With a flash of light, Alex was brought out of the tutorial zone. From the tutorial area, he brought with him a set of knives and the basic armor that made him look more like a rogue than a mage. He had asked the tower and it said he could switch to robes if he wished but Alex did not wish to change.
Along with the weapons and armor he had on him a basic bag and food for one day. Nothing else was included. He pulled up his status screen.
<<<>>>
Name: Alex
Path: Magic (Sub-Path: Lightning)
Rating: G
Level: 1
Abilities (1/1):
Manipulate Electricity [G]
Tower Points: 0
<<<>>>
Nothing had changed except for a new line for the tower points he could earn by killing monsters and doing quests in the tower.
“Move out of the way. Move out of the way.”
Alex dismissed the window and realized that he had been blocking the hallway. Around him, a few people shuffled by. Up ahead someone called him forward. He and the other new tower entrants followed.
“Welcome new climbers. I am the leader of this village. You may call me Aera,” said the person. It was humanoid and sported bird-like features with large wings on its back. “To answer a few of the most common questions each group that comes through here has. To return to your original world you must turn back around and enter the portal. There is a marked entry and exit side. I am a Aarakocra or bird-person as some other races call us. In this village, you can find most of the things you will need to get started. Quest boards and monsters in the hills will be your most common way of earning tower points. My people will gladly sell you anything from our shops and you can set up your own within designated areas. On this floor, you can walk to any other of the ‘starter villages’ and meet up with your friends or you can head to the bigger cities. Finally, no causing trouble with my people. The guards don’t care if you fight with your own but if you cause trouble for us, we will throw you out. Now leave. I will be very busy today and I hate arrival day.”
Aera guided and in some cases pushed people out of the designated city hall and onto the main street. Alex looked back wondering whether he should return home for a bit and wait out the crowd.
“Rich is probably waiting for me, and we should at least chat one more time. He will probably want to have a group set up so that we can do some quests and monster hunting. And until I have my magic settled, I need to have a group to support me. Especially because I don’t know too much about this place yet. The locals should have more information for me.”
Alex looked around trying to get a sense of the town. There was a long main road laid with brick with many smaller paths going to other streets. It was easier to distinguish the higher traffic areas due to the better and more well-worn paving. When he looked around, he saw that the number of humans was quite high and growing steadily as more people came through the portals though the Aarakocra were the most populous of the two groups.
The buildings looked foreign with their mostly brick and wood architecture and design techniques that must fit the Aarakocra well but did not take into consideration the humans that would be joining them. Few of the buildings were square with many choosing to have archways and swooping rooftops that seemed to connect with the cloud-filled sky above. Another thing that made the buildings feel strange to Alex was the lack of height. Looking around he saw only two or three buildings that could be considered more than three stories tall, one of them being the one he had arrived from. It seemed that due to their choice of materials, mainly the lack of metals, the native people had avoided building too tall.
As he scanned the area, he made note of the shops and tried to remember where they were in relation to everything else. By staying on the steps to the city hall he was able to see over most of the buildings in the village and a little way past the palisade protecting the village. The village was situated in a valley with the village located near the lowest point.
“So, you’ve made it,” said Rich as he put a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “How was it?”
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“Oh hey. I was starting to wonder where you had wandered off to. The tutorial was a strange experience. I kind of want to head back home now and rest but this place is so different that I want to jump in and get started. I also don’t want to fall behind everyone else.”
“I get the feeling which is why I’ve gathered the team that you will be a part of. You will fit in nicely as our rogue. I of course will play the barbarian,” said Rich as he thumped his chest.
Alex’s tongue caught in his throat. He wanted to say something about his mage path, but he wasn’t quite sure what. He had no working spells yet and was dressed up, as Rich had said, a rogue. Speaking face to face Alex was able to get a good look at the starter gear that Rich had chosen for himself. He wore thick leather armor and a simple helmet that was strapped on with a buckle. At his side was a short sword and at his back was a round shield. Paired with his blonde hair Rich was doing a great portrayal of a Viking so far.
“I am going for a spell sword kind of path. Though I have no spells,” said Alex petering off in the end. His answer was mostly true. He did not want to lie to Rich, so he gave only partial truths. He could not use his magic at all right now.
