The world isn’t like it used to be anymore. No there was no apocalypse but the environment is no longer supportive of human life. Disregard of global warming and the use of fuels as an energy source cause a massive fluctuation in the atmosphere.
The oxygen in the air was now pretty much nonexistent. Many of the species that inhabited Earth died off and those that didn’t went through a massive evolution. The most prevalent species now was the insects. They grew to titanic sizes and quickly claimed the planet as their own.
Now the humans did survive but their way of life drastically changed. At first seventy five percent of the population died from asphyxiation or were just eaten by various insects. After this the remaining vestiges of humanity banded together in large metal cities that were covered in a half circle metal wall that covered their houses as well. In essence the humans went under ground.
The main source of food was grown indoors under UV lights. They supplied themselves with oxygen by having algae farms all throughout their cities. Water was in abundance as well. Through advanced filtering techniques they were able to filter the toxic waters that they had created.
Sadly this also affected the birth rate in the human population. It was now extremely hard to conceive a child but they managed. The birth rate was high enough to supplement the race so that they were no longer in a decline but it was still a precarious situation.
On the bright side technology boomed from all of this. Everything was now automated. The crops were taken care of by robots and the water was monitored by a computer. Every house had a robot butler that made food and scheduled regular visits to the doctor or dentist. Honestly it became a utopia.
Energy also became a thing of the past. Fusion technology was perfected long before the Earth went to shit. Now every city had a large fusion reactor and had no worry about being in the dark and dying off completely.
Since humans no longer had to worry about work or food the entertainment side of things grew rapidly as well. This also became the way to make a living. This was also the best way for humanity to escape the disparity of life in a confined area.
The governments had collapsed from the change so the richest people on earth now controlled humanity and the cities they lived in. Now because these people thrived on wealth all they cared about was money and living a peaceful life. This ended war and disease for humanity.
Those in control realised that having healthy and happy people produced the best results in advancing the cities. In the end they decided that to make sure the people were happy they needed to make sure that no one was able to start off in a better position than anyone else. This made gaming a very lucrative and enjoyable event for all since it was only on the individual to prosper.
The engineers of the gaming side devised a way to take any and all ideas in games and make them into reality, with the exception of magic and fantasy of course. This in turn made the advancement of science to skyrocket. Eventually they reached a peak though.
No more advancements could be made and every component that could break down would be changed before it was even noticed. This led to gaming currency to be the only form of wealth. Your in game account would be linked to a digital bank that would let you buy more furniture or other random things in the real world or IRL.
No one needed to buy anything extra so most saved what they had and stayed in game.
Now gaming took place in virtual reality and many genres were available to all. It ranged all the way from fantasy to space travel. These virtual pods had a gel based platform inside that would melt once you entered and fully surround you. Inside this gel was nanobots that took out waste from your body and fed you all the vitamins and minerals that you needed to survive.
Because of this you could actually stay in game indefinitely if you wanted to. Of course this became a problem in advancing the human species. Too many people wanted to stay in the game and never see IRL again. Thus an incentive was made for those that had one or no children.
The incentive was a large sum of ingame currency so that you would leave the capsule and have children. Most people found a partner in game for this but others had little to no drive to make that sort of connection.
This led to a single game be created that was in essence a dating simulator. You would go into that game find someone you connected with and then leave and meet IRL. An age requirement was created for this so that anyone who reached eighteen years old would go and have a child.
This worked well at first but as humanity often shows us it also went bad. One group of parents went back into gaming and left their newborn out and alone. Thankfully the child was found by a robot worker quickly so the child did not die. However the parents were promptly executed for their negligence.
Now it was required to stay with your child until they became five years old. At that time the child was inducted into virtual reality and they got an education on their past. Often times the child would chose to join their parents in game so that they were not alone in the world. Other children joined a game on their own and would try to live life as they wanted.
Chapter 1
The year is 2198 and I am about to join a new game. My name used to be John but i have decided to give that up. I am twenty years old and alone.
It wasn’t always like this. I used to have parent but they both died yesterday. They had a heart attack. Simple but deadly. You’d think with our technology nowadays we would have fixed that issue.
