Chapter 1

The very casual ?! start

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Craig had just returned back to his apartment complex in the vicinity of his university. 2 weeks still remained from his summer break before the actual lectures would begin a new. In past times he would have spent every possible minute with his family on such occasions but things just got akward 2 years ago while he was in his last year of high school.

While those thoughts surfaced he shook his head heavily to dispell the thoughts and entered his own 2 rooms kitchen and bath apartment. Neatly and orderly he put away the insides of his travel bag and continiued on to the sofa that stood in his living room.

He circled his stiff shoulders from the long flight and turned on his tv. While zapping through the channels he saw mostly useless things but once he hit the classic cartoon channels he halted and watched a brown mouse and a black cat chasing eachother around.

He laughed slightly but soon zapped through the channels again to find a news channel. Not that many 20 year olds would have actual interest in the news but due to his upbringing he held a firm grasp of political conflicts or military mobilization.

" ...This concludes the enviormental report on the wrong doings of Europe in the early 21st century ... " The channel ' anchorwomen' said before continiuing to the next topic. " Now as many of the viewers highly anticipated this certain section let me explain a bit beforehand... "

Craig got bored of this and went into the kitchen while using the tv as statical noise. As he started the preparations for his early noon meal a certain word caught his interest again and he rushed towards the tv.

" ... In less then 72 hours the first Virtual reality game will be opened for the public. There have been test on this game for as long as 3 years and it has been in development for over 15 years but now finally the whole ' gaming communitys ' eyes turn towards this new title."

" The new Beginning. Or TnB as the community calls it revolutionizes the old and generic systems of MMoRPG and combines them with the real life feal that shuns the community to actually call it a game. They prefer to call it a > New World < or the new Beginning. Now here are some hard facts. ..... "

During this part Craig had already rushed out of the living room back into his bedroom to grab his cellphone. He almost destroyed the wall plug he was charging it on currently as he dialed a number.

" Hey mum , its me ... " He started but soon got interrupted by the person on the other side.

" Ahh , Craig , how was your flight? I can't believe the first thing you would do was to call back home ... you are such a good child . ..." His mother said.

Craig smiled wryly before he stopped his mothers antics.

" Okay mom , now listen though. You have access to TnB's administrative operations , right? " He asked.

" Sure as the head of that department , don't tell me you want one of the systems? My sweet little craig i can get in trouble for that... big trouble you know. And what would you want with it anyway you aren't really the gamer type anyways. " His mother tried to understand the reason behind his odd behaviour.

It took him quite some time to formulate a answer his mother would please , since she would always , even in his child hood , incquire about his reasonings and if he could persuade her here he would get a system.

" Hmmm ... If i had to say , it would be to broden my horizon. There have been alot of things i did so far in my live and nothing has caught my interest enough to let me stick with it for an unlimited amount of time. I thought since this ' new world ' was praised highly it could give me a sense of satisfaction my other hobbys couldn't? " He tried to reason.

It may have been part of the reason he wanted this system but only he knew that it was for a other way more dispicable reason.

" That last part sounded awfully like a question , dear. But be as it may , i can get you a capsule for personal usage. But normally you would have to wait atleast 4 months since this is how long the ordering list is. But for my sweet little boy i can get it too you in about a weeks time. " She told him with pride in her voice.

Craig grinned and told his mother that she loved him before hanging up.

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Since craig literally had to much free-time besides his casual workout and soccer games with his friends from time to time he read up everything he could about > TnB < he could.

Naturally there was not alot to find and he read about it on a particular site called > The Dark gamers . org < that every information is valuable , to get a head start on the rest of the players was the most common tactic used by professional gamers.

This left him with few choices and he thought about his time in high-school. Not the horrible third year but the time where he had the most fun of his life.

He was stuck with his childhood friend at that time. Literally stuck they wouldn't go anywhere without eachother , always cause some ruckus or simply enjoy their life. She would always talk about all the games she played and even bolster about all of her achievements in them while he was more of the out door type.

They shared everything. Their parents joked about them all the time how one day the would get married. Naturally both got a little emberassed at that point but Lisa , Craigs childhood friend , believed this and hoped for it unlike the totally oblivious Craig.

Soon came craigs first girlfriend since he was the most popular guy in school and Lisa couldn't stop crying about it. Then Lisa got a boyfriend even though she lacked the curves many of her adverseries in school had.

