《Ancients》 Chapter 1 - Dream Dive New TECHNOLOGY ARISES! New sites, online posts, and blogs were filled with different comments and opinions regarding ''Ancients'', the new online virtual reality game that has speculated to have the full-dive experience. A digital world that seems real. A new world. It was said that this technology was the latest product of the military introduced to civilians. However, no one knows if this news is real. A mysterious company, Dream, suddenly appeared and introduce new equipment to dive into the unknown. Malls, stores, and even online stores are filled with this virtual reality gear - a dream dive. This high-tech gear was cheap only cost less than Php10,000. Many bought it on its first day of release due to their fear of being unable to play the Ancients. During the first day sale, online stores were loaded with orders, shops are lined with thousands of people before the crack of dawn. Luckily, our protagonist Juan already lined up at midnight. He was at the 10th spot at the very front with his sleeping bag and pillow.
Brrrrr brrrrr brrrrr -phone vibrates "Yow Dex" - Juan answered the call Dexter or Dex for short is Juan''s best friend since childhood. They are neighbors and classmates from daycare nursery to high school. In college, Juan took Materials Science and Engineering with his government scholarship while Dex took Accountancy with varsity scholarship. Dex stood 5''10 ft and has an athletic build due to his being in basketball varsity. However, being the hunk himself, he is a geek inside. Similar to Dex, Juan also has an athletic build. He got it from his love to jog and doing exercise. Sometimes, he also goes to the gym. Both of them love to read light novels and mangas, watch anime, and play games especially role-playing games. However, Juan also has a passion for agriculture and science stuff. "Have you bought the new gear" - Dex replied "Yup! I''m on my way home to open the box" - Juan excitedly replied "I also got mine today, let''s meet up after logging into the game. Hopefully, there''s only one server and beginner spawn point" - Dex "See you in the Ancients" - Juan said as he closed the phone.
Upon reaching his home, Juan excitedly opens the box and reads the manual. The dream dive is a helmet kind of virtual reality gear. It fully supports the head, comfortable to wear, and light-weight. It was almost to the point you barely feel anything. It has an emergency battery for unexpected electricity cut-off and a slot for mobile internet. Together with the helmet is an internet sim card provided by Dream for a stable internet connection of all drive gear. According to the manual, the Ancient was played inside the dreams. The gear accesses the subconscious of the mind to operate the game while the conscious part of the mind relaxes during the sleep.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. "This is a state-of-the-art gear!" - Juan shouted! Following the instruction in the manual. Juan plugged the gear into the electric outlet besides his bed. It was currently 6:00 pm and time for dinner and the Ancient will go live at midnight. He still has time to prepare for bed and relax his excitement.
During dinner, he ate a lot together with his family. They are not rich and not poor. They are what you call middle-class families. His family of 6 is composed of his father, mother, two older sisters, and a younger brother. His father is a public-utility jeepney driver, his mother is a common housewife, his oldest and youngest siblings are both project managers and his second sister is a teacher. Juan himself is a researcher (a kind of combination of a scientist and engineer) in his field. His family knew about his hobbies and ask about the new trending game worldwide. "I already bought and set up the gear inside my bedroom" - Juan answered. "Wow, it was just released today right?" - asked his brother. "Well, After work yesterday... since it is Friday... I went straight to the mall and bought some camping supplies, ate dinner, watched movies to pass the time, then camped outside the mall. Hehe" - Juan answered truthfully. The whole family looked at him simultaneously and his mom shouted: "Juan! for God''s sake, you know you can order online right?" "I was so busy at work I forgot to order online. Hehehe" - Juan smilingly answered "Take care of yourself! Thanks the Lord nothing bad happened to you" - His mother. Juan knew that his family loves each other very much. Even he loves his family. His mother has a tendency to be overprotective but he loves this part of his mother. "By the way, I also bought every one of you with your own dream dive. It is in the living room now" - Juan told them. He suddenly received a spank on the back of his head from his father. While tending to his ''aching'' head, he heard his eldest sister told him "You should save your money. Keep some for emergency use". Juan just smiled and nodded. He knew himself he still has some savings left. He jokingly told himself that money should be expended to boost the economy. He believes that money should be used first for necessities, then next is happiness, last is savings for emergencies. After dinner, he helped his family set up their own dive gear.
11:59 PM Juan wore the helmet and proceeded to sleep. Inside his dream, he saw a big screen in front while everything else is creepy black. he did not know where he was but one thing for sure is - he is inside the Ancient!
