As soon as I selected my allegiance I was standing in a forest, Fred by my side. ‘You’re still here? Where even is here?’ I asked as I looked around. ‘Also why in the Light am I naked?’
He shrugged ‘I said I was your guide for today, emphasis on the day part. We’re in the forest just a little south of Fintasia, I believe. Starting locations are dictated by your class so you were just placed randomly. You’re lucky to be this close to the city really, we can be there soon. Similarly new Heroes are assigned starting equipment according to their Class, no Class means no equipment.’
I groaned, I hate forests. They’re always full of things that want to kill me. Being stark naked just made it even worse, at least there wasn’t anyone around to see I guess. ‘Guess those 10 points in Luck are earning their keep already.’ I said sarcastically.
‘You have 10 points in Luck? That’s incredible.’ He exclaimed, doing his strange little dance.
‘Well yeah, I wasn’t sure what to assign them to and I figured it could come in useful’
‘Ahh of course, as a VIP you were allowed to a lot your points. It was a good decision, luck is very hard to increase. It has an automatic modifier requiring 10 skill points for a single attribute point, using your initial allowance was a good idea, what is the rest of your build like? You can share it with me by thinking it.’
With a little trial and error I succeeded in showing him my Character Page.
Character Page Name Jason Nemin Primary Classes Classless Title None Secondary Classes None Attributes Physical 12 Mental 27 Strength 1 Intelligence 10 Dexterity 1 Willpower 10 Endurance 5 Charisma 2 Constitution 5 Perception 5 Luck 10 Stats Health Mana Stamina Total 185 385 185 Regen/min 32 134 32 Skills Physical Mental Crafting Miscellanous None None None None
‘Oh good Lord, what have you done?’
‘Err it’s that bad?’
‘Worse. Almost all your stats are in Luck and Mental Attributes, however you don’t have any Skills. Not only that but magic is virtually impossible to learn without help, help that you can’t afford. If you’d invested in strength at least you’d be able to pummel a few small animals to death until you picked up some fighting Skills.’
‘...You’re right, my bad. I didn’t really know what I was doing.’
Fred shook his head. ‘Well there’s nothing we can do now, lets get to the city and try and sort this out there.’
My stupidity well highlighted by my guide, I finally looked around at my surroundings. We were surrounded by trees, creating a thick canopy of vibrant leaves above us. The trees themselves where different to those I’d come across before, they had thick white trunks and even seemed to glow slightly despite the sunlight. Or Goddess -light I supposed. The forest itself seemed devoid of usual assortment of small wildlife and vegetation one might find.
Fred indicated a direction and we slowly made our way toward the City, as we went I inquired about the lack of animals.
‘Be glad you haven’t seen any, in your current state they’d tear you apart. The Goddess’ power infuses the light here, having several effects on the local wildlife. Firstly many of the creatures are nocturnal, spending the day resting in the upper canopies and absorbing this power. It sustains them, reducing their need for food. Despite this they’ll be much more violent and aggressive than animals you’re used to. Almost all of them are capable of absorbing the energy from their kills so they will hunt any prey they can find. In fact it’s similar to the way you gain experience for killing them, or would do if you were capable of such feats.’
I was glad that about them being nocturnal, I really wanted to avoid running into them. I was just about to ask how exactly night worked on this strangely shaped world, when I finally glimpsed the city between the trees. As I hurried toward it, I looked over what I could already see. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Gleaming white walls, streaked with red and purple rose up higher than any I’d ever see before. Like the trees before the walls seemed to glow, like they were filled with energy. Extending even above these gigantic walls were three great spires, and in the distance I could just make out the top of lone tower.
I’d seen palaces, citadels and monuments all over the world, in fact I’d even helped destroy a few, but I’d never seen anything quite so grand. Even from this distance, the city seemed to exude a sense of majesty, of power. I couldn’t wait to see inside and rushed off towards it.
As we neared city we soon saw a bridge of the same streaked stone as the walls, spanning a fast moving river. Behind it was open grassland reaching up to a giant gate in the wall. Excited to reach the city, and keen to see what my Endurance and Constitution could do, I jogged down toward the bridge.
Skill Unlocked: Running
Increase your running speed and efficiency. With hard work and perseverance you’ll be able to move easily through any terrain at speed for long periods of time.
+2% to Running Speed per level
-0.5% to Stamina Drain while running per level
Max Level 100
I dismissed the notification and slowed as I approached the bridge. Several gleaming soldiers stood on the bridge, their armour was a pure, glowing white with purple trim. As I approached one stepped forward.
