---James---
James wandered around the town disappointed. Enough time had passed that he started to wonder if this was real. If any of this was real – really what had he been thinking? Was he dreaming? Had he been drugged, knocked out and brought to a LARP game?
Why?
He had briefly gotten excited by the idea of fighting monsters.
He had been excited by the idea of fantasy…of a new world.
But is this world a new world? How would I even check?
When he had poked his head out of the gate… he had just seen a bunch of regular animals being attacked by random people.
I really must have been drugged pretty strongly. I still feel strange.
I guess its only just now wearing off?
...might as well play along. Something to do right? I wonder if I’ll get in trouble for skipping work.
James entered a weapon shop and stared up at the swords and spears and flails.
They all hung up on the wall stacked sideways on smooth hooks.
The shopkeeper looked up for a moment as he entered before continuing to talk to the customer in front of him.
“…all visitors get one free weapon! One free weapon one free complementary meal and one free nights stay at the Inn.”
“Why are you giving us weapons? What do you hope to gain from this? Who do you work for?” the customer asked.
“This is the tutorial village. We are…guides. Messengers who simply wish to help you transition into the new world. You don’t need a weapon but fighting monsters is a good way to earn achievements. I work for myself. I’m self-employed – you know the tutorial village has no king? We do have a mayor however, nice fellow. Has some nice questlines for anyone who stops by if you’re interested.”
James picked out a sharp looking sword and brought it up to the counter.
The shop keeper smiled at him for a moment as if waiting for him to ask a question about this specific sword.
“I’m taking this” James said holding the large sword up and jiggling it slightly to show what he was talking about.
“Good choice! The Zweihänder is a true two-handed sword perfect for swinging.”
...
James left the store after standing there silently for a moment longer.
I…think that went well?
He carried the sword one hand on the blade and one hand on the hilt all the way out of the town – cradling it like a baby carefully making sure not to stab anyone with it.
Once he reached the outer area James attempted to shift both hands to the hilt and lift it in front of him.
The sword was surprisingly heavy. Not enough that he couldn’t lift it, but enough that trying to move it about left the blade’s tip shaking and swaying slightly.
I guess I just swing it?
James pulled it above his head and attempted to swing downwards in a crushing blow.
The tip of the sword smashed into the turf and vibrated up his arms.
It felt awful.
But this was the first time James had held a sword so that was probably normal?
…James didn’t like how many people were watching him make a fool of himself by the entrance.
No one ‘seemed’ to be judging him, but he still wanted to find a more secluded area to practice.
Carefully extracting the blade from the dirt James turned to walk along the wall – traveling along the slight curve till just out of sight of the gate and those in front of it.
Ahead of him a boar snorted and pawed the ground aggressively.
The boar had bright glassy red eyes, but besides that fact looked incredibly “normal”.
Here goes nothing I guess?
James raised his sword high above his head and crept forward. A few meters before he reached the animal it turned and began running directly at him.
James timed himself, eyeing the distance and then swung down the moment the beast got close!
…the boar dodge to the side and ran past him.
Struggling to raise the sword once more, James tried to swing the wobbling blade harder – frustration welling up in him as it missed once more.
Why am I sucking so badly?
The boar turned in a grand arc thundering slightly as it curved around and came towards him once more. James held his blade out like a spear – hoping to stab the creature and use its momentum against it – but missed a final time, the boar slamming into his side hard.
The impact felt muted and strange – James felt himself falling on his back incredibly quickly its impact also muted. It was like getting punched by a boxer with pillows on their hands.
The boar had jumped up onto James’s chest and was staring down at him with two hate filled eyes. The dark red eyes contained more anger than James was expecting and a dribble of drool dropped down onto his chest.
Not knowing what else to do James found himself punching upwards – smashing one closed fist after another into the boar's snout spittle flying away with each thud.
After just a few short seconds of wild punches, the boar thrashed back – shaking its head as it gained distance with a series of growling snorts.
James stood, a faint twinge at his side completely ignored as he realized he was empty handed.
