Chapter Four - Turmoil
David wailed as he laid on the ground in excruciating pain. In the bottom right corner of his view was what looked to be an icon symbolizing a broken limb, and when he focused on it a tooltip hovered above it that simply read ‘You have broken both of your legs. You cannot walk.’ In the top left corner of his view he could see his health points bar flashing.
Health Points: 1/14
He grimaced in pain as he attempted to move his legs. The pain intensified tenfold as it shot up through the rest of his body.
“Nope, not happening,” he muttered in pain. “How am I still dreaming? What sort of game, VR or not, breaks your legs from a fall rather than killing you?”
David pondered the question for a moment before he began to realize the reality of the situation. He wasn’t dreaming. This pain he felt was as real as anything he had ever felt before. So if he wasn’t dreaming...where was he?
A rustling in the woods caught David’s attention, and as he turned his head in its direction a voice called out.
“Darius!” the voice shouted. “Quickly, I see someone! He looks severely injured!”
David’s realized in this moment that his vision bad become extremely blurry--most likely due to the pain of the injury, he thought--as he tried to make out the figure from which the shouting came. As the figure approached him a tall and slender woman with blonde hair began to form in David’s view.
She glanced over David’s injuries before shouting once again.
“His legs! It looks like he fell from the nearby cliff. I’m going to try and cure him!” she shouted.
“Cure me?” David muttered inaudibly.
The woman grabbed a small wooden staff from her side and held it in her right hand while place her left hand just above David’s broken legs. She looked down at the ground and seemed to be saying some sort of chant, none of which made sense to David. After a brief moment, David felt what could only be described as an intense warmth wash over him. It started with his face and spread down through his torso, and finally into his legs. As the warmth reached his legs it felt as though his pain started to subside, making way for the new warmth. David realized this and looked up at the woman. David noticed his health bar stop flashing and quickly increase in number.
Health Points: 14/14
“Th-thank you…” David said to the woman.
She looked at David with a smile, but it quickly became somewhat of a frown.
“Don’t thank me yet…” she said. “I think you broke them. Both of them, in fact. Not much even my magic can do for broken bones. There’s a doctor in Lionhaven town who can probably fix you right up, and an alchemist whose potions can help speed up the recovery. Unfortunately I don’t really have the mana or mana regeneration to keep this cure spell on you, and once it expires the pain will surely return.”
David frowned. “Cure? Lionhaven? Where am I?” David asked her.
Before she could answer a man’s voice echoed from behind her.
“Ahh, you must be a newbie. Welcome to Elios, your new world.” the man said cheerfully.
David noticed the man was now standing beside the woman, and had extended his hand towards him. The man was tall and bulky, clad in full heavy armor. He had a full thick beard that matched his long black hair. David slowly reached out his hand and shook the man’s hand.
“My name is Darius. This fine healer here is Tahli.” he said, pointing to the woman.
David looked at them both and smiled. He hadn’t realized it before, most likely because he was more worried about the agonizing pain he was in, but both of them had text above their heads.
Darius
Level 22
Tahli
Level 19
“My name is David,” he said. “Can someone tell me what in the hell is going on?”
Tahli giggled and Darius bellowed a hearty chuckle.
“Let me guess, you think--or at least thought, you were dreaming?” Darius asked. “We’ve both been in the same exact situation you have. I’m never sure how exactly how to say this, but I will do my best. This is no dream. This is your new world now. Trust me, I know that’s hard to believe, but it’s the truth. We were all...chosen...by Moirai Technologies to be placed in a deep sleep via their stasis program. And, more importantly, we all opened our eyes to this new world.”
David tried to process what Darius was saying, but still had a bit of lingering doubt. How could he wake up in a new world? And why did this new world seem like a VR game?
“I’ll try to help you make sense of it all, but for now we should get you to a doctor. It’s only about an hour to Lionhaven from here, but it may be tough to carry you if you’re flailing about in pain.” Darius said.
David felt himself turn red as he looked down at his broken legs and frowned.
“Oh, no shade intended there.” Darius chuckled. “Anyone would be flailing around in pain with two broken legs.”
Darius looked at the cliffside from which David had fallen from.
“Hell, I’m surprised you survived that fall…” he said softly.
Darius pulled a small knapsack from his belt and began to rummage through it. He pulled out a small vial full of a thick dark green liquid.
“This is a concoction created by an alchemist back in Lionhaven. It’s essentially a heavy sleeping agent that should help you rest through the pain. It should last long enough for us to get you back to Lionhaven and have the doctor check you out.”
Darius reached out in David’s direction with the vial still in hand. A window popped up in David’s view.
