《Fate Online》 Prologue: The Fated Reveal ¡°Dude, Hurricane¡¯s been quiet all year. They¡¯re up to something big I¡¯m telling you!¡± ¡°No way. Hurricane¡¯s lost its touch. Ever since the merger with GA and ActiSight they¡¯ve produced nothing but garbage and new content for their old stuff. This G3 is going to be nothing but new stuff for old content.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll bet you anything they¡¯ve got something big planned! Too quiet I tell ya...¡± Karl smiled as he overheard the heated conversation between two young men hurrying by. He certainly hoped that the optimistic one was right. If Hurricane had something big planned it would be one of the biggest scoops of G3! Still¡­ His friend had a point too. Despite their stature as a giant in the gaming world, Hurricane seemed to be in a rut. Their games were still as fun as always, but nothing they¡¯d released in the past few years had succeeded in reigniting the same spark with gamers as their early stuff had. No one would be happier than himself if Hurricane had something big up its sleeves. As a reporter, any big news from Hurricane would be sure to draw in the views like crazy. Especially if they revealed it during today¡¯s press conference. Karl rubbed his arms in an attempt to warm up, despite the early June heat, the temperature in the convention centre was a cool 20 degrees. Pausing to grab his lanyard, he flashed the nametag at the bottom to the security guard. ¡°Karl Matthews, reporter for the Daily MMOGamer,¡± he said, staring nervously at the security guard¡¯s toned forearms. ¡°Mmmmh," the security guard nodded. ¡°Alright, head on in, show starts in 15 minutes.¡± With that, Karl was directed through the doorway into a narrow hallway, which quickly opened up into a massive auditorium. Despite their lack of new titles over the last couple of years, Hurricane was one of the biggest names in gaming and the prestige they commanded at G3 was still incredible. Many gamers would have given their left arm to be allowed in to this room and hear about Hurricane¡¯s upcoming plans even a moment earlier. Not for the first time, Karl thanked his lucky stars that his boss had chosen him to cover Hurricane¡¯s press conference. Walking to the front of the room, Karl elbowed his way through the throng of onlookers gazing excitedly at the stage. An enormous projector wall covered two thirds of the wall behind the stage, and two smaller, but still massive, screens flanked the main wall, currently showing Hurricane¡¯s logo and a timer counting down to the beginning of the conference. Settling near the front of the press area, Karl checked the screen. 10 minutes, just enough time to go over his questions and check his recorder. Once his gear had been double checked and he¡¯d reviewed his gameplan, Karl calmed down and waited for the beginning of what promised to be one of the biggest conferences of the entire event. As the timer hit zero, the lights dimmed, plunging the room into darkness. Karl could vaguely make out a shape emerging onto the stage as the screens came to life, illuminating the scene. A tall, well dressed man in a fitted suit was smiling down at the audience. As they settled down he began to speak: ¡°Ladies and Gentlemen, members of the press. Thank you for being here with us today...¡± Karl started to drift off, just like in years past, this Hurricane conference was fairly boring. With no new titles, and only expansions and new DLC announcements for their existing titles, it seemed that Hurricane was content to spend another year simply existing. At least he¡¯d be able to write some articles on the upcoming expansions, he mused, staring up at the Hurricane logo which had replaced the final trailer. All of a sudden, the lights dimmed once more. Straining his eyes, Karl could just barely make out the tall man leaving the stage and a new figure taking his place. As the screens came to life once more, the Hurricane logo was replaced with a new, unfamiliar symbol, vaguely triangular in shape with intricate runes adorning a knotted Celtic ring. Karl perked up, he¡¯d studied everything there was to know about Hurricane in the two weeks leading up to the conference plus his two decades as a gamer - this symbol was brand new. His reporter instincts were screaming that this was a major scoop. Readying his eyeglass recorder, he refocused the image on the logo and then zoomed out to cover the whole stage. A somewhat portly man stood centrestage, having replaced the tall gentleman. Wearing a loose fitting T-shirt emblazoned with that strange logo and a pair of faded jeans, his looks were nothing impressive, clashing with the prestige of the event. And yet Karl knew better than to underestimate him. Michael Lietke was a legend in the gaming world. The key mind behind many of Hurricane¡¯s most famous titles. His appearance meant one thing: This last trailer was going to be huge. ¡°Thank you all for being here,¡± Michael began, his baritone voice rousing any who had not yet realized what was happening. ¡°This next project has been many years in the making. It was made possible with the help and investment of several key companies including Goggle, Amozone, and many more. The tech required for this project has been one of the biggest barriers to its release. But today, I am pleased to announce that after many years of waiting, Hurricane will finally be releasing its next major MMO... Fate!¡± pausing for applause, Lietke glowed before continuing.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Fate is the first next-gen MMO. Unlike other games which add new combat systems, or use new engines to deliver the same general experience, Fate is the first ever Virtual Reality MMO. We¡¯ve partnered with Goggle to create a seamless virtual reality experience in which you the players will be able to actually enter and experience the world of Fate. This is not augmented reality with its clumsy tethers and wires tripping you up, but true virtual reality. But why tell you about it when we can show you?¡± With this, the main screen blazed back to life, replacing what must have been the Fate logo with a panoramic shot of a castle, under siege from what looked to be a fantasy army complete with Orcs, Goblins, and winged gargoyles assaulting the parapets. Karl unconsciously leaned closer, as did the entire room. Lietke smiled as the camera panned to a pair of men standing at the top of the castle battlements fighting off Orcs descending upon the walls from giant siege towers. ¡°Hey Ron!¡± Lietke said, speaking into a microphone attached to his collar. ¡°Hey Michael,¡± replied one of the men, a burly fellow wearing full plate armour and carrying an enormous two-handed battleaxe which he¡¯d just finished burying in an orc¡¯s skull. Flicking off the remnants of the orc¡¯s brains from the axehead, he then spun the axe in a wide circle above his head and brought it crashing down upon the ramp connecting the siege tower to the battlements. As the axe descended, the axehead came to life with an amber glow. Karl watched, entranced as the axe smashed into the siege tower ramp. As the axe made contact with the ramp, the axehead glowed even brighter. Cracks spread from the point where the axe had landed, flowing along the ramp and down the length of the tower. With a vicious grin, Ron gave a loud shout as the siege tower suddenly burst into a million pieces, peppering the monsters on the ground with splinters and fragments of bloody bone from the monsters unfortunate enough to have still been in the tower. The entire auditorium was silent as Lietke grinned. ¡°I see you¡¯re still in love with the Earthquake skill, you¡¯ve modified it to be usable with axes instead of hammers?¡± Ron smiled, ¡°It¡¯s just so much fun! Lets me feel like a mage while playing as a warrior. Anyways, we¡¯ve gotta clear out the rest of these monsters, why don¡¯t you get back to pandering to your audience?¡± With another laugh, Ron moved to hew down an orc as the camera panned around to his back, giving the audience a first person view of Ron¡¯s quest to purge the battlements of monsters. Lietke cleared his throat and looked at the audience, ¡°Fate is the first ever fully integrated VRMMO. Unlike other MMOs where you¡¯re locked into a class, Fate is more akin to a second life. You can do whatever you want in the game: playing it like a traditional MMO is certainly possible, but you¡¯d be missing out if you didn¡¯t try to experience the game¡¯s incredible combat system and participate in the main storyline. But the game is so much more than just a VR combat simulator. In Fate, anything is possible. If you want to learn magic, then you can self-study or enroll at an academy and learn from the greatest magical minds in the city. Even if you¡¯ve spent years as a warrior swinging your blade at hordes of enemies, or as a baker, creating bread and pies for those with coin, you can still enroll and learn magic. Similarly you can also pick up a sword, grab a frying pan, try out enchanting, go fishing...the possibilities are endless and restricted only by time and your imagination.¡± Here, Lietke paused to grab a bottle of water. On-screen, the scene had changed to a forested wood, where a young mage was attempting to fight off a small band of goblins. He was clearly in trouble as evidenced by the cuts visible on his forearms as he held out his hands to cast spell after spell, but the reason why became quickly evident as the screen panned around to reveal a terrified elven child hiding behind the mage. The audience watched spellbound as the mage fired off a fireball at a charging goblin. Lietke smiled and resumed his speech, ¡°As you can see the visuals and graphical effects of Fate are top notch. They are completely realistic and players will easily find themselves immersed in more than just a game, but a chance to change their fates. In real life, you may be a programmer, a journalist, a waiter, or even the heir to a large corporation. But in Fate, you can change that. Your fate is your own to choose in Fate, and I¡¯m pleased to announce that the chance to change your fate is coming much sooner than you¡¯d expect!¡± Behind him, the scene on-screen changed again, this time revealing a dwarven craftsman sweating over a faintly glowing blade. As his hammer fell, the scene changed again, this time to a beautifully adorned ballroom. In the middle of the hall, a lithe elven maiden swirled gracefully between the participants. Again the scene changed¡­ ¡°As you can see, Fate is truly a second world: each of the scenes you see onscreen is a live feed to some of our beta testers. Men and women just like you who have been selected to give feedback on all the game¡¯s systems. We¡¯ve selected people from all walks of life and made sure that they¡¯ve tested as many of the incredible experiences Fate has to offer as they could,¡± Lietke continued. Behind him, the scene changed nonstop, scenes of intense combat, adventurers bartering with merchants, a naval vessel surging through the waves, a solitary wanderer making his way up the side of an enormous mountain, a church choir singing over the adorned body of a hero, a girl clutching a squirming cat, a pair of men singing loudly in a tavern. Pausing for dramatic effect, Lietke stared at his audience, not a single person remained fully on their seat, everyone having moved to the edge if not having left it entirely. As if a spell had been cast over the audience, the entire auditorium had gone silent. With a flourish of his arms, the scene on the screens changed once more, this time to an elaborate hourglass. As the grains of sand slowly slid from the top to the bottom, a timer appeared underneath: 42D 2H 4M 16s it read, the last number slowly counting down. With a jolt, Karl realized that it was a countdown timer. Slowly he managed to open his mouth, ¡°Do you mean to say that this game releases in just over a month?¡± he managed to croak, breaking the silence. Looking pleased, Lietke stared down at him from the stage, ¡°Yes. Fate will be releasing on July 16th, 20XX. We hope that you can all join us in shaping the world of Fate!¡± With those closing words, Michael Lietke turned and left the stage, leaving behind only the slowly draining hourglass to illuminate the room. For what felt like several long minutes, no one moved, until suddenly someone stood up and raced out the door. Jolting to alertness, Karl realized that this wasn¡¯t just a big scoop, this might be the scoop of the century. Grabbing his bag, he whirled around and darted through the crowd, determined to post an article before anyone else. As he ran, Karl realized that the man he¡¯d overheard outside had been correct, Hurricane had been up to something big. ¡®However,¡¯ Karl thought with a rueful grin, even that Hurricane fanboy couldn¡¯t possibly have predicted just how big the project Hurricane had been working on was. Chapter 0 - Early Talks Loading¡­ Kyp has joined the room. Sweet_Temptation has joined the room. Nelo has joined the room. Boreik has joined the room. Fogs has joined the room. Eric: We¡¯re playing this. We are so playing this. How much do you think it¡¯s gonna to cost? Ryan: First fully immersive virtual reality game. Probably over a thousand? Griffin: Gotta be at least $500. Isn¡¯t VirtuNet stuff supposed to be tough to make cheaply? Rob: Preorders just went up on their site. $200 for the game and the VirtuNet Game connector. Griffin: $200 for a game connector for VirtuNet?! Isn¡¯t the cheapest supposed to be like $350?If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Ryan: wtf Eric: $200?! That¡¯s it? We¡¯re playing this on launch bois. Ryan: Hell yeah I am going to kick all your asses. Eric: Pft you couldn¡¯t even beat me let alone Shin. Rob: ^ Shinvincible has joined the room. Rob: Hey Shin. You gonna be playing with us? Jun: You know it. Ryan: Yo Shin tell Kyp he won¡¯t stand a chance against me. Jun: Pft Kyp wouldn¡¯t even be able to beat Gio. Rob: Are we making a guild? Eric: Sure. But what would we call it? Ryan: We can decide on the name later. Who¡¯s going to lead it? Jun: Strongest player should lead so me. Eric: Hey I can beat you. And what is this. Preschool? Griffin: First to reach the guild creation NPC? Ryan: I could get behind the strongest player. But how do we determine the strongest? Arena rank? Level? Rob: The website mentions that powerful skills will be important. How about whoever has the strongest skill becomes guild leader. We can trade lead to whoever has the strongest skill at the time. The first to create a rare or higher skill can make the guild. Jun: Sounds fair to me. Eric: Same. Ryan: Same. Griffin Sure Rob: lol You have disconnected from chat. Chapter 1 - Tired Talks Eric sighed, running his hand through his messy hair as he did so. I should take a shower, he mused. Lifting one edge of his shirt up to confirm, he wrinkled his nose, ¡°Yep, definitely need a shower.¡± Glancing over at the G3 logo that had replaced the stream, he broke into an almost unconscious grin. Fate looked amazing. His friends had been talking about finding a new game for months, but at this point they¡¯d played everything on the market and they kept coming back to the same games. They¡¯d been hoping G3 would bring news of upcoming titles to relieve their boredom but none of them had been prepared for this. Hurricane had truly outdone themselves with this announcement, he thought as he rose from his computer chair, shedding his shirt and tossing it on top of a steadily growing pile in the corner of his room. Stepping into the bathroom, Eric shed the remainders of his pajamas, pausing to glance at himself in the mirror as he waited for the shower to warm up. Standing just shy of six feet with medium length dark brown hair hanging greasily down over his green eyes, framed by the lenses of his glasses which magnified the large bags underneath, he looked every inch the type of nerd who would stay up for five hours past midnight just to watch Hurricane¡¯s conference. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to stay up to watch it. You could have gone to bed like a normal person and woken up early to catch the show,¡± he mocked himself as he turned and slipped into the shower. School today was going to be hell, but at least he¡¯d be able to discuss the game with the guys. Gio was going to regret having not watched the conference live when they all started discussing it at lunchtime, or more than likely halfway through first period, Eric thought with a small chuckle. Stepping out of the shower, he grabbed a towel off the nearby rack and dried himself off. Using the towel to wipe the steam off the mirror, he was greeted with a much improved look. His hair was no longer matted from not showering all weekend, and his complexion was notably improved. Alas there wasn¡¯t much he could do about the bags under his eyes, but they were a small price to pay for a night of gaming and watching the reveal of Fate live. Grabbing a quick breakfast, Eric dashed out the door before his parents could emerge from their room to begin their own morning rituals. He wasn¡¯t in the mood to talk about his future plans this morning, or his lack thereof. Picking up his bike from the side of the house, he jumped on and made quick work of the ten minute ride to school. Despite leaving early, he still somehow managed to arrive at the door of his classroom only moments before the bell rang to signify the beginning of the day¡¯s classes. Safe again, he thought as he met the disapproving eyes of his teacher, Ms Fleming. ¡°Mr Kingsley, so good of you to join us," she said, her eyes clearly expressing her annoyance at his appearance interrupting her speech. ¡°We were just about to go over the schedule for your senior exams. If you¡¯d be so kind as to shut the door, we may continue.¡± Nodding, Eric closed the door and quickly made his way to his seat, pausing briefly to catch Mark¡¯s eye. ¡°Meet us at lunch?