Valerian walked over to the dummies, and saw some familiar faces. David, Brutus, and Goliath were all there, practising so the sweat dripped from their faces.

“Hey, you guys still here? Thought you left a long time ago.” Valerian said with a wave.

“Huh? Oh, Valerian? Haha, how was your trip to the hospital?” Goliath said, grinning widely, while stroking his right elbow.

“Did you die, or what?” Brutus said. He stood a bit awkwardly, leaning heavily on one leg.

“Hmm, didn’t die, but got a two days and fourteen hours lockout, probably for being unconscious. Woke up in a hospital bed with an insane headache. They said I was carried there? Is that true?” Valerian said.

This time David spoke up. “Yep, I shouted for help when you stopped moving, and the Centurion rushed over, and after checking you, he ordered some men to get a stretcher and carry you away. After that…” David looked over at Brutus and Goliath, who both smiled wryly.

David shook his head and continued his story. “These two idiots here, went at it full force. They managed to knock the weapons out of their hands, and then they started wrestling. Brutus managed to get an elbow lock on Goliath, while they were on the ground, but Goliath refused to surrender, and Brutus… kinda broke his arm. Brutus quickly got up to a standing position, having both won and not wanting to be near the screaming Goliath. However, in his rage, Goliath kicked out with full force, right on Brutus’s kneecap, snapping the leg in two. Well, backwards, at least.”

Goliath’s laughter interrupted the story. “Sorry about that! Guess it was my fault!”

Brutus only snorted in response.

“These two have also been in the hospital for about a day each. They didn’t pass out like you did, though, maybe that’s why their visit was so short in comparison. I shouted for help once again, and the Centurion came over again. This time he just shook his head, calmly ordering some men to get stretchers.” David said.

“My knee still feels wrong. Hope they don’t have permanent injuries in the game.” Brutus said, doing some stretches and bends with the leg.

“Same with my elbow. I’m sure it will pass with time. It was, after all, only a day or so ago. While it’s a lot comparing to other games, it’s nothing compared to IRL.” Goliath also did some movements with his arm.

“Yeah, my neck is kinda stiff.” Valerian said, cracking his neck.

After all, it’s impossible to talk about an injury and not move it around or show it off.

“But, let’s get back to training. Don’t wanna stay in Rome for much longer.” Valerian said and the others agreed.

After about thirty minutes of hitting the dummies, Valerian felt ready for some more sparring. The others did as well. They used the same system as before to decide the match ups.

Valerian vs Goliath in the first duel.

“So, you got any better since last time, Valerian? You lost every time, you know?” Goliath threw some friendly taunts to rile Valerian up.

Valerian kept his silence and simply twirled the sword around in his hand… which unfortunately caused the sword handle to slip out of the hand, flying away towards Goliath. The sword struck the shield with the tip first. So much for looking cool!

“Brilliant tactic there, Valerian! Almost got him!” David shouted while clapping his hands.

Brutus shook his head while sighing.

Goliath raised an eyebrow, the sudden ‘attack’ took him by surprise. However, after seeing Valerian’s embarrassed face, he simply smiled and backed away, allowing Valerian collect the sword again.

“Heh heh, oops! Let’s start for real this time...” Valerian said.

The fight finally started. Goliath charged Valerian with his shield, using the tried and true tactic of overwhelming the opponent with brute force, which worked quite well for Goliath so far.

Valerian dodged the charge, and tried to circle around to stab Goliath in the side, but Valerian was too slow and he had to defend from Goliath’s powerful blows with the shield. Each strike was like a hammer, pounding mercilessly on the wicker shield.

After Goliath attacked a few times, Valerian realized the fight was going south quickly. He had to risk it, or the shield would crumble.

Valerian raised the shield slightly higher, at an angle, while slowly inching forward. Goliath kept attacking, unaware of the plan. When Valerian got close enough, he rushed Goliath, but Valerian unexpectedly lost his balance, falling to his knees!

Goliath blew some air from his nose, laughing internally. He did not delay and rushed forward, raising his arm for a crushing swing.

The two onlookers rested their heads on their palms.

Valerian held the shield up, trying to protect himself from Goliath’s incoming mega-attack.

The first blow made Valerian’s arm buckle under the force, hitting himself in the head with the shield. Intense pain sprung up from the neck and head area, but Valerian gritted his teeth and endured.

