aether points, or AP. When you cast spells or use aether-powered items, it will be deducted from your AP. It recovers slowly over time. Rejuvenating spells and items can also instantly recover missing AP.
The last bar, colored green, is your stamina points, or SP. When performing strenuous activities such as running or lifting heavy weights, your SP will decrease. Also, the color represents your state of hunger. Green means you are full, while orange means you are starving. Stamina recovers slowly over time. Recovery can be increased by drinking or sleeping. Hunger can be replenished by eating.
Take note that your AP recovery rate decreases when your SP is low. Your HP recovery rate is also decreased when either your AP or SP is low, and also when you are hungry.
Rain tried to memorize all that as it was very important information for him. He spent many minutes staring at the window before he continued with the tutorial.
Skyborne makes use of a combination of gestures, voice command, and player intent to open the game menu.
To open the menu, raise your left hand so that it appears in your field of view. Then, say “Open Menu” along with the intent to do so. This is all necessary, including the intent, so that you will not accidentally open the game menu.
When the menu appears, raise your hand to the top option.
He did as told and raised his left hand. Then he said weakly with the unfamiliar voice, “Open Menu.” A radial menu with four options appeared in front of his hand. He then raised his hand to touch the top option.
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A window appeared containing his character information.
[table][table]
Name: StormClass: NoneLevel: 1 (0/100)STR: 3AGI: 7 (7*1.05)VIT: 3DEX: 6INT: 6SPI: 5Points Remaining: 10
HP: 140/140 (115+10*1[LVL]+5*3[VIT])HP regen: 0.94/15s (0.1*1[LVL]+0.03*3[VIT]+0.15*5[SPI])AP: 110/110 (40+10*1[LVL]+10*6[INT])AP regen: 1.9/15s (0.3*1[LVL]+0.1*6[INT]+0.2*5[SPI])
Physical Damage(Melee): 4 - 4 (1[LVL] +3[STR] +0[EQP]) *lower limit affected by DEXPhysical Damage(Range): 4 - 7 (1[LVL] +6[DEX] +0[EQP]) *lower limit affected by STRPhysical Defense: 15 (3[STR] +7[AGI] +5[EQP]) (19.21% damage reduction)Magical Damage: 27 (9*1[LVL] +3*6[INT])Magical Resistance: 13 (7[AGI] +6[INT] +0[EQP]) (16.65% damage reduction)
[tr]
Weight Load/Limit: 2/320 (20*1[LVL]+100*3[STR])
[tr]
EquipmentsUpper Head: NoneL.Ear Accessory: NoneLower Head: NoneR.Ear Accessory: NoneL.Shoulder: NoneNeck Accessory: NoneR.Shoulder: NoneL.Upper Arm: NoneBack Accessory:None R.Upper Arm: NoneL.Lower Arm: NoneInner Chest: Basic ShirtR.Lower Arm: NoneL.Wrist Accessory:None Outer Chest: NoneR.Wrist Accessory: NoneL.Hand: NoneTorso: NoneR.Hand: NoneL.Knee: NoneWaist Accessory: NoneR.Knee: NoneL.Shin: NoneInner Pants: Basic ShortsR.Shin: NoneL.Foot: Basic Slippers
Skills and Masteries:+Weregoat Racial Bonus
- AGI bonus +5%
- Combat Mastery Growth Rate +5%
- SP Consumption -5%
The information was quite overwhelming. Rain didn’t know what to do at first, then decided to check the items that were equipped.
Basic Shirt(D.Gray)(F)
Soulbound
Equipped
A tight-fitting shirt made of the cheapest material available. It is indestructible and can not be sold to vendors.
Defense: 3
Weight: 1
Basic Shorts(D.Gray)(F)
Soulbound
Equipped
A tight-fitting short made of the cheapest material available. It is indestructible and can not be sold to vendors.
Defense: 2
Weight: 1
Rain tried unequipping them just to see what happens, but he received an error window instead.
Item can not be unequipped. To change item, equip another item that fits in the proper item slot as the already equipped item.