¡± Mark mouthed. Briefly nodding in response, Eric sat down and focused on appearing intent on listening to the format of the upcoming senior exams. But inside, all he could think of was that glorious trailer. The next two periods passed in much the same way. Each of their teachers spent the first half of the class going over how important these exams were to their future, then the next half discussing how they would spend the next week preparing in class. Finally, the bell rang to signify lunch and the class bolted from their seats. ¡°We¡¯ll be reviewing the first three units next class so come prepared!¡± warned the math teacher Mr Woods as the students efficiently evacuated the classroom. Dashing towards his locker, Eric was met by a pair of mismatched boys emerging from the opposite direction. Griffin was big, well above six foot and built like a less muscled linebacker with blond hair and blue eyes. Mark in contrast was several inches below Eric¡¯s height with light brown hair and matching brown eyes. Somehow of the three of them though, Mark was always the one surrounded by women - confidence really was everything. ¡°Dude, Fate looks amazing!¡± Mark began as they hurriedly stuffed their books into their lockers. Griffin laughed, ¡°Amazing is underselling it. Those are better graphics than anything I¡¯ve ever seen and it¡¯s all in virtual reality, plus it¡¯s retailing for less than $200! Hurricane must have gone insane.¡± ¡°We need to be in there day one,¡± Eric said as he grabbed his lunch from his backpack. ¡°The faster we start leveling, the bigger a lead we can build over others. If we can hit endgame quickly, we can compete with the big guilds this time. No beating things weeks after Vertex or Nihilum, or getting steamrolled by guilds with all the top players because they started before us.¡± ¡°Do we know anything about endgame yet?¡± Griffin asked. ¡°For all we know there are no raids and it¡¯s purely PvP based.¡± ¡°That sounds freaking awesome," Mark replied. ¡°Can you imagine being able to take over castles or defend like that guy in the trailer?¡± ¡°You guys talking about Fate?¡± Connor interjected from the locker beside Eric¡¯s. At 6¡¯6, Connor was one of the biggest guys in the school. Much to the PE coach¡¯s constant chagrin however, he didn¡¯t play sports, but instead sat on the student council and participated in math contests. ¡°You know it. You saw the reveal too?¡± Eric shot back. ¡°Hell yeah. Me, Sam, and Kurt spent all morning talking about it in Mrs Savard¡¯s English class. Game is legit.¡± Eric wrinkled his nose at this. Kurt was not someone he wanted to be discussing right now. ¡°Anyways, I¡¯ll see you guys around, student council is meeting to discuss yearbook distribution. Later dudes,¡± Connor said, waving his arm over his shoulder as he walked off. "Speaking of which. I promised someone I''d give them my notes. I''ll meet you guys back here in a minute," said Mark, slamming closed his locker as he dashed off in the other direction. "Odds that that someone is a girl?" Griffin asked dryly. "Not something I''d be willing to bet on," Eric replied. "Do we just wait here for him?" "Might as well." "How was your weekend anyways? We didn''t really get to talk last night. Did your Taekwondo tournament go well?" The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Kind of?" Eric replied. Griffin arched his eyebrow. "Kind of?" "I mean, it didn''t go badly. But I didn''t do as well as I''d hoped," Eric explained, grabbing his lunch from the locker as he slammed it shut. "I lost in the semi-finals to the provincial champion. Won the bronze medal match though, so I placed at least." "Not bad. Congrats." "Thanks," Eric laughed. "Anyways, how was your weekend?" "Quiet, chill. Just stayed at home gaming. Watched Crones with my family on Saturday and then played with the guys on Sunday before you got home." "Cool, what about-" Whatever it was Eric had been about to say however, was cut off as Mark returned, this time without his notes. "You guys ready to head down?" Mark asked. "Yeah, who were you giving your notes to?" Griffin asked. "Just a girl," Mark replied smoothly. Hearing this, Griffin shot a triumphant look towards Eric who rolled his eyes in response. Mark seemed to be friends with every girl in the school somehow. The odds of the recipient being a girl were far higher than the alternative had been. "New girlfriend? Or just a friend," Eric asked as they left the lockers behind. "Just a friend," Mark replied. "For now at least," he added with a sly grin. Making their way to the cafeteria, the discussion continued, centered around their thoughts on what endgame would look like. As they sat down, another pair took the seats across from them. Of southeast asian descent, Gio looked like the Filipino version of Mark. While he wasn¡¯t as good at picking up ladies, he still somehow found himself surrounded by women in all his activities, probably because he was an artist, Eric mused. Rob on the other hand was a bit taller than Gio and Mark, though still shorter than Eric himself. Of Chinese descent, his smile was usually the first thing people observed about him. He always seemed ready to laugh at something or someone. Usually someone, Eric thought wryly. ¡°You guys ready for Fate?¡± Asked Gio, ripping into his sandwich. ¡°You know it," Eric responded with a grin. ¡°What are you guys planning on playing? Should we worry about making a balanced party?¡± Griffin rolled his eyes at this, ¡°We don¡¯t even know what classes the game has and you want us to make a party?¡± ¡°Yeah dumbass, we¡¯ve literally seen one trailer and you want us deciding our futures already?¡± came a voice from behind them. Turning, Eric saw that Jun-Ho had appeared. Jun-Ho, or Jun as he preferred to be called, was Korean and lived up to the Korean stereotype by being the best gamer in their group. As a competitive person, Eric always attempted to compete with Jun but somehow managed to fall just short in most cases, something Jun never let him forget. ¡°I¡¯m just saying that it¡¯s not a bad idea to at least decide what we should focus on. The game releases in just over a month,¡± he retorted, taking a bite of the cold slice of pizza he¡¯d grabbed from the fridge earlier. Ugh, he thought with distaste as he bit into it, Mushrooms. ¡°Well obviously I¡¯ll be a ranged damage dealer. I¡¯ll be the main dps and you guys can all be my supports," Jun said with a laugh as he sat down next to Mark. ¡°That¡¯s fine, what about you guys? I know Mark is probably going to be a jack of all trades healer and Griffin will play a tank. What do you two want to play? Oh and where¡¯s Ryan?¡± Eric asked, turning to address Rob and Gio. Gio looked pensive, ¡°Ryan said he¡¯d be down in a bit, he had to talk to the teacher about something on the exam. And I¡¯ll probably go tank.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see what classes there are first,¡± Rob said after a moment. ¡°What classes for what? Are you guys talking about the exams?¡± came a soft voice from behind him. Whirling around in his seat, Eric saw Mirianne Martins standing there with a lunch tray in hand. ¡°Uhhh no, we¡¯re talking about video games," he responded in a flustered voice. ¡°Hurricane announced a brand new VR game this morning and everyone¡¯s pretty excited.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Mirianne replied. ¡°But we¡¯re going to be studying together for the exams soon. We¡¯re meeting up at uhhh... Griffin¡¯s place! Did you want to come?¡± He asked, feeling hopeful. ¡°Sorry! I¡¯ve already told Mary and Cassie that I¡¯d study with them after school today," Mirianne responded. ¡°Maybe next time though.¡± With that, Mirianne walked away towards her friends¡¯ table. ¡°We¡¯re meeting up at my place?¡± Griffin asked with an amused smile on his face. Eric buried his face in his hands, ¡°I panicked okay? I didn¡¯t expect her to say yes anyways.¡± ¡°When are you going to ask her out, man?¡± Mark asked. ¡°Everyone knows you¡¯ve been crushing on her for the last year.¡± ¡°We¡¯re just not a good fit. She¡¯s class valedictorian and I¡¯m a video game addict who can barely make it to class on time. After graduation, we¡¯ll probably never see each other again," replied Eric. ¡°Anyways, back to Fate. What do you guys think of what we¡¯ve seen so far?¡± Mark looked doubtful and the other guys shared glances, but fortunately they turned the conversation back to Fate. Eric let out a little sigh of relief as he took a peek at Mirianne, now talking animatedly with her friends at a different table. In less than a month, they would go their separate ways, her to some prestigious University and him to a normal University where he¡¯d room with Griffin. It was better this way, he told himself. As the bell rang once more signifying the end of the school day, Eric stretched. Somehow he¡¯d made it through the school day. Now all he had to do was manage to not fall asleep too early and he¡¯d be free of his dumb decision to pull an all nighter to watch the Hurricane conference. Still worth it, he smirked to himself as he gathered his bag and left the class. The bright posters on the classroom walls gave way to the whitewashed sides of the school corridors. Grabbing his phone, he quickly checked the brand new Fate subreddit to see if any new info had been posted yet. Engrossed in his task, he almost didn¡¯t notice as a huge figure suddenly stepped in front of him. ¡°Careful!¡± Eric snarled as he looked up from his phone. A tall boy with a pale face and a bad case of acne had appeared in front of him. His thick eyebrows nearly reaching his short, military style hair as he stared down at him, as if appalled that Eric could be angry with him. ¡°Shut it, Kingsley. We¡¯ve been asking you for weeks for your consent forms for graduation. If you want to be allowed to walk, you need to consent to being on the holotape shown on VirtuNet,¡± the boy snapped, clearly angry with Eric¡¯s tone. Eric sighed, running his hands through his hair, ¡°Sorry Kurt, it totally slipped my mind. I was up kind of late last night,¡± Eric tried to explain. But Kurt cut him off. ¡°Oh yes, watching G3 I¡¯d imagine. Come on, Kingsley. Everyone except YOU has given in their forms. Make sure you¡¯ve got it tomorrow or I¡¯m going to have to involve the administration.¡± Kurt said in a threatening tone. With that, he turned and hurried off in the other direction, doubtless to one of his many after school activities. Why anyone would actually want to remain at school once class was over was anyone¡¯s guess in Eric¡¯s book. But as long as it got Kurt out of his hair, he was happy. With a sigh, Eric trudged over to his locker, pausing briefly to stare at the equations and scribbles adorning the exterior - remnants of last minute studying for tests he¡¯d barely studied for - before opening it up and grabbing his bag from inside. He knew he shouldn¡¯t be angry at Kurt, even if he was a prick, he was just doing his job as the vice-president of the student council. Still, did he have to be such an ass about it? Eric wondered as he moved through the halls towards his bike, tied as it always was to a tiny tree next to the bike racks. Jumping on, he kicked the rusty kickstand a few times before it disengaged and made quick work of the ride home. His parents wouldn¡¯t be home until well after supper, which meant he had plenty of time to plan a way to get his mother to sign the consent form without turning it into a discussion about his future plans. He still hadn¡¯t told them that he¡¯d accepted an offer for a major in game theory and design, and he felt strongly that it would be best to keep it that way for as long as possible. In the meantime though, he could at least content himself by browsing the web for any scraps of information about Fate. A prospect that cheered him up greatly. By the time he made it home, Kurt¡¯s intrusion had been almost forgotten as Eric dashed upstairs to continue where he¡¯d left off before Kurt had accosted him. Chapter 2 - No News is Good News The discordant clanging of bells filled the air as a ship¡¯s prow broke through the waves. Perched atop the bowsprit, a rugged man was balanced precariously over the waves below. A fine scimitar was visible at his waist, and the scars visible on his bare arms and chest bespoke of his ability to use it. ¡°They¡¯re ready for us,¡± an enormous orc behind the man growled. The man smirked. ¡°As if that¡¯s ever stopped us before. Are the men ready?¡± ¡°Yes, Captain.¡± Turning around, the captain surveyed his crew. ¡°Alright men! They know we¡¯re comin¡¯. They¡¯ve got the bells a ringin¡¯ and the town guard a runnin¡¯. We¡¯re badly outnumbered, and we lost the element of surprise five minutes ago.¡± ¡°That just means it¡¯s a fair fight!¡± someone yelled out. The captain grinned. ¡°Aye. But you know the rules - what do the Northsea Pirates do in a fair fight?¡± ¡°Cheat! Lie! Kick ¡®em in the balls!¡± ¡°Aye! Cause there¡¯s no such thing as a fair fight when we¡¯re involved!¡± the captain roared with a hearty laugh. ¡°Now! We¡¯re about to make land. Watch out fer arrows and remember, it¡¯s every man for himself!¡± ¡°Make some noise ya scurvy dogs! It¡¯s time for a fight!¡± the orc roared. ¡°Blood! Steel! Gold for whoever can take it!¡± the crew roared back as the first mate whipped them into a frenzy. Cutlasses, sabres, and other various implements of war glinted in the sunlight as the pirates waved them haphazardly in the air. Above, a black flag emblazoned with a grinning skull fluttered softly in the wind. As the ship approached the shore, spells and arrows began to fly forth from the defenders upon the shore. Sandbags and debris had been piled upon the pier to create makeshift defensive structures behind which defenders fired at the approaching pirate ship. Ducking slightly to the side, the pirate captain watched as an arrow flew by, finding its home in the neck of an unlucky pirate behind him who collapsed with a gurgle of blood. ¡°Take what you can! Burn the rest!¡± he roared as the ship slammed into the dock, sending splinters and wood flying as the ship came to a crunching halt. Jumping from the bowsprit, the pirate captain¡¯s sabre flashed, sending the heads of two young defenders flying as he lead the charge across the docks. Fighting desperately, the defenders were forced back by the more experienced pirates. Trails of blood ran through the streets, pooling in small holes in the cobblestone as the pirates advanced, the song of metal on metal singing loudly as the bells continued to toll loudly in the background. ~ ¡°My lord, please escape. If you are to fall, then the town will have truly been lost,¡± an old butler pleaded with a young man wearing a suit of gilded armour. ¡°How can I leave my people behind in the hands of these monsters? Godfred, I must fight,¡± the man replied, donning his helmet as he stared heavily at the town below. Smoke rose from the docks, the product of the flames that now ravaged the seafront district. Yells of pain and of fury intermittently punctured the din of battle, providing a staccato tone to the discordant melody of the bells.. ¡°Have the Knights of Seacove not sent word yet?¡± the lord demanded. The butler shook his head sadly. ¡°Unfortunately not, my lord.¡± ¡°So be it. I ride to do battle with the sea vermin. I shall leave you behind to watch after my mother and the rest of the servants. If the situation turns, I order you to escape.¡± ¡°Yes, my lord,¡± the butler whispered, his voice cracking as he watched him stride forth, heading for the streets below. As the lord¡¯s hand touched the door, the entire door exploded, splinters of wood flying forth as a figure burst into the room. Caught unawares, the lord reached for his sword, but the figure was too fast. Slamming the pommel of his sabre into the lord¡¯s helmet, he threw the armoured figure to the side, his sabre flashing as he moved. ¡°My lord! Please escape!¡± the butler cried, throwing himself towards the intruder with a knife in hand. Rising to his feet, the lord watched through blurry eyes as the butler tangled with the sabre-wielding attacker. ¡°Godfred, no!¡± he shouted, But it was too late. With a thrust of his sabre, the pirate captain impaled the butler, watching impassively as the knife fell from the butler¡¯s fingers, clattering to the flagstones below. Pushing the butler off his blade, he ignored the dying servant as he turned towards the armoured lord to his side. ¡°That¡¯s nice,¡± the captain said, admiring a tapestry on the wall. ¡°Looks Miroclian, is it authentic?¡± ¡°Godfred,¡± the lord said dumbly, staring at the blood pooling around his lifeless friend. ¡°Sorry about that. Friend of yours?¡± the captain asked jokingly. ¡°You killed him! Why?!¡± ¡°Why?¡± the captain scratched his neck in a bemused manner. ¡°Well, he was coming at me with a knife you see. Can¡¯t let myself be stabbed. Not good for the health ya know.¡± ¡°You attacked my town, slaughtered my people, and now you¡¯ve killed the man who raised me. I¡¯ll kill you!¡± the lord yelled, throwing himself at the captain. Raising his sabre, the captain parried his strike, his leg launching out to catch the lord unawares in the junction between the legs. With a pained sound, the lord folded, his sword falling beside him as he hunched over in agony. Grabbing the lord¡¯s helmet, the captain forced his head back, bringing his sabre up to deal the finishing blow. ¡°...why...¡± ¡°What was that?¡± the captain asked. ¡°...why? Why do this? Why attack my town?¡± the lord whispered. The pirate shrugged. ¡°This is just the fate of the weak.