This didn't break their friendship but only strengthened it since both of them were there for eachother when something turned for the worse with their respective counter parts.

But what he had to think about the most was how much he missed Lisa and how she always talked about the hardest rpg game ever to be made during their time in their freshman year in high school.

It took Craig some time to recall the name of the game but soon he typed it in his laptop. He found various strategys explicitly talking about starts of new rpg games. From this point on he started to study up on games to the best of his abilitys before the game system would arrive at his home.

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Soon the week was over and Craig was excited about venturing into virtual reality itself. He studied up to his best abilitys and even watched a few people taking their first step in virtual reality.

So far he learned that the time went by 4 times as fast in virtual reality then in the real world. He also found interesting articles of the pain that is relieved in game would be reduced to 10% of the actual pain but this amount could change as one would venture deeper into the continents of the virtual reality world of TnB.

He was quite disgruntled though at the 4 week period he had to wait in a town for beginners before the actual adventuring part would kick in. There were also thousand of classes and professions numerous trading companys and manufacturing companys and other things that made one think of the limitless possibilitys this game held.

The workers finished the installation of the system and Craig signed some paperwork and now he was left all alone with this weird egg shaped device. He clicked a button on its surface and a hatch opened.

Inside was a cushion that resembled a chair and a few switches. From what the workers told him he just had to sit inside and activate the start up procedure.

Craig had showered and was wearing comfortable clothes at the moment so he quickly went inside. As soon as he was settled comfortably the hatch closed automatically and a sound of a computer starting up could be heard. He pressed the proper switches and lost concsiousness.

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As soon as i opened my eyes a feeling of weightlessness assaulted me while a mirade of colors flashed before my eyes. But as suddendly as it appeared it stopped and a white warm light engulfed me.

" Welcome to the > New beginning < " A female voice resounded from everywhere and no where at the same time.

" The scan of your retina and cerebral cortex has decleared you a new player , would you like to register for the > New beginning< ? "

" Yes. " I replied.

" Please select your Name. " She told me.

" Random. " I told her.

Since i had no experince with names or games overall i decided they should just generate one for me.

" Generating name out of the letters in your name. " A mechanical voice resounded that clearly wasn't the voice of the female from before.

- Craig Austin Miller

appeared ontop of a list with 20 different choices.

I just tapped one with my fingers since i really had no interest in my name.

" There are currently 5 unlocked races , Humans , Dwarves , Elvs , Draconians and Orks. " The female voice told me.

" Can i have a explanation ? " I asked with a weak voice.

" Certainly. "

5 Little bubbles appeared in my vision and as i tapped one of them it came closer to my face and i could read it properly.

-

Humans , born with neutrality this race can call its versatility its virtue. Experienced in all , Master of none was once a saying other races had of this race but after most champions of the gods came from this race those voices suddendly quieted.

Gains +2 Points in an attribute of your choice at the beggining.

No restriction on classes , professions and skills.

After i read through this i clicked the next one.

-

Dwarves , born with goodness this race is born and lives underground. They love their ale and good meat and exel in the crafting arts. Their small height and beards are a trademark for this race. They are also great fighters due to their increased vitality as few champions heralded from this race. With all the time spent underground their brains have become narrow minded.

Gains + 4 points in Vitality and - 2 in Wisdom

Some restriction on caster classes and skills / no restrictions on professions

-

Elves , born with goodness this race lives in the woods and upholds the balance of nature. Some say they are vegetarians but they do hunt but they know the value of life and are one with nature. Their light frame makes them nimble but decreases their constitution.

Gains + 4 in Dexterity - 2 in Vitatlity

Some restrictions on fighter classes , skills and professions.

-

Draconians , born with evilness this race heralds from corrupted Dragon eggs and closely resembles Lizard men , but due to their dragon ancestry some of them have special abilitys. Due to the Dragons influence on them they are smarter then the rest of the races but their unbalanced physic make them weaker.

Gains +4 Intelligence -2 Strength

Some restrictions of fighter classes , skills and professions

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

-

Orks , born with evilness this race doesn't know anything then how to wage war. There armors and weapons are crude and their demanor rough but one shouldn't underestimate their cunning side. Their enormeous bulk grants then in-human strength but due to this fact they are slower.

Gains +4 Strength - 2 Dexterity

Some restriction on Thief/Ranger classes , skills and professions

It took me quite a few minutes to decide but my mind was made up.