COUNTDOWN
0 HRS 0 MIN 30.00 SEC
Only 30 seconds remaining before his dream dive. He stared for the whole 30 seconds without blinking at the big screen until his view became a bright blinding white then what followed was something he can''t comprehend. He was standing in the sky! Under him is the aerial view of his neighborhood! -To be continue- Chapter 2 – Spirit Dive Only 30 seconds remaining before his dream dive. He stared for the whole 30 seconds without blinking at the big screen until his view became a bright blinding white then what followed was something he cannot comprehend. He was standing in the sky! Under him is the aerial view of his neighborhood! Chapter 2 ¨C Spirit Dive ¡°Woooooaaahhhhh! Is that our house? How can I see it up here? Why am I up here? Aren¡¯t I¡¯m supposed to be inside the game? How can I fly? Or should I call it levitate? Airwalk?¡± Series of confusing questions come out of Juan mouth. He tried to walk around and it feels like he is on a big screen projecting G**gle maps of satellite view. But unlike the satellite view of the map, the view below my feet has no randomly caught person in it. (Yup, check out Maps and you will see randomly caught images of people in some streets) The images are like what it was moments ago, the night view and lights inside the houses. Only questions come inside his head and no one can answer it. Moments later, a roller coaster thrilling experience has occurred. The world below him rotated. A dizzy Juan tries to hold his consciousness awake and not to puke around. The once below his feet positioned above his head. Blinking his eyes, he was like in the middle of a mirror where he can see two copies of the world. Another second pass looking at the world above changes occurred. New trees, faunas, and creatures suddenly appeared outside and within the existing human habitat. A voice was heard: ¡°This is a separate world that coexists with your dimension ¨C the mirror world. We created the game Ancients for you to experience and live in our world. In this world, you can be what you want to be. Perseverance can help you reach your goal¡± ¨C A beautiful woman suddenly appeared with him. ¡°Who are you, Miss?¡±- Juan ¡°Hi Juan, I am one of the local spirits live in this place, Diwata Makiling¡± ¨C Diwata Makiling ¡°Wow! Is this real or this is a product of new technology. Everything is so real!¡± ¨C Juan thought to himself. ¡°It¡¯s real¡± ¨C Smiling Diwata Makiling answered ¡°You can read my mind?¡± ¨C Juan ¡°Yes, you exist here as a consciousness. Everything you think of can be read by powerful beings such as myself¡± ¨C Diwata ¡°Cool! But how about my privacies?¡± ¡°You can protect yourself. Be strong¡± ¡°How¡± ¡°Remember this is a game. Leveling up. Being strong. Strong skills. Inheritance. And all.¡± ¡°How can I play¡± ¡°Let us establish your character. I¡¯ll do a spirit scan to check your body measurements¡ª ¡° ¡°Wait. Spirit scan?¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Yes. Remember you are connected here with your mind. And every person''s mind houses his spirit. And this spirit is working hand in hand with the physical body. I will use this connection to scan your body and spirit¡± ¡°Okay! Do it¡± ¨C Juan excitedly agreed Suddenly, an electrifying feeling covered his whole body. And a blue window appeared in front of him which reminded him he was still inside the game.
Name: Juan Cruz Level? 1
Age:? 25
Health?? 150
Energy Magic 350/350
Psi 200/200
Faith 500/500
Qi 100/100
Title:?? Descendant of Light Protectors. Descendant of Dark Protectors. **HIDDEN**
Stats
Strength 17 Intelligence 20
Stamina 15 Spirit 50
Dexterity 16 Charm 14
Agility?? 20 Luck 50
Skills: None
Protection Ancient God of Light. Ancient God of Dark. **HIDDEN**
¡°Oh my Ancients! I did not know someone from ancient lineage is still alive today. Juan, you and your family have very close ties with the Ancient natives. I hope you enjoy our world.¡± ¨C Diwata Makiling ¡°What is this descendant was about¡± ¡°In the past civilizations of the ruling class of your world now, your humankind and other races have closely interacted with each other. Mighty beings give the protectors who have their blessings to act as their proxy. You can think of it as being a priest of ancient times. The protectors are families who act to do what their Benefactor told them to do¡± ¡°So, I have two lineages present? ¡°Yes, I can assume that your mother and father, each of them is from a separate protector family. However, since no one now knows what the protectors are, I assume that now no one practices the job of the protectors. I hope you can find out what the protectors are ¡° ¡°What is hidden in titles and protection?¡± ¡°I cannot talk about it now¡± ¨C Diwata Makiling abruptly answer. ¡°What is the average stat? Looking at his stats, Juan thought that due to his active and healthy lifestyle his body was above average. However, he did not know why his luck and spirit is so high, 5 times than the average. He wanted to ask the Diwata near him, but he chooses to not to. ¡°Uhm, Diwata, how can I go inside the game?¡± ¡°Just say, ¡®Spirit Dive¡¯¡± ¡®SPIRIT DIVE¡¯ While his spirit is being pulled in to the world above, he heard the Diwata: ¡°Be brave. Be wise. Persevere to achieve your goal¡± Chapter 3 – Into the Ancients ¡°Be brave. Be wise. Persevere to achieve your goal¡± CHAPTER 3 ¨C Into the Ancients Inside the world above, his body suddenly appeared on his bed. He was so conscious of why is he in his room and not in the game. He stood up and suddenly noticed he don¡¯t have the helmet on. He looked at the window and saw the sky in a wonderful color of orange, blue and green. He told himself. ¡°Wow, it looks like the real world!¡± ¨C Juan thought while admiring the sky. Suddenly he heard a shout outside the windows, ¡°Juan, let¡¯s go and explore¡± said Dex. Juan met up with Dex on their front yard. He looked at Dex from toes to head, smiled, and said "Dude, you look the same" "Yeah, there is no option for character editing. You cannot change your appearance. By the way bro, let''s look up each other stats." "How Dex?" "Just say - ''Show status'', it will make your status menu visible to me" "Show Status," both of them said the same time
Name: Dexter Santos Level? 1
Age:? 25
Health 200/200
Energy? Magic 115/115
Psi 110/110
Faith 120/120
Qi 100/100
Title:?? Descendant of Hunters
Stats
Strength 20 Intelligence 11
Stamina 20 Spirit 12
Dexterity 13 Charm 18
Agility?? 17 Luck 15
Skills: None
Protection Blessing of Dumakulem
"JUAN! What the hell is your stat?" - Dex shouted "I don''t know. I was just lucky I guess?" - Juan "By the way, do you know Dumakalem?" curiously asked Dex "He is the Tagalog God of Hunting, Guardian of the Mountains" - Juan answered "Wow, our family is one of the early hunters. Nice!. But for you, who are these ancient gods of light and dark?" - Dex "I don''t know too. I''ll do some research on them tomorrow. Good thing, there is no work tomorrow" - Juan "Okay, let us start exploring! I already brought here some gears go get yours now'' - Dex
Dex with a backpack full of random stuff like a knife, match, and bottles of water. He can''t find other things like snack bars, candies, sugars, or salts inside their house. He also brought out his metal alloy baseball bat and his bike. He wore his most comfortable clothes - rubber shoes, shorts, and t-shirts.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Juan went out of his house with his Katana sword. He bought it from Japan. He also wore his rubber shoes, shorts, and t-shirts. Inside his bag are his notebook, pens, kitchen knives, and water container. "Wow, you brought out that souvenir from Japan" "Yeah, this is an authentic katana sword made with strong steel with gradient properties. It is soft inside while hard outside. It increases the toughness of the material while increasing the strength. Also, in my free time, I coat it with Titanium-base nitride coating to further increase the hardness and sharpness" - Juan answered boastingly "Let us ride our bike, and explore the town first"