¡± With a spurt of blood, the captain sheathed his sabre, allowing the lord to fall lifelessly to the ground, his hand outstretched towards the corpse of the butler. Outside the window, the bells had fallen silent. Replaced only by the crackling of the flames as smoke spiraled to the sky. ~ As the trailer came to an end, black smoke filled the screen, twisting and turning silently as the Fate logo appeared amidst the smoke before finally disappearing as the screen went black once more Closing the video player, Eric sat back, his eyes glazing over as he imagined himself taking the place of one of the characters in the trailer. Would he be the ruthless pirate captain? A knave with a lack of respect for both life and authority? Or would he be the young lord, doing his best to protect those he cared about even in the face of overwhelming odds. Unfortunately, without any information on how to become a pirate or a lord, Eric''s imagination would simply have to suffice for now. Build ideas, optimal leveling routes, and which crafting professions he should take were all decisions that would have to wait until more information was available. However, as Eric had discovered over the last few weeks, news of Fate was not simply scarce, it was practically nonexistent. Apart from the official news on the brand new website Hurricane had set up for the game, and the occasional trailer, nothing else existed. No beta testers who had broken their NDA¡¯s to spill the beans on the game¡¯s info, no insider information on how long the game had been in development, not even a developer diary or blog to document the game¡¯s history as they approached the release. This both frustrated and impressed Eric in equal parts. The ability to hide a game of this magnitude for so long was already impressive. But to keep every aspect of it hidden once reporters and the public had learned of its existence? Now that was a feat most governments couldn¡¯t accomplish, to say nothing of a game studio. The one saving grace was that the official site did have some useful information, and it was this information that Eric poured over. While he would still have trouble reciting the exact formulas needed for his upcoming calculus final, or the correct way to implement new features in his programming final, or even which lines could be attributed to which characters in the book he was supposed to have read for his English final, by the end of the first week after Fate¡¯s announcement, Eric could recite almost word for word the key information for the mechanics of Fate.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Fate would utilize a realistic style of combat and spellcasting. Or at least as realistic as spellcasting could get, Eric surmised. Players would have to physically swing their weapons at foes in order to hit. Random mechanics such as critical hits and dodging, hallmarks of the MMORPG genre, had been removed and replaced with more realistic interpretations. Hitting an enemy in a vital area such as the head or neck would give a critical strike. Dodging was now performed manually, similar to many action RPGs except instead of pressing a button and having their character turn momentarily invulnerable, the player would have to fully avoid the attacks on their own using movement or skills. Speaking of skills, this was where Eric had spent the most time trying to read into the tiniest bits of information. The skill system in Fate had been described by Hurricane as unprecedented in terms of both scale and grandeur. Every action in the game could be turned into a skill, and all skills could be modified by the player as long as they put the time into learning how to perform the skill correctly. A standard slashing attack could be modified to hit harder, becoming the skill Heavy Slash. A player could then modify it further by adding mana into the strike and creating a Flame Slash; adding a feint at the beginning and creating an Illusory Slash; or even simply increasing the speed of the strike and creating a Swift Heavy Slash. And this was just the tip of the iceberg, Hurricane promised. The only limit to creating and modifying skills was the players imagination and energy. They¡¯d even promised that players who created rare or powerful skills would be rewarded in ways they couldn¡¯t imagine by the system itself - a prospect Eric relished. Imagine being able to create your own epic spell that everyone wanted to use! Just thinking about it had him itching to try his hand at making skills. Still. The more information Hurricane disclosed, the more questions Eric had. The website stated that killing monsters for experience was not the way to level up. But it also had a line about questing that indicated questing did not give experience either. If you couldn¡¯t level up through grinding monsters or questing, how were you supposed to level? This was an MMO, right? And as important as leveling was, it wasn¡¯t even close to being as confusing as the gear system seemed to be. Gear would drop upon death; however, gear was supposed to be incredibly easy to obtain to counteract this. But in the short paragraph on endgame, the website said that obtaining the best gear would be difficult and the true level of a player¡¯s strength would soar with the correct gear. How could all of these things be true simultaneously? Just thinking about all the debates he¡¯d participated in on the topic, both online and at school, made Eric¡¯s head hurt. Finally, endgame itself was also a mystery. From what little the fans had gleaned from the trailers and bits of information from the website, players could own land and buildings, such as the castle in the first trailer. Presumably, this would be a large part of the endgame, but what about dungeons, raids, and PvP content? Was endgame purely focused on gaining and defending territory? Or was there more to it? Hurricane¡¯s tight lipped attitude around these questions caused fans intense suffering, but it also served to drive the entirety of the gaming world into a frenzy. Fate had been the best kept secret in the gaming world for years, and now, with its release so tantalizingly close, information on the game was still impossible to find. At this rate, the game could have released the day of the press unveiling and players would have exactly as much knowledge going into it as they did now. The combination of being the first ¡®perfect¡¯ Virtual Reality MMO and the lack of information caused speculation around the game to soar. Webzines, forums, the few remaining newspapers, almost every major publication was now talking about Hurricane¡¯s newest title. It was amidst this media storm that Eric and his friends were forced to write their final exams. As graduating students, these exams were crucial to maintaining their grades and getting into schools of their choosing. With talk of Fate everywhere, studying went from monotonous to verging on torturous, as the boys attempted to cut themselves off from the outside world and focus on their rapidly approaching exams. And it was under the cover of this attempted media blackout by graduating students around the globe that Hurricane dropped the media equivalent of a nuclear bomb at an impromptu press conference outside the Hurricane headquarters. Packing up his writing implements, Eric stretched his arms widely behind his head. Finally finished, he thought as Mr Chen walked along the rows, collecting their calculus finals. Getting up, Eric grabbed his bag from the back and chatted with Griffin as they headed for the door. ¡°What¡¯d you think of question three?¡± ¡°The figure eight?¡± Griffin asked. ¡°Yeah, I figured I¡¯d have to use chain rule and then apply Stokes¡¯ theorem. But I¡¯m not sure if I got the right answer," Eric responded, pushing open the door and stepping into the hallway. As Griffin followed him into the familiar whitewashed halls, they spied Mark dashing towards them. ¡°Guys! Did you see?¡± He panted, clearly out of breath from having dashed halfway across the school. ¡°See what?¡± Eric asked, nonplussed. ¡°We¡¯ve been writing our Calc final all day. We literally just got out.¡± Griffin nodded to affirm that this was indeed what they had been doing. As if them emerging from the Calculus class wasn¡¯t enough. Fiddling with his phone Mark shoved it at their faces, ¡°This," he stated. Staring at the phone, Eric and Griffin¡¯s eyes slowly widened. ¡°Are you sh***ing me right now? Is this real?¡± Eric demanded. ¡°No way it¡¯s real. 50 million? Are they insane?¡± Griffin added, dumbstruck. ¡°It¡¯s real, there¡¯s a video of Michael Lietke and the CEO. It¡¯s been confirmed by reputable news sites too.¡± ¡°25 million dollar grand prize...¡± Eric exhaled slowly. ¡°And a million to any team who qualifies too," Griffin added. ¡°Yup, even just getting to the regional qualifiers means you¡¯re playing for a pretty big sum. Way bigger than the prizes for the local tournaments we¡¯ve played in," Mark added, withdrawing his phone and placing it back in his pocket. ¡°We¡¯re going for this. I know we said we¡¯d play but this is huge. We need to be serious about Fate.¡± Eric and Griffin slowly nodded. A 25 million dollar grand prize to the winning team of Fate¡¯s first ever World Championship, to take place next year on the anniversary of its launch, announced a week and a half before the game even released. Hurricane really was going all in on this. Eric slowly breathed out, ¡°Have you told the other guys yet?¡± ¡°Yeah, you two were the last to hear, everyone else has already finished their exams. We were just waiting on you two when we got the news.¡± ¡°Alright, should we have a meeting to discuss our plans?¡± ¡°Gio has his part-time job today. And Jun needs to go pick up his sister. We¡¯re going to be online at 8 though. Will you guys be there?¡± Mark looked at Griffin and Eric in turn. Glancing at Griffin, Eric nodded. ¡°I can make it¡±. ¡°Me too,¡± echoed Griffin. ¡°Alright cool. I¡¯ve gotta go give Chris and Trina rides. I also promised Cassie I¡¯d take her out later. Are you two good to get home?¡± ¡°Yeah I¡¯ve got my bike.¡± ¡°My dad¡¯s picking me up.¡± Hearing that, Mark bid the two goodbye and walked off, moving markedly more slowly than he had on his arrival. Turning to Griffin, Eric stayed silent for a moment, searching for the words, ¡°25 million," he managed. Griffin nodded, ¡°25 million. I doubt we can win it though.¡± Eric laughed, ¡°What¡¯s the point of being young if we can¡¯t dream? Come on we¡¯ve always done well in local tournaments. Who¡¯s to say we don¡¯t have a shot?¡± Griffin smiled wryly at this, ¡°I suppose we¡¯ll give it our best shot¡±. ¡°Haha yeah we will! Anyways I¡¯m off. Peace, mate,¡± Eric said, splitting ways from Griffin as he headed towards his locker. Already mostly cleaned out, there were only a few last memories of high school lingering behind the chipped paint on the door of his locker. Twirling the combination lock a few times, it gave way with a soft click. Opening the locker, Eric was just leaning in to grab the items littering the bottom of the locker when he felt a soft brush against his back. ¡°Yiiiiee!¡± He yelped, jumping away from the locker. Whirling around, he came face to face with Mirianne, looking shocked as she leaned away from him. Re-adjusting himself quickly, Eric tried to play it cool as he posed awkwardly next to his open locker. ¡°Mirianne! Uhhhh¡­ What¡¯s up?¡± He began, mentally kicking himself over how uncool he was. ¡°Nothing. Sorry, did I scare you?¡± Mirianne replied, having regained her composure. ¡°What? Scare me?¡± Eric laughed. ¡°Nope, just thought you might be Kurt. He¡¯s been pretty aggressive about trying to get me to give him my consent form for the graduation¡±. Mirianne raised an eyebrow at this, ¡°You still haven¡¯t given him your consent form? Wasn¡¯t it due last week?¡± Eric raised his arms defensively at this, ¡°I¡¯ve been busy. Plus I¡¯ve got it now.¡± ¡°Riiiiiiiight," she responded. ¡°Anyways, I was meaning to ask you. What was it that Mark showed you and Griffin that had you guys looking so shocked?¡± Eric was startled, ¡°Oh that? You¡¯ve heard of Fate right?¡± Mirianne quickly waved her hand, ¡°Of course I¡¯ve heard of it. It¡¯s a new video game right?¡± ¡°Yeah, well the developers of Fate have announced that starting early next year they¡¯re going to be holding qualifying matches for teams to earn the chance to compete in a huge worldwide tournament, with the finals happening on the anniversary of Fate¡¯s release date. Not only that but the prize pool is 50 million dollars. With 25 million going to the winner of the tournament and the rest being divided among the various qualifying tournaments. It¡¯s incredible, especially for a game that hasn¡¯t even been released yet.¡± Eric explained. At this Mirianne¡¯s eyes widened, ¡°25 million dollars? For a video game? No wonder you guys looked surprised.¡± Eric grinned, ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a lot of money. We¡¯re gonna be making a team to try and compete.¡± Mirianne smiled, ¡°Well thanks for explaining. I wish you guys good luck. And have a good summer. I probably won¡¯t be seeing you much from here on out¡±. Hearing this, Eric¡¯s grin dimmed, ¡°You¡¯re headed off to university in the Fall?¡± Mirianne nodded, ¡°I got into a really prestigious program at -¡± ¡°KINGSLEY¡± A voice thundered from down the hall causing both Mirianne and Eric to jump. ¡°Um. I¡¯ll see you around," Mirianne muttered before fleeing the scene as Kurt stomped over towards Eric¡¯s exposed position in front of his locker. ¡°Hey Kurt!¡± Eric piped up, with as much joviality in his voice as he could muster. ¡°The consent form. Last chance.¡± Kurt responded coldly. ¡°I actually have it right here," Eric replied as he drew a slightly crumpled sheet from his backpack, presenting it to Kurt. Observing the signatures on the sheet for a second, Kurt glared at him one last time before turning and disappearing back down the hallway. Eric sighed, why did Kurt have to interrupt just as he was having a conversation with Mirianne? Sure she was about to say goodbye, but that wasn¡¯t the point. It was about the principle of the matter. You don¡¯t interrupt a man talking to one of the school¡¯s cutest girls! With yet another heavy sigh Eric gathered the rest of his supplies before turning to observe the hallway one last time. ¡°So long," he muttered, heaving his bag over his shoulder as he departed for the last time. Chapter 3 - Re-planning Session Loading¡­ Kyp has joined the room. Shinvinicible has joined the room. Sweet_Temptation has joined the room. Nelo has joined the room. OMGio has joined the room. Boreik has joined the room. Fogs has joined the room. Mark: Alright so everyone¡¯s heard of the Fate Championship Series right? Ryan you¡¯re the one I¡¯m really asking. I told all the other guys at school. Ryan: Hell yeah I saw. This is amazing. Griffin: What¡¯s the plan going to be? Are we sticking to the same roles we¡¯ve already decided on? Eric: We don¡¯t know enough about the game. As long as we¡¯re not limiting ourselves by choosing a class and switching later we should be fine. But if we choose the wrong things and switch we might lose too much time. 6 months isn¡¯t that long to prepare for the qualifiers. Mark: Eric¡¯s right. We should be able to fix problems without restarting, but we¡¯ll still lose time if respeccing is difficult or you need to start a new class from the beginning. I¡¯ll take a supporting healing role but I¡¯ll try to flex for damage. Everyone should flex to at least one other role apart from their main. Even you Ryan. Ryan: I¡¯m fine with doing more than just DPS. Just don¡¯t expect much from me.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. : I¡¯ll go tank and support/healer. I can try to flex ranged damage if we need it. Griffin: I¡¯ll go tank and flex damage. I¡¯ll aim for a bruiser role. Gio: I¡¯ll also go tank. Not sure if I can flex though. Mark: That¡¯s fine. We should be good for tanks now. Eric, Jun, what are you guys gonna do? Eric: I¡¯ll go for ranged dps and flex melee dps. Jun: I¡¯ll go ranged dps and flex assassin. Ryan: Same. I¡¯ll go assassin and flex as a mage. Eric: Right, magic damage. Should we assume that some of us should focus on magic and some physical? Or figure that out once we know more about combat? Mark: I¡¯ll focus on magic, that gives us two mages if Ryan goes mage when needed. Griffin you wanna focus on magic for tanking so you can flex if needed too? Griffin: Sure, I prefer tanking as a druid anyways. Eric: Looks like we¡¯ve got a decent team comp. Jun: As long as you can actually do your job. Eric: F*** you. Ryan Lol Mark: Alright we should be good. You guys should make sure to get your helmets soon. I got mine after school today and they¡¯re almost sold out like everywhere. Ryan: Gio, Rob, and I all got ours last week. Gio: ^ Rob:^ Jun: Yeah I ordered mine yesterday. Griffin: I already have a VirtuNet connector. Just need Fate now. Eric Does that only leave me without it? I guess I¡¯ll go out and get one tomorrow. Mark: Dude you should hurry. I got one of the last ones in ED Games like 4 hours ago. Eric: Yeah, worst comes to worst I¡¯ll order it online tomorrow. Mark: k. Game comes out in a week and a half. Let¡¯s gather as much info as possible before then. Ryan: k Gio: k Eric: k Rob: k Jun: k Griffin: k You have disconnected from chat. Chapter 4 - VirtuNet Disconnect Eric was frustrated. He¡¯d been to every major retailer in town and heard the same story. VirtuNet game connectors and preorders for Fate were all sold out. There¡¯d been a huge demand for the game even before the announcement of the Fate Championship Series. But the massive prizes for the tournament, combined with the game¡¯s appeal and the relative cheapness of the system meant that there had been a massive rush to buy VirtuNet connectors the day of the announcement. As a result for the last week, he¡¯d been hitting up retailers everywhere; he¡¯d even persuaded his mother to drive him to the next city over in an attempt to purchase one there, only to be met with the same story. VirtuNet connectors were sold out everywhere. ¡°Am I really going to be unable to buy a VirtuNet connector?¡± Eric despaired. It wasn¡¯t as if he was alone in his plight. Across the net, there were thousands of people lamenting their inability to purchase the connector. Even Hurricane seemed surprised by the popularity of the game, having released an announcement stating that they¡¯d put in an order for three times the number of connectors from their manufacturer, but it would take another week for them to be available in stores. Four days after Fate released. To Eric, this was unacceptable. The difference four days could make at an MMO¡¯s release was huge. Four days was the difference between being a frontrunner, who could monopolize resources and push around other players, and being a middle of the pack player who got bullied by higher level players. Even if Fate was a different experience, being four days behind was not a prospect Eric relished, especially since Jun would never let him live it down if he was the weakest member on the team. With a sigh, Eric looked at the number on the screen and dialed it into his Smartwatch. Hearing the soft ring, he crossed his fingers and began to pray. ¡°Hello?