Book 1 - Swarm Rising

Chapter 1

I finished drinking my soda and then checked the loading bar on my computer. My timing was perfect since the installation bar was at ninety eight percent. I eagerly watched as the hottest new mmorpg finished installing on my brand new VR helmet.

Despite being an avid gamer I hadn’t heard anything about Ravarok until a week ago. There hadn’t been any advertising for the game. If it hadn’t been a free download on all VR helmets I doubted anyone would have played it. The app icon was extremely generic. There wasn’t even a description of the game. Meaning nobody would know what it was until after it was downloaded.

A month ago when the game was released in beta, a few people had downloaded it. It didn’t help that the only thing they knew before downloading it was a single sentence saying the game would be in beta for a month, and characters would have to be remade once the game officially launched. What they found was by far the most complex and interactive mmorpg to date.

The reviews I read swore that it was almost life-like. During combat there weren’t even any menus or buttons. Instead you learned to cast magic by saying phrases and making certain motions. Apparently the AI was light years ahead of anything previously seen. Even the news had started doing reports on the game and agreed that the AI and graphics were a massive step above other games. All this despite the game not being officially launched yet.

The craziest part was that nobody knew who had created the game. Most people agreed that Koravar was probably the company responsible. Afterall the game name was just the company name backwards. Also Koravar was the company responsible for creating the VR helmets themselves.

The issue was that nobody knew of anyone that worked on creating the game. Koravar representatives had refused to answer about whether they created the game. At first everyone assumed that an employee would eventually break the silence and confirm that the company had created the game. Over the past month the exact opposite happened. Every employee the media talked to that broke silence admitted they hadn’t met anyone that worked on the game. In fact they swore that they had never even heard of a game development division in Koravar.

Eventually people started speculating that the creator named their game Ravarok because they created it for the Koravar VR helmet. Whoever it was, Koravar owed them a huge thank you. The waiting lists to buy one of their VR helmets was now over three months long. It had taken a week for me to find and purchase a used VR helmet. Even then it had cost ten times the price of a new one.

It was all worth it since I had managed to get it in time for the official launch. Looking at the clock I saw that there were just five minutes left before the servers would open. I carefully laid down on my bed just before the bar finally hit one hundred percent. I slipped the helmet on for the first time and a simple looking prompt appeared in front of me.

Congratulations Anthony Sterling you have qualified to take the test to become a swarm knight. Would you like to take this test?

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I stared at the screen for a moment. I hadn’t heard anything about swarm knights in any of the guides I had read. Shrugging I pressed the yes button and then everything went white. I closed my eyes as the light momentarily blinded me.

When I opened my eyes I looked around in shock. It was far beyond my expectations. Everything looked real. I was standing in the middle of a courtyard. The building around me was two stories high with a balcony on the second story. A fountain sat in the middle of the courtyard. There was a tree planted between the fountain and each corner of the courtyard. Instead of a blob of green I could see the individual leaves of the trees.

I breathed in and was surprised that instead of the pile of dirty laundry in my room it smelled like I was outdoors. I tried to press the control to move and take a closer look at the tree. It didn’t work. Instinctively I raised my hand to look at the controller. Of course that wouldn’t work since the VR screen was in the way.

Surprisingly my hand moved in front of my face. It was exactly like real life. I didn’t feel like I was laying down so I took a step forward. I looked down in shock as my foot moved and I stepped forward. Hopefully I didn’t fall out of bed moving around while playing this game. I hadn’t heard that Koravar gaming cracked mental controls with their VR set. It must have been developed recently and put into the latest patch.

As I ran a hand along the rough bark of the tree I heard a gasp behind me. I turned around and saw an elderly man staring at me. The grey robes that he wore gave me the impression that he was some type of monk. Suddenly the man knelt in front of me.

“Welcome my lord. It has been many years since we have received a visit. How can our assembly be of assistance?” The man said without looking up at me.

I considered the man for a moment and then grimaced. There weren’t any dialogue options. Which meant that Avarock was relying on their AI to handle NPC interactions. My mind flashed to all my conversations with help desk AI’s. Over the past few years they had gotten better but they were still limited.

I finally shrugged. This would be a good opportunity to see just how advanced the AI was. “You can go ahead and stand up.” I told the man and sighed in relief as the NPC seemed to understand and stood up. He still didn’t look me in the face though.

“What quests do you have for me?” I asked.

“Quests my lord?” The NPC asked, clearly confused.

“Yes, quests. I’m supposed to take a test to become a swarm knight?” I said with a grimace. Hopefully the AI could figure out what I was talking about.

“My apologies, my lord. I saw your age and thought that you were already a swarm knight or swarm lord. It may be out of season but it is our honor to receive another prospective swarm knight this year. Please follow me.” The NPC said.

I nodded and then followed the man inside. The building was far more detailed than I expected. There were paintings and statues along the walls. The floor was made of tile. Although there was an overall pattern it looked like every single tile was a little bit different. Whoever had done the graphics for this area had done a marvelous job. I couldn’t help but wonder if there was the same level of detail outside the starting area.

As we walked I saw a couple other robed men and women. It looked like this building was larger than I had expected. We finally arrived at a room and the man indicated for me to take a seat. “Please wait here and I’ll go get the assembly master. I’ll also have one of the servants bring some refreshments.”

I nodded and took a seat. I looked around the room and admired some of the artwork that was on the walls. After a few moments I grew bored and decided that it was time to access my character sheet.

I thought about hitting the start button but nothing happened. Saying menu, character sheet, inventory, and various other phrases wasn’t working either.