I enter the game after eating, showing, etc… The sun was just rising entering a new day and today is the day I leave the castle and level up. Before I entered the game I went on the computer to research about fighting creatures, you would really think that since the game just came out no one would know anything about it but that is not true.
Although the game just came out it was just the complete official release. The game had to go through the alpha and beta stages but the company informed us that during those stages the world had to be made by the A.I. In order to not go bankrupt the company got people who were willing to pay for an early experience of the game even thou they will lose most of their things upon the release.
The early players only got a limited experience since only a fraction of the world was completely made but it was good for them since they can keep playing without being bored of the same things. They lose their things but they do get special treatment upon the release.
According to a form the alpha and beta testers get better customization without paying, 1 or 2 extra techniques, an extra inventory pouch, they are also given 5 free stat points to use, and finally they are free from the beginner house arrest thing.
The early players were not few in number because according to the info anyone who is willing to pay and not mind losing their character were allowed access to it. Basically anyone who has money will be way ahead of everyone else.
Those who sponsor TechnoArc are given even more things such as land or special weapons or items.
Even with all the disadvantages to the beginner players the forms say that all these extra things do not affect other players because anyone can catch up to them depending on their actions. “ So don’t whine about how they got advantages. Instead work to become better and if you can’t then try other things”
‘ What true words. If you can’t beat them at their own playing field then just use other methods such as trickery or assassinations’ I thought while I smile
‘Well according to the forms, creatures have intelligence even if it is very little. They have the will to survive and when endangered they would either fight or flight.’ I continue thinking while the sun has finally risen and a knock on the door was heard
“Yes? Come in” I say
“Silvi-sama it’s Sakura. I have come to tell you that it is time to leave” Sakura says while coming in
“It’s time huh. Let’s go” I say walking out the door with Sakura and start chatting with her
We reach the group program meeting area from yesterday and saw many other people already there and more were coming. Adventurers were glancing at both of us and some even came up to us to talk.
The chatting lasted about 5 min until one of yesterdays experience adventurer came and introduced himself to the people who arrived on time. He bought along a few other samurais with him for safety issues.
“Hello everyone! You may remember me from yesterday as one of the adventurers standing behind instructor Ki. My name is Yon and I will be in charge of you till lv 10 afterwards you will see instructor Ki to select your class and receive a special skill. You will go to the lv 10-20 supervisor for further training. Are there any questions?” Yon asks
There was silence among the group which means there were no questions.
“Alright! I hope you have bought everything you need because this is a kind of survival program that will get you ready for future adventures. Let’s begin moving and as we are moving please begin making your teams or if you want to work alone you can but it may be a bit harder” Yon says as he takes the lead walking
Everyone in the group start following and then talks to each other to begin forming parties. Of course I formed a party with Sakura but it would be better to have at least a semi full party for easier and faster hunting. A group of 3 girls ran towards us and I remembered that they were also the first 3 to approach us a few min ago.
“Hey Silvia-san! Sakura-san! You want to form a party with us?” The girl with black hair and black eyes shouts
“We only have 3 people so there’s a lot of room Silviaaa, Sakuraaa” the girl with gold blond hair and blue eyes says
“It will be fun you 2” says the girl with pink hair and eyes
The 3 girls have already introduced themselves as (going by order) Akiko an adventurer, Lute an Explorer, and Mari an Explorer.
“Want to join them Sakura? I think it will be fun” I say to Sakura while waving at them
“I think so too Silvi. Building relationships are one of the most important things for teamwork and survival.” She answers waving to them as well
During the program Sakura was told by me not to call me by –sama because it might give away my identity as a princess.
The girls reached us and we agreed to form a party with them making the party in total 5 people. The maximum amount of people per party is usually 7 but it can change depending on title, equipment, skills or party type such as a raid party.
During the rest of the trip I chatted with my new team-mates on game related material such as when they started and about their future in the game.
I told them they can call me Silvi if they don’t want to say the –a at the end. We also decided to call Akiko by Aki and she agreed. We all became quick friends.
It turns out that we 3 players started when the game was officially released so none of us were alpha or beta testers. Both Aki and Sakura became old enough to become adventurers so they decided to become adventurers this year. The only difference between those 2 is that Sakura is the daughter of the Iga family’s retainers and was chosen to serve me as a maid thus received training.
Both Lute and Mari spent their days in Iga castle and town helping out by doing small quests like delivery and serving at restaurants making some money and exp. Small exp from those quests do add up making them higher level than me, I was really the lowest level among the other members of the group since I only spent my time talking and training.
The levels are:
Silvia: lv 1
Sakura: lv 7
Mari: lv 2
Lute: lv 2
Aki: lv 5
(Remember adventurers live on the land and do chores and jobs that will give them a little bit of exp. Explorers can also do small jobs for a little exp and lv up. Every level up gives 10 unused stats and dying cuts a players stat and exp in half. The stats debuff will last 24 hours RT.)
