Most people think love is the biggest motivator but Didrik knew best. Boredom is the true biggest motivator. True boredom drives you into a state where you pour your heart and soul into anything you do. It makes you eager for the most menial of tasks otherwise it’ll throw you into the pit of insanity.
When he first heard he’d have a nine month vacation, Didrik thought he had hit the jackpot. Nine months of playing video games, reading books and hanging out with friends didn’t seem like a bad idea. The only problem is that games, books and friends’ vacation have an end.
“Oh! C’mon!” His scream resounded throughout the empty apartment, “I can’t take it anymore!” He had been trying to read another of the books he had picked at random in the library, “Such a predictable plot, shallow characters and it sounds like it was written by a twelve year old girl.”
‘Talking to myself must not be a good sign...’ He was going mad from the boredom.
It had all began a few weeks back. His university entrance exams results had arrived and he discovered he had been accepted with a full scholarship into his dream university. However, there was a catch. All classes had been filled and he was told to start at the beginning of the next term. That meant that, instead of the customary three months vacation, he’d have an extra semester.
Didrik threw the book to the side and rose from his bed. He looked himself in the mirror. His short, dark hair was still in place despite him being laying on his bed for the past hours. His eyes seemed puffed from the amount of extra sleep he had been getting and he realized the extra weight he had put on in the celebratory weeks were still there.
Those weeks hadn’t been bad. All his friends had been at the end of their vacations and they had gone out every night to every kind of party they could. It was a point of pride to him that he hadn’t spent a single night sober or asleep those weeks.
‘At least its something to do.’ He thought thankfully, patting his barely protruding belly. He picked up a shirt, put on some sneakers, grabbed his earplugs and headed to the gym.
The last few weeks his routine had been composed of playing games, reading books and going to the gym. It was as awesome as he expected. That was until he ran out of games, the books he read got increasingly worse and gym became just a bunch of repetitions with the sole purpose of making him sore. Still, those were the only things that could keep him from going mad from the boredom.
‘Ah, ha, ha, ha. Staying alive, staying alive.’
The classic Bee gees song played as he returned home from the workout. His friends liked to say he had an old man’s taste for music. He simply assumed he had a good taste for it. When he got home, his parents had arrived for lunch, as he expected.
“Hey Dri!” His father greeted him, “How was your morning?”
“Boring!” Didrik answered, “There is nothing to do.”
Didrik’s father, Kevin, had the most bad guy appearance you can imagine. He was tall, bald and had a face that always seemed to be irritated, which didn’t make him very popular with small kids. However, he was the kindest, most wise person imaginable, making friends with everyone he met. To Didrik and many others he was a hero and an example to follow.
“Go take a shower and come help me with lunch.” His mother told him.
Helen was Didrik’s image of the perfect woman. She was accomplished at her job, being known for implementing the best cancer combat and prevention system in the country. At a daily basis, she had to deal with bureaucrats, doctors, hospital directors, politicians… After all that, she would still get home with a smile.
“M’kay mom!”
*****
After lunch Didrik went to his room and turned on his laptop. When he ran out of things to do, he usually went online to talk to friends or watch videos. However, that day he had another objective. He was searching for a MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) to waste his time playing.
You must understand that, being a fanatic for good stories, Didrik avoided MMOs unless he was playing with a group of friends. MMOs have the tendency of having shallow plots and low immersion, making him lose interest after a few hours playing. But now he was desperate to the point of ignoring even that. All for the sake of a few hours without feeling he’d go mad for the lack of things to do.
He had just begun crossing a few names from the long list when his father knocked on the door.
“Hey!” His father said as he opened the door, “What you up to?”
“Nothing, to be honest. Trying to find something to do with all this free time.”
Kevin sat on Didrik’s bed.
“Games?” He said as he saw the screen.
“Yup.” Didrik confirmed, “Nothing good though.”
Kevin had once been a gamer, taking the young Didrik through most of the classics. That was until the fated night. Didrik had only been six, but he could still remember it. His father spend hours trying to land the airplane on the SNES game Wing commander. It seemed impossible but, after a full night of attempts, he managed to land it perfectly. That achievement marked the last time he had played a video game.
“Anyway.” He said dismissively, “I came to ask you about your present. Have you decided what you want?”
Didrik sighed.
His father was set into giving him a car for entering university. He knew it was his way of telling him he did well, but he couldn’t accept the waste of money. Many of his friends would kill him if they knew he thought that, but he had no need for it. He would live near the campus and the car would end up gathering dust.
