When Locke was transported his vision was overcome with an artistic marvel. The next thing he noticed he was currently seated on a pew. His best guess was that this was the inside of a cathedral's nave or seating area. It was an extremely wide open space with the roof being almost forty feet in height. Large pillars covered with religious mural art supported the roof in several key locations throughout the room. Several balconies overlooked the nave all facing the altar at the backside of the room.

Stained glass windows surrounded the outside walls. It was beautiful but something was off. The only people in this room were the five other players seated at pews throughout the room. They all seemed to have similar looks of awe, suggesting they too had just arrived. Locke thought it was strange that there were there no NPC priests or clerics around. Locke stood up and seemingly on cue, one of the other male players stood up abruptly and marched over to his position with purpose in his stride.

“Yo, person who just ported in. Why are you alone, your party members should have shown up by now.”

Taken aback Locke turned his head to see if it was directed to someone else. Realizing the player was firmly glaring at him, his eyes narrowed. Responding, in an equally firm tone Locke quipped. “Are you talking to me? If so, that is none of your business.”

Scoffing, the male player replied, “You being serious right now? What kind of lunatic kills their party inside the tutorial? ...somehow I will make sure you regret that.”

Locke wasn't visibly angry when he calmly replied, “Who the fuck are you? Some righteous asshole that jumps to conclusions before knowing the full story. Also look above someones head before you accuse them.”

“What? What's above your head?”, the male player’s voice falling a bit flat.

“My name. You might have noticed that it is blue; not red. If I had killed my party I would have been branded a criminal by the system.”

Fidgeting, the male player stammered. “....oh...oh shit I am… I am... so sorry! I just saw you completely covered in blood, unharmed, and… well... that… that giant sword.” The man was clearly flustered in his reply.

I don't exactly know if what I said is true… oh well it doesn't really matter… but now that he mentions it, I AM extremely filthy. I should probably rent an inn sooner rather than later. Not much good will come out of looking like this.

Locke hadn't exactly made any attempt to clean himself throughout the entire tutorial. The initial learning area most likely didn't have the users accumulate filth but that went away the moment he stepped into the dungeon.

“It's fine....I am not really bothered by it. My names Locke.”

In truth, this did actually bother Locke. Being accused of something he didn't do was a bit infuriating and it reminded him of the past. However, there was no point in making it a bigger scene than it already was. The man’s nearby party members were already showing faces of clear embarrassment from Locke’s vantage point.

“Sorry Locke let's start over, My name is Henryy,” He extended his arm out for a shake.

Locke just looked at the hand and then to his only arm carrying a gigantic sword. There was a momentary thought that he should really have stored this weapon inside his inventory. The original idea was to keep it equipped to get more used to the weight of the weapon. It wouldn't really matter if he got his arm back, but he still wasn't sure how easy that was.

“I'm SORRY! I can't believe I just did that,” Henry was getting more and more frantic until a party member intervened.

“Look Henry is a bit of an idiot, please forgive him. He means well trust me,” She sighed. “This game is really brutal though, I can't believe it left you with one arm starting the game.”

“What do you mean? I lost my left arm inside the dungeon?”

“Seriously! you can lose your limbs in this game! What the hell is that!” Henry yelled.

The entire party had surprised looks on their faces. I guess he couldn't blame them though, there was no mention of this inside or outside of the game that he knew about. Locke figured there were most likely forum posts about it that he must have missed. There was another reason this was surprising, other games never had this penalty at all. This was something that players will have to get used to if they continue playing the game. The group got some introductions out of the way and had a lengthy chat about the game.

Now that Locke got to know the party better he was quite fond of them. They were people who wanted to enjoy the game instead of playing to be competitive. Henry was a player that seemed to be one of those hero role playing types where he will fight injustice whenever he sees it. Locke was somewhat envious, because of his competitive and stubborn personality he wasn't able to sit back and enjoy the little things.

When playing Odyssey he always took the route that would push him towards the top. It didn't matter who he trampled on to do so. Looking back on it Locke couldn't exactly say he had fun most of the time. That is not to say that he wouldn't strive for the top in this game either, but he wanted to find another way to do so where he also had fun.

