Chapter 1

Connect to Royal Road

Yes | No

“Yes”

Willow is then greeted by a female voice.

“The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account?

“Yes.”

“Select the name of your avatar.”

“Willow” She didn’t put much thought behind the name and thought it would be awkward to be called something different.

“Select your gender from male, female or neutral.”

“Female”

“Royal Road has forty-nine races. You may select your race from the primary twenty-nine.”

“Human.”

“You may alter your appearance if you wish.”

“The way I am is fine.”

“Your account has been activated. Your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Royal Road­”

“Select a city and kingdom you want to start in.”

“Anywhere is fine.” Not knowing much about Royal Road Willow decides to go with whatever the game chooses.”

“The Citadel of Serabourg, Rosenheim Kingdom will be your starting area.”

“Welcome to Royal­ Road.”

A flash of white, followed by the sight of the blue sky.The chatter of a busy market could be heard. Looking around Willow suddenly becomes disorientated and began to stumble. Locking her knees, keeping her legs straight she regains some of her balance. Ahead of her is a large fountain about 30 feet away. The fountain is surrounded by grass before it meets a cobble stone road. Market stalls line the road with one and two story buildings behind them. Various goods are for sale; things like fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, assorted meats, and fresh bread amongst other things, much like the farmers market back home. *Giggle* “Look at her,” a girl says as she walks by with her arm interlocked with a guy. “She must be a new to VRMMORPGs,” the boy says in a manner urging the girl to not speak so loudly. Placing her hand on her on left leg, she grabs a hold of her pants leg. Shifting her weight to her right leg, she processed to stagger forward towards the fountain. Feeling the eyes of the people around her, the feelings of shame and uneasiness come over her. She had made it almost halfway there when she lost her balance and began to fall. Feeling a sudden tug, a large burly hand had gently grasped her arm. “Are you ok young lady?” A males voice could be heard. Willow, with her head hung low in shame glanced over to see a large man. He had large sturdy arms and a board chest. He was wearing worn leather clothing and had a L shaped pack with firewood stacked high on it. “Come lets get you to the fountain. That is where you wanted to go?” he asked. Looking up Willow timidly replied, “Y-Yes, could I borrow your shoulder?” Walking slowly with her hand on his shoulder she could feel his swelling muscles underneath his clothing. Reaching the fountain, Willow turns to the man and said “Thank you”. Now sitting down on the edge of the fountain, she sees he is an older man. His thick beard and the fact he is carrying large amount of firewood would make you think he was a lumberjack. Standing in front of her, looking down he says, “It seems your leg doesn't work so well. If you would like, you can have this walking stick of mine. It has treated me well in my hikes to collect firewood.” Willow looking up thinking he has already done more than enough by stopping and help her replies, “That's ok, you have done more than enough already. I couldn't ask for anything else from you,” flashing a gentle smile. The man probably old enough to be her father ears turn a reddish color. He turned head to the slightly to the side as if to hide his face. He then quickly turns slapping his fist into the open palm of his other hand, as if a light bulb had just turned on. “My name is Spencer,” he says *Heh* letting out a short embarrassed laugh. “I’m Willow. Its nice to meet you,” Willow replies. “Well I need to get going to sale this firewood,” Spencer said while giving a small polite bow. “Thank you again for your help,” Willow says while waving goodbye as he headed away.

Still sitting at the at the fountain, she notices Spencer had left his walking stick beside her. It was about four foot long with a carved hand hold about ¾ of the way up. Carved towards the top was a rough outline of a fox. She also had a small bag, when looking inside there was a canteen and what seemed to be some loaves of bread. Taking out the canteen she placed it to her lips. She could feel the coldness of the canteen and was shocked at the taste of the water. It had a clear taste to it without the taste of fluoride she had been used to. She hadn’t thought things like water would taste so real here. While resting, she looked around the area and up to the sky it was beautiful and the clouds looked so real. As the wind blew from time to time, she would be greeted with the scent of fresh baked bread, or the earthy scent from the dust and dirt from the cobble stone road. This was something she would have never dreamed of. After leisurely sitting there for more than an hour just soaking up the sun she gathered herself. “If this is how thing are here, I wonder what else I will get to see,” she thought to herself. Grabbing the walking stick Spencer had left, she slowly stood up. She knowdest she had feeling other than pain in her left leg for the first time since the accident. Puzzled she slowly applied pressure to her leg testing for pain. With no pain and just an awkward feeling, she proceeded to walk.

