Warning: This chapter contains the p word. As in a reference to that part of the male anatomy of which the mention of sometimes makes people uncomfortable. Just thought I would give a heads up.
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After exiting the capsule Skylar looked around his room and sighed.
Back to reality again. He'd always liked fantasy. Often times he would spend a whole day reading a fantasy book all the way through. Losing himself in other worlds he always felt so much more alive, but no matter how good the fantasy was you always have to come back to reality in the end.
Heading down stairs he grabbed a TV dinner out of the freezer and stuck it in the microwave. His family didn't have meals together very often. Usually that was only for holidays. The rest of the time people ate whatever they felt like whenever they felt like it. Since he had started working part time at a restaurant he had started cooking for himself sometimes, but right now he didn't really feel like it.
Someone grabbed him from the back covering his eyes.
“Guess who.”
“Emma”
“Darn it, how did you guess?”
Turning around he looked at his little sister. She was a pretty 15 years old with good fashion, good grades and good people skills. Really it was too unfair. Although he was born before her he was convinced that somehow she had sucked up all the good genes. Otherwise it was hard to understand how the two of them could be related.
“One you're the only person that ever does that to me, and two it would be pretty weird if I couldn't recognize my only sister’s voice.”
She started pouting.
“You’re no fun at all.”
Smiling he ruffled her hair.
“Don't be like that.”
“Fine, but you have to let me use your capsule sometimes.”
“No way! I just got it.”
“You can't use it all the time.”
“No, but I certainly plan on using it most of the time.”
“Please, just when you not using it. I promise that I'll stop playing whenever you want it.”
He tensed up slightly in frustration.
She could just ask mom and dad to buy her one. She's the favorite. They would definitely buy it probably using her better grades as an excuse for the different treatment.
Letting out sigh he relaxed a second later.
Probably the reason she doesn't ask is because she knows I'd be upset, but really being upset doesn't make any sense. Sharing a capsule wasn't practical. They would both eventually find quests that they wouldn't want to take breaks from. If later on his sister asked for more time to complete a quests would he really say no?
No, the smart thing to do would be for him to ask his parents to buy his sister a capsule. He would reason with them that because of her better grades, and because she was too young to get a part time job. Besides if the arguments came from him they would be a lot easier for him to swallow. Not a particularly logical sentiment but true none the less, and there was a certain truth to it really. Good grades do matter. Why shouldn't she be rewarded?
Most importantly this way he'd be able to play as much as he wanted without having to say no to his cute little sister. Something that he didn't like to do.
“Ok, you can use it for now, but you should get mom and dad to get you a capsule of your own.”
“No way, that would be fair. You had to work hard to get yours.”
Looks like step one would be convincing his sister he thought before launched into his arguments.
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Skylar spent the first week in game doing quests, and talking to NPC. He didn't gain much real wealth or learn any special skills, but he had fun and became familiar with the town.
From what he had read on the Internet he know that it was on the small size for a starting city, but still he found it quite impressive. Searching around he noticed that there were a lot of shacks for some reason. There were also some stores including a Weapon shop, Armor shop and Adventurer shop. He browsed around the the stores until the proprietor got annoyed at him for not buying anything and kicked him out. There was an inn, tavern and a large dining hall filled with higher level adventures that didn't have time for the questions of a newbie player. There were a bunch of guild buildings although the town lacked any magic guilds and strangely there wasn't a sculptor guild. You would think that a town run by a sculptor would have a sculptor guild.
Well he didn't want to be a magic user or a sculptor anyway. He was leaning towards the warrior profession. That was the type of character that usually worked best for him in games.
The eighth day of game play saw him delivering some vegetables to the inns kitchen. Even though his the bag he started out with made things take up less volume and weight less he was still struggling under the load.
“Skylar my boy. Good to see you!” a voice called out to him.
Skylar looked up to see an old man dressed in tattered close. He was one of the many new NPCs immigrating to the area seeking to escape from monsters.
“Hey Grend. How's it going?”
“Good. Good. Although I am a bit hungry.” He said giving Skylar an imploring smile.
Skylar returned a wry grin. Then reached into his bag, grabbed a piece of bread and gave Grend half it.
“Thanks Skylar. I knew I could count on you!”
Skylar was always sharing food with him even though he never gave any quests or rewards, but he didn't really mind. Grend was always telling him stories of grand adventures from the history of the North.
“Skylar what do you know about necromancy?”
“Necromancy? I don't really know that much about it at all.”
“After what happened in the past necromancy became outlawed and reviled by everyone. Only recently have people begin to accept the practice again, but even now it isn’t well liked. Things weren't always like this. In the distant past there were necromancers who were respected and admired for their great deeds. Today I want to tell you a story about such a necromancer. His name was Nanic the necromancer of justice.”
“Justice?” He asked in surprise.