I chose a bad weapon. James was forced to admit to himself as he backed up as well giving space to the boar that was only now seeming to refocus on him.
James stepped to the side – narrowing his eyes at the boars identical movement.
The animal's surprisingly smart…and it hates me for some reason huh?
“For some reason. Hah, I guess I did sneak up with the intent to attack you first huh. Want to let me past now, little buddy?” James spoke as he slowly bent to the side and picked up his sword once more.
The boar roared a guttural sound that would feel more in place coming from a lion or similar beast then charged once again.
Annnnd now.
James swung, trying to time himself once again but frustration leaked into his wide arc.
He carved around as hard as he could and the sword actually slipped out of his fingers this time – it spun as it flew out and caused the beast to dodge in a wide turn before making its way around again.
Out of weapons and feeling overwhelmed James ran.
He couldn’t see any other options right now and was too stressed to think properly.
I’ll come back to collect the sword once I’ve thrown the boar off I guess?
James’s mind raced as he dodged the boar’s lunges – jumping to the side every time he heard his pursuer close in, then running in a different direction.
The boar was much, much faster than James, but comically worse at turning – his frantic zigzag of a sprint back to the gate let him escape mostly unmolested. The boar galloped around him in wide looping paths and his breath was heavy as he pushed himself to run.
Lunging forward the last few steps James slid past the leftmost guard and rolled to the side scrambling up inside the town – expecting the beast to be right behind him.
When nothing happened in the following seconds James slowly stepped out into the middle of the path and stared. The boar had chased him right to the gate and now stood as if held back by some invisible force. Just over a meter away from the gate the boar glared up at him hatefully.
Beady red eyes glared into James before with a pig like snort the boar turned and slowly walked back into the field – glancing back a few times as if making sure James was still standing in safety.
💨 Achievement get: The Swift Coward. (Rare)
Description: Outrun a creature faster than you after provoking it.
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Active Skill: Haste
Increase speed for 0-9s with a cooldown of 3x haste's activation.
🟦 Achievement get: Gain an affinity.
Description: Gained "Speed affinity"
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Stat: +1 mental stability
Passive skill: Skill Use
Knowledge on how to use your skill has been gained.
James stared at the achievement.
He reached out to touch it hesitantly – feeling the slight haptic tug of contact and flashing back to the contract in his room.
It's real.
Of course, it's real. I already knew it's real I can feel it. This is reality.
James had felt weird ever since waking up. He had been acting differently than normal. Feeling differently. Thinking slightly differently. A part of him hadn’t quite understood what was happening – a part of his brain dismissed everything and treated reality like it was a dream.
In this specific moment his finger brushing past a fading block of hardlight his situation finally started sinking in for good.
The block was convincing enough but the “knowledge” the system had just given him was what sealed the deal.
Knowledge suddenly appeared in James’s memory as if it had always been there.
He now knew how to activate his haste instinctually – he had always known how to activate ‘his haste’ instinctually.
It felt like he had used it all his life, he had hundreds of memories of using the skill seamlessly integrated into his mind…but no memories of when he had used it. He knew what it would feel like, despite knowing he had never used it before.
James stepped forward and activated [haste].
His steps 'rushed forward' and he found himself running faster than he had ever run before.
He deactivated haste.
It felt almost as if there was no point in practicing his skill – he already had the muscle memory of using it – but…the thrill of knowing he had an ability trumped anything else. He wanted to continue using it again and again.
The reward almost completely wiped his memory of the box that had given it to him – frankly it calling him a coward for strategically retreating pissed him off. He wasn’t afraid of dying. He…wasn’t young and hotheaded enough to be manipulated that easily.
I need to find out more about my situation. What exactly is this place? What is this world I’m in? First let’s retrieve that sword.
James waited a few minutes and then left – once more aiming along the wall. His fingers ran along the stone as he retraced his steps towards where he had dropped the massive blade.
Out of the corner of his eye he tracked what he was pretty sure was the same boar as before. It hadn’t noticed him yet and with any luck it wouldn’t notice him.
