Cosmos, the revolutionary VR game, was taking the world by storm. People of all ages and all walks of life were integrating into the expansive universe with great enthusiasm. In the first year since its release, the player base had grown to over ten million people worldwide. Few other games could compete with the deep world-building and immersive virtual experience provided by the system.

Other games operated under the Full Dive VR interface. But, none had the computational power of a quantum computer simulating the sensory experience that Cosmos had. The company that ran the game, Luka Inc, operated their business in a particularly secretive manner. Before the release of Cosmos, the company had no known ventures in VR.

Some viewed this business model with skepticism and vocally expressed their lack of faith in the use of such powerful computing for a video game. But, those dissenting voices were drowned out by the overwhelming outpouring of support for the new virtual universe.

Of course, the traditional concerns over youth gaming caused many parents to doubt the wisdom of allowing their children to play in such an open world. The player, Jake Snow's parents were no different.

"Did you finish your homework, Michael?"

The boy looked across the dinner table to his mother. She was dressed in a matronly white and floral patterned dress. To her side sat the boy's father, a man with a slightly receding hairline and a muscular build. The man looked over his plate expectantly.

"Yes, mom," Michael said with reservation.

His father nodded and went back to his meal while his mother continued to question him.

"Are you ready for the English test on Friday? I don't want your gaming to get in the way of your grades."

Michael nodded silently.

"Did you clean up your room, like I asked?"

"Yes," he mumbled.

"You have to return your library book soon. Don't forget about it. I don't want to have to pay a late fee."

While his mother continued to push points, her husband watched sympathetically as their son passively responded to her queries.

"Honey," the man said to his wife after a while. "He's doing pretty well in Geometry. I've seen some of his artwork. It's not all just doodles."

Michael's mother thought for a moment, "I know. It's just, Michael, sweetie, you need to take school seriously. I know you're taking your gaming seriously. But, you can't let it be your whole life."

Michael nodded and ate some of the mashed potatoes.

His parents shared a look, their son had always been reserved. They'd hoped that he could socialize better by playing the multiplayer game. But, the boy hadn't seemed to come out of his shell.

Eventually, Michael finished his meal and looked from his mother to his father, "May I be excused?"

His mother was about to say something when his father nodded and said, "Go on. But, I'm expecting another one of your drawings soon."

The boy smiled slightly and got up. Soon, he was in his room where the Full Dive headset waited. His anticipation was building. He'd get to work on his crafting soon.

The lethargy of the dive came over him and, soon, Michael became Jake. His avatar was similar to his real self. But had shaggy black hair compared with his natural brown.

Coming into consciousness, he recognized the surroundings of the office building of Juniper Station he'd grown so familiar with over the last few weeks. Unlike so many others in the game, he was one of the first thousand players to enter the galaxy. All because he'd followed Koll Luna, his teacher in the arts of engraving and enchanting.

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A smile came over the boy's face. He knew that he was fortunate in a way that so many others weren't. Sure, others could learn engraving or enchanting by buying a class training manual. But, he got to learn his craft directly from the NPC who wrote those manuals. No one else could claim that.

The man himself, Koll Luna, was busy working on his next class. Artificer. A magical engineering class that Jake Snow couldn't wait to start learning.

The NPC didn't seem to notice the boy's presence, so Jake merely went to his designated crafting space and pulled out his materials. He had many common interstellar-grade items that Koll had provided him with; as well as many arcane dusts, magic candles, and varied reagents. All items that his class required for advancement.

The process commenced as it had so many times before. He applied the [Essence Identifier] ability to designate specific augments to the armor piece he was working on. The [Mana Manipulation] ability, affected by his Mind and Spirit stats, proccs a certain value to the augment. And, the [Mystical Hands] ability, based on the Mind and Dexterity stats, could affect the rating of the item. Thus far he only had about a 3% chance to create a rare item.

Still, despite being a novice in enchanting, Jake Snow took pride in being the second-best enchanter in the game.

Other players of planet Ruun had started on this path, some even before he began. But, with the resources available to him, Jake was progressing rapidly.

His eyes shifted to the NPC who'd taken him under his wing. He was well aware of the enigmatic nature of his mentor. The forums were filled with theories about why Koll Luna was so different from the other NPCs. Some even suggested that the man was a game moderator masquerading as an NPC. Jake was somewhat inclined to believe this theory.

Koll tried to mask his behavior. But, it wasn't hard to see that the man was affected by the behavior of the players.

While he was caught up in his scrutiny of the oblivious NPC, Jake didn't notice the approach of a player.

"Hey, Jake," a sisterly woman said with familiarity.

The boy set aside his tools and looked up to see Mary Susan.

"Hi."

She smiled, "Have you learned any new tricks?"

Jake nodded. He was used to this player coming to ask him questions. She tried to get as much mentorship as she could from Koll but was usually waved away.

"Can you show me?"

Jake pointed at the mat on which a magic circle contained the energies he was conducting. The item he was enchanting was at the center of the circle with a number of crystals arrayed based on the cardinal directions and their affinities.

"The cardinal directions from your perspective; North, South, East, and West signify the basic magic types, holy, unholy, psychic, and elemental. Depending on which augment you're trying to imbue the item with, you'll want to array your crystals in a suitable pattern."

The boy took a breath and continued, "For stamina, you want to focus on holy magic. For strength, you balance holy and unholy. Agility and Dexterity favor unholy. Mind is better with psychic magic. And Spirit is a balance of psychic and elemental.

"It takes a lot to figure it out. And, the crystal types make a big difference."

The boy smiled contentedly, "Honestly, there's a lot I don't know."

Mary Susan smiled in turn, "No. You know quite a lot, Jake. I had no idea. Koll's class change manual didn't mention the affinity for stats with certain magics."

She sighed, "Honestly, I don't think he takes the rest of us seriously."

Jake looked to the NPC who was busy crafting a wrist launcher that seemed to be designed to use the Spiker bolts players were taking from the planet Meesach. It was obvious how much Jake was profiting from his tutelage.

The woman shrugged, "Eh, that's just how he is. Anyways, Jake, thanks for explaining it to me. I'll see you later."

Jake nodded and went back to blowing arcane dusts over his item. In a lucky proc, the interstellar grade gauntlets he was working on successfully crafted to the rare rating.

The boy smiled triumphantly and stowed the item in his inventory. He'd place it in his storage chest later, to join the many other valuable items he'd been collecting.

Jake had been casually selling scrolls and [Saint Stones] from his engraving. But, he was building up a stock of enchanted gear that he would release in his store soon. It was an exciting opportunity.

Of course, he couldn't compete with Koll in terms of quality or quantity. But, he was building up a brand of his own that would specialize in items that the NPC didn't seem inclined to produce.

During his all-too brief gaming session, a few other players came up to ask him for insights into their crafting classes. And, though he wasn't the most enthusiastic of players, Jake found it nice to be relied on.

Koll continued as he had been as Jake logged off for the night and returned to the real world and his identity as Michael.

The night was growing long, and he had school in the morning. But, the boy took some time to pull out a piece of paper his parents had gotten for him and began to inscribe one of his favorite sigils into it. The image was a cascade of spirals falling into the center of the circle with geometric shapes woven into the pattern. Each line was meticulously crafted and, soon, an image that almost seemed computer generated was prepared.

The sigil represented boundless opportunity and fortune. It was one of the many symbols of luck that Koll had taught him. And was a favorite of his.

Michael set the drawing aside, planning to give it to his father in the morning.

The boy was excited for what he'd accomplish tomorrow.