I was in the game Terra with them when it happened. Terra is a space adventure game and we were in our own little ship that was easily piloted by three people. I remember looking over to my dad as we flew past a new sun that had yet to be named.
He looked to me and said. “What should we name it son?”
Before I could answer him he faded out of the game. I looked to my mother and she was gone as well. I quickly pulled out their contact info to see if they were off line.
All I saw was nothing. I couldn't find them anywhere. It was as if they no longer existed.
I log off and feel the gel in my capsule slough off of me. I laid there waiting for the capsule to open. When it finally does I jump out and run to the room next to me.
Inside that room I saw two capsules sitting wide open. In either one I saw the faces of my parents lying there. Both were very peaceful but at the same time they were very dead.
Fast forward a little and here I am. Sitting at their funeral. The policy of the city was to cremate the remains. It added nutrients to the soil and helped the crops grow.
As there bodies burned I said my last goodbyes. I inherited their house. We were lucky, if I'm being honest. Most lived in apartments but my family was able to save enough to buy a place outright.
Although we were a ways out from the center of the city it was still luxurious. It was a two story three bedroom with the whole bottom level open. It had a nice kitchen and the latest robotic butler.
My parents and I went by our in game name. I won't put theirs down and mine doesn't matter anymore. I needed a new life. A new name.
I was going to get married to the woman that had my children but she is crazy. So that didn't work out. We had a boy and a girl. They visit me from time to time. I figure I'll send them my name in my new life so they can't stop by if they want.
I sat down on a couch in the living room on the bottom floor of my parent, no, my house and turn on the tv. It's been awhile since a new game had come out so I figure there might be some sort of news out.
As I scrolled through the channels I saw hundreds of people playing and streaming their game. I laugh a little at myself.
Game operate at a time ration of 1:10 so one hour in game is ten IRL. So if I wanted to watch someone in game and I watched for a year straight then they would be ten years ahead of me.
I always thought that our society is crazy in that sense. Thanks to medical advancements I could live till I was about three hundred and fifty. That's thousands of years game time.
As I keep flipping through the channels I finally come to the “News”. It was all game updates.
As I wait for the add to end and get back to the main programming my butler comes in with a big bowl of cheesy potatoes with what looks like bacon in it. Now it's not bacon but a vegetable substitute. Still good though.
Finally the news comes back on.
“Alright! Now what you've all been waiting for! The new game this decade is a good one! It sports a fully functional AI that profiles each player. This profiling can give you bonus stats based on your performance. It will also go off of your body type so that your character looks exactly like you do, well for the most part. Hahahaha.” A news man said.
I tried listening to the rest of what he said but his great big mustache was way too distracting. The only thing I got was the name, Tribular. Odd name but who cares! It opened in thirty minutes. I quickly look up the stats to see the basics of the game.
Now the only real info you get from a game nowadays is basic stat info. Since the game is a literal universe in itself things are changing constantly. The only constant thing is the base stats and how they work. I’ve actually seen the leveling system change randomly.
Anyways this is what I found.
Primary Atts.
STR(Strength) Every point increases carry weight by one pound and increases attack by one, Every ten points increases the amount of attack gained by one.
CONS(Constitution) Every point increases Health by 10 and increases Defence by 1, increases regen by .1 per second Every ten points increases the amount of regen gained by .1.
DEX(Dexterity) Every point increases Endurance by 10, increases regen by .1 per second Every ten points increases the amount of regen gained by .1.
CHA(Charisma) Every point increases the way others view at you, Every 10 points increases the chance of favorable actions towards you by 1 %.
INT(Intelligence) Every point increases Mana pool by 10, Also allows for easier learning, Every 10 points increases EXP gained by 5%.
WIS(Wisdom) Every point increases Mana Regen by .1 per second, Every ten points increases the amount of regen gained by .1.
Level is determined by EXP(Experience) to gain a level EXP gained must be current level x10
Secondary Atts.
Health Represented as HP.
Health Regen
Mana Represented as MP
Mana Regen
Endurance Represented as END
Endurance Regen
Attack-Weapons add their damage to the base attack. All attack is calculated and represented as a whole.
Defense-Defense is subtracted from attack received and remaining value is taken as damage, Armor defense is added.