“No lewd acts, kiddo!” - Rose
Rain didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He was just curious to what will happen. It seemed like Rose had foreseen this and inserted that comment in the error window. Rain wondered if that same message will appear to any other player who tries to do the same act.
Then, a new prompt window appeared.
You have 10 remaining stat points available for distribution. Select where you want to distribute the stat points.
STR stands for Strength. It determines your melee physical damage and the amount of weight you can carry, and also affects your range physical damage to some extent. It also affects your physical defense.
AGI stands for Agility. It affects your defenses as well as some special movement skills.
VIT stands for Vitality. It determines your health points and health recovery rate.
DEX stands for Dexterity. It affects your melee physical damage to some extent, and determines your range physical damage. It also affects spell casting.
INT stands for Intelligence. It determines your magical damage and resistance, and also affects Aether recovery rate.
SPI stands for Spirit. It affects your health and Aether recovery rates.
This was a hard decision for Rain. He had no idea of how the game will proceed from now on, and he also had not yet decided on how he will build his character up.
I know how to brawl, so should I raise my Physical Damage and Defense? That was the first thing that he thought of, but the presence of magic was a mind-boggling feature for him. After spending about ten minutes of indecision, he finally made a final choice.
Since I have no idea what it is about and since this is a chance to learn it, then I’ll try going through the magic route. He then added 3 points in AGI, 4 points in INT, and 1 point each for STR, VIT, and SPI.
His new stats are now:
[table][table]
Name: StormClass: NoneLevel: 1 (0/100)STR: 4AGI: 10 (10*1.05)VIT: 4DEX: 6INT: 10SPI: 6Points Remaining: 0
HP: 145/145 (115+10*1[LVL]+5*4[VIT])HP regen: 1.12/15s (0.1*1[LVL]+0.03*4[VIT]+0.15*6[SPI])AP: 150/150 (40+10*1[LVL]+10*10[INT])AP regen: 2.5/15s (0.3*1[LVL]+0.1*10[INT]+0.2*6[SPI])
Physical Damage(Melee): 5 - 5 (1[LVL] +4[STR] +0[EQP]) *lower limit affected by DEXPhysical Damage(Range): 6 - 7 (1[LVL] +6[DEX] +0[EQP]) *lower limit affected by STRPhysical Defense: 19 (4[STR] +10[AGI] +5[EQP]) (24.33% damage reduction)Magical Damage: 39 (9*1[LVL] +3*10[INT])Magical Resistance: 20 (10[AGI] +10[INT] +0[EQP]) (25.61% damage reduction)
[tr][tr]
Weight Load/Limit: 2/420 (20*1[LVL]+100*4[STR])
Good job! You may now close the Character Window.
Open the game menu again, and this time chose the left option for the Inventory Window.
Once again, Rain raised his left hand and said, “Open Menu.” He then moved his hand on the radial menu to the left. A new window popped up.
The window was composed of a grid of squares, twenty by twenty-five. On the topmost left grid square was a small black smooth stone. It had a multi-color glowing inscription on it.
Homeward Stone
Soulbound
“There is no place like home.”
This stone allows the user to return to his registered home waypoint. To change waypoints, use the stone on an Obelisk Landmark.
If lost, pray upon an Obelisk Landmark to receive a new Homeward Stone. This will in turn make the Obelisk Landmark set as the registered home waypoint.
Weight: 1
This is the Inventory Window. Here, you can store and retrieve your items. Some items make take up more space than others. The amount of items you can store is limited by the space of the inventory and your weight limit.
After closing the Inventory Window, a new prompt message appeared.
Congratulations!
You have now finished the Tutorial for Skyborne basics. To log out of the game, open the game menu and select the bottom option. The right option will be explained later on in the game.
Tutorial messages will appear whenever necessary to assist you in your gaming experience. Would you like to keep this feature on?
Rain selected
Once again, welcome to Skyborne!
You will now be sent to the starting zone of the Werebeast race. Have fun and good luck!
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A/N: I was watching that thai movie about a group of friends fighting some other groups, and in the end, their leader got stabbed by an icepick right after new year celebration. I was crying while watching that and figuring out how to fix these damned tables.