He regretted a lot of his previous actions. Backstabbing and sacrificing friends to push further ahead was one of them. Being in the top one thousand players was an achievement Locke thought he would be proud of; but it didn't matter when there was nobody to enjoy it with. There was hope for a fresh start with this game.

This time I will do it differently, there will be no sacrificing good people to get stronger. It will be hard to change my ways, but if I keep working at it I am sure to succeed. Not necessarily a hero, but someone people can count on.

The party stepped outside into the cathedral square with the ground paved with cobble stone and a fancy fountain in the center. There were two roads leading on the other side of the courtyard leading deeper into the city. It also looked like the city might be surrounding by walls, at least from the parts he could see from here. The only thing that stood out was the lack of people, only four people other than them were inside the courtyard. The four men started to walk towards them with purpose.

“Alright folks hold it right there, before you go running off we're here to set the ground rules.”

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

Locke assessed the group of men; their names were blue but they were certainly giving off an oppressive and hostile atmosphere.

I don't like where this is going.

“This city is owned by us, The Shifting Coin. Any newcomers need to contribute to the city's coffers before they can step foot in it. Hand over all the gold and any valuables received from the tutorial. If you don't....well we got your names, and you won't like what will happen to you later.”

As I thought, The Shifting Coin. They are the Clan with the largest amount of members in this city and are known for their nefarious ways.

Henry walked forward and confidently shouted. “Why should we do that at all? You can't kill us in this city. It's a safe zone!”

The man laughed “Like I said we have your names, our Clan will kill you outside of the safe zone anytime we see you. Then, you'll eventually have to do deal with the death penalty. Trust me, our members are quite good at it.” He winked as the ruffians laughed and snickered.

Henry shrunk nervously, his confidence was gone but he was visibly angry.

Already getting shaken down. There were several complaints about The Shifting Coin on the forums but none of them mentioned about being mugged at the starter cathedral. Did I miss the post? I didn't exactly look too much into it. Frankly there are idiots like these in every game. Maybe this is a new scam they've cooked up and people haven't posted about it much. What are the other clans doing? Do they not care? What about the guards, is this extortion not breaking any laws? Now that I think of it where ARE the guards?

Looking around Locke noticed there were no civilians or guards in sight. Locke finally understood their plan, killing people did not drop loot or provide any experience. Nothing stops them from forcing the other players to hand over their valuables like this if the guards didn't intervene.

One of the members of Henry’s party shuffled quickly to him. It appeared she was attempting to calm him down. Some reassuring rubs on his back and gentle eyes seemed to be doing the trick. They were both still in earshot of Locke.

“It's just gold Henry. We can always earn more. If what he says is true then being headstrong here could amount to hardships later, right? We joined this game to have fun… please, let's not get tangled up in this mess, yeah?”

Henry seemed flustered. Torn between rage and the comforting conversation. “B… But.. Melissa, what if they can't back up what they say?! Then we're paying for nothing! A… Also what if they go back on their word? I don’t trust it... WE can't trust them.”

Without skipping a beat, Melissa responded. “Please Henry. Please. Just this once. Don't let your anger get the best of you. Let’s just go along with it and avoid any trouble, fair?”

Henry paused for a few moments with a conflicted expression. “Alright fine we will pa....”

“Who is the person running the show here? Is it you?” Locke had enough of this nonsense. Stepping swiftly up to the man who had barked out the so-called “ground rules”.

“Yeah, that would be me. You looking to start something?” The man's expression seemed to momentarily flash a look of surprise and fear, which he quickly suppressed – clearly his voice and sneering at Locke with feigned confidence.

Damn am I really that scary looking right now? wait never mind that. Shouldn't I just leave here and not give a shit about this. There is nothing they can do to prevent me from leaving, they are just here to threaten people into paying. But.......

“So let me get this straight, you think your shitty clan will be able to deal with me? I don't buy it.”

One of the thieves adjusted nervously, leaned forward and whispered in the leaders ear. “uh... sir maybe we shouldn't provoke this one.”