¡± came a voice from the other end. ¡°Hi. I was wondering if you had any VirtuNet connectors in stock," Eric asked. ¡°Sorry, we¡¯re all sold out. We¡¯ll be getting some more in next week though,¡± the employee responded. ¡°Ah okay, thanks anyways," Eric replied as he hung up. ¡°F***!¡± he swore, hitting the wall with his fist. ¡°Eric?¡± It was at this moment that his Mother¡¯s voice drifted up the stairs. ¡°Can you come downstairs, honey? We have something to talk to you about.¡± Eric groaned. His parents had been asking him almost daily about his plans for university. He still didn¡¯t even have an acceptance letter from any of his serious choices, although he was sure one was coming. Mostly sure at least. Making his way downstairs, Eric saw his parents sitting on the couch. On the coffee table in front of them was a large white envelope with a familiar crest emblazoned on the front. Eric¡¯s heart caught in his chest; he took a peek at his father¡¯s face and saw a familiar dark frown. Looking back at the floor quickly, he walked over to the leather recliner and took a seat. His father was a stern man in his mid 40¡¯s; a career military officer, he was a man Eric both respected and feared. At 6¡¯2 with a bald head and an imposing countenance, his father was the type of man one envisioned when the phrase, built like a bear was uttered. The slight scruff on his face after a weekend of not shaving did nothing to reduce the fear Eric felt upon realizing he was finally going to have to explain his choice in program to his father. His mother sat opposite his father, more diminutive than his father, with graying hair and a kind face. Eric sincerely hoped that his mother would be supportive in his choice. Otherwise this was going to be a very long day. ¡°Yes? I was kind of busy you know," he started, trying to avoid looking at the envelope or his parents, a task made difficult by the lack of any other points of interest in the room. Despite this, Eric made a herculean effort to seem interested in the dust on the windowsill beside him as he spoke. ¡°A letter came. For you,¡± his father stated matter-of-factly, as if it was just any other letter. If Eric hadn¡¯t seen the envelope, he might have even assumed it was a birthday letter, as his birthday was in two days. ¡°Oh?¡± Eric replied carefully. His father pushed the letter on the table towards him, ¡°It¡¯s right there. Why don¡¯t you open it?¡± With trembling hands, Eric reached out to pick up the letter. While this was the University he wanted to go to, he had not applied to a program his parents would approve. A fact he had been avoiding by telling himself that maybe he would just be rejected. Opening the letter, Eric read the contents to himself. As expected he had been accepted to a major in Game Design with a minor in Economics. He would start in the fall and the room he had requested had been reserved. Putting the letter down, he tried to smile at his parents. ¡°It looks like I¡¯ve been accepted. I start in the fall.¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Oh Eric! That¡¯s great news! -¡± ¡°For what program?¡± his father interjected. Cutting his mother off mid-sentence. ¡°A Major in Game Design and a Minor in Economics - it¡¯s an honours program," Eric replied, doing his best to make the program sound as prestigious as possible. It wasn¡¯t a lie - the program was actually one of the highest rated game design programs in the country, and the University¡¯s Business Faculty, which the Economics minor was a part of, was held in equal esteem. He just hoped his slightly more oldschool father would see it that way. ¡°Game design?¡± his father asked, furrowing his brow. ¡°You applied for game design? I thought you told us you were going to apply for something that would give you a future.¡± Eric swallowed dryly, this was exactly the reason he had been trying to avoid in this conversation. Nervously, he tried to formulate a response, ¡°Well it¡¯s a very highly regarded program you know. And games are becoming more popular every year. Just look at how well Fate is doing and that hasn¡¯t even been released yet!¡± ¡°How many game designers get to work on a game like Fate, rather than pumping out awful mobile game after mobile game as quick money grabs? Do you really think you¡¯ll be able to get a job at a place like Hurricane if you go through this program?¡± his father countered. Eric faltered. It was true that the odds of him getting a good job in the industry were low, but did his father have to crush his hopes like that? Stealing a glance at his mother, he looked over at her for support, only to notice her studying the upholstery as if it contained untold secrets and she was determined to uncover them. The odd thing was that she seemed to enjoy this act as the phantom of a smile could be seen on her face. ¡°What¡¯s so funny, Mummy?¡± Eric asked, attempting to divert the flow of the conversation. ¡°Don¡¯t change the subject, Eric!¡± his father said sternly, but his own mask was starting to crack, with a grin slowly spreading across his face. ¡°What? What¡¯s going on? Why are both of smiling like that?¡± Eric asked, suddenly unsure of the situation. ¡°Oh Eric! I¡¯m so proud of you! XX University is a great school! Why didn¡¯t you tell us you¡¯d applied?¡± his mother suddenly burst out, jumping up and running over to give him a hug. Eric was now totally lost. The conversation had gone from him being yelled at to him being congratulated and hugged, all within less than a minute. His father grinned, ¡°You left yourself logged in on the VirtuNet console. We received the email that your application had been received over a month ago, naturally along with the details about the programs you applied for. At first I was a little disappointed, but after we looked into it, we found out that this is actually a great program. It has a high graduate placement rate and the faculty is very highly rated internationally.¡± Eric breathed out, relief written on his face, ¡°I was really unsure if you guys would approve of it.¡± ¡°Well the Economics minor definitely helps. You¡¯ll still have useful real world skills even if you can¡¯t get a job as a game designer after graduation. Do you have a plan for where to stay when you go off in the fall?¡± his mother asked, finally participating in the conversation. ¡°Yeah, Griffin and I plan to share a room - he¡¯s entering the engineering faculty," Eric replied. ¡°Oh, Griffin¡¯s going too?¡± ¡°Yup, we applied at the same time. It says here that our room has been reserved," Eric gestured at the letter as he responded to his father. His father nodded approvingly at this; he always liked to know that a plan existed and was being implemented properly. His mother was practically bouncing with excitement as she suddenly jumped up and ran into the front room. Eric peered curiously after her as she returned with a large box in her hands. ¡°Your mother and I know that you¡¯re extremely excited about Fate, and given that we also know how you tend to procrastinate, we decided that as a combined graduation present and early birthday gift we¡¯d get you this,¡± his father said as his mother placed the box on the table. Trying desperately to temper his growing excitement, Eric grabbed the package and ripped off the carefully folded wrapping paper to reveal a smooth box with the words, ¡®Hurricane: Fate Special Edition Game Connector (Fate the game is also included, this is a pre launch product and will be unavailable for play until July 16th, 20XX). Seeing this, Eric barely resisted letting loose a real scream of joy, opting instead to jump up and hug his mother as tightly as he could. ¡°Thank you! Thank you so much!¡± he repeated over and over, letting go of his mother and turning to his father who offered him his hand, before pulling him into a quick hug. ¡°The clerk told us that you need to set that up if you want to connect when the game goes live on Friday," his mother cautioned him. ¡°Now remember, this is your birthday present, so you¡¯re not getting anything else in two days!¡± Eric grinned in response. This was already the best gift he¡¯d ever received. The fact that he no longer had to worry about his parents finding out about his college plans combined with this gift relieved him of all the stress he¡¯d been feeling for the past few days. His father smiled, ¡°Happy early birthday, Eric. Your mother and I are both proud of you. Now then, you¡¯ve got two hours before dinner to set that up. Also, we¡¯re going to be setting some ground rules for its use over the summer. I know you¡¯ll be playing that all day and after a long discussion, your mother and I are fine with that.¡± His mother nodded at this with a conflicted look on her face. ¡°But," his father continued, ¡°In exchange, we expect you to have all of your chores and duties around the house done before you get on for the day. That means lawn mowed, house vacuumed, make sure your brothers get breakfast and other meals, your room and bathroom stay clean, and the cat is fed. We also expect you to show up for dinner. Got it?¡± Eric nodded. This was exactly the deal he¡¯d hoped to strike. His parents had always been supportive of his dreams. But they¡¯d often expressed skepticism when he said that he wanted to make money using gaming. As long as he made sure to get the stuff around the house done before he got on for the day, he would be fine. ¡°Deal,¡± he said quickly. His father grinned, ¡°Alright, you can escape back to your room now.¡± Chapter 5 - Synchronization Giving his mother one last quick hug, Eric grabbed the box with the game connector and bolted upstairs to his room. Closing the door behind him, he put the box on the bed, slowly preparing himself for the prospect of opening his newly gained most prized possession. As his hands approached the box with a slight tremble, the watch on his wrist began to vibrate. With a frown, Eric turned the watch towards himself so he could see who the caller was. Mark (902) XXX-XXXX the display read. Swiping his finger across the screen, Eric quickly answered the call, putting the watch on speaker mode rather than grabbing his earphones. ¡°Hey dude, any luck on getting your game connector yet?¡± Mark¡¯s voice came through from the other side. ¡°They¡¯re sold out everywhere, even Sackville¡¯s sold out," Eric replied, naming the next town over. ¡°Duuuuuude. Everyone else has theirs, you need to hurry up. If you get left behind, we can¡¯t afford to drop back and powerlevel you.¡± Eric grinned at this, ¡°They¡¯re all sold out. Buuuuuuut. It turns out my parents are fu**ing awesome. They got me the special edition as a combined grad and birthday present.¡± There was a brief moment of silence over the line after this revelation. Just as Eric was about to speak up and see if Mark was still there, his voice came back through. ¡°Woah legit? Holy shit that¡¯s incredible. So you¡¯re good for day one?¡± ¡°You know it, even got a deal where if I get all the stuff done around the house for the day before I log on, they won¡¯t bother me in game.¡± ¡°Sick. Alright I¡¯ll let the other guys know. Set up your game connector and meet us in the chat room tonight. Make sure you synchronize your movements properly, that shit takes time.¡± ¡°Will do," Eric responded, cutting the line as he did so. Once again, he prepared to open the box only to once again be interrupted by a vibration from his wrist. Annoyed, he swiped without even looking at the name this time. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°You¡¯re still a biiiitch.¡± ¡°Jun I swear to god I will PK you.¡± ¡°Biiiiiiiiitch¡± *Beeeep* Eric supposed he should take Jun¡¯s constant antagonizing of his gaming skills as a compliment, but he¡¯d be damned if the man didn¡¯t get under his skin sometimes. Third time¡¯s the charm, right? he thought to himself as he reached for the box and quickly started to unwrap the protective cellophane covering. As he slowly unhinged the lid, the gleaming surface of a white helmet could be seen beneath a blurry layer of bubble wrap. With slightly trembling hands, Eric reached down, prying the helmet from its resting place; he then carefully unwrapped the bubble wrap before placing it on the bed. The helmet gleamed, the narrow beam of sunlight that made it through the gap in his curtains doing its best to show off the helmets pale luster in the afternoon haze. The Hurricane logo could be seen imprinted brightly on the back of the helmet. Turning it over in his hands, Eric noticed the Fate logo emblazoned on the front of the helmet, just above the visor. The helmet itself wasn¡¯t too large an affair, only covering the eyes and part of the forehead. There were small sensor pads placed along the length of the headband, and what must be a small charging port could be spied hidden just beneath the Hurricane logo on the back. Looking back at the discarded box, Eric sighted what he was looking for: a manual sitting prettily just beneath where the helmet had lain. Snatching it up, he quickly perused the quick setup options, noting with interest that the helmet had no charging port, but instead used a modular battery system that could last up to three years and also regained small amounts of charge by absorbing the ambient light. The future really is amazing, he thought as he looked for how to setup the helmet and synchronize his biometrics. Fate came pre-installed on the helmets software so he had no need to download that. Grabbing his VirtuNet connector, Eric yanked it from the back of his laptop and plugged it directly into the back of the helmet. Placing the helmet over his eyes, he laid down on the bed, crossing his arms over his chest like the manual instructed. ¡°Link start!¡± he shouted. Nothing happened, Eric gave a small laugh from beneath the helmet. It was worth a shot he figured as he reached up to press the Fate logo on the front of the headpiece. As he did so, the helmet instantly blazed to life, the visor extending outwards to cover his eyes as the Fate logo took on a rainbow hue, various colours dancing through the runes engraved upon the ring. Eric¡¯s vision instantly turned black before a white light slowly grew to fill in the darkness. The first thing he noticed was that he was still lying on a bed, though it was a bit smaller than the one in his room. The familiar ceiling of his room had also been replaced by a gentle ceiling comprised of wooden planks. Turning his head, he saw a pair of large bay windows overlooking an incredible ocean view. Looking the other way, he could see an enormous screen covering three quarters of the entire wall in front of him. As he took in the sights, a new being began to materialize in front of him, the white light coalescing into the form of a rather charming looking woman, about twenty-four years old with shoulder length chestnut brown hair, and a bright smile. ¡°Hello!¡± She greeted him cheerily. ¡°My name is Eleanor and I will be your guide fairy for your new VirtuNet game connector. Before we begin, is the scenery to your liking?¡± Eric stared back out towards the beautiful scene below. It was like staring at a painting as he watched the ocean¡¯s surf pound the rocks, the tide foaming up the beach before flowing back out to meet the next wave. Halfway towards the house, the beach met with long yellowed grass, swaying slightly in the ocean breeze. He smiled, ¡°This is perfect yeah, how do you guys choose the scene to display? Do you know our preferences beforehand?¡± Eleanor smiled at this, ¡°We took several surveys involving millions of people on their favourite scenery to stare out at. In Maritime and Coastal regions, scenes like this dominated. Based on your location, we created a unique scene just for you.¡± Eric was startled by this revelation. According to Eleanor, this meant that each and every single person probably had their own unique scenery to gaze out at. Even if they only differed slightly, that was seriously impressive with how realistic it all looked. He could practically taste the salty sea air it was so close.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. As if she read his mind, Eleanor continued, ¡°Not everyone has their own unique scene. We do have a large bank of scenic locations to choose from for your VirtuNet lobby, but only owners of special edition game connectors get personalized scenes," she explained. Eric nodded. That made sense. It increased the value of the special edition while not being something that normal users would feel they¡¯d missed out on. It seemed the marketing team at Hurricane was on the ball with this release. Eleanor looked at him, ¡°Would you like to begin the synchronization between your biometrics and the helmet now? Or would you prefer to take your time observing the view?¡± Eric snapped back to reality, or rather, virtual reality at least. Was virtual reality truly reality? He pondered for a moment before shaking his head to clear his thoughts. ¡°Yeah that¡¯d be great," he responded. Eleanor waved her hand at the screen, causing a door to materialize in the middle. ¡°If you enter through there, we may begin. Do be warned that the process can take up to an hour and you cannot remove the helmet during this time. If you wish to leave during the process, we will be forced to restart. Before we may begin, please choose a phrase which will automatically disengage the helmet. If you shout this phrase, even mentally then you will be forcefully disconnected from the VirtuNet and return to reality.¡± Eric looked downwards at this, clearly he needed to choose a phrase which he would not risk saying by accident and causing himself to disconnect during an important moment, but also one that he would be able to use to quickly escape should the need arise. ¡°My phrase will be: Elegant Procrastination,¡± he told her. Eleanor nodded. ¡°Just a moment please,¡± she responded. After a few brief seconds of waiting, the screens on either side of the door both lit up. ¡°Special Escape phrase activated! Elegant Procrastination. Please avoid saying this phrase from now on if you do not wish to exit the VirtuNet lobby or any games you may be playing. You may always speak to your guide fairy if you would like to change your phrase.