Inside the town, the streets looked the same as reality. The houses, sidewalks, and streetlights are the same. They also saw other players in their town. They tend to avoid those strangers and have minimum contact with some acquaintances. They don''t know what those people''s goals are so they put some precautions first. They decided to go to the town''s park. Reaching the park, they saw something out of the norm. Fairies! Many fairies are flying within the park. These fairies are little human-shape with wings fo either dragonfly, butterfly, or bird. "Are they fairies?" Both of them muttered A small and cute little fairy heard them and fly in front of their faces. "Excuse me! We are the Lambanas. We are of fairy-race. We are one of the racest who follows the Mighty Bathala" said the small lambana with dragonfly wings. "Lambanas are the creatures of the forest right? How come you are in the center of the town" said Juan. "Due to Humankind expansion, our villages are destroyed, we tend to live inside a big cluster of plants and trees like this park here." - Lambana "Oh sorry to hear about that. By the way, I am Juan, this person near me is Dex. We are new in this world. What is this world?" - Juan "Oh! Divers! They said they will come soon! So it was today! I am Alice!" Alice exclaimed while she was shaking hands with two men. "They??" Juan and Dex asked simultaneously "They" she pointed his tiny index finger into the sky. "Those Gods from Kawalhatian, a plane for eternal beings up in the sky told us about you, visitors from another plane. We didn''t expect them to be the human race. By the way, do you want to tour our village?" "Really, sure it is our pleasure" - Dex answered Juan, Dex, and their little friend Alice who was sitting on the shoulder of Juan pointed out the direction to their village in the cluster of trees in the park. In the center of the cluster, where the densest trees are located. A big tree was found. Around the tree are the houses of little lambanas tied on the branches of the tree. Alice flew out of Juan''s shoulder and called the village elder. "Lakan Amo, Lakan Amo! I brought some divers here! The prophecies are happening!" Alice shouted "Alice, you''re so energetic as usual. I already know what are they. The other villagers have already informed me minutes ago when they saw you talking to humans" said Lakan Amo. A mature looking little man with a pair of owl wings came out of the house. "Hi visitors, I am Amo, the Lakan of this Village of Lambanas. Thank you for coming. Would you like to come inside the house for a cup of tea?" "Yes, but how?" answered Juan. Suddenly Lakan Amo waved his hands and make two into Lambana-size. And a blue screen filled their vision.
STATUS UPDATE
Size-reduction (30 min left)
Upon removing the screen, Juan and Dex are holding onto the hands of Alice and another lambana named Cynthia. They carried the two inside the village chief house. "Hi Juan and Dex, again welcome to our village and my welcome to my house" Lakan Amo said "How did you know our name?" Dex asked "Only powerful being can read mind" Juan muttered. "Yes, Juan you are right. Since right now I am more powerful than both of you. You do not have enough barriers to stop me from reading your status but not your mind. Only eternal beings can read the minds" Lakan Amo clarified "How can we have barrier?" - Dex "Simple. Be powerful. Said by Diwata Makiling" - Juan "Right! As said by Lady Makiling, only being strong enough can you have someone stop reading your mind and status" - Lakan Amo. "Oh Lakan Amo, since it is our first time here in Ancients, we would like to know more about it but since we are asking favor, we also would like to return the favor. If there is anything you need us to do we are willing to help you." - Juan "Yes, Lakan Amo, what we do to you?" - Dex "Hmmm, you can help us by planting more trees around the park. We have fruit-bearing trees'' seeds in our warehouse. You can ask for help from Alice and her friend." - Lakan Amo ~Ting!~
NEW Quest
Help the Lambanas to plant trees.
Goal: 10 each (Makopa, Duhat, Dayap, Lanzones, Lukban, Rambutan, Balimbing, Longgan, Durian and Kamagong)
Reward: Adventure Handbook
"A quest? We gladly accept it!" - Juan and Dex -To be continued- Chapter 4 - Planting "A quest? We gladly accept it!" - Juan and Dex Chapter 4 - Planting Alice, Cynthia, and the other lambanas helped Juan and Dex to the outside the house. When their feet touched the ground, they suddenly grew to their normal size.
Status Update
Size-reduction lifted
After some moments, Alice and her friends flew into our hands. They left the seeds to be planted. These seeds were the same as the seeds in the real world. However, Juan thought he is still missing something. "Ahm, Alice do you have gardening tools?" - Juan "Gardening tools? What are those? " - Alice "How are you going to plant the seed?" - Dex "We just put the seed in the ground, cover it soil, then pray to Bathala and use our powers." - Alice "Powers? What are your powers?" - Juan "We lambanas are creatures of the forest. Bathala blesses us. We can use our energy to germinate the seed and let it grow big" - Alice "Can I see your power" - Dex "Sure, let us go. There is a free spot outside the village" - Cynthia Outside the village, the lambanas dug a small hole, put the seed inside, and throw in some soil. Finally, they prayed "Oh Almighty Bathala, Creator of this land, God of the gods, hear our wish. Hear our call. Let our energy transform this seed into a tree." - All lambanas with them synchronously chanted Suddenly, a bright blinding light appeared on all the lambanas praying. The light coming from their bodies converged on to the seed. Seconds later, the seed germinated then it grew into a plant into a young tree then into a tall plant. "Wow" - Juan "Wow. it was fast."- Dex "But I want to do it in the other way. Science. Science and Magic combination. All those videos, articles I watched, and read on gardening. Even my dream to restore a forest seems possible here. Huhuhu. It is achievable here." Juan said Juan remembered that they were inside the town''s park. And during his high school years, he volunteered to work here. He still knew where the tools and the compost. At the corner of the park, a small garden shed where the tools were kept and beside the shed was the compost area he set up years ago. Thankfully, with his idea years ago, using the leaves fallen and collected in the park, he set up a small compost area to load the leaves and let it degrade and compost. He also taught the park gardener how to tend to the compost bin - turning it inside out every two days. The result of his idea was a big stack of compost in the park that some villagers bought for a cheap price. Since then, more funds were circulating for the park''s management.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Using the hoe he found, Juan and Dex loosened up the soil. They mixed some compost with the loosened soil and put the seeds in the loosened mixture and watered them. He positioned each seed with a proper distance from one another and no same seeds planted near one another. He also took account if the tree will be tall, wide, or short. He made sure to adequately designed the growth of this forest by making sure these plants received proper nutrition from the soil and sunlight.