“I told you already.” Didrik said annoyed, “I don’t need it. I’m okay.”
Kevin scratched his chin and stayed quiet for a while. Thinking that was a cue, Didrik faced his computer again and started going through the list. He clicked a link and another page opened, and with it, a giant ad.
“Oh!” Didrik’s father exclaimed looking at the ad, “Royal Road! You’ve always wanted to play that game. How about a capsule?”
Ahh...Royal Road. Since seven years ago, when it was launched, Didrik dreamt of playing it. A full dive virtual reality. A game where you could see, touch, smell, hear and taste. The perfect new world. The race for becoming the emperor had already ended, but everyone still played it. The game that had changed game industry forever.
Didrik could still remember how fascinated he was when he first heard of it. He was eleven at the time, and an ad on the TV showed a group of people using magic and swords to battle a horde of monsters. It was one of the things he could never forget.
Of course he had thought about asking his father a capsule during those years. But even after seven years in the market, a single capsule was worth almost as much as a car. Living in Brazil had its perks, but electronics had always been expensive to the point of absurdity.
“Nah...” Didrik answered as soon as he realized he had been daydreaming and left his father waiting for the answer, “It’s just another waste of money.”
His father stood up and started going to the door.
“Well.” Kevin said with a smile, “If you change your mind, you just have to to ask.”
*****
Didrik couldn’t find a single MMO that could peak his interest. Daydreaming about Royal road always made him excited and disappointed. The thought of playing it was thrilling. He imagined all adventures he could have playing that game. Even now after seven years, hundreds of new players joined in an daily basis. Even older people had joined, which was impressive seeing most had no gaming habits.
For him that all remained in his imagination. He wouldn’t ask his father to spend that much money in a video game, doesn’t matter how awesome it sounded.
He gave up on finding a game and got his basketball to practice a bit. The next 3 hours he spend running around by himself, training shots, layups and everything he could to busy himself. After that, he went back home and went for a shower.
As soon as he left the shower, the telephone rang.
“Dri!” He recognized his mother’s voice, “Your father is in the garage, and he needs your help with something.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Didrik went to the garage to help his father wondering what that was about. When he got there, Kevin was trying to take a huge box out of the back of the pickup truck. Without hesitating Didrik went to his father.
“What is that?” Didrik asked as he reached the back of the truck.
“This,” Kevin stopped trying to pull it and faced his son, “Is your gift.” Didrik opened his mouth to say something but Kevin cut him off, “I know you said you didn’t want it, but I wanted to give you something. Since you didn’t pick what you wanted, I chose your gift myself. So, congratulations son.”
Didrik suddenly hugged his dad.
“Thank you, pop.” He released his father, “What is it, anyway?”
“Look for yourself.”
Didrik got on the back of the truck and looked at the huge wooden box. It was taller than him by ten or fifteen centimeters. It was also wider, around eighty centimeters by sixty centimeters. He had no idea what it was until he saw the symbol on the side. It was Unicorn Corp logo.
He had just won his VR capsule.
From then, it was a battle to carry it to the elevator and setting it up in his bedroom. The whole process took a few hours of reading manual and triple checking if he had done it all correctly. He turned it on and the integrity verification process started.
Verification process 2%
Since that seemed it would take a while, he went to prepare a dinner for his family. His cooking was quite good and it was something he enjoyed doing. It was also a small way of saying thanks to his parents.
Two hours later he returned to his room and saw the blinking green light announcing the end of the verification process. Excitement began bubbling inside his chest and a grin spread on his face at the prospect of an adventure. The game manual sat on his bed, opened on the installation topic. He knew it covered all basics like commands, interface and such. But with the adventure dangling teasingly in front of him, wasting time learning commands wasn’t something he could do.
*****
There is something one must experience the virtual world to fully understand it. You can never know how it feels to be inside it. It’s expected to feel differently. To have your vision, tact, sense of smell, sense of taste or hearing affected somewhat. But what strikes the most, is that there’s no difference at all.
That took Didrik by surprise. He always thought it would be different. That there would be a telling that he was in the virtual world. There wasn’t. Every inch of this world felt the same as the real one. Had it not been for the infinite white plains that stretched as far as his eyes could see, he wouldn’t be able to differentiate it.
“The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user. Do you want to create a new account?” A female voice said. Its sound was clearer than anything he had ever heard and it had no point of origin. The voice came from all around him.