" Elf. " I said out loud.

" Confirmed race: Elf. Apperance selection , do you wish to generate your apperance randomly or use yourself as a base? "

" Use myself as a base. "

" Confirmed , Character creation complete. Starting up license agreements and disclaimer notices. " The machine like voice returned.

Now long texts kept coming informing me of the game play.

10 % of the pain that characters receives , is felt by the players . Dying from hunger caused 40% realistic pain. Mental fatigue ... Muscle pain ... and so on and so on . I was informed through this text that everything has its consequence but none of this would remain beyond my virtual character.

The text disappeared and a mechanical voice resounded for the last time.

" Welcome to your > New beginning< , Grim . " The voice told me while another feeling of weightlessness assaulted me.

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Feeling a cold chill around my back i heard some weird noises and opened my eyes. There was a female drenched in sweat and with a fresh line of tears running down her cheecks staring at me. The odd thing was the blood i occasionally saw when my position was changed.

Now that women held me even tighter and put me on her shoulder. There i discovered that my hands were small and stubby and covered with something that looked like slime. Just turning my head took some effort but after doing this i discovered the long and pointy ears of this female.

Now he whole process speed up and i could only see fractions of what was happening. Before i felt myself inside of a small baby that was just born but now i looked at this babys doings from above.

Me / He was fed by his mother. Next i played with some toys and my ' father ' was laughing hearthily. The process speed up again but soon slowed down. Out in the woods my ' mother' was carrying me while she hummed a tune and i snuggled up to her chest.

Again the pictures increased in speed but soon something changed. The mood became darker and darker. Everytime someone would visit the house i or he lived in , my mother hid me inside of a closet.

As the boy got used to the routine he hid himself inside of a closet again as visitors came. But as i just exited the closet the ' guests ' came back. There were alot of shouts and my ' mother' tried to protect me from the 2 men that grabbed at me.

With a precise strike my ' mother ' was unconscious and the men lifted me up and carried me away and a feeling inside of my guts told me i would never see this house or the people i could call ' mother' or ' father' again.

All around me it became dark. I couldn't say if it was for 10 minutes or 10 hours but it seemed never ending. A feeling of weightlessness assaulted me once again as the mirade of colors assaulted my eyes.

Involunterarily i closed my eyes shut since the colors of this ' tunnel ' were to bright and from one second to the next it switched from a dark red to a bright yellow back to a green. I had quite a headache but i could deal with it since my surroundings normalized itself and i heard birds chirping in the distance.

Carefully i opened my eyes and a spectacular scene unfolded in-front of me. Trees crafted into houses with leaves as the roof and the bark as the walls were perfectly aligned along a road that was made from white marble peebles.

Everywhere around birds sat on those houses and were unconcerned with the pointy eared figures doing their daily buisness just meteres away from them.

" Wow ... " I let out.

I just walked towards a pedestal like stand that had a bowl at it's tip. Numerous birds where enjoying a cool and refreshing bath while i walked up to them. A few of them viewed me but directly resumed their ' entertainment' without any suspicion.

Spinning on the spot i took in every little detail that made up this ' town' , in the fantasy world that i became part of. While i thought this i realized that this was a game and looked at my own hands.

They still were quite feminine , with long and slender fingers. Now i leaned over the bird bath and watched my reflection in the water.

A high bridged nose with full lips greeted me as well as high cheeck bones. Bright almost gleaming light blue eyes like a piece of ice stared back at me. The skin tone leaned on the tanned side but was still fair compared to other people i knew. Hair reaching down to the shoulder blades with brown underneath and blond/ golden on top half covering long and pointy ears.

" Well besides the pointy ears it's the same. " I exclaimed at the details my own face displayed in the water.

Besides the bird bath was a wooden stand with a map attached to it. Numerous buildings were highlighted ranging from Training center to library or even the markets.

Naturally i read a bit about ' strategys ' how to gain levels faster or to efficently use the time i had to spend in the starting city. Players were prohibited to leave the starting towns for 4 weeks in game but they could do various tasks.

Most decided to go for the training centers and learn the basics of swordsmanship or archery , since this game was about hunting and gaining levels after all. The minority decided to study in a library and raise their intelligence and wisdom to go for the path of mages. There was also the path of cleric where one needed to do the odd jobs for the church but also not alot of people tried this.