Special Att
Luck-This increases chance encounters and loot drops, also affects chance at a critical hit, every point increases crit chance by 1% with a Max of 99, Can not be increased with stat points.
Races
Dwarf-Small mountain people that get a bonus in all things crafting, very secluded.
Human-Stereo typical Human that has no benefits or setbacks.
Elf-Elves are a knowledge base community that excel in magic and learning.
High Elf-The nobility of all elves that specialize in holy magic.
Dark Elf-The black sheep of the elven family that specialize in dark magic.
Wood Elf-Nomadic elves that specialize in healing and nature magic.
Orc-Brutal fighters that thirst for battle.
Beastkin-Nomadic tribesmen that are often looked down upon, their beast half increases their attributes IE Bear types get more strength and constitution, cat types get more dexterity and so on.
Giant-Not as large as some would think with a max height of 15 feet. Strong and actually quite smart, also a very combat oriented race.
Mixed race-This is a toss up. You can not chose the races that you are mixed with so all benefits are random.
Gods
Zedd-God of the Light and War.
Morgana-Goddess of the Dark and Beauty.
Bob-God of luck and all encounters.
Skills are earned by actions and can be influenced by ability outside of the game. All skills are directly relatable to outside the game as well.
Huh it will actually improve my abilities IRL? That’s pretty awesome. I checked the clock ad saw that I had about 15 minutes until the game launched.
I get up off the couch and make myself a nice sandwich. Word of the wise, never start a VR game without eating something first. The food in the beginning is terrible because you have no money and are just beginning.
With that out of the way I go up to my room and hop in my capsule. I feel the gel start to melt after I closed the lid. It slowly started to envelop me but before it covered my mouth my vision went black.
Less than a second later I was in a room. This was my personal hub. All around the ten foot by ten foot room were doors to different games that I played. There were a total of eight doors but one was blank. The blank one was Tribular, normally a door would stay blank and have no door knob on it so you couldn’t access the game until it launched.
I looked at the time, 2 minutes left. In the middle of the room was a chair, room wasn’t that big and I wasn’t in here all that often. So I pop a squat and wait. Luckily I didn’t have to wait long till the door changed.
It was all black with a tai chi symbol for a door knob. The symbol was made up of the four elements. I walk over to it and twist the knob. I saw lights flash by me as I was transported to the main screen.
Welcome to Tribular! A world of fantasy and action awaits you! Or not if you don’t like action. Either way have fun!
Well that’s an odd welcoming.
A couple options were available to me, well one really and that was to create a new character. I select it and next thing I know I’m sitting before a very businesslike man. He was decked out in a full tux and was looking at some papers in front of him.
“Hello!” He greeted me without looking up. “So as of now you are the only one to join the game. I would like to introduce myself. I am AX13384219934765310D, you can call me Alex. I am the Ai in charge. Have you looked at the info that was put out?”
I nod my head in affirmation.
“Good! Well then let's get some basic tests out of the way first. These will just be to gauge how your gaming character should be aligned. We have already done a full body scan so that your main appearance will stay the same.” He said casually.
“Uhm. Ok.” Was all I could really muster at this point.
“Now! You see a damsel in distress! She is being attacked by a pack of vicious rats. What do you do?”
“Try to save her while killing all the rats. EXP is always good.” I answer.
“Hmm. yes, yes. Very good! Now next scenario. You see a child in the street being beaten by a corrupt noble. Now before you answer you need to know that you will have to kill all of the nobles men if you intervene.”
“Who cares. It’s a child. They should always be protected.”
“Great! Well that’s it!” He said joyfully.
“But I thought..” I start to say.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“No please. Don’t think. Better for everyone involved.” He cuts me off.
Well he's a bit of an ass.
“On to character creation! Now you know the choices so please chose one from the list in front of you.” As he finishes I see a list of races pop up before me.
Each race shows me what I would look like if I chose it. I scroll all the way to the bottom and chose mixed race. Never been a fan of one singular race.
“Oh a risk taker huh?” He laughs.
Alex stands up and the room we were in changes from a typical job interview scenario to a roulette table. Each tile had combinations on it. Out of nowhere Alex hands me a metal ball to toss in.