Status Update
+1 Stamina
After planting, Juan kneeled in front of the cultivated park and prayed. "Oh Lakapati, the goddess of fertility and cultivated lands. With your gift to man, please hear my prayer. Give this lowly man his food. Bless this field with your grace" - Juan chanted A green glow appeared on Juan''s body then it spread to the field. "You knew Goddess Lakapati?" - Alice asked "I read about her in some books years ago. And I learned this chant from that book" - J¨¹an answered While chatting with Alice, the field was still bathed in a green glow. The seeds became trees in a matter of seconds. ~Ting!~
New Skills Acquired
Agriculture skill - Planting (Lv 5) Religion Skill - Lakapati (Lv 1)
The successful planting and prayer lead to the acquisition of the skills. Juan clicked on the skills to learn what are they.
Agriculture skill - Planting Lv5
Passive skill You knew how to plant trees. With your knowledge and skill, you can plant and grow any normal-type plants with a faster growth rate. Upgrading this skill can help you grow spiritual and magical plants.
Religion skill - Lakapati Lv 1
Passive skill You have successfully prayed to a god. She responded to your piety. With this skill, praying to Goddess Lakapati, have a high success rate. Effect gain using the skill depends on the power of the god. Be wary that not all gods like mortals. Some required sacrifices or gifts. If the god is not in favor of you, you can be cursed. Upgrading this skill can lead you to a much higher success rate and possible conversation with a god.
Looking at Dex, Juan thought he also received the agriculture skill. However, he does not know what level Dex''s skill acquired. He also respected his best friend''s privacy. "Goddess Lakapati is truly kind to humankind. She was the most understanding of all the gods and goddesses under Bathala. She heard and answered your call" - Cynthia the other lambana said "Let us continue planting the seeds, we only have a small batch left" - Alice said "Let us rest a little, I feel a little tired" - Juan said. -to be continued- Chapter 5 - Meditation "Let us rest a little, I feel a little tired" - Juan said. Chapter 5 - Meditation Cynthia, Alice, and all of the lambanas with them looked at the field. Suddenly, a great realization came upon all of them. All seeds planted grew into mature trees. Some already produced flowers and fruits. They looked at the newly planted field with astonishment. "Wow! I never realized you have this much power." - Alice exclaimed "What power?" "In your status, there are energies, right? These energies are your power to use extraordinary peats. I assume you feel tired right now because you have depleted your energy reserves." - Cynthia "View Status"
Name: Juan Cruz Level? 1
Age:? 25
Health?? 160
Energy Magic 1/350
Psi 200/200
Faith 151/500
Qi 100/100
Title:?? Descendant of Light Protectors. Descendant of Dark Protectors. **HIDDEN**
Stats
Strength 17 Intelligence 20
Stamina 16 Spirit 50
Dexterity 16 Charm 14
Agility?? 20 Luck 50
Skills: None
Protection Ancient God of Light. Ancient God of Dark. **HIDDEN**
Juan inspected his status and said "I lost around 350 of Magic Energy and Faith Energy" "You have that amount of Magic and Faith energies? Who are you?" - Alice shouted "I am Juan" - Juan jokingly answered. He does not know why he chose to not tell them about his titles. He felt that he should leave it out right now. "Even with that amount, you should not have the ability to grow all the seeds you planted even with Goddess Lakapati''s blessing" - Alice said "I think it is because of the effect of the skill Agriculture. It can reduce the growth time of plants."- DexIf you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "You also received the skill, right?" - Juan asked Dex "Yes, dude. I was reading about it moments ago" - Dex "By the way, Alice is there a way to restore my energies. It has a low recovery rate of 1 point per 1 minute" - Juan "That is still too fast! Normally, it should be 1 per 5 minutes. Even us, lambanas, we need 1 per 2 minutes normally."- Alice said "Is there a way to recover it faster? I want to finish this quest as soon as possible" - Juan said obviously avoiding Alice''s question "Hmpf, yes there is a method" - Alice "I''ll explain it. Did you know how to meditate?" - Cynthia asked "Yes, we trained in some martial arts" - Juan "But isn''t our meditation is feeling the energy inside our body. For us to enhance senses"- Dex said "It is similar to that meditation. However, once you feel the energies inside your body. You should extend your senses outside, to the surroundings. Feel the energies outside. Synchronized with them. Feel their waves. Feel there flow. Remember, you are part of nature, everything is connected. Guide these energies into you. Circulate them inside your body and let them fill you up until you are full" - Cynthia explained Dex and Juan cross sit on the grass. They straightened their back, closed their eyes, and focus their mind with Cynthia''s instructions. They felt the energies inside their body. They are like colored streams flowing inside their bodies. Four different colors were circulating. They followed these streams and saw the reservoirs of each energy. The white and blue energies converged in their brains, the gold was in their hearts, and red was in their abdomens. They extend their focus to their surroundings. Millimeter by millimeter outside their body, they began to felt until what they can feel was around 5 meters. They saw the world around them in colorful streams. These streams are freely floating and flowing around them. They continued to feel these energies until they can call upon them. These energies. flowed into their body, circulated it until they found the energy reservoirs. They fill up these reservoirs in a continuous undisturbed flow. Upon feeling full, they opened their eyes ~Ting!~
New Skill Acquired
Meditation (active) Lv 2 You learned how to meditate. You know that the world is filled with different colors. You can now guide these energies inside your body. Magic - white, Psi - blue, Faith - Gold, Qi - Red Effect: Fast energy recovery rate (x 10)
With the help of the new skill, Juan filled his body with the energies around him. He continued preparing the planting area. With the help of his skills. He was faster in cultivating the land. He planted all the seeds and watered them.