¡± With this, Eleanor directed Eric through the door into what he assumed must be the synchronization chamber. The room was fairly sparsely decorated, closely resembling a small school gymnasium, with white walls and dim lights providing the room with a cozy feel. Closing the door, she directed him over to the left wall, where a small rack of weights could be seen. ¡°For synchronization, we¡¯ve found the easiest method is simply to work out in VirtuNet until your body can no longer distinguish between the two. This allows your body to ignore the feeling of disassociation that badly implemented virtual reality can give. As when the synchronization is not close to 100%, then you will subconsciously realize something is wrong,¡± Eleanor explained as she handed Eric a weight. ¡°Please perform 20 curls with that weight using each arm. Afterwards, we will switch the weight out for a larger one and repeat the process.¡± Eleanor demonstrated with a weight in her own hand, letting it fall to her side then curling it back up towards her chest. Eric stared at her incredulously. The weight in his hand must weigh at least 20 pounds and she wanted him to do 20 repetitions before switching it for a larger weight? Seeing his hesitation Eleanor smiled gently, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Your body won¡¯t feel as tired in this world as it would in your own. You can do this if you try!¡± Gritting his teeth, Eric lifted his arm. If Jun had managed to do this then he could too! After five repetitions, Eric started to see that Eleanor had indeed been correct. He could definitely feel a slow burn starting up, but his arm was doing much better than it would have in reality. Finishing the twenty curls, he switched the weight to his left arm and repeated the process. ¡°Very good. Now if you could please take these new weights and lift them above your head ten times with each arm, and then ten times with both arms at the same time,¡± Eleanor directed him as she took the old weight and passed him a new pair of weights, which felt like they must weigh at least half again what the others had. Having already experienced the process once, Eric gritted his teeth and got to work straight away, lifting first his right arm, then his left arm above his head before dropping them both and starting over again. This exercise proved much more strenuous than the last, but even so, Eric¡¯s shoulders only left him feeling the dull ache of a good workout once he finally handed the weights back to Eleanor. Afterwards, Eleanor began to run Eric¡¯s poor body ragged, handing him various weights and commanding him to perform different exercises with each. Once done with the weights, they moved on to stretches, jogging, sprinting, and jumping; vaulting over a pommel horse which appeared in the middle of the room; swimming in a pool which magically appeared beneath Eric¡¯s feet, dunking him and causing him to come up spluttering, a scene he swore Eleanor had giggled at; more running, throwing various discs, and finally a shot put exercise. As the iron balls he had used for the shot put shattered into multi coloured shards before fading into nothingness, Eric bent down, placing his hands on his knees as he gasped for air. Eleanor observed him with the same gentle smile she always had. ¡°There¡¯s only one test left, this one¡¯s for hand-eye coordination. I think you¡¯ll enjoy it," she said as a target materialized at the far end of the room. Looking up, Eric saw Eleanor holding a bow and a small quiver of arrows out towards him. Straightening up, Eric took the bow and set the quiver beside him as he stared at the target which had appeared roughly ten meters away. ¡°You want me to shoot at the target?¡± he surmised, looking at the bow in his hands and back to Eleanor. She nodded, ¡°You¡¯ll fire until you¡¯ve hit the target twenty times. The quiver will automatically replace any arrows you fire so simply keep shooting until you¡¯re done," she encouraged him, stepping back to allow him to prepare. Breathing out slowly, Eric took the first arrow and placed it on the bow. Sighting down the shaft at the target, he exhaled slowly and narrowed his focus at the target before loosing the arrow from the string. Thwock! The arrow made a satisfying thudding sound as it slammed deeply into the upper part of the quadrant. Reassured, Eric began to loose the arrows one at a time towards the target, each one rewarding him with the satisfying sound of an arrow hitting the target. As he reached the twentieth arrow, he stared at the target. Nineteen arrows stuck out of the target like an oversized porcupine, but none rested in the bullseye at the centre of the target. Nocking the arrow, Eric once again made the now familiar motions of sighting down the shaft and exhaling, only this time he didn¡¯t release the arrow. Continuing to exhale, he found his focus drawn to the arrowhead, shifting intermittently between the arrowhead and the centre of the target. As his breath ran out, he released the string, the arrow shooting from his bow like a greyhound from its leash. Watching the arrow soar through the air, Eric found his breath caught in his throat as the arrow quickly found its way to the target. Thwock! Eric clenched his fist as he saw the arrow embedded slightly above the centre of the bullseye. ¡°F*** yeah!¡± he shouted, pumping his fist. Eleanor looked at him with a bemused smile upon her face. The target, bow, and arrows all began to dematerialize, shattering into those familiar rainbow coloured shards before dispersing into nothingness. ¡°Well done," she congratulated him. ¡°You have now finished the synchronization. Your results are pretty good: you¡¯ve managed a 99.994% synchro rate. The average is only 99.981%, while the top 0.01% have a 99.996% rate. It¡¯s an accomplishment you can be proud of," she stated, leading him towards the door back to the scenic room. Eric grinned, feeling pretty good about his results. Even if his body was a little sore, that final test had been a lot of fun. As he stepped through the door into the scenic room, the door closed, melding back into the wall which now had a giant digital clock plastered across it. Staring at the time, Eric realized with a jolt that he¡¯d been in here for almost two hours. Supper was in less than twenty minutes and he did not want to give his parents reason to doubt his commitment to their deal so soon after receiving his new gift. ¡°Eleanor, is there anything else I need to do for the synchronization process? Or am I free to go now?¡± He asked quickly, not wanting to go back through that entire process again. ¡°You have finished synchronizing, you may now come and go as you please. There are a variety of functions within the lobby that you can make use of if you have no games to play. Nodding quickly in acknowledgement, Eric raised his hand above his head, ¡°Elegant Procrastination!¡± He shouted out, watching with interest as his body shattered into those rainbow coloured shards. Chapter 6 - Late Talks After dinner, Eric quickly made his way back up to his room. Placing the helmet back on his head, he once again found himself in that beautiful room overlooking the ocean. ¡°Welcome back. May I ask what you¡¯d like to do?¡± Eleanor asked, materializing next to the giant wallscreen. ¡°Is there a way to connect with the Strife chat client?¡± Eric asked. Eleanor nodded and made a waving motion towards one side of the screen. Instantly, icons began to appear on the screen, including the familiar Strife icon. Turning back towards him, Eleanor launched into a brief explanation: ¡°You can use both touch and voice commands to launch any of these applications. You can also download more off of VirtuNet if you desire. Simply yelling out launch and then the name of the application is enough to launch it; mentally yelling exit then its¡¯ name will bring you back out.¡± Eric nodded, ¡°Launch Strife!¡± he shouted. As he did so, the icon on the wall detached itself and quickly became bigger, before whirling around once and becoming a door similar to the entrance to the synchronization room, only this time marked with the Strife icon. Nodding to Eleanor, Eric quickly entered the room. ¡°User detected, would you like to synchronize your VirtuNet game console with a VirtuNet user ID?¡± asked a voice that sounded vaguely like Eleanor¡¯s voice only more robotic. With a nod, Eric quickly keyed in his user information to the transparent holographic keyboard which appeared in front of him. As the keyboard faded, a virtual representation of Strife¡¯s interface appeared. Spying the familiar avatar for his group¡¯s Strife group, Eric pressed it, instantly joining the ongoing call. As he did so, the Strife interface became transparent and moved up towards the top left portion of his vision, only visible if he focused on it. With a small blur, the room he was in faded and he found himself back inside the oceanview room. His friends¡¯ voices echoing within his ears. Disabling the sound, he quickly turned on voice-to-text, leaning back against the window as he entered the call. Kyp has joined the room Mark: Glad to see you could join us Eric. You get everything working okay? Eric: Yeah, had to go through that synchronization test though. That thing is tougher than I thought it would be.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. : lol yeah it took me a while. Griffin: I really hope you can¡¯t feel pain in Fate. I might switch to a mage if combat is too painful as a tank. ¡®Cause doing that test made me ache all over for a decent amount of time in the virtuRoom. Mark: Hurricane said you can set the pain receptors as low as 1% and as high as 100%. Although why anyone would go that high is beyond me. Sounds dumb as hell. Ryan: Masochists? Jun: Probably don¡¯t want to set it too high. I¡¯d imagine there¡¯s a forced logout if you experience too much trauma due to pain. I can¡¯t see them opening themselves up to lawsuits like that. Ryan: True true. Eric: Was there anything else we need to do if we want to be able to get a jump on the competition on day one? Ryan: Nope, that¡¯s all we know about the game. Mark: Yeah Hurricane¡¯s been super tight lipped. I don¡¯t even think we start off with skills, we have to create our own as we go or learn them somehow. Eric: The skill system sounds really interesting. It¡¯ll be interesting to see how it¡¯s implemented though. Jun: Remember I¡¯m making the guild as soon as I make that rare skill. So be ready to join. Eric: Who said you¡¯d be first to make a rare skill? Mark: Whoever makes the skill first gets lead. But should we really keep transferring lead once it¡¯s made? Now that we¡¯re playing for cash we might need to be a bit more serious about this. Ryan: He¡¯s right. But I still like the idea of letting whoever makes the strongest skill create the guild. Gives us a reason to try and improve. Gio: Right. Griffin: Maybe have whoever we decide to become leader after we¡¯ve cleared a few dungeons? We could even have two leaders. One for PvE and one for PvP, or one for largescale or stuff like that. Mark: That¡¯s not a bad idea Griffin. Griffin: Thanks Eric: So we keep things as is for now and address them a few weeks in once we have a clearer idea on how the game runs? Mark: Pretty much. Eric: Cool. Anything else? Mark: Nope, we should be good. You guys have anything to add? Jun: Eric¡¯s gay. Ryan: lmao Gio: Nope I¡¯m good. Mark: Alright, we¡¯ll meet up right before the game goes live on Friday. You have disconnected from the call. Chapter 7 - The Waiting Game The remaining days before Fate¡¯s launch passed in the blink of an eye and Eric soon found himself staring at his ceiling as he slowly blinked his eyes awake on the morning of Fate¡¯s launch. With a yawn, he hauled himself out of bed and quickly went through his morning routine. After he¡¯d dressed and had breakfast, he set to work doing all the chores that were expected of him today. Mowing the lawn, loading and running the dishwasher, setting out food for the cat, anything that needed to be done was done. Finally satisfied, Eric collapsed back into bed, setting an alarm that would go off one hour before the official launch. As the familiar ringing sound rang in his ears, Eric was pulled back into a state of wakefulness for the second time that day. Sighing regretfully at the nice dream he¡¯d been having that had been ruthlessly cut short by the sound of the alarm, he reached over and pulled on the Fate VirtuNet helmet. As he flicked it on, he absentmindedly thought to himself that he should really come up with a better name for it. The VirtuHelm perhaps? The FateGear? He¡¯d think of something. As he materialized inside the scenic room, he collapsed into a comfortable leather couch he¡¯d installed the day before after Eleanor questioned why he always stood in front of the window. After a brief chat, he¡¯d discovered that he could redecorate the room as he desired. The result of which being that there were a few new additions to the room, the most obvious of which was the enormous couch he now lay upon and had designated his new spawn point, discarding the simple bed that had served as the default loading point. Speaking of Eleanor, today she was standing in front of the window watching the ocean which had taken on a greyish hue. A storm was coming, he surmised, once again finding himself surprised at just how detailed the VirtuNet game lobby was. Clearing his throat to gain her attention, he addressed Eleanor. ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve been meaning to ask if there were any more hidden features of the connector? Like being able to customize the room and other stuff like that.¡± ¡°Of course! An obvious thing is that I¡¯ve noticed you never use a voice command to start the connection. You always activate it manually. If you just say ¡®Gear, Connect!¡¯ the system will turn on automatically,¡± Eleanor responded cheerfully, turning away from the scene at the window where the surf was beginning to smash forcefully against the rocks. Eric chuckled at this, so it turned out there really was a ¡®Link, Start!¡¯ option for the VirtuHelm. ¡°That¡¯s a good one. Anything else obvious like that that I may have missed so far?¡± Eleanor pondered at this, ¡°Hmmmm¡­¡± she muttered. It was at times like this that Eric truly marvelled at Hurricane¡¯s coders and developers. The scenery and graphics was certainly impressive, but the level of characterisation and humanization that had gone in to creating Eleanor was truly impressive. ¡°Aha!¡± Eleanor said, breaking Eric¡¯s reverie. ¡°You also haven¡¯t added any other rooms to the house. Currently you only have the one room, but if you desire, you can also add other rooms, maybe a kitchen or a bedroom. If you wanted, you could even go outside and sit at the beach.¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Eric noticed that Eleanor seemed a little wistful as she said this last part, gazing out at the sea which had since turned stormy, the dark waves crashing into the rocks, the resulting surf only slightly receding before the next wave came in and repeated the process. Does Eleanor want to stand by the ocean? He wondered to himself as he nodded in acknowledgement of her words. ¡°Well that¡¯s definitely something I¡¯ll do later. For now though can you load up Fate? I want to be able to get in the moment the servers go live.¡± Eleanor nodded demurely in response to his request and waved a hand at the until now unused right wall. An icon suddenly appeared: the same icon that was engraved on the front of his FateGear. FateGear, at first, that was just what he had called it in his head. But now that he thought about it, wasn¡¯t that the true name of the helmet he was using? I must have heard it somewhere before, Eric thought as the icon grew larger, taking up the entire right hand wall. As Eric watched, the emblem suddenly began to twist, morphing organically into that enormous hourglass from the Fate website, signifying the time remaining before launch. From what he could see, the amount of sand remaining in the hourglass was almost gone, as he focused his eyes a set of numbers appeared overtop the hourglass. ¡°0d 0h 38m 41s," it read. Eric nodded satisfied, then raised his hand and shouted, ¡°Strife, Launch!