Goliath changed stance, moving closer with one foot, as he reloaded for another attack.

Brutus leaned forward, opening his eyes fully. He smiled slightly. David, next to him, did not understand why Brutus suddenly smiled.

Valerian saw his chance! He moved his shield to the side, and almost leaped forward, his wooden sword’s tip angled down towards the ground. With a fearsome stab, putting his entire body weight behind it, he impaled his sword into Goliath’s foot!

Goliath screamed from the pain, but as he instinctively tried to pull back with his foot, he realized… it was stuck! The sword had actually penetrated through the entire foot, into the ground! Blood began to flow, painting the ground red.

“My foot!!”

Valerian did not expect such a result, and flinched back, releasing the grip of his sword.

David, who just took a sip of water from a canteen, spat it all out again with great force.

Brutus, the target of the water, did not react to his sudden shower, instead just smiling. “Looks like Valerian won. Some actual first blood. Haha, didn’t know these weapons could cause such injuries!”

“Don’t just sit there! Help me!!” Goliath roared out, using both hands to gesture wildly towards his foot.

“Good lord…” David wiped his mouth and said.

Valerian won his first battle! But at what cost?

“Get the Centurion already!” Goliath shouted out. Goliath's loud shouts had already alerted the Centurion, so he came over on his own.

“What’s this? How did such a thing happen?” The Centurion said, inspecting the wound. “Well, this will be quick...on three, I will pull it out.”

“One…”

“Two…”

“Aaargh!!”

“Hehe, three.” The Centurion laughed, holding the bloody sword. “Who owns the sword?”

“You bastard! You said on three!” Goliath wanted to punch the Centurion, but as he laid on the ground, rolled up in a ball, such a thing was... not possible.

The Centurion ignored Goliath’s ramblings, waving the sword again.

“It’s mine.” Valerian said, coming forward.

“Good strike. These weapons rarely draws blood. Don’t worry about his injury, it was a clean hit, should heal quickly. We can take him to the hospital, or just bandage it up? Your choice.”

“Eh, just bandage him up. He has already won quite a few duels. He can observe for now.”

Some soldiers gave Goliath some first aid, and he felt a bit better afterwards. The bleeding stopped, at least.

Some other users came over, and joined the duels. Brutus won his easily with some flashy movements, and David had a narrow defeat. His training efforts showed, though. Soon, David would be at Valerian’s level.

While some other users dueled, the group of four sat on the ground, talking casually about their plans for the future.

“So, what are you gonna do after this? Planning to start a village?” Valerian asked.

“Isn’t it a bit late for that? The best safe spots have most likely been taken already. The further away from the portal you go, the more dangerous it gets, you know.” Brutus said.

“Hmm, no, don’t think so.” David pitched in with his opinion. “The New World is huge, and got plenty of room for everyone. Living closer to the NPC towns might not be the best idea either. Who knows what kind of treasures are hiding in the Wilderness. Anyway, I’m gonna be a Merchant! I’m mainly waiting for the villages to grow up a little first. They would most likely only be interested in buying construction supplies right now, and those are not very profitable. Hard to transport and sells for little.” David said.

“Haha, a Merchant!” Goliath laughed, making David glare at him.

“What’s wrong with a merchant? Huh?!” David said, kicking Goliath in the injured foot.

“Ow! You!” Goliath shrunk back with his leg, trying to protect his foot with his hands. Unfortunately for him, David did not let go, and kicked him again. “Aaah! Stop! Sorry!”

“Hmph! See? Merchants are not to be messed around with! Anyway, what are you going to do?” David said, sitting down again.

Goliath breathed out a sigh of relief. “Gonna join the army if I can. If not, maybe a Gladiator. Or a Mercenary perhaps. Something that fights a lot. My only problem is that the standard Legionnaire gear isn’t very suited for my fighting style. I want some kind of two-handed weapon.”

Brutus seemingly ignored the scene that just happened, returning to David’s answer. “A Merchant, eh? Suits you, I guess?”

“Not sure if that’s a compliment or not…” David said with a slight frown.

Brutus continued without responding to that. “I’m going for some kind of bandit myself. Usually play a chaotic or criminal character in games. Sadly, being ‘evil’ is often limited, and you end up simply killing off the NPCs, making the game emptier.”

“B-bandit?! You’re not going to attack me, are you?!” David said with fear in his voice, quickly inching away from Brutus.