Status Update
+1 Stamina
He prayed again to Lakapati, "Oh Lakapati, the goddess of fertility and cultivated lands. With your gift to man, please hear my prayer. Give this lowly man his food. Bless this field with your grace". Again, the green light from him flooded the field. He successfully prayed and the goddess answered his call again. The lambanas looked at him and were dumbfounded. They are thinking if the person in front of them was a priest of Lakapati. For Juan to successfully invoked the prayer and power of Lakapati, he seemed to be more powerful than them. Juan performed the power of a god by himself. Unlike the lambanas, they needed to gather and perform the power of a god. ~Ting!~
Quest Finished
You have successfully planted all the trees.
Go back to Lakan Amo to receive your reward Reward: Adventure Handbook
While the lambanas were admiring the person before them. The blue window appeared before Dex and Juan. "Alice, let us go back to Lakan Amo" - Juan reminded Alice "Yes, Yes! You need us to return to the village" - Alice said Somewhere inside Alice, she new he has full respect for Juan right now, not just amusement for being a human visitor and diver. However, she chose to present her haughtiness and playfulness to Juan. -to be continued- Chapter 6 - Adventure Book Somewhere inside Alice, she new he has full respect for Juan right now, not just amusement for being a human visitor and diver. However, she chose to present her haughtiness and playfulness to Juan. Chapter 5 - Adventure book Juan and Dex ran along the trail with the lambanas on their shoulders and heads. They were excited about the reward of this quest. The ran fast and the lambanas were screaming ''Weeee, Waaaaah'' as if they are on a roller coaster ride. When they reached the Lambana''s Village. They found Lakan Amo outside the house. With a wave of his hands, he grew into the size of a normal human. Juan and Dex with amazement stopped running before they clashed with Lakan Amo. "Wow, you''re big!" - Dex exclaimed "Lakan Amo, we have successfully finished the quest" - Juan said "Juan is so wonderful, Lakan Amo! He prayed to Goddess Lakapati and she answered his prayers twice!" - Alice said admiringly Lakan Amo looked and inspected Juan''s body from head to toe. He nodded, smiled, and said "I see, you have the Religion skill to pray for the Goddess. Not all can have the Religion skill. Your devotion and the goddess''s response to your prayer are required to receive the skill" All the lambanas flying around them nodded and agreed on what the Lakan has said. "I have the adventure book here," Lakan Amo said while waving his hands. Suddenly two tiny books flew out of the village chief house into the hands of Juan and Dex. The books grew into the size of a normal book. ~Ting!~
Quest Finished
You Leveled up Received (1) Adventure book Additional Reward: Title: Friend of Lambanas
Title: Friend of Lambanas
You gained a favorable impression in one of the Lambana''s Village. All Lambanas will look at you favorably.
The Adventure book on their hands glowed brightly with their bodies. Then a new floating book icon appeared on their view. They clicked this icon. There is a list of different creatures in it but all of them are greyed out except the Lambanas. They clocked the Lambanas and new window appearedUnauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
Lambanas
Small winged creatures blessed by Bathala. They lived inside the forest. They are one of the creatures that tend to the forest. They have the power to grow any pants. There are two kinds of Lambanas. The glowing lambanas: These Lambanas are the protector of the forest. Their duty is to take care of plants and animals inside the forest. As spiritual beings, they can communicate with spirits around them. The ferocious lambanas: These Lambanas are corrupted with the energy of evil. They lost their glows. They developed sharp teeth to harm anyone they come across. These Lambanas are not welcomed in any Lambanas village. Their corrupted energy spread to trees thus destroying the forest.
"Why are there ferocious lambanas?" - Juan asked "It was because of the Ancient Evil God sealed in this world," said Lakan Amo. "The seal of this evil god was deteriorating as time passes. It created evil energy sources in different parts of the world sent from the cracks of the seal. Every being tends to be corrupted if they don''t have any protection against this evil energy. Evilness is the source of its power. The more he corrupted the faster the seal breaks." "Who is this evil god" - Dex asked "It was a being more ancient than us, even us do not his name." - Lakan Amo "It is so creepy thinking about it." - Dex Juan continued checking out the adventure book. In one section, he found something interesting.
Adventure Guide
In your location, during ancient times, Anito is ancestor spirits, nature spirits, and deities carved onto something they believed to be spiritual. Having an anito as your guide spirits can help you. Carving a being in a spiritual item and looking for a spirit are the steps for having your guide spirit.