¡± Unlike last time, the doorway did not appear in front of him. Instead, that familiar interface appeared in the upper lefthand corner of his vision. Focusing upon it, he quickly navigated the UI and joined the call. Kyp has joined the room. Mark: Hey dude, good to see you made it. Eric: Yeah, where¡¯s everyone else? Mark: Griffin just left to go grab some water before we all settle in. Gio: I¡¯m here, Ryan¡¯s over at my place too. I think he was grabbing some food. Ryan: I¡¯m back. Shinvincible has joined the room. Mark: Hey Jun. We¡¯re just waiting on Rob now. Jun: Cool, I¡¯m just going to go take my sister to her violin lesson. I¡¯ll be back in like half an hour though. Mark: k Shinvincible has disconnected. Eric: So we¡¯re just waiting on Rob, and technically Griffin and Jun? Mark: Yup. Ryan: You guys ready? Gio: Haha yeah. Boreik has joined the room. Griffin: Sup Mark: Welcome back Griffin. Jun just came to tell us he¡¯ll be here before the game launches. We¡¯re just waiting on Rob. Griffin: Cool. Eric: Oh damn. You guys mind if I grab some water real quick and check on my brothers? Need to make sure they¡¯ve both eaten. Griffin: Are your brothers cats? Eric: No, cats are easier to take care of and at least pretend they love me. Ryan: ROFL Mark: Go for it Eric. Just be back here five minutes before launch. We¡¯re gonna go over strategy one more time. Eric: Will do. You have disconnected from the call. Chapter 8 - Character Creation Having double checked to ensure that both Leif and Angus were indeed still alive and planning to stay that way, as well as having devoured sufficient water and nourishment to last him a couple hours, Eric returned to the FateGear. Hauling himself off of the now familiar couch, he turned to observe the right hand wall. ¡°0d 0h 5m 32s¡± it read. Just in time, Eric thought to himself, connecting quickly to the Strife call. Kyp has joined the room. Mark: Alright we¡¯re all here now. The plan stays the same as it¡¯s been for the last few days. Eric: Level like demons and group up as quickly as possible? Griffin: While learning as much as we can about the game. Mark: Pretty much. Also try to find some strong players who would be willing to join the guild once we create it. While seven people should be enough for a team, we have no idea what the rules for the tournament are going to be. If it turns out we need ten, twenty, or even a hundred people, we¡¯re in trouble with just us. You don¡¯t need to recruit them immediately but try to make friends. Ryan: Should we try infiltrating other guilds to draw members away? Mark: Nah, that would just get us targeted. Making friends with members of other guilds is fine though. Jun: Can we PK people we don¡¯t like? Not a question, I¡¯m doing it anyways. Mark: Just try not to be a dick Jun. All I ask. Eric: lol not a chance. Jun: Suck my dick Eric. Eric: Does the FateGear have a magnify feature? Maybe I can actually find it for you. Gio: lol Mark: Alright focus guys. Two minutes to launch. Power your way through the tutorial, I¡¯m not sure if Strife will work in game or not. There were rumours on the net that only Hurricane¡¯s partychat voice system will work ingame to increase immersion. Also there¡¯s a chance we won¡¯t be able to select our starting zones. I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s true or not but be prepared to meet back here in four hours to discuss. Rob: Will do. Griffin: Gotcha. Eric: Will do. Mark: Alright the game is launching in one minute. Let¡¯s get ready. You have been disconnected from the call. Reason given: Conflict with Fate PartyChat System Eric smirked. Looks like Mark was right. At least he wouldn¡¯t have to deal with Jun for a couple hours. As the last grains of sand fell from the giant hourglass, the hourglass¡¯ figure suddenly blurred, morphing back into the enormous Fate logo. As the logo finished forming, the runes on its rings flared once before the entire logo seemed to detach from the wall, flying out and enveloping his body. The rings quickly began to spin before blurring together, the glowing runes melding into a single multicoloured light. As the brilliance began to overwhelm him, the rings expanded, forming a large dark coloured circular room, dimly lit by the runes which had settled into small alcoves on the walls. ¡°Welcome to Fate.¡± A disembodied voice echoed through the chamber. ¡°Synchronizing with player¡¯s FateGear. Synchronization complete. Loading Fairy Guide.¡± As the voice finished speaking, the familiar figure of Eleanor took form in the middle of the room; only unlike the normal Eleanor, this Eleanor was a legitimate fairy. Only six inches tall, with a pair of shining faerie wings, she slowly hovered there. ¡°Welcome to the character creation room. Your avatar in Fate will be an extension of yourself. As a result, you cannot create an avatar whose gender differs from your own. For those who are transgender, please contact Hurricane support. Height changes are permitted but it is not recommended that you create a character whose height differs drastically from your own height. Creating a character whose height is different from your own may make acclimating to your new avatar difficult. You also have a selection of races to choose from, but for the more monstrous races, do be warned that similar to changing your height, getting used to your new form will make playing difficult.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Eric nodded at Eleanor¡¯s explanation; it made sense. After spending several decades in the same body, suddenly being thrust into a new form would be pretty jarring. ¡°With that explained, are you ready to begin?¡± Eleanor tilted her head in askance. ¡°I¡¯m ready, let¡¯s get to it.¡± Eric responded. With a nod, Eleanor fluttered her wings once causing the wall to give way. A perfect representation of Eric¡¯s body stood behind it, arms casually at his sides and clad only in a loose fitting pair of boxers. ¡°To begin with, please choose your race. The choices available are human, elf, halfling, half-elf, dwarf, and half-orc.¡± As she spoke, several other bodies appeared next to the first, presumably the other races. Eric stared at these alternate representations of himself. The elf was slim, even compared to his own somewhat malnourished standards. With pointed ears and a slightly haughty visage, it was like staring at a royal portrait of himself. With key features enhanced and others subtly faded, the elfin form was definitely a cool look, Eric thought to himself. The halfling was too short, while it may have looked a little cute for some people, it really just made him look like a chubby midget. The dwarf was a taller, more heavyset version of the midget. It also had what Eric hoped was a beard that mirrored the one he¡¯d be able to grow in the future. Tempting¡­ he thought. The half-orc was much bulkier than his normal form, with large well defined biceps and pecs, as well as a slightly reddish skin tone. The half-orc was almost like the opposite of the elf. Where the elf had noble, haughty features, the half-orc¡¯s were much more ugly. With a smushed nose, exaggerated features and slightly sunken eyes, the half-orc was definitely not the one he¡¯d be going with. It would look good for warriors though, at least if they could find a full-face helm to cover that face, Eric thought. The half-elf looked the most similar to the base human form. The features were slightly more refined than his human form, but not as haughty and icy as the elven form was. The ears were tapered, but the points much less obvious than the full blooded elf¡¯s. The half-elf¡¯s frame was also much more pleasing, retaining his own slim looks, but filling them out much more pleasingly than his real body did, he thought sadly. Bulkier than the elf, the half-elf looked like he would be as comfortable swinging a blade as he would be firing an arrow or casting a spell. "Are there any differences between the races apart from size?" Eric asked. "Racial bonuses, special skills, anything like that?" "There are no racial bonuses for any of the starting races. In some areas, you may be treated differently based upon the race you choose, but that isn''t too much of a concern for players." "I see. In that case then..." Walking over towards the half-elf, Eric extended his hand; the half-elf avatar mirrored this action, reaching out to entwine its fingers with his own. ¡°Is the half-elf the race you would like to choose?¡± Eleanor asked from behind him. A confirmation screen appeared next to him, prompting him to place his palm upon the screen. Letting the half-elf¡¯s hand go, Eric placed his hand upon the screen. With a bright flash, the other five avatars disappeared, leaving only the half-elf standing in the room. ¡°Would you like to make any modifications to your avatar?¡± Eleanor asked. Fluttering over to hover just above his shoulder. Eric stared at his avatar, the half-elf combined his favourite elements of both the human and elf races, most modifications that he would have made to his own avatar had already been made and he really didn¡¯t care to change his look too much in the first place. ¡°Can I have longer hair?¡± he asked, turning to look up at Eleanor. With a nod, she waved her hand at the half-elf whose hair suddenly began to grow at a visible rate. From Eric¡¯s own slightly messy hair that had reached just past his ears, the hair began to extend slowly down the half-elf¡¯s neck. Once it reached just past the shoulders, Eric had Eleanor stop. ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to see what I¡¯d look like with long hair,¡± he commented with a grin. Eleanor returned it with a smile. ¡°Will that be all?¡± ¡°Yup, looks good. Wait. Can I see what I look like with a beard?¡± With a knowing smile, Eleanor waved her hand once more and a scruffy beard began to sprout from the avatar¡¯s chin, complete with sideburns and a small moustache. ¡°Can I lose the moustache? And make the beard a little more¡­ Trimmed?¡± As he spoke, the moustache faded and the beard became more aesthetically pleasing, with a five o¡¯clock shadow visible on his cheeks. ¡°Perfect!¡± he said, observing his avatar¡¯s new facial growth with interest. ¡°In that case, I will be transferring you to the tutorial zone, this is the only instanced zone you will experience for quite a while in Fate. Everywhere else, even dungeons, are open to all players. In this tutorial, you will be taught several important skills for survival in the world of Fate. There will be several other players undertaking this tutorial with you; afterwards, you will be sent to your starting town. Your starting town is based on your geographical location in the real world. Also please be aware that the time dilation in Fate means that two hours of ingame time is only equivalent to one in real life. You can check the time both ingame and in the real world by summoning your status window using the ¡°Profile¡± command. Do you have any questions before beginning the tutorial?¡± Eric shook his head, ¡°Nope, I¡¯m good. You can send me in now.¡± ¡°In that case, good luck,¡± Eleanor replied, raising both hands above her head in a summoning gesture. As Eric looked on, he saw a strange glow appear around her hands before he suddenly felt a strange tugging sensation. Reacting a moment too late, he was abruptly teleported several feet to the side. Stumbling a little he looked around, only to notice that the half-elf avatar had disappeared. No, he realized. It wasn¡¯t the half-elf that had disappeared, it was his own body which had merged with the half-elf¡¯s. As he turned his gaze back to Eleanor, he thought he saw her give the faintest of smiles before the magical glow surrounding her hands intensified and that tugging sensation returned. Chapter 9 - Combat Training This time Eric was able to observe as his vision turned white, solidifying moments later into a lush grassy floor which was currently making intimate contact with his face. Sitting up, he looked around, taking in the surroundings. He was on a grassy plain, standing at the top of a small hill overlooking the rest of the plains. There were a number of small houses below, as well as a stone tower and a long wooden hall. In front of him stood a wooden house with a small pond next to it. Lining the pond were a number of willow trees whose long boughs nearly touched the still waters of the pond. A bubbling brook created a silvery serpentine form that ran from the rear edge of the pond down the side of the hill, disappearing off into the distance, but not into the horizon, Eric noted with interest. As he watched, several other figures began to materialize near him. Other players, Eric thought to himself as he watched them pick themselves up from the grass and look around with interest. There were people of all races and sizes, from a pair of tiny halflings to an enormous half-orc with a pair of short tusks jutting from his lower lip. By far the most common race choice seemed to be human, with pure elves as a close second. Half-elf was decently represented with two other half-elves that Eric could see, while halflings and half-orcs were the least played race among this group of players. As the last player, a cute blond haired elf chick that looked to be about college-aged, materialized, the door to the wooden hut exploded outwards and a sharp voice could be heard. ¡°Attention! Anyone who would like to learn how to survive in Nasvencia had better be standing in front of this door in the next five seconds or learn to fly! Because those are the only two ways you are leaving this island!¡± As the voice spoke, the owner of the voice came into view. Standing roughly six and a half feet tall, with enormous bulging muscles and a greatsword slung across his back that looked like it had been made by attaching the side of an iron door to a handle, the man was extremely intimidating. Moving quickly, Eric and the rest of the players sprinted over to the entryway, staring up at the enormous man. ¡°Good,¡± he said. ¡°My name is Firin Greatstrike and I will be your temporary instructor. Welcome to the continent of Nasvencia. This place is a hellhole for the weak. If you want to survive, you will listen to what I have to say. The Gods have seen fit to arrange for myself and some of my comrades to teach you what we know. Well the Gods aren¡¯t here right now. Right now, I am your god. So if you prissy little otherworlders want to learn, you¡¯re going to listen up!¡± Glaring at the group, Firin¡¯s gaze looked at them as if challenging each and every one of them to speak up. Seeing that none dared, he gave a satisfied nod, ¡°I¡¯m glad to see you understand the situation. My job is to teach you whelps how to fight. However! The art of combat is not something you can learn in a brief afternoon session! So what I am going to teach you is simply the basics.¡± Whirling around, Firin suddenly pointed at a player, a middle aged man with the signs of a visible beer gut starting to form beneath his tunic, ¡°You! Tell me, what is the most important thing to remember when fighting?¡± Nervously the player fidgeted, ¡°Uhhhhh¡­ Winning?¡± He responded timidly. ¡°WRONG!¡± Firin roared, ¡°The answer is to survive! You cannot fight if you are dead; you cannot do anything if you are dead. The winner of a war isn¡¯t the one who won the most fights. It is the one who won the last fight!¡± Turning again, Firin pointed at another player, a slightly heavy set brunette, ¡°To survive, what is the most important rule?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get hit?¡± The player asked, straightening out as she tried her best to sound confident. ¡°WRONG AGAIN!¡± Firin yelled, ¡°The answer is not to take a fight you can¡¯t win. If you¡¯re up against an opponent you stand no chance against, do your utmost to flee. Those who survive can grow stronger and return to take revenge, or stand between monsters and those they love. The dead get no such considerations. Even for you otherworlders, death is not something to be taken lightly.¡± Eric raised his hand. Firin¡¯s eyebrow twitched as he saw this, ¡°Yes recruit? Is there a reason you¡¯re standing around with your hand in the air like you¡¯re a goddamn scarecrow?¡± ¡°Well sir, I was just wondering what we should do if we¡¯re forced into a fight against a stronger opponent but we can¡¯t run? Say we¡¯re protecting someone, or we¡¯re trapped with our backs against the wall? What do we do then?¡± He asked, attempting not to cringe backwards as Firin continued to glower in his direction. ¡°Do I look like a goddamned philosophy professor?¡± Firin shouted, spittle flying everywhere as he did so. ¡°If you¡¯re up against a strong opponent and you stand no chance and can¡¯t run away, simply do your goddamned best to win! If you win, you¡¯ll survive! Now I hope to all that is holy that there are no other dumb questions!¡± Glaring fiercely at the rest of the players, Firin nodded, satisfied by their silence. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to outfit each of you with a spear. You will be learning the basics of spearmanship for the next half hour before moving on to the next lesson. Understood?¡± Cowed into submission, the players all nodded. Returning inside the house, Firin returned with a barrel full of wooden spears; tipped with a bronze spearhead, the spears were clearly beginner gear, with slightly crooked shafts and shoddy workmanship. Distributing a spear to each player, Firin began to explain the basics of spearmanship which mostly seemed to consist of using the pointy end to hit the enemy, and keeping the opponent at a distance where their pointy end couldn¡¯t hit you. Fairly simple, Eric thought as he stabbed at one of the training dummies that Firin had set up in front of the house. Each time he thrust the spear forward, he could feel his posture adjusting slightly, the spear growing more accurate, and the feeling of the shaft in his hands more natural. ¡°Good! Now turn your hips a bit more, put your whole body into your stab. Then when you retreat, grab the spear and swing it to deter the opponent,¡± Firin advised him as he walked by, observing each of the recruits and giving small tips to fix their form.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. After half an hour of this, each of the players was soaked in sweat, but surprisingly Eric found that he could still go on. Despite the sweat and exertion, it seemed that players had much more stamina in game than they did in real life. As he grew accustomed to the motion of stabbing the dummy, Eric took the opportunity to sneak a look at how his fellow players were faring. For the most part, they all seemed rather clumsy, launching weak, inaccurate strikes towards the dummies that littered the hilltop. ¡°Kyaaap!¡± Of all the players, one certainly stood out. The only half-orc in the group, a tall half-orc in his early thirties with a crew cut was stabbing the dummy like a man possessed, each of his strikes landing accurately on one of the vital points highlighted on the dummies¡¯ body. With each thrust, the man would let out a yell as the spear whistled in, embedding its point firmly into the dummy before he retracted it and stabbed forth again. Firin looked on with an admiring look in his eyes. Unlike with the other trainees, Firin did not offer much advice to the man, only briefly standing behind him to observe his form before moving on to the next trainee with a satisfied nod. Looks like I¡¯m not going to be the best in this activity, Eric thought ruefully to himself as he launched his spear at the dummy again. Just as his spear pierced the dummy, it suddenly began to fade from view dematerializing just before Eric¡¯s spear could penetrate its chest. ¡°Half hour is up!¡± came Firin¡¯s booming voice. ¡°Some of you clearly have talent, others should keep working hard! No matter which walk of life you choose to follow in Nasvencia, having some martial skill will help keep you safe! With that in mind I shall be teaching you all the basics of one other weapon!