“Yes justice. Nanic fought to protect the weak, and to punish the wicked. His fame was great, and he was well loved by everyone. It was a shame how he met an untimely end at the hands of evil.”
“What happened to him?”
“One day an evil paladin, and his army of demons appeared. The paladin laid waste to all who opposed him, and enslaved the people of the lands he controlled. When Namic heard about the foul fiend he gathered his undead army of justice and set out to vanquish him. For month the two armies fought a fierce battle. Slowly Nanic pushed back the demon horde, and on the 60th day of the conflict he met with the paladin on the field of battle. The two fought fiercely. At first it seemed like they were evenly matched, but Namic was the first to tire leading to him receiving a fatal blow. With his chest pierced by the fiends dark blade Namic used the last of his strength to curse the paladin sealing him away for all time. The people were so touched by Namic noble sacrifice that they built a great monument to him on the field where he died.”
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“That's an amazing story.”
“It is isn't it. The world needs more heroes like Namic.”
“Well, I better go finish my delivery. See you latter Grend.”
“Goodbye Skylar. Always a pleasure talking to you.”
As he finished making his way to the inn Skylar thought about the story he had heard. The necromancer of justice. It was very interesting. The most interesting part was how unusually sympathetic Grend was towards necromancers which was a good indication that he was probably a necromancer himself. A necromancer telling a story about the history of necromancers. It seems like there might be a necromancy related quest tied up in this somehow, although Skylar had no idea what the trigger might be. It was something worth remembering at least.
When he got to the inn he went into the kitchen to make his delivery.
He approached the harried looking woman he knew to be Shanna the head chief.
“Oh Skylarm, you brought the vegetables. That's great, I've been needing those. Set them on the counter over there.”
After he set them down she approached him.
“I've heard from Maria that you’re hard working. How would you like a part time job at the Inn? We've been really busy here, and we need some more people to help. They pay isn't much, but all you meals are free.”
Honestly it didn't sound that appealing to him since he worked part time at a restaurant in real life, but by taking the job there was a chance he might get to learn the cooking skill. That was something that had interested him since he heard the skill gives buffs when used by players with high proficiency.
“I would love to work here.”
“Great, do you know how to wait tables?”
“I've had some experience.”
“Good, go see Serica in the dining hall. She'll be your manager.”
Finding Serica wasn't difficult. After he found her she brought him to the back and set him up with a uniform and notepad.
“Do you know how to use that thing?”
“Of course I know how to use a notepad.”
“You're new to the game aren't you? You need a skill for things like that. I'm a painter so I should be able to bestow it. That is if you are good enough to learn.”
The skill acquisition process was to simply draw an apple. Since he was a beginner and his Wisdom and Dexterity were low it was difficult for him to learn, but luckily he was good at drawing so he finally got it on his fifth try.
Despite your low Dexterity and Wisdom you were able to meet the conditions for skill acquisition thanks to your drawing ability and persistence.
Illustration skill have been acquired.
Painting skill have been acquired.
“Thank goodness. I was afraid I were going to have to send you back, and we really need the help.”
“Couldn't I just remember the orders?”
She gave him a look filled with skepticism.
Her skepticism was understandable. Remembering orders wasn't easy especially when you are unfamiliar with the menu. He'd gotten fairly good at it working part time at a restaurant in real life, but still he felt much more comfortable with a notepad.
She told him what he needed to know, assigned him some tables and let him get to it.
Navigating through the crowded dining hall he reached his first table.
“Finally a waiter. The service here is terrible.” grouched a burly warrior.
“You should be happy Grage. If the service is bad you don’t have to leave a tip, and we all know how much you hate tipping.” A pretty young mage said jokingly. Probably trying to lighten the mood.
The warrior scowled.
“There's no reason to tip a NPC anyway.”
I guess he must think no player would be willing to be a waiter. Well whatever. Let him think what he wants.
“Welcome, my name is Skylar.”
“Cut the small talk. I want a fruit drink and a steak rare.”
“Ok”
Notepadobnoxious
Beginner Illustration skill increase by 1%.
Amazing, even writing is censored by the system. I wonder what the system would do if someone tried to forge a weapon shaped like a giant penis.
“And for you miss?”
“I'll also have fruit drink and a burger without tomato.
NotepadPretty girl funny red hat fruit drink & HB NO T
Beginner Illustration skill increase by 1%.
“And for you sir?”
“I'll have a beer and three pieces of cherry cake.”
It looks like someone’s taking advantage of the ability the eat whatever you want in virtual reality without getting fat.
NotepadPriest with mole on chine 3 SL cherry cake.
Beginner Illustration skill increase by 1%.
“I'll be right back with your drinks.”
He had been a bit nervous at first about getting a job in the game, but this wasn't really much different from real life. Walking back to the kitchen he was feeling pretty good about the whole thing.