Taking her time, Willow walked around looking at shops, there were all kinds; selling clothing, jewelry, and even furniture. Strolling around, she starting to hear chatter picking up off in the distance. “The Knights are marching! I heard they are going on a hunt to clear monsters from the ruins to the north,” amongst other things could be heard from the growing crowd. The loud sounds of foot steps could be heard, now mixed with the metallic sounds of metal armor clanking about. Willow could see about a hundred soldiers wearing what looked to be chainmail covered with tunics welding longs spears as they marched past. *Tolt tolt* *Tolt, tolt* A familiar sound could be heard, one she hadn’t heard in a long time. As the sound grew closer and louder, so did her heart beat *Thump,thump* *Thump,thump* almost in unison as it grew louder. The appearance of Knights clad in plate mail riding horses reached her view. Her heart could be felt beating wildly in her chest. Slowly rising from chest, spreading to her shoulders, and finally reaching her head. Her legs began to buckle as she held tightly to the walking stick. Standing there for almost 30 minutes, she finally regained her senses. The image of the knights on horseback burned into her memory. Her body yearned for one thing, to be able to ride once again. With the realization that it would be impossible for her to do. She then sought to do the next best thing in her mind, which was to at least be near them once again.

Glancing down she had noticed they had been shod, from the minor indents and chipping on the cobble stone road. Scanning further, she could tell at least 50 horse had passed by. With this knowledge, they had to be from a considerably large stable. Following the the fresh trail of the horses, she proceeded to find the stable. “With that many horses, maybe I could find a way to help out,” she thought to herself. From time to time she would see traces of manure that wasn’t cleaned up properly. With the trail still fresh, she found herself on the edge of town just inside the walls of the city. Standing In front of her was a large archway with two horse shoes interlocked hanging from the middle. There was 4 large barns, grazing pastures, what looked to be a paddock, and a number of corrals. On the Side of one of the barns was a small smithy, with a few horses line up outside to get horseshoes. Looking around she could see a few horse here and there some in a corral being broken in, others grazing, and some being moved from place to place. There was quite a few stable hands doing various jobs. Looking up at the archway as the slowly walked through. She was greeted with, “Hey Hey you can’t be here,” from off behind her in the distance. Slowly turning around she could see a stable hand in dirty work clothes. Sam finally catching up to the girl, noticed she was using a walking stick as a cane to get around. She had just turned around allowing him to get a closer look. She was very pretty with long black hair and tanned skin, leaving him with the impression she had come from the desert to the south. “I’m Sorry,” Willow exclaimed.“I just wanted to see the horses. I used to own a few till I had to sell them because of my accident.” Sam not knowing what to say paused for a moment, “I’ll ask the boss if you can look around. Ok? So stay here till i get back,” Sam said as he headed towards the smithy. Willow watched Sam as he ran. He could be seen talking to a short pudgy man. From time to time he would place his hand on the back of his head while bowing slightly. After a few minutes Sam returned. “The boss said its ok for you to look around, but don’t get in the way of anyone working,” Sam said as he gave a little grin. Sam was smiling while saying, “The Boss is a big softy so don’t mind him. If you talk to him just call him Boss and I’m Sam by the way”. Willow, with a joyous smile nodding with an over exaggerated yes shake of the head, “Thank you Sam. I’m Willow, its nice to meet you.” Sam also nodding with a slight feeling of accomplishment said “Well I have to get back to work, enjoy yourself. I hope to get to talk to you again.” He then turned with almost a strut in his step as he walked away, returning to his work. Thinking to herself, “There are a lot of nice people here,” what she didn’t know that the people that had help her so far where NPCs.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Willow strolled around till she found herself resting against one of the corrals. A stable hand was trying to break in a painted horse inside the corral. Willow watched intently as the horse stubbornly fought bucking and kicking away. Resting there she has watch the stable hand struggle. For almost an hour, her eyes never left the horse. Finally the stable hand gave up trying, yelling and kicking the dirt before he left. Willow stood there watching the horse galloping with a sense of accomplishment as if it had just won a derby. Looking around she found a pale with some carrots and a few apples. Walking over an fetching a large carrot from the pale she turn to the horse with a childish smile on her face. Propping herself on the corral she extended her arm holding the carrot. Making small noises like one would when calling a cat. She was gesturing with a come over her movement with the carrot. Finally catching the horses attention, it had made eye contact. Digging with its right hoof, it lets out a snort while shaking its head from side to side. The horse then trotted in a small circle turning its back to her leaving her in the corner of its eye. Willow stood there watching the horse, with a I’m going to get you eat this carrot if its the last thing I do smile on her face. Since Willow had been watching the horse for over an hour, she had noticed it had been favoring one leg and started to wonder. Walking over to the gate she unlatched it and slipped into the corral. After closing the gate she received a message.