I asked them about their future in the game and they answered. Turns out Lute wants to become a close quarter combat warrior, Mari wants to become a mage, Aki a miko, and Sakura an archer.
A mage is a class anyone in the world can become who specialize in using magic to fight but the miko class in the game is focused on barriers, seals, detection, purifying, and healing and is a class specific to the East.
When they asked what I wanted to become I told them maybe an assassin because during my research I found out that the Iga clan was a ninja clan. Plus the best weapon I can use right now were short swords known as tanto.
We arrive at the destination east of the castle town. It was a plain full of short grass and beside it was a small forest where there is enough light to see many hidden places. It was also filled with many monsters and a few people who belong to the last group of about 60 people.
The samurais set down the things they were carrying and Yon came up in front of the group and told everyone that this area was for training from lv 1-10.
“Those who do not have a weapon please go to the samurais to the left and ask for a weapon and then go to the right for some food and rest from the walk. However that is the only free meal and weapon so if you want more food, a new weapon or repair you must pay with the loot found by killing monsters. This is a survival program, if you can’t survive in these conditions then please return home. Any questions?” Yon says
“What if the monsters only drop items and not money?” a person asks
“There are merchants over by the lv 30-40 area who are buying and selling things as well” Yon says pointing towards the hill to the right
After a min of silence he dismisses the group and told everyone “Happy Hunting, if you need me I will also be here”
Everyone disperses to the left to get hold of the weapons before they run out. The weapons were split between the samurais by the weapons they are. In the early stages of the game before the class change beginners can only use non-magical weapons such as swords, daggers, spear, bow, etc.
I ask the other girls if they wanted to meet up here again after receiving our weapons and then go get our food. They agreed and we went our separate ways to get our weapons.
Everyone who got their weapons were already going to the right side while those who wanted to try out the weapon first are given practice weapons to try among themselves. I waited in line as the last person because I wanted to check as many daggers out to see if any of them have better stats with the skill Observe.
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When it got to my turn I look behind me to see if anyone was there but there was no one so I decided to take my time but not too long. I rummage through the short swords checking each one with the Observe skill. I kept the one with the biggest attack damage in my hand while I try to find a better one and after a while I was about to give up until my hand moved a few swords away.
I see the dagger in the corner of the box and decide to just observe it because nothing can go wrong with checking an extra blade.
“Observe” I say looking at the blade
Graced bladeType:TantoDurability:100 / 100Quality:uncommon
A short sword crafted by very young smith at a fairly young age. This short sword was his best achievements before making rarer items.+20 att,+5 dex, + 2 str, level 1 requirement
‘What the heck!!!’ I almost yell out but stopped myself
I could not believe that this amazing blade is still in the box and untouched. The stats it gives and durability is very good given that the blade requirement is lv 1. I almost laughed out loud but stopped myself and told the guard that I would be taking the blade. He nods and lets me go.
‘Looks like he doesn't know how good this blade is. O well lucky me’ I thought and then a notice pops up
You have found an amazing sword from a box full of beginner swords. +1 luk
I walk towards the meeting spot with a big grin and notice that everyone was already there waiting for me.
‘Guess I took a bit longer than I thought’
I wave at them and asked them what weapons they got.
Aki got a pole-arm that she would use until she gets maybe a staff, Sakura got a bow and bought a few throwing knives and a quiver of 1000 wooden arrows, Lute got a Katana, and Mari also got a bow because she believes that if she can increase her accuracy which will help later on.
We all went to get our lunch because we were all hungry but also excited because we get to hunt our first monster in the game before many other beginners.
While eating bread and drinking tea we start discussing where to train first and what monsters will be the easiest for our lv. The monsters around the plains are mainly passive while the small forest has many passive monsters but some are passive-aggressive who will attack when you get near it.
The monsters who occupy the plains are slimes, rabbits, deer, and sometimes stray foxes who are passive-aggressive. In the forest there are the same monsters in the plains plus a few more but no one can see since trees are still in the way even if it is a small forest.
After we finished our lunch we set off to the grassy plains to fight the generic weak slimes.
We found a slime and decided to have Lute fight it 1 on 1 to see if it will cause any problems soloing them later on for grinding some levels.
We watch Lute as she runs towards it and slashes down straight in the middle, when contact was made and her sword sank down she closed her eyes confident that she defeated it. The slime pops and shrinks into some kind of gel plus leaving 3 copper coins.
We were confident that Lute will have no problem soloing the slimes but we needed to know if everyone needed help so we had everyone tested. No one had any problems except for the archers because they had to pin point their weak spots in order to get a kill which was the centre of the body between the black dot eyes.
Everyone decided that soloing slimes is easy enough and provide decent exp but since there were many people around here, hunting slimes will be difficult because of the amount of people going for them.
There were more rabbits than slimes in the plains so we decided to hunt them. We thought they were easy but turns out they were quite fast but only for the other 3 girls. Both Sakura and I had received training till our stats were max at lv 1 had no trouble hunting rabbits which surprised the others.