Darius has initiated the following trade:
You will receive: 1 x Shawn’s Heavy Sleeping Agent.
You will give: Nothing.
David accepted the trade and received a new notification.
You have obtained 1 x Shawn’s Heavy Sleeping Agent.
“Its effect happens pretty quickly, “ Darius continued. “But when you wake up, you should be feeling as good as new.”
Tahli continued where Darius left off. “And then we can fill you in on how this world works. It’s pretty important to know that sort of stuff, especially when you consider this is your new home.” Tahli giggled as she nodded at David.
David began to feel the warmth of Tahli’s Cure spell start to wear off. The excruciating pain in his legs shot through the entirety of his body. He quickly opened his inventory window and found the newly obtained potion.
Shawn’s Heavy Sleeping Agent
Consumable
Crafted by Alchemist Shawn
Effects: Inflicts ‘Deep Sleep’ on consumer.
Description: This thick green liquid has the right ingredients to quickly put the person who drinks it into a deep sleep.
David selected the potion in his inventory and it appeared in his hands. He swiftly moved it to his lips and consumed the entirety of the liquid.
“See you soon!” Tahli said excitedly.
Within a few seconds David noticed his surroundings becoming blurry as his mind began to feel hazy, before falling into a deep sleep.
.oOo.
David woke to the sound of someone calling his name. He slowly opened his heavy eyelids and saw Tahli standing above him.
“How are you feeling?” she asked him.
David yawned and stretched his arms. He realized the icon previous in the bottom right corner of his view that symbolized he had broken his legs was no longer there. He looked down at his legs and attempted to move them. They moved effortlessly, as if he had not just fallen off a towering cliffside.
“Oh thank god,” David said softly.
He looked around and realized he was laying on a frail wooden makeshift bed. Much to David’s surprise, he wasn’t in a bedroom in some house or a type of hospital or anything, but rather a damp and empty cave. He looked up at Tahli and realized the text above her head had changed.
Tahli
Level 19
“Umm...Tahli, right?” David asked. Tahli nodded and David continued, “Didn’t you have some sort of title or the like when we were back in the woods? Citizen of something or another?”
Tahli frowned as she continued to nod.
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“Yep,” she said. “Not anymore though.”
Before she could continue, a voice echoed from the other side of the cave. David recognized the voice as Darius.
“Is he awake? We must get going, Tahli.” Darius echoed.
Darius now stood beside Tahli and looked down at David.
“You’re looking much better, friend.” Darius said. “Should be as good as new. We’re in a bit of a pickle here and have to be heading out right away. You good to travel?”
David noticed both Darius and Tahli appeared to be disgruntled, anxious, and may even a little afraid.
“Is everything alright?” David asked as he attempted to slide his legs off the makeshift bed and stand up. He was pleasantly surprised that there was literally no pain in his legs. It was if the injury had never occurred. He hesitantly stood up and heaved a sigh of relief when his legs held the weight of his body with ease.
Darius shook his head.
“Afraid not.” Darius responded. “You were asleep for about eight hours, and a lot happened in that time. Not long after we got you to the doc’s house back in Lionhaven, a notice popped up that the king of Lionhaven, Alex, had been killed. King Alex had been the king of Lionhaven for years. He had been responsible for building Lionhaven from nothing and keeping us all safe since we ended up here. A few disagreed with his recent decree that restricted us all to the low level zones in the area around Lionhaven, but it really was for the safety of us all.”
David noticed that Darius no longer had his Citizen of Lionhaven title under his name either. Suddenly a notification popped up in his view.
Darius has invited you to join his party.
David acceptrf the invitation request from Darius and watched as a handful of small boxes displaying health and energy appeared in the bottom left corner of his vision. He was expecting to see just two boxes--one for each Darius and Tahli--but instead saw a total of five boxes pop up. He also noticed that both Darius and Tahli now had a health bar above each of them, both currently full and with a small 100% text indicator beside them.
Tahli continued explaining the situation, picking up where Darius left off.
“We instinctively assumed King Alex was out fighting in a war or challenging a deadly raid boss at the time of his death, but we quickly learned that he was actually in Lionhaven all day. Lionhaven is a safety zone which means no one can be hurt or killed while within its borders, but the fact that he was there all day then suddenly died leads us to believe he was assassinated by someone close to him that lured him outside of the kingdom’s safety zone. Assuming the worst, we grabbed you and fled the kingdom as soon as the doctor was done fixing you up.”
Darius seemed to pull a map out of his inventory and begin inspecting it. He looked at it curiously for a moment, before putting it back into this inventory. He looked at David and smirked.