¡± Having said this, Firin disappeared back into the house. A minute later he re-emerged, this time with a barrel perched atop his enormous shoulder. Heaving the barrel down, it made a satisfying clinking sound as whatever was inside was jostled around upon being unceremoniously thrown to the ground. ¡°The other skill I shall be teaching all of you is swordsmanship. But we don¡¯t have time to learn anything even resembling true swordsmanship, so all you will be learning are the basics!¡± Firin roared, beckoning each of them to come and exchange their spear for one of what appeared to be a slightly rusty iron sword. With a blade roughly the size of his arm, the swords looked marginally more impressive than the spears had, which was to say not at all, mused Eric as he observed the sword Firin had handed him in return for the crooked spear. As the last sword was handed out, Firin once again had them return to their positions in front of the target dummies. ¡°Alright, the first strike you¡¯ll be learning is the overhead slash!¡± shouted Firin to the recruits. As they stared at him dumbly, he grabbed his own sword and lifted it over his head, the massive blade giving shade to a good three recruits standing nearby. ¡°Now, you¡¯ll want to grip your sword firmly by the handle. Raise the blade above your head using both hands. Relax your grip in the hand closer to the blade, then bring the sword down directly upon your opponent.¡± Firin demonstrated, showing them all the proper form for performing the overhead slash. Despite the man¡¯s bluster and general lack of volume control, he was certainly an effective teacher, Eric thought as the recruits began to practice the move. After the overhead slash, Firin also taught them how to perform a basic thrust, a diagonal slash, and finally he paired them off to learn how to perform a guard. Eric found himself paired with the blond elf who¡¯d materialized last. Flashing him a quick smile, she extended her hand, ¡°I go by Astrid," she introduced herself. ¡°Kyp," he responded, shaking the offered hand. ¡°Were you able to choose a username yet, Kyp? I¡¯ve used Astrid for years and don¡¯t really want to lose the name.¡± Astrid asked, making small talk as Firin finished pairing up the trainees. Eric shook his head, ¡°Nope, there was no option to choose a name during character creation.¡± ¡°Weird.¡± ¡°Yeah I-¡± But at this moment Firin¡¯s voice once again shook the hilltop. ¡°Alright recruits! This is the most important skill to learn as this will keep you alive! Simply hold the blade in front of you - no not like that, like this.¡± He showed the trainees, discarding his enormous blade for a training sword like the ones they were using. ¡°Now I want one partner to attack with an overhead slash, and for the other to guard against it. Take turns practicing the guard. After fifty strikes, switch to the straight thrust, then after fifty strikes switch to the diagonal slash. If you finish before the rest, then start over. Now begin!¡± With that, the recruits began to hack at each other with the swords, the ringing of metal on metal filling the hilltop. Eric looked at Astrid, who returned the gaze with a grin. ¡°You want to attack first or should I?¡± She asked playfully, letting the sword dangle idly from her hand. ¡°You can swing first," Eric responded. With a nod she gripped her blade, bringing it up in the stance for an overhead slash. Raising his own blade, Eric prepared to guard against her strike. With a small shout, Astrid let the blade fall, the iron sword descending like the reaper¡¯s scythe towards Eric¡¯s head. Gritting his teeth, he brought his blade upwards and blocked the sword, feeling his hand go slightly numb at the effort. Holding the guard for a second, Eric felt Astrid relax and allow her blade to slide off powerlessly. Raising his blade, he prepared an overhead slash as Astrid held her sword in the guard position. As they practiced, Astrid began to chat, much to Eric¡¯s amusement, as she ignored the fact that a single mistake meant that one of them would be struck head on by a chunk of sharpened iron. ¡°So what do you think of Fate so far? I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m into the whole drill instructor tutorial thing we¡¯re doing here, but I¡¯m absolutely in love with how realistic the game feels.¡± She said, blocking his strike with her sword before returning the favour, clanging her blade off his own. ¡°I¡¯m definitely even more hyped than before to get into the actual game now," Eric grunted as he blocked her strike. He glared at her, that one had definitely had more force in it than usual. In response, she stuck out her tongue. ¡°Any idea what type of player you¡¯re going to be? You going to aim for the championships?¡± Eric asked, switching to the diagonal slash as he attacked. ¡°I¡¯m definitely going for the grand prize, not sure what type of playstyle I¡¯ll be using yet though. I wanna try all of them out before committing to something.¡± ¡°Makes sense, if melee combat is this fun I really want to try magic and archery next," Eric said as he switched from a diagonal slash to an overhead strike, forcing her to switch her guard at the last second. This time it was her turn to glare at him. ¡°What? We¡¯d hit fifty strikes. It was time to switch," Eric said innocently, sticking his tongue out. Astrid rolled her eyes at this. ¡°Dick," she muttered as she swung her own sword, switching from a slash to a thrust which Eric was forced to awkwardly slap aside with his blade. ¡°What? He never said we had to repeat them all in order," she said innocently as he glared back at her. Eric sighed, ¡°Alright truce, let¡¯s just go back to the way we were supposed to do it," he said, raising his hands in defeat. ¡°I knew you¡¯d see it my way," she replied with a smile as they resumed the practice. Chapter 10 - Archery Training ¡°Alright! This ends your training session with me!¡± Firin shouted, standing at the front of the line of recruits. ¡°If I had my way, none of you would leave here until you had each perfected the basic militia spearmanship and could hold off an orc with your swordsmanship. But the Gods want you to learn by doing, so next you will learn archery and wilderness survival skills from Calyn. Throw your swords back in the barrel and wait here for her to arrive!¡± As the last trainee tossed their sword back into the barrel, Firin gave them all a grim smile. ¡°I wish you all luck, and don¡¯t let me see your names on a tombstone any time soon. Even if you otherworlders cannot truly die, the world will not allow you to go against the natural order so easily. Even with the blessings of the Gods.¡± With those ominous parting words, Firin turned on his heel and left, collecting the barrel full of swords and entering the house, the door slamming shut behind him. ¡°What do you think this Calyn is going to be like? I hope she doesn¡¯t shout as much as he did, that was seriously annoying.¡± Astrid said conversationally as they sat down to await their next teacher. ¡°Mmmmh,¡± Eric murmured his agreement, sad to lose the sword but glad to be rid of the loud Firin. ¡°That¡¯s standard training tactics for new recruits, if you ever join the army in the real world that¡¯s exactly how you¡¯ll be trained. Hell that¡¯s how we train new members at my dojo.¡± Someone else interjected. Looking around, Eric realized that it was the half-orc who¡¯d spoken, moving over to sit by Eric and Astrid. ¡°You run a dojo?¡± Astrid asked. ¡°Dojang actually, Phoenix Rise Tae Kwon Do.¡± Eric¡¯s brow shot up, ¡°Phoenix Rise? Isn¡¯t that the dojang where the recent provincial championship team was from?¡± He asked with some surprise. He hadn¡¯t expected there to be such a big shot among this group of trainees. No wonder the man was so good at fighting, he was a master martial artist! ¡°I¡¯m Thomas Berro. Although if you ever drop by the dojang, they refer to me as Master Berro. Good to meet you,¡± Thomas said, extending his hand towards the two. ¡°Astrid,¡± replied Astrid. ¡°I go by Kyp,¡± Eric said, shaking the man¡¯s hand. ¡°Now where do you think our new instructor¡¯s gotten off to? We can see most of the island from this hill, but I can¡¯t see anyone moving down there,¡± Thomas observed. Looking down towards the tiny village below, Eric nodded. There truly was no one below, it was as if the place was deserted. Looking over at Astrid, he was about to say something when he saw that her brow was furrowed and she kept looking towards the willows along the pond. ¡°What¡¯s up, Astrid?¡± He asked, looking at the willows himself but seeing nothing. ¡°Not sure, I feel like there¡¯s something over there. But looking closer, I can¡¯t see anything special,¡± Astrid reported, still looking towards the pond. Thomas looked at Eric and shrugged. With a small shrug of his own, Eric was about to turn away when all of a sudden he saw a figure detach itself from the willow tree closest to the stream and make its way towards them. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that someone would be able to make me out despite my camouflage, nice going girl,¡± the figure said in a lilting voice. As the figure approached, Eric realized just why he had not been able to make her out against the backdrop of the willow trees. She was clad head to toe in a forest coloured garb, with a thin fishing rod in her hand, a bow and a quiver of arrows slung over her back, as well as a hunting knife at her belt - she had perfectly hidden herself from the players eyes. After all, who was looking for a fisherwoman sitting next to the pool when the deafening figure of Firin existed within the hut? Arriving in front of the group, the woman threw back the hood of her cloak, revealing a tanned face topped by a mane of brown hair that was cropped close to the skull on both sides, revealing her pointed ears. A long scar ran the length of her face, from her left eye down past her lip.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°My name is Calyn and I will be your wilderness survival instructor. I will be teaching you how to fish, set a trap, and cook basic meals over a campfire.¡± She said, staring at each of the players in turn. ¡°Oh, and of course I shall be teaching you archery,¡± she said, directing a small smile towards the hut where Firin resided. ¡°Now archery is useful not only as a way to deal with enemies from afar, but also as a way to secure meals for yourself through hunting. As a result, all of you need to at least learn to shoot a bow. Should you ever be called to serve in the militia, you will at the very least have the ability to be put to work on the walls firing arrows.¡± With a wave of her hand, a barrel full of bows, and roughly two dozen quivers of arrows appeared next to Calyn. Eric sucked in a breath - this was a much more exciting method of handing out equipment than Firin had used. Calling the players to the front, Calyn handed each person a bow and a quiver of arrows. The bow was shorter than the bow Eric had used in the synchronization test, with the limbs of the bow warping slightly under the pressure of the string. Drawing an arrow from the quiver, Eric observed that the arrows were of similar low quality; the only redeeming features he could make out were that they they seemed mostly straight and the stone arrowheads seemed to be at least slightly pointy. Archery seemed to be about as complex as spearmanship had been under the expert tutelage of Calyn. Eric simply had to make sure the pointy end flew from the bow and hit the target while remaining even further away from the opponent than he had with the spear. Calyn¡¯s teaching style differed drastically from Firin¡¯s. Where Firin had been loud and brash, fixing their mistakes with loud yells and nudging their arms and legs into the proper form, Calyn was much more subdued, offering quiet tips that never failed to improve the results of those she spoke to. Moving from trainee to trainee, Calyn approached where Eric, Thomas, and Astrid stood, firing arrows downrange at their targets. Astrid seemed to have entered a world of her own, uncharacteristically silent as she fired her bow. Thomas was much more animated, swearing as his arrows veered off target, hitting the sides of the target or soaring past altogether. Guess he¡¯s not amazing at everything, Eric thought. Launching arrow after arrow at the targets that had appeared, Eric once again found himself entering the state he had found himself in back when he shot the bow in the synchronization test. Exhaling slowly, his vision zoomed in upon the target, his focus alternating between the tip of the arrow and the target. As he released the arrow, it almost seemed like he could tell where it would land before it even struck the target. As the time passed, the number of arrows that Eric landed in the middle of the target grew higher and higher. Similar to the spear training, each time he shot an arrow, he could feel himself making slight improvements to how he fired it. Adjusting his shooting stance, the alignment of the arrow, and how he held the bow, his accuracy rose slightly with each shot. From afar, Calyn¡¯s eyebrow raised slightly, ¡°It looks like we have a natural archer,¡± she muttered to herself as she watched Eric land his third arrow in a row neatly inside the bullseye. ¡°Pay attention to your stance,¡± she murmured from behind where Eric stood, nudging his legs slightly further apart, forcing him into a more stable position. With a grateful nod, he memorized the stance and continued to fire. Observing Eric for a few more moments, Calyn then turned to look at a few other players. While most were able to at least hit the target, there weren¡¯t very many with the potential to become rangers, even that half-orc who¡¯d excelled at the spear and sword exercises wasn¡¯t doing great. No there weren¡¯t really any other talents. Well except for one, she thought. Calyn watched as Astrid sent another arrow directly into the center of the bullseye. Her lips quirked up; while the half-elf might have been a natural, this was true talent. Every arrow she fired sailed true, despite the shoddiness of the bow and the arrows. A solid cluster of arrows stood out from the bullseye of her target. This otherworlder would do well, she thought to herself as she raised her arms to signal the end of the archery training. ¡°Alright! Archery practice is over!¡± Calyn announced. ¡°Please collect all the arrows you fired and place them back in the quiver. You can just toss the bows back in the barrel but please hand the quiver to me. And yes, that includes the arrows you shot downhill, Mr Half-Orc,¡± she said to Thomas with an amused smile. Grumbling, Thomas left to collect the arrows that had flown past the target as the rest of the trainees put the arrows back in their quivers and handed them to Calyn. Waiting patiently, Calyn stood silently next to the barrel of bows until Thomas returned and handed her his quiver, tossing his bow angrily into the barrel. ¡°Now that you¡¯ve all learned archery, we¡¯ve finished the combat portion of the tutorial. Next I shall teach all of you how to survive in the wilderness of Nasvencia. This world has danger lurking at every corner, which means that it¡¯s considered courteous if you know how to avoid killing yourself before it can get to you.¡± This got a laugh from the assembled trainees. Calyn smiled briefly before continuing. ¡°The main skill I shall be teaching you is how to fish. So without further ado let¡¯s get started!¡± Chapter 35 - Interlude: Grimarok Normally a place filled with birdsong and the sounds of the forest, the northern part of Stillwood Forest was silent, the wildlife hardly daring to breath as a dark shadow stalked past. Demonic Rabbits retreated into their burrows, Giant Spiders skittered up trees and hid in their webs, while the normally dominant Red-maned Wolves lay low, whimpering quietly as the beast passed by. ¡°Halt.¡± With a grating sound, a harsh voice rang out, causing the beast to stop as it entered a small clearing. The clearing had clearly seen better days, as the traces of battle were still fresh, the scars of combat visible even to the untrained eye. Broken arrows were scattered across the forest floor, the moss and grass that normally covered the ground underfoot scattered and mangled from numerous footprints and gouges in the dirt. Scorch marks and bloodstains could be seen throughout the clearing, although the largest concentration of both were at the far end where a collapsed pyre could be seen next to a prone black figure. Dismounting from the enormous blood-red wolf that had borne him here, an enormous hobgoblin stalked over towards the collapsed figure. His grey skin bore the marks of many battles, and the enormous sabre at his side bespoke of his willingness to fight many more. Reaching the figure, the hobgoblin knelt down, observing the many wounds upon the corpse of an enormous black wolf. The burnt shafts of several arrows jutted from its chest and throat, and slash wounds could be seen everywhere on its paws and front, indicating that it had suffered dearly at the hands of its killers. ¡°The slash patterns¡­ Scouts. They don¡¯t use fire magic though,¡± the hobgoblin muttered, his guttural voice piercing the quiet forest air. Rolling the enormous wolf over, he appeared to search for something within the remains. Finding something, he deposited it into a pouch at his belt. Finished with his task, he ran his fingers through the bristly fur of the wolf, closing its eyes with a gentleness that belied his appearance. ¡°Ster Agnium,¡± he intoned. Done with his task, the hobgoblin stood up, making his way over towards the fallen pyre. It had not been long since the pyre had burned. Fresh soot covered the grass nearby, not having been washed away by the recent rain or the wind that had howled through the forest only two days before. Within the pyre, burnt sticks mingled with blackened sticklike objects, all mixed together where they¡¯d fallen as the pyre had collapsed on the forest floor.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Eyeing the remains of the pyre dismissively, the hobgoblin sneered, his foot stamping down upon a blackened object in the center of the pyre. With a cracking sound, the burnt skull shattered, its brittle form no match for the hobgoblin¡¯s booted foot. Returning to the blood-red wolf, the hobgoblin jumped on its back, directing it back the way they¡¯d came as he brought a pale gemstone from his pouch. Making a quick sign in the air, the hobgoblin spoke. ¡°I¡¯ve discovered Giram¡¯s worg.