‘Halt, this is the Queen’s bridge. It’s no place for you peasant.’
I stopped outraged. ‘Peasant? I’m no peasant, let me past idiot. I’m a hero.’
‘Haha really? Then where are your clothes? Your weapons? Your armour? Get lost forest boy.’
I stepped forward again and suddenly the soldier drew his sword. ‘I said get lost kid. You think anyone will care if you go missing? Get out of here, before you never get the chance to leave.’
I started to protest. The guard sighed and smashed me in the face with his sword. Blood dripped down my face as the whole world seemed to start shaking.
You recieve 35 Blunt Damage.
I fell to floor holding my face. Two soldiers grabbed my arms. My last feeling before I blacked out was being lifted into the air.
I awoke caught in a root system poking out the side of a river bank. My head ached and my vision was full of system messages. After coughing up a small pond’s worth of water, I flicked through the notifications. The gist of it was I’d fallen unconscious, taken a great deal of blunt damage, and partially drowned. Fortunately I’d just about survived. It seemed I’d also unlocked some new skills.
Skill Unlocked: Damage Resistance
Increase your resistance to damage of all forms. While many seek to avoid damage, you choose to face it head on. You look forward to the day you can stand unyielding in the face of any attack.
5% boost to rate of growth for armour skills
0.5% to Damage Received per level
Max Level 50
Skill Unlocked: Swimming
Increase your swimming ability and decrease . You have taken your first steps into the aquatic, one day even the fish will look at you with envy as you move effortlessly through the water.
+2% to Swimming Speed per level
-0.5% to Oxygen Usage and Stamina Drain while swimming per level
Max Level 100
‘Oh man,' I moaned out lough. 'I should have invested more points into charisma. At least I’m alive.’
‘Indeed. I think you’re going to need a new plan.’
‘Oh, you're still here then. Thanks for all your help with the soldiers.’ I grumbled back at him.
I slowly dragged my aching body onto the bank. I couldn’t help but regret my decisions since I’d started the game. I really should have read the Instruction Manual before I started. I lay there, face down, waiting for my health to regenerate. As I did so, I couldn't help but wish I possessed even a small amount of common sense. Sadly there was no attribute for that, though I had high hopes for Wisdom.
All of a sudden I felt soft hands pressing on my neck.
‘Well, it isn’t every day I see anyone else around these parts. They also tend to clothed when they do come.’ Said a soft, kind voice from above me.
Groaning, I turned over slowly. Soon I was looking up at an old, wizened man. He wore a bland grey robe, with a matching grey beard. The only bits of colour on him were his solid golden eyes, which seemed to look straight through me as if I were entirely inconsequential. I really, really hoped he wasn’t some kind of evil sorcerer. Honestly I was a little freaked out by his apparent age. An eternal war with the darkness and all that it entailed had done little for the life expectancy of my kingdom; living to old age was a luxury reserved almost exclusively for the powerful.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
He smiled down at me and produced another robe from thin air. ‘Here you go, friend. This will keep you warm and maybe salvage something of your dignity.’
Grey Robe
The worn fabric of this robe offers no protection at all making this equipment nothing more than a suspicious fashion decision.
Armour: 0
I gladly pulled the robe on as Fred informed me that he was visible only to me. If I started talking to him this strange old man would likely think me crazy, or realise I was a Hero which could potentially be worse. Finally dressed, I started to thank the man but he cut me off.
‘Its nothing, please. Come with me and we’ll get a nice warm meal inside you, are you able to walk?’
I nodded.
‘Great this way then, I’m afraid we’ll have to go slowly. My back isn’t quite what it used to be me. While we walk, why don’t you tell me what happened.’
Unsure if I wanted to reveal everything about myself to this stranger, especially since I didn’t know anything about him, I just rubbed my head and groaned. ‘I’m not really sure, last thing I remember there were these guards and then next thing I know I’m waking up in river. I don’t know what happened to my clothes or equipment, they stole them I guess.’
The man looked at me, this time his eyes were focused and piercing. As he stared at me I quickly continued.
‘I’m not a criminal though, of course. I’m sure of that. It was all some kind of misunderstanding, I think.’
He continued to look at me for few moments before turning away. ‘Of course. We’ll talk about it again later. Once you’re ready.’
Something about the way he said it made me sure he knew I was lying, though I wasn’t sure how much he actually knew. We walked onwards in silence for a while, I noticed the sky was growing dark and made a mental note to ask Fred about night and day here once we were alone again.
We soon stopped in a small clearing. ‘We’re here.’ He announced. I looked around confused. ‘Here?’