"Lakan, how can I have a guide spirit?" - Juan "Guide spirit?" - Dex asked "It is written in the adventure book"- Juan "You shall look for a spirit willing to guide you and carved his image in a spiritual item" - Lakan Amo "What are these spiritual item" - Dex "Spiritual items are those items with magical or faith power" - Lakan Amo "Where can we find these items?" "Most of them can be found in this world''s villages. Some are in the wild. Looked behind me, that tree over there is a spiritual tree filled with our magic and faith energies. Doing quests and favors in the village can help you gain a wood of this tree" "Wow, that''s why it is so big!" - Dex said while looking at the big tree at the center of the village. "Lakan, Lakan Amo! Emergency" - a Lambana flying fast from the village entrance. "What happened?" Lakan asked "There are ferocious lambanas in the park! We saw them while we are picking for food" the lambana said exhaustingly and while catching his breath. "Can you help us Juan and Dex?" - Lakan Amo asked ~Ting!~
New Quest
Help the Lambanas fight the Ferocious Beings
Goal: Kill the (2) Ferocious Lambanas in the park
Reward: A piece of the spiritual tree
-to be continued- Chapter 7 - Ferocious Lambanas
New Quest
Help the Lambanas fight the Ferocious Beings
Goal: Kill the (2) Ferocious Lambanas in the park
Reward: A piece of the spiritual tree
Chapter 7 - Ferocious Lambanas Upon requesting the two to participate in the fight, Lakan Amo shouted to the village, "Warriors prepare for a fight". Some Lambanas in the village hurriedly prepared their gears. These Lambanas are the bird-winged Lambanas. They wore some type of armor and wielded swords. Juan and Dex also prepared themselves. They left their backpacks near the big tree. They wielded the baseball bat and katana sword. "I am sorry for bringing you to this fight. Also, I cannot present you any armors or weapon since all our armors can only be wielded by Lambanas." "It is okay, we brought our own" Dex said while swinging his bat "Next time, I''ll guide you to the Duendes"- Alice "Duendes? They are the gnome-like creatures, right?" Juan "I''ll explain about them soon, the warriors are ready, Let''s go!" - Alice "Okay, why are you coming?" - Dex "Why not?" She said then looked at Lakan Amo "I''ll stay at the back, promise"
Near the entrance of the park, the trees were rotting. Leaves were falling. A creepy feeling emerged just looking at the tree. Near the trees were two ferocious Lambanas. They did not look like the Lambanas they know. These ferocious ones are twice the size of the normal Lambanas. They had sharp and ragged teeth. They did not have the glow of normal Lambanas. Their skin was like toad''s skin. Bumps were formed. Overall, they looked like monsters. "How do we deal with them" - Juan asked "We will provide support" - Warrior Lambana "Should we kill them?"- Juan asked "Unfortunately, yes, we do not know any methods to turn them back. Their auras are poisonous for us normal Lambanas if they stayed near us for so long." - Warrior Lambana "So how do you fight it" - Juan "We ask Bathala for a blessing to protect us from corruption. This blessing can only support us until our magic and faith energies are depleted. Since this level of corruption is still weak and can only be transmitted by touch for now"- Warrior Lambana Hearing this, Juan and Dex prepared for a fight. They swung their sword and bat. "One for each?" -Dex asked "Yes" - Juan answered Dex and Juan trusted each other abilities. They both trained in martial arts. They knew how to move their body right with minimum movement. They are trained in the ways of taekwondo, aikido, judo, and arnis. "Oh Almighty Bathala, Creator of this land, Ruler of the gods in Kawalhatian, hear our wish. Protect us from evil" - All Lambanas present chanted Glowing lights emerged from the Lambanas and spread to Juan and Dex. ~Ting!~
Status Update
You received Bathala''s Blessing Evil Energy can not corrupt you Time Remaining: 30 minutes
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Lambanas are so great" "Let us fight!" - Dex Dex and Juan approached the ferocious lambanas "Skreeeee!!!!!" - Ferocious Lambanas screeched. When the corrupted lambanas saw them, they uttered a high shrill piercing cry. And flew into their direction. They flew slower than the normal lambanas. Juan and Dex accurately dodged the Lambanas by a hair''s breadth.
New Skill
Due to your successful dodging a moving enemy You learned Evasion Lv 5.
They both closed the windows as soon as it appears. They continued dodging their enemy until they notice their Qi energy was depleting. "Juan, we need to defeat them ASAP, we are running out of Qi energy" -Dex "How can we defeat it when it moves so fast. Dodging and attacking are two different things. It is difficult to attack a fast-flying monster. This is our first time fighting it. It also flew to all places. We can''t keep it in a small place" - Juan "Leave it to us. We can confine it to place" - a warrior lambana said. The lambanas approached different trees. They put their hands on it and chanted. "Oh nature spirits, hear our call. Keep these evils at bay" - All Lambanas chanted The trees around them wiggled. And they were covered by the lights from the Lambanas. Their branches interweaved and produced a dome-like net to prevent the corrupted lambanas from escaping. "Nice!" - Dex Due to the power of Lambanas and the active Bathala''s Blessing flowing into the trees, the trees are protected from being corrupted by the evil energy. With the interweaved branches present, the ferocious lambanas were trapped in a small place. They cannot fly high enough and gain momentum for a fast charge attack on Dex and Juan. Dex used his bat to intercept the flying lambana in front of him. The lambana saw this coming and tried to dodge. However, Dex has already executed the attack. The lambana wings are damaged. The lambana gave out a piercing cry. "SKREEEEEEEEEE!" Seeing his wings are damaged, He looked at Dex ferociously and angrily. He ran towards Dex. Dex looked at the injured lambana. It ran so mad to him with the sharp fingers ready to scratch him. However, for Dex, the short man running to him was less difficult to handle compare to flying one. He readied his bat and the bat successfully meet the head of the lambana. With his strength, it caused fractures on the skull. The bloodied lambana glowered at him. It still ran to him crazily. Dex focused on all his muscles. He guided his strength and Qi energy to his body. He positioned himself. After a deep breath, he swung his hands together with his body. His attack hit the head of the injured lambana and caused it to be bloodier. The skull broke. The lambana did not move again. ~Ting!~
You Leveled up! (x5)
New Skill
Due to your action of smashing your enemy to dead You learned Smash Lv 5.
Juan was also fighting his enemy. Seeing it was trapped by the branches. It scratched the branches and tried to corrupt the trees. However, no matter how many times it scratched the trees it was not corrupted. It then looked at Juan angrily. It knew Juan and his companion did something. It attacked Juan again. Seeing this Juan, readied himself. With a slash of his sword, he scraped the wings of the lambana from its back. "SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The lambana lost so much health with that move. It was wounded from his back. It ran madly to Juan. Juan took his stance and slash to the incoming lambana. The lambana dodged, however, his left arm was sliced for his shoulder. "SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The lambana screamed painfully. It looked at Juan madly until his eyes turn blood red due to hate. With its remaining right arm, it tried to scratch Juan who always dodged successfully. Seeing his opponent losing its energy, Juan took a stance again. He placed his hand above his head and readied to sliced the upcoming monster. The monster tried to scratch Juan. However, Juan stepped back to the left and avoided the attack. He focused on his muscles and guided Qi energy to his body. With a powerful slash, he struck the monster with his sword. The sword passed to the monster''s body and sliced it off into two pieces. ~Ting!~
You Leveled up! (x5)
New Skill
Due to your action of slashing your enemy to dead You learned Slash Lv 5.