Carefully examining the map i headed towards the training center. But along the way i got side tracked at all the ' other worldly ' structures and wonderes there where to explore.

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After 10 hours with the last remaining sunlight i was still occupied looking at all the other wordly impressions there were to see. As the sunlight dimmed and the moon rose lamps started to shine along the marble path. At first i wondered how they worked since no electrical line connected them , but soon i reminded myself that this world had magic.

The trees also had odd shaped leafs that i had never seen before so i stepped closer to a big tree that seemed like a oak and examined it up close. After comparing them with any real life experience i had of trees i was suprised to find similaritys but it was still a complete different kind.

" Nyaaaa ... " I heard a feeble voice as i was about to head into another direction.

I scanned the area but couldn't find its source directly until i viewed the tree again. There in the branches at the top i found a little kitten not older then 2 months. Without even thinking about it i climbed the tree and focused on getting to the little cat.

Testing every branch if it could hold my weight i made progress slowly but i was half way up to the kitten after a minute. Some new branches scratched my face or i grabbed a twig that left wounds in my hand.

Naturally it hurt but i was fixated on the task and forgot about my surroundings completly. I noticed some voices down at the base of the tree but my tunnel vision had kicked in and i couldn't understand what they were saying.

My strength was leaving me but i had reached the tree branch that was locateted right underneath the one the kitten was holding onto. Now came the hard part.

" Come her kitty kitty kitty. " I tried to entice the kitten.

It was struggling to hold on to the thick branch and to me it seemed it was locked in place out of fear. So i shifted my weight and kicked off the branch i was standing on.

Barely i reached the kitten and at my strange behaviour it loosend its claws from the bark so i could snatch it from there. Gravity was affecting my body again as i started to decend into nothingness.

' Oh crap ... ' i thought while holding the kitten with one hand and saw nothing beneath me.

Folding my body together a bit i steared of the fast way down and kicked of a branch that i was barely able to reach. This propelled me forward and i was able to reach the next branch. Continuing this i quickly decended but about 5 meteres from the ground the branches stopped and i just flew to the ground.

I turned my back towards the earth and held the kitten up into the air. With a loud ' THUMP ' i hit the ground. All air left my lungs but i checked on the kitten that was happily purring in my hands.

- Due to the height of the fall you lost 35% health

- Vitality increased by 1

- Strength increased by 1

- Dexterity increased by 2

' Wow that was kind of easy ' i thought.

" Quite reckless , lad. " A hand was extended towards me.

I took it with the other hand that was not holding the kitten. With quite some force my body went back into a standing position and now i had an elf in-front of me.

He had darker skin and long silverish hair combined with piercing emerald eyes. He even dusted me of while i just stared blankly towards him. With a cough he brought back my attention and now i noticed how rude this behaviour was so i quickly looked away.

" Go back home little kitty , and stay away from big trees. " I told the kitty as i let it down and it started to run of.

" Excuse me for my rude behaviour , sir. My name is Grim and im a chosen one. " I told the elf.

After i had stared at him for quite some time i noticed he had to be a npc , since he was clad in clothes that seemed quite expensive and figured no player could have this yet.

" I am Andulas , and it is quite refreshing to meet a well mannered chosen one. " He said with a smile on his face.

" Sir what do you mean by that? "

" I had the ... pleasure ... to meet quite a few of the chosen ones today at my workplace. A rude bunch didn't introduce them selves and just ignored everyone around them. "

There was a bit of sadness in his eyes but as soon as it appeared it also disappeared.

" I am very sorry that they are so rude , sir. "

" Andulas is fine , boy. " He told me with another smile.

" But tell me boy , why did you save that cat? You clearly weren't its owner and you even shielded it from the fall. "

I thought about this for a few seconds before i answered.

" Well , if i had to make an honest answer i couldn't say. Just because i wanted to , i guess? " I told him my thoughts.

" You are indeed a interesting one , boy. "

This conversation made me quite uncomfortable.

" But Andulas , even though you are calling me boy we look to be the same age. If it isn't to presompetous of me how old are you? " I asked.

Now a smile surfaced around the elfs lips that soon illuminated his whole face.

" I will be around 250 years of age after the next winter. But boy , i wish to tell you a story about the elfen race. Be here tomorrow morning and i will find you. " He told me and disappeared.