He grinned mischievously and motioned me forwards. As I stepped into the clearing, a small wooden house appeared. Or rather, it seemed it had always been there, I just hadn’t noticed it before. I rubbed my eyes, wondering how I'd missed it. No stranger to such oddities, I walked toward the house. I’d just chalk this one up to magic, that’s my normal approach and it hadn’t failed me yet. I did wonder if the house was bigger on the inside, I was a big fan of that.
The strange old man seemed slightly disappointed by my subduede reaction, nonetheless he shuffled over to the entrance and welcomed me into his house.
‘Well, it’s no palace but its my home and for a while at least yours too if you'd like. Please make yourself comfortable. I have some stew on the fire, it will be ready soon. Sit down, sit down. I’ll get it all ready.’
He guided me into a small living area. There was a rickety table and a few chairs, but the most striking thing was that almost every single part of the room was covered in books, scrolls and even the occasional stone carving. Most were covered in strange runes and symbols, the few words I could read spoke of strange, mystical concepts like relativistic mana dilation and infinity categories.
My host suddenly appeared by my side holding two steaming bowls of stew. ‘Admiring my books eh?’
‘I’ve never seen such a collection, where did you get them all?’
‘I’m something of a scholar,’ he replied. ‘Now sit, sit. Let us eat.’
We sat and ate at the small table, as we did so he talked a little about the small library’s worth of books scattered about the room. He even dragged out a few dusty tomes for me, after I expressed an interest in magic. They were titled Introduction to Magical Theory and Elementary Spell Theory. As we ate, I asked a question which had been on my mind since I had seen the shape of this world.
‘Why do we fall down toward the ground instead of say falling sideways? And why do people on the other side of the band not also fall in the same direction?’
‘Ah good question. I’m sure you’ve been given a nebulous answer like magic, or gravity, before but allow me to explain in a little more detail. At the core of our world is an infinitesimally thick surface of mana. It’s in the same mobius band shape as the planet, the earth and stone we stand upon moves over the core. This is why we experience night and day, as we move around the twist in the band we turn to face the Darkness instead of the Body of Light. It is this same motion however which causes you to be pulled toward the world’s mana core. In fact any motion relative to a source of mana will cause such a pulling effect, however it is in general very weak. It is only the large amount of mana condensed inside the core which causes the effect to be noticeable.’
‘Oh really? That clear everything up.’ It did not clear much up at all, that said it seemed as reasonable explanation as any, even if I struggled to make sense of it. It was certainly a much more plausible explanation of why such forces existed than any found in my own world.
Soon we finished eating, and just as I was about to begin asking some more probing questions about who my mysterious host was when he stood up and said, ‘Now, it is time for bed I believe. Let us learn more of each other in the morning, friend. For the moment, lets see about finding you a bed. You must be in need of a rest.’
He ushered me through into another small room, with an equally small bed. ‘This will have to do, I don’t have much room I’m afraid. My own bedroom is next door, please don’t be afraid to disturb me if you need anything.’
I lay down in the bed for a while before remembering my guidance imp. I sat up and looked around the room, trying to make out his small figure somewhere in the darkness. Eventually a voice spoke up from down by my pillow, the small imp was standing next to my bed.
‘Looking for me?’
‘Yeah, I forgot just how small you are.’
He frowned. ‘Well I wouldn’t be a very good short guide if I was any bigger would I?’
‘Ah ok, I guess... Anyway, can I actually sleep in the game? Also what happens if I spend too much time ingame? And will he notice if I log out and come back tomorrow?’
‘Well yes of course you can sleep, just think about going to sleep for a period of time and system will make it so. You don’t need to sleep, of course, but doing so for more than an hour will earn you a 5% experience bonus for the next day. Double that if you sleep in a bed. As to how long you’ve been in the game, it’s been nearly 10 hours game time but more like 2 and half in your own world. There is a time dilation effect. He will almost certainly notice you missing, without knowing his stance on Heroes it would be unwise to reveal yourself.’
‘Hmm, do you know who he is?’
‘Of course, but I can’t tell you I’m afraid. I’m only authorised to tell you general information about the game world, otherwise it would be too easy.’
‘Great, so I’m stuck here with a strange old man who seems to be some kind of experienced mage and may very well decide to kill me if I log out.
‘Oh well, I guess I was here to kill stuff anyway.’
‘You what? I don’t think you’d get very far in a fight with him.’
‘I’m not talking about a fight. He’s a magic user right? So he’ll probably have very low health and physical stats? I’m going to sneak into his room while he’s asleep and cut his throat. Maybe we can even find some stuff of his to bribe the guards with so we can finally get into this damn city.’