As if triggering a flag, as soon as James reached the sword the boar turned and noticed him.
Dammit.
Pawing the ground it bent back and then charged – barrelling towards James even as he scrambled to pick up his sword.
James activated haste as he reached down, his memory guiding his hand.
A flash of energy seemed to push out of his pores. A haze surrounded his skin in a moment and his arm lurched forward.
Grabbing the sword faster than he would have otherwise and then aiding his jump up once again [haste] smoothed things over. James turned with more grace than normal and [Haste] pulled him back towards the gate dragging his feet forward.
He ran and continued running past when haste deactivated – safely back at the gate.
His previous run from the boar had taken over 30 seconds of mad dashing.
This magic fueled sprint had taken just over 10.
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---Richard---
Richard stood cross armed inside a shop. None of the weapons seemed fun – and that was the most important part of picking a weapon.
"I want a shotgun. They always feel the best. One with a nice solid recoil and a satisfying 'chick chick' sound. Have one of those?"
"I...I am sorry Sir, the only weapons I have are what are on display. Perhaps one of my competitors has what you are looking for?"
"...doubt it. I'll take that hammer I guess."
"AH! Good choice, The Mirel is a fine warhammer. Great for smashing!"
"Yeah, sledge hammer going sledge. I'll figure something out". Richard took the sledgehammer and left – wandering about looking for something to do.
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---Maddy---
Maddy scanned the plain looking for the weakest tutorial “monster”. She hadn’t liked the idea of attacking animals unprovoked – she wasn’t a hunter and didn’t like the idea of causing pain but…
The animals did disappear when they were “killed” – vanishing a few moments after death. They had red eyes and were acting pretty aggressively.
Second guessing absolutely everything isn’t doing me any good. The evidence suggests they are indeed ‘monsters’….I might as well commit because I'm falling behind the head of the pack.
Rabbits spread in patches – spawning from burrows underground nearly as soon as one of them was killed. They seemed the smallest and weakest physically but were fast and incredibly agile – able to dodge most attacks. Good for training speed based people? Getting better reactions?
Further out wandering around there was the occasional deer – relatively strong, relatively fast. More importantly they stayed far away from people and stood still unless approached – good for ranged practice?
There was the occasional boar – strong and relatively fast in straight line dashes but with abysmal agility. Good for dodging and glancing attacks? Learning how to wear something down slowly?
Very rarely there were turtles that…seemed to just sit there waiting to attack and ineffectually biting at anything that got close – sitting target good for damage scaling? Good for crushing attacks?
I think that’s everything? Can-
Maddy noticed a glint in the grass. Stepping forward she picked up a bunched and broken snake skin and finished her review. Okay so there also exists some hidden snakes and potentially more hidden creatures I haven’t found yet. Probably to train perception or tracking skills? Right now I need something that’s easy to hit and there’s one thing that matches.
Looking around and making sure not to get in anyone’s way, Maddison picked a turtle and hiked over to it.
Holding the scythe by her side she awkwardly swung it a few times – knuckles turning white as she gripped the wooden handle tightly.
Stepping forward and bringing her arms back she nodded her head slightly before swinging forward at the stationary target.
“Sorry about this” she whispered and then twisted, her blade swept around and smashed off the shell.
With a scraping screech, her blade’s edge slid overtop of the shell causing rough vibrations to travel up her arms. A screech first from the contact on the shell and then from the mouth of the turtle.
The ‘monster’ really was ‘screeching’ – an unearthly nails on a chalkboard level of shrill anger.
The sound made it easier to solidify the creature as unnatural and worthy of attacking – Maddy pulled back again shifting her arms slightly before swinging a second time.
And again. I’ll figure this out.
Maddy did not know how to use a weapon…and a scythe wasn’t a typical weapon. It wasn’t even classically a weapon – it was a farming implement used only in battles by peasants who couldn’t afford a real weapon.
She swung again.
Maddy had never killed something before. She had never gone hunting, never had any interest in death. She had zero bloodlust and actively disliked the idea of harming an animal.