I casually toss it in and watch it start to go round and round. After about a minute the wheel starts to slow down. Once it stops the ball can be seen going round and round the outside. As it starts to slow down I forget to breath as it starts to hit the barriers between the tiles. It jumps around a couple of time before landing on the half dwarf and half giant tile.
“Huh. Hey you ever wonder how that would work? Like was the dad a giant? Cuz if so he had to be like really small in the um… male department. Oh and if the mom was a giant then the dwarf had to have been HUGE!!! I’m talkin tripod here! Hahahaha!” Alex asked. I must say that this AI is nuts.
“I don’t really want to know…” I replied.
“Oh well. Look over your character and adjust your muscle mass and height. Then let’s be done with this! I want to watch you as you play. Since you are the only player still I can give you my full attention.”
Ok. Not sure how I feel about him watching me constantly but oh well. I select customize on the screen that appeared before me. What I saw was a hulking monster of a man. My basic features were there. Startlingly blue eyes with a strong chin and strong brow. I had high cheek bones that were on the verge of being prominent.
The height bar was set in the middle but it was still seven feet tall. Honestly I wanted to be a tad bit taller so I started moving the slider up. I ended up almost at max and was at a solid eight feet. Next was muscle size.
I always liked being the strong type of person in fantasy games so I maxed that out. The shoulders were probably about three feet wide and every muscle was bulging under my skin. I noticed that my hands and feet looked like they could crush a horse if I felt like it. Sadly I couldn’t change the size on them.
After that I went onto hair and made myself have a nice buzz cut with about two inches of hair on top. I also gave myself a respectable beard that was a solid foot long with two braids going down the sides. All in all I was literally a giant dwarf.
“All done.” I told Alex.
“Great! Now if you make the right choices you will look exactly like the character you just made! Good luck and have fun!” He said right as he spartan kicked me in the chest.
I tried to scream as I plummeted downwards but no sound escaped my mouth. At first all I could see was darkness but then light started to emerge. Then I passed through clouds. I was falling faster than I could comprehend so I wasn’t able to get many details. The next moment I slammed into something. That something was my body.
I was now fully merged with my body but I could sense something was off. I tried to look around but I couldn’t move. It wasn’t until I saw a huge woman loom over me that made everything click into place. I was a baby. I had to start this game as a fucking child and grow up normally!
The behemoth of a woman started talking but I couldn’t understand anything. I tried to let her know but since I was a baby all that came out was a wail. A concerned look crossed her face before she picked me up in her mammoth hands and pulled me towards her chest. I could only stare on in horror as she pulled out a breast that had to be larger than a volkswagen car from the old days.
As my face was pressed against the nipple, much to my dismay. I barely got the thing in my mouth. I knew that I needed to eat so is sucked just a little bit. Unfortunately her milk flooded my mouth. It had to have been a gallons worth! I started choking immediately.
She pulled me away and started patting my back as I coughed and sputtered. I finally cleared my lungs out and realized that I felt as if I had gained a pound. With a full belly I promptly shat myself and went to sleep. I got one little bit of satisfaction as I saw her nose scrunch up in disgust from the smell before I passed out.
My days went by in a blur. All I did was eat sleep and shit. It wasn’t until my third birthday that I met my father. He was a dwarf, obviously. The only reason I knew he was my father was because he told me so.
By the time I was five I was so bored with this game that I was about to just quit. I literally did nothing but play around and be a child. I did learn my mother and father's backstory though.
So my mom and dad used to be adventurers but they weren’t in the same group or anything. It was the exact opposite actually. Both of them were in rival parties that always competed with each other. One day both parties took the same quest.
The quest was to kill a corrupt politician that had defected. Well while they were on the mission they got overwhelmed and all but my father and mother were killed. Mom and Dad ran away never to look back.
sad ly the quest had to be completed otherwise they could never come back. They decided that the quest wasn’t worth it and hid out in a forest. Eventually they came to love each other and well when a man loves a woman things happen. Next was me being born.
Back to the present time of meeting my dad, finally, he decided that it was time to find out my aptitude at fighting. However I needed to train first.