Loud enough for Locke to hear the Leader whispered back, “Sack up son. He won't kill us in this safe zone for the same reason we won't kill him. Our senior members, however? Well, they’ll handle this wise ass no problem if he doesn't agree.”

The leader turned firmly towards Locke and shouted with intention for the entire Cathedral to take note. It was time to make an example. “Look asshole, are you paying up or not!? Trust me you won't like what happens to you.”

Locke looked towards Henry's party and continued to struggle internally on what to do.

“Are you listening to me you one-armed freak? Yeah, you – the cripple!? I'm talking to you sunshine. GIVE. US. YOUR. SHIT!”

Locke closed his eyes, gritted his teeth and sighed, “I will have you take a message to your clan leader.”

“Wait what?.....what messe”

The leader couldn't finish his sentence as Locke whipped his greatsword around at incredible speed. The sound of the man's skull against the cathedral stone was like a dropped coconut. As the brain matter began to leak against the stone the entire courtyard went completely silent.

That message should be loud and clear.

“Sorry Henry, I hope you don't mind me picking up the tab.”

Henry's party could not believe their eyes. They just blankly stared at the situation. Melissa and Henry exchanged wide-eyed glances. 70 Strength and 55 Agility wasn't something the average player could deal with right now, and these guys were just low level goons. Honestly, the leader probably didn't even know what killed him

The group of thieves were attempting to flee the scene in a wild panic. Locke didn't stop his assault and quickly pursued them but just before finishing off the second one he was interrupted. An NPC guard out of nowhere blocked his swing and effortlessly tossed him backwards five feet.

“Criminal halt your advance now! How dare you kill someone within the city limits!” The guard yelled.

Locke complied of course, he knew there was a risk of this happening and wasn't planning on attacking the guards if they showed up. Just because he couldn't see the guards didn't mean they were not watching from the shadows. The thieves realizing their asses had just been saved stopped to investigate the scene. Based on their shit-eating grins he could just imagine their thoughts saying, “What did you think was going to happen idiot.”

Damn.....I was hoping to scare them away, they are just going to rob those five anyways when this guard arrests me. Was my efforts all in vein? Why should those five have to deal with these type of people right after they left the tutorial. This is bullshit.

“Everyone but this man needs to leave this place, or join him in his sentence!”

Wait what did he just say?

The thieves seemed unwilling to do so at first but had no other choice when more guards arrived at the scene. Their grins quickly evaporated. Hastily, both groups were being escorted by guards in separate directions.

Henry was currently arguing with the guards stating Locke was just protecting them, but it seemed like they were not having any of it. Eventually he got fed up and called out to Locke.

“Hey Locke! That was AWESOME! We will figure out a way to help you! don't do anything stupid until then!”

Locke turned back to Henry “Don't worry about me, I read that the first offense of this nature is only a week of jail time. This won't set me back, I'll be fine.”

The rest of the group were ushered out until eventually everyone but Locke and the single guard remained on scene.

The guard continued to keep his distance. “Disarm yourself criminal, or I will be forced to relieve you of your weapon.”

Without hesitation Locke stored all of his weapons inside the system inventory. The Guard then approached cautiously and reached out toward Locke. Reluctantly, Locke allowed it to happen. The guard placed his hand on Locke’s chest. An unpleasant, rippling feeling seemed to cascade around his body.. He noticed a negative status effect was now applied to him. Based on the information it locked him out of his inventory for an unspecified duration.

“Good. Now, don't do anything stupid. You can’t run from me criminal and doing so would extend your sentence. Come quietly and peacefully.”

Locke gritted his teeth once again, but quietly followed the guard through town without resistance.

The penalty might be rough, but he believed it wouldn't set him back too far. The punishment system had to take into account that this was a game. Even if players committed crimes they couldn't be locked up for too long. The potential backlash from the community for not warning them in advance would be catastrophic.

Ultimately, Locke achieved what he set out to do. He knew his “message” would get to their leader and they would think twice about crossing him in the future. He couldn’t help a wry grin himself as he thought about the goons dispersing in panic. The guard gave him a forceful shove and his grin disappeared. His fist clenched. The Shifting Coin will most likely not let this go, but unluckily for them neither would he.