“Hey! I can understand Sakura being able to easily hunt the rabbits but how can a a low lv like you do the same?” Lute asks
“I received some hard training by some friends and thus got my stats higher without levelling” I answer
“You must have trained for a long time to get this strong. I'm jealous” Aki says with a smile
“The training was HELL!!! So please don’t be jealous “ I say looking at them with eyes of terror remembering the past
“Ahh~~~ then let’s not talk about it any more and focus on getting even stronger” Mari says
We all agreed with her and got back to hunting. Since it was still hard for the others to kill a rabbit both Sakura and I decided to injure the rabbit and allow the girls to finish them off. We all raised our levels to about lv 6 except Sakura who gained 1 lv to 8 and Aki who is at lv 7 since rabbits gave very little exp. I caught up with Lute and Mari because I could solo the rabbit and gain a little exp from helping the 2 but after lv 4 they were able to hunt them easily.
The stats we got from levelling were put into our chosen fields but I choose to save it along with the special 10 stats given to me by being a player who logged in on the day of release making it 60 unused points. I decided to use the points after I make my advancement to a class.
The other girls also got free points from either training their str or stamina while fighting. Since I already got a lot of free points from training I can still gain more much is 2-3x harder.
Turns out that the free stats gained in the beginning are the easiest to get when trained but after that getting more free stats mean working maybe 2-5x maybe even 10x harder. This means getting the free stats early like Sakura and Silvia means that they can do well early in the game compared to the others but as the player’s progress everyone will soon be on the same page.
We started hunting the herd of deer around the plains who were lv 7. They were fast at running from us making it difficult to fight them plus when all 10 members of the herd gather they charge straight at us like a tank. Taking the charge head on means major damage so we had to regroup and think of counter measures.
It took some time but we finally thought of a plan to fight back against the herd.
The plan was to use range weapons to attack the legs crippling the deer and when the first deer is stopped the back ones will collide with the front causing collateral damage and this is when we strike. Sakura and I can handle the confused deer who were still charging without its group and a single deer is easier to deal with. The rest of the girls went to fight the crippled ones on the group.
The hunt was easy after knowing the counter measures against the charge and since they were lv 7 our exp went up quite fast. Everyone got to lv 9 except Sakura who got to 10.
We were about 50% from lv 10 and decided to go hunt foxes in the forest area to lv up faster. Foxes are lv 10 mobs who hunt alone but a party can still have a tough time with them since they are flexible and agile dodging attacks plus they have better at sensing projectiles compared to a deer.
We were able to find a fox very easily because of luck but it sensed us and ran away. We ran after it while also killing weak mobs on the way and by the time we caught up to it the sun was almost down and we were about 2% from levelling.
We wanted to take care of it ASAP because we didn't want to fight mobs in the dark due to the night boost for monsters but it didn't really bother me since I also get a boost.
When we got about 40m from the fox something gray flashed out at it.
We watched the fox get destroyed by the gray beast and then got torn into pieces and eaten. We just stood at where we were watching the entire thing unfold shocked and surprised but also a hint of fear. We did not move until it sensed us as moved its head towards us.
It was a Gray wolf lv 20 which was supposed to be a mob in the lv 10-20 area but somehow it had ended up in the light forest. It watched us with its eyes filled with blood-lust which shot fear into us, it was not until the wolf took a step towards us that Sakura finally snapped out of it and told us to run. We were about to run away from the wolf towards where we came from but another wolf seem to have appeared behind us as well blocking the path.
We were in between two lv 20 mobs who specialize in hunting prey and we were their pray. There was only one way out of this situation and that is to…
“Everyone we must split up and run for it. If it was morning we 5 might be able to take on one of the wolves while distracting the other but it is night now and they get a bonus stat boost.” I say
“Silvi is right we aren’t strong enough to fight them with such minimal visibility and bad terrain of the forest.” Sakura says agreeing
“So two of us dies while the other 3 survives huh” Aki says
“Well it won’t be random.” I say
“What do you mean?” Lute asks
“Since me and Sakura have better stamina and dex compared to you 3 we can get away faster so we will stay and distract them for maybe a minute max. That means you 3 will have about a min to run out of the forest.” I answer
“Bu-But we can’t just leave you two here” Aki says
“I can’t leave you 2 either” says Mari
“We have no choice Aki since this is the best survival strategy for all 5 of us to survive.” Sakura says
“Don’t ask any more questions. We don’t have enough time… They look like they’re about to pounce” I say
“The moment they pounce you run and we will distract them.” Sakura says
The girls didn't want to leave us but they knew there were no other options since we have better stats then them at the moment so they reluctantly agreed.
The moment the wolves launched themselves at us we all split up in different directions. The wolves saw that everyone ran and was about to choose a target and give chase but both Sakura and I struck them before they gave chase.
I stuck the wolf closest to me after evading its attack to keep its eyes on me and doing some damage, then saw Sakura doing the same thing to the other wolf. I looked towards Sakura and yelled “Good luck” and ran towards the direction away from the other girls making the wolf follow me into the darkness.