“Hello son. Today is your big day huh? Big ol five. Yea i know that this is awkward… sorry about that. Anyways let’s get started. Being your dad I need to show you about the world and how it works. First is that we all have a status page that can only be accessed once you are five.”
“Now this may not make any sense at first but really it is good for everyone. You see once you get access to the status page you then have access to modifying it after you level up and get quests. Now imagine a newborn leveling up. Soon he’d be able to lift a table when he can’t even walk.”
“Anyways. Go ahead and open up your status. You will see your base numbers and you can even show them to me if you want. Don’t just show everyone though. Keep that stuff secret.”
I pull up my status menu.
Name- Odin
Race-Mixed Half Dwarf Half Giant
HP-90 .9 sec
MP-50 .5 sec
END-90 .9 sec
LEVEL-1 0/100
STR-9
CONS-9
DEX-9
CHA-5
INT-5
WIS-5
LUCK- 10
CARRY- 9 pounds
ATTACK- 9
DEFENSE- 9
I show my dad my stats as well.
“Well Odin! Those are some pretty good base stats! Now normally everything is a base 5 but being half dwarf and half giant gave you an extra four in those three. Now we need to train you. Your stat page will update the more you train. You can get titles and classes. You can even get professions if you want. That would be blacksmithing and other things that help you earn coin.” My dad said.
“Ok so first thing first is deciding on the path you want to go down. But first I have to try something. You see there are a rare breed of people out there that learn skills just by seeing them. Anything from a fireball to cooking a fish. We call these people Blue Mages. It’s a simple test, all you need to do is watch me do something and see if you learn it.” He explained.
“Um why dad? Wouldn’t my status page just tell me?” I asked. Honestly it made no sense to have such a cheat character in a game. As I was thinking this Alex messaged me.
[Yes it you Odin. However there will always be a cheat character in every game. That is why I added this. First was because I LOVE D&D. Second was because this eliminated all other cheat characters and allowed me to keep the stat OP characters out of the game. Made it balanced. Also this is COMPLETELY random. So who knows if you get it. Chao Alex.]
Well that cleared that part up. Still don’t know why we HAVE to try it though.
“Son the reason is because of the damage that can be caused by someone who doesn't know they are a blue mage. One girl managed to learn Meteor and leveled a country. Now no more talking. Let’s do this.”
With that we walk out to the front yard. As I am walking around, for the first time I might add, I start looking at all the trees around me. Sadly I didn’t get a skill like identify but oh well. Dad stops about forty feet from the house and instructs me to stop by him and watch.
“Now watch closely son. I am going to make a fireball. If you are a blue mage you will get a notification, we just call them windows, saying that you learned the spell fireball. Now sometimes it takes a couple times to learn it otherwise you won’t learn it at all.” He said.
He squared his feet and prepared to cast fireball. As soon as he did a window popped up.
You have learned Mana Manipulation! Mana Manipulation is a passive skill that allows you to move Mana in any way you see fit. As it goes up in level you will gain a percentage increase in ease of manipulation.
I decide to wait and watch my dad. More skills means being a better character. I already know now that I am a blue mage so what does it hurt?
With a huff my dad casts fireball. It was huge, at least a foot across and hot as hell. He cast it at a tree and it instantly went up in flames.
You have learned Voiceless Casting! Voiceless Casting is a passive skill that allows you to move cast without a chant. No level as it is at max level from the start. Many go decades without learning this amazing ability so feel good about your luck!
You have learned Fireball! Fireball is the perfect spell to burn your enemies or cook your food. As an active skill you must decide to use the skill before it can be activated by saying Fireball, or if you are a cheat, you can simply think it. Base attack is 10 with an additional 10 for every 10 levels and Mana cost is 20. Skill changes the higher level you get.
“Alright son. I will do it a couple more times for you just to make sure.” Dad says.
I stop him before he can start. “No need dad. Here. Look at my stats.”
I show him my stat page and laugh as his eyes pop open.
Active skills
Passive skills
Fireball. Level 1. Attack 10. Cost 20.
Mana Manipulation. Level 1: 1% easier to manipulate Mana.
Voiceless Casting. Max Level.
Hahahahahahaha! Bow before my awesomeness!