A sci-fi like hologram appeared in front of Didrix. On the left side, a window showing him a real size representation of himself. On the right side, a map of Versailles continent. It showed everything from the snow covered north to the desertic plain at the south.
“Yes!” Didrix answered the voice he knew belonged to the famous AI that managed Royal Road.
“Select the name of your avatar.”
That was a difficult question. Names tell a lot about a person. But the name a person chooses says a lot more. Its like a one word definition he’d be giving himself. Even more important, that would be the name he’d be called in this new world.
‘Names are important...’
That simple thought reminded him a book. One of his favorites. A book he could relate to the main character, not because he was smart, powerful or omnipotent, but because he had flaws. It reminded him that it didn’t matter how legendary a human might be, it’d still be a human. That would be a good name.
“Kvothe.” Didrix said with certainty, “I choose the name Kvothe.”
“Select your gender from male, female or neutral.”
“Erm...” The fact that people had that option sent shivers up his spine, “Male!”
A smaller holographic window appeared in front of him. It had a list with all of the races that he was able to chose in Royal Road.
‘Royal Road has forty-nine races. You may select your race...’ The voice started, but he was already browsing through the races, evaluating advantages and disadvantages of each.
He still had no idea which kind of playing style he would go for. Usually he would go for something balanced, where he could play by himself. Something like a warrior or ranger. On the other hand, magic sounded like something really cool to try out.
Every race had its charm, trying to lure him into choosing it. Some had bigger strength. Some could handle magic better. Some just looked really awesome. It was a tough choice. On the face of such a difficult choice, he saw he had only one option. He placed his finger over the list and scrolled it as fast as he could. The list began spinning in a blur impossible to distinguish. Didrix closed his eyes and placed his finger over the list, stopping it to a halt.
“You have selected the human race.” The AI confirmed the selection, “You may alter your appearance however you like.”
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
‘As always… Lady luck isn’t on my side.’
Didrix looked at his holographic representation and started thinking on how he could change it. Like everyone else, he would always think of ways he could enhance himself when facing a mirror. Reduce the number of freckles. Make the nose less pointy. But now that he had the chance of changing it, he felt as if those were what gave him his identity.
“I don’t want any changes.” He told the AI, “Make me the way I am.”
“Select a city and kingdom you want to start.”
Suddenly the map began glowing with multiple lights. All the cities and kingdoms he could choose as starting point of his adventure marked on it, glowing with unique colours. The famous cities and kingdoms were all there. Rosenheim, Morata, Kallamore… Another difficult choice.
“Random.”
“Welcome to Royal Road”
The AI followed with a series of basic explanations that Didrix… Kvothe promptly skipped. He had been waiting to play that game for far too long. Seven years is a long wait for a hyper kid and, despite growing up a lot in that time, there was some of that kid left.
A sudden white light engulfed Kvothe, momentarily blinding and disorienting him. Even before his vision returned, he knew he wasn’t in that endless white plains anymore. A putrid smell filled his nose. A smell so terrible it nauseated him. It was similar to the smell of a dead animal, left by the road, after days exposed to sun and rain, starting to decompose. His vision returned and he looked around. It was everything the smell indicated it would be.
Kvothe found himself in the middle of a city, he could say with certainty, that had once been beautiful. He was in the middle of an enormous plaza that split the town in eight, like a compass rose. In its center stood a marble fountain, filled with masterfully sculpted statues, worthy of being called a historic monument for its majestic presence. Aside from the fountain, many other artworks were displayed there. Unfortunately, all of it was hidden beneath decades of filth and lack of maintenance.
“What the..” He trailed off.
A pillar of light appeared on Kvothe’s left and a player emerged. Immediately a group of people flocked over the man, screaming.
“Give me some money, please!”
“I need food! Give me food!”
“I’ll accept any spare items!”
All around the plaza, beggars made camp waiting for wealthy players to appear. It was a terrifying scene, the number of people begging for copper was overwhelming.
Taking advantage of the distraction the other player offered, Kvothe left the plaza, heading for big wall that divided the city from the outer world. It was time to begin his long awaited adventure.
The walk to the wall wasn’t long or unpleasant. The closer he got to it, the less it smelled like a dump and people looked less miserable. A few of the stores seemed like good places to buy clothes, art or whatever it was they were selling. The number of shops was something he didn’t expect and everywhere he looked, he saw artisans selling their goods.
“Excuse me.” He approached a man that tried to sell jewelry, “Which city is this?”
The man looked at him as if Kvothe was crazy.
“You don’t know which city you’re in?”
Kvothe nodded.