"Wow!" "Awesome" "Powerful" - The warrior lambanas gave them praise after they killed the monsters. "They are my friends, they should be powerful," Alice said arrogantly while looking at Juan and Dex admiringly. "What are we supposed to do with these bodies?" - Juan asked "You can claim those bodies. Just say ''Loot''" -The warrior said "Loot" - Dex and Juan said With a light covering the bodies, it was transformed into a pile of nails, bones, and wings. They picked up the nails, bones, and wings. They went back to the village. -to be continued- Chapter 8 - Spirit Dog With a light covering the bodies, it was transformed into a pile of nails, bones, and wings. They picked up the nails, bones, and wings. They went back to the village. Chapter 8 - Spirit Dog "Wait, we cannot leave yet. We need to cut the infected trees." - The warrior said "Why? Can''t they go back to normal after killing the ferocious lambanas?"- Dex asked "The spirits within the trees are already corrupted. If we do not eliminate them, these trees will transform into monsters" "We do not have the power to purify their spirits" - Alice said "Only powerful gods can help their spirits. We are blessed by Bathala, but we are not his priest in this world. We can''t execute all of his powers in this world" - Warrior said "Maybe Lakan Amo can help purify their spirits, however, he can''t do it, he needs all of his power to protect the village and the spiritual tree. And purifying spirits takes a lot of magic and faith" - Alice said "Alright, alright. How can we destroy these trees" - Dex "We cut them off then burn the tree and stump" - Warrior Juan cut the trees with the tools from the garden shed. Dex set up the fire and they watched the tree logs and stumps burn. "Alice, can I request to cut some ordinary trees to practice sculpting? I want to practice making my guide." - Juan suddenly asked. "Yes, you can. But ask permission to the spirits of the trees" - Alice said "Ok," said Juan. Juan walked near the old trees in the park. He put his hand on the tree. He closed his eyes and said. "Spirit of the trees, here my call. Can I ask for some branches to cut off and practice sculpting?" Suddenly, the tree shook lightly as if approving to his request. He then proceeded to cut off some thick branches. And he said to the tree, "Thank you". He bowed and left the tree. The lambanas looked at him dumbfounded. They did not know how a human can easily interact with the tree''s spirit. Dex just laughed at them and said "Juan let us go back to the village" "Right, right" - Alice Juan, Dex, and the lambanas walk through the park until they reached the lambana''s village. They saw Lakan Amo still in his human-size form in front of the big tree. "Congratulations Juan, Dex, and Warriors of Lambanas for successful elimination of the corrupted. I pray for their spirits to be in peace." a short silence was given. "Thank you, Juan and Dex for your bravery. " - Lakan Amo said The lambanas clapped their hands and show admiration to Dex and Juan especially those warriors that are with them. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "It is our duty to help our friend"- Juan said "As I promised, you will both receive a branch of the spiritual tree in our village," Lakan Amo said as two thick branches of the spiritual tree flew into his hands. "As an additional reward, I''ll teach you another common magic, ''inspect''. This common magic is used to inspect things and some creatures. Higher beings cannot be inspected at your levels. It will only show its name" - Lakan Amo "To use inspect, guide the magic energy in your body to your eyes then chant ''Inspect''"- Lakan Amo Juan and Dex closed their eyes. They focused their mind on their bodies. They saw the colorful stream flowing inside. Remembering the words of Lakan, they guided the white-colored stream, the magic energy, into their eyes. Upon filling up eyes with magic energy, they opened it and chanted "Inspect" on the branches on Lakan''s hands. ~Ting!~
New Skill
You have successfully learned the teaching of Lakan Amo You learned Inspect Lv1 You can now identify items up to rare rarity rating Items are graded to Common < Uncommon < Rare < Epic < Legendary < Relic < Cosmos
Spiritual Tree Branch - Rare
A branch from the Spiritual tree at the Lambanas'' Village. It can be used to craft magic items. Due to its high magical and faith energy, the guide spirits love to stay in it.
"Wow!" - Dex "Thank you Lakan Amo" - Juan said "You are welcome. Friends of Lambanas" Juan looked at the sky and it was near night time. He said to Lakan and the Lambanas. He needs to go home and have a rest. Juan and Dex give their farewell for the day to the Lambanas. "Why are we going home and not exploring? We have a time compression inside the game, 1 hour outside is 24 hrs inside right?" Dex asked Juan "Nighttime. Ghost time. We are inside a ''game''. But all of the characters are mythological. I do not want to fight Aswangs, or Vampires, or Ghost. I don''t know how to fight them now" - Juan said "Right!! I do not want to fight ghost!" - Even though Dex is a hunk he was scared of ghosts. Dex and Juan rode their bikes and rushed to their house. They saw many players on the street wandering. Some of them were speaking to the spirits. There are many spirits around them. Some are human-like. Some are animal-shaped. Juan suddenly remembered something he read from a book "Mortals and Spirits can interact during the fall of the sky and birth of the moon" It must be during this time. He said to himself. "Are those ghosts" - Dex asked while pointing to human-like spirits "They are spirits of the dead. Try inspecting them they are friendly." - Juan answered "Inspect" - Dex said
Human Spirit Lv1
They are the spirits of the dead that have not been reincarnated and choose to stay. They are friendly to those they see worthy.