“How? How did you learn Mana Manipulation and Voiceless Cast? Oh shit I did do that didn’t I?” He turns to me completely flabbergasted. “You know that a Blue Mage hasn’t been seen in centuries right? No of course you don’t. You’re only five afterall. Shit. you have so much potential as a mage son. We need to get you out learning all the spells you can and increase your intelligence…” He starts mumbling to himself.
I interrupt his thoughts before he could go really overboard. “Dad. I also want to learn how to fight with a sword as well. I don’t want to be just a mage. I want to be more.”
“Really?” He asked as his eyes lit up even more.
“Yea. how else am I supposed to defend against an assassin or something?” I reply.
“How do you know about assassin's?” He asked with a troubled look on his face.
“Don’t worry about it!” I laugh as I try to wave it off. He grumbles slightly but decides to not push any further.
“Anyways! Dad lets focus on training!” I try to get him going so he doesn’t think too hard about the assassin comment.
“Yea. Ok well what type of fighter do you want to be? You have three options for a starter. First is Warrior. It’s your all around fighter that branches off the higher you get. Then there is Scout that deals with long range attacks. The last is the Rogue type. This one is tailored towards combat with knives and picking pockets. Well that’s the beginning three. What will it be? Normally you would have Mage as well but you are already a Blue Mage.” Dad told me.
This is a big decision. I used to be a long range attacker so that is out the window. New life after all, so new decisions. Now either Rouge or Warrior. I don’t think I can be too sneaky with my size so really I only have one option. I have no idea why I even thought about it.
“I will go with Warrior Dad.”
“Good. After all no respecting Dwarf or Giant would chose anything but that. Now first order of business is to run! Follow me!” With that my dad set of sprinting through the forest. I followed close behind thanks to my long legs. I was already taller than him due to my Giant heritage.
After a solid five minutes I was too tired to go on. I started to fall behind. As soon as I did my Dad started to yell at me. “Keep it up ya large Goblin! Push until you can’t and then push some more! We're gonna do this for an hour so you are far from done. Now MOVE!”
I willed my legs to continue. Windows came but i waved them off so I could focus on running. I hit my limit ten times in that run and broke through each of them! I felt amazing! However i also felt like I was gonna die!
My END was empty. After we had stopped I collapsed to the ground and tried to catch my breath. It wasn’t until my END came up to half that I felt better. “That was terribly Dad.” I said as I propped myself up on my elbows.
“We ain't done yet son. Look at the windows you dismissed. Yes I know you dismissed them, which is good! If you are going to be a Warrior you have to be smart enough not to look at windows while fighting.”
I reopen the windows and see that they all condensed into one.
You have pushed your body past its normal limits and increased your CONS and DEX by 10! This is truly the way to strengthen yourself. Be warned though that this will not always be that way. It gets harder the higher you get!
You have 10 in CONS and DEX. Stat points have been updated into an easy reference that you can look at for all of your stats. It shows level and what the benefits are.
You have learned the passive skill Running! Each level reduces the amount of END needed while running. Super Basic but hey all basic bitches need something like this right?
Hold on! Did the AI just call me a basic bitch? Whatever I need skills so it’s fine. Time to pull up that compiled list.
Stat Level 9
STR
Carry weight and attack+1 For each stat point
Stat Level 10
CONS
Health +20, Defence +2 and regen +.2 for every stat point
Stat Level 10
DEX
END +20 and regen +.2 for every stat point
Stat Level 5
CHA
+0% chance for favorable actions
Stat Level 5
INT
MANA +10
Stat Level 5
WIS
MANA Regen +.1 for every stat point
Stat Level 10
LUCK
+10% chance Crit and random stuff
Nice that is actually very nice. Now I know how much I will gain and what my chance percentages are.
My Dad sees that I am finished so he waves me over. I begrudgingly get up and head over to him. “We are going to do pushups and squats now. One hour like the run. Go!”
I drop to the ground after twenty and force myself back up to continue on. The hour that passed was more like a year in my mind. I hurt everywhere and had no desire to do it again after we finished. I will say that I was smart enough to have the system show me the changes after everything was done. Really I just set it on ‘Notify when safe’. Super convenient.