“This cave were currently in--it’s located in one of Lionhaven’s four controlled zones, meaning it would be very easy for them to find us. If we head west we will reach the Weeping Woods, and through there will we be outside of Lionhaven’s territory. Then, we can work on finding an ideal location to start building a kingdom of our own.”
David was overwhelmed by everything that had happened recently; being placed into stasis, waking up into what seemed like a game, the visions when he touched the strange creature. But despite all of this, the gamer inside of him couldn’t help but be intrigued by the thought of being part of building a kingdom. While MMORPG’s were always his genre of choice, he also enjoyed playing simulation games that allowed you to build your own cities and even armies.
“How long have you been here?” Darius asked David. “On Elios? In Titans Online?”
“Maybe fifteen minutes before you guys found me flailing around on the ground,” David responded.
Darius let out a chuckle that echoed in the small cave. “Speaking of which, I have to ask. I know being placed into a stasis chamber and waking up in what seems like a game world is very confusing, but how in the hell did you manage to fall off a cliff?”
Tahli did her best to keep from laughing, but failed horribly. She looked at David inquisitively as if saying, ‘Yeah, how did you?’.
He wasn’t quite sure how to answer that question, but he did his best.
“I had just finished what I assume to the game’s tutorial system. I fought a wolf in a glade, and upon defeating it heard a loud shriek. A humanoid looking creature with somewhat translucent blue skin and what looked like gills on his head stumbled out of the woods and fell to the ground.”
“Ahh, sounds like a Shale. A humanoid NPC faction that lives in the water. They don’t normally come out of their settlements in the water, though. I wonder why it was in the woods?” Darius interrupted.
David remembered his vision of seeing these creatures thriving in an underwater civilization before reaching their doom. He remembered how real the vision felt.
“I touched the...Shale...to try and see if it was still alive, and when I did I had these sort of...I don’t know, visions?” David continued. “I saw a bunch of these creatures living underwater, followed by more visions showing them being destroyed.”
Darius and Tahli looked at each other before turning back to David.
“I uhh...I wouldn’t tell anyone else about that,” Darius said. “This is a strange world as it is, and that sort of information may paint a target on your back to other people.”
“Paint a target on my back?” David asked. “Does this game have some sort of PVP system?”
PVP, a popular gaming term, stood for player versus player. It meant that rather than only being able to attack and kill creatures and monsters in the game, you also had the option of doing battle against other players.
Darius nodded. “You could call it that. When a guild takes control of a zone, they are able to control the PVP status of that zone. There are several options when changing the PVP status of a zone. Safety Mode means there is absolutely no PVP allowed. Other options include immediately “flagging” people for PVP as soon as the enter the zone, or giving players the individual option to flag themselves or not. The most popular choice, and how Lionhaven’s zones are setup, is that anyone not in the guild that owns that zone are automatically flagged for PVP meaning members of the controlling guild and attack them on sight, while also choosing to stay safely out of PVP combat.”
David loved how that PVP system sounded. While he typically stayed away from PVP, he enjoyed having the option if he wanted to dabble.
“That sounds like a great system, really. What are the rewards for winning in PVP and the penalties for losing in PVP?” David asked.
Darius and Tahli looked at each other in silence for a few seconds before looking back at David.
“That’s a tricky question...” Tahli whispered. “Dying in this game, whether it’s against a monster or another player, appears to be permanent. And, judging on the few deaths I’ve witnessed, it’s quite painful. That being said, it’s almost as if this game world tries to motivate PVP. There are huge experience rewards and the slain player drops all the items he has equipped and in his inventory, including gold. This has led to rogue guilds dedicated entirely to ganking and killing other players.”
David couldn’t believe what he heard. Permadeath in an MMORPG? This was a practice typically reserved for extremely difficult single-player games, but it was unheard in an MMORPG. People invest a lot of time into their characters in MMORPG worlds, so the thought of having a character deleted was very unappealing.
“Wow, that’s pretty hardcore,” David said. “What happens then? Do you have to make a new character?”
Tahli began to quiver as she answered the question. “We...don’t know. Some assume you are given the option to create a new character, but no one has come across a new player that isn’t playing their first character. People argue that perhaps the memory of previous characters is somehow ‘wiped from our play history’, so that we have no recollection of them. I think we can agree that’s not a realistic scenario, though honestly it is probably the most appealing one. The other possibilities don’t bode well for those that die.”
David pondered Tahli’s statements before realizing what she was trying to say. If players that died disappeared from the game completely, where did they go?
“Isn’t it possible those that die wake up from the stasis we were put in?” David questioned.