"Let us hope we may not encounter a corrupted one"- Juan said "Don''t put up the flags! You''ll jinx us" - Juan said Juan just laughed it out. "Hahaha" They reached their home peacefully, nothing extraordinary occurred. "Thank you Bathala," said them both However, they saw a small figure in the front yard of Juan''s house. "Arf, arf, arf, arf!" it barked at Juan while wagging its tail. "Isn''t it Zoe, your dog?" -Dex said "But Zoe was dead months ago" - Juan said with teary eyes "Arf, arf" -dog barked agreeing to Juan "Hi Zoe" - Juan said with falling tears while bending his knees and approaching the dog."I miss you" "Arf!" it licked Juan''s face The little dog was a short hair brown dog with a height of Juan knee-level. It has pointed ears and black snout. "Why are you here?" Juan asked The dog just barked at Juan. Juan remembered he can have a guide spirit. "Zoe do you want to be my guide spirit?" - Juan asked "Arf, arf!" Zoe barked agreeing ~Ting!~
Spirit dog Zoe agreed to be your guide spirit. To accomplish this peat you need to carved its image into a spiritual item.
"Let us go inside my room, I''ll carve your image"- Juan said "I''ll take a rest, Juan, call me out if we will explore the town again" "Okay, Bye, See you" - Juan said to his friend -To be continued- Chapter 9 - Companion Spirit Chapter 9 - Companion Spirit Inside his room, Juan pulled out all the branches he got from the park. With his knife, he practiced carving the image of the dog. His very first trial looked like an unknown deformed animal. ~Ting!~
Status Update
+1 Dexterity
New Skill
You learned how to sculpt You learn Sculpting Lv1 Practice makes perfect. You can create unknown sculptures.
He dismissed the window and started sculpting again. He did it several times. Once in a while, he received a stat bonus.
Status Update
+1 Dexterity
He created something until it resembles a dog.
Skill Level Up
Sculpting Lv1 -> Lv2 Practice makes perfect. You can create slightly known figures.
He was still not satisfied with this result. He sculpted the figure of the dog again. Tried several times.
Status Update
+1 Dexterity
Improvement of the dog figures occurred. It has now details.
Skill Level Up
Sculpting Lv2 -> Lv3 Practice makes perfect. You can create known figures.
Again. He was not satisfied. He started crafting again. Until all of his logs were depleted. He went outside of his house and cultivated the land in his front yard. He loosened the soil with his hoe and mixed the soil with his homemade compost. He was preparing his land like a veteran farmer. His moves were all calculated like a martial artist. Then, he went to the tree in his front yard. He prayed to the spirits and ask some small branches. "Spirit of the trees, here my call. Can I ask for some branches to cut off and plant?" The tree wiggled and Juan extended his hands to cut off some branches from the tree. He planted the branches on the cultivated front yard. He then prayed to Goddess Lakapati "Oh Lakapati, the goddess of fertility and cultivated lands. With your gift to man, please hear my prayer. Grow the trees and give this lowly man his craft. Bless this field with your grace" The green light from Juan expanded to the land around him. The small branches planted on the ground grew into trees with thick branches. "Thank you, Your Grace, Goddess Lakapati" Juan cut off some branches from the trees after asking the spirits. "Spirit of the trees, here my call. Can I ask for some branches to cut off and plant?"This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Then, he proceeded back to his room. Feeling a little tired, he started meditating to restore the magic and faith he used. After meditating, he started sculpting again. Every time he sculped, an improvement occurs
Status Update
+1 Dexterity
Skill Level Up
Sculpting Lv3 -> Lv4 Practice makes perfect. You can create detailed figures.
However, Juan is still unsatisfied with his result. He continued sculpting until all of his logs were depleted. When the logs are depleted he will go the front yard to cut off some branches after praying. He continued creating it until he received a new level up
Skill Level Up
Sculpting Lv4 -> Lv5 Practice makes perfect! You successfully created a life-like figure.
In his hands, is the perfect sculpture of his dog''s figure it is very detailed up to the furs. Right now, he was confident to create the perfect image of his dog on to the spiritual tree branch. He took out the spiritual branch and inspected it. He looked for its details, the growth of its fibers, dimension, etc. He was so focused on it and started sculpting with his 100% mind on it. Unknowingly, during his crafting, energies inside his body move as to respond to his passion. He started to gather his magical and faith energies into his breath and knife. Every time he moved his hands, his breath will bathe the sculpture and his knife will add some energies onto the wood. His psi energy started to circulate faster in his brain, successfully increasing his mental capacity resulting in his increased focus. It can be said that right now, he had 200% focus on his sculpting. His Qi energy supplemented his arms and wrists to properly control his strength and movements. If you viewed him right now, he looked like a heavenly craftsman. His movements were so refined. All of his actions are calculated. And his whole body was covered with colorful lights from his energies. There is also an additional halo around his body giving off a godly aura. ~Ting!~
You have successfully created an epic item
+10 Dexterity
Skill Level Up
Sculpting Lv5-> Lv7 A combination of your energies can create miracles. Simple wood in your hand gives birth to extreme art. Art of becoming a reality You create arts the have texture of reality.
You received Goddess Idiyanale''s Blessing
You are the first diver to create an epic item. Your love and devotion in your art were felt by Goddess Idiyanale. The Goddess blesses you with her grace. Effect: +500 Faith Energy +500 Magic Energy High probability of creating high rarity items.
You created an EPIC ITEM
You can name epic and higher grade items.
He thought of a name and it appeared on the window box.
You created Zoe''s Image (Epic)
Giving your 100% in creating your piece. Also mixing your love in it. It has become almost a real dog. You cannot tell whether is made of wood. The expression is so real. The furs are so soft. And the ears are bendable. Looking at this piece, friendly forces will gain a buff once a day: +5 Agility
Looking at his masterpiece he was so excited. He called the spirit dog Zoe if it liked his sculpture. When the dog saw his art, it barked, jumped, and wagged his tail. He jumped over to Juan and licked his face. "Will you live inside this art" - Juan asked his dog "Arf!" Zoe barked then it jumped into the sculpture in Juan''s hand. The spirit melded with the sculpture in his hand. ~Ting!~
You created a growth-type item Zoe Lv1
With the addition of a soul, it becomes a real dog. You cannot tell it was a sculpted item. This piece will give you +10 Agility
You Acquired a Companion Spirit
You now have a guide spirit. Due to the greatness of the spirit house. It became a living being. Your guide spirit becomes a companion spirit.
-To be continued-