The group laughed at David.

Brutus shook his head. “No, not unless you carry something really valuable through my Territory. In fact, it would be a good idea to cooperate. If you hear about a big trade, someone disguising their goods, or something similar from your Merchant friends, feel free to tell me.”

“Working together with a bandit...?” David stopped to think. He did not think long, and lit up with a smile. “Sounds great! Hope you can rob my competition!”

“Let’s shake on it.” The two men firmly gripped each other's hands, both of them laughing loudly. This was the beginning of a very profitable partnership.

After things had calmed down a bit, Valerian asked something that had been on his mind. “So, how are you going to become a bandit? Won’t the patrols take you out?”

“Here’s what I had in mind: You know how all goods must be manually transported, including money transfers from vassals, tributes and bribes? I suspect many guilds or alliances will team up, boosting a single user to create a large city quickly. To do that, they must transport the goods and money from all the vassal’s villages, and those caravans will most likely be very lightly guarded, since guards are expensive, you know. Not to mention, since they are on their own Territory, they won’t expect to get robbed. Get a bunch of peasants and hunters with ranged weapons and you can most likely win without too heavy losses. Basic hit and run tactics.” Brutus said.

The others pondered on his plan in silence.

Valerian broke the silence first. “Um, anyway. I had planned to get a village running. Maybe we can all work together one day?” Valerian said, hinting shamelessly that they were welcome to join.

Sadly, everyone had their own plans for now.

“I know! Let’s all add each other to the Friend List.” Goliath took out a piece of paper. “It’s quite different from other games. I read about it online. You can use a drop of blood, or just write your name on it.”

The others stared at the blank paper, except for the top, where ‘Friend List’ stood in big letters.

“How do you get one?” David asked.

“Hmm… you simply reach into your inventory, and think ‘Friend List’. It’s in there, but hidden.” Goliath explained.

“Huh, it worked! Got some writing materials if you want. Some quill pens and ink.” Valerian took out a quill pen for each person. “So, you just write the name of the person you want to add, right?”

“Yep!” Goliath quickly wrote down ‘David’, and the black ink lit up in a golden color, shining brightly on the paper, before turning black again. It transformed Goliath’s sloppy handwriting into something that seemed to be machine written.

They quickly added each other, and returned the quill pens to Valerian. Once two users added each other, a green circle appeared beside the names, probably showing the user’s current status.

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“So, now what? How does it work?” Valerian asked, while trying different methods to contact the names on the list.

“Well, they didn’t know exactly. Maybe you need another item to communicate with each other?” Goliath shrugged. “At least, now we won’t forget about each other.”

They stopped talking at this point, because it was their turn to fight again. David versus Goliath and Valerian versus Brutus. Time for a rematch!

David looked a bit more confident this time. His skills had increased, while Goliath was injured! It was now or never!

“So, you gonna make me come to you? With my injured foot?” Goliath said, after waiting ten seconds for David to make the first move.

“Well… yeah?”

“Fine. No mercy then…” Goliath slowly moved forward, dragging his injured foot behind him.

Once in reach, Goliath started swinging like usual. David blocked them, but each impact knocked the shield back, slamming into his own body.

David could not compete in strength, but he now held an overwhelming advantage in speed! David circled around, looking for openings. He poked several times, trying to get a stab in, but Goliath was unexpectedly quick with the rotation of his body. By planting his good heel in the loose dirt, and using his injured foot to turn him, Goliath spun around with ease.

David bent down to dodge a sudden wide swing, but not fast enough. The sword scraped against the helmet, sending it flying.

“Hah! Surely that counts?” Goliath stopped fighting for now, allowing David to pick up his helmet again.

“Hm, probably. If that was real, who knows if that helmet would be split in two or not?” Brutus said, acting as the judge. “Goliath wins! However, good fight David, much better than the last one.”

“Ugh, why are you so much stronger than me? Shouldn’t we both be level one?” David asked, while rubbing his head, where the sword struck against the helmet.

“Haha, don’t you know? There are no levels in this game, and your IRL body is simply copied over! Of course, any injuries and diseases are cured. You can train your in-game body to be stronger, but that will take time, and someone like me will have a huge advantage in the start.” Goliath laughed while flexing his muscles.

“Wait, so I can never catch up to you?” David asked.