“That is an interesting option,” said Rich. “We already have two mages on our team so far. You will fit in just fine if you can help support the team from the sides. Come on now. I’ve found us a spot in the general store to chat and you can meet the rest of the team. We need to go over team composition, where we should go, what we should first spend our points on, and more.”
“I will have to agree. The tutorial was enlightening but talking with the bird-people will be crucial for our long-term success. They have been here for who knows how long and will know a lot more about the system than us,” said Alex.
“Indeed. Which is why I have had our mage on the team chatting with the merchant while I grabbed you.”
Rich led Alex down the main street and through one of the side streets. As he passed by the storefronts, he read the signs and made note of what they each were.
“I’m surprised that they are all written in English,” said Alex pointing up to the nearest sign.
“Oh yeah. That is a bit of the tower’s magic. We all speak the same language and can read the same words. At least within the tower. It allows for easy communication and trading between different groups.”
“That will be very nice.”
As they walked the groups of other humans thinned until they were one of only a few on the street. They continued into the shop. Rich opened the door and Alex followed. Inside one of the birdmen handled the back counter. Three other humans loitered in the shop, two men and a woman.
“Hey Rich, this the kid?” said one of the men he had a sword at his side with a hand on it.
“Yep. He will help with backline support while the two of us are up front.” Rich looked at the other climbers. “Let’s relax everybody. I know some of us are newer, but we can form a great team. I’ll start. I’m Rich a fighter and future barbarian.”
The swordsman went next. “I’m Eric, a fighter swordsman.”
“Taylor, nature mage,” said the woman.
“Kai, water mage.”
Finally, Alex answered. “Alex, lightning mage and knife fighter.”
“Very good. Very good,” said Rich. “Now that wasn’t too hard was it? Now onto the discussion of our more important topics.”
“I’ve looked through this store and we went to the nearby ones to gauge prices and how we earn tower points,” said Kai. “We can average ten points a kill depending on the monster’s level. Quests are a little different but start at 50 points a quest and go up from there. The price for armor repairs is around 100 for our full set and again only goes up in price if we upgrade our gear. We will have to manage our finances, in the beginning, to deal with those costs. Short term we will want to buy food to stay here longer as well as get lodgings and maps to improve our hunting efficiency. I’m not sure how Earth’s economy will play into things just yet, but I expect we can make deals with other players for cash to live off on Earth. We will just have to watch the price of it compared to Tower Points.”
“That does not sound too bad,” said Alex. “I guess it just depends on how much our armor gets damaged and how quickly we can kill the monsters.”
“It could be better, but it may take a week or two to get used to,” said Taylor. “This should and will be our full-time jobs for a while if we can make it. Based on the few people human and non-human alike they have said to either be careful or go big. The armor will protect you but if you try and kill ten monsters your armor will be shredded just in time for repairs and you will have sunk more time and money than you should. That again is why we are sticking together in a group. We split the costs but also the money, loot, and danger.”
“I for one am quite happy for that,” said Erik. “Though if it all goes well then, I’ll be taking most of the repair costs along with Rich. Along with the pain and injury. Hey, Alex did you see the price of the health potions on the main street? Of course, you didn’t but telling you now. Don’t get injured. It is 1000 Tower Points for a full heal potion. Better hope to never need it.”
“Now for our immediate plan we will investigate the valley and try and avoid the larger groups,” said Rich. “During this time, I want us to get used to fighting some more and do so as a cohesive unit. Right now, other than the tutorial experience only I have had actual combat training. Other than living expenses and maintaining gear you should all work toward paying for combat training in your profession and maybe some introductory hand-to-hand experience as well. Finally, when we are outside of the town, we will avoid people as much as possible and stick together. I’m not sure what to expect from other groups and they are not with us. When we are in here, we could get killed by others and have no recourse because our families and others will just assume we were killed by the monsters. Be on the watch for humans and monsters alike. The wolves sent out of the tower were only level 1 and they were a pain to deal with as uninitiated climbers. We may be level 1 now with abilities, but the wolves will be in groups and can be upwards of level 10. If anyone sees a group larger than our own or three levels higher, we run.”