A helping Hand

Through the use of observation, the painted horse seems to be favoring on leg. Befriend the horse and discover the cause.

Difficulty: F

Quest Requirements:

Befriend the painted horse and diagnose the problem. If you are unable to do so, you run the risk of losing the favor of the Stable and intimacy with the painted horse.

Do you Accept this Quest?

Yes | No

With the sudden pop up, Willow was surprised. It took her a moment to answer, “Yes.” Taking her time, she slowly walked towards the horse till it was within arm reach. Reaching out the hand with the carrot, the horse once again stamped down. Digging with its hoof, the horse lets out a loud snort while shaking its head in a fluid motion down to its shoulders. In a low calming voice, “Yoosh yoosh” she presented the carrot to the horse. Having calmed down a good bit, the horse finally accepted the carrot. While feeding the horse she slowly reaches out with her right hand towards the horse shoulder and gentle strokes its mane. After finishing the carrot the horse had become accustom to her. Willow then proceeded to move around the front the horse, making sure to keep in contact with it at all times. Once reaching his side, she reached around the back side of its leg. Running her hand down to its knee she applied pressure. Prompting it to raise its leg exposing the bottom of its hoof. Using the walking stick to kneel down on one knee, she rested its hoof on her knee. Taking a closer look she could see a nail protruding of the area between the hard and soft parts of the hoof. Bracing the hoof with her forearm she proceeded to gently remove the nail. Once finished she used the walking stick, bracing herself she slowly stood up.

Quest Complete: A helping Hand

You were successful in befriending the painted horse. With your close inspection you were able to diagnose the problem. Going beyond what was required, you have gained greater rewards

Skill: You have learned Bandaging

Skill: You have learned Animal Husbandry

“Hmm I got some skills, what was that command again? Show Skill Window, Animal Husbandry.”

Animal Husbandry(Lv. 1 0%): Allows you to care, breed, and raise animals. As skill rises you will be able to care for more animals to include wild and later exotic.

Controlling Flocks has been come easier.

Animal related skills gain a bonus of 1%

Now more alert to her situation, Willow noticed there were people standing outside the corral. Among them was Sam and the Boss next to him standing with his arms crossed. “Come here Young Lady!” the Boss said while shaking his head. “You seem to know your way around the animals, But you can’t just go where ever you please. What if you had been hurt? Well since you are ok its fine. Looks like you could use some more training though. Hmmm, I think Grandma Wilson was needing some help. You should go to her, we can’t have you helping here with your level of skill.” Willow nods,”Thank you”. Turning her head looking over her shoulder she take one last glance at the painted horse. Saying goodbye to everyone Willow sets off.