She shifted and swung.
A new skittering shriek rang out from the mouth of the monster, like something between a hoard of insects and a car being shoved through a trash compactor.
A chip came off the shell like a badly cracked egg exposing yellow pink organs.
The organs pumped enthusiastically in front of her – surprisingly lacking in blood and pumping about more than something standing still should.
Maddy started to realize something was off – not with the monster, it was more and more obviously not a natural creature, but with herself.
She moved her scythe back aiming the tip awkwardly towards the exposed area and stabbed again and again dissociating completely in these final hacks.
The point of the curved blade slid in and out of the fleshy hole and twisted violently as it attempted to do the most damage… but Maddy was barely paying attention. She tried to center herself.
Why do I feel like I’m in a dream? I can feel the grains of wood in my hand. I can feel myself wandering about.
Why doesn’t this feel real?
⚰️ Achievement get: Scythe wielding. (unique)
Description: Killed a monster using an uncommon weapon before anyone else.
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Stat: +3 Arm strength.
Stat: +3 Arm speed.
Stat: +3 Core stability.
Passive skill: Scythe Use
Knowledge of how to swing a scythe.
☠️ Achievement get: First kill.
Description: Destroyed a monster for the first time.
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Stat: +5 mental defense.
Accompanying the two messages Maddy felt the last of her mental fuzziness leaving her. She stood above the corpse of the turtle – painfully aware of how badly she had been using her scythe up till now.
It was a hard tool to use right. Not hard to learn, but with more skill than simply swinging it and hoping for the best. A proper swing was less about strength and more about a gentle but firm rotation originating from your body's core.
Maddy shifted her body slightly and swung again, trimming the tops of the grass even as the monster disappeared from below her.
Logic dictated she should immediately go and test her more effective knowledge on a new turtle but…
This wasn’t Maddy. None of this was her – oh the analysis was the same but not the way she went about it.
Madison Graves was not actually a creature of logic despite her love of optimizing and list-creating hobby.
What she had done in the past hour was not her normal knee jerk reaction to being put in a strange situation and that disturbed her.
…and what’s with this knowledge I’ve just been given. I have memories of using a scythe before.
It's in my mind.
The system is messing about with my memories…is it also messing about with my thoughts? I feel more calm than that should have made me, is that because of the mental defense? Can I trust my own thoughts? The fact that I’m able to question them makes me think I can... but I have no clue how accurate that is.
Maddy needed more information. She needed to better understand what exactly had happened to her, why she was here. Why she had just acted the way she had.
Slapping her face – noting how dull the sting felt, more evidence she was being messed with – Maddy turned and headed back to the town feeling more and more herself as she walked.
She nearly made it back to the gate before something made her shift her eyes slightly. A young man with hawk like eyes was standing off to the side staring straight at her.
Glancing at his posture the way he held his bow, the twitch in his cheek as soon as he noticed she had noticed him…Maddy smiled and walked over.
“Hey there! I’m Maddy. What are your thoughts on the monsters? Have you made your way out and about yet?” She projected her voice towards him confidently as she strode closer and stopped just out of reach.
“-Do I know you?” The man asked ignoring her question and instead tilting his head slightly. “D…did we go to school together?”
Maddison’s mind raced through her memory – shifting his face through highschool then grade school and coming up blank. Even as she tried to reorient herself, her mouth continued speaking. Naturally filling in the space with empty noise. “We might have, what’s your name?”
“Troy” The man responded continuing to tilt his head.
The most generic of names. Think I remember three Troy’s in grade 12 and not a single one looked like this…
“I’m sorry, it doesn’t ring a bell–”
“I’m not sure what to think about our situation” Troy cut her off.
“…I’m planning on going to ask some of the villagers for more information. Want to join me?” Maddy waited for a beat before continuing.
“Sure” Troy answered.
Maddy turned and moved past Troy – coming closer to him before heading towards the town making sure to flick her hair once on the way.
Stop it. Stop it stop it stop it.
I’m not.
Going.
To do that.