‘Don’t you think that’s a little extreme?’
‘Well maybe, but its only a game right? If I want to be better than Mr Perfect for once I’m going to need to take risks. Well those risks start here.’
‘Mr Perfect?’ The imp replied, confused.
‘Don’t worry about it’ I replied as I got to my feet. I meant what I said, beating Derik wasn’t going to be easy and I needed every advantage I could get. Killing this man and looting his house could help my progression massively. Before I left the room I looked at the books I’d been given earlier.
‘Could you carry these for me in case it all goes wrong and we need to make a speedy exit?’
‘No need, these are skill books. Just pick them up and read them, you’ll absorb the knowledge within quickly and they’ll disappear afterwards.’
I did as he said, picking up the first book and opening it. I was immediately presented with a messgae.
Would you like to read Introduction to Magical Theory?
I thought yes and the message was quickly replaced by another, as the book faded to dust in my hands.
Skill Unlocked: Magical Theory
Increase your understanding of the arcane. You’ve begun your magical journey, with knowledge comes power. The secrets of magic are the secrets of the universe, understand them and the possibilities are endless.
Max Level 1000
‘This skill doesn’t come with any bonuses. What’s the point in it then?’
‘Not all benefits can be condensed into a few numbers. This skill represents your understanding of basic magical phenomena, like all knowledge it can be applied to a multitude of situations. Most importantly many spells and magical skills will require a certain level of Magical Theory before you can use them.’
I sighed, this world seemed to be overly complicated. I’d been here for nearly a whole day and I had yet to throw a fireball at anything. I moved onto the next book and read it.
Skill Unlocked: Spell Theory
Increase your understanding of spellcraft and control over the forces you wield. Spells are the basic tools of any magic user. You’ve begun to develop your understanding of their usage, and in doing so taken the first steps towards their mastery.
-0.1% to Mana Usage of spells per level
Max Level 500
Spell Theory Subskill Unlocked: Magic Missile
The basic training spell of any would be mage. Limited in power and inefficient this spell serves more as an example of magic usage and relatively safe practice spell than a true combat power.
Allows casting of Magic Missile
Mana Cost: 25
Magic Damage: 5
+10% damage per level
-5% mana usage per level
Max Level 10
‘How do subskills work?’ I asked.
‘These are applications or variants of a specific skill. Most spells, for example, occur as subskills. Gaining experience in a subskill also gives experience in the parent skill, though subskills typically grow much faster. You can’t however level them above the level of the parent skill. As well as being useful skills in their own right, reaching the maximum level of a subskill can have a variety of effects such as changing the parent skill or unlocking new subskills.’
‘Ok, sweet. Looks like I can finally call myself a magic user.’ I suppressed the urge to try out my new spell, fearing that it might make enough noise to for the old man. Figuring it would be best to wait until he was asleep, not to mention keen for the experience boost I lay down to sleep for a few hours. Three hours in fact.
Upon waking I quietly crept out of my room, searching for the kitchen and once I’d found it a knife. I returned, with as little noise as I could, to the old man’s door. Bracing myself to run if needed, I slowly pushed it open.
I’m unsure what I was expecting, perhaps strange glowing lights and a few chained demons. The bare, modest room I was confronted with instead was something of an anticlimax. Once again moving as quietly as I could, I made my way over to the bed. I paused standing above him, taking a moment to collect my thoughts and ensure I had not woken him already. As I waited a new notification appeared.
Skill Unlocked: Sneak
Increase your ability to sneak. Whatever your motives, you’ve begun to learn the art of stealth. With sufficient practice you’ll move silently through the world, concealed in the darkness and waiting to strike.
+2% to Concealment while Sneaking per level
-1% to Noise Made while Sneaking per level
Max Level 100
Emboldened by the skill gain I held my knife over his body. Gritting my teeth and steeling myself I grabbed head and savagely drew my blade across his throat. Immediately receiving a string of notifications.
Critical Hit x3 damage.
Sneak Attack x3 damage.
Slashing Damage 81.
Your foe is Bleeding.
Your foe is Silenced.
As soon as I struck him he began to shake and struggle. Ignoring the mounting pile of notifications, I held him and drove my knife repeatedly into his body. Blood covered me as he screamed, my own voice adding to the cacophony as I roared mindlessly, my hand rising and falling with a will of its own. The only small mercy was that the barrage of notifications blocked my vision, stopping me from watching my own gruesome handiwork. After what seemed like an eternity his body stilled and I fell to floor, gasping.