“This is the magnificent city of artists.” The man said opening his arms and giving a smile with a bit of crazy in it, “Welcome to Rhodium. Would you like to buy some jewelry?”
*****
“Next!”
It was finally Kvothe’s turn. He had been waiting in line for the past thirty minutes but now was his turn. After this, he would hopefully be able to leave the city and fight some monsters or go on a journey. All he needed was to talk to the chief of guard to receive his authorization and he’d be done with this city. At least that is what the guards at the gate had told him.
“What can I help you with?” The huge chief of guard said without taking his eyes of the documents he was reading.
“Good morning.” Kvothe started, “I’m here to request the authorization to exit the city.”
The man looked at Kvothe for the first time. He opened one of the drawers from his desk, took out a paper and gave it to Kvothe.
“Here. Fill this form.”
Kvothe took the paper and using a feather he answered all the questions in the form as quickly as he could. He was amazed with the thought put into the game. Writing with pen and ink was something he never thought he’d do. It was also hard, and he had to ask for three other forms before having one that was readable.
“Here it is.” Kvothe said returning the filled form, “I’m sorry it took so long.”
“No need to apologize.” The man gave him a gentle smile that felt wrong in his huge frame, “You can return in four weeks and we’ll have your authorization ready.”
“Thanks. Wait…” Kvothe trailed off, “Did you say four weeks?!”
“Yes. That is the time it usually takes.”
It finally dawned on him what that was about. In Royal road, the first four weeks of the player are limited to the starting city. Kvothe remembered watching an interview of the developers where they explained the reason for that time. They expected the players to use that time to learn how to fight and to get used to the game mechanics. Unfortunately, most ignored the basic training and tried to gather money and items instead.
“What should I do with these four weeks...” He was talking to himself, but the chief of guard heard him.
“If I may...” The chief said, “On the west side of the town there’s a training hall. There’s a man there that goes by the name of Cain. He’s one of the strongest swordsman I’ve ever met. You seem like someone who could become a good swordsman.”
Kvothe gave the chief another look. The man was really huge, but not only that, he was pure muscle. Think a young Arnold Schwarzenegger kind of guy. He didn’t expect the guy to lose in a strength contest against a bear. Yet, he said there was a stronger man than him in that same town. One that could teach him.
“Thanks. I’ll certainly take a look.”
*****
After walking all around the city, Kvothe finally reached the training hall. It shone like a diamond in the middle of the the dirty surroundings. Don’t be mistaken, it wasn’t any more than a small two stories building with a few scarecrows and some open space for sparring. However, the care it received made it shine amidst the poor maintained neighbour houses and shops.
Kvothe approached the thin doorman that was sitting with his feet up and sculpting a small wood piece.
“Hello! I’m here...”
“You can go inside, get the sword and hit the scarecrow to your heart’s content.” The man cut him off in a mechanical answer, “Just let me be.”
A flare of anger started rising but Kvothe suppressed it.
“Actually, I’m here to learn from the sword instructor.” Kvothe looked around trying to find someone else, “Do you know where he is?”
The man quickly rose to his feet and extended his hand, giving Kvothe a creepy smile. “You’re talking to him, actually.”
Kvothe looked the man from head to toe. There was no way that man was the one the chief recommended him to talk to. He was tall, maybe a few centimeters taller than Kvothe, but he was skinny. He was also all raggedy in his old clothes. He shook the man’s hand.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think you’re the person I was sent to meet.”
The man’s handshake tightened and a vein popped on his head, throbbing menacingly, but he kept on a fake smile. It seems this happened a lot to him.
“Actually, I’m the only instructor here.” The annoyance of the man was audible in his speech.
Kvothe looked at the man but couldn’t see how he could be one of the strongest swordsman the chief had ever seen. He knew not to judge a book by its cover but...
“Forget it.” Kvothe said dismissively, “I thought you’d be strong, since the chief said it, but it seems the chief is just another weakling.”
He turned and started walking until a hand held his shoulder firmly. Kvothe turned his head to find the red face of the instructor close to him. The vein that was throbbing before was now so big it could be seen from miles.
“Wait there!” The thin man said, his voice filled with anger “You think you can come here, call me a weakling and face no consequences?”
‘Wow! I knew it’d be effective, but he is really pissed...’
“What are you gonna do?” Kvothe said mockingly, “Make me watch you finish that ugly statue hoping I die from boredom?” He jerked his shoulder to make the other man release it, “Excuse me. I have things to do.”