¡± ¡°Dead, I assume?¡± a harsh voice echoed back through the crystal. ¡°Yes. Although she took out one of the rats with her. The other seems to have been aided by an outsider. She¡¯d been subjected to fire magic.¡± ¡°What of Giram¡¯s equipment?¡± ¡°I recovered most of it from his corpse. I doubt the scouts had time to loot his body before moving on, not with Giramskra on their tail,¡± the hobgoblin replied, referring to the dead wolf behind him. ¡°And his spellbooks?¡± ¡°His spellbooks burned with his mount.¡± ¡°Good. The scouts may have escaped, but this was to be expected. Return to your post and double the patrols. Doubtless, the Novanalbans will send other rats to investigate. We¡¯ll take this opportunity to kill as many as possible as we finish our preparations.¡± ¡°I shall do as you command.¡± ¡°Good,¡± the voice replied. ¡°The situation is still salvageable. But Grimarok? Fail me again, and you¡¯ll wish for the mercy of Giram¡¯s fate. Understood?¡± ¡°Yes, Commander Redclaw.¡± With that, the crystal went dark, as silence once again returned to the forest. Depositing the crystal back into his pouch, Grimarok¡¯s eyes went dark. The Novanalbans had slaughtered one of his worgs and humiliated him in front of his commander. Soon, there would be a reckoning. Soon. Chapter 89 - Whispers Not for the first time this summer, Eric found himself holed up inside on what promised to be a wonderful summer day. Just outside, a pleasant summer breeze rustled the leaves, providing relief for those taking advantage of the wonderful weather, and taking advantage they were. Kids ran across the path, kicking a ball and screaming excitedly as they played their game while the adults watched on, too busy with their work to do anything more than admonish the children for being too loud. Throughout the village, washing could be seen draped across clotheslines, fluttering in the breeze that did not yet contain a promise of the coming autumn. Eric, however, was not partaking in any of this. While his friends were all outside, practising their swordplay or just enjoying the day, he was curled up in a chair in the front room of Morningstar Manor with a book in hand. To others, seeing a teenager voluntarily spending their time indoors studying during the height of summer might have seemed odd. However, Eric was no ordinary teenager, and it was no ordinary book that he was reading, but rather a book on magic. Eric, you see, was the half-elf apprentice of Lucy Morningstar, mage of Tonbura and one of the most accomplished casters of her generation. It was under her tutelage that Eric had flourished as a mage in the past few weeks, studying magic in the library as his teacher performed research several floors above. Today was no different, and so, despite the lovely weather, Eric was seated once more in the manor¡¯s library with a book in hand. He was a skinny, auburn-haired youth with the look of a man who had recently been given a new purpose, but was still unsure of how to go about it. His tunic was loose on his frame, with scorch marks visible on the rolled up sleeves, while his pants were frayed near the bottom, evidence of his lack of concern for fashion. Although he gave off the appearance of a scholarly youth, seated as he was with his nose in a book, his toned forearms and the large sword resting against the side of the chair told a different story. The sword lay in a rough leather sheath, slightly curved with a hilt made of what appeared to be white bone. The guard was simple and utilitarian with no adornments or markings. All-in-all an eye-catching but not overly interesting item, at least at first glance. Reaching the end of the book, Eric closed it and set it aside on a nearby side table as he leaned back in the chair, his eyes closing as he reviewed the information he¡¯d just read. Resting his hand on the arm of the chair, his fingers brushed lightly against the hilt of the sword. Cracking an eyelid open, Eric stared at the sword, his mind flashing back to the events of that day. It had only been two days since the assault on the goblin bases in what had come to be known as the Battle of Lichfrost. Under the command of Lord Alistair Crowsea, the militia had launched an enormous offensive against goblins of the Ironfrost Horde who¡¯d set up bases in the forest to the north of Novanalba. Alongside more than two-thousand other militia fighters, Eric had set out to do battle against the goblins, ready to sweep them from Novanalba once and for all. Unfortunately, their platoon had been ambushed. Led by the hobgoblin lord, Grimarok, more than seventy percent of the Crowsea platoon had been wiped out, including several of Eric¡¯s companions. It was only after Eric had managed to defeat Grimarok in one-on-one combat, while his allies fought and died around him to buy him time, that the platoon had gained victory over the goblins. The sword that now lay next to Eric had been Grimarok¡¯s. Technically speaking, it was actually a sabre, but that hadn¡¯t been a distinction Eric had made when he¡¯d been attempting to avoid having it cut off his head, and it wasn¡¯t really one he cared to make now. Resting one hand upon the pommel of the sabre, Eric fell into contemplation as he pondered the battle. Despite training as a mage under the expert tutelage of Morningstar, he¡¯d been forced to rely heavily on close quarters combat in tense fights. Is magic really the way to go? Eric wondered, staring heavily at the sabre beside him. Engrossed within his thoughts, Eric was startled when he looked up to see a pair of bright green eyes staring at him, catching his own dark green eyes in a mesmerizing stare. ¡°Yes, master?¡± Eric asked politely. Doing his best to appear unperturbed by the sudden appearance of his teacher. Lucy Morningstar was the mage of Tonbura Village. The apprentice to one of the kingdom¡¯s greatest mages, she had been forced to leave the capital after her fiery temper had gotten her into one too many disputes. Secretly, Eric thought that there was more to the story than she let on, but it wasn¡¯t really something he could ask about. On more than one occasion, his teacher had demonstrated why she was considered one of the brightest mages of her generation and the results were always explosive. ¡°Are you finished reading?¡± Lucy inquired, her eyes narrowing as she gazed at her apprentice. ¡°Yes master, I finished a few minutes ago. I was just taking a quick break,¡± Eric hastily explained. "Did you?" Lucy asked, her gaze settling upon the book Eric had been reading. "Then I''m sure you''ll be able to summarize the theory behind the Whisper spell?" Eric nodded. ¡°The Whisper spell allows for long-distance communication with others. It relies on a pair or series of linked magical foci that can communicate instantaneously with each other to deliver messages between the recipient or recipients of the spell. The more recipients there are, the more powerful the focus must be and the greater the mana requirements become.¡± ¡°Mmmmmh. And what are the minimum requirements to use the Whisper spell? Also what is the most commonly used type of focus?¡± ¡°The book didn¡¯t go too in-depth on the minimum requirements. It merely stated that a competent journeyman should be able to cast the spell with some difficulty. As for the focus, crystals that enhance the ease of mana transmission are the most commonly used materials for foci designed solely to use the Whisper spell,¡± Eric responded. Lucy nodded, her expression softening slightly. ¡°Good. The minimum requirement to cast it is technically a proficiency with arcane magic surpassing most journeymen mages. However, these days, we simply say that it¡¯s a spell that can be cast by any mage who is recognized as an intermediate mage,¡± Lucy explained. ¡°So I can cast Whisper then?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve reached the Intermediate level?¡± Lucy asked, surprised. ¡°Yup, earlier today,¡± Eric replied with a proud look. ¡°Well, you¡¯re a little slower than I¡¯d hoped you¡¯d be. But not too terrible, I suppose,¡± Lucy commented. ¡°What do you mean not too terrible? I¡¯m probably one of the only otherworlders with an intermediate skill in existence right now! How fast do you want me to be? Hell, how long did it take you to reach the intermediate level?¡± Eric asked indignantly. ¡°I became an intermediate mage at the age of eleven,¡± Lucy replied with a deadpan expression. ¡°So how do I cast Whisper? Do I need to buy a crystal?¡± Eric asked, changing the subject before Lucy could deal a finishing blow to his wounded pride. With a knowing smirk, Lucy responded, ¡°You¡¯ve already got a crystal focus. The Gods saw fit to give one to each otherworlder. Simply infuse some mana into the crystal and it should activate. You¡¯ll see a series of basic runes, those are the runes used to communicate with your personal crystal. In order to communicate with others, you merely have to infuse mana into the crystal and concentrate on the runes corresponding to who you wish to talk with. As long as you¡¯re infusing mana, the connection will remain open between the crystals.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Following Lucy¡¯s gaze, Eric realized that the crystal she was talking about was the status stone attached to his storage pouch. Placing a hand on the crystal, Eric focused on the mana in his mana pathways, sending it coursing through his arm and into the stone. With a small glow, the crystal lit up, eleven runes appearing in the air above the crystal as Eric concentrated on keeping the flow of mana steady. Observing the runes floating next to Eric, Lucy produced a crystal of her own. As Eric watched, her crystal began to glow, although unlike his crystal, no runes appeared above hers. ¡°Really, it¡¯s just a simple matter of mana manipulation,¡± Lucy whispered. Starting slightly, Eric stared down at his crystal, the glow disappearing as he lost control of the mana. Lucy¡¯s voice had emanated from the crystal, causing him to lose his focus for a second. Staring curiously at the crystal, he infused mana into it once more. As the crystal began to glow again, a strange expression crossed his face. Continuing to focus, he looked up at Lucy who had a small smile on her face. ¡°Can you sense a new set of runes within the crystal now?¡± Lucy asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Those are the runes that correspond to my crystal. If you focus on them, you¡¯ll be able to communicate with my crystal, although I can¡¯t guarantee I¡¯ll answer.¡± ¡°So the crystal remembers the runes of any crystal it comes into contact with?¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s like caller ID then?¡± ¡°Caller what?¡± ¡°Never mind.¡± ¡°Mmmmh,¡± Lucy gave Eric a stern look before continuing her explanation. ¡°The Whisper spell also has quite a few useful derivations. That militia badge of yours follows a similar principle of using linked magical items to deliver a message. Of course, the message that your badge can deliver is far more limited,¡± Lucy explained, reverting back to lecturer mode. ¡°Makes sense,¡± Eric replied, looking down at the silver pin fastened to the breast of his tunic. ¡°Now then, were there any other questions you had before you left? You¡¯ve been unusually silent ever since you participated in that expedition to the north.¡± Eric considered the question briefly, before taking a small book out from his storage pouch and showing it to her. ¡°I won this mana technique in the militia tournament. It works fairly well, but it mentions storing mana. I can¡¯t find any mention of storing mana in the library, so I was wondering if you knew what it meant, master¡± Eric inquired. Wordlessly stretching out her hand, Lucy took the book from Eric, who stood silently by as she began leafing through the pages with an interested expression upon her face. Seemingly arriving at an understanding, Lucy snapped the book shut before fixing Eric with a strange look. ¡°I¡¯m not sure where Korin got this, but it¡¯s a somewhat older technique,¡± she said at last. ¡°Korin?¡± Eric asked with a confused expression. ¡°Wavesun, the strategist for the assault, and the man who was responsible for giving out prizes. An egoistic ass who¡¯s vain as a peacock,¡± Lucy said, an annoyed look crossing her face as a vision of Wavesun floated through her head. ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Anyways. It¡¯s incomplete, but for now that won¡¯t matter as you won¡¯t have any troubles using the technique up to the professional level at least. But as an older technique, the wording it uses is outdated, follow me.¡± With that, Lucy turned and left, her robes swishing as she departed from the library, Eric¡¯s book still in hand. Scrambling after her, Eric followed his teacher as she led him upwards through the manor, passing through narrow hallways with doors to rooms full of various magical items. At last they arrived at the top of the manor, where Lucy¡¯s study was located in the manor¡¯s upper spire. Opening the door, Lucy led Eric inside to where he was greeted by the sight of his teacher¡¯s enormous dimensional nullifier, a brightly glowing orb which absorbed and negated the effects of any spells cast in its vicinity. Tossing Eric¡¯s book on a nearby table, Lucy rolled up her sleeves, a wand appearing in her right hand as she turned back to face her confused student. ¡°Storing mana or storing a spell is the old term for what we now call Delayed Casting,¡± Lucy explained. ¡°Normally, when you cast a spell, you cannot cast another spell using the same focus until the first spell is cast. To put it simply, if you use your wand to cast an Arcane Strike, until you cast that Arcane Strike, you cannot cast any other spells using your wand as a focus. Does that make sense?¡± Seeing Eric nod, Lucy continued, ¡°Delayed casting, however, changes that rule. Instead, it allows the caster to store the completed mana structure of the spell inside either their body or their focus, freeing up their focus to cast another spell. The first spell can then be cast at any time, and does not need to be cast from the same focus that was used to cast it originally.¡± ¡°That sounds really powerful, what¡¯s the catch?¡± Eric asked. Lucy grinned. ¡°Glad to see you¡¯ve been learning properly. The catch is that it¡¯s actually a somewhat dangerous technique. You¡¯re not storing mana, but rather a completed spell. While some spells are totally harmless such as the Pointer spell, and you don¡¯t really care if they go off while still being stored or not, other spells are a little more volatile. For example, can you imagine what would happen if a Flaming Sphere was suddenly cast inside your arm?¡± Eric shuddered at this as images of flying chunks of roast meat filled his mind. Seeing his reaction, Lucy laughed. ¡°Exactly. It¡¯s a very powerful technique, but it¡¯s also rather dangerous if you haven¡¯t perfected your control over mana. Generally, this is a technique that mages are taught once they reach the intermediate stage, but only with spells such as Pointer or Ball of Light. It¡¯s not until the professional level that true combat spells should be attempted and, even then, using delayed casting in battle is something that even many Masters refuse to use as they simply aren¡¯t confident in their control. Because of that, it¡¯s quite interesting to see a mana technique that specializes in delayed casting. I¡¯d be quite interested to see the completed version.¡± ¡°Is delayed casting really that powerful?¡± Eric asked curiously as his teacher stared at the cover of the book that now lay on a table nearby Giving him a glance, Lucy turned towards the glowing orb in the centre of the room, her wand glowing slightly as she concentrated. Moving elegantly, Lucy began to trace runes at a rate faster than Eric could follow, her wand turning into a blur of light as countless runes appeared in front of her. Flicking her wand slightly, the runes disappeared, but no spell came out. Instead, Lucy began again, repeating the movements from before, weaving a glowing tapestry of runes into the air of the study. With a satisfied look, Lucy aimed towards the dimensional nullifier. As Eric watched, an enormous fireball burst from her wand, soaring through the air towards the glowing orb. Before the spell had even made it halfway to its destination, a new spell emerged from Lucy¡¯s wand, a second fireball burning brightly as it traced the same path the first one had taken. With a roar of flames, the first fireball exploded, shimmering runes appearing as the glowing orb negated the spell, preventing its effects from destroying the papers and shelves that littered the room. As the flames surged angrily against the protective barrier, the second fireball landed, causing the explosion to swell ferociously within the runic walls as the two spells battled to escape the magical boundaries. Not wanting to miss even a second of the spectacle, Eric watched, entranced, as the two fireballs began to fade, strands of mana flowing into the dimensional nullifier as the spell structures collapsed. With shining eyes, Eric looked towards Lucy who arched an eyebrow in response. ¡°If you want to learn this, study harder. I refuse to teach delayed casting to a student who¡¯s only just entered the intermediate stage.¡± ¡°What do I have to do?¡± With a wave of her arm, Lucy drew an unfamiliar rune in midair. The rune was shaped similarly to Eric¡¯s dart rune, with a narrow, reverse V-shape that opened up at the top. Where the two lines forming the tip of the V met, a third line emerged, piercing upwards through the mouth of the V. Satisfied with her rune, Lucy pointed towards Eric. ¡°Once you can cast this rune, I¡¯ll teach you how to perform delayed casting. Until then, don¡¯t bother bringing it up.¡± With that, Eric was unceremoniously kicked from the manor. Doing his best to memorize the rune that Lucy had just shown him, Eric hummed to himself as he set off for the northern gate. It had been a very interesting afternoon so far, and he didn¡¯t intend to let it end here.