“Not exactly. Since you are so… weak, you will gain strength faster than someone like me, who is already nearing the human natural limit. Haven’t you noticed how much stronger you are now, compared to when you first arrived? You took breaks every few minutes before, and now you can hit the dummies for twenty minutes before pausing! I suggest you start working out IRL too. That will carry over to the game, and be very helpful in general.” Goliath said, causing David to look at him with astonishment.

“That’s true! Ah, but isn’t that very unfair? You can dominate for a long time, just with your natural body size…”

“Hm… But looking back at our lunch breaks, I clearly ate more than you, and my gear is bigger, meaning it will cost more to create. Then again, my inventory is bigger than yours… Oh well. Guess I’m more likely to get hit by arrows!” Goliath laughed at his joke.

Goliath and David then walked away to the side, talking about different training techniques. Goliath also showed him several bodyweight exercises.

Valerian and Brutus was up next. At a glance, their builds were similar, but Brutus clearly had more muscles than Valerian. The Gaming Gel™ technology was no substitute for proper exercise! At least, when talking about building muscles. To compare its effect with a real exercise, it was more like going for a run. Activates the muscles, but not enough strain to break them down, forcing the muscle fibers to rebuild.

“Hey, do you train in any martial art, or something like that?” Valerian asked. Brutus had been unnaturally good at fighting since the beginning.

“Hmph, maybe.” Brutus clearly did not want to talk about it.

“Gotta keep up the mysterious Bandit Leader image, right?” Valerian joked, something Brutus did not seem to appreciate, since he immediately charged Valerian.

It caught Valerian by surprise, and he immediately raised the shield, blocking four quick swings. Valerian quickly stepped back to create some distance, but Brutus followed after, attacking over and over again.

Valerian decided to stand his ground, exchanging blows whenever he could.

That was a mistake.

Only a few swings later, Brutus somehow managed to pull off a leg sweep on Valerian, who ended up on the ground, with a sword pointed at his neck.

Brutus reigned supreme as the undefeated champion. His only threat, Goliath, was injured badly, and gave up without a fight.

“Lost again, huh. Seems no one can beat Brutus!” Valerian said as he got up from the ground.

At this point, the Centurion came over to the group.

“I have observed your duels and you four, follow me.” He pointed at Valerian’s group.

David wore a big smile on his face. He did not expected to pass the training with his... results.

“Hmm, you there. The small one. I didn’t mean you, get back to your training! I meant the one behind you.” The Centurion’s words made David’s smile freeze.

They turned around and saw that another guy stood behind them. His face lit up in excitement, and he quickly followed the Centurion.

“Um, well, we will see you later, I guess. Keep up the hard work, David.” Valerian said, trying to cheer him up.

“Uh, yeah. Guess I still have some time to kill, before I should start looking for a Merchant job. Better get right to it!” David ran back to the dummies to train.

David looked a bit lonely, standing there and hitting the dummies with all the force he could muster. After the group started to walk away, David stopped, turning around, and sighed to himself as he looked at the backs of his friends advancing forward.

---

Valerian, Brutus, Goliath and the newcomer followed the Centurion to another small training field.

“Right, listen up! You got two options! You can either choose to continue your swordsmanship training with a lighter, or rather, a standard weight sword. Or, you can try out the pila. You won’t start with a real one, since they are designed to bend on impact, but we got plenty of wooden javelins for you to throw.” The Centurion quickly explained their options with a stern face.

All of them decided to learn the proper pila throwing techniques.

“Right! Each of you, grab ten javelins and start throwing! I want to see what I’m dealing with first.”

Goliath went first. “Watch and learn!” He threw the wooden javelin with a grunt, accidentally leaning on his injured foot, messing up his balance. The javelin flew out from his hand with great speed...until it impaled itself into the ground, only three meters away.

“Mars, give me strength….” The Centurion shook his head.

Goliath stood there, slack jawed and stunned, watching the result of his failed throw.

“Good job.” Brutus went next. He weighed the javelin in his hand, feeling the heavy weight, and calculating in his head. He made a good throw, and it flew in the air, but landed short. Two meters from the target.

The target was twenty meter away, so not a bad first try.

“My turn…” Valerian said. He had learned a lot watching the two others. Watch the footing, maintain a proper balance, and do not hold back. After stomping the ground for a few seconds, trying to get a good spot to stand on, Valerian threw his javelin. It went high up in the air, and...spun around?