He started leaving when heard a cracking sound and turned to look the man once again. The statue in the man’s hand was in smithereens, something Kvothe didn’t expect to happen to what seemed like a solid block of wood.
“You and me.” The man’s voice was now spewing poison from all the rage, “Second floor, now.”
He turned to the entrance and started walking inside. Kvothe followed, trying to suppress a smirk. On the way to the second floor’s stairs, the man picked up two wooden training swords and kept going. They reached the second floor. It was basically the same as the floor below, but the number of scarecrows was smaller and the space for sparring bigger.
The man stopped inside the biggest of the sparring areas and threw one of the swords at Kvothe, who took it easily. He looked at the sword and threw it aside.
“I told you I was here to learn.” Kvothe said matter of factly, “If I knew how to use a sword, why would I have come here?”
“I was just trying to give you a chance to survive.” The man said removing his coat, “But if you’ll discard it willingly, I can’t be blamed for your death.”
Kvothe gulped. Not at the man’s threat, but at what was below the coat. The man wasn’t thin, not by far. His arms were covered in muscles and scars. He was definitely the kind of person that spent his whole life training and had the body to show it.
‘Too late to regret it now.’
Without a word, the swordsman fell into a fighting stance. Sword in front, body sideways. Perfect for one handed sword styles. It reduced the visible area and allowed the use of the blade for defence. It also reduced the enemy’s depth perception, by adding a layer - the sword - between them.
‘Let’s see how rusted I got in four years...’
Kvothe also fell into fighting stance. Body sideways, hands low. Tae-kwon-do’s basic stance. He spread his feet a bit for better balance and took his heels of the ground. Then, he waited.
Time started to go on slowly, as Kvothe adrenaline rose from the anticipation. His senses started growing sharper, all his focus was on his adversary. He could hear the curtains flapping behind him. He could see the drops of sweat rolling on the man’s face. He could feel the vibrations on the floor through his feet. Then time sped up.
The wooden sword came in on a diagonal downward slash. Kvothe was barely able to avoid it and was forced to sway back and rotate in his pivot leg. The instructor was faster and sword movements were harder to detect than he expected. From the endpoint of the movement, the man stepped in and made an slash aiming at Kvothe’s head. Kvothe ducked under the sword’s path and used that movement to get closer and made a reverse kick at the man’s head, grazing his face slightly.
Surprised, the man back stepped, touching his face where the kick had grazed it.
“Was that all?” Kvothe smiled a mockingly, “And to think you’ve even made me worry for a bit.”
“I’m sorry.” A smile appeared in the corner of the man’s mouth, “It seems I’ve underestimated you a bit too much.”
The instructor took a deep breath and the throbbing vein disappeared. His eyes became focused and his glare deadly. He was now battle ready. Kvothe’s smile grew wider.
‘Now is time to see what you’re really capable of.’
*****
The fight was over. Kvothe laid on the floor strengthless. He tried moving a finger, but it didn’t respond. He could barely keep his head up. His life points were so low he could barely see the red tinted bar that represented it. A crazy, maniacal laugh come from him. A laugh worth of a mad man.
“Are you alright?” A shadow towering over Kvothe asked.
“Yes.” Kvothe stopped laughing, “I’m just surprised at how strong you are.”
The man leaned on his sword and looked at Kvothe.
“So you really were baiting me...” He trailed off.
“I apologize for that.” Kvothe said truthfully, “That was the only way to see if you were as good as people say you are.” They stood quiet for a while then Kvothe added, “I must say you’re even better than they think.”
“Thanks… I guess.” The man answered awkwardly, “You’re not bad yourself.”
“So...” Kvothe trailed off awkwardly, “Will you teach me?”
Silence once again filled the room as the instructor looked at Kvothe quizzically.
“Can I ask you something?” The man asked Kvothe, who just nodded affirmatively, “Why do you want to learn swordsmanship? You obviously don’t need it.”
Kvothe didn’t expect that question, so he had to think about it. He could give the proper answer and say he wanted power to protect the people. He could say he wanted to be the hero the people needed but that wouldn’t be the truth. He actually had no reason to learn it. He simply wanted to, because he thought it might be cool.
“I actually don’t know.” Kvothe answered, “I just thought it might be fun.”
The sword master started walking to the exit and Kvothe could swear he was smiling.
“Ok!” The man said while leaving the room, “I will teach you.”
Spoiler :
Yeah...I know...
A lot was changed. The core of the story won't change, but I might be adding more stuff.
Thanks to everyone who helped with this in any way.
:D