You have pushed your body past its normal limits and increased your CONS Has gone up by 5 and STR by 10! This is truly the way to strengthen yourself. Be warned though that this will not always be that way. It gets harder the higher you get!
You have passed 10 in STR and 20 in CONS!
Whew! That was actually worth it. Now how do I train the others? “Hey Dad! How do I train INT, WIS and CHA?” Yea I said them as if they were abbreviated. Sounds silly actually.
“First off don’t abbreviate them. It’s fine to read but you sound like an idiot if you say it outloud. Intelligence is improved by reading, Wisdom by applying the knowledge you have gained but it is easier to just dump Stat points into it. Charisma is by growing up and investing Stat poins but you won't need to worry about that since your dad is a looker and you will be to!” At this point I realize at how ‘handsome’ my dad was.
He was a solid four feet tall and almost as wide. He had a beard that went all the way down to his waist. He looked like he was made of pure muscle. I could see them through his clothes. His eyes were a startling green and his eyebrows were super bushy. Honestly he would probably be a good looking dwarf.
My mom was right behind him as well she was actually a very fair looking woman. Standing around nineteen feet with a very womanly body and long light hair. Everything about her screamed mature woman. She had a fair face that would make models cry at unfairness and eyes as deep as the ocean but as sharp as lightning.
“And what have you two been up to?” She asked.
My dad jumped and I laughed. “Oh! Dear I had no idea you were there! You shouldn’t scare me like that. Anyways we were just finishing up the physical part of the training.”
“The physical part? What do you mean by that?” She queried.
At this point I decided to jump into the conversation. “I’m a Blue Mage! I also want to train as a warrior!” I just dumped that on her to see how she would react.
For a moment she just had a stunned look on her face. “Did you say Blue Mage?”
I smiled and nodded.
She heaved a big sigh before getting a determined look on her face. “You will have much to do son. I have a hundred books that you will read that cover everything from all animals and monsters of our world all the way to politics. This will be your intelligence training. After you have read all the books you will watch us cast all our spells and perform all of our skills. It will be a lot but if you finish you will be as strong as we can possibly make you. Honestly this is the best thing that could happen to us!” She squealed.
She thundered off to the house. I reluctantly got up and followed her inside. Once inside I heard her call me from the dining room. “Come in and we shall get started on your studies! First up is the monster book. You will read a book a day and every sixth day will be a day off.”
I sigh again for the umpteenth time today as I sit down at our huge ass table. Oh did I mention how inconvenient it was to have a nineteen foot tall mother? No? Well allow me to elaborate before I read this book.
Imagine you are alice in wonderland and you are super small. I’m talking ant to a dog small. No imagine all of your house is made for the dog and you just live in the house that is meant for the dog. That is what it’s like. Infuriating.
Now the book was normal sized so that was a bonus. I won’t bore you with the detail but it covered everything. It took me four hours to read and I must say that it was actually fascinating.
All fantasy creatures were in this game so I would always have unique experiences. After I finished I got another four to INT so that was nice. Dinner was a nice giant boar with various herbs from our garden and a sweat loaf of bread. The food was divine and I even got the cooking skill since I watched my dad prepare the last bit of food.
You have learned Cooking! This is a passive skill that increases the bonuses and taste of the food by 1% for each level.
I showed my dad and he congratulated me. He also said that from now on I would be making the food. That is fine with me since I enjoy cooking. I began to think though, what is the level cap for passive skills? Could I get cooking up to a thousand? More?
“Dad. What is the level cap for skills like cooking and stuff like that?”
“Ah good question. Well it’s like this. At first you are a no named cook, cooking is going to be the example. Once you reach level twenty it goes up to novice. After twenty again it goes up to advanced. Then expert and finally master. Each level has extra bonuses. I once heard of a master cook that was max level. He was able to make a soup that rendered you immortal.” He said.
Wow. That would be great! I could keep this character forever if I wanted!
[Hey Odin! I don’t know if I told you but this latest game sports a solid 1000:1 ratio for this game's time to real world time! Have fun!]
Holy shit! A year out there is a thousand here! That means I've only spent about two days here!
I decide to go to bed and continue this amazing game. I wasn’t sure about this whole growing up thing but the time ratio made it worth it. Bidding my mom and dad good night i head off to bed.