As soon as the tutorial finished Vulcan was assaulted by the heat. It not only greeted him, it literally seemed to overwhelm him. Staggering, he took a few deep breaths to calm down and get used to it. The wind carried a smell of spices, probably from the stands of the market place that he found himself on.
This is really realistic. No wonder the reviews and gaming forums are all giving it such high reviews. If I wouldn't know better, I would think I had experienced a dimensional shift...or at the very least traveled to a desert city.
Looking around, he realized he was in an arab-styled city. Right, what did the voice at the beginning say again? I'm in Alhambra or something like that. I just hope they have all the facilities I need to try the different classes out. Now let's see, I guess I should try out melee classes first, although I don't think that will be the right thing for me.
Searching for someone who could give directions he spotted a uniformed man standing next to a food stall, just finishing off the snack he bought from it.
"Excuse me sir, could you please give me some directions? I heard that there is a training hall close by, but I have no idea where it may be."
The stranger quickly sized him up and replied: "Just follow the big street to the south until you hear the sound of wooden swords hitting things. You can't really miss it." Then dismissing Vulcan out of his mind, he turned and began to walk away.
Rude! But at least he told me where to go. And indeed, following the road he arrived at the training hall within a few minutes. As he walked in, he saw a strong looking warrior giving instruction to someone who was using a slightly curved wooden sword to hit a scarecrow. Vulcan decided to wait a bit until the instructor took notice of him.
"Welcome, adventurer. You are new here?"
"Indeed, I was hoping to try out my hand with some training after someone told me that a good way to start out was here."
"There are swords in front of the scarecrows. Just go select one that you are comfortable with and you can begin practicing on them."
Vulcan looked around and chose a scarecrow that was more in a corner, because he thought nobody would really pay attention to him if he trained in the shade. That it would be cooler also helped, he kind of regretting choosing a desert area now due to the constant heat.
"Whack, whack, whack...." A few hours later, a system message popped up.
Agility rises by 1 point. (+1 AGI)
God, this is boring. And I'm starting to feel hungry too- kind of weird considering my real body is lying in a capsule right now. Oh right, hunger... Checking out his inventory Vulcan took out a barley bread and only had a few bites to fill his satiety bar up again. He then proceeded to gulp a few mouthfuls of water and even used a few drops to moisten his face and neck.
Maybe I'm doing this wrong, but isn't using a sword supposed to be about being fast with the slashes? It doesn't seem really satisfying though, and the scarecrow looks like I never touched it at all. Still, I don't think swords are the right thing for me. I wonder, how would my fists do? Quickly striking the scarecrow with a bit of force, he involuntarily cried out in pain as it hit: "Ow ow ow owwwwwww."
Of course, hitting the solid scarecrow with unhardened fists without any kind of protection was foolish. The system rewarded this kind of action with a message:
Because you used your fist incorrectly, you have hurt your fingers. Vitality decreased by 5. Dexterity temporarily decreased by 1.
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Quickly shaking out his hand, he grew annoyed at the sheer boredom of the training and decided to take a break. He put the wooden sword back where he had found it at the base of the scarecrow and quickly walked out.
Great. I thought I could do some martial arts training and possibly benefit, but it seems too tedious. But I already suspected that- considering I'm not too much into endless work for crafting either, that means I'll have to go with a magic related class. This should be exciting, why should I go with something I could learn elsewhere too and ignore the really fantastic? I mean it's MAGIC.
He asked a passerby for directions to the library, since he read that reading could confer the bonus stats one needed for a magic related class. Once there, he approached the librarian knowing he would have no way to find the books he was looking for with no help.
"Excuse me, sir, my name is Vulcan. I would like to look for scrolls regarding specific topics, but I do not know where to look."
The librarian, an old man with a leathery brown skin and white hair only raised his eyes from the scroll he was reading. He was slowly running his fingers through his beard.
"I was hoping you could point me to some historic works regarding the effects, artifacts and famous people of magic. Not skill books for magic, seeing as this is a library, of course."
Upon hearing this the old man revealed shiny white teeth by grinning.
"Finally not an upstart infidel! Too many think the sanctity of the library is filled with foolish magic. If you'll sit on that diwan, I will bring you a selection of scrolls."
Giving a small bow as a thanks Vulcan sat down only to receive 15 scrolls a few minutes later.
You have read "Introduction to magical artifacts: How to identify real magic".
Wisdom rises by 1 point. (+1 WIS)
You have read "Famous mages and their skills".
Intelligence rises by 1 point. (+1 INT)
He spent the next 2 days just reading all the different scrolls he was given, only taking breaks to ensure he could keep reading with a clear mind. As a result, his intelligence had risen by 7 points and his wisdom by 5.
Finishing the last scroll, he stretched and decided it was time to check out his status window. "Stats!"
Status WindowAvatarVulcanAlignmentNeutralLevel1ClassUndecidedFame0TitleNoneHealth50Mana160Health Regen/Sec0.2Mana Regen/Sec0.3Strength5Agility16Wisdom20Intelligence22Stamina5Vitality5Luck0Offense2Defense0Elemental AffinitiesFire10Earth10+You are able to use the racial skill Water Sense
+You lose less stamina due to heat