“Sure,” Tahli responded. “I suppose that’s possible. But seeing as you just recently came to Elios, can you recall of anyone saying they had been in the stasis program, or experienced this world, or anything of the sort? Surely if someone was placed into stasis and woke up in this world, they’d share their tale with the world when they woke up.”
David realized in this moment exactly what Tahli was hinting at. Either players that died in the game also died in real life, or even if they did wake up it was possible Moirai Technologies silenced them. David had realized just how shady Moirai Technologies was when they forced him into this stasis program, so he wasn’t placing this idea outside the realm of possibility.
“Wow…” David started. “That is super depressing.”
“You’re telling us!” Darius chimed in. “We’ve been here for quite some time now. It’s best you start seeing this world as your new reality, David. No matter what happens when we die here, it’s safe to assume we’re better off living. Besides, I saw your eyes perk up when I told you about some of the games features. If you are a gamer, you’ll find no game better than this one.”
David forced a smile as he nodded to Darius. Darius walked over to him and gave him a firm pat on the shoulder. “I know it’s a lot to take in right now, but trust me, it gets better the longer you are here. We really have to get going, though.”
Darius pointed to a small wooden box in the corner of the cave.
“I’ve put some light armor pieces over there for you. Me and Tahli will head outside and give you a moment to equip them and attempt to take in everything. When you’re ready head outside and we will introduce you to the rest of the group then head out.” he said.
David thanked Darius and walked over towards the wooden box. Darius and Tahli opened the makeshift door on the cave and joined the others outside. David reached into the crate and picked up the several pieces of equipment that were inside.
You have obtained Light Boar Hide Gloves.
You have obtained Light Boar Hide Tunic.
You have obtained Light Boar Hide Boots.
You have obtained Light Boar Hide Pants.
David quickly opened his inventory and inspected his newly found loot.
Light Boar Hide Pants
Armor Type: Light
Armor Slot: Legs
Quality: Common
Crafted by Lorus.
Effects: +3 Armor
Description: A firmly snug pair of pants handcrafted from the hides of simple boars.
Light Boar Hide Boots
Armor Type: Light
Armor Slot: Feet
Quality: Common
Crafted by Lorus.
Effects: +2 Armor
Description: A pair of leather boots made from the hides of a boar.
Light Boar Hide Tunic
Armor Type: Light
Armor Slot: Chest
Quality: Common
Crafted by Lorus.
Effects: +5 Armor
Description: A fine piece of leather armor crafted out of boar hides.
Light Boar Hide Gloves
Armor Type: Light
Armor Slot: Hands
Quality: Common
Crafted by Lorus.
Effects: +2 Armor
Description: A thin coat of leather gloves crafted of boar hides.
David quickly equipped all of the leather armor pieces as three of the pieces were for armor slots in which he had nothing equipped, and the pants were a clear upgrade over the rugged loincloth he was currently wearing.
You have unequipped Rugged Loincloth.
You have equipped Light Boar Hide Pants.
You have equipped Light Boar Hide Boots.
You have equipped Light Boar Hide Tunic.
You have equipped Light Boar Hide Gloves.
David looked over his new armor. It wasn’t the most appealing, but it was better than nothing. He opened his character status window to confirm he indeed now had an armor value of twelve. He also noticed small text under a field labeled Current Bonuses.
You are currently faster on your feet due to a set bonus from a finely crafted set of boar hide gear. +5% Movement Speed.
“Hot damn!” accidentally shouted aloud. “You can’t argue with moving faster!”
David looked in the bottom of the wooden box and noticed a small note at the bottom. When he picked it up a notification appeared on his screen.
This is a private note left from DARIUS for DAVID. You are the recipient of this note so you can read it.
He quickly read the note.
“Welcome again to Elios, David. While the doctor was fixing you up, we asked you your class and job, to which you responded Beastmaster and Leader. Thankfully, only me and the doc was in the room at the time. I can’t stress this enough, but DO NOT tell anyone your job. Not yet, anyway. Especially after what just happened. People will single-handedly try and take you out to prevent future attempts to overthrow them, much like what happened in Lionhaven. If anyone asks, just tell them you’re a trader. They have no true bonuses that you would be noticeable to the public eye until later levels. And dude, watch out for cliffs. When has fall damage ever been forgiving in an MMO?”
David couldn’t help but laugh as read the note. He deleted the message, seeing no reason to leave it there as he had already read it, and turned for the door. He hadn’t realized it but he was excited for what the future held in this new world. He wasn’t sure what exactly was going on, but it was exciting to him and worth going along for the ride.
He opened the makeshift door to the cave and ran outside towards the group. He did so a whole five percent faster than he previously would have.