The javelin spun around a half lap, landing with the blunt end, about ten meters from the target.

“How is that even possible…?” The Centurion said quietly to himself.

The first throw was a disaster on many levels. The following throws did not improve much. The javelins failed to reach, or simply missed the target. Once the javelins did hit, they spun around and smashed into the target with the bottom or side first. A few more throws straight into the ground. One time, the javelin even slipped out from the hand, flying backwards when withdrawing the arm. But the constant turning around, as they held a javelin over the shoulder, hitting each other in the head, must have been the worst part.

The Centurion pinched his nose bridge, and other similar gestures, several times during the training.

“Right, listen up you worthless maggots! Here’s what you need to do…”

A thorough lesson, filled with all kinds of little details they had no idea about, followed for the next hour. The results, however, spoke for themselves. After only four hours, they all passed the Centurion’s minimum demands!

“Right, good job! I would hesitate to stand next to you in a line formation, but I guess you have passed the bare minimum for this public training hall. As a reward, you will each be given a brand new Wooden Sword! The same type as you started with, heavier than normal weapons. They are very durable, and its blunt edge will keep you from accidentally killing your opponent. You are, of course, always welcome to stay here and keep training. It is, after all, open for the public. Now, if you excuse me, I must return to watch over my men.” After those kind words the Centurion left.

The group went and picked up their new weapons.

Brutus seemed extra happy for the reward. “Excellent! With this, I can easily knock people out. Very helpful for capturing prisoners and slaves.”

“Th-that’s why you wanted it?!” Goliath said with some shock.

Valerian exhaled out a long sigh. “Hah… you truly are evil.” Valerian said as he shook his head.

“Hey, there's a lot of money in that, and it’s not even against the law! So, who can blame me? Better than killing them for sure.” Brutus smiled. He clearly had put in a great deal of planning and thought into his Bandit business.

“Hey, Septimus, what are you planning to do after this?” Goliath asked, trying to change the subject.

Septimus, the fourth member that came out of nowhere, taking David’s spot. He also passed the training.

“My life’s goal is to rebuild my clan! However, the Old World is impossible...so I must turn my gaze towards the New World! I come from North of here... a Province Rome conquered about fifty years ago. I’m not particularly angry about that, I’m born Roman, have a Roman name, would give my life for Rome, and it’s all I know... but I’m now the only one left, my tribe’s culture and memory resides on my shoulders...” Septimus looked into the distance as he reminisced about better times.

The others looked at each other, thinking it was quite odd to put so much backstory into one's character.

Septimus misunderstood it as pity and quickly said: “Ah, but don’t feel sorry for me. It happens all the time. Wars and raids destroys many families.”

Suddenly, the atmosphere changed to a very awkward one. Septimus quickly tried to change the subject again.

“My full name is Septimus Hostilius Carnifex, by the way. May I know yours?”

“Hmm, only got my single name.” Valerian said.

Brutus and Goliath said the same.

“Eh, how is that possible? Didn’t your clan…” Septimus stopped there, realizing that these three did not even have a clan in the first place! Here he complained about being the last member of his clan, to a bunch of orphans that never knew the meaning of a clan...

“Nevermind, I guess… So, as I was saying before, I’m going to the New World to start up a village. Anyone of you want to join?” Septimus said with a smile.

“Nah, we all got our own plans. I’m joining some fighting force, Valerian wants to create his own village, and Brutus will lead his own Bandit gang.” Goliath explained.

“Very well. I hope to hear great things from you one day. Good bye, for now.” Septimus turned around, walking away towards the exit.

“Hey, wait! Let’s add each other to the Friend List?” Valerian half-shouted out.

Septimus stopped, and looked over his shoulder. His eyebrows jumped up in surprise at first, but soon after, scrunched together. “What’s that? Never heard of it. Anyway, need to go now.” After Septimus said those words, he sped up his pace, and quickly left.

“What the, thought he liked us?”

The three stood there, scratching their heads, wondering exactly what just happened. They quickly recovered, saying their goodbyes and went on their own separate ways.

Should visit Prisca in the library to say goodbye, and then I can finally leave Rome and actually start playing the game! This ‘tutorial island’ took longer than I expected...feels like it has been months since I started my journey...

With that thought, Valerian left the training hall, heading towards the library.